Creekside Cottage: Information Friday

My limelights are starting to get their autumn blush on them. They are not quite as far a long as the ones in this photo, but they are on their way.

We have an interesting thing happening here in my county. The Governor, a democrat running for reelection, came to town to make a campaign talking point about two supposed measles deaths, and made a big deal about the two people being unvaxxed. Our Governor, besides running for reelection this year, has hopes for the presidency. So wanting taking a play from the covid handbook, he made a big deal about the people being unvaxxed.

The story fell apart quickly, when the coroner reported that he had been given no reports of measles deaths. This is a requirement of the law. Also it turns out that a baby was one of the deaths, and 1. Not old enough for the MMR vax, and 2. Died of a laceration to the spleen. The baby was found to have measles antibodies after its death, but the official reason for the death was the laceration to the spleen.

We have been given no information about the other person at all, citing medical privacy. That's fine but the Governor shared private medical information when he declared them unvacinated.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has even weighed in, and our Governor bashed him for promoting vaccine hesitancy.

From Commissioner Josh Parsons FB page

Fact: At the Governor’s measles press conference, and in other statements, officials emphasized the two deaths were of “unvaccinated” individuals, although they gave no other information about the individuals. 

Fact: Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen has stated she “thoroughly” reviewed both cases. 

Fact: My independent investigation and consultation with the County Coroner revealed that one of the cases was an infant who died in childbirth. 

Fact: An infant who dies in childbirth had no opportunity to get vaccinated. 

Conclusion: If Dr. Bogen actually “thoroughly” reviewed the case she would obviously know there was no opportunity for the infant to be vaccinated. Thus, stating a technically true fact, but hiding the other relevant information, indicates an attempt to deceive the public. The framing, or underlying assertion was that the non-vaccination of the deceased individual was a choice, and an unwise choice at that. But the deceased infant of course had no choice. That is deception. 

Fact: Deaths or suspected deaths due to contagious disease, including measles, are required to be reported the County Coroner. 

Fact: In response to the questions I raised about why the second case has not been reported to the County Coroner, the Pennsylvania Department of Health put out a statement with the following sentence: “Not all deaths are referred to a coroner under Pennsylvania law.” (DOH Statement on 8/26/26.) This sentence is technically correct. For instance, an elderly patient who dies of natural causes would not necessarily be referred to the County Coroner. However, the law does require a death known or suspected to be due to contagious disease be reported to the coroner. Thus, the coroner should have a record of any measles related death in Lancaster County.

Conclusion: The PA Dept of Health while stating a technically true fact, was attempting to deceive the public. 

In the law, when trying cases in court, there is a jury instruction called “false in one, false in all.” It is the from the Latin term “falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus.” It means that if you find a witness lied about a material fact, the jury may choose to reject the rest of the witness’s testimony. That seems appropriate here.

If this is a mistake, Dr. Bogen and the Governor should come out and state that and apologize. We all make mistakes. I have certainly said incorrect and even foolish things as an elected official. But allowing these statements to stand appears worse than foolishness. It appears to be a failed attempt to deceive the public.

Also from Josh Parsons - 

Will Commissioner Yoder take down her post saying I spread "misinformation" now that the key facts I announced have been corroborated by LNP? She has repeatedly said over the years that LNP is a trusted news source. Moreover, she has yet to rebut any of the actual evidence I have laid out. 
I like Alice and understand she is likely under great pressure from the Governor's office. But the facts and the truth matter here. We should pursue them. 

I share this as a reminder that politics is important at the local level. Our governor moved up from a county commissioner in another county than mine.

Also so frustrating that the dems put out this wrong information, try to make it seem like the republican commissioner is spreading false information, and when they are proven wrong they won't even put out a written apology.

Also shows that the mainstream news (nationally and locally) shared this story without doing any research on it themselves. Mouth pieces for a certain ideology, rather than journalists.

I was running errands this morning and was listening to Glenn Beck. He was so good on explaining the importance of the longterm things the President is putting into place that will benefit all Americans, and this hemisphere, down the line. Somethings may take 10 years to see real fruit from them. We have become people who want everything now, and that is why people find the DSA appealing.

He interviewed the President yesterday on air but I missed it. This video of Glenn is from yesterday before he spoke with Trump.

Canada has been close with China, and I believe that Trump is trying to get Canada to choose to be partners in our hemisphere. Yes, he's trolling them, but it is a serious thing, too. China is not our friend. Canada is friends with China, and also not our friend. As a country Canada sells 3/4 of all it's goods exports to America. If we didn't allow them to sell to us, they wouldn't have a country.