From today’s Daily Stoic:
There is an immutable, inescapable law of human existence that comes to us from the Stoics through Heraclitus (one of Marcus Aurelius’ favorites): Character is fate. (more…)
If these times were the plot line of a movie and not a global catastrophe, the entire audience would be on the edge of their seats, desperate to learn not only how it ends, but “who did it.” Take the implosion of the United States, where the most powerful country in Earth has become a bunch of greedy, cruel, racist, science-denying, criminal thugs. The decline of moral standards has been so precipitous that it’s hard to believe that it didn’t have a cause. (more…)
I used to help my daughter with her math, and so when the coronavirus hit the news, it gave me the opportunity to apply some of this stuff. I asked her, “What is the doubling time of the virus, given that the number of cases in the U.S. went from about 49,500 yesterday to about 60,600 today?” We worked it through as follows: (more…)
A reader, “Maria,” and I are having a conversation that may be of interest.
Maria: The US fatality rate for Covid-19 is less than 1% — it’s 0.7 – 0.8%. Precautions? Yes, by all means! Beyond that we have to get real about this, my friends. The best place to start is by shutting off the TVs, then sign this petition to lift State Executive Orders for “shelter-in” and “restaurant restrictions,” on the basis that they violate the First Amendment right to free assembly, and not excluding religious events violate our right to exercise our religions.
Craig: I need to think about this. We can ignore the direction that our scientists are begging us to take, and act according to ideas of some uninformed people who signed a petition. I’m just not sure that’s a strong idea. (more…)
Here’s an excellent piece on the rise and fall of coal around the world. Even in places like China, the relative costs of coal versus competitive energy resources has begun to take coal out of the picture. Two key metrics are in play. From the article: (more…)
I had to laugh when I came across the meme here. Of course Trump hasn’t said a kind or empathetic word; he doesn’t have those emotions anywhere in his personality.
But let’s not kid ourselves: that’s his appeal. If he had an iota of decency to him, he wouldn’t have even made it to reality television, let alone the White House. His racism, cruelty, vulgarity, bullying, contempt of the poor and sick, tearing up peace treaties, rape of the natural environment, sexual abuse of women, obstruction of justice, his fraudulent university, ripping off his charity, stiffing thousands of contractors, admiration of dictators–these are things that endear him to his base. (more…)
From The New York Times:
“Alarming levels of inaction.” That is what the World Health Organization said Wednesday about the global response to coronavirus. (more…)
From The New York Times: Mr. Trump’s performance on the national stage in recent weeks has put on display the traits that Democrats and some Republicans consider so jarring — the profound need for personal praise, the propensity to blame others, the lack of human empathy, the penchant for rewriting history, the disregard for expertise, the distortion of facts, the impatience with scrutiny or criticism. For years, skeptics expressed concern about how he would handle a genuine crisis threatening the nation, and now they know. (more…)
As you watch the video below (speakers on), notice that this is not a bad metaphor for the Trump presidency. He’s here, and he’s made a considerable mess, but he hasn’t left yet.
It’s possible that his exit could be just as bad as his entrance. (more…)
Let’s make a few assumptions:
• A few months from now, the pandemic is under control.
• In November, Trump is replaced by a garden-variety centrist neoliberal like Biden, whose administration restores America to the standard cruel capitalism and social injustice of the past, where no one really cares about human suffering, but at least we’re not going out of our way to generate it at lightening speed, and spouting out 12 – 13 bald-faces lies a day about the crimes against humanity we’re committing. (more…)
