Aaaannnndddd...We're back
I’ve been away, literally and figuratively. The delays:
First, it was a cold/flu virus.
Got better, left the country for two weeks (previously scheduled, not to escape the paparazzi. Well, not this time).
And upon my return… laptop coma. I was going to call it death, but I’m composing on that laptop, so rather than have to go with something like ‘risen from the dead,’ which is too dreadful a description, I’m going with coma because with the right intervention (a new logic board) it’s back.
And so am I.
Sincere apologies for the absence, and because the preceding accurately describes what was happening, let’s move on and get caught up. Things That Need to be Said, ’New’ Open Tabs, and Photos Here and There.
Things That Need to be Said
Woo, so much to rant about…but I’ll strive to stay above all the hyperbole and
Oh f*ck it, let’s briefly go hyperbolic.
It’s a mess, this whole approach to people’s livelihoods and lives: the attempts to rewrite the factual, actual historical record; the treatment of a sovereign nation as a corporation; the use of an invaded and occupied sovereign nation’s situation as a bargaining chip for peace in exchange for monetary gain and the bro’ship of a nation’s ruler who not only invades other countries because he wants to, also hunts down and kills his critics; and the installation of blatantly unqualified, ethically, morally, and intellectually compromised sycophants into positions of control at the highest levels of the United States government.
There are enough other observers and experts of the above documenting it all, so I’ll not spend more than another handful of sentences or so sharing my own views. I have always been troubled and somewhat confused by otherwise decent people who through their votes apparently align with the twisted philosophies, strategies, and beliefs of those now in national (and international) power positions. The only emerging positiveness of this madness is the integrity of the courts. Yes, there are outliers in anything, including the legal system, but for now the courts are seemingly the only restricter of Orange Face’s WTF MadnessMandates.
And to close as I said I would after a few more sentences… ah, never mind, I’ll save it for next time.
Onward.
How to bring back a killer of innocents
If you’re a longtime subscriber — not that this thing has been around for such a long time — you’re aware of my interests on science and medicine. I’ve written many times about vaccines and the diseases that billions of people would otherwise have succumbed to or been seriously compromised by, could succumb to in the future, without vaccines.
So now comes along RFK Jr., the new United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, a man without a medical science education OF ANY KIND, placed in his new job by a guy who suggested that injecting bleach into a human being, or alternatively, shining a light into said human being’s innards, could be good against Covid.
RFK Jr.’s and Orange Face’s perspectives of science and medicine in the 21st century apparently are aligned, as RFK Jr. leans toward things like ‘more vitamin A’ to fight off measles. He has other views and beliefs — as opposed to research, studies, and/or documentation — that are similarly wrong.
He and Orange Face are going to be DIRECTLY responsible for an untold number of deaths, where one death would be too many. Directly responsible: their beliefs are already becoming mandates, and ‘orders’ already carried out nationally and globally now affect the availability of vaccines and tools to prevent disease, including two diseases which are so deadly that a person can be infected by coming into the same room an infected person HAS ALREADY LEFT: measles and tuberculosis (TB).
Measles was gone from the U.S. for a couple of decades. Unvaccinated people brought it back to us (or it could be said misguided beliefs, misinformation, and certain religions promoted its return…). Measles now often enters this country via unvaccinated international travelers, and since 9 of 10 unvaccinated people occupying the same space as a carrier can be infected, the disease can spread rapidly to other unvaccinated people, such as vaccine deniers, those choosing to not receive the vaccine, or those choosing not to allow their children to be vaccinated. Oh, yeah, and infants too young for the vaccine (under 12 months).
By the time I have this online the number of measles cases will be 300.
TB, the leading killer disease worldwide, has had protocols, processes, and medicines in place for years to maintain a semblance of control against its spread. The Administration has already taken steps that now puts lives across the the world at risk.
These most recent stories reveal what comes from the acts of people in charge who have bordering-on-stupid, ignorant and willfully ignorant, ill-informed worldviews: Tuberculosis Resurgent as Trump Funding Cut Disrupts Treatment Globally & Expanding Measles Outbreak in the United States and Guidance for the Upcoming Travel Season
Open Tabs
Before I get to the list, some backstory. That “laptop coma” thing I referred to earlier, well, the beginning of the save-my-laptop process included wiping everything from its hard drive, which included my waiting in the wings open tabs. Without going into detail other than to say "thank you Harlan for your Mac wizardry and generosity of time," some of those tabs were among other recovered files, so what follows is a mix of old and recent-ish Open Tabs.
Let's start with something fun, pack the middle with a range of seriousness, and end with sweetness.
Here comes the magnetic powered Dick Tracy Space Copupe! The cartoon strip detective of detectives' tools of his trade were way ahead of their time (not so much the busting criminals with the help of friendly space aliens, though we can keep hoping), and science is starting to catch up. Magnetic propulsion here we come!
I got your minerals right here
It hasn't popped up again lately, but remember the brouhaha created by the White House what-a-mess meeting with Zelensky when the administration said it wants the Ukraine's magic underground stuff? Welp, best that those brainiacs check with people who know about such things first, because "there are no deposits of rare-earth ore in Ukraine known to be minable in an economically viable way. And that would be true even if full-scale warfare were not raging in the country’s east, where a great deal of its mineral resources are concentrated."
We Are The Resistance: The Data Hoarders Resisting Trump’s Purge - Can librarians and guerrilla archivists save the country’s files from DOGE?
In modern history terms, we here in the West consider the word 'resistance' to be a positive thing, as in the Resistance carrying out guerrilla actions against the Nazis. Viewed through the lens of current events, there's a new Resistance fighting back against a growing, insidious menace: The deletions began shortly after Donald Trump took office...More than a hundred and ten thousand government pages have gone dark in a purge that one scientist likened to a “digital book burning,”
Photos Here and There
From the What A Good Doggie Department: No surprises here, really. Almost makes me want to go to the ER. Therapy Dogs for Anxiety in Children in the Emergency Department
More Photos Here and There
Got lots to catch up on, I'll be making up for lost time with a few extra posts. Thanks for your time, I appreciate it. Don't hesitate to tell your friends about the kind of stuff you discover or read about here and I'll make it even more worth your while (of course, I'll have to figure out what that might be).
And if you're new here, check out previous content, it's everything from news to music history.
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MWH