Winners & Losers | Depression & Hope

RFK Jr. believes he knows how your mind works better than you (or your doctor).

Last week, a Dutch-flagged Antarctic expedition cruise ship carrying 146 passengers from 23 countries (including 17 Americans), parked itself off Cape Verde because Spain’s Canary Islands president refused to let it dock in Tenerife.

You’ve probably heard of this story. Also aboard this ship: a potential outbreak of the Andes virus, the only known strain of the hantavirus that spreads human to human.

The story starts back in mid-April. On April 11, a 70-year-old Dutchman succumbed to intense symptoms of headache, fever, and diarrhea that rapidly progressed to respiratory distress. There was no testing done to figure out what the hell killed him, but the captain of the ship told everyone aboard that the ship was not infectious.

It took nearly two weeks for the body to be removed from the ship in Saint Helena. Thirty other passengers disembarked at that time and spread like the wind.

A close contact of the man who died flew from Saint Helena to Johannesburg. She had been feeling ill, and her condition deteriorated on the flight home. She was rushed to the ER upon arrival in Joburg where she was pronounced dead.

This story is pretty triggering, coming in so hot after the global trauma of COVID. It’s worth noting that while the disease is super deadly, it’s also vanishingly rare, and the CDC has classified this as a Level 3 emergency, its lowest tier.

So why am I beginning this week’s Winners & Losers with this story?

RFK Jr. Loser

Because RFK Jr. is a fucking Loser. But hark! I’m not going to talk about how he sacked the team of inspectors dealing with cruise-ship sanitation.

And I’m not going to try to scare you about the potential for another global pandemic (this one worse than the last). This week I’m talking about anti-depressants and science, two things our Secretary of Health and Human Services doesn’t believe in.