Misinformation Issues

[GURPS]

Houston doctor suspended for 'spreading dangerous misinformation' responds to allegations


Houston Methodist officials posted a statement on Twitter about Bowden's suspension.

"Dr. Bowden is using her social media accounts to express her personal and political opinions about the COVID-19 vaccine and treatments.

These opinions, which are harmful to the community, do not reflect reliable medical evidence or the values of Houston Methodist, where we have treated more than 25,000 COVID-19 inpatients, and where all our employees and physicians are vaccinated to protect our patients."

The hospital added she is "spreading dangerous misinformation which is not based in science."

Houston Methodist said Bowden recently joined the medical staff and, as of Friday, had never admitted a patient. She also told the hospital she is vaccinated, as is required.

Her attorney, Steven Mitby, released a statement Friday night.

"Dr. Mary Bowden is a Stanford-trained physician who owns a successful medical practice in Houston and has provided top quality care to thousands of Houstonians. Dr. Bowden has treated more than 2,000 patients with COVID-19, many with co-morbidities, and has yet to have one of her patients end up in the hospital. Her early treatment methods work and are saving lives. If America had more doctors like Dr. Bowden, COVID outcomes would be much better.

Dr. Bowden is not anti-vaccine. Like most Americans, Dr. Bowden believes that people should have a choice and believes that all people, regardless of vaccine status, should have access to the same high quality health care without discrimination.

Dr. Bowden has the utmost respect for Houston Methodist and is proud of the work she has done along with her colleagues at Houston Methodist."

 

[LightRoasted]

If I may ...

The flu vaccine is usually good for one year, even though it might not be for that year's strain. These vaccines lose it at 6 months. Or was that the plan all along .

Flu vaccines do not work. Even if the CDC says so. They have a high failure rate, in addition to a high breakthrough rate. And, who's to say that the foolish programmed people that do get the flu shot, don't get the flu because of their own healthy immune system, or that they eat a healthy natural diet, and exercise? It's all subjective and snake oil.

 

[Hijinx]

The fact that she has treated Covid patients and has yet to admit one to the hospital pretty much says it all to me.

 

[GURPS]

Texas Doctor Has Privileges Suspended For Spreading ‘Dangerous’ COVID-19 Misinformation Online


According to The Post, Bowden’s attorney, Steve Mitby, said his client has treated more than 2,000 COVID-19 patients and is “not anti-vaccine.”

“Like many Americans, Dr. Bowden believes that people should have a choice and believes that all people, regardless of vaccine status, should have access to the same high quality health care,” Mitby said.

As The Post notes, “Earlier this year, more than 150 health-care workers with the Houston Methodist resigned or were terminated for not complying with its vaccine mandate. The Houston-based hospital system said Bowden, who is vaccinated against the coronavirus, has never admitted a patient at the medical center, which has treated more than 25,000 covid patients. The hospital was one of the country’s first to require proof of vaccination.”

“The Houston doctor is the latest medical professional suspended for promoting coronavirus misinformation and the consumption of ivermectin, an unproven treatment the Food and Drug Administration has said can be “dangerous” and potentially fatal,” the Post noted.

The tweets referenced by media reports include “Ivermectin might not be as deadly as everyone said it was,” which Bowden tweeted on Nov. 10. “Speak up!”

 

[GURPS]

‘The View’ Cuts Off Jedediah Bila After Sharing Accurate COVID-19 Information


“Okay, Jed, let’s address the elephant in the room,” co-host Joy Behar said. “You were supposed to join us in the studio weeks ago, but you couldn’t because ABC has a very strict policy: You can’t get into this building unless you’re fully vaccinated.”

“Everybody in this room knows that and is vaccinated. But you made a conscious decision not to get the vaccine,” she continued.

“I am not a candidate for this vaccine,” Bila replied, noting that a team of doctors signed a medical exemption. She added that, since she has had COVID-19, her “sky-high, multi-tier, multi-faceted natural immunity” has been “substantiated by letters from these doctors.”

“I am not anti-vax. What I really want is for people to make these decisions for themselves,” she continued as a cast member groaned audibly. “However, I do oppose mandates.”

Bila added the existing COVID-19 vaccine “does not prevent you from getting COVID and does not prevent you from transmitting COVID.”

“Oh my goodness!” exclaimed Behar. “No, that’s not so. You’ve been at Fox TV too long,” Behar added, to significant applause from the studio audience.

“I don’t understand why you would choose to prioritize your personal freedom over the health and safety of others,” said co-host Sunny Hostin.

“I don’t think we should allow this kind of misinformation on our website,” said Hostin, talking over Bila, who eventually got to reply.

“I am prioritizing my health,” Bila said.

“Over the health and safety of other people,” Hostin averred.

Whoopi Goldberg promptly intervened, saying, “This should sound very familiar to you, Jed: We have to go to break.”




If YOU are protected by the JAB, why are you afraid of people who don't

 

[GURPS]

NIH Chief Wants Online ‘Misinformation’ Spreaders ‘Brought to Justice’



With secret police chief Merrick Garland siccing the FBI on parents at school board meetings and the social media giants continuing to cut the ground out from under dissenting voices, the Biden administration has not exactly provided a welcoming place for the freedom of speech. However, Francis Collins, the outgoing director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), thinks there is still altogether too much of it. Collins wants those who are spreading “misinformation” to be “brought to justice,” and pronto.

It’s disconcerting to see an official of the United States government (the NIH is an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services) coming out so openly against a fundamental right guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and hallowed by over two centuries of precedent, but as far as Collins is concerned, the need to curtail the freedom of speech is urgent. He said Friday, “Conspiracies are winning here. Truth is losing. That’s a really serious indictment of the way in which our society seems to be traveling.”

Collins was referring to what he said was misinformation about America’s doctor, Anthony Fauci. According to The Washington Post, Fauci’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) wasn’t really funding experiments involving the gratuitous torture of puppies. The Post admitted that “NIAID was initially listed as a funder on the study in a paper in a scientific journal in late July,” but claimed that “the researchers and the medical journal corrected the error.”

Collins was indignant over the fact that people still believed Fauci was involved in the puppy torture, fuming: “Truth is supposed to be truth, and the fact that your truth would be so heavily modified by your social circle or where you get your news tells you we’re in real trouble.”





Freedom of the Press .... Freedom To Speak

Any characterization used to describe Trump or Trump Supporters is fair game for anyone else

 

[GURPS]

Military Officers: To Combat ‘Disinformation,’ The Government And Its Big Tech Buddies Should Tell You What To Think


Ironically, the article is itself misinformation. That this misinformation is published by military officers associated with two highly prestigious institutions, the NDU and the Cyber Institute, makes it all the more inappropriate and dangerous.

The article attempts to address a real and dangerous issue: how mis- and disinformation can endanger national security. Preparing for and combatting disinformation is a complex issue that involves disciplines from sociology and psychology to highly technical cyberwarfare issues.

[clip]

False Premise

Warming to their theme, the authors then claim “recent polls indicate that nearly 20 percent of Americans approved of the insurrection” and that their article is “written in response to the Capitol insurrection.” This purported support for an “insurrection” then becomes the compelling force for the authors’ advice to the Biden administration that it should clamp down on free speech.

But that initial premise is false: Although some politicians have used the term, there was no “insurrection.” “Insurrection” is a violation of the federal criminal code, 15 U.S.C. §2383. If there had been an insurrection on Jan. 6, Attorney General Merrick Garland would have brought related criminal charges against the alleged insurrectionists. Although almost 300 people arrested for the events of Jan. 6 have been charged with “parading” in the Capitol building, not a single one has been charged with insurrection, indicating prosecutors don’t have evidence to charge them of this crime.

[clip]

The Definition of Disinformation

So, how would these military officers identify “disinformation”? It is difficult to know, since the authors never define either mis- or disinformation. But apparently it is anything that is contrary to what they call “shared reality.”

They repeatedly call for a “shared reality,” which can be aided by, in their words, government “pressure, if not regulation” to “bury spurious sources.” They give an example: “It may be necessary to consider requiring social media companies to adjust their algorithms to ensure users view a variety of legitimate professional news sources.”

The authors acknowledge (in a footnote) that it may be difficult to secure “universal agreement” on just which news sources are “legitimate.” They never identify just who should be the arbiter of truth; they just leave that to unidentified actors in “the private sector, the government, and the public.” And they do not say how they would identify what needs to be censored, other than speech that departs from groupthink shared reality.
But, of course, some person must be the arbiter, even if only by writing the tech companies’ algorithms. Who shall it be? A 23-year-old intern at Twitter? A committee of Mark Zuckerberg-approved techies? The Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and serial liar Adam Schiff? Government bureaucrats such as Anthony Fauci, who lied to the American people because he thought they “can’t handle the truth”? The authors provide no answer.

 

[GURPS]

Government has no business rooting out and flagging ‘misinformation’


Asked by MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski about the alleged misinformation spread by the popular “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast and Facebook users, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy responded with a homily about how “we” must “root out” misleading speech.

“We” don’t have to do any such thing. Government officials have no role in dictating appropriate speech or lecturing us on what we can or can’t say. In fact, they have a duty not to.

Murthy’s comments wouldn’t be as grating if it weren’t so obvious that the Biden administration has been pressuring Big Tech companies, who oversee huge swaths of our daily digital interactions, to limit speech and set acceptable standards.

You might remember that last summer, Press Secretary Jen Psaki causally informed the media that the White House was “flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation.” Can you imagine the explosive reaction from the establishment media if it had learned that the Trump White House was keeping a list of speech crimes?

White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield also argued that social-media companies “should be held accountable” for the ideas of those who use their platforms. President Joe Biden, who previously accused Facebook of “killing people,” this month made a “special appeal to social media companies and media outlets: Please deal with the misinformation and disinformation that’s on your shows. It has to stop.”

 

[herb749]

All this BS over disinformation and what people really want is information from this President. No talk about the economy, immigration, etc. Just hey, look over there at what's being said. Don't worry about what's really happening.

 

[GURPS]

Four Times Big Tech Censored Covid ‘Misinformation’ That Turned Out To Be True

The Lab-Leak Theory

The Covid Vaccine and Menstrual Cycles

Masks

Everyone knows that over the last two years one of the easiest ways to see your social media post disappear or receive a label was to question the efficacy of masks. No one was immune. Dr. Scott Atlas, one of President Trump’s controversial pandemic advisors, said his Twitter account was locked for 12 hours after he posted a message on the platform that said “Masks work? NO” followed by citations questioning the efficacy of face coverings in certain areas with strict requirements.

YouTube followed suit in August by suspending Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), another doctor, who said the platform banned him for seven days for a video that quotes peer-reviewed articles saying cloth masks don’t work.

One of the statements YouTube pointed to in justifying its decision? Paul’s comment that, “Most of the masks you get over the counter don’t work. They don’t prevent infection.”

Except, shocker, the gentleman from Kentucky was on to something, as even the CDC now acknowledges they don’t prevent infection nearly as well as advertised. The agency quietly updated its guidelines on Jan. 14, conceding that “loosely woven cloth coverings” provide the least protection compared to higher-quality N95 and KN95 masks.

Senator Paul tweeted in response to the news of the CDC update, “Does this mean snot-nosed censors at YouTube will come to my office and kiss my … and admit I was right?”

Natural Immunity Offering More Protection Than Vaccines

 

[GURPS]

WaPo: The misinformation 'reckoning' that previously focused on Facebook has now hit Spotify

twitchy.com

 

[GURPS]

Katie Couric: Misinformation ‘superspreaders’ should be held liable​

"People who spread it — who are 'superspreaders' — should be held liable for spreading this disinformation, whether it's about COVID, or vaccines, or about Sandy Hook," she told Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer on Jan. 11.

"I think that platforms need to be more aggressive about monitoring it," she adds.

Couric, who released a memoir in October entitled, "Going There," co-founded and runs a media company called Katie Couric Media.

In some cases, prominent figures have faced legal liability for false remarks. In November, a Connecticut court found conspiracy theorist Alex Jones liable for defamation over his claim that the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax.

 

[GURPS]

Jon Stewart Goes To Bat For Rogan Again: On The Iraq War ‘I Was Promoting What They Would Call Misinformation’​

Stewart then pointed back to a comment made earlier by Donovan, who said that some people “want the benefit without the accountability” with regard to having a platform like Spotify.

Stewart then tied that thought in to the media coverage of the Iraq War — which he had vocally opposed even in 2003 — adding, “The New York Times, right, was a giant purveyor of misinformation, and disinformation. And that’s as vaunted a media organization as you can find, but there was no accountability for them.”

“I think where I get nervous is in the run-up to the Iraq War and in the prosecution of the Iraq War, I was very vocal, sometimes cursed about that,” Stewart continued, noting that the mainstream media had been carrying stories about weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and Saddam Hussein.

“Couldn’t I have gone down and fallen down this — if Viacom or Comedy Central had wanted to censor me — or had wanted to take me off the — look, I’m not owed a platform. Nobody is,” Stewart said. “But my point is, these are shifting sands, and I think I get concerned with, well, who gets to decide?”

 

[SamSpade]

Today's "minformation" all too often is tomorrow's truth. We have all seen how political sides frame and RECAST the version their opponents claim as lies and untruths. The term "misinformation" has gotten loaded with all sorts of power, because it suggests that allowing it to exist is a danger by itself.

Most of you already believe some misinformation. There's an extremely good chance that very widely believed "facts" aren't true at all. For example, ever hear "blind as a bat"? Newsflash - they aren't blind at all. In fact, they can see in the dark FAR better than you can. Sure, they use echolocation - but it doesn't mean they're blind.

BUT -

What disturbs me most about the whole thing is how it's taken on the shape that it does in the world's MOST OPPRESSIVE regimes - that information that is deemed "misinformation" can be treated as extremely dangerous, and worthy of arrest or imprisonment. That having an unpopular opinion should not be permitted. We had Trudeau describe the truckers as having "unacceptable" opinions.

Sorry - but in a nation that actually HAS freedom of speech - you're allowed to have unacceptable opinions.

 

[Kyle]

Today's "misinformation" all too often is tomorrow's truth.

 

[GURPS]

Today's "minformation" all too often is tomorrow's truth.

Common Sense we have been screaming from the roof tops for the past 18 months, labeled misinformation, and would get you banned from ALL Social Media Platforms now is suddenly acceptible Facts

 

[GURPS]

Sorry - but in a nation that actually HAS freedom of speech - you're allowed to have unacceptable opinions.

Yep, Well said.

 

[SamSpade]

Common Sense we have been screaming from the roof tops for the past 18 months, labeled misinformation, and would get you banned from ALL Social Media Platforms now is suddenly acceptible Facts

MOST interesting to me - is who it is that's saying "y'all full of crap". Jon Stewart - Bill Maher - the NEW YORK TIMES.
Because like it always happens - it's been biting THEM in the ass.

Did you ever think you'd be hearing JON STEWART chastising the left for their bullchit?

 

[Kyle]

MOST interesting to me - is who it is that's saying "y'all full of crap". Jon Stewart - Bill Maher - the NEW YORK TIMES.
Because like it always happens - it's been biting THEM in the ass.

Did you ever think you'd be hearing JON STEWART chastising the left for their bullchit?

It's interesting to hear but I can't forget that just a few months to years ago, they and others like them were all in lockstep.

 

[Hijinx]

Unfortunately or fortunately---take your pick---I don't know what Jon Stewart or Bill Maher or Katie Couric have to say about anything as I don't watch them. I see snippets here and other places, but I still don't watch them nor do I intend to. One experience with any of them tells me what they are I don't go back.

As for false information------------What is false? We have medical people and at least one whole country that says they treat people with Ivermectin and HCQ and it works, and then we have this mother humping little turd named Faucci who gave China the money to build this disease and is making money off of it telling us it doesn't work. Who is putting out the bad information, and why?

I choose to believe those who are working with the medicine instead of some jerk-off like Faucci.