Random stuff worth reading on the internet thread

[Northwestcoug]

Absolutely crazy story about stolen winning McDonald’s monopoly tickets. Long article, but worth it. This caught my interest from the beginning:

Jacobson was the head of a sprawling network of mobsters, psychics, strip club owners, convicts, drug traffickers, and even a family of Mormons, who had falsely claimed more than $24 million in cash and prizes.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-an...stole-millions

I have no memory of this; does anyone else? Like the article states, maybe it’s because the trial started on September 10, 2001.

[Scott R Nelson]

Good article on rapidly declining water in some Arizona wells. Basically, lack of adequate regulation has allowed the growing agriculture sector to deplete water, which has forced residents to abandon homes:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/m...f-arizona.html

I just finished reading that. It seems that nobody wants to actually make some rules to keep from using up all of the water in Arizona. I guess it will eventually turn back into a desert there.

It makes me happy that I now live where it's still okay to waste water. (Just kidding, 30 years in California taught me to conserve.)

[Northwestcoug]

Good article on rapidly declining water in some Arizona wells. Basically, lack of adequate regulation has allowed the growing agriculture sector to deplete water, which has forced residents to abandon homes:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/m...f-arizona.html

[Surfah]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.6243e092062c

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.7c6d98600a9f

[falafel]

Maybe She Had So Much Money She Just Lost Track of It.
Somebody had to foot the bill for Anna Delvey’s fabulous new life. The city was full of marks.

https://www.thecut.com/2018/05/how-a...-new-york.html

[Uncle Ted]

The discovery of 16 million tons of mud containing rare earth elements (enough to last the world for several centuries, apparently) seems like a pretty big deal but hasn't been mentioned much in the news. China controls nearly all of the rare earth elements (used in a variety of high tech devices), so what might have been a potentially harmful monopoly against the U.S. is no more. I just want to celebrate (really, and no, I didn't post this for the sake of that last quip).

This should help Japan's economy recover a lot faster. I wonder if the US will look at rejoining the TPP now.

Rare earth minerals contain rare earth elements (located here on the periodic table) that are used in high-tech devices like smartphones, missile systems, radar devices and hybrid vehicles.

Cool... we can build more missiles to bomb Syria with.

I know that rare earth magnets are used in small motors (like the one that makes your smartphone vibrate). I didn't know they were used in larger electric motors/generators like those in hybrid/electric vehicles (but not Teslas) or wind turbines. Of course, room temperature superconductors could change all of that.

Some other uses for rare earth minerals: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-17357863

[Jeff Lebowski]

The discovery of 16 million tons of mud containing rare earth elements (enough to last the world for several centuries, apparently) seems like a pretty big deal but hasn't been mentioned much in the news. China controls nearly all of the rare earth elements (used in a variety of high tech devices), so what might have been a potentially harmful monopoly against the U.S. is no more. I just want to celebrate (really, and no, I didn't post this for the sake of that last quip).

Wow. That is very cool.

[PaloAltoCougar]

The discovery of 16 million tons of mud containing rare earth elements (enough to last the world for several centuries, apparently) seems like a pretty big deal but hasn't been mentioned much in the news. China controls nearly all of the rare earth elements (used in a variety of high tech devices), so what might have been a potentially harmful monopoly against the U.S. is no more. I just want to celebrate (really, and no, I didn't post this for the sake of that last quip).

[Dwight Schr-ute]

Don't mess with tea. The tannins will turn your stomach to leather. I learned from one of my mission companions that they found some bones of a british soldier in the Sahara Desert. There was this curious leather pouch that had also survived with the bones. When they took it back to England, it was identified as the soldier's stomach, WHICH HAD BEEN TURNED TO LEATHER BY THE TANNINS FOUND IN ENGLISH TEA!

Oh man. That story about the British soldier never made it’s way to Southern California. I could have persuaded so many more people to live the Word of Wisdom.

Although, after being convinced by a companion that the best way to neutralize and dispose of marijuana was to cook it on the stove in a pan with Bacardi, maybe any more successful 4th discussions would have just resulted in my incarceration.


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[Bo Diddley]

Amateur. 3-4 cups a day here.

Don't mess with tea. The tannins will turn your stomach to leather. I learned from one of my mission companions that they found some bones of a british soldier in the Sahara Desert. There was this curious leather pouch that had also survived with the bones. When they took it back to England, it was identified as the soldier's stomach, WHICH HAD BEEN TURNED TO LEATHER BY THE TANNINS FOUND IN ENGLISH TEA!

[MartyFunkhouser]

I'm not well-versed in how low and in which types the cancer risk is in Utah. But since Utah most likely has a disproportionally lower cohort of heavy smokers and drinkers, you should clearly see decreased lung, bladder, liver, esophageal, and head and neck cancers. There's no shipbuilding yards in Utah that I know of, so you're likely missing out on some mesotheliomas...

I've heard the link between decreased prostate cancer and coffee consumption, but I don't know how strong that is. The study that I saw found the association with 3 or more cups of coffee a day. I may be setting myself up for prostate cancer, as I only drink 2/day

Amateur. 3-4 cups a day here.

[Northwestcoug]

What do you think causes the very low cancer rates in Utah? Other than smoking?

Has the coffee = low prostate cancer thing been debunked?

I'm not well-versed in how low and in which types the cancer risk is in Utah. But since Utah most likely has a disproportionally lower cohort of heavy smokers and drinkers, you should clearly see decreased lung, bladder, liver, esophageal, and head and neck cancers. There's no shipbuilding yards in Utah that I know of, so you're likely missing out on some mesotheliomas...

I've heard the link between decreased prostate cancer and coffee consumption, but I don't know how strong that is. The study that I saw found the association with 3 or more cups of coffee a day. I may be setting myself up for prostate cancer, as I only drink 2/day

[Jeff Lebowski]

Yikes, that is long. I only skimmed it.

So yes, there is consistent epidemiologic data linking increased drinking with breast cancer. But there is only a modest (1.5 X) risk in women who are heavy drinkers (~3 drinks/day). Common things being common (as breast cancer and drinking are), it is easy to power a study sufficiently to see an association. But even in well-controlled groups with a ton of data, epidemiologic studies should always be interpreted with caution. Just ask an internist who has tried to follow the recommendations of post-menopausal estrogen supplementation during the last 2 decades.

It is interesting she quoted the breast cancer risk in Utah and linked it to alcohol consumption. Again, a large grain of salt is needed here. Anyone old enough to remember the fanfare following the study linking coffee consumption with pancreatic cancer in Mormon circles? It was quickly debunked.

The author was young and got breast cancer. She didn't have any of the typical risk factors for early breast cancer, so she pinned the culprit on alcohol. I'm not saying that didn't cause her cancer, but for most non-inherited breast cancer patients, it's just bad luck.

What do you think causes the very low cancer rates in Utah? Other than smoking?

Has the coffee = low prostate cancer thing been debunked?

[Northwestcoug]

https://www.motherjones.com/politics...breast-cancer/

Read it before someone quotes it in church.

Yikes, that is long. I only skimmed it.

So yes, there is consistent epidemiologic data linking increased drinking with breast cancer. But there is only a modest (1.5 X) risk in women who are heavy drinkers (~3 drinks/day). Common things being common (as breast cancer and drinking are), it is easy to power a study sufficiently to see an association. But even in well-controlled groups with a ton of data, epidemiologic studies should always be interpreted with caution. Just ask an internist who has tried to follow the recommendations of post-menopausal estrogen supplementation during the last 2 decades.

It is interesting she quoted the breast cancer risk in Utah and linked it to alcohol consumption. Again, a large grain of salt is needed here. Anyone old enough to remember the fanfare following the study linking coffee consumption with pancreatic cancer in Mormon circles? It was quickly debunked.

The author was young and got breast cancer. She didn't have any of the typical risk factors for early breast cancer, so she pinned the culprit on alcohol. I'm not saying that didn't cause her cancer, but for most non-inherited breast cancer patients, it's just bad luck.

[Surfah]

That was interesting. Highlight for me is simply that science and politics are so intertwined in current day America that it is all suspect. Even being an expert in the field does not seem to be sufficient to inoculate against biased studies. It extrapolates easily to any hot topic, economic policy, climate, gun control, etc. Who do you trust if you aren't allowed a view into the motivations behind research?

Right? I learned a lot from that article and came away with that same takeaway. Lobbyists run the world.