List: 'Top Ten World tallest skyscrapers'

Today’s ‘List Friday’. Sweetheart Vivienne and I share many likes. Including Freudian theory (even though nowadays its popularity’s waning). So when we see a man driving a big car, we pontificate about the size of his – er, how shall I put it – male member. I’ve no idea if size is everything. And I don’t care. But I suspect size matters to lots of people. And, I dare surmise, most of them are men. And so to today’s list: from thetoptenlist.net it’s ‘Top Ten World [sic] tallest skyscrapers’ [1]. Wikipedia says there’s no accepted definition of a skyscraper; to be a skyscraper a building has to be habitable; and. interestingly, the word ‘skyscraper’ was originally a nautical term [2]. It’s instructive to contemplate that from 1873 to 1974, 15 skyscrapers were sequentially the world’s tallest. And all 15 were in the USA [3]. Since then all the successive world’s tallests have been in Asia or the Middle East. The current number one (pictured), in Dubai UAE, is a massive 828 metres (2,717 feet) tall [4]. In other words, over half a mile high. And almost 10% of Mt Everest’s height. Man’s ingenuity building a skyscraper that high is awe-inspiring. Moreso as it’s a massive 319 metres (i.e. 62%) higher than its predecessor. Of the nine other contemporary tallest in the list, five are in China, two are elsewhere in Asia, and two are in the US. I don’t know how many of the ten were conceived and designed by men. My guess? All of them. Ho hum.

farmdoc's blog post number 629

Here’s this week’s compendium. This week…

1. an ABC News headline proclaimed ‘Dubai unveils world’s tallest building’ [1]. I’ve no idea how Dubai kept it veiled until then.

2. American researchers found that antidepressants’ benefits appear greatest in those with the most severe depression [2]. Seems obvious to me. Maybe I’m missing something.

3. Ginkgo biloba extract was found to not prevent or delay cognitive decline in older adults [3]. Cross Ginkgo off the list, then.

4. but using a mobile phone may [4]. If the benefit’s due to the electro-magnetic field, then there’s no need to talk into the infernal contraption. All you have to do is turn it on and hold it near your brain.

5. a leading British cancer surgeon told of a campaign to have him struck off the UK medical register because he supported the Israel Medical Association [5]. Whatever happened to rational discussion. I guess it hasn’t permeated down to the human scum in British cesspits.

6. the Jordanians and other Palestinian Arabs made a claim on the Dead Sea Scrolls which were discovered in the West Bank in the 1940s and 1950s [6]. The West Bank’s never been part of Jordan or any other Palestinian Arab entity. Nice try, but, fellas.

7. Grammar Girl revealed that in the US not only do people say ‘y'all’ as an abbreviation for ‘you all’, but the also say ‘w'all’ as an abbreviation for ‘we all’ [7]. Yeeeeha!

8. on Thursday darling Brendon celebrated his birthday in fine style [8]. Sweetheart Vivienne and I are sorry we weren’t there. We missed out on a treat.

Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week.