1

I don't know anybody with polio.

Back in the fifties, before parents became their children's best friends, when if you refused to toe the line you were hit, almost all of us were abused children by today's standards, we were inundated with mantras, repeated over and over again, what to do, what not to, what to watch out for... These were not meditation mantras, that concept hadn't even flown on the radar yet, these were akin to warnings, our parents didn't want us subjected to the horrors of what came before.

Like polio.

Little kids notice all irregularities, all imperfections, all differences. That person with the foreign accent? They were a Holocaust survivor, if you looked, but don't let them catch you doing so, you could see the numbers tattooed on their arm. This was back when people still believed the Holocaust happened and tattoos were anathema, on drunken sailors who'd had a wild night out. Despite letting us leave the house without supervision, our parents wanted us to be safe. There was never any question about this. And the government had the last word. No one questioned health, science... As a matter of fact JFK had us all exercising, it was a new world and we youngsters were going to leave our mark!

Now when you're a little kid there's nothing you hate more than an injection. They call it a "jab" in the U.K., but over here they were always referred to as a "shot." And you'd refuse to go for your annual checkup if you were going to get one. At least I did, I'd place my feet firmly on the floor, I'd start to cry, I'd have to be dragged and...I wondered when the shots would stop, they always seemed to have a new one. But the Sabin vaccine was oral.

At this point I've got no fear of needles, I've been poked so many times I got over it. The truth is back in '76 I got mononucleosis, and had my blood drawn constantly, you get to the point where it's no big thing. I still get my blood drawn on a regular basis, but now it's for leukemia as opposed to mononucleosis, and sometimes the phlebotomist misses the vein, but it's never too terrible. When my younger sister Wendy got shots, they froze your arm, they sprayed it. It didn't make any sense to me that it worked, maybe it was all psychological, but no one ultimately refused their shots... You needed that tetanus booster, what if you stepped on a rusty nail? Well, today's supervised kids probably never will, but the free range children of the past, we had to be protected from the ills of the world.

But not any longer.

So in third grade word spread that we were gonna get the polio vaccine. This didn't make sense to me, I'd already gotten the shot at the doctor, there was no need to get it again. But no one would listen to me, so I lined up and like everybody else I swallowed a plastic spoonful of pinkish liquid and I was covered. Didn't make sense to me, that something you drank could protect you, but it had no side effects, it was painless, and no one didn't take it. As a matter of fact, it was macho to take it, you didn't want to refuse. But today macho equates with bullying and parents believe they can protect their children from every negative consequence, but the truth is bad behavior has just gone underground, it hasn't gone away.

2

The vaccine didn't work for me, I've got no antibodies.

The truth is I take Rituxan, and that's the one drug that interferes with the efficacy of the vaccine. Rituxan wipes out all your B-cells, for six months, and it's your B-cells that create antibodies. There's a 36 times reduction in the efficacy of the vaccine for people who take Rituxan. I was tested, more than once, I've got none, antibodies that is. Maybe I've got some T-cell protection, but no one knows for sure, so I'm still home, at this point it's been over a year.

Now maybe I'll have B-cells by July 1st. Rituxan is strong for six months and then fades, but not all at once, it could take two years. As for being vaccinated a second time...no one knows if this is a reasonable route. As a matter of fact, nobody knows much, and I've talked to all the experts. As for the pemphigus foliaceus, the skin condition that requires the Rituxan, it makes it easier to get Covid-19 and harder to get over it. So, I don't want to get it. You might think you'll recover, no big deal, but I know too many people who've died, I'm playing it safe.

Now Regeneron, the company that produces those antibodies that helped save Trump, says they now can be used preventively. Yes, they've tested it, it's given via injection. But they haven't tested it with immune-compromised individuals, and there's a shortage of the drug anyway, never mind having it approved for this use.

So I'm left waiting.

Now everybody could wear a mask and Covid-19 would be wiped out in about a month. But masks are now an issue of freedom, that state senator in Alaska wouldn't even wear one, and is now banned from the airline.

Or, everybody could get vaccinated.

Trump did, get vaccinated that is, but he won't campaign for all his minions to do so.

So...

You can deny the existence of Covid-19, live your life willy-nilly and get it and be deathly sick like Ted Nugent.

Or you could up your odds of survival by getting a vaccine. Who wouldn't take this route?

Oh, all the individuals smarter than the scientists. Even worse, they've all got some "doctor" or website supporting their position. Forget that pregnant women have gotten the vaccine, those with cancer too, these healthy individuals are convinced they're at risk and they won't let anything invade their body. But if they get the virus, they'll be trying to use all their connections to get the Regeneron antibodies. But we no longer care about the individual in America, we don't care if you die. But the truth is you might, and the party, your tribe, will march on without you.

3

West Virginia is paying young people to get vaccinated, a hundred bucks. Hopefully this will help, the governor says this is cheaper than continuing to test, but most people aren't concerned with the math, we live in a country where how you feel is the most important thing, damn facts.

So how did masks and vaccines become a political issue anyway?

You want to argue about taxation, I get it, you've got a different opinion. But if we're trying to save your life and you refuse to do so? How do you argue with that?

And in today's world you can't change anybody's mind. Confront them with facts and they just dig in deeper. Then again, everybody's scared. And they think there's no one to protect them, so they cling to their tribe, it feels better to be part of a group.

And today's news is all about the census, no one can fathom why birth rates have fallen. IT'S SIMPLE! It's too damn expensive to raise a kid these days! Now if you know economics, a country can only continue to thrive if it replenishes its population at a relatively high rate. If not, the country turns into Japan, supporting oldsters and in stasis economically. In other words, if there are fewer births, the people with all the money, the billionaires, will make less. But they're scared just like the anti-vaxxers, they want to hold on to the money they've got. Everybody's cowering under the umbrella, waiting for a deluge every day. Is that any way to live?

Not that you can live on your emotions and instincts alone. Apple is building a campus in North Carolina, but the truth is to get a job there, one of thousands, you need a degree, which eliminates so many, who rail against the system in the name of protecting their freedom.

We've got to get everybody in the nation vaccinated. Hell, look at me, I've got cancer and pemphigus and I survived the shots easily with no permanent side effects. But it's the healthy they're going to negatively impact, kill... What happened to science?

As for your freedom...what if it affects everybody else, what if it affects me?

I just can't understand it. I lined up for that Sabin vaccine, polio was eradicated in my generation. If it weren't for the drug Gleevec, a medical breakthrough, I'd be dead right now. And if I were still alive, the itching from my skin condition would have me on the brink of suicide, but Rituxan takes care of that.

The truth is you can refuse to get shots, you can refuse to go to the doctor, and you know what is going to happen? YOU'RE GONNA DIE!

Beth Stern, Howard's wife, is as skinny as they come, but she's on the verge of diabetes, based on her diet. She wouldn't have known this if she didn't go to the doctor and get a blood workup. Beth has the ability to adjust her behavior, but if you're ignorant, like Warren Zevon, refuse to see the doctor, you're gonna have a very short lifespan, the kind they used to have decades ago, before all the medical breakthroughs. Sure, someone might live to ninety, but it would be a very rare occurrence, unlike today.

Somehow authority has been undermined, along with science. If you know a lot you're to be laughed at. And the worst thing is to hang it out alone, you must be a member of the group or you'll be excoriated.

And the truth is online you can find a website to defend any position, and probably a whacko professional too. This is how we got into this climate science mess. They can find some expert who says change is not happening so you must ignore the plethora of those who say it is!

The truth is there's no center, no backbone to America anymore. No shared beliefs. We can't come together on anything, because somehow that's sacrificing, even if it's to your benefit.

I know I'm not gonna change any minds, the people who need to wake up probably aren't even reading this. But I've lived through history, I've seen the benefit of vaccines. As for vaccines causing autism...one ridiculous doctor fakes results and then Jenny McCarthy refuses to accept the truth so even people with brains take her side?

Kennedy was all about the best and the brightest.

Now it's about the worst and the dumbest.

What a country.

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