Latest COVID 'Cure:' Do Eat the Yellow Snow
Now apparently it’s okay to eat the yellow snow if you’re a member of the “I did my own research on COVID” crowd, in which case you should consider whether you’re interested in drinking your own urine chilled or at room temperature.
That’s right, the people that brought Americans horse tranquilizer, colloidal silver solution, touching your tv while televangelist Kenneth Copeland was preaching, and applying a cotton ball soaked in violet oil to the anus are now offering another miracle cure.
“Vaccine Police” guy Christopher Key, is spreading the word about “urine therapy.” He says they have “tons and tons of research” showing the “antidote” to the vaccine (which Key called “the worst bioweapon I have ever seen”) is drinking your own pee.
Antivax hero Robert Malone, MD, went on the Joe Rogan Experience recently to explain that the pandemic was simply an instance of “Mass Psychosis Formation” where “leaders” were using hypnosis to persuade people to get vaccinated.
You’d think the current wave of infections might tamp down the anguished cries of victimhood from the “don’t let your science get in the way of my freedumb” crowd, but alas, nothing stops these people.
They keep their faithful energized with made up stories about how every celebrity who passes on was done in by the vaccine or the booster. Betty White and Bob Saget are the latest victims, so we’re told.
Of course, the proselytizers of freedumb who crash and burn either get ignored or die from space lasers or some such nonsense.
Meanwhile, KUSI –San Diego’s home for disinformation– is conflating the ridiculous claim that mask wearing is somehow unhealthy with Supervisor Nathan Fletcher’s calls for action on air pollution.
The really sad part about all this ridiculous nonsense being spewed by the nihilist right is that it’s working.
We’re on the upward slope of what promises to be the biggest wave of infections yet, and way too many people in leadership positions who should know better have slacked off in urging citizens to do the right thing.
“Normalcy” is now the new goal among an ever increasing group of politicians.
The CDC has caved to pressure from corporate entities and reduced the recommended quarantine and/or isolation periods for people who test positive for COVID-19 from ten to five days. Strict mask use is now being prescribed beyond five days based on the “science.”
National Nurses United (NNU), the largest union for registered nurses in the country, formally condemned the CDC guidance:
“Let’s be clear: This is about what’s good for business, not what’s good for public health,” said NNU president Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, RN, in a statement. “Our employers claim there is a ‘nursing shortage,’ and that’s why they must flout optimal isolation times, but we know there are plenty of registered nurses in this country. There is only a shortage of nurses willing to work in the unsafe conditions created by hospital employers and this government’s refusal to impose lifesaving standards.”.
***
The numbers don’t lie. Huge swaths of the population are infected with the latest version of COVID-19. Hospitals are running short of staff. Schools that have decided to resume in person classes are having to rethink their position because there aren’t enough non-infected personnel.
It only took six days into the new year before more Americans died of COVID than the entire “staggering” increase in homicides from 2019 to 2020 that the media wrote endless articles decrying.
California saw over three hundred thousand newly reported infections over the weekend. San Diego saw just over forty nine thousand new cases for the same period.
Nationally, the country surpassed its record for covid-19 hospitalizations on Tuesday there were 145,982 people in U.S. hospitals with covid-19, which includes 4,462 children. The previous peak of the pandemic was 142,273, set on Jan. 14, 2021.
If models of omicron’s spread prove accurate — and there is general agreement that more data is needed– hospitalizations in the 275,000 to 300,000 range could be seen later in January.
The good news is that hospitalization and fatalities for those already vaccinated are significantly less than for the unvaxxed. Vaccination remains highly effective at preventing severe Covid illnesses. And Omicron is milder than earlier versions of the virus.
And there wouldn’t be a right wing program if there were grifters galore.
A company called, ‘Center for Covid Control,’ with testing sites around the country, is allegedly administering fake covid tests with all negative results.
***
Here are a couple of science-related stories I think are worth sharing. (Not that they’ll change any minds…)
The American Journal of Preventive Medicine published a meta-study comparing face covering mandates with COVID-19 mortality in 44 countries.
Here’s the money quote:
Average COVID-19 mortality per million was 288.54 in countries without face mask policies and 48.40 in countries with face mask policies.
People who are vaccinated and boosted are being infected with the Omicron variant; but evidence shows they get less sick and are far less likely to require hospitalization. The hospitalized population is overwhelmingly made up of unvaccinated people, and because the latest variant is more contagious, more of those people are requiring more care.
Which is why a third of hospitals in the state are reporting critical staffing shortages, California’s health department is considering issuing an order postponing many elective surgeries. Many procedures, including a lung transplant, have already been canceled.
Non-healthcare entities are also being impacted by the latest surge in infections. Sadly, some management types have opted to put their bottom line over the welfare of their workers and customers.
Judd Legum at Popular Information and More Perfect Union, a media outlet focused on the stories of working people, reported today on one of the worst offenders, Red Lobster Restaurants.
Tens of thousands of people work at over 700 Red Lobster restaurants, serving jumbo fried shrimp, crab legs, and Cheddar Bay Biscuits. But, as the coronavirus pandemic rages on, few Red Lobster workers have access to paid sick leave. As a result, most Red Lobster workers who get sick are forced to show up to work, according to interviews with Red Lobster employees and previously unreleased survey data.
Red Lobster’s policies aren’t all that surprising once you find out who owns them, namely Thai Union, a seafood supplier based in Thailand. You might vaguely remember the 2015 investigation by the Associated Press — "Are slaves catching the fish you buy?" — which found that Thai Union was selling seafood caught and processed using slave labor.
The company, which reported a profit of approximately $190 million in the third quarter of 2021, says it’s changed its ways. Subsequent audits have cast doubt on that assertion.
***
It’s for the children…
From the New York Times:
Children who have recovered from Covid-19 appear to be at significantly increased risk of developing Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Friday.
A heightened risk of diabetes has already been seen among adults who recovered from Covid, according to some studies. Researchers in Europe have reported an increase in the number of children being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes since the pandemic started.
But the C.D.C. study is among the first to examine large insurance claim databases in the United States to estimate the prevalence of new diabetes diagnoses in children under age 18 who had Covid or were known to be infected with the coronavirus.
Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com