The horizon is not so far as we can see, but as far as we can imagine

Open Thread

I’ve been spending most of my time lately either praying to the porcelain God or wishing I felt other than I do. Nausea being bad for writing (at least for my writing, perhaps you write great while sick to your stomach), please use this thread to talk among yourselves.

I devoutly hope to return to writing soon!

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15 Comments

  1. Hugh

    Hope you get to feeling better.

    Re Korea, I think a deal is feasible. Basically, the North would get a peace treaty, an end to sanctions, and American AND Chinese guarantees of its integrity (including continuation of the Kim dynasty) in return for denuclearization/inspections. All sides have incentives to pursue such a course. I think Xidi realizes that the US isn’t leaving Northeast Asia, that stabilizing the region is strategically important for China, and that North Korea’s utility to China is now greatly outweighed by its current and potential negatives. I see the Russians as marginal to this process. Finally, it would be nice but fortunately not crucial for the process if we had a functioning State Department and a President who was not a demented criminal boob.

  2. someofparts

    Hope you have friends nearby who will bring you tea and soup and that you feel better soon.

  3. Peter

    It surprises me that so many people don’t know the simple cure for stomach upsets from mild indigestion all the way to deadly poisioning. The basis of the universal antidote activated charcoal in pill or capsul form will relieve most any distress completely within 30 minutes. It will clean out the toxins and allow the beneficial bacteria to regrow usually with one treatment, most pharmacies carry it.

    The longer the GI problems persist the higher the likeleyhood of dehydration happening and that is whar kills people who suffer from food and other common posioning.

  4. marku52

    Ouch. Get well soon!

  5. NR

    Hope you feel better soon.

  6. Ian Welsh

    The first thing I did, Peter, was take activated charcoal. Ten minutes later I threw it up. A couple hours later I threw up again, some came up.

    I agree it works for most things, but not for all.

  7. I wish you a full recovery.

  8. mago

    Plum concentrate (bainiku ekisu) distributed by Eden Foods. A gram in hot water or tea works wonders, although if activated charcoal failed, I don’t know. Good to have on hand, nonetheless. Get well soon.

  9. Tom

    Hmm, Ian it sounds like you have deeper issues then than a stomach bug. If you have diarrhea or a fever more than three days, or your poop is black, or your urine reddish in tint, go to the ER. Don’t even hesitate.

  10. Peter

    Try again until it stays down and it will work, good luck.

  11. Ian Welsh

    I’m better now, though still somewhat tired. Hope to have something up tomorrow. Thanks for the good wishes.

  12. Hugh: I think it’s interesting, and symptomatic, that in your comment you don’t mention South Korea at all.

  13. Peter

    @Duncan,

    Good observation and SK is rarely includeded in propaganda from the appeasment factions in US diplomacy. Notice how they also already attempt to rewrite history and discredit the firm rhetoric and resolve from Trump that made the current breakthrough possible.

  14. Mojave Wolf

    Very, very late to this party. First, to Ian, the one person who I’m sure will at least glance at this comment, so sorry you were sick and very happy that you are feeling better! That didn’t sound fun at all.

    Dunno if anyone else is still going to read here, but just in case:

    I know TV is the new opiate of the masses and considered a destructive force/time waster/etc by many of the folks here, but sometimes it produces great art that makes you think in constructive ways. The new season of Westworld premiered Sunday, and like the first season, it not only forces you to think about what makes up identity, personality etc and the nature of consciousness, but also the nature of morality and a great story about conflicting loyalties, etc. A number of people here might also appreciate the whole call to revolution upon waking up from lifetimes of cruelty and injustice and realizing there can be a different way, etc, etc. And it’s just damn fine writing, acting and storytelling on top of that. If you watch movies or TV at all, please do yourself a favor and give this series a try. One of the best shows ever on television.

    And for those of you opposed to groupthink and silencing of dissent (I came here to belatedly post in the open thread, which I’m doing, but this is appropriate to Ian’s newest post as well), Ian’s fellow Canadian Meghan Murphy has an excellent piece up at the conservative-leaning libertarian site Quillette (Murphy is a far left socialist radical feminist, so strange bedfellows and all that, but among the different conservative places I’ve looked at this is by the best, and it is relentlessly pro-free speech, tho I hadn’t looked at it in a long while till I followed a twitter link to Meghan’s piece; she runs the site Feminist Current which is fairly high on my list of places to go online, though time/energy constraints have mostly limited me to here and Naked Capitalism lately):
    http://quillette.com/2018/04/23/canadas-twitter-mobs-left-wing-hypocrisy/

    I suspect Reality Checker might particularly appreciate it, but honestly, it’s a good thing for nearly everyone on the left to read.

  15. realitychecker

    @ Mojave Wolf

    Took a look at Quillette and read the article. Although I could have happily gone to my grave without ever knowing what “TERF” meant lol, I generally agree with (and have always done) the lamenations and critiques re the tension between speech and suppression.

    Agree all should read it.

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