south korea remains weird.

we got the delayed spikes in the other east asian countries that the science predicts. i've been over this, so i'll be terse: when you react to a pandemic with authoritarian tactics, what you do is scare the population into avoiding medical care. the result is that the curve stays flat for a while due to under-reporting and then explodes upwards once it can't be ignored any further. that is what the science actually "predicted" would happen, and what has actually happened.

.....except in korea. why is that?

well, either the koreans are doing some specific thing in an absolutely flawless way, or the data is stunningly flawed.

there are some reasons to think the data is funny. for example, people are testing negative, and then testing positive. we don't have to jump to conspiracy theories. are they testing properly? it would seem as though they aren't.

but, you don't get false negatives when you test for death, or at least you don't get them in a sustained manner.

so, i don't know. not yet...

if they're doing something spectacularly well, it would have to have something to do with keeping it away from the vulnerable. i can draw whatever conclusions i want about underreporting, but if people aren't dying it means that the weak are being protected. it would follow that if you want to learn something worthwhile about what they're doing differently, you should look at how they're protecting the elderly and other high risk groups.

it could very well be that the virus is actually running rampant in the general population, but has been effectively kept out of nursing homes. that would be the best-case scenario, anywhere, as you get immunity without killing people. but, they're not even logging the unlucky deaths. like, even in the absolute best case scenario, there should be a kind of background death rate of a few dozen people a day, and they're not even seeing that.

so, i don't know. not yet...

could you even imagine this nowadays?

it seems like it already killed all of the old people.

so, if you're fat, stay inside for the remainder of the pandemic.

you can still get takeout.

i'm not gloating.

i'm just pointing out that the data to deduce this was there from the start.

the more important point to get across is not that i was right, it's to be skeptical of corporate media. you shouldn't listen to every math nerd with a blog. but, you should consult a variety of sources with contradictory perspectives in analyzing the data for yourself.

all authority is flawed.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/health/coronavirus-antibodies-california.html

we might not get another opportunity like this to overthrow capitalism for another hundred years.

will you be able to look your grandchildren in the eyes and tell them you squandered it?

there is serious revolutionary potential in realizations like this.

that's critical mass, and then some.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/4/22/21231152/pew-economy-coronavirus-pandemic

we need an anti-authoritarian left to emerge out of this, one that points to real science to undo the statist response, and one that takes back these slogans that the right has appropriated.

if we just quietly sit inside through this, we're essentially conceding to capitalism.

this is the time to revolt. let's get a move on it.

the people out on the street are the soldiers we need for a socialist revolution.

don't look at me - i'd just yell at them and call them names. i don't have any people skills.

i'm sorry.

i don't organize, i type.

if you're good with people, if that's your skillset, then get out there and do it. so long as you're not fat or old...

we're in a very confusing time on this continent right now.

not just this virus, but in general.

these are left-wing ideas, and leftists are right to feel a twinge of support for people they wouldn't normally associate with. but, this is a condition that has been building for some time, now; the novelty and shock should have largely worn off.

i want to actually make the opposite argument to the one that the fake left media has been so keen on pushing: it's important that the left doesn't let this get away from us. there is no revolutionary potential in the obeisant middle class reaction of cowardly sitting at home, and doing what we're told.

our people are out on the streets, holding up republican placards yearning for freedom.

it's bizarre, but it's real - and we need to get our people back.

there's no way forward in building alliances with people that slavishly do what they're told.

this is the time for direct action, not the time for protest.

if enough people just defy the orders, the cops will be helpless in stopping them.

while i do have some solidarity with the anti-lockdown protesters, i don't think their tactics are very useful.

if they are business owners, they should just open and dare the cops to shut them down.

and, if they are workers, and their bosses won't open, then they should take advantage of the situation to seize the means of production and open without management's blessing.

going to the state capitol and yelling is just pointless.

remember...

christianity is stupid, communism is good.

the ancient pagans were at least empirical; even if they didn't fully understand what they were observing, they at least gave it a go. it was the right approach, even if they didn't really get it.

the abrahamic faiths have no such redeeming values - it's just a bunch of stupid rules designed to make you more pliable slaves.

listen, i'll say this again: worshipping the sun at least makes a little bit of sense. it's the source of all energy, all life.

arguing that god was incarnated as a human and died for our sins is, comparably speaking, actually a pretty fucking stupid idea. it's a step backwards in terms of complexity, and in terms of usefulness in understanding the world.

i don't really expect the sun to react to any kind of magic verses, or anything. but, i'd be far more likely to participate in a solar ritual than a christian one, as it would make far more sense to me.

ok, ok, i'm focusing, now.

don't be a colonized slave.

learn your own history!

well?

here's your history.

there'll be a quiz tomorrow, read up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisii#Wars_with_the_Romans

just remember this: we don't speak a romance language.

we speak a dialect of german that has it's direct origins in the region between the netherlands and denmark and is not that distant from norse.

maybe, one day, we'll get to pick which planet we'd like to live on. and, when we do, i'll pick one with 60 hour days.

so, i got half done what i was doing yesterday before i crashed hard, again. these are 16 hour days, which are maybe not short for some people, but i'm used to only sleeping 3-4 hours a day, and i think even that is too much. i wouldn't sleep at all if i didn't have to. i hate it. maybe i need to drink stronger coffee.

i shouldn't be tired like this after 15-16 hours...

whatever it is, i'm going to focus on getting the vlogging update finished before i do anything else.

it's just one stupid thing after another, i know. i'm hoping to get back to work soon. really. it's just that there's a process, and it's linear, and i can't multitask...

i can be an atheist jew, too, sometimes.

i'd rather be a pagan barbarian.

i'm not a christian, my ancestors were not christian, i do not want to be a christian and i do not want to associate with christians or live in a christian society, either.

am i the one that didn't assimilate?

should i go back to norway?

honestly? i didn't decide to migrate here. if you were to buy me a plane ticket, i'd be gone in a minute.

i'm sure i'd fit into the culture there a lot better.

that's not reality; i was born here, i'm stuck here and i will fight to change the culture here to reflect my values and morals.

for all i know, they got here and sacrificed a moose to odin.

mine came over here from the barely christianized very northern reaches of europe in the early 1900s.

i mean, i dunno.

maybe your ancestors came over here in the 1600s and killed the indians and ate turkey.

mine didn't....

"but, in the history of western civilization, the church has played a central role in maintaining normalcy in the face of collapse."

well, that would be a correct perception, if you're approaching the situation from a roman or christian perspective.

but, if you're approaching the situation from a german or pagan perspective, or a turkish one for that matter, then the church is a relic of a vanquished culture, not a place of solace during difficult times.

i identify with the forces of revolutionary change that overthrew the empire, not the forces of conservatism and stasis that searched for something to hold on to in times of crisis.

am i getting my point across, here?

and, as inheritors of the british empire, are we not also inheritors of heresy, of henry viii, of anti-popes and of skepticism towards papal absolutism?

as inheritors of the french revolution, are we not also inheritors of the replacement of superstition with reason, and the overthrow of the ancien regime?

and are both of these traditions not inherently pagan, inherently german, in their rejection of roman christianity?

"if the role of the government is to redistribute wealth, what is the role of the church?"

in a secular society, the church doesn't have a role.

ideally, it doesn't exist at all.

umm.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/11/14/20963154/plague-china-pneumonic-bubonic-pandemic-preparedness

if your fingers ever look like this, you're in trouble.

back in the middle ages, these were called buboes and gave their name to the bubonic plague.

do we really know what's going on, here?

https://globalnews.ca/news/6848644/covid-toes-skin-rash-coronavirus-symptom/

kim jung un does have some underlying conditions.

hrrmn.

i'm still young enough that it's not a total culture shock. i've spent much of my life watching this flip.

but, older democrats are going to be in for a real generational shift, as they watch biden become the butt of every joke on every tv show.

we'll see how long it takes for the colberts of the world to crack. but, it's just too tempting. 

wait for it.