@Færd I've listened to the audio version several times. I love this book.

Word of the day: immortal jellyfish en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_dohrnii

@CowperKettle Interesting! I've downloaded the audio and been meaning to listen to it for a while. This one is not as widely read, and I should get around to it asap.

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@CowperKettle head joint theinstrumentplace.com/parts-of-the-flute It seems to be simply the first section of the three sections of the flute. Two words, which is probably why it has no one-to-one definition.

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@Xanne I found the Russian translation and added it to Multitran ))

> Dum loquimur, fugerit invida aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.

Is there a way (e.g., with tineye) to find on the web the source of one of these graphics?

@FaheemMitha oh, btw, maybe even more to the point: there is no such thing as "Christmas present" in Russia.

It's a Holy Feast. A Solemnity, even. Not a heathen consumerist shitshow that everyone will go to Hell for.

Speaking of hell,

I'm in a light-grey area right next to a dark-red area.

Ugh.

Or rather, sandwiched between a dark-red area and France, which is all zombie apocalypse all the time.

> “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett

@Xanne I usually use Google Images. Googling for "cat with a chaplet" brought up a lot of cats in chaplets

Word of the day: chaplet (wreath worn on the head)

I don't hear some of his words.

It's hard to get it by hearing.

@CowperKettle Talkin' out of turn ... that's a paddlin'. Lookin' out the window ... that's a paddlin'. Starin' at my sandals ... that's a paddlin'. Paddlin' the school canoe ... ooh, you better believe that's a paddlin'.

@RegDwigнt Oh, I didn't know that.

@Færd I've read most of Eric's stuff. I'm not sure I read all the way through "A Clergyman's Daughter", though. It's not terribly readable.

So, yes, I've read "Homage to Catalonia". Why?

Aren't the Catalans those people who are constantly try to secede?

Eric was more of a journalist and essayist than a novelist, really.

And his novels are not good choices to read if you are feeling depressed. Chances are, they'll make you feel even worse. They're mostly not even that well written.

Well, except for the last one.

Then again, he didn't have a terribly long life or career - he was dead at 46.

Though "Burmese Days" is actually a pretty interesting read. And a relatively honest and modern take on imperialism. And the descriptive passages at least are pretty good.

Though similar caveats apply - it's definitely not a cheery read.

The tone is similar to his better-known essay (or short story) "Shooting an Elephant".

I think he had a reasonably good insight into the dysfunctional dynamics of imperialism. The remnants of which were still visible in India when I was a child. Though I think India is gradually getting over it.

Though, of course "Burmese Days" isn't about India. But it's similar enough to India that a lot of things translate across.

Though Myanmar is a Buddhist country, I think. So there's that.

Though that didn't stop him being a (weak) apologist for British Imperialism. For some reason English people, no matter who they are, feel a need to defend their wretched country and its crimes.

(Excuse ramblings...)

@RegDwigнt Somehow I thought you were American.

My second run in my new running shoes

@FaheemMitha He is Russian

@CowperKettle Oh.

@CowperKettle So does that imply has done meaningful work?

@M.A.R. A very weird graphic I picked up in a pro-Trump twitter post

Somewhy socialism is shown as a source of clean energy.

Huh, I dropped the 'Trump'. That's the purest form of aversion

@M.A.R. An article from a fellow countryman, albeit an expat - counterpunch.org/2020/09/24/…

@CowperKettle what does 'somewhy' even mean?

@FaheemMitha Let's not say things we can't take back.

@FaheemMitha Hmm, once again, someone out there that says basically what I would have, but much more articulately, industructibly, unapologetically.

@M.A.R. Personally I don't think that voting for Trump is a reasonable thing to do. But otherwise I like the article. And I think that "self-expanding money" may be my new favorite expression.

I have never fathomed the support for the Israeli regime. People tend to have this cartoony image of hordes of Palestinian zombies threatening to eat Israeli brains, and that somehow excuses the numerous human rights violations of Israel

Somehow it conjures image of those old SF B movies, like "the Blob". With some gelatinous creature eating everyone.

@M.A.R. Support by who?

@FaheemMitha I'd definitely vote Biden if I were an American citizen. Even if nothing will change below the surface, the chaos that Trump's regime promises will have much direr consequences and much bigger collateral damage. Reform is much more favorable during normalcy, even if the incentive for reform is not much.

@FaheemMitha Many, many people O.o

@M.A.R. You're presumably aware he tore up at least one nuclear arms treaty. And possibly others. I've not been keeping careful track.

My life isn't worth much, but I'd prefer not to wake up one day to discover that I've been vaporized.

That's not a great way to go. Plus I wouldn't even get to have a funeral.

@FaheemMitha I'll keep saying it, JCPOA didn't change much. Might have if the companies started getting bolder before Trump tore it.

@FaheemMitha This is easy for someone who is not an American to say.

@M.A.R. Not the Iran thing. The intermediate ballistic missiles thing.

If you hate the US and want to see it destroyed, just say that.

@Robusto Pardon?

@FaheemMitha That isn't much of a possibility as long as Iran has means of retaliation against Israel

But if neoliberals are elected again, we might as well lose that card again in exchange for empty promises

@FaheemMitha The article you linked.

@M.A.R. I wasn't talking about deals between the US and Iran.

Name me a country in the world where there are no rich or poor, no powerful and powerless.

@FaheemMitha You're talking about an unhinged lunatic that might decide to nuke Tehran for fun, no?

@Robusto I didn't write the article. Just in case there is some confusion.

@M.A.R. Um, no.

@FaheemMitha You bear at least some responsibility for linking it, though. Unless your intention was to hold it at arm's length and view it through a lorgnette.

I was talking about the intermediate ballistics missile treaty, between the USA and the USSR.

That's not what the article was talking about.

@Robusto The person writing the article did admit Trump could destroy 'the US empire' from within, no?

The one that the current adminstration tore up.

@Robusto If you have a problem with the article, take it up with the author.

@FaheemMitha Uh um, scratches head How is it relevant to the current discussion?

@M.A.R. That is not all he can destroy.

@Robusto Huh? I didn't say it did.

@M.A.R. It's relevant because it makes the world less safe?

Also, basically nobody talks about it. Nuclear weapons, no big deal.

Point me to one time this was discussed publicly.

@Robusto sure I mean, but it's clear many people (even many Americans) are not so strongly holding this position as you are

@FaheemMitha I must point out that, technically, this would seem unlikely.

@Cerberus Technically, perhaps.

@FaheemMitha Oh yeah, sure. AFAIK they have just dismissed it as preventive measures or somesuch and no one's talking about them

Sure, why not just let the world go to hell? If you think things in your country can't get worse with Trump in power, I congratulate you on your imagination.

@M.A.R. Which is insane.

But we were talking about Trump vs. Biden and Iran and Israel, so that's why you lost me there

@M.A.R. Oh, ok. No, I was just speaking generally. Nuclear weapons worry me a great deal. It's also very worrying that nobody talks about them.

Sorry if I was not keeping on topic. I'm told that's a bad habit of mine.

Jumping around, I mean.

@FaheemMitha Well, just factors out of our control, no? The right people should be having these discussions, but other than the occasional visit to the topic I haven't pondered it much

I think there were like three major nuclear weapon non-proliferation treaties. And the current administration has been trying to scupper all of them.

One is this - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…

So far it seems subtler methods have been more favorable for leaders. If Putin can put in a cheeto in power, why would he resort to riskier methods? If Iranians listen to every shit VoA says without a pinch of skepticism, why would the US need to resort to more violent measures?

It's not hard to imagine politicians (and non-politicians) resorting to violence when other means fail of course. But they seem to be holding up.

The relevant bit is:

@Robusto Yeah, I certainly don't want America to suffer more damage from Trump.

> In April 2020, it was reported that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper have agreed to proceed with U.S. withdrawal from the Treaty on Open Skies.[24] On May 21, 2020, President Trump announced that the United States would be withdrawing from the treaty due to alleged Russian violations.[25]

Why isn't this part of any public discussion, anywhere?

While his foreign policy has been in some respects better than e.g. Bush and his wars, other aspects have been pretty bad. And his domestic policies are the worst ever.

I also don't understand why that dreadful Pompeo creature is allowed out loose. He's a menace.

@Cerberus My personal opinion is Trump makes us all less decent people. He's like the constant troll you would have to endure in the workplace, exhausting your mental stamina and being devoted undue attention, and keeping you on edge for an unhealthily long amount of time.

@FaheemMitha What do you mean, it wasn't? It was in the papers here.

Some of those people almost make me feel nostalgic for the GWB Aminstration.

@M.A.R. Agreed. He also kind of radicalises the opposition, and poisons general standards which ought to be kept up by all parties.

The sooner he's gone, the better. We'd be rid of this involuntary shitty reality TV

@Cerberus In the Netherlands? I was meaning as part of the election stuff. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

You mean American elections?

Can anyone point me to US coverage?

@Cerberus Correct.

It's probably not important enough compared with other topics: after all, only a few topics can receive lots of attention during an election.

So Americans don't care as much about that as about other things.

@Cerberus There are thousands of nuclear weapons in North America. They could end the world very easily. Seems pretty important to me.

Like I said earlier, would prefer not to be vaporised.

I'd prefer to die heroically, but if that can't happen, being not vaporized seems pretty good to me.

TIL of the day: Glycemic index

Check this out: academic.oup.com/jn/article/138/4/732/4665027

@FaheemMitha You may be right. But it's just not those people's priority right now.

@Cerberus To be clear, the Open Skies Treaty withdrawal thing was covered in Netherland papers? Or on TV? Or both?

@M.A.R. I hope your actual workplace is not like that.

@M.A.R. Hmm translated into practical advice? I should eat whole-grain bread in the evening? Or does that not contain enough nutritional fibres to have a substantial effect?

Or they don't know yet?

@FaheemMitha I don't watch television, but I remember reading about it in the papers.

nrc.nl/nieuws/2020/05/25/…

I remember reading this.

It was admittedly in the Opinion section.

nrc.nl/nieuws/2019/02/05/…

There was also this treaty.

@FaheemMitha Oh, I'm just a 2nd-year undergrad now. The work I've done in my life has been mostly in my mom's pharmacy

@Cerberus Eating carbs with a low glycemic index (fibers mostly, but yeah, that'd do) will help your body feel better at tomorrow's breakfast

I'd heard the advice about consuming some carbs at night. It seems counterintuitive.

@M.A.R. I might try it!

Do you think whole-grain bread would be fibrous enough?

Or does it would have to be leafy vegetables or something?

Based on personal experience, the best thing about whole-grain stuff is how full they make you feel

So you could replace some or all of the bread in your diet with the whole-grain stuff but it's not a must.

I dunno what's "fibrous enough" exactly, but whole-grain might not be it

@M.A.R. Agreed. I started eating steel-cut oatmeal in the morning and it keeps me from bonking on my rides. Takes 20 minutes to cook, but it releases the carbs so slowly it lasts me all morning.

I love pears. They're also rich in fibers I think

@M.A.R. Hmm I eat bread which contains about 4.5 g of fibres per 100 g.

Which is less than whole grain, but not bad.

Apparently, Brussels sprouts contain 4 g.

I also eat porridge, which is 10 g per 100 g.

But I add milk and sugar.

Would that still work?

@Cerberus Regrettably, there are probably not many people in North America who follow the Dutch press. Though perhaps they should.

@Cerberus sugar has a higher glycemic index, but hell, you might be eating healthier than me!

@Cerberus so the morale of the story is you could do it on certain times on evenings

Personally almost the only time I consume any sort of bread is in the morning

Hmm, I see Dutch papers have paywalls too.

I like bread. But it's hard to get good bread here. I used to get nice home-made bread from the Carrboro's farmers market once.

I suppose one could make it.

@FaheemMitha No. But I'm sure there was some coverage in America as well.

@M.A.R. Most probably not!

@Cerberus I wonder if there was.

I've just been eating chocolate...

@M.A.R. But what if I combine the high-fibre porridge with high-glycemic sugar and eat it before bed: would that still possibly have the desired effect, or would the sugar cancel it out immediately? I know nothing about biology, alas.

@FaheemMitha BBC: bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52760420

@Cerberus That's the UK.

nytimes.com/2020/05/21/us/politics/…

@Cerberus Paywall, alas. But the NY Times does have good coverage in general.

edition.cnn.com/2020/05/21/politics/…

google.com/…

I read quite a good article about India there recently. Press censorship.

Lots of coverage.

@Cerberus Most of that is either independent or foreign journalism.

What do you mean by those terms?

In any case, this should be part of any election discussion.

@Cerberus What terms?

I think you know.

Oh, and also this one - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_START#Future

@Cerberus No, I don't.

@Cerberus well, interestingly, studies suggest a sweet meal a few hours before sleep would help sleep by helping the secretion of serotonin. Right before bed, common sense dictates high-sugar stuff is not such a great idea, but I haven't read anything on that. If your blood glucose is high when you're closing your eyes, certain hormones would be secreted to store most of it as fat, and because of the said hormones and probably peaks in some other hormones, your sleep would be . . . confused

I'd not heard of this New START thing, but it seems it's relatively new.

@M.A.R. Hmm. How long would this 'confusion' last? An hour? Or eight hours?

@M.A.R. There is so much below the surface that has been gutted in the US federal government, mostly the State department (dealing with foreign interests). Other 2016 candidates were awful in their own way (eg Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush) but they weren't incompetent and would have kept things working.

@Cerberus The initial blood glucose peak would last a couple of hours only (two or three), but then it could be that a lot of insulin is secreted, reducing the blood sugar to very low levels, then the negative feedback would raise the blood sugar again, rinse and repeat. This zigzag itself an important reason sugary carbs are inferior dietary choices compared to high-fiber, low glycemic index diets. The effect could be more pronounced at sleep, or it might not, but it probably meddles with

. . . sleep quality anyway.

@M.A.R. They should just sell fiber in grocery stores directly. cut out the middle man.

I Googled it and The Guardian links to this study: jcsm.aasm.org/doi/10.5664/jcsm.5384

theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jan/12/….

@M.A.R. All right, so you think this zigzag could negatively affect sleep all night, after those first two to three hours?

> Low fiber and high saturated fat and sugar intake is associated with lighter, less restorative sleep with more arousals. Diet could be useful in the management of sleep disorders but this needs to be tested.

Hmm.

@Cerberus I'm not well-versed in sleep phases, but IIRC we experience two or three two- to three-hour cycles of sleep. One thing everyone agrees on is the brain waves at deep sleep (stage 4 or 5 of this cycle) are wirklich sehr important. What we call disturbed sleep is sleep cycles often without or with a very short duration of this deep sleep phase. A skim of the article seems to suggest sugar before sleep does this.

This whole cycle thing is why many people report daily functions with around four hours of sleep are easier than with five (both of course not as good as normal durations of sleep). Waking up after five hours usually happens when the next cycle is well into its deeper stages of sleep, four is often when two cycles are almost over.

I've read this stuff ages ago though, so even if I'm trying not to be imaginative about what I read, take it with a grain of salt. And pepper

@M.A.R. Yeah, about that: I think how you feel after waking up is different, even mostly independent of how you feel over the entire day.

You'll probably feel better over the whole day if you got five hours rather than four.

@Cerberus yeah, I'm pretty sluggish while waking up after a really good sleep

But I easily pick the pace

@M.A.R. I'm asking because my sleep usually seems OK during the first couple of hours, but not so the rest of the night. So I was wondering whether sugar could affect those last few hours.

@Cerberus Probably true, they probably used more concise terms than I did.

OK.

I'll make sure to finish my chocolate at least two hours before bed anyway hehe.

@Cerberus I remember the sleep expert also saying that it shouldn't affect sleep much if you sleep in five-hour and three-hour chunks as opposed to a straight eight hours of sleep

And I'll have a smallish bowl of porridge—no sugar—before bed, as an experiment.

@M.A.R. Uhh what is "it" here?

@Cerberus Oh, that's another rabbit hole. Theobromine is a stimulant, so it would probably be, by default, a confused sleep, sugar or not

Yeah, I know it kind of counts as caffeine.

But I'm not having a lot; it's cheap chocolate (so probable less cocoa); it's milk chocolate; and I'll probably finish it about four hours before bed.

@Cerberus well there are crazy sleep regimen out there (of course there are), some claiming that you can get the benefit of an 8-hour sleep regimen by sleeping for two hours twice or three times or something like that. He argued that the absolute amount of sleep is a very important factor, so those are false assumptions. It shouldn't be much different whether you sleep in four two-hour chunks or just 8-hours, counterintuitively, according to what he was saying.

@M.A.R. Right, I agree.

@Cerberus When this happens to me personally, it's invariably because I didn't have enough physical activity the day before

Although I suspect one or two longer stretches should be better than more but shorter ones, total sleep time being the same.

If I did do at least 40 mins of jogging during the day, I sleep like a log at night

@M.A.R. It didn't get any better when I was running every day. It's probably a combination of factors. I've tried not eating anything a couple of hours before bed. But haven't tried taking extra fibres shortly before bed yet.

@M.A.R. Yay!

We probably have different sleep issues.

Caffeine and alcohol affect my sleep adversely, or they may (it depends). But exercise I haven't notice any clear effect of, alas.

I was still shrugging off the effect of the anaesthetic agents for one year after the operation

I slept very late, and it was not sleep, I would be knocked almost unconscious, a very heavy, dreamless sort of sleep

That is long!

@Cerberus It takes a lot to tire doggies

I didn't know that was possible.

@M.A.R. Haha I'll be tired al right. But that doesn't help me sleep well.

I think each difficult sleeper may have his own particular kinds of issues!

@Cerberus Apparently it should be possible but rare, this sort of reaction to anaesthetics.

I know they often affect elderly people quite badly for a long time.

AFAIK it's a very delicate job being an anesthesiologist

Different patients with different requirements, and a slightly wrong dosage would either not knock out the patient or have adverse cardiac effects

Probably like defusing a bomb, except for several patients a day for twenty years or something.

Yeah.

There is a reason why it is a major specialism.

How trustworthy have Assange's reveals been?