Shaw's Eco-Logic

This HND piece examines the latest research on the efficacy of masks, as a protective measure against SARS-CoV-2. Some interesting observational studies are discussed, including a "before and after" situation at Mass General Brigham. This is about as close to a controlled experiment as we are ever going to get.

I also spotlight an interesting animal study, and the opinions of some real experts—not the puffed-up government types who have been dominating the discourse.

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This HND piece journeys away from the technical and political aspects of COVID-19, and offers some practical suggestions on how to achieve some peace of mind in the midst of the crisis. We draw on several sources, and even reference a great line from a 1979 Disney movie.

I hope you find something you can use.

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This HND piece examines a few more failures of the public health "experts," who are guiding us (and not very well) through the novel coronavirus pandemic. We first discuss the scandal involving the hypersensitivity of the most-used screening test. Because of an over-cranking of the number of PCR cycles, false positives are being created at an alarming rate.

Then, we offer you the true story of how New York state caused the deaths of 11,000 people in their nursing home travesty. Finally, we segue into the small matter of how "flattening the curve" for a couple of weeks morphed into permanent lockdowns for much of the country--along with reflections on why we tolerate feckless experts.

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This HND piece examines the legacy of failure that is our public health agencies. We first focus on their handling of COVID-19, and the ridiculous policy of quarantining the healthy while ignoring the most vulnerable. This is brought into sharp relief when you realize that at least 43% of all deaths from the virus have occurred in nursing homes. And then, the frankly murderous record of New York state is compared with Florida. Florida— with a larger population and many more older residents—has a fraction of the deaths.

It hardly takes a rocket scientist to understand that forcing COVID-19 patients into such facilities is a recipe for disaster. So what does that tell you about the leadership of the Empire State? And, then there's the flagrant politicization in how the deaths from COVID are even being counted.

What about the entire theory behind the lockdown mentality? Prepare to be disappointed once again. If nothing else comes out of this pandemic, it should be the harsh realization that most medical academics and bureaucrats are little more than empty suits, whose value is immensely overstated. We then segue into the utter fiasco that is our record on obesity, dietary recommendations, and diabetes.

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This HND piece presents a few more observations and contrarian points on the ongoing crisis. We discuss a number of published studies that seriously question the rigorous lockdown approach. In the first one, TJ Rodgers says that there is no correlation between the length of lockdowns are how many lives were saved. A similar study from Western Europe echoes Rodgers' results.

Next, infamous Professor Lockdown (Neil Ferguson of the UK), he of the 2.2. million deaths in the US, has been completely discredited. And, his personal life has about as much integrity as his epidemiological modeling. For this, Elon Musk gets in his digs.

Then, we segue into a treatment of masks—and how to use them; and end with a few snarky comments from Lionel Media.

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This HND piece goes into more information on the virus pandemic. We start with a full rundown on the two labs in Wuhan that were handling dangerous viruses, and how they could have escaped—accidentally or otherwise. This includes an explanation of the Biosafety Level criteria and the lack of any publicized audit trail. And then there's the matter of whether or not this pathogen could have been specifically engineered.

We segue into the latest on hydroxychloroquine, and the lamestream media's bizarre attempts to stigmatize that therapy, even going so far as to put lipstick on that pig of a VA study. Also included is an interesting new theory on the pathophysiology of COVID-19.

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This HND piece traces the often sordid history of law enforcement and illegal drugs. There was always a racial and political component, from its inception in the 1870s. In any case, the War on Drugs has been a massive and expensive failure, and in the past few years, the law enforcement community has started to realize it. That's why, more and more police agencies are promoting rehab, rather than arrests.

Spearheading this effort is the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative, which has a kindred spirit in the Law Enforcement Action Partnership. Ironically, Nixon's War on Drugs did include provisions for rehab and treatment. Of course, these were immediately overshadowed by enforcement activities, racking up virtually no real success since the programs were instituted in 1971.

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This HND piece explores the reasons behind the inescapable fact that better health correlates with more wealth, all the way from the poorest to the richest. This correlation is simply another demonstration of the so-called "social determinants of health," and we should focus on breaking the molds.

We look at the possible influence of national health insurance on this phenomenon, but a comparison of general health between similar American and British cohorts brings another finding: Brits have better health, even if we tend to have similar longevities. That is, we get sicker sooner, and can be kept alive longer.

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This HND piece begins with the origin of the proverb "Physician, heal thyself," and then gets into the significant problem of physician burnout. We include the somewhat sanitized version of this issue, as provided by a federal agency, and expand on it. We give you the reasons behind the causes of burnout, going beyond the agency's treatment.

Then we segue into the story of Debra Blaine, MD, a professional coach who helps docs in need. She knows her stuff, as she was a burnout herself after 30 years in practice. Since burnout is said to affect more than 50 percent of physicians, this problem needs to be dealt with! Who wants to be treated by a burned-out doctor?

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This HND piece examines the matter of chronic pain, and then focuses on the government's ill-advised scorched earth campaign against opioids.  Unfortunately, thousands of chronic pain patients are suffering because they cannot obtain therapeutic doses of these drugs.  What's worse is that bogus experts--with considerable influence--are pushing this policy.

These charlatans, under the name of PROP, attack opioid pain meds on a daily basis, and it's only now coming out that they are being handsomely paid by plaintiff's lawyers.  What a shock!  A government policy with "unintended" consequences that actually benefits consultants, politicians, and greedy attorneys.  We've never seen that before.

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