SeniorJunior

And there are things we can do about it. It's complicated, but what else are you doing these days? I got behind in my reading Science Magazine s from cover to cover. Then I caught up last night. And wowie, zowie! In the 17 July edition, page 256, is: PERSPECTIVE VIEWPOINT: COVID-19 Aging immunity may exacerbate COVID-19 Arne N. Akbar ,  Derek W. Gilroy   See all  authors and affiliations Science   17 Jul 2020: Vol. 369, Issue 6501, pp. 256-257 DOI: 10.1126/science.abb0762  It's kind of a heavy read, lotsa medical and pharmacology, like:  " A key hallmark of severe disease is exuberant inflammation in the respiratory tract of patients ( 1 ). Older healthy individuals (60 years and above) exhibit chronic low-grade sterile inflammation (not caused by a pathogen) characterized by high baseline serum concentrations of C reactive protein (CRP) and cytokines." Got that? We oldies - lots but not all - have "IN...

Up Your Game in Demonstration Coverage THE BET: I have a standing bet with several conservative friends. I bet that "when the truth comes out" (Har, har), it will be proven that most of the non-peaceful, burning-looting stuff was done by right wing radical groups like the Boogaloo bunch, The Proud Bois, and various "militias." But how much of that violence really happened? THE SEARCH:  I spent almost an hour Google/Bing/Yahoo-ing trying to answer one question, "What proportion of the huge BLM demonstrations were actually violent?"  VERY hard to find that information. Lots of folks; no smoke Then I saw this article on the NeimanLab site.   ...One line caught my attention: "There’s been little coverage that quantifies the proportion of protests that are violent versus those that are peaceful." Duh. So yeah, journos, don't just aim our attention at the violence without including the vital context of how big a deal it ...

UPDATE 11 am 7.23.20   (colorful edits ) Trump throws wrench into coronavirus bill negotiations with Senate Republicans Republican senators balk at White House’s insistence that next coronavirus bill include  a payroll tax cut   IT'S OUT!   and cuts to funding for testing and contact tracing. Still unsettled but Republicans (!) are confident they'll get $25 billion. OK, the Solomon thing doesn't work anymore, but I will leave it in for archival purposes (and I like the woodcut). SO....                                      Defund Covid Testing and Tracing, or...                  ....Sabotage Social Security and Medicare ? Solomon says:   NEITHER!  Either kills the baby. Scooter says: So, Solomon, what's the answer? Solomon says:  Fund testing to the fullest extent!  And ELIMINATE ...

But I Have to Say... Don't eat that amazing, tremendous, beautiful apple ...this could start a conspiracy theory or two. [OK, malicious photog? Accidental juxtapose?]    Actually, this picture accompanied a story about how President Trump's visit to Arizona convinced Governor Ducey to "open" Arizona too early and that resulted in the awful current Covid super hot spot catastrophe.  One might say that was 'devilish,'  but that sounds playful.  I can safely say our current President is not playful.

Lost Your Job? Lost Your Job-supplied Health Insurance? Caught Covid-19, and Had To Be Hospitalized? Seen the bill yet? How Bad Could It Be? I'm bad. Really Bad. That smarts.  Granted, this fellow in Seattle had CV-19 about as bad as you can have it and not die. (Had he died, his family would still get the bill.) This bill made the news*, but how many (almost all) of the other huge bills haven't made the news - yet. The Cares Act will help to cover hospital losses, but for the life of me I can't find the part where it will cover your losses if you've lost your insurance.  It's a looming "second wave" after hospitalization, and 20+ million people lost their employee health insurance when they lost their jobs. When on top of that you lose your health and a ton of money, what's going to happen to you and yours? Why aren't our favorite news sources covering these looming financial catastrophes? Just asking. *Seattle Times st...

Fixing capitalism for the richest country in the world When all this Coronacrap is over, and we have the vaccine and herd immunity has come about, and when we the herd can congregate any damn way we want to, there are still going to be millions of us out of work. Unemployed, busted, homeless, turning to crime or living with our relatives, not to put too fine a point on it. The muscle of capitalism is its workforce.  Ours is in terrible shape, even without the Virus. That really needs to be fixed. We need a healthy, stable, motivated, well trained work force. That's not what we've got right now. Confidence is rattled. Well deserved fear is about.  It's not everybody, but there many million of our fellow citizens who see they are in deep trouble. For capitalism to survive, this has to be fixed. In the days of Roosevelt, there was a functional majority of the nation that decided to support the New Deal. It was proof that government can respond - if imperfectly, p...

MASKS THAT ONLY DO HALF THEIR JOB The masks with an exhaust valve are all the rage because the air in the mask stays less hot/humid if you don’t have to exhale through the filter body; BUT only your inhalation gets filtered.   THIS PROTECTS ME FROM YOU, BUT NOT YOU FROM ME OK, I'm really, really selfish. Got a problem with that? It’s being  Exposed*  that this kind of mask only does half the job. It protects you but does not protect others from you. Your aerosols escape unrestricted, unfiltered and as infectious as if you had no mask. There will be a huge stink about this disclosure. EVEN THE MIGHTY N-95 IS DEEPLY FLAWED BY AN EXHAUST VALVE Ahead-of-the-curve magazine,                                                                        ...

ARE WE ALL RACISTS?   It takes a high mind to control low instincts.  1. Evolution has rewarded “tribalism” with survival and breeding opportunities over the millennia, from way back in our pre-homo sapien forebearers’ time.  When one troop of primates fought with another troop for food, territory, females, etc., the troop that stuck together the tightest usually won. When we evolved into sapiens, troops became tribes, and the tribes who fought the hardest because they feared and hated the other tribe usually won. Those of our ancestors who became leaders instinctively exploited the danger of “the other."  The millions of years of tribalism being a survival positive trait gradually infused the genetics of all humanity with tribalistic instincts.  These instincts are deep, way below our cognitive mind.   “Otherness = threat/rage” is a reflex response deep in our primitive brains. 2. RACE IS A CLEAR “TRIBAL MARKER,” at least to our primitive inst...

Human Wisdom * When you are trying to digest all the Covid-19 "information" around, what do you believe and who do you trust?  Here is a bit of guidance from two Scottish scientists** on avoiding  really destructive communication Fear or Hope? The temptation to draw overly simple and sensational conclusions is understandable, because it captures the attention of the public and can potentially catalyze much needed action in policy development and research arenas. However, fear-based messages often backfire. This strategy has the grave risk of undermining trust in science and can lead to denialism, fatigue, and apathy.  Embracing nuance allows us to balance accurate reporting of worrying losses with hopeful examples of wins. Hope is a more powerful engine of change than fear. AMEN! Maria and Gergana!! *There are many other wisdoms. The wisdom of the flea, ...of the Remora, ...of the dandelion ** Maria Dornelas 1 ,...

100+ Degrees in Siberia... hottest temperature ever recorded north of Arctic Circle Hot air balloon masquerading as climate disaster. BUT...  Because it's...            1. Not about Covid-19            2. Not about Trump            3. Not about the economy (yet) ...You might not have heard it. As a public service, here are a couple well done stories on this jarring bit of climate news:  Science News      Science News AP (Associated Press)     AP (Associated Press) And some solid commentary on how much of the world is pretending climate change ain't going to clean our clocks is a flaw of journalism. Media Matters I thought a little apocalyptic news of another flavor might be a thoughtful distraction. scooter

Looked Like Horrible News. Now It's Great News! Our Daubers Were Down, but Then... I'm a Dauber, but I'm obviously UP! ... came the correction. Thank you Science! (Surely by now, you know this news has nothing to do with wasps, mud daubers or otherwise.) Here's the great news:                                                                                Covid Patients Testing Positive After Recovery Aren’t Infectious, Study Shows By  Heesu Lee  and  Jason Gale May 18, 2020, 9:15 PM MDT   Updated on  May 19, 2020, 3:19 AM MDT So those sailors on the Roosevelt, all those South Koreans and others who test positive again after recovering from Covid-19 didn't actually catch it again. They are (most likely)* now immune, and n...

Two Upbeat Bits of Pandemic News* 1. There is a new, 100% accurate antibody test & 2. T cells for COVID-19 ‘bode well’ for long-term immunity Once a sci-fi guy, always a sci-fi guy.  On March 29 I started saying stuff like this: 1. Give EVERYBODY the  antibody test  for Covid-19.       (and the virus test too) 2. Quarantine all positives. 3. Do comprehensive contact tracing. Quarantine all contacts. 4. Drop all social distancing for those with the "well and immune" antibody load. My Big Assumptions - Slightly ahead of reality So, there was no accurate, mass producible antibody test way back then (six weeks ago). I assumed there was, and I made the larger assumption that antibodies meant at least temporary immunity. That also had not been confirmed. My sci-fi sense was optimistic. These  Two Upbeat Bits of Pandemic News prove out those two assumptions! First the antibody test: Don't Bogart that... Loo...