Category: 2020

Attacks on Dissenting Voices Set Back Scientific Progress

November 5, 2020

This is a brilliantly written piece discussing history, anthropology, medical discovery, psychology and current phenomenon in a single article, from the American Institute of Economic Research. Author: Barry Brownstein, professor emeritus of economics and leadership at the University of Baltimore Oxford professor Sunetra Gupta, one of the principal signers of the Great Barrington Declaration, is … More Attacks on Dissenting Voices Set Back Scientific Progress

Public Health In Action

November 3, 2020

Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore USA organised this debate between three epidemiologists. An open discussion of differing ideas debated with civility and intelligence, lots of great perspective and insight in this one hour video. Epidemiologists Debating Pandemic Response We have to have an open discussion. This attempt to suppress people we disagree with has to … More Public Health In Action

Basic Public Health Principles

November 3, 2020

Public Health crashed into a political brick wall and severed its spinal column in 2020. A few brave paladins have risen from the ashes. This includes some extraordinary individuals but also some critically important media outlets swimming against the mainstream narrative which is drowning us all in shallow currents of misinformation. The Spectator was established … More Basic Public Health Principles

Why scientists fear the “toxic” Covid-19 debate

November 2, 2020

Copy-paste from The New Statesman. The hyper-polarisation of discussions about how to handle the coronavirus pandemic risks stifling nuance and undermining scientific inquiry. By Laurie Clarke. On one side of the Covid-19 debate are the anti-maskers, self-styled freedom fighters versed in the ideals of free market libertarianism and the defence of personal liberties. On the other, are … More Why scientists fear the “toxic” Covid-19 debate

Horror and Hysteria

October 30, 2020

At no time in years of public health training and experience did I ever hear of using “lockdown” as a strategy to control an epidemic. In 2003 just after the SARS epidemic, I remember being fascinated by an article about China. A local mayor announced he was going to lockdown his city a few days … More Horror and Hysteria

Masks and Politics

October 28, 2020

Seeing The Trumpites packed in, mostly unmasked, against the Bidenites strictly social distancing with chalk circles marking their carefully spaced chairs and masked up in a beautiful green park, feels like a really bad science fiction movie. Yinon Weiss is an American bioengineer who created some charts connecting the timeline of mask mandates against case … More Masks and Politics