Shortly after it all began on March 21, 2020, I made a pitch on this blog saying: “Were I in a position of power to do so, I’d prohibit any person going outside without a mask. You say we have a shortage of them. That’s not true. We can make our own. Let’s start doing it.”
A Trump supporter, objected: “Part of the joy of life is seeing human faces, . . . Masks give a false sense of security. . . . 2009 Swine Flu: “. . . 12,469 deaths . . . in the United States . . . due to the virus.” Even if coronavirus is ten times more lethal, expect 120,000 deaths. And for this, we shut down society, we shut down the economy? Compare that projected 120,000 with the annual 70,000 drug deaths.”
A little later the Trumper added: “To order Americans to wear masks is an order incapable of being complied with. You say people can make their own masks. How effective are they? Who has tested them?” He asked that we, “objectively assess the adverse effect on mental health and physical health caused by these closures. The adverse effects of putting millions out of work should also be assessed.” Then he said, “The hope is . . . this scourge passing within a few weeks.” He added: “supporting our president and vice president, AND FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT, ESPECIALLY AGAINST LIBERALS.”
Interesting to note that the idea of masks early on became a divisive force in our society. It was the liberals who were pushing for masks. The Trumpers worried about the economy and mental health and not the folks who would die. This Trumper who professes to be pro-life added that we should not be too concerned because: “The virus kills mainly the elderly.”
On March 25, 2020, I wrote: “The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has suggested we make our own masks. They won’t be as effective as a surgical mask which captures 97%, but a vacuum cleaner bag captures 95%, a dish cloth 83% cotton blend shirt (74%) and a 100% cotton shirt, 69%. A double layer dish towel is as effective as a surgical mask. This though is hard to breathe through. Recommended was a pillowcase or cotton T-shirts.
I would urge everyone to make homemade masks. If we all begin to wear them outside others will follow. We will be protecting ourselves and protecting others”
The Trumper set forth the other view: “CONCLUSION: IF YOU’RE SICK, STAY HOME; IF YOUR SICK (coughing) AND MUST GO OUTSIDE, WEAR A MASK. IF YOU’RE HEALTHY, YOU DON’T NEED TO WEAR A MASK, and we all should follow local health authorities and CDC recommendations. For now, and for the next two weeks in Massachusetts, we stay at home, except to shop for food and pharmaceuticals and to go for walks. Live. Respect life. Don’t worry. Act rationally, not fearfully.”
On March 27, 2020, I wrote: “We now have 101,657 cases and 1,581 deaths. . . . “I urge everyone to take a simple step. Please wear a mask outside. This should be a country mandated requirement. Why can’t this be done? The Asian countries do it; the Western don’t. Isn’t that why Asia is beating this.”
How little we knew back then. Fortunately, in many parts of the country we recognized that wearing masks along with other steps did increase the likelihood of not catching Covid 19. There were the naysayers who turned it into a political issue – Trump declaring he would not wear a mask – the Trumpers following him.
We will soon have 600,000 Americans who died from Covid -19, most because they blindly follow the Pied Trumpeter.
Ramadan Kareem.
If the evolution of Covid 19 variants continues, we’ll be wearing masks ten years from now. There’s a new Covid surge on the horizon. Wear those masks. Get your shots. Don’t be foolish, listen to Fauci.
In-sha-Allah, we’ll weather this crisis.
Matt
Wow!
https://www.thedailybeast.com/white-house-asks-cdc-to-study-how-many-have-died-after-covid-vaccine-shots
Saturday, April 10, 2021
White House Asks CDC to Study How Many Have Died After COVID Vaccine Shots/Jan 28 Daily Beast
Below, I am including a complete article from the Daily Beast, because I meant to blog more about it when it came out but didn’t, and because it is extremely important in understanding the methods used by our public health agencies, especially CDC, to avoid collecting information, so they won’t have to deal with it. I never read a successor story to this one, about what information the CDC did provide to the White House, if any, about post-vaccine deaths, and would appreciate any help learning more.
In other threats…..
“If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:”
I am conservative, like my parents and most siblings. I am pro-life, pro-principles over personalities (I generally support Trump’s and Reagan’s conservative policies), pro-principles over party affiliations. I am pro-Catholicism, Judeo-Christian traditions, Western Civilization. I am pro-strong defense, and pro-peace. I am anti-interventionism, war mongering, hate mongering.
Am I a “Trumper”? I count myself among those 63 million Americans who voted for Trump in 2016 and the 75 million in 2020. Call me, whatever.
I stand by my past comments as fully consistent with Science then as known in March 2020. It is true that I generally follow the recommendations of “local health authorities and the CDC.” I’ve studied biology, medicine, public health and environmental law. I think independently and accordingly with my experiences and education.
I correctly stated “Most Covid deaths are in elderly”. I never said or implied “we should not be too concerned” about deaths. All lives matter, unborn, newborns, children, youths, seniors.
I did aptly compare Covid deaths to 70,000 annual drug overdose deaths. The Nation had 5,000 Covid deaths by March 30; 65,000 by April 30. Then, country’s best epidemiologists at NIH, CDC, HSPH, Wash State, et alia, predicted 100,000 to 200,000 deaths. Some predicted, “a peak in April”, and a rapid fall by July: one said 10 deaths per day by July. I too expressed hopefully that the plague would pass shortly. Did I say, “within a few weeks?” Probably. Remember when all the public health scientists sent everyone home from college, didn’t they expect that shutdown would be short lived, a few weeks maybe, to flatten the curve?
In April 2020, Harvard School of Public Health reported that epidemiologist William Hanage said that 100,000 to 200,000 deaths “certainly seem to be within the reasonable framework.” He cautioned: “it could be higher or lower.” He admitted the difficulty “communicating the amounts of uncertainty that we have.” Good scientists make room for doubts, questioning.
In late February 2020, Doctor Fauci described Covid as “low risk” and on March 8, on “60 Minutes” said the public should not be “walking around with a mask.” I do not disparage Fauci. He simply changed his opinion when new studies showed the asymptomatic infected could transmit. The secondary reason was some concern about a shortage of vital masks.
My March-April 2020 comments were in synchronicity with Scientists.
On April 2nd, the CDC/NIH/Trump Administration recommended mask-wearing. That day I began wearing them. Trump said he was tested daily, practiced social distance at rallies, and always carried a mask with him. One study connected some Trump rallies to a small increase in cases, but not decisively.
Duke’s 2020 study explained that some masks were useless. Some cited Asia’s mask-wearing traditions but have yet to explain why 40 African Countries have lower Covid death rates than Japan. Let’s await for future retrospective studies sort out many-factors: genetics, immunology, social-culture practices, et cetera.
Lockdowns: No doubt lockdowns caused higher rates of suicide, homicide, domestic violence, drug addiction, alcoholism and we’ll likely see many more deaths due to delays in routine cancer screenings, mammographs, cardio and other preventive medicines.
Today, I reaffirm my affinity to health sciences and reaffirm my antipathy to today’s liberalism which is a scourge on America, with its anti-life attitudes, its anti-traditions, its anti-religion. Liberalism is akin to socialism, akin to Marxism, akin to autocratic Big Government, Orwellian Big Brotherism. I am opposed to factions within liberalism in academia, media, the Feds and Big Businesses espousing overtly or implicitly censorship, oppression of freedoms of speech, association, religion.
“One way to think about the problem is by analogy to seasonal influenza. Hardly anybody wears a mask in ordinary settings to protect against the flu, and no one is required to do so. The worst flu seasons of recent years saw an average of 220 deaths a day nationwide. The seven-day moving average for Covid-19 daily deaths hovers around 900, still considerably worse. But that’s a 78% reduction since January, and the trends are favorable almost everywhere in the country. When the 14-day rolling average of daily Covid deaths has come down below flu level, which may happen within the next month or two, we should adjust our thinking about the coronavirus accordingly.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/dr-fauci-tear-off-these-masks-11617387381
Henry:
You let out an important qualifier: “If the coronavirus epidemic in the U.S. continues on its current trajectory, the need for masks outside particular local outbreak areas will pass in a matter of weeks.” Unfortunately that does not seem to be the case. Plus, it is sort of silly to compare Covid to the flu. The author (like Dr. Atlas is a radiologist – we’ve seen the destruction he bought) goes on: ” If combined with continued lower rates of infection and death, I believe that would be enough to justify an end to mask-wearing outside high-risk settings.
The author ends” “I believe it will probably be safe to end mask mandates by the end of April, but Memorial Day weekend is a more realistic target. Until then, even if you’ve been vaccinated, you’ll have to wear a mask when you’re indoors in public.” So I guess like me she sees the ad visibility of wearing a mask but I’m not about to abandon them because of all the “ifs” she throws out. As for citing doctors, I’ve had some people cite them who say the Covid has killed less than 10% of the deaths attributable to it; that masks are no help; etc. If you look hard enough you can find a doctor who will tell you what you want to hear. It reminds me of what us trial lawyers used to say about expert witnesses – you must get the best that money can buy. Or, as the Mafia tell us, “everybody has his price.”
Senators, Fauci Spar Over Masks
— Rand Paul, dismissing reinfection risk, can’t wait to be rid of them
WASHINGTON — Wearing masks continued to be a bone of contention between Republicans and Democrats — and Anthony Fauci, MD — at Thursday’s Senate hearing on the progress made so far on COVID-19 vaccinations.
Sen. Rand Paul, MD (R-Ky.), cited studies showing that no re-infection occurred in COVID-19 patients following their initial infection. “So rather than being pessimistic towards people gaining immunity after they have had COVID or had a vaccine, these studies argue for significant optimism,” he said during the hearing held by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) Committee. “Of the 30 million Americans who have had COVID, only a handful of re-infections have been discovered … What specific studies do you cite to argue that the public should be wearing masks well into 2022?”
https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/91705
Matt
Reporting in from the Center for Diseased Minds Control
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-cdc-idUSKBN2BY026
Sunday, April 11, 2021
How many Americans have taken the vaccine? Reuters April 10
Not as many as you might think, according to Reuters and the CDC.
Is 3 times the charm? Third time a hospital in Buffalo NY area refuses to treat with ivermectin after initial dose is lifesaving
https://buffalonews.com/news/local/judge-orders-batavia-hospital-to-treat-coronavirus-patient-with-ivermectin/article_53c8b32e-996c-11eb-87cf-2bd34f11d3c2.html
A State Supreme Court justice has ordered a Batavia hospital to administer the drug Ivermectin to an 81-year-old Covid-19 patient.
Sunday, April 11, 2021
How to treat Covid
Many people have asked me to post my “whole cocktail” of drugs for Covid.
I don’t have a whole cocktail because I individualize treatment based on underlying conditions, age, weight, severity and symptoms.
However, I recommend that everyone take Vitamin D, about 5,000 IU/day for prevention and treatment. Don’t wait until you get sick. If you have blood drawn for any reason, test your level and supplement if it is low.
I recommend Zinc, about 30 mg daily. There are rare old case reports of people losing their sense of smell from zinc lozenges!!! so if that is your only symptom while on zinc, it could be the zinc and not a case of Covid.
I recommend one full 324 mg aspirin daily when you have Covid.
I recommend ivermectin 0.2 mg/kg daily for up to 5 days for acute Covid. More doctors are recommending these higher doses, now that they seem to be safe and are claimed to be more effective.
Inhaled budesonide works to prevent lung inflammation. It is available by prescription as Pulmicort, in an inhalation device. You do need to learn how to use the device correctly. Best to be shown, but the Mayo Clinic has instructions here. Other steroids may work as well.
What about Vitamin C? Most vitamin C comes from China, and I have reactions to it. The organic Vitamin C from Scotland doesn’t bother me. I think small doses of a vitamin C preparation that works for you is a good idea prophylactically, and might help during acute infection. The FLCCC doctors recommend 500-1,000 mg Vitamin C 4x daily for patients hospitalized with Covid.
Over-the-counter famotidine (20-40 mg/day) and melatonin also work against Covid in vitro. People quibble about the doses. Melatonin may put you to sleep, so reserve for bedtime at first: 3-10 mg/day (or night).
Cochicine is an interesting old drug that suppresses inflammation but usually causes diarrhea. It is probably beneficial later in the course of the illness. I have used it for gout but not for Covid.
HCQ and a macrolide antibiotic or doxycycline are appropriate for severe cases, high risk individuals, maybe others. See the Fareed/Tyson protocol for the opinion of thoughtful doctors with a lot more experience than I have. The FLCCC protocols or the AAPS advice are also valuable, as is the paper written by McCullough et al. Additional useful information can be found on Dr. Zelenko’s website.
Glutathione (or NAC) help the body get rid of noxious products, but they also may speed up the excretion of useful medications. So I don’t recommend them for everyone, but for very sick patients they may be important.
In other news…..
https://www.madcowprod.com/2021/04/11/deep-dive-sarasota-deep-state-2/
Deep Dive into Sarasota Deep State
By Daniel Hopsicker –
April 11, 2021
“Sarasota County is to Republicans what Mena, Arkansas was to Clinton-era Democrats: one-party rule enforcing a level of secrecy necessary for large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering operations to flourish.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/12/ganges-crowds-highlight-distancing-challenges-as-covid-cases-soar-in-india
Ganges crowds highlight distancing challenges as Covid cases soar in India
MS:
You know hating everything about America does not accomplish much. Professor Carnegy stated: “Do not criticize, condemn or complain.” More and more you sound like Glenn Greenwood who loves Russia and finds America full of fault.