Science

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Pitiless Totalitarian Entity

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Practice Your Skepticism

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Sliding Back Into Superstition And Darkness

“I have a foreboding of America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time–when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all of the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; with our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness.

And when the dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bites now down to 10 seconds or less, lowest-common-denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance.”

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”

“For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.”

    Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

“It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brains fall out.”

    Carl Sagan

Screenshots of Wisdom

Screenshots of Wisdom

 

Vaccines

What diseases have vaccines eradicated?

Diseases You Almost Forgot About (Thanks to Vaccines)

Top 10 Vaccine-Preventable Diseases

Why Don’t We Have Vaccines Against Everything?

Eradication of Diseases

Vaccines Need Not Completely Stop COVID Transmission to Curb the Pandemic

Weekend Reading

The Quest to Tell Science from Pseudoscience

Listen, Progressive People!

Not a Housing Bubble

America’s Corporate Welfare Queens

Who Helps Pay Amazon’s Low-Wage Workers? You Do

Pastor’s wife planned husband’s killing with man they had sex with, Oklahoma cops say

Evers vetoes bill to give Legislature control of federal COVID relief funds

With ambitious new infrastructure plan, Biden isn't fooling around

GOP Legislators Want Pandemic Aid for Tax Rebate

Endarkenment

More Weekend Reading

There is no anti-lockdown protest movement

Municipal Yields Rising

When Each U.S. State Is Reopening Its Economy

The Stock Market Is Not the Economy

Is the Unemployment Rate a Good Measure of People Currently Out of Work?

This Chart Explains Why Reopening the Economy Is Still So Risky

Why Scientists Think The Novel Coronavirus Developed Naturally — Not In A Chinese Lab

James Carville Outs Trump Campaign Grifters: They're In It For The Money

GOP Inaction Cost Wisconsin $25 Million

Is It Safe to Reopen the State?

Hey Assholes, Wear A F@#%ing Mask

Trump Administration Ignored Repeated Warnings About The Threat Of A Pandemic & Lied To The American People About It

Republicans, Please, All Of You, Get Together

Kansas Republicans override Democratic governor’s stay-at-home order in brazen power grab

You know what, Republicans go ahead an get together, mingle in large groups, spread the coronavirus among yourselves and die quickly.

Republicans, I've had enough with trying to reason, be practical, or espouse the advice of medical experts to you. Like everything else in life, you all are completely selfish, stubborn, unreasonable and only care about partisanship and power. You're greedy, stupid troglodytes. 

So, go ahead, get together. But when you're sick, or your family is sick, or your friend is sick, don't you fucking dare call a doctor or go to the hospital. You're on your own. Just hunker down in that doomsday bunker of yours and die.

For Further Reading:
Republican Legislators In Kansas Overturn Governor’s Executive Order On Church Gatherings

Please Vote Against Republicans. They Are Trying To Kill Us.

Wisconsin's Governor Tony Evers tried to do the right thing. And, as usual, Republicans did not.

In an effort to allow people more time to vote, Evers tried to extend the period for absentee ballots. You know, since we're in the midst of a pandemic and people have other things on their minds.

Wisconsin's election is still April 7, but a federal judge has extended the deadline for absentee votes to be counted

Evers tried to postpone the election until June. You know, because we're in the midst of a pandemic and it would be foolish and dangerous to go forward with an election.

But, of course, the conservative-stacked courts, at the state and federal level, denied more time for absentee ballots and overruled Evers delay of the election.

High courts block Evers on 2 fronts: Wisconsin justices overturn ban on Tuesday voting, U.S. Supreme Court restricts absentee ballots

I'm sure the Republicans, along with the court justices, that felt we could not dare delay the election, will be working at the polls tomorrow on election day. Yes, I have no doubt that these great public servants will be putting their righteous devotion to democracy above their own health and helping process the thousands of others that will be risking their own health in an attempt to vote, or work the polls, tomorrow. 

This is epic irresponsibility. Republicans should be voted out. Public servants should not be so selfish and short-sighted that they are putting the people, they claim to represent, at risk.

For Further Reading:
Wisconsin's coronavirus case total increases to 2,440, deaths surpass 80
Justice Ginsburg sends out dire warning about the new Supreme Court ruling in Wisconsin election case
Wisconsin Election Back On For Tuesday In The Middle Of Coronavirus Pandemic

The Supreme Court’s disturbing order to effectively disenfranchise thousands of Wisconsin voters

Charting the coronavirus pandemic state by state

Wisconsin Republicans rebuff governor’s 11th-hour bid to delay Tuesday’s election

Republican Hypocrisy on Election
Nakedly Partisan Wisconsin Republicans: Safety For Me But Not For Thee!

Greed, Preparedness, Science And Leadership

I'm seeing a lot of "Jesus has got this," "God will take care of this," "Pray," "Put your faith in the Lord," and such on the social media.

But, if God is all powerful, didn't he/she cause/create this? And, if he/she allowed/caused this, and can fix/alleviate this, isn't he/she just a bit of an asshole/sadist for allowing/causing such in the first place?

Not really the kind of entity I want to worship.

If anything, this episode should teach us about greed, preparedness, science and leadership.

We should stop measuring life by the stock market. Businesses only care about the bottom line; we should stop looking to them for good public policy.

We have the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control - we should be listening to them. We had a Global Health Security and Biodefense office (pandemic response team), but Donald Trump closed it.

We should be thinking more about our family, friends, neighbors and community, instead of ourselves and the misleading/lying baboon some call president.

We should be voting for public servants and leaders that have the knowledge, background and skill-set equal to the task. We need better and smarter people running things, not average Joe's and run-of-the-mill folks you'd like to have a beer with.

Hopefully this catastrophe will catapult our society toward more equality, better advocacy and implementation of science, a cleaner environment, less consumerism and a sense of community, where we realize there is so much more that we agree, than disagree, about.

If You Have No Shame, Ethics Or Common Sense, There's A Place For You In The Republican Party

There is no such thing as climate change.

Liberals and diversity are responsible for natural disasters.

Or so says the Douche-Cabal.

Tucker Carlson And Guest Blame Liberals, Diversity For California Wildfires

You can't make this stuff up.

These losers are destroying American and the planet.

Sad.

Person Of The Year

A no-brainer for this year's Person Of The Year.

Greta Thunberg Declines Major Climate Prize, Says Planet Doesn’t ‘Need More Awards’The 16-year-old activist was tapped for “breathing new life into the debate surrounding the environment.”

Weekend Reading

California Scientists Unravel Genetic Mystery Of World's Tallest Trees
Record U.S Trade Deficit In 2018 Reflects Failure Of Trump's Trade Policies
How Rich Are The Bucks And Brewers Owners Getting Off Public Subsidies? Not As Much As You'd Think
Walker's Costly War On The Poor
Why American CEOs Are Worried About Capitalism

Weekend Reading

How Walker Cost Taxpayers $2.6 Billion
Botching The Great Recession
The Bubble And The Great Recession: The Need For Denial
The Future Of Our Public Postal Service
We're Measuring The Economy All Wrong
The Bailouts For The Rich Are Why America Is So Screwed Right Now
Putting The Con In Foxconn Wisconsin
The Science Is Clear: Dirty Farm Water Is Making Us Sick

You'll Get Your Medicine When You Finish Mopping The Floor

Able-bodied Adults Will Have To Work For Medicaid, Under Plan From Gov. Scott Walker, Trump

Yet ...

Work Requirements Don't Work

and

Medicaid Work Requirement Would Harm Unemployed, Not Promote Work

As usual, Republicans are rewarding their rich donors and hurting those who need it most. How Christian of them.