Today’s post is going to be a scattershot of random thoughts on the current Covid-19 pandemic. I will start off by saying I am not anti vaccines. Please don’t take any of my comments to be construed to imply I am trying to justify why vaccines, in general, are somehow bad. Can a verrry small percentage of people have reactions to vaccines that can sometimes be severe up to and including death? Yes. If you have concerns, should you consult your doctor? Yes. If your healthy, do I believe the potential upside far outweighs a small probability of a downside reaction to a vaccine? Yes. The other part I would like to say in this paragraph is that I don’t believe the constitution is a suicide pact. Do I have strong feelings about the freedoms Americans enjoy? YES. Does that mean there are not times that freedoms are taken away? No. How about for public safety? The government sometimes tells people that an ice or snow storm is so severe that only emergency vehicles are allowed on the road. There are hurricanes that form that require evacuation of certain areas. There are chemical spills that require evacuation and road closures. Does not a military draft deny people potentially life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness? Does not a state of emergency, such as a worldwide pandemic, not also fall under a similar concept?
- I believe anytime the government is asking to infringe on our rights it needs to be justifiable (potentially in a court of law), what rights are being infringed on needs to be clear, enforceable consequences for not following edicts that infringe our rights, a clear date of the beginning of the infringement and a clear end. At the end, all of our freedoms denied us for that duration must be returned to the American people.
- Along that thought process, who the he## in government actually has the authority to deny fundamental freedoms from the American people? Take the pandemic, for example. Who actually is authorized to tell the American people they are going to take away any of our freedoms? I get the government. But it looks to me like it is the CDC, NIH, WHO, the president, state governors, city mayors, state school officials, local school boards. Maybe it would be a smaller list to ask who doesn’t have the authority to deny Americans their freedoms. Who supersedes whom?
- So that leads me to mask mandates. Do I think during a state of emergency the government can mandate masks? Yes. That doesn’t mean that I don’t think almost every directive about masks coming from the government haven’t turned into a goat rodeo, or if you prefer, a complete sh&* show. If anyone remembers the beginning of this pandemic, when people actually reviewed the science and common sense on masks, it was determined the N95 mask was the gold standard and paper and cotton masks were going to be ineffectual. Why? Based on the porosity of the N95 filter and cotton/paper masks versus the size of the virus molecule. We were promised that factories would be converted to produce a boat load of N95 masks. Any of this coming back to you? I have no idea how we got from that promise to no availability of N95 masks (but you can get a cotton mask of the flag, every sports team, stripe, shade or color). Fauci was on record at the beginning saying the cloth or paper masks were going have little to no effect of the Covid-19 virus. Guess what? The science hasn’t changed. So my question is, where the f*&$ are the N95 masks?
- Mask mandate pet peeve. Tying masking requirements to a Covid-19 heat map. REALLY? Hey I can type (with two fingers), I am Internet savvy (mainly concerning porn-JOKE MOM) and I have some interest in Covid-19 but I don’t consult a Covid-19 heat map on the Internet even monthly. And that heat map changes constantly. So how can you enforce a mask mandate on people that don’t know what the rules are? My blood pressure rises when I think of how much political time and energy has been spent on these mask mandates that are confusing as he&& and constantly changing. My suggestion, if you require a mask mandate just make it required across the board. 1000 times simpler and even possibly enforceable.
- Mask mandate pet peeve, part two. For the love of all that is holy, STOP having leaders dictate mask mandate policy that they obviously refuse to consistently follow themselves. Mask mandates are becoming an increasingly frustrating topic in America. If the “A mask for thee but not for me” belief takes too much root, it will highlight the two tiered system that continues to develop in this country. That may have political implications in the next election.
- Mask mandate pet peeve, part three. I wear a mask when I go out into public. Is it required in my area? No idea. I would just rather be safe(er) than sorry. But when I walk with my mask out in public I constantly walk by people that don’t wear their mask properly. After a while, it feels like 90% but it is probably closer to 25%. Most of the times, their noses aren’t covered. The other times the mask is on their chin. I am not the mask police, but sometimes I just want to yell, “Hey jacka%%, what is the point with the mask on your chin thing?”. Again, completely unenforceable.
- Mask mandate pet peeve, part four. Dear government, your messaging on why mask mandates are required makes no sense and follows no science. Worst mandate to explain, mask mandates for children. Second worst is why must, as the government claims the Covid-19 shots are effective across the board, vaccinated people must wear masks. Third worst, why if one mask is effective are some places such as Philly requiring double masking for the unvaccinated. He**, lets mandate everyone wear 10 masks at once. We have all been dropped into a bad Monty Python movie as it concerns these mask mandates. Let me give you, government, at least a coherent answer after you drop the multiple mask stupidity. “Since we don’t have any way to tell accurately and easily who has been vaccinated and who hasn’t masks will be required across the board until notified otherwise.” And that still doesn’t really explain the child mask mandates.
- As I said in a previous post before the government would recognize it, the Covid-19 shots lose efficacy over time. Acknowledgement that a third shot will be required has started. Still no plan to move forward on that but it has been acknowledged. It is my strong believe these will end up being yearly shots similar to the flu but that hasn’t really been discussed as of yet.
- So one of two things are happening with the highly contagious Delta variant. For people that got vaccines early, the efficacy could be diminished to the point that catching Delta is possible. Or the current shots are not effective against contracting the Delta variant. Maybe a little of both going on. Either way, PLEASE stop saying breakthrough Delta cases. You come off as an ignorant shill. I don’t think you even have any reliable data to support the statement that the vaccines will reduce the symptoms if you contract Delta.
- So, maybe the last point. Integrity in government. The government has not been open or honest during this pandemic. When they can’t ignore their dishonesty, they move the goalposts. One example, when it became obvious that vaccinated people could contract Delta the talking points shifted from the vaccines are effective to the vaccines lower the severity of the symptoms. Let’s be clear, news coming out Israel and the UK about Delta concerns and shots were out there months before Delta really reached America. It was not a secret but it was kept from the American public. Trust in government has to be at an all time low. If they said the sky was blue, at this point, I would look up to verify.
Stay healthy and safe.
Random Thoughts 