Thank you all for your kind and caring words as I’ve shared the beginning of my grief journey after losing my daughter, Rana. I expect that I will write more about it from time to time, as I expect it will take me a couple of years, more or less, to come fully to terms with this loss. But it feels like time to do normal things again, like create my weekly Recommended Reading list.
💻 Kevin Drum searched for the best data on mask effectiveness he could find, and shares it. It’s disappointing how ineffective cloth masks turn out to be. I switched to surgical masks not long ago, and they’re better, but they’re by far not perfect. Read Revisiting masks: Here’s how different face coverings perform against COVID-19
💻 Have the good times we’ve experienced in the US since World War II made us all soft? Is our softness about to lead to bad times? Daniel Miessler considers this. Read Is This the Most Important Civilizational Pattern?
💻 It sometimes seems like things are getting worse in the US, and maybe they are. Perhaps the US is descending while other nations like India and China are ascending. But there is opportunity in our descent, says Aaron Renn, if people like you and me purpose to bring the change necessary for the next phase of our nation’s growth. Read Welcome to the Descending World
💻 Sometimes when I review an old camera here, I give its price when new, and the price adjusted for inflation today. Timothy B. Lee explains why an adjusted-for-inflation price doesn’t tell enough of the story about anything’s cost or value. Read Why Agatha Christie could afford a maid and a nanny but not a car
📷 arh reviews the Pracktica L, a clunky but capable East German 35mm SLR. Read The PrakticaL Praktica L
📷 Kodak is discontinuing 24-exposure rolls of Kodak Ultramax 400, aka Kodak Max 400, their first film discontinuation in eight years. Bill Manning has the story. Read Ultramax Maxed Out?
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