a couple weeks ago a friend came to visit me. they came and we hung out unmasked in my home and we cooked and ate food and played board games and watched movies and it was the first time in years that i felt like a Normal Human Being my friend and i both observe very strict COVID mitigations:

we wear N95s anywhere in shared air. we regularly serially test and quarantine if exposed. we purify the air and ventilate. the people in our lives follow the same protocols. we have built genuine trust over time

i don't have many friendships anymore bc most people make friendship inaccessible for me i don't have much, in terms of energy or ability to do stuff

what i do have, i give freely

but i can't give any more than that, and most ppl expect more

seriously it really pisses me off that we can't just order our own tests. what would be the harm of having a lab where you can just go in and order your tests? if the worry is that it would overwhelm the lab techs then why can't we do it ourselves?? "because of money" no

it's not just because of money. money is the excuse, not the reason. the reason is that medicine is gatekept so that only the right kind of people can receive care and medicine and tests and answers

exactly. i am on team zero-COVID because there is zero acceptable amount of SARS in the air

i want to actually end the pandemic because:

https://twitter.com/TheManeCharactr/status/1714652017384104409

context for those who are unaware:

COVID-19 stands for Coronavirus Disease-2019 and is the name of the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2

the virus is SARS-CoV-2 which stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - Coronavirus - 2

it's SARS-2 because it is related to SARS-1

brain damage doesn't make someone a fascist just like mental illness doesn't make someone an abuser

pathologizing bad behaviour ends up hurting the targets of abuse while letting abusers get away with abuse people abuse because it gets them what they want and fascism is abuse on a societal scale

1. the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is not over
2. SARS-2 transmission is through airborne aerosols
3. vaccines provide limited and waning protection
4. there is no lasting immunity
5. reinfections are common
6. asymptomatic spread is common 7. SARS-CoV-2 is a multisystem vascular pathogen
8. every infection causes organ damage
9. organ damage is cumulative and durable
10. at least 1 in 10 infections cause long COVID
11. viral persistence is a mechanism in most long COVID cases

"To prepare the next generation of health-care providers and researchers, medical schools must improve their education on pandemics, viruses and infection-initiated illnesses such as long COVID and ME/CFS" "As of 2013, only 6% of medical schools fully cover ME/CFS... which has created obstacles to care, accurate diagnosis, research and treatment."

i LOVE wearing a mask because it allows me to UNMASK

constantly monitoring my facial expressions to perform for people is a massive waste of my energy as an autistic person

wearing a mask is freeing! it is accessibility! i will NEVER stop knowing that it upsets people and that they want me to stop just activates my demand avoidance even more

nobody has the right to see my bare face

i will NEVER just accept that we *have* to 'live our lives' surrounded by SARS

these people who violently insist that 'nothing can be done' 'don't waste your time being upset about something that can't be changed' 'they aren't going to do anything about it' can go to hell i am surrounded by people who do not care if their actions DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTE to the deaths of people around them as long as they get to be comfortable and do what they want to do anyway

quick announcement for Ottawa #MaskUp comrades!

i'm changing the plan to meet every week to meeting on the last saturday of every month

i'm still dealing with PEM from saturday and a weekly pace would burn me out so i will have to adapt! and that's okay! this is a disabled-led and disabled-focused movement so we can make every and any accommodation that we need!

however; if you feel up to it, i hope that we have demonstrated that distributing masks at parliament is a simple (but not easy) operation!