I wonder how many people the WHO, CDC, et al. killed by implanting the idea in people’s heads early that facemasks did not work, when in fact they are the single most effective mitigation of the spread of Covid-19 outside of vaccination?
I’d guess, worldwide, probably 300,000-500,000 extra deaths.
Good work.
I cannot stand the Democratic Party and will be voting for them my entire life…
…
…🙃
— Cam (@cameron_kasky) February 4, 2021
I think I see your problem….
People of Twitter, got a question: was there a moment last spring where you suddenly realised this pandemic was Happening? that it was going to be A Thing? Was there a specific tipping-point, and if so what was it?
— Nicky Woolf (@NickyWoolf) February 4, 2021
Was winter, not spring and it was when Wuhan locked down. Then I started preparing for the worst. Yeah, was not wrong there.
The language is Finnish.
Fun with math: If 67% of the population needs to be immune to Covid-19 to reach herd immunity and vaccines are 50%-70% effective against transmission then we need to vaccinate 96%-134% of the population to reach herd immunity. Seems like a lot https://t.co/37igSITkSO
— Justin Fox (@foxjust) February 3, 2021
Jesus Christ, that’s not how any of this works. Where is this crap coming from? That’s not really how herd immunity functions and this is assuming we don’t practice any other mitigation measures (masking, no large gatherings, etc).
I estimate we’ll start seeing an enormous decrease in cases at ~50% vaccine rates and as spring starts getting people outdoors.
Woman Wonders Why All Straight Guys Text Like This.
It’s no mystery, right? If you give any signs at all of seeming “desperate,” 90%+ of women will drop you like a hot rock. And these days, seeming “desperate” means saying anything vaguely complimentary, interested, etc.
Men are reacting to the market as is because women (especially attracive ones between 18-40) have far more choices available, and even more than that, the illusion of more choice.
Vehicle that does not sink in water thanks to its tires.
I want one. That thing is badass.
I had to walk down the middle of the street with fogged up glasses around five times because both sidewalks were occupied by people without masks
No wonder my shoulders are filled with knots
— bletchley punk (@alicegoldfuss) February 3, 2021
Unless the sidewalk is absolutely filled shoulder-to-shoulder with people, outside with a mask on yourself, your risk is very, very, very minimal from incidental exposure — even considering the new SARS-CoV-2 variants.
You are almost certainly more at risk in a US city from walking in the road than from Covid-19.
Even smart people have just shockingly bad risk assessment capabilities.
Liked the 90s better than the 00s and 10s. Though I admit TV has gotten better (and movies worse.) https://t.co/4ajDgjYt18
— Ian Welsh (@iwelsh) February 3, 2021
I’m not sure I liked the 90s better, but it was the last time of general, society-wide optimism about the future and what we could achieve together.
That was all crushed, annihilated by the end of the 1990s and into the early 2000s. The uncontested rise of neoliberalism to complete dominance and the ascendance of the algorithm just torpedoed that. And also a major contributor of course was identity politics and its re-segregating absurdities.
It’s hard for me to explain to people too young to remember or not yet born how it felt in 1989 after the Berlin Wall fell and the possibility of a better world opened before us. Racism and sexism seemed in retreat. The economy was booming. People were living longer, better lives. Yes, there were still problems but it genuinely felt like we could and would solve them.
We squandered it all. We let the plutes and the worst of us extinguish that possibility and that hope. Now even liberals are safety-obsessed, content to hide away from the light like Morlocks, wanting to take away long-distance travel, decent food, and any chance of raising people up with more fulfilling, richer lives. Nowadays, even the liberals are perfectly content to tell us how we must be reduced and diminished for our own good.
When I woke up every day in 1993, I felt hope for the future. When I wake up now, I’m just surprised there is still a future to concern myself with.