Politics of The Mask

[TPD]

Apparently Neanderthal thinking isn't so bad after all. This doesn't fit well with the MSM narrative - how will they spin it?

Just over two weeks after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lifted coronavirus mandatesallowing businesses to operate at 100 percent capacity and made masks optional, the red state is still reporting decreases in cases and hospitalizations.

The governor championed his state’s success in a Friday night tweet saying, "Today Texas recorded the lowest 7-day COVID positivity rate since that data began being calculated: 5.43%."

Texas COVID numbers decrease 17 days after mask, other restrictions lifted

Just over two weeks after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lifted coronavirus mandates allowing businesses to operate at 100 percent capacity and made masks optional, the red state is still reporting decreases in cases and hospitalizations.

www.foxnews.com

 

[GURPS]

This doesn't fit well with the MSM narrative - how will they spin it?

Sapidus is waiting for talking points

 

[GURPS]

Here's What Happened as a Result of Gov. Abbott's 'Neanderthal Thinking' About Mask Mandates


The media had a meltdown.

Fox News:

A Washington Post reporter reacted to Abbott’s decision by sharing an article from last September that a “mass casualty event” was happening every day in Texas. Another journalist called Abbott and people who agree with him “wingnuts,” and a liberal website declared Abbott, “showed that there is no limit to how far Republicans will go to kill people by lifting Texas’s mask mandate.”

But Abbott’s order, which went into effect March 10 and also gave businesses the option of going to 100 percent capacity, hasn’t stopped the downward trajectory of positive coronavirus tests. Fewer people are getting sick after Abbott gave Texas citizens the option of wearing a mask or not. Businesses also had the option of maintaining a mask requirement.

Lifting the mandate did not mean that Abbott was saying people couldn’t or shouldn’t wear a mask. But that’s the way that the governor’s political enemies portrayed the order. It turns out, the naysayers look pretty foolish at this point.

Despite the outrage, The Texas Department of State Health Services reported on Thursday that new coronavirus cases have declined since the mask mandate was lifted. The New York Times daily tracker shows Texas daily coronavirus cases are down 28 percent from two weeks ago.
Fox News contributor Guy Benson shared a variety of headlines from news organizations sounding the alarm on March 2. Newsweek focused on Texas Democrat Beto O’Rourke calling the decision a “death warrant for Texans,” a local ABC affiliate declared,” Model projections for Texas show worst-case scenario without mask mandate,” CNN editor-at-large Chris Cillizza wrote about Abbott’s “head-scratching, anti-science decision” and another headline declared Abbott’s decision could result in another coronavirus surge.

 

[GURPS]

 

[Kyle]

 

[GURPS]

The WHO's Own Data Suggest the Futility of Masks and Lockdowns



The World Health Organization’s latest COVID-19 data from both European nations presents a stark difference between how they responded to the pandemic — and which response was the proper one.

There I was, scrolling through my MeWe timeline, minding my own business (and trying to avoid doing any actual work) when I came across this gem of a chart.

The data contained is current as of March 19, 2021.

(WHO data Sweden and Czechia by @ianmSC via Twitter)

As you can see, Sweden got its COVID cases out of the way early, without any economy-destroying shutdowns or liberty-destroying personal restrictions. Czechia went entirely the other direction, yet even now cases are spiking.

Before we get to that, let’s talk briefly about how the two countries are alike.

Both have populations of a little more than ten million people, with similar life expectancies of about 80 years at birth. The median age in both countries is nearly identical, too, at about 41 years old. Again, both countries have similar demographics when it comes to the elderly: the 65-and-up cohort is right around 20% whether you’re in Prague or Stockholm.

I had thought that Sweden’s lower population density might have been an advantage, but Sweden’s urbanization rate (88%!) is actually much higher than the Czech Republic’s (73.8%).

What’s most interesting to me is that Sweden accomplished exactly what we were promised one year ago: Flattening the curve.

 

[Hijinx]

Getting pretty tired of the Government trying to scare the piss out of me.

 

[GURPS]

Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Governor Exceeded His Authority With Mask Mandate, Extended Lockdowns


The Wisconsin Supreme Court narrowly ruled against Gov. Tony Evers on Wednesday after it found that the Democrat exceeded his authority to impose and extend multiple COVID-19 emergency orders in violation of state law.

In a 4-3 ruling, the court stated that Evers unlawfully issued two COVID-19 emergency orders in July and September, including a statewide mask mandate, without the state legislature’s approval, a requirement outlined by Wisconsin statutes.

“The plain language of the statute explains that the governor may, for 60 days, act with expanded powers to address a particular emergency,” Justice Brian Hagedorn wrote in the majority opinion. “Beyond 60 days, however, the legislature reserves for itself the power to determine the policies that govern the state’s response to an ongoing problem. Similarly, when the legislature revokes a state of emergency, a governor may not simply reissue another one on the same basis.”

 

[stgislander]

4-3... definitely was not clear cut ruling. Likely went along ideological (party) lines.

 

[TPD]

I thought Maryland had a similar law - gov could only declare an emergency for 30 or 60 days before he needed legislative approval. But being the liberal state we are I guess no one is willing to challenge him.

 

[GURPS]

But being the liberal state we are I guess no one is willing to challenge him. [/QUOTE


Naa the scared little bitches Like Sapidus LOVE The Authoritarianism

 

[GURPS]

Wisconsin Supreme Court Overrules Dem Governor On Mask Mandate

For his part, Evers argued that the nature of the pandemic had changed, which thus allowed for him to enact multiple emergency orders for the COVID-19 threat even after the expiration of the original 60-day period. The state supreme court, however, ruled 4-3 that Evers was not actually legally allowed to enact such extensions under Wisconsin law.

“We recognize that determining when a set of facts gives rise to a unique enabling condition may not always be easy,” said the court. “But here, COVID-19 has been a consistent threat, and no one can suggest this threat has gone away and then reemerged. The threat has ebbed and flowed, but this does not negate the basic reality that COVID-19 has been a significant and constant danger for a year, with no letup. In the words of the statute, the occurrence of an ‘illness or health condition’ caused by a ‘novel . . . biological agent’ has remained, unabated.”

Concerning the scope of the court’s analysis, the majority opinion noted: “Some may wish our analysis would focus on ensuring the Governor has sufficient power to fight COVID-19; others may be more concerned about expansive executive power. But outside of a constitutional violation, these policy concerns are not relevant to this court’s task in construing the statute. Whether the policy choices reflected in the law give the governor too much or too little authority to respond to the present health crisis does not guide our analysis. Our inquiry is simply whether the law gives the governor the authority to successively declare states of emergency in this circumstance.”

Evers said in a statement Wednesday that the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic was not over. The statement did not directly mention the court.

 

[GURPS]

 

[GURPS]

GOP Kansas Lawmakers Strike Down Democrat Governor’s Statewide Mask Mandate


Republican legislators in Kansas ended the state’s mask mandate Thursday, effectively blocking an executive order from Democratic Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly that would have kept it in place.

The Legislative Coordinating Council, which is group of eight leading state lawmakers, voted 5-2 along party lines to end Kelly’s mask mandate just hours after she extended it, according to The Kansas City Star. State Senate Majority Leader Gene Suellentrop was not present for the vote, which was conducted virtually.

 

[GURPS]

Mask-Wearing Represents Fear and Blind Obedience, Not Science


If you wear a mask, you do so in the belief that you are protecting yourself (and others) from COVID-19. So, then, why do you care if I don't wear a mask? Doesn't your mask protect you? If it does, my not wearing a mask may irritate you because you resent my assertion of freedom, my obvious lack of respect for government and medical authorities, and my alleged selfishness, but there would be no rational medical -- that is, "science-based" -- reason for your objecting to my not wearing a mask.

And if masks protect us and others, why have people been refused the right to visit a loved one as he or she lay dying alone? Why couldn't a person -- wearing the same mask a doctor, nurse or any health care worker wears when entering your parent's room -- enter that room? There are two possible answers: One is it's a tacit admission that masks are essentially useless. You were prevented from visiting your dying father because the hospital believes your loved one or others in the hospital might contract the virus from you, even though you were wearing a mask. Which means those running the hospital don't believe masks actually work. The other is that the medical establishment and lay authorities have abandoned elementary human decency in the name of AOC, or "Abundance of Caution." Forcing hundreds of thousands of people to die alone will go down as one of the cruelest policies ever adopted by American medical and political authorities.

The problem is most Americans who went to college learned to unquestioningly obey "experts." This is why common sense, logic and reason mean little to the well-educated -- and, increasingly, to everyone else, because everyone is taught by the well-educated. All we need to know is what the "experts" say. That plus a fanatical adherence to the rule of AOC have crushed logic and reason.

[clip]

Dr. Anthony Fauci himself told the truth about the uselessness of mask-wearing on "60 Minutes" on March 8, 2020: "Right now, in the United States, people should not be walking around with masks. ... There's no reason to be walking around with a mask. When you're in the middle of an outbreak, wearing a mask might make people feel a little bit better, and it might even block a droplet, but it's not providing the perfect protection that people think that it is. And, often, there are unintended consequences: People keep fiddling with the mask, and they keep touching their face."

Dr. Ramin Oskoui, a cardiologist in Washington at a Senate hearing in December 2020, testified under oath: "Masks do not work." (The New York Times, Dec. 8, 2020.)

The Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 11, 2020: "The projected number of lives saved, and the implied case for a mask mandate, are based on a faulty statistic."

Dr. Paul E. Alexander, a Canadian epidemiologist, wrote: "Surgical and cloth masks, used as they currently are, have absolutely no impact on controlling the transmission of Covid-19 virus, and current evidence implies that face masks can be actually harmful." (American Institute for Economic Research, Feb. 11, 2021.)

Roger W. Koops, who has a doctorate in chemistry from the University of California, Riverside, wrote: "A 'mask,' and that term usually refers to either a SURGICAL mask or N95 mask, has no benefit in the general population and is only useful in controlled clinical settings. Further, it has been considered a greater transmission risk than a benefit in the general population. ... In the open environment, no one should be wearing face coverings." (American Institute for Economic Research, Oct. 16, 2020.)

 

[GURPS]

The Male Steward Who Forced A Family Out Of The Plane Because Of Unmasked Toddler Received Instant Karma


The mother, who is 7 months pregnant, told the flight attendant that her child just turned two one month ago.

The flight attendant addressed the family on behalf of the male steward who didn’t want them on the plane.

‘I’m sorry. They want you off,’ the flight attendant tells the family, adding that they were ‘noncompliant with the masks’.

The flight attendant says ‘it’s not my choice’ as the girl’s dad argues that they also have their ‘special needs’ son with them. The steward then walks away and says she’s going to call the police onboard.







After all of the passengers were back at the gate, police officers were seen in another clip escorting the male steward, who had a problem with the girl not wearing a mask, off the plane.









I'd like to know what ' Sapidus ' did to get led away by the police

 

[GURPS]

16 states have decided you don’t need to wear a face mask anymore


According to the latest coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins University, more than 29.1 million coronavirus cases have been reported in the US through Thursday afternoon, in addition to more than 530,000 coronavirus deaths. The 7-day average of new coronavirus cases in the US is now down to a little more than 63,000 from more than 250,000 at one point in early January — and while public health experts like White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci would like to see that number fall still dramatically farther before an end to the pandemic is declared, some officials have decided to go ahead and start celebrating early.

On Thursday, for example, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt announced that the state would join the ranks of those states that are now lifting face mask mandates around the US. His announcement also includes the lifting of restrictions on events, as well. “Because of the progress we’ve made, I’ll be issuing a new executive order tomorrow,” Stitt said. “The standard for normal cannot be zero cases.”

Importantly, Stitt said he’s still encouraging Oklahoma residents to wear face masks — it’s just that the requirement is no longer there on a statewide basis. Similarly, other states have decided to go ahead down this same route. Like Texas, which garnered a flood of national media attention for its own lifting of coronavirus safety measures on a statewide basis, as you can read in our previous post here.

 

[Hijinx]

Our boy Larry will not let us stop wearing masks until his buddy Biden tells him to let us stop.
It may be a year or two.

 

[Kyle]

 

[GURPS]

Ted Cruz Is Ditching Face Masks: ‘I’ve Been Vaccinated’


Cruz told CNN Thursday that he and other senators and staff working on the Hill have been vaccinated and that he no longer needs to wear a face mask. In the past, Cruz has compared said that wearing face masks after being vaccinated is a type of theatrical virtue signaling.

“At this point I’ve been vaccinated. Everybody working in the Senate has been vaccinated,” Cruz said. He is the second lawmaker, following Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), to ditch face masks on Capitol Hill.

Once vaccinated, Americans have almost no chance of contracting COVID-19. Out of 76.6 million Americans who have received the vaccine, about 5,800 people have later tested positive for the virus, an infection rate of 0.008%, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.

CDC guidelines on what one can and cannot do post-vaccination are relatively restrictive, recommending people stay away from medium to large gatherings and maintain social distancing and wear masks while in public settings. According to the CDC, vaccinated people can unmask in private settings with a group of people who have also been vaccinated. Vaccinated people may also travel via plane with being tested before and after or quarantining.