I usually refer to it as the virus, but on several calls I have called it the Chinese Coronavirus or the Wuhan Bat Flu. People have a sense of humor and appreciate the levity.

Why are we so twisted about common sense words and labels for things? Some of the most unenlightened people I know are all PC about words, yet their actions betray something else. If we've gotten to the point where "Chinese Coronavirus" is offensive then we've lost our bearing as a society. People need to chill.

Under no circumstances is Chinese coronavirus offensive. It is made up by the left to be offended by yet another thing. I refuse to buy into this type of group think.

It's a freaking mask, people, worn for the limited time you're shopping in a public space. It's a sensible precaution that protects others and you against a really crappy, exceedingly contagious disease, which at this point doesn't really have effective treatment, never mind a vaccine.

You can get up in arms about the origins of the disease, your great loss of liberty, blah, blah, blah, but that's a different argument. Old people, compromised people often have no choice but to shop in the grocery store! Duh! Do them a favor, make the gigantic sacrifice, and put on the mask!

If you're right and this is all much ado about nothing, then congrats, you get a gold star and have something to rant about. If you're wrong, then no harm done to the rest of us, hopefully.

Interesting read, even if it is from NBC...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-a...perts-n1165366

Cow Times, why are you calling Major a liar? Is it because you just can’t imagine someone having the courage to talk like a normal person? You can’t believe that his Chinese co-workers don’t roam the office listening for words by which to feel offended? Such base nastiness you exude ...


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Are you serious or are you being ironic? You want some people to completely outfit themselves in complete PPE for a trip to the grocery store, so other people don't have to put on a simple face mask, which is somehow a huge violation of their civil liberties??? Wow.

I might also remind people that Boris Johnson was quite cavalier about this disease, and then, according to his public statement, almost died. So you never know who's really vulnerable.

And there we have it, me, me, me! Do you own a small business? At any time in your life did you sign the front of a check rather than just the back of it? Did you have your business ripped away from you or lose your job because of this nonsense? Why should my liberties be taken away for a failed social experiment just because people cannot take responsibility for themselves? Old people do have choices, they just don't like them, just like I do not like wearing a mask.

And oh by the way, it has been beaten to death, there is NO evidence that masks help. We were told by Dr. Fraud not to wear them. It is a feel good thing, just like metal detectors in airports. You my friend are the selfish one.

But Patofnaud, that would [gasp] require us to put ourselves in the shoes of others and look at how things might be perceived from their perspective. That would just be too “virtuous” and “nastiness.”

Staying at home lasting only two weeks was if quite literally everyone stayed home for 2 weeks. Shutting everything down and not leaving your home for 2 weeks. If everyone did that, it would have shut the spread down. Obviously that could never happen, at least not in this country. You are correct that this is being made up as we go because so little is known about this new virus.

My three year old has better logic. Fauci said wearing masks don’t protect you. It’s not a respirator mask filtering what comes in as you breath. Masks we are all talking about help prevent YOU from spreading droplets TO OTHERS through coughing and even speaking, and are credited now as one of the best prevention against spread (see article linked above about the salon where the hairdressers had the disease). So who again is being selfish by not wearing a mask?

It’s sad that people would be do insecure as to change their choice of words or behavior because of how others claim to perceive those words or conduct. No one can control how others perceive things, and only the weak-minded people would “conform” because they want to be liked by those who despise them.


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Attachment 16127


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I think the Civil Rights Movement and much of our society’s social progress over the past several decades would suggest otherwise.

“Social progress” is an amorphous term. Some would consider aspects of the decades-long societal changes to be regress. A lot of it has been good, but it doesn’t mean that people should prostrate themselves in self-imposed shame in the process.

The popcorn pic is the best post of the week. [emoji28]


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I think the host of people that recently lost their jobs for saying 'all lives matter' would disagree with our 'progress'.

We've lost our way big time with our constant worrying about offending everyone.

Newsflash - it can't be done, someone will always find/create a reason to be offended. The trick is not to let their problem affect you.

Agreed. “Offend” in reality is not an active verb. One can’t offend someone. Instead, the listener has to feel offended, which is a choice. It’s the intent of the speaker that matters.


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Putting aside my degree of selfishness (pretty selfish, actually) and whether or not I'm a business owner, I actually agree with you.

It's crucial that businesses be able to reopen and thrive. We cannot have another lockdown. However, if the disease gets out of hand again, restaurants and other businesses will suffer, even if they stay open. A lot of people won't want to go out for dinner if they don't feel safe. If workers become sick, there will be major disruption.

My point is that something simple, like the use of face masks in spaces where there are a lot of people, ie the grocery stores, etc. might be a simple way of preventing a resurgence to some degree. It can't really hurt, right?

The Lakes Region is not an isolated rural community, particularly in the upcoming months when the population surges. Massachusetts is still reporting a couple of hundred new cases every day, and has had a total of 100,000+
confirmed cases with 7000+ deaths. If you doubt those numbers, you weren't seeing the Sunday Globe obituary section which ran to almost 30 pages for several weeks, something shocking that I had never seen before.

My point in my posts is not to get into the politicization of this disease, but to point out that a small amount of vigilance might do us all a lot of good. That's it.

Unfortunately the mask is a symbol of the politicalization (if that’s a word) of the issue. We have had lots and lots of pandemics and communicable diseases over the past 100 years. Prior to this so-called pandemic we have never (1) quarantined healthy people and (2) been forced to wear masks. Those of us who are skeptical of our political leaders and government in general view this as an opportunity for the government to control the masses. In all honesty, humans are made to live in an unclean world and by doing all this we are going against Mother Nature.


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Good grief.

Are you seriously arguing that the best way to move forward is to do nothing, to allow the virus to spread across the world unchecked, counting on some form of herd immunity once the last denizen of this planet is infected?

For those not wanting to wear a mask in public places and complain about how small businesses are being hurt, you realize by not wearing a mask you are hurting the small businesses yourself. If people know masks aren’t being worn in establishments they are more likely to stay away, exactly what you don’t want if you support small businesses.

That’s your honest truth? So I take it you never go to the doctor, refuse basic medical procedures, and didn’t vaccinate your kids against polio or any number of other viruses that are part of Mother Nature?

The fact that you equate a mask with politicization of a pandemic as a basis to not undertake a simple step to protect fellow human beings is beyond the pale. I would never wish the virus on anyone, but if you get it, it’s good to know that you will refuse the hospital bed and ventilator and save those for someone who puts their faith in medicine instead - likely the 1-2 persons on average that you would have infected.

Great post Major. Some here will never get it so internet sparring with them will accomplish nothing. History will sort out the truth from hysteria. In the mean time you all do what you feel is appropriate to keep yourself safe and not worry about what others are doing. If you go into a store and someone is not wearing a mask and that makes you feel unsafe simply walk out.

CowTimes why do you feel a need to incessantly berate people who disagree with you and who back up their position? Major’s accurate view of the symbolism of the mask is beyond the pale? Who’s pale? Your pale? Your level of self-regard on all things moral is unjustified. Making the logical leap from Majors logical position to concluding that he would refuse a hospital bed is puerile thinking. Did someone teach you to do this, and to think that it would fool people as a grounded argument as opposed to the fallacy that it is? You should think your ideas through before espousing them as if they were Gospel. You do realize that normal Americans don’t think like you, I hope.


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The measures taken today were proven effective on 1918
 

An article I just saw (originally published March 27) about the measures taken in 1918-1920 to stem the flu pandemic. Note that the measures taken this year are based on what worked well then, and the success of them then depended on how soon and long they were used, and how too early lifting them sometimes had issues.

"How some cities ‘flattened the curve’ during the 1918 flu pandemic
Social distancing isn’t a new idea—it saved thousands of American lives during the last great pandemic. Here's how it worked."

"The studies reached another important conclusion: That relaxing intervention measures too early could cause an otherwise stabilized city to relapse. St. Louis, for example, was so emboldened by its low death rate that the city lifted restrictions on public gatherings less than two months after the outbreak began. A rash of new cases soon followed. Of the cities that kept interventions in place, none experienced a second wave of high death rates. (See photos that capture a world paused by coronavirus.)"

"In 1918, the studies found, the key to flattening the curve was social distancing. And that likely remains true a century later, in the current battle against coronavirus. “[T]here is an invaluable treasure trove of useful historical data that has only just begun to be used to inform our actions,” Columbia University epidemiologist Stephen S. Morse wrote in an analysis of the data. “The lessons of 1918, if well heeded, might help us to avoid repeating the same history today.”"

"Shortly after health measures were put in place in Philadelphia, a case popped up in St. Louis. Two days later, the city shut down most public gatherings and quarantined victims in their homes. The cases slowed. By the end of the pandemic, between 50 and 100 million people were dead worldwide, including more than 500,000 Americans—but the death rate in St. Louis was less than half of the rate in Philadelphia. The deaths due to the virus were estimated to be about 358 people per 100,000 in St Louis, compared to 748 per 100,000 in Philadelphia during the first six months—the deadliest period—of the pandemic."
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/h...V0H0cSRI5M-JJ4

You’re right, LoveLakeLife, my regard for human life and basic decency in concern for others is self-righteous. Some have made very clear on here that they value finances over public health. And the majority of people that disagree with you have given up on this thread, which has turned into a self-righteous refrain of me-first. My liberty, my finances. Well, how about the lives of others???

I will not apologize for calling a spade a spade. We are talking about wearing a mask, not forced vaccinations or institutionalization for quarantine.

Major seems like a big boy that can (attempt) to defend his facially inconsistent positions. I don’t think he needs you running interference for him.

Whose not who’s. Sorry.


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I love that you say this but refuse to consider another perspective (shared by many, many of us) that doesn't match your own. There's a word for that I think.

Proverbs 17:27; A wise man will be of few words: A fool may gain the reputation of being wise if he have but wit enough to hold his tongue


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How about cost-benefit? If wearing a mask is useless, what’s the harm. On the other hand, if as now generally excepted in the medical community, wearing masks help limit the spread, there is obvious benefit. The problem is that those who don’t wear masks will never know if or who they spread the virus to, and whether or not those people got severely ill or even die.

Sometimes you cannot obviate fundamental truths with “difference of views.” We’re not talking about differences of opinion on the appropriate size of government, or bottoms up economics. These individual choices have actual consequences on others.

You can rest easy, I am done with this thread. You can go back to your regularly scheduled Fox News programming for your talking points.

And there we are. If we don't agree with you then we must be mindless red hat wearing fools who rely on Fox news to know what their opinion should be?

This is how divisiveness happens folks, you agree with us or (insert your favorite here, Fox news works). Shocking the direction it's coming from :)

Just agree that you won't tolerate an alternate view on this, as that's the truth and there's nothing wrong with being honest.

So why are states like NY seeing fewer cases with more testing than states like Florida, who had a record high 3207 new cases yesterday?


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The modern surgical mask did not even come into existence until the 1960’s....so uh....no, during pandemics of 100 years ago no one wore a mask. Please let us not base our public health decisions on what we did or didn’t do 100 years ago!

We know where that term came from. Right?

1918
"It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States. Mortality was high in people younger than 5 years old, 20-40 years old, and 65 years and older. The high mortality in healthy people, including those in the 20-40 year age group, was a unique feature of this pandemic."

LINK

COVID-19 is no different then the ordinary flu. Right?

What did we do in 1969 -- Hong Kong Flu?

What did we do in 2003 -- SARS?

What did we do in 2009 -- H1N1 a/k/a Swine Flu?

The point is we've had many, many epidemics since 1918, and what we are doing right now is unprecedented.

8,100 people worldwide contracted SARS not 8.5 million and still growing. COVID is proving to be far more contagious than anything we have dealt with in modern history. But hey, do what you want. Best of luck!

California issues statewide mask order
 

Our hospitalizations have started to rise

https://www.latimes.com/california/s...s-gavin-newsom

Pam, you are the one who started this post due to your fear of contracting this virus as others are not wearing a mask. Just as you ask others to wear a mask and protect YOU, you can wear proper PPE and protect YOURSELF. Why rely on others when you can take care of yourself? It is nobody else's responsibility to ease your fears especially when you can protect yourself. It never ceases to amaze me how people want to control others to make their own life easier. As I mentioned earlier, get yourself a properly fitted N95 mask and forget about what others are doing.

Hoo boy. Most conservatives watch more than just Fox. They watch CNN, MSNBC for comparison. :)

This is not about the effectiveness or non effectiveness of masks....it's about "the government isn't going to tell me what to do." Do the people who don't wear masks also not pay their taxes? I live in the Pacific Northwest and we have loads of "preppers" out here....they buy land, build a house, put a gate across the driveway and hang up about 10 NO TRESPASSING signs. They won't even put their street numbers up...."I don't want anybody to know where I live"

Consider One "Explosive" Sneeze...
 

Southern Bell operators wore masks during the 1918 Flu...

https://www.tampabay.com/resizer/0Qj...KADF3UJMUU.jpg

(Text):
Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph operators during the Spanish influenza epidemic in Jacksonville, Florida. Nearly one-third of the city's residents contracted influenza, according to historian Gary Mormino. [State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory (1918)]

When I wear a mask in public:
🔵 I want you to know that I am educated enough to know that I could be asymptomatic and still give you the virus.
🔵 No, I don’t “live in fear” of the virus; I just want to be part of the solution, not the problem.
🔵 I don’t feel like the “government is controlling me;” I feel like I’m being a contributing adult to society and I want to teach others the same.
🔵 The world doesn’t revolve around me. It’s not all about me and my comfort.
🔵 If we all could live with other people's consideration in mind, this whole world would be a much better place.
🔵 Wearing a mask doesn’t make me weak, scared, stupid, or even “controlled.” It makes me considerate.
🔵 When you think about how you look, how uncomfortable it is, or what others think of you, just imagine someone close to you - a child, a father, a mother, grandparent, aunt, or uncle - choking on a respirator , alone without you or any family member allowed at bedside.