No mask!

[Guest]

58 minutes ago, Rudynate said:

Ha Ha!!  You're funny. Transmissability has a lot to do with how much you would protect yourself from a virus.  Of course HIV is much more virulent than the newer strains of COVID, so transmissability doesn't tell the whole story.

You're not a complete imbecile, and understand full well that HIV has nothing to do with the efficacy of masking with respect to SARS-CoV2. Stop treating the readers of this forum as if we were idiots. 

[BtmBearDad]

What’s with all the ad hominem attacks? If you want to wear a mask still, go for it. Same way, if like me, you feel done with masks, don’t wear one. Why are we even arguing about this? There’s not even any general mask mandates still in place. 

[Rudynate]

1 hour ago, Unicorn said:

You're not a complete imbecile, and understand full well that HIV has nothing to do with the efficacy of masking with respect to SARS-CoV2. Stop treating the readers of this forum as if we were idiots. 

I thought that was your schtick.  No one has ever accused me of being condescending.  It is said of you on a regular basis.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, BtmBearDad said:

What’s with all the ad hominem attacks? If you want to wear a mask still, go for it. Same way, if like me, you feel done with masks, don’t wear one. Why are we even arguing about this? There’s not even any general mask mandates still in place. 

I agree. It doesn't bother me that there are people still wearing masks indoors in March of 2023, nor should it bother anyone. If I can guesstimate by my observations at the supermarket, or when going to a museum or movie theater, or seeing performances of The Lion King, opera, etc., probably 10% of adults in the US still do indoors. Probably the same percentage as the percentage of academic geniuses in our midst who believe the earth is flat or the sun revolves around the earth. At a medical conference I went to last month, fewer than 1% of the physicians wore masks indoors, suggesting that the more one is educated on the subject, the less likely one is to mask today (none of the speakers on the subject of this virus wore masks).

Hell, I have two European cousins who have bizarre anti-vax beliefs (neither of them college-educated), and it would be a waste of my time to try to reason with either of them. As long as those beliefs don't step on my rights, there's no reason to converse on this subject (that being said, I would not have let either in my house during 2020 or 2021, nor did I let any unvaccinated in my house for the first 2 years). One of them might visit once the US drops the ban on unvaccinated foreigners later this Spring, and we will not, of course, broach the subject.

On the other hand, some people read this forum because they're actually interested in the latest science, statistics, and other factual data, so I do like to present the current state of knowledge. If someone responds with either irrelevant studies, or, worse, completely false comparisons, I will point that out. But if some people like to continue masking, it doesn't bother me any more than someone who likes to hit himself on the head with a hammer. At most, I might shake my head or snicker behind their backs, but it certainly doesn't offend me. 

 

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by Unicorn

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

5 hours ago, Unicorn said:

If I can guesstimate by my observations at the supermarket, or when going to a museum or movie theater, or seeing performances of The Lion King, opera, etc., probably 10% of adults in the US still do indoors. Probably the same percentage as the percentage of academic geniuses in our midst who believe the earth is flat or the sun revolves around the earth. At a medical conference I went to last month, fewer than 1% of the physicians wore masks indoors, suggesting that the more one is educated on the subject, the less likely one is to mask today (none of the speakers on the subject of this virus wore masks).

I must travel among adults highly educated on the subject.  I haven't seen anyone wear a mask in my presence since last June when I was in New York City.  And since then I've been to the doctor's office, theater, restaurants, and various stores, and have traveled by airplane and cruise ship, and haven't seen anyone with a mask.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Vegas_nw1982 said:

I must travel among adults highly educated on the subject.  I haven't seen anyone wear a mask in my presence since last June when I was in New York City.  And since then I've been to the doctor's office, theater, restaurants, and various stores, and have traveled by airplane and cruise ship, and haven't seen anyone with a mask.

I agree. My partner went on a cruise around Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Boston last August. We socialized with dozens of people, and the only pair who were wearing masks (N95's, of course) were the only ones we socialized with who had a documented contraction of the virus (at least one of them did, probably because they were the only ones obsessively testing themselves). I had a pack of Paxlovid, and offered it to the partner of the infected one, but the genius refused it because he felt he "wasn't sick enough," though he was 72 and therefore a prime candidate for someone who should've taken it. In any case, his sniffles only last 2 days. I guess they enjoyed room service for the rest of the cruise. 🙄 I would have loved to be able to ask them why they tested themselves if they weren't going to do anything with the information (like take Paxlovid, since they were senior citizens), other than isolate themselves in their cabins for the rest of the cruise, on a ship with fully vaccinated passengers and crew. 

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

7 minutes ago, Unicorn said:

 I would have loved to be able to ask them why they tested themselves if they weren't going to do anything with the information (like take Paxlovid, since they were senior citizens), other than isolate themselves in their cabins for the rest of the cruise, on a ship with fully vaccinated passengers and crew. 

Exactly.

I have coronavirus tests at home, but if I test it would be if I have symptoms and then to confirm to show my employer, who is still offering 80 paid hours of sick leave to stay home if I test positive for the virus.  If I don't eventually test positive, I lose the paid time off.

I'm not going to do anything to catch the virus on purpose, like travel to Wuhan or something (lol), but it's nice to know I have the test and the paid leave is available if I need it.

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by Vegas_nw1982
Added much needed humor

[Rudynate]

13 hours ago, Unicorn said:

I agree. It doesn't bother me that there are people still wearing masks indoors in March of 2023, nor should it bother anyone. If I can guesstimate by my observations at the supermarket, or when going to a museum or movie theater, or seeing performances of The Lion King, opera, etc., probably 10% of adults in the US still do indoors. Probably the same percentage as the percentage of academic geniuses in our midst who believe the earth is flat or the sun revolves around the earth. At a medical conference I went to last month, fewer than 1% of the physicians wore masks indoors, suggesting that the more one is educated on the subject, the less likely one is to mask today (none of the speakers on the subject of this virus wore masks).

Hell, I have two European cousins who have bizarre anti-vax beliefs (neither of them college-educated), and it would be a waste of my time to try to reason with either of them. As long as those beliefs don't step on my rights, there's no reason to converse on this subject (that being said, I would not have let either in my house during 2020 or 2021, nor did I let any unvaccinated in my house for the first 2 years). One of them might visit once the US drops the ban on unvaccinated foreigners later this Spring, and we will not, of course, broach the subject.

On the other hand, some people read this forum because they're actually interested in the latest science, statistics, and other factual data, so I do like to present the current state of knowledge. If someone responds with either irrelevant studies, or, worse, completely false comparisons, I will point that out. But if some people like to continue masking, it doesn't bother me any more than someone who likes to hit himself on the head with a hammer. At most, I might shake my head or snicker behind their backs, but it certainly doesn't offend me. 

 

 

But of course, it does offend him.  That's why he goes off on people who disagree with him.   Maybe Unicorn needs a vacation from the forum to regain his perspective.

[+ KensingtonHomo]

9 hours ago, Vegas_nw1982 said:

I must travel among adults highly educated on the subject.  I haven't seen anyone wear a mask in my presence since last June when I was in New York City.  And since then I've been to the doctor's office, theater, restaurants, and various stores, and have traveled by airplane and cruise ship, and haven't seen anyone with a mask.

You're confusing the enormous social pressure from the government, media, employers, etc. to normalize COVID-19 as "endemic", with people being "highly educated." In fact, they've been fed a ton of misinformation. I live in NYC and I'd say 20% of people are still masking in most public settings. 

If you accept that a novel virus should be allowed to kill 100,000 people this year because it creates a minor inconvenience for you, that's sociopathy. 

EDITED TO REMOVE POLITICAL REFERENCE

[RadioRob]

A friendly reminder that ya'll know the rules.  Don't make me need to break out the slapper.   

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

1 hour ago, KensingtonHomo said:

If you accept that a novel virus should be allowed to kill 100,000 people this year because it creates a minor inconvenience for you, that's sociopathy. 

The number you gave is quite an acceptable risk to me.  By comparison, 1,300,000 deaths occur from automobile crashes each year according to World Health Organization.  Still, the advantages of the automobile outweigh the direct deaths caused by them.

The drastic disruptions caused by masking, social distancing, and mandatory shut downs after vaccines were available were not worth the tens of thousands of lives they may have saved, in my opinion.  Should anyone disagree, they first better not use an automobile, ride in an automobile, or have services delivered to them in an automobile, lest they be called a hypocrite for endangering far more lives than by not wearing a mask.

I wonder... statistically will I save more lives by wearing a mask while driving a deadly automobile, or by not wearing a mask and choosing to take the much safer train.  Ah, the ethical dilemmas we face!

As for the higher number of New York City residents who choose to wear masks for public safety, I wonder why then are fewer New Yorkers taking the subway post-pandemic but personal vehicle use is up?  They find it acceptable to inflict more deaths on others by the increased use of private automobiles, all while trying to avoid their own by being in close spaces with others on mass transit??? I wouldn't call that necessarily sociopathic, but rather just causing more harm than good by living in fear.

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by Vegas_nw1982

[+ KensingtonHomo]

1 hour ago, Vegas_nw1982 said:

The number you gave is quite an acceptable risk to me.  By comparison, 1,300,000 deaths occur from automobile crashes each year according to World Health Organization.  Still, the advantages of the automobile outweigh the direct deaths caused by them.

The drastic disruptions caused by masking, social distancing, and mandatory shut downs after vaccines were available were not worth the tens of thousands of lives they may have saved, in my opinion.  Should anyone disagree, they first better not use an automobile, ride in an automobile, or have services delivered to them in an automobile, lest they be called a hypocrite for endangering far more lives than by not wearing a mask.

I wonder... statistically will I save more lives by wearing a mask while driving a deadly automobile, or by not wearing a mask and choosing to take the much safer train.  Ah, the ethical dilemmas we face!

As for the higher number of New York City residents who choose to wear masks for public safety, I wonder why then are fewer New Yorkers taking the subway post-pandemic but personal vehicle use is up?  They find it acceptable to inflict more deaths on others by the increased use of private automobiles, all while trying to avoid their own by being in close spaces with others on mass transit??? I wouldn't call that necessarily sociopathic, but rather just causing more harm than good by living in fear.

 

This is such a silly response, I can barely bring myself to respond to it. BUT, here we go. 

US automobile deaths were 42,000 in 2021 versus 415,399 COVID deaths in the same year. So 10 times more people died from COVID than in car accidents. 

In the US alone, the early interventions of closures, social distancing, etc., likely saved around 1 million lives. Without them the death toll in the US would have been 2 million in 2020, rather than 1 million. Once vaccines became available, they saved hundreds of thousands of lives: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/05/13/1098071284/this-is-how-many-lives-could-have-been-saved-with-covid-vaccinations-in-each-sta

Fewer NYer are taking the subway because many now work from home part or full-time. That also correlates with higher personal automobile use because people are home more and running errands, etc. And there are some people who have chosen to drive, rather than take the subway as masking has declined. 

TL;DR: You need a logic course. 

Edited March 23, 2023 by RadioRob
Political commentary removed

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

14 minutes ago, KensingtonHomo said:

And there are some people who have chosen to drive, rather than take the subway as masking has declined. 

Ah, those poor selfish people. (Joking)

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

One positive benefit to masks in 2021/2022 is that you could tell when a provider's photographs were current. If the photographs were taken in the mirror at the gym locker room he was usually wearing a mask, so at least we knew the photos were from post-2019.

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

1 hour ago, KensingtonHomo said:

US automobile deaths were 42,000 in 2021 versus 415,399 COVID deaths in the same year.

Thank God it's not 2021 anymore

[+ KensingtonHomo]

5 minutes ago, Vegas_nw1982 said:

Thank God it's not 2021 anymore

Yet COVID deaths will outpace automobile deaths for the fourth year in a row. 

[Rudynate]

22 hours ago, Vegas_nw1982 said:

 

The drastic disruptions caused by masking, social distancing, and mandatory shut downs after vaccines were available were not worth the tens of thousands of lives they may have saved, in my opinion.  Should anyone disagree, they first better not use an automobile, ride in an automobile, or have services delivered to them in an automobile, lest they be called a hypocrite for endangering far more lives than by not wearing a mask.

 

 

What drastic disruptions?  You put a mask on and you do life.  The "drastic disruptions" are imagined by people who don't want to wear masks.

[pubic_assistance]

US cancer deaths in 2020 = 602,350

US COVID deaths in 2020 = 350,000 ( or people who died who just happened to test positive for COVID-19)

People should probably avoid eating pesticides and smoking and taking part in all the other things that cause cancer. 

But they don't.

They go about their lives assuming they will be ok.

It's a lifestyle choice. 

Edited March 25, 2023 by pubic_assistance
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