Long-time readers may remember that I can’t write as often in December, because it’s a month of important deadlines in my other life as a journal editor, but I hate letting two days go by without a post, and also I can’t stop laughing at this hilarious New York Times article on ‘Why It’s Time to Wear A Mask Again’. The generally excellent Vinay Prasad already caught them citing as “strong evidence” for mask efficacy, this study, which fails to find that masks have any significant effect on rates of influenza infection. Just link to anything and hope nobody notices, Times bros.
The worst, though, is at the very end, when the mask brigade start to reveal a little too much about themselves and their readership:
“Frankly, to prevent transmission, neither antivirals nor vaccines have done a great job,” said Dr. Abraar Karan, an infectious disease fellow and postdoctoral researcher at Stanford Medicine. “What prevents transmission is actually masking and likely air filtration.”
When weighing when and where to mask, Dr. Madad recommended paying attention to the “Three Cs”: close contact, crowded spaces and confined places with poor ventilation. The experts urged wearing masks while traveling on planes and public transportation, and they strongly suggested doing it while out shopping for groceries and gifts. For smaller holiday parties with people you know, it’s fine to forgo masks if guests test beforehand and stay home if they’re feeling rundown.
Realistically, not everyone in the United States — or a certain city — will wear a mask. In fact, you might find yourself the only person in a store or on a plane who’s wearing one. Don’t let that discourage you. For one thing, remember that no one is thinking about you as much as you think they are. In social psychology, this is called the spotlight illusion, said Gretchen Chapman, a professor of social and decision sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. “I may feel that everyone’s staring at me because I’m wearing a mask, but chances are that’s like the 11th thing on their list to worry about,” she said.
What’s more, Dr. Chapman said, “There are lots of situations in life where we do something that makes us feel awkward, but if we think it’s important enough, we do it anyway.”
The poor pandemic faithful started out masking to save the lives of the elderly and vulnerable, but now they find themselves in an unending hygiene prison from which the only escape, is admitting that they’ve behaved like fools for the past three years. If they can’t do that, a bleak future awaits them, of persisting as the solitary idiotic masker in the grocery store and on the train, of demanding all their acquaintances produce negative tests before they’re allowed to come to any party, and, above all, of never being able to relax around other people. How living like this is better than occasional virus infections, nobody can explain.
Oh, and the comments are a thing to behold.
Some readers have developed all kinds rationalisations for the failure of masks to do anything, along with strange pretzel logic that explains why continuing to mask is still so important even if it doesn’t prevent infection.
Others have very exotic understandings of how viruses evolve, and see in masks the possibility of a freedom from pandemics, which is of course more important than your freedom to breathe normally in public.
But above all there are just the countless comments from people who love masks, who mask everywhere all the time, who mask especially at the gym, and think it’s all fantastic.
Often I despair for humanity.
This piece originally appeared on Eugyppius’s Substack newsletter. You can subscribe here.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
FB is full of adverts for trendy masks that “Protect your most important asset. Your health“.
Yet on their website they actually state..” these statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease”
A similar disclaimer was written on the side of every single box IIRC
In answer to the question, ‘Are people stupid enough?’, it appears that the answer is always ‘Yes’…
That’s been the main lesson from the last 3 years.
Never overestimate the intelligence of the average punter.
Especially if they are university educated.
“Punter” of course has a double meaning, lol.
Well the commenter that harangues everyone to get boosted below an article that states, and I quote:
definitely qualifies as stupid.
Funny how the NYT can get away with saying jabs don’t really work, but others on YouTube, for example, can’t and get their channels cancelled.
What a funny world this has become.
The correct question is ‘Are WE people stupid enough?’/ Don’t ask for whom the bell tolls.
Stupidity is one thing there will NEVER be a shortage of, it seems.
“Often I despair for humanity”. Yep, I feel your pain. I’ve said before, maybe there’s something in this depopulation idea!
I actually thought the bit most revealing of these people’s character was this: “remember that no one is thinking about you as much as you think they are“. There’s the money shot. These people think the world revolves around them. These egotistical narcissist’s just assume the world will bend to their will.
I work with a professor of medicine.
Fully jabbed.
Very healthy.
No cardiac risk factors.
Permanently N-95 masked.
Middle aged.
Just had triple bipass surgery.
No prior issues until the jabs started.
Must be family history.
Now returned to work
Still masked.
That’s modern medicine.
And get your kids jabbed.
‘Professor’ = clown show. Yeah have those as well in the family. They are quackademics who could never function in the real world. So they pile on high and deep useless degrees and ‘teach’. Why? Because they don’t have the intelligence to do much else. Ironically of course viewing themselves as uber intelligent. The car wash owner near our house has more common sense than these morons.
Quackademics indeed
Wow. Must be climate change, lol.
For one thing, remember that no one is thinking about you as much as you think they are.
Hah. I can assure you, if I see a person in a mask these days in the UK they are the ONLY person I am thinking about. I make a small exception for people over 70, due to the onslaught of propaganda and actually having lived experience (
) of decent doctors and decent healthcare.
for anyone below 70 I wonder just what the psychological exit strategy is for these people.
And if they’re driving a car, alone, wearing a mask, I am definitely thinking about you, and I’m not thinking anything warm or fuzzy.
Agree about over 70’s.
Common decency gives them the benefit of the doubt, though I am still thinking about them, and probably just feeling pity.
Hey, stop talking about me as if I am not here. I am over 70 and have never masked except where medical staff told me “no mask, no treatment”.
No offence meant FAFFOR, just referring to different categories of the facially napkinned. All unmasked are the true inheritors of the kingdom of God, regardless of age!
The concern I would have is if medical staff say “no mask, no treatment” then what is the quality of the treatment, because there is no medical reason for masks.
For a torn meniscus in one knee there were only two possible diagnoses (I even spelled it out for them), and I would hope that the NHS hit rate id better that 50%
“lived experience”
There is a job for you. It’s just been advertised.
I’ve found very little to laugh about during these past few years, so I am definitely taking a moment to enjoy the wonderful new phrase ‘lived experience’. A perfect example of this clown world we find ourselves in.
It’s their way of getting you to show your obedience to the cult.
Masktards. 1500 studies over 20 years point to the uselessness of stopping a nano sized anything. It is a symbol of Medical Nazism, compliance to totalitarianism, signage that the wearer is an idiot devoid of any functional critical thinking. They should be pointed out and laughed at in public (or worse).
As I understand it, the only contribution that masks might make if to prevent someone passing on a small percentage of a virus in the larger droplets of moisture they exhale. They do not protect the wearer.
They won’t even do that. Please look up Stephen Petty on Youtube. A mask my capture droplets from a wearer that is sneezing or coughing, but any airborne virus is free to go anywhere.
That’s impossible because physical barriers are not one-way. If a mask can stop outgoing droplets at a relatively high velocity (due to being closer to the source of the acceleration) it must be capable of stopping incoming droplets at a relatively low velocity. Face masking is a fashion popular with segments of the population, presumably the well-off segments, ie, it’s presumably sort of status symbol, in urban areas in eastern Asia. The one I bought when the UK mandate was introduced actually said so on the box: Fashion mask. Not a medical mask. Wear for fashion, dust protection, sun protection.
This is also just the usual COVID schtick: You must do such-and-such a thing. This is bad for you, we’re totally compassionate about that, but we claim it’s only a little bad and soo helpful for others. Surely, you aren’t so selfish that you wouldn’t want to help others? That’s the usual, disingenious reasoning of people who believe in so-called utilitarian morals. What they really mean is I want you to do such-and-such a thing despite that’s bad for you because I’m convinced it’s good for me. The person the me refers to is a member of the group labelled as others and specifically, the only member of this group who was originally asking for such-and-such a thing to be done (or rather, commanding that it must be done).
A nostalgia piece in the NYT for those who miss the halcyon days of being able to boss everyone around and threaten them aggressively if they didn’t comply.
They miss the warm feeling they get inside from controlling others and if they put their masks back on, maybe they can recapture a bit of that wonderful feeling, even if for just a few moments.
Ah the “pandemic”… those were the days…
Masking leads to dehumanisation, making it more difficult to connect to our fellow humans. Without that connection, that human bond, it’s far easier for hatred & division to flourish.
All about control, division & stirring up unrest.
Have a read of Tom Hayen’s essay that I have just posted.
BINGO. And that is a feature, not a bug.
Yeah “comments” aka trolls. 84% of Americans think MSM is a threat to democracy. Imagine that.
Democracy is a threat to democracy because if it didn’t exist, nobody would notice that it doesn’t exist. As of 2021, democracy in Germany amounts to rule of less than 0.72%[*] of the population. All others are just allowed to clap their hands in affirmation.
[*] About 1.45% of the people living in Germany (not the same as Germans) are members of parties forming the caste of members of parliaments or governments. That less than half of these are people who do actually stand a chance to democrat wile the others are all mere hopefuls seems a safe assumption.
And the NYT has staff that are world experts in all things to do with infections and meteorology?
I think Jason’s comment that ‘Wearing a mask is a no-brainer.’ is right on the money. Well done Jason, you of no brain.
Wow. I think I just lost 10 IQ points reading that, lol. The stupid really burns!
The only “mask” I use is my “invisible mask” of Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc, Quercetin, Reseveratrol, B complex, and Niacin. Xlear nasal spray and mouthwash are are good too. And don’t forget fresh air and sunshine too, basically the antithesis of masks.
To those who are still pushing masks, how does it feel to be on the wrong side of history?
My freedom! My freedom! Me! Me! Me!
Surely, that’s not much different from My paranoia! My mysophobia! My safety from my own, irrational fears! Me! Me! Me!?
If you see someone masked, remember this means I’m a feeble-minded, selfish coward! I want to abuse your kids! I want your elderly relatives to die in misery! I want to lock you up! All just because I’m afraid for myself! and act accordingly.
I swear, these folks are stuck in a permanent time capsule since 2020!
An absolutely first class essay from Tom Hayen over at Off-G where he destroys the mask:
“mask wearing is not just a personal choice, it is a disrespect for humanity, and is an assault to anyone who sees the writing on the wall and who understands that all of this is engineered to break us down through hate, anger, and impatience. Wearing a mask these days is a tacit agreement with the wanton destruction of humanity. Yes, it is that serious.”
.”The masked folks are indeed leading us all to the gas chamber.”
My feelings for these people swing from pity to contempt and back again. Poor fools.
Worth a look
https://metatron.substack.com/p/leaked-video-from-the-wef-global
As a non mask-wearing, non-social-distancing, unvaccinated sceptic,,how come I’m the only one not getting every bug doing the rounds? (Except for my husband and cousin who tick all the same boxes above as well)
“you might find yourself the only person in a store or on a plane who’s wearing one. Don’t let that discourage you. For one thing, remember that no one is thinking about you as much as you think they are. “
Well, when I see the occasional person in a mask, I immediately think weirdo, a cretin, or a person frightened out of their wits. So, yes, you are the subject of my derision/pity.
Tonight, I had the first nightmare of face-masked people coming for me. This means it took me almost 11 months from the final abolishment of the mask mandate to get over this creepy horror to a sufficient degree that I’m at least having nightmares about it. Because of this, I came up with the following short poem I hereby christen (doubtlessly to the horror of TS Eliot had he lived to witness it) The Love Song Of Anthony Fauci & The Champions Of Social Justice:
Let’s throw those damn autists
Under a bus
We care for others
Namely, us!