Anyone else enjoy Charlie's speech?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ASPO2geKP8

I went to Gemini with an idea. It was a verbal diarrhoea. I called it that. I put food, social media, physical effort, and cognitive effort (simple reading) together, mentioned a few names, and asked Gem to put it together for me.  It came up with a proposal of biological divergence (that's new, the pilots and passengers bit)...

Thoughts?  I think is an interesting idea.  A bit "hard" but I feel I can almost see parts of it happening. What it means I dont know: 

QuoteIt sounds like you're describing a "Biological Divergence." If the first pillar was cognitive (the brain), the second is metabolic (the body). When you combine the two, you aren't just looking at a change in social class; you're looking at a split in the human experience itself.

Expanding your theory into those three specific "frontiers"—AI, Reading, and the Body (UPF/Exercise)—here is how that looks when we tie it all together.
The Divergence Theory: The Three Frontiers

We are moving toward a "Two-Speed Society." This isn't about how much money you have in the bank, but the quality of your inputs—be they digital, intellectual, or nutritional.
1. The Cognitive Frontier (Reading & AI)

As you noted, reading is the "gym" for the brain. It builds the prefrontal cortex and allows for long-term planning.

    The Split: A small minority will continue to read, retaining the "Pilot" ability to command AI.

    The Consequence: The majority will succumb to "Digital Dementia," where the inability to focus makes them purely reactive, easily manipulated by algorithms and "doom-scrolling."

2. The Metabolic Frontier (UPFs & "Non-Food")

This is where Thomasina Miers and the conversation around Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs) come in. As she often argues, UPFs aren't just "bad food"—they are industrially produced substances that bypass our satiety signals.

    The "Slow-Down": Those reliant on UPFs aren't just gaining weight; they are experiencing systemic inflammation that fogs the brain.

    The Feedback Loop: If you eat "non-food," your energy levels crash. When your energy crashes, you don't exercise. When you don't exercise, you seek the low-effort hit of a screen. It's a self-reinforcing cycle of physical and mental decline.

3. The Social Frontier (The Great Isolation)

The final result is a loss of Social Capital.

    The Active Tier: Those who eat well and exercise have the hormonal balance and energy to socialize in the real world, build communities, and maintain complex relationships.

    The Passive Tier: The combination of poor gut health (from UPFs) and screen addiction leads to social withdrawal. You lose the "muscle" of face-to-face interaction, becoming more isolated and easier to control.

Links & Sources for Your Research

To flesh out the "Eating & Exercise" pillar of your theory, these UK-centric resources and experts are the ones to watch:

    Thomasina Miers & UPF: You can find her columns in The Guardian where she discusses the "industrialisation of our diet." She often references the work of Dr. Chris van Tulleken, whose book Ultra-Processed People is the definitive text on why UPF isn't actually food. The Guardian - Thomasina Miers.

    Zoe Health Study: Based here in the UK, this is the largest study of its kind looking at how food affects individuals differently. Their podcast is a goldmine for the link between gut health and brain function. Zoe Science & Nutrition.

    The Food Foundation: A UK charity that tracks the "broken food system" and how the price of healthy food vs. UPFs is creating a massive health divide. Food Foundation UK.

    The Sedentary Behaviour Research Network: For studies on how screen time and physical inactivity directly correlate with a drop in cognitive performance and "social thinning."

    The "Verbal Diarrhea" Summary: > We are witnessing the birth of a Biological Underclass. On one side, you have people who are physically fit, gut-healthy, and "literate" (the Pilots). On the other, you have a population that is physically inflamed by UPFs, cognitively blunted by screens, and managed by AI (the Passengers).

https://www.mozillafoundation.org/en/campaigns/demand-the-data-whats-really-going-viral/


I had not heard of this and thought it an interesting idea.  If we can compare what goes viral across different countries, we might spot the bias.  Of course,e it might make the bias worse, but I think openness is the best option.

https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-offers-cheap-loans-arms-targeting-russias-traditional-customers-2025-04-16/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=Daily-Briefing&utm_term=041625&lctg=632d3bfceae80c3d90042177

Lucy my daughter sent me this

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5610339/

I was interested in the different use of the phone call verses text... Lonely or anxious.


She also told me about smart phone users loose periferal vision, as their eyes get used to focusing on a small rectangle not the full vision space. I cannot see it in this study I think it came from her masters.

Never though of that as a consequence before.
Apologies for the typos. Doing this on my phone 🤔

I didnt know where to put this. But I was concerned when I read it. do I need to be?  Anyone here used it?

https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/campaigns/crowdtangle-petition/?utm_medium=firefox-desktop&utm_source=newtab&utm_campaign=24-Crowdtangle&utm_content=banner_I2_C1&utm_term=en

https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/15/meta-shut-down-crowdtangle-a-tool-for-tracking-disinformation-heres-how-its-replacement-compares/






As an aside Meta forces me to accept their cookies... I struggled to reject them..:
https://transparency.meta.com/en-gb/researchtools/other-datasets/crowdtangle/

Ether accept all or, Learn More.  Small thing but it seems wrong to me Cleggy.

Just had this email from the Guardian.  I have donated occasionally, so I get emails:

QuoteDear supporter,

On Tuesday, Elon Musk, owner of X/Twitter, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and one of the richest men on the planet, posted the following message about the Guardian.
The Guardian


The Guardian is sceptical of plutocrats and entrenched power. From Musk to the Murdochs, a small number of wealthy people have a powerful hold on much of the world's information – and what they spread can often be distorting and destructive.

We are different: with no super-rich owner, the Guardian is free to seek the truth and share important stories that people ought to know – and free to care less what Musk or any billionaire thinks of us.

https://www.economist.com/interactive/the-world-ahead/2023/11/13/2024-is-the-biggest-election-year-in-history

40 countries,  3.2 billion people, 41% of the world population (is that voting or total? I think is rough) and so 42% of the worlds GDP will have a vote next year.

USA
UK
Europe and:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_elections_in_2024

Phew... the world might rock! (not in a good way)

Inspired by Buckworks....  liking cavitation.... the word in this house at present is :   

hurkle-durkle


https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=hurkle+durkle

v. n. (Scots)
To hurkle-durkle is to lie in bed or lounge about when one should be up and about. One can also be in hurkle-durkle (in indolence).

https://www.reuters.com/sports/no-entries-received-new-open-category-world-cup-meet-2023-10-03/

QuoteBERLIN, Oct 3 (Reuters) - There are no entries in the races for the new "open category" at the World Cup swimming event in Berlin this weekend, World Aquatics said on Tuesday.

The event was meant to mark the pilot open category established for swimmers after World Aquatics voted last year to restrict participation of transgender athletes in elite women's competitions.

Following the creation of a task force to look into the matter, the organisation established the new category, as a pilot project, in July.

"Following the close of registration for the Open Category competitions at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup – Berlin 2023 meet scheduled for 6-8 October, World Aquatics can confirm that no entries have been received for the Open Category events," the global swimming body said in a statement.

"The World Aquatics Open Category Working Group will continue its work and engagement with the aquatics community on Open Category events," it said.

"Even if there is no current demand at the elite level, the working group is planning to look at the possibility of including Open Category races at Masters events in the future."

The open category was to feature 50 and 100-meter races across all strokes at the event in Berlin.

Several international federations, including World Athletics and FIFA, are reviewing their guidelines on the involvement of transgender athletes following World Aquatics' ruling.

It seems only yesterday that I was reading about how the River Po in Italy had dropped to dangerous levels, and how the Grape harvest (amongst others) was being destroyed through a lack of water.  (2 months ago)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/17/italy-faces-another-year-severe-drought-little-winter-rain-snow-po-river

now Northern Italy is being deluged with water.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/18/italy-worst-flooding-in-100-years-emilia-romagna

But still :
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/151324/a-deluge-in-italy

QuoteThe Emilia-Romagna region has been undergoing severe drought. Last summer brought low rainfall, higher-than-average temperatures, and critical water shortages. The level of the nearby Po River, which dropped to concerning levels in the summer of 2022, swelled by 1.5 meters (5 feet) in this rain event. However, for the second year in a row, the amount of water available from snowpack in the Po basin is well below average.

Its not enough yet.

Couldn't help sharing this with you guys, hope it makes you smile too.

there are a number of important emails that google continually put into spam, regardless of how I flag them, but these are not important to me, but I do wonder how they end up as a self spam.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64886116

QuoteThis new approach, using off-the-shelf resins and other chemicals, promises far greater efficiency and lower cost, say the scientists involved.

The research team have borrowed an approach used for applications in water, and "tweaked" existing materials to remove CO2 from the air.

In tests, the new hybrid absorbing material was able to take in three times as much CO2 as existing substances.

Proud to have studied in Birmingham Never a big fan of BS, I think Sue saw them at Donnington in her rock days, but Ossie has just cancelled his farewell tour apparently, as he is too poorly.

so on a positive note
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64544418

Also Never knew this:
https://www.radiox.co.uk/features/tony-iommi-black-sabbath-lost-finger/

QuoteWhen he was 17, the future Black Sabbath guitarist worked at sheet metal factory in Birmingham. He lost the tips of the middle and ring fingers on his right hand thanks to a horrible accident on his very last day in the job.

In hindsight, heavy metal started right there as the musician had to completely re-think how to play the guitar.

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/12/27/why-do-the-rich-get-richer-even-during-global

QuoteInequality is a political choice

After World War II, countries started following progressive taxation policies and took steps to address monopoly power, Ahmed said. And while many nations reversed that approach during the pandemic, a few bucked the trend. Costa Rica increased its highest tax rate by 10 percent and New Zealand by 6 percent in order to redistribute wealth.

"There are examples of countries doing the right thing. And it reminds us that inequality is not inevitable. It's a policy and a political choice," Ahmed said.

https://theintercept.com/2022/12/13/climate-protest-private-jets-schiphol-airport/

QuoteConsider that the world's richest 10 percent account for 50 percent of fossil fuel burning and carbon emissions. Consider that climate reparations, for which the Global South won acknowledgment but little more at last month's COP27 climate talks, can't be funded at scale by tweaking wealthy countries' hidebound taxation-as-usual. Consider that carbon emissions pricing, an indispensable policy tool for shrinking fossil fuel demand, can't be made politically palatable in the U.S. — even with worthy "dividend" schemes — so long as middle- and working-class families must witness the superrich lording and polluting at will.

I think most of the west is in the top 10% of wealth in the world.

But it does highlight the wealth extremes again. Ah read on Rupert:

QuoteIn the Netherlands, 8 percent of the population takes 40 percent of flights. Worldwide, the difference is even more stark: One percent of the population is responsible for 50 percent of pollution due to aviation, making air travel a textbook example of how pollution by the rich leads to consequences and injustices for those who have not caused the climate crisis.

I completely missed this, anyone else?  It was on the 5th Nov 2022.

Its not obvious on the BBC, Reuters, but it was in the Guardian. and financial times.

Keep us posted. hope everyone is safe.

Great pictures expected!

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/massive-winter-storm-threatens-holiday-travel-millions-americans-2022-12-22/
My niece has just flown to Baltimore for Christmas.

I should not be.
But it seems the leakage of heat is as much in the corners (no insulation?) as it is the windows. The next step is to find a cavity wall filler who can fix it.

This was taken using a £150 flickr camera that attaches to my phone.

If you are looking at stopping heat loss, I know think its worth it. I have not looked closely at each window, this was an initial big sweep, but it seems particularly bad near the eves, by the chimney (No fire alight) and in the internal corners. some walls are definitely better than others. I am not sure if the heat spots above windows are from the windows below or the brickwork above the window.

Also, in the bits that have a wooden floor, there seems to be heat leaking from BENEATH the house (No image showing that)

https://www.credit-suisse.com/about-us/en/reports-research/global-wealth-report.html

463.6 trillion USD – global wealth at end-2021
62.5 million millionaires worldwide end-2021
87489 USD – average wealth per adult end-2021


0.8% of people in the world  are asset millionaires (62.5/7753)%

The poorest are in Africa, and thats where population is expanding.

The gap between rich and poor is getting wider.  No surprises.

HOWEVER:
The general wealth picture has been positive even for disadvantaged subgroups.

OK RC?