When You Shoot the Messenger

 Recently, Canadian-born rocker Neil Young made a point of removing his music from Spotify, a large media platform. His stated reason is that Spotify is allowing itself to be used as a platform for "spreading misinformation about Covid." He specifically cites the Joe Rogan podcast as the source. Joe Rogan isn't a liberal like Young and it's a fair guess Neil didn't care for any of what Rogen had to say, but he needed a specific reason so he chose Covid. Ironically, some of Young's past music moans about GMO food and the businesses engaged in it.

Neil Young isn't ... young anymore. He's a washed-up old man living off his past glory. He faded into the backdrop of music a long time ago, sold off some of his music for a reported $150 mil or so and for the most part people forgot about him. Once in a while his music is played on classic rock radio stations and that's about it. Publicizing his stand, he told Spotify they could have Rogen or Young, but not both. Spotify, to their credit didn't bow to this form of blackmail and said goodbye to Neil in very nice words. They even welcomed him back should he change his mind.

A few other has-been nobodies of past music joined him (Joni Mitchell, Nils Lofgren and a few other pebbles of the music industry) in protest. I'd guess it's a publicity stunt to put their names iin the public eye again, but who knows? Anyway, the funny thing is that with absolutely no credentials whatsoever, they pontificate about what is misinformation about covid. The 2 doctors who appeared on the Rogen podcast have the education, degrees and experience to at least give them some credibility about the subject. One of them is a specialist in mRNA vaccines.

So why should anybody believe a washed-up old dope-smoking musician's opinion about covid over credentialed medical doctors? Now it's not science, it's the politics of science and what you choose to believe, much like the debate over climate change with experts on both sides telling each other why they are wrong.

Do we advance science when one side tries to shut the other side up? No, we need debate, We need to hear both sides, we need to know the pros and cons. If anything, there is a plethora of information bombarding us about why everybody should get vaccinated and they've even set up a website promoting vaccines. Is there a website warning us about adverse reactions? I highly doubt it.

I'm not pro-vaccine and I'm not anti-vaccine. I'm pro-choice; every adult in this country should be able to make their own decision about what medical treatments they want and which ones they don't want. There should be no mandates, period. After the horrors of Nazi  medical experimentation, the post-WW2 Nuremburg compact specifically addresses this by saying nobody should be forced to submit to medical procedures or medicine they don't agree to. How is it any medical regimen can be mandated after this?

I still enjoy a small smattering of Neil Young music. Most of his music sounds rather nasal and droning to me and I avoid it like the plague. What is most curious to me is the concept and implementation of streaming music nowadays. I come from the old school of buying music on media (records, tapes, CDs etc) if you want it, not paying to stream for something that goes in one ear and out the other. And with the technology of today. you can change the format of your music easily (mp3s, etc) and put it on ipods or similar. I'm not against streaming music, I just don't understand it.

The meme I enjoy the most making the rounds of social media right now is the picture of Neil with the words "When you're so woke, you cancel yourself ..."

Anyway, I guess I can toss out my Joni Mitchell and Nils Lofgren CDs now, since they're sycophants of Neil in this publicity charade. 

Oh yeah. I don't have any Joni Mitchell or Nils Lofgren CDs. Too bad.

The Mask Nazi

I hesitated about writing about this. I didn't want to come off as favoring one side or the other in the debate about the efficacy of masks in preventing covid. There is plenty to read about this topic and it is easily found online. FWIW, I think the Governor of Colorado has the right idea about covid, vaccines and masks. His stated view is that the emergency is over and he won't extend or implement any mask mandates or force anybody to get a shot because ... because personal responsibility is personal, and if, after all this time, you get sick from covid without being vaccinated, it's your own darn fault. (He was silent about the large number of vaccinated people that get sick, which is par for the course.)

But I'm not in Colorado. I'm in New York, a blue-state that thinks nothing of suspending your freedoms, rights and liberties. I wish Ron DeSantis was my Governor, not some starchy lady that is drunk on power and hell-bent on somehow getting elected in November after becoming Governor by default following Andrew Cuomo's implosion. Keeping covid alive and well is part and parcel of the Democrat strategy to keep ballot-harvesting healthy via mail-in ballots. I suspect she'll do about as well at the ballot box as her predecessor did (7 out of 62 counties in 2018) but it will be enough to again elect whatever Democrat is on the ballot because the downstate urban region that includes New York City will be enough to prevail again. Frankly, I wish Governors were elected using an electoral college system to restore balance (and allow 55 out of 62 counties to have some sort of say in who will sit in the executive mansion for the next 4 years).

Anyway, the story that prompted all these words... and I'll skip mentioning the fast-food establishment where this occurred so as to not cause them harm.

We had ordered, chose a table and were sitting there waiting for our order to be completed. We had already filled our drinks from the self-serve dispenser and were making idle chatter when the show began. A lady that I will call Frau Goebbels appeared suddenly and started shouting at one of the employees. Apparently, she was upset about an employees mask. Oh, he was wearing one, to be sure. It just wasn't up to her standards of mask-wearing.

You need to pull your mask up. We couldn't hear his response clearly, but the next words out her mouth were No, you need to pull  it up to the top of your nose. I can still see some of your nose. I don't want to catch covid from you.

My wife and I were stunned. We had the best seat in the house to this show, and by now we were watching more attentively. At about this time, our name was called to come pick up the food we ordered, so I walked up and picked it up. I got a peek at who she was yelling at, grabbed the food bag and walked back to the table.

I want to see the manager. And magically, somebody appeared, talked to her and it was over. Frau Goebbels disappeared out the door. Shortly after, the employee walked out, took his apron off and muttered Thanks for ruining my day as he left. We're guessing it was either the end of his shift or the manager told him to go... but we're not sure.

If this cost this young man his job, I'll be disappointed. Mask, no mask, or an incompletely-worn mask are not the end of the world. And being loud, rude and obnoxious in front of other customers wasn't warranted. It was more about power and control than anything else. In modern lingo, she was a Karen, but I prefer the moniker Frau Goebbels better. She would have made a good Nazi. Too bad she was 90 years late.

There are ways to express your opinions about this, and the way this lady chose was a poor choice. We didn't learn anything about covid that night, but we did learn something about how many assholes walk among us. This lady clearly was one, and I fervently hope we never see her again. I suspect she is a professional complainer about many things in life.

After we were finished, as we walked towards the door, we thanked the workers for how good the food was and ... oh yeah, thanks for the bonus show. We enjoyed it. ... They laughed along with us as we went out the door.