Actually they're driven by government and industry funding. Greed is more important than your health. If you want to find the cause of institutional misbehavior, follow the money.
whole new meaning to 'the love of money is the root of evil'. AMAZING how alive the bible is becoming daily with real life examples! Get into the Word and draw near.
It seems mask wearing is a permanent part of dressing for about 65% of the population .They would sooner go out without pants ,than without a mask . Now just in time we have the Monkey pot ,that will require an additional covering ,mostly for homo sexual men who are most at risk . The virus protection industry is already ramping up the production of men chastity belts to be worn 24 /7 ,mandatory of course ,no exceptions even if you are not homosexual .That is in Canada of course the leader in health care .
the uber delusional people in the world are wanting to cut off ALL HUMAN CONTACT! because THEY are narcissists and do not want to interract in any normal form. TELL THEM TO FUCK OFF AND DIE. It is getting to that point of needing to be DIRECT AND TO THE POINT....Or else they are going to affect your basic rights.
I'm sure that's the predominant driver for institutions like Mayo Clinic, which toed the official COVID line without the embarrassment they should have felt.
and Baylor Scott/White, And Baylor A&M Dallas, Really all of the huge conglomerates....THIS IS WHY YOU DO NOT TO WORSHIP MAN! Woke Mob Mentality is what you see here in action. The exact thing the bible warns against. When all mankind loses their minds to sel-deception and self-delusion. You want to tell an 8 year old that they can choose their 'sex' identity and 'sexual' preference?? you've just entered into satan territory, no black and white about it...YOU HAVE LOST YOUR MIND AND WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES.
totally a religion, it is gaining to the point of anti-christ proportions. The more ppl refuse God the more they are self-deluded, the more they will look to Man-the narcissists 'the masses' for direction and you see how that is playing out now to ppl's demise. God always offers second chances and hope even when we choose wrongly, but if ppl never stop and seek God individually and daily, there is not much hope from being taken advatage of by satan.
Sadly yes. I am a devout athiest, but there are times when I think that religious leaders talk exactly as much rubbish as elected and unelected public officials.
God is about relationship...intimacy with yourself, religion is BS and it is Man trying to be in control of himself and other ppl. Jesus came to re-introduce YOU to yourself...the self you got cut off from by the damn narcissists and pedophiles and religious.
Last I heard, there was no statistical proof that the religious pedophiles were any more numerous than the irreligious ones.. I think the jury is out on that one.
As for narcissists, same thing.
I think that flinging muck, whilst undoubtedly cathartic, is less effective than data.
A predictable outgrowth of the Science Wars that exploded in the 1990's. When social and behavioral soft sciences began to take the reins of Science from natural, biological, medical hard sciences. Marx and Engels wrote, "there can be only one science, the science of history," when discussing the separation of natural and social science. This is what is behind the merger and intentional distortion of hard sciences. To remove contradicting authoritative sources of natural science information from centralized authoritarian governing social science-based edicts that have overarching agendas. Much as communist nations don't permit the free exercise of religion, prohibiting religious messages that contradict central authority.
This obfuscation and hiding in the ambiguity of the word, "Science" must be exposed. Must be questioned with the rejoinder, "What type of science?" when asserted as the "best science" we must follow. It is the science of totalitarianism. Social and behavioral science masquerading as natural, medical science, doctors of psychological manipulation wearing white coats and stethoscopes. Like all viruses, nothing a bit of sunlight won't render impotent.
I could not agree more with your assessment of the result of how the "soft" "sciences" began to take the place, or greatly effect, what we knew for centuries as "SCIENCE", not sociology, or cultural anthropology, etc. The effect has been devastating; had an up personal view of the decline while employed in the university "system".
For certain values of the word 'science', that is. The Science has as much to do with skeptical epistemology, deduction, and empiricism as Our Values Democracy has to do with us, with morality, or with popular consent.
There is, of course, a huge difference between 'science' and 'The Science.'
The former, 'science' is a process for learning objective truth by means of the scientific method. The point of this is to reduce or (ideally, but not realistically) eliminate human bias and to go wherever reality leads.
The latter, "The Science," or sometimes just "Science" (like "The Batman" vs. "Batman"), is a deity whose word is infallible, and that must be believed without any hesitation. Unfortunately for us, the word of Science is beyond our comprehension, and is only knowable and comprehensible to the prophets of The Science, like Anthony Fauci, before it is disseminated to the peasantry (and given the force of law by decree, as is typical of theocratic regimes) by the priesthood, consisting of people like Andrew Cuomo and Gavin Newsom.
It would be hard for it to be made any more clear that Scientism is a religion, and that the only parallel between science and The Science is in the word itself. Actual science is nearly the polar opposite of The Science. Actual science has us question everything. The Science exhorts us to question nothing, and to believe whatever the priests assure us that Science has told us to believe.
Hummm, very thought provoking. Get the point clearly about science to skepticism, empiricism, etc. etc., not I'm not sure of I understand the context of "OUR" value democracy in relation to morality, or to popular consent. Comment more of your thoughts on that part ?
Doctors aren't scientists; they're medics So it makes sense. They're just as clueless as the average person on masks. They just conflate their own sense of intelligence with common sense on the matter. Doctors were among the hardest hit with Orange Man Bad disease. They would have needed a vaccine which I'm sure they'd gladly take given they're cowards.
This study of "Covid Skeptics" is a amazing piece of work reveals the beliefs and agendas of our "betters." They describe Skeptics, initially believed to be scientifically illiterate, uneducated MAGA rubes. Who they then quickly discover are actually some of the most scientifically literate, highly educated, critical thinkers and capable of high level reasoning skills of the entire population. Who's research and presentations are of such high caliber they could be published in any major, well-respected scientific publication, worthy of peer review status and deference to conclusions. Such laudatory observations throughout the document you begin to think they are about to acknowledge how wrong the pandemic "experts" most cited by media and leaders have been, even through the slanders and dismissive tone revealed by the researchers. But as the discussion and conclusions are presented they list the Skeptics propensity to view "science as a process rather than an institution" who won't submit to the findings of a "consensus" of like-minded social science-driven experts who view natural scientific research as only a part of larger social science-based societal reorientation. Dismissive of individual reasoning and understanding skills, pure scientific inquiry, contradicting the macro-societal proclamations based on the integration of all forms of social and natural scientific understanding with an overarching public health policy goal. Deeming those who do real actual natural science and present their findings a threat that must be shouted down or silenced.
This is what goes for science in higher education today. Even at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Our institutions of higher education are rotten. From top to bottom. They must be fumigated to restore their mission of seeking knowledge, using reason, challenging and questioning everything. As Rene Descartes and the Age of Enlightenment lit the way to freedom from tyrannical governance based on the edicts and proclamations of rulers informed by mystics and sorcerers using symbolic and linguistic dark magic to control the wretched masses and protect them from their ignorant, selfish ways.
interesting study, done by it seems a group of condescending pro mask zealots. They aknowledge that data mined from studies are able to at times be twisted one way or another to make a case for a certain side. They also seem to look down upon us regular joes wanting more detailed data, as though public health agencies owe us no such courtesy. Only dumbed down pictures that will make it easy for us to accept there narrative. They aknowledge that much of science is not a consensus, but seem to wish it was, as long as the consensus validates there personal beliefs.
I live in an area with a major medical center/teaching hospital affiliated with a medical school, and get periodic email updates from them, and they're clinging to masks and providing pediatric vaccination and all this is in a libertarian state which has been fairly reasonable in its approach to The Plague.
My brother, who is a nurse working for a major hospital system in the southern US, preached to me that I must wear a mask. This is right after he stubbed out his cigarette. Wish I was lying. Sigh.
Similar story here. My own brother is the chief of Emergency Medicine at a large surbuban hospital in the Northeast. The last several years have been tragic for both of us, and not least in that tragedy is our inability to communicate on a topic as obvious as the insane futility of the mask theater. No matter how mobile the goalposts are, how cynical the equivications, logical fallacies and (in his view, "noble") lies he is pressured to retail, he won't budge one inch. He (and many other healthcare workers) seem to have had the fight, the brains and the balls beaten out of them, and have become slaves to whichever latest "guidelines" (read: diktats) have dribbled forth from the anuses of our corrupt public health institutions.
On the one hand, I get it: if you wish to avoid being sued to death, having your license stripped and/or career destroyed, you will meekly parrot anything and everything they want you to in public. But to do so in private? Amongst friends and family? It speaks to something else, more akin to a spiritual wound. And if passing along lies and nonsense is merely a transactional CYA tactic, then the least you could do is to not pretend to be "practicing medicine" or "following the science "
I have an in-law family doctor, leftist, know-it-all, who refused to see family unless masked, vaxxed and outdoors, continually pestered family to vax, and offered as reassurance that he vaxxed his kids and grandkids, so of course it's fine. How will someone like this ever reverse their position? He wouldn't reverse himself if he preached that the sky is plaid, he'll never admit error. They're too arrogant and think themselves infallible.
I think about this often: how will he ever climb down from these positions? It seems like an almost impossible height. And when I add to this his own native stubbornness (a condition we inherited from our father, though in differing amounts), I really don't see a way back down without some kind of spiritual transformation. Otherwise, I fear the damage to his ego might be so severe that it utterly consumes him. And I don't believe he deserves that fate. There is good in him. Sometimes I wish I could simply kiss him, as Aloysha kissed Ivan, and that the scales would fall from his eyes.
The true believers either can’t or won’t admit they were duped & wrong, they’re either in denial of what they’ve done to themselves (& friends & family), or so invested in the propaganda that they’ll never see the truth
They can't, they simply can't. I recognize that in so many. A few "might" just be the "won't" type, but if you really think deeply about those who, like you comments, regret, or deny, what they have done to themselves (especially those now suffering from a complete break down of the immunity system from multiple injections, and all the others as well, the one thing you will probably begin to notice is they are the very individuals who have the most fragile self-esteem, and just look to D.C., is it not the same ? Those with the weakest self-esteem are the least likely to to EVER admit they were duped, or, that if not duped, that they planned it ! ?
If I were told I could only chose one word for this entire "pandemic" event, all of it, the masking, the rush vaccines, the pressures on presidents (both of them) to local authorities, community physicians to the Fauci types, even to the reluctance of people to reject what they know deep inside is false advice (such as stay INSIDE, keep out of the sunlight, off the walking trails, beaches, and lake sides. DO NOT fish, or boat, or get exercise, if given only ONE word.... I would choose, EGO. Ego played a part in every aspect of the whole event.
I sometimes wonder if it will only become to clear those like you describe if/when the Auschwitz Bury the Bodies Moment comes to them up close and personal. Most of the residents of Auschwitz outside the camp claimed to have no idea what horrors had been committed inside the camp, even knowing so many worked there and were complicit, the tell-tale signs of the smells of bodies burning regularly as cattle cars deposited their victims. When news got to the commander who liberated the death camp that residents denied it ever happened he ordered them brought to the camp to do the gruesome work of burying the bodies stacked high inside it. Only then were the deniers forced to confront the monstrosities and crimes against humanity committed there while they looked away in disbelief, previously calling those who raised alarm "seditious conspiracy theorists" harming Germany with lies. Took burying the bodies to admit their error, their arrogance and infallibility blinding them from the truth until forced to confront human horror up close and personal.
An yet today, just look at the number of prominent people who still deny it ! Good grief, look how many books have been written, footnoted, etc. about how the New York Times and the Roosevelt administration blocked the events from being reported here in the U. S. !!!
Since we're discussing blocked events from being reported, how about events being memory holed?
Like the social and behavioral science-based eugenics laws that were passed in the US during the progressive era that began a century ago (coincidentally(?) as Rockefeller allopathic medicine, now known as western medicine, "evidence-based" pushed aside and mocked homeopathy, naturopathy and other traditional natural healing modalities) leading to eugenics being held constitutional in 1927 by SCOTUS in Buck v. Bell, with a majority decision written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes that should make your insides cringe as you read them. The rationale of eugenics proponents had widespread support in the US ruling class. And was even cited by Hitler and in German jurisprudence as they committed the worst atrocities under the Third Reich, used as a defense to war crimes at Nuremberg. American jurisprudence. That, shamefully remains in law, only slightly modified by another case in the 1950's. Fascinating read in this link about a dirty US secret...based on social and behavioral science masquerading as medical, natural science.
Or that Fascism was widely supported in the US leading up to WWII, top industry corporatists lauding praises upon it and financing and supporting the Fascist regimes in Spain, Italy and Germany. The VP of General Motors, Graeme K Howard, penning the book, "America and a New World Order." Countless moguls of American high society enthralled by the public-private partnerships between government and business. Sound familiar today?
Grandfather to George W Bush. Both orchestrated the transformation of US business to (Fascist) public-private partnerships and the elimination of competition with the repeal of antitrust restrictions that have created the huge multinational conglomerates outsourcing most all production to China, eliminating real consumer choice in order to streamline production and distribution channels that buckle when glitches happen or international disordering events like pandemics and wars overseas happen. No accident that GHWB was UN Ambassador under Nixon when Democratic Taiwan was abandoned and the Communist China took over their UN seat (and Klaus Schwab's World Economic Forum was first established) He was the first US Ambassador to Communist China. A Secret Protocol Fascist-Marxist Pact in the tradition of the Hitler-Stalin Pact Secret Protocols was first agreed to then. With assurances not to break them, unlike its predecessor, lesson learned from history. At least until democratic individual liberty and freedom was eliminated (i.e. deplorables and bitter clingers). He then headed the CIA, long run by known Fascists like Allen Dulles, before serving as VP and becoming President when China bloody crushing of the Tiananmen Square freedom protests, without much objection. And months later GHWB invaded Iraq and gave his "New World Order" speech to the UN (and Klaus Schwab's WEF began it's Global Young Leaders program that same year). Later honored with state funeral tribute ceremonies in China reserved for their own leaders. GWB's presidency saw the creation of a domestic state surveillance system under the Patriot Act and establishment of the Department of Homeland Security. Tools of population control that totalitarian regimes require, now declaring citizens domestic terrorists and insurrectionists for political differences. And continued deindustrialization of the US with growing dependence on China:
Klaus Schwab, WEF founder and puppetmaster of his Young Leaders of countless nations across the globe loves the idea of a New World Order. Along with Bill Gates and the rest of the WEF corporate-government public-private partnership crowd that meets in Davos. He sometimes says New World Order, but prefers his own Great Reset nomenclature.
Biden even frequently speaks of the New World Order:
The Secret Protocols of the Hitler-Stalin Pact. Long read. Very informative. History rarely learned. Fascism and Marxism known to view western democratic liberal capitalism as their shared enemy to be defeated, both acknowledged systems of totalitarian, authoritarian governance incompatible with individual liberty and freedom. Their differences acknowledged to be purely propaganda-driven. And the United States known to have inherited the Fascist side of the Pact when Germany was defeated. Fascinating read:
You worked in a university system. This is a whole lot of high-level material to dig through if you have the intellectual curiosity and time. Eye-opening. Red-pill into the reality of the Matrix stuff.
The MINDSPACE social and behavioral science document below is a roadmap to governance of the masses by an unelected elite. Using public-private partnerships to effect and enforce public policy. Template for pandemic response, all of the useful crises agenda-driven responses:
How these unelected leaders rationalize and justify their social and behavioral science elitist governance. Their idea of bioethics. Filled with contradictions, propaganda and distortions of logic in order to assert they are operating within ethical bounds:
Those models of elitist social and behavioral sciences fully incorporated in the US governance of citizens today, also adopted by recently created "nudge units" at the state level:
And how the UN intends to usher in Agenda 2030, a co-narrative to the WEF's Great Reset. Social and behavioral science is how they intend to make us happy owning nothing and eating bugs instead of meat:
Forcing those people to confront their denials by burying the bodies was brilliant but that kind of lesson is unlikely to ever be allowed again. Even if we can stop the madness known as woke progressive ideology the corrupt within the Republican party will not ever allow such a lesson to be taught. There will be cries of how sexist or homophobic it is to make people confront their own lies and the cowardly within the Republican party will go along with it because they are spineless. Separate from that is the fact that because of how conditioned so many woke millennials are I believe that if you forced them to confront their own lies it would break them mentally. These people have been so indoctrinated that they can't be freed. The best we can hope for is to re-program them with less harmful belief's and even then if that happens we will have to be careful they are shielded from the past lest it cause them to mental fracture. Not all millennials are woke and not all woke millennials are woke because they believe in the cause so much as they are going along with what they perceive to be the majority. Those however who are truly woke who faced indoctrination in public education K-12 with addiotnal upgrades in college are like die-hard cult members, beyond de-programing. For those people we will have to find some way to re-program them and set them up in position where they can still be productive but are never allowed to raise offspring or influence kids for they are always going to be dangerous.
I don't know the answer, seems no one does, but... perhaps, the starting place then would be REMOVE what you described as the "the corrupt within the Republican party" ? I hate to trite but, you know how the old saying goes, the journey of a life time begins with a step.... so, perhaps (if "we" who oppose the progressive philosophy are in the majority, then maybe "clean the house" literally, and the senate, of the "pretend" conservatives : those who only show a modicum of conservative characteristics, and ONLY during re-election time ! Sweep your own door step first, or something along those lines maybe ?
Yes, they are arrogant and believe that they are infallible, but they are not. They just follow orders. So, if the right institution were to reverse the narrative, they will adopt it immediately, no questions asked.
We know this is so, because we have seen it before our eyes. What has been done is in direct contradiction with all the established science prior to 2020 (real science, not the 'Science'.)
If there was a time machine and you could speak with your in-law, say in December 2019, and asked him about NPIs. What do you think he would say?
And the worst thing is that if they reversed their position, they would do it shamelessly, without the slightest remorse and never acknowledging that they were in error previously.
And have you viewed the (relatively new) television ad campaign ? A parade of doctors (supposed to NOT be actors), of every size, shape, age, color and gender, one of each, who look directly into the camera and tell you
"I am Dr. ____, and I assure you the vaccines are SAFE, EFFECTIVE, and PROTECTIVE, and you can believe me" ! Have you ever imagined hearing anything like that ? ? It is absolutely CHILLING to watch it... and I kept asking myself, "do the people who create these ads even consider what a chilling psychology (let's call it creepy...LOL) an ad like this has on the average person ? Each one just PEERS into the camera making intimate eye contact, assures you the vaccines are safe, that they themselves have taken the vaccine, as have their own families, children and grand children. The first time I saw that I honestly did think I was in a time warp and was being given 24/7/365 surveillance instruction via from the ministry of truth ! Really hard to believe. However, I have also heard a considerable amount of anecdotal stories lately about a complete revolt on the part of many practicing M.D.'s !
even if God himself came out above in the sky and told the world to stop the non sense ,the sheeple would tell him he does not understand science ,only religion and tell him to wear a mask .
Just an interesting note on today, it appeared when the president and his wife went to comfort the parents of the children lost in the mass murder, and the families of the lost teachers, they were not wearing masks ! ? Quite unusual for our president I thought !
So true, but of course they do not admit "fault" because they are totally unaware of how their words, behaviors, actions and motives effect others. Many who seek "help", usually for one focused problem, in a marriage, or at work, are stunned to have a therapist ask if they have ever considered their actions as narcissistic. Many consider that condition similar to constantly grooming, seeking body alteration through diet, hair style, surgery, etc. and looking in the mirror constantly. It's a narrow view of narcissism, and definitely one they have never considered as a root cause of interpersonal problems they have be, or have, experienced. So you could consider them an "enemy" of themselves, but that's not the best way to express it. Most of us can be our own "enemy" at times... LOL !
In recent months I had to see an Ear Nose and Throat surgeon. He insisted I wear a surgical mask for the consultation, allowing me to pull it down when he needed to see up my nose. I had to keep it over my mouth “in case I coughed”. I went along with the theatre, but wanted to say to him that if I coughed this piece of paper over my mouth wasn’t going to do anything to mitigate any infection. It’s depressing that otherwise highly intelligent people appear to be so dumb.
.3 weeks ago I went to the doctor to renew my prescription for hypertension and as soon as he saw me he seemed to be in a panic when he noticed I wore the mask up side down. He corrected my deadly mistake with a sigh of relieve .On my way out I dumped the mask just outside his door ,to give him a hint .
Perhaps your physician did not do this, but until recently, one of the first things I noticed was the clear outline of the respirator masks UNDER the little cotton pieces the president, Nancy P. and others wore.
Lately I have noticed they are not wearing a respirator under the masks, perhaps because now they usually remove them when they are at the speaking podium ?
No - he also was wearing just a surgical mask. A lot of the time it slipped down below his nose and he would pull it up. There was zero infection control occurring as a result of his or my mask wearing.
You never noticed the very distinct outline during the very early months of the "pandemic" ? My neighbor, a dentist, pointed it out immediately in our neighborhood group, and sure enough, when we watched we could see it clearly, even the "valve" like device that is not a part of the mask worn over the device as a "surface" covering. The speaker often wore them made of the same fabric as her designed dresses.
Just use "health" in its old meaning, the wellbeing resulting from eating real food in the company of friends, being physically active in fresh air and sunshine, having purpose in life; not the Orwellian Newspeak meaning imposed on "health" as chronic disease and lifelong consumption of pharmaceutical products.
What a refreshing comment ! There has always been a time for medical attention, when I was a child we, as all families, understood you did NOT go to our family doctor for "wellness care", OM GOSH, was that a "no no", you did not take up a doctor's valuable time, nor did YOU suggest this or that new test, or device, or medication you "just saw on TV and it say, ask your doctor today", no, you definitely went when something serious came up, you broke a bone, got pneumonia with a SUSTAINED high fever, or, you suffered an appendicitis or heart attack, that's when people took up a doctor's time !
Vax doesn't prevent or reduce severity of sars2 or other respiratory viruses. Some vaccines do. Doctors and hospitals do prevent some illness and death, cause others. Good patients need to learn the difference. Doctors and hospitals are useful, we need good ones. They must be redeemed.
In Houston, masks in most public places are worn by only a small minority indoors, even less outdoors. At the Texas Medical Center (several large hospitals in same location), all hospitals still require masks in clinical areas, a couple have dropped it in nonclinical areas. What blows my mind is if you drive around down there and look at all the pedestrians on the sidewalks, and there's a lot during the day, most of the employees will have masks on. Where they're under no requirement to outside!
I can't figure out if they are just so conditioned to wearing them they don't even think about taking it off between buildings? Do they think they're still required when on the property? Or are they true believers?
I will wear them if I have to in the hospital, but the second I hit the door, that POS is coming off. I can't believe more people don't think like this.
Have you done any sort of study as to the relative attractiveness of people who wear masks when they don't have to? After all, when everyone had to wear them, masks were equity for the ugly.
Just wondering, the couple thousand a day pouring over your borders down there in Texas, are they wearing their masks ? Sure hope so. When they arrive here in Florida on the midnight flights and buses, they are NOT wearing masks, I guess so they fit in better, don't draw attention to themselves ?
Lol, Lol, Lol.... love that, it's good to get a smile now and then... let's see, my "identifying" scent is.... "standard food handler", or sometimes on special occasions, I wear my "Disney Frozen print cotton fabric" scent !
No amount of evidence will convince the the illogical subjective truther, ever.
The advantage they wield is their tribe will follow emotive diatribe without question, while the rational will consider their fables long enough that the middle of the road, bell curve peak, will consider it possible, and plant the seeds of illusion.
It is up to the rational, to continue the chore of eradicating those weeds, or the whole crop of humanity will become a field of worthless ground cover. Thank you, for being a farmer of truth.
I read an old paper on the addictive effects of face-masking in the east that I can't find right now. The tldr was that in more introverted populations it was a way for shy people to hide in public and also that girls liked wearing them when they didn't want to put on makeup.
That REALLY hit me for the first time (!!) when I watched some video on the TV news of some big event just a month or two ago, for some of the elite of the state of California. The elites were at a very large dinner event, and no one was masked of course, but, those SERVING THEM were ALL masked, every single one ! All of a sudden it was like the proverbial "light bulb" came on... the elite are not masked, the servants are !
It's a real problem with middle school girls, they are insecure and hiding behind masks, and it's tough to hear them when they finally speak, a vicious cycle. Sad.
Just from casual observation "science", I can easily see that was the case back when people were wearing them here in FL. It was definitely at least 3 females to every male, or possibly more. It was quite noticeable !
My son and daughter-in-law are both introverts, as is my granddaughter, and he admitted that while he knows masks don't do anything, he likes wearing it in public so he doesn't have to interact as much with people around him, or instead of feigning interest or enjoyment at some social gathering can sport a neutral at best or a scornful at worst expression without it being too noticeable. My granddaughter, who was 10 when the mask mandate at school was lifted wanted to continue wearing the mask, most likely for the same reasons - hiding behind it.
I'm an introvert too, and while I never bought into the Covid narrative on any level, I have to admit that the lockdown conditions weren't much of an imposition for me, being pretty much my normal lifestyle. Still, I was rebel enough not to wear a mask in public and for two years refused seeing my dentist for regular dental hygiene, or my optometrist because they require masks. Only when I absolutely had to see both of them within the past year have I capitulated and put the damned thing on for these fortunately rare appointments. I don't see the medical field ever lifting the mask requirements.
I do live in a solid blue city within a predominantly red state, and knew almost from the beginning that the Covid thing was nothing. Ditto whatever else those malicious freaks in government come up with. Monkeypox...give me a break. Like I said, most of the mandates didn't affect me since I work from home for a small private company, introvert, all that. Even so, I have a lot of sorrow and empathy for those who did/do suffer greatly from the egregious stripping of our rights and bringing our country/world to the brink of ruin. Not many who don't have the advantages of being one of the Cloud People have been as lucky as me. I feel for them, even when I do think most of them are sheep.
Good to know, my suspicion is confirmed, and glad your son admitted why he masks. I honestly feel like ignoring random people, generally women, when I go out and they're wearing a mask. It feels like either a stunt or antisocial behavior. Either way, I resent having to pretend this is normal. I realize this might seem rude, but I think, after running into this lately, I'm just going to decline to participate until the masking stops.
I would like to witness the dental appointment with a mask....... I went to a dentist for cleaning while passing thru LA near the airport in September and ignored the mask nonsense. I guess you were supposed to wear one while waiting but there was no wait... The receptionist was hiding behind a massive plastic sheet. The staff were wearing like 3 masks plus a face shield.
I had an unpleasant “discussion” with my dentist’s receptionist. When I walked in to tell her I was here and would wait outside (because I knew of the mask requirement) she yelled at me “masks are mandatory” as she pointed violently at the sign which gave authority to her pronouncement. I told her I would wait outside but she said I would need to wear one to walk past others “we have a responsibility to our other patients”. The dentist insisted on a rubber dam to do my filling, in order to prevent aerosolised particles from endangering her, only to remove it for the last 25% of time because she was unable to complete the filling without doing so. Again - how are supposedly highly intelligent people so dumb. I will find another dentist or just make sure I take really extra good care of my teeth so I reduce the need.
Ha! same with my experience re admin staff. I put the mask on before I entered the office, because I knew I would comply when asked to put it on, just to avoid conflict. And I was completely confidant that non-compliance would have meant I would have to leave. In hindsight, I wish I'd had the gumption to put that to the test. Maybe politely refused to wear the mask, and when pushed, told them on the way out the door that II would look for a dentist who wasn't an idiot. Not sure there are any intelligent dentists within reasonable distance from where I live, though, and I did need to find out what was wrong with my tooth.
The whole absurdity and nonsense convinced me that the mandates, all of them, were coercion and theater. Once I was in the dentist chair I let it be known what I thought of the whole charade. Neither dentist nor hygienist put up an argument, but neither did they pretend to agree with me. The only comment they made was that they had to wear a mask anyway. Lame. Maybe they secretly liked knowing people who didn't need to wear a mask got to experience what they deal with every day. But, no. I think they were true believers.
It saddens me terribly knowing that many many Americans will go along to get along, or believe what they are told with little or no question or proof. I'm shy. I don't like conflict, especially with strangers. I don't want to be the center of attention for any reason. I could understand doctors and dentists or anyone in the medical profession complying out of fear that they would be closed or sued if they didn't, but all other businesses that went along with that nonsense I do not understand. I never wore a mask in a restaurant or grocery store or anywhere else in public and almost never received any pushback. I refused to fly because of the stupidity of the airlines. I will never willingly take into my body a chemical that has no efficacy and may very well harm me. That was my position on the flu vaccine as well and I had a lot less reason to fear it than the potential poison to protect against covid.
I think we've had an anti-mask sentiment in the West, or US at least, forever. If not in many situations laws prohibiting them. The common term being "what are you trying to hide ?" Whenever I see someone with the bandana mask I can't help but think of a Western bank robbery.
Don't know, maybe general wearing of masks as, lets say, fashion, is fine. Maybe its a trend like hats. I certainly have no issues with masks as a personal decision, it is a symbol/signal that is useful to both the wearer and observer
You can't communicate normally when 55% of communication comes from facial expressions and it's hard to hear when somebody covers their mouth. And it's not particularly pleasant to be around anti-social people. How many kids would agree to wear a mask with a message "I don't want to interact" rather then using an excuse "I want protection"?
Plus, seeing faceless people around is just creepy. Right before masks started, I watched a show about a haunted house, with ghosts who lost their faces. Apparently, it used to be a scary thing to see a human face wiped out.
I live in a deep blue area of a blue state with mandates (now lifted) where 80-90% wore masks even outdoors. I grew a pair refusing masking relatively early, it wasn't even that hard. The only way to know what people think about masks is not to wear them. Otherwise, you're afraid of a conflict with them, they're afraid of a conflict with you, and everybody continues to wear those stupid muzzles without believing they work. Masks truly destroy human relationships and trust, it has nothing to do with introverts who are often better with subtle cues. Being asocial or anti-social isn't the same as being an introvert. Hiding your face around people as if they're literarily infectious is extremely rude.
My dental office likes anti-maskers because they themselves could skip covering their faces outside of performing the job. I figured they weren't afraid when they re-opened early. They sent an email with instructions and have a sign on the door requiring masks but it's all theater.
I agree with you - conflict avoidance is one reason people have gone along with the sham far too long. That and being conscientious and nice and respectful and all those other attributes that are valued in society. In my experience no one ever gave me grief for not wearing a mask and I simply ignored signs on doors. If I encountered anyone not wearing a mask I always tried to make eye contact and smile at them. Maybe I'm wrong but people who still mask up are simply letting everyone know which ideological side of the isle they are on, or a visual declaration of their membership in the Church of Covid.
Having traveled and worked extensively throughout Asia and married to an Asian woman I can confirm that yes, part of mask wearing is due to being more introverted and some desire to hide facial expressions. My wife has specifically said she likes wearing a mask to hide her face.
Additionally, subways and other public areas are famously extremely crowded. The image of people being packed like sardines in a train is very common. In the winter in particular seems like everyone is sneezing, coughing and sick with something. In that situation a mask seems just polite. And then of course there’s the pollution in Bejing. In the winter I’ve had days without seeing the sun, entirely due to pollution.
That said, I’ve not worn a mask ever, even during the bird flu scare. My view my whole life has been bring on the viruses, I need to maintain a strong immune system. And it has worked, never contracted any illness despite 10-15 international trips a year for 20 years.
I think there’s maybe some of the above in why masks are being permanently adopted by some here in the west. But I think, as has been discussed, it is less about practicality or culture and more about a tribalism. And, about hiding in general. With the loss of privacy, at least perceived (privacy is an entirely different discussion) and in general more depersonalized society, wearing a hoodie and mask while plugged in has just become more comfortable for many.
You are correct in correlating your ability to stave off infectious disease to being unafraid of exposure to common viruses or much of anything, thereby enhancing your immune system. My theory, too. I jokingly (maybe?) tell people that when an "Escape from New York" catastrophe occurs, I'll have little trouble scavenging from garbage cans, or being less than scrupulous about sanitary conditions. I don't fear out of date food, if it looks and smells okay, I don't practice obsessive hand washing, and if something I'm eating falls on the floor at home I pick it up and eat it. Don't get me wrong, I can't live in a slovenly or filthy environment, but neither am I a germ-a-phobe. Having ignored all the precautions re exposure to covid, I haven't gotten it or become sick with anything else for a long time. The flu I had 5 or 6 years ago is probably what protects me against covid and other flu viruses.
I'm quite concerned that natural immunity for most people who have religiously followed all the diktats has been thoroughly compromised.
I heard the term "immune debt", perhaps on this stack. I think it is very relevant to the past 2 years and perhaps to our recent history. Perhaps we need a virus epidemic every 3 generations to relearn what we've complacently ignored.
I am glad to have both grown up in the 60's before germ-o-phobia was a thing (hand sanitizer ? wtf) and with a father who was a lung specialist MD. I learned a lot about viruses at the dinner table.
I enjoyed your theory post. It resonates with me. I handled 100's of bags for 38 years without gloves in loading airplanes. Handling the bags was like a handshake. I felt I built up my immunity over years by but not wearing gloves at the job.
My area has a big Asian population and masks used to be commonly worn during flu season by sick employees who interacted with customers. I myself put it on in the office when talking with somebody while sick, so not to spit my germs on them. Then in the past 2 years it changed to healthy people wearing it while walking their dog and driving their car alone, for various anti-social reasons.
I did my work travel in the past 2 years before the vaccines, now it appears most places are vaccine or negative test. I managed to wait out having to get vax'd
I lived in Japan from Jan 2011-Jan 2014. Those two factors were significant. Another motivation was that people believe the packaging that says 99.9% effective against viruses and references a US lab. So it is not to protect others, which is the belief among westerners. This was a factor that led to 90%+ use among little old ladies. Hayfever was another factor. Also, the use increased during swine flu and many did not let go of the practice. and this was just before I lived there. I should add that it supposedly remanns voluntary in Japan but due to social pressure compliance is near 100%. I wonder if I could get away with not doing it. There is a lot of leeway for gaijin in Japan. A current paper in a Psychology journal showed that the central motivation is peer pressure in Japan. Very few people believe that it is effective. Also at one point there was sand blowing across from China and led to near 90% mask use over these few days. The belief was it was extremely hazardous because China is polluted.
I've seen street interviews with Japanese high-schoolers in masks. It seems like about a third believe it's protective, half wear them when they don't want to put on make-up, and the remainder like that it keeps their face warm *rolls eyes*
Yes, the packaging says 99.9% effective against viruses. It is not that it protects others, as believed by westerners. But another survey in a Psych journal showed that the overwhelming factor was that others did it, so to conform.
I can't report authoritatively, only by my experience--first in Japan in 1971--but the Japanese wore masks in public when they had a cold, out of respect for others, so as not to spread their malady. It wasn't to prevent 'catching a cold' from others. My experience in NYC, pre-SARS-2, with the large Chinese population, resembled the Japanese practice.
Though, yes, masks appear worn now as protection against infection rather than the former practice of preventing spread of one's illness.
I'll never forget a trip to Tokyo, June 2017. I was seated a seat away from a presumably Japanese woman, wearing a mask, who clearly had a terrible cough and cold. With her more violent coughing spasms, she would remove her mask to cough. Needless to say, by the following night, I too had a terrible cough cold and laryngitis for the entire 2 weeks we were there and at least a week after returning home. Score another victory for masks.......
yeah, it seems now like the whole "source-protection vs. self-protection" distinction was just an obscurantist debating point to explain away certain early "masks-do-nothing" studies as being badly designed / testing for the wrong thing.
It was to coerce people to comply, same as vaxxing, to do it to protect others. That way, others can fulfill their "ethical bullying" obligation (yep, a real term) to jump your shit if you aren't complying. Sell protection was the starting story, but they had to turbo-chargebit because compliance was low.
You might want to reread what I wrote. I was reporting on a cultural practice. Perhaps it wasn't obvious that I was responding to what Colin Brace wrote above. But then you are the Inflamed Cynic...
For great information on masking, I recommend Ian Miller’s work. You can follow the Unmasked podcast and find Ian on Substack. He has written a whole book on the actual data.
Additionally, we used to know how important facial expressions were to human communication. Especially those of us with hearing impairments. But, nah, who cares about that anymore.
I found a pre-pandemic paper about the use of surgical masks for influenza. The looked at both the getting or giving influenza. It made no difference. Now it is magic, except when eating. Then risk disappears. Thank you for your clarity.
Covidians abandoned God and therefore required a new deity before whom to genuflect. They won't give up their faith easily, having the conviction of recent converts. As to their studies, all are best seen as apologetics: carefully reasoned arguments proceeding from curated data, all constructed to lead to a preordained conclusion, with the goal of converting the heathen and buttressing the wavering faith of the flock.
Just went to my college reunion at an Ivy League institution. Was monitoring their Covid rules because students and staff are required to be boosted, however us visitors had no requirements (otherwise I couldn’t have gone). Of course the day before reunion started they instituted an indoor mask mandate. Needless to say I ignored it and nobody confronted me. But this is a supposedly prestigious scientific institution that still believes in this nonsense.
Walt, think about who they get their funding from for their research depts:maybe the NIH. Or the Pharma companies, or the thinktanks that are deeply invested in creating new pathogens and their ensuing profitable solutions.
Sounds like Columbia. I was heckling my classmate who is a professor there. I would not go anywhere near that place or set foot in NYC for the foreseeable future.
Indeed. Maskers are just like those romantically scammed women who give their life savings to some guy they got to know on the Internet, without ever meeting him in the flesh, and even when everybody tells them they were duped, showing them irrefutable proof, they won't believe it., and send the scammer even more money, in the hope that somehow this irrational last gesture would prove them right after all. (It happened to someone dear to me, so I know how it looks first hand. II don't know how they call this behaviour in psychology, but the Brits (again) have a very apt expression: throw good money after the bad.)
Masks have become an excellent means of identifying the truly stupid walking amongst us. Perhaps they just hide their mouth breathing. For that at least, I am grateful.
For all the people of the world, I think I speak for many Americans in offering my apologies for the damage our CDC has inflicted on you. We'll fix it soon.
This was the original reason masks were introduced in New Zealand, when we were still in elimination and no Covid cases in the community. Someone did a request and the government documents showed it was ‘to remind people of risk’. No word on bring needed or useful!
It's kind of hilarious that due to our failing state, they never even dared to try to impose mask mandates and vaccine passports here. It was upp for discussion and the politicians quickly realised that a) people here in the rural areas (we're fewer than 1 person/sq kilometer where I live) would just ignore it - if I'm to 'socially distance' I must drive into town first...), b) migranst in the over 50 areas where the swedish population is under 10% of inhabitants would ignore it and would become violent if police tried to enforce it, and c) a sh*tload of laws would have to be change with umpteen unforseeable knock-on effects on other laws, and finally d) mrs Andersson was newly appointed prime minister last year and this year is elections; mask mandates and vaccine passports didn't poll well at all.
Oh, and the then-head of our CDC dr Tegnell spoke out against masking in February 2020 already.
Exactly. The masks are basically ceremonial headgear. An invisible evil spirit is afoot, and we have to do something to ward off possession. The mask scares away the spirit, you see.
If the replicate the study using really scary masks instead of normal masks, I bet they would work better. jk.
The funny thing is that the more "science or medical" heavy the institution, the less science thinking that occurs.
Could that be because science is now a quasi-religion and belief has replaced evidence as its foundational principle?
Actually they're driven by government and industry funding. Greed is more important than your health. If you want to find the cause of institutional misbehavior, follow the money.
whole new meaning to 'the love of money is the root of evil'. AMAZING how alive the bible is becoming daily with real life examples! Get into the Word and draw near.
It seems mask wearing is a permanent part of dressing for about 65% of the population .They would sooner go out without pants ,than without a mask . Now just in time we have the Monkey pot ,that will require an additional covering ,mostly for homo sexual men who are most at risk . The virus protection industry is already ramping up the production of men chastity belts to be worn 24 /7 ,mandatory of course ,no exceptions even if you are not homosexual .That is in Canada of course the leader in health care .
the uber delusional people in the world are wanting to cut off ALL HUMAN CONTACT! because THEY are narcissists and do not want to interract in any normal form. TELL THEM TO FUCK OFF AND DIE. It is getting to that point of needing to be DIRECT AND TO THE POINT....Or else they are going to affect your basic rights.
I'm sure that's the predominant driver for institutions like Mayo Clinic, which toed the official COVID line without the embarrassment they should have felt.
and Baylor Scott/White, And Baylor A&M Dallas, Really all of the huge conglomerates....THIS IS WHY YOU DO NOT TO WORSHIP MAN! Woke Mob Mentality is what you see here in action. The exact thing the bible warns against. When all mankind loses their minds to sel-deception and self-delusion. You want to tell an 8 year old that they can choose their 'sex' identity and 'sexual' preference?? you've just entered into satan territory, no black and white about it...YOU HAVE LOST YOUR MIND AND WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES.
That’s about it
totally a religion, it is gaining to the point of anti-christ proportions. The more ppl refuse God the more they are self-deluded, the more they will look to Man-the narcissists 'the masses' for direction and you see how that is playing out now to ppl's demise. God always offers second chances and hope even when we choose wrongly, but if ppl never stop and seek God individually and daily, there is not much hope from being taken advatage of by satan.
Sadly yes. I am a devout athiest, but there are times when I think that religious leaders talk exactly as much rubbish as elected and unelected public officials.
And vice-versa.
God is about relationship...intimacy with yourself, religion is BS and it is Man trying to be in control of himself and other ppl. Jesus came to re-introduce YOU to yourself...the self you got cut off from by the damn narcissists and pedophiles and religious.
Last I heard, there was no statistical proof that the religious pedophiles were any more numerous than the irreligious ones.. I think the jury is out on that one.
As for narcissists, same thing.
I think that flinging muck, whilst undoubtedly cathartic, is less effective than data.
A predictable outgrowth of the Science Wars that exploded in the 1990's. When social and behavioral soft sciences began to take the reins of Science from natural, biological, medical hard sciences. Marx and Engels wrote, "there can be only one science, the science of history," when discussing the separation of natural and social science. This is what is behind the merger and intentional distortion of hard sciences. To remove contradicting authoritative sources of natural science information from centralized authoritarian governing social science-based edicts that have overarching agendas. Much as communist nations don't permit the free exercise of religion, prohibiting religious messages that contradict central authority.
This obfuscation and hiding in the ambiguity of the word, "Science" must be exposed. Must be questioned with the rejoinder, "What type of science?" when asserted as the "best science" we must follow. It is the science of totalitarianism. Social and behavioral science masquerading as natural, medical science, doctors of psychological manipulation wearing white coats and stethoscopes. Like all viruses, nothing a bit of sunlight won't render impotent.
https://magazine.scienceforthepeople.org/vol22-1/science-wars-the-next-generation/
https://web.archive.org/web/20210519003131/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/14/scientists-admit-totalitarian-use-fear-control-behaviour-covid/
I could not agree more with your assessment of the result of how the "soft" "sciences" began to take the place, or greatly effect, what we knew for centuries as "SCIENCE", not sociology, or cultural anthropology, etc. The effect has been devastating; had an up personal view of the decline while employed in the university "system".
For certain values of the word 'science', that is. The Science has as much to do with skeptical epistemology, deduction, and empiricism as Our Values Democracy has to do with us, with morality, or with popular consent.
There is, of course, a huge difference between 'science' and 'The Science.'
The former, 'science' is a process for learning objective truth by means of the scientific method. The point of this is to reduce or (ideally, but not realistically) eliminate human bias and to go wherever reality leads.
The latter, "The Science," or sometimes just "Science" (like "The Batman" vs. "Batman"), is a deity whose word is infallible, and that must be believed without any hesitation. Unfortunately for us, the word of Science is beyond our comprehension, and is only knowable and comprehensible to the prophets of The Science, like Anthony Fauci, before it is disseminated to the peasantry (and given the force of law by decree, as is typical of theocratic regimes) by the priesthood, consisting of people like Andrew Cuomo and Gavin Newsom.
It would be hard for it to be made any more clear that Scientism is a religion, and that the only parallel between science and The Science is in the word itself. Actual science is nearly the polar opposite of The Science. Actual science has us question everything. The Science exhorts us to question nothing, and to believe whatever the priests assure us that Science has told us to believe.
Excellent explanation.
Well said, and on point.
I've been looking at this issue of science vs. The Science a fair bit on my substack, recently.
Hummm, very thought provoking. Get the point clearly about science to skepticism, empiricism, etc. etc., not I'm not sure of I understand the context of "OUR" value democracy in relation to morality, or to popular consent. Comment more of your thoughts on that part ?
So true. See my comment above.
There’s an art to manipulating science
Doctors aren't scientists; they're medics So it makes sense. They're just as clueless as the average person on masks. They just conflate their own sense of intelligence with common sense on the matter. Doctors were among the hardest hit with Orange Man Bad disease. They would have needed a vaccine which I'm sure they'd gladly take given they're cowards.
See MIT
Yes. See MIT:
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2101.07993.pdf
This study of "Covid Skeptics" is a amazing piece of work reveals the beliefs and agendas of our "betters." They describe Skeptics, initially believed to be scientifically illiterate, uneducated MAGA rubes. Who they then quickly discover are actually some of the most scientifically literate, highly educated, critical thinkers and capable of high level reasoning skills of the entire population. Who's research and presentations are of such high caliber they could be published in any major, well-respected scientific publication, worthy of peer review status and deference to conclusions. Such laudatory observations throughout the document you begin to think they are about to acknowledge how wrong the pandemic "experts" most cited by media and leaders have been, even through the slanders and dismissive tone revealed by the researchers. But as the discussion and conclusions are presented they list the Skeptics propensity to view "science as a process rather than an institution" who won't submit to the findings of a "consensus" of like-minded social science-driven experts who view natural scientific research as only a part of larger social science-based societal reorientation. Dismissive of individual reasoning and understanding skills, pure scientific inquiry, contradicting the macro-societal proclamations based on the integration of all forms of social and natural scientific understanding with an overarching public health policy goal. Deeming those who do real actual natural science and present their findings a threat that must be shouted down or silenced.
This is what goes for science in higher education today. Even at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Our institutions of higher education are rotten. From top to bottom. They must be fumigated to restore their mission of seeking knowledge, using reason, challenging and questioning everything. As Rene Descartes and the Age of Enlightenment lit the way to freedom from tyrannical governance based on the edicts and proclamations of rulers informed by mystics and sorcerers using symbolic and linguistic dark magic to control the wretched masses and protect them from their ignorant, selfish ways.
interesting study, done by it seems a group of condescending pro mask zealots. They aknowledge that data mined from studies are able to at times be twisted one way or another to make a case for a certain side. They also seem to look down upon us regular joes wanting more detailed data, as though public health agencies owe us no such courtesy. Only dumbed down pictures that will make it easy for us to accept there narrative. They aknowledge that much of science is not a consensus, but seem to wish it was, as long as the consensus validates there personal beliefs.
Yep. And when you look at who funded it, who the researchers were, and what their backgrounds and agendas are it all makes even more sense.
Spot on
I live in an area with a major medical center/teaching hospital affiliated with a medical school, and get periodic email updates from them, and they're clinging to masks and providing pediatric vaccination and all this is in a libertarian state which has been fairly reasonable in its approach to The Plague.
My brother, who is a nurse working for a major hospital system in the southern US, preached to me that I must wear a mask. This is right after he stubbed out his cigarette. Wish I was lying. Sigh.
Similar story here. My own brother is the chief of Emergency Medicine at a large surbuban hospital in the Northeast. The last several years have been tragic for both of us, and not least in that tragedy is our inability to communicate on a topic as obvious as the insane futility of the mask theater. No matter how mobile the goalposts are, how cynical the equivications, logical fallacies and (in his view, "noble") lies he is pressured to retail, he won't budge one inch. He (and many other healthcare workers) seem to have had the fight, the brains and the balls beaten out of them, and have become slaves to whichever latest "guidelines" (read: diktats) have dribbled forth from the anuses of our corrupt public health institutions.
On the one hand, I get it: if you wish to avoid being sued to death, having your license stripped and/or career destroyed, you will meekly parrot anything and everything they want you to in public. But to do so in private? Amongst friends and family? It speaks to something else, more akin to a spiritual wound. And if passing along lies and nonsense is merely a transactional CYA tactic, then the least you could do is to not pretend to be "practicing medicine" or "following the science "
I have an in-law family doctor, leftist, know-it-all, who refused to see family unless masked, vaxxed and outdoors, continually pestered family to vax, and offered as reassurance that he vaxxed his kids and grandkids, so of course it's fine. How will someone like this ever reverse their position? He wouldn't reverse himself if he preached that the sky is plaid, he'll never admit error. They're too arrogant and think themselves infallible.
I think about this often: how will he ever climb down from these positions? It seems like an almost impossible height. And when I add to this his own native stubbornness (a condition we inherited from our father, though in differing amounts), I really don't see a way back down without some kind of spiritual transformation. Otherwise, I fear the damage to his ego might be so severe that it utterly consumes him. And I don't believe he deserves that fate. There is good in him. Sometimes I wish I could simply kiss him, as Aloysha kissed Ivan, and that the scales would fall from his eyes.
The true believers either can’t or won’t admit they were duped & wrong, they’re either in denial of what they’ve done to themselves (& friends & family), or so invested in the propaganda that they’ll never see the truth
They can't, they simply can't. I recognize that in so many. A few "might" just be the "won't" type, but if you really think deeply about those who, like you comments, regret, or deny, what they have done to themselves (especially those now suffering from a complete break down of the immunity system from multiple injections, and all the others as well, the one thing you will probably begin to notice is they are the very individuals who have the most fragile self-esteem, and just look to D.C., is it not the same ? Those with the weakest self-esteem are the least likely to to EVER admit they were duped, or, that if not duped, that they planned it ! ?
If I were told I could only chose one word for this entire "pandemic" event, all of it, the masking, the rush vaccines, the pressures on presidents (both of them) to local authorities, community physicians to the Fauci types, even to the reluctance of people to reject what they know deep inside is false advice (such as stay INSIDE, keep out of the sunlight, off the walking trails, beaches, and lake sides. DO NOT fish, or boat, or get exercise, if given only ONE word.... I would choose, EGO. Ego played a part in every aspect of the whole event.
That's exactly what we are waking up from.
I sometimes wonder if it will only become to clear those like you describe if/when the Auschwitz Bury the Bodies Moment comes to them up close and personal. Most of the residents of Auschwitz outside the camp claimed to have no idea what horrors had been committed inside the camp, even knowing so many worked there and were complicit, the tell-tale signs of the smells of bodies burning regularly as cattle cars deposited their victims. When news got to the commander who liberated the death camp that residents denied it ever happened he ordered them brought to the camp to do the gruesome work of burying the bodies stacked high inside it. Only then were the deniers forced to confront the monstrosities and crimes against humanity committed there while they looked away in disbelief, previously calling those who raised alarm "seditious conspiracy theorists" harming Germany with lies. Took burying the bodies to admit their error, their arrogance and infallibility blinding them from the truth until forced to confront human horror up close and personal.
An yet today, just look at the number of prominent people who still deny it ! Good grief, look how many books have been written, footnoted, etc. about how the New York Times and the Roosevelt administration blocked the events from being reported here in the U. S. !!!
Since we're discussing blocked events from being reported, how about events being memory holed?
Like the social and behavioral science-based eugenics laws that were passed in the US during the progressive era that began a century ago (coincidentally(?) as Rockefeller allopathic medicine, now known as western medicine, "evidence-based" pushed aside and mocked homeopathy, naturopathy and other traditional natural healing modalities) leading to eugenics being held constitutional in 1927 by SCOTUS in Buck v. Bell, with a majority decision written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes that should make your insides cringe as you read them. The rationale of eugenics proponents had widespread support in the US ruling class. And was even cited by Hitler and in German jurisprudence as they committed the worst atrocities under the Third Reich, used as a defense to war crimes at Nuremberg. American jurisprudence. That, shamefully remains in law, only slightly modified by another case in the 1950's. Fascinating read in this link about a dirty US secret...based on social and behavioral science masquerading as medical, natural science.
https://sci-hub.st/10.1177/106591295300600409
Or that Fascism was widely supported in the US leading up to WWII, top industry corporatists lauding praises upon it and financing and supporting the Fascist regimes in Spain, Italy and Germany. The VP of General Motors, Graeme K Howard, penning the book, "America and a New World Order." Countless moguls of American high society enthralled by the public-private partnerships between government and business. Sound familiar today?
http://www.rationalrevolution.net/war/american_supporters_of_the_europ.htm
No more meaningful supporter of Fascism in American history than Prescott Bush, father to George HW Bush.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/25/usa.secondworldwar?all=true
Grandfather to George W Bush. Both orchestrated the transformation of US business to (Fascist) public-private partnerships and the elimination of competition with the repeal of antitrust restrictions that have created the huge multinational conglomerates outsourcing most all production to China, eliminating real consumer choice in order to streamline production and distribution channels that buckle when glitches happen or international disordering events like pandemics and wars overseas happen. No accident that GHWB was UN Ambassador under Nixon when Democratic Taiwan was abandoned and the Communist China took over their UN seat (and Klaus Schwab's World Economic Forum was first established) He was the first US Ambassador to Communist China. A Secret Protocol Fascist-Marxist Pact in the tradition of the Hitler-Stalin Pact Secret Protocols was first agreed to then. With assurances not to break them, unlike its predecessor, lesson learned from history. At least until democratic individual liberty and freedom was eliminated (i.e. deplorables and bitter clingers). He then headed the CIA, long run by known Fascists like Allen Dulles, before serving as VP and becoming President when China bloody crushing of the Tiananmen Square freedom protests, without much objection. And months later GHWB invaded Iraq and gave his "New World Order" speech to the UN (and Klaus Schwab's WEF began it's Global Young Leaders program that same year). Later honored with state funeral tribute ceremonies in China reserved for their own leaders. GWB's presidency saw the creation of a domestic state surveillance system under the Patriot Act and establishment of the Department of Homeland Security. Tools of population control that totalitarian regimes require, now declaring citizens domestic terrorists and insurrectionists for political differences. And continued deindustrialization of the US with growing dependence on China:
https://stillnessinthestorm.com/2016/02/the-bush-crime-family-history-presco/
Don't think any of this could be possible in the US? A notable and substantial author of the 1930's saw it, and warned of it:
https://lithub.com/a-good-journalist-understands-that-fascism-can-happen-anywhere-anytime/
Klaus Schwab, WEF founder and puppetmaster of his Young Leaders of countless nations across the globe loves the idea of a New World Order. Along with Bill Gates and the rest of the WEF corporate-government public-private partnership crowd that meets in Davos. He sometimes says New World Order, but prefers his own Great Reset nomenclature.
Biden even frequently speaks of the New World Order:
https://townhall.com/columnists/olivernorthanddavidgoetsch/2022/04/05/bidens-new-world-order-n2605473
The Secret Protocols of the Hitler-Stalin Pact. Long read. Very informative. History rarely learned. Fascism and Marxism known to view western democratic liberal capitalism as their shared enemy to be defeated, both acknowledged systems of totalitarian, authoritarian governance incompatible with individual liberty and freedom. Their differences acknowledged to be purely propaganda-driven. And the United States known to have inherited the Fascist side of the Pact when Germany was defeated. Fascinating read:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234008336_The_Hitler-Stalin_pact_discussion_of_the_Non-Aggression_Treaty_and_the_secret_protocols
You worked in a university system. This is a whole lot of high-level material to dig through if you have the intellectual curiosity and time. Eye-opening. Red-pill into the reality of the Matrix stuff.
The MINDSPACE social and behavioral science document below is a roadmap to governance of the masses by an unelected elite. Using public-private partnerships to effect and enforce public policy. Template for pandemic response, all of the useful crises agenda-driven responses:
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publications/mindspace
How these unelected leaders rationalize and justify their social and behavioral science elitist governance. Their idea of bioethics. Filled with contradictions, propaganda and distortions of logic in order to assert they are operating within ethical bounds:
https://www.nuffieldbioethics.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Public-health-ethical-issues.pdf
Those models of elitist social and behavioral sciences fully incorporated in the US governance of citizens today, also adopted by recently created "nudge units" at the state level:
https://bluetent.us/articles/governing/cass-sunstein-biden-white-house-oira/
Social and behavioral sciences at the center of the US (and UK) pandemic responses. Not natural and medical science:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32355299/
Remember, it's The Science of eugenics:
https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2953&context=lcp
And the science of totalitarianism:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210519003131/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/14/scientists-admit-totalitarian-use-fear-control-behaviour-covid/
And how the UN intends to usher in Agenda 2030, a co-narrative to the WEF's Great Reset. Social and behavioral science is how they intend to make us happy owning nothing and eating bugs instead of meat:
https://www.undp.org/publications/behavioural-insights-united-nations-achieving-agenda-2030
Forcing those people to confront their denials by burying the bodies was brilliant but that kind of lesson is unlikely to ever be allowed again. Even if we can stop the madness known as woke progressive ideology the corrupt within the Republican party will not ever allow such a lesson to be taught. There will be cries of how sexist or homophobic it is to make people confront their own lies and the cowardly within the Republican party will go along with it because they are spineless. Separate from that is the fact that because of how conditioned so many woke millennials are I believe that if you forced them to confront their own lies it would break them mentally. These people have been so indoctrinated that they can't be freed. The best we can hope for is to re-program them with less harmful belief's and even then if that happens we will have to be careful they are shielded from the past lest it cause them to mental fracture. Not all millennials are woke and not all woke millennials are woke because they believe in the cause so much as they are going along with what they perceive to be the majority. Those however who are truly woke who faced indoctrination in public education K-12 with addiotnal upgrades in college are like die-hard cult members, beyond de-programing. For those people we will have to find some way to re-program them and set them up in position where they can still be productive but are never allowed to raise offspring or influence kids for they are always going to be dangerous.
I don't know the answer, seems no one does, but... perhaps, the starting place then would be REMOVE what you described as the "the corrupt within the Republican party" ? I hate to trite but, you know how the old saying goes, the journey of a life time begins with a step.... so, perhaps (if "we" who oppose the progressive philosophy are in the majority, then maybe "clean the house" literally, and the senate, of the "pretend" conservatives : those who only show a modicum of conservative characteristics, and ONLY during re-election time ! Sweep your own door step first, or something along those lines maybe ?
Yes, they are arrogant and believe that they are infallible, but they are not. They just follow orders. So, if the right institution were to reverse the narrative, they will adopt it immediately, no questions asked.
We know this is so, because we have seen it before our eyes. What has been done is in direct contradiction with all the established science prior to 2020 (real science, not the 'Science'.)
If there was a time machine and you could speak with your in-law, say in December 2019, and asked him about NPIs. What do you think he would say?
And the worst thing is that if they reversed their position, they would do it shamelessly, without the slightest remorse and never acknowledging that they were in error previously.
It is frightening.
Thanks for your spot on post. Exactly!!
And have you viewed the (relatively new) television ad campaign ? A parade of doctors (supposed to NOT be actors), of every size, shape, age, color and gender, one of each, who look directly into the camera and tell you
"I am Dr. ____, and I assure you the vaccines are SAFE, EFFECTIVE, and PROTECTIVE, and you can believe me" ! Have you ever imagined hearing anything like that ? ? It is absolutely CHILLING to watch it... and I kept asking myself, "do the people who create these ads even consider what a chilling psychology (let's call it creepy...LOL) an ad like this has on the average person ? Each one just PEERS into the camera making intimate eye contact, assures you the vaccines are safe, that they themselves have taken the vaccine, as have their own families, children and grand children. The first time I saw that I honestly did think I was in a time warp and was being given 24/7/365 surveillance instruction via from the ministry of truth ! Really hard to believe. However, I have also heard a considerable amount of anecdotal stories lately about a complete revolt on the part of many practicing M.D.'s !
even if God himself came out above in the sky and told the world to stop the non sense ,the sheeple would tell him he does not understand science ,only religion and tell him to wear a mask .
He already did. 2000 years ago. We learned nothing.
Just an interesting note on today, it appeared when the president and his wife went to comfort the parents of the children lost in the mass murder, and the families of the lost teachers, they were not wearing masks ! ? Quite unusual for our president I thought !
I have a friend who is a surgeon in one of the bluest metropolitan pockets of the U.S. and it's exactly the same story, almost to a tee.
narcissists are their own enemy...they'll never admit fault, have to always be right and never show humility! that is the only way to God.
So true, but of course they do not admit "fault" because they are totally unaware of how their words, behaviors, actions and motives effect others. Many who seek "help", usually for one focused problem, in a marriage, or at work, are stunned to have a therapist ask if they have ever considered their actions as narcissistic. Many consider that condition similar to constantly grooming, seeking body alteration through diet, hair style, surgery, etc. and looking in the mirror constantly. It's a narrow view of narcissism, and definitely one they have never considered as a root cause of interpersonal problems they have be, or have, experienced. So you could consider them an "enemy" of themselves, but that's not the best way to express it. Most of us can be our own "enemy" at times... LOL !
In recent months I had to see an Ear Nose and Throat surgeon. He insisted I wear a surgical mask for the consultation, allowing me to pull it down when he needed to see up my nose. I had to keep it over my mouth “in case I coughed”. I went along with the theatre, but wanted to say to him that if I coughed this piece of paper over my mouth wasn’t going to do anything to mitigate any infection. It’s depressing that otherwise highly intelligent people appear to be so dumb.
.3 weeks ago I went to the doctor to renew my prescription for hypertension and as soon as he saw me he seemed to be in a panic when he noticed I wore the mask up side down. He corrected my deadly mistake with a sigh of relieve .On my way out I dumped the mask just outside his door ,to give him a hint .
Perhaps your physician did not do this, but until recently, one of the first things I noticed was the clear outline of the respirator masks UNDER the little cotton pieces the president, Nancy P. and others wore.
Lately I have noticed they are not wearing a respirator under the masks, perhaps because now they usually remove them when they are at the speaking podium ?
No - he also was wearing just a surgical mask. A lot of the time it slipped down below his nose and he would pull it up. There was zero infection control occurring as a result of his or my mask wearing.
You never noticed the very distinct outline during the very early months of the "pandemic" ? My neighbor, a dentist, pointed it out immediately in our neighborhood group, and sure enough, when we watched we could see it clearly, even the "valve" like device that is not a part of the mask worn over the device as a "surface" covering. The speaker often wore them made of the same fabric as her designed dresses.
More and more starting to feel that I need to buy myself that copy of "Where There Is No Doctor" I been contemplating for awhile...
Less Medicine More Health (Welch) is a good one. Medical errors have long been a major cause of death and injury.
Just use "health" in its old meaning, the wellbeing resulting from eating real food in the company of friends, being physically active in fresh air and sunshine, having purpose in life; not the Orwellian Newspeak meaning imposed on "health" as chronic disease and lifelong consumption of pharmaceutical products.
What a refreshing comment ! There has always been a time for medical attention, when I was a child we, as all families, understood you did NOT go to our family doctor for "wellness care", OM GOSH, was that a "no no", you did not take up a doctor's valuable time, nor did YOU suggest this or that new test, or device, or medication you "just saw on TV and it say, ask your doctor today", no, you definitely went when something serious came up, you broke a bone, got pneumonia with a SUSTAINED high fever, or, you suffered an appendicitis or heart attack, that's when people took up a doctor's time !
The poison shots don't stop severe illness and death. Foregoing doctors and hospitals does.
Vax doesn't prevent or reduce severity of sars2 or other respiratory viruses. Some vaccines do. Doctors and hospitals do prevent some illness and death, cause others. Good patients need to learn the difference. Doctors and hospitals are useful, we need good ones. They must be redeemed.
Yes. Me too
Ive been stunned @ the number of doctors & nurses not only bought into this shit, but actively encouraged patients & friends to mask, jab, etc.
In Houston, masks in most public places are worn by only a small minority indoors, even less outdoors. At the Texas Medical Center (several large hospitals in same location), all hospitals still require masks in clinical areas, a couple have dropped it in nonclinical areas. What blows my mind is if you drive around down there and look at all the pedestrians on the sidewalks, and there's a lot during the day, most of the employees will have masks on. Where they're under no requirement to outside!
I can't figure out if they are just so conditioned to wearing them they don't even think about taking it off between buildings? Do they think they're still required when on the property? Or are they true believers?
I will wear them if I have to in the hospital, but the second I hit the door, that POS is coming off. I can't believe more people don't think like this.
self delusion and 'virtue signaling', they believe in nothing(no God)...so they fall for everything!
Have you done any sort of study as to the relative attractiveness of people who wear masks when they don't have to? After all, when everyone had to wear them, masks were equity for the ugly.
Just wondering, the couple thousand a day pouring over your borders down there in Texas, are they wearing their masks ? Sure hope so. When they arrive here in Florida on the midnight flights and buses, they are NOT wearing masks, I guess so they fit in better, don't draw attention to themselves ?
Maybe it has become part of their identity like perfume or cologne.
Lol, Lol, Lol.... love that, it's good to get a smile now and then... let's see, my "identifying" scent is.... "standard food handler", or sometimes on special occasions, I wear my "Disney Frozen print cotton fabric" scent !
I suspect I live in same state as you, and find it has come up quite short of its libertarian reputation.
Being an ex-Noo Yawkuh of course colors my perceptions.
As does HCA
No amount of evidence will convince the the illogical subjective truther, ever.
The advantage they wield is their tribe will follow emotive diatribe without question, while the rational will consider their fables long enough that the middle of the road, bell curve peak, will consider it possible, and plant the seeds of illusion.
It is up to the rational, to continue the chore of eradicating those weeds, or the whole crop of humanity will become a field of worthless ground cover. Thank you, for being a farmer of truth.
Odd how (some, many?) people from East Asia persist in wearing facemasks; as if there's something talismanic about it. <shrug>
I read an old paper on the addictive effects of face-masking in the east that I can't find right now. The tldr was that in more introverted populations it was a way for shy people to hide in public and also that girls liked wearing them when they didn't want to put on makeup.
The strong attachment of western females to masking is a strong argument in favor of that hypothesis.
Masks are also important for those accustomed to doing as they're told. Most maskers are just being obedient. They don't know why. Don't care.
If I was a young guy and dating { FINDING A MATE } I would not date a girl wearing a mask . It would be a big red flag for me .
Amen. And the other way around, a lady friend of mine said she would never marry a man with a beard until she had seen him without one first. Lol
That REALLY hit me for the first time (!!) when I watched some video on the TV news of some big event just a month or two ago, for some of the elite of the state of California. The elites were at a very large dinner event, and no one was masked of course, but, those SERVING THEM were ALL masked, every single one ! All of a sudden it was like the proverbial "light bulb" came on... the elite are not masked, the servants are !
It's a real problem with middle school girls, they are insecure and hiding behind masks, and it's tough to hear them when they finally speak, a vicious cycle. Sad.
I don't see a different in male vs female attachment to masks here in Europe.
That's interesting, one of things I love about this sight, finding out what the circumstances are in other areas of the U.S. and in OTHER COUNTRIES !
There is certainly, however, a difference in mask usage between men and women.
Watch this lady interview people in Japan why they wear masks 4 years ago.
“I know they don’t work”
“It makes my face look smaller”
“I don’t have to put on makeup”
“I’m shy”
“The air smells bad in Tokyo”
“My teeth are ugly” https://youtu.be/PFCapGQWfAw
As a woman, I have never once thought of masks as saving graces for my chin or jawline. Women are probanly just more easily scared and/or compliant.
Just from casual observation "science", I can easily see that was the case back when people were wearing them here in FL. It was definitely at least 3 females to every male, or possibly more. It was quite noticeable !
My son and daughter-in-law are both introverts, as is my granddaughter, and he admitted that while he knows masks don't do anything, he likes wearing it in public so he doesn't have to interact as much with people around him, or instead of feigning interest or enjoyment at some social gathering can sport a neutral at best or a scornful at worst expression without it being too noticeable. My granddaughter, who was 10 when the mask mandate at school was lifted wanted to continue wearing the mask, most likely for the same reasons - hiding behind it.
I'm an introvert too, and while I never bought into the Covid narrative on any level, I have to admit that the lockdown conditions weren't much of an imposition for me, being pretty much my normal lifestyle. Still, I was rebel enough not to wear a mask in public and for two years refused seeing my dentist for regular dental hygiene, or my optometrist because they require masks. Only when I absolutely had to see both of them within the past year have I capitulated and put the damned thing on for these fortunately rare appointments. I don't see the medical field ever lifting the mask requirements.
I do live in a solid blue city within a predominantly red state, and knew almost from the beginning that the Covid thing was nothing. Ditto whatever else those malicious freaks in government come up with. Monkeypox...give me a break. Like I said, most of the mandates didn't affect me since I work from home for a small private company, introvert, all that. Even so, I have a lot of sorrow and empathy for those who did/do suffer greatly from the egregious stripping of our rights and bringing our country/world to the brink of ruin. Not many who don't have the advantages of being one of the Cloud People have been as lucky as me. I feel for them, even when I do think most of them are sheep.
Good to know, my suspicion is confirmed, and glad your son admitted why he masks. I honestly feel like ignoring random people, generally women, when I go out and they're wearing a mask. It feels like either a stunt or antisocial behavior. Either way, I resent having to pretend this is normal. I realize this might seem rude, but I think, after running into this lately, I'm just going to decline to participate until the masking stops.
I assume voluntary maskers want no human interaction. I'm good with that and oblige them.
I would like to witness the dental appointment with a mask....... I went to a dentist for cleaning while passing thru LA near the airport in September and ignored the mask nonsense. I guess you were supposed to wear one while waiting but there was no wait... The receptionist was hiding behind a massive plastic sheet. The staff were wearing like 3 masks plus a face shield.
I had an unpleasant “discussion” with my dentist’s receptionist. When I walked in to tell her I was here and would wait outside (because I knew of the mask requirement) she yelled at me “masks are mandatory” as she pointed violently at the sign which gave authority to her pronouncement. I told her I would wait outside but she said I would need to wear one to walk past others “we have a responsibility to our other patients”. The dentist insisted on a rubber dam to do my filling, in order to prevent aerosolised particles from endangering her, only to remove it for the last 25% of time because she was unable to complete the filling without doing so. Again - how are supposedly highly intelligent people so dumb. I will find another dentist or just make sure I take really extra good care of my teeth so I reduce the need.
Ha! same with my experience re admin staff. I put the mask on before I entered the office, because I knew I would comply when asked to put it on, just to avoid conflict. And I was completely confidant that non-compliance would have meant I would have to leave. In hindsight, I wish I'd had the gumption to put that to the test. Maybe politely refused to wear the mask, and when pushed, told them on the way out the door that II would look for a dentist who wasn't an idiot. Not sure there are any intelligent dentists within reasonable distance from where I live, though, and I did need to find out what was wrong with my tooth.
The whole absurdity and nonsense convinced me that the mandates, all of them, were coercion and theater. Once I was in the dentist chair I let it be known what I thought of the whole charade. Neither dentist nor hygienist put up an argument, but neither did they pretend to agree with me. The only comment they made was that they had to wear a mask anyway. Lame. Maybe they secretly liked knowing people who didn't need to wear a mask got to experience what they deal with every day. But, no. I think they were true believers.
It saddens me terribly knowing that many many Americans will go along to get along, or believe what they are told with little or no question or proof. I'm shy. I don't like conflict, especially with strangers. I don't want to be the center of attention for any reason. I could understand doctors and dentists or anyone in the medical profession complying out of fear that they would be closed or sued if they didn't, but all other businesses that went along with that nonsense I do not understand. I never wore a mask in a restaurant or grocery store or anywhere else in public and almost never received any pushback. I refused to fly because of the stupidity of the airlines. I will never willingly take into my body a chemical that has no efficacy and may very well harm me. That was my position on the flu vaccine as well and I had a lot less reason to fear it than the potential poison to protect against covid.
I think we've had an anti-mask sentiment in the West, or US at least, forever. If not in many situations laws prohibiting them. The common term being "what are you trying to hide ?" Whenever I see someone with the bandana mask I can't help but think of a Western bank robbery.
Don't know, maybe general wearing of masks as, lets say, fashion, is fine. Maybe its a trend like hats. I certainly have no issues with masks as a personal decision, it is a symbol/signal that is useful to both the wearer and observer
We need to get back to masks in public being illegal. Theres a good reason for it. Masks are a real boon for criminals, rioters, etc.
Before this mask thing started 2 years ago the local precious metals shop would not allow you to enter if you were hooded or wore ski mask.
You can't communicate normally when 55% of communication comes from facial expressions and it's hard to hear when somebody covers their mouth. And it's not particularly pleasant to be around anti-social people. How many kids would agree to wear a mask with a message "I don't want to interact" rather then using an excuse "I want protection"?
Plus, seeing faceless people around is just creepy. Right before masks started, I watched a show about a haunted house, with ghosts who lost their faces. Apparently, it used to be a scary thing to see a human face wiped out.
Used to be forbidden in schools. Still was for Halloween. Good grief.
I live in a deep blue area of a blue state with mandates (now lifted) where 80-90% wore masks even outdoors. I grew a pair refusing masking relatively early, it wasn't even that hard. The only way to know what people think about masks is not to wear them. Otherwise, you're afraid of a conflict with them, they're afraid of a conflict with you, and everybody continues to wear those stupid muzzles without believing they work. Masks truly destroy human relationships and trust, it has nothing to do with introverts who are often better with subtle cues. Being asocial or anti-social isn't the same as being an introvert. Hiding your face around people as if they're literarily infectious is extremely rude.
My dental office likes anti-maskers because they themselves could skip covering their faces outside of performing the job. I figured they weren't afraid when they re-opened early. They sent an email with instructions and have a sign on the door requiring masks but it's all theater.
I agree with you - conflict avoidance is one reason people have gone along with the sham far too long. That and being conscientious and nice and respectful and all those other attributes that are valued in society. In my experience no one ever gave me grief for not wearing a mask and I simply ignored signs on doors. If I encountered anyone not wearing a mask I always tried to make eye contact and smile at them. Maybe I'm wrong but people who still mask up are simply letting everyone know which ideological side of the isle they are on, or a visual declaration of their membership in the Church of Covid.
Not really respectful, and not mutually respectful. Government mandates can't define for you what's respectful, what's not.
Being one of a few masked people is incredibly conspicuous.
Since the monkey pox outbreak it may be a good idea to switch to a full face gorilla mask .It is always good to go with the trend or start a new one .
I love it, I hope I can develop the nerve to do that, it's so funny !
LOL!
Having traveled and worked extensively throughout Asia and married to an Asian woman I can confirm that yes, part of mask wearing is due to being more introverted and some desire to hide facial expressions. My wife has specifically said she likes wearing a mask to hide her face.
Additionally, subways and other public areas are famously extremely crowded. The image of people being packed like sardines in a train is very common. In the winter in particular seems like everyone is sneezing, coughing and sick with something. In that situation a mask seems just polite. And then of course there’s the pollution in Bejing. In the winter I’ve had days without seeing the sun, entirely due to pollution.
That said, I’ve not worn a mask ever, even during the bird flu scare. My view my whole life has been bring on the viruses, I need to maintain a strong immune system. And it has worked, never contracted any illness despite 10-15 international trips a year for 20 years.
I think there’s maybe some of the above in why masks are being permanently adopted by some here in the west. But I think, as has been discussed, it is less about practicality or culture and more about a tribalism. And, about hiding in general. With the loss of privacy, at least perceived (privacy is an entirely different discussion) and in general more depersonalized society, wearing a hoodie and mask while plugged in has just become more comfortable for many.
You are correct in correlating your ability to stave off infectious disease to being unafraid of exposure to common viruses or much of anything, thereby enhancing your immune system. My theory, too. I jokingly (maybe?) tell people that when an "Escape from New York" catastrophe occurs, I'll have little trouble scavenging from garbage cans, or being less than scrupulous about sanitary conditions. I don't fear out of date food, if it looks and smells okay, I don't practice obsessive hand washing, and if something I'm eating falls on the floor at home I pick it up and eat it. Don't get me wrong, I can't live in a slovenly or filthy environment, but neither am I a germ-a-phobe. Having ignored all the precautions re exposure to covid, I haven't gotten it or become sick with anything else for a long time. The flu I had 5 or 6 years ago is probably what protects me against covid and other flu viruses.
I'm quite concerned that natural immunity for most people who have religiously followed all the diktats has been thoroughly compromised.
I heard the term "immune debt", perhaps on this stack. I think it is very relevant to the past 2 years and perhaps to our recent history. Perhaps we need a virus epidemic every 3 generations to relearn what we've complacently ignored.
I am glad to have both grown up in the 60's before germ-o-phobia was a thing (hand sanitizer ? wtf) and with a father who was a lung specialist MD. I learned a lot about viruses at the dinner table.
I enjoyed your theory post. It resonates with me. I handled 100's of bags for 38 years without gloves in loading airplanes. Handling the bags was like a handshake. I felt I built up my immunity over years by but not wearing gloves at the job.
My area has a big Asian population and masks used to be commonly worn during flu season by sick employees who interacted with customers. I myself put it on in the office when talking with somebody while sick, so not to spit my germs on them. Then in the past 2 years it changed to healthy people wearing it while walking their dog and driving their car alone, for various anti-social reasons.
Did you have to get covid vaccinated for your work travel?
I did my work travel in the past 2 years before the vaccines, now it appears most places are vaccine or negative test. I managed to wait out having to get vax'd
I lived in Japan from Jan 2011-Jan 2014. Those two factors were significant. Another motivation was that people believe the packaging that says 99.9% effective against viruses and references a US lab. So it is not to protect others, which is the belief among westerners. This was a factor that led to 90%+ use among little old ladies. Hayfever was another factor. Also, the use increased during swine flu and many did not let go of the practice. and this was just before I lived there. I should add that it supposedly remanns voluntary in Japan but due to social pressure compliance is near 100%. I wonder if I could get away with not doing it. There is a lot of leeway for gaijin in Japan. A current paper in a Psychology journal showed that the central motivation is peer pressure in Japan. Very few people believe that it is effective. Also at one point there was sand blowing across from China and led to near 90% mask use over these few days. The belief was it was extremely hazardous because China is polluted.
I've seen street interviews with Japanese high-schoolers in masks. It seems like about a third believe it's protective, half wear them when they don't want to put on make-up, and the remainder like that it keeps their face warm *rolls eyes*
Yes, the packaging says 99.9% effective against viruses. It is not that it protects others, as believed by westerners. But another survey in a Psych journal showed that the overwhelming factor was that others did it, so to conform.
How do young people make out on a date wearing masks ? Lucky for me I'm 86 and won't be going on a date anytime soon to find out .
or plucking chin hairs
How does one 'hide' when wearing a mask?
But before 2020, I think the masking in Asian countries was more because of pollution than disease?
Not Japan.
Mysophobics - think Howard Hughes and Michael Jackson.
I can't report authoritatively, only by my experience--first in Japan in 1971--but the Japanese wore masks in public when they had a cold, out of respect for others, so as not to spread their malady. It wasn't to prevent 'catching a cold' from others. My experience in NYC, pre-SARS-2, with the large Chinese population, resembled the Japanese practice.
Though, yes, masks appear worn now as protection against infection rather than the former practice of preventing spread of one's illness.
I'll never forget a trip to Tokyo, June 2017. I was seated a seat away from a presumably Japanese woman, wearing a mask, who clearly had a terrible cough and cold. With her more violent coughing spasms, she would remove her mask to cough. Needless to say, by the following night, I too had a terrible cough cold and laryngitis for the entire 2 weeks we were there and at least a week after returning home. Score another victory for masks.......
FJB did that exact thing on camera! Then he shook people's hands! Disgusting!
That's what I was told or actually read somewhere, but deeper analysis shows that source control was not a factor in Japan. See my comments above.
yeah, it seems now like the whole "source-protection vs. self-protection" distinction was just an obscurantist debating point to explain away certain early "masks-do-nothing" studies as being badly designed / testing for the wrong thing.
It was to coerce people to comply, same as vaxxing, to do it to protect others. That way, others can fulfill their "ethical bullying" obligation (yep, a real term) to jump your shit if you aren't complying. Sell protection was the starting story, but they had to turbo-chargebit because compliance was low.
You might want to reread what I wrote. I was reporting on a cultural practice. Perhaps it wasn't obvious that I was responding to what Colin Brace wrote above. But then you are the Inflamed Cynic...
Yeah. Your five comments (so far) on this thread have made that point. Cheers.
For great information on masking, I recommend Ian Miller’s work. You can follow the Unmasked podcast and find Ian on Substack. He has written a whole book on the actual data.
agreed, Miller is great
Thanks - John Droz is excellent too. He has mask data in his comprehensive mask report - and so much more - at c19science.info
Additionally, we used to know how important facial expressions were to human communication. Especially those of us with hearing impairments. But, nah, who cares about that anymore.
The NIH and CDC have been manipulating data from the very start. Never believe anything they ever say again.
I found a pre-pandemic paper about the use of surgical masks for influenza. The looked at both the getting or giving influenza. It made no difference. Now it is magic, except when eating. Then risk disappears. Thank you for your clarity.
The virus will attack you when you’re walking to your table in a restaurant, but once you sit down it backs off. Pretty smart!
Covidians abandoned God and therefore required a new deity before whom to genuflect. They won't give up their faith easily, having the conviction of recent converts. As to their studies, all are best seen as apologetics: carefully reasoned arguments proceeding from curated data, all constructed to lead to a preordained conclusion, with the goal of converting the heathen and buttressing the wavering faith of the flock.
Two years of brainwashing and masks seperate critical thinkers from the compliant sheeple.
Masks are the ultimate Turing test to separate idiots from humans.
Yes now we can see who is retarded or healthy .
Just went to my college reunion at an Ivy League institution. Was monitoring their Covid rules because students and staff are required to be boosted, however us visitors had no requirements (otherwise I couldn’t have gone). Of course the day before reunion started they instituted an indoor mask mandate. Needless to say I ignored it and nobody confronted me. But this is a supposedly prestigious scientific institution that still believes in this nonsense.
Walt, think about who they get their funding from for their research depts:maybe the NIH. Or the Pharma companies, or the thinktanks that are deeply invested in creating new pathogens and their ensuing profitable solutions.
They will never oppose their funders.
Sounds like Columbia. I was heckling my classmate who is a professor there. I would not go anywhere near that place or set foot in NYC for the foreseeable future.
Indeed. Maskers are just like those romantically scammed women who give their life savings to some guy they got to know on the Internet, without ever meeting him in the flesh, and even when everybody tells them they were duped, showing them irrefutable proof, they won't believe it., and send the scammer even more money, in the hope that somehow this irrational last gesture would prove them right after all. (It happened to someone dear to me, so I know how it looks first hand. II don't know how they call this behaviour in psychology, but the Brits (again) have a very apt expression: throw good money after the bad.)
if you can smell through the mask you are exposed to viral particles. This was always absurd but wtf that’s how you get banned from SM
Masks have become an excellent means of identifying the truly stupid walking amongst us. Perhaps they just hide their mouth breathing. For that at least, I am grateful.
For all the people of the world, I think I speak for many Americans in offering my apologies for the damage our CDC has inflicted on you. We'll fix it soon.
It was a coordinated international effort. I should hope that much is clear by now.
This was the original reason masks were introduced in New Zealand, when we were still in elimination and no Covid cases in the community. Someone did a request and the government documents showed it was ‘to remind people of risk’. No word on bring needed or useful!
Don't apologize - our own chaps and chapesses are equally insane. I dont k ow if we can fix this.
It's kind of hilarious that due to our failing state, they never even dared to try to impose mask mandates and vaccine passports here. It was upp for discussion and the politicians quickly realised that a) people here in the rural areas (we're fewer than 1 person/sq kilometer where I live) would just ignore it - if I'm to 'socially distance' I must drive into town first...), b) migranst in the over 50 areas where the swedish population is under 10% of inhabitants would ignore it and would become violent if police tried to enforce it, and c) a sh*tload of laws would have to be change with umpteen unforseeable knock-on effects on other laws, and finally d) mrs Andersson was newly appointed prime minister last year and this year is elections; mask mandates and vaccine passports didn't poll well at all.
Oh, and the then-head of our CDC dr Tegnell spoke out against masking in February 2020 already.
Exactly. The masks are basically ceremonial headgear. An invisible evil spirit is afoot, and we have to do something to ward off possession. The mask scares away the spirit, you see.
If the replicate the study using really scary masks instead of normal masks, I bet they would work better. jk.