While I ordinarily write about personal experiences, my favorite secular Christmas story was told to me in the mid-1980s by a guy I met at a chill midsummer Saturday night party of college-educated twenty-somethings in one of those tall apartment buildings in Hackensack, New Jersey that one sees stretching in a line while looking north from Route 80.
Trying not to sob here. Beautifully written. Love the story of the bike! I just said to my husband last night, "How is that WE are the most common sense, smart people out of all the people we know with Master Degrees, doctors, nurses, etc?" It still amazes me that restaurants created enclosed spaces outside that were much more confined than eating inside in a larger space. And, as you've pointed out, that's just ONE of the many idiot things that were done. I too, believed we all had a moral code. That we had a gut instinct, a "trip wire" common sense component. We have sadly learned that survival via STATUS/GROUPTHINK is more important than the trinity of survival: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. Thank you for this wonderful story. Merry Christmas! (ps. I can't believe you were a milk man! In Paterson no less!!!!)
I'm surprised there were still "milk men" in 1982. Paper boys too. I spoke to a former Montgomery Advertiser sports reporter at an event two days ago. We commiserated on the sorry state of today's newspaper business. He told me he has a friend who told him how many newspapers The Advertiser actually prints today - 4,100! A couple of decades ago, when this guy worked there, they printed 118,000 editions.
Great story & great truth. My faith in people & institutions is completely destroyed. Nothing feels the same & the joy in life & living feels forced now. I did read of 1 glimmer of hope yesterday: Tim Robbins - stereotypical leftie actor - was on Russell Brand’s podcast & they discussed all of the terrible reaction of people like him who had denigrated & villified people like us. He followed all of the idiotic “rules” but somewhere along the way, he lost complete faith in what he’d been told & was heartily sorry for his actions. It was actually so refreshing to hear a public figure say it all out loud - his actions, his awakening & his apology. There needs to be a whole lot more of that honesty & humility but IDK if we’ll get it. But maybe it’s a start....
IDK but leftist loons - celebs or not - are some of the most hateful, intolerant, controlling & sanctimonious ass hats around. That he not only came to his senses & admitted it publically, including his own bad actions & thought & can admit & the whole scam was wrong is not a bad thing. Maybe I just liked him in Bull Durham 🤷🏼♀️
You’re right too though that it doesn’t make sense. We will need people who have woken up too, for this fight. All the better if they have some much-needed humility too
Maybe he was just following the Bull Durham manta: “Don’t think, just throw.” 🤣. Still one of my favorites. But in all seriousness, it stunned me how easily led people were and still are through all of this. Mindless sheep.
In Jacob's Ladder, Robbins was suffering from a drug induced paranoia but in this life he was suffering from a mass delusion that infected the majority. I too believed, for about 6 months, before starting to question the insanity of it all.
I find the mass delusion hypothesis less and less convincing. I think, at least in the US, that this is mostly a combination of the fact that many people do not know anything about disease which is why so many of them go along with anything doctors (and the media) say about it. These people have always been deluded so using a disease made it easy to pull them in.
I gave up trusting most doctors long ago. And I couldn't figure out what was going on when the whole Covid business started but I knew that locking down for more than a very short period of time was a stupid thing to do. Even my husband, who has gone along with most of this crap, knew that too.
I figured out what was happening by reading sensible people on Twitter and elsewhere and doing my own research about the "vaccine". My husband, unfortunately, still believes the NY Times but he hasn't gotten the mouse booster. I can't say the same about his siblings, though, and they have a lot of influence on him.
There are quite a few folks out there who have spoken knowledgable about the the topic. e.g. Dr Robert Malone and Dr Mark MacDonald who wrote "The United Sates of Fear". I also watched another psychologist video about how mass delusion psychosis affects and spreads throughout a population exposed to media repetition 24 hours a day. I am sorry your husband bought into this stuff but of course the NYT simply cannot be trusted (same is happening today over Ukraine).
My wife was apolitical prior to covid....... show is now rabidly anti democrat and anti covid vaccine. Completely changed from the sweet lady I married 35 years ago! I wish you the best of the Xmas and New Year season Mimi.
Oh, I know about all the people talking about mass delusion, including the European guy whose full name escapes me at the moment (Mathias something-or-other) but who is an authority on what happened in Nazi Germany. I just am not all that convinced because I think the people following along were deluded idiots about their own health to begin with.
Of course the NY Times can't be trusted. That virtual fish wrapper is still pushing masking.
All the best of Christmas and New Years to you and your wife!
The problem with your hypothesis is the people you approach who sat "I don't care what you say or show me I don't believe you people". Yes. several actually used those exact words including "you people". Sounds to me like there's some serious brainwashing (mass psychosis) going on here.
My younger brother (1 and a half years younger) and I are very close. We were the last two siblings in a set of 5. Except for religion (I'm a Catholic convert) he and I share the same views about nearly everything - politics, social issues, etc. I deeply respect him and he deeply respects me.
Except when it comes to Coronomania. He sees us as paranoid fanatics. He innately trusts his doctor (I don't even have a doctor) who advises him to stay boosted, and when he got his most recent COVID infection, prescribed Paxlovid.
And of course he quickly got COVID rebound, as nearly everyone who takes Paxlovid does.
We can't speak about COVID because he gets defensive. I really don't know what to make of this, and I'm deeply worried about losing him to stroke or myocarditis. (He's a black belt karate instructor but he's almost 59.)
Same w/ my younger sister who believes everything the doctors tell her. She vax’ & boosted & now has stage IV cancer in multiple places after a 20 remission of breast cancer. I can’t even tell her the probable reason; she’s in enough anguish as it is & the decisions are irreversible so there’s no point in making it worse. I sent her something on FenBen & asked her to do some research or talk to a naturopath, which she had earlier expressed an interest in doing. Crickets re FenBen, not even a “thx, I’ll look into it”. At this point I give up & just feel sad for her
Fred, yes. The difference between you two is simply the mass hysteria.
At the critical moment, you retained your ability to analyze, judge and await more information (which, when it came, never moved the pointer in the direction of the jab). He, however, failed to analyze what he saw, and took the leap. Like any religion, there is no rational discussion that can solve his blindness. (think Germany in 1939-41, things still looked okay, and for the average German to reverse course was not in the cards).
Mass hysteria, the masses go crazy all at once, but only recover their sanity one at a time, and often via extreme (real or psychological, or both) pain.
Yes, when the only thing keeping us safe (and often alive) is skepticism, it's often easy to have that become the coin of the realm. So you are skeptical of the mass delusion hypothesis. In these situations it's always healthiest to ask, not how am I right? but what minimal elements would it take to convince me I am wrong?
For me, I am pretty sure the mass delusion / hysteria thing is the actual explanation across the board for what we went through and are, slowly, recovering from.
The reason? OIPs.
OIPs. Otherwise Intelligent Persons.
OIPs come in all shapes and sizes, and usually sport college and graduate degrees. Often of the highest stripe. I know very good, very qualified medical doctors who believe in the vexx. That goes for STEM Ph.Ds, and of course the lesser Ph.Ds (English, Anthropology).
These are not stupid people, not crazies, not even lazy. But the insidious narrative snuck in during the Information Gap in March 2020, and they somehow leapt into Coronadoom Faith. And once they made the leap of faith they are finding it impossible to leap back.
Tim Robbins is an early exception.
Think about what someone who was "narratived" into getting 2 or 3 or even 4 shots, perhaps by OIPs he trusted, has to do now. Perhaps this OIP helped to convince other OIPs to take the jab to return to normal, for the sake of the country, to defeat the Evil Virus or just because every single OIP in that OIP's life was on the Vexx Team.
To actually unwind this entire mess and leap BACK across that earlier leap of faith is so much harder than taking the first leap in the first place. The OIP in question will have to face himself in all his gullibility, naivete, pride, preening and self-valuation and take a massive hit to his self-worth and self-esteem.
How many highly educated people do you know who are capable of such a feat? How many people of whatever stripe might be capable?
We are living in German, 1942, when the reality of the mass hysteria for the German OIPs (surprisingly, doctors and academics were huge supporters of the Nazi program, or as I like to call it "German Lives Matter"), faced with perhaps their relatives' or neighbors' children dying on the Eastern Front, finally began to hit home. Suddenly they knew the big bombing runs lay ahead of them and yet, how could they believe that everything they knew was true 1935-1942 had been a disaster in the making?
We will emerge from this, but probably not stronger or better. The best we can hope for is that we emerge from this more humble in the face western civilization's complete failure in the face of evil. This won't be the end of evil, they're coming back for us and sooner than we want to think.
Look how many of the OIPs already believed in statins and global warming. You are talking about educated people. Being educated doesn't mean you're not stupid.
One reason that Mark recognized the Covid scam right away is because he has street smarts. People with PhDs rarely do.
An Italian economist wrote this in the 1980s. (He taught at my alma mater, UC Berkeley, when I was there in the 1970s but I never heard of him then.) He kept his tongue planted firmly in his cheek when he wrote it but it is still true:
I've noticed that in my own circle, it is all the "ordinary" people - barbers, mechanics, cleaning ladies, etc. - who recognised instinctively that the Covid thing was an evil scam. All the intellectuals I know fell for it hook, line and sinker.
I really haven’t heard about any fallout from his confession, Mimi, have you? That was kind of surprising to me, given how quick the mob is to judge & condemn. If there hasn’t been much or any, maybe more will start to speak out.
may the unicorns awake. they are badly needed. And yes, it is strange that it takes dr. Aseem who loses his dad and then starts looking in what he has injected in people and wakes up. It takes Celine Dion, whom everyone sees damaged by the jab, safe her. It takes millions to die for others to see.... it is sad, it seems that animals are way smarter than us.
i just read that Sean Penn said all unjabbed are criminals. There is another actor I could never stand, and even if they pay me a million, I will not ever watch a movie with him, ever
Why is Penn still coming out in favor of that crap? Most of the other celebrities are keeping quiet about it. He must be getting quite a payoff. I guess the money he got from the Ukraine scam isn't enough.
What made them so blindly supportive of ANY of it. No one alive today (except perhaps an ancient few who might remember 1918) had ever experienced masking & lockdowns & forced jabs, etc. There should’ve been outrage, everywhere in the world & there wasn’t. From the beginning I was crying every day in despair & disbelief not only that it was happening, but that the majority were all for it or unwilling to speak against it. I don’t cry anymore, I’m just pissed out of my mind. But it was a shock to my system early on.
Some of it was fear of being arrested or even just hassled (I remember when someone was arrested in Malibu for paddle boarding during the lockdown) but I think some of it was just people with the stupid idea of going along to get along. Not long ago I got into a heated discussion in a produce market with a woman who told me that I just need to be nice. People are conditioned to respond that way. I think for one reason is that there are so many stinky workplaces where people are abused but everyone acts "nice" anyhow. I never did that but I am a born troublemaker, evidently.
The people who are still going along with it now, though, are just a bunch of idiots. I include a couple of my sisters-in-law in that group.
because they were paid shills. The governemnt was paying these influencers on social media to promote all the measures. Actors are the nothing more than whores. They will do or say anything for a buck.
Goes w/out saying, Jim. But the karmic wheel has been turning on some of the true believers (“celebs” or not), w/ more to drop dead as the longer term unknowns reveal themselves
And they are making people even sicker now. See Alex Berenson's latest substack. The only rational reason for this is economic opportunism as you mentioned in the story above. Someone needs to chart the profits since pharma was granted emergency use authorization, and then the flow of cash out of Pfizer et al into non profits, research grants and raw political contributions. Something is very rotten here as not ONE stinking member of the CDC advisory panel voted no on approval of the shots for any group at anytime.
Charting profits in & contributions out is an excellent idea, Rafael. I hope one of our substack super sleuths will do so. Entirely different angle I’m not sure I’ve ever seen addressed
I'm a cynic. And I believe Pfizer and Moderna knew that these crappy injections would not stop the virus. They had to have known based on their shoddy trials. This has to be about money.
O of course! Some Pfizer idiot recently in front of some European Commission admitted it on film. The whole f’ing thing has been a scam & depopulation / slavery agenda.
I think it was about money. Big Pharma had been trying to perfect this mRNA crap for years but had hit a wall. With Covid, they saw a chance to hit paydirt by using the whole world as lab rats. And they bribed and paid off governments everywhere to exempt them from liability. Meanwhile all the power-mad pols and globalists leaped onboard the Covid bandwagon to further their own nefarious aims.
Yeah flu shots are a bad idea. By now I think some of the govt agencies have admitted to their ineffectiveness and the purpose of keeping mfr capacity up for future “pandemics.”
i don't care what others think, there are hordes of people every year for a flu shot which is useless as well. but no one goes on preaching about it. well, hardly anyone. but this ! and especially now that it leaks on all sides how damaging these shots are. Even some mainstream is coming out. You must indeed be an idiot to stand behind them now. that is why I despise trump, still continuing to support them. And we all know that biden is dementing, so what can we say.
Once told opposing counsel who invited me to his luxury NBA OKC Thunder skybox, "OK, I'll come. But it'll cost you $300 per hour - $450 if you want me to pay attention."
Mark, thanks for this amazing bike story. It’s the perfect kind of Christmas story for the moment: While much is taken, much abides! You have had such a rich, story- filled life.
Speaking of being treated as a diseased vector, just yesterday, I was treated as such. Just yesterday! Still, I will turn on my Elvis Christmas music today, wrap presents, and plan happily to host the good (fellow unvaxxed) friends who will will join us for Christmas fajitas. I would love to have you join us if you want to swing by Ohio.
Thanks, Lisa. I've been around for a while and have done some stuff. I should have a few stories by now. Though I have some that I wouldn't post on the Net.
I like to hear good stories from others. I'm indebted to "Paul" for telling me this story.
I have January off from work and am half-seriously considering a road trip to meet like-minded readers. All readers are welcome in my NJ home. Some have already stopped by.
Get out of New Jersey. I did and have never looked back. Move south where people still care for others. I made Tennessee my home 13 years ago and love it here and the people are like a step back in time. Stay away from the big cities though like Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis, Chattanooga. The cost of living alone is worth the move.
I second this. Quality of life in rural East Tennessee is the best I’ve found. Twenty years and so thankful to have been here instead of my native California. Being close enough to hike the Smoky Mountains 2-4 times a week has saved me mentally. We met a family on the trail yesterday and she told us about hiking all the trails in the Park with her autistic son, who is the first autistic person to complete this and be recognized in the 900 Mile Club. It’s not a Christmas story per se but it had me in tears watching the 8 minute video they did about this mother-son duo. A true no-excuses Christmas blessing for me. https://thinkdraft.com/portfolio/love-trails-dinosaurs/
Except for Gatlinburg which looks like a cheap nasty knockoff of nasty Las Vegas. What the hell happened there? Who let them put up that garish monstrosity in one of pretty places on the planet?
I agree. I live in Eastern Tennessee and it is gorgeous and the people are great. Gatlinburg is an embarrassment. I am not real fond of middle east TN. I have live in the deepest southern east TN (10 miles from GA) and the deepest north eastern TN (walking distance to VA) and to me they are the best parts of TN.
I absolutely agree. I was stunned my first time through that area. I had pictures of rustic homes and instead found garish neon everywhere. I can count on one hand the times I’ve been there other than to get to a trailhead. I live on the “peaceful side” of the Smokies. It boggles my mind that people walk up and down those sidewalks when the true, stunning beauty lives around the corner on the mountain trails.
If you've ever been to Branson, MO you have seen Gatlinburg's Arkansas meth head twin.
I've despised it for decades, but everyone else I know just luuuuuuuuuvs it and just can't wait to see the Dolly Parton theater and eat that delicious microwaved meal.
Quite obviously, there is no accounting for taste.
Merry Christmas, Ben! I tend toward the less emotional side but that video hit me. Maybe because my friends are pushing me towards the 900 miles and I’ve thought them crazy 😜. Blessings to you and yours 🙏
Yes I do know. 15 minute cities. Chattanooga TN was one of the original beta sites for UN Agenda 21......not too many people know that but I have the proof. The “leaders” in TN have been drinking the kool-aid for many years. Money has a funny way of doing that. Knoxville is a cess pool. The U of TN at Knoxville is where the Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit was created by a UNESCO commie working at the college. Her name is: Rosalind McKeown. In her toolkit is states they must dumb down people in order for them to make less money and use less resources. Sustainable Development must be at the forefront of all education (indoctrination).
Some of the whistleblower testimony on these cities is shocking also. Light and sound systems to incapacitate people, etc. non stop drones overhead etc.
Hi Mark...thank you so much for your writing. In the new year, I have committed myself to facilitating informal group get togethers with like minded people so that we can build more supportive relationships *in real life* to help get us through whatever craziness comes next. The plan is coming together nicely. I’m in NY (Westchester County) and I have recruited friends in Chicago and Austin (for starters) to do the same in their local areas. I’d love to meet up with you for a coffee somewhere in Jersey after the holidays!
I will make it a point to do so if ever around that way. I wish I could share my email address without doing so publicly. We’d love to have you stop by for dinner.
In 2020 we were all on a more equal footing, as the shots hadn't rolled out yet. By the end of 2021, I was the sole holdout in my family. Omicron paid a visit to some family members who were positive and symptomatic. As I had recently dropped by their household, my adult children refused (in an abundance of caution) to come to my house for Christmas. All of this unfolded in the few days leading up to Christmas 2021. Test kits were impossible to come by, and testing sites shut down for the holiday. I never got a test (I've never had one, actually) -- so, without any proof one way or another, despite no symptoms, but probably magnified by my known status as an anti-vaxxer.... the decisions were made, and out of my control.
Not the Christmas with family I'd planned and looked forward to, after most milestone events and gatherings for about two years already had been cancelled.
My first Christmas in my longish life was spent completely alone, without any face-to-face human contact. Yet, it was one of the nicest, most peaceful Christmases I've ever had. As Mark said, compartmentalization is necessary, and that is what I knew to do. I chose to have a merry Christmas, and to engage in thoughts and activities that would bring peace and joy. I made a nice dinner, played music, called a few friends, went for a walk to see the neighborhood Christmas decorations, contemplated and reflected, accepted and played with the cat.
But I tell you what: I don't ever want to have to do that again. It was forced upon me. And yes, all faith and trust in life institutions and milestones has crumbled. All I have left is myself and my connection to God (I know there are others like me, and I do believe we will find each other, but I am speaking of who and what were the familiar people and events in my life that brought meaning and that I could always count upon.)
This year I feel quiet, resigned, resolute, determined, brave, angry, sorrowful and compassionate. Not really feeling peace and joy, but I intend to compartmentalize again, if only for one day.
I’m so sorry, Dani. We’ve learned a lot these last few years about fear, loyalty, and brainwashing! I suppose we all need to know these lessons, but it would have been better to learn without all the pain and suffering. The way some people have acted is just shameful. They can’t be proud of themselves.
Such a tragedy to be treated by family as if a leper. I admire your ability to create your own joy and find peace and joy. May you have a blessed Christmas.
it was, in some ways, an opportunity for growth; never before had I ever experienced prolonged isolation, let alone shunning. It definitely has brought some new perspectives. I've learned what it means to be human, and what it means to be inhuman, but in human form.
I admire your ability to appreciate your new perspective while finding inner peace. Family shunning other family members is beyond understanding. Many families were torn apart by this scamdemic. Truly sad and disheartening. Makes me wonder what kind of moral fabric holds our population that so many can be turned into psychos. Our country needs healing.
The insightfulness of F. Scott Fitzgerald's description of the uber-wealthy in his novel "The Great Gatsby" exemplifies the behavior of "COVID criminals" : “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy--they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
The "mess" are the millions whose lives were devastated by the vaxx mandates and the array of irreparable adverse reactions; the lockdowns causing thousands of small business bankruptcies, the children who were left emotionally traumatized and intellectually stunted, the elderly who died alone and in despair in nursing homes, and everyday citizens who've permanently lost confidence in the medical system and are reticent to seek healthcare. This time Tom and Daisy's mess are crimes against humanity and they must be held accountable.
The left never wants to live by their own rules, as Charles Murray has pointed out in "Coming Apart". They either live in whitopia enclaves in blue states, or else (as now) move to places like Florida which they will then vote to ruin.
Thank you for this Mark! Though I’d love to hear “You were Right all Along” from those closest to me I realize that confirmation from you may have to suffice! 😀. Merry Christmas!🎁🎄
Saw an acquaintance in Walgreens yesterday. Haven’t seen her since the beginning madness. She just couldn’t do a hug even now. Stood away from me. I was too tired of this crap to enforce a hug. But glad to see her.
Yeah. I should have. I got closer but she backed up. Mostly everyone around me is hugging now. I’ll take that. Have a wonderful holiday. Northern Illinois is lovely. The conservation districts have been my sanctuary. Ignore Chicago by just going around it. Head North.
For the first time in years (even years before the craze) I feel christmassy this year. It already started in the end of November, I put out my decoration a week early. Usually I do it the first Sunday in December but this year, I just couldn't wait! I have been singing christmas songs even though I am not a real believer. It is just that I see the dominoes falling. I see how here and there, doctors are sticking out their heads, how health workers are speaking up, how more and more people red pill. Unfortunately, also a lot of people have died and are harmed. But the dominoes are falling. It might take a lifetime, but the building will crumble, the river will break through the dam. I say a little prayer that people might get wiser, be a bit more on the alert and trust their governments and their doctors less and use their own brains and their own common snese. I wish everyone a large bottle of that last one.
Merry Christmas, Mark. Growing up, I had one set of grandparents in Rochelle Park and the other set in West Orange. Christmas memories for me are New Jersey memories, so this was especially poignant. I have been wavering between blah and pissed off this season. I just can't look at folks the same way again. Ever. It's hard to reach down and find the joy when the veil is off on the majority of humanity.
I hope you get to take your road trip. If you publish a rough itinerary, I'll bet you'd be able to hang with readers from coast to coast :). I'm in NC. You're welcome anytime!
I had a friend in Rochelle Park. He lived on Patton Court. When I lived in Kearny, I used to skate and play hockey at South Mountain Arena in WO.
It know where some readers are from and I've met about a dozen of them in person. It would be interesting to know where more readers live. A couple months ago I got a message from a reader who said he was in Papua New Guinea. But I'm a skeptic.
I would say that NJans are all skeptics. But the last three years showed me that most are gullible chumps.
My biggest disappointment in my fellow Man and Americans in particular is the realization the glaring lack of pushback against these global/one-world/assholes.
They all, in some way, got the pharma gold mine, and we got the shaft.
BTW
As a young farmboy turned truck driver at that time, I made potato deliveries from up here in North Maine to Patterson, Passaic, Jersey City, and Newark
Me too, Handsome Pristine Patriot. I live in Southern Maine. Almost everyone I know seemed to fall into line without questioning anything. I am one of three (out of almost 100) at my place of work that did not take the shots. Administration tried to make the three of us wear masks to humiliate us, but we stopped wearing them together, and administration never did anything about it. But the rest of my coworkers? They chit chat about their booster shots and what brand and where and when they got them. Its sickening. What were people's attitudes up there in Northern Maine?
You can't keep a squirrel out using page wire sheep fence.
The first week, I was concerned due to the suggestion that the virus probably was genetically modified which could overcome any kind of natural immunity and has the potential to end the world as we know it.
Then, a friend told me of going to NYC to help with the processing of all the dead bodies as he had after 9/11.
When he got there, he had nothing to do!
The crematoriums were closed due to covid.
The funeral homes were closed due to covid.
The cemeteries were closed due to covid.
Those horrid images on CNN et all of bodies being stacked in reefer trailers are the results of the NYC average 420 deaths a day having no place to go.
At that point, I knew it was a scam.
The first six months, about 75% seemed to be in lockstep with the government, probably due to our aging population and their reliance on the MSM for their news.
As the requirements became more ridiculous, and the truth started leaking out, the masks started to disappear to a point that there would be only a dozen maskholes in our little town of 1200.
Lately, however, I've noticed an uptick in maskers.
Some just can't be happy unless they're miserable.
Oh, wow! I didn't realize that RSV was the croup. My kids had that as toddlers. I would just sit with them in the bathroom and turn the shower on hot so that the steam would ease their breathing. I even remember having croup when I was a kid. Since when did having a normal childhood virus turn into this nightmare freak show?
What a story! And one that started out bad, but ended up so good- I love that kind of story! Thanks for sharing it Mark and Merry Christmas to you!
One of my goals in the aftermath of all this Coronascam is to not forget what our leaders did and to tell the truth when someone spouts off a lie concerning the justification of all the BS we've seen in the last 30 months. Your continued reminders of reality help to keep me focused on what really matters- the truth about our country and what we've devolved into- it's not a pretty sight.
I wish the readers and ones who comment so eloquently on this stack the best at this most wonderful time of the year! God bless the children!
This was my first full-read this a.m. It resonated, as I was just mulling it over last night, that I have zero desire to be around people who excluded us so readily at the government's command, when the government had such faulty data to justify any mandates.
Last year I was teary, while telling my sister that I thought they might remove my family to a camp. She just stared at me. While she's been better than most (a sister-in-law from my husband's side is brutal, and I want nothing further to do with her, ever), it's all been, nonetheless, relationship damaging. There are so many that I just don't want in my life anymore. I just had a colleague attack me last week, when I casually mentioned the media couldn't be trusted. I was shocked by her (over) reaction. However, I realized last night that her blue-pill reality bubble depends on her belief that it is just the "ignorant and uneducated" questioning the narrative. As I don't fit, I could have penetrated the bubble.
Your article reminded me of a recent read "The day I understood the 'good German.' I am going to link it below for anyone who missed it last winter:
Merry Christmas, Mark. Blessings to you and your family. A wonderful Christmas story. Thank you.
I was just talking with my wife about the broad, deep, and lasting harms this has caused. I sometimes find hard to see how the future improves. It makes me sad for my grandchildren.
Your "milkman" reminded me of being a paperboy for 3 years when I was 13-15. A large route 100+ daily and 150+ Sunday in a tough neighborhood. I had to traverse the route making "collections" and carrying funds to make change and I learned to look over my shoulder too avoid being robbed. Life lessons that remain with me.
2 years since we’ve been able to fly to New York for Christmas with our daughter and family. Last year because many vaxxed and boosted got Covid including grandson. We were told not to come. Now there is a large storm bearing down on us and we might not get out this year either. The air.ine wanted to stick us with an extra $600 each to change the day we left. Then down to $250.00 each on top of the original tickets which were double we usually pay. Nope. I absolutely hate flying now. They can stick it where the sun don’t shine. It might be a FaceTime Christmas again. Merry Christmas Happy Hanukkah everyone.
Mark, I can directly relate to your story and your fear of being held up while working. Way back in the late 70's while working my way through Monmouth College pumping gas in Neptune, NJ at a station on Route 33 I was the victim of an armed robbery at closing time. As I write this it still remains the only time I looked down the wrong end of a gun and I pray it always remains the last. Easily the most frightening experience in my life and that includes open heart surgery.
At this point in time I believe anyone who wants to admit that they where wrong or mislead by the government has done so. I can't help but recall the actions of public figures like Neil Young in the past year putting his reputation on the line in pushing and demanding all of us submit to his commands to get the shot. The funny part is if any of them just said that they where wrong, I was mistaken, please forgive me and accept my apologies I would do so. But their egos won't allow them to be repentant, to be sorry. They all continue to double and triple down on their losing hand. If someone still won't offer a handshake or a relative offer me a hug I am done with their kind.
The advantage Neil Young had is that nobody under the age of 50 has even heard of him so his reputation didn't matter. I have to admit, though, that listening to his music will never be the same.
A bit of happy news for me: my youngest son came home from the Marine Corps yesterday for Christmas holiday. Although he'd gotten the jab (without speaking first to me) he told me that the DoD has put a halt to discharging those who refuse, and he will not take any more.
I am terrified that he will experience myocarditis or reproduction difficulties. He said "The Lord would not do that to me, Dad."
PS: he later told me that all of his Marines know what a sick travesty the COVID death jab really is. In their never-ending black humor, they laugh about what a dangerous scam it is.
Somewhere inside them is the core of skepticism and common sense you gave them. I know it. It likely lies dormant due to the immense social pressure on their generation to conform. Keep in mind they have to endure social media on top of everything else. We didn't. It's a pretty high bar for young people to reject their teachers and friends and essentially to isolate themselves. I predict as they mature and have the kinds of responsibility under their belts you have, a different tune will be sung. Maybe too late for you to see. This is what happened to me and my siblings. We were all bomb throwing leftists in the 70's and 80's. Reagan was an outrage. But University did not entirely beat reason out of us. Over decades, slowly but surely, rationality and evidence based reason, combined with undeniable sense experience in the real world made its mark. All four of us have changed for the better. I suspect this will happen with your family too.
I like your Christmas story. It was an odd one. Lots of fear from someone who really intended no physical harm. The store guy probably suffered some mental harm, but he had a great story to tell.
Down here in the Volunteer State, we still havre a few jab-loving, mask wearers, but I saw on one of those charts that may or may not be accurate that only 45% of my county is fully shot up and only 36% boosted. I live in a poor rural county.
I’m making no sugar promises because it’s Christmas. It was a tradition in my family to have several desserts so that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m making mini pecan pies with homemade short crust. I made a jam cake (apparently only a Tennessee/Kentucky delight) because it reminds be of my mama! When I read that it was local to Tennessee, I could not let that tradition go! It will have caramel icing. We are making a coconut cake and daughter made a Yule long. To go way back to my English roots, I made a fruit cake about 6 weeks ago and I pour amaretto on it every week. I also made amaretto balls with amaretto, well chopped almonds, dried cherries, and confectioner’s sugar. They are dipped in chocolate. They are delicious! I love baking at Christmas because I don’t very often during the year!
I think it's cool that you make a jam cake because it reminds you of your mother- we should remember those special people. We try to make my Mom's cake every year- it was her greatest cooking achievement and we all miss her and her wonderful cake. Enjoy all your sweets!
Trying not to sob here. Beautifully written. Love the story of the bike! I just said to my husband last night, "How is that WE are the most common sense, smart people out of all the people we know with Master Degrees, doctors, nurses, etc?" It still amazes me that restaurants created enclosed spaces outside that were much more confined than eating inside in a larger space. And, as you've pointed out, that's just ONE of the many idiot things that were done. I too, believed we all had a moral code. That we had a gut instinct, a "trip wire" common sense component. We have sadly learned that survival via STATUS/GROUPTHINK is more important than the trinity of survival: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. Thank you for this wonderful story. Merry Christmas! (ps. I can't believe you were a milk man! In Paterson no less!!!!)
Thanks, Sorry.
It's hard to feel solidarity with so many people now.
Yes, I delivered in Paterson. North Side, no less. And Newark.
Merry Christmas.
I'm surprised there were still "milk men" in 1982. Paper boys too. I spoke to a former Montgomery Advertiser sports reporter at an event two days ago. We commiserated on the sorry state of today's newspaper business. He told me he has a friend who told him how many newspapers The Advertiser actually prints today - 4,100! A couple of decades ago, when this guy worked there, they printed 118,000 editions.
Great story & great truth. My faith in people & institutions is completely destroyed. Nothing feels the same & the joy in life & living feels forced now. I did read of 1 glimmer of hope yesterday: Tim Robbins - stereotypical leftie actor - was on Russell Brand’s podcast & they discussed all of the terrible reaction of people like him who had denigrated & villified people like us. He followed all of the idiotic “rules” but somewhere along the way, he lost complete faith in what he’d been told & was heartily sorry for his actions. It was actually so refreshing to hear a public figure say it all out loud - his actions, his awakening & his apology. There needs to be a whole lot more of that honesty & humility but IDK if we’ll get it. But maybe it’s a start....
Why does it take a celebrity to convince people?
Why did he not figure the Scam out until recently?
IDK but leftist loons - celebs or not - are some of the most hateful, intolerant, controlling & sanctimonious ass hats around. That he not only came to his senses & admitted it publically, including his own bad actions & thought & can admit & the whole scam was wrong is not a bad thing. Maybe I just liked him in Bull Durham 🤷🏼♀️
I know you're right. It just doesn't make sense.
You’re right too though that it doesn’t make sense. We will need people who have woken up too, for this fight. All the better if they have some much-needed humility too
Yes! Humility! He took himself down a peg, and that's a good thing. Opens the door for more Humility from Asshats!
In VERY short supply in our “betters”!
He wasn't bad in the Shawshank Redemption either but I don't think anybody could have been a failure in that role.
Maybe he was just following the Bull Durham manta: “Don’t think, just throw.” 🤣. Still one of my favorites. But in all seriousness, it stunned me how easily led people were and still are through all of this. Mindless sheep.
Agreed, Cathy
In Jacob's Ladder, Robbins was suffering from a drug induced paranoia but in this life he was suffering from a mass delusion that infected the majority. I too believed, for about 6 months, before starting to question the insanity of it all.
I find the mass delusion hypothesis less and less convincing. I think, at least in the US, that this is mostly a combination of the fact that many people do not know anything about disease which is why so many of them go along with anything doctors (and the media) say about it. These people have always been deluded so using a disease made it easy to pull them in.
I gave up trusting most doctors long ago. And I couldn't figure out what was going on when the whole Covid business started but I knew that locking down for more than a very short period of time was a stupid thing to do. Even my husband, who has gone along with most of this crap, knew that too.
I figured out what was happening by reading sensible people on Twitter and elsewhere and doing my own research about the "vaccine". My husband, unfortunately, still believes the NY Times but he hasn't gotten the mouse booster. I can't say the same about his siblings, though, and they have a lot of influence on him.
There are quite a few folks out there who have spoken knowledgable about the the topic. e.g. Dr Robert Malone and Dr Mark MacDonald who wrote "The United Sates of Fear". I also watched another psychologist video about how mass delusion psychosis affects and spreads throughout a population exposed to media repetition 24 hours a day. I am sorry your husband bought into this stuff but of course the NYT simply cannot be trusted (same is happening today over Ukraine).
My wife was apolitical prior to covid....... show is now rabidly anti democrat and anti covid vaccine. Completely changed from the sweet lady I married 35 years ago! I wish you the best of the Xmas and New Year season Mimi.
Oh, I know about all the people talking about mass delusion, including the European guy whose full name escapes me at the moment (Mathias something-or-other) but who is an authority on what happened in Nazi Germany. I just am not all that convinced because I think the people following along were deluded idiots about their own health to begin with.
Of course the NY Times can't be trusted. That virtual fish wrapper is still pushing masking.
All the best of Christmas and New Years to you and your wife!
Mattias Desmet, from Belgium
The problem with your hypothesis is the people you approach who sat "I don't care what you say or show me I don't believe you people". Yes. several actually used those exact words including "you people". Sounds to me like there's some serious brainwashing (mass psychosis) going on here.
My younger brother (1 and a half years younger) and I are very close. We were the last two siblings in a set of 5. Except for religion (I'm a Catholic convert) he and I share the same views about nearly everything - politics, social issues, etc. I deeply respect him and he deeply respects me.
Except when it comes to Coronomania. He sees us as paranoid fanatics. He innately trusts his doctor (I don't even have a doctor) who advises him to stay boosted, and when he got his most recent COVID infection, prescribed Paxlovid.
And of course he quickly got COVID rebound, as nearly everyone who takes Paxlovid does.
We can't speak about COVID because he gets defensive. I really don't know what to make of this, and I'm deeply worried about losing him to stroke or myocarditis. (He's a black belt karate instructor but he's almost 59.)
Yeah, the trust in doctors is so much of the problem. The trust gets transferred to pharma and that's how we end up where we are.
Same w/ my younger sister who believes everything the doctors tell her. She vax’ & boosted & now has stage IV cancer in multiple places after a 20 remission of breast cancer. I can’t even tell her the probable reason; she’s in enough anguish as it is & the decisions are irreversible so there’s no point in making it worse. I sent her something on FenBen & asked her to do some research or talk to a naturopath, which she had earlier expressed an interest in doing. Crickets re FenBen, not even a “thx, I’ll look into it”. At this point I give up & just feel sad for her
Fred, yes. The difference between you two is simply the mass hysteria.
At the critical moment, you retained your ability to analyze, judge and await more information (which, when it came, never moved the pointer in the direction of the jab). He, however, failed to analyze what he saw, and took the leap. Like any religion, there is no rational discussion that can solve his blindness. (think Germany in 1939-41, things still looked okay, and for the average German to reverse course was not in the cards).
Mass hysteria, the masses go crazy all at once, but only recover their sanity one at a time, and often via extreme (real or psychological, or both) pain.
Yes, when the only thing keeping us safe (and often alive) is skepticism, it's often easy to have that become the coin of the realm. So you are skeptical of the mass delusion hypothesis. In these situations it's always healthiest to ask, not how am I right? but what minimal elements would it take to convince me I am wrong?
For me, I am pretty sure the mass delusion / hysteria thing is the actual explanation across the board for what we went through and are, slowly, recovering from.
The reason? OIPs.
OIPs. Otherwise Intelligent Persons.
OIPs come in all shapes and sizes, and usually sport college and graduate degrees. Often of the highest stripe. I know very good, very qualified medical doctors who believe in the vexx. That goes for STEM Ph.Ds, and of course the lesser Ph.Ds (English, Anthropology).
These are not stupid people, not crazies, not even lazy. But the insidious narrative snuck in during the Information Gap in March 2020, and they somehow leapt into Coronadoom Faith. And once they made the leap of faith they are finding it impossible to leap back.
Tim Robbins is an early exception.
Think about what someone who was "narratived" into getting 2 or 3 or even 4 shots, perhaps by OIPs he trusted, has to do now. Perhaps this OIP helped to convince other OIPs to take the jab to return to normal, for the sake of the country, to defeat the Evil Virus or just because every single OIP in that OIP's life was on the Vexx Team.
To actually unwind this entire mess and leap BACK across that earlier leap of faith is so much harder than taking the first leap in the first place. The OIP in question will have to face himself in all his gullibility, naivete, pride, preening and self-valuation and take a massive hit to his self-worth and self-esteem.
How many highly educated people do you know who are capable of such a feat? How many people of whatever stripe might be capable?
We are living in German, 1942, when the reality of the mass hysteria for the German OIPs (surprisingly, doctors and academics were huge supporters of the Nazi program, or as I like to call it "German Lives Matter"), faced with perhaps their relatives' or neighbors' children dying on the Eastern Front, finally began to hit home. Suddenly they knew the big bombing runs lay ahead of them and yet, how could they believe that everything they knew was true 1935-1942 had been a disaster in the making?
We will emerge from this, but probably not stronger or better. The best we can hope for is that we emerge from this more humble in the face western civilization's complete failure in the face of evil. This won't be the end of evil, they're coming back for us and sooner than we want to think.
Look how many of the OIPs already believed in statins and global warming. You are talking about educated people. Being educated doesn't mean you're not stupid.
One reason that Mark recognized the Covid scam right away is because he has street smarts. People with PhDs rarely do.
An Italian economist wrote this in the 1980s. (He taught at my alma mater, UC Berkeley, when I was there in the 1970s but I never heard of him then.) He kept his tongue planted firmly in his cheek when he wrote it but it is still true:
https://www.louiscordier.com/the_basic_laws_of_human_stupidity.pdf
I've noticed that in my own circle, it is all the "ordinary" people - barbers, mechanics, cleaning ladies, etc. - who recognised instinctively that the Covid thing was an evil scam. All the intellectuals I know fell for it hook, line and sinker.
Re: statins - even my RN wife, a highly skeptical critic of Big Pharma's Branch Covidians, still believes in statins.
Bizarre hero worship
I have a sibling who also adores celebrities along with spouse and in-laws.
Three out of four of them suffering the bioweapon now (again) and one has life threatening blood clots post-jab.
I heard Robbins talking about this several months ago. So he was only a complete idiot for part of the time, but I don't know how long.
He was only a fool for 30 months, then?
I saw the Scam on Day 1. It was obvious.
But it's amazing to me that he even said anything. Hollywood can't be happy with him.
I really haven’t heard about any fallout from his confession, Mimi, have you? That was kind of surprising to me, given how quick the mob is to judge & condemn. If there hasn’t been much or any, maybe more will start to speak out.
No, I haven't. But maybe it's just not being publicized much. I am surprised to see that most people didn't know that this was old news.
Like finding a unicorn - a repentant cultist
There’s hope left
may the unicorns awake. they are badly needed. And yes, it is strange that it takes dr. Aseem who loses his dad and then starts looking in what he has injected in people and wakes up. It takes Celine Dion, whom everyone sees damaged by the jab, safe her. It takes millions to die for others to see.... it is sad, it seems that animals are way smarter than us.
i just read that Sean Penn said all unjabbed are criminals. There is another actor I could never stand, and even if they pay me a million, I will not ever watch a movie with him, ever
Yes, he's an idiot. But I would watch one of his movies for a million dollars. I'd even do a double feature.
What made people so blindly supportive of shots that weren't even needed, much less safe?
Why is Penn still coming out in favor of that crap? Most of the other celebrities are keeping quiet about it. He must be getting quite a payoff. I guess the money he got from the Ukraine scam isn't enough.
What made them so blindly supportive of ANY of it. No one alive today (except perhaps an ancient few who might remember 1918) had ever experienced masking & lockdowns & forced jabs, etc. There should’ve been outrage, everywhere in the world & there wasn’t. From the beginning I was crying every day in despair & disbelief not only that it was happening, but that the majority were all for it or unwilling to speak against it. I don’t cry anymore, I’m just pissed out of my mind. But it was a shock to my system early on.
With you, Cindi. I saw the Scam from Day 1 and told anyone who would listen.
At that time, no one would listen. Many still believe it.
Which is unbelievable. Unless you conclude that people just aren't that smart.
“Aren’t that smart” has to be true, Mark. What other possible explanation?
Some of it was fear of being arrested or even just hassled (I remember when someone was arrested in Malibu for paddle boarding during the lockdown) but I think some of it was just people with the stupid idea of going along to get along. Not long ago I got into a heated discussion in a produce market with a woman who told me that I just need to be nice. People are conditioned to respond that way. I think for one reason is that there are so many stinky workplaces where people are abused but everyone acts "nice" anyhow. I never did that but I am a born troublemaker, evidently.
The people who are still going along with it now, though, are just a bunch of idiots. I include a couple of my sisters-in-law in that group.
because they were paid shills. The governemnt was paying these influencers on social media to promote all the measures. Actors are the nothing more than whores. They will do or say anything for a buck.
Goes w/out saying, Jim. But the karmic wheel has been turning on some of the true believers (“celebs” or not), w/ more to drop dead as the longer term unknowns reveal themselves
And they are making people even sicker now. See Alex Berenson's latest substack. The only rational reason for this is economic opportunism as you mentioned in the story above. Someone needs to chart the profits since pharma was granted emergency use authorization, and then the flow of cash out of Pfizer et al into non profits, research grants and raw political contributions. Something is very rotten here as not ONE stinking member of the CDC advisory panel voted no on approval of the shots for any group at anytime.
"Something is very rotten here as not ONE stinking member of the CDC advisory panel voted no on approval of the shots for any group at anytime."
Worse - the silence from our stalwart GOP Senators and Congressmen is DEAFENING.
Charting profits in & contributions out is an excellent idea, Rafael. I hope one of our substack super sleuths will do so. Entirely different angle I’m not sure I’ve ever seen addressed
I'm a cynic. And I believe Pfizer and Moderna knew that these crappy injections would not stop the virus. They had to have known based on their shoddy trials. This has to be about money.
O of course! Some Pfizer idiot recently in front of some European Commission admitted it on film. The whole f’ing thing has been a scam & depopulation / slavery agenda.
I think it was about money. Big Pharma had been trying to perfect this mRNA crap for years but had hit a wall. With Covid, they saw a chance to hit paydirt by using the whole world as lab rats. And they bribed and paid off governments everywhere to exempt them from liability. Meanwhile all the power-mad pols and globalists leaped onboard the Covid bandwagon to further their own nefarious aims.
Yeah flu shots are a bad idea. By now I think some of the govt agencies have admitted to their ineffectiveness and the purpose of keeping mfr capacity up for future “pandemics.”
i don't care what others think, there are hordes of people every year for a flu shot which is useless as well. but no one goes on preaching about it. well, hardly anyone. but this ! and especially now that it leaks on all sides how damaging these shots are. Even some mainstream is coming out. You must indeed be an idiot to stand behind them now. that is why I despise trump, still continuing to support them. And we all know that biden is dementing, so what can we say.
Once told opposing counsel who invited me to his luxury NBA OKC Thunder skybox, "OK, I'll come. But it'll cost you $300 per hour - $450 if you want me to pay attention."
At least Fast Times @ Ridgemont High ☺️
Sean Penn is a hateful communist. His actions are deplorable.
Im w/ you, Ingrid re Penn.
Robbins showed a lot of guts and honesty. I loathe his politics, but kudos to him. Maybe Trump will now do the same.
Trump sabotaged himself with Operation WarpSpeed which is responsible for more deaths and maiming than the bioweapon itself
Superman isn’t coming to save humanity from the moral decline of the US
Mark, thanks for this amazing bike story. It’s the perfect kind of Christmas story for the moment: While much is taken, much abides! You have had such a rich, story- filled life.
Speaking of being treated as a diseased vector, just yesterday, I was treated as such. Just yesterday! Still, I will turn on my Elvis Christmas music today, wrap presents, and plan happily to host the good (fellow unvaxxed) friends who will will join us for Christmas fajitas. I would love to have you join us if you want to swing by Ohio.
Thanks, Lisa. I've been around for a while and have done some stuff. I should have a few stories by now. Though I have some that I wouldn't post on the Net.
I like to hear good stories from others. I'm indebted to "Paul" for telling me this story.
I have January off from work and am half-seriously considering a road trip to meet like-minded readers. All readers are welcome in my NJ home. Some have already stopped by.
Get out of New Jersey. I did and have never looked back. Move south where people still care for others. I made Tennessee my home 13 years ago and love it here and the people are like a step back in time. Stay away from the big cities though like Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis, Chattanooga. The cost of living alone is worth the move.
I second this. Quality of life in rural East Tennessee is the best I’ve found. Twenty years and so thankful to have been here instead of my native California. Being close enough to hike the Smoky Mountains 2-4 times a week has saved me mentally. We met a family on the trail yesterday and she told us about hiking all the trails in the Park with her autistic son, who is the first autistic person to complete this and be recognized in the 900 Mile Club. It’s not a Christmas story per se but it had me in tears watching the 8 minute video they did about this mother-son duo. A true no-excuses Christmas blessing for me. https://thinkdraft.com/portfolio/love-trails-dinosaurs/
I've been down nere. It's nice.
Like many of us, I'm kind of stuck here for a while. I have people to watch over.
I understand. I moved from coastal Carolina back to California to help care for my parents.
Eastern Tennessee is drop-dead gorgeous.
Except for Gatlinburg which looks like a cheap nasty knockoff of nasty Las Vegas. What the hell happened there? Who let them put up that garish monstrosity in one of pretty places on the planet?
I agree. I live in Eastern Tennessee and it is gorgeous and the people are great. Gatlinburg is an embarrassment. I am not real fond of middle east TN. I have live in the deepest southern east TN (10 miles from GA) and the deepest north eastern TN (walking distance to VA) and to me they are the best parts of TN.
I section hiked the TN/NC border of the Appalachian Trail with my oldest and youngest sons last April.
Some of the prettiest places I've ever been. And I've been some gorgeous places.
I absolutely agree. I was stunned my first time through that area. I had pictures of rustic homes and instead found garish neon everywhere. I can count on one hand the times I’ve been there other than to get to a trailhead. I live on the “peaceful side” of the Smokies. It boggles my mind that people walk up and down those sidewalks when the true, stunning beauty lives around the corner on the mountain trails.
If you've ever been to Branson, MO you have seen Gatlinburg's Arkansas meth head twin.
I've despised it for decades, but everyone else I know just luuuuuuuuuvs it and just can't wait to see the Dolly Parton theater and eat that delicious microwaved meal.
Quite obviously, there is no accounting for taste.
Beautiful video. Thanks for sharing. Merry Christmas. Pax Christi.
Merry Christmas, Ben! I tend toward the less emotional side but that video hit me. Maybe because my friends are pushing me towards the 900 miles and I’ve thought them crazy 😜. Blessings to you and yours 🙏
♥️
A lot of NJ (and NY, PA) transplants are down here on the SC coast.
And most of them are there for the right reasons. Thank God.
Karen
Indeed, stay out of cities.
Don’t know if you heard but Knoxville is on the list along with Pittsburgh and others to become some of the first “smart cities.”
Yeah you get free WiFi but at the cost of extreme surveillance.
Yes I do know. 15 minute cities. Chattanooga TN was one of the original beta sites for UN Agenda 21......not too many people know that but I have the proof. The “leaders” in TN have been drinking the kool-aid for many years. Money has a funny way of doing that. Knoxville is a cess pool. The U of TN at Knoxville is where the Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit was created by a UNESCO commie working at the college. Her name is: Rosalind McKeown. In her toolkit is states they must dumb down people in order for them to make less money and use less resources. Sustainable Development must be at the forefront of all education (indoctrination).
Wow. Glad to see you are on this Karen.
Some of the whistleblower testimony on these cities is shocking also. Light and sound systems to incapacitate people, etc. non stop drones overhead etc.
Anyway, Merry Christmas!
Thank you for yet another wonderful yet heartbreaking piece Mark.
I live very close to LisaF. Would love to meet you as well if you ever come this way.
Blessings to you this Christmas 😘❤️
Hi Mark...thank you so much for your writing. In the new year, I have committed myself to facilitating informal group get togethers with like minded people so that we can build more supportive relationships *in real life* to help get us through whatever craziness comes next. The plan is coming together nicely. I’m in NY (Westchester County) and I have recruited friends in Chicago and Austin (for starters) to do the same in their local areas. I’d love to meet up with you for a coffee somewhere in Jersey after the holidays!
Merry Everything! 🎄
Great, Jane. I'd like to meet.
You can e-mail me at forecheck32 at g mail.
I will make it a point to do so if ever around that way. I wish I could share my email address without doing so publicly. We’d love to have you stop by for dinner.
Here's my e-mail.
forecheck32 at g mail.
I think it's already on the Net.
forecheck? Have you played hockey, Mark?
Yes, I've done some of that and I still skate.
Lisa - blessings to you this Christmas. Hopefully we will get to meet this year.
If Mark comes to visit, let’s plan a party!
I like that last sentence.
I don't drink to excess but I can dance some. I know some salsa, etc.
Merry Christmas, Everyone.
In 2020 we were all on a more equal footing, as the shots hadn't rolled out yet. By the end of 2021, I was the sole holdout in my family. Omicron paid a visit to some family members who were positive and symptomatic. As I had recently dropped by their household, my adult children refused (in an abundance of caution) to come to my house for Christmas. All of this unfolded in the few days leading up to Christmas 2021. Test kits were impossible to come by, and testing sites shut down for the holiday. I never got a test (I've never had one, actually) -- so, without any proof one way or another, despite no symptoms, but probably magnified by my known status as an anti-vaxxer.... the decisions were made, and out of my control.
Not the Christmas with family I'd planned and looked forward to, after most milestone events and gatherings for about two years already had been cancelled.
My first Christmas in my longish life was spent completely alone, without any face-to-face human contact. Yet, it was one of the nicest, most peaceful Christmases I've ever had. As Mark said, compartmentalization is necessary, and that is what I knew to do. I chose to have a merry Christmas, and to engage in thoughts and activities that would bring peace and joy. I made a nice dinner, played music, called a few friends, went for a walk to see the neighborhood Christmas decorations, contemplated and reflected, accepted and played with the cat.
But I tell you what: I don't ever want to have to do that again. It was forced upon me. And yes, all faith and trust in life institutions and milestones has crumbled. All I have left is myself and my connection to God (I know there are others like me, and I do believe we will find each other, but I am speaking of who and what were the familiar people and events in my life that brought meaning and that I could always count upon.)
This year I feel quiet, resigned, resolute, determined, brave, angry, sorrowful and compassionate. Not really feeling peace and joy, but I intend to compartmentalize again, if only for one day.
Dani,
I have two kids in DC. If you want to meet sometime, please LMK.
forecheck32 at g mail.
Merry Christmas.
Mark
Ture that there were wardly any injectees by Christmas 2020. But many people hiding from family. Which is, itself, way too fearful for me.
yes. That was the six feet apart, no-hugging Christmas.
I’m so sorry, Dani. We’ve learned a lot these last few years about fear, loyalty, and brainwashing! I suppose we all need to know these lessons, but it would have been better to learn without all the pain and suffering. The way some people have acted is just shameful. They can’t be proud of themselves.
Such a tragedy to be treated by family as if a leper. I admire your ability to create your own joy and find peace and joy. May you have a blessed Christmas.
it was, in some ways, an opportunity for growth; never before had I ever experienced prolonged isolation, let alone shunning. It definitely has brought some new perspectives. I've learned what it means to be human, and what it means to be inhuman, but in human form.
I admire your ability to appreciate your new perspective while finding inner peace. Family shunning other family members is beyond understanding. Many families were torn apart by this scamdemic. Truly sad and disheartening. Makes me wonder what kind of moral fabric holds our population that so many can be turned into psychos. Our country needs healing.
🫂🫂🫂
The insightfulness of F. Scott Fitzgerald's description of the uber-wealthy in his novel "The Great Gatsby" exemplifies the behavior of "COVID criminals" : “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy--they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
The "mess" are the millions whose lives were devastated by the vaxx mandates and the array of irreparable adverse reactions; the lockdowns causing thousands of small business bankruptcies, the children who were left emotionally traumatized and intellectually stunted, the elderly who died alone and in despair in nursing homes, and everyday citizens who've permanently lost confidence in the medical system and are reticent to seek healthcare. This time Tom and Daisy's mess are crimes against humanity and they must be held accountable.
The left never wants to live by their own rules, as Charles Murray has pointed out in "Coming Apart". They either live in whitopia enclaves in blue states, or else (as now) move to places like Florida which they will then vote to ruin.
Right you are about "vote to ruin." It's happening in North Carolina. Americans, guard your towns and cities.
Thank you for this Mark! Though I’d love to hear “You were Right all Along” from those closest to me I realize that confirmation from you may have to suffice! 😀. Merry Christmas!🎁🎄
Saw an acquaintance in Walgreens yesterday. Haven’t seen her since the beginning madness. She just couldn’t do a hug even now. Stood away from me. I was too tired of this crap to enforce a hug. But glad to see her.
I would have put her in a headlock.
Yeah. I should have. I got closer but she backed up. Mostly everyone around me is hugging now. I’ll take that. Have a wonderful holiday. Northern Illinois is lovely. The conservation districts have been my sanctuary. Ignore Chicago by just going around it. Head North.
For the first time in years (even years before the craze) I feel christmassy this year. It already started in the end of November, I put out my decoration a week early. Usually I do it the first Sunday in December but this year, I just couldn't wait! I have been singing christmas songs even though I am not a real believer. It is just that I see the dominoes falling. I see how here and there, doctors are sticking out their heads, how health workers are speaking up, how more and more people red pill. Unfortunately, also a lot of people have died and are harmed. But the dominoes are falling. It might take a lifetime, but the building will crumble, the river will break through the dam. I say a little prayer that people might get wiser, be a bit more on the alert and trust their governments and their doctors less and use their own brains and their own common snese. I wish everyone a large bottle of that last one.
Merry Christmas, Mark. Growing up, I had one set of grandparents in Rochelle Park and the other set in West Orange. Christmas memories for me are New Jersey memories, so this was especially poignant. I have been wavering between blah and pissed off this season. I just can't look at folks the same way again. Ever. It's hard to reach down and find the joy when the veil is off on the majority of humanity.
I hope you get to take your road trip. If you publish a rough itinerary, I'll bet you'd be able to hang with readers from coast to coast :). I'm in NC. You're welcome anytime!
I had a friend in Rochelle Park. He lived on Patton Court. When I lived in Kearny, I used to skate and play hockey at South Mountain Arena in WO.
It know where some readers are from and I've met about a dozen of them in person. It would be interesting to know where more readers live. A couple months ago I got a message from a reader who said he was in Papua New Guinea. But I'm a skeptic.
I would say that NJans are all skeptics. But the last three years showed me that most are gullible chumps.
This whole thing was such obvious BS to me from day one that I'm still aghast that more folks didn't greet it with some good old NJ attitude!
My biggest disappointment in my fellow Man and Americans in particular is the realization the glaring lack of pushback against these global/one-world/assholes.
They all, in some way, got the pharma gold mine, and we got the shaft.
BTW
As a young farmboy turned truck driver at that time, I made potato deliveries from up here in North Maine to Patterson, Passaic, Jersey City, and Newark
Man........you're lucky to be alive......
Me too, Handsome Pristine Patriot. I live in Southern Maine. Almost everyone I know seemed to fall into line without questioning anything. I am one of three (out of almost 100) at my place of work that did not take the shots. Administration tried to make the three of us wear masks to humiliate us, but we stopped wearing them together, and administration never did anything about it. But the rest of my coworkers? They chit chat about their booster shots and what brand and where and when they got them. Its sickening. What were people's attitudes up there in Northern Maine?
Thanks for resisting.
I did, too.
No mask for me.
I remember sizes from my grade school lessons.
You can't keep a squirrel out using page wire sheep fence.
The first week, I was concerned due to the suggestion that the virus probably was genetically modified which could overcome any kind of natural immunity and has the potential to end the world as we know it.
Then, a friend told me of going to NYC to help with the processing of all the dead bodies as he had after 9/11.
When he got there, he had nothing to do!
The crematoriums were closed due to covid.
The funeral homes were closed due to covid.
The cemeteries were closed due to covid.
Those horrid images on CNN et all of bodies being stacked in reefer trailers are the results of the NYC average 420 deaths a day having no place to go.
At that point, I knew it was a scam.
The first six months, about 75% seemed to be in lockstep with the government, probably due to our aging population and their reliance on the MSM for their news.
As the requirements became more ridiculous, and the truth started leaking out, the masks started to disappear to a point that there would be only a dozen maskholes in our little town of 1200.
Lately, however, I've noticed an uptick in maskers.
Some just can't be happy unless they're miserable.
I’ve noticed an uptick in masks down here too. At Walgreens yesterday, most of the people I saw were masked.
Ya!
They're succumbing to the Tri-pandemic siren song, scared of a yearly flu, a burned-out virus, and RSV, AKA "The Croup.
I have noticed that up here most have not gone beyond the second injection, especially after getting covid anyway.
Glad to hear most haven't lined up for their "boosters" up there. Down here, some are on their fourth poke! Insane.
Oh, wow! I didn't realize that RSV was the croup. My kids had that as toddlers. I would just sit with them in the bathroom and turn the shower on hot so that the steam would ease their breathing. I even remember having croup when I was a kid. Since when did having a normal childhood virus turn into this nightmare freak show?
Since the successful dumbing down of the American educational system by the communists that are going to rule us (they think).
People are just too lazy or pre-occupied to bother to get the truth.
What a story! And one that started out bad, but ended up so good- I love that kind of story! Thanks for sharing it Mark and Merry Christmas to you!
One of my goals in the aftermath of all this Coronascam is to not forget what our leaders did and to tell the truth when someone spouts off a lie concerning the justification of all the BS we've seen in the last 30 months. Your continued reminders of reality help to keep me focused on what really matters- the truth about our country and what we've devolved into- it's not a pretty sight.
I wish the readers and ones who comment so eloquently on this stack the best at this most wonderful time of the year! God bless the children!
Thanks, Mike, for that great message. When "Paul" told me that story I said, "That's one of the best stories I ever heard."
I'd love to hang with you and swap stories.
Merry Christmas.
Your life is much more diverse than most of us- hence your many stories! But I'd still love to hang out some time in the future.
It would be interesting to talk to folks in here in person. I’m sure we have very different backgrounds and experiences.
My little brother once accused me of doing various things just so I could have stories to tell about them.
That's an exaggeration. But also partly true.
This was my first full-read this a.m. It resonated, as I was just mulling it over last night, that I have zero desire to be around people who excluded us so readily at the government's command, when the government had such faulty data to justify any mandates.
Last year I was teary, while telling my sister that I thought they might remove my family to a camp. She just stared at me. While she's been better than most (a sister-in-law from my husband's side is brutal, and I want nothing further to do with her, ever), it's all been, nonetheless, relationship damaging. There are so many that I just don't want in my life anymore. I just had a colleague attack me last week, when I casually mentioned the media couldn't be trusted. I was shocked by her (over) reaction. However, I realized last night that her blue-pill reality bubble depends on her belief that it is just the "ignorant and uneducated" questioning the narrative. As I don't fit, I could have penetrated the bubble.
Your article reminded me of a recent read "The day I understood the 'good German.' I am going to link it below for anyone who missed it last winter:
https://www.francesoir.fr/opinions-tribunes/the-day-i-understood-good-german?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=emai
By the way, I did enjoy the bike story. I was holding my breath...
Thanks, Ms. P.
Yes, people really showed themselves during the Scam.
When "Paul" told me that story, I knew it had to have come out OK, otherwise he wouldn't have been there. But he seemed completely sincere.
Merry Christmas, Mark. Blessings to you and your family. A wonderful Christmas story. Thank you.
I was just talking with my wife about the broad, deep, and lasting harms this has caused. I sometimes find hard to see how the future improves. It makes me sad for my grandchildren.
Your "milkman" reminded me of being a paperboy for 3 years when I was 13-15. A large route 100+ daily and 150+ Sunday in a tough neighborhood. I had to traverse the route making "collections" and carrying funds to make change and I learned to look over my shoulder too avoid being robbed. Life lessons that remain with me.
Tnanks, Dennis, for checking in and providing moral support. The youth have been so badly hosed during Coronamania.
I hope we can meet someday and swap stories. In the meanwhile, Merry Christmas to you and your family.
2 years since we’ve been able to fly to New York for Christmas with our daughter and family. Last year because many vaxxed and boosted got Covid including grandson. We were told not to come. Now there is a large storm bearing down on us and we might not get out this year either. The air.ine wanted to stick us with an extra $600 each to change the day we left. Then down to $250.00 each on top of the original tickets which were double we usually pay. Nope. I absolutely hate flying now. They can stick it where the sun don’t shine. It might be a FaceTime Christmas again. Merry Christmas Happy Hanukkah everyone.
Mark, I can directly relate to your story and your fear of being held up while working. Way back in the late 70's while working my way through Monmouth College pumping gas in Neptune, NJ at a station on Route 33 I was the victim of an armed robbery at closing time. As I write this it still remains the only time I looked down the wrong end of a gun and I pray it always remains the last. Easily the most frightening experience in my life and that includes open heart surgery.
At this point in time I believe anyone who wants to admit that they where wrong or mislead by the government has done so. I can't help but recall the actions of public figures like Neil Young in the past year putting his reputation on the line in pushing and demanding all of us submit to his commands to get the shot. The funny part is if any of them just said that they where wrong, I was mistaken, please forgive me and accept my apologies I would do so. But their egos won't allow them to be repentant, to be sorry. They all continue to double and triple down on their losing hand. If someone still won't offer a handshake or a relative offer me a hug I am done with their kind.
The advantage Neil Young had is that nobody under the age of 50 has even heard of him so his reputation didn't matter. I have to admit, though, that listening to his music will never be the same.
I've seen him live three times. I'll never do it again.
What made these gullible people so sure they were right that they felt entitled to harangue everyone?
The current mess gives a whole other meaning to "The Needle and the Damage Done" but Young will probably never come to understand why.
I loved the Lynyrd Skynyrd line "I hope Neil Young will remember - Southern Man don' need him around anyhow."
Sure as shit, as we say in the South.
Amazing story Mark.
This made the list of my favorite Mark O quotes, “...permanently depressed young people who have holes in their lives where happy memories should be,”
Perfect characterization of the unfolding tragedy.
Thanks, Howard.
Yes, three of that immense group are my adult "kids." That generation was hosed. But most of them went along.
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
A bit of happy news for me: my youngest son came home from the Marine Corps yesterday for Christmas holiday. Although he'd gotten the jab (without speaking first to me) he told me that the DoD has put a halt to discharging those who refuse, and he will not take any more.
I am terrified that he will experience myocarditis or reproduction difficulties. He said "The Lord would not do that to me, Dad."
Best to you and your son Fred. Sadly this is a very bad time to be serving.
PS: he later told me that all of his Marines know what a sick travesty the COVID death jab really is. In their never-ending black humor, they laugh about what a dangerous scam it is.
Yet, I bet, they will take the next mandatory shot when the next plandemic is released upon us.
So sorry Mark.
Yes, it has sucked. I know there are millions more like my kids.
But my kids--or others--didn't put up a fight.
And then voted for the oppressors.
Somewhere inside them is the core of skepticism and common sense you gave them. I know it. It likely lies dormant due to the immense social pressure on their generation to conform. Keep in mind they have to endure social media on top of everything else. We didn't. It's a pretty high bar for young people to reject their teachers and friends and essentially to isolate themselves. I predict as they mature and have the kinds of responsibility under their belts you have, a different tune will be sung. Maybe too late for you to see. This is what happened to me and my siblings. We were all bomb throwing leftists in the 70's and 80's. Reagan was an outrage. But University did not entirely beat reason out of us. Over decades, slowly but surely, rationality and evidence based reason, combined with undeniable sense experience in the real world made its mark. All four of us have changed for the better. I suspect this will happen with your family too.
Sad.
Best to you and yours also Mark.
Hope we meet up sometime in the new year. I’ll be in touch.
I'll be around., Howard, and look forward to meeting you.
Likewise Mark.
I sure hope you go on that road trip. Your dispatches from the road will be epic!
I like your Christmas story. It was an odd one. Lots of fear from someone who really intended no physical harm. The store guy probably suffered some mental harm, but he had a great story to tell.
Down here in the Volunteer State, we still havre a few jab-loving, mask wearers, but I saw on one of those charts that may or may not be accurate that only 45% of my county is fully shot up and only 36% boosted. I live in a poor rural county.
I’m making no sugar promises because it’s Christmas. It was a tradition in my family to have several desserts so that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m making mini pecan pies with homemade short crust. I made a jam cake (apparently only a Tennessee/Kentucky delight) because it reminds be of my mama! When I read that it was local to Tennessee, I could not let that tradition go! It will have caramel icing. We are making a coconut cake and daughter made a Yule long. To go way back to my English roots, I made a fruit cake about 6 weeks ago and I pour amaretto on it every week. I also made amaretto balls with amaretto, well chopped almonds, dried cherries, and confectioner’s sugar. They are dipped in chocolate. They are delicious! I love baking at Christmas because I don’t very often during the year!
Thanks, Canny. Yeah, I'll dabble in some treats, too.
But I'll try not to overdo it.
Oh and a Very Merry Christmas to you, Mark! I always enjoy your writing! Forget the cookies and eat delicious cake or pie on Christmas!
I think it's cool that you make a jam cake because it reminds you of your mother- we should remember those special people. We try to make my Mom's cake every year- it was her greatest cooking achievement and we all miss her and her wonderful cake. Enjoy all your sweets!
Oh wow, each dessert sounds wonderful! I’d be in a sugar coma as I would need to try each and every one. Keep the traditions going.