Posts filed under “Uncategorized”
Don’t go to China
I’m really glad I’ve already been to China because any country that thinks taking hostages is a good way to do diplomacy is one I don’t want to travel in. Canada is caught in the middle of a fight between the US and China. Meng Wanzhou has definitely done jail-worthy stuff, though that has fuck […]
Biden isn’t betraying Black Americans – he’s just doing what he’s always done
President Biden is following a script that once doomed Black voters — and the party they supported — by not going all out to protect voting rights. — Read on www.cnn.com/2021/08/01/politics/voting-rights-blunder-democrats-blake/index.html I know most voters don’t know a ton about the candidates when they vote, but throwing in with Biden as a Black primary voter […]
We could make better choices
Vaccines are thought to be the best available solution for controlling the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. However, the emergence of vaccine-resistant strains may come too rapidly for current vaccine developments to alleviate the health, economic and social consequences of the pandemic. To quantify and characterize the risk of such a scenario, we created a SIR-derived model […]
A new religious movement embraced by the wealthy and powerful is an existential risk
So-called rationalists have created a disturbing secular religion that looks like it addresses humanity’s deepest problems, but actually justifies pursuing the social preferences of elites. — Read on www.currentaffairs.org/2021/07/the-dangerous-ideas-of-longtermism-and-existential-risk
Good news / bad news
Good news: Covid may help us understand how Alzheimer’s works! Bad news: Covid is making us stupid Scientists have long known that areas of the brain involved with smell and taste also are involved in memory, thinking, planning, and mood, and public health officials are increasingly concerned about the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on brain […]
English spelling is the worst and not just because of the mishmash of languages in its history
Why is English spelling so weird and unpredictable? Don’t blame the mix of languages; look to quirks of timing and technology — Read on aeon.co/essays/why-is-the-english-spelling-system-so-weird-and-inconsistent
Student loans are an incredible scam
Universities built palaces and financiers made fortunes in part through a lie: that student loans can’t be discharged in bankruptcy. But a series of court cases is helping unravel the scam — Read on taibbi.substack.com/p/the-trillion-dollar-lie