To trust, or not to trust, that is the question

Each  of the four sections below has been taken from today’s US version of The Guardian. See if  you can connect the dots embedded in each section.

dots to be connected or trial balloons?

Photo by J. Harrington

How the US vaccine effort derailed and why we shouldn’t be surprised

“So much of the whole issue of social determinants of health and the US ‘health disadvantage’ is rooted in a lack of trust and a lack of trustworthiness in many parts of our society,” said Laudan Y Aron, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute’s health policy center.

Cop26 climate talks will not fulfil aims of Paris agreement, key players warn 

A US official told the Guardian countries must still aim as high as possible on emissions cuts: “We are going to try to achieve [the emissions cuts necessary]. No one in the administration wants to admit defeat before we have made the maximum effort. You should set an ambitious agenda and may have to, in the end, take baby steps but you should plan for long strides. We are taking long strides.”

Judge rules in Wisconsin teen’s favor after sheriff threatened jail over Covid post 

The teen, Amyiah Cohoon, and her parents sued the sheriff’s department after a deputy threatened to arrest family members if Amyiah did not delete an Instagram post which described her experiences when possibly infected by Covid-19. She was 16 at the time.

Food myths busted: dairy, salt and steak may be good for you after all 

Government-led lack of trust in the healthfulness of whole foods in their natural forms encouraged us to buy foods that have been physically and chemically modified, such as salt-reduced cheese and skimmed milk, supposedly to make them healthier for us.

No, we’re not going to explain how to connect the dots. Just trust us, the answers are obvious. Return tomorrow and we’ll share another clue in the form of a paragraph from Paul Hawken’s Regeneration.

 

On Teaching the Young

By Yvor Winters

The young are quick of speech.

Grown middle-aged, I teach

Corrosion and distrust,

Exacting what I must.

A poem is what stands

When imperceptive hands,

Feeling, have gone astray.

It is what one should say.

Few minds will come to this.

The poet’s only bliss

Is in cold certitude—

Laurel, archaic, rude.