A Druid’s Web Log – August 2020 – Life keeps getting stranger

Comet NEOWISE, Slovakia

Published July 16, 2020 | By George Bishop http://georgebishopjr.com/author/george/ — Comet NEOWISE, Slovakia
Published July 16, 2020
By George Bishop

As of July 30, 2020, there are more than 4.2 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the US and 148,000 related deaths. Cases are still surging in the south and west of the US. Here in Massachusetts there have been a number of small outbreaks at a local hospital and again in a local Soldier’s Home.

I wish I could say that everything was fine here on the mountain. Yes, the geese down at the pond have produced an amazing number of babies; at least fifteen now fully grown goslings are in evidence. I am starting to see my first green tomatoes, and the Rose of Sharon I planted last fall is ready to pop.

But the world is getting nuttier, in ways I could never have imagined. I am subscribed to a neighborhood list online that started out as a paper newsletter stuffed into people’s mailboxes along just one street. It now has almost a thousand members and many of them don’t even live in this area. It used to be a message board for plant swaps, recipes, things for sale and give away items left on people’s porches. Now, more and more, it has become just another conspiracy rag.

The topics du jour are the evils of vaccinations and the threats of 5-G. Some are even tying 5-G to the Covid outbreak. It’s always the same five people who promulgate the conspiracy theories and until recently everyone put up with it. Then, when the anti-scientific rhetoric grew ever louder, some of us finally started putting our feet down, which resulted in endless discussions about “freedom of speech”. No matter that the majority of us didn’t want to hear the anti-vaccine nonsense, 9-11 conspiracies and other absurd theories.

When I asked them to stop, I began getting private messages about “opinions” and how everybody is entitled to them. They told me that science was just my “opinion”. I patiently explained that science is not an “opinion”, rather it is a method. You put forth a hypothesis and then you test it, to see if it holds up. If it doesn’t you discard it. Hopefully.

Then, in an amazing act of synchronicity, our idiot president began touting hydroxychloroquine again. That is a drug that has been proven effective for Malaria, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus. There was a thought that it might be helpful for Covid-19 so trials began to test it. Those trials were abruptly stopped because the drug not only proved ineffective for Covid, it actually caused worse outcomes in those who took it. The only ethical thing to do was to pull the plug on its use for the virus.

But that didn’t stop Trump. He continues to claim that it works. Our dear leader and his son both even had their Twitter and Facebook posts removed for peddling fake news;

“The clip features a doctor by the name of Stella Immanuel, who alleges the virus “has a cure called hydroxychloroquine, zinc and Zithromax” and “you don’t need masks—there is a cure.” (There is no cure for Covid-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and multiple studies have shown hydroxychloroquine to be ineffective at treating Covid-19.)”

Dr. Immanuel has also opined that “alien DNA is used in medical treatments and gynecological problems such as cysts are the result of people having “sex in their dreams with demons and witches”.

(AP: Darlene Superville and Amanda Seitz, July 28, 2020, Trump defends decision to retweet viral video that promotes disproved use of malaria drug as treatment for COVID-19)

In the crazy times we are in its sometimes hard to keep a grip on reality. Apparently, the president is rapidly losing his.

“Hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug used to treat autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis for decades, is not a cure for COVID-19. A swath of studies, some less than a week old and published in prestigious scientific journal Nature, have demonstrated the drug does not have substantial antiviral activity. And as more data rolls in from human clinical trials, hydroxychloroquine keeps coming up short. Very short. It doesn’t protect against COVID-19 and it doesn’t cure it, either.

So why is it back in the news again?

It appears it’s trending largely because a series of viral videos published by right-wing publication Breitbart are being widely shared across social media, particularly on Facebook and Twitter.

“It is extraordinary to see [the] hydroxychloroquine agenda being pushed despite the overwhelming evidence against it,” says Gaetan Burgio, a geneticist at the Australian National University in Canberra. “It reminds me a lot [of the] anti-vaxxers movement.”

(CNET: Jackson Ryan, July 27, 2020, Hydroxychloroquine is trending again. It’s still no cure for COVID-19)

Trump has the best scientific minds at his disposal but he relies on Breitbart, a far-right opinion and commentary website, for his medical data. Which would be comical except it threatens all of us. One must assume that he and his family have massive stock in hydroxychloroquine. If that is not the case, he can only be suffering from some kind of dementia.

( Huffpost: Ron Dicker, 04/07/2020, Donald Trump Has Stake In Hydroxychloroquine Drugmaker: Report – The president has repeatedly touted the anti-malaria drug as a coronavirus treatment despite a lack of medical evidence. )

A perseid meteor streaks across the sky near Death Valley, California. | Bob Riha Jr./Getty Images

So, what can we do?

In the last week there have been a comet (Neowise) and a meteor shower in the sky. These events were something to look forward to and to savor. The Perseid meteor shower will peak on August 11-12.

The days have been hot, humid and hazy, perfect for swimming in a local pond, getting out to a local park, or just wading in a stream. Gardens are beginning to yield their herbs and vegetables, and the skies are still mostly clear of chem trails. In many ways, life is still good.

The lesson is to keep your feet on the ground, your eyes on the skies, and to appreciate Great Nature in all her guises. To give thanks for what you have. Yes, winter is coming, but even the rain and snow are beautiful. Bundle up and try to ignore the chattering of our so-called “leaders”. Do take action when and where you can, to make a difference. And always walk in beauty.

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