Interesting Links for 18-03-2019

[andrewducker]

Nile shipwreck discovery proves Herodotus right - after 2,469 years

(tags:archeology Egypt history boats )

Analysis of what really is happening on the Boeing 737 Max issue

(tags:airplanes design fail )

This kind of art makes me very happy

(tags:art )

What is Amazon?

(tags:amazon business technology viaFanf )

In Iceland, a Hand-Drawn Map Is as Good as an Address

(tags:Iceland maps mail viaElfy )

Jay Rayner: my 20 years as a restaurant critic

(tags:food criticism history uk )

Comments

[momentsmusicaux]

'[Walmart] is the most successful social welfare system ever implemented, saving billions and billions of dollars for everyday Americans without costing taxpayers a dime.'

Huh what?

Isn't Walmart paying employees a terrible wage and relying on them also getting social security?

[hilarita]

Yes. I stopped reading after that.

[momentsmusicaux]

Yes, it rather made me not give a crap about anything else they had to say.

[movingfinger]

He is writing about alternate-universe Walmart where employees are paid a living wage and don't have to rely on food banks, taxpayer-funded food stamps, taxpayer-subsidized health care, and living in RVs to make ends meet. Oh and yes, Walmart like retirees because they tend to be trying to stretch inadequate or nonexistent pension funds. Thus, we can close the tab knowing this dude does not know what he is talking about in the world we are living in now.

ETA: United States Social Security is not public tax money. It is money earned by individual taxpayers and matched by their employers, collected as a payroll tax and publicly administered and distributed. This is an important distinction that Social Security haters would like you not to grasp: you and your employer have already paid for Social Security if you have a regular job in the US. It is your money.

Pictures

[channelpenguin]

Nice pictures. There is a definite constistency to the set, but I can't quite put my finger on it. "Peace and harmony" - but how that is technially expressed in terms of what layout/symmetry/colours/subject/etc. I don't know. No doubt someone somewhere has written /is writing an AI to answer "What do all these pictures have in common?"

Re: Pictures

[nancylebov]

The very book you (and possibly Andrew) are looking for-- Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness.

It includes discussion of what makes people happy, including bright colors, circular patterns, a sense of abundance... Not all the qualities have to be present, and some are inconsistent with each other, but the whole thing is right, I think.