84 Matching Annotations
  1. Apr 2023
    1. He even offeredgrim warnings about children’s bowel movements, stressing the absolute needfor regularity. Regularity should not be achieved, however, at the expense ofdensity or compactness in the, ahem, product, for ‘People that are very loosehave seldom strong thoughts or strong bodies’ (p. 22, original emphasis).

      Locke stressed the need for regular bowel movements in children in his book Some Thoughts Concerning Education and presupposed a link between the looseness of one's stool and the weakness of their bodies. This seemed to be a moralism rather than a question of general health and eating habits which continued into even my own childhood.

  2. Nov 2022
  3. Jul 2022
    1. We don’t expect National Defence or health care to promote growth: we just accept that territorial integrity and a healthy populace are good things.

      Been making that point about health (especially since, like education, it's a provincial jurisdiction). It's easy to think of perverse incentives if a profit motive dominates education and health. Physicians would want people to remain sick and teachers would prefer it if learners required more assistance.

      Hadn't thought enough about the DND part. Sure gives me pause, given the amounts involved. Or the fact that there's a whole lot of profit made in that domain.

      So, businesspeople are quick to talk about "cost centres". Some of them realize that those matter a whole lot.

  4. Apr 2022
    1. Eric Feigl-Ding [@DrEricDing]. (2021, November 12). 💡BEST. VIDEO. ALL. YEAR. Please share with friends how the mRNA vaccine works to fight the coronavirus. 📌NOTA BENE—The mRNA never interacts with your DNA 🧬. #vaccinate (Special thanks to the Vaccine Makers Project @vaccinemakers of @ChildrensPhila). #COVID19 https://t.co/CrSGGo6tqq [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1459284608122564610

  5. Feb 2022
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  10. Jul 2021
    1. It’s a familiar trick in the privatisation-happy US – like, say, underfunding public education and then criticising the institution for struggling.

      This same thing is being seen in the U.S. Post Office now too. Underfund it into failure rather than provide a public good.

      Capitalism definitely hasn't solved the issue, and certainly without government regulation. See also the last mile problem for internet service, telephone service, and cable service.

      UPS and FedEx apparently rely on the USPS for last mile delivery in remote areas. (Source for this?)

      The poor and the remote are inordinately effected in almost all these cases. What other things do these examples have in common? How can we compare and contrast the public service/government versions with the private capitalistic ones to make the issues more apparent. Which might be the better solution: capitalism with tight government regulation to ensure service at the low end or a government monopoly of the area? or something in between?

  11. Jun 2021
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