What I've Been Reading, January 2021

Links

• 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.

Above the Fold

• Ending Poverty in the United States Would Actually Be Pretty Easy, by Fran Quigle, Jacobin Magazine
  An interview with Joanne Goldblum and Colleen Shaddox
  "We have just taken capitalism to a really toxic extreme in the United States."

Miscellaneous

• Beyond the !Kung, by Manvir Singh, Aeon
  "A grand research project created our origin myth that early human societies were all egalitarian, mobile and small-scale"
  I don't agree with this one, but I did read it, so here it is.
• Why Silver Isn’t a Stonk, by Rob Walker, Medium—Marker
  "The meme investor mob came after a physical commodity, and it didn’t go well"
• Will Canada and the US merge if Canada had the opportunity to retain its healthcare system (where citizens of Canadian provinces can have a single payer system) and we already have similar gun laws? by Joan Vredik Broadley, Quora
• Why It’s Not Okay To Throw Out Usable Furniture And Buy New (Just Because We Can!), by Allison Licence, 1 Million Women

Ecological Footprint, Impact, Carrying Capacity, Sustainability

• Ecological Footprint FAQs, Global Footprint Network
  Of all the pages I read on the Global Footprint website, this was the most informative.
• The Ecological Footprint is the only metric that measures how much nature we have and how much nature we use, by the Global Footprint Network
• World Maps of ecological deficit/reserve by country, by the Global Footprint Network
• Data and Methodology, by the Global Footprint Network,
  "Global Footprint Network bridges science, policy, and economics to change how the world manages its natural resources and creates a sustainable future."
• Global hectare, from Wikipedia

Coronavirus

• The Sputnik V Vaccine and Russia’s Race to Immunity, by Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker
  "When the pandemic struck, scientists in Moscow set out to beat the West."

Agriculture

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 products. Millions of dollars are being 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 sustainable.

• Only eat organic? You’re paying too much, and it’s not worth it, author says, by Robert Paarlberg, The Harvard Gazette
  "Not safer, better nutritionally, or likely produced by small, local farm, Robert Paarlberg argues in new book."

Recipes and Cooking

• How to enjoy coffee, by Jessica Easto, Aeon—Psyche
  "Smooth like chocolate or fruity like a berry, coffee has as many tastes as wine or beer – you just need to know your beans"

Genetic Engineering

• 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.
• Golden Rice: Fool’s gold or golden opportunity? by Nathanael Johnson, Grist
  
• Golden Rice: Lifesaver? by Amy Harmon, The New York Times

Practical Skills

• Shaving Horse from 2X4's, by Rick Mayotte, YouTube
  "This shaving horse is made from a couple of 2X4's, a few feet of 2X6, roughly 4 feet of 1X2 material and a few turned 1X1 pieces (3/4 inch dowel could be used instead.) The pivot is about 8 inches of 1/4 inch threaded rod. The shaving horse is compact, light weight and works well."
• Spoon Mule Attachment for the 2x4 Shaving Horse, by Rick Mayotte, YouTube
  " Making a spoon mule attachment for the base of the 2x4 shaving horse. It is made entirely out of dimensional lumber."
• Making Gouges and Chisels Part I, by Rick Mayotte, YouTube
  This is how I make my own wood gouges and chisels. I'm making these for an upcoming carving project that I am going to carve using only chisels and gouges that I have made myself.
• Making Gouges and Chisels Part II, by Rick Mayotte, YouTube
  "Part II of me making a few gouges and chisels for an upcoming wood carving project. This is how I make my own gouges and chisels."

American Politics

• Trump Wanted a Big Sendoff—and Didn’t Get It, by Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker
• Biden’s inauguration might help you sleep better, but don’t become so complacent that you accept a meager status quo. We’ll meet for brunch later, there’s work to do now! by Dawn Allen, The Legal Reader
  

Canadian Politics

• The fall of Jason Kenney, by Bruce Livesey, The National Observer

Linguistics

• Most consonants, fewest vowels, by The Generalist, The Generalist Academy
• Technology now lets us document and preserve indigenous speech, by Guy Clapperton, Medium—Culture
  "The Internet Is Helping Save Forgotten Languages"

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

• Astronomers confirm orbit of most distant object ever observed in our solar system, by Northern Arizona University, phys.org

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.

• Why Learning a Foreign Language Is the Ultimate Brain Workout, by Markham Heid, Medium—Elemental

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 deal of confused thinking.

• What makes atheists deny Christianity and the Bible? by Barry Goldberg, Quora

Humour

These are great times for political satire.

• Premier Ford still not convinced flames shooting from neighbour’s house is sufficient evidence to call fire department, by Staff at the Beaverton,
  
• Philosopher doesn’t feel so smart after getting run over by trolley, by Filipe Dimas, The Beaverton
  Given my low opinion of philosophers and trolley dilemmas, I had a good laugh when reading this one. They even took a shot at Plato and his stupid cave.
• Ford: Thousands more COVID Cases worth it for chance to partially re-open economy for a couple months before shutting down again, by Luke Gordon Field, The Beaverton
• Realtors warn that if housing market collapses everyone could one day afford house, by Jacob Duarte Spiel, The Beaverton

Books

Fiction

• The Space Between Worlds, by Micaiah Johnson
• Next to Last Stand: A Longmire Mystery, by Craig Johnson
• The Dark Spring: Hard Science Fiction, by Brandon Q. Morris
• The Enceladus Mission: Hard Science Fiction (Ice Moon Book 1) , by Brandon Q. Morris
• The Triton Disaster: Hard Science Fiction, by Brandon Q. Morris

Non-Fiction

I am currently reading Howard Zinn's "A People's History of America". Good Stuff!