Tag: public health

On Who’s Authority? Perverse Personal Politics and the Autocratic Attempt

August 20, 2021

I just do not know where these state governors get the idea that they can “ban” municipal and other local authorities from helping their people. What gives the Texas governor the right to prevent the Lina Hidalgo, the County Judge who oversees Harris County, which includes Texas’ biggest city, Houston, from establishing procedures to improve … More On Who’s Authority? Perverse Personal Politics and the Autocratic Attempt

Mask over Civility: The Indifference of Americans to Public Health

March 2, 2021

Last Saturday we decided to take a hike in the beautiful Frijoles Canyon of the Bandelier National Monument near Los Alamos National Laboratory “up the hill” from Santa Fe. I had not experienced the pandemic claustrophobia that has caused so much anxiety; I guess I was just too busy. Anyway, it was a lovely cool … More Mask over Civility: The Indifference of Americans to Public Health

Is “Herd Immunity” actually “Culling the Herd”?

October 27, 2020

The Trumpist anti-science strategy for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic is eminently and notoriously political. Of course, the virus has no politics, except for its strategy for self-replication and spread. It is a biological empire of death. At the same time, most folks who are paying attention know that a significant history exists of effective … More Is “Herd Immunity” actually “Culling the Herd”?

A New Meaning for “States Rights”: Community Sovereignty for Health and Safety

August 3, 2020

Most of us remember at least vaguely the constitutional admonition that any authority it does not explicitly assign to the federal government, “are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” (Amendment X, to the Constitution of the United States of America) We also remember how southern politicians weaponized the principle of “states rights” … More A New Meaning for “States Rights”: Community Sovereignty for Health and Safety

Tyranny vs Leadership: Authoritarian Exploitation or Mutual Aid for Survival

July 27, 2020

How to manage a societal crisis: that is the question. Or, is it a question at all? Why is it so difficult for a society of ostensibly free people to work together to make life better? To be accurate, we humans are in quite a pickle these days. With looming climate chaos before us, we … More Tyranny vs Leadership: Authoritarian Exploitation or Mutual Aid for Survival

To Mask Or Not to Mask: That is NOT the Question

July 13, 2020

At first, the “great debate” over whether people ought to be required to wear a protective facemask in public or maintain “social distance” in the interests of public health as the COVID-19 pandemic surges across the nation, surprised me. It should not have. The controversy is not really about facemasks or public safety. It is … More To Mask Or Not to Mask: That is NOT the Question

Misunderstanding Police: Transformation, Not Mere Reform

July 6, 2020

Recent calls to “defund the police” miss the point, yet they point to something important to both the public and police themselves. More than anything, such demands express the frustration that comes on the heels of not only the recent police killings but in response to decades of attempting to reform police institutions to purge … More Misunderstanding Police: Transformation, Not Mere Reform

Public Renaissance: What Ebola, Ferguson, and Finance Can Tell Us

October 11, 2014

Public concern over the possible spread of the Ebola virus epidemic from West Africa to the U.S. is growing. While the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is taking various precautions, the situation is nevertheless of sufficient complexity to warrant concern. The outrage over the police killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown continues as a … More Public Renaissance: What Ebola, Ferguson, and Finance Can Tell Us