Trigger Warning, The Nonsense of our Times

"It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit."
— Noël Coward 

Friday, a day to bang on the drums all day. Happy morning to you; it's 6:00 a.m. here, the sunrise is heating up, we have a guest named Jack, Jack is a dog and is a big lug and PVHT's friend. His human watched her grandbaby, and we always enjoy having Jack over.

A good day yesterday; we worked in the morning, left to pick up a couple of items, and get lunch. It was 72 and beautiful here, one more day of bliss before getting some fresh powder. I've got a busy morning of meetings, and I'm going to try and get time for a big hike with my wife and the dogs.

We got word yesterday that we had won a trip to Switzerland in June. The timing is good, but it's a 12-hour flight; we will decide if we want to make the journey this morning. I've never been to Switzerland; it might be fun; we would extend the 5-day free offering to a nine-day to justify the flight.

We listened to NPR yesterday; they discussed the vast number of immunocompromised people. They said the new masking guidelines were scary for many people, and those healthy people should continue to mask to help protect their feelings and health. I think a good analogy would be to tell a fit person to wear a fat suit as not to offend someone that has made bad nutritional choices their entire life.

We need to return to a time of individual liberties when each man, woman, or transgender was able to live their life the way they saw fit. No one could tell another how to live their lives. But unfortunately, knowing what we know, many of the rules and regulations put upon the people of the world had minimal impact on the spread of the virus.

In a recent study by John Hopkins University, lockdowns had little or NO effect on COVID mortality. According to an article about the study: The study states that lockdowns "imposed enormous economic and social costs where they have been adopted." Researchers ultimately came to a conclusion stating, "lockdown policies are ill-founded and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument."

If you care to take the time to learn more, here is a link to the report:

https://sites.krieger.jhu.edu/iae/files/2022/01/A-Literature-Review-and-Meta-Analysis-of-the-Effects-of-Lockdowns-on-COVID-19-Mortality.pdf

It is a little justification for many of us that continue living our lives free of fear, visiting friends, not buying into the policies that seem counter to reality.

I think most now see the error of the ways and are returning to a pre-pandemic lifestyle. But there is still political theater; the President gives a rousing state of the union speech, then headbutts and gets an inch away from some of the attendees. But the next day, he's at an event wearing his sexy black mask. It's time for leaders to lead and pave a path back to reality.

Speaking of leadership, the Governor of Florida gave a speech at a local university and asked the kids behind him to remove their masks. Stating, "they don't do anything to protect you from Omicron; this political theater must stop." Then, in a moment of hypocrisy, a mother got some camera time to complain that the Governor was bullying her son for wearing a mask. As the cameras rolled, the child was masked, but the mother, troubled, angry, and concerned, spoke with no face-covering in sight.

Instead of the last two years being the pandemic years, history will show it was a time of hypocrisy. First, leaders would make a mandate and are soon caught not following their own rules. Many like to condemn the path Florida chose to follow, but when it came time to gather in large groups, most decided to visit the sunshine state to enjoy a drink and hang out with their comrades.

In the past two years, I've written the words "does this make sense," and are you paying attention more times than I can count. I likened those who bought into the charade as sheep and those who had different ideas as wolves, and I lost a few friends. So am I sad, a little? I do miss their whines and cries occasionally, but the roars of my new wolf friends are music to my ears.  

My friend Colin likes to say Rappers hang with Rappers and good people hang with good people. But, I want to add sheep hang with sheep and wolves hang with wolves. Some might point to my words as dividing, but I try to be accurate with my thoughts and ideas. Although there are two world views these days, it is not divisive to point out reality.

Circling back to my original point, if you are immunocompromised, please wear a mask if it makes you feel more protected, but don't force me to follow your lead. You do you, and I'll do me, and forever we both can live free. Cheers, my brothers, sisters, mothers, and lovers; I'll be back to muckrake a little mud tomorrow; until then, be kind, and don't be afraid to point out the nonsense of our times.

"It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit."
— Noël Coward