https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/07/convincing-the-skeptics/

«To understand vaccine skeptics, proponents need to understand that the skeptics typically don’t fear COVID. They may fear that taking the vaccine is, in some way, to consent to the view that their freedoms are dependent on…»

Blah blah blah blah. I just remembered: for years, I refused to see E.T., simply because everybody told me I should. I really dug in.

«If vaccine advocates really do want vaccination uptake to increase more than they want to feel superior, they have to change course.»

Wow. There is a Whole. Lot. Going on in this sentence.

https://www.thv11.com/article/news/local/arkansas-mom-regrets-not-getting-her-child-vaccinated/91-f6d38e7e-883e-4c98-a3f9-00f5f52e8bac

So, right after I posted a cranky reply-guy thread (as a reply, of course) on Twitter about how everything is meaningless (I’m still right), this came up, as if Someone was showing me that not everything is meaningless.

So, right, this isn’t meaningless. As a parent, and as someone who’s seen multiple family members in the hospital, I can relate to this mom’s feelings. It’s not pleasant, and it got me right in the feels. Compounding the worry about having a child in the hospital is the parental guilt of not having gotten said kid vaccinated. I’ve got my own share of parental guilt, but mine will be nothing compared to hers if Caia doesn’t make it. Also not meaningless.

Part of the reason I’m reacting like this is these folks are Like Me. Yeah, I’m an east coast liberal, and a man, but still, whiteness trumps all that.

I believe that if I saw a picture of a child not Like Me on a respirator with his or her eyes closed because he or she was doped to the gills on sedatives (imagine having a big ol’ tube shoved down your throat, and a plastic bubble inflated to fill your throat so the only way you can breathe is through the tube, and you can’t swallow), I’d feel as sympathetic. I hope I would. I think I would.

Anyway, it’s awful and shouldn’t happen to any child, no matter what their parents are like.

I hope she’s young and strong and pulls through and has a long, happy life. And vaccinates her kids. And drinks fluoridated water. And never assumes public health policy is some sort of conspiracy that takes away her liberties.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/covid-vaccines-biden-trump/2021/07/15/adaf6c7e-e4bd-11eb-a41e-c8442c213fa8_story.html

Surprise! \o/

https://pandora.app.link/n7fcXBRMThb

90s techno is where I live, apparently. (The video is good, too )

Maybe I should do this….

https://patreon.com/user?0=u&1=%3D&2=5&3=6&4=1&5=0&6=5&7=6&8=0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=tyshare2

I follow this person on Twitter and she has a lot of interesting things to say about farming, racism, and the whole nostalgia-for-the-family-farm/organic-farming-to-treat-Gaia-with-love thing. And she’s turning all that into a book! With proof!

Not sure who it benefits that I use Patreon’s let-us-track-you link, but we’ll try it.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/08/biden-assault-monopolies-498876

In my opinion, this is what good governance looks like. We elect someone who knows what they’re doing and then they do good stuff.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/unvaccinated-hospitalized-patients-say-they-regret-not-getting-shot-n1273342

At this rate I’m just waiting for a red-state governor to go on TV and say, literally, “get the damn vaccine.”

«People can still get extremely ill — at Mercy Springfield, 29 of the Covid-19 patients are in the intensive care unit, and 27 have been placed on ventilators.

The younger age reflects the relatively high vaccination rates among older adults, who were prioritized early on — even in states with low vaccine uptake.»

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/07/07/climate/chicago-river-lake-michigan.html

Interesting article. Chicago is 600 feet above sea level. And yet….