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Will McAvoy Profile picture
Will McAvoy
@WillMcAvoyACN
Ombudsman for the Internet on a #MissionToCivilize. Not affiliated with @HBO or The #Newsroom. I mute notifications from nonfollowers.
7 subscribers
Nov 18, 2022 • 11 tweets • 7 min read
🧵 So, I have no idea if this is the end of Twitter, or just the end of Twitter as we know it, but it does seem--from the news reports--that its likely at the very list this website will be a different experience soon. /1 There is a comedian named Ardal O'Hanlon (@ardalsfolly) who has a bit about wanting to tell his father he loves him before he dies, but being afraid of getting the timing wrong and his father lives for another 15 years. It's a really great bit. /2
Sep 9, 2022 • 22 tweets • 5 min read
Named for the journalist kidnapped and murdered by militant Islamic terrorists while researching a story, the school focuses on journalism and communications as part of a comprehensive high school education. The school paper, The Pearl Post, was recognized as High School Newspaper of the Year by the LA Press Club in 2016.

In November 2021, they reported that school librarian Greta Enszer had not been vaccinated and as a result the school library would be closed until further notice.
Feb 13, 2022 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
I think it’s interesting that a major problem in the discussion places surrounding pop culture is that some of the biggest fans of traditionally “nerdy” pop culture are unable to deal with the massive and uncontested victory they have achieved. They did it. The geek inherited the Earth. And rather than accept their victory, they have fought it tooth and nail. Perhaps it wasn’t the stories or the characters they loved, but rather they enjoyed the feeling of being outsiders. Who knows.
Jan 10, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Since the 1980s, hospitals have been replacing copper and brass surfaces with stainless steel. The reason? Copper and brass fade with time, while stainless steel retains its “new” look.

Here’s the thing: unlike stainless steel, copper and brass reduce the transition of disease. In repeated studies, copper and brass objects have shown to break down bacteria and viruses quickly, when compared to other surfaces.

While COVID-19 can live on other surfaces for 72 hours, it dies on copper surfaces within four hours.

Here’s the thing: we knew this before.
Nov 19, 2021 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
There seems to be a real disconnect here about the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict. I’ve seen a number of legal experts come in and explain why it shouldn’t have been a surprise that Rittenhouse was acquitted. There seems to, lately, be this trend that something must be shocking or unexpected to be upsetting, but the reality is for many people that status quo is just as upsetting. Please stop responding to people who are upset with “why are you surprised”?

You help absolutely no one.
Oct 13, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
They also aren’t voiceless. In fact their voices are heard disproportionately more than people who got the vaccines months ago and are desperate for a booster shot to lower their risk of getting infected at all. Of the Americans who have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination (66%), 76% would like a booster shot.

That means over 50% of Americans have had a COVID shot and want a booster shot.

When’s the last time you heard any of them interviewed?
Sep 29, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
We hear a lot about the people refusing to abide by vaccination mandates, but the truth of the matter is that they are a tiny fraction of the populace who have been given a voice that is much louder than they would be able to muster on their own. Part of it is because people abiding by vaccination mandates isn’t necessarily news. However, it is extremely important that the media and news organizations put these stories into context of the overall population, lest we give the impression that this is a deeper issue.
Sep 24, 2021 • 7 tweets • 1 min read
What is your favorite Phil Hartman character? Poll: Phil Hartman’s best Simpsons character is:
Aug 29, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Too many people seem to think that it is a lack of belief that is keeping people from getting vaccinated, and that some piece of evidence (full FDA approval) will convince them to get vaccinated.

Overall, it won’t.

This isn’t lack of trust. This isn’t fear. It’s stubbornness. These people are so emotionally invested in being correct—in part because our society has reinforced for decades that changing your mind on something, even when there is new evidence, is somehow a bad thing.

To them, getting a vaccination means admitting they were wrong.
Aug 24, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Thalidomide was never approved by the FDA.

Indeed, Frances Oldham Kelsey was in charge of approving it by the FDA and refused until additional tests were conducted, despite pressure from the manufacturer.

Her concerns were justified as the birth defects were seen in Europe. Indeed for her service President Kennedy gave her the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service, and an annual award for FDA service is named in her honor.
Aug 20, 2021 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
I recently discovered that anti-vaxxers have been promoting a anti-parasite medication instead of the vaccine. Their reason for doing so is that it is “generic” and therefore there no ulterior motive at play, but that is a hilariously ignorant position to take. Even generic medication has to be manufactured and only major metastudy that has endorsed the use of this medication is one that is explicitly trying to promote the use of this drug, and held said position before the study.
Aug 13, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
That’s… not accurate. First and foremost people who are vaccinated remain less likely to get infected with COVID-19, period, even with the Delta variant. When you’re less likely to get infected, you’re less likely to spread the virus inherently. Additionally, the mutations we are seeing all emerged before widespread vaccination, so widespread vaccination is therefore unlikely to be the cause of these mutations. reuters.com/article/factch…
Jul 31, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Refusing to get vaccinated isn’t just ignorant, it’s dangerous and selfish. It puts everyone at risk, especially teachers, nurses and the immunocompromised.

Those who spread misinformation about vaccines are not just harming their own followers, but society as a whole. And the simple truth is that there is nothing that will change their minds at this point. They are too emotionally invested. We’ve made changing your mind be a sign of weakness, and I don’t know how we fix that.

People would emotionally rather risk death than be wrong.
May 26, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Anyone who thinks that personal finance is balancing a checkbook in 20-fucking-21 probably also shouldn’t be setting educational policy. And for the record: around 15% of high schoolers end up taking a calculus class. 15%. If you want an increased focus on STEM, then you probably want that number at least that high and you’ll also want to make sure more students are in classes for statistics.
May 13, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
This is a classic example of the data not telling us what we think the data is telling us. Any place with really good BBQ is also going to have places with bad BBQ, and people there are going to be able to tell the difference between the two. Someone in Seattle isn’t likely to have a ton of choices for BBQ, while someone from, say, Texas will have too many. Once you’ve had Pecan Lodge or Salt Lick, etc. it probably means that you’re less likely to give a high rating to a chain BBQ place.
Mar 4, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Well, first off, this is a really awful way to explain what racism is to children.

Secondly, this isn’t a conversation parents generally want to be blindsided by at storytime. And then they’re less likely to purchase other Seuss books. The entire Seuss brand is built on the idea that the programming is appropriate and safe, and this undermines that image. As such, as a business decision it makes sense to stop producing new copies of the book.
Mar 3, 2021 • 27 tweets • 9 min read
And on the subject of banning books:

While Dr. Seuss's books have not been banned, but rather his publishing firm elected to stop publishing new editions of books that are very widely available. These books will still be easy to obtain in used book stores and libraries. And while @ALALibrary keeps an annual list of the most challenged and banned books, I thought it might be worthwhile to look at which books are actually banned or challenged from our local libraries and why, to give us an idea of where this battle is actually being fought.
Mar 2, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
I’m sick and fucking tired of this disingenuous bullshit. Six of Seuss’s less popular books will not longer be published with new editions because those books have drawings that at my most charitable I would call offensive. Seuss isn’t being erased. You know what Richard Scarry did when social values changed? He released a new version of the books more in line with current values to remove the sexism of the original books.

He did it in 19-fucking-80.
Feb 17, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Here’s a photo of three wind turbines working in the cold. It’s not a wind turbine problem it’s a Texas problem.

How do I know they can handle the Texas cold? This photo is from Antarctica. SOURCE: nsf.gov/news/mmg/mmg_d…
Feb 17, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
This is bullshit. The biggest problem in Texas right now is an over-reliance on natural gas, as natural gas plants have had gauges frozen throughout the state. Cc: @twittersupport politifact.com/article/2021/f… Also @DanCrenshawTX, wind generators can work on cold temps so long as you prepare them to do so. Texas chose not to do so. Just ask any wind power plant operator in Minnesota.

Stop lying to the American people as they are dying, sir.
Feb 12, 2021 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
The Hollywood blacklist was a massive systematic decision across studios that actually began in the late 1930s and the early 1940s with government investigations into Hollywood, and included people who were merely suspected of having private sympathy to the Communist Party. Keep in mind that during this timeframe Hollywood, in particular Disney, was interested in Union-busting and they attempted to use an overblown accusation of Communists in Hollywood as an excuse to deny film workers rights, or to bust their unions.