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Physiology & Medicine / Can babies recognize themselves in the mirror?

« on: 03/06/2023 17:16:50 »

It definitely looks like they can based on their common reaction, but I wonder if they're simply thinking that they're looking at another baby.

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Just Chat! / Re: Why is Brexit a right-wing cause?

« on: 02/06/2023 15:31:35 »

....before the NHS was established.

Before the NHS, did most working-class and poor Brits rarely, if ever, visit a doctor?

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Just Chat! / Re: Why is Brexit a right-wing cause?

« on: 31/05/2023 13:46:09 »

My grandfather (right) at one of your great hospitals in 1942. 51.4977N 2.5249W

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Just Chat! / What are the funniest conspiracy theories you've ever heard?

« on: 30/05/2023 14:38:21 »

Here's a few:

1. 9.11 was perpetrated by Daffy Duck.
2. 9.11 was perpetrated by both the US and UK governments as a pretext to go into the Afghanistan mountains and mine kryptonite and sell it to extraterrestrial civilizations that want protection from surviving Kryptonians.
3. The UK originally intended to put the blame for 7.7 on England's West Country as a pretext to get rid of all the national embarrassments there. Nigel Farage proposed blaming it on the Romanians because he hates them so much.

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Just Chat! / Why do governments have such a hard time balancing their budget?

« on: 27/05/2023 14:46:22 »

This question is probably easy to answer in regard to undemocratic countries, but why is it the case in developed countries with representative governments? The US and UK could cut their military spending by 90% and oust all financially corrupt politicians and still fail at doing it.

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General Science / What causes people to distrust science?

« on: 26/05/2023 15:15:24 »

?

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / What star will humans witness to go out first: Antares or Betelgeuse?

« on: 25/05/2023 05:34:55 »

These two stars have lived a long time, billions of years, but are not one of the immortals. They're old and sick... Dying, in fact. By the standards of our existence, they probably have long to live yet. They will probably still be pulsating when the greenest among us humans, such as Princes George and Louis, Princes Charlotte, Sasha and Malia Obama, etc., have gone to our graves. But in terms of their (the two said stars) existence... time has grown short. They will turn cannibal on possibly half of their orbiting children and then finish off the other half with a beautiful supernova. What star would you put your paycheck on that humans will witness (assuming we're still here) to go out first?

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Just Chat! / Fast buck hack

« on: 23/05/2023 15:59:29 »

Go onto public transportation, particularly a subway (where people are forced to listen to you until the next stop) and say you're a disabled vet that fought in the Falklands, Afghanistan, Gulf Wars I or II, etc, and that you're a poor family man that needs a little scratch to feed them. Whether the people support the war(s) you were in or not, you will get money from many of them. After you collected the money, announce to everyone that you're actually not a vet but a method actor doing research for a work about down-on-their-luck vets, and need money to fund your broke troupe or whatever. After collecting money for that, announce that you're not an actor, but mentally insane who thinks he's an actor and cannot get adequate help due to cuts in NHS mental health funding and require money for help in the private sector

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Just Chat! / Had Germany Won World War I, would the UK had been invaded?

« on: 22/05/2023 15:03:06 »

In your opinion, if Kaiser Wilhelm II's war had gone his way, what do you think that would have meant for the British Isles? Would the British government that surrendered to the Central Powers have devised a treaty that would have successfully kept the Hun out of your sacred islands (at the cost of giving them a free hand in Europe, Africa, and across the pond)?

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Just Chat! / Why is it so easy to fool wine experts?

« on: 20/05/2023 22:37:24 »

If I didn't know any better, id say they're phony. Being fooled by white wine with food coloring makes one rethink the hobby/profession. It's almost like a cult.

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Just Chat! / Why is Brexit a right-wing cause?

« on: 18/05/2023 17:26:06 »

Brexit proponents say they don't want their laws and currency influenced or made by non-British bureaucrats in Brussels. Is it largely a nationalist/xenophobic thing?

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Just Chat! / Is going into a marriage for sex like purchasing a 747 for the free peanuts?

« on: 16/05/2023 18:51:02 »

My late father gave me what he considered to be sage wisdom. "Marry your best friend, not someone that is good at sex and has a good naked body", he said. "If you do the latter", he continued, "you'll get bored of her."

Also, what exactly is "true love"? Perhaps largely invented by French troubadours?

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Physiology & Medicine / Re: At what age did you (or plan to) talk to your kids about sex?

« on: 11/05/2023 13:01:49 »

Not according to Hollywood. I've often wondered how Americans manage to reproduce without removing their underwear.

Sex with your underwear on can happen, as briefs almost always have a penis door in them.
When you see a scene in a movie where a character is engaging in the sex act, the actor's penis is often covered for a variety of reasons. Such as filmmakers wanting a PG-13 rating instead of an R, or actors simply don't want people to see their penis. In films, it is inevitable that a few goofs will surface, such as revealing that the actor is not actually naked.

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Physiology & Medicine / At what age did you (or plan to) talk to your kids about sex?

« on: 10/05/2023 20:35:58 »

Where I'm from if you admit that you learned about sex from your parents, you're not fit to hang out with the cool kids. This goes double if you're a dude and the information was supplied to you by your mother. I made that mistake when I was nine. I was watching a sitcom with my late grandfather maybe a week before his death and I asked him how the lead character (Murphy Brown) is pregnant without being married. The hardened WWII vet, funeral director, and father of eight supplied me with a direct answer: "She had sex with her boyfriend.". He answered it like I was asking him about the weather, or his favorite brand of mustard. I knew the sex act had something to do with naked people in bed or whatever and decided not to press him. Well, he died and I soon pressed my mother on it (my father lived in Los Angeles and conversations like this obviously cannot effectively be done over the phone). My worldview changed.
It seems like nowadays parents just wait for their kids to ask them and then say something to the effect of "Sweet child of mine, tell me what you know and I'll fill in the blanks.". Sometimes the parent will find themselves fetching a pen and a notepad...

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Just Chat! / Great British Bake Off

« on: 10/05/2023 18:56:47 »

British thespians take a lot of pride in how well they can do American accents. Here is, for want of a better term, the vice-versa. Enjoy.

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Just Chat! / What is your typical first move when playing chess?

« on: 09/05/2023 18:32:57 »

If I'm White, PAWN to C4 always makes the most sense to me.

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Physiology & Medicine / What usually causes chemo to fail?

« on: 09/05/2023 14:28:04 »

?

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Just Chat! / Re: Anyone here ever try avoiding your phone for a day or two?

« on: 07/05/2023 14:01:54 »

@OP

You must be a very kind hearted, helpful, resourceful, trustworthy, compassionate & chivalrous person.

Too Bad that folks cannot think of you as a moronic, useless, good for nothing bum.

(I Feel Sorry for You!)

Are you still mad at me for having sex with your wife? How many times do I have to apologize for it!?

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Just Chat! / Re: Anyone here ever try avoid your phone for a day or two?

« on: 06/05/2023 11:02:21 »

By the second day, they have mostly learned to sort the problem out for themselves, or realised that you don't care what they  had for lunch.

My principal use of a mobile phone is to excuse lateness or cancel appointments I don't want to keep.

I do however enjoy getting scam calls on the landline. You can curse the caller with a slow painful death, invite him to Come to Jesus, waste his time with "say slow please, I get him for you, no speak English" or practice your pronunciation of foreign expletives, and it really improves your mood.

I can always tell if a call is spam by the number shown. My phone also warns me on most of them as spam numbers are often documented and sent to a provider's database to intercept them.

My problem is not that. It's people calling me to come into work, helping them move, picking up something at the store, presidents wanting a loan, King Charles III wanting advice on new moves to try on Camilla in the bedroom, et cetera.

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Just Chat! / Anyone here ever try avoiding your phone for a day or two?

« on: 05/05/2023 13:35:19 »

Being that 95% of my calls and texts are from people asking me to do things I don't want to do. Unfortunately, ignoring them for just one day can have disastrous consequences.