This whole mask thing has made me realize just how bad my hearing is, and how I really rely on watching mouth movement to help. Yes, I wear on in public.

I hadn't thought of that. Masks are discriminatory to lip readers. Let's apply the Americans with Disabilities act or some other applicable law to this crap.

That's racist err linguist

quote:

Originally posted by goose5:
how I really rely on watching mouth movement to help.

I had this discussion with a coworker just last week. I think my hearing is okay, but great gosh it's tougher for me to understand people right now. Evidently I do rely on the visual a good bit.

That's funny. I am severely hearing impaired. The other day I was in a store, the cashier was saying something to me. I could hear sounds coming out of her mouth but I was not able to distinguish the words.

I told her that I did not understand what she was trying to say, and asked if she would mind writing it. Instead, she lowered her mask and repeated the same gibberish.

quote:

Originally posted by goose5:
This whole mask thing has made me realize just how bad my hearing is, and how I really rely on watching mouth movement to help. Yes, I wear on in public.

To a smaller degree, this affects me as well, and I do watch people when they are speaking, especially in loud rooms with a lot of background conversation or noise.

I have several objections to masks, but one of them is that, unlike many who stare at their phone screens or look away, I actually look at the person talking...I look at their eyes and I look at their facial expressions, which is part of human communication and interaction. I depend on my ability to understand people, mostly by what they say but also to read their reactions to what is being said or other actions taking place around us. I want to be able to see people smile, I need to be able to see them frown...masks prevent this, or at the very least, inhibit it.

Conservative talk show host Dennis Prager has described the current trend of mask wearing as "dehumanizing" and I agree.

quote:

Originally posted by Modern Day Savage:
Conservative talk show host Dennis Prager has described the current trend of mask wearing as "dehumanizing" and I agree.

I wasn't aware he said this, but I couldn't agree more.

Prager has worn masks in restaurants as required, or a few close confined places, but complains about them and refuses to wear them outside when socially distanced, even though required by the governor's order. He also refuses to wear a mask during his weekly Shabbat dinners with his Jewish friends in their homes, as do they. He has said he doesn't want to get arrested but if it happens, so be it.

Salem radio network (Hewitt, Gallagher, Prager, Gorka, Elder) recently took on a new sponsor, a mask maker. Some of the hosts don't seem to have any problems doing the spot, but both Prager and Elder seem uncomfortable doing the commercial and always preface the spot saying something along the lines of "masks are unpleasant to wear, but for those times when you absolutely have no choice"...

I don't wear a mask. How long would masks last if everyone put their own saying on theirs? It would be 1st Amendment protected.

I was thinking of "This is a robbery" or "Hillary lost, get over it".

Yes, it's a long opinion piece and post, but worth the read.

Your Mask Is Making You Meaner, Dumber, More Afraid & Less Safe

May 1, 2020

I’ll try to keep this respectful but it’s not easy because the masks that so many of you are so proudly wearing are the pinnacle of stupidity and I just don’t know how to be nice about communicating that.

I know we’re all desperate to stay positive. And I know most Americans don’t have the time or energy to really look past the top-line news they see and hear. And I know the media, academia and Hollywood are very effective at shaping our impressions of social and political goings-on. And I know politicians on both sides of the aisle are congratulating you for “doing your part” to help beat the COVID-19 virus. And I know that makes you feel good at a time we could all really use some lifting up.

It’s a powerful cocktail of forces especially when virtually everyone you know is 100% bought in, too. But as every good parent will at some point tell their children: just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t make it right.

YOUR MASK IS MAKING YOU MEANER

Because you’re wearing one, you’re mad at anyone else who isn’t. You can’t say with any real certainty or evidence that you know you’re right to wear one, or that the other person is wrong not to. But that’s what you were told, and you believed it. So you decided to get a mask and wear it and yes it’s a pain but you believe it’s part of a noble, collective effort to work together and and do something big. And I say it’s a pain but let’s be honest: a good chunk of you excitedly see your masks as fashion accessories that make you look cooler, hotter or just more “woke.” But whether you love or hate wearing it, when you see someone who isn’t you take it personally. You’ve been told that that person doesn’t care about your health and safety. And you believed it. And so you see the person who isn’t wearing a mask as a bad person; one who isn’t willing to chip in, as you are, for the collective greater good. And worse, you see someone who doesn’t care if he or she puts others in harm’s way. You’re wrong. And I’ll explain why shortly. But that hostility you feel for those not wearing masks is both unhealthy and unfounded. Your mask is making you meaner.

YOUR MASK IS MAKING YOU DUMBER

You’ve decided to become a “joiner” without doing even the smallest amount of research. You’ve ignored the exhaustive list of things the experts have gotten wrong about COVID-19. You’ve barely glanced at the totality of the social, economic and health-related collateral damage that those experts’ failures have cost you, your family and our country. You were really worried about toilet paper a few months back but as soon as you got a decent supply, you just kind of accepted everything else that came after it. You’ve got toilet paper. You’re good. But man those jobless claims are hard to see. And man that tanking economy and all the businesses that are suffering or shuttering are a tough pill to swallow. Having the kids out of school is uncomfortably taxing on you, and them. Not being able to go out to eat or hang out with your friends, it’s all super rough. But what can you do? We just gotta grin and bear it and listen to the experts. Right? Wrong. You don’t have to look far to realize the experts’ response to this thing was wildly overblown. Everything they advised was to “flatten the curve” so we wouldn’t overburden hospitals. And now hospitals are firing people just so they can stay afloat. Why? Because the experts scared and in many cases mandated anyone who didn’t have COVID-19 out of treating their other health problems. So instead of getting help people are suffering and dying at home. and the hospitals are so thinned out that they can no longer pay their own bills. Great job! Sweden kept everything open and went straight for herd immunity, and their per capita numbers are effectively the same as everyone else’s with one important exception: they’re light years ahead of everyone else in terms of truly beating this thing. These aren’t opinions. These are facts. And you don’t have to look far to substantiate them. But at some point very early on in this whole national humiliation you decided you weren’t going to do any research of your own. You were just going to accept everything you were told. And you were told to be terrified. And you were told to stay home. And you were told never to go within 6 feet of anyone. And now you’re told to wear a mask. And you applied exactly zero critical thinking to any of what you were being told, and instead just accepted it because that’s what everyone else was doing and you lacked the confidence or courage to look more closely or assert even a shred of independent thought. And now you’re walking around with a mask on, and you’re mad at anyone you see who isn’t wearing one. You haven’t spent a full 20 seconds washing your hands in over a month. In fact you’re not even really washing your hands with any more diligence or regularity than you were before COVID-19 arrived. You’re touching your face without giving it a second thought. Those staples of common sense viral risk mitigation are out the window, because you didn’t really invest any of yourself in understanding their application or merit. You just listened to what you were told. And you’re not told those things so much anymore, so you basically forgot about them. But now you’re told to wear a mask. So you’re eagerly doing it. Because doing what you’re told is easier than thinking about things. Your mask is making you dumber.

YOUR MASK IS MAKING YOU MORE AFRAID

You feel good about your mask because you believe you’re making a positive difference. You’re part of something bigger now. You’re doing your part to help really beat this thing once and for all. That’s how you feel. That’s what you tell yourself. That’s what you believe. But as human beings, we have something called subconscious. Your subconscious is where deeply meaningful impressions are forged psychologically that manifest in your thoughts and actions yet are completely undetected by your overt feelings or awareness. And while you tell yourself your mask is a badge of nobility that means you’re doing your part to help save lives, you’re subconsciously reinforcing a constant fear of the entire world that exists beyond the confines of your own home. Everywhere you go, you only see masks. When you don’t see masks, you’re offended and angry at the people not wearing them. You believe masks are saving lives, and the absence or inefficiency of masks means lives are at risk. And it’s constant. And it’s all around you, all the time. You wanted to get back to normal. You wanted to stop being afraid. You were told that masks were the best way to do that. But now masks are the new normal. And that means fear — ubiquitous, perpetual, constant fear — is the new normal. You don’t realize it because you’re so proud to be doing your small part to help those around you. You think about your fear and deem it appropriate given the dangerous environment that lurks all around you. And I’m here to tell you you’re wrong. A dangerous environment doesn’t lurk all around you, at least no more than usual anyway. Your mask is making you more afraid.

YOUR MASK IS MAKING YOU LESS SAFE

One of the cooler things about evolution is that nature provided a vaccine that’s built in automatically. It’s called “herd immunity.” And while the experts who want to scare you in to perpetual submission are pretending that “herd immunity” is some farcical phenomenon that only crazy people talk about, it is in reality our only current shot at actually beating COVID-19. The alternative to herd immunity is simple: stay home, keep the economy shut down, continue turning away any patient who doesn’t have COVID-19, and twiddle our thumbs for a year or two while our nation and its people rot away waiting for a vaccine to be found, approved, and delivered to everyone in America. And I’m guessing some of you, because you’re so bought into the fear, would say “Hey man, if that’s what it takes, so be it!” You’re insane. There isn’t a ventilator big enough to save the USA if we did that, and you’re so spoiled by all the comforts and security this nation has given you that you don’t even realize the irresponsibility of what you’re suggesting. The stupidity is eclipsed only by the sanctimony. One of the only things we know for sure about COVID-19 is that the overwhelming majority of people who get it will either have very mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. So for the love of all that’s holy if you’re not elderly or immunocompromised, go do everything you can to contract COVID-19. Because the sooner you get it, the sooner you’ll develop antibodies that will prevent you from getting it again. And that means you won’t be able to spread it. And when enough of us get it and can no longer spread it, do you know what happens? It stops spreading. That’s the goal. That’s where we want to be. That, if you were truly wanting to do something noble and contribute in a meaningful way to beating this, would be your goal. But because the experts have you so bought into the fear, and because they’re talking to you about things like “Phase 1” and “Phase 2” and convincing you that means they have a real plan other than herd immunity (they don’t), you’re instead walking around with a mask — meaner, dumber, more afraid — and doing everything you can to make sure we don’t develop herd immunity. Your mask is making you less safe.

CONCLUSION

Again, I wanted to be respectful but it’s very frustrating to watch. Most of you don’t appreciate that the social, economic and health-related collateral damage caused by our overblown response to this far eclipses anything the virus itself could’ve done with or without our “flatten the curve” measures. Most of you don’t realize that the data you’re being given is massively flawed across every metric and it’s all going in the same direction: toward prolonging the fear and collateral destruction, and away from calm and actual mitigation. Most of you are so convinced that you’re doing the right thing, because most of you are wonderful people who care deeply not just about your own health but your neighbors’, and your parents’, and your grandparents’, and really — at a time so beset by fear and perceived danger — even your worst enemy’s. You’re setting everything else aside because you want to help and do good. And I get that. But I’m telling you, your mask isn’t the way to do that. And I don’t expect you to take a stand with me and try to convince your friends and family and local leaders that the media and academia have been hyping this from the start and have actually been wrong about virtually all of it and have caused a lot more damage than they’ve prevented. But I had to at least try to make this case to you because if nothing else, I want you to be a little less judgmental of the people you see who aren’t wearing masks. I want you to be a little less sanctimonious, and mean, and uninformed, and afraid, and counter-productive with respect to our shared goal of beating this with as little pain as possible. And I want you to seriously consider investing in getting a serology (antibody) test. Because if you already got it and can no longer spread it, like tens of millions of Americans undoubtedly have, you deserve to know that instead of living in constant fear that is actually doing more to prolong the misery than to mitigate it.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: And because “mob mentality” is now considered a virtue while “herd immunity” is considered a vice, I realize anyone who says anything that goes against the COVID-19 grain will be accused of callously not caring if people live or die. For that reason I’m inclined to include this video as often as possible at the end of one of my pieces. If you’ve never watched it, you should. It’s under 2 minutes and provides some much needed perspective with regard to the sanctimony and intellectual dishonesty of the “YOU WANT PEOPLE TO DIE!” crowd.




Link to original video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eXWhbUUE4ko


UPDATE, 5/4/20 at 8:46AM ET: Seeing and hearing feedback that Sweden’s numbers are allegedly higher than everyone else’s. That feedback, like so much else that people are wrong about, is predicated on garbage numbers that the experts are pushing to help keep people afraid. The numbers they’re using assume nobody else in Sweden caught COVID-19 except those who went through their systems and were formally diagnosed with it. That is, of course, nonsense as one thing we know for sure about COVID-19 is that many or even the vast majority of us will have either mild symptoms or no symptoms at all, and are thus not being counted in the coveted “confirmed cases” numbers that Johns Hopkins and others are tallying and the media is amplifying. I explain in more detail in reply to a Sweden-related comment below, and will write about this later today.

UPDATE, 5/4/20 at 12:21PM ET: As promised, here’s a link to the piece specifically about Sweden.

Trashing Sweden With The Same Junk Science Used To Terrify Everyone Else

The arguments of “its just common sense” and “masks aren’t to protect you, they are to protect others” is nothing but horse shit drawn up to justify more government over reach.

First, I’ll repeat this one more time. Even with the hugely doctored “death toll”, 99 percent of the people who contract the virus..... survive. Yep, even with the doctored stats, that is still a fact. It’s an inconvenient one to the mask narrative.

The second fakery is that I am somehow responsible for protecting “the innocents”. I’ve yet to understand how that 1) is my responsibility, 2) why they are up in my face so they could contract the disease if I had it, and 3) why the hell they are out being high risk in the first place.

Not to account for the fact that 100 percent of what the “experts” have told us has been wrong. They’ve got nothing right. Mask wearing has been unnecessary, necessary, unnecessary, necessary, and now it is a virtue signaling for what I gather are folks that are mentally ill.

If masks are necessary, why didn’t we all just put on masks 12 weeks ago? If masks work, why did we release all those inmates into society instead of just putting masks on them? Why did society go for 12 weeks and you didn’t have to have a mask to go to the store, and now you do? We know the answer to this. And the result of that answer is masks are not necessary in general public settings.

Mask shaming has become the latest rage. I refuse to wear one. I refuse to go places that require them.

If you are at risk, stay away. If you are afraid of infidels who refuse to wear a mask, you can stay away. If not, it is pretty arrogant to think others should be required to wear protective equipment to protect “you” ( despite no actual credible evidence that mask wearing by the knuckle dragging public is doing a damn thing to “flatten the curve”) when you don’t have the self control to stay away from people. It’s just more entitlement mentality of people who want to influence others against their will. You have a 99 percent chance of surviving this disease. Don’t like those odds? Stay at home. Or go to the places that virtue signal and require masks “to keep you safe”. I won’t be there.

Wearing a mask while alone in the car is the dumbest thing I have ever seen. It’s like masterbating while wearing a condom “just to be safe”....

Sums it up for me:

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
“masks aren’t to protect you, they are to protect others”

Do the masks work or not? If they do, as the proponents must think, and since they're wearing them, then they should be just fine from me if I'm not wearing one.

My mask arrived.... made out of laundry bag mesh.

Meets the letter by covering nose and mouth while thumbing nose at intent.

Hospital that is almost empty requires masks to be worn as a condition of entry.

quote:

Originally posted by Keystoner:

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
“masks aren’t to protect you, they are to protect others”

Do the masks work or not? If they do, as the proponents must think, and since they're wearing them, then they should be just fine from me if I'm not wearing one.

Masks are NOT to protect the wearer.

Think about your argument, and see why other people wearing masks still does not protect them from you if you don't.

Think about it this way: If I hire a guy to come in and do some work inside my house (for example, plumbing or electrical or appliance repair), I will ask them to wear shoe covers to keep my floors clean. The shoe covers are to protect my floors from being contaminated by, and by extension protect my family from walking around in, the guy's boot filth. The shoe covers are not to keep the guy's boots clean from my floor.

Similarly, when you walk into a store with a mask on, the store isn't trying to protect you. The store is trying to keep you from coughing your filth all over their aisles. Your mask isn't to protect you, its to protect the store.

The sneeze shield at the salad bar isn't to protect you from the salad. Arguing that if everyone else stood behind the sneeze guard means that everyone else should be okay if you don't, misses the point.

(As a reminder, I'm not arguing for or against masks. But I'd like y'all to argue the correct point.)

Yep, I'm familiar with that argument and I'm familiar with other opposing expert points of view that assert that masks are ineffective either way for this virus. Would you let your surgeon, who has the virus, but is wearing his mask, do surgery on you? He scrubbed and he's wearing his mask. You'll be fine.

Your examples are not good. When I have a worker coming into my house, I'm going to cover my floors to protect them from that worker. And that salad guard--it's there to protect the salad.

3 coworkers have full beards and occasionally wear masks. The mask never touches their face- So what's the point?

quote:

Originally posted by lizardman_u:
My mask arrived.... made out of laundry bag mesh.

Can you post a photo or a pointer to whence you acquired it?

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
3 coworkers have full beards and occasionally wear masks. The mask never touches their face- So what's the point?

If they cough, will some of the particles get caught on their mask instead of flying a larger distance?

That, is the point.

quote:

Originally posted by Keystoner:
Yep, I'm familiar with that argument and I'm familiar with other opposing expert points of view that assert that masks are ineffective either way for this virus. Would you let your surgeon, who has the virus, but is wearing his mask, do surgery on you? He scrubbed and he's wearing his mask. You'll be fine.

Your examples are not good. When I have a worker coming into my house, I'm going to cover my floors to protect them from that worker. And that salad guard--it's there to protect the salad.

Like I previously state, I am not arguing for or against masks. I am not arguing for their effectiveness.

I just want you, and people like you, to argue the point. That is all.

The infected surgeon mask is a good argument. Make it if you like. It's not necessarily a winning argument, but at least it stays on point. The "everyone else is wearing one, so I shouldn't" argument ignores the point that masks aren't to protect the wearer. That's doesn't argue the point. Don't make that argument.

Regarding my other two examples, they make the point clearly that the shoe covers and sneeze guard aren't to protect the guy wearing the shoe covers or the guy standing behind the shield. Again, if you read those two examples and your take away was to argue that you'd use a floor covering, you are missing the point.

Lastly, in what world is the sneeze guard at a salad bar NOT to protect the salad? It is, literally, to protect the salad from getting sneezed and coughed on.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Lastly, in what world is the sneeze guard at a salad bar NOT to protect the salad? It is, literally, to protect the salad from getting sneezed and coughed on.

Well, it depends...