Something i am finding more interesting the older i get is how people frame current events based on their background. Over the past year or so, i have started recognizing my own filter, and why i often don't perceive things the same as some of my peers who are ostensibly on the same side ( Read more... )

Content warning: i am going to go off on some controversial vaccine politics, so please skip if you are not interested ( Read more... )

One of my biggest frustrations with this whole coronavirus pandemic is how suddenly now governments are happy to enforce massive economic shutdowns to prevent civilian deaths, but they never did shit to stop the arguably far more deadly threat of air pollution ( Read more... )

Recently i watched the documentary What Killed Michael Brown? It was written by a conservative, and it very much has an agenda. The other day i linked to a book by bluesman Adam Gussow. I should also link to his blog about Ferguson that i think provides a bit more of a balanced view than the movie did: The Straw that Broke: Michael Brown, Darren ( Read more... )

Although i have been slowly working my way out of this latest funk, i have only managed to drag myself out of the house twice in the past week, and only to fetch groceries. My life has completely reverted to lockdown state, which feels apropos, given the recent spike in corona cases ( Read more... )

It is thoroughly ridiculous that the American people are waiting for a medical report on their president, delivered by a quack. What kind of hopeless world are we living in when "doctors" of placebo are put front and center as if they have some kind of authoritative view on medical issues ( Read more... )

Last week Zoom suspended the accounts of three people - two in America and one in Hong Kong - for trying to organize online discussions around topics that the Chinese government considers sensitive (Tiananmen massacre etc). This was done at the explicit request of the Chinese government, who declared discussion of these topics to be illegal ( Read more... )

It's been interesting seeing how people around the world react to this virus ( Read more... )

The best thing about the last week of coronavirus coverage is that some people in the west have gotten over their initial panic and are starting to write critically about the response.

My favorite article of the past week was in the Journal of Medical Ethics blog: The vital contexts of coronavirus.

Money quote: Take Scotland: here, the death rate ( Read more... )

This weekend is a long weekend for Tomb Sweeping Day. Traditionally people go to visit cemeteries and spend time with their ancestors, but this year the government has advised everyone to stay at home ( Read more... )