Don't Shoot The Messenger

"Don't shoot the messenger.  Don't blame the person who brings bad news." This idea was expressed by Sophocles as far back as 442 B.C. and then later by Shakespeare in 'Henry IV, Part II'.

Secretary Alex Azar, Department of Health and Human Services.

Why is Azar's name important? Many reasons, but for my purposes here, it's because Uncle/Daddy Donnie Drumpf's friends at Fox News are doing it... again.  What exactly?
Attacking the messenger (Dr. Anthony Fauci) with tidbits like, "Who elected Anthony Fauci?" "Who appointed Fauci to be virus czar?"  And so on, but you get the idea..
They (Fox News hosts - Tucker, Laura and Sean), like Trump, having no standards, have thus, resorted to name calling:

Tucker Carlson:  "chief buffon of the professional class."
                                "he (Fauci) wasn't elected."

Carlson complained that, "He's had the same job for nearly 40 years.  That means the majority of American voters never even indirectly picked him for the role he has now."

Mr. Carlson, you're clearly tuckered-out, so time for some warm milk and off to bed with you.  

Dr. Fauci, no, he wasn't elected to the White House Coronavirus Task Force... he was appointed.  By whom?  Remember that name?  Azar.  Yeah, that guy.  Okay, so, up to speed now -- appointed NOT elected.    Now, by the same token, I supposed Dr. Fauci could have declined to participate, but as his area of expertise IS viruses, allergies and infectious diseases, he probably wanted to lend a helping hand.

Dr. Fauci is the director of the National Institute on Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), a position that he was appointed to in 1984 under then President Ronald Reason, nearly 36 years ago.  Again, Tucker, appointed not elected.

It's really weird how those same Fox News hosts flip-flop on important issues, and this one in particular. Initially they were parroting Trump verbatim on the virus outbreak. Then, they had their individual OMG moments, and now, they're back to attacking the messenger, the one person in the room who speaks truth to power. 

So, of course, naturally, almost like a reflex action, Trump and his acolytes at Fox News don't like it.  Fauci, darn him, he's muddying the swamp waters and muddling the message(s) that Trump is feebly attempting to broadcast:

Fauci = BAD.                   Trump = GOOD.  And BIGLY.

Oh, and when the White House even suggests that, well, we may have to postpone the November elections, because... NO. FULL STOP. That's not gonna happen.  And big, flabby and orange as he is, even Trump can't do that.

He can, however, and IS, casting doubt on the Vote-By-Mail systems that are already beginning to be put in place ahead of our elections. 

"Voter fraud. Multiple ballots filled out by the same individuals.

Rigged, it's all rigged, I say!!!" 

 No, it's not rigged, Donnie.  You just can't handle the truth.

Oh and by the way, the information on Dr. Fauci, pretty easy to obtain, free of charge with a simple Google search.  That's how I got it.

Bad News About Potential Anti-Body Tests For Coronavirus

From CNN.com -

In a phone call last week, some of the nation's top scientists briefed White House officials about antibody testing, according to two doctors who were on the call.

Much of the news wasn't very good.

Antibody tests check to see if a person has previously been infected with Covid-19, an indication that they've had the virus and now could be immune to it.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, has called such tests "critical."

The test can help determine if someone is immune to coronavirus, "and that's going to be important when you think about getting people back into the workplace," according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the task force.

"The antibody test says you were infected and if you're feeling well, you've very likely recovered," Fauci said. "As we look forward, as we get to the point of at least considering opening up the country as it were, it's very important to appreciate and to understand how much that virus has penetrated society."

Trump administration officials have promised that antibody tests are on their way.

"We have made great progress with the antibody testing, fantastic progress," Trump said at a media briefing April 5. 

Five days later, Vice President Mike Pence said at a media briefing that "very soon we will have an antibody test that Americans will be able to take to determine whether they ever had the coronavirus."

But on the April 6 phone call, members of the National Academy of Sciences' Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases and 21st Century Health Threats told members of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy there are issues with the availability and reliability of the antibody tests in the United States right now.

"In three words: Work in progress," said Dr. David Relman, a member of the National Academy of Sciences committee who was on the call.

There are several layers of issues with the antibody tests.

First, the US Food and Drug Administration relaxed its rules, and now companies can sell antibody tests without submitting validation data that shows they actually work. 

The American Public Health Lab Association says that has resulted in "crappy" tests flooding the market.

"It's like the wild, wild West out there -- or wild East," said association CEO Scott Becker, a reference to the fact that at least half the companies making these tests are in China.

Becker said that in conference call Tuesday that FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said antibody tests would undergo scientific review by the National Cancer Institute.

There has been concern that some of the tests might confuse the coronavirus causing the current pandemic with one of several coronaviruses that cause the common cold.

"Lots of tests confuse the two," Relman said.

The tests would then end up telling people they had antibodies to the pandemic coronavirus when they didn't, and people might think they're immune when they're not.

A few days after the phone call, the NAS scientists wrote a letter to the White House frankly apprising them about the quality of antibody tests.

Results from antibody tests "should be viewed as suspect until rigorous controls are performed and performance characteristics described, as antibody detection methods can vary considerably, and most so far have not described well-standardized controls," according to the letter.

Second, there are good tests in the midst of the bad ones, but they're not yet widely and easily available throughout the country.

Third, it's not entirely clear that having antibodies to Covid-19 means that you truly have immunity and won't get the disease again.

"That's the $64 question," said Dr. Harvey Fineberg, chairman of the NAS committee, who was also on the phone call with the White House. "Does antibody level equate to resistance to getting ill again?"

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy did not respond to requests from CNN to describe what it learned on the April 6 call or how officials plan to use the information the scientists gave them.

Fineberg said he felt that the White House officials paid close attention on the call.

"That's the brilliance of Kelvin Droegemeier, to elicit this kind of input and turn to the academics in the first place," Fineberg said, referring to the director of the White House policy office. "They're genuinely trying to widen their aperture for advice, and I think so far it's working."

"To see this kind of engagement is very heartening," Relman added. "Does it lead to useful consequences? Does it have an impact? Does the scientific engagement end up informing policy? For that I think we have to hope and wait and see."

Fineberg added that antibody tests are important on a national scale, to gauge what proportion of the population might be immune, but also on a personal level.

"Everybody wants to know -- am I immune? Can I now visit Grandma so that I'm not a threat to her and she's not a threat to me?" he said. "How do we discern the people who can now safely go out and about? That's an important personal and social question." 

CNN's Minali Nigam, Devon Sayers and Julie In contributed to this report

Peter Navarro: "Social Scientist"

Well, I guess that's a step up from "Social Disease", right? 
No, Peter, you're a politician. Period. Hard stop.
Conspiracy Theorist and Enthusiast?  Probably. Most likely.
But, "Social Scientist".  Um.... NO.

Washington (CNN)White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Monday said he was qualified to engage and disagree with Dr. Anthony Fauci on the use of an anti-malarial drug as a coronavirus treatment -- which is not yet proven as effective -- saying, "I'm a social scientist."

John Berman, left, and Peter Navarro

 

It was on Berman's CNN show recently that Navarro made his "Social Scientist" comments.

 

"Doctors disagree about things all the time. My qualifications in terms of looking at the science is that I'm a social scientist," he told CNN's John Berman on "New Day." "I have a Ph.D. And I understand how to read statistical studies, whether it's in medicine, the law, economics or whatever."

 

Navarro's remarks follow reports that he clashed with officials in the Situation Room over the weekend about the unproven efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in treating coronavirus. While the task force was discussing the latest on the anti-malaria drug, an exasperated Navarro lashed out at Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, who has urged caution around the drug, a person familiar with the meeting told CNN.

 

Navarro had brought a stack of paperwork about the drug with him into the room, arguing it was proof that it could work to treat coronavirus, which Fauci disagreed with because it was not data.

 

No, little Peter is a Trump-Talking-Head, nothing more, nothing less.  Just because he has a Ph.D., doesn't mean he 1) Knows what he's talking about, and 2) Can't be a conspiracy theorist.  Maybe little Peter will feel differently and take this more seriously once He gets the virus.  Maybe.

 

A statement said that "anecdotal reports suggest that these drugs may offer some benefit" in coronavirus patients, but "clinical trials are needed to provide scientific evidence that these treatments are effective."

 

In a separate interview Monday morning with Fox News, Navarro said he agrees it's important to have studies on the drug, but "there's also the point of view that we are in war" and "we might take more risks than we otherwise would."

 

"If it saves lives, that's a beautiful thing," he said. "I think history will judge who's right on this debate, but I'd bet on President Trump's intuition on this one, because of all the doctors I've talked to and all the scientific papers I've read and they're about this high."

Yeah, Social Scientist.  I'm sorry, but, it just doesn't very scientific, 

 but it does sound like social B.S.

Coronavirus, Chapter 2

The contrast between Trump and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was stark, wrote Gil Eyal, who has studied the nature of expertise. At a few recent briefings, he noted, "It became clear that the President and the nation's foremost public health expert were battling, however politely, over who the American people should trust. While the scales may be tipping in Fauci's favor at the moment, the battle is far from won." 

Michael D'Antonio noted that "somehow Fauci seems to have won President Trump's confidence even as he has corrected him in real time. In this way the doctor has served both the President and the country while maintaining his own credibility. Neither a toady nor an attention-seeker, he has put himself in the position to tell everyone the truth, even when it's hard to hear." 

This is a frightening time for our country, and the entire planet.  This virus, which seemingly started in Wuhan, China, is a silent, invisible killer; a virus which could potentially wipeout up to 30% of the global population.  Maybe, but maybe not. 

(Side note: The actual virus that causes Covid-19 is known as "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 or SARS-CoV-2. "This name was chosen because the virus is genetically related to the coronavirus responsible for the SARS outbreak of 2003," explains the World Health Organization. "While related, the two viruses are different.")

It’s simply too soon to tell.  Personally, I know my days are already numbered, as are those of some family members.  But having to go we ahead of my time, and it such an excruciating manner, kept away from family and friends at the very end… that’s horrible dying all alone.

Think about that for just a moment.  You’re in isolation in the ICU unit of your local hospital, likely on a respirator, clinging to life, and only 1, maybe 2 heavily covered nurses or nursing assistants or doctors are there doing your final countdown, watching the minutes, seconds ticking away.  Your family and friends are likely in the Waiting Room, or pacing around the parking lot outside, awaiting word on your prognosis, some sort of outcome where you can leave this life more on your terms and in your time.

We’ve known for years now, but it’s become painfully obvious more recently, that Donald Trump was born with not only a few screws loose upstairs, but without the vital empathy and compassion genes.  He lacks the moral, human ability to feel genuinely bad or even sad for his fellow human beings.  Not possible for him to shed a tear, feel genuine, real remorse or other human feelings.  He sees those things as a sign of weakness, rather than what they really are:           Strength.

He takes zero responsibility for his actions and behaviors and rather, blames his predecessor, President Barack Obama, for the shortage of medical supplies, the global pandemic, and basically everything else that’s “wrong with our great country.”   

Yup, pass the buck, because well, I’m just that great. 

Beware of leaders who speak only in superlatives. 

YES, I’m talking about Donald Trump.  

My only error was calling him a leader.