Science Journalism

Life, as we understand it, is complicated. One organism depends upon another. Bees need pollen. Plants must be pollinated to produce their fruit. Bacteria, in our gut, need to stay healthy with diets appropriate to our health. Moreover, bodies employ internal viruses and bacteria to maintain good health. Life on earth is closely inter-related.  However, viruses and bacteria have reputations as harmful to the lives of people, animals, and many living organisms. Viruses are known to make most people sick with colds. While the COVID-19 virus looks similar to the cold or the flu virus, at times the symptoms of the new virus can be deadly. At times, some of us appear indifferent or deny our culpability in the spread of the pandemic by not wearing a mask or refusing to be vaccinated. In many ways, this twisted nightmare where so many fail to believe or to trust science may become our ‘swan song.’ Earlier in the 20th century, technology and science enabled so many to leave behind the shac...

I do my best to keep up with the news by watching MSNBC-- I have many reasons for watching it rather than CNN or FOX-News. However my primary reason: I agree with much of what I hear. CNN is good source. However, FOX-News seems to dumb-down its viewers.  Anyhow, a couple of weeks ago I was listening to Rachel Maddow at her appointed time of 9pm EDT. She said something quite plain but profound-- there are other ways to treat COVID-19 infections. Prevention through vaccination may not be the only route. It struck me as strange-- so many unlucky souls have passed on but there are a lucky  few who have been given "mystery" treatments after infection. The former president (#45) happened to be one of them.  While I am unsure what the treatment cocktail consisted for the former president, I ran across an interesting post at the American Chemical Society-- an antibacterial that seems to be effective against COVID-19 (a virus). Anti-bacterials are normally ineffective against viru...