Science Journalism

I live in Fresno—downtown Fresno to be more precise. It isn’t the safest area nor the prettiest area of Fresno. I live in an area near a stadium, Chukchansi stadium. Fresno is home to minor league baseball. While the significance of minor league baseball is that it brings an income base to the city.  Fresno, if anything, is in the heart of the agricultural boom-area of California. It is a shameful sight, however, the heart of the San Joaquin valley has a rather poor infrastructure. If anything, Fresno and the surrounding San Joaquin Valley host the most productive agricultural land anywhere in the world. However, downtown Fresno looks decrepit and somewhat slummy.   Truly, it isn’t the best area of Fresno—there are worse areas. Parts of Fresno host gangs that prey on the poor and the disadvantaged. The gangs are known to peddle drugs and similar mayhem. I do my utmost to stay as far from them as I can. However, their presence is a constant reminder why Black Lives Matter to me...

The first post is an Introduction-- I am the son of  European immigrants. I count myself as lucky to reside in the USA because life could be far worse.  Plagues (or pandemics) seemingly occur one time per century. A prior plague (or pandemic, if you will) was the Great Flu of 1917-1921. That pandemic occurred after WWI -- it is judged to be a result of poorly sanitized, rotting corpses, or the poisoned flesh from the Great War. No one (at that time) knew what potential harm would follow as decomposing tissue was subject to earthen microbes in the place of routine burials.  [The Great Flu wiped so many souls from earthly life, my suspicious nature started to ponder if  occurrences like this happened because (we humans) can't stand the sight of other more affluent souls.]  While my father 'weathered the storm' more than 100 years ago, his mother (my fraternal grandmother) lived barely past the era. She succumbed to complications from the pandemic and abject povert...