I have found it curious that the new variant of the Covid virus, known as Omicron, which has mostly symptoms of the common cold, has been shouted from the treetops of our leadership as almost worse than the original version from nearly two years ago and its progeny, the Delta. The fear frenzy has returned. Curious. But rather expected. Things were calming down. Christmas was coming, when people want to and need to be close to one another. It is also when Christians celebrate a major religious holiday. And then, Voila!
Pandemic redux! Test! Stay away! Watch out! Danger!
Testing sites have sprung up again. All over the news, and within days, we have heard more and more people being found "positive" which could mean anything from someone on a ventilator to a sniffle. The numbers are ambiguous. A distinction is never, or rarely, made. Well, that's not new, they were ambiguous before. We could be told anything and we have no way to verify the truth of it. Well, was it the New Zealand Prime Minister who said it, along the lines of "Don't believe anything except what the Government tells you."
I have been vaccinated up the wazoo. I see arguably vulnerable people in elder homes. I'm over 65. And I have had other vaccinations without a sense of concern. So, I have made the personal, medical decision to be vaccinated.
But as to this nearly two year circus I also believe that we have been the victims of a biological attack from a foreign country which we are not allowed to name; that vaccination is not the cure all; that the existence of this virus suits our current leadership in Washington some if not many of whose members may well have been complicit in the creation and spread of that virus attack; you take something "real" but "orchestrated" where people can and do die and you terrify the rest of the population who falls, mostly, into lockstep for the goal of a safety that can never be achieved. You take control and the citizenry has no choice but to take the trip over the cliff. Why? Because we have become so afraid, not necessarily for ourselves, but for others, just in case there might be something to the lie. We have been successfully gaslighted. Propagandized. Your care for others becomes the way to your very demise and that of your society.
I have my personal example. I go out fairly rarely, as I have said in other entries. In the week before Christmas, I did two things outside of my usual realm that brought me in contact, wait for it, "with people" purely for social pleasure. One of those people told me that he/she had tested positive for Covid.
I hadn't been ANYWHERE since Sunday the 19th, and that was only to Mass where I serve away from the pews, in the sanctuary. On Wednesday the 22nd, I was informed that I was exposed to someone who was positive. My first thought was not to panic and not immediately get tested. I felt fine. It was unlikely that I had a problem.
Then. I thought about the others. "What if I feel fine but I am more the walking germ stick than usual any human being is?" "What if someone gets sick that I happened to pass by on Sunday?" By nature, I suffer from a version of OCD, where I ruminate and create all sorts of catastrophic scenarios. Now my society has been generous enough to prove that worrying about virtually everything is the proper way to go. So, immediately I went out and got tested.
I was negative. Yea! Seventy five dollars well spent, right? Folks said to me that well, by the 7th day you should be all right to go out because you are vaccinated and just need to be sure to wear the mask inside (which you must do anyway). I technically was at the seventh day on Friday, Christmas Eve, the 24th. But when you read the various suggestions for the unvaccinated and vaccinated and the time for quarantine, to me, it gets inconsistent and without certainty. It's safe after seven days? But what about the MANY breakthrough cases? I'll get a test a few days hence. But still, there is no certainty of the safety mantra whatever I do. The other I have always been concerned about still is out there, and though I heartily believe we have all been had, my psyche cannot take the chance. I am too afraid. I am not among the many other braver Americans (in my view) who have decided to ignore the fear and fly and drive all over the country despite the confounding pronouncements from what my dad used to call the "Dome" in Washington.
But for fearful me, Christmas became moot, in secular and religious terms. I had another word to offer other than "moot" but I felt it improper to say it in light of whom we celebrate at Christmas. You know what else it means to me, until this is over, and I realize that it may never be until full global domination is achieved for our good? I am not going to be with any people. I can't live with showing my papers and wearing a mask, which makes me feel like a straightjacketed inmate in a mental institution, aside from the fact I just cannot breathe with one (I know, it's an inconvenience I am told over and over despite my lying eyes and senses). And at the same time I cannot take even the infinitesimal chance that if something happens I would be considered the cause or worse, be the cause. So I have to choose my kind of imprisonment. My apartment. My terrace. My own lack of bravery. It isn't a perfect isolation because there are a few things I have to do. But I will not do anything I DO NOT have to except out of pure human charity or obligation.
I didn't feel sick before my friend sent me her news. I felt sick after testing negative. A full on existential sickness. And it's affecting me physically and psychologically. And I bet I am not alone. And it's all been deliberate. We are being taken over by a full on totalitarian someone. I don't know who per se. But I know that the one thing they don't care about is your health or safety and in particular, your freedom.
Here's some news. As of December 29, the CDC has announced that the quarantine period can be cut to five days for the UNVACCINATED as well as the VACCINATED as follows:
.... CDC is updating the recommended quarantine period for anyone in the general public who is exposed to COVID-19. For people who are unvaccinated or are more than six months out from their second mRNA dose (or more than 2 months after the J&J vaccine) and not yet boosted, CDC now recommends quarantine for 5 days followed by strict mask use for an additional 5 days. Alternatively, if a 5-day quarantine is not feasible, it is imperative that an exposed person wear a well-fitting mask at all times when around others for 10 days after exposure. Individuals who have received their booster shot do not need to quarantine following an exposure, but should wear a mask for 10 days after the exposure. For all those exposed, best practice would also include a test for SARS-CoV-2 at day 5 after exposure. If symptoms occur, individuals should immediately quarantine until a negative test confirms symptoms are not attributable to COVID-19.
The "science" tells them so, they lie. But it is really the fact that people are calling in sick for their jobs and not coming back for 10 plus days, and that is wreaking havoc with employers (like that wasn't predictable two years ago). The language I have heard to justify the change is that it is also about what "Americans can tolerate." But note that as a vaccinated person I have as much or as little freedom as an unvaccinated person.
And now, Dr. You Know Who is test flying the possibility of a FOURTH vaccination.
Tell me again how all this is for our good. Or even marginally makes sense.