Not only were New York mutants reveling in the public spotlight they were gaining in strength. Despite all this momentum there was still confusion about what mutantism stood for. As far as Squid was concerned, he was not the leader of the United Mutations so it was up to mutants to decide what the movement stood for. Some of the confusion dissipated after the Mutant Charter was printed in large quantities and distributed to the public. So to clear matters up the United Mutations announced a public gathering at Central Park where leading mutants would be able to clarify their positions and explain to the general public some elementary facts concerning mutantism.
A crowd of somewhere over 200,000 gathered and when Squid stepped in front of the microphones wild applause erupted and when it subsided Squid spoke, “Good evening mutants and supporters. Mutants face challenges many would say are insurmountable. The challenge we face is more mutant respectability, rights and dignity. It is only when non-mutants ensure our rights are the same as all citizens will our struggle be victorious, It is high time we fight for our freedom. To do this we need power instead of being the victim of the power of others that has dumped mutants in the trash bags of society. Do not deceive yourself into thinking this will be an easy struggle. There will be no “commission of inquiry” fighting for you. The struggle may have to violent as it was in Nicaragua and Columbia where all enemies of the state were seen as mutants and subject to liquidation. The violence we use will be proportional to the violence we face. Preferably the struggle will be a psychological and peaceful one. Our first step is the banishment of the negative self image forced upon us by non mutants. We are supposed to be a pitiful group of disfigured, both physically and or politically, incapable of functioning within society. If this is so, and it isn’t, it is because they have made us so.
We must not limit our struggle to national struggles and limit our potential and solidarity. Domestic weakness must be repaired from help given by stronger mutant communities. Remember that all nations have mutants and where we are weak we shall be helped by the strong and where we are strong we shall become stronger.
Our struggle against mutant hatred must be a daily one and we must not get lost in academic debate. This dictates that we are situationalists and confront this hatred in all situations where it arises. In this battle there can be official statements made by various mutant organizations but the organization can never have absolute control over its members. If this happens, we end up like all the other parties. There should be no absolute leaders. At worst there can only be advisors and co-ordinators. This is inevitable at least in the initial stages in our development. Once we become a mass movement then it will be all the more difficult for repression to defeat us. If a movement places too strong a trust in leaders what then happens if the leaders are “taken out”? The movement collapses and as I have seen leaders can be co-opted into the establishment and soften the language and actions of the movement. After all the co-opted do not want to hurt their “reasonable” friends. Power must be dispersed throughout the movement so no leader will dare usurp power. Anyone who proclaims he or she is a leader of mutants must be laughed out of the movement.
Beware mutants! There are many who will join us under false pretences. There will be snitches and squealers and we will be dogged by law enforcement. Only mutants can wage the struggle as it is OUR lives that matter. Mutant Lives Matter! This does not mean we can’t form alliances or accept help from other organizations but we must make it clear we will not tolerate any interference from them. I urge caution.”
A slight disturbance was heard at the edges of the crowd while law enforcement officials and their cameras were chased out of the park.
Many countries across the globe utilized medical and non-medical facemasks as non-pharmaceutical intervention for reducing the transmission and infectivity of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Although, scientific evidence supporting facemasks’ efficacy is lacking, adverse physiological, psychological and health effects are established. Is has been hypothesized that facemasks have compromised safety and efficacy profile and should be avoided from use. The current article comprehensively summarizes scientific evidences with respect to wearing facemasks in the COVID-19 era, providing prosper information for public health and decisions making.
Facemasks are part of non-pharmaceutical interventions providing some breathing barrier to the mouth and nose that have been utilized for reducing the transmission of respiratory pathogens [1]. Facemasks can be medical and non-medical, where two types of the medical masks primarily used by healthcare workers [1], [2]. The first type is National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-certified N95 mask, a filtering face-piece respirator, and the second type is a surgical mask [1]. The designed and intended uses of N95 and surgical masks are different in the type of protection they potentially provide. The N95s are typically composed of electret filter media and seal tightly to the face of the wearer, whereas surgical masks are generally loose fitting and may or may not contain electret-filtering media. The N95s are designed to reduce the wearer’s inhalation exposure to infectious and harmful particles from the environment such as during extermination of insects. In contrast, surgical masks are designed to provide a barrier protection against splash, spittle and other body fluids to spray from the wearer (such as surgeon) to the sterile environment (patient during operation) for reducing the risk of contamination [1].
The third type of facemasks are the non-medical cloth or fabric masks. The non-medical facemasks are made from a variety of woven and non-woven materials such as Polypropylene, Cotton, Polyester, Cellulose, Gauze and Silk. Although non-medical cloth or fabric facemasks are neither a medical device nor personal protective equipment, some standards have been developed by the French Standardization Association (AFNOR Group) to define a minimum performance for filtration and breathability capacity [2]. The current article reviews the scientific evidences with respect to safety and efficacy of wearing facemasks, describing the physiological and psychological effects and the potential long-term consequences on health.
Hypothesis
On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a global public health emergency of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) causing illness of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) [3]. As of October 1, 2020, worldwide 34,166,633 cases were reported and 1,018,876 have died with virus diagnosis. Interestingly, 99% of the detected cases with SARS-CoV-2 are asymptomatic or have mild condition, which contradicts with the virus name (severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2) [4]. Although infection fatality rate (number of death cases divided by number of reported cases) initially seems quite high 0.029 (2.9%) [4], this overestimation related to limited number of COVID-19 tests performed which biases towards higher rates. Given the fact that asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic cases is several times higher than the number of reported cases, the case fatality rate is considerably less than 1% [5]. This was confirmed by the head of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from US stating, “the overall clinical consequences of COVID-19 are similar to those of severe seasonal influenza” [5], having a case fatality rate of approximately 0.1% [5], [6], [7], [8]. In addition, data from hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and general public indicate that the majority of deaths were among older and chronically ill individuals, supporting the possibility that the virus may exacerbates existing conditions but rarely causes death by itself [9], [10]. SARS-CoV-2 primarily affects respiratory system and can cause complications such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), respiratory failure and death [3], [9]. It is not clear however, what the scientific and clinical basis for wearing facemasks as protective strategy, given the fact that facemasks restrict breathing, causing hypoxemia and hypercapnia and increase the risk for respiratory complications, self-contamination and exacerbation of existing chronic conditions [2], [11], [12], [13], [14].
Of note, hyperoxia or oxygen supplementation (breathing air with high partial O2 pressures that above the sea levels) has been well established as therapeutic and curative practice for variety acute and chronic conditions including respiratory complications [11], [15]. It fact, the current standard of care practice for treating hospitalized patients with COVID-19 is breathing 100% oxygen [16], [17], [18]. Although several countries mandated wearing facemask in health care settings and public areas, scientific evidences are lacking supporting their efficacy for reducing morbidity or mortality associated with infectious or viral diseases [2], [14], [19]. Therefore, it has been hypothesized: 1) the practice of wearing facemasks has compromised safety and efficacy profile, 2) Both medical and non-medical facemasks are ineffective to reduce human-to-human transmission and infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, 3) Wearing facemasks has adverse physiological and psychological effects, 4) Long-term consequences of wearing facemasks on health are detrimental.
Evolution of hypothesis
Breathing Physiology
Breathing is one of the most important physiological functions to sustain life and health. Human body requires a continuous and adequate oxygen (O2) supply to all organs and cells for normal function and survival. Breathing is also an essential process for removing metabolic byproducts [carbon dioxide (CO2)] occurring during cell respiration [12], [13]. It is well established that acute significant deficit in O2 (hypoxemia) and increased levels of CO2 (hypercapnia) even for few minutes can be severely harmful and lethal, while chronic hypoxemia and hypercapnia cause health deterioration, exacerbation of existing conditions, morbidity and ultimately mortality [11], [20], [21], [22]. Emergency medicine demonstrates that 5–6 min of severe hypoxemia during cardiac arrest will cause brain death with extremely poor survival rates [20], [21], [22], [23]. On the other hand, chronic mild or moderate hypoxemia and hypercapnia such as from wearing facemasks resulting in shifting to higher contribution of anaerobic energy metabolism, decrease in pH levels and increase in cells and blood acidity, toxicity, oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, immunosuppression and health deterioration [24], [11], [12], [13].
Efficacy of facemasks
The physical properties of medical and non-medical facemasks suggest that facemasks are ineffective to block viral particles due to their difference in scales [16], [17], [25]. According to the current knowledge, the virus SARS-CoV-2 has a diameter of 60 nm to 140 nm [nanometers (billionth of a meter)] [16], [17], while medical and non-medical facemasks’ thread diameter ranges from 55 µm to 440 µm [micrometers (one millionth of a meter), which is more than 1000 times larger [25]. Due to the difference in sizes between SARS-CoV-2 diameter and facemasks thread diameter (the virus is 1000 times smaller), SARS-CoV-2 can easily pass through any facemask [25]. In addition, the efficiency filtration rate of facemasks is poor, ranging from 0.7% in non-surgical, cotton-gauze woven mask to 26% in cotton sweeter material [2]. With respect to surgical and N95 medical facemasks, the efficiency filtration rate falls to 15% and 58%, respectively when even small gap between the mask and the face exists [25].
Clinical scientific evidence challenges further the efficacy of facemasks to block human-to-human transmission or infectivity. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) of 246 participants [123 (50%) symptomatic)] who were allocated to either wearing or not wearing surgical facemask, assessing viruses transmission including coronavirus [26]. The results of this study showed that among symptomatic individuals (those with fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose ect…) there was no difference between wearing and not wearing facemask for coronavirus droplets transmission of particles of >5 µm. Among asymptomatic individuals, there was no droplets or aerosols coronavirus detected from any participant with or without the mask, suggesting that asymptomatic individuals do not transmit or infect other people [26]. This was further supported by a study on infectivity where 445 asymptomatic individuals were exposed to asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carrier (been positive for SARS-CoV-2) using close contact (shared quarantine space) for a median of 4 to 5 days. The study found that none of the 445 individuals was infected with SARS-CoV-2 confirmed by real-time reverse transcription polymerase [27].
A meta-analysis among health care workers found that compared to no masks, surgical mask and N95 respirators were not effective against transmission of viral infections or influenza-like illness based on six RCTs [28]. Using separate analysis of 23 observational studies, this meta-analysis found no protective effect of medical mask or N95 respirators against SARS virus [28]. A recent systematic review of 39 studies including 33,867 participants in community settings (self-report illness), found no difference between N95 respirators versus surgical masks and surgical mask versus no masks in the risk for developing influenza or influenza-like illness, suggesting their ineffectiveness of blocking viral transmissions in community settings [29].
Another meta-analysis of 44 non-RCT studies (n = 25,697 participants) examining the potential risk reduction of facemasks against SARS, middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS) and COVID-19 transmissions [30]. The meta-analysis included four specific studies on COVID-19 transmission (5,929 participants, primarily health-care workers used N95 masks). Although the overall findings showed reduced risk of virus transmission with facemasks, the analysis had severe limitations to draw conclusions. One of the four COVID-19 studies had zero infected cases in both arms, and was excluded from meta-analytic calculation. Other two COVID-19 studies had unadjusted models, and were also excluded from the overall analysis. The meta-analytic results were based on only one COVID-19, one MERS and 8 SARS studies, resulting in high selection bias of the studies and contamination of the results between different viruses. Based on four COVID-19 studies, the meta-analysis failed to demonstrate risk reduction of facemasks for COVID-19 transmission, where the authors reported that the results of meta-analysis have low certainty and are inconclusive [30].
In early publication the WHO stated that “facemasks are not required, as no evidence is available on its usefulness to protect non-sick persons” [14]. In the same publication, the WHO declared that “cloth (e.g. cotton or gauze) masks are not recommended under any circumstance” [14]. Conversely, in later publication the WHO stated that the usage of fabric-made facemasks (Polypropylene, Cotton, Polyester, Cellulose, Gauze and Silk) is a general community practice for “preventing the infected wearer transmitting the virus to others and/or to offer protection to the healthy wearer against infection (prevention)” [2]. The same publication further conflicted itself by stating that due to the lower filtration, breathability and overall performance of fabric facemasks, the usage of woven fabric mask such as cloth, and/or non-woven fabrics, should only be considered for infected persons and not for prevention practice in asymptomatic individuals [2]. The Central for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made similar recommendation, stating that only symptomatic persons should consider wearing facemask, while for asymptomatic individuals this practice is not recommended [31]. Consistent with the CDC, clinical scientists from Departments of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology in Australia counsel against facemasks usage for health-care workers, arguing that there is no justification for such practice while normal caring relationship between patients and medical staff could be compromised [32]. Moreover, the WHO repeatedly announced that “at present, there is no direct evidence (from studies on COVID-19) on the effectiveness face masking of healthy people in the community to prevent infection of respiratory viruses, including COVID-19”[2]. Despite these controversies, the potential harms and risks of wearing facemasks were clearly acknowledged. These including self-contamination due to hand practice or non-replaced when the mask is wet, soiled or damaged, development of facial skin lesions, irritant dermatitis or worsening acne and psychological discomfort. Vulnerable populations such as people with mental health disorders, developmental disabilities, hearing problems, those living in hot and humid environments, children and patients with respiratory conditions are at significant health risk for complications and harm [2].
Physiological effects of wearing facemasks
Wearing facemask mechanically restricts breathing by increasing the resistance of air movement during both inhalation and exhalation process [12], [13]. Although, intermittent (several times a week) and repetitive (10–15 breaths for 2–4 sets) increase in respiration resistance may be adaptive for strengthening respiratory muscles [33], [34], prolonged and continues effect of wearing facemask is maladaptive and could be detrimental for health [11], [12], [13]. In normal conditions at the sea level, air contains 20.93% O2 and 0.03% CO2, providing partial pressures of 100 mmHg and 40 mmHg for these gases in the arterial blood, respectively. These gas concentrations significantly altered when breathing occurs through facemask. A trapped air remaining between the mouth, nose and the facemask is rebreathed repeatedly in and out of the body, containing low O2 and high CO2 concentrations, causing hypoxemia and hypercapnia [35], [36], [11], [12], [13]. Severe hypoxemia may also provoke cardiopulmonary and neurological complications and is considered an important clinical sign in cardiopulmonary medicine [37], [38], [39], [40], [41], [42]. Low oxygen content in the arterial blood can cause myocardial ischemia, serious arrhythmias, right or left ventricular dysfunction, dizziness, hypotension, syncope and pulmonary hypertension [43]. Chronic low-grade hypoxemia and hypercapnia as result of using facemask can cause exacerbation of existing cardiopulmonary, metabolic, vascular and neurological conditions [37], [38], [39], [40], [41], [42]. Table 1 summarizes the physiological, psychological effects of wearing facemask and their potential long-term consequences for health.
Table 1. Physiological and Psychological Effects of Wearing Facemask and Their Potential Health Consequences.
Physiological Effects
Psychological Effect
Health Consequences
•Hypoxemia•Hypercapnia•Shortness of breath•Increase lactate concentration•Decline in pH levels•Acidosis•Toxicity•Inflammation•Self-contamination•Increase in stress hormones level (adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol)•Increased muscle tension•Immunosuppression
•Activation of “fight or flight” stress response•Chronic stress condition•Fear•Mood disturbances•Insomnia•Fatigue•Compromised cognitive performance
•Increased predisposition for viral and infection illnesses•Headaches•Anxiety•Depression•Hypertension•Cardiovascular disease•Cancer•Diabetes•Alzheimer disease•Exacerbation of existing conditions and diseases•Accelerated aging process•Health deterioration•Premature mortality
In addition to hypoxia and hypercapnia, breathing through facemask residues bacterial and germs components on the inner and outside layer of the facemask. These toxic components are repeatedly rebreathed back into the body, causing self-contamination. Breathing through facemasks also increases temperature and humidity in the space between the mouth and the mask, resulting a release of toxic particles from the mask’s materials [1], [2], [19], [26], [35], [36]. A systematic literature review estimated that aerosol contamination levels of facemasks including 13 to 202,549 different viruses [1]. Rebreathing contaminated air with high bacterial and toxic particle concentrations along with low O2 and high CO2 levels continuously challenge the body homeostasis, causing self-toxicity and immunosuppression [1], [2], [19], [26], [35], [36].
A study on 39 patients with renal disease found that wearing N95 facemask during hemodialysis significantly reduced arterial partial oxygen pressure (from PaO2 101.7 to 92.7 mm Hg), increased respiratory rate (from 16.8 to 18.8 breaths/min), and increased the occurrence of chest discomfort and respiratory distress [35]. Respiratory Protection Standards from Occupational Safety and Health Administration, US Department of Labor states that breathing air with O2 concentration below 19.5% is considered oxygen-deficiency, causing physiological and health adverse effects. These include increased breathing frequency, accelerated heartrate and cognitive impairments related to thinking and coordination [36]. A chronic state of mild hypoxia and hypercapnia has been shown as primarily mechanism for developing cognitive dysfunction based on animal studies and studies in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [44].
The adverse physiological effects were confirmed in a study of 53 surgeons where surgical facemask were used during a major operation. After 60 min of facemask wearing the oxygen saturation dropped by more than 1% and heart rate increased by approximately five beats/min [45]. Another study among 158 health-care workers using protective personal equipment primarily N95 facemasks reported that 81% (128 workers) developed new headaches during their work shifts as these become mandatory due to COVID-19 outbreak. For those who used the N95 facemask greater than 4 h per day, the likelihood for developing a headache during the work shift was approximately four times higher [Odds ratio = 3.91, 95% CI (1.35–11.31) p = 0.012], while 82.2% of the N95 wearers developed the headache already within ≤10 to 50 min [46].
With respect to cloth facemask, a RCT using four weeks follow up compared the effect of cloth facemask to medical masks and to no masks on the incidence of clinical respiratory illness, influenza-like illness and laboratory-confirmed respiratory virus infections among 1607 participants from 14 hospitals [19]. The results showed that there were no difference between wearing cloth masks, medical masks and no masks for incidence of clinical respiratory illness and laboratory-confirmed respiratory virus infections. However, a large harmful effect with more than 13 times higher risk [Relative Risk = 13.25 95% CI (1.74 to 100.97) was observed for influenza-like illness among those who were wearing cloth masks [19]. The study concluded that cloth masks have significant health and safety issues including moisture retention, reuse, poor filtration and increased risk for infection, providing recommendation against the use of cloth masks [19].
Psychological effects of wearing facemasks
Psychologically, wearing facemask fundamentally has negative effects on the wearer and the nearby person. Basic human-to-human connectivity through face expression is compromised and self-identity is somewhat eliminated [47], [48], [49]. These dehumanizing movements partially delete the uniqueness and individuality of person who wearing the facemask as well as the connected person [49]. Social connections and relationships are basic human needs, which innately inherited in all people, whereas reduced human-to-human connections are associated with poor mental and physical health [50], [51]. Despite escalation in technology and globalization that would presumably foster social connections, scientific findings show that people are becoming increasingly more socially isolated, and the prevalence of loneliness is increasing in last few decades [50], [52]. Poor social connections are closely related to isolation and loneliness, considered significant health related risk factors [50], [51], [52], [53].
A meta-analysis of 91 studies of about 400,000 people showed a 13% increased morality risk among people with low compare to high contact frequency [53]. Another meta-analysis of 148 prospective studies (308,849 participants) found that poor social relationships was associated with 50% increased mortality risk. People who were socially isolated or fell lonely had 45% and 40% increased mortality risk, respectively. These findings were consistent across ages, sex, initial health status, cause of death and follow-up periods [52]. Importantly, the increased risk for mortality was found comparable to smoking and exceeding well-established risk factors such as obesity and physical inactivity [52]. An umbrella review of 40 systematic reviews including 10 meta-analyses demonstrated that compromised social relationships were associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality, depression, anxiety suicide, cancer and overall physical illness [51].
As described earlier, wearing facemasks causing hypoxic and hypercapnic state that constantly challenges the normal homeostasis, and activates “fight or flight” stress response, an important survival mechanism in the human body [11], [12], [13]. The acute stress response includes activation of nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, and the immune systems [47], [54], [55], [56]. These include activation of the limbic part of the brain, release stress hormones (adrenalin, neuro-adrenalin and cortisol), changes in blood flow distribution (vasodilation of peripheral blood vessels and vasoconstriction of visceral blood vessels) and activation of the immune system response (secretion of macrophages and natural killer cells) [47], [48]. Encountering people who wearing facemasks activates innate stress-fear emotion, which is fundamental to all humans in danger or life threating situations, such as death or unknown, unpredictable outcome. While acute stress response (seconds to minutes) is adaptive reaction to challenges and part of the survival mechanism, chronic and prolonged state of stress-fear is maladaptive and has detrimental effects on physical and mental health. The repeatedly or continuously activated stress-fear response causes the body to operate on survival mode, having sustain increase in blood pressure, pro-inflammatory state and immunosuppression [47], [48].
Long-Term health consequences of wearing facemasks
Long-term practice of wearing facemasks has strong potential for devastating health consequences. Prolonged hypoxic-hypercapnic state compromises normal physiological and psychological balance, deteriorating health and promotes the developing and progression of existing chronic diseases [23], [38], [39], [43], [47], [48], [57], [11], [12], [13]. For instance, ischemic heart disease caused by hypoxic damage to the myocardium is the most common form of cardiovascular disease and is a number one cause of death worldwide (44% of all non-communicable diseases) with 17.9 million deaths occurred in 2016 [57]. Hypoxia also playing an important role in cancer burden [58]. Cellular hypoxia has strong mechanistic feature in promoting cancer initiation, progression, metastasis, predicting clinical outcomes and usually presents a poorer survival in patients with cancer. Most solid tumors present some degree of hypoxia, which is independent predictor of more aggressive disease, resistance to cancer therapies and poorer clinical outcomes [59], [60]. Worth note, cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with an estimate of more than 18 million new diagnosed cases and 9.6 million cancer-related deaths occurred in 2018 [61].
With respect to mental health, global estimates showing that COVID-19 will cause a catastrophe due to collateral psychological damage such as quarantine, lockdowns, unemployment, economic collapse, social isolation, violence and suicides [62], [63], [64]. Chronic stress along with hypoxic and hypercapnic conditions knocks the body out of balance, and can cause headaches, fatigue, stomach issues, muscle tension, mood disturbances, insomnia and accelerated aging [47], [48], [65], [66], [67]. This state suppressing the immune system to protect the body from viruses and bacteria, decreasing cognitive function, promoting the developing and exacerbating the major health issues including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer disease, rising anxiety and depression states, causes social isolation and loneliness and increasing the risk for prematurely mortality [47], [48], [51], [56], [66].
Conclusion
The existing scientific evidences challenge the safety and efficacy of wearing facemask as preventive intervention for COVID-19. The data suggest that both medical and non-medical facemasks are ineffective to block human-to-human transmission of viral and infectious disease such SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, supporting against the usage of facemasks. Wearing facemasks has been demonstrated to have substantial adverse physiological and psychological effects. These include hypoxia, hypercapnia, shortness of breath, increased acidity and toxicity, activation of fear and stress response, rise in stress hormones, immunosuppression, fatigue, headaches, decline in cognitive performance, predisposition for viral and infectious illnesses, chronic stress, anxiety and depression. Long-term consequences of wearing facemask can cause health deterioration, developing and progression of chronic diseases and premature death. Governments, policy makers and health organizations should utilize prosper and scientific evidence-based approach with respect to wearing facemasks, when the latter is considered as preventive intervention for public health.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Baruch Vainshelboim: Conceptualization, Data curation, Writing – original draft.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Ricky was amok at the directness and sensitivity of Squid. Squid was correct as regards his assumptions towards Regurdle. Lately he had been feeling useless and guilty about collecting his fat cheque paid from a bureaucracy that cared more about clean streets and garbage collection than it did about humans. What good would his life be if he continued working for the New York Sanitation Department? Not much. Subconsciously he had been praying for an opportunity like this so he jumped at Squid’s offer and said, “All right Squid. I’ll take you up on your offer. I have more than enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life. Here is my opportunity to make the rest of my life worth something. As the age of my retirement approaches perhaps I can really be of some public service instead of working for a heartless public service. Maybe I’m boiling in a cauldron of career menopause but what the hell.
To be frank with you these gringos I work for have been suspicious of me lately especially after my last’s month’s speech at the Lion’s Club stating that the Cuban Revolution wasn’t that much of a disaster. At least there re no starving wretches on the street like when free enterprise and I were living in Havana. Well you can imagine what the brainwashed audience thought of that remark. Someone who they thought were in their ranks stirred their pile of Puritanical synthetic bullshit.”
The New York evening papers carried the story of Regurdle’s resignation and his farewell speech criticizing the greed of American foreign policy and included his pledge to forge ahead for further respect and right for mutants. He tore into the Cuban expat community in Miami for being useless tools of the American propaganda machine. The established political elite of New York claimed Regurdle was suffering from a bout of temporary insanity but that did not prevent Ricky from charging ahead. The ancient and thinned ranks of the old Ricky Regurdle Fan Club in Hollywood was reborn and it sent a delegation to New York to praise the courage and integrity of their idol. Their first stop was the headquarters of the New York Sanitation Department where they created havoc by throwing coconuts through large plate glass windows. Large crowds assembled outside the building that somehow had become a historical landmark for the United Mutations movement. Several people starting dancing to old Ricky Regurdle records. As the nation focused on the weird events in New York Regurdle’s smash hit of 30 years ago “At the Tropicana” headed up the Billboard charts like a rocket. Warehouses full of Regurdle’s unsold albums were emptied in 48 hours. The “I Love Mucy” show in syndication showing in the early morning hours found itself again in prime time. Telegrams from all parts of the globe flooded the headquarters of the United Mutations. The Mutanto Politico of Columbia smuggled in three kilos of cocaine for the mutants in Gringoland. Psychiatric hospitals were rocked with riots after the United Mutations smuggled their manifesto into their wards. Paraplegics, dwarfs, Puerto Rican homosexuals, the blind, obese suburban ladies who were beyond help by Weightwatchers and even broken-down anarchists saw new hope in their dismal lives. All manner of undesirables seen as such by the mainstream but proudly referred to as the United Mutations as “mutants” crawled out of their hiding places and paraded the streets with their heads held high. Even the Pope gave a special mass blessing all mutants of the world as “dear things” equal with all in the eyes of Christ and the Holy Father.
While the United Mutations gained enormous popularity amongst a minority of Americans the majority saw them as an organization led by “Reds” attacking democracy and the American way of life. Several of the smaller African states expressed interest in the mutantism concepts as they were in a chronic state of underdevelopment and mutantism had a special niche for that in its theories. The developed world, that had done so much to under develop them, saw these people as shiftless, lazy, unproductive and ignorant. They were the lowest of mutants.
“ ‘And I would contradict anyone who claims that that suspicion is the same as love. Suspicion may come from love, just as ashes come from fire-but like ashes, suspicion stifles the flame.’
‘ I think that nothing brings greater grief either to a man or to a woman,’ said Hircan, ‘than to be suspected of being the opposite of what one really is. And as far as I am concerned there’s nothing else that would be more likely to make me end a friendship.’ “
Tied by chains to each other beaten by the propaganda terrorized by the fear locked up by social distancing and stay at home “orders” trudging day to day like being on the end of a 25 year sentence eating worm infested promises of the salvation of vaccine the Canadian Prime Minister has tripped himself up in we’ve become a banana republic in terms of per capita doses of vaccine that the politicos can’t even follow manufacturers advice as to frequency of the second dose you want to blackball Trump yet here in Canada we must wait 4 months for a second dose but my American sister has had her second and final Pfizer dose two months ago Canada ranks with Somalia Congratulations to you Justin and your short sleeve Obama rolled up sleeve encouragement yet you prop up the British Monarchy with a $200,000 grant to the Duke of Edinburgh Foundation you best want to rethink that stupid mistake and redirect to our aboriginal population you apologized to but pissed off with your slavish nodding to an irrelevant monarchy you have failed us over and over again with your corruption and tricks you can’t even deliver the needed vaccine prick
Word spread about this Squid not only in New York but throughout the entire United States. He was offered product endorsements and several minor movie roles all accorded to a self professed creature of alien descent. The New York Sanitation Department was rather taken aback about the employee that they had recently hired.
The New York Chimes wrote a lengthy article on Squid called “The Street Revolutionary and Philosopher” and his effort to open headquarters for a new organization called “The United Mutations” with its credo being “Mutant Lives Matter”. Squid had established a trust bank account for The United Mutations and donations poured in from all over the globe in fact within a week of publication of the Chimes article there was ample money to fund the opening of a small United Mutations office on East 42cnd and Second Avenue a short walk from the headquarters of the United Nations. The Sanitation Department decided the broom was mightier than the pen and fired him from his streetsweeper’s job. In fact the dirty job was done by the Chairman of the New York Sanitation Department, Ricky Regurdle a former Cuban nightclub singer and former co-star of the television hit series (then in syndication) “I Love Mucy” show. One could easily detect the discomfort in Ricky’s eyes. In a voice hobbled by guilt he poured Squid a glass of Cuba’s finest rum. Regurdle cleared his throat and spoke, “Mr. Squid it is with regret that I inform you have been relieved of your duties. Off the record I do not agree with this decision. They say you can’t involve yourself in politics when you are involved in the public service but by doing so I think from what I have read about you that you would say the enforced passivity reinforces the dominant ideology and politics of the ruling class. But people in this city are in a survival mode and the name of the game is conservatism and economic survival. You are a kind man and it pains me to communicate this dismissal to you. You did not deserve this. You know when I first arrived in New York from Cuba I was seen as a mutant of sorts. I only wish there had been a United Mutations to assist me in those early years.”
At this point Squid interrupted, “Come on Ricky who are you fooling. You see how unjust the system is. Isn’t it about time you took a firm stand on the issues of the day? I hear you are planning to run for mayor but what will that mean to a man like you in the future if it’s all empty and the trappings of the system have failed to break your spirit? Everyone has a purpose in life and that is to help fellow human beings. Forget serving and start helping, I know you have it in you but you have not had the courage to act upon your convictions. The men speak fondly of you and how on countless occasions risked your neck to help them. This is the type of person The United Mutations needs. I offer you the position of the chairman of the organizing committee for the establishment and functioning of The United Mutations. We will match your current salary.”
Squid found a cheap hotel in The Village. When he heard “village” he thought it might be a recreated Indian village. After a short rest he hit the clubs and bars in The Village. Word spread that this was the great Nicaraguan revolutionary. The local crowd had read of his exploits in the Village Choice newspaper. Students, longhairs, beatniks and hippies gathered at the hip clubs to hear Squid and talk to him. He was seen on a regular basis sipping Victory Gin and debating politics and philosophy and explaining his activities in Columbia and Nicaragua. He would often read long discourses on mutantism and international politics. A small crowd of FBI and CIA agents kept tabs on this dangerous revolutionary who hampered American “interests” abroad.
The majority of local pacifists, in the American tradition of self-inflicted repression, were upset with Squid’s emphasis on violence as a tool for combatting repression. As he said one evening at the “Bottom Club”, “Once I was a firm adherent of peaceful struggle but my experience has taught me violence is often the only voice understood by the hordes of deaf and blind leaders. You can’t superimpose your bourgeoisie notions of non-violence in a corrupt underdeveloped country. You Americans struggled for your freedom and that was a violent struggle. Speeches are dandy for the politicians as they often paint glowing sunsets with their words. For the masses blood must flow to liberate. Every day, including here in the USA, the system mounts its violence against the nonconformist or social justice fighter. Thousands die of starvation or disease caused by your American companies that specialize in sucking the life blood from nations weaker than you. And you dare talk of peaceful methods with you full bellies. What do you know about suffering and how to alleviate it. Most of you are but middle-class youths overcome with fads. No doubt about it, violence is the essence of politics. The violence of those in power is considered legitimate and that of the weak illegitimate.
Once Squid had made himself known to so many New Yorkers he tried to land an announcer’s job at some radio stations but they all said his voice was a bit freaky. The fact that the IRS threatened tax audits on any radio station that hired him did not help his search. If he could not take to the airwaves, he would have to meet New Yorkers on the street so he applied for a position at the New York Department of Sanitation and obtained a job as a street cleaner. Manual labour was no hindrance. He informed pedestrians of the dangers of US imperialism and the threat it posed to humanity but the potential problem with this approach was that most Americans considered themselves above humanity.
We don’t exactly receive an abundance of Sardinian wines on the Liquor Control Board of Ontario shelves.
So here is one to try. It is a Cannonau di Sardegna Chuèrra.
In colour transparent ruby.
As far as aromatics cherry, cranberry and loganberry jam. Playful.
On the palate mildly tannic. Compact and light footed sweet red cherry with a short finish.
Overall an amusing wine that would pair well with salmon or baked stuffed trout. Although a good sipper as well.
Strongly reminiscent of a Cretan wine made from Kotsifali grapes. Speaking of Greece this might pair well with grilled lamb. Greek Easter is in May this year and considering Ontario lockdowns my usual purchase of an entire lamb for the festivities will not happen. For me spring is here when the family is over for a big lamb bash on the barbeque. Anyone outside your house, including your family, is an enemy and an untouchable according to Ontario’s recent police state lockdown. So it will be the missus and Dylan the Westie munching a New Zealand leg of lamb. No Greek Orthodox church services.
Yes I am angry and who is to blame for this terrible situation in Ontario. It probably ranges from Mike Harris, Kathleen Wynn and Dougie Ford for cuts to our health care system over decades. Perhaps here in Ontario the fascist trends continue with Toronto Mayor John Tory installing photo radar in school zones. Fascism starts always under the guise of a good cause!
Best consumed this year.
(Antichi Poderi Jerzu Chuèrra Riserva Cannonau di Sardegna 2017 DOC, Italy, $19.95, 750 mL, 14%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 270272, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 90/100).
Squid head up north from Costa Rica but he mistook the Hudson River for the St. Lawrence River and found himself in New York headquarters for so many corporations doing evil deeds in the underdeveloped world. Were all New Yorkers as evil as their corporations. He had time for yet another adventure.
He did know from speaking with the Sardinistas in Nicaragua that whites had swindled the aboriginals to “purchase” Manhattan but that purchase may have not been agreed to by the aboriginals thinking that the trinkets were simply a gift. The aboriginals were shunted off to various holding camps called “reservations” and their leaders signed treaties not knowing their contents. There were no social activists in those days that could have said indigenous lives matter.
So much Christian justifications were uttered by the “White Fathers” to justify their stealing of Manhattan and imprisonment of the aboriginals in internment camps i.e. reservations.
Squid had actually met Christ many years ago on his way to Jerusalem and he was so broke he asked Squid for some money which he promptly handed over to first legless man on the side of the road. Christ then had a soft spot in his heart for mutants. Christ may have had a heart of gold but seemed lacking in grey matter as every time he faced threats and hostility he would lift his eyes and have a conversation with his Holy Father and how he would make things right. Whatever faults he had made great contributions in the mutant care field. Mutants who were deformed, limbless or of feeble mind were treated with love, care and compassion by Christ and he taught his followers to do the same.
His doctrine was a bit off being full of meekness and humility which were not the answers when you were being trampled upon by jealous rabbis and the Roman occupiers. In fact it was Christ and his belief in this fictious Holy Father that crippled the mutant march. It was as if Christ was creating an army of zombies ready to sacrifice themselves and die for Christ and his Holy Father. Organization, discipline and weapons were needed not waiting for miracles from the Holy Father.
Squid had seen how the teachings of Christ were manipulated by those seeking power and money. A few greedy despots could hire public relations types, called preachers or religious orders, to clear out and stupefy the locals to exploit their resources. These preachers and religious orders promised countless native people the Holy Father had granted them a station in life and there was little that they could do to change that. Then the sponsors of these preachers and religious orders could rest at ease and chuckle at the idiots in their miserable poverty caused by the Great White Fathers. It was easy money. The Christian doctrine was one of humanity’s best tool to quieten the restless without firing a shot. Then the economic machine could plunder.
Montenez continued his conversation with Dr. Zodiac, “The Greek Gods really began unravelling after the construction of various European empires. They lost the ability to control civilization as they had done in earlier times and of course the Greeks falling under Ottoman rule didn’t help their state of mind. Remember the Berlin Conference of 1870 where African fiefdoms were divvied up by European powers without regard to natural or tribal boundaries. Humanity in Europe was simply a gathering of greedy children grabbing all they could lay their hands on. Then there was hope with the Russian Revolution that man had finally seen the errors of their ways. Then that revolutionary spirit was broken with internal powerplays, the assassination of Trotsky, brutal collectivization and the slavery of the proletarian masses. Of course that brutal power crazed Stalin liquidated not only millions of people but the hope for a true revolution and slavery for the conquests of the USSR.
The night the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima was a dark time for the Greek Gods. It was about at that time the Greek Gods started thinking above leaving Earth. I tried to persuade them of their mission to aid humanity but they had no spirit left for that. Then the Korean and Vietnamese War were about the last straws. Then here on Samos the tourist explosion was the last straw. Arrogant, drunken and stupid tourists. A far as the Greek Gods were concerned it was as if humanity was engaging in one last fit of decadence before it self destructed. So off they fled to Zlano, a quiet and peaceful dimension. It became their retirement home.”
Dr. Zodiac responded, “You remained at the drawbridge while we climbed into the ivory tower of nostalgic philosophy. This has caused me to depart from the Zlano dimension. I raised you like my own son. It pained me to leave you behind. I see their inherent selfishness with their rejection of the mutant Bertie Foonbean. Even the Friday night poetry readings and visits from aliens became boring. So I find myself here hoping I can help you in some way. But being upfront with you I am also on Earth because of a serial killer called The Zodiac Killer in California and Nevada. His deeds tarnish my name! I must defend my name. He carves astrology signs on his victims and leaves clues in code. There are rumours, even in Zlano, that I am this killer.
And as for Bertie Foonbean we have found an expert in mutantism called Squid, being a mutant himself, also specializes in the treatment of mutants if treatment is really an appropriate word to use. Squid has a reputation of helping humanity as you have probably heard of his work in Columbia and Nicaragua. You two should really mee. So far our messengers have failed to locate him although I am told they are hot on his trail. He sounds like an interesting chap.”
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