Posted on 07/23/2020 6:57:37 AM PDT by Kaslin
I have, for most of my adult life, been a practicing hypochondriac. So, it will come as no surprise to you to hear that I am a zealous reader of the Journal of the American Medical Association, or JAMA. I find something of interest in practically every issue. Recently, I found myself engrossed in the thoughts of Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who is also, if I am not mistaken, a noted bird watcher. I, of course, know very little about the birds. Yet, thanks to Redfield and the JAMA, I am now very much up to date in my knowledge about the wearing of masks and the controversy surrounding them during this pandemic.
You might recall that, some weeks ago, I wrote in this column about what I saw as a looming conflict between those who advocate wearing masks to protect themselves from the Wuhan virus (also known as the coronavirus) and those carefree Americanos who think that they might take their chances and go about their business maskless. Well, not surprisingly, the conflict has continued to heat up, and now it has led to full-fledged warfare, with each side taking up arms against the other and blood being spilled.
In my column, I vowed to remain "absolutely neutral" in the coming warfare between those who have advocated masks and those who would go maskless. I even offered a little joke hoping to get the contending sides to lighten up a bit. I wrote that, for the sake of public health, both the mask-wearers and the maskless should wash their hands at every opportunity and also wash their feet and blow their noses. I am told that Dr. Anthony Fauci did not think my joke was particularly funny.
I hope that he and the pulchritudinous Dr. Deborah Birx will take note of this column. I have changed my tune. I have been won over by the advocates of masks. It was Redfield and his argument in the JAMA that convinced me. He believes the pandemic can be brought under control in four to eight weeks, if "we could get everybody to wear a mask right now." In a signed editorial, he said there is "ample evidence" that masks assist in reducing transmission of the virus. Think of it! We could limit this horrible plague to a few weeks -- if we all worked together.
As things stand now, Americans are awaiting the arrival of therapeutic drugs or of vaccines, thanks to the ingenuity of our great pharmaceutical companies. I have no doubt the medications will be at hand someday soon. But Redfield says if we all wear masks, we will overcome this plague in a matter of weeks. I say, give masks a chance. (And I do hope the good doctor will not follow the example of the Washington Redskins and change the first syllable of his last name. That would be excessive.)
Even if the American pharmaceutical industry has some medications ready by the fall, it will take months, probably years, to vaccinate everyone. There will be those who refuse to take the medications because of religious scruples. There will be those who refuse them because of constitutional concerns. Probably, there will be some hypochondriacs who will dream up some dread diseases attendant with the medications. Believe me; I know about these types of kooks. And there will be the congenital ornery.
In fact, all of these uncooperative types who I have imagined as opposing future vaccinations have already appeared on the scene. They compose a large number of those who refuse to wear masks today. Actually, I was refusing to wear a mask before I read the cogent thoughts of Redfield.
Which brings me to the nub of the matter. Redfield has convinced me that if I wear a mask, we can beat this plague. Or, rather, if millions of my fellow Americans wear masks and are as reasonable as I am, we can beat this plague. But how many millions of Americans can be relied upon to follow Redfield's prescription? How many Americans are reasonable? Consider the protests in Portland, Oregon. Consider the hotheads in New York City and Washington, D.C. How about the angry young men in Chicago?
After careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that only the giant pharmaceutical corporations will save us. Though for me, I am wearing a mask henceforth.
See I admit it.
Definition of pulchritude: If English poet John Keats was right when he wrote that "a thing of beauty is a joy forever," then pulchritude should bring bliss for many years to come. That word has already served English handsomely for centuries; it has been used since the 1400s. It's a descendant of the Latin adjective pulcher, which means "beautiful." Pulcher hasn't exactly been a wellspring of English terms, but it did give us both pulchritude and pulchritudinous, an adjective meaning "attractive" or "beautiful." The verb pulchrify (a synonym of beautify), the noun pulchritudeness (same meaning as pulchritude), and the adjective pulchrous (meaning "fair or beautiful") are other pulcher offspring, but those terms have proved that, in at least some linguistic cases, beauty is fleeting.
Wearing a mask 'may' slow the spread of Covid-19 but that's it. We've been wearing masks....we've been social distancing...we've been washing our hands...
How does wearing a mask create or contribute to herd immunity? It doesn't. What we need to beat Covid-19 is herd immunity, which can come about naturally or via a viable vaccine.
Emmett Tyrrell lost all credibility once he referred to Birx as pulchritudinous. Since he’s a self-described hypochondriac, I’m not at all surprised he endorses mask-wearing. A preponderance of evidence suggests that masks do not protect the wearer or those around the wearer from viruses.
“Secular sacramentals have been presented as magic talismans for a modern age.”
That is a delightful piece of writing right there.
Kudos, from one wordsmith to another....
In a rational situation your comment would be sufficient. I agree wholeheartedly with it, by the way. Unfortunately, rationality has been usurped by insanity.
How Have Our Scientific Experts Gotten So Much Wrong?
https://thefederalist.com/2020/07/20/how-have-our-scientific-experts-gotten-so-much-wrong/
I’m older than she is, too, by eight years. But I don’t look as old as she looks.
Yesterday my doc gave me his surgical notes from hip replacement last month. First sentence: “Patient is a youthful, pleasant, 71-year-old female.” Kinda made my day! LOL!
Oh yes. I think we have heard this before.
FIRST THEY CAME WITH MASKS
NEXT!
Just 4-8 weeks! And then, just 4-8 more weeks!
It’s so easy when it’s just a few weeks.
It seems that when they don’t have a solution they:
MANDATE MASKS!
“It seems that when they dont have a solution they: MANDATE MASKS!”
It seems that’s the scheme they’ll use to run out the clock before the election. The Yo-Yo Mask/No-Mask Scheme.
Your analogy is wrong. You left out the layers of fence, the 100 mph winds and the turbulence around the fence material. The slight breeze through a mask scales to 100 mph at the size of the virus.
And with all of that viruses get through easily. And everyone knows that. Masks are used to stop droplets, not virus particles. They don't do a very good job, but in some cases they are better than nothing.
Generally true but that will take years.
I tend to agree but the hospital capacity will need to be expanded in hot spots.
It has now been 15 weeks.
What's the real point?
Masks do not sacrifice freedom. They are inconvenient and uncomfortable. They may even be detrimental in certain cases (according to some studies). But that has nothing to do with freedom.
Shutting down the economy has little to do with mask wearing, except that both are government dictates. Neither makes much sense but mask wearing can help open the economy in certain select cases. Read about the salon in MO. It's a real case with real data where masks appeared to help.
So, in your opinion, no one should wear a mask because some don't do so properly?? A more optimum solution is simply PROPER INSTRUCTION to do both.
The masks are meant to SLOW the spread of the virus. Its too valuable to the Left for it to go away.
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