Covid concerns...

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Greg David

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Aug 5, 2020, 12:18:45 PM8/5/20
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Good morning,

Someone contacted me regarding my stance on Covid-19 and asked that I explain myself for my actions as a member of the Jefferson County Board. The letter was unsigned and the author asked that I respond by way of a letter to the editor. I apologize for the length of the letter, but this is a complex matter and cannot be answered effectively is soundbites. 

Quite frankly, I’m glad someone has asked for this and I thank them for the opportunity to explain myself. There is terribly little discussion on these matters and choices about it seem to be being made by  partisan device. It troubles me that the division between believers in the pandemic and believers in rights and freedom is so partisan. Why should the divide be so stark, and why am I perceived to be on the ”wrong side”?

My stance is that our county should end lockdown, face mask and social distancing measures, and resist adopting these measures in the future also. I have included many links to videos and reports from sites I consider to be sources of honest information. Most of them will show documented scientific studies that you can look up if you want to dig deeper into the science. Unfortunately, some of the links have been censored and had their content removed. The content of these sites are being rebuilt on servers that do not limit exchange of ideas and information. I’ll do my best to locate those for you and paste them below.

This all started in mid January when I first started hearing about an epidemic in China and became concerned. I brought the subject of this outbreak up at Jefferson County's monthly Law Enforcement and Emergency Management committee meeting and recommended we keep close watch on the situation. I went out and bought n95 face masks and other supplies useful in a pandemic. I started to research everything I could on the matter. The WHO and CDC were not recommending any precautions at this time. Plane flights were unrestricted around the world. Most of the U.S. hadn’t heard of Covid-19. The virus was spreading.      https://www.brighteon.com/6d6d46dc-57a5-435f-9a96-272732c37832

Then lockdowns started to appear, business slowed, travel restrictions were put in place (erratically and with exceptions), supply chains were interrupted, the economy crashed, Wall Street got bailed out, lockdowns and social distancing were enforced, face masks were recommended or mandated, isolation and censoring began, fear ran rampant, economic ruin continued. The virus kept spreading.

At that time emergency measures seemed to make sense and I supported them at the county level. But eventually the death numbers started to come in from around the world. The virus was shown to be nowhere near as serious as predicted—by a factor of twenty or more! The Empirical Model of London, from which most of the lockdown measures were derived from was dead wrong. The virus was not the pandemic of the century, but rather a slightly more virulent strain of Coronavirus, such as we’ve seen and survived for the past 200,000 years. https://thehighwire.com/truth-over-fear-framing-americas-second-covid-spike/     The Jaxen Report

I changed my belief in the seriousness of the Covid-19 pandemic and decided to oppose any further mitigation measures that would curtail freedom, commerce or reaching herd immunity. I reject the narrative put forth by the mainstream media and our government that this is a once-in-a-century pandemic and that the only solutions to the crisis are lockdowns, face masks, social distancing and vaccines. I believe ending these non-helpful measures is in the best interest of our county and my constituents, because:

First, the data coming in demonstrate numbers that are nowhere near the projected number of fatalities. Yes, any death is a tragedy and yes, it is contributing to the death of patients with co-morbidities, generally those over 65 or with underlying health issues, like: obesity, diabetes and compromising pulmonary and cardiac conditions. This is a sad thing, but the virus is not the bogeyman it was made out to be. The risk does not warrant the response. The risk of death from Covid 19 is less than dying from medical malfeasance, drug overdoses or automobile deaths. The data just does not support the notion that we are dealing with and extremely deadly virus and need to be living in fear, with all sorts of life changing hardships being placed on people, the economy or community.  https://www.brighteon.com/6d6d46dc-57a5-435f-9a96-272732c37832 The Highwire

For those at risk, there is a better option than lockdown and social distancing. In the past we protected the vulnerable by placing them in a safe place with proper protocol to protect them and allow the rest of the people continue with life and develop herd immunity, so the virus fades into the background, just as every other coronavirus has in the past 200,000 years. Reaching herd immunity is a better solution to the problem than crashing the economy, and inflicting hardship on the public. Recent studies are indicating that 50 to 80% of the population may already have immunity from the SARS-CoV-2 virus via cross-reactive SARS-CoV-2-T-Cell epitopes. This means that if you have had a cold caused by a coronavirus in the past 5 years, you likely have immunity from Covid 19.     https://thehighwire.com/videos/the-cyber-attack-on-truth-2/   10:30 The Highwire                    

The data coming in is extremely suspect. The “tests” for Covid 19 have a 50-80% inaccuracy rate. The virus has never been isolated and the PCR test is only looking for a snippet of CoV-2 coronavirus, and that snippet is not unique to the Covid 19 virus. Besides, the number of positive tests is meaningless. We want to reach herd immunity! Hospitalization, deaths and recoveries are what matter. Incorrect medical treatment, such as intubation (putting a patient into a drug induced coma, placing a pressurized ventilator tube down the windpipe), Do Not Resuscitate orders, banning Hydroxycloroquinte and mandatory acceptance of infected patients into nursing homes have exacerbated the epidemic in the US greatly. Paying out $13,000 for a Covid diagnosis and $39,000 for a death has incentivized hospital bean-counters to mis-represent Covid cases.

The lockdown, social distancing and facemasks also have negative consequences, which are economic, medical and social and this collateral damage is worse than the disease itself. Suicide numbers are skyrocketing, in fact the head of the CDC said this past week that suicides are now outpacing Covid 19 deaths.  Drug addictions are up and climbing, but without the safety nets formerly available. Abuse related incidents are up. Medical procedures are being delayed or opportunities lost. Medical diagnoses are being missed. People are losing their homes, incomes and businesses. School nutrition programs are gone and some people are suffering from malnutrition. Bailouts are inflating the money supply. The cure is worse than the disease.   https://thehighwire.com/videos/the-cyber-attack-on-truth-2/

The masks that we are being bullied into wearing are not effective and affect people negatively by lowering oxygen intake and trapping toxins next to your mouth and nose. Touching the face frequently to adjust a mask fosters contamination and keeps “germs” in the mask area. But an equally important problem is how the masks block human emotion and intent. Much of our social communication and how we relate to people comes from reading facial expressions and being able to see the smiles of others. Wearing masks hides how we feel and disconnects us from each other. Imagine the effect of this psychologically, especially on young developing children. Kids will lose the social aspect of school, needing to follow strict new rules to stay apart. It's time to stop and ask ourselves what kind of world are we creating with these new policies, just because we are afraid right now? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGMVnKvpBSU Lockdown TV                  https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/08/03/no-direct-evidence-masks-prevent-viral-infection.aspx?cid_medium=etaf&cid=share   Dr. Mecola                      @bitchute#censorship#BeBrave    The Highwire

There are effective treatments for Covid 19. Hydroxychloroquine, Zinc and an antibiotic are being used successfully all over the world. Prophylactic measures such as vitamins B1, C and D can be helpful, as can building a healthy gut biota.    https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/04/19/vitamin-c-dosage-for-viral-infection.aspx?cid_medium=etaf&cid=share 

Swedish Example.  Sweden didn’t lockdown or enforce mandatory social distancing and masks, yet they have no more deaths than most other countries. They are over the hump now and have developed herd immunity. Their economy is thriving and has not experienced another recession. They don’t have massive unemployment. They don’t have a partisan divide causing a schism among their people.  Similar lack of death is reported from other non-lockdown countries in Ecuador, Bolivia, Panama and Uruguay.   Meanwhile, China is up and running a taking over world economic dominance.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk1W25c9g1E   Ron Paul Liberty Report

The economy is not something you can just turn off and then turn back on when the time seems right. It is a dynamic, fluid entity that has rhythms and supply chains, commitments and time constraints, debts and obligations, and ongoing interactions that keep operations running. The shutdown has caused bankruptcies and closures of all sorts of enterprise, especially smaller businesses. It disrupts supply chains throughout the world. These conditions don’t allow the economy to pick right up where it left off.                                                                               https://youtu.be/rG7KHglCI9Q   PeakProsperity.com

One especially hard-hit sector of the economy has been agriculture. This is where our food comes from, and believe me this is important. I fear that the lockdown has caused extensive damage to production capacity of agriculture and that will not be bouncing right back from the lockdown. Slaughtered and dumped livestock, bankrupted dairies and interrupted supply chains could very well lead to shortages on the grocery store shelves far into the future. Without a strong local food supply, we may come to rely on government food stores and be forced to meet whatever requirements may go along with using them.                                                           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62avRaWrp2c&t=11s      Ice Age Farmer

I do not believe the Main Stream Media (MSM) can be trusted, as it has become a mouthpiece for corporate interests and sponsors who don’t allow discussion outside their Overton Window (The window of view accepted by MSM and the population at large.). If all you watch is main stream media, you are getting incorrect or misleading information. They have lost their objectivity and truth in reporting. Corporate advertisers like those in Big Pharma can contribute up to 70% of advertising sale during newscasts in non-election years, according to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. This compromises MSM integrity and forces the censoring opposing viewpoints. Capitalistic determination (money) is the determining factor in what is considered the “truth” in MSM. 

Neither can our government be trusted. It has been taken over by corporate interests, by legal campaign contribution schemes that have essentially assured the USA of having the best democracy money can buy. Agencies like the USDA and the FDA have long been in the pockets of big industry, supporting programs that have big payback for industry and little oversight for public protections. Corruption goes deep throughout the national governmental agencies and includes the CDC and NIH.     https://youtu.be/7U4zXB4xxMQ 

Censorship and idealistic reporting are not hallmarks of a free-speech society. Why is so much information being censored by Facebook, YouTube, and other social media platforms? Why is it nearly impossible to mention Cl02? Why are differing opinions being silenced? Why are obvious medical interventions being ignored, or outlawed? I’d advise everyone do a little more research and understand what is truly at stake here. 

Not only is free speech being trampled upon, but other freedoms as well. Freedom of religion (no medical exemptions), to assemble (no more than 10), to petition the government, and protection of seizure as provided for in the US Bill of Rights, are also in jeopardy. These rights are guaranteed by our Constitution and are the basis of our great nation. To compromise those for a common cold is not something I am willing to do.

Again, I thank the anonymous letter-writer for the encouragement to express myself and I hope my letter here has shed some light on why I am a proponent of ending lockdown and social distancing measures immediately. If you feel this way too, let people know! Write letters to the editor. Attend you local county board meetings and school board meeting. Express yourself! Stand up for your rights and hold the instigators accountable. I would welcome any discussion about these issues and can be reached at the phone number or email address below.

Greg David
Jefferson County Board of Supervisors, District 3
W4512 Riverdale Lane


Peter Hartz

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Aug 5, 2020, 10:03:59 PM8/5/20
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Thanks for sharing your view Greg.

Pete 

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Kurt Reinhold

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Aug 6, 2020, 12:24:28 PM8/6/20
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Perpetuation of misinformation may take many forms. This time, it appears, the opinions of Mr David (a much loved figure in Jefferson County and beyond) do seem to be aligned with many who are bucking the greater consensus of the public on what sources are reliable and what sources are not pertaining to this COVID epidemic. 

I am not an expert on any of these matters as perhaps Greg may be able to claim. I am a science teacher and kinesiologist by training, and I claim to be (through my work in the field these past 12 years) a renewable energy and policy expert focusing on solar energy and utility regulation in Wisconsin. I have worked in hospitals and clinics as a healthcare professional for decades, and I have started and continue to manage multiple businesses. 

What I would like to emphasize here is not simply a reliance on one’s source of information, but being able to apply logic and reason to the information being touted by an individual or a news outlet. We are all mature enough (or can be) to weigh arguments and decide if point A or point B seem to make sense to us, rather than simply rely on the perceived quality of the source and accept both point A and point B as being true based on the perceived reliability of the source. 

MAIN STREAM media, or mainstream media, however it is punctuated, is a wastebasket term which I think refers to the consolidated media outlets owned by a small number of firms, and can be similar to what we all know since the 1st gulf war as “24 hour news”. Of course, MSNBC could be pointed out on the one partisan side and Fox News Network on the other. Personally, I find one very offputting and the other, just mildly annoying. No matter. What we should focus on is a preliminary assessment of the quality of the source, but then apply a more dispassionate critical thinking step to the content of the message and the appeals from that message before deciding whether we 1) believe everything being said vs 2) which elements are worthy of repeating to others to help cope with or to overcome cognitive dissonance that might be associated with the subject matter. 

A few observations of Mr David’s many points and arguments:

1) right away, I cringe when the term “herd immunity” is used, especially as here, it is summoned many times. My understanding of herd immunity is that it is akin to a Darwinistic survival of the fittest statement. I know this is not completely accurate because the immune system is what is mediating this survival versus death outcome, but here is what I have to say about that. Would Greg intend we use this goal as a means to inform policy for lockdown, face mask and social distancing measures if instead of COVID 19, we were dealing with Measles, Small Pox, or something scarier like Tuberculosis?  Of course not. With COVID, we need to act responsibly until there is a vaccine. Which brings me to my next point. 

2) Acting responsibly should not be as big a deal as it is made out to be. Greg repeats a second and perhaps a third time in his letter in different ways that “further mitigation measures ... would curtail freedom, commerce or reaching herd immunity”. That last one is addressed above, so now the first two. I am here to challenge that supposition that freedom is being curtailed to a degree that is really beyond what should be required to avoid unnecessary sickness and death. Of course one’s freedom to congregate in large groups in close proximity without masks is quite clearly being trampled on. What I perceive is Mr David’s argument here is that because the number of deaths originally forecasted for this epidemic are turning out to be much more inflated than reality is bearing out, that we should do an about face on prevention and protection efforts and let those who can die from this to die from this and those who will be afflicted with lifelong deleterious respiratory cardiac or other organ syndromes caused by COVID or its treatment efforts to be so affected so that the rest of us can move on with our lives...more quickly. I disagree wholeheartedly. A death prevented and a protracted hospital stay avoided is worth a lot more than the “$13,000 for a Covid diagnosis and $39,000 for a death” cited by Greg as the incentive to ... (? remove social distancing measures and stop the use of masks ? I don’t follow the logic). To imply that hospital administrators are motivated by $13k or $39k to admit and treat and kill or wound people who have a positive tests and dangerously low oxygen saturation levels is pretty ridiculous if not outright Orwellian in its suggestion. 

On the curtailment of commerce part of Mr David’s argument, there’s not as much to clearly argue against except the fact that there are a thousand factors that affect the engine that is our economy. There are countless factors that can be pointed toward that are perhaps partisan missteps along the way in response to this epidemic. Without belaboring this point too much, I would just say that a trickle down approach as is the style of the GOP for so many “bailouts” was not in my opinion (and never before this was) an effective way to stabilize or stimulate commerce. Yes, supply chains were disrupted, but part of that was due to panic and hoarding as much as due to poor policy or anything related to lockdown, face mask and social distancing measures. 

3) Pertaining to Greg’s paragraphs 4 and 5, where he ends each with “The virus kept spreading.” I would say two things, 1) timing is everything, and 2) please address the tremendous disparity in the numbers of cases and deaths in the US vs the rest of the world. 

Timing was bad on this epidemic, no doubt about that. Greg, you mention your concern in January and tried to alert Law Enforcement and Emergency Management committee members. That was a good thing. The delays we witnessed chiefly from the top of our government in the form of the president of the United States and his cabinet generally, not to mention his downplaying and belittling of the seriousness of this epidemic, was a terrible confluence of bad timing right off the bat and of poor expectation management through blunting of action oriented attitudes to do something that would resemble how other countries would employ in response to this danger. Indeed, 45’s laid back and dismissive attitude toward the epidemic, I think, affected some countries overseas and elsewhere too, where some leaders and some (white supremisists?) still look up to our president and take notice. The timing of the much delayed preventive measures aimed to flatten the curve, were part of the reason these measures that Mr David seems to be abhorrently against now, are not or were not as effective as they should have been. 

The other reason The virus kept spreading” was the massive noncompliance with recommendations, the almost infantile response of great swaths of our population to the freedom impinging (perceived freedom impinging) social distancing and mask wearing recommendations that  eventually became mandates. On the matter of the “Lockdowns”, these were admittedly last ditch efforts to curb behavior when an unruly public would not listen to reason. Yes, part of the lockdown was to limit the spread in large groups like church congregations, but more importantly, it was the prevention of tavern patrons and musical concerts that needed to be stopped since the physical proximity and the excitement (increased depth of inhalation and exhalation) were obvious high risk factors at play with these social gatherings, especially when indoors. 

Lastly on my 3rd point (the second half), I really wanted to hear Greg David’s arguments about doing away with mitigation measures given his confined and I would offer, (politely) strained, reasons, what is his explanation for the enormous disproportionate numbers of cases and deaths in the US vs all other countries. And doesn’t the answer to this question beg the reader to reappraise (in a diminishing direction) the strength of Greg’s arguments to the point of relying (almost?) solely on the cited sources of his information and not on the veracity of that information or the sum reasons why we have mitigation efforts at all versus the fact that mitigation efforts were too little too late to have the degree of the intended effect on this epidemic’s spread? 

To sum up, 
1) herd immunity is a goal not a means to the goal. You don’t subject the population to the full effects of this virus without concerted and enforced mitigation. To do so would easily double, triple, or perhaps as much as increase by tenfold both the deaths and the medical costs of this epidemic. Simple principles of immunology and epidemiology are employed here, not citing some obscure source or those subjected to censorship, rightfully or not. 

2) the argument that the cure is worse than the disease is not true and is not valid. The freedoms being impinged upon are not anything like we witness in authoritative regimes or even within our own country or just outside it at Guantanamo, for instance. Hospital boards are not elated with the profitability of receiving $13k or $39k and anyway, that argument would be for doing away with mitigation not embracing it. Unless you want to take the cynical argument further by saying the mitigation efforts will actually deliver more revenue if we were to flatten the curve rather than let it play out in all its natural horror. Yes, suicide rates are up, but this, along with other social indicators, could be caused by reasons other than the increased effort it takes to socialize during lockdown or quarantining just as much. Yes, being “stuck” in a home with a physically and/or emotionally abusive spouse, father, mother, or other person or persons, is a shitty predicament to be in. Other loved ones, neighbors, or others in the community may be of some assistance, as should be agencies that deal with people in crisis. Still, it’s not pleasant in a lot of corners out there. 

3) thanks to those who agree with Donald Trump in February, when we could have nipped this in the bud, and those who continue to agree with Donald Trump since, South Korea as well as many better disciplined countries in the world — hell, all of them— we have the highest per capita (I believe) rates of infection and the highest overall number of cases and deaths of any other country. Surely, our “too late and too little” mitigation efforts are more closely resembling what an all out ‘herd immunity” approach might look like compared to other countries. To say that freedom and security can both be maximized by a concerted approach is only as true as is the consensus a people can reach on an approach. Since we are greatly divided, both freedom and security are currently being jeopardized, with freedom less so, since civil freedoms are not as important as the freedom to exist (live) without threat to life or limb. 

Again, I’m no expert on these things. But, balancing information with a healthy dose of logic and reason, would be a refreshing change in our public discourse. 

Peace be with you — and the capacity to think critically!

Kurt Reinhold





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mikethewormguy

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Aug 6, 2020, 1:49:48 PM8/6/20
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Until the population in the USA has consensus that there is a public issue to solve, there will be no mitigation efforts that will work and Mother Nature's science experiment will continue until she has gotten the data she needs......

Mike Flynn, farmer, scientist, businessman....







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Kurt Reinhold

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Aug 6, 2020, 9:45:04 PM8/6/20
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Agreed. That is why some are saying COVID will never go away until we have a vaccine and I agree. There is not enough consensus to stick to a plan to mitigate. But flattening the curve is still a worthy goal compared to massive die offs. 

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Peter Hartz

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Aug 7, 2020, 12:12:31 AM8/7/20
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Beth Gehred

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Aug 7, 2020, 8:57:38 AM8/7/20
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"It troubles me that the division between believers in the pandemic and believers in rights and freedom is so partisan. Why should the divide be so stark, and why am I perceived to be on the ”wrong side”?"

It troubles me that someone I respect as much as you, Greg, would frame this discussion in this way.  I am unwilling to follow along when the two categories presented are a) believers in the pandemic or b) believers in rights and freedom. 

I "believe" in both. On the basis of the precautionary principle, I have voluntarily minimized my public interactions and wear a mask.  Because I also want a sustainable future,  I continue to support local farmers and businesses.  I have the freedom to do both. 

I have been asked,  by health experts,  for the good of those with compromised immune systems,  to modify some of my behaviors.  Like people who are concerned about the climate, or so many environmental crises, have asked fellow citizens to consider reducing consumption or extraction, in order to minimize risks. I am willing to make the changes asked of me for the greater good.  Further,  I'm willing to see the upsides of making the changes.  After all, this is what I've been hoping others would do when I present the environmental case for change. Please drive less,  please eat organic.  It is not hard and you'll be healthier for it. You will relieve the suffering of others.

Perhaps there has been over-reaction. I'd say that is true on both sides. But the health experts could not know how lethal this strain of novel Corona virus was and erred on the side of caution. A noble position. We now know, and need our best minds to help us wind down to the response that now matches risk. If we weren't so distrusting of one another,  we'd find solutions like this together.  What we DON'T need, is an indignant and overblown reaction, or sweeping statements, that we should never respond in this way again and that no one is to be trusted. 

We are still in the middle of this thing.  We need to trust the CDC or some other science-based nonpartisan government agency, and allow them some time to sort out the reports from across the world to give a clear-eyed report of where we are now,  what works and what doesn't. With the government and media discredited, I'm not sure who you are relying on as trustworthy, but the kind of research needed to attempt answers of such complexity is bigger than any plucky alternative self-funding agencies with well-written websites can tackle. 

The path I advocate is to follow the recommended precautions, and find and portray the upsides, (like more parents being home with children, and some people discovering they love home cooking and gardening,   and discovering most business travel is unnecessary, etc). Think, read, and participate in finding positive solutions (as Greg has been wonderful in doing in so many areas, such as pioneering CSA farming, alternate energy and construction,  and SO MUCH ELSE.)
I give the benefit of the doubt to our  non partisan government institutions to not get it 100% right,  but to be the best tools we have for navigating global issues of enormous complexity. 

Beth Gehred







Greg David

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Aug 7, 2020, 9:17:20 AM8/7/20
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Thanks for the reply’s everyone. It is good to see discussion about this and I plan on getting back to you all about it...but not today. Last night while making hay the clutch went out on my tractor, which I need to repair and, as they say, “ make hay while the sun shines”.
Greg

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On Aug 7, 2020, at 7:57 AM, Beth Gehred <beth....@gmail.com> wrote:



Greg David

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Aug 10, 2020, 11:41:58 AM8/10/20
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Good morning everyone,,
I got my hay all made and put up and have had time to get back to Kurt’s reply to my letter. Interestingly in putting up 112 bales of hay with the walk behind tractor cost me around 51,000 steps, 21 miles of walking and just less than two gallons of diesel for the Grillo tractor over the three days of making hay. A very good deal in my mind.

Hi Kurt,
Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I appreciate the discussion.
I have made comments below in, which should come thru in black, if we’re lucky.

I’m sorry to take my frustrations out on you here, but you ask the perfect questions to do so. And I needed to get this off my chest.  Please don’t take this personally. I respect you and the work you have done to make the world a better place.
Greg

To everyone else who receives this message, I’ve sort of bared my soul here, as to how I feel about our society these day. I hope you can take the time to read thru my lenghty  explanations with an open mind and with your critical thinking caps on.
Cheers,
Greg

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On Aug 6, 2020, at 11:24 AM, Kurt Reinhold <solarcon...@gmail.com> wrote:


Perpetuation of misinformation may take many forms. This time, it appears, the opinions of Mr David (a much loved figure in Jefferson County and beyond) do seem to be aligned with many who are bucking the greater consensus
Has a poll been done? What was it and who did it? When? See, when a perspective or narritive has been written, assumptions are introduced into the discussion. These assumptions frame the debate to an extent. I mean to point that out a few times during thi discussion and refute it with science where i can.

of the public on what sources are reliable and what sources are not pertaining to this COVID epidemic. 
I appreciate the recognition of may past work. Indeed, most of you who responded To my letter, began by their response by recognizing the past work and leadership I have demonstrated in our in our community in the past. That leadership, by my intention, was based on holistic interpretation and and inclusion of perspectives. It seemed I was always a decade or two ahead of the time and my effort were perhaps not respected for thier true value at the time. Lest it be forgotten, let me list a few highlights:
In the mid 70’s we built a passive solar home, out of locally gathered fieldstone, with mature local timber, we selectively cut from a local wood and helped mill ourselves. Nothing like the conventional homes I built as a daytime job.
Late 70’s - began prairie restorations on various properties around this area. Other ecological restorations, planted over 15,000 trees on our property and any neighbor willing to let me plant. Began organic gardening.
Late 80’s bought a farm to restore to nature, got involved in Permaculture, had a place to release pent up frustrations and intent.
90’s - stated a big garden at the farm. Fed many neighbors, friends and relatives,
developed into one of the first CSA in the region, which I ran for about 12 years.  Got involve in local politics, trying to save the environment.
00’s - began studying and implementing The Natural Step, a process for environmental and social awareness and change. Got elected to the county board on a platfform of ecological stewardship and sustqanablility.
Late 00’s - ran Gasifier Therapy, a maker-space before its time, at our farm where the club built numerous gasifier, rocket stoves, a Charles 804 fuel grade ethanol still, and several anaerobic digesters and had lots of fun and therapy.
10’s - brought this type of thinking to the county board for their consideration, helped design a biomass energy system for much of county operation. Advocated for conservative policy and land preservation, conservative defined as conserving resources and fostering ecological and social capital. Perhaps as Aldo Leopold demonstrated.
00-20 - became acutely aware of the Deep State the corporate/governmental alliance that was developing and the power of corporations to control government and media. 
I bring this history forward to demonstrate that I have been a free thinker, using critical thinking skills for some time now. I’ve studied these subjects for decades before...indeed, this has been my life’s ambition. Most of these things I list were consider crazy at the time, but time has shown them not to be crazy ideas...just ahead of their time. And this is what I am trying to still do...look ahead, see the truths and bring light to the situation we face today.

I am not an expert on any of these matters as perhaps Greg may be able to claim.
Say rather, an informed, holistic, critical thinker.

I am a science teacher and kinesiologist by training, and I claim to be (through my work in the field these past 12 years) a renewable energy and policy expert focusing on solar energy and utility regulation in Wisconsin.
Ive had a problem with utility regulation in the past. Is there hope here?

I have worked in hospitals and clinics as a healthcare professional for decades, and I have started and continue to manage multiple businesses. 
Thank you for all your hard work. I have taken note of some of it in the past and appreciated it.


What I would like to emphasize here is not simply a reliance on one’s source of information, but being able to apply logic and reason to the information being touted by an individual or a news outlet. We are all mature enough (or can be) to weigh arguments and decide if point A or point B seem to make sense to us, rather than simply rely on the perceived quality of the source and accept both point A and point B as being true based on the perceived reliability of the source. 
If you look, you will find, several sources listed, and if you watch the videos you will find the science based studies upon which the thoughts are based. The hard science is there, you just have to look at it. Granted the opposing side will have their science to back up thier point. Then it becomes more difficult, the reader must assess study funding, accuracy, honesty and fairness, prejudice and other factors to determine which argument is worthy of trust and belief. Also, past history come into play here. Has one side or entity deliberately tried to deceive or profit by actions in the past (read tobacco, opioids and other drugs that turned out to be harmful)? If so, i am likely not to trust that side of the controversy and question their actions for motive and conflict of interest. If another side( and there are often several sides to any arguement) has demonstrated itself to be honest and fair in the past, i will tend to place my trust there, rather than the lying deceitful entity of ill repute.
Also, please know, I harbor a distinct suspicion  for any trans-national, public traded corporation. By definition, corporations are limited liability and bound by fudicary trust to thier stockholders. This means that must turn a profit and can and will be sued by stockholders if they do not. As Professor John Ikerd has said, “Corporations are not moral. Corporations are not immoral. They are amoral, that is their purpose, to remove ethics from consideration. That is their nature”. So I don’t trust big corporations and have a bias against them.


MAIN STREAM media, or mainstream media, however it is punctuated, is a wastebasket term which I think refers to the consolidated media outlets owned by a small number of firms, and can be similar to what we all know since the 1st gulf war as “24 hour news”.
By MSM, I mean corporate owned, for-profit, media that comes to us via television, radio, newsprint, social media and advertising, which is  owned by a small group of trans-national, for-profit corporate enterprises.

Of course, MSNBC could be pointed out on the one partisan side and Fox News Network on the other. Personally, I find one very offputting and the other, just mildly annoying. No matter. What we should focus on is a preliminary assessment of the quality of the source, but then apply a more dispassionate critical thinking step to the content of the message and the appeals from that message before deciding whether we 1) believe everything being said vs 2) which elements are worthy of repeating to others to help cope with or to overcome cognitive dissonance that might be associated with the subject matter. 
Listen to all view points. This is not a false dilemma; democrat vs. republican, face-mask vs. free, trump vs. biden. This is deeper. There are more sides. There are more power structures affecting the narrative than made out in MSM. That narritive is bogus, and something that I cannot support. I’d advise you to look deeply into the real evidence and not rely on the narritive being put forward on every social platform money can buy. Think about what you see and feel in your heart, because that is what separates humans from machines ... or in this case, humans from corporations (even though corporations have been granted rights of personhood, less of course, the responsibility tied to that right).

I lost my faith in MSM after 911. The incongruities in the story line just didn’t add up. Buildings collapsing into thier own footprint from kerosene (jet fuel) fires, hundreds of  eyewitness reports of multiple explosions, nano thermite particles all over Manhattan, molten steel from a jet fuel fire and literally tons of forensic  evidence of thermite demolished by-products all indicate that the Twin Towers wasn’t a terrorist attach from without, but from a terrorist group from within...    and so I lost my trust in government and MSM, and have treated them with suspicion and distrust since then. 

A few observations of Mr David’s many points and arguments:

1) right away, I cringe when the term “herd immunity” is used, especially as here, it is summoned many times. My understanding of herd immunity is that it is akin to a Darwinistic survival of the fittest statement.
That is in it rawest form. Herd immunity can also be expressed as protecting the vulnerable and applying all the necessary resources, technologies and science to Make them safe, then utilize the non-(or very less) vulnerable set of the population to achieve herd immunity, which then removes the threat of the pandemic completely, forever. The  people capable of contracting the disease could contract the disease, develop personal immunity thru the typical cold season, move into the non-transmitting stage and help create herd immunity, the outcome that will protect the vulnerable best.

Herd immunity refers to having enough of the population exposed and recovered from the disease so that the persons infected no longer can shed the disease and so it fades into the background and becomes non-threatening,  just like every other corona virus in history. Yes the weak among us will may succumb to the disease, but as we see the percentage is around .025, similar to, but perhaps slightly more virulent than other coronaviruses of the past. And, if we provided prophylactic care to the vulnerable of the population (isolation with care, enhanced nutrition, prophylactic vitamins B, C and D, Hydroxycloriquine, zinc and proper antibiotic, we would be a hell of a better off than we are with the current regime of fear mongering and authoritarian control.

I know this is not completely accurate because the immune system is what is mediating this survival versus death outcome, but here is what I have to say about that. Would Greg intend we use this goal as a means to inform policy for lockdown, face mask and social distancing measures if instead of COVID 19, we were dealing with Measles, Small Pox, or something scarier like Tuberculosis?  Of course not. With COVID, we need to act responsibly until there is a vaccine. Which brings me to my next point. 
We’re not dealing with a Tuberculosis, we’re dealing with Covid 19. To answer any such a question would require the complete knowledge of the situation.


2) Acting responsibly should not be as big a deal as it is made out to be. Greg repeats a second and perhaps a third time in his letter in different ways that “further mitigation measures ... would curtail freedom, commerce or reaching herd immunity”. That last one is addressed above, so now the first two. I am here to challenge that supposition that freedom is being curtailed to a degree that is really beyond what should be required to avoid unnecessary sickness and death.
So where is the cut off point here? How much sickness and death do we consider? My point is that this disease is barely worse than the normal flue. And i can argue very well that the high death rate in the U.S. is being caused more by corporate incompetence or capitalistic  or political determination, than actual cases of death caused  by the CoV-2 virus. If the actual death rate from Covid 19 were extraordinary, as was projected by the empirical model and Fauci, I’d probably vote to enact extraordinary measures, again,  like I’d did earlier this year. But that’s not the case here and now and that is not my position on the matter.

Of course one’s freedom to congregate in large groups in close proximity without masks is quite clearly being trampled on. What I perceive is Mr David’s argument here is that because the number of deaths originally forecasted for this epidemic are turning out to be much more inflated than reality is bearing out, that we should do an about face on prevention and protection efforts
Please see prophylactic measures for the vulnerable above.

and let those who can die from this to die from this and those who will be afflicted with lifelong deleterious respiratory cardiac or other organ syndromes caused by COVID or its treatment efforts to be so affected
Don’t forget the many people who have had to for go medical procedure, diagnosis’s and ability to access proper medical care into the equation. In my mind this is a very real part of the the narritive that is ignored in this crisis. These are real costs, lives and consequences to the over-reaction to this not-so-crisis.

so that the rest of us can move on with our lives...more quickly. I disagree wholeheartedly. A death prevented and a protracted hospital stay avoided is worth a lot more than the “$13,000 for a Covid diagnosis and $39,000 for a death” cited by Greg as the incentive to ... (? remove social distancing measures and stop the use of masks ? I don’t follow the logic). To imply that hospital administrators are motivated by $13k or $39k to admit and treat and kill or wound people who have a positive tests and dangerously low oxygen saturation levels is pretty ridiculous if not outright Orwellian in its suggestion. 
That’s a false dilemma or mis-representation of the discussion. To select a price tag out of a long list of concerns, and pit it against one particular grievance seems to me to be mis-leading and not really honest.
As I’ve tried to make clear, now that we have flattened the curve, its time to remove the social distancing and lockdown measures. This will enable us to reach herd immunity (see above) and end the pandemic completely forever, just like every other corona virus in our history. 
The freedoms you so easily dismiss are not something to take lightly. There is a slippery slope here. There is a part of the populace that values freedom greatly and could become belligerent about it if forced into it. I’d like to avoid that. 
Speaking of Orwellian, remember the Patriot Act? What do we have now, 27 national security agencies? To do what? And for whom? Sorry, but the number of deaths do not support the measures being enacted.

On the curtailment of commerce part of Mr David’s argument, there’s not as much to clearly argue against except the fact that there are a thousand factors that affect the engine that is our economy. There are countless factors that can be pointed toward that are perhaps partisan missteps along the way in response to this epidemic. Without belaboring this point too much, I would just say that a trickle down approach as is the style of the GOP for so many “bailouts”
‘Tis my beleive that the ‘tinkle-on’ economics of the republicans slowed some time ago. The Federal Reserve Bank has pretty much taken over money printing and it is they who choose who gets bailed out and who doesn’t. Isn’t it amazing how with all the tragic news of our economy, jobs, GDP, and all the rest, that the stock market is still doing fine....hmmmm. I smell a rat!
was not in my opinion (and never before this was) an effective way to stabilize or stimulate commerce. Yes, supply chains were disrupted, but part of that was due to panic and hoarding as much as due to poor policy or anything related to lockdown, face mask and social distancing measures. 
Surely, you must know someone who has lost thier business or job during the lockdown. I know several, and have been contacted by many. Yes, the economy was in terrible shape before Covid 19 and maybe that was just the tipping point (or alibi), but to dismiss the economic effects of the lockdown is just plain shortsighted and wrong.


3) Pertaining to Greg’s paragraphs 4 and 5, where he ends each with “The virus kept spreading.” I would say two things, 1) timing is everything, and 2) please address the tremendous disparity in the numbers of cases and deaths in the US vs the rest of the world. 
You’re right, timing is everything, if we’re trying to contain an incredibly transmissible disease like Covid19. Let me remind you of some of the facts regarding that timing in case you missed this part of my letter...
Back in January, when I was recommending immediate action, nothing was done, at least here in the U.S. Plane flights were pretty much unrestricted world wide. Do you think the virus took a month off at this time? No, it was spreading everywhere it could.
In Feb or march Fauci said and recommended that masks are ineffectual and that we weren’t smart enough to use them correctly (I agree with him, most of us aren’t smart enough to use them correctly and don’t. I certainly don’t). By this time the disease had infection centers around much of the world. Since the lockdown was Impliment’s haphazardly around the world, the ‘dusts of truth’ swirled and CoV-2 sought all paths of entry. The virus was here in the U.S. and spreading.
Late March Fauci did an about face and said masks and lockdowns are important and we should flatten the curve so that our intensive care facilities were not overrun.
Unfortunately, by this time it was to late contain the virus, though we did flatten the curve. Then the real numbers of deaths started to come in and that is where we made our big mistake. We should have abandoned the pandemic measures  (because the numbers did not support it) and return to normal societal conditions. But we did not. And it is at this point that it becomes truly political. 

As to point two, Ill first copy and past from a paragraph from below, which you must not have read, understood or believed:  Incorrect medical treatment, such as intubation (putting a patient into a drug induced coma, placing a pressurized ventilator tube down the windpipe), Do Not Resuscitate orders, banning Hydroxycloroquinte and mandatory acceptance of infected patients into nursing homes have exacerbated the epidemic in the US greatly. 
This is what happened in NYC and several other places in the U.S., just about the worst management of Covid 19 possible and creating what i think is the worst outcome in the world. 

Other factors for the U.S. high death toll are all the co-morbidities American people have... we are the most obese, diabetic and health compromised people on earth. Our chronic illnesses are off the charts, so to speak. It makes sense that since we are such an unhealthy people with so many co-morbidities that we should have a higher death count form Covid 19, since that’s mostly who the disease is taking out.

Interestingly, some of the other risk factors turning up are exposure to particulate matter <.25 microns and proximity to industrial agricultural chemicals, especially glyphosate. Another is disbiosis, a condition where the gut biome is in jeopardy. The gut biome is vital to our immune response and one study coming out of china demonstrated that in most deaths the victim has severe disbiosis. Roundup, or glyphosate in particular is a antibiotic which can cause gut biome death and break the tight-connections in the gut lining, both of which contribute to disbiosis.

Timing was bad on this epidemic, no doubt about that. Greg, you mention your concern in January and tried to alert Law Enforcement and Emergency Management committee members. That was a good thing. The delays we witnessed chiefly from the top of our government in the form of the president of the United States and his cabinet generally, not to mention his downplaying and belittling of the seriousness of this epidemic,
The virus is not as virulent as predicted. It does not make sense to continue Draconian measures. Protect the vulnerable and reach herd immunity and this virus will be a ting of the past, just like every other corona virus in the past.

was a terrible confluence of bad timing right off the bat and of poor expectation management through blunting of action oriented attitudes to do something that would resemble how other countries would employ in response to this danger. Indeed, 45’s
I don’t understand this reference

laid back and dismissive attitude toward the epidemic, I think, affected some countries overseas and elsewhere too, where some leaders and some (white supremisists?) still look up to our president and take notice.
Show me the numbers and studies please. Did yellow or red supremisists do the same thing? And what about Sweden?

The timing of the much delayed preventive measures aimed to flatten the curve,
We ‘flattened the curve’. That was the original goal. Since then the goal posts keep changing. Now a vaccine is the goal.

were part of the reason these measures that Mr David seems to be abhorrently against now, are not or were not as effective as they should have been. 


The other reason The virus kept spreading” was the massive noncompliance with recommendations, the almost infantile response of great swaths of our population to the freedom impinging (perceived freedom impinging) social distancing and mask wearing recommendations that  eventually became mandates. On the matter of the “Lockdowns”, these were admittedly last ditch efforts to curb behavior when an unruly public would not listen to reason.
The ‘unruly public’ as you refer to me as, saw thru the smoke-screen when the number of deaths was seen to be way below any projected numbers used to the lockdown and social distancing measures. This is when I changed my position on Covid 19...

Yes, part of the lockdown was to limit the spread in large groups like church congregations, but more importantly, it was the prevention of tavern patrons and musical concerts that needed to be stopped since the physical proximity and the excitement (increased depth of inhalation and exhalation) were obvious high risk factors at play with these social gatherings, especially when indoors. 
Bogus. The threat of Covid 19 is not all that great. Herd immunity is the answer.


Lastly on my 3rd point (the second half), I really wanted to hear Greg David’s arguments about doing away with mitigation measures given his confined and I would offer, (politely) strained, reasons, what is his explanation for the enormous disproportionate numbers of cases and deaths in the US vs all other countries.
Please see above.

And doesn’t the answer to this question beg the reader to reappraise (in a diminishing direction) the strength of Greg’s arguments to the point of relying (almost?) solely on the cited sources of his information and not on the veracity of that information or the sum reasons why we have mitigation efforts at all versus the fact that mitigation efforts were too little too late to have the degree of the intended effect on this epidemic’s spread? 
I thought cited sources were a good thing to have, that way you can go to those sources and judge for yourself. And if you watch those videos listed, you will see the scientific studies they are based upon and look them up for yourself to judge. As for the veracity or truth of the reporting, I’d suggest you look a little more closely to the veracity of MSM’s reporting, if that’s what you call it. Me, I listen to MSM and understand to perspective, but I’ll also do my own research looking into as many perspective as I can find, then make my own judgment in the matter. 

As part of my training in sustainability, Ive learned to take a holistic view of things, including as many ideas and perspectives as possible. That’s what i have tried to do in this matter.

To sum up, 
1) herd immunity is a goal not a means to the goal. You don’t subject the population to the full effects of this virus without concerted and enforced mitigation. To do so would easily double, triple, or perhaps as much as increase by tenfold both the deaths and the medical costs of this epidemic. Simple principles of immunology and epidemiology are employed here, not citing some obscure source or those subjected to censorship, rightfully or not. 
Bogus. Look at Sweden as a comparison. They are over the pandemic. Herd immunity is the goal. Slowing the onset to ease impact on the hospitals has been achieved. Are obscure sources obscure because you have not found them? If so i suggest you broaden your horizons. Perhaps they are obscure because they are being censored by MSM and internet social platforms. If that’s the case, that should be a major red flag for you because censorship of ideas is a very real step towards totalitarian government.
And because of my inquisitive nature, if something is censored, well, Ill do my best to find it and read it because it is an idea that needs to be understood, evaluated and then acted apron according to its merit.


2) the argument that the cure is worse than the disease is not true and is not valid.
Show me your studies.

The freedoms being impinged upon are not anything like we witness in authoritative regimes or even within our own country or just outside it at Guantanamo, for instance.
Freedom is something our county was based upon. There is a very slippery slope here that ill be resisting now and in the future, unless new evidence come to bear causing me to change my mind.

Hospital boards are not elated with the profitability of receiving $13k or $39k and anyway, that argument would be for doing away with mitigation not embracing it.
If you listened to any of the personal interviews listed in the videos I cited, you would hear first hand reports of deaths and cases being fudged to increase income to the hospitals. Who do I trust in the matter, well I’d have to give my trust to organizations and investigative reporters that have proven themselves in to be trust worthy in the past, not organization that have proven otherwise in the past.

Unless you want to take the cynical argument further by saying the mitigation efforts will actually deliver more revenue if we were to flatten the curve rather than let it play out in all its natural horror.
All its natural horror is barely above the yearly average. Interestingly there was a major spike in deaths and that was when the medical/pharmaceutical/ insurance industrial complex instigated the improper procedures outline above and below. If you have facts demonstrating this disease is so very much worse than in the past, show me the studies.

Yes, suicide rates are up, but this, along with other social indicators, could be caused by reasons other than the increased effort it takes to socialize during lockdown or quarantining just as much. Yes, being “stuck” in a home with a physically and/or emotionally abusive spouse, father, mother, or other person or persons, is a shitty predicament to be in. Other loved ones, neighbors, or others in the community may be of some assistance, as should be agencies that deal with people in crisis. Still, it’s not pleasant in a lot of corners out there. 
The suicide numbers are real and very well correlated to the lockdown and social distancing measures. Why would suicides spike so now, if people weren’t desperate, alone and suffering what I can only imagine as economic ruin. 


3) thanks to those who agree with Donald Trump in February, when we could have nipped this in the bud, and those who continue to agree with Donald Trump since, South Korea as well as many better disciplined countries in the world — hell, all of them— we have the highest per capita (I believe) rates of infection and the highest overall number of cases and deaths of any other country. Surely, our “too late and too little” mitigation efforts are more closely resembling what an all out ‘herd immunity” approach might look like compared to other countries.
Let’s look at Sweden. The numbers keep demonstrating that Sweden did the right thing and they are past the worst of it and doing very well, emotionally, and fiscally.

To say that freedom and security can both be maximized by a concerted approach is only as true as is the consensus a people can reach on an approach. Since we are greatly divided, both freedom and security are currently being jeopardized, with freedom less so, since civil freedoms are not as important as the freedom to exist (live) without threat to life or limb. 

Again, I’m no expert on these things. But, balancing information with a healthy dose of logic and reason, would be a refreshing change in our public discourse. 
Finally, a dissenting voice, impassioned or otherwise, is necessary for an informed outcome in any discussion or debate. Dissenting opinions need to be heard, whether agreed with or not., not censored. That is what I am offering.


Peace be with you — and the capacity to think critically!
Live long and prosper.
Greg

Kurt Reinhold





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Peter Hartz

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Peter Hartz

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Beth Gehred

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I think Greg makes fair points that this corona virus response has been singular, and elevated, and its protraction has unexamined downsides of its own. And certainly the end game has unraveled.

Where I disagree is what to do about it, what conclusions to draw, and who to hold responsible.  

I think the best most of us can do is minimize our personal contribution to the shit show.  Another aspect of reaching herd immunity is the herd agreeing to run in one orchestrated direction from danger and not decide in the moment to throw stones at the head gazelle (epidemiologists) or trip other runners by changing course, causing more to fall into danger. 

It is true that there is crushing economic hardship happening. Support economic relief measures. Those struggling economically -- share your stories so those of us less economically affected know how to help. You have nothing to be ashamed of and should not bear more of the load from this pandemic than the rest of us. 

Everyone, resist the urge to buy all you need from Amazon. Support candidates who are fighting for less income disparity. The Have Too Muches are part of this problem and will be part of the solution.

Did you ever stop to think that those living in the inner city have faced pandemic-level job loss for the past 60 years? Since white flight started moving the jobs away from cities into suburbs?  The criminality embedded in that? The hopelessness that engenders?  And some wonder why there might be resentment now? Take this time to read or otherwise listen and learn about racial injustice and vocally support progress in some way. Drop a note to a politician or a newspaper or make a comment in a blog section that you support black lives matter.  This is a struggle that is wrapped up in all the other struggles and is co-happening now, within the pandemic.  Do not let the one crisis paralyze you from engaging with the other. 

Walk in a nature preserve. Take a bike ride. Take this time to take stock of your co-morbidity health habits. Thank the people inside and outside the government who organized to create and maintain these spaces that are now open and available. Thank the hardworkers inside the government agencies that have worked to curb the worst of the excesses of the food, tobacco, and alcohol industries to push their agendas over human health. 

Go out of your way to shop local for all the reasons plus pandemic.  

This too shall pass.  Let's get stronger from the challenge.










On Fri, Aug 7, 2020, 10:49 AM Grant Abert <gab...@igc.org> wrote:
Yay Beth, great response!
Hope you’re doing well.
Grant 

On Aug 7, 2020, at 7:57 AM, Beth Gehred <beth....@gmail.com> wrote:



Greg David

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Hi Beth,
Thank you too for your thoughtful reply. As I would expect from you, your reply shows genuine concern for people, community and the environment. Thank you for that, which you have demonstrated for the whole time I have know you.

I mean now to point out what I consider flaws in your thinking. I’ll do this below, as I did I in Kurt’s response. Please be sure to read thru that rebuttal, as some points will be very similar.
Greg

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On Aug 7, 2020, at 7:57 AM, Beth Gehred <beth....@gmail.com> wrote:


"It troubles me that the division between believers in the pandemic and believers in rights and freedom is so partisan. Why should the divide be so stark, and why am I perceived to be on the ”wrong side”?"

It troubles me that someone I respect as much as you, Greg, would frame this discussion in this way.  I am unwilling to follow along when the two categories presented are a) believers in the pandemic or b) believers in rights and freedom. 
I thought i had framed the discussion much bigger than that, including all the other inconsistencies, incompetencies and conflicts of interest that I perceived there. I had considered leaving out references to the curtailment of liberty in this arguement, but felt it important because so many people are concerned about this aspect of it and, trying to be inclusive, thought it important to include that part into the discussion. I would ask that you see past my potential short-sightedness and be willing to follow along in the effort to entertain holistic consideration of the conditions we face.


I "believe" in both. On the basis of the precautionary principle, I have voluntarily minimized my public interactions and wear a mask.  Because I also want a sustainable future,  I continue to support local farmers and businesses.  I have the freedom to do both. 
Good on you for that! We must live according to our beliefs and values. Mine seem to be different than your’s on a couple points. I too would say i believe in the precautionary principle, but don’t want a sustainable future. We need to move beyond that to a restorative future. Perhaps a matter of semantics here, but what we have now, in my mind sucks, and I’d like to see it greatly improved.


I have been asked,  by health experts,  for the good of those with compromised immune systems,  to modify some of my behaviors. 
I no longer trust the medical/pharmaceutical/insurance industrial complex (referred to below as ‘the complex’). It has shown itself to be much more concerned about profit than health. How many times have you heard the complex say in regarded to this pandemic, to eat healthy, take proper vitamins, utilize effective and less dangerous drugs (like Hydroxychloroquine and a cheap but effect antibiotic) with zinc, get adequate sunlight exposure (vitamin D) and exercise or loose weight? Ill bet not very many.

And this is not to say that most of the people involved in the complex are not good people meaning todo the right thing...their good intention has been co-opted by the complex.

Like people who are concerned about the climate, or so many environmental crises, have asked fellow citizens to consider reducing consumption or extraction, in order to minimize risks. I am willing to make the changes asked of me for the greater good.  Further,  I'm willing to see the upsides of making the changes.  After all, this is what I've been hoping others would do when I present the environmental case for change. Please drive less,  please eat organic.  It is not hard and you'll be healthier for it. You will relieve the suffering of others.
It may not be hard for you and I, but it’s pretty hard for those trapped in a food desert. Many don’t know how to grow food, or source it from somewhere else or can afford it.
Conditions of urban flight and subsidization of urbanization of green-space has left the disadvantaged trapped in the decaying city centers. That’s part of the reason Ives spent so mush time on helping craft a land use plan that resists that type of exploitation.


Perhaps there has been over-reaction. I'd say that is true on both sides. But the health experts could not know how lethal this strain of novel Corona virus was and erred on the side of caution. A noble position. We now know, and need our best minds to help us wind down to the response that now matches risk.
Agreed. I was the first whistle blower on the county board by about two months. My comments were ignored then. When the facts and figures came in, i change my position to align with the new data.

If we weren't so distrusting of one another,  we'd find solutions like this together.  What we DON'T need, is an indignant and overblown reaction, or sweeping statements, that we should never respond in this way again and that no one is to be trusted. 
In my opinion what we need here is a voice counter to the medical/pharmaceutical/insurance (And at this point, I’d add main stream media) industrial complex voice. That is the corporate voice talking. From my experience, they are not very good at listening and have a profit driven motive and therefore make bad partners.


We are still in the middle of this thing.  We need to trust the CDC
They are part of the complex.

or some other science-based nonpartisan government agency, and allow them some time to sort out the reports from across the world to give a clear-eyed report of where we are now,  what works and what doesn't.
There are doctors and frontline health care workers all over the world speaking out on these matters. Look up what Sweden’s head of epidemiology is saying. Look where Sweden is in this pandemic. There are examples out there. You just wont find them if you rely on MSM as you source of information. Many of these sources have been censored from MSM in all of its forms. This is a huge red flag for me.

With the government and media discredited, I'm not sure who you are relying on as trustworthy, but the kind of research needed to attempt answers of such complexity is bigger than any plucky alternative self-funding agencies with well-written websites can tackle. 
I’ll listen to any viewpoint that can be found and make my judgement from there. And I like plucky! It seems we have too little of it these days. If you want to dig deeper, please read the scentific studies these plucky websites report on. The information is there. You just have to have the gumption to find and read them.


The path I advocate is to follow the recommended precautions,
Who’s recomended precautions? WHO’s  I beleive the WHO and CDC, much like the FDA and the USDA have been co-opted by big business and no longer serve the public interest, but rather the profit driven motives of the ‘complex’.

And, I believe this virus is not any worse than a very bad cold season. The higher death numbers int he U.S can be to some degree pinned onto the complete mis-management of the situation by the complex. And, as noted in my response to Kurt’s comments, reaching herd immunity is what will get us thru this, without all the economic and social hardship. Ill copy and paste my earlier comments for my response to Kurt’s letter.

Herd immunity can be expressed as protecting the vulnerable and applying all the necessary resources, technologies and science to Make them safe, then utilize the non-(or very less) vulnerable set of the population to achieve herd immunity, which then removes the threat of the pandemic completely, forever. The  people capable of contracting the disease could contract the disease, develop personal immunity thru the typical cold season, move into the non-transmitting stage and help create herd immunity, the outcome that will protect the vulnerable best.

Herd immunity refers to having enough of the population exposed and recovered from the disease so that the persons infected no longer can shed the disease and so it fades into the background and becomes non-threatening,  just like every other corona virus in history. Yes the weak among us will may succumb to the disease, but as we see the percentage is around .025, similar to, but perhaps slightly more virulent than other coronaviruses of the past. And, if we provided prophylactic care to the vulnerable of the population (isolation with care, enhanced nutrition, prophylactic vitamins B, C and D, Hydroxycloriquine, zinc and proper antibiotic, we would be a hell of a better off than we are with the current regime of fear mongering and authoritarian control.

and find and portray the upsides, (like more parents being home with children, and some people discovering they love home cooking and gardening,   and discovering most business travel is unnecessary, etc). Think, read, and participate in finding positive solutions (as Greg has been wonderful in doing in so many areas, such as pioneering CSA farming, alternate energy and construction,  and SO MUCH ELSE.)
I give the benefit of the doubt to our  non partisan government institutions to not get it 100% right,  but to be the best tools we have for navigating global issues of enormous complexity. 
Finding the good in things is what i like about you the most. I certainly agree that good may come from this. But not if we let the corporate theologies of profit rule the day. This is what I am fighting.
Sincerely,
Greg

mikethewormguy

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Aug 11, 2020, 9:57:29 AM8/11/20
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Greg,

Your feedback to Beth sparked a question in my mind... .

Where and How does person health fit into public health....?

Currently Mother Nature is testing the Clint Eastwood hypothesis of " How lucky do you feel, punk....? " in Sturgis, S.D....  We should start seeing data in a month of so.

The COVID virus is asking the question of America what is the responsibility of the individual to the public and vica versa in regard to the health of the village and individual.....

Is health a right or a privilege......?

Mike






Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone


-------- Original message --------
From: 'Greg David' via Jefferson County Community Supported Energy <jefferson-county-comm...@googlegroups.com>
Date: 8/11/20 8:37 AM (GMT-06:00)
Subject: Re: {Jef. Co. CSE} Covid concerns...

Greg David

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Aug 13, 2020, 10:03:07 AM8/13/20
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Hi Mike,
Great to hear from you. Thanks for your thoughts and questions. I’ve always respected your knowledge and insights into all things biotic.

Someday we should discuss some of the new research regarding the carbon based redox signaling system that life seems to be using to communicate between life forms and intercellular parts of our bodies...fascinating stuff. Dr Zack Bush talks about it in the interview, Pandemic of Possibility. See: https://youtu.be/qUiGgRHES4k

He also talks about a oxygen based signaling system (there are ten forms of oxygen, O, O2, HO, H2O, HO2, and five others) that the body uses for almost instantaneous communication between its parts. I think this is part of why when you step off the end of a scaffolding plank onto a scaffolding plant two inches lower, you get a adrenaline rush during thru you whole body in the the minuscule time it takes to traverse that 2 inch unexpected difference in height. It’s this oxygen based signaling system that is so fast as to save your life if the underlying plank is not there. I’m pretty sure that discussion is in this interview, but I could be mistaken here as I’ve watched several of his interviews now and it’s hard to keep them all straight.

He is also an advocate of terrain theory of disease, as opposed to germ theory. From what I have learned about it so far seems to make good sense and informs a much better approach to medicine than trying to drug ailments into submission, and then suffer all the side effects of the drugs. Again, fascinating stuff!

Now on to your most excellent questions... please see below.

Sent from my iPad

https://youtu.be/qUiGgRHES4k On Aug 11, 2020, at 8:57 AM, 'mikethewormguy' via Jefferson County Community Supported Energy <jefferson-county-comm...@googlegroups.com> wrote:


Greg,

Your feedback to Beth sparked a question in my mind... .

Where and How does person health fit into public health....?
Hmmmmm... from what perspective? The persons? The complex’s? The personal health care provider’s. The herd’s? All would seem to be different to me, with differing concerns and ambitions. Some of this will become more clear below.


Currently Mother Nature is testing the Clint Eastwood hypothesis of " How lucky do you feel, punk....? " in Sturgis, S.D....  We should start seeing data in a month of so.
The biker rally in Sturgis is an interesting phenomenon. But it was proceeded by at least two other even more interesting covid infection case studies. One was the cruise ship,....forget the name, that had a large percentage of elderly trapped there long enough to make pretty darn accurate determinations of the severity of Covid 19. Another  was a U.S aircraft carrier that was out to see. And what was it the saw? That covid 19 was not much worse that a very bad cold season. And that a good percentage of the sailors and passengers seemed to not be susceptible to the virus at all. They already had some form of immunity. (Likely from cross-reactive SARS CoV2-T-Cell epitomes they created in response to a cold they within the past 5 or 10 years)

These two examples should have told epidemiologists that covid 19 is not as bad as it is being made out to be. Somehow that was missed in the analyzation of the virility of the disease....hmmmm.

There are other less controlled examples, like the church group in GA, and the countries of Sweden, Paraguay, Ecuador and um....Bolivia, I think. These countries that did not lock down show evidence of the veracity of the virus; a bad flu year, and the usefulness and effectiveness of the lockdown and social distancing measures; not very useful or effective, unless of course the goal is not the stated goal. More about that if you wish...


The COVID virus is asking the question of America what is the responsibility of the individual to the public and vica versa in regard to the health of the village and individual.....
Hmmmmm....  hhmmmm! A hard one here.
It think Much of the answer here has to do with your belief system. If you beleive what the complex is telling you, then hiding in your basement in a positive-pressure hazmat suit is the best bet. If you believe in herd immunity, then having protecting the vulnerable as described in my response to Beth and Kurt’s inquiries, and utilizing the healthy less vulnerable amongst us to reach herd immunity makes the most sense.
So to a great extent, the responsibilities and actions depend on our belief system.


Is health a right or a privilege......?
Now this is a good question too.
One thing I’m pretty sure of is that if it is a right, then, as with every other right, it comes with an equal and binding responsibility. Examples could be:
with the right to bear arms (not to be confused with the right to bare faces🙃), a persons needs to know how to handle it safely and keep it in a safe secure place.
with the right to drive, a person needs to drive sober and understand and follow the rules of the road.
If we claim the right, but reject the associated responsibilities, then we will see a breakdown in the health of the community or nation, much like we see happening today.

In regards to health, whether it is a right or a privilege, a wise and prudent person will take up the responsibility for their health for themselves. Relying on a profit based publicly traded corporate entity to provide good food or health care in my mind is folly! Their first allegiance  is to their underlying corporate charter, not necessarily the service they are meant to provide.

Also, a bit off the immediate subject:
Our immune systems are like a muscle: the more you use it, the stronger it gets. If we sanitize everything, not only do we suffer the effects of the toxins used in the sanitation process, but our immune systems become weaker or less strong than they would be otherwise.

Our gut biota is becoming known as an extremely important part of our immune system. Without all that friendly bacteria and other biota, we will be lacking many of the first line defenses that our synergistic, transbiotic, evolutionary-designed multi-species organism can normally provide for us. 

So eat your sourkraut, stay away from processed foods, eat plenty of garden fresh, organic vegetables and smother it all in organic, pasture-based butter! Yummm!
Greg

mikethewormguy

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Aug 13, 2020, 11:29:39 AM8/13/20
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Greg,

Thanks for the detailed response.

We are following the garlic theory to disease prevention.....the more garlic you eat the more folks keep their distance and the isolated you find yourself.....;-)

Mike......
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