Web Miscellany: Compilation #61

Hello, internet friends! How has you week been? I can hardly tell the days apart lately, and I’m grateful to be working from home and off social media. I’m guessing there is a lot of political nonsense out there. For those in the US, I hope you choose to use your discernment and exercise your right to help shape you local community, state government, federal leadership, and–by extension–global relations.

This weekend, I’ll be opting out of the chaos and finishing up my winter garden (one of the few perks of the Phoenix hellscape), bottling up our next batch of kombucha, and sewing up a animal print quarantine sweatshirt. For those who celebrate Halloween, what are you and/or your kids dressing up as, if anything?

I hope you have a relaxing weekend! Here are a few links from around the web. Feel free to share anything interesting you’ve stumbled upon in the comments.

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1. “The sky, at sunset, looked like a carnivorous flower.” ― Roberto Bolaño, 2666
2. Taiwan marks 200 days without domestic Covid-19 infection. What might be the reason? The report MMR Vaccine Appears to Confer Strong Protection from COVID-19: Few Deaths from SARS-CoV-2 in Highly Vaccinated Populations reveals that nearly all countries with few or no deaths from COVID-19 have also had large measles-rubella vaccination programs in recent years.
3. PSA: Did you know that if you have a latex allergy, you can sometimes have reactions to certain fruits and vegetables? I unknowingly consumed cassava flour, which has similarly structured proteins that the body mistakenly recognizes as latex, causing a severe allergic reaction. Apparently, avocado, banana, kiwi, tomatoes and apples also fall into the same category.
4. How One Embroider’s ‘1 Year of Stitches’ Project Divides 2020 Into a Crafty Pie. I love this!
5. Quiz: Can You Tell a ‘Trump’ Fridge From a ‘Biden’ Fridge? I couldn’t tell the difference. I also couldn’t help but notice a lot of bare refrigerator shelves, which makes me sad for those in a rough spot right now.
6. Liberty Doesn’t Mean Freedom to Infect Other People. I’ve been loosely involved in the local libertarian community for the last decade and not one individual I’ve spoken to is anti-mask. I think it’s unfortunate that individuals are pegging their newly-founded beliefs and rhetoric on constitutionalism… a longstanding an ideology for the protection of citizens and the prevention of arbitrary government.
7. Bee fact of the day: Murder hornets are in the news. Japanese honey bees have an amazing defense.
8. We listened to The Peter Attia Drive podcast on our road trip (I think it’s a $20/monthly subscription). The information on longevity medicine is great but–I gotta say it–Dr. Attia is a total bro and talks far too much about race cars.
9. At a certain point you might decide that you no longer have time for listening to bullshit — a good time for that would be now. – Michael Lipsey
10. I’ve had several songs from Radiohead’s In Rainbows stuck in my head lately. No complaints.