2019-12-07
2019-12-03
2019-11-29
2019-11-28
2019-11-18
China plague
There have been three great plague pandemics in human history caused by the bacterium Y. pestis, spreading from Siberia and Mongolia, across Asia, and into Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The first began in A.D. 541 within the Roman Empire, lasted two centuries, and was dubbed the Justinianic Plague. The second, the Black Death, spread from Asia into Italy in 1346 and persisted for 400 years, infecting most of the European population with such devastating outcome—50 million people died on a continent then inhabited by 80 million—that for centuries historians referred to it as the Great Mortality. The third pandemic began in the 1850s in China, spreading across Asia with such ferocity that India, alone, lost 20 million people.
The Real Reason to Panic About China's Plague Outbreak
It's not the disease that's worrisome—it's the Chinese government's response to it.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/16/china-bubonic-plague-outbreak-pandemic/
2019-11-13
Disney+ streaming service
So let's talk for a minute about the Disney+ streaming service. They claimed that they would have a ton of content, like 500 movies available at launch, for $7 per month. This seems like a price deliberately designed to bury Netflix, which is the world's most popular streaming service.
I took the promotion they offered a couple of months ago, where if you pay for three years, it is only $4 per month. I'm glad I did, because I counted 580 movies, and 90% of them are junk. Disney has everything they have ever done on here, like "The Computer Who Wore Tennis Shoes" from the 1960s, and "20 Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" from the 1950s. (I'm told that this movie might actually be good, but I remember seeing it when I was 10 years old.)
However, through the sheer mass of titles, there is still plenty of stuff worth watching. The remaining 10% contains some of the best stuff from Disney, Marvel, and Fox, although I have already seen many of these titles. It is diamonds in the rough. Just like on Netflix, I'll be spending much time figuring out what to watch.
The Mandalorian on the Disney streaming service is good. I found myself thinking that it is just a routine western, but it is really a great mix of western and sci-fi. It is not a perfect sci-fi show, but it feels like a perfect western with plenty of sci-fi thrown in.
2019-11-07
2019-11-01
2019-10-29
Every other phone is dead to me.
I'm skeptical, but long term this might be the future of phones.
Straight Talk About Soy
Soy is unique in that it contains a high concentration of isoflavones, a type of plant estrogen (phytoestrogen) that is similar in function to human estrogen but with much weaker effects. Soy isoflavones can bind to estrogen receptors in the body and cause either weak estrogenic or anti-estrogenic activity.
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/soy/
Society is in rapid decay
The first couple of minutes show just how bad societal decay is.
2019-10-27
WIRED: American Roads Are Getting Safer—Unless You're Walking
American Roads Are Getting Safer—Unless You're Walking
A government report finds that vehicle-related deaths fell 2.4% last year. But pedestrian deaths are up 50% in the past decade, and no one knows why.
Read in WIRED: https://apple.news/AAma1P3-yQF65Tj9YmWaQJg
2019-10-26
2019-10-19
2019-10-15
The Risk Of Heart Attack Can Be Minimized By Eating These Types of Food
This is advocating low-fat fermented dairy products like yogurt. I don't know that one study is conclusive. I am especially leery of sugar.
2019-10-14
2019-10-13
Christopher Columbus
Columbus's legacy continues to be debated. He was widely venerated in the centuries after his death, but public perceptions have changed as recent scholars have given attention to negative aspects of his life, such as his role in the extinction of the TaÃno people, his promotion of slavery, and allegations of tyranny
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus
From what I can tell, Columbus was a cruel person, engaging in torture and disfigurement to enslave a large number of people.
Best wishes,
John Coffey
2019-10-12
Quotation of the day
In this age of political hysteria, we must all educate ourselves on the facts – the actual science. Unfortunately, there seems to be a total lack of awareness about important issues that scientists like myself – who aren't paid by research grants – are concerned about.
Instead, climate science is being used as a political weapon, and the voices of scientists like me are being ignored or even vilified. I was under the impression that in the United States, all voices and arguments should be heard. Climate science is not settled science. If it was, why would there be a continuous flow of money to research it? For example, is AOC aware that in the fossil fuel era, in spite of a four-fold increase in population, deaths have plummeted?
….
Perhaps we should pause and consider why none of the global warming models from two decades ago have come to fruition. Perhaps we should slow down and think about the consequences of allowing our adversaries to supply the world with cheap energy, because one thing is for sure – wind farms and solar panels won't get the job done.
The objective reader should examine all sides of the climate debate and should ask himself: Are the consequences of acting hastily worse than not acting at all? I think many are skeptical of rushing forward. We must rein in the political hysteria and fear-mongering that is driving the climate change agenda.
Instead, climate science is being used as a political weapon, and the voices of scientists like me are being ignored or even vilified. I was under the impression that in the United States, all voices and arguments should be heard. Climate science is not settled science. If it was, why would there be a continuous flow of money to research it? For example, is AOC aware that in the fossil fuel era, in spite of a four-fold increase in population, deaths have plummeted?
….
Perhaps we should pause and consider why none of the global warming models from two decades ago have come to fruition. Perhaps we should slow down and think about the consequences of allowing our adversaries to supply the world with cheap energy, because one thing is for sure – wind farms and solar panels won't get the job done.
The objective reader should examine all sides of the climate debate and should ask himself: Are the consequences of acting hastily worse than not acting at all? I think many are skeptical of rushing forward. We must rein in the political hysteria and fear-mongering that is driving the climate change agenda.
It’s time to be scientific about global warming, says climatologist Judith Curry. | City Journal
In 2005, I had a conversation with Rajendra Pachauri, an Indian railway engineer, who remade himself into a climatologist and became director of the IPCC, which received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize under his tenure. Pachauri told me, without embarrassment, that, at the UN, he recruited only climatologists convinced of the carbon-dioxide warming explanation, excluding all others.
Ross McKitrick: Hold the panic: Canada just warmed 1.7 degrees and … thrived | Financial Post
The warming we have had over the last 100 years is so small that if we didn't have meteorologists and climatologists to measure it we wouldn't have noticed it at all
Climatologist Lennart Bengtsson
Climatologist Lennart Bengtsson
2019-10-11
Aging world population
In 2018, for the first time in history, those aged 65 or older outnumbered children younger than five globally. And the number of people aged 80 years or older is projected to triple, from 143 million in 2019 to 426 million in 2050
The population aged 65 and older is growing faster than all other age groups, especially as the global birth rate has been plummeting since the second half of the 20th Century. According to the World Health Organization, fertility rates in every region except Africa are near or below what's considered the 'replacement rate' – the level needed to keep a population stable. In most high-income countries this hovers around 2.1 children per woman.
2019-10-08
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