Denis Rancourt, in familiar intellectually disciplined form, unmasks the substantial defects in the latest study mainstream media is lauding as ending the “masks-don't-work debate.” For science geeks, this analysis is riveting. For data lovers, this analysis is evidence-based and powerful not just in showing the specific flaws relative to the study's stated achievements, but as a case study itself for how so many white papers and studies are propped up rather than keeping to scientific methodology that has prevailed until now, jeopardizing trusted journals and peer-review processes essential to scientific integrity.

Some interviews just write themselves. That rarity occurs when the interviewee is powerful and knowledgeable, relevant, compassionate, accomplished, fun, and most of all, a complete original. Hmmm … you mean someone like Jason Bermas, the independent journalist and documentary filmmaker? Exactly! 

Please see the companion piece to this article, Have Our Freedoms Fallen Faster Than the Third Tower on 9/11? by Reader publisher Todd McGreevy. And, please see the Reader's coverage of Loose Change from 2006, The Secret Histories of 9/11. 

Publisher's Note: The Reader is pleased to present our second Q&A with the Scott and Rock Island County Health Departments on controversies, contradictions, and conflicts that continue to plague the COVID-19 pandemic narrative. Questions were sent to both county health departments and simultaneously published in our June 2021 edition. And once again, to their huge credit, Scott and Rock Island health officials have fully engaged in this process, providing comprehensive responses for Quad Citians to consider.

Too many of us have been silent amid the COVID contradictions for fear of reprisal and/or rejection, even as we watch destruction roll over our communities with impunity. Many of us are convinced on an emotional level that continuously wearing cloth masks, social distancing, and accepting experimental injections are contributing to the greater safety of ourselves and others, regardless of the range of unresolved concerns that plague these mitigation efforts.