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Oct 27, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie

I will never get over what adults, especially parents, have allowed themselves to do to children. Some are continuing the abuse to this day and apparently have no plans to change anything. And they want to tell people like me that we're the "selfish" ones because we didn't want to go along with the make-believe rituals.

I harmed zero children during the scamdemic. I am continuing to harm zero children. I wouldn't dream of asking a child to sacrifice one moment of their young lives, development and experiences to avoid any illness even if it weren't a hoax.

When I see or hear of people that abuse children in this manner, I just think "How could you? What's wrong with you?" And I have to wonder what people that like are ultimately capable of given their treatment of children.

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100%, Frank.

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Oct 27, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie

I pulled my kids out of public elementary school they wouldn't have to deal with 40 hrs a week of masks and shitty virtual learning and ever changing logistics. We homeschooled instead, joining sports clubs and doing whatever field trips we could. Thankfully we are in a red state. I gave up on my own career to minimize sociopathic life disruption for my kids. Thank goodness we were in a financial position to do that.

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JJ, God bless you for your unselfishness. I hate to sound like an old lady, even though I am, but I’m shocked everyday by the self-centeredness of some of these young parents. You will reap the benefits of your self-sacrifice for your children.

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You do the right thing. Even if you had to sacrifice money. My kids were in high school and college, so didn’t require supervision or any disruption to me or my wives schedule. But if they were elementary age they never would’ve went back.The forced masking was child abuse. My son kept getting sent home for pulling his mask down. The entire thing was a joke. I actually told him to quit and just get a GED. He wanted to go to school. Luckily the forced masking stopped pretty quick here in Florida thanks to Desantis. There are still kids wearing masks to school, voluntarily. Those kids parents are mentally I’ll and there kids are gonna end up the same way.

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Yea, mine were lower elementary school in 2020. We are still homeschooling, in our third year now. Given the most recent NEAP scores, learning loss that teachers are having to concentrate on, and behavioral issues, I'm not sure when they might go back.

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Even adult kids....I have a 58 year old friend who told me she got injected "for her mom". Now, this is a small town conservative gal. I know my mom would be mortified if I went and got an experimental shot "for her". I feel the same about my kids. Don't you dare let them touch you for any reason. It is like the Gestapo holding a gun to mom's head and telling you they will shoot her if you don't needle up. Yeah. Not in this lifetime or any other.

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"And they want to tell people like me that we're the "selfish" ones because we didn't want to go along with the make-believe rituals."

Yesterday my wife asked me to accompany her to a doctor's visit with a new primary care provider. She sprang it on me at the last minute because the medical profession and I don't get along so well. (I turned 60 the other day and have ZERO reticence about roasting idiots who richly deserve it.)

It having been a long time since I'd been inside one of these Big Pharma Dealerships, I had actually forgotten that they still to this day demand ritualistic shows of compliance & subservience (mask wearing.) My wife nervously told me "You need to wear a mask; they require masks."

"No, I won't," was my calm but absolutely firm reply, and we continued in.

As we made our way deeper into the bowels of the Pharma Beast (Lobby, check in counter, height & weight measurements, and finally the exam room waiting on the High Priestess of Pharma Sales (PCP MD) to see her, at each juncture my wife implored me to put a mask on. Nope, nope, nope.

At first the Pharma Priestess seemed friendly enough and ignored the fact that my wife wasn't wearing her mask "properly" and that I didn't even have one to start with. But over the 20 minutes or so, she became increasingly chilly to us without ever saying anything outright negative.

In the end, no one ever confronted me about being maskless. But I could definitely tell that being the ONLY person in the building without a cover on my face*, was unacceptable. I felt like Robert Conrad in those 70's battery commercials inviting someone to go ahead and knock the chip off my shoulder.

*Ironically, the medical practice was named "In His Image."

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Such a great description of doctors office. Almost too life like.

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Thank you, Jim. Remember to stay away from the Big Pharma Dealership. Like a Mercedes dealership, their sole goal is to sell you overpriced stuff that that you cannot afford, and just might kill you.

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i intend to. Im turning my wife into a herbalist. Only homeopathic medicine for us from here on out.

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Nicely done!! Maybe you gave courage to a weakling. I have to say, you guys are rubbing off on me. Just like She Thinks Liberty. I find I am less and less forgiving when I see masks on people. Like yesterday at Costco...I saw a man and wife with the N-95 construction masks. That is what they are!! The more truth that comes out the less respect I have for "them". I tell myself that maybe they had to go out in spite of the fact that they have raging shits and don't want to spread it to the rest of us.

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Thanks Sadie and SheThinks! That was my hope in posting- that everyone will gather the courage to just say NO to the masks.

I had a speech prepared for anyone who challenged me. But as you read, no one had the guts to do so.

If we all step up and refuse, the stupidity will stop.

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Strength in numbers, but the brainwashing has gone on so long. I have the blood of revolutionaries flowing through my veins, from The Revolution, The War of 1812 and the Civil War from all branches of my tree. The Civil War was a Rebel. I draw on this fact so much these last few years and never gave it any thoughts before this. It is who I am and what I am made of. I am wondering if I am the only one who is figuring out that you really don't want to mess with me. I have always known that I had nerves of steel and in iron will, but "they" have made me get to know who I really am like no other thing I have ever gone through.

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Oh, SadieJay. You make me laugh. And thanks for the props!

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#NeverHaveNeverWill. Good for you, Fred. Man after my own heart!

"Big Pharma Dealerships"? OMG, that is priceless. Stealin' it!

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Quite a lot of adults hate kids. Actually, quite a lot of *parents* hate kids. They had kids either by accident, or due to social pressure, or because they were hoping for a perfect trophy kid. And then when the real kid arrives, they hate the kid. And in any case, kids are an easy target. So, none of this was particularly surprising.

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But most parents love their kids. I think parents were among the biggest opponents to the craziness b/c they saw the harm being caused by the Scam.

Parents who vaxxed their kids don't hate them. They're just stupid.

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Some parents (and parents' groups) opposed the madness. Some went along because they were scammed and/or were cowards. But some people simply have no compassion for kids. For them, children's suffering is not "real" suffering. Plus, children are "resilient."

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Some time ago doctors operated on children without sedation. They thought children did not feel pain.

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I remember a boy I met at the chatrooms long ago. He was 15 and the oldest of a household of I think, 5 kids. One day he wanted a cookie but was not allowed, and when he took it, his dad hit him so hard he hit his head and had to have numbers of stitches. He asked me why do my parents have us? They don't love us. A few days later his dad hit him again and he fell against the table corner. After that he could no longer type properly. A mutual friend who knew him personally said he had been damaged for life. I think indeed, that lots of parents do not really love their children. Do we even know what love is?

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Can confirm. I personally know what it's like to have parents who are so lost in their own worlds that 'Love' is an alien concept. As a poster child for boomer parent narcissistic abuse I vowed I would never treat my children as crutches for my weak insecure ego.

I also believe most parents don't love their kids...in VT they lined them up like sheep to get the jab. Weak and dumb...all of them.

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unfortunately I think you are right. Although my parents are good people and gave me what they could, in medical subjects they were extremely naive too. Mom would call the doctor every time I cleaned my nose or coughed once. Result, my immune system down to the ground. A lot of this could be helped with better education, but it seems that too got worse. As to food, I see parents and schools stuff kids with donuts, corn flakes and all kind of 'breakfast food' that is in fact poison. Very little parents look into jabs. May be that changes now ! And lots of parents are never home. Children have to educate themselves. Left to a grandparent at best, more often in a creche. Or with a key, or on the street (saw that in our neigborhood, kids could not even get into the house)

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That is so awful. There is something inherently missing in parents who actively do not love their own offspring. They are defective. I know of no greater love than that which I have for my children. I would die for them, I would kill for them and I would also do the same for my husband.

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No wonder our world is so broken.

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Indeed, no wonder. But that's how it is.

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Oct 27, 2022·edited Oct 27, 2022

Let's put a number on that abuse:

"In a longitudinal study of 672 children from Rhode Island that has run since 2011, those born after the pandemic began showed results on the Mullen scales of early learning that corresponded to an average IQ score of 78, a drop of 22 points from the average of previous cohorts."

That means the US Army, which has a cut-off of 80, won't take them.

https://www.bmj.com/content/374/bmj.n2031

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And half of U.S. adults cannot read a book at the 8th grade level: https://www.wyliecomm.com/2021/08/whats-the-latest-u-s-literacy-rate/

Half...

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Wow! 😳

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Oct 27, 2022·edited Oct 28, 2022

Wow! is exactly right. That's a massive drop and it affects massive numbers of kids. Probably the most egregious lingering harm of the covid years, more so than the vaxx. Want a crime against humanity? - there you go.

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I am curious if you went back and tried the next year at Pinewood Derby, now that you had a better idea of what was required to win. What was the impact on you?

This applies to this coronamania.... will the naive people realize they were not prepared for this, and made decisions at the time which didn't turn out so well later on?

Unfortunately, unlike the Pinewood Derby, they don't get a fresh chance to try again next year. So much damage has been done. But undoubtedly many survivors of this scamdemic are now wise to what's required in order to make it to the finish line, even if they won't.

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No, I didn't try again. I made the town's Tiny Tim baseball All-Stars the next year and got a trophy for that. Even though the trophy was smaller, that was enough for me.

Besides, unlike racing toy cars, I actually liked to play sports for their own sake. One should, to the extent possible, do things for their own sake, not for rewards.

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that's why is terribly important that we do what we like and like what we do. ideally it's effort that should be rewarded, not time (punch card!). unfortunately that's not how bureaucrats or CEOs think and we find ourselves stuck in a grid where effort seems little more than a rarely acknowledged moral variable. so let's go for the moral high ground then :-))

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I am pretty sure they will be given the chance to try again before 2030. I am afraid they will fail even more miserably than they did it with Corona and unfortunately drag us along with them.

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Oct 27, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie

modern monetarists in the treasuries and exchequers are busily worjing to ruin your assets, by devaluing the currencies...

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Oct 27, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie

Beautifully said, Mark. So bittersweet. I tried to tell my senior friends the damage happening to working people and children but since none of us was losing much--healthy and well off with pensions and savings etc --it made no impact on them. The whole world was sacrificing for US they were told. Ok with them. I could not understand it as my daughter and family were going through hell. The remuneration from the government helped little when mortgages had to be paid every month. My SIL scrambled trying to find some work to fill in the large gap as his job in the sports industry shut down. This changed my opinion of my friends. I doubt they have learned anything. They still mask at times.

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Thanks, Janet. So many of us cut loose friends over this. It was a good reason to. Those who didn't see the Scam or played along with it despite its costs aren't worth spending time with.

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Oct 27, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie

As always so pertinent to the situation we all find ourselves in right now. My boys did the pinewood derby as well and I was the one who helped them build their cars (I'm the handy one in the family...my husband is all thumbs when it comes to things like this!). We even bought kits for my girls since they were interested as well. They never did win but they had fun trying!

So glad my boys got to participate in all of that when they were young b/c they never would've if they were alive during this time...or, who knows, maybe I would've succumbed to the covid mania if I lived in the States and had it pushed at me 24/7. I'll never know but it does bring to mind something my mom said to me before we moved. She was a very religious person who's life reflected the depths of her faith. She said to me that she thought the reason we were being moved across the ocean and away from all we knew and loved was to save us from something huge that would affect the United States in the future...I mentioned this to my husband at the time and he just laughed and said it seems very heartless that we would be saved and not the rest of my family or our neighbors or friends. I must admit that I was kind of thinking the same thing until I remembered what she had said just recently and thought that maybe this was what we were being saved from? I don't know and won't know till I reach those pearly gates myself but hope that she's looking down on us and praying that we remain strong and safe during these screwed up times...

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A mother's prayers can be very efficacious given her state of grace.

Parents have the responsibility to get their spouses and children into heaven, not their neighbors and friends.

You are fortunate to have had such a mother.

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Exactly! Thank you for that reminder of my responsibility! It is easy to mouth such platitudes but takes courage and fortitude to actually walk that path.

God always seems to know what I need to hear and when I need to hear it...thanks for being His conduit to me today :)

And yes, my mom was a very special person. We lost her last September to a massive stroke/heart attack that I am sure were b/c of the death shots. She was in an assisted care facility b/c her dementia took a turn for the worse after my dad's death two years previously. If I had been in the States at the time I hope I would've moved her in with me instead of sending her to the facility but I have a feeling my siblings (who all lived in the same state as she did) would've have objected b/c I lived so far away from them so they wouldn't be able to see her as frequently as they could... She had to take the shots as a condition of living there so, even though she got Covid and had zero symptoms (go figure) they still gave her all the shots and boosters as required...

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Oct 27, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie

Good story. Good moral. Sadly, Over Here, complacency and ignorance were all that came out of a society only interested in answers to three questions:

* What's for dinner?

* What's the TV going to tell us what to do now?

* How much has my house gone up in value?

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Same in New Hampshire.

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ARE YOU IN CANADA PERCHANCE?

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Oct 27, 2022·edited Oct 27, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie

Beautifully written, yet heartbreaking story Mark. Thank you.

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Oct 27, 2022·edited Oct 27, 2022Author

Thanks, Laura. A lot of readers won't like it b/c it's not "scientific" enough. But to me, the human side of all this is way more important than all the fake science and fake stats.

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I love the essay Mark , I’m so done with stats and mechanism of Covid . We need stories like yours and applications of what this psyops did to peoples lives! ❤️‍🩹

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I completely agree.

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founding

Mark, most of us are here, I believe, because you have a unique, not-so-scientific angle on a topic of interest to all of us that you address in an almost poetic way. One never finishes reading one of your pieces without feeling deeply impacted. Better than science, IMO. Thanks for being a unique voice in this struggle.

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Oct 27, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie

You had a worthy goal, to win the derby, but you were inexperienced and therefore unprepared. You made the best car you could under the circumstances.

The past several years has been one long derby in which the entire world was forced into a broken down, un-drivable, dangerous death trap for a race that never needed to be run.

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The “if it saves even one life” rhetoric was a brilliant invention because it created a false dichotomy between money and lives. Even now, some people still don’t understand that we need a robust economy to produce vital things like food, medicine, and housing. It was never money vs. lives. It was a few highly publicized lives vs. many, many invisible ones.

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100%, Fat. It drove me crazy that people didn't see that.

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Oct 27, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie

I used to collect those cars when I saw them at yard sales. The wonky, weird ones were my favorites as the hands of the parents were obviously not on them. They were so charming and hopeful looking.

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Oct 27, 2022·edited Oct 27, 2022Author

Want a drab-looking green one missing its wheels? I have it on my shelf where a big trophy is supposed to be. I sell to you....cheeep!

Seriously, though, Janet. I was touched by your use of "hopeful." It's true that kids that age are full of hope. Or at least used to be.

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From you, Mark, it would be an honor. IT would be the trophy in my collection. As a Brownie way back in the day, I so wanted to make a car and race it. Mine would be the bestest and most beautiful one there. It would be accessorized with windshields and bumpers and roll down that hill the fastest to beat the boys. I made my own wonky doll house furniture so piece O cake. Lol. Your metaphor was so appropriate to what is happening now.

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Thanks, Janet. It's great that you like to create stuff. I made Christmas presents for each of my kids until each was 10. Dollhouses, toy train tables, baseball bats., paintings. One year, I did a painting for my six year old daughter on a block of wood. She told me, "I wasn't sure Santa was real but I know he is because you (me) couldn't paint something that good."

That old green Derby car is the 1967 layer of a landfill somewhere, probably in New Jersey's Meadowlands.

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lol along with Hoffa 🤭

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🤣🤣🤣🤣

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Lol. Smart girl you got there. 👍🏻🤣.

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Globally, there were & are plenty of useful idiots w/in governments & among the masses but anyone medically trained KNEW they could never contain a respiratory virus; they KNEW there were safe, cheap, effective measures (including Iver & Hydroxy, sure, but also over-the-counter vitamins, exercise, fresh air, sunshine, losing weight!) to combat it in early stages but demonized & suppressed them; they KNEW natural immunity was superior & that the “virus” had been circulating since mid-2019 & thus, herd immunity had already been achieved by March 2020; Faux-Xi admitted to “honorable” lies on multiple occasions on various issues & constantly moving the goalposts; Birx admitted in her book that at the very moment they convinced Trump to shut down for 2 weeks, they were already plotting to keep extending that; they KNEW the “vaccines” were not vaccines at all, that they would not stop transmission & that they had not been properly trialed; they KNEW masks don’t work; they KNEW you don’t quarantine entire populations. What was done to us had nothing to do w/ “saving just 1 life”.

And I might propose that they plotted & planned & coordinated quite well, because the world is in free fall on every front, as planned.

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You are correct Cindi, let's also put most of the blame on our family doctors, who " medically trained" knew better and still perpetuated this farce into a global disaster! At least 99% of them anyway......let's not let them off the hook. So many trusted them into jabbing our precious children. Hopefully parents will learn to do a little critical thinking and take some responsibility for protecting their kids. I fired my doctor and I made sure he knew WHY!!!!

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Absolutely, Porge! In my mind they were included in the “anyone w/ medical training”. I’m so disgusted w/ most of the physicians in my town. Some of them just literally dropped mask mandates in the past few weeks for patients & staff!

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I wish that was happening here in Chicago suburbs, all medical buildings still require mask. Wife works in a hospital has to wear it all day! Just think where we'd be if Doctors just said " NO WAY" we're not doing this crazy shit. No mask, no vaxx, NO PLANDEMIC!!! It would all be over!

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Yeah, but the medical-industrial complex (including most regular doctors & other healthcare providers) already bought in. They can only double down on malevolence; otherwise they’d not only have to admit they were wrong, but - infinitely worse & incriminating - would be to be held to account.

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What did he say when you told him why??

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Hahaha! Didn't say a word!

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😂

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Oct 27, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie

Another wonderful article Mark! Thank you 🙏

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Thanks, Michael. It was a little out there. But those who are looking for stats and charts can read other people's stuff.

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Oct 27, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie

The Coronamaniacs fell under the spell of the propaganda campaign and many are still in a trance. We have a couple friends who ran out and got the new booster as soon as it came out. An extended family member of mine, an Ivy League graduate and valedictorian, jabbed his 2 year old son! There's just no waking some of these people up. And they can't seem to think ahead. Are they planning twice yearly injections for the rest of their lives?! Have they thought how that might affect their bodies? I just don't get how naive (like 8 year olds) these grown adults can be.

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They're just not thinking....like adults.

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It's truly remarkable. I am one of the fortunate ones whose life didn't change all that much throughout all of this. I was already in less of a relationship with my liberal sisters after Trump won in 2016, and their predictable responses to covid, when I gave them facts over a year ago, was to be expected. They both live across country anyway.

Almost the rest of the people I know and hang out with are a lot like me in worldview, but for all of their various reasons-mostly the mandates, I think almost all of them got the jabs. It's something that came up only once. I play Euchre in a card group (look it up, it's a midwest card game) at a brewery with folks I've met over the past couple years every other Thursday.

Two of the guys called off saying they are sick tonight. One of them just texted letting us know he's now actually in the hospital with sepsis. I feel positive that it is his immune system degradation that allowed this to happen, and sadly, at some point, all of them will be having health trials of their own. All of them.

It's so maddening that if they'd all, or almost everybody, had just said no, the killers could not have moved forward.

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That's sad. I hope he recovers. I also hope you are wrong about the rest of them. Because other than my husband, son and granddaughter, everyone I know and love got the jab.

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I hope I'm wrong, too, and maybe in some instances for all of those who took it we love, perhaps it shortens their life at the end of their lives when they are already old age and "we'll never know." In other words, they live to be 83 instead of 89...

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Pinewood Derby is another rigged piece of Americana: The kids rarely work on the cars, with parents paying auto mechanics, body shops and engineers to refine the block of wood so that their (grand)child can make it to pinewood "Worlds" in New York City. The (adult) child gets to bring home a trophy for their hundreds of dollars of investment along with bragging rights about how they whooped the other 8-year olds.

In our local pack the decent families who did this, in shame, refused to even go to the leagues: They realized that it was a cheat. Even more interestingly, some of the families that came to this realization: That the game was rigged, also kept themselves unjabbed even to the point of losing employment rather than take the experimental mRNA Gene Therapy. So maybe there is redemption in pinewood derby, or scouting.

Pre-lockdown, there were many scouting units. On the tail end most of them shut their doors and the one that I have led for years is struggling to recover scouts, meeting space and volunteer adults. The lockdowns broke scouting too. If it were just Pinewood I'd have few regrets, but to lose out on all of the other skills experience, leadership, outdoorsmanship, survival, family and friend memories plus campfires is just one more unkind cut for the US and Canada.

The scouting presidents of the NorthEast US Councils will be meeting in person for the first time in years to discuss the cratering situtation of scouting and try to rebuild. The local president spoke about how he's driving for more inclusion. When I suggested a local hispanic who was an Eagle Scout, just won a county political office, had a young scout and loved the scouting program, it was as if I hadn't spoken. Hetero hispanic male didn't seem diverse enough.

Another hard hit, Mark - though that pinewood box also included the numbers 0-9. Scout on

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The lockdowns have broken many group's rhythms. Terrible.

Yes, I remember the numbers. I put one on.

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My husband helped my sons to craft cars that could win without cheating by engineering within the limits of the written rules. Thus if Pinewood Derby teaches young boys any lesson, it is that boys don't stand a chance of winning against boys whose fathers help engineer the car. It still makes me sad.

I would apply what I learned from Pinewood Derby to say that those who got help to avoid the shots win, easily, and some of those who naively followed the public health rules to get the shot have had the wheels come off and it shouldn't be that way. Life or death shouldn't depend on who you know. It shouldn't depend on who your dad is and what he knows about the shot.

Fewer and fewer people are getting boosted, so more and more people are engineering a winning response to the public health rules.

As for Scouts... when I saw the young girl in a Boy Scout uniform selling kettle corn outside the grocery store last weekend, I said "Is this for Scouts? No."

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Wow, thank you for taking the time to share that.

There's so much to unpack in what you wrote - people like Pinewood like they like watching football games and having tailgates. I guess it's something of a tradition that I find curious but not much more, just the human aspect of being together. (Sad note: We ran Pinewood via remote camera connection a year and a half ago.)

About the shots - even families in the know were torn up by people who "knew more better" because they got their info from (Fill in: Fauci, the hospital, their doctor, the talking heads on TV)

As for girls in scouts, I'm for it: The local girl units (Cubs and Scouts BSA) are beating the pants off the boy units in scout spirit, advancement, participation. Scouts are going back to the origins as Lord Baden Powell wanted kids building skills in the outdoors - though even Scouts BSA is going woke.

Girl Scouts went corporate, and has a large corporate structure that needs to be fed with high revenue, thus all the magazines and cookie sales with the girls getting the crumbs (less than a dollar on a $5 box).

With popcorn (which a lot of troops avoid) the packs are getting 30-37%, the council and national get another third and Trails End gets the last portion for the product and packaging. Not totally sure who pays to ship, though sometimes there are free shipping offers.

Popcorn sells itself because people like to support scouting, and it's a good thing to see kids in uniform working towards goals and learning leadership and communication skills. Scout on!

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Future consequences. It's hard for a lot of people to see that A leads to B leads to C, when they are starting at X and jumping to L and then to Z. Maybe the more logical you are the more you can immediately see future consequences to actions. Or maybe it just takes experience.

I saw the consequences of the covid me-too freakout immediately when Trump banned air travel from Europe. First, it was stupid, since the virus was already in the US. Second, since I worked in logistics I knew this would start a supply-chain nightmare. Third, this was the a knee-jerk reaction (starting at X and jumping to L) for no reason other than an appearance of "doing something."

Like you said - all of the above can only lead to the wheels coming off.

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A Society with too many eight year old minds.

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Oct 27, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie

I was a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout for many many years. The Boy Scouts it was a place where young men could socialize with one another. I know it was a place where many of us and I’ve learned to have a genuine appreciation for other boys and young men as individuals with their own unique talents and abilities and views. In the Boy Scouts I learned that there are always going to be people that are better than you at certain things. I learned that everybody has something to contribute. All of us experience failure and rejection in our life and this is a very important lesson to learn early on

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Brilliant article! I just love reading your stories Mark…such wisdom!

Our 6th (and youngest child) graduated high school in the dreaded 2020 covid-craziness. We weren’t certain there would even be a ceremony as they kept changing the plans. In the end, they had a “modified” graduation ceremony outside with the class divided into two groups by last name (one in the morning, the other in the afternoon). It was similar to other graduations our kids had in the past, but the students (they were only allowed 4 tickets each) and their parents/guests were masked (even outside). There were speeches and music, but there was definitely something missing. Their “shine” seemed to be missing. I think the students were all suffering a type of grief…not because of the “modified” ceremony, but by looking back on that day in March (the 12th to be exact) when they left school for a couple weeks to “flatten the curve” (which also included their spring break) they didn’t realize that they would never return to their high school again. Lockers and desks were left untouched only to have their contents retrieved a few days before graduation. I think that “thing” I sensed that graduation day, was a grief and sorrow of not doing the “Carpe Diem” and leaving so many things (friendships, projects, hopes, and dreams) unfinished or in process.

Our school district (with only 2 high schools) actually had it a lot better than some of the city schools who had “drive-thru” graduations. I’m sure it is a scar that will live with most of the kids who graduated that fateful year. I feel angered and disappointed for these kids, but they will have some crazy stories to tell their grandkids one day!

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Thanks, Carolyn.

I feel a deep sadness when I hear stories like the one you just told. I know this happened on a mass scale. I've written many times about the victimization of kids. So much stolen from them. That time--all time is irreplaceable.

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You’re so right…I think there is going to be a deep collective sadness/grief around the world when people begin to realize all that was stolen from them (irreplaceable time, relationships, health, trust, etc.). I also wanted to tell you that “…and then the wheels fell off…” is absolutely classic and will now be part of my ever-growing vocabulary of awesome phrases!

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I've said in much of the stuff I've written that time is irreplaceable. When people say "We won't let this happen again," it doesn't make me feel the least bit better. The time that young people lost can't ever be gotten back.

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