Covid Absolutism
Below is a link to a thoughtful opinion piece that ran in the New York Times. Frankly, I was shocked they ran it. Maybe folks are starting to wake up to our world. Please read and respond on the NYT site. Point of note: the URL is usually the first headline. When you change a headline after "publishing," the URL remains the same. Happens here too. Check it out: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/12/briefing/trump-covid-chick-corea-olympics-president.html
Covid testing as exercise
In a public health emergency, absolutism is a very tempting response: People should cease all behavior that creates additional risk.
That instinct led to calls for gay men to stop having sex during the AIDS crisis. It has also spurred campaigns for teen abstinence, to reduce sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancies. And to fight obesity, people have been drawn to fads like the elimination of trans fats or carbohydrates.
These days, there is a new absolutist health fad: the discouragement — or even prohibition — of any behavior that seems to increase the risk of coronavirus infection, even minutely.
People continue to scream at joggers, walkers and cyclists who are not wearing masks. The University of California, Berkeley, this week banned outdoor exercise by on-campus students, masked or not, saying, “The risk is real.” The University of Massachusetts Amherst has banned outdoor walks. It encouraged students to get exercise by “accessing food and participating in twice-weekly Covid testing.”
A related trend is “hygiene theater,” as Derek Thompson of The Atlantic described it: The New York City subway system closes every night, for example, so that workers can perform a deep cleaning. Read the full article HERE.
Cia
"Questioned by AFP, the Swedish Royal Court however stressed that the comments should not be taken as a comment on the strategy and were "unpolitical"". https://www.thelocal.se/20201217/king-of-sweden-on-the-coronavirus-pandemic-we-have-failed
Sweden still has a lower mortality rate than the UK and some other countries which do lockdown. This virus (like other viruses) refuses to behave and correlate like it should to lockdowns, which is why the MSM has to cherry pick its examples. One needs to look at the raw data before the MSM bends the data and reinterpret what people really said. Killed so many people? By what metric of comparison are we talking about? Take the UK’s Guardian of the 12th Feb 2021 claim that this pandemic is a bad as the Spanish Flu, a claim picked to pieces today by Politico https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3DhD_SrvGQ
You seem to constantly swallow the hook-line-and-sinker.
Posted by: Pogo | February 16, 2021 at 05:16 PM
M,
The only way to get Covid is through catching it from someone who has it, nearly always breathing in germs they have exhaled, sometimes by touching what they have gotten germs on, then touching their face. Masks offer good protection both ways, but not 100%. I have no way to assess how close everyone in the country is to compliance with masks, social distancing, hand hygiene, etc. I agree that in most public places everyone I see is wearing a mask. The Best Buy Tech when he comes to our house always wears a mask and shoe coverings. Two plumbers who came did not, the grass cutter-handyman did not, three men who came for erosion repair did not. Our dog walker comes to the door for a stressful handoff with the dog and she does not, though she would if I said something. I think it is common now for not everyone to always wear masks, and that’s what is keeping this going. Also true that case numbers are plummeting independent of the modest number vaccinated. Maybe we’re reaching herd immunity? Knock on wood.
Posted by: Cia | February 16, 2021 at 02:26 PM
Anonymous M.,
Strange how you just sort of hope that no one reading is aware of what a disaster Sweden has been only because they for some unfathomable reason believed the just a cold nonsense. The king of Sweden APOLOGIZED in December for officialdom in his country having killed so many people with their failure to lock down the way all countries which cared about their people did:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUKKBN28R1IP
Because Sweden, BECAUSE it chose to lead the developed world in brushing off the pandemic, has had 12,487 people as of today killed by it, while neighboring Scandinavian countries which DID lock down etc., have had only 593 deaths in Norway from Covid, 2,308 deaths in Denmark. Go to Worldometers.info for details on per capita rates and total population. So Sweden has had FIVE times the number of deaths as Denmark.
Tim singled out the US as having factors which uniquely singled us out for the highest rates of Covid in the world because we are the unhealthiest. I lived in Sweden: it was pretty much like the US, but everything was twice as expensive, books were three times as expensive. Newscasters on TV always wore black and read all news in a very somber tone, never cracking a smile. They screwed up on Covid, having chosen to believe, alone in all the world among nations, the Covid deniers. You want to go into greater detail on Sweden? Fine. Your play.
I lived longer in Mexico, and I would say Mexico is not healthier than the US in a single area. Calor humano, human warmth, I’ll certainly give them that. I’d have to check the most recent figures, but two weeks ago Mexico was in second place for number of deaths, second only to the US, edging out Brazil and India.
Are you faulting me because I didn’t discuss all the other countries in the world? Name your country. Do you want to argue that it is irrelevant that Sweden has had many more times as many deaths as any other Scandinavian country? That would be because...? Is just placidly accepting Tegnell’s hypothesis an example of Sweden’s vaunted lagom, or middle ground? Or an example of complacency and lazy trust?
Posted by: Cia | February 16, 2021 at 11:20 AM
Interesting how Cia conflates Mexico with Sweden in her rant...do most Swedes really "gorge on greasy street food, [and] candy rolled in chile powder..."? Sweden has had a no-mask policy all along, by the way, with results no worse (and often better) than those of other countries.
She also equates not wearing a mask with coughing, sneezing, and breathing heavily on others. I don't see much of that in the masked citizens around me; only a docile acceptance of what has suddenly been decreed a social norm.
Incidentally, no reason for shock at the publication of the NYT piece: notice the sneaky plug for FASTER VACCINATION toward the end.
Posted by: M. | February 15, 2021 at 03:13 PM
Sorry, health freedom summit.
https://healthfreedomsummit.com
Posted by: greyone | February 15, 2021 at 02:29 PM
Wanted to recommend Dr James Lyons Weiler's presentation from the Medical Freedom Summit (free) for covering public health policy problems involved with Covid.
Warning- not a breezy lecture, it is fact filled, and were it not for his slides it would be very hard to keep up with for someone like myself, without a scientific background.
He provides a timelined scientific understanding of highly problematic conclusions drawn from public health statistics and inadequate vaccine risk assessment.
Posted by: greyone | February 15, 2021 at 12:16 PM
@cia,
When the cycling threshold for a positive diagnosis at 45 rather than 35 was set last year, little was known about the virus or the ramifications of this policy. It is not that it was a false diagnosis: the virus really was there, but at a density too low to cause symptoms. However, since asymptomatic carriers have been responsible for a large portion of infections, possibly as many as half, it is not the case that a diagnosis based on an asymptomatic level of virus has been meaningless. The fact that the US has had around half a million Covid deaths in a year shows that it has not been a trivial illness for many millions beyond just those killed: permanent organ damage and at least 10% with long Covid autoimmune symptoms of indefinite duration show that responsible people take it seriously and make every effort to contain it. While it might be desirable to create a zone for those who wish to act as though Covid did not exist, burn their masks, hold giant crowded, maskless pool parties, and similar, and let the chips fall where they may, I don’t think this would be practicable, and innocent vulnerable people would inevitably be harmed or killed if closure of the borders of the merrymakers’ zone were not possible.
Posted by: cia | February 15, 2021 at 11:13 AM
I don't think anything can make you look good, Cia. Your history of erroneous rhetoric is irredeemable, but that's just a personal opinion.
Posted by: Julie | February 15, 2021 at 09:15 AM
Tim,
Why do you think people in the US are sicker than elsewhere? I have lived in Mexico and Sweden and have traveled widely in Mexico and Europe. People there love fast food and eat it a lot. A lot of people don’t cook much at home. Most people gorge on greasy street food, candy rolled in chile powder, and ice cream. A lot of people are overweight and a lot don’t exercise much and watch too much TV. A lot of people drink too much alcohol, have diabetes, heart disease, cancer, are depressed and lonely. A lot put their children in daycare at an early age. People there are as addicted to smartphones, streaming Vikings and Queen of the South, and video games as Americans are. Mexico City’s air pollution is a lot better now than before: before, it was painful to breathe in and every day there was a dirty film on everything cleaned the day before. What is it you think makes the US unhealthier than anywhere else?
Vaxxus,
Your placing the blame for Covid on the overweight is offensive. While the overweight die at higher rates, they do not produce Covid virus by spontaneous generation. No. It takes people not wearing masks or social distancing to do that.
Gerardo,
Bravo! There we have it! The championing of every American’s right to scorn masks and cough, sneeze, and breathe heavily on others. Germ theory? What’s that? Who cares? MY pleasure is the only important thing! Thank you for coming clean!
Jill,
It has always been easy to order Ivermectin on Amazon, six bucks for a year’s supply. I bought some last summer. I read about how therapeutic it was for Covid a year ago. Everyone with access to the Internet has been able to do the same, and thousands have been taking it prophylactically. Take your health into your own hands! It’s not hard! Stop blaming everyone else!
Julie,
I can only assume that B.P. is paying you to malign me. Good thing they can afford to waste a lot of dough, as your attempted marginally literate barbs only make me look good.
Posted by: Cia | February 14, 2021 at 11:34 PM
Cia,
When you are ready to leave the covid cult let me know I can recommend you an excellent deprogramming specialist.
The US has seen a higher death rate due to large number of severely obese people, the biggest risk factor after age not some innate cultural differences.
Posted by: vaxxus | February 14, 2021 at 03:19 PM
@cia the US has many more cases than the rest of the world because people here are sicker than elsewhere. SARS-Cov-2 spike proteins work synergystically with endoxin release from the gut, so people with leaky gut get sicker. We have that in spades.
Posted by: Tim Lundeen | February 14, 2021 at 01:05 PM
A UK celeb chef(yawn!) .A drum roll please for the covidiotcelebs
NIGELLA LAWSON has told fans her "head is in a spin" after receiving an invitation from the NHS to get the COVID-19 vaccination.
https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/1397691/Nigella-Lawson-coronavirus-covid-vaccination-Cook-Eat-Repeat-latest-news-update
Reminds me of a song years ago by a Scots lass Kelly Marie when we used to visit the shows, fares- On you go Gal, go and have it! and it wont be just your head that will be spinning..
My head goes round and round
My knees are shaking baby
My heart it beats like a drum
It feels like
WARNING LIKE VACCINES WHEN THIS SONG ENTERS YOUR BODY YOU WONT BE ABLE TO GET IT OUT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wz_9dVJ-Ew
Pharma For Prison
MMR RIP
Posted by: angus files | February 14, 2021 at 10:06 AM
If they had allowed people to be treated with hydroxychloroquine or Ivermectin we would not be having this conversation. They are evil geniuses.
Posted by: Jill in MI | February 14, 2021 at 09:38 AM
but then, if people are being paid to post rubbish, maybe they don't see it as having 'lost their minds'
Posted by: Julie | February 13, 2021 at 10:35 PM
The problem is the PCR tests vastly over state the cases with false positives. And Greyone certainly makes a good point about valid therapeutics being ignored. There are at least 10 studies in medical journals to show masks don’t work. I think they may do more harm than good.
Posted by: @CIA | February 13, 2021 at 10:25 PM
Nearly two and a half million in the world have died of Covid. Nearly half a million in the US. In a bad year, maybe 50,000 die from the flu in the US. In the past year, ten times that many have died of Covid.
To avoid getting it, you need to avoid breathing in or touching surfaces with the virus. All the measures are designed to help do this.
Everything I could say is obvious. I don’t understand why many seem to be willing to not only get Covid themselves, but transmit it to others. Someone asked last week why the US had so many more cases and deaths than any other country in the world. Well, there you go, the answer to your question.
Posted by: Cia | February 13, 2021 at 05:10 PM
People have completely lost their minds.
Posted by: Donna L. | February 13, 2021 at 03:31 PM
"The enemy is the virus"
maybe the main problem is actually systemic witholding of effective treatment.
your solution, vaccines that haven't been adequately tested for ADE? you go for it.
Posted by: greyone | February 13, 2021 at 03:07 PM
Ah CIA such a Vaccine Pusher. Go ahead and triple up on your mask. I am sure it is a matter of time before your hero and COVID "Expert" ( co-creator of Covid Virus), Dr. Fauci, will instruct us to wear 4 masks and many will do it because CNN and FOX say he is the expert and we should just OBEY! OBEY! You go right ahead. I chose FREEDOM!
Posted by: Gerardo Martinez | February 13, 2021 at 02:46 PM
That’s what it takes to contain a virus. If you want this awful period in our lives to end, you should cooperate with the measures. It won’t be for much longer with purchases now of enough vaccines for everyone in he US who wants them. Now it’s just a matter of manufacturing what has been bought, distributing it, and giving it. I saw this morning that Israel, leading in the world, is up to 71% of its population having been vaccinated.
The enemy is the virus, which is easily spread. Criticism should be directed to it.
Posted by: Cia | February 13, 2021 at 12:56 PM
If I draw my retirement early. Order all my groceries for home delivery, shop on amazon online for all my clothes and other life essentials, I can live in my home until I die. And I can be COVID-FREE!
This thought makes me HAPPY--NOT!!!
My reality, My life, My liberty for today will be like this: Go for a brisk walk without a mask, Go to a giant box store-without mask, until threaten with expulsion for not wearing one. Try fishing-without a mask.
Not taking the Corona Paranoia Pill.
Blessings to all!
Posted by: Gerardo Martinez | February 13, 2021 at 11:08 AM
So COMMON SENSE is the proper antidote to the latest ABSOLUTIST HEALTH FAD .. who knew?
Posted by: Bob Moffit | February 13, 2021 at 08:57 AM