The Lone Ranger famously used a cunning disguise in the form of a mask over his eyes, causing such confusion that bad guys had no chance of ever discovering his real identity of Texas Ranger, John Reid.
As you can see in the photo above, this was completely effective and not at all a rubbish cinematic device which required the complete suspension of belief by the audience to enjoy the show.
Similarly, in those jurisdictions where we’ve “been given our freedoms back” (and what a godawful phrase that is to utter in a country governed by Common Law and a history which includes the various iterations of Magna Carta) there are still plenty of not so Lone Rangers walking amongst us with the flimsy light blue paper over their mouth and nose.
Unusually for these times, I’m of the view people are allowed to make their own health choices, and my opinion of the efficacy of these decisions is and should be entirely irrelevant to them.
If only others would afford me the same courtesy, heh?
My opinion may be irrelevant to these mask wearers and I’d never be so gauche as to confront anyone over these facial nappies (“diapers” if you’re from the former colonies).
But it does leave me with some unanswered questions though. I genuinely would like to learn the answers, so if you are still performing the Covid holy communion of applying a face mask when you are out and about, I’d appreciate it if you could comment below.
Specifically:
Do you have an underlying health condition requiring the mask, and if so, wouldn’t it be safer for you to stay home?
Do you use the medical standard N95 version? If not, why not?
What’s your best estimate of the marginal additional percentage protection your mask confers? 90%? 5%?
What data point would make you consider reverting to the mask free life?
Do you think that data point will ever be achieved or is this a permanent part of your routine now until the end of your life?
Bill’s Opinion
I don’t understand the reasons for continuing to wear the masks. Perhaps I would be persuaded by the arguments for it but these are presumably unique to the individual.
In my mind, it almost falls in to the category of neck or facial tattoos; I’m sure you have reasons, I just can’t think of what they might have been.
The critical question must surely be, what is the data point required to stop wearing them? I honestly hope they’ve thought about the answer to that question otherwise we would have to assume a terrible failure of cognition and agency by somebody whom we might have previously thought to be sentient.
Anyway, for the current time, we are back to a situation where personal choice is a thing again. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Their brains are broken and will not likely be fixed. Certainly not anytime soon, but they like it that way. They can let their freak flag fly!
Eg 1: https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/tell-me-covid-panic-porn-broke-you/comments?s=r
Eg 2: https://www.eugyppius.com/p/christina-berndt-sz-journalist-if?s=r
Surgeons wear masks so they don’t infect an open wound, not for their own protection.
If I had a heavy cold I would be happy to wear a mask to stop my ’emissions’ escaping and infecting others.
But the idea, force-fed to us by ignorant public servant morons worldwide, that masks somehow protect the wearer, still persists. As the main viral transmission is now thought to be by aerosol, masks are useless. (Woven fabrics are an open mesh, with the aerosol particles so small it’s like expecting a chain-link fence to stop a fly.)
I heard fabric masks vs virus particles likened to tossing a marble through a doorway.
My comment has been banished to spam, most likely due to two links.
Found it!
Thanks. I understand it’s a default WordPress thing
I like masks. They hide my wrinkles.
There are some people who should always wear masks. Better still, be permanently locked down.
I keep telling the people in shops who serve me, that if I’m going to wear a mask I should carry a knife, and make a profit on the transaction.
I haven’t had that conversation with my colleagues – I’m clearly the only one who thinks this has all been BS – but from my observation, the Kung Flu believers have no curiosity and no capacity for joined-up thinking. The few hold-outs on masks don’t have medical conditions, they’re afraid, stupid and smugly convinced that they’re smarter than everyone else. I’m particularly impressed by those who put on a mask when they step into the lift and take it off again as soon as they step out again
I drove past a woman this morning wearing a mask whilst standing in her own front yard.
I just can’t work it out. Perhaps I should stop wondering and just assume about ten percent of the population are non-playable characters.
I’m puzzled by people who are very worried about something, but don’t go to any effort to understand it. I’ve met people who are dreadfully worried about Kung Flu, but don’t even know that corona viruses are the class of viruses that cause chest colds. Similarly, I’ve talked with people who think that increasing CO^2 in the atmosphere will doom us, but don’t know what proportion of the atmosphere is CO^2.
Whenever I’m concerned about something I research it. This is why I wasn’t bothered by COVID-19 from March 2020 and haven’t been concerned by CO^2 for a couple of decades, but am planning to manage inflation and potential shortages within my limited capacity.