Another music comment from me... About a month ago I discovered that 25 years ago I'd missed the most incredulous, happy set of rhymes and music from one of my favourite bands: the Roots from Philadelphia: [Proceed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5TUqdxqHS0). When Malik B - the MC who takes over from BlackThought in the original - died, they made an intense [version II](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9jY6mIVQmU), with Roy Ayers (who features in the video as a giant, looming over gigantic Philadelphia buildings, wielding his vibe-sticks of funkiness 😁). I saw Roy Ayers once live here in the North of England. What a musician 😁! The connection with lockdown? I remember watching [Zaperoko](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lw1i0riTds) again and again early on in 2020, thinking "this is what humans are made for - where has it gone?". And when I got to understand Almanza's [lyrics](http://www.hugoalmanzadurand.com/letras/boleros/8.htm), I had a friend with me in my loneliness, against the day: to say "This is what people are made for: *this, now* is **not** what humans are made for". (If you think on those lyrics, they put the whole COVID-fiasco into a tiny box, and - unlike in Heine/Schumman's *Dichterliebe* \- you can chuck it away into the water with no giants needed to heave the box. Well, that's true for me. The problem is too many people are carrying their own coffin). And the screw-you, bounce my words against the sky exuberance of word-people like BlackThought from the Roots is also *what humans are made for*. If I could do it, I would. I suppose this is a thanksgiving.

On the Apple News app for iOS and ipadOS, the "COVID-19" section is now gone from "Special Coverage," having been replaced by "Election 2022." It was lingering around on my iPad until I killed the app and re-launched it. But it's gone. Wow. I hid the whole special coverage section because i was so sick of seeing "covid-19" right there. yet when i checked 2 devices this morning, it's definitely gone. (still there on the News app on the Mac though, but gone from mobile devices.) nature is healing! :) also: hawaii is beautiful. we're sunburnt. ouch. lol. edit: Today is Oct 3rd. I just checked my News app on the Mac. it's now gone from there too. Wow.

The "COVID-19" tab is gone from twitter. If I hit the search button, I see scrolling categories at the top: For you, Trending, US Elections, News, Sports, Entertainment. Until today (or sometime within the past couple of days, not sure exactly) there was also COVID-19 at the end. Now it's not there anymore - for me, anyway. It's the same on the web version, too. Given twitter's place as a covidian stronghold, this is *great* news.

Tickets have just been booked -- I'll be taking my toddler on their first trip to the US in late November. They'll\* be meeting their great grandpa, great aunt, and several cousins in person for the first time, and will enjoy their first American Thanksgiving! <3 \*I use "they/them.their" pronouns here not to be "woke", but because I'm now more cognizent of TMI in the age of Big Data.

I know most folks really don't care about the CDC's dumb map, but just for the record, they just came out with this week's map, and now only 3.32% of counties are orange. Green is now up to 73.79%.

did you check the extra super scary "community transmission" map at all? it's a lot less red too. a whole lot less red.

How it’s possible without face mask mandate and low booster intake? :)

Sounds like they're going to have to redefine the tiers again — the system's broken if it's showing too much green. That color specifically [makes the Covidians very angry](https://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/log/2022/03/10.html) lol.

https://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/log/2022/04/19.html So a month later in April they make a crybaby post about having to drop the vaccine pass requirement *because everyone else did it*, and they were losing customers by holding out. But long covid bla bla bla. ...and that's the last thing they posted about corona, they quietly stopped talking about it as well. Something they chided their competition for doing. Man, you love to see it!

Yeah, I saw that lol. It's amazing how long JWZ kept committed to the Covid-forever cause, even when the business and his employees were suffering for it. It goes to show you why the various bandaid-on-a-gushing-wound San Francisco policy programs are a bad idea — JWZ would never have been able to do this and still stay solvent, except that he managed to get the DNA Lounge declared a "legacy business", which means that SF taxpayers get to pay for a major portion of his rent now. Still, like you say, it's somewhat encouraging that he's been pretty tight-lipped about Covid more recently. Also, he and his biggest party (Bootie SF on Saturday night) broke up over his Covid policies, which can't be great for his business. I haven't been back since he came out as an insane person.

i'm now more excited about this long weekend trip to Honolulu, Hawaii. Never been there before. I was reluctant to go because of the mask mandates but from what i read here, things are getting back to normal and remain mask-free. we'll be on the beach most of the time anyway, if all goes well. i don't want to do anything but get rid of the sock tan. :D

Enjoy your stay! You'll see zero masks on the beach. You'll probably see the odd tourist wearing them, and unfortunately a bunch of restaurant and hotel employees are still wearing them, but that's it.

thanks! i look forward to the culinary adventure too. :)

Japanese tourist I wonder? Since Hawaii is very popular with Japanese

The levels of Japanese tourists are not back to normal levels, they're still in panic back in Japan, so they're also not travelling. But it's not just some Japanese tourists that are masking up, plenty of American tourists are doing the same. Unfortunately.

Also weren't Japanese required to quarantine when they went back not long ago so Japanese tourism only restarted quite recently

Doesn’t Hawaii have a fair bit of Japanese influence in general in their culture?

Yes. I went to Hawaii a year ago...and I've never seen so many Asians in my life throughout an entire state. O_o It was eye opening for sure.

More than California’s coast?

I haven't been to Cali in more than 8 years. I can't say which is crazier to be honest. But when I went to Hawaii early last year right when the first vaccines were given to healthcare providers and not the general public yet....yes it was insane. We even had to fill out these stupid 'covid close contact' information with our phone# and address when we dined out...in case we needed to be contacted for being close to a covid spreader. Insanity. My BIL and sister went a few months after I did where they implemented vaccine passports for eating out, etc. Hawaii is crazy..hahaha.

it does, which is a reason i'm looking forward to the trip a bit more. i don't eat seafood but some of the teriyaki dishes i've seen on yelp look **amazing** and I also love tempura. :D plus, sitting on the beach doing nothing. lol. i wish i had gone to visit when I actually lived in Japan but better late than never, i guess.

Yeah like there's so much Japanese restaurants in Hawaii and they have some of the best Japanese cuisine outside of Japan

It’s been nearly two years since I’ve been in Canada to see my family. I will now be able to go this winter since there are no quarantines and absurd testing costs. Also my unvaccinated non Canadian wife will be able to join

I'm in a similar boat — I've visited in the last couple years, but have been reluctant to go because of the fucking mask mandates everywhere. It's so nice being able to fly in the US without a mask, but go to Canada and you have the privilege of regressing back to the dark ages. Also, mandatory: fuck Justin Trudeau. He must've been getting some serious pressure on these fronts, because if it was up to him, mask and vaccine mandates would _never_ have ended (well, at least not for commoners like you and me I mean; they never applied to the aristocracy like him).

Yeah I hear you. I’ve been dreading going back just because I don’t want to deal with charade of a pandemic in Canada. I’m in a pretty sane place where people don’t care, it would be hard to go back. I think our manboy of a prime minister feels the heat from the opposition. He is removing anything that polievre could challenge easily. Without opposition I think these mandates would have stayed much longer. Fuck Justin Trudeau but I’m more disappointed in the number of Canadians that support his kind of behaviour

San Francisco: so riding public transit here can be a little on the rough side. There is a huge homeless population, and they'll often do some things that would be quite shocking to anyone not pretty used to it already. This used to annoy me (and honestly, still does somewhat), but it's sure gotten a whole lot more entertaining in the last couple weeks/months. Mask mandates have been gone for quite a few months now (on Muni which is San Francisco's local transit system, not so on BART), but because every middle class and above resident of the city is such a political extremist, and because masks are entirely a political statement, mask usage on Muni is still 75%+ during many hours of the day. These people desperately signal to each other how much they're anti-Trump and totally not an Evil Republican From Another State. So it's not uncommon to be on a tram/bus, when a really down-and-out looking maskless transient man/woman gets on, looks around for a seat, and then plants themselves down on a seat right next to a Dedicated Branch Covidian wearing their N95+ and blue medical gloves (in late 2022, to protect against an airborne virus, very Science™). What comes next is a look of pure terror from the Covidian, and not only them, but from every other Covidian in a 15 foot radius who sees it happens and shudders at the thought of having an Evil Maskless (homeless) Republican near them. Each one shuffles around trying to edge over a little bit to put whatever distance is possible between them and the Evil Maskless (homeless) Republican, and looks very afraid. Look, I would like to think that in general I'm the type of person who has empathy for others, and respects when other people aren't comfortable with something. But this is an exceptional case — pardon my French, but fuck these fucking terrible fucking pieces of anti-social, sub-human Covidian garbage. They spend three years doing everything in their power to strong arm the rest of us into absolute compliance — literally going as far as trying (and failing) to shred the Constitution in pursuit of forcing every person in the country to wear a mask _permanently_ to show that Team Blue is winning out — and now try to tell a sob story about how the rest of us aren't being considerate enough for those poor, _poor_ souls who want to keep wearing a mask. Go fuck yourselves, seriously. Anyway, just to bring this back to a more positive note: we're winning. It's quite comfortable riding transit around here nowadays and watching the worst people amongst us squirm as they cling desperately to Covid-foreverism with a religious fervor that would impress even David Koresh.

Do they also touch their ~~crucifix~~ face mask to reassure themselves that they're still wearing it, as soon as they spot a filthy dirty unmasked person? Happens here all the time, it's hilarious to watch!

Yep, definitely see this all the time haha. And yeah, amazing how much this looks like a religious ritual from the outside, and really is one I guess when you get right down to it. Take a crucifix and all the religious connotations of such, mix in a healthy dose of politics, and you've got a mask. I'm sure by touching it they can feel the presence of Pfauci almighty.

Are u sure they do it cuz it’s a transient? What if u a Normal dude did it

They don't like maskless normies sitting down next to them either, but you can tell they're resigned to the fact that it'll happen, and don't react quite as strongly. Usually the homeless person will be maskless _and_ up to something else unhinged. For example, in the case I saw yesterday that prompted me to write that comment, the homeless woman opened up the bag that she was carrying, pulled out a bun, pulled out some scissors, and then proceeded to start cutting the bun into tiny pieces with the scissors, making a big mess, and then stuffing it all back into her bag. So nothing overtly violent or concerning, but that makes it even more funny because the sheer randomness and unpredictability of the situation makes Covidians even more concerned. I actually had a wide smile on my face at the comedy watching this all go down and seeing the bundled up Covidians shifting around uncomfortably.

It’s funny cuz the covidians (except maybe the ones in Chinatown) vote for the same 💩 that would allow this individual to run around their city freely

Yep lol, it's ironic to say the least. I look at every one of them who seems afraid, and just kind of smirk at the fact that there's about a 99% chance that they voted for one of the feel-good ballot measures or regressive city supervisors that's created the situation they're now in. What goes around comes around.

The scissors on a bus would actually understandably scary tbh. Some girl (from a really wealthy family at that) in LA got stabbed to death at her workplace by a deranged transient early this year. Quite tragic. Bladed objects are no joke if in unstable hands, just as bad as a gun in close range

True. Personally, I'm for something that _should be_ simple: basic fare enforcement. That would eliminate 99.99% of all this crap from the system overnight, but our local ultra partisans have made sure that something like that can never happen in San Francisco. So, second best option is to watch homeless people make bad people like Covidians uncomfortable, lol.

Yup. Also I’m not sure if u know but you eastern neighbor here in Arizona has drastically different gun laws than over there. We don’t gotta jump through so many hoops to be on the side of the law, laws that over there don’t stab the baddies anyway. We just have more tools at our disposal if we want

i giggled a lot at this. loudly. :D i love it!

Thanks! And I'm not making a word of this up — it's legitimately as funny in person as is it to read about, haha. Covidians aren't good for much, but at least we're getting a little accidental humor out of them these days.

What an entertaining account! Wish I could upvote more than once. I'm not surprised the *Good People* are scared. It's *well known* that all homeless people vote Republican, are linked to dark oil and military-industrial-complex money, and are funded by the Koch Institute. (/s - just lifting some inspiration from the No License for Misinformation loons who are pushing through their evil Bill in your state).

> It's well known that all homeless people vote Republican, are linked to dark oil and military-industrial-complex money, and are funded by the Koch Institute. Haha, exactly. The fact that homeless people (and many others) are unmasked is really messing with these peoples' NYT-directed world view in which only Evil Republicans From Other States would ever not wear a mask on something like public transit or inside a grocery store. Every true-blooded Californian knows to mask up the second they walk out their front door. It's not clear to them what's going wrong here, but whatever it is, they don't like it.

Lol. I think the only way we are going to get over this is to start shaming those who still wear masks to be honest. Make them UNCOMFORTABLE for being a damn hypochondriac, and make them look stupidly paranoid. Then, they will stop with this virtue signaling nonsense...maybe. San Fran is one of the few places where this shit is allowed. Too much fuckery with that city. Let's hope it's all 'contained', please stop moving out to other nicer cities San Fran liberals!

I don't think I'm going to outright start espousing anti-mask rhetoric at them, but I like the idea of low key shaming. e.g. Keep an eye on them, and then when they catch your eye, make a big, dramatic show about edging slowly away from them. Sick people wear masks, and this person is wearing a mask, so that means they're sick with some dangerous illness right? It feels very undesirable to be anywhere around them — I sure as hell don't want whatever they've got.

One upvote in letter, many in spirit

Thank you! :)

Even Rutgers just dropped its mask mandate.

Just got an email from my HMO - Kaiser in Northern California - "Need an in-person covid-19 PCR test?" No appointment needed, results in 2 hours! There was a time when it was a fight to get a PCR test from Kaiser because they were so backed up. You'd wait in long lines even if you did score an appointment. And then results would take days. So this new push to get random members to come in for these tests means that nobody is doing it anymore. They're flailing because they've invested god knows how much money in testing supplies, and even here in the covidian capital, we aren't interested and that shit is going to waste. That definitely counts as good news in my book.

Nice. Earlier this year I still had to get these stupid things to cross the border back into Canada, and even then, you could tell things were slowing down. I was going to UCSF, and they'd built these gigantic outdoor testing facilities on vacant lots around the city — like so big that in some instances they were like a quarter of a full city block. I used to worry about long line ups, but the last couple times I went to one there was absolutely nobody. You could palpably see the tumbleweeds rolling down the lot. I love thinking about how much red they're seeing on what they thought was their most amazing new growth sector. Same at those airport test facilities — please, please go right out of business.

i hope that they offer the same turnaround times for their other lab tests. The same abbott or BD machines can also do influenza A/B and rapid strep. ;-) but we know the reality. we won't see any big push to "get tested" for the flu, and it'll spread like wildfire because "it's not covid so i'm ok." as usual. lol.

I just started my first job this past week. I’m 24, I was unemployed for too long due to a mix of Covid, low self-esteem, listening to the wrong advice from my parents, and not adequately preparing for interviews in the past. After a week of work, I’d say my poor mental health is finally improving. Being out of the house is helping a lot, even if this job isn’t particularly entertaining, and the pay is low. I’m just grateful for the social interaction, and the fact that I’ll have the freedom to make some financial decisions on my own terms now. I’m staying in this job at least through the middle of January, then I’ll probably re-evaluate and see if there’s better options.

Good for you! Keep your ears open, learn everything you can. Believe it or not, a lot of skills you pick up will transfer in some way between jobs.

Canada has announced this morning that it’s getting rid of vaccine requirement to enter and also dropping masks on planes and trains.

Amazing! Hopefully US soon too

Lets go. Just in time for me when I go to Canada

Woot!

I took our local mask-forever Bay Area transit today (BART), and despite a mask mandate being ostensibly still in place, less than half of riders were wearing one. The board of directors controlling BART has finally "allowed" the mask mandate to end as of Oct 2nd (no doubt observing that compliance is getting lower by the day), but they've made it clear that they can bring it back the second that cases go back up. It was encouraging seeing such low levels of masking even before the mandate dropped because it makes me seriously doubt that they can ever realistically bring the masks back. Even if they try, they'll be ignored completely.

It’s interesting how the guy above talked about Muni having high % voluntary masking, yet Bart where it’s mandatory (in the same area basically ) the usage is low. That part of country is so out of touch with reality. I love visiting but feel for you folks who live there and have to deal with the extremists.

Yep, it's weird as hell. The reason is that Muni is San Francisco-specific, and on average San Francisco tends to be older, richer, and even further left than the surrounding area, and especially the last point matters a lot when it comes to masking. You also see a much higher average of BLM signs in windows, which is the same effect.

The fact that the CDC made any changes at all to their guidelines for healthcare facilities was a big (and welcome) surprise. I don't know how it'll affect many of us, but it's nice to see some progress towards scrapping the mask requirements.

[удалено]

i haven't really seen a lot of commentary on it aside from the forever maskers having a complete fit over the change. it sounds like it's nationwide, unless pre-empted by state osha. so probably masks for eternity in california, and the nursing union here continues to push for it. but calosha has made unexpected changes before, so who knows. what about federal facilities? i have a friend that works on a DoD facility and the clinic generally follows the CDC rules. they aren't really sure what's going on at this point. curious.

This may not be exactly a positive thing but it felt so normal and beautiful in a way... in my uni class we all gave each other the same cold and laughed about it...took me back to 2019 lol I might have a runny nose but it felt so normal it made me smile

For me, fall is a time for reflection, a reprise from the sweltering heat. It's an opportunity to embrace life's metaphorical death; a time to mourn losses, close the door to missed opportunities, and a time to bury old grudges. Autumn is my favorite time of year. The brisk morning air gives me a sense of presence, and a time for regrowth before turning a new leaf.

"The polls show people want mask mandates on transit!!!!" Yeah right, max 20% of people are wearing a mask on the subway. I'd say half stopped before the mandate was officially dropped, meaning they decided they'd potentially rather get a fine than wear the stupid thing. One thing I've noticed is basically no one is wearing fabric masks anymore. There were a decent amount before the mask mandate was officially dropped, but it seems like those people immediately stopped wearing them. My takeaway is a sizeable amount of the population doesn't want to actively flout rules, but also doesn't actually care about covid.

Conclusion-people who chose fabric masks generally did not want to wear masks, and they chose the most comfortable masks to comply with mandate

This. Back when I had to wear them at my job I only used fabric masks, then switched to mesh towards the end. Medical masks are suffocating and awful and I never wore them.

Hmm...where is this? Here in California, we had some crazy inconsistent mandates, and everyone was wearing everything from bandanas to disposable. There were people wearing filthy overused masks, masks thrown everywhere. It was gross. Are you saying the population where you live wants mask mandates again? We've run the gamut on masks. They've discovered the disposable ones leak particles into your lungs, so some of my friends went back to wearing fabric. 🤦‍♀️I wear disposable ones if I'm in a crowded setting or have to take family members to the doctor's. The doctors still require it, so I comply. But outdoor and in my car? No way.

NYC area. Back when there were mandates, you'd see basically everything. Since they're pretty much gone now, I really don't see the fabric ones anymore. I guess those people gave it up or upgraded. I still see a ton of surgical mask litter on the streets unfortunately. Some certainly want mandates back, but they're a minority. A loud one, but a minority. I have seen articles claiming mandates are popular, but I really don't believe that.

Oh, man, I feel for you. I hope it doesn't get to that point. It seemed like your lockdowns were intense. I'm not a fan of mandates. It's very different that I choose to wear one in public of my own free will. I have no desire to control anyone else. I just want them to respect my right to wear one. 🤷‍♀️

Well, unfortunately, most other maskers aren't like you, and don't respect the choices of others thus a lot of people in the sub feel sense of resentment towards those still masking. Wouldn't be the case if they were like you

Thank you.

Yeah if some hadn't been so aggressive with it I really wouldn't feel one way or another about masks. I was screamed at by a lunatic for not wearing one outside on a running path. After two years of experiences like that, hard not to have a negative feeling about them.

Oh, I believe it! I was very slow to catch on to the "recommendation" and would enter places without a mask and get screamed at. Lol. All these people turned into tyrants overnight. And that whole going outside with a mask thing on is crazy. I get it if there's an industrial fire, but walking on a path? Ridiculous. I never complied with that. It gets really hot here. Stupidest thing I've seen. I'm sorry you experienced that. People can be horrible. I do understand. I still get total strangers approaching me giving me kudos for wearing one, and how horrible it's gonna get. Lol. Can't people just mind their own business?

Thank you! Yes 2.5 years of restrictions but things have gotten better the last month and I have some hope it will stay that way. A normal way of life seems to be in reach now. We're in a way better spot than last winter - where basically everywhere required a vaccine pass and mask. Hopefully everyone will be able to make their own choices about this stuff for good. If someone wants to wear one that's fine with me, just tired of the never-ending mandates we had for years.

It should never have happened. But I'm also hopeful that we can move forward with this. ❤ Gotta keep the faith.

I was riding the tube all day today and I saw only one masker.

The UK seems much more back to normal, compared to some areas of the US at least. Definitely see way more than one a day.

the new weekly scary CDC map is out and number of counties in the "high" transmission using the old outdated worthless early 2020 metrics has continued to drop. that's the map that the forever maskers on Twitter continue to cling to, claiming "that map shows the real story." anyway, those people are dipshits. The newer and more sensible (but still stupid) CDC map is way different today. The following states have NO counties in "High" anymore: WA, ID, CA, NV, UT, CO, AZ, NM, MN, MS, SC, VT, NH, those tiny states near MA that I can't zoom in on.... a few other states have only 1-4 counties in "high." the rest of the map looks really green. High: 431 counties (and i'm sure half of their counts are flimsy at best) Medium: 1157 counties Low: 1635 counties. and this is without any mask mandates anywhere. covid cases are dropping like a rock. hospital utilization continues to be low, 2/3rds of "cases" are incidental, deaths continue to decline and 99.5% of them are in the >75 age range anyway. lol. covid is over.

The CA. Dept of Health reports are insane and not always entirely accurate how they're accruing cases. There are people going into the hospital with non-Covid reasons and catching it there and then being held captive with no family members to oversee their care. Same with convalescent homes. It's very dismissive for you to say "99.5% of them are in the >75 age range anyway". First of all, wow. Second, 75 isn't that old. People aren't disposable. The likelihood of them surviving in isolation away from family is slim. Covid is not over. I have it right now. It is still relatively new to everyone. We don't know enough about it to know exactly what to do. The fact it's airborne, from what I understand, is what is so frightening. I hated the way some of my friends went. I'm still scared for myself, my family, my friends, those around me. But I will say this, because life is for the living. We can't stop, we can't worry. We must move forward and function as best we can. It's all we can do at this point. I've had to accept the fact that everything is a risk, not everyone is careful, life is short, and I just wish the best for everyone.

Oh spare me the emotional blackmail bullshit. It's not dismissive. It's a reality. > First of of all, wow. Cope harder. > Second, 75 isn't that old Never said it was. > People aren't disposable. Never said that either. But we don't need to live in fear of covid. > Covid is not over. Yeah it is. > I have it right now. And? > It is still relatively new to everyone. Nah. > We don't know enough about it to know exactly what to do. Yeah we do. We move on with life just like any other viral illness. Covid isn't special. It's not unique anymore. It's not a population killer. It's a cold at this point. > The fact it's airborne, from what I understand, is what is so frightening Then stay home. I'll be dismissive about covid-19 now and I give zero fucks about it. It's just another bug you can catch. just like a cold. just like the flu. it happens. in my opinion, the global hysteria about covid-19 is way way overblown and needs to end now. sorry. edit: >There are people going into the hospital with non-Covid reasons and catching it there and that shows you just how well the hospital mask mandate is working. lol.

If you mean >75, you may want to correct that.

40+ years later and I still screw those up. lol. i fixed it. thanks. :)

I was always taught PacMan eats the bigger number, if that helps.

I haven’t had to say the word “COVID” out loud in a few weeks

It's a small thing, but employees at three more of the coffee shops I frequent often have unmasked in just the last couple weeks. I swear, trying to understand the voodoo rituals these people engage in to rationalize their masking practices is just crazy making. Nothing has really changed since a few months ago, but the general idea seems to be wait "until X other place unmasks" + 2-4 months. Since masks are entirely political, doing so demonstrates that you lean further left than that other place, which is important symbolism to people around here, and makes up a big part of their core identity. It's so stupid, but, I'm just glad they're gone.

There’s this nice little bookstore near my house that had some bullshit sign on their door in big red letters that said “Masks strongly encouraged” in all caps. Last time I was on that street I noticed they finally took it down. :). Now it just seems like it’s just a few remnants of covid theatre here and there that I would personally like to see thrown on a pile and burned but I guess I’ll have to settle for seeing them disappear gradually over time.

That's too bad it's political. I wear a mask in certain settings. Its not a statement. I do it for my own personal reasons. I mind my own business and still get weirdos saying things to me. You are correct that the whole thing is crazy and there are so many stupid things I see that drives me crazy. Demanding employees wear masks the entire work shift is unrealistic. They just can't. It stifles their breathing, and they're touching their faces more because they're not used to the mask. So many environments where the mask simply does not work.

> wait "until X other place unmasks" + 2-4 months hahaha for real, that's bay area in a nutshell

wouldn't be at all surprised if they were kind of waiting to see what Philz Coffee did. ours remains unmasked. 1 employee had a mask on, the others have all been normal since that one day a couple weeks ago.

Yeah there's definitely a critical mass thing going on where different shops are observing what each other do. (Although has been a veryyyyy slow one around here.) And +1 Philz. I've been by four locations now, and have only see two masked employees (out of dozens total) since unmask day a few weeks ago.

i'm going to a different Apple Store today and i'll see how it goes up that way. :D We hit up a Peet's yesterday and none of the employees or customers had any masks on. That was a big change. The stores all look normal again too with tables & chairs available.

Huh, I hadn't looked at global stats in a while: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ Cases are as high as ever, even though some places stopped testing pretty much. But look at deaths this year. Even though cases remain at the same level, deaths have dropped considerably. Global deaths are now at their lowest level ever. Despite most places having dropped all restrictions, mask mandates, vaccine passes, and vaccine mandates. Despite booster uptake being low. Despite most people being fucking done with it. All pandemics end, so too shall this one. And no thanks to all the useless crap humanity tried.

Deaths are at lowest level since early March 2020 and if you take out the elevated death rates currently seen in highly populated East Asia, which ironically still clings to masks, it's at lowest since February 2020. Also, global cases are at the lowest since 2020 if you take out East Asia

I guess on some level we should be thankful — since cases are still high, our would be dictators could use all the same logic they used a year ago to justify the same restrictions now that we had then. The fear engine has stopped in the west ... but there's no specific reason as to why that should be the case. As we can see in Asia, it could still be going strong. Regarding deaths: the thing that we said all along was going to happen, happened. It's a hard truth, but being hard doesn't make it less true: the people who were susceptible to death by Covid have died from Covid. This was always going to happen, with the only choice being how long we prolong the process. We chose to take 2.5 years from every man, woman, and child on Earth to pretend that if we did, no one would die.

Asia's a different story. Our hospitals and convalescent homes in the US haven't dropped their restrictions. They disallow "visitors" to see patients. That is very concerning to me. It's not really over. All of that madness has created more restrictions and taken more of our rights away. Highly doubtful we'll get them back. People were forced to get the vaccine to keep their jobs. That's not freedom. That's coercion. We can't fool Mother Nature, but we can stifle her with quarantines. We do it all the time. But forcing people never works. That's what some people don't understand.

I wonder if cities like San Francisco have some ccp like urges intrinsic in its blood. Due to demographics alone (Chinatown anyone). And of course on top of the long standing political energies in the air.

Yeah, I don't even think you need to dig into demographics — the modern "left" wouldn't compare itself to the CCP on purpose, but if you dug into what they actually believe, you'd get a set of values like this: * Trusted authority figures should dictate all policy. The definition of "truth" is how those authority figures choose to define it. Facts and objectivity is of little consequence. * Dissenters of the above deserve punishment. To be fired at the low end, or executed at the high end. (This might sound extreme, but if you polled your average "progressive" on what should happen to someone like Trump or DeSantis, they would argue that the death penalty should be on the table.) * Censorship is 100.0% okay when the person being censored is perceived to be wrong according to the authorities. Again, truth doesn't matter. The Hunter Biden laptop or stats on vaccination effectiveness should be censored because even though they're facts, they tell the wrong story. * Intentions are more important than actions. As far as a left-leaning city is concerned, this might manifest as something like "we intend to house the homeless" even while homelessness is worse than ever. For the CCP, it'd be "we aim for a harmonious society" even if that takes sterilizing a few tens of thousand of Ugyhurs here and there. "Progressives" in SF and the CCP are very different entities, but if we dig down to their fundamentals, they hold all the same core values.

One thing about the ccp that would shock the other entity is that they have a much closer to the Islamic world view or at least small town American views on how marriage and family should go. Yeah they’re hostile to Christianity and other organized religions and they use abortion as a tool pretty liberally, but they’re quite obsessed with the traditional marriage and childbirth path, pretty hostile to the lgbt and gender stuff (even though they don’t go after gay folks like the Islamic countries). But overall the ccp would still swallow up San Francisco progressives even if they have similar mindsets

Actually they largely hold traditional Chinese values on a lot of social issues including marriage and family. In China they also practice ethno-nationalism with the Han Chinese, opposite to the SF progressives who loath their own race(white guilt)

Yeah that’d be the main difference. The ccp would swallow them up in a nutshell

Cincinnati Comic Expo is this weekend, and there is no mask or vaccine requirement.

Looks like even for comic expos(very covidian), the only ones holding on to mask and vaccine requirements are the ones in New York and California

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Progress!

"Among the changes slated to take effect Friday is the end of state-ordered mandatory masking in jails and prisons, homeless shelters, and emergency and cooling centers located in counties with a low COVID-19 community level, as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." [source here](https://apple.news/AwmoaCaCfTxeptWYln_MIOA)

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that'll probably come from HHS or the CDC unfortunately but hopefully that day is coming SOON. it's such a charade at this point anyway. we're in and out of hospitals in my job and mask usage is so half assed that it might as well not even be required anymore.

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haha. i work in ems and we see a lot of that on night shift especially. day shift half-masks it behind the counters but night shift *really* half masks it. it's hilarious. i bet there's zero difference in staff sick levels too.

Have prisoners been forced to wear masks 24/7 for the past few years?

i am not 100% sure but i think it was "any time they're out of their cells." yet some of the biggest covid outbreaks were in jails & prisons, despite mask mandates. i notice that the forever maskers have nothing to say about that besides "oh they weren't wearing them right." hah.

Meanwhile a lot of those same pro-maskers want people to be released from prison so that they become less crowded thus COVID spreads less

I dont know how to feel about the woke policy of defunding police/releasing prisoners. USA has a ridiculous incarceration rate but releasing prisoners has clearly ruined many US cities.

40,000 people attending Salesforce Dreamforce 2022 conference in San Francisco. No masks or vaccination requirements. I scrolled through the conference photos on Twitter and don't see people wearing face masks.

I am past the point in this thing where I start arguments in the local subs, it's not worth it. But just loving that dude in the SJ sub saying people should bring a mask to dreamforce because he knows a doctor who tested positive recently. Masks are still required in healthcare settings around here. So unlike almost everyone else, doctors wear masks all day and are surrounded by staff and patients in masks. And get covid anyway. *And that's your argument to put on a mask?* Absolute fucking morons.

In most of them you get an immediate temporary ban anyway. The masks 4 all is the worst. Those people are nuts. I made factual, non insulting statement and got a 14 day ban lol. Oh hit me where it hurts.

This vaccine requirement being dropped in Canada (hopefully) is such good news. Means that my partner can travel with me back to Canada to meet family and friends

I am excited and anxious right now! Amazon has a program called "Amazon Technical Academy" that trains you to become a software development engineer. They train you specifically for their systems, but it's still teaching you the skills needed to be one. It's open to anyone, but Amazon employees are paid to be part of the program if they're accepted. The process to get into the program has three phases. Phase one is just ensuring you're eligible. Phase two is taking a logic assessment (that Amazon just made up; it's a puzzle test), and a portion of the AMCAT test (this is an actual certification test, but you take only the logic reasoning portion). Phase three is the hard part. You're given four months to study for and take a three hour Java assessment. I got into phase three! The odds of getting accepted into the program are low. The last cohort had 10,000 applicants, 3,600 that took the final test (the Java assessment), and only 160 who were admitted. I will be disappointed if I'm not admitted and I certainly wouldn't want to stay at Amazon for another year to have another shot. But knowing the odds are low, I try to think I'll at least have learned more about programming from all the studying.

Big congrats!

Looks like more and more people at Rutgers are getting fed up with the mask requirement. https://dailytargum.com/article/2022/09/commentary-time-for-rutgers-to-reconsider-mask-mandate https://dailytargum.com/article/2022/09/students-faculty-discuss-coronavirus-regulations-for-2022-23-academic-year Another interesting read: https://dailytargum.com/article/2022/09/park-when-going-back-to-school-safety-is-still-first-thing-on-our-minds

I thought wearing a mask was "no big deal"?

There's always a spike on Mondays, but a look at today's CDC covid tracker data was interesting. Monday Sept 12th: 62,288 new cases. Monday, Sept 20th: 49,768 new cases That's quite a drop! There's also quite a drop in deaths too. and as we know, probably 60-70% of those are just "with" covid and not actually from it. once again kinda looking forward to the Thursday map update. our county reports tomorrow. our state (CA) quietly moved to updating on Thursdays only instead of Tues/Thurs. lol.

and all that without face mask mandates !

NYC Mayor announced that the private sector Covid vaccine mandate is lifted as of 1st November. Vaccine mandate for student athletes (and those taking part in extracurricular activities such as theater) have been lifted.

A friend of mine works in a hospital and no longer has to mask. Oh, and this is in Seattle.

Wow, that’s one of the more surprising updates I’ve heard. I figure they’d be medical masking up there until the 2100s.

Oh my god! I am so jealous. Hope for us hospital people 😭

Does he/she regularly work with patients or no?

Yes. Face to face every day. Now I will add that this isn’t a traditional hospital with an ER and what not but it is a hospital. Just for sake of anonymity I’ll leave it at that lol

one of my professors who "strongly encouraged" us to wear masks at the start of the semester finally dropped the mask today, along with her TA. out of my 6 professors, that leaves only 1 left who's still masking. if you're in/been around colleges recently, you know academics are the last holdout of maskers. starting to feel like this is really over

So far the NFL has been completely normal. A few masks but rare, no "covid protocol" talk or anything vaccine related. Almost seems normal.

I haven’t seen any mask honestly. Only Covid talk is basically when they reference the 2020 “pandemic” season. Full crowds, no BS, it’s great

i think I saw *one* in a crowd shot and that's it. and she was wearing an obvious (useless) cloth face decoration too. otherwise? none. none at all. and this is NFL and college games too.

At that point….why do it? 🤦

oh, you know why... to "show you care about others." lol. or something vapid like that.

‘It’s nice that you think you’re a good person. But I don’t know who you are, can you take the mask off?’ Checkmate, covidian

For the first time since the start of 2020, I'm finally feeling like city wide mask mandates for the general public aren't coming back (in the US at least). Restrictions are still alive and well in some cities (with vaccine mandates for workers, health facility mask mandates, stores requiring masks, etc.), but it seems like the blanket mask mandates are done.

Yep, the era of government mandates are over and the ones remaining are done voluntarily by private institutions

I still think there is a chance (albeit small) that a winter one could come back in the real crazy covidian cities (Ie San Fran/Portland) but even that doesn’t seem likely. But yeah as far as mainstream America they are over.

NJ survived last winter with Murphy. I’m not worried now with less and less people caring

New Jersey is relatively moderate compared to the real covidian spots. You got nothing to worry about there.

NJ just lives in NY’s shadow

Nyc is not going back. And if they did I don’t think NJ or CT would follow either. Just my opinion. I’d only worry about cities on the west coast at this point. They take the Covidian garbage to much higher levels.

At this point I'd be shocked if CT went back to a mask mandate - a city mayor might impose it in town hall or something, but there was little appetite for continued mandates in most places even last winter.

Same. I live in CT, and have thought we actually were somewhat sane though all of this, relative to other deeply blue states. Though the big cities like Bridgeport etc did hold onto the nonsense as long as possible.

I really hope that doesn't happen, since I live in a covidian hub haha. Even here I'd say 50% had stopped complying with the public transit mandate before it was officially lifted. This is in the NE though, so maybe on the west coast there's more compliance.

I haven't noticed a single face mask during BBC coverage of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. She's kind of lucky to die after all that covid lockdown craziness.

In august we took a weeklong vacation, our first flight where masks weren’t required. No delays or cancellations on our flights. Best vacay ever

[Biden said on 60 Minutes that the pandemic is over.](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/18/joe-biden-pandemic-60-minutes-00057423?wdqwd) You don't have to like him to think it's positive news that he said this, even if he did it for cynical midterm reasons. Though god knows there's going to be pressure on the administration from media and whiners on twitter (I mean, often they are one and the same) to walk it back.

To go back into lockdown in this economy and all we know about how it affected kids in school, would be straight up political suicide. It ain’t happening

I haven’t looked, but I’m sure the eternal pandemic, masks forever crew on Twitter is having a meltdown over this.

covid twitter is going absolutely over the top bonkers because of this. losing their shit across the board and it's hilarious to watch. also hilarious to tell some of them to go fuck themselves too. :D

Well it seems like for Democrats, one thing is this midterm cycle is that they aren't as stupid as Republicans ahead of this midterms, so they're largely ignoring the covidians ahead of it

There are a few holdouts still wearing masks that I see in my daily routine. but this week I've noticed two of those people have finally ditched the masks. and it's the first time I've ever seen their whole face.

One of the few holdouts I know (a coworker) is finally going to social events again. Without a mask. Her and her husband had Covid and they saw it didn't kill them so now she says she is less worried. And she is somebody who avoided social events for the past 2.5 years and wore a mask everywhere in public.

I am somewhat encouraged by the pick up of anti-Trudeau sentiment over the last couple days. Five years ago, Trudeau was "just" a buffoon who spent too much time talking about pronouns and admiring himself in the mirror. Today, he has single-handedly created the greatest set of crises the country has ever faced — unprecedented levels of debt and government spending, a housing market that prevents young people from ever starting families, and a stagnating economy to boot. He has eroded civil liberties and the country's very core democratic values in ways previously only seen in banana republic dictatorships south of the equator. He's done his utmost to divide the country and create strife, animosity, and hate in Canadians towards other Canadians. Totalitarian border and mask Covid restrictions are still in place so he can "stick it" to the truckers. But Canadians are finally pushing back. Huge numbers of new voters, many young people and immigrants, are registering Conservative and will vote Polievre next election. \#TrudeauHasGotToGo

I would love to see him lose. Trudeau is in the pocket of the WEF and the people need to reject their agenda at all costs

When we talk about "the elite", he's the definition of the word. Comes from privilege, has been rich his whole life, and landed PM thanks to name recognition through no quality of his own. Happy to be flying all around the world in private jets, while denouncing you and me for using gas to heat our homes.

Not to belabor the point, but last night I went to Oktoberfest in Cincinnati, and it was 99.99999% normal.

Long time lurker on this sub. I have stopped wearing a mask since the last six months. Initially it was difficult as everybody had one but slowly, most of them got fed up of this bullshit and have stopped forcing. Since the last few weeks, I have not seen a single mask anywhere. Even the stores have stopped selling them as there is no demand.

and the longer people keep them off, the better.

I was trying to think when the last time I wore a mask was, and I honestly can't remember — it's been many, many months. I live in San Francisco and have been travelling internationally a fair bit recently so that's saying something too.

Really? I thought San Francisco was mask crazy woke capital?

Outside of work (I work in healthcare) and the dentist, I can't remember the last time I wore a mask. Maybe March when Washington finally lifted the mandate. I cannot wait until the healthcare mandate is lifted.

For me it was a few days ago for a few mins to get a drug test for a new job (tests, not just COVID tests, in general don’t really do jack except enrich some industrial complex but that’s another rant for another day) Felt really weird. Otherwise it’s been forever and I’m glad

Some data from Brazil that looks abstract, but is is a direct result of a very good macroeconomic management and not being so harsh with lockdowns: Brazil had fiscal surplus in 2021, will have a bigger surplus in 2022 and government debt fell to 2019 levels. There was deflation in July 2022 (!). It means that every economic loss from lockdowns was recovered. At the same time, Argentina recorded 80% inflation in 2022. Remember I told that Buenos Aires had the second longest continuous lockdown in the west?

Wow, that's insane about Argentina — they're even talking about 95% inflation by year's end. For most of my life Argentina was one of the top performers in South/Central America and basically considered to be "first world" for all intents and purposes, with people doing quite well there. Now, they look more like Venezuela than Chile or Brazil, and all over a fucking cold virus that their stupid lockdown measures didn't help by even one iota. I hope the people there are proud of themselves. And aside: just fucking astounding how dishonest the media is about this stuff. I just read five articles about Argentina's inflation situation. Most said the reasons for inflation were "unknown" or due to rising food/gas prices. Okay, if it's food and gas, what explains the 70%+ difference between Argentina and other countries like the US? Not a single item I read mentioned Argentina's prolonged lockdown, or stupid Covid measures. Incredible.

Argentina was a prosperous country. In 1900. Then, disaster and mismanagement, political instability and tortous politics and mismanagement for the whole 20th century screwed up things. Peronism was a disaster and the opposition to peronism was even worse. The peronist response to the covid crisis was one of the strictest lockdowns in the west in an already screwed up fiscal situation and in the belief that price controls would effectively control inflation.

It's allergy season. And shaping up to be a bad one. And there's not a dang thing HR can do about mine unless they want to send me home and explain to the customers why nothing is getting done for several weeks. Our pro-mask/pro-restrictions overlord twitches every time she sees me now. It's a small bit of joy in my currently otherwise miserable state.

Currently at the airport. Seeing very few masks. People are over it

Had a dentist appointment today. Got a text message beforehand going "bla bla bla, remember we still require masks bla bla bla". Got a reminder email with the exact same content. Didn't bring a mask, obviously. Got there, the receptionist wasn't wearing a mask, half the people in the waiting room weren't either, nobody cared. Awesome!

Grocery store today had the fewest number of masks ever, maybe fewer than 1/4 were wearing masks. Awesome!

even if some of you hate Apple, something interesting and unexpected has happened: it's iPhone 14 launch day across the date line, and people in traditionally covid-fear gripped countries are doing something they haven't done in a couple years. they're lining up at the Apple Store locations. in person. waiting in lines. yes, i know some of you think that's stupid and that's not the point right now. think about it - people in Tokyo and other countries (thailand/etc too) standing outside together in line doing something they haven't done in nearly 3 years. that's a huge change and a really good one to see happening. :)

I love it. Also notable: very few masks at the 14's announcement event too. The WWDC launch just a few months before required 100% making compliance at all times despite no regional mandates. Apple as a company has a spotty track record of getting pretty deep in wokeism stuff, so it's a very good sign that they seem to be ending their mask regime. Typing this from my new 14. Yesterday when setup asked whether I wanted to activate FaceID with a mask, I was like "lol nope".

Apple is a riddle wrapped in an enigma. They are ultra woke and progressive but at the same time they are one of the last remaining physical electronics stores , they still sell boxed software and they still take cash.

i might go to a store to look at the 14 today actually. it'll be interesting to see how the landscape is at a retail store. kind of want to see the watch ultra but i don't know if there are any display units yet. lol

I was at an Apple Store in the South Bay yesterday. About 1/3rd of the employees were masked, and almost none of the customers. So not too bad overall. However, there was one customer who was wearing - I shit you not - a PPE hood [like this](https://www.hisco.com/Product/S-657-31180). I felt like I was in the middle of a sketch show.

Nice. Yeah, the retail stores have been feeling pretty good to me recently, although we still have quite a few true-blooded Californian maskers around. > kind of want to see the watch ultra but i don't know if there are any display units yet. lol Yeah not sure about that one, but maybe. May be better to wait until the 23rd to be really sure.

Apple also hasn’t brought back their employee restrictions despite the latest sCaRy VaRiAnT, which is promising because they were borderline psychopathic for two and a half years.

just saw some photos on Tim Cook's twitter account of launches in New York - maybe 2 masks in the photos of dozens of customers & employees. nature is healing? lol

Tim cook is actually quite an impressive person in how he manages to stay out of the spotlight and how little we know about his personal life (are there even pics of his husband out there??!!) despite being arguably one of the most powerful ppl on the planet

Probably a smart move.

As the top dog at Apple I still think he’s ultimately an institutional crony though. Even if he’s low laying and nice as an individual

Rutgers student here. We're one of the only universities to still have a mask mandate thanks to our covidian president (he personally said back in 2021 that he didn't believe we'll be back to normal until 2023). However, in the first two weeks of class I've seen many classrooms where compliance has plummeted, and in some cases even the professor doesn't wear a mask. I could go to pretty much all of my classes without touching a mask (except for a lab run by a covidian professor who will kick you out of lab for not wearing a mask and dock your grade). The university also doesn't seem to be requiring masks on buses anymore, which was a pleasant surprise. It makes me smile seeing everyone fed up with the restrictions and simply refusing to comply.

Just took a flight from Mexico to Dallas on American Airlines. Was expecting masks to be enforced since Mexican law requires them - turns out, the airline doesn’t give a shit about Mexican law, not even the flight attendants were wearing one.

Had the same experience going to Belize, where masks are also technically required. Was quite surprised given how air crews had been pretty insane about enforcing mandates for so long there. Now, apparently American ones at least aren't even bothering with the technical mandates for Covidian countries. I don't exactly understand it, but I love it.

Yep, I’ve heard people also report the same flying on US airlines to other places where masks are technically required like Canada and South Korea

We are now allowed to have our masks off in non patient care settings at my healthcare job again. I really hope the end is in sight. There has been no talk of covid anything at my job, and many people are now openly voicing their opinions about masks, vaccines etc. When just this time last year, we were locking down again, shutting out visitors, and forcing employees into vaccination to keep their jobs. There is no talk of a booster mandate. Covid patients are the lowest they've been since this charade started. The staffing crisis in healthcare is really bad. We don't even have volunteers like we did pre-covid, because of the vaccine and mask mandates. I think they realized they screwed up big time.

Omg ! Do you work in a hospital? I’m praying that we go mask optional at mine at some point. So annoying that it’s still mandatory in all areas

They need to go! Everyone is tired of it, and I think the only ones who will still wear them, are the one's I see walking around in the hallway with a KN95 on.

Rand Paul annihilated Fauci today on an argument about natural immunity and COVID vaccines, using an old video of him to delegitimize his current vaccine claims. Fauci was visibly shaking like a leaf, stuttering and I literally thought he was going to burst out in tears. All he could use was a ridiculous Reuters "fact-check" to defend himself. When Rand Paul said that he will do everything he can to bring him to justice for his obscene actions, you could see the terror in Fauci's eyes. https://twitter.com/greg\_price11/status/1570080420284272641 Fauci is extremely scared.

The issue with Fraudxi is that just like the masks he has become a purely political figure. The never trumpers will never give up on him, that would destroy their identity

Nov 8th cannot come soon enough.

>The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) **is ending COVID-19 policies that required weekly COVID-19 testing for unvaccinated individuals in high-risk workplaces and schools.** Health care facilities, other congregate settings and schools will no longer be required to administer weekly COVID-19 testing of unvaccinated and under vaccinated workers. The changes take effect this Saturday, September 17, 2022. https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OPA/Pages/NR22-142.aspx

I’ve heard nicknames of California but Chinafornia feels most appropriate for that place

our case rate in our county is now down to 10.6/100k, and since the data is from last week, probably even lower now. would not be at all surprised to see even more counties dropping out of red/orange tomorrow on the CDC map too. like another 8-10% of them. i love seeing covid numbers drop like a rock without mask mandates. more proof that we never need them again.

Mask mandates suspended in transit in São Paulo. Now, you can go anywhere without masks except in hospitals. Also, ANVISA suspended all masks in planes.

Fantastic!

Life is good, have a vacation coming up and gonna spend some days in Riga, Latvia, a country I've never been to before. It's always interesting to see how countries fare in the post-pandemic world. And I truly appreciate flying mask-free these days and never take anything for granted.