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There’s no evidence that a cartel vs government conflict is directly causing measles vaccine supply problems in Mexico. But cartel control of territory does indirectly make healthcare delivery harder in some regions. So the relationship is indirect and structural, not the main driver. Public-health workers sometimes avoid cartel-dominated areas. T…[Read more]

Did I not answer your questions? Oh, I didn’t! I would call them secondary to the main questions about R nought, the anti-vax movement, and flaws or laziness in human cognition.

@PopeBeanie – Yes, you are correct with the basics of ‘R Nought (12-18). But it does not explain why Canada lost elimination status before the US. But elimination statu…[Read more]

TheEncogitationer wrote:
This story prompts more questions than answers.

I would start with the primary causes and facts, first.

The “R nought” factor for measles is estimated to be between 12 and 18, meaning on average in a fully susceptible population, an infected person will infect 12 to 18 other people. This leads to an estimate that a…[Read more]

..or at least a non sequitur….as most people who use the Galileo Gambit aren’t making a formal logical argument….it appeals not to reason but to ego, making it less an argument and more a psychological defense mechanism.

Yes, I guess it is more of a cognitive bias than a logical fallacy.

Cheers Strega! Hope all is good with you!

I am still thinking about what the ideas of the Enlightenment……..

The Lillian Hellman Fallacy and the Galileo Gambit.

There’s a predictable pattern in modern argument, especially online, where someone with a weak or poorly supported claim begins by presenting themselves as a courageous dissenter—someone who “refuses to cut their consc…[Read more]

Thanks Reg!!

Have a great week!

Appreciate it, PopeBeanie….I just rhyme what the evidence taught.
Gift of the gab, not the gift of God……
Critical thinking’s my creed, skepticism my sport.

Trump & Kabal, and Bannon and Project 2025 behind the scenes make headway while pumping out executive orders and any kind of rage and cult enthusiasm they can stir up to produce distracting headlines. I feel dumb not realizing, up until today, that releasing the Epstein files could have also served that purpose. Unless Trump et al knew it would…[Read more]

A wise man is quoted:

Once you no longer reserve a hidden compartment in your reasoning for “maybe there’s a divine exception,” the entire field of view opens up. You stop having to protect contradictions, and patterns that were once blurred by reverence or taboo become visible.
I don’t carry a residual conceptual veto. When you remove that in…[Read more]

Pope, that is a decent mini & semi rant.

As the nation declines the exigency for the Trump takeover is accelerated. In other words he must seize power before it is too late. Things get too FUBAR and most of his support disappears. Independents almost entirely i would think. And even a significant segment of his hard core backers. No way he is…[Read more]

jakelafort wrote:
They don’t much care about democracy.

I still have hope they can shed their cult uniforms. They surprised me with their gullibility and falling for a malignant narcissistic style of self-confidence, arrogance, and bullshit “solutions that will save America”, and they WILL suffer some consequences when it hits rural America e…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Please don’t see my criticism as anti-American. I hope it is seen as pro-Enlightenment. I have no tribal attachment, and I can separate the myth from the machinery.

Oh, oh, you talking to us? I don’t think so, and it makes me suspicious, as does much of your other recent writings of thoughtful quality, that you’re w…[Read more]

Pope i don’t think the great majority of MAGA care what he does. Only thing that seemed to be an issue for them….Epstein bar virus.

I cited a poll about the supporter’s and their proclivities concerning King Trump. They don’t much care about democracy.

All insurrectionists (and Christian Nationalists) in the audience, come on down! A president can pardon any and all criminals ahead of time?

16 minutes: