The facts, as dispensed to the two warring tribes!

THURSDAY, JULY 22, 2021

The power of vaccination:  Is there a good way out of this mess? We're not sure there is.

We've become a nation of two warring tribes. In many ways, involving many people, a set of silent secessions are taking form.

Modern technologies—and attendant business models—keep driving the tribal division higher and higher. Human nature being what it is, it isn't clear how to make this devolution stop.

Members of the warring tribes keep hearing divergent statements and claims. Sometimes, they even hear different (fully accurate) facts.

As a result, the tribes may come to hold widely divergent beliefs. For today, consider a passage from yesterday's report in the the New York Times about the power of Covid-19 vaccines.

Michael Grynbaum reported on the way the topic is being reported and discussed on Fox News. At one point, he offered this example of the "skeptical message" viewers are hearing from the network's prime time hosts:

GRYNBAUM ET AL (7/21/21): In his Monday monologue, Tucker Carlson, Fox News’s highest-rated host, told viewers, “We’re not saying there is no benefit to the vaccine—there may well be profound benefits to the vaccine.” He acknowledged that “various vaccines seem to lower the effects of the disease, make it less severe on people,” but he also brought up the Texas cases, saying, “It makes you wonder, how effective are those drugs anyway?”

On balance, Carlson's work on this topic seems hard to justify. Quite often, his work is even worse.  (We haven't seen all his work on this topic.)

We haven't thoroughly studied Carlson's work on this topic. That said, we did see the Monday evening broadcast in question, and we'd have to say that Grynbaum's quote was perhaps a bit misleading.

“It makes you wonder, how effective are those [vaccinations] anyway?” We did see Carlson make that statement. Grynbaum's quotation of Carlson can be scored as technically accurate.

That said, the quotation, at least as presented, is perhaps a bit misleading. Here's why:

Carlson did refer to the half-dozen Texas legislators who have tested positive for Covid since fleeing their state's political wars and decamping to Washington. Reportedly, the Texans have tested positive despite being fully vaccinated.

Carlson did refer to those "Texas cases." But in this, his fuller presentation, you can see the principal fact to which he was alluding when he made the quoted statement in question:

CARLSON (7/19/21): Unfortunately, [Texas legislator Gene] Wu was not able to join us tonight. He is still at the airport meeting his many fans. So instead, we have tape for you from the U.K.'s Chief Scientific Adviser, a man called Sir Patrick Vallance. This tape is from today.

Gene Wu and his friends should have watched it before they left Texas. It makes you wonder, how effective are these drugs anyway? Watch.

VALLANCE (videotape): In terms of the number of people in hospital who have been double vaccinated, we know it's around 60 percent of the people being admitted to hospital with COVID have been double vaccinated, and that's not surprising because the vaccines are not a hundred percent effective.

CARLSON: So, fully sixty percent of patients admitted to British hospitals for severe, presumably life-threatening cases of COVID, because that's why you go to the hospital, had been fully vaccinated. That's what he just said.

In the statement Grynbaum quoted, Carlson was referring to a somewhat puzzling statement by Vallance, a high U.K. official.  Carlson's viewers actually saw the statement by Vallance on videotape.

In his initial statement, Vallance had said that 60 percent of people being hospitalized with Covid-19 had been double vaccinated. Vallance was referring to people admitted to hospitals in the U.K.

As Carlson quickly noted, Vallance had quickly amended that statement. He'd meant to say that 60 percent of the hospitalizations involve people who haven't been double vaccinated, the fumbling official now said.

Still, that would mean that as many as 40 percent of hospitalized Brits may have been fully vaccinated. For Carlson's full transcript, click here.

Even in its amended form, Vallance's statement seemed to fly in the face of statements being widely made on CNN and MSNBC, even in that same Monday night hour. In those statements, viewers were told that 99.5 percent of current Covid deaths in the U.S., and the huge majority of serious illnesses, involve people who haven't been vaccinated.

Why did Vallance say what he did? We have no idea.

In its amended form, was his statement accurate? If so, does it contradict or challenge the statements being made on this side of the pond in some significant way?

We don't know the answers to those question. Vallance's statement has largely been ignored on this side of the puddle. 

In the major news orgs of Our Town, we're still being told, we'll presume correctly, that almost no one who's fully vaccinated has been hospitalized, or has died, in the new wave of Covid infections.

We'll presume that claim is correct, though we can't say we know that with certainty. Meanwhile, Fox viewers were quickly told about Vallance's potentially troubling statement—and the New York Times may have put its thumbs on the scales a tad when it reported what Carlson said about the puzzling statement.

Why did Vallance say what he did? Was his statement accurate? If so, does it contradict, challenge or call into question what we're being told over here? Should it be seen as a point of concern?

We don't know how to answer those questions. The main point we're making is this:

Here again, for the ten millionth time, the two tribes were being told different things. Even as Fox viewers were being given reason to wonder about the power of vaccination, Our Town was being given a massively different impression. 

Flipping back and forth that night, we saw both presentations in the same 8 P.M. hour.

On their face, the statements didn't seem to jibe, but no one has tried to explain. In perhaps a million such ways, members of our two warring tribes come to see the world in widely divergent ways.

In fairness, Carlson reported an actual quote from a major authority. Viewers saw the actual videotape of the statement in question.

In Our Town, we haven't been told about the peculiar statement. Is there any way out of this deep tribal mess? Given the human impulse for tribal war, we're not sure what it is.

Carlson's performance is often beyond appalling. In this case, he played a piece of videotape, and he described it in a reasonably accurate way.

His viewers saw the videotape; CNN's viewers didn't. Two days later, the New York Times may have put its thumb on the scale as it wholly ignored the statement to which Carlson had referred.

In a wide range of such ways, the tribal division we're all living with only gets deeper and dumber. Just for the record, journalistic elites in each tribe are engaged in this war. 

That includes some major stars right here in Our Town. Given the ways our human brains work, we see no obvious way out of this spreading problem.

Can a nation survive such a mess? We see no way to be sure. In closing, we'll offer a final assessment:

Vallance's statement, if it's accurate, does seem a bit concerning to us. We'd like to see someone explain it. Mainly, though, we'd like to see someone flatly reject the impulse toward tribal war. 

Tomorrow: Back to PITFALLS! In search of clear and cogent speech concerning Einstein's universe...


129 comments:

  1. This post makes it perfectly clear that Somerby hates blacks and Mexicans.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Which one are you?

      Delete
    2. Someone can be both. For example:

      "I am projecting the Black-ass bat signal into the sky with the following news: Batgirl is Afro-Latina.

      According to The Hollywood Reporter, Leslie Grace (In The Heights) has been cast as Batgirl / Barbara Gordon in the upcoming project debuting on HBO Max in 2023. Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, the filmmakers behind Bad Boys for Life, will be directing and Christina Hodson (Birds of Prey, The Flash) will pen the script."

      Delete
    3. I'm a black retired psychiatrist. I spend my days scornfully trolling a blogger when I'm not staring vacantly into my terrarium.

      Delete
    4. You're an idiot and a dupe if you watch those movies no matter what your color or gender.

      Delete
    5. My great great grandfather pickled onions.

      Delete
    6. I am neither a black person nor a psychiatrist. But it shouldn't matter to you what I am. You should judge comments by their content, not the skin color of the person writing them. Asshole.

      Delete
    7. @7:41 PM "I am neither a black person "

      In that case you're a racist and a demon, and will always be.

      Vade retro, Satana!

      Delete
    8. LOTTO, lottery,jackpot.
      Hello all my viewers, I am very happy for sharing this great testimonies,The best thing that has ever happened in my life is how I win the lottery euro million mega jackpot. I am a Woman who believe that one day I will win the lottery. finally my dreams came through when I email believelovespelltemple@gmail.com and tell him I need the lottery numbers. I have spend so much money on ticket just to make sure I win. But I never know that winning was so easy until the day I meant the spell caster online which so many people has talked about that he is very great in casting lottery spell, . so I decide to give it a try.I contacted this great Dr Believe and he did a spell and he gave me the winning lottery numbers. But believe me when the draws were out I was among winners. I win 30,000 million Dollar. Dr Believe truly you are the best, all thanks to you forever


























      LOTTO, lottery,jackpot.
      Hello all my viewers, I am very happy for sharing this great testimonies,The best thing that has ever happened in my life is how I win the lottery euro million mega jackpot. I am a Woman who believe that one day I will win the lottery. finally my dreams came through when I email believelovespelltemple@gmail.com and tell him I need the lottery numbers. I have spend so much money on ticket just to make sure I win. But I never know that winning was so easy until the day I meant the spell caster online which so many people has talked about that he is very great in casting lottery spell, . so I decide to give it a try.I contacted this great Dr Believe and he did a spell and he gave me the winning lottery numbers. But believe me when the draws were out I was among winners. I win 30,000 million Dollar. Dr Believe truly you are the best, all thanks to you forever

      Delete
  2. Any moron would know that the vaccine is effective. Unfortunately we are dealing with the know nothing right.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great job, Tucker Carlson. This is what we call Journalism: questioning and contradicting the powers that be.

    As you can see, dear Bob, the American society is fine: it still has real journalism, and humyn beings in America are reading and watching it.

    Yes, the liberal cult has polluted a lot, but it hasn't succeeded. And it won't.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tucker got his vaccine because he's not a moron.
      His audience that he questions the vaccine to? Not so much.

      Delete
    2. Do you have a point, dear dembot?

      If so, is it, as it seems, that official claims shouldn't be challenged by journalists?

      And if that's indeed your point, then all we can do here is to agree to disagree. We aren't too big on totalitarianism, and we humbly hope that most of our fellow Americans aren't either.

      Delete
    3. Thank you for your thoughtful opinion, dear dembot.

      All we can say to you: it takes one to know one.

      Delete
    4. I challenge journalists to prove that any Right-wing argument is made in good faith.

      Delete
    5. Now all you have to do is find a real journalist.

      Delete
    6. Mao,
      I haven't been in Kindergarten in 50 years.
      Remind me again of which one of us is rubber and which of us is glue.

      Delete
    7. It's as you so often confess yourself, dear dembot: all your slurs are really your confessions.

      Delete
    8. Whatever you say, snowflake.

      Delete
    9. What, no comeback? Nothing in the soros-dembot database?

      Ah, of course, the internet troubles today... The dembot site is down, we reckon?

      Delete
    10. Mao,
      You were funnier when you pretended you didn't have a hard-on for the Establishment.

      Delete
    11. Attaboy, dear dembot.

      Delete
  4. Somerby is a bit behid the times. Various right wing leaders in the media and in government have been recanting their previous opposition and announcing that they have gotten vaccinated and are urging others to do so.

    The left seems to be puzzled about why this is happening and has suggested that there is perhaps a lawsuit in the background, but it also seems possible to me that they are reacting to news stories, such as the one yesterday in which a doctor described the death-bed pleas of anti-vaxxers for vaccine after they have caught covid and nothing can be done for them.

    It seems to me that this shows that even the adamant tribalism of the right with respect to covid must yield to facts and reality on the ground. And that is the hope for addressing this political division. Politics, including massive disinformation, is no match for reality. The same can be said for the efforts by Trump and his supporters to overturn the election. That didn't work because there was no evidence of voter fraud, not because of push back by Democrats.

    Somerby's black-and-white thinking here, where he wishes to divide the political world into two warring tribes, just doesn't capture the way people behave and it ignores too much else that is going on in people's lives.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was the stock market.
      The idea that Right-wingers are concerned about the health of the citizenry, might be the dumbest take ever.

      Delete
    2. Anonymouse 12:54pm, you can credit the Biden Administration for this since it announced that it was helping FB monitor itself for “problematic posts” and launched the argument that if you were suspended from one social media platform for thought crime, you should immediately be suspended from all of them.

      These platforms for PR tweets, podcasts, impressive photos, etc, are everything for public people and media orgs.

      Delete
    3. Facebook's algorithm is a troll.

      Delete
    4. Lying isn't a "thought crime" since the liar knows what is true and what is not. It is the action, not the thought that is being punished by FB. I agree with Biden that banning should occur across platforms.

      Lying about a life or death matter such as covid is akin to shouting fire in a theater and should not be excused as free speech.

      Delete
    5. Was this a “lie”?

      https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newsweek.com/fauci-said-masks-not-really-effective-keeping-out-virus-email-reveals-1596703%3Famp%3D1

      Delete
    6. No. According to Somerby, a lie is a knowingly told falsehood. That's why it is an actual crime instead of a "thought crime".

      Delete
    7. You’ve finally gotten that concept down, I’m not sure you’ll ever be able to extend any notion of fairness towards people who think differently than you think.

      Delete
    8. "people who think differently than I think"?

      You mean liars? The fairest thing to do with a liar is to expose the lies.

      You don't belong here, you are annoying, and you need to go away now.

      Delete
    9. ‘I’m not sure you’ll ever be able to extend any notion of fairness towards people who think differently than you think.’

      Like you, Cecelia?

      Be honest.

      You’re here because you hate liberals and the mainstream media and Somerby indulges in that in spades. You have zero interest in trying to understand liberals or extend any fairness to them.

      Do you frequent websites or blogs that bash conservatives and right wing media, who deserve a great deal of bashing?

      Be honest. After all, you’re the one defending the despicable Carlson here.

      Delete
    10. I’ve haven’t defended Carlson, but I like him very much.

      I have no animus against liberals unless they tatty to curtail my freedom in some way. I don’t like conservatives that do that.

      I don’t think of Anonymices as being liberals as much as being trolls.

      Delete
    11. Anonymouse 11:58pm, it’s highly likely that the world is a better place than you think it is.

      Delete
    12. "they tatty to curtail my freedom"

      What does tatty mean?

      Delete
    13. 2:54,
      I don't know. I still get the sense there is a Right-winger out there.

      Delete
  5. Fox is losing viewers, perhaps because of buffoons like Carlson.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. With Trump out, all the media outlets are losing viewers.

      Delete
    2. CNN has been the hardest hit.

      It can’t draw flies.

      Delete
    3. Then CNN needs to spread more Right-wing "truths", since flies are drawn to (bull)shit.

      Delete
    4. Perhaps CNN shouldn’t be spreading anything, since viewers are drawn to news.

      Delete
    5. ‘viewers are drawn to news.’

      How do you explain Fox News then?

      Delete
  6. "We've become a nation of two warring tribes...
    Modern technologies—and attendant business models—keep driving the tribal division higher and higher."

    The success of their propoganda efforts show up here in the comments everyday.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Most studies of political polarization are blaming the increase of disinformation for the extremism on the right. That disinformation is not coming from the mainstream media or large corporations. Somerby's focus on centrist and left media is misguided (to be charitable).

      Delete
    2. Mainstream media spread disinformation about Russiagate at the behest of Hillary Clinton and the CIA. CNBC and CNN are mainstream media and they have simply given their networks over to the CIA and FBI! Mainstream media spreads disinformation every day and that is Somerby's point: "our tribe would be better off if we were better able to see the ways our conduct resembles theirs", "the liberal world has been constructing novelized versions of highly important real-world events, sanding off all complexity until we're left with the primal anger, fear and loathing traditionally associated with the world of the fairy tale."

      The studies to which you are referring yet don't provide are probably commissioned by the mainstream media or large corporations. :D

      Delete
    3. https://www.hewlett.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Social-Media-Political-Polarization-and-Political-Disinformation-Literature-Review.pdf

      Has no one ever taught you how to use Google or Bing, you poor sod?

      Delete
    4. I'm not obligated to search Google for sources to your claims!! You're obligated to provide them. :)

      And you proved my point. The Hewlett Foundation (Hewlett Packard) is a billion dollar corporate foundation. The study to which you referred was commissioned by a foundation made possible by and representing one of the world's largest corporations. :D Have a nice day dumbshit!

      Delete
    5. To repeat:

      1) Mainstream media have given their networks over to the CIA and FBI.

      https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/02/06/john-brennan-james-claper-michael-hayden-former-cia-media-216943/

      2) Mainstream media spread completely false disinformation and propaganda about Russiagate at the behest of Hillary Clinton and the CIA.

      Delete
    6. Hillary invented Russiagate to divert attention away from the leaked emails which proved that she colluded with the DNC to cheat Sanders out of the nomination. The whole thing was (and still is) a disinformation campaign spread through mainstream media. Lucky for them they may have a country full of dimwits that can't even do basic research or critical thinking about the completely absurd claim at the core of their polarizing disinformation campaign that they spread far and wide through the mainstream media.

      Delete
    7. Russiagate was invented by the Right-wing, corporate-owned, media (AKA the media) because they needed something other than the Right-wings love of Trump's bigotry to explain how Trump won the 2016 election.
      That was after they got laughed at for suggesting it was 'economic anxiousness".

      Delete
    8. 12:04

      Thank you for contributing to and being a part of the Idiocracy. ;)

      Delete
    9. The study I linked to is a literature review. It summarizes all of the research done by other people to date. You didn't look at it, did you?

      Delete
    10. 5:59,
      Where did you hear about Russiagate?

      Delete
    11. I did not read it. I looked through it though and it looks very interesting. Thank you for providing it. I do look forward to reading it soon.

      I stand by my point though that mainstream media disseminates divisive propaganda every day and on a massive scale.

      Where did I hear about Russiagate? The Mueller Report. The Steele dossier. The book Shattered. I didn't need to hear about it from anyone. The prospect of scary Trump Putin collusion was always a completely stupid impossibility. Believing the prospect of Trump Putin collusion or Putin having some sort of blackmail on Trump that forced him to dictate policy is a complete folly that only a naive, uncultured, unaware, myopic, unworldly television/internet addicted American would entertain. It's like believing in Superman. It was a 100% total impossibility from the moment it came out in 2016 (which was in an article by David Sanger in the New York Times, coincidentally the same day that the Clinton emails were released by Wikileaks.)

      Delete
    12. WP article about Clinton/Wikieaks emails:
      https://bit.ly/3xWbCJb

      Nyt/Sanger Divisive Mainstream Media Propaganda Re. Russia That Was Ordered by Clinton:
      https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/us/politics/donald-trump-russia-emails.html

      Delete
    13. You don't have to hear about Russiagate from any one if you understand the way the world currently works. The idea that Russia could influence our election was always totally insane. You have to look at what they would have been competing against.

      Alt right, right wing media had been for the longest time already completely entrenched, monied and vast. Breitbart and Drudge then etc already had vast outreach and ability to propagandize Americans. The thought that fucking Russia could compete with that is absurd. Compete with that with $100,000? Impossible.

      Then you have to look at tech giants like Google and Facebook. These companies who are amongst the most highly valued corporations in the history of the world offered services to political campaigns that helped them outreach potential voters through their platforms. Again, the thought that Russia could compete with that? Even entertaining the idea for a quarter of a second that that was possible would show a complete ignorance of the state of the world as it is now. In other words, Russia never had the ability to even remotely collude in a way that would make any difference whatsoever in the election compared to already entrenched Right wing propagands efforts in America and the reach of tech giants who devoted whole teams to helping campaigns reach and manipulate voters. It's like saying a 73 Volkswagen bus could win the Daytona 500. It's not possible. It's not even worth considering.

      From the beginning Russiagate and collusion was clearly a propaganda campaign unleashed by Clinton to take the attention away from her own shortcomings and make excuses for Trump's victory. That's why all the leaks about it were from unsourced intelligence officials. That's what the CIA does - propaganda.

      What Don Jr. took a meeting and that helped swing the election? Putin got his hands on some polling data?? The mere notion is beyond insane. The world doesn't work that way right now.

      Delete
    14. For some reason, probably because media and movies have eaten their brains, vast numbers of Americans thought the idea was even possible. They think Russia is like Russia in an 80's action adventure movie and that life is a simple game of cops and robbers and the American institutions are always the good guy. . It's almost funny but really it's weird and sad.

      Delete
    15. The media has been grasping for a reason other than bigotry to explain why anyone would vote Republican, since at least Reagan.
      The idea that it would take a foreign power to get the Republican base to vote for a bigot, like Trump, is absolutely ridiculous.

      Delete
    16. Actually, your accusation is a confession. It is you who is grasping for a reason other than bigotry to explain why Trump got elected. Why? Because the alternative is too difficult for you to face and that is that the American political system is falling apart at its seams. Is it too much for you to deal with psychically. It's ok. It's human. Have a good weekend.

      Delete
    17. 9:35,
      Black people live in the same American political system that is falling apart at the seams, yet they overwhelmingly reject Trump at the polls.

      Enjoy your weekend, too. Or toil long and hard this weekend to find a reason other than bigotry for anyone to vote for Trump. If you choose the latter, good luck. You'll need all of it you can get.

      Delete
    18. If it were so easy for Putin to deliver Republican election victories, Republican politicians wouldn't be working overtime to suppress the votes of black people across the country.

      Delete
  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. “ Umm...This is from three days ago:”

      From the blog post less than three hours ago:

      “ In the statement Grynbaum quoted, Carlson was referring to a somewhat puzzling statement by Vallance, a high U.K. official. Carlson's viewers actually saw the statement by Vallance on videotape.

      In his initial statement, Vallance had said that 60 percent of people being hospitalized with Covid-19 had been double vaccinated. Vallance was referring to people admitted to hospitals in the U.K.

      As Carlson quickly noted, Vallance had quickly amended that statement. He'd meant to say that 60 percent of the hospitalizations involve people who haven't been double vaccinated, the fumbling official now said.

      Still, that would mean that as many as 40 percent of hospitalized Brits may have been fully vaccinated. For Carlson's full transcript, click here.”

      Delete
    2. I, for one, appreciate Carlson taking time away from reporting his bigotry, to convince Republican voters they shouldn't get the vaccine. He must have heard me ask him to use his power for good, instead of evil.

      Delete
    3. I am NOT glad those Democrats in Texas did an airborne publicity-hounding superspreader.

      They’ve did more to set back the notion that vaccines are effective than a hundred articles could ever fix.

      Delete
    4. Don't be ridiculous.

      Delete
    5. The Governor of TX has been doing everything he can to spread covid but you want to blame some Democrats who left TX to go to DC? Who do you think you are fooling with this shit?

      Delete
    6. You have vaccinated politicians who left Texas in order to hold up legislation.

      That was widely reported in the media, along with the fact that they are all vaccinated.

      Now six of them have tested positive for the virus. Which has been reported too.

      Everyone immediately has a load of questions and doubts about vaccine effectiveness.

      Surely you’re able to fathom that.

      Delete
    7. Testing positive is not the same as having symptoms, much less feeling bad. The vaccine is effective if it keeps people out of the ICU and keeps them from dying. Even you should be able to tell the difference between an antibody test without symptoms and dying to death.

      Delete
    8. From The Political Wire:

      "CNN reports that 17 more House Republicans have been vaccinated, meaning that 114 of 211 Republicans in the House have now been vaccinated — or 54% of the conference.

      By contrast, 100% of all House Democrats confirm they’ve been vaccinated."

      Delete
    9. https://www.rawstory.com/19-vaccine-2653901034/

      From a right-wing goon's lips to your warped little pea brain, Cecelia.

      Delete
    10. I can tell the difference. How many Americans won’t?

      I’ve also seen the pictures of them maskless and I’ve heard the media assuring their viewers that are vaccinated.

      How many Americans of all colors and creeds, will see only that.

      Delete
    11. If you can tell the difference, why do you behave like you cannot?

      Delete
    12. You attribute that to me because I tolerate the views of others and I don’t say the exact words you say.

      Delete
    13. Anonymouse 8:34pm, which is more compelling in the minds of people who have been widely reassured that any doubt or questions about the vaccine is bordering on subversive- that all the Dems in congress got vaccinated or that six vaccinated Texas pols tested positive despite having been vaccinated?

      It’s a fiasco.

      Delete
    14. Not only does Cecelia tolerate abortion, she also knows it's a completely legal medical procedure Right-wingers bitch about because they hate the idea that women are first class citizens.
      And that, folks, is why I tolerate Cecelia.

      Delete
    15. "By contrast, 100% of all House Democrats confirm they’ve been vaccinated.""

      Weird, innit, but not really surprising on account of 'em all being cult members.

      Delete
    16. Did you miss the memo, dear dembot? Everyone hates "black people" and always will.

      https://www.vicetv.com/en_us/video/all-white-people-are-racist/599b5654344570014e07550c

      Delete
    17. Memo?
      Sounds more like the GOP platform going back to Nixon.

      Delete
    18. Nixon-schmixon. It's the official platform of your liberal-hitlerian cult, dear dembot.

      Delete
  8. Here is a piece about Vallance said why it is not surprising for more vaccinated people to go to the hospital (which is rare) as more of the population gets vaccinated. I’m not sure if anyone one on “our side” did a segment on it during prime time cable news, but they should:

    https://theconversation.com/covid-the-reason-cases-are-rising-among-the-double-vaccinated-its-not-because-vaccines-arent-working-164797

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That’s been reported, hardlndr.

      It’s why so many question Britain on its consideration on locking everything down again..

      Delete
    2. They would have to go on lockdown again to prevent unvaccinated people from getting infected with COVID-19 and either going to the hospital and possibly dying. That has also been reported. In my original post, I asked if this explanation had been offered on our side to correct Tucker’s misinformation.

      Delete
    3. When you have 70% of the pop vaccinated twice and 88% once, then it really is arguable that Britain is over-reaccting.

      As for Tucker’s misinformation, there’s been discussion too that AZ and J&J vaccines which are not mRNAs, are less effective, especially against variants.

      Tucker’s point is that it’s hard to question anything related to the vaccines without opprobrium from the gods.

      Delete
    4. You may have to do some kind of lock down to prevent the 30% of people who are not fully vaccinated.

      It is widely known and reported that the AZ and Jansen vaccines are not as effective as the Pfizer and Moderna ones, so that is not news.

      Carlson’s act is not very good and is obviously phony and designed to spread misinformation, for whatever reason. There is no point to carlson’s “questioning” of officials, since his presentations are so incompetent and, in my opinion, intentionally confusing.

      It is very obvious that people are much safer being vaccinated with any of the approved COVID-19 vaccines that not.

      Delete
    5. Jesus will save the FOX minions. Just ask Kenneth Copeland and Herman Cain.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JPRvxTjfOk

      Delete
    6. hardliners, there were people booted from Twitter and You Tube for saying that AstraZeneca and Johnson&Johnson were crap.

      Delete
    7. They are not “crap,” they are just not as effective as other vaccines. If they are what is available, then people should take them. Not perfect protection against disease is much bette then no protection.

      Delete
    8. No, people who took those vaccines need to be warned that they’re not as effective. That’s information that they need.

      You can put fork in the ability to have any rational thinking around this issue if that is off limits.

      Delete
    9. How can that be "off limits" when it has been in print all over the place since the first vaccines were approved? The problem is not the lack of reliable info but the spread of disinformation that confuses people.

      Delete
  9. The way I read it, Vallance did not make any references to the very seriously ill or dead.

    ReplyDelete
  10. "and we'd have to say that Grynbaum's quote was perhaps a bit misleading"

    From the way Somerby has explained it, it seems like Carlson's quote of Vallance was misleading, not Grynbaum's quote of Carlson.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Somerby appears very eager to define the two warring tribes as right vs left instead of white vs black.

    Meanwhile, after decriminalizing marijuana use in Colorado, the rate (per 100,000) of blacks arrested for marijuana related crimes is still twice as high as the rate for whites.

    This reflects enforcement bias, according to State State Rep. Jennifer Bacon, a Denver Democrat:

    "If you're going to create a whole bunch of laws that concentrate poverty and behaviors, and then you just park a police car there, you're going to find what you're looking for. I always say, if you ever put a squad car in a college dorm the way you put it in certain neighborhoods, you would find just as much."

    If you are white, think back to your own college days (or even high school) and imagine what your life would have been like if you had been caught for everything you did wrong. It is easy to say something like "don't do the crime if you can't do the time" but how many of you were angels -- very few, I would wager. How many were caught? Also very few. The same is not true for blacks because of differential enforcement.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Use of cell phones to record video of racist incidents is preventing white bullies from getting away with attacks on black people who are going about their daily activities. Here is another such incident that was ignored by the police until members of the black community pressured law enforcement to charge a white woman wielding a knife who attacked a black child while using racial slurs:

    "An Indiana woman is accused of using a knife to threaten a Black child at a playground, WPTA reports.

    The incident, which occurred in May, began when Terra Roling's 13-year-old son told her he was assaulted [hit] by another child at the playground, according to an affidavit. Roling then allegedly verbally confronted the teen with a knife while chasing him around the playground.

    Video of the incident shows Roling using racial slurs during the confrontation.

    "That's right, you're running, n***er," Roling can be heard saying.

    According to WPTA, Roling is still not in custody and a warrant has been issued for her arrest."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete

    2. OOF! Darius Sessoms, a 25-year-old Black man, shot the 5-year-old white boy at point-blank range after Hinnant cycled onto his property. At the time, Hinnant was playing outside with his two older sisters.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Cannon_Hinnant

      Delete
    3. We demand that Big Guy of Biden Inc is held accountable for the outrage in Indiana.

      How many more must die?

      Delete
    4. Sessoms was immediately arrested by police.

      Crimes are committed by both black and white people. The problem is differential enforcement based on race.

      Roling, a white woman, was only charged (for chasing a black child around with a knife while shouting racial epithets at him) after community activists made a fuss. Sessoms, a black man who shot a white boy, fled the scene but was immediately arrested by police. Roling has not yet been arrested.

      Delete
    5. Hopefully, Darius Sessoms will walk due to qualified immunity.

      Delete
    6. Actually, dear Corby, from "allegedly verbally confronted the teen with a knife" it sounds like "the teen" (19?) was holding the knife. Doesn't it?

      Delete
    7. Oh, is there? And does it look like a crime being committed, or just a garden variety minor neighborhood altercation that you liberal-hitlerians are blowing completely out of proportion?

      Delete
  13. According to Carlson, the patients admitted to UK hospitals had life threatening illnesses because “that’s why you go to the hospital”. No, that is not why you go to the hospital. You go to the hospital because you are sick, you need a diagnosis and hope for treatment. You don’t say “ Gee, I think I will head over to the hospital when my illness is life threatening.” If Carlson were a legitimate conduit for information he would not cross the Atlantic for a statement that is at great variance with the CDC and state health officials in the US and promote that statement exclusively. But he is a propagandizing shill. Rates of hospitalization reflect criteria for hospitalization. Death rates among vaccinated vs non vaccinated subsets are the issue here. Even death rates here vs UK cannot be compared without knowing that treatments are comparable. So death rates within a country comparing vaccinated vs non vaccinated patients is the issue. Of course, none of that is to be found in Carlson’s interview. Because the data here, in the United States, do not favor his propaganda.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And needless to say, by promoting this bullshit of Carlson’s, Somerby reveals that he is not particularly thoughtful about this issue (wonder how he would do with something as complicated as Special Relativity?), or is purposely promoting right wing propaganda.

      Delete
  14. There is a way out of this mess. Get the vaccine!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When they talk about "way out" it usually involves jumping off a tall building or some such, dear dembot. Is 'getting the vaccine' an equivalent of that, in your expert opinion?

      Delete
    2. Tucker Carlson should be reporting about how Liberals want to make jumping off buildings illegal.
      I hear the Democrats are already writing legislation they plan to to shove down the throats of Americans.

      Delete
    3. If you zombies need a law making jumping off buildings illegal, you can have it. We don't mind, dear dembot.

      Delete
    4. "We don't mind, dear dembot."

      Mao = RINO

      Delete
    5. It is predictable that some rank fool will tear into those numbers, so let’s put it another way: if an unvaccinated individual has 10 times the likelihood of hospitalization- requiring infection than a vaccinated individual, and the vaccination rate is 90%, the ratio of vaccinated to unvaccinated hospitalized infections is on the order of 1:1 in that population. Not understanding that is a good indication that it is a bit early to try to tackle Einstein. The vaccine does not need to protect against infection to be successful. It needs to prevent death. Which in the US, it does. There is a strong correlation between red states, you know, the ones with the most knuckle dragging, uneducated Republican rubes and low vaccination rates. Maybe time to worry less about Einstein and praise Darwin.

      Delete
    6. We do appreciate our beloved liberal-hitlerian dembot brothers and sisters vaccinating themselves twice a day every day. Because: science. Plus billions of dollars for Pfizer, obviously.

      Delete
    7. 1154: Please don’t get vaccinated knucklehead. Hey, check out the mall. I hear they’re giving away pizza at the food court!

      Delete
    8. Oh, really? Good for you, dear dembot, you sound very excited. So, are you going for that pizza? But don't forget to triple mask yourself and wear double rubber gloves. Because: science.

      Delete
    9. I happen to work in an environment in which massive amounts of resources have been shunted to care for thoughtless dumbasses, some of whom leave behind, inexcusably, young families. Lessons learned the hard way and with no regard for the safety of those in their community. Because: science is a word that does not register with them. Their version of reality, like yours, is spoon fed to them by hucksters who gin up conspiracy theories for a living. After Rupert Murdoch’s son James quit the board of Newscorp last year he made it abundantly clear that it was because daddy’s media empire has an agenda and a business model of distributing misinformation. Because that appeals to rubes like yourself, who barter in phrases like Because: science, and can’t think objectively. You frigging idiots will follow Tucker and his ilk off the cliff only to watch him
      wave goodbye because he’s done the math, and isn’t taking that last step, and has been immunized. Because: science.

      Delete
    10. You sound constipated, dear dembot. It's probably that free pizza.

      May we recommend more fiber in the diet? And plenty, plenty of water.

      Delete
    11. ...wait, on second thought, your disturbed condition could be explained by the oxygen starvation, cased by constant triple-masking.

      Tsk. Alas, we can't help you with that.

      Delete
    12. Of the two, probably oxygen starvation, since it's the Right that is completely full of shit.

      Delete
    13. That kind of effort doesn’t even get you a participation trophy, sport. Look, I get that your reading list involves a handful of right wing web sites. This results in a very limited ability to converse. Work on that. Read a book. There may be hope.

      Delete
    14. Sure thing, dear dembot.

      And good like to you with being, in the name of science, a ranting and raving zombie-lunatic.

      Delete
    15. "Read a book."

      Ouch. That will leave a mark.

      Delete
    16. Oh dear. We hope this mark won't disfigure you too much, dear dembot.

      Delete
  15. Just because the Right says they have a problem with the teaching of CRT in schools, doesn't mean you have to believe it. When was the last time the Right said anything they believed?

    ReplyDelete
  16. DR EMU WHO HELP PEOPLE IN ANY TYPE OF LOTTERY NUMBERS
    It is a very hard situation when playing the lottery and never won, or keep winning low fund not up to 100 bucks, i have been a victim of such a tough life, the biggest fund i have ever won was 100 bucks, and i have been playing lottery for almost 12 years now, things suddenly change the moment i came across a secret online, a testimony of a spell caster called dr emu, who help people in any type of lottery numbers, i was not easily convinced, but i decided to give try, now i am a proud lottery winner with the help of dr emu, i won $1,000.0000.00 and i am making this known to every one out there who have been trying all day to win the lottery, believe me this is the only way to win the lottery.

    Contact him on email Emutemple@gmail.com
    What's app +2347012841542
    Website Https://emutemple.wordpress.com/
    Https://web.facebook.com/Emu-Temple-104891335203341

    ReplyDelete
  17. LOTTO, lottery,jackpot.
    Hello all my viewers, I am very happy for sharing this great testimonies,The best thing that has ever happened in my life is how I win the lottery euro million mega jackpot. I am a Woman who believe that one day I will win the lottery. finally my dreams came through when I email believelovespelltemple@gmail.com and tell him I need the lottery numbers. I have spend so much money on ticket just to make sure I win. But I never know that winning was so easy until the day I meant the spell caster online which so many people has talked about that he is very great in casting lottery spell, . so I decide to give it a try.I contacted this great Dr Believe and he did a spell and he gave me the winning lottery numbers. But believe me when the draws were out I was among winners. I win 30,000 million Dollar. Dr Believe truly you are the best, all thanks to you forever

    ReplyDelete
  18. "Of the 271 total COVID patients in the surveyed ICUs, 255 patients, or approximately 94%, were unvaccinated against COVID-19 in ABC News' snapshot in time"
    https://abcnews.go.com/US/vast-majority-icu-patients-covid-19-unvaccinated-abc/story?id=79128401

    ReplyDelete
  19. Somerby downplayed the lack of context in the statistic used by Carlson (40% of hospitalizations being double vax people).
    Somerby didn't say that only about 10% of UK adults are not double vaccinated.

    ReplyDelete