Please believe. Please.
If you don’t believe, I’m talking to you.
I’m not trying to argue with you, just hoping my words might make a difference.
If you don’t believe, I’m asking you to consider believing, even if it’s uncomfortable.
Nobody wanted this to happen, and certainly nobody asked for it.
But people are dying, every minute.
Every minute.
Ignoring this is the easy.
Denying it requires no effort. None.
Consideration of facts can be challenging. It takes work to accept that difficult circumstances and unthinkable tragedy might be real.
It takes thought, and even some fortitude to do what’s necessary, not just what’s best for ourselves and those we know, but especially for the many many more people we don’t know.
We are all interconnected.
Ignoring or denying facts won’t make them go away. It may actually keep them here longer. Ignoring and denying will make things worse.
It’s already made things worse. Irony.
So why am I asking you to listen to me, when I know as I write this you probably won’t…? You might even be mocking me or rolling your eyes.
Because I’m just asking, and I’m asking sincerely — with the best of intentions, just to be heard.
My father gave me a lot of tools to use in constructing a life for myself. The best tool he gave me, and the one I get the most use out of, is the bullshit detector. I can smell agenda, false narratives, and manipulation of facts before they come around the corner.
Like millions of others, I’ll spend the holidays mostly alone. I won’t be with my daughter and her mother at Christmas, and our holiday tradition of our daughter making Pastitsio for dinner will be postponed. Not robbed, not stolen, and not taken away from us, but postponed.
Postponed is a small price.
I’m disappointed with all of this — I’m disappointed with the loneliness, the loss of life, the inconveniences, and even the lost income, but I’m not mad. And do you know who I blame…? Nobody.
I blame nobody.
I don’t believe it’s a hoax, this pandemic. I don’t believe that deaths are exaggerated, and I don’t believe any conspiracy theories, however convenient they might be.
I believe that masks do work, especially when used properly.
I believe that being as distant as possible from those proximate to us, especially when indoors, also works.
I don’t believe this should be a political discussion, or a conversation that comes loaded with judgment before it even begins.
I do believe in mass hysteria — I do, but I don’t think it’s possible at this scale. No way. There are too many circuit breakers along the way. Claiming “mass hysteria” is the first evolutionary step in transforming one’s self into a denier.
I believe in the incredible science behind vaccines, and in the safety of them. I will take one without thinking twice. Without vaccines, the world we live in — the very structure of our societies, would be corroded and weaker.
Please believe. Please.
If you don’t currently believe, please consider believing — or trying to believe. I’ll genuinely appreciate that.
If you don’t believe, and you took time to read this anyway, thank you.
This is what I think about when I ride… Jhciacb
This week by the numbers…
Bikes Ridden: 6
Miles: 178
Climbing: 7,500’
Mph Avg: 15.9
Calories: 10,241
Seat Time: 11 hours 12 minutes
Whether you ride a bike or not, thank you for taking the time to ride along with me today. If you haven’t already, please scroll up and subscribe. If you like what you read, give it a like and a share. If not, just keep scrollin’. Oh, and there’s this from Ry Cooder. Enjoy…
The Spoke And Word™ 
I love how you have the layout of the photographs. But I especially love the first photograph! That one is really cool
On Sun, Dec 6, 2020 at 06:41 The Spoke And Word™ wrote:
> Jhciacb posted: ” Please believe. Please. If you don’t believe, I’m > talking to you. I’m not trying to argue with you, just hoping my words > might make a difference. If you don’t believe, I’m asking you to consider > believing, even if it’s uncomfortable.” >
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Thank you so much, Carrie, for taking the time. Much appreciated, and miss you Mucho!
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I had to move my plane to another city this morning so late to the party. I read your piece and understand why you feel this way. Anyway, you know what I think about this topic. But in case. I know SARS-2 and its disease COVID are real. It’s a bad flu, a little more than twice as bad as influenza. It is also the predominant virus and endemic now so there are many positive PCR tests. Influenza kills, say, 60 thousand people a year in a bad year. Being worse than that COVID will kill over 160,000 people. That is terrible, but that’s what we have. I feel any amount over that are deaths from care homes and other people who are dying or sick anyway. About 3 million people die in the US every year. Our government makes no effort to separate true COVID deaths. They are focused on keeping people scared and paralyzed. I’m not sure why, though it might just be officials do not want to admit their terrible handling of all of this. My original guess with this respiratory virus was that nothing we do will have much effect on the eventual outcome, but leaders feel they have to do something. Locking down and other measures that have been done has damaged all of us beyond what we can even imagine. Watch as inflation caused by these measures hits.
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As always, Doc, thank you for taking the time.
I’ll argue that governments are focused on keeping people scared. I don’t believe that to be true. I would agree that some of the mandates are excessive and not necessary. The trick is to get them to fit particular people in particular circumstances and not others. That would be a difficult challenge from a legal and administrative perspective. so counties, cities, and states are painting broad brush strokes because they can impact more people more immediately, with less liability. As inconvenient as that may be, for many, it’s the right thing.
And I want to make it clear I don’t get any information about this from government sources. I’ve kept close to several university medical school websites, infectious disease specialists, and I trust their data and their explanations of the data.
Further, although it is true that there are some who are “people who are dying or sick anyway…”, to shave an hour, a day, a week, or a few months off of “anyway“, by any legal definition, Covid would be a contributor to that death. That’s inarguable.
As far as economic devastation due to the this, I’ll also agree that we haven’t even scratched the surface yet. I don’t believe we’ll see it in full scale for at least another 6 to 12 months.
Lastly, so far as I can remember, I’ve not known anyone, firsthand, who has died of influenza. As I mentioned in a previous email, I now know multiple persons who have died from this and multiple persons who have been hospitalized.
Worth repeating, somebody who was going to die anyway, is still worth saving.
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Missed you yesterday,had to postpone reading until this A.M. No rolling of the eyes or mocking from this side of the hood. I’m with you my brother, I believe because this COVID-19 hit home. Niece in CO hit hard Coronavirus. Thank God she came through,still cannot taste of smell. Sister and Bro in law teach at International Bible College both came down with the Rona. Thank God they battled it off.Lost family friend to this. So Yes I believe. Unprecedented economical,health,life impact on the world. No bouncing back for years to come. With my autoimmune I take this with serious precautions safely. And now during the Holidays,(SAD) Seasonal Affective Disorder forget about it ! Domestic violence,substance abuse,children with ADD/ADHD trying to sit still learning on line. Yeah I believe !! We’re ALL in this together. Wow what a way to be together with a killer who does not discriminated.
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