I have long ago concluded that, more than anything, the attack we are under is spiritual and psychological. The mask is kind of a hex-- a whirligig hex promoting fear and diminishing the human-- and our main task against the mask, apart from refusing to wear it, is to simply stay strong and cheerful. Easier said than done, of course. Please know that, although we have never met, I very, very sincerely thank you for standing against the mask.
Though I read this the day you posted it, I was unable to reply. I was in quite the funk when I read it. I could not then express how much you’re last line means, nor can I even now, having a few days to do so.
I think we can thank the Kishida administration for this. Just last week, the president/CEO of Open AI (ChatGPT / GPT 4, etc.) was over there for a chat with Kishida. And a couple of days ago at Tokyo University's entrance ceremony, the Dean talked about ChatGPT's promises and 'hallucinations' (yet a new euphemism for 'lies').
I saw the video, and it had compelling photos of massive cell death in multiple organs. I did not think to download the video because it is difficult to guess what will be deleted from the collective digital memory. I suppose it is just continuing attempts to control the narrative. Japan is at the top of the list of countries that have had Twitter comments removed to comply with government demands. 😖
Steve, I would love to get my hands on the source on Japan being at the top of the list of having inconvenient comments removed. Japan has a long history of removing things that make it look bad, so not surprising.
The book makes a great book-end for Chomsky and Herman's "Manufacturing Consent". East or West, the ruling class create the cultural conceits through which they rule. Not so different from the ruling class of ancient Egypt declaring themselves 'gods'.
That book does look interesting. Scanning the review, I see points that I heartily agree with and some I am more skeptical of, but this is based on just what is on the surface. I have some knowledge on lawsuits for malpractice. I know that doctors at my med school teach the myth that pediatrics is the most dangerous field for lawsuits. They have a reasonable theory why this is true, however the actual numbers of medical malpractice lawsuits proves this is untrue. HOWEVER, most malpractice cases are settled out of court and there is simply no way to know how many in total nor the breakdown by medical speciality. I have a study titled “The Myth od Low Lawsuits Numbers in Japan”, something similar. But it focuses only upon medical lawsuits. Additionally the number of lawyers admitted for the bar each year in the whole of Japan is but a fraction of whet the single state of California admits each year. That fact is from a few years ago and may be dated, but I suspect the same holds today. There, there must be fewer lawsuits based solely upon the number of lawyers available for them.
😔 I had seen other videos of Rennick in action, and admire him. But had not seen that Campbell interview. Listening to bits and pieces at high speed now. The blatancy of the corruption is infuriating.
I thought you were back stateside already. Did not realize your mother was so near to crossing over. Sorry to hear that she is.
I have seen several sources for the 14 year old girls’ passing and have saved them. Did not know it disappeared but not sure the significance unless it was also published in Japanese. Not many here get their news on their own country in English. However, the J gov would not like to have that out and about for other countries to remark upon, but would they as they all seem to be in league on this. Surely, the fact that it was disappeared alone is significant. Hmm. What is going on?
If I were single, I would require a few babes and sail for a remote island and live out my days there. I am not wanting to have to deal with my students using ChatGPT to write their speeches. Not wanting to deal with any of this any more. Oh well. That”s the way the cookie crumbles I guess.
Hi Kitsune ... you are correct. I made a brain-fart in typing the above, and corrected it. If I pass the PCR 'test', I will be back in Japan next Monday evening. Though I will never be Japanese, I don't quite fit anywhere in the states either. Such a different mind-set. I would rather be back in Japan ... but I REALLY like your idea about the babes and remote island. 😂
Single ... kind of. But with necessary and not unpleasant ties. But now without a boat, kayaking to the South Seas would be a bitch.
Just got off the phone with my better half in Japan. Earlier, she had told me that the dropping of PCR would coincide with an upcoming Summit. Of course, purely coincidence that the virus is scheduled to decrease in danger at that time. 😂 'Science' by committee and mandate.
I am sorry to hear of these challenges. We should all put these under the umbrella of "unintended consequences." It's amazing how we all hamstring ourselves.
I have a folder I save some of the covid stories in named “Unintended Consequences”. I have since added a question mark as I am no longer sure they are unintended.
It is a difficult thing to negotiate, the truth that perhaps the directives were not unintended.
The about face by Fauci and others on masks "felt" spontaneous, but maybe that was the intention. I still, like El Gato Malo and others want to side with "incompetence" over any design.
Except that the entire world suddenly made they same incompetent decisions. Never in human history have all the disparate cultures adopted the same course in the face of a common issue. That can not be by accident.
The reason why so many countries adopted these policies is that they were the most sensible.
I asked them how it made sense to lockdown, mask, and vaccinate for a disease with a .09% death rate. They replied that it made sense because there was a vaccine around the corner.
My belief (and I could very well be wrong) is that in fear and panic, we played "follow the leader" with China, or monkey see/monkey do. Imagine if the virus leaked from here in the States, and our response was "caution, but continue to stay the course" as we had so often before. Maybe the response would have been different.
The most sensible to whom? The clinically insane? The future is unknowable, despite claims, there was no way to know a vaccine was around the corner. Given that it is not a vaccine even under the new definition of vaccine written solely so that it could be called a “vaccine”, this “logic” of theirs is false. But, again, we can look to Japan to see that not of that worked.
The follow the leader/monkey see monkey do theory does hold water, especially in the early stages. It may in fact have been the case. However, at some point it became organized. I was so happy to be in Japan in the early stages as apart from acknowledging that it existed and made landfall in the country, Japan did nothing. Many companies began requiring masks and a long list of other actions but the government really said and did little. So little in fact, that it started getting heat from overseas for not jumping on the band wagon. The whole first wave passed without really any governmental recommendations, no lockdown lite, nothing. Then whamo! Masking, social distancing and all the rest but only after intense international and domestic pressure. Many blamed Japan’s not taking the disease seriously enough because it did not what to cancel the olympics, which it couldn’t, or give up having spectators at it, a very real problem, for Japan’s inaction. I wrongly attributed it to two things; Japan’s traditional mindset that Japan is unique and as such, it needs to consider carefully what is the best path for Japan and then totally disregarding what other countries were doing and/or a less emotional look at was really going on and acting appropriately. Those may have been true but at some point, Japan too buckled and has been competing with all other nations to se if it could out mad the mad. Perhaps it was a mixture of both.
Was it, as some suggest, meticulously planned and executed? I doubt it, but given all the other unbelievable actions we have seen, I would no longer be surprised if it turned out to be true. I do not think that is the case, but if it is, I would not be surprised.
I thought the same thing. SENSIBLE? It made no sense. I agree with you here. We had no way of knowing a vaccine would be ready in less than a year. And the whole idea of "zero Covid" was ridiculous, yet many hoped and did the lockdown thing based on that idea. The reason I locked down was that I thought after two weeks of the nonsense people would wise up. Boy was I freaking wrong.
Yeah, the corporate complicity was something that does extend across international waters, and they fell over themselves to "out regulate one another." It was surreal how many companies talked about their commitment to safety blah blah blah. I have yet to return to a movie theater I was so disappointed over AMC's policy reversal (initially they were going to reopen without requiring masks). I also couldn't abide the arbitrary and capricious nature of their virtue signalling of demanding everyone mask on entry, but once you are sucking down popcorn, feel free to not mask.
In addition to "monkey see/monkey do" I imagine that if leaders and high officials get together and repeatedly train themselves to act a certain way during a pandemic (as per the tabletop exercise) it increases the likelihood of it being employed should an actual threat develop, or what is perceived as an actual threat.
I wouldn't be surprised either that it turned out it was meticulously planned and executed. Certainly the rapid adoption of the policies is suspicious. And when people call me a conspiracy theorist, they can't deny that all these countries did the same thing. After all, that is one of the reasons they give as their "being on the right side of" it. Consensus is their confirmation.
It upset me too at first when I was first let out after the mask mandates but now I just feel glad I can walk around freely and it's up to others if they want to continue to be stupid. You are a shining example to some and if the fact that you aren't masked and yet survive registers with even a couple of people, even if they feel they still need to conform, you are still doing a service to humanity.
I know how you feel - my business has been completely killed by what they did to us over the last 3 years and has not yet recovered. Hope you can just hang on in there on whatever income you have and that good times will follow.
I'm actually the world's worst businessman but about 15 years ago I registered my own little trading company because I simply didn't want to work for anyone else. For some of that time I did ok, not making any more than if I was working for others but at least having my freedom and independence. But the last three years in particular pretty much stopped everything as most of what I do is/was sourced out of China. Still I have no regrets and cannot go back now. I hope to be able to keep the company open in the hope that new opportunities will come along sooner or later.
Sorry you had more bad news but perhaps it's a sign of an impending change of direction. I believe each time we face resistance, it's a sign we are on the wrong path. While we might not know what the right path is, subtle changes and trial and error can at least lead us away from the wrong path.
Just a suggestion, but have students if they want, to remove the mask when asking a question, surely not everyone is wanting to remain muzzled at all times.
Ah, I am out of it. Should have guessed. Man, it is draining to go into work for the first time in months.
It is a good suggestion. However, there are two sticking points. It is quite rare for Japanese students above elementary school to ask questions or make comments in class. They excel at imitation statuary. Anything that might discourage them from speaking is not something I am wanting to do. The second leads back to the first.
The first rule of respirator/mask hygiene is that once donned, the masks is not to be touched until time to remove and replace it. If the mask is touched, it is time to replace it. Knowing this, I can not have them putting it back on after they remove it and if they had to wash their hands and replace it every time they spoke, they will not be speaking.
When first came to Japan in 1992, they were wearing masks. I was told at that time it was for pollution, but I have never heard a Japanese say that that is why they wear them. Since, I have learned that they wear them against pollen, as my wife does, and in vain efforts against Flu and colds. I have been trying to get my med students to not wear them in class for 20 years. They do believe in them and have since the Spanish flu.
The tide runs against me here.
That said, prior to the panic, the number one reason for my students to wear them had been because the students in question where female and that they woke up late and did not have time make up their whole face. So they did just their eyes and forehead and grabbed a mask. Unmadeup Japanese women outside the home is among the rarest of rarities.
Oh gosh, this is tough.
I have long ago concluded that, more than anything, the attack we are under is spiritual and psychological. The mask is kind of a hex-- a whirligig hex promoting fear and diminishing the human-- and our main task against the mask, apart from refusing to wear it, is to simply stay strong and cheerful. Easier said than done, of course. Please know that, although we have never met, I very, very sincerely thank you for standing against the mask.
Though I read this the day you posted it, I was unable to reply. I was in quite the funk when I read it. I could not then express how much you’re last line means, nor can I even now, having a few days to do so.
Thanks.
Hi Kitsune.
Still in Tucson and wrestling with my mom's impending death and watching from the sideline while other family members squabble over money.
I noticed that John Campbell's vaccine related death of a 14 year old Japanese girl a few days ago was pulled. All I could find was this ... https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/14yo-jap-girl-fatal-multi-organ-inflammation-following-covid-19-vaccination-autopsy-findings.6892256/
I think we can thank the Kishida administration for this. Just last week, the president/CEO of Open AI (ChatGPT / GPT 4, etc.) was over there for a chat with Kishida. And a couple of days ago at Tokyo University's entrance ceremony, the Dean talked about ChatGPT's promises and 'hallucinations' (yet a new euphemism for 'lies').
Back to what's left of family ...
Cheers.
steve
Gosh, that's really tough.
About the Campbell video you mention, I don't see it on his rumble. (Or did I miss it?)
https://rumble.com/DrJohnCampbell
Maybe it will show up there.
Here's a link to the study itself - from Tokushima U. med school:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1344622323000548
Thanks.
Do you know if it also published in Japanese?
Hello Transcriber.
I saw the video, and it had compelling photos of massive cell death in multiple organs. I did not think to download the video because it is difficult to guess what will be deleted from the collective digital memory. I suppose it is just continuing attempts to control the narrative. Japan is at the top of the list of countries that have had Twitter comments removed to comply with government demands. 😖
Cheers
Steve, I would love to get my hands on the source on Japan being at the top of the list of having inconvenient comments removed. Japan has a long history of removing things that make it look bad, so not surprising.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-twitter-sees-record-number-govt-demands-remove-content-japan-russia-2022-01-25/
And an 'interesting' book which I wish was on Kindle for more exposure ... https://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Modernity-Traditions-Twentieth-Emergence/dp/0520206371
https://www.asianstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/mirror-of-modernity-invented-traditions-of-modern-japan.pdf
The book makes a great book-end for Chomsky and Herman's "Manufacturing Consent". East or West, the ruling class create the cultural conceits through which they rule. Not so different from the ruling class of ancient Egypt declaring themselves 'gods'.
Thanks. Will look through these later, it is late here.
Get some sleep buddy.
Oyasumi nasai.
That book does look interesting. Scanning the review, I see points that I heartily agree with and some I am more skeptical of, but this is based on just what is on the surface. I have some knowledge on lawsuits for malpractice. I know that doctors at my med school teach the myth that pediatrics is the most dangerous field for lawsuits. They have a reasonable theory why this is true, however the actual numbers of medical malpractice lawsuits proves this is untrue. HOWEVER, most malpractice cases are settled out of court and there is simply no way to know how many in total nor the breakdown by medical speciality. I have a study titled “The Myth od Low Lawsuits Numbers in Japan”, something similar. But it focuses only upon medical lawsuits. Additionally the number of lawyers admitted for the bar each year in the whole of Japan is but a fraction of whet the single state of California admits each year. That fact is from a few years ago and may be dated, but I suspect the same holds today. There, there must be fewer lawsuits based solely upon the number of lawyers available for them.
Thanks for the nudge to look at Campbell's page again. I just found his interview with Australian Senator Gerard Rennick. Devastating.
😔 I had seen other videos of Rennick in action, and admire him. But had not seen that Campbell interview. Listening to bits and pieces at high speed now. The blatancy of the corruption is infuriating.
It's a really shocking interview. Tha's saying alot after all I've seen since 2020.
And Rennick appears to be exceptionally scientifically literate compared to a typical politician.
Here's the link for John Campbell addressing the Japanese girl's death:
https://www.bitchute.com/video/QsLXzNsk2SbH/
I thought you were back stateside already. Did not realize your mother was so near to crossing over. Sorry to hear that she is.
I have seen several sources for the 14 year old girls’ passing and have saved them. Did not know it disappeared but not sure the significance unless it was also published in Japanese. Not many here get their news on their own country in English. However, the J gov would not like to have that out and about for other countries to remark upon, but would they as they all seem to be in league on this. Surely, the fact that it was disappeared alone is significant. Hmm. What is going on?
If I were single, I would require a few babes and sail for a remote island and live out my days there. I am not wanting to have to deal with my students using ChatGPT to write their speeches. Not wanting to deal with any of this any more. Oh well. That”s the way the cookie crumbles I guess.
Hi Kitsune ... you are correct. I made a brain-fart in typing the above, and corrected it. If I pass the PCR 'test', I will be back in Japan next Monday evening. Though I will never be Japanese, I don't quite fit anywhere in the states either. Such a different mind-set. I would rather be back in Japan ... but I REALLY like your idea about the babes and remote island. 😂
I gather you are single and have boating skills. Fair winds and following seas, ship mate. Go for it. The world, it is a silly place.
I though they were dropping the PCR “test” requirement? Does that happen on May 8th?
Single ... kind of. But with necessary and not unpleasant ties. But now without a boat, kayaking to the South Seas would be a bitch.
Just got off the phone with my better half in Japan. Earlier, she had told me that the dropping of PCR would coincide with an upcoming Summit. Of course, purely coincidence that the virus is scheduled to decrease in danger at that time. 😂 'Science' by committee and mandate.
Gotcha! Kayaking anywhere with a couple of babes aboard would be a challenge, I would think.
How is it that so few catch the arbitrary nature of the dates this things are implemented and done away with?
Willfull ignorance? Cognitive dissonance?
I am sorry to hear of these challenges. We should all put these under the umbrella of "unintended consequences." It's amazing how we all hamstring ourselves.
I have a folder I save some of the covid stories in named “Unintended Consequences”. I have since added a question mark as I am no longer sure they are unintended.
It is a difficult thing to negotiate, the truth that perhaps the directives were not unintended.
The about face by Fauci and others on masks "felt" spontaneous, but maybe that was the intention. I still, like El Gato Malo and others want to side with "incompetence" over any design.
Except that the entire world suddenly made they same incompetent decisions. Never in human history have all the disparate cultures adopted the same course in the face of a common issue. That can not be by accident.
The reply to this assertion on twitter:
The reason why so many countries adopted these policies is that they were the most sensible.
I asked them how it made sense to lockdown, mask, and vaccinate for a disease with a .09% death rate. They replied that it made sense because there was a vaccine around the corner.
My belief (and I could very well be wrong) is that in fear and panic, we played "follow the leader" with China, or monkey see/monkey do. Imagine if the virus leaked from here in the States, and our response was "caution, but continue to stay the course" as we had so often before. Maybe the response would have been different.
The most sensible to whom? The clinically insane? The future is unknowable, despite claims, there was no way to know a vaccine was around the corner. Given that it is not a vaccine even under the new definition of vaccine written solely so that it could be called a “vaccine”, this “logic” of theirs is false. But, again, we can look to Japan to see that not of that worked.
The follow the leader/monkey see monkey do theory does hold water, especially in the early stages. It may in fact have been the case. However, at some point it became organized. I was so happy to be in Japan in the early stages as apart from acknowledging that it existed and made landfall in the country, Japan did nothing. Many companies began requiring masks and a long list of other actions but the government really said and did little. So little in fact, that it started getting heat from overseas for not jumping on the band wagon. The whole first wave passed without really any governmental recommendations, no lockdown lite, nothing. Then whamo! Masking, social distancing and all the rest but only after intense international and domestic pressure. Many blamed Japan’s not taking the disease seriously enough because it did not what to cancel the olympics, which it couldn’t, or give up having spectators at it, a very real problem, for Japan’s inaction. I wrongly attributed it to two things; Japan’s traditional mindset that Japan is unique and as such, it needs to consider carefully what is the best path for Japan and then totally disregarding what other countries were doing and/or a less emotional look at was really going on and acting appropriately. Those may have been true but at some point, Japan too buckled and has been competing with all other nations to se if it could out mad the mad. Perhaps it was a mixture of both.
Was it, as some suggest, meticulously planned and executed? I doubt it, but given all the other unbelievable actions we have seen, I would no longer be surprised if it turned out to be true. I do not think that is the case, but if it is, I would not be surprised.
I thought the same thing. SENSIBLE? It made no sense. I agree with you here. We had no way of knowing a vaccine would be ready in less than a year. And the whole idea of "zero Covid" was ridiculous, yet many hoped and did the lockdown thing based on that idea. The reason I locked down was that I thought after two weeks of the nonsense people would wise up. Boy was I freaking wrong.
Yeah, the corporate complicity was something that does extend across international waters, and they fell over themselves to "out regulate one another." It was surreal how many companies talked about their commitment to safety blah blah blah. I have yet to return to a movie theater I was so disappointed over AMC's policy reversal (initially they were going to reopen without requiring masks). I also couldn't abide the arbitrary and capricious nature of their virtue signalling of demanding everyone mask on entry, but once you are sucking down popcorn, feel free to not mask.
In addition to "monkey see/monkey do" I imagine that if leaders and high officials get together and repeatedly train themselves to act a certain way during a pandemic (as per the tabletop exercise) it increases the likelihood of it being employed should an actual threat develop, or what is perceived as an actual threat.
I wouldn't be surprised either that it turned out it was meticulously planned and executed. Certainly the rapid adoption of the policies is suspicious. And when people call me a conspiracy theorist, they can't deny that all these countries did the same thing. After all, that is one of the reasons they give as their "being on the right side of" it. Consensus is their confirmation.
It upset me too at first when I was first let out after the mask mandates but now I just feel glad I can walk around freely and it's up to others if they want to continue to be stupid. You are a shining example to some and if the fact that you aren't masked and yet survive registers with even a couple of people, even if they feel they still need to conform, you are still doing a service to humanity.
Thanks, but the wallet starves. No good deed goes unpunished.
I know how you feel - my business has been completely killed by what they did to us over the last 3 years and has not yet recovered. Hope you can just hang on in there on whatever income you have and that good times will follow.
I hope so too but got more bad news this past week.
What business were you engaged in?
I'm actually the world's worst businessman but about 15 years ago I registered my own little trading company because I simply didn't want to work for anyone else. For some of that time I did ok, not making any more than if I was working for others but at least having my freedom and independence. But the last three years in particular pretty much stopped everything as most of what I do is/was sourced out of China. Still I have no regrets and cannot go back now. I hope to be able to keep the company open in the hope that new opportunities will come along sooner or later.
Sorry you had more bad news but perhaps it's a sign of an impending change of direction. I believe each time we face resistance, it's a sign we are on the wrong path. While we might not know what the right path is, subtle changes and trial and error can at least lead us away from the wrong path.
Well, at least it is an improvement. Still, being the only one without a mask sucks.
Perhaps it would be possible to change that, take off the covering to comment?
Sorry, I am a bit out of it today. I don’t follow the meaning of removing the covering to comment.
Just a suggestion, but have students if they want, to remove the mask when asking a question, surely not everyone is wanting to remain muzzled at all times.
Ah, I am out of it. Should have guessed. Man, it is draining to go into work for the first time in months.
It is a good suggestion. However, there are two sticking points. It is quite rare for Japanese students above elementary school to ask questions or make comments in class. They excel at imitation statuary. Anything that might discourage them from speaking is not something I am wanting to do. The second leads back to the first.
The first rule of respirator/mask hygiene is that once donned, the masks is not to be touched until time to remove and replace it. If the mask is touched, it is time to replace it. Knowing this, I can not have them putting it back on after they remove it and if they had to wash their hands and replace it every time they spoke, they will not be speaking.
Wow, so they still think the masks do some good.
Oh well, they will give up on them, sooner or later.
When first came to Japan in 1992, they were wearing masks. I was told at that time it was for pollution, but I have never heard a Japanese say that that is why they wear them. Since, I have learned that they wear them against pollen, as my wife does, and in vain efforts against Flu and colds. I have been trying to get my med students to not wear them in class for 20 years. They do believe in them and have since the Spanish flu.
The tide runs against me here.
That said, prior to the panic, the number one reason for my students to wear them had been because the students in question where female and that they woke up late and did not have time make up their whole face. So they did just their eyes and forehead and grabbed a mask. Unmadeup Japanese women outside the home is among the rarest of rarities.