At American Council on Science and Health: Political Partisanship is a Public Health Scourge

_{Denyse O'Leary

July 13, 2020

Culture, Intelligent Design, Media, Philosophy, Science}

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Alex Berezow is not optimistic:

My colleague, Dr. Chuck Dinerstein, wrote about a new study that showed that politicians on Twitter could be identified as Republican or Democrat with 70% reliability by an algorithm that analyzed the text of tweets. For instance, Republicans tended to use the words “China” and “coronavirus,” while Democrats tended to use words like “public,” “health,” and “crisis.” It’s almost as if each side was given a script to use. (They probably were.)
This phenomenon isn’t new. It’s just worse and a lot more obvious now than before. The allegedly non-partisan “March for Science” was nakedly political, as is a group called 314 Action, whose goal is to elect scientists into public office, but only if they’re Democrats.
Alex Berezow, “Political Partisanship Is A Scourge On Public Health” at American Council on Science and Health

The situation poses a threat to science itself. For example, politicians act as though COVID-19 restrictions only matter for some people, not others.

COVID-19, trust us, does not care if you are a virtuous Black Lives Matter protestor or a deplorable Trump rally attendee. It is looking for live human cells to destroy, that’s all. If you’re there and you’re alive, well… you’re at risk. How much of a problem that is seems to depend on your age and health but not your virtue.

It’s almost as if we have gone back in time to a prescientific age when everyday life was thought to be directly controlled by good and evil forces. So masks and social distancing only matter when the forces of Virtue and Science say they do. Otherwise they don’t matter. And no conclusions are to be drawn from the outcomes in any situation except that we ought to be ever more respectful of the forces of Virtue and Science.

Sure, that’ll work. About as well as it did in pre-modern times.

See also: COVID-19 and fading respect for Big Science. It’s not the uncertainty that is the problem. It’s the demand for belief and obedience to a variety of conflicting claims in the face of such uncertainty. Sooner or later people begin to doubt whatever they hear, even in matters about which there is considerable certainty. And Big Science is bringing that on itself. It isn’t the “enemies of science” who are doing it.

Comments

Looks like there may be real estate opportunities in MO...ET_{July 17, 2020
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The Missouri tourist town of Branson postponed a vote on whether to impose a mask ordinance after residents repeated deep suspicions of public health experts, the health care system and data tracking the spread of COVID-19. “Excuse me if I sound a little punch drunk, I’m freaking tired,” said Branson Alderman Bill Skains about 7½ hours into the nearly 8½-hour meeting and after nearly 40 members of the public had spoken. “It is just absurd the things that I’ve heard. … Some of the wackiest stuff I’ve ever heard in my life — over wearing a mask.” One resident, wearing a hat and T-shirt that read, “Tyranny Response Team,” said the coronavirus was “artificially created” in a North Carolina lab to make money for a company “in cahoots” with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At least three people likened mask mandates to the Holocaust that killed millions of Jews and other Europeans. One woman wore a wedding veil Thursday as a face shield and warned against moving toward a socialist society. Another brought a sign calling out the mayor for his “mask asphyxiation orders," The Kansas City Star reports. https://apnews.com/3afb9d62ff052173850ced0087671fbdrhampton7_{July 17, 2020
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JVL, it seems there is a debate on how the CDC has been reporting the numbers, by what criteria. Apparently there is a loss of confidence in the CDC's approach. KFkairosfocus_{July 17, 2020
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Former game show host Chuck Woolery tweeted Sunday that “ The most outrageous lies are the ones about Covid 19. Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust. I think it’s all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I’m sick of it," On Monday afternoon, Woolery said his son tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. "To further clarify and add perspective, Covid-19 is real and it is here. My son tested positive for the virus," Woolery tweeted, adding that he feels for "those suffering and especially for those who have lost loved ones." His Twitter account no longer existed on Wednesday https://apple.news/AtOKKL2xqSMuXbsQSGi5b8Arhampton7_{July 16, 2020
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Already criticized, the first study supervised by Didier Raoult has been the subject of a complete challenge since July 13. In a critical "review" published in The International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, the Dutch researcher Frits Rosendaal dismantles the protocol of the director of the IHU in Marseille in ten points. Who wrote this review? The author, Frits Rosendaal, is a professor of clinical epidemiology and chair of the department of clinical epidemiology at a university hospital in the Netherlands. He was awarded the Spinoza Prize, the highest Dutch distinction in terms of scientific prize. He wrote this review at the request of the International Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (ISAC), as "expert advice". Why was he chosen to write this review? “After the publication of Didier Raoult's study, the directors of the review considered withdrawing the article, due to criticism. They looked for an independent assessor, an expert in methodology but not involved in all of this, that is to say me. I had never even seen the article and decided to criticize it as if it were new, without looking at the public debate. This is the normal way of evaluating a scientific manuscript before it is published, called peer review. It is sent to experts, usually 2 or 3, who write an evaluation of the manuscript and send it to the editor, who then makes a decision. Even if it was after publication, I approached it in exactly the same way, ”says the Parisian researcher Frits Rosendaal. "I recommended withdrawing it because it was not informative, and in my opinion with far-reaching conclusions that were baseless and perhaps misleading. The ISAC decided not to retract, but to consider this as a scientific debate. I then took the position that it would be important to make this journal public, and I insisted on publishing it without a single letter being changed. I think that a legal action was to be feared on this subject, which would delay the publication of the review, and these deliberations thus took time ”, answers for its part Frits Rosendaal. https://www.leparisien.fr/societe/irresponsable-la-premiere-etude-de-didier-raoult-mise-a-mal-par-une-revue-critique-16-07-2020-8354028.phprhampton7_{July 16, 2020
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About 24 per cent of the patients given hydroxychloroquine in the study had persisting symptoms over a 14-day period, while roughly 30 per cent of the group given a placebo were determined to have persistent symptoms over the same period. The difference was not statistically significant, the researchers said. "Hydroxychloroquine did not substantially reduce symptom severity or prevalence over time in non-hospitalized persons with **early** COVID-19," the researchers wrote in an article to be published by Annals of Internal Medicine on Thursday. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/hydroxychloroquine-ineffective-against-mild-covid-19--study-shows-12939552rhampton7_{July 16, 2020
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On authors of two recent studies published in British review Recovery and French revue Discovery claiming the treatment is ineffective: “They are ignoramuses” who either gave patients too much or too little of the drug. “Had they asked my opinion, they might have been more effective,” Raoult said https://uk.news.yahoo.com/french-doctor-championed-hydroxychloroquine-explain-135138754.htmlrhampton7_{July 16, 2020
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Boulware said there had been some hope that zinc would boost the effectiveness of the drug, but neither study showed any improved benefit for patients who took that supplement.
All recovered. What Boulware did not say for this news story and which is extremely relevant is that the study was conducted on people unlikely to get the virus and if they did get it would recover quickly. They were young. Average age 41. So an irrelevant study and as such comments on zinc were irrelevant. Have to see how this study was administered. His previous study was by mail and not hands on and based on perception of those in trial. So for RHampton who does not understand the virus, the use of HCQ is not as important as a prophylatic as it is for early use after infection. A lot of people are using it as a prophylatic and there are reports of success. It is not for late use because the virus has already developed beyond much help for it spreading. It is not for use with young people because their immune systems will probably defeat the virus. It is for use with people at risk who have been infected by the virus and are in the initial stages. At which point it is best used with zinc because the zinc will prevent the virus from replicating. So any study outside these parameters is an irrelevant study and the report of the negative effect of HCQ is fake news. RHampton is not an English speaker so he will not pick up the nuances of English usage and misinterpret what you say. He also doesn't understand how the virus works as he just reports negative things. For example, if an area reports 10,000 positives and they are all on young people, that means few will die as the number of positives is not a bad thing, but eventual death and harm from the virus remaining for a long time is. For example, he again publishes a negative story on Israel which is one of the best in the world at not having people die, As of today they have had 46 thousand cases and 384 deaths. But if you read RHamption it is all doom and gloom.jerry_{July 16, 2020
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Wow! What a jerk. I never said their results were due to a lack of zinc or untested pH levels. HCQ, by itself, works because it alters the pH level in the person taking it. This in turn changes the spatial shape of the ACE2 receptors. The resulting change prevents the virus from docking with the cell. HCQ and ACE2 inhibitors would be the best scenario for that. Knowing that, without the pH analysis we have no idea why it didn't work. HCQ with zinc is thoroughly explained in the MedCram videos you have ignored- specifically #34ET_{July 16, 2020
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Raoult, in his criticism of the clinical studies that refuted his findings, specifically claimed the “imbeciles” used a dosage either too high or too low to be effective. He did not claim their results were due to a lack of zinc or untested pH levels. In addition, the article did not go into granular details about every measured biological function of the patients. They may have monitored pH levels, I don’t know. You, however, made a definitive determination without any facts.rhampton7_{July 16, 2020
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Wow- HCQ with Zinc, is the preventive measure. That said, if they didn't do a pH analysis on the patients then they didn't know what they were doing. Thank you, rhampton, for exposing the medical profession as being full of dolts wrt covid-19.ET_{July 16, 2020
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Interior Minister Aryeh Deri acknowledged the government didn’t take sufficient measures to prevent a resurgence of the coronavirus during a meeting of ministers today, set to discuss imposing further restrictions, Channel 12 news reports. “When we were still at 100 [new] sick people a day we needed to prepare,” Deri, who heads the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, is quoted saying by the network. “With testing, quarantines and cutting the infection rate.” He also warned the health system could be overwhelmed in the winter, when Israel could face an outbreak of the flu and coronavirus simultaneously, if preparations aren’t made. The report also says that during the meeting, Health Ministry officials warned that Israel could see 20 coronavirus deaths a day next month if the rate of new infections isn’t curbed. https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-july-16-2020/rhampton7_{July 16, 2020
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U (of Minnesota) researchers compared outcomes of people with early symptoms of COVID-19 — with one group taking hydroxychloroquine and the other taking a non-medicating placebo — and found no difference in outcomes. Death rates of .4% were identical in the two comparison groups. Hospitalizations and persistent symptoms were slightly more common in the placebo group, but not by a statistically significant difference. Mostly mild side effects such as nausea or stomach problems were reported by 43% of the patients taking the drug vs. 22% taking the placebo. "This is definitely not what we thought was going to happen," said Dr. David Boulware, a leader of the trial and a U infectious disease physician. This is the second trial result produced by the U, with the first being published in the New England Journal of Medicine and examining whether hydroxychloroquine prevented symptoms and illnesses in people who had already been likely exposed to the virus. That study also didn't show a benefit. Boulware said there had been some hope that zinc would boost the effectiveness of the drug, but neither study showed any improved benefit for patients who took that supplement. https://www.startribune.com/second-u-study-shows-no-hydroxychloroquine-benefit-in-covid-19-fight/571791202/rhampton7_{July 16, 2020
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A new directive from the Trump administration has cut the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention out of the loop for data from hospitals treating patients with COVID-19, a move which could have significant effects on what information about the pandemic is made public and how it is presented and used.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/07/trump-admin-undercuts-cdc-seizes-control-of-national-covid-19-data/JVL_{July 16, 2020
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New review of Didier Raoult’s paper by Frits R. Rosendaal...but the conclusion appears fairly damning.
It essentially a hit piece by way of a fake review. The abstract gives away the agenda. It is a review of a very small study (26 patients) done some time in early March or February when people were in a hurry (published in late March.) It is meaningless. It has been reported by others here and I guess has generated a lot press coverage in the last day since you are the third person to bring it up. Which is the most interesting thing. Why has this irrelevant review gotten traction? My guess is some with an agenda are pushing it.jerry_{July 15, 2020
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New review of Didier Raoult's paper by Frits R. Rosendaal, published on July 13th. I haven't read it but the conclusion appears fairly damning.
This is a non-informative manuscript with gross methodological shortcomings. The results do not justify the far-reaching conclusions about the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in Covid-19, and in the view of this reviewer do not justify any conclusion at all.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924857920302338Mac McTavish_{July 15, 2020
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Gov. Kay Ivey's decision to mandate mask use amid a surge in COVID-19 cases drew a wide spectrum of responses from Alabama politicians. The order, which goes into effect Thursday at 5 p.m. and runs through July 31, requires individuals to wear a mask when "within six feet of another person within indoor space open to the general public; a vehicle operated by a transportation service, or an outdoor public space where ten or more people are gathered." Ivey's order includes several exceptions for young children, exercise and some essential workers and in constitutionally-protected activities. Ivey also said at a press conference on Wednesday that she was not directing law enforcement to arrest those who may violate the order. https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2020/07/15/alabama-mask-order-draws-praise-criticism-gov-kay-ivey-mandate/5443647002/rhampton7_{July 15, 2020
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A doctor in Ireland has made a video that appears to debunk the notion that wearing a face mask can lower a person’s oxygen levels. In a 70-second video posted to Twitter on July 14, Dr. Maitiu O Tuathail, whose Twitter and LinkedIn profiles state he is a general practitioner based in Dublin, Ireland, is seen standing next to a machine that measures oxygen saturation levels in the blood. With a monitor clip over one of his index fingers, Tuathail is seen putting on a disposable medical mask. Over the course of the short video, the doctor carefully puts on six masks in total, one at a time. As he does this, the meter steadily shows an almost-perfect oxygen saturation level that fluctuates slightly between 98 and 99 per cent. In the post, which has been liked and retweeted thousands of times, Tuathail said he was repeatedly asked by patients if wearing a face mask would lower their oxygen levels. He said his patients were being misinformed and were basing their questions “on what they are reading on social media.” https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/doctor-puts-on-six-face-masks-in-video-to-debunk-idea-that-they-lower-oxygen-levels-1.5025293 Video https://twitter.com/drzerocraic/status/1283048334031290375?s=21rhampton7_{July 15, 2020
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Walmart will require customers at all of its US stores to wear masks beginning next week, becoming the largest retailer to mandate facial coverings as coronavirus cases continue to rise. Other national chains have made similar moves. Starbucks said last week that it will require customers to wear facial coverings or masks in all 9,000 of its company-owned US stores beginning Wednesday. Best Buy announced Tuesday that it will also require all shoppers coming into its approximately 1,000 stores to wear face masks. Costco began requiring its members to wear masks in stores beginning in May. https://ktla.com/news/nationworld/walmart-will-start-requiring-all-customers-to-wear-masks/rhampton7_{July 15, 2020
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The analysis conducted by Survival At Home, a survival and preparedness website, with direct access to what Twitter calls "tweet geospatial metadata," or the location information that's built into tweets and the profiles that post them. Survival At Home frequently posts this kind of ranked analysis using trends software on twitter metadata. Compiling over 150,000 geotagged Twitter posts that referenced popular hashtags like "#nomask," "#burnyourmask," "iwillnotcomply" and others, Survival At Home was able to produce a map of the hotspots for anti-mask sentiment. "As you can see, there are pockets of anti-mask activity all across the US, however the upper northeast (outside of Maine) is the most pro-mask region," Ryan Taylor, a publicist for the marketing and brand firm Fresh Marketing, said. After Arizona, the states with the most anti-mask online activity are Nevada, Florida, Idaho and Maine, Taylor said. https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-breaking/2020/07/14/arizona-most-resistant-wearing-masks-study-finds/5439555002/rhampton7_{July 15, 2020
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New York got serious
Deaths per million population as of today New York - 1669 New Jersey - 1763 Florida - 205 I am glad that New York was serious. What would the numbers be if they were not? Florida has the oldest population in the country along with Maine. Just think what New York's numbers were if a lot of their older population had not moved to Florida. Florida has about a third more older people over 65 than New York. Not as much of a target rich environment in New York but they did their best. If New York were a country, it would have the highest death rate in the world. Glad they got serious!!! Of course New Jersey is worse so there is some consolation.jerry_{July 15, 2020
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RP, I read somewhere that Florida recently reported more cases in one day than South Korea has had since the start of the pandemic. In my region, the local health department has actually stopped testing temporarily because the backlog for tests is something like 3 weeks, which is longer than the quarantine period. I'm expecting this to be just bad enough to make the start of the school year a complete sh*tshow in many areas.daveS_{July 15, 2020
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New York got serious and crushed the number of new cases of the disease. New York now has fewer than 1000 new cases a day. Here in Florida it’s more like 10,000 new cases a day. And yes our hospitals are filling up. Dozens of hospitals in Florida are turning people away. My friend Susan who works at a UF medical facility has declined to hang out since February. She was the first person who made me aware that there are lots of people who aren’t dying, but they’re not fully recovered after months. Lung damage, heart damage, brain damage. https://www.cbsnews.com/video/hospitals-overwhelmed-as-florida-reports-record-virus-deaths/Retired Physicist_{July 15, 2020
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various directives aimed at slowing the spread of the highly contagious and often deadly virus whose victims are filling up hospitals.
A few things - Are the hospitals filling up with C19 patients? We know the hospital ships left New York and Los Angeles because there were no patients. And New York was the hot spot of the globe at the time and also had a large hospital fabricated in Central Park that was shut down. What percentage of hospital beds, regular and ICU are C19 patients? Second, what is the end game that people who espousing various forms of the continued lockdown see? We never see how they believe this will play out over time or how it will end. Third, what are the negative aspects of the lockdown? We know they are drastic. Just who is being affected? It is the poor that are suffering while the well off in their air conditioned home with a steady paycheck that are in favor of the lock down? https://pewrsr.ch/38X4bWqjerry_{July 15, 2020
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What is feasible in the Hospital or can be attempted among adults becomes hopeless with children ...
And, erm, some adults.daveS_{July 15, 2020
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RH7, let's get real. A couple of days ago, I passed a gaggle of kids heading to a local primary school, they were instantly recognisable from their uniforms. Masks were in evidence, and were all over the map, under chin being noteworthy. Now, transfer that to LA and other places. What is feasible in the Hospital or can be attempted among adults becomes hopeless with children and will likely be psychologically damaging. That points, strongly, to a herd immunity solution. KFkairosfocus_{July 15, 2020
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Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) wasn't on the tarmac to greet Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday morning because he has tested positive for coronavirus, according to an email blast to employees of the state Department of Justice. Landry has been one of the more vocal opponents to various directives aimed at slowing the spread of the highly contagious and often deadly virus whose victims are filling up hospitals. Last week, Landry urged the state's top school board to avoid mandating the use of face masks by students and teachers when schools reopen next month. "We believe that mandating students to wear masks creates a situation that may cross the line on liberty, and also may become a tremendous distraction with enforcement," Landry said in his July 9 letter to Education Superintendent Cade Brumley. https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_9c903346-c5de-11ea-9959-13ef00c6d5cc.htmlrhampton7_{July 14, 2020
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During an interview, CBS News' Catherine Herridge asked the president whether there should be a federal mandate on wearing masks or if it should be left to governors to decide. Trump responded that governors go by guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and "that's good." When asked whether he would urge Americans to wear masks, Trump replied: “If it‘s necessary, I would urge them to wear a mask and I would say follow the guidelines.“ CDC officials wrote in an editorial on Tuesday that cloth face coverings were vital to fighting coronavirus, and could be particularly effective when all members of a community wore them. The editorial, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, said wearing masks could both protect wearers and prevent those with coronavirus from spreading infected droplets. The president had also said during an interview with Fox Business two weeks ago that he was “all for masks. I think masks are good.“ https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/14/trump-urges-americans-to-wear-masks-361836rhampton7_{July 14, 2020
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It isn't a joke. That's why people need to do the research to find out what they can do to protect themselves. That knowledge and information is out there. Easily over 50% of the fatalities would have been prevented if everyone followed the recommended prophylaxis of the Eastern Virginia Medical School-> EVMS CRITICAL CARE COVID-19 MANAGEMENT PROTOCOLET_{July 14, 2020
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Evangelist Andy Stanley is sharing an inspiring story about a close friend who recently recovered from COVID-19. Stuart Hall and his wife Kellee joined Stanley during a video interview that was posted to YouTube on Monday where the three discussed the seriousness of the coronavirus, which Hall declared is "no joke." "It's not a conspiracy theory," he said. "This is not a political agenda. And more than anything, Andy, it's incredibly disrespectful to the medical community. Men and women who are risking their own life to save lives." "When you think about Jesus saying 'there is no greater love than someone would lay down their life for a friend,'" he added. "Every time we think about doctors and nurses, that's what I'm going to think about. It's the men, women, and friends all over this country that prayed and loved me home." https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2020/july/covid-19-survivor-tells-andy-stanley-doctors-and-nurses-risked-their-life-to-save-my-liferhampton7_{July 14, 2020
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