COVID unit doctor low on compassion for unvaccinated people - Los Angeles Times

My patient died nine days later from a fatal stroke. We, the care team, reconciled this loss by telling ourselves: He made a personal choice not to get vaccinated, not to protect himself or his family. We did everything we could with what we had to save him. This year, this tragedy, this unnecessary, entirely preventable loss, was on him. The burden of this pandemic now rests on the shoulders of the unvaccinated. On those who are eligible to get vaccinated, but choose not to, a decision they defend by declaring, “vaccination is a deeply personal choice.” But perhaps never in history has anyone’s personal choice impacted the world as a whole as it does right now. When hundreds and thousands of people continue to die, when the most vulnerable members of society, our children, cannot be vaccinated — the luxury of choice ceases to exist.

It is not a personal choice when the lives of those around you are at stake, it is a selfish act of cowardice.

Day 1: Finding Product Ideas

I have probably started dozens of projects over the years with the intention of selling it as a product or tutorial. Number of projects that have made it across the finish-line and available for sale? A whomping zero 🥚. ☹️ so when Gumroad put out a 14 day course to get people like me through the process, I jumped at the chance.

Pick a Topic You Already Have Expertise In

  1. Web development
  2. Testing setup and start with React
  3. Next JS Testing
  4. React Native Setup
  5. NextJS setup
  6. TailwindCSS
  7. Emotion JS in CSS

Keep Your Scope Small

Those are all pretty good sized topics. I am would like to focus on testing is some shape or form, it’s a matter of what the scope will be to launch in 14 days. 🤔 let’s focus on testing specifically in NextJS, something where I think there is a real need in the community.

Deactivation of Flash may have crippled Chinese railroad for a day | Ars Technica

staffers were reportedly unable to view train operation diagrams, formulate train sequencing schedules, and arrange shunting plans

Alternative tile includes: “Flash Reaches Out From the Grave 🧟‍♂️”

Don’t Be a Schmuck. Put on a Mask.

Some people are complaining, “Well, my freedom is being kind of disturbed here.” Well, I told them, “Screw your freedom.” You have the freedom to wear no mask. But if you exercise that freedom, you’re a schmuck—because you’re supposed to protect your fellow Americans.

I would go further than calling these people schmucks. Selfish, short sighted, willfully ignorant, vial, these people have turned their backs on facts, science, and their community. And for what?

As Americans, we have agreed to vaccinations to eradicate diseases since George Washington mandated the smallpox inoculation for his troops. “Upon the principle of self-defense, of paramount necessity, a community has the right to protect itself against an epidemic of disease which threatens the safety of its members,” the Supreme Court said in 1905, in a ruling supporting vaccine mandates.

Physically able to get vaccinated and refuse? Fine. Proof required to fly, no more traveling. Proof required to go to work, you’re out of a job. No public spaces, amenities, or resources. Want to go see your favorite sports club? Nope. You can stay home and watch it on TV. Kids need to go to school? Nope, you’ve chosen home school. You’ve refused to do the minimum to protect others in you community, you are no longer welcome. Feel free to complain about it being unAmerican or fascist, you’ll simply have to do it from the confines of your own home.

Dying in a Leadership Vacuum | NEJM

But truth is neither liberal nor conservative. When it comes to the response to the largest public health crisis of our time, our current political leaders have demonstrated that they are dangerously incompetent. We should not abet them and enable the deaths of thousands more Americans by allowing them to keep their jobs.

Just 90 days or so into the changeover of administration and Congress, it is increasingly clear that we the public did not clear house nearly far enough.

F.C.C. Approves a $50 Monthly High-Speed Internet Subsidy - The New York Times

There are many challenges. Broadband maps, for instance, notoriously overcount how many households have access. If an internet service provider such as Charter or AT&T reaches just one home in a census block, the entire block appears connected on federal maps, even when all homes aren’t given the option of broadband.

Hopefully just the beginning.

Fight over hospital’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate ends with 153 workers out of a job | Ars Technica

“We all knew we were getting fired today,” Bridges told the AP. “We knew unless we took that shot to come back, we were getting fired today. There was no ifs, ands, or buts.”

From earlier in the case

Hospital suspends 178 health care workers for failing to get COVID vaccine | Ars Technica

Still, the small faction of vaccine holdouts is vocal—and feisty—about its objections to the mandate. Dozens of people, including hospital staffers and supporters, gathered outside of Houston Methodist Baytown campus Monday evening to protest the mandate as some unvaccinated employees completed what could be their final shifts at the facility. People held signs reading “Vaxx is Venom,” “Don’t Lose Sight of Our Rights,” and “No Forced Vaccines.”

The safety of the general public is not now, or ever, eclipsed by your personal rights.

House Republicans propose nationwide ban on municipal broadband networks | Ars Technica

PCMag recently named Chattanooga, Tennessee, the best work-from-home city in the nation, citing in part the city’s “widely available broadband Internet” provided by the Chattanooga Electric Power Board. Comcast initially tried to block that public network from being built but eventually upgraded its own service to better compete against the public option.

Literally the best way to push the market of ISP’s forward is for cities and other municipalities to build a better option. 🤔

Housing prices are out of control. Can Biden’s infrastructure bill change that? - Vox

Where are all the houses?

Restrictions like minimum lot sizes, mandatory parking requirements, and other prohibitions on multi-family housing that Biden’s plan references have the effect of reducing the supply of housing. For example, if there is a requirement that for every unit a developer has to provide two parking spaces, that ensures they have to set aside land for parking that could otherwise have been used for building more homes. Frequently, this leads developers to build fewer units — and more expensive ones at that.

According to the Urban Institute, by the end of 2020, there was only 2.5 months’ supply left of housing, meaning “at the current sales pace, the inventory of homes nationwide will be exhausted.”

Make no mistake about it. These restrictions are not in place on accident. They are purposely enacted to be exclusionary.

In 2021, we need to fix America’s internet - The Verge

As FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel wrote for The Verge last March, as many as one in three US households doesn’t have broadband internet access, currently defined as just 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up — which feels like the bare minimum for a remote learning family these days. Even before the pandemic, that statistic might have been shocking; now, it’s the difference between whether millions of schoolchildren can attend classes and do their homework or not. Nearly 12 million children don’t have a broadband connection at home, the Senate Joint Economic Committee reported in 2017. And the “homework gap” hits harder if you’re poor, of course: only 56 percent of households with incomes under $30,000 had broadband as of last February, according to the Pew Research Center.

What would it actually take to get viable, affordable internet to each and every household in America? 5 billion? 10 billion? Great. I say pay it. ISP’s are required utility like clean water and electricity, they should be treated as such, rather than for profit companies hiding, lobbies, and defeating efforts for access at every turn.

In Defense of Science

I know that science itself is not a substitute for morality or public policy. It is a method for us to understand the choices we might have to make. 

Incarceration Rates by Country 2021

The United States is the world leader in incarceration, despite the national incarceration rate being at its lowest in 20 years, with about 25% of the world’s prison population being in the US. The United States currently has over 2.1 million total prisoners. The prison population in 1972 was 200,000, almost 2 million less than it is today. The prison populations in each state vary in each state, with the highest rates in Louisiana and Oklahoma.

Between the constant mass shootings and the rate of incarceration we need a fundamental change in federal policy not bandaid laws, anyone’s “hopes and prayers”, or debate on how your personal rights outweigh the common good.

Infrastructure at US Airports

Not only are few US airports among the world’s best, but overall, they are in bad shape: In 2021, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave America’s aviation system a D+, largely because airports’ basic inefficiencies and lack of space lead to problems like delays and overcrowding. The airport grade was worse than those of other, oft-maligned parts of US transportation infrastructure, like bridges, which earned a C, and roads, which were given a D.

Just how far behind are we in keeping up with the rising rate of air travel? There’s been plenty of small renovations and expansions to existing airports over the years. Mere budget bandaids that barely put a dent in actual needs. And this:

The only major US airport to open in the last 30 years is Denver International Airport, a mega project in which the Denver Regional Council of Governments had the luxury of selecting a space in the 1980s rather than the 1940s. The result, which cost $8.2 billion by today’s standards, was North America’s largest airport by land area, with far more space for terminals and concourses than is typical.

Wow.

Instacart Will Lay Off All of Its Unionized Workers

At the time of their union drive in 2020, Instacart manager ran a union-busting campaign, circulating anti-union literature and memos intended to convince workers to vote down the union. 

The company reported profitability for the first time in 2020, is preparing to IPO at some point this year, and is estimated to be valued at up to $30 billion, CNBC reported.

More union-busting tactics from high valued, ready to IPO, Bullshit company.

ISPs step up fight against SpaceX, tell FCC that Starlink will be too slow | Ars Technica

While incumbent ISPs are wary of the new competition from Starlink’s low Earth orbit satellites, traditional wireline telcos are no guarantee to meet FCC deployment requirements. CenturyLink and Frontier recently missed FCC deployment deadlines in dozens of states, and both of them are slated to get more money from the new RDOF program.

I understand as a business you want to take advantage of every opportunity over your competition. But it is a really tough sell when current ISPs continually fail to meet deadlines, over charge, under delivery, and provide the worst customer service of any industry out there.

Meanwhile Comcast Data Cap

State Reps Try To Ban Data Cap

Low Income Internet Broadband

Give Everyone Internet Already

It’s too late for vaccines to save Michigan, CDC director explains | Ars Technica

The state has seen a 400 percent spike in cases since March 5, when state officials eased restrictions on residential gatherings and occupancy limits for bars, restaurants, venues, and stores.

A reminder it’s not over. 😔

Judge slams hospital staff for comparing COVID vaccine mandate to Nazi crimes | Ars Technica

US District Judge Lynn Hughes called that argument “reprehensible” and issued sweeping rejections of their other claims that the mandate violates state and federal laws. In the five-page ruling filed Saturday, Judge Hughes wrote that the lawsuit by the 117 employees—led by coronavirus-unit nurse Jennifer Bridges—contained false statements, misconstrued legal provisions, wrongly claimed coercion, and made otherwise invalid arguments.

Judge Hughes also noted that on May 28, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determined that employers can mandate COVID-19 vaccination, given reasonable accommodations.

Good.

Live results for Puerto Rico’s statehood referendum - Vox

Puerto Rico has been a US territory for 122 years. It’s the world’s oldest colony. And on Election Day, it’s holding its sixth nonbinding referendum on the issue of statehood.

I had no idea that Puerto Rico had been a territory for a 100 plus years?!? It’s just just that it isn’t a state. My vote is hell yes, about time.

Marjorie Taylor Greene: First-quarter fundraising haul reveals what the GOP is really about - Vox

Ultimately, Green’s big fundraising haul is a reminder that gaining notoriety on conservative media — rather than making efforts to pass meaningful legislation — is what holds real value in the modern Republican Party.

No longer the party of Lincoln.

Miguel Cardona confirmed as Biden’s education secretary - The Washington Post

He was chosen in part based on his track record in pushing Connecticut schools to reopen for in-person learning. In his confirmation hearing before the Senate education panel, he said he approached the job with a spirit of cooperation.

We were open and transparent with what we knew, and we made sure that we partnered with our health experts to put out very clear guidance early on to make sure that the mitigation strategies were very clear,” he said. “I look forward to, if I’m fortunate enough to serve as secretary of education, to bring that same mentality of partnership and clear communication to help recover our public education and reopen our schools.

More Than Manchin

I have said many times that I believe our national government has been based on two strong political parties competing for votes in the marketplace of ideas. I still believe that is the strongest manifestation of our political system. But I recognize that is not what we have now. The only way we can restore that order is to figure out how to foster action in government. And for now, the desire for action rests within the Democratic Party. The Republicans want power, to be sure, but to what end? It doesn’t seem in service to the needs of the nation. 

I most certainly agree it’s not in the service of the people, but to what end indeed.

New Website - The White House

curl and embedded comment giving a shoutout for developers ❤️

Not important enough: 1Password abandons its native Mac app – Six Colors

Just as there are good and bad Catalyst apps, there are good and bad Electron apps. I’m sure that the very best Electron app isn’t as good a Mac app as one written using Apple’s AppKit frameworks

This, to me, is the main problem I have with this argument. An Electron app, web app, PWA, or cli app can be every bit has good as AppKit.

I appreciate that AgileBits was originally planning two separate Mac implementations. That’s a sign that the company cared enough to expend extra resources to have a good experience on the Mac, rather than doing what it did to Windows users in deciding Electron was good enough.

Again. Electron apps aren’t just good enough, they can be great.

Ohio GOP ends attempt to ban municipal broadband after protest from residents | Ars Technica

Lawmakers apparently relented to public pressure from supporters of municipal broadband and cities and towns that operate the networks. People and businesses from Fairlawn, where the city-run FairlawnGig network offers fiber Internet, played a significant role in the protests. FairlawnGig itself asked users to put pressure on lawmakers, and the subscribers did so in great numbers.

I’m still salty that we even have to have this conversation as previously noted