It’s time once again for news and views that you can peruse! It’s another edition of your Weekly Reader! As always, if you have something you’d like to share with everyone, just drop a link in the comments!
Ivermectin Does Not Reduce Risk of Covid Hospitalization, Large Study Finds (from the New York Times): “The researchers zeroed in on different groups of volunteers to see if they experienced benefits that others didn’t. For example, it might be possible that ivermectin only worked if taken early in an infection. But volunteers who took ivermectin in the first three days after a positive coronavirus test turned out to have worse outcomes than did those in the placebo group.”
Revealed: Trump used White House phone for call on January 6 that was not on official log (from The Guardian): “Trump’s call to Lee was reported at the time, as well as its omission from the call log, by the Washington Post and CBS. But the origin of the call as coming from an official White House phone, which has not been previously reported, raises the prospect of tampering or deletion by Trump White House officials.”
‘People would freak out when they heard’ | 5 fetuses discovered in house where anti-abortion activist was staying (from WUSA9 CBS News): “Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, where Handy serves as director of activism, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment but tweeted later Thursday that the organization planned to “address the claims surrounding the 5 deceased children found at Lauren Handy’s apartment at press conference in DC.” The press conference is to take place on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m., but no other information was given.”
Was the Pledge of Allegiance plagiarized from a child? (from OnlySky): “Francis Bellamy was a xenophobic bigot who wrote the Pledge to make sure immigrants pledged their loyalty to the U.S. flag instead of the one representing where they came from. While he had no problem with European immigrants, he lamented the newer wave of immigrants coming into the country at the time.”
The woman who kept aborted fetuses in her home works for an atheist (from OnlySky): “While Bukovinac doesn’t have any formal connection to the larger secular organizations around the country, her active involvement is a reminder that atheism is not synonymous with rationality, reason, or humanism in any other area of life.”
The CDC is beholden to corporations and lost our trust. We need to start our own (from The Guardian): “First, they do not intend to prevent disease spread. By minimizing the importance of new cases, and focusing instead on hospitalizations–a lagging indicator–the revamped warning system delays action until surges are well underway and the consequences of severe disease and death are already in motion. Making matters worse, at-home tests are not recorded in the US, so the only “early indicator” in the risk level calculation grossly undercounts the true number of cases.”
Arrested Anti-Abortion Activist Claims She Was Given 115 Fetuses (from the Huffington Post): “D.C. police say they have not found “anything criminal in nature” regarding the five abortions the activists wanted investigated. The city does not ban the procedure at any stage of pregnancy and leaves the decision up to patients in consultation with their doctors.”
Large study finds closed-mindedness predicts non-compliance with preventive COVID-19 measures (from PsyPost): “The researchers found open-mindedness was a substantially stronger predictor of adherence to COVID-19 preventive behaviors than political orientation. Those who agreed with statements such as “If I do not know much about some topic, I don’t mind being taught about it, even if I know about other topics” were more likely to report avoiding physical contact with others, maintaining physical hygiene, and supporting COVID-19 restrictive mitigation policies. In contrast, those who agreed with statements such as “I think that paying attention to people who disagree with me is a waste of time” were less likely to adhere to COVID-19 preventive behaviors.”
Vladimir Putin as the ultimate authoritarian leader (from OnlySky): “You see, alongside an understanding of power beats a heart of pure fear in authoritarian leaders. Fear governs everything that all authoritarians do. Authoritarian followers simply display this quality far more clearly. However, authoritarian leaders are not exempt from the reality of fear. If anything, fear rules them far more intensely.”
An open letter to Candidates, the Media, Political Parties, and Policymakers: (from Freedom Needs Truth via Medium): “The majority of trafficked youth have been abused or neglected, have run away or don’t have stable housing, or are immigrant children fleeing violence in their home countries to seek refuge in the United States. They are the youth that we as a society have failed. They are not abducted by strangers or Hollywood elites — they are abandoned by failing and under-resourced systems. There is not a deep state cabal of Democratic politicians and Hollywood celebrities who traffic children for sex. No major political candidate or party supports or condones pedophilia or human trafficking.”
That’s all for this edition. But I’ll be back in another seven days with more links you might find bookmark worthy. Until then, stay safe, have a great rest of your week and happy reading!
Iacon East 