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from the who-feels-safe-in-Florida-now? dept.
Armed police raid home of Florida scientist fired over Covid-19 data
Rebekah Jones, the Florida data scientist embroiled in a dispute with the state's Republican governor over the handling of coronavirus figures, had her home raided on Monday by armed police who confiscated her computers.
In a stream of posts on Twitter, Jones posted a video of the raid that showed state police carrying handguns escorting her out of her Tallahassee home. She can be heard saying: "He just pointed a gun at my children," with her husband and two children apparently upstairs at the time.
Jones claimed in her tweets that the raid was the work of Ron DeSantis, the governor with whom she has clashed repeatedly since she was fired by the state's department of health in May in a row over Covid-19 data. She compared the incident to sending "the gestapo", adding: "This is what happens to scientists who do their job honestly. This is what happens to people who speak truth to power."
The Florida department of law enforcement confirmed they had entered Jones's house on a search warrant. But in a statement the department said the action was related to a recent computer hack of the health department website, in which emergency response coordinators were sent an unauthorised message.
Also at CNN, The Verge, and The Hill.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Wednesday December 09 2020, @07:10AM (10 children)
"... Don't deny this ... Don't deny that ... Can't take seriously those who deny facts and science" -- without addressing any of your substantive issues, you don't sound ready for a conversation or even ready to discuss what science is (*).
I think it is unfair to label "the right" as the only group take an ideological position on science though. The left has its own sacred cows that could be gored on this topic (literally anything related to sex or gender for example or the importance of rioting during a pandemic). Cherry picking based on ideological position is a bipartisan tendency.
I think the left has forgotten it needs conservatives. When there is balance between those boldly going to new places and those saying "hold on, you haven't even considered how this could have unintended destructive consequences" -- we can make progress in a logical and constructive manner. But when either side wields too much power, the authoritarian instinct tends to take over and you end up with horrific policies, left or right.
As for COVID -- it is valid to ask whether at this point, based on what we know about the disease, including the fact that it hasn't proven to be the Black Plague or anything close -- is the damage worth it? Is the transfer of all business and money to the corporatocracy worth it? Do lockdowns really work or are they being used as political cudgel? Can you really educate kindergartners over the internet? What about other students? For a salient example of how the left is not "following the science", it's pretty hard to justify how outdoor seating of six or seven tables in a parking lot is dangerous, while an area a mere 50' away and 20x the size is not dangerous. If we "follow the science" why do we get this result? What magic in COVID transmission makes one setup safe and the other worthy of destroying a person's life? Show me the actual evidence on this: https://youtu.be/3-86gfJosHc?t=75 [youtu.be]
(*) I don't think "follow the science" makes sense in the way it is used. A science is the study of a specific topic via the scientific method -- in essence science is a verb more than a noun, and when it is a noun, it is the topic of study: biology, physics, chemistry etc. In that vein, it is not exactly accurate to synonomize "science" with "fact" -- science is a practice of the scientific method on a topic which can result in useful findings, but science is itself neither any specific finding nor a specific fact. To think thus is so limiting and worse, it hardens scientific findings into dogma. Engaging in dogmatic thinking is to misunderstand the nature of findings (best current understanding subject to change) and to actually undermine the most powerful tool humans ever invented to understand the world. When people say "Follow the science" they're usually not really saying practice the scientific method, what people seem to mean is "accept this specific finding and never ever question it again." Which is basically putting a sword through the scientific method's heart, usually for left or right ideological purposes.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 09 2020, @08:40AM (2 children)
Fuck you, hemocyanin, may you contract the plague, and transmit it to some one dear to you. I really hope this does not happen, but after your science-denying far-right conspiracy theory post, well, the death of hundreds of thousands is upon you.
(Score: 1, Troll) by hemocyanin on Wednesday December 09 2020, @08:48AM (1 child)
LOL. Keep rioting dude.
(Score: 0, Troll) by hemocyanin on Wednesday December 09 2020, @09:19AM
Safe: https://video.parler.com/sT/2z/sT2zQ4TG5unF_small.mp4 [parler.com]
Safe: https://www.ktvu.com/news/top-brass-at-california-medical-group-joined-newsom-at-french-laundry-birthday-dinner [ktvu.com]
compare: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpFfr0niCf0 [youtube.com]
Follow the Science!
(Score: 2) by EEMac on Wednesday December 09 2020, @03:06PM
> Cherry picking based on ideological position is a bipartisan tendency.
Most underrated comment of the day.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Wednesday December 09 2020, @03:35PM (5 children)
🙄
Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 09 2020, @06:45PM (4 children)
Nothing wrong with Conservatives, it's the idiots that call themselves Conservatives that are the problem.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 09 2020, @06:53PM (3 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 09 2020, @10:28PM (1 child)
Well, we've always known we were talking to children. We've just realized that you are idiot children. All we can do is shake our heads, and count to 100 real slowly, so we don't murder all of youl.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 10 2020, @02:10AM
Your current approach is, instead, disproportionately killing righties.
(Score: 0, Troll) by hemocyanin on Wednesday December 09 2020, @10:51PM
The dogmatic scold demeanor has been culturally appropriated by the woke left.