Africa’s Population Bomb
The climate emergency grabs all the headlines, obscuring the threats posed by our rapacious over-consumption of dwindling resources and our overpopulation problem. On population growth, Africa is the great unknown…
Unknown
So Much for Unbridled Optimism
In fairness, I did say it seemed counterintuitive when, yesterday, I wrote a piece on good news about how some were prediciting that the Omicron variant would transform Covid-19 from…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Andre Picard recognizes that stoking sentiment about being “done with COVID” only increases the likelihood of further transmission and mutation, while Gail…
The Pyrocene
Human civilization depended on many things. We usually consider the development of agriculture as a pivotal factor. However, even before that, man had to master fire. Humankind, alone among all…
America Has Entered the Anocracy Zone
Barbara Walter has made a career out of studying civil war. The UC San Diego professor and author of “How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them,” claims that…
Omicron, a Blessing in Disguise?
To me it sounds counterintuitive but, hey, if it’s true it’s welcome. There’s a lot of talk about the Omicron variant of Covid-19 effecting a transition from pandemic into an…
Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Katharine Wu examines how the effect of immunity is just one more area where people are seeing profoundly unequal results of the COVID…
Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Alex Ballingall and Raisa Patel ask why Canada’s federal government seems to have learned nothing from four previous waves of COVID. And…
Too Good to Pass Up. In Ireland, These Three Guys Walk Into a Post Office…
This can’t possibly be true, can it? Gardaí have launched an investigation after two men carried a dead body into an Irish post office in an apparent attempt to claim…
It’s January and Big Sur is Ablaze
This is supposed to be the wet season on the Pacific coast, doubly so this year thanks to La Nina. This is the season of floods and mudslides. This is…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Katharine Wu writes that contrary to the continued attempt by right-wing talking heads to equate mass viral transmission with immunity, we can’t assume…
Musical interlude
Cowboy Junkies – White Sail
The Booster Pays Off
The US Centers for Disease Control report that the Pfizer and Moderna boosters are paying off. The extra doses are 90 percent effective against hospitalization with the variant, the agency…
Kenney Is On The Right Track?
So, according to Ken Boessenkool, we should congratulate Jason Kenney for “being on the right track“. I get it – Ken’s a conservative organizer, and he’s going to think that…
Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Claire Horwell highlights how masking and other continued public health measures to rein in spread to the extent possible are the only way…
Mind Blowing. MoS Takes the Plunge.
A subscription to Google Alerts is not for the faint-hearted. Untreated, it can lead to chronic depression. I’ve avoided it for three weeks, my New Year’s resolution. Until today. I…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – David Moscrop writes about the need for public policy which remedies inequality rather than exacerbating it – while recognizing that we’re falling…
Climate Departure? Too Soon to Say.
I wrote to Camilo Mora asking if the bizarre severe weather events that whipsawed British Columbia in 2021 evidenced the onset of what he termed “climate departure.” About nine years…
Trump Wanted a Wall. Now He’s Run Headlong Into One.
Donald Trump has exhausted his last chance to block the release of his records to a Congressional committee investigating the January 6 insurrection. After losing to a unanimous judgment of…
Good News. Asia Loves Jellyfish.
For most of the world the influx of jellyfish in local waters has become a real problem. Like most marine life, jellyfish are migrating into waters once too cold for…