Ramble #75
Hi Team,
Welcome to the latest edition of Ramble, a compilation of what I have been pondering, learning and enjoying for the past month or so.
Now, grab a beverage and let’s begin.
Something Interesting:
This is a remarkable publication.
The access to near complete population and health data over decades in Sweden ad Finland allows some simple data interpretation. And the results suggest a huge influence of mental illness (among other things) on reduced fertility rates - ie adults progressing to the end of their reproductive lifespans (arbitrarily 50 for makes and 45 for females in this study) without having children.
The data can be played with in a clever online dashboard here:
https://dsgelrs.shinyapps.io/DiseaseSpecificLRS/
What I am Reading:
China in recent years has developed one of the largest and most sophisticated systems of organ transplantation in the world, with wait times far shorter than in most other countries. The PRC maintains that as of now all organ transplants are from willing donors, but the numbers appear to be falsified, according to Robertson and Lavee’s previous research. Moreover, hospitals continue to advertise short wait times for organ transplants, and websites continue to advertise commercial organ transplants to tourists. This suggests that voluntary donors are likely not the only source of organs at present.
The paper can be accessed here: Execution by organ procurement: Breaching the dead donor rule in China - American Journal of Transplantation
You can sort of make this case for a lot of traits, but cool to see it mapped out.
This is awesome. Simple, clever and obvious - rats are probably better at searching through rubble than dogs.
What I am Watching:
Ok, so it has been a litle while since I have sent out an update, so I have been watching a few things...
- The Lobster - Prime Video
Completely, utterly, bizarrely weird. But it has Colin Farrell so that's good.
- Ozark - Netflix
Fantastic show with some incredible acting - such that you really start to hate/love/despise the characters.
- Identity - Netflix
Fight Club and Shutter Island-style cerebral thriller wth a twist. And John Cusack.
- Love, Death and Robots - Netflix
Amazing animation of Black Mirror-style thought provokers. And the animation is a feature, with every episode in a different style. From proper funny to worryingly weird. Fantastic.
- Top Gun: Maverick
Pure entertainment. Almost completely a remake of the original, but no one cares. Becase it is epic. Soundtrack, visuals, Tom Cruise being Tom Cruise...
- Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey - Netflix
A creepy expose of a criminal church - with a dweeby little front man that deserves his jail time...
What I am Listening to:
Hardcore History - Painfotainment
(Best listened to as a podcast on a long drive - or two...)
A hard one to listen to at times. There seems no limit to the suffering we can inflict on each other. The descriptions of the French methods of public 'death by torture' were particularly heavy.
Something Cool:
What I Learned:
Imagine killing a bunch of people and making generations of humans dumber with lead poisoning...
Travel:
So I am getting organised to escape for a year of travel from February 2023.
I plan on documenting my travels for a few reasons - posterity, fun, and also not having to tell everyone what I am up to (they can just go look it up).
But pre-departure, I want to encourage everyone to think about escaping as well. So I will include my thoughts on the matter in these updates.
Closing Thoughts:
Thank you once again for reading along with me.
If you found something you liked, let me know.
If you think I can do something a little smoother, please let me know.
Talk soon.
Luke.