Category Archives: Public Health

The Snowzzies Are Here!

Posted on December 14, 2022 by mikethemadbiologist

No, that’s not a cutesy name for cold-weather meteorological phenomena. The Snowzzies are awards for people who engaged in disservice in public health, as selected by Peste Magazine’s experts. While not as prestigious as the Mad Biologist’s Award for Unintentional … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19, Humor, Public Health | Comments Off on The Snowzzies Are Here!

Centrists Misunderstand the Moment: The Sick Leave Edition

Posted on November 30, 2022 by mikethemadbiologist

Between the Washington Post editorial board calling for sending federal workers back to the office so D.C. (not Wor-Shing-Tun) can have more tax revenue* and the Biden Administration choosing to side with capital over labor because railroad workers want seven … Continue reading →

Posted in Democrats, Fucking Morons, Public Health, Transportation, Unions | 1 Comment

Kavanaugh and a Missed Opportunity to Protect Public Health Workers

Posted on July 13, 2022 by mikethemadbiologist

One thing about the uproar about the denial of the unenumerated right to eat at Morton’s Steakhouse (for Supreme Court Justices anyway) that doesn’t sit well with me was the comparative lack of chatter when public health officials were receiving … Continue reading →

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We Have Learned Nothing from the COVID Pandemic

Posted on June 29, 2022 by mikethemadbiologist

A few weeks ago, some asshole with a blog asked, “Will we learn anything from COVID testing: The monkeypox edition?” Tragically, the answer appears to be nope (boldface mine): But in the U.S., the official case count is misleading, Makofane … Continue reading →

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The Texas GOP’s War on Public Health

Posted on June 22, 2022 by mikethemadbiologist

The Texas Republican Party–and Texas is the largest Republican-controlled state (and the world’s ninth largest economy)–has been working hard to come up with a platform, and, Boy Howdy, it’s a terrifying exercise in lunacy. Here’s the draft section on vaccination, … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Fucking Morons, Public Health | 5 Comments

Managing Feelings

Posted on June 1, 2022 by mikethemadbiologist

And, no, this isn’t a post about Yascha Mounk! This is a very good point (boldface mine): Panic is never a good public health strategy, but in attempting to preemptively tamp down public fear, I think experts are failing to … Continue reading →

Posted in Public Health, Viruses | Comments Off on Managing Feelings

Will We Learn Anything from COVID Testing: The Monkeypox Edition

Posted on May 30, 2022 by mikethemadbiologist

Will we prepare now, so we don’t panic later? Hopefully, not (boldface mine): Testing for monkeypox in the United States remains cumbersome. Currently, if a person is suspected to have monkeypox, their physician must contact a state or local public … Continue reading →

Posted in Public Health, Viruses | 1 Comment

A New Blob

Posted on September 17, 2021 by mikethemadbiologist

This was going to be a longer post, instead of a short and cryptic one, but life gets in the way, and after eighteen months of this crap, none of us are ok. Anyway, I’m worried we’re starting to see … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19, Public Health | 1 Comment

A Funding Reality of Our Public Health System

Posted on December 10, 2020 by mikethemadbiologist

From the director of the St. Francoise County (Missouri) Public Health Department (boldface mine): We weren’t set up well to deal with this virus in Missouri. We have the worst funding in the country for public health, and a lot … Continue reading →

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You Can’t MacGyver Your Way Out of a Pandemic

Posted on September 3, 2020 by mikethemadbiologist

Here’s one problem our contact tracing system(s), such as they are, have (boldface mine): It’s likely that the first time many Americans heard the term contact tracing was this spring. Before that, some public-health departments were little more than two … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19, Public Health | 3 Comments