What I've Been Reading, March 2020

Links

Above the Fold

• Bypass paywalls on popular online publications for free, by 7 Labs.
  There is a lot of important information out there that is behind paywalls, many requiring expensive subscription to overcome.
• Wearing Masks Must Be a National Policy, by Aaron Schildkrout, Bill Walczak, Dara Kass and Brian Jack, New York Times
• Jennifer Nuzzo: “We’re Definitely Not Overreacting” to COVID-19, by Yvonne Bang, JSTOR Daily
  "I think vaccines are not going to be a realistic solution for years. The 12-to-18 month timeline that you’ve likely heard assumes that the science works in our favor. But it will take years to get the quantities that we need. I don’t see vaccines being a viable solution for a long time."
• The Age of Catastrophe, by Umair Haque, Medium—Eudaimonia
  Only one quibble—Umair himself is still largely blind to resource depletion (Peak Oil, etc.) which stands to make all the other catastrophes we face just that much worse. But other than that, an excellent essay and a must read.
• Noam Chomsky: “Worship of Markets” Is Threatening Human Civilization, by C.J. Polychroniou, Truthout
• Enough will have to be good enough, by Tim Watkins, The Consciousness of Sheep
• Noam Chomsky: Sanders Threatens the Establishment by Inspiring Popular Movements, by C.J. Polychroniou, Truthout
• The IMF Confirms That 'Trickle-Down' Economics Is, Indeed, a Joke, by Jared Keller, Pacific Standard>br /> Pretty ironic to hear the IMF saying things like this.
• Decades of Science Denial Related to Climate Change Has Led to Denial of the Coronavirus Pandemic, by Neela Banerjee and David Hasemyer, Inside Climate News

Miscellaneous

• How To Talk About Literally Anything Else, by Leah Fessler, Medium—Forge
• Five reliable Outlook PST file repair tools, by Jack Wallen, Tech Republic
  I'd been using Outlook as my email program for literally decades. The .pst file got too big (almost 20 gigs) and Outlook wouldn 't open it. I really needed to access my contacts list and just a few of those 70,000 emails. One of the tools recommended in this article (Kernel) was able to repair the file and recover my data. Now I'm using Thunderbird, and deleting a lot more emails after I read them, and some even before.
• Why do some people support abortions? by Camila S. Espinoza, Certified Chilean Midwife, on Quora
• Huge feral hogs invading Canada, building ‘pigloos’ as they go, by Andrea Anderson, National Geographic
• 15 Ways To Wipe Your Butt When The Toilet Paper Is Gone, Urban Survival Site
• What did people do before toilet paper? by Erin Blakemore, National Geographic
  "History shows it’s been around for a surprisingly long time—and that we’ve projected our anxieties on its supply before."
• The Self-Defense Scam, by Carolyn Bertolina, Medium
• The Woman Who Lives 200,000 Years in the Past, by Katherine Rowland, Outside
  "As we confront the reality of COVID-19, the idea of living self-sufficiently in the woods, far from crowds and grocery stores, doesn't sound so bad. Lynx Vilden has been doing just that for decades, while teaching others how to live primitively, too."

Coronavirus

• The Four Possible Timelines for Life Returning to Normal, by Joe Pinkser, Medium—The Atlantic
• Not wearing masks to protect against coronavirus is a ‘big mistake,’ top Chinese scientist says , by Jon Cohen, Science
  "The big mistake in the U.S. and Europe, in my opinion, is that people aren’t wearing masks. This virus is transmitted by droplets and close contact. Droplets play a very important role—you’ve got to wear a mask, because when you speak, there are always droplets coming out of your mouth. Many people have asymptomatic or presymptomatic infections. If they are wearing face masks, it can prevent droplets that carry the virus from escaping and infecting others."
  "Yes. Anywhere you go inside in China, there are thermometers. You have to try to take people’s temperatures as often as you can to make sure that whoever has a high fever stays out."
  "Infected people must be isolated. That should happen everywhere. You can only control COVID-19 if you can remove the source of the infection. This is why we built module hospitals and transformed stadiums into hospitals."
  From what this expert says we are slipping up in a few areas in our COVID-19 response here in Canada.
• Universal mask-wearing is the most overlooked COVID-19 lifesaver, by Masks Save Lives
  "Western countries are experiencing higher rates of COVID-19 infections compared to Asian countries because of the West's aversion to wearing masks. We need universal mask-wearing to aid in lowering COVID-19's virality."
• Make a Mask, by MaskBuilders.com
  "Our no-sew design was designed by a hospital epidemiologist to simulate a surgical mask and can be created in 10 minutes "
• IY Cloth Face Mask , by ashevillejm on Instructables
• How South Korea Flattened the Curve, by Max Fisher and Choe Sang-Hun, The New York Times
• Canadians Can Wear Non-Medical Masks To Prevent COVID-19 Spread: Feds, bySamantha Beattie, HuffPost
• The psychology behind why toilet paper, of all things, is the latest coronavirus panic buy, by Scottie Andrew, CNN
  I noticed that stores in our little town were out of toilet paper and bread (which makes more sense), but also canned tomato soup, while other types of canned soup were still available. Strange.
• Coronavirus: All non-essential workplaces ordered to close in Ontario, by Ryan Rocca and Nick Westoll, Global News
• ‘I’m going to keep pushing.’ Anthony Fauci tries to make the White House listen to facts of the pandemic, An interview wioth Dr. Fauci, by , Jon Cohen, Science Magazine
• How deadly is COVID-19? Why it's different in every country, by Adam Miller, CBC News
• Will the coronavirus change how skeptics think about science?, by Hari Sreenivasan and Naomi Oreskes, PBS News Hour

Capitalism, Communism, Anarchy

• If healthcare should be free because we all need it, why shouldn't food and accommodation be as well? by Pascal Morimacil, Quora
• Dorothy Day’s Radical Faith, by Casey Cep, The New Yorker
  From where I sit her radicalism is far more significant than her faith.
• Coronavirus Is Forcing the GOP to (Tacitly) Admit Its Ideology Is Delusional, by Eric Levitz, The Intelligencer
  For those of us who are sick and tired of conservative political and economic nonsense, this article is pretty sweet. Delusional indeed!
• Free Comrade Britney! by Sara Luterman, The Nation
  "Britney Spears called for the redistribution of wealth—but she’s not even allowed to give away her own money."
• What If a Shrinking Economy Wasn’t a Disaster? by Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily

Collapse

• The Age of Collapse, by Umair Haque, Eudaimonia & Co.
• Nafeez Ahmed on Synchronous Failure and Post-Pandemic Systems Change, by Ahser Miller and Nafeez Ahmed, Resilence

Responding to Collapse,

• So You Want to Start a COVID Farm? by Dawn Allen, Legal Reader
• Uncharted Territory: Nate Hagens on coronavirus and the economy, by Asher Miller and Nat Hagens, Post Carbon Institute

Peak Oil

• Antonio Turiel: Explaining Peak Oil the Easy Way, by Antonio Turiel, on /Alice Friedemann's Energy Skeptic blog
• THE ENERGY DISASTER KICKING INTO FULL GEAR: World Is Totally Unprepared For What’s Ahead, by Steve St. Angelo, The SRSrocco Report
  "There’s more evidence finally surfacing in the media of the dire energy predicament the world is now facing. The negative ramifications of peak oil and the falling EROI were going to hit the world economy within the next 2-5 years, but the global contagion has sped up the process considerably. Unfortunately, the world will never return back to the energy consumption and GDP growth experienced in 2019. I believe the peak of unconventional oil production has finally arrived… FOREVER."
• The Only Logical End To The Oil War, by Amad Shaikh, OilPrice.com
• The Oil Giant Drowning In Debt, by Nick Cunningham, OilPrice.com

Climate Change

• Why are climate change skeptics routinely referred to as “science deniers”? by Steven Haddock, Quora
  
• Greenland's melting ice raised global sea level by 2.2mm in two months, by Oliver Milman, The Guardian
  "Analysis of satellite data reveals astounding loss of 600bn tons of ice last summer as Arctic experienced hottest year on record."

Economic Contraction and Growing Inequality

• A Debt Jubilee is the Only Way to Avoid a Depression, by Michael Hudson, Counterpunch
• Shedlock: Recession Will Be Deeper Than The Great Financial Crisis, by MIke Shedlock, Real Investment Advice

Energy

• Energy Slaves: every American has somewhere between 200 and 8,000 energy slaves, by Alice Friedemann, Energy Skeptic

Emergency Preparation

• The Sane Prepper Mantra: Common sense rules for prepping, by The Prepared
  The advice here is certain a lot more sane than what you get from many survivalists/preppers. Still too much of that good old American "protect yourself from attackers" shit, though.
• To Avoid the Trap of Panic Buying, Change the Way You Shop, by Jessica Wildfire, Medium—Mind Cafe
• What to Buy (and What to Skip) to Prepare for Coronavirus, by Jessica Migala, Medium—Elemental
  "Advice from people in quarantine about what you actually need — and how to make life work"
  Only one thing in this article that I disagree with: it says you don't need to stock water if your tap water is currently drinkable. The pandemic may not immediately lead to water problems, but it could in the long run if thing go badly. Always include water in your prepping. The article also mentions having frozen peas to add to pasta, but doesn't include pasta on its list of things to stock. Strange.
• Here's What's Inside Ina Garten's Quarantine Pantry, by Alyse Whitney, Food52
  

Recipes and Cooking

• Potatoes, 12 Ways, by Mark Bittman, Medium—Heated
  "Variations on baked, braised, mashed, and fried"
• Mark Bittman’s Master List of Interchangeable Ingredients, by Mark Bittman, Medium—Heated
• Kasha Carbonara, by Emma Laperruque, Food52
  When you are out of pasta... and it might be interesting to try with other grains as well.

Genetic Engineering

Before jumping to the erroneous conclusion that this section was paid for by Monsanto, stop for a moment and understand that organic agriculture/food is a multi-billion dollar per year industry that relies on fear to get people to buy its product. Millions of dollars are spent to convince you that non-organic food is dangerous. In fact both conventionally grown and organic foods are equally safe. Sadly neither method of agriculture is even remotely substainable.

• Panic-free GMOs, A Grist Special Series by Nathanael Johnson
  "It’s easy to get information about genetically modified food. There are the dubious anti-GM horror stories that recirculate through social networks. On the other side, there’s the dismissive sighing, eye-rolling, and hand patting of pro-GM partisans. But if you just want a level-headed assessment of the evidence in plain English, that’s in pretty short supply. Fortunately, you’ve found the trove."
  A series of articles that does a pretty good job of presenting the facts about GMOs. I plan to include one article from this series here each month.
• Genetic engineering: Do the differences make a difference? by Nathanael Johnson, Grist

Practical Skills

• How to Weather a Storm, by Eric Larsen, Pocket—Outside
  "In other words, how to not lose your mind to boredom, according to polar explorer Eric Larsen"
• How to Prevent Blisters When Hiking and Backpacking, Cloudline
  The article doesn't mention this: when putting on your socks, make sure there are no bits of grit stuck to your feet. Since I started making a point of doing this I've had very few blisters.
• How to prepare willow for basket weaving, by Big Green Art, YouTube
• Willow Basket Weaving Techniques—Randing, by Big Green Art, YouTube
• Basketry Techniques—"Irish Randing", by Asaf Salim, YouTube

American Politics

• Trump says Republicans would ‘never’ be elected again if it was easier to vote, by Sam Levine, The Guardian
  I've been saying this for years, glad to have it confirmed from the top.
• The destructive effect of disinformation and the "Fire Hose of Lies", by NIck Carmody, Patreon

Canadian Politics

• WARREN: There's a right way and a wrong way to be an Opposition leader during COVID-19, by Jim Warren, Toronto Sun
• Andrew Scheer and the Monstrous Nature of the Cons, by Montreal Simon, on his blog

Debunking Resources

These are of such importance that I've decide to leave them here on an ongoing basis.

• Debunking, Wikipedia
• Pseudoscience, Wikipedia
• List of topics characterized as pseudoscience, Wikipedia
• Rational Wiki
• Science Based Medecine
• Quackwatch
• Snopes, debunks or validates urban legends
• Bad Astronomy
• The Skeptics Society
• The 8 Best Fact-Checking Sites for Finding Unbiased Truth, by Megan Ellis, MUO—Make Use Of
• Pain Science, by Paul Ingraham
• Techniques of Science Denial

Science

• A New Map of the Milky Way, by Mark J. Reid, Xing-Wu Zheng, Scientic American
  "High-resolution surveys chart the spiral structure of the galaxy and the location of our solar system."
• How Dogs Went From Wolves to Man’s Best Friend, According to Scientists, by Josie Rhodes Cook, Pocket—Inverse

Lacking an Owner's Manual

The human body/mind/spirit doesn't come with an owner's manual, and we continually struggle to figure out how best to operate them.

• Your Brain Is Not an Indestructible Punching Bag, by Stella Fidem, Medium—The Startup
  "7 ‘feel-good’ habits that are harming your brain"
• The Life-Changing Magic Of Bullet Journaling, by Kristin Iversen, Pocket—Nylon
  I don't use a bullet journal because my handwriting is just terrible and slow as well. Sounds interesting though, for anyone who is not writing challenged.
• 8 Fatal Flaws of Truly Terrible Leaders, by Jessica Wildfire, Medium
  Sound like some of the guys I've worked for, and many of the politicians in the news today.
• Stop Answering Your Kid’s Questions, by Michelle Woo, Pocket—Life Hacker
  "It’ll help them gain a critical skill—and get you out of the hot seat."
• We are wayfinders, by Michael Bond, Aeon
  "Navigation and spatial awareness sustained humans for tens of thousands of years. Have we lost the trail in modern times?"
• Selfishness Is Learned, by Matthew Hudson, Pocket—Nautilus
  "Most of us are genuinely good. And if we’re not, we can be encouraged to be."

Gender and Sexuality

• 10 Truths That Will Change the Way You Have Sex, by Stacey Herrera, Medium
• Biologist Explains Biological Sex, by Rebecca R. Helm, GeekXGirls

There is No God, and Thou Shall Have No Other Gods

I don't think I've made any secret of the fact that I am an atheist, but I may not have made it clear that I think any sort of worship is a bad thing and that believing in things is to be avoided whenever possible. Indeed, I do not believe in belief itself. That's what the "Thou shall have no other gods" is about—it's not enough to quit believing in whatever God or Gods you were raised to believe in, but also we must avoid other gods, including material wealth, power and fame.

Further, many people today (including most atheists) follow the religion of "progress", which is based on the belief that mankind is destined to follow a road that leads from the caves ever upward to the stars, and that however bad things seem today, they are bound to be better tomorrow due to technological advancement and economic growth. This is very convenient for those who benefit most from economic growth, but it is hardly based on any sort of science and leads to a great many confused and incorrect ideas.

• Ten Cliches Christians Should Stop Saying, by Christian Piatt, Medium—Religion
  Though written by a Christian, he at least gets how irritating many of the standard things Christians say really are.
• Common Sense Atheism, by Barry Goldberg, Quora
• What are the flaws in the argument that "science changes, but the Quran stays the same" as a justification for the Quran? by Barry Goldberg, Quora
• The Religious Right’s Hostility to Science Is Crippling Our Coronavirus Response, by Katherine Stewart, The New York Times
  "Trump’s response to the pandemic has been haunted by the science denialism of his ultraconservative religious allies."

Poverty, Homeless People, Minimum Wage, UBI, Health Care, Affordable Housing

• How Do You Shelter in Place When You Don’t Have a Home? by Eliza Griswold, The New Yorker
• What You Need to Know about Mortality Rates of Unsheltered Homeless, by Rohit Varma, Medium—Health
  
• The People Staying, and Living, in America’s Motels, by Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker
  

Artificial Intelligence

• Three questions you should ask anybody name-dropping AI or Machine Learning, by Magnus Bjerg, Medium—towards data science
  "Does artificial intelligence and machine learning seem like black boxes? Here are some basic questions to open their lids and approach them more critically."

Humour

These are great times for political satire.

• Dr. Anthony Fauci Changes Trump’s Twitter Password, by Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker, The Borowitz Report (satire)
  
• Dear Employees, Regarding COVID-19, You Can Work Remotely If You Are Absolutely Certain You Are Dying, by Virginia Dickens, Medium—Slackjaw
  "We trust that you will make the best decision for yourself and your employer." Sadly, the sentiments expressed her in jest are very typical of many employers. Part of my training as a manager was how to get sick people back to work. Just one more thing I saw fit to ignore.

Books

Fiction

• Halting State, by Charles Stross
• Rule 34, by Charles Stross
• Friday, by Robert A. Heinlein

Non-Fiction

I am reading currently "The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth", by Benjamin Friedman, which was lent to me by a friend. Written by a conventional economist who doesn't even seem to know what causes economic growth, or what its consequences really are, it is pretty tough going. Important to know how the other side thinks, though, I guess.

Here are a few non-fiction works that I can recommend. And appropriate to the season, as well.

• Seed to Seed, Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners, 2nd Edition, by Suzanne Ashworth
• The Resilient Gardener, by Carol Deppe
• The Tao of Vegetable Gardening, by Carol Deppe