As discussed previously, this is my weekly Twitter roundup. Note that tweets of articles generally include header images from the articles, which are not included here unless they happen to be available under a free license. Most are not. But I now add most of my commentary here, where I’m not restricted by the message length.

diagrams showing the division of the day and of the week

I also don’t generally attach pictures to posts with quotations.

9:05 – Mon 03 August 2020

COVID recovery time survey shows what ‘long haulers’ already knew: Symptoms can persist from Fast Company

The latest data, based on interviews with 292 people across 13 states, suggests that prolonged symptoms are not limited to severe cases.

This is definitely not the best sign.

12:02 – Mon 03 August 2020

I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex.

Oscar Wilde

9:01 – Tue 04 August 2020

TBI damage may come from tiny bubble bursts from Futurity

…elevated expression of genes such as TNF-α and IL-6, which are associated with inflammatory conditions such as infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and neurological disorders…

Beyond the obvious warning about sending kids back to play sports where this is a danger, it’s worth noting that COVID-19 has a similar effect on the body.

12:01 – Tue 04 August 2020

Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.

Kahlil Gibran

9:03 – Wed 05 August 2020

Yale Antitrust Scholars Resign Because Director Advises Apple, Amazon from VICE Motherboard

Two fellows at Yale’s Thurmond Arnold Project, an antitrust research organization at the university…revealed that a leading antitrust scholar and director of the project has been taking paid advisor roles…

Everybody in positions like that is sure that they can fight the influence of the people they work for, but their own research often proves them wrong, so this is a bigger deal than it might sound like.

12:05 – Wed 05 August 2020

Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices.

Benjamin Franklin

9:02 – Thu 06 August 2020

USPS Workers Concerned New Policies Will Pave the Way to Privatization from The Intercept

…the union is putting in place an ESAS monitoring and reporting plan to evaluate the impacts of these new changes to service.

The attacks on the Post Office are one of the bigger stories at a time when we’re flooded with big stories. The core concept of the Post Office is to allow a form of communication that doesn’t discriminate. They deliver to nearly every residence every day, and (when properly funded) move information across the country in a day. At one point, they also provided banking services and should do so again.

Combine that with the need to vote by mail during an ongoing pandemic and as polling places close, and it’s easy to see how important the institution is and how it can’t be usefully replaced by private organizations.

12:03 – Thu 06 August 2020

For that mist may break when the sun is high

And this soul forget its sorrow

And the rose ray of the closing day

May promise a brighter morrow.

Emily Brontë

9:04 – Fri 07 August 2020

Bill Barr Has Done This Before from ProPublica

In 1992, Barr said the FBI was shifting about 300 agents from monitoring spies from the recently collapsed Soviet Union to taking on gangs and violent crime in American cities.

There are also old interviews where Barr brags about how hard he worked to convince George H.W. Bush to send the military to Los Angeles in order to stifle the Rodney King uprising, wich much of the same rhetoric of gangs being set up to undermine the country.

12:04 – Fri 07 August 2020

Civilization is that mode of conduct which points out to man the path of duty. Performance of duty and observance of morality are convertible terms.

Mahatma Gandhi

Bonus

Because it accidentally became a tradition early on in the life of the blog, here’s a sixth article that didn’t fit into the week, but too weird to not mention.

For a happy life, don’t forget hedonism from Futurity

It was always thought that hedonism, as opposed to self-control, was the easier option. But really enjoying one’s hedonic choice isn’t actually that simple for everybody because of those distracting thoughts.

Just a reminder that we do need to enjoy ourselves.

Credits: Header image is Circular diagrams showing the division of the day and of the week from a manuscript drafted during the Carolingian Dynasty.