Author: sbarefoot

http://www.confrontingmediocrity.com

Why I no longer fly Delta Airlines – The consequences of unrestrained yield management techniques.

March 5, 2014

For decades Delta has been my preferred airline. I’m not exactly sure how my preference evolved to that point but I’m sure why it’s no longer true. It’s all about how Delta’s obsession with yield management has led them down the path to treating passengers as little more than fodder for their revenue machine. Does … More Why I no longer fly Delta Airlines – The consequences of unrestrained yield management techniques.

Humans are a minor perturbation in the life of the earth.

February 9, 2014

Our perspective of everything we see, everything we do, and everything we think is distorted by the lens of our vanishingly short time on this earth as living, thinking beings. The distortion is exacerbated by our inability to fully grasp events that occur beyond the relatively small geographical boundaries imposed by our daily life. With … More Humans are a minor perturbation in the life of the earth.

Anti Obamacare Advertising Targeting the Uninsured and Unhealthy.

December 21, 2013

Kantar Media has created a map of the amount of money spent on anti-Obamacare advertising. The geographical distribution of the negative advertising is reminiscent of other maps of the incidence of obesity, diabetes, hypertension and even the distribution of the uninsured or underinsured. Although we know that correlation is not the same as causation, the … More Anti Obamacare Advertising Targeting the Uninsured and Unhealthy.

Decisions based on Perceived Risk can be hazardous to your health.

November 15, 2013

People make decisions based on their perception of risk rather than the actual risk resulting in focusing time, effort, and angst on events that may have a limited chance of occurrence. Meanwhile, events that may be far more likely to cause harm are deemphasized, or ignored completely resulting in a greater exposure to actual harm. … More Decisions based on Perceived Risk can be hazardous to your health.

Low T? “If you build it, he will come.”

November 11, 2013

The pharmaceutical industry, a.k.a. Big Pharma, must have loved it every time the voice in Field of Dreams whispered “if you build it, he will come” because that is exactly what has happened with the skyrocketing sales of testosterone. Except Big Pharma hasn’t been whispering, they’ve been shouting. According to Consumers Reports ad spending on … More Low T? “If you build it, he will come.”

Have We Reached Peak Antibiotics? Emerging antibiotic resistant “super bugs” are an immediate, global health concern.

November 9, 2013

All too frequently, my original ideas turn out to be no so original. So it is with the comparison of peak oil and antibiotic resistance which has been previously made in a posting in the “Health Ecologist” blog.[1] Nevertheless, I’ll restate the comparison because the essence of both situations is the same, namely that there … More Have We Reached Peak Antibiotics? Emerging antibiotic resistant “super bugs” are an immediate, global health concern.

You probably don’t know what you’re talking about – you only think you do.

August 31, 2013

The observation that people with limited knowledge of a topic believe they know more than they do is popularly known as the Dunning-Kruger effect, named after the psychologists who published the 2009 paper, Unskilled and Unaware of It: “How Difficulties in Recognizing One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments”[1] The paper analyzes and confirms this phenomenon … More You probably don’t know what you’re talking about – you only think you do.

Trayvon- Uncovering Racism Beyond the Verdict.

July 17, 2013

I usually avoid categorizing myself as a progressive because the term has become a euphemism for being a liberal. People seem sometimes hesitant to call themselves liberals. There is nothing wrong with being a liberal unless the commitment to maintaining that label adulterates one’s otherwise objective position, perspective or opinion on a given topic. It … More Trayvon- Uncovering Racism Beyond the Verdict.

The Other National Deficit – Critical Thinking

June 16, 2013

I am probably attempting to distill this too much but it seems that many of the problems in the world would disappear if we could teach our youth two things – to think critically and to recognize logical fallacies. Recognizing logical fallacies is part of critical thinking but deserves special attention because of their ubiquity … More The Other National Deficit – Critical Thinking

The Newtown 31 – Senators who forgot Sandy Hook and remembered the NRA.

April 13, 2013

I have written on several previous occasions[1] about how the overuse of the filibuster in the US Senate has greatly contributed to the dysfunction of that body. Some, including the US Senator from my state, Marco Rubio, are not clear on the history or the intent of the filibuster so a brief summary of the … More The Newtown 31 – Senators who forgot Sandy Hook and remembered the NRA.