The mask is the flag of the crazed. Those who wear one, or two, proudly proclaim their deranged mentally deficient state to all those whose eyes are open.
For the hundredth time this is because the doctors who led the country were not practicing physicians. I managed our practice, but I also saw 30 patients a day in rural town . I took care of everyone, neighbors, and relatives. They sent me a patient once with abdominal pain. I asked him why they were seeing me and they said because someone told them that, even though I was a heart doctor, I would get them to the right person. That's because they had trust
The reason they trust is because I never lied and when I didn't know, I said I don't know.
A shocker is people accept that, and they don't think poorly of you. On the contrary, they want to think that you are a decent person, and when you admit your limitations, it gives them trust.
I don't know if Dr. Fauci, etc. were pressured or not, but they basically should have said
1. This is a horrible disease.
2. If you're not in good health, it can take your life.
3. We don't have a solution, but we think the vaccine could help, staying away from others, and maybe be wearing a mask
4. As we learn more, will tell you more.
How much less division in the country with there be had they simply said the above
They said take the vaccine or you can't come to work. Take the vaccine or you're a horrible person ; take the vaccine so you will never get infected and you won't spread it . Every doctor in the planet knew that was not true. No vaccine is 100% effective . Wear the mask because it's like a cone of silence around your head. It's all crazy and it was all untrue.
And then people who questioned them were demonized
They need to simply apologize and start over because it not only hurt people regarding Covid. It's making it very difficult for doctors every day now to talk about anything . I can't tell you all the people who are telling me statins don't work and that it's fine to walk around with a cholesterol of 300. And when you argue about it, they say yeah just like with the vaccine.
Thank you. I live in Berkeley and worked as an mRNA Ambassador countering “misinformation” for 7.5 months. I read as much as I could and came to understand that our govt is the biggest offender of all the mis/dis/mal info. I made 1,700 contacts in the East Bay (high schools, churches, homeless shelters, businesses, the streets, etc). I quit after the Pfizer/FDA court ordered papers began coming out. NO BODY else in all of our partnerships pushing the mRNA bothered to read them. People who make policies that they dont follow have no business leading. The people, including myself, have lost trust in “public health” and doctors. I havent been to one in about two years now. I dont trust medical institutions at all. If they cant get the mask thing right and gaslight my vax side effects, they cant help me. They dont understand wellness.
Fauci the CDC and the NIH also did their own self-publishing of un-peer-reviewed studies on the use of face masks.
I actually READ the studies that the CDC listed on their website that spoke to the presumed efficacy of face masks. NOT A SINGLE STUDY looked at face mask efficacy beyond 30 minutes of use. In fact, their primary article said that not only were face masks not efficacious, the may actually help to spread disease even more because of the ability of germs to penetrate to the front of the mask, and the fact that people would not handle the face masks properly when removing them, etc. (In fact, most people reused their face masks for hours, days, and even weeks at a time!) The only reason the CDC was recommending their use was because they had been used historically in various settings. There was NO data about how efficacious they had EVER been historically. You have to remember, we also used to bleed patients to relieve mental issues.
DESPITE THIS, the CDC studies said that they would continue to push the use of face masks by the public, and that they would enforce their use through “peer pressure”.
Please be aware that the Royal Society of Medicine in England had already determined some years earlier that face masks were an archaic relic of the past that were doubtful in their efficacy as a method for preventing germs for surgeons and people in the operating room. They finally concluded that though they deemed them to have at best a neutral impact, that they were perceived by the public to be efficacious, and thus, surgeons should continue to use them only as a soothing and familiar sign of cleanliness by their patients.
NIH studies say (see links below): Cloth masks have a 97% penetration rate, “Cloth face masks have limited efficacy in combating viral infection transmission” and “There is lack of strong well-designed evidences on efficacy of cloth face mask in the prevention of viral infections”. So why are we still imposing these draconian masks on our kids???!!! Even the NIH admits: “wearing face masks may give a false sense of security to the wearer, which may contribute to low hand hygiene compliance” and face mask wearers show “repeated touching of nose and face to adjust the face mask, which is against the CDC's strict guidelines for face mask use]. Kids were never at risk for the original covid, and even less so for the delta variant. The only population who were ever really at risk were the elderly with 2+ pre-existing conditions. Making normal, healthy children wear face masks was draconian.
"This study is the first RCT of cloth masks, and the results caution against the use of cloth masks. This is an important finding to inform occupational health and safety. Moisture retention, reuse of cloth masks and poor filtration may result in increased risk of infection. Further research is needed to inform the widespread use of cloth masks globally. However, as a precautionary measure, cloth masks should not be recommended for HCWs, particularly in high-risk situations, and guidelines need to be updated."
There are many scientific studies which suggested that masks were ineffective, including the following review, as below. NOTE THAT THIS PUBLISHED STUDY WAS FROM 2015, BEFORE COVID AND BEFORE THE CDC DECIDED IT WOULD START LYING TO EVERYONE:
Some studies which are cited as support of masking are actually evidence against it. Many studies focusED on not just masks but also hand hygiene. For example, consider the following study:
The study authors explicitly mention, and the data support the conclusion that
“There were no substantial reductions in ILI or laboratory-confirmed influenza in the face mask only group compared to the control.” This means that masks were no more effective than not wearing masks.
Only the face mask + hand hygiene group had significant differences. Hand hygiene alone was not tested. This, to me, would indicate that it is hand hygiene that is the effective control measure, and not masks. While not in the scope of this study, other studies have shown the effectiveness of hand hygiene.
Then why was this study cited for evidence that masks are effective? A review that included this study concluded that it was because the mask + hand hygiene group was better than the control group, and they rationalized that people should be doing both - so we should recommend both. The fact that hand hygiene and masks were more effective than nothing is true, but two variables were being manipulated: masks AND hand hygiene. Our analysis above, however, indicated that hand washing caused the difference; masks did not contribute.
Kids were never at risk for the original covid, and even less so for the subsequent variants. The only population who were ever really at risk were the elderly with 2+ pre-existing conditions. The Great Barrington Declaration would have been the most humane way to have controlled covid spread.
When we look at the damage done to society: children kept out of school or forced to wear face masks for hours upon hours, suicide rates skyrocketing, elderly treated like caged animals and EVEN ON THEIR DEATH BEDS NOT ALLOWED TO SEE THE FACES OF THEIR LOVED ONES - I KNOW OF THIS HAPPENING AT LEAST 2X DURING COVID AT LOCAL NURSING HOMES, the tanking of the economy and destruction of people’s livelihood, etc etc etc, should all this masking go unpunished or at the very least NOTED so we don’t allow this ignoring of scientific evidence and brainwashing to happen again???
I can't tell you all the doctors who still think statins are a good idea for almost everyone. Many doctors have been pointing out for years the problem with statins. Yeah, they work to bring down cholesterol but it's not clear that that is always a good idea.
I don't agree that all the doctors knew that the vaccine wasn't effective. They just assumed it was like most of the rest of the world.
There's a slight benefit for men with known coronary disease who are middle-aged. But they don't fix triglycerides which is the main cause of heart attacks. Statins won't save your life if you still eat badly. A friend of mine had a heart attack in his early 50s. They gave him statins. I suspect his problem was drinking too much sugared Coca Cola. He had another heart attack within a year and died.
I have no sympathy for doctors. Most of them went along with the Covid nonsense. Sorry if there are some good doctors who are having a hard time with this, but my take on it is that it is about time that people have become skeptical about medicine.
My husband studied genetics at Cornell… As he stated: a virus that is so deadly that it kills its host, by definition, can no longer spread because it has died WITH the host. For this reason, the most successful viruses are the ones that DO NOT KILL their hosts.
For this reason, a deadly virus that mutates quickly in a way that it is far less deadly is one that can be transmitted to others. All the others die out with their host. Viruses do, in fact, mutate very quickly, as did the original, engineered coronavirus.
The initial, dangerous-to-elderly-with-2-plus-preexisting-conditions version of the coronavirus, i.e. the one that had been genetically manipulated in a lab in Wuhan, mutated into a much less virulent form within a year of it’s release.
Where did all the death counts come from? Well, the legitimate ones came from the elderly with pre-existing conditions and other vulnerable people in the population. Who were the vulnerable? Anyone else who had severe health conditions. That being said, these same people are people who would have been at risk if they had gotten the flu or RSV.
BUT THE REAL REASON there were such high death counts is because the way the governments told people to count covid deaths in the first place. NEVER IN THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE have we ever counted secondary causes of death as the primary cause of death. But during covid, all of a sudden, even if you died of a massive coronary due to years of eating poorly and not exercising (you can’t build up that level of clogged arteries, hypertension, etc over night) AND that person tested positive for covid, then that death was counted as a covid death!!! How ridiculous.
Let’s also talk about how meaningless the covid tests were to begin with! A test that has a false positive 30% of the time is meaningless. So 30% of the time I test myself it will say I have covid, even though I DON’T HAVE IT! In fact, people used to take multiple tests until they got the result they wanted. In TRUE medicine, a person is not tested for ANYTHING unless they have symptoms that warrant their being tested. Secondly, the test must have at least a 95% success rate, i.e. it must not produce false positives more than 5% of the time, and this is also dependent on how prevalent the illness is in the population.
So, with the double whammy of testing everyone for covid, WHETHER OR NOT THEY HAD SYMPTOMS and WHETHER OR NOT THE TRULY HAD IT GIVEN THE HIGH FALSE-POSTIVE RATE, coupled with counting covid as the primary cause of death even tho it may not have even been a factor (like someone dying in a car accident), the covid death counts, of course, went thru the roof. Will we EVER truly know how many people died of covid, and covid alone? Probably not, but I can assure you that given the above malarky, there is no way the numbers were ever as high as the government’s reported.
Matt- Get a coronary calcium CT scan. Around $100 and less radiation than a mammogram. It should be zero. That will tell you if high cholesterol is a problem for you or not.
California air got cleaned up decades ago! There are 70 countries where particulates are worse than any Western country. People need to just stop with the fuckin safetyism!
If he wants to wear a mask, or two, he can! He does not need to have evidence showing it is helpful. If people want to look “crazy” and they aren't disturbing others, they can!
Who cares? Maybe he's wearing it for some other reason. Maybe he had a peel and is protecting his skin. Maybe he's famous and doesn't want to be recognized.
Exactly. I'm very much in favor of maximizing individual freedom and the credo of live-and-let-live; I need it like I need air to breathe.
But when people wear masks outdoors, they are displaying a big old flashing sign that says "There's a 98% chance that I will support our government and institutions forcing everyone else to wear a mask in future scenarios--regardless of whether there is solid empirical data or even common sense to support these edicts." It's natural then for me to feel some hostility and some fear and some sadness and some hopelessness really upon witnessing proof of the totalitarian impulse in my fellow citizens.
Exactly. The Bay Area still has mask mandates in health care facilities. In fact, Sara Cody, is going to have a mask mandate every winter forever. I know people who won’t get healthcare unless they they are badly injured or think they might die because of these mandates.
I'm going to assume you didn't have any experience with being denied healthcare because you couldn't wear a mask, or being not allowed to buy things in person because you couldn't mask. Or having to carry a certificate as proof to any bylaw officer who approached you that you were medically unable to mask. (Don't get me started on how just HAVING that certificate be a thing is wrong and how icky it felt to carry it in the interest of not being fined and proving that I have a genuine health issue that should be nobody else's business. Or that 15% of the population have health conditions that masking is KNOWN through scientific research to be contraindicated to mask - and yet many of them were denied exemptions and caught up in blind statements like this that ignore harm.) My husband developed high blood pressure only when masking - do you think it's really no big deal? People should go on pharmaceuticals because of an unproven unscientific recommendation?
It's easy to eat big mac's every day for the rest of your life and never touch another fruit or vegetable. That doesn't mean anyone is going to get healthy or live a long and productive life doing it. Masks have known harms - so no, it's not easy to wear a mask, and no, people shouldn't just move on. You want to destroy your health - all the power to you. But don't ask anyone else to destroy their health and then say "but it's easy."
Where do you live? Did you have flipping idiots yelling at you outside if you weren't wearing a mask? I doubt it. It was damn stressful to experience that. I got so fed up I would ask young people why they were wearing a mask when it wasn't required. They suggested that it was out of politeness....after they thought about it for 5 seconds. Such crap.
If being asked dumb questions is so “damn stressful” you need to whine about it for years to prevent it, I'd say you are lucky. I'm finished with these questions. Time to move on, people
Oh Keri Keri Keri - I for one am NEVER moving on until I hear massive heartfelt apologies for wishing death on those who ACTUALLY followed the science.
If it bothers you so much that you are commenting, why don't you move on?
It wasn't being asked dumb questions. It was people screaming at me hour after hour. Yeah, I kind of have a little PTSD from all that. What's it to ya?
There are none so blind as those who will not see. Wearing the mask WAS doing harm to others. NEVER being able to see other people's faces, seeing expressions, etc are just starters. The mask wearing also became a political statement and a way to bully others. It also led to increased crime (hey, you can't make out who's shoplifting... what a gift to thieves and so many others). Sadly, you have your head buried in the sand.
You did not read the answers to your remarks. WE care, because it is not a rational thing; it is pure, unadulterated judgmental virtue signaling. And a sign of much bigger issues.
I agree with Keri, as long as masking fundamentalists keep it to themselves. I feel bad for maskers. either they're sick in the body or sick in the head.
The problem with this religion is that it is a heavy proselytizer. That affects me negatively and I don't like that. I think Vinay agrees with this but is attacking the practice of masking so that it stays in its own backyard and stays out of ours.
It's easy Keri?? How about if you are hard of hearing? I can personally tell you masks are NOT "easy". Actually quite the opposite. And this is only one example of the harms of perpetual masking that accompany the other examples. Have you thought about these things?
That is the defeatist attitude that allowed all this shit to go on in the first place. NOW you can't go to the doctor without a face mask on???!!! What next? How can you take losing your rights so easily?!!! Who cares? Guess what. A LOT OF US DO! That's who cares/
Where does it stop Keri? Vaccine passports? Showing who is "clean" and who isn't? Forcing people to wear a yellow star was just a piece of cloth right? So what? "Certainly anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices". V. Wearing a mask outside is believing an absurdity.
Correct. We don't appreciate fear mongering. Thanks for noticing. Perhaps you should triple mask your coochie to reduce the PPM pollution down there. Covid, smog and Yeast are a BAD combo!!!!
Of course, that guy can wear a mask. No one is saying he can't. If our comments aren't affecting you ... why do you care enough to respond to them? Why are you here? For most of us, when people bow down to the talisman of a mask and wish to foist these same neuroses on other people ... that is why we speak up. And that is why we make fun of the ridiculousness. OR else it becomes normalized and expected. Sure, they can wear the mask. Just STFU when we do not and say something about it. Follow the SCIENCE, right?
Sure, he can do anything like that he wants. Likewise there's nothing wrong pointing out it's useless and probably counterproductive.
Please also note how the S.F. pols wear masks as their uniform and how they've rendered the town into near dystopian ruin and will force mask requirements back on everyone the moment they have the opportunity.
In answer to your question, I think it may be time to stop talking about mask effectiveness. Not much more you can do about it. Thank you for your passionate voice.
I’d rather see more research and conversation about Covid vaccine induced adverse effects like neuropathy and inflammation. Small studies are coming out but we need more knowledgeable voices on the matter to avoid unnecessary vaccination of children and young adults until we know more.
Agree 1,000 percent. I’m injured and want some attention on making sure others are spared. And how to heal. No good treatments out there … lots of claims and lot of people thrown to the curb by medical institutions that made them get vaxxed.
I'm sorry but that's just stupid. I spent 40 years full-time cycling. ZERO of my asthma cyclist friends have ever worn masks, you're a walking cycling placebo effect.
So, only your lower cheeks are susceptible to sun??? Ridiculous
In 40 years of cycling in bug infestations, not one bug has ever made it past my tongue.
IKR! I live in Canada's North (not just regular Canada), the land of endless bugs. My stop cycling temperature limit is -40, that's when the steering stops working. Gear shifting stops functioning around -32. I NEVER cover my face with a scarf, I wear a scarf for my neck, not my face. If my face becomes too cold (rare) I press my hand against the cold spot for a few seconds, all better.
My parents were 3-pack-a-day smokers each, I had to hide my entire face behind turtle necks and learned to not breathe. It's fucking horrible. Will NEVER do it again.
Interesting. I appreciate you offering your perspective on wearing a mask outdoors, even while exercising.
I too have asthma triggered by exposure to allergens and by exercise. I too am allergic to trees and various plants, along with particulates like smoke, pet dander, and dust.
Wearing a mask and trying to exercise was just awful; I happened to be going through physical therapy in 2021 and had to wear one. Couldn't catch my breath. I also live next to a lovely forest and fortunately my local authorities did not mandate wearing a mask outdoors, so of course I did not because I wanted to be able to actually breathe deeply upon exertion. That didn't stop people from saying nasty things and casting evil looks when they would pass me on the trails--this despite the fact that in deference to their fears, I would always step off the trails several feet and let them pass me.
There is no logic to those who assert that wearing a mask even during exertion causes no problem with breathing and proper oxygenation.
What's the thought process here? "Wearing a mask is really really important because it stops viruses and other airborne particulate from entering my lungs. Masks accomplish this by filtering air before I inhale that air into my body. Filtering is a process wherein a physical barrier impedes the free flow of air and thereby catches particulate matter. And of course, there's no downside to that because impeding the free flow of air doesn't impede the free flow of air into my lungs." ????
So, are you totally disembodied and have no sense of oxygen deprivation?
Being smothered, having something on our face, invokes primal responses. What is fucking wrong with people that they allow this basic, healthy instinct to be habitually, slowly repressed based on almost entirely speculative health outcomes?
The main reason I oppose mask wearing is the confusing message it sends children. Adults need to model healthy adult living. We lied to kids and unfortunately most of them believed us. We need to admit we made so many terrible mistakes and we need to stop making them.
You're taking your insistence on evidence too far. It's one thing to demand it for public health decisions, another altogether for our personal choices—especially those for which no good evidence exists. I make dozens of decisions a day about things that might affect my health. Have they all been studied? Have they all been WELL studied? Am I aware of and able to easily access and interpret the studies that do exist relative to each of these decisions. No. Sometimes you have to go out on a limb and make decisions based on your accumulated life experience. BTW, you're essentially arguing for a different, non-evidence-based behavior: just do what everyone else is doing. Is there any evidence that masking while riding a bike in a potentially polluted city is worse for you than not wearing one? BTW, particulate concentrations in cities are worst exactly where cyclist mouths are—which is likely not where the data you present is gathered.
This was in San Francisco. We generally have very clean air. This cyclist is a nut case.
I haven't been riding as much as I used to but I have done a lot of organized bike rides and nobody *ever* wore a mask. Suddenly they are in fashion and it's because of Covid not because of air pollution.
Some people did wear masks when we had the terrible fires in California a few years back. But the masks worn by this cyclist would not have helped.
Another thing is I personally dont feel safe around a bunch of people covering their face. Its been a big boon for the thieves and gangsters. Great. If I had a store or an event, I would require that everyone show their face before entering. They could put their mask back on once they got inside but there’s no way I would let in people who were covering their face and were anonymous to me.
We have a smile deficiency in the US. We are now in a misery pandemic. Smiles reduce cortisol and boost our immune systems and smiles are wildly contagious. But with the mask on you can protect yourself from being happy and or look miserable to everyone around you.
Can we *please* counter the massively harmful “6foot distancing” campaign with a smile campaign? Im even ok if male construction workers and guys on the street start telling me to smile again. Smile wrinkles are so much better looking as we age. Love you Vinay. Lets all smile to the masked up people; maybe they will feel less afraid.
There is no sense in being crazy if you don't show it.
Bryan wins the best answer
The mask is the flag of the crazed. Those who wear one, or two, proudly proclaim their deranged mentally deficient state to all those whose eyes are open.
Ohmygod ~ LOL ~ right??!! Thanks for the morning laugh Bryan. I will now view everyone wearing a mask in 2024 in this light.
And it will feel more light - hearted.
LOL
For the hundredth time this is because the doctors who led the country were not practicing physicians. I managed our practice, but I also saw 30 patients a day in rural town . I took care of everyone, neighbors, and relatives. They sent me a patient once with abdominal pain. I asked him why they were seeing me and they said because someone told them that, even though I was a heart doctor, I would get them to the right person. That's because they had trust
The reason they trust is because I never lied and when I didn't know, I said I don't know.
A shocker is people accept that, and they don't think poorly of you. On the contrary, they want to think that you are a decent person, and when you admit your limitations, it gives them trust.
I don't know if Dr. Fauci, etc. were pressured or not, but they basically should have said
1. This is a horrible disease.
2. If you're not in good health, it can take your life.
3. We don't have a solution, but we think the vaccine could help, staying away from others, and maybe be wearing a mask
4. As we learn more, will tell you more.
How much less division in the country with there be had they simply said the above
They said take the vaccine or you can't come to work. Take the vaccine or you're a horrible person ; take the vaccine so you will never get infected and you won't spread it . Every doctor in the planet knew that was not true. No vaccine is 100% effective . Wear the mask because it's like a cone of silence around your head. It's all crazy and it was all untrue.
And then people who questioned them were demonized
They need to simply apologize and start over because it not only hurt people regarding Covid. It's making it very difficult for doctors every day now to talk about anything . I can't tell you all the people who are telling me statins don't work and that it's fine to walk around with a cholesterol of 300. And when you argue about it, they say yeah just like with the vaccine.
Thank you. I live in Berkeley and worked as an mRNA Ambassador countering “misinformation” for 7.5 months. I read as much as I could and came to understand that our govt is the biggest offender of all the mis/dis/mal info. I made 1,700 contacts in the East Bay (high schools, churches, homeless shelters, businesses, the streets, etc). I quit after the Pfizer/FDA court ordered papers began coming out. NO BODY else in all of our partnerships pushing the mRNA bothered to read them. People who make policies that they dont follow have no business leading. The people, including myself, have lost trust in “public health” and doctors. I havent been to one in about two years now. I dont trust medical institutions at all. If they cant get the mask thing right and gaslight my vax side effects, they cant help me. They dont understand wellness.
Fauci the CDC and the NIH also did their own self-publishing of un-peer-reviewed studies on the use of face masks.
I actually READ the studies that the CDC listed on their website that spoke to the presumed efficacy of face masks. NOT A SINGLE STUDY looked at face mask efficacy beyond 30 minutes of use. In fact, their primary article said that not only were face masks not efficacious, the may actually help to spread disease even more because of the ability of germs to penetrate to the front of the mask, and the fact that people would not handle the face masks properly when removing them, etc. (In fact, most people reused their face masks for hours, days, and even weeks at a time!) The only reason the CDC was recommending their use was because they had been used historically in various settings. There was NO data about how efficacious they had EVER been historically. You have to remember, we also used to bleed patients to relieve mental issues.
DESPITE THIS, the CDC studies said that they would continue to push the use of face masks by the public, and that they would enforce their use through “peer pressure”.
Please be aware that the Royal Society of Medicine in England had already determined some years earlier that face masks were an archaic relic of the past that were doubtful in their efficacy as a method for preventing germs for surgeons and people in the operating room. They finally concluded that though they deemed them to have at best a neutral impact, that they were perceived by the public to be efficacious, and thus, surgeons should continue to use them only as a soothing and familiar sign of cleanliness by their patients.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4480558/
NIH studies say (see links below): Cloth masks have a 97% penetration rate, “Cloth face masks have limited efficacy in combating viral infection transmission” and “There is lack of strong well-designed evidences on efficacy of cloth face mask in the prevention of viral infections”. So why are we still imposing these draconian masks on our kids???!!! Even the NIH admits: “wearing face masks may give a false sense of security to the wearer, which may contribute to low hand hygiene compliance” and face mask wearers show “repeated touching of nose and face to adjust the face mask, which is against the CDC's strict guidelines for face mask use]. Kids were never at risk for the original covid, and even less so for the delta variant. The only population who were ever really at risk were the elderly with 2+ pre-existing conditions. Making normal, healthy children wear face masks was draconian.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4420971/
"This study is the first RCT of cloth masks, and the results caution against the use of cloth masks. This is an important finding to inform occupational health and safety. Moisture retention, reuse of cloth masks and poor filtration may result in increased risk of infection. Further research is needed to inform the widespread use of cloth masks globally. However, as a precautionary measure, cloth masks should not be recommended for HCWs, particularly in high-risk situations, and guidelines need to be updated."
There are many scientific studies which suggested that masks were ineffective, including the following review, as below. NOTE THAT THIS PUBLISHED STUDY WAS FROM 2015, BEFORE COVID AND BEFORE THE CDC DECIDED IT WOULD START LYING TO EVERYONE:
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article
Some studies which are cited as support of masking are actually evidence against it. Many studies focusED on not just masks but also hand hygiene. For example, consider the following study:
THIS STUDY IS FROM 2012:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0029744
The study authors explicitly mention, and the data support the conclusion that
“There were no substantial reductions in ILI or laboratory-confirmed influenza in the face mask only group compared to the control.” This means that masks were no more effective than not wearing masks.
Only the face mask + hand hygiene group had significant differences. Hand hygiene alone was not tested. This, to me, would indicate that it is hand hygiene that is the effective control measure, and not masks. While not in the scope of this study, other studies have shown the effectiveness of hand hygiene.
Then why was this study cited for evidence that masks are effective? A review that included this study concluded that it was because the mask + hand hygiene group was better than the control group, and they rationalized that people should be doing both - so we should recommend both. The fact that hand hygiene and masks were more effective than nothing is true, but two variables were being manipulated: masks AND hand hygiene. Our analysis above, however, indicated that hand washing caused the difference; masks did not contribute.
Kids were never at risk for the original covid, and even less so for the subsequent variants. The only population who were ever really at risk were the elderly with 2+ pre-existing conditions. The Great Barrington Declaration would have been the most humane way to have controlled covid spread.
When we look at the damage done to society: children kept out of school or forced to wear face masks for hours upon hours, suicide rates skyrocketing, elderly treated like caged animals and EVEN ON THEIR DEATH BEDS NOT ALLOWED TO SEE THE FACES OF THEIR LOVED ONES - I KNOW OF THIS HAPPENING AT LEAST 2X DURING COVID AT LOCAL NURSING HOMES, the tanking of the economy and destruction of people’s livelihood, etc etc etc, should all this masking go unpunished or at the very least NOTED so we don’t allow this ignoring of scientific evidence and brainwashing to happen again???
I can't tell you all the doctors who still think statins are a good idea for almost everyone. Many doctors have been pointing out for years the problem with statins. Yeah, they work to bring down cholesterol but it's not clear that that is always a good idea.
I don't agree that all the doctors knew that the vaccine wasn't effective. They just assumed it was like most of the rest of the world.
Cardiologists treating patients with known coronary disease -unequivocal benefit - now have to argue due to the Covid misinformation
There's a slight benefit for men with known coronary disease who are middle-aged. But they don't fix triglycerides which is the main cause of heart attacks. Statins won't save your life if you still eat badly. A friend of mine had a heart attack in his early 50s. They gave him statins. I suspect his problem was drinking too much sugared Coca Cola. He had another heart attack within a year and died.
I have no sympathy for doctors. Most of them went along with the Covid nonsense. Sorry if there are some good doctors who are having a hard time with this, but my take on it is that it is about time that people have become skeptical about medicine.
I assumed that the vaccine was “vaccine” and not merely inoculation.
My husband studied genetics at Cornell… As he stated: a virus that is so deadly that it kills its host, by definition, can no longer spread because it has died WITH the host. For this reason, the most successful viruses are the ones that DO NOT KILL their hosts.
For this reason, a deadly virus that mutates quickly in a way that it is far less deadly is one that can be transmitted to others. All the others die out with their host. Viruses do, in fact, mutate very quickly, as did the original, engineered coronavirus.
The initial, dangerous-to-elderly-with-2-plus-preexisting-conditions version of the coronavirus, i.e. the one that had been genetically manipulated in a lab in Wuhan, mutated into a much less virulent form within a year of it’s release.
Where did all the death counts come from? Well, the legitimate ones came from the elderly with pre-existing conditions and other vulnerable people in the population. Who were the vulnerable? Anyone else who had severe health conditions. That being said, these same people are people who would have been at risk if they had gotten the flu or RSV.
BUT THE REAL REASON there were such high death counts is because the way the governments told people to count covid deaths in the first place. NEVER IN THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE have we ever counted secondary causes of death as the primary cause of death. But during covid, all of a sudden, even if you died of a massive coronary due to years of eating poorly and not exercising (you can’t build up that level of clogged arteries, hypertension, etc over night) AND that person tested positive for covid, then that death was counted as a covid death!!! How ridiculous.
Let’s also talk about how meaningless the covid tests were to begin with! A test that has a false positive 30% of the time is meaningless. So 30% of the time I test myself it will say I have covid, even though I DON’T HAVE IT! In fact, people used to take multiple tests until they got the result they wanted. In TRUE medicine, a person is not tested for ANYTHING unless they have symptoms that warrant their being tested. Secondly, the test must have at least a 95% success rate, i.e. it must not produce false positives more than 5% of the time, and this is also dependent on how prevalent the illness is in the population.
So, with the double whammy of testing everyone for covid, WHETHER OR NOT THEY HAD SYMPTOMS and WHETHER OR NOT THE TRULY HAD IT GIVEN THE HIGH FALSE-POSTIVE RATE, coupled with counting covid as the primary cause of death even tho it may not have even been a factor (like someone dying in a car accident), the covid death counts, of course, went thru the roof. Will we EVER truly know how many people died of covid, and covid alone? Probably not, but I can assure you that given the above malarky, there is no way the numbers were ever as high as the government’s reported.
Matt- Get a coronary calcium CT scan. Around $100 and less radiation than a mammogram. It should be zero. That will tell you if high cholesterol is a problem for you or not.
I’m a 4.
Matt's an MD. He's talking about his patients.
Thanks that wasn’t clear. And for anyone else wondering their true risk, or if they even need a statin, same advice applies.
California air got cleaned up decades ago! There are 70 countries where particulates are worse than any Western country. People need to just stop with the fuckin safetyism!
SF is a special kind of particulate - Pee, Poop, and Pot.
:D
Step 1: Take silly steps to satisfy my idiocy.
Step 2: Force everyone else to do it too.
If he wants to wear a mask, or two, he can! He does not need to have evidence showing it is helpful. If people want to look “crazy” and they aren't disturbing others, they can!
Who cares? Maybe he's wearing it for some other reason. Maybe he had a peel and is protecting his skin. Maybe he's famous and doesn't want to be recognized.
Really, who cares?
Because this guy is likely one of the bozos who demanded that I wear a mask and will likely make the same demand again (Disease X anyone?).
Exactly. I'm very much in favor of maximizing individual freedom and the credo of live-and-let-live; I need it like I need air to breathe.
But when people wear masks outdoors, they are displaying a big old flashing sign that says "There's a 98% chance that I will support our government and institutions forcing everyone else to wear a mask in future scenarios--regardless of whether there is solid empirical data or even common sense to support these edicts." It's natural then for me to feel some hostility and some fear and some sadness and some hopelessness really upon witnessing proof of the totalitarian impulse in my fellow citizens.
Exactly. The Bay Area still has mask mandates in health care facilities. In fact, Sara Cody, is going to have a mask mandate every winter forever. I know people who won’t get healthcare unless they they are badly injured or think they might die because of these mandates.
Again, who cares? It's easy to wear a mask. It beats spending years whining about it. Move on.
I'm going to assume you didn't have any experience with being denied healthcare because you couldn't wear a mask, or being not allowed to buy things in person because you couldn't mask. Or having to carry a certificate as proof to any bylaw officer who approached you that you were medically unable to mask. (Don't get me started on how just HAVING that certificate be a thing is wrong and how icky it felt to carry it in the interest of not being fined and proving that I have a genuine health issue that should be nobody else's business. Or that 15% of the population have health conditions that masking is KNOWN through scientific research to be contraindicated to mask - and yet many of them were denied exemptions and caught up in blind statements like this that ignore harm.) My husband developed high blood pressure only when masking - do you think it's really no big deal? People should go on pharmaceuticals because of an unproven unscientific recommendation?
It's easy to eat big mac's every day for the rest of your life and never touch another fruit or vegetable. That doesn't mean anyone is going to get healthy or live a long and productive life doing it. Masks have known harms - so no, it's not easy to wear a mask, and no, people shouldn't just move on. You want to destroy your health - all the power to you. But don't ask anyone else to destroy their health and then say "but it's easy."
"who cares?" you do NOT understand human psychology.
People claiming "it's easy to wear masks" are guilty of PREFERENCE FALSIFICATION.
Where do you live? Did you have flipping idiots yelling at you outside if you weren't wearing a mask? I doubt it. It was damn stressful to experience that. I got so fed up I would ask young people why they were wearing a mask when it wasn't required. They suggested that it was out of politeness....after they thought about it for 5 seconds. Such crap.
If being asked dumb questions is so “damn stressful” you need to whine about it for years to prevent it, I'd say you are lucky. I'm finished with these questions. Time to move on, people
Oh Keri Keri Keri - I for one am NEVER moving on until I hear massive heartfelt apologies for wishing death on those who ACTUALLY followed the science.
If it bothers you so much that you are commenting, why don't you move on?
It wasn't being asked dumb questions. It was people screaming at me hour after hour. Yeah, I kind of have a little PTSD from all that. What's it to ya?
There are none so blind as those who will not see. Wearing the mask WAS doing harm to others. NEVER being able to see other people's faces, seeing expressions, etc are just starters. The mask wearing also became a political statement and a way to bully others. It also led to increased crime (hey, you can't make out who's shoplifting... what a gift to thieves and so many others). Sadly, you have your head buried in the sand.
You did not read the answers to your remarks. WE care, because it is not a rational thing; it is pure, unadulterated judgmental virtue signaling. And a sign of much bigger issues.
I agree with Keri, as long as masking fundamentalists keep it to themselves. I feel bad for maskers. either they're sick in the body or sick in the head.
The problem with this religion is that it is a heavy proselytizer. That affects me negatively and I don't like that. I think Vinay agrees with this but is attacking the practice of masking so that it stays in its own backyard and stays out of ours.
I think it's working.
best handle hear
It's easy Keri?? How about if you are hard of hearing? I can personally tell you masks are NOT "easy". Actually quite the opposite. And this is only one example of the harms of perpetual masking that accompany the other examples. Have you thought about these things?
That is the defeatist attitude that allowed all this shit to go on in the first place. NOW you can't go to the doctor without a face mask on???!!! What next? How can you take losing your rights so easily?!!! Who cares? Guess what. A LOT OF US DO! That's who cares/
NO!
Fear-mongering is a conditioning tool. Humans are monkeys and we react to fear mongering, it's exactly the cause of our stupid mandates/lockdowns.
Sounds like you fear fear mongering. I'll save my energy for more important things. Again, time to move on.
Where does it stop Keri? Vaccine passports? Showing who is "clean" and who isn't? Forcing people to wear a yellow star was just a piece of cloth right? So what? "Certainly anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices". V. Wearing a mask outside is believing an absurdity.
ANTI fear-mongerer. Fear-mongerer are the real bigots and haters and misinformation-ers.
Yeah, you should have done that before trolling.
Correct. We don't appreciate fear mongering. Thanks for noticing. Perhaps you should triple mask your coochie to reduce the PPM pollution down there. Covid, smog and Yeast are a BAD combo!!!!
Of course, that guy can wear a mask. No one is saying he can't. If our comments aren't affecting you ... why do you care enough to respond to them? Why are you here? For most of us, when people bow down to the talisman of a mask and wish to foist these same neuroses on other people ... that is why we speak up. And that is why we make fun of the ridiculousness. OR else it becomes normalized and expected. Sure, they can wear the mask. Just STFU when we do not and say something about it. Follow the SCIENCE, right?
Sure, he can do anything like that he wants. Likewise there's nothing wrong pointing out it's useless and probably counterproductive.
Please also note how the S.F. pols wear masks as their uniform and how they've rendered the town into near dystopian ruin and will force mask requirements back on everyone the moment they have the opportunity.
Because he continues the idiot narrative. Also, it makes people wonder if they should bring him in for a psych eval
Vinay-
In answer to your question, I think it may be time to stop talking about mask effectiveness. Not much more you can do about it. Thank you for your passionate voice.
I’d rather see more research and conversation about Covid vaccine induced adverse effects like neuropathy and inflammation. Small studies are coming out but we need more knowledgeable voices on the matter to avoid unnecessary vaccination of children and young adults until we know more.
Thank you.
Agree 1,000 percent. I’m injured and want some attention on making sure others are spared. And how to heal. No good treatments out there … lots of claims and lot of people thrown to the curb by medical institutions that made them get vaxxed.
I have worn a mask outside on nice days while riding my bike for 3 reasons
1. It prevent bugs or large particles from entering my trachea
2. My cheeks are particularly sun sensitive and the mask helps prevent sun burn
3. I have exercise-induced asthma and am allergic to tree, ragweed, and grass pollen and the mask helps mitigate reactions
That being said, most days I don't wear a mask when riding
I'm sorry but that's just stupid. I spent 40 years full-time cycling. ZERO of my asthma cyclist friends have ever worn masks, you're a walking cycling placebo effect.
So, only your lower cheeks are susceptible to sun??? Ridiculous
In 40 years of cycling in bug infestations, not one bug has ever made it past my tongue.
A mask also makes it harder to breathe when riding a bicycle because you are taking in a lot of your own CO2
IKR! I live in Canada's North (not just regular Canada), the land of endless bugs. My stop cycling temperature limit is -40, that's when the steering stops working. Gear shifting stops functioning around -32. I NEVER cover my face with a scarf, I wear a scarf for my neck, not my face. If my face becomes too cold (rare) I press my hand against the cold spot for a few seconds, all better.
My parents were 3-pack-a-day smokers each, I had to hide my entire face behind turtle necks and learned to not breathe. It's fucking horrible. Will NEVER do it again.
nonsense. breathing into a paper bag does what you say though! masks are two way... otherwise you'd quickly choke on full lungs of air and die.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33858372/
Interesting. I appreciate you offering your perspective on wearing a mask outdoors, even while exercising.
I too have asthma triggered by exposure to allergens and by exercise. I too am allergic to trees and various plants, along with particulates like smoke, pet dander, and dust.
Wearing a mask and trying to exercise was just awful; I happened to be going through physical therapy in 2021 and had to wear one. Couldn't catch my breath. I also live next to a lovely forest and fortunately my local authorities did not mandate wearing a mask outdoors, so of course I did not because I wanted to be able to actually breathe deeply upon exertion. That didn't stop people from saying nasty things and casting evil looks when they would pass me on the trails--this despite the fact that in deference to their fears, I would always step off the trails several feet and let them pass me.
Did you do that BEFORE Covid? I suspect not.
of course, he didn't. He isn't saying the actual reason he does it. I bet like Fauci; he IS the science. He's just following science.
There is no logic to those who assert that wearing a mask even during exertion causes no problem with breathing and proper oxygenation.
What's the thought process here? "Wearing a mask is really really important because it stops viruses and other airborne particulate from entering my lungs. Masks accomplish this by filtering air before I inhale that air into my body. Filtering is a process wherein a physical barrier impedes the free flow of air and thereby catches particulate matter. And of course, there's no downside to that because impeding the free flow of air doesn't impede the free flow of air into my lungs." ????
So, are you totally disembodied and have no sense of oxygen deprivation?
Being smothered, having something on our face, invokes primal responses. What is fucking wrong with people that they allow this basic, healthy instinct to be habitually, slowly repressed based on almost entirely speculative health outcomes?
That is the ultimate “Lib” bicycle.
Hmm. If had a bike like that I would wear a mask to disguise myself too.
The main reason I oppose mask wearing is the confusing message it sends children. Adults need to model healthy adult living. We lied to kids and unfortunately most of them believed us. We need to admit we made so many terrible mistakes and we need to stop making them.
People who mask simply show their crazy! No need now to guess, it’s visible!
Perhaps he was concerned about poo particles?
You're taking your insistence on evidence too far. It's one thing to demand it for public health decisions, another altogether for our personal choices—especially those for which no good evidence exists. I make dozens of decisions a day about things that might affect my health. Have they all been studied? Have they all been WELL studied? Am I aware of and able to easily access and interpret the studies that do exist relative to each of these decisions. No. Sometimes you have to go out on a limb and make decisions based on your accumulated life experience. BTW, you're essentially arguing for a different, non-evidence-based behavior: just do what everyone else is doing. Is there any evidence that masking while riding a bike in a potentially polluted city is worse for you than not wearing one? BTW, particulate concentrations in cities are worst exactly where cyclist mouths are—which is likely not where the data you present is gathered.
This was in San Francisco. We generally have very clean air. This cyclist is a nut case.
I haven't been riding as much as I used to but I have done a lot of organized bike rides and nobody *ever* wore a mask. Suddenly they are in fashion and it's because of Covid not because of air pollution.
Some people did wear masks when we had the terrible fires in California a few years back. But the masks worn by this cyclist would not have helped.
The emperor is not wearing any clothes.........
Another thing is I personally dont feel safe around a bunch of people covering their face. Its been a big boon for the thieves and gangsters. Great. If I had a store or an event, I would require that everyone show their face before entering. They could put their mask back on once they got inside but there’s no way I would let in people who were covering their face and were anonymous to me.
We have a smile deficiency in the US. We are now in a misery pandemic. Smiles reduce cortisol and boost our immune systems and smiles are wildly contagious. But with the mask on you can protect yourself from being happy and or look miserable to everyone around you.
Can we *please* counter the massively harmful “6foot distancing” campaign with a smile campaign? Im even ok if male construction workers and guys on the street start telling me to smile again. Smile wrinkles are so much better looking as we age. Love you Vinay. Lets all smile to the masked up people; maybe they will feel less afraid.