Right now, children are paying the price as we mask them up and turn classes into cinder block cages.
I've seen one too many 'if this was war' analogies. All I can say to that is bull shit.
We act like we're facing an existential threat. Covid-19 -Wuhan is NOT a threat to us.
Are people paying any fucking attention?
It's deplorable and a disgrace.
Teachers in particular have to speak out and stop the emotional trauma inflicting on kids by government. If you're a teacher that is still calling for online teaching, quit projecting your fears on the kids, get off your ass and go to work. Spare us you're 'we're following the science' garbage. The science is telling us the opposite to be frank.
Parents, do not let yourselves be emotionally manipulated. Don't accept your kids being thrown into cinder block cages making their learning experiences miserable. I'm seeing one too many kids under 10 in masks and this is unacceptable and must stop.
They've already stolen months of our lives. GET ITBACK. You're not an 'extremist' or 'conspiracy theorist' if you question their authority. There are plenty of famous, legitimate, reputable ad great doctors, virologists and scientists who question all this.
The science is on our side.
As it stands for me, I've lost trust and confidence in public officials.
They made a monumental mistake with lockdowns rooted in panic and not science.
I believe litigation should begin to sue for the emotional and economic destruction we've hurled on people.
It's not enough to apologize.
They should be made to account.
It's been well reported and established by now we're at the cure worse than the disease stage and yet we keep doubling down. How many people have died because of our actions?
And we know who are the players. Tam, Fauci, Birx, premiers and governors like Ford, Legault (for his mask mandates), Cuomo, Whitmore, Wolf, Inslee, Murphy to name a few as well as Mayors and councillors who continue the measures and lockdowns.
If you ordered kids to be in mask, you should be sued and scorned.
Enough of this panic and hysteria already.
While we dick around with arrows on the floor, plexiglass and masks, Sweden has announced they're going back to normal by October as they've not reported any cases in a week.
They didn't psychologically traumatize their citizens and children and preserved civil liberties.
My daughter is set to go back full time. While we have a natural concern for what may be, we also believe we mustn't let the virus control or dictate our lives.
I think this is our only realistic play. This talk from health officials about an indefinite new normal is not practical and somewhat cruel. Either shift and take real bold steps or step aside.
I'm not pleased with a mask mandates in Quebec because based on my readings of over 40 studies, the evidence backs Dr. Tegnell. Still, I supposed I'm satisfied with schools opening full time with a quasi-mask rule (not in classes; only in hallways. I think this is prudent. Students will be mask free most of the day but I'm willing to meet people half-way on this).
The only problem I see are the measures. Two things. In Sweden, schools stayed open and there was no calamity.
Here, we're once again trying to micro-manage the virus at the expense of maintaining normalcy for children. We over think and come up with silly things in hopes of containing an outbreak. For example, schools aren't permitting fridges and microwaves be used.
Sometimes I wonder who thinks these things up. Aside from being cruel, it's also not a scientific approach to the spread. We've been open at our place for over two months now with microwaves and fridges in operation.
These sorts of misguided measures (like masks) mix up causation and correlation and can mislead people into thinking they work. For example, if there are no cases during the school year, contending, in part, it was because of banning fridges is specious.
Just go back to work and stop trying to outwit the virus. It's going to make for a miserable atmosphere.
*****
Great resources on Covid-19 (aka Wuhan virus. If the shoe fits...)
*****
Sigh. Looks like Peter MacKay is set to become the leader of the Conservative party. Very meh to me. The Liberals are in such a mess they're there for the taking and I fear the Conservatives will miss the chance to take down Trudeau.
Speaking of which, I've never seen a party and leader with so many scandals. It's unacceptably outrageous at this point. Now that Morneau has resigned and made a scapegoat, how many more are willing to take a bullet for Trudeau?
Someone said what's the point of yet another investigation as Trudeau (watch him literally squirm here under questioning) will once again be found guilty for a third time, apologize and move on and laugh and spit in the faces of Canadians. In a better time, people like Trudeau, Payette and Saijan would have resigned by now. Once caught, the understanding in Parliamentary ethics, you step down because you’re no longer ‘Honorable’.
As for proroguing, obviously this is to take the heat off the investigation into the WE charity. He’ll be found guilty of a third ethics violation but as you can tell, unless there’s a non-confidence vote to remove this cancer, the thing has no teeth and the RCMP (with a boss appointed by Poptart Lasagne) isn’t going to investigate. Nice little racket we have going in the Peaceful Kingdom.
Now we have Screech Monkey Freeland holding the purse. God help us all.
Remember when Harper prorogued and how the media and people reacted? I ‘member. Pepperidge Farms and Sara Lee remembers.
2020 is without doubt one of the most eventful year in my lifetime. And a troubling one at that.
Of course, we have the suspiciousness of the persistent pandemic and appalling coercive action by government (brought to its absurd health as I've covered and will continue to cover. Then came the 'peaceful protests' which fast became a vehicle for BLM and Antifa violence, murder and mayhem made worse by deliberate and irresponsible inaction of Democrat leaders.
They failed to protect their cities and citizens thus sparking a mild civil culture war where BLM protestors (a Marxist organization endorsed by faux-virtuous millionaire athletes and celebrities as well as the Democrat party - which falls right in line with their history that includes the Dred Scott ruling, the Trail of Tears, Tammany Hall, Huey Long, decrepit dynastic governance condemning their cities to a rudderless perpetual cycle of corruption, the KKK, Jim Crow laws and infamous Dixiecrat segregationists. But don't worry, see, the parties 'switched'!) looted and terrorized the city and taken it to the suburbs.
In between these two events, comes the politics of the pandemic connected to the November elections (and the serious concerns of Democrat voter fraud schemes), the beginning of mass protests against restrictions curbing civil liberties due to Covid-19 in Europe (and hopefully soon here in Canada), the discovery (and it's worse than you imagined) that the Obama administration and the FBI did indeed lie and break the law during the Mueller investigation and the Russia-gate fabrication, the Ghislaine Maxwell arrest, and the complete collapse of modern mainstream corporate media.
Three things to keep an eye out for:
-On August 29, London and Berlin will be linking up to form a mass protest against restrictions. As mentioned, hopefully this catches and spreads to other countries and leads to more protests through linking. The worthless press (the same one that lies about masks because they're ignorant and illiterate fools refusing to tell the truth) claimed 17 000-20 000 people protested in Germany against draconian measures (in of itself not exactly an insignificant number) when in fact it looks like by independent sources, it was closer to one million.
-The fate of Infowars journalist Millie Weaver. She was arrested on Friday (taken away from her kids by the state) for what seems to be a collection of laughable charges. See, what makes this a troubling incident (aside from a journalist being arrested and the fact the same worthless and gutless media - ie NYT, Wapo and the like so we're clear here. Scummy, sleazy, lying sacks of shits they are) is she was set to premier her documentary 'Shadowgate' which doesn't paint a nice picture of what's going on in Washington. Don't bother clicking the link as youtube - surprise! - removed it.
It's irrelevant what one may think of Infowars. This can happen to any free lance journalist.
I watched the documentary. It was interesting. There seems to be a lot facts backing it up according to media sources I've read over the last couple of years. Whatever you may think, it didn't justify removal. Not especially considering the utter garbage from the left youtube leaves alone.
She brought up the serious issue of outside contractors having all kinds of access to American classified information. It's worth noting Snowden worked for such a contractor and wasn't a government whistle blower. Leave it to youtube to not understand this serious deep state corruption threatening the United States.
Nonetheless, it's worth keeping a healthy skeptical eye. It reminds me of all those conspiracies that came up during and after 9/11 including Michael Moore movies. We're in the fog of war on multiple levels and some of it will lift. Only then will we be able to judge it with a keener and more sober eye.
But the argument presented in the documentary doesn't seem too far fetched to me. I kept thinking of House of Cards, Enemy of the State and the Bourne Identity. That stuff does happen.
It's a vicious game. Problem is, the game gets out of control and people's lives are either ruined or murdered.
In any event....
We should all be concerned at the censorship taking place before our eyes. When platforms like this censor reputable doctors calling bull shit on the Covid-19 panic, you know we have a problem on our hands. And it's no different whenever stories like the Weaver one takes place.
It doesn't take a genius to see D.C. is a thoroughly corrupted place. It's a swam of degenerates. The whole Hilary-Comey-Brennan-Mueller Russia hack (or whatever it is they called it. Let's just call it a manufactured hit job aimed at usurping power from an outsider in Trump and pushed by fake news shills at CNN and MSNBC) was nothing more than attempted soft-coup and they failed. They failed because they're liars and incompetent morons.
She's since been released. Still, violent losers who are arrested walk in U.S. cities; sometimes bailed out by brain dead celebrities like Carrel and Rogan. Incidentally, the clowns who run British Columbia want to enlist a mid-wit like Rogan to convince people to wear a diaper on their mouth. They all deserve each other.
Kinda brings into better focus Julian Assange and Edward Snowden.
I was debating whether to buy Snowden's book but with this story, I decided I will pick it up.
-The U.S. election. This is the biggest one of them all. There's no question the United States holds the stability of the free world in their hands. They need to step up and hand Trump a landslide victory to push back the march of far left ideology and identity politics embraced by the DNC.
It's funny how the media glosses over the track records of two people with far more skeletons in their closets including having set up the law enforcement apparatus for mass incarceration. The DNC represents a vote against FREE SPEECH, law and order, liberty, immigration reform, and the second amendment (8 million guns sold since the riots started and the majority were first time buyers who identify as Democrats and not likely to vote blue) to name a couple.
America has to go red. The good kind of red.
Republican red.
The people are on the march and ready to push back on whoever is keeping these events going.
It may seem like a small request. Wear a mask to save a life and business.
But it's not small at all.
It's not a request. It's a command.
It's an opaque measure resting on the usual appeals to the 'greater good' and 'public safety'.
A society that submits to such a small measure, is ready to fall to bigger ones.
People need to recalibrate how they perceive what's being asked of them less from the notion the authorities have our interests at heart and more from their God given inalienable rights.
A person secure in their liberty won't feel shamed by others who accept the demands of government buying into is benign propaganda. The free individual is, well, free to explore and examine with a healthy skepticism what's being asked of them.
I personally can't understand a person who views a politician who calls for widespread mandatory masks as being an enlightened soul out to protect them. This is foolish as it is naive. The only thing a sociopathic politician cares for is power and control. They're learned to hide and dress up their lust for power in common good rhetoric but this be a trap.
They're master salespeople offering Faustian deals. Do you honestly believe Biden, Harris and Whimore actually care about you when they proclaim masks mandates and contact tracing?
They're doing it as a political calculus against Trump. That and indeed, they can't resist the power grab.
Notice how fast Legault and Arruda went from soothing Grandpas to 'wear the fucken masks or else watch us bad boys crush you'.
They're incapable of not admitting they don't know and rather than just govern the people with a delicate eye on preserving civil liberties, they fall back on the default position man has always tripped over: Tyranny.
Thank you're free riding your bike? What happens if the government demands we wear it outside? Or on Zoom calls? Or even in your own home? Think it's crazy? Have you not NOTICED what society already consented to with the lockdowns and masks? We're right in that lane.
I don't think it's necessarily by design in as much as this is how final acts of great civilizations play out. They trip they way into a totalitarian existence.
That was the whole point of the American constitution. To thwart that default position natural to man.
They understood it could not be erased and endeavoured to suppress it as best they could. The believe the first two amendments were essential in that strategy.
Without it, the liberty of the people is gone for good. The problem with is we're living in the after glow of greatness. We've never had to fight for our rights. We just....take orders and figure 'what's the big deal?'
It's a huge deal.
So people are well within in their rights to tell politicians to shove it up their asses during this pandemic. Public officials are looking at every turn to concentrate more power into their hands under the guise of public safety through emergency acts. If anything, a truly enlightened society concerned for the freedoms of its people reconsider the broad powers of government during such times.
Giving unlimited powers to mere flaw mortals is a bad idea.
Do you really believe Doug Ford is a man who should have such powers? Do you have such faith in politicians to hand over essentially all your liberties to them?
I wouldn't.
Rediscovering our sense of personal freedoms is something we have to work for again.
Start by liberating yourself and throw the damn mask away.
They're futile measures with little empirical evidence to back it up. It's based on tenuous assumptions (droplets and asymptomatic spreaders) and so are rooted in the precautionary principles.
They're forms of theatre and control by a science-technocrat elite who scarce know what they're doing. So much of a farce it is, the B.C government enlisted two celebrity actors (noted scholars and bastions of intellectualism and morality) to nag and scold people into wearing a mask.
My counter to my fellow Canadians is to not be shamed into it. Stop being lazy fucks. The sheep always get led to slaughter. Listening to Global News, CBC and other outlets (I gotta say CTV has hope and leave them out of this) and obeying is not exercising your mind. Those idiots in the Quebec press connecting masks as a duty for nation are conduits for government propaganda pablum.
Learn to exercise your critical thinking skills. Trust yourself. Don't just blindly be shovelled into empty acts of faux-virtue. It may superficially feel good, but there will be a void left deep inside you. That little 'nagging' sound is your soul telling you you're not being virtuous by submitting.
Why would submit to a measure that literally can only be lifted if the authorities say so despite the obscenely low numbers? You have to pressure them to commit to a timeline or else you get absurd statements like Tam who intimate the measure will last for two years even if there's a vaccine.
They can easily manipulate data to spin it in their favour. Consider:
If cases go up: Stop the spread! Wear the masks!
If cases stabilize: It's stopping the spread! Wear the masks!
If cases go down: It's working! Wear the masks!
Without needing to present a shred of evidence. Why should they? They haven't until now.
That's why it's important you muster the courage and give Seth Rogan and Ryan Reynolds the middle finger. Now you're free. And free to put in the time and effort to go read the ACTUAL DATA on masks.
I think, as a society, we're smart and healthy enough to make such choices without coercion, no?
Or are you that shallow and weak an individual to believe compelling others through force is justified? Man, in its nature, requires it face great adversity. It's what drives us as a species. We've become good at it. This is not an adversity that demands you forego your liberty.
One day, you'll the gun will be pointed in your direction.
*******
Public officials at work:
Why we'll just make them wear masks! Now they think we care! Let's have some pie!
I think Donald Trump broke not only modern fake news journalism but the Democrat party as well.
2020 has been one jibber-jabber of a year. Where reason went poof-paaf.
Leaving aside the historic and epic stupidity of lockdowns that exacerbated economic turmoil with dubious results while leaving tens of millions without work - as well as the obscenely incompetent performance of Democrat Governors - the party has also abandoned any semblance of respect for the Constitution, law and order, and basic overall political ethics.
You have a fake woman of color (whose father bragged about being part of a slave owning family) who advanced her career through trampling on the downtrodden and good old fashioned patronage (swallowed whole) and a possibly increasingly mindless careerist. Sleepy Slow Joe is ready to trade yer chains for masks. No sooner did this unwholesome duo hitch up, they called for a nationwide mandated mask law and contact tracing. While they call to restrict gun rights and defund the police.
Oh. And Harris essentially called Biden a racist during the debates and thinks he's a rapist when she believed his accusers.
Democrat Mayors have allowed for rioting and burning of their cities embracing violent Marxists organizations like BLM and Antifa. On their march to defeat Trump, they're prepared to 'burn it down' like good little far left-wing loons.
The messaging of the party has been impossible to pin down. We know there's a civil war between establishment Democrats, Progressives (attached to Sanders) and a still more left-wing flank led by AOC. This has left Biden stacking his team with Sandernista economic advisors and now a law enforcement hard liner in Kamala Harris.
On one end, Biden pushes the irrational Green New Deal but promises to bring back manufacturing (the antithesis of the green plan) to America. The DNC accepts notions of defunding the police, but announces Harris as a running mate who together with Biden who authored a pro-crime agenda with Clinton in the 1990s, represent the opposite of this message.
Of course, look for them to disingenuously disavow their tough on crime past. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me Biden is all but a figure head now at this point. He's clearly not of sound mind so it looks like the Democrats are aiming for a Biden step-down in order to pave the way for the first woman of colour President.
The DNC are all about empty symbolism and identity politics and are beyond parody.
The other perplexing part of her nomination (aside from her reputation as having reached her position thanks to her relationship with a powerful California politician in Willie Brown - think of him as a Pelosi only for California. That wields a lot of power) is why a running-mate from California?
The state is blue and likely to remain blue.
Regardless, the Biden/Harris ticket is a loser one. I don't see how this galvanizes the Democrat base and anyone sitting on the fence or a registered Independent who's paying any attention is not likely to fall for this cynical option.
All told, I think Trump has done a solid job despite all the adversity he has had to face. The media and the shenanigans of the DNC has been epic in its attempt to tear him down. I do expect some voter fraud attempts as the Democrats are going to attempt one final nuclear push but it won't be enough.
The Democrats are a bunch of spazzes and loons.
Don't be surprised Trump wins in November. And possibly big.
I'm seeing a whole lot of it during this pandemic.
At the moment, hysteria is gripping people's minds and I'm afraid the scars will remain for the rest of their lives.
For those of us keeping a strong and healthy disposition, we can't but watch in disapproving disappointment.
Man will do what it has to do when fear dictates reason.
Politically speaking, the rhetoric and actions of public officials in dealing with the virus has been a travesty and a showcases in mental cruelty.
Sometimes I wonder if the narcissists running our affairs are only mirroring the narcissists who demand for more sado-masocistic treatment. They live in a irrational embrace.
There's no way to begin having a rational discussion. It's all empty virtue-signalling and vapid slogans all the way down. 'Wear a mask, save a life' and 'people wear seat belts and this is a small price to pay' and all that stupid line of thinking only stupid people can possibly utter.
We have politicians who treat lockdowns as if it's a viable strategy. In California, that middling moron Garcetti threatens to shut off people's water if they dare gather to party. In Wisconsin, whoever runs amok in its public institutions decided it people must wear masks on Zoom calls to set a 'good example' and 'remind' people they're in a pandemic.
It's less about science and more about control and theatre at this point.
And people continue to buy into this hideous superstition.
I heard the other day British Columbia wants to hire 500 contract tracers Brown shirts to track people with Covid. Anyone with a grasp of Nazi German history knows how this plays out. Just replace Covid-19 with Jews.
We've already conditioned people to think healthy people (through the asymptomatic theory)they pose a danger to public threat. It's not a stretch to think contact tracing can easily result in jail time - and if things really get out of hand (and we're on that trajectory unless we reign it in) much worse.
And what harm is it doing to children? Learning to see everyone as a danger, and being trained that it’s normal to react this way to a new flu virus will inevitably psychologically impact them. If schools don't open and we continue to deprive them of activities the lack of socialization will prove the most damaging. We are fucking up children’s minds and their future. I feel really bad for anyone just getting out of high school now.
We taught kids a terrible lesson. And we made it worse with the masks. It infuriates me parents who put kids in masks pushing it as a faux-virtuous act.
Adults deserve a smack across the face for projecting their fears onto kids. Public officials can rot in hell as far as I’m concern for what amounts to child abuse in my view.
Despicable.
We're handling this pandemic poorly and miserably.
"The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocation, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.
Yet in holding scientific discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite."
President Eisenhower, January 17, 1961.
"2020 is where Wokism, TDS and Covid-19 all merged into one ball of mass hysteria". Me, August 2020.
Something is definitely off. My biggest concern about the pandemic shit down back in March was it was going to morph into an open-ended episode and it looks like the incompetent people in charge are taking us on that path.
I've come to realize we actually know vey little about Covid-19 and that we're simply assuming in the absence of knowledge we must over react just in case. And the fact we don't know much about isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's our response to accepting we don't know is what's going to determine how we come out of this.
And right now we're failing.
We've clearly moved on from the curve flattening to something far more opaque and open ended. Which we shouldn't accept. That is, officials are acting like they want this to go to zero cases without explicitly stating it. This is unrealistic as it is impractical as it is foolish.
One of the metrics used is total cases to determine if we're 'beating' the virus. Vanquishing Covid-19 is more about hubris than it is humility. Politicians are acting like they want to be the heroes who save their countries but in reality their setting themselves up for a Pyrrhic Victory at best. The damage to the economy and psyche of the people is already possibly at the point of where it will take years to rebuild. This is on public officials. Not the virus.
Testing for Covid-19 is not always accurate - as we test, cases go up but that doesn't really mean anything since we don't know for sure if its viral. There are no universal standards on how to determine if in fact people have Covid and who knows what's going on with how they record deaths.
Further muddling the narrative is the fact Covid has the same symptoms as the flu and pneumonia. I'm starting to wonder if this thing has been around much longer than we think and isn't nearly as deadly than we think. In other words, if the CDC claims 50 million Americans have been infected (to the extent we can trust they even know what Covid is) it's not a stretch to think the wold count is higher by the same order of magnitude. In this case a factor of 10 which translates into 200 million people infected. Currently, the official death count is around 760 thousand. Let's assume 50% of those are in the over 65 age group bracket. We're down to 380 000 for all other age groups.
And I'm leaving the CDC recent bombshell which I briefly address in the Derp links somewhere and linked to Dr. Ron Paul discussing it. Basically, of the 192 000 dead in the USA, if you go with the CDC's '6% strictly are Covid' that means 11 000 people have died directly because of Covid-19. But reporter Alex Berenson explains that it's closer to 50 000 because there are cases where it's legitimate to mark it as a cause of death even if there are underlying conditions. Still, 50 000 is far less than 192 000.
So I'll move along without that because, well, wow.
I've read that anywhere between 80% and 90% of deaths had a co-morbidity (in addition, 80% of people don't need treatment at all while 20% develop some form of respiratory problem). In other words, the death count for people with no underlying health conditions is around 152 000 (80% x 760 000). But a more accurate figure is 80% x 360 000 (the portion of people under 65) or 72 000. And I'm using the lower end of the percentage. It could still be lower.
That's in the world. The world's population is pushing 8 billion.
In sum, 200 million infected. 72 000 dead who were below 65 and with no health issues.
Or. .036%.
We're burning our economies down and wreaking untold havoc on the psychology of people for......036%.
Of course, this is based on my own extraction of the figures. I could be wrong but I don't think I'd be too far off from the reality if someone refines these assumptions based on available data.
Public officials keep upping the draconian measures in fear of another 'wave' in three months. But the virus never went away and has been swirling and dancing around for months now. We may see a 'surge' of sorts but I don't think it'll be on the level of what we went through in the spring. Spikes aren't a reason to panic.
The latest of course is the mask mandates. 'Wear a mask, save life' actually makes no sense when you see how low the death rates have gone and likely to remain. You're engaging in faux-virtue theatre more than your are actually saying a life. In fact, you're swallowing whole government propaganda is what I think.
Moreover, the notion of 'waves' is also rubbing me wrong now. The more I hear people saying 'watch out. You'll see. This fall is going to be a nightmare' the more I wonder if the opposite will happen.
When I was in investments 20 years ago, one of the most popular stocks to buy among novice investors was Air Canada. I remember walking into stores and over hearing people talking about Air Canada stock. That was a sign the stock was over bought. In other words, it was wise to not buy the stock. Sure enough, the stock did eventually drop and no one spoke of it again.
I think there's a lesson in there here. The more people talk about something as if it's a sealed fate, the less likely it will happen. It's possible we're just taking the concept of a 'wave' at face value. But what is a wave exactly and what's the point of reference? If we're averaging 90 cases per day (think about how small this is. Yet we act like we're seeing 900) in September and it shoots up to 200. Is that a wave? Or is it a spike? Will we be able to separate what is a spike from a wave from a trend?
Lockdowns simply delayed things.
One of the problems I have with masks - aside from it being gris-gris - is how do they determine if they're working? As far as I can tell it's the perfect recipe for government to make it whatever they want to keep it open-ended. For example, the two primary reasons for masks are droplets and asymptomatic spread. The data on either is unclear but the government has basically told people to fear others and the problem I have with this is, aside from causing angst and friction, is how they can play off this for as long as they see fit.
Are people prepared to wear masks all year round for influenza and pneumonia? Theresa Tam went as far as to say as long as two years even if there's a vaccine. Mother Tam needs to dial it back a little.
We have a scientific-technological class that is completely incapable of considering the long-term social and mental health of people through these bits of psychological theatre.
This is a social catastrophe created by public health officials and politicians.
Both Boomer and Gen X leaders have played the part of arsonists to the economy world over.
Two stories point to maybe we should dial this back before it gets out of control lest we find ourselves in the same absurd and preposterous position like Australia and New Zealand.
Contrast this with Sweden which is pretty much done with the pandemic. When and if it marks its return, the Swedes are now in a position to tackle it as it comes without resorting to drastic measures like in NZ.
I don't know what it's going to take for these incompetent public officials to pivot.
I notice there's also this notion that the virus keeps coming back because people aren't wearing masks or social distancing. This is specious logic and unfounded. Again, Sweden is proving this mindset wrongheaded. A coronavirus never leaves. So what you're advocating for is an impractical and irrational mode of habit.
Know what's more effective and less dangerous than lockdowns and masks?
One is for us to shift away from the opiate of the suppression theory (it's foolish to think you can 'beat' a virus in this manner) and focusing on treatment.
The other is staying healthy and fit (where even here the government is stupidly preventing people from doing so). Eat well. Take in some Vitamin C and D. Engage in activities. Sleep.
Keep being social without being irresponsible.
Everything else is just the art of noise and the politics of fear.
Masks - along with social distancing - are nothing more than a non-pharmaceutical response rooted in the precautionary principle.
In the absence of hard science during a health crisis, the prevailing UNICEF motto is 'better safe than sorry' ergo the precautionary principle must prevail.
Unintended consequences be damned.
However, masks are being sold to the public as a measure that can stop the spread and whatever else they claim to the point - and this is where the crux of contention lies - of mandating them under punitive measures.
Masks can only provide potential benefits if it has a high compliance. That is, upwards of 80% of the population. There was already a fair bit of voluntary usage but for some reason governments - as they're apt to do - decided to side with specious studies and force a mandate through.
Masks on their own are just about useless. We have 100 years of data on this and it's telling until April of 2020 the WHO, CDC and other medical practitioners never suggested they be used for a reason.
The empirical science doesn't support it. Simple as that.
Moreover, a lot of things have to go right to achieve some level of success including proper mask handling is essential (it's absurd the Quebec government thinks kids in schools will learn this and quite frankly it's not a habit they should be forming based on the available data and limited benefits).
We've somehow conflated arbitrary measures (which is precisely what these are) with being actual empirical science. This is what hysteria does. It pulls everything and anything out of context making an incoherent mess of how to approach a health crisis with the power of deduction and critical thinking.
If you want to wear a mask and think it's essential by all means go ahead. You can justify it all you want. Engage in faux-virtue pretending you're doing it for your nation or some other nonsensical reason.
Just do not claim it's science.
It's not.
I've examined just about every major paper cited in favor of masks. I'm not sure how they've come to be seen as evidence. But I suspect politicians and some in the media (the more honest ones anyway) know this. Usually, I see 'growing body of evidence' and 'may support' as the key phrases supporting mask usage. The former has half the sentence right. There are more studies but at best the limitations in the studies condemn them to conclusions of 'may suggest' they work.
Whereas the body of evidence against masks stipulate clearly through stern methodology they're effectiveness are inconclusive.
Again. I argue the government should downgrade back to voluntary use. We should not be engaging in social engineering based on the evidence.
But be happy. Superstition is now mandated.
You're now being socially engineered by Mother Bull Shit.
*****
Quick word on people buying into the government propaganda of masks being a symbol of virtue.
We're in a situation now where people are assaulting others for not wearing masks. We've seen cities encourage neighbours to snitch on one another.
The basic broken logic employed is: People who don't wear masks threaten my life.
Governments then sic cops on people who don't comply.
If you were to conduct a survey with people who believe in masks as a virtue about how'd they behave under Nazi rule the vast majority would likely think they'd be saving Jews.
Except they wouldn't. A precious minority of people risked their lives to save Jews. The statistical probability is most people would likely either remain silent or be collaborators.
So if you snitched on a neighbour during the pandemic, chances are you'd snitch on the Jews.
The ones who don't go that far (and perhaps think it's wrong) but still consent are the ones who thought 'Yeh the Jews are bad but'. You're no better. You likely accept the use of force against people for the greater good.
So get off your high horses. Your so-called virtue are acts of submission.
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I did an informal test today with medical masks.
Medical masks are thin tissue and fibres. So I wanted to see if I could smell Febreeze through the mask. I did. So imagine how easy it is for a virus to get through.
The other thing I did was grab my ultra-violet flashlight (I wore the mask outside in 33c heat with high humidity. It was a horrific experience. I can't believe people aren't outraged that they're being forced into such a cruel habit) and examined if stains were present. Yup.
Now imagine millions of people using them (and you can almost bet your house that a huge number of people are not using them as single-use or handling them properly - in order to conduct proper mask handling you essentially need to be a robot).
If you're paying attention, there's some troubling realities amidst us.
Here's how I'm interpreting what I've observed since February of 2020.
I noticed that a novel coronavirus hit the world (after China didn't notify the world). This virus, based on flawed models that distorted our perception of its danger, then led to some of the most draconian measures in world history including quarantining healthy people for the first time. We inverted hundreds of years of established virology and proceeded with policies not backed by any kind of science. The lockdowns were based on excessive doomsday scenarios that predicted millions of deaths.
As time went on, the virus has proven to be largely non-lethal (the tragedy of nursing homes was a one-time anomaly not likely to repeat itself) with a high survival rate coupled with effective treatments which further help people and even save lives. The system never got overwhelmed and it's not likely to do so come this fall. Even if it does, it will be pass fairly quickly. We've seen the system stressed and stretched during a bad flu season.
The lockdowns aren't only have a ravaging pernicious negative impact manifesting itself into a wealth of social ills including civil unrest, it also delayed getting nations to herd immunity.
Why did government do this? The reason given was to 'flatten curves' and 'save lives' but neither of these are tenable justifications anymore.
With all the data and positive developments, why haven't we followed and pivoted away from our original track? Why are we doubling down as if Covid-19 is still a danger to us? It's a serious virus, but not an existential threat.
Now we're being told masks help to stop the spread. This is not established science. It hasn't been since the 1920s when research on the effectiveness of masks began.
They tell us the 'growing body of evidence' proves masks work. If you base it on studies coming out since March if 2020 you can make this claim but it's a highly misleading one. They give the impression that recent research debunks 100 years of mask studies that counter this narrative.
So what we have now is a situation where political leaders and public health officials unleashed a specious lockdown leading to inhumane outcomes. Rather than rethink and pivot given this fact, they've now moved on to the even more dubious claim masks work. Who knows what the consequences of this will be?
The idea we can just put a social animal like humans into a work from home environment and not expect a negative fall out from this is unrealistic. It presupposes we can all just adjust and be merry. Mental illness is prevalent in our society, asking people who enjoy a degree of socialization to suddenly work in isolation is bound to be problematic.
We've micro-managed and re-arranged our lives for this. This is change under false pretences. Is this a hill we want to die on?
Don't be fooled or convicted the measures are working. You're better off being skeptical about this.
We failed with the masks. We've signalled to the government we will trade liberty for safety.
Worse, we've now attached to it the notion of patriotism. If you don't comply to this 'social contract' (designed by unelected people of course) you're the enemy of the people.
In this case, the analogy to Nazi Germany is appropriate. Go read the works of medical doctors during that period. Now read this evil piece of propaganda from these three nutcases in USA Today.
Naturally a left-wing doctor and lawyer and a bioethicist penned it.
But we need to take these claims serious now. There are forces behind the scenes operating in the dark. They claim to be doing it in our best interest, but I'd be extremely wary and skeptical of this.
My advice? Find the confidence to believe in your concerns and express them. Don't be bullied into thinking you must believe credentialed people as if you're incapable of critically assessing what's being presented.
The only way you can achieve this is if you're free and have free access to information.
That's why they're censoring it.
They know you can be enlightened and pulled away from the established narratives.
Apparently, if you dare go against the government narrative that makes you a 'Covidiot'.
I see that a lot from mainstream writers. Here in Quebec the talking heads are swallowing whole the notion of 'doing it for the nation' nonsense where it comes to mass mask usage. One guy spoke of 'Le Contrat' with an actual letter attached in his article.
Oh the sophomoric vapidness on display!
The thing is, those of us casting a skeptical eye are driven purely by facts and science. I think this blog as done a strong job of showing and linking to various world experts outside the mainstream realm questioning the specious prevailing logic guiding policy.
Are those scientists 'covidiots'? Looks like they are according to these bums in media.
We have this. They resort to name calling and public shaming.
Just who are the idiots?
As for Quebec itself, it takes its cues more from the CDC and Fauci than it does Sweden and Dr. Tegnell.
The thing is, Sweden is acting right in with established virology and science. It's us and other places fooling ourselves believing we're thinking outside the box.
And possibly another notch under the 'end the panic sooner than later' belt.
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I have a huge problem with the notion of healthy people being perceived as a threat to others.
Don't people see the danger in this kind of thinking and where it can lead?
I think people who choose to not wear a mask are acting rationally.
And it is not established that or clear how asymptomatic people transmit the virus.
There's no need for this crazy rhetoric about 'asymptomatic people killing others'.
What do you want to do? Arrest them? Have them committed?
And do NOT say this is not possible assuming we won't go there. We're already in the hysteria so anything is possible and plausible. Germany flirted with the idea and we're not immune from it.
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If you argue in favor of wearing a mask on the grounds it's courteous and respectful to your fellow man in a spirit of humanity but support the lockdowns you've lost the plot and moral high ground given the awful unintended consequences it has inflicted on people.
But it's easier to engage in symbolic faux-virtue than to actually ponder that which you cannot see.
To me, a true humanist laments the lives ruined or lost due to the lockdowns. It's called being empathetic to real misery.
Wearing a mask is just manufactured consent. It has no virtuous and very little scientific value.
Does anyone not realize the utter absurdity of wearing a mask into a restaurant until they reach their table and then remove it for the night and then put it back on to leave?
No one thinks how preposterous this is?
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Is it me or did the data from the Diamond Princess reflect the data we've learned about the virus?
20% got infected and 1% died - or 14 people. According to the flawed scary models that the lockdowns and our reactions were based, it was supposed to be 116. Half of the ship had asymptomatic people. So if they posed such a danger why didn't more people die? Why didn't it spread like wild flower in such a contained space?
The answers are stating at us in the face and we continue to believe otherwise.
Furthermore, it lends more credence to the WHO's now retracted claim asymptomatic people don't spread the virus as easily.
This fact prompted Dr. Fauci to write in the NEJM it would be “akin to a severe seasonal influenza”
Turns out Fauci was right and he was right about masks.
So why did he flip?
Can it be we're simply looking at it wrong?
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Heaven forbid we ever admit we were wrong and Sweden was right.
I'm both envious and happy for Sweden.
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In my opinion?
The people who pushed the 'this is going to kill us' narrative?
Like that guy at Imperial College Neil Ferguson and everyone who bought into it along the way?
They should be arrested and charged for crimes against humanity.
I'm serious.
The seeds of destruction left behind by their errors is inhumane. The lockdowns were never rooted in any kind of science and never will be.
I would like for someone to calculate the difference between people already adjusting their behaviours in the economy prior to the lockdown with government announcing a full scale lockdown. *****
The same goes for legacy media and social media. They're censoring doctors and scientists who are espousing actual ESTABLISHED science. By denying people access to this information they in effect are killing people.
And the election meddling by social media has begun.
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In any event, the suspension of critical thinking continues I'm afraid as people continue to hold on to the notion that just because the virus is out there without a vaccine means we need to live in fear and modify of habits (ie masks) despite two major facts: One, the lethality is not what it was once thought and racing towards flu like levels (it's already marginally higher) and two, the improved and effective treatments.
People need to come to terms with the fact that the probabilities of them being an outlier are extremely remote and that the vast majority of people infected survive it. There are some concerns for sure but overall the idea we continue to allow clueless bureaucrats micro-manage our lives is preposterous and no longer tenable.
Leaders that continue to employ drastic and draconian measures like we see in California, Ontario, New York, New Jersey, Quebec, New Zealand, and Australia are no better than arsonists setting fire to a building.
This is what those leaders are doing they're burning down the mental and economic health of their nations out of pure fear.
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Dr. Fauci has proven time and again he doesn't mind lying if he believes it's for the greater good. He's the mad scientist comic villain personified. He has sent so many mixed signals and refuses to behave in any dignified manner it's a marvel he hasn't lost credibility with the majority of people.
I'm almost certain the second it's announced the pandemic is over or Trump wins in November, he'll be looking for new work.
Notice his smug, hand waving gesture at the end. Rep. Jordan did a good job calling him out.
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To expand on Fauci, he says to wear goggles. A PhD doctor specializing in coronaviruses explained to a friend of mine that the virus does NOT go through the eyes.
So why is Fauci spouting his damn mouth off like this?
It only confirms Jordan's line of questioning.
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California chaos. Californians have been wearing masks for three months now. And they're bitchy about protecting this pseudo-science too.
What a clown place.
Apparently there's an exodus. Well, if there is one my advice to the places taking Cali refugees in is do NOT let them impose their politics on your place. Fight back hard and viciously as the left does. They will turn your state into a disaster zone.
When people fled communist nations back in the day, they didn't vote for socialism or communism. They're the most fervently anti-communists out there because they lived under such depraved and violent regimes. Just like them, Californians who invade places like Texas, Colorado and Tennessee should not import the very politics that ruined California. They should be glad to leave it behind.
The pandemic plainly showed Republican states are sane and sober.
They certainly don't need the bankrupted stupidity of a Gavin Newsome.
Why do I get the feeling some powerful people and companies are angry the virus didn't cooperate? Someone or something keeps pushing this pandemic.
The truth shall prevail. Hopefully.
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Matt Novak follows orders like a good little sheep.
Not sure what he saw that was bonkers here. Seems like Wittkowski is more right than not.
The only bonkered people are the ones who keep acting like this virus is still a threat. It's a health concern that we can handle.
No reason to lockdown or mask up. And that's just the way it is.
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One way to know if the 'white lab coats' are serous about this pandemic is by simply observing what they do.
If Harvard experts demand 13 states lockdown immediately, then they should graciously donate their pay checks to charity until it passes.
Same with Fauci whenever he says other people's lives have to be interrupted with potential life altering consequences. Think that Anthony? 'Pees'a cash' as we joked in Italian. Loosely translated as flash the cash; put your money where your damn mouth is.
Same with the politicians. Here in Quebec, they announced another lockdown is not a likely scenario even if there's a second wave which they think will arrive. Gee, thanks masters. I'd like to think they saw the destruction it causes but I'm not so sure.
Those politicians in Australia and New Zealand should be TRUE leaders and cough up their pay checks and stand in true solidarity with their people.
Then I'd take the phrase 'we're in this together seriously'. Until then, it's just empty bull shit.
NS is open. You just need to quarantine for 14 days & wear a mask to protect our aging & vulnerable humans. This is the reason why our case numbers remain low & the cases we DO have are a result of TRAVELLERS. We have NO community spread ATM and would like to keep it that way
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I think this person has it exactly backwards and hasn't thought through at all what they just wrote.
Anyway.
Back to the 'do as I say and not as I do' part.
Enter Mayor of Brampton, Ontario Patrick Brown.
If you go to his Twitter account his excuse is just about as lame as you'd expect for a dictatorial Mayor.
Basically, he blamed white supremacists for his hypocrisy.
College students and professors stage 'die-ins' across the country.
First off, I'd fire the professors.
Second, someone should inform these twits their demographic is largely safe and that the virus comes with a 99.8% survival rate.
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Homeschooling is sky rocketing. Parents are basically telling the system to go fly a kite. In fact, it may actually save children from the social justice factory of propaganda that has become of education.
The teacher's unions, because they're teachers, don't understand the concept of unintended consequences. They're so arrogant they believe everyone will just love them and accept their decision to screw kids over.
The other appalling thing about arguing to keep schools closed and online is that it pressures low income families who don't have the luxury of staying home since they have to go to work.
Teachers better realize fast they're not indispensable.
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