Hours after U.S. government health agencies’ websites began to go dark as part of President Donald Trump’s opening attack on public health in the United States, the Alberta government yesterday quietly published a conspiracy-theory-promoting report on the province’s response to COVID-19 that calls for use of COVID vaccines to be halted and accuses media of being paid off by drug manufacturers.
So if you were wondering if the Canadian province’s United Conservative Party Government has gone full-tilt MAGA and is now operating on the theory that if the evidence doesn’t support what you want to do then you can always invent better evidence, this strongly suggests your worst fears are justified.
Alert readers will recall that in her previous life as a right-wing radio talk show host, Premier Danielle Smith was a tireless advocate of quack COVID cures like Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. So it should come as no surprise that the report pumps the tires of such remedies that were popular in far-right circles, as well as attacking the use of medical masks to suppress infection, and advocating for professional associations to be prevented from disciplining members for advocating quackery.
The government very quietly posted the report, which it admitted has been in its hands since August, without any announcement or accompanying press release.
Presumably the UCP’s intent was for the recommendations – which it had to know will be highly controversial and quickly debunked by reputable medical researchers – to be forgotten amid the brouhaha about the Trump Administration’s first moves south of the Medicine Line, where the attack on public health is just beginning. Controversy about Premier Smith’s divisive advocacy of appeasement in response to President Trump’s economic threats against Canada will also serve to distract Albertans who are not part of the UCP base.
Fortunately, Globe and Mail reporters Alanna Smith and Carrie Tait were doing their jobs on a Friday afternoon, the traditional time for governments to dump news they’d really prefer not to talk about. A spokesperson for Health Minister Adriana LaGrange responded to their questions with a statement that the government is reviewing the report and hasn’t made any decisions about implementing its recommendations … yet.
The two reporters have been on top of this story since last spring when they reported that Red Deer Physician Gary Davidson, chair of the $2-million effort, was the same doctor sharply rebuked by Alberta Health Services for his claims the province-wide health care agency had overblown the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, Dr. Davidson had sought the UCP nomination in the Red Deer-South riding in 2019.
If you are wondering, by the way, if this is why Premier Smith’s government is breaking up AHS, and disbelieve the misleading claims made by the government about how multiple bureaucracies will improve integrated health care, you might just be on the right track.
This task force is separate from former Reform Party leader Preston Manning’s review panel, also struck by the UCP and costing about $2-million, whose farcical recommendations in November 2023 included giving more time to “alternative scientific narratives.”
It turned out that Mr. Manning’s final report was based at least in part on a work of actual fiction he wrote earlier, and certainly wasn’t worth the $253,000 in personal pin money the superannuated Godfather of the Canadian Right was paid for re-writing this drivel. Well, to be fair, it’s not plagiarism if you’re plagiarizing yourself!
Getting back to yesterday’s verbose report and its dubious conclusions, the makeup of the full “task force” is now revealed and includes Jay Bhattacharya, President Trump’s nominee to run the National Institutes of Health and co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, which advocated during the pandemic the discredited notion that all would be well if we just locked up the old folks for their own safety and let the pandemic rip till everyone else had herd immunity.
In addition to Dr. Bhattacharya, other scientists who signed the declaration by clicking a button on a website included Dr. Johnny Fartpants, Professor Notaf Uckingclue, Dr. Person Fakename, Dr. Very Dodgy Doctor, and Mr. Banana Rama. I am not making that up.
Also among the members of the Alberta task force named in yesterday’s report was Dr. John Conly, a University of Calgary professor who denied early in the pandemic that aerosol transmission was a primary route of transmission for the COVID-19 virus and claimed N95 face masks were harmful. For the local angle, we note that the group also included St. Albert lawyer Angela Wood, the UCP’s unsuccessful candidate in the Edmonton-area city in the 2023 provincial election.
The report ends with an interesting disclaimer that states members of the panel “are not united by any political viewpoints or ideologies” and prudently adds that “the statements written in each chapter represent the personal interpretations of Task Force members and do not necessarily represent those of their employers.”
I am hopeful that the next pandemic results in a massive cull of the population, that’s so extensive and complete that the UCP voting base will be totally extinct.
See, good things can come from stupidity.
The hot links at the top both reveal the Washington Post story.
Thanks, Randy. My apologies. A cutting and pasting error, I’m afraid. The link has been fixed and now goes to the report. DJC
So full blown maga, eh? Someone forget about operation warp speed?
This is very, very dangerous ground the UCP are treading on. They are relying on people with no medical expertise, or doctors who have had gotten into trouble for medical malpractice to guide them through Covid-19, or any other pandemic that may arise.
The UCP’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic was such a botch job to begin with, that Alberta often led Canada, on a per capita rate for Covid-19 cases, and even North America. Many people died, and others still have long Covid-19 health issues.
To top it off, the UCP endorses quack treatments for Covid-19, or other ailments, which is not helpful. Before modern medical advancements, many people perished from different health issues.
I’m sure there will be lawsuits against the UCP, when more people needlessly suffer, as there was from Ralph Klein’s harsh and foolish austerity measures to the public healthcare system in Alberta. Knowing how the UCP are, they will have a mechanism put in place to avoid seeing themselves getting sued by people.
And a name the declaration missed from Britain, Dr. Sir Donald Quack
Looks like this government is bound and determined, to run the ship of state hard aground on the Great Barrington Reef. What will the “unalive” and permanent injury rate have to attain, before this political mandate is set aside? Diseases such as polio still do exist in pockets around the world, inpart due to counterfeiting of vaccines and antibiotics.
It’s criminal that Alberta taxpayers had to pay for this garbage.
Marlaina flaunts her ignorance as a badge of honor and not one of the quislings in her government stands up to her.
Originally, I thought Alberta Premier Marlain-a-Lago was just another clueless Chamberlain like appeaser. Now I think of her more as a Coco Chanel, during the Paris occupation.
Now, now. This is completely false. Ms. Chanel may have been a Nazi sympathizer and a traitor, but she absolutely did NOT go around looking like an unmade bed.
Marlain-a Lago might be even better than Stormy Danielle. Well done!
This article is a huge dis-service to Albertans and all Canadians. Contempt for the author and this publisher.
Tommy Prince: The UCP have contempt for Albertans and Canadians.
In what exactly is telling the truth a “disservice”?
If you can identify errors of fact or reasoning, please do so. But you can not, as you are either a bot, or an even-more brainless operative.
If I recall correctly, our host has noted in the past that he occasionally allows posts like that of “Tommy Prince” above to slide into his comments section as an illustration of the kind of drivel he usually moderates out.
Correct. I usually either eliminate or edit, offensive comments, in addition to those I deem to be defamatory of third parties (even if I agree with the commenter), irrelevant, or motivated by an unrelated commercial purpose. I also feel, though, that if I can dish it out, I ought to be able to take it. But sometimes, as in the present case, the idiocy needs to be seen. All comments on this blog are moderated, by me. No exceptions. DJC
We are doomed. If H5N1 (bird flu) spreads, Albertans will be in great danger. It is amazing that the fools in the UCP government face few consequences for this kind of policy making. Remember, the first order of business for any government is protecting its citizens/residents from external and internal threats. By this measure the UCP have failed, miserably.
Keith: I don’t know if we’re doomed, but we’re definitely in deep doo-doo thanks to these clowns. The UCP has not just failed, but they want to fail more. The headline on the Paul Krugman piece to which I linked was “Donald Trump Wants You to Die.” Unfortunately, Danielle Smith Wants Us to Die too. DJC
When I was young, in the previous century, a friend advised me the first order of government is to stay in power. Every thing else was secondary.
BWAHAHAHA Every time you think these TBA lunatics have hit rock bottom, they go lower. Alberta voters get what they deserve.
Your link to the report doesn’t work…
Thanks, Sheldon. My apologies. It’s been fixed. DJC
I have to worry that my family and friends may die prematurely because of wacky anti-science and US-style health uncare. More worrying, they may die and be interred in the US against their choice once Alberta separates. Fortunately, fighting against the UCP keeps me going as I convert my MAGA neighbours one by one to come to the light side! Remember, it’s only 11 months until Christmas……staying positive baby!
Yet more evidence of Dani’s Law: malice AND stupidity.
Your link to the report is incorrect. It link to the Washington Post which is the next link that you published
Bill: Thank you for the heads up. The link has now been corrected and goes to the right place. DJC
What a revelation that face masks don’t work! Does this mean I can save the hundreds of dollars I spend on air filters for various tractors, trucks and other farm equipment? Following UCP logic, if N95 face masks don’t work, why should engine air filters, which are structured the same way and use the same basic laws of physics?
With all due respect to the UCP doctors and their colleagues, I will continue to mask up to go grocery shopping, and when working in grain dust. And I will keep replacing those air filters on my car and farm equipment.
A filter to stop dust and debris from fouling your engine is different than a filter with pore sizes too large to stop the very tiny virus particles from getting through. Face masks do great at stopping dust and debris, but not very good at stopping microscopic viruses.
Bob: actually, the smaller the particle, the more effective the filter/mask. Here is a little video explanation:
More crap from a woke reporter-get a life.
David Bishop: This is a blog, so there is a difference there. Many people who suffered from Covid-19 can’t get a life, because they perished. Long Covid-19 symptoms has affected many others. The UCP doesn’t care who gets harmed by their foolish policies, which is not okay.
Geez Dave he ain’t really a reporter, he’s a blogger. Do you know what a blog is Dave? Dictionary.ca defines blog as “a regularly updated website, typically one run by an individual or group that is written in an informal or conversational style.” In other words he’s expressing an opinion. Get it?
David the commentators of this blog hold them to a higher standard than this posh. It’s fine to disagree but if you’re not adding anything to the discussion, you come across very much like a toddler who is upset with the status of his diaper, yet unwilling to do anything about it.
Which is to say name calling is for children; politics is for adults, grow up.
Sort of makes you want to go back to ex-premier’s castigations on COVid that mostly only 83+ year olds died and that was OK since the average age of death is 82!!!!
Meanwhile, back in the real world, Mexico has not allowed a flight full of Donnie the Sociopath’s ‘illegal aliens’ to land in Mexico – back to the homeland I presume!!
Also, the oil people on both sides of our southern border are coming out swinging on the Orange Caligula’s claim that dilbit from Alberta’s tar sands is not needed. Since it seems not possible to educate the current president of the Excited States about much of anything, that espousal of the truth for the need of heavy oils would probably land on the deaf ears attached to his spuriously quaffed bald skull.
What you call quackery in Alberta citing Danielle Smith radio show guests who advocate viral treatments is actually accepted medical treatments in other countries. An example is South Africa and use of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. South Africa Medicine practices are valid and accepted as I found out when treated for tick bite fever in April 2023. Not viral in my case it was bacterial.
Ivermectin may have uses besides as a dewormer for the horses I had for twenty years and I have no doubt that it’s useful in treating some other diseases, but after looking numerous times, I haven’t found any articles indicating that it’s useful in the case of covid. That last by the way, is the opinion of the Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/expert-answers/coronavirus-drugs/faq-20485627. That is also their opinion on the use of hydroxychloroquine. Maybe it’s time to let the MAJORITY of doctors and researchers ‘do the doctoring’, while we armchair warriors sit back in our chairs and let them do what they do best.
Gloria: Horse medicine isn’t an effective treatment for Covid-19.
Both are valuable drugs when used for the correct diseases. Ivermectin is a life-saver for various parasite infections and is extensively used in Africa for this. That does not make it a valid treatment for Cavid-19.
We do not usually treat lung cancer with penicillin.
Trying to think of a difference between tick bites and a novel respiratory virus that exploded across the globe and killed like three million workers.
Let me propose another hypothetical, you’re in South Africa and are hospitalized with a bite from a pest, do you a) submit to the treatment prescribed by the doctor or b) get him to hold off while you check your Facebook to see if any of your friends have posted about the efficacy of tick bite treatments first.
Think it’s pretty obvious isn’t it?
Mr. Covid the party crasher seems to have been the inspiration for a federal politician’s image makeover.
But anyways, perhaps we can look forward to Dani’s border-and-highway-patrol-but-not-weigh-scale-convoy-encampment sheriffs visiting hospitals in an attempt to intimidate doctors, who are bound by their professional code of conduct. That should make the exodus of doctors from this province complete. We’ll all be going to vet clinics for medical care before long, but that won’t be easy. The last two that I visited for pet care were taken over by Big Vet and shut down. The cost of pet medicine tripled in two years and continues to rise. Pet medical insurance rises with age and can cost hundreds per month. We’re living in the wild, wild west now, folks. Good luck!
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/hospitals-refused-prescribe-ivermectin-threats-lockdowns-followed-rcna7330
https://www.propublica.org/article/montana-covid-response-pushed-hospital-to-brink
You can’t be real hahahahah. You must have had all 37 Wuhan shots
Andrew: It doesn’t take long for the fools to come in. The UCP are playing games with people’s lives, and that isn’t a joke.
As a completely unbiased advocate for old school vaccines and as a former unbiased university cellular biochemist and biotechnologist well versed in the history of ivermectin as an antiviral emergency oral medicine published in respected antiviral clinical research as far back as 2012 and why it was used for a US President’s treatment in 2020 for covid 19 (quite successfully in fact), I find your incorrect use of the word “quack” medication for ivermectin extremely ignorant and misinformed. It might shock you to learn that the N.I.H. in the U.S.A. has added ivermectin under prescription as an approved covid 19 medication thus stepping back on their extremely disingenuous prognostication early on to “follow the science” denying ivermectin as effective for covid 19. Those in the know in immunology and studying ivermectin as a known backup emergency oral anti viral from published trials and work from 2012, were indeed shocked to see it politicized in the face of a claimed viral pandemic where one would expect every bullet in the arsenal be brought to bear. That plus the multiple prestigious medical experts’ multiple claims of ivermectin savings lives during covid 19 now heard in sworn IS congressional testimonies and in supported published data. At least now you know so you can apologize and stop misinforming the public on what we now more widely know as a fact beyond the clinical insiders, that ivermectin is not a ‘quack medicine’ for human use for covid 19 symptom relief.
Richard Knowles, M.Sc: Ivermectin is horse medicine. It will not deal with Covid-19. Medical experts wouldn’t be giving horse medication to treat a very serious virus, and the problems it causes. The UCP have no medical expertise, and should not be playing games with people’s lives.
You made a lot of claims in your comment, so I have to ask, as per my previous comment, are you coming out in disagreement with the Mayo Clinic on the use of Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine?
Debrah: Where is the credible evidence that ivermectin is an antiviral agent? Show the evidence.
Look 0ut! He has an MSc.
I’m sure you’ll have no difficulty in producing the evidence that Ivermectin is an antiviral agent. So, stand and deliver.
Can anyone tell me the difference between PREVENTION of an infection and TREATMENT of an infection ?
Vaccines and public health measures are not treatment. Quit moving the goalposts it’s been FIVE YEARS. How’s ivermectin work on long covid ?
I’m so tired of y’all flogging your preferred hobby horses like y’all knew everything we now know with the benefit of hindsight.
You can’t pretend after all this time that this one issue was the solitary grievance of the covid denier community. People were literally saying that wearing a mask will make you sick, actually. People are STILL saying folks didn’t die of covid they died of something else and it just got recorded as covid. You can’t cherry pick a solitary issue and then claim that actually all of these people are reasonable individuals and well reasoned intellectuals, everyone saw them acting like a bunch of rabid jackals.
Kindly, shut up, it’s been five goddamn years.
You “As a completely unbiased advocate for old school vaccines and as a former unbiased university cellular biochemist and biotechnologist well versed in the history of ivermectin as an antiviral emergency oral medicine . . . ”
make the following statement: “It might shock you to learn that the N.I.H. in the U.S.A. has added ivermectin under prescription as an approved covid 19 medication thus stepping back on their extremely disingenuous prognostication early on to “follow the science” denying ivermectin as effective for covid 19.”
Where is your supporting evidence? Evidence that apparently contradicts your assertion(s) is(are) easily found, for example:
1. “When comparing the efficacy data in this study with that for Paxlovid (or even molnupiravir), the difference is stark. Paxlovid and molnupiravir, both direct-acting antiviral drugs, clearly show clinical utility against COVID by well-established mechanisms that have proven successful in inhibiting other viruses like hepatitis C, herpes, and HIV/AIDS. It is difficult to see how tweaking the dose, length of treatment, or adding additional components would make enough of a difference to give ivermectin a place on pharmacy shelves next to current therapies.” https://www.acsh.org/news/2022/04/13/clinical-trial-should-probably-wont-close-book-ivermectin-16244
2. “Misleading. Ivermectin is not FDA-approved to treat COVID but the agency does not prohibit physicians from prescribing the drug off-label.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/fact-check/ivermectin-still-not-fda-approved-to-treat-covid-idUSL1N3AB1PS/
3. “More generally, endorsement of misinformation related to COVID-19 has been shown to decrease the intention to vaccinate against COVID-19, to decrease the belief that it is required for herd immunity, and to correlate with forgoing various COVID-19 prevention behaviors.7,21 Such false information is largely spread online and often, though not always, originates as disinformation intentionally spread by political actors and media sources,22 as well as illicit actors who profit from
touting supposed cures for COVID-19, such as ivermectin.”–“Misinformation, Trust, and Use of Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19”
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2809985
4. “it was used for a US President’s treatment in 2020 for covid 19” Appears to be FALSE
“Update: Here’s what is known about Trump’s COVID-19 treatment
President was given an antibody cocktail, still being evaluated in clinical trials, that targets a surface protein of the new coronavirus”
https://www.science.org/content/article/heres-what-known-about-president-donald-trump-s-covid-19-treatment
5. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/oct/25/instagram-posts/no-national-institutes-health-hasnt-approved-iverm/
https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-did-nih-add-ivermectin-list-covid-treatments-1739661
https://www.factcheck.org/2022/02/scicheck-facebook-post-misleads-on-nihs-position-on-ivermectin/
“A statement from the CDC in August said, “Clinical trials and observational studies to evaluate the use of ivermectin to prevent and treat COVID-19 in humans have yielded insufficient evidence for the NIH COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel to recommend its use.”
“In its treatment guidelines, the NIH says, “There is insufficient evidence for the COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel (the Panel) to recommend either for or against the use of ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19. Results from adequately powered, well-designed, and well-conducted clinical trials are needed to provide more specific, evidence-based guidance on the role of ivermectin in the treatment of COVID-19.”
I suspect you meant that you were “shocked” to see the controversy over Ivermectin was made overly-partisan, not “politicized,” as you put it.
Corrected, I agree with your statement: Ivermectin was definitely made into a partisan football and, typical of the anti-vax party to the controversy, Ivermectin was proffered primarily as a counter to the proper epidemiological vaccination measures and other protocols recommended by public health officials around the world. And it did it for purely partisan reasons, not medical, epidemiological, or political reasons.
In the circumstance, the partisan position —angrily ginned by an incompetent head of state—had very negative outcomes for Americans: Ivermectin’s friends-of-convenience readily adopted Trump’s misleading narrative, but not to acquire and substitute Ivermectin for recommended Covid vaccines; instead they did it to rationalize the false claim that the pandemic was a hoax allegedly perpetrated by their partisan rivals, and to refuse any protocol to protect themselves and others from infection (like masks, safe-distancing, vaccination, &c), to signal their unquestioned Trump-loyalty to each other, and to either unwittingly spread the disease to others (including loved ones) or intentionally ignore protocols in the misguided belief that a thing called “herd immunity” they heard about on FoxNews would somehow stop the daily toll of thousands of Americans. The vast majority of these dupes did not petition authorities for Ivermectin (or, for that matter Clorox which Trump dangerously recommended along with Ivermectin): they simply fell into their MAGA rank and file and blindly hailed their leader as the famous Nicolas Chauvin did his, Napoleon Bonaparte. Ivermectin was a stalking horse, not the cure-all or smoking-gun of preposterous conspiracy theories.
Trump’s only policy was to keep the pandemic from spoiling his re-election chances; he could not have, therefore, “politicized” Covid policy because, with respect viral realities important for public health—infection, contagiousness, and fatal prognoses for a large, diverse cross-section of society—he had virtually no policy at all. Put another way, the policy he did ‘politicize’ (that is, do whatever he thought necessary in order to realize his only “policy” to win re-election six months after Covid hit) was neither epidemiologically, politically nor, as it turned out, psephologically successful (he greatly impeded proper epidemiology, then bungled a too-late response when the pandemic became irrefutable, and ultimately lost his 2020 re-election bid— even after fomenting a violent insurrection in a shocking, last-ditch attempt to nullify the election result that his rival, Joe Biden, had defeated him).
The same controversy would have been guaranteed had Trump mentioned any number other drugs that might be salutary in certain individual cases of Covid or other respiratory diseases —that is, excluding Clorox and other household cleaning products (their manufacturers advising the public not to use their products the way Trump cynically recommended immediately after he did ).
Hundreds of thousands of US citizens died of Covid partly because they believed Trump when he said it was a hoax and eschewed protective protocols (indeed, MAGA partisans were encouraged to demonize, intimidate, and in some cases attack citizens who wore a face-mask, used hand sanitizer, safe-distanced from others, &c). The Covid-death rate was significantly greater in Trump-supporting “Red States” than in Democrat “Blue States” where the majority rejected Trump’s Covid-hoax lie. Over 1,200,000 people died of Covid in the USA. With 1/8th the population Canada would have had 150,000 fatalities if at the same rate as the USA, but with over 85% of the population complying with Covid protocols, Canada had about 60,000 Covid deaths. Or, in other words, less than half the Covid kill-rate as the USA under Trump.
No data correlates Ivermectin with either of these tragic but contrasting outcomes. No reputable medical authority ever suggested that Ivermectin would have made a significant difference in the general Covid outcome.
It’s a lesson about the differences between partisanship and politicization, and between medical treatment of individual patients —which is naturally idiosyncratic—and implementing urgent public policy during a sudden and deadly pandemic —the politics of getting it done which has to cover everyone without favour.
Trump (and his chauvinists) successfully confused individual rights with collective responsibility (indeed he stated unequivocally that he himself accepted absolutely zero responsibility for his role in unnecessary Covid deaths in the USA), he confused treatment of individuals (where, in some cases Ivermectin might be included as part of the treatment, the great variety of approaches not necessarily applicable to every individual patient) with the mass-implementation of the only policy an epidemic ever warrants, and he put his personal advantage ahead of public health and safety. Whatever salutary qualities Ivermectin might have in worming horses or easing symptoms some patients with Covid might display, Trump forever injected it with a defamatory quality it probably doesn’t deserve with respect its proper prescription.
The MAGA beach head! What a lovely picture!
Am I on Candid Camera?
Alberta continues to the dark ages. Yes!
Good thing we saved that asshole davidson
Actually, it is plagiarism if you plagiarize yourself. It’s something we’re asked to look out for when reviewing manuscripts for academic journals.
Oh gosh, Lars, I’m doomed then! DJC
Lars is right in the academic world, but I think standards are different in other disciplines. Nobody ever got after Haydn for plagiarizing himself, which he was wont to do. Lots of other examples in music too (like Jazz musicians quoting from other tunes in their solos). On the other hand there have been lawsuits about other things in music (Ghostbusters vs. Huey Lewis, and an apparently successful one vs. the band that recorded “The man from the land down under” for quoting “Kookaburra sits in an old gum tree” on flute (which they thought was traditional and in the public domain. Copyright and plagiarism are tricky.
On the other had, George Bernard Shaw is reputed (perhaps falsely) to have said “I quote myself frequently – it adds spice to my conversation” or something along those lines.
The web wins again. Anyone can post support of quackery under a fake name. Fake Names: Professor Jay Bhattacharya, of Stanford University, one of the authors of the letter, told Sky News they “do not have the resources to audit each signature”.
So “the statements written in each chapter represent the personal interpretations of Task Force members and do not necessarily represent those of their employers”, do they?
I should think not! Their employers don’t want to get sued for this drivel.
I realize COVID was a great disruption and apparently has left psychological scars for many, including the surprisingly delicate right wing and MAGA crowds. However, at this point it seems the UCP is like the shell shocked general continuing to fight the last war.
COVID restrictions have long since ended, no one needs to get vaccine except those concerned about their health and the well being of others in their households. So surely it is time for Smith and the UCP let go of this before more Albertans start to notice this ongoing obsession of theirs and concluding they are weird.
Are you fucking retarded? What a pathetic article.
NOTE TO READERS: From time to time I think it is useful to publish some of the useful contributions I receive on this blog from members of Alberta’s MAGA right. Probably a UCP press secretary or something. DJC
It was useful. Thank you. My chosen circle of friends (excluding one radical antivaxer and conspiracy theorist relative -we don’t chose our relatives, do we?) do not adhere to these ridiculous MAGA beliefs, so I don’t often have to confront them personally. I do encounter them in keeping up on the news of events at home and abroad, but thank you for reminding me that the threat is not as distant as government policy. It’s right there, in your face, literally, on your blog, right next door. Unsettling, but useful, reminder.
They are not sending their best today.
I suspect you are made of stern enough stuff that you are more than able to deal with s&$t posters’ bile .
Still, you have my sympathies and my support.
C’est douloureux de se soumettre à la stupidité ; C’est encore plus stupide de les élire.
Vive L’Intelligence.
PJP: If one is going to dish it out, one should be prepared to take it. DJC
I would suspect it is one person with a fixation for memes: ‘Prince’, ‘Bishop’, ‘Go(u)ld’… and not much else to contribute aside from the side-swipes.
Thanks for publishing the truly disgusting nature of these UCP trolls. I suppose blind rage is all he’s got, after pissing his life away.
DJC— I believe Thomas said it best…..
” If you see pickup trucks driving around Alberta aimlessly, looking a bit lost, be kind to the driver *.
He just learned that his only active neuron was firing blanks.”
( * Well s#!t….what am I going to base my entire personality on now, )
There are some topics that are bound to bring out all the nutters. For many years, gun control has been one. Now that has been joined by COVID-19. I’m sorry you have to put up with this claptrap.
Mike Gould: What a mouth! The UCP has no credibility, that’s for sure. People who were duped, support these phony Conservatives and Reformers, who don’t care about the well being of the people.
Mike: If bots could reproduce your kids would be ashamed.
A pathetic, posts a pathetic response? Pathetic!
Spoken like a true intellectual, look at all those people lining up behind you. What a brave leader of men, so articulate and inspiring.
Is this David Parker ?
Bird: Naw, say what you will about Parker, he has the balls to say the silly stuff he says over his own name. DJC
A little joke at Mr Parker’s expense. Say what you will but it would appear this genius also used his Christian name.
Well I’m shocked — shocked! — to find that the UCP is at odds with science and common sense.
Not sure how to post it, but Tom Green video “I’m a Canadian” is pretty cool.
Meat puppets? We are the problem!
Richard, who holds an MSc, exemplifies the flawed methodology of this report. He begins by emphasizing his credentials and biochemistry background, which initially lends him credibility. However, this highlights the Dunning-Kruger effect at play.
Richard implies the US president was treated with invermectin. This raises the question: would leading scientists and doctors disregard the latest medical information when his life was at stake? Richard seemingly accepted the invermectin claim without investigation, likely influenced by an echo chamber. It’s more probable that monoclonal antibodies were the effective treatment.
Richard’s preference for “old-style vaccines” and avoidance of mRNA vaccine discussion is also telling. This suggests either his age or a lapse in his understanding of biochemistry, given mRNA technology’s use since the 1970s.
He misses the core argument regarding invermectin. It’s not presented as a first-line treatment, or even a preferred option, but as a potential alternative. Established drugs often find new applications (e.g., hydroxychloroquine’s use for both malaria and lupus). Discovering alternative uses doesn’t automatically elevate a drug to first-line status.
Richard and the report’s authors appear to have an agenda, selectively presenting information and manipulating statistics to support it. Using a 2012 study without comparison to newer research is a clear example. This underscores the need for critical thinking and avoiding reliance on social media for information.
Richard, with his Dunning-Kruger tendencies and MSc, needs to broaden his perspective beyond his echo chamber. It’s even possible his credentials are fraudulent.
Mike, calm down. Those of us who believe in science are not intellectually impaired. Crazy for some of us, depressed, etc.
Canada did much better than the U.S.A. during the COVID crisis, according to some of the American science community, from what I’ve read. Now here in B.C. there were strict game rules.
The current problem in B.C. is bird flu. Yes, the chickens get it and then the farmers kill their entire flock to prevent other animals and humans acquiring the disease. One teenager contacted it and was in Children’s Hospital in Vancouver for approx. a month. AT times the press reported it was a touch and go situation for the teenager. With out modern medicine things such as bird flu can kill. So if it spreads to Alberta, lets hope people don’t flow the lead of those who wrote the paper regarding COVID, etc. Alberta could have a lot fewer people and the real estate business would bottom out. Of course the funeral business would be doing very well. WE live longer in this country because we do follow modern medince practises. In countries where current health care practises are not available, people die at a much younger age.
Thank you David for printing the two comments. Its a reminder