I have a Good Brain and Peter Doshi does too

 Lately I've been pondering the issue of experts and research.  The narrative is that there is a lot of misinformation out there that is dangerous and leading people to making bad decisions that are catastrophic to our health.  

Covid is such an interesting time.  Recently someone who I know said on someone else's Facebook thread  that she's concerned that "stay-at-home Mormon moms" seem to not be getting vaccinated in high enough numbers.  She thinks we should consult a scientist because trying to understand something yourself is dangerous and that we are uniformed.  The stay-at-home Mormon mom statement is something that is incredibly belittling because it doesn't take into account any education, training, etc but reduces these women to just a "Mormon mom."  While I am a "mom" (why is Mormon or mom relevant?) I do have a Bachelors of Science degree obtained through a scholarship to BYU, a competitive university.  I studied anatomy, physiology, chemistry, microbiology, biology, physical science, research methods, statistics, and more.  I've always tested well and was told my whole life I could be whatever I wanted to be.  Now I have this "feminist" flight attendant on Facebook telling me not to use my brain.  The irony.

And then I've seen other memes shaming people who say to "do your own research" because they aren't scientists.  While it is kinda funny and I see their point,  I didn't know the term "research" was something that only paid scientists can do? That seems elitist.  Anyway, the dictionary finds that there are many different types of research:

Definition of research:

1.  Careful or diligent search

2.  Studious Inquiry or Examination

especially:  investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws

3.   The collecting of information about a particular subject

First off, I'm surprised that these self-described feminists would be so patronizing to women and specifically moms in general.  They seem to be saying that we can only trust scientists.  Using your own brain or intuition is dangerous.  I don't buy this dialogue and think that of all the dangers regarding covid, rubber stamping a chosen narrative and not being allowed to question is the most damning part of this whole pandemic.  Reminds me of a medieval priest and the atrocities and power that came with being the only ones able to interpret the bible.

Since then, I've been compiling a list of scientists, researchers and research articles that interest me and share some of my concerns.  While I don't rely on my own research, I do find that there are scientists who have dissenting opinions that I feel make a lot of sense.

The scientific method begins with a question.  Using sound research, it allows explore a hypothesis.  And replication and other methods prove or disprove those findings.  There is no "settled science."  That statement itself is anti-science.  Science is constantly changing and evolving.  We gain new information that becomes widely accepted and then discredited on a regular basis.

I loved what Peter Doshi has to say.  I read what many scientists have to say from all sides of the spectrum.  I have my own bias of my history of adverse events and other things that I'm sure play a role in how I view the world.  And yet, I think that might be why I am more open minded to the critical aspects of this whole thing.  If Miles had not had an adverse reaction and I hadn't witnessed with my own eyes the anti-science response, I would have not believed it.  And I would have continued doing what I'd always done.  Leaving the thinking to those I believed to be experts.

Anyway, I have a good brain and I can understand logic and reasoning just fine.  Peter Doshi is an expert who is asking the questions I also have.  His words were very validating to me when I first read them a couple months ago.  Fundamentally he believes that we have to have dialogue and ask question otherwise science is rotted out. Here is his background and below are some of his articles and a video that I found interesting.

From the BMJ website Background: Peter Doshi is a senior editor at The BMJ and on the News & Views team. Based in Baltimore, he is also an associate professor of pharmaceutical health services research at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. His research focuses on the drug approval process, how the risks and benefits of medical products are assessed and communicated, and improving the credibility and accuracy of evidence synthesis and biomedical publications. Doshi campaigns for greater transparency of clinical trial data and leads the Restoring Invisible and Abandoned Trials (RIAT) initiative, which aims to ensure clinical trial publications are accurate, complete, and data are publicly available. Doshi also has strong interests in journalism as a vehicle for encouraging better practice and improving the research enterprise. Doshi completed a fellowship in comparative effectiveness research at Johns Hopkins and received his PhD in history, anthropology, and science, technology and society from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

https://brandnewtube.com/watch/peter-doshi-u-s-senator-ron-johnson-holds-panel-in-dc-on-covid-19-vaccine-mandates-and-injuries_LWTWpHPVdy2Ye6U.html  Link to 5 min video.  Excellent points!

Covid-19: Do many people have pre-existing immunity?

Covid-19: Should doctors recommend treatments and vaccines when full data are not publicly available?

Covid-19 vaccines: In the rush for regulatory approval, do we need more data?

Peter Doshi: Pfizer and Moderna’s “95% effective” vaccines—we need more details and the raw data

Just a note about the raw data.  The FDA was given a FOIA request for the raw data from a group of scientists and lawyers.  They asked the courts for 55 years to send that info at a rate of 500 pages per month or something like that.  While I can understand that the redaction takes time, this is really important info that we should have access to because we are currently ambitiously vaccinating the entire population of the world.  55 years is unacceptable.

Does the FDA think these data justify the first full approval of a covid-19 vaccine?

Also those that say there is a consensus on the vaccines are just not hearing the other voices from scientists around the globe who have raised concerns about the handling of the pandemic.  

The bottom line is we cannot ignore the other risks that come with vaccination.  While there is a short term immunity gained from vaccination, what cost is coming with that short lived immunity?  I believe people should have true informed consent.  Which requires knowing the safety of a drug.  And no one should be forced to receive a medical product.  To me that is fundamentally wrong.  

I'm not an expert, and I don't have years of background as a scientist or medical professional.  I have no doubt that watching people suffering and dying from Covid is excruciating and exhausting.  I want covid to go away.  But I also want assurance that we aren't injecting a low risk and/or already immune population with something that can cause all kinds of other health emergencies.  Perhaps cardiac issues that a hospitalist or nurse who treats covid may not see or connect as vaccine related without good information and data.  There are questions that are valid that need answers.  

If you've read my previous posts about these issues, I've updated them with source links for some of the videos and research articles that were not previously linked.  

Horsetail Falls with Annie and Lewis

They were so happy to go hiking!  I looked at Lewis and said, "Do you want to go on a hike" and he seemed interested.  But not totally understanding.  So I said, "Do you want to go on a walk?"  and he was so excited.  He went straight for the door.  Annie was nervous to get in the car.  But she was excited too.

The dogs have been on a strict diet for a year, and they have lost some weight.  But they don't get enough exercise.  They are hard to walk with because they like to herd you with their wiggle butt.  And it hurts my knees.  But they are great hikers.  A little too eager to meet the other dogs on the trail, some of whom are shy or not interested in making friends.  Lol.

Next time we will try the north trail with fewer other hikers and dogs.

They were so tired when we got home.  Like limping for the next day.  It isn't a long hike,  Just 4 miles.  But steep and rocky in parts.  The falls were so pretty.  Annie posed for me.

This Week

 Really enjoying having all my kids together lately!

Last Saturday Simone had a little bit of a rough day and we decided all the sisters needed to go to breakfast.  So we did breakfast, thrift stores, and Sun River Gardens and everyone agreed that we definitely need to do that more often!  It was so fun.

Wednesday we all went to dinner at the last minute at Itto's except for Simone who was watching a climbing comp.  Then last night Elise and Ethan stayed over.  Monet showed up to pick something up from our house and ended up watching 6 episodes of Ted Lasso with Elise and Ethan last night.

Jareds brother and Grandpa G invited us to go to the desert and do some target shooting.  Most of us have never shot a gun and it was fun to do some target practice.  Simone loved shooting the clay pigeons.

Had to take a photo because everyone together!

All the kids wanted to come even though it was freezing outside.  I am a little nervous about guns, but wanted to learn about how they work.  I found that with other things like climbing etc where it feels like there are too many ways you can make a deadly mistake, I feel less anxious when I understand how the carabiners, ropes, harnesses, etc all work and what safety measures to take.

Anyway we drove way out to the desert to this range area and it was a lot of fun.  Simone was pretty good.  She's gone hunting before with a friend, so it wasn't quite as new to her.  I think target shooting is really fun.  I hope never to have to kill an animal for food because honestly the thought just makes me kinda sad.  We were all pretty amazed at how much land there is and how beautiful it all was out there in the barren desert.  Its not that far from us but feels like a completely different world.  

Soren is exactly the same height Miles was at his age.  

Jared has a legit beard these days.

I thought about just staying home and having the house all to myself.  But its fun to be there with everyone and I can't pass up a chance to have all my kids in one place!

Then tonight we went to the basketball game and Soren asked if he could bring his new Harry Potter book into the game.  It made me so happy that he's finally hooked on a book!  This kid has never really read just for fun and I'm happy to see that he's found something he likes.  Even though we have the Harry Potter series I saw a new version at Costco that has lots of cool pictures and pull outs and he is loving it.

Spike in Cardiac Related Deaths and Injuries?

 Jared and I have been reading recently about athletes suddenly dying or collapsing of cardiac arrest.  The articles keep getting removed but here is one.

Its an unusual population to have as many as we have seen this year.  There is a baseline of cardiac arrest, and what we are seeing is reportedly far more than usual.  I don't know the exact numbers, but from what I've read its several times above normal.

We know of several local athletes who have developed blood clots or myocarditis and can no longer play sports.  BYU basketball player Richard Hayward for one.  Corner Canyon basketball player Everest Romney is another.  Brandon Goodwin is an NBA player sidelined with blood clots post jab who says he was told to stay quiet about it.  Its wrong to tell people they can't speak of their experiences.  Who is going to pay for these kids career ending injuries?  Not the pharma companies.  Since they are protected from lawsuits.

Most of the people dying or collapsing are in a group that is highly vaccinated.  And not always because they want to be.  Most athletes face a lot of hurdles if they have not had it due to the many restrictions playing in various stadiums, etc with different rules.  This group is also generally young and healthy and at extremely low risk of severe covid. 

Israel with its high vaccination rates were first to report the myocarditis issues in younger men.  Read here about how this early finding of elevated heart infections were handled.  At the time it was justified because of how low covid infections were due to vaccination.  Unfortunately they saw a spike in covid when immunity started to wane.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-said-probing-link-between-pfizer-shot-and-heart-problem-in-men-under-30/

Retsef Levi Professor at MIT giving excellent explanation about cardiac related deaths in low covid risk groups and the relationship with vaccinations.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NZ9Y4kD2qk  forward to 15:45 to understand more about the rising rates of cardiac arrest and why there needs to be a full investigation into this.

I found some interesting information regarding these cardiac events from Pfizers own data.

Pfizer released their data from a 6 month trial.  This data shows that they matched comorbities in 22,026 vaccine recipients and 22,021 Placebo recipients.  For a total of 44,047 trial participants.

In the vaccine group, there were 21 deaths (this table only reflects 15, but the numbers were recently updated to 21) and the Placebo group had 17 total deaths (not the 14 listed).

The vaccine group had 1 covid death, the Placebo group had 2.  They call this a success and say the vaccine reduces covid deaths by 50%.

BUT The vaccine group had MORE deaths overall, and also more cardiac related deaths.  Not sure how the other 6 people died in the vaccine group died.  But it would be interesting to know.  The vaccine group had 4 cardiac arrest deaths vs 1 in the placebo.  So can we apply the same logic to this statistic?  The vaccine greatly increases our chances of dying from cardiac arrest?

It would be crazy to focus only on coronavirus numbers when considering the vaccines effectiveness and ignore other causes of death.  Our goal in vaccination should be to reduce overall death and disease.  Right?

Having one child with a history of a bleeding disorder and another with a congenital heart defect, this concerns me.  If we are requiring these kids to be vaccinated to participate in sports (Boston Marathon now requires it) or to serve missions, we should know the whole picture as far as risks go.  

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/medrxiv/early/2021/07/28/2021.07.28.21261159/DC1/embed/media-1.pdf?download=true&fbclid=IwAR3KVpUQ7i8ZhpqM7__6Ni_ID099kFUkRU0C4u5EK-xCHLlDGg6Vz6FfeZM

Funny Moments

This morning we are all in the kitchen having breakfast and Soren says, "Can anyone help me with my math homework?

And Miles without missing a beat responds "Let me help you bro, we’re probably in the same unit."

haha.  Love these boys.  Miles took an easy math class after being in honors math last year.  He has so many other things he's doing with his car, vending machines, and basketball, he's trying to simplify the homework and he's always hated math.  But its still not quite fourth grade level.  :)

Someone told me I look like Jennifer Aniston the other day - Elise

Someone told me I look like the evil kid from Toy Story - Miles

What do you call a person who vapes? -Miles 

vaper? - Elise

A vapist - Dad 

Miles wake your b*tch a** up it’s time for basketball - Siri in front of our whole fam at 6am in our hotel in Hawaii

What did that say? - Mom 

I don’t know. Siris a hoe - Miles 

Why do you like waking up to that? - Monet 

I don’t know it only happens on Sundays - Miles

The only day you don’t play basketball - Dad

Harry Potter World and Disneyworld with Soren!

Soren and I had the best time last week and I want to record all my memories so I don't forget!

Last time we went to Harry Potter world he was nearly 3.  Too little to remember any of it and couldn't go on the rides.

So I felt like it was important for us to go together so he could experience it too.

It kinda makes me teary to think about this trip.  We really needed this.  Soren is super chill.  I'm often  preoccupied with driving the big kids around, planning weddings, camps, etc and he just kinda flies under the radar.  Jared is always home so its easy to do.  He is not a needy kid at all.  But I don't ever want him to not have his needs met because he's easy.  

He's always been a little mama's boy and very affectionate.  So it was nice to be able to really focus on him. 

I learned so many things about Soren on this trip!  

1.  He LOVES pretzels.  How did I not know this?  We had a pretzel everyday for lunch.  And we learned how to make them when we got home from scratch and they were amazing.

2.  He NEVER has to pee.  Haha.  Takes after Jared I guess.  Jared has never used a restroom on a flight in his life.  And Soren is apparently following in his footsteps.  And he's drinking lots of water.

3.  He loves smashed pennies. What kid doesn't honestly?  But the first thing he wanted everyone to know is that he has 18 smashed pennies now!

4.  He also is obsessed with his patches and pins collection.  His backpack is really looking cool.

5.  He hardly gets hungry at all and literally never complains

6.  If you start a movie at midnight, he's going to stay up and finish it!  He doesn't even fall asleep which is hard for me to believe.  We watched the last two Harry Potters, Avatar and Pirates of the Caribbean.

I love little boys.  A 9, he's still waving that light saber he got to build at Disneyworld around and it kept him busy for hours.  I kept thinking of how lucky we are to have this caboose!  He's growing up and I've loved all the stages. 

The wand was also a big hit!  Last time we came we had all the kids and the $60 wand wasn't really a priority.  But its fun to have just one so I could splurge a little more.

Some weird parallels to our world right now

"Lard Lads" always makes me laugh

The day of our departure I got vertigo!  It started that morning and it was bad enough I was feeling super nauseous and worried I wouldn't be able to fly.  So Jared looked into switching flights while I tried to sleep it off.  Fortunately it worked and a few hours later I was ready to go! My packing job wasn't great because of it but that's okay.  

Travel Details:

We found a GREAT deal on flights (used points so it was free but $198 is still good) and used our points for a hotel.  

We stayed at the Element Orlando.  It was close to Universal and lots of restaurants.  Also close to these fun rides and the arcades.  They reportedly have no parking lot, but it didn't matter because we didn't rent a car and just used Uber anyway.

I like the Element brand of hotels.  They are easy and really a good value AKA cheap.  Nice rooms with full sized fridge, burners, pots, dishes, etc.  We especially liked that it has a newer TV and we could log in to our Prime and Netflix and stream movies at night.  They had a big sink with filtered water so we could refill our water bottles.  They could really step it up though in the cleanliness department.  They are brand new and have some staffing issues.  Hopefully they figure it out because I really liked the rooms overall.

I meant to pack a little suitcase with things like popcorn, hot cocoa packets, snacks etc.  But it worked out fine.  

The hotel is right at Icon Park.  They have an arcade and aquarium and some fun rides and restaurants.

Fun little area outside the restaurants near the hotel

This ride in the distance was SO fun!  Until I saw how tiny the chains were when you are swinging at like 500 ft in the air.  So scary!  Haha.

Free bikes available to use

Lobby area very aesthetically pleasing.  I love that its modern.

Where the breakfast is

Park and Ticket details:

There were so many different options it totally stressed me out  I actually did lose some sleep over this.  So here is what we ended up doing.  We had four full days and going to parks was the only thing we really wanted to do in Orlando.  We spent two days at the Universal Studios Parks.  One full day at Islands of Adventure and one full day at Universal Orlando.  We got regular 1 park tickets for 2 days.  No express pass.  Lines were really short and it was an extra $130 per person per day for the express I think,  Crazy.  No thanks.  I hear you can stay at a resort hotel and get the express passes for free.  The lines were so short.  Harry Potter rides only 15 minute lines!  And the big rollercoasters between 5-20 minutes!  So it wasn't bad at all.  We got kinda tired after walking around for 6-7 hours and went home before the parks closed.  If you wanted you could do both parks in one long day, get a park hopper so you can do the Harry Potter Hogwarts Express that takes you from Hogsmeade to Diagon Alley.  At Universal they encourage masks at indoor rides but only 1 in 10 had them on.  Disney was strict about having them on at indoor rides.

At Disneyworld same thing very complicated.  We have been to Disneyland a few times.  So we did want to experience Epcot and Animal Kingdom.  We bought 2 day park hopper tickets.  Spent most of 1 day at Hollywood Studios (favorite park with the bigger rides: Tower of Terror, Rockin Rollercoaster, Toy Story Mania, Rise of the Resistance, Galaxys Edge, ) we got him a lightsaber that you can customize and it wasn't too expensive ($30) and then finished the day at Epcot so we could do the Soarin over the world (3x) and the Test Track ride.  We saw the new lightshow Harmonious which was AWESOME.  The second day rained like crazy.  We started the day at Animal Kingdom where we did the Avatar rides, Safari (loved), and the Everest rollercoaster twice.  We went back to the hotel to dry off and have a break from the weather, then went back to Magic Kingdom at night to see the fireworks and did Space Mountain, Pirates, and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  We probably should have come back to Magic Kingdom a little earlier to have a little more time.  Because of the rain the lines were so short!  Some people in line had waterproof pants and raincoats and they stayed out all day and were super comfortable.  My packing wasn't good and we bought some ponchos and umbrellas but still got soaked earlier.  Rainboots would have made it really perfect.

Disneyworld has a new app and genie feature that is actually the worst thing ever and I don't recommend it.  I'm probably more tech savvy than your average person and this was not intuitive and didn't help at all. I was trying to use it to get Lightning Lane (like the fastpass) but it was not helpful and just way too many steps (including waking up at precisely 7am to get your LL passes) to get to what you actually want or need.  It seems like the whole idea of the Genie is just to direct you to places you don't actually care about and away from the rides that are crowded.  I think we paid $60 ($15 per day per ticket) for it and it wasn't worth it.  We used it the first day at Hollywood Studios but not at all the second day,  it glitched out and wouldn't work.  You can only use the LL feature at the first park of the day with Park Hopper tickets like ours.  And a lot of the rides didn't offer it at all.