Friday 28 January 2022

Freedom Convoy 2022

Dear Truckers,
You have come to represent the collective frustration of the pandemic. We’ve all had enough, and we’d all like to get back to normal. But I can’t stand with you on this issue. Hear me out.

This morning, I read two headlines:
1. Trucker Convoy protest in Ottawa
2. 70 people died from Covid in Ontario yesterday with over three thousand people in hospital.

Those 70 people are added to the over 33,000 Canadians who’ve died from this disease (source as of Jan 28/2022), most of whom did not have the opportunity to get vaccinated. I’m not going to argue with you about the efficacy of vaccines; the scientific data is conclusive. Vaccines work, and they are the best way to minimise sickness, hospitalisation, and death. They may not be 100% perfect (Is anything in life 100%?) but doing nothing is not an option!

With all due respect, I get my information from legitimate medical professionals, not from social media. I love Canada, and I don’t think my country asks too much of me: pay my taxes, don’t litter, stop at red lights, and buckle up my safety belt.

We have been confronted by an unprecedented health crisis, not just a Canadian crisis but a global one. It is painfully obvious we were not prepared. Like it or not, we’re all in this together. I’ve read that truckers in British Columbia have driven across the country to Ottawa for this national protest, investing weeks of their time and thousands of dollars in fuel, food, etc. And what horrible, draconian government intervention are they mad about? Getting vaccinated. Wait, what? I visited Shoppers Drug Mart three times, two doses and one booster. I was in and out in under 30 minutes, including the 15 minutes they wanted me to wait after the shot. And each visit didn’t cost me anything; vaccination is free. 90 minutes of my time versus driving across the country.

Vaccination is nothing new. Have we all forgotten? We enjoy life without measles, mumps, rubella, polio, meningitis, tetanus, diphtheria, etc. because of vaccines. I read on the Government of Ontario web site: “Unless they have a valid exemption, children who attend primary or secondary school must be immunized.” It’s the law. We already have vaccine mandates.

Canada currently has 79% of the population fully vaccinated. (source: Our World in Data, as of Jan 28/2022) To reach “herd immunity”, that is, protection for all of us, we all need to do it. (Scientists say 90% - 95%; there are always exemptions.) If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Imagine if the remaining 21% decided to not follow the rules: don’t pay taxes, don’t put your litter in trash cans, don’t stop at red lights, and don’t buckle up. Is this a question of personal freedom?

You have the right to jeopardize your life, but you have the responsibility to not jeopardize mine.

Let me be clear: I support truckers. They are the backbone of our country. Our quality of life is very much tied to them, and how they furnish all that is necessary for a good life. They are an integral part of Canada. I thank them all. But I have to note one important thing. Truckers can’t do their job if they’re sick. Truckers can’t do their job if they have to go to the hospital. And they certainly can’t do their job if they die. I know that a lot of people like to throw around statistics to justify their position, but I choose to pay attention to the epidemiologists, the specialists in infectious diseases who are trained in this field. I recognise they may not know everything, but I also recognise they know a heck of a lot more than I do!

The reason why you get to protest is not just because of the freedom you enjoy in Canada, it’s because you’re not dead. Over 33,000 Canadians have died from Covid, and I will personally do whatever I can to ensure that as many Canadians as possible get the chance to sit on a patio this summer and enjoy the warmth of the sun, a plate of chicken wings with an ice-cold beer, and the company of family and friends. If I found out I had contributed to anyone, family, friend or even a stranger, getting sick — God forbid dying! — I would be devastated! Canada is a great country, and I’m willing to make a small, personal sacrifice to make sure it stays great for everybody. This pandemic isn’t about you or me; it’s about all of us.


References

my blog: Covid: The Premise of the Anti's - Jan 25/2022
Anti-mask, anti-closures, anti-lockdowns, anti-vaccine, the premise of the anti is that Covid is either an outright hoax or an overexaggerated problem; Covid is no worse than the common cold. Whatever the case, the past two years with all its restrictions in combating the pandemic have been unnecessary.

my blog: Covid-19: What would you do? - Jan 21/2022
Like you, I read the newspapers; I watch the news, and I’m bombarded with a myriad of opinions, statistics, and analysis meant to clarify the obscure and set me on the path of righteous salvation. However, from time to time, somebody says something that I know is not correct because of research I’ve done, or somebody says something that immediately throws up a red flag because it doesn’t make sense to me. How difficult is it to sort out the wheat from the chaff in this avalanche of conflicting ideas?

my blog: Dear Antivaxxers: What about my rights? - Jan 7/2022
Over and over again, I’ve heard you rally against vaccines. This is a violation of your individual freedom, and you should be the one making your own medical decisions. Vaccine mandates are out of the question. Fine. But what about my rights? How come you keep talking about your rights but don’t bother about the rights of anybody else?

my blog: What I learned from parents who don't vaccinate their kids | Jennifer Reich | TEDxMileHigh - Dec 3/2021
Jennifer Anne Reich is an American sociologist, researcher and author at the University of Colorado Denver. Her research interests include healthcare, adolescence, welfare, and policy. Her work on vaccine hesitancy gained widespread attention during the 2019 measles outbreaks. She is the author of three books and numerous journal articles.

my blog: Aaron Rodgers: I’m disappointed but I’m not surprised. - Nov 18/2021
The stink is about Aaron Rodgers (b 1983), quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL).

my blog: Ivermectin: I'm not taking medical advice from Joe Rogan. - Nov 9/2021
From the outset of the pandemic, the supposed antiviral properties of the antiparasitic drug ivermectin has been bandied about left, right, and center. Even if expert sources of information like the CDC and the FDA said not to use it, people, especially those on the right led by Fox News, kept pushing ivermectin “propaganda”. Has anybody read the science, and if they did, did they understand what they were looking at?

my blog: What the heck is a respiratory droplet? - Nov 7/2021
You step outside on a cold, winter day, and you exhale. You see your breath. The cold has condensed the bits of moisture in the exhaled air and formed a mist. When you exhale, you’re not only breathing out air but dampness from your lungs, your mouth, and your windpipe . Those bits of moisture are called respiratory droplets.

my blog: Masks: How We Hate Change - Sep 28/2021
To mask, or not to mask, that should not be a question. I have to shake my head at all the protests against masks and vaccines. We hate being told what to do, even if it’s for our own good.

2022-01-28

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Tuesday 25 January 2022

Covid: The Premise of the Anti's

I'm howling at the moon. I am but one person out of a global population of over 7.9 billion, and my voice is lost in a maelstrom of conflicting needs, desires, and opinions. Will common sense prevail? However, just what is the definition of common sense?

Today is Monday, January 24, 2022. I saw two headlines in Canadian papers this morning and created this meme to post on my social media. (FYI: I'm Canadian but write for both sides of the border.)


Note: The Canadian federal government implemented a vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers. The United States has done the same thing. Even if truckers manage to get the federal government to reverse its position and remove the vaccine mandate, truckers still have to deal with the American rules.

It pays to be prudent. It is better to err on the side of caution. I keep pointing out that the people who are still alive love to whine about inconveniences in their life with no regard for the dead whatsoever. We're in the middle of a pandemic, a global health crisis. I want to help. I want to contribute. I wear a mask; I social distance; and I got vaccinated and boosted. Why would anybody not do the same for the good of their country?

On January 4, 2022, a blizzard made the I-95 in Virginia impassable, trapping thousands of people in their vehicles for over 24 hours. Needless to say, people were desperate for fuel, warmth, and food, and there were heartwarming stories of people helping people.

When 23-year-old Casey Noe noticed a bread truck among the stopped vehicles, she decided to reach out to the company, Schmidt Baking Company, to see if the food inside could be shared. Within 20 minutes, she said, the CEO himself called her, told her to hand her phone to the truck driver, and told the driver to release the bread to anyone who needed it. (NBC Washington, Jan 4/2022)

I don't believe people are inherently bad, but I do think they can be uninformed, misinformed, and sometimes stupidly shortsighted about anything in the world beyond the end of their nose. Desperate people do desperate things, and they can become cruel in their desperate attempt to save themselves.

The other day, I ran across this posting on social media.


This is where I roll my eyes. First off, this exemplifies Godwin's Law, the Internet adage which states that the longer a discussion goes on, the greater the chance somebody makes a reference to Nazi Germany. Secondly, we're not talking about disease carriers as a racist remark; we are talking about people who are actually infected with a contagious disease. I realize we all use hyperbole to make a point, but I find it hilarious when somebody screws up their metaphor by not carefully going through the logic of their comparison.

The Premise of the Anti's
Anti-mask, anti-closures, anti-lockdowns, anti-vaccine, the premise of the anti is that Covid is either an outright hoax or an overexaggerated problem; Covid is no worse than the common cold. Whatever the case, the past two years with all its restrictions in combating the pandemic have been unnecessary.

Okay, now let's see if I can summarize this tin foil hat, Qanon, conspiracy theory. Dr. Fauci, the FDA, the CDC, hospitals across America, doctors, nurses, other frontline workers such as paramedics including administrators, researchers, statisticians, etc., government workers at the federal, state, county and municipal levels, plus the countries of Canada, England, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Nordic countries, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India, China and Russia, etc. have all conspired to hoodwink us for the purposes of subjugating populations, controlling citizens, and consolidating power.

That premise is so utterly absurd, does it even merit the time I've devoted to writing the previous paragraph? I've politely sat through monologues given by people I would usually consider to be normal and sane, but now, in the midst of a global health crisis, have turned into wild-eyed, crazy, obsessives, spouting off the most unscientific, irrational mumbo jumbo. These people may be family, friends, or colleagues. Do they have any idea of how crazy they sound? I keep the peace by biting my tongue. I see no reason to engage them because I know they've crossed the line of rational debate and saying anything contradictory will only lead to an argument and bad feelings. Dear crazies: If you think the two of us get along, it's merely because I choose to keep my mouth shut; it's not because I think what you're saying is right.

I've read articles and seen videos of Karens and Kens (male Karen) flying off the handle, screaming, shoving, spitting, anything to express their outrage at the inconvenience of having to wear a mask. They seem to have no idea of how ludicrous they're being. Mom would be so proud of them.

Final Word
Anti-mask: These people do not understand respiratory droplets and the airborne transmission of infectious diseases. Anti-vaccine: These people do not understand herd immunity. Anti-lockdown: These people are not dead, have no idea of what's going on at the frontlines of ICUs, and are completely focused on the inconveniences of their lives as opposed to the life and death struggles of the disease. Out of sight, out of mind. I don't care about anybody else; I only care about me.

The Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918 lasted approximately 2.5 years and killed 675,000 people in the United States. At that time, the population of the country was round 105 million. Today it is 334 million, an increase of 3.18 times, meaning the comparative number of deaths today would be over two million. As of this writing just under nine hundred thousand people have died. I'm sure anybody would put forward modern medicine, hospital care, and vaccines as being the reasons for this diminished death rate, but I would like to add luck as a factor. Collectively, I'm not sure we were prepared: a lack of PPE (personal protective equipment), a lack of vaccines, disorganized distribution of materials, poor messaging and conflicting messaging, and a politicization of the pandemic response. Starting at the top, I would hold t**** criminally negligent for his downplaying of the pandemic for political purposes, and he still lost the 2020 election. His supporters, the Right, Fox News, etc. have followed his lead and done their best to propagate the idea that the coronavirus was nothing to worry about. We were lucky. We were goddamn lucky.

Truckers in British Columbia are driving to Ottawa to protest the government's cross-border vaccine mandate. That trip is 4,400 kilometres or 2,730 miles. The return trip will take weeks and cost thousands of dollars in fuel. I got my two doses of vaccine and my booster at the pharmacy Shoppers Drug Mart for free. Each time, I was in and out in under 30 minutes, including the time they wanted me to sit and wait after the shot to ensure I didn't have a negative reaction. If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. This protest is absurd in light of what anybody is being asked to do. If they were truly concerned about their livelihood, why not get vaccinated?

The premise of the anti's is that there is no problem. Covid is a non-issue or at least, an overexaggerated one. Despite the advice of epidemiologists (experts in infectious diseases) everywhere, the anti's carry on as if nothing is happening. Personally, if it comes down to the choice between an anti and an epidemiologist, I'm going to take the epidemiologist. Dear Anti: The reason why you get to protest is not because of the freedom you enjoy in the country where you're living, it's because you're not dead. Think about that.

2022-01-27 Update
The truckers' convoy arrives shortly in Ottawa for a protest on Saturday, January 29, 2022. This morning, I read a headline stating that 70 people in Ontario died Thursday from Covid while 3,600 patients are in hospital. (CP 24, Jan 27/2022) Overall, the stats (source) show nearly three million cases in Canada and over 33,000 deaths. And what draconian government measure are the truckers outraged about? Getting vaccinated. We're all in this together, and health experts everywhere, I mean everywhere, have stated that vaccination is the best way to minimise the effects of the virus. Thirty-three thousand Canadians have died, too late to benefit from a vaccine, and the truckers expect me to sympathize with their protest. I'm sorry guys, but you're wrong. In fact, I'd say your protest desecrates the memory of the dead. You are so focused on yourselves, you're not considering your fellow Canadians.


References

I've jokingly put in the image of a coin toss but it's not random chance, it's not head or tails for choosing the right answer. There's science; there's logic; and there's expertise. Oh, and no tin foil hats!

my blog: Covid-19: What would you do? - Jan 21/2022
Like you, I read the newspapers; I watch the news, and I’m bombarded with a myriad of opinions, statistics, and analysis meant to clarify the obscure and set me on the path of righteous salvation. However, from time to time, somebody says something that I know is not correct because of research I’ve done, or somebody says something that immediately throws up a red flag because it doesn’t make sense to me. How difficult is it to sort out the wheat from the chaff in this avalanche of conflicting ideas?

my blog: Dear Antivaxxers: What about my rights? - Jan 7/2022
Over and over again, I’ve heard you rally against vaccines. This is a violation of your individual freedom, and you should be the one making your own medical decisions. Vaccine mandates are out of the question. Fine. But what about my rights? How come you keep talking about your rights but don’t bother about the rights of anybody else?

my blog: What I learned from parents who don't vaccinate their kids | Jennifer Reich | TEDxMileHigh - Dec 3/2021
Jennifer Anne Reich is an American sociologist, researcher and author at the University of Colorado Denver. Her research interests include healthcare, adolescence, welfare, and policy. Her work on vaccine hesitancy gained widespread attention during the 2019 measles outbreaks. She is the author of three books and numerous journal articles.

my blog: Aaron Rodgers: I’m disappointed but I’m not surprised. - Nov 18/2021
The stink is about Aaron Rodgers (b 1983), quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL).

my blog: Ivermectin: I'm not taking medical advice from Joe Rogan. - Nov 9/2021
From the outset of the pandemic, the supposed antiviral properties of the antiparasitic drug ivermectin has been bandied about left, right, and center. Even if expert sources of information like the CDC and the FDA said not to use it, people, especially those on the right led by Fox News, kept pushing ivermectin “propaganda”. Has anybody read the science, and if they did, did they understand what they were looking at?

my blog: What the heck is a respiratory droplet? - Nov 7/2021
You step outside on a cold, winter day, and you exhale. You see your breath. The cold has condensed the bits of moisture in the exhaled air and formed a mist. When you exhale, you’re not only breathing out air but dampness from your lungs, your mouth, and your windpipe . Those bits of moisture are called respiratory droplets.

my blog: Masks: How We Hate Change - Sep 28/2021
To mask, or not to mask, that should not be a question. I have to shake my head at all the protests against masks and vaccines. We hate being told what to do, even if it’s for our own good.

2022-01-25

Site Map - William Quincy BelleFollow me on Twitter

Sunday 23 January 2022

PFAS: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Do any of us truly know what's going on in the world? What bad thing is somebody doing but they don't know it's bad, or what bad thing is somebody doing but they know it's bad and do it anyway, downplaying the bad, because the want to make a profit?
  • Tobacco
    The industry knew decades ago that the use of the product led to cancer, emphysema, and a shortened life span, but marketed it anyway, hiding the truth.
  • Fossil Fuels
    The industry's own studies dating back to the beginning of the 20th century indicated that carbon emissions would change the climate, but they suppressed the evidence.
  • Sugar
    The industry deflected blame and got all of us scared of fat when in reality, sugar was the culprit in cardiac problems.
What else is going on that we know nothing about?

I found the following video startling. I knew nothing about this, and it would seem the industry has done little to educate the public. Once again, the motivation for suppressing information seems to be wanting to make a profit. What we don't know won't kill us, right?



Published on Oct 4, 2021 by LastWeekTonight
YouTube: PFAS: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) (19:57)
John Oliver discusses PFAS — a class of chemicals linked to an array of health issues — and why their widespread use isn’t as magical as it may seem.

Final Word
I was born in 1952. When I was growing up, I never heard of anyone having a peanut or tree nut allergy. Nowadays, I don't think you can go to any public venue, mall, cinema, or school, where the first aid kit does not include an Epi pen. What happened? What changed? Where did this relatively new health issue come from? In talking with several teachers, I discovered this issue seems to have first appeared in the school system around the mid to late 1980s. By the mid-1990s, just about every school had an Epi pen. Research into the cause of this seemingly new problem is unclear but points to the hygiene hypothesis, not being exposed to certain substances causes the body to not develop an immunity to said substance. Is this a change in how we live our lives in modern times? What new factors have come into play to produce this health issue?

A significant number of people including members of my own family think vaccines cause autism. The Wikipedia link I've given below points to scientific studies that have failed to show such a causal connection. People keep believing it, but the science doesn't support it. Consequently, here's my concern. This issue about PFAS is completely new to me. There are many things going on in the world I know nothing about. It would seem there are many things going on people know little or nothing about, and what problems are those things causing? As with the examples I gave in the beginning about the tobacco, fossil fuels, and sugar industries, information about PFAS has been suppressed or downplayed, all in the name of profit. Think vaccines cause autism? Have you checked off everything else which could potentially be on the list?

I'm betting nobody knows about PFAS. What's the big deal? Out of sight, out of mind. However, now, these "forever substances" are everywhere, used in many products which make up our daily lives. But everywhere has a second meaning, these substances being in the environment around the globe and in the body of every human on the planet. Peanut allergies? Autism? Are we inadvertently and unknowingly poisoning ourselves?


References

Wikipedia: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are synthetic organofluorine chemical compounds that have multiple fluorine atoms attached to an alkyl chain. ... A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) toxicity database, DSSTox, lists 10776 PFASs. ... PFOS, PFOA and other PFASs are known to persist in the environment and are commonly described as persistent organic pollutants, also known as "forever chemicals". Residues have been detected in humans and wildlife, with health concerns resulting in litigation. In 2021 Maine became the first US state to ban these compounds in all products by 2030, except in instances deemed "currently unavoidable".


Wikipedia: Timeline of events related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
This timeline of events related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) includes events related to the discovery, development, manufacture, marketing, uses, concerns, litigation, regulation, and legislation, involving the human-made PFASs, particularly perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), and about the companies, mainly DuPont and 3M that manufactured and marketed them. Perfluorinated compounds are a group of hundreds of human-made compounds collectively known" as PFAS. Fluorosurfactants (PFAS) have been produced and marketed by DuPont under its trademark Teflon—a fluorinated polymer. PFAS compounds and their derivatives are widely used in many products from water resistant textiles to fire-fighting foam. ... PFAS are commonly found in every American household, and in products as diverse as non-stick cookware, stain resistant furniture and carpets, wrinkle free and water repellant clothing, cosmetics, lubricants, paint, pizza boxes, popcorn bags, and many other everyday products.

* 1956 A study undertaken by Gordon I. Nordby and J. Murray Luck at Stanford University found that "PFAS binds to proteins in human blood."

* 1970s The Quartz said that according to a document on file with the US Environmental Protection Agency, and discovered by The Intercept's Sharon Lerner in June 2019, reported that the document was on file with the US Environmental Protection Agency, that Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M) "knew as early as the 1970s that PFAS was accumulating in human blood." 3M's own experiments on rats and monkeys concluded that PFAS compounds "should be regarded as toxic."

* 2000 EPA had become "concerned about potential long-term health risks to humans after a 3M study showed that the chemical, perfluorooctanyl sulfonate, lingered for years in human blood and animal tissue and that high doses were known to kill laboratory rats."

Wikipedia: Peanut allergy
Peanut allergy is a type of food allergy to peanuts. It is different from tree nut allergies, with peanuts being legumes and not true nuts. Physical symptoms of allergic reaction can include itchiness, hives, swelling, eczema, sneezing, asthma attack, abdominal pain, drop in blood pressure, diarrhea, and cardiac arrest. Anaphylaxis may occur. ... Prevention may be partly achieved through early introduction of peanuts to the diets of pregnant women and babies. It is recommended that babies at high risk be given peanut products in areas where medical care is available as early as 4 months of age. The principal treatment for anaphylaxis is the injection of epinephrine.

Wikipedia: MMR vaccine and autism
Claims of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism have been extensively investigated and found to be false. The link was first suggested in the early 1990s and came to public notice largely as a result of the 1998 Lancet MMR autism fraud, characterised as "perhaps the most damaging medical hoax of the last 100 years". The fraudulent research paper authored by Andrew Wakefield and published in The Lancet claimed to link the vaccine to colitis and autism spectrum disorders. The paper was retracted in 2010 but is still cited by anti-vaccinationists.

2022-01-23

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Friday 21 January 2022

Covid-19: What would you do?

Like you, I read the newspapers; I watch the news, and I’m bombarded with a myriad of opinions, statistics, and analysis meant to clarify the obscure and set me on the path of righteous salvation. However, from time to time, somebody says something that I know is not correct because of research I’ve done, or somebody says something that immediately throws up a red flag because it doesn’t make sense to me. How difficult is it to sort out the wheat from the chaff in this avalanche of conflicting ideas?

Full disclosure: I’m Canadian but I have American relatives so what I’m writing is about both Canada and the United States. And other countries, I imagine.

Micro vs Macro
I, like everybody else, see the world through my own eyes. My experience taints my worldview. That worldview is limited and more than likely does not include many details relevant to the big picture. I must be leery about proceeding with a course of action when I don’t know all the facts, and I must be disciplined in seeking out those facts. Like Wile E. Coyote, I don’t want to parachute out of an airplane only to pull the ripcord and have an anvil come out of my backpack.

I’m not an epidemiologist, a specialist in infectious diseases. I’m not a medical doctor. And I have no relative studies such as a PhD in biology. In taking care of my life and my health, I seek out expert opinions, getting a consensus including the pros and cons, weighing the risks involved, and proceeding with a course of action that I feel best represents the science of today aware of the limitations of our current science and knowing that tomorrow may bring a new breakthrough.

However, I recognise that my situation is not like everybody else’s. I can’t assume that the answer to my issues is the same as for other people. So, what’s the “right answer” in quotes? How to best handle the pandemic for the maximum benefit of everyone?

I’m not in charge. I’m not running the country or state or province or city. I only have to worry about myself so whatever maximum benefit I’m looking out for is just for me. But what if? What if I was or you, the reader, were put in charge of the whole show? How would we handle the pandemic response? It’s no longer a question of me, or a question of you, but a question of all the people of the nation, heck, of the world!

Jordan Peterson: Open the damn country back up!
Mr. Peterson is a Canadian figure of some controversy; he has his opinions, and he’s going to tell the world about them. He certainly isn’t the only one to propose throwing open the doors. Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, has taken a full speed ahead damn the torpedoes approach to the dealing with the pandemic in his state.

In an opinion piece (National Post, January 10, 2022), Mr. Peterson explains the inconveniences he’s had to suffer due to restrictions related to the responses of various governments to Covid. “Because I am an entitled Westerner, accustomed to my privileges, I got whiny about it.” He goes on to explain a recent trip to the United States.

“I was recently in Nashville, Tennessee. No lockdowns. No masks. No COVID regulations to speak of. People are going about their lives. Why can that be the case in Tennessee (and in other U.S. states, such as Florida) when there are curfews (curfews!) in Quebec, two years after the pandemic started, with a vaccination rate of nearly 80 per cent?”

Good question. Why not? Why not throw open the doors and let ‘er rip?

Note the following chart as of 3pm, Jan 19/2022: (source WorldOMeters: Coronavirus)


Using the stat per million allows us to compare the different size populations on an equal plane.

Tennessee’s cases are 3.21 times that of Canada. Its deaths are 3.78 times that of Canada. Florida is 3.28 and 3.55 respectively. Canada currently shows 31,825 deaths. If Canada's numbers were like Florida, it would have 113,019 deaths. If it was like Tennessee, it would have 120,315 deaths. Note: As I go down the list of individual states, I see that Canada has less cases per million and less deaths per million than all of the states. I can’t help thinking that Canada is doing a better job than the United States, at least with the metric of human lives.

I must also add that Canada is listed as having 78% of its population fully vaccinated while the United States shows 62.6%. (stats as of this writing: source: Our World in Data)

Canada could open up like the United States but at what cost? How many more people get infected, get sick, require hospitalisation, or possibly die? What price do we collectively pay in terms of human life, so Mr. Peterson does not have to suffer his inconveniences? If throwing open the doors leads to more cases, that also means more sick time off, and does a lack of employees lead to even worse service?

We’re alive
Time and time again, I’ve been amused at people complaining about this, that, and the other thing, not recognising that they get to complain for one simple reason: they’re not dead.

Confronted with such an idea, I see that people go one of two ways.

1. The pandemic is a hoax. Or at least, it’s been exaggerated. Covid is nothing more than a cold. Who cares? Deal with it!

2. I’m prudent. I want to err on the side of caution. I wear a mask. I social distance. I got vaccinated when told to do so, including the booster, and thus far, I’ve been lucky enough to be spared the disease or spared any serious consequences. Thank God. Kiss the ground.

Personally, I’m a number two. I believe that it pays to be prudent.

The dead don’t vote
There has been much criticism about American states who’ve “let ‘er rip”, no masks, no vaccines, basically no rules at all, just carry on as if life is normal. If problems crop up, we’ll deal with it. Yeehaw!

This odd thought occurred to me: The dead don’t vote.

Everyone wants a good economy, businesses open, people making a living, and everyone carrying on with their life as they want to. Those people are going to vote for whomever they perceive as returning their lives to normal. Those people are alive. The dead don’t vote.

Let ‘er rip! If the economy gets back on track, there are a lot of voters who are going to be pleased. Besides, Uncle Murray and Aunt Jenny already had a nice, long life so we’ll give them a nice memorial. Lose a family member? Thoughts and prayers; the economy before all else. Whether it’s conscious or not, Ron DeSantis may be merely focusing on the ballot box and ignoring all other considerations.

I don’t give a f*ck about anybody but me
As far back as the beginning of the pandemic, reporters were comparing the Far East to North America. In the Far East, there’s an attitude of putting the good of the community first: I wear a mask because I want to protect other people from my possible infection. They’ve been doing this for decades. But here in North America, the general trend is to put one’s individual freedom before all else. How many Karens have been filmed going ballistic at the slightest inconvenience?

From the beginning, I studied the science behind the pandemic, specifically how respiratory droplets contribute to the airborne transmission of infectious diseases. (details here) It all made sense. I’ve come to realize that the majority of people know nothing about this. Some don’t wear a mask because they think the whole thing is stupid. None of them know what a respiratory droplet is. It’s like they don’t know the science linking smoking to lung cancer, so they keep puffing away, oblivious to the danger to their health and the health of others. And on top of it, some people get royally pissed when they’re told they’re no longer allowed to smoke indoors.

I am concerned not just for myself, but for my family, my friends, and even strangers on the street. I would feel absolutely terrible if I found out I infected somebody, and as a consequence, I take all the precautions. However, those who don’t understand the danger, respiratory droplets, think more about their personal inconvenience than whether they’re potentially spreading a life-threatening disease.

Oh, and one more thing: herd immunity. I got vaccinated. I got boosted. I’ve contributed to the greater good. It’s not just about me, it’s about all of us. We’re all in this together.

Self-professed Know-it-alls
Joe Rogan is a comedian and a podcaster. He’s not an epidemiologist; he’s not a medical professional. But he is a good example of the Dunning-Kruger Effect: He completely overestimates his ability to understand the situation. He refuses to get vaccinated; he promotes alternative treatments for Covid, and he tries to talk knowledgeably about the pandemic. I looked at his promotion of ivermectin and with little effort, I discovered Joe had not done his homework and doesn’t understand the topic. (details here) I come back to this choice: Do I get medical advice from a podcaster who’s a comedian by profession or do I get it from somebody like Dr. Anthony Fauci, a career epidemiologist of forty years who’s advised seven presidents?

Whether Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, or somebody like Alex Jones, I see a phenomenon where the individual refuses to admit they don’t know what they’re talking about and refuses to back down, unable to say these words out loud: “I don’t know.”

I leave it to you the reader to decide if you’re going to follow these people but there is no way I’m going to tune in to any of these shows with their amateurish, uninformed, misinformed, unscientific, and sometimes just plain stupid analysis. They don’t understand they don’t understand. The less they know, the more convinced they are that they do know.

I made up the following meme to succinctly explain what I mean:


A doctor tells a smoker about the danger of lung cancer. The smoker says he’ll try menthols, slims, cigarillos, or vaping, just anything but stopping to smoke. I’ve heard people angrily yelling about their rights, and how they alone have the right to make decisions about their health and body. According to the CDC, over 90% of children are vaccinated against the measles before they are 24 months old. (CDC Immunization) How funny that a bunch of people who seem to be okay with the childhood vaccination program our entire society has set up for our mutual benefit suddenly become medical experts.

Big Pharma
Oh, geez. Here we go again. People hate big anything. Unfortunately, they seem to be incapable of making the distinction between big good and big bad and end up labeling anything big as bad. Shut ‘em all down! Oh, wait! Now, where do I get my One-A-Day multiple vitamins?

Candace Owen, conservative personality, is so anti Big Pharma; she’s stated she will never take a vaccine. (But she will take colloidal silver. Daily Beast, Dec 27, 2021) I’m sorry this female Don Quixote can’t distinguish between big and true bad. (See next)

Oxycontin and the opioid epidemic is frightening. Do I label the Sackler family as evil? (Wikipedia: Sackler Family, Opioid lawsuits)

Martin Shkreli raises the life-saving drug Daraprim from $13.50 US a pill to $750, and now the imprisoned former CEO must return $64.6 million in profits as well as being barred from the pharmaceutical industry for life. (CBC Jan 15/2022)

Bad things happen. We all must be vigilant and hold bad people accountable. However, big unto itself doesn’t necessarily equate to bad.

There is such a distrust among some people for anything related to “the system”, business, government, education, expertise, etc., they have come to reject any advice including vaccines. They focus so much on the bad, they are now incapable of seeing any good. There are only liabilities, no benefits.

Final Word
I get the final word? Fat chance! I’m sure you’ll all be arguing about this long after we turn out the lights and go home. I’ve noted that the dyed in the wool conspiracy theorists love to call me a libtard, a sheeple. Do your own research! I did, and you’re wrong.

We’re in the middle of an unprecedented global health crisis. We’re all scared. We want answers, and we want them now! And we are so desperate we are willing to do desperate things such as listening to people we would, in other circumstances, dismiss as unworthy.

Anti-vaxxer Christopher Key advises his followers to drink their urine to ward off Covid. (USA Today, Jan 11/2022) Do I shake my head at the absurdity of this suggestion, or do I shake my head at the absurdity of people trying this?

I still chuckle at the White House briefing on April 23, 2020, when t**** suggested injecting disinfectant as a means of combatting the coronavirus. (NBC News, YouTube 1:16) Dr. Birx is sitting off to one side and the expression on her face makes me think she’s wishing the earth would open up and swallow her. I laughed when I saw this meme:

To be fair, if you inject disinfectant into your body, you will not likely die of Covid-19.

The messaging during this crisis has been wrong, disjointed, conflicting, and sometimes stupid. Let me add that I start at the top: I believe t**** should be held criminally negligent for downplaying the severity of this crisis for political purposes which, by the way, failed to get him re-elected. Rex Tillerson was right: Donnie is a f*cking moron. (Daily Kos, Jan 17, 2022) Hundreds of thousands of Americans needlessly died because a significant percent of the population followed their leader and did not take Covid seriously. It continues to this day with vaccine hesitancy, making it that much more difficult to achieve herd immunity which only prolongs the agony.

So, what would you do if you were in charge? It pays to be prudent. It is better to err on the side of caution. Personally, I’m following the science, and while it ain’t perfect, so far, it hasn’t advised me to pee into a cup and drink it.


References

my blog: Dear Antivaxxers: What about my rights? - Jan 7/2022
Over and over again, I’ve heard you rally against vaccines. This is a violation of your individual freedom, and you should be the one making your own medical decisions. Vaccine mandates are out of the question. Fine. But what about my rights? How come you keep talking about your rights but don’t bother about the rights of anybody else?

my blog: What I learned from parents who don't vaccinate their kids | Jennifer Reich | TEDxMileHigh - Dec 3/2021
Jennifer Anne Reich is an American sociologist, researcher and author at the University of Colorado Denver. Her research interests include healthcare, adolescence, welfare, and policy. Her work on vaccine hesitancy gained widespread attention during the 2019 measles outbreaks. She is the author of three books and numerous journal articles.

my blog: Aaron Rodgers: I’m disappointed but I’m not surprised. - Nov 18/2021
The stink is about Aaron Rodgers (b 1983), quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL).

my blog: Ivermectin: I'm not taking medical advice from Joe Rogan. - Nov 9/2021
From the outset of the pandemic, the supposed antiviral properties of the antiparasitic drug ivermectin has been bandied about left, right, and center. Even if expert sources of information like the CDC and the FDA said not to use it, people, especially those on the right led by Fox News, kept pushing ivermectin “propaganda”. Has anybody read the science, and if they did, did they understand what they were looking at?

my blog: What the heck is a respiratory droplet? - Nov 7/2021
You step outside on a cold, winter day, and you exhale. You see your breath. The cold has condensed the bits of moisture in the exhaled air and formed a mist. When you exhale, you’re not only breathing out air but dampness from your lungs, your mouth, and your windpipe . Those bits of moisture are called respiratory droplets.

my blog: Masks: How We Hate Change - Sep 28/2021
To mask, or not to mask, that should not be a question. I have to shake my head at all the protests against masks and vaccines. We hate being told what to do, even if it’s for our own good.

2022-01-21

Site Map - William Quincy BelleFollow me on Twitter

Friday 7 January 2022

Dear Antivaxxers: What about my rights?

Over and over again, I’ve heard you rally against vaccines. This is a violation of your individual freedom, and you should be the one making your own medical decisions. Vaccine mandates are out of the question.

Fine. But what about my rights? How come you keep talking about your rights but don’t bother about the rights of anybody else?

Confused? Let me explain.

Today, if we go to a restaurant, a smoker is not allowed to smoke. Nobody’s stopping them from smoking, but the rule is, they must smoke outside; they are not allowed to smoke in the restaurant. I have the right to breath smoke-free air. The smoker has the right to choose to smoke, but I have the right to choose not to smoke.

You will note that I’m not discussing the science. While I believe science conclusively proves the causal link between smoking and lung cancer, emphysema, and other ailments, including the shortening of one’s life, the smoker has the right to do what they want with their own body. However, they can’t force me to smoke, and that includes second-hand smoke. They have the right to jeopardize their life, but they have the responsibility to not jeopardize mine. They are free to do what they want but they are not free to harm me in the process.

Now, swap out smoking for vaccines. The smoker chooses to not believe the science or ignore it. You, the antivaxxer, choose not to believe the science or ignore it. Let me repeat the ground rules.

You have the right to jeopardize your life, but you have the responsibility to not jeopardize mine.

You are free to do what you want but you are not free to harm me in the process.

You go to the store and get angry about you having to wear a mask. Change the mask for a cigarette. Are you allowed to light up in a store? The rules say no.

You go to the store and get angry there’s a vaccine mandate. Change the mandate for a cigarette.

It’s at this point I can hear you screaming, “That’s not fair!”

Let’s return to smoking. You, the smoker, choose to not believe the science. The consensus of opinion in our society is that the science is real. Collectively, we’ve implemented rules based on that science. You are free to smoke but you’re not allowed to smoke in public places. You are free to do what you want but you are not free to harm me in the process.

An organization enacts mandatory vaccines. Screaming? I can now see steam coming out of your ears as you go ballistic. Back to smoking. The organization says that employees are not allowed to smoke at their desk. In fact, they’re not allowed to smoke in the offices. At all. Fair? An infringement of your freedom? You choose to ignore the science. I do not. The organization does not. Collectively, we choose to follow the science.

It’s at this point, an antivaxxer hauls out stats from the latest newspaper article making the rounds. Are you an epidemiologist, a specialist in infectious diseases? Are you a medical doctor? Are you in any way connected to the scientific community involved in medical research? I assume the answer is no, at which point I have to ask why you would think I would pay you the slightest bit of attention as opposed to, let’s say, Dr. Fauci of the United States, a career epidemiologist of 40 years who has advised seven American presidents?

You are free to believe that two plus two equals five. You can believe the earth is flat if you want. And you can smoke. But if you’ll excuse me, I’m going with the consensus of scientific research. I have an understanding of respiratory droplets, the airborne transmission of infectious diseases, viruses and vaccinations, and I choose to go with the science, not ignore it.

Look around you. Why do you not see measles? Is the disease gone? Has it been eradicated? The truth is that over 90% of the population has been inoculated against the disease. We’ve reached herd immunity, and the disease can no longer freely roam through the populace. The same for polio, mumps, rubella, etc. Vaccinations are very much a part of our public health. But, out of sight, out of mind. How quickly we forget.

In January 2018, a colleague at my company called me over to ask for my help. I stood at the door of her office, taking in her red nose, weeping eyes, and cough. When I asked her why she wasn’t at home, she told me she had too much work to do so like brave soldier, she came in to get her work done. I said thanks for coming in to infect all of us.

Shortly thereafter, I got sick with the flu. I couldn’t get out of bed for 48 hours and needed two weeks before I was recovered enough to go back to work. There is no doubt my colleague got me sick. If I was still at work (I’m now retired), today, I would go to management and the board and ask for, no, demand a company policy forcing sick people to stay at home. A brief Google search turns up that the lost productivity due to sickness adds up to tens of billions of dollars annually. Ignoring an issue doesn’t make it go away.

Final Word
I spent most of my life living with a family of smokers. Even though I’m a non-smoker, I’ve inhaled a fair share of second-hand smoke. I’ve thought it would be rich if I ended up being the one with lung cancer.

I didn’t think I’d live to see it, but somewhere around the year 2000, the public attitude changed, and communities issued new rules, barring smokers from public venues. — Old joke: A restaurant with a smoking section is like a swimming pool with a peeing section. — At last, I could have a smoke-free meal. Nobody stopped anybody from smoking; the rules just said you couldn’t smoke in front of somebody else. Voilà! We both get a good meal. You get to smoke, and I get to not smoke.

Vaccinations lead to a different issue. You can’t show up at a restaurant and magically be vaccinated, and then go home and magically be unvaccinated. Nobody is stopping you from not getting vaccinated, but the rules state you are not allowed to frequent such an establishment.

You are free to do what you want but there are consequences to your actions. You can’t do whatever the heck you want and expect to “get away with it”. You have to be a responsible adult.

Vaccines work. But I don’t just choose to believe the science, I try to understand the science, while recognising I’m not a scientist. In the end, I defer to the experts. You are free to believe what you want but remember that we all have to follow the rules.

Do what you want but be a responsible adult and deal with the consequences of your actions. It’s not just about your rights but also about your responsibilities. Jeopardize your life but don’t jeopardize mine.


References

Photo from Wikipedia COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the United States. Photo by Paul Becker, Aug 15, 2021

my blog: What I learned from parents who don't vaccinate their kids | Jennifer Reich | TEDxMileHigh - Dec 3/2021
Jennifer Anne Reich is an American sociologist, researcher and author at the University of Colorado Denver. Her research interests include healthcare, adolescence, welfare, and policy. Her work on vaccine hesitancy gained widespread attention during the 2019 measles outbreaks. She is the author of three books and numerous journal articles.

my blog: Aaron Rodgers: I’m disappointed but I’m not surprised. - Nov 18/2021
The stink is about Aaron Rodgers (b 1983), quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL).

my blog: Ivermectin: I'm not taking medical advice from Joe Rogan. - Nov 9/2021
From the outset of the pandemic, the supposed antiviral properties of the antiparasitic drug ivermectin has been bandied about left, right, and center. Even if expert sources of information like the CDC and the FDA said not to use it, people, especially those on the right led by Fox News, kept pushing ivermectin “propaganda”. Has anybody read the science, and if they did, did they understand what they were looking at?

my blog: What the heck is a respiratory droplet? - Nov 7/2021
You step outside on a cold, winter day, and you exhale. You see your breath. The cold has condensed the bits of moisture in the exhaled air and formed a mist. When you exhale, you’re not only breathing out air but dampness from your lungs, your mouth, and your windpipe . Those bits of moisture are called respiratory droplets.

my blog: Masks: How We Hate Change - Sep 28/2021
To mask, or not to mask, that should not be a question. I have to shake my head at all the protests against masks and vaccines. We hate being told what to do, even if it’s for our own good.

2022-01-07

Site Map - William Quincy BelleFollow me on Twitter

Monday 3 January 2022

The world has gone mad: Covid and Misinformation

Everybody has turned into their own expert. Armed with a computer and an Internet connection, anybody can transform into a genius in any field.

Never have so many said so much while knowing so little.

Then again, I will be the first to amusingly point out that by writing here, I’m doing exactly the same thing; I’m jotting down what I believe, and somebody could reasonably ask if my opinion is better than anybody else’s.

However, if I may be so bold, I like to think I’m doing what the average person doesn’t do: I research in order to back up my beliefs with expert sources of scientific information. Yes, I’m stating my opinion, but I like to think my opinion is not based on some wild conspiracy theory I saw in a social media post published by somebody wearing a tin foil hat; it is grounded in fact. And when I say fact, let me clarify:

Independent scientists doing independent research can independently arrive at the same results.

Time and time again over the past few years, I’ve noted how people say they believe such and such but are unable to offer verifiable, documented evidence. Two plus two equals five? Sure, but let me see your proof. Show me the math which does, in fact, prove the answer is five, not four. I am forever amused to hear people make a statement and then tell me to look it up. Guess what? I did, and they’re wrong!

Social Media
On Twitter, I posted my pro-mask, pro-vaccine stance, citing America’s Dr. Fauci. I received this reply:

Why would you listen to fauci lmao. Has lied over and over since the onset.

Let me get this straight. I’m stuck in the middle on this and need some guidance as to which way to turn.

On the one side, I have an anonymous poster on social media who has no credentials, no expertise whatsoever, and who, in his feed, has posted links to what I can confirm are conspiracy theory websites.

On the other side, I have Dr. Fauci, a career epidemiologist of 40 years who has advised seven presidents, the FDA, the CDC, frontline workers, doctors, nurses, the administrators of health care institutions, the governments of Canada, England, Spain, France, Germany, the Nordic countries, Australia, New Zealand, India, China, and Russia, etc.

Who should I trust? Who should I follow? To whom should I turn to for guidance during this public health crisis?

The above anonymous poster says that Fauci has lied. On Monday, the science says X. On Tuesday, Dr. Fauci talks to the public about X. On Wednesday, new data comes in, and science says Y. On Thursday, Dr. Fauci talks to the public about Y. Did Fauci lie? Science changes as new information becomes available. That’s science, not lying.

Here we go again. People with no credentials overestimate their own ability to interpret science, to understand how the world works, and stupidly ignore the advice of experts. (The Dunning-Kruger Effect) Here I am, standing the middle, anonymous poster on one side, and pretty much the rest of the world including the scientific community on the other side. Who should I believe?

Let’s face it, I would have to be pretty goldarned stupid to believe this poster as opposed to Dr. Fauci. There is no way I’m going to take medical advice from social media over a legitimate source of expertise with a proven track record.

It’s my turn to write lmao. I see people posting sh*t from nonexperts (Joe Rogan, Marjorie Greene), conspiracy theory web sites, and unreliable, biased sources (Hello, Fox News!) while completely avoiding any legitimate science, and I have to think people have lost their minds. Two plus two equals five. The Earth is flat. The Democrats are a cabal of pedophiles hell-bent on taking over the world and taking your children for their satanic sacrifices. I remain mystified by what some people believe and what they trust as a reliable source of information. The world has gone mad.

Unvaccinated

In December, I call a business acquaintance about a work-related matter. During our chat, he reveals he’s not vaccinated. Why? “I’m waiting to see what happens.” What?

His work involves meeting the public, but he said he had armed himself with tests and was verifying his status on a regular basis.

I spoke to him about my research and subsequently sent him some literature, but I assume he’s going to remain unswayed. His wife is vaccinated.

I have to shake my head. I can’t help feeling he’s turned this into a contest of wills. He wants to proudly wear a t-shirt: “I survived the pandemic unvaccinated and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.” Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do it. He could drive to the store and back while not wearing his safety belt. I wouldn’t recommend it, but he could do it and escape unscathed. If he doesn’t need a safety belt, why does he need a vaccine?

The pandemic is a hoax
In the past year, I’ve listened to a physio-therapist who is angry with the government. The lockdowns have at times closed his business, and he is outraged at being deprived his livelihood. That’s understandable. However, whenever I see him, he spouts off, ignoring all the facts. If not a hoax, the pandemic is an overblown issue. Respiratory droplets? Pshaw! Masks? He refuses to wear them and never asks his clients to wear them. What a recipe for disaster!

Nevertheless, he’s managed to get this far without any incident. Of course, that is merely a stroke of good luck. His business could see a hundred clients a week. If he became infected and remained asymptomatic for the usual 14 days, he could infect one to two hundred clients who would then infect their own families and circle of friends. How many people would be involved? Hundreds, possibly thousands. Whoa!

But as I said, he’s gotten this far without incident which I imagine only reinforces his idea that the severity of the pandemic has been exaggerated. By visiting with him, I know I’m taking a calculated risk but unfortunately, I don’t have any choice; he’s too important for my health. I've never been able to find anyone who matches his level of expertise.

Final Word
I think of the amusing synonyms for the know-it-all: armchair general or Monday morning quarterback. Let me add the laptop with a WiFi connection medical expert. I have to shake my head as people with no education or experience in epidemiology open their mouths and embarrass themselves by saying things which anybody without much effort using Google search can disprove.

Back at the beginning of the pandemic, I researched respiratory droplets and the airborne transmission of infectious diseases. It was all clear; I felt I knew exactly what was going on, and I followed the recommended course of action. Anything else would be foolish. It would be like confronting all the scientific evidence linking the use of tobacco to lung cancer, and then smoking a cigarette. I couldn’t do it. And when people complained that some measures were draconian, I believed it paid to be prudent, and I thought it better for all of us to err on the side of caution.

Of course, I must make a personal confession: I’m retired and live alone, meaning I sort of live in a bubble. In other words, I have not had to face two of the most challenging aspects of this pandemic: employment and schooling. I have not had job restrictions or even lost a job, and I’ve had not had to deal with homeschool learning. Some in my family have had to deal with those issues and have kept me apprised of what it’s like to live at the front lines. Maybe I wouldn’t be so understanding.

I’ve said that five years from now, historians and other experts will analyse what we’ve collectively done during this pandemic. What did we get right? What did we do wrong? Aside: I think t**** should be held criminally negligent for downplaying of the severity of the coronavirus. He, more than anyone else, has made things worse than they had to be. I've seen studies that state upwards of 40% of American deaths were unnecessary because t**** convinced people not to take this seriously.

Whatever that five-year analysis concludes, I have to make note of one very important point in any future discussions: We’re alive. Yes, we get to debate the issue because we’ve managed to survive. The dead don’t get a say. Some say the fact they’re alive means the pandemic wasn’t such a big deal, an overblown issue, or possibly a hoax. I’m alive but say I’m lucky. I haven’t been infected; I haven’t been hospitalized; and I haven’t ended up dead.

So, for all those antimaskers or antivaxxers or pandemic deniers, spouting off dubious statistics to supposedly back up their stance, you have the privilege of voicing your opinions for one simple reason: You’re alive. The coronavirus hasn’t been the zombie apocalypse. It would seem it hasn’t even been the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918. Nevertheless, I would say we have collectively demonstrated that like the politics of the past four years under t****, we are incapable of agreeing on a unified course of action. It’s pretty much every man for himself. Sit on your stoop with your shotgun and defend your castle. Who cares about anybody else?

As I like to say: The dinosaurs became extinct because of an asteroid. Humans will become extinct because of stupidity.

Cartoon by Jon Adams, The New Yorker
(I apologise. I do not have permission to repost this, but it is too good to pass up.)


References

my blog: What I learned from parents who don't vaccinate their kids | Jennifer Reich | TEDxMileHigh - Dec 3/2021
Jennifer Anne Reich is an American sociologist, researcher and author at the University of Colorado Denver. Her research interests include healthcare, adolescence, welfare, and policy. Her work on vaccine hesitancy gained widespread attention during the 2019 measles outbreaks. She is the author of three books and numerous journal articles.

my blog: What the heck is a respiratory droplet? - Nov 7/2021
You step outside on a cold, winter day, and you exhale. You see your breath. The cold has condensed the bits of moisture in the exhaled air and formed a mist. When you exhale, you’re not only breathing out air but dampness from your lungs, your mouth, and your windpipe . Those bits of moisture are called respiratory droplets.

my blog: Masks: How We Hate Change - Sep 28/2021
To mask, or not to mask, that should not be a question. I have to shake my head at all the protests against masks and vaccines. We hate being told what to do, even if it’s for our own good.


2022-01-03

Site Map - William Quincy BelleFollow me on Twitter