More About Science

Every now and then we get a perfect storm of events.  In this case, events indicate that things didn’t quite turn out as planned.  At least for one individual in particular.

Patriarch Bartholomew, off from an otherwise non-impressive trip to Ukraine, decided to enter the scientific arena.  Not known as an immunologist, he sermonized on the superiority of “science” and how his patriarchate in particular (as opposed to you-know-who’s) is absolutely, positively, resolutely devoted to science.

https://greekcitytimes.com/2021/08/28/patriarch-bartholomew-vaccinated/amp/ 

Otherwise, I guess, you’re a yahoo.

So the other day (which is Indiction on the New Calendar), he deigned to address “the Plenitude” (that’s Catholic-speak in case you were wondering):

https://www.chicago.goarch.org/-/ecumenical-patriarch-bartholomew-s-message-on-indiction

If I had to guess, I’d have to say that the trip to Ukraine didn’t have the impact that he thought it would.  So in order to get any traction at all on the world stage, he hoped that his annual encyclical on the Indiction would remind everybody about his earlier championship of the environment.  Curiously, not one word about Christ, evangelism, or theosis.   

It’s sad in a way because science is not what laymen think it is.  For one thing, it’s never “settled”.  Pick any subject you want –e.g. physics, chemistry, physiology, astronomy, and even anthropology–and you will come up with different findings given enough time.  Yesterday’s orthodoxy is today’s heresy.  As for tomorrow, who knows? 

I can’t stress this enough.  Medical textbooks from fifty years ago are out of date.  Treatment modalities are constantly changing (and sometimes, not always for the better).  True story:  back in 1979, I asked my anthropology professor about the pre-Columbian Norse settlement on North America.  I was told that that was merely a legend.  In pharmacy school, we were taught that certain antibiotics had to be taken on an stomach.  Now that’s considered malpractice.  

Not being a pessimist, I’m always looking for the silver lining.  Given the paucity of news that came out of his trip to Kiev, I’d have to say that nothing of consequence happened.  All things being equal, that’s probably all for the best.  

At any rate, we all need to step back and take stock of what “science” is.  It’s just an epistemological method of explaining phenomena.  There’s nothing magical or sacrosanct about it.  Even its methodology has changed over the centuries.  And as for its conclusions, they are very often unsettled.  

Consider for example the Linnaean classification system.  There has been a debate over whether the human races are actually sub-species.  Needless to say, that’s controversial.  Some theorists have postulated a newer classification system that avoids all of the different strata (e.g. kingdom, phylum, order, etc.). 

Also, the definition of what constitutes living organisms is unsettled.  Viruses, for example, do not meet all the criteria that every other organism does, yet no one would go so far as to say that they are not “living” organisms.  Based on this alone one could say that our long-accepted definitions break down.  Consistency is hobbled, if not from the outset, then certainly the farther down one digs into the research.  

As for the scientific rigor that went into the research and development for the mRNA vaccines, a lot was left to be desired.  This is not only the opinion of epidemiologists but internal regulations of the FDA.  As a health professional, I cannot in good conscience state that I have no reservations.  This hesitancy on behalf of physicians, nurses, and academic researchers is well-known.  If anything, it appears to be growing in scope.

Anyway, it would be wise for Christian leaders to take these things into account and not pontificate on a phenomenon that is still in the early stages of its existence.  Trust me:  when the book is finally written on this subject and the initial hysteria has died down, there’s going to be a lot of recriminations.    

Comments

  1. I can attest to this. In my student years at MIT, I came to the impression that some very well-educated people, including in the scientific realm, are extremely arrogant about their “knowledge” and look scornfully on those who have different opinions, even though many other rational people know that the “established truth” is hogwash. Just one example: people in my dormitory tried to convince me that humans evolved from one-cell creatures (as opposed to being created by, say God) as “proven” by the hand-drawn pictures by von Haeckel from the late 1800s. You know, the ones showing single cell, then a tadpole, then a fish with gills, then other steps. Because “Ontology recapitulates phylogeny!” They were proud they knew such big words, but I knew from my own reading that this was exposed as a fraud more than 100 years ago, yet are still being used in many places. So the strategy is to use something that contradicts a Christian understanding of reality, whether the item is fraudulent or not does not matter, to try to keep people such as us off our balance. I know what it is like to be surrounded by a semi-circle of fellow students (like psychological “interventions’ I have read about) trying to make me feel guilty and stupid for believing in God.

  2. There’s a difference between science and Science. I don’t believe in Science.

  3. I was very curious—no surprised—about the lack of news coming out of Ukraine regarding Bartholomew’s recent visit there. Okay, so he slipped through the back door to meet with Ukrainian officials, but what happened?! There was widespread speculation that he was going to declare the canonical Church (headed by the saintly Met. Onufriy) as now being invalid, and that there would be more seizures of churches. But nothing happened…unless I’m missing something? Glory be to God that things turned out differently! Though, I’m sure that Bartholomew has more mischief up his sleeve. The Orthodox world needs to be vigilant!

  4. What is Science? Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman
    Presented at the fifteenth annual meeting of the National Science Teachers Association, 1966 in New York City, and reprinted from The Physics Teacher Vol. 7, issue 6, 1969, pp. 313-320 by permission of the editor and the author. [Words and symbols in brackets added by Ralph Leighton.]
    “The world looks so different after learning science. For example, trees are made of air, primarily. When they are burned, they go back to air, and in the flaming heat is released the flaming heat of the sun which was bound in to convert the air into tree, and in the ash is the small remnant of the part which did not come from air that came from the solid earth, instead. These are beautiful things, and the content of science is wonderfully full of them. They are very inspiring, and they can be used to inspire others.
    Another of the qualities of science is that it teaches the value of rational thought as well as the importance of freedom of thought; the positive results that come from doubting that the lessons are all true. You must here distinguish–especially in teaching–the science from the forms or procedures that are sometimes used in developing science. It is easy to say, “We write, experiment, and observe, and do this or that.” You can copy that form exactly. But great religions are dissipated by following form without remembering the direct content of the teaching of the great leaders. In the same way, it is possible to follow form and call it science, but that is pseudo-science. In this way, we all suffer from the kind of tyranny we have today in the many institutions that have come under the influence of pseudoscientific advisers.”
    What is Science? – Richard Feynman

  5. The Essence Of Science In 61 Seconds
    (Richard Feynman)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viaDa43WiLc

    “If it disagrees with experiment, it’s wrong.
    In that simple statement is the key to science.
    It doesn’t make a difference how beautiful your guess is.
    It doesn’t make a difference how smart you are,
    who made the guess or what his name is.
    If it disagrees with experiment, it’s wrong.
    That’s all there is to it.”

    Bartholomew would do well to watch the video and consider the following:
    The vaccine prevents neither infection with nor transmission of the virus.
    Hydroxychloroquine, Ivermectin and Quercetin with zinc and vitamin D3
    provide both prophylaxis and cure for COVID-19.
    The experiments have been done. The results are undeniable –
    and publicly available to those that care to read them.

    It is time Bartholomew put a cork on this rubbish he is spouting.

    • Will Harrington says

      Well, no. It is not even that simple. If it disagrees with experiment, you still have to go back, check and double check all known variables, try to identify unknown variables, and repeat the experiment, many times. Repeatability is important and an outlier result in a single repetition is likely to be the result of an unknown variable. So if the hypothesis disagrees with the experiment, repeat the experiment before declaring the hypothesis wrong.

      • Gail Sheppard says

        I read somewhere that 2/3s of experiments cannot be replicated.

        • George Michalopulos says

          That my Dear, is true. It’s called “the replication crisis”. It’s astounding to me how even the most peer-reviewed papers/experiments have been found wanting, i.e. cannot be replicated.

          Whether this is due from subtle, yet calculated, bias or from the existence of too many variables is unknown at this point.

          • “Whether this is due from subtle, yet calculated, bias
            or from the existence of too many variables
            [or outright fraud] is unknown at this point.

      • What part of: “The vaccine prevents neither
        infection with nor transmission of the virus.
        Hydroxychloroquine, Ivermectin and Quercetin with zinc and
        vitamin D3 provide both prophylaxis and cure for COVID-19”
        do you disagree with?

  6. Fiery sermon by Orthodox Assyrian Archbishop:
    “You sold Christ – Enough with the lies and the coronavirus”

    http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pronews.gr%2Fthriskeia%2F1014574_pyrino-kirygma-apo-aystralo-arhiepiskopo-poylisate-ton-hristo-arketa-me-ta-psemata

    ‘ A fiery sermon from what we no longer hear in Greece by Archbishop Mar Mari Emmanuel of the Church of Assyria in Australia.

    The Iraqi-born Christian Archbishop fires arrows against forced vaccinations, liberties, secret societies, George Soros, Bill Gates and the Australian government for its climate of terrorism and COVID democracy throughout the country, the world.

    Words that we no longer hear from the pulpits of the Greek churches, which seems to have signed a complete and unconditional capitulation.

    Read what the Archbishop says in his thunderous sermon:

    “If you think you are a Christian politician then you know that what is happening is nothing more than a deliberate act of evil. By the energy of secret societies.

    Nevertheless, you go along with these actions and methods and support them and apply them and push them to be implemented.

    You bring more coercion using the police, the army and you insist with the locks then you are a traitor, you are Judas Iscariot because you sold Christ.

    You sold him.

    And if you think that in the position you are in you can do nothing because there is so much power that oppresses you and you say I can not change anything, I can do nothing; I will accept that you are a true Christian only if you give up this position.

    The day will come when one person will try to enslave another just to satisfy his ego, this day does not exist in the eyes of God.

    Selfish leaders, selfish generations, selfish 21st century. You will destroy yourself with yourself.

    What good does it do a man when he conquers the whole world but loses himself.

    And what happened when you are prime minister? And what happened that you are president, that you are a king or a leader of the Church?

    Stop enslaving the world.

    Enough with the lies. Enough with the lockdown. This is slavery. Enough with the coronavirus. It can be treated relatively easily, with proven drugs.

    Let Bill Gates get vaccinated. Let George Soros be vaccinated, Enough with the nonsense.

    Shame on these generations. Shame. Is there still consciousness in the world? There is. Is there anyone who has a conscience or did you kill her? ”

    There are families who call me, so upset, and tell me that they are being pressured to get the vaccine otherwise they will lose their job and they are afraid of losing their job because it is the only way to survive.

    Are you heartless? Are you human? They do not want to get the vaccine but have no choice.

    Listen: If anyone wants to get the vaccine let it be. But never force people to do it.

    Governments exist because Jesus Christ allows them to protect the rights of the world and not to impose evil in the name of “we care about your safety.”

    Do not bother with me. Let me live my life as I want and as Christ wants.

    Stop forcing people to get the vaccine. Is there a man among you who can tell the truth even if it costs him? Are you all cowards? Is your money blind?” ‘

    Powerful stuff. Let’s hope it resonates with some other bishops…

  7. https://orthodoxethos.com/post/mount-sinai-to-ab-elpidophoros-the-one-and-only-ladder-to-heaven

    Seems the errors of Elpidophoros have reached even Mt. Sinai in Egypt

  8. Another Prophetic Voice from the past:
    To monomakhos & readers: Doxa to Theo!
    Live Not By Lies Alexander Solzhenitsyn
    Solzhenitsyn penned this essay in 1974 and it circulated among Moscow’s intellectuals at the time. It is dated Feb. 12, the same day that secret police broke into his apartment and arrested him. The next day he was exiled to West Germany. The essay is a call to moral courage and serves as light to all who value truth.

    “And the simplest and most accessible key to our self-neglected liberation lies right here: Personal non-participation in lies. Though lies conceal everything, though lies embrace everything, but not with any help from me.
    This opens a breach in the imaginary encirclement caused by our inaction. It is the easiest thing to do for us, but the most devastating for the lies. Because when people renounce lies it simply cuts short their existence. Like an infection, they can exist only in a living organism.
    We do not exhort ourselves. We have not sufficiently matured to march into the squares and shout the truth our loud or to express aloud what we think. It’s not necessary.
    It’s dangerous. But let us refuse to say that which we do not think.
    This is our path, the easiest and most accessible one, which takes into account out inherent cowardice, already well rooted. And it is much easier—it’s dangerous even to say this—than the sort of civil disobedience which Gandhi advocated.
    Our path is to walk away from the gangrenous boundary. If we did not paste together the dead bones and scales of ideology, if we did not sew together the rotting rags, we would be astonished how quickly the lies would be rendered helpless and subside.
    That which should be naked would then really appear naked before the whole world.
    So in our timidity, let each of us make a choice: Whether consciously, to remain a servant of falsehood—of course, it is not out of inclination, but to feed one’s family, that one raises his children in the spirit of lies—or to shrug off the lies and become an honest man worthy of respect both by one’s children and contemporaries.
    And from that day onward he:
    • Will not henceforth write, sign, or print in any way a single phrase which in his opinion distorts the truth.
    • Will utter such a phrase neither in private conversation not in the presence of many people, neither on his own behalf not at the prompting of someone else, either in the role of agitator, teacher, educator, not in a theatrical role.
    • Will not depict, foster or broadcast a single idea which he can only see is false or a distortion of the truth whether it be in painting, sculpture, photography, technical science, or music.
    • Will not cite out of context, either orally or written, a single quotation so as to please someone, to feather his own nest, to achieve success in his work, if he does not share completely the idea which is quoted, or if it does not accurately reflect the matter at issue.
    • Will not allow himself to be compelled to attend demonstrations or meetings if they are contrary to his desire or will, will neither take into hand not raise into the air a poster or slogan which he does not completely accept.
    • Will not raise his hand to vote for a proposal with which he does not sincerely sympathize, will vote neither openly nor secretly for a person whom he considers unworthy or of doubtful abilities.
    • Will not allow himself to be dragged to a meeting where there can be expected a forced or distorted discussion of a question. Will immediately talk out of a meeting, session, lecture, performance or film showing if he hears a speaker tell lies, or purvey ideological nonsense or shameless propaganda.
    • Will not subscribe to or buy a newspaper or magazine in which information is distorted and primary facts are concealed. Of course we have not listed all of the possible and necessary deviations from falsehood. But a person who purifies himself will easily distinguish other instances with his purified outlook.
    No, it will not be the same for everybody at first. Some, at first, will lose their jobs. For young people who want to live with truth, this will, in the beginning, complicate their young lives very much, because the required recitations are stuffed with lies, and it is necessary to make a choice.
    But there are no loopholes for anybody who wants to be honest. On any given day any one of us will be confronted with at least one of the above-mentioned choices even in the most secure of the technical sciences. Either truth or falsehood: Toward spiritual independence or toward spiritual servitude.”

  9. From Underneath The Rubble

  10. Great essay, George. Spot on! I recall a wise professor repeatedly telling us in medical school that today’s wisdom is often tomorrow’s folly. How true.

    great

  11. Oh dear…

    Rolling Stone forced to issue an ‘update’ after viral
    hospital ivermectin story turns out to be false

    https://www.foxnews.com/media/rolling-stone-forced-issue-update-after-viral-hospital-ivermectin-story-false

    ‘ Rolling Stone was forced to issue an update to its viral story about Oklahoma hospitals being overwhelmed by patients who overdosed on the drug ivermectin after the doctor it cited was contradicted by the hospitals he referenced.

    On Friday, the liberal magazine published testimony from Dr. Jason McElyea, who told a local news station that hospitals were being overrun from patients overdosing on ivermectin which resulted in other patients waiting for treatment. McElyea claimed the situation was so bad that gunshot victims were being neglected.

    “The ERs are so backed up that gunshot victims were having hard times getting to facilities where they can get definitive care and be treated,” McElyea said.

    The story, which originally appeared in Oklahoma’s KFOR-TV news, was widely shared by reporters, including MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow.

    Fellow MSNBC left-wing anchor Joy Reid also promoted the story during her show on Friday, repeating McElyea’s claims.

    “An emergency in one rural Oklahoma town is being overwhelmed by people overdosing on ivermectin, the horse deworming medication. It’s gotten so bad that gunshot victims, gunshot victims are having to wait to be treated,” she said.

    The story was also shared by New York Daily News, Newsweek, The Guardian and Insider.

    However, the Northeastern Hospital System, which McElyea works for, issued a statement regarding his association with the hospitals reported in the story. The NHS revealed while McElyea “is affiliated” with a medial staffing group, he has not worked at the location in question for 2 months nor has he treated any ivermectin overdoses.

    “Although Dr. Jason McElyea is not an employee of NHS Sequoyah, he is affiliated with a medical staffing group that provides coverage for our emergency room. With that said, Dr. McElyea has not worked at our Sallisaw location in over 2 months. NHS Sequoyah has not treated any patients due to complications related to taking ivermectin. This includes not treating any patients for ivermectin overdose,” the statement reads. … ‘

  12. FOIA Release: Fauci Funded Construction
    Of ‘Chimeric Coronaviruses’ In Wuhan

    https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/massive-foia-release-proves-fauci-funded-wuhan-research-construct-sars-related

    ‘ When Dr. Anthony Fauci confidently screamed at Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in July – calling him a liar for accusing him of funding so-called “Gain-of-Function” (GoF) research in Wuhan, China to make coronaviruses more transmissible to humans, the argument ultimately faded due to Fauci’s unsupported claim that the research didn’t technically fit the definition of GoF.

    Now, thanks to materials (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21055989-understanding-risk-bat-coronavirus-emergence-grant-notice and https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21055988-risk-zoonotic-virus-hotspots-grant-notice) released through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by The Intercept https://theintercept.com/2021/09/06/new-details-emerge-about-coronavirus-research-at-chinese-lab/ against the National Institutes of Health (which were unredacted enough to toss Fauci under the bus), we now know that Fauci-funded EcoHealth Alliance, a New York-based nonprofit headed by Peter Daszak, was absolutely engaged in gain-of-function research to make chimeric SARS-based coronaviruses, which they confirmed could infect human cells. …

    “This is a roadmap to the high-risk research that could have led to the current pandemic,” said Gary Ruskin, executive director of U.S. Right To Know, a group that has been investigating the origins of Covid-19 (via The Intercept).

    And as Rutgers University Board of Governors Chemistry Professor Richard H. Ebright notes, “The documents make it clear that assertions by the NIH Director, Francis Collins, and the NIAID Director, Anthony Fauci, that the NIH did not support gain-of-function research or potential pandemic pathogen enhancement at WIV are untruthful.”

    In short, Fauci lied to Congress when he denied funding Gain-of-Function (GoF) research.

    “The trove of documents includes two previously unpublished grant proposals that were funded by the NIAID, as well as project updates relating to the EcoHealth Alliance’s research, which has been scrutinized amid increased interest in the origins of the pandemic.”

    The materials show that the 2014 and 2019 NIH grants to EcoHealth with subcontracts to WIV funded gain-of-function research as defined in federal policies in effect in 2014-2017 and potential pandemic pathogen enhancement as defined in federal policies in effect in 2017-present.

    (This had been evident previously from published research papers that credited the 2014 grant and from the publicly available summary of the 2019 grant. But this now can be stated definitively from progress reports of the 2014 grant and the full proposal of the 2017 grant.)

    The materials confirm the grants supported the construction–in Wuhan–of novel chimeric SARS-related coronaviruses that combined a spike gene from one coronavirus with genetic information from another coronavirus, and confirmed the resulting viruses could infect human cells.
    (Recombinant DNA includes molecules constructed outside of living cells by joining natural or synthetic DNA segments to DNA molecules that can replicate in a living cell, or molecules that result from their replication. -Science Direct)

    The materials reveal that the resulting novel, laboratory-generated SARS-related coronaviruses also could infect mice engineered to display human receptors on cells (“humanized mice”).

    The materials further reveal for the first time that one of the resulting novel, laboratory-generated SARS-related coronaviruses–one not been previously disclosed publicly–was more pathogenic to humanized mice than the starting virus from which it was constructed..

    …and thus not only was reasonably anticipated to exhibit enhanced pathogenicity, but, indeed, was *demonstrated* to exhibit enhanced pathogenicity.

    The materials further reveal that the the grants also supported the construction–in Wuhan–of novel chimeric MERS-related coronaviruses that combined spike genes from one MERS-related coronavirus with genetic information from another MERS-related coronavirus.

    The documents make it clear that assertions by the NIH Director, Francis Collins, and the NIAID Director, Anthony Fauci, that the NIH did not support gain-of-function research or potential pandemic pathogen enhancement at WIV are untruthful. … ‘

    There it is – the smoking gun…

  13. George, I have a question for you: are the pharmacists you know in your state filling prescriptions for ivermectin ? Many people are reporting pharmacists refusing to fill their prescriptions because of the political rhetoric being dished out against ivermectin . I was not aware until now that a pharmacist had the option to refuse to fill a prescription issued by a licensed MD . What’s the situation like where you are ? (I was able to get a prescription for ivermectin filled at my local CVS last month, but the situation may have changed).

  14. Earthquake from Sweden’s decision to ban
    entry to all Israelis, even those vaccinated!

    http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsbreak.gr%2Fkosmos%2F247317%2Fseismos-apo-tin-apofasi-tis-soyidias-na-apagoreysei-tin-eisodo-se-oloys-toys-israilinoys-akoma-kai-toys-emvoliasmenoys%2F

    ‘ Portugal and Sweden have decided to ban the entry of Israeli nationals amid growing coronavirus infections in Israel, a move that some other European nations are expected to follow.

    The Israelis who had planned to fly to Portugal on Thursday were prevented from checking in at Ben Gurion Airport. The Swedish ban took effect yesterday, Monday, a spokesman for the Swedish embassy in Tel Aviv told The Times of Israel.

    Although vaccination rates in Israel are among the highest in the world, Portugal and Sweden are seeing increased cases and are making no exceptions for Israelis vaccinated or recovering from COVID-19. Both countries only accept European Union vaccination certificates.

    This development is causing an earthquake all over the world. Israel and Sweden have followed two completely different models of coronavirus treatment. Israel preferred mass vaccination and repressive measures, while Sweden preferred targeted vaccination without any absolutely repressive measures.

    Today, the data justify the Swedish model, as daily deaths are minimal to zero, while in Israel, on the other hand, the pandemic is rampant, setting a record despite the highest rate of vaccination. No one would have expected a few months ago that Sweden, with its controversial model, would ban the entry of Israelis, whose treatment method has become a “model” for many Western countries. ‘

    What’s to say? Mass vaccination fails…

  15. Harvard Medical School: Natural immunity is 27 times
    stronger than the immunity offered by the vaccine

    http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pronews.gr%2Fygeia%2F1015197_iatriki-sholi-harvarnt-i-fysiki-anosia-einai-27-fores-kalyteri-apo-tin-anosia-poy

    ‘ A new study from Harvard University reveals that natural immunity is actually much more effective against COVID-19 than any immunity provided by the vaccine.
    https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.24.21262415v1

    The study showed that people who have been vaccinated are 27 times more likely to become infected with the coronavirus and develop symptoms than people who have developed natural immunity.

    According to Harvard Medical School epidemiologist Martin Kulldorff, this proves that the infamous vaccination certificates are essentially unscientific as well as discriminatory.

    “Simple disease from COVID-19 offers better immunity than the vaccine. “In this way, the mandatory vaccinations and certificates are not only scientifically foolish but also biased and immoral,” Kulldorff wrote.

    “In Israel, vaccinated people were 27 times more likely to develop severe coronavirus symptoms than those who had naturally developed immunity to a previous COVID-19 disease.” … ‘

    Truth will out…

  16. Antiochene Son says

    I’m not going to take medical advice from a guy, even a bishop, who actually believes he caught a cold from an air conditioner.

    https://twitter.com/OrderStAndrew/status/1434983502722654214

    • Perhaps the air conditioner was the means
      by means by which the virus was spread?

      • Gail Sheppard says

        Was just thinking that.

      • Antiochene Son says

        I was being facetious, but I doubt that’s what he was saying. People actually believe you can catch a cold from cold air (who hasn’t heard “don’t go outside without a jacket, you’ll catch a cold”?), so more likely he was employing that colloquial idea of getting sick from cold air.

        • Some people have problem with connecting two factors, in this case cold and germs.

          Temperature stress can lower resistance to the infection. The idea that exposing fragile people to the cold is harmless is a common superstition among American medical community.

          • “Temperature stress can lower resistance to the infection. The idea that exposing fragile people to the cold is harmless is a common superstition among American medical community.”

            Hardly anyone is “fragile,” and even those who are, if they want to ever strenghten their immune system, or even maintain status quo, need to risk such basic “stress.” If you want ruin your health, become a neurotic hypochondriac recluse, which doesn’t even require a mandate from the government.

            • Myst “Hardly anyone is “fragile,”

              Some people are fragile. Are you a social Darwinist? Let them die?

              Or did you miss what I said about dual causation?

        • Another example of Phanariote false martyriology.

          You know, actual Syrian bishops getting killed by ISIS while GOA bishops have to undergo the indignity of having to smuggle gold cufflinks through customs.

  17. The SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein disrupts human cardiac
    pericytes function through CD147-receptor-mediated signalling:
    a potential non-infective mechanism of COVID-19 microvascular disease

    https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.21.423721v2.full.pdf

    Clinical perspective

     Severe COVID-19 manifests as a microvascular syndrome, but whether SARS-CoV-2 infects and damages heart vascular pericytes (PCs) remains unknown.
     We provide evidence that cardiac PCs are not infected by SARS-CoV-2. Importantly, we show that the recombinant S protein alone elicits cellular signalling through the CD147 receptor in cardiac PCs, thereby inducing cell dysfunction and microvascular disruption in vitro.
     This study suggests that soluble S protein can potentially propagate damage to organs distant from sites of infection, promoting microvascular injury. Blocking the CD147 receptor in patients may help protect the vasculature not only from infection, but also from the collateral damage caused by the S protein. ‘

    And what do the vaccines produce?
    Spike Proteins

  18. Dr. Peter McCullough: Full Lecture On COVID-19,
    Treatment, And Vaccines (August 20, 2021)

    https://rumble.com/vm3kvi-dr.-peter-mccullough-full-lecture-on-covid-19-treatment-and-vaccines.html

    [Video – 01:23:42]

    1. The virus does not spread asymptomatically.
    2. We should never test asymptomatic people.
    3. Natural immunity is robust, complete, and durable.
    4. COVID-19 is easily treatable at home.
    5. The current vaccines are obsolete, unsafe, and unfit for human use.

    www – well worth watching…

  19. Exposed: CDC Rushed to Change Definition
    of ‘Vaccination’ On Same Day Israel Study
    Touts Natural Immunity over Vaccine

    https://rairfoundation.com/exposed-cdc-rushed-to-change-definition-of-vaccination-on-same-day-israel-study-touts-natural-immunity-over-vaccine/

    The Israel numbers are very compelling.
    The Biden team and their allies can no longer say
    that the vaccines are better than natural immunity,
    or even comes close.

    ‘ The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) quietly changed their definition of “Vaccination” on September 1st, exchanging the word “immunity” for “protection,” now that it appears that breakthrough cases can no longer be explained away as an anomaly.

    The definition change occurred on the same day – September 1st – that a massive study was released demonstrating that those who had been vaccinated were “13 times more likely to be infected with the Delta variant (what has been called a “breakthrough” infection) than those with natural immunity” …

    The original definition pre-2015 for vaccination was: “Injection of a killed or weakened infectious organism in order to prevent the disease.” That definition evolved in 2015 to become “The act of introducing a vaccine into the body to produce immunity to a specific disease.” As of September 1, 2021, the definition was watered down yet again to read “The act of introducing a vaccine into the body to produce protection from a specific disease.”

    As usual, there is zero discussion or transparency surrounding the change. It is not a a stretch to speculate that the change comes as data from Israel shows that “natural immunity left after recovering from Covid-19 is stronger over the long run than immunity generated by the Pfizer vaccine.”

    Vilifying Natural Immunity

    It appears that the left must now concede that natural immunity is effective against the coronavirus. … ‘

    Another story bites the dust…

  20. It appears that the left must now concede that natural immunity is effective against the coronavirus. … ‘

    Must concede? Since when has the Left ever conceded anything? Leftists cling to lies as ‘heroes’ of defiance of God and anything that is true and beautiful until their last breath.

    • Gail Sheppard says

      I told you all about my daughter and how afraid I was that she would buckle under the pressure from her work and her friends. Her company has a “must show you’re vaccinated” policy. She went to her boss and told him she didn’t have the vaccine and she had no intention of getting it. He looked at her and said, “Good for you. I have no intention of getting it either.”

      Where is Nancy Reagan when we need her? (“Just say NO.”)

      • May God bless her.

      • George Michalopulos says

        Believe it or not, Nancy Reagan’s program took off when I was in pharmacy school. She was ridiculed in some quarters. Yet, she was absolutely, 100% correct.

        Looking back, I can see the wisdom of my mother when she made us undertake nysteia (“fasting”). Although it wasn’t true fasting in the absolute sense of the word, giving up flesh-meats and animal products, even for a short time, contributed to askeses or the ascetic struggle. I’m not trying to say that I was Percival Pious but the Church in Her wisdom, knows what’s best for us.

      • George Michalopulos says

        I’m mighty proud of my step-daughter.

        • As you should be.

          The question is how long will people like your step-daughter be able to hold out when the choice is the useless ‘and dangerous vaccine’ or their job? Federal employees and employees of Federal contractors (whether these contracts are specific to any particular employees job or not) constitute approximately 100 million people. As usual, this is all about money and control.

          Biden left one possible escape in his speech. Not even a single mention of contraindicating medical conditions or religious exemption (which tells me all I need to know about their concern for my health, by the way):

          “…or testing once a week.”

          ‘Vaccine’ = free

          Testing = added cost to employers

          And in his speech at least, he seemed to leave it up to the employers. Which option do you suppose the average employer will choose?

          This needs to be vigorously challenged NOW! And not on the basis of “states rights,” as I heard some Republican moron from Colorado say today. No Governor or state legislature has this right over us any more than Congress or the POTUS. And if the SCOTUS doesn’t strike it down, we can be certain that we are nothing more to them than slaves of the state.

          O Lord, come to the aid of your faithful!

  21. As you should be.

    The question is how long will people like your step-daughter be able to hold out when the choice is the useless and dangerous ‘vaccine’ or their job? Federal employees and employees of Federal contractors (whether these contracts are specific to any particular employee’s job or not) constitute approximately 100 million people. As usual, this is all about money and control.

    Biden left one possible escape in his speech. Not even a single mention of contraindicating medical conditions (which tells me all I need to know about their concern for my health, by the way) or religious exemption :

    “…or testing once a week.”

    ‘Vaccine’ = free

    Testing = added cost to employers

    And in his speech at least, he seemed to leave it up to the employers. Which option do you suppose the average employer will choose?

    This needs to be vigorously challenged NOW! And not on the basis of “states rights,” as I heard some Republican moron from Colorado say today. No Governor or state legislature has this right over us any more than Congress or the POTUS. And if the SCOTUS doesn’t strike it down, we can be certain that we are nothing more to them than slaves of the state.

    O Lord, come to the aid of your faithful!

  22. Perspectives on the Pandemic:
    Dr Peter McCullough

    https://www.lewrockwell.com/2021/09/joseph-mercola/perspectives-on-the-pandemic-with-dr-peter-mccullough/

    [Video: 01:14:25]

    Compelling viewing

  23. Urgent: the British are dropping vaccine passports
    https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/urgent-the-british-are-dropping-vaccine

    Just so we’re clear: they’re not doing this
    because they think vaccines work –
    but because they know vaccines don’t

    ‘ Keep hope alive.

    The Sunday Times has just reported that Boris Johnson is giving up on the idea of vaccine passports or making businesses check vaccine status.

    Again, this is not because Britain – where 80% of people over 16 are fully vaccinated – has controlled Covid. The opposite, in fact.

    Other data show that only about 25% of deaths in Britain are among the unvaccinated – and that vaccinated people over 40 are actually MORE likely to get Covid than the unvaccinated.

    The truth always wins. Now that one big country has made a long overdue concession to reality, will the rest follow?

    Not if Uncle Joe can help it… ‘

    And not in Scotland – if Wee Nic the Fish* can help it!

    * Nicola Sturgeon [after Eck the Fish or Alex Salmond]

    • “The Sunday Times has just reported that Boris Johnson is giving up on the idea of vaccine passports or making businesses check vaccine status.”

      As the deaths from the poison poke rise, they’ll blame the lack of vaccine passports and those who haven’t been injected.

  24. Sweden Passes New Law To Compensate
    Those Injured By COVID Vaccines

    https://greatgameindia.com/sweden-law-compensate-injured-vaccines/

    ‘ Sweden has passed a new law that will compensate those injured by the COVID vaccines. The new law would come into force in December but retroactively grant compensation to anyone injured as a result of the vaccines prior to that date. … ‘

    Who will follow suit, I wonder?

  25. POLICE BRUTALITY: Sydney Mother begs,
    “Remove the handcuffs from dying son!” as RIOT Police Converge
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAJUSSDljGk

    [Video – 10:31]

    ‘ The main in the handcuffs was arrested for “not wearing a mask”. This is a shocking display of Police intimidation tactics in Australia. More evidence that the Police are deliberately targeting and attacking the religious and multicultural family-orientated communities of western Sydney! ‘

    Australia treats its people like they were all convicts
    and Australia is a police state…

  26. George Michalopulos says

    I’m wondering if there’s going to be worldwide protests along the lines of White Lives Matter because of this egregious incident.

    • Frank Schaeffer made headlines on Breitbart:

      https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/09/10/msnbc-guest-calls-drone-strikes-americans-opposed-vaccine-mandates/

      Anti-vaccine and anti-mask anti-science conspiracy theory-spreading leading activists are bio terrorists. Period. They should be treated as such. Drone strikes on selected worst offender pod-casters anyone?

      — Frank – ‘Love, Children, Planet’ – Schaeffer (@Frank_Schaeffer) September 10, 2021

      Notably, Schaffer called pro-lifers the “American Taliban” during an appearance on MSNBC’s The ReidOut last week to discuss the pro-life Texas abortion law.

      “We have a situation in Texas right now tonight where the American Taliban, because that’s what it is — there’s not an American evangelical right-wing movement — there is an American Taliban — is weirdly similar in so many ways to the Middle Eastern Islamist terrorists,” he asserted.

      ..This is happening right now with the people dying of COVID, children dying of COVID, because pro-lifers have seen fit to stand against Joe Biden`s vaccine as a way to own the libs,” he continued, once again calling those individuals “literally bioterrorists.”

      • Frank Schaeffer: “There is a new American Taliban, and their goal is theocracy, which means to take our religious beliefs, which for them are Old Testament law, not Christianity, and force secular Americans, non-evangelical Americans, progressive Americans, women, people of color into that box,” he continued, explaining it was “not hyperbole.”

        No, Frankie, it’s not.
        Frankly, it’s mince…

      • Ok, Frankie’s definitely gone off the Deep end.

  27. Are the unvaccinated a threat to others?
    https://alertandoriented.com/are-the-unvaccinated-a-threat-to-others/

    A disputed question argued in the Scholastic style.

    ‘ … Sed Contra, as it is said, “The healthy have no need of a physician, but the sick do.” Therefore, being healthy, the unvaccinated have no need to be vaccinated and cannot be a threat for failing to do something they have no need to do.

    Response: It is not the unvaccinated person who can harm, but the infected one. For an unvaccinated person cannot spread disease by virtue of being unvaccinated but only by virtue of being infected, and being infected does not figure in the definition of being unvaccinated for the unvaccinated are healthy.

    An unvaccinated person is only potentially, not actually, infected, and only what is actual can properly be a threat. For the legal definition of a threat is “the real and serious communication of an intent to inflict harm,” but the unvaccinated could only inflict harm by being infected, not by being unvaccinated. … ‘

    Interesting examination of the question

  28. Bouncing Boris…

    1) UK government continues to flip flop.
    Health Minister says NO passports, NO lockdowns

    https://theduran.com/uk-government-continues-to-flip-flop-health-minister-says-no-passports-no-lockdowns/

    Brrring-brrring
    Boris: “Hallo…”
    Klaus: “Boris! Vot are you doingk?”

    2) Boris backtracks, passports back on the table in UK
    https://theduran.com/boris-backtracks-passports-back-on-the-table-in-uk/

    Bounce Boris Better…

  29. Judicial Watch: New FDA Records Show Purchases
    of Fetal Organs, Heads and Tissue for ‘Humanized Mice’ Project

    https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-releases/new-fda-records-humanized-mice/

    (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today [Sept 14] that it received 198 pages of records and communications from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) involving “humanized mice” research with human fetal heads, organs and tissue, including communications and contracts with human fetal tissue provider Advanced Bioscience Resources (ABR). …

    Judicial Watch received the records through a March 2019 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, of which the FDA is a part (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department Health and Human Services (No. 1:19-cv-00876)). The lawsuit asks for all contracts and related documentation on disbursement of funds, procedural documents and communications between FDA and ABR for the provision of human fetal tissue to be used in humanized mice research. After successfully opposing the FDA’s redaction of certain information from its records, a federal court ordered HHS to release additional information about its purchases of organs harvested from aborted human fetuses – including “line item prices,” or the price per organ the government paid to ABR. The court also found “there is reason to question” whether the transactions violate federal law barring the sale of fetal organs. Documents previously uncovered in this lawsuit show that the federal government demanded the purchased fetal organs be “fresh and never frozen.”) …

    A January 1, 2013, “Fees for Services Schedule” provided by ABR to the FDA includes:

    FETAL CADAVEROUS PROCUREMENT SERVICE FEE

    2nd trimester D&E [Dilation and Evacuation abortion] (13-24 weeks) per specimen $275

    1st trimester aspiration [abortion] (8-12 weeks) per specimen $515

    Intact Calvarium [baby’s skull] (8-24 weeks)” per specimen $515 … ‘

    Fresh? Never frozen? Moloch is a gourmet…
    Kyrie eleison!

    • Nothing to see here, your Eminences, Graces, Fathers, and brethren There are pews to be filled, fears to be assuaged, and “normality” to be returned to.

      Just close your eyes, look the other way, and recommend following the advice of your physician.*** It’s the loving thing to do, after all.

      ***”your physician who likewise either doesn’t know or prefers not to know.