So here's a conundrum for the digital age. What colour emoji should a white person use? (I agree with the comment in the article that it feels weird to affirmatively choose the white one instead of the "Simpsons yellow" default). Maybe the fault is still in the way the choices are presented though?
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It's really fucking gross that people (disproportionately young, working class black men) in Washington state are still being arrested for selling cannabis - a substance that it is now completely legal to own. Even by the law's own logic, what they are doing is now simply a tax offence.
There's some good discussion in here also of the economics of black markets, and how clever tax policy can effectively drive them out. But this really raises the question again of what these aforementioned working class people who depend on selling cannabis are supposed to do when that happens? It's already been observed that the legalised cannabis industry is extremely white and setting up is usually dependent on having capital and the ability to navigate bureaucracy.
Just IMAGINE if the state offered support in the form of capital and training to low-level cannabis dealers working the black market who wanted to take their business legitimate. Imagine an approach to drug legalisation that actually took seriously the economic needs of the people who are currently making a living from selling drugs.
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Oh god, I just hurt myself from laughing so hard. Send help.
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This is incredibly important and the headline in fact understates the conclusions: Dieting not only fails to help people lose weight in the long term, but it actually *CAUSES* weight gain by altering our body's inbuilt system of weight regulation. Moreover, actual health outcomes are incredibly poorly correlated with being 'overweight' - it's far more important to exercise and eat healthy foods, which you can do at any weight.
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"In countries where abortions are legal on a woman’s request, 34 women in every 1,000 have one. In countries where abortions are always illegal or legal only if a woman’s life is in danger, 37 women in every 1,000 have one. The slight increase in rates where abortion is illegal may be due to these countries also tending to have more restricted access to contraception which increases conception rates." Independent
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*snickers*
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A potentially effective new treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
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A really good example of how differences in pay are mostly driven by pure sexism... Athletes on the US national men's football team are paid *5 times* as much as the athletes on the women's team, despite the women winning more games, drawing more viewers and making more money for the federation.
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Guys, I just realised that I may be a mutant (two copies of the recessive version of the ABCC11 gene). People have commented that I don't seem to have much body odour, and my earwax seems to be 'dry' as far as I can tell.
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This story is incredible and kind of horrifying. The US came very class to instituting a universal basic income as far back as 1970, with wide support, under the guidance of president Nixon (!). And yet a wave of misinformation and anti-poor moralising killed the initiative. What a missed opportunity!
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South Africa is weird. Mass murderer attends a session at a literary festival where the authors are discussing his crimes. He ends up sitting next to the sister of one of his victims. He cries, she cries. She starts a conversation with him.
What do you all think of this bit?
"If you walk, talk and drink in the same space as Neil Barnaard, FW de Klerk, Pik Botha and their ilk, add Eugene de Kock to your list. He was their foot soldier. He took the proverbial bullet. Apartheid was prime evil; De Kock was simply its loyal servant. "
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"Tragically, the history of South African slavery has been all but forgotten. Few know that, upon landing at the Cape of Good Hope, slaves were stripped of everything — even their names. As property, many were renamed after the calendar month in which they arrived." Vimeo
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