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<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">I'd ask for proof, but both sides call the other side's news agencies "fake news". </span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">And unfortunate for my "typically right-leaning roots" the sources my GOP-friends share with me read like the National Enquirer, and the Dems quote common sources, which we all know to lean left. Unfortunately, the stuff I read which support the right (ok, those which support Trump) all have serious credibility issues. If CNN leans left, many of these places fall off the end of the "right" scale, most lean *hard* right, and almost all use manipulative and abusive panic-inciting language and literary tactics.</span></p>
<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">I am desperately trying to hold on to middle ground, keeping respectful dialog with people on all sides.</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">I don't want to put any of you on the defensive. I am honestly interested in where each of you are coming from. But I make up my own mind using my own methods, placing a coefficient of trust in on each source of info based on corroborative analysis.</span></p>
<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">But so far my research has shown little actual meaningful fact in the media outlets supporting Trump (regardless of how I feel about him) regarding COVID19 or election fraud. The only thing I've found are a few facts which could be mischaracterized and lots of innuendo.</span></p>
<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">Can you give me some sources of information supporting what you think that I can have some faith in? I'm quite frustrated with feeling like my usual GOP stomping grounds are infected to with fake news and riotous misinformation.</span></p>
<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">But regardless what I find, I'm grateful for the fact that we *can* think what we want, and *say* what we think without fear of governmental retribution. I may be frustrated, but I still have hope for the USA.</span></p>
<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">Maybe less hope and faith in our general populous. We don't seem to be demanding evidence and thinking critically about it.</span></p>
<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">Matt</span></p>
<p style="-qt-paragraph-type:empty; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; "> </p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">On Monday, December 14, 2020 10:01:35 PM EST Leon Goldstein wrote:</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> > Truth is also under attack.</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> </span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> In a former reincarnation - US Army officer - I monitored Communist bloc</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> propaganda. So I have a bit more "sensitivity" to the art and science</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> of manipulation of fact.</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> </span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> What bothers me more than anything else about the way mainstream media</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> goes about its business is the utter artlessness of their manipulation</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> of fact - propaganda. If you are going to lie to me, at least</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> demonstrate some creativity and artistry for me to appreciate.</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> </span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> The big manipulation we are subjected to is incomplete reporting. This</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> is the unfortunate consequence of the media's shift from reporting the</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> news to making it.</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> </span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> Another example: another UK study examined the Wuhan/Covid 19 infection</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> rates among Lupus patients. Since everyone in the UK is under the</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> government-run National Health scheme, everyone's medical records are</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> accessible in their computerized records.</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> </span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> In the UK and elsewhere Lupus is often treated with hydroxychloroquine. </span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> So the study examined if Lupus patients receiving hydroxychloroquine</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> were less susceptible to infection. The study found that these patient</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> were just as subject to infection whether they took hydroxychloroquine</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> or not. So this study was immediately seized upon as proof that</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> hydroxychloroquine is worthless as a prophylactic.</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> </span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> Well, for one thing, hydroxychloroquine has been used, in combination</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> with zinc and other medications, to treat - therapy - Wuhan/Covid 19</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> patients. Its desired effect is to prevent or reduce pulmonary edema.</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> </span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> Getting back to the aforementioned Lupus patient study. Lupus is</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> typically treated with steroids. Once again the study carefully</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> excluded the collateral effect of steroids prescribed in addition to</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> hydroxychloroquine. It did not take into account all of the medications</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> taken by the Lupus patients. So this study was contaminated by</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> deliberately ignoring a significant factor - steroids. So much for</span></p>
<p style=" margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; -qt-block-indent:0; text-indent:0px; -qt-user-state:0;"><span style=" font-size:0.92em;">> open-minded scientific study.</span></p>
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