COVID-19

[Tank]

 

[Recusant]

Checking in on the quack world. About what you would expect, but some may find it entertaining...

"COVID-Denying Medical Group Implodes Over Founder's Extravagant Spending" | The Daily Beast

When employees at leading COVID pseudoscience group America's Frontline Doctors tried to log in to work last week, they found themselves locked out of their email accounts. The nonprofit quickly fell into factions, with employees holding rival Zoom meetings to plot who would take over the group.

The organization's exiled founder, Dr. Simone Gold, tried unsuccessfully to gain access to a private Zoom call, only to find herself stuck in a waiting room. In internal emails, the group's accountant worried about who could still access the $7 million locked in its bank accounts.

[. . .]

As AFLDS's leadership squabbles, the group's rank-and-file employees are struggling to fulfill the organization's basic functions, like connecting their supporters with prescriptions for ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. In the end, AFLDS staffers are able to do just one thing, according to a signed affidavit filed in court recently: cancel their fans' donations.

[. . .]

AFLDS received at least $10 million in donations, and millions more by facilitating prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. But Gold derailed her path to right-wing stardom when she entered the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot with John Strand, an underwear model roughly twenty years her junior who had become her boyfriend and an AFLDS employee. According to prosecutors, Gold stood by as a police officer was attacked by rioters, opting not to use her medical training to help the man.

Gold was arrested a few weeks after the riot and charged with disorderly conduct and other criminal charges. As her legal case loomed in February 2022, Gold—according to emails and affidavits the board's lawyers have added to the court record—resigned her position on the AFLDS board. Joey Gilbert—a former professional boxer turned Nevada lawyer who was once suspended from the sport after testing positive for steroids and amphetamines—was voted onto the board.

According to the board's lawsuit, Gold tried to negotiate a position as a fundraising consultant for the organization with a hefty $1.5 million signing bonus and $600,000 annual salary. Gold ultimately agreed to stay on as a consultant—though it's not clear what financial deal she received.

[Continues . . .]

I was unable to find what the S stands for in AFLDS. Speculating: Society, Sucker, Stupid . . .

[Tank]

[Asmodean]

It seems like the S does not stand for a separate word any more than the L does.

The Asmo, He grumpily disapproves.

[Recusant]

Despite some vocal support of the "lab leak" hypothesis, it really doesn't have much evidence in support. Occam's Razor would lead to rejecting the "lab leak" as superfluous unless there is evidence in its favor. On the other hand, we know that it is a fairly regular occurrence for novel (to our species) viral diseases to make the jump from a wild animal reservoir to Homo sapiens. There is some evidence to support that route for COVID-19.

"The Strongest Evidence Yet That an Animal Started the Pandemic" | The Atlantic

For three years now, the debate over the origins of the coronavirus pandemic has ping-ponged between two big ideas: that SARS-CoV-2 spilled into human populations directly from a wild-animal source, and that the pathogen leaked from a lab. Through a swirl of data obfuscation by Chinese authorities and politicalization within the United States, and rampant speculation from all corners of the world, many scientists have stood by the notion that this outbreak—like most others—had purely natural roots. But that hypothesis has been missing a key piece of proof: genetic evidence from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, showing that the virus had infected creatures for sale there.

This week, an international team of virologists, genomicists, and evolutionary biologists may have finally found crucial data to help fill that knowledge gap. A new analysis of genetic sequences collected from the market shows that raccoon dogs being illegally sold at the venue could have been carrying and possibly shedding the virus at the end of 2019. It's some of the strongest support yet, experts told me, that the pandemic began when SARS-CoV-2 hopped from animals into humans, rather than in an accident among scientists experimenting with viruses.

"This really strengthens the case for a natural origin," says Seema Lakdawala, a virologist at Emory University who wasn't involved in the research. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist involved in the research, told me, "This is a really strong indication that animals at the market were infected. There's really no other explanation that makes any sense."

[Continues . . .]

[Tank]

Reality doesn't make good headlines.

[Recusant]

OK, check your symptoms. Like me, you may have a few even if you've never caught COVID. 

The RECOVER project has released a paper describing the symptoms of long COVID.

"These Are the 12 Major Symptoms of Long COVID" | The Daily Beast

The new paper reiterates the scientific term for long COVID: post-acute sequelae, or PASC. The 12 symptoms the authors of the study identified as a result of PASC are:

• loss of smell/taste
• feelings of malaise after physical activity
• chronic cough
• "brain fog" that makes mental activity difficult
• thirst
• heart palpitations
• chest pains
• fatigue
• changes in sexual desire
• dizziness
• gastrointestinal ailments
• abnormal movements
• hair loss

They forgot to mention shortness of pants and delayed borborygmus. (Sadly, joeactor was the only other Firehead here and he doesn't visit any more, but I feel compelled to quote the Firesign Theatre occasionally.)

[Tank]

Shit. I have permanent Covid! Who knew.