Face masks made ‘little to no difference’ in preventing spread of COVID, scientific review finds

No, and it isn't just because he walks with the old man's shuffle or talks more and more slowly.

These "investments" he's been wasting money on to placate the Sanders-Warren left in the Democratic Party are alarming thoughtful people. Consider American producers in the auto industry. They're planning on people spending $100k on a truck that weighs thousands of pounds more than gasoline models. Consider the motor in this video...



Cars could be much lighter and less expensive if we stop toadying to automakers and unionized autoworkers who are demanding an outrageous wage increase on top of an already outrageous wage.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/08/04/uaw-double-digit-pay-increase/

We should be investing in research instead on lining the pockets of "green" producers. Bernie Sanders, a Head Start teacher, and AOC, a waitress and bartender, should not be setting climate change policy.

The Russia-Ukraine War won't be a top issue. You're clutching at straws because independents are less enthusiastic of late for the war.

Trump was a flop in all of these areas as I've pointed out to you many times.

Trump is the Democrats' best hope for 2024.

 

I provided you with the proof that the unvaccinated 15% of Canadians have done 48% of the covid dying in their country.

Shame on you for spreading misinformation that causes lives.

 

If Trump's Border policies were bad, how come in an attempt to stem the flow, Biden reinstated many of his policies after he came in guns blazing with executive orders when he first came about?

If Trump's foreign policies were ****, why is it that Saudi Arabia relations are at a low and we are closer to WW3 than we have been since the Cuban missile crisis? Why does over half the world population hate us? Because the Obama/Biden administration meddles?
Whose administration was this person from? Biden's or Trump's?

Trump's foreign policy came with hand shakes and an attempt at building bridges. Biden's an extension of the Obama/Biden administration and is seen as having attempted to meddle in other countries democracies and affairs. You could make a case that this helped stoke the paranoia of Putin and Russia and helped push them into starting this stupid war of which the ENTIRE WORLD is suffering from supply chain issues and shortages.

Trump's domestic policies were also better. Why? Because he never pushed IDENTITY POLITICS. Like equity or CRT or the like. Identity politics which have clearly had the side effect of dividing people into groups. Causing hate crimes to rise and a return to segregated events.

His trade deals especially with Canada were also on point. He crushed the new Nafta deal and Canada took it up the ass. As it should be in trade deals since Trump was America first.

The deficit this year is predicted to double. You can blame Biden for that mess with his over spending.

https://nypost.com/2023/09/05/white-house-says-talk-to-an-economist-about-why-deficit-is-doubling/
White House refuses to explain why deficit is doubling: ‘Talk to an economist’
"The deficit increase is caused by factors such as boosted federal spending and the fact that higher interest rates — deployed to tame inflation — have increased US borrowing costs, the Washington Post reported."

Time to get back to sanity. Biden and the DNC? They ain't it. They are meddlers in foreign affairs just as bad as Bush was. Trump? Trump had good relations with Russia and NK. He was great at trade deals, he had a stern policy on the border and he never played identity politics.

This is a window as to what the world thinks of America and in particular the DNC. Pay attention. Because this is a popular talking point. (he got a standing ovation)

22:40
"American Democrats are far more
ideologically LED than the Republicansand the Democrats always like toconvince you and sometimes Force you howto live you know and I don't like it youknow we have our own culturethe culture defines how we live don'tinterfere please don't educate us don'tsay what is good what is bad what isliberty or we don't like that it's notyour job not the job of the Americansand any other Nation it's the Hungarianjob that's that's so simple but there isDonald Trump understands it that'simportant."

You need to deal with the reality that you cannot force other nations into following your morals and values. That's called meddling. Trump understands that. China understands that. Deal with it.

 

Both of these guys were (and are) flops because they're not using technology (like the Nexus card) to force employers to only hire people legally entitled to work here. We need to turn off the money tap.

We're not close to WW3.

If they hate us, how come this...?

We were a lot less popular under Trump than Obama or Old Joe.

That's why they disliked us under Trump?

Good grief. Putin is trying to take over the Ukraine. That's 40m people.

Both sides are doing identity politics. It's wrecking the country and the search engines are the best of evidence of what's wrong. Do a google search in incognito mode in a topic you've been looking at for a time. And check those ads in your normal searches. Every time I'm booking travel, it's not long before my searches have ads from that area in my search results. We're being manipulated in the extreme.

We would do well, all of us, to check our search results in incognito mode.

As a Canadian (naturalized, born and raised in the California) and an investor, I'm one to pay keen attention to Canada-U.S. trade relations. I'll be blunt--all we managed was to keep most of what we had. We lost the ability to tie them to us on trade deals, and right away they signed up with the EU and Asia. Canada has the second largest store of raw materials in the world and we lost some of our preferred access. We retained our chokehold on drug prices with Canadians paying fairly high drug prices.

What we did is stop Mexico from gobbling up our auto industry.

We needed to do infrastructure. We didn't need the last go around of spending. Also, we needed to raise taxes to take money out of the system and that would best be a surtax on people like me who made plenty on asset value increases.

Trump is talking about another tax cut. That's plain crazy. You shouldn't forget the economy grew as fast in Obama's last three years and did in Trump's first three. Trump was nothing special.

Unfortunately, he screwed up just about everything else.

What deal was that? He got very little out of NAFTA 2.0. He got nowhere with China because he gave up the leverage of the TPP. He never got a deal with the EU, something Canada did.

But did spit to go after employers hiring illegals.

His politics were (and are) extremely divisive. Women don't like him because he tried to turn them into second class citizens. I won't support Republicans because of their anti-abortion politics. You watch as women are going to create all kinds of grief for Republicans.

He's never going to be accepted as a leader. A moderate will always beat the guy unless they're so feeble they fall over (a decided possibility with Old Joe).

It's important, but what you're preserving isn't what most people want. I don't see you facing that any more than Bernie Sanders faces the reality that most people instinctively understand there isn't enough money in the universe to satisfy his spending ideas.

Liberals talk like they're telling other countries what to do, then don't. It's the hypocrisy you saw with Biden and Saudi Arabia. Biden has pissed off a lot of lefties by not doing what you call "meddling."

 

This is just blind bias. Biden ran on a platform of messaging of wanting MORE migrants and giving them pathways to citizenship! A human traffickers' dream!
https://www.statista.com/statistics/329256/alien-apprehensions-registered-by-the-us-border-patrol/

Between the two. Trump wins.

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/24/world/doomsday-clock-2023-climate-scn/index.html
Doomsday clock now has us 90 seconds to midnight. Beyond that, it's not a coincidence that the Obama/Biden administration continuing on as Biden/Harris saw Putin move his troops to the border of Ukraine not 2 months after the election. We haven't been this close to WW3 since the Cuban Missile crisis. That's just a reality of where we are.

Of COURSE we are going to have the largest amount of migration because we have the strongest economy and are openly accepting of everyone. Come here, work for cheap...send money back home. Make bank.
I'd be more worried about this;

They've surpassed us and are still taking on more members. The entire continent of Africa is telling us to piss off.

Not even close. Besides pissing off Merkle...(who gives a ****? Germany is still an ally regardless) Trump was paving a path to leave Afghanistan, start dialogue with NK, had a better relationship with Russia. And helped sign a peace treaty in the middle east. Nevermind the fact he had a much better relationship with the Saudi's then Biden's fist bump of doom.

Putin doesn't go into Ukraine with Trump in office.

Why?

-Because Trump wasn't an extension of the Obama/Biden administration which was caught meddling in Ukraine in 2013.
-Because as mentioned, Trump had a better relationship/dialogue with Putin.
-Because Trump wasn't interested in meddling in Ukraine's governance.
-Because Putin didn't have 50 years of political background to predict how Trump would react.

Democrats are so ****ing toxic with their representation over merit hiring practices. CRT nonsense in schools which has perpetuated hate and divide specifically between black and white. We are seeing a rise in hate crimes and the return of segregation. You get asked now what your ****ing sexual preference is on hire or when applying to colleges. Why? How the **** is that even relevant if only to check an identity box.
You think it's beneficial. All it does is reinforce difference and division. Not unity. And we are seeing that with the absolute division in America right now. "Oh you support Trump? looks like you're a racist, bigot facist" "oh your white? you are privileged and racist!" "oh you are black? must be a criminal!"

Canada lost protection for it's farmers and it's steal. Trump also forced Mexico into paying a decent *******n wage to it's autoworkers which helps prevent manufacturing from moving South. Big wins for Trump.

He's better at this than ****ing Biden. Deficit is looking to double this year!

He wanted Roe v Wade out of Fed policy and to be on State level. Its now State level. News flash; Some people don't like abortion rights and are *gasp* pro life. And want to live in States that are also pro life.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/244709/pro-choice-pro-life-2018-demographic-tables.aspx

While pro choice is the majority, it's still close to half. So you will have some States that allow abortion after birth and some that will be strict as hell on it. And depending on your values, you pick the State you want to live in. But pretending that everyone but a fringe minority is pro life is arrogant as well as ignorant.

If it comes to be that nobody wants to live in a more abortion restrictive environment, then I'm sure they would flock to more progressive States like California.

California? Oh...wait. Ya nevermind. People are getting the **** out of California because they hate lawlessness and living expenses more than abortion rights I guess?

 

And now this, from, SHOCKINGLY, The New York Times, which was the article used by, SHOCKINGLY, CNN to grill Fauci: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/opinion/do-mask-mandates-work.html

 

Remember what the Keebler elf said? First the short little xxxx tells us don't bother wearing a mask, which was correct, because this had already been studied before. Then the studies are scrubbed from the internet, and the elf says, "oh, I made a mistake. You need to wear two masks".

Then the practitioners of Scientism get all high and mighty going around extolling the virtues of hiding your facial expression-

"Wear your mask"

"Why?"

"Because the science says wear a mask"

"Which science is that, phrenology"

"Not phrenology, Fauci. Doctor -I am the science- Fauci."

 

That’s behind a paywall but I think the headline says it all.

 

It’s obvious as hell that the conservatives who refused these mask mandates have more intelligence in a pinky finger than those who bought it hook line and sinker.

Esteemed colleges from around the world pretty much just gave a middle finger to the mask mandates with hardcore facts. I hope we never see them again.

 

Bandannas are better. That's my opinion. I only represent myself. That's all.

 

Journalists, even liberal ones, aren't doctors or public health experts, obviously. Plenty of stupid people on both sides. I heard on NPR Fauci being asked about the study, though, and his response sucked. Understanding the source of the data on the study, it doesn't prove anything about mask efficacy, but certainly does call into question mandates. The author's conclusion was that they didn't know because adherence in the studies was bad. The wrong message is that masks don't work - it's just not supported by the data, least of all the OP study. The right message is that mandates were not an effective way to promote healthy behavior because the people willing to use them already were, and the people skeptical of it were inclined to dig in when faced with a mandate. Thus, a mandate from the government isn't the best way, at least for something like covid. Guidance and education from the government and then individual organizations deciding on mask policy is better. For examples the local hospital may enforce their own mandate, but the local gym is not required to unless their leadership decides to.

 

Grandstanding for low-information voters? Trump failed because he never went after the employers hiring the 50% of illegals who overstayed a visa. Biden and Trump are (or were) failures and I have no intention of supporting either failed effort. Trump could have had a deal if he hadn't played red meat politics with DACA kids' status.

So what?

You live in an alternate reality. Obama did nothing to counter Putin for eight years. Trump did zip, too. At least Old Joe stopped Putin from gobbling up the Ukraine.

As for Trump's popularity in the world...

Don't be absurd. These are the favorability ratings for the U.S. Note a number of African countries.



https://www.businessinsider.com/us-v-china-in-global-popularity-2015-1

It's uncanny how you manage to be wrong on most issues.

 

That wasn't the NYT. It was an opinion piece from a conservative propagandist. Here's another piece that shreds that propaganda.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/10/opinion/masks-work-cochrane-study.html
---
Now the organization, Cochrane, says that the way it summarized the review was unclear and imprecise, and that the way some people interpreted it was wrong.

“Many commentators have claimed that a recently updated Cochrane review shows that ‘masks don’t work,’ which is an inaccurate and misleading interpretation,” Karla Soares-Weiser, the editor in chief of the Cochrane Library, said in a statement.

“The review examined whether interventions to promote mask wearing help to slow the spread of respiratory viruses,” Soares-Weiser said, adding, “Given the limitations in the primary evidence, the review is not able to address the question of whether mask wearing itself reduces people’s risk of contracting or spreading respiratory viruses.”

She said that “this wording was open to misinterpretation, for which we apologize,” and that Cochrane would revise the summary.

Soares-Weiser also said, though, that one of the lead authors of the review even more seriously misinterpreted its finding on masks by saying in an interview that it proved “there is just no evidence that they make any difference.” In fact, Soares-Weiser said, “that statement is not an accurate representation of what the review found.”
---

 

I can’t argue with threads that are put behind a paywall. Why are you even using them? Opinion pieces do not overcome hard core facts of 20 esteemed colleges around the world.

 

Putin was already in the Ukraine and consolidating his position.

Trump was busy making Putin happy by undermining NATO.

Whatever this means.

CRT isn't being taught in schools. I doubt you even know what CRT is.

Thanks to Republicans.

You're making stuff up.

You didn't beat Canada's supply management system, so you're holding forth about what you know not. Big wins? No, I'm afraid not. You lost preferred access to Canada's storehouse of raw materials. That's far more important than a limited number of concessions from Canada's dairy farmers.

Wrong, again. Congress has already passed anti-abortion legislation and the SCOTUS decision overturning Roe allows Congress to pass a national abortion law.

Wrong, again.



https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/06/13/about-six-in-ten-americans-say-abortion-should-be-legal-in-all-or-most-cases-2/

SCOTUS opened up what women believe are their basic rights. There is a substantial number of women who will never honor or obey a law banning abortion. You're like the dog that caught the car and don't know what to do with it.

Women will get abortion pills sent to them from states like California.

The losers will be women in anti-abortion states who try to keep their pregnancy going, run into a problem and have doctors delay or refuse treatments because they're afraid of being prosecuted for harming a fetus.

California should offer money to people who came from Alabama to get on bus and return home. It's time red states look after their own people rather than sending them west.

 

You didn't provide me with proof sir, you provided me with yet another can of government BS propaganda. You've proved nothing except that you're as gullible as they come.

 

You're firing blanks.

I provided you with clear evidence collected by workers protected by a union from having government pressure them into going along with a political line.

You're just having a temper tantrum.

 

Remind me again who was president when Putin took Crimea?

Here's a 7 minute lecture to NATO from Trump, demanding they all start pulling their weight and increasing their defense spending. Something I think we both know, Putin wouldn't have loved.

Here's Trump lecturing Germany about becoming energy dependant on "expansionist, foreign powers." Not a fun pet name for your significant other ya? You think Putin was happy Trump is lecturing Germany about trade with Russia?

The fact is, Trump was not combative with Putin. And for that you took that as being complacent. But the other option, which we are experiencing right now, is war, death and inflation. What a wonderful path your dipshit in charge has helped us on.

Theory that suggests all outcomes are tied to race...is the most basic way of putting it.
Here's some examples;
https://www.thecollegefix.com/yes-crt-is-taught-in-k-12-schools-heres-how/
This is garbage. Causes entitlement and hatred and segregation. There is nothing honest or positive about this nonsense.

Here's a study on this recent change on college applications.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/23780231211054641
"Many college campuses recently began asking undergraduate applicants about their sexual identities on their college applications."

https://www.wita.org/atp-research/these-are-the-winners-and-losers-in-the-new-nafta/
Beyond dairy and steal, you can add drug costs to **** Canada over.
"Drug patents
A serious change is Canada’s acceptance of lengthening the patents of pharmaceutical companies to 10 years. This pretty much means that U.S. drug companies will now be able to sell pharmaceuticals in Canada for 10 years before facing generic competition. That’s up from the eight years of “market protection” that’s currently in place.
This means individuals, insurance companies and governments will pay more for pharmaceuticals."

Here's the difference with your 2022 pew research and my 2023 gallop poll;
It's ok to be pro life, and still have the opinion that abortion should be legal in some situations. Namely the life of the fetus or the mother being at risk. Most states should and will adopt that policy at the bare minimum and those that don't will have their governor voted out. It may take time but it will happen.

 

NOooo, CRT doesn’t suggest that “all outcomes” are tied to race.

Right. Your RW link is garbage. For example, it says "In California, the Board of Education has approved the nation’s first statewide ethnic studies curriculum to teach public high school students about the oppression of people of color.”
What it is really saying is that the right doesn’t want people to be aware of their own indoctrination leading to their own racist ideas, subtle and obvious. The RW wants racism to persist and even worsen, which it will, if we do not become aware of it in our thoughts and actions. Racism will become more of a norm. White supremacists, which are plentiful in the Republican Party and the RW, really really really don’t want anyone to know what they’re doing to other people unconsciously.

The RW has an objection to striving to avoid offending anyone who is struggling with their own sexuality and wants their pronouns to be as they choose. The right wants to impose their preferences on everyone. Kinda sounds like something Hitler and Stalin would approve of.

Yup, you want to put the government in the exam room with the doctor and her patient. It’s none of your or anyone else’s business. How do you think you and your party know better than a doctor what a patient needs??????

 

Trump was tough on Russia policy wise, but tried to be more diplomatic in meetings with Putin. The media got upset because he would not share the substance of their conversations as it was none of their business.

 

So you just believe in The masks regardless of reality?

So for you it's more like a religion?

 

it is self refuting though because it does say that systems in which we go about fighting against racism more racist in and of themselves. You can't fight racism with racism.

 

Ya. That's a very simple way of describing what CRT pushes or promotes. Sorry if that bothers you.

Everyone was taught about slavery. What we didn't do was drone on about it and perpetuate a victim/oppressor status which fosters hate, resentment and an increase in segregation. All of which we are seeing right now. You are not trying to put an end to racism, you are perpetuating it.

Your sexuality has no effect on your ability. Which is why it has no place on a college or job application unless it's to discriminate either positively or negatively towards the applicant. It's personal and private information not needed.

It's gone from the fed to state level. It was always policed by the government. Some people find the act barbaric and immoral because it involves the killing of the baby for selfish reasons most of the time. It's morally wrong, almost half of America finds it to be morally wrong and would prefer a society in which abortion -the act of killing a baby- was more tightly controlled. If they wish to have a more liberal control over abortion, they will vote in leaders who will change the policy. But that's the way it is. It's a contentious issue based on moral values. You could say it's akin to the death penalty.

 

What bothers me is lies that harm others, and what you said is a lie straight from the RW think tanks. You should be smart enough to recognize it and refuse to repeat it, which you would if you had gotten an honest source of news to expose yourself to.

The only hate I see is a more rabid, morally and ethically bankrupt form of hate that began with Trump and has now spread to include tricks and triggers like “CRT” and “woke" to worsen the racism in the US. And if I’m perpetuating it coming from the left, why do you think the majority of minorities are democrats?

So IOW you are determined to disrespect the wishes of someone who is struggling with their sexuality. And the current turmoil and hate that they’re suddenly being subjected to you see as positive?

First, you can keep repeating what is not legally or medically true (a fetus is not a “baby” by any official, valid, legal, or medical perspective) but it doesn’t make it true, and abortions “for selfish reasons” (elective) were limited to the first 24 weeks which were determined to be pre-viability. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/roe_v_wade_(1973)

After that the question was left up to the states to decide how to regulate abortions (after 24 weeks).

WHOA!!! A FETUS IS NOT A BABY. Can you hear me now?

Yeahriiiiiiiight. Like the majority voted against Trump and for Hillary in 2016 by 3 million votes. That worked great, didn’t it. It’s none of my business nor yours. And since the SCOTUS reversed a previous ruling on it it’s pretty clear that their rulings on it were arbitrary. And since the SCOTUS doesn’t legislate, congress should get a brain and declare that the SCOTUS ruling is null and void on this and then pass a national law again.

 

"Bypass paywalls clean" for Chrome or Firefox fixes that. It's won't be found on the standard addon list, since if violates various copyright things, so you have to look it up on google and follow instructions.

Have you been reading the thread? The OP was based on a paywalled opinion piece from the NYT.

Paywall or not, I copied enough context to prove my point. The original opinion piece misrepresented the actual science. The actual science says masks work.