JasSmith

@JasSmith@sh.itjust.works

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨UK inflation rises by more than expected to 3.8%, largely driven by air fares⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Flights account for 0.51% of the CPI and 0.41% of the CPIH, which includes owner-occupied housing costs. They’re not seasonally adjusted, so they’re just averaged over the year. You’re right that there are some months which are heavier on certain items, but that doesn’t impact the calculation, just the realised inflation by individuals.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anon thinks there is a bicurious double standard⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Yes! It’s intentionally used to invoke blame. Foremost by implying that some list of bad behaviours is only or primarily displayed by men, and secondly by implying that it is the fault of men (often read as all men) when they exhibit these behaviours. I would much rather we just call it toxic behaviour. Both sexes are capable of violence, jealousy, etc. “Toxic masculinity” merely ensures half of the people one is speaking to switch off and might even take the opposite side of the discussion because it’s really offensive.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anon thinks there is a bicurious double standard⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Yes! We need a translator because what many of them say is not what they actually mean. I kept being told I was emotionally unavailable. So I started opening up more, which killed the attraction pretty quickly. What they meant was that they wanted me to listen to them and react in a way which implied I felt their feelings. Most women definitely DO NOT want a man who is in touch with his emotions or is “emotionally available.” They want to feel emotionally validated.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anon thinks there is a bicurious double standard⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  You wouldn’t believe how many progressive women only date stereotypically conservative men. Here is a metanalysis of five studies showing how women in general prefer men who espouse and act out “benevolent sexism.” This is the age old problem for men: women say they want one thing, but date something completely different.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Dairy farmers say worker shortage is threatening UK food security⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  1. The German Nutrition Society, DGE (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung) explicitly does not recommend a vegan diet for pregnant women, infants, children, or adolescents, citing insufficient data for these groups.

  2. The German Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Polish National Consultant in the Field of Paediatrics and Spanish Paediatric Association do not recommend vegan diets during infancy or childhood.

  3. The Swiss Federal Commission for Nutrition does not recommend vegan diets for pregnant women, infants, children, or older adults due to concerns about nutritional deficiencies in the absence of sufficient evidence.

  4. The Belgium’s Royal Academy of Medicine advised that children, teenagers, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers should not follow a vegan diet. They described it as “restrictive” and potentially leading to developmental and nutritional issues if not carefully managed.

  Isabelle Thiebaut, a co-author of the opinion and president of an European organization for dieticians, said that it is important to explain to parents about “weight-loss and psychomotor delays, undernutrition, anemia” and other possible nutritional shortfalls caused by a vegan diet for children.

  5. The Spanish Paediatric Association advises against a vegan diet for infants and young children.

  6. The Italian Society of Preventive and Social Pediatrics (SIPPS), together with the Italian Federation of Pediatricians (FIMP) and the Italian Society of Perinatal Medicine (SIMP) issued a joint position paper which concluded that vegan diets cannot be recommended for children because the diet leads to deficiencies in vitamin B12, calcium, DHA, iron and vitamin D. When these nutrients are missing, it negatively affects children’s growth and neurocognitive development.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Dairy farmers say worker shortage is threatening UK food security⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Dairy and meat are important components of the diets of children.

  Health aspects of vegan diets among children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analyses

  Meta-analyses showed lower protein, calcium, vitamin B2, saturated fatty acid, and cholesterol intakes, and lower ferritin, HDL and LDL levels as well as height in vegan compared to omnivorous children/adolescents.

  Plant-Based Diets in Children: Secular Trends, Health Outcomes, and a Roadmap for Urgent Practice Recommendations and Research—A Systematic Review

  The evidence indicates that vegan, but not vegetarian, diets can restrict growth relative to omnivorous children and increase the risk of being stunted and underweight, although the percentage affected is relatively small.

  Vegan diet in young children remodels metabolism and challenges the statuses of essential nutrients

  Detailed analysis of serum metabolomics and biomarkers indicated vitamin A insufficiency and border‐line sufficient vitamin D in all vegan participants. Their serum total, HDL and LDL cholesterol, essential amino acid, and docosahexaenoic n‐3 fatty acid (DHA) levels were markedly low and primary bile acid biosynthesis, and phospholipid balance was distinct from omnivores. Possible combination of low vitamin A and DHA status raise concern for their visual health.

  Growth, body composition, and cardiovascular and nutritional risk of 5- to 10-y-old children consuming vegetarian, vegan, or omnivore diets

  Both groups [vegans and vegetarians] had lower bone mineral content (BMC). The difference for vegetarians attenuated after accounting for body size but remained in vegans (total body minus the head: –3.7%; 95% CI: –7.0, –0.4; lumbar spine: –5.6%; 95% CI: –10.6, –0.5). Vegetarians had lower total cholesterol, HDL, and serum B-12 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] without supplementation but higher glucose, VLDL, and triglycerides. Vegans were shorter and had lower total LDL (–24 mg/dL; 95% CI: –35.2, –12.9) and HDL (–12.2 mg/dL; 95% CI: –17.3, –7.1), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, iron status, and serum B-12 (–217.6 pmol/L; 95% CI: –305.7, –129.5) and 25(OH)D without supplementation but higher homocysteine and mean corpuscular volume. Vitamin B-12 deficiency, iron-deficiency anemia, low ferritin, and low HDL were more prevalent in vegans, who also had the lowest prevalence of high LDL. Supplementation resolved low B-12 and 25(OH)D concentrations.

  Adults are a little more resilient and some can survive on a carefully designed vegan diet.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anon is feeling romantic⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  This is the worst 4chan space I’ve ever seen. It’s like Reddit’s r/Politics. There’s a comment decrying the patriarchy with 55 upvotes.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Half-a-million members sign up to new left-wing party founded in Britain⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I like it in theory but there have been no real world examples of it actually working. There are only supplementary implementations which exist next to representative democracy. One of the most cited reasons that it could not work is the mental and decision load expected of an average elected representative. They make many decisions each day, big and small. When agreeing on a Bill, they might read tens of thousands of words, negotiate with hundreds of other representatives, and make dozens of various deals to achieve their preferred outcome. In a direct democracy system, either those bills would be split into 10,000 constituent parts, and each would be voted on by the public; or there would be 10,000 ombibus bills proposed by citizens, each with subtle variations, and the public would be expected to vote on them. Or both of those scenarios, at the same time.

  The outcome seems painfully clear to me: in both of those scenarios, 98% of the public would check out. That’s far too many words to read, far too many meetings to hold, far too much information to process and on which to provide reasonable judgement. The legislature would be controlled by a hyper connected and independently wealthy 2% who would lobby for their preferred bill using their fortunes and connections.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Half-a-million members sign up to new left-wing party founded in Britain⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I’m not so sure. Humans are incredibly diverse by nature. We have evolved to inhabit every ecological niche in existence, and then we invented many more. We can’t get a population to agree that the sky is blue or that water is wet or the Earth is round or that vaccines are safe. There is always at least 10% who disagree on any subject. When you map each 10% group as a Venn diagram, it covers everyone in the population on some issue, big or small. In terms of governance, this means that any direction chosen will be opposed by a relatively large minority. There are only two options here and it is absolutely binary: majority rule, or minority rule. History has taught us that minority rule is horrific. It tends to create massive inequality, death, suffering, and eventually revolution. Democracy is the solution presented for majority rule, and I am intimately aware of the phrase “tyranny by the majority.” In fact I would categorise democracy as exactly that. Despite that, it is better than the alternatives.

  So I think we are evolutionary bound to a best case scenario in which the majority chooses a generally agreed upon direction, while a loud minority gets really angry. Democracy ensures that that loud minority doesn’t get violent because they’re given a seat at the table and a voice, even if they don’t get their way this time.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anon crunches some numbers⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The distinction is outcome vs intent. No one is arguing Grog didn’t have the best of intent when he conducted his cross-country dissertation in shit berries. He shit his little heart out. But no matter how many unstable berries he sampled, his accomplishment pales in comparison with reaching Mars. And one day, sending a rover to Mars will pale in comparison to faster than light travel.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anon crunches some numbers⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Is this the anthropological equivalent of cultural relativism? “Yeah maybe we got to mars but Grog figured out how this berry makes him shit a lot and that’s an equivalent accomplishment!”

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Half-a-million members sign up to new left-wing party founded in Britain⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s far from perfect but it’s better than everything else humanity has attempted.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Half-a-million members sign up to new left-wing party founded in Britain⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Cap immigration at 2% a year. It’s very clear to me that immigration in recent decades has been far too high. It has undermined the labor market, the housing market, and it may undermine national cohesion.

  Honestly, any party which achieves only this will win the next four elections. 95% of the Kingdom wants lower immigration. I’ve never seen an issue this unifying in politics in my entire life. You can’t get 95% of the country to agree on anything. Except this.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Half-a-million members sign up to new left-wing party founded in Britain⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The Green Party wants to significantly liberalise immigration to the UK. This is at a time when 95% of the Kingdom wants lower immigration. For this reason (and many more), the Greens are currently polling at 9%. They reason they don’t get much airtime is because their policies are unpopular and people don’t like them.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anon starts to believe⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  That’s crazy. I need to import your mutant clover over here to Denmark. Are there different varieties? I guess there must be.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anon starts to believe⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  As long as they don’t get snow or high temperatures, clover might be okay. Problem is that most of the U.S. gets either snow or high temperatures. There’s no way to prevent the die-off with snow, but you’ll need to irrigate frequently and copiously to keep clover alive in high temperatures. It’s a big waste of clean water, IMHO.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anon starts to believe⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Depending on the type, grass is much hardier.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anon starts to believe⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Clover dies easily. Whether that’s people walking on it, temperature extremes, too little water, snow. That makes a lawn look patchy. It can be used in certain places, but definitely not all.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨After laying off 9,000 employees , Microsoft records $27.2 billion profit in latest quarter⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  In a capitalist system, that is what they are supposed to do. They are even compelled by law to maximise their return to investors. You are attacking them for stating a fact, believing that by merely uttering the fact, they are endorsing it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨After laying off 9,000 employees , Microsoft records $27.2 billion profit in latest quarter⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I don’t think Microsoft has cared about people pirating Windows for decades. They still permit people to use the MAS. It’s like two seconds to activate Windows for free forever now.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨After laying off 9,000 employees , Microsoft records $27.2 billion profit in latest quarter⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  They massively over-hired and over-acquired during covid. Demand spiked and they started poaching every studio and developer they could find. These layoffs were likely always the plan for when demand dropped again, and when they needed to streamline and consolidate the studios they purchased.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨After laying off 9,000 employees , Microsoft records $27.2 billion profit in latest quarter⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  -10 downvotes for stating a fact.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨A survey found 1 in 6 men admit sexual feelings for children. So is paedophilia increasing? (2023, linked study is worth a read).⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Because you were rude and smug. Your comment didn’t address my comment at all.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨A survey found 1 in 6 men admit sexual feelings for children. So is paedophilia increasing? (2023, linked study is worth a read).⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Okay thanks for citing the page. I found it and that’s abhorrent. Way to bury the lede though. Why not use that as the title instead of what you did?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨A survey found 1 in 6 men admit sexual feelings for children. So is paedophilia increasing? (2023, linked study is worth a read).⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  It is hardly surprising that 1 in 6 men have found someone under the age of 18 attractive. There are many attractive people aged 17 years and 11 months and 29 days. Nature made people attracted to secondary sexual characteristics like breasts and wide hips on women, and muscles and facial hair on men. If these develop earlier, it’s quite normal to be attracted to that. In Australia, the age of consent is 16, so it’s even legal to act on that.

  To be honest I think the real percentage is much higher. Men are just afraid to admit that because they could be incorrectly labelled a pedophile.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨A survey found 1 in 6 men admit sexual feelings for children. So is paedophilia increasing? (2023, linked study is worth a read).⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  That is very different to the headline, which is about feelings, which is what the top comment is referring to.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anon is not satisfied⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  I know I can easily get hooked on those so I just avoid them. Games should work around my life, not the other way around. That’s why I’m heavily into single player games now. I can hit pause whenever I like.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨GOG now ask for donations when you buy games⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I’ll allow it. I like what they’re doing over there. No DRM. Download everything. Game preservation. I wish they had done a better job with Galaxy but it looks like Microsoft is about to do their own store aggregator now so maybe that’s moot.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anon likes trains⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Dane here. While I love trains, they are a) more expensive than flying in almost every long distance scenarios, and b) take much longer. We are trialling sleeping trains but reception is mixed and capacity limited. People don’t like to waste an extra 2-4 days of their vacation on travel. Especially if they’re paying more for that privilege. I should note that this isn’t an issue of imbalanced subsidies. They EU subsidises air travel (in many ways) to the tune of around €30–40 billion annually depending on what you include and what you consider to be a “subsidy.” Using similar criteria, rail is subsidised to the tune of €40–75 billion per year. So rail gets a lot more investment despite it serving 16% fewer travel miles per year in the EU than air travel.

  The thing is, if even we can’t make it cheaper and faster despite our relatively high population densities and high rail subsidies, I fear the case is much harder still in the U.S. My personal position is that trains are excellent commuter alternatives, and should be liberally built and subsidised in all dense cities. For longer travel, there is no substitute for airoplanes.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Netflix will show generative AI ads midway through streams in 2026⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I’m convinced there’s almost nothing they could do to lose net subscribers.