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Amazon refuses to sell book on Covid-19 and lockdowns

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Re: Amazon refuses to sell book on Covid-19 and lockdowns

#111

Post by wwweston »

ceejayoz wrote: post #96
wwweston wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Remember what the official word was for all too long: masks don't work, but save them for health workers. Who said masks don't work? What I recall people saying is: * most masks provide marginal protection to the wearer * the masks that provide effective protection should be saved for those in situations where they need them (and can be knowledgeably used) * most people probably don't need those masks There's a wor…

The US Surgeon General: https://twitter.com/surgeon_general/status/12337257852839321... "Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus..."

This is an instance of what I described in my above comment.

"STOP BUYING MASKS" is not "Masks don't work," especially given the rest of the context of the statement where he's saying they're important to protect high-exposure roles healthcare providers. Which means he's also saying they work.

"They are not effective in preventing the general public" might be reasonably interpreted as "masks don't work", but given that he's clearly saying they work in the same breath, it's a better bet that he means something else.

Re: Amazon refuses to sell book on Covid-19 and lockdowns

#112

Post by mcguire »

benjohnson wrote: post #5
Reedx wrote: post #3

Never thought we'd see wide support for book restriction or censorship again. Are people not reading history or considering the second order effects? Heck, you don't even have to go back that far. Just look how badly "official sources" handled Covid-19. For example, remember what the official word was, even despite being a self-contradiction: masks don't work, but save them for health workers. You may say that's a no…

Yep.. now people to can say "They" don't wan't you to know the truth.

There was an article on the front page yesterday about the retraction of one of the hydroxychloroquine papers; all of the comments on the original article were of the "they don't want you to know the truth" sort.

You cannot win against true believers.

Re: Amazon refuses to sell book on Covid-19 and lockdowns

#113

Post by StuntPope »

djsumdog wrote: post #99
StuntPope wrote: post #95

It's gonna get flagged again, I can feel it. What I love about this place is everybody is so open minded.

It doesn't get flagged. To be fair to HN, they do want just tech news. Most COIVD and riot posts are weighted down. It looks like it takes them 3~4 times as many votes to rise as other articles. I can understand them wanting to keep HN focused on tech. It's a good distraction during this. But when we do occasionally see these posts before they get flushed to page 4 or 5, I love the fact that the comments are filled w…

Thanks for the context.

My writing focus has been on big tech, censorship, deplatforming and related topics and the last 4 or 5 articles I've posted here were flagged despite being heavily upvoted and making the front page.

I can see people flagging it if it nobody comments, nobody upvotes it and it's clear nobody is interested or finds it germane. Ok.

But it always seemed as if people were using the flag function as a "downvote". They don't like the message or the ramifications of the article so they flag it.

It really is ridiculous.

You can disagree with something without deeming it inappropriate and deciding on behalf of everybody else that they shouldn't even get the chance to form their own opinion on it.

The way I see it, if an article didn't address a topic relevant to HN, then it wouldn't rise. It's that simple.

Re: Amazon refuses to sell book on Covid-19 and lockdowns

#114

Post by dougmany »

darawk wrote: post #98
wwweston wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Remember what the official word was for all too long: masks don't work, but save them for health workers. Who said masks don't work? What I recall people saying is: * most masks provide marginal protection to the wearer * the masks that provide effective protection should be saved for those in situations where they need them (and can be knowledgeably used) * most people probably don't need those masks There's a wor…

The CDC and WHO both at various times recommended against the general public wearing masks. https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/4/13/21214114/media-coronavi... This advice was wrong. It is not just sick people that benefit from wearing masks. It is not true that people are flattening that into "masks don't work". Masks don't work was repeated many, many times by these organizations. Here's an example: https://www.cidrap.…

At least two of those links had nuanced reasons that matched the parent's remarks. One even literately had a three point explanation:

* There is no scientific evidence they are effective in reducing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission

* Their use may result in those wearing the masks to relax other distancing efforts because they have a sense of protection

* We need to preserve the supply of surgical masks for at-risk healthcare workers.

Re: Amazon refuses to sell book on Covid-19 and lockdowns

#115

Post by claytongulick »

misiti3780 wrote: post #43
pen2l wrote: post #2

After a half hour long conversation with my neighbor last week of him trying to convince me that Bill Gates is behind coronavirus, please, for the love of our future, continue banning information that is blatantly put up on a bad faith basis. It's exhausting to see my mom and dad succumb to a new conspiracy every other day. I don't see how else we can curb this other than for the tech companies to start aggressively…

Why does he think bill gates is behind COVID? That's a new one I have not seen yet.

Most of what I've seen follows this general thinking (note, I don't agree with it, just what I've seen):

1) Bill Gates was convicted of monopolistic practices while he was running a global company attempting to seize power.

2) Almost immediately after this conviction, he suddenly becomes philanthropic and donates most of his wealth to a non-profit that he's in control of.

3) This non-profit runs social experiments throughout the world, including mass vaccination programs

4) He has a motivation (the exact nature of which is fuzzy in the right wing stuff I've seen) to have everyone vaccinated. (this is where some folks talk about microchips, others talk about financial motivations).

5) He is partners with George Soros, working together for a globalist agenda. According to the theory, their aim is to end nationalism and replace it with a unified earth type structure.

Re: Amazon refuses to sell book on Covid-19 and lockdowns

#116

Post by rb808 »

pen2l wrote: post #2

After a half hour long conversation with my neighbor last week of him trying to convince me that Bill Gates is behind coronavirus, please, for the love of our future, continue banning information that is blatantly put up on a bad faith basis. It's exhausting to see my mom and dad succumb to a new conspiracy every other day. I don't see how else we can curb this other than for the tech companies to start aggressively…

Not only behind Corona virus but also the vaccine implants microchips to track you.

The real story is not that a few nut jobs believe it - a huge chunk of the population actually believes it. https://news.yahoo.com/new-yahoo-news-you-gov-poll-shows-cor...

Re: Amazon refuses to sell book on Covid-19 and lockdowns

#117

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

StuntPope wrote: post #113
djsumdog wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't get flagged. To be fair to HN, they do want just tech news. Most COIVD and riot posts are weighted down. It looks like it takes them 3~4 times as many votes to rise as other articles. I can understand them wanting to keep HN focused on tech. It's a good distraction during this. But when we do occasionally see these posts before they get flushed to page 4 or 5, I love the fact that the comments are filled w…

Thanks for the context. My writing focus has been on big tech, censorship, deplatforming and related topics and the last 4 or 5 articles I've posted here were flagged despite being heavily upvoted and making the front page. I can see people flagging it if it nobody comments, nobody upvotes it and it's clear nobody is interested or finds it germane. Ok. But it always seemed as if people were using the flag function as…

I think it's a hard call. I've seen a lot of articles recently that are interesting and germane, yet clearly written from the perspective of fighting some political battle. I think it's appropriate to flag such posts even if a lot of people upvote them.

Re: Amazon refuses to sell book on Covid-19 and lockdowns

#118

Post by Alex3917 »

darawk wrote: post #98
wwweston wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Remember what the official word was for all too long: masks don't work, but save them for health workers. Who said masks don't work? What I recall people saying is: * most masks provide marginal protection to the wearer * the masks that provide effective protection should be saved for those in situations where they need them (and can be knowledgeably used) * most people probably don't need those masks There's a wor…

The CDC and WHO both at various times recommended against the general public wearing masks. https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/4/13/21214114/media-coronavi... This advice was wrong. It is not just sick people that benefit from wearing masks. It is not true that people are flattening that into "masks don't work". Masks don't work was repeated many, many times by these organizations. Here's an example: https://www.cidrap.…

> Masks don't work was repeated many, many times by these organizations.

Repeated many times while they were stockpiling them for themselves to resell at 10x the cost to hospitals.

Re: Amazon refuses to sell book on Covid-19 and lockdowns

#119

Post by detaro »

usaar333 wrote: post #106
panzagl wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mein Kampf is an important document for understanding one of the most significant and tragic events in history. Only the truly ignorant would try to remove it.

Hardly that simple. Germany had banned publication until 2015.

Notably not under German law against extremist propaganda, but through copyright law, also affecting some international printings of it. Which explains the date of 2015: 70 years after the death of the author.

Unedited/-commented versions were put on the index later (which e.g. forbids advertising them in Germany, selling to minors, ...)

Re: Amazon refuses to sell book on Covid-19 and lockdowns

#120

Post by nonbirithm »

wwweston wrote: post #111
ceejayoz wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US Surgeon General: https://twitter.com/surgeon_general/status/12337257852839321... "Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus..."

This is an instance of what I described in my above comment. "STOP BUYING MASKS" is not "Masks don't work," especially given the rest of the context of the statement where he's saying they're important to protect high-exposure roles healthcare providers. Which means he's also saying they work. "They are not effective in preventing the general public" might be reasonably interpreted as "masks don't work", but given th…

The problem is not all people in the public at large will apply that same logic and just take the statement at face value at first glance. Masks don't work. Don't buy masks. When you ask them the question of "what did they initially tell you" later, their response would be "masks don't work."

With someone in such an official position, misinformation can do great harm for people that know no better. Anyone who doesn't do their own research might think they're supposed to trust these people when worst comes to worst. And when they find out the advice is contradictory, that trust is lost, and might not be rebuilt for a very long time. It breeds doubt.

Personally however, I couldn't for the life of me believe that having no mask is better than having one.

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