From Pine View Farm

Health and Sanity category archive

Individual Blights 0

Many seem to forget–or ignore–that one of the phrases in the preamble to the United States Constitution is “to promote the general welfare.”

At the Idaho State Journal, Leonard Hitchcock points this out in the context of a failure to do just that. A snippet (emphasis added):

The governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem, in an NPR interview, said: “I think it’s a good time for us to go back and reevaluate the purposes of our Constitution, the personal responsibility we each have to make decisions for our own lives,” which is why, she argued, she allowed the Sturgis motorcycle rally to occur.

The willful stupidity of those remarks is astonishing. It’s true that we, as citizens of a democracy, enjoy a wide range of personal freedoms, some of which are spelled out in our Constitution. It’s also self-evident that exercising those freedoms entails personal decision-making and that we can do what we want as long as we are not harming (or are at high risk of harming) someone else.

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Maskless Marauders 0

At Psychology Today Blogs, Sara Gorman and Jack M. Gorman explore the reasons why persons choose to refuse to wear masks in these viral times. Here’s one of the possible reasons they explore; follow the link for the others.

Yet another psychological factor to consider is a sense of control. One thing we can certainly say about COVID-19 is that it makes us feel we are out of control. Although experts rightly tell us there are things we can do to control the pandemic (i.e. social distancing, wearing face masks, frequent handwashing, and getting tested), there is little we can do personally to affect businesses closed all around us, children not able to go to school, and people dying. Refusing to wear a mask may seem, paradoxically, like taking control of the situation. No, it is not a rational step because doing so will only make things worse. But to some, refusing the mask may seem like a major personal statement that re-establishes a sense of control.

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Epidemiology, GOP Style 0

Two cows standing in a pasture, surrounded by dead cows swarming with flies.  One says,

Via The Bob Cesca Show Blog.

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Maskless Marauders 0

Marauding in the dollar store.

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Contact Tracing 0

The Seattle Times’s Danny Westneat tracks the trail of a Facebook falsehood from a Washington state chiropractor in the Seattle suburbs to Donald Trump and Fox News.

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Elephant? What Elephant? 0

Title:  The Elephant in the Hall.  Image:  Donald Trump standing at podium crowing about

Click to view the original image.

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Tripping the Light Fatalistic 0

At the Hartford Courant, Thomas Cangelosi suggests a metaphor for the United States’s incompetent and uncoordinated response to COVID-19. A snippet:

During a recent power outage in Connecticut, I stopped my car at a busy intersection where the traffic signals were blacked out. While I was relieved to see the majority of drivers following the safety protocol of a four-way stop, each taking their turn, I was disturbed by a number of drivers that saw the situation as a license to blow through the intersection.

(snip)

The scene seemed to be a microcosm of the national crossroads America faces as it negotiates the COVID-19 pandemic, which has become nothing less than a crucible of our national character.

Follow the link for his explanation.

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Maskless Marauders 0

Warning: Language.

A Walmart marauder.

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Maskless Marauders 0

A marauder at the convenience store.

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Maskless Marauders 0

The Idaho House held a special session regarding COVID-19.

It did not go well.

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Laboratory Samples 0

Title:  Specimens used for COVID-19 testing and experimentation. Image:  Woman having nose swabbed labeled

Via Job’s Anger.

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School Daze 0

Sportswriter extraordinaire Bob Molinaro reflects on the reopening in these viral times (emphasis in the original):

Panic button: With positive COVID-19 tests continuing to rise on its campus, the University of North Carolina’s decision to suspend all athletic activities Wednesday until “at least” the next day is another example of a school chasing its own tail. One day? One week? The virus will be waiting.

Barely afloat: Schools that initially invited students back to campus are quickly discovering what they should have known. When dealing with easily transmissible viruses, dorms are cruise ships without the water.

Aside:

I was in college a long time ago and certainly did my share of partying. Nevertheless, other than concerts, sports events, large lectures, and some demonstrations against America’s Great and Glorious War for a Lie in Vietnam, I don’t remember participating in the sorts of mob scenes being reported from some colleges.

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Traumatized 0

Much lauded researcher William Hazeltine explores the “moral trama” the United States if facing due to its incompetent and ineffective–nay, counter-effective–response to the coronavirus. Here’s a bit from his piece at Psychology Today Blogs (emphasis added); I commend the entire piece to your attention.

The numbers tell us how badly we are failing to make the most of our advantage. China, the country first affected by Covid-19, has four times the population in the United States, yet on a typical day in August when more than fifty-five thousand new infections were tallied in the US, only 31 new infections were reported in China. Since the epidemic began more than twice as many Americas have died of Covid as have been infected in China. I cite these figures not to praise China but rather to express a collective sense of bewilderment as to what has gone wrong with our response to the pandemic.

Our moral trauma is witnessing death, contagion and economic destruction around us, knowing full well it is unnecessary. Our country has been deeply morally traumatized – by the President through his denials, incompetence, and finger-pointing, and by his administration, his Republican enablers in Congress and compliant state governors.

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The Reopening 0

At the Hartford Courant, a Connecticut teacher shares her plans for returning to school in these viral times. Here’s a bit; follow the link for the complete article:

When I return to school today for the professional development that will precede our students’ start, I will kiss my 5-year-old and my husband goodbye. I’ll go to school in my scrubs, wear my PPE, keep the windows in my classroom open and begin to troubleshoot teaching and learning under the hybrid model.

When I return home this afternoon, however, I will no longer be able to set foot inside our home. My husband’s medical conditions put him at greater risk for grave health repercussions or death from COVID-19, so I will be sleeping in a tent in our backyard and isolating myself from my husband and young son. We live in a modest home, not configured for quarantine.

(Syntax error fixed.)

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The COVID Clown Car 0

Three clowns in a car, labeled

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Rights and Responsibilities 0

Therapist says,

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The Miracle Cure 0

Man reading newspaper says to woman across the table,

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Quacking Up 0

E. J. Montini notes that Donald Trump is doctor shopping again. A snippet:

In dealing with the novel coronavirus, Trump had at his disposal Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the foremost expert in the field. And, having him at his disposal, Trump disposed of him – for doing what a doctor is supposed to do. Telling the truth.

(snip)

Trump also doesn’t seem pleased with Dr. Deborah Birx, another immunologist who has offended the president by telling the truth.

The president doesn’t want truth tellers who might save lives. He wants lackeys who will save his chances at reelection.

Follow the link for a list of lackeys.

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Malpracticing Medicine without a License 0

Talya Miron-Shatz is fed up with politicians making medical decisions. A snippet:

The US was one of the last countries to impose a lock down, which meant loss of lives that could have been saved. This did not happen because the data on the virus was missing, or the trajectories weren’t clear. It happened because some politicians viewed stern response to the virus as surrender.

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The Reopening 0

Little girl hugging her alarmed-looking grandmother as coronavirus floats in the air says,

Via The Bob Cesca Show Blog.

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