Viral Politics

 There seem to be two camps that have arisen in the US about the Covid-19 virus. Those who support the scientists and medical professionals, and those who support the virus. 

Viruses are not political. They are just tiny particles that act as mobile genetic elements.

The scientists are not political. They just look at the data and come to a conclusion.

I don't understand why a political party would deliberately promote behavior that will result in the spread of the virus such as not wearing masks, not getting vaccinated, gathering in large crowds.

This virus should have been a unifying principle with both parties joining together to defeat the common enemy of the people (the virus). Instead one party decided early on to go in the opposite direction. It is just incomprehensible to me.

Both parties should support wearing masks, both parties should support vaccinations, both parties should support social distancing, both parties should support hand washing.

I think they should require vaccinations to fly on an airplane. That would probably get more people to get vaccinated.

Parallel Universe

 A year ago in a parallel universe the populous President Donald Trump stands on the balcony at the White House and proudly puts on a mask as he declares that anyone who doesn't wear a mask is not patriotic. Any time he is seen in public he is wearing a mask. Anyone caught not wearing a mask is subject to a strict $200 fine. Scientists estimate his actions over the past year saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Of course he is reelected in a landslide victory.

The Social Dilemma

 The Social Dilemma is a program on Netflix that describes how social media platforms such as Facebook use AI. The AI algorithms track exactly how long each user spends interacting with each post and making adjustments for each individual with a goal to get them to spend more time on social media. The users are the product of social media which is then sold to other companies which pay for user information. I knew most of this already although I had noticed recently that Facebook was getting better at manipulating me into replying to trolling comments.

The AI algorithms are sort of black boxes or DOEs. They just make subtle adjustments and see if it makes you spend more time on the platform. They don't necessarily have any real intelligence they just have goals and some manipulation tools. They are learning systems so the programmers don't really know exactly what the AI are doing.

Some observations since social media was introduced are some unintended consequences.

This has been blamed for polarization of the political parties and growth in extremism on both the far right and the far left. There has also been an increase in teen and preteen suicide.

Now for a conspiracy theory. What if the spread of Covid-19 was inadvertently being increased by AI systems? The more Covid-19 spread, the more people are using social media, and the more online shopping they are doing. From the AI point of view it could be a seen as a good thing since social media is being used more and companies like Amazon are getting more revenue.

The spread of misinformation about the virus, the refusal to wear masks, the claims that it is not harmful, and concerns about the vaccine all result in greater social isolation and greater use of social media in the long run.

They could set the goals to decrease violent crime or decrease teen suicide. Decrease poverty, homelessness, school shootings. Make a more sustainable economy. Or manipulate society however you like. I suppose other countries are currently using it for those purposes. Facebook set a goal to increase interim voting in the 2018 election and succeeded.

But it's sort of like asking a genie for a wish. You have to be very careful how you phrase it so there are not unintended consequences.

The Disinformation Age

I believe there are foreign agents at work trying to cause the deaths of as many Americans as possible and destroy the American economy. Not by sending in an army. By sowing doubt in our health care, scientific, and government agencies through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. In this war they have already largely succeeded. If we had been able to stop the virus early it would already be over. Instead we refused to follow the health and scientific guidelines and many more lives will be lost. When you spread misinformation you do their work for them.

What is Donald Trump Thinking?

This was the original text:

Please stop for a minute to look at this picture.
I don’t know or care much about politics not even gonna act like I do, and this is NOT a political post. This is simply something I want everyone to think about. So keep the bashing comments to your self.
Can you imagine the weight he must be feeling. I know my anxiety is through the roof sometimes and I feel like the weight of the world is on me. I know when he signed up for this role, without pay, he was willing to take on whatever, but the magnitude of what we’re experiencing has got to be paralyzing. And to some nothing he does is ever right ...
I wonder how he must be dealing with it all. When his head finally hits the pillow at night after press conferences and meetings, Constantly trying to defend himself and protect our country.. does he cry? Is he scared?
Is he even able to sleep?
Can he shut his mind off?
Or does he lay there and talk to God all night?
Whether he’s making you proud or not, I’m urging you to look at this photo and ask the Lord to soften your heart and lift him up in prayer. He needs them. He’s carrying the weight of our world on his shoulders and I don’t think anybody could/would be doing any better.
Feel free to share and remind everyone to be kind ! 🙏🏼😷❤️ please no negative comments - thanks !

**Author Unknown**

Here is some more:

Is he thinking that it is really tough being president so maybe he should not have harassed Obama about his birth certificate when he was trying to run the country?

Is he thinking about his hotels and casinos and how maybe he could save them if he opened the country up early and how many people would die if he did?

Is he thinking karma sucks?

Is he thinking maybe he can axe more of the environment while everyone is distracted by the coronavirus?

Covid-19 and US Healthcare Policy

If you have seen the news from Italy you know how bad things can get. Germany is doing better because they have invested in three times the intensive care capability than Italy. England only has about half Italy's IC. Spain is probably similar to Italy. Because of this Germany is reporting few deaths per hospitalization.

How about the US?

Unlike most European countries the US has a for profit healthcare system supported by a for profit private insurance system. How did this happen? I was about to blame it on Nixon but it turns out it probably dates back to the AMA in the 1920's.

History of Healthcare - Wikipedia

One bright point was the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. When Bill Clinton was elected president Hillary Clinton tried to go to congress to get healthcare reform passed but the Republican congress refused to listen to her basically because she was not an elected official.

Finally Barack Obama was able to get a healthcare reform package passed that allowed all Americans to get health insurance but it was a flawed plan. First his plan was not as extensive as the plan Hillary Clinton had proposed. It was based on on Mitt Romney's plan from Massachusetts. Then just as it was going to pass Edward Kennedy died and a Republican senator was elected to replace him. More concessions had to be made to the Republicans and the bill barely passed. People were so made about having to have healthcare that they elected a Democratic house of representatives and senate for the rest of Obama's term and he was not able to pass any significant legislation during that time.

Ever since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) also known as Obamacare was passed states have been trying to overturn it. It also turned out to be not really affordable. Many people decided to pay the fine in taxes rather than buy insurance.

If you end up in the hospital in one of the European countries I mentioned at the beginning of this paper you will spend some time in the hospital, you might end up on a respirator but if you survive the nightmare is over. If you end up in a hospital with Covid-19 in the US I heard someone on the say the received a bill for $35,000. They did not have insurance. If you have a lengthy stay in the hospital it will be more. Even if you do have insurance you will probably hit your deductible which will probably be several thousand dollars since most people have high deductible insurance now.

What will happen when insurance companies start getting hit with thousands and thousands of claims? They will go bankrupt and default on their payments to the for profit hospitals who will then also go bankrupt.

It is at this point that the government need to come in a provide medicare for all and eliminate for profit healthcare. Hopefully we will have learned our lesson.