Vaccine disinformation, extremism research, covid update, and recommended disinformation reads
Threats, Fact Checks, and Reads #5.3.21
Vaccine disinformation, extremism research, covid update, and recommended disinformation reads
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COVID-19 EPI-UPDATE
Prior SARS-CoV-2 infection boosts response to variants after first vaccine dose
A single dose of vaccine boosts protection against SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus variants, but only in those with previous COVID-19, a study has found.
'Cave Syndrome' Keeps the Vaccinated in Social Isolation
After a year away from friends and co-workers, people sometimes struggle to resume their public routines
Being cut off from other humans changes your brain. Here's the science on how.
Children Now Account For 22% of New U.S. COVID Cases. Why Is That? : Coronavirus Updates
A year ago, COVID-19 cases in children made up less than 3% of the U.S. total.
Let’s Talk About the Vaccines, Menstrual Cycles, and Claims about Fertility
Let’s talk about the vaccines, whether they can affect the menstrual cycle and infertility claims.
Can the vaccine make you infertile?
Can vaccinated women somehow affect unvaccinated women’s cycles?
Can the vaccine affect the vaccinated woman’s cycle?
No, No, and Maybe.
Here’s What Isn’t Happening
The first thing I should clarify is that it is impossible for vaccinated women to shed anything, as a consequence of being vaccinated, to unvaccinated women.
If anything it’s the other way around, but honestly, this is a silly idea that we are giving the power to scare us. The mRNA vaccines do not contain the virus at all, not even inactivated. There is nothing to “shed.”
Let me say it again.
The mRNA vaccines do not have the virus in them and cannot lead to shedding of any kind. You also cannot get Covid from mRNA vaccines as a consequence.
Could Cycle Irregularities Be Linked to the Covid Vaccine?
Yes, there may be some association. It could also be that a lot of women are hearing it and ascribing irregularities they would have had anyhow to the vaccine. Let’s look at possible reasons.
The endometrium has its own immune environment.Put another way, it’s a part of the immune system.
What does a vaccine affect? The immune system. Covid-19 infection itself can affect menstrual cycles, so it’s not shocking that building immunity could as well. It’s possible that cycle irregularity, like feeling achy, tired, or running a fever after a vaccine, maybe a response to the vaccine.
It also might not be. What affects the immune system could plausibly affect the endometrium. Immune dysfunction is something that plays a role in endometriosis.
Locking down the uterus via the endometrium makes sense because, like the brain, the reproductive system is immune privileged. This basically means the body hesitates to bring in the cavalry when there is an infection to avoid hurting you. That also means if a virus does make it to the brain or your reproductive system, it may hide there indefinitely.
Ebola did this recently. Someone who contracted Ebola years ago infected a sexual partner and the genomic sequencing shows it’s the virus from years ago, shown in the graph far removed from the 2015 outbreak. Something to consider.
What this does not mean:
This would not be evidence the vaccine can cause infertility any more than it means it will cause an ever-lasting fever. There’s no logical reason to suspect that.
We should not confuse this with meaning that it would affect pregnancy in progress because we haven’t found that in large-scale studies. The uterus is a changing environment and while pregnant it differs considerably from when it is vacant.
This also doesn’t mean anyone is lying or being dishonest necessarily. Anything that follows a vaccine may be reported to VAERS, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, but it’s not proof the vaccine had anything to do with what was reported.
Many people misunderstand the data in VAERS to make claims about vaccines that are terrifying, but VAERS cannot and has never been intended to show causality. Anyone anywhere may submit anything.
The chief problem with the VAERS data is that reports can be entered by anyone and are not routinely verified. To demonstrate this, a few years ago I entered a report that an influenza vaccine had turned me into The Hulk. The report was accepted and entered into the database.
The CDC understandably contacted Dr. Laidler. They asked if he would permit them to remove it. He did as the experiment had served its purpose but had he said no, the claim that his vaccine turned him into The Hulk would still be in VAERS right now. That would not make it true.
THREATS
COVID-19 Response Has Uncovered and Increased Our Vulnerability to Biological Warfare
Previous questions regarding how the USA would respond to a large biological outbreak (or biological weapon) have now been answered for potential adversaries across the world.
The ambiguity of both our capabilities and weaknesses, which provided deterrence to adversarial employment of biological weapons before the pandemic, no longer exists.
Massive information operations and propaganda on multiple media platforms seized the anti-vaxx movement. Since May 2020, anti-vaxxers have been propagating lies about the side effects of the coronavirus vaccine, but as of June, the Centers for Disease Control, which is responsible for vaccine education, had only a “plan” to counter such anti-vaccine campaigns.
Understanding the Threat Posed by QAnon
“Our data collection and analysis has demonstrated that QAnon has been weaponized by America’s adversaries.“
Zach Schwitzky, founder of Limbik
There are concerns about the quality of this report and the results should be considered in light of it’s clear shortcomings:
That said, here are the conclusions of the study.
“Conspiracy theories promoting violence” was designated one of the most serious aspects of the domestic violent extremism threat in a recently released unclassified report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).
QAnon is a far right conspiratorial movement that creates and co- 2 opts “theories” to fit an evolving narrative underpinned by the core notion that the “Deep State,” led by a cabal of elitist pedophiles, is leading the United States.
These ideas are fueled by occasional messages from an anonymous individual, known as Q. The identity of this person has likely changed over time.
The posts, known as Qdrops , often reference anti-Semitic tropes depicting George Soros and the Rothschild family as Satan-worshipping “puppet masters” who fund efforts to create a new world order.
Confirmed Russian and Iranian accounts were engaging QAnon content by November of 2017 at the latest, which is to say they may have guided and amplified movement. These can be seen in a public database now.
Key Threats:
Domestic extremists are actively recruiting disillusioned Qanon adherents and posting pictures on platforms like Telegram that indicated they see anti-vaccine narratives as the way to do this.
Anti-Semitism and fears of a “New World Order” dovetail with longstanding conspiracies promoted by a range of anti-government extremists and white supremacist groups. This is not simply an online phenomenon. The QAnon conspiracy has been weaponized to commit acts of violence.
Confirmed Russian account sharing Q-account trip code publicly in Jan 2018
Reaching ‘Herd Immunity’ Is Unlikely in the U.S., Experts Now Believe
Widely circulating coronavirus variants and persistent hesitancy about vaccines will keep the goal out of reach. The virus is here to stay, but vaccinating the most vulnerable may be enough to restore normalcy.
Read commentary from Dr. Carl Bergstrom, author of “Calling Bullsh*t” about the herd immunity article before getting too worried:
Truth decay, disinformation, AI, COVID-19, Russia, China
Knowing how Russia and China operate in this space can help inform our understanding of the Truth Decay phenomenon and efforts to mitigate it.
Key Findings
· Both countries disseminated messages through a wide variety of channels and platforms, including social media.
· Both countries attempted to tarnish the reputation of the United States by emphasizing challenges with its pandemic response and characterizing U.S. systems as inadequate.
· Both countries falsely accused the United States of developing and intentionally spreading the virus.
· The two countries appeared to differ in their principal goals for COVID-19-related information efforts: Russia aimed to destabilize the United States; China aimed to protect and enhance its own international reputation.
· Both countries modified their COVID-19-related messaging over time, focusing on conspiracy theories about the virus’s origins and impacts from March 2020 to April 2020 and later moving to concentrate on perceived U.S. failure in responding to the pandemic.
· While Russia deployed media with wide-ranging ideologies and a variety of audiences, China-linked messaging was ideologically uniform, consistent across multiple information outlets, and appeared to target audiences that were less varied.
· Countering apparent Russian and Chinese malign and subversive information efforts will require campaigns that consider the capabilities and thematic emphasis of each of these actors.
· Profiling Russian and Chinese sources known to frequently create and disseminate disinformation and propaganda can also inform counter-messaging efforts.
· China and Russia appear to amplify one another’s messages, when opportune. This might eventually lead to some collaboration, albeit limited in nature.
· Public health messaging should account for potential impacts of Russian and Chinese messaging on vaccination uptake.
www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com
Global Illicit Economy: Trajectories of Organized Crime
‘This report shows how organized crime has gone global in the past 20 years and is harming so many aspects of life on our planet,’ says GI-TOC Director Mark Shaw.
‘Organized crime perpetuates and profits from the world’s major challenges and is a driver of unsustainable development.’ ‘Left unchecked, the shadows of the future look even more sinister. New approaches and a global approach are needed if we are going to change the trajectories of organized crime,’ says Shaw.
Scripps Cyberattack Causes Widespread Hospital Outages
The San Diego-based hospital system diverted ambulances to other medical centers after a suspected ransomware attack.
DISINFORMATION & FACT CHECKS
Disinfo Debriefing
The U.S. intelligence community is working to declassify and release more information on the malign behavior of U.S. adversaries after a group of four-star military commanders requested help in the information war against China and Russia.
Several European lawmakers have been approached by individuals using deepfake filters in video calls to appear as Russian opposition figures.
A Russian-speaking ransomware group took credit for hacking and leaking data from the Washington, D.C. police department.
China and Russia have “full-spectrum propaganda capabilities,” including prominent Facebook pages and YouTube channels targeting regionalized audiences.
Both have military units dedicated to influencing foreign targets and also encourage and incentivize citizen involvement in those efforts.65 They gather extensive information about their targets and manage an array of fake Facebook pages and Twitter personas that are used for eroding the international perception and domestic social cohesion of its rivals.
Russia has been particularly aggressive during this past decade in its online efforts to influence democratic elections in the United States, Europe, Africa, and elsewhere, as well as to sow confusion and encourage widespread societal polarization and animosity.
Wall Street Journal has increasingly deviated from journalistic standards.
The thread can be found here.
Germany’s Anti-Vax History Is Riddled With Anti-Semitism
Jewish people were blamed for spreading disease, and considered expendable victims.
Podcast host with no medical or public health expertise gives inaccurate advice
On a recent episode of a popular podcast, the host suggested that young people do not need to worry about getting a COVID-19 vaccine if they are healthy, exercise, and eat well.
Many experts have stated that this claim is incorrect, especially as young people are increasingly accounting for COVID-19 cases.
Russia Skews Stats to Falsely Trash Pfizer Vaccine
The Russian vaccine maker grossly misrepresents mortality data for the U.S. Pfizer and U.K. AstraZeneca vaccines.
We consider more than facts in a decision about vaccines.
Understanding that can help us make better choices. For many, the decision includes other factors like their world views, what others in their community are doing, their knowledge base, and fear.
Socio-psychological determinants of vaccine decision making.
When I see an illusion, I know what my brain is telling me is wrong. That’s the reason we find illusions so entertaining. Looking at these red swirls, we know they aren’t moving. We understand that our brain is misinforming us about reality.
We delight in exploiting our brain’s buggy interpretation of the world with Magic Eye books, but this phenomenon happens far more often than when we look at trippy graphics. We may not even be aware that it’s happening and that can lead us to make poor choices or irrational decisions that feel right.
These are stationary but don't always appear that way.
The fear that I feel when I hear outlandish rumors and even some of the more believable ones doesn’t tell me anything about reality. It feels real just like the red swirls look like they’re moving. When I feel fear over the idea that the vaccine could make me infertile, it’s a disappearing dot. It’s a spinning swirl.
It’s terrifying, but that doesn’t make the threat real.
Fact-Checks
WSJ repeated multiple incorrect and misleading claims made in Koonin's new book ’Unsettled’
Scientists who reviewed the article found that it builds on a collection of misleading and false claims. For instance, Koonin states that “Greenland’s ice sheet isn’t shrinking any more rapidly today than it was eighty years ago”. Contrary to the claim, scientific studies using airborne and satellite altimetry observations show considerable thinning has occurred along the margin of the Greenland ice sheet since 2003.
'Nurse' Video Is Full Of Recycled, Debunked Claims About COVID-19 By Tarot Card Reader
Fake US CDC graphic about 'vaccine refusal' circulates online
An infographic that carries the logo of the US Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) warns refusing the coronavirus vaccine “is a form of racism” because it “harms people of color”. The graphic, however, has been manipulated: it was not issued by the CDC.
Facebook users misrepresent viral video of Brazilian nurses in empty coronavirus ward
Fact check: Post detailing COVID-19 deaths under Biden ignores improving trend
A social media post falsely claims that 176,000 people died from COVID-19 in Biden’s first 100 days. The post by Breitbart News, a self-described conservative news website, links to an April 28 article written by the same organization.
Influencer video full of untrue vaccine claims
These include false claims that all animals in Covid vaccine trials died and that vaccines can change your DNA.
Telegraph headline linking depression and social media isn't backed up by article
A Telegraph article with a headline about teenage depression doubling due to social media did not get this information from the study it cites.
Online posts misrepresent video of routine birth procedure as Covid-19 ‘abuse’
The claim is misleading: the baby’s mother and various doctors told AFP the video shows a routine birthing procedure unrelated to coronavirus restrictions.
Political Pinocchios
Data suggest that 1.4 million jobs have been created since Biden took office in January 2021.
No, Kamala Harris didn’t attack Joe Biden on China during primaries
Doctored images do not show Hillary Clinton 'detained' in Guantanamo Bay
No credible news reports indicate she was detained at Guantanamo Bay as of May 3, 2021.
Biden speech attracts fewer than Trump’s, but more than 11.6 million
Social media posts and websites claim that US President Joe Biden’s speech to Congress on April 28, 2021 drew 11.6 million viewers, a significant drop from predecessor Donald Trump’s addresses. But Biden’s speech drew an estimated 26.9 million people, and the 11.6 million figure was an early number from audience measurement firm Nielsen.
Newsmax apologizes for vote manipulation claims against Dominion leader
Biden Raises Refugee Cap to 62,500 After Keeping Trump Limit
President Joe Biden will set the number of refugees who can enter the U.S. through September at 62,500, he said Monday, after facing pressure from allies who blasted his earlier abandonment of that goal.
Did Ted Cruz Lie About Republicans Not ‘Court Packing’?
Let’s talk about the definition of that term. Whether or not Sen. Cruz told the truth about this depends on which definition of the word you use: the old or the new.
RESEARCH
5X as likely to be admitted to an ICU
3X as likely to have a severe infection
had a 60–97% increased rate of preterm birth and
a 76% greater chance of preeclampsia or eclampsia
Given the real studies of women receiving this vaccine and the history of vaccines showing no harm in pregnant women, the Covid infection is easily the greater threat and concern for the mother and baby.
If I were pregnant right now, I would get the mRNA vaccine without question.
New Data on Covid-19 Vaccine and Pregnancy Reassuring
Reports from over 35,000 US women who received mRNA vaccines while pregnant show comparable rates of miscarriage, premature birth, and other complications compared to before the pandemic. These preliminary results reflect women who received either the Moderna or Pfizer mRNA shots while pregnant.
Their rates of miscarriage, premature births, and other complications were comparable to those observed in published reports on pregnant women before the pandemic.
Critically, we do know that pregnant women are more likely to fall seriously ill if infected with Covid, and while we haven’t found the virus affecting babies in utero, it may affect them in ways that are harder to detect. It’s possible and if so, the possible consequences could be extreme. I don’t want to scare any pregnant women, but in this case, the truth is scary and you deserve the truth. We need to tell women this.
The omission bias may lead women not to vaccinate because they perceive that as the lower risk. It’s not. Recent history gives us ample reason to vaccinate, especially given that we have yet to find one that pregnant women must avoid. The theoretical risk of transmitting a virus to the baby means most recommendations say to avoid live-virus vaccines.
This makes the argument for mRNA vaccines all the more compelling since giving the baby the virus is impossible. No virus “killed,” inactivated, or otherwise, exists in the vaccine.
It only contains enough for the immune system to recognize the real deal should it attempt to invade the body. It’s like a mug shot. While some mug shots are a little scary, they cannot attack you.
No vaccines have been shown to harm the baby and no vaccine is totally contraindicated in pregnancy.
On the other hand there are a massive number of viruses that have the ability to harm the baby or the mother. Especially we should reflect on viruses that bring about consequences down the road that we wouldn’t know about right now.
Zika was discovered in 1947. In 2016 we realized it was causing neurological conditions including microcephaly. There were no large-scale outbreaks where a rare consequence of infection might have been noticed before that. Other viruses can cause cancer, long-term post-viral illness, and immune amnesia.
It took us centuries to figure out measles increased the risk of low birth weight, miscarriage, stillbirth, and maternal death. Measles also causes immune system “amnesia” increasing the risk a child dies of a later infection.
Ranking the risk of animal-to-human spillover for newly discovered viruses
Researchers have a developed a new framework and interactive web tool, SpillOver, which “estimates a risk score for wildlife-origin viruses, creating a comparative risk assessment of viruses with uncharacterized zoonotic spillover potential alongside those already known to be zoonotic.”
Research with neutrons for better mRNA medicines
mRNA can be used to produce much more than just vaccines. Around 50 different procedures for the treatment of diseases including cancer are already being studied in clinical trials.
Scientists have now discovered how the subcutaneous administration of mRNA can be improved.
The goal is for chronically ill patients to be able to self-administer the medication on a regular basis.
A grass commonly used to fight soil erosion has been genetically modified to successfully remove toxic chemicals left in the ground from munitions that are dangerous to human health, new research shows.
How Climate Science Can Help Conflict Prevention
With climate change’s impact on peace and security set to grow in the years to come, Crisis Group has stepped up its analysis of the links between climate and conflict, helping shape climate policy at the highest level through cutting-edge field research and wide-ranging outreach.
Vaccine hesitancy poses a risk to ending the COVID-19 pandemic for good
In 79 out of 117 countries surveyed, the number of people who said they were willing to be vaccinated was below 70%, the minimum percentage of the population that scientists say needs to have immunity to stop the virus from circulating.
www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com
America's Never-Ending Struggle To Ensure Workplace Safety
This chart shows the years needed for OSHA to inspect all U.S. job sites by state at its current staffing levels.
DHS Shares Results of Effort to Respond to Surge of Children Fleeing
RECOMMENDED READS
Authoritarians like Manuel Noriega and Abiy Ahmed use awards to airbrush human rights abuse
For years, authoritarian leaders have been garlanded with prestigious international awards by foreign governments and institutions like the French Legion of Honor. Why does this happen and what good does it do anyone?
Trump's Secret Rules for Drone Strikes and Presidents' Unchecked License to Kill
FOIA lawsuit obtains Trump administration’s playbook. Hina Shamsi writes about the broader lessons for secret presidential powers.
Over now four administrations, the U.S. government has sought to justify an unlawful lethal strikes program that has exacted an appalling toll on Muslim, Brown, and Black civilians in different parts of the world. Now, almost 20 years into the U.S. government’s war-based approach, it’s clear that U.S. legal or policy justifications for this program do not actually demonstrate adherence to domestic or international law, they fundamentally undermine it.
The complete document can be found here.
Congress fails to grapple with social-networking algorithms
The history of Congressional hearings into the inner workings of Facebook, Twitter, and Google isn’t filled with penetrating insights or dogged investigation.
Debunking Rick Santorum's Comments About Native Americans
Rick Santorum sought to erase the impact Native Americans have had on American culture. His revisionist history couldn’t be more wrong.
Native American culture underpins every major aspect of American society: food, permaculture, farming, sports, law, health– Native people invented the syringe, and even many of the foods that now fuel American agriculture and trade. Tobacco, potatoes, beans, squash, cranberries, corn, and countless other crops were the bedrock of the American economy for most of the country’s existence. Put another way, Indigenous plants, foods, husbandry, and Indigenous tradition are the foundation upon which this nation was built. So present are these Native American-derived traditions and practices that they even appear in the quintessential American meal, Thanksgiving dinner. Modern Americans benefit from the contributions of Indigenous People today and every day.
Native influence can also be found within the U.S. Constitution. The idea of American democracy itself was influenced by the Iroquois Confederacy, many historians argue. John Adams studied the Iroquois’ governance system, particularly their federalist principles, after which the public was led to believe Adams had “discovered” democracy. Without Native Americans, we may never have had the form of democracy we have today at all.
Can Trump cure America's vaccine hesitancy?
“The widely reported divide between Blacks and whites in willingness to be vaccinated appears to pale next to differences between political partisans,” Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page wrote.
Elected Republican doctors just cut an ad to encourage their vaccine-hesitant constituents to get COVID-19 vaccine shots, embedded below. But can the likes of Wyoming senator and orthopedic surgeon John Barrasso, or Kansas senator and gynecologist Roger Marshall, convince the nearly half of Republicans who say they don’t want the vaccines to get them?
Do public health officials need to call on the help of an even larger figure, former president Donald Trump, a man who since the first cases of COVID-19 were detected in the United States did very little of what health experts recommended. Some of Trump’s advisers think it’s time.
Theories About Vaccines Empoisoning the World Thrive on What Believers Don't Know
Why do I assume I know what the believers don’t? Neither “big pharma” nor governments benefit from the general population being sick or dying. On the contrary, it’s economically devastating.
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