Face It
Masks work
by Michael Braunstein
On it goes. That’s what happens when the collective conscious is obsessed, rightfully or not. So in this Heartland Healing, we’ll continue as well.
The goal of this week is to inject some observations that may temper thoughts as well as offer actions. Panic, pandemic or pandemonium… regardless, there is nothing at all wrong with thoughtfulness and good, orderly direction. Over a couple million years, humans have learned a lot about living in this biosphere and sometimes technology twisted by hubris can block that knowledge. Let’s take a swing at logic.
It’s a cover up. I don’t mean the conspiracy kind. I mean the actual physical kind. Let’s copy success. Despite claiming “we want to be more like China and South Korea” where cases of corona are tapering off, our “experts” and elected officials insist that wearing a mask in public does not offer protection from acquiring the China virus.
The “experts” are wrong. Actually, they were right before they were wrong. Masks DO work.
Ask yourself this: When was the last time you saw a picture of any public gathering in China or South Korea where people were not wearing a mask? Right. Logic (and research, by the way,) indicates masks do protect from getting sick. If masks don’t work, why in heck do doctors and ER nurses wear them? If I needed a mask and didn’t have one, I’d make one. I’d cut a section of a sweatshirt sleeve into a cylinder and pull that over my nose and mouth when in public. Except going to the bank.
This should really make you scratch your head: A number of peer-reviewed studies support using masks to reduce contagion. To quote the conclusion of just one such study, funded by the CDC, face masks “…should be recommended in crowded settings at the start of an influenza pandemic.”
So if you want to be like China, Japan or South Korea and beat this thing, then be like China, Japan and South Korea. No matter what the “experts” tell you, cover your pie hole.
Nosocomial. When a person is desperately ill and in need of medical intervention, no doubt a trip to the hospital is indicated. It can be life-saving and acute care health workers are everyday heroes. A trip to the hospital can also be the most dangerous trip a sick person can make. For your consideration: Nosocomial disease is a disease acquired in a hospital. One that is of interest in the current pandemic is Ventilator Acquired Pneumonia (VAP). Data shows that VAP strikes 37 percent of patients who are placed on a ventilator when they did not have pneumonia when admitted. It seems to follow the laws of physics: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Some reactions are unintended. Late onset VAP has a mortality of 62 percent. Not good odds. Ventilators can be hazardous to your health. The point? Have complete awareness of the hazards associated with particular health interventions, for yourself and loved ones. There are some viable options aside from ventilators in treating respiratory problems. Learn about them.
Open your mind. This suggestion is going to tweak the hell out of people who identify as “progressives” or “liberals” or members of a particular political party, (which is the same one I belong to).
In my observation, the Fox News talking head named Tucker Carlson knows how to drill down into good information and has a track record of identifying important issues far before most people. And he seems unbound by any particular political bent. I suggest turning to his Fox show for good information.
Despite the reality that Carlson is indeed a conservative in overview, he has no problem criticizing leading conservative figures from President Trump, Lindsey Graham and others on down, sometimes very stringently.
Way back in the beginning of 2020, while other talking heads were fixated on the impeachment, (remember that and the billions of bucks that cost us?), Carlson was already warning about a “novel virus wreaking havoc in a small area of China.”
I absolutely do not recommend the talking heads that surround Carlson’s show, many of whom Carlson has also criticized. And admittedly, Carlson can be annoying and has bad shows where his arrogance is center stage. But there’s good, hard information there if one overcomes one’s own prejudices and opens the mind to receiving it. When the CDC is going against its own research about masks, it becomes obvious that good information is at a premium these days.
Fear not. Fear is more contagious than coronavirus. It’s true. You don’t even have to be in the same room with someone to catch fear. And fear can be as pernicious as the most virulent virus. Fear is the one disease you can completely control by monitoring thoughts. The lesson is that a strong mental immune system can work wonders. That isn’t some “woo woo” theory. It happens to be physiological fact. Fear releases cortisol and chronically depresses the immune system, including the production of lymphocytes. You don’t need fear. Dump it. And mask up.
Be well.
Heartland Healing is a metaphysically based polemic describing alternatives to conventional methods of healing the body, mind and planet. It is provided as information and entertainment, certainly not medical advice. Important to remember and pass on to others: for a weekly dose of Heartland Healing, visit HeartlandHealing.com.
2020.03.24