News Weakly - 4/25/20

That Helps a Lot
That wise, 17-year-old voice in the wilderness, Greta Thunberg, is speaking out again. Apparently we need to tackle both the coronavirus pandemic and the climate crisis together. Thanks, Greta. We hadn't thought of that.

I thought it was strange because on one hand this coronavirus has done all sorts of great things for the environment, from reduced CO₂ and better water to more animals and less use of fossil fuels. In fact, I would think that Greta would applaud the deaths of hundreds of thousands since the only real solution to the environment problem is eliminating the problem -- people. (No, she won't. But that's primarily because she's not thinking it through.) On the other hand, I thought it was strange because Sweden (where she's from) opted not to lockdown the nation but to aim for "herd immunity" where they let people get it in order to, as a nation, become immune. So they had a higher death rate than other nations but they also are on the verge of herd immunity, so ...? So let's all, you know, work together on this thing, however we can and whatever that means.

A Glitch in the Thinking
We're all about "environmentally friendly." Some states have mandated it; ours is just suggesting it. So one of the produce stores my wife frequents has a rule. Bring your own reusable bags or we'll charge you for plastic ones. You know, encourage the customers to think green. Until the coronavirus came along. Turns out those "environmentally safe" bags aren't exactly virus safe, and allowing them in the store posed a virus-exposure risk, so they banned them. Didn't think that one through, did we?

Confusion
A California man was convicted of murder after killing 3 in a "racist shooting spree." While I'm not questioning the verdict or the court or whatever, I am questioning the stories. I thought we had established that only white people could be racist. Now this black man is called "racist"? How can I keep up if we keep changing our stories?

That Just Seems Arbitrary
Go figure. I thought we had moved and seconded to protect sexual orientation. Now in the UK a woman was mocked by a newspaper article for her particular sexual orientation, and when she complained, the press regulator dismissed her complaint. Hers is not a protected orientation. Her sexual orientation? She loves chandeliers. "No, Stan, not that kind of love." Oh? One complaint was that the article portrayed her as married to her favorite chandelier. She said she was just in a relationship with it and not yet married to it. We just can't make up our minds, can we?

Education Our Way or Else
Harvard Magazine just released a piece entitled "The Risk of Homeschooling." Ironic, isn't it, since every family in the country just became homeschooled? Was the article favorable? Obviously not. They're sure that it's too dangerous. It isolates children. It is overwhelmingly (90%, they said) driven by conservative Christian beliefs by parents seeking to protect their children from mainstream culture. The article portrays homeschooling as "a threat to U.S. democracy" and "recommends a presumptive ban on the practice." Because democracy is always better served if you dictate what people can and cannot believe and outright ban them from life choices.

Another Thing Lost to COVID
The state of New York has issued a Do Not Resuscitate order for paramedics who encounter anyone without a heartbeat. It used to be that they were told to spend up to 20 minutes attempting to resuscitate people, but now it's just too much effort. Move along. Nothing to see here.