While the definition of dumpster fire can vary, on a deep level, we all know what it is. It’s pretty self-explanatory in it’s words. But if you don’t know, a dumpster fire is an awful and disastrous situation, like when you, well, set a dumpster on fire (but don’t really).
The very hip Merriam-Webster decided to add this phrase along with 850 other words into their dictionary, solidifying their long-term value. NPR reports that Merriam-Webster isn’t trying to emulate Urban Dictionary, which is, for many, a respectable and ample source of information.
MW explains that their goal isn’t to focus on changes in informal language that take place on a day to day basis. The words that they record are the ones that will still have posterity and important value in the future.
According to them:
We are really interested in the terms that are here to stay, that we are very unlikely to ever take away from the dictionary.
The fact that “dumpster fire” is a word that’s considered important for our future is kind of a dumpster-fire in itself, but whatever.
Other words that were added to the dictionary include: mansplain, hate-watch, embiggen, welp, and self-care. Merriam-Webster’s official definition of dumpster fire (noun, US informal) is when “an utterly calamitous or mismanaged situation or occurrence: disaster.” Thank you, dictionary, that’s a very fancy way of putting it.
Netflix recently announced it would renew every technophobe’s favorite show, Black Mirror, for a fifth season. The dystopian sci-fi show typically investigates how technology has creeped into our modern society and the effects it has. With Black Mirror showrunner Charlie Brooker about to hit the drawing board for new storylines, we’d like to offer five potential technologies the show could tackle next season.
Self-Driving Cars
You either have experienced or personally know someone who has experienced a rideshare horror story, whether it be unwanted sexual approaches, bad services or the litany of drunk passengers who type in “home” and incur a thousand-dollar Uber ride. When you consider the formula of rideshare technology—unregulated, freelancing stranger picks you up and drives you somewhere—it isn’t surprising that the end result sometimes ends poorly.
If tech billionaires running these rideshare companies have any say, soon that formula will change. Strangers will be replaced by machines and self-driving cars will become the standard. Autonomous transportation will become a thing of the past and the road will fill with empty vehicles. Here’s how Black Mirror might envision our not-so-distant future.
Drones
A radical fact about living in a hyper-accelerated media and technology culture is how quickly new ideas and gadgets become accepted into existence; like, we’re all just cool with drones now. While there isn’t anything immediately distressing about drones, South Australian researchers did just develop “drone technology which can measure a person’s breathing and heart rate from 60 metres in the air.”
That’s kind of weird, right? I guess I’m just worried all drones will become sentient Terminator-style and attack us like the crows got those schoolchildren in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. Can you make my mental image become reality, Charlie Brooker?
Facial-recognition Machine Learning
Motherboard broke the single most disturbing tech story of 2018. It’s called deepfakes, which is essentially AI-generated pornography that face-swaps celebrity faces onto adult actresses. Weird programmers are using machine learning to produce Daisy Ridley and Jessica Alba pornos. Some were using the tech to create pornography with the faces of their classmates while others were taking requests for personalized deepfakes videos. It’s nonconsensual and wrong, straight up.
Equally troubling is a story from Buzzfeed’s Charlie Warzel, which detailed an impending Infopocalypse. His piece details how those same technologies could be used to fabricate speeches from politicians and world leaders. Just watch people recreate Barack Obama’s dialogue from scratch.
Now, Black Mirror already parodied a cartoon character literally winning public office by being an asshole—sound familiar?—but this technology is vastly more nefarious.
3D-Printing Suicide Machines
Think of Dr. Philip Nitschke as the Australian Jack Kevorkian. Both are huge euthanasia advocates and have overseen assisted patient suicides. Nitscke made headlines recently for producing a blueprint for a personal suicide machine that could be reproduced via 3D printing. For Futurama fans, this technology might sound eerily familiar.
3D Printing in general deserves a Black Mirror treatment, but this seems ripe for Brooker to tackle dramatically.
Sex Dolls
Yeah, this is one technology rampantly out of control and not going away anytime soon. We got this weird Japanese sex doll that dispenses cocktails and the UK just opened the first sex doll brothel. When an AI sex doll was put on display at last year’s Arts Electronica Festival in Austria, some nerds couldn’t resist the silicone charm and left her “heavily soiled.”
You know what? Maybe we don’t need a Black Mirror episode on this one.
Sorry, Prince William. When Kate births her next kid, Her Majesty must be the first to know (well, besides Kate) before it can be announced publicly.
It’s not easy being a member of the Royal Family. There are all sorts of protocols that must be followed, many dating back centuries. It may seem old-fashioned to fall in line with some of these rigid rules today, especially the ones that happen during the birth of a royal child.
Here’s what Kate Middleton has to look forward to when she gives birth to her third kid any day now, according to The Daily Star. Take note, Meghan Markle.
The Queen Has To Be The First To Know
Sorry, Prince William. When Kate births her next kid, Her Majesty must be the first to know (well, besides Kate) before it can be announced publicly.
According to The Daily Star, this protocol was broken recently when Kate and Will announced the birth of Prince George on Twitter, versus the more traditional vehicle of an easel outside Buckingham Palace.
Yep. Town criers are still employed. It’s a custom that stretches back to medieval times when people couldn’t read or write. We’ve evolved since then, yes?
https://giphy.com/gifs/e2g1SVtT3ChfW
Home Births Are Preferred
It’s preferred that royals give birth at home, which Queen Elizabeth did for all of her children. According to The Daily Star, Princess Diana broke this rule when she gave birth to both William and Harry at London’s St Mary’s Hospital.
Kate also had George and Charlotte there, but it’s expected she’ll have her third baby delivered in Kensington Palace. It should also be noted (and expected) that midwives are sworn to secrecy.
Does consuming marijuana actually make you stupid? That’s the Reefer Madness argument made by a doctor in an attempt to prevent Oklahomans from voting to legalize cannabis.
Dr. Harold Urschel, chief medical strategist for EnterHealth, a Dallas-based addiction treatment program, said this on KOCO News 5:
The better high you get, the more addicting it is, but also the more you get into your brain, the more destructive it is. It changes how your mood states, messes with your sleep. For teenagers, it decreases your IQ by eight points, which is a significant drop. It causes significant risk of heart attacks, lung cancer. Doubles your risk of stroke.
We see a lot of the devastation caused by marijuana and other drugs as well. Probably 20 percent of our patients are addicted to marijuana. For the couple of hours you’re feeling the high, you do feel better. But then it wears off, and the injury it does to your brain makes the symptoms two or three times worse the more you need marijuana again.
That’s what’s called a “hot take,” in the world of “shout TV.” But the doctor’s statements, especially when it comes to IQ, are simply not rooted in available science.
Here are just a few studies that dispel Urschel’s warning:
In a study out of the United Kingdom, researchers concluded, “The notion that cannabis use itself is causally related to lower IQ and poorer educational performance was not supported in this large teenage sample.”
Data published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences led researchers to conclude: “In the largest longitudinal examination of marijuana use and IQ change, … we find little evidence to suggest that adolescent marijuana use has a direct effect on intellectual decline. … [T]he lack of a dose-response relationship, and an absence of meaningful differences between discordant siblings lead us to conclude that the deficits observed in marijuana users are attributable to confounding factors that influence both substance initiation and IQ rather than a neurotoxic effect of marijuana.”
Researchers published in the journal Addictionwrote: “[W]e found that youth who used cannabis … had lower IQ at age 18, but there was little evidence that cannabis use was associated with IQ decline from age 12 to 18. Moreover, although cannabis use was associated with lower IQ and poorer executive functions at age 18, these associations were generally not apparent within pairs of twins from the same family, suggesting that family background factors explain why adolescents who use cannabis perform worse on IQ and executive function tests.” Investigators concluded, “Short-term cannabis use in adolescence does not appear to cause IQ decline or impair executive functions, even when cannabis use reaches the level of dependence.”
These findings are consistent with those of several other studies – including those here, here, and here – finding that cannabis use alone during adolescence does not appear to have a significant, direct adverse effect on intelligence quotient.
Nichelle Medina, co-host of the morning news of San Diego Zoo Station KFMB, was interrupted mid-news when a bird decided it was the appropriate time to barge in and sit on her head.
The bird in question, a 10-year-old pink ibis called Sophie, flew in the minute the anchors started to tease the upcoming segment discussing the San Diego Zoo. The other host of the show commented on the bird’s impeccable timing, and proceeded to freak out as the bird looked around the set, flapped his feathers and tried to peck him.
For her part, Medina kept it cool and was very relaxed. She didn’t seem to mind the bird, claiming that it gave her a much needed head massage. According to The Huffington Post, the video has gone viral.
We here at The Fresh Toast are big fans of BBC’s Planet Earth series. We love watching bears boogie in the jungle and giraffes stomping lions. These moments remind us that nature is so often more entertaining than anything else you’d see on TV.
We also love Planet Earth because its style is so distinct and captivating that it makes for such ripe parodies. Our favorite is probably the time Marshawn Lynch narrated the epic iguana run from Planet Earth II. But this new clip from Nicholas King is a close second.
This parody shows what Earth would look like if overrun by Boston Dynamics’ goofy-looking dog robots. You might remember these robots from a recent viral video of them opening doors. It’s massively creepy!
So this funny video re-imagines them running wild across brazen wastelands, possibly after the apocalypse or the Great Robot Uprising. Don’t believe me? The Planet Earth-like narrator all but flat-out says the robots are the cause of such desolation. As far as we’re considered, watching them get blown away by Mother Nature is exactly the justice they deserve.
President Donald Trump officially went off the rails over the weekend, praising nations that impose the death penalty for drug dealers. Saturday’s unscripted rant may be a warning sign for all those seeking sane and effective drug laws.
The speech, originally scheduled to be a campaign endorsement for Pennsylvania congressional candidate Rick Saccone, turned weird quickly as Trump railed against “sleepy-eyed” NBC host Chuck Todd and “very low IQ” Rep. Maxine Waters. But his comments about drugs were over the top.
Trump reminded the sign-waving crowd that convicted murderers can face the death penalty or life in prison without parole. But when it comes to drugs, a person can “kill 5,000 people with drugs because you’re smuggling them in and you’re making a lot of money and people are dying,” and not face severe punishment. “That’s why we have a problem, folks. I don’t think we should play games. Now, I never did polling on that — I don’t know if that’s popular, I don’t know if that’s unpopular. … But these people are killing our kids and they’re killing our families, and we have to do something. We can’t just keep setting up blue-ribbon committees with your wife and your wife and your husband, and they meet and they have a meal and they talk, talk talk talk, two hours later, then they write a report.
“I think it’s a discussion we have to start thinking about. I don’t know if we’re ready — I don’t know if this country’s ready for it,” Trump said.
He also praised nations such as the Philippines, China and Singapore that have capital punishment laws to combat drug traffickers.
This is not the first time that Trump has expressed his dangerous views on drug policy. According to a report by Axios last month:
According to five sources who’ve spoken with Trump about the subject, he often leaps into a passionate speech about how drug dealers are as bad as serial killers and should all get the death penalty.
Trump tells confidants a softer approach to drug reform — the kind where you show sympathy to the offenders and give them more lenient sentences — will never work.
He tells friends and associates the government has got to teach children that they’ll die if they take drugs and they’ve got to make drug dealers fear for their lives.
Trump has said he would love to have a law to execute all drug dealers here in America, though he’s privately admitted it would probably be impossible to get a law this harsh passed under the American system.
Kellyanne Conway, who leads the White House’s anti-drug efforts, argues Trump’s position is more nuanced, saying the president is talking about high-volume dealers who are killing thousands of people. The point he’s making, she says, is that some states execute criminals for killing one person but a dealer who brings a tiny quantity of fentanyl into a community can cause mass death in just one weekend, often with impunity.
Trump has repeatedly praised Philippines’ president Rodrigo Duterte, saying he has done an “unbelievable job on the drug problem.” The International Criminal Court has begun an investigation into Duterte’s drug policy. His “war on drugs” has led to nearly 8,000 deaths in his nation.
In 2016, more than 1.5 million Americans were arrested on drug-related charges, 84 percent of which were for possession only. Of the more than 650,000 people arrested for marijuana, 89 percent were charged with possession only.
Trump’s glorification of “tough on crime” approached to the problem has been tried by previous administrations going back to Richard Nixon. It simply does not work. The tough-guy rhetoric clearly serves as red meat for his followers.
There’s been quite a sight to see on the grounds of Kensington Palace as of late. Prince Harry is teaching his American fiancé how to drive like a British person. That means driving on the left hands side of the road. He’s also giving her pointers on how to drive a stick shift.
After years of using an automatic, Markle is trying to obtain a British license. As The Daily Mail reports, visitors of the UK from outside the EU are eligible to drive a small vehicle for up to a year from the time they first become resident. They just need to have a valid license from their home country, which Markle has.
If Markle wants to continue driving as a Royal in the UK, she’ll need to get a British provisional driving license and pass a theory and practical driving test. Sounds fun!
The Daily Mail says Markle will also be taught “evasive driving techniques” as part of a general program of security training. And that it’s important for her to to be able to drive a manual should she need to in an emergency.
An insider tells the publication that Markle has been practicing inside the grounds of the royal palace, where she lives with Harry, and is reportedly excited to drive herself around like a commoner, because of course she is.
Man and the erection! It’s a lifelong adventure. There is no object in creation that some man will not venture to bring into juxtaposition with his penis. Trust us on this one.
This is particularly true with things men enjoy, like getting high. The primordial Oreo crumbs had barely fallen from the beard of the first caveman weed-smoker when he inevitably mused, “I wonder if this is good for my erection
For all the eons of diligent amateur research into this question, a clinical verdict has not yet been drawn. But a firmer scientific grasp of the issue may be taking hold.
Scientists have recently discovered the presence of cannabinoid receptors in the smooth muscle.
A 2009 survey of more than 8,000 Australians found that marijuana use can make men climax too soon, too late, or not at all. On the other hand, other evidence shows that cannabis slows the metabolizing of Viagra, so at least indirectly, it can have a pro-boner effect. However, by protracting vasodilation, a paper from 2002 admonishes, cannabis can also have an undesirable pro-heart attack effect.
But at last we may have a clearer path forward. Scientists have recently discovered the presence of cannabinoid receptors in the smooth muscle (that’s not an aesthetic judgment but a technical term for a sort of floppy, involuntary muscle) of the penis, suggesting that cannabis does have a physiological role in erection. According to 2011 study, cannabis may have an “antagonizing effect” on the cannabinoid receptors in the penis, making it more difficult for a man to achieve and maintain an erection. “This is a more serious effect on the erectile function,” said lead researcher Rany Shamloul, “because the smooth muscle makes up 70 percent to 80 percent of the penis itself.”
Is there such a thing as weed dick? The answer isn’t a simple yes or no.
As Playboy reported, studies on animals have shown that marijuana can inhibit receptors inside the erectile tissue of the penis that control erection. Whether this is true for humans is unclear, but like with any drug or alcohol, too much can impact sexual health in a number of ways.
For marijuana, especially, dosage is key. Too much and you’ll be too high to get to the bed, let alone get it up. For heavy users, erectile dysfunction is three times as prevalent, compared to those who don’t use cannabis at all.
The accumulated research exploring the effects of marijuana on male sexual functioning is pretty limited. While this research suggests that marijuana is likely to be an erection inhibitor, the answer is probably a bit more complicated than this, and we need a lot more hard data (pun fully intended) to understand why different guys report experiencing different sexual effects.
How you personally react to different strains, situations, and doses will differ, and only you can find your perfect scenario for getting sexy with weed. So get experimenting.
