^TagCOVID-19

Cherry trees in full bloom at the University of Washington campus

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Smith and Jeffrey Funk
Date
January 30, 2023

Categorized
Education

Tagged
academia, Charles Goodhart, Corporate Lab, COVID-19, Nature, research, RNA, Scientific research}

Goodhart’s Law and Scientific Innovation in Academia

_{Many university researchers are leaving academia so they can actually get things done} _{Gary Smith and Jeffrey Funk

January 30, 2023

6

Education}

British economist Charles Goodhart was a financial advisor to the Bank of England from 1968 to 1985, a period during which many economists (“monetarists”) believed that central banks should ignore unemployment and interest rates. Instead, they believed that central banks should focus on maintaining a steady rate of growth of the money supply. The core idea was that central banks could ignore economic booms and busts because they are short-lived and self-correcting (Ha! Ha!) and should, instead, keep some measure of the money supply growing at a constant rate in order to keep the rate of inflation low and constant. The choice of which money supply to target was based on how closely it was statistically correlated with GDP. The Read More ›

A man on the background of a gloomy city

^{Type
post

Author
Peter Biles
Date
December 29, 2022

Categorized
Technocracy

Tagged
Christian, Control, COVID-19, CS Lewis, Eastern Orthodox, First Things, government, Icon, Paul Kingsnorth, Scientism, Technology, totalitarianism}

Science, Safety, & Slavery to the State

_{Revisiting a 2022 conversation between Paul Kingsnorth and Jonathan Pageau} _{Peter Biles

December 29, 2022

4

Technocracy}

Paul Kingsnorth is a writer and novelist living in Ireland who operates a Substack account called the Abbey of Misrule. For years his work has focused on the many forms of civilizational control that human beings seek to exert over their fellow man and how such power, whether it be technological, governmental, or corporate, diminishes our humanity and freedom. He is also a newly converted Christian, and he wrote his conversion story for First Things last summer, which you can find here. In April, Kingsnorth joined Jonathan Pageau on his YouTube channel. Pageau is an Eastern Orthodox iconographer from Canada. In their discussion, Kingsnorth uses the word “Machine” to describe the massive technological control that’s now not so subtly creeping up on many western countries. From Read More ›

Hand holding smart phone with abstract glowing squares

^{Type
post

Author
Peter Biles
Date
December 1, 2022

Categorized
Technocracy

Tagged
1984, Cell phone, COVID-19, Data Mining, Debra Saunders, government-policy, Technocracy}

The Government Can Bug Your Phone

_{Discovery Institute Fellow Debra Saunders raises the alarm of present-day technocratic measures} _{Peter Biles

December 1, 2022

2

Technocracy}

Debra J. Saunders, a fellow at Discovery Institute’s Chapman Center for Citizen Leadership, wrote an article for The Daily Caller this week on the mounting problem of privacy regarding cell phone usage. Saunders expresses concern about the ease in which government and Big Tech companies can mine data and track people through their cell phones. Saunders thinks the COVID pandemic sped up the process of privacy violations. She recalls a 2021 incident in which the state of Massachusetts purportedly worked with Google to download a COVID tracker app without users’ notice or consent. Now, the state is facing a lawsuit. Saunders reports, The New Civil Liberties Alliance filed a class-action lawsuit this month against the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to end Read More ›

Scared young girl in mask, coronavirus panic

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
November 21, 2022

Categorized
Media, Medicine and Health, Politics

Tagged
Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct, COVID-19, COVID-19 fear effect, Featured, Foxconn workers and Zero Covid, Hon Hai Technology Group, iPhone and Foxconn walkout, Jin Dongyan, Nectar Gan, Selina Cheng, Wenxin Fan, Zero COVID policies, Zhengzhou}

China’s Foxconn Walkout: How Fear Messaging Can Backfire

_{Workers were caught in a conflict between unrealistic COVID Zero messaging from the government and seasonal performance demands from the employer} _{Heather Zeiger

November 21, 2022

8

Media, Medicine and Health, Politics}

Around this time of year, the factories that produce Apple’s iPhones hire thousands of additional workers to meet the demand for the holiday season. While Apple is an American company and the electronics are designed in-house, the manufacturing is done overseas where labor costs are cheaper. One of the largest manufacturers for Apple’s iPhone products is Hon Hai Technology Group, better known as Foxconn, a Taiwan-based company with factories in several countries, including mainland China. One of its largest facilities is in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province — dubbed “iPhone City” by the locals. Thus the Zhengzhou Foxconn factory was slated to make 80% of the iPhone 14 models and 85% of the iPhone Pro models before the end Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
January 28, 2022

Categorized
Global Technology, Sports

Tagged
2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Beijing, China, Citizen Lab, COVID-19, MY2022 App, Peng Shuai, Uyghurs, Xi Jinping}

2022 Winter Olympics: Security Vulnerabilities in the MY2022 App

_{All Olympics attendees are required to download the MY2022 app to track their health and other personal data, despite security concerns} _{Heather Zeiger

January 28, 2022

7

Global Technology, Sports}

This February should be a time of celebration in China. The opening ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games is the day after the beginning of Lunar New Year. The Olympic Games commence two days later on February 4th. However, the Chinese government has put a damper on celebrations by continuing to pursue its “zero-Covid” strategy even though every other country has eased restrictions and begun transitioning from a “pandemic” to “endemic” mentality. People in Beijing along with surrounding regions have become exasperated over the daily testing protocols and harsh measures that are in place to ensure the Chinese Communist Party can save face over its prior claims of having defeated the virus. Among many of the issues plaguing the Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
January 20, 2022

Categorized
Global Technology

Tagged
2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Beijing, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), COVID-19, Omicron}

Xi’an Lockdown: Beijing Continues to Pursue “Zero-Covid”

_{With the Winter Olympics quickly approaching, China faces great internal stress for its strict COVID response} _{Heather Zeiger

January 20, 2022

8

Global Technology}

First, I hoped to escape lockdownLater, I hoped to get out to buy foodNow, I only hope I’m not hauled off a poem widely shared on Weibo about Xi’an; translated and reported by China Digital Times Rather than shifting gears, as much of the world has, Beijing continues to chase its zero-covid agenda. But the Chinese government’s heavy-handed measures to control the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and its messaging to the public to justify those measures, may have backfired. China is beholden to its “zero-Covid” strategy as the February 2nd opening ceremonies for the Beijing Winter Olympics nears and the Omicron variant spreads across the world. The Chinese Communist Party constructed a narrative early in the pandemic claiming that China Read More ›

Vaccine or flu shot in injection needle. Doctor working with patient's arm. Physician or nurse giving vaccination and immunity to virus, influenza or HPV with syringe. Appointment with medical expert.

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
September 20, 2021

Categorized
Mathematics, Medicine and Health

Tagged
Bayes' Rule, COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccines, inverse probabilities, Simpson's Paradox, Thomas Bayes}

COVID-19, Bayes’ Rule, and Simpson’s paradox

_{Israeli data, when studied carefully, confirm the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines} _{Gary Smith

September 20, 2021

6

Mathematics, Medicine and Health}

Israel has a very high COVID-19 vaccination rate and yet, on August 15, 2021, 58% of those Israelis hospitalized for COVID-19 were fully vaccinated — suggesting that vaccinations are ineffective or even harmful. This is a great example of two common statistical traps. The first is confusion about inverse probabilities. One hundred doctors were once asked this hypothetical question: In a routine examination, you find a lump in a female patient’s breast. In your experience, only 1 out of 100 such lumps turn out to be malignant, but, to be safe, you order a mammogram X-ray. If the lump is malignant, there is a 0.80 probability that the mammogram will identify it as malignant; if the lump is benign, there is a 0.90 probability that Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
August 27, 2021

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Science

Tagged
COSM 2021, COVID-19, Disasters (Niall Ferguson's view), Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe (book), Featured, Niall Ferguson}

Eminent Historian Niall Ferguson To Speak at COSM 2021

_{Ferguson’s new book, “Doom: The politics of catastrophe” is considered timely reading in the COVID-19 era} _{News

August 27, 2021

4

Medicine and Health, Science}

Historian Niall Ferguson, will be speaking at COSM 2021 in Seattle on Doom: The politics of catastrophe (November 11, 12:00 pm – 12:45 pm.) His talk will be based on his new book, Doom (Penguin, 2021), which offers a disturbing but timely thesis: “Disasters are inherently hard to predict. Pandemics, like earthquakes, wildfires, financial crises. and wars, are not normally distributed; there is no cycle of history to help us anticipate the next catastrophe. But when disaster strikes, we ought to be better prepared than the Romans were when Vesuvius erupted, or medieval Italians when the Black Death struck. We have science on our side, after all.” (from the Publisher) But we are not better prepared. Any thoughtful person who Read More ›

press and media camera ,video photographer on duty in public new

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
August 25, 2021

Categorized
Ethics, Media

Tagged
Andrew Cuomo (COVID-19), COVID-19, Media obsessions with Cool figures, Ross Barkan, Sexual harassment}

Media Try But Fail To Learn From Their Romance With Cuomo

_{Revoking Cuomo’s Emmy, amid facile self-reproach, is hardly a substitute for unpacking the bigger facts of what the recently resigned New York governor did wrong} _{Denyse O'Leary

August 25, 2021

6

Ethics, Media}

In a revealing article in Columbia Journalism Review New York City journalist Ross Barkan talks about the many media fails in covering the misdeeds of recently resigned New York State governor Andrew Cuomo. And yet, somehow, Barkan deftly pulls the punches. His omissions tell us a good deal about what is wrong with mainstream media today. Cuomo was brought down by credible sexual assault and intimidation allegations over many years. One reason justice took so long was the media’s infatuation with Cuomo, ignoring on-the-ground realities of all types — some deadly, as we shall see. Barkan gets a lot of stuff right: Cuomo was not nearly as skilled at handling the COVID-19 epidemic as major media painted him: But Cuomo’s Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
August 19, 2021

Categorized
Medicine and Health

Tagged
COVID-19, COVID-19 lab leak hypothesis, Peter Ben Embarek, World Health Organization (WHO), Wuhan, Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan Institute of Virology}

China Brief: Update on COVID-19 Origins

_{More evidence points to China's attempted suppression of human error as the origin of COVID-19} _{Heather Zeiger

August 19, 2021

6

Medicine and Health}

In January a team from the World Health Organization traveled to Wuhan, Hubei in China to investigate the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus) outbreak. Team lead Dr. Peter Ben Embarek said in the press conference that a lab accident was “extremely unlikely” as the cause of the Covid-19 outbreak. He stuck to the Party line that the virus likely jumped from animals to humans or that it could have been imported from frozen food deliveries. Embarek has since changed his position. In a documentary aired on Danish television on August 12, Embarek said that the pandemic was likely due to a lab accident and he admitted that the team was pressured by Chinese authorities to not mention the lab leak Read More ›

An internet email symbol and a group of people are separated by a red prohibitory symbol No. restrictions on access to the global Internet. Censorship. Information control, society isolation policy

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
August 6, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
Algorithms (monitoring content), Cameron English, COVID-19, Facebook, Instagram, Kevin Folta, Manny Marrotta (Hitler episode), Matt Taibbi, Misinformation concept}

Is “Misinformation” Another Way to Say “Unwelcome Information”?

_{Cameron English notes that, on social media, major media outlets can botch the science with impunity but the slightest offenses, real or imagined, get others silenced} _{News

August 6, 2021

6

Artificial Intelligence, Censorship, Social Media}

At American Council on Science and Health (“promoting science and debunking junk since 1978”), Cameron English reflects on the handwringing among social media companies about how to crack down on “misinformation” on COVID-19. Given the number of authoritative statements made and suddenly reversed, tt seems that any such crackdown would largely be driven by politics. For example: Facebook recently announced that it would “no longer take down posts claiming that Covid-19 was man-made or manufactured,” and the company’s new policy nicely underscores this point about credibility. What was the social media platform’s justification for allowing users to discuss the lab-spillover hypothesis? It didn’t hire a team of virologists and foreign policy experts to assess the viability of competing explanations for Read More ›

Reflection of a man looking at a help wanted sign in a business window, economy concept

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
July 12, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Work

Tagged
COVID-19, Jay Richards, The Human Advantage}

AI vs. the Pandemic: A Hopeful View of the Future of Work

_{A look at what was predicted and what really happened} _{News

July 12, 2021

11

Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Work}

In 2019, philosopher Jay Richards offered some thoughts on whether robots would take all our jobs, as widely predicted. In the meantime, the unforeseeable COVID-19 pandemic idled many more people than robots did or could have. But let’s take a look at how well Richards’ reflections in “Creative Freedom, Not Robots, Is The Future Of Work” have fared. Note: Dr. Richards was speaking at the launch of the Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence in Dallas, Texas on August 18. https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-142-Jay-Richards.mp3 A partial transcript, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow. Richards started by pointing out that vast numbers of pundits were committed to the view that AI and robots will take our jobs: Jay Richards: Let me give Read More ›

Young man wearing coverall and safety mask working on production line of modern pharmaceutical factory, portrait shot

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
June 14, 2021

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Science

Tagged
Anthony Fauci, COVID-19, COVID-19 lab leak hypothesis, Dr. Shi Zheng-Li, EcoHealth Alliance, gain-of-function study, Katherine Eban, National Institute of Health (NIH), Nicholas Wade, Peter Daszak, Potential Pandemic Pathogens Control and Oversight Framework (P3CO), SARS-CoV-2, Wuhan Institute of Virology}

U.S. Moratorium(ish) on Gain-of-Function Research

_{Evaluating the effectiveness of the 2014 U.S. moratorium on gain-of-function experiments} _{Heather Zeiger

June 14, 2021

5

Medicine and Health, Science}

In the last two articles, we discussed the vindication of the lab leak theory through the publication of several investigative articles, and the risky nature of gain-of-function research and the evidence that it may be a key component to the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, we turn to the U.S. Due to the risky nature of gain-of-function research, what actions has the U.S. government taken to mitigate those risks? In 2014, the U.S. government placed a moratorium on new gain-of-function experiments for influenza, MERS, and SARS. That moratorium defines “gain-of-function” in very broad terms covering any “research that improves the ability of a pathogen to cause disease.” The moratorium expired in 2017 and was replaced by an oversight board, Read More ›

Medical science laboratory. Concept of virus and bacteria research

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
June 11, 2021

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Science

Tagged
COVID-19, COVID-19 lab leak hypothesis, Dr. Shi Zheng-Li, gain-of-function study, National Institute of Health (NIH), SARS-CoV-2, Wuhan Institute of Virology}

What Is Gain-of-Function Research and Why Is It Risky?

_{The Wuhan Institute of Virology and the NIH find themselves in a tough spot} _{Heather Zeiger

June 11, 2021

7

Medicine and Health, Science}

Last time, we talked about the vindication of the lab leak theory, as a growing number of investigative articles have pointed to a lab accident as the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now,we turn to the role risky gain-of-function research may have played in the affair. To understand why some in the U.S. government and the NIH want to downplay funding of gain-of-function research, we need to understand what exactly it is. All viruses mutate, some faster than others. Influenza is one of the fastest mutating viruses, followed by HIV. SARS-CoV-2 mutates slower than both viruses, which is why many scientists believe vaccine booster shots will likely be every few years, rather than annually, like the flu. Scientists need to Read More ›

Science laboratory research and development concept. microscope with test tubes

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
June 10, 2021

Categorized
Media, Medicine and Health, Science

Tagged
Anthony Fauci, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), COVID-19, COVID-19 lab leak hypothesis, Dr. Shi Zheng-Li, EcoHealth Alliance, Katherine Eban, National Institute of Health (NIH), Nicholas Wade, Nicholson Baker, Peter Daszak, SARS-CoV-2, Vanity Fair, WHO COVID-19 investigation in China, World Health Organization (WHO), Wuhan Institute of Virology}

Lab Leak Theory Vindicated: What That Means for Fighting COVID-19

_{What was the U.S. government's role in downplaying the lab leak theory?} _{Heather Zeiger

June 10, 2021

5

Media, Medicine and Health, Science}

Vanity Fair adds to the growing number of investigative articles pointing to a lab accident as the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. This article looks at the U.S. government’s role in downplaying that lab leak theory. Behind closed doors, however, national security and public health experts and officials across a range of departments in the executive branch were locked in high-stakes battles over what could and couldn’t be investigated and made public. Katherine Eban, “The Lab-Leak Theory: Inside the Fight to Uncover COVID-19’s Origins” at Vanity Fair At a time when the Mainstream Media has sullied its reputation by parroting experts rather than seeking multiple viewpoints and checking sources, several articles stand out as excellent pieces of long-form writing and Read More ›

Group Senior people legs walking exercise at public park . selective focus - Image

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
April 15, 2021

Categorized
Medicine and Health

Tagged
COVID-19, Every Body Walk!, Exercise is Medicine, Gregg Popovich, Health, healthcare, Kaiser Permanente, physical activity, Robert Sallis}

Exercise is Medicine: The Power of Regular Physical Activity

_{Recent research reveals that exercise is one of our most powerful defenses against illness and disease} _{Gary Smith

April 15, 2021

6

Medicine and Health}

The United States spent $3.8 trillion on health care in 2019, before COVID-19. That’s 17.7 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product and nearly $13,000 per person. That’s more than double the average spending in dozens of comparable countries, yet U.S. health care outcomes are near the bottom of any list. We have the highest obesity rates in all age groups and the second highest death rate from heart disease. For life expectancy at birth, the U.S. ranks 34th, behind Chile and Lebanon. We have arguably the best doctors, medicines, and hospitals. Why are so many of us in poor health and why do so many of us die young? We can blame the system or we can blame ourselves. Enter Read More ›

Young Man Identified by Biometric Facial Recognition Scanning Process from His Smartphone. Futuristic Concept: Projector Identifies Individual by Illuminating Face by Dots and Scanning with Laser

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 29, 2021

Categorized
Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Surveillance

Tagged
biometrics, COVID-19, Identification (biometrics), Retail sector, Russia (biometrics)}

The New Retail: Cash or Face Scan? Is This Safe?

_{Retailers, anxious to speed up checkout lineups tend to brush off privacy and security concerns about payment by face recognition} _{News

March 29, 2021

6

Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Surveillance}

The new face of retail is yours, according to a latest trend — paying with your face via biometric scanning. Russia’s largest food retailer, X5 Retail Group, in partnership with VISA and Sber (a bank), is introducing payment via facial recognition (face scanning) at the checkout counters of supermarkets and convenience stores. The trial at 52 stores succeeded well enough that the firm hopes to institute “facepay” (?) at 3000 stores. It works, at least technically, because we are more unique than we think: With the huge rise in digital wallets, biometrics – face or hand recognition – has started to become more popular as the safest means of protecting customers from identity fraud. Because nobody can replicate or guess Read More ›

Asian woman is wearing facial mask during virus epidemic

^{Type
post

Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
March 1, 2021

Categorized
Media, Medicine and Health, Science

Tagged
Centers for Disease Control (CDC), China, COVID-19, COVID-19 frozen food hypothesis, COVID-19 lab leak hypothesis, Dominic Dwyer, Featured, Kai Kupferschmidt, Nature (journal) on COVID-19, Peter Ben Embarek, Peter Daszak, SARS-CoV-2, Science Magazine on COVID-19, Scott Gottlieb, WHO COVID-19 investigation in China, World Health Organization (WHO), Wuhan Institute of Virology}

Was the WHO Investigation of COVID-19’s Origin Thwarted by China?

_{The World Health Organization team was not really allowed to conduct a proper investigation in China} _{Heather Zeiger

March 1, 2021

11

Media, Medicine and Health, Science}

On January 14, 2021, an international team from the World Health Organization (WHO) landed in Wuhan in Hubei province in China to investigate the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes COVID-19. From the outset, the investigation was plagued with three issues: 1) It ‘s been a year since the outbreak in Wuhan, which makes an investigation into the origins of the outbreak difficult. 2) WHO has catered to the Chinese government since the beginning of the pandemic, and 3) the scientists involved in the investigation had to be approved by Beijing. Two of them had conflicts of interest. When the WHO team arrived, they faced additional barriers to a thorough investigation. They were quarantined for two weeks so they Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
February 18, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health

Tagged
COVID-19, David Hanson, Goldie Nejat, Hanson Robots, Japan and robots, Katrina Onstad, Robotic caregivers, Senior care, Sophia the Robot}

Sophia the Robot Retooled to Help With Senior Care

_{Hanson Robotics sees a huge opportunity in the COVID lockdowns for a mass robot rollout that substitutes for human companionship} _{Denyse O'Leary

February 18, 2021

5

Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health}

Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics is rolling out Sophia the Robot, to help people cope with loneliness during government-enforced isolation as a response to COVID-19. Brushing aside claims that human contact is preferred, firm’s principals see the lockdowns as creating new opportunities for the robotics industry. Founder and CEO David Hanson says, “Sophia and Hanson robots are unique by being so human-like. That can be so useful during these times where people are terribly lonely and socially isolated”: Social robotics professor Johan Hoorn, whose research has included work with Sophia, said that although the technology is still in relative infancy, the pandemic could accelerate a relationship between humans and robots. “I can infer the pandemic will actually help us get robots Read More ›