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More from the trenches of an upscale very blue area: two local grocery chains went mask optional, including for employees (thank goodness). Amazing to walk in and see essentially all the employees with no masks, and essentially every customer with mask on. Must be very bewildering to the virtue signalers, although that would assume they have some capacity for self-reflection. The class divide is so apparent, and it's so clear the continued mask-wearing is status-signaling. But I think it's on the verge of seeming so silly they won't be able to continue. Also you can feel the frustration, they want to signal "I'm vaccinated!" but they can't figure out how!

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I live in MA and can vouch for this 110%. I had an interesting conversation with my plumber during our home renovation about Sweden's approach to C19. Then I drive through Wellesley and 30-40-something lululemon ladies are STILL jogging outside with facemasks on. I don't want to hear another word about the supposedly "educated" upscale suburbs here...

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Excellent. I have yet to meet any kinda of "worker" who gives too poops about masks or COVID. Not auto mechanics, not pest controllers, not contractors, not delivery guys, not farmers, not anyone who has ever worked a hard dangerous job, or relied on a "mask" to protect them from paint, sawdust, chemicals or cow manure. (they know masks don't "work.")

So yesterday, in Vermont, I went to the Tractor Supply store and no one was wearing a mask. Presumably all the farmers, Trump voters and other "rednecks" were fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, over at the "Healthy Granola Food Co-op," it was 90% mask-wearing. Funny, I'd figure that "those people" woulda all got vaxxed? Or else they are are worried someone from the pestilence-ridden Tractor Supply store might come over and contaminate them? The Gov still has not removed the mask mandate, as he wants "80% of the people with at at least one shot" before he does so. However, he says, per the CDC, that the fully vaccinated do not need masks. OK. And so the purpose of the mandate is to...encourage (?) that last little bit of people to get a vaccine so that they can finally take their masks off, even though the same people who never wore masks are the same people who will never get vaccinated? And how do any of these arbitrary rules and distinctions prevent disease? And what if we never get to 80%? Mask rules forever?

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Okay, so now I've read it, some thoughts...

We're still focussed on the what and not the why or the who.

This virus has an IFR of 0.15% for all ages and an IFR of 0.03% for age 70 and under. While the original outbreaks in Wuhan, northern Italy, and NYC were scary (and, really, what happened?)...it soon became clear that they were the outliers not the norm.

The PCR cycle threshold was set very high to obfuscate the data about infections and deaths. The way in which C19 deaths were counted was changed. Per the CDC, about 5% of those who died had C19 as their only cause of death. The remaining 95% had on average four co-morbid conditions or causes of death.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus has never been isolated from a human being. We really have no idea what the PCR tests detect.

Has anyone seen reliable all cause death in the US for 2020? I keep hearing from people in other countries that they saw no excess deaths. The people who died from/with C19 would likely have died from something else during the year. Did the US have excess mortality and how much was caused by the virus...not the reaction? Did an 85-year-old with dementia, heart disease, end stage renal failure, and a +PCR really die of C19?

They convinced medical doctors (presumably intelligent and accomplished) with lots of letters after their names to demonstrate how to wipe down grocery bags to prevent the spread.

While we were a divided people before this "pandemic", they further divided us...masks/no masks...shutdowns/no shutdown...school closures/no school closures...and now injections/no injections.

Why did they attempt to destroy society for a virus that is less worrisome that the average yearly flu for most people?

And who, exactly, are they?

We keep talking like this is over. I don't think it is.

They haven't quite given up their attempt to implement the "vaccine passports". They're still pushing injections on children and babies. There tenderizing the masses with stories about the scariants and boosters for the fall. I saw a post on Fakebook this morning about injecting newborns, so I called them out as the demons they are.

Someone...lots of someones...are behind this. They know the virus isn't that dangerous. They know children and infants are at low risk for infection and transmission. They know the injections are hurting and killing a large number of people.

And yet they persist.

Greed, hubris, avarice, tribalism, group think do not make sense of this.

It was a plan. And they're not done with us.

Have you ever read about the Georgia Guidestones? We can laugh at Schwab or Gates and the other psychopathic billionaires...but they have money and power and influence...

And really, really evil ideas.

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live in 1st town over border in nh. we been open nearly a year. our restaurants were crowded while ma was needlessly closed.

i have live in biden voting karen: anti right 'authority' [tes calls it agency] is always right, data don't matter, individual liberty is scaring her, when i open subject of extreme low probability fears, i am being mean, i do that when i need some free time.....

the cambridge 'elite' are basket weaving degreed with no prospects and $150k in student loans. none could tell a second derivative 'implied' from a 5 sigma out event that scares them to death.

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When the media has been fully integrated into special services and espionage organizations (way, way past Operation Mockingbird, folks), you can do anything you damn well please. Here's a great example: K walking up a flight of airplane stairs with all the saluting and security. Only they made a mistake and showed that there is no airplane. All theater. We live in a post-truth world. https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/conspiracy/is-anything-real-in-the-biden-administration/

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Yes, the mask mandates in MA went away over the weekend, but the kids are still required to wear them in school. Makes zero sense. People still wearing masks while driving alone! Then again, I can't swing un gato muerto without hitting a white liberal in my town (refer to graph above).

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Gato: kindly review "The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness" by Lyle Rossiter. (warning: it is longwinded and difficult to get through). He touches on the issues referenced in your essay. I cannot vouch for the scientific accuracy of his work, but, a fair reading would point a normal person to look in a certain direction to discover the cause of the political madness we suffer through today. I believe you have hit the "nail on the head" with the control analysis. But to keep it as simple as possible, I might add that the primary cause of this madness is narcissism. The reasons for opting for the paternalistic state as referenced in Category #1 listed above are classic symptoms of people who would be considered to be "covert/introverted" narcissists. Category #2 would be the "overt/grandiose" narcissist. While i am referring mainly to personality types, to a certain degree, both types of people may or may not have a full blown case of narcissistic personality disorder. They are definitely on the spectrum. Type #1 is neurotic, has fomo, and hence is jealous of other people, therefore want others to be as miserable as they are. Type#2 is malignant, bordering on psychopathy. Regardless, both live in their "own" world and want to make the rest of the world conform to "their own" fantasyland, because they can't control the real world, but can control theirs (or their delusion of what is their world).

They are truly damaged people. That is not to say there are no conservatives that are on the narcissism spectrum, but those folks seem to have a different world view (one that focuses more on their own individuality and independence). I would argue that being a narc is more prevalent on the left than the right though. In any event, this cabal of control freaks are clearly in need of a rude awakening. Unfortunately, with the advent of social media (a haven for narcissists), and the fact that the vast majority of the legacy media have the same affliction, i am not optimistic there will be a change, and more likely, it will get worse.

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Here in Newton people are still wearing masks even while walking their dog and several stores still require face covering.

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I continue to struggle to grasp that fundamental *something* that makes one person (the majority) cast aside reason and capitulate to the mania of the moment and another person (the tiny minority) remain level-headed and objective in the face of overwhelming pressure. What is it about those ~10% who buck consensus and declare that one and one are actually two when everyone around them screams that it is three?

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I live in Massachusetts, and can attest to this. Although one of my best friends is a plumber and buys into all of the nonsense. He's very lefty though.

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Thank you for a much-needed, laugh, Gato, as I am in the depths of Maskachusetts. Got my hair cut this weekend. The stylist and I were mask-free and happy until an uppity Boston elite lady came in. She immediately asked for my vax status and looked at me like I'm vermin when I I said I'm jab-free. She backed to a far corner of the room and I put on a loose mask just to keep the peace for the stylist. And there is still 95% compliance in Boston/Cambridge.

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Some of them want to use you

Some of them want to get used by you

Some of them want to abuse you

Some of them want to be abused

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Fact check! Hyannis is blue collar now and you will even homeless and vagabonds walking the street with their pants halfway down their ass. This is no place for the summer crowed of Wellesley. That is P-Town. Maybe Truro. They get their faster by boat from Boston. Hyannis would be a huge hike. They do it, but from what I know living in south MA, Hyannis was not balls-to-the-wall terrified like the upper Cape was. P-Town -- as of May 2020 anyway -- was loaded with Karen's in a panic. Hyannis no. Once you got passed Chatham it got worse and worse. I even saw some clowns alone on the beaches in masks. Cuz....science.

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This piece is so f'ing good and spot on...I may have to subscribe!

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I haven't had a change to read this yet, but I thought people needed to see/hear this information.

It's not good.

The Spike Protein - Dr. Byram Bridle Professor of Viral Immunology University of Guelph

Interview by Alex Pierson...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sis1Sddzbqk&t=496s

The study...

https://www.pmda.go.jp/drugs/2021/P20210212001/672212000_30300AMX00231_I100_1.pdf

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