Good morning all! On NPR yesterday evening it was reported that France is now pushing much stricter vaccine requirements for all people who want to do anything in public. And suddenly, all these French people are rushing to get vaccines. It's a little hilarious but very interesting at the same time because France was one of those places hugely resistant to vaccines of any kind (despite being, as Macron said, the birthplace of Pasteur in one of his more elliptical lines, since Pasteur is best know for making milk safe to drink). But they want to sit in restaurants and go to museums and concerts so suddenly they're all about vaccines. https://www.npr.org/2021/07/16/1017012860/people-will-soon-need-a-vaccine-pass-or-negative-test-to-enter-frances-restauran
I know that people will be yelping about "free speech" and, stunningly, men will whine about having the "government" making decisions about their "bodies" (don't even get me started), but this kind of universal "we're all in this together, you arses, so stop behaving like petulant children and grow up" message needs to be sent.
I think the Allies would have lost WWII if we all lived at that time. Can you imagine asking the population to sacrifice almost everything to support the troops? All I can say is thank you to the previous generations for their sacrifice and I am sorry that democracy is now at risk because of this generation's selfishness and disdain for the greater good.
This gives Americans too much credit. They love war, so their WWII enthusiasm is to be expected. Same for Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq. The same type of people who had so much fun with Vietnam and Iraq are the ones who are refusing to help out with public health. Freedom and liberty loonies, the dominant class among white Americans.
We could have been, anyway. Lindburgh, Kennedy Sr, and lots of orhers. Americans didn’t want to join the fight until they could kill people with non-European ancestors.
Americans didn't want to kill anyone until Pearl Harbor was attacked. If Pearl Harbor had been attacked by European military forces, Americans wouldn't have hesitated to attack the responsible European nation(s). If Germany and Italy hadn't declared war on the U.S. a few days after the Pearl Harbor attack--which they were required to do as part of the Tripartite agreement--it would have been harder to get American support to join the European war. Remember, George Washington had warned the U.S. to not get involved in the perpetual European wars.
In the book "The Splendid and the Vile" about Churchill & family during the Blitz, it is mentioned that letters in the mail were opened and censored during WWII in England. There was a list of some fabulous bits of dis-information that people were spreading through the most used personal communication vehicle of the day: written letters. This tendency to spread tall tales has been with us for a very long time. Just fast forward to internet speeds, social media, the lack of oversight, algorithms, political manipulation, misguided beliefs, useful idiots, and.... well on an on. Yeah, they censored things back then for the common good. But we can't get a handle on it today.
But we're not all in this together! Where were Dr. Fauci and other health leaders -- like public health offricials -- telling us how to boost our own immune systems so we'd be less susceptible to the worst effects? Why weren't governments handing out Vitamin C and D3, zinc and magnesium, all of which have been shown to stop the deadly cytokine storm? How many lives and how much suffering would have been avoided had these steps been taken? Where's the discussion and debate about all of this? Why has there been only one line: wait for the vaccine, get the vaccine, you're stupid/hateful/ignorant if you don't? Why is this the only vaccine ever to be pushed on everyone? This is not an anti-vaccine rant. Vaccines are great, no question. But there are alternatives and have been all along and these have been systematically suppressed and their proponents, including many doctors, have been vilified. And that's the big question: Why?
Ellie, vitamins and minerals do nothing to stop a cytokine storm nor viral infection in tour lungs. For general health I take a multivitamin daily, but I know that won’t save my lungs filling with virus and pus to the point I slowly and lonely suffocate/drown from lung tissue destruction.
There is research to support this. Furthermore, these are among the building blocks of our immune system, the very system that has kept the human race outliving viruses and bacteria for millenia. Keep it strong and this virus can't get strong. Furthermore, some studies have shown that the sickest patients are also those with the lowest levels of D3.
"Several recent studies have looked at the impact of vitamin D on COVID-19. One study of 489 people found that those who had a vitamin D deficiency were more likely to test positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 than people who had normal levels of vitamin D.
"Other research has observed high rates of vitamin D deficiency in people with COVID-19 who experienced acute respiratory failure. These people had a significantly higher risk of dying. And a small, randomized study found that of 50 people hospitalized with COVID-19 who were given a high dose of a type of vitamin D (calcifediol), only one needed treatment in the intensive care unit. In contrast, among the 26 people with COVID-19 who weren't given calcifediol, 13 needed to be treated in the intensive care unit."
Lynn, Made a crucial point in that the study indicated that there was not enough data to recommend vitamin D. In addition, 42% of the population is deficient in the vitamin. 'Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency and Associated Risk ...https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › articles › PMC6075634 by NR Parva · 2018 · Cited by 116 — Race was identified as a significant risk factor, with African-American adults having the highest prevalence rate of vitamin D deficiency.' In addition, Black and Brown Americans have the highest risk factors for Covid as a result of other comorbidities, exposure through work and multi-generation families living in close quarters. A proper understanding of a study is necessary in order to evaluate it.
Nobody is actually arguing with the obvious fact that a vitamin D deficiency is bad for your immune system. What Lynn and others are looking for is research from reputable sources that support Ellie's more outrageous claims. E.g. "other approaches were purposely suppressed" and "Vitamin C and D3, zinc and magnesium, all of which have been shown to stop the deadly cytokine storm."
She has repeatedly claimed that "there are alternatives and have been all along and these have been systematically suppressed and their proponents, including many doctors, have been vilified" but has yet to offer a single piece of valid data that backs up these claims. Instead, she just repeats them.
The reality is that there are no other treatments *that have been demonstrated to be safe and effective* that have been "suppressed: by anyone. There's a lot of quackery out there that has bee properly debunked, but that's about it.
IMO Ellie and others pushing this idea should (but likely won't) read sciencebasedmedicine.org for some actual reality.
Ellie, we are all waiting for you to post evidence of that. please do. Yes, general individual health is product of a healthy diet, exercise, sleep, stress management for the individual. But even healthy individuals can get infected with Covid, have a mild case, or a stealthy asymptomatic case.... and what is happening during that healthy persons mild or asymptomatic infection? They are contributing to the spread, leading to outbreaks, leading to overwhelming hospitals so that needed treatments and care can not be made available, which leads to lockdowns, which only go further to disrupt lives and economies.
You agree, then, that if we all had strong immune systems, then most people got sick would have mild-moderate symptoms, and that that would slash the death rate? My point continues to be that the vaccines, as necessary as they are now, were not the only answer, that other approaches were purposely suppressed, and you have to ask why.
NO! I do not agree with your statement. It is with only depraved ignorance to claim that anything other than a vaccine will protect the public health during a viral pandemic.
Vaccines are the only way to stop the virus, for there is no mechanism for any vitamin or mineral to block entry of a virus into a host cell and there is no way either a vitamin or mineral inside a cell can stop viral replication. To claim otherwise demonstrates complete ignorance of basic cellular genetics, biology, physiology, and chemistry.
To quote a recent tweet by the leader of a major hospital system, "If you are making wildly disparaging comments about the vaccine, and have no public health expertise, you may be responsible for someone's death. Shut up."
I thought to jump into the fray between your comment above and some harsh comments below. Hopefully, this will help avoid the disconnect.
It's good that you mention the issue of vitamin and mineral supplements (Vit. C & D3, plus zinc and magnesium) to help with Covid prevention. I believe the disconnect with the other commenters is in understanding the role of these supplements. From my perspective, those substances can help in building a "tool kit" to provide some prevention to getting the disease. In the same vein, avoiding obesity is another helpful tool in that kit. These strategies will not give the same assurance as the vaccination against getting Covid. However, they are all tools to help us in that pursuit.
It is a shame that Fauci and the others don't mention these particular vitamin and mineral deficiencies, as well as the obesity issue, in addition to taking the vaccine. My own approach in trying to avoid Covid has been to: 1) take the vaccine; 2) take those vitamin and mineral supplements; 3) avoid obesity; and 4) exercise. (For me, that exercise includes Zumba which does me a world of good.) So far, so good in not getting Covid. At age 74 (tomorrow 75), I am grateful to have avoided it so far.
Please explain the physiology of the immune response to viral infection to the herd, and be specific about how vitamins and minerals detect, warn, deactivate, and clear the body’s system? We’re all waiting.
Well, at this stage, I really doubt that everyone is waiting. But more importantly here, what makes you think I have a Masters in Public Health??? Where is that in the comments? Thanks for the compliment, but believe me, MPHs have a lot more understanding in science and health issues than you or I. Have a nice day.
"It is a shame that Fauci and the others don't mention these particular vitamin and mineral deficiencies, as well as the obesity issue, in addition to taking the vaccine." I'm not sure whether Fauci ever discussed them or not. If not, it's probably because, while they're good guidelines for general health, they are of minimal usefulness in fighting a SARS-Cov-2 infection. Only a vaccine will do that. And there was (and still is) a lot of quackery out there promoting vitamins and other supplements as substitutes for a vaccine. Which they are not.
If you have a vitamin D deficiency, you should probably take a supplement. Ditto for other vitamin deficiencies. I'm taking D and B12 supplements at my doctor's recommendation for precisely those reasons. I'm not obese and I exercise (and have for decades). But I also got vaccinated as soon as possible.
Like you, I also got vaccinated as soon as possible. And, I believe the vaccine is the most helpful tool in avoiding Covid. That being said, I also include the other tools mentioned above. To be clear, no tool alone--or even a combination of them--is guaranteed to prevent getting COVID. But the health practices we each have can strengthen our immune system as it tries to deal with the disease.
"And there was (and still is) a lot of quackery out there promoting vitamins and other supplements as substitutes for a vaccine."
I haven't heard anyone recommending vitamins instead of taking a vaccine. And that's not the kind of person I'd listen to. As to "If you have a vitamin D deficiency, you should probably take a supplement." Well, of course, that goes without saying. The first thing to do is determine whether you have a Vitamin D deficiency, and that requires a blood test at your doctor's office. Just because you take a multi-vitamin which says it has 5,000 i.u. of Vitamin D, that doesn't mean it's all being absorbed in your system. You have to realize how deficient most doctors knowledge of vitamins and nutrition is. The doctors I've spoken with said that they received no more than a one hour lecture on vitamins and nutrition. That doesn't speak well of our medical schools in my opinion. I'll always listen to my doctor's opinion and advice, but I won't accept it as 100% right without consulting other sources as well. It's the same as when a person usually pursues a second opinion when they're diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. It's not that they don't trust their doctor; it's that they want to be sure before beginning serious treatment.
For me, liquid Vit. D +K-2 is what I use. Your doctor should know about that. Or read over 5,000 user comments on Amazon about the product. I'm sure glad I chose this version. Good luck on yours.
I actually know all of that. I based my choice of B12 and D supplements mostly on reviews at consumerlab.com (I have found amazon reviews to be somewhat useful, but often unreliable), which does actual lab testing of vitamins and other supplements. I don't expect my PC doc to be an expert in those areas.
Proper nutrition and exercise are essential to health in general and the judicious use of supplements can be good, but there is a massive amount of quackery and BS in the supplements industry, which has successfully lobbied to prevent any meaningful regulation by the FDA. The folks who sell that stuff want the ability to make all sorts of health claims without having to actually prove their scientific merit. COVID-19 has turned over a lot of rocks in that area, and a lot of unpleasant creatures have crawled out, all claiming that can prevent or cure the disease with some form of Pirelli's Miracle Elixir.
Chuck, I see what you mean and see that other comments were to question Ellie's statement about vits. as an alternative treatment for Covid and questioning what studies corroborated that declaration. Personally, I don't see vits as an alternative in preventing or treating Covid. I don't believe any of my statements indicated such a thing. My protocol for facing Covid remains the same: 1) Get the vaccination; 2) Eat healthily; 3) Exercise; 4) Make sure you maintain a healthy level of Vitamin D3 through blood tests. My principal health habits are aimed toward prevention much more than treatment.
In a related vein, here is some more medical research in considering Vit. D to prevent major lung illnesses. This is info from the British Medical Journal and involves the meta-analysis of 25 randomized controlled medical research studies. First is their web address, and beneath that is the title of that study.
“Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections: systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data”
As an aside, I learned to appreciate the importance of focus and provability in medical research studies while I was working at a major medical research institute in Indianapolis. They're affiliated with the IU School of Medicine. I worked as a research assistant for 5 years on assorted medical studies, especially those involving gerontology. I knew and worked with a number of MDs, PhDs, and MPHs. Also, I was able to appreciate, through their tutelage, the importance of truth and accuracy in presenting those studies. But I also learned to think outside the box in pursuing my own medical treatment. The proposals and studies are good for establishing proven methods. I always try to see the big picture in pursuit of truth.
That's it for now. It's sunny and warm outside. It's also my birthday. I'm heading out to the garden to tie up tomato vines and also get my daily dose of Vitamin D3.
No, I'm pointing at the lack of choice, suppression of treatments, lack of investigative journalism that til now have been the hallmark of the way we live our lives and find out about things. It's not about the vaccines, they're doing their job; it's about the suppression of all other treatments and debate together with the fear-mongering that makes people believe a vaccine is the one and only answer.
Ellie, you are miss informed. There are no preventables to viral infection. only isolation would work, and that is impossible in modern society. Masks work but have limits. Genetics and prior exposure to a similar protein in a similar antigen might explain the asymptomatic spread ( this is why in 1918 novel h1n1 killed so many young adults between 18 and 40 years old, they didnt have some form of prior exposure like older people had).
But essentially what you're pointing at is something that does not exist outside of your imagination and the imagination of the legion of crackpot bloggers, quacks, conspiracy nutters, snake-oil salesmen, and disinformation peddlers who infest social media and the internet.
"Why is this the only vaccine ever to be pushed on everyone?"
Just for the sake of accuracy in the statement above, I remember the Swine Flu vaccination being pushed on people in 1976. I believe it was required that every American get the shot.
Me too. And, Polio was a real Horror. I remember getting my vaccinations (a series of 3 as I recall) at the Tampa Public Health Dept. in the mid-1950s. My cousin got Polio when he was six and has had it for the following 70+ years of his life. He can walk with crutches. He's kept a very positive attitude all along and has had a very productive life. He has stayed positive throughout it all. I really admire him.
Yeah, I had a college roommate who had been permanently crippled by polio. I shudder to think what life would have been like if the anti-vaccine movement had possessed then the kind of influence it has now. The toll of misery would have been awful; it was bad enough as it was.
Which is why I am so incensed by that entire segment of the population now.
It is very good to have a healthy immune system. Healthy diet, adequate sleep, regular exercise, hydration benefit greatly. The medical establishment has long been focused on curing disease and do not have a long history of focusing on promoting wellness. That is changing. Some nonscientists have a desire to cherry pick information from science to prove their own agenda. That is not science. Most everything in our world is not black and white. Things are multifactorial and multiple, multiple shades of gray. There is plenty of science we know and tons still left to learn. What I don’t understand are the folks who throw the baby (a great vaccine) out with the bath water (Big Pharma) but yet buy millions in unproven supplements. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/most-dietary-supplements-dont-do-anything-why-do-we-spend-35-billion-a-year-on-them/2020/01/24/947d2970-3d62-11ea-baca-eb7ace0a3455_story.html
Agreed. They'll spread insane conspiracy narratives about "big pharma" and Bill Gates or whoever and call the rest of us "sheeple" while accepting at face value the most outlandish claims from quacks, hustlers, and political hacks. It's disgusting.
In Mrs. O'Brien's 4th grade class at the Spring Glen School in Hamden, Ct., circa 1960, she taught us that freedom of speech did not mean you could shout "Fire!" in a crowded movie theatre.
I think Mrs. O'Brien would also have had something to say about people who deny the value of medical science by refusing vaccinations, then show up mortally ill at a hospital expecting treatment; very expensive treatment at that.
If I was a medical person treating such people, I think I would have a difficult time not dropping my professional demeanor and giving them an earful; at the very least.
But because we health care workers are consummate professionals and treat everyone with respect and dignity, we don't criticize patients who have made poor choices. We provide care equally and with compassion to all. We go in the break room and express our frustration, and speak out when appropriate to encourage the public to get vaccinated. What infuriates me is when members of my profession (nursing) and other health care workers speak out against vaccination. It erodes public trust and works against our efforts to defeat this pandemic.
I have decided that it is not incumbent upon me to be "respectful of their choices" when it comes to colleagues who are not vaxing out choice (not present health conditions). My hospital has decided that vaccination is a requirement for employment. So whenever I hear someone whining about it I just tell them it's their choice. There are other hospitals that are putting up with antivaxxers/vaccine hesitant. The evidence is in.
At least they have alternative choices for employment. I find it interesting (baffling?) that the groups of people screaming about their freedoms to choose whether to vaccinate or wear a mask seem to be the same groups who sanctimoniously want to deny women the right to choose whether or not to continue a pregnancy.
I don't know that I would lump everyone in that category. There are people on the Left and Right that are not getting the vaccine-- likely for different reasons. There is a gamut of inaccurate beliefs/willful ignorance.
I have an immune disorder. I am vaccinated but still at risk. As a nurse I do not believe ANY health care worker should have ANY patient contact if they are not vaccinated for COVID. Or flu. Or... "First do no harm."
I understand having to treat lung cancer in smokers, heart disease and diabetes in obesity, but when nonvaxers infect the air I breathe and put me and my loved ones at risk, I might have to reconsider my compassion. What a terrible place to be in as a health care provider. Maybe it's time to let the nonvaxer doctors and nurses administer to the nonvaxer patients, in entirely separate facilities!
I have done dumb things throughout my life, and have been totally embarrassed to have to submit to a health care professional to "undo" what I have done. Never was I ever met with derision over my poor choices.
Yes, I find it sad that some in your profession have chosen to speak out against the vaccine. It would maybe be helpful if they offered alternative therapies while they are publicly just saying "no" to the vaccine. I guess that would be dispensing medical advice, another no-no.
We have no hesitation about personally and public criticism of drunk drivers. Risky behavior with fireworks, particularly in crowds, is not tolerated, much less respected. I am sure we could assemble a long list of such offenses against the public interest. The antivaccine organized stupidity is no different, except in its scope. They threaten my grandchildren - they need to face consequences commensurate with the seriousness of their violation of our shared interests. Don’t whine to me about that.
I don’t think using false equivalencies helps our cause. In none of those circumstances you mention are we asking someone to let someone inject something into their bodies. There is enough real science to advocate for vaccination without resorting to such false equivalencies. For many currently, yes, it is an allegiance to an authoritarian cult but there are still plenty of people with real fear and trust issues.
Have you ever seen what happens when fireworks go off in a crowd - bits "injected" into bystanders. But the point isn't injection, it's common danger from irresponsible individual actions. And, that's not false equivalence. Those anti-vaxers can have all the fear and mistrust they want, as long as they are isolated so that only they suffer whatever consequences there may be. Their bad choices do not become my risks just because they don't want to accept the consequences. They don't get to claim their "freedom" trumps my health and safety (or the health and safety of my grandchildren who are too young to be vaccinated). No whining.
It's not false equivalence. Your right to swing your fist ends where someone else's nose starts. You have a right to drink yourself into a stupor. You do not have a right to then get into a car and weave all over the highway, endangering yourself and others.
You have a right to place your own health at risk. You do not have a right to do so in a way which places the health of others at risk, which is what refusing to get vaccinated for a highly contagious disease does.
So no, sorry, it's actually quite a fair parallel.
Morning Christy. I don't think the circumstances are false equivalencies to the often devastating consequences of hospitalized COVID. We are often slammed in the face with the deaths and the number of ventilators needed to treat people, but what is often missed is the often disability status of many of those people coming out of the hospitals, the great financial ruin for under or non insured, and the stress on hospital personnel. The sudden deaths of perfectly healthy people leaving children and spouses financially destitute and grieving. Just as in drunk driving, smoking consequences, and other risky behaviors, now we know that COVID consequences can be lessened or avoided with a vaccine.
I absolutely 💯 understand the consequences. However I emphatically maintain you cannot compare the justified fear and distrust of vaccines in people after centuries of being used for government experiments to a person who gets behind the wheel of a car under the influence or keeps an accessible and loaded gun in their home. Having spent decades in Public Health searching for what works to educate the fearful to inject life saving vaccines into arms I can 💯 say they are NOT equivalent. I am just as angry as anyone here about the GOP murdering people with misinformation but it’s complicated and not all the anti-vaxers can be lumped together. Besides that shame is a tool of authoritarians.
Christy there are profiteers spreading misinformation that is lethal. It's the business of death. Please think more about it. The links below are informative:
I’m confused by this reply Fern. There is nothing you have posted that I am not very familiar with. My comment above was about the false equivalency of someone very afraid of being injected with something they fear may cause them harm by someone they fear intends to cause them harm with drunk drivers. This will get us nowhere, very quickly. Love and trust will always win over shame. Always.
Morning Lynell! While I in no way speak out against the vaccine, I also acknowledge that as a people and a culture, we have a long way to go in developing and creating healthier ways of being. Without labeling this as ‘alternative’, I like to think of it as ‘increased awareness of our place in this world and in nature’.
First order of the day, get a freaking vaccine already.
Second, walk lightly on this earth and avoid using resources that we do not need. Two aphorisms that guide my life are “Honor Necessity”, and “Honor Sufficiency”.
You can take a boy out of the 60’s but you can’t take the 60’s out of a boy.
Hey, Stephen. Thank you for your gentle reply! I am fully vaccinated, but I agree, we do have a long way to go. My poorly worded post about offering an "alternative" to the vaccine, was meant for the frontline caregivers themselves. Why do they not want to get vaccinated, and what are they doing, if anything, as an alternative. To "Honor Necessity," my holistic vet has said sometimes we need the "big guns." I think this is one of those times.
How many of them are anti-vaxers for political reasons or are across the board anti-vaxers? And of those in the latter group have always avoided vaccines for their children? I keep trying to get a good sense on how it breaks down? And don’t schools (except in Tennessee?!) require children to be vaccinated for the usual diseases?
Some parents of little kids who die of sids - sudden infant death syndrome - have joined anti-vax because they first they are told it's semi their fault for co-sleeping, adding guilt to grief; and then the antivaxxers say no, it's the fault of the vaccine your kid had days before. Antivax presents as both a relief and a channel. Meanwhile, there are antivaxers who have quite the money-collection racket going for themselves.
That's in addition to the politicos who figure mass death is a small price to pay for trashing the country and then campaigning to be the ones to "fix it."
That and a large population who want to be organic farmers living naturally off the land. The alternative health industry is huge. Trouble is not everyone can live on an organic farm. Sometimes it’s really hard to see the forest when you’re living deep in the woods.
One of my vax-hesitant relatives at least wears a mask in public and works diligently to strengthen her immune system. She had actually decided to get the J&J vaccine, but then the cases of blood clotting disorders showed up.
You know all these anti-vax politicians, who thrive off the ignorance of their voters, lay in bed at night and say to their spouses, "Honey, these people are idiots."
I remember an interview of DT saying exactly that maybe 30 years ago, when asked about ever running for president for which party. He replied on camera, "Probably Republican, they are the dumbest". This video has been expunged from the internet, probably with the help from David Pecker.
Many laws on the books from Smallbox, diphtheria, polio, measles and so many many more. Just like the defense department, public health is a victim of our success. In defense are military is not directly challenged. Cyber and misinformation to divide us further is the current attack.Public Health past success, has exposed a public that no longer appreciates or understands health.
Agree. I hood doctors to the highest standard. Those who misrepresent meanings like Dr Scott Atlas, and doctors that are anti vax deserve to loose their medical license. “First, do no harm”
I have worked in the medical field for 47 years and at times the desire to just throttle those who without valid reason refuse to get vaccinated is almost too great to be ignored, but I do my work and move on.
what a powerful article, thanks JR. I find myself in the here we go again with a large serving of disbelief group. Every week I come across people who have refused to get vaccinated and the temptation to say "thanks for providing the virus a host to mutate and spread to even more people" is very great. It isn't just the patients that I deal with but members of my own family. Can I become an octopus so I can slap or strangle eight people at a time?
The admission of how a nurse feels about a patient who spit in her face when she told him he had Covid. “Covids a hoax”, he tells her, this as they put him on a ventilator.
Yeah. Substack needs more icons to express a feeling. Which reminds me of this presser update in Utah from two weeks ago.
University Hospital's Chief Medical officer Dr. Kencee Graves ( I have friends that work at Unv. Hospital.) Fast forward to 13:28 for the Doctors update on how her hospital is coping. Her metrics are not good, but it is her intellectual and emotional appeal to the population to please get vaccinated. It is as eloquent & poignant, as it is urgent & compassionate.
How is it that we do we not feel the pain and heed the warnings from our best trained and best educated Health Care Professionals?
At least future historians will have these video records for information and emotions during this pandemic. Maybe that will help rebuild our appreciation and understanding of Public Health.
"every physician and nurse in Missouri whom I spoke with told me that the 30- and 40-something COVID-19 patients they’re now seeing are much sicker than those they saw last year. “That age group did get COVID before, but they didn’t usually end up in the ICU like they are now,” Jonathan Brown, a respiratory therapist at Mercy, told me. Nurses are watching families navigate end-of-life decisions for young people who have no advance directives or other legal documents in place...Almost every COVID-19 patient in Springfield’s hospitals is unvaccinated.."
I think it would make a great book, to interview and tell the stories of doctors and nurses and EMT's during this pandemic. To really go into what they were thinking and feeling, what worked, what didn't, particular stories about patients or other workers, and so forth.
Dr. Bristow was motivated to write American Pandemic ( 1918) when she learned that she had two grand parents who had died then. But hers is not the best book nor the most comprehensive of the 1918 Pandemic, I put her book at #2.
This is the #1 book on the Pandemic of 1918. This should be required readying by elected officials at every level of government. It should be required reading in nursing and medical schools.
All the mistakes from the last 18 months are in this book about 1918. Its uncanny how similar the warning signs and leadership mistakes parallel each other throughout both pandemics. And now, as this variant grows this fall, will be much like the fall of 1918 for us and for all the world.
This book is informative and comprehensive. It is the "bible" for pandemic learning. President Bush read this book while on vacation after 911, after Katrina, and after reading it he set up, shored up the US's Pandemic Response as a part of our National Security planning. President Obama built on that. The former guy shuttered all the bipartisan preparedness and response in his first week of office. That alone should have warranted impeachment in my opinion. I don't see how anyone could read this book and not promote mandatory vaccination.
You said Mrs. O'Brien's name. She would be so proud of you for remembering the importance of the freedom of speech. You brought her to your message about a civil society and our responsibilities to one another; respecting the rights of others and knowing good behavior from bad. Here's to Mrs. O'Brien and Ralph Averill! On we go!
Social media companies are part of the problem but to me the main issue is the anti-vaccination campaigns being waged by right wing media. Specifically, people like the execrable Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, etc. Let’s not forget, at CPAC, attendees CHEERED the decline in vaccination rates.
"Tucker Carlson still won't say if he is vaccinated against COVID-19, calls it a 'supervulgar personal' question" I'll take that as a Yes, he is. Hmm, were right wing maniacs ever accused of being hypocrites?
What about the governor of Arkansas and the governor of FL—so called leaders who care much more about Cheeto’s endorsement of them than whether their citizens die en masse.
All Fox Hosts were required to be vaccinated in order to return to the studio. Tucker Carlson is a little boy who throws temper tantrums and bullies people. He has a manic personality. I’ve heard he’s a caring and very nice person in his personal life but I don’t believe that could be true. He’s wealthy from family money and Fox. He lied about his elementary teacher last week just to make himself look like some victim. He needs mental healthcare and a mass of medication to control his mania.
We’ve all made mistakes or misspoken. One of the biggest differences is, some of us will admit it, make the correction and apologize. Republicans and the right wing seem incapable of such. Instead they double down on their heinous misconceptions in an effort to enlist more of the same. It’s almost like they think if the numbers are high enough it must be true.
I have an ex-friend, who proudly told me that it wasn't news, just "entertainment." The problem was that it was her only source of information, thus explaining her utter ignorance - the reason for her being my "ex"-friend.
They seem so caught up in partisan rancor that mass death of their own people is a small thing next to the anticipated pleasure of blocking whatever President Biden is trying to do.
I can't say that I know the answer to "What's wrong with these people," but I do recall a period of time when I was peripherally associated with a group of people who were ultra competitive with each other and with anyone who came in contact with them. They were a group of graduate student English majors who were vicious with each other, cutting each other down, ridiculing, one upping everyone who entered their circle and disdainful of anyone who wasn't in the circle. They were completely reactive, limiting their vision to the next opportunity for an encounter. I was a young professor who was invited into the group, but ran for dear life in a very short time. It was actually traumatic for me, especially since my own experience at grad school had been totally cooperative.
I tend to think of the current crop of republicans as being like this group...there's no there there; there's just constant reactivity to external stimuli because there's no value at the core that gives any meaning to their lives. Their lives consist mainly of flailing, like children with oppositional defiance disorder, and they are quick to assert that their lives are worth more than other lives. The biggest danger, to me, is that they have the power to influence others to imitate them.
And what the Heaven are we to do about it? We are figuring out the way to respond to this type of madness. As has been done throughout history. Because it is not “new”.
What is wrong with these people??? Their values. They are focused on money and bear no sense of a personal responsibility for the harm they cause. If the tales they spin were not lucrative, they wouldn't have their jobs. I have a wish list of folks I would love to fall from grace with the sea. Surprisingly, even to me, trump is at the bottom of the list. In order, Mitchell, Murdoch (and his vampires), Zuckerberg, trump.
When i first joined FB seven years ago, I had no idea what I was getting into. I immediately felt like I was being attacked by friend requests, and not wanting to be "impolite" I accepted them all. At that point, I didn't realize that being polite was not a part of social media. What I wanted was a way to share photographs and personal news with hometown friends and family since I live "away." I would have paid a subscription price for that service without news stories and advertising.
Instead, FB became a monster. You are tracked with every move you make on line and targeted by news and advertising that fit your "likes." In essence, FB culls you into a particular herd with some herds being led down a more and more sinister path. In the mean time, Zuckerberg rakes in over 125 billion net, and he defends his policies by hiding behind Free Speech. As he is called to take responsibility for his policies, he points to a vast number of fake news and hate speech that has been removed from the platform, but that number is never expressed as a percentage of the misinformation slithering through his product.
I deleted my FB account two years ago. I'll admit I miss it. But I could no longer stomach the thought of being part of Zuckerburg's profit. His billions feed his ego; his ego has no conscience. Behind his self-righteous claims of free speech, he destroys our country. I can do without him - and keep in touch with loved ones through phone calls, texts, and cards.
Facebook replied to President Biden with a statement about how many people used their tool to make vaccine appointments and it came across as angry and self righteous. They never once said how many views there were of any of the misinformation posts going around out there. It’s a dangerous number and the top Facebook post yesterday was MT Greene posting lies about vaccinations and calling it communism. I want to know Facebooks numbers for how many deaths will be caused by these lies. There’s a part of society that thrives on spreading hate and cannot comprehend how this affects society as a whole.
Most of my personal Facebook activity is confined to bookbinding, paper arts and needlework groups. As well, here in México, a great number of businesses, from large to small, do not have websites but they do have Facebook pages, so if you want information about/from them or you want to order from them you have to access Facebook, DM them, then order via WhatsApp or Signal. It is cumbersome, to say the least, but it's how business is done here.
I share HCR's Letters on Facebook, in the hopes that my Trump Republican in laws will finally wake up and smell the coffee. I know my MIL reads them because she sometimes comments, however, I don't hold much hope. For the rest, I block the games, quizzes and memes friends share because those are data gathering schemes. I've unfriended and/or blocked many a personal friend or family member.
I recognize that FB can be a useful, important business/personal tool. FB can be and should be a means for good. My decision was personal only, and actually for my own health. It got so that every time I opened my page a rage welled up inside me just thinking about Zuckerberg. He, of course, was unaffected by this, only my ever-rising blood pressure suffered. LOL.
"Hello, my name is Rob and I'm a FB Addict, but 14 months FB free." I had threatened to quit FB for years because they kept banning me for bullshit, often for a month at a time. I realized, if I can live without it for a month I can live without it forever. My last ban was May 2020 done by their algorithm 'bots but no human intervened. It was a small ban for "Hate Speech." My hate speech was referencing the murder of Ahmaud Arbery and how I feared that my black grandson could be MURDERED BY WHITE MONSTERS. Apparently calling out white monsters is hateful, to which I agree but felt justified. It was difficult giving up all the cyber friendships that I kept on FB, but the real friends I had their e-mail addresses or fone numbers.
Congratulations to you! I replaced a lot of my FB time with woods walking. It is profoundly more satisfying.
I am very saddened to know that you and yours live in fear for your grandson's life. It's a screwed up and sorry world when kids enjoy peaceful childhoods.
Thank-you. Leaving FB was harder than I thought. It left a void I wasn't prepared for. But that in itself made me angrier at Zuckerberg because essentially, he is peddling an addictive habit. I'm glad that you can avoid it as you so choose.
There is or was an app called FluffBuster which you can install on your FB page. It lets you choose the content you wish to appear on your page. You can choose to see no advertising, no news, no dog/cat stories, etc. I tried to promote it on my FB page and my promotion was immediately removed by FB... So much for how "very difficult" it is to monitor content...
Peter Doocy adds fuel to the disinformation wars. Jen Psaki has the patience of a saint.
“Speaking of misinformation and the announcement from yesterday,” Doocy began, “for how long has the administration been spying on people’s Facebook profiles, looking for vaccine misinformation."
Doocy accused the administration of spying on private Facebook accounts. In reality, Doocy was referring to a reference Jen Psaki had made on Thursday about the Disinformation Dozen, cited by the Center for Countering Digital Hate. The CCDH (cited in this letter by HCR) is a non profit based in the UK and has nothing to do with the US Government.
You want to know who also spies on Americans on social media?
The insurance companies.
Back when we first applied for disability through an insurance company we had a fight on our hands, so we asked for a copy of his case file.
Inside that file were about 20 pages of pics and posts on FB.
Luckily, they were from when he was working on Sony's first smart phone. Which back then, was before FB really became FB. My husband told me that he knew that FB would one day become a problem and he would never have an account on FB once his work was done.
As a note to let you all know how much information there is out there on the internet, there were four doctor's on a panel and one said that my husband could still work so the insurance company used his lone opinion and the social media posts to deny his claim. By the way, we eventually won our case
Just to show you a few examples of what you can get off the internet if you know how.
My husband did a search for the one doctor who denied his claim and we found a lot of info about the doc.
His medical license was expired and there were multiple complaints about the doctor.
We got so much personal information (ss#, phone numbers, addresses, etc.) and found out that his son was in prison on drug charges
Given all the surveillance in & outside of buildings and businesses now (especially since The Patriot Act [as if it has anything to do with patriotism]), there can be no expectation of privacy just about anywhere anymore. It is disturbing just how much of our lives are now in data files. While this can be helpful at times, I don't think it outweighs the danger of such a loss in privacy.
There was a series called "Person of Interest" a few years ago. Part of the underlying theme was how computers through street cameras could track you. I don't remember if cell phone tracking was included. It seemed plausible but far fetched at the time. Little did we know....
Morning Dan. No, it’s not spying because each subscriber has the ability to post to “public” or just “friends” or to another particular subscriber. One can control who sees their posts.
Morning, Daria!! Thanks for your post. I have been remiss in watching Jen Psaki's press briefings. I took the time to try to find where in the briefing itself Doocy asked his question(s). I couldn't find it, but was thoroughly impressed with Ms. Psaki. It's like she was born for the job!
I found this on Twitter. I do not know if anyone else has posted this, but it's worth a look-see, in my opinion. Dr. Fauci and Olivia Rodrigo pair up to promote the vaccine. It's really cute.
Ha! Fan club, indeed. Fortunately for me, I have forgotten the names of all the former press secretaries to tfg. If I see their name in print, though, I'll remember who they are. But, please, spare me!
On a completely different subject, Daria, could you recommend some cenotes within good driving distance from Cancun? I'm going there for my son's wedding next year and am looking for some adventure. I've read some good things about Homun and Cuzama, but at 3+ hours away from the hotel, it would be nice to find something closer.
Frankly, I wouldn't normally stay in Cancun, since I find hyper-resorts rather dull, but the event has been planned by others with different tastes. In fact, any recommendations from you would be very welcome!
Hi Dan! I live about 4 hours from Cancun so I'm not an authority on things to do in the area. (We sometimes use the airport if we're going to Peru, but that's about it.) Most cenotes rustic or "improved" are generally well worth the visit. I'll post a link for your information. Near is relative, BTW.
If you go to Chichén Itzá, 3 hours away or Tulum 1.5 hours away, go early. Both places are extremely hot and crowded by midday and neither offer much in the way of shade. Wear a hat, bring water and sunscreen. One of my favorite sites Uxmal (4 hours away). It is spread out, there is plenty of shade (relatively speaking) and there are structures you are allowed to climb and get a good, close up look at things.
If you rent a car to travel to any of these places do not drive after dark. It simply is not the safe thing to do. ADO bus goes to Tulum and Chichén Itzá, (I think) and is comfortable and reasonable. If your resort provides tours or transit check them out, as well. Right now a lot of the archeological sites are still closed due to covid. That, of course, is subject to change.
You want to know who also spies on Americans on social media?
The insurance companies.
Back when we first applied for disability through an insurance company we had a fight on our hands, so we asked for a copy of his case file.
Inside that file were about 20 pages of pics and posts on FB.
Luckily, they were from when he was working on Sony's first smart phone. Which back then, was before FB really became FB. My husband told me that he knew that FB would one day become a problem and he would never have an account on FB once his work was done.
As a note to let you all know how much information there is out there on the internet, there were four doctor's on a panel and one said that my husband could still work so the insurance company used his lone opinion and the social media posts to deny his claim. By the way, we eventually won our case
Just to show you a few examples of what you can get off the internet if you know how.
My husband did a search for the one doctor who denied his claim and we found a lot of info about the doc.
His medical license was expired and there were multiple complaints about the doctor.
We got so much personal information (ss#, phone numbers, addresses, etc.) and found out that his son was in prison on drug charges
I think the internet just makes it easier for the corps; I learned decades ago that there's a medical clearinghouse somewhere in middle America where all the medical information for all the insurance companies is pooled. It's sort of the Equifax of health insurance. Supposedly, if you can find the right address and the right magic words, you can get a copy of all the information stored on you, just like a credit report.
I went through a couple of rounds of requesting information before I lost interest, but I've always wondered what that organization has morphed into with the internet. I'm fairly sure that, again just like credit reports, anyone working in a claims office can access your entire medical history on a whim, while you are locked out of your own information by several bureaucratic walls.
Now that I'm old and sickly, I don't care so much, since my known medical history would disqualify me from anything but a government-mandated insurance policy, like Obamacare. But in times past I recall going to a new doctor to check out novel symptoms and paying cash, just to prevent an insurance claim from being filed. Welcome to the American Dream!
Doocy should be banned from the press briefings. Fox claims they are not a news channel, just entertainment. His questions are all worded to incite hate and spread outright lies. No matter how well Jen answers them if you read right wing Twitter they exponentially amplify what he said and denigrate the White House and the country. This is a good place to put a lid on misinformation being spread. Take away his audience. He can free speech somewhere else. He’ll have a smaller audience with no one to personally attack. They need to feel like Biden is hearing every word.
TFG tried that when he banned a liberal media reporter in 2018, Jim Acosta from CNN. He also tried a mass purge of journalists with press passes in 2019. Both episodes created a massive outcry. As nice as it would be to ban him, we can’t. Jen handles him pretty well.
I guess I am a bit surprised so many Americans are unaware of the concept of "relative risk", and, hence, are not able to perform a balanced individual relative risk assessment. I am not suggesting that all Americans should be able to do that task at the level of an actuary, but, I would think any human that can read a bit should be able to do simple relative risk balancing. Presumably all Americans, except the most recent immigrants, can read English language news.
For example, I was vaccinated with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Why? I chose this vaccine over the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines here in NY because, well, those vaccine appointments were booked out for months and appointments were impossible to get last March.
However, NY state opened a 24 hour J&J vaccine center in Syracuse and if one was willing to get vaccinated at 2am, well, one could get the vaccine that very day!
The relative risk of waiting to get the Moderna vaccine, in a few months, for its ostensibly higher efficacy seemed larger than the relative risk of getting the J&J vaccine right away. Some protection seemed better than none. At that point, I hope, the contamination issue was not present and that was not yet known. Aside: Boy, did it make me sick for 12 hours!
Likewise, by the time I received the J&J vaccine some early information was available on a very, very rare event in women and men over 50: Deadly blood clots. The incidence rate is so small an engineer would instantly ignore it, but, hey, even though I am an engineer, it was me that was going to get the vaccine. I could gin up some fear and ignore statistics.
I went ahead and got the J&J vaccine and did not think too much. Maybe the 0.000001 chance that I get a clot would be my last event? But, Covid, at age 61, even though I am healthy, seemed a higher relative risk.
So? I got the J&J vaccine based on a very simple relative risk assessment.
But, it seems many folks in America now are unable to perform their own, simple, relative risk assessment and are choosing, based on attraction to hysteria, to avoid vaccination.
I guess there must be some emotional reward for running toward hysteria instead of thinking independently for oneself?
I don't have Facebook so I don't know what the rewards of going to a hysterical Facebook page and reading it are. Maybe I would instantly become hysterical and afraid of vaccines?
As I am coming to understand more and more, humans are really not very intelligent, for all our posing! To think we have had the audacity to believe we are smarter than animals says it all right there. Perhaps animals could never figure out how to go to the moon, but they don't need to go to the moon. They have the intelligence they need. Our intelligence is getting us into deep trouble. The trashing of this utterly amazing and beautiful planet for a start.
Yes, thinking in terms of systems as a whole is hard for people.
The closer one gets to severe economic depravation the less one can really look at impacts to the system relative to simple survival. In America, however, it is not often the case that base survival is threatened.
Rather, it is often the case that a corporation can make some money doing something disastrous like provide millions of tons of Agent Orange to wantonly drop on the beautiful forests of Vietnam and Cambodia.
In that case, the people running the show actually understand the consequences.
But, they just don't care. Money in their pocket is more important.
Providing consequences for this particular "capitalist" bad behavior would be both positive and telling.
But, in America, Capitalism, and the selfish greed accompanying that concept is supported and rewarded.
(Unless and until bad economic times come, then, said companies beg the Fed to buy their worthless bonds and put it on the books of future Americans in a hidden and dastardly welfare for business program).
After all, communal thought, thought that takes into account the needs of the entire community?
Capitalism is America's most widely practiced religion. Its appeal is that it seems to offer us Heaven on earth, but only if we are among the elect or have mastered the impossible art of pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps. I've tried pulling myself up by my sandal buckles, but that sure as hell didn't work, it's bootstraps or nothing, tough luck if you ain't got any. I must be some damn Dem Lib low-life knucklehead!
I pulled my self off of an East Texas farm, but, not bootsraps but Socialism is the reason. I did it by:
1. Leveraging the Texas A&M state University to become a Chemical Engineer (B.S). My tuition from 1978 to 1982 was $160 per semester, nearly free.
2. Leveraging the University of Texas, Austin state University to obtain Ph.D. Chemical Engineering. Tuition was free, I was brought in on Fellowship.
Now, I don't want to hint that the above two huge events in my life were "Socialist".
But, in fact, they were. Texas A&M and UT were both supported by a huge land grant made in the late 1880s of "worthless" land in West Texas that subsequently became one of the world's largest oil producers.
A&M and UT both had money to burn since they were the lease payment recipients.
Think about it. Essentially free tuition is the reason I became "successful" in the United States and that free tuition was granted to all state school students of that era in TEXAS. Same with thousands of farm kids in Texas my age who moved off of dirt farms.
So, I guess I have to say I am in favor of Social contracts with the people where government and private enterprise cooperate.
The State University system in Texas is one of the premier educational systems on earth, and, it is Socialism at its best.
Of course, after I graduated from all of the socialist largesse of public university, I did have to work at Corporations for 40 years.
This was an eye opener to be discussed at dinner parties where everyone is ranting that Capitalism is what will save us all.
Good comment, Mike. I would love to know if Texas A&M is as good a deal now as it was when you were there. I would imagine it is not.
I agree that Social Contracts under which government and private enterprise cooperate are a very good thing, so long as the common good takes precedence over private profit-making when the two things come into conflict. Unfortunately, in America we have a lot of unwritten rules that are easily gotten around by people/corporations with money, and too many Americans know too little about the rest of the world to know when they are getting screwed (by comparison).
Socialism is a word meaning many things (depending on context), but it carries a heavy, negative emotive meaning in many parts of the USA and is easily misused for purposes of political propaganda intended to scare people to vote against their own interests. Most countries in Europe have lively capitalist economies and offer better upward mobility than the USA, but they also regulate and progressively tax corporations and wealthy folks enough to pay for a robust social safety net, including state-funded healthcare, free or inexpensive higher education and a bunch of other things our GOP tells us is "communism".
I wish you could go back to East Texas with your farm boy cred and tell folks about your positive experience with Texan socialism back in the day. It might open a few eyes and minds.
I think that your assessment reflects, among other things, the lack of critical thinking skills that have been left behind in the rush for standardized teaching of "no child left behind". For me, there never was any question of the vaccine; I was working courthouse security part time as a retired deputy sheriff; our agency got Moderna, and I was vaccinated Jan 6 (!) and February 3.
We, too, received the J&J because we live outside the US and had to travel to the US to get the vaccine. Setting up 2 appointments was impossible and being away from home for an undetermined period of time was out of the question. We bit the bullet and flew nonstop, had the shot within hours of getting off the plane, then quarantined for 14 days. Once we were out of quarantine and able to circulate, groceries, pharmacies, and big box stores we visited announced the availability of walk up, on the spot covid vaccines. It surprised me how few takers there were - almost none, actually. As I said to another subscriber earlier, I just don't get it.
(The vaccine distribution effort in the state of Yucatán, México is noble but supply falls far short of need and, frankly, Mexican nationals deserve 1st crack at vaccination over expats who have many more choices and frequently a lot more money to exercise those choices.)
Good morning Mike S! Not Sure why, but I really enjoyed reading your post. Some good wisdom in there emanating from a discussion of risk assessment. Love it.
I am new to HCR's page here, but, I have been reading her daily digest for some months. Decided to become part of the community. I learned more history in the months I have read her daily writing than I learned in the last 61 years of my life.
I recently received my annual renewal so I guess that makes me a long hauler. I don't often comment. There is a wealth of knowledge among this community Dr. HCR has gathered. I look forward to reading their comments and conversations as well as Letters from an American first thing every morning with my coffee. This forum has become a treasured resource and a great comfort to me in these Troubled Times.
Same here. I'm in the middle of my second cup, and really enjoying the conversation today. Welcoming new folks, enjoying what many familiar readers are posting, and occasionally rolling my eyes at what some familiar readers are writing.
Welcome to Heather’s Cafe…. It’s like ‘Cheers’! Except here, instead of beer, we talk about our world, our country, and the knowledge and experience we all have. Dr. Richardson is our guiding light steering us through these bizarre times. We always leave more learned and have so many ways provided to dig deeper. I stumbled upon HCR in early 2020, can’t even remember when or where?! She saved me from total despair, and I do feel a great sense of camaraderie with all of you. Oh, there are a few faceless trolls lurking from time to time, but they glow in the dark so they are easily spotted.
I too have experienced a whole new understanding of our history. And to see how things can be traced back and understood in a much bigger context has been so enlightening! I now am insatiable for more knowledge and an understanding of what we have happening!
Glad you ‘signed up’! (And now I can’t get the theme song from ‘Cheers’ out of my mind!)
Welcome! I am pretty new too. It is one of the best decisions I've made. The combination of current events and related historical ones (my history is terrible) is so interesting and adds context and meaning to understanding our political landscape. HCR's knowledge is amazing!
Try her book: To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party.
After I read a couple months of her column I read this book in the Rochester winter season.
Honestly, it is a bit of a reading go. Dense, filled with quickly moving events. I had to really concentrate.
But, I learned more from that book, shockingly more, than I learned in my too many years in school. Admittedly, I am an engineer, but, I took high school history and college history for a total of three years of history and never learned anything. No lie.
HCR's above book, and Isabelle Wilkerson's "The Warmth of Other Suns" changed my life and perspective.
Both of the above books should be mandatory college reading.
Disclaimer: I am in no way trying to sell anything to anybody here. I am sharing the titles of two books that changed my life.
Share share share. I’ll return with a suggestion that Isabel Wilkerson’s “Suns” pulled me in, but her recent “Caste” abruptly changed my perspective about many things. It was shocking to me. I thought I was discerning about race and racism. Just becoming more so now after that read and participation with communities like this during pandemic. A game changer.
Welcome, Mike. I have learned so much through HCR's letters, chats, and recently her Now and Then podcasts with Joanne Freeman. As well, the community on this page is loaded with brainiacs...you included!
Mike S., unless I have misunderstood, you are suggesting that the miniscule blood clot risk from the J & J vaccine is of statistical significance only for people older than 50, while I believe the opposite is true. Which is to say that this rare reaction happens almost exclusively among people under 50, almost never to anyone older. So the relatively low risk of unvaccinated younger people dying of Covid makes their also-low risk of dying from a rare vaccination-caused blod-clot more of a problem, whereas the higher risk of unvaccinated older folks dying from Covid makes extremely rare vaccination-caused blood clots a statistical non-issue.
Here in Italy, my wife and I are 69 and awaiting our second dose of AstraZeneca (similar to J & J) on Thursday. Despite its high 2-dose protection against hospitalization or death, AstraZeneca is no longer being administered to anyone under 60 except men who have already had their first dose and prefer to not switch to Pfizer for their second dose. We older folks are being given only AstraZeneca until supplies run out, no switching allowed without a well-documented medical reason.
Of course the Delta Variant, and God knows what other variants being spawned in places where almost no one is vaccinated (most of the world), is a very big problem. The idea that we are somehow done with all this is totally wrong, and the scientists who know this are telling us so if anyone will listen.
The people who are refusing to be vaccinated (with very few exceptions) continue to endanger themselves and the rest of us. No one knows the future, but our virologists and epidemiologists continue to warn us of the likelihood that one of these new variants will mutate and prove to be impervious to all our vaccines, so we will have to go through this experience again and again until it becomes possible to vaccinate nearly everyone in a very short period.
Who in this room is surprised by this outcome? Yeah, none of us.
As talks of opening up different facets of businesses in New York, I would be chastised when I would speak up about the peril of what could happen to the unvaccinated. I think to a local article regarding the New York State Fair opening this year and I commented that it would most definitely produce a spike in the COVID-19 numbers. Simple statement right? It was met with some of the most vulgar name calling and harassment that I have ever had on Social Media. It's truly mathematics folks, if you cram millions of unvaccinated people from many different States who have a penchant to not believe Science into crowded buildings and a bombastic at best Midway, the outcome will not be a positive outcome.
Ignorance has come to roost in the form of a serious spike in numbers of the unvaccinated contracting COVID-19.
I can rest easy in knowing I was responsible and was vaccinated as soon as I could and continue to mask up whenever I go out and will do so. I'm not part of the problem. That would make a good slogan for a tee-shirt if I were that vindictive.
Linda, it amazes me that unvaccinated people don't get it that cramming into a closed space will be s spreader. Maybe the problem with the messages is not "get vaccinated", but should be "stop being so ignorant."
They do know it’s a practice that will spread the virus. So my message to them is “Defiance lessens your good sense. So get with it before it abandons you.”
My patience has long grown thin with FB. Two days ago, a sponsored post came through my feed advertising to keep the state government from requiring masks, particularly in schools. I flagged it for being misleading, but when I tried looking up the name of the sponsor, my query went nowhere. The misanthrope could literally be anybody in the whole world.
I've not totally abandoned my FB page just to keep up with personal and professional contacts I would not easily reach otherwise, but seriously, Facebook is terrible. If we had a truly functioning government, they would be regulated as a utility, and the Do Not Call List would stop robo calls.
I have completely shifted my Facebook focus to connections with friends and former classmates, photos of my cats or my grilling escapades, and the music groups that I manage. I have not unfriended most of my Facebook friends that espouse many of the hateful garbage (I do want to know what they're up to) but I have quit engaging with them in any sort of political sense. I've been much happier since deciding to do that.
I liked all the pictures of family and friends Facebook brought to me, but I am done! With the misinformation and tracing, they have become a destructive force. Reform it if we can, or crush it if we must, I no longer care. They can no longer have any part of me.
I quit FB in February…I miss Professor Richardson’s Tuesday and Thursday classes but not much else. Lies CAN be called out for what they are… the spread of those lies have far reaching effects. Death, in some cases, as we are witnessing. Somewhere we need to find the courage to disallow the spread of lies and disinformation.
I applaud those who can drop off the platform, but I find it necessary for business and personal reasons. I also don't like the idea of ceding the space to the opposition. That said, I am very circumspect about what I post.
It's a shame that freedom is juxtaposed with public health when it comes to COVID vaccines. It's like apples and oranges. Children are vaccinated against mumps, measles and whooping cough. I think that the juxtaposition of freedom and COVID vaccination is a fabrication for deliberate obstruction.
I agree completely. TN legislators, to show what good repubs they are, banned mention of any vaccine, including polio, mumps, etc.!! Carrying one’s allegiance to stupidity to the detriment of children is a new low. I have lost patience with anti-vaxxers and if they choose to commit suicide, I can’t help. I’m usually more empathetic but not in this case I’m afraid.
Whaaa??? OMG. Vote republican. They will put their time and your money to good use coming up with ways to make sure you stay in the dark, get paid less, and if you survive Covid, have no healthcare.
If you only need a handful left to cast votes, since you've gerrymandered the districts so viciously, and you've made it so much harder for the opposition to cast any votes, than you can afford to kill off a few. Just write it off as the cost of doing business, right?
Perhaps they are relying on early reports that Covid hit Black and Brown communities much harder than white ones. So they believe the odds are in their favor. The opposition losses will be much greater than theirs. Unfortunately, vaccine resistance in those Black and Brown communities plays into their hand.
Again and again - slippery slope that it may be - how can it be that disinformation is considered free and protected speech - especially when proved it can lead to not only harm but death?
The news that a Dozen people account for 65% of the Disinformation on COVID vaccines I find it incredulous that Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have done almost nothing to stop them. One thing that could be regulated is the algorithms the media companies use which put readers into disinformation bubbles -- in order to make more money. This article (also listed in HCR's notes) talks about the twelve! https://252f2edd-1c8b-49f5-9bb2-cb57bb47e4ba.filesusr.com/ugd/f4d9b9_b7cedc0553604720b7137f8663366ee5.pdf
Article is 40 pages long, and of those 12 listed, several of them are actually partners working together, which makes it even more incredible that basically there are maybe only 8 "hubs" of disinformation with millions of followers, who have managed to spread 65% of the misinformation out there about vaccines and Covid-19.
How is it that they're allowed to continue on those social media platforms? Frustrating.
I was particularly looking at the messaging they were using and why it would be effective with gullible people ... so found the 40 pages worth examining.
Seems most have something to sell. Misinformation for fun and profit. I’ve never understood Kennedy’s stand, I’ll have to research it. I seem to remember it concerned autism.
Thanks. In line with an earlier article I read he seems to follow the pattern of self flagellation common to parents whose child is unhealthy, or in the case of some, have died. The example I was reading involved a just vaccinated infant whose mother blames her vaccines rather than suffocation due to the co sleeping that was involved.
Many of the big 12 started with the autism and MMR vaccination connection. That took off and became a conspiracy. Lots of research never supported the connection but it was, as I recall, the first arrow in the quiver for anti-vaxers. Kennedy included.
The bees are all over it. When they can spare a few, I cut some stems for inside. They are falling asleep inside the digitalis and dancing on the sunflowers, those bees. Blessings upon us all.
It seems finally to be official, disinformation is being recognized as a public health issue. What we have now in social media is something akin to conditions in most large cities of the late 19th century - they were full horse manure and other garbage that shortened the lives of many people. With freedom comes responsibility. Many of us have either forgotten or never learned that. No one has the right to yell fire in a crowded theater. No one should tell life threatening lies and then be able to hide behind the first amendment. Ideally, we should all police the content we upload or pass along, but we don't. Allowing disinformation to flourish unchecked is literally shorting the lives of thousands.
The public health measures that are largely responsible for almost doubling human lifespan over the past century were born of a lot of hard work, often done in the face of severe opposition (think tobacco and lead paint). The public mental and medical health crisis of disinformation is a similar challenge that will require honest appraisal, hard work, a willingness to call out lies when we see them, and take action when needed. President Biden's Calling out of Facebook on 7/16 is an encouraging development.
Thank you, Dr. Richardson. I'm always grateful for your Letters.
Seems to me that anti-vaxxers were in a petri dish way before someone descended that golden escalator in NYC. Seems to me those anti-vaxxers were fueled by the same country that saw a golden opportunity to fuel a narcissistic con man. Same country, same motive. Divide and conquer. Divide, divide.
Texas is becoming the Animal Farm of the 21st Century. Or perhaps call it Animal Ranch. I've been reading the Critical Race Theory bill SB3 and would find it amusing if it weren't so appalling. For example: page 7 line 7 (4) a teacher, administrator, or other employee of a state agency, school district, or open-enrollment charter school may not: (A) require or make part of a course inculcation in the concept that: (i) one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex [..except White Males] (ii) an individual, by virtue of the individual's race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously [...except White Males] (iii) an individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of the individual's race or sex [except White Males]; (iv) an individual's moral character, standing, or worth is necessarily determined by the individual's race or sex [... except White Males]; (v) an individual, by virtue of the individual's race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex [...except White Males]; .... (viii) the advent of slavery in the territory that is now the United States constituted the true founding of the United States [.. 1776 not 1619]; (ix) with respect to their relationship to American values, slavery and racism are anything other than deviations from, betrayals of, or failures to live up to the authentic founding principles of the United States, which include liberty and equality [except White Males] etc. For me, just like women's rights, white males have no standing in a court of law to decide what can be done to a women's soveriegn body or what to teach about race and sex by White Males who generally have no clue what discrimination is and think they did it all on their own
merits. ... (vi) an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual's race or sex [except White Males]; Poor babies! ... (C) require an understanding of the 1619 Project. What they are instructed to teach is the Founding Father's document (Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Federalist Papers) ALL written by Privileged White Males. I'd like them all to read Frederick Douglass's speech of 1852 on the 5th of July: "Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?" https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/speeches-african-american-history/1852-frederick-douglass-what-slave-fourth-july/ No, we mustn't teach this in Texas. It might hurt some poor white boy's image of himself. Poor baby.
I assume that the bracketed phrases are yours Cathy........but perhaps they are stupid enough to write their true beliefs completely in the Bill. They forgot to include their support in their diatribe for the old Southern law that forbade the teaching of reading and writing to all "slaves"..... wage slaves or Black....as being a dangerous incitation to the questionning of authority.
Yes, the bracketed phrases are mine. Like the Seven Commandments for the animals on Animal Farm were amended by the Pigs. The rules apply ... except for pigs. The final one applies here "All animals were created equal but some are more equal than others." Most white men believe in the myth of meritocracy. They aren't aware or even appreciate how many legs up they get by having a Y chromosome and ancestors who came from cold climates. When I told my father that I had been accepted at M.I.T. his response was I'd never hire a woman engineer; they wouldn't fit into my group. He was proud of me in his own way. I'd give him an M.I.T. shirt every Christmas and he's wear it constantly. Of course, he had to say M.I.T. stood for the Minnesota Institute of Trucking. It hurt. It hurt when he would say "Oh, we just send out the little girls to fly on nice days like this" when someone would congratulate him on his 19 year old daughter becoming the National Model Glider Champion on a day with typical Kansas windy conditions the California flyers thought unflyable. On top of that the U.S. Navy discriminated against me personally. The National Championships was sponsored by the U.S. Navy and took place at different Naval Air Stations across the country. One thing they did was fly the young winners of an event (under 21) to Pensacola Florida and take them out on a carrier cruise. There were signs posted all around the station. I won the Glider event on the first day and went to a talk by an astronaut that evening. I naively told a couple of Navy officers standing there that I was looking forward to going on the carrier cruise. They sort of snickered and said you had to have won an event. When I said I had, they looked startled. The next morning all the signs for the carrier cruise had been changed to all BOYS winning an event should sign up for the carrier cruise. Obviously, I still feel the U.S. Navy owes me a carrier cruise. No one cared about my feelings on this. In the SB3 bill the teachers must not make "(vi) an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual's race or sex." And, in our culture women are thought of as the weaker sex. Poor babies.
Damn it. The carrier cruise story made my eyes well with tears. Geez Cathy. We all have our stories. It’s taken so many years to change just some endings.
Disgusting times. How painful and infuriating that slam must have been. But we are honored that you have only heightened your spunk and drive for equality and fairness.
Yes, social media is spreading the lies. But so are the GOP. I wish he'd included them in that statement. Call out the politicians going on stage and still saying it's a lie, still saying we don't need vaccine mandates, don't need to follow health rules. And indict the ones who've voted to make it state policy to be against vaccination campaigns, who've voted to make it illegal to enforce public health measures.
I agree with you Susan. I am very glad to see that he made a clear, unambiguous statement about social media though. Maybe it's a start to doing the same for the individuals who deliberately, blatantly stoke and spread the same lies as Facebook does.
Quite a bit! I think we are seeing where freedom of speech runs into hate speech and deliberate propoganda and we need to look at defining each and using our laws against the latter two, especially given how many elected officials deliberately use the latter two to confuse, confound and control. I know it is a delicate subject but, in my opinion, we cannot continue to ignore it.
Good morning all! On NPR yesterday evening it was reported that France is now pushing much stricter vaccine requirements for all people who want to do anything in public. And suddenly, all these French people are rushing to get vaccines. It's a little hilarious but very interesting at the same time because France was one of those places hugely resistant to vaccines of any kind (despite being, as Macron said, the birthplace of Pasteur in one of his more elliptical lines, since Pasteur is best know for making milk safe to drink). But they want to sit in restaurants and go to museums and concerts so suddenly they're all about vaccines. https://www.npr.org/2021/07/16/1017012860/people-will-soon-need-a-vaccine-pass-or-negative-test-to-enter-frances-restauran
I know that people will be yelping about "free speech" and, stunningly, men will whine about having the "government" making decisions about their "bodies" (don't even get me started), but this kind of universal "we're all in this together, you arses, so stop behaving like petulant children and grow up" message needs to be sent.
I think the Allies would have lost WWII if we all lived at that time. Can you imagine asking the population to sacrifice almost everything to support the troops? All I can say is thank you to the previous generations for their sacrifice and I am sorry that democracy is now at risk because of this generation's selfishness and disdain for the greater good.
This gives Americans too much credit. They love war, so their WWII enthusiasm is to be expected. Same for Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq. The same type of people who had so much fun with Vietnam and Iraq are the ones who are refusing to help out with public health. Freedom and liberty loonies, the dominant class among white Americans.
Except with this iteration of the "Republican" Party we would have been part of the Axis.
We could have been, anyway. Lindburgh, Kennedy Sr, and lots of orhers. Americans didn’t want to join the fight until they could kill people with non-European ancestors.
Americans didn't want to kill anyone until Pearl Harbor was attacked. If Pearl Harbor had been attacked by European military forces, Americans wouldn't have hesitated to attack the responsible European nation(s). If Germany and Italy hadn't declared war on the U.S. a few days after the Pearl Harbor attack--which they were required to do as part of the Tripartite agreement--it would have been harder to get American support to join the European war. Remember, George Washington had warned the U.S. to not get involved in the perpetual European wars.
True, but being attacked by non-Europeans was a huge boost to enthusiasm. Same for Korea and Vietnam.
Hold it! Whoa! Dont lump all Americans together. Most of the 300,000,000 people there dont fit your stereotypes and i especially dont!!!
This showed up as a reply to my post but I think you meant to reply to Rex Page, right?
In the book "The Splendid and the Vile" about Churchill & family during the Blitz, it is mentioned that letters in the mail were opened and censored during WWII in England. There was a list of some fabulous bits of dis-information that people were spreading through the most used personal communication vehicle of the day: written letters. This tendency to spread tall tales has been with us for a very long time. Just fast forward to internet speeds, social media, the lack of oversight, algorithms, political manipulation, misguided beliefs, useful idiots, and.... well on an on. Yeah, they censored things back then for the common good. But we can't get a handle on it today.
Agree
But we're not all in this together! Where were Dr. Fauci and other health leaders -- like public health offricials -- telling us how to boost our own immune systems so we'd be less susceptible to the worst effects? Why weren't governments handing out Vitamin C and D3, zinc and magnesium, all of which have been shown to stop the deadly cytokine storm? How many lives and how much suffering would have been avoided had these steps been taken? Where's the discussion and debate about all of this? Why has there been only one line: wait for the vaccine, get the vaccine, you're stupid/hateful/ignorant if you don't? Why is this the only vaccine ever to be pushed on everyone? This is not an anti-vaccine rant. Vaccines are great, no question. But there are alternatives and have been all along and these have been systematically suppressed and their proponents, including many doctors, have been vilified. And that's the big question: Why?
Ellie, vitamins and minerals do nothing to stop a cytokine storm nor viral infection in tour lungs. For general health I take a multivitamin daily, but I know that won’t save my lungs filling with virus and pus to the point I slowly and lonely suffocate/drown from lung tissue destruction.
There is research to support this. Furthermore, these are among the building blocks of our immune system, the very system that has kept the human race outliving viruses and bacteria for millenia. Keep it strong and this virus can't get strong. Furthermore, some studies have shown that the sickest patients are also those with the lowest levels of D3.
Let's see your research cited.
You might check out this recent info from the Mayo Clinic. In addition to the link, I've included a couple of paragraphs from the cited page.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/expert-answers/coronavirus-and-vitamin-d/faq-20493088
"Several recent studies have looked at the impact of vitamin D on COVID-19. One study of 489 people found that those who had a vitamin D deficiency were more likely to test positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 than people who had normal levels of vitamin D.
"Other research has observed high rates of vitamin D deficiency in people with COVID-19 who experienced acute respiratory failure. These people had a significantly higher risk of dying. And a small, randomized study found that of 50 people hospitalized with COVID-19 who were given a high dose of a type of vitamin D (calcifediol), only one needed treatment in the intensive care unit. In contrast, among the 26 people with COVID-19 who weren't given calcifediol, 13 needed to be treated in the intensive care unit."
Lynn, Made a crucial point in that the study indicated that there was not enough data to recommend vitamin D. In addition, 42% of the population is deficient in the vitamin. 'Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency and Associated Risk ...https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › articles › PMC6075634 by NR Parva · 2018 · Cited by 116 — Race was identified as a significant risk factor, with African-American adults having the highest prevalence rate of vitamin D deficiency.' In addition, Black and Brown Americans have the highest risk factors for Covid as a result of other comorbidities, exposure through work and multi-generation families living in close quarters. A proper understanding of a study is necessary in order to evaluate it.
The very first sentence in the impressive link you provided from a credible journal: "there isn't enough data to recommend vit D......."
Nobody is actually arguing with the obvious fact that a vitamin D deficiency is bad for your immune system. What Lynn and others are looking for is research from reputable sources that support Ellie's more outrageous claims. E.g. "other approaches were purposely suppressed" and "Vitamin C and D3, zinc and magnesium, all of which have been shown to stop the deadly cytokine storm."
She has repeatedly claimed that "there are alternatives and have been all along and these have been systematically suppressed and their proponents, including many doctors, have been vilified" but has yet to offer a single piece of valid data that backs up these claims. Instead, she just repeats them.
The reality is that there are no other treatments *that have been demonstrated to be safe and effective* that have been "suppressed: by anyone. There's a lot of quackery out there that has bee properly debunked, but that's about it.
IMO Ellie and others pushing this idea should (but likely won't) read sciencebasedmedicine.org for some actual reality.
Ellie, we are all waiting for you to post evidence of that. please do. Yes, general individual health is product of a healthy diet, exercise, sleep, stress management for the individual. But even healthy individuals can get infected with Covid, have a mild case, or a stealthy asymptomatic case.... and what is happening during that healthy persons mild or asymptomatic infection? They are contributing to the spread, leading to outbreaks, leading to overwhelming hospitals so that needed treatments and care can not be made available, which leads to lockdowns, which only go further to disrupt lives and economies.
You agree, then, that if we all had strong immune systems, then most people got sick would have mild-moderate symptoms, and that that would slash the death rate? My point continues to be that the vaccines, as necessary as they are now, were not the only answer, that other approaches were purposely suppressed, and you have to ask why.
NO! I do not agree with your statement. It is with only depraved ignorance to claim that anything other than a vaccine will protect the public health during a viral pandemic.
Vaccines are the only way to stop the virus, for there is no mechanism for any vitamin or mineral to block entry of a virus into a host cell and there is no way either a vitamin or mineral inside a cell can stop viral replication. To claim otherwise demonstrates complete ignorance of basic cellular genetics, biology, physiology, and chemistry.
To quote a recent tweet by the leader of a major hospital system, "If you are making wildly disparaging comments about the vaccine, and have no public health expertise, you may be responsible for someone's death. Shut up."
Ignore, the script, word for word, is straight from anti-vaxxers. Below, lower depths!
I thought to jump into the fray between your comment above and some harsh comments below. Hopefully, this will help avoid the disconnect.
It's good that you mention the issue of vitamin and mineral supplements (Vit. C & D3, plus zinc and magnesium) to help with Covid prevention. I believe the disconnect with the other commenters is in understanding the role of these supplements. From my perspective, those substances can help in building a "tool kit" to provide some prevention to getting the disease. In the same vein, avoiding obesity is another helpful tool in that kit. These strategies will not give the same assurance as the vaccination against getting Covid. However, they are all tools to help us in that pursuit.
It is a shame that Fauci and the others don't mention these particular vitamin and mineral deficiencies, as well as the obesity issue, in addition to taking the vaccine. My own approach in trying to avoid Covid has been to: 1) take the vaccine; 2) take those vitamin and mineral supplements; 3) avoid obesity; and 4) exercise. (For me, that exercise includes Zumba which does me a world of good.) So far, so good in not getting Covid. At age 74 (tomorrow 75), I am grateful to have avoided it so far.
Yes, multiple tools in the toolbox. Happy Birthday!
Thanks much, Ellie.
Where’d u get ur masters in public health? Walmart, Amway, or Mellaluca?
????? You make no sense.
Please explain the physiology of the immune response to viral infection to the herd, and be specific about how vitamins and minerals detect, warn, deactivate, and clear the body’s system? We’re all waiting.
Well, at this stage, I really doubt that everyone is waiting. But more importantly here, what makes you think I have a Masters in Public Health??? Where is that in the comments? Thanks for the compliment, but believe me, MPHs have a lot more understanding in science and health issues than you or I. Have a nice day.
"It is a shame that Fauci and the others don't mention these particular vitamin and mineral deficiencies, as well as the obesity issue, in addition to taking the vaccine." I'm not sure whether Fauci ever discussed them or not. If not, it's probably because, while they're good guidelines for general health, they are of minimal usefulness in fighting a SARS-Cov-2 infection. Only a vaccine will do that. And there was (and still is) a lot of quackery out there promoting vitamins and other supplements as substitutes for a vaccine. Which they are not.
If you have a vitamin D deficiency, you should probably take a supplement. Ditto for other vitamin deficiencies. I'm taking D and B12 supplements at my doctor's recommendation for precisely those reasons. I'm not obese and I exercise (and have for decades). But I also got vaccinated as soon as possible.
Like you, I also got vaccinated as soon as possible. And, I believe the vaccine is the most helpful tool in avoiding Covid. That being said, I also include the other tools mentioned above. To be clear, no tool alone--or even a combination of them--is guaranteed to prevent getting COVID. But the health practices we each have can strengthen our immune system as it tries to deal with the disease.
"And there was (and still is) a lot of quackery out there promoting vitamins and other supplements as substitutes for a vaccine."
I haven't heard anyone recommending vitamins instead of taking a vaccine. And that's not the kind of person I'd listen to. As to "If you have a vitamin D deficiency, you should probably take a supplement." Well, of course, that goes without saying. The first thing to do is determine whether you have a Vitamin D deficiency, and that requires a blood test at your doctor's office. Just because you take a multi-vitamin which says it has 5,000 i.u. of Vitamin D, that doesn't mean it's all being absorbed in your system. You have to realize how deficient most doctors knowledge of vitamins and nutrition is. The doctors I've spoken with said that they received no more than a one hour lecture on vitamins and nutrition. That doesn't speak well of our medical schools in my opinion. I'll always listen to my doctor's opinion and advice, but I won't accept it as 100% right without consulting other sources as well. It's the same as when a person usually pursues a second opinion when they're diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. It's not that they don't trust their doctor; it's that they want to be sure before beginning serious treatment.
For me, liquid Vit. D +K-2 is what I use. Your doctor should know about that. Or read over 5,000 user comments on Amazon about the product. I'm sure glad I chose this version. Good luck on yours.
I actually know all of that. I based my choice of B12 and D supplements mostly on reviews at consumerlab.com (I have found amazon reviews to be somewhat useful, but often unreliable), which does actual lab testing of vitamins and other supplements. I don't expect my PC doc to be an expert in those areas.
Proper nutrition and exercise are essential to health in general and the judicious use of supplements can be good, but there is a massive amount of quackery and BS in the supplements industry, which has successfully lobbied to prevent any meaningful regulation by the FDA. The folks who sell that stuff want the ability to make all sorts of health claims without having to actually prove their scientific merit. COVID-19 has turned over a lot of rocks in that area, and a lot of unpleasant creatures have crawled out, all claiming that can prevent or cure the disease with some form of Pirelli's Miracle Elixir.
So extreme skepticism is warranted, IMO.
Chuck, I see what you mean and see that other comments were to question Ellie's statement about vits. as an alternative treatment for Covid and questioning what studies corroborated that declaration. Personally, I don't see vits as an alternative in preventing or treating Covid. I don't believe any of my statements indicated such a thing. My protocol for facing Covid remains the same: 1) Get the vaccination; 2) Eat healthily; 3) Exercise; 4) Make sure you maintain a healthy level of Vitamin D3 through blood tests. My principal health habits are aimed toward prevention much more than treatment.
In a related vein, here is some more medical research in considering Vit. D to prevent major lung illnesses. This is info from the British Medical Journal and involves the meta-analysis of 25 randomized controlled medical research studies. First is their web address, and beneath that is the title of that study.
https://www.bmj.com/content/356/bmj.i6583
“Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections: systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data”
As an aside, I learned to appreciate the importance of focus and provability in medical research studies while I was working at a major medical research institute in Indianapolis. They're affiliated with the IU School of Medicine. I worked as a research assistant for 5 years on assorted medical studies, especially those involving gerontology. I knew and worked with a number of MDs, PhDs, and MPHs. Also, I was able to appreciate, through their tutelage, the importance of truth and accuracy in presenting those studies. But I also learned to think outside the box in pursuing my own medical treatment. The proposals and studies are good for establishing proven methods. I always try to see the big picture in pursuit of truth.
That's it for now. It's sunny and warm outside. It's also my birthday. I'm heading out to the garden to tie up tomato vines and also get my daily dose of Vitamin D3.
As long as we're asking: why is your comment so filled with begged questions?
FYI: posing an anti-vaccine conspiracy rant and then saying you didn't post an anti-vaccine rant is not very convincing.
No, I'm pointing at the lack of choice, suppression of treatments, lack of investigative journalism that til now have been the hallmark of the way we live our lives and find out about things. It's not about the vaccines, they're doing their job; it's about the suppression of all other treatments and debate together with the fear-mongering that makes people believe a vaccine is the one and only answer.
Ellie, you are miss informed. There are no preventables to viral infection. only isolation would work, and that is impossible in modern society. Masks work but have limits. Genetics and prior exposure to a similar protein in a similar antigen might explain the asymptomatic spread ( this is why in 1918 novel h1n1 killed so many young adults between 18 and 40 years old, they didnt have some form of prior exposure like older people had).
You've fallen below lower depths. You are feeding the script, word for word from anti-vaxxers' scripts. IGNORE. Sorry I didn't see this sooner.
And...more question-begging.
But essentially what you're pointing at is something that does not exist outside of your imagination and the imagination of the legion of crackpot bloggers, quacks, conspiracy nutters, snake-oil salesmen, and disinformation peddlers who infest social media and the internet.
great response!
Only if you assume the begged questions have been answered. Which, of course, they have not.
"Why is this the only vaccine ever to be pushed on everyone?"
Just for the sake of accuracy in the statement above, I remember the Swine Flu vaccination being pushed on people in 1976. I believe it was required that every American get the shot.
And then that was that little polio thing. I'm old enough to remember that.
Me too. And, Polio was a real Horror. I remember getting my vaccinations (a series of 3 as I recall) at the Tampa Public Health Dept. in the mid-1950s. My cousin got Polio when he was six and has had it for the following 70+ years of his life. He can walk with crutches. He's kept a very positive attitude all along and has had a very productive life. He has stayed positive throughout it all. I really admire him.
Yeah, I had a college roommate who had been permanently crippled by polio. I shudder to think what life would have been like if the anti-vaccine movement had possessed then the kind of influence it has now. The toll of misery would have been awful; it was bad enough as it was.
Which is why I am so incensed by that entire segment of the population now.
It is very good to have a healthy immune system. Healthy diet, adequate sleep, regular exercise, hydration benefit greatly. The medical establishment has long been focused on curing disease and do not have a long history of focusing on promoting wellness. That is changing. Some nonscientists have a desire to cherry pick information from science to prove their own agenda. That is not science. Most everything in our world is not black and white. Things are multifactorial and multiple, multiple shades of gray. There is plenty of science we know and tons still left to learn. What I don’t understand are the folks who throw the baby (a great vaccine) out with the bath water (Big Pharma) but yet buy millions in unproven supplements. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/most-dietary-supplements-dont-do-anything-why-do-we-spend-35-billion-a-year-on-them/2020/01/24/947d2970-3d62-11ea-baca-eb7ace0a3455_story.html
Agreed. They'll spread insane conspiracy narratives about "big pharma" and Bill Gates or whoever and call the rest of us "sheeple" while accepting at face value the most outlandish claims from quacks, hustlers, and political hacks. It's disgusting.
Precisely!!!!!
Linda, I couldn’t agree more — come on, ye petulant children!!
Only some men, and some women.
In Mrs. O'Brien's 4th grade class at the Spring Glen School in Hamden, Ct., circa 1960, she taught us that freedom of speech did not mean you could shout "Fire!" in a crowded movie theatre.
I think Mrs. O'Brien would also have had something to say about people who deny the value of medical science by refusing vaccinations, then show up mortally ill at a hospital expecting treatment; very expensive treatment at that.
If I was a medical person treating such people, I think I would have a difficult time not dropping my professional demeanor and giving them an earful; at the very least.
But because we health care workers are consummate professionals and treat everyone with respect and dignity, we don't criticize patients who have made poor choices. We provide care equally and with compassion to all. We go in the break room and express our frustration, and speak out when appropriate to encourage the public to get vaccinated. What infuriates me is when members of my profession (nursing) and other health care workers speak out against vaccination. It erodes public trust and works against our efforts to defeat this pandemic.
I have decided that it is not incumbent upon me to be "respectful of their choices" when it comes to colleagues who are not vaxing out choice (not present health conditions). My hospital has decided that vaccination is a requirement for employment. So whenever I hear someone whining about it I just tell them it's their choice. There are other hospitals that are putting up with antivaxxers/vaccine hesitant. The evidence is in.
At least they have alternative choices for employment. I find it interesting (baffling?) that the groups of people screaming about their freedoms to choose whether to vaccinate or wear a mask seem to be the same groups who sanctimoniously want to deny women the right to choose whether or not to continue a pregnancy.
Hypocritical much?
I don't know that I would lump everyone in that category. There are people on the Left and Right that are not getting the vaccine-- likely for different reasons. There is a gamut of inaccurate beliefs/willful ignorance.
I have an immune disorder. I am vaccinated but still at risk. As a nurse I do not believe ANY health care worker should have ANY patient contact if they are not vaccinated for COVID. Or flu. Or... "First do no harm."
Thank you!
You are so right! Baffling!
Perfect!
I understand having to treat lung cancer in smokers, heart disease and diabetes in obesity, but when nonvaxers infect the air I breathe and put me and my loved ones at risk, I might have to reconsider my compassion. What a terrible place to be in as a health care provider. Maybe it's time to let the nonvaxer doctors and nurses administer to the nonvaxer patients, in entirely separate facilities!
“My freedom to wave my arms wildly ends where your nose begins”-Ronald Regan. No one has the right to spread a deadly virus to others.
Great idea!
I have done dumb things throughout my life, and have been totally embarrassed to have to submit to a health care professional to "undo" what I have done. Never was I ever met with derision over my poor choices.
Yes, I find it sad that some in your profession have chosen to speak out against the vaccine. It would maybe be helpful if they offered alternative therapies while they are publicly just saying "no" to the vaccine. I guess that would be dispensing medical advice, another no-no.
We have no hesitation about personally and public criticism of drunk drivers. Risky behavior with fireworks, particularly in crowds, is not tolerated, much less respected. I am sure we could assemble a long list of such offenses against the public interest. The antivaccine organized stupidity is no different, except in its scope. They threaten my grandchildren - they need to face consequences commensurate with the seriousness of their violation of our shared interests. Don’t whine to me about that.
I don’t think using false equivalencies helps our cause. In none of those circumstances you mention are we asking someone to let someone inject something into their bodies. There is enough real science to advocate for vaccination without resorting to such false equivalencies. For many currently, yes, it is an allegiance to an authoritarian cult but there are still plenty of people with real fear and trust issues.
Have you ever seen what happens when fireworks go off in a crowd - bits "injected" into bystanders. But the point isn't injection, it's common danger from irresponsible individual actions. And, that's not false equivalence. Those anti-vaxers can have all the fear and mistrust they want, as long as they are isolated so that only they suffer whatever consequences there may be. Their bad choices do not become my risks just because they don't want to accept the consequences. They don't get to claim their "freedom" trumps my health and safety (or the health and safety of my grandchildren who are too young to be vaccinated). No whining.
It's not false equivalence. Your right to swing your fist ends where someone else's nose starts. You have a right to drink yourself into a stupor. You do not have a right to then get into a car and weave all over the highway, endangering yourself and others.
You have a right to place your own health at risk. You do not have a right to do so in a way which places the health of others at risk, which is what refusing to get vaccinated for a highly contagious disease does.
So no, sorry, it's actually quite a fair parallel.
Morning Christy. I don't think the circumstances are false equivalencies to the often devastating consequences of hospitalized COVID. We are often slammed in the face with the deaths and the number of ventilators needed to treat people, but what is often missed is the often disability status of many of those people coming out of the hospitals, the great financial ruin for under or non insured, and the stress on hospital personnel. The sudden deaths of perfectly healthy people leaving children and spouses financially destitute and grieving. Just as in drunk driving, smoking consequences, and other risky behaviors, now we know that COVID consequences can be lessened or avoided with a vaccine.
I see health insurance cost rising. Who’s to blame? The unvaccinated.
I absolutely 💯 understand the consequences. However I emphatically maintain you cannot compare the justified fear and distrust of vaccines in people after centuries of being used for government experiments to a person who gets behind the wheel of a car under the influence or keeps an accessible and loaded gun in their home. Having spent decades in Public Health searching for what works to educate the fearful to inject life saving vaccines into arms I can 💯 say they are NOT equivalent. I am just as angry as anyone here about the GOP murdering people with misinformation but it’s complicated and not all the anti-vaxers can be lumped together. Besides that shame is a tool of authoritarians.
Christy there are profiteers spreading misinformation that is lethal. It's the business of death. Please think more about it. The links below are informative:
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/facebook-anti-vaxxers-pushed-mom-not-give-her-son-tamiflu-n1131936
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/how-anti-vaxxers-target-grieving-moms-turn-them-crusaders-n1057566
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/14/technology/facebook-data.html
I’m confused by this reply Fern. There is nothing you have posted that I am not very familiar with. My comment above was about the false equivalency of someone very afraid of being injected with something they fear may cause them harm by someone they fear intends to cause them harm with drunk drivers. This will get us nowhere, very quickly. Love and trust will always win over shame. Always.
pwhres/eupbgs, er/reubg!
Morning Lynell! While I in no way speak out against the vaccine, I also acknowledge that as a people and a culture, we have a long way to go in developing and creating healthier ways of being. Without labeling this as ‘alternative’, I like to think of it as ‘increased awareness of our place in this world and in nature’.
First order of the day, get a freaking vaccine already.
Second, walk lightly on this earth and avoid using resources that we do not need. Two aphorisms that guide my life are “Honor Necessity”, and “Honor Sufficiency”.
You can take a boy out of the 60’s but you can’t take the 60’s out of a boy.
Hey, Stephen. Thank you for your gentle reply! I am fully vaccinated, but I agree, we do have a long way to go. My poorly worded post about offering an "alternative" to the vaccine, was meant for the frontline caregivers themselves. Why do they not want to get vaccinated, and what are they doing, if anything, as an alternative. To "Honor Necessity," my holistic vet has said sometimes we need the "big guns." I think this is one of those times.
: )
Right On!
The only alternative treatment for prevention is isolation.
Or wearing masks?
Masks for how long? Vaccinate. This is the only way back.
Oh, they certainly offer "alternative therapies." The problem is that they're all quackery and snake oil.
How many of them are anti-vaxers for political reasons or are across the board anti-vaxers? And of those in the latter group have always avoided vaccines for their children? I keep trying to get a good sense on how it breaks down? And don’t schools (except in Tennessee?!) require children to be vaccinated for the usual diseases?
Some parents of little kids who die of sids - sudden infant death syndrome - have joined anti-vax because they first they are told it's semi their fault for co-sleeping, adding guilt to grief; and then the antivaxxers say no, it's the fault of the vaccine your kid had days before. Antivax presents as both a relief and a channel. Meanwhile, there are antivaxers who have quite the money-collection racket going for themselves.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/how-anti-vaxxers-target-grieving-moms-turn-them-crusaders-n1057566
That's in addition to the politicos who figure mass death is a small price to pay for trashing the country and then campaigning to be the ones to "fix it."
Exactly! It’s complicated! It’s multifactorial. Lumping everyone in with the hateful GOP doesn’t help us.
That and a large population who want to be organic farmers living naturally off the land. The alternative health industry is huge. Trouble is not everyone can live on an organic farm. Sometimes it’s really hard to see the forest when you’re living deep in the woods.
One of my vax-hesitant relatives at least wears a mask in public and works diligently to strengthen her immune system. She had actually decided to get the J&J vaccine, but then the cases of blood clotting disorders showed up.
Requirements can happen after vaccine fully approved by FDA.
Yes. But that will be to late for many.
Well. That’s a “but” that should read “and”.
You know all these anti-vax politicians, who thrive off the ignorance of their voters, lay in bed at night and say to their spouses, "Honey, these people are idiots."
I remember an interview of DT saying exactly that maybe 30 years ago, when asked about ever running for president for which party. He replied on camera, "Probably Republican, they are the dumbest". This video has been expunged from the internet, probably with the help from David Pecker.
yes they do... how sick is that whole business???
Each state is different- see NCSL.org (National Council of State Legislature - a non-partisan org).
Many laws on the books from Smallbox, diphtheria, polio, measles and so many many more. Just like the defense department, public health is a victim of our success. In defense are military is not directly challenged. Cyber and misinformation to divide us further is the current attack.Public Health past success, has exposed a public that no longer appreciates or understands health.
So agree Nancy; I have an anti-vax nurse in the family. Thank you for all you do!
Agree. I hood doctors to the highest standard. Those who misrepresent meanings like Dr Scott Atlas, and doctors that are anti vax deserve to loose their medical license. “First, do no harm”
Thank You.
I have worked in the medical field for 47 years and at times the desire to just throttle those who without valid reason refuse to get vaccinated is almost too great to be ignored, but I do my work and move on.
The Atlantic has a powerful report today on the surge in Missouri, and the toll it’s taking on healthcare workers. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/07/delta-missouri-pandemic-surge/619456/
what a powerful article, thanks JR. I find myself in the here we go again with a large serving of disbelief group. Every week I come across people who have refused to get vaccinated and the temptation to say "thanks for providing the virus a host to mutate and spread to even more people" is very great. It isn't just the patients that I deal with but members of my own family. Can I become an octopus so I can slap or strangle eight people at a time?
The admission of how a nurse feels about a patient who spit in her face when she told him he had Covid. “Covids a hoax”, he tells her, this as they put him on a ventilator.
It feels contradictory to “like” your post, it’s more that I echo your sentiment.
Yeah. Substack needs more icons to express a feeling. Which reminds me of this presser update in Utah from two weeks ago.
University Hospital's Chief Medical officer Dr. Kencee Graves ( I have friends that work at Unv. Hospital.) Fast forward to 13:28 for the Doctors update on how her hospital is coping. Her metrics are not good, but it is her intellectual and emotional appeal to the population to please get vaccinated. It is as eloquent & poignant, as it is urgent & compassionate.
How is it that we do we not feel the pain and heed the warnings from our best trained and best educated Health Care Professionals?
At least future historians will have these video records for information and emotions during this pandemic. Maybe that will help rebuild our appreciation and understanding of Public Health.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=141850971374613&ref=watch_permalink
Per Atlantic article, avoidable heartbreak:
"every physician and nurse in Missouri whom I spoke with told me that the 30- and 40-something COVID-19 patients they’re now seeing are much sicker than those they saw last year. “That age group did get COVID before, but they didn’t usually end up in the ICU like they are now,” Jonathan Brown, a respiratory therapist at Mercy, told me. Nurses are watching families navigate end-of-life decisions for young people who have no advance directives or other legal documents in place...Almost every COVID-19 patient in Springfield’s hospitals is unvaccinated.."
Thanks, will read.
At the very least.
I think it would make a great book, to interview and tell the stories of doctors and nurses and EMT's during this pandemic. To really go into what they were thinking and feeling, what worked, what didn't, particular stories about patients or other workers, and so forth.
As they look at this third wave of cases coming, gotta be heartbreaking, or maybe inraging?
Kim, u would love this book about 1918. It’s exactly what you are saying.
American Pandemic- Nancy Bristow
Thanks Ted. My paternal grandmother's parents died of that flu when she was 10 leaving her and her sisters orphans.
Dr. Bristow was motivated to write American Pandemic ( 1918) when she learned that she had two grand parents who had died then. But hers is not the best book nor the most comprehensive of the 1918 Pandemic, I put her book at #2.
This is the #1 book on the Pandemic of 1918. This should be required readying by elected officials at every level of government. It should be required reading in nursing and medical schools.
All the mistakes from the last 18 months are in this book about 1918. Its uncanny how similar the warning signs and leadership mistakes parallel each other throughout both pandemics. And now, as this variant grows this fall, will be much like the fall of 1918 for us and for all the world.
This book is informative and comprehensive. It is the "bible" for pandemic learning. President Bush read this book while on vacation after 911, after Katrina, and after reading it he set up, shored up the US's Pandemic Response as a part of our National Security planning. President Obama built on that. The former guy shuttered all the bipartisan preparedness and response in his first week of office. That alone should have warranted impeachment in my opinion. I don't see how anyone could read this book and not promote mandatory vaccination.
The Great Influenza by John M. Barry
http://www.johnmbarry.com/the_great_influenza__the_story_of_the_deadliest_pandemic_in_history__133171.htm
Book Review:
https://niemanreports.org/articles/the-terror-of-disease/
Thanks Ted
You said Mrs. O'Brien's name. She would be so proud of you for remembering the importance of the freedom of speech. You brought her to your message about a civil society and our responsibilities to one another; respecting the rights of others and knowing good behavior from bad. Here's to Mrs. O'Brien and Ralph Averill! On we go!
As would I have a hard time treating smokers, the morbidly obese, drug and alcohol abusers and those that knowingly transmit DEADLY disease
Hi, Neighbor! I live just a couple of miles south of the Spring Glen School.
Alas, 4th grade was my last class at Spring Glen.
Social media companies are part of the problem but to me the main issue is the anti-vaccination campaigns being waged by right wing media. Specifically, people like the execrable Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, etc. Let’s not forget, at CPAC, attendees CHEERED the decline in vaccination rates.
What the hell is wrong with these people?????
"Tucker Carlson still won't say if he is vaccinated against COVID-19, calls it a 'supervulgar personal' question" I'll take that as a Yes, he is. Hmm, were right wing maniacs ever accused of being hypocrites?
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tucker-carlson-still-wont-vaccinated-124548042.html
What about the governor of Arkansas and the governor of FL—so called leaders who care much more about Cheeto’s endorsement of them than whether their citizens die en masse.
All Fox Hosts were required to be vaccinated in order to return to the studio. Tucker Carlson is a little boy who throws temper tantrums and bullies people. He has a manic personality. I’ve heard he’s a caring and very nice person in his personal life but I don’t believe that could be true. He’s wealthy from family money and Fox. He lied about his elementary teacher last week just to make himself look like some victim. He needs mental healthcare and a mass of medication to control his mania.
It is literally impossible to be a Republican and/or a right-wing zombie and not be a hypocrite - about everything!
Tucker may be a latent homosexual. St. George’s School was troubled.
If that’s true it would be the least of his problems.
Not sure I understand your point here Sandy.
We’ve all made mistakes or misspoken. One of the biggest differences is, some of us will admit it, make the correction and apologize. Republicans and the right wing seem incapable of such. Instead they double down on their heinous misconceptions in an effort to enlist more of the same. It’s almost like they think if the numbers are high enough it must be true.
Part of what is wrong with these people is that they insist FOX is actual news even though the courts have told them it is not.
They don't know that the courts have said, "FOX is NOT news!" because they watch Fox and Fox isn't going to tell them that!
I have an ex-friend, who proudly told me that it wasn't news, just "entertainment." The problem was that it was her only source of information, thus explaining her utter ignorance - the reason for her being my "ex"-friend.
They seem so caught up in partisan rancor that mass death of their own people is a small thing next to the anticipated pleasure of blocking whatever President Biden is trying to do.
I mean just think about that! I fight my mind from visualizing all these clowns in MAGA hats gasping their last on their ventilators...
It's called survival of the fittest.
for the Darwin awards...
That's appropriate when the new surge is being driven by Republican voting areas.... ironic yes, cynical no.
I can't say that I know the answer to "What's wrong with these people," but I do recall a period of time when I was peripherally associated with a group of people who were ultra competitive with each other and with anyone who came in contact with them. They were a group of graduate student English majors who were vicious with each other, cutting each other down, ridiculing, one upping everyone who entered their circle and disdainful of anyone who wasn't in the circle. They were completely reactive, limiting their vision to the next opportunity for an encounter. I was a young professor who was invited into the group, but ran for dear life in a very short time. It was actually traumatic for me, especially since my own experience at grad school had been totally cooperative.
I tend to think of the current crop of republicans as being like this group...there's no there there; there's just constant reactivity to external stimuli because there's no value at the core that gives any meaning to their lives. Their lives consist mainly of flailing, like children with oppositional defiance disorder, and they are quick to assert that their lives are worth more than other lives. The biggest danger, to me, is that they have the power to influence others to imitate them.
Everything.
And what the Heaven are we to do about it? We are figuring out the way to respond to this type of madness. As has been done throughout history. Because it is not “new”.
The only thing that would take Fox down would be an en masse boycott of its sponsors. Not going to happen.
What is wrong with these people??? Their values. They are focused on money and bear no sense of a personal responsibility for the harm they cause. If the tales they spin were not lucrative, they wouldn't have their jobs. I have a wish list of folks I would love to fall from grace with the sea. Surprisingly, even to me, trump is at the bottom of the list. In order, Mitchell, Murdoch (and his vampires), Zuckerberg, trump.
The question of the decade!!!
When i first joined FB seven years ago, I had no idea what I was getting into. I immediately felt like I was being attacked by friend requests, and not wanting to be "impolite" I accepted them all. At that point, I didn't realize that being polite was not a part of social media. What I wanted was a way to share photographs and personal news with hometown friends and family since I live "away." I would have paid a subscription price for that service without news stories and advertising.
Instead, FB became a monster. You are tracked with every move you make on line and targeted by news and advertising that fit your "likes." In essence, FB culls you into a particular herd with some herds being led down a more and more sinister path. In the mean time, Zuckerberg rakes in over 125 billion net, and he defends his policies by hiding behind Free Speech. As he is called to take responsibility for his policies, he points to a vast number of fake news and hate speech that has been removed from the platform, but that number is never expressed as a percentage of the misinformation slithering through his product.
I deleted my FB account two years ago. I'll admit I miss it. But I could no longer stomach the thought of being part of Zuckerburg's profit. His billions feed his ego; his ego has no conscience. Behind his self-righteous claims of free speech, he destroys our country. I can do without him - and keep in touch with loved ones through phone calls, texts, and cards.
Facebook replied to President Biden with a statement about how many people used their tool to make vaccine appointments and it came across as angry and self righteous. They never once said how many views there were of any of the misinformation posts going around out there. It’s a dangerous number and the top Facebook post yesterday was MT Greene posting lies about vaccinations and calling it communism. I want to know Facebooks numbers for how many deaths will be caused by these lies. There’s a part of society that thrives on spreading hate and cannot comprehend how this affects society as a whole.
Most of my personal Facebook activity is confined to bookbinding, paper arts and needlework groups. As well, here in México, a great number of businesses, from large to small, do not have websites but they do have Facebook pages, so if you want information about/from them or you want to order from them you have to access Facebook, DM them, then order via WhatsApp or Signal. It is cumbersome, to say the least, but it's how business is done here.
I share HCR's Letters on Facebook, in the hopes that my Trump Republican in laws will finally wake up and smell the coffee. I know my MIL reads them because she sometimes comments, however, I don't hold much hope. For the rest, I block the games, quizzes and memes friends share because those are data gathering schemes. I've unfriended and/or blocked many a personal friend or family member.
Wouldn't have found HCR without FB.
I recognize that FB can be a useful, important business/personal tool. FB can be and should be a means for good. My decision was personal only, and actually for my own health. It got so that every time I opened my page a rage welled up inside me just thinking about Zuckerberg. He, of course, was unaffected by this, only my ever-rising blood pressure suffered. LOL.
Cheryl, I totally get it. That's why I severely limit my FB exposure otherwise I'd be a basket case.
LOL - in actuality, we don't have a problem with FB. We have a problem with the man who controls FB.
"Hello, my name is Rob and I'm a FB Addict, but 14 months FB free." I had threatened to quit FB for years because they kept banning me for bullshit, often for a month at a time. I realized, if I can live without it for a month I can live without it forever. My last ban was May 2020 done by their algorithm 'bots but no human intervened. It was a small ban for "Hate Speech." My hate speech was referencing the murder of Ahmaud Arbery and how I feared that my black grandson could be MURDERED BY WHITE MONSTERS. Apparently calling out white monsters is hateful, to which I agree but felt justified. It was difficult giving up all the cyber friendships that I kept on FB, but the real friends I had their e-mail addresses or fone numbers.
Congratulations to you! I replaced a lot of my FB time with woods walking. It is profoundly more satisfying.
I am very saddened to know that you and yours live in fear for your grandson's life. It's a screwed up and sorry world when kids enjoy peaceful childhoods.
Sorry, when kids can't enjoy a peaceful childhood.
"phone calls, texts, and cards" . . . . . YES! The more we can move the space and the layers of whatever between us, the better we will be.
Bravo to you for deleting your account! I haven't yet taken that step, but avoid it for months at a time ....
An interview last week of the authors of a book about FB:
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/13/1015642195/the-ugly-truth-about-facebook
Very troublesome .....
Thank-you. Leaving FB was harder than I thought. It left a void I wasn't prepared for. But that in itself made me angrier at Zuckerberg because essentially, he is peddling an addictive habit. I'm glad that you can avoid it as you so choose.
There is or was an app called FluffBuster which you can install on your FB page. It lets you choose the content you wish to appear on your page. You can choose to see no advertising, no news, no dog/cat stories, etc. I tried to promote it on my FB page and my promotion was immediately removed by FB... So much for how "very difficult" it is to monitor content...
Cheryl thanks! I will check that out.
Peter Doocy adds fuel to the disinformation wars. Jen Psaki has the patience of a saint.
“Speaking of misinformation and the announcement from yesterday,” Doocy began, “for how long has the administration been spying on people’s Facebook profiles, looking for vaccine misinformation."
Doocy accused the administration of spying on private Facebook accounts. In reality, Doocy was referring to a reference Jen Psaki had made on Thursday about the Disinformation Dozen, cited by the Center for Countering Digital Hate. The CCDH (cited in this letter by HCR) is a non profit based in the UK and has nothing to do with the US Government.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/07/16/fox-newss-embarrassing-blunder-white-house-briefing-room/
You want to know who also spies on Americans on social media?
The insurance companies.
Back when we first applied for disability through an insurance company we had a fight on our hands, so we asked for a copy of his case file.
Inside that file were about 20 pages of pics and posts on FB.
Luckily, they were from when he was working on Sony's first smart phone. Which back then, was before FB really became FB. My husband told me that he knew that FB would one day become a problem and he would never have an account on FB once his work was done.
As a note to let you all know how much information there is out there on the internet, there were four doctor's on a panel and one said that my husband could still work so the insurance company used his lone opinion and the social media posts to deny his claim. By the way, we eventually won our case
Just to show you a few examples of what you can get off the internet if you know how.
My husband did a search for the one doctor who denied his claim and we found a lot of info about the doc.
His medical license was expired and there were multiple complaints about the doctor.
We got so much personal information (ss#, phone numbers, addresses, etc.) and found out that his son was in prison on drug charges
So nothing is really private on the internet.
Given all the surveillance in & outside of buildings and businesses now (especially since The Patriot Act [as if it has anything to do with patriotism]), there can be no expectation of privacy just about anywhere anymore. It is disturbing just how much of our lives are now in data files. While this can be helpful at times, I don't think it outweighs the danger of such a loss in privacy.
I'm glad you won. Your diligence paid off.
There was a series called "Person of Interest" a few years ago. Part of the underlying theme was how computers through street cameras could track you. I don't remember if cell phone tracking was included. It seemed plausible but far fetched at the time. Little did we know....
I loved that show.
I live waaay out in the woods... but I have this phone in my pocket.
Me too, but I do go in to town to shop....with phone & navigator in my car. I think Jan 6th has shown us how easily everyone is tracked.
Plus, I have to drive by the neighborhood Proud Boy to go anywhere. Be Safe!
Wow. That’s actually fairly stunning.
Besides, does reading someone's public Facebook posts really constitute "spying?"
Morning Dan. No, it’s not spying because each subscriber has the ability to post to “public” or just “friends” or to another particular subscriber. One can control who sees their posts.
As long as they’re not somehow accessing non”public” posts.
Morning, Daria!! Thanks for your post. I have been remiss in watching Jen Psaki's press briefings. I took the time to try to find where in the briefing itself Doocy asked his question(s). I couldn't find it, but was thoroughly impressed with Ms. Psaki. It's like she was born for the job!
I found this on Twitter. I do not know if anyone else has posted this, but it's worth a look-see, in my opinion. Dr. Fauci and Olivia Rodrigo pair up to promote the vaccine. It's really cute.
https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1416037105831120905?s=20
Cute as the dickens.
I don’t have Twitter, but I do look at it most days. You can find a clip here if you scroll down a bit.
https://mobile.twitter.com/atrupar?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Thanks, Kathy!
Morning Lynell. So agree about Jen Paski. Competence again in press briefings that had become fan club mtgs about the former.
Ha! Fan club, indeed. Fortunately for me, I have forgotten the names of all the former press secretaries to tfg. If I see their name in print, though, I'll remember who they are. But, please, spare me!
The most annoying one is a mini ratcaster at Fox News now.
Morning Lynell! Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. Apologies I didn't post the Twitter link 😐. Kathy Rizzoni saved the day😉!
If you were I guy, Daria, I would reply "I could complain, but I won't!"
😉
On a completely different subject, Daria, could you recommend some cenotes within good driving distance from Cancun? I'm going there for my son's wedding next year and am looking for some adventure. I've read some good things about Homun and Cuzama, but at 3+ hours away from the hotel, it would be nice to find something closer.
Frankly, I wouldn't normally stay in Cancun, since I find hyper-resorts rather dull, but the event has been planned by others with different tastes. In fact, any recommendations from you would be very welcome!
Hi Dan! I live about 4 hours from Cancun so I'm not an authority on things to do in the area. (We sometimes use the airport if we're going to Peru, but that's about it.) Most cenotes rustic or "improved" are generally well worth the visit. I'll post a link for your information. Near is relative, BTW.
If you go to Chichén Itzá, 3 hours away or Tulum 1.5 hours away, go early. Both places are extremely hot and crowded by midday and neither offer much in the way of shade. Wear a hat, bring water and sunscreen. One of my favorite sites Uxmal (4 hours away). It is spread out, there is plenty of shade (relatively speaking) and there are structures you are allowed to climb and get a good, close up look at things.
If you rent a car to travel to any of these places do not drive after dark. It simply is not the safe thing to do. ADO bus goes to Tulum and Chichén Itzá, (I think) and is comfortable and reasonable. If your resort provides tours or transit check them out, as well. Right now a lot of the archeological sites are still closed due to covid. That, of course, is subject to change.
Have fun!
https://thecancunsun.com/top-5-cenotes-near-cancun/
You want to know who also spies on Americans on social media?
The insurance companies.
Back when we first applied for disability through an insurance company we had a fight on our hands, so we asked for a copy of his case file.
Inside that file were about 20 pages of pics and posts on FB.
Luckily, they were from when he was working on Sony's first smart phone. Which back then, was before FB really became FB. My husband told me that he knew that FB would one day become a problem and he would never have an account on FB once his work was done.
As a note to let you all know how much information there is out there on the internet, there were four doctor's on a panel and one said that my husband could still work so the insurance company used his lone opinion and the social media posts to deny his claim. By the way, we eventually won our case
Just to show you a few examples of what you can get off the internet if you know how.
My husband did a search for the one doctor who denied his claim and we found a lot of info about the doc.
His medical license was expired and there were multiple complaints about the doctor.
We got so much personal information (ss#, phone numbers, addresses, etc.) and found out that his son was in prison on drug charges
So nothing is really private on the internet.
I think the internet just makes it easier for the corps; I learned decades ago that there's a medical clearinghouse somewhere in middle America where all the medical information for all the insurance companies is pooled. It's sort of the Equifax of health insurance. Supposedly, if you can find the right address and the right magic words, you can get a copy of all the information stored on you, just like a credit report.
I went through a couple of rounds of requesting information before I lost interest, but I've always wondered what that organization has morphed into with the internet. I'm fairly sure that, again just like credit reports, anyone working in a claims office can access your entire medical history on a whim, while you are locked out of your own information by several bureaucratic walls.
Now that I'm old and sickly, I don't care so much, since my known medical history would disqualify me from anything but a government-mandated insurance policy, like Obamacare. But in times past I recall going to a new doctor to check out novel symptoms and paying cash, just to prevent an insurance claim from being filed. Welcome to the American Dream!
Doocy should be banned from the press briefings. Fox claims they are not a news channel, just entertainment. His questions are all worded to incite hate and spread outright lies. No matter how well Jen answers them if you read right wing Twitter they exponentially amplify what he said and denigrate the White House and the country. This is a good place to put a lid on misinformation being spread. Take away his audience. He can free speech somewhere else. He’ll have a smaller audience with no one to personally attack. They need to feel like Biden is hearing every word.
TFG tried that when he banned a liberal media reporter in 2018, Jim Acosta from CNN. He also tried a mass purge of journalists with press passes in 2019. Both episodes created a massive outcry. As nice as it would be to ban him, we can’t. Jen handles him pretty well.
lol!
I guess I am a bit surprised so many Americans are unaware of the concept of "relative risk", and, hence, are not able to perform a balanced individual relative risk assessment. I am not suggesting that all Americans should be able to do that task at the level of an actuary, but, I would think any human that can read a bit should be able to do simple relative risk balancing. Presumably all Americans, except the most recent immigrants, can read English language news.
For example, I was vaccinated with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Why? I chose this vaccine over the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines here in NY because, well, those vaccine appointments were booked out for months and appointments were impossible to get last March.
However, NY state opened a 24 hour J&J vaccine center in Syracuse and if one was willing to get vaccinated at 2am, well, one could get the vaccine that very day!
The relative risk of waiting to get the Moderna vaccine, in a few months, for its ostensibly higher efficacy seemed larger than the relative risk of getting the J&J vaccine right away. Some protection seemed better than none. At that point, I hope, the contamination issue was not present and that was not yet known. Aside: Boy, did it make me sick for 12 hours!
Likewise, by the time I received the J&J vaccine some early information was available on a very, very rare event in women and men over 50: Deadly blood clots. The incidence rate is so small an engineer would instantly ignore it, but, hey, even though I am an engineer, it was me that was going to get the vaccine. I could gin up some fear and ignore statistics.
I went ahead and got the J&J vaccine and did not think too much. Maybe the 0.000001 chance that I get a clot would be my last event? But, Covid, at age 61, even though I am healthy, seemed a higher relative risk.
So? I got the J&J vaccine based on a very simple relative risk assessment.
But, it seems many folks in America now are unable to perform their own, simple, relative risk assessment and are choosing, based on attraction to hysteria, to avoid vaccination.
I guess there must be some emotional reward for running toward hysteria instead of thinking independently for oneself?
I don't have Facebook so I don't know what the rewards of going to a hysterical Facebook page and reading it are. Maybe I would instantly become hysterical and afraid of vaccines?
To use a phrase I once saw in a movie: Not Sure.
:-)
As I am coming to understand more and more, humans are really not very intelligent, for all our posing! To think we have had the audacity to believe we are smarter than animals says it all right there. Perhaps animals could never figure out how to go to the moon, but they don't need to go to the moon. They have the intelligence they need. Our intelligence is getting us into deep trouble. The trashing of this utterly amazing and beautiful planet for a start.
Yes, thinking in terms of systems as a whole is hard for people.
The closer one gets to severe economic depravation the less one can really look at impacts to the system relative to simple survival. In America, however, it is not often the case that base survival is threatened.
Rather, it is often the case that a corporation can make some money doing something disastrous like provide millions of tons of Agent Orange to wantonly drop on the beautiful forests of Vietnam and Cambodia.
In that case, the people running the show actually understand the consequences.
But, they just don't care. Money in their pocket is more important.
Providing consequences for this particular "capitalist" bad behavior would be both positive and telling.
But, in America, Capitalism, and the selfish greed accompanying that concept is supported and rewarded.
(Unless and until bad economic times come, then, said companies beg the Fed to buy their worthless bonds and put it on the books of future Americans in a hidden and dastardly welfare for business program).
After all, communal thought, thought that takes into account the needs of the entire community?
Bad! That is communism!! Run....quickly....
:-)
But, when they're too big to fail, and they fail, they surely accept our tax dollars eh? Socialism for the corporations, may we not forget.
Capitalism is America's most widely practiced religion. Its appeal is that it seems to offer us Heaven on earth, but only if we are among the elect or have mastered the impossible art of pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps. I've tried pulling myself up by my sandal buckles, but that sure as hell didn't work, it's bootstraps or nothing, tough luck if you ain't got any. I must be some damn Dem Lib low-life knucklehead!
David,
I pulled my self off of an East Texas farm, but, not bootsraps but Socialism is the reason. I did it by:
1. Leveraging the Texas A&M state University to become a Chemical Engineer (B.S). My tuition from 1978 to 1982 was $160 per semester, nearly free.
2. Leveraging the University of Texas, Austin state University to obtain Ph.D. Chemical Engineering. Tuition was free, I was brought in on Fellowship.
Now, I don't want to hint that the above two huge events in my life were "Socialist".
But, in fact, they were. Texas A&M and UT were both supported by a huge land grant made in the late 1880s of "worthless" land in West Texas that subsequently became one of the world's largest oil producers.
A&M and UT both had money to burn since they were the lease payment recipients.
Think about it. Essentially free tuition is the reason I became "successful" in the United States and that free tuition was granted to all state school students of that era in TEXAS. Same with thousands of farm kids in Texas my age who moved off of dirt farms.
So, I guess I have to say I am in favor of Social contracts with the people where government and private enterprise cooperate.
The State University system in Texas is one of the premier educational systems on earth, and, it is Socialism at its best.
Of course, after I graduated from all of the socialist largesse of public university, I did have to work at Corporations for 40 years.
This was an eye opener to be discussed at dinner parties where everyone is ranting that Capitalism is what will save us all.
:-)
Good comment, Mike. I would love to know if Texas A&M is as good a deal now as it was when you were there. I would imagine it is not.
I agree that Social Contracts under which government and private enterprise cooperate are a very good thing, so long as the common good takes precedence over private profit-making when the two things come into conflict. Unfortunately, in America we have a lot of unwritten rules that are easily gotten around by people/corporations with money, and too many Americans know too little about the rest of the world to know when they are getting screwed (by comparison).
Socialism is a word meaning many things (depending on context), but it carries a heavy, negative emotive meaning in many parts of the USA and is easily misused for purposes of political propaganda intended to scare people to vote against their own interests. Most countries in Europe have lively capitalist economies and offer better upward mobility than the USA, but they also regulate and progressively tax corporations and wealthy folks enough to pay for a robust social safety net, including state-funded healthcare, free or inexpensive higher education and a bunch of other things our GOP tells us is "communism".
I wish you could go back to East Texas with your farm boy cred and tell folks about your positive experience with Texan socialism back in the day. It might open a few eyes and minds.
Ah, Most of my dorm was farm kids, it was the cheapest one on campus. They all realize what changed their lives, at least in terms of wealth building.
A lot to be said for farm living, but, making good money is not one of those items.
And then there is Exxon hiding what they knew! How many other examples out there? But apparently there are no consequences for corporate entities!
We should think about what we are doing.......
Yes, Kim!
I think that your assessment reflects, among other things, the lack of critical thinking skills that have been left behind in the rush for standardized teaching of "no child left behind". For me, there never was any question of the vaccine; I was working courthouse security part time as a retired deputy sheriff; our agency got Moderna, and I was vaccinated Jan 6 (!) and February 3.
Welcome aboard!
You are right. "Standards of Learning" replaced critical thinking - to the profound detriment of our children's education.
We, too, received the J&J because we live outside the US and had to travel to the US to get the vaccine. Setting up 2 appointments was impossible and being away from home for an undetermined period of time was out of the question. We bit the bullet and flew nonstop, had the shot within hours of getting off the plane, then quarantined for 14 days. Once we were out of quarantine and able to circulate, groceries, pharmacies, and big box stores we visited announced the availability of walk up, on the spot covid vaccines. It surprised me how few takers there were - almost none, actually. As I said to another subscriber earlier, I just don't get it.
(The vaccine distribution effort in the state of Yucatán, México is noble but supply falls far short of need and, frankly, Mexican nationals deserve 1st crack at vaccination over expats who have many more choices and frequently a lot more money to exercise those choices.)
Good morning Mike S! Not Sure why, but I really enjoyed reading your post. Some good wisdom in there emanating from a discussion of risk assessment. Love it.
Thank you for reading.
I am new to HCR's page here, but, I have been reading her daily digest for some months. Decided to become part of the community. I learned more history in the months I have read her daily writing than I learned in the last 61 years of my life.
I recently received my annual renewal so I guess that makes me a long hauler. I don't often comment. There is a wealth of knowledge among this community Dr. HCR has gathered. I look forward to reading their comments and conversations as well as Letters from an American first thing every morning with my coffee. This forum has become a treasured resource and a great comfort to me in these Troubled Times.
Same here. I'm in the middle of my second cup, and really enjoying the conversation today. Welcoming new folks, enjoying what many familiar readers are posting, and occasionally rolling my eyes at what some familiar readers are writing.
That old eye roll comes in so handy doesnt it?
Chuckling, unless I'm one of the eye-roller recipients!
Yup - remembering when I got it so many many times when my daughter was a teenager?????? Irritation is an understatement!
Daphne, I agree 1000%!!😊💖
Gives me hope and resources!
Welcome to Heather’s Cafe…. It’s like ‘Cheers’! Except here, instead of beer, we talk about our world, our country, and the knowledge and experience we all have. Dr. Richardson is our guiding light steering us through these bizarre times. We always leave more learned and have so many ways provided to dig deeper. I stumbled upon HCR in early 2020, can’t even remember when or where?! She saved me from total despair, and I do feel a great sense of camaraderie with all of you. Oh, there are a few faceless trolls lurking from time to time, but they glow in the dark so they are easily spotted.
I too have experienced a whole new understanding of our history. And to see how things can be traced back and understood in a much bigger context has been so enlightening! I now am insatiable for more knowledge and an understanding of what we have happening!
Glad you ‘signed up’! (And now I can’t get the theme song from ‘Cheers’ out of my mind!)
I feel the Same way Cynthia!!😊💖
Thank you. I am glad I signed up too.
Everybody knows your name...
Welcome! I am pretty new too. It is one of the best decisions I've made. The combination of current events and related historical ones (my history is terrible) is so interesting and adds context and meaning to understanding our political landscape. HCR's knowledge is amazing!
Oh..and this group is wonderful! I instantly felt like I was among friends, intelligent and humorous ones at that!
I LOVE HER History Lessons!!😊💖
Try her book: To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party.
After I read a couple months of her column I read this book in the Rochester winter season.
Honestly, it is a bit of a reading go. Dense, filled with quickly moving events. I had to really concentrate.
But, I learned more from that book, shockingly more, than I learned in my too many years in school. Admittedly, I am an engineer, but, I took high school history and college history for a total of three years of history and never learned anything. No lie.
HCR's above book, and Isabelle Wilkerson's "The Warmth of Other Suns" changed my life and perspective.
Both of the above books should be mandatory college reading.
Disclaimer: I am in no way trying to sell anything to anybody here. I am sharing the titles of two books that changed my life.
That's it.
Share share share. I’ll return with a suggestion that Isabel Wilkerson’s “Suns” pulled me in, but her recent “Caste” abruptly changed my perspective about many things. It was shocking to me. I thought I was discerning about race and racism. Just becoming more so now after that read and participation with communities like this during pandemic. A game changer.
Thanks Christine! It’s free with Kindle Unlimited and next on my reading list.
added to winter reading list, thank you.
Thank you Mike.
I plan on reading both!! I love when someone says,that a book changed their life. And puts things in a different perspective.
😊
Yes, I have read both and recommend them. Don't forget Timothy Snyder and Hannah Arndt.
Agreed! I would move to say that High School seniors should have those two in their required reading...as well as 'How the South Wind the Civil War'!
Welcome, Mike. I have learned so much through HCR's letters, chats, and recently her Now and Then podcasts with Joanne Freeman. As well, the community on this page is loaded with brainiacs...you included!
Welcome Mike! Glad you’re here.
Welcome!
Mike S., unless I have misunderstood, you are suggesting that the miniscule blood clot risk from the J & J vaccine is of statistical significance only for people older than 50, while I believe the opposite is true. Which is to say that this rare reaction happens almost exclusively among people under 50, almost never to anyone older. So the relatively low risk of unvaccinated younger people dying of Covid makes their also-low risk of dying from a rare vaccination-caused blod-clot more of a problem, whereas the higher risk of unvaccinated older folks dying from Covid makes extremely rare vaccination-caused blood clots a statistical non-issue.
Here in Italy, my wife and I are 69 and awaiting our second dose of AstraZeneca (similar to J & J) on Thursday. Despite its high 2-dose protection against hospitalization or death, AstraZeneca is no longer being administered to anyone under 60 except men who have already had their first dose and prefer to not switch to Pfizer for their second dose. We older folks are being given only AstraZeneca until supplies run out, no switching allowed without a well-documented medical reason.
Of course the Delta Variant, and God knows what other variants being spawned in places where almost no one is vaccinated (most of the world), is a very big problem. The idea that we are somehow done with all this is totally wrong, and the scientists who know this are telling us so if anyone will listen.
The people who are refusing to be vaccinated (with very few exceptions) continue to endanger themselves and the rest of us. No one knows the future, but our virologists and epidemiologists continue to warn us of the likelihood that one of these new variants will mutate and prove to be impervious to all our vaccines, so we will have to go through this experience again and again until it becomes possible to vaccinate nearly everyone in a very short period.
Good lesson, Mike. Might you teach in your semi-retirement?
Thank you Heather.
Who in this room is surprised by this outcome? Yeah, none of us.
As talks of opening up different facets of businesses in New York, I would be chastised when I would speak up about the peril of what could happen to the unvaccinated. I think to a local article regarding the New York State Fair opening this year and I commented that it would most definitely produce a spike in the COVID-19 numbers. Simple statement right? It was met with some of the most vulgar name calling and harassment that I have ever had on Social Media. It's truly mathematics folks, if you cram millions of unvaccinated people from many different States who have a penchant to not believe Science into crowded buildings and a bombastic at best Midway, the outcome will not be a positive outcome.
Ignorance has come to roost in the form of a serious spike in numbers of the unvaccinated contracting COVID-19.
I can rest easy in knowing I was responsible and was vaccinated as soon as I could and continue to mask up whenever I go out and will do so. I'm not part of the problem. That would make a good slogan for a tee-shirt if I were that vindictive.
Be safe, stay well.
Linda, it amazes me that unvaccinated people don't get it that cramming into a closed space will be s spreader. Maybe the problem with the messages is not "get vaccinated", but should be "stop being so ignorant."
They do know it’s a practice that will spread the virus. So my message to them is “Defiance lessens your good sense. So get with it before it abandons you.”
...or kills you.
Pam, you are exactly right.
My patience has long grown thin with FB. Two days ago, a sponsored post came through my feed advertising to keep the state government from requiring masks, particularly in schools. I flagged it for being misleading, but when I tried looking up the name of the sponsor, my query went nowhere. The misanthrope could literally be anybody in the whole world.
I've not totally abandoned my FB page just to keep up with personal and professional contacts I would not easily reach otherwise, but seriously, Facebook is terrible. If we had a truly functioning government, they would be regulated as a utility, and the Do Not Call List would stop robo calls.
Quit FB now; take a stand. You can rejoin after their disinformation delivery is regulated.
I have completely shifted my Facebook focus to connections with friends and former classmates, photos of my cats or my grilling escapades, and the music groups that I manage. I have not unfriended most of my Facebook friends that espouse many of the hateful garbage (I do want to know what they're up to) but I have quit engaging with them in any sort of political sense. I've been much happier since deciding to do that.
I liked all the pictures of family and friends Facebook brought to me, but I am done! With the misinformation and tracing, they have become a destructive force. Reform it if we can, or crush it if we must, I no longer care. They can no longer have any part of me.
I quit FB in February…I miss Professor Richardson’s Tuesday and Thursday classes but not much else. Lies CAN be called out for what they are… the spread of those lies have far reaching effects. Death, in some cases, as we are witnessing. Somewhere we need to find the courage to disallow the spread of lies and disinformation.
I applaud those who can drop off the platform, but I find it necessary for business and personal reasons. I also don't like the idea of ceding the space to the opposition. That said, I am very circumspect about what I post.
"Ceding the space to the opposition...."
At least some of HCR's Facebook chats do show up on her YouTube channel eventually.
It's a shame that freedom is juxtaposed with public health when it comes to COVID vaccines. It's like apples and oranges. Children are vaccinated against mumps, measles and whooping cough. I think that the juxtaposition of freedom and COVID vaccination is a fabrication for deliberate obstruction.
I agree completely. TN legislators, to show what good repubs they are, banned mention of any vaccine, including polio, mumps, etc.!! Carrying one’s allegiance to stupidity to the detriment of children is a new low. I have lost patience with anti-vaxxers and if they choose to commit suicide, I can’t help. I’m usually more empathetic but not in this case I’m afraid.
Apparently, one cannot lead a Tennessee Walking horse to water without "soring"...
Good one!
Whaaa??? OMG. Vote republican. They will put their time and your money to good use coming up with ways to make sure you stay in the dark, get paid less, and if you survive Covid, have no healthcare.
I think getting the COVID vaccine should be an opt out rather than an opt in.
But it makes no sense to kill those that would vote for you? Is it just that they (GOP) are that desperate? I think so!
If you only need a handful left to cast votes, since you've gerrymandered the districts so viciously, and you've made it so much harder for the opposition to cast any votes, than you can afford to kill off a few. Just write it off as the cost of doing business, right?
Certainly they are depending on their chicanery to win and not thinking of long term consequences. Desperate to win authoritarian rule or die.
Perhaps they are relying on early reports that Covid hit Black and Brown communities much harder than white ones. So they believe the odds are in their favor. The opposition losses will be much greater than theirs. Unfortunately, vaccine resistance in those Black and Brown communities plays into their hand.
Again and again - slippery slope that it may be - how can it be that disinformation is considered free and protected speech - especially when proved it can lead to not only harm but death?
The news that a Dozen people account for 65% of the Disinformation on COVID vaccines I find it incredulous that Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have done almost nothing to stop them. One thing that could be regulated is the algorithms the media companies use which put readers into disinformation bubbles -- in order to make more money. This article (also listed in HCR's notes) talks about the twelve! https://252f2edd-1c8b-49f5-9bb2-cb57bb47e4ba.filesusr.com/ugd/f4d9b9_b7cedc0553604720b7137f8663366ee5.pdf
Article is 40 pages long, and of those 12 listed, several of them are actually partners working together, which makes it even more incredible that basically there are maybe only 8 "hubs" of disinformation with millions of followers, who have managed to spread 65% of the misinformation out there about vaccines and Covid-19.
How is it that they're allowed to continue on those social media platforms? Frustrating.
I was particularly looking at the messaging they were using and why it would be effective with gullible people ... so found the 40 pages worth examining.
Seems most have something to sell. Misinformation for fun and profit. I’ve never understood Kennedy’s stand, I’ll have to research it. I seem to remember it concerned autism.
I don't know why he went crazy-rogue, but
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/robert-f-kennedy-jr-would-absolutely-not-advise-his-mom-ethel-to-get-covid-19-vaccine/ar-BB1e6wcp
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/autism-is-now-disclosed-as-dtap-side-effect/
Thanks. In line with an earlier article I read he seems to follow the pattern of self flagellation common to parents whose child is unhealthy, or in the case of some, have died. The example I was reading involved a just vaccinated infant whose mother blames her vaccines rather than suffocation due to the co sleeping that was involved.
Many of the big 12 started with the autism and MMR vaccination connection. That took off and became a conspiracy. Lots of research never supported the connection but it was, as I recall, the first arrow in the quiver for anti-vaxers. Kennedy included.
I, too, try and stay on top of the messaging. Only way to appropriately respond in turn.
It’s because Zuckerberg et al make so much money off them they don’t want to change the f..ing algorithms.
Algorithms for profit = death.
Basic Orwellian 1984 stuff.
Good morning kimceann. Your 4 words sums up the FB dilemma. Succinct as usual.
I’ve been thinking of the lavender from your garden since you mentioned it some time back.
My fave essential oil.
Blessings
Good Morning!
The bees are all over it. When they can spare a few, I cut some stems for inside. They are falling asleep inside the digitalis and dancing on the sunflowers, those bees. Blessings upon us all.
Birds and bees are so amazingly important to life.
It seems finally to be official, disinformation is being recognized as a public health issue. What we have now in social media is something akin to conditions in most large cities of the late 19th century - they were full horse manure and other garbage that shortened the lives of many people. With freedom comes responsibility. Many of us have either forgotten or never learned that. No one has the right to yell fire in a crowded theater. No one should tell life threatening lies and then be able to hide behind the first amendment. Ideally, we should all police the content we upload or pass along, but we don't. Allowing disinformation to flourish unchecked is literally shorting the lives of thousands.
The public health measures that are largely responsible for almost doubling human lifespan over the past century were born of a lot of hard work, often done in the face of severe opposition (think tobacco and lead paint). The public mental and medical health crisis of disinformation is a similar challenge that will require honest appraisal, hard work, a willingness to call out lies when we see them, and take action when needed. President Biden's Calling out of Facebook on 7/16 is an encouraging development.
Thank you, Dr. Richardson. I'm always grateful for your Letters.
Seems to me that anti-vaxxers were in a petri dish way before someone descended that golden escalator in NYC. Seems to me those anti-vaxxers were fueled by the same country that saw a golden opportunity to fuel a narcissistic con man. Same country, same motive. Divide and conquer. Divide, divide.
Texas is becoming the Animal Farm of the 21st Century. Or perhaps call it Animal Ranch. I've been reading the Critical Race Theory bill SB3 and would find it amusing if it weren't so appalling. For example: page 7 line 7 (4) a teacher, administrator, or other employee of a state agency, school district, or open-enrollment charter school may not: (A) require or make part of a course inculcation in the concept that: (i) one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex [..except White Males] (ii) an individual, by virtue of the individual's race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously [...except White Males] (iii) an individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of the individual's race or sex [except White Males]; (iv) an individual's moral character, standing, or worth is necessarily determined by the individual's race or sex [... except White Males]; (v) an individual, by virtue of the individual's race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex [...except White Males]; .... (viii) the advent of slavery in the territory that is now the United States constituted the true founding of the United States [.. 1776 not 1619]; (ix) with respect to their relationship to American values, slavery and racism are anything other than deviations from, betrayals of, or failures to live up to the authentic founding principles of the United States, which include liberty and equality [except White Males] etc. For me, just like women's rights, white males have no standing in a court of law to decide what can be done to a women's soveriegn body or what to teach about race and sex by White Males who generally have no clue what discrimination is and think they did it all on their own
merits. ... (vi) an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual's race or sex [except White Males]; Poor babies! ... (C) require an understanding of the 1619 Project. What they are instructed to teach is the Founding Father's document (Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Federalist Papers) ALL written by Privileged White Males. I'd like them all to read Frederick Douglass's speech of 1852 on the 5th of July: "Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?" https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/speeches-african-american-history/1852-frederick-douglass-what-slave-fourth-july/ No, we mustn't teach this in Texas. It might hurt some poor white boy's image of himself. Poor baby.
I assume that the bracketed phrases are yours Cathy........but perhaps they are stupid enough to write their true beliefs completely in the Bill. They forgot to include their support in their diatribe for the old Southern law that forbade the teaching of reading and writing to all "slaves"..... wage slaves or Black....as being a dangerous incitation to the questionning of authority.
Yes, the bracketed phrases are mine. Like the Seven Commandments for the animals on Animal Farm were amended by the Pigs. The rules apply ... except for pigs. The final one applies here "All animals were created equal but some are more equal than others." Most white men believe in the myth of meritocracy. They aren't aware or even appreciate how many legs up they get by having a Y chromosome and ancestors who came from cold climates. When I told my father that I had been accepted at M.I.T. his response was I'd never hire a woman engineer; they wouldn't fit into my group. He was proud of me in his own way. I'd give him an M.I.T. shirt every Christmas and he's wear it constantly. Of course, he had to say M.I.T. stood for the Minnesota Institute of Trucking. It hurt. It hurt when he would say "Oh, we just send out the little girls to fly on nice days like this" when someone would congratulate him on his 19 year old daughter becoming the National Model Glider Champion on a day with typical Kansas windy conditions the California flyers thought unflyable. On top of that the U.S. Navy discriminated against me personally. The National Championships was sponsored by the U.S. Navy and took place at different Naval Air Stations across the country. One thing they did was fly the young winners of an event (under 21) to Pensacola Florida and take them out on a carrier cruise. There were signs posted all around the station. I won the Glider event on the first day and went to a talk by an astronaut that evening. I naively told a couple of Navy officers standing there that I was looking forward to going on the carrier cruise. They sort of snickered and said you had to have won an event. When I said I had, they looked startled. The next morning all the signs for the carrier cruise had been changed to all BOYS winning an event should sign up for the carrier cruise. Obviously, I still feel the U.S. Navy owes me a carrier cruise. No one cared about my feelings on this. In the SB3 bill the teachers must not make "(vi) an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual's race or sex." And, in our culture women are thought of as the weaker sex. Poor babies.
Damn it. The carrier cruise story made my eyes well with tears. Geez Cathy. We all have our stories. It’s taken so many years to change just some endings.
Disgusting times. How painful and infuriating that slam must have been. But we are honored that you have only heightened your spunk and drive for equality and fairness.
Ugh ugh UGH! I have a spare bedroom, Cathy.
Yes, social media is spreading the lies. But so are the GOP. I wish he'd included them in that statement. Call out the politicians going on stage and still saying it's a lie, still saying we don't need vaccine mandates, don't need to follow health rules. And indict the ones who've voted to make it state policy to be against vaccination campaigns, who've voted to make it illegal to enforce public health measures.
I agree with you Susan. I am very glad to see that he made a clear, unambiguous statement about social media though. Maybe it's a start to doing the same for the individuals who deliberately, blatantly stoke and spread the same lies as Facebook does.
And Fox News! They are worse than Facebook, by a lot.
Quite a bit! I think we are seeing where freedom of speech runs into hate speech and deliberate propoganda and we need to look at defining each and using our laws against the latter two, especially given how many elected officials deliberately use the latter two to confuse, confound and control. I know it is a delicate subject but, in my opinion, we cannot continue to ignore it.