Stephan: I have lost count of the number of people who have written me urging me to do articles promoting the use of ivermectin as a "cure" for Covid-19. I have explored this by reading everything I can find in the databases and talking with researchers deep into this pandemic. I can find nothing that supports the assertion that ivermectin is an effective remedy against Covid. Rather I have come to see it as a particularly effective example of disinformation propagation. That is also one of my main takeaways from the Trump era and the pandemic. American culture is now defined largely not by facts, but by disinformation. People who think of themselves as thoughtful well-read individuals in fact spew out the most egregious nonsense.
Here is Politifact's take on ivermectin. Personally, I wouldn't take it.
A COVID-19 vaccination is administered at a 24-hour, walk-up clinic hosted by the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium at Temple University inPhiladelphia. Credit: AP
The study was done by researchers affiliated with a group that is campaigning for ivermectin to be approved for COVID-19 use, and they did not declare that affiliation in their study. Experts said ivermectin trials on which the review is based were not high quality.
The FDA warns against taking ivermectin to prevent or treat COVID-19.
Is the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin a “cure” for COVID-19?
We’ve rated False claims such as “mountains of data” show ivermectin “basically obliterates” COVID-19 transmission. Some limited studies suggested that ivermectin can help treat COVID-19; others show no significant impact. Many of the studies had small sample sizes and other limitations.
At the same time, ivermectin has not been universally dismissed as a potential treatment.
A new study has reignited the debate, making claims about fewer coronavirus deaths even though public health authorities say more research is needed.
“New study links ivermectin to ‘large reductions’ in COVID-19 deaths,” reads one headline on the Epoch Times.
Stephan: It is very clear to anyone who bothers to look at the data that the American power grid, and in fact the entire U.S.infrastructure, is woefully unprepared to deal with climate change. This is particularly true in states governed by Republicans, and it doesn't take much imagination to conceive of the misery and death these states will be condemned to because of their lack of preparation. This is why the full Biden proposals for rebuilding infrastructure should be passed and implemented as soon as possible.
But it’s far from the first time extreme weather has caused serious problems with the power grid in recent months. During the winter storm that hit Texas in February, nearly 5 millionpeople lost power. In June, California suggested that residents charge their electric vehicles during off-peak hours to save energy. And for the first time ever, after power outages hit several neighborhoods during this week’s heat wave, New York City officials sent residents an emergency mobile alert urging them to conserve energy.
It’s abundantly clear that the power grid in the United States is not ready for the effects of climate change, including the extreme weather events that come with it. After all, climate change isn’t just increasing the demand for energy to keep people cool or warm amid heat waves and winter storms. It’s also damaging the grid […]
Stephan: Preparing for climate change, as this article describes, gets down to tiny little details. How efficient is a home's insulation? What kind of heating system is permitted by the building code? What kind of windows are used? Little details that must be thought out; it all requires a level of attention to detail at the local planning and licensing level. But will it happen? Perhaps in states governed by Democrats, but in those states governed by Republicans? Probably not. What we are going to see is that the Great Schism Trend is going to significantly impact America's response to climate change.
A tattered U.S. flag waves in the wind as construction workers build new homes in an area of Breezy Point in Queens, New York.
Buildings are huge generators of planet-warming gases, with fossil fuels responsible for everything from heating and cooling to cooking and charging our devices. Experts say a massive overhaul of building efficiency is imperative within the next decade to prevent catastrophic warming.
Building codes are updated every three years, and making those more aggressive is the most obvious way to make such an overhaul happen ― requiring things like energy-saving windows and chargers for electric vehicles, and eliminating natural gas-powered appliances. But as the private consortium that writes the codes that all 50 states adopt is preparing for the next round, it has given industries opposed to climate progress even more power over the process.
Last week, the International Code Council, a nonprofit made up of industry groups and local governments, named 93 people to its committees writing the 2024 codes for commercial and residential […]
Philip Bump, National Correspondent - The Washington Post
Stephan: The Covid pandemic is far from over, particularly in Red value states where the vaccination rate is very low and a large percentage of the population simply will not get vaccinated. It is basically becoming a pandemic defined by one's political affiliation. You just can't fix stupid and, as a result, many MAGAts are going to die.
Two elected officials have weighed in over the past several days on the effort to vaccinate as many Americans as possible.
The first was President Biden. During a July 4 speech at the White House, he again encouraged the country to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, referring to covid-19, the disease it causes.
“Covid-19 has not been vanquished,” he said. “We all know powerful variants have emerged, like the delta variant, but the best defense against these variants is to get vaccinated. My fellow Americans, it’s the most patriotic thing you can do. So, please, if you haven’t gotten vaccinated, do it — do it now for yourself, for your loved ones, for your community and for your country.”
The second official to offer thoughts was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who weighed in on Twitter.
“No one cares about the Delta Variant or any other variant,” she wrote. “They are over covid & there is no amount of fear based screaming from the media that will ever force Americans to shut down again.”
Em Steck and Andrew Kaczynski and Drew Myers, - CNN
Stephan: Republican Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin is today's winner of the Republican Scum Award. I'll just let him speak for himself, and ask the people of Wisconsin, how could you elect someone like this to the Senate?
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee hearing on the Colonial Pipeline cyber attack, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., June 8, 2021. Credit: Graeme Jennings/Pool/Reuters
Sen. Ron Johnson insisted again last week that he is not a climate change denier, but CNN’s KFile found video of him from just weeks earlier telling a Republican group that it is “bullsh*t.””I don’t know about you guys, but I think climate change is — as Lord Monckton said — bullsh*t,” the Wisconsin Republican said, without uttering the expletive but mouthing it, and referring to British conservative climate change denier Lord Christopher Monckton. “By the way, it is.”Johnson, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, continued that “there are more and more scientists” writing books “just laying this to waste” and questioned why the US was focused on the climate crisis at all.”What are we doing here? Well, we’re killing ourselves,” said Johnson, adding, “it’s a self-inflicted wound.”
