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Pushback: “I do not consent to your attempt to blacklist me.”

Victory
Image by freepik

Last night I discovered personally that every blacklisted person in America has a great deal of power. You need only exert that power to make the bullies who are trying to destroy you helpless and confounded.

First some background. In December 2021 I was blackballed by most of the Arizona caving community because I had disagreed with their decisions to discriminate against anyone who had not gotten a COVID shot. I and a number of other people had objected to the demands of these clubs that we be jabbed in order to come to a caving event. We considered such a rule discriminatory, even as it illegally demanded private medical information. We also tried to explain to the organizers that this policy made no sense because the evidence last year had already showed that the shots provided no protection against the virus.

Their answer: I along with two others were blacklisted from all further organized caving activities for the next two years.

Since then I have been mulling how I should react. I never accepted this vindictive action. Not only had it been done in violation of the actual bylaws of these organizations, it was especially vicious because it was done by people whom I had thought were close friends. I had now discovered they were not my friends, but responding in hate goes against my nature. The true oppose of hate is utter disinterest, and it has my goal over the last ten months to put aside my baser emotions and reach this more civilized state of mind.

Anyway, last night one of the Tucson cave clubs that had blacklisted us was having its monthly public meeting, in a pizza place. Since the president of that club had sent out a public invitation saying that all were welcome, I decided it was time to show up. Essentially, I had decided to follow the advice of journalist Matt Walsh, who when attacked for criticizing the purveyors of the queer agenda for their campaign to mutilate and castrate little kids, told them this:

I apologize for nothing. I concede nothing. … The secret they never say out loud is that nobody is truly cancelled unless they consent to it and they willingly play their assigned roles. Well I do not consent, and I’m not going to play the game. I’m not going anywhere. [emphasis mine]

The politicos in the organized caving community had tried to ban me from such public meetings. Well, I agree with Walsh. I do not consent, and I’m not going to play their game.

I called up Henry Schnieker, who had also been blacklisted, and we both attended the meeting. For the first hour everything was civilized. We had resolved to be polite and courteous, and we were. I had also resolved to limit my interactions only to those whom I wanted to talk to. I would avoid conversations with those former friends whom had blacklisted me, simple to avoid any unpleasantness.

To show how well things were going, during the meeting, when it was time for everyone to talk about their recent cave trips, I raised my hand, and one of my blacklisters, now the club president, even recognized me so that I could describe a fun trip I did about a month ago.

After the meeting adjourned however and people were just milling about chatting, another one of those blacklisters came up to me and Henry and demanded that we leave, that we had been banned and were not welcome.

I calmly responded, “I don’t consent to your blacklist. The president had publicly announced this meeting and invited the entire caving community to attend, both members and nonmembers. Thus, I am here. I came to see people I wanted to see (and who it appears are very clearly glad to see me as well) and not bother those who don’t want anything to do with me. If you don’t want to talk to me, all you had to do is not talk to me. Instead, you came up to me to start this fight.”

This wasn’t good enough for her. She once again ordered us to leave, citing the actual language of the club’s ban. I repeated, “I do not consent to your attempt to blacklist me. You can order till the cows come home, but I refuse to obey such orders. This is a public meeting, and I am staying.”

I walked away, going to have a nice friendly chat with another person I had missed seeing for the past year. Meanwhile the blacklister went to the club president (whom you remember had recognized me without problem during the meeting), and demanded he kick me out. Then they both came over to us, with the president interrupting my conversation to now demand I obey their ban and leave.

I repeated my statement. “I do not consent to your blacklisting, and am not going anywhere. Call the police if you want.”

After some more orders and demands to leave, all answered by me in the same way, both abruptly went silent. We looked each other eye-to-eye, and at that moment I saw a look on their faces that I wish I could have framed forever.

Both had suddenly realized that they had absolutely no power over me, and they did not like it.

I turned to the person with whom I had been chatting and apologized for this ugliness. I then moved off again to start a different conversation, though by now the get-together was beginning to thin out.

Henry and I stuck around for about another 20 minutes to talk to some others, and then we left. We now have plans to attend a few more similar meetings of the other cave organizations that had banned us, just to make it clear to them as well that their blacklist has no power over us, and that we refuse to consent to it.

Walsh of course is correct. I admit it isn’t easy to face down these bullies in a calm and civilized manner, but it is necessary. I also admit that my situation is nothing like those who have lost their jobs because of this blacklist culture. I was banned from open public clubs and can easily defy their blacklist. Someone who was fired cannot so easily regain that job.

Nonetheless, this refusal to consent to evil is exactly what every freedom-loving human being must do. The bullies have to be put on notice that we will not bow to them. It is the only way we will stop them.

The tragedy of this whole personal affair unfortunately remains. I have lost a number of friendships that I had valued greatly. I would have laid down my life for some of these people, including the two who berated me last night. Had I done so, however, I would have done it in vain, because it is very clear to me now that they would never have reciprocated. While I was their friend, they looked at me as merely an acquaintance, easily discarded.

This is mostly their loss, but the loss still hurts me as well. No matter. We move on. The world is still filled with many good people. The goal now is to find and treasure them, for the rest of my life.

——————-
An aside: Beginning today I am doing my yearly one week November fund-raising campaign to support my work here at Behind the Black, with added bonus feature! Depending on how much you donate you can get one of my books for free. See the campaign page for details.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

64 comments

  • Nitecat

    I have heard Matt Walsh and also the excellent Red Pilled America podcast with deep background on the origins of the corruption (ideological and otherwise), that has produced the transgender hoax, as well as the truth about Kinsey lying in his “report” on sexuality. The leftists see this as a way to destroy the nuclear family and weaken America… why did journalists immediately agree to call anyone claiming to be the other sex “on the inside” by the pronouns associated with that opposite sex that they were saying they really were? It is evil, and the children of the World must be protected from this evil. These surgical practices must be outlawed, and the practitioner’s licenses revoked.

  • Cotour

    Outrageous! And in a public setting.

    Just today I was speaking with a local lady friend who was going to a book club meeting where another lady friend of mine will be who helped me greatly when I had to go to the hospital / emergency room where she worked and have my gall bladder out.

    I told her: She no longer talks to me. I saw her recently on the street and after I told her how great she looks after retiring she says to me: “Maybe its because I got my Covid Vaccination!?”. And cut the conversation short.

    She stopped talking to me because I refused to get the jab and got sick, she was furious with me.

    The woman who will see her tonight who knows she no longer likes me because of that asked me: “Well is she not going to talk to my entire family? None of them got the jab either”.

    Sooo silly.

    And then she brought up the studies that are now coming out that I have posted here on BTB regarding the many young people who experiencing off the charts increased death rates, and they are all compliant and shot up.

    So silly and short sighted.

    I still love her and would do anything for her in spite of her irrational behavior. She really helped me during my time of need in the hospital, and I will never forget that.

    I just ignored her vaccination comment.

  • pzatchok

    Until it works as well as the Polio vac I chose to get it at my own free will.
    Until it works as good as the polio vac it is no better than the flu shot. And no one cares about that one.

  • Good job, Robert!

    In a similar vein, I was in a building lobby Spring of 2021, when the Manger told me I had wear a mask or leave.

    “No.”

    “You have to wear a mask to enter the building.”

    “No, and unless you are going to physically restrain me, there’s nothing you can do.”

    “You’re trespassing. I’m calling the police.”

    “The police you want to defund? Those police?”

    And I went about my business, mask-free.

    People don’t have to ‘Fight The Power’. Under the American system of Government, you *are* the Power.

  • John

    Good for you!!

    Those people are now trying their best that future meetings will not be public, and “all will NOT be welcome”.

    They are deranged.

  • wayne

    William Mandel Testimony
    San Francisco, May 1960
    https://youtu.be/UM8uP565hzI?t=46

  • Andrew_W

    Well done Mr Zimmerman.

  • Concerned

    Great story Bob. Your courage and resolve is inspiring.

  • Alex Andrite

    Mr.Z.,
    ok, I get it.
    Have for quite awhile, since ’72 and my flight into Travis from Viet Nam, or maybe P.I. ? ah well.
    So I get it. The caving community has a problem.
    Try surfing.
    Oh, Arizona …right.
    How about rock climbing ?
    Perhaps sky diving ?
    Do you needle point ?

    WE all have the problem, and are the only ones able to solve The Problem.

    The Struggle Continues.

    VOTE !

  • “Try surfing.”

    “Oh, Arizona …right.”

    “So, where you from?”

    “East of LA.”

    Rick (Matt Adler) playing off the fact he’s a surfer from Arizona.

    ‘North Shore’ 1987 William Phelps Universal Pictures

  • Rdm

    “ Those people are now trying their best that future meetings will not be public, and “all will NOT be welcome”.

    Seems like they would rather wither and die off as a club than not have their shibboleth.

  • HMCS(FMF) ret

    Congrats on “punching back, twice as hard”… it shows that they don’t like it when someone stands up against them!

  • Tyson

    At the height of the Covid hysteria, my HOA mandated masks for anyone in the HOA’s park. Private security patrolled in golf carts, and they were very diligent in ordering non-mask wearers to leave. For about a day, I went through a very similar mental process as described in the article. The next day, while on a walk, security told me to mask up or leave. I very politely and pleasantly, with no attitude, declined. They were very taken aback, as no one seemed to have refused them until then. They called the police. Fortunately, the cop who responded informed them that the police would not enforce the HOA’s mask rules and warned them not to call them out for mask violations in the future. A few days later, the HOA dropped the rule.

    Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it felt really good to push back a little bit during the insanity.

  • GWB

    I had a thought regarding that graphic at the top….
    I think you should replace the hand with one that faces the other way. So, it’s still a “V”, but showing the back of the hand. As we all learned from that great Churchill movie, it looks like a victory sign but is really something much less … friendly. But the switch-up is apropos for those wanting “amnesty” for their covidiocy – not only do we win, but we’re telling you never again.

    Nitecat
    November 4, 2022 at 6:50 am

    These surgical practices must be outlawed, and the practitioner’s licenses revoked.

    While I agree with the rest of the comment, I will wholeheartedly disagree with this. There are actually people out there who need this surgery for real reasons. I know one person who was actually born what some would call a hermaphrodite – both sets of genitalia (theirs is a genetic issue of XXY, IIRC). They finally were able to have the appropriate surgeries several years ago to become what they had always acted as – a woman.

    This is part of the reason the transgender fad is so evil. It abuses people with real problems to make themselves feel ‘special’.

    Blair Ivey
    November 4, 2022 at 3:13 pm

    Wandering a mall (yes, they still exist – though not as vigorous) after the first year of covidiocy was over, and I had determined to no longer wear a rag on my face. No one had said anything to me. Until we encountered the mall cop (who was, of course, masked). As we passed by, he looked pointedly at me, and reached up and sort of tugged on his mask, in an attempt to gently remind me I should be wearing one. I looked directly back for a brief moment, then turned away and went about my business. He just stood helplessly as I ignored his entreaty.

    I enjoyed that moment.

  • GWB

    Tyson
    November 5, 2022 at 2:24 am

    Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things

    Oh, I disagree. It’s a very big deal for the individual to stand and say, “No” in the face of leviathan. Little sparks keep people afraid of the conflagration, and they act with more caution in the face of it. You smacked the giant with a pebble.

  • mac

    I learned a good way to deal with busybodies trying to get me to wear a mask. I never bothered with them, but occasionally had people in public places start to tell me I needed to “mask up.” I learned that the best way to handle such requests was to ask, politely, if the speaker had been speaking to me. If they said yes, I then shouted, “DON’T!!!” at them in the loudest parade-ground voice I could muster. That usually discomfited the speaker so greatly they just turned tail and left.

  • Jimbo Madison

    Also, you will still be kicking and caving, while those pinch-faced hall monitor bullies will suddenly die from myocarditis or black-tongue mystery ailments thanks to their destroyed immune system. They won’t be missed. They are proto-stasi, those ready-made drones for whatever authoritarian state comes along. And they fell into their roles like a virus into a receptor. Even if you never go to another cave, maybe you’ve found a whole new hobby! Tormenting fascists.

  • Jon

    I wish I could share the story of a 71 year old man working part time at a senior Mobile Home park. In short I was asked if I had the jab, at which I stated, it was none of your business. The response was. “ that means no ! “ . I responded that-that not what I said and reiterated that it was none of your business and I was not going to answer the question.
    So began a year long witch hunt having been branded with the scarlet letter C by most who saw me would walk around in a big avoidances circle. I was told to wear a mask indoor as well. I avoid indoors. Funny thing is. Virtually everyone of those folks in the last 6 months contacted covid.

  • pzatchok

    I started an argument in a store once. The bad thing was my friend was the target of an angry group.

    He started to talk to me and I said out loud “You do not want black people in the store? Why?”
    At that point the argument was on and I left as fast as possible. He literally ran out a minute later followed by an angry woman shouting at him.
    It really was just a joke and we laughed about it afterwards.

    Drop something like that on the next person who tries the shot or mask move on you.

  • James Street

    Dear Liberals, How Many Of These MSM Hoaxes Did You Fall For?
    Tyler Durden’s Photo
    BY TYLER DURDEN
    FRIDAY, NOV 04, 2022 – 07:00 PM
    How many recent mainstream media hoaxes did you fall for? … and/or still believe?
    • Russian collusion
    • Trump called neo-nazis “fine people”
    • Jussie Smollett
    • Bubba Wallace garage pull
    • Covington kids
    • Governor Whitmer kidnapping plot
    • Kavanaugh rape
    • Trump pee tape
    • COVID lab leak was a conspiracy theory
    • Border agents whipped migrants
    • Trump saved nuclear secrets at Mar-a-Lago
    • Steele Dossier
    • Russian bounties on US soldiers in Afghanistan
    • Trump said drinking bleach would fight COVID
    • Muslim travel ban
    • Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation
    • Andrew Cuomo best COVID leadership
    • Trump built cages for migrant kids
    • “Austere religious scholar”
    • Trump overfed Koi fish in Japan
    • Build Back Better will pay for itself
    • Trump tax cuts benefited only the rich
    • Cloth masks prevent COVID
    • If you get vaccinated you won’t catch COVID
    • SUV killed parade marchers
    • Trump used teargas to clear a crowd for a bible photo
    • “Don’t Say Gay” was in a bill
    • Putin price hike
    • Ivermectin is a horse dewormer and not for humans
    • “Mostly peaceful” protests
    • Trump overpowered secret service for wheel of “The Beast”
    • Officer Sicknick was murdered by protesters
    • January 6th was an insurrection
    • BYU students hurled racist insults at Duke volleyball player
    • And don’t forget “democracy is under threat…”
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/dear-liberals-how-many-these-msm-hoaxes-did-you-fall

  • Mike

    I’m a dues paying member of the National Speological Society (NSS), I’m disappointed in Southern Arizona Grottos treatment of person at an open meeting in a public place.

    Seems ALL of the NSS chartered organizations in Arizona have followed this process of blacklisting those who don’t follow the Arizona party line.

    Maybe it’s time for the NSS to get involved and investigate the Arizona organizations that mistreat the public.

  • Phillip

    My wife and I open carry a handgun everywhere, especially during the height of covidiocy. No one bothers us.

  • Cotour

    Re: James Street:

    THE MEDIA AND JOUNALISM IS THE ENEMY

    (Please copy and share)

    What is the missing component today in American politics? The media has surrendered their fiduciary responsibilities. Many in the Mainstream Media and social media have chosen a side and they have rejected the Constitution and have not chosen freedom and their responsibilities. They have chosen the “Politically correct” radical Leftist Democrat / Globalist agenda. How many in the list below did you initially believe? How many now understand that all of the stories below run, pushed, insisted upon in the Mainstream Media were fabricated and were lies?

    They were ALL fabricated by the media in concert with the status quo (D) desperate political party in support of THEIR chosen political views, agenda and continued power.

    Politics is the most perverted and corrupt activity that human beings participate in, and in our Constitutional system by design the media and journalism has an essential role to play and that is to some great degree to present the public with some degree of objectivity, and they have failed miserably and need to be held to account for their perversions and failures. Treason IMO.

    The last 5 or so years especially has been a distraction filled with lies political operation in pursuit of absolute political power, and that is about to end. In the long term the Constitution ensures that all political players will be revealed to the people, and that is exactly what is about to take place and the Democrat party machine is about to be redirected by the people.

    The only problem is that this political redirection by the public must continue for the next 5 or 6 election cycles for the country to regain its proper place in its leadership role in the world.

  • Htos1av

    Oh, you ROCK, sir! We ALL have to just let them sit and spin, much like professor Sagan always had to do, and just smile. They HATE that… :)

  • Hi Mike! How’s things?

    Anyway, as I think you are aware, I have not been a member of the NSS for about 20 years. It is a corrupt organization, from which much of this madness stems. The club leaders who blacklisted me and others actually got the approval of the NSS. A NSS bigwig listened in to the show trial, and approved.

    Do not expect any positive action from that national organization. It is hand-in-glove with this kind of evil.

  • Tyson: Congratulations. I just wish you (and I) had been the rule, not the exception. Things would have been far different if most people had done the same.

    I never wore a mask, found I simply had to say I had medical reasons for not doing so, and that always ended the conversation. Nor did I ever have to say what those medical reasons were (which in my mind more than any thing else was simply to keep my sanity).

    I pray that if these thugs try this crap again, they will find themselves faced with a very firm and determined, “NO!”

  • GWB: The problem is that I had to spend an hour trying to find a good graphic at all, that was free to use. You would be surprised how difficult this can sometimes be, especially because none of the available search engines nowadays work very well. They all favor sponsored links, so that most of the images you get in these kind of searches are stock photos from commercial operations, requiring a fee to use.

  • Jeff Wright

    Some of the Covid hypers are themselves asking forgiveness. You handled the situation about as civil as could be.

  • Jeff Wright: If someone who had ill-treated me came to me and apologized and asked forgiveness, I would almost certainly be willing to do so. That doesn’t mean they would become my friend, or even someone I want anything to do with, but I see no point in revenge. As I said in the essay, the opposite of hate is not more hate, but complete indifference.

    I would also tell them that they better not think of doing such things again. In the future such people need to THINK more instead of emoting.

  • Cotour

    What is the perversion and the manipulation here?

    When you fully and righteously believe based on what the media and your own government are telling you the “science” is during a declared health emergency that the persons who have come to a different conclusion than you have come to then that is the definition of gaslighting and those who have knowingly done so MUST be held to account.

    (They knew)

    Gaslighting / Covid: One party knows the truth and they are in total control of the information, the “science”, the “solution” and how the information is delivered and the other party is ignorant and reasonably has fear due to lack of knowledge and they are depending on the other for reliable and accurate information.

    That is an abuse of power, and people have died and continue to die due to it.

    People like Dr. Fauci and many others who have both chosen to tell the noble lie AND apparently had the counter information AND apparently have enriched themselves by pushing the one over the other then he / they MUST be held accountable for their treachery.

    An example of pure Strategy Over Morality.

    Will that accounting come to pass? I fear not.

  • Cotour

    Thats “Noble lie”.

    There was nothing noble about it.

  • sippin_bourbon

    GWB

    You hold up an example of true mixed sex mutations. For years when people argued against transgenderism, the people where held as shields to protect the notion that a boy can be a girl, or vice versa. Their misfortune was exploited. In reality, such mutations are an extreme minority.

    This is a typical left wing tactic. Motte and Bailey.

  • Gene

    Mr. Z
    Thank you for sharing.
    Having read your story I now know that I need to treasure an old friend who kept me employed for years. He introduced me to scuba diving. It’s been a very long time and I need to visit him.

  • James Street

    I’m hearing rumblings that these evil monsters are starting to talk about amnesty for themselves, WHILE THEY CONTINUE TO DO THE SAME CIMINAL ACTS THEY’RE ASKING AMNESTY FOR!

    Here is Neil Oliver talking about one such person in this 19 minute video (queued to start at 3:45).

    Neil Oliver – ‘…they want us to do what?!?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m3yi82A8Zc&t=225s

    Robert, I hope when the truth finally comes out you sue those who have attacked you. These people who have put us through hell for two years must pay a price or it will happen again. If they claim they didn’t know, tell them they should have read your blog. Our CDC continues to hide the facts but news of how devastating the “vaccines” are is coming out of Europe.

  • Cotour

    They knew, it was all primarily about proving a new technology in the production and application of mRNA “Vaccines” driven by big government and pharma walking hand in hand, against a contagion that has been established was manufactured in a lab within China, and those who drove this agenda made money and profited by forcing their $elf-interested agenda on the entire population of our country and the world.

    In the Pedestrian Realm you go directly to jail for such actions.

    In the Politically Empowered Realm you point the finger at others and retire wealthy.

    (Ask Lois Learner, Eric Holder, Comey and all others in the FBI and CIA leadership)

    Strategy Over Morality usually prevails in such instances when you apply Pedestrian Realm standards on Political Realm players.

    But not always?

    Stay tuned, but don’t put too much hope in such Pedestrian Realm rational expectations.

  • wayne

    -Dave Smith (11-1-22)
    Part Of The Problem Episode 926
    “We Refuse Your Request For Amnesty”
    https://youtu.be/4iXwfqeFN3w
    59:39

  • Cotour

    MYO AND PERI CARDITIS PRE AND POST COVID AND VACCINATION INTRODUCTION

    Dr. Campbell: https://youtu.be/RMMA9bwDklQ 11 MIN.

    No Covid before vaccination was introduced, no difference in carditis.

    Yes Covid before vaccination was introduced, no difference in carditis.

    Something else is causing myo and peri carditis after vaccination was introduced in very much elevated numbers.

    Dr. Campbell is “leaving it there”.

  • Mike

    Way to stand your ground!

  • Marooned

    When I broke my mother out of a nursing home where she had been falsely imprisoned for six months, I had to face down Joyce and Jill, the rough equivalents of Dennis and Sarah. The experience of facing down bullies was emotionally liberating for me and literally liberating for Mom. Your approach to bullies of moving past to future friendships with decent people is probably more healthy than mine of hoping that J&J each awaken several times every night from dreams of me telling them, “You are fired … and you are fired.”

  • James Lewis

    I applaud your actions and positions in regard to those who attempted to ban you from an organization in which there appears to have been no bylaw passed by the members that you violated.

    My disagreement with you starts with your statement, “the evidence last year had already showed that the shots provided no protection against the virus.”

    That is wrong. The vaccines provide some protection against becoming infected and greatly reduce the symptoms, including hospitalizations.

    This is further complicated by the fact that the disease is deadly to the elderly, obese and immune comprised, but of no particular threat to the healthy young.

    Whether or not an individual should be forced to become vaccinated is both a legal and moral question. As a Republic we can, and have, enacted heath care laws. From a moral viewpoint the question becomes, am I my brother’s keeper? What will be the effect on him by my actions or lack of?

    The answers to those question should be determined by the individual.

  • Lee S

    Well…. Sorry I’m late to the party, but I have to congratulate you Bob, and the others that stand up for your rights. ( I don’t always agree with the rights you guys have… Guns, etc… But they are your rights, and you have every right to defend them! ) Good work Sirs!

    As I’m sure you all know, mask wearing was never mandatory here in Sweden, although at the start of the pandemic when COVID was much more dangerous I felt it prudent to wear one on the crowded bus and metro route I take to and fro work. Many people didn’t, no one bullied them.

    I also got my 2 shots of the Vax, mostly to be able to fly, but again, also felt it was prudent as I’m in a high risk group. Some of my friends are now on their 4th shot! After realising this “vaccine” cannot be a vaccine by very definition if it provides no immunity I decided no more “boosters”, and after discussing with my kids, (14 and 17 now!) We decided no boosters for them either.

    I’ve told anyone that asks about our refusal of the booster jab, and my reasons for skepticism, in both Sweden and the UK and not one person has berated me over our choice. I guess the crazies over the pond are not quite as crazy as your crazies ;-)

    I contracted COVID a few months ago, ( what an effective vaccine! ), felt like utter crap for 2 days, then felt fine, although had to stay home from work for the rest of the week until testing negative. The weather was wonderful that week, so a few days in my back yard gave me a great tan! I’m guessing I had a good Wu tang flu!

  • Marooned

    I have also heard and read that vaccination reduces infection rate and symptoms.

    I’ve just never seen evidence.

    No study, no proof.

    Proud and healthy,
    Pureblood

  • Marooned: In my constant trolling of science sites, I have seen a very very small handful of studies claiming the COVID shots (not a vaccine, don’t use that term) reduced the severity of the Wuhan flu. None however were very convincing, in the slightest. Most depended entirely on statistically trends, but those trends were hardly very significant, nor was the data gathered trustworthy.

    Democrats and their operatives in government health agencies demanded everyone get jabbed expressly because they insisted the jab would protect you from COVID. They lied.

  • I must add that when those initial lies became evident, these same Democrats and government health officials then came up with a new lie, that the shots reduced the severity of the Wuhan flu. When they first started to say this, none of those unconvincing studies had yet been done. Thus, what they said was a guess, and once again entirely untrustworthy.

    The bottom line here is that, rather than simply admit they were utterly wrong about the jab, they came up with another rainbow-unicorn fantasy to justify their position, which in itself was just another lie.

    None of these people should ever be trusted with any position of power or expertise, ever again.

  • Marooned

    Nina Teicholz, who wrote, “The Big Fat Surprise,” spends much of her time debunking epidemiological studies with results from controlled clinical trials. Such debunking could be useful with Rona, if controlled clinical trials for Rona existed.

  • Marooned

    P.S. Thank you for your work, Robert.

  • Marooned

    P.P.S. The vulgar vernacular verifies “vaccine” as a term for gene the-rapy which causes a host’s immune system to attack said host. In other words, I agree that it would’ve been better if I had used a more sciency term like clot-shot.

  • Lee S

    Sometimes I wonder if my posts appear at all, or if I’m just skimmed past as the sites token “pinko commie”
    . Marrooned .. to quote myself..”After realising this “vaccine” cannot be a vaccine by very definition if it provides no immunity I decided no more “boosters” ”

    As a reasonably intelligent human being, it’s kinda obvious when one looks at the evidence that these shots do no good, and indeed quite the opposite.

    Laws in.place to protect the big pharma companies… Mostly in place in the US… Just saying……

  • Lee S: Your comments are here, and definitely appear.

  • James Lewis

    Marooned – Judging from your comments it is doubtful that I can write anything that you will accept, but I’ll try anyway.

    The rMNA vaccines fool the body’s immune system into reacting as if the actual disease was there. The result? Antibodies. That is what all vaccines do. The immunity lasts forever, in some cases, others, flu, tetanus and bacterial pneumonia come to mind as needing “boosters.”

    It would be impossible to produce a controlled study of symptom reductions due to the variations in age, overall health, etc., that exist. So, we have a condition in which immunity exists for about 90% of those vaccinated for an unknown period of time but is known to vary based on age and overall health.

    There were numerous reports from hospitals that the number of patients admitted who had been vaccinated dropped sharply along with a corresponding drop in ICU admittance.

    The vaccines have worked well. Unfortunately, the media and the feds sold them as magic bullets. That they are not. Perfect is the enemy of good.

    Lee S – My experience with Covid infection is a mirror copy of yours. Two friends and my oldest daughter also have had the same experience.

  • James Lewis

    “1,526 views Jan 8, 2022
    National statistics indicate that 86% of patients admitted to the hospitals to be treated for Covid-19 are unvaccinated. Head of the Adult Emergency Department at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex Dr. Kiran Suraj revealed some of the trends he noticed from July to December 2021.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywYPA2Eg5Ag

    “U.S. hospital admissions for COVID-19 continue to decline, and patients who do seek medical help have been far less ill than they were earlier in the pandemic due to multiple factors including vaccines and treatments, according to Johns Hopkins experts.”

    https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-10-covid-hospital-admissions-decline-patients.html

  • Cotour

    Dr. Campbell and he is not happy finding out who is going to be allowed to say what is what in healthcare and who’s money pays for that official opinion:

    https://youtu.be/05GGaCBk9Mo

    Sites Orwell’s “new speak” V ” old Speak”.

    Interesting, he is old and does not apparently agree with the “NEW” more informed paradigm.

  • Edward

    James Lewis wrote: “My disagreement with you starts with your statement, ‘the evidence last year had already showed that the shots provided no protection against the virus.’ That is wrong. The vaccines provide some protection against becoming infected and greatly reduce the symptoms, including hospitalizations.

    Actually, there has been no evidence provided to support the statement about reduced symptoms and reduced hospitalizations. These are merely statements made by the same people who assured us that the faux vaccines would provide us with immunity to the Wuhan flu virus and prevent the spread. Both of those statement turned out to be false fabrications, told to us to trick us into getting the faux vaccine jabs. James Lewis’s statement is also told to us to talk us into getting the faux vaccine jabs.

    There were numerous reports from hospitals that the number of patients admitted who had been vaccinated dropped sharply along with a corresponding drop in ICU admittance.

    Anecdotal evidence is very weak evidence. The reports could be colored by confirmation bias, or they could be the result of other factors, such as newer variants of the Wuhan flu being less severe, and hopeful medical professionals wanting to attribute it to the faux vaccine shots. Correlation is not causation, which is why carefully designed studies must be performed to confirm observations. At best, the conclusions drawn due to such reports are hypotheses and carry no weight as to the correctness of the conclusions. Reduced symptoms and reduced hospitalizations could be due to the reduction in infections (now called cases, a word redefined specifically to increase fear of this disease). Correlation with the reduction in the number of people getting boosters for the faux vaccine does not mean causation.

    The vaccines have worked well.

    The faux vaccines have not worked at all, which is why, last year, my county required even those with the jab to go back to wearing masks for almost another year. Those with the jab were biohazards. By this action, my county had declared the shots to be failures.

    James Lewis,
    Your links are observations, not studies. They are subject to problems such as confirmation bias, a problem that can happen with actual studies and is the basis of every hypothesis. It is why hypotheses must be tested before being accepted as theories.

  • GaryMike

    I, too, do not consent.

  • Edward

    At last, I have realized what to comment regarding Robert’s experience. It took this essay to help me define my thoughts:
    https://www.wmbriggs.com/post/43341/ (CAUTION: Some adult language)

    Robert’s experience is number 6 on the list. Number 8 may seem more appropriate, but it goes further than happened to Robert.

    My own experience with the museum where I volunteer is very different than Robert’s with his former friends. The museum conformed to the minimum government requirements. First, there was social distancing, a new concept to us all. This was supposed to be the solution, after certain politicians had told us that to avoid the crowds of Chinese New Year would be a racist act.

    Then the museum was closed to the public, but members were allowed inside, as these were the county’s requirements. For one week. Then we were ordered to close for two weeks in order to prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed, called “lowering the curve.” This drastic action, never before ordered, in our lifetimes, tuned out to be unnecessary, as evidenced by New York City and Los Angeles, where military hospital ships had been reassigned, with herculean effort, to provide for overflows that never happened.

    Two weeks came and went, but the shelter-in-place orders continued for almost an entire year, and the museum was closed, due to county restrictions, for over a year. When the county government finally allowed the museum to reopen, county-ordered indoor mask mandates were still in place. The museum leadership continued to conform to requirements. I spent as much time as possible outdoors, but being the membership-drive person, I had (too many) occasions to don the asthma-simulator/contamination-inhaler in order to talk to prospective members. Each time the county allowed masks to be optional indoors (even today, the county continues to “highly recommend” face coverings while indoors), the museum leadership worked hard to ensure that individual choices were respected by all. Tolerance is the order of the day.

    The jab was never required, and no one asks. Those who wish to wear masks and those who choose bare faces are all allowed and accepted. The best part is that no one who wears a mask panics that those around him do not, and most do not wear a mask. We all get along well, and I expect this to continue for the duration. Not all the members and volunteers have come back, but this is also their own choice, and we do not apply any pressure for them to do so or for those whose memberships lapsed during the shutdown to rejoin. When they are ready, they will come.

    Membership is not the only consequence we suffer due to the shutdown and other government-ordered reactions, but we operate reasonably well, even with the differences that result from adapting to this new abnormal. We are rebuilding our operations fairly successfully and probably appear back to normal from the outside. Of course, I don’t know how well Robert’s old organization is doing without some of its members, but America’s airlines, railroads, and diesel suppliers are having a difficult time of it, and these operations are far more important to America’s society, economy, and security than museums and cave mapping.

    When the board of directors chose to go along with the minimum government-ordered reactions, did they consent to the evil? Yes. They were in a tough position. They have a responsibility to the public and to the museum’s members to operate a museum per the charter and per contracts with landlords, one of which is the county that ordered these reactions to the Wuhan flu (the lease contract requires that we run a museum, not to hold the property fallow). The board, as a group, succumbed to the fear that the museum would lose its permission (by government) to exist. What kind of society do we live in when we fear our government?

    However, rather than call the police or throw out someone without a mask, we kept a box of masks to offer to people who did not have one. This offer was the extent of any kind of confrontation. We continue to keep a box for those who want a mask but left theirs at home* or had otherwise lost theirs.

    What a difference panic makes. At one group, everyone still gets along and are inclusive and tolerant, yet at the other they don’t get along and suffer from rejection and confrontation, at the very least. We really have to wonder what our national and local experts are thinking, when they create such a different society from the one we knew all our lives.

    This great evil was done for the sake of saving lives, but due to the evil more lives were lost than would have been (known for decades: flu spreads more in winter due to the greater time spent indoors); livelihoods were unnecessarily destroyed, resulting also in damage to the economy; society was put asunder between the panicked and the calm; the economy was devastated with inflation and shortages; and a host of other tribulations occurred during the past quarter decade. Should the experts, politicians, and other leaders who violated centuries of medical lessons — who perpetrated these evils upon us — pay a price?

    Yes, of course. Otherwise others will follow, just as illegal aliens have mobbed our southern border once they realized there is no punishment for their actions. We need a strong incentive to not do evil to this world ever again.

    Should the civilians — the busybodies — who tortured us be punished?

    No. They were so frightened that they were willing to lose friends and family in hopes of finding a safety that didn’t exist. They were driven into fright by our fearful leaders, the ones who imposed restrictions upon us but violated those restrictions for their own convenience. It was our fearful leaders, not those they had frightened, who knew that the danger was low and knew that they were protecting the least vulnerable while infecting the most vulnerable, infecting them in order to raise the level of fear in the population. Too many people had been so badly frightened that they don’t, and perhaps cannot, see that their fears were unfounded or see that the various anti-medical solutions were doomed to fail. We have seen several of these people’s fearful comments here on BTB. This is the fault of those inducing fear, not the fault of those who succumbed to the fear. Those who succumbed are victims, and they may need years of psychological counseling in order to recover from their emotional traumas. It is part of the evil we continue to suffer through.

    * A couple of months ago, I supplied someone in this position with a mask from this box. You might wonder how someone who wants to wear a mask indoors could leave theirs at home, and so do I, but it seems to happen. Does this box help feed the fear? Yes. But it will take years of psychological counseling in order for these fearful victims to recover from their emotional traumas. Denying them their security blankets is not helpful.

  • Edward: I should mention that membership and participation in these thuggish caving clubs has dropped enormously. These are meant to be social clubs, and too many people (neutral) were turned off bigtime by the blacklisting.

    Unfortunately, too many shrug and go along to get along. And for those that left, almost all have never had the courage to tell anyone why. Thus, the thugs win.

  • Cotour

    European politicians condemn the actions of the government and big pharma players concerning Covid:

    https://youtu.be/xSGLnELkGqQ

  • Edward

    Robert,
    You wrote: “Unfortunately, too many shrug and go along to get along.

    Yes, it takes a lot to be willing to lose friends. For you, your freedom was at stake, and you put much store in your freedom. Thank you for taking a stand. For the members of your former group who were so fearful that they were willing to lose friends, this shows the extent of their fear. As for the others who left, at least they left and won’t support the thuggery.

  • wayne

    Five Times August
    “Jesus… What Happened To Us?” (Nov. 2021)
    https://youtu.be/jjeceveczCc
    3:10

  • Bosco Bob

    Bob Zimmerman wrote:

    “Edward: I should mention that membership and participation in these thuggish caving clubs has dropped enormously. These are meant to be social clubs, and too many people (neutral) were turned off bigtime by the blacklisting.”

    Citation needed…

    You are enormously wrong again bob, and how the heck would you know anything about it. Please stop your whining.

    You were not blacklisted, you were expelled for acting, like a non member. You argued your case, you lost, and you explicitly told the entire group you didn’t care what anyone else thought you would do as you pleased. You were, and are, the thug in this scenario. Quit acting like a victim, you caused the entire conflict.

    The echo chamber here may believe your sad sad tale but no one else is buying it.

  • wayne

    “OK, Karen! ?‍♀️”
    Paul Jospeh Watson (May, 2020)
    https://youtu.be/aR3uA2eLgbk
    8:33

  • wayne: Ah yes, it is most entertaining to watch that Watson piece again, now two-plus years later. Thank you posting it.

  • Henry

    Bosco Bob, Mike, Robert,

    Fraud was committed by the dishonest ARA Executive Committee (Deneshia Ferraris – ARA president, Justine Mayo – ARA vice president, Scott King – ARA secretary/treasurer) and the original petitioners (Brian McMillan – SAG president, Nicole Davis – SAG fall ARA planning committee member, Belinda Norby – SAG board member at large, Sarah Trube – EGI board member at large). Then there were the sheep who went along with the fraud.

    Article 5, paragraph 1 of the ARA Constitution defines regular meetings. The ARA has 3 regular meetings annually: the winter paper regional, the spring caving regional and the fall caving regional. These meetings have been happening for decades. The Disciplinary Action Meeting scheduled for November 19, 2021 was clearly not a regular meeting as defined in Article 5, paragraph 1. Thus, the Disciplinary Action Meeting scheduled for November 19, 2021 was not authorized under this provision.

    Article 5, paragraph 2 of the ARA Constitution defines special meetings. “Special meetings of the ARA may be called upon written request to the Executive Committee of at least 2/3 of the members of the ARA.” The Disciplinary Action Meeting scheduled for November 19, 2021 is clearly a special meeting, being specifically called to address a single issue. Further, even the meeting announcement declared the meeting to be a special meeting. As such, it requires that at least 2/3 of the members sign a written request before it can be scheduled. The ARA claimed to have 67 members at the time so 45 people would be required to meet this provision. There were only 4 petitioners requesting the meeting in writing – less than 10% of the required number. Thus, the Disciplinary Action Meeting scheduled for November 19, 2021 was not authorized under this provision.

    There are no other provisions in the ARA Constitution that provide for meetings. Thus, it was fraudulent to schedule a meeting and claim it was authorized by the ARA Constitution. It was also fraudulent to hold the meeting. Finally, given the meeting was not authorized by the ARA Constitution, all business conducted at the meeting was null and void. The results of this fake meeting were then used by SAG in their own kangaroo court.

    SAG (Southern Arizona Grotto), the ARA (Arizona Regional Association) and the other Arizona grottos of the NSS are internal organizations of the NSS. As such, any NSS member may attend meetings and in general, any non-member interested in the NSS may also attend meetings. In fact, all internal organizations are viewed as outreach groups for the NSS to encourage new NSS members. There are no provisions in the NSS Constitution or Bylaws to do anything other than revoke a membership for substantial cause – i.e., return you back to non-member status. There are no provisions that allow any of the internal organizations to ban you from grotto or regional meetings.

    So what was the substantial cause that SAG and the ARA were so upset about? They were upset that we were going to follow the science and be safe. They wanted to: 1) punish those who were unvaccinated and 2) make fraudulent claims of safety to those who were vaccinated, especially those who had compromised immune systems.

    History clearly documents that the SAG and ARA committee members was wrong on all counts. The “vaccination” offers no significant scientifically documented benefit – especially compared to a healthy life style combined with well documented early treatments – for example, the FLCCCA set of protocols. Masks provide marginal – if any – protection. Social distancing provides marginal – if any – protection. Testing yields a very high false positive rate and cannot tell you if you are contagious and a negative test does not guarantee you are not infected or not contagious. All of these things were well known and documented in September 2021 when SAG and the ARA came up with their petty rules.

    I, for one, was not willing to sit around quietly while these folks made fraudulent claims to the caving community. Especially fraudulent claims that could get people hurt. Fraud, propaganda and general dishonesty are running their course and are well documented.

    I am mindful of 1930s and 1940s history and hope I can help prevent a fate similar to that of the jews and dissidents of that era. I hope there is sufficient judiciary left to prosecute the COVID criminals and put them behind bars – or hang them by the neck until dead in the town square if a jury finds their particular crimes sufficiently heinous.

    “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” – Edmund Burke.

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