Thursday, April 5, 2018

Update to 'Doctors to Congress: Fund gun violence research at the CDC and NIH,' the third most read entry of the seventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News


The second most read entry of the seventh year of the blog was Doctors to Congress: Fund gun violence research at the CDC and NIH, posted December 3, 2015.  It ended the blogging year with 10,400 raw page views total, 10,071 according to the default counter.  It earned 8,928 raw page views during the seventh year of the blog.  It was the first entry to earn more than 10,000 page views over its lifespan and was the number one post between October 8, 2017 and December 2, 2017, when Vox explains how proportional representation can solve gerrymandering and help minor parties passed it to become number one, earning the post the Revenge of the Back Catalog trophy for the blogging year just ended.

Before I explain how this entry climbed to number one and stayed there for two months, I'm updating my readers on the state of federal funding of gun violence research.  WUSA, TV9 in Washington, DC reported that news in last month's CDC can now study gun violence - thanks to the $1.3 trillion budget bill.

It was a spending deal straight from the throes of Washington whiplash, a 2,232-page, $1.3 trillion spending bill that President Donald J. Trump called "ridiculous."
That's good news, but not good enough for me to post Professor Farnsworth for the first time since last June's U.S. and U.K. set new solar and wind energy records.  Why?  As William A. Conroy, CEO of the Henry Ford Medical Group in Detroit, asked in Modern Healthcare, Where's the funding to support CDC research into gun violence?
First, while we applaud the provision in the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill signed into law earlier this month that gives a green light for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study gun violence, it didn't go far enough. Unless Congress appropriates funding, we're not hopeful progress will be made. Because of the passage of the Dickey Amendment in 1996, banning the CDC from spending taxpayer money on advocacy-related research, we have lost precious time to answer the basic questions that could inform meaningful solutions: Who is most likely to use a gun during the commission of a crime? How are guns typically purchased? Are the crimes committed by the person who actually bought the firearm? What kinds of policies actually work to reduce violence? Are interventions and other prevention efforts effective?

We hear frequent calls for increased mental health services to prevent gun violence, but such concerns are not backed by science. Based on multiple Gallup polls, half of Americans are convinced that gun violence is caused by a failure to identify those with mental health issues and that addressing those issues would prevent that violence. The fact is, only about 1% of mass shootings are carried out by those who are considered mentally ill, according to the American Psychiatric Association. As physicians we obviously recognize the need to better address mental health, but our primary goal is to find facts. That's why we must empower the CDC to initiate unbiased, scientific studies to find these answers, no matter the outcome.

Second, we ask Congress to pass sensible legislation limiting access to firearms for children in particular, and exploring more effective background checks and mandatory waiting periods. We know that this is a politically charged issue and will not be easy. The Henry Ford Medical Group is embarking on a broader gun safety advocacy initiative, and, as we work together to identify effective strategies and partners, we hope our lawmakers will partner with us as well.
Until I read that money has been allocated for gun violence research, I'm withholding Farnsworth.  The news just isn't good enough.

Follow over the jump for the story of how this entry earned its page views along with the story of another top post about gun violence from the seventh year of the blog.

This is not the first time this entry rose into the top ten.  It did so in 2015, a story I told in Doctors for the fifth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.
The sixth most read entry of the fifth year of the blog was Doctors to Congress: Fund gun violence research at the CDC and NIH.  I'll be a good environmentalist and recycle the explanation of how it earned that status from Monthly Meta for December 2015.
The pattern continued with "Doctors to Congress: Fund gun violence research at the CDC and NIH" from December 3rd, which was the second most popular entry shared at the Coffee Party USA's Facebook page and the second most read for December.  It earned 1261 page views by the end of the month, 1274 according to the raw counter.  It ended the fifth year of the blog as sixth most read entry for that blogging year and ninth in the history of the blog with 1266 page views, 1309 from the raw counter.  It's now in 10th all time.
It has now fallen out of the top ten, being supplanted by Slow drip of Flint Water Crisis erodes Rick Snyder's approval, which has itself since been pushed out by John Oliver and FiveThirtyEight on Tax Day.  Sic transit gloria mundi.
This entry gained a second life after I shared a second time at the Join the Coffee Party Movement Facebook page on October 7, 2017.  Before being shared, it had 1472 total raw views.  It earned 1348 more in the first two hours and a total additional 6541 in the first 24 hours after being shared.  It entered the monthly top ten at 11:40 P.M. on October 7, 2017.  It entered the all time top ten between 10 A.M. and 11 A.M. on October 8, 2017, knocking "2016 could be a good year for minor party candidates" out of the top ten and passing "Federal judge orders Michigan recount to begin today," "'Last Week Tonight With John Oliver' leads variety talk shows at the Primetime Emmy Awards," "The Michigan recount is on!," and "A 51st star for Puerto Rico on Flag Day" in that hour.  It passed "Michigan recount still on as Trump fails to stop it while Schuette still trying" between Noon and 1 P.M. when it also became the most read post of the month.  It then passed "John Oliver on feelings over facts and Colbert on Trumpiness" between 4 and 5 P.M.  It passed "Trump thinks Sanders is the right enemy" to become the second most read of all time between 6 and 7 P.M.  It then passed "Last Week Tonight examines Clinton and Trump foundations after winning three Emmy Awards" at 10:40 P.M. to become number one of all time.  It was mostly responsible for the 8676 page views on October 8, 2017, including peaks of 840 page views per hour between 10 and 11 P.M on the 7th and 1026 per hour the next day after Noon.  It earned 1438 page views the next day, so it was partly responsible for the 6076 page views for the second day it was shared, including a peak of 1516 page views per hour between 10 and 11 P.M on October 8, 2017.  It earned 490 page views the 3rd day.  Not all of that was because of it being shared at the Coffee Party Facebook page.  Between that and my original share at Crazy Eddie's Motie News Facebook page along with all the resulting reshares, I can account for 166 shares.  The total is 507 on FB, so it was shared by a lot of people not connected to me at all!


There was a second entry that climbed into the all time top ten.  Instructions on how to deal with an active shooter, posted February 17, 2018 ended the seventh year of this blog with 6116 raw page views, 6061 according to the default counter.  Not only that that place the entry tenth on the all-time list, it was the eighth most read entry of the year and the sixth most read actually posted during the seventh year.  Despite all that, it was only the third most read entry of March 2018 with both Suit against John Oliver and HBO dismissed and Spring ahead, although it's probably not good for you ahead of it.  The post helped earn 1928 page views the hour it was shared and 9520 page views the day it was shared,  It leapt to number ten on the all-time top ten within 24 hours after being shared at the Join the Coffee Party Movement Facebook page.  In doing so, it knocked John Oliver on feelings over facts and Colbert on Trumpiness out of the top ten.

Its time at the bottom of the top didn't last long, as Update to 'Suit against John Oliver and HBO dismissed,' top post for the seventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News pushed it out of the all-time top ten on April 2, 2018.  The new post only remained in the top ten for two days, as Update to 'Vox explains how proportional representation can solve gerrymandering and help minor parties,' the second most read entry for the seventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News, plus minor parties passed it by on April 4th.  Sic transit gloria mundi.

Tomorrow is Flashback Friday, so I might have another retrospective then.  If so, it will be about the possibility of statehood for Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.  Stay tuned.

Previous entries in this series.
Previous retrospectives about gun violence.
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