Jerry A. Goodson

"Science" Yeah, that's what everyone claims to support their position. Never have I seen science so politicized... even overshadowing "global warming" (and now "climate change").

When the "pandemic" was first declared by figures in our government on the recommendation of "scientists", I subscribed to the temporary inconvenience of our liberties (as the SCOTUS described a peace officer's authority to order a driver to step out of the vehicle on a traffic stop). As the pandemic progressed, and more information (and dis-information) has come to light, we've seen a societal shift from an inconvenience of our liberties to an infringement... and it keeps getting worse.

Mask Mandates

Social media is infested with propaganda both supporting and opposing wearing a mask and mask mandates. Personally, I use Facebook, and that's where I see the most of such propaganda. Every tactic in the proverbial playbook has been used to support and oppose wearing face masks to protect oneself or others from contracting or spreading the Vid.

Every single fallacy listed in the Wikipedia - Fallacy page has been applied in both arguments. Some have gone beyond the fallacies and have swirled into the absolute ridiculous.

A couple of my favorites (in terms of humorous) memes fall into the False Analogy, or "Apples to Oranges", category.

In support of wearing a mask, there are several pictures of two people, each picture showing different levels of clothing. In the first, both people are completely naked, and one person is pissing on the other. The other person is obviously getting pissed on. In the second picture, the other person is wearing clothes while the naked person pisses on him. He's still getting pissed on, but he's analogically not getting "as pissed on" because he's wearing clothes. In the final picture, both people are wearing clothes, and the man pisses his pants, but doesn't get any piss on the other person. The argument was everyone should wear a mask, not only to protect themselves, but to protect others.

In opposition to wearing a mask, a neighbor wearing a mask states she's doing so to protect herself and others from catching the Vid. The neighbor retorts he's putting up a chain-link fence to keep mosquitoes out of his yard. Anybody who's ever been in Texas or Ft. Polk, Louisiana, sure knows a chain-link fence wouldn't stop a single mosquito. The argument was wearing some cotton panties on your face won't stop a damn thing.

Personal Observation: I painted a trailer using an HPLV gun. I did not wear any mask at all. I found myself picking out sticky black boogers for two days! I painted a trailer, again, using a surgical mask. I found myself picking out sticky black boogers for two days! I painted a third trailer using an N-95 mask. It didn't have a perfect seal, so I had a little black around the corners of my nose, and I picked all the sticky black boogers shortly after I was done painting. I painted the fourth trailer using a fitted filter respirator. You could see a visible line where the respirator sealed against my face from the overspray that didn't make it in to my mouth and nose area and yielding zero black boogers. I don't know the size (in microns) of the Vid compared to the overspray, but I'm certainly convinced by personal observation and experience that wearing some panties on your face isn't going to stop much.

The Vaks

Yes. I am talking about the COVID-19 vaccine. "Vaks" is a variation of "vax", which has become the slang for "vaccine". The idea behind calling it "Vaks" is to prevent Facebook (and presumably other social media outlets) from picking up on the fact that it has anything to do with COVID-19 to prevent those ridiculous "For COVID-19 Info, click here."

Got the Vid

Yesterday, April 26, 2024, I tested positive for COVID-19. I'm still not really sure I have it.

I went home on Sunday, April 21, 2024 after being on the road for just shy of a month. When I hit Little Rock, my wife called to inform me she tested postive. She had been isolating herself to the bedroom after my daughter-in-law and grandson tested positive, but alas, she ended up testing postive. I didn't care... I missed her, and I missed being home, and I was quite invested in coming home to see her.

I stayed home for several days and felt completely fine. I had a little sniffle due to allergy season, but that was the extent of it. I tested almost every day and kept popping negative until I got back to St. Louis.

I have a little scratch in the back of my throat, but I have not had any of the other symptoms of COVID-19... I've not lost my smell or taste.

I've had colds worse than this.