I want to talk about face masks. Why? Because after at least 18 months, a face mask of all things, has become a political symbol. The thing is, you already know this. You’ve read about it, heard about it, and quite honestly have talked about it.
All around the globe, mask wearing has been a hot button subject, and I feel a lot of the discussions about them has been centred on the science fact vs science fantasy debate. Do masks actually work? By wearing a mask, can it reduce the risk of you contracting COVID-19? The answer to both of these questions is yes.
There are several myths surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines, which I took apart in my previous blogs. It’s interesting to note that a lot of anti-vaxxers, are also against wearing face masks; whether it’s for religious, political, moral or scientific reasons. So now it’s time for some mask wearing facts!
FACT 1: Wearing a mask, is one of the best ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
FACT 2: You can not reinfect yourself with COVID-19, by wearing a mask.
FACT 3: Wearing a face mask, does not decrease your oxygen levels.
FACT 4: Even if you don’t have any COVID-19 symptoms, you should still wear a mask.
FACT 5: You don’t need to mock and ridicule anybody, for wearing a face mask.
FACT 6: COVID-19 precautions like hand washing and social distancing, should still be used along with mask wearing.
FACT 7: Cloth face masks can still protect you from COVID-19.
FACT 8: Your carbon dioxide levels will not increase, when using a face mask.
FACT 9: Wearing a face mask, protects the wearer and the people around them.
FACT 10:Wearing a face mask, will not weaken your immune system.
FACT 11: By wearing a face mask, does not mean you will develop pneumonia.
FACT 12: A child wearing a face mask, is not abuse; it’s actually sensible parenting.
FACT 13: A face mask is only effective, as long your nose and mouth are covered.
FACT 14: Even if you are vaccinated, you should still wear a mask.
FACT 15: You don’t need to wear a face mask while exercising.
FACT 16: As the designated shopper for my house, I had the joy of going to the supermarket during lockdown. While I was there, I noticed a lot of single guys; with their white bread, pies and beer filled trollies, testing out a new flirting technique: “Hey, I like your mask,” hoping a conversation could flow from there.
As opening lines go, it’s better than, “Did it hurt when you fell from heaven, because you’re an angel,” but not as good as, “Falling in love with you takes less time than my DNA takes to replicate.”
If you have the opportunity to wear a mask, please do it. Not just for yourself, but for the people around you. The science behind face masks is rock solid, so please be brave and wear a face mask.
We are currently at Level 2 with our national lockdown, with some other regions still at the highest level, which is Level 4. That being the case, this is my last lockdown post, until we have another one. Maybe. Until then, I’ll return to my regular scheduled programming of geeky content.
Until then, mask up, get a vaccine, wash your hands, and look after yourselves and your families.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in a few days!
We are still in lockdown currently in New Zealand, though we are slowly moving down the levels. Sadly, this means that COVID-19 vaccine myths are still floating around on social media and across the dinner table. In my last blog, I looked at some of the insanity surrounding five COVID-19 vaccine myths, so today I aim to finish what I started with five more.
Myth 6:The COVID-19 vaccine is making people magnetic.
Reality: I want you to really think about this; people are claiming that a vaccine is giving them magnetic powers. Now if Magento or Doctor Polaris were claiming this, my reply would be, “How could you tell?”
Human magnetism; it sounds like the next step in human evolution, but it’s not. There have been numerous people involved with articles, photographs and video footage, around this subject. They are claiming that after they have received the COVID-19 vaccine (I don’t think it’s been cleared up which one they are talking about), metal objects like phones, spoons, knives, forks, etc, can now stick to their body.
I saw some hilarious footage in America, with people standing up in court to testify that the COVID-19 vaccine had made them magnetic, because of microchips in the vaccine or some other insane reason.
Let’s clear this up quickly, not a single case of magnetism has been found, by someone receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. It’s not possible.
To clarify:
There are no metallic, microelectronics or magnetic materials in the vaccines.
There is nothing in the vaccine that can produce the electromagnetic force, at the vaccination point or in your body.
A dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is usually less than a millilitre, which means the shot is too small to carry a microchip.
You have iron in your blood, but it’s not ferromagnetic; which means it’s not receptive to magnetism. This means it can’t build or interact with an electromagnetic force field.
If you were a human magnet, only steel or iron objects would be an attracted to your body, not silver ones, like in the anti-vaxxer videos.
To me, this myth is utter garbage, so please ignore it.
Myth 7:The COVID-19 vaccine makes women infertile.
Reality: The old anti-vaxxer crazy train, is breaking new ground now. Apparently, thousands of women across the world, have been made infertile by receiving the COVID-19 vaccine; in addition to the claim that a woman could be made infertile, simply by standing next to a vaccinated person. Really?
I believe these misinformed people think that while different drug companies have been developing the vaccines, they never thought about testing pregnant women?! Really?
The COVID-19 vaccine does not cause infertility in women. If it did, it would not have been approved by medical authorities for public use.
Myth 8:The COVID-19 vaccine gives you COVID-19.
Reality: Anti-vaxxers want you to believe that by receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, you are actually having the virus injected into you, so then, you’ll get sick.
Some COVID-19 vaccines do contain an inactivated or weakened version of the virus, to stimulate your immune system, however you can’t catch COVID-19 from this. mRNA vaccines like Pfizer, do not have any live or dead strains of COVID-19. You can not contract COVID-19 from a COVID-19 vaccine. This is nonsense, once again.
Myth 9:People that are vaccinated are catching COVID-19, proving the vaccines don’t work.
Reality: Let’s break this statement down; firstly, the notion that some people that have been partly or fully vaccinated, have contracted COVID-19, is actually true. It is.
However the problem with this is not calling the efficacy of the vaccines into question, but rather explaining how vaccinated people can contract COVID-19. These people are called breakthrough cases, and the reasons why this happens, can be quite varied.
No vaccine is 100% proof, so the vaccine is different from one person to the next, in terms of their immune system and immune response. Your immune response can be weakened or boosted by medications, age and overall health, and people with a weakened immune system, do have a higher chance of becoming a breakthrough case.
Having a COVID-19 vaccine does not make you 100% bullet proof against COVID-19, but it can lower the risks of you being infected, supported by social distancing, mask wearing, wash handing and using sanitisers. The largest group in the community that has the greatest risk for transmission for the virus are the unvaccinated. It’s a simple, but tragic fact.
If 100 people were exposed to COVID-19, it means that 80-90 vaccinated people, would not get any symptoms, but 10-20 people may get symptoms, with 5 people needing hospitalisation. The COVID-19 vaccines actually do work.
Myth 10:People are dying after receiving the COVID-19 vaccines.
Reality: It’s true, there has been reports of some people that have received the COVID-19 vaccine have died, but correlation doesn’t equal causation. An example of this issue is the serial killer scenario. Let’s say serial killers prefer to kill people during summer or hotter months. This might mean, that during this period serial killers would eat ice cream as a treat; therefore we can link serial killers and ice cream! Eating ice cream turns you into a serial killer!
But eating ice cream does not turn you into a serial killer, just the same as people dying after their vaccination, does not mean the vaccine killed them. You could discover that 500 people were vaccinated over 24 hours in your home town. After a week, you track them all down to gauge the effects of the vaccination, only to discover that 5 people have died.
You assume that the one thing they all had in common was the vaccination, so you assume that the vaccine killed them, because they died after the vaccination was given to them. However, you later learn that two people were killed in car accident, one person had a heart attack, one person drowned and one person was shot.
It’s true, all five people died after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, but the vaccine did not kill them. They could have died for any reason, especially if there was an underling health issue. Correlation does not equal causation.
Conclusion: Vaccinations, in my small and humble opinion, could quite possibly be the single greatest invention in human history and also the world’s best tool to eradicate diseases, that cause avoidable deaths in children and adults.
Basically, you don’t get the COVID-19 vaccine for yourself; you get it for your grandparents, your children, the people that are immune compromised or people for other medical reasons, that can not take the vaccine. You get the vaccine to protect other people, like others are doing it for you. By protecting other people, you protect yourself. Any 1980’s Saturday morning cartoon character could tell you that.
I received my first COVID-19 vaccination on Sunday 5th September, which was Father’s Day. It was a Father’s Day present, but it wasn’t for me; it was for UMC1 and UMC2. Also, I have not gained magnetic powers; big surprise there!
If you are unsure about the vaccine, please go and talk to your doctor about your vaccine concerns. It’s alright to have concerns about the vaccine, but please talk to a medical professional about it.
I think the COVID-19 vaccines are miracles, but that’s just my geeky opinion. For the next blog, I’m going to debunk the myths surrounding masks, because the anti-vaxxers are not staying in their lane.
Until then, mask up, get a vaccine, wash your hands, and look after yourselves and your families.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in a few days!
I want to talk about COVID-19 vaccines. Why? Because currently in New Zealand, just like many other countries around the globe, we are facing a SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant or Delta Variant outbreak. Our vaccinations rates have been low, due to the staggered rollout, but the good news is that they are increasing every day. I’m booked in for my first of two vaccinations on Sunday 5th September, so I’m actually excited about this.1
At the time of writing this blog, our rates are as such:
Like I said, these rates are low, however they are getting better. Now for the bad news (dramatic music would play here), the number of anti-vaxxers are growing, locally and nationally. When I went to a clinic, a few months ago for my yearly influenza vaccination, I got chatting to one of doctors about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and its progress for the region.
The doctor told me that it was not going well, because of the large number of anti-vaxxers that were campaigning against the vaccine. The doctor also said the anti-vaxxers’ online misinformation, along with their protests and meetings, were placing seeds of doubt into people’s minds, thus making them more hesitant about receiving the vaccine.
The doctor added that the DHB (District Health Board) were going to have to find a way to push back against the anti-vaxxers, otherwise hundreds, if not thousands of people, will refuse to receive the vaccine, which will put more people at risk.
I will be honest with you; anti-vaxxers are in my top five worse conspiracy theorists, along with flat earthers, evolution deniers, climate change deniers and holocaust deniers. They upset me. Misinformation and disinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine seem to be on the rise in New Zealand and throughout the world, so I wanted clear up some myths and misconceptions about the vaccine.
I’ll tackle five myths in this blog and another five myths in the next blog, because my kids are asking if I can play their 500th game of Hide-in-Seek with them. I mean, who would want to write a blog about COVID-19 vaccines, when you could be playing Hide-in-Seek in lockdown for the 500th time?!
Reality: There are several COVID-19 vaccines that have been developed by different companies. They include Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Janssen, Covaxin, and Novavax to name a few. New Zealand is primarily using the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
Myth 2:The vaccine’s side effects are terribleand it’s not safe.
Reality: To start with, no medicine, drug or vaccine is 100% safe for 100% of the population. People can have different rare side effects or reactions to certain medicine, while other people do not. Every medicine that you take is a risk, but you take a risk every time you drive a car, eat an apple or walk across the road. There are risks with any medicine or vaccines, but the risks always outweigh the benefits.
The best or worse example of this, is the late great, Bruce Lee. He died from an edema in the brain, caused by having a reaction with Equagesic, a prescription painkiller, which contained both aspirin and the tranquilizer meprobamate.
Some common side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine include:
For rare side effects, temporary one-sided facial drooping and temporary inflammation of the heart wall (myocarditis) have been reported as rare side effects, affecting every 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 10,000 people.
Myth 3:The vaccine has been rushed and has not been tested.
Reality: It’s unfair to say these vaccines have been rushed; it’s more like they have been fast tracked. The researchers and scientists that have developed the different vaccines, have not cut corners in their development, in terms of safety.
Research funds were released for such a crisis, which has meant vaccine development was given a top priority for the world’s population. Even if some company is reckless with their vaccine development, the vaccine still has to pass a country’s vaccine medical authority, which is usually an organisation or agency, and not a business.
For New Zealand, that agency is Medsafe, and the Pfizer/BioNTech has met their standards and passed. Independent studies have researched the vaccines through trials and phases, and they will continue to be studied for safety and effectiveness.
Myth 4:The vaccine has microchips in it, so the government can track you.
Reality: Not a single COVID-19 vaccine has been developed to contain microchips, to track the public. Seriously, this is absurd. Governments and large technology companies don’t need to track us, by inserting microchips into vaccines; they are already tracking you through your smartphone and computer.
Myth 5:The vaccine can change your DNA.
Reality: No COVID-19 vaccine can rewrite or change your DNA. The various vaccines have been developed in different ways.
Inactivated or weakened virus vaccines, which use a form of the virus that has been inactivated or weakened so it doesn’t cause disease, but still generates an immune response. (Covaxin)
Protein-based vaccines, which use harmless fragments of proteins or protein shells that mimic the COVID-19 virus to safely generate an immune response.
Viral vector vaccines, which use a safe virus that cannot cause disease but serves as a platform to produce coronavirus proteins to generate an immune response. (AstraZeneca and Janssen).
RNA and DNA vaccines, a cutting-edge approach that uses genetically engineered RNA or DNA to generate a protein that itself safely prompts an immune response. (Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax).
This DNA changing myth has spread from the vaccines using RNA (mRNA) like Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax. Also known as Deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA is a molecule that resides in the nucleus of cells. It contains coded information that regulates the maintenance and growth of living organisms; and it’s the shape of a double helix.
mRNA vaccines send instructions to your body, to create an immune response to fight COVID-19. At no point does the mRNA vaccines interact or affect your DNA; it’s physically impossible. The mRNA vaccine teaches your cell on how to create special proteins that activate your immune system; it never enters the nucleus of the cell, where DNA is stored.
Now I’ll tackle the remaining five myths about the COVID-19 vaccine in the next blog post.
Until then, mask up, get a vaccine, wash your hands, and look after yourselves and your families.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in a few days!
Lockdown, lockdown, lockdown. I think this second national lockdown is bringing out some interesting behaviour in people; though it’s not limited to humans. I’ll do my best to explain, but since I’m on lockdown time, things will get done, when they get done.
I love that during lockdown, the highlight of your day, could be a solo trip to the supermarket. Whether it’s for some small or large items, you mask up and off you go. It’s so satisfying and so sad at the same time, though. It’s a strange feeling being the designated shopper, because to me, it’s like you’re being rewarded and punished altogether.
The days are starting to merge into each together, so the only way to identify any of them, is to mark Wednesday on the calendar, which is bin day. The arrival of the rubbish and recycling trucks has fast become a weekly highlight to our household, as well as other homes.
Beady eyed children can be seen peering through their windows, staring at the trucks; along with their parents. Previously, the arrival of the trucks would have escaped the attention of a lot of parents, but now they are just as excited to witness the trucks appear, as their children.
Speaking of windows, I have tried very hard to raise my kids to not judge people by their appearance. Whether it’s by their gender, religion, race, you name it, we have discussed it. That policy is in the bin, thanks to lockdown.
We all eat lunch by the front window now, passing the time and some type of judgment on anything or anyone we see now. It could be their shoes, car, hair, jacket or even a dog; the family that judges together, stays together. This is our new form of entertainment.
I’ve also noticed a few odd things during lockdown in my house. One is that my house has slowly turned into a museum of Lego and Duplo projects. There are space shuttles, space probes and starships in the hallway; fire engines and police cars under the table; a train outside the bathroom; a construction site in the boys’ room; a submarine and a dump truck in the kitchen; and for some unknown reason, there is a postie that is sitting on a flying pizza delivery motorcycle, on my bedside cabinet.
Apparently UMC1 and UMC2 are not claiming ownership of these vehicles, but I am not allowed to move them, in case the owner or owners came back. Seriously, these projects are driving me crazy, because I feel like I’m Godzilla that has to walk carefully through a city, so I don’t destroy anything.
Another problem is that the couch in the lounge keeps exploding every 15 minutes, but luckily it’s only the cushions that end up on the floor, and nobody has been injured yet. In a totally unrelated matter, UMC1 and UMC2 have informed me that the floor in the lounge has sadly turned into lava. I had no idea my house was a prime location for convection, since the house was so obviously been built over a hot spot.
How do you judge success? During this lockdown, it’s just making everybody get out of their pyjamas before 11am; the beds get actually made; everybody gets fed; teeth get brushed; nobody gets divorced; and the dog gets a walk. The bar is set very low indeed.
ZOOM calls can be a bit dicey at the moment. I feel conflicted about having ZOOM meetings and calls, while sometimes wearing pyjama pants. Also, have you ever tried to take a ZOOM meeting or a call, with two children under 7 years old in the house?
It takes a lot of self control, not to bury my head in my hands during a ZOOM session, when my youngest son enters into the room to proclaim that he has removed his underwear, because he is now a rocket sensor, and rocket sensors don’t wear underwear.
He then flings his undies at me, to stress how serious he is about not wearing underwear. I have no idea about what exactly is a rocket sensor; but we have introduced a new rule in the house: Even rocket sensors have to wear underwear.
New Zealand society is also starting to change and an example of this are the cats. Yes, you heard me correctly, the cats. I live in a cul-de-sac that does not get a huge amount of traffic. Because of this, the cats in the neighbourhood tend to wander about, wherever they want…because they’re cats.
The thing is, since we have gone into lockdown, the cat population has become seriously more assertive. Instead of a cat visiting our property once every three days, we are getting three-four cats, every single day. Our dog is enjoying chasing them away, though to be fair, during lockdown he is unofficially off duty.
The cats are now sitting on the footpath and the road like they have claimed everything. Some of them stretch out and to go sleep. They are everywhere. If you were walking on the footpath and met a cat before lockdown, they would quickly get up and run away.
Not now though. Now, if you are walking along the footpath and encounter a cat, they refuse to move. Whether you step round them or step over them, they will not move. Even if a cat is sitting in the middle of the road, and a car is driven towards them, they will not move. It’s almost like they are saying “You want me to move? Come and make me.”
I’m not sure if it’s because the cats are slowly taking over the neighbourhood or they are just sick of lockdown and they don’t want to spend extra time with their families. I’m not intelligent enough to know the answer.
In addition to this, we have an issue at multiple supermarkets across the country. Some supermarkets have been running out of toilet paper and it’s getting that bad, some stores are restricting one bag of toilet paper per customer. I can think of only two reasons for the shortage: Either the entire population of New Zealand have diarrhoea or people are stockpiling toilet paper, because they’re selfish; and I don’t know which scenario is worse.
I have also noticed the rise in anti-vaxxing and anti-mask content, both locally and nationally. Because these two delightful little misinformed groups have actually managed to push my science literacy buttons, I’m going to donate the next two blog posts addressing myths and claims surrounding mask wearing and COVID-19 vaccines.
Until then, mask up, get a vaccine, wash your hands, and look after yourselves and your families.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in a few days!
At the time I’m writing this blog post, we have entered our second national lockdown, because of the appearance of the COVID-19 Delta Variant within the community. Now I’m not going to talk about the dangers of the Delta Variant or the need for higher vaccination rates. That could be an entire blog post by itself!
What I really want to talk about are the people that are helping, which is actually everybody. Sorry, this is basically a long overdue thank you letter. I realise many other people have done this before, but I still want to say thank you.
Thank you to the scientists and researchers that have dedicated hundreds of hours in developing COVID-19 vaccines.
Thank you to the frontline medical workers that are administering and analysing COVID-19 tests, as well as conducting the vaccinations.
Thank you to doctors and nurses that are working at hospitals treating COVID-19 patients, as well as running and operating clinics.
Thank you to emergency management workers like police, firefighters and paramedics, that are still working.
Thank you to the teachers doing online learning from their homes, while looking after their own children.
Thank you to the children giving up birthday parties with their friends and playing at the park.
Thank you to the farmers that are working hard to produce our food.
Thank you to the cleaners that are keeping public spaces clean and safe.
Thank you to health officials that are educating us about COVID-19 prevention and vaccines.
Thank you to the media for providing us with up to date information.
Thank you to our families for continuing to put up with us.
Thank you to the aged care workers for keeping our elderly safe.
Thank you to petrol station workers for being there.
Thank you to the public for staying home to save lives.
Thank you to the truck drivers that are moving freight and goods around the nation.
Thank you to the posties and courier drivers for keeping us sane, with your deliveries.
And finally, thank you to the supermarket workers for actually turning up and providing us with what we need.
I know this blog post is not very entertaining, however Lockdown Edition Part 2, will be about my observations about my family and society during lockdown.
I want to talk about Afghanistan. Why? Because currently, I have great fears for that country.
You’ve properly seen some of the footage or photographs coming out of Afghanistan, but especially the capital city, Kabul. Thousands of people fleeing their country, in fear of the Taliban and the prosecutions and injustices that travel with them.
Following the fall of Kabul, people have been flooding airports and roads, trying to get out as fast as possible. Some people were so desperate, that they were holding onto the landing gear of an US military aircraft, as it took off; which has resulted in fatalities. One of these people was Zaki Anwari, a nineteen year old football player, who played for Afghanistan’s national youth team.
The scenes are heartbreaking and it will probably get worse over the coming days, weeks and months. It’s fast becoming a huge humanitarian crisis, that needs the world’s attention.
Afghanistan is a proud nation with a rich and diverse history. The problem is that the progress and change the country has made over the last 20 years, could be on the verge over being wiped away, from the former rulers of Afghanistan, the fundamentalism and militant group known as the Taliban.
Now, I don’t know about you, but watching these terrible scenes has reminded me of different crises like Syria, South Sudan, Iraq, Myanmar, Kosovo, Crimea, the Yugoslav wars; and the list could go on. Again, I don’t know about you, but I felt powerless and helpless, when witnessing those scenes.
These feelings have come back to me again, while watching the chaotic exodus that has been unfolding in Afghanistan. You may have the same feelings after watching the footage or reading about it. This may have led you to the conclusion that there is nothing you can do to help.
In reality, you can actually help and make a difference. Seriously you can. I can think of three different ways, you can actually help the people of Afghanistan.
The first way is to educate people. Whether it’s your parents, siblings, children, friends, work colleagues, team mates, spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend or that obnoxious person at your bus stop. You know the one.
When someone starts complaining about allowing Afghan refugees into your country, or why your country should help these foreigners in the first place; you need to explain the reality of the situation to them.
It’s up to you whether you do it politely or get angry at them; as long as you say something to defend them. Islamophobia, ignorance and xenophobia are not helpful and never will be.
The second way is to donate, it’s really that simple. Right now, NGOs (Non Government Organisations) and various charities and agencies across the world, are already on the ground in Afghanistan, trying to support and help people.
You can help them by donating. Whatever the amount of money you can spare, it will make a huge difference to the people of Afghanistan. Your donation can provide medical supplies, food, clothing, shelter; but also help with immigration and refugee protection.
Some NGOs and charities that are working with Afghanistan currently are:
There are also many more worthwhile charities out there, so please research them and select one that fits with you, so you can donate.
The third way is quite possibly the most difficult and humorous at the same time: you can start campaigning. By this I mean, to start advocating for Afghan refugees and aid, by contacting your local member of parliament or representative. You can do this by sending emails or letters; calling them; or arranging an appointment to talk to them. Ask them what are they doing to help with the refugee crisis, but also ask them about what foreign aid is being sent.
If that doesn’t work, start contacting your government; beginning with the Immigration Minister (or closest equivalent), then moving up to your national leader.
I believe Afghanistan is standing on the abyss and it totally depends if the international community can bring it back or not. I’m not smart enough to know what could happen to Afghanistan, but I do know that if you can help in any way, you’re be able to make a positive difference.
I want to talk about the Nazis. Why? To be honest, I don’t exactly want to talk about them, but things that have outlived them. I could try and explain who and what the Nazis were, but I think the majority of the world may have already figured what they did. I mean, if you want to fight some real world collective villains, your first choice would either be the Ku Klux Klan or the Nazis. They are so easy to hate.
I feel the Nazis have left a stain on humanity, that will probably never really wash off. That being the case, I wanted to point out a few things. I think some people have forgotten that the Nazis were originally a political party called the National Socialist German Workers’ Party or Nazi for short.
The far right party was founded in 1920, while Germany was still recovering from the First World War. In 1933, they were voted into power and ushered in what they called the German Reich or the Third Reich, which the Nazis claimed would last a thousand years. It lasted only 12 years, because it ended in 1945, with the end of the European campaign of the Second World War and the defeat of the Nazis.
Now someone may say that the Third Reich lasted only 12 years, but considering the Nazis had formed in 1920; at least to me, the Nazis had lasted 25 years. A quarter of a century, instead of a thousand years. I simply can’t stop smiling at that fact!
So the Nazis only lasted 25 years. That’s a long time, right? The funny thing is that there are many things and people that have actually outlasted and outlived the entire Nazi party. Now imagine if there was a list of these things and people.
Behold, may I present to you, 15 things that have outlived 25 years of the entire Nazi party:
The original run of the tv show, Doctor Who; refereed to as Classic Who (1963-1989: 26 years)
The length of time for Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment (November 1962-February 1990: 27 years)
The entire The Land Before Time movie series (1988-2016: 28 years)
The length of time it takes Saturn to orbit the Sun (29 years)
The Dark Tower novel series by Stephen King (1982-2012: 30 years)
The number 4 reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine exploded, remains the world’s worst nuclear disaster (1986-2021: 35 years)
The first news story on an unidentified disease appeared in a newspaper, which was later named as AIDS. (1981-2021: 40 years)
The time it took to construct the Charles Bridge, in Prague, Czech Republic (1357-1402: 45 years)
The introduction of McDonald’s Quarter Pounder (1971-2021: 50 years)
The national flag of Botswana was adopted (1966-2021: 55 years)
The reign of Emperor Qianlong ofthe Qing dynasty (1735-1796: 60 years and 114 days)
The release of the 4th James Bond novel, Diamonds Are Forever (1956-2021: 65 years)
The current age of my Dad (1951-2021: 70 years)
The current marriage of the 39th President of United States of America Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter (1946-2021: 75 years)
The first appearance of Wonder Woman (1941-2021: 80 years)
Does this list change anything? No it doesn’t, except that it makes me feel happy to highlight that King Shark from The Suicide Squad, has existed for 27 years; 2 years longer than the Nazis. That’s embarrassing.
I want to talk about some Olympic sports. Why? The 2020 Summer Olympics have been entertaining and inspiring us over the last few weeks, as well as making us feel very inferior for our own sporting achievements or lack of. However the sports that I want to discuss are not being contested at the Summer Olympics, but they used to be and maybe some day in the future, they can be again.
Over the years, there have been a few sports that have been discontinued at the Olympic Games for various reasons. Some make sense like cannon shooting, at the 1900 Olympic Games; while bowling first played at the 1988 Olympic Games, was supposed to be played at the 2020 Olympics Games, but was omitted, because the sport was not apparently appealing enough to youth, according to the Olympic Committee. Haters have to hate, I suppose.
There are three discontinued sports from the Olympic Games, that if they are reintroduced again, the public will fall in love with them; or at least I would be very happy to watch them.
Tug of War was last contested at the 1920 Summer Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium; with Great Britain winning the gold medal. At the time, this sport was only offered to male athletes. Why exactly it was discontinued is a mystery to me, but why would you?!
I would love to see Tug of War make a triumphant return to the Olympic Games, because of the seer carnage it would bring. There could be events for different genders and mixed; individual and team; but also having athletes compete in their weight grade. I mean, as entertaining as it sounds, having a 120kg monster versus a 65kg bean pole, would be a waste of time. Funny, but still a waste of time.
It could almost be promoted as the closet event to professional wrestling in the Olympics, because athletes could wear outrageous costumes in the colours of their nation, but also having stage names.
“Introducing the competitors pulling from the north end, hailing out of Ireland, it’s Sean “The Crusher” O’Connor and Ciara “The Assassin” Fitzpatrick!”1
Also imagine if the neutral zone was a moat. Imagine it, live across the world, watching people getting dragged into mud! The ratings would be astronomical! I realise that Tug of War is contested at the World Games, but bringing it back to the Olympic Games would be a form of glorious chaos on the world stage.
Lacrosse is an interesting sport, as well as being quite awesome. It was last competed at the 1908 Summer Olympic Games in London, England; though demonstration matches were played at the 1928, 1932 and 1948 games. Did you know Canada remains the Olympic champions after 113 years? To be fair though, lacrosse is also played at the World Games.
For those that do not know what lacrosse is or what how it is played, it’s quite simple, but crazy at the same time. To me, it’s like if Hurling and Field Hockey had a baby. Basically players run around with a stick, that has a net at the end of it. From there players can pass a ball to each other, by throwing it; a player can then catch the ball in the net.
Players work together to throw the ball into the goal; though the other team is doing the exactly the same thing. Oh, I forgot; the players also need to wear safety equipment for obvious reasons: sticks, flying balls, anger…not a safe combination. Just like martinis and driving or siblings play fighting; someone will always get hurt.
The main reason that I would love for lacrosse to be brought back to the Olympic Games is about speed. Lacrosse is an extremely fast sport, which could be morphed into a drinking game. Because of how the game is designed and played, points can be be scored quite quickly.
Sitting at home or at a bar with your friends, you could watch the game, while supporting one team or other. This could be done with the rule of only drinking at certain events happening in the game, such as : scoring, body checking or stick checking. If there is the extra man offense, the person supporting the penalised team, would need to scull their drink. Even if you lose the game, you would still win.
It could became one of the most popular sports to be supported at the Olympic Games, especially with university students. Seriously, having lacrosse back at the Olympic Games would be a winning move, not just for players and supporters, but also for retail liquor stores and bars. Everybody wins!
Before you dismiss this, hear me out. Croquet has only been played once, which was at the 1900 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France and all 10 players were from France! This means that France has won all of the Olympic Games medals in croquet.
If you are unaware of croquet then, firstly shame on you. Secondly, croquet seems quite dull, but there is huge potential for it. Croquet involves using a mallet, to hit different balls through hoops that are anchored into the grass.
Like I said, croquet might sound dull, but imagine if a 75 year old woman could win a gold medal or a 80 year old man? Croquet is a sport where the age of the player becomes irrelevant. You could honestly have a lot more elderly players at the Olympic Games because of this, so imagine them staying at the Olympic Village?
The parties, sex, alcohol and over 65 year old croquet players. There could be a scandal after a 70 year old croquet player gets sent home, because of his misadventures at the village. It would be epic and hilarious!
If anybody from the Olympic Committee reads this blog, please consider the benefits these three sports could bring to the Olympic Games, because all three of them need to brought back, as soon as possible.
Thanks for reading and see you next week!
1 My apologies if Sean O’Connor and Ciara Fitzpatrick are in fact, the names of real people. They were the most Irish sounding names I could think of.
Hello, my name is Indy and I’m a 9 year old good dog. Mum says I’m actually a bichon cross, but I’m pretty sure I’m a good dog too. My Dad has been working on this blog, for hundreds of years and needs a break, so he asked me to write this week’s one. He is tired and needs a nap. No fair, I like naps too!
He said I could write about anything, apart from Sour Cream and Chives, but I don’t listen to modern music. I think the things that he writes about are boring, so I wanted to talk about some of my favourite topics instead, like running, rolling on smelly stuff at the beach and licking sweaty feet. My Dad said the people that subscribe to this blog, are not ready for these amazing topics….yet!
After he said no to my choices, I asked my Mum what I should choose. She is nice and smarter than Dad, so I listen to her more. She suggested I should talk about my favourite animated dogs, so I will.
This is me watching, one of the many examples of Snowy saving Tintin.
The first dog I want to talk about is my doppelganger, Snowy. People are always confusing me with Snowy, even though I am faster than him and more handsome. We are both small and white and dogs, but we are not the same. He is a Wire Fox Terrier, while I am a good dog, Bichon Frise crossed with speed and awesomeness. Mum says I’m actually Bichon, Maltese, Fox Terrier so I guess we are more alike than I thought!
Snowy is a very good dog like me, but he has a human sidekick called Tintin. I am very confused about Snowy’s tv show, because it is named after the human, Tintin. I have watched this show on the screen and Snowy is always saving Tintin and the day.
Snowy is great. He jumps, barks, runs very fast and always solves the case, while Tintin is always trying to catch up to Snowy, because he is slow. Why would anybody name a show after a human that relies on a dog to do all the work?
The answer is a cat. I don’t like cats much. Cats are always trying to hassle me, like our neighour’s white cat that sits on the fence and stares at me through my window. I yell at the cat and say “How dare you look at my house, cat!”, but my Mum and Dad just think I’m crying. I wish my Mum and Dad were as smart as me, so they would understand the dangers of cats.
Cats must have named the tv show after Tintin, instead of Snowy, because they are jealous of how great Snowy is, because he is such a good dog.
Another animated dog I like is Scooby-Doo. For a start Scooby’s tv show is named after him, like it should be. It’s an improvement from poor Snowy. Maybe it should be called The Snowy Show? Or maybe Snowy could leave that show and go solve crimes with Scooby, because Scooby is smarter than Tintin.
Anyway, Scooby has this gang of humans that tags along with him to solve mystery crimes. Without Scooby’s help, the gang would never solve anything, Scooby carries the entire show. Scooby has a human friend named Shaggy, that is so much better than Tintin, because Shaggy can talk to Scooby and understand him. Shaggy is very clever, for a human.
I like Scooby because he is smart, funny, brave and gets to run a lot, especially in hallways. I like running in hallways too. Scooby should go to the beach more often though, because even though running in houses is fun, it’s not very fun always running in a dark, scary house. I don’t like the dark, because there could be cats inside my house and I wouldn’t see them.
The BEST part is that Scooby has a snack named after him! That’s how you know he is famous, where are Indy snacks though? Maybe if Dad’s blog was famous I could get a snack deal?! If you could buy Indy Snacks at the food shop, I would pester my Mum and Dad to buy all of them. It’s great that Scooby has snacks, but he does silly things for Scooby Snacks. When the gang says “Come in this spooky house and we will give you a Scooby snack”, sometimes he should say no and go for a nap in the green van (I would!). That way they will remember who the star of the show is!
Ooh, another great dog is Snoopy. I like Snoopy, but I suspect he might actually be a bad dog. (I feel like a meanie for saying that.) Snoopy has an OUTSIDE dog house. My dog house is inside, because I’m a good dog. I think Snoopy may have been a bad dog and his humans won’t let him sleep inside. I wonder what he did? Maybe he ate something he was told not to eat or maybe his humans were jealous of how great he is. I do not know.
I like to go in my INSIDE dog house after a hard hour’s worth of work, walking around the house and staring through the window. In the movies, Snoopy’s dog house can fly which I’ll admit, is an improvement on mine; but mine is still better!
Snoopy is also great, because he has a Christmas song named after him. I wish I had a Christmas song named after me. This is how it would go, you know… if I had a song:
“Indy the magnificent, see him saving Christmas, HOORAY, The fancy tree and wrapped boxes are outside, FOUL PLAY! The wet stuff falls down from the sky, DISMAY! Indy is brave and rescues everything, before everything is wet and soggy, MAKE WAY!”
See what I did there? What a great song, because the last words all rhyme and they are in shouty capitals, so you have to shout them!
Mum said my Christmas song should be a warning tale about not eating lollies from under the Christmas tree and ending up at the vets for a $300 dog enema. But I don’t know what she is talking about.
Side note, I’m pretty sure that the Red Baron is a cat. But Dad said this is not a blog about cat conspiracy theories, so I’ll let you do your own research if you are interested.
Speaking of internet research, when I tried to find out more information about this next dog, there wasn’t much to be found (Mum helped because I don’t know what a search engine is and my paws are good at many things, but turning fiddly book pages is not one one of them!). This leads me to believe his owner takes credit for all his exploits; it’s Krypto the super dog!
Krypto has everything a perfect superhero could want. Heaps of awesome powers like flight and heat vision. He can even smell and hear better than Superman! He has an awesome costume and even his own secret identity, “Skip”.
In the Krypto the super dog cartoon, he teams up with Streaky the Supercat, which quite frankly I’m not sure I can forgive him for, however this series also features Ace the Bat-hound, so it’s not all bad! We also learned that Krypto will feature in the upcoming animated feature DC’s League of Super-Pets, voiced by Dwayne Johnson. I’m not sure who that is, but Mum sounded excited.
Last, but not least, the smartest, happiest, good dog on my list…. it’s Odie! Poor Odie lives with a fat horrible cat, who we will not name here. Once again, the poor deprived dog is not the title character. The cat in Odie’s home is quite frankly abusive and his owner is negligent by allowing the cat to be so mean to Odie.
Odie doesn’t care though. he takes all this in his stride and is always loving, positive and happy like all good dogs should be. He is the epitome of being the better man… I mean dog!
In conclusion, dogs are superior to cats, whether they are real dogs and animated ones. People should pick a side, you are either a cat person/awful human or you are a dog person/perfect person; stop sitting on the fence like a cat!!! There should also be more dog related media, as this would make the world a better place.
I want to talk about comics and politics. Why? Because I heard about something recently, that as a comic book fan, made me think “Have you only just realised this?” as I quietly raged.
If you have already heard about this ‘drama”, then that’s excellent; though if you haven’t, then buckle up. Marvel released the first issue of a new Captain America mini-series, titled The United States of Captain America very recently.
In the first issue, Captain America is explaining that the problem of the American Dream, is that it’s a dream that not everybody can achieve or the way I understand it, is that if a dream can not be shared, then it’s a lie.
Upon hearing this, some people have be upset at Marvel and Captain America for being “too woke” or “unpatriotic” or “anti-America” or “too political”. It seems and I could be wrong here, that people are really angry at the fact that comics have now become political. In 2021, people have just come to the realisation that politics exist in comic books and they’re protesting about this.
When I’m talking about politics, I mean not just conservative/right wing, centre or liberal/left wing views, but also issues on poverty, LGBTQ+, healthcare, war, drugs, sexism, education, climate change, racism and the list could go on and on.
Before I address this topic, I need to quickly talk about two things. Firstly, the way Dr. Jason Johnson reported this subject on MSNBC was amazing and 100% correct. The things I’m going to talk about are based on what he said…again, because he was right. I don’t want to take away from anything that he said, I just want to build on it.
Secondly, the fictional characters we love in comics, movies, television shows and books, don’t actually exist in the real world. Actors have scripts to follow; authors control what characters do in a book; while the creative team of the writer and artist can determine what a comic book character will say and do.
With that being said, let us dismantle the idea of comics suddenly being too woke and too political. Seriously, this is just nonsense. Comics have ALWAYS been political is some way or another. They really have.
Claiming Captain America is too political is madness. Johnson mentioned three key things for me about Steve Rogers. The first is that in Captain America Comics #1 in 1941, Captain America is smacking Adolf Hitler in the face on the cover.
It’s also interesting to point out that Captain America Comics #1 was cover dated as March 1941, but went on sale in December 1940; a full year before America entered the Second World War. Democracy vs Fascism, right there on the cover of the first issue. America is not even in the war and want to take a shot at Hitler and Nazi Germany. Is that not political?!
The second is that Captain America has always stood up to bullies; if you know anything about his history and the character, then you would know that when any character that stands up to a company, organisation, government or country, it’s extremely political.
The third point is that if Captain America was a real person, then yes, he would have taken down the people that stormed the US Captiol Building on 6th January 2021; and also handed out voter registration cards. I’m not an American, but yes, after reading Captain America for years, that’s exactly what would have happened.
Another point about Steve Rogers, was that his parents were poor Irish immigrants, and grew up during the Great Depression in New York City.
Captain America has been proudly waving his political flag throughout his years, during Civil War1, he went against the wishes of the US government; went undercover to investigate prison abuse and reform2; fighting Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan3; declines to be a US presidential candidate4; confronts drug addiction5; unmasked Number One, the leader of the Secret Empire, believed to be President Nixon6; quits as Captain America because of the US government’s corruption7; discovering the truth about Isaiah Bradley and the super solider serum8; and The Falcon, an African American superhero, officially becomes Captain America’s crime fighting partner and co-star of this title9, along with many other stories.
Captain America is not the only Marvel character, that has been political. When they were created, the X-Men were an example of African American civil rights within the country at the time, with Xavier’s role of Martin Luther King and Magneto’s role of Malcolm X.
As the reader of Marvel comics, you are drawn into Daredevil’s world, where the protagonist is blind; Black Widow is an ex-Soviet spy; Wolverine is not an American, he’s Canadian; Hulk was created from the real world fear of nuclear testing and radiation; Silver Sable was a Nazi hunter; the Punisher walks round executing criminals; Doctor Doom is a supervillain, but also the ruling monarch of Latveria; and the most wealthiest and advanced nation in the Marvel universe, is Wakanda, an African country.
Here is a small sample of political Marvel storylines:
Peter Parker’s best friend Harry Osborn, develops a drug addiction (Amazing Spider-Man #96-98, Vol 1, 1971).
Hulk learns one of his oldest friends is dying of AIDS (Incredible Hulk #420, Vol 1, 1994).
Mar-Vell dies of cancer (The Death of Captain Marvel, 1982).
Sue Storm suffers a miscarriage (Fantastic Four #266-268, Vol 1, 1984).
Kamala Khan, a teenage Pakistani American girl, becomes a superhero (Ms. Marvel, Vol 3, 2014).
Miles Morales, a teenage African American/Latino boy, becomes Spider-Man on Earth-1610 (Ultimate Fallout #4, Vol 1, 2011).
Northstar, a gay mutant, married Kyle Jinadu in the first same-sex superhero wedding (Astonishing X-Men #51, Vol 3, 2012).
Tony Stark battles alcoholism (The Invincible Iron Man #120-128, Vol 1, 1979).
Details Magneto’s origin as Max Eisenhardt, as he lived at Auschwitz (X-Men: Magneto Testament #1-5, 2008-2009).
Mutants and Humans swap roles, where Mutants are praised and Humans are prosecuted (House of M #1-8, Vol 1, 2005.)
Marvel are not the only company that have been political. Take DC for an example and in particular, Superman. He has been political just as much as the Sentinel of Liberty over the years.
Superman has campaigned to end world famine10; helped train US troops in war exercises11; destroyed slum tenement buildings, to force the government to build better ones12; dealt with the murder of his friend’s son13; fought the Ku Klux Klan14; renounced his U.S citizenship, in protest of the government15; married Lois Lane16; dealt with Lex Luthor becoming US president17; and talked to a young woman on the verge of suicide18; to name but a few.
DC has a collection of political characters as well. Animal Man is the avatar and defender of the Red, a force that connects all animal life and micro-organisms; Swamp Thing is the avatar and defender of the Green, a force that connects all plant life; Wonder Woman has become an international feminist icon; Green Lantern Hal Jordan reflected America’s involvement in the space race; Sinestro ruled Korugar as an authoritarian; Harley Quinn is bisexual; Black Lightning fought street level crime in Suicide Slum; and Lobo smokes cigars.
Here is a small sample of political DC storylines:
Supergirl was introduced as Superman’s cousin, along with all of her superhuman powers (Action Comics #252, Vol 1, 1959).
A mini series that reexamines and highlights some traditionally disenfranchised groups in the superhero community (The Other History of the DC Universe #1-5, Vol 1, 2021).
Batman creates the Brother Eye and OMAC network to spy on superheroes, which has disastrous consequences (Infinite Crisis #1-7, Vol 1, 2005-2006).
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons create Watchmen. (Watchmen #1-12, Vol 1, 1986-1987).
Kal-El lands in the Soviet Union and becomes a world leader (Superman: Red Son #1-3, Vol 1, 2003).
Green Lantern Kyle Rayner’s girlfriend, Alexandra DeWitt, is murdered and stuffed into a refrigerator (Green Lantern #54, Vol 3, 1994).
Superman is an illegal immigrant, having arrived in the United States without the proper legal documents (Action Comics #1, Vol 1, 1938).
Reintroduction of Batwoman into DC continuity as a lesbian (52 #7 & #11, Vol, 2006).
Green Arrow discovers his sidekick, Speedy, is addicted to heroin (Green Lantern #85-86, Vol 1, 1971).
John Stewart, a black man, was appointed to be Green Lantern Hal Jordan’s replacement ((Green Lantern #87, Vol 1, 1971).
The Justice League fight against white supremacists and the government (JLA #80-83, Vol 1, 2003).
Politics in Western comics is not limited to the big two companies. Over the decades, many different publishers have brought social issues to the reader, such as:
Mark Grayson is raped by a female Viltrumite (Invincible #110, Vol 1, 2014).
Judge Dredd lives in the futurist Mega-City One, where unemployment is over 90% (2000AD, 1977-present).
An ex-superhero is the mayor of New York City (Ex Machina #1-50, Vol 1, 2004-2010).
Illegal dumping of toxic waste triggers mutations in four turtles (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 1984-present).
Autobiographical series on Marjane Satrapi’s childhood during the Islamic Revolution and as a young adult (Persepolis The Story of a Childhood, 2000; Persepolis The Story of a Return, 2004).
A survivors tale of the Holocaust, told through the lens of Jews as mice and Nazis as cats (Maus, 1980-1991).
Seduction of the Innocent was published in 1954, detailing the damage comic books were having on the youth.
The creation of the Comics Code Authority in 1954, in an effort to regulate comics and their themes.
I could go on with this list, but I simply just can’t. I’m very sorry to any and all creators that I’ve not included on the above list; it’s because of the lack of time in writing this blog, so please forgive me.
To me, comics have always been political, because that’s the point. Yes, there is a story to tell, but it’s deeper than that. Comic book creators try to expose readers to new and different ideas, topics and issues, that readers may not have ever heard or thought about before.
I simply can’t tell you how many new and different social or political ideas, topics or issues I have discovered over the years, through reading comic books. Because of this, it gave me reasons to view the world differently; or at least to try understand the issues by researching myself.
Some of my first impressions of the larger world and the diversity of people, were through reading social and political issues in comic books. Comic books in all of its forms, are visual stories that are being passed onto the next generation. Of course there would be political themes in them, humans have created them; because we are a political species.
Before I leave you, I want to present you with two of the best and greatest examples of politics in comics, I can possibly think of. The first is Stan Lee’s literary work in the Soap Box. Within the pages of early Marvel comics, existed the news and information page, known as the Bullpen Bulletins; and within this, Lee had a monthly column called Stan’s Soapbox or Stan Lee’s Soapbox.
In the Soapbox, Lee would discuss Marvel, contests and the comics industry; along with heavy social issues. To me, I think Lee saw this as an opportunity to talk directly to readers, as a means of not just showcasing and promoting comics, but also to promote a better understanding about the world, as well as ourselves and how we can fit in it. Stan Lee was “woke”, before being woke was an actually term.
The second example is actually quite simple and so basic, that you probably already know it, but have dismissed it. We have to go all the way back to 1939 for this example and no, it’s not the start of World War II.
Are you ready for it? Here it is: Bruce Wayne is a victim of gun violence. That’s right, Bruce Wayne’s parents were shot in front of him, when he was a boy. And what did he do with that anger and grief? What every child would do; to make an oath to rid their city of evil and declare war on crime.
This is displayed in the beautiful Batman: War on Crime, where Batman discovers a boy named Marcus, had witnessed his own parents’ murder in a robbery. Batman can’t help to make comparisons to Marcus and himself, so by the end of the story, both Marcus and Bruce must confront the pain of gun violence and having survivors guilt. Gun violence and gun reform are still issues facing society, even in 2021.
In a nutshell, I think the people protesting against the involvement of politics in comics, may have honestly lacked the imagination or sense of wonder, to have never read a comic book. To pick up one up and be transported to worlds, where the problems people face there, are the same ones we face here is invaluable to our youth and the old.
We are supposed to read and learn new things, so we can change. You are not supposed to stay the same person throughout your life, you are built to learn, grow and explore new things and be open minded. Having political issues in comic books is an extremely good and positive thing, so don’t let anybody tell anything different.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next week.
1 Civil War #1-7 (2006-2007)
2 Captain America #260 (Vol 1, 1981) & Captain America #23 (Vol 3, 1999)
3 Captain America #264 (Vol 1, 1981)
4 Captain America # 250 (Vol 1, 1980)
5 Captain America #372-378 (Vol 1, 1990)
6 Captain America and the Falcon #175 (Vol 1, 1974)
7 Captain America and the Falcon #176 (Vol 1, 1974)
8 Truth: Red, White & Black #1-7 (Vol 1, 2003)
9 Captain America and the Falcon #134 (Vol 1, 1971)
10Superman: Peace on Earth ( Vol 1, 1999)
11Superman #23 (Vol 1, 1943)
12 Action Comics #8 (Vol 1, 1939)
13 Superman #84 (Vol 2, 1993)
14 Superman Smashes the Ku Klux Klan #1-3 (Vol 1, 2019-2020)
SOME GEEK TOLD ME 
You must be logged in to post a comment.