Tag Archives: quarantine

Let’s bid farewell to a couple of TV “doctors”

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Yesterday, Dr. Oz and Dr. Phil had interesting appalling takes on the country being shutdown due to COVID-19. Oz said the U.S. should consider re-opening schools because children need to be educated and fed. The tradeoff would be a 2-3% mortality rate; he argued that it’s risk worth taking. Phil declared that “45,000 people a year die from automobile accidents, 480,000 from cigarettes, 360,000 a year from swimming pools,” and we don’t shut down the country for that. He also claimed that unless the country is re-opened quickly, more people will fall below the poverty line. What he doesn’t understand is that even if people are able to make ends meet, there is a chance they won’t be able to for long because they could die.

Quick fact check: as per the Centers for Disease Control, 3,536 people died from drowning annually from 2005 to 2014. Some of these deaths occurred in other bodies of water, not just in swimming pools.

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Both doctors are successful talk show hosts, with Dr. Oz promoting products based on pseudoscience, and Dr. Phil basically hosting a censored version of Jerry Springer. That’s where their similarities end. Oz is a cardiothoracic surgeon, so I can understand why news outlets want his opinion. He’s an actual medical doctor, which is all the more reason why he should have known better than to suggest risking a part of our population so kids can go back to school. School is still in session online.

Dr. Phil, on the other hand, was never a medical doctor. He was a clinical psychologist but had his license revoked due to some legal disputes. Which is why for the life of me, I can’t understand why would Fox news go to him for a second opinion when Dr. Fauci and other reputable doctors have explicitly advised against lifting restrictions. My best guess is they want someone who the public trusts and who is also conservative. Who’s narrative will match the network’s values as well as those of their viewers. This is disappointing considering Fox was always criticizing the liberal media of “politicizing” COVID-19, and yet here they are doing the same thing.

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The problem with Dr. Oz and Dr. Phil (and other TV doctors), is that their egos cloud their judgement. They have made more money on TV than they probably would in a lifetime of being a doctor. They live in a bubble where people will believe anything they say, whether it be about bogus products or family therapy. They profit off of people’s ignorance and desperation, or their need for entertainment. If they can con people on their shows, why not on Fox news? Spreading false information for money and fame has become a part of who TV doctors are. After all, they don’t really want to be doctors. If they did, they would be working as doctors and not as talk show hosts.

There needs to be some sort of consequences for their unfounded comments. Dr. Phil should be taken off the air. Sure, the show is entertaining but we can survive without it. As for Dr. Oz, he should be taken off the air, he should never be allowed on TV again, and he should have his license revoked. We trust doctors with our lives (literally), and nobody should be forced to trust a doctor who clearly has no regard for human life. And no, I don’t care how much you love his show.

Tiger King

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Tiger King is the ideal show to binge during quarantine because it’s so addictive. It’s about an eccentric zookeeper in rural Oklahoma who puts a hit out on his rival in Florida (who might or might not have fed her husband to a tiger).

I thought this show was eye-opening because I didn’t know tiger breeding was such a huge business in the states. Also (spoiler alert) I didn’t know ceremonies celebrating 3 men getting married was possible, especially in a conservative state like Oklahoma. On another note, I do want to warn my fellow animal lovers that the animals are kept in quite poor conditions, and seeing them being exploited is bit disturbing.

All said and done, the big debate question is: Did Carole Baskin kill her husband? I think so.

Really Lilly?

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Every once in a while during a crisis, there is one person who becomes a self-proclaimed expert on the situation and refuses to take professional advice. A few days ago, that person was Evangeline Lilly.

Below are a series of screenshots from her Instagram; see if you can spot the problem.

Let’s be clear about one thing: Coronavirus doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t care what race or gender you are, or what your political party is. It certainly doesn’t care whether you are an A-list or D-list actor. The level of entitlement in Lilly’s comments is atrocious. Also, why isn’t her kid’s gymnastics class closed like the schools are?

For those who want to live their lives freely, allow me to shed some light on the severity of the Coronavirus spread.

The U.S., Canada, and many other countries are on lockdown.

Coronavirus has caused a stock market crash, which in turn resulted in thousands of people getting laid off. People who have to provide for their families, and especially in the U.S., might have relied on healthcare their employer provided. Then there are people who have no choice other than to work, like our healthcare workers; they are risking contracting the virus themselves to make sure we are safe. They would probably love to stay home! And you don’t have to go out of your way to thank them; you can do it by simply staying home. In fact, healthcare workers are even requesting that the public do so. In case you didn’t get the message…

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The second problem with her Instagram comments is that she insinuates that there is a virus every election year. You could argue that politicians don’t really care about their citizens, but they care enough to not start a virus that could escalate into a pandemic. I respect that you have your opinions, but during a time like this just keep them to yourself.

Evangeline Lilly’s refusal to self-isolate not only showed that she is selfish and irresponsible, but that she is also really stupid. This is a crisis, and the only way for us to get through it is to be co-operative and listen to the experts. If they say stay home except for essential trips, just do it.

I want to say a huge thank you to all the healthcare workers, grocery store clerks, taxi drivers, volunteers, and everyone else who is putting their health on the line to help us. To all the people with coronavirus or who’s livelihoods were impacted because of it: we are thinking of you.