Subject, or Free Man?

Interesting.  I apparently wrote this post on December 7th and failed to publish it.  It was in my system as a "draft".  It looks like I said everything that I needed to say, all that I intended to say...  I guess I'm maybe losing it...  LOL.  Anyway...  From December 7th.

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07 December 2020

I see that Governor Newsome out in California mandated masks and an end to private gatherings as well as shuttering "non-essential" businesses.  Sheriffs are speaking out stating that they will not enforce these mandates...  Should be interesting.

I posted an article yesterday on the fb from AIER that asked why we aren't willing to look at all sides of the problems caused by Covid.  AIER is a Right leaning news source, opinion source, that has never failed a fact check.  Minutes after I posted it a dear friend of mine, a retired school teacher, posted this:

"The AIER organization has put out some pretty scary stuff concerning the virus. They believe in herd immunity as well as saying masks don’t work. I would just say be careful."

To which I replied:

"I understand that, Ann. I try to look at information from multiple viewpoints and then use reason and logic (applied to information gleaned from those differing viewpoints) to draw conclusions about most subjects, not just the 'Rona. I think that the media making people believe that if you walk outside your house you are going to get the 'Rona and die is scarier than anything that I have ever read on AIER."

After which we had some respectful back and forth.  I could tell that she was getting frustrated.  I know that she and her husband have not been out of their house other than to buy groceries and necessities since the 'Rona started.

I have known Ann for years.  She is very much a Liberal but generally a kind person.  Except for her hatred of Donald Trump.  And, like other Liberals here in Iowa, their hatred is now being turned toward our Republican Governor, Kim Reynolds, full time since Trump is on his way out.  So much for "Iowa nice".

I mentioned to her that scientists have been working on a vaccine for the flu for over 40 years and the years that they produce one that is 50% effective are deemed a success.   I mentioned that scientists worked on treatment protocols for HIV/AIDS for 20 years before they found something that was reasonably effective in prolonging the lives of its victims.  And I questioned how, knowing those things, we can believe that science could produce a vaccine in mere months that they claim is 95% effective against the virus that is causing the "most devastating pandemic" in a hundred years, a virus that science admits mutates rapidly and randomly?

Anyway, that is kind of off track.  She finished the conversation with this comment:

"I don’t mean to simplify, but it is an airborne virus. That is all we need to know. We need to close down for a bit. Everyone is worried about kids not being in school. But as long as restaurants, stores and bars are open we will not get through this anytime soon. The government has the money to give out a great stimulus plan. Will not elaborate."

"That is all we need to know."

"Will not elaborate." 

And I'm not even sure how we got off on the tangents that we did.  I posted the article simply because it was asking the question "why do we refuse to look at all sides of the Covid issue?" 

The article:   https://www.aier.org/article/facts-not-fear-will-stop-the-pandemic/?fbclid=IwAR1zJpSi4Per0rTfK5_objRqFwZ_YXButdv8JxD5bo1N0cay7uwyqXHSqNI

 Like I said, I have known Ann for many years.  She is a dear friend.  I will have a private conversation with her regarding our public conversation on the fb.  I will tell her that the scariest comments that I could ever expect to hear from a teacher are "That is all we need to know." and "Will not elaborate." 

I actually heard something from one of my sons' high school counselors that was scarier.  After they told me what a great kid he was and I kept asking why, if he's so great, why is he failing and skipping to go to the pool hall with his friends?  And she finally got frustrated and said to me "Mr. Buchanan, sometimes we simply have to let one go in order that the others may succeed."  She was talking about our son.  "We have to let one go"  We took him out of this school district and put him in the neighboring city's school district and he succeeded.  He is now 42 years old, has a good job, isn't into drugs, isn't in prison...  Much better result than a lot of his classmates...    

Anyway, I guess that the point of this post was...  Subject?  Or Free Man?  What's it gonna be?   We're gonna have to make some hard decisions pretty soon...  :)