Introduction: We have under-utilized tools that could massively cut COVID transmission, but our information ecosystems are getting in the way. And COVID is still a problem:
Oct 06 Strokes, heart attacks, sudden deaths: Does America understand the long-term risks of catching COVID? (Fortune) - “America needs to wake up now. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey shows that two thirds of U.S. adults have no intention of getting the updated booster shots anytime soon, yet rampant breakthrough infections and more immune-evading variants are on the horizon.”
Contents:
Challenges of Disinformation Reporting
Don’t Talk About Air, Clean or Dirty
=> Facts About Fossil Gas
=>Climate Science 101: Greenhouse Gas ‘Heat Domes’ Wipe Out Food Crops
Infodemic
=> Misinformation Meme: ‘COVID Nihilism Won Elections’
=> Misinformation Meme: ‘Immunity Debt’
=>Profile: Dr. Vinay Prasad
Masks vs. Fossil Gas, Continued
=>Georgia
=>Florida
=>Iowa
=>Arizona
=>Texas
**FACES of Long COVID**
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Challenges of Disinformation Reporting
Other disinformation reporters may be experiencing the same things. If so, disinformation reporting isn’t sustainable to make for healthy information ecosystems during pandemics.
Where reporting about the world delivers the dopamine hit of learning something new, reporting on disinformation requires unlearning, which induces a dopamine deficit.
Reporting news usually follows stories forward with little repeat. Dispelling disinformation involves much repetition: “reinfections happen” “reinfections can leave you sicker than first infections” “COVID isn’t a one-and-done disease”. A disinformation reporter runs furiously in place to witness humanity regressing.
Pre-bunking is the consumption of information, whether or not there’s a myth to debunk. From 1647 until roughly 2012, Americans engaged in pre-bunking as a near-daily ritual. That’s not happening now.
This beat is a front-row seat to the deliberate and well-funded deception of many people on a daily basis for years at a time.
Who do I think I am to correct Dr. Fauci?
Until more people find a way to resume pre-bunking as a near-daily ritual, societies will experience preventable system shocks, more monetary inflation, more infectious disease, higher morbidity and more premature mortality alongside eroding healthcare worker staffs and shrinking hospital spaces in which to treat them.
Oct 27 Paper Hysteria (Twitter.com/JeromeAdamsMD) - “Checked the mail as I was leaving the house this morning and I honestly wonder, whats the carbon footprint of the mountain of political mailers being sent out across America (ironically in many cases from green candidates)?”
For the love of Jerome, kill some trees if you have to! Please put newsletters like mine out of business. Subscribe to physical magazines and a regional newspaper. Get weekend home delivery if that’s what it takes to get regular news under more eyes.
Don’t Talk About Air, Clean or Dirty
Talking about air pollution or how well air filters reduce COVID transmission apparently upsets political operatives and fossil fuel investors.
Nov 04 Every Election Is a Climate Election with Rhiana Gunn-Wright (Hot Take Podcast) - "This might be a dumb question, Rihana, but I know from just I dont know, research and reporting and stuff that the Republican and conservative groups in general have had a strategy to defend dirty air and dirty water for like 20 years. And they still haven’t had to use it because Democrats have not done a very good job of promoting the benefits of clean air and clean water. Like, there’s all these Republican operatives that are like, ‘oh, man, if they ever start talking about clean air, we’re done for.’”
Nov 22 Police Protection (Twitter.com/KPrather88) - Dr. Prather is an atmospheric scientist at UC San Diego and was an early advocate of using the DIY air filter contraptions known as Corsi-Rosenthal boxes for cutting COVID transmission. She attributes the harassment she’s facing to her gender, but it could also be due to her area of expertise. She recently tweeted: “As a senior female leader, I would like to know how many other leaders have needed police protection during their career?”
Nov 19 Editorial: Don't debate face masks. Just wear them (Ottowa Citizen) - "But folks, really – why should it come to this? Why should we have to debate having rules to make us mask? If you have kids, you know very serious respiratory illnesses are scything through classrooms. Public indifference to this is baffling."
Nov 13 Ottawa targets methane emissions in B.C.'s oil and gas sector (Vancouver Sun) - “Canada and the U.S. pledged at the United Nations climate change summit in Egypt to take further steps to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. During the climate summit, known as COP27, Canada announced it has published a framework outlining the main elements of new regulations to achieve a 75 per cent methane reduction by 2030 over 2012 levels.”
=> Facts About Fossil Gas
Fossil gas is better known by the homeopathic-sounding euphemism “natural gas” or the initials LNG for “liquified natural gas”. In 2012, the Sierra Club stopped accepting donations from this energy sector to free themselves from the obligation of promoting it as a climate-friendly energy source. Natural gas companies position their product as “less harmful than coal”. The pipelines which transport fossil gas are infamous for leaking methane, a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Only nitrous oxide is a more powerful greenhouse gas than methane. But we won’t detect methane in the community or our homes as long as we don’t measure the air. Oil and fossil gas are Russia’s main exports. Saudi Arabia plans to export fossil gas by 2030. In the U.S. the battle to ban gas hookups in favor of induction stoves in new home construction is off to a slow start, so far only succeeding in California and Colorado.
Feb 02 2012 Sierra Club took natural-gas cash (Politico) - “It’s time to stop thinking of natural gas as a kinder, gentler energy source,” Sierra Club Executive Director Brune wrote after deciding to stop accepting funds. “What’s more, we do not have an effective regulatory system in this country to address the risks that gas drilling poses on our health and communities.” The director said the world’s need to “leapfrog” over gas in favor of “truly clean” energy sources trumped his organization’s desire for donations.
Aug 2021 They fought for clean air. They didn’t know they were part of a gas industry campaign | Residents around the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were paid to show support for natural gas trucks at community hearings (The Guardian) -
Nov 22 How fossil fuel influence choked climate talks (Heated) - “The Guardian reported earlier this month that the natural gas industry was trying to use the summit as an opportunity to rebrand gas as a transition fuel.” “But their success made the final agreement even more scientifically nonsensical. The International Energy Agency has said that no new gas production projects are compatible with a 1.5°C target.”
Nov 22 Dimming the Sun to Cool the Planet Is a Desperate Idea, Yet Were Inching Toward It (New Yorker) - “This scheme, not surprisingly, has few public advocates, and even among those who want to see it studied the inference has been that it would not actually be implemented for decades.” …”Others, around the world, however, are working to speed up that timeline.”
Nov 26 Michael Pascoe: Covid, carbon, we've given up (The New Daily Australia) -
”In case you missed it, the momentous decision that didn’t make headlines at the COP27 meeting this month is that we’ve given up trying to prevent climate catastrophe. The headline that did emerge: richer nations promising to send some disaster compensation pennies to poorer nations was a fig leaf for the failure. The 1.5°C thing is over.”
=>Climate Science 101: Greenhouse Gas ‘Heat Domes’ Wipe Out Food Crops
When too much carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide is in the atmosphere, their molecules gather and block more heat than usual from escaping into space. Packed together, the molecules of these gasses form sporadic “heat domes” which push area temperatures above 110 degrees Fahrenheit for several consecutive days, often longer than a week. Since photosynthesis for most plants stops working above 85, 100, 104 degrees Fahrenheit, excess heat poses disruptive threats to our food supply. Heat domes also halt and reverse the carbon-sequestering capabilities of trees.
Jul 2021 Record heat wave scorches crops across Oregon, and drought could worsen loss to growers(Oregon Live) - "He figures he’s lost around 90% of the Christmas tree crop to the record temperatures. Wonser’s farm was one of many that took a devastating hit as the heat dome dried and scorched agriculture throughout the state, leaving farmers wondering how they may tackle extreme weather going forward."
Aug 2021 Watch: Farmers ‘distraught’ as heat kills a third of the tomato crop | Other crops also harmed by heatwaves (Times of Malta) -
Apr 26 Record-breaking heat wave gripping India and Pakistan threatens crops, leaves millions sweltering (Yahoo! News) - “The heat spell occurred very fast and also matured the crop at a faster pace, which shriveled the grain size. This also resulted in a drop in yield,” JDS Gill, the agriculture information officer in the state of Punjab, told India Today.
Infodemic
=> Misinformation Meme: ‘COVID Nihilism Won Elections’
PREBUNK: Sep 09 Florida’s tough COVID summer. Now what? (Tampa Bay Times) - “But over the summer, Florida’s daily COVID death rate was three times higher than the rate in New York, the next highest among the large states.... It seems that the state’s leaders have adopted a don’t say COVID mindset.” “Gov. DeSantis and Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo rarely mention vaccines or the pandemic anymore even as it kills scores of Floridians every day.”
Oct 31 [Misinformation: ] How Republicans Claimed COVID as a Winning Campaign Issue (New Yorker) - “It is both strange and depressing that when politicians look back on this pandemic, especially in the context of the next one, they will take note that the backlash to restrictions eventually became a more potent issue than the public-health crisis, and that the politicians who rode the backlash didn’t just survive. They won.”
DEBUNK: Politicians who minimize the hazards of COVID, like Ron DeSantis and Rand Paul, didn’t win by campaigning on how many people died of COVID. And DeSantis, as the above clip shows, didn’t mention COVID in the closing days of the campaign, except to answer his debate opponent before quickly changing the subject.
Oct 31 Why billionaire Jeff Yass favorite politician on the national scene is Rand Paul: Opinion (Courier Journal) - “Yass sent me another card in mid-October warning that Booker was part of a war on American Energy. The fine print says the cards were paid for by Kentucky Freedom PAC. But Kentucky Freedom PAC is what might be called a donor alias for Jeff Yass, a billionaire libertarian from Pennsylvania who bankrolls the political ambitions of Rand Paul.”
🗄️ Jul 29 Deaths from COVID-19 in Florida take off amid undercounted cases in BA.5 surge (Palm Beach Post) - “Florida logged more COVID-19 deaths in the past two weeks than it has in months. The state's death toll climbed by an average of 452 each week from July 15 through Friday, Florida Department of Health figures show. ... That death toll does not include more than 3,000 fatalities between March and October that physicians labeled as COVID deaths, but the state Health Department did not.”
=> Misinformation Meme: ‘Immunity Debt’
Nov 18 'Immunity Debt' is a Misinformation Concept, Oxford Immunologist Says (Independent Sage YouTube Channel) - "I think there have been a lot of phrases that have been intuitively re-badged in a populist, journalistic setting, as if they were part of the immunology medical textbook; 'Immunity debt' has never been a chapter in that text book. The idea that somehow our immune systems are designed to be frequently topped up by dangerous pathogens, and that's somehow a good thing was never part of anything I learnt, or I suspect, anybody else on this call. So. Not really a thing!"
Nov 22 Video: Why Are So Many Children Getting Sick? (CTVNews Montreal) - Anchor: “We've also heard people blaming masking for this. You know, people are saying the reason children don't have good immunity is because they've been wearing masks. What do you say to that?”
Dr. Vinh: “I think we should not confuse infectious diseases with biblical redemption. You don't need to suffer to be better, right? That's not how it works. If you look at the leading cause of death in human history, it's infectious diseases. Up until the mid-19th century, the average lifespan was 25 years. And the three greatest interventions that have prolonged lifespan are: 1) clean water 2) improved nutrition 3) vaccines. And why do they work? They decrease infectious diseases by decreasing exposure to pathogens. So no, you do not need to get diseases to be healthy. The masks don't compromise your immune system.” “Masks work to decrease viral transmission.”
Nov 22 Opinion: Immunity Debt is a Misguided and Dangerous Concept | There is no evidence that an individual is worse off for having avoided earlier infection (Financial Times) - Professor Peter Openshaw, a respiratory doctor and immunologist who studies RSV and flu at Imperial College London said "we would still have open sewers and be drinking from water contaminated with cholera if this idea were followed to its logical conclusion.”
=>Profile: Dr. Vinay Prasad
When UCSF’s Dr. Vinay Prasad is off the clock, he publishes voluminous outlier COVID minimization opinions from his YouTube channel and two Substacks. He’s blocked so many mainstream medical pundits on twitter that an account called @blockedByVinay attempts to keep track of them.
Mar 27 2017 OHSU physician awarded $2 million to investigate health care practices that 'don’t work' (Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU)) - “Prasad has landed a $2 million grant to go after this problem. The funding, awarded by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, will support an effort to uncover treatments and tests that are contradicted by reliable evidence.” “The goal is to help reduce the use of low-value care and prevent unnecessary medical spending.”
Nov 22 2017 Did he really just tweet that? Dr. Vinay Prasad takes on Big Pharma, Big Medicine, and his own colleagues with glee (STAT News) - “He hated the first two years of medical school at University of Chicago, which involved hours upon hours of basic science lectures. He even considered quitting: ‘I couldn’t stand the rote memorization of things that seemed so useless,’ he said. As for research, he said, ‘I avoided it at all costs.’”
PREBUNK: A 2017 profile of UCSF’s Dr. Vinay Prasad from STAT News quotes him saying he was bored by research and “avoided it at all costs”:
Nov 12 NEJMs Disappointing Decision to Publish the Boston School Mask Study (Vinay Prasad’s Sensible Medicine Substack) - “Most kids have already had COVID. Ergo, they no longer need protection from COVID …”
DEBUNK: Children in the U.K. are falling ill on second and third COVID infections with conditions including type 1 diabetes.
Nov 18 Increased Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) risk in children infected with SARS-CoV-2 (Nature Metabolism) - The incidence of new-onset type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) rose during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although children with SARS-CoV-2 infection are more likely to develop diabetes than their uninfected peers, prior reports did not distinguish T1DM from type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The Kendall et al. study confirms an increased risk of new-onset T1DM in children (aged =18 years) after SARS-CoV-2 infection.”
Masks vs. Fossil Gas, Continued
=>Georgia
Aug 19 Georgia's main utility is blocking climate policy, report finds (WABE Public Radio Atlanta) - An investigation "finds Southern Company is obstructing action on climate change and working to slow down the transition to clean energy. One example: the company’s support of Georgia’s law that prevents cities from banning gas appliances in new buildings."
Nov 28 Georgia Congresswoman Mocks COVID Masks (Twitter.com/mtgreenee) - "So many people still wearing masks. I just want to ask you. If a pair of underwear, really thick ones, high quality cotton, can’t protect you from a fart, then how will a mask protect you from covid??"
Nov 14 Herschel Walker: U.S. should keep 'gas-guzzling cars' that produce 'good emissions'(Yahoo! News) - "Campaigning in Georgia on Sunday, Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker said the United States is not ready to implement policies like the Green New Deal that are designed to address climate change. Instead, Walker suggested the country needs to 'keep having those gas-guzzling cars' that produce 'good emissions.'"
Nov 2 Senator Reverend Warnock Introduces New Bill to Address Aviation Air Pollution, Spur Clean Energy Jobs in Georgia; Pushes for Inclusion in Economic Package (warnock.senate.gov) -
Nov 29 Walker, Warnock tied in Georgia Senate runoff: poll (The Hill) -
=>Florida
Jun 2021 Ron Desantis Signs a Bill That Mandates Cities Keep Using Fossil Fuels (Gizmodo) - “Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a piece of legislation into law earlier this week that requires Florida cities and towns to keep using fossil fuels and could strangle their ability to set clean energy goals and mandates. The bill, SB 1128/HB 919, is very similar to a slew of other bills that have entered state legislatures over the past year. These pieces of legislation, which have been dubbed “ban the ban” bills, are sponsored by oil and gas interests.”
Mar 29 DeSantis announces lawsuit against CDC's public transit mask mandate (WTXL ABC 27 Tallahassee) -
=>Iowa
Mar 2021 Sponsor says Iowa bill to block natural gas restrictions has path to approval The proposal is part of a flurry of bills nationwide aimed at stopping local governments from following the lead of Berkeley, California, which in 2019 approved the nation’s first ban on natural gas hookups in new buildings. (Energy News Network) -
Aug 2021 Close Up: Reynolds defends mask mandate ban despite federal concern (KCCI Des Moines CBS 8) -
=>Arizona
Feb 2020 Cities Hate It, But Ducey Signs Bill Banning Local Bans on Natural Gas Anyway (Phoenix New Times) - “Governor Doug Ducey has signed into law a bill that will prevent cities and towns in Arizona from banning natural gas, despite clear opposition from major cities. Spokesperson Patrick Ptak said that Ducey signed House Bill 2686, which was fast-tracked through the State Legislature this month with companion bills in the House and Senate, on Friday.”
Sep 2021 Arizona Banned School Mask Mandates. Now Some Kids Are Sick and Parents Are Angry (New York Times) - “Only weeks after Arizona’s students went back to school, coronavirus infections are forcing thousands of children and teachers into quarantine. … In one suburban district, so many drivers are sick that school buses are running 90 minutes late. All this in a state that ignored C.D.C. recommendations and banned school mask mandates weeks before classes resumed.”
=>Texas
Aug 24 Texas bans local, state government entities from doing business with firms that “boycott” fossil fuels (Texas Tribune) -
Nov 2021 Texas schools can again set their own face mask rules after federal judge overrules Gov. Greg Abbott's ban | The judge said the governor's order impedes children with disabilities from the benefits of public schools’ programs, services and activities, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. (Texas Tribune) -
**FACES of Long COVID**
Nov 11 How long COVID ruined my life, from crushing fatigue to brain fog | Sky's technology correspondent Rowland Manthorpe has suffered with long COVID for more than 18 months, and documented his continued struggle. (Sky News) - “When long COVID is leeching my energy, it's not the big things I miss, it's everything else. Energy to read or watch a show on TV. Energy to make plans and see them through, or be spontaneous.”
Feb 16 Runner, 29, with Long COVID Went from Half Marathons to Months in a Wheelchair: 'It Was So Scary' | "I thought I was living a slow progressive death. We had no idea, and neither did the doctors. Nobody could tell me if I was going to get better or not," Catie Barber says (People) - “At Mount Sinai, a cardiologist confirmed her diagnosis of severe POTS and Dysautonomia. She started a high salt, high liquid diet, compression stockings, physical therapy, and breath work. Her progress was slow, but she was determined.”
Oct 19 [Translated: ] Anna Amholt retires - in the wake of covid-19 (Expressen) - [Translated from Swedish: ] Covid-19 hit Anna Amholt, 22, hard. Now the former national team goalkeeper is putting his skates on the shelf. - I can barely manage to go up and down the stairs at the moment, she tells Radiosporten.
H A P P Y H O L I D A Y S
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