March, 2020 archive
Lies and Lying Liars, Going Viral Dept. 0
At azcentral.com, E. J. Montini reviews news of the coronavirus and rounds up the flock of falsehoods flooding the foreground, foremost among them those fomented by our Liar-in-Chief.
Running Out 0
A report at Boston.com attempts to explain persons’ frantic purchases of toilet paper in a time of coronavirus. A snippet:
“When faced with an uncertain situation, people feel better if they can eliminate one risk,” Dr. Jay Zagorsky, a senior lecturer with BU’s Questrom School of Business, said in an email to Boston.com. “Bulk buying toilet paper eliminates the small risk of running out if quarantined. People might not be able to eliminate the risk of catching coronavirus but they can eliminate the risk of running out of toilet paper, which makes most people feel they have some control in this very uncertain situation.”
This morning’s local rag has a long story about local stores’ inability to keep up with the runs on “bathroom tissue.” I witnessed this first-hand when I went to our usual supermarket at the behest of the cats, who demanded sustenance, and can attest that the “bathroom tissue” aisle was bare.
The Epidemiologist Tweets 0
By the by, I was in my local supermarket yesterday, because cats need cat food, and the “Bathroom Tissue” aisle was striped bare.
The Day the Music Died Went on Hiatus
0
For several years, we have enjoyed series tickets to concerts by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra (a damned fine orchestra which will be celebrating its centennial next year; their performance a couple of years ago of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, my favorite piece–narrowly beating out White Rabbit–was breathtaking).
Regardless of the genre, there’s something about a live performance . . . .
This evening, I received an email from the VSO stating that all performances until mid-April are being postponed because of the coronavirus. Rescheduling details are still being worked out . . . .
Facebook Frolics, Fallacious Flummery Dept. 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, David Kyle Johnson reacts to a meme circulated by a person he calls, “Bob,” in which Bob lists all the world-ending crises he has survived. Said meme equates, to cite one example, Harold Camping’s rapture prediction* with avian flu.
Johnson points out that one thing is not like the other thing and warns against false equivalences in a time of COVID-19. A snippet:
Given the amount of stupid flowing down the disinformation superhighway, his piece is well worth the three minutes it will take to read it.
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*Man, I didn’t remember this one at all, but I don’t pay attention to crackpot preachers who are only in it for the money.
Stray Thought, One Tool in the Toolkit Dept. 0
It occurred to me last night that Donald Trump and his dupes, symps, and fellow travelers have not realized that you can’t bully a virus.
Like as Not 0
As my two or three regular readers know, I am no fan of Hillary Clinton.
I thought her run against Barrack Obama for the 2008 nomination was characterized by rather distasteful tactics, but I also thought she redeemed herself with a steady and responsible performance as Secretary of State in the Obama administration.
I supported her for the Presidency in 2016, even though I did not particularly “like” her (whatever that means), because it was clear to me that she was the only sane choice (as current events are making more and more clear), because I try to vote with my head and am willing to vote for someone I do not “like,” if I think he or she is the competent choice.
For Pete’s sake, elections are not about “likes” (and certainly not about who you would like to have a beer with, if you drink beer, rather than ambrosia Scotch). They are about competence and policy.
Over at Progress Pond, Martin Longman makes a good case that the “likeability” factor may have been much more important in the 2016 election than one would–er–like.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Make the scene with politeness.
After the shooting, police say surveillance footage from the home showed Wingler altering the scene instead of helping his son.
The report goes on to say parent has been charged with at least two counts.
Lies and Lying Liars, Going Viral Dept. 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., looks inside the bubble.
Break Time 0
Off to Drink Liberally.
Facebook Frolics, Going Viral Dept. 0
At Science 2.0, Hank Campbell warns us that Facebook is not a good place to study epidemiology.
Follow the link for his evidence.
