We have nothing to fear but fear itself. FDRIn this book, author Tommy Madison takes a down to earth look at how the fear of COVID-19 spread faster than the virus itself.Madison explains how the unfortunate convergence of green journalism, hatred of Donald Trump, and an unprecedented moment in time sparked a pandemic of fear, hysteria, and panic that will have long-lasting and far-reaching consequences.He takes us through how the science was manipulated and unmasks the people who spread the misinformation. Lies, damn lies, and fake statistics created a mythical COVID boogie man that was much more dangerous than COVID itself.Instead of "flattening the curve," we began an epic battle with this mythical monster that led to devastating and unnecessary consequences. The book contains evidence that the lockdowns were not only ineffective but hampered the real effort of reducing COVID's ability to spread to our most vulnerable populations.And finally, Madison provides insight on how we can all begin to move forward and recover, so hopefully, we can learn from our mistakes and are not doomed to repeat them.I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them real facts.Abraham Lincoln
Starting a much needed conversation about the ethics and impacts of the behavioural psychology, manipulation and the strategy of fear that is so deeply embedded in government.
More relevant than ever as the Coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic sweeps the globe, False Alarm (Originally released in 2008) reminds readers to look closely at the facts as the media covers the national pandemic news and spread of the virus, as well as reinforces the notion that we must arm ourselves against fear tactics that inhibit our abilities to properly make decisions in a world of uncertainty. Life today for citizens of the developed world is safer, easier, and healthier than for any other people in history thanks to modern medicine, science, technology, and intelligence. So why is an epidemic of fear sweeping America? The answer, according to nationally renowned health commentator Dr. Marc Siegel, is that we live in an artificially created culture of fear. In False Alarm, Siegel identifies three major catalysts of the culture of fear—government, the media, and big pharma. With fascinating, blow-by-blow analyses of the most sensational false alarms of the past few years, he shows how these fearmongers manipulate our most primitive instincts—often without our even realizing it. False Alarm shows us how to look behind the hype and hysteria, inoculate ourselves against fear tactics, and develop the emotional and intellectual skills needed to take back our lives.
As an unprecedented global pandemic sweeps the planet, who better than the supercharged Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek to uncover its deeper meanings, marvel at its mind-boggling paradoxes and speculate on the profundity of its consequences? We live in a moment when the greatest act of love is to stay distant from the object of your affection. When governments renowned for ruthless cuts in public spending can suddenly conjure up trillions. When toilet paper becomes a commodity as precious as diamonds. And when, according to Žižek, a new form of communism – the outlines of which can already be seen in the very heartlands of neoliberalism – may be the only way of averting a descent into global barbarism. Written with his customary brio and love of analogies in popular culture (Quentin Tarantino and H. G. Wells sit next to Hegel and Marx), Žižek provides a concise and provocative snapshot of the crisis as it widens, engulfing us all.
As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, LA-based psychiatrist Mark McDonald grew increasingly concerned by the negative mental health effects he witnessed among his patients—and Americans nationwide. These negative effects—stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, domestic violence, suicidal ideation—were all directly traceable to the climate of fear being stoked by public health authorities and irresponsibly amplified by national media. These fears in turn drove a hysterical overreaction from government in the form of draconian lockdowns and mask and vaccine mandates of questionable value. But the fear did not abate and quickly took on a life of its own, becoming an unstoppable force in all our lives. At last McDonald began to speak out, explaining that America is actually suffering from two pandemics: a viral one and a psychological one, a “pandemic of fear” that is in many ways more dangerous and damaging than the virus itself. Rooted in the natural anxieties of women on behalf of their children and families, inflamed and amplified by sensationalistic media, and driven over the top by hamfisted authoritarian measures from those in power, McDonald diagnoses the country at large as suffering from a mass delusional psychosis. This is not a metaphor. The malady itself is very real. Whether we can regain our collective sanity as a society remains to be seen.
Fear has consequences, for individuals and for communities. And in times of stress, such as during epidemics, prejudices and primeval fear, always beneath the surface, can resurge to haunt us. In this book Zhou Xun and Sander L. Gilman examine how four groups have been blamed for causing or spreading the COVID-19 virus: the residents of Wuhan and Black African communities in China; Ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in the USA, Britain and Israel; African Americans and the UK's BAME communities; and White right-wing groups in America and Europe. 'I Know Who Caused COVID-19' explores stereotyping and the false attribution of blame, as well as what happens when a collective is actually at fault, and how the community deals with these conflicting issues.--
Natural scientist James DeMeo reviewed the CDC, WHO and medical arguments and data about the claimed USA Covid-19 pandemic, finding numerous serious problems in basic scientific methods and claimed causality. These include errors in basic assumptions, confusions of correlation with causality, subjective impressions being misrepresented as "objective evidence", incoherent, sloppy or misuse of data, and evasive concealment of critically important contrary facts, all spiced up with hysterical alarmism. Specifically: * Excess Mortality due to claimed Covid-19 disease, without preexisting deadly comorbidities, is only around 5000 to 18,000 deaths for all of 2020. * Claimed Covid-19 deaths are 81% confined to elderly people over 65 nearing end-of-life, each of whom has an average of 4 pre-existing deadly comorbidities. * Many of the elderly with those comorbidities were transferred out of hospitals into nursing homes, where other elderly with weak immune systems succumbed to similar comorbidities, worsened by inhuman lockdown-masking-isolation policies. * The PCR and antigen testing methods are wildly inaccurate, not specific to any corona virus, and cross-react with multiple other DNA/RNA fragments from prior exposures. * "PCR Confirmed Cases" do not predict who will succumb to Covid-19 sickness or death. Most "positive" people are asymptomatic, non-infectious and never get sick. * Symptoms of Covid-19 are nearly indistinguishable from seasonal influenza or pneumonia, and they all have a seasonally variable incidence, with far more cases and deaths in wintertime than in summer. This alone undermines the viral pandemic theory. * Lockdowns, forced masking and anti-social distancing have protected nobody, and have instead increased human misery, despair, illness and deaths. The economic ruin and chronic emotional anxiety associated with such inhuman, prison-like isolation of the elderly have killed most of the people claimed as due to "Covid-19". * Hospitals and doctors were paid extra sums by government health agencies to lie and reclassify many comorbidities and deaths as "Covid-19", to jack up the numbers. People died of their deadly multiple pre-existing diseases and conditions, not Covid-19. * Ending of lockdowns, forced masking and isolation have not led to an increase in cases or deaths, just the opposite. The "New Normal" is iatrogenic murder. * Many ignorant or compromised physicians, mainstream media stars and internet billionaires have colluded with the worst of power-drunk government bureaucrats and pharmaceutical profiteers, to censor and criminalize scientific dissent. They systematically ignore the deadly consequences of totalitarian lockdowns, and scare the public into obedience to a growing Medical Police State. The unnecessary experimental mRNA vaccines have already killed more people than all prior vaccination programs combined! They also push for Nazi-like "vaccine passports" and other inhuman segregationist policies. * All the above points are well-documented in this book.
Nations and businesses across the globe have been working through the difficulties of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Industry, academia, NGOs, and governments have been "feverishly" searching for ways to address this deadly virus, which may continue to spread for at least the next year and perhaps beyond (in terms of a resurgence and different strains). From a business standpoint, there have been dramatic effects on logistics and supply chains, economic downfalls, bailouts of major industries and small businesses, and far-reaching calamities from around the world. Even though the COVID-19 story is still in its making, this book focuses on the business of pandemics as applied to COVID-19. The book brings together a global panel of experts across industries and NGOs to help guide business executives and managers through the complex array of issues affecting business in the time of a pandemic. Offering solutions to the business of pandemics as applied to COVID-19, the book is written for organizational decision makers and leaders, as well as those involved in crisis management, public health, and related fields. Its chapters focus on key areas that relate to the business of pandemics, including Lessons learned to date Big data and simulation Logistics and supply-chain management challenges Conducting global business virtually Global economic impact Media and risk communication IT infrastructure and networking Social impact Online learning and educational innovations The new work-from-home environment Re-opening markets and businesses Crisis decision making using analytics and intuition With chapters authored by experts from leading organizations, including the World Health Organization, the RAND Corporation, and various universities throughout the world, The Business of Pandemics: The COVID-19 Story provides high-level guidance and insight for business leaders who must deal with the complexities and challenges presented by this unprecedented crisis.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Governor Andrew Cuomo tells the riveting story of how he took charge in the fight against COVID-19 as New York became the epicenter of the pandemic, offering hard-won lessons in leadership and his vision for the path forward. “An impressive road map to dealing with a crisis as serious as any we have faced.”—The Washington Post When COVID-19 besieged the United States, New York State emerged as the global “ground zero” for a deadly contagion that threatened the lives and livelihoods of millions. Quickly, Governor Andrew Cuomo provided the leadership to address the threat, becoming the standard-bearer of the organized response the country desperately needed. With infection rates spiking and more people dying every day, the systems and functions necessary to combat the pandemic in New York—and America—did not exist. So Cuomo undertook the impossible. He unified people to rise to the challenge and was relentless in his pursuit of scientific facts and data. He quelled fear while implementing an extraordinary plan for flattening the curve of infection. He and his team worked day and night to protect the people of New York, despite roadblocks presented by a president incapable of leadership and addicted to transactional politics. Taking readers beyond the candid daily briefings that became must-see TV across the globe, and providing a dramatic, day-by-day account of the catastrophe as it unfolded, American Crisis presents the intimate and inspiring thoughts of a leader at an unprecedented historical moment. In his own voice, Andrew Cuomo chronicles the ingenuity and sacrifice required of so many to fight the pandemic, sharing the decision-making that shaped his policy as well as his frank accounting and assessment of his interactions with the federal government, the White House, and other state and local political and health officials. Real leadership, he shows, requires clear communication, compassion for others, and a commitment to truth-telling—no matter how frightening the facts may be. Including a game plan for what we as individuals—and as a nation—need to do to protect ourselves against this disaster and those to come, American Crisis is a remarkable portrait of selfless leadership and a gritty story of difficult choices that points the way to a safer future for all of us.
