PicoBlog

When I was in Munich for Oktoberfest, I expected to leave with a hangover (I did.) What I didn't expect was to leave with a good idea. Wiesn Pulver (sometimes called Wiesn Koks) is a drug-free white powder that you snort; it clears out the sinuses, gives a burst of energy and feels cool. I don't have to tell you why this is such a great product: I've basically pitched you on Diet Cocaine.

I have this trick for dealing with agitating situations, like driving in New York, or feeling socially awkward at a show. I don’t actually smoke pot because it makes me paranoid, but when I’m doing something stressful that mostly involves me staying still, I pretend that I’m smoking a giant joint. I imagine holding it between my fingers and then taking in that deep, pursed lips inhale, hold the breath a minute, and let it out all smooth and slowly.

“Michael Huemer is my favorite living philosopher. He writes mainly about politics, but also epistemology, meta ethics and ethics, education, bitcoin, what matters in fiction, the philosophy of science, and basically everything cool. He's a genius.” ncG1vNJzZmiekaCyr7vUrGWsrZKowaKvymeaqKVf

Friends, the time has come to confess: I am in love with Mario. We met only a few nights ago, and I can’t stop thinking about him. Sadly, he’s a bar, well not really a bar, but a restaurant with a really nice bar. Bar Mario that is. And perhaps even more heartbreaking is that the Mario the bar is named for is a fictional character! There isn’t even a Mario behind Bar Mario.

Today’s difference-in-differences is not our grandfather’s difference-in-differences. We have survived a war but we lived to tell. We learned that our greatest sin had the unthinkable comparison of treated groups to already-treated groups. We repented, and swore it would never happen again. But as the dust cleared, and thousands of citations accumulated to a handful of econometricians, small little details that maybe weren’t as historically obvious are making their way to the top, and one lesser known little assumption I’d like to just bring your attention is called the no anticipation assumption, as well as point us back to basics, which is that falsifications can also be important tools in your arsenal, not just event studies.

In the family of someone I know I witnessed a hereditary curse. In this family there was a lineage of four women, belonging to four generations, aged about 95, 65, 35, and 5. Now there are only three. The eldest died a few days ago, after many years of living with dementia. The dementia and cardiovascular accident that killed her are not — we hope — part of the curse, but they sure make it easy to imagine that something sinister is going on.

It’s time to lay the “who’s the best Chris” discourse to bed. (It’s Chris Pine.) We had our fun, but now that the celebrity Chris Pratt apologists assembled, in the most embarrassing crossover event in history, to defend the tender feelings of a 41-year-old multimillionaire – well, it’s just not the same. Famous people made valiant efforts to ruin a lot of things in 2020 (including but not limited to: the song “Imagine” and the overt class commentary of Parasite) but butting into the Chris dialogue was particularly annoying.

Hey everyone! 💜 It's been a week, in the parlance: literally, physically, metaphorically; in the realm of bodies, in the realm of beasts, in the realm of spirits, in the realm of dream. I have traveled hundreds of miles twice now in the span of that week and I am, alas, not simply being cute about a publishing thing; I have spent about 18 of the past 96 hours in Some Kind of Transit.

“Much of people's perception about China is shaped by visuals — the Great Wall, foods, landmarks from press photos in the 80s and 90s — for the most part, Chinese storytellers ignore that and hope words alone could push readers into the contemporary era. That's just wishful thinking. What Far & Near is focused on, China and its visual culture, are integral part of seeing the country, people and artists from a different light.