Pre-Wuhan Covid-19 in Italy, bioweapons research in Russia and China, and curious coincidences. There’s a lot of credible information that casts doubt on the official story of Covid-19’s origins. Starting with a big one, Covid-19 antibodies were detected in Italy months before the Wuhan … Continued
Exciting year ahead for human space exploration For reasons beyond my understanding, there are people who aren’t closely watching how we’re progressing to the stars. Of course, it’s only the most important thing in the world. So here’s what’s coming … Continued
People in all totalitarian societies are familiar with the difference between members of the power structures being “with them”, or merely “among them”. The first refers to true believers (or sociopaths) who are the hard core of the regime. The … Continued
Western intellectuals are consumed by paroxysms of postcolonial repentance. While that is ethically understandable, it is unclear why they’re preoccupied with European colonies 200 years ago while remaining curiously silent about the colonial empires that exist to this day. We … Continued
I have good news for you, and bad news for lazy people. By and large, there are no secrets, shortcuts or silver bullets. The stuff that actually works is simple and you probably already know it. This is true in … Continued
There is an overwhelming temptation in any programme of self-improvement to focus on things you’re already amazing at, instead of facing your flaws. But your weak points are precisely where the most value is waiting to be captured. It is … Continued
You should probably not take your serious geopolitical analysis from a drunken essayist . That being said, for entertainment purposes, here’s my take. On Tuesday, someone in Syria dropped nerve gas on a busy street full of civilians. It is not … Continued
As Eisenhower said, “Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” Therefore, I have planned. This is what you can expect in the first half of 2017. I am aiming for a minimum of 4 articles per month, or one per week. It’s … Continued
That being said, everyone can be something. I realize I’m taking up a serious rhetorical challenge by taking the less-popular side of an argument. Reality checks are less popular than irrational exuberance and hypomania. By now, you must have noticed that’s … Continued
You guys, Something amazing just happened. In a time of constant competition for attention when sign-up forms force themselves on people on every website on the planet, one of you guys actually asked for a signup form for a newsletter. … Continued
Dear Americans,
An old schoolmate of mine, an Arabist, now teaches in Egypt. We had a fascinating talk about the situation there and it was extremely interesting to hear some first-hand accounts. He made a point that I believe is worth typing out for the … Continued
TLDR: Financial institutions spend untold billions every year on arbitrary opulence, trivially automatable administration and lush compensation for managers whose contributions are statistically insignificant. Monumental savings are readily achievable to get everybody a far better deal.