Interesting. Money in the US has "In God We Trust," and it's not inherently religious. So I'm not sure the proclamation makes Thanksgiving religious. The origins might, though. I don't know enough about it to tell, and I'm not sure I care enough to research it. I don't really celebrate it as other than a day off from work though. Travel is a nightmare at that time, and, although this may sound like humblebragging, I try to be grateful at all times anyway.
> Money in the US has "In God We Trust," and it's not inherently religious
US currency in itself isn't inherently religious, but the decision to put that phrase on the currency was religious, and so is the decision to keep it there today. Now, it is not just religious, it is also very political, but the two are very often intertwined: it is a form of politicised religion, or religious politics.
> So I'm not sure the proclamation makes Thanksgiving religious. The origins might, though
I think to most Americans in the 19th century and earlier, the idea that Thanksgiving was a religious festival would have seemed obvious–it was about giving thanks to the deity, assuming a Judaeo-Christian conception of deity. Now, no denying that it became quite secularised through the course of the 20th century, and to many 21st Americans it is an entirely secular occasion, and if "thanksgiving" is anything more than an empty word, it is thanks directed at one's friends/family/colleagues/acquaintances/community/etc, maybe even at the cosmos, but not at God in whom one quite possibly doesn't believe.
As I said in my original comment, other religious festivals, such as Christmas, have also become highly secularised. But, even though many celebrate Christmas in an entirely secular way, people still remember its association with Christianity, which makes many non-Christians feel uncomfortable celebrating it even in a secular form. Thanksgiving was never so explicitly Christian, so Jews and Muslims and others feel more comfortable in celebrating it.
Could be going down the rabbit hole with this comment, but cancer is an extremely generic term - lots of different organ and cell types. And smoking is also less well defined than one might think - additives to cigarettes and paper are not, I believe, considered in most studies. And not all smokers develop cancer. I had two relatives who were heavy smokers and lived until their late 80s and didn't die from cancer. To summarize, there is lots that we don't know about cancer.
So I would agree that this could be out of the box thinking that could have some truth to it. But I also doubt that research will be done in that direction unless there is some proof that justifies the expenditure. So we're likely to not know for sure, and most will assume it's not true.
Many of the people who participated in these events are realizing the consequences, and trying to hide their actions. Good for these groups for preserving the records.
The larger services engage in predatory practices.
From the article:
"With deep pockets, the dominant app companies have devised ways to put pressure on restaurant owners to sign contracts with them, including downloading menus without restaurants’ consent and then offering their own delivery. Grubhub registered internet domain names of tens of thousands of independent restaurants. Legislators should curtail such anticompetitive practices."
Another factor you're not looking at is long Covid - https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4470 - affects the young, and total consequences not yet known because this is new.
I am sympathetic to effects on the economy, schools, etc. of lockdowns. However, it seems that those that are against lockdowns are also against actions like mask wearing that would limit spread if more universally practiced.
How long until we end this myth that hospitals will be overcrowded?
That's been propaganda for the better part of a year and it hasn't happened yet, even in places with basically no Covid restrictions like Sweden and Utah.
In my sect of Buddhism, we don't do "contemplation of death" meditation. What we are taught is to consider our last moment before death, so we can approach it (which is the beginning of our existence in death) in the proper way. And that, in my understanding, boils down to establishing the correct foundation during our life.
Not surprising. Haven't seen much if anything of him in the media since he announced Japan's complete victory over Covid 19 right before things started reopening.
The death rate has a lot to do with who gets infected, elderly in Japan tend to be far healthier and in better care.
Another possibility is that those deaths are simply not counted. Japan did notoriously little testing in the beginning. If a couple of 90 year olds die a bit sooner, few would suspect foul play.
I don't believe this statement is accurate, there are a lot of elderly who aren't in great shape in good care also.
I think what is accurate is that there is a lot of shame in Japanese society and there are many accounts of even healthcare workers being ostracized and bullied for catching it.
What I believe is more accurate is that it's swept under the rug in Japan more than other countries.
If someone elderly in a family dies from Covid19, it's easier to not bother requesting a test so you don't have to deal with the shame of having it in your family if it comes back positive.
I'm not that against the lenient testing strategy, just don't think it's an accurate depiction of what's going on in Japan.I do think it's having a negative impact economically because people never truly feel safe as they don't understand the risks well enough to enjoy themselves.
It seems like the situation is slowly improving, and is on the good slope, but the epidemic is very much still alive.
I always look at the "要入院" (people needing hospitalization) curve on the graph, rather than the "新規" (new cases) curve, because it cannot be manipulated as easily by changes in testing policies. I use the following site:
It's tiny, Tokyo, often not even breaking 4000 in a city of 14 million.
Not to mention it's difficult to get tested without meeting certain _criteria_ or pay 30000Y. I know people in Aus and the US countries who have been tested multiple times by now for free.
The testing is hopeless, the results are tallied up by faxes sent around from different wards in Tokyo and are delayed by a few days. Really, it's a pretty sad state of affairs.
I think it's nice that whatever numbers Japan is presenting are on the down trend, but the narrative is also tightly controlled no one knows what to really believe.
But this policy alone cannot explain a supposed anomaly in the count of "requiring hospitalization" covid patients. That's because I assume that the persons with covid with a health state that requires hospitalization will always be tested.
What do you think would be a plausible bias? Maybe less aggravating factors among infected Japanese people?
I was being sarcastic; should not have assumed that would have been understood.
Certainly room for improvement regarding Japan's Covid's management strategy, but I live in the US so shouldn't really throw stones from my glass house.
Wow. The author of this book calls himself an arhat. That is, shall I say, presumptuous? Not what I think I would look for in a Buddhist teacher (though, full disclosure, I practice Buddhism with a school I am very happy with so already have some opinions on the subject).
His whole schtick is "plain talk about enlightenment". I agree that it "sounds" egotistical, but if someone really had attained arhatship, and thought that the best way to promote spiritual training was to talk about it in a plain way, I don't think he's being unreasonable. And his lineage confirms his attainment.
Can't tell what his lineage is from what I have read.
The temple that I belong to was founded in Japan. The honorifics we use to describe our High Priest and other priests are never used by then to describe themselves. That posture is consistent in Japanese society in general, not just the sect of Buddhism I belong to. So this does seem very strange to me.
America is very different from Japan, and Americans respond to different social signals when choosing who to follow. This obviously a terrible idea for society in general, but you gotta promote to the market you're in :/
Masks alone are probably not enough. But they do seem to help when combined with other preventative measures.
My impression in the US is that people continue not to take this seriously, which causes us to be lax in the basic measures that could get this under control. Very frustrating.
On the positive side, looks like the R1 for most US states is below 1 - https://rt.live/
