Thank you, Dan, for this eloquent essay (that I am just now reading belatedly).
The communities formed in various Substacks have become a regular part of my life, and reassures me that there *are* intelligent, thoughtful, articulate and highly motivated people out there. It has enabled me to resume activism (Jessica Craven), learn more history (HCR) and also learn more in-depth about various topics (Tomas Pueyo), stay hopeful (Robert Hubbell), and here with you and Elliot, feel a sense of kinship with fellow Americans that hasn't been evident in the preceding 5-6 years. I am so grateful that you are still being a part of our daily lives, for those of us who have known you since the 70s onward (and for many others, even longer before that).
Across my family and friends, I and I alone saw the writing on the virus wall. Here is why.
At the time my company "Contingency Now" focused on advising small to mid-sized companies with contingency plans in case a technical, human, or natural event impacted their company's revenue stream. Within the contingency assessments was "pandemic planning." I can honestly state that I did not sell any assessments related to pandemic planning. In fact, most people laughed at the idea of spending money on such an unforeseen and unknown event. As I digress with my thoughts about a previous business, I too am very sad in my heart about the total outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic here in the U.S. It's so very sad to see Americans on the national news tearfully talking about how their loved one(s) died to COVID-19. I believe each of us humans know deep down the outcomes of vaccinated vs. nonvaccinated. I believe that we as a nation will learn from this dreadful virus experience. I believe that our losses will make us a stronger and more tolerant people in the long term. In closing please not forget, "The virus determines the timeline." Thank you, James.
I hadn’t cognitively perceived this aspect of the coronavirus tragedy until reading this. I have to ask: What is happening to our collective humanity? Are we so easily swayed by fear mongering that we lose the basic communal empathy that is intrinsic to our sustained existence? Does this bode for our extinction in the face of inevitably more trying times ahead?
As someone who endured three non-COVID deaths, three deeply beloved people, in a nine month period between June 2020 and March 2021, and as someone who understands the vitally important distinction between mourning--which is ritualized and can be legitimately enacted in response to the death of non-intimates, and grief--which is an INDIVIDUAL response to an INDIVIDUAL death or loss, I can finally articulate what is indisputably wrong and frankly cruel about this screed. To quote from "Grief: a philosophical guide" by Michael Cholbi; "We neither can nor should grieve all deaths of others." We can be outraged, we can mourn, but to say we grieve, that we MUST grieve, borders on depravity. Language matters, Me. Rather. Do better than this. It is offensive to those of us who grieve the deaths of our beloveds, no matter the cause, because you are demanding we at best engage in a performative emotive display, and at worst become emotional vampires.
So why is nothing mentioned about the United States funding of (and then denying) the research of developing deadly viruses not only in our country but in hostile countries as well. Scientists are exactly to blame for the path they follow to develop deadly viruses at labs all over the world, all in the name of helping humanity. They don't need to be doing any of this at all!
The fact that this whole Covid thing has been politicized by all sides has been terrible, but with everyone trying to hide the truth about what actually happened, it's just another "shit storm" the world has to go thru until it all ends.
How ironic that Dan Rather is writing about propaganda. You were a one man apologist and liar for the Democrat party for decades and your transgressions were so egregious that even CBS had to fire you. You have zero journalistic integrity. Just go away.
I look for my Dan Rather letter each day. In it his words show compassion, perspective and a steadiness to life,a calmness that allows for the ebb and flow of life.
A pov that i believe needs further attention: that it is the non vaxxed that are dying, that are creating the stress on our medical system, that are endangering our national health.
•I believe that there is a major difference between folks that are non vaxxed, vs anti vaxxed.
•I suggest that within the non vaxxed camp are folks that are socially responsible, are taking care of themselves through an immune enhancing regimen that is antiviral, that supports being healthy.
••• It is a non partisan stance, it costs money, it takes self responsibility and discipline.
•••It takes education that involves research and self education, often going to a doctor that you privately pay for.
•••It involves following doctors orders as well as educating yourself so you can partner with the doctor in optimizing your own health.
•As a HCP, that patient is a rare gem; it takes time, like years, for a patient to self cultivate that level of willingness and proactivity to be responsible for your own health as well as finding a doctor who can lead you thru the pandemic successfully as well as successfully faring chronic illness •With this partnership i believe a successful experience of covid19 is possible: with infection or not, that with knowledge and training in self care that with an effort of self care that resilience, hope and steadiness can prevail with successful recovery.
• It is in this practitioner relationship and teamwork that cultivates self care, education and helps to develop patient understanding and self care. This is the strength of complementary care; this is the weak link of Western medicine.
The deaths that are happening, i believe, are patients probably seeing western med doctors who treat symptoms thru pills. Who do not train patients on nutrition, do not address necessary self care and do not seek partnering with their patients as well as patients with their doctors. They assess,diagnose and give pills. Last words: “We will see if it works.”
Equally it is the insurance system with the 12 minutes per doctor visit and the doctor asking questions while typing their note that shapes the quality of their visit. That shapes the tenor of care given. That is not the fault of the doctor: that is the system they work in.
•I work in a system complementary to this big WM system where patients come to me with a list of concerns, where they are treated holistically, where their treatment educates them, where there are follow up visits with me and there is a continuity of education and continuity of care as well as a relationship that is developed and cultivated. Where caring prevails, where partnership is foremost and patient self care, self discipline is cultivated and working.
I contend that most deaths were folks diagnosed with covid19, were diagnosed and then sent home to self quarantine with no instructions for self care: ie. •supplements to enhance their immune response like Vit C, D and A. Like antivirals, minerals etc.
•like giving instructions for this self-care program while giving hope: hope that with this daily execution that you might get getter and not go to the hospital.
• That there are actions daily that you can do to get well and stay well. Like maybe not having to go to the hospital.
•••This instruction is not given; it is more like a death sentence if you get this diagnosis. From early MSM reports, you go to the hospital, you are not coming home.
This message creates despair, no hope and fear. It generates anxiety, distrust and polarization. It creates death rather than successful recovery.
I contend that it is not the non vaxxers that are dying: it may be the anti vaxxers and their partisan who-haw, it might be the medically ignorant who deny illness despite the political climate or diagnosis. It might be the confused common person reacting to the polarizing MSM creating fear and confusion, rather than the MSM being the necessary arm of a democratic society whose job is to educate the citizenry in best methods forward, to provide neutral points of view or best points of views seeing all sides.
I believe it is the confused common person, lacking in effective self care that is dying. Probably the folks with multiple co-morbidities that are already immune compromised as well as poor self care habits that are succumbing to this condition. I am sure that there is more to this; yet to say that it is the non vaxxed are dying. That is incorrect, misleading and polarizing.
You have put in words what I have been feeling and thinking for some time now. Thank you. I grieve with you and for the same reasons. I hope that the madness subsides so we can realiza our common humanity and move together again with kindness, understanding and grace.
Damn you write with such clarity on all subjects, but this one was painful to read. Such a intelligent sensitive man
Could only write
So focused about this tragedy that has stopped this country and the world dead in it's tracks. Maybe we can embrace our democracy and humanity and move on. What other choice do we have.Right now it's a very SAD world we live in.
"Now that we have remarkably effective vaccines, there is a tendency among those who have been vaccinated to be very frustrated with those who have not. And this has extended, at times, to many expressing a lack of empathy for those who are suffering from severe cases of a deadly disease whose severity is now almost completely preventable. The truth is that almost everyone who is dying today is unvaccinated. And that means that most of these deaths should not have happened."
Aside from the frustration and lack of empathy expressed towards the unvaccinated, largely due to constant misinformation and fear mongering from The President, health agencies and the media, everything in this paragraph is diametrically opposed to reality. YOU are one of the sources of misinformation.
Recent studies show that vaccine effectiveness wanes to literally ZERO within two months after the last shot, and then becomes negative after that. Do you understand what that means? Vaccinated people are at greater risk of infection than unvaccinated people. Many of us warned this might happen, it is most likely to a phenomenon called "antibody independent enhancement", a phenomenon which was seen with ALL previous attempts to create a vaccine for earlier Coronaviruses, and something I warned about back in May 2020:
As for your claim that everyone who is dying being unvaccinated, I suggest you do some actual investigative journalism and look at the data coming from highly vaccinated countries where the majority of the cases, hospitalizations and deaths are in vaccinated people.
Thank you, Dan, for this eloquent essay (that I am just now reading belatedly).
The communities formed in various Substacks have become a regular part of my life, and reassures me that there *are* intelligent, thoughtful, articulate and highly motivated people out there. It has enabled me to resume activism (Jessica Craven), learn more history (HCR) and also learn more in-depth about various topics (Tomas Pueyo), stay hopeful (Robert Hubbell), and here with you and Elliot, feel a sense of kinship with fellow Americans that hasn't been evident in the preceding 5-6 years. I am so grateful that you are still being a part of our daily lives, for those of us who have known you since the 70s onward (and for many others, even longer before that).
Thank you.
Across my family and friends, I and I alone saw the writing on the virus wall. Here is why.
At the time my company "Contingency Now" focused on advising small to mid-sized companies with contingency plans in case a technical, human, or natural event impacted their company's revenue stream. Within the contingency assessments was "pandemic planning." I can honestly state that I did not sell any assessments related to pandemic planning. In fact, most people laughed at the idea of spending money on such an unforeseen and unknown event. As I digress with my thoughts about a previous business, I too am very sad in my heart about the total outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic here in the U.S. It's so very sad to see Americans on the national news tearfully talking about how their loved one(s) died to COVID-19. I believe each of us humans know deep down the outcomes of vaccinated vs. nonvaccinated. I believe that we as a nation will learn from this dreadful virus experience. I believe that our losses will make us a stronger and more tolerant people in the long term. In closing please not forget, "The virus determines the timeline." Thank you, James.
I hadn’t cognitively perceived this aspect of the coronavirus tragedy until reading this. I have to ask: What is happening to our collective humanity? Are we so easily swayed by fear mongering that we lose the basic communal empathy that is intrinsic to our sustained existence? Does this bode for our extinction in the face of inevitably more trying times ahead?
As someone who endured three non-COVID deaths, three deeply beloved people, in a nine month period between June 2020 and March 2021, and as someone who understands the vitally important distinction between mourning--which is ritualized and can be legitimately enacted in response to the death of non-intimates, and grief--which is an INDIVIDUAL response to an INDIVIDUAL death or loss, I can finally articulate what is indisputably wrong and frankly cruel about this screed. To quote from "Grief: a philosophical guide" by Michael Cholbi; "We neither can nor should grieve all deaths of others." We can be outraged, we can mourn, but to say we grieve, that we MUST grieve, borders on depravity. Language matters, Me. Rather. Do better than this. It is offensive to those of us who grieve the deaths of our beloveds, no matter the cause, because you are demanding we at best engage in a performative emotive display, and at worst become emotional vampires.
As tears are running down my face, I thank you for writing what I've been feeling but was unable to verbalize.
👌🤣😂❗
So why is nothing mentioned about the United States funding of (and then denying) the research of developing deadly viruses not only in our country but in hostile countries as well. Scientists are exactly to blame for the path they follow to develop deadly viruses at labs all over the world, all in the name of helping humanity. They don't need to be doing any of this at all!
The fact that this whole Covid thing has been politicized by all sides has been terrible, but with everyone trying to hide the truth about what actually happened, it's just another "shit storm" the world has to go thru until it all ends.
How ironic that Dan Rather is writing about propaganda. You were a one man apologist and liar for the Democrat party for decades and your transgressions were so egregious that even CBS had to fire you. You have zero journalistic integrity. Just go away.
Covid started in China...germ warfare. send them medical and funeral bills...they are evil
Sad how true this article is!
What a wise and beautifully written column. Full of truths- hard truths- but also full of compassion for the frailty of our human condition.
Incredibly well written and SPOT ON! Thank you Mr Rather for your insight and candor
I look for my Dan Rather letter each day. In it his words show compassion, perspective and a steadiness to life,a calmness that allows for the ebb and flow of life.
A pov that i believe needs further attention: that it is the non vaxxed that are dying, that are creating the stress on our medical system, that are endangering our national health.
•I believe that there is a major difference between folks that are non vaxxed, vs anti vaxxed.
•I suggest that within the non vaxxed camp are folks that are socially responsible, are taking care of themselves through an immune enhancing regimen that is antiviral, that supports being healthy.
••• It is a non partisan stance, it costs money, it takes self responsibility and discipline.
•••It takes education that involves research and self education, often going to a doctor that you privately pay for.
•••It involves following doctors orders as well as educating yourself so you can partner with the doctor in optimizing your own health.
•As a HCP, that patient is a rare gem; it takes time, like years, for a patient to self cultivate that level of willingness and proactivity to be responsible for your own health as well as finding a doctor who can lead you thru the pandemic successfully as well as successfully faring chronic illness •With this partnership i believe a successful experience of covid19 is possible: with infection or not, that with knowledge and training in self care that with an effort of self care that resilience, hope and steadiness can prevail with successful recovery.
• It is in this practitioner relationship and teamwork that cultivates self care, education and helps to develop patient understanding and self care. This is the strength of complementary care; this is the weak link of Western medicine.
The deaths that are happening, i believe, are patients probably seeing western med doctors who treat symptoms thru pills. Who do not train patients on nutrition, do not address necessary self care and do not seek partnering with their patients as well as patients with their doctors. They assess,diagnose and give pills. Last words: “We will see if it works.”
Equally it is the insurance system with the 12 minutes per doctor visit and the doctor asking questions while typing their note that shapes the quality of their visit. That shapes the tenor of care given. That is not the fault of the doctor: that is the system they work in.
•I work in a system complementary to this big WM system where patients come to me with a list of concerns, where they are treated holistically, where their treatment educates them, where there are follow up visits with me and there is a continuity of education and continuity of care as well as a relationship that is developed and cultivated. Where caring prevails, where partnership is foremost and patient self care, self discipline is cultivated and working.
I contend that most deaths were folks diagnosed with covid19, were diagnosed and then sent home to self quarantine with no instructions for self care: ie. •supplements to enhance their immune response like Vit C, D and A. Like antivirals, minerals etc.
•like giving instructions for this self-care program while giving hope: hope that with this daily execution that you might get getter and not go to the hospital.
• That there are actions daily that you can do to get well and stay well. Like maybe not having to go to the hospital.
•••This instruction is not given; it is more like a death sentence if you get this diagnosis. From early MSM reports, you go to the hospital, you are not coming home.
This message creates despair, no hope and fear. It generates anxiety, distrust and polarization. It creates death rather than successful recovery.
I contend that it is not the non vaxxers that are dying: it may be the anti vaxxers and their partisan who-haw, it might be the medically ignorant who deny illness despite the political climate or diagnosis. It might be the confused common person reacting to the polarizing MSM creating fear and confusion, rather than the MSM being the necessary arm of a democratic society whose job is to educate the citizenry in best methods forward, to provide neutral points of view or best points of views seeing all sides.
I believe it is the confused common person, lacking in effective self care that is dying. Probably the folks with multiple co-morbidities that are already immune compromised as well as poor self care habits that are succumbing to this condition. I am sure that there is more to this; yet to say that it is the non vaxxed are dying. That is incorrect, misleading and polarizing.
You have put in words what I have been feeling and thinking for some time now. Thank you. I grieve with you and for the same reasons. I hope that the madness subsides so we can realiza our common humanity and move together again with kindness, understanding and grace.
Damn you write with such clarity on all subjects, but this one was painful to read. Such a intelligent sensitive man
Could only write
So focused about this tragedy that has stopped this country and the world dead in it's tracks. Maybe we can embrace our democracy and humanity and move on. What other choice do we have.Right now it's a very SAD world we live in.
"Now that we have remarkably effective vaccines, there is a tendency among those who have been vaccinated to be very frustrated with those who have not. And this has extended, at times, to many expressing a lack of empathy for those who are suffering from severe cases of a deadly disease whose severity is now almost completely preventable. The truth is that almost everyone who is dying today is unvaccinated. And that means that most of these deaths should not have happened."
Aside from the frustration and lack of empathy expressed towards the unvaccinated, largely due to constant misinformation and fear mongering from The President, health agencies and the media, everything in this paragraph is diametrically opposed to reality. YOU are one of the sources of misinformation.
Recent studies show that vaccine effectiveness wanes to literally ZERO within two months after the last shot, and then becomes negative after that. Do you understand what that means? Vaccinated people are at greater risk of infection than unvaccinated people. Many of us warned this might happen, it is most likely to a phenomenon called "antibody independent enhancement", a phenomenon which was seen with ALL previous attempts to create a vaccine for earlier Coronaviruses, and something I warned about back in May 2020:
https://www.ageofautism.com/2020/05/sars-cov-2-coronavirus-vaccine-concerns-from-a-vaccine-safety-advocate-1.html
As for your claim that everyone who is dying being unvaccinated, I suggest you do some actual investigative journalism and look at the data coming from highly vaccinated countries where the majority of the cases, hospitalizations and deaths are in vaccinated people.