“All of this for a virus that has a 99.98% survival rate”, they say as a rebuke of any reasonable response to the pandemic that has raged on since March.

It didn’t take long to notice just how many Americans were, pardon the brevity, piss poor at understanding risk. After another exchange on Reddit tonight, maybe it’s worthwhile to break down the risk in a few activities.

As a starting point, best to understand the risk of COVID-19. These numbers vary wildly depending on age and other health risk factors, but in order to best make the point, we will look at the risk factor for a young, healthy adult. Further, we will only be looking at the fatality rate. I am hesitant to grant this point; 35% of SARS-COV-2 patients who had been treated said they had not returned to their usual state of health 3 weeks after being discharged. As this is a novel virus, we can only estimate on the long term effects, but research shows that up to 40% of those who have had SARS illnesses have experience long term effects. …

I’m what is considered a ‘radical leftist’ in American discourse. I am called that, so far as I can see, because I dare suggest that any system or idea has both aspects worthy of merit and of critique. While that sounds reasonable, once you expand this logic to include socialism and the dreaded communism, many stop listening.

And that’s fine. By limiting the scope of ideas they are exposing themselves to, they are only doing themselves a disservice.

I say that only to put space between myself and the average American liberal; I have floated this idea in many leftist corners of the internet, only to be ridiculed as an ignorant liberal happy with the status quo. …

There is perhaps no better year to quote The Joker: “And here. We. Go.”

As if the 2020 election could not get any more sensational, the passing of the great Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has thrown an already divided nation into ideological chaos just weeks before the election.

Nothing is certain, but it would appear that the Republican Party is going to shamelessly balk at their own 2016 precedent of no Supreme Court nominations in an election year. …

Note: This article was cut down from five examples to three for conciseness. It appears Medium is displaying the old title.

There is no such thing as a good cop.

Tensions between American citizens and police departments across the country continue to be tense. Many citizens are removing their consent to be policed by ever more heavy handed and violent forces. In return, stunningly, police forces have acted with near reckless abandon on many peaceful protesters.

One of the conversations the unrest has sparked is that of police reform. On one end, more force is necessary to establish order, but this is simply the solidification of the United States as a police state, even if advocates of “law and order” tell you otherwise. As I have written about previously, order is given when laws are just. …

It takes a lot to get me out of bed at 5 in the morning. No article idea is urgent enough that it can’t wait until tomorrow.

But this is, excuse my well justified language, utterly fucking insane.

The Team Trump Facebook page is running an ad that calls for people to sign up and declare that they “stand with your President and his decision to declare ANTIFA a Terrorist Organization”. The image with it, is a single upside down red triangle.

Don’t look now, but America could be plunging into our darkest hours.

Usually quite the pessimist, I’ve found myself flipping to finding optimism in a dark time. But I think that may be because the darkness ahead has become blinding, and for sake of my own sanity, I’m hoping that, somehow, we will avoid calamity.

Consider our position.

We are (still) in the grips of a generational pandemic that, while not all that deadly, is incredibly contagious, and has the ability to overrun hospitals and health care systems.

We have an economy that’s been shocked into stagnation — no one really knows what’s ahead. Consumer spending remains stifled as an effect of this pandemic, the effects of which stretch into their 5th month, in large part due to our nation’s collective non-response. …

What do Eric Garner, George Floyd & Rayshard Brooks have in common?

Sure, all of them were black, and killed by police.

But every one of their interactions with police started with the investigation of a misdemeanor crime. Eric Garner was selling cigarettes. Michael Brown had stolen a pack of smokes from a convenience store. George Floyd had passed a $20 bill. Rayshard Brooks had been stopped on suspicion of DUI.

And in every case, the interaction was escalated, until an unarmed black man lay dead in the street.

Is this justice? Is this reasonable?

The obvious defense to this point is that they all resisted arrest. But even that is just a misdemeanor. It certainly doesn’t carry the death penalty. …

Sometimes it’s difficult to resist the temptation of an easy, emotional share on social media. But sometimes, we must challenge ourselves to dig deeper than just our first reaction and push to uncover the consequences of our immediate wishes.

Such is the case with a Change.org petition calling for the federal government to designate the KKK a ‘Domestic Terror Group’. You can find it here.

It may seem commonsense that we demand this. But please don’t sign it. Really.

“WHY?! DO YOU WANT TO ALLOW THE KKK TO KILL AMERICANS?”

No, I don’t, but let’s pump the breaks and look at how we got here, and what it would mean if this petition accomplished what it set out to. …