Thursday’s thumbs

In covid-19 news, don’t let the gaiters get you

It’s Thursday and another chance to fire off a few thumbs about some of news developments in our neck of the worlds and elsewhere:

Apparently, gamblers will find a way to give their money away no matter what. That’s one possible take-away from news that the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery’s revenue in July increased by $8.5 million over the same month a year ago. That produced an increase of $4 million for college scholarships. Lottery officials say demand for lottery tickets, particularly scratch-offs, have surged since April. Casinos were closed for a long time and are open now only with limited capacities. We’ll give it an upturned digit, but we were torn: We’re not fans of raising public funds by enticing money from people with mostly empty promises — after all, the July figures show millions of dollars lost by Arkansans and others — but at least the money is helping with scholarships that might teach future Arkansans enough math to know playing the lottery is a loser for those shelling out money for tickets.

We can hardly keep track of all the University of Arkansas announcements of gifts from former students and supporters, but UA officials say the campus’ eight-year fundraising campaign has generated more than $1.4 billion in gifts and created more than 1,000 new scholarships and other support for students. Imagine what higher education would look like if donors weren’t so generous with a portion of the money they’ve made in business. At least they didn’t waste it on the lottery.

Rapper Kanye West has qualified to appear on the Arkansas ballot in November as an independent candidate for president. Yes, of the United States. We usually encourage people to run for public office, and West has every right to do it, but trying to get to the White House in one’s first political campaign is, well, let’s call it bold. Once one gets past the novelty, though, the effort appears to play games with the very serious issue of who leads this nation. Maybe we’re making too much of it. After all, West didn’t originate the idea of lost cause presidential campaigns. Try Ralph Nader, Lyndon LaRouche and Pat Paulson.

Duke University hates to break the news to everyone, but researchers there who tested 15 types of masks and face coverings say those neck gaiters so popular with a lot of folks — particularly men — aren’t just ineffective, they may actually worsen the spread of the coronavirus. How? The thin, synthetic material of gaiters turns larger respiratory droplets into a cloud of smaller ones that linger in the air a longer time, they say. So, perhaps the better choice will sound just like good advice for visiting parts of Florida — avoid the gaiters.