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  • First COVID-19 Post

    I’ve been obsessed with it for over a month. I’ll be copying things from my Facebook feed here, and going back in time to find early posts. This document shows some plots of the daily numbers coming out of Los Angeles County. (Comment on Sept 2024: When I wrote this in 2020, in the early…

  • I’m a Trollaholic

    I sometimes get onto these threads with a few comments, and end up writing a screed. This was with this person, Ras Lyon, who I suppose is a rasta-capitalist. @Mr. Ras Lyon Here’s what you said: “Investors and owners don’t live off of the employees, they live off of the return on the investment they…

  • How is that Asian students both international and Asian Americans are so good in college?

    I wrote this for Quora: There’s two separate groups here. You can even say three groups. International students aren’t all good at college, but the ones from poorer countries are likely to be excellent. The reason is simple: nobody who sucks at school would go overseas to a far more expensive place to attend school.…

  • California Cogged Stones: International Trade and Exchange

    I was reading Quora and it showed me an awesome article about the history of money, or more correctly, the development of debt, and the ideology of private property, and how “barter” is an ideological myth promoted by capitalists. How did the concept of money actually emerge from the “barter system”? TL;DR: the original “money”…

  • Racist Housing Policy Made Your Neighborhood

    A mega-thread on City Data about the issue. Some people are arguing that these policies weren’t racist. Let’s just say there’s some denial going on. http://www.city-data.com/forum/urban-planning/2123740-racist-housing-policy-made-your-neighborhood.html  

  • Art Spiegelman: golden age superheroes were shaped by the rise of fascism

    Art Spiegelman in The Guardian: Created in New York by Jewish immigrants, the first comic book superheroes were mythic saviours who could combat the Nazi threat. They speak to the dark politics of our times Source: Art Spiegelman: golden age superheroes were shaped by the rise of fascism

  • Changing Emails is Hard

    I’ve had my old address, johnk@riceball.com, for more than 20 years. I think. I don’t remember when I first established email for my own domain. I remember picking the domain out around 1998, when the first domain land rush happened. I probably set up the email on the Cyberjava servers. I don’t remember anymore. Later,…

  • Protected: RIP Mark

    There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

  • The New Normal – Fresh Food Costs More

    This is shocking to me: Why Ditching Processed Foods Won’t Be Easy — Barriers To Cooking From Scratch The worst part is at the end. During the survey, one of the participants became homeless. Back when I was a child, the processed foods cost more, and the fresh foods cost less. That’s because we had a…

  • Reupholstering an Old Chair’s Seat with Scrap Fabric

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    A work in progress – how to reupholster a chair seat for cheap or free, with scrap fabric and recycled stuffing. These pictures show some of the progress. This chair’s seat had torn, and the foam was coming out. I wanted to reupholster it, but for as little money as possible. I watched a few…