The Mayo Clinic Recommends Masks

A Mayo Clinic study of the efficacy of masks in preventing the spread of the Covid-19 virus was announced on July 29, 2021.

 

 Do face masks work at preventing COVID-19 transmission?

"Masks don't work unless we wear them," says Dr. Elie Berbari, a Mayo Clinic infectious diseases physician.

That's what Mayo Clinic researchers say they proved in a recent study.

"We found objectively that masks are critically important. They're very effective at protecting the people around you. If you're wearing a mask, you're protecting others. If they're wearing masks, they're protecting you," says Dr. Matthew Callstrom, a Mayo Clinic radiologist and one of the study's authors.

The experiments used masked and unmasked mannequins that simulated the spread of respiratory droplets and measured it at various distances.

 

Evidently this study assumes that inanimate mannequins can effectively simulate human behavior, probably through pumping out some identifiable aerosols from one mannequin to another masked or unmasked dummy and determining if the intake of the aerosols can penetrate a mask. This experiment probably isn't as exciting as the famous crash test dummies that proved wearing seat belts in the car helps prevent injuries in  accidents, as if that wasn't obvious.

 

  The study showed that disposable paper medical masks and two-layer cloth masks reduced droplet transmission.

 

OK, we're also assuming that in the real world the masks are being worn properly, as they no doubt are in the study. Furthermore, what does the word reduced signify? Is transmissibility greatly reduced or reduced just a little? What distances are involved? And, as always, there's no mention of used mask disposal in the prevention of the spread of a highly contagious disease. 

Keys To Taliban Success Ignored By The Media

This article from Aussie Arts and Letters shows how the Taliban managed to sweep over Afghanistan and depose its government. 

First, and foremost, was the Taliban's embrace of the smart phone, which has also played a primary role in illegal immigration throughout the world. The Muslim jihadis used the ubiquitous mobiles to both coordinate their own movements and also to gather information about government positions and activities. Smart phone records were used to obtain useful information from all over the country. It's obvious that any government wishing to maintain its primacy needs to be able to control cell phone use. In fact, in areas of the country the Taliban itself controlled phone usage. Smart phones played a huge role in the riots after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and in other cities as well. 

 nbcnews

The New Taco Bell

The New York Post has published an article describing the soon-to-built store in Brooklyn Park, Mn. The money quote in the article is:

 The goal of the new Taco Bell Defy concept is to get diners-on-the-go back on the road quickly — and without any interpersonal interaction.

Evidently there will be no cash involved. Diners will pay for their tacos using smart phones and QR codes. 

Left unsaid is what happens after the diners-on-the-go get back on the road. The most important aspect of fast food, this version included, is getting it quickly. Since almost all fast food choices are eaten with the hands, no silverware involved, when diners-on-the-go get out of the parking lot, they begin to eat. 

It's generally the case that when photos are taken of fatal car wrecks it's mandatory for those photos to include any beer or whiskey bottles in the car. Statistically, there must be a significant number of traffic fatalities that include a driver stained with mayonnaise, ketchup or salsa. But we don't know what that number might be because, unlike impaired driving, no records are kept of accidents where driver food consumption may have been a factor. In most jurisdictions it's now illegal to use a cell phone while driving but it's OK to wolf down a double cheese burger traveling 70 mph on two-lane blacktop.

Perhaps it's too late to arrest the insane fixation with time in modern American society. 

 

Public Libaries and the Pandemic

Of all the institutions, public and private, that have been forced to deal with the Sino-flu none has been as obnoxious the various public libraries. 

In the beginning, libraries were completely closed. Some have opened with reduced hours, all have required those entering to wear face diapers. 

The reason that this should be an issue at all is that libraries, even during the internet age, are the repositories of information, if not of knowledge. Whatever information is available about any particular subject, including infectious diseases and their treatment, should be available in any large library. The personnel in libraries, all of whom are directed by librarians with masters degrees, at the very least should be aware of how to find that information, as well as keep track of DVDs, music CDs and computer access. 

Sadly, the people that work in libraries, pleasant and helpful as they try to be, really aren't much different than supermarket employees. They keep the shelves stocked and organized with product, replenishing it as it leaves, perform the rites needed for the customer to take the product home and fulfill other duties like answering the phone and responding to customers' questions and complaints as needed. The jobs are quite similar. 

So perhaps there's no reason why library people should know more about epidemics, their history, and the responses to them that have succeeded or failed. Maybe some of us think that by merely working in a library some important information would just rub off. Evidently not.

We can't actually know what library people know. But we can see how libraries operate and come to some conclusions.

 This is the DVD section of a library. As you can see, the DVDs are arranged in two different ways. Those that have been put in alphabetical order and are ready for customers to pick up are placed with the front covers exposed. In a given row only the title of the front DVD is visible. Someone searching for a particular video must dig through each row in hopes of finding the latest Adam Sandler offering or Marvel hero sequel. If this makes any sense, wouldn't all the books in the library be stored in the same fashion? Of course, it doesn't make any sense. 

The point is that even though the library is the graphical storehouse of the collected information of most of human history, the people in charge haven't figured out how to use that information to effectively present their product. They are unable to showcase their wares as well as a hardware store or supermarket. 

 

Mandated Masks

The Sino-pandemic appears to have entered a new stage, at least as far as the government and media are concerned. There is much authoritarian concern over Covid-19 variants expressed with words like "surge" and "raging" but few actual numbers of deaths and infections. The main focus is that masks must once again save the world from imminent death. Even "social distancing" has come to be ignored in favor of universal masks. 

In a situation where "following the science" has been the recipe it's important to remember that no scientific study has ever confirmed the efficacy of masks in preventing the spread of Covid-19. 

Even more important is the fact that the authorities never describe the entire mask procedure. If, indeed, masks of any kind prevent the spread of viral particles from one individual to another, they must intercept and contain those viruses. In order for a mask to work, to achieve its goal, there must be viruses trapped in the mask after it has been worn. 

Every person wearing a mask must assume that when that mask is no longer worn it is contaminated with Covid-19 virus, among other things, and is now a locus of infection. In view of this, what procedure should be followed when a mask is abandoned? We never read or hear anything about this.

If we're to believe that Covid-19 is the highly communicable and dangerous disease that the CDC and Dr. Fauci tell us it is and that we should wear masks to prevent its spread, there must be some  requirements for mask disposal, other than leaving them in the shopping center parking lot. Teeming with viruses, discarded masks are far more dangerous than the dog poop on lawns next to fire hydrants that so enrage suburban homeowners. At a minimum, mask wearers should be instructed on the proper way to remove the mask and then place it in some kind of bio-hazard container so it can be deposited in a facility where it will be destroyed. Then there should be a de-contamination procedure for the mask wearer. If mask wearers are to include virtually all of the population everyone must know and follow the correct procedure for mask disposal. 

The lack of public information on mask disposal indicates a couple of things. First, the virus that surrounds each and every one of us, can't possibly be as communicable as it's said to be if there's so little concern over discarded masks. Secondly, if it is that communicable, health authorities are being incredibly negligent in not pointing out that fact and instructing the unwashed masses in ways to properly destroy the entrapped viruses. This shows that the health Nazis are more concerned with the outward appearances of battling the raging pandemic than in making genuine progress against it. If a truely scientific effort is being made in this area it must also include a study, the results of which are made public, on how often a viral infection is the result of an incorrectly worn or disposed mask.   

Transgender Athletes

For many years there have been athletes that are in some ways transgender. These are thoroughbred race horses. An entire male horse is a "horse", a stud, or a ridgling, a male with one or both testicles undescended. A horse that has been castrated, whose testicles have been removed, is a gelding. A female horse younger than five years is a filly, older than that a mare. 

Horses that have personality issues are the one's that are gelded. These animals are sometimes too vicious to handle safely and dangerous to other horses. They may be so interested in mating that they are unable to concentrate on their work, winning races. Gelding usually has a tendency to pacify a horse and make it more tractable although if it's a success at racing it won't be able to reproduce more like itself. On the other hand, left entire it may not be able to show the talent that breeders want to see in a stud. Gelding is a tough decision to make with a well-bred horse.

Since gelding is always done to enable a horse to race, it must be entered in races. There are only two gender divisions in horse racing, horses and fillies and mares. Geldings, regardless of their testosterone level or self-image must compete with other horses. They are not allowed to enter races carded for fillies and mares. Fillies and mares are allowed to compete in races for males.

This has been the case for centuries and it seems likely to be the case for many more to come.

   

Vote For Whom?

 To whom, exactly, is your vote supposed to go? Is there a particular candidate in some election identified as "climate"? If not, what is the message here? Evidently, "climate" is the focus of this sign rather than any candidate and if that's so what should the vote be, since our future depends upon it? 

By taking the time to go to the vote-climate. org website one discovers the organizations to which they recommend that you direct money but no individuals are mentioned or really any form of activity that might effect climate, should such a thing even be possible. There is, however, an appeal to emotion: