36 Comments

I wait for Sunday....I used to wait for Sunday to watch Succession. Now I wait for Sunday to read Mary Trump's List.....or as I call it, the MTL.

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Our problem is we are not proactively addressing airborne diseases with indoor air disinfection. Why is outside air safer than inside air? Outside air is disinfected by the sun because Ultraviolet UVA & UVB Light are germicidal. We have had issues with indoor airborne diseases since our ancestors moved into caves.

When we began effectively disinfecting water in the late 1800s we neutralized many waterborne pathogens that are endemic in our water supply saving thousands of lives per year and reduced the burden on our healthcare systems for waterborne disease. We disinfect water with filtration, chemicals, ozone & Germicidal Ultraviolet Light.

We began effectively disinfecting food in the late 1800s we neutralized many food borne pathogens that are endemic in our food supply saving thousands of lives per year and reduced the burden on our healthcare systems for food borne disease. We disinfect food with pasteurization, freezing & Germicidal Ultraviolet Light.

We began disinfecting air with Germicidal Ultraviolet Light in the 1930 but in the 1940s governments began favoring antibiotics over Germicidal Ultraviolet Light. Disinfecting indoor air is available through HVAC companies & hardware stores but most people don't know about it because governments do not promote it. There also a lot of misinformation about risks & benefits of ultraviolet light. The highest risks from ultraviolet light are UVA & UVB from the sun & tanning beds, they are the major causes of cataracts & skin cancer. Most of the ultraviolet spectrum is low to no health risk but there are substantial health protections in the UVC spectrum.

At some point we need to promote & support indoor air disinfection of public buildings & workplaces because airborne diseases will increase in risk as our population & ability to travel increase.

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Great idea. It will be shot down immediately by the right-wingers who will say, 'they are infiltrating our air and we are being poisoned' or make up a new conspiracy model for this effort. Remember that they are smarter than the scientist and medical persons who devote their lives to such issues. IMHO, the right-wingers were once called the 'fringe element.' Now they dominate the Net, media, and anyone who prefers someone else to do their thinking for them. I wish I could see them lose their hate.

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Hello Albert, I recently had that set through the central heating/cooling system of the house. I'm always uneasy with the work on the system, because I've had several technicians fail to do parts of the work. It's difficult to check until something goes wrong. I got a new contract for this year... we'll see... I hope!

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I set up Germicidal Ultraviolet in my HVAC system 18 years ago. We noticed an immediate cessation of allergens and raising two young children we also noticed that the colds they brought home no longer spread through our family. Great technology with studies of success going back into the 1930s. Only problem is that light cannot be patented so big money is not interested & if people stopped getting colds, flus etc. it would be disruptive to pharmaceutical industry wealth.

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Feb 20, 2022
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Karl Linden one of the scientists trying to get attention for disinfecting indoor air. https://www.denverpost.com/author/karl-linden/

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Excellent piece Mary! The issue of becoming inured to COVID deaths is unfortunately what the enablers on the right want. We see how many of their voters die or that the enablers ‘kill’ with their red-state COVID policies; and even their own voters don’t care. A sad state of affairs.

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Thanks as always for the reports. One follow-up request: The age breakdown for the recent Covid deaths? I not lazy (yes she is) but I’m lost looking for the site with that info.

I saw a tweet last night from a physician that said dropping the mask rules now is like stopping a 10-day antibiotic regimen on the third day because the fever’s gone. So apt!

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This has a wealth of information, SueJ.

"Weekly Updates by Select Demographic and Geographic Characteristics"

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm

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My doctor placed handwritten signs on her door and all prominent spaces within her office repeating the mask necessity. Outside signs allow you to call inside and someone will come out with a mask to give you.

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Thank you for sharing that. Your doctor is wise. The issue comes down to just how loud and proud the anti-maskers actually are. They get the headlines; this doctor is only seen by her patients. The spotlight is in the wrong place. Thank your doctor for me, personally I would rather see her than the uncaring people who think that nearly 1,000,000 deaths are simply normal/natural/no problem. The family and friends of those who are dead would differ with anti-masks.

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I know. It was just a comment not intended to provide a big answer but to show what one individual with influence in helping people is doing her, however small a part, as we all should.

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These comments are my opinions only. I am no expert, but I do feel them very strongly about these. Unfortunately, the red states don't believe medical and scientific warnings. They would rather believe a 'human' who likely is no better than a C- student. Anyone going to Yo sem ite today? Again, I believe that 45 is functionally illiterate. IMHO, his words are around the 6th to 7th grade level.

It is time to have some level of competence for running for these offices. I include Congress, DOJ, FBI, anything above a pay grade 2! (Are you listening kyrsten sinema?)

Thank you for being a sounding board, Pat

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Thank you for validating the anger feeling I have about the Covid numbers. I keep hearing that they have substantially dropped (we are at the end of the pandemic), however, I keep seeing that there is still "High transmission", which bothers me.

People do not want to understand this article / headline:

"Heart-disease risk soars after COVID — even with a mild case"

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00403-0

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they don't believe it Caroline...so sad

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I was floored this week when my husband returned from an appointment with his heart specialist. We are Triple vaccinated and continue to wear masks when we are away from home. He reported to me that in the waiting room which was packed, the majority of patients were not masked. He mentioned this to the doctor who was stated some garbage about having to follow the state guidelines. In Texas you take your chances since many don't believe or never believed that Covid is real, but I was shocked that a cardiologist would display such a cavalier attitude. Horrifying when people who don't bother to educate themselves will take such advice from a medical professional. One of many reasons we can't get this virus under control.

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Thank you for doing this every week, it’s much appreciated. The title is very apropos!

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Thanks Mary! And there is lots of energy in Anger ... just figuring out how to best use it is a real challenge. It seems to me that you are challenging yours to keeping us informed. Thanks for that.

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Pressure must be maintained on the unvaccinated, especially the elderly and any with underlying medical conditions.

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Almost every single Covid death and hospitalization is due to right wing disinformation/misinformation. It’s all so sad and so avoidable.

I’d highly recommend lawyer Amee Vanderpool’s excellent Substack newsletter as well. She’s a fantastic writer and her insights are always on point.

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The question is WHY does the right-wing disinformation message machine overwhelm left-wing media, both in print and on air? We are definitely sliding toward authoritarianism.

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My opinion: I think they are very, very angry to begin with in their personal place in the profession that requires it. It attracts followers, or it would not be required.

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How can we start more left rational pubs and promote them? Start by recommending this newsletter of Mary's!

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I agree. I have always donated to the left, but all I see and hear is from the right. I am passing by the requests for money because I don't see any attempt to counterattack at any level.

The squeaky wheel gets the oil, and the quiet wheel dies. Georgia's running candidate just says "I want to unseat mtg." That isn't a platform, it is an attack.

I appreciate President Biden, not because he is perfect (he is human), but because he has diplomacy, a calm demeanor, doesn't speak down to people, and my personal favorite - he isn't 45!!

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Joanne F, I like your Question. I think about it myself.

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Thank you again Mary for the information. My reading list continues to expand.

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I listen to & watch Rachel Maddow religiously. I miss her.

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I will continue to wear a mask indoors and whenever I am surrounded by people who cannot keep a distance from me. We are in this together. Not me, WE.

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Excellent as usual, Mary. Love it that you have a pub where you can say what so many of us are thinking: "Let’s also support His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (challenged for being “anti-god” by a bunch of religious bigots) because it’s excellent and also because I am so tired of these assholes".

Just reported by CNN that US Intel picked up that Russian commanders have been sent orders to attack. Ukraine. [Surprise, Vladimir Putin, you don't have the advantage of surprise.]

The Good in Us will be to send good vibes and love to Ukraine and all those democracy loving folks there.

As a medically vulnerable person I find the whole unmasking abandonment of public health measures terrifyingly stupid. I don't plan to do this, but I remember when a monk in Thich Nhat Hanh's Tiep Hien Buddhist order set himself on fire to wake people up during the Vietnam war. What needs doing to WAKE UP brains in misinformation-induced comas?

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Thank you. Your analysis is exactly correct in my humble opinion. Be well and keep up the good work!

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