Monthly Archives: May 2020

Was thinking about similarities and differences between the reaction to AIDS and to  SARS-2.   AIDS hit much more slowly, of course.  It was way more dangerous per customer, but it was obvious early on that it was only spreading in … Continue reading →

Deng Xiaoping once quoted the old  proverb: “It doesn’t matter whether a cat is black or white, if it catches mice it is a good cat.”  He was endorsing what worked, capitalism in that case. By 2020 standards, that is … Continue reading →

I’ve noticed that people’s sense of time, including my own, is all messed up. A comparison: in the US, the number of Cov-19 deaths has gone from about 300 to ~95,000 in two months. The 1918 flu: First noticed on … Continue reading →

Not very. So, far cov-19 has mostly not infected a terribly high percentage of the population , with the exception of some places in Lombardy where it likely reached saturation( > 60%). NYC, about 20%. Spain: 5%. Major League Baseball … Continue reading →

Imagine that astronomers discovered a new comet, one that was an exact duplicate of the Chixculub object and was going hit the Earth in 30 years.  Which would, if  uninterrupted, exterminate the human race. Let us also suppose that the … Continue reading →

The big mistake people are making is comparing the overall impact of a bad flu season (like the Hong Kong flu in 1968) – one in which ~50-70% of the population eventually caught it – with a more virulent epidemic … Continue reading →