Tag Archives: news

Tuesday Tidbits: Not the good kind of viral

March 3, 2020newsflu, news, virusfontfolly

It didn’t occur to me at the time that I got caught in a traffic jam in a parking lot for more than 40 minutes this weekend that panicked-hoarding shopping might have been part of the problem. But based on the reports of stores being completely out of toilet paper, soap, cleaning supplies (especially hand sanitizer), and any and all kinds of breathing masks in the region, maybe that was a factor.

I know this is all over the news, and if you’re tired of reading about it, I strongly urge you to skip down to the hilarious John Oliver video. It’s got good information, but it is also funny, and I really need the laugh!

Yes, it is worse than the flu: busting the coronavirus myths – The truth about the protective value of face masks, the speed at which a vaccine could be ready and how easy it is to catch Covid-19.

Trump is ignoring the lessons of 1918 flu pandemic that killed millions, historian says.

It’s hard to know what perspective to take on any of this news, if for no other reasons than that a lot of people have trouble visualizing the numbers that may be involved. And even though I have been one of the people pointing out how many hundreds of thousands of people die from influenza each year, comparing it to the flu isn’t really a good analogy. Influenza has been infecting humans for generations, and we have flu vaccines. That means a large portion of the population already have anti-bodies that work against some strains of flu. Covid-19 doesn’t appear to be similar enough to any viruses most of us have ever encountered, so none of us have any resistance.

And speaking of people not understanding (or outright intentionally misusing) statistics: No, 38% Of Americans Probably Didn’t Stop Drinking Corona Because Of Coronavirus – When polling gets filtered through beer goggles and What the Dubious Corona Poll Reveals – Americans are desperate to believe the worst about one another.

And then there are the crazy conspiracy theories, some coming out of the mouths of Senators and White House officials: Trying to sum right-wing reactions to the Covid-19 situation.

Because: When a Pandemic Meets a Personality Cult.

Enough of all that. This video does a great job of summarizing facts, putting things in as much perspective as possible, with a lot of laughs (and part of it has a great beat that is easy to dance to) — John Oliver Warns Against Extreme Reactions to the Coronavirus: “Don’t be complacent, and don’t be a f**king idiot.” :

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Weekend Update 02/29/2020: the Graveyard of Empires

February 29, 2020newsfox news, newsfontfolly

So many stories popped up during the lunchtime read yesterday, that I was contemplating a different format of a Weekend Update this time, with a lot less commentary and just a bunch of links. Then I woke up this morning to a really big news story, which was related to a link that didn’t make it into this week’s Friday Five… so you’re going to get some commentary, oh some commentary!

For some context: 133 years ago, when Arthur Conan Doyle’s very first Sherlock Holmes story (A Study In Scarlet) was published, he introduced the world to both Sherlock and Dr. John Watson. Watson, we learn in the first scene, was a British Army medic serving in Afghanistan where he was wounded so severely he was mustered out and has returned to England to try to get his life back together. The British spent decades trying to tame Afghanistan during the 1800s, and never did.

It should have come as no surprise, I mean, 2350 years ago Alexander the Great was busy conquering the Persian Empire, and pursued one of his enemies into what is now Afghanistan which seemed to him an easy territory to conquer. At first. Later historians described the guerilla style insurgencies that kept coming up there to thwart Alexander’s plan as a many-headed hydra: whenever they struck one group down, two more arose to take its place. 1500 years later, Ghengis Khan’s grandson was killed in the Mongol’s failed attempt to conquer the territory. A century and a half later, the Mughal Empire technically conquered it, but never really had control, either.

There are at least a dozen more of those attempted invasions that mostly failed during the times before 1650 AD, and that is part of the issue with the territory. Because most of those failed invasions left a small population behind that would become yet another ethnic group with its own religion and culture (Most of the inhabitants of the Hazar Valley now are believed to be descended from the Mongol garrison left behind to keep a trade route open, for instance).

The British tried many times between 1845 and 1883 to turn the territory into a stable country that could be either part of the British Empire or at least an allied nation. The Russian Empire first tried to pacify part of what is now Afghanistan in 1885 and the Russians and the Brits basically treated Afghanistan as a football to score points against each other for the next 60-some years. Then starting in 1979 the Soviet Union tried again, eventually admitting defeat after ten years of costly war.

In other words, Afghanistan has been called the Graveyard of Empires for very good reasons.

On an older blog I ranted about all of these things when George W. Bush decided to invade Afghanistan in 2001. Yes, we needed to take action after the 9/11 attacks, but trying to turn Afghanistan into a stable country that would be our ally? That was (and still is) ludicrously unrealistic.

Now we have a little background to tackle today’s news:

U.S. Signs Peace Deal With Taliban After Nearly 2 Decades Of War In Afghanistan.

Wonderful! Peace in Our Time (what could possibly go wrong?) So what is is in this agreement? There’s a pretty thorough break down here: What does the Taliban-US peace agreement say? – The long-awaited comprehensive peace agreement between the two sides is made of four parts.

Important points to consider:

This agreement is between the U.S. and the Taliban (aka the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which is not recognized by the United States as a state). The current Afghan government (such as it is) was not involved in the negotiations directly.
Today we signed a separate agreement with them committing them to enter into a ceasefire and peace talks with the Taliban “and other involved Afghan parties” beginning on March 10.
Also on March 10, we and the Afghans will release about 5000 Taliban prisoners of war (and the Taliban and their allies will release about 1000 prisoners of war they are holding).
Over the course of the next 125 days the U.S. will pull about 3,400 troops from Afghanistan including closing down five bases.
Over the course of the subsequent 9 months, assuming the ceasefire holds up, and assuming that the negotiations between all the “involved Afghan parties” are fruitful, the remaining 8600 U.S. troops (and however many coalition troops remain) will leave.
The Taliban promises to ensure that the territory of Afghanistan will never again be used by groups to threaten the U.S. or its allies, and to help make Afghanistan a country where all people are equal and free.

Sounds good, right?

Well, except, that bit about if the ceasefire holds, all the groups come to an agreement. That’s another of the tricky bits: With Taliban Talks Soon to Start, Afghan Government Splits Apart – The Taliban gloat as Afghanistan’s chief executive refuses to accept the election outcome and vows to form his own “inclusive government”. The last couple of elections in Afghanistan have not gone smoothly. According to many within the country, the election in 2014 didn’t decided who the next President of Afghanistan was, but rather U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry did. And the same people are claiming the same thing but this time it’s Trump’s appointed envoy who decided which side of the disputed race to back.

And a whole lot of people are having a very hard time, based on what the Taliban did when it took over the country in 1996, believing the promised to make Afghanistan a country where all people are equal and free. Back then, they made it illegal for girls and women to go to school. If women were found outside of their homes without a male relative as their escort and without wearing a burqua, they were subject to arrest and public flogging. Young women and girls of certain ethnic groups were abducted with government approval and sold into sex slavery. Then there were the targetting massacres of regions or some ethnic groups deemed as enemies of the Islamic state…

The truth is that if we stay there, we will continue to lose troops, and people within the country will be radicalized and become prime candidates for recruitment by terrorist groups. I completely understand that. And I understand that even if everyone plays nice until we exit, bad things will probably start happening all over again.

Trump needs to be able to claim he finally ended the war. You can bet that’s going to be one of the things he loudly congratulates himself on at his next rally and will continue to do so…

But you should also remember, that last summer he was proclaiming that an agreement to withdraw all troops was just around the corner. Then a car bomb killed a bunch of people, including one American serviceman, and Trump walked away from the agreement, and conveniently stopped talking about it…

So, no, I don’t really find anything to feel hopeful about in this mess at all.

Friday Five (schemes and denial edition)

February 28, 2020bloggingfriday, friday five, friday links, links, newsfontfolly

Here we are at the fourth Friday in February! And tomorrow with be the fifth Saturday!

We had another mostly dry week. Some days very cold, some not quite as bad. Meanwhile, the world continues to fall apart. Sometimes I feel like Nero with his fiddle.

Meanwhile, welcome to the Friday Five. This week I bring you: the top five stories of the week, five stories of interest to queers and our allies, five stories about deplorable people, five stories about the deplorable thug occupying the White House, and five videos (plus notable obituaries and some things I wrote).

This Week in the Deplorable Thug Occupying the White House:

WH Moves To Screen Scientists’ Statements On Coronavirus. Should we be surprised given how anti-science this administration is?

Trump’s CDC chief faces increasingly harsh scrutiny – Early missteps on coronavirus, lack of a consistent message make the nation’s disease-fighting agency a focus of criticism.

Trump puts man who enabled Indiana HIV outbreak in charge of coronavirus task force.

Report: US health workers responding to coronavirus quarantine lacked training, protective gear.

Trump’s coronavirus lies: He doesn’t care if his fans get sick.

In Memoriam:

Katherine Johnson, ‘hidden figure’ at NASA during 1960s space race, dies at 101.

Smithsonian Curators Remember Katherine Johnson, NASA Mathematician Highlighted in ‘Hidden Figures,’ Who Died at 101 – An African American woman who battled workplace discrimination, Johnson performed crucial calculations to send astronauts into space.

Barbara Remington, Illustrator of Tolkien Book Covers, Dies at 90.

Things I wrote:

Weekend Update 02/22/2020: Scout’s honor and the price of abuse.

“Stardust City Rag” Begins Quite Bloody and Ends With a Bang, or Picard Goes On a Caper.

Not All Like That, part 3, or, If the Shoe Doesn’t Fit, I Ain’t Talking About You.

Being a discerning reader, part 2: it’s okay to set your own boundaries.

Videos!

Hometown Hospitality With Senator Elizabeth Warren:

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Would LGBTQ Voters Elect Mayor Pete? | The Daily Show:

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MORBIUS – Teaser Trailer:

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Curious – Mike Taveira (Official Music Video):

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Ricky Martin abre Premio Lo Nuestro al interpretar por primera vez en TV el tema ‘Tiburones’ | PL:

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Not All Like That, part 3, or, If the Shoe Doesn’t Fit, I Ain’t Talking About You

February 25, 2020newshaters, nalt, news, people, politics, social mediafontfolly

Sometimes insight into important parts of human behavior and social interaction comes from unexpected places. For instance, because of my father’s work, my childhood was spread over 10 elementary schools in four states: Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Nebraska. It was mostly very small towns where everyone attended church and it often seemed as if football (whether the local school teams, regional college teams, or pro teams) was at least as important as religion. Because the professional football team that was geographically closest to most of the small towns was the Denver Broncos, a lot of the people were Broncos fans.

But not all.

In almost every one of those towns we lived in, we attended a Southern Baptist Church. Because of the origins of the denomination, at least half of every congregation seemed to be people who either had spent their childhood in the South or Former Confederate States, or their parents had been from there. Consequently, there were always some Dallas Cowboys fans.

Now, clearly, no one is obligated to be from the region a team is headquartered to be a fan, but there is at least a correlation.

I can’t recall a time in my childhood where I didn’t consider the Dallas Cowboys a horrible team. I know part of that is because they were one of the least favorite teams of both my dad and my grandpa. But as time went by, my dislike for the team grew stronger, such that I now feel an intense, visceral revulsion when the team is mentioned.

A few years back, a good friend who isn’t much into football (or sports in general), asked me why it was that I hated the Cowboys so much. Beyond saying that the management of the team (at least back when I was kid) was notorious for not taking care of the players, I didn’t have much. I mean, the guy who was general manager of the team for a long time once famously said to the leadership of the player’s union, “You have to understand: we’re ranchers, and you’re cattle. And we can always find more cattle.”

I’m sure he was hardly the only general manager or team owner across the league to feel that way, but he was willing to say it in a public forum, so take from that what you will.

As I was trying to think of some actual logical reasons, the truth finally hit me: over the years I had met (and often been classmates with or students of) a rather large number of Dallas Cowboys fans. And almost every single one of them that I could remember were the most arrogant unfeeling pricks that I had ever known.

Seriously. In a few posts on other subjects I mentioned a pastor (not of the church I was a member of) who was essentially a camp counsellor at Bible camp. He was fond of, if a boy did or said something he didn’t agree with, grabbing their hand and bending it back into a stress position—you know, a move the cops use to put a person much bigger than themselves down on their knees in agony? But he was a big (and I mean big) man, doing this to 11, 12, and 13-year-old boys in his care. And when one us (like me) actually had tears in our eyes because of the pain, he would snap, “Don’t be such a faggot!” Any time he stepped outside at the camp, he was wearing a Dallas Cowboys baseball cap.

That’s when I realized that my hatred for the Cowboys team was fueled entirely by the many, many, many unpleasant experiences I have had interacting with Cowboys fans. And just as a couple years ago Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum said in answer to a question about his opponent, “I didn’t say he is racist, I said that racists believe he is a racist,” sometimes you can judge a person based on the character of people who are his/her biggest fans.

So when, in two different election cycles four years apart, I see among the fans of one specific candidate people who pile on with misogynist and homophobic attacks directed at anyone who expresses skepticism about their candidate, or has the temerity to favor a different candidate, I have to ask myself, “Why do all these hateful people like him so much?”

Weekend Update 02/22/2020: Scout’s honor and the price of abuse

February 22, 2020newsnews, religious wingnuts, rightwing, scoutsfontfolly

It’s time for another post about news which either didn’t make it into this week’s Friday Five, or is an update to a story included in a previous Friday Five or Weekend Update, or is otherwise related to some stories I’ve commented upon previously.

You may have heard that the Boy Scouts have filed for bankruptcy. Depending on where you heard it, you might believe that this is related to plummeting membership since the organization changed its code so that kids won’t be kicked out just for admitting they are gay (in a half measure policy the automatically kicks them out as soon as they turn 18, and makes it very easy to get them excluded for quite flimsy reasons). Because the rightwing anti-gay organizations are all screaming that that is what happened.

That is absolutely not what’s going on.

Scouting membership has not dropped since the rule went into effect in 2014. Both the national organization and local chapters are doing well financially.

The problem is that more than 2700 former scouts have come forward about being sexually abused by scoutmasters for many decades—long, long before anyone was contemplating letting openly gay kids into the organization. Sexual abuse lawsuits against other large organizations who failed to protect kids from sexual predators (such as USA Gymnastics) have resulted in large settlements. The national scouts claim they are filing for bankruptcy in order to set up a victim’s compensation fund and protect the assets of local chapters.

There are a few problems with that: For sexual assault victims and local councils, Boy Scouts’ bankrunptcy poses tough questions – On Wednesday, rival lawyers for Boy Scouts of America and 2,700 alleged victims met in federal court in Delaware. One being that when these kinds of cases get settled in bankruptcy court, victims wind up getting far less money, and the organization can continue to function as before. Whereas the goal of the original lawsuits are to get money to help cover the therapy and related costs the victims have already paid, but also to force the organization to learn from its mistakes.

On the other hand, the news of the bankruptcy bid has prompted more victims to come forward: Boy Scouts bankruptcy bid prompts other sex abuse victims to step forward – One Louisiana man, who kept his abuse ordeal secret for 60 years, reached out to a lawyer Tuesday to tell his story.

As a former scout myself I have a some sympathy for letting the local chapters continue to function. There are a lot of kids in these troops who have a lot to gain from its continued existence. But, as a former scout, I also remember that the Scout Law includes the lines: “Try to help others be happy” and “Do what you think is right despite what others might be doing or saying.”

They now know that thousands of people that were in their care are miserable and traumatized by things that happened to them within their organization. Their lawyers are saying to take this legal tactic that limits the consequences they will face for misdeeds. Other organizations have used the bankruptcy courts in the same way. How can someone who has taken the Scout Oath and studied the Scout Law possibly believe that dodging some of the cost this way is the right thing to do? Is a way to help others be happy?

And I’m hardly the only person asking this question: Did the Boy Scouts violate their own honor code by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy?

The problem is bigger than the Boy Scouts of America. Large institutions, particularly hierarchical organizations tied to the notion of patriarchy, enable abuse. Other parts of the Scout Law urge scouts to obey the rules of their troop, to respect and obey leaders, and to put the needs of others ahead of their own. Those principles can easily be used by manipulative abusers to convince victims that it would be wrong to come forward. If you’re not the victim, your instinct it to protect the organization when you hear any rumors or allegations. If you know and respect the person accused, you’re much more likely to disbelieve the accuser.

And so on.

Religious institutions also attract certain types of people that become abusers. Let’s not forget that the Boy Scouts are a religious organization, the Scout Oath begins, “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law…” One of the reasons that there are so many closeted gay priests and pastors in the most anti-gay churches is that when those priests and pastors were young men struggling with their sexual orientation, they saw doing god’s work as a way to make a bargain: I’ll become a priest, lord, so you can take these feelings away. Similarly, if someone is sexually obsessed with children. Same bargain: I’ll dedicate my life to god, surely he will make these feelings go away?

There is a lot of tragedy in every corner of these messed up situations. But I think it’s most important to focus on the children and young people who were victims of the abusers. The assets of the organization, and the future financial well-being of the organization, should not take a priority.

And to those wingnuts who are trying to make this bankruptcy story somehow the fault of people advocating for the rights of gay kids, how about an organization that is still just as anti-gay as the wingnuts? Harrisburg (PA) Catholic Diocese Declares Bankruptcy After Sex Abuse Lawsuits – In 2018, a Pennsylvania grand jury released a report detailing the abuses that took place in six of the state’s eight dioceses. They published 884 pages of damning information that implicated hundreds of priests.

Exactly.

Friday Five (lying billionaires edition)

February 21, 2020bloggingfriday, friday five, friday links, links, newsfontfolly

Here we are at the third Friday in February!

This week has been mostly dry and sunny here, which means it has also been very, very cold!

Meanwhile, welcome to the Friday Five. This week I bring you: the top five stories of the week, five stories of interest to queers and our allies, five stories about why we don’t need another arrogant billionaire running for president, five stories about the deplorable thug occupying the White House, five stories about other politics, and five videos (plus notable obituaries and some things I wrote).

Stories of the Week:

The Woman Shaking Up the Diamond Industry Finds Yet Another Huge Gem.

Did dinosaur blood run hot or cold? Their eggshells may hold a clue.

Everything I’ve Learnt From Sleeping With Married Men as a Gay Man. “You gotta wonder though: How does he plan to hold on to a full-grown woman who is fully married to him, while also hoping to have a full-blown boyfriend by the side? How does it make sense?”

Bloomberg slammed as ‘arrogant,’ sexist, clueless in contentious Democratic debate debut.

Stop calling far-right terrorists ‘crazy’ – Growing exposure to racist rhetoric and radical ideology, not mental illness, is driving force behind extreme violence.

This Week in News for Queers and Allies:

Justin Fashanu, Britain’s First and Only Out Gay Footballer, to Be Posthumously Inducted in Hall of Fame.

Virginia moves towards banning LGBTQ ‘conversion therapy’ in minors.

U.S. medical schools boost LGBTQ students, doctor training.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear Makes History by Attending LGBT Rally at Capitol.

The Flash’s Rick Cosnett Comes Out as Gay in Sweet Video.

This Week in We Don’t Need to Replace One Arrogant Billionaire with Another:

Bloomberg’s plan to buy the presidency endangers democracy – Even if Bloomberg would be a good president, he’d be a terrible precedent.

Michael Bloomberg’s campaign implodes onstage in Nevada Democratic debate.

Women bound by Bloomberg NDAs want to tell their stories but fear coming forward: report.

Warren Goes After The ‘Billionaire Who Calls Women Fat Broads And Horse-faced Lesbians’ – Senator Warren defined Michael Bloomberg right out of the gate.

Bloomberg Company Data Disputes His Pay Equity Claim At Debate.

This Week in the Deplorable Thug Occupying the White House:

Trump’s Pardons Are Meant To Normalize White-Collar Crime.

Intel officials warned House lawmakers Russia is interfering to get Trump reelected.

Adam Schiff sends signal that a Roger Stone pardon would be another impeachable offense.

Jessica Tarlov Shut Down For Saying Trump Cheated on Wives.

White House Admits That Trump Trade Stance Did Depress Economy.

This Week in Other Politics:

‘Are You Mocking Me?’ Amy Klobuchar Isn’t Just Fighting For The Nomination—She’s Fighting For Her Career.

“There are not any Russian bots operating on here at the moment,” Josh Russell, a disinformation researcher, told The Daily Beast. “It’s basically impossible at this point for them to operate on here. Twitter’s site integrity team has made it real boring for me. I have checked and checked and checked hashtags related to the primaries, and it’s just been really boring so far.”. Bernie and his supporters need to stop hiding behind the Russian Bot lie.

Mulvaney says U.S. is ‘desperate’ for more legal immigrants.

Christian right leader: Straight people who have oral sex have adopted ‘homosexual sex practices’ .

Roger Stone sentenced to 3 years for lying, witness tampering as case roils DOJ.