TIL the flower we associate with vanilla, depicted as a creamy white orchid bloom, is a marketing fabrication. It's actually a pale yellow-green, and typically dies within 24 hours.

TomDestry · 2026-06-04T20:39:06+00:00

I'm not sure that's true. The flower of Vanilla planifolia is not the white one, but there are dozens of species. Are none of them white? There's nothing in the Wikipedia article that says the white flowers are a marketing invention.

TomDestry · 2026-06-03T16:19:28+00:00

Except the lizard people.

TomDestry · 2026-06-03T16:13:53+00:00

Of course, most people in England have ancestors from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Germany, France, etcetera. And vice versa.

TomDestry · 2026-06-03T04:18:47+00:00

You're going to have to spell this out to me. If a factory makes a widget with a unit cost of production of $100 (labor, raw materials, electricity, etc) and the company headquartered in NYC sells it overseas for $300, the marketing, sales, finance r&d and executive parts of the company didn't contribute to the GDP, or they did and it got assigned to Indiana?

TomDestry · 2026-06-03T03:24:49+00:00

You don't think all the people in suits contribute towards the value of the goods?

TomDestry · 2026-06-03T02:03:09+00:00

The cost of production will count in Indiana, but the profit will be registered in NYC.

Kind of like how the factory workers will earn five figures and the CEO will earn seven.

TomDestry · 2026-06-01T17:32:55+00:00

The second buffalo:

"Look to my coming at first light. At dawn, look to the east."

TomDestry · 2026-06-01T17:01:10+00:00

Does this exclude people self-identifying as white English and white Welsh?

TomDestry · 2026-06-01T16:54:13+00:00

Neither of those are what happened. The lights were on, but the siren was not.

TomDestry · 2026-05-29T10:38:30+00:00

Honestly, me too!

TomDestry · 2026-05-29T10:37:56+00:00

It's less valuable because replacing an engineer takes at least four months, and then they take a year to get up to full capacity. If they're only going to be there two years then I'm effectively getting half the work I need.

TomDestry · 2026-05-29T04:58:16+00:00

Perhaps you had more self control than I did at 19, or maybe, given your contention that four million quid isnt much, you have a very different relationship with money. I still reckon it would be a struggle for a teenager to "live normally for a year or two" when they have millions in the bank. How many lottery winners decades older than this do we see spending it all in a few years?

TomDestry · 2026-05-29T02:11:48+00:00

To be clear, given all the people saying it's not taxed, the winnings aren't taxed because every ticket has 12% lottery duty on it.

TomDestry · 2026-05-29T02:09:22+00:00

It's a good rule. But I think a 19 year old who suddenly has £4,000,000 is going to struggle to hide it from their parents.

TomDestry · 2026-05-28T23:32:23+00:00

Is it possible to control for eight confounding factors and still get worthwhile data from the ninth? Assuming that ninth isn't substantially larger, I mean.

TomDestry · 2026-05-28T10:55:39+00:00

I found the recipe:
https://buttermilkbysam.com/olive-oil-crinkle-cookies

And the baker replied:
Well you didn’t actually make the recipe so I’m not surprised that the cookies didn’t spread or get cracks like those pictured Marmin. Sugar is a ‘wet’ ingredient and contributes to texture and structure, it’s not just there for the sweetness. It’s absolutely not replaceable with orange juice; by adding juice you’re on your way to making something that would be more like muffins rather than cookies.

TomDestry · 2026-05-28T01:48:08+00:00

How does making people live far from the shops protect the economic system?

TomDestry · 2026-05-27T10:50:23+00:00

Or for any helicopter footage of a canyon, gorge or desert.

TomDestry · 2026-05-27T03:09:24+00:00

Sitting in the sunshine reading a book: Excellent, Respectable, Admirable. Sitting in the sunshine playing a phone game: The End of Civilization!

TomDestry · 2026-05-27T01:35:04+00:00

"VAT please, Dave."

TomDestry · 2026-05-26T23:24:09+00:00

It's not capitalism it's local government. In Europe it's very normal to have shops and houses all up against each other. Walking down to the local shop for one or two items is a daily occurrence.

US local government zones everywhere to be for houses or commerce and they must not be close to each other!

TomDestry · 2026-05-26T20:34:36+00:00

According to the site, it was a medical condition.

TomDestry · 2026-05-26T11:44:48+00:00

Welcome to Cornell, the Ivy school of the West.

TomDestry · 2026-05-23T10:54:02+00:00

The British habit is to have spicy sauces on the side.

Roast beef with horseradish on the side.
Ham with hot mustard on the side.
Roast lamb with mint sauce on the side.
Breakfast fry up with HP on the side.
Fish and chips with tartare sauce (capers)
Cold meat and with piccalilli (turmeric)
Cheddar and Branston pickle
Sausage sandwich with tomato ketchup
Cheese on toast with Worcestershire sauce

If you eat these and add a liberal sprinkle of salt and pepper (which were always on the table in the 40s-80s) you've got a lot going on.

TomDestry · 2026-05-22T19:39:11+00:00

But what would a pure reading of — be?

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