• 16 Posts
  • 174 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: February 1st, 2024

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  • Firearm laws in Canada are very strict, and not comparable to the American system. No serious Canadian politician is advocating for lax gun laws or an American-style system in terms of firearm ownership.

    Under Trudeau, the first major Liberal movement on banning so-called assault style firearms came after the tragedy in Portapique. The gunman in that massacre used firearms smuggled from the States, and a pistol stolen off of an RCMP officer. The shooter was reported to the RCMP for having illegal firearms repeatedly, and months/years before the shooting occurred. So, I think it’s important to point out that no measure that the Liberals have moved on since 2020 would have changed the outcome in Portapique. That’s why law abiding firearm owners are pushing for increased enforcement, instead of new measures that uniquely target them.


  • Cheers.

    Even 304 stainless steel will corrode slightly in the presence of strong acids or bases, and my bet is what you’re tasting are particles coming off from that thin corroded layer. Those particles aren’t volatile, so you won’t smell them, but it makes sense that you would taste them.

    If you’re sensitive to metallic flavours and want to avoid them, seek out 316 stainless steel for kitchen implements and tools. 316 is more resistant to corrosion from acids and salts. It’s more expensive than 304, but it will last longer. You’ll see 316 used a lot in commercial food production, things like dairy, beer & wine, exactly because those things are acidic, and 316 is more resistant to corrosion.


  • Not a scientist, but, interested in these things.

    I would say it’s because spicy foods have highly volatile aroma compounds. Tannin and acids aren’t as volatile. Any aroma we perceive is the result of volatile molecules, solubalized in our mucus, binding to receptor sites in our olfactory epithelium - in other words, olfaction is a chemical sense. The tannic mouthfeel of a dry red wine is (if I’m not mistaken) a result of nonvolatile acids acting mechanically on the tongue, so olfaction, a chemical sense, doesn’t come into play in that mechanical sensation of acidity. Also consider that the tannins in a red wine are in a liquid solution. Fine, dry citric acid powder will irritate the nose if you breathe in the particles, just like fine dry cayenne pepper will.

    Not sure what you mean with cooling. Something like camphor is highly volatile, and gives a cooling aromatic sensation. Think eucalyptus, fisherman’s friend, vick’s vapo rub, things like that. Do those smell cooling to you?

    Metals don’t have volatile aromatic compounds in them at low temperatures, but, they definitely smell like something when they’re red hot. Again, the idea here is that metals are heavy and nonvolatile, so they’re invisible to our noses at room temperature, unlike say, a freshly sliced jalapeno pepper. Out of curiosity, what tastes metallic to you?



  • I disagree.

    Don’t forget that China is an oppressive dictatorship that is actively antagonistic to Canadian sovereignty. Consider the risks that increased Chinese government surveillance would pose to Chinese Canadians who speak out against China, and the increased control their government would have as a result. Just because you don’t believe you have anything to hide, doesn’t mean that nobody has anything to hide.

    Consider also, that on an atomic level, data isn’t powerful, but it is powerful in aggregate. Consider the realtime advantage a hostile foreign power would have in a wartime scenario with cameras and microphones in even a fraction of the vehicles on the road.

    Chinese EVs are a very bad idea for national security and they shouldn’t be allowed in Canada under any circumstance. These concerns don’t extend to Japan, South Korea, or Europe, they aren’t actively antagonistic to Canadian sovereignty.



  • Counterpoint - we’re all going to die. There’s no good reason to feel guilt or shame for filling our lives with things that enrich our short time on this rock.

    Almost anything we choose to do that is fun or interesting shortens our lifespan. So does worry, and boredom.

    People who want to min-max and optimize their life and health, I guess, why not. But that’s not the only way to live a meaningful life.









  • I’m trying out freshrss right now and don’t like it. Possibly my issues stem from user error, but, I can’t figure out how to automatically hide articles based on keywords, adding extensions is a pain, and the ui feels large and very in-the-way. By default it truncates article titles, which I find absolutely baffling.


  • SNC Lavalin, We charity scand, ethics violations, going back on his marquee promise of electoral reform and thereby salting the earth on the topic for a generation, weak response on foreign interference, Indigenous people’s life expectancy going down instead of up during his tenure despite the tone of the party’s messaging, inappropriate response to the Portapique shooting, their handling of protests and strike busting, there are more. A person doesn’t need to dip very deep to find reasons to not like Trudeau and his tenure.

    I think even Liberals have good reason to dislike Trudeau, for hanging on as long as he did when it was obvious he was polling as low as he was, leaving a leadership vacuum during a critical political transition to the South.

    I think the people who ‘hate’ him seem irrational. Unfortunately, that small minority of people obscure what should be proper criticism of his policies and choices.

    It’s sad that we’ve come to expect Liberals to be corrupt and self-dealing, and seeing that expectation used as an excuse for their leaders is fucking depressing.




  • Canada needs allies now probably more than ever in its history. What we see here coming from the monarchy is not a meaningful gesture of alliance. That’s what I’m bitter about. It’s monarchs doing what monarchs do after they’ve squeezed all the benefit from colonial conquest - they bandy meaningless symbols about. That benefits them, because conveniently, it costs them nothing to ‘stay out of politics’.

    As a Canadian, it’s truly frightening to see world leaders reluctant to simply say the words ‘we stand behind Canada’.

    What does the word ‘Commonwealth’ even mean if the British monarchy can’t say that and mean it.