One Man's Notes

Dave Winer on journalism’s narrative around Facebook:

Saying online is dangerous is like saying the subway is dangerous. But if you live in New York, you probably want to take the subway. Driving is dangerous. Everything is. Life itself isn’t safe. It’s a mix. You have to learn to discern.

Carbios’ new factory will use enzymes to biorecycle plastic:

In a matter of hours, the enzymes decompose the plastic into the material’s basic building blocks, called monomers, which can then be separated, purified, and used to make new plastic that’s identical to virgin material. Later this year, the company will begin construction on its first demonstration recycling plant.

This sort of innovation could change the whole debate about plastics. Exciting stuff, if it works.

Report: Students Who Take Latin Have Better Chance Of Summoning Demon Later In Life::

“According to our data, children who studied Latin in grade school were far more likely to contact, summon, and then raise a damned soul from the underworld,” said classics department chair Emily Greenwood, adding that students who learned Latin tended to be more adept at chanting ancient incantations, opening up portals, and comprehending Demonic screams.

My old Latin master was also head of the school Christian Union. Makes you think… 🤔😂

Rachel Sylvester makes an important point in The Times:

Democracy is about persuasion rather than obliteration and there are rules underpinning political conflict that don’t apply in military combat. The prime minister seems to have forgotten that, far from being the nation’s commander-in-chief, he is only “first among equals” in the cabinet and depends for his power on the House of Commons. The scorched-earth approach being pursued by No 10 will make it almost impossible to unite the Tory party, let alone the country, when the skirmishes are over.

There is an autocratic streak in a lot of current politics that should concern anyone who values democracy.