Linkee-poo, living on a thin line, tell me now what are we supposed to do?

It's maple sugaring season.

"A powerful and deadly storm moving through Middle Tennessee spawned a tornado that touched down in Nashville early Tuesday morning, cutting a swath of destruction that stretched through the city for miles." And the season is just beginning.

"The California-based spaceflight startup Astra scrubbed a planned orbital launch attempt from the Pacific Spaceport Complex on Alaska's Kodiak Island on Monday (March 2). It would have been the first-ever liftoff for Astra's Rocket 3.0 and just the third overall for Astra, which attempted suborbital flights with two earlier booster iterations in 2018."

We ought to get our own little-guy, Pappy. "A young campaigner who has been hailed by climate sceptics as the right’s answer to Greta Thunberg has previously described a white nationalist who appeared to promote 'white genocide' theories as one of her 'inspirations'… Naomi Seibt, a 19-year-old from Münster, Germany, who styles herself as a 'climate realist', has also had to deny she made remarks that could be seen as antisemitic following an attack on a synagogue last year." Midget, broom, it's a well organized campaign. There are no original thoughts on the right.

I've said it for a long time, the brain is not a computer. "'Only 20 to 30 years ago, neuroanatomical and neurophysiological information was relatively scarce, while understanding mind-related processes seemed within reach,' Frégnac wrote. 'Nowadays, we are drowning in a flood of information. Paradoxically, all sense of global understanding is in acute danger of getting washed away. Each overcoming of technological barriers opens a Pandora’s box by revealing hidden variables, mechanisms and nonlinearities, adding new levels of complexity.'" We only think of the brain as a computer because computers are the most complex machines we have. The brain has been compared previously to the phone system, telegraph, trains, steam engines… whatever the most advanced and complex bits we had at the time. This is the danger of metaphor. And if you want more concrete proof, here it is. Computers function on polarity, that's how signals are processed. Neurons, on the other hand, function on de-polarization (getting a neuron to "fire" requires that the cell open charge channels to depolarize the cell and it's surrounding cytoplasm, at "rest" the cell has charge-pumps which purge the cell of potassium to create a polarized "potential" between the cell and the cytoplasm).

"The sample’s overall case-fatality rate was 2.3%, higher than World Health Organization official 0.7% rate. No deaths occurred in those aged 9 years and younger, but cases in those aged 70 to 79 years had an 8% fatality rate and those aged 80 years and older had a fatality rate of 14.8%."

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency is planning for the possibility that President Donald Trump could make an emergency declaration to bring in extra funds and personnel to assist the administration's coronavirus response, according to internal documents obtained by NBC News." Totally a hoax. (Grokked from Joy Reid)

"The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that public health officials are operating in 'uncharted territory' as they combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has infected more than 90,000 people across 73 countries and territories as of Monday evening." We seem to being doing that a lot lately, being in uncharted territory.

"US stocks rebounded sharply on Monday, with the Dow logging its biggest point gain in history… Stocks are coming off their worst week since the 2008 financial crisis. The Dow last week dropped 12.4%, while the S&P 500 plunged 11.5%… The Dow also recorded its worst one-day point drop in history on Thursday." But the hangover looks killer.

"Bank of England governor Mark Carney has warned that coronavirus could produce a 'large' but 'ultimately temporary' shock to the economy… However, he said the Bank was ready to help businesses and households adjust to the impacts of the deadly virus." Huhn, I didn't know central banks had the power to bring people back from the dead. Dear industry and business "leaders", the virus doesn't care if you're rich. Just thought you'd like to know that.

"Stocks continued their March bounce-back after the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a half percentage point on Tuesday and issued new economic stimulus amid mounting coronavirus risks." Five-hundred basis points? Glad we're not in a panic. Also, about that "continued… bounce-back", as of this writing the Dow is down 240 points.

Can I get five-up-high? "The NBA has sent out a memo advising players on precautions to avoid contracting the coronavirus that leads to COVID-19, ESPN reports." Apparently not.

"Poor people don’t get vaccinated, they get sick. " Jim Wright on the state of the state.

So, here's a thought. Besides killing you outright COVID-19 can cause respiratory distress (20-30% of the infected, which is hella high, to be fair a majority of the mortality comes from this group). If you can get to a hospital they can help you with a respirator. If they have one that isn't in use. If we can effectively disinfect for this virus (it appears we can). And there are different respirators for pediatrics and adults. This was a concern during SARS (which fortunately burned out after we "contained" it). And we haven't done squat to fix that problem. Why? Respirators are expensive and normally you don't need a lot of them. And let's say by some miracle we're able to get enough actual respirators, do we have enough of the disposable tubes, trachs, intubation devices, and everything else? Whispers into the void, "if this becomes a pandemic, no. No we don't." The hospital I work at has an ICU with 12 beds. Normally we only have 3-5 open on any given day. Medicine for profit. Best healthcare system in the world, eh?

"Maine residents voting Tuesday in the presidential primary will also have a chance to cast ballots on another issue: vaccine requirements. A statewide referendum asks if voters want to overturn a new law that eliminates religious and philosophical exemptions for childhood vaccines."

Another day in America… "Authorities searching the California home of a UPS worker who threatened a mass shooting found body armor, tactical rifles and 20,000 rounds of ammunition, police said Monday… Thomas Andrews, 32, was arrested on suspicion of evading police, driving under the influence and several weapons violations, police in Sunnyvale said in a statement."

"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held an edge over his main rival in Israel’s third election in under a year, exit polls indicated Monday night, but it was unclear whether he could clinch the parliamentary majority needed to claim victory." Maybe the third time isn't a charm. I'm sure another election will do it.

Tit meets tat. "The Trump administration said on Monday it will restrict the number of Chinese citizens allowed to work for Chinese state media outlets in the United States, saying the move was designed to signal Washington’s concerns about Beijing’s 'abusive' treatment of American and other foreign reporters in China."

"The Taliban are to resume attacks against government forces, just days after signing a deal with the US aimed at bringing peace to Afghanistan… But the group's spokesman said on Monday the talks would not go ahead if 5,000 Taliban prisoners held by the government were not released." I guess someone should have given the Afghan government a heads-up (or maybe, I don't know, have included them in peace talks that concern their own country)?

"The Trump administration is making available to Congress two secret documents related to the United States' peace agreement with the Taliban, part of the White House's effort to build support for ending the longest military conflict in American history." Peace with honor or a desperate attempt to save face?

"Opening arguments ended Monday in Texas in the highest profile criminal case ever brought against a company and its employees for allegedly failing to adequately prepare for the effects of climate change." I'll go make some more popcorn.

"Chris Matthews, one of America's best-known political talk show hosts, is retiring from MSNBC, effective immediately, after a string of recent controversies on and off the air."

"At the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, the Trump administration is seeking to make it easier for the president to call in the heads of the nation's independent agencies and say those words he was famous for on TV: 'You're fired!' In particular, the administration is asking the court to restrict or reverse a decision that dates back nearly a century, and that has been repeatedly reaffirmed." This is a test of the system that could impact our entire structure of governance.

"Last year, Texas led the US south in an unenviable statistic: closing down the most polling stations, making it more difficult for people to vote and arguably benefiting Republicans… A report by civil rights group The Leadership Conference Education Fund found that 750 polls had been closed statewide since 2012." (Grokked from Bo Bolander)