Down with Vader, down with the empire
Writing prompt: Emperor Palpatine has announced open elections for a new Emperor — and he’s nominated Darth Vader. You get to nominate one challenger. Even against his long career of deception, Sheev…
VM
1655 posts
Enjoying 'Friends' again
1 min read
Writing prompt: What’s a book, movie, or TV show that you wish you could experience again for the first time? This has to be the TV show Friends. I feel like I know too much these days. The show hasn…
Against the idea of building loyal subscribers
4 min read
Writing prompt: How do you build loyal subscribers? I've always found that a somewhat strange thing to aim for. I understand there are several thousand people worldwide working to build a loyal s…
Writing with WordPress Write
2 min read
I'm writing this post on Write, the new text composer/editor on WordPress.com. According to the official blog post, Write is a response to last year's Creators survey, where "'simplif…
State and crime
2 min read
From 'The Sulur horror story of child sexual assault and murder', The Hindu, May 31, 2026: Mr. Vijay, who sent Director-General of Police Sandeep Rai Rathore and Additional DGP (Law and Order…
People, place, animal, disease
3 min read
Analysis
Scicomm
Science
biodiversity
capitalism
Colonialism
disease vectors
ecological niche
evolutionary pressure
host species
life cycle
malnutrition
market economics
neglected tropical diseases
pathogens
Poverty
purchasing power
sanitation
schistosomiasis
stunting
subtropical region
tropical region
vaccination
vaccine development
Is it a coincidence that more 'complicated' pathogens to vaccinate against and more poverty/poorer countries share a geographic area?…
Find the dictionary
1 min read
From 'Measure for measure: On India’s courts and criticism', The Hindu, May 21, 2026: In the Ali Khan Mahmudabad matter, the Court granted him relief from coercive action but also imposed a g…
Why analysis matters
3 min read
I am a journalist… I think. I have been a desk guy most of my professional life (14+ years). In this time, I have commissioned and published hundreds of pieces, from news reports to investigative feat…
When is land more valuable — when it hosts a datacentre or a farm?
5 min read
Analysis
Scicomm
agricultural economics
agronomy
Andy Masley
arable land
Big Tech
Central Pollution Control Board
cone of depression
datacentres
farm inputs
fertiliser subsidy
fertilisers
Food and Agriculture Organisation
green revolution
Hyderabad
irrigation
land use change
power infrastructure
safe yield
soil science
subsidised electricity
total factor productivity
US Department of Agriculture
Visakhapatnam
wasteland
water stress
water table
Excerpt from 'Data center land use issues are fake', by Andy Masley, May 2, 2026: And then, in the middle of all this, a farmer in Loudoun County sells a few acres of mediocre hay field to a…
‘Hidden’ voting preferences
5 min read
Analysis
Scicomm
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Brexit referendum
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
expressive voting
Floyd Allport
Joseph Vijay
Mancur Olson
MK Stalin
political psychology
preference falsification
private ballot
Social Psychology
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu elections
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam
threshold effect
Timur Kuran
waste votes
On May 4, former Tamil film actor C. Joseph Vijay and his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) emerged in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections as the single largest party. The magnitude of the victory was wide…
A political direction in life
4 min read
Note to readers: Root Privileges is now Slightly Acidic. Daily writing promptWhat gives you direction in life? View all responses I'm a political creature. I didn't think that I'd be on…
Let's discuss, with conditions
1 min read
Writing prompt: What topics do you like to discuss? I like to discuss everything under the Sun. However, I’m also wary of people who waste time talking about something in a way that couldn’t possibly…