Misinformed:  Conservative radio host Phil Valentine in Tennessee is reported to be fighting for his life in the hospital after downplaying the threat of Covid-19. He has said on a blog post, “I’m not an anti-vaxxer, I’m just using common sense. What are my odds of getting Covid? They’re pretty low. What are my odds of dying from Covid if I do get it? Probably way less than 1 percent.”

  Now he’s on a respirator. 

  After treating vaccination as a political issue and a matter of American freedom, some Republican politicians are starting to speak up, but it may be too late. Positions are hardened out there.

  Part of the problem is the misinformation industry feeding suspicions about vaccination. As infections rise with Covid-19 and millions of Americans dig in against getting vaccinated, The NY Times profiled Dr. Joseph Mercola, 67, an osteopathic physician in Cape Coral, Florida, describing him as one of the most influential spreaders of misinformation about the Covid vaccine.

  Mercola has written that the vaccines are “a medical fraud” that don’t prevent infections, create immunity, or stop transmission of the disease. He wrote in an article that the Covid shots “alter your genetic coding, turning you into a viral protein factory that has no off-switch.”

  Anti-vaccination campaigns are convincing millions of Americans not to get the shot. The infection rate in the US has quadrupled to 51,000 cases a day in the past month.

  The Times reports that Dr. Mercola has published over 600 articles on Facebook that cast doubt on Covid vaccines, reaching a large audience. He’s one of what has been described as the “Disinformation Dozen,” which also includes the anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

  The paper says Mercola has a business cycle dealing with specious health issues and solutions. “It starts with making unproven and sometimes far-fetched health claims,” The Times reports, “such as that spring mattresses amplify harmful radiation, and then selling products online — from vitamin supplements to organic yogurt — that he promotes as alternative treatments.”

Five Ring Roundup: The US has won 14 medals so far in the Tokyo Olympics. 

  Lee Kiefer of Kentucky became the third American to win gold in an Olympic fencing event, beating a Russian opponent in the foil competition. Not only that, the 27-year-old is a medical student.

  In the pool, Chase Kalisz from Maryland won in the men’s 400-meter individual medley. The American men won the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. And Katy Ledecky, one of the best women swimmers ever, sustained her first Olympic loss finishing second in the 400 meter freestyle.

  The US Olympic basketball team lost its opener against France, breaking a 25-game winning streak. Power house Jrue Holiday, fresh off winning the NBA title with the Milwaukee Bucks, scored 18 points for the US States less than 24 hours after landing in Tokyo, but it wasn’t enough. The French won 83-76.

On the Road: Seven people died in a 20-car pileup that occurred during a blinding sandstorm yesterday in southwestern Utah. Police say that when they couldn’t see the road, some drivers stopped and were hit from behind.

  Out in the tony Hamptons on the east end of Long Island, five people were killed when a driver veered across the line, hitting a car with four people in it, killing all of them and himself. Two brothers died in that one. 

  Police say the driver of  the first car had been drinking.

The Spin Rack: Speaker Nancy Pelosi named Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger from Illinois, a critic of Donald Trump, to her committee to investigate the January 6^th insurrection. — Rodney Alcala, the so-called “Dating Game Killer” who murdered six women and a girl in the 1970s, has died at age 77. He lured victims by offering to take their picture. In 1978 he appeared as “Bachelor No. 1” on an episode of “The Dating Game.” — A South Korean television station has apologized for its coverage of the Olympic opening ceremonies in which they showed pictures associating pizza with Italy, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster with Ukraine, and Count Dracula with Romania. 

The Obit Page: Jackie Mason, a Borscht Belt comedian who kept the style of comedy alive long after the popular Jewish resorts in the Catskills had closed, has died at age 93.

  Mason was born Yacov Moshe Maza in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, the son of a rabbi. He actually trained to be a rabbi himself and started doing comedy in the Catskills to support himself. After going virtually unnoticed for years, an appearance at a Los Angeles nightclub led to breakthrough that put him on television. 

  His humor was the self-deprecating Jewish humor of his time.

– “My father was a very successful businessman, but he was ruined in the stock market crash. A big stockbroker jumped out the window and fell on his pushcart.”

– “A Jew never laughs without looking at his wife for approval.”

– “ I’ve got a friend who is half-Jewish and half-Italian. If he can’t buy it wholesale, he steals it!”

The Marlboro Men: Philip Morris intends to become a smoke free addiction company. The top executive of  Philip Morris International told a British newspaper that the company will stop selling cigarettes in the United Kingdom in the next 10 years.

  They’re going to stop selling Marlboro cigarettes within the next 10 years. 

“It will disappear. The first choice for consumers is they should quit smoking,” CEO Jacek Olczak told The Daily Mail. Once a powerful lung cancer industry, 

Philip Morris International  is planning to go “smoke-free.” In the future, the condemned man will be given vitamins before facing the firing squad.

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