What a terribly unfortunate surname he has.

On "Stuff" but also the same terminology ("synthetic cannabis") used by other sites reporting this story.

Synthetic cannabinoids are so named because they attach to the same cannabinoid receptors in our body as THC and CBD found in cannabis does, the cannabinoid receptors are there naturally as part of our self-regulatory biochemical system.  Unfortunately named after a plant - if the cannabiniod receptors had been discovered in some other way, we'd have called them something else.

Point of this post:

The synthetic drug AMB-FUBINACA (and other similar substances) is NOT "synthetic cannabis".  It's a very dangerous synthetic cannabinoid - not found in the cannabis plant.

There's a referendum on cannabis law reform coming up, headlines like that are extremely misleading and will reinforce belief in "reefer madness" by people who do not understand the basics - which unfortunately seems to be very many people.

There are plenty of other existing threads on GZ to discuss the ins and outs and to continue from this post, lest it become a holy war in this thread, but this post belongs here.

The news media had been advised how dangerously bad these kind of headlines are, they seemed to get the message earlier this year, yet have reverted to a default position of stupid. It's important to get the message out about how dangerous these drugs are, including mentioning that they exist mainly as a direct result of failed cannabis prohibition.

Geektastic: A new low for an alleged newspaper.

"Lee Suckling: the etiquette of threesomes"

Really, Herald? Really?

DarthKermit:

 

What a terribly unfortunate surname he has.

 

Woman tied husband up, cut off his penis

Local police chief Major Jason Wank said the motivation for the castration was unclear.

(Major) Wank told media that police attended the incident just before 4am local time.

The victim was taken to a local medical centre along with his severed member, which was recovered by emergency services and put on ice,

If the member was removed, it is amputation, not castration. People who write for the media ought to learn the language they are writing in.

Stuff again!

Headline at the bottom of the main page, under The Press:

50-metre delays possible on SH73

Which leads to:

50-minute delays possible for SH73 motorists while cliff work completed

Obviously there is no one left to check what they publish!

Edit: Spelt Stuff wrong! (At least I corrected it!)

Asteroid Nearly misses Earth ? How can you nearly miss ? Does that imply a non-miss, ie a hit ?

Perhaps it should be Asteroid barely misses Earth

Rikkitic:

 

I am conflicted by this article on RNZ. It is about road safety, and I agree with it. The problem is a quote by Senior Sergeant Murray Henderson, who says that two cars colliding at 100 kph have an impact speed of 200 kmh. This is incorrect, and a senior police traffic officer should know that.  It may seem counter-intuitive, and a lot of people make the mistake, but the impact speed of two cars colliding is divided between the cars, so if they are each travelling at 100 kph, each will experience the same impact as if it hit a stationary wall. The impact force is not doubled.

 

Jamie Hyneman of Mythbusters made the same mistake and was called up on it by viewers. The show then broadcast a retraction and an explanation of why the impact force was not doubled. 

 

Road safety is a serious issue and I applaud any efforts to improve driver behaviour, but I think it is important that police statements on the subject be absolutely true. Otherwise there  is a risk of them not being taken seriously.

 

 

 

So in this case the officer would be correct since the impact force for each vehicle at 100km/h is equal to one traveling at 200km/h. :)

http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/211_fall2002.web.dir/ben_townsend/BasicConcepts.htm

https://www.scienceabc.com/pure-sciences/does-doubling-the-speed-of-a-vehicle-on-a-highway-only-double-the-impact-force-of-an-accident.html

SepticSceptic:

 

Asteroid Nearly misses Earth ? How can you nearly miss ? Does that imply a non-miss, ie a hit ?

 

Perhaps it should be Asteroid barely misses Earth

 

 

That puts me in mind of the definition of flying in Hitchiker's Guide: throwing yourself at the ground and missing.

Term quibbling but you are wrong. People  in each car experience the same damage they would in one car hitting a wall at 100 kph.

https://www.quora.com/If-two-cars-are-both-traveling-at-exactly-60-mph-towards-each-other-and-have-a-head-on-collision-is-the-impact-speed-120-mph-or-is-it-60-mph?share=1

==========================

Rorkes Drift? Really?

It was a rugby match. There were

• no thousands of Zulu warriors,
• no plucky Michael Caine led British garrison with their backs to the wall
• no piles of bodies bloating and stinking under the hot Matabeleland sun; and
• no Victoria Cross medals to be distributed

Get a grip, Whanganui Chronicle
BTW, this is Auckland Herald group "Premium" coverage

PolicyGuy: Rorke's Drift at Cooks Gardens
Winless Wanganui play 74 minutes with 14 men to beat an undefeated West Coast

 

==========================

 

Rorkes Drift? Really?

 

It was a rugby match. There were

 

• no thousands of Zulu warriors,
• no plucky Michael Caine led British garrison with their backs to the wall
• no piles of bodies bloating and stinking under the hot Matabeleland sun; and
• no Victoria Cross medals to be distributed

Get a grip, Whanganui Chronicle
BTW, this is Auckland Herald group "Premium" coverage

 

It's rugby. I have never seen so much utter guff written about a subject as I have rugby in NZ.