Rockettes: amazing athletic ability and dedication. I wonder what is the average retirement age for a Rockette? I can’t imagine someone doing that much past 30.
I know as a conservative leaning person I’m not “suppose” to like women’s basketball and soccer in general, but I’ve been a UConn WBB fan for decades, and with my daughters growing up playing soccer, and I ref, I watch that sport a lot.
So yesterday I was a couch potato watching the UConn game first, then the NWSL semis. After living in Florida now for 3 months and not ever having to wear a mask and seeing very few people wearing masks I was really struck watching those games. It was so sad to see in Hartford everyone in the stands wearing masks, and even worse was the NWSL games in Tacoma and Portland where in an outdoor stadium everyone had a mask on. So glad I live in a free state now, and so sad to see other people still under the yoke.
These dancers are the equals of Olympic gymnasts.
A lot of similarities with high level marching band/drum and bugle corps groups, including 6 hour/day, 6 days a week practices and a mix of argot and military terms.
physicsguy,
I spent a lot of time in Florida this year and it is always odd returning home.
It’s very odd that other states have literal laboratories of non-masking going on in the country, yet most states completely ignore that evidence.
Even odder, there are some establishments that I would see in Florida observing very strict COVID regimens for staff and patrons while being surrounded by establishments doing nothing.
I could see maybe a week or two, before there was data, but once you have month upon month of seeing that staff and patrons at the other establishments are not dropping dead, and piling bodies out front like cord wood, one would think that evidence would cause the strict establishments to remove their rules and restrictions.
When you see that in person it becomes obvious it is a psychological condition. Evidence, reality, data and experience have no bearing on their actions. They are not creating the rules and enforcing the rituals for health reasons. It is a shibboleth. A visual queue that they are in a certain group.
Rufus, where I see most masks are in places like Home Depot, where it’s obviously company policy that the poor employees have to wear masks; none of the customers do. For locally controlled businesses none of the employees are wearing masks. Disney still requiring masks indoors even though Orange county dropped everything 3 weeks ago. I think Universal is loosening up, so WDW should follow soon.
physicsguy,
You mentioned a woman’s soccer game in Tacoma which is near where I live and I would argue this is reflective of the demographics of soccer at least here in WA. Soccer is the one sport the leftists here absolutely love and they are the mask zealots. Seahawks games (with same stupid King Jay rules) have been mostly unmasked (I’d guess 75/25 unmasked).
I continue to go unmasked except under certain situations and have received zero pushback.
Masks have become the ultimate virtue signal.
Masks are optional in our part of Texas except for chain store employees who still mostly wear a mask. Our doctors office does not require patients to mask up, part of staff does and most don’t including the docs once they are in the room and understand I prefer they not wear a mask. They respect the preferences of patients which is nice. Local restaurants staff and customers are not masked. Schools have masks optional for teachers and students and I don’t see any masked students coming out of the school this year when they are walking home. Same for ball games and other venues so I guess we are not as affected in our area by the COVID stuff. Texans must have better immune systems or something, our county of 50K people has reported one COVID death in the last six weeks and I don’t know if that is with or from COVID, I suspect all the reported numbers especial in the liberal metro areas.
The last time I wore a mask was in the middle of the summer when I took my hearing aids into the VA for repair and they went through all of the Federal questions and taking temp with a ray gun thing. I know COVID makes people sick and can be very bad for people with impaired health situations but the folks I know who did get it just didn’t die and some were too heavy and rather old so there’s that. I believe what I actually know and don’t believe much of anything coming out of Washington DC anymore. Texas and Florida are nice places to be and next year perhaps enough politicians will be replaced and we can regain some sensible governmental policies.
physicsgy,
Bought a house a little south of you, in Saint Augustine, and there are a handful of restaurants and shops there still behaving like it’s April, 2020. As I’m sure you know, Saint Augustine was built by the Spanish in the 1600s, narrow streets, small, narrow buildings.
It’s really visually interesting to see a narrow, cobblestone street, packed with unmasked folks and one, narrow storefront about every 70 yards, or so, with a masked employee out front limiting the number of folks who enter and ensuring only masked folks can enter.
I’d say 80% or so of the local establishments had stopped the charade by October, 2020, and, except for restaurants and shops, it seemed like 70% of folks were walking around outside and on the beaches unmasked.
So these establishments have had a solid year of witnessing non-masking, non social distancing right in front of their faces and they must know Saint John’s County has not had any bizarre COVID outbreaks in comparison to any other county in the nation, yet they continue with the charade. It is sincerely fascinating. I find myself almost in awe or wonder when I walk by those storefronts. Like I’m walking by an Astrologer or Palm Reader’s shop.
Maybe I’ll lease a storefront and start charging for phrenology readings.
“Masks have become the ultimate virtue signal.”
Griffin, thanks for that update. Your statement on virtue signaling goes along with the video, sorry I forgot who did the link, of the fellow who is a statistician and psych prof in Europe who did the analysis that much of what we are seeing today is a mass neurosis. Apparently, people want to be part of a group that is “fighting” an evil. Thus, identifying with a group that appears virtuous is a powerful psychological imperative. Explains a lot to me. He also said those of more independent and skeptical mind set tend not to fall into such mental patterns.
Rufus, Yep, sounds like St Augustine is a cousin to where we go a lot: Fernandina Beach. The downtown area is full of those sort of shops and the area is a draw for the wealthier lib crowd, Very few of shop staff are wearing masks now, and no one trying to enforce any “social distancing”, but I can spot the lib/Dem tourist quite easily by the blue mask over their face.
Speaking of masks and broader issues, here is a political changer:
How I Woke Up:
My personal reckoning with the covid narrative and The Science™
I should have added that these are unique shops, not national chains. My assumption with the big, national chains is it’s a corporate edict. I certainly see some employees at those, like Home Depot, who are very cavalier about the requirement.
Regarding what you see with tourists, on the street, I see that too. I do assume some of them are purely doing it for show, “I’ll show you crazy Floridians how we civilized people do it up north!”, but I also imagine some of them might have asthma, or be immuno-compromised.
I still see an occasional maskwearer on the beach. Even if one had a health issue, there is plenty of social distancing on the beach and the winds are generally consistent enough I can’t imagine any virus particulate lingering for long.
Humans are an interesting species.
Marisa,
If you are interested in political changers I think you would appreciate Glenn Beck’s recent conversation with Batya Ungar-Sargon. She comes across as very earnest, sincere and curious. She’s also very open and frank about what she had been ignoring and how her eyes were slowly opened to the amount of lies she had simply accepted as fact.
physicsguy ” I forgot who did the link, of the fellow who is a statistician and psych prof in Europe who did the analysis that much of what we are seeing today is a mass neurosis. Apparently, people want to be part of a group that is “fighting” an evil. Thus, identifying with a group that appears virtuous is a powerful psychological imperative.”
Dr Mattias Desmet, Ghent University.
I posted a LINK here to a long, over an hour interview cup at YT. I don’t recall key words in the title, however.
Marisa that link is inspirational and reassuring. Maybe some will eventually snap out of it
Two words: lovely ladies. Two more words: proficient athletes. And two more words: artistic elites.
This is from a doctor in the UK but it all applies here also.
Plus, they are now having massive flu outbreaks on numerous college campuses. This is very interesting because it may show that COVID has now become endemic there and therefore other viruses are coming back and it also shows the fact that masks don’t work (which has been obvious for about 20 months now but whatever).
I was surprised at the 4″ permitted height range for the Rockettes. I would have guessed it was more like 5’10” to 6′, but it’s actually 5’6″ to 5’10.5″. I know even 5’6″ is above median height for U.S. women, but the Rockettes always appear very tall on stage.
I would like to thank and give credit to many of the commenters here, and, of course, neo herself, for the fearlesness, tenacity and intelligence you have shown since March, 2020.
The experts’ forecasts of COVID’s affects and impacts were grim, indeed. At the onset I did not see anyone here NOT take the disease seriously, nor did I see rampant disregard for its potential impact on humanity. I did see relatively calm examination of data as they became available, and deliberate, concerted efforts to ascertain what was truly happening.
It has not been unusual in the past, several months to see more and more people waking up to many of the exaggerations made by some government agencies, officials and the corporate press. Marisa’s link is an example of one such woman. However, we readers of neo’s blog have been well informed of the true risks of the COVID pandemic since at least June, 2020.
I feel fortunate to have a regular place to go online where the blog’s author so consistently researches and addresses vital current events in an earnest attempt to get to the truth. And you, her comment’ers, often add additional, important insight to those topics. It is a huge help and comfort. Fortunately my wife is almost* always on the same wave length as I am on most of these topics, so I at least live with someone who is sane, but there are times when I doubt my sanity of reasoning because ulterior messaging can be so strong and consistent. The New Neo is always a sanity check for me, when I begin to think maybe I’m the one who is wrong and the intelligent folks here steer me right when I am the one who is wrong! 🙂
Thanks all!
*Because she is a medical professional on the front lines my wife was initially more of a vaccination absolutist than I (even for pregnant mothers and children), and more convinced COVID’s impact on healthy, non-elderly was more significant than it is, but as she saw more and more empirical evidence she began to see that many of her peers in the medical community were spreading rumors and not heeding the evidence in front of their own eyes. Which ties in with Belgian Professor Matt DeSmet’s theory that has been discussed today. (I’ve worked in the city of Ghent, where his University is located. It’s a wonderful city!)
Rufus,
Regarding your wife and her medical colleagues it’s been my anecdotal personal experience that a huge number realized a long time back that this was being greatly overplayed but for many reasons were unwilling or afraid to come forward.
I linked this article above it is very good on this line of thought.
I didn’t watch the video because I can’t get past the fake smiles.
Rufus T. Firefly:
Thanks!
Rufus T. Firefly —
Hear hear!
Rufus T. Firefly:
I think several things are operating to make them look taller. (1) They are also slender and long-legged, which makes they look taller (2) They usually wear high heels (3) Dancers in general look taller on stage.
On the topic of dancers looking taller, please see this post of mine. The video links there don’t work anymore, but here’s a video of the same dancer.
And he he has his finger on the trigger. You can see that there is no magazine in the rifle. However, I own several firearms and about half will fire a round in the chamber without a magazine inserted in the gun, and the other half will not.
Maybe Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was available to make the sure the gun was safe for that courtroom stunt.
So pointing guns at jury members with one’s finger on the trigger is the new normal?
This DA should be flipping burgers at Wendy’s. (Though I’m not even sure he should be trusted doing that…)
I read neo’s piece on Ulbricht and watched the video. Amazing! Incredible! What tremendous athletes and performers! Beautiful and awe inspiring.
Griffin @ 5:28pm,
It’s a small sample size, but it appears my wife’s co-workers are mostly behaving honestly. It is literally their own lives on the line, and I think all of them do what they do because they have a desire to help those in need of medical help. Although a bit more slowly than most of us on this blog, most of her colleagues are fairly realistic about the virus’s transmission, potential harm and pointlessness of masks, but they are still more trusting of the vaccines than current evidence warrants.
There are still some (10%?, 15%?) who are mask fanatics and seem to be ignoring data.
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Rockettes: amazing athletic ability and dedication. I wonder what is the average retirement age for a Rockette? I can’t imagine someone doing that much past 30.
I know as a conservative leaning person I’m not “suppose” to like women’s basketball and soccer in general, but I’ve been a UConn WBB fan for decades, and with my daughters growing up playing soccer, and I ref, I watch that sport a lot.
So yesterday I was a couch potato watching the UConn game first, then the NWSL semis. After living in Florida now for 3 months and not ever having to wear a mask and seeing very few people wearing masks I was really struck watching those games. It was so sad to see in Hartford everyone in the stands wearing masks, and even worse was the NWSL games in Tacoma and Portland where in an outdoor stadium everyone had a mask on. So glad I live in a free state now, and so sad to see other people still under the yoke.
These dancers are the equals of Olympic gymnasts.
A lot of similarities with high level marching band/drum and bugle corps groups, including 6 hour/day, 6 days a week practices and a mix of argot and military terms.
physicsguy,
I spent a lot of time in Florida this year and it is always odd returning home.
It’s very odd that other states have literal laboratories of non-masking going on in the country, yet most states completely ignore that evidence.
Even odder, there are some establishments that I would see in Florida observing very strict COVID regimens for staff and patrons while being surrounded by establishments doing nothing.
I could see maybe a week or two, before there was data, but once you have month upon month of seeing that staff and patrons at the other establishments are not dropping dead, and piling bodies out front like cord wood, one would think that evidence would cause the strict establishments to remove their rules and restrictions.
When you see that in person it becomes obvious it is a psychological condition. Evidence, reality, data and experience have no bearing on their actions. They are not creating the rules and enforcing the rituals for health reasons. It is a shibboleth. A visual queue that they are in a certain group.
Rufus, where I see most masks are in places like Home Depot, where it’s obviously company policy that the poor employees have to wear masks; none of the customers do. For locally controlled businesses none of the employees are wearing masks. Disney still requiring masks indoors even though Orange county dropped everything 3 weeks ago. I think Universal is loosening up, so WDW should follow soon.
physicsguy,
You mentioned a woman’s soccer game in Tacoma which is near where I live and I would argue this is reflective of the demographics of soccer at least here in WA. Soccer is the one sport the leftists here absolutely love and they are the mask zealots. Seahawks games (with same stupid King Jay rules) have been mostly unmasked (I’d guess 75/25 unmasked).
I continue to go unmasked except under certain situations and have received zero pushback.
Masks have become the ultimate virtue signal.
Masks are optional in our part of Texas except for chain store employees who still mostly wear a mask. Our doctors office does not require patients to mask up, part of staff does and most don’t including the docs once they are in the room and understand I prefer they not wear a mask. They respect the preferences of patients which is nice. Local restaurants staff and customers are not masked. Schools have masks optional for teachers and students and I don’t see any masked students coming out of the school this year when they are walking home. Same for ball games and other venues so I guess we are not as affected in our area by the COVID stuff. Texans must have better immune systems or something, our county of 50K people has reported one COVID death in the last six weeks and I don’t know if that is with or from COVID, I suspect all the reported numbers especial in the liberal metro areas.
The last time I wore a mask was in the middle of the summer when I took my hearing aids into the VA for repair and they went through all of the Federal questions and taking temp with a ray gun thing. I know COVID makes people sick and can be very bad for people with impaired health situations but the folks I know who did get it just didn’t die and some were too heavy and rather old so there’s that. I believe what I actually know and don’t believe much of anything coming out of Washington DC anymore. Texas and Florida are nice places to be and next year perhaps enough politicians will be replaced and we can regain some sensible governmental policies.
physicsgy,
Bought a house a little south of you, in Saint Augustine, and there are a handful of restaurants and shops there still behaving like it’s April, 2020. As I’m sure you know, Saint Augustine was built by the Spanish in the 1600s, narrow streets, small, narrow buildings.
It’s really visually interesting to see a narrow, cobblestone street, packed with unmasked folks and one, narrow storefront about every 70 yards, or so, with a masked employee out front limiting the number of folks who enter and ensuring only masked folks can enter.
I’d say 80% or so of the local establishments had stopped the charade by October, 2020, and, except for restaurants and shops, it seemed like 70% of folks were walking around outside and on the beaches unmasked.
So these establishments have had a solid year of witnessing non-masking, non social distancing right in front of their faces and they must know Saint John’s County has not had any bizarre COVID outbreaks in comparison to any other county in the nation, yet they continue with the charade. It is sincerely fascinating. I find myself almost in awe or wonder when I walk by those storefronts. Like I’m walking by an Astrologer or Palm Reader’s shop.
Maybe I’ll lease a storefront and start charging for phrenology readings.
“Masks have become the ultimate virtue signal.”
Griffin, thanks for that update. Your statement on virtue signaling goes along with the video, sorry I forgot who did the link, of the fellow who is a statistician and psych prof in Europe who did the analysis that much of what we are seeing today is a mass neurosis. Apparently, people want to be part of a group that is “fighting” an evil. Thus, identifying with a group that appears virtuous is a powerful psychological imperative. Explains a lot to me. He also said those of more independent and skeptical mind set tend not to fall into such mental patterns.
Rufus, Yep, sounds like St Augustine is a cousin to where we go a lot: Fernandina Beach. The downtown area is full of those sort of shops and the area is a draw for the wealthier lib crowd, Very few of shop staff are wearing masks now, and no one trying to enforce any “social distancing”, but I can spot the lib/Dem tourist quite easily by the blue mask over their face.
Speaking of masks and broader issues, here is a political changer:
How I Woke Up:
My personal reckoning with the covid narrative and The Science™
https://sarahburwick.substack.com/p/how-i-woke-up
She has two other essays as well.
physicsguy,
I should have added that these are unique shops, not national chains. My assumption with the big, national chains is it’s a corporate edict. I certainly see some employees at those, like Home Depot, who are very cavalier about the requirement.
Regarding what you see with tourists, on the street, I see that too. I do assume some of them are purely doing it for show, “I’ll show you crazy Floridians how we civilized people do it up north!”, but I also imagine some of them might have asthma, or be immuno-compromised.
I still see an occasional maskwearer on the beach. Even if one had a health issue, there is plenty of social distancing on the beach and the winds are generally consistent enough I can’t imagine any virus particulate lingering for long.
Humans are an interesting species.
Marisa,
If you are interested in political changers I think you would appreciate Glenn Beck’s recent conversation with Batya Ungar-Sargon. She comes across as very earnest, sincere and curious. She’s also very open and frank about what she had been ignoring and how her eyes were slowly opened to the amount of lies she had simply accepted as fact.
You can find the interview here: https://www.glennbeck.com/glenn-beck-podcast/
physicsguy ” I forgot who did the link, of the fellow who is a statistician and psych prof in Europe who did the analysis that much of what we are seeing today is a mass neurosis. Apparently, people want to be part of a group that is “fighting” an evil. Thus, identifying with a group that appears virtuous is a powerful psychological imperative.”
Dr Mattias Desmet, Ghent University.
I posted a LINK here to a long, over an hour interview cup at YT. I don’t recall key words in the title, however.
Marisa that link is inspirational and reassuring. Maybe some will eventually snap out of it
TJ; physicsguy:
I believe this is the link you’re talking about.
Two words: lovely ladies. Two more words: proficient athletes. And two more words: artistic elites.
This is from a doctor in the UK but it all applies here also.
Plus, they are now having massive flu outbreaks on numerous college campuses. This is very interesting because it may show that COVID has now become endemic there and therefore other viruses are coming back and it also shows the fact that masks don’t work (which has been obvious for about 20 months now but whatever).
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/why-have-we-doctors-been-silent/
A link on the flu outbreak at the U. of Michigan.
https://twitter.com/Laurie_Garrett/status/1460297715028566016
When you live in a Dem controlled city ..,
This is just a single weekend
Chicago – 21 shot; 4 killed:
https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-shooting-violence-shootings-gun/11238300/
I was surprised at the 4″ permitted height range for the Rockettes. I would have guessed it was more like 5’10” to 6′, but it’s actually 5’6″ to 5’10.5″. I know even 5’6″ is above median height for U.S. women, but the Rockettes always appear very tall on stage.
I would like to thank and give credit to many of the commenters here, and, of course, neo herself, for the fearlesness, tenacity and intelligence you have shown since March, 2020.
The experts’ forecasts of COVID’s affects and impacts were grim, indeed. At the onset I did not see anyone here NOT take the disease seriously, nor did I see rampant disregard for its potential impact on humanity. I did see relatively calm examination of data as they became available, and deliberate, concerted efforts to ascertain what was truly happening.
It has not been unusual in the past, several months to see more and more people waking up to many of the exaggerations made by some government agencies, officials and the corporate press. Marisa’s link is an example of one such woman. However, we readers of neo’s blog have been well informed of the true risks of the COVID pandemic since at least June, 2020.
I feel fortunate to have a regular place to go online where the blog’s author so consistently researches and addresses vital current events in an earnest attempt to get to the truth. And you, her comment’ers, often add additional, important insight to those topics. It is a huge help and comfort. Fortunately my wife is almost* always on the same wave length as I am on most of these topics, so I at least live with someone who is sane, but there are times when I doubt my sanity of reasoning because ulterior messaging can be so strong and consistent. The New Neo is always a sanity check for me, when I begin to think maybe I’m the one who is wrong and the intelligent folks here steer me right when I am the one who is wrong! 🙂
Thanks all!
*Because she is a medical professional on the front lines my wife was initially more of a vaccination absolutist than I (even for pregnant mothers and children), and more convinced COVID’s impact on healthy, non-elderly was more significant than it is, but as she saw more and more empirical evidence she began to see that many of her peers in the medical community were spreading rumors and not heeding the evidence in front of their own eyes. Which ties in with Belgian Professor Matt DeSmet’s theory that has been discussed today. (I’ve worked in the city of Ghent, where his University is located. It’s a wonderful city!)
Rufus,
Regarding your wife and her medical colleagues it’s been my anecdotal personal experience that a huge number realized a long time back that this was being greatly overplayed but for many reasons were unwilling or afraid to come forward.
I linked this article above it is very good on this line of thought.
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/why-have-we-doctors-been-silent/
I didn’t watch the video because I can’t get past the fake smiles.
Rufus T. Firefly:
Thanks!
Rufus T. Firefly —
Hear hear!
Rufus T. Firefly:
I think several things are operating to make them look taller. (1) They are also slender and long-legged, which makes they look taller (2) They usually wear high heels (3) Dancers in general look taller on stage.
On the topic of dancers looking taller, please see this post of mine. The video links there don’t work anymore, but here’s a video of the same dancer.
Griffin,
Thank you for that article.
Impressive.
Binger “muzzles” people in courtroom with Rittenhouse AR-15 rifle.
https://pjmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Thomas-Binger-AR-15-730×0.png
And he he has his finger on the trigger. You can see that there is no magazine in the rifle. However, I own several firearms and about half will fire a round in the chamber without a magazine inserted in the gun, and the other half will not.
Maybe Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was available to make the sure the gun was safe for that courtroom stunt.
So pointing guns at jury members with one’s finger on the trigger is the new normal?
This DA should be flipping burgers at Wendy’s. (Though I’m not even sure he should be trusted doing that…)
I read neo’s piece on Ulbricht and watched the video. Amazing! Incredible! What tremendous athletes and performers! Beautiful and awe inspiring.
Griffin @ 5:28pm,
It’s a small sample size, but it appears my wife’s co-workers are mostly behaving honestly. It is literally their own lives on the line, and I think all of them do what they do because they have a desire to help those in need of medical help. Although a bit more slowly than most of us on this blog, most of her colleagues are fairly realistic about the virus’s transmission, potential harm and pointlessness of masks, but they are still more trusting of the vaccines than current evidence warrants.
There are still some (10%?, 15%?) who are mask fanatics and seem to be ignoring data.