Some WOW Observations ~ From Our Mainstream Media

The WOW in the title refers to “writers on writing”. Like most others who can read, I have followed the media drill on the covid-19 virus, and have been dutifully following the rules.

But given the propensity for writing, and the practice of writing that is natural to some of us – there are certain observations I have made that don’t seem fair to the reader, or the general public.

Many of the news titles are based on projections that stem from computer modelling. These models are based upon different scenarios and mathematical algorithms. Therefore the projections are purely hypothetical, yet they are portrayed as dire surges with numbers being quoted as scientific fact. I believe this is misleading, and although it may be based on certain evidence, they do not have all the information and could easily be wrong.

There was a news title about New York City digging mass graves. That may be true, but they did not include the history of the potter’s field on Hart Island in the Bronx. It has been the location for digging mass graves since the 1970’s or earlier. It is estimated that a million or more people have been buried there over the past forty or fifty years. So why are we led to believe this is a new and alarming revelation?

The other thing about this virus saturation in the media, and daily announcements of all the new rules we must follow – is that we see some disturbing traits. There is much virtue signalling and holier-than-thou positioning, along with a tip line for reporting those who are not following the rules.

Some people comment on news articles, taking the stance that those who go out to a beach, trail or park – should be treated with draconian measures, and viewed no differently than murderers and thieves. They seem to think people should be charged, arrested, jailed, face public humiliation, and huge fines – according to those who apparently have greater morality and social distancing virtues. It’s pretty disheartening to see yellow crime scene tape around every playground.

It is amazing to see how many people quickly become autocratic, authoritarian, intolerant, and will advocate for a complete loss of basic and fundamental freedoms, simply based on what they have read in the media over the past couple of months. For most of us, when we look out our windows each morning, it is similar to last spring, and the spring before that one.

We would not even know we are in a crisis, if not for the daily dose of it all in the media. I find the affront to freedom of thought, belief, and opinion to be the most nullifying of all – as it is meant to be.

To my way of thinking, we live with, and are surrounded by viruses, bacteria and various pathogens whether we like it or not. We maintain a certain level of hygiene and care to protect ourselves. They live on our skin, in our guts, mouths, saliva, nasal passages; as well as in the atmosphere and on every surface, both indoors and outdoors. We co-exist with bacteria, viruses, and various other particles and pathogens. There is no getting around that fact.

For instance, when a person gets a third degree burn over a large percentage of their body – it is certain they will get infected, because of the loss of protective barrier, and the fact the skin has pathogens on it. One of the main reasons our physical bodies will begin to decompose so quickly after death is due to the presence of these bacteria and viruses.

Another example of exposure to bugs – is to watch how babies put absolutely everything into their mouths. When they start teething and crawling, they will pick up any object and gnaw on it. When you think of how many other kids have played with the items, or where it has been, germs are inevitable. Babies put things in their mouths that might have been in the yard, the dog’s mouth, the floor of the house or car – and in many cases, who knows what germs are on those things? Yet babies seldom get infections in the first months of life, due to the natural high immunity they have, as well as the antibodies and protection they get from breast milk, especially the colostrum.

The other factor is that the coronavirus is from a large family of viruses, to include the common cold. To me that means the testing could easily fail to identify a specific strain of coronavirus – making it seem far more common than it really is. This is especially so if they do testing in a non laboratory setting, without the controls in place that are supposed to be a part of lab testing.

I do not discount the human toll this virus has taken. But it does not make sense to plunge the country, and entire world into economic catastrophe. The loss of fundamental freedoms has become a shocking reality. These losses have far more dire consequences for the healthy population, which is by far the large majority of us – than the fact the virus is taking the lives of 1-2% of a declining and ailing part of the population. A percentage of those people would have died anyway. It is very common for a weak, elderly person to get pneumonia. That is nothing new. But in the past, every long term care death was not reported in the media like it is now.

One would think that if the media, and all the government experts really did care about keeping people safe and healthy – they would include more information about keeping the immune system healthy. The immune system is the central most important factor in preventing illness of all sorts. Yet, there are very few articles about the immune system, and all the things we can do to help ourselves in that regard.

A virus is invisible to the naked eye. We are being consumed by the media spin on what appears to be a very opportunistic virus. More than half the deaths in Canada have been in long term care facilities. This comes as no surprise to me as these facilities have been underfunded, lacking in advocacy and oversight, and subject to multiple abuses for many years. Plus it is a fact of life that people in long term care facilities will die. People do not go there to recover.

Although it seems the media is full of polarity and hyperbole – so much at times that it seems over the top; I learn more about CBC from the comments that are disabled, the truthful ones especially. If a comment they do not favour gets too many likes, they will demote the comment and take away the likes so it is no longer top ranking. I find that to be quite tacky for a government funded media organization like CBC.

For instance I wrote this comment early in the morning on April 14th: “Does the media realize they have reached an over the top saturation point with this virus reporting? People are rapidly losing interest and starting to go about their lives. Whew!”

At first the comment was yellow flagged and was “awaiting moderation” and by 10:30 am it had the most likes. By 11:00 am they dropped off more than half the likes, even though they still showed in the side bar. I find that to be interesting, and question why they would do that, as it does seem to be dishonest. They only want the opinions that suit their agenda.

One day, I would like to put together a list of legitimate comments or questions I have made that were yellow flagged and then red flagged, which translates to “content disabled”. Even when comments do not defy any of the community guidelines, they still disable them. Since CBC is funded by the Canadian government – they are reporting with a bias. That much is obvious to me now, especially with what they will, and will not allow.

It is almost like the next step to social distancing and following all the new rules – one must also agree with everything the media tells us. It is not okay to question things, to bring up the history or corruption of the World Health Organization, or to question how they expect people to adhere to these stringent and often nonsensical rules.

Why is it okay to peddle and promote hydroxychloroquine, but you cannot promote oregano oil? This includes providing links to University and medical research on the efficacy of oregano oil. Who decides what is misinformation and what is truth? Don’t we get to filter it, and try to figure it out for ourselves any longer? We have heard so much contradictory information from experts and top doctors – it’s making our collective heads spin.

There are many strange things about the media reporting. Clearly there is a portrayal of fear to be executed. To top it off, there are large painted murals of the faces of these top docs. To see this on shuttered streets, looking like the advancement of communism and the “cult of personality” makes it very eerie, given the circumstances we have been plunged into.

How does one woman (known for her bad art) gain widespread press coverage for making limited edition T-shirts depicting splotched faces of top doctors? Another news article was going on and on about the designer scarves one of the top doctors wears. Why insert the celebrity fashion promo, when the topic is about a virus? It’s like they are the new Mick Jagger – virus rock stars on the cover of the Rolling Stones. I would far rather listen to the Rolling Stones.

Interestingly, Greta Thunberg is also now being promoted as a fashion idol. The media seems bent on keeping certain people in the limelight. In the past, the media covered a wide variety of topics. But now, when they want to push something, they literally hammer it home.

Where is all the propaganda coming from? The problem with swinging from extreme to extreme – is that both extremes are rife with propaganda, indoctrination, deception, elitism, supreme authority, dominance and control. Fascism and communism will eventually merge – if they swing to the extreme ends of the political spectrums.

My sense is that people just want some semblance of normalcy, which involves getting out in the sunshine. Every spring, when the days get longer and the daffodils, crocuses, cherry and apple blossoms burst out – so do people. There is nothing like fresh air and exercise with songbirds and the smell of blossoms.

We know that we are supposed to stay six feet apart. But every day we are soaked with more dire projections and all kinds of unproven – and definitely invisible aspects of this virus. Okay, we heard them, but how long can this go on? We cannot expect to go against the basics of human nature, anymore than we can stop the outdoor nature from blooming and bursting out.

The definition of faith is to believe in things unseen. That means we must have faith in order to believe everything we hear and read about this virus. Personally – I don’t put my faith in a virus. Whatever the agenda is surrounding this virus – I do have faith in the fact that good can overcome evil.

Human nature is what it is, and many people seek wholesome activities and socialization. How can we be punished for that? Truth and the common good does rise to the surface eventually, because people do not like to be duped or controlled.

Nothing can block out the sight of the sun for too long. People will go on living, as people have done since the beginning of time. We cannot count on the government to take care of us. Look what has happened to the long term care facilities. Look at the government history with the Aboriginal people.

We do need governance – but they do not have a good track record, especially when it comes to total control surrounding our daily lives, and their reasons for doing so. They make multiple blunders.

This evening I posted another comment on the CBC daily virus article. It is yellow flagged and may go to the content disabled bin, but nevertheless, here it is:

“This pandemic brings out the irrational fear of death. Canada rates fairly high on the longevity scale – averaging 80 years for males and 84 years for females. It is appalling to mistreat, neglect and dehumanize senior citizens in LTC facilities. The lack of oversight is not the fault of the general population. We do need to come to terms with death and accept it, especially if it is at the end of a life span. From working as an RN, I can honestly say, some things are worse than death.”

Let’s hope we can concentrate on staying healthy, on avoiding being pious, judgemental and punitive, on using common sense, on maintaining a certain amount of free will, joy de vivre – and now more than ever, to value each day and treat each other with loving care and gratitude.

Copyright Valerie J. Hayes and Quiet West Vintage (2020). Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author/owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Valerie J. Hayes and Quiet West Vintage with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.