September 6, 2020

Is it pro-science when Joan Baez paints "TRUST FAUCI"? It's art, by a person presenting artist credentials, and it's telling you to trust an authority figure.

168 comments:

Gahrie said...

Remember back in March when Fauci said we didn't need to wear facemasks? Then he told Congress in June that he had lied to us in March so there would be enough masks for doctors and nurses?

I do.

Michael K said...

New leftist saint, replacing Mueller.

rcocean said...

Trust Big Brother. He can't steer us wrong!

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Anyone want to run the tape of fauci telling us NOT to wear masks back in... whenever that was. Jn/Feb?

Oh Yea said...

Is this same Dr Fauci who told us last spring that he didn’t think masks should be worn by the general public?

Kevin said...

It's art, by a person presenting artist credentials, and it's telling you to trust an authority figure.

The real test of the 60's was whether the people would tell you not to trust them anymore once they'd turned 30.

Kevin said...

Notice she's not saying, Trust Biden.

Because, Biden.

Sebastian said...

"Is it pro-science"

It depends on what the meaning of science is.

For progs, science is a tool to advance their causes. Their main current causes are to defeat Trump, stir panic, and cause destruction. Trust Fauci is not a perfect way to wield the tool, but as a form of symbolic politics, it'll do with women susceptible to the virus of progressivism, for whom Saint Joan is a thought leader.

Heartless Aztec said...

"It just doesn't matter!"
#Meatballs

Mid-Life Lawyer said...

It strikes me as creepy and anti-science to elevate Dr. Fauci to Supreme God Scientist. Of course, that's not what it's about anyway. It's really just anti-Trump/GOP.

Hubert the Infant said...

Somehow, all of the protesters from the 1960s and 1970s -- Joan Baez, Angela Davis, Bill Ayers, and the like -- are now held in high regard. Why? Perhaps they were wrong, and they simply wanted to short-circuit the Democratic process. Given how misguided Ms. Baez is with respect to Saint Anthony, that sure seems to be the case.

JAORE said...

She's a better artist than Jim Carrey.

And just as qualified to spout her political beliefs.

Jaq said...

I hear this “TRUST SCIENCE” from so many liberals who couldn’t read a scientific paper as published in a journal if you spoon fed it to them sentence by sentence. What she is really saying is trust the agenda driven journalists who report what they claim scientists are writing.

Joan Baez sure did turn into a tool of the war mongering establishment for which Joe Biden serves as a figurehead easily enough, didn’t she? I just hope her former boyfriend can stick to his art, because that would be a shame.

The Mouse that Roared said...

More evidence (for those who still need it) that the slogans "speak truth to power" and "question authority" are nothing more than partisan political rhetoric.

The goal has always been one party rule. For both sides.

Jeff Brokaw said...

Typical secular religion nonsense, from the same people who mock Christians relentlessly. They do have faith — in government, of all things.

Not very self-aware, these people.

Matt Sablan said...

So this means we can vote in person then?

Ice Nine said...

Not too bad. Joanie needs to work on ears though. That looks like a Fauci-shaped coffee mug.

Fernandinande said...

I trust Joan Baez over Richard Feynman about the meaning of "science" because, AFAIK, he wasn't much of a singer.

Wince said...

Is it pro-science when Joan Baez paints "TRUST FAUCI"?

Diamonds and "Trust"?

Well, you burst on the scene
Already a legend
The unwashed phenomenon
The original vagabond
You strayed into my arms
And there you stayed
Temporarily lost at sea
The Madonna was yours for free
Yes, the girl on the half-shell
Could keep you unharmed

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

"He also acknowledged that masks were initially not recommended to the general public so that first responders wouldn't feel the strain of a shortage of PPE.

He explained that public health experts "were concerned the public health community, and many people were saying this, were concerned that it was at a time when personal protective equipment, including the N95 masks and the surgical masks, were in very short supply."

To me that is shocking. He admitted he lied to the American public. He admitted that he gave false information to the public that would cause millions to get sick and thousands to die.

Why is he still employed. How can he be respected.

I don't understand why the Dems worship him.

traditionalguy said...

Baez has been a committed socialist since the 1960s. Why she feels qualified now to know science in the 2020s from a Sting run by a greasy Italian con man is the mystery. Maybe she is a psychic so she knows his science is true by using her psychic powers.

Narayanan said...

a well rendered portrait.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

No.

Rory said...

79 years old.

rehajm said...

They've redefined science like they redefined racism. I reject it:

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Will any of these allegedly smart people ever consider all the excess death and disease and depression that went unattended to during the panic over the pandemic? ALL (as in all as in 100%) of the data point to lockdowns being far more costly to health and life than the disease we were addressing. Fauci has not been good for America this year and his actual ties to the virus lab in Wuhan and his personal actions taken to fund Chinese virus research give me great reservations in placing ANY more public trust in this tiny tyrannical weirdo.

rhhardin said...

I played lute for Joan Baez, who sang to it, in a college snack bar once. She was struck by my math/physics major.

Cheryl said...

How is this anything other than religious iconography?

stonethrower said...

The fact that she painted it makes it a serious statement. Not unhinged at all.

mockturtle said...

Well, let's see. Dr. Fauci said early in this pandemic that the US didn't have to worry about being affected. Then he said we didn't need masks. Then it was 'flatten the curve'. After the curve was flattened, it was 'prevent a second wave'. Oh, yeah, we definitely need to trust Fauci.

It's probably all about the vaccine. Let's keep everything locked down until everyone is vaccinated. And polls show [I know, polls...] that 2/3 of Americans say they would not get the vaccine, at least any time soon. I, for one, will never get it even if it means I never fly anywhere again. Even my leftist sister says she wouldn't get vaccinated until the vaccine has been used for a year or two.

Amadeus 48 said...

Appeals to authority are pretty weak and only persuasive to those already persuaded.

Fauci has said so many different things that you can't really say that he's wrong all the time. You can't say he's right, either. He has an administrative position, but his inconsistency has shredded his own authority.

Fauci, who has been around since the Reagan administration, essentially has the following job: every time a new epidemic appears, he goes to Congress and shouts: "The is the Spanish Flu all over again. We're all going to die of this! Give us more money!"

If Joannie wants to go with this, fine, but I am not persuaded.

Jaq said...

Remember when Fauci told us that it was all going to fade away with hardly a whisper, the way SARS did? Science!

Lnelson said...

Joannie, how about applying your scientific knowledge to breaking a crystal glass with your most irritating and piercing soprano vibrato?

rehajm said...

Fauchi is good buddies with the chick at The Atlantic and Hillary. Gonna have one of those Clinton Renaissance Weekend Ted talk things with em.

Bet Joan Baez shows up...

Original Mike said...

I've seen this in some of my old hippie friends. Over the course of their life they've gone from 'don't trust authority' to sucking authority's dick. It's bizarre. Best I can figure they watch the MSM and they believe what they're told, but still, they never would have done that 40 years ago.

The common denominator, I guess, is not thinking for themselves, neither then nor now.

Fritz said...

Trust Fauci; he cured AIDS right, with his vaccine?

D.D. Driver said...

But what if Fauci says a vaccine is safe?

Or do we go whacko anti-vaxer like Kamala?

Going anti-vax for votes is a new low. Just shameless and evil.

Chick said...

Why are we trusting anyone over 30, Joan!

iowan2 said...

Which is true

1)Locking down will not save lives. We cannot control the virus until we get a vaccine. The only thing we can do is attempt to manage our healthcare infrastructure, by flattening the curve. Not stopping the cases, or deaths...only spread them out over a longer time period.

2)Wearing a mask stops deaths

Charlie Eklund said...

What if it said “submit” instead of “trust”? That message might not resonate with Joan Baez but you might get a more positive reaction from Jane Wiedlin.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

The left's virtue signalling " Science is real" = "Don't question the leftwing authority"

Michael K said...

At least she admitted she was wrong about Vietnam.

Ambrose said...

Interesting how he has become such a hero of the left - simply because of imagined differences with Tump. In another world he would be blamed for AIDs

Temujin said...

My word. Do they ever stop to listen or watch themselves?

Never liked Joan Baez. I see no reason to start now. Joe Hill indeed.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

Even my leftist sister says she wouldn't get vaccinated until the vaccine has been used for a year or two.

I agree with this. I'm not an anti-vaxxer by any stretch but I would never take a new vaccine that has not been around for at least a year or two.

Ann Althouse said...

In Fauci We Trust.

Iman said...

Get yer Fauci action figures while they're hot!

Guildofcannonballs said...

"I trust Joan Baez over Richard Feynman about the meaning of "science" because, AFAIK, he wasn't much of a singer."

Ha.

RichardJohnson said...

As far as I can tell, Joan Baez's only exposure to higher education was 6 weeks at Boston University. As such, she has zero qualifications to speak on on the "science" or not of anything. Joan's father was a Physics professor at MIT and other places, so he would have been more qualified to speak on the "science." He narrated a physics film I saw in high school. He was involved in the development of the x-ray microscope.

wbfjrr2 said...

One of the first things Trump should do after the election, win or lose, is fire this incompetent lifer hack.

He’s a “spray and pray” type of pontificator. I loathe him.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Progs believe anyone who doesn't believe in repeating every novel shibboleth they repeat, at the right time by jolly, are non-persons (really) mentally deficient or, you know, YOU KNOW YOU JUST WON'T ADMIT LIAR, evil.

This is humans sans God.

We get upset because without a belief in God none of us would be here.

Soon, these ^^$%^s will get their way and none of us will be here. For God's sake, all we have are *(%&&(*^%& Republicans!!!!!? to stop the onslaught?

Ken B said...

He's so vain, I bet he thinks this tweet is about him.

Darrell said...

Soviet vibe.
Perfect for a commie c*nt.

CWJ said...

"Remember when Fauci told us that it was all going to fade away with hardly a whisper, the way SARS did? Science!"

For all we know, it might have absent the measures taken to stretch it out.

Though living in the US, I worked for a Toronto company during the height of the SARS scare. I'd fly into town a week at a time each month. Focused on my job, I didn't realize till later that my walk to work took me directly through the most affected neighborhood and right past the hospital which was SARS ground zero. And yet there was no public indication that an epidemic was in progress.

Darrell said...

https://principia-scientific.org/fauci-knew-about-hcq-in-2005-nobody-needed-to-die/

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

From “never trust anyone over 30” to “I trust any tyrant in my seventh decade age group!”

Kay said...

Trust, who do ya?
Trust, what makes you a real lover?
Trust, I put this question to ya
Cause I want you to be with me

Love, you cannot imagine
How much I want to give to you
Hot, I get so excited
Just thinkin' about all we could do
Dig it now

Another world awaits us
Another power to see
Close, don't worry about nobody else
From now on you'll be here with me

Trust, who do ya?
Trust, what makes you a real lover?
Trust, I put this question to ya
Cause I want you to be with me

Money, how much'll make you happy?
You can have it all if it'll suit you right
But nothin', I said nothin' can take the place
Of you and me kickin' it tight, tight!
Come, it's easy
Just let yourself go, don't put up a fight
Sex, it's not that type of party
Girl, we're gettin' higher to night

Trust, who do ya?
Trust, what makes you a real lover?
Trust, I put this question to ya
Cause I want you to be with me

"Get 'em! Take the pictures!"
"Gotham's greed!"

Trust

Hot and close, dig it now
Oh, that feels good

Trust, who do ya?
Trust, what makes you a real lover?
Trust, I put this question to ya
Cause I want you to be with me

Oh, my Lord!
When I'm on I feel good
Trust (good Lord)
When I'm on I feel good
Trust

Who do ya trust if you can't trust God?
Who can you trust, who can ya?
Who do ya trust if you can't trust God?
Who can you trust, who can ya?

Come and see

Trust, who do ya?
Trust, what makes you a real lover?
Trust, I put this question to ya
Cause I want you to be with me

Wait, I want ya with me

Unknown said...

Many are unaware of Joan Baez many degrees in SCIENCE

Someone Fauci=ed up here

BrianE said...

Gays that were around in the 80's might disagree with Joan. During the HIV epidemic, Fauci denied use of a drug that could have save thousands of gays from pneumonia.
Then there's his position on HCQ, that has caused thousands of deaths in this pandemic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpKgFOK8G6o

Jamie said...

It appears that the vast majority of people saying "trust science" are people who don't understand science in the least - not what it is, not how it works, not the fact that today's science frequently becomes tomorrow's funny myth... Because they don't know history either.

In living memory, plate tectonics was considered the theory of a few cranks. Dinosaurs were considered to be a sort of lizard, cold-blooded, scaled; the idea that their closest living relatives are birds, that all dinosaurs were warm-blooded, and that many dinosaurs had feathers like modern birds, was not even on anyone's radar yet. Humans were believed to have 48 chromosomes instead of 46. Ulcers were thought to be caused by stress and spicy food; one guy alone thought that they might have a bacterial origin, and all his colleagues thought he was a nut, until he gave himself an ulcer using bacteria. Protons, neutrons, and electrons were considered to be the smallest, and indivisible, forms of matter. I have a friend, a video game designer, who as recently as 1999 believed that it would be impossible for computer graphics ever to successfully animate hair. Monsters, Inc. came out two years later. (This is an "applied science" example, but it's still science.)

All this is in living memory. What things that we believe today are going to be disproven and dismissed in our grandchildren's time? But oh yes, definitely, we should take the word of an administrator in a science organization as literal scripture, to be accepted without doubt or critique. Do they even hear themselves?

tcrosse said...

Has there ever been a time in the Modern Era when Science has been so politicized? One's opinion on the efficacy of masks or HCQ is strictly by Party Line.

Big Mike said...

In Fauci We Trust.

I don’t. He might be good at bureaucratic infighting, but he really isn’t much of a scientist. I note in passing that the part of NIH he presided over was having contract research performed at the same lab in Wuhan that appears to be the release point for COVID-19. Was this to bypass legal restrictions against dangerous virus research performed in the US?

YoungHegelian said...

We can put our faith in science

If you put faith in science, is it really faith or science?

I thought there was a difference between faith & knowledge, and that supposedly science was on the knowledge side of the ledger. Well, thanks to Joan Baez, that's one philosophical conundrum put to bed.

Freeman Hunt said...

Art depicting science and exhorting people to trust The Man.

Drago said...

tcrosse: "Has there ever been a time in the Modern Era when Science has been so politicized?"

Yes.

During the nazi regime, during the Soviet regime and during the ChiCom's regimes.

Sort of "paints" a picture of what the marxist/left/LLR-lefty politicization is all about, doesn't it?

Drago said...

Begs the question: why didn't the democraticals/LLR-lefties nominate Fauci?

Bay Area Guy said...

Jonas Salk was sent to fight the polio epidemic and devised the polio vaccine.

Kary Mullis theorized and then created PCR technology.

Tell us one thing Dr. Fauci has actually done.

RNB said...

For Joan, "science" is "stuff my high school teacher told me" or "stuff Carl Sagan told me on TV."

mjg235 said...

Fauci's also an out-of-date methodological fundamentalist instead of a scientist. Insisting upon random controlled trials in a time-sensitive pandemic was guaranteed to get people killed, and the medical community could have reached the same level of certainty basically with trial-and-error and good means of comparing clinical results.

Of course artists would have no particularly good instincts on those issues, and would just revert to the brain-dead slogan.

Skeptical Voter said...

Say there Ms. Baez. Since Fauci occasionally contradicts himself (sort of like Thomas Friedman in that regard) just which Fauci statement am I supposed to trust? Inquiring minds want to know.

Fernandinande said...

From hashtag/ SCIENCEMATTERS

Astronomy

Genetics

Most boringest car race evar

Rusty said...

Fernadinande wins the thread.

chickelit said...

Bob never did go to marches and demonstrations and that bothers Joan to this day. So she takes it out on the rest of us.

Butkus51 said...

The guy who said that masks are of no help.

I'll pass.

LilyBart said...


I believe Fauci has badly mishandled this who pandemic - and caused unnecessary death and suffering. We could have managed this problem intelligently and strategically, instead of taking Fauci's unsophisticated approach. We may have wanted to consult someone like Fauci on the infectious diseases, but he lacks the ability to weight and manage the whole picture - the 'basket' of different risks in this case - he thought, incorrectly, that there was only one risk - the virus. When questioned about the economic damage, he called it 'inconvenient'. And he's admitted he doesn't really understand the full public health consequences of his recommended quarantines.

Fauci has been wrong, by insisting we act as if everyone is equally at risk. In doing so, we missed the opportunity to protect those who were really vulnerable to this virus - the old and sick. It caused people like Cuomo to value keeping 'available beds' over protecting the elderly - causing him to send recovering, but still contagious sick people into the nursing homes to sicken others. We've also done damage to the lives of those at near zero risk of dying from the virus by severely hurting the economy, postponing important medical treatments and screenings, and by driving huge portions of the population into depression and anxiety.

Fauci is no hero - he's a tragic figure.



Butkus51 said...

I like how she makes him look like a bada$$. I think Ive seen him running a 3 card Monty racket in NYC.

LilyBart said...

As Scott Adams would say about Baez: #Artist

Lnelson said...

Joannie,
Can't I just be entertained?
I'd be really impressed with your scientific knowledge if you would break a crystal glass with your most irritating and piercing soprano vibrato.

Doug said...

The kid's got talent.

walter said...

Fun with Da Fauch

Wince said...

It's art, by a person presenting artist credentials, and it's telling you to trust an authority figure.

PROTEST AGAINST THE RISING TIDE OF CONFORMITY

Bob Dylan and Joan Baez with protest sign, Newark Airport, 1964

rehajm said...

The greatest insanity is there's world peace breaking out and instead of Joan Beaz feeling hopeful she's crying we're not complying with the friends with Hillary mask tyrant...

what a phony...

Joe Smith said...

Fauci is a fraud.

Anyone in the public sector should be barred by law from profiting in any way from their actions while being paid by the public.

Baez is the epitome of '60s counter-culture and she worships a government apparatchik.

Sad.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

Jamie, great comment which I screen captured and sent to my teenagers. You always have great contributions; thanks.

stlcdr said...

So, is Fauci the President? Is he in charge of dictating national policy, and making laws that me must abide by?

Regardless, Fauci churns out stuff that the left believe should happen, so he’s an expert. If he churned out things they didn’t, he would be an anti-science devil.

William said...

I like and trust Joan Baez much more than Madonna. She does more research and is a far deeper thinker. She's no Beyonce, but she's really involved with the issues. I also feel that Dr. Fauci is a better doctor than Dr. Mengele.

Narayanan said...

You are in the clear - as long as you OBEY all orders given by some one in WhiteCoat.

walter said...

He was against masks before he was for them.
Speaking of Kerry, shouldn't we be shuttling JT around to troubled zones to croon "You've got a friend"?

Martin said...

"Put our faith in science and truth" is pretty damn funny, but I don't think she meant it to be.

I wonder if she could write 2 coherent sentences on the scientific method and falsification. I would be surprised if she could.

Narayanan said...

YoungHegelian said...
We can put our faith in science

If you put faith in science, is it really faith or science?

I thought there was a difference between faith & knowledge, and that supposedly science was on the knowledge side of the ledger.
-----------==============
you were good enough to explain about your choice of name a while back - so please
- did anybody refute Kant till Rand came along?

Kant famously said he 'had to deny knowledge (Wissen) in order to make room for faith (Glaube)’


Not Sure said...

Eugenics followed the science.

madAsHell said...

Isn't she ripping off the Shepherd Fairey Obama poster?

Admittedly, she changed "Hope" to "Trust", and moved the letters to the side.

iowan2 said...

For Joan, "science" is "stuff my high school teacher told me" or "stuff Carl Sagan told me on TV."

Great. Understand, 80% of science from 50 years ago is wrong. Either incomplete, lacks todays information, has been replaced, or found to be 180 degrees out of phase.

The only people that "trust" science, are science illiterate.

Medicine is a science, but the great doctors understand the exremely limited amount of 100% sure things in medicine. Pinning down a Dr, is almost impossible...because science is never settled

Michael said...

Science is not a statement from a scient

jaydub said...

My university had an annual choral singing competition among the fraternities and sororities every Spring, and each chapter had to participate. It was an outdoor concert and Joan Baez's car stopped where we were rehearsing one day in the mid 60's and her driver got out and asked if we would like to sing "We Shall Overcome" with Joan Baez. We didn't believe him at first, then Joan got out of the car and asked us in person. I'll never forget the look on her face when we told her "maybe later but we're rehearsing right now." She got back in the car and drove away.

Not Sure said...

Fauci is 79, and has held his current job for over 35 years. He is a truly accomplished bureaucrat who knows that he gets limited credit for a bold success, but maximum blame for its failure.

Going with herd mentality provides the best immunity from blame.

John henry said...



 Fernandinande said...

I trust Joan Baez over Richard Feynman about the meaning of "science" because, AFAIK, he wasn't much of a singer.

Actually Feynman was a pretty accomplished musician. He mainly played drums.

He also did Tuvalu (it's in Mongolia) throat singing. One of a very few non-tuvaluans who can do it at all.

I've been in love with Joan Baez singing sine about 1964 when I heard her for the first time.

I have several of her albums on my phone to listen to in the car.

I am particularly partial to "Baez sings Dylan"

She is the definitive version of Forever Young"

John Henry

John henry said...

As I've said before, I do trust science. What I don't trust are people who tell me trust "the" science. When they tell me that, I know they have contempt for science.

For example, should I trust "the" science showing face mufflers do more good than harm? Oh, wait, there isn't any.

Or should I trust the science that says mufflers do more harm than good? You know, the science that actually exists.

Which science do commenters think I should trust? The real science or the imaginary science.

John Henry

Jaq said...

"Why are we trusting anyone over 30, Joan!”

Maybe she was right all along. Nobody should trust her.

It’s funny that brain development completes somewhere around 27. That’s why car rental companies don’t trust anyone under 27.

RMc said...

I'm so old, I remember when the Left hated Fauci because they thought he was too close to Trump.

robother said...

Deep in the heart of every Antifa is a jack-booted fa yearning to get out!

Jaq said...

If she was in high school, you would say that this picture showed some promise.

Balfegor said...

I don't think Fauci is a fraud, and I think his advice is generally sound, as it is now largely consistent with the advice public health authorities I actually trust have been giving since the start.

But seriously, didn't he straight up admit he lied to the public about masks? Why on earth would you trust him after he admitted he lied to the public about the efficacy of one of the cheapest and easiest possible nonpharmaceutical interventions for slowing the spread of the pandemic? And it's not like that was a lie without consequences -- both in terms
of the rapid spread of coronavirus during a time when public health authorities were telling people affirmatively not to wear masks, and even now, when mask acceptance in the US has probably been permanently suppressed by the rationales public health authorities concocted for why masks were bad (e.g. that the laiety will just touch the masks more and spread the infection further, etc.)

I still harbour doubts that US public health experts really thought masks could be effective and deliberately lied, largely because that would be evil and someone would surely have dissented and blown the whistle. I think, rather, that it was just more of the blinkered incompetence we saw with the CDC's original testing guidance (only test where there's a link to Wuhan or a close contact of a confirmed case), and the CDC's screw up with the contaminated tests from their lab. And that their claims today that they knew all along and just lied about it are, instead, the real lies, which they are telling in a sad attempt to preserve some vestiges of professional mystique after they failed so hard in the early stages of the pandemic.

But either way, the man's admitted he deliberately gave the public bad health advice. Why would you trust him now??

Retail Lawyer said...

Shouldn't she have done this in the Soviet Realist style?
I saw a wonderful poster in that style with an outline of Lenin saying, "Its working. Stay Home".

MadTownGuy said...

Faux, Mann, Nye, Tyson - all members of the Magisterium.

BUMBLE BEE said...

When you're hawking the NYT's meme you're no longer anti-establishment. How long has this been goin on? Fancy persuasion...

Michael said...

“He explained that public health experts "were concerned the public health community, and many people were saying this, were concerned that it was at a time when personal protective equipment, including the N95 masks and the surgical masks, were in very short supply."”

As though surgeons wear the chickenshit masks available then and now. That is a fucking lie to cover up his u turn.

Francisco D said...

I don't have any strong opinions on Tony Fauci. Like most trained scientists dealing with a generally unique phenomenon, he is very much at sea. Thus, we see contradictory statements from him as he tries to digest incomplete or distorted new information. This is to be expected.

Leftists with the reading comprehension of a college sophomore, should read some of the important books on the philosophy of science in order to understand what we are dealing with. Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn come immediately to mind. It might help them realize that is not a question of "following the science" as people who do not understand scientific method proclaim.

If you want a more digestible and contemporary liberal perspective on scientific epistemology, listen to Heather Heying and her husband Brett Weinstein. They are evolutionary biologists who focus mostly on theory, but understand and appreciate empirical research that gives rise to new theorizing and understanding.

exhelodrvr1 said...

None of the currently "settled science" will have changed in 20 years, right?

Guildofcannonballs said...

---Blogger rhhardin said...
I played lute for Joan Baez, who sang to it, in a college snack bar once. She was struck by my math/physics major.

9/6/20, 10:00 AM---

Gandolph, oh my Gandolph.

ALP said...

There is a big problem with the blanket statement 'trust science' in that scientists can venture out of their area of expertise - within science. My partner is an engineer/science geek. We watch a handful of YouTube channels regarding covid-19 (MedCram is a good one - by a doctor for doctors). However, many trained scientists on YouTube can't help but get in on it and they don't always get the issues related to disease right. If I did not have a science savvy person at my side, I would assume that modeling used in theoretical physics can be applied to public health - apparently not. Considering how bad math education is in the US, it is not surprising that anyone can throw number about and gain the trust of those that don't know better.

This is muddled post due to my own lack of scientific training, but you get the gist of it: experts are experts in *their* scientific field; it doesn't follow that they are right about everything scientific.

Skip said...

I'm nearly positive it was Baez that I saw on a late night TV show in the '60s (Dick Cavett?) droning on about how if the US dumped all our military weapons in the ocean our enemies would follow suit. So sure, she's just another member of the leftist reality-based community.

Howard said...

Althouse jealous Joan Baez got to make art and love with Robert Zimmerman in their salad days.

Sam L. said...

I don't have that confidence in Fauci or her opinion.

Beaver7216 said...

Baez is a good painter, I think. Impressive.
However, The Obama/Biden/Hilary years should be remembered for their wars. They inherited 4, ended 1, then started 7 and left 8 wars for Trump, according to Wikipedia's list of US Wars. Wars against Somali pirates, Libya 2011, Uganda/Kony, Syria(2014 to present), Iraq 2or3 (2014 to Present), Yemen(2015 to present), and Libya2 (2015 to present).
Trump hasn't started a war and ended US involvement in Uganda.

Hilary was Sec of State for 5 of the Obama/Biden wars.
Surprising for anti war types to support this record.

Mr. O. Possum said...

Here's an excerpt from a recent Health.com article about the CDC's admission that only six percent of Covid death were caused by Covid alone and the other 94 percent had multiple co-morbidities. What's most interesting is how the article twists this very very good news into a conclusion that tells people to remain afraid and masked when it seems clear that only the most elderly and most sick people are at risk. How strange.

If you look beyond the 6%, you’ll learn that as of August 22, there were 161,392 death certificates that listed COVID-19 as a cause of death. And if you do the math, you’ll see that in 94% of deaths with COVID-19, other conditions are listed in addition to COVID-19, including chronic conditions like diabetes or hypertension as well as acute conditions that occurred as a result of COVID-19, such as pneumonia or respiratory failure.


“The reality is that COVID-19 likely has led to even a larger number of deaths than what is being reported, due to secondary effects of patients being isolated, unable to see their primary care physician or cardiologist in person, or being fearful to present to the ER for evaluation of their chest pain, dyspnea (shortness of breath), or even stroke symptoms,” says Dr. Braunstein. “It’s critical that we don’t allow misinformation to diminish the perception of the toll taken by the pandemic, most prominently the 180,000-plus lives lost in the US due to COVID-19.”

Whatever is shared on social media, the advice from the CDC remains crystal clear. The best way to protect yourself and help reduce the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is to limit your interactions with other people as much as possible, wear a face mask and practice physical distancing when you do interact with others, wash your hands frequently, and seek medical attention if you start feeling sick and think you may have COVID-19. These precautions are even more important if you’re at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

TWWren said...

"...but verify."

n.n said...

"We can put our faith in science"

If you put faith in science, is it really faith or science?


It's a conflation of logical domains, a Twilight faith, which is common in forward-looking, socially progressive societies.

Tommy Duncan said...

The picture is Orwellian.

404 Page Not Found said...

One of the more amazing feats that President Trump has accomplished is to make every liberal in America an expert on virology.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Now I am not saying this is some sort of excuse, but it titillates me to think how much could be accomplished if we were 1/20 of what we are claimed to be...

Little small fears of the Althouses will be long forgotten then.

Tonight, tonight.


404 Page Not Found said...

One of the funniest memes I saw on the internet was an antifa protestor, labeled "wants bigger government", being whacked on the head by a police officer, labeled "bigger government".

Kate said...

She's one of the great female guitarists. I've heard worse politics from artists way less talented.

n.n said...

The virus has evolved and is less viable. The disease has progressed with reduced mortality. There was a gross underestimate of preexisting immunity. The greatest single causes of excess mortality were Planned Parent and stigmatizing early treatment (e.g. HCQ cocktail) that complements normal body functions.

That said, when good vaccines go bad: African Polio Outbreak Linked to Vaccine
When a child receives the oral vaccine, the weakened virus replicates in the intestine, encouraging the production of antibodies, and can be present in excreta. In an area where there are high enough levels of immunity in the population, this usually does not present a problem, even if sanitation is poor.

tim d said...

needs bad art tag

mockturtle said...

As others have pointed out, today's 'settled science' is tomorrow's object of derisive ridicule. And every time I hear or read the claim, 'Scientist agree', it makes me laugh. Far from the monolithic hysteria of the Leftists, scientists' opinions are all over the map. Theories are made to be exploded in view of new information. To suggest that we should 'trust science' is pointless.

Joe Smith said...

"I've seen this in some of my old hippie friends. Over the course of their life they've gone from 'don't trust authority' to sucking authority's dick."

As long as it's a liberal dick they'll even gladly swallow.

My uncle is a summer of love hippie. Back then 'the man' was the worst. Burn it all down....

Now he's almost 80, but for the past 40 or 50 years he's all on-board with big government.

And why not? The old hippies infiltrated education (he's a retired teacher), media, and government. The Democrats are just Marxists, except they hate Jews even more...

chuck said...

The best way to protect yourself and help reduce the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19...

That is all well and good, but there are other considerations that need to be balanced against that, the economy, for instance. You cannot just shut down an economy without paying a cost. And for people under 40 the risk is minimal, why should they be treated the same as older people, and especially older people with other risk factors? There are rational ways to respond to the pandemic, and what has been done doesn't rise to that standard. That was excusable in the beginning when little was known, it is far less so now.

I'm Not Sure said...

"The best way to protect yourself and help reduce the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is to limit your interactions with other people as much as possible, wear a face mask and practice physical distancing when you do interact with others, wash your hands frequently, and seek medical attention if you start feeling sick and think you may have COVID-19. These precautions are even more important if you’re at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19."

If you replace "coronavirus/COVID-19" above with "the flu", would the advice be any different?

eddie willers said...

I'm the world's Madonna, donna, donna
I'm needed from Belfast to Bangladesh
So many grievous wrongs
For me to right with tedious songs
But I know you'll always be there to fall back on

Pull the triggers, n***ers, we're with you all the way
Just across the bay
Pull the triggers, n***ers, we're with you all the way
Just across the bay

Whether it's in Oakland or Marin
We're with you all the way across the bay

Amadeus 48 said...

You know, Joan didn’t get the words right to “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” the first time she recorded it because she didn’t bother to check her erroneous memory of how the lyrics went. This irritated Levon Helm tremendously, and he refused to perform the song thereafter because of the Baez rendition, according to some (non-anonymous) sources.

So Baez, for all her talent, cannot even do her own job right. Now she wants to tell us how great Fauci is.

Francisco D said...

iowan2 said...
The only people that "trust" science, are science illiterate....because science is never settled

Those are the people who screech that we need to "follow the science" on climate change. If we actually follow that "science" we will see that it has been grossly corrupted by frauds who are either out to make a buck or to create a Marxist society or both.

FleetUSA said...

A worthwhile article to read on terminology (certainly way above Hollywood heads):

https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2020/09/04/covid-why-terminology-really-matters/

stevew said...

Science does not demand faith, science is a method of uncovering truth. If Fauci's science does not uncover and document truth then it is religion and faith, not fact.

LA_Bob said...

I just can't imagine how we made it to 1984 (when Fauci became head of NIAID) without Anthony to Save Us from Stuff.

hombre said...

I loved her voice, but her brain was always marginal. She apparently believes Fauci is a scientist and reliable despite his contradictions and errors. Half the population apparently can't’ distinguish between what they opine, what they suspect and reality.

Sally327 said...

I don't think Dr. Fauci has a very trustworthy face. He looks like a self-satisfied bureaucrat, comfortable in his public health sinecure. Plus the painting seems so April 2020, we've moved on so far since then. Is Fauci even a thing anymore? I don't think so. I don't even remember what his pronouncements were, no mask? mask? shut-down for all? no shut-down for protestors and certain funerals? it's all so contradictory and confusing.anti=

It is funny, though, one of the anti-establishment voices of the 1960s encouraging us to trust in a government figure. She was so much older then, she's younger than that now.

Todd Roberson said...

Fauchi had one job ...

tcrosse said...

Little does Howard realise that was Althouse hanging on Dylan’s arm on the cover of The Freewheeling Bob Dylan.
(No, it wasn’t)

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

If you ever get to listen to Buck Sexton do his Fauci impersonation - it's hilarious.

cf said...

thanks for the war inventory, beaver7216. helpful to see it gathered that way.

Earnest Prole said...

Religious iconography for atheists.

bagoh20 said...

OK boomer, but why should I trust you or him? I stopped trusting you both when you passed 30, as I was told to do.

Bilwick said...

Hey, if there's any group of people who are experts in science, it's folk-singers.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

cancel her ass

|The Night They Drove Ole Dizie Down"

Like my father before me, I'm a workin' man
And like my brother before me, I took a rebel stand

bagoh20 said...

“The reality is that COVID-19 likely has led to even a larger number of deaths than what is being reported, due to secondary effects of patients being isolated, unable to see their primary care physician or cardiologist in person, or being fearful to present to the ER for evaluation of their chest pain, dyspnea (shortness of breath), or even stroke symptoms,” says Dr. Braunstein. “It’s critical that we don’t allow misinformation to diminish the perception of the toll taken by the pandemic, most prominently the 180,000-plus lives lost in the US due to COVID-19.”

That's just dishonesty trying to dismiss fact. The unfounded fear caused by the media and "experts" like this Dr Braunstein who push only negative data, and tyrannical politicians who over-reacted are what kept people from their doctors and treatments. The disease has no ability to scare people away from care on it's own. It had no microphone, no cable networks, and I never saw the virus give a single scary news conference on it's own.

The media covered Covid with the same honesty it covers Trump: all negative, all fear, all the time.

Liars always try to cover their lies with more lies.

Jupiter said...

"Which science do commenters think I should trust? The real science or the imaginary science."


Hmmmm.... I wouldn't actually trust either of the conclusions you cite. Covid-19 is brand new, there is a lot of seemingly contradictory information being passed around, and the concept of a "mask" is ill-defined.

My definition of a scientist is "a person who allows himself the very expensive luxury of not being sure until he has conclusive evidence".

Fernandinande said...

Theories are made to be exploded in view of new information. To suggest that we should 'trust science' is pointless.

That's not true since a lot of useful science is close-enough to settled that people don't doubt it, nor do they have a good reason to do so.

E.g. if you want to keep your kids from getting various diseases, do you get them vaccinated and have them drink chlorinated water, or sacrifice some goats?

dustbunny said...

I recently read Positively 4th St, a book about the Dylan and Baez in Greenwich Village. It was mentioned more than once that Baez did not like to read. I doubt she knows anything about science.

Fernandinande said...

...during a full moon. My experiments have shown that it's the best time.

Jupiter said...

"That's not true since a lot of useful science is close-enough to settled that people don't doubt it, nor do they have a good reason to do so."

Right. That's called "technology".

FullMoon said...

Then there's his position on HCQ, that has caused thousands of deaths in this pandemic.
Near end of interview, Tucker Carlson asked frontline New York doctor if he feared getting virus. Dr. said he takes Hydro.. and is not worried.

Ten minutes later, Carlson asks second Dr. interviewed, what is Hydro..? Tucker could not pronounce it, as was first time he had heard the word. Dr. said it is common for doctors treating virus patients to take as preventative.

This happened at beginning of hysteria about outbreak.

Not gonna lie, I bought into it from the git go while watching vids of China spraying disinfectent on cities and Italy stacking bodies. Became less and less a true believer as more info came out. Once protests were encouraged and allowed, pretty obvious the people in charge really did not believe it is as dangerous as they claimed.

FullMoon said...

https://aapsonline.org/analyzing-the-cdcs-available-data-without-hysteria/

Narayanan said...

Normal rational response to "shortage" would be increase Production aka supply. (more hospitals etc.)

but in a looter moocher culture it is redistribution = flattening the curve (shackle patients and doctors)

even if vaccine is developed is there enough trust left to accept asserted validity of its efficacy?

The Gipper Lives said...

The Wuhan Bat Lab trusted him for funding. As did 400 Chinese agents given NIH grants at our universities.

I think my favorite flip-flop by Dr. Franken-Fauci, Director of the Wuhan Muder Hornet Lab and Patent Medicine Emporium, was when he said it was okay to hook up on Tinder--as long as you don't shake hands in the morning.

"...SCIENCE!"

Drago said...

Sally327: "It is funny, though, one of the anti-establishment voices of the 1960s encouraging us to trust in a government figure. She was so much older then, she's younger than that now."

Fen's Law: The left doesn't actually believe a single thing they lecture the rest of us about.

Everything the left tells us is only a means to an end with the end being them in power with complete control over the rest of us.

This has only been true of every single place the left has gained control over.

But only every single time.

Without exception.

mockturtle said...

Fernandinande: I didn't say science wasn't useful. But who's to say that some of these vaccinations we're giving kids [like the Hepatitis B series] haven't had an adverse effect on their immune systems? And remember that bleeding a patient was considered 'settled science' at one time and was well documented by their standards to be effective. Certainly it can lower blood pressure, due to reduction in blood volume but there is no doubt it often did more harm than good. The beauty of real science is that it can accommodate new information, though sometimes it's like pulling teeth going against the 'settle science' of the day, as with Galileo.

Bunkypotatohead said...

Someone needs to photoshop president Trump's face where Fauci's resides in that high school painting she made.

I dreamed I saw Joe Biden last night,
alive as you and me.
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" said he.
C'mon man!

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Trust the scientific method, not "science"

The scientific method requires you to question everything and everyone

mockturtle said...

Fen's Law: The left doesn't actually believe a single thing they lecture the rest of us about.

Everything the left tells us is only a means to an end with the end being them in power with complete control over the rest of us.


Agree, Drago, except for the young lefties. They are naive enough to believe their nonsense. But those pulling their strings and financing their protests never have believed in anything but their own power and global agenda.

Birkel said...

Wrong about masks.
Wrong about lethality.
Wrong not to consider the costs of his policies.

Dr Fauci was most wrong about Cuomo's handling of his state.
Cuomo killed grandmas and grandpas by the thousands.
They should have been isolated while the healthy were going about their lives.

And quit fucking scaring children, you awful old man, Fauci.
It's fucking disgusting.

walter said...

BleachBit-and-Hammers said...If you ever get to listen to Buck Sexton do his Fauci impersonation - it's hilarious.
--
True! "Don't wear the mask. Wear the mask. Mitigate."
You have to hear it.
The only reason I want Beto in any pseudo-public discourse is to trigger Buck's Beto impersonation.

DEEBEE said...

More like pro-scientism

BUMBLE BEE said...

What are the ODDS?... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDDkY9z908M&feature=youtu.be
Stanford and UCLA call BULLSHIT.

JAORE said...

Mask wearing serves many purposes.
It shows we will,sheep-like follow dictates of those in positions of authority.
It lets people think they are part of the solution.
It provides a wokier-than-though position to be proclaimed.
It keeps the fear of corona,literally, front and center with the public.

It might have an effect, either positive and negative on disease.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Query: How can one be "for science" and also against "the scientific method"?

Craig said...

Anyone who trusts authority figures more as they get older is divorced from reality.

Danno said...

Drago said...Tell us one thing Dr. Fauci has actually done.

Run off his mouth almost daily? If he doesn't retire, he might break the consecutive days of speaking equivalent to AA's blog postings.