Health and Sanity category archive
The Privatization Scam 0
Thom dissects the con behind Medicare (Dis)Advantage and the con that is coming.
The Privatization Scam 0
Thom talks with Dr. David Himmelstein about the deleterious effects of Medicare (Dis)Advantage.
Vaccine Nation 0
David debunks yet another anti-Vaxxer lie. (Warning: Short promo at the end.)
There’s over two centuries of evidence that vaccines work.
Heck, I’m old enough to remember when vaccines made polio go away. When the polio vaccines became available, my parents had me at Doctor Henderson’s office quick like a bunny, because my parents were not stupid.
There’s no evidence that vaccines don’t work, and even less than no evidence that they are somehow inimical. (Yeah, I know that “less than no” seems to be irrational, but irrational numbers are a thing and we seem to have become an irrational society, so I’m going with it.)
Sadly, though, there is no vaccine against stupid, and we seeing an epidemic of stupid.
Vaccine Nation 0
A prescription for peril:
The stupid. It burns.
Vaccine Nation 0
Speaking of merchants of death . . . .
“Are You Better Off Now Than You Were Four Years Ago?” 0
Republicans keep asking that question.
At the Bangor Daily News, Michael Avery Sr. responds:
Follow the link for the rest of his response.
(Broken link fixed.)
Vaccine Nation 0
Writing at the Tampa Bay Times, pediatrician Shetal Shah find the recent uptick in the number of measles cases in the U. S. to be quite alarming. Here’s a bit of his piece:
Maskless Marauders 0
An Alabama Republican lawmaker wants to outlaw the very notion of protecting the public good and promoting the general welfare.
Methinks selfishness is the ultimate Republican family value.
Vaccine Nation 0
Sam talks with Dr. Peter J. Hotez, Dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, about his recent book, The Deadly Rise of Anti-science: A Scientist’s Warning, and about how being against vaccines became part of right-wing
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Writing at Psychology Today Blogs, Mary McNaughton-Cassill recounts two experiences she had recently when health insurance “AI” bots turned down her claims because, well, they thought they were smarter than her doctors.
Here’s a tiny bit:
It is a distressing read, but methinks a worthwhile one. Go decide for yourself.
Afterthought:
Automating greed does not make it less greedy.
Medicare Disadvantage 0
When I qualified for Medicare (yeah, I’m old), I made sure to get traditional Medicare, because even back then [mumble] years ago, I knew that “Medicare Advantage” was little more than a con and a scam designed to let insurance companies suckle at the public teat.
And, speaking of insurance companies . . . .
Medicare Disadvantage 0
Thom and Matthew Cunningham-Cook contemplate the con. (Warning: Some occasional minor audio glitches.)
Vaccine Nation 0
The editorial board of the Tampa Bay Times notes that, as more and more persons are falling for lies about vaccination (politely referred to as “vaccine hesitancy”), measles cases are increasing. (I can still remember suffering from measles when I was a young ‘un, before the vaccines came along, and mumps, which is much more serious in adults than in children, nearly killed my parents when I was a pre-schooler.)
The Times offers a simple bit of advice:
Follow the link for the complete editorial, where they point the finger of blame squarely at those who propagate this stupid.
Aside:
We have over two centuries of proof, starting with the smallpox vaccine, that vaccines work.
Unfortunately, we have no vaccine against stupid.