Biden: Hey, let’s make every day Halloween, nationwide!
Outside.
Yes, he’s proposing mandatory mask-wearing outside.
“Every single American should be wearing a mask when they’re outside for the next three months, at a minimum. Every governor should mandate — every governor should mandate mandatory mask wearing,” Biden said, adding that experts advised it could save over 40,000 lives over the same time span.
“It’s not about your rights,” Biden said, seeming to speak directly to Americans who have complained that compulsory mask wearing is a violation of their personal freedom. “It’s about your responsibilities as an American.”
It’s not about your rights. They are dispensable. And this “40,000” figure is just some epidemiologists’ projection, based on very little knowledge – like so much of what has been going on since this winter and the early predictions and recommendations regarding the pandemic.
And then there’s this [emphasis mine]:
The one thing we do know, these masks make a gigantic difference. I would insist that everybody in public be wearing that mask,” the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee said in an interview with the CBS Pittsburgh affiliate KDKA on Thursday.
Not only do we not know that “these masks make a gigantic difference” – especially if worn outside in settings where people are not close together – but it’s almost humorous that Biden is saying that it’s the one thing we know. I guess there’s nothing else we know?
More:
Asked if he would use his federal leverage to mandate the wearing of masks, the former vice president said, “Yes, I would from an executive standpoint. Yes, I would.”
Whatever could go wrong? He’s not talking about a suggestion or a recommendation, as has already been made, but an order. Supposedly enforceable.
In addition to the anti-liberty aspects of Biden’s statements, the science isn’t what you might call “settled.” What type of mask? All masks are not created equal. As in that article I just linked, masks are evaluated for droplet blockage in controlled situations, not for real-world transmissions under the particular sorts of conditions Biden is specifying – at least, I have searched but been unable to find a thing about it.
What I did find was this sort of article, which is from a month ago and attempts to evaluate mask-wearing. It relies on statistical evaluations of various public health measures such as mandatory mask-wearing and tries to figure out how each one affected transmission of the virus pre-mandate and post-mandate back in April and May. The mandatory mask-wearing mentioned in the article involves use by employees in businesses where they must face the public (supermarkets and other stores, for example), not outdoor use by ordinary citizens [emphasis added]:
The question of whether wearing masks in public place should be mandatory or not has been one of the most contested policy issues with health authorities of different countries providing contradiction recommendations. Reviewing evidence, Greenhalgh et al.(2020) recognize that there is no randomized controlled trial evidence for the effectiveness of face masks, but they state “indirect evidence exists to support the argument for the public wearing masks in theCovid-19 pandemic.” Howard et al. (2020) also review available medical evidence and conclude that “mask wearing reduces the transmissibility per contact by reducing transmission of infectious droplets in both laboratory and clinical contexts.”
…To the best of our knowledge, our paper is the first empirical study that shows the effectiveness of mask mandates on reducing the spread of Covid-19 by analyzing the US state-level data. This finding corroborates and is complementary to the medical observational evidence in Howard et al. (2020). Analyzing mitigation measures in New York, Wuhan, and Italy, Zhang et al. (2020b) conclude that mandatory face coverings substantially reduced infections. Abaluck et al. (2020) find that the growth rates of cases and of deaths in countries with pre-existing norms that sick people should wear masks are lower by 8 to 10% than those rates in countries with no pre-existing mask norms…
The estimates indicate that mandatory face masks for employees reduce the growth rate of infections and deaths by 8-15 percent, while holding behavior constant. This suggests that requiring masks for employees in public-facing businesses may be an effective preventive measure.
The paper is heavy with math and attempts to separate out one factor from another. I have no way to evaluate the math, but I do know that so much of this sort of research has either been wrong or unverifiable, with results disagreeing from study to study and country to country and state to state. I’m not criticizing these particular researchers – the problems are inherent in trying to isolate these factors and their effects.
In fact, mask-wearing may indeed reduce infection. Of maybe not. But I’ve not seen a study that even attempts to evaluate whether mandatory outdoor mask-wearing has any effect at all.
But even more important are two other questions: at what cost, and by whose order? Locking us all inside our homes indefinitely would reduce all sorts of risks, and yet impose others. And the cost to liberty, as well as the incredible increase in governmental power and therefore tyranny, is so great as to be counterproductive except extremely short-term and in the most dire of circumstances. COVID is not that situation.
Biden – or whichever leftists are “advising” him – is advocating dangerous and alarming policies, all of which go to restrict the liberty of ordinary Americans. And a lot of people seem to think that’s just fine – when Democrats do it.
[NOTE: By the way, note that Biden is only saying to wear masks outside for the next three months. What happens in three months? The election. And rest assured that every single American COVID death till then (and all the ones before, come to think of it) will be laid at Trump’s feet by the left and by Biden as scripted.]
Masks are the least of the problem…
“Give us your house, give black people back their homes, you’re sitting there comfortably…I used to live in this neighborhood and my family was pushed out and you’re sitting up there having a good time with your other white friends.”
“Now we’re bringing it to your front door, so what the fuck do you plan to do about it?” asks the male protester as the mob continues to harass the homeowner.
The video ends with the homeowner apparently turning the lights off in a bid to avoid any further escalation.
The seizure of white-owned property has long been a primary goal of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Back in 2017, BLM leader Chanelle Helm issued a list of demands, one of which was that white people will their property to black people in order to prove they’re not racist.
“White [people] if you don’t have any descendants, will your property to a Black or Brown family,” she wrote.
“Preferably one that lives in generational poverty. … White [people] if you can afford to downsize give up the home you own to a Black or Brown family. Preferably a family from generational poverty. … White [people], re-budget your monthly so you can donate to Black funds for land purchasing.”
Yeah, like for Neo this stood out: “it could save over 40,000 lives over (3 months)”
Kompleat BS!
“It’s not about your rights, it’s about your responsibilities as an American”. Hmm, where is that in our constitution? Why are people rolling over and agreeing to loss of rights? *sigh* no need to answer. It seems the cultural shift is so great, particularly with young people, that it may not even matter if Trump wins; the future is grim.
Masks are probably effective in preventing infected droplets from sneezes and coughs from reaching another person within a few feet. But if you’re sneezing and coughing you shouldn’t be out anyway. The primary method seems to be aerosol transmission, but any aerosol, as anyone who lives where you can see your breath in winter knows, dissipates quickly in even relatively still air outdoors. Harris’ idea, (she’s the one really running for prez) that masks are effective everywhere and need to be mandated is the height of stupidity. The only effect, as Art alludes to, is to turn people into sheep.
As far as masks in general, I’ll leave that to a very effective (no math involved) demo by Dr. Ted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJpS_jajub0&t=2s
Mask-wearing Asian countries don’t have less influenza that non mask wearing Western countries. Studies generally show mask wearing is ineffective and masks do not reduce flu contagion. It’s all theater.
My suggestion is that Biden place a virus impermeable plastic bag over his head and face, and fasten it tightly around his neck with a zip tie. We should experience an improvement in the public health within mere hours of his doing that.
Thanks in advance, Joe.
Ray, my nephew who is a correspondent and has lived in China and the general area for 15 years said that the reason people wear masks there has more to do with them not wanting other people to see their facial expressions than fear of disease.
I’m a supporter of rational mask wearing. That doesn’t generally include wearing them outside. Neither do I support the mask mandates, at any level.
For the Democrats, mandates and lockdowns are less about COVID-19, than they are about obedience training. Masks have become an easy symbol of obedience.
Those who do not obey will be cast out of society. People without masks will not be allowed to work. People who don’t require masks will lose their license to work or do business. This has already started. Biden just wants uniform nation-wide enforcement.
As I review my comment for typos and spelling errors, I see that it’s too obvious to post. Even so, if it were published on Twitter, or at a blog written by a Democrat, I’d be attacked mercilessly. I’ve become utterly exhausted by the politicization of the pandemic. But the Left is relentlessly quarrelsome about everything, so I have to wonder at the source of their energy. I’ve concluded that they’ve tapped into a primal urge to destroy civilization, and that many people find it thrilling.
physicsguy, re “facial expressions” that is an interesting point which makes sense to me as I enjoy my daily fix of silliness on YT. When a mask is unavailable they cover their mouths with their hands when laughing. This behavior is now observed in America. More and more silly American girls place their hands over their mouths. In all of my years I’ve never seen this behavior before. In general the boys don’t do it.
Reading facial expressions is something I dearly miss since this mask-wearing mania began. Furthermore, it wreaks havoc on my sinuses. My wife and I have become shut-in’s, only venturing to the store when absolutely necessary. It’s not good for our health, although experts say the opposite. I worry what it is doing to people’s mental health.
You would think that a winning election year strategy would be to give back to the voters some or all of the freedoms they enjoyed. Honestly I don’t understand what is to be gained by pissing off the public. At this point the number of daily deaths in NY State is less than 10. Abortion figures for NYS from 2017 put the average daily deaths at 287. So it is not a matter of life and death for if it were then they would crack down on PP. It’s about control but is that a winning election year strategy? I think not. I’m sure that there is a certain percentage of people that enjoy shaming others. I’ve seen it but there aren’t that many of them. One lady I’ve seen before, pre-COVID; it’s a nasty part of her personality but she is in no way near the majority.
Most people I talk to hate the mask, hate the loss of freedom. In general, men hate it, women defer to the experts, kids do what adults tell them. Women were much more on board with the experts in the beginning but now I see cracks in their support. By November women could be in full revolt. Back in my day this is what we would call oppression. We would be protesting.
I don’t profess to be politically savvy but mandating mask-wearing at the national level is not a winning election year strategy.
I live in a rural subdivision on acreage. When I go out to work in the yard if there are neighbors out they are many many yards away. So I am suppose to wear a Mask then? Stupid Idjts!! Basement Joe and Lockthemup Kamala (did I pronounce her name right?) just think everyone in the US lives in houses or apt close to one another. So out of touch with America.
I was visiting that “famous Great Lakes region university town” on Sunday, and as I drove down the main cross street I noticed numerous young coed types casually strolling along with face masks in place, and nobody within tens of yards.
I asked my host, “Why?”. She shrugged and said, “You know this place”
And I do. Everything half the people there do, is some kind of social performance. They spend their lives monitoring each other monitoring each other. The world of mankind is their clay, and they, are the self-credentialed artists tasked by their supposedly enlightened grasp of reality, with molding and shaping it to fit that inspiration.
We now inhabit a social environment wherein a middle aged female stranger approached my neighbor in a suoermarket, ostensibly to comment positively on her two kids; but, whereupon being informed that she had four more at home, felt entitled to shake her finger in this mother’s face and cry out “Shame! Shame on you!”. So “Uncle Joe” Biden, and Krylenka Harris, are about par for our present course.
If they feel cold, you shall wear a sweater or pay for theirs. If what you say distresses them, you shall shut up. If they become alarmed at what you say to a third party, you shall sit down, shut up and be still until they allow otherwise. And if you dont care what they think or feel, then you are expressing a depraved indifference, or are a wrecker.
These lunatic tar babies will not be denied, and they cannot be left behind or ignored – because they recognize no boundaries or limits as applying to their appetites or conceits. You are merely the human clay. How dare you resist!
Thus, they really don’t leave others wishing to be free of them and of their manifest neuroses, much selection.
I firmly believe that people will wake up and say enough is enough. I, for one, have no desire to be treated like a child again. I put up with that my first 18 years but there is a benefit to being a child, a roof over my head and free meals. The cracks are forming however. Blue States are nearly bankrupt. There are no dollars to hand the “kids” for their free stuff. The house of cards will come crashing down just in time for election day.
Trump needs to continue his “tough love” stance with States. Blue States need to hear what parents of unruly kids hear: “you’re on your own, kid.” NYS is my home, and Cuomo is already complaining about running out of money. Cuomo needs to hear loud and clear: You made your bed, now sleep in it. The good news is that the budget shortfall is so large that even progressive billionaires would choke on filling the gap. 10 million dollars does nothing! The only remedy is to re-open businesses and get people spending again. Those are tax dollars. Welcome them Gov. Cuomo. It’s your State’s life-blood. Don’t be an ideologue.
So we drove across the border, into another state. About an hour after a gorgeous sunset, we found a small mom and pop motel. The lady behind the desk was not wearing a mask! “Is this heaven?” I asked. “No,” she said. “It’s South Dakota.”
8-15 percent reduction is meaningless for such a grossly subjective “study”.
Part of the reason behind the mask frenzy is that people are looking for something that can unite us. There are those of us who say, “Can’t we put politics aside while we watch a ball game and all stand for the national anthem?” And there are those of us who say, “Can’t we put politics aside and agree to all wear masks?” And the answer to both questions is NO!!!!!!
“For the Democrats, mandates and lockdowns are less about COVID-19, than they are about obedience training”
Definitely truth to this but I bet it’s also simply that Biden wants a quick talking point. “I have a plan to deal with WuFlu, unlike OMB*. My plan is: masks!”
There’s a fig leaf of studies saying it can’t hurt and might help. He’s got media and pro-Dem folk on social media repeating mantras over and over.
It’s the political season: it is to be expected. It doesn’t need to be true, it just needs to short, simple and plausible.
Instapundit posted about a Nashville (?) city council member who wants non-mask wearers to be charged with Attempted Murder. And in my local NorCal NextDoor community, there are similar all-caps accusations and shrieking.
*OMB: Orange Man Bad
Saw my first in person witnessing of a Karen in action this morning. Had to go to grocery store early this morning (around 8 am) and wore the stupid mask of course even though there were what appeared to be maybe 20 customers and 10 employees on the floor in huge box store and as I went down an aisle I saw two guys in their 30s pushing a cart and neither wearing a mask at all. I gave them a silent thumbs up but a woman went up to them and started in on them about the law and blah, blah, blah, nonsense, nonsense, nonsense. They were obviously making a point because they stayed calm and said they didn’t have a mask. When I went up front to the self checkout I heard a call go out that a customer is uneasy about two men not wearing masks and about then the two guys came up to the self checkout and here came about three male employees to ‘educate’ these guys but they just continued to say they didn’t have any masks. Saw them walking out with their stuff in bags as I was driving away.
What a flipping joke this country has become.
“I heard a call go out that a customer is uneasy about two men not wearing masks”
In the book 1984, Orwell mentions how much certain people enjoy informing on others.
JimNorCal,
The interesting thing was the woman who confronted them appeared to be in her 40s (about prime Karen age) and these two guys were built pretty well. But she had no pause in publicly confronting them.
The amount of snitching at all levels is very troubling. Where it ranks on the list of troubling things is debatable when we seem to have an endless list of troubling things in this country.
Snitching started with “If you see something, say something,” a potent meme (aka mental virus) that infects some people. Karen is a modern day Typhoid Mary. She needs to be quarantined. I have faith that people will grow tired of her. I am most disappointed in grocery stores for their spinelessness. You do know that those annoying aisle arrows are the brainchild of grocery stores, not government?
Not on point, but actually perhaps very on point, for this and many other topics and discussions here.
Here is something to ponder.
Just happened to see a 2017 Youtube video on the subject of “The Neuroscience of Intelligence” with Jordan Peterson and Dr. Richard Haier, a highly qualified expert on research into intelligence, and they were discussing a startling fact/reality that you are probably not aware of, and that no one wants to recognize, or to discuss (it became taboo to do so starting in the late 1960s), but a subject which has immense consequences for a society.
Peterson mentioned that–after 100 years of researching intelligence–the U.S. military had concluded that you could not (and that they would not, by law) enlist anyone with an I.Q of 83 or less, because their research and experience had determined that you could not train someone with an I.Q. of 83 or less to do anything productive—it just wasn’t possible.
Moreover, Peterson pointed out that—given the normal Bell Curve distribution of intelligence—around 10% of the population has an I.Q of 83 or lower.
Dr. Haier pointed out that, given a current U.S. Population of a little more than 330,000000, and with the normal distribution of intelligence, 16% of our population has an I.Q of 85 or less, which translates to some 51,000,000 people. They then discussed that at this I.Q. Level and below it was difficult to read well enough to translate that into productive work, and that at this I.Q. Level it was increasingly hard to find a stable job that pays a living wage.
Jordan then pointed out that research had also shown that, while you could train someone very intensely to do some particular function, no one had yet found any training program which was capable of actually raising someone’s basic I.Q.
So—just in terms of social unrest–how do you deal with the 51 million people who are likely having a hard time navigating through life and, moreover, are apparently unable to be trained to perform today’s increasingly complex jobs, and who are likely to be very, very unhappy?
As our society becomes more complex and technically oriented, recognizing and tackling this problem head on, and making some plans to deal with this unfortunate and apparently currently immutable correlation between low I.Q. and the inability to learn productive skills, becomes of extreme importance in terms of public policy, and more and more of a massive and disruptive problem the longer it is neglected.
I was fortunate to have seen this move when it was released in 1988:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjw_DuNkOUw
Next time you are in the grocery store pay attention to the public service announcements they pipe in between the music: “We’re all in this together”, “For your safety and others”, “Unprecedented times”, blah blah blah.
Notice how they want to push masks without any controlled studies, but God forbid anyone suggest HCQ treatment, and the screaming about the absolute necessity of double-blind controlled studies is deafening.
I went to a memorial today. It was held outside. Everyone wore masks. No one complained about it. It was pretty easy actually. Many of the people there were between 50 and 75 years of age. It seemed a pretty good idea to wear a mask not to protect myself but to protect THEM from me. Some people are asymptomatic and may have CV19 and not know it. That is one of the major differences between CV19 and the flu. If I have a fever and flu like symptoms I’m cautious about going out. But CV19 doesn’t always have symptoms yet can spread to people who will show serious symptoms.
So the outside mandate is not a big deal. It’s a precaution. But I live in CA and most everyone wears masks outside. It’s not a freedom issue.
The few who do complain embarrass themselves by going to the supermarket and jumping up and down about freedom.
Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.
Montage:
Do you really not even understand the issues here? Do you not understand the difference between a mandate and a recommendation? Or between a state reg and a federal one? Do you not understand that “responsibility” can always be used as an excuse to end liberty?
This is all about maintaining a state of fear.
Neo, just to illustrate how many times the lies have traversed the world with regards to Floyd’s death even before a trial has been held (which would presumably admit the bodycam footage as evidence), this is what an ESPN NBA announcer just declared matter-of-factly during a game Friday night.
He was commenting on one of the players who was involved in “marches” in support of George Floyd who, and I quote the ESPN announcer, “was brutally murdered by a Minneapolis police officer who knelt on his neck for [8 minutes, etc], crushing his windpipe.”
And hi Montage, was the memorial you attended for someone who succumbed to the deadly deadly virus? And if so, were eulogies made for the virus, the deceased, or both? (I would guess the virus received the most praise in your circle.)
Montage:
You repeatedly prove that you are not smarter than the average bear.
We all wore masks at the memorial service for my mother a month ago. We all had to sign up for the threatened contact tracing at the funeral home. No one wore masks at the family gathering/dinner afterwards. Should the state of Washington have had the authority to send a “minder” to that gathering too? Why not in the world of progressive responsibility? BTW most of the family are progressives but no Karens were present.
Neo,
I have no problem with a mandate. We have one here in CA. You can get a $300 fine for not having a mask in public in some locations. It works! People wear masks.
But it’s not quite a law and we have all kinds of laws that people certainly feel threaten their freedom. For instance, smoking and wearing seat belts or driving a certain speed limit. Recommendations don’t work. “We recommend you don’t smoke on school grounds or at work. But it’s up to you…“ That doesn’t work. “We recommend you pay your taxes but you don’t have to.” That would be fun. “We recommend you drive 35 mph but if you want to drive 75 we can’t stop you.”
Om,
My examples above prove why, yes, you need mandates and laws for some things. At a memorial people are respectful. But in other locations not so much. People cannot always be trusted to police themselves We need law and order sometimes. Let’s not defund the police ; ^ )
Montage, my how your party has change in my lifetime. You have now become what you said you hated about us.
Mttontage:
Not even to the level of Yogi. The only thing you have shown is that you are quite willing to forgo your autonomy and strip others of their’s too.
Are there laws and mandates applicable to rioting and looting or only recommendations for social distancing and masks (masks being especially important given the health effects of tear gas, smoke, and other non-viral threats)?
Om
The mask mandate would not be permanent. But it won’t happen anyway. Biden is just talking. That said, the UK, Spain, Israel and many other countries had a mask mandate in all public spaces and now their cases and deaths are way down. Their economies are opening back up.
There are laws against rioting and looting. And there should be. I have no respect for those on the Left who think looting is okay. However, people do have a right to peacefully protest. No one should have a problem with that in America. Although I would agree it’s odd to not allow people to gather to watch sports, movies or music but it is allowed to let them gather to protest.
Montage,
I don’t know about CA but in AZ there is a mask mandate but there are medical, psychological (?), and religious exemptions. In my opinion the exemptions kind of gut the mandate. But because people aren’t really aware of the exemptions, probably about 98% of people wear masks inside stores. I don’t know about outside events because I don’t go to any. Too hot. It’s interesting to me that our compliance level is so high when it clearly doesn’t have to be.
My point is that if people really didn’t want to wear the masks, they wouldn’t. So all the complaining is just theater.
Montage:
I am unaware of any mask mandates that were passed by state legislatures. They are all decrees enacted by governors, even though ample time has passed for the peoples’ representatives to have acted.
Montage:
Sweden. Anything else about masks?
Why would the mask mandate not be whatever the Fed’s decide? We already have enough problems with state Governors being addicted to mandates and regulations, or haven’t you noticed recent events in your own state?
What are laws when those who break them not prosecuted or punished (Multnoma County (Portland) OR)? Just an unfortunate quirk for those of the left.
Are they peacefully protesting at 11 pm with bull horns and drums and chanting? Sucks if you have a job to go to the next morning. Are they peaceful protests when they peacefully block public streets? Whose streets you ask? Their streets. You may be permitted to use their streets, maybe. Copacetic with all these new recommendations and mandates?
“Let’s not defund the police ; ^ )”
Ooh, montage thinks he’s being so clever, but he’s merely proving that Democrats only say whatever they think will be to their advantage at the time. The only principle is gaining political power.
“He’s not talking about a suggestion or a recommendation, as has already been made, but an order. Supposedly enforceable.” – Neo
Wait – I’m confused – didn’t the Democrats just throw a hissy fit because President Trump signed some orders about taxes and pandemic relief?
C19 is invisible. That means it could be all around us. That’s scary. Doing SOMETHING is better than doing nothing when it comes to relieving fear. Everybody wants to think they have some control. So it doesn’t really matter if masks work or not.
But you want to see others doing their part. So, if the best prophylaxis were to do ten pushups before leaving the house, how would you know if others are living up to their responsibility? Completely unsatisfactory. We’d see people on the streets pumping out another ten to show they’re not only on board, they’re more on board than you.
But making other people do something they would rather not is….not an inconsiderable consideration.
But there is a practical concern for those in authority. If a school superintendent says the schools will open and Johnny gets any kind of URI and dies, the super is considered a murderer across the entire state. But if Johnny’s parents can’t quite make their schedules work one day when the schools are closed and Johnny gets himself into trouble and dies…..nobody outside the family will ever know. So if Johnny’s going to die–and given the numbers, one way or another somebody is–may as well be under circumstances that don’t condemn those in authority. Public hysteria is a force to be considered in making decisions.
Richard, I hear what you are saying which isn’t unreasonable. The problem is that we have a ruling class that leads by deception. The goal posts are always moving. Many years ago I had a boss like this. He would give me a problem to solve. I designed a solution given the requirements and time constraints. He’d rub his hands together and grin with satisfaction, and then say that now it’s got to do something else he purposefully didn’t mention. Over and over again. This is how he managed. After that I try to avoid these types. In political terms, it is equivalent to “if you like your plan, you can keep it.” It is pure deception to get people to swallow a pill that they wouldn’t swallow if given more information. This is how Democrats govern. Give you just enough information to get you to buy into it, and then change the requirements. Been there, done that but people fall for it.
Ray, my nephew who is a correspondent and has lived in China and the general area for 15 years said that the reason people wear masks there has more to do with them not wanting other people to see their facial expressions than fear of disease.
He is not wrong, although Japan is a very specific sub culture of Asia that believes in meiwaku. The concept of not disturbing or affecting other people around you with any kind of high tension emotion, positive or negative. That goes with souji, or being clean, which is like a national tradition now. It gets related to what is translated as “sin” and more like “spiritual karma”.
It is similar to why p**ker *that game that uses cards is an auto spam flag word* players wear sunglasses. It offers them protection. Of course, in high density populations, it also counters bad breath from spreading and other hygiene problems from coughing.
Respirators, like those gas mask looking things with detachable filters, ala Kenshi or mad max, is what is really effective. But in AMerica, this is mostly a prepper or survival preparation sub culture. Not generally popular in the mainstream of any tradition.
This is all about maintaining a state of fear.
Slaves have to be kept in their place, Roy, otherwise they might get uppity ideas like rebelling against or killing the slave master aristos (Demoncrats).
Brian Morgan
I kind of like this post apocalypse zombie whatever year people are trying to create into Ymar’s world. I can wear my respirator, 3m 7500 that I got for 16 USD in January 2020 (Holy Spirit provides and guides).
Now it is 50 or 100 USD. It clears up air quality and easier to breathe in. Still hot.
For China, the masks that have carbon filter replacements on them, are more popular. It clears up the air quality. I bought one to avoid smoke inhalation, from aliexpress. 5-10 USD that came with 6 carbon filter replacements.
The air quality was substantially better, but not to 99.9%. MOre like 75% better. Still smelled cig toxic smoke.
Strangely, it prevented weed smell in the air much better.
Another benefit of masks is what Antifa showed you. No facial recognition software is capable of penetrating it, so you can be a vigilante and roam around with less fear.
Gait recognition software will recognize and tag Yammer. So sad for him and his minions.
I live in Santa Clara County, California — that’s Silicon Valley — the Bay Area, and no, most people do not wear masks outside. And I spend my afternoon and evening walks in many different neighborhoods. Of course, wearing a mask outside means different things depending on context: are you walking, biking, working on your car, reading and sunbathing? Or all the other of myriad of activities done outside alone, or with just family? Because those are the overwhelming activities. If a certain side — that would be the left — has to bring up rare examples of outside activities, such as memorial services, to illustrate the potential need for a blanket outside mask mandate, then indeed that very well shows the hollowness of that particular position. I haven’t seen anyone in a store without a mask. I don’t think that is a big deal, there is medical evidence viruses are transmitted much more easily indoors, and a compromise to keep things open is fine by me (I think everything should reopen).
Montage et al: Please stop conflating a mask mandate for indoor, public spaces, and a mask mandate for ALL outdoor areas in all circumstances. Follow the science.
It’s proven that there is aerosol and droplet airborne transmission in closed spaces. It’s proven that there can be transmission in crowded outdoor spaces where there is sustained contact with others who are speaking, yelling, singing etc. Think screaming fans at an outdoor sports arena, or packed crowds of protesters.
Do you know what the science does NOT show? It does not show outdoor transmission when there is social distancing. None. Period.
I read everything I can get my hands on about COVID, studies, and data. I have come across TWO proven instances of transmission where there was not a large group of people in sustained contact—and both of those actually involved two people who were not physically distancing and who were also in sustained contact within a few feet of each other. One involved two men in China who stood face to face and conversed for some period of time. The other involved two jogging partners who were in sustained contact within a few feet of each other.
Since there is NO science at all to contra-indicate people being outdoors in un-crowded situations—let alone that such distanced people should reduce the zero percent chance of passing on a virus by wearing a mask—the obvious question is: why are non-scientific mask mandates being shoved down our throats at this juncture? Seriously, why? It has nothing to do with science and health, that’s for sure.
By the way, I have made my peace with wearing masks in any public building because a) there’s a fair amount of science indicating that this may help stop contagion, and b) even if it doesn’t help, I accept it as a way to compromise and to help things get back to normal. But I refuse to wear a mask outdoors because a) distanced outdoor transmission is simply not happening, and b) it’s not possible for me to wear a mask and exercise at the same time. Being outdoors and exercising is absolutely vital to my (and to everyone else’s) physical and mental health. It’s the one thing that “they” have pretty much “let” Americans still do. The one lousy, bloody scrap of freedom of movement we still have and yet now they want to forbid even that much. NOW, when the evidence is clear that we have not, and will not, be overwhelming our medical resources? NOW, when the evidence has become clear that distanced outdoor transmission is simply not happening??
Maybe everyday will be Halloween soon.
https://babylonbee.com/news/nations-churches-temporarily-become-spirit-halloween-stores
“Normally we have to hunt to find places to lease for the fall, but this year, we’ve got our pick of the litter,” said Spirit CEO Steven Silverstein. “All these churches are giving us tons of options for places to set up shop. They’ve all got ample parking, great lighting, and thanks to the mandated shutdowns, they’re all available.”
Well, they weren’t being used anyway.
https://babylonbee.com/news/most-american-churches-remain-closed-spiritual-impact-on-society-unchanged
“LOS ANGELES, CA—Local Christian man Edgar Romero never went to church before the pandemic started, except maybe on Easter and Christmas.
But now that the government says that he can’t go to church, he says he’s outraged and just about ready to start a second American Revolution over the issue.”
Who says we have to wear masks anyway?
https://babylonbee.com/news/study-finds-more-americans-trust-dr-pepper-than-dr-fauci
Brian Morgan – great movie clip.
YouTube followed that for me with this one, which is kind of even scarier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG6uUqiWef0
7 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About They Live
Brian – hope you see this.
Somebody at Power Line is channeling your movie clip.
https://i1.wp.com/www.powerlineblog.com/ed-assets/2020/08/117594357_3340179686045624_3033761873367423796_n.jpg?w=720&ssl=1
Here in CO the mask mandate (not a “law” passed by legislators” ) has been extended another month. I wear a mask when in stores. Today I went into town and saw a man on a bike wearing a mask. No one around him. Now to me that is exhibiting fear, unreasonable fear. I don’t wear a mask around my neighborhood, now do my neighbors. And that is MY CHOICE.
LYNN, I see people driving cars, alone, wearing masks. That is insane and in some cases have led to auto accidents in which the mask-wearer passes out at the wheel. Also, like you I’ve seen lone bicyclists where a mask whizzing down the road at breakneck speed.
Brian Morgan: I’ve seen people jogging or running for the bus in a mask!
No sense. The young are the most compliant maskers here. It seems to be a political statement. We care! Science!
However, today I did see a young man wearing a mask showing the pink scream from the cover of the first King Crimson album. Points.
But will anyone his age get the reference? Did he?
_____________________________________
The rusted chains of prison moons
Are shattered by the sun
I walk a road horizons change
The tournament’s begun
The purple piper plays his tune
The choir softly sing
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue
For the court of the crimson king
–King Crimson, “In the Court of the Crimson King.”
AesopFan,
Thank you for the YT and Powerline links. I think that PL got it exactly right! Nothing beats seeing a good/great movie in the theater when it first comes out. This includes Blade Runner (1982) and Alien (1979). I saw Alien in 70mm Dolby, curved screen and huge audience that jumped out of their seats in unison at just the right moments! I’m sad that I missed Dune (1984). Believe it or not I was pleased to see Grudge 2 when it came out in 2006. Amber Tamblyn gave a great performance. The final scene when she returns to America from Japan and tries to find safety in her room is beyond creepy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuFjToAyT44
huxley,
Sadly there is little to no fight in the young ones. They’ve been well-programmed I suspect by all of the helicopter parenting. No appreciation of freedom. I can’t say that all of them are that way but too many in my opinion.
huxley,
The young ones may eventually catch up but I believe that our best hope is women. I see cracks forming.
Found a meme-quote of Sowell’s on Power Lines TWIP comments, and went looking to verify it.
It’s the top one in this post.
You can never go wrong quoting Sowell.
https://www.azquotes.com/author/13901-Thomas_Sowell
Well, except for one understandable (at the time) misjudgment.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2016/01/donald-trump-conservatives-oppose-nomination/
With all due respect to the great man, the first glib egomaniac is exactly why we had to elect the second: Obama proved that he could get the progressive (socialist) agenda done, and Trump promised conservatives he would do the same for them, when the GOP had serially failed to do so.
To a great extent, he has.
The young ones may eventually catch up but I believe that our best hope is women. I see cracks forming.
Brian Morgan: I’d love to agree, but I haven’t seen anything like that.
The young women seem pretty set upon their politics. However, the young men seem to have a vague disquiet that things are working out and SJW politics aren’t helping.
-> …things are not working out…
huxley,
I agree that the youngsters are lost, male and female. On the other end of the age scale is the Woodstock generation. They are totally woke in a good way. Vietnam is fresh in their memory so they aren’t easily (mis)led by men in suits nor women in pantsuits. The cracks I see are among the 40-55 year olds. They were totally in the bag with the experts early on but now they are quite open about expressing their frustration. These are most-likely voters. A good sign that the tide is turning. On a positive note, I did run across a 20-year old conservative young lady. Very articulate and unafraid. She’s had enough. Good news, she’s good at socializing so perhaps she is having a positive impact on her generation. Bit by bit things are a-changing.
The younger generation is fighting a head-wind ours (or mine, anyway) never had to endure: the education system is indoctrinating them into anti-American beliefs and values.
The Sowell quote I mentioned above is this:
Some of the details of how that danger came to be so pervasive:
https://finance.townhall.com/columnists/stevenalansamson/2020/08/13/a-strategy-of-subversion-pt-1-the-long-march-through-institutions-n2574195
From the universities, to the teachers, to the children.
Rush Limbaugh explains the rationale for Biden’s three-month mandate:
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bronsonstocking/2020/08/14/heres-what-rush-limbaugh-believes-joe-bidens-mask-mandate-is-really-about-n2574408
Don’t forget the ideologues in government and teachers’ unions. But I also blame helicopter parents. Part of the great thing of growing up for me was having to invent our own fun. Dad was hard-working and Mom was busy with housework, and making delicious meals to feed our appetites. Back then it was inconceivable and actually cruel to ask/demand that my parents taxi me around to all of my activities, plus pay the cost for them. I would have been laughed at.
It is a tragedy that parents cannot apply school tax vouchers to private learning institutions. This economic sword held over the heads of middle and lower class parents should never have been allowed to stand. I’m not as well-read as you but it is shameful that it hasn’t been challenged in the nation’s highest courts. Perhaps it has. The fate of the Union could very well rest on it.
“This was the moment when the rise of Biden-Harris began to slow”
https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/08/biden-calls-for-nationwide-mask-mandate-harris-calls-it-real-leadership//#more