Month: September 2020

We’re All in this Together

A commentary on the need for hope.

I saw a video recently which made a lot of sense. The video was talking about our chaotic world which every human is experiencing; a world facing an apparent pandemic, the Black Lives Matter protests, protests against Covid restrictions, mask confusion, human trafficking, missing children, ever changing messaging, and the list goes on. Here is the essence of the video.

The video emphasized that we’re all enduring this storm together no matter what our beliefs and personal truths are. Everyone has their own truths and beliefs, but we are all navigating these confusing times together as best we can. For many, it may feel like we’re divided, polarized, and fighting against one another. Many feel confused and frightened about what is going on. Despite this, the speaker says to pay attention to how you react and respond to other humans, to your knee jerk reactions, and to avoid asserting that someone is wrong. There is no right or wrong. Practice being neutral.

The speaker goes on to talk about neutrality. She says you can navigate through the chaos with neutrality. You can still have your opinions, beliefs, and your own truths, but see and respect other people’s truths as well. That is what neutrality is. We are all experiencing our own human journey together amongst the chaos, so pay attention to your response to others, having more compassion for them since we don’t know what other people have experienced or what they’re going through. How kind can you be to others? We can be unified with our differing thoughts, beliefs, and still retain our individuality. Be kind, as everyone is doing the best they can.

The message in the video resonated with me. My beliefs about what is happening have not changed. However, I’ve realized that I may have failed to be sensitive to other’s perspectives and beliefs, pushing my perspective without considering other perspectives and beliefs out there. I may have forgotten that many people are fearful; fearful of the virus, or afraid that something sinister is happening in our world. The video reminded me that every human is navigating the chaos as best they can and that now is a time for kindness. If ever there was a time for unity and hope, it is at this time.

Having said that, the speaker did talk about the importance of considering other perspectives, to question everything, and to be skeptical about what we are being told. Be a truth seeker!

In May, I (#blog, #blogger, #YA, #authors, #somseason) wrote a post titled,  An Opportunity, Or Back to the Same? In that post I quoted the author, poet, speaker, educator, humanitarian and social justice activist, Sonya Renee Taylor, who said:

“We will not go back to normal. Normal never was. Our pre-Corona existence was not normal other than we normalized greed, inequity, exhaustion, depletion, extraction, disconnection, confusion, rage, hoarding, hate and lack. We should not long to return, my friends. We are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment. One that fits all of humanity and nature.”

From the very beginning of this alleged pandemic, I’ve always felt strongly that the world is going through an awakening or reset; that the Universe, God, Yahweh, Allah, Creator, or some greater power is orchestrating this, and awakening us to  the “greed, inequity, disconnection, confusion, rage, hoarding, hate and lack” that is on a global scale; awakening us to racism, bullying (#antibullying, #bullying), misogyny, and tribalism. I believe this now more than ever.

Recently, I saw a post on social media that said:

Don’t Give up on this year.

Keep fighting for the good.

Keep showing up.

Keep loving.

Keep giving back.

Keep being kind.

Keep being brave.

Keep caring.

Keep trying new things.

Keep showing grace.

Keep on.

This world needs you to believe in the good.

How true that is. The fact is, it doesn’t matter if we believe that the mainstream media is imparting fear causing a steep rise in suicides and drug overdoses (see Opioid deaths double) or not. It doesn’t matter if we believe our governments are taking away our rights. It doesn’t matter, as we are free to believe what we want. What does matter is for humanity to be united, to believe in good, and to practice kindness.

Idowu Koyenikan, in his book, Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability, said: “There is no denying that there is evil in this world but the light will always conquer the darkness.” Author, Ken Poirot, says, “Light can devour the darkness but darkness cannot consume the light.” In John 1:5 of the Christian scriptures it says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Several major religious festivals use light to acclaim the power of spiritual hope. Christians decorate Christmas trees with lights to symbolize Jesus Christ as the light of the world. During Diwali, a Hindu festival, fireworks displays and candles are used to celebrate the hope of spiritual victories. The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, or “Festival of Lights,” is a festival of hope, that teaches us that there is no limit to what we can accomplish when we let God—or the Universe, Yahweh, Allah, Creator, or whatever you want to call it—be our guiding light. The festival encourages everyone to shine light in the darkest places of our lives and in our world.

Science tells us that light overpowers darkness since the photons (small packages of light) can dispel darkness, but darkness cannot dispel light. This principle can be seen simply by entering a dark room and turning on a flashlight. The light is visible in the midst of the darkness, even if there’s just only a small amount of light in a great amount of darkness. This same principle applies spiritually, as the light of hope is always stronger than the darkness of discouragement, fear, despair or even evil. I choose to believe we are living in a time of hope; a time where light is overtaking the darkness in our world, even though it doesn’t feel like it at times or even if we don’t believe it.

The South African Anglican cleric, Desmund Tutu, is known for his anti-apartheid and human rights work. He said, “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”  What the world needs most, right now, is for humanity to have hope that there is light entering our dark world.  To believe we are experiencing a cleansing; a time of light entering our world. Perhaps we’ve been living in darkness—“greed, inequity, disconnection, confusion, rage, hoarding, hate and lack,”—and we didn’t even see it. The world needs to have hope that what we are all experiencing will end and that we will end up with a better world. Perhaps this experience will create a strong desire to build a better world instead of returning to what was. I choose to have hope and to no longer live in fear. You should too.

Are We Being Bullied? (Part Two)

A commentary on the reality of our world.

Columnist Molly McCann wrote in one of her columns titled, Mandatory Masks Aren’t About Safety, They’re About Social Control, “Mandatory masks are a critical predicate conditioning us to accept abuses of our liberty.”  Columnist Lee Smith shared McCann’s piece on Twitter and wrote, “Masks aren’t about public health but social control. Image of Biden in black mask endorses culture of silence, slavery, and social death.” President Donald Trump shared a tweet that argued the mandated use of face masks to control the spread of the coronavirus represents a “culture of silence, slavery, and social death.” I couldn’t agree more with these statements. This shouldn’t surprise you since I’ve written about the mask debate in previous posts. The question is: Why are authorities mandating mask wearing and why are politicians and the mainstream media pushing masking?

In the May 21st edition of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) it states:

We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes). The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic.

Even prestigious medical journals are saying masks are relatively ineffective. So, again I ask: Why are authorities mandating mask wearing and why are politicians and the mainstream media pushing masking?  To me, It seems evident it isn’t to protect us. The only logical explanation is to control the masses.

Dr. Jeffrey Barke MD, a doctor I referred to in part one purportedly said:

We should never require a child to wear a mask. Not only is it ineffective but it could actually be harmful. It increases learning disorders. It increases anxiety. It reduces the ability for that child to bond with their teachers. It is a form of child abuse to require face coverings on a small child in a school setting. Stop scaring the public unnecessarily.

I (#blogger #blog #somseason #YA #authors) couldn’t agree more. Masking children is abusive! This is bullying (#antibullying #bullying) plain and simple. I recently substituted in the school I once taught in where students are forced to wear masks because our government mandated it, even while sitting in their desks. Dr Barke is right! As a teacher, I had difficultly identifying the students and it was tough to develop any kind of relationship with a faceless student. I had no way of knowing if they were struggling with an assignment, or upset, because I could not read his or her facial expressions.

During a press briefing in August, US Presidential Candidate, Joe Biden stated the following:

“Today, I want to talk about one thing, straightforward. Doesn’t have anything to do with Democrats, Republicans, or Independents, it has to do with a simple proposition. Every single American should be wearing a mask when they are outside for the next three months at a minimum.” (source: Biden)

Did you catch that? Joe Biden would make mask wearing outside mandatory. Why? Ken Rice of Pittsburgh CBS affiliate KDKA interviewed Joe Biden in June. Rice asked Biden if he would use the federal leverage to mandate the mask use, to which Biden replied: “Yes, I would from an executive standpoint, yes, I would.” Rice then asked: “So you would, in effect, mandate the wearing of masks.” Biden replied: “I would do everything possible to make it required that people had to wear masks in public” (source: Biden). Joe Biden, if elected president of the US, would mandate wearing masks outside.

Why would a presidential candidate do this? Does he have an agenda? Does he want to keep the masses fearful of the virus? Or, is it about power and control?  Whenever I see someone in a mask, I see them as muzzled; as having their voice taken away. It is like we are symbolically silenced. Is that what is happening? It sure feels like it to me. A few weeks ago, I saw this video on social media. Please listen to the entire video as this person raised some thought-provoking points. You can access the video by clicking on Savanna’s video

Savanna didn’t address another element of masking, and that is: How mask use affects criminal behaviour. If ever there was a prime opportunity for the criminal element of society, it is now. All a criminal needs to do is put on a face mask and a pair of sunglasses. By doing this the lawless person becomes unidentifiable. Don’t believe me? It has already occurring. Have a look at the news articles Anonymous and emboldened: How mask use affects criminal behaviour and  Gloversville man used large face mask to hide identity, commit crimes, say police. I guess we should be grateful that these criminals have our safety in mind since they are protecting us from this so called deadly virus.

The statistics that Savanna gave in the video come from an article titled, Child Abduction Statistics for Parents from Parent’s Magazine. The most shocking statistic for me was:

Every 40 seconds in the United States, a child becomes missing or is abducted.

Now let that statistic sink in.

Beautiful People Magazine states:

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, roughly 800,000 children are reported missing each year in the United States. Sounds a little bit too much? Think of it this way to realize the whole situation – that’s roughly 2,000 per day!

Yes, pedophiles are taking away our children. They are being sold on the rich black market. Powerful people worldwide are buying them as they would buy groceries or anything normal.

Wow! Pedophiles are buying children. Pedophilia is the ultimate kind of bullying because it is  the abuse of innocent children. My Cognitive Dissonance just kicked in. If this is true, why is this not the biggest story in the mainstream media (MM)? Why is that? The Hollywood elites have been eerily silent on the topic of child sex trafficking. That wasn’t the case after George Floyd’s death when the Black Lives Matter movement exploded. Why are the Hollywood elites silent on human trafficking? Why aren’t Hollywood stars taking up this cause? Why are our government leaders, for the most part, silent on child sex trafficking? Is the MM intentionally trying to keep us focused on the pandemic to distract us? Are they hiding something? Is human trafficking what they don’t want us to focus on? Are our governments trying to keep us fearful of covid with all their talk of second and third waves, and another possible lockdown? If they are, why?

I mentioned in a previous post that I saw this meme on social media:

The Media isn’t silent on Child Sex Trafficking because of the Children, it’s because of who the Customers are. Read that again please.

Could that really be true? When I begin to think about all this, my brain says: “Stop that, you’re thinking nonsense,” but isn’t that Cognitive Dissonance?

Just in case you are unfamiliar with that, allow me to explain. When a strong core belief is presented with evidence that challenges the belief, our brains refuse to accept the new evidence. It creates a feeling that is far too uncomfortable for us to stomach, and this is known as, “Cognitive Dissonance.” This happens because we have a need to protect the core belief, so we rationalize, ignore, and deny anything that fails to support that core belief.

You will experience this just as I have, once you start critically looking into things. The English novelist and poet, A. S. Byatt is quoted as saying: “Things are not what they seem.” Don’t take my word for it. I challenge you to do some of your own research. As Atisa, an Indian Buddhist religious leader, once said: “The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.”

Are We Being Bullied? (Part one)

A commentary on the covid restrictions.

On August 29, hundreds of thousands protested around the world objecting to the covid restrictions. Recently, I (#blogger #blog #somseason #YA #authors) saw a Facebook post with about 300 pictures and videos of these protests. Of course, that post disappeared like others that disagree with the Mainstream Media (MM) and government’s messaging. I guess free speech is gone. The biggest protest was in Berlin, Germany. Other protests took place in other German cities, London,  various British cities, India, Canada, Iran, Ireland, China, and many other cities I can’t remember. Now here is a ‘birds’ eye’ view of the Berlin protest. One of the  posts estimated 4 million protesters, but you be the judge. You can view the video by clicking on: Berlin Protest video.

BBC’s article Germany coronavirus: Hundreds arrested in German ‘anti-corona’ protests, says there were 38000 protesters. I can only speak for myself, but the crowd I see in the video far surpasses 38000. The BBC article claims there were hundreds of arrests because stones and bottles were thrown, yet  the video shows a peaceful protest. Is the Mainstream Media (MM) misleading us and trying to minimize these protests?

I searched the MM about the protests and found few news articles . NBC News’ article titled, QAnon supporter join thousands at protest against Germany’s coronavirus rules, mainly focuses on the protesters failing to follow covid restrictions. Its use of “QAnon supporters” implies that the protesters were crazy conspiracy theorists. Press TV’s article, Tens of thousands protest coronavirus bans in Europe, mainly talks about the Berlin protests, but does make mention of protests in London, Paris, Vienna and Zurich. This article, like the NBC article, primarily focuses is on the government’s concern for the spread of covid. CBC News’ article, Global rally against COVID-19 safety measures comes to Parliament Hill, and again, its focus is concern for the spread of the virus.  What is interesting is that there wasn’t that much concern about the spread of covid during the Black Lives Matter protests, nor did the numbers spike. I don’t know about you, but I see a pattern here. In my last post, What is Really Going On? I suggested the MM is intentionally promoting fear of covid as a way to distract us, and it seems that hasn’t changed.

In yet another MM article by the Guardian titled, Coronavirus sceptics, conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers protest in London, it says “18,000 coronavirus sceptics” protested in Berlin, a much lower number than the BBC article. This article describes the anti-covid restriction rally saying,

The event, which began at noon, drew a broad coalition including coronavirus sceptics, 5G conspiracy theorists and so-called “anti-vaxxers.

Now talk about an agenda; an agenda to make the protests sound like a bunch of crazies. Why are the numbers of protesters being down played? Why is the MM attempting to discredit the protests? Why is the MM relatively silent on most anti-covid restrictions protests?

I know, some of you think I’m just another one of those conspiracy theorists, but I remind you that a “Conspiracy Theory” was a term coined by the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) in order to prevent disbelief of official government stories.

Why would the MM and governments want to instil fear in the masses by creating the illusion that this is a serious pandemic? The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is supposed to be where the experts are. If this virus is so deadly, then why did the CDC quietly update their website  under the title of Comorbidities. Comorbid means existing simultaneously with and usually independently of another medical condition.  The (CDC) website says:

For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned. For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death.

In plain English, that means only 6% of all covid deaths were actually caused by the covid virus. The other 94% may have been deaths caused by some other condition, since on average people had  2 – 3 other medical conditions. Canada, as of Sept 2, has 9132 covid deaths, but only 554 out of a population of 36 million we know for sure died of covid. The US, with a population of 331 million, is said to have 189 922 covid deaths, but only 11 395 we know for sure died of covid. Does sound like a deadly virus to you?

In the Question and Answers section on the CDC website, it says this about testing:

A positive test result shows you might have antibodies from an infection with the virus that causes COVID-19. However, there is a chance a positive result means that you have antibodies from an infection with a virus from the same family of viruses (called coronaviruses), such as the one that causes the common cold.

In another place on the CDC website, it says:

The Food and Drug Administration has not authorized antibody testing to diagnose COVID-19, and the CDC does not currently recommend using antibody testing for diagnosis of any infection.

What this means is a positive antibody test says the person has antibodies from some type of coronavirus, including those that cause the common cold. If an antibody test was used to determine a covid case, then we, the public, are being mislead.  Covid-19 is just one of many types of coronavirus. Are we being intentionally mislead to believe we are living in a pandemic?

Global Research has an article, Manufactured Pandemic: Testing People for Any Strain of a Coronavirus, Not Specifically for COVID-19. Here is what it is saying about the covid PCR test—the test done using a swab.

Coronavirus has been around for years and years, is incredibly common, and there are a variety of forms. The vast majority of the earth’s population will have pieces of coronavirus DNA in them, even if they are perfectly healthy. When a PCR test is done, health workers are looking for partial viral DNA sequences of  the covid-19 virus, but these sequences could be from any type of coronavirus. Here is what the article says about the PCR test:

It’s only looking for partial viral sequences, not whole genomes [an organism’s complete set of DNA], so identifying a single pathogen is next to impossible even if you ignore the other issues…It uses ‘amplification’ which means taking a very very tiny amount of DNA and growing it exponentially until it can be analyzed. Obviously, any minute contamination in the sample will also be amplified leading to potentially gross errors of discovery.

In conclusion, the PCR test is unreliable and gives misleading data since it could be finding a DNA sequence from any type of coronavirus.

Back in March, we were told to quarantine to “flatten the curve,” so as to not overwhelm the health care system. Then the “experts and top doctors” said we may have covid restrictions until a vaccine is developed. Now, we’re told that even with a vaccine we may have covid restrictions, at least that is what Canada’s “top doctor” is saying (see Even if there’s a vaccine, pandemic may persist for years to come: Tam).  Then there is the headline; Wear a mask while having sex, suggest Canada’s top doctor. The latest headline: A second coronavirus lockdown in Canada? Experts discuss the likelihood. What is going on? Do these top doctors know what they are doing?

Dr. Jeffrey I. Barke, MD, a family practice physician based in California spoke out about the COVID-19 madness. This is part of what he said:

My name is Dr. Jeff Barke, and I’m here representing thousands of physicians across the country whose voices are being silenced because we don’t agree with the mainstream media and the experts who are telling us what to do. Never in the history of this great republic have we quarantined the healthy…Yes, this virus is dangerous. But as we see the statistics come in, we’re realizing that the fatality rate of this virus is in the ballpark of a bad seasonal influenza. What we’re also knowing is that just like other respiratory viral illnesses in the past, we get over this virus by achieving herd immunity. We can never achieve herd immunity by keeping the herd quarantined  (source: Dr. Jeff Barke Criticizes).

The evidence I’ve seen indicates that Dr. Barke is right, and if he is, then we are being bullied (#bullying #antibullying) by our governments. Authorities have taken away many of our rights and freedoms under the guise of keeping us safe. Are we being bullied by our governments?

I saw this in a post.

Imagine a man who forced his wife to stay away from her friends, family, and job. Imagine he also told her she should not leave the house unless absolutely necessary and to cover her face and avoid people if she does go out. Imagine he threatened her with punishment if she didn’t submit. Would you call this abusive [or bullying]?

It does not stop being abuse [or bullying] when the government does it ! (author unknown).

Perhaps George Carlin explains what is happening the best. He was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, and author who died in 2008, and is regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comics of all time. Have a listen.

If our governments are so concerned about our safety, then why are they preventing us from gaining immunity from this virus? Do they have a hidden agenda?