Don’t be worried, I am not in danger. But I am broken. See today Ron decided this morning to run the new heavily shielded burial read cable with water sealed ends we bought for the internet connection we have. The cable we bought did cost more than regular coaxial cable at stores like Home Depot. Ron wanted a specific length, 70 feet. I wanted a cable highly rated and well shielded. So we ordered it. To run the cable from where it came to the house to where we need it in my new Playtime Pink Palace, Ron had to remove a large section of the skirting on the south side of the house that was already in direct Florida sunlight and part of the west / back end of the home that was still shaded. We wanted to replace the old double cable run by Comcast back in 2007 when we had phone / internet / and cable TV, it was bulky, unwieldy, and simply not where we needed it.
The new cable we bought was very stiff and coiled when Ron went to uncoil it, the job of running it was hard as he had to uncoil and fight the very stiffness that made the cable so much what we wanted. But three times I went outside to help with the uneven ground and my inability of lifting my feet up much to walk caused me to stumble and fight to walk. Inside I had to do a lot of not only bending over but getting down on the floor to help him feed the cable end up into my new Playtime Pink Palace.
But it got worse. Right after the hurricane Ian, which tore the roof off half my office and one wall out, all my stuff had to be taken out of the room and savaged as best as possible. My office was a big room and a lot of stuff was stored there on shelves and closet. The saved stuff has to be stored somewhere. A lot of that was stashed in my bedroom closet, but that was over full of everything. For a while I have been wanting to fix that.
Oh shit, the bending, the carrying, the getting up and down from a step stool to move stuff from my bedroom closet to the new room, both closet and the shelves. Putting stuff where it should go, rethinking or moving things around to make it fit right simply destroyed me. Ron came in and seen me and asked me to stop for the day, but I really wanted to get this done. But it has really stressed and messed up my muscles in my legs and back. So now I am in severe pain.
The good news is I got most of it done. I even found things we had missed and I had worried were swept away. Ron is making a burger and salad for me and burgers, hot dogs, and chili for himself. He eats so much more than I can these days. He wanted to give me two burgers plus the salad, but I asked him instead for one burger and the salad. Not to be too personal and graphic (which sounds strange when I have shared my sexual abuse with everyone in all the details, the rapes as an adult in the military, and my own personal life) but with the pain medications I take that cause harder stools that are hard to pass even when balanced out with the diabetic medications which tend to cause loose stools. To put nicely, my poop is hard and hard to pass. So to make my life easier and because I actually like them, I eat a lot of salad. So when Ron offered me two burgers, I instead asked if I could have one burger and a “small” salad. For us or for me a large salad if made to fill a large pasta bowl which is twice if not three times the size of a regular bowl. I often have these instead of other things for supper. But a small salad is made in a regular soup bowl. Ron always tells me if I finish and want more, he will make it. He understands how important salad is for me.
Ron just came in and advised me to take my blood sugar. It was 89 when I took it this morning when I woke up. It is 82 now. I did not take insulin this morning and I won’t be taking it tonight until I go to bed. At night I take a long acting insulin to cover me for the entire night. I may have to ask the doctor to lower my dosage.
So I had a great burger with my fixings, and a wonderful salad with my mix of dressings. I will make the coffee and then go take my shower I put off all day. Then got to bed. I hope and plan to get up early in the morning and get to all thirty of the new open tabs I had from new stuff this morning. Oh, and Ron asked me to please make the coffee for the morning before I go to the bedroom because he likes it better when I make it for some reason, not sure why, we make it the same I think. Loves and hugs. Scottie
This is horrendous. It is caused by people who think they know more than the trained medical professionals because their favorite right wing talk show host tells them medical professionals are wrong. Those hosts are in it for political reasons, and most of them got the vaccines so they know they are lying, but it doesn’t matter that people are dying because of their lies. The people like this man selling bleach to cure autism are the same idiots that claim conversion therapy cures being gay. Also I want to make as clear as possible, autism like being gay or trans is not something that needs a cure! They are not diseases. Now I don’t know much about the medical advice and special needs if any that autistic people need. I do know many autistic people live happy productive lives while I have seen videos of kids in schools that need extra help. The one to ask Is Barry. Barry is a follower who comments often. Barry is autistic. He has helped me understand some of the bigotry, stigma, and torture done as treatment to neurodivergent people in an attempt to change them to act like others. That type of conversion therapy is simply torture and won’t remove autism. Again I did not know it was happening until Barry told me. So if you have questions, hopefully Barry will see them and respond. Hugs
YOUTUBE/JOE SALANT
Joe Salant, an evangelical pastor and rapper, is the new spokesman for Safrax, which makes bleach tablets that are popular with those who belief ingesting the industrial cleaner can cure a range of ailments.
An evangelical pastor who briefly shot to fame in 2015 for recording a rap song in support of Sen. Ted Cruz is now selling industrial-strength bleach tablets to parents and has admitted that many of his customers are using the product to treat autism in their children.
Joe Salant, who grew up in an affluent New Jersey family, became a born-again Christian after coming out of drug rehab when he was in his early twenties, having spent six months in jail for drug possession. Recently, he has become part of the American Renewal Project, which aims to have a pastor from “every church in America” run for elected office by 2024. Salant preaches a Christian nationalist ideology that positions the church at the heart of all aspects of American society.
In his spare time he continues to release rap records with titles like “Human Sacrifices” and “Dies in Vain,” in which he raps about child trafficking.
In recent months he’s taken on a new role as the U.S representative for a company called Safrax, which markets chlorine dioxide tablets that are advertised on the company’s website as industrial products for odor removal, disinfection, and as cleaners for hot tubs and jacuzzis.
But over the phone, Salant said many people are using the treatments in an attempt to treat autism in children.
“Autism? Yeah, I mean it’s a common treatment,” Salant said, according to a recording of a phone call obtained by Ireland-based activist Fiona O’Leary and shared with VICE News. “We’re not allowed to recommend [our products] for it specifically but yeah, the protocols in the Andreas Kalcker book [which] we have on our website… it’s commonly used for that.”
“Autism? Yeah, I mean it’s a common treatment. We’re not allowed to recommend [our products] for it specifically but yeah.”
Andreas Kalcker is one of the most notorious promoters of the pseudoscientific conspiracy theory that a form of bleach, known within that community as a miracle mineral solution (MMS) can be used as a treatment for a wide range of ailments, including cancer, HIV, and autism. In 2021, Argentinian authorities charged Kalcker with selling fake medicines to cure COVID-19 after a 5-year-old boy died from suspected chlorine dioxide poisoning. The case has yet to go to trial.
Safrax is the latest company to profit off the belief that ingesting industrial grade bleach can have health benefits, a conspiracy spread for years by conspiracy influencers like Kalcker and Jim Humble, who died earlier this month aged 99. Despite repeated warnings from the FDA about the dangers of using these so-called miracle mineral solutions (MMS), companies continue to cash in on vulnerable people searching for a cure for their ailments.
If you have any information about people using Safrax or any other type of chlorine dioxide to ‘treat’ ailments and would like to share the details with. VICE News, you can email david.gilbert@vice.com.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other public health bodies have repeatedly warned against the use of chlorine dioxide, labeling it “a powerful bleaching agent that has caused serious and potentially life-threatening side effects.”
“These bleachers are health terrorists, preying on the most vulnerable in our communities and making big profit poisoning people—the police, authorities must do more,” O’Leary, who has autistic children and has been campaigning against peddlers of chlorine dioxide for a decade, told VICE News. “Autistic children are being abused. Cancer patients are being poisoned and often walk away from scientifically proven treatments to ingest this lethal bleach. I watch these people die. It is heartbreaking.”
“Autistic children are being abused. Cancer patients are being poisoned and often walk away from scientifically proven treatments to ingest this lethal bleach.”
But for the Delaware-registered Safrax, which is now being promoted on Facebook and Telegram channels dedicated to sharing information about chlorine dioxide, business is booming.
A message on the Safrax website informs customers that there is a 2-4 week delay in sending out orders specifically due to overwhelming demand for the product as a result of the tablets being featured on the radio show of pseudoscience conspiracist Mike Adams.
Adams, who calls himself the Health Ranger, founded the notorious fake health news website NaturalNews, and has links to far-right figure Alex Jones and the extremist groups the Oath Keepers.
Salant claimed on the customer phone call that Safrax has no official relationship with Adams, but added that “we’re fans” of his show. This is a claim backed up by Safrax owner Steve Dan, who told VICE News via email that he had never heard of Adams prior to his mentioning Safrax on his show.
However, it is easy to see the impact that Adams’ endorsement has had: Some Adams listeners reported on private Facebook groups dedicated to sharing information about using bleach as medication that they bought the product after hearing his show.
In a post reviewed by VICE News, one purchaser wrote that she had taken the Safrax tablets and was now feeling unwell. “I can’t find any information about the dosage of the tablets… and I am currently sick. I tried dissolving one in a gallon [of water] and it tastes like pure bleach. I just wanna get well.”
“I can’t find any information about the dosage of the tablets… and I am currently sick. I tried dissolving one in a gallon [of water] and it tastes like pure bleach. I just wanna get well.”
Another member of the group responded by linking to the Safrax website, where the company recommends adding 30 tablets to a gallon of water. However, the original poster pointed out this dosage was for industrial use, adding: “I just don’t want to kill myself by drinking too much.”
Safrax was founded in 2011 by Dan, a French national who is also known as Steve Jean-Paul Dan. In 2005 he was arrested on three counts of felony financial transaction card fraud the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia confirmed to VICE News, and that case remains open to this day. Dan told VICE News he wasn’t aware the case was still open, and claimed he was arrested “merely because I was in the company of my friend who got arrested.”
For the last decade, Safrax has sold its chlorine dioxide tablets, which are produced in China, wholesale, marketing them as industrial cleaning products. Despite the recent popularity of his products within the bleacher community, Dan claims the company is not suggesting people use their products to cure medical issues.
“We explicitly advise against using our chlorine dioxide tablets for the treatment of any diseases or medical conditions,” Dan said. “If any such claims were made by Mr. Salant, that would not represent the views or recommendations of Safrax. We will investigate this internally and make the proper corrections.”
However the presence of Kalcker’s book on the company’s website suggests otherwise. The book, “Forbidden Health,” is one of the most widely read publications in the bleacher community, and contains an exhaustive list of the ailments Kalcker claims can be cured with bleach.
Dan dismissed the book’s presence on the Safrax site, telling VICE News it was there as “an effective SEO tool to enhance our site’s visibility.” On the phone call with O’Leary, Salant said he had read Kalcker’s book and “appreciates his work.”
When questioned about the credibility of Safrax’s owners in the phone call with a customer, Salant defends his boss, calling him a “very reputable person.” However, as well as the arrest in Georgia in 2005, a court in Hong Kong last year found that Dan had acted fraudulently by misappropriating bitcoins belonging to someone else. Dan told VICE News that the ruling “occurred because I couldn’t afford to hire an attorney.”
Salant said the company was planning on expanding its reach to Europe this month, but currently only ships to the United States and Canada. But, he said, many European customers are already circumventing this restriction by getting people living in the U.S. to purchase the tablets and mail them to Europe.
The tablets are stored in a distribution center in Green Bay, Wisconsin, according to Salant. But due to their recent increase in popularity among individuals rather than companies, he told VICE News, Safrax has found a new distribution center in Texas, which is due to open soon.
In an apparent attempt to make the company appear legitimate, Safrax has also sold its products with the logo of certification company NSF on its packaging, denoting that the brand has been accredited by the organization and is guaranteed safe. Dan claims that the company in the past had accreditation from NSF but had stopped in 2021 due to the high cost of maintaining it.
When asked to provide evidence of this certification, Dan failed to produce it, though admitted the company should not still be selling products with the NSF logo on its website.
NSF didn’t respond to VICE News’ request for comment but a notice published on the NSF website last year warned Safrax to remove the logo from its packaging.
The FDA declined to comment when VICE News asked if the agency was investigating Safrax for selling chlorine dioxide to people using it to treat autism or other ailments.
Multiple phone numbers listed on the Safrax website went unanswered when VICE News attempted to contact Salant this week, playing a recorded message from Salant asking customers to leave a message or send an email.
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It’s a continuation of the long history of chemical and thermal burns being used to punish neuro-divergent children. Boy with development delays wets himself – – boiling water. Girl with ADHD touches herself – – apply lye. Kid’s been driven to the edge of catatonic schizophrenia by the abuse – – well, then they switch to nails and knives.
This isn’t funny; it’s child abuse. But because evangelical Christianity occupies such a privileged place in American society, no one will lay a finger on him.
Even worse, profiting from the abuse suffered by other people’s children through advocating the administration of sodium hypochlorite to treat (WTF?!?) an inherent characteristic as if it was, what, a symptom of something a little chlorox can clear up?
The arrogance of delusional Christ-o-freaks causes so much harm, yet seems quite lucrative to the predators with any influence over a malleable flock.
The rates of maternal and neonatal death have been dropping around the world since 2000. That’s great news – but since 2016, rates of maternal deaths have remained stagnant. We have to do better. I’ve been invited by the @GatesFoundation to partner with them and attend the 2023 Goalkeepers conference, which focuses on neonatal and maternal health. Goalkeepers is an organization that keeps tabs on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations in 2015 (links below), and this year’s report & conference is all about maternal and neonatal health. We’re not currently on track to meet the goals for maternal and neonatal mortality rates set out in 2015, but we can get there if we get the right tools to the right people.
This is what happens when a governor and his hired henchmen, playing a public health official, constantly misinform, lie about, and work to spread harmful myths about the much-needed vaccine. Florida’s death rate from Covid is much higher than states that pushed the vaccine. This anti-science fundamentalism is head in the sand denial of facts and reality. I am really not sure of DeathSantis motivation for his crusade to not protect the people in his state. Is it religious fundamentalism, is it for political advantage with people that are unable to understand medical fact or is he a conspiracy believer? Hugs
Matt Rourke/AP
Most Floridians believe COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, but many also believe false information about the vaccines. There is a major divide between Democrats and Republicans. (Matt Rourke/Associated Press)
With COVID on the rise and new vaccines arriving in pharmacies and doctor’s offices, the vast majority of Floridians believe the shots are safe, help prevent the spread of infections, and reduce the risk of hospitalization and death.
Those assessments are validated by the overwhelming majority of public health authorities — and, a statewide poll shows, seven in 10 Floridians.
But the University of South Florida/Florida Atlantic University public opinion survey that probed what people know — or think they know — revealed sizable numbers of Florida residents believe inaccurate assertions about the vaccines.
And that’s a problem, said Stephen Neely, an associate professor at USF’s School of Public Affairs.
“The misinformation unnecessarily costs lives. The CDC has said that. The World Health Organization has said that. And the data confirm that,” Neely said. “It’s disheartening, but it’s the reality that we’re facing right now. … Overall, people perceive vaccines to be generally safe and efficacious. But even among those who do, there’s still pretty widespread belief in some things that are not true.”
Among the findings of the USF/FAU survey, conducted in August:
The biggest factor associated with beliefs in misinformation was political affiliation, with Republicans far more likely than Democrats and independents to agree with a range of false assertions about vaccines. “Unfortunately our best efforts to communicate the truth about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines have not been able to break through these political barriers,” Neely said.
One in four Floridians incorrectly believe the vaccine causes alterations in DNA. Almost as many believe it can cause infertility.
A smaller, but notable, number of Floridians believe one of the most far-out conspiracy theories, that the vaccines contain microchips.
Politics and health
An enormous political gulf has emerged around COVID. And that’s true as well about the vaccines, especially after the initial rush of excitement in late 2020 and early 2021. Vaccinations have become more politically polarized and some people objected to being told what to do and chafed at recommendations from public health authorities.
Despite the belief in various falsehoods — and outspoken vaccine skepticism among some prominent officials, including Gov. Ron DeSantis — 66% of Floridians surveyed in August said they were very or somewhat confident in COVID “guidance provided by the CDC and other public health officials.”
And 69% said they were very or somewhat likely to get regular COVID-19 booster shots if recommended by public health officials — which is precisely what the Food and Drug Administration did on Monday and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did on Tuesday.
The CDC recommended that everyone 6 months and older get the latest vaccine, which the agency said “remains the best protection” against COVID-related hospitalization and death and reduces the chances of long COVID.
“I think we all wish COVID would be fully in the rearview mirror, but the reality is, it’s still here with us, it’s still circulating, and it’s still making some people very sick. But the good news is, we have more tools to protect ourselves. We just have to use those tools,” Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the CDC, said on the PBS NewsHour.
Florida has the highest COVID hospitalization rate in the country. Statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations were 2,536 during the week ending Sept. 2, the most recent date published by the CDC, up from 951 the week ending July 1.
On Wednesday, DeSantis and the surgeon general he appointed, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, responded to the FDA and CDC by recommending people under age 65 not get the new booster. Cohen decried DeSantis and Ladapo’s move. “Public health experts are in broad agreement about these facts, and efforts to undercut vaccine uptake are unfounded and dangerous,” she said in a statement to news organizations.
That leaves Floridians to decide what advice to follow. Among Floridians surveyed last month, 42% said they were very likely to follow vaccine recommendations “by public health officials.” Other findings: somewhat likely, 27%; somewhat unlikely, 17%, and very unlikely, 15%.
There were significant differences based on political affiliation. Among Democrats, 84% said they were or somewhat likely to get the shots, compared to 69% of independents and 53% of Republicans.
The share who don’t plan to get vaccinated is still too high, said Kenneth Goodman, founder and director of the Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine.
“It means more people sick, and it kills more people,” he said. Goodman, who was not involved with the survey, said the views it uncovered showed many people believe false statements about the vaccines would translate into a “higher body count.”
Misinformation
Researchers surveyed Floridians in an attempt to understand the impact of public perceptions of vaccines, given the volume of information floating around “particularly in online/digital spaces.”
Neely’s work in public opinion research has delved into COVID since the early days of the pandemic, including a research about people who have defriended others on Facebook because of their views.
To gauge public beliefs, people were given multiple statements and asked whether they believed the claims. The statements were classified by the CDC as “true” or “false,” but respondents weren’t told what was true or false.
There was widespread agreement with three true statements:
COVID-19 vaccines are safe — 71%.
Vaccines help prevent the spread of COVID-19 — 69%.
Vaccines reduce the risk of dying from COVID-19 — 77%.
Statements classified as “false” by the CDC and percentage of Floridians who believe they are true:
Getting sick with COVID-19 builds better immunity than getting a vaccine — 51%.
COVID-19 vaccines are causing new variants of the virus to emerge — 42%.
COVID-19 vaccines alter your DNA — 26%.
COVID-19 vaccines contain a “live strain” of the virus — 49%.
Vaccines can cause you to get sick with COVID-19 — 42%.
Getting a COVID-19 vaccine will cause you to temporarily test positive for the virus — 42%.
Party affiliation
On almost every question, Republicans are far more skeptical of vaccines than Democrats, significantly more likely to believe in statements that the CDC classifies as false, and less likely to believe statements health authorities say are true.
“Attitudes toward the pandemic remain starkly divided along political lines,” the researchers wrote in a summary of their findings.
For example, Democrats were significantly more willing to receive ongoing vaccine boosters than Republicans (84% to 53%).
And Republicans reported lower levels of trust in COVID guidance from public health officials (47% to 88%) than Democrats.
“Politics shapes perception,” said Charles Zelden, a professor of history and legal studies who specializes in politics and voting at Nova Southeastern University. “And it’s pretty clear in these numbers that Republican perspective on the world leads you down one path and a Democratic perspective leads you down another.”
Zelden wasn’t involved in the survey.
Statements classified as “false” by the CDC and the percentage of Floridians who believe they are true showed the divide:
Getting sick with COVID-19 builds better immunity than getting a vaccine — Democrats, 36%; independents, 53%; Republicans, 67%.
COVID-19 vaccines are causing new variants of the virus to emerge — Democrats, 31%; independents, 43%; Republicans, 48%.
COVID-19 vaccines alter your DNA — Democrats, 16%; independents, 28%; Republicans, 32%.
COVID-19 vaccines contain a “live strain” of the virus — Democrats, 36%; independents, 48%; Republicans, 57%.
Vaccines can cause you to get sick with COVID-19 — Democrats, 31%; independents, 42%; Republicans, 50%.
Getting a COVID-19 vaccine will cause you to temporarily test positive for the virus — Democrats, 36%; independents, 36%; Republicans, 48%.
Development of some vaccines was accelerated by Operation Warp Speed under former President Donald Trump, and political leaders like DeSantis were initially enthusiastic promoters of vaccination.
But as the pandemic was moving into its second year, many Republicans became much more skeptical. DeSantis ultimately emerged as a vaccine skeptic, and he replaced the Florida surgeon general with Ladapo, a vaccine skeptic.
One effect of the partisan divide: Areas in which President Joe Biden performed better than former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election generally had higher vaccination rates. In July, Yale University researchers who studied Florida and Ohio reported in JAMA Internal Medicine that “excess mortality was significantly higher for Republican voters than Democratic voters after COVID-19 vaccines were available to all adults, but not before.”
In March, Ladapo said that “at this point in the pandemic, I’m not sure anyone should be taking them (vaccines).”
Appearing with DeSantis at a campaign-style event in Sept. 7, Ladapo said there was “no evidence” supporting the new vaccine and asserted there “are a lot of red flags.”
Zelden said the vaccine views reflect an overall shift among many Republicans concerning “attitudes toward government telling you what to do and what not to do, toward expertise. A lot of the culture war positions that the Republicans have challenge existing expertise, because they don’t like what they’re being told. So they question the validity of the underlying science.”
Neely said the survey shows there is no indication that the polarization is easing.
“A lot of us had hoped for a time we could kind of coalesce around a shared scientific understanding,” he said. “Instead, this form of political beliefs around COVID have sort of become a kind of partisan political identity.”
Age, gender
One demographic category stood out: 25- to 44-year-old Floridians.
They had higher beliefs that false information was true — sometimes significantly higher — than other age groups on six of the eight statements considered false by the CDC. In most cases, the belief in the false statements was about 10 percentage points higher among 25- to 44-year-olds than the population as a whole.
Neely said he doesn’t have a good answer for the greater embrace of false information among people aged 25-44. Because it is a large and diverse age group — 25-year-olds are very different from 44-year-olds, Neely said — “it’s a little harder to parse out the meaning.”
He said there may be a lower perceived threat from COVID in that age group “and therefore less urgency to research and talk to your doctor.”
And the oldest group — age 65 and up — had much lower belief in the false claims.
“This is the group that is most at risk for severe COVID illness, the group that is most likely to have spoken to their doctor about a vaccine. They are the least likely to believe in these misinformation themes,” Neel said.
Men and women had almost exactly the same assessments about most of the false statements.
Two exceptions: Men were more likely than women (57% to 45%) to believe getting sick with COVID-19 builds better immunity than getting a vaccine, and women were more likely than men to believe (53% to 45%) that the vaccines contain a “live strain” of the virus.
Microchips
Even before the first vaccines were administered to the public in December 2020, one conspiracy theory was circulating on the internet: that the shots were being used to inject tiny devices allowing people to be tracked.
Many people regarded the notion as a joke and mocked the idea. But it became fairly widespread; a July 2021 YouGov/Economist poll found 20% of Americans said it was definitely or probably true that the U.S. government was using the vaccines to microchip the population. Though 65% said that was definitely or probably false, many public public health organizations and news media outlets debunked the idea.
And it is believed by enough people that it’s refuted by the CDC website: “FACT: COVID-19 vaccines do not contain microchips. Vaccines are developed to fight against disease and are not administered to track your movement.”
Yet the August USF/FAU poll found 14% of Floridians said the claim that the vaccines contain microchips was definitely or possibly true.
“That conspiracy theory has proven more troublesome than we expected at first,” Neely said. “We’re sadly confident that this is the correct number that believe in that particular misinformation theme.”
That’s one area in the survey in which there wasn’t a statistically significant difference between Democrats (12%) and Republicans (13%).
And it was the only false statement included in the survey in which independents had a slightly higher belief (16%) than Republicans. In all other areas, Republicans had a higher percentage of people accepting the misinformation.
There were variations by age, with people aged 25-44 more likely to say the microchip statement was true and people 65 and older far less likely to say it was true.
The microchip belief, broken down by age, was: 18-24 — 17%; 25-44 — 23%; 45-64 — 12%, and 65 and older — 5%.
To Goodman, Neely and Zelden said the overall share of people buying the microchip theory is in line with Americans’ acceptance of all sorts of conspiracy theories.
“This is your basic conspiracy theory,” Zelden said. “That 14% is about the percentage that believe in most conspiracy theories.”
Goodman said “that 14% were out there for other things too: that the moon landing was staged, the world was created 4,000 years ago, and bitcoins are great investment.”
Neely said the result is consistent with previous surveys, and the result is an accurate assessment of Floridians beliefs in the microchip theory — and not a case of people parking the poll by claiming a belief in the microchip theory.
He said it is possible that some people don’t understand what is meant by microchips and so aren’t equating it with the conspiracy theory that microchips are being implanted in people via vaccines so they can be tracked.
Infertility
The survey found 24% of Floridians believe vaccines can cause infertility. The CDC doesn’t state this is false, Neely said, but that there is no evidence in support.
Concerns about fertility have gotten attention since the early days of the vaccine, perhaps most prominently by entertainer Nicki Manaj, who in September 2021 said she wasn’t vaccinated and told her 22.6 million followers on the social media platform then known as Twitter that her cousin’s friend had become impotent after getting the shot.
A wide range of medical experts debunked the assertion. Dr. Ranjith Ramasamy, an associate professor of urology at the University of Miami, wrote at the time that the truth was the opposite of what Minaj said, that the virus that causes COVID — not the vaccine — poses a risk for both erectile dysfunction and male infertility.
Many Floridians believe it does cause infertility.
The survey reported 33% of people aged 25-44 — who are in peak childbearing years — believe the vaccines cause infertility, 9 percentage points higher than the overall population.
Other big believers in the infertility statement: 29% of Republicans and 24% of independents.
Democrats (15%) and people 65 and older (12%) were less likely to believe it.
As with many statements on the survey, there was little difference between men (22%) and women (25%.)
Most say effective
Most Floridians rated the vaccines as effective.
On preventing infection, 71% said they were very or somewhat effective. Among Democrats, 86%; independents, 72%; Republicans, 56%.
On preventing hospitalizations, 79% said they were very or somewhat effective. Among Democrats, 92%; independents, 81%; Republicans, 67%.
On preventing death from COVID-19, 78% said they were effective or somewhat effective. Among Democrats, 91%; independents, 80%; Republicans, 67%.
And most Floridians — 66% — expressed confidence in the COVID guidance provided by the CDC and other public health officials.
Floridians were very confident (31%), somewhat confident (35%), not very confident (18%) and not at all confident (16%).
Very and somewhat confident ranged from 88% among Democrats to 47% among Republicans. As with almost all questions on the survey, independents were in between, at 65%.
Goodman said he’d like to see much more information into people’s COVID and vaccine beliefs, and the behavior it encourages.
“This is no longer politics, this is anthropology. How do you get ordinary people to believe in preposterous things,” Goodman said. “Why are some of the people willing not just to believe, but to embrace the preposterous?”
The fine print
Researchers from the University of South Florida and Florida Atlantic University, sponsored by the Florida Center for Cybersecurity, surveyed 600 Florida adults. The poll was conducted Aug. 10 to 21 using an online survey through market research firm Prodege MR.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Because subgroups (such as Democrats and Republicans or men and women) are smaller than in the overall poll, the margins of error are higher for those groups.
Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Facebook, Threads.net and Post.news.
I thought I had posted this, but I can’t find it and I hurt so badly both emotionally and physically, I am just going to do it again. This guy is a complete scammer. His whole graft before he was hired to be a shield for DeathSantis was to hock ivermectin as a cure for covid via over the internet consultation, where he charged hundreds of dollars before giving the prescription. He was part of the “Front Line Doctors” group run by the woman that claimed that diseases were caused by demon seed, meaning demon sperm, being put in people. This guy was hired by DeathSantis to back up his anti-mask anti-vaccine screed but then DeathSantis insisted a major state run university also hire him making his yearly salary almost $600,000 a year. So it is no wonder he is willing to parrot and claim any political thing DeathSantis wants. And just to be clear, Florida had more deaths from Covid by far than states that did push masking and vaccines, but DeathSantis did not care how many people died, he wanted the state to have tourist revenue.
To be clear, this jerk is one that Tildeb used to claim that gender affirming care for youth is harmful. And others believe and follow Tildeb as if he is a sincere truth telling person. In fact, he is a lying anti-trans bigot that misinforms and spreads lies about trans people and gender affirming medical care. I have no tolerance for such people because they cause harm to both kids and adults that identify as a different gender / sex than assigned at birth. Such people deny advances in medical science and want the world to return to a past when this issue was not discussed or addressed medically. Hugs
While speaking at a Thursday news conference for Gov. Ron DeSantis in Jacksonville, Florida, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, that state’s surgeon general, advised people to steer clear of the updated booster vaccine for COVID-19. “There’s a new vaccine that’s coming around the corner, a new mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, and there’s essentially no evidence for it,” Ladapo said during the news conference, according to local news outlets.
“There’s been no clinical trial done in human beings showing that it benefits people” he said. “There’s been no clinical trial showing that it is a safe product for people — and not only that, but then there are a lot of red flags.” Ladapo warned that the updated vaccines “actually cause cardiac injury in many people.” He l urged Floridians to make their own decisions based on their particular “resonance of truth,” rather than on “very educated people telling you what you should think.”
I hope there’s an enormous class-action lawsuit against him and DeSantis sometime in the future, brought by the relatives of people who should have gotten the booster but didn’t, because this asshole said “Don’t listen to subject matter experts.”
He urged Floridians to make their own decisions based on their particular “resonance of truth,” rather than on “very educated people telling you what you should think.”
Or you could listen to the ravings of a complete lunatic liar
Advising the public to adopt harmful behaviour based on zero scientific evidence. In other words, a charlatan. Should be arrested and jailed for public endangerment.
As more and more of these studies get done and made public, it is getting harder for the NTI-TRANS haters to deny the good that gender affirming care does. It also shows the lie that these red state anti-trans care laws are to protect the children. That fact is they hurt children! Hugs
A landmark new study has found that access to gender-affirming care halves suicidality among transgender people. (Getty)
A new landmark study has found that access to gender-affirming healthcare significantly reduces rates of depression, gender dysphoria, and suicidality among transgender people.
While it’s no secret that providing gender-affirming care to transgender individuals who ask for it can greatly benefit their well-being, an increase in transphobic rhetoric and bans on gender-affirming healthcare has prompted thorough medical studies into the impact of such care.
Now, brand new research conducted in Melbourne, Australia, has found that allowing transgender people to access the care they’re after can reduce suicidality by a stunning 55 per cent.
As part of the first-ever randomized controlled trial (RCT) on gender-affirming care, researchers took 64 transgender and gender-diverse adults who had been looking to start testosterone therapy and randomly split them into a treatment group and a control group.
While the treatment group was allowed to begin hormone therapy that week, the control group waited three months for their treatment to begin.
The RCT trial noted a 55 per cent drop in suicidality among transgender individuals who received gender-affirming care. (Getty Images)
Before the study began, both groups were evaluated on depression, gender dysphoria, and suicidality. Three months later, the two groups were evaluated again.
RCTs for medical care can often be hard to conduct due to practical and ethical concerns. However, researchers of this study found a way to hold an RCT for this study by incorporating a shorter follow-up period. Rather than giving the control group a placebo drug, or no treatment at all, they were simply given a longer wait time.
The results showed a notable decrease in gender dysphoria, depression, and – most significantly – suicidality.
The group that received gender-affirming care right away saw a 55 per cent reduction in suicidality compared to a 5 per cent drop within the control group.
Depression scores in the treatment group decreased by half, while gender dysphoria rates also significantly decreased.
Breaking down their findings, researchers Brendan J. Nolan MBBS, Sav Zwickl, PhD, and Peter Locke wrote: “There was a statistically significant decrease in gender dysphoria in individuals with immediate [access to gender-affirming care] compared with delayed initiation of testosterone therapy.
“A clinically significant decrease in depression and a decrease in suicidality also occurred with immediate testosterone therapy.
“The findings of this trial suggest that testosterone therapy significantly decreases gender dysphoria, depression, and suicidality in transgender and gender-diverse individuals desiring testosterone therapy.”
The results showed a notable decrease in gender dysphoria, depression, and – most significantly – suicidality. (Jama Network)
Of course, this isn’t the first time that research has shown significant drops in depression and suicide rates among transgender individuals who receive gender-affirming care.
A 2022 medical study showed that young transgender people who have access to puberty blockers are 73 per cent less at risk of suicide and report improved well-being.
But, as anti-trans activists advocate for further bans on gender-affirming care, one of the key arguments is that the evidence in support of the care isn’t up to scratch with GRADE (Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) standards.
So research like this landmark RCT is so significant to the transgender community and its allies as the fight for their healthcare rights rumbles on.
This is in direct refutation of the anti-trans haters that keep claiming that all other countries are stopping trans treatment. It is, like everything else they claim, a lie. Hugs
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