Vaccine angst because the people who want it most are the least likely to qualify?

by philg

Among the middle-aged, the folks I know who are most afraid of COVID-19 are the least likely to have received it. I wonder if this is why we hear so much about people who are upset by the government-run vaccine programs (the same folks, of course, want the government to take over additional sectors of the economy).

One 40ish friend lives in Southern California, sends children to an in-person private school (public schools are closed, of course), and is a lockdown denier. Rather than wait in his bunker for an army of Latinx essential workers to deliver what he needs, he has been a habitual in-person Walgreen’s shopper during our year (so far) of “14 days to flatten the curve”. He left his phone number for the pharmacists in case they had any extra vaccine doses, received a call the next afternoon, and had a shot 30 minutes later. Friends who stayed in their bunkers clutching N95 masks? They got maxed out web sites, infinite hold times on phone calls, and no vaccine.

A friend in his 30s regularly attends in-person social gatherings. His circle of irresponsible Covid-spreaders includes a dentist. The dentist called him in January and said “I made an appointment for you to get a vaccine. Show up tomorrow at 11 am.” He did and he is now vaccinated.

Friends who have been volunteering for various charitable organizations, accepting the coronarisk of various in-person programs, have all been vaccinated as “essential workers” or “first responders” or similar. Friends who’ve been cowering while denouncing Trump on Facebook? No vaccine for them because they don’t fit any favored category.

Has this been a cruel twist of fate?

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Will vaccine imposter become a career option?

by philg

Consider the young American who doesn’t wish to become a test subject for a vaccine whose own manufacturer characterizes it as “investigational”. He/she/ze/they will still have all of the freedoms guaranteed to him/her/zir/them under the Constitution. It is simply that he/she/ze/they will not be able to work, leave the house, go into a store, get on a commercial airliner, eat at a restaurant, check into a hotel, etc.

From a vaccine-skeptical reader:

I’ve been thinking, since I now walk around in a Joe Biden sized mask, safety goggles and a winter hat, how easy it would be to find someone to take the vaccine on my behalf?

Vaccination sites can’t demand identification (“documentation”) because otherwise America’s 22 million (or maybe 29 million) undocumented wouldn’t be able to get vaccines.

Why wouldn’t it be practical to pay someone to get an additional vaccine and take home a vaccination certificate in an arbitrarily selected name? In fact, folks who are most enthusiastic about vaccines might be delighted to do this for a small cash payment. If two shots are good, maybe three or four shots are better. If there is some immunity from Moderna, why not add additional immunity from J&J?

What about requiring RFID chips as well? See Human RFID chips for coronaplague contact tracing can also sense temperature and #Science proves that I was right (about the need for RFID chips in humans for COVID-19 surveillance) and RFID chips in the necks of college students. If not already present, the RFID chip is inserted along with the first dose of vaccine. Then we can be sure that the person who claims to be vaccinated is actually the same person who was injected.

Leo and Mindy the Crippler seem happy with their chips:

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Californians: Walk over to the local vaccine clinic and get your shot

by philg

In order to get a shot that he did not need, a healthy slender fit work-from-home 32-year-old whom I know volunteered for 8 hours at a vaccine clinic in northern California. “People are supposed to have appointments,” he said, “and prove this by coming with a printout. But nobody checks because we had no way to look up anyone’s name or what appointments had been booked. Everyone who said ‘I don’t have a printer’ got a shot.” Did young-looking people have to bring proof of conditions or status in order to get shots? “No,” he replied. “Restaurant workers qualify, so you might think that a pay stub should be required, but unemployed restaurant workers also qualify and they can’t be expected to have a pay stub since they’re not getting paid.” Anyone who identifies as an unemployed restaurant worker with an appointment, even if showing up with no documentation, will get a shot.

The work-from-home Shutdown Karen featured blaming “Latinos” in Assumption that masks are effective leads to conclusion that people of color are responsible for coronaplague went down the hill from his all-white enclave into Oakland to the vaccine clinic set up to ensure that “communities of color” get shots. He and his wife are in their 50s and reasonably fit. They were seeking afternoon leftover shots and found that the clinic was undersubscribed and happy to inject them. They then asked if their college-age and high-school-age children could come the next day. Appointments were made for these not-at-risk cower-at-home individuals as well. Nobody in the household has any reason to leave the house nor to be concerned about COVID-19 and yet all are now vaccinated.

It seems that the only Californians who can’t get shots are those who wish to follow the state’s elaborate guidelines and procedures.

Here’s my personal nominee for someone who should get a shot. A Samoyed is depending on her! (or was depending on her back in 2004 when I took the photo)

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Dr. Seuss’s racist breakout work

by philg

“Dr. Seuss Enterprises Will Shelve 6 Books, Citing ‘Hurtful’ Portrayals” (NPR):

First published in 1937, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street is the book that propelled Theodor Seuss Geisel’s career to new heights, as he pivoted from working in advertising to writing children’s books as Dr. Seuss.

Where can one find this work? Not in the local public library or eBay, but maybe on Amazon for $125+. The PDF is available from libgen. The page that NPR characterized as “racist”:

“a character described as Chinese has two lines for eyes, carries chopsticks and a bowl of rice, and wears traditional Japanese-style shoes.”

Related:

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Trump v. Biden in the New York Times

by philg

March 1, 2021. “Trump” occurs 7 times on the nytimes.com home page.

What’s the relative importance of the person who actually occupies the White House? “Biden” occurs once:

Separately, the paper tells us how much money a U.S. senator can reasonably expect to accumulate via “public service”:

Warren plans to introduce a wealth tax for individuals with a net worth of over $50 million.

Related:

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Year 2 AC: Public versus private sector jobs

by philg

I’ve been referring to everything that happened prior to March 2020 as “BC” (Before Corona, not to be confused with “BCE” for years prior to Jesus’s birth). We’re just beginning Year 2 “AC”, therefore. Public sector workers have been mostly relaxing at home for a year, still drawing full paychecks, e.g., Boston Public School teachers. Should one of these folks fall ill due to COVID-19 or any other cause, he/she/ze/they will be paid via disability insurance.

What’s it like in the private sector? A housecleaner I know had to continue working, accepting whatever risk of COVID-19 was entailed, if she wanted to be paid. She’s around 60 years old and therefore has more age-related COIVD-19 risk than the average public sector worker (many of whom are eligible to retire at 50 or younger). She recently suffered a fall on a narrow staircase in a Beacon Hill home (these structures are fully compliant with all building and safety codes… of the early 1800s; see “For $20.5 million, Beacon Hill town house next to John Kerry” for an example) and broke both radius bones in her forearms. She’s unable to work, of course, and won’t be receiving payments from a disability policy. She’s expected to recover and has a lot of support from family (Brazilian immigrants), but the story made me reflect on the precariousness of a lot of folks’ existence.

(The teachers aren’t “relaxing at home,” you say, because they have to be present on Zoom for some hours each week? While down in Florida in January, I met a Massachusetts public school system employee nearing full retirement (early 60s). She didn’t enjoy being on Zoom so she began to use the months of sick leave she’d accumulated over the years. “It will run out by next fall,” she explained, “but the union says that I’ll be able to use days from the sick bank until I’m eligible for maximum retirement benefits in November.” In other words, she will have been paid in full for 1.5 years without having to get closer to the Massachusetts school than Florida and without having to appear on Zoom.)

Now that economic opportunities exist only when governors give permission, is it more important than ever to prepare young people for careers as government workers?

Loosely related, from February 19, 2021 in Waltham, Massachusetts:

We still have plenty of opioids for anyone who is depressed about losing a private sector job!

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Facebook fact check

by philg

A Floridian’s Facebook post today, updated for her by Facebook’s team of scientific experts:

(Disclaimer: I was not one of the Deplorables who “liked” this post!)

Facebook implies that COVID-19 vaccines are “approved“. As noted in We love our children so much we will give them an investigational vaccine, the manufacturers themselves are careful to disclose that their products are not approved. Moderna, for example, says “The Moderna COVID‑19 Vaccine has not been approved or licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) … There is no FDA-approved vaccine to prevent COVID‑19.” and that the vaccine is “investigational”:

What does Johnson and Johnson say? “The Janssen COVID-19 vaccine has not been approved or licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), … There is no FDA-approved vaccine to prevent COVID-19.”

How about Pfizer? “The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has not been approved or licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but has been authorized for emergency use by FDA under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to prevent Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) for use in individuals 16 years of age and older. The emergency use of this product is only authorized for the duration of the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of emergency use of the medical product under Section 564(b)(1) of the FD&C Act unless the declaration is terminated or authorization revoked sooner.”

Related:

  • “Fact Check: Did India Ban the Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine?” (Newsweek): Conspiracy theory website Infowars claimed on February 14, 2021, that India had banned the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine due to safety concerns. … On February 3, 2021, India’s Subject Expert Committee (SEC), a panel that advises the nation’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), a national regulatory body focused on pharmaceuticals and devices, ruled that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine should not be recommended for an EUA in the country “at this stage.” … India has not banned the Pfizer vaccine. However, it has turned down its request for an emergency use authorization “at this stage.” … The Ruling: Mostly False. [I.e., the vaccine is not “banned” in India; it is simply illegal to inject]
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Do we need neutral and reliable credential tests for high school and college graduates?

by philg

Coronapanic has shut down America’s schools and/or turned them into pale online shadows of their former selves. It is now exactly one year since unionized public schools in Maskachusetts shut down, for example, and they’re not back to fully open. Many colleges remain shut.

Our MIT ground school moved from a three-day in-person class to a five-day online class. We have an objective measurement of student learning: the FAA knowledge test and/or the practice tests offered by companies such as King. Educational outcomes as measured by these tests were lower compared to when the class was in person. Apparently it is not compelling to stare at a screen for hour after hours.

Given that nobody can tell who has learned what anymore, could this be the time to develop and market neutral third-party assessments. From “Universities and Economic Growth”:

I once asked a group of professors at Makerere University in Uganda “How come more people fail the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer test than your most advanced computer science course?” It would seem that the answer is that the MCSE, which tests the ability to do basic Windows administration, is graded by an impartial computer system.

For young people who want to prove that, contrary to appearances, they actually learned something during the Age of Panic and Shutdown, why not a test of the stuff that high schools and/or colleges are supposed to teach?

For high schools, I guess one could argue that we already have AP tests. But not every high school student takes AP classes. The book Academically Adrift describes the use of the Collegiate Learning Assessment. New York State has the Regents exams. Perhaps these could be adapted for nationwide use?

Readers: What do you think? Has the shutdown produced enough uncertainty that this old idea can thrive?

The Southside elementary school in Sarasota, which my local source says is the place that you’d want your kids to go (NYT says Florida schools are generally more effective than the U.S. average).

Will there be a nationwide high school achievement test in place by the time these 5th graders get their diplomas?

Related:

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The mostly-non-white liberal arts college in Maine

by philg

We received a copy of Bowdoin magazine, the official publication of the liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine featured in these aerial photos. I emailed the intended recipient, an alumna of this $72,000/year school:

From reading your alumni magazine and looking at the photos, I learned that Bowdoin has 0% white male students, graduates, and faculty.

The front and back covers:

There is a white person among the illustrator’s conception of students at elite schools, but the gender ID is unclear (big earring in one ear; female fashion model-style legs?):

No better place to learn about Africa than the central Maine coast:

Choosing to live in an all-white state means that you can “fight for [racial inequity] causes” by putting a sign on your lawn (text at top left):

From a student who has some ancestry from India:

(Her parents might be hoping that she isn’t able to deliver on her “progressive” goals, at least with respect to taxation. Indian-Americans have a median household income that is 2X what white Americans earn.)

A professor writes about Willie Horton:

Anthony Walton, Bowdoin professor:

Hide in home bunker from COVID-19. Watch direct deposit paychecks pile up.

His self-designated doppelganger, from Wikipedia:

William R. Horton (born August 12, 1951) is an American convicted felon who, while serving a life sentence for murder (without the possibility of parole), was the beneficiary of a Massachusetts weekend furlough program. He did not return from his furlough, and ultimately committed assault, armed robbery, and rape before being captured and sentenced in Maryland where he remains incarcerated.

What else is in here? Alumni created a “beer celebrating racial justice” (but where does racial justice exist?). “Maine outlawed racial slurs as place names in 1977,” but five Maine islands were only renamed in 2020 (43 years after the law was passed). “In 2019, Maine passed a law banning Native American mascots” (e.g., a school with a sports team named after a tribe).

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