Now, about that "6 foot (3 feet in parts of Europe)" "social distancing" "following the science" Safety Cult bullshit... and that "gathering size" bullshit...
https://amgreatness.com/2020/04/13/six-feet-under/Excerpt:
Six Feet UnderThere will be plenty of soul searching after this crisis abates: demanding to know the scientific rationale for keeping us six feet apart when people needed each other most should be at the top of the list.
So, precisely what is the science driving this mad world of shuttered public beaches, stormtrooper cops ticketing churchgoers sitting in their own cars, and duct-taped boxes in checkout lines to instruct shoppers where to stand?
It turns out, there is little verifiable evidence to support this government-imposed safe space: The CDC’s COVID-19 guidance portal is disturbingly vague about a policy now fueling the destruction of the U.S. economy and forcing Americans to live under house arrest for the foreseeable future.
And the commonly held fear that a random passerby will infect a stranger? Here’s more grade-school level talk from the CDC: “COVID-19 is thought to spread mainly through close contact from person-to-person in respiratory droplets from someone who is infected. People who are infected often have symptoms of illness. Some people without symptoms may be able to spread the virus.”
Not only would that sort of conclusion warrant a failing grade in any post-doctoral program, I am pretty sure the average eighth-grade science teacher would take a big red pen to that passage. “Thought.” “Some?” “May?” Keep in mind, there are no links to any scientific studies or papers for the average thinking person to review to decide whether those claims are legitimate.
The CDC also can’t quite make up its mind about the safety of large gatherings in the COVID-era. In mid-March, the agency asked Americans to limit gatherings of 250 people or more. A few weeks later, the White House, at the behest of the CDC, urged Americans to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people. There is no science, however, to support either number. (What is so fateful about 250 people? Why not 175? And why 10 people? Why not 16 or 17?)
Even that fuzzy advice has been bastardized by the petty tyrant lurking inside every big state governor, small-town mayor, and homeowners’ association president. Over the weekend, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer banned people from going to a neighbor’s house. “All public and private gatherings of any size are prohibited,” Whitmer announced. “People can still leave the house for outdoor activities . . . recreational activities are still permitted as long as they’re taking place outside of six feet from anyone else.”
So, from where did the “six-feet” rule originate? Apparently, according to a report in the New York Times, the strategy “saved thousands of lives both during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 and, more recently, in Mexico City during the 2009 flu pandemic.”
Ah. Good to know the freest people living in the most technologically advanced period in human history are relying on primitive tools employed more than a century ago to try to stop a virus we still know little about.
No doubt scientists are scrambling to justify the rule. A few early studies suggest that contaminated droplets could stay airborne for a few hours and pose a risk. But that research comes with a caveat: “While this research indicates that viral particles can be spread via bioaerosols, the authors stated that finding infectious virus has proven elusive and experiments are ongoing to determine viral activity in collected samples,” wrote Dr. Harvey Fineberg from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine earlier this month.
So it’s unclear why Americans are being instructed to heed the six-foot space. But there is something ironic about the distance: Our economy, our rights, our freedoms, and our sense of security are being buried amid this panic. Government decrees make up a figurative graveyard of stolen futures and livelihoods.
And sadly, because of this reckless policy, even those who have succumbed to this painful disease cannot be properly mourned since funerals have been banned. Some died alone without the comfort of a loved one due to the cruelty of the “social distancing” policy.
There will be plenty of soul-searching after this crisis abates: demanding to know the scientific rationale for keeping us six feet apart when people needed each other most should be at the top of the list.