NEJM Goes Mask Crazy!
The vaunted New England Journal of Medicine pushed universal mask mandates
The New England Journal of Medicine produced a flurry of editorials and mask “studies” trying to push for universal masking of kids.
It took the climate change lobby four decades to convince us that what we exhale will kill the planet. It took the Covidians about four weeks to convince us that what we exhale will kill everyone on the earth - especially grandma.
Now, from the apocalyptic pen of the infamous Dr. Ellie Murray (@epiellie on Twitter), they have published her very, very bad analysis of cases in Boston area schools.
We noted at the time of her pre-print the school districts which unmasked are fundamentally different from ones that didn't.
Our longtime colleague Kelly K-ga notes:
The authors can do all the sensitivity analyses and adjustments they want, but there is just no way to account for all of the differences between these two groups - testing rates, natural immunity, vaccination, behavior outside school, family exposure, etc...
There are a lot of other specific technical criticisms people have pointed out, but the crux of it to me is just that masks are hardly the only important difference between these groups. This is the same issue that affects every observational mask study PH touts as evidence.
Here’s an excerpt from GoneViralBook.com. This is a typical chapter which brings data and stories and fun all wrapped up in an accessible read!
One of my colleagues relates an incident he had on a local train ride into New York City. It was several months into the mask craziness in 2020. He had just grabbed his coffee and sat down across from another lady who grasped her own coffee tightly but was dutifully wearing her mask. As he approached his seat (his coffee cup not yet visible) the woman made a face of shock—or rather her eyes widened since he couldn’t see the rest of her face—but he presumed correctly that it wasn’t a smile. He was not (yet) wearing a mask. She grew pale until he brought his coffee cup into view and pressed it to his lips as he sat down across from her. At which point she too removed her mask to take a sip of her coffee. My friend thought, I drink my coffee to protect you, you drink your coffee to protect me. The perfect symbiosis of public psychosis and maddening health policy.
Frankly, as my wife notes, “Some people seem to really like it.” And why wouldn’t they? Our modern society rewards such virtue, and while the mask doesn’t have the protective effect that some expect (even CNN contributors have deemed cloth masks “facial decorations”), it acts as a talisman of sorts.
Lest you think I exaggerate, one of the few mask studies published just before the pandemic admitted that the thin layer of sweaty, drool-soaked fabric probably isn’t protecting anyone, but, the authors extolled, “It is also clear that the masks serve symbolic roles. Masks are not only tools they are also talismans that may help increase health care workers’ perceived sense of safety, well-being and trust in their hospitals.” They continue: “Although such reactions many not be strictly logical...” Actually, let’s stop there.
Not strictly logical?
A talisman?
I can handle a lot of nonsense from my elected officials, but I expect a little more from published, peer-reviewed, and accredited “experts” in the revered New England Journal of Medicine. I remember the Brady Bunch in Hawaii where the kids had a talisman. If I could wave a wand, I would keep that word enmeshed in the episode forever and probably ban it from any use in medical journals. Are we placating the gods of some volcano?
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I really have had it with the mask BS. I'm in Houston (blue city in a red state) and most people here are not wearing masks. I still see a few frightened looking masked people in grocery stores or driving their cars, but for the most part, most people are past the hysteria. However, there are some doctor's offices who are still requiring them. Of all the people out there, I would expect medical professionals to know that viruses are small enough to pass thru those cloth rags on people's faces and that the warm, moist, contaminated environment might be a perfect place to grow bacteria... which you are now breathing in.
I seriously expect medically trained people to know this. But yesterday, I took my cat to an eye specialist. Their website claims to require masks. I was hoping it was info from 2 years ago. When I walked in the reception area, some workers were wearing masks, others were not. So I sat in the waiting room without one. However, when I got to the exam room, the vet tech asked if I had a mask. I said "No, I don't carry those things with me anymore". She said "Can I get you one?". I said "No, I don't wear them". She said Dr. XXX is going to want you to wear one. I said "Why. They don't prevent the spread of respiratory viruses. The viruses are small enough to pass right thru that cloth. Even Fauci admitted this". I was trying to not be mean to her, because she was "following orders", but I had had it with the charade. She kept on about the doctor wanting me to wear one, so I said "Fine, I'll go somewhere else". I picked up my cat and walked out.
This insane requirement has got to stop. The only way I know to try to stop it (besides voting out idiots who support it), is to stop giving the perpetrators my money. I'll probably be looking for several new doctors and vets because of it, but I am so done with the lies.
Masks. They just don't want to get rid of them especially here in San Francisco. The gal who cuts my hair was wearing a mask the other day. I asked her why. She said that her 82-year-old mom was visiting and she didn't want to risk getting her sick. I told her that masks "don't do shit". Later, when she was cutting my hair, she took the mask off. Not sure if she put it back on.
She did mention that their clients are very glad that they have gotten rid of the Covid restrictions. I think too many people in this town were wearing masks to "be nice". Except for the Chinese people who may never stop wearing them.