thependulumswings

The information age: the time in which information has become a commodity and is quickly and widely disseminated and easily available through the use of television and computer technology.

Ah, those were the good old days.  The Information Age seems to have quickly and widely devolved into The Misinformation Age.  What’s that?  It’s when anybody says anything to anyone and the text, vine, vibe, blurb, tweet, or take takes off as if it has wings and merit.

In fact absorb Dr. Scott Gottlieb’s thoughts on CNBC this early morning as he was interviewed by Andrew Ross Sorkin (anyone who uses their middle name in full has an outsized ego and issues, but we digress).  Dr. Gottlieb served as the 23rd Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2017 until April 2019 during the Trump Administration.

Gottlieb said:

1. He believes that the Delta variant has spread by a factor of 10x greater than what the CDC is reporting in positive case results weekly across the US.  In specific terms, that’s a million positive results, not 100k.
2. He believes that booster shots should have started 3 weeks ago, and acutely so for the elderly.
3. He expects the variant to spread rapidly to the north as it “likely” has peaked in the south.
4. He also reasons that the UK is about three weeks ahead of us and has seen their caseloads drop from their top.  He expects a similar curve here in the US in about three weeks as well.

Here is what he didn’t say.

1.  He is a paid contributor to CNBC.
2.  He sits on the Pfizer Board of Directors.

While you are digesting that, note that on Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “AC360,” Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said that localities like Los Angeles County that are bringing back mask mandates are doing so “to protect the vaccinated as well as the unvaccinated,” and to prevent the “unvaccinated or vaccinated people with breakthrough infections from transmitting to others.”

Got that?  That’s covering all of the bases.

And, lastly, the job of the CDC just got more daunting.  In a leaked internal email it acknowledges the increased transmission percentages by the vaccinated.  Somehow it must continue to emphasize the efficacy of the vaccine, encourage booster shots, and acknowledge that vaccinated breakthrough individuals are carrying viral loads equal to and in some cases greater than the positive tested unvaccinated.

Three weeks ago Pres. Biden emphasized that the vaccinated need no longer wear masks.  This week Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi began fining those in the House that don’t.  Clear enough?

Covid-19 has mutated into the Delta variant.  That is info we can trust.

The Information Age has mutated into the full-blown Misinformation Age.  That is info that we can also trust.

What to believe?  What to believe?