Dr. Joseph R. Ladipo - his Covid quackery continues to reach the WSJ op-ed pages.
And (right) Covid mutant he chooses to ignore.
"The crisis we now find ourselves in is a human tragedy, an economic calamity but it is also a singular national humiliation. We're living in a moment when the U.S. is a laughingstock or a subject of pity around the world. Look at the chart of nations and all who've gotten their cases down, some at or near zero. Then look at the graph going straight up. That is us, our cases are skyrocketing. We are living in this tragedy, this national humiliation for all to see. We keep setting new records each day, five times in the last eight days and yesterday another record." - Chris Hayes, last night on 'All In
"While we have been continually screwing up, we have learned something. We have learned that masks work! Pretty well, to slow the spread of this thing. If you wear a covering that covers your mouth and your nose that is going to make you less likely to infect other people, especially if you have coronavirus but you don't know you have it." - Rachel Maddow last night.
"Right now we are heading at a million miles per hour in the wrong direction. It's absolutely the saddest thing, the most unnecessary situation we're finding ourselves in. And it's behaviorally driven."- Dr. Aileen Marty, infectious disease expert who helped Miami-Dade County write its reopening rules (This morning on CBS)
"It's actually possible that we could become the next New York City. I can't believe we're now staring down the barrel of that gun." - Roberta Schwartz, President of Houston Methodist Hospital, quoted in The Houston Chronicle yesterday.
The trouble with medical quacks is that their words can be taken very seriously if published in venues regarded as having some degree of gravitas. Never mind this may only be on the notoriously ideological Op-ed pages of The Wall Street Journal ("the print version of FOX" according to Janice), and despite those pages not having the veneer of respected journalism of the the rest of the paper. Just the source name "Wall Street Journal" can lend credibility where none is really warranted. This is the case with the continued bunkum about the pandemic and the U.S. response to it (now seeing a record 54, 915 reported cases yesterday) churned out by the likes of Joseph R. Ladipo, a Covid quack based at UCLA, for Pete's sake. In his latest WSJ op-ed he started off by writing: (July 2, p. A17, 'The Coronavirus Credibility Gap'):
"The crisis we now find ourselves in is a human tragedy, an economic calamity but it is also a singular national humiliation. We're living in a moment when the U.S. is a laughingstock or a subject of pity around the world. Look at the chart of nations and all who've gotten their cases down, some at or near zero. Then look at the graph going straight up. That is us, our cases are skyrocketing. We are living in this tragedy, this national humiliation for all to see. We keep setting new records each day, five times in the last eight days and yesterday another record." - Chris Hayes, last night on 'All In
"While we have been continually screwing up, we have learned something. We have learned that masks work! Pretty well, to slow the spread of this thing. If you wear a covering that covers your mouth and your nose that is going to make you less likely to infect other people, especially if you have coronavirus but you don't know you have it." - Rachel Maddow last night.
"Right now we are heading at a million miles per hour in the wrong direction. It's absolutely the saddest thing, the most unnecessary situation we're finding ourselves in. And it's behaviorally driven."- Dr. Aileen Marty, infectious disease expert who helped Miami-Dade County write its reopening rules (This morning on CBS)
"It's actually possible that we could become the next New York City. I can't believe we're now staring down the barrel of that gun." - Roberta Schwartz, President of Houston Methodist Hospital, quoted in The Houston Chronicle yesterday.
The trouble with medical quacks is that their words can be taken very seriously if published in venues regarded as having some degree of gravitas. Never mind this may only be on the notoriously ideological Op-ed pages of The Wall Street Journal ("the print version of FOX" according to Janice), and despite those pages not having the veneer of respected journalism of the the rest of the paper. Just the source name "Wall Street Journal" can lend credibility where none is really warranted. This is the case with the continued bunkum about the pandemic and the U.S. response to it (now seeing a record 54, 915 reported cases yesterday) churned out by the likes of Joseph R. Ladipo, a Covid quack based at UCLA, for Pete's sake. In his latest WSJ op-ed he started off by writing: (July 2, p. A17, 'The Coronavirus Credibility Gap'):
"The American public is fractured over policy responses to Covid-19. That rift is most visible in debates about masks and new rounds of shutdowns. Such disputes are common in a country as diverse and opinionated as America. "
Let's first register that the American public is "fractured" because of a lack of nationally coordinated response. As journalist Laurie Garrett put it last night, it as if the U.S. is acting as 50 different nations in its response, as opposed to one unified country. That, and the lack of national mandates has caused this virus to now spread like an uncontrolled wildfire, and yet Ladipo writes in his op-ed as if we still need to give different people "choices" in their behavior. ("The preferences and circumstances of individuals vary".) Ladipo even has the nerve to insist "alternative to masks" exist and "include physical distancing" - unaware or ignorant of the fact the two mitigations are not mutually exclusive. They are intended to be used in tandem.
Giving people "choices" and "mask alternatives"? No, we do not, if we wish to get this virus under control and not have the economy suffer irreparable damage, even as medical workers burn out and hospitals crater. Ladipo, who often resorts to false analogy, invokes the need for "empathy" - as with HIV patients, drug users or cig smokers- which examples do permit a kind of luxury of time for response. But having played the fool for three months we no longer have that luxury of paced, measured and "empathetic, even "tolerant" response - say to maskless scofflaws- 0r idiot college kids who think Covid is a parlor game. No, it's time to bring the hammer down, like Barbados did, fining lockdown and curfew violators $10,000 each and 90 days in the can. When your whole home is on fire you do not use a fire extinguisher, you call the Fire Dept.
Ladipo writes that "such disputes are common in a country as diverse and opinionated as America" - and yet the case stats now disclose the only nation showing as shameful a response is Brazil - also led by a narcissist autocrat. All other nations are seeing their numbers dive lower, even as the EU now prohibits Americans from traveling there for fear of spreading the virus. And why not given we've done nothing to show a serious behavioral response?
Contrast that with last night's scenes (on 'All In') showing people in places like Prague in the Czech Republic celebrating in outdoor cafes, New Zealanders playing rugby, high school students in Denmark out celebrating the end of school (and not virtual school), bars in Ireland back open, along with movie theaters, museums and other venues. In Japan, the malls of Tokyo are open and the streets as crowded as they've ever been. Just like New York City once was, the only difference being everyone wearing masks in the rest of the sane world. So they can afford to celebrate a genuine reopen, while we pursued a premature fraudulent one that the likes of Ladipo had also supported.
Ladipo appears to have a particular "bee in his bonnet" about mandating that people wear masks. Why? Given that is precisely the item that's permitted the normal world to reopen while we grovel like fools in false rebellion, based on a fictitious concept of liberty. I have no idea also why Ladipo invokes this nonsense given even he must know there can be no genuine liberty without responsibility. Besides, citizens of other nations display no similar reservations, nor are they any less aware of personal freedom. They just happen to possess a lot more insight into the nature of the virus and hence have more common sense. Here's a news item out of FORBES that Ladapo and his fellow anti-mandate quacks ought to digest:
"Goldman’s analysts found that wearing face coverings has a significant impact on coronavirus outcomes, and they suggest that a federal mask mandate would “meaningfully” increase mask usage across the country, especially in states like Florida and Texas, where masks are not currently required.
The researchers estimate that a national mandate would increase the portion of people wearing masks by 15 percentage points, and cut the daily growth of new cases by 1.0 percentage point to 0.6%.
Reducing the spread of the virus through mask-wearing, the analysts found, could be a substitute for strict lockdown measures that would otherwise shave 5%—or $1 trillion—off the U.S. GDP. "
Contrast that with last night's scenes (on 'All In') showing people in places like Prague in the Czech Republic celebrating in outdoor cafes, New Zealanders playing rugby, high school students in Denmark out celebrating the end of school (and not virtual school), bars in Ireland back open, along with movie theaters, museums and other venues. In Japan, the malls of Tokyo are open and the streets as crowded as they've ever been. Just like New York City once was, the only difference being everyone wearing masks in the rest of the sane world. So they can afford to celebrate a genuine reopen, while we pursued a premature fraudulent one that the likes of Ladipo had also supported.
Ladipo appears to have a particular "bee in his bonnet" about mandating that people wear masks. Why? Given that is precisely the item that's permitted the normal world to reopen while we grovel like fools in false rebellion, based on a fictitious concept of liberty. I have no idea also why Ladipo invokes this nonsense given even he must know there can be no genuine liberty without responsibility. Besides, citizens of other nations display no similar reservations, nor are they any less aware of personal freedom. They just happen to possess a lot more insight into the nature of the virus and hence have more common sense. Here's a news item out of FORBES that Ladapo and his fellow anti-mandate quacks ought to digest:
"Goldman’s analysts found that wearing face coverings has a significant impact on coronavirus outcomes, and they suggest that a federal mask mandate would “meaningfully” increase mask usage across the country, especially in states like Florida and Texas, where masks are not currently required.
The researchers estimate that a national mandate would increase the portion of people wearing masks by 15 percentage points, and cut the daily growth of new cases by 1.0 percentage point to 0.6%.
Reducing the spread of the virus through mask-wearing, the analysts found, could be a substitute for strict lockdown measures that would otherwise shave 5%—or $1 trillion—off the U.S. GDP. "
Here's a number check of how we are now faced with a five alarm fire and why a national mandate is essential - no exceptions (if you have "trouble breathing" you stay home!) if we are to dig ourselves out of the debacle we're in: With a combined population of 2.6 billion, China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and the EU are averaging 6,760 new cases. By comparison, Florida with 21 million people, counted 10,100 cases yesterday - or more than 3,300 the tally of the combined nations cited.
Does Ladipo know enough math to reckon this stat into his consciousness? That is without making specious attacks using strawmen on medical experts' credibility? (Such as belaboring that experts such as Dr. Fauci held an original position that no masks were needed. But that was back in February when much less was known about the virus and which behaviors carry the most viral loads.)
Here's another non-trick question: How does Ladipo now account for Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordering a statewide mandate for masks? Here was a guy who originally didn't believe they were necessary but has since (as Houston ICUs are overwhelmed) had a 'come to Jesus' moment. As Chris Hayes' put it last night "The country is in flames, and we cannot just douse each ember as it appears like other nations. That is not us. We are way past the ember stage. The country is on fire. It is in flames. And the rest of the world is looking on in horror."
And yet Ladipo proposes we get a metaphorical squirt gun to combat this raging fire, rather than go all out. Most aggravating is when this quack writes that:
"if political leaders and health experts want to restore their credibility and the public's confidence they need to admit that politics rather than science influenced important public health decisions."
But he's mixing apples and oranges here, in this case the scientists who use science with the politicos (like Trump et al) who don't. Thereby, via such conflation, it escapes him the latter are responsible for using politics to drive their decisions - the classic case being Trump for whom his re-election is the only barometer, and which is why now he tries to ignore the virus' ravages - hoping it will "disappear" by November..
The other key point, less noted in much of our media, is the importance of a centralized, national health system. As Laurie Garrett explained last night on 'All In':
"Every single European country has a national health system. That means they have centralized data, centralized purchasing, and centralized policy. So that a given response happens for the whole country, not piecemeal. Here, we have a completely fragmented response. I mean just today Rep. Andy Biggs in Arizona called on to shut down the coronavirus task force and get rid of Tony Fauci and Deborah Birks. Meanwhile, Andrew Cuomo says we're not allowing these people from this list of states to enter without quarantine. So we're acting more like 50 different nations than like a single national response."
And of course, mandating masks be worn would be a key part of any nationally coordinated response. As Hayes replied to her: "The only Moonshot I can think of to save us is a 100 percent mask adoption. If everyone masks up and gets on the same page." But as Garrett noted, the decision to wear or not wear a mask is being tainted by politicized memes, so if you wear one you are an "elitist" and stand for lockdowns. If you don't, you're for "freedom" and the economy opening. She then referred to the Goldman Sachs report cited earlier to show this is a misdirection by those who ought to know better. As Dr John Lapook put it on CBS this morning:
"For this weekend I'm telling everybody to stay home. You know our country has done things a lot harder than this. Compared to what our parents had to go through in World War Two wearing a mask and social distancing are nothing. It's a walk in the park compared to the rationing and curfews then."
Maybe. But we no longer have the stoic and made of sterner stuff citizens we had then. We now have wimps, whiners and twaddle -brained imps who have lost their common sense, courage and intellect to PR and propaganda. As a prime exhibit there is Repuke strategist Alex Castellanos who told The Washington Post:
"Members of the Church of Secular Science bow to the Gods of Data by wearing a mask as their symbol, demonstrating that they are the elite; smarter, more rational, and morally superior to everyone else.”
Maybe not necessarily "morally superior", since this isn't a gauge of morality, though it is of ethics, i.e. in saving lives and grasping one's responsibility to the larger community, namely the vulnerable ones such as elders and disabled citizens. But yes, if we accept the data and the science concerning the virus we ARE more rational and I'd wager smarter. In general, anyone guided by facts and reason is more intelligent than one who is not, like Dotard Trump.
But Castellanos' take suggests we will have to continue to deal with irrational clowns and the idiots with misbegotten notions of liberty, as well as medical Sophists like Ladipo. Thus, we will likely have to shut down again to force these imps to learn a painful lesson they ought to have learned in March. As Janice put it: "This country has too many idiots!" Alas, I concur. The "Greatest Generation" we are not. The election of Trump has ensured that, and the real test to see if we are worthy citizens will come in November, in whether we can expel the maggot traitor one time. "Make America Great Again?" Maybe, but only if Trump is dumped first!
See Also:
Does Ladipo know enough math to reckon this stat into his consciousness? That is without making specious attacks using strawmen on medical experts' credibility? (Such as belaboring that experts such as Dr. Fauci held an original position that no masks were needed. But that was back in February when much less was known about the virus and which behaviors carry the most viral loads.)
Here's another non-trick question: How does Ladipo now account for Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordering a statewide mandate for masks? Here was a guy who originally didn't believe they were necessary but has since (as Houston ICUs are overwhelmed) had a 'come to Jesus' moment. As Chris Hayes' put it last night "The country is in flames, and we cannot just douse each ember as it appears like other nations. That is not us. We are way past the ember stage. The country is on fire. It is in flames. And the rest of the world is looking on in horror."
And yet Ladipo proposes we get a metaphorical squirt gun to combat this raging fire, rather than go all out. Most aggravating is when this quack writes that:
"if political leaders and health experts want to restore their credibility and the public's confidence they need to admit that politics rather than science influenced important public health decisions."
But he's mixing apples and oranges here, in this case the scientists who use science with the politicos (like Trump et al) who don't. Thereby, via such conflation, it escapes him the latter are responsible for using politics to drive their decisions - the classic case being Trump for whom his re-election is the only barometer, and which is why now he tries to ignore the virus' ravages - hoping it will "disappear" by November..
The other key point, less noted in much of our media, is the importance of a centralized, national health system. As Laurie Garrett explained last night on 'All In':
"Every single European country has a national health system. That means they have centralized data, centralized purchasing, and centralized policy. So that a given response happens for the whole country, not piecemeal. Here, we have a completely fragmented response. I mean just today Rep. Andy Biggs in Arizona called on to shut down the coronavirus task force and get rid of Tony Fauci and Deborah Birks. Meanwhile, Andrew Cuomo says we're not allowing these people from this list of states to enter without quarantine. So we're acting more like 50 different nations than like a single national response."
And of course, mandating masks be worn would be a key part of any nationally coordinated response. As Hayes replied to her: "The only Moonshot I can think of to save us is a 100 percent mask adoption. If everyone masks up and gets on the same page." But as Garrett noted, the decision to wear or not wear a mask is being tainted by politicized memes, so if you wear one you are an "elitist" and stand for lockdowns. If you don't, you're for "freedom" and the economy opening. She then referred to the Goldman Sachs report cited earlier to show this is a misdirection by those who ought to know better. As Dr John Lapook put it on CBS this morning:
"For this weekend I'm telling everybody to stay home. You know our country has done things a lot harder than this. Compared to what our parents had to go through in World War Two wearing a mask and social distancing are nothing. It's a walk in the park compared to the rationing and curfews then."
Maybe. But we no longer have the stoic and made of sterner stuff citizens we had then. We now have wimps, whiners and twaddle -brained imps who have lost their common sense, courage and intellect to PR and propaganda. As a prime exhibit there is Repuke strategist Alex Castellanos who told The Washington Post:
"Members of the Church of Secular Science bow to the Gods of Data by wearing a mask as their symbol, demonstrating that they are the elite; smarter, more rational, and morally superior to everyone else.”
Maybe not necessarily "morally superior", since this isn't a gauge of morality, though it is of ethics, i.e. in saving lives and grasping one's responsibility to the larger community, namely the vulnerable ones such as elders and disabled citizens. But yes, if we accept the data and the science concerning the virus we ARE more rational and I'd wager smarter. In general, anyone guided by facts and reason is more intelligent than one who is not, like Dotard Trump.
But Castellanos' take suggests we will have to continue to deal with irrational clowns and the idiots with misbegotten notions of liberty, as well as medical Sophists like Ladipo. Thus, we will likely have to shut down again to force these imps to learn a painful lesson they ought to have learned in March. As Janice put it: "This country has too many idiots!" Alas, I concur. The "Greatest Generation" we are not. The election of Trump has ensured that, and the real test to see if we are worthy citizens will come in November, in whether we can expel the maggot traitor one time. "Make America Great Again?" Maybe, but only if Trump is dumped first!
See Also:
And:
