What would it take for antivaxxers and climate science deniers to ‘wake up’? | Clive Hamilton | The Guardian

In 1927, an article in the venerable medical journal the Lancet commented on the opposition to smallpox vaccination in terms that have an eerie resonance today. “We still meet the belief … that vaccination is a gigantic fraud deliberately perpetuated for the sake of gain … The opposition to vaccination … like many emotional reactions, is supported by a wealth of argument which the person reacting honestly believes to be the logical foundation of his behaviour.” When I first read this, I was researching climate science denial. But it fits the fervent beliefs of Covid deniers and antivaxxers just as well.

Antivaxxers seize on an occasional dissenting study and exploit it for all it’s worth even after it has been discredited Prone to “conspiracist ideation”, many anti-vaccination activists appear to believe Covid-19 is a hoax. They dismiss experts as frauds lining their pockets, refuse to accept any evidence that contradicts their beliefs, and create their own world of self-reinforcing truth.

Source: What would it take for antivaxxers and climate science deniers to ‘wake up’? | Clive Hamilton | The Guardian

How B.C.’s COVID-19 vaccine card will affect access to city-run facilities | Globalnews.ca (Me: If BC can, why can’t UK? Better government leadership?)

As of Monday, people will have to show proof of having had a single dose of a vaccine to enter gyms, fitness centres and casinos. After Oct. 24, those aged 12 and older will need to be fully vaccinated at least seven days earlier. The government says the B.C. Vaccine Card can be downloaded onto mobile phones. As of Saturday night, 1.7 million British Columbians had accessed their proof of vaccination online.

Source: How B.C.’s COVID-19 vaccine card will affect access to city-run facilities | Globalnews.ca

ALSO IN CASE YOU MISSED DIANE’S OTHER BLOG

Good hindsight, wonder if anyone will reread before deciding to start another forever war? Hope so.

NANMYKEL.COM

The Washington Post published a remorseful article about the negative effects of 20 years of was in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hindsight is sometimes useful. Many books will be written about “lessons learned” from these past 20 years of warfare.

There’s a scene in the 2014 film “American Sniper” that sums up the country’s post-9/11 war lust. Chris Kyle, the late U.S. Navy SEAL played by Bradley Cooper, watches a newscast of the twin towers crumbling before his eyes. The camera fixes on Kyle’s steely yet stunned face as he holds his shaken wife, before cutting to an image of him in full military gear, glaring through the scope of his sniper rifle in the middle of an Iraqi town. (He goes on to gun down a woman aiding Iraqi insurgents.)

The film, which some critics panned as…

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Stories, teasers, and Adulting ed

Context, Thought, and Learning: ShiraDest Offers Project Do Better

   The common good, and our imaginations, seem to benefit from stories.  I’ve noticed how story can inspire, encourage, and provide examples.  Our entire world may become more fully inclusive for all of us, if we tell the uplifting stories, perhaps, as tools for building a more just and empathetic society.

   I remember really finding the first season of the show Heroes to be inspiring, especially the character Hiro.  One of his lines in particular got my attention:

Hiro: ‘a hero too scared to use his powers does not deserve them’

  I first saw this back in 2007, and I was struck by the idea.  A character who was innocent, at least at first, kind, stubborn in his convictions, and acting on the good in himself, and others.

  Right about this same time period, there was a disturbance in which I felt obliged to intervene, and will…

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