Notices by Frank T (franktaber@mas.to)

Elon Musk is running a fake voter registration website that tricks US voters into thinking they have registered to vote.

I think if anywhere there are #infosec security experts here on Mastodon who know how to confuse and overwhelm Musk's website trickery.

https://www.popsci.com/technology/elon-musk-voter-registration/

@tob @DemocracyMattersALot This is the most important point about this. Thank you for writing it. There is no way something as large and chaotic Trump's deportation plan will not turn into a horror show of deputized neo nazi gangs targeting people they see as undesirables under the color of law.

I see people who are saying Biden needs to step down claiming "Harris does not get his delegates".

Just as expected there is no way that a consensus can be reached for a replacement candidate by the people who want Biden to step aside. But yet they demand that he step aside for nobody. And no matter who would replace him there will be many who are unhappy because no primary happened.

Those who demanded Biden step aside will wash their hands of the mess as holier than thou. And we all lose.

Are there any #PublicHealth people here who are good with estimates and making simple and compelling charts?

Someone might be able to calculate and show what @luckytran has been writing about a potential mask ban in New York.

Compare the risk of death from all forms of crime with the risk of death from #COVID at the population level per 100000 people.

Even assuming that masking only prevents some fraction of COVID infections I bet that crime related deaths will be far lower.

NYC's murder rate is approximately 5 per 100000. Its COVID death rate is 397 per 100000.

Here's a chart.

@GeePawHill @njwatt You describe it as a course. What are the things you teach in the course? If you have written it somewhere it would be wonderful if you could share.

I am just shaking my head that only 4 years later it comes out that the Trump administration had the military running a #COVID disinformation campaign intended to get people in and around China more sick.

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-covid-propaganda/

The same word use problem happens on the left.

Instead of writing "Immigrants are not dangerous. Conservatives are wrong."

People should write "Immigrants strengthen our country. Conservatives don't want you to know that."

A great old post from @anildash
I really liked this:

▪ Is the idea grounded in a bedrock principle, based on humanity and compassion?
▪ Is the idea so simple to understand that people can articulate it to one another, even if they're not trained advocates?
▪ Is the purpose so obviously broadly beneficial that everyone can understand how it helps them or someone they care about?
▪ Is the goal so clear that everyone can tell if it has been achieved yet?

https://www.anildash.com/2022/01/31/you-have-to-start-with-the-principle/

This is a chart of direct and indirect deaths that happened during each US presidency since WW2 due to combat. The data is approximate as any data of this sort must be and comes from the best sources I can find online. The list of countries in which these deaths occurred is a very long list.

Direct deaths are those with direct US involvement. Indirect deaths are those with US arms or logistics.

Now there is a way to handle Trump's threats of violence if he loses. When asked about it his opponents can reinforce half of the message while undermining the other half. "Well he is going to lose and when he does he will go back to whining with his two thumbs like every sore loser does."

For an authoritarian there is nothing worse than weakness or losing. Their supporters like the aura of fear they create and dominance they project. Losing and going online to whine about it is the exact opposite and that is what needs to be emphasized.

@adamgreenfield If you had to guess what might create a low diligence or high diligence culture?

@juliewebgirl Sigh this article repeats the annoying immunity debt hypothesis instead of considering that COVID makes it harder for us to fight off other viruses as has been proven by many studies.

@Alonealastalovedalongthe Very true though I worry about the three hour far right conspiracy rabbit hole videos that are just as popular.

The scale of the Uyghur genocide is so vast but so difficult to report on that I think many of us have forgotten entirely about it. The last boost was a reminder.

It has been taking place for over a decade with the government of China systematically locking up and torturing and sterilizing and organ harvesting and killing and using as slave labor millions of people. Most of it out of the eye of worldwide media and with little discussion on social media and seldom a protest anywhere.

Does anyone have a suggestion of a recent well researched and well credentialed editorial on #LongCovid and the likely long term impact it will have on society? I am looking for something that is more serious than a blog post maybe like the recent John Snow editorial that was about covid in general.

@baldur What would you recommend as a reading list?

@Itty53 @roadriverrail @RickiTarr @no1lion99 I worry there are too many out there vying for that anger to channel it into the right wing rabbit hole that feeds the anger with false explanations and false solutions.

@davidgerard Like all good posts from you David I do not fully understand this but I also am a little glad that I do not fully understand this.