If it's an OSHA reg, then no, it's not just social.
Bad News Thread
- Thread starter kickingandscreaming
- Start date
If it's an OSHA reg, then no, it's not just social.
Desert Hound
DA
Actually in many parts of the country showing up wearing a mask is considered pointless. Especially since most are vaccinated.
After a year and a half of playing safety theater it is time to move on.
There is no damn reason to mandates masks.
Desert Hound
DA
Because politically they didn't want to.
Up until just a month ago talking about lab leak theories were "officially debunked". That meant of course the press were simply not interested.
Now that it has become OK, now you are seeing a lot of various press articles about this.
It really is an indictment on the press. They are far from str8 shooters on this and most issues.
We as a country are worse off as a result of our highly partisan press.
kickingandscreaming
PREMIER
I'm vaccinated. If they want me in the office, it will be without a mask - and I will be happy to do so because I believe in science.
Desert Hound
DA
And watch the idiot school districts/unions take that OSHA reg and run with it to make more bad rules for kids.
Desert Hound
DA
Yes. Time to stand up and say no to idiocy and safety theater.
Remember also Fauci emailed people stating the obvious....masks are not designed to deal with the extremely small virus particle size. Ineffective was the word he used.
Desert Hound
DA
"found that conflicts of interest, stemming in part from large government grants supporting controversial virology research, hampered the U.S. investigation into COVID-19's origin at every step. In one State Department meeting, officials seeking to demand transparency from the Chinese government say they were explicitly told by colleagues not to explore the Wuhan Institute of Virology's gain-of-function research, because it would bring unwelcome attention to U.S. government funding of it."
I suspect the various news orgs were also told to lay off looking around. Most showed an extreme lack of curiosity as to the origins of a virus that shut the world down. Coincidence between what the State Department said and the lack of real investigative journalism? I doubt it.
kickingandscreaming
PREMIER
I've got no problem with others wearing a mask at work. I just don't need to participate in the neuroses of others as I have enough of my own. If it's serious enough that we need to use a very imperfect method to reduce transmission, we should just stay at home.
At our home office none of us wear masks and haven't since the beginning (we are spread quite a distance apart). We do require our individual site employees to do so out of an abundance of caution since they are exposed to the public and to make customers that may be fearful more comfortable (aka safety theater).
Personally I see this odd psychology with masks that I'm guilty of. If I enter a public establishment I will enter with a mask on as that is typically required and out of courtesy to others (as Dad4 recommends). However, if I enter a place these days and the employees aren't wearing masks I will immediately take it off. In my mind, keeping on a mask when others aren't wearing them is anti-social behavior and sends the message that I don't trust them. I guess I'm just a victim of social norms.
kickingandscreaming
PREMIER
Yes, if a store requires it, I put one on. If it's optional, I don't. I was in San Clemente this weekend. Most places required a mask, but in the one surf shop, it was optional.
Lab leak articles in general may have been held up because of fears of appearing to support a conspiracy theory. Once Biden asked for the study, that objection went away.
It’s hard for the left to say “Trump was right about X.”. Even if he was.
No doubt.
The "say or do opposite of Trump" is not great policy, although its been the modus operandi for Biden his first 100 days. I'm glad he is investigating the lab leak theory now.
The media and those protecting their own self interests are the ones that mischaracterized it as a conspiracy. I don't know if its a true or not, but its a very plausible theory given the circumstances. Could it be coincidence, yes, but we also don't have any compelling evidence that it occurred naturally. It's at least worth an investigation.
I will give Fauci the benefit of the that he didn't know what was going on at the Wuhan lab, but, given his resources and affiliation he had every obligation to investigate it at the time and not rely on the representations of a not impartial industry colleague.
I definitely think given the evidence it’s a likely possibility. What bothers me about the theory, though, is the time frame. A fall lab leak is not enough time for the virus to achieve the number of mutations circulating in January. Satellite and phone data shows something was going on in China in early fall 2020. And the antibody and fecal tracking out of Italy, Paris, Spain, Boston, Seattle and Singapore doesnt rec with the time frame. The antibody tests would have to be wrong and on a massive level. I think the other probable candidate is the bat cave dung collections highlighted in the variety article.
Desert Hound
DA
The press during the 4 yrs of T basically took the opposite position of everything. It was reflexive and supported their political position.
That however does not make for actually informing the public of what the truth is.
Biden actually canned the investigation into the leak theory. It was only in the past month when the trend went the other way that he said OK lets investigate.
I am still skeptical we get the full truth. It would be one thing if the US had never financed any aspect of that labs research. However we know they have. Now maybe that financing wasn't directly related to covid, but these are links governments like to hide.
According to Vanity Fair, not investigating lab leak is Trump's fault:
"Trump’s premature statement poisoned the waters for anyone seeking an honest answer to the question of where COVID-19 came from."
Talk about a complete lack of self-awareness and honesty.
When you look at CA/FL, remember to look at socal and norcal separately.
Most of the deaths in CA were in LA, OC, Riv, and San Bernadino. For those four counties, you have 38,800 deaths out of 18 million residents. 2150 deaths per million. That is worse than Florida, and close to South Dakota.
For the entire rest of the state, you have 24,500 deaths out of a population of 22 million. 1,100 deaths per million. Considerably better than Florida, and similar to Colorado.
The question then becomes not “why did CA policies fail?”, but “what went wrong in socal?”.
Most of the deaths in CA were in LA, OC, Riv, and San Bernadino. For those four counties, you have 38,800 deaths out of 18 million residents. 2150 deaths per million. That is worse than Florida, and close to South Dakota.
For the entire rest of the state, you have 24,500 deaths out of a population of 22 million. 1,100 deaths per million. Considerably better than Florida, and similar to Colorado.
The question then becomes not “why did CA policies fail?”, but “what went wrong in socal?”.
Los Angeles Co was one of the most restrictive in the state, with indoor dining and bars closed the entire time and schools and churches fully remote.
Given what we now know out of Singapore, Australia and Taiwan, not only multigenerational families, but also just apartment living in general are probably a large part of those drivers.
You also have to throw out NorCal when comparing Fl/TX because of the different latitudes. A more fair comparison with NorCal is Salt Lake and Denver.
kickingandscreaming
PREMIER
That's what happens to crusaders. The crusade (get Trump out of office) becomes the end-all. Objectivity is left in its wake.
SJ had the same rules as LA. Remote schools, remote church, closed indoor dining. We also have a large apartment population. But we have fewer than half your deaths per capita. Same for Oakland.
Back to asking what went wrong in socal. It wasn't simply lockdowns + apartments, because then Oakland and San Jose would look just as bad.