Maybe Ninjas Lose Their Mojo In The Desert...

 

Hi.

Protests against protecting kids.

Defending those protests.

Pushing to get rid of safeguards.

It makes no sense.

Stumbling around, grasping at threaded tendrils of misinformation, refusing to accept reality even as it puts more and more unvaccinated adults and babies in the hospital, the ICU, the morgue. 

Fall is here, and as the weather cools, people will be spending more time indoors. That's a given. 

Those of us who have chosen to continue to take the necessary steps to keep ourselves and our families safe, will enjoy a more "normal" winter.

Those who continue to choose to do anything and everything but the things that keep Covid at bay may have a different experience.

You claim this is all about freedom.

Ok, then.

When your vaccinated relatives, especially those with young children, choose not to have you put their young children at risk, you need to accept that. You may not be invited to holiday parties. You might not get to see grandkids. You might not get invited to weddings. You don't get to stomp your feet and cry about how you should get to do what you want. You chose this.

If your entire circle of friends and family believe that vaccines are dark-magic potions, that wiping Lysol under your nose, or eating horse de-wormer, or drinking bleach, or shooting ultraviolet light into your body, or Jesus himself will save you, or that, somehow Covid somehow isn't real at all, then accept the consequences of those beliefs without complaint. 

If you remain lucky enough not to get very ill, and that's kinda the best-case scenario, the next while won't be much fun.

When your child can't play hockey, or go to dance class, you have no one to thank but yourself. 

When you can't go to a movie, or a concert, or a restaurant, or you have to home school, thank yourself.

 When you can't travel to somewhere warm in the dead of winter, thank yourself.

Denial is a coping mechanism. When denial becomes delusion, it's dangerous. 

We are not obligated to live in your warped reality. We are not obligated to acquiesce to your unwillingness to accept what is actually happening. We are not obligated to remain hostages to the misinformation you choose to believe.

After last week's ramblings hit, the trolls came at me. Good thing the slaps of idiot sticks don't leave much of a mark.

One, in particular, called me bitter. Well, Mary, if that is indeed your real name, you are 100% correct. 

I'm bitter at the fact that people who can't tell the difference between fact and science fiction have dragged this thing out way longer than necessary.

I'm bitter at your complete disregard for the safety of others. Somebody should probably check to see if Mary drives after a few shots. They might be shots of booze, or they might be shots of bleach, Lysol, Ivermectin, who knows?

I'm bitter because watching the movie "Idiocracy" play out in real-time is exhausting. (It's a real movie, check it out, stars Maya Rudolph and Luke Wilson circa 2006) Who knew it would become such a prophetic documentary?

I'm bitter that the soulless hypocrites that feed misinformation to the gullible, uneducated masses are they, themselves, vaccinated. Their eligible children are vaccinated. Fox News requires proof of vaccination to work there. The conspiracies are chum in the water, the more they throw, the hungrier the misled become. When the lies fail to come true, they up the ante. Bigger lie, more outrageous, higher ratings. 

I'm bitter because the viewership of the Tucker Carlsons of the world is filled with staunch believers. Staunch believers who are filling hospitals, and cemeteries. The monster they continue to create, to nurture, to feed, is dying the death of a thousand cuts. Believers consumed by conspiracy. The hypocrites know they are feeding lies, they simply don't care. Viewership at any cost. 

I'm bitter because healthcare workers are being pushed beyond their limits. These are people who have devoted their adult lives to caring for people. They are breaking. They are working their asses off to save the very people that scream at them and call them liars. 

I'm bitter because we shouldn't be here anymore.

I'm bitter because the vaccines are the literal outstretched hand that is there to help pull us from the rapids and you keep slapping it away.

So, as the weather cools, and as new rules and restrictions set in, completely because of you, enjoy the consequences of your choices, I'll be over here, going to movies.

Soooooooo.... Arizona

Can you imagine starting a "go fund me" page to raise money to fight getting fired from your job? Okay, maybe you can.

But, can you imagine doing so, knowing full well that you had no respect for, and were really shitty at the job, treated the board of directors, and co-workers like crap and stole tons of money from your employer? Okay, maybe you can.

But, can you then imagine hiring ninjas to do the accounting, soaking up money and time, full of promises of magical outcomes, only to find out that not only did the board of directors vote you out, but it was unanimous? 

So Cyber Ninjas took months to do what should have taken maybe a week. They accepted a shitload of money to do it. Money from the Cheeto Crook's friends. They discovered that not only did Joe Biden win in Maricopa County just like all sane people already knew, but he actually won by more votes than previously tallied.

It's like Trump can't help himself. He insists on bringing the fact that he's a loser to the attention of as many people as possible, as many times as possible, in every way possible. 

Next? Texas.

This is really baffling. He actually won in Texas. So he wants to prove what, exactly?

It would be completely hilarious if they, spent their millions, and did their song and dance of an audit just to find out that Biden actually won there too. 

Maybe Ninjas lose their mojo in the desert. Or maybe they just know easy money when they see it. 

Maybe the scammers got scammed. Gotta love Karma. 

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May the consequences of your choices be worth it.

There Doesn't Seem To Be A Bottom...

 Hi.

So, how low are people willing to sink to perpetuate their delusions? Why, scream and yell at hospital workers, block ambulances, and hinder patients from entering care facilities, of course!

There doesn't seem to be a bottom. No matter how much real world, real time evidence is accumulated. No matter how many days go by with new case number records being broken. No matter how every day over 75% of those cases are in unvaccinated people. No matter how every day, the deaths and serious illness caused by Covid are overwhelmingly affecting the unvaccinated. 

Right now, there is a very small, and I repeat, very small, parcel of the population who are legitimately unable to be vaccinated. Children under the age of twelve, and those unfortunate few who medically can't take it. 

That's it. These are the most vulnerable among us. The ones that need the most protecting. The sick, and the babies. 

These idiots, with the exception of those who exploit them, seem to truly believe that they are at war with government, fascism, communism, nazism, terms apparently equal and interchangeable in their minds, when they are really raging war on protecting our kids and those adults truly unable to be vaccinated.

The collateral damage? One small example. Our daughter needs surgery. Needs it. Not emergent, but absolutely necessary. I have two friends also in need of very important, and life saving surgery.

These surgeries? Pushed back... again. Two years have been tacked on to the wait because of Covid. The first time, it was nobody's fault. Covid hit, things had to shift, things had to change. 

But, once we knew what we needed to do to stop the spread of this virus. Once we knew how to contain it. Once we had an obvious out with the vaccine, the fault slid squarely on to the shoulders of those who refuse to wear masks, refuse to social distance, refuse to be vaccinated. 

And there it remains. 

When the Health Authority of Trinidad has to take time to clarify and debunk the story that Niki Minaj tweeted to her 2 million plus followers, about her cousin's friend who apparently is impotent and has swollen testicles, and that they were trying to somehow magically attribute those two things to the vaccine, is just insane.

Well, by that logic, I ate peas one day, and then, shortly thereafter, I found out I had a sinus infection. Must have been the peas. Right?

As the patients in the Covid ICU's grow in number and get younger, it becomes more and more apparent on whom you are waging war.

You are angry that your theories about the Pandemic, about measures needed to curb it, and about the efficacy of the vaccines are all being proven ridiculous as real world, real time data comes in from all over the planet. 

Your arguments are shrinking, and in doing so, becoming more and more idiotic. 

Over the past week, I have asked many times for proof of any of it. I get nonsensical answers, I get belligerence, I get people playing dumb, pretending they didn't say what they said, or mean it if they do admit to saying it. 

Argue the rabbit hole. I will follow you down as far as it goes, but I will make you logically explain, and prove every step along the way. 

Don't come at me with the "fake news" defense. The entire medical community is not lying to you. That makes absolutely no sense.

Don't come at me with anything you can't prove with real sources. So far, I've been sent links to things that can be debunked within a few minutes. Try harder. 

If your information comes from a medical 'journal' that hasn't been around longer than ten years, keep it to yourself.

If it doesn't come from a peer scrutinized study, keep it to yourself.

Anecdotes are not facts.

Your idiocy is keeping my daughter from a surgery she needs to live. My daughter has a right to medical care. You being butt-hurt about not getting to go to concerts, work, school etc. without being vaccinated is irrelevant. You being upset at being inconvenienced by wearing a mask is idiotic.

Your willful ignorance is getting in the way of people getting the basic health care they need to live. Which is, by the way, an actual right, unlike your misguided thoughts on restrictions. 

Your childish tantrums are getting in the way of the majority of people, and the vast majority of eligible people are vaccinated, living our lives. 

As more rules are bound to be put in place, because you can't seem to do the right thing, no matter what, I will wear my mask to protect the vulnerable. 

Just know, I'm no longer doing it to protect you. You've successfully, but hopefully temporarily, broken that part of me. You are choosing to be part of the vulnerable. Your body, your choice, right?

If you have genuine concerns about the vaccines, ask your family doctor. Read actual medical journals. Talk to people outside of your bubble who have had the vaccine. Don't accept one anecdote, or one single case and hold it up as the rule instead of the exception.

About a hundred years ago, there was another pandemic. People just did what was necessary to defeat it. No crying, no whining, no protesting. They just did what was needed, got through it, and life went on. Why don't you want to do that?

If you want to compare this pandemic to a time in history, compare it to something relevant like the 1918-20 pandemic, not world wars, which have nothing to do with medicine. That Pandemic spanned over a period of 23 months. With today's advances you'd think we'd have it beaten in less time. But, then again, they didn't have so many willing to chase crazy squirrels down rabbit holes of misinformation, or have the means to spread it. 

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May the loudest, ignorant, few find within themselves to do what's right.

May they, if they really need to, find some other fictional foe to fight.

May they go back to the harmless crazy of flat earth and moon landing, fairytales.

May they realize their arguments within a few minutes of a deep dive are epic fails.

May the butt-hurt throw their tantrums in private, we are exhausted by your idiocy.

May you feel the egg on your face, the egg that has become caked on and moldy.

May you see that the vast majority of us are no longer willing to coddle your vehement absurdity.

May you come to terms with who you are actually waging war against, the vulnerable, abhorrently.

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Holy Trolling Batman...

 

Hi!

After a week of rousing debate, both on public and private forums, I have some questions. 

If you don't want to wear masks and don't want to get the free, readily available, proven safe, and effective vaccine, what exactly is your plan to get to the end of this pandemic? Please don't come at me with the natural herd immunity theory because, frankly, just letting people get sick and die doesn't cut it. 

How, exactly, is ivermectin, even when it is the kind approved for humans and not horses, that is used to treat infections caused by parasitic worms, lice, and rosacea supposed to be helpful in the treatment for, or immunization against Covid 19?

If the sole purpose of distributing and administering vaccines is for some sort of government control, who exactly are they trying to control? For what purpose? Which Government? This is a global pandemic and vaccines are being encouraged worldwide.

Do you know that almost all of the asshats spouting anti-vax, anti-mask bull crap on all your favourite podcasts, tv channels, and streaming services have been happily vaccinated?

It seems that a common theme behind all of the yelling and protests is for the sake of freedom! For democracy! Well, in a democracy, the majority rules, that's the very definition of a democracy. The anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers make up about 26-30% of the population. The majority of people are all for masks and vaccines. If you are honestly fighting for freedom and democracy, then you should be fine with whatever the majority decides. 

Why do you think you have the right to hold the rest of us hostage? Your beliefs don't change the facts that epidemiologists and experts in infectious diseases continue to put forth. The vaccine isn't magic, but it is effective. Until this thing is nothing but a speck in the rearview, wearing masks in certain places just makes sense. Believe whatever you want. That the earth is flat, the moon landing was a hoax, 9/11 was some sort of inside job, that this whole pandemic, its treatments, the vaccine, are all some kind of global conspiracy so governments can track how many times you go to the 7-11, any of it, all of it. Go nuts. But you don't get to trap the rest of us in your crazy. 

What makes you think that your "rights" include protesting hospitals, blocking ambulances from getting in, and making immune-compromised cancer patients slog through your unmasked, unvaxxed masses to get to their chemo treatments?

What do you think your kids will think of your decisions 10 or 15 years from now, when all of this has been documented for history in indelible, irreversible ink?

Do the rights of others even factor into your thinking? Ever?

How about the healthcare workers' right to go to work unharassed? 

How about the rights of the service people you seem so determined to scream at for simply doing their jobs?

Why do you disrespect and insult the very medical professionals that will be the ones responsible for your care should you be so unfortunate to contract Covid and need to be admitted to the hospital? 

Have you given any thought to just how many people would have to be involved in the kind of conspiracy you believe in? It would be into the hundreds of thousands. Hundreds of thousands of people in on it, keeping secrets.

Do you realize how difficult it is to keep a secret when more than one person is involved?

So, let the next round of trolling begin! 

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May we stop treating this healthcare crisis like it is something else.

May the veil be lifted for those who can't tell true from false. 

May the rights of the many override the "freedoms" of the few.

May the asshats be cursed with only being able to tell the truth.

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And Back To School They Go...

Hi!

And just like that, summer is over and the littles go back to their school-time routines. 

With everything going on in the world, people being divided about a ton of things, let's just agree that protecting our littles is every adults' responsibility. 

Depending on where in the world you live, there are likely going to be different protocols put in place. 

Nobody wants kids getting sick. Nobody takes putting protocols in place lightly. 

This isn't fun for anyone, and it's not a game. It's not a political football to be kicked back and forth. It's not communism for fascism or any other ism people need to look up before they want to throw a label on something they don't like. 

This is about protecting kids from a virus that can get them extremely sick. Too many are landing in the hospital when they wouldn't have to be. Why? Because the grown-ups can't seem to get their shit together. 

This became a political issue when it was, and still is a medical one. A public health one. It has absolutely nothing to do with anything but illness, and trying to prevent it. Simple.

No different than heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, bipolar disorder, or lime disease. Something that makes people incredibly sick comes down the pike, the scientific community takes it apart, researches it, and makes strides to cure it, treat it, or come up with immunization against it.

When you get sick you go to the doctor. If needed, you are admitted to a hospital. There, they do everything they can to make you better so you can go home and go on with your life. That's all this is.

When possible, science tries to come up with ways to prevent us from getting sick to begin with.

Back in the day, they didn't know that drinking and smoking while pregnant could have horrible effects on the baby. Hell, the doctor would sit at the foot of the hospital bed of a new mother, with baby lying on the bed, both Mom and doc having a cigarette. Now we know that to help prevent Fetal alcohol syndrome, and low baby weight, you remove booze and smokes from your life while pregnant. No nefarious conspiracies behind the new rules, just science, and common sense.

Back in the day, children got extremely ill and often died of diseases that are almost entirely extinct now because of vaccines. Nothing political about it. Science and common sense. 

Back in the day, they didn't know smoking caused cancer. Now they do, so warnings labels became mandatory, advertising became pretty much non-existent, and smoking indoors in places other than your home became illegal. Not political. Science and common sense. 

Fewer people dying of cancer. Not political. Science.

Fewer kids with Fetal alcohol syndrome. Science.

Fewer people smoking. Science.

Fewer people dying in car accidents because wearing a seatbelt became a law. Science.

The fact remains that good, well-tested, scientific research, and the products, medicines, treatments, and vaccines they provide, are the very reasons we live longer, healthier lives. 

If you use a phone or a computer, you trust science.

If you drive a car, you trust science.

If you eat prepackaged food, you trust science.

If you have ever taken Tylenol or any other over-the-counter medication, you trust science.

If you take vitamins or supplements of any kind, you trust science.

If you have ever given birth in a hospital, you trust science.

If you use disinfectants to clean your house or anything at all, you trust science.

Face it. Regardless of all the hooting and hollering, all the screaming and yelling, all the huffing and puffing, you trust science. 

Kids depend on adults to keep them safe, keep them from getting sick if we can, keep them from getting preventable viruses when possible. It's our job. All of us. 

So, if your child's school is asking that everyone wear a mask, they aren't doing it as a political statement. They aren't trying to control anyone, they are just trying to add a layer of protection to little ones too young to be vaccinated. It's just science and common sense. That's it. Nothing more. 

This is a question for my American friends. 

How is it that traumatizing your kids with active shooter drills because of some inherent gun fetish is perfectly acceptable, but wearing a piece of cloth on their face to help prevent them from getting sick somehow crosses a line? 

Kids won't remain kids. This snapshot of time will be in the books for all to examine. At some point, they will look back at the decisions made on their behalf. I wonder how they will feel. 

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May this school year be filled with friends, fun, laughter and learning.

May critical thinking be encouraged, nurtured, creating a thirst, a yearning.

May we all support our teachers, their job, never easy, has taken on added stress.

May we encourage our kids to be helpers, to be kind, to do their best. 

May we, as adults, put pettiness aside, let reality set it, and do what's needed to keep our kids safe.

May we just admit we trust science, use our common sense, not let misinformation get in the way. 

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