That’s not what I said. But for some things a more centralized government is basically essential. The key is a good balance between more localized and more centralized forms of government.

Yes, hyperlocal control has historically worked out great for minorities and economically marginal groups. And for pretty much any problem requiring large-scale coordination, like: infrastructure, pollution control, healthcare, etc.

This is a lot of conflicting asks. In any semi-rural area of PA there are going to be few people of color and few LGBTQ people, and fewer young people. Hi speed internet will be slower and less reliable. Chain stores will be a significant drive.

All that being said I think Lancaster might be worth a look, maybe moreso than Harrisburg.

Even “redundant” research can at least sometimes have value. Certainly at some point there are diminishing returns, but currently we undervalue reproducing findings.

I suspect it might be more that they could actually get away with doing it - that county officials would be compliant/ complicit. The news story of doing an audit on the election is enough to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election for their target audience. And if they were able to find any inconsistencies that might also allow pressure to be applied for more county audits.

One of the secrets of standardized tests like these is they are evaluations of school/teaching quality as much as they are of students. They are intended to ensure students are meeting a minimum proficiency in certain skills/knowledge. Schools want to ensure students do as well as possible in part because if they don’t it reflects poorly on them. As others have said, as long as you take the test seriously and take your time you should do fine, especially if you’re doing ok in your classes.

Any retrospective study is inherently limited by possible misremembering, which is discussed in the limitations of this study, but taken alongside findings from a swath of studies that align with this study there’s not any particular reason to believe percentages are off by any great degree. Also, for example, loss of smell or taste is a rare and remarkable symptom that people are unlikely to misremember or misattribute.

Yes, it’s kind of bleak, that’s why many health care practitioners and researchers are sounding alarm bells around a coming wave of disability society is going to have to deal with.

The thing is you could be right in a way even if it’s Covid-induced - Covid could be causing accelerated biological aging processes in certain respects.

From the article: “Details of new symptoms since January 2020, their duration, and whether their onset was contemporaneous with an acute infectious episode were collected.”

So they did specifically ask about the symptoms being new, and whether they started around the time of infection.

Ok, continue missing the point. Have a good day.

I’m not sure why you’re being so defensive. It’s not all about you, it’s about anyone who might read this kind of comment and not really think about it beyond, hey, yeah, great idea, I agree with that.

As I noted in my last response I kind of assumed that was the case but there are people who genuinely would prefer these kinds of solutions so it’s important to have the conversation.

I know these kinds of comments are generally kind of joking/ exaggerations born out of frustration but really they’re anti-progressive and kind of a parallel to MAGA mentality at their roots since the people who would be left behind or have their lives upheaved in the most catastrophic ways would be the most vulnerable. For example, the two states you named are notable in that TX has the largest Black population in the country, and MS has by far the largest proportion of the population that’s black - almost 40%. Being willing to sacrifice other people or turn them into refugees for your own safety or comfort is not the moral high ground.

I mean, the significant Democratic and racial minorities in those states might not be too excited about that plan.

And 42% of our neighbors are disappointed he’s not governor. This is fine.

This is absolutely incorrect. The only way to support your claim is to include things like Medicare and Social Security, which are very efficient programs, and in the case of Medicare it would be even more efficient if it were universalized.

Beautiful! 🍁