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This. This publication also seems to have a habit of sensationalism. Just read another of their articles. > Fauci conceded that the cloth masks that most peop

This. This publication also seems to have a habit of sensationalism. Just read another of their articles. > Fauci conceded that the cloth masks that most people were required to wear indoors throughout the pandemic do not substantially prevent the transmission of COVID-19. Infact quoted is him actually saying : > "Right now, we are very, very clear that masks do work in prevention of acquisition and transmission," said Fauci. "But you've got to get a well-fitted mask that is of a high quality. And the two we know are high quality are N95 and KN95." No mention of the surgical masks at all there, but 'reason' wrote an assumption as fact. So grain of salt for me personally.

dragonwriter 4y ago
> This publication also seems to have a habit of sensationalism. Reason is to American libertarianism as Jacobin is to American socialism.
- SauciestGNU 4y ago
  It's a shame too, because I think we need quality journalism from a wide diversity of viewpoints/biases. Unfortunately the ones we do get very rarely publish high quality journalism.
- anigbrowl 4y ago
  Astute summary. Both are thought-provoking and do a lot of sincere advocacy but their arguments sometimes rest on shaky axiomatic foundations and strategic disingenuity. Of course, many avowedly utilitarian institutions do the same thing at scale and radical political journals are trapped within a paradigm of trying to leverage a dysfunctional status quo to turn one way or the other while trying to compete in the field of abstractions at the same time.
thaumasiotes 4y ago
The quote you pull says that, in order for a mask to work, it must be well-fitted and of a high quality. And then it defines high quality as being N95 or KN95. Cloth masks don't meet any standard of quality or well-fittedness, so I'm having difficulty seeing what problem you think exists in the restatement by Reason. I also can't tell what you mean by "no mention of the surgical masks". What surgical masks? Surgical masks aren't mentioned in the quote from Fauci or the quote from Reason.
- bilekas 4y ago
  I meant to say cloth masks mistake on my part, but also it should be noted that certain cloth masks had the slot to put in the n95 filters. > Surgical masks aren't mentioned in the quote from Fauci or the quote from Reason. Nor where cloth masks mentioned by Fauci yet they were by 'Reason' so it's the same difference. > Cloth masks don't meet any standard of quality or well-fittedness Where are you getting that info from ? I had a cloth mask with n95 filter slips that seemed to fit exceptionally well. No study was done on mine though.
  - thaumasiotes 4y ago
    > Nor where cloth masks mentioned by Fauci yet they were by 'Reason' so it's the same difference. Yes, Reason mentioned "the cloth masks that most people were required to wear indoors throughout the pandemic". And Fauci did not mention them, but he did make a statement about them, which was that the category "masks that work in [the] prevention of acquisition and transmission [of covid-19]" doesn't include them. And that is the same statement that Reason reports. >> Cloth masks don't meet any standard of quality or well-fittedness > Where are you getting that info from ? I had a cloth mask with n95 filter slips that seemed to fit exceptionally well. Well, I'm familiar with the standard that cloth masks do meet, which is "any piece of cloth, such as part of an old t-shirt, with ear straps attached". You're free to wear something that meets a higher standard than that, but it's never been a requirement. What was Reason talking about again? (I should also note that your personal cloth mask wasn't meeting a standard of fit either. N95 masks are quite painful to wear, because they have to maintain a seal.)
    - bilekas 4y ago
      Yeah okay, I get that and not going to have an argument over it, just the phrasing from Reason rubbed me wrong.

dragonwriter 4y ago

> This publication also seems to have a habit of sensationalism. Reason is to American libertarianism as Jacobin is to American socialism.

SauciestGNU 4y ago
It's a shame too, because I think we need quality journalism from a wide diversity of viewpoints/biases. Unfortunately the ones we do get very rarely publish high quality journalism.
anigbrowl 4y ago
Astute summary. Both are thought-provoking and do a lot of sincere advocacy but their arguments sometimes rest on shaky axiomatic foundations and strategic disingenuity. Of course, many avowedly utilitarian institutions do the same thing at scale and radical political journals are trapped within a paradigm of trying to leverage a dysfunctional status quo to turn one way or the other while trying to compete in the field of abstractions at the same time.

thaumasiotes 4y ago

The quote you pull says that, in order for a mask to work, it must be well-fitted and of a high quality. And then it defines high quality as being N95 or KN95. Cloth masks don't meet any standard of quality or well-fittedness, so I'm having difficulty seeing what problem you think exists in the restatement by Reason. I also can't tell what you mean by "no mention of the surgical masks". What surgical masks? Surgical masks aren't mentioned in the quote from Fauci or the quote from Reason.

bilekas 4y ago
I meant to say cloth masks mistake on my part, but also it should be noted that certain cloth masks had the slot to put in the n95 filters. > Surgical masks aren't mentioned in the quote from Fauci or the quote from Reason. Nor where cloth masks mentioned by Fauci yet they were by 'Reason' so it's the same difference. > Cloth masks don't meet any standard of quality or well-fittedness Where are you getting that info from ? I had a cloth mask with n95 filter slips that seemed to fit exceptionally well. No study was done on mine though.
- thaumasiotes 4y ago
  > Nor where cloth masks mentioned by Fauci yet they were by 'Reason' so it's the same difference. Yes, Reason mentioned "the cloth masks that most people were required to wear indoors throughout the pandemic". And Fauci did not mention them, but he did make a statement about them, which was that the category "masks that work in [the] prevention of acquisition and transmission [of covid-19]" doesn't include them. And that is the same statement that Reason reports. >> Cloth masks don't meet any standard of quality or well-fittedness > Where are you getting that info from ? I had a cloth mask with n95 filter slips that seemed to fit exceptionally well. Well, I'm familiar with the standard that cloth masks do meet, which is "any piece of cloth, such as part of an old t-shirt, with ear straps attached". You're free to wear something that meets a higher standard than that, but it's never been a requirement. What was Reason talking about again? (I should also note that your personal cloth mask wasn't meeting a standard of fit either. N95 masks are quite painful to wear, because they have to maintain a seal.)
  - bilekas 4y ago
    Yeah okay, I get that and not going to have an argument over it, just the phrasing from Reason rubbed me wrong.