They don’t want to spend any money on peasant’s healthcare and they don’t care if they kill us. All of congress and their families get vaccines. I had Covid before we knew what it was and I was terribly sick for over a month. Frightening anti-science times we live in driven by greed and the general ignorance of our population.
It's more pro-man-owns-the-fetus. What really upsets conservatives seems to be when women choose abortion instead of waiting for the father to order them to get one.
Republicans pander to the preachers, who appear to view science the way they views their religious beliefs. Science is evidently something you believe in, and if you don't believe in it, it goes away. They could not be more wrong. Science doesn't care whether you believe it or not, it's still true. No discovery of science ever pointed to the truth of any religious doctrine. Ignore religion at your leisure, ignore science at your peril.
The amount of science – solid-state physics, physical chemistry, electronics, and quantum physics – tied up in a cell phone boggles ME, and I'm a retired electrical engineer!
NASA engineers sent men to the moon with less computing power than I hold in my hand, much less what I have in my house (and that doesn't include the stuff I haven't recycled yet)
Very true. No real operating system. Programs "written" with hard-wiring and storage in KILOBYTES instead of gigabytes or terabytes. Back then, failure was not an option, to paraphrase Gene Kranz.
These days, Elon Musk sends up Starships that explode as often (or MORE!) than they fly successfully, and he just throws money at it until he gets the result he wants.
Even science has gotten lazy in places, and that ain't good.
I suspect NASA "bang-for-the-buck" seriously undercuts every other branch of government and if they'd quit outsourcing costs would likely go down by 30-50%
NASA sent people to the moon and back during the last century. In the 21st century NASA role is to explain to goddamm fucking stupid inbred MAGAS that the earth is not flat and the moon is not made of fucking cheese. What a step down for NASA and the sciences!
I was told by a Christian that using a smart phone is not science, but technology. This goddamm fucking idiot Christian doesn’t realize or is too stupid to realize that SCIENCE is the bases of technology.
RELIGION ROTS THE MIND, MAKES PEOPLE EXTREMELY STUPID AND GULLIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's not so much cherry-picking which scientific fields they accept. There is scientific knowledge from every discipline that they reject. It's more a refusal to understand how science works and a blind acceptance of the science that they directly perceive the benefits from. Smartphones? GPS? Doctors and hospitals when they are sick or injured? They accept those things, saying that proves they aren't anti-science. The underlying science showing how all of that works, and how it can be used to prevent illness and advance our understanding of the world? Can't accept that, because then it's someone telling them what to do, and it doesn't line up with their interpretation of the Bible.
They are culling the herd. Getting rid of genetic strains of Luddites. While many are decrying the use of vaccines, they and their families are often fully vaccinated.
If both science and religion had to start all over again, religion would be different because it would be MADE UP by different huxters. Science would be the same.
“I’ve done tons of research on this issue because of my grandson,” Borders said. “I would say that my study on these issues would equal that of many people in the medical field.”
-watched youtube conspiracy videos made by people who failed high school biology.
One of the reasons, the United States maintained a technological lead over most of the world is because we were able to recruit and take the best and the brightest from around the world. Now the brain drain is going to flow on the other direction. Where Russia is today, is were we will be in ten years.
Won’t take as long as ten years considering how much money is being slashed from science programs/departments that need science.
Interesting that the defence industry funding has increase; the only science allowed in the Christian fascist/nationalist country is on how science can be used to kill even more people (especially those people they hate).
Rejecting vaccines is a natural progression from rejecting evolution. Reject evolution and it's easier to reject germ theory and any other knowledge about how medical science works. Using the bogus autism-vaccine connection (made by a defrocked doctor in one flawed study with more authors than subjects) and there is the fear that can fuel the "you can't tell ME what to do" attitude so many of these selfish people have. They don't want to learn anything about reality when they have been conditioned to accept nonsense. Any problems they have they want to find someone or something to blame, even if there really is no one and nothing. They have an autistic child, and instead of learning how to help that child and understanding that it is just part of normal human variation, they want to blame something for breaking their child. And thus, the NSGOP takes that narrative to help consolidate power, even when an individual Republican might actually accept the science. And because of the particular religious strain of their conservatism, they deny the biological reality of the LGBTQ community, because their holy book tells them to hate.
They deny physics, specifically climate change, because they don't care about the environment, they only care about the deep pockets of the fossil fuel industry funding their campaigns and their lifestyles.
People are currently dying directly because of this narrative pushed by the Regime. The blood is on the hands of Trump, Vance, RFKJr, and all the rest of them. Vote them out.
The Redical Right, also known as the Redublican Potty, errr, umm party, has been running the red states for the last 50 or 60 years, ever since Richard Nixon decided that he could use racism to help himself and Republicans get power. The Christian right, a veritable volcano of vileness ignorance, has attached itself to the Republicans ever since Anita Bryant raised her well-coiffed reptilian snout above the Florida swamp in 1977.
Ever since that time, the red state, especially those in the deep south, have tended to rate the lowest on virtually every measure of social health and well-being, especially things like health, education, women’s rights, gay rights, teenage pregnancy, maternal mortality, infant mortality, and on and on and on and on. They have also supplied a good many of the current crop of horrors known as the Trump cabinet and Trump administration.
The people of the red states as far as I can tell have failed to notice that 50 or 60 years of Republican administration has done absolutely nothing for them, except to denigrate their fellow citizens, science, liberalism, and measures of social well-being. The data isn’t neatly and clearly and ideologically divided, with all red states doing poorly and all states doing well, but it was overwhelmingly tending in that direction.
And they continue to vote and vote and vote for people who won’t educate their children, keep the population healthy, raise the poverty levels and on and on and on and on. The Republicans have managed to convince them that two guys they don’t know getting married in New York is far more important than the farm bill That they will write which causes those farmers to lose their farms, or the immigration policies that deprive them of the workers who will take care of doing the work on their farms, which also causes them to lose their farms, to be picked up for pennies on the dollar by the very people that they are electing or think represent them.
This isn’t an isolated observation. I read a study a few years ago which showed that virtually every very religious country fares far worse on virtually every measure of social health and well-being.
So what can be done about it? I have no idea. As long as you can convince a farmer in Iowa that transgender people are a threat, or a baptist in Texas that gay marriage threatens his marriage, or a fundamentalist in Louisiana that all his problems will be solved if the 10 Commandments are posted in their classrooms…
They will continue to vote for their own misery. And if their kids die because of anti-VAX nonsense, they’ll find a way to blame those woke people who want to save their lives for them. We saw this during the Covid pandemic, over and over and over. If their pastors continue to molest their kids, they’ll find a way to blame public school teachers— I had an experience with that just yesterday on Huffpost— or gay people, or atheists.
that is what LBJ was talking about when he said: “I’ll tell you what’s at the bottom of it. If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.” You can substitute Christian for white and Muslim or atheist for colored, or heterosexual for white and gay or transgender for colored, or man for white and woman for colored, and it will continue to be true.
I don’t have an answer for it. I wish I did. But it won’t be over until either we’re all dead, or these idiots who “do their own research” are dead.
The shift from Democratic to Republican parties began with the desegregation of schools in the south. The Southern Baptist Church, an off shoot created with the express purpose of supporting slavery, started providing a multitude of private schools to continue the indoctrination of white children into their racist theology.
Yep. Happened in my own hometown back in 1970. Would have been sooner, but it was a poor rural county (still is, maybe even worse now) and they had a hell of of a time raising enough money to open up an old school building that had been closed for a number of years, and they had to bring it up to code. Meanwhile the county dragged its feet for a few years re: desegregation, long enough for this to happen.
Here's the thing... Trump supporters don't measure his success for what he does FOR them, it's measured by what he does AGAINST people they don't like. That's why they see him as being "successful". They will never abandon him because his hatred of others sustains them.
Part of the problem is by the time the evidence proved something was harmful, businesses had been using it for years. Lead pipes are a good example. People remember when "science" was wrong or too slow, not all the things that scientists have gotten right in our every day life, plus the FUD spread about climate change over the last 3+ decades by those with a vested interest in making sure we stay dependent on oil and gas. And science education has failed at least one generation.
I think part of the problem is education focuses on theory without explaining application or explain application without connecting to theory. I resented my Computer Science classes because they were all theoretical and it felt like I was learning more at work, because I could immediately apply it. But after 30 years, I've realized knowing how it *should* work allows for correct anticipation of how it *does* work most of the time.
Another example is elementary math and algebra. In elementary school they teach you a rote technique for multiplying multi-digit numbers, but when you get to algebra and they try to teach you the distributive property, they don't tell you that what you learned in elementary school is just the distributive property in a different notation.
You see this in science class and science fairs, where they don't emphasize the scientific method and the value of research. It begins with education and incomplete curricula.
They teach the distributive property in elementary school, along with the 'just do the math' heuristics that are simpler.
I'm all in favor of teaching critical thinking, but I don't think it has much to do with this particular trend. IMO we are here because Trump opened the door to cranks getting into real political power. Those cranks have always been there, but earlier conservatives just shut them out. I don't think we are here because millennials or gen-zs or even 50- and 60-something gen-xers are crankier than people used to be in the 90s, 80s, 70s etc., and certainly not due to some change in elementary math and science curricula. As a parent, I'd say those have generally gotten better than what I went through, not worse.
Don't underestimate the power of a demagogue. He's turned the entire direction of American conservativism on his own, far more than Reagan ever did, and a lot of conservatives now are stuck in the position of support policies they don't want or lose their jobs, careers, power, etc... Yes I know, "oh boo hoo, have a spine and stand up to him" is what we want to say. I hope many more of them do as his 2nd term wanes. But that's the problem with powerful cults of personality, it's very difficult to do so, and it's not just about blaming the followers for following, it's recognizing that such figures are dangerous precisely because they are very skilled at getting otherwise normal people to go along with their crazy sh**.
My once cool and cozy start-up doctor’s office One Medical got bought up by you guessed it…Amazon. It doesn’t take much to connect the dots as to why when I received my flu shot and asked about the Covid shot, I got the run around. Sad times. Let all the anti-science self righteous religious folks and wellness gurus die off if they want to, but leave me the fuck alone!
Covid shots are no longer automatically covered by the government (big surprise) unless you're in one of the high risk groups like me (which is a surprise)
To show the insanity of Republicans, Texas requires all healthcare workers to provide proof they got the flu shot every fall or wear a mask at all times throughout the season if they get an exemption. But Texas enacted laws preventing employers, including in the healthcare industry, from requiring COVID shots.
I’m pretty sure I’m in a few high risk categories. I’m just annoyed that now I need proof and evidence to get a simple Covid shot with my expensive insurance. It didn’t have to be that way. I want the anti-science fucks to leave my healthcare and bodily autonomy alone, especially the Texas murderers. They forgot about the “mind your business” coin 🪙
That's what I've been thinking for a while. I hate to think of all the stuff I ordered over the years, enriching that asshole Bezos before I even know who he was.
A couple months ago, I got the first shingles shot. I recently went to the dr to check on some skin irritations (incredibly itchy, blistering, red skin and swelling, similar to herpes) on my arm and legs (a past one inside my belly button) thinking it might be shingles. He said it must be an allergic dermatitis reaction to something, possibly bug bites (which was what I originally thought they were but I had never blistered like that from insects or spiders before). Anyway we discussed the second round of shingles and he said I should also get the flu and Covid booster, after the skin clears up in a month.
I got my first shingles shot (and the pneumonia) on tuesday. I've never had any issues with shots. One or both laid me out. My arm started off a little sore, but by the end of the day, everything hurt. Slept most of yesterday morning and all seems to be back to normal.
Shingles shots were the only vaccines I ever had a hard time with, pain all over especially in my jaw. I could barely open my mouth to eat. Usually the worst I get is a vaguely sore arm. Got my flu shot today, Covid19 a couple of weeks ago.
So I have a funny story centered on how stupid I can be. I had shingles but didn’t recognize it for what it was. I went to an urgent care. Doc looked at my symptoms for 3 seconds and said, “Shingles.” I said, “Impossible! I eat or drink citrus almost every day!” He was struck dumb for at least 30 seconds. Maybe even 60 seconds. Then he said, “Um, are you thinking of scurvy?” In as kind of a tone as he could.
I got what needed last time I visited my doctor. I visit my doctor quite often, so I stopped paying my part in July. We have something called public health care here (Norway). There is a cap on how much you pay during a year.
And too many of them refuse to even look at long term consequences because the expect the world to end any minute now, so they don't believe there even is a long term.
“I’ve done tons of research on this issue because of my grandson,” Borders said. “I would say that my study on these issues would equal that of many people in the medical field.”
I googled Samoa and texass for 5 minutes. Do I need to write my conclusion ?
The best way to cure a headache is to find an ice covered lake. Then you jump into it and dive as far down as possible. Trust me, your headache will be gone.
This is a great point, and while I would guess those of us regularly on this board knew it, the reminder is good to see.
What bothers me about this article is that we aren't really hearing much about this in the mainstream media for the most part. In the US right now, there's been an outbreak of measles, but how often do we hear about it on the news, really? This is a major warning sign, but it's going under reported thanks to a combination of Trump distractions, major media sources kowtowing to the current administration, and little government tracking. Right now, the CDC website still carries information on the issue (at https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html) but that could easily change. There's been measles deaths in 2025, which was news to me today, and should have received far more attention than it did even though it was just a few. The current vaccination rates are now low enough to preclude the herd immunity of the past.
The US will be paying for this administration for generations to come as people die from the anti-science it's pushing. Trump's destruction of the White House in the name of his ego is a symbol of his plans for the nation itself.
The point isn't to make America better, but keep the wealthy wealthy. If given the choice between giving up some power and having the country thrive versus maintaining their maximum wealth while the rest of the country turns to shit. The Republican party and the wealthy will take the latter option every single time.
Yes, to state the obvious, a part from those who vote for them, because they are owned by the very wealthy. Hence, Pottersville Nth America is a plutocracy not a democracy.
I thought the GQP was pro-life. What a fool I was.
Should be obvious by now that the know-nothings on the red side of the aisle are actively trying to kill us.
They're pro forced-birth and controlling women any way they can.
They're eugenicists.
Whoever lives is fit. Whoever doesn't is not.
Supporting that makes them evil.
I know you are snarking in your first sentence. We all know they were never pro-life.
Most definitely snark. I was so confidant that people would grok that I left off the :S emoticon.
They don’t want to spend any money on peasant’s healthcare and they don’t care if they kill us. All of congress and their families get vaccines. I had Covid before we knew what it was and I was terribly sick for over a month. Frightening anti-science times we live in driven by greed and the general ignorance of our population.
They miss slavery, a time when they can dictate whatever the peasants are allowed to do or not to do.
It's more pro-man-owns-the-fetus. What really upsets conservatives seems to be when women choose abortion instead of waiting for the father to order them to get one.
Man owns fetus, man owns woman, man owns lesser men, man stands on top of the pecking order and does as he pleases.
That's their fever dream, and they are working hard at attaining it.
https://youtu.be/IkicdtDLm8Y
It's pro-their-life.
Republicans pander to the preachers, who appear to view science the way they views their religious beliefs. Science is evidently something you believe in, and if you don't believe in it, it goes away. They could not be more wrong. Science doesn't care whether you believe it or not, it's still true. No discovery of science ever pointed to the truth of any religious doctrine. Ignore religion at your leisure, ignore science at your peril.
“Ignore religion at your leisure, ignore science at your peril.”
Excellent.
Oh, I like the HELL outta THAT!
There was a time -- and there are still places today -- where ignoring religion could lead to arrest, torture and even a dead penalty.
𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑡, 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑔𝑜 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦.
-- Philip K. Dick
And it's not all the scientific fields. It's another example of cherry picking.
There are few things I find more ironic than the sight of science denying fundamentalist using a smart phone.
The amount of science – solid-state physics, physical chemistry, electronics, and quantum physics – tied up in a cell phone boggles ME, and I'm a retired electrical engineer!
NASA engineers sent men to the moon with less computing power than I hold in my hand, much less what I have in my house (and that doesn't include the stuff I haven't recycled yet)
Very true. No real operating system. Programs "written" with hard-wiring and storage in KILOBYTES instead of gigabytes or terabytes. Back then, failure was not an option, to paraphrase Gene Kranz.
These days, Elon Musk sends up Starships that explode as often (or MORE!) than they fly successfully, and he just throws money at it until he gets the result he wants.
Even science has gotten lazy in places, and that ain't good.
I suspect NASA "bang-for-the-buck" seriously undercuts every other branch of government and if they'd quit outsourcing costs would likely go down by 30-50%
NASA sent people to the moon and back during the last century. In the 21st century NASA role is to explain to goddamm fucking stupid inbred MAGAS that the earth is not flat and the moon is not made of fucking cheese. What a step down for NASA and the sciences!
I worked in the electrical connector business for twenty years. We had a lot of content in cell phones, especially Nokia back in the day.
I was told by a Christian that using a smart phone is not science, but technology. This goddamm fucking idiot Christian doesn’t realize or is too stupid to realize that SCIENCE is the bases of technology.
RELIGION ROTS THE MIND, MAKES PEOPLE EXTREMELY STUPID AND GULLIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's not so much cherry-picking which scientific fields they accept. There is scientific knowledge from every discipline that they reject. It's more a refusal to understand how science works and a blind acceptance of the science that they directly perceive the benefits from. Smartphones? GPS? Doctors and hospitals when they are sick or injured? They accept those things, saying that proves they aren't anti-science. The underlying science showing how all of that works, and how it can be used to prevent illness and advance our understanding of the world? Can't accept that, because then it's someone telling them what to do, and it doesn't line up with their interpretation of the Bible.
Facts are meaningless to the MAGATS. The uncomfortable truths are quickly ignored in favor of MAGAT friendlier lies. It’s a CULT.
Republicans have been pushing the idea that dearly held beliefs are every bit as valid as science for at least the last thirty years.
𝑁𝑜 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡.
-- James Randi
Yes they are a cult. But what is in it for them? How to they benefit from this absurdities?
They are culling the herd. Getting rid of genetic strains of Luddites. While many are decrying the use of vaccines, they and their families are often fully vaccinated.
If both science and religion had to start all over again, religion would be different because it would be MADE UP by different huxters. Science would be the same.
“I’ve done tons of research on this issue because of my grandson,” Borders said. “I would say that my study on these issues would equal that of many people in the medical field.”
-watched youtube conspiracy videos made by people who failed high school biology.
Or drop out of high school altogether!
One of the reasons, the United States maintained a technological lead over most of the world is because we were able to recruit and take the best and the brightest from around the world. Now the brain drain is going to flow on the other direction. Where Russia is today, is were we will be in ten years.
Russia is in the same place it's always been (minus continental drift).
Won’t take as long as ten years considering how much money is being slashed from science programs/departments that need science.
Interesting that the defence industry funding has increase; the only science allowed in the Christian fascist/nationalist country is on how science can be used to kill even more people (especially those people they hate).
𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑏𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑦𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑎. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟, 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒.
Rejecting vaccines is a natural progression from rejecting evolution. Reject evolution and it's easier to reject germ theory and any other knowledge about how medical science works. Using the bogus autism-vaccine connection (made by a defrocked doctor in one flawed study with more authors than subjects) and there is the fear that can fuel the "you can't tell ME what to do" attitude so many of these selfish people have. They don't want to learn anything about reality when they have been conditioned to accept nonsense. Any problems they have they want to find someone or something to blame, even if there really is no one and nothing. They have an autistic child, and instead of learning how to help that child and understanding that it is just part of normal human variation, they want to blame something for breaking their child. And thus, the NSGOP takes that narrative to help consolidate power, even when an individual Republican might actually accept the science. And because of the particular religious strain of their conservatism, they deny the biological reality of the LGBTQ community, because their holy book tells them to hate.
They deny physics, specifically climate change, because they don't care about the environment, they only care about the deep pockets of the fossil fuel industry funding their campaigns and their lifestyles.
People are currently dying directly because of this narrative pushed by the Regime. The blood is on the hands of Trump, Vance, RFKJr, and all the rest of them. Vote them out.
The Redical Right, also known as the Redublican Potty, errr, umm party, has been running the red states for the last 50 or 60 years, ever since Richard Nixon decided that he could use racism to help himself and Republicans get power. The Christian right, a veritable volcano of vileness ignorance, has attached itself to the Republicans ever since Anita Bryant raised her well-coiffed reptilian snout above the Florida swamp in 1977.
Ever since that time, the red state, especially those in the deep south, have tended to rate the lowest on virtually every measure of social health and well-being, especially things like health, education, women’s rights, gay rights, teenage pregnancy, maternal mortality, infant mortality, and on and on and on and on. They have also supplied a good many of the current crop of horrors known as the Trump cabinet and Trump administration.
The people of the red states as far as I can tell have failed to notice that 50 or 60 years of Republican administration has done absolutely nothing for them, except to denigrate their fellow citizens, science, liberalism, and measures of social well-being. The data isn’t neatly and clearly and ideologically divided, with all red states doing poorly and all states doing well, but it was overwhelmingly tending in that direction.
And they continue to vote and vote and vote for people who won’t educate their children, keep the population healthy, raise the poverty levels and on and on and on and on. The Republicans have managed to convince them that two guys they don’t know getting married in New York is far more important than the farm bill That they will write which causes those farmers to lose their farms, or the immigration policies that deprive them of the workers who will take care of doing the work on their farms, which also causes them to lose their farms, to be picked up for pennies on the dollar by the very people that they are electing or think represent them.
This isn’t an isolated observation. I read a study a few years ago which showed that virtually every very religious country fares far worse on virtually every measure of social health and well-being.
So what can be done about it? I have no idea. As long as you can convince a farmer in Iowa that transgender people are a threat, or a baptist in Texas that gay marriage threatens his marriage, or a fundamentalist in Louisiana that all his problems will be solved if the 10 Commandments are posted in their classrooms…
They will continue to vote for their own misery. And if their kids die because of anti-VAX nonsense, they’ll find a way to blame those woke people who want to save their lives for them. We saw this during the Covid pandemic, over and over and over. If their pastors continue to molest their kids, they’ll find a way to blame public school teachers— I had an experience with that just yesterday on Huffpost— or gay people, or atheists.
that is what LBJ was talking about when he said: “I’ll tell you what’s at the bottom of it. If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.” You can substitute Christian for white and Muslim or atheist for colored, or heterosexual for white and gay or transgender for colored, or man for white and woman for colored, and it will continue to be true.
I don’t have an answer for it. I wish I did. But it won’t be over until either we’re all dead, or these idiots who “do their own research” are dead.
The shift from Democratic to Republican parties began with the desegregation of schools in the south. The Southern Baptist Church, an off shoot created with the express purpose of supporting slavery, started providing a multitude of private schools to continue the indoctrination of white children into their racist theology.
Nixon made that a republican policy point with his southern strategy.
Yep. Happened in my own hometown back in 1970. Would have been sooner, but it was a poor rural county (still is, maybe even worse now) and they had a hell of of a time raising enough money to open up an old school building that had been closed for a number of years, and they had to bring it up to code. Meanwhile the county dragged its feet for a few years re: desegregation, long enough for this to happen.
Here's the thing... Trump supporters don't measure his success for what he does FOR them, it's measured by what he does AGAINST people they don't like. That's why they see him as being "successful". They will never abandon him because his hatred of others sustains them.
I suspect that's not too far off, if off at all.
Omg, that is so true.
"He's not hurting the people he should be hurting"?
Uncle dumpy pardoned Santos. Santos scammed a lot of people out of money.
Part of the problem is by the time the evidence proved something was harmful, businesses had been using it for years. Lead pipes are a good example. People remember when "science" was wrong or too slow, not all the things that scientists have gotten right in our every day life, plus the FUD spread about climate change over the last 3+ decades by those with a vested interest in making sure we stay dependent on oil and gas. And science education has failed at least one generation.
I think part of the problem is education focuses on theory without explaining application or explain application without connecting to theory. I resented my Computer Science classes because they were all theoretical and it felt like I was learning more at work, because I could immediately apply it. But after 30 years, I've realized knowing how it *should* work allows for correct anticipation of how it *does* work most of the time.
Another example is elementary math and algebra. In elementary school they teach you a rote technique for multiplying multi-digit numbers, but when you get to algebra and they try to teach you the distributive property, they don't tell you that what you learned in elementary school is just the distributive property in a different notation.
You see this in science class and science fairs, where they don't emphasize the scientific method and the value of research. It begins with education and incomplete curricula.
I'll get off my soapbox now.
They teach the distributive property in elementary school, along with the 'just do the math' heuristics that are simpler.
I'm all in favor of teaching critical thinking, but I don't think it has much to do with this particular trend. IMO we are here because Trump opened the door to cranks getting into real political power. Those cranks have always been there, but earlier conservatives just shut them out. I don't think we are here because millennials or gen-zs or even 50- and 60-something gen-xers are crankier than people used to be in the 90s, 80s, 70s etc., and certainly not due to some change in elementary math and science curricula. As a parent, I'd say those have generally gotten better than what I went through, not worse.
Don't underestimate the power of a demagogue. He's turned the entire direction of American conservativism on his own, far more than Reagan ever did, and a lot of conservatives now are stuck in the position of support policies they don't want or lose their jobs, careers, power, etc... Yes I know, "oh boo hoo, have a spine and stand up to him" is what we want to say. I hope many more of them do as his 2nd term wanes. But that's the problem with powerful cults of personality, it's very difficult to do so, and it's not just about blaming the followers for following, it's recognizing that such figures are dangerous precisely because they are very skilled at getting otherwise normal people to go along with their crazy sh**.
My once cool and cozy start-up doctor’s office One Medical got bought up by you guessed it…Amazon. It doesn’t take much to connect the dots as to why when I received my flu shot and asked about the Covid shot, I got the run around. Sad times. Let all the anti-science self righteous religious folks and wellness gurus die off if they want to, but leave me the fuck alone!
Covid shots are no longer automatically covered by the government (big surprise) unless you're in one of the high risk groups like me (which is a surprise)
To show the insanity of Republicans, Texas requires all healthcare workers to provide proof they got the flu shot every fall or wear a mask at all times throughout the season if they get an exemption. But Texas enacted laws preventing employers, including in the healthcare industry, from requiring COVID shots.
I’m pretty sure I’m in a few high risk categories. I’m just annoyed that now I need proof and evidence to get a simple Covid shot with my expensive insurance. It didn’t have to be that way. I want the anti-science fucks to leave my healthcare and bodily autonomy alone, especially the Texas murderers. They forgot about the “mind your business” coin 🪙
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugio_cent
NYS Gov Hochul issued an executive order so we could get our covid vaccinations.
Amazon IS the government 😂👏
WALL-E saw this coming:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIq0F3sZQFw
That's what I've been thinking for a while. I hate to think of all the stuff I ordered over the years, enriching that asshole Bezos before I even know who he was.
Or in a sensible state. Maryland is requiring insurers to cover COVID shots.
I got my flu shot and Covid shot at my neighborhood pharmacy in the MidSouth. Medicare paid for it.
A couple months ago, I got the first shingles shot. I recently went to the dr to check on some skin irritations (incredibly itchy, blistering, red skin and swelling, similar to herpes) on my arm and legs (a past one inside my belly button) thinking it might be shingles. He said it must be an allergic dermatitis reaction to something, possibly bug bites (which was what I originally thought they were but I had never blistered like that from insects or spiders before). Anyway we discussed the second round of shingles and he said I should also get the flu and Covid booster, after the skin clears up in a month.
I got my first shingles shot (and the pneumonia) on tuesday. I've never had any issues with shots. One or both laid me out. My arm started off a little sore, but by the end of the day, everything hurt. Slept most of yesterday morning and all seems to be back to normal.
Shingles shots were the only vaccines I ever had a hard time with, pain all over especially in my jaw. I could barely open my mouth to eat. Usually the worst I get is a vaguely sore arm. Got my flu shot today, Covid19 a couple of weeks ago.
So I have a funny story centered on how stupid I can be. I had shingles but didn’t recognize it for what it was. I went to an urgent care. Doc looked at my symptoms for 3 seconds and said, “Shingles.” I said, “Impossible! I eat or drink citrus almost every day!” He was struck dumb for at least 30 seconds. Maybe even 60 seconds. Then he said, “Um, are you thinking of scurvy?” In as kind of a tone as he could.
I got what needed last time I visited my doctor. I visit my doctor quite often, so I stopped paying my part in July. We have something called public health care here (Norway). There is a cap on how much you pay during a year.
Quick OT
Want to wish a Happy 66th Birthday to a man who's always been good for whatever ails me: Weird Al.
(Also Metallica bass player Rob Trujillo (61) and Deadpool's Ryan Reynolds (49) )
Any doubts left that the US is now a Kakistocracy/Idiocracy hybrid?
Sagan warned us. Asimov warned us. Even fucking Goldwater warned us. Way too many people ignore those warnings.
Too many people blinded by short-term greed to consider long-term consequences.
And too many of them refuse to even look at long term consequences because the expect the world to end any minute now, so they don't believe there even is a long term.
I got mine so fuck you.
We've become these guys
youtu.be/rY-HOYTz-rs
THEY have become that, not us. Only question now is: are there enough of US to counter THEM?
"THEY have become that, not us."
That's what I meant. The "We've" was targeting the idiots.
https://ibb.co/Z1ff9skj
Pre-CISE-ly!
judging by the spine, I'd say that AI had a hand (or at least a few digits) in that.
“I’ve done tons of research on this issue because of my grandson,” Borders said. “I would say that my study on these issues would equal that of many people in the medical field.”
I googled Samoa and texass for 5 minutes. Do I need to write my conclusion ?
Let me guess: there are not a lot of Polynesians in Texas.
Approximately 77,00 people in Texas identify as Pacific Islanders. I googled that, so now I am an expert.
You sure know more about it than most republican politicians from texass.
Probably won’t won’t hear “Aloha, y’all.”
I have a christmas ornament from one of my aunts who lived in Texas of Santa in a Hawaiian shirt.
Offhand, I'd say your conclusion is self-evident!
Reading this gave me a headache. I'd take a Tylenol but I don't want to catch autism.
The best way to cure a headache is to find an ice covered lake. Then you jump into it and dive as far down as possible. Trust me, your headache will be gone.
This is a great point, and while I would guess those of us regularly on this board knew it, the reminder is good to see.
What bothers me about this article is that we aren't really hearing much about this in the mainstream media for the most part. In the US right now, there's been an outbreak of measles, but how often do we hear about it on the news, really? This is a major warning sign, but it's going under reported thanks to a combination of Trump distractions, major media sources kowtowing to the current administration, and little government tracking. Right now, the CDC website still carries information on the issue (at https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html) but that could easily change. There's been measles deaths in 2025, which was news to me today, and should have received far more attention than it did even though it was just a few. The current vaccination rates are now low enough to preclude the herd immunity of the past.
The US will be paying for this administration for generations to come as people die from the anti-science it's pushing. Trump's destruction of the White House in the name of his ego is a symbol of his plans for the nation itself.
The murkan dictattorship under putin.
The point isn't to make America better, but keep the wealthy wealthy. If given the choice between giving up some power and having the country thrive versus maintaining their maximum wealth while the rest of the country turns to shit. The Republican party and the wealthy will take the latter option every single time.
Sadly you are probably spot on. I don't like it so I'll ignore it and - voila!!! It didn't happen.
Yes, to state the obvious, a part from those who vote for them, because they are owned by the very wealthy. Hence, Pottersville Nth America is a plutocracy not a democracy.
It has always been a plutocracy. Slavery anyone?