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Been There, Smelled That explores the aromas of places around the world. Travel writer Maggie Downs investigates some of the world’s most potent smells, looks at how odor cultivates a connection to place, and presents how humans engage with smells, from scents that have endured generations to the latest innovations in aroma-making.

The perfume tour begins in dramatic fashion—with roses fluttering from the sky like delicate confetti. Sunlight streams into the courtyard, casting a golden glow upon the space. The air fills with the heady, floral scent of bruised petals. Within moments, the fallen blooms create an aromatic carpet, and then seemingly everything is flowers, like some kind of dream.

Super Tuesday is over “Presidential primary season is effectively over,” writes Jim Newell at Slate, rather anticlimactically. California’s Rep. Adam Schiff is on his way to being Senator Schiff. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced she would not seek reelection in Arizona, clearing the way for Rep. Ruben Gallego to become Senator Gallego. And Joe Biden and Donald “91 Counts” Trump will battle again for the presidency. Didn’t see that coming, didja? Here in North Carolina, Attorney General Josh Stein will battle Lt. Gov. Mark “Choking on my own blood” Robinson for governor. Guess which is the Republican? The problem going forward to November, as Digby observed of Josh Marshall’s take on the polling, is that “half the country doesn’t have a clue what actually going on, in some cases because they’ve been brainwashed and in others they’ve stopped paying attention order to preserve their mental health.” Ours here remains tenuous.

As usual, just some links with takes. I bookmark more than I can write articles on, and some things aren’t worth a full article but are still worthy of comment.

Note: There is one article on Long Covid and vaccines. No vax comments will be allowed thru. If you want to talk about that, comment in the last open thread and link. Otherwise the comments will be swamped by anti-vax.

Swedish Unions Taking On Tesla. What’s important isn’t the direct strike, it’s that sympathy strikes are legal in Sweden. That explains much of the decline of unions in other countries, and that they have stayed strong in Sweden.

The Tesla strike has attracted secondary action from eight other unions and is threatening to spread to neighbouring Norway

I recently read Cory Doctorow’s new novel, The Bezzle. (FYI his publisher sent me a copy.) It’s the follow-up (and in the story’s own timeline, a prequel) to Cory’s excellent tech-themed thriller, Red Team Blues. The hero of Red Team Blues is Marty Hench, a forensic accountant who loves barbecuing, whiskey, and exposing elaborate financial […]

Dear Adults of the World,

We, the babies of the world, have heard your complaints about us crying on airplanes, in restaurants, and while you were standing in line for churros at Disneyland. And here’s the thing we want you to keep in mind: We are literally going to take over the world.

We will be your doctors, your investment managers, and the people who can choose what name to write on your Starbucks cup. And if you spend a lot of time being jerks to us babies, we will not forget.

If you complain to the flight attendant about one of us crying because it’s interrupting your viewing of the latest Fast and Furious movie, we will remember. If you say our misshapen heads look too cone-like, we will make a note. If you complain on social media about a baby being allowed at a public park, we have a special list just for that.

How do we keep track, you might ask? Let’s just say it’s a complex system involving cell phones, smart speakers, ghosts, and cats.

In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: John Wick/Twilight, Superman, James Gunn/DCU, Obi-Wan, The Boys, Creature Commandos, Sugar, Doctor Who & more!

This year’s Budget takes place on the 40th anniversary of the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike. I represent a coalfield community. The destruction of the coal industry and the miners’ fight to save it left deep scars, and we are still living with the consequences. Sunak’s and Hunt’s central economic logic is rooted in the Thatcherite ideology […]

‘We’re both caught up in the music’: A hunter tries to understand his place in the cycle of living – and dying – things

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

Allegations of widespread electoral fraud, rigging, and violence mar Pakistan’s election.

The post U.S. Endorses Pakistan’s Sham Election appeared first on The Intercept.

Accepting your problems is one thing. To enjoy them? Well, that’s pretty much enlightenment. Here’s how to get there

- by Chelsea Harvey Garner

Read at Psyche

The expansion of global trade over time suggests that there are recognized benefits of trade, but there are also risks that have come into more focus in recent years.

Trigger warnings are not the same as censorship, but the media uses them to stoke division in the culture war. Nathan O'Hagan argues for some nuance in the debate

UK democracy needs radical reform – but there is little evidence our leaders are ready to take up the challenge, writes Alun Drake

Laura Achiro and Neha Bora Central banks in most advanced economies have tightened monetary policy by raising interest rates. Tighter financing conditions may make it harder for some businesses to refinance their debt or could mean they face less favourable terms when they do. This blog explores the extent to which bond maturities could crystallise … Continue reading How resilient are UK corporate bond issuers to refinancing risks? →

Credit card companies doubled interest rates on the false claim of inflated financial risk — and now to fight new late-fee rules, they’re threatening to raise them even higher.

In a few days time, I’ll be lining up in the 65-69 category for the Mooloolaba Olympic triathlon (1500m swim, 40km cycle, 10km run)[1]. People in this age category are commonly described as “aging”, “older”, “seniors”, “elders” and, worst of all, “elderly” (though this mostly kicks in at 70). The one thing we are never […]

Today (March 6, 2024), the Australian Bureau of Statistics released the latest – Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, December 2023 – which shows that the Australian economy grew by just 0.2 per cent in the December-quarter 2023 and by 1.5 per cent over the 12 months (down from 2.1 per cent). If…

With 1.5 million Palestinians trapped in Rafah, a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable says an Israeli offensive would cut off all aid and seize an already collapsed health system.

The post Leaked U.S. Cable: Israeli Invasion of Rafah Would Have “Catastrophic Humanitarian Consequences” appeared first on The Intercept.

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

Source - Patreon

As I write this we’re awaiting the results of the Super Tuesday primary elections and obviously, we’ll be talking about that tomorrow. For now, I thought you might be interested in smart discussion of the presidential polls from Josh Marshall. First of all, he says that the good pollsters have a pretty good way of modeling the electorate and we shouldn’t dismiss the polls just because people don’t answer the phone. Ok. I’m a little bit skeptical that anyone can correctly divine who’s going to turn out in election in these weird times but I’ll take his word for it. Anyway, here are a couple more good insights worth thinking about: You need to believe these polls. But we need to break down what we’re talking about. People often say polling right now isn’t the same as this fall. But it’s not just that the election’s eight months from now and things can change over eight months. Public opinion just functions differently in the weeks before a national election than it does eight months before it. It becomes clearer who is and who isn’t going to vote.