“Texas, our Texas, so wonderful and great…” goes the song.
“Texas is one of the most prepared states for public health disasters in the U.S.” (Tweet by Governor Greg Abbott on March 9, 2020)
State with highest number of people lacking health insurance (5 million) in the nation: Texas.
State with per-capita number of hospital beds lower than the U.S. average because of hospital closures: Texas.
(Japan has around 13 hospital beds per one thousand people. South Korea has 12. The average rich country has about 5.5 beds. Texas has 2.3 beds.)
State ranking forty-first of fifty states in physicians per capita: Texas.
State with 28 percent of nursing homes given lowest possible rating (one star) by federal government in 2015: Texas.
(In California 7 percent received that rating.)
State with 25 percent of nursing homes cited for severe deficiencies by the feds in 2015: Texas
State whose health agency headquarters had to be vacated by hundreds of employees in 2018 because they were overrun with rats, mold, and vermin: Texas
(Abbott quotation and stats from Christopher Hooks, “Let’s Count the Ways Texas’s Dismal Health Care Landscape Could Make Coronavirus Worse,” Texas Monthly, 3-11-20)
(c) 2020 JMN
Tummlers
Yes, it saw the invention of cars, airplanes, and computers, but the 20th century will be remembered most for its chronic wars.
However, a sweet vestige to preserve from then is what’s known as the “tummler,” a term introduced to me by this article.
Jessamyn West, a librarian who was a moderator for 10 years at MetaFilter, said the job [moderating content on the internet] is like what Catskill entertainers of the mid-20th century called a tummler, “the person in the room who isn’t quite the M.C. but walks around and makes sure you’re doing OK.” Tummlers were basically professional minglers at shows and social gatherings. If you were feeling shy, they’d even help you strike up a conversation with other vacationers at the resort.
(Annalee Newitz, “We Forgot About the Most Important Job on the Internet,” NYTimes, 3-13-20)
Ms.Newitz points out in her article that persons who wrangle comments on today’s internet perform much-needed and varied functions, often needing trauma therapy for the ugliness they confront. However, she reminds us why we needed human moderators in the first place, as old-fashioned tummlers “helping us have a good time.”
(c) 2020 JMN