I'm reading "Mandatory School Masking Should End After the Omicron Surge" (NYT).
Otherwise, I fear that, at least in very liberal areas, a combination of extreme risk aversion and inertia means that school masking will persist indefinitely....
This strikes me as a very realistic fear. People in places like where I live (Madison, Wisconsin) will never let go of the safety precautions now that they've taken hold. In fact, it's hard to see why the end of the Omicron surge will give them enough reason to stop being extra-careful.
I suspect that the real reason to justify backing off on the restrictions is that elections are coming up and it seems that the masking of children is going to hurt Democrats, but there isn't a whiff of political analysis in the linked column.
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It reminds me of the Vonnegut story where the robots took the command "Must not harm humans" to mean that all of the people had to be locked in rubber cells.
I suspect that the real reason to justify backing off on the restrictions is that elections are coming up and it seems that the masking of children is going to hurt Democrats
I agree with Ann! That’s a bingo…
I think there's growing acceptance that masking children is almost entirely pointless, and that mask mandates as implmented (everyone wearing mostly cosmetic cloth masks) are similarly ineffective. So a subset of mask advocates are just looking for a face-saving offramp they can take without admitting they were wrong and the anti-maskers were right. If you want to end mask mandates, you should let them take their arbitrary face-saving out, rather than trying to force them to admit they were wrong.
That said, I'm still wearing my high quality Korean masks though, and will likely continue to do so for some time. But if people are otherwise going to use cloth masks, just let them go bare faced! The mask mandates in the US are a total farce.
COVID was actually probably a necessary evil.
It has inoculated the population against the tyranny of the Karen's and State.
When the myocarditis/pericarditis epidemics take hold and the truth about how the US government and Anthony Fauci funded the development of COVID 19 becomes mainstream people will never trust the government or the bureaucracy again.
And it is fashionable to bash on middle aged whiny shrieky women in popular culture now.
The vaccine mandates and big pharma profits/nefariousness will end confidence in our health system as well. Our health care system is sick and needs to be deloused.
Damn!! Slow Joe is really looking forward to Pi.
I'm pretty sure ALL of the health records of COVID are cooked. Pre-Omicron levels is like diversity, inclusiveness, and Stone Soup. It's not ready until I say it's ready.
"There isn't a whiff of political analysis in the linked column" - overtly anyway - because Michelle knows it will be disastrous to her progressive allies. The whole thing is a political analysis and recommendation to avoid political defenestration for her side.
Viruses and other pathogens abort thousands of people... persons annually. To enjoy a shred of integrity, their belief in masks demands their continuous use. And the 6 ft distancing rule is less than the Chinese-determined 3 m fallout of virus-laden droplets. Then there are the non-sterilizing "vaccines" in the general public responsible for excessive reduced viability and silent spreader events.
When the myocarditis/pericarditis epidemics, particularly in young males, and sexual dysfunction in the female sex.
"This strikes me as a very realistic fear. People in places like where I live (Madison, Wisconsin) will never let go of the safety precautions now that they've taken hold."
True of Silicon Valley as well. I just saw a family of 4 walking the dog, all masked up but for the dog. And bicycle commuters riding alone all masked up. And it shows solidarity with criminals, who work behind masks, making CCTV much less effective in apprehensions.
Do people in Madison understand the science behind Masking? Do they understand that masking isn't about protecting yourself, but protecting others? Do they understand that if you're outside masking is worthless? Do they understand that the Omicron Varient isn't any worse then the flu?
States without mask mandates, and those who do, have almost identical CV-19 rates. Britian - the ulimate nanny state - is finally getting rid of it.
IMO, the real driving force behind this is that Government Bereauocrats (sp), College Professors, Teachers, and a lot of office workers LIKE working at home. And they want to "keep the scare up" so they can continue to do so.
And the well-to-do who live near Ocean beaches, Naitonal parks, etc. probably LOVED it when all those places were locked down. So much nicer for them.
extreme risk aversion
???
The Fact of the Matter IS: Covid is a DEATH SENTENCE
EVERY (EVERY!) person that gets Covid IS GOING TO DIE!* This is JUST a FACT
Therefore, we NEED to eliminate ALL civil liberties, and SHUT DOWN our economy, permanently
Sure, some (ok, MOST) children's lives will be ruined (in fact, MOST People's Lives)
But That is Just TOO BAD. We Have NO CHOICE!!! Covid is a DEATH SENTENCE!!!
GOING TO DIE* within 80 years.... a hundred, Tops
I'm more concerned that the FDA without any justification or warning has banned a treatement for CV-19 that worked and was getting more and more popular and available. Other than De Santis, no one seems to care.
Is all this concern about CV 19 just more liberal MSM fakery?
Who cares what Michelle Goldberg, or Whoopi Goldberg, or Goldberg the WWE wrestler, thinks?
And, per Achilles, who cares what whiny shrieky women think or say now?
Nothing should be mandatory that does not pass the strict scrutiny test, both legally and logically.
I think some people like the masks because it lets them think they are doing something positive and gives them a feeling of having some degree of control in an uncontrollable situation. Not that cloth masks do anything, but it lets them feel better, as well as virtuous. Some are scared spitless and have no idea of the real risk of getting severely ill from COVID. I’ve read that some Democrats think one in three dies if they get it.
Dirty little secret that the CDC knows.
1. 80% of adults in cities have a respiratory virus (research done precovid).
2. Respiratory viruses come in waves, which implies crowding out of other viruses.
3. Continually talk about and test for viruses and you'll see peaks and valleys over time.
4. Restrict freedom based on maintaining low valleys "unless" a peak forms then you have the ability to maintain your control via scientific justification (abuse). "Nows not the time for easing restrictions, tests show were about to enter a peak with this new variant".
5. We've become too civilized and comfortable and let bureautryranocrats take over. In years past they were tar and feathered fringe yokels to their shame but relief of us all. Now we just keep our heads down and complain while trying to stay comfortable. This will work until things fall apart. Then our children will pay for generations.
6. There's no way out of this that ends well as long as we keep testing and reporting on testing, which the media and government agencies have every incentive to do.
7. Vaccines that enable transmission may reduce death but they are guaranteed to prolong the problem and even make it more deadly over the course of decades. See mareks disease.
8. Focus on fitness, time in sun, reducing or eliminating most refined carbohydrates (especially sugar). Don't smoke or drink and avoid stimulants. You'll weather the storm and be fine, vaccine or not.
9. Your health now has a direct effect on society's freedom, in a similar meaningful way perhaps as many in the armed services did in years past.
10. Every percent increase in you BMI is a step in favor of totalitarianism. Make your life better, save future generations.
For a non-biased look at the virus - see anything by this guy.
Omicron - exposure is 100% certain.
" . . . there isn't a whiff of political analysis in the linked column."
Of course there isn't.
"I suspect that the real reason to justify backing off on the restrictions is that elections are coming up and it seems that the masking of children is going to hurt Democrats"
Well, of course there is an ulterior motive, because it doesn't make sense on the surface. A hard left progressive says the mandates should end when we get back to pre-Omicron numbers? Where was she before Omicron?
To give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe she just has changed her mind. But, then, why not clearly admit that the opponents were right all along?
The logic here seems pretty straightforward, and I think we are halfway towards recognizing the obvious implications.
If various coronaviruses keep rolling through, then some ongoing precautions are reasonable. We take precautions against all sorts of other things all our lives (staying away from sneezing people, not leaving egg salad out in the sun ...).
People at more risk should take more precautions and people at less risk fewer precautions (duh - protect the old and infirm more vigorously). Easy and effective precautions should be more common than hard and ineffective ones (masking small children sounds ridiculous, but its a good idea to not let Junior sneeze on Granny).
Its time to settle into some sort of steady state.
"but there isn't a whiff of political analysis in the linked column."
I cannot access the article, but everything Michelle Goldberg writes about is about politics. And yes, Democrats are trying hard to make people forget who demanded submission in all things covid. That if you questioned any of it, you were stupid, anti-Science, and probably a white supremacist.
That said, there are pockets- large pockets- around the country of people who are still adamant that everyone around them, including children, need to be masked up. I've often asked why liberals (and now progressives) are so afraid of liberty? What is it about the direction or mandates coming from government that makes them feel safe? Whatever it is, that very attraction to the 'comfort' of government has led to this point. Now how do they extract themselves from that comfort without looking like they agree with white supremacists?
Greg Gutfeld and others have raised ths question, "Well, when DO you want the restrictions lifted?" Only when there are zero cases reported in the world?
It reminds me of what I call "Sobran's Question." The late libertarian writer Joseph Sobran used to ask "liberals," socialists and other members of what he and Tom Bethel called "The Hive": when does it stop? When do you decide, okay, we have enough regulation, taxes are high enough, we have enough statism, let's STOP. Sobran said he could never get a straight answer. Think of the implications of that.
England, Ireland and yesterday Denmark have completely dropped Covid mandates and restrictions.
France, last week, backed off on some of theirs.
Isn't it time for us to recognize that Kung flu is over?
I actually thought it was over in Feb 2020. That is, I never thought it was much more than a flu blown out of all proportion for political purposes.
John LGBTQBNY Henry
The Party of Science (POS) is really the party of POLITICAL science. And I do not mean that in the traditional sense.
ACAB/Defund the Police!
- What. Crime is up. People are blaming us? Polling is down. We, we, are the party of law and order. It's just Trump and those damn guns.
When they go low, we go high.
- But damn, ain't that Cinema a c*nt. Hide that, it ain't polling well at all.
Wear cloth masks, cloth masks don't work. Vaccines will make us safe. Get (another and another) shot. Mask children. Distance learning.
- Child suicides up. Lost a year or more in learning levels. Minorities hardest hit. Not polling well. Reverse course! Reverse course!
BLM! BLM! Antifa!
- People are beginning to notice. Polling bad. Pretend we didn't pay their bail.
And on and on.
Someday, soon, enough oxen will be gored that Democrats will be forced to abandon the loony left.
Blogger madAsHell said...
Damn!! Slow Joe is really looking forward to Pi.
As in 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679...?
John LGBTQBNY Henry
Have you read "Pandemic" by Alex Berenson? The real virus is the mental one. A small but influential number of us are addicted to the fear porn.
The principle benefit of masks is to identify Democrats and the children of Democrats.
Where I live, there is no shortage of safety obsessed panic-porn purveyors who would be happy to wear a mask whenever they go out in public for the rest of their lives. Despite this, in November, shortly before Omicron popped up, the premier set a target of March to remove all COVID restrictions. Which means it could still happen by June, chicken littles be damned.
I sure do want to live long enough to find out what really happened through all of this. If I take care of myself, I might make it. I figure it'll be at least a dozen years or so at a minimum.
There's so much more that can go wrong for the people in charge. Problem is, we get to be downstream from all of it.
One of the things that has bothered me for 2 years now is the definition of "case" It is hard to track down a specific definition on the FDA or CDC website.
It seems to be anyone who has a positive test. Yet we know, from St Fauci himself, that many people legitimately who test positive do not have any clinical signs of kung flu. They just are not sick.
We also know that many positive tests are false. The "Gold Standard" PCR test that we used for 2 years had it's Emergency Use Authorization pulled on 1/1/22 because of its unreliability.
So now "cases" are being determined by other tests. Are they comparable? I went looking once and didn't find anything. It is like moving thermometers areound and saying that the readings tell us anything.
How many people who supposedly had omicron tested positive for omicron as opposed to just testing for kung flu generally? Again, it is hard to find info. The Omicron specific test is expensive and difficult and apparently not many labs can do it. So the answer seems to be that most omicron "cases" are diagnosed by guess.
It's way past time for the bullshit to end.
Anyone who wants to wear a mask is free do do so, as far as I am concerned. If you think it does any good protecting you, fine. You do you, I'll do me.
John LGBTQBNY Henry
Goldberg is a total fake.
She was a "who needs men" feminist, and then got married and had a kid, and suddenly marriage was great!
She's full of principles as long as they help the left/liberals. Otherwise, she's against. She full of morality as long it helps her side. She's a great international Humanitarian, except when it hurts Globalism or Israel, then she's for war to the knife.
Plus, she's a midwit. A great fit for the NYT's.
Prior to 2020, everyone who reviewed the literature on masks agreed that there was scant evidence that masks of any sort (save N95s which are utterly impractical for all but a very few scenarios) were at all effective at preventing the transmission of respiratory viruses. It was utterly uncontroversial.
I personally reviewed the literature* on masks back when this all started, and that conclusion was very obvious. The studies that showed an effect were universally crappy studies that no one would (seriously) rely on to guide policy.
There's a reason no one wore masks in 1957 or 1968 (or 2009 for that matter, or any other year): they noted that even after extensive masking in 1918/19 that infection rates of influenza changed not a whit.
Masks. Are. Political. Period.
* Please note: I've been in public health for over 30 years, have published several papers, and also peer-reviewed several. I read the entire papers, not just the abstracts and decidedly not just press reports about them.
"but there isn't a whiff of political analysis in the linked column."
Just pointing out that that is the only political analysis you need.
Otherwise, I fear that, at least in very liberal areas, a combination of extreme risk aversion and inertia means that school masking will persist indefinitely...
The NYT daily compiles Covid statistics. Scroll down the page to State Trends, select All Time, All States, and deaths/100,000.
Assume that masks significantly reduce transmission. If that is true, then states with strong mask requirements and significant compliance should be grouped at the lower end of the mortality range, and states without requirements should show observably higher mortality.
That isn't the case. There is no correlation. High mandate states have some of the highest mortality rates, right next to low mandate states.
(Idaho, where I live, hasn't had any mandates since last May — and has the lowest vaccination rate in the US. By all rights Idaho should be at the top of the table. Instead, it is mid-pack, slightly worse than high-mandate CA, WI, and MN, and way better than MI and NY.)
After two years, at the population level, the consequences that should attend extensive masking, presuming masks are effective, are invisible.
When are progressives going to take the glaringly obvious on board? Or, perhaps the better question is why there is such a high correlation — r near as darnnit to 1 — between ideological preference and attitudes towards masks?
(BTW, to get past the NYT and WaPo paywalls, hit page refresh, and stop the refresh within a half second or so. They load the paywall code last.)
In fact, it's hard to see why the end of the Omicron surge will give them enough reason to stop being extra-careful.
Its mass liberal psychosis, not some reasoned assessmment of risk based on objective reality.
These psychotic liberals/lefties will never let go of their masking because the masking gave their lives "purpose" and a means to attack and demean "the other" and it helped them to feel virtuous and caring.
Nothing more.
Not a whit.
I think some people like the masks because it lets them think they are doing something positive and gives them a feeling of having some degree of control in an uncontrollable situation. Not that cloth masks do anything, but it lets them feel better, as well as virtuous.
Yes. I wholeheartedly agree with both points. Note that your first point is the reason people were buying out toilet paper at the beginning of the scamdemic.
Get rid of mask mandates? Au Contraire! Which, if you didn't know, is French for Fuck That!
We need more Covid restrictions, not less!
Madison needs a Mask Monitor right away. In fact, they need a whole department. They need to stand up a Covid Restriction Enforcement Bureau, the dreaded CREB.
Of course, then they'll need someone to monitor CREB to make sure rules are being enforced in a racially appropriate and gender sensitive way and shit like that.
And the CREB Monitor hiring process will need to be done by the new Citizen Covid Restriction Enforcement Oversight Board which will in turn be overseen by the Citizen Covid Restriction Enforcement Oversight Board Oversight Board. The CCREOBOB.
Naturally, all these people will be in the Union, the International Brotherhood of Covid Restriction Compliance Enforcement Workers.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a mask padlocked to a human face forever.
"In fact, it's hard to see why the end of the Omicron surge will give them enough reason to stop being extra-careful."
I know you're not much of a joiner but I think that after most of a lifetime as a resident you have to own it and go with "us" rather than "them."
"The Fact of the Matter IS: Covid is a DEATH SENTENCE"
Bill Maher was reading polling where liberals thought that the IFR for COVID was 25%, meaning that the right wingers who said it was essentially zero were an order of magnitude closer to correct.
"Not that cloth masks do anything, but it lets them feel better, as well as virtuous."
Nobody who uses masks voluntariy use those worthless cloth masks, unless they are stupid. It's the surgical masks with the nose wire or counterfeit KN-95s. Cloth masks were always for the people who refused to wear any other kind and it was known from nearly day one that cloth masks were almost completely worthless. They do somewhat stop droplets from coughs, I guess.
Nevertheless, as I have been saying forever, there has never been any evidence that kids spread COVID very much at all, and for a long time, there has been good evidence that they don't, so masking them at all is stupid, and to some degree, cruel. Besides, at this stage, where COVID is never going away, people need to be periodically exposed so that their immunity doesn't fade too much, or when they do get it, it might be a doozy of a case, so the mask thing is moot anyway.
"slightly worse than high-mandate CA, WI..."
Wisconsin? Outside Madison (or is all of Dane County/) there are no mask mandates and hasn't been for quite some time.
tim in vermont said...
"The Fact of the Matter IS: Covid is a DEATH SENTENCE"
Bill Maher was reading polling where liberals thought that the IFR for COVID was 25%, meaning that the right wingers who said it was essentially zero were an order of magnitude closer to correct.
Closer to 2 orders of magnitude.
Maynard said:
"'I think some people like the masks because it lets them think they are doing something positive and gives them a feeling of having some degree of control in an uncontrollable situation. Not that cloth masks do anything, but it lets them feel better, as well as virtuous.'
Yes. I wholeheartedly agree with both points. Note that your first point is the reason people were buying out toilet paper at the beginning of the scamdemic."
No, I bought toilet paper because I have a family of 5 and we use a lot. If I have six months of TP in the basement I am guaranteed to not run out for 6 months. Furthermore, I have conducted my own research which concludes that using TP is highly effective. It cleans my rear end better with fewer gross side effects than the alternatives.
Yeah or maybe people think it will help avoid getting a variety of bugs that could make you sick like colds and flus. We are seeing the anti-mask "Karens" coming out of the closet and about to get flamboyant.😜. Commenting on cosplay in public is a crypto-aggression.
I have NIOSH 3M 1860 N95 respirator masks, they weigh about 10 grams and are about 1/16" thick and have a sponge rubber seal, They are rated for 0.3 Microns and Covid is 0.1 microns, so I believe they do something for Omicron aerosols even though it can get through. I also have Chinese KN95 masks not rated by NIOSH. They are as thick as paper (0.02 inch) and have a 3" nose wire. Who knows what the Chinese specs are, its like buying Chinese steel, you don't know if the quality test data is real or not, so you have it retested.
I think my 3M N95 mask would reduce the chance of me catching covid, if I wore a new one everyday and did not touch it much after I put it on.
Clyde said...
I think some people like the masks because it lets them think they are doing something positive and gives them a feeling of having some degree of control in an uncontrollable situation
Some people aren't actually studying the situation or paying attention to real life results.
Want to do something positive? Go to covid19criticalcare.com, wander around and find their I-MASK+ PREVENTION & EARLY OUTPATIENT TREATMENT PROTOCOL FOR COVID-19. Follow it, or modify as you see fit.
I was doing most of it before I read it. But not all. Let's take their zinc recommendation. IMHO- too high a dose for healthy individuals. For zinc I recommend a multi-vitamin-mineral with the MDR, which is 8-11 mg. Family members or mine get headaches from zinc supplements. Overdosing any mineral is bad. If you eat red meat, the MDR with your diet gets you plenty. That's modification 1 I make.
Quercetin, definitely. I use 880 mg once a day, they recommend 250 mg twice a day. Helps with zinc uptake- what ivermectin does. I also take resveratrol- which helps with the zinc uptake, but from what I understand, a different pathway.
Gargling- they recommend "Antiviral mouthwash: Gargle 3 x daily (do not swallow; must contain chlorhexidine, povidone-iodine, or cetylpyridinium chloride)." I gargle using xylitol and erythritol twice daily. They recommend also Iodine "nasal spray/drops: Use 1 % povidone-iodine commercial product as per instructions 2–3 x daily." I do nasal irrigation daily, sometimes twice, adding 1 tsp each of xylitol and erythritol to a pint of warm water. (plus the salt and baking soda...)
Vitamin D? Both of us recommend it- and it's use needs to be tailored to the individual. If you live in a free state- you can go to a lab and order up a test for yourself. If you live in the Dictatorship of New York under Dictator Hochul and one party Democrat rule you must go to a doctor and beg for a test- and then get another appointment for the doctor to give you the results. Heaven forbid peasants be allowed to monitor their own health.
Vitamin C? I take a lot more than they recommend- 1 gm at a time, at least an hour apart. That's about the max rate the body can absorb it through the digestive system. I tak 1 gm lysine each time I take a C, for other non-covid reasons. And- just read yesterday that lysine interferes with viral reproduction! Including the dreaded covid virus!
Melatonin before bed? I was doing that before. I did up my daily dosage.
And there's a few other supplements they recommend I don't use. And some I take just for the covid that other places do recommend.
And then- there's IVERMECTIN! Does it work against the dreaded covid? My son who lives in the Free State of Florida under Governor DeSantis says yes. From his reports 2-3 hours after his first dose he started feeling better. His doctor's office prescribes and recommends the full I-MASK+ protocol for their patients who contract the dreaded covid. They have yet to lose someone who follows it. But it's not a controlled double blind study, so ivermectin use is outlawed in the Dictatorship of New York under Dictator Hochul. Better that people die then they be treated with an unapproved by Doctor Fraudci method.
Should my wife or I, both unvaccinated in our 60s contract the dreaded covid, we'll be headed straight down to our son's house in Florida.
tim in vermont said...
"Not that cloth masks do anything, but it lets them feel better, as well as virtuous."
Nobody who uses masks voluntariy use those worthless cloth masks, unless they are stupid.
There are a lot of stupid people around. Especially if you count those who voluntarily use the proper masks but don't fit them correctly, which makes them useless.
Masks are the Left's version of the MAGA Hat.
I live about 20 miles south of Sedona Arizona. Recently, a dear friend from near San Diego visited and remarked about how many more people in Sedona wear masks in Sedona than in San Diego or where I live. I explained that it's all about news sources and herd mentality. If you watch ABC, CBS, NBC every night, you're more likely to wear a mask and if you see a lot of people wearing masks, you'll wear one too. Then the retail stores pick up on that and post "Mask Required" signs on their doors.
Masks don't work because people don't wear their masks properly. They let them slip down below their noses and don't fit the bridge-of-the-nose wire correctly. Masks are theatre, but they make many fools happy and secure.
And Howard: I guess this IS crypto-aggression, whatever that means. My name isn't Karen.
Blogger Howard said...
Yeah or maybe people think it will help avoid getting a variety of bugs that could make you sick like colds and flus. We are seeing the anti-mask "Karens" coming out of the closet and about to get flamboyant.😜. Commenting on cosplay in public is a crypto-aggression.
The perfect prog rationale. "Anti-mask Karens." Hilarious.
It's the old description of Libertarians. They want power to leave you alone.
If the masks worked - for any age group - we wouldn't be entering Year Three of this bullshit.
"it's hard to see why the end of the Omicron surge will give them enough reason to stop being extra-careful"
Agreed. But besides the shifting politics, always a part of prog calculation, the sheer absurdity of being "extra-careful" may shame even a few progs before long: acting panicky when the danger has passed for the vast majority is not a good look. Even the New York effing Times is coming around.
As in 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679...?
You mean that irrational number that NEVER ENDS??
Although I was thinking about the Greek alphabet, you might be closer to the truth!! Cheers!!
From the post:
"I suspect that the real reason to justify backing off on the restrictions is that elections are coming up and it seems that the masking of children is going to hurt Democrats, but there isn't a whiff of political analysis in the linked column.
I think it could work the other way; continued restrictions could be the impetus to push for mail-in voting (whatever that means these days), with its predictable effect on election outcomes.
Maynard said:
"'I think some people like the masks because it lets them think they are doing something positive and gives them a feeling of having some degree of control in an uncontrollable situation. Not that cloth masks do anything, but it lets them feel better, as well as virtuous.'
Yes. I wholeheartedly agree with both points. Note that your first point is the reason people were buying out toilet paper at the beginning of the scamdemic."
No, I bought toilet paper because I have a family of 5 and we use a lot. If I have six months of TP in the basement I am guaranteed to not run out for 6 months. Furthermore, I have conducted my own research which concludes that using TP is highly effective. It cleans my rear end better with fewer gross side effects than the alternatives.
"BTW, to get past the NYT and WaPo paywalls, hit page refresh, and stop the refresh within a half second or so. They load the paywall code last"
Or use Brave and turn off JavaScript.
Just as it has been predicted…
https://youtu.be/Uj8kTBuan2E
It's too early to drop the mandate. Joe and D's need it to happen closer to the midterms, so they can declare victory over the Trump virus.
If you think that's delusional...
Remember, Joe believes he's had one of the best first years of any president.
michelle goldberg is at best pig ignorant, at worst deliberately evil, how does she think the case demic numbers will drop,
One child missing one day of school is a measurable event. Reduced learning because of obstructed faces and voices and lower blood-oxygen level is not measurable. The safest course to preserve the metrics of the School District is: masks forever.
@Curious George: Wisconsin? Outside Madison (or is all of Dane County/) there are no mask mandates and hasn't been for quite some time.
Thanks for the correction.
I should have used New Mexico, instead. Very similar climatically and in population density. Had many extensive statewide mandates, and also a substantially higher mortality rate — 301 vs. 243/100,000.
I'd bet that plotting mortality rates vs. extent of mandates would yield a random scatter plot.
No, I bought toilet paper because I have a family of 5 and we use a lot. If I have six months of TP in the basement I am guaranteed to not run out for 6 months. Furthermore, I have conducted my own research which concludes that using TP is highly effective. It cleans my rear end better with fewer gross side effects than the alternatives.
Not this alternative.
Crypto is smaller than micro.
I have remarked that the response to COVID-19 tells us all we need to know about life after the death of God (late 19th century), the calamity of the loss of life in the wars of the first half of the 20th century and its effect on suppressing the native bravery that remains even when God is dead, the aggressive feminization of the culture in the West post the 1970s and the adoption of female standards of relative risk, and the peculiarly 21st ascension of a professional class that is not only aggressive in tis belief, articulate in public forums, but also numerous enough to affect elections and politics generally.
The Chinese and Russians look at us and laugh. Laughter without tears.
"People in places like where I live (Madison, Wisconsin) will never let go of the safety precautions now that they've taken hold."
When you consider that masks don't actually provide any protection at all, against COVID or anything else, that would seem to indicate that mental illness is rampant in your part of the world.
Talking to a couple of nurses today. Seems to be short supply of covid patients with o-positive blood.
First I've heard of that.
Masks are the Left's version of the MAGA Hat.
Ladies and Gentlemen - We have a thread winner!
She says the evidence doesn't support mask mandates in schools, but then she dismisses the evidence as ambiguous. Whatever.
We still have mask mandates at my work, but I see fewer and fewer masks when I am out and about.
Crypto is smaller than micro.
Okay, well, you'd know more about that than I would.
>> have remarked that the response to COVID-19 tells us all we need to know about life after the death of God (late 19th century)
God is dead. - Nietzsche
Nietzsche is dead. - God
"but there isn't a whiff of political analysis in the linked column."
With progressives, everything is political.
“I live about 20 miles south of Sedona Arizona. Recently, a dear friend from near San Diego visited and remarked about how many more people in Sedona wear masks in Sedona than in San Diego or where I live. I explained that it's all about news sources and herd mentality. If you watch ABC, CBS, NBC every night, you're more likely to wear a mask and if you see a lot of people wearing masks, you'll wear one too. Then the retail stores pick up on that and post "Mask Required" signs on their doors.”
Live a bit south of you this tie of year - just south of the 101, above and just west of Scottsdale. And Scottsdale is notably worse about masking than is Phoenix. There are several chains (ie Walmart and Home Depot) where the Scottsdale stores just put up masking required notices. You ignore it, and just are waiting for some store employee to remind you to mask. I intend to just leave my cart, walk out, and go to the Phoenix store instead.
“Masks don't work because people don't wear their masks properly. They let them slip down below their noses and don't fit the bridge-of-the-nose wire correctly. Masks are theatre, but they make many fools happy and secure.”
They also don’t work because primary transmission through the air appears to be by aerosols, and masks target droplets. Those coughing and spewing droplets tend to self quarantine themselves. Not those not showing symptoms. Even N95 masks have openings several times that of the virons in aerosols and several orders of magnitude for most cloth masks, bandanas, neck gaiters etc.
Not so long ago, there was a push in western countries, especially in Europe, to outlaw face covering. It threw a wrench in the surveillance state cam network and discombobulated a lot of fussbudgets.
Then came Covid and the same countries started requiring face covering.
Allah works in mysterious ways.
Schools are the land of the "half-diaper" approach.
Howard said...
Crypto is smaller than micro.
No, Howard. Crypto has nothing to do with size. But it does have a lot to do with hidden or secret.
"She says the evidence doesn't support mask mandates in schools, but then she dismisses the evidence as ambiguous. Whatever. "
If the evidence does not support the hypothesis, the evidence is not ambiguous. It's a tautology. A matter of truth by definition.
"Blogger Hey Skipper said...
Not this alternative."
I wish I had seen this earlier, I bought the cheaper brand from China and it sprays on the diagonal!
Howie,
Do you have a nice display case for your Inga Special DIY mask?
Good times.
Size does matter, Steve. When a microscope doesn't cut it and you're forced to use an SEM:
cryp·to·crys·tal·line | \ ˌkrip-tō-ˈkri-stə-lən \
Definition of cryptocrystalline
: having a crystalline structure so fine that no distinct particles are recognizable under a microscope
cryptocrystalline quartz
getting stomped in the face by a boot every single day forever.
doing away with mandates is not same as people willing to show their faces nmasked.
Howard said...
Size does matter, Steve. When a microscope doesn't cut it and you're forced to use an SEM:
cryp·to·crys·tal·line | \ ˌkrip-tō-ˈkri-stə-lən \
Definition of cryptocrystalline
: having a crystalline structure so fine that no distinct particles are recognizable under a microscope
cryptocrystalline quartz
Sorry to pop your illusory bubble, but crypto in your example means "hidden" as I said. Read your dictionary definition of crypto, Howard.
And for same reason, scientists don't have cryptoscopes to visually see detail smaller than the wavelength of the visual spectrum.
tim in vermont said...
It reminds me of the Vonnegut story where the robots took the command "Must not harm humans" to mean that all of the people had to be locked in rubber cells.
I'd say it's more like Jack Williamson's "With folded hands"
Masking is no big deal. It is a minor, annoying health measure that has been used with good effect in hospitals and clinics for decades. Liberals and conservatives have both assigned large symbolic values to them far out of proportion to any real effect or inconvenience. As to who is worse, it is mixed. Some very reasonable liberals have found the inconvenience just as bothersome as the conservatives have and are not big on enforcement or continuing. Some very reasonable conservatives have gone along without issue. It matters whether you are wearing them correctly,leading to further irritation for the anti-maskers watching so many people wear them entirely performatively. But really, even if the wearers are hypocrites it doesn't change things.
I think there are more conservatives who have become completely unhinged over the issue, equating this with tyranny and an important preparation for sending us to reeducation camps. Boot stomping on the face indeed. Talk to someone who lived in an actual communist country, wouldja? It's just posing how oppressed you are.
What really bugs me is the photos in the local paper: The winners of the bridge tournament -- all wearing masks; the golfer who just shot a hole-in-one -- wearing a mask. The new officers of the garden club -- all wearing masks (although the flowers are allowed to flower). Why take a picture of someone if you aren't allowed to see his/her face?
I spend winters in San Diego. There is an indoor mask mandate and I practice civil disobedience, going unmasked. I estimate 20% of people do as well based on observation. Surprisingly, I see young women being a primary disobedient demographic. We free thinkers give approving looks to each other. I'm loving it. I have not had one Karen say anything nor have I noticed any maternalistic looks. A grocery clerk woman in her 50's went out of her way to help me w/ self checkout, her mask drooping well under her nose. The tide has turned. STOP WEARING MASKS!
I still see people walking the fucking beach in San Diego w/ masks. My derision for these lemmings is turning into pity.
My Inga masks were stuffed with triple thick blue shop paper towels and draws like an N95. Great fac fit and seal Used it along with an N95 on the plain fight to Cancun.
The Stuff trapped by a mask doesn't disappear into some alternate universe. It is warmed and moistened by each exhalation, is reinforced with each breath. Not very eventually, it transforms into a crawling mass of Stuff, yours and others'.
When you touch the mask, the slime gets on your hands and is then transferred to a surface. In public places, you put your hands where it is designed you should put your hands. Door handles, escalator rails, so forth, about ninety seconds after the last person and maybe two minutes before the next guy.
Like a Little Library; take a bug, leave a bug.
Formal mask tests don't account for that, dealing only with droplets seen by backlighting or something while the subject is breathing with hands in pockets.
Michele Goldberg is heavy-lifting for her super-tense party by putting words like mandatory, masks, schools, and should end in the same sentence. Her and their deeply-held political philosophy consists of licking a forefinger and holding it up to the wind.
they keep talking about "cases" but the real concern is deaths. Very very few children die from this and even fewer with Omicron. No one ever thought to close schools for chicken pox or mumps or even strep.
Here in Austin there is a voluntary mask mandate from the assist mayor, voluntary because overruled by a statewide "masks are voluntary only" mandate.
I still wear one sometimes to be polite to the kids in retail.
A more telling indicator here is day labor starting to shake hands again, when they are paid.
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