Agreed:

It definitely gets much more attention. I had no idea just how much. This is alas also true:

I mean the part about how men are not allowed to have standards but women are. I’ve observed that repeatedly and it’s just bizarre. But I think there are two things going on here:

1) Men are assumed by women to be sex-crazed beasts who will tolerate anything in exchange for sex, so of course they (men) don’t have standards, duh.

2) Women often go into a relationship as a way to escape from societal/social pressures, so are resentful and resistant when their partner has actual standards such as not to abuse him, not weigh 400 pounds, and be a decent person generally. And don’t tell me this is not the case — I’ve seen it tons of times and it’s not pretty any time it occurs.

That this was such a focus of our pandemic response and the evidentiary basis still this murky is really just 🤯

This is the gold standard randomized controlled trial showing no real effect on virus suppression 🥴 https://t.co/HA40BFOyoe

— Angie Schmitt🚶‍♀️ (@schmangee) February 7, 2023

I suspect face masks do work a bit, and worked a lot better against less-transmissible variants of Covid. However, they are not the 10,000m of lead shielding the mask-obsessed imagine them to be — and poorly-worn and/or cloth masks are nearly useless against Omicron.

Under ideal conditions, with a great fit and worn properly, N95 masks probably provide significant protection. But how often does that happen? Not that frequently. Thus, the real answer is not masking but air sanitation. We don’t seem much interested in that, though.