Sunspots 852

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

Christianity "Resurrecting Orthodoxy" explains what the Bible says about demons. It's complicated.

(and Computing) Relevant reports that the most-viewed Christian Facebook feeds, so-called, are almost all run by troll farms in Eastern Europe. (For what it's worth, I'd never seen or heard of any of them, except the Guideposts feed, which is apparently not run by such a troll farm.)

Relevant also has an article examining the idea of modesty. It's complicated, and many of us have been operating as if it's simple.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that a bee swarm killed over 60 endangered penguins in South Africa.

Gizmodo also reports that summer 2021 wildfires, mostly in the US and Siberia, emitted more carbon dioxide than the country of India did.:

Politics: An audit of Arizona's fall Presidential election ballots, by a firm picked by the GOP legislators, found that, is anything, President Biden got more votes than were reported in November, according to Fox News and other outlets.

FiveThirtyEight on why bipartisanship in the Senate is so rare.

Science: Gizmodo tells us about tiny parasitic, nearly transparent fish found in the Amazon.

NPR reports that Mars may have been too small to hold its water from gradually escaping Martian gravity.

Gizmodo reports on the creation of new languages -- there have been some such, recently.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 835

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others:

Christianity: (sort of) and Politics: Relevant reports on a recent study of who believes QAnon conspiracy theories. Too many Christians.

Computing: (or something) Relevant reminds us that pornography and sex trafficking are evils that are closely linked, and are all too common.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight on the so-called audit of the 2020 election, in Arizona.

Science: Gizmodo and The Scientist report on research on microbes in subways around the world. Thousands of new organisms were discovered, and different cities have different subway microbe populations.

Science reports that dolphins are able to cooperate, and call others to help them, recognizing other dolphins by their signature calls.

Gizmodo reports that a California bobcat was able to find a nesting spot for her kittens after a devastating fire.

Gizmodo also reports on dropping population sizes of Florida manatees.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking! 

Letting private insurance companies run Medicaid and Medicare: Arizona's good experience

I confess that I have had grave doubts about turning our nation's healthcare "system" completely over to private companies. My Medicare works well for me, and seems to be inexpensive to run, compared to the high salaries and bloated bureaucracy of some private insurance companies, and their desire to turn a profit, no matter what, as their primary reason for existence, rather than patient care being primary. (I know -- Medicare expenses have to be brought more under control. But the increasing expenses aren't because it's a government-run program. They are because more and more people are becoming eligible for Medicare, and living longer while on it.)

National Public Radio recently reported on Arizona's experience. Based on this report, it seems that it is possible for private insurance companies, if sensibly regulated by state government, to do a better job of caring for people, and at less expense, than if the state or national government runs them. Great! I repeat -- there has to be sensible and careful regulation by the government, or we'll be back to faceless insurance bureaucrats arbitrarily turning down requests for coverage. Poorer care, at more expense.

I hope the Arizona plan can be implemented more widely, and well.

Thanks for reading. Read (or listen to) the NPR report. I have previously posted some thoughts on healthcare in the US, before the adoption of "Obamacare." A good deal of that post is still relevant, especially the part that indicates that we in the US do not have the best medical care in the world, although politicians of both parties claim that we do.