I think it's a knee jerk to the notion that the government can "require" any such thing from the citizens. Private companies can require this on their premises, but I can just spend my money elsewhere then. Governments are different in that regard. Governments have also blown their feet off by only selectively applying their enforcement of the ban on congregations.

I do wear a mask when I go to the grocery store - I'm not an idiot. About 90% of people in the store also wear face coverings, even though they are not required. Our area is not in any way a hotspot, but I know I have a comorbidity (high blood pressure which I manage with ACE inhibitors), so I'm being extra cautious.

But I will take my money elsewhere if an establishment thinks it can "require" me to wear a mask, because unlike with the government, I don't have to be subject to their bullshit. So I haven't been to Costco or Home Depot in a while now, and haven't renewed my membership at Costco.

> I do wear a mask when I go to the grocery store - I'm not an idiot

I'm very skeptical that my wearing a common mask protects me from anyone else. I do suspect that it reduces the possibility of me infecting someone else (hypothetically, assuming I'm asymptomatic).

I see this sentiment often, and I'm curious of there's a source for this.

Either a mask filters effectively, or it doesn't[1]. Intuitively I don't understand why a mask would only filter air in one direction.

[1] https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=.%2C+ACS+Nano+10.1021%2...

I don't have a citation, but I don't think it's filtering (in either direction) very well at all. With a cloth or paper mask, I suspect a lot of my exhales are slipping out of the sides and out the top. Instead, I think the mask is catching droplets and absorbing some of the moisture.

I think of it like a device that is acting the way your hand does when you cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough. Your hand isn't filtering in any real way, but you are keeping droplets from flying as far as they otherwise would.

I think a good filter would require something much more like a WWII gas mask or a forced air respirator in a hazmat suit, etc...

That's not surprising considering the link I posted. My question is whether the mask protects the wearer, and if not, why would the filtration only work in one direction?

Thinking about it some more, I suspect the disconnect between us is that you think the primary way of getting sick is breathing the airborne virus. Whereas I think the primary way of getting sick is touching your eyes (or picking your nose). So you want the filtering to be good, but I just don't want infected snot droplets to be blown everywhere.

Now, I'm sure someone will throw an obnoxious "citation needed" reply...

Are you really wearing a mask which is tight enough that _all_ of your respiration is going in and out through the material? If not, your argument/question about filtration isn't very relevant.

> I do suspect that it reduces the possibility of me infecting someone else (hypothetically, assuming I'm asymptomatic)

Does this constitute a lesser reason to wear a mask?

No, I'm saying it's pretty much the only reason I wear a mask. I don't want to get anyone else sick.

That's why I use an N95 mask. I don't throw it away after, though. I sterilize and re-use it.

If you took cnn off the air there would be a lot less rioting and racial tension. The madness isn't exclusive to the right.

In previous years, when people wanted to cite an "anti-Fox" they would say MSNBC. Nowadays people say CNN.

Is the general perception that CNN is as left wing as Fox is right wing? I only see snippets of each but from that small sample, there is absolutely no comparison. CNN doesn't come across as left wing at all.

That probably just means you're left wing yourself and can't tell. CNN is not merely left wing but its chief editor has a long running vendetta against Trump and explicitly directs all network output to the goal of impeaching him, as documented by an insider with a hidden camera:

https://www.projectveritas.com/news/exposecnnpart1/

The people who work there don't think they're unbiased. Why should anyone else?

Maybe not as much left wing as rabidly anti Trump, beyond any semblance of reason. Even worse is their unrelenting amplification of divisive issues, especially on race and gender, always favoring the same side.

> Even worse is their unrelenting amplification of divisive issues, especially on race and gender, always favoring the same side.

well, controversy is where the news makes its biggest bucks isnt it?

we would probably all be better off if we just password-blocked the "news" channels all-together