There actually are vampires in outer space. (vampire stars)

 

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Parenting is one of the last arts. I had a couple living next door when my kids were young - between the two of them, degrees in psychology / family counseling / childhood development. I thought they would be great mentors at parenting they had teenage kids and we had toddlers. J ust as our kids were getting to a certain age that I could have used some advice, they moved. It was actually fortunate - the couple ended up getting divorced and we eventually learned that their two kids lived in the mother's basement until they were in their 30s.

Some experts only look like experts to the completely inexperienced (the completely ignorant).

My kids are fine. I could have done better. But they are able to sit at a dinner table with us every few weeks or months as our schedules allow and discuss/ laugh at some of our bad ideas, bad methods, or parenting strategies. The damage we did as parents may be permanent but probably not too bad.

 

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Parents don't like seeing their kids deal with challenges that don't have exact solutions - it's too stressful to explain to the kid that arbitrary decisions are made sometimes and imperfect systems make imperfect decisions (art awards, balls/strikes calls, who gets playing time*). The parents get so stressed about the ordeal that they remove themselves and the kid from the situation. It it's a team sport, at least one parent will collect money for participation trophies for the kids.

* note: playing time always goes to the coaches kid and the kids best friends. Tryouts for Quarterback are not necessary if the coach's kid is playing that season.

 

If you know you're going to have a difficult holiday because it's been difficult for the past 5 years and you can't stand being with certain family members or friends of friends or whoever, it's time to break your old tradition and make a new one.

 

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Like a coup.

 

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Swear words in different languages have one thing in common

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Swear words lack the consonant sounds l, r, w and y across several languages – including Chinese, English and Spanish, according to a new study from researchers at Royal Holloway, University of London.

 

@cmartinez Very interesting article!

 

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Do you struggle getting out of bed in the morning? Marcus Aurelius can help

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Like Socrates, Marcus Aurelius believes that evil is a form of ignorance, and that an unflinching trust in reason can keep both at bay. Like Socrates, the emperor also believes that exercising self-control leads to both freedom and happiness. Because bodily desires can never be permanently satisfied, people should practice moderation rather than overindulgence.

 

The year that was in Fail

 

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No more COVID-Zero for China.
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsa...ld-be-the-world-s-largest-coronavirus-outbrea

COVID spreading faster than ever in China. 800 million could be infected this winter

Scientists at the China National Health Commission estimate the R number is currently a whopping 16 in China durng this surge. "This is a really high level of transmissibility," Cowling says. "That's why China couldn't keep their zero-COVID policy going. The virus is just too transmissible even for them."

On top of that, the virus appears to be spreading faster in China than omicron spread in surges elsewhere, Cowling adds. Last winter, cases doubled in the U.S. every three days or so. "Now in China, the doubling time is like hours,"

So why is the virus spreading so explosively there?

The reason is that the population has very little immunity to the virus because the vast majority of people have never been infected. Until recently, China has focused on massive quarantines, testing and travel restrictions to keep the virus mostly out of the country. So China prevented most people from getting infected with variants that came before omicron. But that means now nearly all 1.4 billion people are susceptible to an infection.

 

No more COVID-Zero for China.
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsa...ld-be-the-world-s-largest-coronavirus-outbrea

COVID spreading faster than ever in China. 800 million could be infected this winter

I think it's going to be "Zero Uninfected Policy"

 

I think it's going to be "Zero Uninfected Policy"

Much like the USA.

In other CV news

https://bioethics.com/archives/67176
The Coronavirus May Spread from Corpses, Scientists Report
December 15, 2022

(New York Times) – Like a zombie in a horror film, the coronavirus can persist in the bodies of infected patients well after death, even spreading to others, according to two startling studies.

 

Although it was claimed that this could not happen, his is not a surprise.