Today I Learned

Artificial Intelligence is the new pagan religion. Choose your hallucinogenic God: ChatGPT, Claude, Grok?

For those who don't want to go to LinkedIn:

(By the way, I have no idea why the algorithm showed me this job.)

https://www.science.org/content/article/biologist-aims-solve-cell-s-biggest-mystery-could-it-help-cancer-patients-too

• R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, s. 365. Justice Laws Website. Government of Canada. Published: 2024-12-10. Accessed: 2025-01-04T22:46Z. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-365-20030101.html.

  365 Every one who fraudulently

  (a) pretends to exercise or to use any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or conjuration,

  (b) undertakes, for a consideration, to tell fortunes, or

  (c) pretends from his skill in or knowledge of an occult or crafty science to discover where or in what manner anything that is supposed to have been stolen or lost may be found,

  is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

• "An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Department of Justice Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act" C-51. 42nd Parliament, 1st session. Parliament of Canada. Published: 2018-12-13. Accessed: 2025-01-04T22:50Z. https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/42-1/c-51.
  • §41

    Section 365 of the Act is repealed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicobar_pigeon

The FTC ruled to ban virtually all non-competes nationwide in April 2024.[16] The agency estimates 30 million workers are bound by these clauses and only excludes senior executives from the ban on enforcing non-competes.[16] The agency believes that this will allow workers to find better working conditions and pay, since switching companies, on average, provides the biggest pay raises.[17] It also allows workers to leave abusive work environments and can prevent some doctors from having to leave medicine once they leave a practice.[17] The ban was put on hold by U.S. District Judge Ada Brown on July 3, 2024, but then upheld on appeal by U.S. District Judge Kelley B. Hodge on July 23, 2024.[18][19] On August 20, 2024, a federal court in Texas overturned the FTC's ban on non-compete agreements, which was originally scheduled to take effect on September 4, 2024.[20] U.S. District Judge Ada Brown said the FTC did not have the authority to issue the ban, which she said was "unreasonably overbroad without a reasonable explanation."[21] Victoria Graham, an FTC spokeswoman responded to the ruling by stating "We are seriously considering a potential appeal..."[22]

Guiana Amazonian Park (French: Parc amazonien de Guyane) is the largest national park of France, aiming at protecting part of the Amazonian forest located in French Guiana which covers 41% of the region. It is the largest park in France as well as the largest park in the European Union[1] and one of the largest national parks in the world.

It cannot be accessed from the seashore or by any means other than airplane or pirogue via the Maroni and Oyapock rivers.

The protected area covers some 20,300 square kilometres (7,840 sq mi) for the central area (where full protection is enforced) and 13,600 square kilometres (5,250 sq mi) for the secondary area. Thus, the overall protected area represents some 33,900 square kilometres (13,090 sq mi) of rain forest.[2]

Okay, let's try a DIFFERENT tobacco factoid I learned today, and this one is much more well-sourced.

Australian natural flora includes several plants containing nicotine, some of which have traditionally been harvested, prepared, traded and chewed by Indigenous peoples across much of Australia. The most potent of these is 'pituri,' made from leaves of the shrub Duboisia hopwoodii, which has a nicotine content of up to 8%, 6 much greater than that found in manufactured cigarettes. 5,6 Although Duboisia hopwoodii naturally occurs over much of southern and western Australia, most pituri was prepared in south-western Queensland, and from there distributed almost as far north as the Gulf of Carpentaria, south to Lake Eyre in South Australia, east to the mid-region of Queensland, and west to the area where Alice Springs is now located, an area covering more than half a million square kilometres. 4,5 It is also believed that a second centre for pituri processing was located somewhere in Western Australia, but little is known of it. 4 It remains unclear exactly why pituri production was such a localised behaviour, when it was considered such a valuable commodity and Duboisia hopwoodii is not an especially rare plant. One theory is that remote end-users of the processed product may not have recognised the association between pituri and the shrub, but it is now considered more likely that the leaves from plants growing in the south-west of Queensland (and possibly those from the Western Australia centre as well) were favoured because they contained nicotine in a less immediately toxic form. 4,5

Other plants traditionally used for chewing include the nicotine-containing species Nicotania gossei, Nicotania suaveolens, Nicotania excelsior and Nicotania ingulba. 6 These 'bush tobaccos' were chewed by men, women and children, and, like pituri, were widely traded over long distances. 1,8 Bush tobaccos are still used and traded in some regions 3–6 (see Section 8.5.3 ). Over time, terminology has altered, and in some regions bush tobaccos are now collectively referred to as pituri. 1,3,5,6,8

Pituri was prepared by drying selected leaf and stems of the Duboisia hopwoodii, often in sand ovens, 5 then packing the product into specially woven bags, ready for trading. 4 Pituri was produced and traded in such considerable volumes that it is probable that those who harvested it also used techniques to maximise cropping. 4 Early reports show that knowledge regarding processing had a sacred ritual significance and was vested in specific groups or clans, and that usage was probably restricted to older males. 4,5 Prior to chewing, pituri 4 (and other bush tobaccos, such as Nicotania spp.) 6,1 would be mixed with alkaline wood ash, which facilitated the release of nicotine from the leaf and enhanced its absorption through the lining of the mouth. This process has been likened to the combining of betel with lime prior to chewing, 4 as practised throughout much of the Asian subcontinent. 12

The mood-enhancing effects of nicotine lent the offering of pituri significance as an overture of friendship, and in some ceremonies the sharing of pituri both symbolised and facilitated social bonding. 4,6 It also fulfilled the practical purposes of suppressing appetite, providing sustenance on long journeys, 4,7 and, in larger quantities, serving as a painkiller. 4,6 Pituri was the most highly valued commodity in circulation; it was so important that it has been described as the 'gold standard' 6 of Indigenous trading. Although it is likely that at least a proportion of users were addicted to it, 4,6 because its usage was strictly controlled, 6 it is probable that quantities of pituri used beyond the immediate localities where the plant was to be found were low. 9 Pituri would remain an important social and trading commodity until the early twentieth century, 4 but its traditional methods of preparation and constraints on use were lost in the decades following European settlement. 4,5

I quit smoking back in 2000. I just ended up going down a rabbit hole today.

The manufacturing process of snus differs from that of other oral tobacco products. Snus tobacco is heated and pasteurized rather than cured or fermented, resulting in a less harmful product which contains a lower concentration of TSNA carcinogens in comparison to other traditional tobacco products.[2] Though research on the connection between snus and disease such as cancer is not conclusive, no associations between snus consumption and an increased risk of cancer have been found.[3]

The warning text "causes cancer" was removed from snus packaging in Sweden and other countries because current scientific evidence indicates that the cancer risk associated with snus is significantly lower than that of smoking. The shift in labeling aims to provide accurate information while still cautioning consumers about potential health concerns.

Nicotine products in general have been linked to reproductive harms such as stillbirth, premature birth, and low birth weight.[4] Conversely, non-tobacco-based nicotine pouches (also known as "nic pouches") are classified as non-carcinogenic[5][6][7] since nicotine itself is not a carcinogen. However, they are still harmful to cardiovascular health due to their nicotine content, and are associated with moderately higher risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and reproductive harms.[8][9] The main causes for mortality from smoking including cardiovascular disease from the effects of smoke on vascular coagulation and blood vessel walls are not caused primarily by nicotine and hence not to be considered equal to the moderate cardiovascular health risks from nicotine pouches.[10]

cross-posted from: https://lemmit.online/post/4802929

TIL A restaurant in Long Beach, CA, was found to be serving Popeye's chicken and passing it off as their own. They would buy the chicken at Popeyes and upcharge for their own chicken and waffles d...

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Bluest_waters on 2024-12-31 23:25:54+00:00.

Original Title: TIL A restaurant in Long Beach, CA, was found to be serving Popeye's chicken and passing it off as their own. They would buy the chicken at Popeyes and upcharge for their own chicken and waffles dish. Once found out the owner refused to apologize.

#TIL @til @til @todayilearned Meet Jason Carter, Jimmy Carter's Grandson

Basically prior to the being sold the paper was profitable every year except the last year. Then in 1976 Murdoch bought. I put an excerpt that explains the market challenges of running the paper. Despite these market challenges he ran it for a long time at a loss. It's my opinion that the purpose of owning the paper which loses money every year is influence and power, not just numbers on a balance sheet. That's why Murdoch ran it at a loss for so long. Likely he believed the influence and power netted more money for him overall.

The article says:

The Post at this point was the only surviving afternoon daily in New York City and its circulation under Schiff had grown by two-thirds, particularly after the failure of the competing World Journal Tribune; however, the rising cost of operating an afternoon daily in a city with worsening daytime traffic congestion, combined with mounting competition from expanded local radio and TV news cut into the Post's profitability, though it made money from 1949 until Schiff's final year of ownership, when it lost $500,000.

When you own a newspaper you can do things like this: https://www.dailydot.com/debug/new-york-post-writer-resigns-kamala-harris-book-story/

Started an argument with my much smarter wife because she said North and South America are not two separate continents. She was right, because continents are only defined by convention.

Well... What happened next?

(Excerpt from Wikipedia:)

Tennessee state law required that the name of a candidate who died before the election be removed from the ballot, and it did not allow the candidate's party to replace a deceased candidate who died within 30 days of the election. Accordingly, after Burks's death, Looper became the only candidate listed on the official ballot for Burks's senate seat.

Several people tried to have Looper's name stricken from the ballot, claiming that Looper's arrest constituted moral turpitude. The state Republican Party distanced itself from Looper. To prevent Looper from winning the state senate seat on a technicality, Burks's widow, Charlotte was put forth as a write-in candidate for her husband's seat. Dozens of volunteers helped her campaign, including some Republicans. On election day, Charlotte Burks, as a write-in candidate, won the seat with 30,252 votes (95.18%) against Looper's 1,531 votes (4.82%). One of her first initiatives as state senator was to introduce legislation to ensure that the name of any candidate who dies within 40 days of an election could remain on the ballot, thus preventing the situation that occurred after her husband's death. Charlotte Burks won re-election in 2002, 2006, and 2010. She retired after the 2014 election.

Yea... I read this and just WTF'ed at this. Imagine if the dude never got caught.

Like why run a campaign if you could just a little crime.

Also, dude was so stupid, could've hired an assassin instead of doing it himself.

(Also, if he were a former president instead, he would've been immune from the criminal prosecution. Rookie mistake.)

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_Looper#Assassination_of_Tommy_Burks

Well... If this isn't a TIL, I don't know what is 🙃

If you needed yet another reason to quit smoking, here it is.

Just in case you're like me living under the mistaken belief that the only Rapid Antigen Tests available are for COVID.

Despite, only this year they will finally make the bald eagle the national bird. Which, I also learned that they are not official symbols until a President signs a document for them to be. It is just a recognized symbol but not official. (Just my opinion but why do they really need a bill for this? What changes would making anything like this official really do?)

Here is a list of other US symbols (article includes links to other countries of the world national symbols, some official, some not made official) if you are interested:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_symbols_of_the_United_States