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Traffic whining, part 607.

After more than three decades of driving around this place, Ive discoveredyoucan psychoanalyze someone by the way they drive while youre driving.

All you have to do if you make it home from your latest trip through the ninth circle of traffic hades is go to Wikipedia and find a page which lists the 14 types of personality disorders with Miltons brief description of each.

Naturally I dont know who Milton is and Im not going to bother to find out. But thanks to Wikipedia, Im an expert on everything just like everybody else with a keyboard.

Anyway. Heres a short look at some of the most common traffic lunatics and whats gone wrong with their personalities.

Up first, youve got the crazy lane-switching maniacs who run 90-100-200 mph on I-95 scaring everybody else and occasionally causing flaming horrible pileups that kill people they dont even know.

These motorists are clearly antisocial. Thats described on Wikipedia as folks who are impulsive, irresponsible, deviant, unruly. Act without due consideration. Meet social obligations only when self-serving. Disrespect societal customs, rules, and standards. See themselves as free and independent. People with antisocial personality disorder depict a long pattern of disregard for other peoples rights. They often cross the line and violate these rights.

Then youve got the self-centered me-firsters who sit at 60 mph in the passing lane on a four-lane highway (i.e., two lanes in each direction, like Highway 17) and wont get over for folks behind them, which just jacks up traffic for miles and makes everybody in two counties want to start playing bumper cars.

Ive long thought these drivers are the same sort of people who speed through subdivisions, tailgate, cheat on their taxes and think their candidate really won because, well, theres no way someone they voted for could lose because they wouldnt vote for a loser.

This category of motorist includes those who get in the middle lane on I-95 and stay, poking along backing up semi trucks for 20 miles, and those pompous louts who speed around you on Fords avenue only to cut in front of you so they can get to Kroger or the I-95 on-ramp at Highway 144 a few seconds faster.

Theyre narcissistic, i.e., egotistical, arrogant, grandiose, insouciant. Preoccupied with fantasies of success, beauty, or achievement. See themselves as admirable and superior, and therefore entitled to special treatment. Is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance and a deep need for admiration. Those with narcissistic personality disorder believe that theyre superior to others and have little regard for other peoples feelings.

Youve probably also noticed your garden variety weirdo drivers who wander around at 40-50 mph on two-lane roads like Highway 204 and back traffic up a couple miles until they get to the passing lane. Then, instead of getting out of the way, they floor it so that nobody can get around them unless that somebody goes 80 mph. In short, nobodys getting anywhere until they do, and theyre in no hurry until they are. As best I can tell those motorists have a borderline personality type, which is described as: Unpredictable, egocentric, emotionally unstable. Frantically fears abandonment and isolation. Experience rapidly fluctuating moods. Shift rapidly between loving and hating. See themselves and others alternatively as all-good and all-bad. Unstable and frequently changing moods. People with borderline personality disorder have a pervasive pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships.

And they cant drive, either.

Drivers who dont use blinkers are often passive-aggressive, which Milton says means theyre apathetic, indifferent, remote, solitary, distant, humorless, contempt, odd fantasies. Neither desire nor need human attachments. Withdrawn from relationships and prefer to be alone. Little interest in others, often seen as a loner. Minimal awareness of the feelings of themselves or others. Few drives or ambitions, if any. Is an uncommon condition in which people avoid social activities and consistently shy away from interaction with others. To others, they may appear somewhat dull or humorless. Because they dont tend to show emotion, or use blinkers, they may appear as though they dont care about whats going on around them.

Whilst I think my driving can best be described as usually in someones way, I tend to think Im schizotypal, which is described on Wikipedia in part as eccentric, self-estranged, bizarre, absent. Exhibit peculiar mannerisms and behaviors. Think they can read thoughts of others. Preoccupied with odd daydreams and beliefs. Blur line between reality and fantasy. Magical thinking and strange beliefs.

I know what youre thinking.

See the article here:
Editor's notes: Nut drivers - Bryan County News

How did Kart games become the it "thing" of the 90's?

The short answer is It had some help from some great racing games that paved the way from the 80's.

Racing games improved on so many levels throughout the 80's in comparison to what was available before that decade. The graphics were much improved, the sound effects really began to sound like an engine revving, and the gameplay was fun yet challenging. The best racing games of the 80s were technical and there was no room for error when navigating hair-pin turns at over 200 MPH. You just couldnt afford to make a mistake in games like Pole Position or Outrun because each poorly navigated turn would cost you another quarter at the arcade. One could argue that racing games began an evolution sometime around 1988, with the arcade release of Power Drift. Sega managed to bring many non-racing game enthusiasts into a new "hybrid" type of racing game genre. It had a different vibe than Segas other titles like Outrun.

Power Drift (1988)[Image Source Wikipedia]

Look no further than Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to understand how profitable Kart games can be. It sold 52 million copies as of December 2022 and is currently the best-selling Nintendo Switch game of all time. In addition to the classic GP circuits, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe features a nice assortment of Battle-Modes and incredibly addicting online play with a community that battles it out on tracks like Mario Kart Stadium and Sweet Sweet Canyon at all hours of the day, every day of the week.Kart games are more successful than anyone in the Power Drift development team could ever have dreamed of and it has come a long way since. The Mario Kart franchise has currently cemented itself as the face or poster of the sub-genre.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Cover Art[Image Source Wikipedia]

What about those Kart Games of the 90s?

By the end of the 90s, the Kart game sub-genre was heavily over-saturated with many titles, most of which were not memorable at all. I mean, when was the last time you played Pac-Man World Rally or Smurf Racers?

Who Didn't Have a Kart Game?[Image Source YouTube]

Mario Kart (1992) Cover Art[Image Source Wikipedia]

Can you believe Super Mario Kart actually started as a prototype for what the development team dubbed a multiplayer F-Zero?Building upon the Mode 7 graphics used in F-Zero, Super Mario Kart used the same visual technique to create a 3D driving circuit, but in a Mario world environment for the very first time.The only issue was that the introduction of a multiplayer mode pushed the 16-Bit SNES to its hardware limitations, and as a result, game speed was affected. The developers also shrunk the length of the tracks in comparison to F-Zero. This is why they opted to make the vehicles into Karts. That should justify the slower speed and shorter tracks right?!?Long story short, the Kart gamble was a huge success. The birth of drifting AKA Power Sliding and the introduction of items used as power-ups during the race would now be a mainstay in Kart games going forward.Super Mario Kart went on to sell 8.76 million copies worldwide.

Crash Team Racing Cover Art[Image Source Wikipedia]

By 1999, it felt like every animated character and their uncle was now being considered for a Kart game and Crash Bandicoot finally got its own introduction to the fiesta.Crash Team Racing didn't "re-invent the wheel" when it came to gameplay, but it did have a great boost mechanic, and a nice adventure mode similar to that of Diddy Kong Racing. Each new Kart game was taking inspiration from its predessors.But in the end, I think the soundtrack probably held this title back, or maybe it was just me? I need some good tunes when Im Kart Racing.CTR went on to sell nearly 2 million copies which was very impressive considering it was Crashs first Kart game.

Diddy Kong Racing Cover Art[Image Source Wikipedia]

I remember playing Diddy Kong racing for the first time and it truly was a whole new type of beast. It took the Kart game concept, added airplanes and hoverboats into the mix, and featured an open-world concept where you could explore new areas that featured boss battles. Whoa.However, looking at this with 2023 prescription glasses, I dont think the game aged as well as some of the others from the 90s. The game's framerate speed is just not as slick when played today. No big deal, but it's hard not to notice it after playing Mario Kart 64.On a funny side note, the game featured a character named Conker the Squirrel. You might be thinking that name sounds familiar. Perhaps you recall a game titled Conkers Bad Fur Day?

Conker's Bad Fur Day Cover Art[Image Souce Wikipedia]

Which begs the question, how did Conker go from Diddy Kong Racing, to Conker's Bad Fur Day? That would be like a side character in the Super Mario universe such as Warioluigi getting placed in his own Grand Theft Auto game. I always found that hilariously fascinating.

Diddy Kong racing sold nearly 5 million copies worldwide and even received a world record for the fastest-selling game at that time.

In Europe, it was known as Speed Freaks[Image Source Wikipedia]

What the heck is Speed Punks? Possibly the most underrated and least known Kart game ever. This one totally slipped under the radar which is such a shame. Unfortunately, Speed Punks just happened to be released around the same time as Crash Team Racing which really deflated its marketing ambition and prevented it from reaching its full potential given that CTR got all the hype.Speed Punks plays more like a traditional Kart game and has a well-designed power drift mechanic that allows the player to build up their Speed Boost meter as long as they drift, without interruption to that drift. The stages are really well designed, the graphics are vibrant, and it had a near perfect balance between skill and fun-game play that should suit any type of player.Yes it has the expected rubber-banding when it comes to item pickups, but it compensates for the skilled-players by allowing the player to use different techniques such as accelerator mashing or well-timed turns in order to avoid weapons being fired at them.Best of all, there are three unlockable characters and 12 unlockable bonus tracks which adds lots of replay value to the game.Speed Punks sold about 200,000 copies worldwide which might be why it just never gets the love it deserves.

In a League of it's Own - Mario Kart 64[Image Source Wikipedia]

No Shocker here. No seriously, what Kart game was better in the 90's?This game exceeded pretty much everyone's expectations in the 90's. How much do people love this game? Take a look at the speedrun community for this title and they collectively nearly maximized the lap times on every track in this game.The graphics were awesome. The levels and characters were instantly recognizable since we all played a Nintendo game at some point in our lives, even the music and sound effects were easy to listen to.

The replay value for Mario Kart 64 was second to none, with the usualset of challenging GP circuits 50-150cc, and an amazing multiplayer mode experience. Dont forget, multiplayer in the 90's was hit or miss on any gaming title no matter how good the solo player was. Mainly because the hardware was so limited. Four player Speed Punks for example just didnt play the same as the one player mode and it was noticeable. Mario Kart 64 on the other hand, was pretty smooth with 4-player action and the new concept of multiplayer battle mode was incredibly genius. Best of all, a skilled player could avoid weapons (but not all of them) with the right techniques which helped deflate the rubber banding effect.Mario Kart 64 was the viral sensation that the Kart game genre needed and it went on to sell 12 million units worldwide.

A great Kart game is one that has a nice balance of technical skill and casual type gameplay. Some that has the likes of "Power Drifting" and gives the player the ability to evade weapons with just the right amount of "rubber banding".A fun Kart game has some unlockable content and an excellent multiplayer mode that doesnt look and feel different than the one player mode. Lastly, a memorable Kart game is one that has some great tunes and eye-catching level designs.

Follow this link:
Top 5 Kart Games of the 90's - Twin Galaxies

Ramadan festivities continue across the UAE this week.

From lavish iftars and suhoor tents to family-friendly events, The National rounds up seven things to do from April 10 to 16.

Tashas Cafe

Tashas Cafe in Al Bateen, Abu Dhabi, has been turned into a majlis by luxury fashion brand Fendi with a Ramadan menu.

Dishes include spinach and feta hummus, sumac and pomegranate salad and Levant chicken. Fendi-branded desserts, such as sticky toffee date cake; and rose and pistachio Eton mess, are also on the menu. Mango, vanilla and date smoothies and apricot nectar, all served with Fendi-branded ice, are available.

Traditional Arabic music will play in the background.

Until April 23; 9am-1am; prices vary; Marsa Al Bateen Marina, Abu Dhabi; 02 445 0890

Experts and locals are sharing stories about Al Ain's history, social practices and people at Al Jahili Fort on Tuesday.

This particular session, which will be conducted in Arabic, will focus on the UAE's second-tallest mountain Jebel Hafeet and its surroundings.

Tuesday; 10pm-midnight; free; Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan St, Al Jahili, Al Ain; 03 711 8311

The plaza terrace of Jumeirah Emirates Towers has been transformed into a traditional Arabian village, displaying artworks from Emirati and other Arab artists.

The market-style Ramadan District also has several food counters serving bite-size dishes, retail shops, live entertainment and a dedicated zone for children. With a view of the Museum of the Future, the location of the pop-up is one of the most Instagram-worthy Ramadan events in the city.

Until April 20; 4pm-2am; free; plaza terrace Jumeirah Emirates Towers; 050 971 6258

The second Ramadan "editathon" by the Emirates Literature Foundation and Wikimedians of the UAE User Group is taking place on Thursday at Mist DXB in Business Bay.

The event is a group-editing workshop that aims to enrich Wikipedia with Arabic and English articles highlighting important aspects of Ramadan in the Arab world. Participants can learn about the platform's best practices, as well as work with experts to become Wikipedia contributors and editors.

Refreshments will be provided, followed by a suhoor in the evening. Registration is required.

Thursday; 9.30am-11.30pm; free; Business Bay; event.elfdubai.org

Visit the Expo Centre Sharjah for the 40th annual Ramadan Nights.

The festival packs in entertainment programmes and cultural activities, alongside a shopping experience with more than 10,000 products from 500 brands, including homeware, toys and clothes.

Visitors can expect up to 75 per cent discounts and other deals on-site.

Until April 21; 5pm-1am; Dh5 adults, free for children under 12; Sharjah Expo Centre; ramadan-nights.com

Al Naeem Mall in Ras Al Khaimah is hosting a Ramadan night market.

The family affair offers harbour views, entertainment, retail and dining experiences. Several activities for children are also lined up, including meet-and-greets with mascots, storytelling sessions, balloon bending and a PlayStation area. Little ones can also join workshops, such as cupcake decorating and slime making.

Until May 1; 4pm-midnight; free entry; Al Naeem Mall; 07 2275000

It's game on at Manarat Al Saadiyat's Ramadan Arcade. Photo: Manarat Al Saadiyat

For a contemporary way of celebrating Ramadan, head to Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi for the last day of its Ramadan Arcade.

As the name suggests, the event features several arcades and activities for visitors, from traditional tabletop games to virtual reality. The newly opened Pixoul Gaming has teamed up with the venue to bring the event to life.

There are three installations by local artists, as well as several pop-ups such as photo booths and artist studios. There are also food stalls located at the Garden and the Plaza.

Until April 16; 9pm-2am; Dh50 for a day pass; Saadiyat Island

Updated: April 10, 2023, 4:01 AM

Read more here:
Things to do in the UAE this week: Ramadan shopping festival ... - The National

One might imagine that the precise design specifications of the Vatican flag would be laid out for anyone to access,like they are for the flag of the United States, for example.But they arent. The best the Vatican provides is a web page with a verbal description and history of the flag, along with alow-resolution image showing a square version.

Becker told CNA that the saga of the Vatican flag on Wikipedia demonstrates a need for the Vatican to step in and clarify exactly what its flag should look like, especially considering the fact that Catholic churches all over the world display the Vatican flag.

It was precisely this lack of clarity on the official design of the Vatican flag that led Becker tocreate a websitedetailing, as best as he could, the correct design for the flag.

Cultural communities in general have turned to flags in a stunning way, Becker commented, citing in part a proliferation of cheaply made, mass-produced flags. And, anecdotally, there seems to be an ever-increasing interest in the Vatican flag as a way for Catholics to claim an identity, whether by flying a flag at home, waving it at a papal event, or by putting one in their social media profile picture.

Perhaps surprisingly, the Vatican flag is less than 100 years old, as is Vatican City itself. For more than a millennium before 1870, the pope ruled over the Papal States, large regions mainly within present-day Italy. After the Vatican lost control of the Papal States, it found itself a tiny island surrounded by an acrimonious Italy. It took nearly 60 years until the ratification of the Lateran Accords of 1929 ushered in harmony between the Vatican and Italy, and the creation of the worlds smallest sovereign country.

In the days of the Papal States, many different flags were used, but the yellow and white color scheme was a common feature. Becker said the modern design was first used by the merchant fleet in the Papal States from 1825 to 1870. In 1929, that design was chosen as the new flag of Vatican City, the sovereign country.

See the rest here:
Wikipedia had the wrong Vatican City flag for years. Now incorrect flags are everywhere - Catholic News Agency

A person looks at an Abortion Pill (RU-486) for unintended pregnancy from Mifepristone displayed on a computer on May 8, 2020, in Arlington, Virginia OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images

A Texas judge on Friday overturned the nationwide FDA approval of abortion medication with a ruling that legal and healthcare experts told Insider is full of inaccuracies.

In addition to citing the Wikipedia definitions for both "pregnancy" and "disease" in his ruling, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk falsely claimed abortion medication "ultimately starves the unborn human until death" and made sweeping generalizations about the psychological impact of abortions on women who receive them which health care providers told Insider aren't accurate.

"Whim and caprice aren't the same as facts and evidence, and are not an objective foundation for good law," Los Angeles attorney Vineet Dubey, co-founder of Custodio & Dubey LLP, a law firm specializing in injury, environmental litigation, and civil rights cases, said in a statement emailed to Insider, indicating the judge's ruling came "without the knowledge necessary to make an informed decision."

Dubey added: "Judges aren't intended to be subject matter experts outside of interpreting the law."

The conservative, Trump-appointed Texas judge behind the ruling in the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA casehas long supported the anti-abortion movement. His mother, Dorothy, is a microbiologist who began working at anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers, his sister, Jennifer Griffith,told The Washington Post.

In his ruling, Kacsmaryk included common phrases used by anti-abortion activists, not scientists, and misinformation.

"Mifepristone also known as RU-486 or Mifeprex is a synthetic steroid that blocks the hormone progesterone, halts nutrition, and ultimately starves the unborn human until death," Kacsmaryk's ruling reads, calling those who provide the medication "abortionists."

But an OB-GYN told Insider the judge's interpretation of what the drug does is medically inaccurate.

"I would say that's not a medical description of the way that that it works," Daniel Grossman, MD, the director of the University of California San Francisco's reproductive health care program, Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH), told Insider.

Mifepristone, Grossman said, blocks the progesterone receptor early in the pregnancy to keep the lining of the uterus from getting thick enough for an embryo to successfully implant on it, causing the pregnancy to start to separate from the uterine wall. Working in tandem with a second medication called misoprostol, which causes the contraction of the uterus, the drugs cause the expulsion of the embryo.

The process is "kind of like having a really heavy, crampy period," according to Planned Parenthood.

"From a medical perspective, we call the developing pregnancy an embryo at this stage. Mifepristone and misoprostol are sometimes used before we can even see an embryo on ultrasound," Grossman told Insider. "So, that term 'unborn human' that's not a medical term that we use."

He added: "And the language around nutrition and starvation is certainly very emotional language, but those aren't the medical terms that we use in this context."

Prior to implanting in the uterine lining and the development of a placenta, an embryo relies on nutrients from endometrial secretions, which are present during the second half of the menstrual cycle whether a pregnancy occurs or not, according to SITNBoston, a Harvard science publication.

But the medical processes and descriptions of how the drugs work weren't the only inaccuracies in the judge's ruling.

M. Antonia Biggs, PhD and social psychologist at ANSIRH, told Insider that Kacsmaryk was "perpetuating misinformation and propagating the myth that abortion causes mental health harm" through his ruling.

"What we do know is that abortion does not increase people's risk of having depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, suicidal ideation, or substance use disorders, which is completely against many of his claims," Biggs told Insider. "We also know that people do not come to regret their abortions."

In the ruling, Kacsmaryk writes that women who receive an abortion are at higher risk of death by suicide, "self-destructive tendencies, depression, and other unhealthy behavior aggravated by the abortion experience," citing studies debunked by the broader scientific community, Biggs said.

Kacsmaryk also claims women experience "intense psychological trauma" from seeing an expelled embryo.

Biggs said when she worked on a longitudinal research project called The Turnaway Study, examining the mental, physical, and socioeconomic consequences of receiving an abortion compared to carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term, the results showed the opposite 95% said that they felt that it was the right decision for them.

"When we did find harm, any kind of psychological harm, it was not to people who had an abortion, but it was people who were denied abortion," Biggs told Insider. "So people who are denied abortion experience short-term, elevated levels of stress, anxiety, and low self-esteem."

Spreading such misinformation through an official judicial ruling, Biggs said, is "inappropriate, unethical, and jarring."

"When you're issuing a ruling that's going to impact people nationally, one would hope that that ruling would be evidence-based and that it would look at the body of evidence instead of cherry-picking studies that are really not in line with the scientific consensus on the topic," Biggs said, adding, "so many of the things in this ruling I would say are completely flawed.It's definitely not going to help or prevent mental health harm or physical harm as it claims it's going to do the opposite."

Kacsmaryk did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

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Read more:
Texas ruling to ban abortion pills nationwide gets basic facts wrong: experts - Business Insider