May 13, 2021 20:10:51 GMT c said:

CDC says two weeks post vax you no longer need to mask up at all. Mask mandates everywhere likely to fall for vaccinated people as now there is no reason to do it outside of antovaxers being assholes.

Do they have enough info for them to make this kind of generalized sweeping statement?  What about people with underlying health issues?  Etc?

Not that I'm opposed.  I fully believe in Darwinism. 

Handful of states in the US over 50% vax rates. But the CDC got slammed hard by republicans lawmakers who basically said that the mask mandate made the American people lose faith in them since their messages were so different than what Tucker Carlson was telling people and CLEARLY Carlson, who courts ruled no reasonable person could believe was presenting facts, is the premium authority on virology.

I am curious how the rest of the world will react to Americas, as now Americas will expect these standards to be respected globally, and to travel this summer without masks.\


Also learned in that congressional hearing was the GOP believes the virus was the result of the NiH sending money to China to turn SARS into a more deadly virus.

May 13, 2021 21:28:30 GMT c said:

Handful of states in the US over 50% vax rates. But the CDC got slammed hard by republicans lawmakers who basically said that the mask mandate made the American people lose faith in them since their messages were so different than what Tucker Carlson was telling people and CLEARLY Carlson, who courts ruled no reasonable person could believe was presenting facts, is the premium authority on virology.

I am curious how the rest of the world will react to Americas, as now Americas will expect these standards to be respected globally, and to travel this summer without masks.

Clearly the only way to fight FAKE NEWZ is to only have state mandated information programs. One message.

Well most states are dropping mask guidelines for vaccinated people right now since Biden said Americans that are vaccinated no longer need to wear masks himself.

May 13, 2021 21:35:43 GMT c said:

Well most states are dropping mask guidelines for vaccinated people right now since Biden said Americans that are vaccinated no longer need to wear masks himself.

So Obama got Osama.

Biden defeats covid!

Taste that GOP!

Didn't we know months ago that America was bored of corona? Masks getting the fuck off treatment from CDC now is just slow bureaucratic churn catching up.

The US needs min wage workers!!! We must beat COVID so people can work for 7 dollars an hour again.  Who care if people, the dead do not eat at cheese fries at a dinner at 3am.   

I received a text from my doctor today, asking me to book my second dose, which I have done. It's been 12 weeks already since my first dose? Blimey that's flew over.

Well, US companies are dropped masks in stores for all people now. Since there no guidance for how to verify vaccination status, and it will cause a lot of fights, they are just going to let everyone go maskless.

Are they doing so in an effort to create herd immunity?

Once we are further along in our vaccinations, I am thinking that's what they'll do here.

Guess we're back to normal.

Restaurants opening back up, no masks, stores not insisting on muh coin shortage... BIDEN HAS DEFEATED THE VIRUS!

UK is keeping a close eye on this India variant. It appears more transmissible. In a few weeks we'll have data on mortality rate, though there is high confidence vaccines will be as effective in this respect as they are for the Kent variant.

Countries that are opening up fully need to prepare for a surge if the Indian variant takes hold. I don't think mask mandates will be the difference in having a surge, but a lack of social distancing probably will. Of course, there is strong likelihood that a surge in cases will not lead to a surge in hospitalisations. This is probably something that we will have to live with - infectivity reduction may not last long for any vaccine.

May 14, 2021 22:05:56 GMT iron maiden said:

Are they doing so in an effort to create herd immunity?

Once we are further along in our vaccinations, I am thinking that's what they'll do here.

Herd immunity, that is a good one.  

They are doing it as everyone who will get vaccinated in the US already started.  The rest will refuse because THE GOVENMENT WILL NOT TELL NO MAN WHAT TO DO WITH THEIR BODIES.  Laws regarding the body are only for murdering whores and mentally ill trans kids.  

Basically the US is done with the pandemic and just does not want to do it anymore, so we are declaring the crisis and will claim that it is fake news from here on out.  

We also demand everyone else does the same so our tourism industry can thrive.  

I look forward to the upcoming estate sales.

A worker at Little Ceasars says I didn't need a mask to enter. I dunno if they removed signs, but it's pretty ingrained in me at this point. Not worth thinking if I can or can't.

May 21, 2021 20:27:07 GMT @ness said:

A worker at Little Ceasars says I didn't need a mask to enter. I dunno if they removed signs, but it's pretty ingrained in me at this point. Not worth thinking if I can or can't.

Wife just reported Target is apparently back to full-on hard-R mode; i.e., no masks anywhere in sight... Yet guaranteed little to no vaccinations amongst the employees or customers. Western PA at its finest!

May 21, 2021 20:27:07 GMT @ness said:

A worker at Little Ceasars says I didn't need a mask to enter. I dunno if they removed signs, but it's pretty ingrained in me at this point. Not worth thinking if I can or can't.

I have a personal rule to always do the opposite of what someone who works at Little Caesars says.

May 21, 2021 21:54:27 GMT 🤯 said:

May 21, 2021 20:27:07 GMT @ness said:

A worker at Little Ceasars says I didn't need a mask to enter. I dunno if they removed signs, but it's pretty ingrained in me at this point. Not worth thinking if I can or can't.

Wife just reported Target is apparently back to full-on hard-R mode; i.e., no masks anywhere in sight... Yet guaranteed little to no vaccinations amongst the employees or customers. Western PA at its finest!

I dunno if masks do anything but I've been donning them in public buildings. Just to follow the rules. I complied like a beta sheep. I didn't stop after that CDC thing because it doesn't feel *official* enough. Like stores still have signage to wear masks. More people are going maskless, but the majority are still wearing masks. I think the dude that gave me my pizza felt I was a hard-r for still wearing it. So if masks are truly "out" Biden needs to get on TV and be like 'Merica fucking stop it. Right now it feels like a slooooow process to get everyone off it. But I dunno how official a Little Caesars pizza guy is about the "rules".

It's actually a little scary. Like maybe covid was the world government experiment to see what level of FUCKING HELL will collapse society. Like covid did some damage, but it's not an apocalypse either. Like maybe covid was #2 on a 1-10 scale. Just in case they needed us to fall back in line.

Also even if Biden did give the all clear, unless c posted about it I'd never know.

I mean either masks are completely worthless or the us gov has just accepted that vaccinations will have likely peaked so fuck back to normal.

Make a COVID REMEMBRANCE HOLIDAY. We needs another FEDERAL HOLIDAY. August needs one. Mark it as mission accomplished and good-bye masks. Covid is defeated. Maskless feels like a BBQ holiday so August is perfect. The summer bash between July and Labor Day. Or it can be the nothing day that Columbus and MLK day are, people are glad to have them off but pissed because places are closed now that they're off work.

Either way can't wait for the mask to come back in style as an ironic fashion statement.

Did my grocery shopping and saw most mask signage going away. They had a notice that masks aren't required if you're fully vaccinated. Obviously there's no way to really enforce that, so it's the honor system? All employees still masked and the customer side looked like 70-30 split. So most are still wearing masks. Are they not vaccinated or simply not willing to go without?

I dunno part of it feels like masks allow me to continue to socially isolate myself in public, but by Labor Day I don't think nearly everyone will be wearing masks indoors. A slow process over the summer.

Masks had barely any impact at the peak. Live in a predominantly vaccinated country? Don’t stress about a mask

Consensus in Science and Lancet is masks were effective. US state level data also shows that within 20 days of implementing mask requirements both confirmed cases and confirmed deaths dropped.

The people who claim it does not work scientifically simply are misleading people about what science looks like in medicine, and what can be ethically tested. You cannot mask one person and leave another unmasked then exposure them to COVID but that is the evidence threshold many are seeking.

Also look at the US. COVID declined just about everywhere that put in mask mandates but continued for months in places without them, and several states still are fighting the outbreak actively.


I am happy, my state is at 50% immunity with 70% at partial. On par to be over 70% in two weeks and one of the few states expected to clear 80%. We should be mandating vaccination for schools starting in the fall. Many top colleges are insisting on it, and it should bleed down.


I love the meme that HIPPA prevents places from asking about your vaccination status.  Healthcare providers cannot release your information, but this laws does nothing about places asking for it.  

Fun fact - I was drunk when I typed that post and don’t even remember typing it 😂

May 24, 2021 13:38:03 GMT Todd said:

Fun fact - I was drunk when I typed that post and don’t even remember typing it 😂

Greatest back pedal I've ever seen Todd do!

The problem with masks is one c alluded to, you can't control for it.

I really didn't like the Fischer paper. They failed to acknowledge the biggest problem with their findings - how do you account for behavioural differences between people willing to mask and unwilling to mask? They really cherry picked the timeframe too. And it's another mathematical model. I don't really think it proves anything. Common sense says masks have some impact, but whether it is significant is something we'll likely never know for sure. Social distancing is king, with ventilation probably not too far behind.

You do not need to control for those if you use random sampling though as the individual differences in third variable impact will average out via central limit theory.

You're using mathematical science to suggest something with medical scientific certainty. You can't do that. You can say it's possible, even probable, but there is no way to know if masks have a real impact.

Modern science determines truth with statistical testing. All of science is mathematical models, as a mathematical model is considered the purest form of science. The science for masks is no different than science of obesity related health risks or cancerous causing agents. This is what I am talking about when I say people do not understand science though. Non-mechanical Science never tests something directly, only whether or not the results differ from what you will see by chance. Even many mechanical models use this framework for model evaluation though.

The standards people are asking to be met are not medically ethical to test and almost all of our understanding of disease and medicine would also fail.



US media going all in on COVID being created in the Wuhan lab now. Left media reporting it as a strong "may" now, right media saying there were right all along.

Just like that, Melbourne is back under the mask. And limits to 5 to a house hold.

iNCY you need a seachange.

I think we will probably go into another lockdown 

This time we can blame:
Adelaide
Victorian government who posted the wrong supermarket in their contact tracing.

May 25, 2021 0:14:01 GMT iNCY said:

I think we will probably go into another lockdown 

This time we can blame:
Adelaide
Victorian government who posted the wrong supermarket in their contact tracing.

Is contact tracing even working? 

It's a thing, but I can't recall seeing many people actually doing it recently. At the height of covid, sure. But realistically, I could travel from Melbourne to Sydney without a single scan. 

It will be interesting how they tackle the AFL this week. If that goes ahead and 50k people are allowed in the MCG, then this entire thing is another joke.