Bad News Thread

Skin sensitivity is actually kind of common in math circles. Paul Erdoes is the most obvious example, though he made it worse with his meth habit.

That doesn’t mean I expect the world to change the rule to handle the exception. We, as a country, should be using masks to get a handle on the pandemic. Once we have the general rule, then we can ask whether there are exceptions.

The funeral example is telling. You want to end the mask rule so it’s easier to get to funerals. I want to keep the mask rule so we have fewer funerals to attend.

You really need to believe they make a difference, don't you? Have you asked yourself why?
 
I find it fascinating that 12 months later we're still trying to claim with some authority common denominators for Covid, particularly that if we dealt with those common denominator we could impact Covid. NEWSFLASH, the virus doesn't give a shit about common denominators (nor as I mentioned before does it give a shit about math.) This is clearly obvious by the fact that every area has had uncorrelated results in relation to the restrictions implemented (with the exception of islands maybe). Its certainly not the housing in California nor is it the alcohol consumed in Utah and likely not the weather. It also turns out it wasn't the Super Bowl either. (BTW I consumed way more alcohol when I lived in Utah vs. California, but that's only a sample size of one)

This is not fatalism, its reality. We're pretending to fight Covid at the expense of small business and our children. It's security theatre. Am I saying we should do nothing, nope. Wear a mask when you are indoors in public when you can't socially distance, its far from foolproof but it may provide some protection. Use common sense. Move activities outdoors if possible. Or if your uncomfortable with that stay at home. But for F's sake open schools and business 100%. Your personal cost/benefit may be negligible, but please don't use that to restrict behaviors for others, that's the ultimate in selfishness.

I'm going to go out on a limb here but I bet that GraceT, Desert Hound, Kickingandscreaming, Kicker4life, all have lived their lives in a fairly normal way but have taken common sense precautions. I going to guess that none of them have spread the virus to anyone else, if they even got it. I'd say our family lived our lifes about 90% normal to the extent we could. 12 months in and none of our family, extended family, social friends and office colleagues have even got Covid (knocking on wood) despite vacations, out of state soccer, family gatherings and outdoor cocktail parties including the Super Bowl and my wife's 50th birthday.

Dad4 you should be taking a victory lap for predicting youth sports would resume in March. As recent as two weeks ago, I thought there was no f'ing way that would be the case. Now we were right and wrong for the wrong reasons, but still, I'm stoked that you were right. I wished had put a wager on it with you because I would have happily honored the bet with takeout delivered to your home.
 
So this probably should go in the good news thread since its so comical, but its in a sad way so it goes here. What's crazy is people were swooning over what a great job Coumo was doing. On Facebook, people were posting how great Coumo was and how they had a crush on him with heart emoji's. How they couldn't wait to watch his press conferences. Like I said then, and I say now, the guy may be the biggest conman ever in politics. He's certainly great at gaslighting. Coumo is evil smart, DeBlasio is a stone cold idiot.


 
You really need to believe they make a difference, don't you? Have you asked yourself why?
Sure. I believe masks work against covid because multiple peer reviewed studies say they work against covid.


The estimates of effectiveness range from 70-79% reduction in transmission.

That’s the difference between R=3.0 and R=0.63 to 0.9


You really believe masks do not work. Have you ever asked yourself why? It’s not the science, because the scientists disagree with you.
 
Sure. I believe masks work against covid because multiple peer reviewed studies say they work against covid.


The estimates of effectiveness range from 70-79% reduction in transmission.

That’s the difference between R=3.0 and R=0.63 to 0.9


You really believe masks do not work. Have you ever asked yourself why? It’s not the science, because the scientists disagree with you.

What's going on with the planet disagrees with them. The issue is they were caught in the theoretical instead of real world applications. Then they were caught having made this recommendation (after having reversed 1 time) and had to then justify it. And yes I know why....I'm a skeptic.
 
What's going on with the planet disagrees with them. The issue is they were caught in the theoretical instead of real world applications. Then they were caught having made this recommendation (after having reversed 1 time) and had to then justify it. And yes I know why....I'm a skeptic.

The ”planet” is a giant ball of iron and rock. ”The planet” can’t support your position any more than “the planet” can dance the Charleston.

Multiple studies, both laboratory and real world, have concluded that masks work. These studies look at the same planet you do. They are just conducted by people who know what they are doing, in a way that you and I do not.

There is a fine line between being a skeptic and being a stubborn fool. At some point, you have to accept new data or you become the latter.
 
The ”planet” is a giant ball of iron and rock. ”The planet” can’t support your position any more than “the planet” can dance the Charleston.

Multiple studies, both laboratory and real world, have concluded that masks work. These studies look at the same planet you do. They are just conducted by people who know what they are doing, in a way that you and I do not.

There is a fine line between being a skeptic and being a stubborn fool. At some point, you have to accept new data or you become the latter.

It's funny you say this despite the real world evidence around you. There's only been one real study of it, the Denmark study, with less than stellar results which in the end didn't really prove much of anything either way. The rest are observational studies and CDC propaganda that they've needed to justify their policies and reputation. You are paying so close attention to the shells you aren't seeing the real game here: which is around the world mask mandates still haven't worked and have been a disaster. Again, look at the company you are keeping these days. Proud of them?
 
It's funny you say this despite the real world evidence around you. There's only been one real study of it, the Denmark study, with less than stellar results which in the end didn't really prove much of anything either way. The rest are observational studies and CDC propaganda that they've needed to justify their policies and reputation. You are paying so close attention to the shells you aren't seeing the real game here: which is around the world mask mandates still haven't worked and have been a disaster. Again, look at the company you are keeping these days. Proud of them?

And here's the sad part for the so-called experts. Back in May/June, everyone was praising the Czech Republic for being an early adopter of masks and controls. In the summer the Czech Republic had virtually no COVID and was being held up as the ideal to the world about what masking and social distancing could do. But they had a late summer outbreak. Then a disastrous winter and actually had one of the few countries in Europe where hospital usage exceeded capacity so they had to ship patients to Poland and Germany. But now they are having yet another wave, reaching as high as the winter peak, and the worst death rate in Europe.

Now....I know what you'll say.....it's because they relaxed the mask mandate in the summer. But that hard mask mandate has been in place since September so they've had nearly 6 months to work.

I've never said don't wear a mask. When going indoors for shopping I happily wear one. It might actually surprise you that even though I'm suspected case I don't do a lot of indoor shopping....I'm cautious and avoid it when I can. When friends ask for advice, I say it's a good idea to wear a mask indoors, and I think Texas probably removed the mandate a month early. I also believe that masks help a little (they might help an individual avoid getting it in the waiting room of a doctor's office, or at the pharmacy or grocery stores with short time periods). But the truth is they help very little or we'd see a more substantial impact and not what happened in the Czech Republic. But their time is almost done, and when the elderly are vaccinated, they should go everywhere. We don't do this for the flu. And when the elderly are vaccinated, the ifr will be about the same as a bad flu season.
 
It's funny you say this despite the real world evidence around you. There's only been one real study of it, the Denmark study, with less than stellar results which in the end didn't really prove much of anything either way. The rest are observational studies and CDC propaganda that they've needed to justify their policies and reputation. You are paying so close attention to the shells you aren't seeing the real game here: which is around the world mask mandates still haven't worked and have been a disaster. Again, look at the company you are keeping these days. Proud of them?
Denmark study was medical masks for incoming virus. It made no attempt to study outgoing virus.

USS Roosevelt study seems more relevant.

Company I’m keeping? I dropped any support for Coumo months ago when I realized what he’d done by returning partially recovered patients to nursing homes.
 
Am I saying we should do nothing, nope. Wear a mask when you are indoors in public when you can't socially distance, its far from foolproof but it may provide some protection. Use common sense. Move activities outdoors if possible. Or if your uncomfortable with that stay at home. But for F's sake open schools and business 100%. Your personal cost/benefit may be negligible, but please don't use that to restrict behaviors for others, that's the ultimate in selfishness.

I'm going to go out on a limb here but I bet that GraceT, Desert Hound, Kickingandscreaming, Kicker4life, all have lived their lives in a fairly normal way but have taken common sense precautions.

That's really the problem. People disingenuously claim that they will wear masks and take precautions, but the moment things loosen up, there is a sudden push against wearing masks and everyone wants to resume all indoor activities without any precautions.

We would be a lot better off if people would just agree to do exactly what you describe--take reasonable precautions like wear masks, socially distance, move activities outdoors if possible.

But half the country absolutely refuses to do that so we have to rely on either increased testing or increased vaccinations. Fortunately, a year after the virus hit, California is finally able to close the gap on both of these.
 
The ”planet” is a giant ball of iron and rock. ”The planet” can’t support your position any more than “the planet” can dance the Charleston.

Multiple studies, both laboratory and real world, have concluded that masks work. These studies look at the same planet you do. They are just conducted by people who know what they are doing, in a way that you and I do not.

There is a fine line between being a skeptic and being a stubborn fool. At some point, you have to accept new data or you become the latter.
It appears that you only think of a skeptic in the pejorative sense. There is quite a big between a skeptic and being a stubborn fool. Just as there is a big difference between believing masks help and being a blind follower and thinking they're a panacea. You seem to assume that because someone is mask skeptic that they are being careless or encouraging others to be careless because that benefits your narrative. That isn't the case in most circumstances. Being a skeptic in the absence of significant evidence is oftentimes healthy.

Just look at yourself. When I posted up the opinions of the National Academy of Science and the American Academy of Pediatrics supporting reopening schools because the risk of covid was less than the other risks to children you called it BS. Now that there are is endless data proving this you're a proponent of reopening in person education. You had a higher benchmark for evidence than I did for reopening schools, just as GraceT and I have a higher benchmark for the effectiveness of masks than you do. I could argue that my skepticism is more warranted because of Fauci's initial comments and prior pre-Covid studies that questioned the effectiveness of masks outside a clinical setting, but at the end of the day we all have our biases based on our personalities and life experiences. However, to claim my skepticism of masks is more dangerous than your skepticism of reopening schools is simply nonsense.
 
What's going on with the planet disagrees with them. The issue is they were caught in the theoretical instead of real world applications. Then they were caught having made this recommendation (after having reversed 1 time) and had to then justify it. And yes I know why....I'm a skeptic.

Skeptic? Is that what that is?
 
Denmark study was medical masks for incoming virus. It made no attempt to study outgoing virus.

USS Roosevelt study seems more relevant.

Company I’m keeping? I dropped any support for Coumo months ago when I realized what he’d done by returning partially recovered patients to nursing homes.

I told you the issue with the Roosevelt study. It didn't distinguish between caution and masks. Those that wore masks were also generally more cautious and avoided places like the rec rooms. I agree being more cautious reduces the chances you get the virus.

By company I meant your pals Magoo, Husker, and NOTF.
 
I told you the issue with the Roosevelt study. It didn't distinguish between caution and masks. Those that wore masks were also generally more cautious and avoided places like the rec rooms. I agree being more cautious reduces the chances you get the virus.

By company I meant your pals Magoo, Husker, and NOTF.
All clearly textbook cases of permanent TDS damage.
 
This one is for you @dad4

But they aren’t. Businesses are still enforcing masks and distancing. It was possibly a good political move and deflection away from his incompetence, because incompetence is the cool thing for trumpists.
 
We would be a lot better off if people would just agree to do exactly what you describe--take reasonable precautions like wear masks, socially distance, move activities outdoors if possible.
This approach should have been done in the beginning as opposed to the often arbitrary and speculative restrictions that were implemented in some cases for obvious political restrictions. There was no buy-in or credibility for blanket lockdowns. Hence you got a wide variance of compliance, which you would have to some extent regardless, but not to the extent that its pro-lockdowners vs. anti-lockdowners, us vs. them etc. An "open with restrictions" would have been a more effective solution than "do what I say, and don't argue science with me". Even though some may have been skeptical at the time, it seems compliance during "flatten the curve" was pretty good. It was the nonsense after that where many of us lost the plot.
 
This approach should have been done in the beginning as opposed to the often arbitrary and speculative restrictions that were implemented in some cases for obvious political restrictions. There was no buy-in or credibility for blanket lockdowns. Hence you got a wide variance of compliance, which you would have to some extent regardless, but not to the extent that its pro-lockdowners vs. anti-lockdowners, us vs. them etc. An "open with restrictions" would have been a more effective solution than "do what I say, and don't argue science with me". Even though some may have been skeptical at the time, it seems compliance during "flatten the curve" was pretty good. It was the nonsense after that where many of us lost the plot.

Some of us said at the time (way back in May) that the lockdowns should be preserved for the severe times (like winter 2020) and not used in the happy times such as the summer when cases were low. But SoCal was having a moderate summer bump (due in part to what was happening with Mexico and the border) that in comparison to the winter looks tiny. Given the new baselines, it's also pretty clear that California tiers were just way to sensitive.
 
Some of us said at the time (way back in May) that the lockdowns should be preserved for the severe times (like winter 2020) and not used in the happy times such as the summer when cases were low. But SoCal was having a moderate summer bump (due in part to what was happening with Mexico and the border) that in comparison to the winter looks tiny. Given the new baselines, it's also pretty clear that California tiers were just way to sensitive.
How does the Mexico border explain nationwide case spikes in June-August?

That spike was caused by a combination of protests and mask-free reopening.
 
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