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We can change society in the (sociological) blink of an eye. Unfortunately, it is usually in service of making a buck. Highlights from JSTOR’s public section.
“For caffeine addicts, a morning without a pot of coffee is a no-go. But it hasn’t always been as convenient to make coffee as it is today—and as Rebecca K. Shrum writes, the dawn of coffee machines came along with a massive dose of manly marketing.
Mr. Coffee, the first electric-drip coffee machine for home use, debuted in 1972, forever changing the way Americans made coffee. Before its rise, women used percolators to brew their coffee on the stovetop or on the counter—a method that produced bitter, scorched coffee. Despite the availability of complicated, non-electric drip systems, percolators ruled American kitchens.
[…]
Mr. Coffee looked and worked differently than percolators. It also made better coffee. Since it automated the superior drip coffee technique, it gave even groggy consumers the chance for a good cup. It was also dramatically more expensive than a percolator.
In a bid to get consumers to give up their familiar percolators for this expensive new product, Mr. Coffee included something unexpected in its marketing: men. Not only was it given a masculine name, writes Shrum, but its marketing suggested that it would produce a man’s preferred brew. The company hired Joe DiMaggio to give his masculine endorsement to the product—adding an additional layer of masculine advice to a product that purported to teach women how to make a better brew.
But Mr. Coffee did more than mansplain. It played into stereotypes of men as arbiters of coffee quality, and encouraged men to get into the kitchen themselves. Since it was so easy to use, men no longer had an excuse to cede coffee-making to their wives. This corresponded with women’s increased entry into the workforce and helped men contribute more to their households.
Today, the thought of a man unwilling to brew a pot of coffee (or so upset about his coffee’s quality that he abuses his wife) seems preposterous. Mr. Coffee changed those cultural expectations, even as it played into existing stereotypes about gender and domesticity.”
Hot coffee, the handy indoor fireplace and a warm laptop. -25 centigrade? My warm fire says GTFO. :)
I spent the early part of my shift browsing the various news networks catching up on the world by the warm light of the fire and my laptop. It was calm and quiet and I dare say contemplative as I digested the news. A great way to start the day. :)
I bring this article to your attention only to illustrate the longevity of certain popular myths.
“Drinking a cup of coffee for every cup of spiked eggnog likely won’t help you drive home more safety, a study on drunken mice suggests.”
The wisdom one can find on the internet. We can all rest easy now that we know with more evidence that we had before that drinking caffeine does not help reduce the effects of intoxication. Rather, it makes you a jittery drunk as a opposed to just plain ‘ole drunk.
“His advice for holiday revelers is to be responsible and plan ahead by establishing a designated driver, or stop drinking early enough to allow blood-alcohol levels to go down before getting behind the wheel.”
Compare this to the complete anti vaccination lunacy that vaccines cause autism. It has been proven time and time 
again that this is not the case, yet the tomfoolery still persists. Why? I would suggest the stupid comes can be divided into three categories: Too lazy, intellectually/research-wise, to0 arrogant to admit they are wrong, or too deluded from the start, as their world view took a left turn somewhere and has never come back to reality-ville.
Thus ended the rant.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
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