gwb-trading, I can only presume you did not read the article above, or if you did, you did not critically think about the misleading, dangerous propaganda-style nature of the article. Either way, shame on you for posting it.
Frederick Foresight and wrbtrader, you both gave a “Like” to gwb-trading’s post above. I expect better from both of you. While our politics are often different, I have come to expect you two to critically think about things and to take reasonable approaches. Your “”Likes” above call into question my previous assessments of you.
Michael J. Stern, the author of the above article was a former prosecutor 25 years in both Detroit and Los Angeles? Mixed emotions here. Thank God this clown is apparently no longer directly involved in our legal profession, but he may well cause even more damage by being a half-assed propagandist for a failing country, like former Soviet Union was. Speaking of the Soviet Union, the author’s low quality article, even by propagandist standards, is of such low quality, with lies being easily verified, would have likely landed the author in the Gulag, in my estimation.
Ok, enough ad hominem. Time to rip this article new one:
The first statement of the article is not just wrong, it is a gross lie, given our long understanding of influenza, of which Corona viruses make up a significant portion:
I’m sure most here have heard the term “Annual flu shots” and there is a proposed booster, already, for Covid-19, in spite of two shots already being required as part of the covid “Immunization” process. There is no herd immunity for flu-like viruses. These viruses mutate faster, and into significantly different forms faster than we can develop vaccines for them. This worse than a game of Whack-a-Mole. In fact, the long standing annual influenza vaccines are more about pharmaceutical companies selling product than sound medical practice. Care to read the manufacturer's own warning label(s)?
The above statement is actually true, in that many don’t trust our government, the medical profession, and Democrats. What is the underlying cause for these beliefs? If you thought “Politicalization of a virus” or a political party, along with much of our media, used the “Pandemic as a political weapon”, you are correct. Hopefully, our political parties and our media have or will agree that certain things should be off limits for politics, such as major events happening beyond our incumbent leader’s control, given all the mistrust generated in this self-imposed debacle of a pandemic.
It is a delusional fantasy to either think we can eradicate or would want to eradicate influenza, or even the common cold, for that matter. Just a low level doses of radiation have an apparently “Homeostasis” type of benefit, it seem likely we benefit overall when our immune system is activated from time to time.
Back to the title of this article. The author proposes “Shunning” those who justifiably distrust our system that is attempting to control ever more aspects of our lives. Other words that fit in place of “Shunning” are “Permanently reducing freedom” and “Imposing permanent controls”. Again, this brings use back to the divisive underlying issue of politicizing a virus and the futility of expecting non critical cooperation by harmed parties, especially over a issue that is seemingly ambiguous, ironically, because of poor media coverage on the issue, either by design, or inadvertent, on the the most devastating aspects of Covid: Long term disability and reduction of quality of life. Further, what above reverse zoonosis, Covid-19 mutating inside new hosts, and zoonosis back to humans? What about the devastation to avian, livestock, and other harvested animals? Instead of focusing on politics, our media needed to focus on the seriousness of Covid-19.
In my opinion, Covid-19 is actually a serious version of the flu that justifies official action. Too bad vaccines are not terribly effective and in those cases those shots would otherwise be effective, the benefits provided don’t last long. Only a matter of months of protection for the targeted strain, in fact, especially for the elderly, wanes. Which is a shame, as the elderly are most vulnerable to flu-like viruses.
So what are the answers? We screwed the pooch on Covid-19 on a global basis, but particularly in the US by both political parties, the media, and our healthcare system. We, the US and global leaders, need to learn from past mistakes and implement sound policy so future variants of common viruses or emerging viruses do not have a chance to cause the impact Covid-19 did. This means quicker border and regional lockdowns, quicker implementation of PPE requirements, and the rapid establishment of enforceable protocols in handling the new disease. When a virus is treated as our common enemy, not a political leader, people unify and will accept needed controls against a real common enemy.
While I’m not expecting apologies from the propagators and condoners of partisan misinformation of the quoted article, I am hoping for sincere effort on their part to be more critical in the future.
