July, 2021 archive
Vaccine Nation: A Doctor’s Story 0
AL.com has a lengthy report on one Alabama doctor’s experiences in treating COVID-19 patients in the least vaccinated state in the nation. She reports that, as she prepares to intubate new patients, they often ask for the vaccine, and she has to tell them, “I’m sorry, it’s too late.”
Here’s a tiny little bit; follow the link for the rest.
“And the one question that I always ask them is, did you make an appointment with your primary care doctor and ask them for their opinion on whether or not you should receive the vaccine? And so far, nobody has answered yes to that question.”
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
It seems that politeness is for the birds.
Considered sacred by many Native American tribes, the golden eagle is protected by a trio of federal laws: the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the Lacey Act, according to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
Fly the Fiendly Skies . . . 0
. . . where you can be labeled “disruptive” while you are fast asleep.
A Strange Diagnosis 0
Nevertheless, I fear that it is an accurate one.
About That Algorithm 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Nir Eyal explains why persons stay buried in their phones, even as they step off the curb in front of passing cars, or, indeed, drive one of said passing cars. He identities four factors designed into “social” media and messaging applications to keep you “engaged.”
Here’s the summary (emphasis added):
- People have become attached to their devices because devices facilitate social connection and because they’re engineered to capture attention.
- Products that lead to habit formation often involve four steps: a trigger, an action, variable rewards, and investment.
- Understanding how people interact with their devices can lead to better iterations of technological products in the future.
Follow the link for a detailed discussion of how “social” media sucks you in.
Counter-Factual 0
Will Bunch notes that it has been 52 years since Americans landed on the moon–a feat made possible by science, Science, after all, is the pursuit of fact. He considers why so many Americans now reject science (think vaccines, for example). A nugget (emphasis added):
Indeed, wealthy capitalists and the politicians who aided the backlash and rode it to victories — Richard Nixon, Spiro Agnew, Ronald Reagan — were so successful that distrust in science and the conspiracy theories that flow from that distrust now spread as virally as COVID-19 itself, among everyday folks on social media sites like Facebook. Albeit with an occasional booster shot from the most cynical media celebrities like Fox’s Tucker Carlson.
I commend his article to your attention.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Yet another gun left unattended,
Yet another life prematurely ended.
And yet another day in NRA Paradise.
Merchants of Fear 0
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gene Collier explains.