Florida, again » « Hmmm, I was right?

Wow, Florida…

I’m sorry, Florida is a joke.

If the Lee County Republican Party has their way, the state of Florida will be banning the use of Covid-19 vaccines. Yes, you heard that correctly. Based on a majority vote, the Party has passed a so-called “Ban the jab” resolution that will now go to the desk of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) for his consideration. And why does the Party want such a ban? Well, an article for WINK News by Michael Hudak and Taylor Wirtz quoted Joe Sansone, the guy who drafted the resolution, as saying, “The Lee County Republican Party is going to be on the vanguard of this campaign to stop the genocide because we have foreign non-governmental entities that are unleashing biological weapons on the American people.”

This Sansone clown is a “psychotherapist” who clearly knows nothing about biology. He claims the vaccine is a “bioweapon”, and he has the ear of the governor. Do you think DeSantis will refuse to sign his insane declaration?

Sansone is pretty far out there.

The WINK article also included another quote from Sansone that really seemed to embrace some conspiracy theory claims: “If you got this shot, you go home and hug your pregnant wife—she can have a miscarriage through skin contact.” Wait, so now, you’ve got to start worrying about hugging people who have gotten Covid-19 vaccines? How exactly is that supposed to work scientifically? Did Sansone provide any peer-reviewed scientific studies to support his assertion? Most likely not, because good luck trying to find any peer-reviewed scientific studies to support such an assertion.

Don’t worry, though, he has been verified by Psychology Today, so you can trust him. PT would never publish a wackaloon, right? (Actually, I feel like Psychology Today is the Florida of pop-sci magazines.)

Joseph Sansone, M.S., PhD, LMHC, CCMHC, is the author of Bioplasticity: Hypnosis Mind Body Healing. A psychotherapist specializing in clinical hypnosis, Joseph was trained in advanced clinical hypnosis at the Academy of Professional Hypnosis in 1997. Dr. Sansone has a B.A. in psychology, a M.S. in clinical mental health counseling, and a PhD in psychology. Joseph has spent much of his life as an entrepreneur and enjoys facilitating self-actualization. Joseph Sansone is a licensed mental health counselor as well as a board certified clinical mental health counselor. Dr. Sansone is also a member of the National Guild of Hypnotists.

Florida, again » « Hmmm, I was right?

Comments

  2. moonslicer says

    Only in the USA can a vaccine be genocide, a biological weapon. Only in the USA? Well, no, sadly, there are lunatics in every nation, in every demographic in the world. We’ve got our share over here. The difference might lie in how well you keep them under control, but make no mistake, they’re there. And you never know when circumstances can make it favorable for them to crawl out of the woodwork.

  4. nomadiq says

    Denying me access to vaccinations would have to be the height of government tyranny. But it’s not, we are already there with government tyranny controlling peoples access to safe medical care. This time it would just affect men as well.

  5. hemidactylus says

    Florida is winning the race to the bottom. This is sickening, a polysemic word in this instance. Desantis couldn’t be that batshit to follow up on this could he? But from the article:

    “Ladupo went against what the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and real scientists around the world again when he advised against children getting the Covid-19 vaccines. Meanwhile, the guy who appointed him, DeSantis has scolded teenagers who were wearing face masks, called for a Grand Jury to investigate Covid-19 mRNA vaccines and claimed that those who had gotten the Covid-19 bivalent boosters are actually “more likely to get infected,” despite lacking real scientific evidence to back any of these stances.”

  6. raven says

    Meanwhile in Realityland, a place that is getting emptier by the day, the Covid-19 virus vaccines were a major success for medical science.

    The vaccines saved the lives of around 3 million Americans.
    That is a lot.
    One of them might well have been myself since as a Boomer, I’m in several high risk groups.

    As of right now, 330,000 antivaxxers have caught the Covid-19 virus and died from it.
    Being delusional in the midst of a pandemic can and does kill people.

    One of them was my idiot antivaxxer neighbor.
    He decided the pandemic was over with and he didn’t have to worry about the virus any more. Shortly after that, he caught the Covid-19 virus and died.
    His wife was vaccinated and..nothing happened to her except she is now a widow.

  7. StevoR says

    Oh Florida. No Florida. The stupid evil lying burns kills.

    Any chance of legal action based on duty of care and medical malpractice here? Against DeSantis & Sansone natch.

    Didn’t even Trump call for his supporters to actually get vaxxed when he realised how many of them were dying being killed off by his own bullshit?

    PS. Yeah, he did :

    https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/20/trump-says-he-got-covid-booster-shot-tells-fans-not-to-boo-him.html

    Also :

    https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/breitbart-writer-claims-organized-left-124015633.html

    ..in one piece, Nolte accused Joe Biden and the Democrats of wanting right-wingers to die. “The left’s morality is guided only by that which furthers their fascist agenda, and so using reverse psychology to trick Trump supporters NOT to get a life-saving vaccine is, to them, a moral good,” he wrote. “The more of us who die, the better.”

    In fact, Nolte helps explain why the very public push for vaccination has sowed such resistance among many on the right — though he also claims, without evidence, that this is a deliberate act. “The organized left is deliberately putting unvaccinated Trump supporters in an impossible position where they can either NOT get a life-saving vaccine or CAN feel like cucks caving to the ugliest, smuggest bullies in the world,” he wrote.

    Guess that particular Repug lie unusually didn’t take..

    Trump’s vaccine lies have already cost tens of thousands of lives – of his own cult followers plus innocent people too :

    https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/12/05/1059828993/data-vaccine-misinformation-trump-counties-covid-death-rate

    Evidence. Science. How does it work again?

    This is just .. Expletives.

  8. outis says

    Holy shamoley, this sounds like something taken out of one of those “Florida Man” reports.
    Now, there was some discussion around here about fellows like J.Peterson and S.Adams and why they say what they say, but one can assume they do it in order to pander to the gullible and (easily) part them from their money: Peterson in particular is making a pile.
    This looks very different to me. This is really, really madness in action, and as @6 Raven points out it can have dire consequences – including death. The actual world cares nuthin’ about politics.
    It’s also strange, because normally there’s nothing like a glimpse of the Reaper to make folks wise up prontito.
    What a bizarre mental space such people inhabit.

  12. rpjohnston says

    As a voter in Virginia I’m concerned about the prospect of Lee County incubating new and deadlier versions of the disease and spreading elsewhere, including to where I live. I had covid a couple weeks ago (mild, fortunately, since I was vaccinated); I wouldn’t have had it at all had Republican plague rats been gotten under control, and I have little interest in going through that again, and again, with who knows what supervariants, while those tasked with safeguarding sit on their thumbs whining “oh, oh, what can we doooooo.”

  13. rpjohnston says

    Article quoted from StevoR @ 7: “The organized left is deliberately putting unvaccinated Trump supporters in an impossible position where they can either NOT get a life-saving vaccine or CAN feel like cucks caving to the ugliest, smuggest bullies in the world,” he wrote.

    Yeah? Well they can eat shit. We tried gently guiding them into civilization, over so many issues patiently explaining things, bending over to accommodate their bullshit, and all that we got from it is them learning we’re too wussy to enforce anything so they not only don’t gotta, they can set it on fire right in front of us and we won’t do shit – and they do, to own us. They’re (man)children who beat the cat, break plates, and call their parents ableist slurs in front of guests and wave a gun at even the hint of the mildest rebuke. They can eat shit and cave to their fucking betters until they learn how to function as equals and earn the right to do so.

  14. Larry says

    Party of small government? [spits]

    Get government out of the lives of the people? [spits again]

    Florida, where you can get a gun anytime you want but you’ll be unable to get a vaccination that could save your life.

  15. Pierce R. Butler says

    raven @ # 6: As of right now, 330,000 antivaxxers have caught the Covid-19 virus and died from it.

    That’s almost 1/3 the total US c-virus mortality figure. Citation, please!

  16. says

    I keep seeing overwhelming signs that our society is continuing to deteriorate, It is 26 Feb. Yet, forecast.weather.gov for my city still shows the current temp from the crappy, dangerous airport for 22 Feb. So many other physical things are breaking down. There are still many empty shelf areas at both major grocery stores here. Too much more to list.
    However, I am heartened by PZ and all you sapient, clever, decent commenters here. THANKS

  18. raven says

    raven @ # 6: As of right now, 330,000 antivaxxers have caught the Covid-19 virus and died from it.

    That’s almost 1/3 the total US c-virus mortality figure. Citation, please!

    OK
    “…it’s about 319,000 lives lost, according to a Brown University analysis. ”

    HEALTH npr
    How vaccine misinformation made the COVID-19 death toll worse
    May 16, 20225:07 AM ET
    Heard on Morning Edition
    A Martínez headshot
    A MARTÍNEZ

    Transcript
    As the U.S. nears one million deaths from COVID-19, analysis finds nearly a third of those deaths could have been prevented — if people had been vaccinated.
    and
    But simultaneously, we’ve been hit so hard due to fragmentation and inequalities in our health care system, as well as vaccine hesitancy, often fueled by politically motivated misinformation.

    Consider this, A – if you tally up the number of unvaccinated people who died from COVID after vaccines were open to all adults last year, it’s about 319,000 lives lost, according to a Brown University analysis. That is nearly one-third of all COVID deaths in the U.S., people who could be alive if they’d gotten vaccinated.

    Pierce, this will have to do.
    I’m taking a break from the internet for who knows how long.
    Nothing to do with most people on this blog but I’ve had enough of personal attacks from trolls.
    Good bye and good luck to all.

  19. charley says

    @18 Raven
    Dang, I was going to ask where I could read more of your stuff, because it’s always relevant and worthwhile. I’m sorry to hear about the trolls and hope your break is refreshing!

  20. says

    @18 raven. I am saddened that you are on hiatus. In @16, I communicated my appreciation and it most assuredly includes you. I value all that you have contributed here. I wish you would stay active, here, at least and avoid the trolls elsewhere (they are in so many places and spew so much hate). To echo what @19 charley says: I hope your break allows you to be mentally reinvigorated.

  22. StevoR says

    @ ^ shermanj & #18. raven :Seconded, well thirdedby me. Best wishes, hope you come back refreshed soon and respect.

  23. StevoR says

    @ rpjohnston : Agreed 100% It does give a powerful insight into their warped mindset though. To literally consider swallowing your pride and admitting you got things wriong to be equally as bad as dying from an avoidable killer virus, well, no. Just no.What the .. no.These FN people are worse than toddlers throwing tantrums because they are old enough to know better yet refuse to do so. Deadly as toddlers with guns which they also quite literally enable to happen.

  24. chrislawson says

    Pierce Butler@15–

    https://data.cdc.gov/Public-Health-Surveillance/Rates-of-COVID-19-Cases-or-Deaths-by-Age-Group-and/3rge-nu2a/data

    Unfortunately this is not an easy site to drag the info out and the most recent data for deaths is Aug 2022 (this is way too old for my liking and suggests to me that the CDC is holding the data back due to political pressure), but if you set the filters for deaths, month, and all ages, you can see that deaths in unvaccinated = 681 and in vaccinated = 1,063. So comes out to 39.05% of deaths in unvaccinated. Obviously, this is only for one month. I’m not about to go digging further for the cumulative total, but at least it shows that one third is not unreasonable.

    Having said that, this one-third figure is a nice rhetorical number but what matters is the age-adjusted incidence rate (this is what epidemiologists use to work out population risk). And according to the most recent month in that CDC dataset, the aaIR of COVID death is 0.467 in vaccinated people and 2.208 in unvaccinated people (the units here are per 100,000 people per month). So that’s a 4.7x increased risk among the unvaccinated.

    The scariest part of this data is not the death rates, but the estimate of the unvaccinated: 51 million people out of a population of 194 million (the CDC only collects this data from 28 states — I don’t understand why but I have some cynical suggestions — but this would suggest that for all of the US the numbers would be around 87 million unvaccinated out of 332 million population). The key finding here is that you can convince a quarter of all Americans to put themselves, their loved ones, and the wider community at significant risk of death using obviously transparent lies, so long as you dress it up in simplistic and hateful political slogans. Which is, of course, why vaccine conspiracy has been such a useful recruiting tool for neofascist groups.

    (Oh, and I’m not saying this to pick on America, it’s just that this was the dataset I was working from. By international standards, America is down the lower end of wealthy nations’ vaccination rate, but it is not a huge outlier.)

  26. hemidactylus says

    @18 raven
    Others have already expressed appreciation for your contributions and I merely concur. I do understand moments of online frustration and what seems like the futile thanklessness of it all. I hope you reconsider. But time off is good too.

  28. says

    and if DeSantis becomes president, he will unleash this madness on the nation. I would say the GOP is a complete joke but that would be underestimating their potential influence on our society, frightening.

  29. Pierce R. Butler says

    Thanks to raven @ # 18 & chrislawson @ # 25 for the data – I could quibble a bit over the extrapolations, but it does lend solid support to raven’s claims @ # 6.

    Add my wishes to the others for a good R&R for raven!

  30. weekendeditor says

    I looked into the guy who sponsored this a bit. Joe Sansone is indeed a licensed psychotherapist.

    But… his degree is from Sofia University in California, a private for-profit university. The Wikipedia page warns that it sounds like advertising.

    His doctorate is in Transpersonal Psychology, which is about bringing together spiritual/religious elements of life with regular therapy.

    His practice, according to the Psychology Today page, emphasizes (a) hypnosis and (b) cash payment instead of insurance.

    I wrote up some of the details as part of a longer essay here: https://www.someweekendreading.blog/covid-disgrace/

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