Archaeologists near the Swiss city of Basel are trying to definitively establish if mysterious shafts discovered in 2013 could have been ancient refrigerators, The Local reports.
Cool, literally.
Alan Montague explains:
This goes back to more superstitious times when a sneeze was believed to separate the soul from the body. To prevent the devil stealing the soul the incantation “bless you” (i.e. God bless you) was uttered to release the soul from Satan’s clutches and return it to its rightful owner.
| Month | Population |
|---|---|
| January | 10,008,233 |
| February | 10,015,812 |
| March | 10,024,713 |
| April | 10,033,127 |
| May | 10,043,819 |
| June | 10,054,240 |
| July | 10,066,683 |
| August | 10,082,645 |
| September | 10,095,025 |
| October | 10,104,925 |
| November | 10,113,441 |
| December | 10,120,242 |
The Romanian photographer Tiberiu Capudean wants to fight homophobia by giving more visibility to the gay community. He has therefore taken pictures of more than 200 nude men from different countries around the world. I’m not sure it will cure any homophobe, but I like it.
Preliminary election results from Daily News Hungary suggest the rightist leader, who opposes liberal democracy, is the clear winner.
Senator Aleksey Pushkov, an ally of Vladimir Putin, has said that the Queen treats drinking as a ceremony while Theresa May has a brandy habit, Lucy Clarke-Billings of Mirror reports. This is hilarious considering that Russia is one of the biggest alcoholics in the world. Not that the Russian propaganda machinery cares much for facts, but still…
| Rank | Country | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belarus | 17.6 |
| 4 | Russia | 15.1 |
| 25 | Britain | 11.6 |
#FakeRussianNewsBS
BBC has a live feed.
Researchers studying the effects of Viagra on mice have discovered that a daily dose significantly reduces their risk of developing colorectal cancer, Peter Dockrill of Science Alert reports.
Jörg Luyken of The Local writes:
Many Germans unwittingly parrot Russian propaganda by pointing to the Iraq war as an example of a time Britain wrongly accused another state of having chemical weapons. Why should the British authorities be trusted this time, they ask. In other words, sections of the German public believe the British establishment routinely make up evidence in order to start wars—a nice way to view a democratic ally of the past 70 years.
The world is full of people who can’t tell reality from fiction. These are the people propaganda targets. Scrutinise the news sources, but don’t be a fool!
The Socratic paradox translated by Harold North Fowler:
“I am wiser than this man; for neither of us really knows anything fine and good, but this man thinks he knows something when he does not, whereas I, as I do not know anything, do not think I do either. I seem, then, in just this little thing to be wiser than this man at any rate, that what I do not know I do not think I know either.”
I’ve always found this both humble and arrogant. I guess that’s my take on the paradox.
I like the colours. And, of course, the headwear.
Jay Rayner makes a good case in the Guardian.
I’ve never understood why it’s so important for some people to do their business in a segregated lavatory. Even more confusing is that it’s often the same people who make a fuss when bathhouses reserve some hours for women only.
The homophobes now brand him an “anti-Christian bigot”, Pink News reports.
Poor Jesus, being dragged into this ridiculousness by stupid “followers”.
At least four people have been killed and many more injured after a white van ran pedestrians in the Canadian city, the Toronto Star reports.
The scariest part, seen from an outside perspective, is that these things are so common nowadays that the surprise effect is gone.
Ljubica Nedelkoska and Glenda Quintini have written “Automation, skills use and training” for OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers. It’s a fascinating read.
Tim Bergling (1989–2018), better known by his stage name Avicii, died a week ago. Today, his family published a letter explaining how he had battled existential issues. His life ended because he couldn’t cope any more.
Sadly, Tim is just one of many men who end this way. Depression is lethal in men. Suicide is far more common among men than women. And according to a recent study, one in five Swedish men has no close friend. We really need to talk about men’s health.
Silence is death.
“He has no brains, no looks, no personality, but he still thinks he’s too cool for school.”