Antibiotics: Docs as culprits

Just read this PBS report early in the morning. Aghast to learn that those who ought to know best aren't doing their part. At least top down they are not satisfied and will correct this dangerous situation. Those participating in animal husbandry need to use antibiotics responsibly too.

I strongly suspect doctors prescribing antibiotics has a lot to do with their commercial interests than good medicine. Therefore working on doctors to do the right thing might not be good enough without succeeding at patients education as well.

Philips LED lighting

LED lighting have come a long way in a very short time. This bulb ($9.90) for my desk lamp does not cast sharp shadows. Gives off a very pleasant and calming warm daylight.

What a welcome replacement from the 7W CFL.

Waiting for Brexit to bite

I am watching for foolish consequences of Brexit to be felt by the British public. The sooner the better so that public opinion might have a change of heart before Article 50 could be issued.

The world can afford to let the UK indulge in this foolish experiment and learn at their expense but not if America was experimenting as well. Good to see that Trump chances of winning the Oval Office has become very small. He is the worst of the four or five candidates.

It is sad to see how gutted the UK political class have become but I think there is no way for them to learn their lesson except by the hard way. Of course on paper we are at least if not more vulnerable than the UK. There is no guarantee that we will not quickly trip up ourselves. We have a tricky time navigating the complex changes happening now. I think this government notice what is going on but I am not sure if they are making sense of all the developments. They are still good at framing the questions but I am not as confident about them coming up with the answers. At least never be wishful and weak like their British counterparts.

Some good advice from Nassim Taleb

Nassim Taleb is spot on here. Unfortunately there are lots of people like those Taleb advised avoiding. To be practical you often cannot avoid them but keep a healthy distance from them. Confine yourself to at worst to only a professional relationship.

This blog post is for my children. Note that your uncle, aunty and parents have lived by this dictum for a very long time.

Political Pressure from the Christians

I do not feel sorry for the religious right in America. Finally they are getting their comeuppance for messing with politics. Trump as the Republican standard bearer had been very useful to reveal the true character of these Christians who have failed to accept Jesus telling Pilate that his kingdom is not like those of this world.

Closer to home I am concerned if the Christians might eventually grow from signing online petitions to pushing their agenda on the government through the power of their members' votes.

Singapore cannot be run on single issues which such types are apt to do. See Sarah Posner article.

Anker Cordless Mouse

Long story. I first ordered this on eBay but it never arrived and the merchant refunded my money. By then every seller seemed to have sold out their stocks and those on Qo10 were asking for more than $50. No choice, I bought the corded one which arrived quite quickly. Then the cordless version became available again and I bought it at the good price (USD 21). It arrived today when I was advised the earliest date of delivery is the 21st :-)

Very good mouse. Now I alternate between this mouse and my Logitech to minimize the risk of RSI.

Update: October 4, 2017

A year later this Anker mouse is limping. The scroll wheel no longer work properly. When I scroll down it sometimes moves up. I wanted to get a replacement but they are all over priced on eBay. So now I am trying my luck with something else.

I really wore this thing out through heavy use.

On Trump: The heart directs the mind

Yahoo republished this from The Atlantic, "A Tale of  Two Trumps"

I am using this to explain that our minds do not think independently or impartially. The mind is directed by the desires of the heart. For example, see this from the article.

That is how one former US marine, a Trump supporter excused Trump horrific speech and probably attacks on women.

This Christian marine desperately want to see conservative judges fill the supreme court bench even when to many of us it is doubtful that Trump were he to become president will give them such judges. Meanwhile he needed to find reasons to excuse the inexcusable from Trump.

Our hearts direct our thoughts. There are limits to persuading people on logic. Closer to home the ministers' effort to persuade Christians about legalizing and limiting online gambling was foreordained to fail. The WP recognized there is much support on the ground against online gambling and duly took advantage of it. Political opportunism.

The ways human hearts lean against logic and empirical evidence is the Achilles heel of Democracy. As and when the conditions are suitable, demagogues will seize power and bring on the age of darkness and repression. Pray Trump does not succeed Obama.

After Trump has failed we can count how many bigots live in America. That number will define the future of the world.

Update: 10:20 pm

Shame on that ex-marine who dared to involve Jesus Christ and Christian values in all these. NYT Nicholas Kristof has made it easiest for me how blind people must be to support Trump (See If Hillary Clinton Grope Men). By the way, Kristof avoided to mention the danger of allowing Trump near those nuclear launch codes. To support Trump is to risk apocalypse.

It is not just double standards but blatant hypocrisy as well.