I cannot add anymore to this sentiment than has already been said. Concur completely. Wanna wear a mask do it, don't wanna wear a mask don't, simple as that.

Count me as one of the not gonna wear one. If one does not like that, it is their problem and not mine.

Cheers,

Butch

I’m pretty much done with masks but the crowded National was an exception for me on that front. To say I was in the minority is an understatement.

I think you should wear a Halloween mask. “It'd be a lot cooler if you did” in the words of character David Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey)

Well, I went to the National in search of my white whale: T206 Cobb Bat Off: PSA 4.5. Found it at a decent price too. But, I just found out I also received a parting gift from the Show: Testing positive for Covid. Yay!!

Good grief. It's your life to waste. Have at it.

Because masks catch spray. They don't prevent you from breathing it in.

Thanks for making my point.
.

Exactly. For those who want to wear them, now, feel free. If you are one of those people who do not like that the people you are around are not wearing them, then leave. Thanks for posting.

Wear what you want, but I am putting this sign on my table:

No Mask No Discount :D

Just because I don't have 11000 plus posts doesn't make me a troll for expressing an opinion. Get down off your high horse.

The Sum of All Fears
 

After over 2 years I have arrived at the following conclusion based on all available data and internet posts...... If you do or do not wear a mask, you are a moron. Thank you and peace out my peeps!

Hey that is better than No Mask No Service...so I do agree to these terms.

Judge Unseals 400 Pages of Evidence, Clears Way for Pfizer Whistleblower Lawsuit.
A whistleblower lawsuit alleging fraud during Pfizer’s COVID vaccine trials is moving forward, after a district court judge unsealed the complaint, including 400 pages of exhibits.
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/d...lower-lawsuit/
https://twitter.com/IamBrookJackson/...10562985398273 (Scroll up slightly to see video #1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaLxhFiOBYk

Thread WINNER!!!!!

Re-read that last sentence. Who can find the flaw?

http://https://www.reuters.com/artic...23579720100212http://https://www.reuters.com/artic...23579720100212

How come nobody cared about viruses in 2009-10? Up to 1,800 children died in that short span with the swine flu. Those are children and not elderly sick patients, and I don't mean to dismiss the death of an elderly sick person, but it should go without saying that the death of a child has an immeasurable magnitude higher.

I say "nobody cared' because there was no wide spread testing. Schools as a majority didn't do anything to cause prevention or spread. NO masks anywhere.

Nobody walked around the National that year wearing a mask saying "I don't want my child to die from swine flu." Children were very vulnerable to that virus, more so than elderly...which makes the way schools handled covid way more puzzling than when they did nothing for Swine flu.

Since there was no massive testing for swine flu, who knows how many more died of it or had it.

So are we saying we now learned a lesson from 'letting' 1,800 kids die during that time and that is why all these convoluted mitigations were put into place?

Or are we just going to forget that all those children died and give the people in charge then a free pass?

Many of the same doctors in charge of the nation now were in charge then too. Are something as simple as a mask just now revelation to them? I would like to know why they didn't have that simple revelation a decade earlier?? Were children not important enough to prevent from getting sick or dying?

The term "one life lost is one too many" has been uttered several times in the past two years. How come 1,800 lives isn't 1,800 too many?

How come nobody asks these questions?

.................................................. .................................................. ....................

This is the linked article reported by Reuters from 2010 about the virus::

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - H1N1 swine flu has killed as many as 17,000 Americans, including 1,800 children, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Friday.


The H1N1 flu virus (red) is pictured in this handout photograph taken on July 9, 2009 and released on July 13, 2009. REUTERS/Image courtesy of Yoshihiro Kawaoka/University of Wisconsin-Madiso/Handout

The swine flu pandemic put as many people into the hospital as during the normal influenza season -- but most were younger adults and children instead of the elderly, and it was during the months when usually very little or no flu is circulating, the CDC said.

In a separate study that helped shed light on why so many children were seriously affected, researchers reported on four children who developed a serious infection of the heart from swine flu, including one who died.

“CDC estimates that between 41 million and 84 million cases of 2009 H1N1 occurred between April 2009 and January 16, 2010,” the agency said in a statement. Usually the CDC goes with a middle number, which it puts at about 57 million people infected.

Between 8,330 and 17,160 people died during that time from H1N1, with a middle range of about 12,000, the CDC said. But between 880 and 1,800 children died, up to 13,000 adults under the age of 65 and only 1,000 to 2,000 elderly.

In a normal flu season, the CDC estimates that 36,000 Americans die of flu, but 90 percent are over the age of 65. The CDC estimates that 200,000 go into the hospital, again mostly frail elderly people with other health conditions.

The swine flu pandemic has affected much younger people.

ADVERTISEMENT


The CDC estimate shows that between 183,000 and 378,000 people were hospitalized with H1N1 swine flu from April to January.

In an average flu season, about 82 children die in the United States, the CDC says. But those are lab-confirmed cases.

ACCURATE ESTIMATES
The CDC and the World Health Organization stopped trying to count all the actual cases months ago, once it became clear that H1N1 was a pandemic that would infect millions.

WHO’s count of lab-confirmed cases showed that at least 15,292 people had died in 212 countries and territories.

But WHO and the CDC note there are nowhere near enough diagnostic tests to give to everyone with flu-like symptoms to see if they really have swine flu.

ADVERTISEMENT


The CDC therefore does its estimates based on models, calculated by looking intensively at small groups of people, gathering data on overall reports of sickness and death, and reconciling the two.

That is also how the CDC comes up with its annual estimates for seasonal flu, and experts agree these estimates are far more accurate than counting confirmed cases.

H1N1 is causing some unusual symptoms. In a report published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Dr. Andras Bratincsak of Rady Children’s Hospital and the University of California San Diego reported on four cases of a heart inflammation called myocarditis among children there in just one month.

“We present the first known report of acute myocarditis in pediatric population associated with the present pandemic H1N1 influenza A virus infection,” they wrote.

Viral myocarditis is extremely rare and one child died and two required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support or ECMO -- an extreme type of life support similar to heart-lung bypass machines used during open-heart surgery.

“Our observations warrant a high index of suspicion for myocarditis in children with H1N1 influenza A infection. Early detection and aggressive management are paramount,” Bratincsak’s team wrote.

Impossible to answer without turning this political.

I'm sure things will be ramped up real soon.
They've, or are at least their trying, to ramp up climate change by referring to it, and trying to get everyone on board, to now it being a climate crisis.
Throw in monkey-pox, covid cases rising, and almost any other fear mongering tool at their disposal and they'll use it.
Crazy times!!
CNN Director speaking about climate change and admitting, fear sells.
https://twitter.com/aboutparesh/stat...C-ibuO8oErAAAA
:eek:

"They."

:D

Lemme guess. Fauci, Greta Thunberg, Prince Charles, Biden, the media, Hollywood, and the rest of the vast left wing conspiracy?

they've
/T͟Hāv/
contraction
they have.
"they've been working hard"

Hey, Friendo. I see you still haven't opened your eyes yet. Hopefully someday you will.
Convince me why I should get a vaccine, Pete, let alone 3 or 4?

Yes my friend, but who are they? As the ad used to go, inquiring minds want to know.:eek:

Have you been out to the new range West of Mankato. It has a 1000yd range, and other shooting activities. Not sure how many guys here are in our local (1 1/2hrs from twin cities) area that like to shoot clays and punch steel but maybe we could all do a few rounds. Invite Large a$$ Herzog along

Lol, it's funny for a second, but stop feeding into the mindless drones.

#GODWINS

Politics aside, I think COVID is just something we all have to get used to living with. We're arriving at the point where it's becoming no different than a case of the flu. This is not trivializing people with long covid, or those that have lost someone to the disease, it's just a fact of life now. We have more ways to treat it and fight against it. Wear a mask, don't wear a mask, at this point I don't think it matters. If you're afraid of catching it, avoid places with crowds, it's that simple. I had it twice at this point. The second time was noticeably better than the first. My first experience I was bed ridden for about a week. I say this as someone who lives a very active lifestyle, it's no joke. All that said, I am past the point of allowing it to effect my life. I'm going to continue to live life and do the things I do.

I hear ya.

I know I asked above, but to simplify, knowing that the deadly swine flu virus killed up to 1,800 children in 2009/10, why didn't anybody anybody go to the National that year wearing a mask and saying "I don't want my children to die."

I know that nobody wants any harm to come to their children, so that can't be the answer.

So then is 1,800 children deaths acceptable but 500,000 sick/elderly deaths not acceptable?

Of course, since there was no wide spread testing in 2009/10, where everyone who died of one disease who could have ALSO been tested for swine flu, would have counted as a swine flu death under the way covid deaths were counted...but that is a different subject.


Look back at your workplace and remember how many people showed up to work with obvious cold/flu symptoms. I remember staying away from them back then because I hated getting sore throats...but why was it ok to show up to work like that back then during that virus but the complete opposite in this one?

The only possible answer would be that we evolved in the way we handled viruses. However, to put it bluntly that is also saying the people in charge in 2009/10 were wrong in their response, rather than sugar coating it by saying we evolved. Unless we count the death of 1,800 children as 'doing a good job'.

But again, we did absolutely NOTHING to stop the spread of swine flu. So it would only be luck that more didn't die.

Of course, if I am a leader of my field and my evolution was that I suddenly realized that mask mandates were a good answer, and I did NOT realize that ten years earlier, then how competent would that make me? How much credence would I have in making any similar determinations now?

Looks like you have the starting lineup picked out. :D


Or, you can keep sharing these fake news narratives that make anyone who believes them look like a fool.

• inflation is transitory"
• Russia caused gas prices to spike--not biden ending much of the gas production
• monkeypox is normal now for non-homosexuals to get, just like covid came from a bat eaten in a wet market
• hunter's laptop isn't real and he isn't a freak/weirdo/pe,do
• please send more money to ukraine to support the war cause--they promise not to use more of it to fund photoshoots and cross-dressing by Ukraine's president LOL
• jan 6th was a riot but chop city, portland, and seattle were all peaceful protests
• we desprerately need to teach all of our 5 year olds about cross-dressing and transvestites so they can pick if they want to be called he, she, her, it, monkey, dog, or cat that week... LOL SICK!

This list of insanity could literally go on for days. How can anyone ignore all of this unless they are under absolute demonic mind control?


#PleaseWakeUp

Turned political quite a while ago :(

I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not.

People could make a discussion about a ham and cheese sandwich political.

These are all just the disposable foot soldiers doing the bidding of the WEF and West/Central Bankers.

Another question, why did pediatricians have toys in their waiting rooms all those years before and during swine flu?

Was I ahead of the curve, and ahead of the professionals, by holding my toddlers tightly in my lap while we waited for a mere check up, and not letting them play with the toys when it was obvious that half the people in that room were sick and wiping snots all over the toys?

Then also, why even have a waiting room housing a bunch of sick people waiting together anyway. SICK people, not healthy people. What sense does that make?

What clicked in 2020 that did not click from any year from 2019 and prior that changed ALL OF THAT?? What changed?

The great thing about conspiracy theories is lke Bigfoot, aliens, politics, and altered cards if you don't care they do not effect you.

Come on Adam, That rug really tied the room together.

The anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theorists, etc., are right. They definitely should not get vaccinated. For anything. Ever. Nor should they wear masks, seat belts or motorcycle helmets, and they absolutely should live in states that allow unfettered gun carrying and open alcohol containers in cars. They should also stop all zoning regulations in their areas, go off all medications, eat fast food and swill copious amounts of soda with every meal, and so on.

The wonderful thing about nature is that it weeds out the nimrods.

Leon, this thread has gone off the deep end and needs to be euthanized.

Don't expect any of the true believers to actually address any of the real questions. They are content at renouncing the fringe element.

The Vaccine pitch meeting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqLpv7wsb0Y
:)

Dr. Birx testimony.

“All I know is there was evidence from the global pandemic that natural reinfection was occurring. Since the vaccine was based on natural immunity, you cannot make the conclusion that the vaccine will do better than natural infection. Although it can often do slightly better.”

https://www.johnlocke.org/birx-testi...-covid-policy/

https://twitter.com/Jennifer_Arcuri/...26195425071105

Ivermectin is allowed though. And maybe other meds as long as the double blind studies show they aren't effective.

Nothing wrong with a little green apple flavored horse dewormer. Maybe at the next National someone can have a stall selling it.;):D:D

SADS: Sudden Adult Death Syndrome.

Deaths with unknown causes now Alberta's top killer: province
In 2021, ill-defined and unknown causes of death snagged the first spot with 3,362, up from 1,464 in 2020 and 522 the year before that, according to statistics from the Government of Alberta.
https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/deaths-wi...ince-1.5975536

How is this possible when we have a weak variant and 90% are vaxxed?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...2022-1.6531350
Is it a problem that Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) deaths look like a conspiracy? Or is it more concerning that our government and health officials don’t even care that it does; they are definitely losing the trust of the public with their non-answers.
https://twitter.com/LeslynLewis/stat...06466116456448
https://leslynlewis.ca/blog/will-the...swers-on-sads/
https://twitter.com/rupasubramanya/s...Cy1b202ZErAAAA
https://twitter.com/LauraLynnTT/stat...01052883755008

Let's just get the Gorilla in the room out of the way Fauci lied to congress. Second the Chinese were working on far worse things.......watch this video and try not to lose your faith in humanity.
https://youtu.be/FuZ-qFD5hFA

If you’re looking in YouTube for Senator Hawley videos I feel like you might be past the point of no return.

Typical liberal response. Lets address Hawley and not the info within the vid.
You've been trained well.

Amazing. Alex Jones was just hit with a $50 million verdict for nonsense. Just fyi.

About time one of those morons has to pay for BS they spread. The most amazing thing to me is how they find people dumb enough to believe them.

Waiting
 

... I can't wait for SNL to start up again.

..

Typical non-U.S. citizen response minding our business for us. Perhaps you stick with the conspiracies on your side of the border and we will mind our own.

I couldn't agree more. Hopefully he won't find a way to weasel out of having to pay.

I really don't want to get into this crap again, but for anyone truly interested in the overall impact of Covid, please read up on "Excess Mortality". It is math. Non-partisan, apolitical, unbiased, math.

Even if covid disappears today, it will continue to impact society and economies for decades. Combined with the fertility rate being sub-replacement for approx 50 years, we are in for short term disruptions and long term effects.

Of course, if somehow the states can force all pregnancies to be carried full-term, that may mitigate some issues. :D

Apparently nature is slacking off.

Not hard to believe at all, really.

Not to change the subject to something controversial, but having just wrapped up 10 years working in the oil and gas industry, let me offer that the idea that gas prices are high because Biden ended gas production is not true. First of all, he didn't end gas production. The government stopped issuing permits to drill on federal land. Production from drilling on federal land only accounts for 7-8% of US production. Additionally, on January 22, 2021 the US active rig count was 378. Yesterday, it was 764, slightly more than double.

Attachment 528524

TBF, the rig count was over 1000 as recently as 2019. But, it is not higher now because E&P companies are exercising greater capital discipline, which is likely being imposed on them by their bankers, since shale production has a poor record of delivering the promised returns. Additionally, crude oil is a global commodity and responds to uncertainty and risk. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a major source of risk. Russia is the second largest producer of crude oil (behind only the US) and sanctioning that production constrains supply and drive up prices.

Now, back to the more congenial discussion of infectious disease.

Let's not forget Fauci did a complete 180 on masks in a matter of days. He's on record saying they don't help and a week later he's on record saying they're necessary.

And one of my personal favorites...

Busing migrants to NYC has created a crisis, but allowing them to walk into Texas is acceptable.

Then he went to saying wear 2 masks and told the populace "it's just common sense" :(
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/25/dr-f...effective.html

Some here likely won't find this too funny even it sums it up pretty good, imo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBsCHDdi_O4

https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrN...WciimEJNfszkU-

People with common sense: "Exercise, get enough sleep, eat well, and reduce stressors in life as best you can."

CDC/Government: "Nope. Do none of those things. In fact, we're going to put boards on basketball hoops at the parks so kids can't play during quarantine. Oh, and here are 14837489178789571082 rounds of jabs that may or may not work, but you're going to be our experiment."


It's not much of a discussion/argument, because one side literally ignores the science while preaching "trust the science".

I'm going to continue to eat well, sleep well, exercise daily, and enjoy life. Don't like it? Stay home. That is a choice you have.

Oh, and I won't be wearing the face diapers. I like breathing oxygen in adequate amounts, and prefer not to rebreathe CO2.

Complete misrepresentation of events, unless one lives in a reality of hacked up 3 second sound bites.

A new virus is spreading, with it's transmission mode unknown. The supply of masks was limited for medical personnel. New info was coming in daily, especially in the early stages. As it turns out, transmission is via aerosol and not contact or droplets, so surgical masks provide less (not zero) protection than thought. However, staying away from sick people, closed areas, and masking would have indeed led to a much more manageable event, as even a surgical mask has been proven to reduce the initial viral inoculation. Still applies, with N95 obviously being the most effective.

Here's a pretty good *actual* timeline of events as they unfolded. It's very interesting that Fauci only started to get demonized after he corrected or disagreed with, virtually, one person in the world. Much more is known since this article was published:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackbre...h=4582a3b64969

The truth is often nuanced and evolving, but the selective soundbites make a better and simpler narrative particularly if you're looking to reinforce a bias. Demagogues have understood this since the dawn of time.

It.transmits just like a virulent cold. Who woulda thunk it?

I don't need to read what happened. It was two years ago. I was there. People need to start thinking for themselves and stop waiting for someone to tell them what's going on.

And a lot of people need to stop thinking for themselves. They just aren't good at it.

Truthiness does not trump the truth.

That's something that happens to other people, not the proud and defiant folks here.

Democrats love lemmings.

So do the people at Fox News

You think with the target demographic of covid, old overweight people, the card collecting community would have taking a major hit. I'm glad most are safe

Only if they can vote. Animals have rights you know!

This thread devolved quickly.

Wow you must be way more fragile than ...
Every medical professional
Many people in construction
Most car or motorcycle racers
Most people who work with chemicals
The people who work in very cold storage facilities.
https://weather.com/news/news/2018-1...st-work-places

You may need to seek professional help if you have that much trouble breathing.

I owned a masonry construction company. I had a guy on his first tuck-pointing job tell me he didn't want a mask. About 1 minute later he was asking for one.

Tuck-pointing is grinding out the old mortar between bricks and replacing it with new. The removing is extremely dusty.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33858372/

Use of face masks (KN95 and valved-respirator) resulted in significant increases in CO2 concentrations, which exceeded the 8-h NIOSH exposure threshold limit value-weighted average (TLV-TWA).


My paycheck does not come from the medical profession, construction, any chemical-based work, or cold storage facility work. I'm not soft, nor do I have trouble breathing. In fact, at the chronological age of 27 (almost 28), my biological age is early 20s. I take tremendous care of my body. I choose not to let my quality of life be limited by the fear of others. I actually believe this makes me the opposite of fragile, but thank you for attempting to tear me down.

"Significant" does not mean harmful. If one reads the abstract in that link, it clearly states that "there should not be a concern in their regular day-to-day use" of masks for healthcare providers. You did what many people do----take a single line without providing the proper context.

I wonder how many anti-maskers embraced cell phones (and kept them pressed to their heads without an "abundance of caution") before the data came out to indicate that the "waves" from cell phones do not cause brain cancer with routine use?

DING DING DING! You have won the hypocrisy award. The study states...

However, the increases in CO2 concentrations did not breach short-term (15-min) limits.

Although, significant increase in CO2 concentrations are noted with routinely used face-masks, the levels still remain within the NIOSH limits for short-term use. Therefore, there should not be a concern in their regular day-to-day use for healthcare providers. The clinical implications of elevated CO2 levels with long-term use of face masks needs further studies.


Many pro-maskers wear the diaper on their face for longer than 15 minutes at a time. I choose not to participate in this experiment. Feel free to be the guinea pig.


Regarding cell phones - you're absolutely right. I've always been conscious of SAR ratings, etc. However, it's also my personal choice what I do with that cell phone. I know the risks, and make decisions accordingly. The same can be said for just about anything mainstream - it's all harmful in some way shape or form. Dies, added scents, etc. Do your own research and make your own decisions on how you want to live your life. Don't tell me how to live mine.


Oh, and by the way, the CO2 levels talking point doesn't even touch on the psychological & emotional damage done to society by mask mandates and COVID "protocols", especially our youth. Suicide rates are up, speech issues, social development issues, etc.

I continue to wear N95s or KN95s in social settings, but I do not disagree that entails a certain level of discomfort that has to be weighed in the equation. At the same time, while I can understand how someone might do the calculus differently for himself, I don't understand the seemingly defiant attitude some people seem to have about it. That suggests to me there is some bias at play, not just an objective decision.

People don't understand long COVID now, just as the novel virus wasn't understood initially. There are people who spend their lives trying to figure this stuff out and agencies whose sole purpose is to inform the public as knowledge emerges. IMO, the whole "Fauci is a liar" and "masking is falling victim to tyranny" business is a side effect of the (quite intentional) increasing erosion of trust in our public institutions. I won't get political by expounding on this, but the dots connect themselves...

You didn't list your intellectual age.

I don't have a lot of faith in certain institutions, but I have even less faith in conspiracy theories. The thing is, embracing them does make it easier for some people to function because it gives them a solid, if false, footing in a complex and uncertain world. Again, this is nothing new, it's how demagogues have achieved success throughout history, by playing to people who seem to need simplicity and certainty.