The Universe Smiles: December 2020

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Speak Truth to Power: Authoritarians in the Midst of a Pandemic

Today is the one year anniversary of the Wuhan CDC sending out an internal memo to all Wuhan hospitals to warn of a possible SARS corona virus. Prior to that, the State tried to cover up what was happening in Wuhan. Dr. Li Wenliang, a 33 year old opthamologist at Wuhan Central Hospital, saw the memo, and alerted his network of friends on his private blog. The information leaked and he was targeted by the State as a "rumor mongerer" and was publically admonished by the Wuhan Police Department Janurary 3, 2020:

Here is the translation:

Wuhan Municipal Public Security Bureau Wuchang Branch Bureau Zhongnan Road Street Police Station

Letter of Exhortation

Wu Gong (Zhong) Character (20200103)

Admonished Li Wenliang Gender Male Birth Date 19861012

ID type and number 21

Current address (place of residence) , Wuchang District, Wuhan City

Employer Central Hospital of Wuhan

Illegal behavior (time, place, participants, number of people, what problems are reflected, consequences, etc.)

Posting untrue statement "7 SARS cases confirmed at Wuhan Huanan Fruit and Seafood Market" on the WeChat Group "Wuhan University Clinical Class of 2004" on Dec 30, 2019.

[We are] now filing an official warning and admonitions to you on the illegal issue of posting untrue statements on the Internet according to the law. Your behavior severely disrupted social order. Your behavior had exceeded the scope permitted by the law and violates the relevant provisions of the Public Security Administration Punishment Law of the People's Republic of China, which was an illegal act!

The public security organ hopes that you can cooperate with our work, listen to the admonishment by the police officers and stop conducting illegal activities. Are you able to do that?

Answer: Able.

We advise you to calm down and reflect carefully. We sternly warn you: if you are stubborn, do not show repentance, and continue to conduct illegal activities, you will be punished by the law! Do you understand?

Answer: Understand.

Admonished: January 3, 2020

Admonitioner: Hu Guifang, Xu Jinhang Employer: Wuhan Municipal Public Security Bureau, Wuchang District Branch Bureau, Zhongnan Road Street Zhongnan Road Police Station, seal

January 3, 2020

Dr. Li Wenliang was persecuted because the State wanted to control the message, maintain its political power and protect the economy. That's what totalitarian governments do. That is what happens when there is not a free press and freedom of speech. Dr. Li Wenliang contracted the virus from one of his opthalmic patients who he did not know had the virus. Dr. Li Wenliang died February 7, 2020 from Covid-19. He was treated as a hero by the Chinese people. The State did a posthumous apology. Even in the face of increased censorship and political persecution, the people of China were wiser and more outspoken because of what Dr. Li Wenliang did.

A trend appeared on both Facebook and the popular WeChat messaging app of users writing words on their masks in response to Dr Li's death. Many wrote "I cannot" and "I do not understand" - a reference to how Dr Li was interrogated by police, who had asked him: "Can you do it?" and "Do you understand?" when warning him to stop "making false comments". https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55355401

In America, 2020 saw a similar authoritarian approach to the Covid-19 news. President Trump did everything to persecute "whistleblowers," denigrate scientists and doctors, and to control the "message" to protect his political power and the economy. He even got many doctors and scientists fired because he didn't like what they were saying: Dr. James P. Phillips of Walter Reed Hospital who criticized Trump for insisting on a riding in a motorcade past supporters when he had the Covid virus, was fired December 27, 2020.

James P. Phillips, MD

@DrPhillipsMD

Today, I worked my final shift at Walter Reed ER. I will miss the patients and my military and civilian coworkers - they have been overwhelmingly supportive. I’m honored to have worked there and I look forward to new opportunities. I stand by my words, and I regret nothing.

7:22 PM · Dec 27, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

Likes

Trump was responsible for the censorship of public health messaging, the spread of disinformation and untruths, and covering up the true threat. Trump used his powerful position as Head of State to declare that the corona virus was a Chinese "hoax," to accuse his political opponents of "spreading lies" about the severity of the virus, and to whip up distrust and anger toward doctors and the press among American citizens.

Fortunately, the majority of the American people saw through his lies and voted against his return to a second Presidential term. It is easier in a democracy to "speak truth to power." But freedom to do so can be lost by people who are divided and distracted by false promises and distorted facts. Now, we must unite as a people to protect those who "speak truth to power" and work together to defeat the Pandemic. So much precious time and lives have been lost.

Thursday, December 3, 2020

Merry Christmas 2020

Well, we made it to December of 2020. What an awful year in so many ways.

Since you cannot be here with me and I cannot be there with you this holiday season, here's a peek at what is happening now at the Farrar house. Children in the house, distance learning, baking cookies, watching the birds outside, reading many books, watching too much TV....