Slight change to this weeks publishing schedule...

...and a note of good luck to all of our American subscribers

Hi everyone! This week we’re delaying the usual big piece of science writing, as I have big news: a legend in the Vaccinology, Virology and Anti-Quackery world, Dr Paul Offit, yes the Dr Paul Offit, has agreed to an interview with yours truly. I do plan to ask him how it feels to finally hit the big time and doing an interview on A Chemical Mind ;)

The Interview will be happening Friday morning 8th November my time (AEDT +11 GMT, Thursday arvo Pacific Time), and will likely be posted either late that evening or Saturday morning my time, in Video and Audio formats.

Then, there will be a resumption of regular programming, as we continue with Deliver Us from Evil.

So, the schedule for the last 3 parts of the series:

Tuesday 12th November
Part 4: Vaccine, Autism, and Fraud

Tuesday 19th November
Part 5: Conspiracy Predictions vs Reality (big focus on Covid-19)

Tuesday 26th November
Part 6: Concluding thoughts and findings, and how to quickly and effectively get a sense of the validity of a theory (I have yet to figure out a short title for this)

Now, with that out of the way, can everyone that is not American please leave the room for a minute? I need to have a chat with the Yankees…

---

Are they gone?

Ok, good.

Dear: American friends,

The next 24-48 hours are no doubt a major source of stress and anxiety. Everyone around the world is watching, we’re all cheering for you, and despite all the tension and uncertainty you are feeling right now, the sun will still rise tomorrow, and the day after, and again after that.

I know it feels like this happens every election cycle; we get so wrapped up in how “the other side” is all negatives, we fall for hyperbole and emotions, often putting those ahead of rational analysis. It feels almost like every time, it’s the election. The one that really counts.

I think, or at least I hope, the legacy of this political era will be to set the low bar, one which is difficult to beat. For the low-bar to be so low it might as well be underground is its own concern, considering the influence this has had on similar democracies all across the western world, where certain politicians of a certain stripe realised they could just spew outrageous lies and falsehoods at will, break the law and ignore the consequences, abuse women, vilify and demonise immigrants, declare themselves above the law, and paradoxically grow in popularity.

The United States of America, as cheesy and almost ironic as this might sound today in 2024, has - for a large part of its history - stood for values which the western world has been taking for granted for a long time now, however imperfectly: Democracy, the Rule of Law, Civil Liberties, the Separation of Powers, the right to dissenting opinion, the right to protest.

The idea that the executive branch is not all-powerful, is not immune to prosecution, is answerable to the people and to their elected representatives (such as the US Congress), is of paramount importance in all democracies.

If the executive branch breaks with the law, the law must rule.

Anything else can’t be called a democracy.

I’m from Australia, my home and land of my birth. For us, America’s most left-leaning politicians would be significantly to the right of centre.

Every election for us is nerve-wracking, like it is in every democracy; however, in my lifetime, I have never had to fear the “other side” in my country being in power.

I have never been given reason to wonder whether one side being in government could break with democratic norms in any way.

The worst we ever saw was when the Liberal party - our traditional Conservative party - was in power last, the Prime Minister gave himself additional ministerial powers in secret during the early days of the Covid-19 Pandemic. His reasoning was that it was “just in case” his ministers had to be off sick for long periods of time. The ability to delegate portfolios like this is a normal part of ensuring the government runs effectively when there is a long-term absence some reason, but the norm is that it is done in consultation with the minister that holds it, and would typically be announced publicly.

It was done in total secrecy, with not even the minister knowing about it.

He effectively gave himself the power to rule directly in multiple ways. He never used the power in the end, but the fact that he had secretly granted them to himself, and that he was able to do so in secret, revealed a major flaw in our rules of government.

Even so, if we had found out about it while he was still in power, I would be concerned, but not afraid that he might actually make use of these powers. I have faith in Australia’s governmental norms and the values of our democracy being shared among all 3 of our major parties (I include the Greens in here merely for the sake of completeness, technically only 2 parties ever form government here).

I can only hope, and hope, and hope again, that the United States can find its way back to a place of stability and sanity in the functioning of government, a place of confidence in its electoral process: the choices should always be between people who you can trust will protect and strengthen your democracy, regardless of the rest of their politics.

I can only hope that you never have to fear the outcome of an election again. I can only hope that when all is said and done, and the dust settles, you will pick yourselves back up again, heal the bruises, brush the dirt from your feet, and move ever forward.

No matter what happens, we are cheering for you. We know you can come out of this stronger and better. It’s what you do, what you have always done throughout your history.

Tomorrow is a new day.

You’ve got this.

Sincerely,
Australia