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Honest question - do you all think that this kind of headline is appropriate/accurate?
I think that headline, as is the case with the opening of every news broadcast I watch, is about getting the most out of shock value. I think it does a disservice to the population. Most people will develop their feelings based off of what they initially see, same as when they house hunt. They won't take the time to sift through all the data, much of which the writers of any said article won't even include. Most readers or viewers will be left with whatever they writer tried to amplify.
I have said before (maybe you weren't here yet) that if masks become a "new normal" here during cold/flu season, I will have no issues with that. I grew up in Asia, so masks aren't as foreign to me as they are to the average, been here all their life, American.
If that is part of my "Everyday Carry" moving forward then so be it. Whatever gets us back to what we were in January and has a chance of mitigating the conflagration we are seeing I am all for.
I always have two thoughts on this. I have the science thought, which I have gathered from extensive reading. That thought is that the virus is not going away and no amount of mask wearing is going to help END it. Some types of mask may help slow the spread, but slowing it will not eliminate it. Only the N95 mask provides any protection at all from INCOMING virus particles. The virus has absolutely no problem going between the openings of the fabric fibers of the hip homemade masks. The other thought is that I realize and appreciate the fear other people live with. I understand we need to be sensitive and accepting of how other people think and feel. So even though I already had and recovered from Covid, and have never been reinfected since even being unmasked around and taking care of Covid positive people, I wear an N95 mask around others to put other people at ease. It is the right thing to do as a human being.
I always have two thoughts on this. I have the science thought, which I have gathered from extensive reading. That thought is that the virus is not going away and no amount of mask wearing is going to help END it. Some types of mask may help slow the spread, but slowing it will not eliminate it. Only the N95 mask provides any protection at all from INCOMING virus particles. The virus has absolutely no problem going between the openings of the fabric fibers of the hip homemade masks. The other thought is that I realize and appreciate the fear other people live with. I understand we need to be sensitive and accepting of how other people think and feel. So even though I already had and recovered from Covid, and have never been reinfected since even being unmasked around and taking care of Covid positive people, I wear an N95 mask around others to put other people at ease. It is the right thing to do as a human being.
A couple of thoughts.
1. I have no issue with "less than 95% effective masks". Something that mitigates, but doesn't eliminate, is fine. You can still die wearing a helmet while driving a motorcycle or wearing a seat belt while in a vehicle. I don't own/ride bikes, but I would wear a helmet just as I wear a seat belt for the mitigation of harm it provides (or in the case of masks/viruses, mitigate the spread factor). However, with masks, the science says that if you have enough of a population wearing effective enough (although not perfectly 100% effective) masks, you can lead the virus to burning out.
2. A jump off of point one, slowing a virus, whether COVID or your seasonal flu, isn't a bad thing or something that comes from "fear". Other than a couple of week period early on in this situation (where I stayed home all the time, only venturing out to do grocery shopping every two weeks) I have largely gone out as wanted. I have worn as mask the entire time (since 3/15). I don't do it because I am afraid. I do it because if I can lessen the chances that the virus uses me as a nursery to continue its spread, and in doing so, I microscopically lower the R0 value, then that is the "right thing to do as a human being" as you put it.
1. I have no issue with "less than 95% effective masks". Something that mitigates, but doesn't eliminate, is fine. You can still die wearing a helmet while driving a motorcycle or wearing a seat belt while in a vehicle. I don't own/ride bikes, but I would wear a helmet just as I wear a seat belt for the mitigation of harm it provides (or in the case of masks/viruses, mitigate the spread factor). However, with masks, the science says that if you have enough of a population wearing effective enough (although not perfectly 100% effective) masks, you can lead the virus to burning out.
2. A jump off of point one, slowing a virus, whether COVID or your seasonal flu, isn't a bad thing or something that comes from "fear". Other than a couple of week period early on in this situation (where I stayed home all the time, only venturing out to do grocery shopping every two weeks) I have largely gone out as wanted. I have worn as mask the entire time (since 3/15). I don't do it because I am afraid. I do it because if I can lessen the chances that the virus uses me as a nursery to continue its spread, and in doing so, I microscopically lower the R0 value, then that is the "right thing to do as a human being" as you put it.
You seem very reasonable and thoughtful. Always great getting your input on things.
My buddy who works at Merck has said the same as your doc. This virus will just become part of what we face every year; just need to find a therapy for it.
Melbourne Australia just invoked a city lockdown yesterday. Australia had this under control, Melbourne had something like 150 cases and imposed a 6 weeks city shutdown. It seems most of the Western Democracies want to avoid what we are doing at all costs.
Their new lockdown was spurred by hotel "guards" having sex with the quarantined travelers.
What is so interesting to me with all of this is that those who can afford to stay at home (and remain employed) have a certain "privilege" so to speak. Yet the vast majority of folks, who are now either supported by government unemployment supplements or are working "out in the fields" tend to be lower income.
It's almost poetic to me that those crying the most for "racial justice" via the BLM movement tend to be very white and privileged yet those folks they want to "help" are the people losing their jobs, businesses, livelihoods, and lives (covid is disproportionately infecting blacks and Latinos).
Unlike the 2008 recession which mostly left lower income individuals untouched and employed, this recession will further concentrate the wealth into the nations top 20% of income earners (most white/Asian). We haven't seen any carnage yet, as the unemployed or PPP folks are still earning most of their wages (or exceeding them). This is temporary, and will expire soon.
With cases expanding and talk of more lockdowns, the ugliness that happened in March will return.
Their new lockdown was spurred by hotel "guards" having sex with the quarantined travelers.
Oooof...didn't know that detail. Going to head to the google machine because that is almost too good a story to miss.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wheelsup
What is so interesting to me with all of this is that those who can afford to stay at home (and remain employed) have a certain "privilege" so to speak. Yet the vast majority of folks, who are now either supported by government unemployment supplements or are working "out in the fields" tend to be lower income.
It's almost poetic to me that those crying the most for "racial justice" via the BLM movement tend to be very white and privileged yet those folks they want to "help" are the people losing their jobs, businesses, livelihoods, and lives (covid is disproportionately infecting blacks and Latinos).
Unlike the 2008 recession which mostly left lower income individuals untouched and employed, this recession will further concentrate the wealth into the nations top 20% of income earners (most white/Asian). We haven't seen any carnage yet, as the unemployed or PPP folks are still earning most of their wages (or exceeding them). This is temporary, and will expire soon.
With cases expanding and talk of more lockdowns, the ugliness that happened in March will return.
I've been in IT at a Bank, a Small Saas Company and now a huge Consulting firm. I haven't gone regularly to an office since 2011 and that wont change (I turned down a job offer in January with a 36% raise because "they haven't figured out how they will implement a flexible working policy").
I will note however this is the second massive recession/depression to impact my generation....that isn't all that common. We ate it in 07 because it delayed our entry "into the American Dream" and older generations laughed at us for staying at our parents longer, not buying cars and spending differently than those before us. This one, potentially, could finish off what the first one started. Its why my generation, especially Males, are far more leery of Capitalism than Gen X or Boomer Males.
If that is a privilege, then I will own that, as I have publicly owned the other privileges I have in my life (through genetics).
Oooof...didn't know that detail. Going to head to the google machine because that is almost too good a story to miss.
I've been in IT at a Bank, a Small Saas Company and now a huge Consulting firm. I haven't gone regularly to an office since 2011 and that wont change (I turned down a job offer in January with a 36% raise because "they haven't figured out how they will implement a flexible working policy").
I will note however this is the second massive recession/depression to impact my generation....that isn't all that common. We ate it in 07 because it delayed our entry "into the American Dream" and older generations laughed at us for staying at our parents longer, not buying cars and spending differently than those before us. This one, potentially, could finish off what the first one started. Its why my generation, especially Males, are far more leery of Capitalism than Gen X or Boomer Males.
If that is a privilege, then I will own that, as I have publicly owned the other privileges I have in my life (through genetics).
The recession after 9/11, 2001-2003, really shaped me while in college as I graduated into it (2003). The 2008 recession drove the point home. It changed spending habits for an entire generation and definitely set my household behind. I was lucky to have an "ok" job and only take a large pay cut in 2008, the jury is still out in 2020 but anticipating becoming unemployed as my industry completely crumbles apart. Replacing my income will not happen (no similar jobs), so I am planning on being long term unemployed.
Luckily, we saved and saved and live a very, by some on here, deprived lifestyle, but to us that buys freedom. To the economy, it's a death knell if more people do it.
And for those finally recovering from graduating into the recession, along with those now graduating into it, it's going to really screw up a lot of lives.
I guess I'll have to get a few more years out of my 25 year old daily driver.
I do have something to be thankful for - I had almost gotten to the point where I felt we could maybe relax a little and buy into a nicer neighborhood (ours is going downhill) but luckily we didn't pull that pin. And I even looked at a fairly new (used) car. Ah well.
Saw another increase in confirmed positives today. I figured a week into the mask mandate we would at least see a decrease.
I know someone who recently waited 10 days for their positive test results to come in - I think you have to give it a little longer than a week. ;-)
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