I enjoyed this author’s reflections on the covid pandemic in particular, but also about freedom in general and how we can practice what we have learned in order to support a stronger approach to future pandemics and challenges to freedom.
We are not okay.
It feels like we're stuck in history. Here we stand, in purgatory, between the old world order and the new world order. I didn't ask to be here and I'll bet you didn't either, but here we are. If mankind survives, in what form may yet be determined, historians will study this era like no other. We may be, right now, writing the final chapters of a book. A story that will never be duplicated again in the exact manner of biological circumstance. In the balance of evolution, we think of ourselves apart, because of our intellect. Unfortunately, branches do break off from the evolutionary tree.
The worst part is knowing we can't go back. And the future is most uncertain, to say the least. I'm sure most would agree that the past was far from perfect, and I'm sure most would agree that it now looks like paradise in the rear view mirror, with hell bearing down just up ahead, full tilt boogie.
How is it we are here? How is it so many existential means of destruction meet at the focus of mankind, in unison. Economic collapse, famine, climate upheaval, pandemic, war, we were warned for generations of these potential catastrophes, here they are upon us, all at the same time. Is it coincidence? Artificial? Natural? Does it matter?
Civilizations have stood at the crossroads before, but never on this scale or with so much at stake. It may seem like a positive feedback loop that's out of control, like it's totally out of our hands. Like there's nothing we can do to stop it. But I'm not so sure about that.
I lived through what seemed like the idyllic mid to late 50s. Marched my way through the tumultuous 60s. Cruised through the raucous 70s and its political changes. Worked hard to make it through the the 80s. Watched the overton window lurch to the right in the 90s. Saw the result of that lurch to the right in the 2000s. Witnessed the financial robbery of the 2010s. I'm still here, alive and kicking, in the 2020s, so far.
Never, through all of those years, did I have an inkling of what it would be like in the here and now. Even if I had a possible clue I would have considered it a fevered dream. This is some crazy shit we're living through folks.
Look, there’s been a Lot of just plain ol’ Crap put out there to fud everybody to Death and lead people to the conclusion that no matter where it comes from or What it says
You’re Wrong.
Y’all know I go down rabbit holes on the regular ‘cause the ‘regular’ shite is more often than not just that-shite.
I try to keep an open mind, actually Look at what’s being presented and then still have doubts or sceptisism(spell check let it go) about what I’ve just seen.
For more than a year, China has held SARS-CoV-2 at bay, suffering but a few cases at a time in controllable outbreaks. All of the infections were carried into China from the outside, often by Chinese returning from foreign travel. All visitors arriving in China face two weeks of quarantine — but those rules may have been changing as China's vaccination saturation inched toward the top.
Whenever new infections popped up, or were caught in massive testing sweeps, contract tracers immediately descended on the patient. His path was meticulously retraced using cell-phone location tracking and relevant survellience footage. Face recognition identified everyone the patient encountered or interacted with. In every case, a large sample of mostly strangers were interviewed, tested, and potentially quarantined. The strategy is very aggressive, but it has allowed the rest of China to mingle and socialize and go about their business.
But in Nanjing, the Coronavirus slipped in through an unexpected weakness in their maintenance procedures.
Despite the crowing of its governor and state PR machinem the predictions and projectinos of anti-maskers and of lockdown devotees, Florida is neither the ideal covid-19 response model, nor the worst, at least based on two specific metrics. It is, as they say, smack dab in the middle.
Article by Derek Thompson in the Atlantic: The Curious Case of Florida’s Pandemic Response. A good, quick read.
One of the biggest controversies of the coronavirus pandemic is about face masks. Should we use them, or not; do they work, or not? People’s attitudes towards masks have become an intense political question, that in some instances have even led to violence.
My own opinion regarding masks is that certain face masks, properly used, may be of benefit to medical professionals and their patients in controlled environments, such as hospital wards. However, to have the general public adopt universal mask wearing is of no benefit, and can lead to various harms. Up until April of 2020, this was also the position of the medical establishment--the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), etc. Then, starting in April, there was a sudden shift, as the medical establishment changed their tune.
Call this newest plague what you will: COVID-19, SARS2, Chinese Virus, Wu Flu, certain facts are emerging clearly from rapidly accumulating medical evidence.
