What I Learned When My Husband Got Sick With Coronavirus
NYT Magazine – Jessica Lustig – March 24, 2020 What I Learned When My Husband Got Sick With Coronavirus Well written essay with no hype …
Politics
The Guardian: Deaths of despair: why America’s medical industry explains working-class suicides
by Chris McGreal, Thu 19 Mar 2020 A system based on corporate pursuit of profit sets the US apart from other countries, fleecing the poor to give to the rich. The couple concluded that the medical industry is at the heart of two key drivers in making those deaths an American phenomenon. “One fact is … [Read more…]
The Guardian: Study: global banks ‘failing miserably’ on climate crisis by funneling trillions into fossil fuels
Analysis of 35 leading investment banks shows financing of more than $2.66tn for fossil fuel industries since the Paris agreement Kirsch said: “This makes it crystal clear that banks are failing miserably when it comes to responding to the urgency of the climate crisis. As the toll of death and destruction from unprecedented floods, droughts, … [Read more…]
Preserving a ‘national memory’ of an outbreak
From the Columbia Journalism Review, Preserving a ‘national memory’ of an outbreak by Betsy Joles, 03/03/2020. “We actually have really good journalism in China,” Shen says. “It’s just those who are working very hard to get the stories out, they’re usually not recognized.”
Fake News Is Free
As my students often remind me, news tends to be behind paywalls, while fake news is free. Global health expert Jonathan D Quick, of Duke University in North Carolina
Parts of Hanford nuclear waste site have not been inspected in 50 years
Yet again, Parts of Hanford nuclear waste site have not been inspected in 50 years The former defense site in Washington state has a troubled past. The latest lapse involves the Energy Department’s failure to analyze the cause of a tunnel collapse. washingtonpost.com Aaron Gregg
Reinbert de Leeuw, Dies at 81
Reinbert de Leeuw, Dutch Champion of Contemporary Music, Dies at 81 He pushed conservative institutions to program the new, and was a noted conductor of major avant-garde works. … Mr. de Leeuw declared his all-embracing philosophy in the 1995 program booklet. The ambition of approaching contemporary music “with a universal language comparable to the language … [Read more…]
GAS BAG DUET
The gas bag pictured below announced he has advanced lung cancer – then the other bloated gas bag gives him a medal – what a travesty! I hope he enjoys his chemotherapy.
Kasparov and Gessen – Experiences in Autocracy
From November 16, 2016, Masha Gessen writes in NYRDaily: Autocracy, Rules for Survival: Rule #1: Believe the autocrat. Rule #2: Do not be taken in by small signs of normality. Rule #3: Institutions will not save you. “The national press is likely to be among the first institutional victims of Trumpism. There is no law … [Read more…]