WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:03.359 Welcome to the Nonprofits, the thrice weekly show that looks 2 00:00:03.359 --> 00:00:06.280 at news and current events through the lens of atheism 3 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:09.080 and secular humanism. For our first segment this week, there's 4 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:11.800 a new COVID in town. Jason Friedman, get us going 5 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:12.560 on this story? 6 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:16.239 Well, I'll tell you guys, it's coming for us again. 7 00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:18.600 A new version of COVID, you know, seems to be 8 00:00:18.679 --> 00:00:21.399 looming on the horizon of the world stage. Well, it's 9 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:25.679 named NB one eight one, and scientists are stating that 10 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:29.800 his symptoms may seem the same, but new mutations in 11 00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:32.600 the strain that differ from the SARS cove two may 12 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:35.600 prove to be a problem for us in the near future. 13 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:38.240 Are we prepared to deal with this looming threat? Or 14 00:00:38.280 --> 00:00:41.119 will the United States drop the ball again? The story 15 00:00:41.159 --> 00:00:44.000 is from the huff Post UK and it's by Julia 16 00:00:44.679 --> 00:00:47.799 Reees I hope I said that properly, properly and it 17 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:49.719 came out on May twenty eighth, twenty twenty five. 18 00:00:49.880 --> 00:00:52.719 All right, ominous, ominous stuff there, Jason, Why don't you 19 00:00:53.119 --> 00:00:56.640 start us out by telling us you mentioned that some 20 00:00:56.679 --> 00:00:59.679 of there were some similarities with previous variants of COVID. 21 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:02.520 How is this one similar to what we've seen before. 22 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:06.239 I mean pretty much, what they're saying is that symptom wise, 23 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:08.599 it's the same shit, you know. I mean, we're really 24 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:12.799 there's really no glaring differences between the symptoms. They first 25 00:01:12.840 --> 00:01:16.359 detected it in China this past January, actually, and it 26 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:18.640 accounts for about ten percent of the stars Cove two 27 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:22.159 sequences tested, and apparently that's been a significant jump from 28 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:25.560 two point five percent about four weeks ago. The problem 29 00:01:25.799 --> 00:01:28.959 that they're saying is that there's certain mutations apparently that 30 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:31.760 make it more transmissible. There's like a handful of new 31 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:35.239 mutations and it's on the spike protein, and it may 32 00:01:35.319 --> 00:01:39.040 enhance its ability to bind to ourselves. And they're also 33 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:41.120 saying that the variant may be skilled at dodging some 34 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:44.959 of our immune deferences. Now, the thing is, they're saying 35 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:48.159 there's no evidence suggesting that the variant is going to 36 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:52.640 cause more severe diseases or an uptick in hospitalizations or deaths. 37 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:54.879 And they're honestly just saying it's really too early to 38 00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:58.760 like know exactly how effective like shots are and everything, 39 00:01:58.840 --> 00:02:02.040 but scientists expect shots they're gonna hold up. So they 40 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:04.239 don't really seem to be causing any type of public 41 00:02:04.280 --> 00:02:06.319 panic about it. But they're saying, hey, we should pay 42 00:02:06.359 --> 00:02:08.639 attention because you know, this is some new ship. 43 00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:11.639 So it's similar enough that they feel that they have 44 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:14.039 a grip on things and that and that you know, 45 00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:17.719 you would expect if it if it's if the vaccine 46 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:19.879 stopped working or something like that, then it would maybe 47 00:02:19.960 --> 00:02:21.879 be a much bigger news story or something like that. 48 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:24.639 Well yeah, but what they're saying is that, I mean, 49 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:28.199 there's just you know, I think they're kind of hinting 50 00:02:28.199 --> 00:02:30.800 at like, okay, so your immune system was kind of 51 00:02:30.840 --> 00:02:32.879 your first line of defense, but they're saying this thing 52 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:35.840 might have ways to dodge that. But they just they 53 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:39.400 just don't really know so right, you know, because because 54 00:02:39.400 --> 00:02:41.319 the kind of there was that old trope. Remember it's like, 55 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:44.680 well I'm not immunocompromise, so I'll be okay. Right, So 56 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:47.479 right here, they're being like, well, you know, maybe maybe 57 00:02:47.479 --> 00:02:49.719 you are healthy and pretty and strong, but you know 58 00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:51.319 that doesn't matter. 59 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:53.960 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, a j Let's jump over to 60 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:54.680 you real quick here. 61 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:57.840 Jason mentioned something about a spike protein and I know 62 00:02:57.879 --> 00:02:59.439 that you had a little bit more information than that. 63 00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:02.439 What what are the big added risk. What's the big 64 00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:03.000 difference here? 65 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:05.599 How is it how is it going to evade our 66 00:03:05.639 --> 00:03:08.120 existing immuno systems and stuff like that. 67 00:03:08.360 --> 00:03:11.520 Yeah, you know, like Jason just explained, it seems like 68 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:14.439 it has very similar symptoms. What they're saying is things 69 00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:18.680 like you know, you call natal congestion, fever, sort throat, 70 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:20.919 all of that stuff. So you know, kind of all 71 00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:23.199 the same symptoms, take all the same over the counter 72 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:27.159 of mitigations, and they use all treatment that you will 73 00:03:27.319 --> 00:03:32.400 typically get. But the difference is in the way that 74 00:03:32.439 --> 00:03:36.319 it transmits. They said that ten percent of the cases 75 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:39.080 are this new strain right now, and it went up 76 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:41.840 from two point five percent a month ago. So this 77 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:45.960 is indicating that it is increasing at a more rapid 78 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:49.199 weight than all of the other strains that are currently around. 79 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:54.000 And so with this specific strain, what the scientist found 80 00:03:54.360 --> 00:03:58.039 was that the imitations to the spike protein, which means 81 00:03:58.039 --> 00:04:01.000 that it is there is a potential for making it 82 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:03.800 easier to transmit. But they still don't know that for 83 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:07.719 sure because it's such a new strain that you know, 84 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:12.919 they are still testing what's going on with it. But 85 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:15.240 you know, this this is what we do. This is 86 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:19.279 what science. Does you know they can forecast the transmission 87 00:04:19.319 --> 00:04:23.120 rate based on what the mutations they are see, you know, 88 00:04:23.319 --> 00:04:26.800 on the spike proteins, and you know how fast it 89 00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:31.319 is moving across all of the population. You know, probably, 90 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:33.199 so you could you. 91 00:04:33.160 --> 00:04:35.879 Could even say we're seeing evolution happening right in front 92 00:04:35.879 --> 00:04:39.040 of us. It's like this new you said that ten 93 00:04:39.079 --> 00:04:41.759 percent of the cases. It's not like there's been a 94 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:44.519 big jump in cases. It's just that the balance of 95 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:48.959 the different strains has shifted. So this new strain somehow, 96 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:52.399 maybe it's because of this spike protein mutation or something, 97 00:04:52.439 --> 00:04:57.519 but somehow this new variation is outperforming and out competing 98 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:00.680 the other covid variant out there. 99 00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:05.160 Exactly, yeah, it is causing mutations to the spike protein. 100 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:08.240 And I'm sure that all of that. You know what 101 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:11.319 we just say, it makes no sense to our listeners, 102 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:14.480 and one day and you know what the focus of 103 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:16.360 spiked protein anyways. 104 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:19.759 Exactly, it sounds kind of it sounds kind of dangerous. 105 00:05:19.800 --> 00:05:21.680 Actually, no idea. 106 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:23.439 So let me let me get a little bit nerdy 107 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:25.560 over here and try to explain it in a way 108 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:28.480 that might make it easier for people to understand. So 109 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:33.839 when you have tiny organisms like bacteria or fungus. They 110 00:05:33.879 --> 00:05:37.519 can survive on their own. They can replicate without needing 111 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:43.000 a host or something to help them reproduce. But viruses 112 00:05:43.480 --> 00:05:46.959 require hosts in order to make a copy of themselves. 113 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:49.759 So what they do is like they find a way 114 00:05:49.959 --> 00:05:53.959 inside the host self. Now, the host can be any 115 00:05:54.040 --> 00:05:57.079 living organism, but in the case of covid, it is 116 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:02.319 human self. So humans also are protected by an outer 117 00:06:02.439 --> 00:06:05.399 layer that keeps them, you know, contained within the cult 118 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:09.560 and healthy. So this keeps all kinds of pathogens out, 119 00:06:09.639 --> 00:06:15.399 like bacteria and fungus and viruses. So viruses have these 120 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:18.920 tiny little spikes. If you've ever seen like a graphic 121 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:24.519 of what that's little cartoon viruses look like, the covid, 122 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:27.240 it's like a little ball, right, and it has like 123 00:06:27.480 --> 00:06:29.839 color of these little things taken out of it. 124 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:32.079 So yeah, so like the. 125 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:36.600 Little spikes or the spike protein. And so these spikes 126 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:40.000 are what poke through the human cells to the outer 127 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:43.920 layer of the human soul, right, And so when the 128 00:06:44.040 --> 00:06:47.839 virus comes with mutated by proteins, what this can mean 129 00:06:47.959 --> 00:06:51.240 is that those spikes are more effective at poking through 130 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:54.800 our cells and therefore they make it easier to transmit 131 00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:58.560 from one person to another. So like, yeah, these are 132 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:02.120 things that people need to learn about. When it comes 133 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:05.920 to biology and trust in science. We don't blindly trust 134 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:10.279 the authority of science, like we trust the consensus, which 135 00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:15.120 because many scientists have studied this, they have repeated, they 136 00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:17.920 have corroborated that this is correct, that this is what 137 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:19.759 it's doing, that this is what it's going to do. 138 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:22.120 So like, yeah, that's how we know. Thanks, that's how 139 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:25.399 we can put it things in things things science. 140 00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:28.240 It's crazy you say that a jab. When I worked 141 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:29.800 at REAL, when I worked in the research center, I 142 00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:32.639 worked at UTMB, I mean, god, I did so much 143 00:07:32.680 --> 00:07:35.120 shit and and it's people act like these things are 144 00:07:35.160 --> 00:07:38.360 like these weird conspiracies and these scientists like you would 145 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:41.279 just go in and you do a surgery and it's 146 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:43.759 on this heart study, and then we do another surgery 147 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:47.240 and it's related to this, like antibiotic we're developing. Then 148 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:49.480 I go stain in some slides and I look for 149 00:07:49.560 --> 00:07:53.800 different things and different whether it's blood or if it's feces, 150 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:56.279 or if it's or yeah blah blah blah, so it's 151 00:07:56.439 --> 00:08:01.000 or it's just it's pretty fucking mundane. Honestly, you just 152 00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:03.720 end up finding this stuff and there's like, there's no conspiracy. 153 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:05.759 I just think it's cool. Like I think it's cool 154 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:09.240 that it looks like a little tiny fucking battle mace 155 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:12.720 and it just jams into here. I mean, it's terrifying, 156 00:08:12.839 --> 00:08:15.319 but I think that's pretty awesome. I don't know, I 157 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:16.959 just I just I just had to throw that in there. 158 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:18.560 It made me think about that. It's cool when you 159 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:20.800 find shit like that, like, oh, that's fucked up, that's 160 00:08:20.839 --> 00:08:24.600 a mass cell. That's wow, that's not good. It'd be like, Okay, 161 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:26.920 maybe I shouldn't think it's that cool, but you know, 162 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:27.720 but it's pretty cool. 163 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:30.279 Yeah. I feel the same way about science. I fucking 164 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:33.720 love science. I have my my microscope behind me like 165 00:08:33.799 --> 00:08:36.320 my kid, and I always like, look at shit, like 166 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:38.440 I put my finger, well, look at blood. 167 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:39.480 You know. 168 00:08:39.559 --> 00:08:42.240 When we once got to see like the moving blood cells, 169 00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:46.440 and it's like that's the way you to curiosity of people. 170 00:08:47.159 --> 00:08:50.519 Yeahj So look, I've got this cauliflower ear from fighting 171 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:52.840 right here. See we can see it. There's a little 172 00:08:52.919 --> 00:08:55.679 nugget right there. So so when I when I got 173 00:08:55.720 --> 00:08:57.759 like that, it was real like swollen one time and 174 00:08:57.759 --> 00:08:59.679 hanging over and I was at the research center. So 175 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:02.600 I ab it with a syringe and sucked it out 176 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:06.639 and then I stained it. It was beautiful because it 177 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:09.840 was like all these little chunks and like different platelets, 178 00:09:09.879 --> 00:09:11.919 and it was beautiful and it looked like a galaxy. 179 00:09:12.120 --> 00:09:13.759 I thought it was really really neat, and it was 180 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:15.720 like drained a couple of mills of blood out of 181 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:18.000 my ear. It hurt, you know, But yeah, I'm sorry, 182 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:18.840 I digress. 183 00:09:19.080 --> 00:09:21.399 No, that's fine, that's fine, that's fine. But I actually 184 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:23.480 I want to stick with you for Jason, what's up? 185 00:09:23.960 --> 00:09:27.639 I want to before I do that, though, Aj, there's 186 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:30.559 never too much. You can never be too nerdy, and 187 00:09:30.600 --> 00:09:32.600 at least not any show that I'm on. So just 188 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:36.559 so keep bringing the nerd their nerdiness here. We love that, Jason. 189 00:09:36.600 --> 00:09:37.080 I wanted to. 190 00:09:37.639 --> 00:09:40.600 So we're talking about these variants constantly evolving, and of 191 00:09:40.600 --> 00:09:43.679 course there's always new viruses popping up all the time, 192 00:09:43.720 --> 00:09:46.639 it seems, and so how important is public awareness and 193 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:49.360 readiness for this kind of thing? I mean, so we 194 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:51.039 looked at the science thing, now let's look at the 195 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:53.120 social aspect of it. 196 00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:57.200 Well, I mean, you know, especially with today's social climate, 197 00:09:57.320 --> 00:09:59.799 especially here in the States, and being in the state 198 00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:01.639 that I live in, living here in Texas, you know, 199 00:10:02.440 --> 00:10:06.279 it's you know, our track record isn't the best, right, 200 00:10:06.679 --> 00:10:11.279 especially when it's related to COVID and public health things 201 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:14.080 like that. So and then we look at the people 202 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:16.799 who were in charge of the first COVID thing and 203 00:10:16.840 --> 00:10:20.200 all that stuff, like they really dropped the ball, and 204 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:23.440 a lot of those people are still overseeing those things, 205 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:26.320 and their buddies are now overseeing other things that are 206 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:29.559 related to all the things like health and safety and 207 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:34.600 you know, disease and all that shit. So I'm just 208 00:10:34.679 --> 00:10:39.320 worried that, like we've seen recently, there's an increased amount 209 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:44.000 of poor management. So I'm just worried that if we 210 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:47.279 have something like this like last time, we had a 211 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:50.360 lack of reaction and we saw what happened and there 212 00:10:50.440 --> 00:10:54.799 was some mere severe amount of like uncertainty and unnecessarily harm, 213 00:10:55.080 --> 00:10:56.919 and it could have been pretty easily mitigated because we 214 00:10:56.960 --> 00:10:59.200 saw that it was easily mitigated in a lot of 215 00:10:59.240 --> 00:11:03.480 other places with very similar social structures. Sadly, like whenever 216 00:11:03.559 --> 00:11:06.759 that first wave hit in New York that everybody remembers, 217 00:11:07.159 --> 00:11:10.240 my aunt was part of that, and she got COVID 218 00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:12.799 and she fucking died. They had no. 219 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:14.639 Ability to deal with it. 220 00:11:15.240 --> 00:11:18.519 So look, if our resources have been properly utilized and 221 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:22.840 we we actually quarantined people, you know, and liked the 222 00:11:22.919 --> 00:11:25.159 thing that we did, Like that's like you know called 223 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:29.480 group cohesion and working together and pro social behavior, you know, 224 00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:32.799 and we like utilized it and actually gave a fuck 225 00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:36.000 about each other. Like countless people wouldn't have had to die. 226 00:11:36.279 --> 00:11:39.679 And like there's places that are like have a higher 227 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:44.039 urban saturation than New York, which is wild that did 228 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:48.840 much better than us, and people still had groceries, and 229 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:51.600 people still had their power on and people still had 230 00:11:51.639 --> 00:11:54.080 healthcare too. But in the United States, the. 231 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:56.919 People, so it wasn't a possible task, right, I Mean, 232 00:11:56.960 --> 00:12:00.759 it's definitely within within within the realm of past stability here. 233 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:03.639 Well, what's fucked is like if you take time off 234 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:07.559 work here, especially like in Texas, like you're fucked. Like 235 00:12:08.039 --> 00:12:12.080 you can't take time off work. I oversee very important 236 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:15.240 shit in the oil and gas industry. I have a 237 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:18.720 lot of responsibility with my job. I cannot take time off. 238 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:20.519 If I take time off, they just give my job 239 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:24.320 to somebody else, I have very important medical procedures coming up, 240 00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:27.720 and I should. In other countries, i'd get four to 241 00:12:27.799 --> 00:12:30.480 six months off of work with pay. I'll be able 242 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:33.240 to take two weeks off if I'm lucky, if I'm 243 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:39.000 if I'm lucky, and it's disgusting, it's frustrating, is the 244 00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:42.320 nicest way of putting it. But yeah, you know, poor me, right, 245 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:45.000 it's just so I'm an American and I'm lucky to 246 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:47.799 be here, right, fucking lucky. 247 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:52.000 America. That's the tagline, all right, So yeah, I just 248 00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:53.080 I just any. 249 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:56.039 I've been rambling. But look, as far as I'm concerned 250 00:12:56.120 --> 00:12:59.879 right now, if something shitty is happening in these borders, 251 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:04.039 then I just expect shitty response and then a way 252 00:13:04.039 --> 00:13:05.600 for somebody to capitalize on it and to make a whole 253 00:13:05.639 --> 00:13:08.159 lot of money. Like we saw with alcohol companies and 254 00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:10.519 all those other things. They made a lot of money 255 00:13:10.919 --> 00:13:14.120 off of our tragedy and sucked more money out of 256 00:13:14.120 --> 00:13:16.279 our economy and fucked us even deeper. 257 00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:18.639 So well, you know, Jason, a lot of people share 258 00:13:18.679 --> 00:13:21.960 your pessimism. In fact, I'm going to I'm going to 259 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:25.279 share a little bit of research here with you. Speaking 260 00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:28.120 of waxing a little bit nerdy here. So this is 261 00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:31.519 according to a recent poll by health policy research organization 262 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:34.759 called KFF. They said less than half of the US 263 00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:38.600 public express confidence in government health agencies like the CDC 264 00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:41.399 and FDA to carry out many of their core responsibilities, 265 00:13:41.639 --> 00:13:44.639 including just three and ten or thirty two percent, who 266 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:47.159 have confidence in them to act independently. And here's this 267 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:51.559 is key here, act independently without interference from outside interests. 268 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:54.960 Six and ten adults, including three and four Democrats and 269 00:13:55.039 --> 00:13:58.039 nearly half of Republicans, say these agencies are not paying 270 00:13:58.120 --> 00:14:01.360 enough attention to science when come to making decisions and 271 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:05.120 recommendations about vaccines. In addition, at least three and ten 272 00:14:05.240 --> 00:14:08.519 say these agencies are paying too much attention quote unquote 273 00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:11.559 to the belief of officials running the agencies thirty four 274 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:15.120 percent and the interests of pharmaceutical companies thirty percent when 275 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:18.840 making vaccine related decisions. Now, before I ask this next question, 276 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:21.240 which is going to come to AJ but before I 277 00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:23.200 ask that question, I do want to point out that 278 00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:25.720 these aggregate numbers that I was just reading off are 279 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:30.919 not necessarily due to any recent changes. These numbers have 280 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:34.960 stayed rather steady for the last several years, although there's 281 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:37.679 been a kind of a partisan shift, and so the 282 00:14:37.720 --> 00:14:41.279 more recent studies show that the Democrats trust is decreasing 283 00:14:41.559 --> 00:14:45.120 while the Republicans trust is increasing. So, but this poll 284 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:49.320 does not take into very recent changes into account, things 285 00:14:49.399 --> 00:14:52.720 like mass firings at these organizations and so forth. So, 286 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:55.039 having said all that, and this is going to aja 287 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:57.600 what does the lack of trust in critical government health 288 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:00.759 and safety efforts tell us about how those areanizations fit 289 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:03.679 into society. It seems like a silly question that when 290 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:06.000 I ask it here, but should the government be in 291 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:08.919 the business of keeping its citizens healthy? And assuming the 292 00:15:08.919 --> 00:15:11.519 answer there is yes, what can they do differently to 293 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:16.120 change that attitude of Americans? So what we all agree 294 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:18.240 that there's an issue here, that there's a problem with 295 00:15:18.519 --> 00:15:22.399 public trust in the government to really to have our 296 00:15:22.440 --> 00:15:23.639 best interest in mind? 297 00:15:24.039 --> 00:15:26.480 And so what what how can help can we change that? 298 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:26.799 I mean? 299 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:29.720 Or is that something that can be changed? Is the 300 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:33.080 is the is the system unfixable? And should it be 301 00:15:33.159 --> 00:15:34.600 chucked for maybe something else? 302 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:39.080 That's a really heavy question on this loaded tall order. 303 00:15:40.600 --> 00:15:43.320 But you know what, I do think yes, the answer 304 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:47.159 to that one specific question about whether the government should 305 00:15:47.399 --> 00:15:51.639 be keeping their citizens healthy. Yes, they should have part 306 00:15:51.720 --> 00:15:53.879 in that. There shouldn't be like all up in your 307 00:15:53.879 --> 00:15:58.279 personal business, okay. But one of the examples I can 308 00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:02.159 think of right away is the funding cuts to the CDC. 309 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:06.080 We did an article on their nonprofits last week regarding 310 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:11.600 how these cuts affected communication. The Facebook page for the 311 00:16:11.639 --> 00:16:16.200 CDC hasn't been updated since like March Jesus Chris. 312 00:16:16.519 --> 00:16:17.279 That's frustrating. 313 00:16:17.559 --> 00:16:20.840 So fucking first before that they would post two to 314 00:16:20.919 --> 00:16:23.440 do it, Tim said, day a day, okay, And it 315 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:26.879 wasn't just about vaccine, and then they won't post about 316 00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:30.720 things like cancer research, like cancer prevention, how to take 317 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:36.159 care of your pregnancy, yeah, like childhood, childhood conditions, all 318 00:16:36.200 --> 00:16:40.600 kinds of tu health disease. It wasn't like anything super controversial. 319 00:16:40.879 --> 00:16:44.440 So they were trying to keep their citizen healthy that 320 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:47.480 were given them the information that they needed to take 321 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:50.919 care of themselves to prevent them from getting sick, you know, 322 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:52.840 before they got sick, so you know how to go 323 00:16:52.919 --> 00:16:56.440 to the doctor in the first place. And so the 324 00:16:56.480 --> 00:17:00.360 problem here is that won the communication to the funding 325 00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:05.160 cuts to like the actual institutions performing in the research 326 00:17:06.119 --> 00:17:09.079 to then give the information to the public, Like, if 327 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:11.759 you're not able to perform your research, if you're not 328 00:17:11.880 --> 00:17:14.960 able to look at what is causing these diseases, how 329 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:17.960 to prevent them, how to treat them once you have them, 330 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:21.000 then you got nothing. You got nothing to communicate. 331 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:22.000 Right. 332 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:24.680 So yeah, so even if there is an effort to 333 00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:27.920 keep us healthy, it's like being hamstrung from the beginning. 334 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:31.559 Right They're they're working in the dark, and they're working 335 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.640 with a muzzle on, and they're working with their hands 336 00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:36.759 tied behind. I mean, I'm running out of uh, you know, 337 00:17:37.079 --> 00:17:39.799 metaphors here. I mean, it's it's hard to imagine how 338 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:41.480 things are work. Jason, what are your thoughts on that? 339 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:43.799 I mean, your blood pressure can be great, but if 340 00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:46.960 people break your leg every five years, you know, I mean, 341 00:17:47.079 --> 00:17:50.839 it's I agree with you, It's it's I don't want 342 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:52.480 to I don't want to sound able lists at all, 343 00:17:52.599 --> 00:17:56.400 you know, like having you know, difficulties or having anything 344 00:17:56.559 --> 00:17:59.160 is anything like that. But it's I feel like it's 345 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:04.880 more traumatized than anything. We have a system that fucking 346 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:09.640 exploits us every step of the way. It from the 347 00:18:09.640 --> 00:18:12.720 moment we're born. We're getting exploited before we're born. We're 348 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:15.839 getting exploited. I mean, bird, the birthing industry is one 349 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:19.400 of the most exploitive industries in the fucking world. It's 350 00:18:19.480 --> 00:18:23.319 insane what they do to people who give birth and debate, 351 00:18:23.480 --> 00:18:26.400 it's so insane. And then from the yeah, so I 352 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:29.680 don't know, I mean, yeah, we're we're getting exploited every 353 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:31.240 step of the way. And all we're seeing is just 354 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:33.839 an increase of exploitation. So I don't expect it to 355 00:18:33.880 --> 00:18:35.839 get anymore. I mean you're asking them all, yeah, you're 356 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:38.160 talking to a fatalist. I don't expect anything to get 357 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:41.319 any better. We're just what if you One of my 358 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:44.200 favorite books is The Temptation to Exist, And what we're 359 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:46.960 seeing right now is a dying we're seeing a It's 360 00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:50.440 a very typical thing that we see the dying throws 361 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:53.680 of a nation that was once great, and this is 362 00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:57.400 what we're descending into. It's typical. It's like a fucking 363 00:18:58.039 --> 00:19:04.319 narcissist who is discarding their former supply, and that's what's happening. 364 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:08.480 You just you become a moral You eventually see what happens. 365 00:19:08.519 --> 00:19:11.000 People just like stop giving a fuck, they stop hiding. 366 00:19:11.319 --> 00:19:14.240 I mean, if you think a rod Contra was fucked. 367 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:16.599 I mean, wait until you see what's happened here in the. 368 00:19:16.519 --> 00:19:17.480 Next four years. 369 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:20.960 It's so blatant that like nobody cares like shit that 370 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:23.519 nobody would say twenty years ago. They're just you know, 371 00:19:23.799 --> 00:19:26.400 laughing about in public and people just suck it up. 372 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:29.240 So I don't expect anything to get better. Everything's going 373 00:19:29.319 --> 00:19:31.839 to be mishandled from here on out. Just get the 374 00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:33.799 fuck out of this country, you know, that's the thing 375 00:19:33.799 --> 00:19:34.279 we could do. 376 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:34.720 Well. 377 00:19:34.759 --> 00:19:38.799 I hope that I share many of those feelings, Jason. 378 00:19:38.920 --> 00:19:41.920 And the thing I keep saying to myself is I 379 00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:44.160 hope I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong. And you know, 380 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:46.839 I have some friends that are that are more optimistic 381 00:19:46.839 --> 00:19:49.759 about the situation, and you know, I when I talk 382 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:52.039 to them, that's all I can say is I hope 383 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:52.519 you're right. 384 00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:54.359 I hope you're right. I don't know age any last 385 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:55.640 words before we wrap up here. 386 00:19:55.880 --> 00:20:00.559 Yeah, no, I feel that deeply, but one that came 387 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:03.559 from another country, and and you know, over twenty years ago, 388 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:07.480 I came here because there was more hope here than 389 00:20:07.559 --> 00:20:11.200 what we had in my country, and I still keep 390 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:14.559 that hope. So yeah, that's that's why I stick around 391 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:15.200 and I don't. 392 00:20:15.880 --> 00:20:18.920 That's got to be so terrifying. Yay, dude, that's good 393 00:20:18.920 --> 00:20:21.240 because twenty years ago there was so much reform going on, 394 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:23.559 and then this hard swing has got to be so 395 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:28.079 fucking like, I'm terrified with my kid and what I'm Yeah, 396 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:31.839 it's terrifying, especially where we live. Dude. It's yeah, I 397 00:20:31.880 --> 00:20:34.839 mean yeah, yeah, and what I've been dealing with in 398 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:38.599 real time as of hours ago, you know, I mean, 399 00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:42.160 it's it's no thank you. I I'm fucking terrified for 400 00:20:42.279 --> 00:20:46.559 my kid. I'm terrified for my partner. I'm terrified. I 401 00:20:46.680 --> 00:20:48.960