Scott MacEachern
@scottmaceachern.bsky.social
Vice-Chancellor, archaeologist, Maritimer
That’s definitely one to add to the list!
December 17, 2025 at 12:47 PM
That’s definitely one to add to the list!
Just this exactly. Despite the fact that ‘Non-metric skull racing’ is up there as one of the great titles for an archaeological paper*, it’s not at all reliable.
*Perhaps only equaled by ‘Things to do in Doggerland when you're dead’
*Perhaps only equaled by ‘Things to do in Doggerland when you're dead’
December 17, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Just this exactly. Despite the fact that ‘Non-metric skull racing’ is up there as one of the great titles for an archaeological paper*, it’s not at all reliable.
*Perhaps only equaled by ‘Things to do in Doggerland when you're dead’
*Perhaps only equaled by ‘Things to do in Doggerland when you're dead’
Why would I celebrate over an antisemitic atrocity?
December 14, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Why would I celebrate over an antisemitic atrocity?
Nonsense. The people who did this are the ones who should be blamed for it.
December 14, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Nonsense. The people who did this are the ones who should be blamed for it.
Exactly this
December 14, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Exactly this
Useful to note here that mRNA vaccines weren’t available anywhere until late 2020, when China was already 10 months into the pandemic. And Pfizer and Moderna devoted essentially all of their 2021 production to the United States and Europe.
December 14, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Useful to note here that mRNA vaccines weren’t available anywhere until late 2020, when China was already 10 months into the pandemic. And Pfizer and Moderna devoted essentially all of their 2021 production to the United States and Europe.
You should really read that Reuters article.
The Chinese vaccines were certainly less effective than the new-technology mRNA vaccines. However, they were not in fact ineffective, any more than the Western traditional viruses similarly approved by WHO were ineffective.
The Chinese vaccines were certainly less effective than the new-technology mRNA vaccines. However, they were not in fact ineffective, any more than the Western traditional viruses similarly approved by WHO were ineffective.
December 14, 2025 at 10:06 AM
You should really read that Reuters article.
The Chinese vaccines were certainly less effective than the new-technology mRNA vaccines. However, they were not in fact ineffective, any more than the Western traditional viruses similarly approved by WHO were ineffective.
The Chinese vaccines were certainly less effective than the new-technology mRNA vaccines. However, they were not in fact ineffective, any more than the Western traditional viruses similarly approved by WHO were ineffective.
It really seems that you’re grasping for reasons to believe that there were a huge number of Chinese deaths concealed during that period. I always find that fervent wish difficult to understand.
December 14, 2025 at 9:15 AM
It really seems that you’re grasping for reasons to believe that there were a huge number of Chinese deaths concealed during that period. I always find that fervent wish difficult to understand.
… but more or less as effective as the Johnson and Johnson single shot vaccine that was being offered in Western countries at the same time. MRN a vaccines are a wonderful advance, but it’s not as if they are some kind of magic bullet.
December 14, 2025 at 9:13 AM
… but more or less as effective as the Johnson and Johnson single shot vaccine that was being offered in Western countries at the same time. MRN a vaccines are a wonderful advance, but it’s not as if they are some kind of magic bullet.
I’m puzzled where you think that’s going. The authorities in China were aware that the vaccines they were offering were less effective than mRNA vaccines: that was one of the reasons for zero Covid.
They weren’t ineffective, despite Pentagon propaganda campaigns…
www.reuters.com/investigates...
They weren’t ineffective, despite Pentagon propaganda campaigns…
www.reuters.com/investigates...
Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to incite fear of China vaccines
The covert effort began under Trump and continued into Biden’s presidency, Reuters found. Health experts say it endangered lives for possible geopolitical gain.
www.reuters.com
December 14, 2025 at 9:11 AM
I’m puzzled where you think that’s going. The authorities in China were aware that the vaccines they were offering were less effective than mRNA vaccines: that was one of the reasons for zero Covid.
They weren’t ineffective, despite Pentagon propaganda campaigns…
www.reuters.com/investigates...
They weren’t ineffective, despite Pentagon propaganda campaigns…
www.reuters.com/investigates...
Extraordinary how well you apparently know me, given that we have never interacted in any way before this.
That said, that radical claim about the equal intrinsic worth of all human lives does tend to elicit strong reactions.
That said, that radical claim about the equal intrinsic worth of all human lives does tend to elicit strong reactions.
December 14, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Extraordinary how well you apparently know me, given that we have never interacted in any way before this.
That said, that radical claim about the equal intrinsic worth of all human lives does tend to elicit strong reactions.
That said, that radical claim about the equal intrinsic worth of all human lives does tend to elicit strong reactions.
Excellent - we agree, then.
A life is a life, and its worth does not depend on nationality, skin colour or religion.
A life is a life, and its worth does not depend on nationality, skin colour or religion.
December 14, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Excellent - we agree, then.
A life is a life, and its worth does not depend on nationality, skin colour or religion.
A life is a life, and its worth does not depend on nationality, skin colour or religion.
Use your words. That’s what adults do.
One of the most distasteful things about being in China during the pandemic was watching American media and commentators desperately search for dead Chinese, once they had framed Covid-19 as a Great Power competition.
One of the most distasteful things about being in China during the pandemic was watching American media and commentators desperately search for dead Chinese, once they had framed Covid-19 as a Great Power competition.
December 14, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Use your words. That’s what adults do.
One of the most distasteful things about being in China during the pandemic was watching American media and commentators desperately search for dead Chinese, once they had framed Covid-19 as a Great Power competition.
One of the most distasteful things about being in China during the pandemic was watching American media and commentators desperately search for dead Chinese, once they had framed Covid-19 as a Great Power competition.
You will. Just as, I’m sure, yours are full of concern for innocent Palestinians.
December 14, 2025 at 12:57 AM
You will. Just as, I’m sure, yours are full of concern for innocent Palestinians.
Y’know, you folks are so boring. What offends you about the low death toll in China over that period?
December 14, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Y’know, you folks are so boring. What offends you about the low death toll in China over that period?
Of course I am.
December 14, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Of course I am.
It did indeed… I was there. It was obviously spreading in late 2022. But Western experts’ confidence that it was failing in the middle of 2021 was entirely wrong, and repeating that over the next 18 months was kind of dumb.
And there were a lot of people in China who didn’t die in those 18 months.
And there were a lot of people in China who didn’t die in those 18 months.
December 13, 2025 at 2:39 PM
It did indeed… I was there. It was obviously spreading in late 2022. But Western experts’ confidence that it was failing in the middle of 2021 was entirely wrong, and repeating that over the next 18 months was kind of dumb.
And there were a lot of people in China who didn’t die in those 18 months.
And there were a lot of people in China who didn’t die in those 18 months.
Like the writers for the Washington Post assuring their readers that there was a hidden pandemic going on in China that the government was keeping under wraps, or the CFR expert warning that zero-covid was going to fail Any Day Now from mid 2021 until late 2022.
December 13, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Like the writers for the Washington Post assuring their readers that there was a hidden pandemic going on in China that the government was keeping under wraps, or the CFR expert warning that zero-covid was going to fail Any Day Now from mid 2021 until late 2022.
This was one of the “Haw! Haw! Lookit the stupid Chinese!” themes that started coming out when American media realized that the Chinese government was dealing with Covid significantly better than their own government was.
December 13, 2025 at 11:33 AM
This was one of the “Haw! Haw! Lookit the stupid Chinese!” themes that started coming out when American media realized that the Chinese government was dealing with Covid significantly better than their own government was.
Nah… as I originally said, it may have happened, but it was quite anomalous. For the record, I was responsible for moving quite a large number of people into and you out of China during Covid. Never happened to any of them, never to anyone secondarily, either.
December 13, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Nah… as I originally said, it may have happened, but it was quite anomalous. For the record, I was responsible for moving quite a large number of people into and you out of China during Covid. Never happened to any of them, never to anyone secondarily, either.
“…that millions of Americans want desperately for people who don’t look and live and believe the way they do to suffer without end—was too unpleasant to consider, too much an indictment of something bigger than one man’s campaign.”
December 13, 2025 at 11:28 AM
“…that millions of Americans want desperately for people who don’t look and live and believe the way they do to suffer without end—was too unpleasant to consider, too much an indictment of something bigger than one man’s campaign.”
It would be like those people who look the other way when women and children, innocent people, are being bombed out of existence, right?
December 13, 2025 at 9:57 AM
It would be like those people who look the other way when women and children, innocent people, are being bombed out of existence, right?
I have to say, from an archaeological point of view, this presentation is ridiculous. The basic message of the fingerprint: that’s cool, we found a fingerprint!
But it added absolutely nothing new to the archaeological interpretation of the discovery.
But it added absolutely nothing new to the archaeological interpretation of the discovery.
December 13, 2025 at 9:53 AM
I have to say, from an archaeological point of view, this presentation is ridiculous. The basic message of the fingerprint: that’s cool, we found a fingerprint!
But it added absolutely nothing new to the archaeological interpretation of the discovery.
But it added absolutely nothing new to the archaeological interpretation of the discovery.