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Every James Bond Movie, Ranked
Bilge Ebiri, writing for Vulture, takes some low hanging fruit and writes a listicle that will get all the fanboys up in arms: ranking the Bond movies.
I’m not going to argue with his number one, but the rest… I’m not so sure that would be my ranking.
The Real Conspiracies Are Staring Us Right in The Face
Jessica Wildfire, writing on Medium, throws down some truth bombs.
The world isn’t run by lizard people.
It’s run by a bunch of greedy, short-sighted billionaires who want to build massive fortunes at all costs, while delaying the consequences as long as possible. Everyone loses, but they believe they’ll be able to escape on yachts and space ships. They’re probably trying to upload their minds to supercomputers as we speak.
The real conspiracies aren’t fun to talk about. It’s not easy to admit that the world really is controlled by billionaires, the people who distract us with cool shiny things 24–7.
Nobody wants to support climate action, labor unions, or human rights if it means giving up some of those cool shiny things, or having to pay more for them, or wait longer.
It’s a deal breaker.
Unfortunately, this is what we’ll have to do if we ever want to solve the greatest problems of our generation.
Foundation Renewed
Foundation has been renewed for a second season on Apple TV Plus, Apple announced today, ahead of the release of the fourth episode of the first season on Friday.
I’m happy. I like the show even though it’s mostly Foundation in name only. Obviously, it could not be a straight adaptation. Anyone who wanted that doesn’t understand the reality of entertainment in the 21st century
You Are What You Consume
Mark Manson always has interesting insights into culture and psychology. This time his focus revolves around the information you take in and the medium you use to do it.
This is why I call the struggle around choosing media “The Attention Diet,” and not “The Attention Regimen,” or “The Attention Curriculum,” or whatever. When you eat something, that food literally generates the cells that compose your body. So if you eat crap for long enough, your body becomes… well, kinda crappy.
Similarly, when you choose what media to consume, you are choosing your future thoughts and perspectives and opinions. And if you choose poorly, you will think poorly. It’s not just that you are what you eat. You are everything that you consume.
To Instruct Myself Over and Over in Joy
I’m not sure where I found it originally as I had simply saved the link and recently found it as I was going through items to add to the blog, but Parker J. Plamer, a columnist at On Being wrote something that resonated with me.
It requires no special talent or effort to look at our world and point out the things that numb us, or dumb us down, or depress us. In fact, it’s a no-brainer! But becoming keenly and consistently aware of what’s good, true, beautiful, and life-giving around us and within us demands a discipline: we must open our eyes, minds, and hearts. And we must keep them open.
The reward for that discipline is great: as we open up, we start to see beauty everywhere, not only in nature, but in human nature. There’s a lot of bad news out there, but there’s a lot of good news as well. Pass the word and help keep hope alive!
Yes. Open your eyes, hearts, and minds. Let’s keep hope alive.
The Danger of Writing
Rebecca Toh on writing:
Writing or words not backed up by action will end up ringing hollow. Similarly, a person who only talks but does not practise ends up living a hollow existence. There is nothing at the core — no real substance — because the actions don’t match up to the intentions.
So that is the danger of writing — when the words are out of sync from reality.
Wow. I feel seen and also a little disappointed in myself.
Contribute Joy
A quote from Roger Ebert that I found surfing the interwebs is universally true for all intent and purpose.
Media ignore a monster story — the brainwashing of Covid zombies
Eric Boehlert writes about how the press keeps describing such people as “vaccine hesitant,” which he thinks (and I think) trivializes the problem.
A recent Wall Street Journal report on a deadly Covid surge in West Virginia driven entirely by the unvaccinated noted, “Early on, the state excelled at vaccinating people in nursing homes and others who were eager to get the shot, but then it ran into a roadblock of hesitant people, state officials say.” [Emphasis added.]
West Virginia “ran into a roadblock of hesitant people,” the newspaper reported, and that was it; the Journal delved no further into the how or the why. Fact: The unvaccinated phenomenon in America represents the story of Covid today. But the press tip-toes around it, pretending it’s normal for millions of Americans to risk death by refusing to take a vaccine that’s been administered billions of times worldwide.
But read the whole piece. Someday when all this is over — or at least contained — there will be a ghastly statistic of how many people were killed by this thing. And even folks who lived through it will shake their heads and wonder how, oh how, it got that bad.
A lot of people in this country would rather die than get vaccinated…and some will get their wish.
What Newsom’s Landslide Victory Says About National Politics
Gabriel Debenedetti and Benjamin Hart, in New York Magazine Intelligencer, wonder in a back and forth story what it means for national politics that Gavin Newsom romped to victory in Tuesday’s California recall election. I’m not sure their discussion landed on anything other than California is pretty blue. Gee, all it cost the state was $276 million in public money to find out that, yes, California is still pretty much the same state it was in 2020.
What I think it really means is echoed by John Scalzi on his blog:
The one thing I would take away from this result that I think does have national import is the idea the Democrats remain activated and hyper-aware of GOP electoral shenanigans. One of the reasons this recall was attempted at all was that GOP folks figured that the turnout in a recall election would be low, like any non-presidential year election, but even more so as there was nothing else on the ballot. Low turnout traditionally favors the GOP, because, among other things, the old white people who are the GOP base turn out for every election come hell or high water. But it looks like somewhere in the area of 13 million Californians turned out to vote in the recall, in a state with something like 22 million registered voters. That’s a very solid result for an off-off-year vote, and a reminder that Democrats aren’t taking their votes for granted these days. Hopefully this left-side ambition to vote at every possible opportunity continues through 2022 and beyond.
Yes. Let’s hope.
Religious Exemption Letter from The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster has been made aware of religious exemptions for COVID-19 vaccines. However, recognizing that it’s important for churches to take a position on this literal life-or-death matter, they are offering religious exemption letters enabling their followers—known as Pastafarians—to be exempt from working in proximity to the unvaxxed.
The unvaccinated may emit harmful virus particles which are forbidden to devout Pastafarians, therefore we expect all reasonable measures to be taken to help us avoid these virus particles. Please respect our religious liberty.
This is a finely tuned bit of satire. Create and print your customized letter here.
Unvaccinated are 5X more likely to catch delta, 11X more likely to die
Beth Mole, reporting for Ars Technica, lays out the facts.
COVID-19 vaccines are largely holding up against the hyper-transmissible delta coronavirus variant, particularly when it comes to preventing severe disease and death, according to three studies published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. […]
In terms of infections, fully vaccinated people were about 11 times less likely to get an infection in the pre-delta period, compared with the unvaccinated (with a 95 percent confidence interval of 7.8 to 15.8). That ratio dropped to 4.6 less likely in the post-delta period (with a 95 percent confidence interval of 2.5 to 8.5).
For hospitalizations prior to delta, fully vaccinated people were 13 times less likely to wind up in the hospital than the unvaccinated (confidence interval of 11.3 to 15.6). After delta, that ratio dropped slightly to 10 times less likely (confidence interval of 8.1 to 13.3). The fully vaccinated were 16.6 times less likely to die of COVID-19 prior to delta (confidence interval of 13.5 to 20.4) and 11.3 times less likely to die after delta (confidence interval of 9.1 to 13.9).
The takeaway from the CDC’s data seems clear: Fully vaccinated individuals have a much greater chance of not being impacted by the disease, whether that impact is via infection, hospitalization, or death.
It is so simple. The key to saving lives is everyone getting the vaccine. The key to reopening offices and factories is everyone getting the vaccine. The key to reopening schools is everyone getting the vaccine. The key to keeping bars and restaurants open in cold weather is everyone getting the vaccine. The key to travel and shopping is everyone getting the vaccine. The only way it happens is with a full mandate across the country.
Instead
Seth Godin on thinking about alternatives.
A simple substitute might change a habit.
Instead of a snack, brush your teeth.
Instead of a nap, go for a walk.
Instead of a nasty tweet or cutting remark, write it down in a private notebook.
Instead of the elevator, take the stairs.
Instead of doomscrolling, send someone a nice note.
Instead of an angry email, make a phone call.
Instead of a purchase seeking joy, consider a donation…
Good stuff, as always.
Apples, Ranked
Leanne Butkovic, writing for Thrillest, bit into 20 varieties of eating apples, ranking them from worst (Red Delicious) to best (Braeburn). My go-to apple, Fuji, comes in fourth place.
I’m not sure I’ve even tried a Braeburn. I guess I need to find one.
Texas Republicans Think Masks Are Tyranny And Wombs Are Property
John DeVore has a few thoughts on Texas Republicans.
Texas abortion law banning most abortions after six weeks, as well as allowing random private citizens to sue abortion clinics, went into effect today. The law is dishonest and backward and a successful attack on the landmark Supreme Court ruling ‘Roe v Wade’ that freed women to make decisions about their own bodies.
I wrote this essay about reproductive rights a couple of years ago when these kinds of laws were just being written. Now, the second-most populous state in the Union has passed one. A state, mind you, that thinks wearing masks during the mass outbreak of a deadly infectious disease is tyranny. I was right then and I’m right now:
“You can’t reason with these pious old hypocrites, either. They talk like lawyers but froth like zealots. A crusader can’t be convinced his crusade is folly. They are unmoved by immigrant children kept in cages but firmly believe a pinch of reproductive tissue is a full-born baby. How can you argue with that? These are the same men who preach about small government but also want to tattoo “Property of Uncle Sam” inside every American womb. It’s a permanent fever.”
You cannot argue with them. It is a fool’s errand. My take on abortion is simple: Let people with uteruses do what they want with their bodies.
Joseph Mazzello III
I was today years old when I learned that Joseph Mazzello III, the young actor who played Tim in Jurassic Park, also played Queen bass player John Deacon in Bohemian Rhapsody.
I feel old.
Did Olivia Rodrigo steal from Paramore?
Did Olivia Rodrigo steal from Paramore?
Adam Neely makes the best argument for plagiarism, then shows all the problems with it. Well, he explains that the chord progressions are the same. The melody is also the same and that’s why they added Paramore to the royalties list. Sure, the Green Day and the Taylor Swift songs use the same chords and a bit of melody, but no one (unless they are good at music theory) hear these songs as rip-offs. Because they aren’t.
Neely says Rodrigo is just wearing her influences “too brightly.” That makes sense and also why Paramore gets the credit.
TikTok, Reddit, and Facebook are Struggling with Ivermectin Misinformation
Kait Sanchez, in her story on The Verge, highlights a big problem on social media: misinformation and lies.
On TikTok, Rolling Stone found videos, some of which had more than a million views, promoting ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment under tags like #ivermectin4covid and #ivermectinworks. TikTok has since removed the videos for violating community guidelines and blocked the tags, and a spokesperson says TikTok will continue removing related videos and hashtags. The #ivermectin tag is still up, though many of the most popular videos in the tag are of healthcare professionals debunking misinformation.
On Reddit this week, moderators of several hundred subreddits called on the platform to take action against COVID-19 misinformation, including banning subreddits that spread medical disinformation.
Disagreeing with the requests for outright bans, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman shared a response in r/announcements, saying “Reddit is a place for open and authentic discussion and debate. This includes conversations that question or disagree with popular consensus.” The post goes on to say that Reddit will take action when people promote fraud or encourage harm, as well as quarantine certain subreddits so that they don’t appear in searches and can’t be accessed without logging in.
Huffman is ridiculous. He should immediately remove the posts and block the Reddit accounts. Anti-vaccination information is killing people.
There is no struggle. Just do the right thing.
The Definitive Guide to Protecting your Private Information Online
Mikael Thalen, writing for The Daily Dot, has several good ideas to help protect the private information you have online. It is far too easy for nefarious scumbags to get to your info if you aren’t careful.
With so much of our lives now conducted online, it can feel overwhelming trying to remember all the services that have access to your information. Whether your email address or credit card number, it seems nearly all of our personal data has made its way online, whether we realize it or not.
Data breaches have become a common occurrence. It’s no longer shocking to see headlines detailing the exposure of billions of people’s private information.
Chances are, some of your personal information has been part of a data breach, which means trying to limit that exposure isn’t a farfetched idea—it’s something you should be actively trying to fix.
Although data breaches are an inevitable and unfortunate reality, steps can be taken to limit the fallout.
I really liked the breakdown going from Easy to Hard.
Charlie Watts, RIP
— The Rolling Stones (@RollingStones) August 24, 2021
You can’t deny Charlie Watts was one of the most iconic drummers in history. I always loved his playing… simple and magical.