Lead was added to gasoline since the 1920s. The first clinical studies that showed it was toxic were in 1969. The first country to ban it completely was Japan in 1986 and the last was Algeria in 2021. For more than a decade, people could have made a similar claim to yours, "if such an effect were true, we would have banned it already". And they would have been wrong, the effect was true.
> The first clinical studies that showed it was toxic were in 1969.
We knew it was dangerous within a year of it being introduced, even if we didn't publish widespread clinical studies before the 60s. Its creator, Thomas Midgley Jr, was diagnosed with lead poisoning multiple times.
> Warnings about the toxicity of tetraethyllead came to Midgley from various sources. The letter of Erich Krause concerning its toxic effects, quoted in part in part 1,2 written on November 30, 1922, to George Calingaert (then at M.I.T.) was forwarded to Midgley in December 1922 by W. G. Whitman, Assistant Director of the M.I.T. Research Laboratory of Applied Chemistry. However, despite his own health problems and these early warnings, Midgley did not appear to be overly concerned about the health issues associated with the handling and use of tetraethyllead.
> In the years that followed, research was heavily funded by the lead industry; in 1943, Randolph Byers found children with lead poisoning had behavior problems, but the Lead Industries Association threatened him with a lawsuit and the research ended.
> Lead was added to gasoline since the 1920s...the last was Algeria in 2021.
Right, so we figure these things out within 100 years or so at most. We've been dealing with hunger for millions of years, you'd expect there to be something in the Torah about how no man shall act as a judge before he's had lunch.
Until when do they sit in judgment? ? Rav Sheshet said: Until mealtime, noon. Rav Ḥama said: What is the verse that alludes to this? As it is written: “Woe to you, land that your king is a lad and your ministers eat in the morning. Happy are you, land that your king is free and your ministers eat on time in strength and not in drunkenness”
I'm not educated on the subject. Why can't Cuba import the fertilizer and build the machines? There are open source blueprints, like the Global Village Construction Set.
Cuba is an island with very little natural resources. Therefore, to build almost anything, it needs to buy it from other countries. The sanctions makes everything coming from outside much more expensive. And to buy things, they need money (dollar, or some other international currency). They can get it only in the few areas where they can be internationally competitive (as any imported product is much more expensive to them, they will not be competitive in most industries): tourism, offering medical services and selling cigars.
As they have fewer baskets to place their eggs, they are much more succetible to crisis: a blow in one economical activity generates crisis that affects a lot all other areas. For example, one of the causes for the current crisis is the pandemics that dropped their tourism to zero for 2 years. Now they have much less to invest, affecting all economical activities.
Foreign currency the US is Cuba's most logical export market. So, with a shortfall of dollars/etc, importing things is problematic. So Cuba's reliance on importing food - especially from the US - looks like a spiral: eating today taking precedence over planting etc.
I don't know as much about this next part, but seeds are also harder to import. I'd hazard a guess at there not being much capacity in that market unless you're buying from Monsanto or the like, which seems not to be an option in Cuba as those (American) companies are not exempt from the embargo, unlike exporters of food and medical supplies.
The answer here is "monsanto is a de facto monopoly" - they're essentially the only company on earth that this kind of business can be done with on any kind of scale.
I caved in and bought Premium (currently in the free trial month). It greatly enhanced the experience on my phone as well, plus I do most of my learning on youtube, so given how valuable it is for me, I don't mind paying.
The title is accurate and captures the significance, because they aren’t change legal minimum ages, so its not just an age counting change: everyone is getting a year younger (or maybe two for some people, if the article’s description is correct) with respect to legal age criteria.
I doubt I can be productive at programming if I have to be interrupted every 20, 8 and 2 minutes to adjust my stance. Every time I tried that I failed. Should I keep trying?
I just try to listen to my body. Are there times when I'm focused and productive for a couple hours, sure, but if not and there are opportunities to get up then I take them. I don't try and make it a hard and fast rule. I'll also try to go for a walk at lunch if I didn't ride my bike to the office that day.
Hmmm. I think it depends. Personally I just drink so much water I have to pee like every 30m. I think during this time I should take an extra five minutes and stand up!
