Coronavirus in Massachusetts (theater, live, stores)

[MrDee12345]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

I mean, you can criticize masks and still be factual, say something like "Masks won't prevent all air-borne Covid transmission". Which is fine, but for some people, that isn't dramatic enough. It doesn't make people angry and fearful. So instead we got "Masks are utterly useless for preventing disease, but they can do grave harm!!!"... "Masks are a government plot to condition the people to accepting government instructions. How long can it be before they tell us to make our way to the gas chambers???". The sad thing is, all of that stuff worked, and the crazier it got, the more that people seemed to want to believe it. That's why I only occasionally weigh in here. It's really not worth it to try to argue with the people who want to believe the nonsense - nothing you can say will sway their rock-solid faith in these lies a single millimeter.

I think the crazy stuff is promoted by people who wish to turn their opposition into cartoons.

For example, I realize the benefits of wearing a mask in public, but since the vaccines came out, I no longer think they should be mandated by the government. Some might lump me into the anti-mask/masks can kill you camp, but clearly I am not. They would do that to prevent me from having my opinion taken seriously.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by MrDee12345

I think the crazy stuff is promoted by people who wish to turn their opposition into cartoons.

For example, I realize the benefits of wearing a mask in public, but since the vaccines came out, I no longer think they should be mandated by the government. Some might lump me into the anti-mask/masks can kill you camp, but clearly I am not. They would do that to prevent me from having my opinion taken seriously.

I think there’s a spectrum with the crazy stuff. Most of what I’ve heard is hyperbole. People who are frustrated and making extreme comparisons for emphasis, not because they actually believe that mask mandates are the same thing as living under Hitler in Nazi Germany. Of course there are a handful of them, even on this forum, who do actually believe the crazy stuff. The latter are either flat out nuts or completely devoid of reason and perspective. Maybe both.

I think of the crazies as a distracting sideshow that fluctuates between sad and wildly entertaining. But there is room for actual debate on the topic. And whether you agree or not, there are plenty of reasonable arguments to be made (and plenty have been made) against mask requirements (especially now). Not everyone’s a conspiracy nut, but they sure do distract from the people with reasonable stances on the topic and it’s sometimes hard to weed out the hyperbole from the actual crazy.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by lrfox

I think there’s a spectrum with the crazy stuff. Most of what I’ve heard is hyperbole. People who are frustrated and making extreme comparisons for emphasis, not because they actually believe that mask mandates are the same thing as living under Hitler in Nazi Germany. Of course there are a handful of them, even on this forum, who do actually believe the crazy stuff. The latter are either flat out nuts or completely devoid of reason and perspective. Maybe both.

I think of the crazies as a distracting sideshow that fluctuates between sad and wildly entertaining. But there is room for actual debate on the topic. And whether you agree or not, there are plenty of reasonable arguments to be made (and plenty have been made) against mask requirements (especially now). Not everyone’s a conspiracy nut, but they sure do distract from the people with reasonable stances on the topic and it’s sometimes hard to weed out the hyperbole from the actual crazy.

Totally agree. There are a couple of ways to look at it though (at least), the absolutely crazy mofos (this is like nazis, its communism, a world order power grab, etc) could be seen as more extreme so that the more down to earth people questioning the mandates and wanting to engage in legit public policy discussion could be relatively moderate and seen as such. Sadly, that isn't the case this time. The outlandish cray-crays are so far out there and so bombastic with their claims, that even being associated with them is a third rail. It's like these fringers have really scuttled what they're advocating by being so nuts.

[jbgusa]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Totally agree. There are a couple of ways to look at it though (at least), the absolutely crazy mofos (this is like nazis, its communism, a world order power grab, etc) could be seen as more extreme so that the more down to earth people questioning the mandates and wanting to engage in legit public policy discussion could be relatively moderate and seen as such. Sadly, that isn't the case this time. The outlandish cray-crays are so far out there and so bombastic with their claims, that even being associated with them is a third rail. It's like these fringers have really scuttled what they're advocating by being so nuts.

Sadly I'm in that situation; middle of the road, anti-mask, pro-vaxx.

[lrfox]

Our best indicator is trending in the right direction again: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/04/...water-numbers/

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by lrfox

Our best indicator is trending in the right direction again: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/04/...water-numbers/

Hope it's not a blip! I think we can all use a carefree summer!

[porterhouse]

Maybe 10% of my 6hr flight was masked today. None of the crew.

[msRB311]

at least this didn't happen on your flight:

https://www.tmz.com/2022/04/21/mike-...ies-passenger/

[yesmaybe]

Ooh the plot thickens. Relatives had a gathering over Easter weekend, and well, you know the drill. Up to this point I hadn't even known of any who had gotten a test thinking they might have had it. Even the kids got it. Showing symptoms but sounds like nothing more than the flu. Course they all got the vaccine, even the kids...

[OutdoorLover]

Recent quote from Anthony Fauci... "I think it's important for people to realize that, because, although immunity following infection and recovery does not last indefinitely, it does give a degree, variable degrees of protection against severe disease if you get re-infected. So, if you add up the people who've been infected, plus the people who've been vaccinated and hopefully boosted, you have a rather substantial proportion of the United States population that has some degree of immunity that's residual"

He is echoing comments I have made here recently, and was attacked for.