We need an international treaty similar to the test ban treaty. GOF work should never have been done in the midst of a crowded metropolis.
The Pandora's box is open and cannot be closed. If we must have GOF, it should only be done in Antarctica with strict containment measures. Workers must not return to the mainland before at least a 2 week solitary quarantine period.
Many doctors question whether there is any practical purpose for gain of function work. A virulent naturally occurring pathogen will not ever be exactly like one created in a lab, and we will never be able to create and distribute a vaccine for such pathogens in time to halt its spread.
Also, we should not forget that this research is done for the benefit of the pharmaceutical industry. They are and should be held responsible for this pandemic, not be treated as heroes.
It's as if BP offered to clean up the Macondo spill and then sent us the bill for the shoddy cleanup job. Then they got credit from our esteemed media (sponsored by pfizer) for their heroic work saving us all.
"First, they [CDC, NIH, etc.] demanded that young children be masked in schools." Did these institutions demand, or merely recommend? At least the writer did not use the verb "mandated," which is also a common mistake when describing or implying the level of institutional authority. If the writer claims these institutions did what they haven't the authority to do - demand - then the writer should provide links to buttress that loaded term. I find no such evidence during a quick DuckduckGo search, but rather "guidance,", "recommendations," and "guidelines."
what science to follow ?so much going on Doctors really don't know much more than what they are told or else career gone . I've read so much anti vaccine papers pro papers , still undecided , then there are all the people I know with every booster shot , yet they get C O V I D , I have been in close contact with covid positive people yet I never caught it , I'm waiting for an explanation from my Doctor . Are all the anti vaccine scientists lying ? where is the truth , I'll never live long enough to get the truth
I am the only UK school leader to speak out about the unethical and unscientific vaccination of healthy children against Covid-19. I know many colleagues who feel the same way as me, but they have put their careers, reputations and retirements ahead of their legal duty to safeguard children against harm.
I recently discussed this issue with Dr Tess Lawrie (please see below).
Thank you Dr. Makary and Dr. Hoeg for this article. We need more of this truth telling in our national conversation. Unfortunately, what you usually get is politically driven, and sounds more like a shady offer from a used car salesman than sound medical advice from a trusted doctor. This is a real problem for everyone, and the powers that be are using parents' emotional attachment to their children to get what they want. The ramifications, as these doctors point out, is big and will last for a very long time. I haven't taken my own kid to the doctor for nearly three years now because I don't trust anyone from the health network that I pay an insane amount of money for every month. Not good. And reading through the comments, it sounds as though I'm not alone. Can we just build a new network? How do we do that?
I wanted to pass along this article I read that helps readers break down the fallacies typically presented by the health care industry. This one is in response to Dr. Bhushan, CA's surgeon general, and her recommendation for all parents to vaccinate their "little ones":
I hope you have properly vetted Dr. Makary. He is a surgeon. He is not a virologist or infectious disease expert. I think this discussion would be better served if it was a debate between Dr. Makary’s point of view and another physician who believes in the value of vaccination. This way Dr. Makary’s assertions could be considered more carefully.
Thank you so much. Nobody knows that there is grave disagreement within the FDA, CDC, and NIH. People just think that what the media reports of their official proclamations is holy science.
I would like to see you tell the WHOLE truth. These shots aren’t just dangerous ineffective, and unnecessary for little kids, and I think you know that. You’ll save many lives when you finally break free and TELL ALL.
I’m trying to get the word out about the only thing that will truly ultimately make the difference - a global return to G-d consciousness and the laws He gave us for a moral, healthy society. Please share.
Thank you Makary and Hoeg. I retired from public health in December at age 55 (SF) The cultural change in public health in recent years has resulted in (at all levels) authoritarian control, extreme censorship, outlawing discussion and secret agendas. Public Health reason for vaccine policy is hidden from public discussion, because it is connected to an agenda that is also hidden. Therefore discussion must be banned, or the hidden reasons may become revealed. Perverse incentives. This dystopia is not public health, nor science. There is a medical organization called “DoNoHarm” that promotes real public health.
As a federal contractor who has had multiple consulting contracts at CDC, NIH and FDA.....
NOTHING in this article surprises me. I have seen what they do with cancer and HIV data. Its ugly. There are times if you wonder if they are just simply incompetent or they have an agenda. The cancer data in particular is sketchy, which is tragic since it is used in research and clinicians are supposed to be able to access it to see what treatments have worked on similar cases. The cancer tracking systems are fraught with political infighting between the states, whos health departments actually report the data to CDC, (do not get me started on how underfunded those agencies are and how their systems are messed up because of that and also just how few people they have to actually update and validate the data they do report when their system do actually work) and CDC and CDC and NIH. Never mind convincing labs and doctors to report to two different systems since CDC and NIH cannot agree on the format of the data they each have their own cancer reporting system and each is messed up.
Toss in the revolving door between NIH, FDA & CDC and the pharmaceutical companies and then toss in politics on top of that? It’s a wonder that anything useful comes out of these places even when the scientists are trying to do good science. Bloody tragic.
One thing you can be sure of, when money and politics collide with science, money and politics are gonna win every time.
“People are getting bad advice and we can’t say anything.”
"An official at the FDA put it this way: “I can’t tell you how many people at the FDA have told me, ‘I don't like any of this, but I just need to make it to my retirement.’” "
I have heard it said that courage is the most important virtue, but sadly, it is in short supply. It is lack of courage that has brought us to where we are in the field of climate science, and the current fuel shortages and pending food shortages, all in the name of 'saving the planet'. It is lack of courage that has allowed Covid-19 to be used to cow the world into submission to lockdowns, masking, 'social distancing' (now there's an oxymoron if ever I heard one) and a mass vaccination program that has, I truly believe, only prolonged the agony. I have more respect for the physicians who have the courage to speak out publicly about the risk/benefit ratio of the vaccines and/or the efficacy of early treatment options - Doctors like Pierre Kory, who has suffered dismissal from three hospital systems and is now facing revocation of his board certification in retribution for his intransigency. Drs. Peter McCullough and Paul Marik face the same punishment and are paying the financial costs of defending their positions. If what these courageous doctors are doing is so 'dangerous', why have we not heard from the legions of people whom they have supposedly harmed? And why are the families harmed by the vaccines and lack of early treatment not given voice? The answer to that last question can be attributed to the same issue: lack of courage in mainstream media. The fact that this article is posted on Substack and not on the opinion pages of the Washington Post or New York Times is evidence of that.
As for the two quotes that I began my comments with, I hardly think that 'making it to retirement' would be worth living with the carnage that your lack of courage to speak up on the issue has wrought. (I could go on about how it is that pension systems rather than individual retirement accounts can have perverse consequences, such as fear of speaking your mind, but that is an issue for another day.)
This is horrifying to read and rather alarming. When this kind of politicisation of science occurs then no area can be relied upon or trusted by the public. It’s the slow - perhaps not so slow - dissolution of our institutions that’s the most worrisome trend to watch in this country. This will destroy the life and freedoms we treasure long before all the other causes various alarmist groups go on about…
I’m so mad that this all got politicized and our kids got caught in the crossfire. The line saying if only we were allowed to actually debate the costs and benefits really rings true. My youngest is definitely delayed in her speech from only having 6 months of preschool and then wearing masks in school all year this year. My eldest went from being very social and outgoing to completely withdrawn and anxious due to online schooling, constant masking, and COVID paranoia. I was a lifelong believer in public education until this experience.
There is far too much "Something has to be done, this is something, let's do it!" in all of this. "Follow the science" should have been "Follow the political science". The initial messaging should have been "Folks we don't have the answers on Sars-Cov2. It's a virus and in that regard, we expect it to behave like other viruses and we're working on getting the answers, it will take time." but was not.
We need an international treaty similar to the test ban treaty. GOF work should never have been done in the midst of a crowded metropolis.
The Pandora's box is open and cannot be closed. If we must have GOF, it should only be done in Antarctica with strict containment measures. Workers must not return to the mainland before at least a 2 week solitary quarantine period.
Many doctors question whether there is any practical purpose for gain of function work. A virulent naturally occurring pathogen will not ever be exactly like one created in a lab, and we will never be able to create and distribute a vaccine for such pathogens in time to halt its spread.
Also, we should not forget that this research is done for the benefit of the pharmaceutical industry. They are and should be held responsible for this pandemic, not be treated as heroes.
It's as if BP offered to clean up the Macondo spill and then sent us the bill for the shoddy cleanup job. Then they got credit from our esteemed media (sponsored by pfizer) for their heroic work saving us all.
The year is 2009....
https://www.pharmatimes.com/news/pfizer_to_build_r_and_d_facility_in_wuhan,_china_984211
"First, they [CDC, NIH, etc.] demanded that young children be masked in schools." Did these institutions demand, or merely recommend? At least the writer did not use the verb "mandated," which is also a common mistake when describing or implying the level of institutional authority. If the writer claims these institutions did what they haven't the authority to do - demand - then the writer should provide links to buttress that loaded term. I find no such evidence during a quick DuckduckGo search, but rather "guidance,", "recommendations," and "guidelines."
Even WebMD is confused, interchangeably using the terms "required," "mandatory" and variants of the root term, "recommend" in this article about masking in health care settings: https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20220928/cdc:-masking-no-longer-required-in-health-care-settings
Shouldn't health care professionals such as the author of this article, and WebMD, know the difference?
what science to follow ?so much going on Doctors really don't know much more than what they are told or else career gone . I've read so much anti vaccine papers pro papers , still undecided , then there are all the people I know with every booster shot , yet they get C O V I D , I have been in close contact with covid positive people yet I never caught it , I'm waiting for an explanation from my Doctor . Are all the anti vaccine scientists lying ? where is the truth , I'll never live long enough to get the truth
I am the only UK school leader to speak out about the unethical and unscientific vaccination of healthy children against Covid-19. I know many colleagues who feel the same way as me, but they have put their careers, reputations and retirements ahead of their legal duty to safeguard children against harm.
I recently discussed this issue with Dr Tess Lawrie (please see below).
https://drtesslawrie.substack.com/p/we-need-to-ditch-battery-schooling
Thank you Dr. Makary and Dr. Hoeg for this article. We need more of this truth telling in our national conversation. Unfortunately, what you usually get is politically driven, and sounds more like a shady offer from a used car salesman than sound medical advice from a trusted doctor. This is a real problem for everyone, and the powers that be are using parents' emotional attachment to their children to get what they want. The ramifications, as these doctors point out, is big and will last for a very long time. I haven't taken my own kid to the doctor for nearly three years now because I don't trust anyone from the health network that I pay an insane amount of money for every month. Not good. And reading through the comments, it sounds as though I'm not alone. Can we just build a new network? How do we do that?
I wanted to pass along this article I read that helps readers break down the fallacies typically presented by the health care industry. This one is in response to Dr. Bhushan, CA's surgeon general, and her recommendation for all parents to vaccinate their "little ones":
https://freedomfromfallacies.substack.com/p/whos-your-mommy
I hope you have properly vetted Dr. Makary. He is a surgeon. He is not a virologist or infectious disease expert. I think this discussion would be better served if it was a debate between Dr. Makary’s point of view and another physician who believes in the value of vaccination. This way Dr. Makary’s assertions could be considered more carefully.
I never trusted the CDC after it claimed that racism is a serious public health threat.
Thank you so much. Nobody knows that there is grave disagreement within the FDA, CDC, and NIH. People just think that what the media reports of their official proclamations is holy science.
I would like to see you tell the WHOLE truth. These shots aren’t just dangerous ineffective, and unnecessary for little kids, and I think you know that. You’ll save many lives when you finally break free and TELL ALL.
Why we have fallen into this abyss of mindlessly “following experts” and voluntarily abdicating our critical thinking is a critical question, and I address it at the end of this article https://truth613.substack.com/p/unprecedented-orders-of-child-sized. Please also see my article today https://truth613.substack.com/p/the-goal-is-population-reduction.
I’m trying to get the word out about the only thing that will truly ultimately make the difference - a global return to G-d consciousness and the laws He gave us for a moral, healthy society. Please share.
Thank you Makary and Hoeg. I retired from public health in December at age 55 (SF) The cultural change in public health in recent years has resulted in (at all levels) authoritarian control, extreme censorship, outlawing discussion and secret agendas. Public Health reason for vaccine policy is hidden from public discussion, because it is connected to an agenda that is also hidden. Therefore discussion must be banned, or the hidden reasons may become revealed. Perverse incentives. This dystopia is not public health, nor science. There is a medical organization called “DoNoHarm” that promotes real public health.
As a federal contractor who has had multiple consulting contracts at CDC, NIH and FDA.....
NOTHING in this article surprises me. I have seen what they do with cancer and HIV data. Its ugly. There are times if you wonder if they are just simply incompetent or they have an agenda. The cancer data in particular is sketchy, which is tragic since it is used in research and clinicians are supposed to be able to access it to see what treatments have worked on similar cases. The cancer tracking systems are fraught with political infighting between the states, whos health departments actually report the data to CDC, (do not get me started on how underfunded those agencies are and how their systems are messed up because of that and also just how few people they have to actually update and validate the data they do report when their system do actually work) and CDC and CDC and NIH. Never mind convincing labs and doctors to report to two different systems since CDC and NIH cannot agree on the format of the data they each have their own cancer reporting system and each is messed up.
Toss in the revolving door between NIH, FDA & CDC and the pharmaceutical companies and then toss in politics on top of that? It’s a wonder that anything useful comes out of these places even when the scientists are trying to do good science. Bloody tragic.
One thing you can be sure of, when money and politics collide with science, money and politics are gonna win every time.
“People are getting bad advice and we can’t say anything.”
"An official at the FDA put it this way: “I can’t tell you how many people at the FDA have told me, ‘I don't like any of this, but I just need to make it to my retirement.’” "
I have heard it said that courage is the most important virtue, but sadly, it is in short supply. It is lack of courage that has brought us to where we are in the field of climate science, and the current fuel shortages and pending food shortages, all in the name of 'saving the planet'. It is lack of courage that has allowed Covid-19 to be used to cow the world into submission to lockdowns, masking, 'social distancing' (now there's an oxymoron if ever I heard one) and a mass vaccination program that has, I truly believe, only prolonged the agony. I have more respect for the physicians who have the courage to speak out publicly about the risk/benefit ratio of the vaccines and/or the efficacy of early treatment options - Doctors like Pierre Kory, who has suffered dismissal from three hospital systems and is now facing revocation of his board certification in retribution for his intransigency. Drs. Peter McCullough and Paul Marik face the same punishment and are paying the financial costs of defending their positions. If what these courageous doctors are doing is so 'dangerous', why have we not heard from the legions of people whom they have supposedly harmed? And why are the families harmed by the vaccines and lack of early treatment not given voice? The answer to that last question can be attributed to the same issue: lack of courage in mainstream media. The fact that this article is posted on Substack and not on the opinion pages of the Washington Post or New York Times is evidence of that.
As for the two quotes that I began my comments with, I hardly think that 'making it to retirement' would be worth living with the carnage that your lack of courage to speak up on the issue has wrought. (I could go on about how it is that pension systems rather than individual retirement accounts can have perverse consequences, such as fear of speaking your mind, but that is an issue for another day.)
Disgraceful.
This is horrifying to read and rather alarming. When this kind of politicisation of science occurs then no area can be relied upon or trusted by the public. It’s the slow - perhaps not so slow - dissolution of our institutions that’s the most worrisome trend to watch in this country. This will destroy the life and freedoms we treasure long before all the other causes various alarmist groups go on about…
I’m so mad that this all got politicized and our kids got caught in the crossfire. The line saying if only we were allowed to actually debate the costs and benefits really rings true. My youngest is definitely delayed in her speech from only having 6 months of preschool and then wearing masks in school all year this year. My eldest went from being very social and outgoing to completely withdrawn and anxious due to online schooling, constant masking, and COVID paranoia. I was a lifelong believer in public education until this experience.
Jerry Pournelle was 20th century author. And and all around interesting personality. Worth a google.
There is far too much "Something has to be done, this is something, let's do it!" in all of this. "Follow the science" should have been "Follow the political science". The initial messaging should have been "Folks we don't have the answers on Sars-Cov2. It's a virus and in that regard, we expect it to behave like other viruses and we're working on getting the answers, it will take time." but was not.