alternet--2020-12-31--Here's why it is necessary to speak out about Trump's psychological dangerousness and lack of mental

Here's why it is necessary to speak out about Trump's psychological dangerousness and lack of mental capacity

Dr. Bandy X. Lee was interviewed by presidential historian Joshua Kendall , whose most recent book is First Dads : Parenting and Politics from George Washington to Barack Obama ( Grand Central , 2016 ) .
His journalism has appeared in the New York Times , Boston Globe , Los Angeles Times , Wall Street Journal , New Republic , Politico , and Times Literary Supplement , among other publications .
He interviewed Dr. Lee , forensic psychiatrist and editor of The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump , as first of a two-part series in light of the growing controversy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kendall : I 'm taken by the depth of your psychological understanding of Donald Trump and by the accuracy of your predictions .
Mary Trump 's recent memoir about her uncle validated just about everything you and your co-authors wrote over three years ago .
And in your new book completed over the summer , you wrote : `` Now with an election looming , he will likely refuse to concede the results , call the election a fraud , and refuse to leave office . ''
This is exactly what is happening @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who approach Trump based on what they know about politics and past presidents , you approach him based on your experiences with patients .
Tell me about your work in forensic psychiatry .
Lee : Thank you .
Yes , a forensic psychiatrist works at the interface of psychiatry and the law , which is what I have done for over 20 years .
My particular area of specialization has been violence prevention .
I have treated violent offenders as well as worked at the population level through public health and policy recommendations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ individual level is very difficult , almost random , because even the most violent individuals are not violent most of the time .
Predicting and preventing violence at the societal level , however , is more precise , since probabilities translate into percentages , and the past few decades have yielded abundant research .
I often state that violence is a societal disorder for this reason .
I was able to understand Donald Trump easily , since I have treated about a thousand individuals of a very similar psychological structure .
I was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ terms the psychological influence he would have on society , in addition to his being , as president , a `` barometer '' of societal mental health .
Four years into the Trump administration—after we have repeatedly seen the president deny reality—by , for example , describing Covid-19 as a hoax that would go away after the election and by challenging without any evidence the results of the 2020 election—vast numbers of Americans are convinced that Donald Trump is weighed down by serious psychiatric problems .
For example , a dean at Yale @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Fortune as `` secluded and deluded , '' noting that he now has `` the mindset of a mad monarch . ''
In 2020 , it seems as if it is almost impossible to talk seriously about Trump without flinging around psychiatric terms .
But you were way ahead of the curve .
Right after his surprise victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016 , you had little doubt that he lacked the mental fitness to be president and began corresponding with fellow psychiatrists about how best to make your voices heard .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ you were worried about `` [ the ] potential violence that could result from the presidency , from hate crimes to nuclear war . ''
What was it about Trump 's words and deeds that caused you such alarm ?
I tried to stay true to my clinical judgment , based on having encountered many patients just like him through my work in jails and prisons , and knowing how such personalities can beguile , manipulate , and whip up frenzied , irrational support , as is common among leaders of street gangs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of psychology is particularly vulnerable to control .
Observing his interactions with his supporters at rallies allowed me to gauge precisely his degree of fragility , manipulativeness , and violence-proneness , and his followers ' responsiveness .
While I was strictly an academic and clinician , I consulted regularly with policymakers and governments , which habituated me to keeping strict boundaries .
Medical neutrality means a health professional should not change medical judgment or response according to political considerations—and we have a duty to human health and life .
Society is also our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to patients .
As you noted in the title of your bestseller , The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump , your argument that Trump is unfit to serve as president revolves around his psychological dangerousness .
What exactly is psychological dangerousness , and how can it be determined ?
And in your new book , you have asserted that Trump lacks the mental capacity to serve as president .
What is mental capacity , and how can it be determined ?
While psychological dangerousness and lack of mental capacity are not the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at all related to it ?
Like Mary Trump , do you say that he likely suffers from a string of psychiatric disorders—including narcissistic personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder ?
How are such diagnoses made ?
While many people kept looking for a diagnosis , I saw our role as educating the public that a diagnosis is not important , that the president is not our patient , and that there are more relevant matters to public health than diagnoses .
Diagnosis is primarily for individual treatment , and is an intricate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ helpful—external observation and collateral information are preferred for dangerous individuals—but medical records are obligatory .
Brain scans and electroencephalograms are almost always used to rule out medical conditions , unless we have extensive history .
But even if we diagnosed , it says nothing about dangerousness or unfitness , which are of foremost concern to public health .
Violence risk is determined almost actuarially , with a checklist of specific information and external characteristics—all of which have long been available on Donald Trump .
Most importantly , past violence points to future violence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of sexual assault , and incitement of violence were all signs of dangerous risk .
Dangerousness alone makes one unfit for a job , but we performed a full assessment of mental capacity , which is basic for fitness .
The Mueller report provided intimate , firsthand accounts by close associates and coworkers—which is the best kind of information to have for capacity evaluations—in abundance under sworn testimony .
So , with exceptional rigor , we were able to show that he failed every criterion .
This means he would be unfit for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and our standardized assessment could count as evidence in any court—which anyone can still take up .
In March of 2017 , as you and other prominent psychiatrists began speaking out about Trump 's mental state , the American Psychiatric Association reaffirmed its support for a formerly obscure clause in its ethical guidelines called the Goldwater Rule , which states that `` member psychiatrists should not give professional opinions about the mental state of someone they have not personally evaluated . ''
What is the Goldwater Rule and what purpose was it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this ethical rule applies only to psychiatrists who belong to the APA , it has been used to silence all mental health professionals—even psychologists and social workers—from offering their professional opinion about what might be driving the president 's behavior .
But is n't there something useful about the Goldwater Rule ?
Does it not help reduce the stigma often associated with a mental health condition ?
If mental health experts can point out leaders ' emotional difficulties , would n't people with emotional problems be less likely to seek treatment and to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2017 revision is what got me started .
I gauged , at a public-health level , that silencing experts would result in the spread of mental pathology , an inability to apply correct interventions , and therefore vast suffering and societal damage .
I am sad to say , this is exactly what happened .
`` The Goldwater rule '' in the narrowest sense was set up to caution against commenting on things that one could not rigorously—primarily , diagnosis .
However , having originated as a political compromise , it was bound @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a `` gag order '' under the Trump administration and forcing a media culture of making no experts available , commentary by people who knew nothing of what they were talking about became rampant , defeating the stated purpose of the `` rule '' .
You are also right in that , through public campaigns , the APA gave the impression that its trade-association `` rule '' was universal , when it covers only 6 percent of practicing mental health professionals , whom it probably can not discipline anyhow because of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to misinformation campaigns that changed the nation 's `` informational milieu . ''
The effect under Donald Trump has been catastrophic , leaving a population defenseless during perhaps the greatest mental health emergency in the nation 's history , especially in a deadly pandemic made multifold worse because of his mental impairments .
The assertion that commenting on a public figure 's mental health would increase stigma does not hold up .
If anything , scientific research clearly shows that open discussion and education reduce stigma , and pretending that mental problems do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and not to seek treatment .
Besides , I do not see how allowing mental compromise to play out in full severity before the public , contributing to great harm from a lack of treatment , is not stigmatizing .
The APA , by playing up public misconceptions and prejudices and—in effect—stigmatizing the whole mental health field as the only field in which the public can not hear from experts , canceled the progress from decades of mental health awareness efforts .
Sharing specialized knowledge about a public servant who poses a danger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hold those in power accountable .
Stripping the public of access to the best available knowledge is ipso facto anti-democratic , not to mention harmful to public health .
Never in my career have I witnessed such travesty by a health association .
In March of 2020 , the non-profit that you lead—the World Mental Health Coalition—issued a `` Prescription for Survival , '' which stated that Donald Trump should be removed from office , whether by impeachment , the 25th Amendment , or any other available mechanism .
Sure , you were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was already clear that Trump was botching the nation 's response to the pandemic .
But we live in a democracy , and Donald Trump is a duly elected president .
And while you may disagree with the Republicans in the Senate who voted against removing Trump from office after the House impeached him late last year , senators are also duly elected representatives .
So what do you say to Americans who worry about giving mental health experts the power to overturn the will of the people ?
Using psychological tactics to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to act against its interests is not permitting the people 's will .
Facts and the best available knowledge , or expertise , are supposed to facilitate informed decisions .
Early education and persuasion through the sharing of information is especially important with a mental health crisis , just like a pandemic , since to wait until an untrained public appreciates the full extent of the crisis on its own will be too late .
This is why society invests in training specialists .
Having devoted our lives to a specific field , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ areas with greater precision , and this is the minimum we owe society .
We do not intervene in politics , but we have a responsibility to say if something is not purely politics .
When elected officials do not merely present a different ideology or approach but cause widespread mass deaths , devastate the economy , and reform people 's thoughts so that they can not protect their own self-interest , these leaders are no longer offering political options but are a public health hazard .
When a president presents with dangerous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or other critical positions , are not screened in advance , then it is incumbent on independent mental health experts to speak up about problems .
It was not our place to say how they should be removed , but it was within our purview to state that the dangers need to be removed for public health and safety , whatever the means—and this is still the case today .

Dr. Bandy X. Lee was interviewed by presidential historian Joshua Kendall, whose most recent book is First Dads: Parenting and Politics from George Washington to Barack Obama (Grand Central, 2016). His journalism has appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, New Republic, Politico, and Times Literary Supplement, among other publications. He interviewed Dr. Lee, forensic psychiatrist and editor of The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, as first of a two-part series in light of the growing controversy over the president's mental health.
Kendall: I'm taken by the depth of your psychological understanding of Donald Trump and by the accuracy of your predictions. Mary Trump's recent memoir about her uncle validated just about everything you and your co-authors wrote over three years ago. And in your new book completed over the summer, you wrote: "Now with an election looming, he will likely refuse to concede the results, call the election a fraud, and refuse to leave office." This is exactly what is happening right now. In contrast to journalists who approach Trump based on what they know about politics and past presidents, you approach him based on your experiences with patients. Tell me about your work in forensic psychiatry.
Lee: Thank you. Yes, a forensic psychiatrist works at the interface of psychiatry and the law, which is what I have done for over 20 years. My particular area of specialization has been violence prevention. I have treated violent offenders as well as worked at the population level through public health and policy recommendations. Predicting episodes of violence at the individual level is very difficult, almost random, because even the most violent individuals are not violent most of the time. Predicting and preventing violence at the societal level, however, is more precise, since probabilities translate into percentages, and the past few decades have yielded abundant research. I often state that violence is a societal disorder for this reason. I was able to understand Donald Trump easily, since I have treated about a thousand individuals of a very similar psychological structure. I was also able to conceive in public health terms the psychological influence he would have on society, in addition to his being, as president, a "barometer" of societal mental health.
Four years into the Trump administration—after we have repeatedly seen the president deny reality—by, for example, describing Covid-19 as a hoax that would go away after the election and by challenging without any evidence the results of the 2020 election—vast numbers of Americans are convinced that Donald Trump is weighed down by serious psychiatric problems. For example, a dean at Yale's School of Management recently described Trump in Fortune as "secluded and deluded," noting that he now has "the mindset of a mad monarch." In 2020, it seems as if it is almost impossible to talk seriously about Trump without flinging around psychiatric terms. But you were way ahead of the curve. Right after his surprise victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016, you had little doubt that he lacked the mental fitness to be president and began corresponding with fellow psychiatrists about how best to make your voices heard. You wrote in your 2017 book that you were worried about "[the] potential violence that could result from the presidency, from hate crimes to nuclear war." What was it about Trump's words and deeds that caused you such alarm?
I tried to stay true to my clinical judgment, based on having encountered many patients just like him through my work in jails and prisons, and knowing how such personalities can beguile, manipulate, and whip up frenzied, irrational support, as is common among leaders of street gangs. A population that has little awareness of psychology is particularly vulnerable to control. Observing his interactions with his supporters at rallies allowed me to gauge precisely his degree of fragility, manipulativeness, and violence-proneness, and his followers' responsiveness. While I was strictly an academic and clinician, I consulted regularly with policymakers and governments, which habituated me to keeping strict boundaries. Medical neutrality means a health professional should not change medical judgment or response according to political considerations—and we have a duty to human health and life. Society is also our primary responsibility, tantamount to our responsibility to patients.
As you noted in the title of your bestseller, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, your argument that Trump is unfit to serve as president revolves around his psychological dangerousness. What exactly is psychological dangerousness, and how can it be determined? And in your new book, you have asserted that Trump lacks the mental capacity to serve as president. What is mental capacity, and how can it be determined? While psychological dangerousness and lack of mental capacity are not the same thing as mental illness, are they at all related to it? Like Mary Trump, do you say that he likely suffers from a string of psychiatric disorders—including narcissistic personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder? How are such diagnoses made?
While many people kept looking for a diagnosis, I saw our role as educating the public that a diagnosis is not important, that the president is not our patient, and that there are more relevant matters to public health than diagnoses. Diagnosis is primarily for individual treatment, and is an intricate process. An interview is not always helpful—external observation and collateral information are preferred for dangerous individuals—but medical records are obligatory. Brain scans and electroencephalograms are almost always used to rule out medical conditions, unless we have extensive history. But even if we diagnosed, it says nothing about dangerousness or unfitness, which are of foremost concern to public health. Violence risk is determined almost actuarially, with a checklist of specific information and external characteristics—all of which have long been available on Donald Trump. Most importantly, past violence points to future violence, and his verbal insults, boasts of sexual assault, and incitement of violence were all signs of dangerous risk. Dangerousness alone makes one unfit for a job, but we performed a full assessment of mental capacity, which is basic for fitness. The Mueller report provided intimate, firsthand accounts by close associates and coworkers—which is the best kind of information to have for capacity evaluations—in abundance under sworn testimony. So, with exceptional rigor, we were able to show that he failed every criterion. This means he would be unfit for almost any job, not just president, and our standardized assessment could count as evidence in any court—which anyone can still take up.
In March of 2017, as you and other prominent psychiatrists began speaking out about Trump's mental state, the American Psychiatric Association reaffirmed its support for a formerly obscure clause in its ethical guidelines called the Goldwater Rule, which states that "member psychiatrists should not give professional opinions about the mental state of someone they have not personally evaluated." What is the Goldwater Rule and what purpose was it intended to serve? And even though this ethical rule applies only to psychiatrists who belong to the APA, it has been used to silence all mental health professionals—even psychologists and social workers—from offering their professional opinion about what might be driving the president's behavior. But isn't there something useful about the Goldwater Rule? Does it not help reduce the stigma often associated with a mental health condition? If mental health experts can point out leaders' emotional difficulties, wouldn't people with emotional problems be less likely to seek treatment and to confide about their condition?
The March 2017 revision is what got me started. I gauged, at a public-health level, that silencing experts would result in the spread of mental pathology, an inability to apply correct interventions, and therefore vast suffering and societal damage. I am sad to say, this is exactly what happened. "The Goldwater rule" in the narrowest sense was set up to caution against commenting on things that one could not rigorously—primarily, diagnosis. However, having originated as a political compromise, it was bound to be politically abused. Misapplying it as a "gag order" under the Trump administration and forcing a media culture of making no experts available, commentary by people who knew nothing of what they were talking about became rampant, defeating the stated purpose of the "rule". You are also right in that, through public campaigns, the APA gave the impression that its trade-association "rule" was universal, when it covers only 6 percent of practicing mental health professionals, whom it probably cannot discipline anyhow because of the First Amendment. Instead, it resorted to misinformation campaigns that changed the nation's "informational milieu." The effect under Donald Trump has been catastrophic, leaving a population defenseless during perhaps the greatest mental health emergency in the nation's history, especially in a deadly pandemic made multifold worse because of his mental impairments.
The assertion that commenting on a public figure's mental health would increase stigma does not hold up. If anything, scientific research clearly shows that open discussion and education reduce stigma, and pretending that mental problems do not exist causes patients to blame themselves and not to seek treatment. Besides, I do not see how allowing mental compromise to play out in full severity before the public, contributing to great harm from a lack of treatment, is not stigmatizing. The APA, by playing up public misconceptions and prejudices and—in effect—stigmatizing the whole mental health field as the only field in which the public cannot hear from experts, canceled the progress from decades of mental health awareness efforts. Sharing specialized knowledge about a public servant who poses a danger to the public empowers the public to hold those in power accountable. Stripping the public of access to the best available knowledge is ipso facto anti-democratic, not to mention harmful to public health. Never in my career have I witnessed such travesty by a health association.
In March of 2020, the non-profit that you lead—the World Mental Health Coalition—issued a "Prescription for Survival," which stated that Donald Trump should be removed from office, whether by impeachment, the 25th Amendment, or any other available mechanism. Sure, you were right that, by then, it was already clear that Trump was botching the nation's response to the pandemic. But we live in a democracy, and Donald Trump is a duly elected president. And while you may disagree with the Republicans in the Senate who voted against removing Trump from office after the House impeached him late last year, senators are also duly elected representatives. So what do you say to Americans who worry about giving mental health experts the power to overturn the will of the people?
Using psychological tactics to misinform the public and to manipulate it to act against its interests is not permitting the people's will. Facts and the best available knowledge, or expertise, are supposed to facilitate informed decisions. Early education and persuasion through the sharing of information is especially important with a mental health crisis, just like a pandemic, since to wait until an untrained public appreciates the full extent of the crisis on its own will be too late. This is why society invests in training specialists. Having devoted our lives to a specific field, we can detect dangers in our respective areas with greater precision, and this is the minimum we owe society. We do not intervene in politics, but we have a responsibility to say if something is not purely politics. When elected officials do not merely present a different ideology or approach but cause widespread mass deaths, devastate the economy, and reform people's thoughts so that they cannot protect their own self-interest, these leaders are no longer offering political options but are a public health hazard. When a president presents with dangerous mental symptoms that, unlike military personnel or other critical positions, are not screened in advance, then it is incumbent on independent mental health experts to speak up about problems. It was not our place to say how they should be removed, but it was within our purview to state that the dangers need to be removed for public health and safety, whatever the means—and this is still the case today.


alternet--2020-12-31--Trump supporters mad at Walmart over 'sore loser' Twitter comment -- and now #BoycottWalmart is a th

Trump supporters mad at Walmart over 'sore loser' Twitter comment -- and now #BoycottWalmart is a thing

Is this like conservatives abandoning Twitter for Parler ?
Actually , no .
Sounds a bit more like people threatening to move to Canada if we pass `` socialized '' medicine .
Because , uh , where the fuck are they gon na go for cheaper shit brought to you by workers who have been more cruelly exploited ?
Seems that Walmart 's Twitter account responded to Sen. John Hawley 's declaration that he will object to the election results on January 6—a feckless gesture directed entirely toward an audience of one man and his tweetin ' toilet .
Yeah @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he knows it .
And his little tantrum will do nothing but force his fellow congressfolks to stay late after school , to everyone 's eternal irritation and chagrin .
But it will keep him viable as a 2024 presidential candidate .
So that 's what that 's all about .
And then came the empty threats : And even after Walmart issued an apology , the barbarians kept shouting : Sure , Trump supporters .
Boycott Walmart .
Like you 're going to find Toby Keith-branded underpants for cheaper somehow .
Still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Boycott hashtag is when it gets highjacked by our side .
So , yeah , I give this `` boycott '' about two days , or until Walmart slashes its price on jumbo tubs of Red Vines , whichever comes first .
Until then — MAGA !
Unless , of course , Target runs out of TruckNutz .
Because you can only go so far with such things .
Am I right ?

Is this like conservatives abandoning Twitter for Parler?
Actually, no. Sounds a bit more like people threatening to move to Canada if we pass "socialized" medicine. Because, uh, where the fuck are they gonna go for cheaper shit brought to you by workers who have been more cruelly exploited?
Seems that Walmart's Twitter account responded to Sen. John Hawley's declaration that he will object to the election results on January 6—a feckless gesture directed entirely toward an audience of one man and his tweetin' toilet.
Newsweek:
A call to boycott Walmart gained traction on social media after the retail giant "mistakenly" issued a tweet calling Republican Senator Josh Hawley a "sore loser" on Wednesday.
The angry protest against one of the nation's largest retailers came after a member of Walmart's social media team insulted Hawley after he tweeted his intention to object to the results of the presidential election when Congress meets on January 6 to count the votes of the Electoral College.
"I cannot vote to certify the electoral college results on January 6 without raising the fact that some states, particularly Pennsylvania, failed to follow their own state election laws," Hawley, who is from Missouri, said in a statement posted to Twitter. "And I cannot vote to certify without pointing out the unprecedented effort of mega corporations, including Facebook and Twitter, to interfere in this election, in support of Joe Biden."
Yeah, that's all bullshit, and he knows it. And his little tantrum will do nothing but force his fellow congressfolks to stay late after school, to everyone's eternal irritation and chagrin. But it will keep him viable as a 2024 presidential candidate. So that's what that's all about.
And then came the empty threats:
And even after Walmart issued an apology, the barbarians kept shouting:
Sure, Trump supporters. Boycott Walmart. Like you're going to find Toby Keith-branded underpants for cheaper somehow.
Still, my favorite part about a #Boycott hashtag is when it gets highjacked by our side.
So, yeah, I give this "boycott" about two days, or until Walmart slashes its price on jumbo tubs of Red Vines, whichever comes first.
Until then — MAGA! Unless, of course, Target runs out of TruckNutz. Because you can only go so far with such things. Am I right?


alternet--2020-12-31--Medical center reveals someone 'intentionally' destroyed 500 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine

Officials at the Aurora Medical Center in Grafton , Wisconsin , have discovered that someone `` intentionally '' removed 500 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from a pharmacy refrigerator and left them out overnight on Dec. 26 , irreparably damaging them and forcing their disposal .
The center had previously revealed that the 57 vials had been left out overnight , causing the vaccine to become unusable , but it attributed the loss to a simple mistake .
`` We immediately launched an internal review and were led to believe this was caused by inadvertent human error , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first reported by local outlet Fox 6 .
But on Wednesday night , the center revealed that the person responsible had eventually `` acknowledged that they intentionally removed the vaccine from refrigeration . ''
It 's not clear what motivation the person could have had for destroying the vaccine , and the center did not provide the individual 's name .
`` We have notified appropriate authorities for further investigation , '' the statement said .
`` We continue to believe that vaccination is our way out of the pandemic . ''
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disappointed that this individual 's actions will result in a delay of more than 500 people receiving their vaccine .
This was a violation of our core values , and the individual is no longer employed by us . ''
The Moderna vaccine must be kept at a low temperature to remain viable .
A loss of five hundred doses is a major blow because the supply of vaccines is limited , and the distribution has been more sluggish than expected .
With the virus 's spread surging to new heights — a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus on Wednesday in the U.S. , according to Worldometer — delaying vaccination is literally a matter of a life and death .

Officials at the Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, Wisconsin, have discovered that someone "intentionally" removed 500 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from a pharmacy refrigerator and left them out overnight on Dec. 26, irreparably damaging them and forcing their disposal.
The center had previously revealed that the 57 vials had been left out overnight, causing the vaccine to become unusable, but it attributed the loss to a simple mistake.
"We immediately launched an internal review and were led to believe this was caused by inadvertent human error," the center said in a statement, first reported by local outlet Fox 6.
But on Wednesday night, the center revealed that the person responsible had eventually "acknowledged that they intentionally removed the vaccine from refrigeration."
It's not clear what motivation the person could have had for destroying the vaccine, and the center did not provide the individual's name.
"We have notified appropriate authorities for further investigation," the statement said. "We continue to believe that vaccination is our way out of the pandemic."
It continued: "We are more than disappointed that this individual's actions will result in a delay of more than 500 people receiving their vaccine. This was a violation of our core values, and the individual is no longer employed by us."
The Moderna vaccine must be kept at a low temperature to remain viable.
A loss of five hundred doses is a major blow because the supply of vaccines is limited, and the distribution has been more sluggish than expected. With the virus's spread surging to new heights — a record 3,880 people reportedly died from the virus on Wednesday in the U.S., according to Worldometer — delaying vaccination is literally a matter of a life and death.


alternet--2020-12-31--Lawyer schools Josh Hawley on what will really happen when he objects to the electoral college vote

`` Sore loser '' Josh Hawley , Republican Missouri Senator , revealed Wednesday that he 's going to be the one willing to try and stop the democratic election of President-elect Joe Biden when it comes times for the Electoral College to finalize the 2020 election .
One attorney explained to those giddy over the possibility that President Donald Trump will still remain the president that it simply is n't going to happen .
Gabriel Malor , who sometimes writes for conservative sites like The Federalist , The Washington Examiner and National Review , walked through the rules on Twitter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` Some Trump tryhards are telling each other that an objection immediately sets up the state delegations to vote instead of counting the electoral votes .
That is n't true , '' he tweeted .
`` First , for an objection to a state 's electoral votes to even be considered , it must be ( 1 ) made in writing and ( 2 ) signed by at least one Senator and one Representative , '' he continued .
`` If those conditions are met , then the joint session of Congress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the House chamber and go back to the Senate chamber .
Each house then has not more than two hours to debate the objection and vote to accept or reject it . ''
According to the rules , both the House and Senate would have to vote to accept objections to the electoral votes .
Given that the House is in Democratic hands , it 's not happening any time soon .
Malor 's assessment was backed up by former acting-Solicitor General Neal Katyal , who explained that courts have already decided on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trying to raise money for his campaign .
Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger agreed , saying that it is all a ploy to make a name for himself so he can run for president .
When it fails , he 'll blame someone else .
Conservative Bill Kristol agreed that the system would stay intact , but longed for responsible leaders .
He fell short of holding leaders responsible for such behavior , however .

"Sore loser" Josh Hawley, Republican Missouri Senator, revealed Wednesday that he's going to be the one willing to try and stop the democratic election of President-elect Joe Biden when it comes times for the Electoral College to finalize the 2020 election. One attorney explained to those giddy over the possibility that President Donald Trump will still remain the president that it simply isn't going to happen.
Gabriel Malor, who sometimes writes for conservative sites like The Federalist, The Washington Examiner and National Review, walked through the rules on Twitter explaining how such a process actually works.
"Some Trump tryhards are telling each other that an objection immediately sets up the state delegations to vote instead of counting the electoral votes. That isn't true," he tweeted.
"First, for an objection to a state's electoral votes to even be considered, it must be (1) made in writing and (2) signed by at least one Senator and one Representative," he continued. "If those conditions are met, then the joint session of Congress is suspended, and the Senators leave the House chamber and go back to the Senate chamber. Each house then has not more than two hours to debate the objection and vote to accept or reject it."
According to the rules, both the House and Senate would have to vote to accept objections to the electoral votes. Given that the House is in Democratic hands, it's not happening any time soon.
Malor's assessment was backed up by former acting-Solicitor General Neal Katyal, who explained that courts have already decided on this and that Hawley is really just trying to raise money for his campaign.
Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger agreed, saying that it is all a ploy to make a name for himself so he can run for president. When it fails, he'll blame someone else.
Conservative Bill Kristol agreed that the system would stay intact, but longed for responsible leaders. He fell short of holding leaders responsible for such behavior, however.


alternet--2020-12-31--WHO chief urges rich countries to help ensure people everywhere can get vaccinated against COVID-19

One year after the international community first recognized the Covid-19 crisis—which has grown into a deadly , devastating pandemic—the head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday reiterated demands for ensuring equitable access to coronavirus vaccination amid ongoing vaccine development , testing , and deployment .
As of Wednesday evening , according to the Johns Hopkins University global tracker , the world had recorded more than 82.5 million Covid-19 cases and over 1.8 million deaths .
The United States continues to lead both tallies , and even before December is officially over , it has been nation 's deadliest month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Covid-19 pandemic has taken so many lives and caused massive disruption to families , societies , and economies all over the world , '' said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , the WHO director-general .
`` But it also triggered the fastest and most wide-reaching response to a global health emergency in human history . ''
`` Vaccines , therapeutics , and diagnostics have been developed and rolled out , at record speed , thanks to collaborations including the Access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerator , '' he noted .
`` Equity is the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its vaccine arm , COVAX , which has secured access to two billion doses of promising vaccine candidates . ''
`` Vaccines offer great hope to turn the tide of the pandemic .
But to protect the world , we must ensure that all people at risk everywhere—not just in countries who can afford vaccines—are immunized , '' the WHO chief emphasized .
`` To do this , COVAX needs just over four billion US dollars urgently to buy vaccines for low- and lower-middle income countries .
This is the challenge we must @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' Tedros called for learning from the events of 2020 , including the lesson that `` governments must increase investment in public health , from funding access to Covid vaccines for all people , to making our systems better prepared to prevent and respond to the next , inevitable , pandemic . ''
He pointed out that `` as it will take time to vaccinate everyone against Covid , we must keep adhering to tried and tested measures that keep each and all of us safe .
This means maintaining physical distance , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ respiratory hygiene , avoiding crowded indoor places , and meeting people outside . ''
The WHO leader also emphasized the importance of global solidarity : Tedros ' comments came as the U.K. government on Wednesday became the first to give emergency authorization to a coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford , `` with the first doses being released today so that vaccinations may begin early in the New Year , '' according to the biopharmaceutical company .
Charles Riley reported for CNN Business that the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine `` is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and is expected to play a crucial role in boosting the global economy next year , '' explaining that the company `` has promised to supply hundreds of millions of doses to low- and middle-income countries , and to deliver the vaccine on a not-for-profit basis to those nations in perpetuity . ''
Moncef Slaoui , chief scientific adviser for U.S. President Donald Trump 's widely criticized Operation Warp Speed , said the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is in phase three trials in the United States but being manufactured ahead of the potential authorization @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that read-out and emergency use authorization may be granted somewhere early in April , '' he said .
`` By that time , several tens of millions of doses of this vaccine will have been manufactured . ''
The U.S. government has already authorized and begun distributing the coronavirus vaccine developed by Moderna as well as one from Pfizer and BioNTech .
Bloomberg reported that as of early Wednesday , more than 5.1 million doses of various vaccines have been administered across 22 countries .
Nearly half , 2.32 million doses , were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ China , the U.K. , Israel , Russia , Canada , Bahrain , Germany , and Mexico , though some figures have n't been updated in several days .
Throughout the pandemic , some world leaders , officials in poorer countries , and justice campaigners have demanded that rich governments and vaccine developers work to ensure universal access to coronavirus vaccination .
Members of an alliance calling for a # PeoplesVaccine are warning that nine out of 10 people in low-income countries could miss out on vaccination against the virus next year despite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , many funded by public money .
Given that there are n't yet enough doses of all tested coronavirus vaccines to protect everyone , and the vast majority of existing and planned doses has already been claimed by wealthy countries , poorer nations and public health campaigners are pushing for the suspension of intellectual property rights for vaccines during the pandemic to enable the development of generic versions of vaccines and Covid-19 treatments , which some wealthy nations and vaccine developers have fought against .

One year after the international community first recognized the Covid-19 crisis—which has grown into a deadly, devastating pandemic—the head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday reiterated demands for ensuring equitable access to coronavirus vaccination amid ongoing vaccine development, testing, and deployment.
As of Wednesday evening, according to the Johns Hopkins University global tracker, the world had recorded more than 82.5 million Covid-19 cases and over 1.8 million deaths. The United States continues to lead both tallies, and even before December is officially over, it has been nation's deadliest month on record during the pandemic.
"The Covid-19 pandemic has taken so many lives and caused massive disruption to families, societies, and economies all over the world," said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general. "But it also triggered the fastest and most wide-reaching response to a global health emergency in human history."
"Vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics have been developed and rolled out, at record speed, thanks to collaborations including the Access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerator," he noted. "Equity is the essence of the ACT Accelerator, and its vaccine arm, COVAX, which has secured access to two billion doses of promising vaccine candidates."
"Vaccines offer great hope to turn the tide of the pandemic. But to protect the world, we must ensure that all people at risk everywhere—not just in countries who can afford vaccines—are immunized," the WHO chief emphasized. "To do this, COVAX needs just over four billion US dollars urgently to buy vaccines for low- and lower-middle income countries. This is the challenge we must rise to in the new year."
Tedros called for learning from the events of 2020, including the lesson that "governments must increase investment in public health, from funding access to Covid vaccines for all people, to making our systems better prepared to prevent and respond to the next, inevitable, pandemic."
He pointed out that "as it will take time to vaccinate everyone against Covid, we must keep adhering to tried and tested measures that keep each and all of us safe. This means maintaining physical distance, wearing face masks, practicing hand and respiratory hygiene, avoiding crowded indoor places, and meeting people outside."
The WHO leader also emphasized the importance of global solidarity:
Going into 2021, we have a simple, yet profound, choice to make: Do we ignore the lessons of 2020 and allow insular, partisan approaches, conspiracy theories, and attacks on science to prevail, resulting in unnecessary suffering to people's health and society at large?
Or do we walk the last miles of this crisis together, helping each other along the way, from sharing vaccines fairly, to offering accurate advice, compassion, and care to all who need, as one global family?
The choice is easy. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and we will get there by taking the path together.
Tedros' comments came as the U.K. government on Wednesday became the first to give emergency authorization to a coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, "with the first doses being released today so that vaccinations may begin early in the New Year," according to the biopharmaceutical company.
Charles Riley reported for CNN Business that the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine "is cheaper and easier to distribute than alternatives, and is expected to play a crucial role in boosting the global economy next year," explaining that the company "has promised to supply hundreds of millions of doses to low- and middle-income countries, and to deliver the vaccine on a not-for-profit basis to those nations in perpetuity."
As Riley also noted:
They're making loads of doses: AstraZeneca says it's working with partners, including the Serum Institute of India, to build manufacturing capacity of up to three billion doses in 2021 on a rolling basis.
For comparison: Pfizer expects to produce as many as 50 million vaccine doses in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021. Moderna said last month that it's on track to manufacture 500 million to one billion doses next year.
Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser for U.S. President Donald Trump's widely criticized Operation Warp Speed, said the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is in phase three trials in the United States but being manufactured ahead of the potential authorization. "If everything goes well, that read-out and emergency use authorization may be granted somewhere early in April," he said. "By that time, several tens of millions of doses of this vaccine will have been manufactured."
The U.S. government has already authorized and begun distributing the coronavirus vaccine developed by Moderna as well as one from Pfizer and BioNTech. Bloomberg reported that as of early Wednesday, more than 5.1 million doses of various vaccines have been administered across 22 countries. Nearly half, 2.32 million doses, were in the United States, followed by China, the U.K., Israel, Russia, Canada, Bahrain, Germany, and Mexico, though some figures haven't been updated in several days.
Throughout the pandemic, some world leaders, officials in poorer countries, and justice campaigners have demanded that rich governments and vaccine developers work to ensure universal access to coronavirus vaccination. Members of an alliance calling for a #PeoplesVaccine are warning that nine out of 10 people in low-income countries could miss out on vaccination against the virus next year despite the development and distribution of multiple vaccines, many funded by public money.
Given that there aren't yet enough doses of all tested coronavirus vaccines to protect everyone, and the vast majority of existing and planned doses has already been claimed by wealthy countries, poorer nations and public health campaigners are pushing for the suspension of intellectual property rights for vaccines during the pandemic to enable the development of generic versions of vaccines and Covid-19 treatments, which some wealthy nations and vaccine developers have fought against.


alternet--2020-12-31--The religious lobby is killing porn

The religious lobby is killing porn

On Tuesday , December 8th , porn-hosting giant Pornhub removed 10 million videos from its platform .
The reason for the massive scrub was the result of the company 's recognition that sex traffickers had used the site to post videos of rape , sexual assault , and child abuse .
On December 14th , released a statement , which said , `` Last week , we enacted the most comprehensive safeguards in user-generated platform history .
We banned unverified uploaders from posting new content , eliminated downloads , and partnered with dozens of non-profit organizations…As part of our policy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now also suspended all previously uploaded content that was not created by content partners or members of the Model Program . ''
They should have said : Under pressure from the porn abolitionist movement that operates under the guise of thwarting sex trafficking , we are going to compromise the economic lives of hundreds of thousands of performers—during a pandemic , no less .
I respect and commend those writing and speaking for people who have been trafficked and teenagers whose abusers post revenge porn on Pornhub or other sites .
However , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thousands of pornographers whose economic livelihoods have been served upon an altar for penance ?
Certainly , sex trafficking is a scourge .
But censorship is not the answer .
As a Pornhub user put it , `` The internet is becoming more and more sanitized every day because of people taking extreme measures to make us 'safer . '
It 's censorship masquerading as public safety . ''
In Pornhub 's statement , the industry leader noted that the social media giant Facebook reported 84 million cases of flagged items involving sexual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three years .
At the same time , the Internet Watchdog Foundation found only 118 such cases on Pornhub .
Thus , as Pornhub wrote in their announcement , `` it is clear that Pornhub is being targeted not because of our policies and how we compare to our peers , but because we are an adult content platform . ''
Let me frame this differently : 0.0008 percent of videos on Pornhub featured sexual abuse .
As a result , Pornhub elected to purge over 10 million videos and users whose accounts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a far cry from the site decried as being `` infested with rape videos . ''
Yes , as Kristof says , we can agree that `` promoting assaults on children or anyone without consent is unconscionable . ''
However , Pornhub nor any other mainstream porn site is invested in such promotion .
Now , in this watershed moment , let us hope nobody falls asleep at the wheel .
Sleight of the hand can be hard to catch .
The organizations behind the curtain advocating for the purge , such as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hub , have an end game that is not merely about trafficking or the abuse of children .
These are abolitionist groups that see all porn as a public health crisis and that seek to abolish all porn as we know it .
Not only does the porn abolitionists ' momentum raise serious concerns regarding free speech and the First Amendment , but puts people 's livelihoods at risk .
`` Pornhub should have also stood up for sex workers , '' said , a sex worker and founder of .
When Pornhub @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not merely delete the accounts posting illegal content .
They removed videos from even their verified users .
The only content remaining was from people in their model program .
Many online pornographers believe that the end result was that Pornhub became a subscription site only and not public .
`` No viewers means no money , '' one Pornhub content producer said regarding the purge .
Compounding pornographers ' expected loss of wages , , immediately following the Pornhub purge , that they would no longer process payments from Pornhub , effectively @ @ @ @ @ @ @ move was a reaction to Kristof 's Times article about the platform hosting videos depicting child abuse .
`` What bothers me is that Visa and Mastercard are major card companies that have now pulled back from allowing sex workers to make a living because of this one company 's giant misstep , '' Akynos told me .
`` It wo n't just be Pornhub that they are n't messing with , it will be everyone else… So , now we have to figure out new ways in order to make money , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to do…we are constantly getting trampled on , and then we have to figure out how we can reinvent ourselves and go around and jump through these hoops just so we can make a living . ''
Something similar happened several years ago following Congress ' passage of two related bills whose acronyms stand for `` Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act '' and `` Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act '' respectively .
Though ostensibly a bill designed to halt sex trafficking , it had the ancillary effect of squelching the incomes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or censoring the online platforms where they find clients .
Indeed , after FOSTA/SESTA 's passage , companies such as Payoneer , PayPal , and American Express stopped taking payments from sexual enterprises .
In many cases , this meant that sex workers now had to find new sources of income in more dangerous locales in real life .
Beyond Pornhub , the is calling for all credit card companies to stop taking payments from all porn sites .
, sex worker and co-founder of the Peepshow Podcast , and I discussed the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she unpacks with sex workers on Jessie told me , `` I believe that this will have ripple effects on our industry that extend far beyond Pornhub .
Mindgeek [ Pornhub 's parent company ] is the largest company in the industry , and if Visa/Mastercard is willing to pull its financial services from them , the smaller companies are not far behind . ''
Further , Jessie went on to talk about the financial harms of censorship and the continuing knee-jerk moves from payment processors .
`` Right now , 100 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ industry .
About 30 % comes from advertising on the podcast ( which by the way , our advertisers are all pornographers ) , and the rest comes from phone sex , video sales , and Onlyfans .
So , if clip sites are no longer allowed to process payments , if the bank accounts of performers get shut down , if I ca n't sell my content to my customers , this will impact both my sex work revenue stream and my multi-media magazine ( Peepshow ) because it is all funded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moment is a blip on the screen and part of a much longer history of the coalition between the anti-porn and religious lobbies to rid our society of the so-called `` filth '' that nets billions in profits yearly , providing an honest living for so many .
Pornhub 's new policy and the ricochet it caused did far more harm to content producers than it did to sex traffickers or pedophiles .
The purge caused irrevocable damage to pornographers , and compounds the precarity they and other sex workers have faced under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new policies will have the most devastating effects on marginalized pornographers .
People of color and trans performers , for example , have found spaces for individual entrepreneurship online , in an industry that historically would rarely hire them .
We must recognize that Pornhub 's censorship and the move to restrict payment processing for all sex workers will have the most devastating effects on the most marginalized .
Many content producers are scared , dismayed , concerned about the online porn industry 's future , and livelihoods .
I spoke with , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this situation 's stakes in detail .
Trip explained : We must listen to the voices of adult content producers .
Saving , protecting , and supporting sex trafficking and sexual abuse survivors do not have to come at the expense of other marginalized people .
This is not a zero-sum game , even if the politically savvy master illusionists in the anti-porn lobby want you to believe it is .

On Tuesday, December 8th, porn-hosting giant Pornhub removed 10 million videos from its platform. The reason for the massive scrub was the result of the company's recognition that sex traffickers had used the site to post videos of rape, sexual assault, and child abuse. On December 14th, Pornhub released a statement, which said, "Last week, we enacted the most comprehensive safeguards in user-generated platform history. We banned unverified uploaders from posting new content, eliminated downloads, and partnered with dozens of non-profit organizations…As part of our policy to ban unverified uploaders, we have now also suspended all previously uploaded content that was not created by content partners or members of the Model Program."
They should have said: Under pressure from the porn abolitionist movement that operates under the guise of thwarting sex trafficking, we are going to compromise the economic lives of hundreds of thousands of performers—during a pandemic, no less. I respect and commend those writing and speaking for people who have been trafficked and teenagers whose abusers post revenge porn on Pornhub or other sites. However, who is speaking for the hundreds of thousands of pornographers whose economic livelihoods have been served upon an altar for penance?
Certainly, sex trafficking is a scourge. But censorship is not the answer. As a Pornhub user put it, "The internet is becoming more and more sanitized every day because of people taking extreme measures to make us 'safer.' It's censorship masquerading as public safety."
In Pornhub's statement, the industry leader noted that the social media giant Facebook reported 84 million cases of flagged items involving sexual abuse on the platform over the past three years. At the same time, the Internet Watchdog Foundation found only 118 such cases on Pornhub. Thus, as Pornhub wrote in their announcement, "it is clear that Pornhub is being targeted not because of our policies and how we compare to our peers, but because we are an adult content platform."
Let me frame this differently: 0.0008 percent of videos on Pornhub featured sexual abuse. As a result, Pornhub elected to purge over 10 million videos and users whose accounts had already been verified. This is a far cry from the site Nicholas Kristof decried as being "infested with rape videos." Yes, as Kristof says, we can agree that "promoting assaults on children or anyone without consent is unconscionable." However, Pornhub nor any other mainstream porn site is invested in such promotion.
Now, in this watershed moment, let us hope nobody falls asleep at the wheel. Sleight of the hand can be hard to catch. The organizations behind the curtain advocating for the purge, such as the National Center on Exploitation and Trafficking Hub, have an end game that is not merely about trafficking or the abuse of children. These are abolitionist groups that see all porn as a public health crisis and that seek to abolish all porn as we know it.
Not only does the porn abolitionists' momentum raise serious concerns regarding free speech and the First Amendment, but puts people's livelihoods at risk. "Pornhub should have also stood up for sex workers," said Akynos , a sex worker and founder of the Black Sex Workers Collective .
When Pornhub hit the panic button, they did not merely delete the accounts posting illegal content. They removed videos from even their verified users. The only content remaining was from people in their model program. Many online pornographers believe that the end result was that Pornhub became a subscription site only and not public. "No viewers means no money," one Pornhub content producer said regarding the purge.
Compounding pornographers' expected loss of wages, Mastercard and Visa announced , immediately following the Pornhub purge, that they would no longer process payments from Pornhub, effectively blocking revenue from the site. The move was a reaction to Kristof's Times article about the platform hosting videos depicting child abuse.
"What bothers me is that Visa and Mastercard are major card companies that have now pulled back from allowing sex workers to make a living because of this one company's giant misstep," Akynos told me. "It won't just be Pornhub that they aren't messing with, it will be everyone else… So, now we have to figure out new ways in order to make money, and this is what sex workers have to do…we are constantly getting trampled on, and then we have to figure out how we can reinvent ourselves and go around and jump through these hoops just so we can make a living."
Something similar happened several years ago following Congress' passage of FOSTA/SESTA, two related bills whose acronyms stand for "Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act" and "Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act" respectively. Though ostensibly a bill designed to halt sex trafficking, it had the ancillary effect of squelching the incomes of millions of sex workers by suppressing or censoring the online platforms where they find clients. Indeed, after FOSTA/SESTA's passage, companies such as Payoneer, PayPal, and American Express stopped taking payments from sexual enterprises. In many cases, this meant that sex workers now had to find new sources of income in more dangerous locales in real life.
Beyond Pornhub, the anti-porn lobby is calling for all credit card companies to stop taking payments from all porn sites. Jessie Sage , sex worker and co-founder of the Peepshow Podcast, and I discussed the effects of this crisis on laborers—a subject she unpacks with sex workers on her newest episode. Jessie told me, "I believe that this will have ripple effects on our industry that extend far beyond Pornhub. Mindgeek [Pornhub's parent company] is the largest company in the industry, and if Visa/Mastercard is willing to pull its financial services from them, the smaller companies are not far behind."
Further, Jessie went on to talk about the financial harms of censorship and the continuing knee-jerk moves from payment processors. "Right now, 100% of my income comes from the sex industry. About 30% comes from advertising on the podcast (which by the way, our advertisers are all pornographers), and the rest comes from phone sex, video sales, and Onlyfans. So, if clip sites are no longer allowed to process payments, if the bank accounts of performers get shut down, if I can't sell my content to my customers, this will impact both my sex work revenue stream and my multi-media magazine (Peepshow) because it is all funded from the same sources."
This moment is a blip on the screen and part of a much longer history of the coalition between the anti-porn and religious lobbies to rid our society of the so-called "filth" that nets billions in profits yearly, providing an honest living for so many.
Pornhub's new policy and the ricochet it caused did far more harm to content producers than it did to sex traffickers or pedophiles. The purge caused irrevocable damage to pornographers, and compounds the precarity they and other sex workers have faced under the pandemic. Indeed, Pornhub's new policies will have the most devastating effects on marginalized pornographers. People of color and trans performers, for example, have found spaces for individual entrepreneurship online, in an industry that historically would rarely hire them. We must recognize that Pornhub's censorship and the move to restrict payment processing for all sex workers will have the most devastating effects on the most marginalized.
Many content producers are scared, dismayed, concerned about the online porn industry's future, and livelihoods. I spoke with Trip Richards , a successful online model, who described this situation's stakes in detail. Trip explained:
When I first heard of the decision by Visa and Mastercard to stop processing payments to verified adult models on Pornhub, I was dismayed. I knew immediately that the decision would do nothing to address concerns of illegal or objectionable content on the site (or anywhere else on the net) but rather that it would remove the income that tens of thousands of verified models, including myself, rely upon… Losing this income in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and national economic crisis is especially devastating. During the pandemic, record numbers of adults have turned to online sex work—sharing their personal videos on platforms like Pornhub, Onlyfans, and Justforfans to make ends meet and joyfully share their own self-expression. The decision by the credit card companies to fundamentally shut down Pornhub disproportionately impacted minorities, including people of color, trans people, and people with disabilities—as they are the folks most likely to participate consensually in sex work due to its autonomy, scheduling flexibility, and inclusiveness of diverse bodies. They also represent the groups who are most economically vulnerable, especially during this pandemic when so many low-wage, gig-economy, and service-industry jobs have evaporated…But snatching away income from verified models who had already complied with all the legal requirements was not the right way to ensure a safe online space. In fact, the long-term consequences of such a move are invariably to push objectionable content deeper underground—where it is harder to discover, remove, and prosecute—while simultaneously forcing people currently involved in consensual online sex work, like myself, toward more risky ventures where we have less autonomy and less financial stability. Speaking personally, as a transgender man who has been a model since 2014, sharing my work on online platforms has offered me financial freedom and personal happiness I never thought possible, and has allowed me to stay safe while pursuing my own goals as an artist, educator, and activist. Losing this stability now is absolutely devastating.
We must listen to the voices of adult content producers. Saving, protecting, and supporting sex trafficking and sexual abuse survivors do not have to come at the expense of other marginalized people. This is not a zero-sum game, even if the politically savvy master illusionists in the anti-porn lobby want you to believe it is.


alternet--2020-12-31--Trump and McConnell are finally breaking up

There is definitely a feeling of change in the air .
For all his continuing insistence that he won the 2020 election , Trump is a lame duck .
Today 's complicated fight in the Senate over the one-time stimulus payment of $ 2000 illustrated that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R-KY ) , not Trump , now controls the Republican caucus .
Trump originally refused to sign the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 , the bill that contains the coronavirus relief measures , because he claimed he objected to its meager $ 600 stimulus payments .
Six hundred @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demanded , but he suddenly said he wanted them to be $ 2000 .
Democrats in the House jumped on Trump 's demand for the higher payment and they passed a measure on Monday to increase the payments to $ 2000 .
Trump had attacked the bill largely because he is angry at McConnell and Senate Majority Whip John Thune ( R-SD ) ( a whip keeps party members in line behind the party leader ) for acknowledging Biden 's victory in November .
He was trying to illustrate his power by refusing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But Sunday night he gave in without winning anything , and yet continued to say he wanted higher payments .
The House was happy to give him what the Democrats had wanted all along , but today Trump lost the showdown in the Senate .
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ( D-NY ) introduced the measure , but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R-KY ) killed it .
This enabled the two embattled Republican Senate candidates from Georgia both to support Trump and to claim they wanted higher payments , all without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ payments .
McConnell bested Trump all around : he had no intention of raising those payments no matter what Trump tweeted… and he did n't .
Trump 's influence in Washington is waning in other ways , too .
Yesterday , the House repassed the National Defense Authorization Act over Trump 's veto .
Trump claims to object to the bill for a number of reasons , including that it will require that military bases currently named for Confederate generals be renamed , but this is the measure into which Congress put the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ few days ago .
It will undercut the country 's plague of so-called shell companies , which enable money laundering and other criminal activity because they are owned and operated in secret .
The new measure will require that all owners and operators of such companies be clearly identified .
This will likely impact the Trump family , which uses shell companies .
There were other rumblings today that Trump 's post-presidential life might have some sticky places .
The Manhattan District Attorney 's Office has hired forensic accountants to help investigate Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a criminal investigation .
New York Attorney General Letitia James is in charge of a civil investigation into Trump 's businesses .
But the big thing which showed momentum is moving away from Trump is that President-Elect Joe Biden is forcefully criticizing the Trump administration for its failure to plan for distribution of the coronavirus vaccine .
With more than 330,000 Americans dead of Covid-19 and infections spiking , Biden today noted that the Trump administration has fallen behind on vaccine distribution .
The effort got off to a poor start as the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ promised and initially blamed Pfizer for a `` miscommunication , '' only to have Pfizer state that it had `` millions of doses '' in a warehouse but had received no information about where to send them .
The administration promised to vaccinate 20 million Americans by the end of December , but yesterday , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that it had administered just 2.1 million doses in two weeks , although that number is likely somewhat low because of lag times in reporting .
At the current rate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Washington Post , we can expect to achieve herd immunity in 10 years .
The administration at first refused to share information with the Biden camp about distribution , claiming there was a plan , even though , when finally part of discussions , Biden said `` [ t ] here is no detailed plan that we 've seen , anyway , as to how you get the vaccine out of a container , into an injection syringe , into somebody 's arm . ''
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nonsense . ''
`` [ W ] e have comprehensive plans from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention working with 64 public health jurisdictions across the country as our governors have laid out very detailed plans that we 've worked with them on .
We 're leveraging our retail pharmacies , our hospitals , our public health departments , our community health centers . ''
Azar said the distribution process was being `` micromanaged and controlled by the United States military , as well as our incredible private sector .
We do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We 're leveraging the systems that are known , and that work here in the United States . ''
Azar assured Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace that , as soon as the vaccines were approved , the government would be shipping them `` to all of the states and territories that we work with .
And within hours they can be vaccinating , '' It turns out Biden was more right than Azar .
The administration planned simply to get the vaccines to the states , and then leave to them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into people 's arms .
But state Departments of Health are strapped for money after trying to manage the pandemic for nine months , and had been allotted only $ 6 million apiece to make the distributions happen .
( The new Consolidated Appropriations Act that Trump just signed has significantly more money in it for distribution . )
`` The Trump administration 's plan to distribute vaccines is falling behind , far behind , '' Biden said today .
`` As I long feared and warned , the effort to distribute and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it should . ''
Finally stung , Trump tweeted tonight that `` It is up to the States to distribute the vaccines once brought to the designated areas by the Federal Government .
We have not only developed the vaccines , including putting up money to move the process along quickly , but gotten them to the states .
Biden failed with Swine Flu ! ''
( Biden was not in charge of the Obama Administration 's response to H1N1 in 2009 , which broke out three months after Obama took office .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Defense Production Act , a law that permits the president to require companies to produce goods at the same time that it guarantees them a market for those goods , to speed up the production of supplies necessary to distribute the vaccine quickly .
`` I have directed my team to prepare a much more aggressive effort , with more federal involvement and leadership to get things back on track , '' he said .
But he warned that we are behind and , breaking with the Trump administration , warned that things @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they get better .
The spike in infections along with the fallout from holiday gatherings means we will see high cases in January and high death tolls in February .
It will be mid-March , he warns , before we see improvement .
`` The next few weeks and months are going to be very tough , a very tough period for our nation — maybe the toughest during this entire pandemic , '' Biden said .
`` I know it 's hard to hear , but it 's the truth . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ this .
Brighter days are coming , '' Biden said .
`` But it 's going to take all of the grit and determination we have as Americans to get it done . ''
We are pleased to be presenting daily posts from Heather Cox Richardson 's `` Letters From an American '' email newsletter .
You can sign up to receive it in your inbox here .

December 29, 2020
There is definitely a feeling of change in the air. For all his continuing insistence that he won the 2020 election, Trump is a lame duck.
Today's complicated fight in the Senate over the one-time stimulus payment of $2000 illustrated that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), not Trump, now controls the Republican caucus. Trump originally refused to sign the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, the bill that contains the coronavirus relief measures, because he claimed he objected to its meager $600 stimulus payments. Six hundred dollars was the amount his negotiators had demanded, but he suddenly said he wanted them to be $2000. Democrats in the House jumped on Trump's demand for the higher payment and they passed a measure on Monday to increase the payments to $2000.
Trump had attacked the bill largely because he is angry at McConnell and Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-SD) (a whip keeps party members in line behind the party leader) for acknowledging Biden's victory in November. He was trying to illustrate his power by refusing to sign the bill at all. But Sunday night he gave in without winning anything, and yet continued to say he wanted higher payments. The House was happy to give him what the Democrats had wanted all along, but today Trump lost the showdown in the Senate.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced the measure, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) killed it. This enabled the two embattled Republican Senate candidates from Georgia both to support Trump and to claim they wanted higher payments, all without actually having to vote for the higher payments. McConnell bested Trump all around: he had no intention of raising those payments no matter what Trump tweeted… and he didn't.
Trump's influence in Washington is waning in other ways, too. Yesterday, the House repassed the National Defense Authorization Act over Trump's veto. Trump claims to object to the bill for a number of reasons, including that it will require that military bases currently named for Confederate generals be renamed, but this is the measure into which Congress put the Corporate Transparency Act I wrote about a few days ago. It will undercut the country's plague of so-called shell companies, which enable money laundering and other criminal activity because they are owned and operated in secret. The new measure will require that all owners and operators of such companies be clearly identified.
This will likely impact the Trump family, which uses shell companies.
There were other rumblings today that Trump's post-presidential life might have some sticky places. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has hired forensic accountants to help investigate Trump and his businesses. This investigation is a criminal investigation. New York Attorney General Letitia James is in charge of a civil investigation into Trump's businesses.
But the big thing which showed momentum is moving away from Trump is that President-Elect Joe Biden is forcefully criticizing the Trump administration for its failure to plan for distribution of the coronavirus vaccine.
With more than 330,000 Americans dead of Covid-19 and infections spiking, Biden today noted that the Trump administration has fallen behind on vaccine distribution. The effort got off to a poor start as the administration delivered fewer doses than it had promised and initially blamed Pfizer for a "miscommunication," only to have Pfizer state that it had "millions of doses" in a warehouse but had received no information about where to send them.
The administration promised to vaccinate 20 million Americans by the end of December, but yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that it had administered just 2.1 million doses in two weeks, although that number is likely somewhat low because of lag times in reporting. At the current rate, Dr. Leana S. Wen writes in the Washington Post, we can expect to achieve herd immunity in 10 years.
The administration at first refused to share information with the Biden camp about distribution, claiming there was a plan, even though, when finally part of discussions, Biden said "[t]here is no detailed plan that we've seen, anyway, as to how you get the vaccine out of a container, into an injection syringe, into somebody's arm."
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar responded that Biden's claim was "nonsense." "[W]e have comprehensive plans from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention working with 64 public health jurisdictions across the country as our governors have laid out very detailed plans that we've worked with them on. We're leveraging our retail pharmacies, our hospitals, our public health departments, our community health centers." Azar said the distribution process was being "micromanaged and controlled by the United States military, as well as our incredible private sector. We do hundreds of millions of vaccinations a year. We're leveraging the systems that are known, and that work here in the United States." Azar assured Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace that, as soon as the vaccines were approved, the government would be shipping them "to all of the states and territories that we work with. And within hours they can be vaccinating,"
It turns out Biden was more right than Azar. The administration planned simply to get the vaccines to the states, and then leave to them the problem of actually getting the vaccines into people's arms. But state Departments of Health are strapped for money after trying to manage the pandemic for nine months, and had been allotted only $6 million apiece to make the distributions happen. (The new Consolidated Appropriations Act that Trump just signed has significantly more money in it for distribution.)
"The Trump administration's plan to distribute vaccines is falling behind, far behind," Biden said today. "As I long feared and warned, the effort to distribute and administer the vaccine is not progressing as it should."
Finally stung, Trump tweeted tonight that "It is up to the States to distribute the vaccines once brought to the designated areas by the Federal Government. We have not only developed the vaccines, including putting up money to move the process along quickly, but gotten them to the states. Biden failed with Swine Flu!" (Biden was not in charge of the Obama Administration's response to H1N1 in 2009, which broke out three months after Obama took office.)
Biden promised to invoke the National Defense Production Act, a law that permits the president to require companies to produce goods at the same time that it guarantees them a market for those goods, to speed up the production of supplies necessary to distribute the vaccine quickly. "I have directed my team to prepare a much more aggressive effort, with more federal involvement and leadership to get things back on track," he said.
But he warned that we are behind and, breaking with the Trump administration, warned that things are going to get much worse before they get better. The spike in infections along with the fallout from holiday gatherings means we will see high cases in January and high death tolls in February. It will be mid-March, he warns, before we see improvement. "The next few weeks and months are going to be very tough, a very tough period for our nation — maybe the toughest during this entire pandemic," Biden said. "I know it's hard to hear, but it's the truth."
"We are going to get through this. Brighter days are coming," Biden said. "But it's going to take all of the grit and determination we have as Americans to get it done."
We are pleased to be presenting daily posts from Heather Cox Richardson's "Letters From an American" email newsletter. You can sign up to receive it in your inbox here.


alternet--2020-12-31--A pro-Trump lawyer is under fire from ex-colleagues accusing him of assault and severe delusions: re

A pro-Trump lawyer is under fire from ex-colleagues accusing him of assault and severe delusions: report

Far-right attorney L. Lin Wood has been in the headlines a great deal in recent weeks because of his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results and his unhinged tweets , including a December 1 post in which he predicted that the United States is `` headed to civil war '' and called for President Donald Trump to `` declare martial law . ''
But according to some former law partners , Wood 's behavior was unhinged long before the election .
The ex-partners are Nicole Wade , Jonathan Grunberg and Taylor Wilson , who left the firm L. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their own firm , Wade , Grunberg & Wilson , LLC .
Law & Crime reporter Adam Klasfeld explains , `` The former partners claimed that their relationship with Wood spanning roughly half a decade started deteriorating late last year as Wood began to exhibit 'erratic , hostile , abusive and threatening ' behavior . ''
In a legal brief , they allege that the Atlanta-based Wood physically attacked Grunberg and Wilson .
The attorneys wrote , `` In the fall of 2019 , defendant Wood also committed assault and battery on Grunberg @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an out of town deposition .
In both assaults , there was essentially no reason whatsoever for the attack , and defendant Wood later acknowledged and apologized for this violence . ''
The attorneys also allege , in the complaint , that `` Wood has admitted to these assaults on multiple recordings '' and that he has made anti-Semitic comments .
On February 17 , 2020 , they allege , Wood left a voicemail for Grunberg saying , `` You look in the mirror , and you 're gon na see a Chilean @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clients have ranged from Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse to the late Herman Cain ( who ran for president in 2012 ) to Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene , who won a congressional race in Georgia this year and is known for promoting the QAnon conspiracy cult .
And Wood has allied himself with Sidney Powell , another far-right pro-Trump attorney , on some of her election lawsuits .
Wood 's ex-partners allege that he has a history of comparing himself to biblical figures , saying , for example , `` I might actually be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the form of an imperfect man , elevating Christ consciousness . ''
And the attorneys also allege that Wood can be heard in a recording saying , `` I represent Moses .
I represent Ananias the believer .
I 'm like the power of King David .
Now look , you all , I told you I was going to pray tonight to my God , not to myself , because to me , there 's God and there 's me . ''

Far-right attorney L. Lin Wood has been in the headlines a great deal in recent weeks because of his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results and his unhinged tweets, including a December 1 post in which he predicted that the United States is "headed to civil war" and called for President Donald Trump to "declare martial law." But according to some former law partners, Wood's behavior was unhinged long before the election.
The ex-partners are Nicole Wade, Jonathan Grunberg and Taylor Wilson, who left the firm L. Lin Wood, P.C. and formed their own firm, Wade, Grunberg & Wilson, LLC.
Law & Crime reporter Adam Klasfeld explains, "The former partners claimed that their relationship with Wood spanning roughly half a decade started deteriorating late last year as Wood began to exhibit 'erratic, hostile, abusive and threatening' behavior."
In a legal brief, they allege that the Atlanta-based Wood physically attacked Grunberg and Wilson. The attorneys wrote, "In the fall of 2019, defendant Wood also committed assault and battery on Grunberg in an elevator of a hotel during an out of town deposition. In both assaults, there was essentially no reason whatsoever for the attack, and defendant Wood later acknowledged and apologized for this violence."
The attorneys also allege, in the complaint, that "Wood has admitted to these assaults on multiple recordings" and that he has made anti-Semitic comments. On February 17, 2020, they allege, Wood left a voicemail for Grunberg saying, "You look in the mirror, and you're gonna see a Chilean Jewish fucking crook."
Wood's clients have ranged from Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse to the late Herman Cain (who ran for president in 2012) to Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene, who won a congressional race in Georgia this year and is known for promoting the QAnon conspiracy cult. And Wood has allied himself with Sidney Powell, another far-right pro-Trump attorney, on some of her election lawsuits.
Wood's ex-partners allege that he has a history of comparing himself to biblical figures, saying, for example, "I might actually be Christ coming back for a second time in the form of an imperfect man, elevating Christ consciousness." And the attorneys also allege that Wood can be heard in a recording saying, "I represent Moses. I represent Ananias the believer. I'm like the power of King David. Now look, you all, I told you I was going to pray tonight to my God, not to myself, because to me, there's God and there's me."


alternet--2020-12-31--Trump goes on delusional New Year's rant as coronavirus deaths spike to highest level ever

Donald Trump on Thursday celebrated the end of 2020 with an upbeat video message where he used xenophobic language to describe the novel coronavirus and claimed that he is receiving calls from around the globe thanking him for his response to the pandemic .
Trump 's comments came one day after the United States set a new record for COVID-19 deaths .
`` 3,927 people died of Covid-19 in 24 hours in the US , according to a count released by Johns Hopkins University , a new daily record for fatalities from the virus , '' AFP reported Wednesday .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 19,715,899 infections and 341,845 deaths since the pandemic began . ''
The surge in death comes against the backdrop of the Trump administration failing to meet their own goals for vaccinations .
`` Nearly 2.8 million people in the U.S. have received 1st dose of # covid19 vaccine .
20 million vaccinations were promised until recently .
Before that , 100 million , '' Dr. Leana Wen noted on Thursday .
`` We need to ramp up speed ASAP . ''
`` They said it would take a medical miracle and that 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ argued .
`` Years from now they 'll be talking about it , they 'll be talking about this great , great thing we did with the vaccines , '' he predicted .
`` We 've already begun a nationwide vaccination program and we 're sending the vaccine all over the world , '' Trump said , despite the shortages of the vaccine in America .
`` The world will benefit , we 'll benefit , and everybody is calling to thank me , '' he claimed .

Donald Trump on Thursday celebrated the end of 2020 with an upbeat video message where he used xenophobic language to describe the novel coronavirus and claimed that he is receiving calls from around the globe thanking him for his response to the pandemic.
Trump's comments came one day after the United States set a new record for COVID-19 deaths.
"3,927 people died of Covid-19 in 24 hours in the US, according to a count released by Johns Hopkins University, a new daily record for fatalities from the virus," AFP reported Wednesday. "That brought the US total to 19,715,899 infections and 341,845 deaths since the pandemic began."
The surge in death comes against the backdrop of the Trump administration failing to meet their own goals for vaccinations.
"Nearly 2.8 million people in the U.S. have received 1st dose of #covid19 vaccine. 20 million vaccinations were promised until recently. Before that, 100 million," Dr. Leana Wen noted on Thursday. "We need to ramp up speed ASAP."
Nevertheless, Trump declared victory.
"They said it would take a medical miracle and that's exactly what it is," Trump argued.
"Years from now they'll be talking about it, they'll be talking about this great, great thing we did with the vaccines," he predicted.
"We've already begun a nationwide vaccination program and we're sending the vaccine all over the world," Trump said, despite the shortages of the vaccine in America.
"The world will benefit, we'll benefit, and everybody is calling to thank me," he claimed.


alternet--2020-12-31--Why the mutant coronavirus is ‘a potential catastrophe’: report

Many health officials are being asked whether or not they believe that the new COVID-19 variant that has been spreading rapidly in the U.K. could reduce the efficacy of the vaccines now being distributed .
Socoiologist Zeynep Tufekci notes that so far , `` many scientists '' believe that this variant `` will not decrease vaccine efficacy much , if at all . ''
But Tufekci , in an article published by The Atlantic on the last day of 2020 , also warns that even if the variant slamming the U.K. does n't limit the vaccines ' efficacy , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` A more transmissible variant of COVID-19 is a potential catastrophe in and of itself , '' explains Tufekci , a native of Istanbul , Turkey who now lives in the United States .
`` If anything , given the stage in the pandemic we are at , a more transmissible variant is , in some ways , much more dangerous than a more severe variant .
That 's because higher transmissibility subjects us to a more contagious virus spreading with exponential growth — whereas the risk from increased severity would have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only those infected . ''
Tufekci adds , `` Increased transmissibility can wreak havoc in a very , very short time — especially when we already have uncontrolled spread in much of the United States .
The short-term implications of all this are significant , and worthy of attention , even as we await more clarity from data .
In fact , we should act quickly , especially as we await more clarity — lack of data and the threat of even faster exponential growth argue for more urgency of action . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ have already been found in the U.S. And Tufekci stresses that even though this variant does n't appear to be any more likely to kill the infected person than the familiar COVID-19 strain that has been raging in the U.S. , the fact that it is so infectious is major cause for concern .
`` Severity increases affect only the infected person , '' Tufekci explains .
`` That infection is certainly tragic , and this new variant 's lack of increase in severity or lethality thankfully means that it is not a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get infected .
It is , however , a bigger threat to society because it can dramatically change the number of infected people .
To put it another way , a small percentage of a very big number can easily be much , much bigger than a big percentage of a small number . ''
Tufekci notes that according to estimates by scientists , the new COVID-19 variant — which is being called `` B117 '' — is around 50-70 % more transmissible than `` regular COVID-19 . ''
And she stresses that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and social distancing measures .
`` This uncertainty in understanding the variant 's exact mechanisms means that we do n't know if our existing tools — masks , distancing and disinfecting — are as effective as they were compared with an identical scenario with the regular variant , '' Tufekci writes .
`` To be clear , the variant is still a respiratory virus ; so , the basic tools will not change , and they will all continue to work .
In fact , they have become more important , but we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time indoors , better masks , better ventilation , more disinfection of high-touch surfaces — to get the same bang for our protective buck .
It may be a small difference , or not .
We do n't know .
We wo n't know for a while . ''

Many health officials are being asked whether or not they believe that the new COVID-19 variant that has been spreading rapidly in the U.K. could reduce the efficacy of the vaccines now being distributed. Socoiologist Zeynep Tufekci notes that so far, "many scientists" believe that this variant "will not decrease vaccine efficacy much, if at all." But Tufekci, in an article published by The Atlantic on the last day of 2020, also warns that even if the variant slamming the U.K. doesn't limit the vaccines' efficacy, the variant's arrival is still terrible news.
"A more transmissible variant of COVID-19 is a potential catastrophe in and of itself," explains Tufekci, a native of Istanbul, Turkey who now lives in the United States. "If anything, given the stage in the pandemic we are at, a more transmissible variant is, in some ways, much more dangerous than a more severe variant. That's because higher transmissibility subjects us to a more contagious virus spreading with exponential growth — whereas the risk from increased severity would have increased in a linear manner, affecting only those infected."
Tufekci adds, "Increased transmissibility can wreak havoc in a very, very short time — especially when we already have uncontrolled spread in much of the United States. The short-term implications of all this are significant, and worthy of attention, even as we await more clarity from data. In fact, we should act quickly, especially as we await more clarity — lack of data and the threat of even faster exponential growth argue for more urgency of action."
Some cases of the new COVID-19 variant have already been found in the U.S. And Tufekci stresses that even though this variant doesn't appear to be any more likely to kill the infected person than the familiar COVID-19 strain that has been raging in the U.S., the fact that it is so infectious is major cause for concern.
"Severity increases affect only the infected person," Tufekci explains. "That infection is certainly tragic, and this new variant's lack of increase in severity or lethality thankfully means that it is not a bigger threat to the individual who may get infected. It is, however, a bigger threat to society because it can dramatically change the number of infected people. To put it another way, a small percentage of a very big number can easily be much, much bigger than a big percentage of a small number."
Tufekci notes that according to estimates by scientists, the new COVID-19 variant — which is being called "B117" — is around 50-70% more transmissible than "regular COVID-19." And she stresses that the variant might require even stricter precautions and social distancing measures.
"This uncertainty in understanding the variant's exact mechanisms means that we don't know if our existing tools — masks, distancing and disinfecting — are as effective as they were compared with an identical scenario with the regular variant," Tufekci writes. "To be clear, the variant is still a respiratory virus; so, the basic tools will not change, and they will all continue to work. In fact, they have become more important, but we may need to be stricter — less time indoors, better masks, better ventilation, more disinfection of high-touch surfaces — to get the same bang for our protective buck. It may be a small difference, or not. We don't know. We won't know for a while."