by Frank Bergman, SlayNews: A medical industry whistleblower has given an explosive new interview to expose shocking side effects of Covid mRNA shots, revealing that vaccinated hospital patients are “dying within hours” after receiving the injections. The whistleblower is Zowe Smith, a medical coder, auditor, educator, and manager. Slay News reported late last month on Smith’s first […]

This story was originally published in the Daily Yonder. Tucked away on a quiet side street in downtown Bennington, Vermont, is the public library. It’s an imposing brick building, remodeled in the 1930s to mirror a 19th century courthouse with huge arched windows that bathe the interior in natural light, even in the gloom of Vermont’s long winter days. Recently, it’s been troubled by a very 21st century problem. The police arrived first, responding to a 911 call from library staff. A man lay unconscious in a bathroom stall, still and unresponsive. With the cubicle locked, an officer squeezed under the metal door enough to drag the 45-year-old, who by then had turned deathly purple, onto the bathroom floor. It was the second library overdose in six months. Within seconds, an officer had forced naloxone nasal spray, an opioid overdose treatment often known by its brand name Narcan, into the victim’s nose. As his color returned, his eyes shot open. Agitated but revived, he nervously admitted to injecting fentanyl but refused an ambulance to the local hospital. Sharyn Baker lives in her car with her son Wade, 18, and three dogs in Bennington, Vermont. The Turning Point Recovery Center places a priority on serving the homeless. Credit: Peter Crabtree Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) are familiar with the response, knowing that most substance abusers are ashamed or frightened — deterred by the stigma attached to drug use and terrified they might not get their next dose soon enough to endure withdrawal. In most places, the drama would end here. But in Bennington a new collaborative program is being tested, targeting alcohol and substance abusers who have fallen through the cracks. The pilot program partners the Bennington Rescue Squad with the peer recovery organization Turning Point Center of Bennington (TPCB) in what the Vermont Office of Emergency Medical Services calls the first collaboration of its kind in the state. Organizers hope it will offer a blueprint for other rural communities as well. Bennington lies in the southwestern corner of Vermont, one of the most rural states in the nation based on the size of its towns and cities. It’s the biggest of 17 towns in Bennington County, an area of 678 square miles with a total population of 37,183. The rural character of the county, with its population spread over a wide swath of mountainous terrain, creates challenges for EMTs, who serve a much larger area than their urban counterparts. But Bennington’s smaller scale as a city of about 15,000 has also helped align nonprofit organizations, rescue workers, and the police in their efforts to combat the town’s snowballing drug and alcohol crisis. Bill Carmada, executive director of the Bennington, Vermont, Rescue Squad. Credit: Peter Crabtree Bill Camarda has been executive director of the Rescue Squad for a year, capping a 27-year career in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in New Jersey and Vermont. “Because we do have that small town, close-knit community, it makes collaboration easier than in an urban environment,” Camarda said. “I think about my experience in New Jersey and know partnering there would have been difficult. Certainly it would have been harder to identify the right person or group to work with.” In recent years, Camarda has seen his crew of 28 respond again and again to overdose cases, pumping a patient full of Narcan, only to find they’ve overdosed a second, even a third time, weeks, sometimes days, later. Crushed by negative news? Sign up for the Reasons to be Cheerful newsletter. [contact-form-7] “The program [with TPCB] came about because we’re seeing a lot of overdose or substance abuse related cases and it felt kind of like insanity. We kept doing the same things over and over again with the same failed result,” said Camarda, noting that unlike other emergencies, the team’s response often felt like they were just delaying death. But since September, the Rescue Squad’s partnership with Turning Point has offered these individuals a chance at recovery.  For Margae Diamond, TPCB’s executive director, collaboration with the EMS allows her organization to identify people in need of help with precision, rather than a scattershot approach that can at best only target at-risk communities. James Haley, left, a resident of the Ladd Brook Inn in Pownal, Vermont, reviews his housing options with Sam Urbon, a Turning Point Recovery Center staff member. Turning Point’s outreach efforts extend to those who frequent local motels and soup kitchens. Credit: Peter Crabtree In practice the tag-team approach means that when Rescue Squad EMTs encounter what they think could be an addiction case, they include details in their daily log that could help the squad director make a determination. His referral list is then emailed securely to Turning Point — a weekly average of 10 potential clients to visit within 72 hours after the referral. Signs like liquor bottles or hypodermic needles scattered in the house, track marks on a patient’s arm, a fall that is clearly linked to alcohol abuse and, importantly, the number of times the squad has visited the same patient, are telling evidence, Camarda explained. A memorial to Christopher Sharby, who died on the street in 2020, is on display in the so-called Peoples Park in Bennington, Vermont. Credit: Peter Crabtree Patient confidentiality was initially a stumbling block. But following protocol already established with the local hospital, Turning Point coaches have been granted access to certain information by joining the EMS as volunteers in a non-clinical role, according to Camarda. “We’re targeting a very specific list of people that refuse transport to the hospital after having been seen by the Rescue Squad for a substance use disorder. That means literally reaching out to an identified individual, instead of forcing them to find us to get help, which can seem insurmountable to them,” said Diamond. Both Camarda and Diamond are quick to note a big part of that weekly list is related to alcohol abuse. “Alcohol is the biggest substance abused in our community, especially with older adults,” said Camarda. “About two-thirds of the cases we encounter or refer are related to alcohol and about two-thirds of all substance abuse disorder are older adults over the age of 49 or higher.” “Slowly forging a relationship” The aluminum storm door opens a crack, just enough for Dylan Johnson, Turning Point’s outreach coordinator, to be heard. He runs through the broad strokes of TPCB’s partnership with the EMS, explaining he’s following up on last night’s emergency call. Plainspoken with a gentle manner, Dylan hands the householder a black nylon harm- reduction bag containing two doses of Narcan nasal spray and several fentanyl and xylazine drug-testing strips. The man, unshaven in a worn T-shirt, is wary but willing to listen. The outreach call ends in rejection — “Not interested, thanks”— but as Dylan says, each return visit builds on the first, slowly forging a relationship. “So much of this is trust. We don’t ever dictate, especially with a new client,” said Dylan. He understands the push and pull addicts can feel about recovery. They long to sober up, but the physical and psychological lure of drugs and alcohol traps them in a terrifying cycle. A former heroin addict himself, with five years of sobriety under his belt, Dylan knows from experience that it often takes a long time for an addict to summon the courage to walk into the refurbished mill that houses Turning Point’s offices. Narcan, also known as Naloxone, is a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose. It is a key component of the “21st century first aid kits” distributed by the Turning Point Recovery Center in Bennington, Vermont. Credit: Peter Crabtree “There was a time when I lied and cheated and stole from people who loved me,” he said. “How can I judge these people?  But putting ourselves out there, meeting them, treating them like human beings means that when they are in crisis or ready to face their addiction, they will come to us.” Rescue Squad Director Camarda put it differently: “I sometimes feel disappointed that [our success rate] is only one out of seven [who seek help], but when I bring that number up to [professionals in the recovery field], they see it as huge, and it is huge when you consider we’re talking about hundreds of encounters, which translates into dozens of referrals that otherwise would never be entering peer recovery or treatment options.” Become a sustaining member today! Join the Reasons to be Cheerful community by supporting our nonprofit publication and giving what you can. Join At another time in her life TPCB’s Diamond worked as a vice president for the financial service company Charles Schwab. Patience is not in her DNA. But working at the center has taught her that progress in the recovery business is about playing the long game. “Our mission is about helping people find their own path to recovery, whatever that looks like, and supporting them through it,” she said. “We never give up. Period.” Turning Point Recovery Center staff member Jessica Daley prepares “harm reduction kits” and bags of toiletries for distribution at a Bennington, Vermont, food shelf. Credit: Peter Crabtree In Bennington, people who deal directly with drug and alcohol abuse are increasingly convinced that, in the long term, working in tandem as a community on the myriad of problems, from housing to domestic violence, that underpin addiction is the only way forward. Turning Point and the Bennington Rescue Squad see their partnership as the beginning of that bigger, more collaborative approach to addressing the drug and alcohol abuse. As Diamond puts it: “Substance use disorder is the driver of a lot of the harm in this community … we need to come together, all of us, to solve the problem.”   The post ‘Slowly Forging a Relationship’: Rural Vermont’s New Blueprint for Addiction Recovery appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.

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638 years ago today, the Treaty of Windsor, the world’s oldest international accord still in force, was signed between Great Britain and Portugal. It was signed and sealed by King Richard II of England and King John I of Portugal to cement commercial ties and mutual defense. Subjects of one king had the rights, under […] The post Good News in History, May 9 appeared first on Good News Network.

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H. Colleen Sinclair: Conspiracy theories are everywhere, and they can involve just about anything. People believe false conspiracy theories for a wide range of reasons – including the fact that there are real conspiracies, like efforts by the Sackler family to profit by concealing the addictiveness of oxycontin at the cost of countless American lives. The extreme consequences of unfounded conspiratorial beliefs could be seen on the staircases of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and in the self-immolation of a protestor outside the courthouse holding the latest Trump trial. But if hidden forces really are at work in the world, how is someone to know what’s really going on? That’s where my research comes in; I’m a social psychologist who studies misleading narratives. Here are some ways to vet a claim you’ve seen or heard. Step 1: Seek out the evidence Real conspiracies have been confirmed because there was evidence. For instance, in the allegations dating back to the 1990s that tobacco companies knew cigarettes were dangerous and kept that information secret to make money, scientific studies showed problematic links between tobacco and cancer. Court cases unearthed corporate documents with internal memos showing what executives knew and when. Investigative journalists revealed efforts to hide that information. Doctors explained the effects on their patients. Internal whistleblowers sounded the alarm. But unfounded conspiracy theories reveal their lack of evidence and substitute instead several elements that should be red flags for skeptics: Dismissing traditional sources of evidence, claiming they are in on the plot. Claiming that missing information is because someone is hiding it, even though it’s common that not all facts are known completely for some time after an event. Attacking apparent inconsistencies as evidence of lies. Overinterpreting ambiguity as evidence: A flying object may be unidentified – but that’s different from identifying it as an alien spaceship. Using anecdotes – especially vaguely attributed ones – in place of evidence, such as “people are saying” such-and-such or “my cousin’s friend experienced” something. Attributing knowledge to secret messages that only a select few can grasp – rather than evidence that’s plain and clear to all. Step 2: Test the allegation Often, a conspiracy theorist presents only evidence that confirms their idea. Rarely do they put their idea to the tests of logic, reasoning and critical thinking. While they may say they do research, they typically do not apply the scientific method. Specifically, they don’t actually try to prove themselves wrong. So a skeptic can follow the method scientists use when they do research: Think about what evidence would contradict the explanation – and then go looking for that evidence. Sometimes that effort will yield confirmation that the explanation is correct. And sometimes not. Like a scientist, ask yourself: What would it take for you to believe your perception was wrong? Step 3: Watch out for tangled webs When theories claim large groups of people are perpetrating wide-ranging activities over a long period of time, that’s another red flag. Confirmed conspiracies typically involve small, isolated groups, like the top echelon of a company or a single terrorist cell. Even the alliance among tobacco companies to hide their products’ danger was confined to those at the top, who made decisions and enlisted paid scientists and ad agencies to spread their messages. False conspiracies tend to implicate wide swaths of people, such as world leaders, mainstream media outlets, the global scientific community, the Hollywood entertainment industry and interconnected government agencies. The online manifesto of Max Azzarello – the man who self-immolated on the steps of a New York courthouse in April 2024- railed against a conspiracy allegedly including every president since Bill Clinton, sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, even the writers of “The Simpsons.” Remember that the more people who supposedly know a secret, the harder it is to keep. Step 4: Look for a motive Confirmed conspiracies tell stories about why a group of people acted as they did and what they hoped to gain. Dubious conspiracies involve a lot of accusations or just questions without examining what real benefit the conspiracy nets the conspirators, especially when factoring in the costs. For instance, what purpose would NASA have to lie about the existence of Finland? Be particularly suspicious when conspiracies allege an “agenda” being perpetrated by an entire sociodemographic, which is often a marginalized group, such as a “gay agenda” or “Muslim agenda.” Also look to see whether those spreading the conspiracy theories have something to gain. For example, scholarly research has identified the 12 people who are the primary sources of false claims about vaccinations. The researchers also found that those people profit from making those claims. Step 5: Seek the source of the allegations If you can’t figure out who is at the root of a conspiracy allegation and thus how they came to know what they claim, that is another red flag. Some people say they have to remain anonymous because the conspiracists will take revenge for revealing information. But even so, a conspiracy can usually be tracked back to its source – maybe a social media account, even an anonymous one. Over time, anonymous sources either come forward or are revealed. For instance, years after the Watergate scandal took down Richard Nixon’s presidency, a key inside source known as “Deep Throat” was revealed to be Mark Felt, who had been a high-level FBI official in the early 1970s. Even the notorious “Q” at the heart of the QAnon conspiracy cult has been identified, and not by government investigators chasing leaks of national secrets. Surprise! Q is not the high-level official some people believed. Reliable sources are transparent. Step 6: Beware the supernatural Some conspiracy theories – though none that have been proven – involve paranormal, alien, demonic or other supernatural forces. People alive in the 1980s and 1990s might remember the public fear that satanic cults were abusing and sacrificing children. That idea never disappeared entirely. And around the same time, perhaps inspired by the TV series “V,” some Americans began to believe in lizard people. It may seem harmless to keep hoping for evidence of Bigfoot, but the person who detonated a bomb in downtown Nashville on Dec. 25, 2020, apparently believed lizard people ran the Earth. The closer the conspiracy is to science fiction, the closer it is to just being fiction. Step 7: Look for other warning signs There are other red flags too, like the use of prejudicial tropes about the group allegedly behind the conspiracy, particularly antisemitic allegations. But rather than doing the work to really examine their conspiratorial beliefs, believers often choose to write off the skeptics as fools or as also being in on it – whatever “it” may be. Ultimately, that’s part of the allure of conspiracy theories. It is easier to dismiss criticism than to admit you might be wrong. H. Colleen Sinclair, Associate Research Professor of Social Psychology, Louisiana State University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The post How to tell if a conspiracy theory is probably false appeared first on Anomalien.com.

During a rare sit-down interview, President Biden reiterated his decision to withhold military aid to Israel if the nation’s military invades Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where hundreds of thousands…

We've created a new health crisis.