Saturday morning links

As I reported here many times, in the early days of covid, I watched several lectures, interviews, panel discussions that emerged in 2018, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Spanish flu. In 2018, the experts were dismissive of the use of masks by the general public, except under specific circumstances. These are the same experts, who consulted with the government to develop contingencies and protocols for bio warfare, after 9/11.
I'm not against masks and wear one out of consideration of others. It seems only fair to point out that there must be some efficacy for masks under controlled circumstances, or they would not be used by medical professionals. I don't know what it is about our culture that all debates focus on the extreme positions, such as masks are absolutely no good or they are a panacea. Neither is true.

#1 Exasperated on 2021-03-20 09:01 (Reply)

I think you miss the point. As a hiker I carry a water filter to prevent contamination caused illness. Unlike as cloth mask which some experts say may filter 8% of virus a water filter has a standard which is must filter 99.999% or better of bacteria and virus. A water filter that only filtered 8% of these would be virtually useless. It would not work! You could "double speak" that and say of course it works because it filters out 8% of the disease causing bacteria and virus. Or you could say it does some good or people wouldn't use it. But none of that changes the simple fact that it does not work.

IF wearing a mask makes you feel better than by all means wear one. If you are forcing other people to wear a mask because it makes you feel better then there is something seriously wrong with you. Don't involve me in you psychosis.

What we have seen in the last year is incredible; the total subjugation of the American people out of fear of a disease. It has destroyed lives and businesses AND it will likely lead to a terrible economic collapse as the full effects of this unconstitutional power grab are fully experienced. What surprises me most is how easy it was. How easily we gave in and gave up. Our leaders are laughing at us. Now they are just having fun. Wear TWO masks he said as all the fools scraped and bowed to the great leader. Not wearing a mask is SO dangerous that we will send 6 cops to tackle you and move you through the justice system and spend time in jail. Well DUH! That should make it all safer. And yet, allowing 100,000 untested potentially infected illegals into our country and bussed all over the place is safe. BWAHAHAHA! Don't you get it yet??? What would it take for you to see what is happening?

#1.1 Anon on 2021-03-20 10:56 (Reply)

I like the water filter analogy. I backpack, and the water filter is a must have item. Years ago, in the higher altitudes and deep in the wilderness, I would drink water right out of the creek, but still had the filter with me.

Let’s be clear, a good, properly fitted mask, in a confined space, will work. But that is not what is required. A cotton bandanna is sufficient to get into most places, and pass through the gauntlet of Karens. The mask is a virtual signal, a sign of conformity to the dictatorship of the state.

I am deeply saddened at the loss of the love of independence and liberty in this country. The populace are sheep, blindly going along with whatever the state tells them, through the propaganda arm of government, the media, to do. I thought at the very least, by this time, a year out, there would be demands for the curbing of governors’ unlimited state of emergency. l was hoping that there would be demands for the governor’s to address state legislatures, and seek approval for emergency orders lasting more than 90 days. Crickets. The sheep go a long to get along. To afraid to rock the boat, not willing to risk the slightest loss of comfort or treasure, in the defense of liberties. Now they have very few.

In a recent book that I read, Unsinkable, the story of the USS Plunket, a destroyer in the Mediterranean of WWII, how Franklin Roosevelt called the youth of the 1930’s, mollycoddled! What would he think of us now?

#1.1.1 B. Hammer on 2021-03-20 12:38 (Reply)

If you are responding to post #1, you misread it. The very first paragraph pointed out that, in 2018, experts in epidemiology expressed skepticism of mask use by the general public. That was the whole point of the comment; history did not start with covid.
That said, is the use of masks by surgeons and other medical staff, lab workers unnecessary? Is that where you are going? Haven't you ever had to be masked and gowned before visiting a seriously ill loved one? I have and that was 25 years ago.

#1.2 Exasperated on 2021-03-20 12:31 (Reply)

"is the use of masks by surgeons and other medical staff, lab workers unnecessary?"

My wife made my mask. It is acceptable anywhere I go. But it doesn't stop air I exhale from going around it or stop air I inhale from going around it. This is not protective equipment and would do little good in a hospital setting or infectious environment. So what does it do??? It meets the unscientific state and federal requirements that allow stores and other businesses to open. It does NOT stop the spread of disease. The authorities KNOW that it does not work. But it meets the arbitrary requirements so that they can SAY they are doing something even while they know they are doing nothing. And THAT is the generous and fair interpretation of the mask requirement.

The less generous interpretation we all know and have heard or read is that the government is using the covid and the mask requirements to incrementally accustom us to accept their taking of our rights and freedom. B.S. I say, oops, cross that out. I didn't buy that B.S. for a second for the first month and the second and... Well eventually as it became obvious that the governors and police and even the Karen's knew that the masks don't protect diddly squat. I searched for the reasons our government would do this to us. And today I think that some governors, some politicians are indeed flexing their unconstitutional muscle with the intent of making this action acceptable and turning the people into sheep. I can find no other reason for it. If the masks and social distancing worked why have any exceptions, like BLM protests or illegal alien catch and release? Or even while sitting to eat?

As for the point you made about the necessity for masks in hospitals; it takes literally a few seconds to see pictures of what medical personal staff use for protection from infection.
Search PPE for infectious disease. It is NOT a cloth mask or even the paper blue masks that are handed out at the stores. WHY??? Why do they use eye, breath and total body protection??? Because with viruses that is the ONLY way to stop cross infection. Everything else is theater and totally pure B.S.

#1.2.1 Anon on 2021-03-20 13:43 (Reply)

This is silly. Either you have misread my posts or you must get off on scolding and chiding others. You've wildly extrapolated and misconstrued nonsense from my comments. What's even more weird is that we take almost the same position. I would agree that masks are theater, and are useful only under specific circumstances. You replies have nothing to do with the point that I was making.

#1.2.1.1 Exasperated on 2021-03-20 14:35 (Reply)

Masks don't work, all the experts know this. Social distancing doesn't work either. At least the 6 foot rule doesn't work while 100 yards or a couple of miles would work. The thing about social distancing is that avoiding contact works. Not shaking hands or touching contaminated surfaces is effective.

Think about this, something every non-smoker can identify with: You are standing in line at the store 6 feet from the guy in front of you and you can smell the cigarette odor from his last cigarette. How is that? The virus can't travel 6 feet but the cigarette odor can!

#2 Anon on 2021-03-20 09:34 (Reply)

You can probably smell the cigarette smoke through your mask, too.

I agree with the comment above that masks are neither useless nor a panacea. I don't know of any evidence that they're noticeably effective between two asymptomatic people. In crowds where it's hard to be sure when a possibly symptomatic person is going to drift near you, a mask seems like a comforting precaution to take. I wear them when they're required. I know of no good reason for vaccinated people to wear them at all; that seems like superstition or theater.

#2.1 Texan99 on 2021-03-20 09:53 (Reply)

Exactly. Masks help...some.

Even if it's only 10%, that can slow the spread of infection by a significant amount. Remember, these were insisted upon to "flatten the curve" not promise full immunity.

The actual protection varies by mask. I figured early on that it was about 35-40%, and if everyone was wearing it, you get added benefit. Some US Army studies actually validated that estimate.

But later studies have come down, and then you have such a wide range of mask types, that it's pointless to give a real estimate. A lower bound is more appropriate. That's where I get 10%. It's likely conservative if people are truly wearing masks. I find that reasonable.

I know of no good reason for vaccinated people to wear them at all; that seems like superstition or theater. I'll quote you verbatim. You're 100% spot on.

#2.1.1 DrTorch on 2021-03-20 15:39 (Reply)

The only actual reason for vaccinated people to wear them is that it's hard to tell who's vaccinated and who isn't.
Unless of course the vaccine isn't effective at preventing infection and multiplication of the virus in its host, which has been postulated (correctly or not, I've no evidence either way).

Given the hostility of many people towards vaccination, I'd not be surprised if vaccinated people would become targets of violence from the anti-vaxxer crowd, under the mistaken idea that they are actually spreading some killer disease they were injected with under the guise of vaccinating (yes, I've seen such claims, that the vaccine is actually a killer pathogen designed to either kill or sterilise everyone).

So once again, it's a social thing. The mask slows down the spread of droplets and dust carrying virus particles, which is a primary way SARS-COVD-2 spreads (though there is airborne spread as well I think).

#2.1.1.1 JTW on 2021-03-22 05:10 (Reply)

You are doing the math wrong. Let's use your number, 10%. Lets assume that the mask filters out 10% of germs and viruses. You can put a million viruses on the point of a pin. When you breathe you exhale millions of virus. Your body will become infected with a virus if you merely breath in 8-15 of them. So if the mask filtered out 10% of the virus you would still breath in millions of them. For the mask to "work" it can't just filter 10% or 50% or even 95%.

The seem to work. That is we see the masks and if you wear them you feel the effect, harder to breathe in and they become damp from exhaling. So it is natural to think that they are being somewhat effective. 100 years ago this is the same thing people thought about wearing garlic. Might work, right? Worth trying, right? But seriously can you imagine if a governor today mandated wearing garlic to fight the kung flu. People are smarter than that today, they wouldn't stand for it. But maybe the masks are 10% effective so lets force everyone to wear them. UNLESS you are sitting down to eat, are high up in the government, are BLM or Antifa, etc., because masks aren't needed then.

I have a great idea. This will satisfy everyone who either believes that masks work or earnestly wants to help slow the spread. Let everyone decide themselves. If YOU think masks work than wear one. If you think that going around people without masks even if you are wearing a mask puts you at risk than don't go there. I will even go so far as to say that businesses CAN require that their customers wear masks BUT only if we all agree that by the same token the business owner does NOT have to bake the cake or allow people in the store they doesn't like.

#2.1.1.2 Anon on 2021-03-22 15:54 (Reply)

One of the greatest casualties in this pandemic - perhaps the greatest unremarked social casualty - has been the active discouragement of critical thinking by the same authorities that are in charge of managing public health, so that their policies may be more easily absorbed. It is an attack of belief systems displacing reason, sometimes by advancing inadvertently contradicting policies week-on-week.

The longer term result is a populace that no longer believes in doing their own thinking, pursuing their own understanding and privately trusting their own conclusions. In my Trauma Service Area we have nearly a half-million people, nearly all of them still wearing masks in public, while we have about 35 individuals hospitalized with COVID, with the numbers still going down. In public, go without a mask and most people have no reaction - but still are wearing theirs. Once in a great while, a 'Karen' will give a glare. Of course you keep expecting to see a Donald Sutherland Pod People reaction, pointing and making that 'noise'.

It will mostly pass over time, I'm sure, but I have found the extent of mindless compliance a week after the governor has relaxed the mask regulations, and with clear evidence the pandemic is mostly over with, disturbing and disappointing.

During the course of this pandemic we've terrified people into compliance rather than leading with reason on the strength of the evidence, while simultaneously allowing the Cancel Culture to insidiously train people into a state of terrified silence that they might slip up, say something that might be re-cast as toxic, and make themselves into the next target. Our political and social leaders have embraced the Cancel Culture. What should our reaction be to that?

#2.2 Aggie on 2021-03-20 11:52 (Reply)

Oh oh! No one saw this coming. The covid is now active in the illegal immigration centers. Who could have seen this as a possibility. I'm shocked! Shocked I say. I know! It must be Trump's fault.

#3 OneGuy on 2021-03-20 09:38 (Reply)

California Public Schools want to introduce prayer— to Aztec gods of human sacrifice: Principals and Teachers, line up for the Volcano...

A North Carolina school district says White parents are a problem: Parents say school district is the problem...

Go Home Tim Cook, You’re Drunk… : Foot, hold still til Tim pulls the trigger...

#4 Sam L. on 2021-03-20 11:08 (Reply)

North Carolina school district racism: Parents, doesn't the idea of pod schools, 4 or 5 families hiring one teacher for their children, get better looking every day? Or a good private school which teaches your standards, at least?

#5 barnhill on 2021-03-20 12:24 (Reply)

Re: The Nazi-Fighting Women of the Jewish Resistance

"In 2007, when I was living in London and grappling with my Jewish identity, I decided to write about strong Jewish women."

This statement says a lot. Jewish females have been very communist, and very political, for a long time. But for some reason, it's supposed to be taboo to question German motives for rounding-up the German Jews, and sending them to camps. History books claim that Adolph Hitler did it for personal reasons. Obviously, it was more complex than that. If you look at Israel today, you'll see the results of the same Jewish ideology that was prevalent in Germany. Feminism, Scientific Materialism, and Communism. It's killing Israel. The country is full of "strong Jewish women" who are not getting married, or raising a family. The country is turning into a bad joke.

We don't need any more Joan of Arc Jewish narratives. Jewish girls nowadays are taught to reject love and marriage. And then they infect other girls with that same idea. So the first thing to do is clean-up the Jewish experience. Maybe Israel would be better off with a couple of million American Jews. If the girls go back to the land, they'll learn to be more concerned with home and family; and less concerned with Karl Marx.

#6 Ron Liebermann on 2021-03-20 13:13 (Reply)

As to the question of why the author did not know, she had not looked. And her PhD in women's studies indicates why she had not looked.

#6.1 SgtBob (Link) on 2021-03-20 14:33 (Reply)

I'm guessing she did not know because most of this is made up.

There is a lot of history that is "discovered" and published at a time when it's no longer readily verified.

#6.1.1 DrTorch on 2021-03-20 15:33 (Reply)

Thank you for the link to the article about Martin Gurri, "Gurri’s Negation"
This name has been on my radar since encountering it at Arnold Kling's blog (http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/), but I had yet to find a portal to understanding who he is and what ideas he has written about.
That will no longer be the case. These are ideas essential for MF readers and others to read, mark and inwardly digest for their significance and utility in combatting the viral wokeness of these nihilistic times.

#7 mharko on 2021-03-20 13:48 (Reply)

Matt Taibbi has written about Gurri a few times in the past weeks. Definitely some interesting and prophetic ideas.

#7.1 Aggie on 2021-03-20 17:04 (Reply)

Meant to add, Gurri has his own blog if you are interested. I've been trying to scout a concise definition of his 5 transformational waves but have yet to find one.

https://thefifthwave.wordpress.com/

#7.1.1 Aggie on 2021-03-20 17:06 (Reply)

OK - in this interview Gurri goes through his theory of five major transitional changes that enabled profound social and political change -

https://80000hours.org/podcast/episodes/martin-gurri-revolt-of-the-public/

The discussion begins at the 42:00 minute mark and the subject lasts about 8 minutes. Interesting!
1: Invention of writing
2: Invention of the alphabet
3: Invention of the printing press
4: Invention of mass media
5: Invention of digital / social media.

#7.1.2 Aggie on 2021-03-20 17:30 (Reply)

White man set on fire in Rochester by two black teens. Media silent. No mass protests #StopHateWhitePeople.

#8 OneGuy on 2021-03-20 20:55 (Reply)

There's rumors floating around that the Kung Flu vaccine may be essential for work.

I may be unemployed soon.

#9 Maniac on 2021-03-21 12:08 (Reply)

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Saturday, March 20. 2021

Saturday morning links