MetaFilter

Our reactions to prostitution are steeped in what Melissa Gira Grant calls “the prostitute imaginary.” They may feel visceral, rooted in some primal disgust reflex, but often derive from a combination of American puritanism and second-wave feminist rhetoric. Increasingly, we project our helplessness in the face of capitalist exploitation onto the sex worker, using her to signify human commodification distilled to its basest form. This collective psychic baggage primes us to see certain stories as more satisfying, more palatable, and more true. from Happy Ending by Sascha Cohen [The Baffler; ungated]
posted by chavenet at 12:35 PM - 2 comments

Stuck in a World of Twin Languages and 600 Pronouns tells the story of a dimension-hopping linguist trying to understand and survive a language spoken by intelligent and/or cybernetic palm trees. Each chapter brings new orthographic and societal horrors. And yes, there's a tonal variant, since creator ZeWei has experience making songs with conlangs. [more inside]
posted by persona at 10:57 AM - 4 comments

To the sigmas of Australia, I say that this goofy ahh government have been capping, not just now but for a long time. A few of you may remember when they said "there'll be no Fanum Tax under the government I lead…" .Western Australian senator Fatima Payman delivers a speech.
posted by signal at 10:54 AM - 7 comments

With few exceptions, it is more accurate to divide most politicians into two broad categories: Enemies, and Cowards. (Hamilton Nolan's 'How Things Work' substack)
posted by box at 10:07 AM - 29 comments

27 years on, having been adopted by business woman Prue Leith, Li-Da Kruger returns to Cambodia in search of her biological parents (2001). Made by The Cambodian Film Company/FulcrumTV and directed by Tamara Gordon. This is a 12 minute short video Li-Da Kruger, the adopted daughter of British Baking Show judge Prue Leith. A full documentary chronicling her search for her birth family was released a few years ago. (article in The Guardian).
posted by bq at 9:15 AM - 1 comment

Canada is in the midst of the greatest wealth transfer of all time, as some $1 trillion passes from boomers to their millennial kids. How an inheritance-based economy will transform the country. (slMacleans) [more inside]
posted by Kitteh at 8:50 AM - 43 comments

Tumblr user baddywronglegs:

I've asked this question before and been surprised by the results, now I have access to more weirdos it's your problem:

It is the middle of a Sunday afternoon. You have nothing on, and aren't expecting visitors, deliveries or post.

Unexpectedly, there is a knock at the door.

Which of these would surprise you more to find on the doorstep? Fairy or Walrus?

Followed by bewilderment that 80% of the site apparently chose the latter. (see title) OP would later try to frame the question as 'The most reasonable impossible thing, or the most unreasonable possible thing' [more inside]
posted by Pachylad at 8:14 AM - 70 comments

Michaela Mabinty DePrince died September 10 (gift link, NYT). [more inside]
posted by BibiRose at 7:22 AM - 11 comments

Dampier island's transfer to traditional owners to support World Heritage bid, further its protection. Less than 10 kilometres from the Burrup and its billions of dollars of industry, West Intercourse Island will join Murujuga National Park to protect it from future industrial development. [more inside]
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:14 AM - 3 comments

Here are 7 translations and 7 interviews with the Lebanese author of the novel Gate of the Sun, which portrayed the lives of Palestinian refugees.
posted by toastyk at 6:25 AM - 4 comments

Motors and specially designed legs-- it brings your snacks to you. How it was designed and made
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 5:52 AM - 16 comments

Forty years ago today, Miami Vice premiered on NBC. Born out of writer-producer Anthony Yerkovich growing awareness of the practice of asset forfeiture (and not a memo by Brandon Tartikoff that said "MTV cops"), and originally imagined as a movie, the five-season, 114-episode show would revolutionize television, with People magazine saying it was the "first show to look really new and different since color TV was invented." [more inside]
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 4:25 AM - 50 comments

Portugal's Defense Minister Nuno Melo has reignited a long-standing territorial dispute, claiming that the Spanish town of Olivenza rightfully belongs to Portugal and asserting that the country will not relinquish its claim. [AA] [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 1:34 AM - 13 comments

In Britain, solar farms can benefit wildlife. [more inside]
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:33 PM - 12 comments

Over on Youtube
"Haiku Beta 5 is OUT!"
Action Retro shouts

Said right: "Be Oh Ess,"
Beta 5 brings huge upgrades
in stability [more inside]
posted by JHarris at 5:44 PM - 14 comments

How do you find the life expectancy of a California condor? Google it. Or the gross national product of Morocco? Google it. Or the final resting place of Tom Paine? Google it. There was a time, however—not all that long ago—when you couldn’t Google it or ask Siri or whatever cyber equivalent comes next. You had to do it the hard way—by consulting reference books, indexes, catalogs, almanacs, statistical abstracts, and myriad other printed sources. Or you could save yourself all that time and trouble by taking the easiest available shortcut: You could call me. from The Department of Everything by Stephen Akey [Hedgehog Review]
posted by chavenet at 2:31 PM - 15 comments

The former president is safe after a shooting at his Florida golf course Sunday, and officials believe an armed person was trying to target Trump, according to sources briefed on the matter. A local sheriff’s office says it has taken a person into custody after the gunfire at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. Please post more as you find it, I'm theoretically about to leave to drive home and this was on the TV just now.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:08 PM - 184 comments

Jane Fonda on Jimmy Kimmel, Sept 11, 2024 After a short exchange about Kamala Harris and the Orange Man (her words), she makes a compelling and immediate case for really waking up to the climate crisis. [more inside]
posted by Glinn at 12:26 PM - 7 comments

Top 100 3D Parkour Montage [more inside]
posted by Gyan at 11:26 AM - 5 comments

Billionare lifestyle parody Gstaad Guy's (Constance, and sometimes Colton) ongoing (TikTok, Instagram) series on behaviors from men who should immediately be dumped à la poubelle (all videos on TikTok). “Although they are fake people, they are very authentic to their values and characters. It’s either excellent or it’s à la poubelle . . . ”
posted by spamandkimchi at 9:26 AM - 9 comments

Native title claim spanning 95,000 square kilometres (23,475,011 acres) recognised by Federal Court in Western New South Wales. In an open-air courtroom set up in a nature reserve at Cobar, families from the Ngemba, Ngiyampaa, Wangaaypuwan and Wayilwan peoples secure one of the largest native title claims in the region's history.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 6:44 AM - 6 comments

The data on extreme human ageing is rotten from the inside out. Ig Nobel prize winner Saul Justin Newman on his paper Supercentenarians and the oldest-old are concentrated into regions with no birth certificates and short lifespans. [more inside]
posted by TheophileEscargot at 5:26 AM - 52 comments

Watch the Greenough river in Western Australia come to life as you read the stories of the people who celebrate the return of the water flow. Odyssey Story Format (mix of images, text and video) on the ABC.
posted by freethefeet at 4:25 AM - 3 comments

Greg Morton can do all the voices. I always wonder how people can do this kind of imitation. Not just one, but so many!
posted by goofyfoot at 4:00 AM - 3 comments

It seems unlikely that a system relying on hallucinated base rates and numerical simulations goes all the way to outperforming (half-decent) human forecasters in any meaningful way. from Contra papers claiming superhuman AI forecasting [Lesswrong]
posted by chavenet at 2:43 AM - 7 comments

Starting in 2017, NW Natural promoted the potential of “renewable natural gas” to counter the movement to ban new fossil gas hookups and electrify residential heating and cooking. A trove of more than 100 insider documents shows that NW Natural has done a lot less than promised in their Less We Can campaign. [more inside]
posted by Headfullofair at 8:37 PM - 12 comments

Nausea-inducing cane toad baits help freshwater crocodiles avoid poisonous pest. New research shows taste-aversion therapy helps hundreds of freshwater crocodiles avoid poisoning by cane toads spreading across the Kimberley.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:24 PM - 2 comments

Produced by Sara Gibbs and Elsa Williams, The Daily Tism is an Onion-like parody news site produced by autistic people, poking fun at themselves, for themselves and people who want to laugh with them. Some headlines: "Autistic Woman Who Always Guesses Plot Twist Carefully Selects Which Movie To Ruin," "Pasta Dish Murdered By Sauce and Cheese Being Mixed In," and "Autistic Man Concentrating So Hard On Listening He Can't Hear A Single Fucking Word You're Saying." [more inside]
posted by JHarris at 4:02 PM - 31 comments

Do you like the New York Times' Spelling Bee? Try Eightile for a [timed] variant, in Spanish or English.
posted by chavenet at 3:41 PM - 26 comments

The Conversation: Earthquake scientists detected an unusual signal on monitoring stations used to detect seismic activity during September 2023. We saw it on sensors everywhere, from the Arctic to Antarctica. We were baffled – the signal was unlike any previously recorded. Instead of the frequency-rich rumble typical of earthquakes, this was a monotonous hum, containing only a single vibration frequency. Even more puzzling was that the signal kept going for nine days. [more inside]
posted by ShooBoo at 3:35 PM - 7 comments

Senay Boztas (The Art Newspaper, 09/03/2024), "Rijksmuseum acquires controversial early botanic book on Suriname" (ungated): "Maria Sibylla Merian's 1705 Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium [Latin, Dutch, Dutch counterproof] is considered a 'high point' of early printing ... More recently, the contemporary artist Patricia Kaersenhout superimposed images of prominent Carribbean-born people onto images from the book, and made a series responding to the 'erasure' of local people's names from the botanist's work." Intros to Merian: The British Museum, The Natural History Museum, The Royal Society, and the NYT (ungated). Overview of her books. Other works online. Intros to Kaersenhout: Kunstverein Braunschweig, AWARE, The Bonnefanten, and metropolis m. Other works and video online.
posted by Wobbuffet at 12:14 PM - 6 comments

How a former content moderator thinks about the job. (SLWaPo gift) Content warning for animal abuse.
posted by box at 10:03 AM - 22 comments

@HidingInPrivate's video "How the GOP Lies to Us: The Trump Economy" fact checks GOP claims in the 2024 platform, and found it with holes big enough you can probably drive a Star Destroyer through... Some examples to follow: [more inside]
posted by kschang at 8:35 AM - 9 comments

We can’t live without air. We can’t live without water. And now we can’t live without our phones. Yet our digital information systems are failing us. Promises of unlimited connectivity and access have led to a fractionalization of reality and levels of noise that undermine our social cohesion. Without a common understanding and language about what we are facing, we put at risk our democratic elections, the resolution of conflicts, our health and the health of the planet. In order to move beyond just reacting to the next catastrophe, we can learn something from water. from Stop Drinking from the Toilet! [Coda] [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 4:33 AM - 14 comments

The way teenage girls speak is often derided, but they are in fact our linguistic trailblazers. Teenage girls are the main accelerators of how language changes and evolves. It's a reminder that the most influential people in our society aren't always the most obvious.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:15 PM - 61 comments

Bradbury and Huston met at Romanoff’s restaurant on Rodeo Drive, a posh midcentury Beverly Hills establishment frequented by Hollywood’s elite. There, Bradbury, never afraid to wear his fannish affections on his sleeve, professed his admiration for Huston and his oeuvre. Indeed, he went even further, boldly proclaiming to Huston that he believed they were destined to work together. He had carted copies of his books along that night—Dark Carnival and The Martian Chronicles, as well as a prepublication copy of his latest collection, The Illustrated Man. Sliding them across the table, he told Huston: “If you love my books half as much as I love you, give me a call.” from I … Am Herman Melville! by Sam Weller [LARB]
posted by chavenet at 5:12 PM - 19 comments

Giant jewel encrusted fruit sculptures by Kathleen Ryan
posted by lucidium at 4:55 PM - 8 comments

The 2024 Ig Nobel Prizes have been announced! This year's theme: Murphy's Law. Death by pigeon! Life imitating artificial life! Hair swirls! Improving placebos! Dead fish swimming! Reverse farting? Coin flip odds! Drunk earthworms! Old people and bad record keeping! Cows spewing milk! [more inside]
posted by Pronoiac at 12:25 PM - 20 comments

It locks them into an e-book ecosystem designed to extract as much money as possible while harvesting (and reselling) reader data en masse. "This decision harms libraries. It locks them into an e-book ecosystem designed to extract as much money as possible while harvesting (and reselling) reader data en masse. " [more inside]
posted by mecran01 at 11:02 AM - 23 comments

Science communicator Rebecca Watson pointed out that what J D Vance and Donald Trump repeated and amplified about supposed Haitain Immigrants eating people's pets are not just lies... but historical Nazi "blood libel"... started by ACTUAL current Neo-Nazis in Springfield (at Anti-Haitian Rallies)... they've dragged grieving parents into the hate campaign as well. You can find the transcript of that Youtube episode here, but I'll summarize the points below... [more inside]
posted by kschang at 10:27 AM - 87 comments

"An international team of geneticists has found evidence that this famous cautionary tale never actually happened. The true story of Rapa Nui (named Easter Island by colonial Europeans) is not one of self-inflicted population collapse, the new findings suggest, but of cultural resilience. In the 1600s, it seems that the ancient people of Rapa Nui were not utterly isolated on their island, and it is clear that they did not overexploit their resources to the point of 'ecocide'." Genetic Evidence Overrules Ecocide Theory of Easter Island Once And For All.
posted by mittens at 8:58 AM - 48 comments

Help Fund Metafilter! In its typical low-key style, this middle-aged online community launched its annual fundraiser last month. You can contribute to a cookbook, set up a recurring contribution, or donate via GoFundMe. [more inside]
posted by Winnie the Proust at 7:59 AM - 32 comments

Here is what we know about the effects of the Supreme Court’s decision curtailing race-based admissions at selective universities. And why many experts and administrators are baffled. By Anemona Hartocollis and Stephanie Saul (Gift link).
posted by bq at 7:27 AM - 56 comments

If the Wind Tree is deemed tall and large to occupy an allotted space, Wind Palm may be an ideal alternative. It is made up of three to five steel trunks & branches with 18 to 30 rotating leaves[ ]with the option of adding the solar panels at the bottom of the leaves for extra energy generation [designboom] [more inside]
posted by HearHere at 7:25 AM - 12 comments

SCROLLBARS – A guide on overriding native scroll behavior to provide your own objectively better experience. [more inside]
posted by Wolfdog at 6:22 AM - 24 comments

Once destined for the tip, these low-grade blueberries are being turned into wine. A food recycling charity has taken blueberries destined for the tip to create a zero-alcohol wine alternative, which is now being served in restaurants and ultimately helping feed more people.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 2:30 AM - 15 comments

Fire has been our primary source of energy for over a million years, providing the essential heat needed to survive. This reliance on fire made sense when our principal energy needs were purely for heat. However, today’s energy demands have evolved far beyond this primal necessity. Unlike in past millennia, we now require more work than heat: we desire mobility, motors, electrical appliances, and data processing in greater quantities than we do warmth. Despite this transformation over the past century from heat demand to work demand, our fundamental energy supply methods have not changed much, and are still mostly heat generation. This has led to incredible inefficiency.... We need energy sources fit for an era of work demand, not heat demand. Fortunately, thanks to the rapid growth and cost decline of solar, wind, and electrification, “firepower” faces inexorable decline. from Energy after Fire [Rocky Mountain Institute]
posted by chavenet at 1:01 AM - 11 comments

“To hear Helen speak for herself is wild,” says Andrea Patterson, who plays Helen [getty] [more inside]
posted by HearHere at 7:41 PM - 7 comments

Fracking ban takes effect in Queensland's Channel Country, protecting one of the most unique river systems in the world. It took 10 years, but Channel Country communities say they're relieved and overwhelmed as a promised ban to prevent future fracking projects in the precious river system becomes official.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 3:25 PM - 2 comments

Meet DebunkBot: an AI chat bot that provides factual explanations and counter-evidence for these conspiratorial events. It's strength appears to be that the LLM is inexhaustible and will argue indefinitely. They found that the targeted dialogues resulted in a relatively durable 20% decrease in the misinformed beliefs, which is better than similar dialogues with humans. Science has published the paper, Durably reducing conspiracy beliefs through dialogues with AI as well as a perspective on this research. [more inside]
posted by zenon at 1:50 PM - 32 comments