Health and Sanity category archive
Courting Disaster 0
Dr. Kenneth Krell is concerned that the current Supreme Court, packed with Trumpettes by Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell, poses a clear and present danger to physical health of the populace.
Vaccine Nation 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Dr. Dustin Ballard tells the story of a friend of his, whom he calls “Alice,” who got sucked into the cultish anti-vaxx world. In the process, he explores what attracts persons to and keeps them loyal to cults that feed on and ratify misinformation. Here’s a bit:
I think his article casts some light on those among us who would deny the evidence of things seen.
Red Flag 0
One of the warning signs of disinformation just around the corner on the Disinformation Syperhighway is statements that begin with
The Disinformation Superhighway 0
Both in raw numbers and on a percentage basis, the United States has one of the worst responses to COVID-19. At Psychology Today Blogs, Clifford Lazarus looks at how disinformation, spread largely on the disinformation superhighway, has contributed to this and, indeed, has harmed to polity in general.
He makes three main points.
- Misinformation results in a dangerous erosion of trust because it makes it very hard for people to share a common set of agreed upon facts.
- Without trust in one another our country will fracture and fragment creating a vicious circle leading to the decay of our democracy.
- Misinformation is very deadly and highly “contagious.”
Follow the link for a detailed discussion of each.
Ragged Individualism 0
University of South Florida Professor Murad Antia notes that, the United States had 12.5 times more deaths from COVID-19 than did Japan as a percentage of population. Indeed, he notes that Florida, with a population about one-fifth Japan’s, had more deaths than Japan.
He looks at some of the cultural issues which he suggests contributed to this. Here’s a snippet:
Here, on the other hand, we have a lot more freedom to do as we like, with dire consequences sometimes. Americans seem to favor individual rights over collective rights. In times of collective crises like World War II, collective rights have taken precedence, but only temporarily. In a nation where “rugged individualism” is infused in its DNA, individual rights eventually take precedence. We witness it in debates over gun control, education, climate change and health care.
(Broken tag fixed.)
Courting Disaster, Reprise 0
Jesse Robison, writing at the Idaho State Journal, considers the proposed? pending? Supreme Court decision the abrogating women’s rights to abortions. He notes several arguments against that decision, but I think this gets to the heart of the matter:
It’s all about barefoot and pregnant, folks.
Follow the link for his other observations.
The Disinformation Superhighway 0
Conspiracy theories fly through the inner tubes about the current outbreak of avian flu in the Midwest.
A Moment of Venn 0
Genevieve Grabman looks at the dismal state of health care for expectant mothers in the United States. It’s not a pretty picture. Here’s how she starts her article (emphasis added):
The irony is that, in our political landscape, the overlap between those who would force women to have unwanted babies deny women control of their own bodies and those who would deny them more, better, and less expensive healthcare is–er–substantial.
Follow the link for the rest of Grabman’s article.
Theocracy 0
In the San Francisco Chronicle, Daniel Bogard and Tana Senn argue forcefully that overturning Roe v. Wade violates the First Amendment’s provision that
Here’s the nub of their argument; follow the link for context.
Vaccine Nation 0
When I was a young ‘un, I had both types of measles (and chicken pox). The rubella wasn’t so bad, but the rubeola–oh, never mind.
Plus, one of the memories etched in my brain from when I was about three–when you don’t really have memories, they’re more like snapshots–is of my parents in bed with the mumps, an illness much more serious in adults than in children. It was the sickest I ever saw them.
I would not will those days to come back, but I seem to have become an unwilling member of a society of stupid in which facts and science and knowledge no longer matter.
We are a failing state.
Precedented 0
Writing at the Orlando Sentinel, Miles Zaremski argues that there is precedent for Justice (sic) Alito’s draft abortion decision. A snippet:
Follow the link for his reasoning.
Phoning It In 0
At the Portland Press-Herald, Victoria Hugo-Vidal, whose job involves dealing with health insurance companies, describes dealing with “customer service” robots.
If you’ve ever spent 45 minutes or an hour trying to get through to a real live human being, only to be disconnected (thank you, land line telephone company), you will be able to empathize with her. Here’s a bit.
Too Much Tech 0
Kathryn Haydon suggests that too much tech–more specificallys, too much internet and “social” media–is hazardous to our mental processes. Here’s a bit of how she describes the problem:
With alerts and apps and email and social media and calls and texts, we are subject to this type of mental whiplash day in and day out. A steady diet of lower-level thinking is hazardous to our thinking . . . .
Follow the link for her thoughts on how to keep “smart” stuff from dumbing us down.
Maskless Marauders 0
It’s been a while since I last read the Declaration of Independence, but, to the best of my recollection, nowhere in it did the Founders argue that persons have an inalienable right to “life, liberty, and the perpetuation of a pestilence.”
