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A Pandemic of Mask Misinformation

Physician And Medical Journal Editor: Healthy People Should Not Wear Face Masks

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Healthy People Should Not Wear Face Masks

by Jim Meehan, MD
MeehanMD.com.

Via Health Impact News:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health experts began telling us to follow a number of disease mitigation strategies that sounded reasonably scientific, but actually had little or no support in the scientific literature. Community wearing of masks was one of the more dangerous recommendations from our confused public health experts.

The Pandemic of Bad Science and Public Health Misinformation on Community Wearing of Masks

Renowned neurosurgeon, Russell Blaylock, MD had this to say about the science of masks:

As for the scientific support for the use of face masks, a recent careful examination of the literature, in which 17 of the best studies were analyzed, concluded that, “None of the studies established a conclusive relationship between mask/respirator use and protection against influenza infection.”[R] Keep in mind, no studies have been done to demonstrate that either a cloth mask or the N95 mask has any effect on transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Any recommendations, therefore, have to be based on studies of influenza virus transmission. The fact is, there is no conclusive evidence of their efficiency in controlling flu virus transmission. – Russell Blaylock, MD

You can read Dr. Blaylock’s brilliant discussion of this matter at the end of this paper or at this link:

Blaylock: Face Masks Pose Serious Risks to the Healthy

Quarantining Healthy People – A Failed Experiment

We were told that everyone, even the healthy, should quarantine at home. All were told to “shelter-in-place,” isolate ourselves, hide alone, indoors, until the danger of the virus passed, despite the large body of scientific evidence that shows our immune systems thrive on diversity of exposures, sunlight, time in nature, and in loving company of others.

Furthermore, it seemed that the public health experts were ignoring the very real harms that result from shutting down the economy, putting tens of millions of workers out of work, and the shadow pandemic of suicides, drug abuse, overdoses, and other harms that follow massive economic downturns. [R][R]

Historically and by definition, quarantines had always been about sequestering the sick. Never before had anyone beat a virus by quarantining the healthy. We were not told that quarantining healthy people was a first-of-its kind experiment. And the experiment failed. More on this topic later.

Community Wearing of Masks is a Bad Recommendation

We were frequently confused by the mixed messages coming from public health agencies. Early in the pandemic Dr. Fauci, the U.S. Surgeon General, and the WHO all told the public, in no uncertain terms, not to wear masks. Then, over the course of the next several weeks and months, the CDC twice changed their recommendations, as did the WHO, and the recommendations always contradicted each other!

The CDC made the mistake of telling us cloth masks worked, and they even provided directions on their website for making homemade cloth masks.

To clear up the confusion, I will show that the scientific evidence not only does not support the community wearing of face masks, but the evidence shows that healthy people wearing face masks pose serious health risks to wearers.

Hiding our faces behind masks and isolating in our homes is not the solution, at least not for most people with healthy immune systems. Supporting the health of your immune system, confidently confronting all pathogens, and allowing herd immunity to develop and protect the vulnerable populations should be the goal.

What’s happening in the world today, including the misinformation surrounding community mask wearing, is about political agendas, symbolism, fear, and dividing and isolating the people. It has nothing to do with science.

Medical Masks are Bad for Health

As a physician and former medical journal editor, I’ve carefully read the scientific literature regarding the use of face masks to mitigate viral transmission. I believe the public health experts have community wearing of masks all wrong. What follows are the key issues that should inform the public against wearing medical face masks during the CoVID-19 pandemic, as well as all future respiratory disease pandemics.

Face masks decrease oxygen, increase carbon dioxide, and alter breathing in ways that increase susceptibility and severity of CoVID-19

Mask wearers frequently report symptoms of difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, headache, lightheadedness, dizziness, anxiety, brain fog, difficulty concentrating, and other subjective symptoms while wearing medical masks. As a surgeon, I have worn masks for prolonged periods of time in thousands of surgeries and can assure you these symptoms do occur when surgical masks are worn for extended periods of time. The longer a surgical mask is worn, the more saturated with moisture it becomes, and the more significantly it inhibits the inflow of oxygen and outflow of carbon dioxide.

In fact, clinical research shows that medical masks lower blood oxygen levels[R] and raise carbon dioxide blood levels.[R] The deviations in oxygen and carbon dioxide may not reach the clinical criteria for hypoxia (low blood oxygen), hypoxemia (low tissue oxygen), or hypercapnia (elevated blood carbon dioxide), but they can deviate enough to cause even healthy individuals to become symptomatic, as occurred with the surgeons studied and published in this report:

Preliminary Report on Surgical Mask Induced Deoxygenation During Major Surgery

At the same time masks inhibit oxygen intake, they trap the carbon dioxide rich breath in the mouth/mask inter-space. Thus, a fraction of carbon dioxide previously exhaled is inhaled at each respiratory cycle.

Masks force you to re-breathe a portion of your own breath, including all the stuff (infectious viral particles) the lungs were trying to remove from the body (more on this later).

As medical masks lower oxygen and raise carbon dioxide in the blood, the brain senses the changes and the risk they pose to the maintenance of normal physiology. Thus, the brain goes to work to bring things back in order. To obtain more oxygen and remove more carbon dioxide, the brain tells the lungs to increase the rate (frequency) and depth of breaths.[R] Unfortunately, struggle as they may, your brain and lungs can not fully compensate for the negative effects of the mask. Some may even suffer the symptoms of carbon dioxide toxicity.

For people with diseases of the lungs, especially chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), face masks are intolerable to wear as they worsen breathlessness.[R]

In the case of respiratory pathogens, the negative effects of masks and the respiratory changes they induce could increase susceptibility and transmission of CoVID-19, as well as other respiratory pathogens.

Viral particles move through face masks with relative ease. Studies show that about 44% of viral particles pass through surgical masks, 97% pass through cloth masks, and about 5% through N95 masks. Increasing tidal volume (depth of breaths) results in literally sucking more air, more forcefully through and around the mask. Any SARS CoV-2 particles on, in, or around the mask are more forcefully suctioned into the mouth and lungs as a result of the compensatory increases in tidal volume.

The changes in respiratory rate and depth may also increase the severity of CoVID-19 as the increased tidal volume delivers the viral particles deeper into the lungs.

These changes may worsen the community transmission of CoVID-19 when infected people wearing masks exhale air more heavily contaminated with viral particles from the lungs.

These effects are amplified if face masks are contaminated with the viruses, bacteria, or fungi that find their way or opportunistically grow in the warm, moist environment that medical masks quickly become.

Despite the scientific evidence to the contrary, public health experts claim that medical masks do not cause clinically significant hypoxia (low oxygen) and hypercapnia (high CO2). I would like to ask those experts to explain the growing number of cases in which medical masks worn during exercise have resulted in lung injuries and heart attacks:

Two Chinese boys drop dead during PE lessons while wearing face masks amid concerns over students’ fitness following three months of school closure [R][R]

Jogger’s lung collapses after he ran for 2.5 miles while wearing a face mask [R]

If medical masks were perfectly safe and effective, then why would healthy boys suffer heart attacks or a 26 year old man collapse his lung while wearing masks and running?! In my opinion, these are tragic examples of the risks of wearing medical masks. And we are only getting started.

Continue reading…

From Natural Blaze, here.

Rabbi Horowitz of ‘Let’s Stay Safe’ – How to Speak to Your Children About Intimate Safety

Rabbi Yakov Horowitz Child Safety/Abuse Prevention Video

Apr 16, 2019

Learn how to speak to your children about child safety/abuse prevention in an effective, research-based manner.

Presented as a public service by The Karasick Child Safety Initiative of The Center for Jewish Family Life/Project YES

From YouTube, here.

Jewish Bloggers: ‘First They Ignore You. Then They Laugh at You…’

Agudah Acknowledges Dropping The Ball On Abuse, Claims Near-Perfection

Mishpachah magazine just featured an interview with Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, Executive Vice-President of Agudath Israel of America. I’ve met him, and he’s a very nice, very intelligent person. But his comments are astonishing.

“Look, I don’t write off the bloggers as leitzanim and reshaim, because they will be judged, as we all will, after 120 years for their motivations and techniques. I’m not a condemner, by nature.”

“I do believe that among them there are people who are deeply pained about certain issues and feel that this is the way they can express their pain. I will even go a step further and say that through the pressure they’ve created, communal issues that needed to be confronted were moved to the front burner and taken seriously. A case in point is abuse and molestation issues. The question is, if the fact that they’ve created some degree of change is worth the cost. At the very least, it’s rechilus, lashon hara, and bittul zman. That’s a high price to pay.”

“Then there is the damage wrought to the hierarchy of Klal Yisrael. We’ve always been a talmid chacham-centered nation, and it’s dangerous to ruin the fabric of Klal Yisrael by denigrating the ideal of daas Torah and by allowing personal attacks on gedolei Torah.”

Reb Chaim Dovid believes that the process of decision-making through the Moetzes is as close to perfect as can be. “It’s a homogeneous group of the most intelligent, empathetic individuals — all great talmidei chachamim — and they grasp all aspects of an issue right away.”

Where do I begin?

Let’s start with the positive. R. Zwiebel acknowledges that the charedi world was not taking the issue of abuse and molestation seriously. That’s worthy of credit, even though it’s blindingly obvious. Given that there are other Agudah spokesmen who only weigh in on this topic to claim that there is a baseless witch-hunt in this area, it’s refreshing to see R. Zwiebel admit that the charedi leadership dropped the ball on this issue.

It’s also good to see R. Zwiebel acknowledge that a large part of the credit for the charedi world beginning to take these issues seriously is due to bloggers. That can’t be an easy admission to make; Failed Messiah and UOJ write many things that are distasteful, to say the least. But it is clearly due to them that the charedi world started to address abuse, and so it is good that R. Zwiebel gives credit where credit is due.

On the other hand, given these admissions, R. Zwiebel’s other comments are all the more incomprehensible.

R. Zwiebel admits that the Charedi world did not take these issues seriously – that the abuse of hundreds, probably thousands, of children continued, while molesters were protected and parents were told to shut up. But he wonders if stopping that evil is worth rechilus, lashon hara, and – I’m almost gagging at typing this – bittul zman! By what possible measure might it not be worth it?!

Then we have to think about whether there really are crimes of rechilus, lashon hara, and bittul zman. Sure, there may be some accusations that are false. But, as Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz notes, the majority of discussions about abuse are about cases which are true, and talking about them on the Internet was leto’eles, since it has gotten them dealt with – nothing else worked! So where is the excess of rechilus, lashon hara, and bittul zman?

Then we come to R. Zwiebel’s protest that the blogosphere has denigrated Daas Torah and the honor of the Gedolim. Well, yes, it has. But considering that Agudas Yisrael’s version of Daas Torah is a recent invention, I can’t see that the exposure of its failings is such a terrible thing. And considering that the Gedolim are the leaders, and are thus responsible for dropping the ball on the issue of abuse, surely any loss of respect is their own responsibility. I haven’t seen anyone denigrating and losing respect for rabbis such as Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz, Rabbi Yosef Blau, Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik and Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein. Respect is given when it is justly earned.

Next, we have Mishpachah describing R. Zwiebel as believing that “the process of decision-making through the Moetzes is as close to perfect as can be.” Given that he’s just admitted that, unlike the majority of society, the Gedolim did not know how to deal with the issue of child abuse (i.e. they did not know that YES IT REALLY HAPPENS, YES IT’S REALLY TERRIBLE, NO YOU CAN’T DEAL WITH IT ON YOUR OWN, GO TO THE AUTHORITIES), how on earth does he believe that their decisions are “as close to perfect as can be”?

How the State Killed People via Lockdown

Three Ways Lockdowns Are Costing Human Lives

05/29/2020

The conversation about the lockdowns when the COVID-19 crisis started was centered on saving lives at the cost of the economy. This makes sense, since many of those making decisions were epidemiologists and we cannot expect them to fully understand the lockdowns’ impact on the economy and human lives. The problem is that even many economists argued the same thing and completely ignored the harm that the lockdowns would create.

These economists have fallen prey to what Frédéric Bastiat called the “unseen” consequences of a policy. Frédéric Bastiat argued that an “act, a habit, an institution, a law, gives birth not only to an effect but to a series of effects. Of these effects, the first only is immediate; it manifests itself simultaneously with its cause—it is seen. The others unfold in succession—they are not seen: it is well for us, if they are foreseen.” Applied to lockdowns this means that it is easier to see the deaths caused by COVID-19 than to see the deaths caused by lockdowns. In what follows, I provide three arguments on how the economic lockdowns are costing us human lives and will continue to do so long after they end.

Deaths of Despair

A recent study finds that we could have up to seventy-five thousand more deaths of despair over the next ten years. Deaths of despair refer to suicides and deaths from abuse of alcohol and drugs. The study argues that these deaths will primarily be caused by increased unemployment, fear, and isolation. Unemployment is the main factor and the analysis is based on the projected unemployment rate between 2020 and 2029. The authors estimate that in the best case scenario (lowest unemployment) we will have about twenty-eight thousand more people die deaths of despair and in the worst-case scenario (highest unemployment) we could see up to one hundred fifty-four thousand more people die. A recent study showing that unemployment will remain high for a prolonged period of time means that we can expect the number to be higher than seventy-five thousand.

This is not the only study that argues that unemployment is directly related to deaths of despair. Consider, for instance, a NBER study that found an increase of 3.6 percent in the opioid death rate for each 1 percent increase in unemployment. Based on this, we could see another twenty-nine thousand more deaths because of opioids annually. One may argue that these are only predictions, but sadly the indications we have so far show support for these studies. For instance, a doctor in the Bay Area told a local ABC7 reporter “I mean, we’ve seen a year’s worth of suicide attempts in the last four weeks.” This is not an isolated case. The Washington Examiner has reported recently that “More people died of suicide in a single Tennessee county last week than of the coronavirus across the entire state, according to one local official.” Hence, either directly through isolation or indirectly through unemployment, the lockdowns are costing us many human lives.

Deaths Due to Lack of Preventive Care

In a recent interview for Fox News, Dr. Scott Atlas, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, argued that “the cure is bigger than the disease at this point.” He argued that in the US every month one hundred and fifty thousand people are diagnosed with cancer, but the numbers are now much lower. Unfortunately, this will lead to higher death rates for this group of people. Add to this the people who are not receiving their chemotherapy as they should and we start to see a clearer picture of how the lockdowns are harming the lives of those with cancer. These are only two examples, but if we consider the many more preventive care visits that are not happening it becomes clear that we will see increased deaths because of a lack of preventive care.

This has become such a big concern for doctors that many of them are speaking out against this and hopefully we will see a policy response soon. As a Forbes article reports, at least six hundred doctors around the country are calling for an end to lockdowns, and their reasoning is in line with that of Dr. Scott. As Dr. Marilyn Singleton argued, “Ending the lockdowns are not about Wall Street or disregard for people’s lives; it about saving lives.”

Deaths Because of Hunger and Malnourishment

When the lockdowns started, many argued that it was worth giving up some economic growth in order to save lives. Unfortunately these people miss the point—that economic growth is what saves millions of lives around the globe every single year. We know that as economic conditions get worse many people around the world will struggle to meet their basic nutritional needs, which will lead to more deaths. In the New York Times,  Abdi Latif Dahir argues 265 million people will experience acute hunger in 2020. That will be nearly double the number of the year before. To put this in perspective, let us consider that poverty had been in decline since 1998. One may ask, Isn’t the economic downturn because of the COVID-19 crisis? As Ryan McMaken has noted, in previous similar pandemics we did not have the economic downturn we are experiencing now, so the answer is no. The downturn is due to the economic lockdowns, not the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is more, this is not a problem that only poor countries will face. Even though poor countries will be hit the hardest, we are seeing the consequences here in the US already. Consider, for instance, that “a survey…found 37% of unemployed Americans ran out of food in the past month and 46% said they worried about running out.” Although deaths directly caused by hunger may not be high in the US, we must keep in mind that malnourishment also harms our health and leads to more deaths in the long run.

Conclusion

The careful and concerned reader may argue that although it may be true that lockdowns cost human lives, COVID-19 does as well, so we had to implement the lockdowns. This is a good point, and it is not the purpose of this article to diminish the danger that COVID-19 poses to certain groups of people or downplay the hundreds of thousands of lives that have been lost. The point is that we must still consider the tradeoffs carefully, since both COVID-19 and lockdowns cost human lives. So, the answer is not as simple as it is sometimes presented by officials who are so eager to shut everything down.

If we do not correctly take into account the opportunity cost, in terms of lives that can be lost from lockdowns, then we will most likely continue to make bad decisions in the future. We need to look for alternatives, and instead of locking down the whole economy we should protect those who are the most vulnerable. But, even when we consider this solution we should keep in mind that centralized solutions hardly ever work for such complex issues and large countries like the US.

Author:

Klajdi Bregu

Dr. Klajdi Bregu is an assistant professor of economics at IU South Bend’s Judd Leighton School of Business and Economics and a fellow at the Center for Market Education. Prior to his appointment to the Leighton School faculty, Dr. Bregu taught at the University of Arkansas. He has published research in the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control and the Southern Economic Journal.

From Mises.org, here.

The Anti-Semitism Handbook for Diaspora Jews

The Anti-Semitism Handbook for Diaspora Jews

Nov 1, 2019, The Jewish Press

The continuous rise of anti-Semitic incidents has taken world Jewry by surprise. The nations of the world were supposed to know better and Germany said they’re sorry. Yet try as they do to be loved, Jews continue to be hated more than any other population, regardless of what “type” of Jew they are. Wealthy Jews are hated for having too much money, poor Jews are hated for being dirty Jews. Powerful Jews are hated for controlling the world, weak Jews are hated for being pathetic. Religious Jews are hated for being different, assimilated Jews are hated for being impostors.

Surely this is just a passing phase as it’s always been, and Jews shouldn’t do anything radical, like returning to their motherland en masse. To help Diaspora Jews respond properly to anti-Semitic incidents of various types, the Jewish Union for Diaspora Eternal (JUDE) has prepared a handbook. This handbook is the product of extensive research, countless meetings, and millions of dollars in operating expenses. (Please donate generously so our vital work can continue.)

Each section of the handbook lists various levels of anti-Semitic behavior, followed by the appropriate responses. Thanks to our helpful guide, Diaspora Jewry need no longer be confused when faced with the challenges of anti-Semitism, nor overreact and risk making the situation worse. We’ve had a great run for thousands of years in the Diaspora, and with God’s help this will continue. We at JUDE are confident that the best is yet to come.

Stage 1 Anti-Semitism:

  • Dirty looks, insults, slurs, assorted other verbal abuse
  • Spitting, throwing pennies, assorted other non-physical signs of contempt
  • Accusing Israel of racism, war crimes, etc.

Appropriate Responses:

  • So what?
  • We’re in galus, it’s normal
  • It’s good to be reminded that we’re Jews
  • We have to fight hate with love
  • They don’t really mean it
  • It’s just kids being kids
  • It’s fair to criticize Israel
  • We have to work harder to educate people and reach out to our neighbors

Stage 2 Anti-Semitism:

  • Vandalism of Jewish homes, synagogues, and institutions
  • Swastikas
  • Desecration of cemeteries
  • Jews being knocked down, harassed, lightly assaulted in the street

Appropriate Responses:

  • The police will investigate
  • Increase patrols and install security cameras
  • Probably a prank by kids
  • The person was probably drunk or mentally ill
  • Create programs in schools about tolerance
  • This is an opportunity for the community to come together and show support

Stage 3 Anti-semitism:

  • Holocaust denial
  • Holocaust celebration, we will finish what Hitler started
  • Bias in the media
  • Anti-Semitic cartoons
  • Anti-Semitic statements from public officials
  • Legal discrimination to keep Jews out (zoning laws, etc.)
  • Attempts to ban shechita, circumcision, impose anti-Torah curriculum on yeshivas

Appropriate Responses:

  • Prove that the Holocaust really did happen
  • They don’t really mean what they are saying
  • Arrange educational events and visits to Holocaust museums
  • Write letters, use social media to inform and educate
  • Invite the offenders to meet with us and build bridges
  • It’s not like Germany in 1932, it’s completely different
  • Use our political influence, work with leaders
  • They don’t hate us, they just don’t understand

Stage 4 Anti-Semitism:

  • Attacks on synagogues and Jewish institutions
  • Serious beatings
  • Children being bullied in school, with no serious consequences
  • Fear of being recognizably Jewish
  • Occasional shootings and murders
  • Expectations of attacks on Jewish holidays, fear of assembling

Appropriate Responses:

  • It’s a lone wolf
  • Try to understand the attackers and their motives
  • Increase security
  • Train citizens in self-defense
  • Train citizens on how to survive shootings
  • Urge politicians to speak out
  • Express shock, every single time, and insist we won’t let it happen again
  • It only happens in some areas, isolated incidents, blown out of proportion

Stage 5 Anti-Semitism:

  • Pogroms
  • Legislation targeting the entire Jewish community
  • Confiscation of Jewish property
  • Show trials
  • Mass incarcerations
  • Destruction of synagogues and Jewish institutions

Appropriate Responses:

  • It will blow over
  • We will use our political influence and connections
  • Some Jews have left but we don’t recommend it, stay and strengthen the community
  • Don’t be a fool and abandon your property and your business
  • Don’t fight, keep a low profile

Stage 6 Anti-Semitism:

  • Legislation stripping Jews of basic human rights
  • Destruction of entire communities
  • Mass murders and other atrocities

Appropriate Responses:

  • Hide if you can
  • Flee if you can, use whatever you have left to bribe your way out
  • Return the moment it all stops and rebuild. This is our home.

_____________

P.S.

November 1, 2019, when this was originally published, seems like ancient times.  Back then the Jews in America were moving from Stage 3 to Stage 4.  The days of the daily incidents in Brooklyn and occasional synagogue shootings seem like Gan Eden compared to now.  Today, six months later, we are seeing some of Stage 5 as American society completely unravels.

Entire Jewish communities are in danger, and they feel it.  They scramble to prepare and appease with hopes that large gatherings of angry people without moral boundaries will remain peaceful.  The riots and political reactions are not “something that happens every so often”.  They are a warning.  I don’t know how many more warnings are left.

Yes, life in Israel is not perfect, and yes, it is possible for a Jew in Israel to bleed and die also.  But for God’s sake people — and your own — stop deluding yourselves and come home now.  Don’t be among those we have to mourn for not getting out when they could, for missing all the signs, for fooling themselves that this time will be different, for staying behind because of trivial plans and concerns that will soon no longer matter.  What are you risking your property and very lives for?  For a little more time in a galus we no longer need and is no longer hospitable?

Now is not the time to split hairs and make Talmudic arguments for why you should fight to keep the galus life going just a little longer.  Now is the time to see the big picture, join your people in your land, and seize Jewish destiny.

www.chananyaweissman.com

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