It's Saturday, and I will be watching the Hawaii-Tennessee Little League baseball game, plus range of NCAA football matches. But first, a short entry. From the New York Times: But the situation changed around 2015, with the death rate mostly rising over the next several years. One reason seems to be distracted driving . By 2015, two-thirds of U.S. adults owned a smartphone, up from almost none in 2006. This year, 115 Americans/day die on the road. Was the pandemic a factor? The most plausible theories tend to involve the mental health problems caused by Covid’s isolation and disruption. Alcohol and drug abuse have increased. Impulsive behavior, like running red lights and failing to wear seatbelts, also seems to have risen (as my colleague Simon Romero has reported ). Many Americans have felt frustrated or unhappy, and it seems to have affected their driving. Ethnic death rate: Why is the Asian death rate so low? Week started with two Japanese pork dishes...
New SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for PLANET EARTH AND HUMANITY: This blog site derives from the original version of Planet Earth & Humanity, but will be more WE than ME. The coverage will remain similar, but perhaps these postings will seem to come from a parallel universe, or maybe even Purgatory. But truth and reality will prevail, with dashes of whimsy and levity to help make your day.