Mask madness is back!

And it’s not even halloween

Life imitates art far more than Art imitates life - Oscar Wilde, “The Decay of Lying”

In 1889, Oscar Wilde penned an essay titled “The Decay of Lying” in which popularized, if not coined, the phrase “life imitates art.” Well, it seems that is happening now. Have you noticed the same recent uptick in public mask usage that I have? I feel like one of the few survivors in a bad horror movie sequel. And aren’t all horror flick sequels bad? The film we are now living could perhaps bear the moniker, The Return of the Faucian Face Diapers. Thousands of mindless zombies wander around with their faces half covered, some with noses protruding above a ragged piece of cloth, others fogging their glasses as they breath into a blue-tinged piece of paper.

The twist to this plot is that the ones remaining sane and surviving the scenario aren’t the ones who are afraid. The zombies are the ones who have succumbed to the farcical fear-mongering of the media and the medical establishment. They live in such fear of an invisible foe as to flinch as they round each corner, expecting that this devilish adversary might be lying in wait. These zombies reek of the overuse of alcohol-based sanitizing solutions. They drive alone in their cars depriving their bodies of oxygen, re-breathing the carbon dioxide and germs they have just expelled into the strip of material bound around their pie holes.

The fear of the foil in this movie has been greatly overblown, though not without purpose. The malicious message was propagated with intent to create such zombies. The villains in this story sought to control the minds of the populace, and in large part succeeded. Yet despite the best efforts of the caitiffs, a contingent proved immune to their mendacious meddling; and though the immune portion of the population was to some degree able to spread their resistance, and some of the masked zombies were repelled by the strength of the invulnerable, hordes more managed ferociously to attack the uninfected.

All of this would seem like a fictitious tale if it was not the reality in which we now exist. And all of this is despite any evidence presented to the contrary. Aside from the abundance of information that has emerged showing that Covid was not nearly as dire a danger as the alarmists howled, the idea that a piece of paper or cut of cloth covering ones mouth, and possibly nose (even the much lauded N95) can protect against an airborne respiratory virus was thoroughly debunked by those who most ardently promoted them!

Those zombies who regularly repeated the official mantra of “trust the experts” refused, and continue to refuse, to do just that. I’m not talking about the actual experts who, early on, disputed a lot of the authorized narrative. I’m talking about the “experts” in whom the masses actually placed their trust. In 2019, the World Health Organization published a paper titled Non-pharmaceutical public health measures for mitigating the risk and impact of epidemic and pandemic influenza which includes, in various sections, the following:

There have been a number of high-quality randomized controlled trials (RCTs) demonstrating that personal protective measures such as hand hygiene and face masks have, at best, a small effect on influenza transmission, although higher compliance in a severe pandemic might improve effectiveness. 

There is also a lack of evidence for the effectiveness of improved respiratory etiquette and the use of face masks in community settings during influenza epidemics and pandemics. Nevertheless, these NPIs may be conditionally recommended for ill persons because of other considerations (e.g. the high cost of face masks), and they are generally feasible and acceptable.

Face masks worn by asymptomatic people are conditionally recommended in severe epidemics or pandemics, to reduce transmission in the community. Although there is no evidence that this is effective in reducing transmission, there is mechanistic plausibility for the potential effectiveness of this measure. 

OVERALL RESULT OF EVIDENCE ON FACE MASKS 

1. Ten RCTs were included in the meta-analysis, and there was no evidence
that face masks are effective in reducing transmission of laboratory-
confirmed influenza. 

Reusable cloth face masks are not recommended.

(emphases mine)

Granted, none of this stops the report from recommending face masks under many circumstances, but in so doing, they contradict their own stated conclusions regarding the evidence.

The WHO is not alone in reaching these conclusions nor in the self-contradiction. America’s very own CDC published a similar report in 2020 titled Nonpharmaceutical Measures for Pandemic Influenza in Nonhealthcare Settings—Personal Protective and Environmental Measures. The CDC’s conclusions were similar to those of the WHO:

In our systematic review, we identified 10 RCTs that reported estimates of the effectiveness of face masks in reducing laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infections in the community from literature published during 1946–July 27, 2018. In pooled analysis, we found no significant reduction in influenza transmission with the use of face masks (RR 0.78, 95% CI 0.51–1.20; I2 = 30%, p = 0.25) (Figure 2).
...
Disposable medical masks (also known as surgical masks) are loose-fitting devices that were designed to be worn by medical personnel to protect accidental contamination of patient wounds, and to protect the wearer against splashes or sprays of bodily fluids (36). There is limited evidence for their effectiveness in preventing influenza virus transmission either when worn by the infected person for source control or when worn by uninfected persons to reduce exposure. Our systematic review found no significant effect of face masks on transmission of laboratory-confirmed influenza.

(emphases mine)

The zombies heard only what was publicly proclaimed by the “experts” upon whom they relied regarding masks: wear them; they refused to listen to the actual study results quietly published by those same “experts” regarding the effectiveness of masks: masks don’t work.

I’m all for individual liberty, and if it makes you more comfortable wearing a mask, reducing your oxygen intake, breathing your own germs, then more power to you. Aside from the insanity of it (again, each is entitled to his own neuroses) only really becomes an issue when maskers castigate those who refuse them, or live in fear of those who will not mask, it ventures into the realm of the psychotic. A woman in Oregon exemplifies this level of psychosis: Scared of COVID, Portland woman rents out entire movie hall to watch Barbie. She has such an irrational fear of the virus that she is renting an entire theater so she can watch the Barbie movie without concern that she might find herself near <gasp> a person who won’t don a face diaper. Oh the horror! In addition, no concessions will be permitted because viewers are forbidden from disrobing their facial nether-regions while in the cinema, even to eat or drink.

If this was fiction, it would be nigh unto the hilarity of Shaun of the Dead. This is, however, our current reality. Unfortunately, I see no way, nor any desire on their part, for the media or government to reverse the damage they’ve inflicted upon the masses. Instead, they are ramping up this year’s fear-fomenting with flu and Covid season not far off. Thus it is up to those of us who stood firm against mask mandates to appropriate to ourselves the character Robert Neville from I Am Legend and help raise the awareness of those who still believe the Science™.