Have you ever called rice “corn” or Ohio “Iowa?”
There was a time in my childhood in which rice and corn were confusing words for me. Don’t ask me why, but somehow, in my head they seemed to serve the same function. So rice, which looks nothing like corn, is a word I would regularly transpose for the other and vice versa.
Or consider living life in Illinois, nestled up close to Lake Michigan and realizing that in one direction was Iowa and in the other direction (though one state over) was Ohio.
One state name was built like this: “Vowel sound. Consonant. Vowel sound. Vowel sound.” (The one I would eventually remember as “the O one.” Until this moment, I have mostly kept that silly moniker to myself.)
The other was built like this: “Vowel sound. Vowel sound. Consonant. Vowel sound.” (The one I would eventually remember as “the I one.”)
This morning, I woke up, ready for a new day and with a small feeling of accomplishment around yesterday’s writing — ready to begin the day ahead, until I quickly skimmed through my email to identify any emergencies.
I decided to elevate something to the level of emergency. . .
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An astute and caring reader kindly took the time to point out something about yesterday’s email and accompanying writing:
You mention Pfiser made Vioxx?
I thought Merck made Vioxx…
My sister worked there during the time it was recalled…
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Oh man, I did what? I confused Pfizer with Merck? There’s not really a good excuse for my mess up here. Chapter 52 of Face Masks Hurt Kids is even dedicated to “The Story of Vioxx.” I don’t make that mistake in there!
And the story of Vioxx is an important one — how does a drug get marketed as safer than the alternative, though studies indicate the opposite, spend years on the market, kill hundreds of thousands, and then never see anyone punished for the fraud?
It has a lot to say about our present day with the marketing of the Covid vaccine and the liability shield that comes with the toxic drug.
Yesterday’s email first appeared at LewRockwell.com, about thirty minutes before it was sent out as an email. I contacted the editorial team there to change two sentences. This one:
Its game plan is more akin to what took place with its own Merck’s painkiller, Vioxx, in 2005, which was also recalled.
And this one:
Pfizer executives will not get away with the evils of 2020 and beyond the way they Merck got away with the evils of Vioxx.
And I asked to have this sentence added at the end:
*June 18, 2022 this article was updated to reflect Vioxx was a Merck product and not a Pfizer product.
I made the same changes on my substack. I am also sending this email here to point out my oversight, to try to correct it, to thank the reader for pointing this out, and to apologize to you for this mistake.
I knew better and just did not give that fact the diligence I needed to before pressing send. It just clicked in my head as naturally as corn and rice used to click. If you ever spot that kind of oversight on my part, or any oversight, I would be so grateful to hear from you.
Now, I am going to zoom out the microscope a little. Pfizer might as well be Merck. Anthony Fauci might as well be your county’s own public health officer. Your one triple masked, quadruple vaxxed neighbor might as well be your other triple masked, quadruple vaxxed neighbor. They are all playing the same role of how people behave when taken by a social contagion and not held accountable by well-intentioned, good, caring, diligent people in society.
We, in our own lives, need to try our best not to behave that way and to hold ourselves to a higher standard, because there isn’t always a caring person willing to stand up and tell us the mistakes we are making. We need to, at the same time, expect accountability from those around us who we care for or who otherwise impact our lives.
That is part of the reason I am launching work such as Project Accountability, part of the reason I write, part of the reason why part of my day today will be spent meeting with others in their local community and helping them to organize their next exciting piece of activism.
One of the ways we are made better is by our interaction with others. Society does its members a great favor when it calls each to rise to a higher standard. And, of course, that is not always what life in society looks like, but it is the exemplar.
I want to thank you for being part of that process of holding me to a higher standard, holding yourselves to a higher standard, and holding society to a higher standard.
Done properly, it is one of the most loving and generous ways one can see the world.
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Thank you, dear warrior, for being a part of this push for greater accountability in the world around us.
Allan Stevo