It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Bram Stoker’s "Dracula." A Study on the Human Mind and Paranoid Behaviour
The Victorian fin-de-siècle experienced the growth of scientific naturalism, and witnessed the birth and development of sciences such as modern psychology, supported by the scientific efforts to unravel the processes of the human mind. Nevertheless, the 1890s were also notable for the participation of educated people in Spiritualism and other occult activities, their interest in folklore of all sorts and the writing of a great corpus of fantasy literature. The aim of this essay is to offer a reading of Bram Stoker’s "Dracula" as an example of the dialogue established between science, literature and the study of the supernatural in Victorian England. The novel, as part of the fin-de-siècle scientific period, can be interpreted as a conscious inquiry into the functioning of the mind and, most especially, into the aetiology of paranoid behaviour. Thus, Stoker’s text becomes a testimony of a mental disorder known as folie à deux, or shared madness
A ‘Crisis of Victorianism’: Sexuality and Discourses of Degeneration in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Parasite.
Discourses of degeneration were ubiquitous during the latter half of the nineteenth-century, thus approaching Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) and Conan Doyle’s The Parasite (1894) as an historical text is not to read them in isolation as a neutral report of the sociological climate of late Victorian Britain, but as part of a dialogue. Spencer (1992) notes, ‘Dracula is not an isolated phenomenon, but is part of a literary/cultural discourse’ (p.198). As part of this discourse Stoker’s Dracula can bring to light elements of the dialectic between the bulwarks of Victorian society and the attack of the New at the fin de siècle. Luckhurst in his introduction to Dracula (2011) states, ‘historical distance reveals the book to be an uncanny echo-box of its place and time’ (p.xix).Taking into less consideration Bram Stoker’s position as a representative of late-Victorian ‘Man’, and reading Dracula as a representative late-Victorian text presents, as such, a text that is particularly revealing in its focus on Victorian sexual dynamics
"The Victorian's Vampire: Stoker's Dracula as the Monstrous Embodiment of Deformity, Disease, and Crime"
"Vampire in Literature, Culture, and Film" Panel. Popular Culture/American Culture Association National Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana - April 2015.
Wooden Stakes and Canine Teeth; The Battle of the Sexes in Bram Stoker’s Dracula
This article looks at food and the role of appetitive consumption in modern representations of the vampire. Most critics have read vampire as embodying Victorian fears surrounding fin-de-siècle desire and sexual decadence. We instead want to shift the discussion to food and eating rituals. Using Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula as a bridge text, ―Consuming Appetites and the Modern Vampire‖ compares the British tradition, which advocates disciplined appetites as defense against Dracula's demonic invasion, with modern American texts, which celebrate the vampire as a reflection of its own culture of excess consumption. The vampire is marked as Other precisely by his inability to control his appetite, and the disciplined appetite is essential insofar as it differentiates between the human and vampiric Other. It is this legacy of appetitive excess which continues to inform our modern interpretations of the vampire, whether this figure is a direct inheritor of Dracula or a more sympathetic, even domesticated, vampire.
By ZEKE MILLER, MARILYNN MARCHIONE and DARLENE SUPERVILLE
MAY 19,2020
President Donald Trump tells reporters that he is taking zinc and hydroxychloroquine during a meeting with restaurant industry s about the coronavirus response, in the State Dining Room of the White House, Monday, May 18, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON
(AP) — The White House hurried Tuesday to defend President Donald Trump’s decision to take a malaria drug to protect against the coronavirus, despite warnings from his own government that it should only be administered for COVID-19 in a hospital or research setting due to potentially fatal side effects.
Trump told reporters a day earlier that he has been taking the drug, hydroxychloroquine, and a zinc supplement daily “for about a week and a half now,” after two White House staffers tested positive for the coronavirus. Trump has spent months pushing hydroxychloroquine as a potential cure or preventive drug for COVID-19 against the cautionary advice of many of his administration’s top medical professionals. The drug has the potential to cause significant side effects in some patients and has not been shown to combat the new coronavirus.
Amid concerns from some public health experts that Trump’s example could send more people to misuse the drug, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Tuesday that “tens of millions of people around the world have used this drug for other purposes,” including malaria prophylaxis. She emphasized that “any use of hydroxychloroquine has to be in consultation with your doctor. You have to have a prescription. That’s the way it must be done.”
CNN’s Berman exposes the real reason Trump claimed to take unproven COVID-19 drugs
President Donald Trump’s claims about taking anti-malarial drug hyroxychloroquine to ward off contracting the novel coronavirus drew a mixture of skepticism and scorn on a CNN panel Tuesday morning.
Co-host John Berman seemed visibly annoyed after watching a clip of Trump boasting about taking the drug, which has been linked to heart failure in some patients.
“This is not a game,” Berman said. “90,000 Americans have died, and this is just dumb. He just wasted another day where he could have been doing something to help the American people to keep that number down, and instead, he’s preening and bragging about taking a drug that science so far has shown shows no benefits.”
Dr. Carlos Del Rio, an epidemiologist at the Emory University School of Medicine, tried to speculate about why Trump would want to take this drug but nonetheless came away baffled.
“The president must have had pretty significant exposure to COVID and that’s made him decide to do this,” he said. “But I don’t know why he’s decided to take hydroxychloroquine, which we know doesn’t work, versus wearing a mask.”
“It’s about owning the libs,” Berman replied. “He’s taking a drug and preening about it just to own the liberals in his mind, and I don’t think it’s doing a single thing to save a single life.”
Watch the video below
Trump’s use of malaria drug likely to be welcomed in India
By EMILY SCHMALL and ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL
today A chemist displays hydroxychloroquine tablets in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. President Donald Trump’s declaration that he was taking the antimalarial drug of dubious effectiveness to help fend off the coronavirus will be welcomed in India. Trump's previous endorsement of hydroxychloroquine catalyzed a tremendous shift in the South Asian country, spurring the world’s largest producer of the drug to make much more of it, prescribe it for front-line health workers treating cases of the coronavirus and deploy it as a diplomatic tool, despite mounting evidence against using the drug for COVID-19. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) NEW DELHI (AP) — President Donald Trump’s declaration that he was taking a malaria drug of dubious effectiveness to help fend off the coronavirus will likely be welcomed in India.
Trump’s previous endorsement of hydroxychloroquine catalyzed a tremendous shift in the South Asian country, spurring the world’s largest producer of the drug to make much more of it, prescribe it for front-line health workers treating the virus and deploy it as a diplomatic tool, despite mounting evidence against using the drug for COVID-19.
Trump said Monday that he was taking hydroxychloroquine as a measure of protection against the virus. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, however, has cautioned against using it outside of hospitals because of the risk of serious heart problems.
Suhhil Gupta, a pharmacist in New Delhi, said Tuesday that Trump’s announcement shouldn’t carry any weight in India.
“He’s not a pharmacist. His statements are not relevant to the field,” Gupta said.
Still, India’s policy on the decades-old drug, used to prevent malaria and treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, drastically changed after Trump tweeted in March that the drug, used together with an antibiotic, could be “game changers” in the fight against the pandemic. India’s health ministry quickly approved it as a prophylactic for health care workers and others at high risk of infection, and as a treatment for critically ill patients.
Officials in Mumbai even drew up a plan to administer hydroxychloroquine to thousands of slum dwellers as a preventive measure against the virus.
Indian health officials have declined repeated requests for comment, limiting communications to daily health briefings, the last of which occurred May 11.
The rules say that drugs such as hydroxychloroquine be used only after a rigorous scientific and ethical review, continued oversight by an ethics committee and ensuring informed consent — none of which happened with hydroxychloroquine, according to Dr. Amar Jesani, a medical ethics expert.
The Mumbai proposal was ultimately shelved amid questions of the ethics of administering the malaria drug without first subjecting it to clinical trials. Still, the Indian government has recommended more and more people use it, contravening 2017 rules for emergency use of untested drugs, Jesani said.
India initially banned hydroxychloroquine exports, but lifted the ban after Trump threatened “retaliation.” At the same time, India’s government ordered manufacturers to ramp up production from 1.2 million to 3 million pills a month — causing company shares to skyrocket. From the U.S. to Australia, sales jumped. Full Coverage: Virus Outbreak
Officials have even said that Indian plantations could increase the growing capacity of cinchona trees, whose bark contains the compound quinine, which has been used to treat malaria since the 1860s. Quinine can also be made synthetically.
The Indian government itself purchased 100 million hydroxychloroquine pills, according to government data, to distribute to states and donate to countries including Afghanistan, Myanmar and the Dominican Republic. India is the world’s largest producer of generic drugs, a fast-growing industry that has brought down pharmaceutical prices globally. During the HIV/AIDs crisis, India played a similar role as in the coronavirus pandemic, boosting global supplies of life-saving drugs.
The problem this time, experts say, is that the hydroxychloroquine hype is based on a flimsy study, with little to no evidence that it prevents or treats COVID-19.
Still, a sharp rise in demand has reduced supplies for patients with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
India’s hurried guidance has also impeded scientific trials that could determine whether the benefits of taking hydroxychloroquine outweigh the risks.
“We should do a trial. I think that is the right way to come to answer on this question. But the (government) made our job harder,” said Dr. Bharath Kumar, whose team has proposed a trial.
Meanwhile, evidence against using hydroxychloroquine for the coronavirus is growing.
A U.S. study of 368 patients in veterans’ hospitals, the largest study yet examining the malaria drug’s value as a coronavirus antidote, found no benefits and even more deaths among those given the drug.
The Indian government’s own assessment of 19 drugs found that hydroxychloroquine wasn’t the most promising. A task force noted that while HCQ was readily available, the strength of scientific evidence for the mechanism of action was fairly low.
With more than 101,000 cases and 3,163 deaths, the coronavirus hasn’t yet overwhelmed India’s limited health care system. But that’s starting to change in some hot spots as a stringent weeks-long nationwide lockdown begins to ease, allowing for greater mobility of the country’s 1.3 billion people.
Nowhere is this clearer than in Maharashtra, the coastal state in central India bearing a third of India’s virus caseload. The state’s medical education and research agency has been administering hydroxychloroquine to patients in public hospitals and clinics, according to court records.
Agency chief Dr. Tatyarao P. Lahane said protocols set by India’s government were being followed and declined to answer further questions.
Dr. Shriprakash Kalantri of the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in Maharashtra said the government was recommending hydroxychloroquine for “off label,” or unapproved, use, meaning that patients must be told that “there is a small but significant risk that it might harm you.”
“If there is no evidence backed by solid clinical trials, then why are the scientific bodies pushing this drug and giving an impression to the public that this is a magic bullet and this is your last hope?” Kalantri said.
___
Associated Press writer Biswajeet Banerjee in Lucknow, India, contributed to this report.
No—Canada does not deserve UN Security Council seat----
Argue Noam Chomsky, Roger Waters, Monia Mazigh, and 100+ others—
“Despite its peaceful reputation, Canada is not acting as a benevolent player on the international stage,” warns open letter from activists, artists, and academics.
As Canada vies for a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council an open letter published Tuesday argues the Ottawa government—despite a more rosy reputation compared to its powerful U.S. neighbor—should be seen for what it more accurately is: a powerful international force in its own right that continues to play a negative role on the world stage when it comes to militarism and endless war, human rights abuses, environmental degradation both at home and abroad, and its outsized role in exacerbating the climate crisis.
“The international community should not reward bad behaviour,” the signatories argue in the letter and an adjoining online petition.
The signers of the letter—who include Harsha Walia, Noam Chomsky, Rogers Waters, Bianca Mugyenyi, Kanahus Manuel, Richard Falk, and over one hundred others—highlight Canada’s woeful silence and disregard when it comes to the abuse of the Palestinian people and the Israeli government’s most recent effort to annex the Occupied Territories of the West Bank.
As highlighted Tuesday by Michael Lynk, associate professor of law at Western University and special rapporteur for the United Nations Human Rights Council on the situation in the Palestinian territory, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been noticeably absent even as countries like Ireland and Norway—which are also vying for the UNSC seat—have publicly spoken out against Israel’s efforts.
Where is Canada on such an issue of grave international importance? “I argue that Canada is missing in action,” wrote Lynk. “No public statements against Israel’s annexation proposal have been issued. No planned accountability measures have been floated. No criticism, however mild, has been offered.”
The open letter, also backed by 20 organizations, makes a similar critique. “In the Middle East, Canada has sided with Israel on almost every issue of importance,” the letter states. “Since coming to power the Trudeau government has voted against more than fifty U.N. resolutions upholding Palestinian rights backed by the overwhelming majority of member states. The Canadian government has refused to abide by 2016 U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334, calling on member states to ‘distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied in 1967.'”
While Canada is competing against Norway and Ireland for the two-year temporary seat—and with a vote scheduled for June—Trudeau has argued the nation’s leadership will be vital in the years to come as the world continues to grapple with the Covid-19 fallout.
But instead of upholding standards of international law and human rights, the letter contends that Ottawa and Trudeau have showed the opposite of leadership and accuses Canada of frequently echoing “Trump’s foreign policy” in the Western Hemisphere by backing “reactionary forces” in Latin America and defending Canadian mining companies despite allegations and evidence of fueling rights abuses and ecological damage in countries across the globe. For its disregard for the rights of First Nations and other Indigenous groups worldwide, the signers argue that Canada has failed to live up its promises both at home and abroad.
With massive oil, gas, and mineral reserves—including the Alberta tar sands—those objecting to Canada’s seat say that refusing to “keep Canada’s dirty oil in the ground” while at the same time operating as one of the world’s largest per-capita emitters, should be disqualifying.
“Despite its peaceful reputation, Canada is not acting as a benevolent player on the international stage,” the letter states.
It concludes, “Please vote against Canada’s bid for a seat on the UN Security Council.”
Read the open letter in full, along with signatories and supporting organizations, below: CANADA DOES NOT DESERVE A SEAT ON THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL
Despite its peaceful reputation, Canada is not acting as a benevolent player on the international stage.
Rather, Canada ranks among the twelve largest arms exporters and its weapons have fueled conflicts across the globe, including the devastating war in Yemen.
In a disappointing move, Canada refused to join 122 countries represented at the 2017 UN Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, Leading Towards their Total Elimination.
Ottawa has also been an aggressive proponent of the nuclear-armed NATO alliance, and currently leads coalition missions in Latvia and Iraq.
Echoing Trump’s foreign policy, Canada has backed reactionary forces in the Americas. The Trudeau government has led efforts to unseat Venezuela’s UN-recognized government, while propping up repressive, corrupt and illegitimate governments in Haiti and Honduras. Canada also lent its support to the economic elites and Christian extremists who recently overthrew the democratically elected indigenous president of Bolivia.
In the Middle East, Canada has sided with Israel on almost every issue of importance. Since coming to power the Trudeau government has voted against more than fifty UN resolutions upholding Palestinian rights backed by the overwhelming majority of member states. The Canadian government has refused to abide by 2016 UN Security Council Resolution 2334, calling on member states to “distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied in 1967.” On the contrary, Ottawa extends economic and trade assistance to Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise. Should it win a seat on the UNSC, Ottawa has stated that it will act as an “asset for Israel” on the Council.
Canadian mining companies are responsible for countless ecological and human rights abuses around the globe. Still, Ottawa defends the most controversial mining firms and refuses to restrict public support for companies responsible for abuses. The chair of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights criticized the Trudeau government for refusing to rein in mining abuses while the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances and wastes has decried the “double standard” applied to Canadian mining practices domestically versus internationally.
Falling short of its responsibilities as a global citizen, Canada continues to oppose the Basel Ban Amendment on the export of waste from rich to poor countries, which became binding in late 2019 after ratification by 97 countries. Ottawa also failed to ratify the United Nations’ Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Ottawa has refused to ratify more than 50 International Labour Organization conventions. In November 2019, Canada once again refused to back a widely supported UN resolution on “Combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.”
Violating the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Trudeau government sent militarized police into unceded Wet’suwet’en Nation territory to push through a pipeline. The UN Human Rights Committee recently documented various ways Canada is failing to live up to its obligations towards indigenous people under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Ignoring front-line victims, Ottawa refuses to keep Canada’s dirty oil in the ground. Canada is on pace to emit significantly more greenhouse gases than it agreed to in the 2015 Paris Agreement and previous climate accords. Already among the world’s highest per capita emitters, the Canadian government is subsidizing further growth of heavy emitting tar sands, at the expense of impoverished nations who’ve contributed little to the climate crisis but bear the brunt of its impacts.
The international community should not reward bad behaviour. Please vote against Canada’s bid for a seat on the UN Security Council.
SIGNATURES
David Suzuki, Award winning geneticist/broadcaster Roger Waters, co-founder Pink Floyd Noam Chomsky, linguist, author & social critic Ellen Gabriel, artist and activist Roméo Saganash, former MP Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou Sid Ryan, former president of Ontario Federation of Labour and CUPE Ontario Rawi Hage, novelist Amir Khadir, former Quebec National Assembly member Pam Palmater, Chair in Indigenous Governance, Ryerson Judy Rebick, activist and author Jord Samolesky, Propagandhi Steve Ashton, long-serving member of the Manitoba legislature and cabinet minister George Elliott Clarke, poet and professor Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize co-winner (1976) Trevor Herriot, author and activist John Clark, activist Charles Demers, comedian & author Alain Deneault, essayist and philosophy professor Martin Duckworth, laureate of the 2015 Albert-Tessier Prix du Quebec for cinema Cy Gonick, former Manitoba NDP MLA and founding editor of Canadian Dimension John Greyson, film-maker & professor Syed Hussan, Migrant Workers Alliance El Jones, activist, educator, journalist and poet Gordon Laxer, author/founding Director Parkland Institute Monia Mazigh, PhD, author and activist Jim Manly, Member of Parliament 1980-88 Kanahus Manuel, activist Tim McCaskell, educator & activist Sheelah Mclean, co-founder Idle No More organizer Serge Mongeau, author & editor Mike Palecek, former National President of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers Dimitri Roussopoulos, author, and long-time peace movement activist Clayton Thomas-Müller – Director, Author, Senior Campaign Specialist – 350.org Rinaldo Walcott, professor Ingrid Waldron, author & professor Harsha Walia, author & activist Antonia Zerbisias, journalist & activist Greg Albo, Professor of Politics, York University August Arnold, journalist and author Antonio Artuso, Front uni contre le fascisme et la guerre Corey Balsam, National Coordinator, Independent Jewish Voices Canada Nik Barry-Shaw, author Corey Balsam, National Coordinator, Independent Jewish Voices Canada Susan Bazilli, PhD – Director, International Women’s Rights Project Ron Benner, artist Karl Beveridge, artist Raul Burbano, activist Nancy Brown, teacher/librarian, peace/human rights activist David Camfield, activist and academic Stefan Christoff, artist & activist Carole Condé, artist Gerry Condon, Veterans for Peace (US), former president Deborah Cowen, Professor, Department of Geography and Planning, University of Toronto Raju J Das, York University Judith Deutsch, academic Gord Doctorow, educator Martine Eloy, antiwar and human rights activist Darren Ell, Photographer Gary Engler, author Yves Engler, author & activist Joe Emersberger, author Richard Falk, Professor of International Law emeritus, Princeton University Kiran Fatima, co-chair Toronto Association for Peace & Solidarity Richard Fidler, Author and Activist Miguel Figueroa, President, Canadian Peace Congress Don Foreman, Canadian Union of Postal Workers Alan Freeman, author & economist Gavin Fridell, Canada Research Chair and Associate Professor in International Development Studies Saint Mary’s University Dr. Todd Gordon, Associate Professor, Wilfrid Laurier University Peter Gose, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology Carleton University Harry Glasbeek, Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar, Osgoode Hall Law School Tracy Glynn, activist and writer Cory Greenlees, activist Malcolm Guy, documentary film director/producer Michael Harris, author Jamelie Hassan, artist David Heap, teacher-researcher; peace & human rights advocate Evert Hoogers, CUPW (retired) Pierre Jasmin, artiste pour la paix Dru Jay, author & activist David Kattenburg, University instructor & journalist Kathy Kelly, Voices for Creative Nonviolence (USA) Gary Kinsman, activist and author Harry Kopyto, legal activist Jonathan Kuttab, International human rights lawyer Dimitri Lascaris, lawyer/journalist/activist Ed Lehman, Regina Peace Council Raymond Legault, activist, Collectif Échec à la guerre Tamara Lorincz, PhD candidate and member of the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace Martin Lukacs, journalist Eva Manly, retired filmmaker Robin Mathews, author Amy Miller, filmmaker David Mivasair, retired rabbi Bianca Mugyenyi, activist, former Co-ED The Leap Elizabeth Murray, former Deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Near East, National Intelligence Council (ret.) Dr. Susan O’Donnell, researcher, writer and activist Nino Pagliccia, activist and freelance writer Dr. Idrisa Pandit, academic Brent Patterson, activist Justin Podur, author and professor Judi Rever, journalist and author Karen Rodman, human rights activist Richard Roman, retired professor, writer Reuben Roth, Professor Herman Rosenfeld, Socialist Project Grahame Russell, Co-Director – Rights Action Joan Russow, activist Cory Greenlees Sakura Saunders, activist Harold Shuster, Independent Jewish Voices-Winnipeg Ken Stone, President – Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War Donald Swartz, Carleton University Koozma J. Tarasoff, peace activist Marianne Vardalos, PhD Department of Sociology Jay Watts, co-chair Toronto Association for Peace & Solidarity Paul Weinberg, author Barry Weisleder, federal secretary, Socialist Action Elizabeth Whitmore, activist Ellen Woodsworth, writer, organizer and former Vancouver City councillor Dwyer Sullivan, board member – Conscience Canada Dr. Thom Workman, professor, University of New Brunswick Ann Wright, retired US Army Colonel and former US diplomat.
ORGANISATIONS
Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) – Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain Mining Watch Independent Jewish Voices/ Voix juives indépendantes Mouvement Québécois pour la Paix Solidarité Québec-Haïti Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War Council of Canadians – London Chapter Canada Palestine Association-Vancouver International League of Peoples’ Struggle Just Peace Advocates/Mouvement pour une Paix Juste Socialist Project Canadian BDS Coalition Socialist Action Canadian Boat to Gaza, Leap Montreal CAIA Victoria Freedom Flotilla Coalition Gaza Freedom Flotilla Australia Regina Peace Council Al-Haadi Musalla
The petition will be delivered to UN member states prior to the vote for the security council seat in June. *If your group or organization would like to endorse the open letter, please write to us at info@foreignpolicy.ca
Florida removes data scientist who refused to manipulate COVID-19 numbers to support reopening Published May 19, 2020 Travis Gettys
The architect and manager of Florida’s coronavirus dashboard says she has been removed from her post because she refused to manipulate data.
The online dashboard has been a valuable resource for researchers, reporters and the public to access and review COVID-19 cases, testing and death data, and had won wide praise for its transparency and accessibility, reported Florida Today.
However, the site has crashed and gone offline in recent weeks, data has disappeared without explanation — and Rebekah Jones, who led a team of Florida Department of Health data scientists and public health officers to set up the site, announced her removal as of May 5. Defend democracy. Click to invest in courageous progressive journalism today.
“I understand, appreciate, and even share your concern about all the dramatic changes that have occurred and those that are yet to come,” Jones wrote her colleagues in an email.
“As a word of caution, I would not expect the new team to continue the same level of accessibility and transparency that I made central to the process during the first two months,” she added. “After all, my commitment to both is largely (arguably entirely) the reason I am no longer managing it.”
Jones confirmed to WPEC-TV that she was removed because she was ordered to censor some data, but she refused to “manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen.”
The state’s Department of Health declined to comment, but researchers blasted the move as an example of government censorship.
“We would not accept this lack of transparency for any other natural disaster, so why are we willing to accept it here?” said Jennifer Larsen, a researcher at the University of Central Florida’s LabX.
Data access has not worsened since Jones was removed, according to researchers, but they worry that the data will become less available.
“They are pretending that public health is what has damaged (the) economy,” said Asal Johnson, an assistant professor of Public Health at Stetson University. “They are getting it wrong; the economy is damaged because we ignored evidence to protect public health.
“They think they can save their own political interest by restricting information,” she added.
The situation was even more dangerous now that Florida has already reopened, researchers said.
“The virus doesn’t really give a damn if you hide its numbers,” said Jennifer Larsen, a researcher at the University of Central Florida’s LabX.
