Letters

LETTERS TO THE Editor Editor

Please keep your letters to no more than 300 words or they will not be printed, this enables us to submit a number of letters for everyone to read.The comments and opinions on these pages do not reflect those of The Bribie Islander. Thank You.

Dear Editor Your words of wisdom in response to Letters to the Editor from “Nigel” identified the poor judgement of using opinion based on misinformation and demonstrated that “Nigel” has misunderstood the value of legal language and journalistic assessment of the written word. During the time with Journalists in South Australia and my training with the Katherine Dean College of Performing Arts, Media and Journalism and working alongside Graham Guy (Award-winning Journalist in Australia and Globally, Walkley Award winner) as a political speechwriter the fine line between opinion and fact had to be delineated. Letters to an editor must be assessed by a journalist/editor and are to be unbiased, it must follow the principles of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion and the Human Rights Charter. a bridge difficult to cross. I am reminded of the statement of Bill Bullard, 1943 – 2020, “Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world”. Thank you, Editor, for your professionalism. What a great issue Letters to the Editor were a mixture of opinions? And then from M Matthews sound knowledge and empathy for the opinion of others grounded by knowledge and value across so many topics. Anne Mathews article was thought-provoking. The articles, Ablutions (Elaine Lutton) made for some laughter and Sue Wightson’s, Hammocks and others had me laughing as I experience a hammock on the beach in Cairns in my early 20’s, with calipers on legs, and a tangled mess of iron, leather and body parts moving in a million directions. To all contributors well done. Barry Clark's article did not attract me so much (Prickly Pear?) and wonder the value of a 2-page spread of History. There are other issues of greater value to the community.

W. Peacock OAM.

Dear Editor, In response the letter penned by Margaret-Guthrie-White (issue 157 Jan 14th) about the use of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of COVID- 19 may I draw her attention to an article published in the American Journal of Medicine in January of 2021 which stated "The American Journal of Medicine now (Jan. 2021) recommends Hydroxychloroquine, Azithromycin, and Zinc for the treatment of Covid 19 outpatients."

https://principia-scientific. com/the-american-journal-ofmedicine-now-recommendshcq-for-covid19/

That was 12 months ago. Margaret, don't you read your trade journals? It seems that this vital lifesaving information has slipped past you, the AMA, the FDA and all the vaccinecentric State and Federal Health ministers. In light of this (year old) information being in the public domain, I may ask "Why is HCQ still banned in Australia, and particularly in Queensland where doctors can cop a fine or jail time if they dare prescribe it for early treatment of COVID- 19?"

The current treatment seems to be stay home if you’re sick, you will get better or be taken to hospital. By the time you get to hospital your viral load, in some instances, will have completely overwhelmed your immune system and you will die. If you got early treatment at home at first diagnosis, your life may have been saved. Early treatment with this multi-drug approach has saved countless lives. To verify my statements please consider the source documents from Qld Health website: https://www.qld.gov.au/health/ conditions/health-alerts/ coronavirus-covid-19/currentstatus/public-health-directions/ prescribing,-dispensing-orsupply-of-hydroxychloroquinedirection Prescribing, Dispensing or Supply of Hydroxychloroquine Direction (7/4/2020) On the web page mentioned above is a Q and A section, part of which reads Q.”Can I take hydroxychloroquine as a preventative measure for COVID-19? A. You are not allowed to take hydroxychloroquine as a preventative measure for COVID-19."

Q. What is the penalty if the direction is not followed?

A. If you don’t comply you may receive an on the spot fine of $1,378, a court-imposed penalty of up to $13,785 or 6 months imprisonment.

Q. Does Hydroxychloroquine cure COVID-19?

A. To date, there is no specific medicine recommended to prevent or treat the new coronavirus (COVID-19). Some specific treatments are under investigation and will be tested through clinical trials. That is the sad truth, and this "Health Direction" is still in force in Queensland as at 15th January, 2022! Sorry Margaret, but your assertions do not fit the facts.

The Bribie Battler

Dear Editor, 30 years ago my son had an immediate encephalitis reaction to a vaccine, which required 10 years of rehabilitation, to return him to ‘age-appropriateness’. I also discovered our GP, father to 6 unvaxed children, risked deregistration and harassment if he shared his professional concerns on vaccines – and so my son's situation was relegated to silenced 'collateral damage' in the name of medicine. I turned to natural therapies, and all my children enjoyed excellent health, unvaccinated from then on. I educated myself on the pros and cons, and we continued this way unscathed by illnesses, school or social exclusion. Reading told me polio was already in decline when vaccines were introduced, citing improvements in sanitation and health education as prime factors. This could apply to Covid to some degree. The media blurred the lines between anti-vaxxers, choicers and unrelated demonstrators. Their opinions are no less valid than the vaccinated upset about coercion, regrets, and dismissed and emerging side-effects. Conspiracy theories surface because trust is absent, not intelligence necessarily, and there is a trail of information to support them. And we should always do our own research. Vaccination, like politics and religion, has no right or wrong – only preference and the consequences play themselves out. It is no one’s business how you vote, pray or heal. Vaccinating doesn’t make you righter, smarter or better than someone who doesn’t. The lauded statement ‘it could’ve been worse if I hadn’t vaccinated’ is misinformation. What is the basis for this? If you vaccinate and get sick, you get sick to whatever degree you get sick. What can it be compared to? With borders open and infections building it probably helps to remember that science is one way, not the only way.

Name and address supplied Dear Editor,

We are relatively new to Banksia Beach building our house adjacent to the golf course. It is a lovely new area with a lot of new home construction taking place. I ride my bike every day to stay fit and in some areas of Freshwater Drive, the road narrows and I am really cognisant of upcoming cars and roundabouts. All in all, the tradies vehicles are driven with respect but in other cases, it seems to be a competition how fast they can drive through intersections. It was early this morning that one cut me off as he sped past me, just missing me. Further on, I see him on the side of the road, talking to two policemen who were conducting speed control duties sporting a radar gun. There is little doubt in my mind that he was well over the speed limit and no doubt in my mind he was fined. I would like to thank those two officers for keeping our roads safe and I hope this letter serves as a warning to others.

Barry from Banksia Beach Dear Editor,

Professor Ehud Qimron, head of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Tel Aviv University and one of the leading Israeli immunologists, recently wrote an open letter sharply criticizing the Israeli – and indeed global – management of the coronavirus pandemic. It could have been aimed at the Queensland Govt and it would still be pertinent, part of the original letter has been edited as some cultural differences exist, but do not affect the relevance. Dept. of Health, it’s time to admit failure. Two years late, you finally realize that a respiratory virus cannot be completely defeated and that any such attempt is doomed to fail. You refuse to admit that the infection comes in waves that fade by themselves, despite years of observations and scientific knowledge. You insisted on attributing every decline of a wave solely to your actions, and so through false propaganda “you overcame the virus.” You refuse to admit that; Mass testing is ineffective, even though the daily testing cost runs into millions of dollars, that the vaccinated are just as contagious as unvaccinated, that the disease is dozens of times more dangerous for risk groups and older adults than for young people who are not in risk groups. You hide data that allows for objective and proper research, for example, no child has died from Covid, but one in 5000 can expect to suffer serious side effects from the vaccine. The truth is that you have burned hundreds of billions of dollars to no avail – for publishing intimidation, for ineffective tests, for destructive lockdowns and for disrupting the routine of life ¸ for the last two years. You are destroying the education of our children and their future. You made children feel guilty, and scared, harmed livelihoods, the economy, human rights, mental health and physical health, turned the people against each other, divided society and polarized the discourse. Branded, without any scientific basis, people who chose not to get vaccinated as enemies of the public and as spreaders of disease. You promote, in an unprecedented way, a draconian policy of discrimination, denial of rights and selection of people, including children, for their medical choice. A selection that lacks any epidemiological justification. There is currently no medical emergency, but you have been cultivating such a condition for two years now because of lust for power, budgets and control. The only emergency now is that you still set policies and hold huge budgets for propaganda and psychological engineering instead of directing them to strengthen the health care system.

Name and address supplied.

Dear Ed, I must respond to the letter from Nigel in issue 157 of Jan 14, 2022. Nigel states in the closing paragraph of his diatribe against rational thought, that " Misinformation and health conspiracy theories are hurting vulnerable people. All governments support vaccines, health measures and treatments that evidence shows work and are safe. Nigel, how about some evidence that shows the vaccines do not work and are not safe. We can get the evidence from our very own TGA, which keeps a database of adverse events caused by all approved medicines, including vaccines, reported to them by doctors. This database is on their website and can be accessed by the public, as long as you are familiar with database searches. You have to dig to find the important stuff. It is known as the DAEN (Database of Adverse Events Notifications), and can be accessed here:https://apps.tga.gov.au/Prod/ daen/daen-entry.aspx Now if you do a search on the vaccines, (search=covid) you will get the following information:"Number of cases with a single suspected medicine: 97,868 Number of cases where death was a reported outcome: 733" So, Nigel, would you consider these covid vaccines safe and effective when your own government is telling you there have been 97 thousand reports of adverse events (detailed when you search the database) and worst of all, 733 people have died from the effects of the vaccine. These are reports by doctors. Covered up by the media. In any other era, this murderous vaccine campaign would be halted. It is especially horrendous because the American vaccination campaign started earlier than ours, (December 14, 2020) and these injuries and deaths were reported in the American VAERS system. Our mass vaccination campaign started on February 22 2021, some 2 months later. The problems with the vaccine in American were on file for the Australian authorities to see if they so wished. Evidently, they didn't, and if they saw it, they ignored it. After reading Nigel's entire letter, it appears that we are getting misinformation about misinformation. Regards The Bribie Battler