One of the things that riding your bicycle twice a day encourages is thinking. Here are some of my most recent thoughts.
- Face masks: I’m not sure there’s anything that’s been perpetrated on the American public with less information but more emotional motivation than the wearing of face masks. One of the things I had to be an EXPERT on in my early years in the medical industry was the science behind disposable face masks. I sold both gusseted and bulldog-style units. The key to an effective face mask is its micron efficiency. For a face mask to be effective, it has to be able to trap particle sizes of three microns or larger. Viruses have a micron size of less than one. In addition, face masks were designed to protect the wearer from the patient, whether it was in surgery or in the ICU. Our misinformed public has this idea that wearing a face mask protects them from the environment . . . completely wrong. If face masks do not conform and fit to your face perfectly, they are of no value. That’s why professional face masks have a nose band that allows for adjusting the mask to fit the nose and cheekbones and are available in multiple sizes. Any gaps on the top, sides, or bottom render the mask useless. That is why sizing is so important, and just buying any old mask has little or no value. Making masks from t-shirts and pillowcases is laughable. What is the micron efficiency of a t-shirt or a pillowcase or a handkerchief? A good test is if you can blow cigarette smoke through your face mask or smell cigarette smoke through your face mask, it is of no value. So this idea that Americans who wear masks are serving a purpose, saving themselves, or being patriotic is . . . By the way, homemade face masks need to be laundered. How often? What happens when they become damp from continuous use? They create a wet pathway, even more dangerous. How often during the day should a face mask, especially a homemade one, be exchanged for a “fresh” one? None of these questions are being addressed because the real experts, the R& D and scientists who work for the companies that make face masks, know the truth. You don’t hear the head scientists at 3M bragging about the micron efficiency or protective capabilities of the masks that 3M manufactures. There’s a reason. Face masks also have an adverse effect on the human immune system, another unintended consequence.
- Once again, the Federal government issues statements about a program that every small business can access, and every small business should take advantage of – the SBA Loan Program. And once again the five big banks are engaging in a non-participation, give ‘em the old stall excuse that keeps them from having to be bothered with those annoying “little people.” The entire program should have been funneled through the states to community banks and local credit unions only. The little guys should prevail, and the big banks should have been forced to stay on the sidelines because they are an obstacle, not a solution.
- Dr. Fauci is trying to become the next Mehmet Oz. The difference, however, is that Dr. Oz was, is, and continues to be a real practicing physician. Fauci is a research guy who’s all of a sudden realized there’s gold in those celebrity hills. I’m sure that his haberdasher is thrilled, because he’s wearing high-end shirts and ties every day that he never had to bother with in his previous days at the CDC.
- The CDC, the Center for Disease Control, is a misnomer if there ever was one. “Disease Control” are the operative words. The CDC knew in 2015 that New York was not prepared for a pandemic. Nor was California or any of the other densely populated areas of the U.S. The disease control people also knew that the stockpiles, which had been tapped out by the Obama administration, were sorely lacking. “Disease Control” means that they should have insisted that Obama replenish the supplies that he had used for swine flu and the various hurricane and other disaster programs. The CDC is given the position of expertise in disease control, when it really is nothing more than a laboratory that studies germs. “Disease Control” means oversight over all the issues that could affect the country in the event of a pandemic like we are currently enduring. They are a miserable failure, and the entire operation needs to be scrutinized, totally revised, and without question put under new management.
- That’s all for now . . . heading out for another bike ride. Maybe I’ll come up with some other goofy thoughts. Stay safe, and make sure that face mask you’re wearing fits properly and has the correct porosity.
Ron Cocquyt
