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How to interact with people in an uncertain world

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7 minute read

I want to propose three general ground rules for interacting with people right now.

The rules are: (1) When you make plans, make them very specific, and avoid changing them at the last minute. (2) Defer to the most cautious person in your presence. (3) Do not take it personally if someone is more cautious than you.
To elaborate, with examples I made up:
(1) Be very detailed about any plans you make to see other people. If you invite friends over to sit in your driveway and have a drink, don’t suggest as people arrive that you sit on the back deck instead. Among your friends might be someone intending to give herself 10 feet of space instead of 6. She might have been excited about the driveway idea because it’s not only outdoors but effectively unbounded; she knew she’d be able to make as much space for herself as she felt she needed. Then you move to the deck and space is more limited, and she is faced with a really awkward decision.
If you and your co-worker decide to order from Domino’s, don’t switch it up and order from a local place instead. Your co-worker might be reassured by Domino’s no-human-contact-out-of-the-oven policy. That might be the most important thing to him.
So maybe you’re rolling your eyes right now and thinking, “But all the latest research shows that transmission on food surfaces is not something to be concerned about. Domino’s policy is overkill.” Or, “Transmission outdoors is super unlikely. The deck is fine!”
Not the point!
The point is that trying to make decisions on the fly is incredibly stressful. You might be 100% confident that you understand the relative risk of things. But you don’t know what other people’s understanding is. And the split-second after being told that the location or the menu has changed is not a good scenario for evaluating risk, especially with an audience. Don’t put people in that position.
(2) On that note, when you and a person in your presence have different (verbalized or apparent) levels of caution, the obvious and decent thing to do is match the more cautious person’s behaviors. If you don’t wear a mask but you notice one of your co-workers tends to, then put on a mask when you are going to be anywhere near them. Their mask usage is a clear indicator that they think mask usage is important. So match that caution in their presence as a courtesy, whether or not you acknowledge the public health value of wearing one.
If you and a friend want to take a walk, and you weren’t thinking 6 feet of space was essential, but they suggest a route and mention that they like it because there is plenty of space to give each other 6 feet, then be conscientious and pay attention, and give them space. If you get to a narrow area, recognize that you’ll have to go single-file until it widens again.
Look for body language. Get in the habit of noticing whether people are inching away or leaning back. This tells you that they are not comfortable. They are more cautious than your instincts. That doesn’t mean your instincts are wrong. But in the presence of this person, you need to defer to theirs.
(3) This also doesn’t mean that this person has an issue with you in particular. Do not take it personally.
Some people are approaching the world with an understanding that there are essentially two groups of people: the ones I live with, and everyone else. From a public health perspective, the standards I apply to interacting with anyone in the latter group should be consistent, whether you are someone I work with, a friend, a relative, or a stranger. I do not and cannot know whether you are carrying a potentially deadly, poorly understood, highly contagious virus, so to the greatest extent possible, I’m going to behave like you are carrying it, no matter who you are. It is more nuanced than that, of course, but not much. The point is, even if you’re not careless, the relative you just met for lunch yesterday might have been careless over the weekend. I do not, and cannot know.
So if someone says no thanks to your back deck or favorite pizza, or they wear a mask in a situation you find unnecessary, or they give you a wide berth around the corner of the trail, it’s really, truly, not about you. People want to interact with the world, and some of us never stop thinking about how to do it right in this not-at-all right world we find ourselves in.
I hope these are ideas people can agree to. I hope that, even if you are tired of modifying your behavior, or skeptical about the seriousness of this virus, you will consider these thoughts with a spirit of kindness. I hope, if you have kids, you will talk to them about how their behavior can not only affect other people’s physical health, but also their emotional well-being while trying to navigate many decisions.
Thanks for reading. Be good to each other. Stay safe. Deep breaths.

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COVID-19

Canadian doctor ordered to pay back $600k she earned through mass COVID vaccination

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From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

In a November 26 ruling, the Ontario Health Services Board ordered Kingston-based Dr. Elaine Ma to pay back over $600,000 which she had claimed after having undergraduate medical student volunteers mass vaccinate Ontario residents in 2021.

The province of Ontario paid doctors for every experimental COVID shot they administered, with one physician now being told to repay the $600,000 she earned by using medical students to mass vaccinate residents. 

In a November 26 ruling, the Ontario Health Services Board ordered Kingston-based Dr. Elaine Ma to pay back over $600,000 which she had claimed after having undergraduate medical student volunteers mass vaccinate Ontario residents in 2021. 

“The Appeal Board orders the Respondent to reimburse OHIP the amount of $600,962.16,” the board wrote in their decision. 

Beginning in January 2021, Ma had organized drive-in vaccination clinics in several parking lots in the Kingston region to vaccinate thousands of Canadians. She recruited undergraduate medical student volunteers to administer the shots.  

Under Ma’s program, which lasted until January 2022, 27,250 doses of the experimental COVID shot were administered, earning her a total of $606,657.60, according to the General Manager of the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP).  

According to OHIP, Ontario doctors were paid $13 for administrating COVID vaccines, and an additional $5.60 if the patient’s sole reason for their appointment was receiving the shot. 

However, OHIP argued that Ma’s claims did not meet their requirements as she used volunteers to administer the vaccines, explaining, “the persons who administered vaccines at the clinics organized by Dr. Ma during the Review Period were not her employees.”  

As a result, she was ordered to repay the money. However, Ma is arguing that she was acting in Ontario’s best interest, considering the alleged danger of the COVID “pandemic.”

“It’s really still just disbelief that we’ve completely forgotten about COVID,” she told CTV News Ottawa. “We’ve completely forgotten what we were asked to do. We’ve completely forgotten the fact that we were asked to do it in new and different ways, and quickly, and as fast as possible.”

While Ontario previously paid doctors to administer the shots, Canada’s program to compensate those injured by the so-called “safe and effective” COVID vaccines has now spent $14 million, but the vast majority of claims remain unpaid. 

However, while Ma collected taxpayer dollars to administer the experimental vaccines, many courageous doctors have risked their livelihoods to warn Canadians about the dangers of the COVID shots.  

For example, Ontario pro-freedom Dr. Mark Trozzi has lost his medical license for speaking out against the mainstream narrative, despite overwhelming evidence as to the negative effects of the vaccines.   

In 2023, Trozzi exposed the dark money, political pressure, establishment corruption, and fake news that made the COVID-19 propaganda campaign a terror operation that brought the world to its knees. 

In an interview with LifeSiteNews, he revealed that many of his colleagues were spellbound by the government’s COVID-19 fear campaign. However, he notes that others discovered that following the establishment’s mandates for COVID-19 treatment – such as only conducting PCR tests or nasal swab – paid as much as 20 percent more than regular work at their normal practice. 

The campaign to foist the so-called COVID-19 ‘vaccines’ upon the global population also carried with it a monetary payoff.

“As I understand it, those injections paid very well everywhere,” said Trozzi. “One case in point is one of my colleagues has a contact who’s an ear, nose, and throat surgeon in Germany, and he stopped doing surgery. He said, ‘I only do the minimum amount of V.A. specialty work to keep my license because I’m making way more money just giving shots during that peak.’” 

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COVID-19

New York City workers fired for refusing COVID jab ask Trump, Vance, RFK Jr. to reinstate them

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From LifeSiteNews

By Doug Mainwaring

Their letter ‘brings attention to the fact that Mayor Eric Adams is the number one obstacle preventing unvaccinated workers from being brought back to their jobs and getting compensated.’

A group of former New York City workers representing thousands who were fired or displaced from their jobs for  declining the city’s unconstitutionally mandated COVID-19 vaccine based on religious or medical grounds sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, and Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., asking for help with being reinstated to their jobs.

“The letter (included below) draws attention to the plight they have been fighting for more than three years in the courts, in the streets, and in City Hall trying to get back to doing what they do best — working for the City of New York,” explained Michael Kane, writing at the Teachers for Choice Substack.

“Firefighters, cops, teachers, sanitation workers, medical professionals and more have asked the incoming presidential administration for help getting back to their employment,” Kane wrote. “The letter brings attention to the fact that Mayor Eric Adams is the number one obstacle preventing unvaccinated workers from being brought back to their jobs and getting compensated.”

****

Dear President-Elect Trump and Vice President-Elect Vance,

In the Fall of 2021, thousands of well-performing New York City employees, including but not limited to firefighters, police officers, teachers, social workers, sanitation workers, medical doctors, nurses, plumbers and doormen were unlawfully placed on leave without pay and subsequently terminated by the duplicitous leaders of New York City for non-compliance with the unconstitutional COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Many City workers had to choose under duress to take the shot in order to keep making a living. Others were coerced into early retirement, waiving their labor rights or resigning. This mass reduction in the City’s workforce has caused a critical staff shortage. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio, his then Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Mayoral Expert Advisor Jay Varma, Mayor Eric Adams and his then Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan are only some of the political leaders and health bureaucrats who violated our constitutional and labor rights. The two former NYC Department of Education (DOE) Chancellors, Meisha Porter and David Banks, embraced the vaccine mandate and cooperated in removing DOE employees, as did the UFT President Michael Mulgrew and AFT President Randi Weingarten. Much has changed in the past three years, and there are many revelations now that we were lied to about almost every aspect of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Thousands of unvaccinated workers nationwide have gone through hell due to the COVID-19 vaccine mandates. For the past three years, New York City workers had our wages illegally seized, which has led to the loss of income, loss of property, loss of medical insurance, poverty, humiliation, emotional distress and family discord. Many of us have gone from having a good income with a plan for retirement to meet our basic needs and secure our family well-being, to living hand to mouth, losing our homes and other assets, having to move in with family, and even move to other states and countries. Some of us were foreclosed upon. Some ended up in the shelter and welfare systems. At least one committed suicide.

The morale and mental health of all City workers, both public and private sectors, have been dealt a severe blow by the vaccine mandate firings. Many City workers have taken legal actions against the City of New York and other parties involved in the hope of correcting the irreparable harm. Some courts and juries have rendered decisions in favor of the unvaccinated workers, but relief has not been awarded because the City of New York and Mayor Eric Adams keep appealing the decisions at the taxpayers’ expense, which is a reckless use of public funds.

According to available records, in 2023, Mayor Adams hired 30 additional attorneys at a taxpayer cost of $5,000,000.00 a year, just to keep up with the lawsuits filed by the fired employees who tirelessly worked during the COVID-19 pandemic, without vaccines and PPE. His actions are beyond outrageous and disheartening.

Based on Court decisions rendered in Michigan, California, Illinois and Colorado, New York seems to be the only state that has not awarded relief to the unlawfully terminated workers. Despite all the cruelty and financial hardship unvaccinated workers are faced with, we are standing firm in our pursuit of justice. We know that you are committed to uphold the Constitution as it pertains to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for We The People.

Therefore, we respectfully ask that you please help City workers, members of the military and all other citizens who were unlawfully forced out and fired as a result of the vaccine mandate.

Sincerely,

****

The 250+ signatories of the letter, who have thousands of years of service to the city between them, have come together under the umbrella of “NY Workers for Choice,” representing Bravest for ChoiceTeachers for ChoiceFinest UnfilteredCourt Workers for ChoiceCops 4 FreedomEducators for FreedomStrongest for Freedom and Medical Professionals for Informed Consent.

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