February, 2020 archive
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Do you want a side of fries with your politeness?
Gutting Out the Vote 0
David and Thom Hartmann explore the history of voter suppression (aka, “rule by an elite white male majority”) efforts in the U. S.
(Syntax error fixed.)
The Rule of Lawless 0
Will Bunch reflects on the double-standard. A snippet; follow the link for the complete essay.
In a major investigative piece that got buried in the rubble of Trump’s assault on democracy and the New Hampshire primary, the Huffington Post’s Michael Hobbes found that punishment of white-collar crime has plummeted to unthinkable depths during the current administration.
Greens Fees 0
Golf can be an expensive pursuit.
The World New York Was His Oyster
0
My local rag tells the story of Thomas Downing, a child of slaves who became the “Oyster King” of mid-1800s New York City.
It’s a fascinating read.
Devolution 0
We have gone from the President who “could not tell a lie” to the President who cannot tell the truth.
Paying the Health Care Ransom 0
In The Denver Post, Colorado Lieutenant Governor Diane Primavera explores the high cost of American health care and argues that it really doesn’t have much to do with the cost of caring for persons’ health. A snippet:
(snip)
So if all the money we spend on health care isn’t making us healthier, then where is all the money actually going?
The short answer is that it’s going to the middlemen — insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and hospitals — whose business model is to act as a tollbooth standing in between patients and caregivers like doctors and nurses.
Follow the link for her evidence.
And, in related news . . . .
An Eggistential Dilemma 0
At the Hartford Courant, Susan Campbell coddles an egg.
Epidemiology, One More Time 0
William Haseltine digs into the question if why, when the flu by the numbers is clearly much more dangerous, so many persons are wigging out over the coronavirus. Here’s part of what he has to say; follow the link for the rest.
Why does the 2019-nCoV outbreak rile our fears so? The discrepancy has to do with how humans perceive risks. Novel threats provoke anxiety in a way that everyday threats do not, triggering a fear response that begins with the part of the brain known as the amygdala and travels via activation of “fight or flight” motor functions throughout the body.
While this evolutionarily honed instinct for the unfamiliar and foreboding can sharpen the senses—a sort of physiological priming for confrontation with a predator—it can also confuse the mind.