Covid Cranks

 An excellent article in Quillette.  I argue with this type, invariably Trumpkins, a lot on another blog. 

Blue Check Homes

 Apply today.

An important insight

Why did the Robinhood shitshow happen now? Because GameStop is important to people. That’s part of why this is an import shift in American politics. 

250 Years in A Sentence

Trust Europeans to make everything worse. — Bruno Maçães.  

He was discussing vaccine, but some things generalize!

The Golden Age of Cringe

 A perceptive and funny essay.

Dynaflex: 50 Years

In 1971 RCA, to cut costs, introduced the thinner Dynaflex LP. 

It was very thin and floppy. It was so thin that when playing the quiet passages on one side you could hear, faintly, the music from the grooves on the other side.

This shows that LP sides are a spectrum not a binary. 

 

The big news

 It's easy to miss the important stories, but I think this is one of them. Self watering soil

Rereading: Kahawa by Westlake

Kahawa is an adventure-cum-heist novel set in Idi Amin's Uganda. A crew of thieves steal a train loaded with coffee (not rob, steal). 

I read this in the 80s and liked it, but remembered almost nothing about it. How does it hold up? Reasonably well. It’s grimmer and more serious than Westlake usually is, but the story has many good things. The real problem is it’s too long, almost 500 pages. There are also some irritating short snatches of crude pornography. The main character isn’t nearly as interesting as the many secondary ones. Overall, B. 

Taking precautions, NJ pol edition

 Saving mom. One mom. 

Synecdoche

 

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

 

Proton Mail

Proton Mail is a possibility.

 Everyone needs a non Google, non Apple email address as a backup. 

Reprise: Koehne

 I have posted this before, but it’s time for a reprise. Graeme Koehne The Persistence of Memory 9 minutes.

“Population quality”

 What's acceptable on Twitter now anyway?

Plus, a long essay from a camp survivor.

January 6, 2020

 A voter gives up on Trump. Here.

Charter Schools and Democrats

 A long but good piece by Jonathan Chait. The answer to his closing question is, they don’t. 

The Spectrum Binary

 A deeply enjoyable essay on “cis-gender.” Once you realize ‘cis’ is code for ‘lumpen’ it becomes much clearer.