Not Elections, Not Trump

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I don’t want to talk about the midterms until they are over. I don’t want to complain about Trump. What else is there to say about Trump? So what else is in the news?

Anti-vaxxers. I genuinely hate anti-vaxxers. I see that anti-vaccine billboards are popping up in several states. Who is paying for this? It suggests some kind of organized movement, not just crazy people on Facebook. Somebody must be making money on anti-vaxx propaganda, but I haven’t figured out how or who. Now there’s a nasty measles outbreak in Europe that could spread here.

Venice is flooding, and it appears the city government is too corrupt to deal with it.

This investigative report into rot in the Little Rock Police Department is disturbing but not surprising.

Why I miss Halloween in New York. Hey, maybe the mystery mandarin duck in Central Park is a mallard in disguise?

 

 

 

 

 

26 thoughts on “Not Elections, Not Trump”

  1. Everybody says “just the flu”. I spent 4 days on my back with a dangerously high fever when I got the flu in the late nineties. Before that, I never much thought about the flu (though I have always been diligent on tetanus, polio, measles etc). Let us just say, the flu vaccine has since been on my list of things to diligently seek out every year.

  2. " I don’t want to talk about the midterms until they are over "

    Yeah it gets a bit stressful, I'm going to try to avoid too much election stuff as well for a few days, it's not an easy thing to do. On a brighter note remember that wapo reporter, Khashoggi, well it turns out his family won't have to go through the trouble of a burial, turns out the Saudi' already took care of that. Something about some bad Acid!

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-46070087

  4. I see that anti-vaccine billboards are popping up in several states. Who is paying for this?

    Maybe the Russians.

  5. I can't relax until I vote on Tuesday, and see the results in the following day(s) (weeks, months).

    And then, I have lots and lots of books sitting there, unread.

  7. I understand that you are tired talking about the midterms, but I tell you what…you know my husband was just buried October 12 and there is so much I need to do – but I had not changed my voting registration to Nashville yet.  Because of GA repub Kemp’s history and my French name always being misspelled I was afraid my vote would be held up. So last Sunday I drove from Nashville to Atlanta so I could early vote last Monday, and I did.  Voilà! Democrat all the way y’all !

  8. https://www.learntherisk.org/about/

    If you look at the bottom of the right hand column—About the founder — you'll notice that she hawks her cause and raises her funds on sites like infowars and other christian fundamentalist conspiracy mother earth liberty sites. She's found herself a lucrative niche among the believers. Hey, if it pays the bills and isn't state sponsored, more power to her. Billboards are cheaper than airtime.

    • Swami and JDM — What the billboard buyer is doing shouldn’t be considered protected speech; it’s equivalent to shouting fire in a crowded theater. Arguably she could be prosecuted, but of course a right-wing prosecutor would never do it.

  9. You mean, "if it pays the bills and it isn't state-sponsored, more power to her and who cares that it kills people".  Not nice.

  10. Vagabonde: Thank You! That is some serious patriotism! My polling place is about 1000 ft. from my front door. I'd like to think I'd drive 250 miles to vote, thankfully you did!

    Swami: the woman that runs that site comes off as a bit of a kook? I didn't spend too much time on the site (sanity and all). She blames the "heavy metals" and "toxic substances" in vaccines for all our ills. I wonder if she's a proponent of environmental regulations? My experience as a region rat (northwest Indiana) is that most health problems around here can be traced to the steel mills, refinery's, coal fired power plants, etc. To me the anti-vaxxers are the worst, they prey on peoples basic instinct to protect their infant children, pretty f#cking despicable!

  12. Vagabonde, two thumbs up.

    Drug ads (and I assume anti-vaccine ads) are prohibited in all but a few countries probably for very good reasons.  Considering our health ranking as a country and the amount we spend on health care are we on the right track?  This is a question for the court of public opinion in my judgement, but the question of contagious disease vaccination safety is one for competent dedicated professionals with ethics.  Unfortunately quacks come from more than beautiful ducks in Central Park.  The right to send your kid to school without fear of exposure to a "Typhoid Mary" is the larger right here me thinks.  

    • Bernie — Every time I see a drug ad on television I think about how much money our health care system wastes on crap like that.

  13. Drug ads, they basically fund the cable news channels, they have an ad for every obscure ailment, I saw one for bent p#nis syndrome, who knew? Every one has a long list of side effects that they rip off while distracting you with swaying wheat fields, colorful flowers and happy shiny people holding hands. My favorite side effect is the all to common; "flu like symptoms and sores"! Does anyone really think that the large media corporations that profit from these ridiculous ads would actually do a story on how the ads increase drug and healthcare costs, endanger public health? I doubt it.

  15. A retired high school biology teacher suspected one TV ad for a drug touted to improve short term memory was bogus.  The ad proudly states the drug was derived from jellyfish.  The retired biology teacher (who had spent many hours with students dissecting jellyfish) pointed out that jellyfish essentially have no brain, hence doubt.  Not a totally tight point but it amused me.

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  16. Bernie, I know what brain ad you’re talking about, it saturates the evening TV.  Because of my late husband’s Alzheimer’s I asked the top Emory brain specialist about it.  He said no neurologist prescribes it, it’s absolutely bogus and worthless with some bad side effects.  New York has a suit against the company but it is cheaper for them to pay any fine than to stop the ads when many naive Americans buy it.  

    • I’m always skeptical of health food claims. I remember back when the health foodies said to buy ginseng pills because they would improve your memory. So I bought some ginseng pills, but I kept forgetting to take them. Quackery!

  17. Vagabonde, I spent a bit of time following up on the medicinal jellyfish product and was shocked.  Thanks for the heads up.  I will tell the retired biology teacher his insight seems validated.  He will be delighted.

  18. When I worked as a nurse, I did some research on drug companies.  What I found is that they spend more on advertising than on research and development.  The costs are passed on in drug prices.  As for all the ads on TV, I get tired of hearing about people's private parts, bodily functions and looking at people's mouths. (toothpaste and rinses)  Wish we could ban drug ads on TV, radio and everywhere.  Of course I would like no ads at all.  They are annoying.

     

     

  19. Well, if you buy that stuff, your brain has probably already turned to jelly. In that case, it may help. 😉

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