First do no harm – and never let a crisis go to waste
Lead Summary

By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.”
– H.L. Mencken, "In Defense Of Women"
Just curious: Has anyone seen the highest-paid bureaucrat on the U.S. taxpayers' teat lately? It's so bad that I was checking milk cartons (pun intended) in Alabama last month for Anthony Fauci. No worries. He's well beyond outliving his usefulness.
While down south, a good friend shared a copy of Alex Berenson's thought-provoking book "Pandemia." It ought to be required reading for every federal, state and local bureaucrat who thinks he has the authority and power to shut down the greatest nation on earth. Other nations might want to similarly enlighten themselves.
Berenson's book is a prime example of the lead-in quote by the old Baltimore newspaperman H.L. Mencken: “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary."
For the record, Berenson's writings have gotten him kicked off some of the allegedly popular social media networks. I'm not on any of them, so I really don't give a rat's cheese about it. "Pandemia" is, nevertheless, worth reading. In fact, I might misplace my friend's copy just so I can reference it for future arguments.
In true journalistic fashion, Berenson puts together a 382-page gem, complete with 52 more pages of notes and acknowledgments to support his findings. (The woke social media fear-mongers certainly didn't bother to read any of it.)
Before getting into the book, I'll share a personal note or two. I have a good friend who, until 2020, had never asked me if I have had any vaccinations whatsoever. For almost two years, he has asked me repeatedly if I'd had a "COVID vaccination."
Frankly, that is none of his business. (I've never been in his house, either. And if his multiple vaccines, boosters and masks work, what's he afraid of, anyway?)
At first, I replied that I'd had several "COVID shots" from Kentucky and a few Ultra Light boosters. Humor is lost on some folks. I am so "anti-vax" that I paid an absolute stranger at a local drugstore to inject Lord-knows-what in my left arm last Monday. Maybe it will do as it was advertised. Maybe not. Time will tell.
From March 2020 through the government's COVID heyday (yes, they believe their actions were successful), I have complied when shopping at Kroger or Great Scot or having lunch at Big Ernie's. If those owners wanted me to wear an absolutely worthless mask for a few minutes, I figured what the hell. Then, not long after the 2021 presidential inauguration, these mandates started to wane, one by one. Some of us predicted as much.
In "Pandemia," Berenson reports: "The most important fact about the coronavirus pandemic that turned the world upside down in 2020 is that our response to it has been an epic overreaction driven by a disastrous confluence of public and private interests – all of them purporting to 'follow the science.'”
Except the "science" was likely manipulated more than it was followed.
"In our desperation to control COVID-19, we had done more damage to ourselves and the world than the virus ever could," Berenson wrote. "Anyone paying attention could see that the cure was worse than the disease.
"As COVID hit, governors in many states seized unprecedented control of their citizens," Berenson continued. They refused to open schools. They imposed draconian rules on businesses. They forced people to wear masks – even outside. Journalists didn't question these monumental intrusions. They cheered them, while ignoring scientists who challenged the conventional narrative."
Ohio's governor was one of those who "seized unprecedented control." He even ordered a last-minute cancellation of Ohio's 2020 primary election, declaring a "health emergency" posed by the coronavirus. This action was taken even though a judge declined to postpone the primary.
Serious journalists are not supposed to be cheerleaders. They are supposed to seek the truth and live by the credo, "If your mother says she loves you, check it out."
For more than two years, the majority of so-called journalists simply drank the political Kool-Aid and rewrote news releases from Fauci pressers. In other words, most were derelict in their duties and continue to be.
As Dr. Robert Malone, who is the discoverer of in-vitro and in-vivo RNA transfection and the inventor of mRNA vaccines while he was at the Salk Institute, wrote in The Washington Times: "We are simply saying that just because you have a big vaccine hammer, it is not necessarily wise to use it for every nail. The American people deserve better than a universal vaccination strategy under the flag of bad science and enforced through authoritarian measures."
The Hippocratic Oath used to be "First do no harm." An online search today of "first do no harm" will get you woke up real quick.
Read "Pandemia" for yourself. It's more than worth your time. Send a copy to the governor and Dr. Acton, too. I'll pay postage.
* * *
• Lastly, in light of the "news" from the better-late-than-never file about Hunter Biden, his infamous laptop, Patrick Ho, Uncle Jim Biden and The Big Guy, allow me to share this from the office of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, who is leading an investigation of the Bidens.
"Our challenge is that the deep state does not give up its secrets easily. New evidence of Biden family influence peddling is surfacing on a regular basis – often coming from records from Hunter Biden’s laptop. The same laptop that the media and deep state former intelligence agencies officials inferred was, you guessed it, Russian disinformation. But it wasn’t Russian disinformation. Nor is any of the information we presented in our reports and here on the floor of the Senate.
"We may never know all the details of the Biden family foreign entanglements, or the full extent to which those entanglements compromise our current President. But I’m pretty confident I know who does know – intelligence operatives in Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. Elements within U.S. intelligence agencies probably also know, they’re just not going to tell us."
As someone said, "The danger to America is not Joe Biden, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the presidency."
Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press, Highland County's only locally owned and operated newspaper.
– H.L. Mencken, "In Defense Of Women"
Just curious: Has anyone seen the highest-paid bureaucrat on the U.S. taxpayers' teat lately? It's so bad that I was checking milk cartons (pun intended) in Alabama last month for Anthony Fauci. No worries. He's well beyond outliving his usefulness.
While down south, a good friend shared a copy of Alex Berenson's thought-provoking book "Pandemia." It ought to be required reading for every federal, state and local bureaucrat who thinks he has the authority and power to shut down the greatest nation on earth. Other nations might want to similarly enlighten themselves.
Berenson's book is a prime example of the lead-in quote by the old Baltimore newspaperman H.L. Mencken: “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary."
For the record, Berenson's writings have gotten him kicked off some of the allegedly popular social media networks. I'm not on any of them, so I really don't give a rat's cheese about it. "Pandemia" is, nevertheless, worth reading. In fact, I might misplace my friend's copy just so I can reference it for future arguments.
In true journalistic fashion, Berenson puts together a 382-page gem, complete with 52 more pages of notes and acknowledgments to support his findings. (The woke social media fear-mongers certainly didn't bother to read any of it.)
Before getting into the book, I'll share a personal note or two. I have a good friend who, until 2020, had never asked me if I have had any vaccinations whatsoever. For almost two years, he has asked me repeatedly if I'd had a "COVID vaccination."
Frankly, that is none of his business. (I've never been in his house, either. And if his multiple vaccines, boosters and masks work, what's he afraid of, anyway?)
At first, I replied that I'd had several "COVID shots" from Kentucky and a few Ultra Light boosters. Humor is lost on some folks. I am so "anti-vax" that I paid an absolute stranger at a local drugstore to inject Lord-knows-what in my left arm last Monday. Maybe it will do as it was advertised. Maybe not. Time will tell.
From March 2020 through the government's COVID heyday (yes, they believe their actions were successful), I have complied when shopping at Kroger or Great Scot or having lunch at Big Ernie's. If those owners wanted me to wear an absolutely worthless mask for a few minutes, I figured what the hell. Then, not long after the 2021 presidential inauguration, these mandates started to wane, one by one. Some of us predicted as much.
In "Pandemia," Berenson reports: "The most important fact about the coronavirus pandemic that turned the world upside down in 2020 is that our response to it has been an epic overreaction driven by a disastrous confluence of public and private interests – all of them purporting to 'follow the science.'”
Except the "science" was likely manipulated more than it was followed.
"In our desperation to control COVID-19, we had done more damage to ourselves and the world than the virus ever could," Berenson wrote. "Anyone paying attention could see that the cure was worse than the disease.
"As COVID hit, governors in many states seized unprecedented control of their citizens," Berenson continued. They refused to open schools. They imposed draconian rules on businesses. They forced people to wear masks – even outside. Journalists didn't question these monumental intrusions. They cheered them, while ignoring scientists who challenged the conventional narrative."
Ohio's governor was one of those who "seized unprecedented control." He even ordered a last-minute cancellation of Ohio's 2020 primary election, declaring a "health emergency" posed by the coronavirus. This action was taken even though a judge declined to postpone the primary.
Serious journalists are not supposed to be cheerleaders. They are supposed to seek the truth and live by the credo, "If your mother says she loves you, check it out."
For more than two years, the majority of so-called journalists simply drank the political Kool-Aid and rewrote news releases from Fauci pressers. In other words, most were derelict in their duties and continue to be.
As Dr. Robert Malone, who is the discoverer of in-vitro and in-vivo RNA transfection and the inventor of mRNA vaccines while he was at the Salk Institute, wrote in The Washington Times: "We are simply saying that just because you have a big vaccine hammer, it is not necessarily wise to use it for every nail. The American people deserve better than a universal vaccination strategy under the flag of bad science and enforced through authoritarian measures."
The Hippocratic Oath used to be "First do no harm." An online search today of "first do no harm" will get you woke up real quick.
Read "Pandemia" for yourself. It's more than worth your time. Send a copy to the governor and Dr. Acton, too. I'll pay postage.
* * *
• Lastly, in light of the "news" from the better-late-than-never file about Hunter Biden, his infamous laptop, Patrick Ho, Uncle Jim Biden and The Big Guy, allow me to share this from the office of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, who is leading an investigation of the Bidens.
"Our challenge is that the deep state does not give up its secrets easily. New evidence of Biden family influence peddling is surfacing on a regular basis – often coming from records from Hunter Biden’s laptop. The same laptop that the media and deep state former intelligence agencies officials inferred was, you guessed it, Russian disinformation. But it wasn’t Russian disinformation. Nor is any of the information we presented in our reports and here on the floor of the Senate.
"We may never know all the details of the Biden family foreign entanglements, or the full extent to which those entanglements compromise our current President. But I’m pretty confident I know who does know – intelligence operatives in Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. Elements within U.S. intelligence agencies probably also know, they’re just not going to tell us."
As someone said, "The danger to America is not Joe Biden, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the presidency."
Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press, Highland County's only locally owned and operated newspaper.