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As the pandemic winds down, anti-vaccine activists are building a legal network
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Michael Ejercito
May 5, 2023, 1:26:10 PM5/5/23
to
https://www.reddit.com/r/HermanCainAward/comments/13821fj/as_the_pandemic_winds_down_antivaccine_activists/
May 4, 20235:01 AM ET
By
Lisa Hagen
Steve Kirsch, a tech entrepreneur turned anti-vaccine activist, at a
conference in Atlanta for future COVID and vaccine-related litigation
that he helped organize and fund.
Lisa Hagen/NPR
Steve Kirsch is a tech entrepreneur who made hundreds of millions of
dollars after founding an early search engine and helping invent the
optical computer mouse.
Recently, he stood before a gathering of more than 250 lawyers in
Atlanta while wearing a custom black T-shirt designed like a dictionary
entry for the phrase "misinformation superspreader."
"Our definition is it's someone who's basically pointing out the truth
and it just happens to disagree with the mainstream narrative we're
known as misinformation spreaders, because what they're trying to do is
they're trying to control the narrative," Kirsch told NPR.
By "they," Kirsch means a network of pharmaceutical companies,
governments, doctors and journalists that he argues are covering up a
pandemic-driven plot to poison the world for profit.
How Damar Hamlin's collapse fueled anti-vaccine conspiracy theories
UNTANGLING DISINFORMATION
How Damar Hamlin's collapse fueled anti-vaccine conspiracy theories
The scientific consensus shows COVID vaccines are safe and significantly
reduce the chances of death or serious illness. While many Americans may
share a distrust of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare systems,
there is no evidence of the kind of conspiracy alleged in these circles.
In recent years, Kirsch has become an increasingly vocal and generous
funder of the anti-vaccine movement. He helped organize and fund the
conference to map out strategies for anti-vaccine and COVID-19-focused
litigation as the pandemic winds down.
Sponsor Message
Their mom died of COVID. They say conspiracy theories are what really
killed her
SHOTS - HEALTH NEWS
Their mom died of COVID. They say conspiracy theories are what really
killed her
Their proposed targets include hospitals, school systems, medical
licensing boards and, the holy grail, pharmaceutical companies that make
vaccines.
"My goal is to expose every single one of these a**holes," Kirsch told
the audience, to uproarious applause.
The lawyers met as the anti-vaccine movement is at a crossroads. The
COVID-19 pandemic brought in new energy and supporters but is fading
from public life. On May 11, the federal government's public health
emergency will expire. To keep the cause alive, some in the movement are
trying to build up a legal arm.
Anti-vaccine merchandise available at the conference.
Lisa Hagen/NPR
The legal conference drew a mix of people who've advocated against
vaccines for years before the pandemic, and those, like Kirsch, who are
more recent converts. He said he actually got two Moderna shots when
COVID vaccines became available.
Kirsch's path to the conference started with an effort to find
treatments for COVID.
From funding research to organizing lawyers
"When the pandemic hit, I put in a million dollars of my own money and
raised another $5 million dollars. We started the COVID 19 Early
Treatment Fund and we started funding early treatments," said Kirsch.
The goal was to run trials on existing treatments that might help combat
the virus. Reporting by MIT's Technology Review found the project had
brought together highly respected biologists and drug researchers who
believed in the work. But when some of the research seemed to run into
dead ends, Kirsch reportedly began to clash with the scientists he was
funding.
Sponsor Message
"If the data is is is bad and doesn't make sense and the study was badly
done, then I have a right to reject it," said Kirsch. "And so the point
is that if a study is well done, you'll see that I will like the study."
Kirsch has a tendency to offer large sums of money to anyone willing to
debate his assertions.
"But they won't do that. They won't get into any discussion with me
because they don't want to answer a single question," Kirsch said.
Jeffrey Morris has tried to engage with Kirsch for years. In his spare
time, the professor of biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania
has gone line by line through some of Kirsch's claims, providing
answers, context and explanations. They once had a long conversation
over Zoom.
Inside the growing alliance between anti-vaccine activists and pro-Trump
Republicans
UNTANGLING DISINFORMATION
Inside the growing alliance between anti-vaccine activists and pro-Trump
Republicans
"And it was an interesting discussion, you know, because he admitted
that he was not a scientist and didn't think like one. And so I was
trying to connect with him and help him understand the leaps he was
making in his arguments to get him to think more carefully. Because I
could tell he was someone with a lot of energy and passion on the
issue," said Morris, who has watched Kirsch pull millions of views on
some of his COVID vaccine content.
When someone makes a dramatic claim that vaccines are killing millions,
it's their burden to show the evidence, said Morris, not the other way
around.
Just 12 People Are Behind Most Vaccine Hoaxes On Social Media, Research
Shows
UNTANGLING DISINFORMATION
Just 12 People Are Behind Most Vaccine Hoaxes On Social Media, Research
Shows
"They're presuming that they have the entitlement that what they're
saying can be presumed to be true without them demonstrating rigorously
that it's true, and that it is the responsibility of society and the
scientific community to prove them wrong. And if they fail to prove them
wrong, or if they don't show up, then they're really offended. And then
to them, that just proves their guilt. It proves the cover up," he said.
As government cover ups became a regular talking point for Kirsch, the
researchers abandoned his early treatment project. Two years and $2
million later, he's hoping to organize a sustained legal insurgency
against public health agencies, drug manufacturers, hospitals and schools.
A doctor spread COVID misinformation and renewed her license with a
mouse click
SHOTS - HEALTH NEWS
A doctor spread COVID misinformation and renewed her license with a
mouse click
Attorney Pete Serano traveled from Washington State, where he represents
three doctors accused of spreading false statements about COVID-19 and
said finding a supportive community of lawyers and experts he can call
for help is "monumental."
"You know, it really felt like it was me against the world, even though
there were probably maybe half a dozen to a dozen lawyers in Washington
fighting. It still feels - it's extremely lonely. It's extremely
difficult," said Serano.
Conference organizers asked reporters not to record entire
presentations. But one thing Serano and other attendees heard again and
again from speakers: In this room, you're among heroes.
Sponsor Message
"There are people who are tremendously intellectually talented and
gifted in so many ways who are using those talents to fight for your
rights, to fight for my rights," said Serano.
Creating a new body of law
The fights include everything from suing educators who enforced mask
mandates, to demanding vaccination status be made a protected class,
like race or sexual orientation. Thousands of lawsuits pushing back
against public health measures have been filed since the pandemic.
In Florida, 'health freedom' activists exert influence over a major hospital
UNTANGLING DISINFORMATION
In Florida, 'health freedom' activists exert influence over a major hospital
The goal of this conference is to bring lawyers behind these suits
together, study all that legal spaghetti on the wall and analyze what
has and hasn't worked. They mean to probe for weak points in the law,
build a network of experts and plaintiffs, and, they hope, inspire new laws.
Conference organizers like attorney Warner Mendenhall want to ensure a
steady supply of lawyers who see opportunity, whether ideologically
aligned with the anti-vaccine movement or not.
"I hate to say this but greed is good in this instance," said Mendenhall
on a webinar promoting the event. "So if lawyers can see that they can
get rich, and we're trying to prove that you can - we haven't yet, but
we will - it'll bring lawyers in simply for the money."
Fears about vaccines are not new. The current legal structure around
vaccines is the result of a wave of lawsuits in the 1970s and 80s. It
tries to balance individual freedom with public health needs, according
to Anjali Deshmukh, a pediatrician and professor of administrative law
at Georgia State University.
"It's not only about protecting us, but it's about protecting our
community. And that's a different calculus, where it's now within the
government's interests to make sure that these diseases are not
spreading," Deshmukh said.
What a bottle of ivermectin reveals about the shadowy world of COVID
telemedicine
SHOTS - HEALTH NEWS
What a bottle of ivermectin reveals about the shadowy world of COVID
telemedicine
But the law is not fixed, she added, and well-funded, well-organized
groups can be a powerful force.
"And I think like we saw with Roe v Wade, you had a case that was passed
50 years ago and then had various chips away at it until the ground
crumbled," said Deshmukh.
The civil rights movement, organized labor and women's rights advocates
have also relied on a potent mix of court battles and ground campaigns
to sway public sentiment.
"The court of public opinion is more important than I think we give
credit to in both law and medicine. We can have all the science in the
world, we can have laws that make sense, but laws change. Science is not
always convincing when you're coming from a place of fear," said Deshmukh.
Sponsor Message
Cases don't even have to succeed in court to have an impact, Deshmukh
said. Influencers and headlines can frame settlements, technical legal
outcomes or compelling, emotional testimony as victories for one side or
another. She said these lawsuits also come at a time when the Supreme
Court is weakening the powers of many regulators.
This Doctor Spread False Information About COVID. She Still Kept Her
Medical License
SHOTS - HEALTH NEWS
This Doctor Spread False Information About COVID. She Still Kept Her
Medical License
With the COVID national emergency order set to end, keeping
COVID-related grievances alive in the courts may also help sustain the
larger movement against vaccines.
Serano, the lawyer from Washington State, says the kinds of cases that
brought him here may become the bulk of his work for years.
"I plan on being that 80 year old guy talking about what it was like in
the 2020s and COVID 19 and telling some young whippersnapper lawyer
about how we did it back when," he said.
--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
www.avg.com
May 4, 20235:01 AM ET
By
Lisa Hagen
Steve Kirsch, a tech entrepreneur turned anti-vaccine activist, at a
conference in Atlanta for future COVID and vaccine-related litigation
that he helped organize and fund.
Lisa Hagen/NPR
Steve Kirsch is a tech entrepreneur who made hundreds of millions of
dollars after founding an early search engine and helping invent the
optical computer mouse.
Recently, he stood before a gathering of more than 250 lawyers in
Atlanta while wearing a custom black T-shirt designed like a dictionary
entry for the phrase "misinformation superspreader."
"Our definition is it's someone who's basically pointing out the truth
and it just happens to disagree with the mainstream narrative we're
known as misinformation spreaders, because what they're trying to do is
they're trying to control the narrative," Kirsch told NPR.
By "they," Kirsch means a network of pharmaceutical companies,
governments, doctors and journalists that he argues are covering up a
pandemic-driven plot to poison the world for profit.
How Damar Hamlin's collapse fueled anti-vaccine conspiracy theories
UNTANGLING DISINFORMATION
How Damar Hamlin's collapse fueled anti-vaccine conspiracy theories
The scientific consensus shows COVID vaccines are safe and significantly
reduce the chances of death or serious illness. While many Americans may
share a distrust of pharmaceutical companies and healthcare systems,
there is no evidence of the kind of conspiracy alleged in these circles.
In recent years, Kirsch has become an increasingly vocal and generous
funder of the anti-vaccine movement. He helped organize and fund the
conference to map out strategies for anti-vaccine and COVID-19-focused
litigation as the pandemic winds down.
Sponsor Message
Their mom died of COVID. They say conspiracy theories are what really
killed her
SHOTS - HEALTH NEWS
Their mom died of COVID. They say conspiracy theories are what really
killed her
Their proposed targets include hospitals, school systems, medical
licensing boards and, the holy grail, pharmaceutical companies that make
vaccines.
"My goal is to expose every single one of these a**holes," Kirsch told
the audience, to uproarious applause.
The lawyers met as the anti-vaccine movement is at a crossroads. The
COVID-19 pandemic brought in new energy and supporters but is fading
from public life. On May 11, the federal government's public health
emergency will expire. To keep the cause alive, some in the movement are
trying to build up a legal arm.
Anti-vaccine merchandise available at the conference.
Lisa Hagen/NPR
The legal conference drew a mix of people who've advocated against
vaccines for years before the pandemic, and those, like Kirsch, who are
more recent converts. He said he actually got two Moderna shots when
COVID vaccines became available.
Kirsch's path to the conference started with an effort to find
treatments for COVID.
From funding research to organizing lawyers
"When the pandemic hit, I put in a million dollars of my own money and
raised another $5 million dollars. We started the COVID 19 Early
Treatment Fund and we started funding early treatments," said Kirsch.
The goal was to run trials on existing treatments that might help combat
the virus. Reporting by MIT's Technology Review found the project had
brought together highly respected biologists and drug researchers who
believed in the work. But when some of the research seemed to run into
dead ends, Kirsch reportedly began to clash with the scientists he was
funding.
Sponsor Message
"If the data is is is bad and doesn't make sense and the study was badly
done, then I have a right to reject it," said Kirsch. "And so the point
is that if a study is well done, you'll see that I will like the study."
Kirsch has a tendency to offer large sums of money to anyone willing to
debate his assertions.
"But they won't do that. They won't get into any discussion with me
because they don't want to answer a single question," Kirsch said.
Jeffrey Morris has tried to engage with Kirsch for years. In his spare
time, the professor of biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania
has gone line by line through some of Kirsch's claims, providing
answers, context and explanations. They once had a long conversation
over Zoom.
Inside the growing alliance between anti-vaccine activists and pro-Trump
Republicans
UNTANGLING DISINFORMATION
Inside the growing alliance between anti-vaccine activists and pro-Trump
Republicans
"And it was an interesting discussion, you know, because he admitted
that he was not a scientist and didn't think like one. And so I was
trying to connect with him and help him understand the leaps he was
making in his arguments to get him to think more carefully. Because I
could tell he was someone with a lot of energy and passion on the
issue," said Morris, who has watched Kirsch pull millions of views on
some of his COVID vaccine content.
When someone makes a dramatic claim that vaccines are killing millions,
it's their burden to show the evidence, said Morris, not the other way
around.
Just 12 People Are Behind Most Vaccine Hoaxes On Social Media, Research
Shows
UNTANGLING DISINFORMATION
Just 12 People Are Behind Most Vaccine Hoaxes On Social Media, Research
Shows
"They're presuming that they have the entitlement that what they're
saying can be presumed to be true without them demonstrating rigorously
that it's true, and that it is the responsibility of society and the
scientific community to prove them wrong. And if they fail to prove them
wrong, or if they don't show up, then they're really offended. And then
to them, that just proves their guilt. It proves the cover up," he said.
As government cover ups became a regular talking point for Kirsch, the
researchers abandoned his early treatment project. Two years and $2
million later, he's hoping to organize a sustained legal insurgency
against public health agencies, drug manufacturers, hospitals and schools.
A doctor spread COVID misinformation and renewed her license with a
mouse click
SHOTS - HEALTH NEWS
A doctor spread COVID misinformation and renewed her license with a
mouse click
Attorney Pete Serano traveled from Washington State, where he represents
three doctors accused of spreading false statements about COVID-19 and
said finding a supportive community of lawyers and experts he can call
for help is "monumental."
"You know, it really felt like it was me against the world, even though
there were probably maybe half a dozen to a dozen lawyers in Washington
fighting. It still feels - it's extremely lonely. It's extremely
difficult," said Serano.
Conference organizers asked reporters not to record entire
presentations. But one thing Serano and other attendees heard again and
again from speakers: In this room, you're among heroes.
Sponsor Message
"There are people who are tremendously intellectually talented and
gifted in so many ways who are using those talents to fight for your
rights, to fight for my rights," said Serano.
Creating a new body of law
The fights include everything from suing educators who enforced mask
mandates, to demanding vaccination status be made a protected class,
like race or sexual orientation. Thousands of lawsuits pushing back
against public health measures have been filed since the pandemic.
In Florida, 'health freedom' activists exert influence over a major hospital
UNTANGLING DISINFORMATION
In Florida, 'health freedom' activists exert influence over a major hospital
The goal of this conference is to bring lawyers behind these suits
together, study all that legal spaghetti on the wall and analyze what
has and hasn't worked. They mean to probe for weak points in the law,
build a network of experts and plaintiffs, and, they hope, inspire new laws.
Conference organizers like attorney Warner Mendenhall want to ensure a
steady supply of lawyers who see opportunity, whether ideologically
aligned with the anti-vaccine movement or not.
"I hate to say this but greed is good in this instance," said Mendenhall
on a webinar promoting the event. "So if lawyers can see that they can
get rich, and we're trying to prove that you can - we haven't yet, but
we will - it'll bring lawyers in simply for the money."
Fears about vaccines are not new. The current legal structure around
vaccines is the result of a wave of lawsuits in the 1970s and 80s. It
tries to balance individual freedom with public health needs, according
to Anjali Deshmukh, a pediatrician and professor of administrative law
at Georgia State University.
"It's not only about protecting us, but it's about protecting our
community. And that's a different calculus, where it's now within the
government's interests to make sure that these diseases are not
spreading," Deshmukh said.
What a bottle of ivermectin reveals about the shadowy world of COVID
telemedicine
SHOTS - HEALTH NEWS
What a bottle of ivermectin reveals about the shadowy world of COVID
telemedicine
But the law is not fixed, she added, and well-funded, well-organized
groups can be a powerful force.
"And I think like we saw with Roe v Wade, you had a case that was passed
50 years ago and then had various chips away at it until the ground
crumbled," said Deshmukh.
The civil rights movement, organized labor and women's rights advocates
have also relied on a potent mix of court battles and ground campaigns
to sway public sentiment.
"The court of public opinion is more important than I think we give
credit to in both law and medicine. We can have all the science in the
world, we can have laws that make sense, but laws change. Science is not
always convincing when you're coming from a place of fear," said Deshmukh.
Sponsor Message
Cases don't even have to succeed in court to have an impact, Deshmukh
said. Influencers and headlines can frame settlements, technical legal
outcomes or compelling, emotional testimony as victories for one side or
another. She said these lawsuits also come at a time when the Supreme
Court is weakening the powers of many regulators.
This Doctor Spread False Information About COVID. She Still Kept Her
Medical License
SHOTS - HEALTH NEWS
This Doctor Spread False Information About COVID. She Still Kept Her
Medical License
With the COVID national emergency order set to end, keeping
COVID-related grievances alive in the courts may also help sustain the
larger movement against vaccines.
Serano, the lawyer from Washington State, says the kinds of cases that
brought him here may become the bulk of his work for years.
"I plan on being that 80 year old guy talking about what it was like in
the 2020s and COVID 19 and telling some young whippersnapper lawyer
about how we did it back when," he said.
--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
www.avg.com
HeartDoc Andrew
May 5, 2023, 2:59:59 PM5/5/23
to
GOD" (Ephesians 6:11) which we put on as soon as we use
Apostle Paul's secret (http://bit.ly/Philippians4_12 ). Though masking
is less protective, it helps us avoid the appearance of doing the evil
of spreading airborne pathogens while there are people getting sick
because of not being 100% protected. It is written that we're to
"abstain from **all** appearance of doing evil" (1 Thessalonians 5:22
w/**emphasis**).
Source:
https://biblehub.com/1_thessalonians/5-22.htm
Meanwhile, the only *perfect* (Matt 5:47-8) way to eradicate the
COVID-19 virus, thereby saving lives, in the US & elsewhere is by
rapidly ( http://bit.ly/RapidTestCOVID-19 ) finding out at any given
moment, including even while on-line, who among us are unwittingly
contagious (i.e pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic) in order to
http://WDJW.great-site.net/ConvinceItForward (John 15:12) for them to
call their doctor and self-quarantine per their doctor in hopes of
stopping this pandemic. Thus, we're hoping for the best while
preparing for the worse-case scenario of the Alpha lineage mutations
and others like the Omicron, Gamma, Beta, Epsilon, Iota, Lambda, Mu &
Delta lineage mutations combining via slip-RNA-replication to form
hybrids like http://tinyurl.com/Deltamicron that may render current
COVID vaccines/monoclonals/medicines/pills no longer effective.
Indeed, I am wonderfully hungry ( http://tinyurl.com/RapidOmicronTest
) and hope you, Michael, also have a healthy appetite too.
So how are you ?
...because we mindfully choose to openly care with our heart,
HeartDoc Andrew <><
--
Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD
Cardiologist with an http://bit.ly/EternalMedicalLicense
2024 & upwards non-partisan candidate for U.S. President:
http://WonderfullyHungry.org
and author of the 2PD-OMER Approach:
http://bit.ly/HeartDocAndrewCare
which is the only **healthy** cure for the U.S. healthcare crisis
Michael Ejercito
May 5, 2023, 8:01:44 PM5/5/23
to
Michael
HeartDoc Andrew
May 5, 2023, 8:24:49 PM5/5/23
to
Michael Ejercito wrote:
While wonderfully hungry in the Holy Spirit, Who causes (Deuteronomy
8:3) us to hunger, I note that you, Michael, are rapture ready (Luke
17:37 means no COVID just as eagles circling over their food have no
COVID) and pray (2 Chronicles 7:14) that our Everlasting (Isaiah 9:6)
Father in Heaven continues to give us "much more" (Luke 11:13) Holy
Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) so that we'd have much more of His Help to
always say/write that we're "wonderfully hungry" in **all** ways
including especially caring to
http://WDJW.great-site.net/ConvinceItForward (John 15:12 as shown by
http://tinyurl.com/RapidOmicronTest ) with all glory (
http://bit.ly/Psalm112_1 ) to GOD (aka HaShem, Elohim, Abba, DEO), in
the name (John 16:23) of LORD Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen.
Laus DEO !
Suggested further reading:
https://groups.google.com/g/sci.med.cardiology/c/5EWtT4CwCOg/m/QjNF57xRBAAJ
Shorter link:
http://bit.ly/StatCOVID-19Test
Be hungrier, which really is wonderfully healthier especially for
diabetics and other heart disease patients:
http://bit.ly/HeartDocAndrew touts hunger (Luke 6:21a) with all glory
( http://bit.ly/Psalm112_1 ) to GOD, Who causes us to hunger
(Deuteronomy 8:3) when He blesses us right now (Luke 6:21a) thereby
removing the http://WDJW.great-site.net/VAT from around the heart
8:3) us to hunger, I note that you, Michael, are rapture ready (Luke
17:37 means no COVID just as eagles circling over their food have no
COVID) and pray (2 Chronicles 7:14) that our Everlasting (Isaiah 9:6)
Father in Heaven continues to give us "much more" (Luke 11:13) Holy
Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) so that we'd have much more of His Help to
always say/write that we're "wonderfully hungry" in **all** ways
including especially caring to
http://WDJW.great-site.net/ConvinceItForward (John 15:12 as shown by
http://tinyurl.com/RapidOmicronTest ) with all glory (
http://bit.ly/Psalm112_1 ) to GOD (aka HaShem, Elohim, Abba, DEO), in
the name (John 16:23) of LORD Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen.
Laus DEO !
Suggested further reading:
https://groups.google.com/g/sci.med.cardiology/c/5EWtT4CwCOg/m/QjNF57xRBAAJ
Shorter link:
http://bit.ly/StatCOVID-19Test
Be hungrier, which really is wonderfully healthier especially for
diabetics and other heart disease patients:
http://bit.ly/HeartDocAndrew touts hunger (Luke 6:21a) with all glory
( http://bit.ly/Psalm112_1 ) to GOD, Who causes us to hunger
(Deuteronomy 8:3) when He blesses us right now (Luke 6:21a) thereby
removing the http://WDJW.great-site.net/VAT from around the heart
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