• 0 Posts
  • 91 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
Cake day: July 5th, 2023
  • jpreston2005@lemmy.worldtoMicroblog Memes@lemmy.world•Out of OfficeEnglish
    2·
    5 days ago

    I seriously almost did this. I visited the Netherlands, and fell absolutely head over heels for their way of life. It’s so damn peaceful and free! You don’t have to worry about getting shot when you’re running errands. You don’t have to worry about going bankrupt through medical expenses. You don’t have to worry about going to jail over weed or mushrooms. You don’t have to buy a car, because bicycling infrastructure and public transportation is AMAZING.

    While I was there I met a lovely chap who is originally from England. He told me that he spent a holiday in Amsterdam, and broke his leg. So he stayed at the hospital, and afterwards, just didn’t leave. He’s been working/living there ever since.

    When it came time for me to leave, I had accidentally missed my train, and it was going to be some extra money to switch around my flight/train to get back home, and a part of me was seriously considering just being like “fuck it” and staying. The only thing stopping me from moving there now is the knowledge that I’d have to continue paying taxes to the U.S. if I wanted to keep my citizenship while living and paying taxes in the Netherlands. 😑

    If anyone can tell me a way around this… please do, because I want to move to the Netherlands.

  • jpreston2005@lemmy.worldtoWorld News@lemmy.world•Ultra-processed foods need tobacco-style warnings, says scientistEnglish
    561·
    5 days ago

    From the study itself:

    These (UPFs) products are characterised as industrial formulations primarily composed of chemically modified substances extracted from foods, along with additives to enhance taste, texture, appearance, and durability, with minimal to no inclusion of whole foods.

    What is a “whole food?”

    I looked further into the paper they used to classify UPFs

    A practical way to identify an ultra-processed product is to check to see if its list of ingredients contains at least one item characteristic of the NOVA ultra-processed food group, which is to say, either food substances never or rarely used in kitchens (such as high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated or interesterified oils, and hydrolysed proteins), or classes of additives designed to make the final product palatable or more appealing (such as flavours, flavour enhancers, colours, emulsifiers, emulsifying salts, sweeteners, thickeners, and anti-foaming, bulking, carbonating, foaming, gelling and glazing agents).

    So I guess a “whole food” is a food that doesn’t contain High fructose corn syrup or additives. But if they are making this direct link between ultra-processed foods and increased mortality, then surely it’s these specific substances that are responsible for it? So why aren’t we banning high fructose corn syrup and these additives?

    Surely it doesn’t need to be more complicated than that?

    “What happens when we eat these substances?”

    “we tend to die more quickly then if we didn’t eat them.”

    “so let’s ban these substances.”

    “OK.”

  • jpreston2005@lemmy.worldtoA Boring Dystopia@lemmy.world•The Delusion of Advanced Plastics Recycling
    1·
    11 days ago

    In Europe, they do a much better job at recycling, because they drive home the importance of sorting the material you recycle yourself. There are multiple bins for different types of recyclable materials, whereas in the US it all goes into a big blue bin. Glass, tin, aluminum, paper, and every kind of plastic, all in one bin. Conventional recycling, that involves shredding the plastic into pellets, and then reforming them into a usable container, is 55-85% effective.

    I feel like all we really need to do is advance recycling at the community level, with different bins. Subsidize mechanical recycling while regulating/limiting use of new plastic in packaging. If your product needs plastic packaging in order to ship, then a regulation should require that packaging be at least a certain percentage recycled. Additionally, they can enact rules around the right to repair your own devices, that could pave the way for legislation aimed at curbing “planned obsolescence” and the production of single-use electric devices like vape pens.

  • jpreston2005@lemmy.worldtoWorld News@lemmy.world•Greek coastguard threw migrants overboard to their deaths, witnesses sayEnglish
    77·
    15 days ago

    Wow. The video of the Greek official, denying everything during the official interview (whilst seeing video of a migrant woman and her child, forced onto a boat by armed men, who were then left in a dinghy to float towards Turkey), then caught with a hot mic during the break, talking to a colleague, saying:

    “I haven’t told them much, right? It’s very clear, isn’t it. It’s not nuclear physics. I don’t know why they did it in broad daylight… It’s… obviously illegal. It’s an international crime.”

    This migrant crisis will only get worse.

  • jpreston2005@lemmy.worldtoWorld News@lemmy.world•Toyota apologizes for cheating on vehicle testing and halts production of three modelsEnglish
    16·
    28 days ago

    Also Monday, Toyota’s Japanese rival Mazda Motor Corp. reported similar irregular certification testing, and halted production of two models, the Roadster and Mazda 2. It said incorrect engine control software was used in the tests.

    Mazda, based in the southwestern city of Hiroshima, also acknowledged violations on crash tests on three discontinued models. None of the violations affect the vehicles’ safety.

    Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co. also apologized Monday for improper tests, such as those on noise levels and torque, on a range of models. Honda said affected older models — the Accord, Odyssey and Fit — are no longer in production. The safety of the vehicles is not affected, it said.

    Dang, did they all coordinate beforehand? When all of your countries top automakers all admit to wrongdoing on the same day… well I can’t think of punchline to this obvious set-up right now but I’ll come back to it

  • jpreston2005@lemmy.worldtoTechnology@lemmy.world•Boeing Will Launch Starliner With Helium LeakEnglish
    3·
    29 days ago

    Morton Thiokol

    you mean Allan McDonald?

    Interestingly enough:

    The focus of the commission’s investigation shifted to the booster rocket O-rings, and the concerns and efforts of McDonald and his engineers to stop the launch which were ignored by NASA officials. McDonald’s comments to the commission led to him temporarily losing his position with Morton Thiokol, being demoted.

    The presidential commission was alarmed at Morton Thiokol’s decision to punish McDonald and introduced a joint resolution that threatened to prevent Morton Thiokol from receiving further contracts from NASA. Given the commission’s threat, Morton Thiokol promoted McDonald to vice president and tasked him with improving the rocket joints that failed during Challenger’s launch.

    Perhaps the U.S. govt needs to step in again to right the ship at boeing. Well, I’m being coy, of course the U.S. gov’t has to step up and do something. Companies should never be some sacred cow that we’re afraid of upsetting.

  • jpreston2005@lemmy.worldtoTechnology@lemmy.world•Arizona woman accused of helping North Koreans get remote IT jobs at 300 companiesEnglish
    321·
    2 months ago

    Christina Marie Chapman, 49, of Litchfield Park, Arizona, raised $6.8 million in the scheme, federal prosecutors said in an indictment unsealed Thursday. Chapman allegedly funneled the money to North Korea’s Munitions Industry Department, which is involved in key aspects of North Korea’s weapons program, including its development of ballistic missiles.

    Part of the alleged scheme involved Chapman and co-conspirators compromising the identities of more than 60 people living in the US and using their personal information to get North Koreans IT jobs across more than 300 US companies.

    Dey Terker’ Jerbs!