Week 2444

(Previous | Next)

First “normal” week of work as everyone returned from holidays. I had much more time to focus than usual, still.

Of course the storming of the US Capitol has been quite a distraction. I’m more glued to Twitter than I’d like, and have written several half-posts that I may or may not ever finish. I wish I could just let go and not worry about the US as I learned to stop worrying about historic preservation in St. Louis, or transportation policy in Seattle. Distance should temper passion, but this is too big to ignore.

The Dutch failure to plan vaccination doesn’t make focusing locally much more enjoyable.

Writing

4 Notes

Google has unionized, Pakistan is using a vaccine from China, Russian hackers could still be anywhere, the UK won’t extradite to the US over human rights concerns, POTUS has allies in a blatant coup, and COVID-19 is now more infectious.

2021 was supposed to be boring.

This reflection on the Dutch pandemic from @bencoates1 mirrors my perspective well. Especially in disappointment that the press who held Pete Hoekstra to task now seems lenient domestically.

This is the best summary of how the “republic of landowners” legacy has skewed US democratic representation.

Sugar and tea and rum.

The Wellerman TikTok that’s gone viral is great, but I like this fork even better.