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Antivaccine nonsense Computers and social media Medicine Popular culture Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

How antimaskers co-opt techniques of scientific data analysis to generate COVID-19 propaganda

There’s a new paper out analyzing how antimask activists weaponize the tools of data visualization and scientific argumentation to produce convincing antimask propaganda. Antimaskers are claiming that it shows that they are more “scientific” than those supporting the consensus viewpoint with respect to COVID-19 and masks. What it really shows is that they are good at weaponizing the tools of data visualization and scientific arguments to come to the conclusions that they want to come to.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Pseudoscience

The Centner Academy: A private school run by wealthy COVID-19 conspiracy theorists

David and Leila Centner run an expensive private school in Miami. Unfortunately, it’s a microcosm of what happens when antivaxxers and COVID-19 conspiracy theorists educate children. It’s not good.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience

Shedding: An antivax trope resurrected for COVID-19 vaccines

Antivax pediatrician Dr. Larry Palevsky recently demonized COVID-19 vaccines by resurrecting the old antivaccine trope of vaccinated people “shedding” and causing illness in the unvaccinated. This time, he claims, the shedding of spike protein causes illness and menstrual problems in the unvaccinated. It’s utter nonsense.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Dr. David Brownstein strikes again peddling quackery for COVID-19

Dr. David Brownstein is a “holistic” physician who practices in Orac’s neck of the woods. Unfortunately, he just wrote a book promoting an unproven protocol involving vitamins, nebulized hydrogen peroxide and iodine, and intravenous ozone to treat COVID-19. There is no evidence that his protocol works, other than a very poor quality case series.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Evolution Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Geert Vanden Bossche is to COVID-19 vaccines as Andrew Wakefield is to MMR

Geert Vanden Bossche is a scientist who published an open letter warning of global catastrophe due to deadly variants of COVID-19 selected for by mass vaccination. His argument sounds a lot like an argument Andrew Wakefield once made for MMR. There’s even grift likely involved!