Daniel Dvorkin @medigoth@qoto.org

@Pat Heh. Most of that was probably infant mortality, to be fair. And older children and adults at any point in their lives were a lot more likely to die by misadventure, infectious disease, or environmental causes, than we are now. I suspect the lifespan for people who manage to avoid *external* causes of death really hasn't changed much throughout the history of the species.

But yeah. Just because they ate a certain way, based on what they could get at the time, doesn't mean that was the ideal diet! Same for other species, really, e.g. all the "this is the natural diet for your dog or cat" pet food.

In fairness, I should add that I do know people who have found certain aspects of the #paleodiet work well for them. Weight loss, lower blood sugar, etc. Okay: I think the ideal #diet is very much an individual thing, and people who are measurably healthier when they eat a certain way should absolutely eat that way! But when it becomes an #evangelical #religion, it ceases to have any possible medical value.

This makes a great deal of sense to me. Our ideas about which #foods and methods of preparation are tasty vs. disgusting are *deeply* cultural, even in today's relatively homogenized world.

Much more so when our #ancestors lived in widely separated groups, in vastly different environments, and making use of whatever they could get was the only alternative to #starvation. Humans are the omni-est of #omnivores, and we assign cultural significance to practically everything we do.

Also, I'm always just happy to pass on any news that demonstrates how much the modern idea of the "#paleo diet" is bullshit. That's a pretty strong preference on my part, but I don't claim it as a cultural universal. 😉

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/meat-rotten-putrid-paleo-diet-fire-neanderthal

Via an old #USAF #medic friend: a picture from my much younger days. My head looks weirdly small. Perhaps I was hoping the jolt would blow it back up to normal size.

I can date this one pretty precisely. It's at the #RAF #Upwood #clinic, where I arrived in June 1990, and shaved off the mustache within a few months. Also, I'm wearing whites, which I only did at the Primary Care Clinic, where I was first assigned. In the Acute Care Clinic, where I was from October of that year on, we wore BDUs. So it has to be somewhere in that time frame.

That kid, he's not me. Better in some ways: energy, optimism, idealism, openness to new experiences. Worse in others: temper, stubbornness, a certainty of his own rightness taken to absurd extremes. It takes some growing up to learn the difference between opinion and truth. Uncle Sam was not always pleased with the process.

But I remember him fondly, and wish him well. Given the number of people who were close to him then and are still here now, I guess they do too. I'm glad.

@realcaseyrollins @freemo "Thanks for letting me know when to stop reading" is a rhetorical device, of course. I did read your entire post. And *if* I saw evidence of what you describe in #1, I'd agree with your final point.

But so far I haven't. What I have seen is a whole lot of conservatives labeling as "progressive activists supporting child pornography and involving children in sexual performances" things that really aren't, e.g. the tempest-in-a-teapot "drag queen story hour." If you present actual evidence—from reliable sources, not right-wing propaganda sites, to be clear—I'll try to evaluate it fairly.

BTW, there *are* people making children put on sexual performances ... in the child beauty pageant world. I don't claim to know, but I'd guess most of the adults who put those events on aren't "progressives."

@freemo It occurs to me that it might be fairly easy to get the data, at least as far as *convicted* offenders go. I don't actually know what information is available on sex offender registries, but if they include empoyment at the time of conviction, one could download the data and gather the relevant statistics. Otherwise it would be a hell of a research project.

I'm curious enough about this that in the first case, I might actually do it, and if so I'll post the results here. But really I should probably get back to the kind of statistics they pay me for. 😀

@realcaseyrollins @freemo No. If you genuinely believe what you wrote in item #1, provide some evidence.

@realcaseyrollins @freemo Casey, thanks for letting me know when I could stop reading with the first few words of your first "point."

@freemo I don't have the data. I was hoping maybe you did. :)

If neither of us has the numbers, of course to some degree we're just blowing smoke. But I will say I personally know an alarmingly large number of people who suffered exactly that type of abuse, and never got justice for it.

@freemo "religious conservatives of all denominations," I should have specified.

@freemo How about youth pastors, teachers at church schools, et al.?

I agree that the Catholic church has been scapegoated (probably shades of ancient anti-Catholic prejudices in general). They've covered up plenty of abuse, but they're certainly not the only offenders, and probably not the worst ones. My point is that these days, religious conservatives in the US label things like teaching LGBTQ kids to be comfortable in their own bodies as "grooming" ... while having an *extremely* well-documented history of covering up the real thing.

Most school shootings are inexplicable to anyone but the killer or killers. This one may not be: https://twitter.com/xxclusionary/status/1640598560876920832

As soon as a friend sent me the link, before I even clicked on it, I just knew what it was going to be. Churches and church-affiliated schools covering up systematic sexual abuse of children is very nearly as common as the abuse itself.

Expect an intensification of the "groomer" rhetoric in the coming weeks. They still think they can cover themselves that way.

#church #school #shooting #schoolshooting #sexualabuse #molestation #grooming #conservative

Most likely I'm preaching to the choir by posting this here. But #covid has spawned more conspiratorial thinking than any other event I can remember in my lifetime, and that includes things like 9/11. So, in case it's useful for countering any bullshit you may encounter, here you go.

https://www.quora.com/Why-did-the-WHO-come-up-with-a-brand-new-virus-death-classification-procedure-just-for-covid-in-early-2020-What-was-wrong-with-the-pre-2020-virus-death-classification-procedure/answer/Daniel-Dvorkin-3

I was an #airman a lot longer than I was a #soldier. But I was a soldier first. There are not quite words for how much this pisses me off.

https://www.pogo.org/investigation/2023/02/documents-show-air-force-leaders-shirking-their-close-air-support-responsibilities

@trinsec Thanks!

@Rickd6 Yeah, they really don't want to answer that question. I guess that's why they have a designated "black friend" each primary cycle. 😀

Possibly the last time I'll give an honest, non-sarcastic answer to this kind of question. I've tried, for decades, and I'm just about done. Snark is practically all I have left. Consider this a brief flash of the old me.

I really doubt the questioner will pay attention, but maybe it will do someone some good. FOR ... THE ... LURKERS!

https://www.quora.com/Why-does-the-Democratic-Party-hate-white-men-so-much/answer/Daniel-Dvorkin-3

The wheels of #Mouse grind slow, but exceedingly fine.

#Disney rolled over a lot quicker than I expected when #DeSantis took #ReedyCreek away. Gloomily, I thought that meant they were giving up—calculating that it was better to alienate some large part of their customer base than to pick a fight with a terrifyingly succesful #fascist politician on his way up the ladder. Now I have a different view.

This conference presents a huge challenge for #DeathSatan. If he tries to stop it, he's in for a massive court fight... and/or persuading Dinsey that it's finally time to leave #Florida, which could happen, and would be a massive blow to the state. Maybe even enough to lose him Florida's electoral votes in the 2024 Presidential election where he clearly expects to be a candidate.

If he doesn't, he looks weak. The #Republican #Party is hopelessly committed to #performative #masculinity. The slightest appearance of weakness on the part of #SqueakyRon will give Former #President #Babyhands all the opening he needs to win the pissing contest. Forget the general: #Trump gets the nomination and DeSantis is yet another also-ran.

Me, I'll just be over here making popcorn.

I will note that it's a deeply weird feeling for me to be backing a giant corporation against a legitimately elected government, however much it galls me to admit the latter. But strange bedfellows and all that. #Stalin vs. #Hitler: sometimes you gotta pick a side.