Healthcare
When I conveyed the state Department of Health’s findings on the question of whether people were in the hospital because of COVID or merely while happening to test positive for it, one word in particular seemed worthy of a mental note for subsequent consideration (emphasis added): According to Wendelken, “someone who goes to the hospital…
Yesterday, I got a glimpse of how the other half perceives COVID. A Rhode Island progressive shared a tweet storm by some software guy (not a blue check) collecting every study that could be cited with ominous overtones about the supposed long-term effects of the virus. It was the worst kind of analysis. Each of…
Honestly, I thought the matter was settled. Judging people and giving them preferential or detrimental treatment based on the color of their skin is wrong. Segregating people and providing opportunities to different groups based on race is bad. I don’t know how it happened, but one is apt to be called a “racist” for saying…
Months ago, Malcolm Gladwell made a pretty convincing case on his Revisionist History podcast for dogs as allies to help us avoid the most draconian anti-pandemic measures, especially in schools. It looks like some schools in Massachusetts got the message: COVID sniffing K-9s have gone through all five schools in the Freetown-Lakeville district throughout the…
In a wide-ranging discussion loosely related to Internet narratives, Frank Rose and EconTalk host Russ Roberts touch on how immersive stories can draw us into activities outside their delivery — whether buying action figures, chatting with Broadway actors by the stage door, or digging into the history of non-fiction characters. As I set out to…
John and Justin cover the controversial topics in Rhode Island politics today.
Following up on a question I sent to the state Department of Health, spokesman Joseph Wendelken tells me that instances of people being hospitalized while testing positive for COVID, but for whom COVID is entirely unrelated to the reason they’re in the hospital, account for only about 6% of the number. The question gained increased…
Thinking about Governor McKee’s (let’s just say) uninspiring leadership on COVID in preparation for my weekly conversation with John DePetro, I wondered why we can’t just follow the obvious path of sanity. Never in my life have I heard so many people talking about believing science and engaging with concepts of risk and mitigation, but…
Governor Dan McKee implemented an inflexible COVID-19 vaccine mandate on Rhode Island’s healthcare workers in the midst of a healthcare worker shortage. How much did the mandate exacerbate under-staffing? Director of Health Dr. Nicole Alexander Scott was asked this at a press conference on November 16. “It’s a contributing factor that is small in the…
I’ve suggested repeatedly that the motivation for the heavy government hand on COVID in states like Rhode Island isn’t a practical reaction to the virus so much as an emotional need to know that the government can tell people to do things when it wants. Ben Shapiro has a similar point of view: So, why pursue…