Friday, September 3, 2021

Dr. Brij Bhambi's stern warning on the pandemic: antivaxers are perpetuating the pandemic by playing Russian roulette with a killer virus, creating an "arsonist inferno" as the truly sick are crowded out of hospitals now full with the unvaccinated

 Bakersfield Observed is proud to present another opinion essay from Dr. Brij Bhambi, local cardiologist, head of Centric Health and one of the physician-owners of Bakersfield Heart Hospital.


"In humanity’s battle against Covid-19, the development of highly effective and safe vaccines, in a record time, has rightly been hailed as a miracle of science. The continued skepticism of some notwithstanding, there is no treatment that has this widely been studied in entire human history. Billions of dosages have been administered with a minuscule number of adverse effects.
 The alternative reality in the recesses of dark web has its own narrative, that by design, is built on misinformation and mischief.
 The vaccines were intended to be our ticket out of pandemic. Vaccines are effective shields that lend time limited immunity. These shields are not completely impervious or timeless against the virus.

But the vaccine generated immunity would have been effective and durable enough to give us time to beat the virus for good.
 The success was predicated on near universal adoption of vaccine, near simultaneously. The spectacular apathy of the leadership to coordinate a global response worked in favor of the virus. It took the “near simultaneous” out of equation.
 Logistics got even murkier near home.
 The initial disequilibrium between demand and supply was soon remedied and vaccine abundance hit the stubborn wall of vaccine resistance.
 Rest is history.
 The waning immunity among the earlier vaccinated and virus friendly behavior of vaccine resistant are contriving now to expand vulnerability all over again. Hospitals are bursting at seams and virus is killing in high numbers, again.
 The booster shots among the willing will temporarily shrink the susceptible population base.
 The overriding concern persists.
 This vicious cycle will continue to play ceaselessly as waning immunity meets vaccine resistant again.  And again!
 A rendezvous guaranteed by the antivaxxers.
 The pandemic will perpetuate, with luck only at an elevated endemic level.
 Mere optimism wont reduce this threat to flu level anytime soon.
 When mischief is given a mulligan, society will be compelled to pick up the tab.
 As the virus ravages and stench of death thickens, the unhinged celebrate their liberties, un-infringed.
The healthcare workers drag their beat up carcasses to the service of sick by choice, as truly sick are crowded out.
 Death mounts, life expectancy continues to fall. Unattended strokes and heart attacks die a preventable death.
 The nation rightfully convulsed with a collective shock when 13 marines were massacred in a botched exit from Afghanistan.
 A daily death of 1300+ draws a collective yawn. Dead amidst death is a lost “sense of proportion”.
 A zombie nation indifferent to its own.
The hollow vaccine mandates encourage some to find religion. Web based testimonials affirm exemptions and scoundrels find refuge.
There is no real medical exception to vaccine other than past history of vaccine induced Guillain Barre syndrome. Or in rare occurrences, a demonstrated allergy to vaccine components. But the diligent are not wary, they will hustle and invent any number of health based exceptions.
 Mandate is an exercise in mockery.

 "Healthcare workers are reaching a breaking point. They are mercilessly exposed to the virus through the actions of vaccine resistant. There is a palpable fear and building frustration.
Then there is guilt.
We fail Hippocratic oath when we lend silent acquiescence to the spread of infection. We make mockery of the oath when we allow the unvaccinated to kill the vulnerable.
This death and killing has to stop.
And yes, our lives matter too.

"We can’t be detached spectators to this arsonist inferno. We can’t volunteer to be a vassal for an invasive and relentlessly proliferative virus.
We can’t deliberately usher infection home.
We can’t be coerced in to a Russian roulette, attending to infection seekers by choice.
An interesting imposition and infringement on our health and liberties, to save the immortal and suicidal.
Is sanity forbidden?
Is commonsense comatose?
Line in the sand begs to be drawn.
This conversation is completely respectful to political and religious preferences. The virus, however, is totally agnostic.
Get vaccinated.
"Stop perpetuating the pandemic.

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

While the nation grows more secular, more Catholic priests are accused of sexual misdeeds, local boy Tyler Williams wins the yellow jersey in an Arkansas cycling race and it's time for a frank discussion of the homeless



 Welcome to Bakersfield Observed. Our mission is to celebrate life in Kern County by focusing on newsmakers and events and the local characters who make this community such a special place. The views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent any other company or publication.

 * ... SECULAR UNITED STATES: The national trend of the United States becoming a more secular nation continues without slowing down, with just 30 percent of Generation Z believing in the existence of a God. According to The Wall Street Journal, only 44 percent of millennials believe in God,

far down from the 70 percent of the Silent Generation and 63 percent of the Baby Boomers. "Today," an essay read, "scholars are finding that by almost any metric they use to measure religiosity, younger generations are much more secular than their parents or grandparents." It went on: "The decline has come about as a result of a combination of demographic changes: America has become more multiracial, and larger shares of Americans are jettisoning Christianity and either aligning with other religions or are leaving religion behind entirely and joining the ranks of the religion nones."


 * ... PREDATOR PRIESTS: Two more priests, this time from the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, have been accused of sexual abuse and had their priestly faculties removed "pending the outcome of a formal investigation." The allegations were leveled against father Daniel Madigan and father Maurice O'Brien, both retired but both of whom have been accused of improperly touching young men in a sexual manner. The sheer number of priests who have been accused of engaging in inappropriate sexual activity is astounding, including the one prominent Kern County case where former priest Craig Harrison is facing multiple lawsuits from men who say Harrison preyed upon them as young men.


 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "I don't care who you voted for, show me your rescue pet."

 * ... HOMELESS: Is the homeless problem getting any better in Kern County, or is there simply a reservoir of pent up goodwill praying that it will get better? Ask anyone on the street and the answer is unanimous: there has been no discernible decrease in the homeless population over the past few years. They remain living in our parks, on our street corners, in the alleyways, on the streets and leaving a mess in their wake. Yet some of the people coordinating the anti-homeless effort say progress is being made. We will discuss the gap between perception and reality this week on the Bakersfield Observed podcast when Jim Wheeler of Flood Ministries and Carlos Baldovinos of the Mission of Kern County join me for a frank discussion of the work before us. The podcast will drop Thursday on Spotify, KERNRADIO.COM or wherever you get your podcasts.



 * ... TYLER WILLIAMS: Tyler Williams, a 26-year-old phenom pro cyclist from Bakersfield, took the yellow jersey and won the Joe Martin Stage Race over the weekend in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Williams, who raced in Europe a few years back, races for the LA-based L39ion racing team. Williams held the leader's yellow jersey until the penultimate stage when he lost it, only to regain it and win the race on the last stage.








 * ... MEMORIES: I thought you would all enjoy this old picture of downtown Carpenteria back in the day.



 * ... MORE MEMORIES: And finally this old shot of a Texaco station on the old grapevine road, circa 1940s, from the Kern County of Old Facebook page.