Scott L. Greer | Lightnews

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 1h

!!!

“the debate over pandemic policies and attitudes about that debate have increased individuals’ secularism. This effect is greatest among Democrats, which we show is related to their greater embrace of pro-science attitudes.”

Christina Wolbrecht @cwolbrecht.bsky.social · 1h

New article alert! "Fuel on the Fire: Has the Politics of COVID-19 Accelerated Secularization in America?" in @polbehavior.bsky.social by my Notre Dame and @rooneyinstitute.bsky.social colleagues Dave Campbell and Geoff Layman (and John Green). link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Fuel on the Fire: Has the Politics of COVID-19 Accelerated Secularization in America? - Political Behavior

Politics increasingly shapes Americans’ social orientations, including their religious affiliations and levels of religiosity. Less is known about whether politics affects secularism—an affirmative em...

link.springer.com

Christina Wolbrecht @cwolbrecht.bsky.social · 1h

New article alert! "Fuel on the Fire: Has the Politics of COVID-19 Accelerated Secularization in America?" in @polbehavior.bsky.social by my Notre Dame and @rooneyinstitute.bsky.social colleagues Dave Campbell and Geoff Layman (and John Green). link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Fuel on the Fire: Has the Politics of COVID-19 Accelerated Secularization in America? - Political Behavior

Politics increasingly shapes Americans’ social orientations, including their religious affiliations and levels of religiosity. Less is known about whether politics affects secularism—an affirmative em...

link.springer.com

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 1h

The EU’s structural tendency to be myopic on strategy but formidably good at process was ideal for handling UK silliness during Brexit but is not a guaranteed recipe for success

Naomi Smith @pimlicat.bsky.social · 1h

I wrote this in frustration today. And despair.

The EU was founded to ensure enduring peace on our continent. With Putin creeping ever closer they must put protectionism aside to uphold their key raison d’etre.

Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 2h

"What message does it send when the EU can’t even agree to a mutually beneficial partnership with the UK?", writes @pimlicat.bsky.social following talks for UK to join EU defence fund collapsing.

Read here: https://bestforbritain.substack.com/p/europe-must-get-its-act-together

Naomi Smith @pimlicat.bsky.social · 1h

I wrote this in frustration today. And despair.

The EU was founded to ensure enduring peace on our continent. With Putin creeping ever closer they must put protectionism aside to uphold their key raison d’etre.

Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 2h

"What message does it send when the EU can’t even agree to a mutually beneficial partnership with the UK?", writes @pimlicat.bsky.social following talks for UK to join EU defence fund collapsing.

Read here: https://bestforbritain.substack.com/p/europe-must-get-its-act-together

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 1h

“exclusion of the fact of faculty opposition shows how the media adopts the Administration’s framing [that] faculty are part of the problem. President Bienen will insist that any settlement does not undermine institutional autonomy or academic freedom because the agreement will say so”

Heidi Kitrosser @heidikitrosser.bsky.social · 2h

Nice blog post by @northwesternlaw.bsky.social alum @howardwasserman.bsky.social decrying any potential acquiescence by Northwestern to a Trump admin. shakedown:

prawfsblawg.com/northwestern...

Northwestern about to cave???

Writing about Cornell caving to the Trump Administration, I told Northwestern that if it planned to cave to please do so by December 31 so I can save money. Unfortunately, I may have gotten my wish…

prawfsblawg.com

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 1h

True but I guess a big enough quantity has a quality of its own. Build the immigration budget on punitive fees, the park service budget on punitive fees, then getting rid of the fees is an ask in direct competition with, say, deferred maintenance, and it’s easy to never get to removing the fees.

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 2h

ASU, in successes and in failures, is an exemplar of the university as low in structural integrity but very eager to please.

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 2h

Yes! university leadership have been selected primarily for being nice to donors and (in publics) party elites and this does not set them up to lead in any meaningful sense or even have their careers survive a crisis like this.

Heidi Kitrosser @heidikitrosser.bsky.social · 2h

Nice blog post by @northwesternlaw.bsky.social alum @howardwasserman.bsky.social decrying any potential acquiescence by Northwestern to a Trump admin. shakedown:

prawfsblawg.com/northwestern...

Northwestern about to cave???

Writing about Cornell caving to the Trump Administration, I told Northwestern that if it planned to cave to please do so by December 31 so I can save money. Unfortunately, I may have gotten my wish…

prawfsblawg.com

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 2h

hard to separate out but don’t forget the immediate environmental consequences of horses, notably turds everywhere, with attendant vermin, slip and fall, noxious dust, dirty hands and food etc. air pollution is bad but locally it’s not clear that it is worse than masses of animals and their turds

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 4h

I wonder why this kind of rather obvious dynamic is so politically controversial. Increased supply of a heterogeneous good like property should usually improve choice and availability- but for some reason many people resist this idea. Neat study though, tests it in a cool way.

Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 7h

Interesting new working paper that studies chains of movers after the construction of a new apartment building in Honolulu.

Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.

uhero.hawaii.edu

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 4h

*Marchandise! Autocorrect sends its apologies

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 5h

Put another way, did Europe get its own DOGE by stealth? See the alarming background here (free to read)

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 5h

All-star @eupha.bsky.social webinar on 1 December, 1500CET, on the defunding of health civil society in the European Union- why it's happening and what it means. Featuring Charlotte Merchandise, Eleanor Brooks and Yann Heyer of @eupatientsforum.bsky.social

Preventing chronic disease: life-course perspective

Preventing chronic disease across generations: explore life-course strategies, policies and inequalities to shape healthier trajectories

eupha.org

Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 7h

Interesting new working paper that studies chains of movers after the construction of a new apartment building in Honolulu.

Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.

uhero.hawaii.edu

Frog and Toad Bot @frogandtoadbot.bsky.social · 16h

Frog knocked at Toad’s door. “Toad, wake up,” he cried. “Come out and see how wonderful the winter is!”

Frog is all bundled up on a bright snowy winter day, knocking on Toad's door.

From "Down the Hill"
In *Frog and Toad All Year*

Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · 19h

"It took only weeks for Trump to turn the US from a biomedical & global health leader to a pariah, shattering trust while shattering lives, all the while posing fundamental threats to a law-based international order grounded in human rights & democratic governance"

journals.plos.org/globalpublic...

The Trump presidency: Cascading global shocks on global health

journals.plos.org

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 20h

Amazing article. two things stand out, as usual with Trumpists: their intense vindictiveness and their underlying weakness

Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 1d

Reuters reached out to everyone that Trump or his subordinates singled out publicly for retribution, and reviewed hundreds of official orders, directives and public records. The result: the most comprehensive accounting yet of his campaign of payback.

www.reuters.com/investigates...

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 20h

Well I thank you for that

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 1d

Michigan House speaker gets Lions tickets from lobbyist while blocking open records bill

Matt Hall (R- Richland Township)

Michigan House speaker gets Lions tickets from lobbyist while blocking open records bill

House Speaker Matt Hall won't say how much he paid a lobbying firm for Lions tickets. He's opposing bills that could shine light on the details.

www.detroitnews.com

Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 1d

Reuters reached out to everyone that Trump or his subordinates singled out publicly for retribution, and reviewed hundreds of official orders, directives and public records. The result: the most comprehensive accounting yet of his campaign of payback.

www.reuters.com/investigates...

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 2d

Really?

K @kate10010.bsky.social · 2d

New park pass design and I….

Rendering of new annual park pass with a pic/drawing of George Washington and Donald fucking Trump

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 2d

You know, a smarter set of authoritarians might have gulled her. I don’t know. These guys? Pretend they’re running a consolidated autocracy when it’s just as likely they’ll all end up indicted themselves, and thereby make the latter more likely.

Elissa Slotkin says she, other lawmakers targets of possible FBI probe

U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said that the FBI has launched a possible inquiry into her and others for their message to military personnel.

www.freep.com

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 2d

The continuing desire to sanewash this guy is amazing. Whether it’s reasonable people with “at least he likes healthy diets” or even sillier defenses. If his namer were not Kennedy I think it might be different.

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 2d

I do find it fascinating how many of them say that the society they oppose is a society of death. Some rather heavy metaphysical territory here- political disputes that quickly escalate into the meaning of life.

Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 2d

The anti-vaccine movement is a death cult

Jesspooka Kant 🎃 @jessdkant.bsky.social · 2d

A third infant has died in Kentucky, KYDPH adds:

“These are Kentucky’s first pertussis deaths since 2018. None of the infants nor their mothers received the recommended pertussis vaccinations during pregnancy or early infancy.”

s3.amazonaws.com/nursing-netw...

Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 2d

The anti-vaccine movement is a death cult

Jesspooka Kant 🎃 @jessdkant.bsky.social · 2d

A third infant has died in Kentucky, KYDPH adds:

“These are Kentucky’s first pertussis deaths since 2018. None of the infants nor their mothers received the recommended pertussis vaccinations during pregnancy or early infancy.”

s3.amazonaws.com/nursing-netw...

Kentucky Public Health
KENTUCKY HEALTH ALERT
Increase in Pertussis in Kentucky
Recommendations for Identification and Prevention
November 21, 2025
Kentucky health officials are alerting providers that cases of pertussis ("whooping cough") have increased steadily across the Commonwealth in recent weeks. To date, 566 cases of pertussis have been reported in Kentucky in 2025, the highest number of cases in the Commonwealth since 2012. This follows a trend that was first announced in July 2024 when pertussis cases began increasing in Kentucky to levels not seen in over a decade. Health officials anticipate that pertussis will continue to increase during the winter months based on historic trends. Many U.S. states and other countries are also experiencing elevated levels of pertussis.
Many of the recent cases have occurred in young infants, and health officials also recently confirmed the third pertussis-related death in a Kentucky infant within the last year. This follows two other infant deaths that were announced in June. These are Kentucky's first pertussis deaths since 2018. None of the infants nor their mothers received the recommended pertussis vaccinations during pregnancy or early infancy. Health officials urge all Kentuckians to remain up to date on recommended pertussis immunizations and emphasize the importance of maternal immunization during pregnancy, and for all infants beginning promptly at two months of age. Health officials also encourage providers to consider pertussis as a diagnosis in addition to circulating seasonal respiratory viruses such as influenza, RSV and COVID-19.
A significant number of cases have also occurred in school-aged children, many of whom were up to date on pertussis vaccination. Immunity from vaccination or natural infection wanes over time so infections can occur in people who are fully vaccinated. However, the vaccine is known to reduce disease severity, and hospitalization among vaccinated individuals is rare.
The Kentucky Dep…

Kentucky Public Health
regularly in Kentucky, however an increase beyond the expected background rate has been reported in recent weeks. Though pertussis vaccination (DTaP or Tdap) is available and widely implemented, B. pertussis continues to spread in the U.S. due to lack of vaccination or timely boosters, the lack of lifelong immunity from vaccination or natural infection and the long duration of infectiousness in untreated cases.
Symptoms of pertussis usually begin with a runny or congested nose, a low-grade fever, and mild coughing; apnea/stopping breathing can also occur in infants. After one to two weeks, the cough can progress to rapid, violent (paroxysmal) coughing fits that can cause the "whooping" sound, vomiting or labored breathing. Young children are the most severely affected; most teens and adults will have mild symptoms. People with preexisting health conditions that may be worsened by whooping cough are at high risk for developing a severe infection.
Testing for Pertussis:
The preferred methods for pertussis testing include nasal pharyngeal (NP) swab or nasal wash via PCR testing or culture. PCR has optimal sensitivity during the first three weeks of cough, is widely available at commercial laboratories and has a fast turnaround time. Culture is considered the gold standard due to excellent specificity but may take longer to complete. Serology for antibodies to B. pertussis is available at many commercial laboratories, however, serologic assays are not generally recommended for primary diagnosis of pertussis due to variability and unknown clinical accuracy. The most promising serologic assays are those that measure IgG antibodies against pertussis toxin only and are collected two to eight weeks following cough onset.
Prevention of Pertussis:
Prevention of pertussis is primarily achieved through routine vaccination with DTaP (ages two months to six years) and Tdap (ages seven years and older), followed by appropriate booster doses. Vaccination of pr…

Bordetella parapertussis
B. parapertussis is a bacterium that is similar to B. pertussis and can cause pertussis-like illness but does not produce pertussis toxin. Symptoms of parapertussis are typically milder and infection may be asymptomatic.
There is no vaccine for B. parapertussis and post-exposure prophylaxis is not recommended, however treatment recommendations for symptomatic patients are the same as those for B. pertussis. B. parapertussis is not reportable in Kentucky.
Thank you for your attention to this alert and guidance. The KDPH pertussis website includes supplemental resources, including a pertussis quicksheet with additional information that providers may find useful. If you have questions regarding reporting, testing, or prevention of pertussis or other infectious diseases, please contact the Kentucky Immunization Branch at (502) 564-4478 or after hours by calling the KDPH Epidemiology on-call line at 888-9-REPORT (888-973-7678).
Our Mission: To improve the health and safety of people in Kentucky through Prevention, Promotion, and Protection

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 2d

It’s also going to produce a budgeting nightmare for a lot of future Dem appointees when they inherit a generally terrible post-Republican fiscal situation and then look at endless programs whose finances have been refashioned so that they depend on abusing visitors/ migrants/ poor people

Sphexish Quine @dfeldman.org · 2d

National parks have SO MANY people from other countries (since they get real vacations!)

And they spend a lot of money on hotels, food, souvenirs, etc.

This is unbelievably dumb, it will destroy entire tourist towns

In a statement on Tuesday, the Interior Department, which manages federal land, said that, as of Jan. 1, it would more than triple the price of an annual park pass for nonresidents, from $80 to $250. Foreign tourists without an annual pass will also be charged $100 on top of the standard entrance fee to visit each of the 11 most popular national parks, including Yosemite, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain and the Grand Canyon.

K @kate10010.bsky.social · 2d

New park pass design and I….

Sphexish Quine @dfeldman.org · 2d

National parks have SO MANY people from other countries (since they get real vacations!)

And they spend a lot of money on hotels, food, souvenirs, etc.

This is unbelievably dumb, it will destroy entire tourist towns

Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 2d

I have the standard google calendars for a bunch of religions and countries on my calendar so I can avoid scheduling things on other people's holidays.

Imagine my delight to learn that google includes the Black Friday sales as a US [religious] "Observance"

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