As I suspected....

Cannabis is not an effective treatment for common mental health conditions, says review

International researchers find ‘very little evidence’ medical form of the drug can treat anxiety, anorexia and other disorders 

It does sound like one of the psychiatrists involved has a bit of a "culture war" attitude to it, even though I too have always been sceptical of the health benefit claims made by self interested parties:

Sir Robin Murray, a professor of psychiatric research at King’s College London, said: “While people such as me consider that the therapeutic benefits of cannabis are extremely limited, and the side effects common, the world doesn’t believe this.

“Bolstered by the claims of the cannabis industry and the rapidly increasing cannabis clinics in the UK, many people are misled into using cannabis to treat their problems. In my view, the UK cannabis clinics operate as drug dealers for the middle class.” 

Time to whine about Hollywood, again...

I haven't watched the Oscars, but have to say, my interest level (and, I suspect, that of most of the world) regarding nearly all of the nominated movies might just about be at a record low this year.  (I have almost certainly said something similar about previous year's selections, but I can't be bothered checking right now as to which have been the worst.)

I say that having attempted to watch Sinners on whatever streaming service it is on.  I watched it with my son, who is more into dark (/black) movies than me, and we were both completely un-engaged at the 45 minute mark and gave up on it.   Sure, I understand it starts having some good music later, but really, there were no especially sympathetic characters that I can recall, and the friendship between the Chinese family and the black main characters felt a little, um, contrived? for the era.  

And for something that is seen as a black empowerment project, I thought the film seemed to play right into the hands of conservative (and long standing) racist criticism that black people are (shall we say) oversexed and can't help but engage in it at the drop of a hat.

Maybe it all turns around later in the film, but given that I'm not the world's biggest vampire movie fan, one has one's doubts.   All I know is that a dubious mash up of a film should open more engagingly than this one...

As for Marty Supreme:  virtually all reviews said there were no likeable characters, and as soon as I heard it was directed by the same guy who made Uncut Gems - which I complained about here as being un-watchable with its noisy, shouty audio a particular issue, I knew it would not be for me.   (And since then, I was listening to two Brisbane ABC radio hosts just last week who said they both found it completely underwhelming and full of unpleasant people shouting at each other.)   

One Battle After Another might be OK, I guess:  but it's one of those movies which I have heard so little about (for a fairly big budget film with big actors) that I automatically suspect that it doesn't hit the mark, as it's modest box office also suggests.  I feel generally a bit "over" Leonardo DiCaprio too:  an actor who I feel is too often in movies too earnest for his own good.  (Actually, to be clear, I was never really a fan.)

Anyway, I don't think I'm alone in feeling Hollywood seems not to know what people are able to get excited about anymore.  It's like we're waiting for a new genre to be invented to get us engaged again, but no one know what it is...

 

 

Let me help you fall asleep

Like most people, I occasionally have trouble falling asleep, and so I was interested in this story at the Washington Post about a technique that seems relatively new:

If you often find yourself lying awake in the middle of the night worrying, sleep experts say that cognitive shuffling might be worth a try.

Start by thinking of a word — something neutral or positive, like the word “house.” Then, think of as many words as you can that start with the first letter: horse, harmonica, honey. Try to picture each object or idea for 5 to 15 seconds, maybe even imagining a scene with yourself in it. (You’re riding a horse. ... You’re playing the harmonica. ... You’re harvesting honey!)

Beaudoin recommends against finding connections between the words. Just let the images wash over you. Whenever you find yourself having a hard time coming up with another word, move on to the next letter — in this case, o — owls, oasis, ocean and so on. Come up with images for each letter in your original word until you fall asleep. If you run out of letters before you fall asleep, pick a new word.

“It’s hard to think of random material, but this little technique helps people,” Beaudoin said. (He also developed an app called MySleepButton for people who want help with the technique.)

In addition to mimicking the kind of thinking that happens right before sleep, the method also requires a certain amount of brain power — enough to interrupt the worrying or problem-solving that often keeps us awake.

The article notes that it mimics the "micro dreams" that people have when falling asleep.  I'm certainly aware of those happening, and I have long wondered about them when the standard story is that true dreams happen under REM sleep.  (I wouldn't mind betting that some people aren't aware of them, just as some adults say they never remember dreams of any kind.)

So, this technique makes some intuitive sense to me.  

Let them fight, Part 2

People used to say that the biggest haters in politics were Lefties, against other Lefties. 

 Ladies and gentlemen, let me present MAGA influencers...

There's your problem

 Much of it is behind a paywall, but this article at Nature is interesting:

A species of gut bacteria that proliferates as mice get older plays a part in the animals’ cognitive decline, a study finds1. Researchers determined that the bacterium interferes with signalling along sensory nerves connecting the gut to the brain.

Although the experiments were conducted in mice, the gut–brain circuit that the team identified “is likely conserved in humans”, says David Vauzour, a biochemist at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK. That would need to be confirmed, but if the circuit is present in humans, then this research could reveal a mechanism that explains why people’s memory and ability to learn naturally decreases with age — and offer hope that gut-targeted therapies could reverse the decline.

The effects of the bacteria, which dampens the gut–brain circuit in mice, seem similar to other consequences of ageing. “When we get older, we need things like glasses and hearing aids”, says co-author Christoph Thaiss, an immunologist at Stanford University in California. The study — published today in Nature1 — shows that, just as ageing causes a decline in sensory perception of the external world, it might also be causing a loss of perception of internal signals, too, he says. 

The experiment was done by putting young mice and old mice together: 

After a month of living in the same cage, the young mice began performing in a similar way to the old mice on a maze task and another memory test. In the latter test, mice usually remember objects that they’ve seen before and therefore spend more time exploring new objects. But the younger animals that had been housed with the old ones instead spent equal time investigating both familiar and new objects — just as their older counterparts did. This indicated that they had lost their short-term memory.

“Their deficit was so profound, they were basically undistinguishable from the old mice,” says co-author Timothy Cox, a neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “It was almost unbelievable.”

What had changed was that the young animals’ microbiomes had become similar to those of the older mice.

The next line is the reason for the title to this post:

By living near and eating each other’s faeces, mice can easily transmit their gut microbes to one another. The researchers suspected that one or more species of bacteria found in the gut of the old mice might be causing cognitive decline. 

In search of good news

I'm told that petrol is selling at $2.50 per litre, the highest price since I can't recall when.  Thanks, Donald.

Oh, so poor widdle Joe Rogan feels "betrayed" by Trump, does he?  Actually, he was betrayed by his own gullibility, given that there was every possible sign from his first term that Trump:

a.    talks BS continuously and no one can believe anything he says; and

b.    was completely in the pocket of Netanyahu.  

I haven't bothered reading in detail what Rogan said, but it would not surprise me at all if he pivoted to the pathetic, "I take no responsibility for my bad judgement - it's all Democrat's fault" line that I have seen surface on X (Kim Dotcom I think).  That is:  "if it weren't for Biden hanging on for so long and then Democrats running such a bad candidate, I wouldn't have voted for Trump, who seemed the better candidate."   It's ludicrous.  

Anyway - give me some good news, someone?   

I've done Google search, and asked Perplexity too - there are positive stories, of course.  But few that are grabbing my attention.  

Well, there is this:  A new study indicates that yo-yo dieting might actually be good for you.     

Oh, my Chinese AI Kimi tells me that the global suicide rate has fallen by 50% since 2000.  The source for that seems to be Our World in Data, but I can't find a graph confirming that.   However, it does seem there has been a big drop in China:

    All the more reason to continue my Chinamaxxing, I guess.  😄 

Anyway, Kimi has pointed me to a New Years article at El Pais (the Spanish newspaper I think) with a list of 44 ways in which the world has improved over the last few decades.  It's pretty impressive.  

There, AI did cheer me up.... 

Market manipulation is obvious

The spectacularly corrupt Trump administration is at it again:

 US official: ‘Not true’ Navy successfully escorted oil tanker through Strait of Hormuz

Energy Secretary Chris Wright claimed in a now-deleted social media post that the Navy escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz. 

Further down:

In the now-deleted post, which appeared briefly on his official account, Wright said the Navy “successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets.” The post was accompanied by a video of Wright’s remarks in Colorado on Monday, in which he referenced a tanker passing through the Strait but did not mention naval escorts.

Oil prices, which had been falling after President Donald Trump said Monday the U.S.-Israel war with Iran is “very complete,” dropped further on Wright’s announcement. Prices had risen to nearly $120 late Sunday after Iran started striking oil tankers traversing the Hormuz and Iraq and Kuwait started shutting in oil production.  

And:

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, seized on Wright’s post to accuse the U.S. of market manipulation.

“U.S. officials are posting fake news to manipulate markets,” Araghchi wrote on X. “It won’t protect them from inflationary tsunami they’ve imposed on Americans.” 

Lots and lots of people would agree with the Iranian on that issue.... 

One suspects some heated arguments are happening in Washington

Two stories at Axios.  First:

The U.S. and Israel have discussed sending special forces into Iran to secure its stockpile of highly enriched uranium at a later stage of the war, according to four sources with knowledge of the discussions.

Why it matters: Preventing Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon is one of President Trump's stated war objectives. The regime's 450 kilograms of 60%-enriched uranium — convertible to weapons grade within weeks — is one key to that goal.

The big picture: Any operation to seize the material would likely require U.S. or Israeli troops on Iranian soil, navigating heavily fortified underground facilities in the middle of a war.

• It remains unclear whether it would be an American, Israeli or joint mission.
• It would likely only take place after both countries are confident Iran's military can no longer mount a serious threat to the forces involved.

Behind the scenes: At a congressional briefing Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked whether Iran's enriched uranium would be secured. "People are going to have to go and get it," he said, without specifying who.

 Hard to imagine that going all that smoothly!

The other story:

Israel's strikes on 30 Iranian fuel depots Saturday went far beyond what the U.S. expected when Israel notified it in advance, sparking the first significant disagreement between the allies since the war began eight days ago, according to a U.S. official, Israeli official and a source with knowledge.

Why it matters: The U.S. is concerned Israeli strikes on infrastructure that serves ordinary Iranians could backfire strategically, rallying Iranian society to support the regime and driving up oil prices.

It would seem there's a good chance that Trump feels a bit trapped - he presumably doesn't want to be blamed for rising oil prices and Americans in danger in the Middle East, and may be legitimately wary of being able to "sell" to his base the need for boots on the ground in Iran.   However, he has Netanyahu to try to keep happy, too.   

 

Let them fight...

Headline in The Guardian: 

‘You unbelievable coward’: conservative US media in open warfare over Iran

Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Ben Shapiro and Mark Levin are all trading blows over US involvement – while Sean Hannity says he’s staying out of it 

Of course it's illegal

Here's a New York Times article that didn't seem to hang around getting highlighted for long:  

The Legality, or Illegality, of Killing a Foreign Leader, Explained

We also have Iranian ships being sunk thousands of kilometres away, which makes the "it's not a war, just a combat operation" argument pretty laughable.   

 

What I don't understand is Trumpian supporters not getting that the "good guys" aren't supposed to join in with what the bad guys shouldn't be doing.     

 

Update:  More "of course it's illegal":  Trump administration waging illegal war on Iran, experts say

Chinese New Year pop music perfection

It may be heavy on advertising the corporate sponsors, but still:  this is the most pleasing (and simultaneously touching) pop music video I have seen for years.  The trio is from Malaysia, and I have never heard of them before, but the algorithm knew I would like it:

 

Update:    This song makes me unreasonably happy, and after watching the "making of" video and a question and answer with the band, and watching the song video itself a dozen times this week, I understand better how! 

The song's climax has both a choir and strings joining in to boost it - something that isn't immediately obvious on first listening, when one is distracted by the high energy dancing and editing.   The whole video also features the trio ageing backwards - the first shot is from the point of view of the young kids who are at the table at the end shot.   It's such a nice framing device.

As for the band - they started as street dancers, and formed the band in 2017 and now seem to enjoy reasonable success in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.  Would seem that they are trying to break into Taiwan, but without much success there yet.    They look a bit like a wannabe boy hip-hop-ish band, but without the super manufactured rich "smooth" looks of a Korean or Taiwanese band.  (It also seems they are probably over 30 now, which works against them.)   One of them said that he liked wearing that aged make up in this song because it meant they didn't have to "act handsome", which can be hard work.

Interestingly, they re-worked the song into one for the Malaysian Muslim population - using the same tune but with lyrics that are in Malay language, and referring to Hari Raya, the Muslim festival at the end of Ramadan.   They also dressed in more traditional Malay gear, covering their tattoos.   It seems it was well received:  no issues with "cultural appropriation" it seems!

 

 

   

Some glass

These photos are from the Toyama Glass Art Museum, which is in a lovely new-ish library and gallery building and (oddly) seems to have been created without Toyama having any particular historical connection to glass making.   [Update:  I have since read that it was known for making glass medicinal bottles - which ties in with the cities reputation for old style medicine manufacturing, about which I might one day post.  But still, medicine bottles are not exactly art...] 

Anyway, they were having an exhibition of French art nouveau glassware from around the start of the 20th century, and many pieces were very intricate and lovely.

The photos are the end are actually huge glass installations by an American glass artist.  The photo of the boat full of glass balls lacks anything to scale it by, but it's probably about 7 or 8m long.  

 

The room may be free, but...

So, Dubai has told hotels not to throw out guests who are stranded in the country:

Authorities in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have directed hotels to extend stays for guests unable to depart due to current exceptional circumstances, in a coordinated move to protect international visitors affected by travel disruptions. 

The directives require hotels to prioritise guest welfare, ensure accommodation continuity, and avoid asking travellers to vacate rooms if they cannot leave the country or immediately cover extension costs. 

I think the suggestion is that the government will foot the bill for the extended stays, actually.

That's nice of them, but still.  I can imagine having very light sleep if (as is typical) I was in a hotel room there with huge glass windows and no other room (away from the windows) to rest in. 

I would guess, too, that there may be some cheap holidays on offer after this has settled down.   (I'm a little curious to see it, but not at all sure how much I would like it.)  

Watching a man ramble through South East Asia

Have I mentioned before watching the Youtube channel of the Australian travel vlogger who calls himself Fiasco da Gama?  Maybe, but I thought I would mention him again.

It's not like every video is brilliant, and I guess he is sooner or later going to run out of things to talk about, but the simple format of watching a not particularly photogenic Australian man in (I think) his 50's wandering around streets in Asia talking to his camera and the locals is more charming than you might expect.  

I don't think he has ever explained how he has managed to live like this, financially.  He once explained that he worked in Australia until (if I recall correctly) his early 30's, then gave that up to spend the rest of his life wandering through South East Asia (and further a field into Asia) on a shoestring budget.  He has spent most of his time in Bali and Indonesia, it seems, and has explained how he was once engaged to a Balinese woman and lived with her in her village, but gave up on the relationship as he felt somewhat isolated and not able to fully engage in village life.  I suspect that maybe he had an inheritance that was enough to set him off on such a wandering lifestyle?  If so, his economical ways have certainly made the money last.

He has never married or had children, but has made it clear that he is straight.  (He felt prompted to address that as he said some commenters have told him he's gives off a "not very masculine" vibe - which is odd given his bushy beard and general demeanour.  I think, though, that what causes some people to think that may be his high degree of empathy with people, which is generally regarded as a more typically feminine personality trait than masculine.)   He often comments about he loves wandering around where ever he wants, often changing his mind at short notice as to where to go on any particular day,  which means he is happiest travelling without a companion, most of whom would want more certainty.  Yet he has spent so many years doing this, he clearly has a network of friends who he drops in on from time to time. 

This is not the sort of lifestyle I could enjoy long term, I'm sure; but it clearly has suited him and he is generally so positive and respectful of others as a traveller, there is certainly nothing to criticise about his chosen life. 

He speaks some Indonesian, which means he can interact with the locals more than the average vlogger.  

His most recent videos show him making his way via train across Java from its Eastern tip, stopping in towns that are certainly not on the tourist track and just wandering around, looking for somewhere to stay and eat.  And, of course, interacting with locals on the street, who are nearly always happy to talk to him and don't mind being on video.   

Given my short holiday last year in which I caught the train from Jakarta to Yogyakarta, the recent videos have reminded of a couple of things that I reckon are underappreciated:

*    the Indonesian train system, at least on Java, is really, really good.   Modern, comfortable trains;  modestly priced; clean and full of nice staff.  (It seems it has been a while since Fiasco did a lot of travel using them, too, since he has commented in these recent videos that the trains and stations are so much nicer than they ever used to be.)

*   the Indonesian people are very friendly and welcoming, and often quite charming and attractive, too.  Given that the country has significant problems, and Jakarta is a high security city that clearly still worries about terrorism, this was something that I wasn't quite expecting until I got there. But you really do feel, when you see how this older Australian is welcomed on the back streets of virtually any Indonesian city or town, there are a lot of good and welcoming people in Indonesia.  (It helps moderate the impression of Islam, too, to a significant degree.)    

So yeah, I think this guy is a pretty good vlogger, and gives off a likeable personality.  Worth watching, for a while, anyway... 

  

I miss the old way of doing wars...

For all of the stupid brinkmanship that led to War World 2 and other conflicts in the past, at least the old fashioned thing of declaring wars and then fighting them had a clarity which the world decided to walk away from in the second part of the 20th century.   Hence we now have to "law of armed conflict" instead of the "law of war", and countries like the US and Israel deciding that going for international assassination is the way to get countries to change course.  

I mean, if this is the standard now, just how upset should MAGA Americans be if an Iranian secret agent did manage to kill Trump?   Their beloved leader, after all, partook in assassination without giving any clear warning, so seems to me the moral upset should be quite diluted.  

Yet, it's also true that Iran has been such an international trouble maker for so many decades that we are now forced to watch somewhat embarrassing endorsements of Trump's actions by Western leaders who, surely, in private, are likely to be regretting having to going along with this.  Albanese has got the burden of AUKUS around his neck, too, giving him all the more motive not to upset the apple cart of US co-operation to get new submarines.   

A couple of academics at the not-so-illustrious University of the Sunshine Coast are right, though:

We should be dismayed by the worrying acceptance of increased brazen illegality by Western leaders, including our own prime minister. Anthony Albanese has supported the strikes as “acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon”. This places Australia, once again, in open contradiction with basic principles of liberal international order.

They earlier wrote:

Trump said the attacks were intended to end Iran’s nuclear weapons program and bring about regime change. Trump urged Iranians to “take over your government”, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the goal was to “remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran”.

Forcible regime change violates the foundational principles of state sovereignty and non-intervention under the UN Charter.

The strikes targeted Iran’s supreme leader, president, and military chief of staff, as well as military infrastructure. Deliberately targeting heads of state also crosses a threshold that distinguishes military operations from acts of aggression.

Attacking heads of state is illegal under New York Convention, for obvious reasons of stability. With the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the power vacuum will only increase the hardship on the ground for Iranians.

Now, who knows:  it may be that everything will go relatively well, and we soon see the rapid, relatively bloodless, end of a regime that only Putin is likely to think is a pity to see gone.    

But really, does that seem likely given the history of the region in the last 70 odd years?  I doubt it.    

Update:  there is a good summary at Axios about the lead up to this - although you have to subscribe to a newsletter to get to it.

What's clear is that the attack only makes sense if Trump's previous attack on nuclear facilities was not the success he claimed:

Behind the scenes: Before and during the talks, U.S. officials said intelligence made clear Iran was already rebuilding the nuclear facilities that Trump claimed were "obliterated" in Operation Midnight Hammer last June.

• When Kushner and Witkoff asked for a concrete proposal, the Iranians produced a seven-page document outlining enrichment needs they claimed were for civilian purposes.
• Trump's team checked the numbers with the UN's nuclear watchdog. "This would result in enrichment capability roughly five times more than laid out in the [2015 nuclear deal]," one official said.

Officials also said Iran had been secretly stockpiling enriched material at the Tehran Research Reactor under the guise of medical research.

• "Never once did they use any of the fissionable material there to make even a single medicine," one official said. "It was all designed to deceive."

Reality check: This account is based largely on statements by U.S. and allied officials in the aftermath of the strikes, and could not immediately be verified by independent sources.

It's also clear that he is utterly in Netanyahu's pocket.   (Trump and his family also being financially tied to Arab money is another factor.  The Washington Post in particular has been reporting that Saudi Arabia encouraged the attack.)