The Coronavirus, not the beer

I hesitate to ask any of you to subject yourselves to the not inconsiderable risks of moral pollution that you would incur by actually reading an article in the NY Times (as well as the technical difficulties of evading the paywall). But doing so would allow for a discussion of the contents of the article you have referred to.

Otherwise you would leave yourself open to my cherry picking of quotes from the article. Such as:

"Even though masks work, getting millions of people to wear them and wear them consistently and properly, is a far greater challenge."

or

"During an acute crisis--such as the early months of covid, when masks were one of the few available forms of protection--strict guidelines can nontheless make sense."

or

"In the current stage of the pandemic, there are less divisive measures that are more effective than mask mandates. Booster shots are available."

If y'all do decide to venture to the Times website be sure to mask up. Doing so will provide a (limited) amount of protection against the spiritual pollution. There is no mandate however. You are free to each individually assess the risks of proceeding without a mask.

pshaw

swahili for go **** yourselves in a manner Marcus Aurelius would approve
 
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nsacpi said:
I hesitate to ask any of you to subject yourselves to the not inconsiderable risks of moral pollution that you would incur by actually reading an article in the NY Times (as well as the technical difficulties of evading the paywall). But doing so would allow for a discussion of the contents of the article you have referred to.

Otherwise you would leave yourself open to my cherry picking of quotes from the article. Such as:

"Even though masks work, getting millions of people to wear them and wear them consistently and properly, is a far greater challenge."

or

"During an acute crisis--such as the early months of covid, when masks were one of the few available forms of protection--strict guidelines can nontheless make sense."

or

"In the current stage of the pandemic, there are less divisive measures that are more effective than mask mandates. Booster shots are available."

If y'all do decide to venture to the Times website be sure to mask up. Doing so will provide a (limited) amount of protection against the spiritual pollution. There is no mandate however. You are free to each individually assess the risks of proceeding without a mask.

pshaw

swahili for go **** yourselves in a manner Marcus Aurelius would approve
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I figured we might be able to get you out of your hole. Criticizing mask mandates via the paper of record is a good way to do it

If Iay ask, what was the conclusion of the article?
 
And simultaneous our current wannabe dictator is trying their hardest to invoke the useless mandates once again.

They are never gonna leave us alone

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sturg33 said:
I figured we might be able to get you out of your hole. Criticizing mask mandates via the paper of record is a good way to do it

If Iay ask, what was the conclusion of the article?
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It's a little hard to say. Normally, you can find the conclusion in the first paragraph or the last but that's not how the article is written. If there is a sentence or two that comes closest to summing it up it would be:

"Because masks work and mandates often don't, people can make their own decisions. Anybody who wants to wear a snug, high-quality mask can do so and will be less likely to contract covid."

The article is fairly long but I don't think it addresses the issue of whether widespread mask wearing also reduces the risk of transmission to other people. But various experts and academics have delved into that.
 
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sturg33 said:
After the midterms we will finally get the NYT and WAPO admitting that masks themselves don't work.

They are always behind the critical thinker a, but eventually get there when the political consequences aren't so grave.

Then the seals will repeat their refreshed talking points as if they said that all along

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Strange title for the article without a conclusion.

And I feel the quoted passage in the tweet is far more relevant than your desperate attempts to hold on to your religion
 
It does have a conclusion. Masks work, and mask mandates don't seem to.

My posts are not always laconic, but the above comes close.
 
nsacpi said:
It does have a conclusion. Masks work, and mask mandates don't seem to.

My posts are not always laconic, but the above comes close.
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As I said... it's now ok to admit that mandated didn't work.

Next update to the software will be that the masks themselves didn't work
 
acesfull86 said:
Pushing mask mandates was a terrible waste of political capital. Was never practical.
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I would say crowded venues of public transportation would make some sense. But it is a fair point to say allowing airline passengers mask breaks to eat defeats the purpose. You either do it or you don't.
 
It is a strange article. Y'all were the ones doing summersaults over it. But it is not exactly what you seem to have thought it was. Never hurts to read something if you are gonna put it out there as validating your viewpoint. But I understand the concerns about spiritual pollution and all that jazz. I'll merely point out that consistency would require that you discount anything coming out of the Times, whether congenial to your views or not.

Next time stick to cerno and poso as your goto guys. They're more your speed.
 
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“In U.S. cities where mask use has been more common, Covid has spread at a similar rate as in mask-resistant cities. Mask mandates in schools also seem to have done little to reduce the spread.”
 
sturg33 said:
its pretty hilarious how scared of this thread he is

it'd be much more respectable to say "I got a lot of things wrong"... but hiding like a little bitch is the preferred method
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Admitting mistakes is certainly a big part of the virtuosity that is at the heart of stoicism.
 
sturg33 said:
“In U.S. cities where mask use has been more common, Covid has spread at a similar rate as in mask-resistant cities. Mask mandates in schools also seem to have done little to reduce the spread.”
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Article Title " Why Masks Work, but Mandates Haven't"

Quotes from article:

1) "It is simultaneously true that masks work and mask mandates do not work."

2) "Masks reduce the spread of covid by preventing virus particles from traveling from one person's nose or mouth into the air and infecting another person."

3) "The covid virus is so contagious it can spread during brief times when people take off their masks, even when a mandate is in place."

4) "Research shows 25-30% of Americans wears masks below their nose."

5) "Even though masks work, getting millions of people to wear them and wear them consistently and properly is a far greater challenge."

6) "During an acute crisis--such as the early months of covid, when masks were one of the few available forms of protection--strict guidelines can nonetheless make sense."

7) "But this approach is not sustainable for years on end."

8) "In the current state of the pandemic, there are less divisive measures that are more effective than mask mandates. Booster shots are widely available."

9) "Instead of continuing to bicker about things that have become hopelessly politicized like mask mandates, those in public health could focus on efforts that might make much more of a difference."

10) "Because masks work and mandates often don't, people can make their own decisions. Anybody who wants to wear a snug, high-quality mask can do so and will be less likely to contract covid."

Anyhow that's my pass at cherry picking.
 
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“In U.S. cities where mask use has been more common, Covid has spread at a similar rate as in mask-resistant cities. Mask mandates in schools also seem to have done little to reduce the spread.”

It's ok to say you got it wrong. The experts were wrong (again)
 
sturg33 said:
“In U.S. cities where mask use has been more common, Covid has spread at a similar rate as in mask-resistant cities. ”
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There is causality in both directions. People in cities that experience worse outbreaks will have more intensive mask wearing. When you have causality in both directions it can be statistically tricky to tease out whether mask wearing is having a positive effect.

I think we've gone over this a few times. The fact that there is turbulence after the fasten the seatbelt sign goes on doesn't mean the sign is causing the turbulence.

You need something called an exogeneous variable to tease out the causality when it is going in both directions. One possible candidate is to look at places or groups where mask wearing has been a cultural norm even before covid. Have those places done better. Hopefully some academic or expert will produce such an analysis.
 
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