As I cleared out my desk, I came across infographics on the importance of babies seeing faces, the dangers of too much screen time, and notes from trainings that described the detrimental effects of social isolation. These were relics of a time when the well-being of children was the singular focus of my work, but that era in public health seemed to have passed.
That such an obvious and settled point of science became taboo for a time is truly a scandal for the ages. Now we know that it was a deliberate decision. Why? And why are we only now hearing about it, long after knowing this truth might have saved so much destruction?
Masks are actually part of a very big deal for children, because they interfere with every aspect of normal social functioning, and raising an entire generation of kids to believe that hiding their faces is normal, and that it plus “testing” completes their civic duty toward our collective public health.
The biggest challenge is for policy makers. What is the goal now? Covid-19 cannot be stopped; it will spread across all people and we are likely to be infected several times over in our lives. What is the goal then? Policy makers have never said what their goal is.
We wish you the best of luck in making your own decision about what medications you choose to take into your body at this troubling time in our nation’s history.
What an Honest Vaccine Rollout Announcement Might Have Looked Like Read More
The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) published by the Centers for Disease Control has released a fascinating study on comparing hospitalization with Covid-19 immunity status, thus addressing a topic of pressing concern for public health. The study, published in the January 28, 2022 weekly, carries the self-explanatory title “COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations by COVID-19 Vaccination Status and Previous COVID-19 Diagnosis — California and New York, May–November 2021.”
If governments and public-health officials are looking for people to blame for vaccine hesitancy, they need only look in the mirror.
The other day I see this guy with a little kid on a playground. Both masked up. Only the two of them, in the open air, masked. The kid had two masks, no, three. Different colors. The fear’s still there. But people could get over it. Even in California.
A merely obedient population might be easy to govern in the short term, but it will be tragically unable to change course when the data shows that the greater good lies elsewhere than we had previously thought.
In a world where, to paraphrase Zygmunt Bauman, all is liquid and most are driven by the search for fleeting sensations, and where establishing a personal hermeneutic through reading and contemplation is considered quaintly quixotic when not impossible, the mutterings of the authority figure nearby take on an enhanced attraction.
It Was All There in the EUA. Why Couldn’t They See it? Read More
This is the largest and latest example of the revolt and one that could make the biggest difference yet. But it is only one sign among many that the ruling elites in most countries have overplayed their hand. They have arrogantly imposed their plans for everyone else based on the opinions of only a few and without real consultation with experts with differences of opinion or with the people whose lives have been profoundly affected by the pandemic response.
The sad, tragic fact is that their measures, from lockdowns to masks to even vaccine mandates, have done little to nothing to curb the spread of this highly contagious respiratory virus, and taken as a whole they’ve likely done more harm than good.
