Unix Servers

Jim Geraghty mentioned Olympia Snowe but he meant Susan Collins.

I'm for Unix servers. I'm also for the Cheers episode I saw last night. Very nice.

With respect to Mr. Roy's comments about masking, my perspective as an anti-mask person. I may be unique, but I don’t think so.

Between shut-downs (voluntary and state-mandated) and masks, 90% of my human interaction has been eliminated. The near total lack of human interaction has severely diminished my mental health. I don’t contemplate suicide all the time, but it comes up in my mind over a few days every couple of week. Apart from suicidal thoughts, my mental health is poor most of the time. Before last March, my mental health was pretty good.

I am an introvert, and a shy one at that, so I don’t talk to people much. Thus, facial expression is the major part of my human interaction. So, when in public, masks block my primary form of human interaction. Electronic communication provides for me very little of the value of human interaction. In fact, electronic communication exacerbates my feelings of isolation. Mrs. Tabby can provide only so much of my need for real human interaction. Without human interaction, isolation and feelings of worthlessness and lack of purpose become dominant. In my estimation, my health risks due to mental health problems are greater than my health risks due to the Wuhan virus. Maybe I’m unique, but I don’t think so. Without actual human interaction, I have no way of gauging my feelings.

On a broader view than me personally, I have seen near universal masking contribute to significant negative changes American (Texas in my case) society. People increasingly see others more as risks to be avoided, and less as fellow human beings who might enrich their lives. Other people are to be avoided. In the past, a hallmark of American (and especially Texan) society was to embrace other people to improve society.

Maybe universal masking provides some marginal protection against the spread of the Wuhan virus. But it also causes significant damage to mental health, and to American society. In my opinion, the damage is greater than the benefit. That the psychological (mental health) damage never seems to be mentioned in masking demands is a major cause of frustration for those of us affected by it.

I question Geraghty's analysis. If I heard him correctly, he was telling us that Olympia Snowe got more votes in Maine than President Trump. That seems quite unlikely.