Mob rule is just as terrible as autocracy (they don’t call it the tyranny of the majority for nothing), but when the system is failing, the people really have no choice but to form mobs.
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
John F. Kennedy
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
Martin Luther King Jr.
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While it’s probably only a matter of time until the Democratic party manages to unite at least a majority of itself into a force dedicated to ensuring Trump doesn’t get elected, Obama’s endorsement of Clinton reminds me once again of how much more rancorous the 2008 Democratic primaries were.
Flashback: January 25, 2008:
Obama: Hillary Will ‘Say Anything and Change Nothing’ • 2008 Jan 25 • Michael James • ABC News
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I only just learned about Arctic® apples, marketed as non-browning apples. They achieve this by adding extra copies of the polyphenol oxidase gene, thereby inducing gene silencing.
Polyphenol oxidase is the enzyme responsible for turning the white flesh of an apple brown after exposure to oxygen, by catalyzing the oxidation of polyphenols to o-quinone, which can autopolymerize and/or cross-link with other molecules that contain phenol rings including the amino acid like tyrosine to form melanin.
Physicochemical Properties and Function of Plant Polyphenol Oxidase: A Review • 2003 Jan 23 • Ruhiye Yoruk and Maurice R. Marshall • Journal of Food Biochemistry
Why do apple slices turn brown after being cut? • 2007 Jul 30 • Lynne McLandsborough • Scientific American
Aesthetics aside (I know lots of people don’t like eating brown apples even if they’re otherwise fine), I do wonder if this really extends shelf-life, since the mushiness/mealiness is due primarily to the degradation of cell walls.
Realistically, misuse and overuse of antibiotics in food-producing animals is just as much of a contributor to antibiotic resistance as misues and overuse of antibiotics in humans.
While therapeutic use makes sense and prophylactic use is often times defensible, the main issue is production use—feeding health food-producing animals antibiotics for the main purpose of increasing the weight gain.
National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System for Enteric Bacteria • Antibiotic Use in Food-Producing Animals • CDC
Honestly, if you think Clinton’s presumptive victory is a sign that neoliberalism is totally fine and the majority of Democrats are all aboard and we should just keep on keeping on while the real wages fall and the rich get even richer and can get judges to merely slap them on the wrist for committing violent crimes, the aftermath of the next recession/stock market crash is probably going to be horribly shocking to you.
(Also, you should really, really pay attention to the age demographic breakdown in the polls to see what the natural trajectory of the Democratic party will be.)
Democrats Will Learn All the Wrong Lessons From Brush With Bernie • Instead of a reality check for the party, it’ll be smugness redoubled • 2016 Jun 9 • Matt Taibbi • Rolling Stone