Upgrading my avatar
For a while now, I've been using this drawing of me by Hallie Bateman as my avatar: I love it, particularly because I'm a big fan of Hallie's work. But it's also not quite me, exactly: you get the same whimsical drawing
Ben Werdmuller
Ben Werdmuller helps leaders at newsrooms, non-profits, and mission-driven organizations to navigate their biggest technology challenges.
Thoughts and actions for the week of December 27, 2021
Thoughts 1. It’s an obvious statement to make, but 2021 was … quite a year. Leaving aside my own personal family health journey, which I’ve written a lot about here, we saw an attempt at a fascist coup, and the second year of a pandemic that has now claimed
The Future Is Not Only Useless, It’s Expensive
“It’s tempting to say they suck the way everything sucks now, but it’s more like how one particular strain of American aesthetics has sucked for the last 20 years. NFTs are the human capacity for visual expression as understood by the guy at the vape store.” This piece
Happy holidays
Whatever you celebrate this December - or even if you don’t celebrate anything at all - happy holidays. For everyone, this has been an intense year. From America’s attempted fascist coup in January to a shocking global COVID surge at the end of the year, it’s made 2020 - a
Fairness Friday: Coalition on Homelessness
I’m posting Fairness Fridays: a new community social justice organization each week. I donate to each featured organization. If you feel so inclined, please join me. This week I’m donating to the Coalition on Homelessness. Based in San Francisco, the Coalition on Homelessness “organizes homeless people and front
Coldplay will stop making music in 2025, lead singer Chris Martin announces
Why wait? [Link]
US Army Creates Single Vaccine Against All COVID & SARS Variants, Researchers Say
“Within weeks, scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research expect to announce that they have developed a vaccine that is effective against COVID-19 and all its variants, even Omicron, as well as from previous SARS-origin viruses that have killed millions of people worldwide.” [Link]
Trump White House made 'deliberate efforts' to undermine Covid response, report says
“Birx also told the panel that Atlas and other Trump officials “purposely weakened CDC’s coronavirus testing guidance in August 2020 to obscure how rapidly the virus was spreading across the country,” the report said. The altered guidance recommended that asymptomatic people didn’t need to get tested, advice that
Kanye West’s 'Independent' Campaign Was Secretly Run by GOP Elites
“The Kanye 2020 campaign committee did not even report paying some of these advisers, and used an odd abbreviation for another—moves which campaign finance experts say appear designed to mask the association between known GOP operatives and the campaign, and could constitute a violation of federal laws.” Kanye believe
Fairness Friday: Community Justice Project
I’m posting Fairness Fridays: a new community social justice organization each week. I donate to each featured organization. If you feel so inclined, please join me. This week I’m donating to the Community Justice Project. Based in Miami, the Community Justice Project supports “organizing for racial justice and
FDA permanently allows medication abortion pills through mail
“The Thursday announcement upholds a decision from April to temporarily suspend federal requirements that had previously required in-person purchase of abortion pills from a clinic, hospital or medical office.” Trump challenged it; I’m glad this has gone through. [Link]
About Three-in-Ten U.S. Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated
I’m one of them, and it’s still weird to me to be in a minority (vs the UK, where some polls have over 50% of respondents not identifying with any faith). There’s nothing wrong with being religious, but there’s nothing wrong with not being religious, too.