Thursday, September 30, 2021

- Voluntary Consent Is the Transcendent Principle -

"My view of government places trust not in one person or one party, but in those values that transcend persons and parties. The trust is where it belongs — in the people." (Ronald Reagan, in his acceptance speech for the Republican Presidential Nomination, June 17, 1980)
"Certain basic principles must be observed in order to satisfy moral, ethical, and legal concepts of medicine, including:

The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential.

This means that the person should have the legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, over-reaching, or other ulterior forms of constraint or coercion; and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved as to enable him to make an understanding and enlightened decision."
The NUREMBERG CODE: FROM TRIALS OF WAR CRIMINALS BEFORE THE NUREMBERG MILITARY TRIBUNALS UNDER CONTROL COUNCIL LAW NO. 10. NUREMBERG, OCTOBER 1946–APRIL 1949. WASHINGTON, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O, 1949–1953.
German physicians hung for their war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials (June 2, 1948)

When the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party) came to power in the 1930s, Adolph Hitler began shutting down all public dissent over government policies. Before the Nazi takeover, Germany had 4,700 different newspapers, reflecting all shades of political opinion. The Nazi regime quickly eliminated freedom of the press in Germany, shutting down oppositional newspapers and manipulating the press. The Nazi Party's press empire rapidly expanded after 1933, as did the readership of its newspapers. The Nazi press accounted for more than 80% of the newspapers circulated in Germany by mid-1941. Adolf Hitler and the Nazis succeeded in destroying Germany's vibrant and diverse newspaper culture. The newly created Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment handed out daily instructions to all German newspapers, Nazi or independent, detailing how the news was reported. Any dissenter to the official narrative became an enemy of the state. (Source; The Holocaust National Museum)

The German people were kind, trusting, and caring people. They were told by the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and German physicians that Jews, Gypsies, and Nazi Party dissenters all carried vermin, parasites, and diseases. Nazi ideology focused on the idea that the "blood of these weak, ignorant peoples" threatened German national prosperity. The German media, controlled by the Nazi government narrative, depicted Jews, political opponents, and other "enemies of the state" as parasitic organisms that threatened the overall health of the so-called Volksgemeinschaft (the German people).  Reflecting common themes in Nazi propaganda, physicians repeatedly pushed the false claim that Jews were primarily responsible for outbreaks of typhus—a deadly contagious disease.

For this reason, non-compliant Germans, ethnic Jews, and zealots like the gypsies and Poles were gathered into "Concentration Camps" so that the Volksgemeinschaft might be protected from these disease carriers. Only the pure had the right to live, travel, and shop freely. The pure were only those who obeyed the government mandates. 

Who watched over the unclean and made sure they were punished? The German elite like Colonel Karl Kock, superintendent of Buchenwald Concentration Camp, and his wife, Ilse Kock

Ilse Koch's mug shot
Ilse was trained as a librarian. She was a proud German woman. Ilse believed that she and her husband were responsible to German society to protect the Voksgemeinshaft from the diseased people who walked among them.  Ilse was a good, moral woman. But Ilse's fear of spreading disease, a fear propagated by the German government and its media propaganda arm, caused this otherwise ordinary woman named Ilse to do things in the early 1940s that few Americans can comprehend in the early 2020s. 

While her husband Karl supervised Buchenwald, Ilse developed a reputation of her own. She had no formal government authority in the camp, but she was known to beat prisoners with her own hands or her horse's riding-whip. She would walk with her husband's German Shepherd beside her and delighted in ordering the dog to attack pregnant women. Those were her mild-mannered activities. 

Ilse believed that medical experimentation at Buchenwald would benefit German society as a whole. Due to her academic background, she personally supervised medical research conducted by German physicians, research designed to save "thousands of lives." Men and women in the concentration camps were injected with tetanus, rabies, typhus, syphilis, and other diseases and then used as laboratory rats to experiment with new treatments. In a movie based on Ilse's life, a prisoner asks for anesthesia before being injected with a new strain of typhus. Isle responds, "One does not give caviar to guinea pigs." (Source: Holocaust Pornography: Profaning the Sacred in "Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS" Shofar, Fall 2002, Vol. 22, No. 1. Special Issue: Jewish Film (FALL 2003), pp. 53-79, Purdue University Press). 

Ilse believed that the pharmaceutical research conducted by German doctors would benefit German society. It mattered not that the patients would not give their consent. Indeed, based on orders and instructions from German pharmaceutical corporations, SS physicians carried out pharmacological experiments in Dachau, Buchenwald, Ravensbruck, Sachsenhausen, Natzeiler, Strutthof, and other concentration camps. Patients were injected with either disease or medicine without their consent. These experiments took place on the initiative of the highest German medical authorities of the Reich and under the watchful eye of Ilse Koch at Buchenwald. The experiments were forced upon the patients by pressure, government strategies, and deception. 

Isle Kock on trial. 
Ilse believed medical coercion suitable for the Volksgemeinschaft. Any resistance by "the diseased" brought more punishment from the elite. The prisoners in Buchenwald had no power. The  German Socialist Workers' Party-controlled their bodies. 

In time, Ilse Koch's hard heart led her to do things to prisoners at Buchenwald that gave Ilsa the
nicknames "The Beast of Buchenwald," "Queen of Buchenwald," "Red Witch of Buchenwald," "Butcher Widow," "The Bitch of Buchenwald," and "The Lady of the Lampshade." 

Reports at her trial indicated that Ilse treated skins of deceased medical prisoners at Buchenwald and then used their skin as home accessories. She bragged to friends that the skins of gypsies and Russians made the best lampshades because of the "swirls of color" across their chests and backs. Albert Grenowski, a Jew who was forced to work in the pathology laboratory of Buchenwald, told Allied judicial authorities at Ilsa Koch's trial that men with tattoos were Ilsa's favorite:
"After they were examined by her, those who were deemed artistically interesting specimens were killed by lethal injection. It was important that the skin of the victims was not damaged. There was one sure way to find yourself in a coffin and that was to damage the skin that the Hexe (witch) wanted for her lampshades. The bodies were taken to the pathology lab where they were treated with alcohol and the skins were removed with painstaking attention to detail so as not to split them or otherwise mark them. Then they were dried, often oiled afterward, and taken in small packages to Ilsa Kock so they could be made into lampshades or gloves. Once we saw Ilsa walking around the compound wearing a brightly patterned pari of summer gloves and just sexy underwear - you know, like she had forgotten to put a dress on. I particularly paid attention to the gloves. The last time I had seen their decoration was on the back of a gypsy prisoner on my block." (Source: Alan Hall, Murder and Madness, Leicester, UK: Bookmart, Ltc, 1993, p. 51).

Forcing medical treatment on the unwilling is the first step toward the dungeon of believing that people who don't think like you are vermin.  

After World War II, Ilsa Kock and dozens of German physicians were placed on trial by the Allies at Nuremberg. All were convicted for war crimes, and seven were hung. Ilsa Kock was sentenced to prison, and twenty years later, on September 1, 1967,  Ilse Koch hanged herself at Aichach women's prison at age 60. Ilse experienced delusions and had become convinced that concentration camp survivors would abuse her in her cell.

Why do I tell you Ilse Kock's story? For five reasons: 

1. The Nuremberg Code of 1947 -  the official statement issued by the Allies in conjunction with the Nuremberg Trials where German doctors were executed for injecting patients with disease and/or medicine without their consent -  categorically states the main transcendent principle of ethical medical treatment is "the voluntary consent of the human subject."   

2. I have had Covid-19 twice and nicely recovered both times. I have always taken my personal health seriously, eating healthy, exercising, and taking vitamin supplements (Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc) as needed. I have robust natural immunity to the entire DNA chain of coronarivuses, over 6000 variants. The Oklahoma Blood Institute has scientifically determined that I have natural antibodies to coronaviruses. I will not voluntary consent to an injection of a Covid-19 therapeutic shot nr any other shot for coronavirus varients no matter the pressure, coercion, or government punishments that come my way. 

3. I am not afraid of shots nor "vaccines." I have received many vaccines throughout my life. This Covid-19 innoculation is not necessary for me.  I am not afraid of the Covid-19 shot and would encourage any person with who feels led to take it. Thank you for your concern that I may day unvaccinated against coronaviruses, but I have done my research, and I am neither afraid of dying from Covid-19 nor of the belief that I will die. I have recovered and developed natural immunity. I do not consent to the Covid-19 innoculation because I believe it is in my best health interest as well as society's best interest for me not to consent. Were I to give in to coercion, be it public, private, or governmental, I would enable the Ilse Kock's of this world.

4. I respect and affirm all my fellow citizens who have by their "free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, over-reaching, or other ulterior forms of constraint or coercion; (having) sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved" made the choice to voluntary receive the Covid-19 therapeutic shot. Good for you. 

5. If you don't understand what I have just written, then I would encourage you to re-read this article. "Those who fail to learn history are condemned to repeat it." (Winston Churchill, 1948 Speech to the House of Commons). 

77 comments:

Neil Cameron (One Salient Oversight) said...

The Nuremberg Code here refers specifically to medical EXPERIMENTS.

Any current mandatory vaccine mandate would not be an experiment.

Wade Burleson said...

Neil,

On the contrary, basic vaccinology rules have been suspended. "Vaccines" require 10 to 15 years of testing for an experimental treatment to qualify as the standard of care. An Emergency Order can "bypass" the rules, but an Emergency Order does not turn an experimental treatment into a tested standard of care treatment "de-facto." Words matter. In addition, a vaccine eradicates the disease in the vaccinated. A therapeutic shot lessons the disease (Covid-19). This shot is therapeutic, not a vaccine. Those who take it can still get Coronaviruses.

The principle stands.

Neil Cameron (One Salient Oversight) said...

The Nuremberg code here is focused on experimentation of human subjects. It's all through the link you provided.

At some point during your argument here, you move from "medical experimentation" to "medical treatment". The two are different. The Nuremberg code does not talk about treatment, but experimentation.

The current group of Covid vaccines have been approved by multiple governments all over the world. People can't be experimented on if they are not part of a study, so if a person receives one of these vaccines, they are not being experimented on.

In 1905 the Supreme Court of the US ruled that states have the authority to require vaccination against smallpox during a smallpox epidemic. This was "Jacobson v. Massachusetts".

Wade Burleson said...

The Nuremberg Court Testimony states:

"At the German concentration camps of Sachsenhausen, Dachau, Natzweiler, Buchenwald, and Neuengamme, scientists used camp inmates to test immunization compounds and antibodies for the prevention and treatment of contagious diseases, including malaria, typhus, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, yellow fever, and infectious hepatitis." (Source: Holocaust Museum).

Sorry, Neil, but my wife has her doctorate from Vanderbilt, and both she and I understand the historical record on immunology. I am not telling you NOT to take the vaccine. Never have. I am politely telling you to butt out and quit being Ilse Kock to me. I do not consent.

Not sure why that's hard for you to comprehend.

Wade Burleson said...

The ALLIED COURTS used the word "treatment" in the court proceedings, and the patients DID NOT CONSENT to the pharmaceutical treatments given them.

The Allies executed the German physicians who injected treatments without consent (the Allies' words, not mine).

Neil Cameron (One Salient Oversight) said...

The point is that you cannot use the Nuremberg Code in defence of your argument because it specifically refers to medical experimentation on unwilling subjects.

The Jews who were experimented on in Nazi Germany ≠ Americans today.

And as I pointed out, "Jacobson v. Massachusetts" makes it clear that US states are allowed to enforce vaccination mandates.

And since vaccination and medical procedures are not mentioned in the Bible, I am politely telling you to obey Titus 3.1 and be submissive to rulers and authorities and to be obedient.

Donald Johnson said...

I read that a person that has had Covid and has recovered has 5 or 6 ways of fighting the disease, but the vaccines each only have 1 and taking a vax wipes out the natural immunity effects.

Wade Burleson said...

"And since vaccination and medical procedures are not mentioned in the Bible, I am politely telling you to obey Titus 3.1 and be submissive to rulers and authorities and to be obedient."

Not happening, Mr. Cameron. I will have a spirit of submission, but I do not intend to submit on this issue.

Neil Cameron (One Salient Oversight) said...

So by saying you're not going to obey Titus 3.1 at this point, you are saying one of the following:

a) "I will not obey the Bible", or

b) "The Bible compels me to disobey government on this particular issue", or

c) "God has given me extra-biblical guidance on this issue which compels me to disobey government"

Which of these is your point of view Wade? IS there are 4th alternative?

Rex Ray said...

Wade,

GREAT POST

When I saw the first page of your Post, I was all set to tell about our Dad telling my brother and me when we watched some of the Nuremberg Trials about a lady that delighted in making lampshades from the skin of prisoners that had tattoos. But you covered the subject very well; even gave the woman’s mug shot of ILSE KOCH.

He also told us how doctors made experiments how much prisoners could be frozen and survive by putting them in bed with a nude woman.

“I was only obeying orders” did not keep bad men from being hung.

Lissa Roberson said...

My thoughts on Titus 3:1.

If we were to obey the government in this matter, we would have to suspend all critical thinking, and surrender our God-given intellectual faculties in order to comply. Think about it: the virus has not remained static in its composition; it has mutated. Chickenpox, polio, measles, mumps and typhus have not morphed the way COVID has.

The vaccines for those diseases I mentioned remain effective, while studies are now revealing that the Pfizer shot is losing its effectiveness after only a brief period of time. The government's answer is to bring out a booster -- quite possibly a never-ending series of booster shots.

To introduce a substandard serum numerous times into our bodies, with no idea of its long-term effects requires a huge leap of faith -- faith in an agency that has changed its message continually. One day we're told that masks are ineffective in combatting the illness. Then we're told that masks are mandatory. We're told that two, maybe even three masks will protect us. One day we're told that the vaccinated are protected from disease, only to be told later that the vaccinated must "mask up" in order to be protected from the unvaccinated.

Why all this contradiction? Our governmental bodies (CDC, WHO, HHS) are rapidly losing credibility and trust with many among us. Why are ethnic minorities so reluctant to "get the jab"? Are minority Christians more disobedient than white Christians that resist getting vaccinated?

Now we're in a season when entire populations in our workforce will lose their jobs if they don't check their critical thinking/independent mental faculties at the door and line up for the vaccine. Teachers, medical professionals, military troops, police officers, university students. Tell me that's not coercion from those in authority over us.

Wade Burleson said...

Lissa,

Well stated.

Thank you.

RB Kuter said...

I think back, Wade, when you began to speak warnings about the government's pending intrusion upon the individual rights and liberties of citizens in the guise of being for the sake of the public health.

It is amazing how far we have progressed (?) in that direction. Saw today where the new $3.5 trillion bill includes government imposed fines of $700,000 per violation for companies who will have employees who are not vaccinated. Doesn't seem far fetched with signs on New York City restaurants forbidding anyone to enter who do not have documents proving they've had both vaccinations, thousands of health care workers being fired for not taking the needle, and hundreds of government border control agents being fired for not having it.

Now children being included.

All the while with tens of thousands of illegal invaders surging across our southern borders unimpeded by the current Washing Regime where 20% are said to be infected with illnesses including COVID.

Seems your warnings were more of a prophecy.

Bene said...

Lissa:

You said: "Think about it: the virus has not remained static in its composition; it has mutated. Chickenpox, polio, measles, mumps and typhus have not morphed the way COVID has."

Measles, chickenpox, smallpox, mumps (DNA virus) is not the same kind of virus as SARS Polio (RNA virus). Typhus is bacterial.

Replication is different.
Replication in a DNA virus weakens it.
SARS variants can weaken or strengthen.
Sars viruses have different variants, not mutations.

Transmissions are different.

Measles - airborne/touch of droplets Containment - vaccination
Chickenpox - touch/airborne Containment - vaccination
Smallpox - airborne/touch Containment and eradication - worldwide vaccination
Mumps - airborne Containment - vaccination
Typhus - infected fleas and lice Containment - antibiotics
Polio - oral/fecal Contained in North America because of vaccination.
It is still around in parts of the world, as are measles, chickenpox, mumps and typhus.

Anon.E.Moose said...

The reality is that there is little data regarding the safety for the use of mRNA vaccine boosters. Pfizer was given an EUA for age 65 and above based on a study of a little over 300 people and information obtained from the Israel experience. Moderna and J&J have not provided any data to the FDA, but people are receiving boosters based on HHS/Biden saying that everyone needs a booster in early September. Some are saying that the 2 shot regimen (not including J&J in this as it is a different platform) is enough. Taking a therapeutic without previous knowledge of efficacy and safety is experimental. Some people are willing to take that risk based on their fears of the virus.

The CDC/FDA panel gave approval to Pfizer under EUA for boosting age 65 and above. The head of the CDC changed that the following week to "anyone who thinks they are high risk or anyone working in a high risk profession." When asked about a broader indication than had been approved by the FDA/CDC committee on vaccine safety she said something to the effect of responding to science in real time, although it is unlikely that a large amount of extra data came out in that small period of time.

Anon.E.Moose said...

Too many countries are operating with the idea that COVID zero is something that can still be obtained. Obviously it will not unless it is through the virus becoming less virulant over time and dying out on it's own.

I read an interesting article regarding the lie of COVID zero and the lie that vaccination will get us out of this. Don't get me wrong -- I am vaccinated and think vaccination is very important for anyone who is high risk. As mentioned above, I am not confident that we have the safety data for a booster, though.

For a virus (DNA versus RNA) be be controllable via vaccination, there have to be several conditions met, which SARS CoV2 fails. 1. It has to be limited to a human host (There can not be an animal population that acts a reservoir.) There was an interesting article published in Nature showing that 40% of the deer had antibodies to SARS CoV2 last year. It did not document infection but the implication is that this virus can jump species easily -- although rare, there have been cases in dogs, cats, gorillas etc.Then there are bats.... The thought was that deer got it from drinking contaminated water, but..... 2. Vaccines need to be "tight" to control/eliminate the virus. The vaccine for SARS CoV2 is obviously not tight. There is no way to have *everyone* vaccinated at the same time to wipe it out. 3. It needs to be a virus that causes symptomatic infection (and in general severe infections) to so that asymptomatic carriers do not spread the virus.

In general, viruses mutate to become less infectious and less virulent over time. That did not occur with the delta variant. Did we select for that variant via vaccination? There is a "Marek effect" where vaccination has been documented to select for a more virulent virus (name after infection of chickens with a herpes virus). Are we seeing that?

My work place just put in a vaccine mandate. The powers that be anticipate losing 5% of the workforce. Natural immunity is not sufficient for the policy.

For a pandemic such as this, authorities have to be reactive in real time. However, people have lost trust via the lack of transparency. We have reacted by doing the same things harder and longer with obvious lack of efficacy, and many people can see that states that have been less tyrannical in their approach have had outcomes similar to states that have been more tyrannical.

I continually toggle between the data for Sweden and Israel. Israel is heavily vaccinated and has done many strong armed maneuvers, including having a vaccine passport. Sweden kept their society open, did not have mask mandates, did not close businesses, vaccinated when available. Early on Sweden took a big hit, but now.....they have next to nothing despite delta. I will acknowledge that the comparison is unfair. This disease has an obvious seasonal ebb and flow to it so comparing Israel and Sweden, in different parts of the globe, is not appropriate. However, Israel is still in a 4th wave despite the booster. They will tell you the wave is because of unvaccinated or under vaccinated, but.....I keep toggling between those countries (staring at India in between) thinking that we are missing something critical and concerned about that miss.

RB Kuter said...

Wade, you wrote concerning Ilse Kock, "Ilse was a good, moral woman." and then went on to describe her sadistic, monstrous, behavior, so I am presuming you were being facetious when describing her as such.

Perhaps you were describing her as being "good and moral" because that's the way the Nazi government would have described her given that her participation in the inhumane atrocities were done under the guise of protecting the Nazi population.

This is a credible portrayal of what is going on in our contemporary US fascist society.
Consider:
- There is documented evidence that the CDC in the US and research scientist in Canada and in US universities have been deeply involved in "Gain of Function" (GOF) research and engineered flu viruses to enhance and increase their destructive power. The US government in years past has financed grants for this GOF research and mutant viruses were the result. Even Fauci's cloaked research medical entity was exposed in Congressional hearings as financing Wuhan GOF research.

-There is documented evidence that this research was done by multiple, international, research sources in partnership with China's Wuhan Research Center.

-There is documented evidence that there have been numerous incidents when these super-power, viruses resulting from this GOF research have "gone missing". One such occasion was the supercharged 1918 flu virus engineered at CDC where vials of the experimental super-virus "went missing" from CDC 2017 with "no" investigation to identify "who" ended up with the super-flu viruses or "where" it ended up going. (Reported in "USA Today" investigative report series using CDC's own internal, email communications)

-There is high suspicion that these viruses engineered at Wuhan were likely leaked outside, as was the case at CDC,and into the public.

It all indicates to me that these viruses were definitely intentionally created and perhaps then intentionally released into the public or such mismanagement and criminally negligent practices took place that resulted in their release. Maybe one day, if sanity ever returns to prevail, we will have a "Nuremberg" type trial for some sinister madmen/women involved in what is going on today.

As in the case of Ilse Kock, this contemporary GOF research was done under the guise of creating vaccinations and counter-attack methods against the super viruses that were intentionally created by CDC, US supported Wuhan in China, Canada and others, and then released, either intentionally or by gross mismanagement,into the public experiment lab. It is not a stretch to say that we are no better than the Nazi German scientist experimentation.

Using the general public as "guinea pigs" for the betterment of society is such a display of "moral and good".

Wade Burleson said...

Anon E. Moose,

Two of the best comments in the world's Covid debacle. Could you privately email me with information about yourself? You have my word I will keep you anonymous. However, with your permission, I would like to publish your comments for all to see. I need to be able to know the credentials of the writer, but will keep it confidential (including your name). WWBURLESON@GMAIL.COM

Wade Burleson said...

RB Kuter,

As the truth continues to filter out, the world is going to be shocked.

You and I will not be.

Christiane said...

In a cult of personality as was 'the Third Reich', people who were cultured and civilized for centuries laid aside their humanity to become killers and tormenters of their own kind.

They did it by looking at other human persons and labeling them as unworthy to live and as a harm to the rest of the 'volk'. Certainly the presence of evil was most evident through the promoting of racist hatred against Jews, non-Aryan types, and people who were LBGT, as well as seeing the disabled as 'burdens' on the state.

So, in the end, a people drank the kool-aid and the object of their adoration led them into destruction, first morally and then physically. But some resisted and worked secretly against the hatred and tried to save lives by sheltering and hiding the victims of hate.

I think the 'vaccination' thing was turned 'political' and there has been much promotion of mis-information by certain sources. We are a free country and may say 'no' to being vaccinated. But there are consequences that must be assumed when we say 'no' and these consequences are because other people see things differently and are trying to be responsible in their own ways. Yet, no one is tying down and forcing a vaccination on adult Americans, so 'freedom' is still in place.

The vaccines? Physicians report that almost all who have died recently from covid were un-vaccinated. So that is what people now know, all the other 'stats' aside.

Ilse Koch? I leave her to the judgment of God. We cannot know the whole of what it was that made her into 'a monster', but God does know. The whole thing about judgment is that we see the end result of a process of evil taking over in a person's life, but we cannot know the whole picture or what happened in her life in particular to lead Frau Koch to such depths of cruelty and inhumanity. I certainly credit the worship of Hitler to be an influence, as in any culture that adopts a personality to 'worship' will be affected in ways unforeseen.

I look at the nurses and doctors in ER's in our nation's hospitals and they are exhausted and saddened by the deaths they are seeing, knowing the patients were not protected by vaccination. So when they call for people to re-think avoiding vaccination, I would not put these front-line servants in the same category as an Ilse Koch, no.

Look to the political for a moment. Think about 'conspiracy theories' and misinformation and consider if the inclusion of these forces did not affect how people responded to the idea of vaccination, masking, and distancing.

Talk to ER nurses and doctors directly. Let them tell you their stories. They are there to save lives, not run for office. Some of their stories are very revealing of that place where no one wants to be: in the ER struggling to breathe.
South Dakota's ER nurse Jodi Doering speaks of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WicsWfTm1ZI

Rileydogbarks said...

Quoting Anon.E.Moose..."For a pandemic such as this, authorities have to be reactive in real time. However, people have lost trust via the lack of transparency. We have reacted by doing the same things harder and longer with obvious lack of efficacy, and many people can see that states that have been less tyrannical in their approach have had outcomes similar to states that have been more tyrannical."

This in a nutshell is where we are at. Mitigation has not worked but yet leadership continues to mandate and beat the drum.

The original stated goal was not COVID Zero, but a slowing of the spread. Somewhere midstream, the "Messiah" complex infected our leadership so that they could get credit.

Christiane said...

"Somewhere midstream, the "Messiah" complex infected our leadership so that they could get credit." True this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jm-loqCyWQ

Bene said...

As of January 2021 over 200 Covid-19 vaccines were being developed. Of those, only 7 out of 100 go to clinical trials. Of those only 1 in 5 will be successful.

There are basically three types of vaccines.

Some DNA and mRNA vaccines are possible because of a huge leap in technology. The pandemic mobilized researchers all over the world to share data. Regulatory bodies didn't embargo, and accepted partial trial data in real time enabling faster approval when full data sets were in. Manufacturers tooled up in unprecedented rates and the money thrown at Covid-19 mitigation world wide enabled the massive response.

It is not a conspiracy, it is world wide collaboration and communication not seen in prior pandemics. Social and political factors have contributed to Covid-19 failures, not academic factors.

SARS viruses have been identified for 50 years, but have been around much longer, including cross-species jumps. There have been five recent human outbreaks, including SARS (2002-2004) and MERS (2012).
The research platforms were in place when Covid-19 hit.

Anon.E.Moose is correct.
Covid-19 won't be conquered.
The world's scientists have been responding in real time.
Knowledge changes and grows - no quick fix.
There has been cross-species jumps.
Herd immunity is not likely.

Wade had immunity after his first bout with Covid-19, and he got it again.
His antibodies may last 8 months, 8 years, a lifetime.
His socio-economic status (access to healthy food, medical care, vitamins and supplements, exercise and genetics) and exposure play a role.

36% of people who have had Covid-19 have not developed anti-bodies.
Antibody tests are still in development.
Immunity wanes in natural and vaccinated people.
We do know people with natural immunity benefit from vaccination.

There are a lucky few in the world with 'super' immunity and medical detective work is underway. They were infected in 2020 and received the mRNA vaccine.

Vaccine mandates and vaccine certificates are about population - public health.
They aren't a new thing.

RB Kuter said...

Christiane wrote: "In a cult of personality as was 'the Third Reich', people who were cultured and civilized for centuries laid aside their humanity to become killers and tormenters of their own kind."

I.e., slaughtering millions of innocent infants; think we have evolved into our own cult of being a self-serving society at the expense of anyone else. 50-60 million lives in our country alone in past 3 decades, not to mention financing abroad. Kind of makes the Third Reich look more compassionate.

RB Kuter said...

"Talk to ER nurses and doctors directly. Let them tell you their stories. They are there to save lives, not run for office."

Christiane, not to pick on you but you do raise some provocative points like this one.

Talk to those medical people who, by the thousands, are refusing to get the needle at the expense of losing their jobs. (Understand New York is dealing with the resulting shortage by calling out National Guard medical people and importing medical people from Philippines.)

Begs the question to be asked, at least, of those medical people that are sacrificing their livelihood for their refusal to get the vaccine; "Why"?

Yet nobody is asking.

Christiane said...

Hello Mr. Kuter,

I agree with you that in our country, the way we have forgotten to nurture and support unborn AND born children is not a good sign as to our 'values'. People don't like to 'support' when that support is costly in taxes, no. But the children are innocents and our faith tells us to welcome new life and to help the helpless.

On the matter of who you interview, I suggest the RN's and Nurse Practitioners, and Physicians, and Oxygen therapists who serve in our nation's Emergency Rooms and Covid units (which are sometimes shared with other critical patients, as my husband died in such a unit after 'life support' was removed as to his 'living will' which my son and I honored when the doctors gave NO hope left.

There are many support people who are associated with hospitals and they have the choice to NOT get vaccinated, but many are being asked to leave employment based on their decision, as the mission of the hospital will always be the concern for the welfare of its patients (also staff and visitors). It's a choice, with consequences. What does a hospital do, when they see that almost ALL of the dying from covid is of the folks who were not vaccinated? The physicians and nurses who tend the dying are the ones to listen to. What they to say is not 'political', belief me. My own sister-in-law got covid on the job as a nurse practitioner, and she is on oxygen still.

Politics? It reflects our human nature. We are a contrary people. 'Sources' have inflamed our divisions. And we must each of us (Wade is right) search our own consciences for guidance in how we go forward responsibly. It's just that so must other people do the same, and they may come to different conclusions. May God have mercy on us all. You take care.

Bene said...

Anon.E. Moose:

Sweden is an interesting case study for sure.
With a population of 10 million, 1.4 million Covid-19 illnesses have been reported, 14,800 thousand deaths.

76% - fully vaccinated, 83% - one dose.
Sweden took a voluntary approach to mitigation in December 2020. That changed in June 2021.
Some restrictions have been recently lifted; masks, testing and vaccines for country entry remain in place.
Sweden has had 3 times more deaths than Finland and Norway combined. Herd immunity failed.

India - 1.396 billion people, another interesting case study.
Is India now endemic?

Researchers have discovered bats in Northern Laos (near southwest China border) with 96.8% disease similarity to SARS-CoV-2. Last year bats were found in Southwest China had a 96% similarity. Cross species contamination can't be ruled out, other mammalian species haven't been tested.

Why does the US lead the world in Covid cases and deaths?
Why is the US so far behind other first world countries?
What social and political factors cause 717 thousand American deaths, a 54% vaccinated population?


Neil Cameron (One Salient Oversight) said...

Read this story:

https://i.imgur.com/LntBiKT.jpeg

It's about a Covid survivor meeting one of the doctors who kept her alive.

RB Kuter said...

Christiane, you are so correct in our health care workers deserving to be applauded for the huge commitment they have/are making. During the recent personal experience my wife and I had with Covid and then my wife's subsequent breaking of her hip, we were blown away at the amazing attitude displayed by all of those health care workers involved. I know that many of them were exhausted due to the extended schedules most of them had. They were genuinely concerned and invested in our welfare and did all they could to help in recovery.

So believe me when I say how much we appreciate them. My point was that I have not heard anyone asking why "some" are choosing not to get the vaccine even when it jeopardizes their job.

I seriously doubt it is due to "politics". As a matter of fact, when it comes to deciding whether or not we will take the vaccine, few of us make that decision based upon "politics", as in "I won't get it because Biden's President."

Lissa Roberson said...

Bene,

Your depth of technical knowledge about communicable diseases, their mode of transmission and their means of effective treatment is commendable. Thank you for distinguishing them from the disease of our current day, COVID. I'm fascinated by your explanation.

My "beef" lies with the heavy-handed "advice" given to us by the powers-that-be. We aren't being given advice or counsel; we are being given orders with severe consequences for non-compliance.

Just today the governor of California mandated that all school children be vaccinated in order to attend public school. Young children are among the least vulnerable to COVID - so who is really being protected when the young receive the vaccine?

Yesterday's news "advised" all pregnant women to get vaccinated. No research was cited that proved the vaccine increases the safety of pregnant women against COVID. Nor were any research conclusions given that prove pregnant women are more subject to hospitalization and mortality should they catch COVID.

By contrast, we have heard results of higher rates of miscarriage from pregnant first-trimester women who were vaccinated. The only persuasive "argument" is that pregnancy has now been deemed a comorbidity. Says who? Says the agency that told us at one point that we needed to double- or triple-mask for safety's sake. Says the agency that told the vaccinated that they need to mask up in order to protect themselves against the unvaccinated.

I'm not convinced. I don't trust our authorities, and because of this I can't blindly follow our government in the spirit of Titus 3:1. COVID is and should be a public health issue, but it has now become a political billy club being pummeled over the heads of the citizenry.

Christiane said...

Hello Ms. Lissa,

if you are concerned for the effects of covid vaccine on pregnant women, there is a study underway through the NIH (National Institutes of Health) focusing on that topic.

here's some info:
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-begins-study-covid-19-vaccination-during-pregnancy-postpartum

Lissa, I think it will time for everything to come out about how people are affected by the vaccine. Your concern for pregnant women is a vital one indeed. The NIH study is being replicated in 20 sites nationally so there will be a nation-wide sampling of data. The problem is that the study also needs reliability and validity in the data that comes from longitudinal (over a longer period of time) research.

Sadly there is this present observation:
"Pregnant people with COVID-19 are more likely to be hospitalized, be admitted to the intensive care unit, require mechanical ventilation, and die from the illness than their non-pregnant peers."

One thing is for certain, that unless the studies are published in journal articles and the studies are replicated by many other researchers, there will not be enough completed data until some time has passed.

It is hard to judge 'sources', I know. And many more longitudinal research studies will be needed to refine our knowledge. People are trying to do the best they can under strained circumstances. No wonder there are so many different points of view.
We need time that we don't have.

Lissa Roberson said...

Christiane, you've rightly stated that trustworthy research requires TIME.

It took time (read: a longitudinal study) to learn that DES, the drug given to protect pregnant women against miscarriage, resulted in their daughters being more vulnerable to cancer and other reproductive difficulties once they became adults. The government did not force DES upon pregnant mothers at the time. It was taken willingly, and had the mothers known the outcome, I don't think many of them would have chosen to use DES. They may rather have taken the chance of losing a baby, knowing that there might be opportunities to become pregnant again.

COVID vaccines are being rushed into the arms of every American way in advance of even preliminary research, much less longitudinal studies. Unlike DES, the COVID vaccine is not voluntary any more. "Get Vaxxed or Get Axxed" in terms of losing your job is the latest incentive being employed.

Time will tell if we have poisoned the generations after us by injecting untried experimental serums into our bodies. In the meantime, it is disturbing that our government first tried to appeal to our collective conscience ("You owe it to those around you", "Think about Grandma"). When that didn't work, then it turned to financial incentives, and now, "passports" into restaurants/airlines/entertainment venues and "Get vaxxed or Get axxed" ultimatums in the workplace.

Bullying and duress would not be necessary if we were assured of the vaccine's safety and efficacy.

ÆtherCzar said...

The dictate of Titus 3:1 must be read with discernment, for no magistrate can command us to betray our faith. If blind obedience to authority is required of Christians, then are all martyrs to the faith heretics? Saint Stephen defied the Sanhedrin who demanded he bow to their teachings and charged him with blasphemy. (Acts 6:11-16) When he disobeyed and continued to share the Holy Spirit, he was stoned. (Acts 7). A Christian is under no obligation to obey an authority that demands a betrayal of our faith.

ÆtherCzar said...

Romans 13 and Matthew 22 have helped centuries of Christians think through
the dynamics of power, authority, and obedience to rulers. In Romans 13, the
apostle Paul discusses the purpose of government. In Matthew 22, the Jewish
religious leaders attempt to trap Jesus into adjudicating a volatile political
question by asking Him if it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar.
When taken together, these two passages demonstrate that government is
ordained by God to be His servant in the civil sphere but that certain areas of
life fall outside government’s authority and belong exclusively to God—render
“to God the things that are God’s.” Link

RB Kuter said...

"People are trying to do the best they can under strained circumstances."

This is the rub. It is apparent that people are NOT doing the best they can.

For example:

-No steps have been taken to minimize the entry of infected immigrants entering the county.
Legitimate visitors with legal visas have no quarantine requirements for two weeks prior to entering the general public as do many other countries.

But nothing can compare to our government's insane approach policy of actually enticing hundreds of thousands of illegal invaders without any credentials to enter into our general population without any sort of examination or tests to determine their having contagious diseases, most notably, Covid!

THEN the government is sanctioning and even participating in the deployment of these un-vetted, illegal invaders throughout the nation! What a sure-fire method for spreading the disease on a mass scale. The most recent spike in Covid could very well have been instigated by Government immigration failures. It is a policy that would be envied by any terrorist elements bent on attacking the United States through viral attack.

-No policy for treatment of early COVID patients has been researched and implemented on a broad basis. Can you imagine? The alternative, insane, confounding response is to tell those infected to go home and wait to see if the symptoms escalate to the level of having pneumonia or symptoms severe enough to justify entry into Intensive Care and put on ventilators, which itself is conducive to undermining the patient's ability to be independent of that application.

-No serious pursuit for criminal investigation of CDC and other US sources who have been involved in GOF research and the disappearance of extremely dangerous enhanced, experimental viruses has been pursued.

This includes the absence of pursuing indictment of those who have been involved in collaborating with the Wuhan Research institution in the engineering and subsequent release of the GOF viruses and accountability for the US Government's financially supporting the same with grants.

-Now policies implemented to fire health care workers who refuse to submit to mandates for vaccinations. They have not been vaccinated for the past two years!

Instead of being complacent to this extreme negligence, no, intentional manipulation to enhance and maintain the impact of COVID in our population, the general population should be expressing its outrage and demanding that those in authority "WAKE UP" and assume a sincere posture of having the general public's welfare at heart instead of using this as an occasion for political leverage and control.

This episode has displayed that there is no limit to the inhumane approach that has been taken by those in authority to facilitate their own purposes.

Bene said...

Thanks Lissa, that was kind of you:^)
I think your question was forthright, honest and interesting.
There are some smart people popping on here from time to time, and I enjoy learning from them.

mRNA research has been ongoing for over 30 years - preliminary research started in the 1960's.
By the 1990's mRNA vaccine testing began in animals. I think we will look back on this pandemic years and realize how much of leap the combination of technology, knowledge and need moved medicine forward.
RNA research until technology caught up was insanely expensive.
Now worldwide, labs are working with mRNA for vaccines, rare genetic disorder drugs and cancer immunotherapy.

New classes of drugs can be scary I guess.

Antibiotic discovery in 1929 (Sir Alexander Fleming) was a huge breakthrough.
Penicillin saved a lot of lives in WWII.
Mow people take antibiotics without a second thought.

Antipsychotics, research into neurotransmitters in 1952 led to the end of warehousing the mentally ill.

Rehydration therapy in the 1960's saved countless lives from cholera. Now, IV's are standard.

Mistrust around vaccines is old news, as is misinformation The smallpox vaccine objections and behaviors in the 1800's reads like Facebook. Personal freedom, religious freedom, unproven, not tested objections, civil disobedience...been there, done that. DPT in the 1970's. MMR's and HPV in the 1990's, Covid-19 vaccines in the 2020s.

Skepticism is healthy, at what stage does it become unhealthy?

Bene said...

Christiane:

You might enjoy Michael Lewis' book, The Premonition: A Pandemic Story

Reads like fiction, heck of a page turner. It's about people in and retired from public health and policy who saw what was happening in China and who tried to warn the government.

Lewis had unprecedented access, he takes complex time lines and information and weaves it all into a compelling narrative.

His background is in financial reporting and non-fiction (The Big Short, Moneyball) and he tells the story of these men and women with careful clarity. He does have a bit of hero worship I think, but given what they went through and what it cost them, I can forgive that. Trump is barely mentioned, the focus is on the few, the CDC, failure, and not giving up.

Penhop91 said...

I would like to thank you for your blog post back in July titled “Cellular Blood Clotting and MRNA Vaccinations”. My husband and I were suspicious about the jab and we’re waiting to see how it was going to play out. We began praying and asking God to lead us and show us the truth about it and direct us. I first learned of you from the Wartburg Watch and appreciated your sincere held beliefs and love for the Word of God. I also have appreciated how you combine the truth with much grace toward those whom you don’t necessarily share the same opinions.. That got my attention and really blessed me, and I have grown to respect you and your sincere devotion to God and the love you have for people.So naturally I thought it would be a good idea to check your blog to see if you were saying anything about the current situation in America. I just want to thank you on behalf of my husband and I for your courage in speaking out, and helping to open our eyes and the eyes of anyone else who may have been searching for answers as well. I will continue to read your blog and thank you for the good and important work you have been doing and continue to do!


Christiane said...

Lissa,
thank you for responding. I remember the time when everyone in Europe embraced a drug for nausea in pregnant women, but in our country one lone doctor said 'NO', to wait for more data. In a few months, the verdict came in, terribly sadly, as many infants were born without hands, arms, legs. Here is the story of that doctor who saved many from that fate:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Oldham_Kelsey

I do think we need to be very cautious about what medications pregnant women are taking. I do hope that this vaccine will not bring harm, but only good to women and their babies. Time will tell. May God have mercy!


Christiane said...

Hello Mr. Kuter,
Yes, I do think that people IN GENERAL are doing the best that they can under the circumstances. I embraced the vaccine because of advice from my own physician as well as the backing of my family who are doctors. I am VERY sensitive to the needs of all people to live in accordance with their own moral consciences, wherein they answer directly to God, and from the guidance of conscience, then proceed to make honorable decisions.

People are struggling now. The doctors and nurses in the ER's and Covid units are telling us that those now dying from covid are among the un-vaccinated. That is what is said. That is what my family tell me. So I believe my family and those medical people who are on the front lines. I was sorry to hear about your wife's broken hip, as I know that is very, very painful and requires a great deal of therapy and care to heal and to recover one's mobility. I prayed for her when I heard of her trouble. I hope all will soon be better for her.

I am not 'vilifying' people who see things differently. That helps nothing. That is not productive. I'm trying to foster some kind of communication between people from different perspectives, so that people can begin to UNDERSTAND more about what is seen from all sides. No better time to 'listen' to one another than the present time, when people are SO vulnerable and so in need of a chance to navigate the present dangers. Those doctors and nurses speak the truth, as they have seen the results up close, and how the pattern of the virus' mutation has worked.


Christiane said...

Hello Bene,
thank you for the recommendation of that book.
I have the living example of what the virus did to my sister-in-law, 'Doctor Bonnie'.
I wish no pressure on any soul who tries to live according to honor and conscience in determining what is 'right' in the ways of faith and morals, and this includes respecting the moral decisions of those who see things differently from myself.

We are in uncharted waters, where at least we know that the vaccinated are not the ones dying in the ER's and Covid units . . . in time going forward, we will know more about the effects of the vaccines so quickly developed and approved.

Based on what IS known, I think vaccination for certain populations IS advisable.
But the ground is slipping sideways, as the virus mutates and the 'rules' are changing, so may God have mercy on us all for the sake of what we do and for what we have failed to do.

Wade Burleson said...

Penhop91,

Thank you for the kind words.

" I also have appreciated how you combine the truth with much grace toward those whom you don’t necessarily share the same opinions."

I'm glad you noticed. That's the way I role.

Those to whom I come against the strongest are those who demand that I think, do, and behave as they. I have no desire to change them or how they live, but I will not be silent as they seek to subordinate and control everyone else.

RB Kuter said...


Christiane, I agree with you about the many medical people who are giving their efforts 100% every day. My sentiments were directed to those power players directing/dictating the coordinated response that is being implemented, not those front line workers who are doing way beyond what should be required.

I don't know how free those front-line medical workers are to pursue their own strategy for treating COVID patients. My impression is that they are pressured to concede to the general direction coming down from those in power, whether health officials, CDC-types, or government. I "think" they would experience consequences for wandering from the path being dictated from those in upper echelons of control, such as becoming vulnerable to lawsuits or disciplinary measures of some sort from the medical establishment. But that is admittedly pure speculation on my part in an attempt to understand why more creative methods of response are being pursued by the grassroots medical workers.

I am grateful for your prayers for my wife and for us during our own recent COVID experience. We truly believe that God responded to the prayers of those who were interceding on our behalf through both of those tough times and He was the reason we recovered amazingly well through both. Praise His Name!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Penhop91 said...

“Those to whom I come against the strongest are those who demand that I think, do, and behave as they. I have no desire to change them or how they live, but I will not be silent as they seek to subordinate and control everyone else.”

Amen to that!! I believe it is crucial in this hour that we all take a stand and join with others who are unwilling to be silenced!

Thank you Wade

Christiane said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rex Ray said...

Wade,

This is the last comment on Post 9-16-21. (I didn’t put his link to play games.)

Ethanwick said...работать и скучно Давайте зарабатывать, не скучая. Играйте в множество онлайн-игр, ожидающих вашего выбора. Wed Sep 29, 10:44:00 AM 2021

Rex Ray said...

Reader’s Digest October 2021: “THE NEW TRUTH ABOUT CHOLESTEROL” (Page 70)

“According to the largest-ever study of cholesterol levels, led by Imperial College London and published in 2020, high cholesterol is responsible for about 3.9 million deaths annually worldwide. Cholesterol is produced by the liver and found in every cell in the body.”

Wade, do you think the Lord made our livers to produce something that would kill us?

Doctors Kurt A. Oster and Nicholas Sampsidis wrote that the cream in cow’s milk has a substance called xanthine oxidase (XO). Its large molecule size is digested by our bodies without any harm, but if it got in our arteries, it would cause them to become ‘raw’ with time.

Homogenization is a process of pushing milk through a fine filter at 2500 psi at 600 feet per second. It makes the size of the cream molecule so small it cannot float to the top, but its small size carries XO through walls of the intestine and inside our arteries where XO starts its damage.

Cholesterol ‘covers’ the raw arteries, but because it is found at the ‘scene of the crime’ it gets the blame.

It’s like blaming a scab because it is covering a wound.

For more proof; in 1900 heart disease was not in the six leading causes of death in the America, but 50 years later it was number one. Why? Because America started homogenizing milk in 1932, and it took about 18 years for it to have its effect.

Lin said...

This is interesting.

https://spectator.org/battle-between-southern-baptists/

Neil Cameron (One Salient Oversight) said...

Rex,

The reason heart disease went from 4th in 1900 to 6th in 1950 is because anitbiotics had been invented. The 1900 causes of death included bacterial pneumonia and Tuberculosis, but by 1950 they had been reduced by antibiotics.

It was not due to homogenised milk.

Historical CDC data is here: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/lead1900_98.pdf

RB Kuter said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rex Ray said...

Neil Cameron,

Do you drink homogenized milk? I told my twin brother to stop drinking it. He didn’t take my advice and had a heart attack.

The link below is long, but it points out how bad homogenized milk is.

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=AOaemvIVuShEJWek6p3wOJhIKthjwmpGDw:1633383496708&q=Why+is+homogenized+milk+bad+for+you%3F&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjNkOnY27HzAhWslWoFHZkoC4IQzmd6BAgNEAU&biw=1218&bih=587&dpr=1.5

“Homogenized milk is hazardous to your health. Homogenized milk has smaller particles as compared to non-homogenized milk. As a result, during digestion, the tiny particles are absorbed by the bloodstream directly and thereby causing harm to your health. Homogenized milk is also known to cause cancer and heart disease.”

We drink almond milk.

Christiane said...

Hey there, REX RAY

Almond milk sounds healthy. In my family, we got milk from a local Mennonite dairy about two miles away. But my youngest wouldn't drink much milk UNTIL I started buying chocolate milk, which he wolfed right down. After a while, he comes downstairs and says 'Mom' (he calls me 'MOM"), what is THIS? He was covered with hives, welts of hives and I didn't hesitate to ring up the doctor and get him down for an examination. Turns out, he was allergic to whatever was in that chocolate milk, and later after testing, we figured it out that he was somewhat 'lactose intolerant'.

Imagine living two miles from a great Mennonite dairy and having a child who is lactose intolerant! Even grown up, he still has to take some pills before indulging in ice cream, whipped cream, etc.

I don't think they sold almond milk down at that dairy, no. But they had lots of their good home-made ice creams, some flavored with almonds. The doctors assured me my boy was not able to process the 'lactose' in cows' milk. Those hives convinced me they were right.

Rex Ray said...

Kurt A. Oster M.D. was the Chief of Cardiology, Emeritus at Bridgeport’s Park City Hospital. After two heart attacks, he went to 13 countries and got information.

I will list Finland, America, and Japan.

1. Finland heart attack death rate was 244.7 per 100,000.
2. People averaged drinking 593# of milk per person.
3. 90% of the milk was homogenized.

1. America heart attack death rated was 211.8 per 100,000.
2. People averaged drinking 273# of milk per person.
3. 95% of the milk was homogenized.

1. Japan heart attack death rate was 39.1 per 100,000.
2. People averaged drinking 48# of milk per person.
3. 5% of the milk was homogenized.

Rex Ray said...

Short story

My twin brother Hez, liked his face to be natural and never trimmed his eyebrows or anything.

After a young couple attended their church, Hez and his wife visited them.

As they were about to leave, he was sitting on a couch. Their 3-year-old girl kept getting closer to him; he thought she was going to give him a kiss, but she said: “Mr. Ray, why does your nose grow weeds?

Rex Ray said...

My sister Ann, went shopping with a woman in their church.

The woman said, “I don’t know if I should buy this; it’s so expensive.”

Ann, very cheerfully said, “If you don’t, the second wife will.”

Not so cheerful: “I am the second wife.”

Christiane said...

I was thinking about the title of this post, this:
"Voluntary Consent Is the Transcendent Principle"

and it occurred that 'voluntary' (willful) participation is a two-edged concept in the Christian faith for those who believe in 'moral conscience' as the guide that we are asked to listen to and obey above all 'orders' from other entities. The edge that may not be considered is that it applies also in the 'negative', that
IF we are to be held accountable for committing sin against God, our action must have been completely voluntary, without duress or pressure from others. That our free consent to sin is what makes us accountable, and IF we want to 'blame' some 'authority' for 'making us' sin, we must also own that we decided willfully to follow that 'authority' over the warnings of our moral conscience.

We have 'choice' from God but our choices are guided by moral conscience, not 'forced'. WE decide what we do based on the realities of our situation, on authentic revelation from God, on the advice of the Church, and as a result of our own prayers for guidance from God. But in the end, we ARE ACCOUNTABLE to obey that voice of moral conscience above all else. For this, we answer to God Himself.

Freedom and Response-ability: two sides of the same coin

What we do and what we fail to do DOES matter to God. And to those for whose care we have responsibility before God in this life. Blindly following what we are told to do never was a 'moral excuse'. We 'choose', and may God help us so that right may be done.

No one should be prevented from following their God-given moral conscience, as it is a part of their human dignity.

There are plenty these days who say 'Lord, Lord', but follow after another 'way'. There are many ways to be 'Christian' authentically; not all of them shout a meaningless 'Lord, Lord', but 'strive' (try) to honor Christ, in the way that He taught when He was amongst us, in 'how they live'.

Too often these days, we see the shipwrecks of faith, some still protesting 'Lord, Lord', but issuing 'membership contracts' and legally-binding NDA's (non-disclosure agreements) to staff.

My own thinking is that there are a great many 'Christian' souls in this world who do not know 'the words' but whose hearts respond to the Word by the grace of God. The Holy Spirit goes where He wills to go. The individual with Down Syndrome and severe retardation who carefully chooses toys and brings them over to a resident on a stretcher and lays the toys gently into grateful hands . . . he hears the Word in a way that puts theology to shame in its inability to help those who reason to overcome their far more grievously damaged hearts.

Whatever is 'authentically' 'Christian' is something 'more than' can be encapsulated in any man-made entity. Authentic Christianity belongs to those who may not know the written word, nor the language of faith, but who 'hear' the Word resonate in their souls and respond in a way that is unmistakable to all who witness it. The witnesses 'know' without doubt what they have encountered is 'of Christ'.

Responding to the voice of our moral conscience offers us a freedom no one else can give to us OR take away from us.

RB Kuter said...

Lin, thanks for the link on SBC news. Sure sounds sad.

Rex Ray said...

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/02/1042667366/bidens-proposal-to-give-irs-more-info-on-bank-accounts-faces-criticism

“The president wants to give the IRS more information about money moving in and out of people's bank accounts.”

Rex Ray said...

Judy’s favorite TV show is OUTNUMBERED. Yesterday, they discussed the evil of a bank having to report to the government anytime the amount of $600 or more was paid to someone from a person’s bank account.

If that was in effect last year, the government would know I gave Texas Senator Ted Cruz $1,000.

This link tells why Cruz is my hero:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cruz

RB Kuter said...

comqbz, (said nonsense, something like "website is like an action movie", which is probably true, but better to say it in English. So I responded, "That is not polite. You should write in English when you write on this site. Don't embarrass the Thai people.)

นั่นไม่สุภาพเลย คุณควรเขียนเป็นภาษาอังกฤษเมื่อคุณเขียนบนเว็บไซต์นี้
อย่าอายคนไทย

RB Kuter said...

Rex Ray, you are right about the intruding Federal Government into our finances. Difficult to be believe that is legal, but these days I suppose lawlessness is the trend.

Rex Ray, you will remember in decades past, when you and I were young snips, that the world was awfully bad and there was GREAT turmoil and chaos in the US. The world seemed to be at the verge of nuclear war and total devastation and the civil unrest, sexual revolution, drug culture, here was very bad. With the introduction of LBJ's "Great Society" measures, like creating medicare, measures to require companies to employ a percent of African American workers, etc., many accused government of socialism and overreach in powers.

So my question to you, Rex, do you think today is really any worse than when you and I were teens and young adults?

Rex Ray said...

First, I need to correct myself. Judy told me that this rule of banks reporting to the government about our money has NOT been passed, but is in the ‘works’.

It reminds me of a boss named Joe Blue. My brother was working on a large construction project. He saw some workers doing drugs in the basement. He went upstairs to where a vent went to the basement. He yelled: “Joe Blue is watching you!” The guys scattered fast.

Do we want a ‘Joe Blue’ watching us?

RB Kuter, you asked if I think today is any worse than when we were young. I believe that can be answered by looking at what our Presidents have done.

LBJ in my opinion had JFK murdered. Many Americans died because he didn’t stop the war in Vietnam because he was making a lot of money as a stockholder in the production of helicopters by Bell Helicopter Company. (Helicopters was the main ‘machine’ used to fight the war.)

Obama traveled the world apologizing for what he believed America had done wrong. He even bowed to a Muslim king which was natural since he was raised by Muslim grandparents, and in my opinion was a Muslim.

Before we were born, Teddy Roosevelt’s philosophy was: “Walk softly, but carry a big stick.”

Now, Biden walks on tippy-toe and carries a toothpick. His handling of Afghanistan is the biggest joke of all, and our border CRISES comes in second.

Jonathan Sarfati, Ph.D. said...

"Vaccines" require 10 to 15 years of testing for an experimental treatment to qualify as the standard of care.

I don't know any vaccines in scare quotes, but there are good genuine vaccines. But why should such slow procedures be the norm? What is sacrosanct about the FDA bureaucracy, whose glacial pace has already cost hundreds of thousands of lives. E.g. they held up allowing beta blockers to be recommended for second heart attacks and aspirin to be claimed to reduce blood clot risk.

Free-market economist Milton Friedman called it "Frustrating Drug Advancement", and explained the incentives that will inevitably produce the slow-walking and huge cost in lives. That is, there are two equally bad errors:

1. Approve a drug too quickly that could cause harm.
2. Approve a drug too slowly that could save lives.

Both of these are costly errors. But the FDA, like the above comment, considers only the costs of #1, and not those of #2. For the bureaucrats, the reason is obvious: they will get vilified by the Congress and the media for Error #1 because the costs are obvious. But they will never be questioned about the losses for Error #2 because they are harder link. It's appalling that they even get away with comments like "After 10 years of rigorous testing, the FDA has approved Drug X that will save 30,000 lives a year." But this entails that their delay cost 300,000 lives!

With the vaccine, Error #2 is also costly when we have a virus that has already killed 702,000 Americans, and left many times that number with "long-haul". It is also fallacious to call the vaccine "experimental", when the RNA vax trials had 70k volunteers (half of them control group with placebo) 14 months ago. Some of the crankier ant-vaxers claimed that the Rona RNA vax was a death shot that would kill people in a year. We are past that now. Now 216M Americans have received one dose safely. How much more testing do we need, and how many more Rona deaths would be acceptable while we wait?

And the RNA Rona vaccines were a redirection of many years of very promising RNA vax research, turned to fight the Rona spike protein. See for example mRNA vaccines — a new era in vaccinology (Jan 2018) and Candidate for universal flu vaccine protects against multiple strains.

Scott Shaver said...

“What is sacrosanct about FDA beaurocracy?” Exactly, big round of applause, and why is Fauci not being investigated as opposed to elevated?

Rex Ray said...

Today’s mail set a record; 8 letters wanting money.

This morning, Judy bought a beautiful low glass table and put it in front of the TV. She got it from a home that was selling some of their furniture so the husband could move around better in a wheelchair. He’d had knee replacements that were hurting so he had another operation; it ended up with them taking his leg off.

I told Judy every time I see the table, it will remind me to be content with my knees as they are.

Wade Burleson said...

Rex Ray,

Tell Judy she didn't receive my letter! :) That's nine!

Laughing,

Appreciate you two!

Wade

Wade Burleson said...

Dr. Sarfati,

I respect the heck out of you.

I only put "vaccine" in quotes, because in a typical vaccine, you do not get re-infected. My nurse wife is seeing hundreds of re-infections, and the blame is on "variants."

But natural immunity carries with it the entire DNA of the coronavirus chain. The therapeutic shot (wrongly called a vaccine) only protects against the spike protein of Covid-19 and it is a guarantee that the "vaccinated" will have to have boosters (potentially hundreds).

Thanks, always, for your comments.

I am NOT anti-vaccine - at all. I will simply refuse this therapeutic shot and trust my natural immunity.

Jonathan Sarfati, Ph.D. said...

Ps. Burleson

The respect is mutual.

It is a vaccine by definition, in that it trains the adaptive immune system to fight a pathogen.

There are many vaccines that need boosters, e.g. TDaP. For Rona, a so-called booster, or really third shot is not necessary for most people, except the most vulnerable. Infectious diseases expert Dr Monica Gandhi points out that antibodies wane over time—if we had all antibodies we were exposed to, our blood would be too viscous to flow. But we will still have B-cells primed to produce neutralizing antibodies for the spike protein. Also, the immune system is so well designed that the antibodies will match the invading strain. It takes a few days to ramp up antibody production again, but they will soon neutralize the virus. So the infection will be either asymptomatic (i.e. no illness) or very mild.

We also have T-cells, the heavy artillery of the adaptive immune system. The spike protein has about 100 targets for T-cells. The spike can't mutate very much without losing its ability to infect. The Delta variant has 13 mutations, which still leaves over 80 possible targets for T-cells.

Dr Gandhi's articles include Don't Panic Over Waning Antibodies: Here's Why and 7 Reasons Why We Should Not Need Boosters for COVID-19.

For a disease like tetanus, we need boosters to make sure we have antibodies against the toxin which is fatal in very tiny amounts. A tetanus shot is a good idea if you get a dirty wound.

The vaccines are actually effective on variants, for the above reasons. One paper Effectiveness of Covid-19 Vaccines against the B.1.617.2 (Delta) Variant (NEJM 21 Jul 2021) summarized:

“Effectiveness after one dose of vaccine (BNT162b2 [Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine] or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 [Oxford–AstraZeneca]) was notably lower among persons with the delta variant (30.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 25.2 to 35.7) than among those with the alpha variant (48.7%; 95% CI, 45.5 to 51.7); the results were similar for both vaccines. With the BNT162b2 vaccine, the effectiveness of two doses was 93.7% (95% CI, 91.6 to 95.3) among persons with the alpha variant and 88.0% (95% CI, 85.3 to 90.1) among those with the delta variant. With the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine, the effectiveness of two doses was 74.5% (95% CI, 68.4 to 79.4) among persons with the alpha variant and 67.0% (95% CI, 61.3 to 71.8) among those with the delta variant.”

“But natural immunity carries with it the entire DNA of the coronavirus chain.”

This can't be right, because the coronavirus is an RNA virus, so lacks DNA. And the immune system reacts to proteins coded by the nucleic acids. Anyway, there is an advantage to targeting the spike protein only. If this is blocked, the virus can't infect, so sterilizing immunity results. This means even less chance of ADE, which is minute anyway, because the viruses can't invade cells in the first place.

RB Kuter said...

Rex Ray, you mention the behavior of Presidents being an indication of whether things are worse now than when you and I were younger. Maybe that's a good indicator.

I "feel" like it's worse and I believe the reason is that it seems more popular today to boldly portray being defiant to God than ever before. It seems that being sinful is actually considered as being the cool thing to do and society seems to support that. The report said yesterday that when it was announced that boy had been elected as the Homecoming Queen there was a boisterous cheer from the school body. I imagine that if a person spoke out against homosexuality and gender perversion in a populated area saying it was un-Godly and a crime against nature they would be pummeled with rotten eggs and stones.

Guess its all a matter of conjecture.

Anon.E.Moose said...

A short clip from Rand Paul, describing the problems that doctors have. The government mandated healthcare of people with COVID makes little sense, especially for people who get sick enough to be in the hospital. https://youtu.be/suPH0NMv0nM

Christiane said...

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law."

a 'guide' to recognizing the authentic followers of Christ's teachings, whether or not they know His Name

beware those who shout 'Lord, Lord' and have no compassion in themselves for those people for whom they hold only contempt - I think this is something important to remember, especially in these strange days when 'preaching God's truth' so often is called 'hate speech',
sometimes, sadly, because it is

Anon.E.Moose said...

I listened to a rambling talk by our President given at Elk Grove IL yesterday (I believe) that had several out right mis-truths in it. In this talk, he make a statement that I find absolutely odious, "The unvaccinated overcrowd our hospitals overrunning emergency rooms and intensive care units. The unvaccinated patients are leaving no room for someone with a heart attack or in need of a cancer operation and so much more because they can't get into the icu they can't get into the operating rooms. The unvaccinated also put our economy at risk because people are reluctant to go out and think about this. Even in places where there is no restriction on going to restaurants and gyms and movie theaters, people are not going in anywhere near the numbers because they're worried they're going to get sick."

There is a slight truth to that: the most recent wave of COVID 19 has been a wave of the unvaccinated, yet to suggest that this singular poor life choice is somehow worse than all the other poor life choices that culminate with people being sick and in the hospital is a little bit much. Many of the people who end up in the hospital have made life style choices that have resulted in illness, yet we don't refer to them as undeserving of care (if that smoker had not.....if that obese person had not.....if that alcoholic had not.....if that poorly compliant diabetic had not). The fact that people are no longer going to gyms and restaurants is because the government scared people.

Right now, Vermont, one of the most heavily vaccinated states in the union is experiencing a surge in COVID 19. In Vermont, 78% of the population has received one dose of vaccine, 89% of people over 18 have had at least one dose of vaccine and 69.5% of the population is fully vaccinated with 79.5% of of the population over age 18 being fully vaccinated. Despite this, they are having a surge in COVID 19. As was the case in Israel, although the unvaccinated population is at much higher risk for infection that leads to hospitalization, when you have a heavily vaccinated population with a surge, you will see the vaccinated begin to populate the beds, too. In Vermont back in August, 72% of hospitalizations were unvaccinated but 52% of people requiring ICU stays were vaccinated (https://dfr.vermont.gov/sites/finreg/files/doc_library/dfr-covid19-modeling-083121.pdf).

Anon.E.Moose said...

Now, the thing that really got me about President Biden's statement yesterday was the following, "We're making sure health our (healthcare) workers are vaccinated because if
you seek care at a health care facility you should have the certainty that the people providing that care are protected from COVID and cannot spread it to you."

Exactly how is that going to work? Yes, you can mandate that all HCW's be vaccinated. in my community as it currently stands, we will lose 50% of the HCWs at the hospital with that mandate. You may read that and ask what sort of idiot HCW's populate my community, yet if allowed to account for natural immunity, it is estimated that the number of immune healthcareworkers probably rises to the mid-80s possibly higher. The reason for disallowing natural immunity as proof of status is unclear to me (although Israel has recently removed proof of previous infection as a pass for their vaccine passport -- it is 3 jabs or bust in Israel).

But back to the President's erroneous, unchallenged statement: The Pfizer and Moderna therapeutics (vaccines) were both rolled out with reported “95% efficacy” statements, but the early clinical trials failed to account for the predictable likelihood of waning immunity. I think it very disingenuous to suggest that vaccination will get us out of this – these therapeutics do help but they are not going to remove COVID from our midst. These vaccines were never sterilizing. There have been multiple reports of nasal carriage of COVID being as high in vaccinated people as unvaccinated. Now, with the documented breakthrough/waning immunity issue it becomes obvious that the vaccines do protect against serious infection and death, they do protect against many infections, but they do not prevent infection. Even if every single HCW is vaccinated, some might end up with infection....

Now, Israel has reported 39% efficacy for the Pfizer vaccine against the delta variant. The CDC is not actively tracking breakthrough vaccination rates in the US, they are only tracking breakthrough infections that are hospitalized. Updated efficacy and safety data from Pfizer, quotes peak efficacy at 96% in the time period post 2nd dose to 2 months and then declines approximately 6% every 2 months. This study period did not include high activity with the delta variant of SARS CoV2. It is believed that the drop off in elderly (over age 65) is greater than in younger populations. Given that and the observed surge in a heavily vaccinated state like Vermont, to suggest that vaccination is going to be the fix seems....wrong.

Do not get me wrong. This is NOT an argument against vaccination. I do believe that high risk people need to be vaccinated. My definition of high risk has expanded as I have seen younger people in my community get really sick with this virus. However, I question the idea that we will be out of this mess via vaccination alone and I am saddened that following the science does not include a discussion of natural immunity. With that failure to include that discussion, our government is now mandating a therapeutic to people who may not need it as they may already have immunity as good as or better than the vaccine can give them.

Finally, I think that our country has been very short sighted to be putting so much emphasis on vaccination with less of a emphasis on treatment. Although the stark data of Israel shows that vaccines do not obliterate this disease, with vaccination in the setting of the delta variant 90% of severe illness WAS prevented. That number IS huge and should not be missed in the discussion.

Anon.E.Moose said...

One more thing…..this week in the NEJM ("Waning Immune Humoral Response to BNT162b2 Covid-19 Vaccine over 6 Months", Levin et al), Israeli investigators published a study of neutralizing antibody titers in people receiving the Pfizer jab. They found that the humoral (or antibody) response dropped substantially among person over age 65, men and people with immunosuppression. The greatest drop was in the first couple of months and then slowed. This is in contrast to the measles, mumps and rubella vaccines that have a small 5-10% decrease each year. This ALSO contrasts with people that have had natural infection, who have less of a decay. There was a 42% decrease in neutralizing antibody concentrations in people aged greater than 65 as compared to participants 18-45. There was a 70% drop in neutralizing antibodies in people with immunosuppressive conditions.

Once again, my point is not to suggest that vaccination should not happen. This study does not measure other aspects of our immune systems (like cellular based immunity), BUT
1. With the greatest drop in immunity happening during the first couple of months, unless we can vaccinate everyone at once, there will always be those in the community susceptible to infection.
2. One should not seek infection with COVID 19. It is a capricious disease that kills. However, natural immunity IS protective and likely better than vax immunity.
3. The fact that the current vaccine mandates fail to acknowledge the power of natural immunity demonstrates that they are not based on science, are not looking out for the health of the community and are all about the politic.

Christiane said...

Hello Anon,

unfortunately, almost all of the DEATHS of covid patients in hospitals is now among the unvaccinated

certainly the people who have 'natural immunity' are blessed, but we know that among the unvaccinated, there remains many vulnerable souls

Chang said...

I like the articles in this blog and love hearing different perspectives. Difference may be sometimes uncomfortable, but is still beneficial to mankind because we can learn and grow together. I personally believe my antibodies are powerful enough to overcome the attacks of variants based on my experiences having closely taken care of a few Covid-19 patients without myself being infected. Speaking more details, I got healed from Covid-19 in October 2020, and my daughter got infected by the variant in July 2021. I slept in the same bedroom with her to cool off her fever, have her drink fluid as much as possible, and to provide her needs. I got never sick again and the test results were always negative up to now although I visit some patients to help them. I believe I do not need a vaccine. I believe normal human being with common sense and basic understanding of human right will not force me to take vaccine. I hope the whole society have some basic respect for different opinions and decisions.