In the mid-1980s, I routinely rode a 10-speed between Rutgers Law School in Newark, NJ's Central Ward and my Kearny apartment two miles away. I often studied in the law school library until 11 PM. At that hour on one chilly—not cold—late January Friday night, I waited with my bike in front of the school to walk my girlfriend to the NJ Transit Number 76 Hackensack-bound bus on the other side of adjacent Washington Park. She was inside, fetching some books from her locker. As I stood on the sidewalk, three Latino teens, each significantly shorter than I, approached with hoodies suspiciously pulled around most of their faces. They were Proto Maskers before anyone had heard about “droplets.”
May 11, 2023·edited May 11, 2023Liked by Mark Oshinskie
Being born, raised, and spending my whole life in a small rural town in North Maine, I cannot, for the life of me, understand why anyone could voluntarily live in that area. As a former truck driver, I've experienced Jersey City, Newark, Passaic, and Harlem on the north side of the GW.
You probably can't imagine spending a week out in the wilds of North Maine during hunting season.
BUT.....Each to their own.
It's what you're born into and learn to live with.
As for C-19, you and I are in lockstep as to exactly what happened. Early on, a wrenched knee put me home for a week with nothing to do but surf the interwebs. I began to sense that something wasn't quite right about this "killer virus". What wasn't right was how it was being portrayed and how the MSM was reporting on it. Every report was the same. as if the letter networks visited a website before each broadcast to copy and paste the day's stories of doom. The lightbulb went on over my head when I had a conversation with an undertaker friend of mine.
He belongs to a group that had helped with gathering and identifying the remains of those killed in the Twin Towers, and volunteered in NYC to help with the backlog of bodies stacking up in the reefer trailers that were breathlessly reported on for weeks. On day one, he had nothing to do, and he just chalked it up to not having everything up to speed. The next day,....nothing.... which peaked his curiosity. Upon looking around, he found that the cemeteries were closed......due to Coronavirus.
The crematoriums were closed.......due to Coronavirus.
The funeral homes were closed.....due to Coronavirus.
The morgues were open to accept the dead, but had no where to go with them.
On average, about 150 people die in the city every day. Without mortuary services, there was nowhere to go but into the reefer trailers.
Coronavirus 19 is the biggest transfer of wealth in the history of the world, putting the worlds small businesses out, and giving those profits to the Walmart, Lowes, and Home Depot international mega corporations as well as gifting billions and billions to big pharma for mRNA injections that not only didn't work, but, like any medical procedure, carried associated risks. We still have no idea of the long-term effects of these shots, yet our government STILL is encouraging parents to jab their children.
DANG!!! I can tell you one thing about this whole fiasco: I am severely disappointed in my fellow Americans reactions or lack thereof to what probably will be the end of this country as we know it.
I could go on for days, but will end by saying thanks for a different, well written perspective on the world today
Great article, Mark. The people who should have stood up immediately were the medical community / medical scientists, & yet now we find (to exactly no surprise) that entities like ACOG, AMA, AAP, Nursing Board, hospitals, so-called “public health depts, etc were bought & paid for to flog the jab. And any who DID speak truth were derided, discredited, deplatformed.
Which means none of what happened & was forced on us was “foolish” (except on the part of the masses of asses that thoughtlessly bought in), it was malicious & malignant. I’ll never, ever get over what was done the past 3 years. And I fear more to come in multiple formats & aspects & all at once.
"The last three years have shown how far people and governments will go and wreck things for others if those they threaten don’t say “No” to their bullshit. If more people had stood their ground, the “leaders” would have caved and been deservedly humiliated."
Very timely article on this, Leper Emancipation Day. Never, ever, ever let ANYONE who actively went along with and propelled this fake covid emergency to forget. I remind everyone about it, every day and will until the day I die.
As a psychiatrist, I often get asked about what might be causing the "mental health crisis" in our society, especially among young people. The answer is complicated, of course, but I have no doubt that cultural "safetyism" is at least a contributing factor. My husband, an ER physician (and the other half of the "pairodocs") agrees, so I bought him a T-shirt last Christmas that reads: "Safety Third." We laugh every time he wears it, but seriously it's become one of our mottos for life. Thanks for another wonderful essay, Mr. Oshinskie.
Life is a risk. Just leaving your house and returning alive is a gamble. One need not spend a weekend at Vegas, as just surviving is a crapshoot. And I might add, much more edgy than any casino. If you thought about every treacherous variable which you might encounter each day it might be enough to cause you to become agoraphobic. Perhaps, that's why 1.3% of the population suffer from that condition. I bet since the scamdemic, that statistic is a hell of a lot higher now. There's probably folks who've become so phobic they'll never leave their home again. Don't get me wrong, I'm no daredevil and some accidents were painful and even caused a halt in activities deemed too risky and unecessay, but that was "my choice." I got to decide the
cost/benefit ratio of those things I wanted to pursue. It "wasn't mandated." And most importantly, it wasn't coerced or extorted under the guise of health and saving grandma who would've been a lot happier not being terrified and permitted to pursue her daily social activities. But you see, what we witnessed over the last three years had nothing to do with experiencing "real life," it was a contrived reality manufactured by a cast of greedy power-hungry ghouls void of empathy and humanity. Lifeless parasitic creatures who thrive on extracting wealth from the powerless and relish manipulating and controlling billions who they actually despise and fear.
So in effect, humanity was held hostage for three years by techno/fascist billionaire bullies and international financiers who are horrified by the thought of not being able to control the rageful unscrubbed masses.
And this explains, why a cold virus was militarized giving the pretext for all the rest of the craziness. And it's not over yet, coming down the pike are: digital ID'S, and a central bank digital currency attaching personal medical records. It's all in the works. The ghouls haven't given up as they're determined to execute a slew of authoritarian UN initiatives under benevolent sounding names like public health, sustainability, and equity. In other words, this is just a brief respite, the quiet before the dystopian storm...
Oh my Mark, this is wonderfully profound. My oldest son is a Hot Shot for the Forest Service. He and his whole family are mRNA injected and I cannot square the dichotomy of this decision. I hope someday, for my own piece of mind, I will understand what happened to him.
Mark, And you told me you had run out of ideas...pshaw... This is another marvelous piece -- poetic in delivery, profound in content, incisive in conclusion. My head is spinning. Thanks once again. Wish everyone had to read this.
You always bring thoughts full circle and I love it...I am still "educating" people and they keep coming up with the phrase "ounce of critical thinking" as if I have none...I don't think I can do this teaching the facts much longer! Thank you for doing so!
What really angered me about the Covidians was how they demanded everybody else cater to their hypochondria. Howard Hughes just isolated himself. If hiding home kept folks safe from the Big Bad Sniffles, why couldn't they just keep themselves in seclusion? Not as if they cared about others since they frequently wished death on "Covid deniers." Why not just wear Hazmat suits all the time and hide in their basements for the rest of their "lives"? None of us would have had any problems with that.
"During the past three years, the government stole society’s bike. And its dignity. Because foolish, fearful people let them." Great sentence. I do have to give the Critical Theorists credit for their assessment of advertising as a tool to shape society. Last night watching a movie on Tubi, which was released during the 'nonsense,' the commercial breaks contained PSAs with the Incredibles showing how distancing, masking, etc. made you a superhero. I felt the spirit of Marshall McLuhan on my shoulder critiquing the message and how it was shaping society. I don't normally watch media with commercial breaks but I can only imagine the onslaught of the old, very young, and everything in between viewed on a daily basis. No wonder people still wear masks in cars by themselves.
Mark, wonderful writing! One of my favorite poems is “Risks” by Janet Rand. A teacher gave it to me when I was in high school, and I have shared it many times.
A great story with an approach to life much needed. Thanks for sharing. I grew up in a small town in WV. We played outside nonstop. Crime was unheard of. My life was pretty much insulated from crime or corruption, even tho it existed in the newspapers. But my father being much older than my mother was a firm believer in working and saving. He lived through the Great Depression and my mom did as well but as a child. I had 5 siblings so we knew all about hand me downs and eating what was cooked without complaining. When covid hit I was astonished at the over reactions. The bribes and coercions used told me something was wrong. I read and researched, but mainly common sense told me ghetto whole thing was a scam. It just got worse by the month. Then with Biden and the mandates, I truly was disgusted with the corruption and harm being done, especially on children. I refused the jab and now question every vaccine and medication.
how true and I liked the urban commentary. everywhere there is risk. I volunteered at a local emergency room as a high schooler before medical school. that was a good experience for every young person to come in and see auto accidents, beatings, gunshot wounds -- you learn about society.
the first thing you do in any new disease is you study the "natural history" of the disease process. Who is at risk? What's the mortality and morbidity from infection. We knew all this early on with the Diamond Princess cruise ship etc. yet our so called leaders inflated the risks based on China propaganda, hid their involvement in developing the virus, censored writers and people that questioned the narrative - well we could go on forever. Its hard to believe we have become this way in our country.
What gets me is that NOW the same people who mandated the lockdowns, etc. are finding out (surprise, surprise) that the things we warned them about are happening. They talk about learning delays in kids, for example. But never once link them to their policies. When the lockdowns first began I told a friend "this is going to hurt a lot of people, especially the black community, which has spent decades trying to rebuild after the riots of the Sixties. You watch, THERE WILL BE VIOLENCE." Well, we all know what happened in Minneapolis not long afterwards. Some of these places, which had barely recovered from the Sixties, will probably never recover now. Walmart said it was pulling out of Chicago which triggered yet another "mostly peaceful protest", this time in the "tourist" section of Chicago. I used to enjoy visiting there but after seeing the images on the news of people like me being dragged from their vehicles and beaten with no one coming to the rescue, that is one city I am giving a WIDE berth. And I suspect I am not alone in that.
Being born, raised, and spending my whole life in a small rural town in North Maine, I cannot, for the life of me, understand why anyone could voluntarily live in that area. As a former truck driver, I've experienced Jersey City, Newark, Passaic, and Harlem on the north side of the GW.
You probably can't imagine spending a week out in the wilds of North Maine during hunting season.
BUT.....Each to their own.
It's what you're born into and learn to live with.
As for C-19, you and I are in lockstep as to exactly what happened. Early on, a wrenched knee put me home for a week with nothing to do but surf the interwebs. I began to sense that something wasn't quite right about this "killer virus". What wasn't right was how it was being portrayed and how the MSM was reporting on it. Every report was the same. as if the letter networks visited a website before each broadcast to copy and paste the day's stories of doom. The lightbulb went on over my head when I had a conversation with an undertaker friend of mine.
He belongs to a group that had helped with gathering and identifying the remains of those killed in the Twin Towers, and volunteered in NYC to help with the backlog of bodies stacking up in the reefer trailers that were breathlessly reported on for weeks. On day one, he had nothing to do, and he just chalked it up to not having everything up to speed. The next day,....nothing.... which peaked his curiosity. Upon looking around, he found that the cemeteries were closed......due to Coronavirus.
The crematoriums were closed.......due to Coronavirus.
The funeral homes were closed.....due to Coronavirus.
The morgues were open to accept the dead, but had no where to go with them.
On average, about 150 people die in the city every day. Without mortuary services, there was nowhere to go but into the reefer trailers.
Coronavirus 19 is the biggest transfer of wealth in the history of the world, putting the worlds small businesses out, and giving those profits to the Walmart, Lowes, and Home Depot international mega corporations as well as gifting billions and billions to big pharma for mRNA injections that not only didn't work, but, like any medical procedure, carried associated risks. We still have no idea of the long-term effects of these shots, yet our government STILL is encouraging parents to jab their children.
DANG!!! I can tell you one thing about this whole fiasco: I am severely disappointed in my fellow Americans reactions or lack thereof to what probably will be the end of this country as we know it.
I could go on for days, but will end by saying thanks for a different, well written perspective on the world today
A wonderful read! Your unintended adventures/encounters have molded you into a wise man. Thank you!
Great article, Mark. The people who should have stood up immediately were the medical community / medical scientists, & yet now we find (to exactly no surprise) that entities like ACOG, AMA, AAP, Nursing Board, hospitals, so-called “public health depts, etc were bought & paid for to flog the jab. And any who DID speak truth were derided, discredited, deplatformed.
Which means none of what happened & was forced on us was “foolish” (except on the part of the masses of asses that thoughtlessly bought in), it was malicious & malignant. I’ll never, ever get over what was done the past 3 years. And I fear more to come in multiple formats & aspects & all at once.
"The last three years have shown how far people and governments will go and wreck things for others if those they threaten don’t say “No” to their bullshit. If more people had stood their ground, the “leaders” would have caved and been deservedly humiliated."
Very timely article on this, Leper Emancipation Day. Never, ever, ever let ANYONE who actively went along with and propelled this fake covid emergency to forget. I remind everyone about it, every day and will until the day I die.
https://narrowpath.substack.com/p/happy-leper-emancipation-day/comments
Another fabulous, very well written essay about life. Thank you.
As a psychiatrist, I often get asked about what might be causing the "mental health crisis" in our society, especially among young people. The answer is complicated, of course, but I have no doubt that cultural "safetyism" is at least a contributing factor. My husband, an ER physician (and the other half of the "pairodocs") agrees, so I bought him a T-shirt last Christmas that reads: "Safety Third." We laugh every time he wears it, but seriously it's become one of our mottos for life. Thanks for another wonderful essay, Mr. Oshinskie.
Life is a risk. Just leaving your house and returning alive is a gamble. One need not spend a weekend at Vegas, as just surviving is a crapshoot. And I might add, much more edgy than any casino. If you thought about every treacherous variable which you might encounter each day it might be enough to cause you to become agoraphobic. Perhaps, that's why 1.3% of the population suffer from that condition. I bet since the scamdemic, that statistic is a hell of a lot higher now. There's probably folks who've become so phobic they'll never leave their home again. Don't get me wrong, I'm no daredevil and some accidents were painful and even caused a halt in activities deemed too risky and unecessay, but that was "my choice." I got to decide the
cost/benefit ratio of those things I wanted to pursue. It "wasn't mandated." And most importantly, it wasn't coerced or extorted under the guise of health and saving grandma who would've been a lot happier not being terrified and permitted to pursue her daily social activities. But you see, what we witnessed over the last three years had nothing to do with experiencing "real life," it was a contrived reality manufactured by a cast of greedy power-hungry ghouls void of empathy and humanity. Lifeless parasitic creatures who thrive on extracting wealth from the powerless and relish manipulating and controlling billions who they actually despise and fear.
So in effect, humanity was held hostage for three years by techno/fascist billionaire bullies and international financiers who are horrified by the thought of not being able to control the rageful unscrubbed masses.
And this explains, why a cold virus was militarized giving the pretext for all the rest of the craziness. And it's not over yet, coming down the pike are: digital ID'S, and a central bank digital currency attaching personal medical records. It's all in the works. The ghouls haven't given up as they're determined to execute a slew of authoritarian UN initiatives under benevolent sounding names like public health, sustainability, and equity. In other words, this is just a brief respite, the quiet before the dystopian storm...
Oh my Mark, this is wonderfully profound. My oldest son is a Hot Shot for the Forest Service. He and his whole family are mRNA injected and I cannot square the dichotomy of this decision. I hope someday, for my own piece of mind, I will understand what happened to him.
Mark, And you told me you had run out of ideas...pshaw... This is another marvelous piece -- poetic in delivery, profound in content, incisive in conclusion. My head is spinning. Thanks once again. Wish everyone had to read this.
You always bring thoughts full circle and I love it...I am still "educating" people and they keep coming up with the phrase "ounce of critical thinking" as if I have none...I don't think I can do this teaching the facts much longer! Thank you for doing so!
What really angered me about the Covidians was how they demanded everybody else cater to their hypochondria. Howard Hughes just isolated himself. If hiding home kept folks safe from the Big Bad Sniffles, why couldn't they just keep themselves in seclusion? Not as if they cared about others since they frequently wished death on "Covid deniers." Why not just wear Hazmat suits all the time and hide in their basements for the rest of their "lives"? None of us would have had any problems with that.
"During the past three years, the government stole society’s bike. And its dignity. Because foolish, fearful people let them." Great sentence. I do have to give the Critical Theorists credit for their assessment of advertising as a tool to shape society. Last night watching a movie on Tubi, which was released during the 'nonsense,' the commercial breaks contained PSAs with the Incredibles showing how distancing, masking, etc. made you a superhero. I felt the spirit of Marshall McLuhan on my shoulder critiquing the message and how it was shaping society. I don't normally watch media with commercial breaks but I can only imagine the onslaught of the old, very young, and everything in between viewed on a daily basis. No wonder people still wear masks in cars by themselves.
Mark, wonderful writing! One of my favorite poems is “Risks” by Janet Rand. A teacher gave it to me when I was in high school, and I have shared it many times.
https://www.jwjonline.net/risks
A great story with an approach to life much needed. Thanks for sharing. I grew up in a small town in WV. We played outside nonstop. Crime was unheard of. My life was pretty much insulated from crime or corruption, even tho it existed in the newspapers. But my father being much older than my mother was a firm believer in working and saving. He lived through the Great Depression and my mom did as well but as a child. I had 5 siblings so we knew all about hand me downs and eating what was cooked without complaining. When covid hit I was astonished at the over reactions. The bribes and coercions used told me something was wrong. I read and researched, but mainly common sense told me ghetto whole thing was a scam. It just got worse by the month. Then with Biden and the mandates, I truly was disgusted with the corruption and harm being done, especially on children. I refused the jab and now question every vaccine and medication.
how true and I liked the urban commentary. everywhere there is risk. I volunteered at a local emergency room as a high schooler before medical school. that was a good experience for every young person to come in and see auto accidents, beatings, gunshot wounds -- you learn about society.
the first thing you do in any new disease is you study the "natural history" of the disease process. Who is at risk? What's the mortality and morbidity from infection. We knew all this early on with the Diamond Princess cruise ship etc. yet our so called leaders inflated the risks based on China propaganda, hid their involvement in developing the virus, censored writers and people that questioned the narrative - well we could go on forever. Its hard to believe we have become this way in our country.
What gets me is that NOW the same people who mandated the lockdowns, etc. are finding out (surprise, surprise) that the things we warned them about are happening. They talk about learning delays in kids, for example. But never once link them to their policies. When the lockdowns first began I told a friend "this is going to hurt a lot of people, especially the black community, which has spent decades trying to rebuild after the riots of the Sixties. You watch, THERE WILL BE VIOLENCE." Well, we all know what happened in Minneapolis not long afterwards. Some of these places, which had barely recovered from the Sixties, will probably never recover now. Walmart said it was pulling out of Chicago which triggered yet another "mostly peaceful protest", this time in the "tourist" section of Chicago. I used to enjoy visiting there but after seeing the images on the news of people like me being dragged from their vehicles and beaten with no one coming to the rescue, that is one city I am giving a WIDE berth. And I suspect I am not alone in that.