Here's Some Good News

This is for everybody, due to the subject matter.

Those of you who think you know everything about TCinLA likely don’t know that I am a lifelong scale model hobbyist - building plastic model airplanes (they’re not toys any more - the 10 year olds who used to build them all grew up), some of which are in some air museums. Anyway, today I stopped by that nicest of all local institutions, my Local Hobby Shop (they’re a vanishing species, replaced by online shops that are never out of stock), a place I call Cheers For Nerds. As I got there, they were kicking out a customer, telling him he was unwelcome to ever come again. When I saw who it was, I was really happy: this guy I’ve seen 4-5 times in the year since the shop re-opened in the pandemic easing last summer, he wears a bandanna not a mask, and pulls it down as soon as he steps inside. Yeah, unfortunately, my hobby as more than its share of senile old Trumpscum morons. But they were telling him he was a repeated offender, that he was putting at risk several staff members (the manager is recovering from a heart attack last month, two others have at risk relatives they care for, then there are those of us customers like me caring for a partner who’s an invalid) and that “We don’t need your business.”

Talking to Dave, the manager, I discovered that has been happening so often the past six months that “I don’t even think about it anymore, I just kick ‘em out.”

This is what has to be done with these morons. Publicly humiliate them, scorn them, and keep them away.

In line with that, here’s some good news (with urls so you can read the whole thing).

Best news of all: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been deplatformed at You Tube for his anti-vax disinformation campaigns.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/09/29/youtube-ban-joseph-mercola/

YouTube is banning prominent anti-vaccine activists and blocking all anti-vaccine content

The Google-owned video site previously only banned misinformation about coronavirus vaccines. Facebook made the same change months ago.

YouTube is taking down several video channels associated with high-profile anti-vaccine activists including Joseph Mercola and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who experts say are partially responsible for helping seed the skepticism that’s contributed to slowing vaccination rates across the country.

As part of a new set of policies aimed at cutting down on anti-vaccine content on the Google-owned site, YouTube will ban any videos that claim that commonly used vaccines approved by health authorities are ineffective or dangerous. The company previously blocked videos that made those claims about coronavirus vaccines, but not ones for other vaccines like those for measles or chickenpox.

Misinformation researchers have for years said the popularity of anti-vaccine content on YouTube was contributing to growing skepticism of lifesaving vaccines in the United States and around the world. Vaccination rates have slowed and about 56 percent of the U.S. population has had two shots, compared with 71 percent in Canada and 67 percent in the United Kingdom. In July, President Biden said social media companies were partially responsible for spreading misinformation about the vaccines, and need to do more to address the issue.

Moving on: Here’s what United Air Lines is doing:

United Airlines says nearly all workers met vaccine mandate deadline, 593 could face termination

The air carrier has begun the process for terminating nearly 600 workers who declined to comply with the requirement

https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/09/28/united-airlines-vaccine-requirement/

Nearly all of United Airlines’ U.S.-based employees have been vaccinated, the company said Tuesday, touting the success of its policy after becoming the first U.S. carrier to require the vaccine among its workforce.

United’s deadline for meeting the requirement was Monday, and the carrier said Tuesday it has begun the process of terminating 593 employees who declined to be vaccinated and did not apply for a health or religious exemption. The company said less than 3 percent of its roughly 67,000 workforce applied for exemptions, while 1 percent didn’t comply.

And then there’s this hospital in North Carolina:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/09/28/nc-hospital-175-unvaccinated-fired/

N.C. hospital system fires about 175 workers in one of the largest-ever mass terminations due to a vaccine mandate

A North Carolina-based hospital system announced Monday that roughly 175 unvaccinated employees were fired for failing to comply with the organization’s mandatory coronavirus vaccination policy, the latest in a series of health-care dismissals over coronavirus immunization.

Novant Health said last week that 375 unvaccinated workers — across 15 hospitals and 800 clinics — had been suspended for not getting immunized. Unvaccinated employees were given five days to comply.

Novant Health spokeswoman Megan Rivers told The Washington Post that more than 99 percent of the system’s roughly 35,000 employees have followed the mandatory vaccination program. She said in a statement that Novant Health was “thrilled” those who chose to be vaccinated have given patients and visitors “better protection against COVID-19 regardless of where they are in our health system.”

And after I left the hobby shop, I went up to the local Walmart, where I found to my delight that The Great Cat Food Shortage appears to be over, with well-stocked shelves of Friskies in the pet department.

AND I GOT MY 3RD PFIZER BOOSTER

You should, too.