Hi everyone and welcome back to another ridiculously WuFlu-heavy edition of Laura's Links. I remain in a relatively constant state of irritation because of how stupid everything is. Here in the Deranged Dominion, "Stage 1" recovery has meant that one's pet can get a haircut ("grooming"). But humans? Not so much.
But I guess this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone living in Canada where one's pet can get an MRI on demand at the veterinarian's office, but humans have to wait months for one. I am not a scientist or even a social scientist, but I am a social observer so I thought instead of kvetching the whole way through my intro, I'd simply share some observations I have made over the past week, and new terminology that I have been either hearing about or coining.
I have noticed that fewer people are wearing masks or gloves in the grocery store, and there are no shortages of anything. There are fewer people wearing masks as they go for walks outside and I'm hearing more people talking about how fed up they are. They are finished with lock downs and shutdowns and the lack of foresight in public policy planning regarding the economy on a macro level. And on the micro level, how parents are supposed to get back to work without school, camps or any sane and measured plan for the opening of the school year in the fall. Many commentators are starting to talk about "hygienic fascism."
Meanwhile, the Great Prophet Steyn, may Kung Flu never, ever, EVAH EVAH EVAH be upon him, ameeeeeeen ameeeeeeen, was sooooo busy over the week. There were several shows: Folds Like A (Pocket) Knife, an essay examining our current permanent state of emergency and another incredible show about Masking and Unmasking. The Song of the Week related to Mark's adorable (but relatively inexplicable) love affair with the Eurovision song competition. That's cool, boss, like Abbahu Akbar, baby, whatever floats your boat.
*waves*
Like Mark, I'm not interested in the future that the Sharia Covidists want for us. On the Rush Limbaugh Show yesterday, Mark said he rejects the plan for a world without live music, friendly human touch, with even less free speech and with more masks to really shut us up. Mark, I'm so glad you agree! And don't worry! Mark, for real and not for joking, in case you were worried, the Covid Karen Mutawa and all of the Soldiers of Social Pricktancing can pry the hugs out of my cold dead hands. If you have second thoughts and want to default to masks, maybe I'll try this one.
Just joking, Mark! Sort of. Hugs!!!!
*composes self*
Now let's take a look back at the week that was.
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North America:
How is this actually even possible?
The unbearable truths about our current political moment.
President Trump orders federal retirement money invested in Chinese equities to be pulled.
How on earth can Canada stand up to China while it's on its knees bowing?
While you were sleeping and Coviding....
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Murderous Barbarian Chinese Communist Wuhan Coronavirus:
David Solway asks if the endless lockdowns are the result of malice or stupidity.
Some clues to this question can be found here: the origins of the lockdown idea.
Militia mobilizes in Michigan to block arrest of 77-year old barber. Governor decides to terrorize him and finish him off for good.
Holocaust survivor David Toren reclaimed Jewish artwork looted by the Nazis before dying of the Chinese coronavirus.
The elderly and the developmentally disabled in America were actually murdered.
Bill de Blasio's careless crisis management. Now, showing no signs of remorse whatsoever, Mayor de Blasio is threatening to pluck swimmers out of the water and people off the streets for the crime of drinking beverages.
Well, whadayaknow? Masks may pose a serious health risk to the healthy.
New Jersey police refuse to penalize the gym that opened up despite governor's orders. Good. We need more of this.
Meanwhile in Oregon... (story plus interview) WHOA: The dam breaks!
Masked and unmasked, as Mark Steyn also discussed earlier this week on The Mark Steyn Show.
Doctors (and public health mandarins) are not qualified to run any country.
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Europe:
Multicultural romance working out very well in Sweden.
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Formerly Great Britain:
The shameful collaboration, cover up and indifference to the epidemic of Muslim rape gangs in Britain continues.
Some scenes from the anti-lockdown rally in London via James Delingpole.
Mega mosque proposed for London's iconic Piccadilly Circus.
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Israel and Jews:
Police officer requests official list of Jews in Ukraine. Not a great look, Ukraine.
The accused killers of a French Jewish Holocaust survivor will face trial.
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Kook and Humourless Left, Wokestapo and Trans:
Meet an American judge who favours sexual predators.
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Human Grace:
Montreal's minyans (prayer quorums) in a time of Chinese coronavirus.
Tuskegee Airman Hilton Carter dies at age 91. Rest in Peace.
Really nice thread on Twitter: "Has anyone met a Twitter friend in real life and become friends?"
"Lads." So cute.
Mazel tov. Wonderful.
This is truly glorious.
Louisville WWII veteran surprised with birthday drive-by parade.
Stay well and stay angry! See you in the comments.
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Alan Dershowitz is wrong. Last night on Tucker he says the government can mandate mandatory vaccinations. The government shouldn't have the right to force us to take a vaccine against our will. The left says "My Body, My Choice" yet here we are being told we have no choice because it's in the interest of public safety. Do we make flu shots mandatory? My mom is allergic to the flu shot. And where would it end? Right now it's vaccinations, next thing you know they'll justify drugging us to keep us in control. If those who want the vaccine get it then they don't have to worry about the virus. And if the people who don't get the virus, we have a potential treatment right? Seeing a doctor is a choice, getting a shot is a choice, taking medicine is a choice.
Hi, Laura. Hygienic fascism—what a great turn of phrase. My own state Obergruppenfuhrer was asked yesterday about reopening daycare centers for parents that were "allowed" to go back to work. (Our masterminds have daycare centers opening in a later "phase."). The response was to instruct the peasants to look up one of the "state approved daycare centers" online. Would have liked to know how this is any different than opening whatever daycare centers the parents normally employed, but of course looking for rationality in diktats is a waste. It brought to mind a scene in From Here to Eternity where the Top Sargent tells another NCO (of officers), "They'd strangle on their own spit if we weren't there to swab out their throats." That's what our Dear Leaders think of the people.
Nothing dems and their repub servants are doing with respect to "saving one life" from the menace of COVID 19 makes any logical sense. The weak and the stupid will never understand and probably don't care what the Obergruppenfuhrer and her fellow travellers have done to them, but If the majority of the thinking people of the country don't snap out of it and begin to resist soon, all maybe lost without real violence becoming inevitable.
David, what can I tell you? Everything is stupid. And vindictive.
The whole "saving one life" schtick wears a little thin considering their general opinions about abortion, and how the disabled and elderly were pretty literally scheduled for mass slaughter.
Laura,
Well said.
Its really, really grating when one of worst of the "one life" idiots when under critical pressure shows his true colors. When pressed about his "intentional" (in the sense that gross negligence equates to intent) killing of nursing home patients, Dem Guv. Cuomo stated, "As a society, you can't save everyone. You're gonna lose people, that's life," Cuomo told reporters amid reports of nursing home deaths exceeding 5,000. "But we did everything we could [to kill those old fools who thought I give a damn about them. Its no biggie though, most of 'em were deplorable irredeemables anyway]" (quote edited for clarity of meaning). Cuomo is a trifecta politician: stupid, incompetent, and corrupt all at the same time!
Very true. Cuomo has overseen the legalisation of infanticide and senicide in the course of a year.
Chairman Xi would be impressed!
Thanks so much for the article (and video) from AIER. Should be required reading!
I agree with Michael - and I would have missed it without your link Laura. Thanks!
Glad you read it!
My pleasure.
The socially distant playground in France ("This is stupid"), that hurt.
Josh, the stupid is very prevalent and painful nowadays.
"Covidism", an insightful term from the lady in the park. More anti-covidism, please.
Indeed. I just tweaked it a bit.
I think I prefer the goth look to the totally drained of all blood look in my public figures; but I am open to suggestions.
As always, thanks for the Links, Laura.
Apologies in advance for a dry, apolitical comment on a topic that was far more relevant back in January.
I *hugely* dislike masks in public. But on the science - and how that would apply, say, during an evolving outbreak on the NYC subway a few months ago (per a SteynOnline photo around that time) - I'm not sure it's as settled as Dr Blaylock's opinion piece suggests.
The physiological effects of N95 respirator masks - the main focus of article - are already well known, with symptoms (especially headache) described by many healthcare workers on Twitter in the last few months; the benefit of this type of PPE is still seen as outweighing the occupational risk. But there's a much better type which Blaylock (inadvertently?) makes a strong case for, which are Powered Air Purifying Respirators ("PAPR") - such as "CleanSpace HALO" - which overcome all those problems (at greater expense).
So far, there is no evidence to suggest that hospital workers are getting high rates of neurological Covid complications with the use of N95 masks, but that would be the group to watch for virus directly entering the brain in the setting of mask use. It may end up being a delayed complication. The PAPR systems would also reduce any such risk.
As for standard surgical masks, it's fascinating that a surgeon - who would have worn one for every single patient he ever operated on - would argue that they are a danger to surgeons (and all other personnel in the operating theatre wearing them). The 2008 "preliminary report" reference from a group in Turkey on "deoxygenation" is... interesting. I'm not sure most surgeons would be convinced; they are concerned, though, with reducing the risk (however minimal) of infecting patients.
The *real* risk that Blaylock doesn't even mention is due to self-contamination during removal of a mask in terms of what's on the outside surface (hence the guidelines); in high risk healthcare settings, the PPE "doffing" procedure is all important.
The use of masks by healthy people in the US military, and by healthy people in close proximity to President Trump - as Ivanka disclosed about family members - makes me think that standard masks aren't as dangerous to the wearer as Blaylock suggests.
For those interested, there was an excellent study of 246 people published last month by a Hong Kong group - Leung, N.H.L., Chu, D.K.W., Shiu, E.Y.C. et al. "Respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath and efficacy of face masks". Nat Med 26, 676–680 (2020)
"Surgical face masks significantly reduced detection of influenza virus RNA in respiratory droplets and coronavirus RNA in aerosols, with a trend toward reduced detection of coronavirus RNA in respiratory droplets."
As one author (Benjamin Cowling - in HK at the time of SARS-1) noted, it's difficult to argue that masks are essential for healthcare workers during a SARS epidemic, and of zero benefit to the public. If there was any use for them, it was back in February on public transit when Fauci said they weren't necessary (nor available).
*Note*: these comments are not in support of universal mask use cultures. Only in support of applied science - eg. with people crammed in face-to-face on public transport in the midst of an evolving epidemic, or visiting vulnerable elderly relatives during an evolving epidemic. Unfortunately, the so-called "mask wars" are purely political on both sides (where the left wants to shut people up with universal face coverings, and shut them down inside 2 metres of empty space, in perpetuity).
There are ten thousand workers at the 580 square mile Hanford Nuclear Site in eastern Washington who work on cleanup and demolition of nuclear reactors and plutonium extraction plants. Those structures are contaminated with dust containing plutonium, uranium, and radioactive technetium, strontium, and cesium, so the workers wear PAPR systems, with clear face shields and enclosed hoods. The intakes have filters and fans worn at the bekt, and fi,tered air is blown down over the face shield, supplying breatheable air and keeping the face shields free of condensation, and carrying og CO2. In more highly contaminated areas, workers have air supplied by long air hoses. Newer suits use the hose air to drive a personal air conditioner. Each system costs hundreds to thousands of dollars.
Kate,
I agree that there are always two or more sides to an issue, whether moral, political, or scientific. While there are certainly valid times and places for industrial or medical face masks, I fall strongly on the "no masks for the apparently healthy" side and would argue with you on several of your points.
The value of any opinion, these days especially one labeled as "scientific," is crucially dependent on the "who" and "why" of the opinion. The worst excesses of multiculturalism and political correctness are often found in "scientific" publications. A quick review of the publication guidelines for Nature Medicine (the cited journal) indicate to me that this journal is not an exception. Most readers here understand this point well in connection with the world-wide scientific consensus concerning global climate change. In the case of the mask study you cite, I point out the obvious that the study is from the Communist Chinese. Should we trust any of their science ever again? Can any Chinese scientist, assuming they even want to be objective, not be heavily influenced and more often than not corrupted by the Chinese government? I am inclined to say no.
Your cited quote from the study uses classic weasel words: "trend towards" in a rather critical conclusion with respect to healthy persons. Just what does this really mean? Further, apparently this study was of "surgical face masks." A I understand it, a surgical face mask or any face mask is not by and of itself useful. Without the elaborate protocol surrounding properly fitting the mask to the face, putting on the mask, wearing it (never touch the mask or face, etc), and then removing and disposing of it, the value of the face mask is not great and probably negative.
As I further understand it, a surgical mask falls somewhere between a N95 standard that supposedly filters particulate down to .3 microns (but interestingly not vapors and solvents like paint) and simple cloth face coverings. Does this study say anything useful about these often home-made cloth face coverings advocated by Fauci and Brix?
Lastly, just virus spread begins to abate for the Summer, Dem governors and "public health mandarins" ( love it) ramped up the mask fervor. This seems to me to be entirely political, to continue to inspire fear and avoid any questions about the effectiveness, legality, and morality of their actions to date.
Kate, have to agree with you about the NYC subway. Someone close to me asked me when I thought he would ride the subway again. I said I dunno, tell me. He said "Neveruary."
Charles - I've made many comments elsewhere about N95 respirators and surgical masks, and will have to reply in more detail later.
But you haven't commented about the scientific assertions of the retired surgeon, Dr Blaylock, regarding the "serious risks to the healthy" of surgical masks - nor the "who" or "why" of the opinion. What are your thoughts?
Very interesting, thanks. Many hospitals the world over have arranged PAPR (such as the "Halo") for high risk/ prolonged Covid exposure.
The deliberately misleading and intellectually false claims made by a surgeon (who has worn surgical masks every day of his working life) only strengthen the case for these systems, rather than N95 respirators.
Kate,
You may be right about Dr. Blaylock. I haven't thought deeply about medical risks to the healthy, but what I have observed over the past weeks leads me to believe such risks are not zero. A surgeon is trained that once he has donned his mask and gloves he doesn't touch the mask, his face, or really anything but the surgical instruments for fear of contamination. From my observation that is definitely not the protocol being followed by the mask wearing public. In Louisiana you just can't wear a mask for very long in the Summer outdoors or even indoors. It is routinely hotter and more humid in Baton Rouge in late May than it will be on the hottest of days in many northern locations in August. People are always fussing, touching, raising and lowering, having the mask around their neck at least as often as they are wearing them. Not to mention the fact that virtually none of the mask wearers are wearing the mask with the proper fit and seal (if that is even possible).
Beyond and more importantly than the physical and medical risk, in my opinion, is the psychological effect. I do believe that the reason that masks are being pressed on people with such fervor by dem pols is to inspire and maintain a high level of existential fear and therefore of compliance with their "lockdown directives." This falsely and purposely created stress and anxiety in people is wearing and unhealthy in most persons. There are many studies of the increasing effect of economic stress on the rate of suicide. Given the substantial economic stresses caused by the uneven, unfair and incompetent government lockdowns, the grinding, fear-inducing mask nagging cannot have helped those who were already at the end of their rope over loss of their job or business.
Finally the most important reason I am against masks is that the issue is not, in my opinion, a public health issue at all. It is in my opinion entirely a population control device to inspire fear and make the general population compliant and unquestioning of unconstitutional governmental orders. Most agree that the masks don't protect the wearer, although I don't believe that many wearers understand that. Since a plain cloth covering does not stop moist respiration does it help anyone? I would say no, regardless of the contrary opinion of politically active persons who play scientists and M.D.s on TV.
Charles, I agree with nearly everything in your most recent reply. As I said, my comment wasn't about the "mask wars" or cultural/political symbolism, only the infection control and protective aspects of medical grade masks in terms of what is known and what can be reasonably inferred.
By the way, the study is out of Hong Kong - where there were months-long anti-CCP protests last year by hundreds of citizens with Trump "Rocky" posters - so I give Hongkongers some credit. The data collection preceded the existence of Covid, and looked at all exhaled viruses (corona- and others). The summary sentence was cut-and-paste from the 'abstract' (word limit of 250) to convey the findings detailed in the tables in the results section re aerosols vs droplets, where p values - indicative of statistical significance - are clearly shown. So I don't think they are "weasel words", unlike the misleading/ incorrect/ emotive blog post by the surgeon in "Technocracy News": "It gets even more frightening." Perhaps he could've just argued that in his expert opinion the evidence of benefit is equivocal/ lacking, rather than scare people with misleading information and speculation cleverly dressed up as fact. As I said, he didn't even mention the one reason for caution (with mask removal/ disposal).
Most US states continue to show an encouraging decline in Covid hospitalisations etc - so there's unlikely to be any effect from universal masks, incorrectly worn. (Note that transmission by presymptomatic "healthy" individuals can occur.)
Mark previously mentioned an observational study by Jonathan Kay on super spreader events/ circumstances, based on (presumed) ballistic droplet spread - eg. in crowded subways. A curiosity as to whether (correctly worn) masks would have an impact on viral transmission in that situation would seem uncontroversial. But instead, it's become a political position.
That picture and caption: utterly brilliant!
As I pointed out on Mark's Tuesday article, Priti Patel has announced that she intends to publish the Home Office report in muslim rape gangs by the end of the year. I also observed that the plan does imply some continuing opportunities for obstructive civil servants to water down and edit the report and I am sure that they will try to exploit the Wuhan virus to get it delayed beyond the year's end, if they can't block it altogether. Some Home Office insiders tried to get Priti Patel fired, a few months ago. That plan appears definitively to have failed, but I doubt if the would-be saboteurs have given up trying and, the longer they can postpone publication, the more likely it is that someone else will eventually be Home Secretary, with no personal commitment to seeing the rape gangs report released.
Thanks for sharing the story about the People's Republic of Oregon. Those of us who live here know that the "rural" judge is from Baker City which is almost Idaho. The Supreme Court has a reading comprehension level below 6th grade. They read, "Shall not be infringed." and interpret that to mean, "Subject to our approval."
I like the Scottish lady's sock face mask, Laura. You can keep your cigar chomped on while being compliant. If the cigar is a few days old it will do for social distancing as well.
Paul, I laughed my butt off at at that one. My kids didn't think it was even 1% as funny as I did but it really cracked me up.