Beauty

Posted on by Thor

The Daily Mail ran this inane headline: “Unattractive people are more likely to keep wearing masks in the post-COVID era study suggests.” The study was published in Frontiers in Psychology. The study theorized that narcissists who consider themselves attractive are less likely to wear a mask because the mask makes it more difficult for them to make a good impression to others. The study was based on 244 people interviewing for jobs. It was discovered that narcissist felt they would appear less attractive. The best way they felt to get a job was to spread the virus. The study did not account for politics of the participants.

I have found quite the opposite to be true. Beautiful people are more likely to wear masks because they care about others. The selfish and narcissistic are the ones who care about no one but themselves. That level of mask less ugliness is impossible to cover with make up.

Another study done more than a year ago at Cardiff University, found that masks make people appear more attractive since they focus attention on the eyes. The first part of the research was carried out in February 2021 by which time the much of the population had become used to wearing masks. Forty-three women were asked to rate on a scale of one to 10 the attractiveness of men with and without a mask. Masked men were found to be more attractive.

The World Health Organization (WHO) continues to recommend the use of masks given the current spread of the COVID-19 globally. Masks should be used as part of a comprehensive strategy of measures to suppress transmission and save lives.

Beautiful people continue to wear masks.

This is a wildfire of the unburnt!

Posted on by Thor

Ignoring COVID does not make it go away. The World Health Organization (WHO) pointed out that, although everyone is tired of hearing about COVID-19 and its restrictions, “we need to face an undeniable fact…the virus is still very much present among us”. Engaging in risky behavior sends the message that COVID isn’t really their problem, that they don’t see a reason to modify their behavior to mitigate risk. To see this behavior just watch the State of the Union Address in which the only member of Congress to wear a mask was Bernie Sanders. The president giving his speech kept coughing.

People feel helpless and out of control. Their only coping mechanism is to pretest the pandemic does not exist. Complacency, denial and ignorance take over for rational thought. People do not want to live in fear, so they ignore the source of the feat rather than facing the fear. The risk has not magically disappeared, they have chosen to ignore the risk. Ignorance is bliss. Ignorance is also death.

 

Off the Cliff

Posted on by Thor

The World Health Organization (WHO) continues to recommend the use of masks by the public in specific situations, and this update recommends their use irrespective of the local epidemiological situation, given the current spread of the COVID-19 globally. Masks are recommended following a recent exposure to COVID-19, when someone has or suspects they have COVID-19, when someone is at high-risk of severe COVID-19, and for anyone in a crowded, enclosed, or poorly ventilated space.

The drive to “end the pandemic” began almost as soon as the pandemic arrived in the U.S. The 45th president downplayed the severity of the pandemic knowing full well that the virus was airborne. Joe Biden has not done any better, proclaiming that the pandemic was over in one TV interview. The economy is always more important than public health.

COVID is airborne. Airborne transmission is different from droplets, which are large particles containing the virus, expelled when you speak, cough, sneeze, etc. Droplets are heavy enough that they will eventually drop to the ground or nearby surfaces, meaning it’s relatively easy to contain: any physical barrier, like a cloth mask or plexiglass barrier might stop the spread. However an airborne virus can remain airborne for much longer. If someone is smoking in a closed room, you can small the smoke from across the room and even further away. I have always maintained a physical distance of 22 feet from others. If I hear or see someone approaching, my mask is always slipped into place.

A quality N-95 mask is needed to stop the virus if you are around others. The problem is the entire country has been groomed to believe the pandemic is over. The pandemic is not over since over 300 people continue to die every day in America. The horror of what is happening in China may never be fully reported. The tired masses have been groomed  for a mass infection. Their desire to return to normal while abandoning all masking, means the county has already driven the car off the cliff.

This is not the end of the pandemic but the end of the beginning of the pandemic.

COVID Fight or Flight

Posted on by Thor

We have chosen flight over fight. Nations can choose to fight the war on COVID-19 by working together to vaccinate everyone in every nation or they can choose to cancel flights to nations that report new mutations.

As the virus spreads it will continue to mutate thus threatening every nation. Only 55% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Only 6% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose. That leaves plenty of unvaccinated people for the virus to infect and kill.

Nations that feel they are safe because they are offering booster jabs are misguided. The virus is evolving faster that the global distribution of vaccines. The World Health Organization set a target for all countries to vaccinate 10% of their populations by the end of September 2021. 56 countries effectively excluded from the global vaccine marketplace were not able to reach this target, most of them in Africa. It is not rocket science therefor to guess that new mutations would crop up in Africa.

Most manufacturers have largely spurned the opportunities to share technology and know-how and public health-oriented licensing. The global failure to share vaccines equitably is taking its toll on some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. New variants of concern mean that the risks of infection have increased in all countries for people who are not yet protected by vaccination.

When a hot spot emerges they should be bombed with huge supplies of vaccines, but instead borders are shut down and trade stops.

Omicron

Posted on by Thor

A new variant has shown up in South Africa and the World Health Organization (WHO) has labeled it Omicron. This variant has been spreading faster than the Delta variant which Europe, Northern American states and the world in it’s grip.

“Initially it looked like some cluster outbreaks, but from yesterday, the indication came from our scientists from the Network of Genomic Surveillance that they were observing a new variant,” Minister of Health Joe Phaahla said, stressing that it is currently unclear where the variant first emerged.

Initially given the number, B.1.1.529, it was rumored that t might be called Nu, the 13th letter in the Greek alphabet but they called it instead Omicron after the 15th letter of the Greek Alphabet. I had already started my painting of Gnu’s, which are like wildebeests,  stampeding, and since I was close to finishing I stayed the course.

Omicron has an unusually high number of mutations, with more than 30 in the key spike protein. It is believed that it is infecting the vaccinated as well as the unvacinated. Only about 21% of the population has gotten the jab. Many scientists have been warning that there should be a concerted effort to vaccinate the entire population of the world, but rich countries have instead been focused on providing third booster shots with the vaccines that they have hoarded for their own populations. By hoarding vaccines new mutations are able to develop in countries where much of the population is unprotected. Even so, half of the population in countries like America have refused to get vaccinated.

UK officials announced that six African countries will be added to England’s travel “red list” after the UK Health Security Agency flagged concern over the variant.The United States as always is slow to react. The United States will restrict travel from South Africa and neighboring countries effective November 29, 2021, a senior Biden administration official said. With air travel open for several more days over the Thanksgiving holiday it is very likely the Omicron virus has already arrived in America. The financial markets have begun to tumble, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 2.5%, its worst day since late October 2020.

Data Massacre

Posted on by Thor

The situation in India continues to get worse. Crematories can not keep up with the dead. A dog crematorium is being converted into a crematorium for humans to try and keep up with the deaths.

Families fight for the right to cremate their loved ones while people gasp for breath outside completely full hospitals. They are turned away to die at home or on the street. One person put his dying mother on the street because he did not want to care for her. Doctors are literally being beaten by people frustrated that their loved ones have died.

On April 28, 2021 there were 360,960 cases of COVID-19 reported in India. That number is likely very low since the country has lagged in it’s ability to test for the virus. Reporters on the ground found crematories that had over 100 cremations each day. However the death reports for that area were far less that that, making it clear that COVID-19 related deaths are being under reported. Families are being forced to bury their dead in their back yards.

Less than three months ago Prime Minister Narendra Modi declaration of victory over Covid-19. The first wave of the virus wasn’t as bad as expected. India is the largest manufacturer of vaccines and they began to send vaccines to other countries while India’s vaccine distribution to citizens lagged. Emergency field hospitals which had been build during the first wave were dismantled. Over 600,000  Hindus gathered on the Ganges River for Kumbh Mela, another superspreader event. Like our former president, Modi began holding massive political rallies which were most certainly superspreader events. Such rallies were being held as recently as two days ago. It is no surprise that countries with arrogant Narcissistic and science denying leaders are having the worst outbreaks of COVID-19. Case numbers surged through April 2021. The official death toll for April 28, 2021 was 3,645 but that number could be half of the actual daily death toll.  Overall the country surpassed 200,000 deaths.

The national vice-president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Dr. Navjot Dahiya said, “The scarcity of medical oxygen has become the reason for the death of many patients in every part of the country against the fact that several projects for installing the oxygen are still pending with the Union government for clearance, but no heed was given to such an important need by the Modi government.” People are dying because they can not find an $80 oxygen cylinder. When there was an oxygen leak at a hospital 22 patients died gasping for air. India declined assistance offered by the United Nations of its integrated supply chain for COVID-19-related material. The second wave is a result of incompetence and arrogance.

Crates of ventilators and oxygen concentrators from the UK arrived at an airport in the Indian capital of New Delhi on April 27, 2021. A shipment of medical equipment from Germany is also set to to be airlifted to India in the coming days. The European Commission (EU) which includes, Ireland, Belgium, Romania, Luxembourg, Portugal and Sweden will be sending a shipment that includes oxygen concentrators and ventilators. The World Health Organization (WHO) is also providing critical equipment and supplies to India. Several other nations, including the U.S., Israel and Pakistan have also pledged to send medical supplies. For those suffering and dying today this may be too little too late.