This & That XV

 

          Viruses come and viruses go, but the use of the pandemic to effect an authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government is a much bigger story.

 

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           Things you are no longer allowed to say because you may be silenced, fired from your job, stalked, threatened, doxxed, and physically attacked:

 

          The 2020 election was stolen and Joe Biden is not a legitimate president.

          Lockdowns don’t work.

          Most scientists and mathematicians are male because men and women make different choices.

          Bruce Jenner.

          Minimum wage laws benefit skilled workers at the expense of unskilled workers, and hurt poor people.

          The 1964 Civil Rights Act has had a number of unfortunate, unintended consequences.

          PCR tests were never intended to be used to diagnose COVID.

          Athletes born male will usually defeat athletes born female.

          We have known for years that masks are virtually useless in stopping the spread of respiratory infections, and may even make matters worse.

          The more complex the issue, problem or system, the less likely it is to be handled effectively by one-size-fits-all central planning edicts.

          There was significant voter fraud in the swing states of Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia in the 2020 election.

          Racists, misogynists and anti-Semites have a right to believe whatever they want.

          In relations between men and women, “no” sometimes means “no.” 

          What is called “hate speech” has always been legal in the United States, and should remain so.

          The 40% of COVID cases who have no symptoms are not COVID cases. 

          Your sex was determined at birth.

          Acts of political violence should be prosecuted even if you share the political beliefs being expressed.

 

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          Somebody could make a very interesting movie about the life of Grand Duchess Hilda von Baden, who lived through everything that happened in Germany from November 5, 1864 to February 8, 1952, and somehow managed to hang on to her tiara, inlaid with 367 diamonds, until the very end.

 

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          Somebody smart and famous once asked how you would go about determining whether you were living in a Dark Age.  I’ve discussed this with people.  It’s not an easy question, but given the deranged, cult-like response of people and governments to SARS-CoV-2, it’s one I’ve been thinking about these days.

 

          We have been stuck in this lockdown/masking phase of hygiene fascism for ten months now, though the pandemic ended last July for most of America and the world. Yet more people wear masks now than at the beginning, though evidence continues to mount that masking does no good.  We are also seeing the beginning of a “Zero COVID Movement,” which demands even more stringent restrictions on all of us until the virus completely disappears.  This, despite all the evidence lockdowns have done nothing to halt the virus and have caused a great deal of harm.

 

          Is this a blip?  Is it another episode in the madness of crowds, like the tulip mania or the cat massacre or Y2K?  Or is it a sign of some deeper malaise that indicates we are losing our ability to reason?  And is that the definition of a Dark Age?

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            I'd like to know who is actually the President of the U.S. right now, wouldn't you?

 

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