Tag Archives: coronavirus

Coerced Stability

Posted on April 20, 2020 by JMN

Author Yi-Zheng Lian, a professor of economics at Yamanashi Gakuin University in Japan and contributing Opinion writer for the NYTimes, makes a crucial point in this article about Covid-19: Of course, the virus isn’t Chinese, even if its origin eventually … Continue reading →

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The Latest Thump

Posted on April 19, 2020 by JMN

This article by David Quammen appeared on January 28, 2020, in the NYTimes. That seems a long time ago in light of what has transpired in February, March, and half of April; however, the article has aged well. Quammen is … Continue reading →

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What Winning Looks Like

Posted on April 16, 2020 by JMN

South Korea is steadily dropping in the rankings of countries worst-hit by the pandemic. Once second only to China (population: about 1.4 billion), South Korea (population: 51.6 million) is now recording fewer total cases than Ireland (population: 4.9 million) and … Continue reading →

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Aerosolized Precarity

Posted on April 10, 2020 by JMN

Having been involved with languages, both natural and programming, for a time, I always experience a moment of pleasurable surprise when I meet a word I feel I should have met before. Today’s new friend is “precariat.” It comes to … Continue reading →

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A Sober Voice

Posted on April 9, 2020 by JMN

“And that man’s a doctor!” as the endearing old refrain of the vouching Jewish mother goes. A recurring thread in recent news is how in a decapitated republic certain U.S. governors are stepping up to provide badly needed leadership in … Continue reading →

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Africa Felt Better

Posted on April 8, 2020 by JMN

With the United States now leading the world in Covid-19 cases, the health care system fraying and the economy faltering, some American citizens — especially those living abroad — are starting to see their country in a new, unsettling light. … Continue reading →

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Poisonous Language Travels (Like a Virus)

Posted on April 8, 2020 by JMN

As news filtered from the Joaquín Rosillo nursing home on the outskirts of Seville that a few residents had tested positive for coronavirus, worried families scrambled for information. But amid a nationwide lockdown, with their movements limited, there were no … Continue reading →

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Stop Shooting for a Moment?

Posted on April 5, 2020 by JMN

It’s a stretch, but the evolving Covid-19 moment seems a good time to pause injury and death from shooting where possible. In Mexico it would abet the diverting of already shaky personnel assets from cartel warfare to virus containment, potentially … Continue reading →

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Food Notes 1

Posted on April 3, 2020 by JMN

California produces a third of the nation’s vegetables and two-thirds of its fruits and nuts… The United States relies on foreign suppliers for almost 20 percent of its food… The United States relies on foreign suppliers for 80 percent of … Continue reading →

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Compassionate Conservative

Posted on March 28, 2020 by JMN

A column in The Times by Bret Stephens got POTUS’s attention recently. There is conjecture that it may have contributed to the “cure-worse-than-the-disease” propaganda that trumpets against efficient pandemic control. My mom puts the groceries away and we sit down … Continue reading →

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