by Casey | Nov 16, 2020 | Blog, Idiocracy, Science
I was asked to write a letter to the St. Joseph County Commission (Indiana) ahead of their vote on mask mandate fines for local businesses. This is what I sent them.
Commissioners,
Most of you know who I am. I wanted to send you just a small sample of actual scientific research on masks and their effectiveness on viral spread as well as real-world data ahead of your vote on the mask fine ordinance.
My goal is to present a small sample of the abundant research showing masks aren’t nearly as effective as many suggest. I ask that you set aside any confirmation bias you may already hold and just look at what I’ve included here.
I suppose the first thing is to look at the real-world data.
Experts originally opposed mask requirements because people would inevitably not use them correctly. They would abandon the other, more effective, measures to prevent infection. They would no longer wash their hands or socially distance themselves or stay home. Those warnings have all come true.
In early March, Dr. Anthony Fauci told “60 Minutes” face masks were not necessary for the general population, noting that while masks might make people “feel a little bit better,” they don’t provide the protection folks believe they do and might create “unintended consequences.”
Fauci wasn’t alone. I covered dozens of infectious disease experts at the time who said the same thing. Virologist Dmitry Lvov is another expert to look at. He said in March you can wear them but they don’t provide much protection. I don’t want to provide a list of experts who don’t buy into the mask hype. My point is that there is no scientific consensus on masks being effective.
A great starting point is to look at this study by Dr. Brosseau, a national expert on respiratory protection and infectious diseases and professor (retired), University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Sietsema is also an expert on respiratory protection and an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/04/commentary-masks-all-covid-19-not-based-sound-data
Masks went from the least important, least effective measure you can take to becoming the primary means of preventing yourself from getting infected. The CDC’s own data shows that the overwhelming number of people who get COVID wear the mask in accordance with mask mandates in the US. If masks worked the way some local health officials have said, the infection rate for mask wearers shouldn’t be so high (over 3/4 of those infected wear masks regularly).
In August, the AP said declining COVID cases in the U.S. were due to mask mandates. Gov. Holcomb said the same about Indiana. Look what’s happened since then. Massive spikes. That shouldn’t be possible according to the mask hype from local health officials. A study showing masks reduced COVID infections was just retracted because the areas used in the study all had spikes after the study was completed.
It’s not just the United States. Mask mandates have been in effect going back to January of 2020 in some countries. All have spikes in COVID infections. Below are the countries having spikes and when their mask mandate went into effect:
- Germany – mask mandate went into effect April 22
- France – mask mandate May 10
- Italy – mask mandate went into effect August 16
- South Korea – mandate May 26
- Rwanda spike – mandate April 9
- Switzerland spike – mandate first week of June
- Japan has had near 100% mask-wearing from the beginning of the outbreak but have a huge spike now. NYT headline on June 6: Japan’s coronavirus numbers are low, are masks the reason why?
- Austria spike – mandate April 6
- Venezuela has a massive spike but was one of the first countries to have a mask mandate
- Israel spike – mandate April 12 and had some of the strictest quarantine policies in the world.
- Spain spike – mandate May 20
Here’s some visual graphs to illustrate the data above. All of which you can confirm with a simple internet search in a few seconds.
In other words, everywhere in the world that mask mandates have been in effect, the virus has continued to spread. Why? Because COVID is airborne. We originally didn’t think it was and focused on droplets. Masks can work on droplets by reducing the distance a droplet travels. No mask, not even N95, work on airborne viruses. The CDC’s website even states that masks don’t filter the COVID virus. They also sent a statement to Tucker Carlson in October saying: “At no time has CDC guidance suggested that masks were intended to protect the wearers.”
During the recent wildfires in California, people were using their COVID masks as protection from the smoke particles. The CDC had to point out cloth masks don’t work on those particles. The size of those particles are .4 to .7 microns in size. COVID is .12 microns in size.
Some recent studies on masks and viral transmission:
- Jacobs, J. L. et al. (2009) – Face mask use in HCW was not demonstrated to provide benefit in terms of cold symptoms or getting colds.
- Cowling, B. et al. (2010) – None of the studies reviewed showed a benefit from wearing a mask to prevent spread of influenze, in either HCW or community members in households.
- bin-Reza et al. (2012) – “There were 17 eligible studies. … None of the studies established a conclusive relationship between mask/respirator use and protection against influenza infection.”
- Radonovich, L.J. et al. (2019) – “Among 2862 randomized participants, 2371 completed the study and accounted for 5180 HCW-seasons. … Among outpatient health care personnel, N95 respirators vs medical masks as worn by participants in this trial resulted in no significant difference in the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza.”
There are others, but you get the idea. Up until this pandemic, the scientific community understood that masks of all kinds do not prevent viral spread or infection. Suddenly, without real evidence, they do now.
There exists no peer-reviewed clinical trial showing masks are effective. Only preliminary lab results, some of which have problematic methodology. Never in history has a preliminary lab result been considered scientifically viable evidence. Until now.
I don’t write to you to debate the efficacy of masks. I write you to point out that, without a doubt, masks have not worked as some had portrayed them to. In Michiana, people are abiding by mask mandates en masse with very few exceptions. Not only is it not based on sound science or the real-world data to enforce mask mandates under penalty of law, but it is counterproductive considering the widespread adherence to the mandates in place now.
Furthermore, violating a business’s property rights to require them to be an enforcer of these mandates under penalty of fines would be a gross
abuse of power. Encroaching on their rights in this fashion would always be problematic, but to do so knowing the ordinance is enforcing, with penalties, mandates that have proven beyond the shadow of the doubt to be ineffective would be a
dereliction of duty.
I understand the immense pressure government and public health officials are under to make it seem like they are trying to fight this virus and protect citizens. I understand it is easier to just go along to get along so you can say at least you tried at
election time. However, to allow such government abuse over a mandate that isn’t working under the false guise that it would somehow magically start working now because there are penalties would be a violation of your oath of office. Surely, there is another way without setting the government up to abuse citizens just to appease the mob that has produced no evidence this would work to begin with.
Sincerely,
Casey Hendrickson
Radio Talk Show Host – 95.3 MNC
UPDATE: Corrected some grammatical errors since I was rushing to get this letter sent before my show.
UPDATE 2: Added context of why I wrote this letter to the top of the post.
Pennsylvania Voter Turnout Way Above Average, Fuelling More Speculation Of Fraud
by Casey | Nov 12, 2020 | Blog, Conspiracy, Politics
There’s been a lot of speculation about voter fraud in Pennsylvania. President Trump’s team has filed lawsuits to investigate those allegations.
Rudy Giuliani says that 650,000 votes were illegally counted in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. There may be 900,000 invalid ballots total. Less than 54,000 votes separate Joe Biden and President Trump.
“I think we have enough to change Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania election was a disaster,” Giuliani said. “We have people that observed people being pushed out of the polling place. We have people who were suggested to vote the other way and shown how to do it. I’m giving you the big picture.”
Source: Rudy Giuliani Says 650,000 Votes Were Illegally Counted in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh
For the record, we don’t know if that is accurate but there’s certainly enough evidence to warrant an investigation.
It’s not just the voting irregularities, removal of poll watchers, or the unlawful election law changes that have people speculating fraud. It’s the voter turnout itself. This is the case in multiple states but we are only focused on Pennsylvania here.
As of the writing of this article, the Pennsylvania government website says 6,802,581 people have voted so far. The count isn’t done yet. In 2016, the total vote was 6,115,402. That’s an increase of 687,179 votes, and they aren’t done with 2020 counting yet. Before 2016, the highest number of votes was in 2008 for Obama with 6,010,519 votes.
These numbers are dramatic, to say the least. Skeptics might say that doesn’t really matter. This was a major election and people were motivated to vote.
There’s some logic to that, but I’d have to ask if they would really be more motivated to vote now than in the elections with Hillary or Obama. I’m not so sure.
Here’s where things get more interesting …
Since 2016, Pennsylvania has only added 279,023 registered voters. So we have an increase of 279,023 registered voters but an increase of 687,179 votes?
Furthermore, voter turnout is 75.57% for 2020. It was 70.11%. There’s been a nearly 5.5% increase in voter turnout? This would be the highest voter turnout since 1992. Prior to 1992, voter turnout above 75% was the norm but it’s not happened one time since then. It’s usually in the high 60s.
Do these numbers specifically indicate fraud? No. They are, however, very irregular in, not only their patterns but their scope of change.
If Rudy Giuliani is right about those 650,000 ballots, and I’m not saying he is, it would make Pennsylvania’s voter turnout 68.35%. That is in the historically accurate range since 1992 for the state while still increasing total votes by 37,179 over 2016 … a new record in total votes for the state.
Given the large numbers we see here and the other issues surrounding Pennsylvania, you can see why people are skeptical of the results.
In summary:
Registered Voters
2016 – 8,722,977
2020 – 9,002,000
Total Votes
2008 – 6,010,519
2016 – 6,115,402
2020 – 6,802,581 (So Far)
Voter Turnout
2008 – 68.65%
2016 – 70.11%
2020 – 75.57% (So Far)
