What have you learned today?

[Gordon_4]

As someone who is essentially taking amphetamines most days now. At controlled doses, they don't really affect judgement at all. In fact, they can measurably improve cognitive performance. For me as someone with ADHD, I don't really feel anything at all, it's just replacing the neurotransmitters I don't get enough of naturally so the only effect is that I'm more emotionally stable and have more motivation and concentration. For someone without ADHD the effects would be a bit different, but neurotypical people take ADHD meds (which are essentially low doses of slow-acting amphetamines) in order to study all the time because they do improve cognitive performance for a lot of people.

I think the whole "meth is not a stimulant" thing probably comes from the fact that stimulants don't always make you want to run through walls, in fact stimulants can make you feel more relaxed and calm. It kind of depends what exactly they're doing to your nervous system and what the dosage is. When people use stimulants recreationally they typically want to feel high and euphoric all the time, but that's generally not the case when you're using them in other contexts.

Using meth on soldiers was probably a bad idea though.

Drugs which work like amphetamines are also used as diet pills. In fact, amphetamines used to be very common in diet pills before they became controlled substances. It's one reason why women in the 1950s were so skinny.

That and smoking.

 

[Agema]

I was always under the impression that nearly all vinyards are on hillsides. At least that is how it is done in pretty much every wine region i have ever visited. I suppose it can be done on plains, but is that really that common ?

In Europe they tend to be on hillsides, because Europe has relatively high population density and needed to squeeze everything out it could, and hillsides were traditionally used. Outside Europe, in countries with vast quantities of land for the population, they are more inclined to use plains.

Google pictures of vineyards in places like California or Australia. As is the eternal reality of the USA's cultural dominance, it is easy to be more familiar with what Californian vineyards look like than French, Italian etc.

 

[Agema]

As someone who is essentially taking amphetamines most days now. At controlled doses, they don't really affect judgement at all. In fact, they can measurably improve cognitive performance. For me as someone with ADHD, I don't really feel anything at all,

Amphetamines and methylphenidate should affect your judgement: if they didn't, they wouldn't be any use. It's more that they alter your judgement in ways that are more beneficial than harmful, and they do not tend to cause the often more extreme forms of poor judgement associated with substance abuse. And yes, they will increase aspects of cognitive performance at modest doses.

it's just replacing the neurotransmitters I don't get enough of naturally so the only effect is that I'm more emotionally stable and have more motivation and concentration.

This is a simplification - it would be more accurate to say that there is some sort of loss of efficacy in the neurotransmitter (dopamine, basically) pathway. For instance, in some people the levels of dopamine might be normal, but the response of brain cells to dopamine might be unusually weak. Or for some, perhaps a much more complex issue, and increasing dopaminergic signalling just happens to be useful for whatever reason.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Pilots got regular rest but also needed to be on call at a moment's notice and sometimes had to fly quite long hours, hence giving them a stimulant if they were a little groggy, but it could only be issued by a medical officer, unlike in the Wehrmacht where everyone had it all the time. Everyone involved realised fairly quickly that having your troops all addicted to meth was a bad idea and stopped, except for the USAF.

Haven’t they watched Breaking Bad?

But seriously, I guess popping some uppers wasn’t fast-acting enough, or cocaine was too harsh. Also FFS, the USAF should probably change their slogan to “Flying higher than you think…” or something.

 

[09philj]

Haven’t they watched Breaking Bad?

But seriously, I guess popping some uppers wasn’t fast-acting enough, or cocaine was too harsh. Also FFS, the USAF should probably change their slogan to “Flying higher than you think…” or something.

Apparently they did stop giving pilots meth after those two wired pilots killed four Canadian soldiers in a friendly fire incident in 2002, although they still give pilots "go pills" in some other formulation, probably some other kind of amphetamines. (Although giving pilots meth in 2002 was quite clearly far too late considering how aware everyone was about the side effects in the 1940s but the US military has always tried to forge it's own, wrong, path.)

 

[Terminal Blue]

Apparently they did stop giving pilots meth after those two wired pilots killed four Canadian soldiers in a friendly fire incident in 2002, although they still give pilots "go pills" in some other formulation, probably some other kind of amphetamines.

According to wikipedia, the preferred drug nowadays is Modafinil, which can suppress the need for sleep with fewer risks than amphetamine.

But it is the free online encylopedia which anyone can edit, so grain of salt.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Apparently they did stop giving pilots meth after those two wired pilots killed four Canadian soldiers in a friendly fire incident in 2002, although they still give pilots "go pills" in some other formulation, probably some other kind of amphetamines. (Although giving pilots meth in 2002 was quite clearly far too late considering how aware everyone was about the side effects in the 1940s but the US military has always tried to forge it's own, wrong, path.)

For somewhat related and ironic trivia, Elvis Presley’s pill addiction began by taking uppers in the army on night maneuvers. When he died (mostly) from prescription drug abuse nearly two decades later, John Lennon remarked to the news, “Elvis really died the day he went in the Army. That’s really when they killed him. The rest was a living death.”

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Today I learned that the "Jay-kwellin" sketch from Key and Peele has a sequel that is painfully less funny.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Tom Cruise just 1-up’d Christian Bale -

Leah Remini and Other Ex-Scientologists Slam Tom Cruise's COVID-Safety Rant

Former members of the controversial church say that calling Cruise a hero glosses over the alleged dark side of his religion.

www.newsweek.com

Also, why hasn’t Scientology been called out, investigated and dismantled yet?

"This abusive side of TC [Tom Cruise] is not often seen," Rinder tweeted on Wednesday. He then suggested that Cruise was parroting the language Scientology leader David Miscavige allegedly uses when scolding subordinates. "He learned from his buddy David Miscavige. Sounds just like him—same language, same inflection, same 'I have the world on my shoulders and you are f**cking me over' routine...He probably leaked this thinking it makes him sound tough."

The audio of Cruise was obtained by The Sun, a U.K. tabloid. In it, he vents about protocol not being followed: "I don't ever want to see it again! Ever! And if you don't do it, you're fired! If I see you do it again, you're f**king gone. And anyone on this crew does it, that's it! And you, too. And you, too. And you. If you ever do it again, that's it!"

Rinder's tweet was in response to posts from journalist Yashar Ali, who on Tuesday wrote (in part) that people should not praise the actor because "he's the chief enabler of a criminal organization that has destroyed people's lives, bankrupted and separated families, led to people being imprisoned, forced women to have abortions against their will," and "led people to die after being forced to follow dangerous pseudoscience."

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

Also, why hasn’t Scientology been called out, investigated and dismantled yet?

Money. Lots and lots and loooooooooots of money.

Untouchable? Scientology’s 60-year plan to protect itself from the law | The Underground Bunker

tonyortega.org

Scientology’s long history of facing external opposition — from governments, law enforcement agencies, and medical organisations — has left a deep mark on its structure and outlook. Its predecessor, Dianetics, collapsed in a welter of unpaid bills and lawsuits. Hubbard set about making his new Scientology organisation invulnerable to external pressure. His goal was threefold: to deflect, deter, and defeat any external opponent.

Scientology’s approach to deterring conflict has a lot in common with that of a porcupine: Look dangerous, make threatening noises, and inflict severe pain on an enemy if necessary. Governments potentially have a huge amount of power, but they are constrained by laws, regulations, and resources. (And rightly so; it’s the reason our societies don’t look like, say, China.) Scientology has found ways of leveraging the law and its opponents’ weak points to deter and defeat them.

From Scientology’s perspective, it is obviously best to avoid any issue becoming the subject of an investigation. Most problems start out locally, so a top priority for any Scientology org is to carry out what L. Ron Hubbard called “safepointing” — getting close to local politicians, police officers, and other influential figures who could cause trouble for Scientology or, alternatively, help it to avoid problems. Hubbard told Scientologists to “carefully and painstakingly find out who exactly are the top dogs in the area in financial and political circles, and their associates and connections, and to what each one is hostile … Viability [of Scientology] depends on having all areas and persons who could affect or influence the operation under PR control.” Outreach to police departments, such as in Los Angeles or Clearwater, are examples of “PRO [Public Relations Officer] Area Control” in action.

Safepointing is a continuous, carefully planned and well-resourced activity. As Hubbard himself said, “the safe point takes consideration over active defense but takes even greater consideration over delivery operations.” While it’s not unusual for organisations to engage with the wider community as part of their outreach activities, it is notable that Hubbard describes safepointing entirely in terms of protecting Scientology and makes no mention whatsoever of any benefit to society. He clearly saw it as a means of obtaining protection by cultivating powerful allies. Hubbard pursued this tactic personally during his Mediterranean voyages, wooing the political elites of Corfu and Morocco in an effort to get them on Scientology’s side.

While Scientology’s poor public image might make it seem that the church’s friendship would be a liability, it does have some significant assets. Its great wealth enables it to make large donations to causes that its allies care about, its supply of effectively free labor from its members enables it to carry out PR activities that help its allies and it can exploit its celebrity members to dazzle those it wants to get onside (as Leah Remini can probably testify). In US cities, it can make friends with the police by hiring officers to work as security guards while off duty. Scientology can, entirely legally, funnel thousands of dollars into individual officers’ pockets; it would only be human nature for those officers to feel grateful or indebted to the church as a result. Scientology can also play politics: In Greece, files seized by police from the church’s Office of Special Affairs revealed that it fed information to political opponents of its targets, much as it did in the 1980s when it collaborated with conservative groups to attack the IRS.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Money. Lots and lots and loooooooooots of money.

Untouchable? Scientology’s 60-year plan to protect itself from the law | The Underground Bunker

tonyortega.org

Some of that still screams “illegal” though that they set up a plan to basically give them diplomatic immunity from anything questionable they do. I suppose if no one cares enough to oppose them though then nothing will change.

One would think with all the collective opposition they still have that it would be possible to confront and put a stop to it. Surely they don’t have that much cash.

 

[Gordon_4]

Ed Asner, Hudson of Gargoyles and Granny Goodness in the DCAU - and hundreds more voice and live action credits I’m forgetting - has passed away peacefully in his sleep at age 91

 

[Dalisclock]

Apparently a bunch of German Nobility fell into a literal shit pit about 850 years ago and drowned in feces because the floor of the church they were meeting in collapsed. Also someone thought it was a good idea to have a giant shit pit under the church.

Someone in the comments pointed out that they could at least just shovel dirt on top of it and call it a mass grave, since the ground was already consecrated. Not being catholic or clegy I have no idea if that's actually a feasible idea on religious grounds, as practical as it would be.

The humanitarian in me finds it tragic. The lover of dark comedy in me finds it a least a little hilarious. 850 years having passed since then also contributes to this.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Jupiter, the King of Planets, has immense atmospheric pressure and, a fuzzy core -


One of the comments said its immune system is doing a wonderful job making sure no humans are birthed there nor inhabit it.

 

[Chimpzy]

Jupiter, the King of Planets, has immense atmospheric pressure and, a fuzzy core -

Also, it's believed Jupiter (and Saturn) have diamond rain.

One of the comments said its immune system is doing a wonderful job making sure no humans are birthed there nor inhabit it.

On the other hand, it's also theorized that the gas giants, Jupiter in particular, may have played an indirect but vital role in life on Earth, their mass/gravity capturing a lot of the errand chunks of matter flying all over the solar system during its early days.

So, Good Guy Jupiter, vacuuming up the world-ending shit for us.

 

[gorfias]

Phil Donahue was not fired for low ratings but for his failure to be pro-war:

 

[Baffle]

Browsing a luxury furniture store and have learned about some of the insane prices rich people pay for stuff that looks like it came from IKEA.

 

[Chimpzy]

TIL that koalas have fingerprints that are so similar to a human's, they have been known to confuse investigators at crime scenes.

Which makes me believe at least one inncent person has seen prison cuz they got inadvertedly maliciously framed by a f'ing koala.

 

[Chimpzy]

Wanna know what the name for a group of jaguars is? A shadow. Yep, a shadow of jaguars, which sounds like something an edgy 12yo came up with.

Also, a shrewdness of apes, a parliament of owls, a business of ferrets, a conspiracy of lemurs, a fluffle of rabbits, and last but not least, a destruction of wild cats.

EDIT: a group of baboons is called a congress. Insert government joke here.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

Wanna know what the name for a group of jaguars is? A shadow. Yep, a shadow of jaguars, which sounds like something an edgy 12yo came up with.

Also, a shrewdness of apes, a parliament of owls, a business of ferrets, a conspiracy of lemurs, a fluffle of rabbits, and last but not least, a destruction of wild cats.

EDIT: a group of baboons is called a congress. Insert government joke here.

Those are all great collectives, gotta love the quirks of language! A personal fave recently is a "gaggle of geese"