Category: Uncategorized

conspiracies, finance, lookintoit, media, Politics, science, Uncategorized

The Anti-Mask League of 1918

Matthew Kray

For some reason the unroll bot Thread Reader is not working on twitter, so I compiled this thread to make it easier for people to read/share. Here is the original thread:

https://twitter.com/timkmak/status/1251936242834563073


So, starting in Sept 2018 San Francisco suffered from Spanish Flu pandemic. Initial mask wearing was good — around 80 percent. By November cases were down, and public health officials recommended re-opening the city. Residents rushed to entertainment venues after having been denied this communal joy for months. The Mayor himself was fined by his own police chief after going to a show without a mask. But a second wave surged in Dec 1918, and SF’s Health Officer again urged people to wear masks voluntarily

Left to their own devices, most citizens – by one count 90 % – refused to wear masks. Businesses, concerned about Christmas sales, opposed. So did Culinary Workers union. San Francisco residents were fed up. This was the second wave of the pandemic, and they had already spent months between Sept and Nov being hassled, fined and even arrested for not having a mask on. Challenges of constitutionality were heard. Christian Scientists objected, arguing that it was “subversive of personal liberty and constitutional rights.” Civil libertarians argued that if health officials could force them to wear masks, then it could force them to inoculate “or any experiment or indignity.” The San Francisco Chronicle turned against the notion of mandatory masks.

Was the death rate high enough to justify remasking?

Wasn’t this just the return of normal seasonal colds?

How much was this due to a public ‘scare’ and hype?

An op-ed ran in the local paper w/headline ‘What’s The Use?’ after a man got sick despite following public health guidelines. A promised vaccine turned out to be bogus 100s of citizens congregated on Dec 16 to debate a masking order. On Dec. 18 someone had sent what appeared to be an improvised explosive device to San Francisco’s public health official signed, ‘Compliments from John.’ (!!!)

The story via historian Alfred W. Crosby:

San Francisco’s Public Health Officer stuck by his guns, refusing to back down, and saying there was evidence that masks helped!

He implored the public to look to the data! Wear masks! They help!

But the public declined to listen to SF’s Public Health Officer. On Dec 19, officials voted down a mandatory mask order. “The dollar sign is exalted above the health sign,” sighed the public health officer. By far the worst day of flu/pneumonia deaths followed on Dec 30. Flu got worse in San Francisco when masking was voluntary.

A representative of organized labor relented: “It is of no time to quibble over the worth of the mask. It is the best thing we have found to date, and if you have anything better, for God’s sake, give it to us.” So on Jan 10, 1919 local officials voted to approve a new mandatory mask order after 600 new cases were reported that day. Citizens were arrested/fined for not having masks on, but widespread disobedience of the order continue & large numbers of citizens refused to wear masks.

Protests continued:

Over 2,000 people attended an event formed by San Franciscans called themselves ‘THE ANTI-MASK LEAGUE,’ denouncing the mandatory masking ordinance. The gathering was of “public spirited citizens, skeptical physicians and fanatics,” writes historian Crosby. Moderates in the Anti-Mask League wanted to circulate an anti-mask petition. Extremists wanted to initiate recall proceedings of SF’s Public Health Officer. Chaos broke out until someone shouted, “I rented this hall and now I’m going to turn out the lights.” (Mak note: lol)

The San Francisco Public Health Officer was a man named Dr. William C. Hassler. Think of him as the 1919 Dr. Fauci. Ignored by those who didn’t want to believe the data, threatened with violence, Hassler was conscientious and performed his job with distinction.

I haven’t read anything about how many people became sick DUE to the Anti-Mask League event, where 1000s gathered to protest without masks. So we may not know how many people, if any, became sick due to this congregation but safe to say it was not helpful during pandemic. On Jan 17, the day the masking ordinance went into effect, the # of new cases/deaths declined, the first decline in quite some time. This continued until the epidemic faded, a signal that the mask ordinance had helped wipe out the Spanish Flu in San Francisco. Of course, the SF Public Health Officer — the 1919 version of Dr. Fauci, got no credit for the decline in influenza cases. People continued to gripe about the masking even after the pandemic had been stalled by it. No one seemed to credit masking for the success of blunting the Spanish Flu in San Francisco — because, well, the crisis faded due to its success. “Rarely has the evidence in support of a scientific hypothesis been more overwhelming and more deceiving,” writes historian Crosby.

Ultimately San Francisco was one of the American cities hardest hit by the Spanish Flu. 673 per 100,000 people died during the pandemic due to influenza and pneumonia, per U of Michigan. 50K cases total and 3,500 were killed, per Crosby.

PHOTO: Masks being worn by players during a baseball game, in newspaper Mar 1, 1919 via The Independent

The 1918/1919 protests against mask wearing and other public health measures have parallels to today. We learn through this episode that various groups of Americans have been pushing back against public health measures for more than a hundred years — and for similar reasons!! In learning about the Anti-Mask League of 1919, we see many of the same human elements as today: a portion of the population resistant to the measures; a business community crying out for relief; a second wave after an initial loosening; threats to public health officials. This is essentially a report that I pieced together by reading sources after getting curious about the 1919 Anti-Mask League. Any mistakes are my own.

I started by drafting a few tweets and then spent an hour and a half researching it last night. One thing led to another…

SOURCES:

The University of Michigan’s Influenza Encyclopedia
The San Francisco Chronicle’s archives
America’s Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918 by Alfred W. Crosby
American Pandemic by Nancy Bristow

/END THREAD

automation, finance, middle class, Uncategorized

Being Poor Is Expensive

Matthew Kray

$$$$$$$$$$

With Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang in the news bringing Universal Basic Income more into the public sphere, we are reminded just how difficult it can sometimes be to get ahead. There are statistics that show quite a dismal view of how many people are able to afford a financial emergency and of how many people live paycheck to paycheck or close to it. We’d like to see struggling people do things to lift themselves out of poverty but sometimes we don’t really think about just how hard it is to get real momentum going in that direction. The context here from AndrewYang and from scottsantens is that with a small extra income each month it can help people to be able to take care a lot of things that can go a long towards improving our health, our quality of life, and even a long term lift out of poverty. With that said, we started a list with the following tweet:

The list keeps growing even as I post this, so the commentary below is just a few of the highlights, feel free to join the discussion on twitter by commenting on the post linked above (or by commenting below).

@kieronsrees above leads to thoughts about all kinds of payment issues. You get a discount for paying certain bills all in one payment instead of monthly. Similarly:
-Paying up front ensures you can buy things without paying interest
-A lot of companies offer discounts if you put your payments on autopay, but when you’re living paycheck to paycheck autopay doesn’t always work because you worry about a payment being pulled the day before a certain deposit clears, then you get overdraft fees (this has happened to me).

This one, from @paprikapink, is huge. Can’t afford to fix the car, can’t afford not to.


Above, from @hellseathinks, is another one that hits close to home for me. I’d like to buy less from places that don’t guarantee good work conditions, fair pay, and sustainable practices. For me that meant trying to buy American products as often as possible- but they are more expensive.

As we went through this list it also got me thinking about how people might want to move for any host of reasons. Maybe they want to be closer to family and a support network (free babysitting while they work!), maybe they are unhappy with their state’s drug or abortion laws, or maybe they’d like to a state with no income tax. The problem is, even moving for a job opportunity is difficult because moving is expensive!

There are many people who aren’t spending their money frivelously, they are counting every penny, tracking their bank accounts meticulously, they are barely keeping their head above water and just a little bit extra, any break, could make a huge difference in quality of life & mental health.



Uncategorized

On trying to be Ketogenic & Vodka Tastings

Matthew Kray

Not only was it news to me that many hard liquors are low calorie, sugar free, and carb free, it was news to me that you could drink while on a Ketogenic diet. In my research I read in many places that while the alcohol being processed in your liver may inhibit fat burning while it’s processing, it’s not necessarily a major no-no if you’re trying to stay on the Keto diet but also have a few drinks at the party.

The problem of course, is the mixers. Most people don’t like to drink their liquor straight. My wife and I fit in this camp and so it was here that we decided to try to find a vodka that was smooth enough to drink over ice or maybe with some plain soda water and a lime. Why vodka? It probably stemmed from the idea that in tasting vodkas we would just be looking for the smoothest, easiest to drink- a simple rating. If we wanted to try whiskeys, Tequilas, or something else, we would need to then discover if our distaste for the spirit was related to the quality/taste, the aging, barrels, or various other flavors of each particular spirit. With vodka there seem to be a lot less variables.

I scoured the internet looking for lists of best vodkas that were also not crazy expensive.

The most obvious answer from almost everyone’s list was Tito’s and on my first trip to the liquor store they were having a sale, so that was our first test. I’ll admit, however, considering that it was everyone’s choice for best budget vodka, it’s a bit more expensive than I had been hoping for. Not as expensive as Grey Goose, so there’s that, but it’s not what I’d call a budget vodka either.

I offer the following notes as nothing more than a few details on our experience. I do not pretend to be an expert or to have a refined palate, quite the opposite. I just wanted to offer some notes for anyone else who might be on a similar journey. I will keep updating this as we try new brands and do more blind taste tests.

Tito’s: Everyone’s favorite “budget vodka.” Except that it’s the top shelf option at some places. Anyway, it was fine. We drank it. Drank it on the rocks with lime and with soda water. It was drinkable. We have had worse. But it left me thinking “Welp, it’s vodka, what did I expect?” Not a ringing endorsement.

Pinnacle: Not too bad, actually. Probably half the price of Tito’s and I’d say not really any worse. For our tastes, this was our leader at first. We did a blind taste test between Tito’s and Pinnacle and preferred Pinnacle.

New Amsterdam: It was fine, not particularly good or memorable. But decent. and I made a note to try to taste test it against some other ones, but we didn’t have any at the time and haven’t revisited it.

Platinum 7x Distilled: My general rule of thumb is that the more times a product tells you that it’s premium, the worse it probably is. I should have listened to this instead of the employee at the store. I went in planning to try Burnett’s unless they had another, more expensive brand on sale but I figured I’d ask her if she had any recommendations. I knew I was in trouble when she said “well, this label says it is distilled seven times, and that’s what you want from vodka, give it a shot…” I know that distilling matters, I saw Mythbusters put vodka through a Brita filer, but I also know that there are ways to twist the facts. And Platinum was not on any list that I had read. Anyway, we tried it. We had headaches, it had way more bite than the previous two brands, it was generally less smooth and drinkable in pretty much every way.

I went to the store next with the purpose of sticking to my list. They had Russian Standard for sale so I bought a small bottle. And I also bought a bottle of Burnett’s which was the one I was supposed to get last time.

Russian Standard: Pretty much the same experience as Tito’s. It was fine. It’s vodka. It was at this point that I started to think that maybe I was expecting too much. You can’t expect to actually like a vodka, can you? It easily won a blind taste test against the last bit of Platinum 7x, but that’s not saying much. But here’s where it gets interesting.

Burnett’s: *Spoiler Alert* This is the winner. Burnett’s, to our taste, beat Russian Standard. We took it to some friends’ house, everyone preferred the Burnett’s.  And no headaches.

Luksusowa: It’s a potato vodka and it was clear that it had a different flavor than the previous ones. There was a bit more bite than some others, but with that came a really unique flavor that no other vodka had. Burnett’s wins because of how smooth and easy to drink it is, and still no hangovers, but Luksusowa had a unique taste and almost sweet finish that the others didn’t have.

Costco French Vodka: you might read that this is the exact same stuff as Grey Goose. You might even read that it’s literally the same, from the same distillery but poured into a different bottle. Do not believe this. Where we live you can only buy spirits in the ABC store so Costco and Sam’s Club do not have liquor. So while in Florida I was told this lie (that Costco French is the same as Grey Goose) so we bought three huge bottles because when you get a chance to get Grey Goose for $20/bottle you do it. Funny story: we bought them but didn’t open them. Drove home and happened to see friends and told them the same story that we had heard. So they went to Costco and bought a bottle of the Costco French, along with a bottle of Grey Goose, and a bottle of Rain.

Sidenote: I had Rain a few years ago. I way overdid it and had an awful hangover the next day. Similar story with Skyy. I had no interest in including Rain or Skyy in our taste tests.

Anyway, back to Costco French vodka. Our friends wind up hosting a taste test between the Rain, the Grey Goose, and the Costco French.  Nobody picked the Rain. Obviously. There was one vodka that had a very odd flavor, to me. It was almost as if there had been something foul in the cup before it had been poured. So I picked the easiest to drink, then the harsh, bitey vodka, then the odd tasting one. Best one to my taste was Grey Goose. Rain was harsh and bitey. Costco had a weird flavor. Then I tried the Costco from my wife’s cup. Still had the odd flavor. Then I opened up my bottle at home, weird flavor. In Costco’s defense, a couple of our friends did choose the Costco for their best one even over the Grey Goose, but everyone agreed that it was not the same as Grey Goose. Not a single person tasted both and said that they tasted the same. So all that to say, Costco’s French vodka I guess would get a similar treatment as the Luksusowa in that there is a flavor to it that some people might like. But theirs isn’t sweet, it’s off putting to my palate.

To this point in our tastings Burnett’s is far and away the winner, which is especially an accomplishment when you consider the price tag. I had made a long list of vodkas I had wanted to try at the beginning of this venture, I’ll post the rest of the list below. At this point I’m not as curious to try many of these anymore, I’m more curious to taste test the Burnett’s against Grey Goose, New Amsterdam, and Pinnacle.

Koval Vodka
Jovelle (a French vodka like Grey Goose)
Thatchers
Monopolowa (another potato)
J. Rieger & Co. Midwestern premium
Menage a trois
Deep Eddy
Sobieski
Huber Starlight
Smirnoff
Pride
Wheatley
Monopolowa
Slavianskaya
Stoli

Uncategorized

On Microblogs & Leeches

Matthew Kray

Twitter, facebook, all of social media, they give us the ability to create microblogs that are both easy to create and to consume, much easier than most other forms of media. They are content providers without actually creating any content! They are media sources without actually paying any of their reporters! Put another way: social media leeches our creativity. It does so with such subtlety that we don’t even notice. This is to say nothing of the time spent, opportunity cost, privacy invasion, and numerous other negative impacts.

Half-baked thoughts are “published” before they have been thought out, vetted, or researched. What could have been a short story, an essay, an op-ed, or even a book became stream of consciousness idea just sent off into the web. Things that could spark real thought and intellectual discourse are lost in the sea of vitriolic regurgitation of talking points that describe most internet arguments.

I am reminded of some trending hashtag on twitter. Something along the lines of “something new generations will never understand.” Sadly I can’t remember where I saw it, maybe the hive mind here can help me give credit, but someone posted that kids today will never understand “having an unexpressed thought.” That one resonated with me. Ever since then I’ve tried to be more liberal with the use of the back button, backspace, discard, and delete.

There are advantages to be sure. And there are costs as well. But let’s be clear on that point: social media platforms are not free services. They take from us our time and ideas, exploit our emotion, our laziness, our ego, our id, and a host of other parts of us.

We would benefit from less posting, less scrolling, and more creating.

Japan, Musashi, Uncategorized

Musashi Characters

Matthew Kray

Musashi Characters



The classic samurai book Musashi (by Eiji Yoshikawa) comes highly recommended from Jocko Willink and Tim Ferriss but it can be hard keeping the characters straight. Shockingly, google and wiki don’t have as many answers as one might expect. There is a solid source with short descriptions for many of the characters, linked here, but there were characters not listed and some of the characters needed a little bit more description.

Below is a list I put together as I went; it’s not complete as it omits many of the names that are linked above and I didn’t start keeping track until I was well underway- but maybe it’ll help someone. This list tries to give enough detail to remind you of who the character is, without giving so much that it spoils any plot points ahead of time. Feel free to reach out if there’s someone/something you want to add.

Akemi– A teenage girl, daughter of Oko. Enters the story on a chance meeting with Takezo and Matahachi after the battle while she was scavenging for valuables from the dead. She brought them home to her mother Oko and they shelter Takezo and Matahachi.

Oko– Had been married to a well known man, a well known and successful freebooter, she gained expensive taste. Her husband was murdered, reportedly by Tsujikaze Temma.

Tsujikaze Temma– A local thug with his own ring of henchmen. Presumable killed Oko’s husband (Akemi’s father) and continued to torment them until meeting Musashi early in the book.

Jotaro– Musashi’s first young disciple. 

Sasaki Kojiro– A young, brash sword master that carries a unique sword. He wears bright clothes (often associated with the style of a child) that attract attention. A unique hairstyle (long forelocks) also makes him distinctive. First seen traveling with a pet monkey.

Otsu– Opens the story as an orphan girl engaged to Hon’iden Matahachi. Known for playing the flute (even gives lessons). Accompanies Takuan Soho on his quest to capture Takezō.

Hon’iden Matahachi– Childhood best friend to Takezō.

Yoshioka Seijuro– Son of renowned samurai Yoshioka Kempō. Often called “The Young Master” but seems to spend more time enjoying life than training. 

Yoshioka Denshichiro– Younger brother of Seijuro. Considered the better swordsman, but also wayward, not around the school. 

Tamihachi– Servant of Yoshioka Seijuro. The one who runs for help after the fight with Musashi.

Koetsu– Well known artist, especially known for and proud of his calligraphy.  Cleans & polishes swords. Came from a well known family and lives on what could be a lavish stipend of 1,000 bushels (lavish for a regular townsperson).

Matsuo Kaname– In service to Lord Konoe, Musashi’s uncle. Tried to kill him when Musashi visited.

Yajibei– Osugi stays with him in Edo for a while. A good man who has risen to become a wealthy merchant/contractor.

Juro & Koroku– Two of Yajibei’s henchmen who become henchmen for Kojiro as well.

Hojo Shinzo– A leading student of military strategy whose main job at the moment is caring for the elderly Kagenori Obata (the leader of the school).  Shinzo does not want him or the others in the school to try to fight Kojiro despite his insults because he knows that to continue to lose battles brings further damage to the house.

Kagenori Obata– The elderly, sickly leader of the military strategy school that becomes a target of Sasaki Kojiro.

Obata Yogoro– The son of Kagenori Obata.

Sannosuke (aka Iori)– Young boy who lives alone and meets Musashi by a river and eventually becomes his student.

Hojo Ujikatsu– Hojo Shinzo’s father. A Lord and leader in a different military strategy school. Refused to teach Shinzo, told him to go find his own way. 

Nagoaka Sado– An advisor to the oldest son of the daimyo (Tadatoshi is the son, Hosokawa Tadaoki is the daimyo). Sado travels with two samurai.

Gonnosuke– From a place called Kiso. Lives as a farmer, alone with his mother. While searching for Otsu and Jotaro Musashi happens upon Gonnosuke and finds out that he is very good with a staff.

Shishido Baiken– aka Tsujikaze Kōhei. A blacksmith, and a master of the chain-ball-sickle weapon. Younger brother to Tsujikaze Temma.

Ono Tadaaki– aka Mikogami Tenzen. A famous ronin who mastered the Yagyu style and created his own style. Became a tutor to the shogun and the leader of his own school.











Uncategorized

Badass Jew: Tibor Rubin

Matthew Kray

A lot has been written about Tibor Rubin so this is just a short summary, the army has done a great job with their citation (text below) and especially the narrative by Beth Reece. You can also hear the story in Tibor’s own words in this video.

The first thing you need to know is that the Medal of Honor is the highest award a soldier can receive, and that in order to get it you must be nominated by a peer, then it must be passed up the chain of command all the way to the President of the United States. The story is scrutinized and the awards are few (and often posthumous). Rubin was nominated multiple times for the award.

First, he was not only a survivor of the Holocaust (he was Hungarian), but as a prisoner he put his own life on the line to save others. He stole food, improvised medical care, and tried to convince people that they needed to remain hopeful to be liberated in order to see their families. Upon being freed by American troops he made a promise to himself that “if I ever make it to America, I’m going to become a GI Joe.” He had a debt to pay, and pay it he did.

He did join the army and because of an anti-Semitic officer, he was continually given more difficult, dangerous jobs. As you read his citation and the narrative you get the picture for what an exceptional life he led. So many times he faced danger, so many times he could have developed a negative attitude, but he didn’t waiver.

He singlehandedly held off a Korean advance while the rest of the American troops could retreat and regroup. When another had fallen and was presumed dead, Rubin was given orders to leave him behind but he low crawled through sniper fire for hundreds of yards and carried him back to safety- saved his life. At one point it was his job to guard the rear of their moving line against advancing enemy fire. The previous three gunners with that job had fallen but he picked up the machine gun anyway and slowed the enemy.

He was among hundreds of soldiers captured by the Chinese. They offered to let him go home to Hungary but Rubin stayed in prison and used his hard won knowledge (from his time in the concentration camp) to save American lives. He improvised medical care again, saving limbs from infection, and again put his life on the line stealing food, this time from his Chinese captors.

Rubin faced death repeatedly and not only did he survive, but he brought others through the fire with him. And he even looks back at his anti-Semitic officer and laughs because in giving Rubin so many difficult jobs, rather than killing him, the anti-Semitic officer made Rubin a hero.

Here is the Army Citation (but again, the narrative account and the video are great):

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:

Corporal Tibor Rubin distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism during the period from July 23, 1950, to April 20, 1953, while serving as a rifleman with Company I, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division in the Republic of Korea.   While his unit was retreating to the Pusan Perimeter, Corporal Rubin was assigned to stay behind to keep open the vital Taegu-Pusan Road link used by his withdrawing unit. During the ensuing battle, overwhelming numbers of North Korean troops assaulted a hill defended solely by Corporal Rubin.   He inflicted a staggering number of casualties on the attacking force during his personal 24-hour battle, single-handedly slowing the enemy advance and allowing the 8th Cavalry Regiment to complete its withdrawal successfully.   Following the breakout from the Pusan Perimeter, the 8th Cavalry Regiment proceeded northward and advanced into North Korea.   During the advance, he helped capture several hundred North Korean soldiers. On October 30, 1950, Chinese forces attacked his unit at Unsan, North Korea, during a massive nighttime assault.   That night and throughout the next day, he manned a .30 caliber machine gun at the south end of the unit’s line after three previous gunners became casualties.   He continued to man his machine gun until his ammunition was exhausted.   His determined stand slowed the pace of the enemy advance in his sector, permitting the remnants of his unit to retreat southward.   As the battle raged, Corporal Rubin was severely wounded and captured by the Chinese.   Choosing to remain in the prison camp despite offers from the Chinese to return him to his native Hungary, Corporal Rubin disregarded his own personal safety and immediately began sneaking out of the camp at night in search of food for his comrades.   Breaking into enemy food storehouses and gardens, he risked certain torture or death if caught.   Corporal Rubin provided not only food to the starving Soldiers, but also desperately needed medical care and moral support for the sick and wounded of the POW camp.   His brave, selfless efforts were directly attributed to saving the lives of as many as forty of his fellow prisoners.   Corporal Rubin’s gallant actions in close contact with the enemy and unyielding courage and bravery while a prisoner of war are in the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.

https://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/rubin/citation/index.html