REMEMBER THESE TWELVE NAMES.
1.Joseph Mercola
2. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
3. Ty & Charlene Bollinger
4. Sherri Tenpenny
5. Rizza Islam
6. Rashid Buttar
7. Erin Elizabeth
8 Sayer Ji
9. Kelly Brogan
10. Christiane Northrup
11. Ben Tapper
12. Kevin Jenkins
As a grandparent who is a child of Holocaust survivors, I have been told stories of parents and grandparents giving their lives for their children and grandchildren and doing everything in their power to save their children and grandchildren from the Nazis and death. We Boomers and Boomer Grandparents have the power and ability to fight COVID-19 and the Delta variant NOW by fighting the “Disinformation Dozen” as they are a life-threatening danger to our grandchildren.
After my granddaughter asked me write my parents’ Holocaust stories, I found out, for the first time, in my seventies, from my brother, that my father had a nine year old son. He did not know how the child died in the Holocaust, however, when I reread my father’s story, I realized my father revealed how he died. He died when my father, one of dozens of parents, were trying to save their children’s lives by attempting to secrete them out of the Warsaw Ghetto under the Nazis noses.
When I was thirteen, my father gave me the book, “The Wall”, by John Hersey. Although it was fictionalized, my father said many of the instances were real. He said he was a witness to many, but specifically told me one at that time. My father told me of being in the main Warsaw Ghetto square where there were many parents of children waiting for the hay wagons in which their children were hidden to watch them escape from the Nazis and certain death by leaving the ghetto. Someone told the Nazis that this was happening. Nazis appeared in the square with machine guns and sprayed bullets into the hay wagons. He told me of what he saw and heard. He said there were screams from the wagons and screams of the parents. He said he saw blood dripping from the wagons and the hay was turning red from blood. He said the parents started to run from the square knowing the Nazis would then turn the machine guns onto them. He ran from the square. The impact on me was as horrific as the event and his personal retelling as a witness. The parents knew they would probably never see their children again when they signed on to that plan, but they did everything they could do to save their children from death and give them a future.
Now, how did his nine year old son die? Why was my father in the square at that moment? Why was my father in the square at that time with parents secreting their children out of the Warsaw Ghetto but for to try to save his son’s life? My brother and I will never know, as my father died September 1, 1989.
My father knew he would never see his child again, but most important was trying to save his life.
WHY THIS IS RELEVANT TO US BOOMERS
This story is so relevant today. What we do know are the lengths one goes to when one’s child or grandchild is in danger.
Our grandchildren’s lives are in danger and we have the ability to do something about it.
The Delta variant spreads more easily, more quickly, longer and wider than the COVID-19 original version. It is dangerous to us grandparents even as we are vaccinated. It is most dangerous to our grandchildren younger than twelve who cannot yet be vaccinated. We all want them safe. We want them to safely get their lives back. We want them to safely go back to school.
Those who spread misinformation about the coronavirus are also a clear and present danger to our grandchildren. We need to fight misinformation and those who spew misinformation so the good people we know who are being bamboozled, deceived by underhanded methods and for ill gotten gain, who are not getting vaccinated will do so as soon as possible, to stop the spread and reach herd immunity.
IDENTIFY THE “DISINFORMATION DOZEN” AND THEIR INFLUENCE AMONG OUR FRIENDS, RELATIVES AND NEIGHBORS, ALL GOOD PEOPLE
We now know that there are the “Disinformation Dozen,” a list of twelve people responsible for sharing 65 percent of all anti-vaccine messaging on social media,” according to the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate. The New York Times shared the information and links to the article and the study itself. Sunday, July 25, 2021, in the New York Times article, “The Most Influential Spreader of Coronavirus Misinformation Online,” the author Sheera Frenkel, writes, “Researchers and regulators say Joseph Mercola, an osteopathic physician, creates and profits from misleading claims about Covid-19 vaccines.” He is our Boomer grandparents’ enemy number one of twelve in our fight to keep our grandchildren safe from the coronavirus, as his misinformation is contributing to millions not becoming vaccinated to bring our country to herd immunity and greater safety for all of us.
We learn why and how this misinformation is spread. In 2017, this man, Joseph Mercola, said he was worth in excess of $100 Million dollars. Ostensibly, spreading misinformation and selling products to those who succumb to this fear seemed to help made him a fortune. Money is a strong motive. How did he do this? The internet and social media.
WHAT CAN WE BOOMERS DO?
Spread his and the other eleven “disinformation Dozen” names on social media and in emails and in person. Identify which of them our friends, relatives and neighbors follow, and use the information in the report about each to reveal their motives and misinformation, and counter what they say. We BOOMERS are a power 77 MILLION STRONG. Let us use this power to counter the misinformation from the twelve worst offenders of misinformation and lead with the danger they are causing to our grandchildren.
Spread the news far and wide. Tell people to ostracize them like ancient tribes did to evil ones. Convince your friends, relatives, and neighbors not to click on their sites, posts, or retweet posts. Convince your friends, relatives, and neighbors not to buy any of the products they sell.
We are multi millions strong. Let’s do this.
SHARE WHY THE DISINFORMATION DOZEN ARE DANGEROUS AND HOW AND WHY THEIR MOTIVES MAY BE SELF SERVING
Here is what we need to know, why the following twelve are listed in the Centre for
Countering Digital Hate’s report, “The Disinformation Dozen: Why platforms must act on twelve leading online anti-vaxxers.” There are pages of background and information about each one of the twelve.
1.Joseph Mercola
2. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
3. Ty & Charlene Bollinger
4. Sherri Tenpenny
5. Rizza Islam
6. Rashid Buttar
7. Erin Elizabeth
8 Sayer Ji
9. Kelly Brogan
10. Christiane Northrup
11. Ben Tapper
12. Kevin Jenkins
Here are the quoted KEY FINDINGS from the Centre for Countering Digital Hate’s executive summary.
“Analysis of a sample of anti-vaxx content that was shared or posted on Facebook and
Twitter showed up to 65% of anti-vaccine content can be traced to the leading online
anti-vaxxers, who we label the Disinformation Dozen.
● Individuals were selected based upon their high social media followings and high
volume production of anti-vaccine content.
● Our sample of anti-vaccine content was shared or posted on Facebook or Twitter a
total of 812,000 times between February 1 and March 16 2021, with 65% of that
sample attributable to the Disinformation Dozen.
● In the last two months, our analysis of anti-vaxx content posted or shared to
Facebook 689,000 times shows that up to 73% of that content originates from
the leading anti-vaxxers included in this report.
● Analysis of 120,000 anti-vaccine tweets and shares during this period finds that
up to 17% feature the Disinformation Dozen.”
The Centre for Countering Digital Hate wants the social media platforms to call them out. We Boomers and grandparents do not have to wait for others to act. We are on Facebook and Twitter. Good people have been taken in by their misinformation and are not taking the available vaccines. Fear has overtaken them. It makes the virus spread when our friends, neighbors and relatives listen to misinformation and do not get vaccinated. Yes, we can point out to friends, relatives and neighbors this Dangerous Dozen and explain their evil or misguided positions.
WHY WE MUST ACT NOW
In Florida alone, the aggressive Delta variant, has infected more than 70,000 Floridians in the last two weeks, with 97% of those hospitalized unvaccinated, plunging Florida into another wave of COVID cases. It is a younger age group being hospitalized and at risk of needing ICU care. “Questions Arise as COVID-19 cases Increase,” by Cindy Krischer Goodman, South Florida Sun Sentinel, July 25, 2021.
It is our unvaccinated grandchildren at risk we must address right now.
BOYCOTT AND COUNTERATTACK. My father fought in the Warsaw Ghetto, during the Treblinka uprising, and as a partisan against the Nazis. He survived. We BOOMERS ARE A FORCE that can fight back. We can help get more Americans vaccinated to get to herd immunity. We want our grandchildren to not only survive, but thrive.
As a group 77 MILLION STRONG AND 70 MILLION GRANDPARENTS we Boomers are a force to spread the word far and wide of the misinformation that is being spread. As the Dangerous Dozen do, please translate it into many languages.
Let’s do this.
We can fight for our grandchildren’s lives from our desks and couches, from our computers, tablets and phones. We can fight on Facebook and Twitter in greater numbers than the Dangerous Dozen. Retweet and re-post each other. We can do this in the millions!
See, previous post, “We Boomer Grandparents are Seventy Million Strong and Now Have the Greatest Power To Change Our World.” We can.
As I ended that post, if not us, who?
Joy,
Mema
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