PS: CB, that guy was probably high, but, instead of admitting he wrote something stupid, he decided to defend it with more stupidity and then the insults too. There are commenters I'll simply disengage with from then on.

Anyway, it does save a lot of time to simply quit reading or at least quit writing there.

PS I am tired of arguing with arrogant autistics and frankly I am daunted by the thought of getting to the bottom of such a blitheringly stupid statement as this:

"It is literally impossible for a machine to reduce the amount of effort it takes to complete a task, for the rather obvious reason that now you have both the original task plus the task of making the machine"

Seriously? My jaw just hangs there in disbelief that someone who's not suffering from actual brain damage can be that stupid.

By that measure, making a hammer is useless, because the effort of making the hammer would outweigh the added efficiency it brings to hammering nails. All tools are worthless. We should go back to rocks and sticks, whatever we can find in nature, because the process of making tools or machines is worthless for the "obvious" reason that now you have to make the spear *and* chase the gazelle down, or you have to build the primitive plow *and* sow the seeds. Unbelievable.

And there's far too much of that on Unz and frankly, everywhere. After a while it's simply unpleasant to deal with. Throw the insults on top of it and there are better things I can be doing with my time.

PS: Cloudbuster, I hope you will reconsider. I write comments to set the record straight*, which is for those reading, most of whom are not commenters themselves. I wish we had more sense on their from you to add to some of the good guys on there.

About that guy, ID. I remember his long, long post that honestly I could not read through well enough with his style of writing to really know if there was anything profound in there. I've usually agreed with the guy, and he's been good on the anti-panic side of this Kung Flu business. I have written him one short comment and one long one, trying to be nice (though I did use the word "ludicrous" wrt his odd theory - let me link you to the longer 2nd one:

https://www.unz.com/anepigone/men-pursue-beauty-women-pursue-status/#comment-4386552

No, there was no reason for the insults from him. That was plain weird, but I've seen worse from at least one guy. That guy was a commenter "FB" who makes Ron Unz look completely calm and sane in comparison. FB and I got in this be argument over the 737-Max. This FB is a smart guy, with a lot of knowledge of aviation/aerodynamics, but then I has some background and I know that anyone with a personality like that should not be let to sit at the controls of a jet airplane (the guy claims he is a test pilot). It's just that the insults come out from him with only the slightest disagreement (or if someone does not get something, even if in a nice manner).


* Sure, some of the time just as an argument, including insults in return.

PS Anyway, I just deleted my bookmarks to iSteve and Audacious Epigone. Life's too short for me to just sit by and swallow being called a moron, an idiot and and "anal polyp" by Intelligent Dasein as he just did, and since I am not in a position to punch him in the face, and I am generally tired of the crowd of argumentative autistics at unz.com, I'm done there.

PS "I was surprised to read all that about Los Angeles, as I had just assumed this time that the guy was from Dearbornistan, Michigan or environs."

That's the thing. He's not from California. Chicago, he says. He just happens to know so many doctors in California. Just a coincidence.

PS: Mr. Hail, I'm not so happy with that "Age of Entitlement". Chapter 1 was good stuff, but in the chapters on race and feminism, he came across as a believe on the other side. I had to quit reading, in order to read that "We Have Been Harmonized" book I reviewed (4 parts), but I will get back to Caldwell's book.

PS: Cloudbuster, regarding commenter Talha, the yellow-starred Moslem dignitary:

I wrote dignitary because he sure enough is very polite, civil, and all that. It's hard to get mad at someone like that. That is, even though he freely admits that he lives here, helps proselytize and sign up mor Moslems, even though he agrees that Americans should not put up with this. Weird, IMO, but, except for the first few times I'd written to him, disparaging Islam with the usual truths about it, I've always like writing to him and reading from him.

Is he up to no good with this spreading of the panic on that thread? I don't recall his being that worried about the whole thing before at all. (Of course, AE's commenters don't get into it as much as iSteve's do - gotta love Buzz Mohawk and, though he can get extreme, that Je Suis Omar Marteen guy.) I think this Talha is truthful but deluded about the panic. It's the internet though, so who knows? I was surprised to read all that about Los Angeles, as I had just assumed this time that the guy was from Dearbornistan, Michigan or environs. My only reason for that was the probabilities.

PS If we really want to be successful against COVID, obviously we need to follow that lead of the well-known leader in hygiene and medical competence, Sub-Saharan Africa. It's having the world's best outcomes (you'll have to add in the contintental breakdowns yourself. The site doesn't allow copying them by URL):

https://covid19.healthdata.org/global?view=daily-deaths&tab=compare

PS My suspicion that Talha over at Unz.com is involved in deliberate disinformation just went way up with his latest post at Audacious Epigone:

https://www.unz.com/anepigone/men-pursue-beauty-women-pursue-status/#comment-4383863

PS -

The social consequences here -- of a prolonged, generalized disruption in communication of the kind you describe in this post (even though seemingly in mild form, and which Lockdowners may wave-away as slight inconveniences) -- may be surprising.

PS - "Communication is important in some lines of work, and it is suffering right now due to this BS!"

Right, and it extends beyond just the effects of masks specifically on the degree to which a listener understands words spoken through the mask and visual clues.

It's a cliche that "(insert implausible large number) percent of face-to-face communication is non-verbal," but the way to confirm it is to insert some kind of major disrupter in the mix and see what happens.

PS: ID, I've seen lots of people doing real hands-on work who just won't put up with the masking. It's downright dangerous for some jobs, and glasses tend to fog up, from what I've heard from 2 friends now. #Miserables

PS Some comrades at the das auto dealership were in meltdown mode because I had no face panty when stopping by for some service.
They were busy with a union break and said it would have to left overnight.
I went across the street to the tire and lube chain.
People in the waiting room had no face muzzle and no one was channeling their inner Ilsa of Buchenwald to get them to put one on.
I did put on one when approaching the desk to pay for services so that I could be a good comrade of the glorious people's collective.

PS. Oh, and Belinda Carlisle looks super cute behind the wheel of that “Deuce and a quarter” convertable.

PS. The eighties was an underrated musical decade. I was well into the “these damn kids and their music, it’s just noise...” phase of life, but a lot of good stuff from that period.

My wife and I honeymooned in Scandinavia in ‘86; in every hotel room we stayed in I’d turn on the TV to find Level 42 playing “Lessons in Love”.

Still like that song.

PS: Mr. Ganderson, I think of Cyndi Lauper as an artist, not a girl band. Probably that's just the way she/they were presented to the audience - politics and marketing. I did like a couple of her songs, but around that time, one I liked much better was that "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves. One-hit wonder.

PS: Alarmist, I'm confused. The one flipping us off (OK, she's really just making a bar chord), is not Miss Schlock, errr Schock, right. That dark-haired guitar player is the one Cloudbuster refers to below, re the "Hush now, darling" part. You met the drummer though?

Good on you, laying down some discipline, if even the smallest bit, on your nephews.

PS: Yes CB, and BTW, that one guy had already had a (small) case of the Kung Flu. He'd told me before. Yet he was still all freaky about the masks due to being a corporate suck-up.

So he takes off the mask 3 ft. from me, so I could understand him and get COVIDized, all so we wouldn't have nonexistent communication, good communication being important per company policy. That all makes sense, in some world ...

PS

I shocked my brother- and sister-in-law last week when one of my two feral nephews demanded something on the table be passed to him: First by simly emphatically saying the local language version of “please,” and second by telling him to speak up, clearly and politely because that is the best way to get what you want in life. He complied on all counts, which is the biggest breakthrough they’ve seen with the kid in more than a year.

Speaking of Schock, for the longest time I thought her name was Schlock. Then I met her, and said “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Schlock,” who pointedly corrected me with a tone that may as well have been the middle finger she flashes roughly 51 seconds into that video.

PS let’s not forget Cyndi Lauper, managed by Captain Lou Albano.

PS In the Go-Gos video, I always thought little Jane Wiedlin (the one who sings the "Hush now, darling" bit at the break) was super cute. She had a small role as Joan of Arc in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.

PS You can actually use comprehension in your favor. You mentioned the guy you had to have pull off his mask so you could understand him. That's a good thing! I find that you only have to say "What? I can't understand you!" a couple times and people rip off their masks in frustration. "Ha! Made ya show your face!"