We also applied stupid "zero liability" driven anti-risk policies in eliminating nuts from schools. Kids instead bring crappier snack food, AND, the school nut bans did NOT help the kids. In fact, allergies are best served by contact, not by total withdrawal.
We are medicalising and infantilising society, demanding medical intervention on small risks, which individuals could have perfectly handled on their own.
I am not a medical professional, but due to health issues, have gone down many health related rabbit holes. I have learned a bit.
My lungs are, apparently, healthy. Good lung capacity. I have sung for years.
I wore masks as little as possible. They were never comfortable. In our Eastern Ontario heat, it was worse.
I went for a haircut. Mask required. During the cut, the hairdresser caught the elastic of the mask (the blue surgical type)and it fell off. My lips were blue. The hairdresser asked me not to replace the mask!
Funny thing, is that later on I tried removing a layer of the same mask (to create a sneaky, breathable mask), and found a HAIR from my haircut inside!
This is my favourite series on masking, and the articles get better and better. You have a great way of combining good science with real life stories. I'm so glad I found your work. Please don't stop.
I am copying the link to this article, and sending it to so many people. It should be obvious that wearing a mask where no one is sick, is a ridiculous practice. It is analogous to opening an umbrella when it is not raining... irrespective of whether "it works" or not, if there were someone really infectious. When you add all the harms you describe in the article, it should be obvious that forcing people to wear a mask is a crime.
> Particularly for the hearing impaired, the “age of masking” has been an age of “what they hell did that person just say?”
While I do not lip read, I need to see peoples lips moving in order to understand what they are saying because of my hearing impairment.
As for the children, we're going to have 2+ years of kids who will not properly learn how to judge faces and emotions. The effects are going to be profoundly negative when these individuals grow into unempathic adults.
I like the content and style. It reassures me in some fundamental way to see reason being applied to the response to SARSCOV2 when that faculty has been so conspicuously absent for so long. It helps relieve some of the depression that results from recognizing how terribly humanity failed the test presented by this virus.
Small point: I thought oxytocin was the "love hormone".
Yes seatbelts have some minimal efficacy in reducing certain types of injuries. However, seatbelt laws did NOT drive a reduction in injuries. The vast reduction in injuries from the 70s and 80s were achieved through better vehicle construction.
I just did a course at work where the pyramid of corrective measures places "elimination of risk" before "engineering to reduce risk". This is a faulty approach. It is MUCH MUCH more efficient at a population level to engineer better cars, than to "mandate" seatbelts.
I personally never wear mine, except if I'm planning to have an accident oddly enough. I've had 4 risky accidents, but not huge ones, and oddly enough, all on those extremely rare times I was belted in. I suspect risk compensation at work here. Maybe I actually drive better when I don't have that false sense of security provided by a "seatbelt".
It's the same statistics with cyclists. Helmeted cyclists have more accidents. More risk compensation.
Wish I knew about this blog earlier... great stuff. I'm in Nova Scotia as well and I was appalled at the mask and vaccine mandates. I was put on a month and half unpaid leave for resisting the vax mondate. I was forced under financial duress to get it, and I don't feel we were able to give full informed consent without long term testing.
The misinformation of "98% effective" gave people like Strang the green light to implement mandates with the backing of ineffectual politicians who desperately needed to look as though they were taking action. The totali-terrorized public fell right in line, shaming and stigmatizing the unvaxxed... calling them dangerous racists and misogynists.
Thank you you “two”! Great measured piece👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 1) Milk of Amnesia!! My gastroenterologist called it “ Michael Jackson Juice” once 😂2) regarding masks, what would you say about Asthmatics ?? And, I read that that Canada is mandating a Booster every 9 months???? Say it ain’t so!!
We moved here in the thick of covid mandates and the inability to “read” faces had a huge impact. For a while I thought this was the most unfriendly unwelcoming community I had ever seen. Trying to fit in by casual bantering at the grocery store was met with cold silent stares. It got to the point where I dreaded going out in public until my wife said to watch for small signes such as the smile lines in the corners of the eyes, people were smiling back under those masks!
We also applied stupid "zero liability" driven anti-risk policies in eliminating nuts from schools. Kids instead bring crappier snack food, AND, the school nut bans did NOT help the kids. In fact, allergies are best served by contact, not by total withdrawal.
We are medicalising and infantilising society, demanding medical intervention on small risks, which individuals could have perfectly handled on their own.
I am not a medical professional, but due to health issues, have gone down many health related rabbit holes. I have learned a bit.
My lungs are, apparently, healthy. Good lung capacity. I have sung for years.
I wore masks as little as possible. They were never comfortable. In our Eastern Ontario heat, it was worse.
I went for a haircut. Mask required. During the cut, the hairdresser caught the elastic of the mask (the blue surgical type)and it fell off. My lips were blue. The hairdresser asked me not to replace the mask!
Funny thing, is that later on I tried removing a layer of the same mask (to create a sneaky, breathable mask), and found a HAIR from my haircut inside!
So, tell me again how this stops a virus?
This is my favourite series on masking, and the articles get better and better. You have a great way of combining good science with real life stories. I'm so glad I found your work. Please don't stop.
I am copying the link to this article, and sending it to so many people. It should be obvious that wearing a mask where no one is sick, is a ridiculous practice. It is analogous to opening an umbrella when it is not raining... irrespective of whether "it works" or not, if there were someone really infectious. When you add all the harms you describe in the article, it should be obvious that forcing people to wear a mask is a crime.
The entire article is excellent. But it's quite possible the last one was the most important:
"*Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted*"
> Particularly for the hearing impaired, the “age of masking” has been an age of “what they hell did that person just say?”
While I do not lip read, I need to see peoples lips moving in order to understand what they are saying because of my hearing impairment.
As for the children, we're going to have 2+ years of kids who will not properly learn how to judge faces and emotions. The effects are going to be profoundly negative when these individuals grow into unempathic adults.
I like the content and style. It reassures me in some fundamental way to see reason being applied to the response to SARSCOV2 when that faculty has been so conspicuously absent for so long. It helps relieve some of the depression that results from recognizing how terribly humanity failed the test presented by this virus.
Small point: I thought oxytocin was the "love hormone".
Yes seatbelts have some minimal efficacy in reducing certain types of injuries. However, seatbelt laws did NOT drive a reduction in injuries. The vast reduction in injuries from the 70s and 80s were achieved through better vehicle construction.
I just did a course at work where the pyramid of corrective measures places "elimination of risk" before "engineering to reduce risk". This is a faulty approach. It is MUCH MUCH more efficient at a population level to engineer better cars, than to "mandate" seatbelts.
I personally never wear mine, except if I'm planning to have an accident oddly enough. I've had 4 risky accidents, but not huge ones, and oddly enough, all on those extremely rare times I was belted in. I suspect risk compensation at work here. Maybe I actually drive better when I don't have that false sense of security provided by a "seatbelt".
It's the same statistics with cyclists. Helmeted cyclists have more accidents. More risk compensation.
Wish I knew about this blog earlier... great stuff. I'm in Nova Scotia as well and I was appalled at the mask and vaccine mandates. I was put on a month and half unpaid leave for resisting the vax mondate. I was forced under financial duress to get it, and I don't feel we were able to give full informed consent without long term testing.
The misinformation of "98% effective" gave people like Strang the green light to implement mandates with the backing of ineffectual politicians who desperately needed to look as though they were taking action. The totali-terrorized public fell right in line, shaming and stigmatizing the unvaxxed... calling them dangerous racists and misogynists.
Great article Chris! Wonderful work. Such a strange time.....I call it clown world.
Thank you you “two”! Great measured piece👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 1) Milk of Amnesia!! My gastroenterologist called it “ Michael Jackson Juice” once 😂2) regarding masks, what would you say about Asthmatics ?? And, I read that that Canada is mandating a Booster every 9 months???? Say it ain’t so!!
Excellent. Thanks for posting.
Don't forget the dental and eye conditions that arose because of masks.
We moved here in the thick of covid mandates and the inability to “read” faces had a huge impact. For a while I thought this was the most unfriendly unwelcoming community I had ever seen. Trying to fit in by casual bantering at the grocery store was met with cold silent stares. It got to the point where I dreaded going out in public until my wife said to watch for small signes such as the smile lines in the corners of the eyes, people were smiling back under those masks!
Another great read, thank you!
A German veterinary colleague wore PPF2/n95 mask during the working day.
As an experiment she checked her oxygenation levels using pulse oximetry and found a 4% drop in oxygenation levels.
Great article Chris! Wonderful work. Such a strange time.....I call it clown world.