It is now time to open Texas 100%

[OneGun]

The Biden benefits by releasing infected people into the country to keep spreading the disease. This allows him to keep his control/power over the people. Covid subsiding is bad for the DemocRATS.

[03Lightningrocks]

If a store has a mask required sign, I will wear one. Truth is, the folks working in that store are at a pretty high risk of being exposed due to all the people they are forced to contact every day. I know they don't "have" to work there but like every one else, they have to earn money to pay their bills or sit on their butts while my tax dollars pay their bills. Option one earns my respect. Option two makes me despise everything about their existence.
It is good enough for me that it is no longer government mandated. Freedom to choose is back. I am kind of excited about all the new "Karen" videos we will soon be seeing of people getting trespassed from stores as they scream about their rights while ignoring that they are on private property.

[Flightmare]

If a store has a mask required sign, I will wear one. Truth is, the folks working in that store are at a pretty high risk of being exposed due to all the people they are forced to contact every day. I know they don't "have" to work there but like every one else, they have to earn money to pay their bills or sit on their butts while my tax dollars pay their bills. Option one earns my respect. Option two makes me despise everything about their existence.
It is good enough for me that it is no longer government mandated. Freedom to choose is back. I am kind of excited about all the new "Karen" videos we will soon be seeing of people getting trespassed from stores as they scream about their rights while ignoring that they are on private property.

[crazy2medic]

I'm thinking of stapling my mask to the wall in my reloading room so I don't forget what Govt. Oppression looks like!

[03Lightningrocks]

I'm thinking of stapling my mask to the wall in my reloading room so I don't forget what Govt. Oppression looks like!

Don't forget to frame a Dr. Sues book, a Mr. Potato Head and a can of Coke. And if leftist scum has their way, teen aged girls will be forced to share locker rooms and rest rooms with mentally confused men who claim they are women because they like to wear their mommies panties. This garbage is seriously out of control.

[crazy2medic]

I'm thinking of stapling my mask to the wall in my reloading room so I don't forget what Govt. Oppression looks like!

Don't forget to frame a Dr. Sues book, a Mr. Potato Head and a can of Coke. And if leftist scum has their way, teen aged girls will be forced to share locker rooms and rest rooms with mentally confused men who claim they are women because they like to wear their mommies panties. This garbage is seriously out of control.

It appears to be this is the beginning of the dark ages!

[Oldgringo]

My wife and I both turned 79 last month. We got our second covid shots yesterday. My wife is on our city council and runs into people who may not even take a bath, let alone wear a mask, and practice 'social distancing'. We'll continue to wear a mask when in public. YMMV?

"Good night and good luck".

[srothstein]

It appears to be this is the beginning of the dark ages!

I always preferred the term Robert Heinlein used to describe it. We are living through "the crazy years". I only pray that the end result is not what happened in his stories - a theocratic dictatorship.

[ScottDLS]

Masks only work when you make ‘the other guy’ wear one.There is a secret one way nanotechnology in your cloth neck gaiter that only stops #MuhDroplets on the way out, but won’t protect me from breathing them IN, if I wear one. So you must wear a mask to protect me, even if you already had and recovered from the Kung Flu or are fully vaccinated. This is because #TrumpsFault and also Stormy emoluments of collusive traitorous insurrections.

[tomneal]

Masks only work when you make ‘the other guy’ wear one.There is a secret one way nanotechnology in your cloth neck gaiter that only stops #MuhDroplets on the way out, but won’t protect me from breathing them IN, if I wear one. So you must wear a mask to protect me, even if you already had and recovered from the Kung Flu or are fully vaccinated. This is because #TrumpsFault and also Stormy emoluments of collusive traitorous insurrections.

I was confused before. After reading this, I completely understand.

[Killadocg23]

Masks only work when you make ‘the other guy’ wear one.There is a secret one way nanotechnology in your cloth neck gaiter that only stops #MuhDroplets on the way out, but won’t protect me from breathing them IN, if I wear one. So you must wear a mask to protect me, even if you already had and recovered from the Kung Flu or are fully vaccinated. This is because #TrumpsFault and also Stormy emoluments of collusive traitorous insurrections.

I was confused before. After reading this, I completely understand.

I am still very confused by his post.

[MaduroBU]

The Pfizer vaccine makes your arm sore the next day, don't know about Moderna or JNJ. I have seen folks get the virus multiple times, but my presumption is that those tens of thousands of cases are merely part of normal distribution of hundreds of millions (if not billions by now). The virus isn't particularly adapated to evade adaptive immunity apart from some slightly novel glycosylation of the spike protein, though that isn't unique to COVID-19 (influenza does this, and we produce novel and effective* Flu vaccines every single year).

*The vaccines themselves work. The guesses as to which hemagglutinin and neuraminidase combinations will be most prevalent are....guesses.

[Mel]

Pfizer did NOT make my arm sore, first or second dose. Different people have different reactions.

[oljames3]

I had the Moderna and my shoulder was uncomfortable the next two days.

[srothstein]

Masks only work when you make ‘the other guy’ wear one.There is a secret one way nanotechnology in your cloth neck gaiter that only stops #MuhDroplets on the way out, but won’t protect me from breathing them IN, if I wear one. So you must wear a mask to protect me, even if you already had and recovered from the Kung Flu or are fully vaccinated. This is because #TrumpsFault and also Stormy emoluments of collusive traitorous insurrections.

I was confused before. After reading this, I completely understand.

I am still very confused by his post.

What is being pointed out, though in a humorous fashion, is the fact that a cloth mask cannot protect you from catching the virus. There are several reasons for this, such as the fact that a cloth mask does not seal to the face and the virus bug is smaller than the filtering capability of the mask. Add in that the mask doesn't cover the eyes or protect other susceptible tissues from exposure and you can see how it cannot protect the wearer from exposure. Ask any vet who went through military training for combat in an NBC or CBR environment and they will fully understand this. If they went through in the 70s or 80s like I did, see if they can describe MOPP IV gear to you. It was the protective gear for a contaminated area.

But, a mask does protect others from a person who is contaminated. When you breathe, if you have the virus, it is exhaled contained in the moisture droplets in your breath. The water droplets are so much larger than the virus that they can be stopped by the mask. Obviously, this is based on the assumption that the person wearing the mask actually has the virus. This is not usually true but it explains why you heard so many people yelling about you not knowing if you had the virus or not and how you could transmit it without being symptomatic. They had bought into the masks and needed to believe this to convince you to wear a mask. It also ignores the report that a cloth mask does not necessarily stop water droplets but might just break them up into smaller drops which enhances the transmission of the virus. This report was dropped quickly from the news and the urge to wear multiple layers of masks pushed instead.

So we have no evidence that a cloth mask protects the wearer at all. And there is no way a mask can protect others from a person who does not have the virus. But a mask might offer some protection to others if the wearer happens to have a virus, but it is not guaranteed at all.