Indirect self-destructive behaviors are activities that involve taking life-threatening risks without conscious self-harming or an intention to die.
“Unintentional” is the description used in public health for an injury or death that was not caused purposely (in contrast with suicide and homicide, in which there is an intent to cause harm).
Involuntary manslaughter, sometimes referred to as criminally negligent homicide, differs from murder or other homicides in that there is no premeditation or intent to kill. Instead, it criminalizes lawful as well as unlawful acts that are carried out in a negligent or reckless manner.
I knew this would get complicated. (Oh, sigh!) But your mention of “reckless” definitely opens avenues for discussion.
As does the possibility of killing others for those who caused a fatal infection.
At the moment, I’m looking at anti-vaxxers as playing Russian roulette. Do weigh in!
“Anti-Government or Anti-Authority Violent Extremism: This threat encompasses the potentially unlawful use or threat of force or violence in furtherance of ideological agendas, derived from anti-government or anti-authority sentiment, including opposition to perceived economic, social, or racial hierarchies, or perceived government overreach, negligence, or illegitimacy.” Department of Homeland Security/Department of Justice/Federal Bureau of Investigation (November 12, 2020): “Domestic Terrorism: Definitions, Terminology, and Methodology”.
One person was stabbed Saturday outside Los Angeles City Hall during dueling protests by pro- and anti-vaccination demonstrators.
The afternoon demonstrations included a “choose freedom march against medical tyranny” gathering on the right side of the political spectrum and a “no safe space for fascists” rally on the left.
The L.A. City Council voted this week to draw up a law that will require proof of vaccination to enter public venues, including restaurants, bars, gyms, concert arenas, movie theaters and retailers. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/person-stabbed-vaccination-demonstrators-clash-outside-los-angeles-city-hall-n1276851
Mob rule says:
By the time Christopher Key and his half-dozen followers reached the Springfield, Mo., Walmart pharmacy counter on Monday evening, the metal shutters were nearly fully drawn.
An Alabama-based anti-vaxxer who has gained a following online — where he spreads false information about the coronavirus pandemic, Key was on a mission to give the pharmacists inoculating shoppers a warning.
“What they’re doing is crimes against humanity,” he said in a live stream on Facebook. “And if they do not stand down immediately, then they could be executed. They can be hung in the state.”
“If you allow one more shot in one more person’s body, you yourself will be executed in violation of the Nuremberg Code,” he said as he pointed to a Walmart employee standing nearby. “We don’t want that to happen to any of you guys at all. We love you guys. We want to keep you safe.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/19/walmart-christopher-key-anti-vaccine/
“The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error, if error seduce them. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim. An individual in a crowd is a grain of sand amid other grains of sand, which the wind stirs up at will.” (Gustave Le Bon) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Le_Bon
“Le Bon’s works were influential to such disparate figures as Theodore Roosevelt and Benito Mussolini, Sigmund Freud and José Ortega y Gasset, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin.
Edward Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud, was influenced by Le Bon and Trotter. In his influential book Propaganda, he declared that a major feature of democracy was the manipulation of the electorate by the mass media and advertising.”
“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. …We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. …In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons…who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.” Edward Bernays, Propaganda (1928) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_(book)
As coronavirus cases and hospitalizations surged in Alabama, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) mentioned the state’s lowest-in-the-nation vaccination rate at a political fundraiser, eliciting cheers from the audience in a video posted this week. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/07/alabama-vaccine-rate-mtg/
Days after the video surfaced, the state’s health leader said officials have tossed out more than 65,000 coronavirus vaccines that expired, citing low demand that experts have partly attributed to the politicization of the vaccine. Alabama has the lowest vaccination rate in the country, followed closely by Mississippi, according to data compiled by The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/health/covid-vaccine-states-distribution-doses/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4
In the video from the Alabama Federation of Republican Women fundraiser July 23, Greene suggested people take up arms against volunteers promoting coronavirus vaccines through door-to-door outreach, to which the crowd applauded and laughed.
“Well, what they don’t know is that in the South we all love our Second Amendment rights,” she said in the clip shared Tuesday. “And we’re not real big on strangers showing up at our front door, are we? They might not like the welcome they get.” https://twitter.com/dpakman/status/1422675527794634754
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been temporarily suspended from Twitter for spreading COVID-19 misinformation after claiming in a tweet that vaccines were “failing.” https://news.yahoo.com/rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-suspended-by-twitter-for-a-week-after-false-claim-about-covid-vaccines-150739663.html
On Monday night, Greene tweeted that the Food and Drug Administration, which granted emergency use authorizations to the three COVID vaccines, should not fully approve them.
“The FDA should not approve the covid vaccines. There are too many reports of infection & spread of #Covid19 among vaccinated people,” the Georgia Republican wrote in the tweet, which was labeled “misleading” by the platform. It has since been deleted.
“These vaccines are failing & do not reduce the spread of the virus & neither do masks,” she added. “Vaccine mandates & passports violate individual freedoms.”
Read the small print regards the conditions of quarantine and the consequences for ignoring them.
Re: Measles resurgence in the United States see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measles_resurgence_in_the_United_States
Measles is one of the most contagious of infectious diseases. If not immunized, a person exposed to someone with measles has a 95% chance of becoming infected. During the early stage of an outbreak in an unvaccinated population, each infected person spreads the disease to an average of 12 to 18 other people.
A new document from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the Delta variant of the Coronavirus may be as contagious as measles. https://www.fox4now.com/news/coronavirus/delta-variant-as-contagious-as-chickenpox-measles
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” (Issac Asimov)
“Lambda coronavirus variant: What you should know” (CNET 9/10/21) https://www.cnet.com/health/new-lambda-variant-of-covid-what-you-should-know/
Dr. Preeti Malani, chief health officer in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, told CNN that controlling the spread of COVID-19 in general will help manage the lambda variant. “It’s a race between getting enough of the world vaccinated and the development of new variants that are less responsive to countermeasures,” Malani said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor, said that as long as a good portion of the population remains unvaccinated, we will see new variants emerge (such as the delta plus variant), and that raises the risk of potentially more dangerous ones that can break through our current vaccines’ protection against severe illness and death.
“Delta variant: 8 things you should know about this COVID-19 strain” (UC Davis 9/9/21) https://health.ucdavis.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-information/delta-variant.html
“To wear or not to wear? Attitudes towards mask wearing then and now”, an article about people refusing to wear masks in the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic:
“Adherence is based on three concepts: individualism versus collectivism; trust versus fear; and willingness to obey social distance rules. Jay Van Bavel opines that some countries tend to be more individualistic, and therefore more likely to reject rules and ignore attempts by public health authorities to “nudge” behavior change with risk messages or appeals for altruism. In collectivist cultures, people are more likely to do what is deemed best for society. Trust and fear are also significant influences on human behavior. In countries with political division, people are less likely to trust advice from one side or the other and are more likely to form pro- and anti- camps. This may also undermine advice issued by public health professionals. The last and most difficult to attain is social distancing. Human beings are social animals with bodies and brains designed and wired for connection. A pandemic, in many ways, goes against our instinct to connect. Behavioral psychologist Michael Sanders argues that if everybody breaks the rules a little bit, the results are not dissimilar to many people not following the rules at all.” https://hekint.org/2021/03/26/to-wear-or-not-to-wear-attitudes-towards-mask-wearing-then-and-now/
See also “How America Struggled to Bury the Dead During the 1918 Flu Pandemic : Undertakers, gravediggers and casket makers couldn’t keep up with history’s deadliest pandemic.” https://www.history.com/news/spanish-flu-pandemic-dead
Rand Paul cut off from YouTube for a week following criticism of face masks https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/11/rand-paul-youtube-ban-face-masks-503742
After the suspension, the Republican senator said the move was a “badge of honor,” and he lashed out at the “left-wing cretins at YouTube” and posted a different link to the video at issue on his Twitter account.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky revealed Wednesday that his wife in February 2020 purchased up to $15,000 in stock in Gilead Sciences, the maker of the antiviral drug remdesivir.
Remdesivir later became the first drug to be approved for treating Covid-19. Paul’s filing with the Senate shows that between $1,000 and $15,000 of Gilead stock was purchased.
The STOCK Act — which was enacted in 2012 to outlaw congressional insider trading, or the use of nonpublic information for one’s financial benefit — requires trade disclosures within 45 days. Paul’s reporting came 16 months late. https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/11/politics/rand-paul-wife-stock-gilead-sciences/index.html An honest mistake and she lost money on the deal so it’s ok they say.
The country star Jason Isbell calls out reporter over conflict of interest after cancelling his Houston-area show after what appears to be a conflict with the venue over COVID-19 safety protocols. https://www.chron.com/culture/music/article/Houston-Jason-Isbell-concert-Cynthia-Wood-Pavilion-16379190.php The reporter is the daughter of Jerry MacDonald, President and CEO of Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.
Meanwhile: “Texas Hospitals Are Already Overloaded. Doctors Are ‘Frightened by What Is Coming.’ https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/11/us/covid-texas-hospitalizations-icu.html
The sudden increase of infections has refocused national attention on the efficacy of masks and comes as the state’s governor, Greg Abbott, remains firm in his refusal to enact any statewide mandates requiring masks while also prohibiting local officials from doing so in their own communities.
He issued an executive order prohibiting local governments from mandating vaccines and prohibiting school districts from enforcing masks.
“More children were hospitalized with COVID-19 at Texas Children’s campuses Wednesday night than ever before, and most of them also have the Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV, according to the hospital.
The respiratory virus usually causes more pediatric hospitalizations and deaths worldwide than any other virus. Last year, like other viruses, RSV was mostly dormant.
Now, it’s back with a vengeance.” https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2021/08/12/rsv-delta-variant-spreading-rapidly-among-houston-area-children/
“A group of Florida’s kindergartners has offered to explain the science underpinning the use of masks to the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis.
Calling DeSantis’s objection to mask mandates “clearly an example of ignorance on his part,” one of the kindergartners, Jayson Dorrinson, said that his fellow five-year-olds were willing to talk to the Governor at his earliest convenience.” https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/floridas-kindergartners-offer-to-explain-mask-issue-to-desantis
Tucker Carlson straight up advocates for unvaccinated people to get fake vaccine cards to avoid mandates:
"Buying a fake vaccination card is an act of desperation by decent, law-abiding Americans who have been forced into a corner by tyrants." pic.twitter.com/d0uoS1nRxz
Eideard 
So if he dies of Covid, is it suicide?
Indirect self-destructive behaviors are activities that involve taking life-threatening risks without conscious self-harming or an intention to die.
“Unintentional” is the description used in public health for an injury or death that was not caused purposely (in contrast with suicide and homicide, in which there is an intent to cause harm).
Involuntary manslaughter, sometimes referred to as criminally negligent homicide, differs from murder or other homicides in that there is no premeditation or intent to kill. Instead, it criminalizes lawful as well as unlawful acts that are carried out in a negligent or reckless manner.
I knew this would get complicated. (Oh, sigh!) But your mention of “reckless” definitely opens avenues for discussion.
As does the possibility of killing others for those who caused a fatal infection.
At the moment, I’m looking at anti-vaxxers as playing Russian roulette. Do weigh in!
“Anti-Government or Anti-Authority Violent Extremism: This threat encompasses the potentially unlawful use or threat of force or violence in furtherance of ideological agendas, derived from anti-government or anti-authority sentiment, including opposition to perceived economic, social, or racial hierarchies, or perceived government overreach, negligence, or illegitimacy.” Department of Homeland Security/Department of Justice/Federal Bureau of Investigation (November 12, 2020): “Domestic Terrorism: Definitions, Terminology, and Methodology”.
COVID rules could be ‘catalyst’ for domestic ‘terrorists’: US Department of Homeland Security issues new advisory identifying threats posed by groups engaged in ‘grievance-base violence’. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/13/us-security-agency-warns-of-heightened-domestic-terrorism-risk
In an interview with CNN, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said his department considered domestic violent extremists to constitute “the greatest terrorist-related threat to our homeland”.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin (August 13, 2021): “Summary of Terrorism Threat to the U.S. Homeland” https://www.dhs.gov/ntas/advisory/national-terrorism-advisory-system-bulletin-august-13-2021
One person was stabbed Saturday outside Los Angeles City Hall during dueling protests by pro- and anti-vaccination demonstrators.
The afternoon demonstrations included a “choose freedom march against medical tyranny” gathering on the right side of the political spectrum and a “no safe space for fascists” rally on the left.
The L.A. City Council voted this week to draw up a law that will require proof of vaccination to enter public venues, including restaurants, bars, gyms, concert arenas, movie theaters and retailers. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/person-stabbed-vaccination-demonstrators-clash-outside-los-angeles-city-hall-n1276851
By the time Christopher Key and his half-dozen followers reached the Springfield, Mo., Walmart pharmacy counter on Monday evening, the metal shutters were nearly fully drawn.
An Alabama-based anti-vaxxer who has gained a following online — where he spreads false information about the coronavirus pandemic, Key was on a mission to give the pharmacists inoculating shoppers a warning.
“What they’re doing is crimes against humanity,” he said in a live stream on Facebook. “And if they do not stand down immediately, then they could be executed. They can be hung in the state.”
“If you allow one more shot in one more person’s body, you yourself will be executed in violation of the Nuremberg Code,” he said as he pointed to a Walmart employee standing nearby. “We don’t want that to happen to any of you guys at all. We love you guys. We want to keep you safe.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/19/walmart-christopher-key-anti-vaccine/
“Man drives car into workers at California COVID-19 vaccination clinic” https://nypost.com/2021/08/22/man-drives-car-into-workers-at-california-covid-vaccination-clinic/
“The incident was described as an assault with a deadly weapon, and police believe the driver veered into the workers intentionally.
The suspect fled in a gray four-door sedan and has not yet been apprehended.”
As anti-vaccine violence and harassment spread nationally Hawaii’s lieutenant governor has become the target of antisemitism amid protests outside his Honolulu home against new public health measures meant to halt the spread of COVID-19. https://www.staradvertiser.com/2021/08/23/breaking-news/protesters-bedevil-lt-gov-josh-green-at-home-as-anti-vaccine-violence-and-harassment-spread-nationally/
“The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error, if error seduce them. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim. An individual in a crowd is a grain of sand amid other grains of sand, which the wind stirs up at will.” (Gustave Le Bon) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Le_Bon
“Le Bon’s works were influential to such disparate figures as Theodore Roosevelt and Benito Mussolini, Sigmund Freud and José Ortega y Gasset, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin.
Edward Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud, was influenced by Le Bon and Trotter. In his influential book Propaganda, he declared that a major feature of democracy was the manipulation of the electorate by the mass media and advertising.”
Scary thought …
“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. …We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. …In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons…who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.” Edward Bernays, Propaganda (1928) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_(book)
As COVID-19 vaccine mandates gain support, N.M. Rep. Herrell cosponsors ‘We Will Not Comply Act’ : Southern New Mexico congresswoman signs on to Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill that would extend the protections of Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to individuals who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 disease. https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/politics/2021/08/04/new-mexico-covid-resist-vaccine-mandate-yvette-herell-cosponsors-bill/5472696001/
Far-Right Extremists Move From ‘Stop the Steal’ to Stop the Vaccine : Extremist organizations are now bashing the safety and efficacy of coronavirus vaccines in an effort to try to undermine the government. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/26/us/far-right-extremism-anti-vaccine.html
Tucker Carlson: COVID internment camps, coming soon to a country near you https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-covid-internment-camps-coming-country-near-you
“Deep dive into stupid: Meet the growing group that rejects germ theory
Germ theory denialist Facebook group went from 147 members in April 2020 to 18.4K now.”
https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/08/deep-dive-into-stupid-meet-the-growing-group-that-rejects-germ-theory/
See “Terrain Model Refutes Germ Theory” https://www.facebook.com/groups/germtheory.vs.terraintheory
Tinkerbell effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinkerbell_effect
As coronavirus cases and hospitalizations surged in Alabama, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) mentioned the state’s lowest-in-the-nation vaccination rate at a political fundraiser, eliciting cheers from the audience in a video posted this week. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/07/alabama-vaccine-rate-mtg/
Days after the video surfaced, the state’s health leader said officials have tossed out more than 65,000 coronavirus vaccines that expired, citing low demand that experts have partly attributed to the politicization of the vaccine. Alabama has the lowest vaccination rate in the country, followed closely by Mississippi, according to data compiled by The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/health/covid-vaccine-states-distribution-doses/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4
In the video from the Alabama Federation of Republican Women fundraiser July 23, Greene suggested people take up arms against volunteers promoting coronavirus vaccines through door-to-door outreach, to which the crowd applauded and laughed.
“Well, what they don’t know is that in the South we all love our Second Amendment rights,” she said in the clip shared Tuesday. “And we’re not real big on strangers showing up at our front door, are we? They might not like the welcome they get.” https://twitter.com/dpakman/status/1422675527794634754
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been temporarily suspended from Twitter for spreading COVID-19 misinformation after claiming in a tweet that vaccines were “failing.”
https://news.yahoo.com/rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-suspended-by-twitter-for-a-week-after-false-claim-about-covid-vaccines-150739663.html
On Monday night, Greene tweeted that the Food and Drug Administration, which granted emergency use authorizations to the three COVID vaccines, should not fully approve them.
“The FDA should not approve the covid vaccines. There are too many reports of infection & spread of #Covid19 among vaccinated people,” the Georgia Republican wrote in the tweet, which was labeled “misleading” by the platform. It has since been deleted.
“These vaccines are failing & do not reduce the spread of the virus & neither do masks,” she added. “Vaccine mandates & passports violate individual freedoms.”
Rep. Herrell has teamed up with fellow Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia on a bill that would strip schools of federal money if they mandate the COVID-19 vaccine. . . The legislation says if a person is discriminated against for not being vaccinated or refusing to wear a mask, he or she can seek damages in U.S. District Court. It also says that any school – from elementary through higher education – would not receive federal funding if they require the vaccine as a condition to attend or participate in any academic or extracurricular activity. https://www.abqjournal.com/2416293/herrell-cosponsors-bill-that-could-strip-universities-of-federal-funds-ex-dpnm-chair-calls-the-move-not-only-unacceptable-but-also-dangerous-for-all-americans.html
Read the small print regards the conditions of quarantine and the consequences for ignoring them.
Re: Measles resurgence in the United States see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measles_resurgence_in_the_United_States
Measles is one of the most contagious of infectious diseases. If not immunized, a person exposed to someone with measles has a 95% chance of becoming infected. During the early stage of an outbreak in an unvaccinated population, each infected person spreads the disease to an average of 12 to 18 other people.
A new document from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the Delta variant of the Coronavirus may be as contagious as measles. https://www.fox4now.com/news/coronavirus/delta-variant-as-contagious-as-chickenpox-measles
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” (Issac Asimov)
Unvaccinated adults are bringing Covid home to their kids. Pediatricians are overwhelmed. https://news.yahoo.com/scary-doctor-unvaccinated-households-driving-083007272.html
“Lambda coronavirus variant: What you should know” (CNET 9/10/21) https://www.cnet.com/health/new-lambda-variant-of-covid-what-you-should-know/
Dr. Preeti Malani, chief health officer in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, told CNN that controlling the spread of COVID-19 in general will help manage the lambda variant. “It’s a race between getting enough of the world vaccinated and the development of new variants that are less responsive to countermeasures,” Malani said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor, said that as long as a good portion of the population remains unvaccinated, we will see new variants emerge (such as the delta plus variant), and that raises the risk of potentially more dangerous ones that can break through our current vaccines’ protection against severe illness and death.
“Delta variant: 8 things you should know about this COVID-19 strain” (UC Davis 9/9/21) https://health.ucdavis.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-information/delta-variant.html
“To wear or not to wear? Attitudes towards mask wearing then and now”, an article about people refusing to wear masks in the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic:
“Adherence is based on three concepts: individualism versus collectivism; trust versus fear; and willingness to obey social distance rules. Jay Van Bavel opines that some countries tend to be more individualistic, and therefore more likely to reject rules and ignore attempts by public health authorities to “nudge” behavior change with risk messages or appeals for altruism. In collectivist cultures, people are more likely to do what is deemed best for society. Trust and fear are also significant influences on human behavior. In countries with political division, people are less likely to trust advice from one side or the other and are more likely to form pro- and anti- camps. This may also undermine advice issued by public health professionals. The last and most difficult to attain is social distancing. Human beings are social animals with bodies and brains designed and wired for connection. A pandemic, in many ways, goes against our instinct to connect. Behavioral psychologist Michael Sanders argues that if everybody breaks the rules a little bit, the results are not dissimilar to many people not following the rules at all.” https://hekint.org/2021/03/26/to-wear-or-not-to-wear-attitudes-towards-mask-wearing-then-and-now/
See also “How America Struggled to Bury the Dead During the 1918 Flu Pandemic : Undertakers, gravediggers and casket makers couldn’t keep up with history’s deadliest pandemic.” https://www.history.com/news/spanish-flu-pandemic-dead
Rand Paul cut off from YouTube for a week following criticism of face masks https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/11/rand-paul-youtube-ban-face-masks-503742
After the suspension, the Republican senator said the move was a “badge of honor,” and he lashed out at the “left-wing cretins at YouTube” and posted a different link to the video at issue on his Twitter account.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky revealed Wednesday that his wife in February 2020 purchased up to $15,000 in stock in Gilead Sciences, the maker of the antiviral drug remdesivir.
Remdesivir later became the first drug to be approved for treating Covid-19. Paul’s filing with the Senate shows that between $1,000 and $15,000 of Gilead stock was purchased.
The STOCK Act — which was enacted in 2012 to outlaw congressional insider trading, or the use of nonpublic information for one’s financial benefit — requires trade disclosures within 45 days. Paul’s reporting came 16 months late. https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/11/politics/rand-paul-wife-stock-gilead-sciences/index.html An honest mistake and she lost money on the deal so it’s ok they say.
‘I Am Legend’ movie plot now part of bizarre anti-vax conspiracy theory https://nypost.com/2021/08/11/i-am-legend-movie-plot-now-part-of-anti-vax-conspiracy-theory/
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/i-am-legend-covid-vaccine-hesitancy-conspiracy-theories-screenwriter-responds-174832849.html
‘I Am Legend’ screenwriter slams vaccine doubts linked to film https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/567249-i-am-legend-screenwriter-slams-vaccine-doubts-linked-to-film
Not that it matters but the plague that turns people into zombies in this movie is caused by a genetically reprogrammed virus, not a vaccine.
The country star Jason Isbell calls out reporter over conflict of interest after cancelling his Houston-area show after what appears to be a conflict with the venue over COVID-19 safety protocols. https://www.chron.com/culture/music/article/Houston-Jason-Isbell-concert-Cynthia-Wood-Pavilion-16379190.php The reporter is the daughter of Jerry MacDonald, President and CEO of Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.
Meanwhile: “Texas Hospitals Are Already Overloaded. Doctors Are ‘Frightened by What Is Coming.’ https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/11/us/covid-texas-hospitalizations-icu.html
The sudden increase of infections has refocused national attention on the efficacy of masks and comes as the state’s governor, Greg Abbott, remains firm in his refusal to enact any statewide mandates requiring masks while also prohibiting local officials from doing so in their own communities.
He issued an executive order prohibiting local governments from mandating vaccines and prohibiting school districts from enforcing masks.
“More children were hospitalized with COVID-19 at Texas Children’s campuses Wednesday night than ever before, and most of them also have the Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV, according to the hospital.
The respiratory virus usually causes more pediatric hospitalizations and deaths worldwide than any other virus. Last year, like other viruses, RSV was mostly dormant.
Now, it’s back with a vengeance.” https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2021/08/12/rsv-delta-variant-spreading-rapidly-among-houston-area-children/
‘Your child will wait for another child to die.’ Amid Covid-19 surge, Dallas County has no pediatric ICU beds left, county judge says https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/13/us/dallas-county-no-pediatric-icu-beds-left/index.html
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is literally fiddling while COVID-19 cases burn through overwhelmed hospitals https://news.yahoo.com/texas-gov-greg-abbott-literally-122258856.html
Contrary To Science, Anti-Vaxers Claim Their ‘Unvaccinated Semen Will Be The Next Bitcoin’ https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/covid-vaccine-sperm-theory/
Anti-Vaxxers are freaking out over blood banks accepting blood from COVID vaccine recipients https://scoop.upworthy.com/anti-vaxxers-freaking-out-bloods-banks-accepting-covid-vaccine-recipients
What Happens When the Anti-Vax Online Mob Finds Your Restaurant
As restaurants across the country implement vaccine policies, anti-vaxxers are turning to Yelp, Instagram, and other platforms to vent their rage https://www.eater.com/22621967/restaurants-requiring-vaccines-face-online-backlash-from-anti-vax-yelp
‘The blood of Jesus is my vaccine’: how a fringe group of Christians hijacks faith in a war against science https://theconversation.com/the-blood-of-jesus-is-my-vaccine-how-a-fringe-group-of-christians-hijacks-faith-in-a-war-against-science-165236
A mysterious marketing agency secretly offered to pay social media stars to spread disinformation about Covid-19 vaccines. Their plan failed when the influencers went public about the attempt to recruit them. https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-57928647
Arnold Schwarzenegger calls out anti-vaxxers https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2021/08/13/arnold-schwarzenegger-screw-your-freedom-anti-vax-mask-orig-kj.cnn
“Unvaccinated Semen” 2AM MDT, tonight, 15th
“A group of Florida’s kindergartners has offered to explain the science underpinning the use of masks to the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis.
Calling DeSantis’s objection to mask mandates “clearly an example of ignorance on his part,” one of the kindergartners, Jayson Dorrinson, said that his fellow five-year-olds were willing to talk to the Governor at his earliest convenience.” https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/floridas-kindergartners-offer-to-explain-mask-issue-to-desantis
South Dakota Covid cases quintuple after Sturgis motorcycle rally : Meade County, home to Sturgis, has had a more than 1,500 percent increase in cases in the past 14 days. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/south-dakota-covid-cases-quintuple-after-sturgis-motorcycle-rally-n1277567
“School Boards Are the Front Line in America’s Culture War : Public gatherings of local officials have always been battlegrounds, but now those fights play out online for millions of viewers.” https://www.vice.com/en/article/akg83e/school-boards-are-the-front-line-in-americas-culture-war
Google ‘School board death threats’ – one example: “Minnesota school boards are at the breaking point” https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-school-boards-are-at-the-breaking-point/600094045/
Meanwhile: “U.S. election workers get little help from law enforcement as terror threats mount” https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-election-threats-law-enforcement/