Open Prison Canada: The "Fluid Mindset" of Junk News Writers

The Toronto Star starts out lying in the very first paragraph and it only gets worse from there.

The article is so completely full of shite that I just had to waste time commenting on it.

For misinformation expert Timothy Caulfield, the most absurd aspect of the vaccine “shedding” conspiracy is that the very same people who once called COVID-19 a hoax are now scared of the virus — but only if it comes from people who’ve been vaccinated.https://t.co/t5VbkB55ia
— Hamilton Spectator (@TheSpec) May 24, 2021

Before I start my rant, let me clear something up. I have been calling the COVID-19 story a hoax almost from the start, but that doesn't mean I don't think the virus isn't real. I believe the virus IS real. The hoax, to my mind, is the manner in which the threat of the virus has been hyped and exagerated out of all proportion to its lethality.

Now, let's analyse some of "misinformation expert," Timothy Caulfield's "fluid thinking" on the subject.

"The fake news can have dire consequences, such as when a man in the United States died last year after drinking chloroquine, a malaria treatment that then-president Donald Trump touted as effective against COVID-19. (It’s not)."

What Trump actually said, was that chloroquine had shown some very encouraging early results. (It had. See - "There was, moreover, convincing evidence from early trials in China about the efficacy of CQ and HCQ in the anti-COVID-19 procedure." )

The real whopper from "misinformation expert" Timothy Caulfield is that a man drank chloroquine and died.

What the man actually drank was chloroquine phospate which is about as different from drinking chloroquine as drinking salt water is from drinking chlorine bleach. Ordinarilly, one could grant some leeway to someone for not knowing the difference every first-semester chemistry student would know between a glass of sodium chloride solution and a big mug of chlorine bleach. As a "misinformation expert" Timothy Caulfield should know this. Therefore, he can only be lying. He is a "misinformation expert" alright.

If there is anyone to blame for the death of the man who drank fish-tank cleaner to protect him from the Coof, it is the Junk News media for convincing "fluid mindset" thinkers that COVID-19 was comparable to the Black Plague.

I am aware that there are some elements of resistance to the WuFlu hoax who claim that the virus does not exist at all. That is not who I am. Nor is it the opinion of the growing number of "random huckster[s]^[1] on YouTube" that I have consulted for my own "conspiracy theories" about the Coof.

Yet this, so-called "misinformation expert," Timothy Caulfield confidently states that I am vaccine shedding conspiracist. Mr Caulfield is either misinformed, or he is a liar. As a BS detection expert myself, I can tell you that Mr. Cauldfield is chock full of it.

"For misinformation expert Timothy Caulfield, the most absurd aspect of the vaccine “shedding” conspiracy is that the very same people who once called COVID-19 a hoax are now scared of the virus — but only if it comes from people who’ve already been vaccinated." (italics - mine)

As someone who calls the COVID-19 infodemic a grand hoax, though familiar with the vaccine shedding theory, I am not one of its adherants and therefore, I am NOT one of the "very same people" Mr. Cauldfield is attempting to exploit in order to smear all Coof sceptics.

Cauldfield's intellectual dishonesty is revealed in his claim that the most absurd aspect of the vaccine “shedding” "conspiracy," (which isn't a "conspiracy" at all, it's a theory,) is the people who he thinks advance it. Whether the theory, independent of its adherants, is absurd or not, isn't addressed. This isn't an argument. It's a psychological assault.

There is absolutely nothing in this propaganda bulletin that describes the specific claims of the vaccine shedding theory, nor any substantive argument as to why it is false. Instead, the author demands that readers have faith in the chosen ones whom Junk News media consults for citations of Coof scripture.

Another "expert" quoted in this Junk News propaganda bulletin is University of Alberta political scientist, Jared Wesley.

“The fixed mindset is a key element of conspiratorial thinking,” Wesley said. “People cling to conspiracies because they provide a kind of certainty in an uncertain world, and they’re not getting it from experts who … are more likely to not obfuscate, but to provide nuance.”

It’s why someone might dismiss a public health expert with decades of experience as someone who doesn’t know what they are talking about and then buy in to the dubious claims of a YouTube entrepreneur. Or in the case of Trump, a reality TV star turned politician."

On the other hand, we have the idiot, sorry, person with a "fluid mindset" walking all alone across a golf course or a football field wearing a mask, and who wears one while driving and probably wears it at home, in bed, and while taking a shower. This sort of person is a prime example of someone who derives "a kind of certainty in an uncertain world" from government-subsidized Junk News outlets!

Where is he getting his information from? Public health experts with decades of experience? Or from Junk News venues like the Toronto Star, the Hamilton Spectator, and CHCH News, who get their information from public health bureaucrats with decades of experience advancing their public sector careers by kissing politicians asses?

On a personal level, the people I have had acrimonious encounters with, mostly staff in grocery stores, are those who are most certain that the crap they see on the six o'clock news is all the information they require to have an informed opinion. They will also be the ones to tell you to "listen to the science" even though they probably would not be able to describe the difference between H₂O and HCl, hence more likely to drink a cup of HCl if the lady on TV told them to.

"Another strategy is appealing to personal identity; while people do trust academics and medical experts, they are almost equally likely to trust “someone like them,” Caulfield says. This could be a neighbour, a family member or a random huckster on YouTube who seems to substantiate what the guy down the street told you about masks."

Speaking of "personal identity," I can't really relate to that. Most of the people I have had a chance to discuss COVID-19 with personally, identify with the herd. I am not "someone like them" at all. They have intellectual herd immunity facilitated by a fluid mindset. This includes neighbours, family members, or some random huckster, or "misinformation expert" usually a politician or other tax-funded professional, the guy down the street saw on the six o'clock news or read about in the Hamilton Spectator.

I do not consult Junk News for vital information on any subject, other than the most basic coverage of things like car crashes or road clusures or bake sales. When I do take the time to read through their trash, it is mainly to analyse the dishonest tactics they use to fill the minds of "fluid" thinkers with manipulative crud.

If you are genuinely curious about any subject with political implications, Junk News is the LAST place you should be looking. If, on the other hand, you simply don't have the time, skills, inclination and judgment or a mindset fixed on truth and facts you would be better off if you consulted Junk News to find out what, in all probability, ISN'T TRUE, and thus, assume the opposite.

[1] Just a few of Timothy Caulfield's "random hucksters" on YouTube:

Note: Some of these links will take you to their Wikipedia entries, some of which read as though they were written by "misinformation experts" like Timothy Caulfield. You be the judge.