patrick.net

https://spectator.us/topic/strange-theater-mask-wearing/

... the case for masks making a better than negligible difference to the spread of COVID-19 has always been crap. ... . Mask mandates were initially justified by fairytale computer modeling. But we now have hard evidence in the real world, where there’s been no clear correlation between masking and infection rates, hospitalizations or COVID deaths. In country after country and state after American state, graphs of all these metrics vividly demonstrate that the introduction of mask mandates has had no effect. After these laws are passed, those graph lines don’t ripple, notch or slump. The only slight correlation, which I’m willing to dismiss as a fluke? Masked populations have worse COVID results. A study of demographically comparable groups in super-compliant Denmark also found no significant difference in COVID metrics between those who were told to wear masks and those who weren’t. The whole masking theatre amounts to pointless, gesturing obeisance.
What explains this perverse attachment to self-smothering? In the US, masks are a badge of tribal allegiance — Biden/Harris T-shirts that you tie around your face. They confer virtue and dedication to communitarian suffering. They create the illusion of control (‘I can’t get sick! I’m wearing a MASK!’). They provide the happy opportunity to denounce the recalcitrant and to force the begrudging to do something they dislike. ...

Ubiquitous masking also perpetuates the atmosphere of emergency to which some people have grown addicted. ‘Look, we live in a special, perilous time, and we obey strict protocols with heightened moral urgency.’ The prospect of relinquishing this exhilarating sense of the exceptional could seem deflating.

It’s a cliché now that masks have become a religious symbol. The very poverty of the scientific evidence for their efficacy may help explain the fervidness of their adoption. Masking is not a matter of knowledge but faith — or superstition. One masks to ward off evil. Post-pandemic, a goodly number of folks will still cling to their polypropylene nosebags like rabbits’ feet.

But masking while fully vaccinated entails a baffling contradiction. We’re simultaneously to believe: 1) everyone must get vaccinated; 2) vaccines don’t work. Wrap your head round that. Because if your vaccination overwhelmingly prevents both transmission and disease (meaning it works), even unvaccinated people present no danger to you. So you don’t socially distance. You go to restaurants. You see your friends. And you don’t wear a mask. Yet, bizarrely, in surveys vaccinated Americans express far less willingness than the unvaccinated to resume once-normal activities like hopping on a bus, often by a factor of two. Calling that ‘cognitive dissonance’ may be too generous. Let’s go for ‘state-induced mass hysteria’ instead.

I think it makes sense that the the vaxers and maskers are the same people. The same psychotic level of fear drives both - not fear of the virus, which everyone should realize is trivial at this point - but fear of being classified as someone who does not conform.

https://www.ntd.com/parisians-flock-to-restaurant-terraces_615645.html?utm_source=patrick.net&utm_medium=patrick.net&utm_campaign=patrick.net

In Osage Beach, MO right now (Ozarks). ZERO masks. It’s even better than FL. Haven’t even seen a token mask wearer. We’ll see today once we get out on the boat and hit up some pool bars. Covid is over down here.

WookieMan says

In Osage Beach, MO right now (Ozarks). ZERO masks. It’s even better than FL. Haven’t even seen a token mask wearer. We’ll see today once we get out on the boat and hit up some pool bars. Covid is over down here.

I went to a Wegmans (giant grocery store) in VA Beach yesterday, and even though masks are not required, I was virtually the only one without a mask. Folks have no common sense.

HeadSet says

I went to a Wegmans (giant grocery store) in VA Beach yesterday, and even though masks are not required, I was virtually the only one without a mask. Folks have no common sense.

Or... lots of people be ugly and prefer to hide their faces.

I saw a local lefty news site suggest the recent guidance that says masks aren't required anymore is likely one of those things they just have to say to help get the economy going, but its safer to keep the mask on.

Anyone else heard this sentiment? I bet they could use it to great effect to keep the masks on, and to also help them save face.

It's not over yet:

https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_breakingnews/sunday-school-teacher-arrested-after-attending-school-board-meeting-without-mask_3825624.html?utm_source=patrick.net&utm_medium=patrick.net&utm_campaign=patrick.net

https://notthebee.com/article/nancy-pelosi-is-fining-gop-members-for-not-wearing-masks-meanwhile-heres-a-video-of-the-dems-hanging-out-last-night

https://notthebee.com/article/the-graveyard-of-meaningless-terms-has-gained-another-resident

Why did Fauci keep his mask on after vaccination? For the way it looked, not what it actually did. Bingo. That is what "science" has become: a term or discipline to be wielded and utilized not in relation to any actual data, but merely as theater in some vain effort to exert your credibility and provide cover for improperly usurped authority.

... you know exactly why all these folks who stand to lose power and authority the moment life goes back to normal, are ignoring the data that says we're ready to do just that...

https://notthebee.com/article/a-colorado-bus-driver-is-facing-charges-for-slapping-a-young-girl-who-wasnt-wearing-her-mask-correctly

This Colorado bus driver slapped a kid HARD for not wearing her mask correctly and it was caught on video

That's leftism in a nutshell: Violent insane demands for compliance to their rules, to the point of beating children.

Patrick says

This Colorado bus driver slapped a kid HARD for not wearing her mask correctly and it was caught on video

That bus driver better make sure he does not meet that girl's dad.....

After being told last week by an employee of my local Trader Joe's that masks were no longer required for the vaccinated, and confirming this with news accounts, I tried to go shopping there without a mask today.

I was accosted on entry and told I still had to wear a mask because of California rules.

zzyzzx says

More like pacifiers.

Okay. Boots on the ground. 2 masks this entire weekend. That’s it. So fucking normal I almost jizzed my pants.

Culture is hillbilly as fuck, but if you’re looking to be “normal” I’d definitely suggest the Ozarks. Was nice to get out on the water too. Bars were packed for off season. Double or triple what we normally experience on this trip.

WookieMan says

Okay. Boots on the ground. 2 masks this entire weekend. That’s it. So fucking normal I almost jizzed my pants.

Culture is hillbilly as fuck, but if you’re looking to be “normal” I’d definitely suggest the Ozarks. Was nice to get out on the water too. Bars were packed for off season. Double or triple what we normally experience on this trip.

Where you at? Branson? That’s the hillbilly vegas... without the gambling. Honestly it’s nicer than vegas with the river and the laid back feel.

Some of my cousins attended College of the Ozarks there, where courts are now allowing men into women's showers even though it is an explicitly Christian school.

https://www.cofo.edu/Religious-Liberty

Shaman says

Where you at?

Osage Beach proper, Lake Of The Ozark is the body of water. North of Branson by a good 2 hours. I think that whole region in southern MO is just referred to as the Ozarks. Osage River is what is dammed up to create the "lake." More like a wide river in my world, but whatever.

Beside the Covid year, have been every year about 7 times, roughly the same weekend before Memorial Day. People are flocking there to be normal. 3-5x's as many people than we've ever seen and the weather was iffy the whole time, so that wasn't the reason. It's theoretically off season too. Could be stimulus money as well, but I'm sure most people have burned through that already.

Definitely hillbilly down there. But that's kind of fun from time to time. We cruise around in 56' Searay. There are some smoking hotties as dockhands and bartenders, that's for sure. Forget the bar, but Tiffany our bartender was hot as hell at a place near Bagnell Dam. The patrons at the restaurants/bars, not so much. lol. So maybe no masks wasn't a good thing.

Shaman says

Where you at? Branson? That’s the hillbilly vegas... without the gambling. Honestly it’s nicer than vegas with the river and the laid back feel.

What's the point of going to Vegas if not gambling?

https://babylonbee.com/news/my-precioooooous-hisses-liberal-tightly-clutching-mask-in-dark-cave

zzyzzx says

What's the point of going to Vegas if not gambling?

Went a few weeks ago for a competition for my cheerleader daughter. Stayed on the strip, ate at some places, and fought the crowds. Seemed busy there. I hate slot machines... annoying AF! And the card games required more time than I had to spare this time. This was my first time to Vegas without gambling at all.

Shaman says

This was my first time to Vegas without gambling at all.

Good choice. I gamble, so slightly hypocritical, but it's a waste of time. I get the thrill of it, maybe a big win, but you'll end up losing overall 98% of the time. The one big win keeps you coming back and you'll lose/give it back. Poker is about the only one with skill. And even then you face a good poker player with deep pockets, you're fucked.

Shaman says

Went a few weeks ago for a competition for my cheerleader daughter. Stayed on the strip, ate at some places, and fought the crowds.

@Shaman What percent of people were still wearing masks?

I went windsurfing for the 1st time this year at Sherman Island. Awesome wind and waves.

On the way there I stopped at the local surf shop to look around and buy a new hat. Threw on my nasty old mask. I walk in and look around for a minute when I realize the store clerk wasn't masked. I took mine off.

Conditioning works.

I am going to start walking into places and make them ask me to put on my mask.

I will put on a dramatic show of pulling it out of my pocket, dusting it off, straightening it out, and then carefully fitting it.

I will then ask, "Is this fine?"

Nasty ass masks.

Masks litter all over the place in Santa Cruz.

Nobody is masking at gyms in Florida, thank $@#$. Imagine trying to get your VO Max or bust out that last rep, going hard, wearing a mask.

Onvacation says

I am going to start walking into places and make them ask me to put on my mask.

I will put on a dramatic show of pulling it out of my pocket, dusting it off, straightening it out, and then carefully fitting it.

I will then ask, "Is this fine?"

I like this.

A little passive aggression may be just the thing.

"When the great lord rides by on his high horse, the humble peasant bows, and silently farts."

Onvacation says

I am going to start walking into places and make them ask me to put on my mask.

I will put on a dramatic show of pulling it out of my pocket, dusting it off, straightening it out, and then carefully fitting it.

I will then ask, "Is this fine?"

I've been doing this since day 1. I live in Northern Virginia about 1 mile from the See Eye A.

Ceffer says

Masks litter all over the place in Santa Cruz.

But hey SF banned plastic straws! Fucking morons.

Patrick says

@Shaman What percent of people were still wearing masks?

Probably 90% or more. Outdoors there were more, but not a lot more unmasked. Indoors there were some unmasked here and there. I walked around indoors unmasked for a while and nobody ever told me to mask up .

Atlantic City now maskless! And just in time for my Beach vacation! No I'm not going this weekend, but soon! Will report back mask usage.

https://dossier.substack.com/p/cdc-85-of-covid-19-patients-report

An underreported, recently-published CDC study adds to the pile of evidence that cloth masks or other forms of mandated face coverings only contribute negatives to our COVID-19 problem. The study also displays — despite the constant accusations of widespread misbehavior from public health officials — that Americans are adhering to mask wearing, but mask wearing is not doing us any good.

The CDC study, which surveyed symptomatic COVID-19 patients, has found that 70.6% of respondents reported “always” wearing a mask, while an additional 14.4% say they “often” wear a mask. That means a whopping 85% of infected COVID-19 patients reported habitual mask wearing. Only 3.9% of those infected said they “never” wear a face covering.

https://www.accuweather.com/en/travel/summer-shaping-up-to-be-blockbuster-at-jersey-shore/952168

Summer is shaping up to be a blockbuster rental season as pandemic restrictions ease

Booking websites like Airbnb are also seeing a boom in traffic for the Jersey Shore. “Cape May is actually a top trending destination across the entire site,” Sam Randall of Airbnb told CBS Philly, referring to the popular resort at the southeastern tip of New Jersey.

Several factors could explain the blockbuster season. Duane Watlington, who owns Vacation Rentals Ocean City NJ, told AccuWeather the pandemic has inspired people who usually travel farther distances to book a vacation closer to home.

“I think people still can't take those overseas vacations, they might be a little hesitant to fly still, so they're looking for a staycation someplace they could drive to," he said. "So not only do we have our normal people that vacation at the shore, but we've branched out and have people from Connecticut, Massachusetts -- they are coming to the Jersey Shore this year too.”

Sean Tannehill with Mark Arbeit and Co. agrees, but said interest is coming from even farther away than the Northeast. He told CBS Philly, “We’re actually getting a lot of calls from the West Coast, from California, from people where the restrictions are still tight and they’re just trying to find a way to escape and have some normalcy this summer.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/kprcradio.iheart.com/alternate/amp/2021-01-29-texas-university-tells-students-wear-masks-during-masturbation/

Texas University Tells Students: Wear Masks During Masturbation