Interesting Links for 21-03-2024

[andrewducker]

1. Diane Abbott is a political pawn in Labour's farcical disciplinary process

(tags:politics labour racism OhForFucksSake )

2. Paris Preserves Its Mixed Society by Pouring Billions Into Public Housing

(tags:Paris housing )

3. Banning the purchase of sex increases cases of rape: evidence from Sweden

(tags:sweden rape prostitution sexwork )

4. Elon Musk's X Is Suspending Accounts That Reveal a Neo-Nazi Cartoonist's Identity

(tags:nazis twitter ElonMusk OhForFucksSake )

5. The cutest baby thing I've seen in a long time

(tags:cute babies video )

6. Vernor Vinge (1944-2024) - Author and creator of the concept of The Singularity

(tags:scifi singularity obituary writers )

7. Neuralink video shows patient playing chess using brain implant

(tags:brain video cyborg )

8. NIH Researchers Identify Brain Connections Associated With ADHD in Youth

(tags:adhd brain )

9. An Anthropocene Worth Having

(tags:ecology environment humans )

Comments

[rmc28]

The best bit of the baby video is the way they look at each other as soon as the music starts, like they're both happy and they know the other baby is gonna be happy too.

[andrewducker]

Yeah, I loved that.

[nancylebov]

3) I thought I was supposed to believe rape was about power and not sex.

[andrewducker]

I've certainly heard that. And I think that *some* rape is about power. But I think a bunch of it is about sex (while not caring about the other person).

[nancylebov]

The idea that rape is about power and not sex made me think that the power motivation for mugging is probably underestimated.

[andrewducker]

I'm sure there's a component of that. Particularly if they take the opportunity to give someone a kicking while they're down. But I suspect it's mostly about the money.

[conuly]

Yeah, and some people get their kicks by thinking of a paid transaction as them having power over a service worker.

[adrian_turtle]

I don't think the study is entirely in conflict with that idea. Sex workers can be raped. They often ARE raped. (It's assault, not theft.) A potential rapist is not refraining from rape because he's bought sex earlier and therefore not interested; he's refraining because he's scared of getting caught. The woman he sees on the street late at night is in a position to seek help, because she's not engaging in illegal activity. Where sex work is legal, sex workers warn each other about clients one knows to be dangerous. Where it's illegal, that kind of communication is restricted.

Something similar happens with illegal immigrants. Or even citizens who live with, and love, illegal immigrants. Their need to keep their heads down makes them vulnerable to crimes like rape, and also things like fraud or landlords exploiting tenants.

9.

[channelpenguin]

Thank you for that. I agree that humans are part of nature and not seperate.

It is already annoying here in Germany with nature reserves, usually for birds, that take up huge areas of coast, entire islands etc, where you cant anchor even a small sailing boat or even kayak, and technically, though you can walk the beach, you cannot swim. Which I find illogical. There are whole islands that you just are not allowed near EVER. How do we value and care for "nature" if we never see it? Can never go there. Just like it is someone's private property (and there is already WAY too much of that on the coastline and shoerlines of lakes everywhere!).

Ludicrously and enragingly, the lake in the park near my apartement in Berlin has last year banned swimming anywhere - except the artificial beach that you must pay for. Cannot be water safety (same lake, not huge!). You are allowed still to sit on the shore, walk about etc. the say "Nature Protection" but I want to scream "IT'S A PARK, FFS! Made BY people FOR people. It isn't "Nature".

[calimac]

1) Unusually informative for a UK political commentary article. As a Jewish person, I find Sheerman's comments rather offensive but Abbott's not. She merely put her foot in her mouth trying to draw a fine-toothed distinction that's not as important as she thought it is. The apology should have been quite sufficient.

9) Interesting, especially when it brings in The Lord of the Rings and Dune. I didn't know the meaning of environmentalism had changed so much from when I was learning these principles.

[adrian_turtle]

That baby video was made almost 12 years ago, so the kids would be in middle school. I wonder if they still like the song? I know someone who made a mix-tape of peaceful music to help her calm down and sleep during pregnancy. She played it for the baby at bedtime. Every night. Even when the kid was a teenager, she could play the CD in the car, and the kid would be asleep in less than 5 minutes.

[andrewducker]

Dammit, I should have done that!

9. An Anthropocene Worth Having

[anef]

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