I have received my two vaccinations, and been once boostered, despite my reservations about every single thing being said to the American public about the Coronavirus and the necessity for the restrictions that have been in place, now nearly two years. I found out today the new Merriam Webster definitions (courtesy of Dennis Prager, and I confirmed it) of someone who is an "anti-vaxxer". You see, it not merely someone who objects to the Covid-19 virus vaccination, or to any or all vaccinations who is considered an "anti-vaxxer". The definition includes those who object to a mandate regarding vaccinations.
So, me, a person who has had every vaccination that medical science has to offer, including this questionable one, but believes that the separation of people into the vaxxed and not vaxxed is a moral, ethical and legal wrong, is considered an "anti-vaxxer". Such is the trans Orwellian world in which we find ourselves.
And worse, even if you have been twice vaccinated and once boostered, you must continue to wear a mask or be consigned to the unclean ostracized.
I mostly wear a plastic mask. Yes, I have been remonstrated with when I say that. "It doesn't protect. It's not flush against the face. It allows particles in." Ok. Cloth masks are the key, and close to the face.
But here are some contradictions. People wear gators. And bandanas. And no one objects. But they are inadequate in no more or less measure than a plastic mask. And I know at least one doctor, albeit a friend, who agrees with me.
https://www.businessinsider.com/worst-face-masks-for-coronavirus-protection-2020-11
And here is something an expert said on March 8, 2020, just before the lockdowns and restrictions that began on March 15, 2020 and have lasted in many places, especially places like New York and Los Angeles and such, to date.
“There’s no reason to be walking around with a mask. When you’re in the middle of an outbreak, wearing a mask might make people feel a little bit better and it might even block a droplet, but it’s not providing the perfect protection that people think that it is. And, often, there are unintended consequences — people keep fiddling with the mask and they keep touching their face.”
This pronouncement from a scientist was overturned in mere days and weeks and that very scientist, Anthony Fauci, changed his opinion COMPLETELY. We hear that the CDC and scientific entities got better and new information as the virus developed. Except that the science of MASKS would not change regardless of the virus. Either masks worked or they didn't. And by the way, the masks everyone wears, are not the preferred cloth masks, they are disposable PAPER masks, yes, with layers, but they are paper. And I don't know about you, but every person with whom I am speaking in any setting, pulls the mask (or as Dr. Fauci said, "fiddles") from his or her face regularly, which means that unless the virus is very courteous, the surrounding virus particles can easily slip right in.
And oh, there is the other form of "fiddling", the mask almost always falls from the nose (other people don't bother putting it on the nose anway) and has to be replaced with one's unsanitized fingers.
And, there are other ways to push the preferred mask away from the face, but appear to be completely compliant.They have these things called "turtles", pieces of plastic you can wear underneath so that the mask isn't close to your nose and mouth.
It has been my unimportant opinion that if gaiters, and bandanas, or as I have seen, a piece of cloth or a plastic bag across your face is sufficient, my well crafted plastic "face covering" (that's what the signs say, a "face covering" is required) is no worse or better. Lately, I have mostly not been bothered or attacked wearing it, and given my all inclusive vaccination status, which was supposed to have been the uber solution, it would have seemed to make mask wearing well, moot. But, of course, as fully expected, it has not, and the fear mongering has made people truly mad.
I went to my dentist today, as I have several times of late with my plastic mask. Usually, no one is in the waiting area and the staff has never objected. But today there were two other people in the waiting room, one a woman. I could immediately see and feel her tension, though I was fully six feet from her, and planned, (she was rather sprawled on the couch) to stay standing given her body language. She got up immediately and went to the entrance door. I said to her, "I'm happy to stand over here." She said, "You're not wearing a mask." I usually carry the mask that people think provides utter protection with me. I put it on. (Despite my inclination to argue). She still was afraid of me. She had to be ushered into the dental cubicle inside to be rid of me, whereupon, having whatever procedure she was to have, she removed her talisman. I am sure, yet again, that the virus would never approach her eyes, or mouth, or nose. You say, "Well, it's a sanitized space." Oh, yes, that's true. So are hospitals and guess where people get some of the most lethal infections? But she felt safe. And I was a dangerous germy interloper with my two vaccinations and a booster, and my face covering selection. And then I was called in to the room maybe twelve feet from my fearful fellow patient. There are no doors on either room, but there is a wall in between. Nope, the virus couldn't get through, correct? And then I took off the proper mask so the dentist could put her instruments in my mouth and we could converse about what she saw. Two patients, now unmasked.
There is a new strain of the virus, the Omicron, which has had nothing but mild symptoms, but there is the usual lockdown mentality, immediately. (I will mention in passing that these new crises of strains arise when other aspects of the news cycle are highlighting the current administration's many faceted failures). Don't you see, that unless we wake up and get reasonable we will never be able to stop this insanity? There will be strain after strain of you name it. I also heard that now there is a push for boosters. Will it now be the rule that unless you have had this and every booster they come up with, you cannot live in the world and enjoy its fruits? I am sure that the lady today is a lovely person. But what do you think would happen if you gave her power, the kind of power that the administrative bureaucracy has over you and I right now? I did concede when I saw her discomfort, out of courtesy yes. But also I didn't want to fight with someone in the dentist's office, so, effectively, I was forced to do something which I believe is, what my doctor friend calls, nothing more than a "kabuki dance". That force was a societal derision that is not applied to people who use bats to break into stores and terrorize customers and staff, but is applied when someone questions the sudden changes of science that simply do not make any sense. And as you know societal shaming is a prelude to something more physical as a form of force.
I hate flying. It's a near phobia. I do it, but I hate it. I have avoided going anywhere of late because if one adds a requirement to wear a mask for hours, the anxiety overwhelming. The requirement was supposed to end in January, 2022. But the newest strain has extended it to March. The experts keep wondering why people go crazy on the planes of late and try to open doors (that was one of my fears even when people didn't do that). Well, it is because these restrictions are insane. You are in a tin can 30,000 feet up, shoulder to shoulder, and you think a mask is going to keep you safe?And you think all human beings are able to tolerate what is effectively a binding or an obstacle to freely breathing?
Reuters fact checks what Dr. Fauci said in March 2020 and says it is outdated. The virus might have changed, as viruses always do, but either masks are effective (and we don't wear N95s mostly, the one considered most effective) or they are not. What Dr. Fauci said about the current crop of masks did not change. That is not outdated.
Here is something else that is now apparently outdated: The value of vaccination. We were told that getting vaccinated was the ideal and practical solution. Most of us did. And now we find that it isn't the solution at all. In fact, the most we can say is that if you get a certain strain of the virus, your symptoms will be mild, not that you won't get it. And we find out, as we know from the flu shot, a different strain may moot the value of the flu shot or minimize it. So, where do we go from here? The goal has to keep moving because the things that can kill us keep increasing and shifting in their etiologies and parameters. The quest to be "safe" is an illusion, as Dennis Prager and many, many others, relegated to social shaming (Thank the Lord, they don't care!) point out.
It is almost impossible not to wear a face covering. Calling it a mere "inconvenience" is another falsity. It is a physical and psychological harm. I avoid it as much as I can, I have to go out at least sometimes. Today, I had to go to the dentist. And, I have certain obligations and so I will grit my teeth and obey the truly counterproductive and controlling edicts (for control really is what it is all about.I know. I know. You disagree. Fine. Allow me my opinion which has its factual basis whether you like it or not). But I keep trying to limit it. The reason, I think, that these mandates continue is that many people are simply incorporating the mask into their lives, like its normal, which of course is the goal of our "leaders". I was passing one of those cool bar restaurants the other day and there was a line down the block of people happily showing their vax cards to the bouncer, wearing their masks OUTSIDE, though standing very close to one another.
The thing is, I can't see an end to it in places like Los Angeles. I am envious of those places where sanity prevails. But where sanity prevails, the powers that be are attacking, in Florida, for example. Their statistics are objectively better than those where the control is most imposed. But I bet many people don't know that. And the same people applaud the condemnation of the Governor of Florida.
You might say, "Just move!" I would love to, but I have responsibilities here, and I am of an age where starting over is not practical or, frankly, reasonable.
What is more troubling is that a very few people whose motives are not salutory are directing your life and my life, and shifting the rules and reasons for the rules at every turn. And we are either being led or forced over the proverbial cliff.
I repeat. What Dr. Fauci said on March 8, 2020 was either true or it was not. And do you remember the explanation that was given for his having not recommended masks to you and me (in "dog ate my homework" style)? It was that he wanted to be sure that medical personnel had a sufficient supply of masks. So, then, he lied so that medical personnel could survive and do their jobs, while you and I were left to our own devices.
You buy all this contradiction? I don't. Alas, I don't know what to do about it, and the feeling of being imprisoned by mendacious propaganda is sometimes overwhelming.
We have long passed the time when "Do what you are told!" is reasonable or just. And yet, here we all are succumbing to our own destruction. Well, not the first time.
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