COVID-19

COVID-19: Finding Fault (Part 1)

(Editor’s Note:  This is closing on 3000 words and growing, and even the best rants start losing people around the 1500 mark, so I’m chopping it into its component parts.  Expect further installments.)

I have evidently been guilty of failing to express myself plainly.  To be clear, then:  When I say “This is all your fault”, I’m not implying that it might be someone else instead.  I blame you.

I’m saying that all this is your fault.  You personally.  Yes, you, the one reading this right now.  I know you don’t believe me, and if you’re starting to… no, it’s too farfetched, and you just think I’m nuts.  Too damn bad, because it’s all your fault.  You’re the one (more…)

Masks, Handwashing, and Social Distancing: The Science

The following is basic medical knowledge backed by science, and I’ve linked the science for you.  Very little of this is new; the concepts have been around for quite a while now, and we’ve spent decades refining our knowledge.  Most is not a matter for discussion; it is factual rather than opinion, and should be treated as such. (more…)

FAKE NEWS: Face Masks?

Obviously there’s no government “Freedom To Breathe Agency”.  It’s a private group out to sell cards, which unless you’re very lucky will not help you one bit.  You would be ill-advised to rely on one of these to evade arrest.

But you didn’t need anyone to tell you that.  You already knew it.

That’s why we’ll discuss other things, such as whether having a legitimate medical condition is enough to get you out of wearing a mask (more…)

FAKE NEWS: Tracking Apps On Your Phone?

The answer to this one’s a little complicated. The TL;DR version is, no, the U.S. government hasn’t downloaded a secret COVID-19 app to your phone in order to track you. Some governments are doing this, but the U.S. and Canada are not among them.

This doesn’t mean your movements aren’t being tracked. It just means you probably (more…)

FAKE NEWS: Voter Suppression In Kentucky?

There have been several versions of this going around.  Trouble is, it’s completely absurd, a patently evident attempt to propagandize.

This is important for two reasons:  One, it’s apt to backfire because it’s so transparently wrong.  Two, everyone, even (more…)

A Glorious Hope

I’ve spoken with an awful lot of angry people this morning.  Most are also terrified.  It’s hard not to be when you wake up and look around, and all you see is ashes.

Take heart, my friends!  Be of good cheer!  For I tell you truly, today is a day of vast possibility, containing with it a hope for a glorious future.

No, I haven’t snapped, and I’m not drunk (more…)

It’s Not About Me

I keep having to tell myself that:  It’s not about me, I say.  And then fifteen seconds later it becomes about me again.  Pretty silly, isn’t it?

When I go outside wearing a mask, I can’t breathe.  I get light-headed; there’s a tightness in my chest; I get dizzy.  My lungs are going like a bellows in a steel mill and my heart’s like a jackhammer.  It’s called a panic attack, they tell me, though like Paul Vitti I object strongly to that term.  To me, it’s that I’m overheating and can’t get enough air.  That will always be my private interpretation, no matter that my brain tells me otherwise. (more…)

On The Twelfth

We’re having a great debate in this country, and as per usual it’s about the wrong things.

When I say the words “great” and “debate” in this context, I’m being misleading.  It’s more of a drunken argument between ignorance and stupidity somewhat reminiscent of politics and religion over post-Thanksgiving football between (more…)

F&L: The Wisconsin Primary

It’s been in the news by now, so you may fancy you already know all about it — and, given the quality of my readership, you may even be right.

However, I’m not writing this entirely for the present day, but rather as a running account of what will doubtless be known as the “COVID Primary” for future readers.  Then too, there may be something in here of which you may as yet be unaware.  In light of these factors, then, I beg your indulgence for the forthcoming account. (more…)

COVID-19: You Seem To Be Misinformed

Yes, you.  You’re reading this, so I’m talking to you.  And you appear to be missing some crucial information essential to interpreting the present situation.

There exist quite a few out there who are conversant with such terms as “flattening the curve”; I’m fairly sure you can explain (more…)