The Off Topic Topic

[Eddie Teach]

Some things never change.

[Tonitrus]

Merkel's famous hand gesture:

You missed one... 

[Lettow77]

  Japan largely frowns upon painkillers during pregnancy- the most frequently cited reason is that it reinforces the bond between mother and child. Those seeking medications have to go to one of the comparatively rare hospitals that offer such relief.

On the other hand, my lovely wife's maternity calendar she received from her doctor had helpful notations about the most (medically speaking) spiritually potent times to go to the shrine and get your ease-of-birth Shinto magic rituals completed. (It is advised by the physician to undergo such spellweaving twice- once in each the second and third trimester.)

[Ed Anger]

I wanted the drugs. So I didn't have to hear the whining.

[jimmy olsen]

  Japan largely frowns upon painkillers during pregnancy- the most frequently cited reason is that it reinforces the bond between mother and child.

Do you mean that they believe that the pain of childbirth reinforces the bond?

[Lettow77]

 Yeah, isn't that quaint? It is generally the doctor's recommendation not to use any pain medicine.

(Well, he doesn't really need to make the recommendation- it is accepted that you won't use pain medicine; it isn't really a seriously considered option, such as shinto pain-relief magic.)

Anti pre-natal vitamin sentiment is also very strong. Japan is really cute and I am glad I live here.

[Tonitrus]

I pretty much picture Lettow's life as akin to how James Bond lives when he infiltrates the Japanese village in You Only Live Twice.  Except with more Confederate flags and anime.

[Liep]

13 people have been arrested for bribing public office drones to get orders on municipal IT solutions. Denmark is ruined, we might as well call it quits and join Italy as a province or something.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

  Japan largely frowns upon painkillers during pregnancy

Thankfully, due to Japan's birthrate, not much frowning goes on.

[Lettow77]

 The tragedy of Japan's birth rate is a little overplayed. It is ahead of the curve regionally,  but Taiwan and South Korea are going to take the fall harder than Japan did, and who knows what will become of China since it's having its birth-rate plummet before becoming a luxurious first-world society instead of doing the sensitive thing.

  With a rising desire among young maidens to become housewives and not much in the way of scary foreign immigration to worry about, there's plenty of reason to think things will level off and Japan will reach a comfortable sustainable population- albeit one below the present population of the country. It's their nefarious neighbors that will be taking the bigger plunge.

[Valmy]

Yeah, isn't that quaint?

That is not the word I would choose

[The Minsky Moment]

http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/mark-mellman/287789-relationship-of-parties-and-policies?utm_source=jolt&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Jolt&utm_campaign=Jolt06092015

We presented respondents with two different education plans . . . half the sample was told A was the Democratic plan and B was the Republican plan, while the other half of our national sample was told A was the Republican plan and B was the Democrats' approach.

The questions dealt with substantive policy on a subject quite important to most Americans — education — and issues that people are familiar with — class size, teacher pay and the like.

Nonetheless, when the specifics in Plan A were presented as the Democratic plan and B as the Republican plan, Democrats preferred A by 75 percent to 17 percent, and Republicans favored B by 13 percent to 78 percent. When the exact same elements of A were presented in the exact same words, but as the Republicans' plan, and with B as the Democrats' plan, Democrats preferred B by 80 percent to 12 percent, while Republicans preferred "their party's plan" by 70 percent to 10 percent. Independents split fairly evenly both times. In short, support for an identical education plan shifted by more than 60 points among partisans, depending on which party was said to back it.

Big effect.

I blame the Republicans for this.

[Malthus]

http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/mark-mellman/287789-relationship-of-parties-and-policies?utm_source=jolt&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Jolt&utm_campaign=Jolt06092015

We presented respondents with two different education plans . . . half the sample was told A was the Democratic plan and B was the Republican plan, while the other half of our national sample was told A was the Republican plan and B was the Democrats' approach.

The questions dealt with substantive policy on a subject quite important to most Americans — education — and issues that people are familiar with — class size, teacher pay and the like.

Nonetheless, when the specifics in Plan A were presented as the Democratic plan and B as the Republican plan, Democrats preferred A by 75 percent to 17 percent, and Republicans favored B by 13 percent to 78 percent. When the exact same elements of A were presented in the exact same words, but as the Republicans' plan, and with B as the Democrats' plan, Democrats preferred B by 80 percent to 12 percent, while Republicans preferred "their party's plan" by 70 percent to 10 percent. Independents split fairly evenly both times. In short, support for an identical education plan shifted by more than 60 points among partisans, depending on which party was said to back it.

Big effect.

I blame the Republicans for this.

That study was prepared by a Democrat. 

[Valmy]

Um yeah this happens every time we switch Presidents.

I blame the Republicans for this.

[Admiral Yi]

 

It would be helpful if we knew how respondents were picked.  At various points they're described as Democrats/Republicans, at another as partisans.