As the COVID-19 death-o-meter gradually lurches higher with an ever increasing death count, reaching allegedly unprecedented levels, the developed world is in a state of near-complete lockdown, with citizens under what amounts to be house arrest, living in fear of being the cause of someone else's death by slow COVID suffocation. The messaging from governments, the WHO and the mainstream media are consistent and clear: citizens must given up their freedoms in unprecedented ways to fight an invisible omnipresent enemy that threatens to kill the weak and frail among us; if you don't comply, you are an unethical, selfish enemy of humanity. You must conform, or else. In this episode we deconstruct the messaging surrounding COVID-19 and bring clear, rigorous scientific thinking in the midst of this crazy COVID chaos. We reveal how public messaging is scientifically engineered, how health authorities are using fear, extreme computer model projections, the presentation of speculation as fact, and claims of scientific consensus to manipulate your behavior and worldview. Prepare to be deprogrammed!

Episode Timeline & Notes

0:00:00 - Introduction

• YouTube | Trudeau responds to question about wearing non-medical masks | COVID-19
• YouTube | Speaking Moistly Remix - Official 2020 anthem by anonymotif
• YouTube | COVID Staycation
• Issues, Etc. | 1073. Psychedelic Drugs – 4/16/20
• Issues, Etc. | 1113. Responding to Listener Email and the Issues, Etc. Comment Line, 4/20/20 (@34:45)

0:07:16 - Behavioural Research for behavioral engineering

• YouTube | COVID-19 update: Trudeau warns of potential enforcement measures
• Nature | How behavioural science data helps mitigate the COVID-19 crisis
• YouTube | Simpsons S22 EP6: The Full Monty - (House Cat Flu)

0:18:42 - Be Afraid - Fear Tactic

• BBC News | Coronavirus: Paris bans daytime outdoor exercise
• Brian Williams - Our Job Is to Scare People to Death | No Agenda 1230 Clips
• YouTube | New Rule: Panic Porn | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
• National Post | Officials can't explain why emergency alert didn't go out as gunman tore through Nova Scotia
• YouTube | Senator Dr. Scott Jensen
• YouTube | Perspectives on the Pandemic | Dr John Ioannidis of Stanford University | Episode 1

00:31:45 - Media/Governmental Overstatements

• YouTube | COVID-19 is 10 times more deadly than swine flu: WHO | AFP
• YouTube | Perspectives on the Pandemic | Dr John Ioannidis of Stanford University | Episode 1
• STAT | A fiasco in the making? As the coronavirus pandemic takes hold, we are making decisions without reliable data
• YouTube | Perspectives on the Pandemic | Professor Knut Wittkowski | Episode 2

0:45:55 - 2017-18 Flu season

• CCD | Estimated Influenza Illnesses, Medical visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths in the United States - 2017-2018 influenza season
• LA Times | California hospitals face a ‘war zone’ of flu patients — and are setting up tents to treat them
• CNN | Flu season deaths top 80,000 last year, CDC says
• Time | Hospitals Overwhelmed by Flu Patients Are Treating Them in Tents
  ...
• YouTube | MN Sen & Dr. Scott Jensen said that he received a 7 pg doc from MN Health to fill out death
• CNN | US coronavirus death totals compiled by CDC will now include 'probable' cases
• YouTube | The Fight against COVID-19: An Update from Dr. Jay Bhattacharya
• medrxiv.org | COVID-19 Antibody Seroprevalence in Santa Clara County, California
• New York Post | Can the coronavirus be spread through farts?

1:00:33 - Memes - Flatten the Curve

• New York Times | Flattening the Coronavirus Curve
• National Post | "That is a surprise": Doctors still waiting for feared surge of COVID-19 patients in Canadian ICUs
• NY Times | ‘People Are Dying’: 72 Hours Inside a N.Y.C. Hospital Battling Coronavirus
• ABC News | Inside the coronavirus 'Ground Zero': Elmhurst Hospital in New York City
• New York Times | 3 Deaths in a Day: An ‘Apocalyptic’ Coronavirus Surge at an N.Y.C. Hospital
• Twitter | #DancingNurses
• @sharprednails | How do our overstretched #NHS frontlines workers find the time to fit in so much dancing?
• @JohnnyMerica123 | #HowScaredAreYou How scared of the 'Rona are you? #DancingNurses
• COVID-19 financial damage forces West Virginia hospital to close

1:11:39 - Bias in Cost Assessment

• National Post | Why draconian measures may not work: Two experts say we should prioritize those at risk from COVID-19 than to try to contain the uncontainable
• RT | As a GP, I fear our Covid-19 lockdown will result in significantly more deaths than we are trying to prevent
• YouTube | Perspectives on the Pandemic | Dr John Ioannidis of Stanford University | Episode 1
• MarketWatch | Anti-anxiety medication prescriptions have spiked 34% during the coronavirus pandemic
• CNBC | Could you get PTSD from your pandemic experience? The long-term mental health effects of coronavirus

1:22:38 - Tactical Use of Models

• COVID-19 in Canada: Using data and modelling to inform public health action
• YouTube | Ontario releases updated COVID-19 projections – April 20, 2020
• YouTube | Perspectives on the Pandemic | Professor Knut Wittkowski | Episode 2
• YouTube | Questioning Conventional Wisdom in the COVID-19 Crisis, with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya

1:37:08 - Messaging to Kids

• Summit News | CBC Instructs Kids on How to Shut Down Their Parents’ “Conspiracy Theories”
• @CBCTheNational | Is uncle Bob spreading COVID-19 misinformation in the family group chat? This doesn't have to be awkward.
• YouTube | Senator Dr. Scott Jensen

1:41:33 - Scientific Consensus

• The Lancet | Statement in support of the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of China combatting COVID-19
• The Lancet | Genomic characterisation and epidemiology of 2019 novel coronavirus: implications for virus origins and receptor binding
• The Lancet - Comment | Early in the epidemic: impact of preprints on global discourse about COVID-19 transmissibility

1:55:33 - Messaging about the Church

2:03:59 - Summary & Conclusion

Where to Find Us

Website:
notconformed.show

notconformed.simplecast.com

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