July 2
Aboriginal ritual passed down over 12,000 years, cave find shows
Two slightly burnt, fat-covered sticks...... discovered inside an Australian cave are evidence of a healing ritual that was passed down unchanged by more than 500 generations of Indigenous people over the last 12,000 years, according to new research.
Reviving medieval farming offers wildlife an unexpected haven
Nature’s ghosts: how reviving medieval farming offers wildlife an unexpected haven. Agriculture is often seen as the enemy of biodiversity, but in an excerpt from her new book Sophie Yeo explains how techniques from the middle ages allow plants and animals to flourish.
History of Urology
The British Association of Urological Surgeons has a Virtual Museum. You can navigate through the timeline or visit rooms in the museum, including the toilets. Exhibits include instruments and diseases and procedures. [more inside]
Flushed with nuisance and trespass
When MegaCorps collide, the UKSC must decide. Judgment today finds [11m of elderly gent reading a script] that the Manchester Ship Canal is not obliged to accept "trespass and nuisance" in the discharge of untreated sewage from United Utilities simply on the grounds that it has no standing in law. [more inside]
don't have energy for this
Amazon Web Services is reportedly making a deal for electricity from a nuclear power plant [quartz] [more inside]
Mutual aid: Resources and examples
Scholar Jessica Gordon Nembhard says in her book, Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice, that mutual aid societies were a cornerstone of African-American communities. A notable one is the Free African Society, formed in Philadelphia a decade after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. By 1830, more than a hundred mutual aid societies existed in Philadelphia alone. So drawing from existing knowledge instead of reinventing the wheel, this article is a guide to starting or increasing the capacity of, a mutual aid network. Start small and start anywhere with a core team. It’s OK to not have a grand plan to save the world when starting a mutual aid network. In fact, it’s better if you don’t—mutual aid is a complex, emergent process where each member’s abilities and ideas are respected. It also operates on a local scale. Not knowing all the answers—and being able to admit that—is a good start. From Aaron Fernando writing in Shareable. [more inside]
This was Mike Mew ... he was the glamorous dentist.
Mike Mew is the head of the closest thing dentistry has to a cult. This was not true when I was nine but it is now. Mike and his father, John, believe that in humanity there is currently an epidemic of ugliness. They promise that you can build yourself a new and strong and masculine jawline, basically just by swallowing different. They call this mewing. His New York Times profile calls him a “celebrity to [the] incels,” but girls like him too. He has obtained adoration on both 4chan and TikTok. Mewing is a big thing, a real phenomenon. Mike Mew also has, at time of writing, an ongoing misconduct hearing for, among other things, making a six-year-old boy wear head, neck, and inside-mouth appliances that allegedly led to the child being in so much pain he had “seizure-like episodes.” I was Mike Mew’s patient from ages nine to fifteen, or thereabouts. This all started in 2005.
Neoliberalism came wrapped in an ideology of freedom and choice
July 1
A browser is born
Ladybird: A new cross-platform browser project - "The Ladybird browser came to life on July 4th [2022]"* and now today Announcing the Ladybird Browser Initiative via Simon Willison: "Andreas Kling's Ladybird is a really exciting project: a from-scratch implementation of a web browser, initially built as part of the Serenity OS project, which aims to provide a completely independent, open source and fully standards compliant browser." (previously)
Beachcombers Discover Rare, DeepSea Anglerfish Washed Up on Oregon Coast
Beachcombers Discover Rare, Deep-Sea Anglerfish Washed Up on Oregon Coast. (Smithsonian Magazine.) Most humans will never see a Pacific footballfish, as the creatures live at depths of 2000 to 3300 feet below the ocean’s surface.
“You get me?”
It’s in this moment that Welch’s perfect onomatopoeia eclipses whomever she may be. Her interior life, her desires, her fears, her being — it all fades away because she’s produced such a rich and accurate sound effect for a specific kind of fellatio.
Hailey Welch is no longer. Hawk Tuah Girl is born, and the people love Hawk Tuah Girl. From Hawk Tuah Girl, explained by straight dudes [Vox] [more inside]
And She Has an Adorable Cat!
Gab Smolders is a gaming YouTuber from the Netherlands. She makes very entertaining playthroughs of a large variety of games. He cat, BB, occasionally makes an appearance. [more inside]
Death of the hiker
Lost on a dangerous trail, Leyton Cassidy’s thoughts take her down a dark path. The last picture I took of myself that day was a selfie by a wooden sign. I have on a goofy smile and my favorite baseball hat. I had stopped to eat a peach. Later, this picture would become terrifying.
The Lost Island
Time to generate the polyhedrons
There is only one city
[Image] In a chost on cohost Belarius links us to a high resolution scan he produced of a cross section of Kowloon Walled City from a 1997 book produced by japanese researchers.
![[Image]](https://staging.cohostcdn.org/attachment/11357255-b6b9-4a57-98eb-823776a4a828/KowloonWalledCityGrandPanorama.jpg){kind=link}
That's called cultural appropriation
Vincent Horn described the a recent episode of Buddhist Geeks as a departure for the podcast. He explained he would be monologuing to explain the Jhāna Drama. [more inside]
A one-person blimp
The Aéroplume is a one-person blimp, minimum-sized, that enables you to fly by flapping wings. €70 for 30 minutes. You can fly it in a hangar, or in a cave. Tom Scott takes flight.
The list of unparodied artists keeps growing shorter
What If... The Phantom Menace came out in 1987?
What If The Phantom Menace came out in 1987? 1hr 2min video from Empire Wreckers. Alternatively a 25 minute version with just the synopsis
Trump v United States
The Supreme Court has found that: "Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority. And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. There is no immunity for unofficial acts." CNN NYT WaPo
Beach Reading to Defeat the Patriarchy
“In publishing, the term used to refer to the blockbuster books published in summer... Over time, the term ‘beach read’ began to describe a certain type of book... Many times these books can be classified as ‘women’s fiction’: romance, domestic psychological thrillers, or contemporary novels featuring female characters. The term is dripping with sexist assumptions about what women read and the books women authors write. It’s a logical leap in a patriarchal society: books by women, about women, are more likely to be considered ‘light reading.’” – from Book Riot’s What Makes a Book a Beach Read? Accordingly, here are some small press books by women, about women, including Become Ungovernable, Feminism against Cisness, On Strike Against God, and 25 more. [more inside]
In Italy's Alps, scientists turn to tropical butterflies
In Italy's Alps, scientists turn to tropical butterflies to solve biodiversity crisis.
Butterflies are flying free in a picturesque forest recently created in the Italian Alps to help with biodiversity research.
Magical Retailism
Mall Wizard is (so far) two episodes of a short Youtube animated series, created by Alistair Boubli, about low-level employees Adya and A Wizard, who both work at a mall pop culture store, where the wizard keeps making magical trouble: New Guy and Children of Cotton. Episodes about three minutes each. Another project of his is Hugo's Mind Palace (14m), currenly only a pilot, also about retail shlubs trying to make ends meet. Not by Boubli, but relevant to Mall Wizard, are the animations Sunday at Castco (2 1/2 minutes) and 3 AM at SchmArby's (40s). Why are all these mages going to the mall? [more inside]
The Big Internet Math-Off 2024, Round 1, Match 1
The Big Internet Math-Off 2024, Round 1, Match 1 – Here’s the first match in this year’s Big Internet Math-Off. Today, we’re pitting Katie Steckles against Benjamin Dickman. Take a look at both pitches, vote for the bit of maths that made you do the loudest “Aha!”, and if you know any more cool facts about either of the topics presented here, please write a comment below! Overview of the 2024 edition. [more inside]
Free Browser-Based After Effects Alternative
Would the humans come for this tremendous thing they had lost?
The ship waited. The cars waited. The starfish and sea cucumbers waited, but in the meantime, they explored the smooth surfaces of the ship and the cars. They crawled over the charred flanks and squeezed into the seams of doors and trunks and hoods. An octopus took refuge in the underbelly of a Bentley. The metal and fiberglass and plastic, the wires and buttons and glass belonged to the sea creatures now. from Felicity Ace Falls Over & Sinks, Tuesday, 9am by Shena McAuliffe [Speculative Nonfiction] [more inside]
I just wanna be a winner ... and it's your free thread
As we enter the latter half of 2024, the question is: have you ever won anything? Perhaps in the tombola at a summer fete? A prize for art or poetry or writing? An election where you were a candidate? A scooter uh motorbike on a TV game show? A word game? Maybe you got lucky in life or employment, or got some free cheese, or scooped a big lottery cash prize? Winning literally, or figuratively? Happily or sadly? Or do you want to win something specific? ... Or write about whatever is on your mind, in your heart, on your plate or in your journal, because this is your weekly free thread. [Post title/inspiration by Brown Sauce from 1981]
June 30
A European wild cat was nearly extinct. Now, it is making a comeback
A European wild cat was nearly extinct. Now, it is making a comeback. The Iberian lynx is no longer classified as endangered, with one group calling it the "greatest recovery of a cat species ever achieved through conservation." [more inside]
1.41421356237
blur the boundary between fashion, sculpture and performance
Fiber artist and dancer Nick Cave is best-known for his elaborate head-to-toe Soundsuits, the first of which originated as a metaphorical suit of armor in response to Rodney King beating. He also has celebrated Black queer culture through "The Let Go" installation. Forothermore is a short documentary about his work. Previously on Mefi. [more inside]
"The Napoleon of crime"
In 1862, Adam Worth listed as "dead, he was now free to enlist once more and to claim another bounty. Like many others he got a taste for it, taking the money, deserting, re-enlisting again in another unit under another name. In the words of George Bernard Shaw, "The more things a man is ashamed of, the more respectable he is." "The words refined and gaudy, by all practical standards, contrast. But, somewhere between the ether of the two words there is a fine line that, when the words blend across that line, a rarity is created. This specimen is one of color but with an ability to control that color to his/her advantage; to sip of the grapes of life with a celebratory vigor and vim and always emanate what the Parisians call en elegance." In 1876, he stlole Gainsborough' Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire from JP Morgan's father. it wasn't until 1901 that the portrait was returned brokered through Pinkerton. "He nicknamed Worth ‘the Napoleon of Crime.’ Called Adam Worth, Alias ‘Little Adam’ by the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, you can read it here.
'A Master Thief, Irish Hostess, English Duchess, and the Origins Pan Am.'
I bring you a welcome gift with a sharp point that you may remember me
Your Boss Will Freeze Your Eggs Now
Your Boss Will Freeze Your Eggs Now There is always a market for products, from skin care to weight loss, promising to ease the angst of womanhood. Efforts to slow down the reproductive clock are no different. The business of egg extraction is thriving, among the privileged group of people who can access it.
Got a broken heart and your name on my cast And everybody’s gone at last
40 Saddest Albums of All Time (slDiscogs)
Napoleon’s Loot: When the World Decided Stolen Art Should Go Back
As museums encounter increasing claims on their collections, experts say much of the debate hearkens back to 1815, when the Louvre was forced to surrender the spoils of war. “In September 1815, Karl von Müffling, the Prussian governor of Paris, presented himself at the doors of the Louvre and ordered its French guards to step aside. Belgian and Dutch officials, backed by Prussian and British troops, had arrived to reclaim art treasures plundered by the French during the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. This moment is recognized by many scholars as a sea change in political attitudes toward the spoils of war and is seen as the birth of repatriation, the concept of returning cultural goods taken in times of conflict to the countries from which they were stolen.” Nina Siegel for the NYT. [more inside]
Do not try at home. Do not trust all deer wizards.
Found by a friend, 12 years old but still fun in an inexplicable kind of way: a deer wizard explains how to build an owl theremin (2 minutes), then demonstrates playing it (1m). (Note: the owls are wooden. No real owls are promised, nor harmed.)
detonating civilization's pillars (or idiocracy)
@drvolts: "Now, I'd like you to think about what will happen if Trump takes over, Project 2025 is implemented, & the entire federal bureaucracy (including law enforcement branches) is staffed with ideological MAGA cronies."[1] [more inside]
Can you name a Taylor Swift song? No, I can’t. I’m sorry.
I took how fast everything was moving for granted. Like, I guess this happens for everybody; this is what happens when you get famous. So I took all of that for granted but I was never like, “I’m the [expletive].” There’s no higher blessing: You make people laugh, that’s more than anything. That’s more than making them dance, making them feel drama. To look around and see that all the good things that came in my life all came from making somebody laugh? That’s a beautiful feeling, man. from Eddie Murphy is Ready to Look Back [NYT; ungated]
June 29
The hostage who made sure Ned Kelly survived his last stand
"If you shoot him, I'll shoot you": The hostage who made sure Ned Kelly survived his last stand. Constable Hugh Bracken, who insisted the infamous bushranger be captured alive, has been shunned by history. Now there's a push to honour his actions.
“But the entire tale – sausages and all – was made up by Wise.”
Gill Partington recounts the story of Thomas James Wise in the London Review of Books and the LRB Podcast. Wise was the doyen of Victorian bibliophiles, and might the most prolific literary forger in history. Thomas J. Gearty jr. wrote a brief survey of his forgeries in 1973. You can see images from Wise’s work, with explanations by librarian Alexander Johnston, on the University of Delaware Library website.
shine on, pink glitter diamond
at document scale. I took the 8.5-by-11-inch FBI pages, which were heavily redacted and punctuated with officious markings and handwritten margin notes, and splashed them with bright pink spray paint and pastel rhinestones. The spray paint points to graffiti and “tagging” (an act of reclamation), to my own lexicon of redactions and the unknowable. The crystal adornment is an impossible and tiny act of healing. I also figured pink glitter would be a kind of kryptonite to J. Edgar Hoover’s tortured ghost. [Sadie Barnette]
Kabru, too?
Feelings Over Facts: Conspiracy Theories and the Internet Novel
"Political disagreements were framed as tragic misunderstandings, easily solved with a shared understanding of the facts. This obsession with the facts, Klein and Gogarty argue, has failed." (Celine Nguyen in the Cleveland Review of Books) [more inside]
Kilo's bread mask isn't as scary, but it has holes for his eyes and nose
Frasier Meets Columbo, with voice acting
Back in October 2022, there was linked a fancomic where Frasier and Niles tried to hide Maris' (partly) accidental murder from Lt. Columbo. It's now been voice-acted (not by the original actors of course) and put on Youtube. (12 minutes) [more inside]
Why is J. Edgar Hoover on your phone?
Martin Mull, star of "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman", "Fernwood Tonight", "America 2-Night', "Mr Mom", "Roseanne" and the oft quoted cult classic - "Clue" has passed away after a long illness at the ago of 80
Dark Fungi
The land, water and air around us are chock-full of DNA from fungi that scientists can’t identify. Like dark matter, these organisms are hidden, connected with no known species—or organism. It's not just fungi; microbial dark matter makes up as much as 99% of microorganisms currently can't be cultured and studied. [more inside]
Nevermind the Billhooks
Goonhammer Historicals covers the full sweep of historical wargaming, from ancients to the world wars. They have a number of introductory articles, covering basic history and factions of various eras, and the major rulesets and miniatures available. Their 'historical representation in wargaming' article is a pretty great discussion on approaching the problematic aspects of historical wargaming. [more inside]
Fruit tree netting that can entangle flying foxes and birds now banned
Fruit tree netting that can entangle flying foxes and birds now banned in Canberra backyards.
Fruit tree netting with large holes is now prohibited in Canberra backyards, with residents facing fines of up to $800 if caught using it. Netting must now have a mesh size of 5mm by 5mm or smaller.