English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

tchrist

00:38

@Robusto Yes, I know that. And have explained it to others.

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Thank you.

Robusto

@tchrist How are things in Boulder now? On edge?

tchrist

@Robusto Rather.

Robusto

No surprise there.

Why Colorado? Columbine, Aurora, and now Boulder? That's a little close to home to seem random, I would think.

tchrist

The ex of the Aurora shooter worked at the same department at the University as I did back then.

Out there on the Aurora campus.

Robusto

Yeesh.

tchrist

00:45

The mountain west is also the heart of suicide-by-gun territory in Amerca.

Soldier of Fortune magazine was founded in Boulder County. So was the Libertarian Party, and the Green.

There are more guns in America than people. Fixing that is the only lasting solution.

You have to do what New Zealand and Australia have done.

4,000 more people died by gunshot in 2020 than in 2019.

There just wasn't much front-page coverage.

Cerberus

Let's hope they will do this.

tchrist

They will not.

It cannot be done.

And so we die.

Cerberus

Perhaps eventually, in the long term?

tchrist

Not in my lifetime, or in yours.

Robusto

@tchrist Yeah, I know.

tchrist

00:51

Nor in those of my slain townsfolk.

Robusto

Didn't Colorado used to have some kind of assault-weapon or large-magazine ban?

tchrist

The Civil War didn't fix all the things that have always been wrong in that part of the country, and it has now spread far and wide.

@Robusto FUCKING YES

Robusto

What happened?

tchrist

@Robusto washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/…

The judge put a ban on our ban the same day this jerk went out and bought him some. Something like that.

They say he passed a "state background check", for all the good that doesn't.

Robusto

Fucking NRA.

tchrist

00:54

Do it like Japan does it.

Robusto

Or Australia.

tchrist

Boulder’s Pain Is Deepened by a Lost Fight for Gun Control

Robusto

Basically we are held hostage to any idiot with the money to buy a weapon of war.

Cerberus

Did you know any of the victims?

tchrist

How Japan solves this problem.

@Cerberus No. That didn't bring as much relief as you might guess.

Cerberus

00:57

OK.

tchrist

> If you want to buy a gun in Japan you need patience and determination. You have to attend an all-day class, take a written exam and pass a shooting-range test with a mark of at least 95%.

There are also mental health and drugs tests. Your criminal record is checked and police look for links to extremist groups. Then they check your relatives too - and even your work colleagues. And as well as having the power to deny gun licences, police also have sweeping powers to search and seize weapons.

Cerberus

Colleagues, even.

tchrist

They need to find out what kind of person you are. Whether you have anger issues.

Cerberus

I approve.

tchrist

It works better than whatever we pretend to have.

Cerberus

01:00

Such a check is only done here if you want to work for the government in a sensitive position, like policeman.

But a quicker background check is done.

And you can only get a licence if you are a certified hunter anyway, I think.

I mean, if you have a hunting permit, which is not easy to get.

Robusto

@tchrist Even in Massachusetts access to assault rifles and large magazines is possible, but you have to go through the local police to get the "LC-1" permit. So there were some local chiefs who would not issue such permits, and some who issued as a matter of course.

@Cerberus Here there is a loophole called "gun shows" ... basically, anybody can sell anything at a gun show, with no background check at all. That is one of the things the Democrats are trying to do away with.

Cerberus

01:15

@Robusto Ugh, do you think they will succeed?

Robusto

They haven't so far.

The last time we had any movement on gund control was nearly 30 years ago. And that was passed with an expiration date, so the curbs we had then evaporated after 10 years.

This really is madness.

Cerberus

Why with an expiration date?

Robusto

To give some senators cover. "Well, it's only for 10 years."

And 10 years later came the Bush II administration, who promptly let it expire.

Cerberus

So they needed support by Republican senators or something?

Have guns always been allowed in America?

Robusto

@Cerberus Yeah. Who could say they were "just trying it out."

@Cerberus Pretty much. You've heard of the Wild West, haven't you? Well, that's a big part of our history.

Cerberus

01:20

Did the death rate decrease?

Robusto

Believe it or not, there are people who claim the murder of an entire 1st-grade class in Connecticut eight years ago was a hoax.

Cerberus

Perhaps it is just too hard to effect change in a large, disparate country.

Robusto

@Cerberus Good question. I don't think there was enough of a curb on the weapons that it made much difference.

Cerberus

Even so, some progress is made in a variety of other areas.

@Robusto Hmm too bad.

Robusto

Now it's Katie-bar-the-door.

Cerberus

01:24

What a bad chart.

Robusto

politifact.com/factchecks/2019/aug/07/bill-clinton/…

That's where I got it.

Cerberus

5.2 deaths/year → 4.8 → 13.4.

So there was a decrease, but the numbers are probably too low to be very significant.

The increase is marked.

Robusto

Yup.

Cerberus

One wonders in which years that increase was most prominent.

Robusto

I think after Obama came in and the Republicans became increasingly obstreperous.

Mitch

01:36

I remember, right after Obama won the first time, being taken to a big gun shop by my brother and (it was like a Walmart of gun shops in how big it was) and they had all sorts of guns still available... but... all the (rows and rows of ) ammunition was -sold out-.

but that was 12 years ago

that's not politicians, that's people doing that

Robusto

@Mitch Yeah, they were afraid they were going to get their guns taken away. That is the key: these people are afraid, and they think they need guns to protect them and their way of life.

You have to ask yourself what kind of person needs an "equalizer" ...

Cerberus

01:54

I wonder how those people became so afraid.

Robusto

Beats me.

Cerberus

Most unfortunate.

I think there is a gun issue in Brazil as well.

Bolsonaro wants more relaxed gun laws.

Mitch

02:10

@Cerberus tv and movies

M.A.R.

Yeah one form of propaganda or another

What happens? .... We all get an inbox message ... — rene Mar 14 at 21:52

Cerberus

@Mitch Really? How did that happen?

CowperKettle

A guy made a photo with a sheet of paper saying "Free Navalny" on a ski slope of the Elbrus mountain. Guess what? He and his girlfriend were arrested by a squad of police.

For "unauthorized political demonstration".

M.A.R.

"having unauthorized opinions"

Are we there yet?

CowperKettle

02:37

CowperKettle

02:49

A school pupil in Vologda was fined 30 thousand rubles for taking part in a Free Navalny rally. His family was fined an additional 100 thousand rubles for this. He was forced to change to a different school by school authorities tvrain.ru/news/…

130 thousand rubles, three monthly salaries.

M.A.R.

@CowperKettle score

CowperKettle

05:10

-2°С today

CowperKettle

05:34

CowperKettle

06:04

Word of the day: xenogender

> It seems the Universe is in a spin and has been since the beginning – a finding that goes against the current theory of how our cosmos formed. room.eu.com/news/…

CowperKettle

06:21

Sputnik V’s ugly cousin: Clinical results for Russia’s EpiVacCorona vaccine are finally here, but developers published in an obscure local journal, raising questions and concerns

I hate it when officials are letting down scientists in such a big way.

Why not come out frankly and provide all the data? It was a good clear-hearted attempt, but it has failed, or has not lived up to hopes. Instead of this, they start manipulating data, ruining people's faith in Russian science.

M.A.R.

07:41

@CowperKettle heh

@CowperKettle Yeah this bugs me so much. In some issues, governments are not so much different, heck, in some issues, for example, our government would have convincing things to say in its criticism of the eeevil west or something else where they're right. But they come up with the wackiest, most crude way of saying, sprinkled with falsehood and propaganda throughout, and the result is

people don't believe what they say even when they're right.

I suspect this is at least part of why nutjob right-wing (any instances of nutjob leftist governments?) governments around the world ran into problems with the pandemic.

@M.A.R. saying it

CowperKettle

10:23

Hard-to-find farm

Bohemian relativist

10:33

so hot

it's 17 degrees Celsius outdoors now

do you believe in intuition?

CowperKettle

+4°C here

@Bohemianrelativist Yes

Bohemian relativist

something or somebody looks intuitively indecent

CowperKettle

10:50

@Bohemianrelativist What is "intuitively indecent"?

Bohemian relativist

11:03

I don't feel kinship with mentally unrelated people.

Bohemian relativist

11:24

having a lot of money is nice.

I just saw some apartments in lease

they have living rooms

unlike the university dormitory, which has no living rooms or a place to sit outside personal rooms

these apartments cost over 1000 to rent

CowperKettle

Bohemian relativist

the dormitory half-room costs 450

the dormitory is so isolated

because there is no chair to sit outside personal rooms, it's difficult to talk with people there

actually making money is the least brain-demanding work

but it's the most hassle-demanding work

it's unfair that the most brain-demanding work in this world isn't paid more than a lot of hassle-demanding works

CowperKettle

11:42

> Improvements in motor development, cognitive functions, muscle tone abnormalities (hypotonia, poor head control, hypertonia) and epileptic seizures were reported in the largest proportion of patients.

I wonder what the meaning is of this phrase.

Could it be that this "largest proportion" only equals, say, 30%, but due to it being "the largest portion united by the alleviation of the same set of symptoms", it would still qualify as the "largest proportion", with other "portions" (united by alleviation of a different set of symptoms) being smaller?

Or am I overthinking this, and this basically means that the majority of patients experienced alleviation of these symptoms?

Rajorshi Koyal

12:50

What is the difference between process and description please tell me this.

My boss asked me to write about the EAF Process and he claims that I wrote the description

I am speaking with regard to an industrial technique

CowperKettle

13:41

washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/23/2020-shootings

Robusto

14:03

@CowperKettle People always claim they were injured by firearms in "cleaning accidents", but the fact is they were just careless. Nobody who has any competence would ever attempt to clean a gun without making damn sure they were unloaded first.

Nice clouds the other night.

M.A.R.

@CowperKettle so is that BLM hate? Why else would the rates have been really high this year?

And if it is, it doesn't paint a pretty picture at all. I'd have thought nutjobs that kill people because of a difference in political opinion would be statistically insignificant

CowperKettle

@M.A.R. I don't know. We should not forget that the US population keeps growing, which naturally increases sales. And there must be some random variation in numbers. So it may turn out lower this year

M.A.R.

That doesn't look random though

CowperKettle

Maybe some real cool gun models entered the market in 2020?

M.A.R.

You can do a q test

CowperKettle

14:08

And people decided to upgrade.

@Robusto Great! Look like Vienna sausages

Robusto

@CowperKettle The fact is, a minority of Americans are gun owners. The ones who do own guns tend to have more than one—often many more.

@CowperKettle That is the wurst comparison you could have made. lol

Only 32% of Americans own guns

M.A.R.

@CowperKettle Are you feeling hungry

Only

. . . 100 million people have guns? Wow

CowperKettle

@M.A.R. No, I just love Vienna saugages. Although I don't eat them, they are not optimal in terms of nutrition.

Cottage cheese has more protein and is healthier.

M.A.R.

Speaking of cloud shapes, I used to love cotton candy, until I overate that one time

Now I can't stand it

CowperKettle

> Additionally, a positive effect of L-Dopa/DC inhibitor treatment was reported on the level of various biochemical markers, including urinary pterins, CSF neurotransmitter metabolites and prolactin.

I wonder if the sentence means that prolactin was also measured in CSF.

M.A.R.

14:18

Nah

CowperKettle

@M.A.R. It was rare to come by, so I loved it, but my parents did not allow it.

M.A.R.

"metabolites" is a pretty broad term. It's like saying I went to that store to buy fruit and watermelons

Prolactin is a biomarker

CowperKettle

The Russian traditional candy dating back to the 16th century.

Hard candy, rooster on a stick. Made by basically cooking sugar until it liquefies and pouring it into forms.

from a Russian website happiest-children.com/en/caramel-candy-cock

M.A.R.

@CowperKettle They look so sweet I'd hate myself if I tried one

CowperKettle

A rooster-shaped lollipop? Russian boy teaches you how to make it!

►

CowperKettle

15:16

> A 54-year-old woman presented with palpitations that were relieved when she passed gas or had a bowel movement. Computed tomography revealed the presence of the transverse colon within the pericardial cavity.

The wonders of physiology

Robusto

@CowperKettle You could say that was a shitty turn of events.

CowperKettle

Before CT scan, I cannot imagine the troubles doctors faced in diagnosis.

You cannot just routinely open up a patient with a scalpel.

Robusto

@CowperKettle I had an ACL tear in my knee that went undiagnosed even after an MRI. It's amazing how often the medical determination is "We don't know."

Mitch

@CowperKettle I read all that as 'caramel candy clock' and thought, 'Yeah I can see how you'd measure time by some kid sucking on a lollipop'.

Robusto

@Mitch Do you remember Slo-Poke bars?

For the kids who wanted a piece of sugar in their mouth for four hours.

Gonna be a high-tesk mask from Razr in the future.

*high-tech

Robusto

16:16

Elton John - oven manual song

►

@RegDwigнt ^

Bohemian relativist

16:36

people sharing the same intellectual interests feel kinship

that's what is different between in academy and in industry

industrial subjects aren't as profound as academic subjects,

Mitch

17:16

@Robusto not the name but certainly that picture. the once or twice I had them I felt like they were going to pull all my teeth out it was so sticky

Bohemian relativist

17:48

can a psychiatrist understand the mind of a person who is involved in a field of which the psychiatrist doesn't have much knowledge?

M.A.R.

18:25

@CowperKettle within the WHAT

Xanne

20:37

@Bohemianrelativist They can try, because they can experience the same kinds of emotions as people with different academic or scholarly interests.

Mitch

@M.A.R. uh... Stalinist Russia? Maoist China? Cuban Cuba?

Oh ... you mean present day and with respect to covid.

can't think of any immediately

but that doesn't mean it's not possible. also it ain't over yet.

Robusto

23:59

@Mitch Yeah, those were for licking or sucking, not biting. Unless you wanted to pull out your fillings.

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