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snooggums, in FTC judge rules Intuit broke law, must stop advertising TurboTax as “free”
@snooggums@kbin.social avatar

Can they be punished for breaking the law instead of just being told to stop it?

guyrocket, in Teen’s death after eating a single chip highlights risks of ultra-spicy foods

It surprises me that it is possible for capsaicin to kill someone. Maybe it is something else or a combination of things but I await further evidence.

I do like to eat spicy but I top out somewhere around habaneros. It would be good to know if the peppers might kill me. I already think I'm pretty careful with them, but I'll be more so if there's real danger.

Unfortunate for this kid. Best wishes to his family.

flicker, in Teen’s death after eating a single chip highlights risks of ultra-spicy foods

This chip has been on the market for literal years at this point and no one has died until now. I'm open to new information but I think it might be a case where the chip formula has changed, or maybe this was a condition they didn't know the child had, or any number of things.

I like spicy things. Sometimes what I enjoy is dangerous for others. I grieve for the child's parents and friends, but am waiting for more information to confirm that it was entirely the chip to blame.

I also think that we should remember that parents should be supervising these things. If my 11-year-old asked to do the challenge, I would've rightfully tried him first on something spicy that's much less spicy than this. I want to know what all this kid has tried before this challenge. If this was his first exposure to spicy things, then I think it's reasonable to be unsurprised. If that's not the case, I want to know.

iquanyin, in “They Were Everywhere” – Exploding Monkey and Pig Populations Pose Human Disease Risk
@iquanyin@kbin.social avatar

@readbeanicecream exploding human population a threat to all the mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, oceans, glaciers, crops, forests, and atmosphere on the planet. also to ourselves.

geosoco, in Teen’s death after eating a single chip highlights risks of ultra-spicy foods

I thought this was might just grieving parents blaming something coincidental, until reading this article. I didn't know that there are other cases of the spiciness of these new peppers seem to be causing problems for some people. Still no clear evidence, but it's possible there's something.

"These ultraspicy peppers may either contain a unique vasoactive substance, or there is a dose-related effect of capsaicin concentration that can trigger RCVS," the doctors concluded. "Further research in this area is needed to determine the exact pathophysiology of this phenomenon. This case provides further evidence that ingestion of hot peppers may lead to serious consequences and that further research is needed to assess their safety."

Emphasis mine.

PoliticalAgitator,

I don’t think it’s really as surprising as people in this thread seem to think.

It’s not just “ouch my mouth”. Your body has an extreme, undeniable stress reaction to the chip. Its not inconceivable that could push an underlying condition over the edge.

If this was a story about a sedentary 14 year old who died after being challenged to run a marathon with no training, people wouldn’t be saying “Oh wow, I didn’t think jogging could kill you”.

YarrMatey,

I had no idea you could die from jogging a marathon so I think you would be wrong about that. It seems to be very rare but can happen depending on your family history of heart attacks and things like obesity, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels for anyone else wondering about it. When you said sedentary I thought you meant if you don’t exercise regularly you will die from doing exercise but it’s not like that.

paper_clip,
@paper_clip@kbin.social avatar

I had no idea you could die from jogging a marathon so I think you would be wrong about that.

Literally the first person to run a marathon, the Greek runner Pheidippides bringing the news to Athens about the Greek victory over the Persians at Marathon, died from exhaustion, his last words being "Rejoice, we conquer!" as he collapsed.

YarrMatey,

Never heard of the guy but sounds like he had heart problems and no access to modern medicine.

lowdownfool,
@lowdownfool@kbin.social avatar

He ate better than you and exercised more, guaranteed. Also, what's up with your education? Red state?

YarrMatey,

I’m not sure why you’re offended. I read this article that said this isn’t a problem unless you have heart problems. You can appear fit and still have a heart problem, “the biggest danger to younger, otherwise healthy runners is undiagnosed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic condition that enlarges part of your heart muscle.” I’m in a blue state lmao but thanks for implying I’m uneducated. America’s education has also been shitty, I would be surprised if they cover this at all in other states.

lowdownfool,
@lowdownfool@kbin.social avatar

I'm not offended. I also wasn't replying to you. Oopsie?

lowdownfool,
@lowdownfool@kbin.social avatar

Oh, I'm not offended. So you're saying Pheidippides had heart problems? lol

CmdrShepard,

That emphasized line is typical when someone wants to ban something but doesn’t have any proof that it’s actually dangerous. See the US government and conservative’s reasoning for keeping marijuana banned or the federal government banning vaping (while allowing cigarette sales to continue). In both cases the weak justification for the bans are “we don’t like this stuff and there’s not enough research proving it’s safe!” Meanwhile they try to hamstring anyone who wants to conduct a study unless the objective of the study is to bolster the ban.

Itty53,
@Itty53@kbin.social avatar

And guns are still legal after countless school shootings, so don't hold your breath.

lowdownfool,
@lowdownfool@kbin.social avatar

The right to spice isn't enshrined in the Constitution. It should be, maybe. The Spice Must Flow.

HeartyBeast,

It’s also typical when researchers notice an interesting phenomenon and decide they need to gather more data.

CmdrShepard,

Doesn’t seem like that applies here since the researcher said “we need more data to determine its safety”, implying it’s unsafe until we can prove it safe even though countless people eat this spicy shit every day without any noteworthy issues. He’s acting like this is the first time the human race has discovered spicy food and it’s some big mystery.

Madison_rogue,
@Madison_rogue@kbin.social avatar

"Implying" is a very subjective word. Nowhere in the article did a doctor mention they wanted to ban peppers, just research them more to ensure their safety.

There's no code word phraseology here...just the intent to do more science to learn more.

HeartyBeast,

implying it’s unsafe

Implying it may or not be safe.

jeena, in Covid is surging again—you may want to mask up in these 3 scenarios, says infectious diseases doctor
@jeena@jemmy.jeena.net avatar

Here in Korea I’m already seeing more people with masks outside.

fuzzzerd, in Planemakers look to a pilotless future

Of all the ways to reduce costs, this is one that leaves me feeling like I’d rather not participate.

Hairyblue, in Former Trump adviser blames Jews for dying in Auschwitz
@Hairyblue@kbin.social avatar

"Michael Flynn, a Christian nationalist" AND convicted criminal, let's not forget that.

Diplomjodler, in Former Trump adviser blames Jews for dying in Auschwitz

Anyone who pretends to be surprised is a liar.

Madison_rogue, in At least 2 dead, 28 injured in mass shooting at Baltimore block party
@Madison_rogue@kbin.social avatar

To quell some confusion regarding gun deaths and gun deaths related to crime in the U.S. you have to dig a little more to understand the picture better.

Gun crime in the U.S. is not great, but it is not as bad as it is perceived. This said, I'm in firm agreement that something needs to be done about mass shootings. We have the collective will to do this, yet are constantly stymied by interpretation of the 2nd Amendment, and the NRA (which lobbies against gun related crime/deaths in the U.S. on a continuous basis).

So gun deaths in the U.S. are high...second highest in the world.

  1. Brazil — 49,436
  2. United States — 37,038
  3. Venezuela — 28,515
  4. Mexico — 22,116
  5. India — 14,710
  6. Colombia — 13,169
  7. Philippines — 9,267
  8. Guatemala — 5,980

However deaths related to gun violence offers a different picture...here are the top 10 countries with the highest number of gun-related homicides per 100,000 (2019 data).

  1. El Salvador — 36.78
  2. Venezuela — 33.27
  3. Guatemala — 29.06
  4. Colombia — 26.36
  5. Brazil — 21.93
  6. Bahamas — 21.52
  7. Honduras — 20.15
  8. U.S. Virgin Islands — 19.40
  9. Puerto Rico — 18.14
  10. Mexico — 16.41

Suicide

Bringing in suicide statistics via firearm clarifies this picture even further

Top 10 countries with the highest suicide rate by firearm per 100,000

Greenland — 16.36
United States — 7.12
Uruguay — 4.74
San Marino — 4.08
Montenegro — 3.40
Argentina — 2.67
Finland — 2.66
Monaco — 2.64
France — 2.64
Venezuela — 2.50

The total rate of firearm deaths in the U.S. is 10.89 per 100,000. This means, the total rate of firearm deaths due to violent crime is 3.77 per 100,000 people.

So while mass shootings in the U.S. are a problem, it's not as impactful as the suicide rate by firearm in the country.

Source

Ellecram, in At least 2 dead, 28 injured in mass shooting at Baltimore block party
@Ellecram@kbin.social avatar

As an American, you are statistically more likely to be struck by lightning than randomly shot.
I am 65 years old and have lived in multiple states. Never been shot at, never shot a gun (except in the US Navy), never experienced any gun violence in my personal life.
As a child welfare worker I have experienced a few cases of gun violence in my professional life of nearly 30 years.

The situation of gun violence is extremely serious but also highly dramatized by media leading to the possibility of miscalculating risk.

Be careful and situationally aware is all the advice I can provide.

BrotherCod, in 'Rate limit exceeded;' Twitter down for thousands of users worldwide

I know it's getting into conspiracy realms, but there seems to be a large right-wing buyout of social media. Reddit and Twitter two of the best Independent News sources in North America I've already been hit and even though people will argue they are not true new sources, they allow smaller groups to be heard globally. Young people don't realize how limited news broadcast were before the 2000s. Almost all media was owned by about 50 people worldwide and good luck getting something published that wasn't in their agenda. You could see it throughout the 50s and 60s as people being labeled radical when their views didn't coincide with the media magnets. I try not to be an alarmist but I think we're heading for another dark ages.

Seasoned_Greetings, in John Roberts Begs the Liberal Justices to Stop Criticizing the Court

Well if the court didn't engage in clearly partisan politics, maybe the liberal justices wouldn't have anything to criticize.

Does he realize how bad it looks when he voices that his problem is criticism and not like, I don't know, taking money from political interests? Or refusing to recuse in cases where there's a relative directly involved?

sab,
@sab@kbin.social avatar

It is really incredible how far down the drain the SCOTUS has gone in such a short period of time. Not saying it was great before Justice Kennedy retired either, but at least back then it was generally respected.

kmkz_ninja,

I hope RoyGBiv is rolling in her grave at refusing to step down and let Obama select a replacement when she knew the power of her position.

sethadam1,
@sethadam1@kbin.social avatar

Why do you think they would've filled her spot when they didn't fill the other one with Merrick Garland? She protected her spot or they would've held it up until Trump.

FaceDeer,
@FaceDeer@kbin.social avatar

She could have retired at any time, including right after Obama was elected. The Republicans couldn't have held the spot open for years. It would have become a major election issue.

Johnvanjim,

I'd bet good money McConnell would have tried to find a way/reason to keep it open, look at all the rules making/breaking they did to fill/keep a seat empty close to elections, I'm sure they'd just come up with some other bullshit

Silverseren,

I'm sure he would have tried, but we're dealing with massive hypotheticals at this point. Under your argument, we should not have a justice at any point ever step down because McConnell would try to block a nomination. Yes, he would try. Doesn't change the fact that the best move was for her to step down at the beginning of the term.

We should honestly be pushing for justices getting on in years and having health issues to step down at the beginning of presidential terms regardless.

Chozo, in John Roberts Begs the Liberal Justices to Stop Criticizing the Court

"Why won't they just let us make wildly unpopular decisions that jeopardize the livelihoods of Americans without having to make us feel bad about it?!"

-Roberts, 2023

keeb420,

"Why can't we be blatantly corrupt without getting called on it? "

shiftenter, in The Supreme Court strikes down Biden's student-loan forgiveness plan, blocking debt relief for millions of borrowers
@shiftenter@kbin.social avatar

I hope Gen Z never forgets this.

Skray,
@Skray@kbin.social avatar

It's a great lesson in how important elections are. Trump was able to appoint multiple supreme court justices which have shaped the future of America for years due to their most recent decisions and will continue to shape it for decades after he is gone.

Athena5898,

yeah, i'm glad that there wasn't anything that could of been done under Obama...oh wait (yes it was a multi factor fuck up, but all the fuck ups were from people who were supposed to be "on our side" trying to claim power just a little longer and fucking miss me with the hand waving of there was nothing that could be done! there was!) Voting is important yes but can we stop pretending it's a fucking magic bullet? Cause it's not. Its one tiny itty bitty thing that needs to be done. Hell voting doesn't even work if you don't have any of the other stuff surrounding it. People need to get organized both at home and at work and get ready to take the fight to them through unions and strikes at the very least.

i'm so fucking sick of the answer to all of this is "go vote" when there is much more than just that needing to be done. Don't just vote, go get fucking organized with community, and fucking fight.

starstough,
@starstough@kbin.social avatar

You know how everyone knows you're supposed to brush your teeth twice a day for 2 minutes, AND FLOSS? If we all did that on the regular, dentist appointments would be quick and painless the vast majority of the time.

Instead, we've got people who barely brush, never floss, avoid the dentist and then hate the dentist for giving them pain and grief when they finally get around to it.

Voting is like that. No one would have to harp on everyone to go vote if everyone did it, and frankly if everyone voted according to their own actual interests and benefits, we wouldn't be IN this mess to begin with.

It's not that it's a magic bullet, and I don't think anyone is pretending it is. It's that not enough people ARE voting, and it's the single best way we have to make a large step in the right direction.

If we all voted blue every election, without fail, eventually we start to see the impact of avoiding the GOP regressions. Eventually we gain momentum.

Vote AND organize. But if you can't even be arsed to vote, what makes you think you'll be willing to do the vastly more intensive actions involved in an active fight?

Do the bare minimum ffs. If you (global you) don't vote, miss me with the bullshit angst and wimpy call to actions no one will take. It's just as much a hand waving whether it's a fist, a middle finger, or a dismissal if it's not engaged otherwise. We need to use ALL the tools we have against oppression.

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