What does wearing a mask do for you? For others?

Covid-19 is still here and its still a serious virus, even deadly for some --i..e., the elderly and anyone with underlying health conditions, including diabetes, asthma and other lung related diseases, auto-immune diseases, heart diseases and this virus can even be deadly for young children.  Pondering the effectiveness of completely shutting down our nation and now reopening across the country aside --before the roll-out of an effective vaccine for Covid-19-- many of you must be wondering what does wearing a mask actually do for me?


Well a brilliant fluid dynamics engineer made a helpful video in answer the above question.  This video shows the particles that the average person emits into the air while simply breathing, talking, coughing, etc. without wearing a mask and then it contrasts this with wearing a mask --both covering the nose and only covering the mouth with the nose exposed.  This video really is quite illuminating.  I bet most of us never realized how much particle matter/droplets we actually project out into the space around us?  This realization is especially mind-boggling in light of the current pandemic!  To me, this video also points out why, even with masks, there is still a need for 6 feet of social-distancing.  Basically, a mask helps to reduce and limit the range of particulates exhaled, but it does not completely eliminate all exhaled particulate matter.  You can also see clearly from these images that wearing a mask with your NOSE HANGING out doesn't work!!!

                                       Air-flow Video Engineer Blog:  Matthew E. Staymates

                         CLICK HERE TO WATCH: Air-flow Video for Human Respiration



What this video demonstrates is that your choosing NOT to wear out in public actually puts other people at risk for contracting the virus, especially in light of the fact that large numbers of people are asymptomatic carriers of Covid-19.  You may not feel you, personally, are at risk for Covid-19 and think that for this reason you will choose not to wear a mask, but your decision not to wear a mask out in public --in light of this video-- winds up being really inconsiderate and downright selfish.  We are living in difficult times and with these challenging times comes a responsibility to think beyond ourselves and to maybe go the extra mile by putting ourselves at an inconvenience by wearing a mask, simply because it may help to keep someone else SAFE.  And we only have to do this until a vaccine becomes widely available ... Hopefully, just for a matter of months.  Surely, we can all handle this minor inconvenience for just few short months???  In this way, people who might be at some risk can still get out to get groceries, etc.  Because not everyone has someone who will go out and shop for them.  And sometimes, at risk people might get a little stir crazy too!  Ever stop to think of that?

What better way to unite as a country than to adopt a policy of always wearing a mask when out in public? Wearing a mask should serve as a sign of unity of respect for our fellow citizens of this amazing nation.  Because ultimately, your choice DOES AFFECT EVERYONE AROUND YOU ... The more you know ....  So wear your face-covering/mask.  Do it because you are a decent person and you have the ability to think of someone beyond yourself.  Wear your mask for someone's pre-compromised child, mother, sister, brother, grandparent.  Wearing a mask shows you truly respect and care for others.

By the way, I have read numerous instances of people who were previously infected with Covid-19, since recovered, being re-infected with Covid-19 for a second time.  So having had the Covid-19 virus already apparently does not mean that you cannot be re-infected.  You can be re-infected and even potentially become an asymptomatic carrier and spreader of the Covid-19 virus!

Final thought, I hope that our President, Donald J. Trump, will set the stage for mask wearing by dawning his own mask at his upcoming re-election rally this weekend.  If the President wants my vote, he should set a good example for the rest of the nation by starting to wear a MASK when he is out in public/in group settings!!!

6/21/202  Thinking on our nation's ongoing profound inability to unify in the face of adversity ... I think at the core of this inability to unite lies an innate selfishness, a me-centeredness if you will.  With great freedoms can come the risk of great selfishness?  I mean, if you cannot unite in the face of a pandemic, then when exactly can you ever unite as a country?  Wearing a mask is a chance to show unity and respect for our fellow countrymen during a time of heightened anxiety and uncertainty for so many.  Is that really too much to ask of Americans????

==> No mask for Trump walking into rally or during the speech.  Sad!  When it comes to setting examples, Trump gets an "F" in my book.  Ever the rebel, even when the stakes are so very high?  Let's see how those odds wind up playing out for him, both with respect to his contracting the virus as well as at the polls come November 2020?

Wake UP, People ... You're ALL Being PLAYED!

Never ceases to AMAZE how sadly predictable people are, on both sides of current issues currently burning across our nation.  Wake up people, ALL of you are being used! ... You're being played.  That which divides us does NOT make us stronger, nor will it ever bring about lasting and significant change.  What do suppose will step in to fill void created by anger, violence, destruction and self-righteous defense?  If you destroy it, they will rebuild this nation in their long-desired image and I've got news for you: it will be antithesis of everything that has the potential to bring out the BEST in America that people across the globe once aspired to.  Let the myriad of visions of dystopian futures dance wildly about in your mind ...  America is truly unique as a nation, encompassing  a wide variety of opportunities to pursue our own individual visions of LIFE, LIBERTY and the pursuit of HAPPINESS on our own terms.  Our collective individuality and the freedoms we enjoy, here in America, are what we should be fighting for ... not fighting each other over our perceived differences; this is a convenient distraction that those on Left often wield --particularly in times of crisis-- in an attempt to seize power and we are letting it work, willfully playing right along.  How sad?!  Let's be honest, we are never all going to agree on everything all of the time, but that IS THE TRUE BEAUTY of our system of governance.  Our differences, when honored, have the potential to make America something truly remarkable!

"You can't start a fire without a spark and some seeking power are using 

this spark to burn fires in the absence of true leadership."

The above being said, we all can rally around ongoing injustice in abuses suffered by African Americans at the hands of handfuls of misguided law enforcement officers.  Too many previous Presidents and elected officials have NOT done enough to provide the strong, centralized leadership needed to begin rectifying this ongoing needless loss of LIFE.  That's how we find ourselves once again reeling in the wake of senseless loss of LIFE and tragedy, with the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis MN.  Our major cities are burning, rife with rampant violence and destruction as the offshoot of once legitimate and on the whole peaceful protests. Opportunists and those that want to see America destroyed, so they can rebuild it to fit their misguided 'global' ideology, will NEVER let a good crisis go to waste. Leadership in America would do well to bear this in mind for the future! TIMING IS EVERYTHING! .... [6/14/2020 and now another Black man in Atlanta GA, Rayshard Brooks, has lost his life needlessly, again at the hands of police officers who failed miserably in their attempts to de-escalate what started out as a non-lethal scenario.  Legally, in Georgia a taser is is considered a "lethal weapon."  So some people argue that the officer was justified in shooting Brooks "because he took an officer's taser and attempted to use it on one of the officers."  But let's step back and look at this entire situation through the lens of current events.  This whole scenario started out with a man asleep in a drive-thru, does that seem like someone who posed an imminent danger to anyone?  Brooks was cordial, respectful and responsive to officers right up to the moment when the police officers tried to put the handcuffs on him.  Given recent events and his inebriated state of mind, Brooks may have feared for his very life in the instant when the officers attempted to put the handcuffs on him.  This is most likely why Brooks resisted arrest and then tried to flee.  Brooks probably was not in a full right state-of-mind, given his inebriated state.  Now taking the officer's taser wasn't a smart move either, but that being said and given current events I do not think that the correct response for  Officer Rolfe was to shoot Brooks in the back with a gun as he fled the scene.  Let him run himself out and then attempt to recapture him or use reciprocal force (i.e., another taser), but a gun is above and beyond.  These types of decisions by police officers are what people are up in arms and protesting about.  "To whom much [authority/power] is given, much is expected."]

What we need RIGHT NOW, in America, is strong leadership coming from the very top on down in order to initiate, enact and follow-up on much needed reforms for our police agencies across the nation.  Strong leadership can solve this problem, by finally initiating the tangible top-down steps needed to prevent future senseless loss of human lives.  This in turn will go a long way towards helping to put an end to the current destruction and violence sweeping throughout the major cities of our nation.  I sincerely wish this leadership had come sooner; it should have come sooner, as opposed to the predictable pivots towards self-righteousness and strong-arming in the name of the national defense and upholding 'law and order' ... The latter only served to throw gasoline upon the legitimate spark of injustice, because most people would agree that a 'law and order' which allows for the repeated needless loss of Black Lives is, in truth, no longer the 'law and order' citizens of this nation are willing to support.  We demand leadership and we demand timely tangible, meaningful change that will substantively prevent future needless loss of African American/Black Lives.   If the leadership had been there in the early hours, immediately after the tragic death of George Floyd our cities might not be burning? But, I suppose that it is better to have a much needed leadership late, rather than never?????  You can't start a fire without a spark and some seeking power are using this spark of injustice to set our cities on FIRE in the absence of any true leadership.

Mad World???

Pandemic, economic crises and now violent rioting in the streets across our nation  ... We seem to have hit the trifecta for national unrest and disunity, and just in time for an impending election no less?  Coincidence?  Well, personally, I don't happen to believe in coincidence.  Usually, you follow the money which sad to say often goes hand-in-hand with political power and opportunism, often much to the detriment of the "We the People."

Motive and origin stories aside, the facts on hand are these:  A man, a Black life, is needlessly dead at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Another tragedy, one in the line of many over the past several years and one that should NOT have happened; for this tragedy could have prevented with strong leadership and a unwavering commitment to weeding out individuals who have been shown to exercise repeated poor judgment and egregious behavior in carrying out the duties of their office as "upholders of law and order" in our society.  Every single time these tragic deaths at the hands of rouge police officers happen, the majority of decent law-abiding citizens --from all walks of life and ethnicities-- are truly outraged, not to mention heart-broken at the senseless disregard for  human life.  Everytime such tragic events happen our leaders espouse the same sentiments across the airwaves and media platforms.  These leaders lament the tragic loss of life, while pointing out that the majority of police officers are decent people committed to their sworn oath to "protect and serve" their communities --which is true, but the loss of even ONE human life when preventable, is wholly unacceptable.  These leaders finish their public statements with necessary reaffirmations of their strong commitment to "weed out the bad officers, with a history of questionable judgment and bad actions."  But the fact that George Floyd and so many others keep needlessly dying at the hands of police officers exercising egregious behavior means that we, as a nation, have NOT taken the steps, in a widespread and ongoing concerted effort, needed to get at the root of this problem in our nation's police agencies.

This is why people have taken to the streets in protests, initially peaceful protests ... but since co-opted by those with ulterior, violent and destructive motives that really have little if anything to do with the needless loss of life of a Black man; for how can you protest the needless loos of life of one man by way violently assaulting, injuring and killing other human beings?  There is no "moral arc of the universe" justifying his type of violent and destructive behavior ... 

Now, I keep hearing that there are statistics showing that police agencies across the nation have taken serious steps to address bad behavior and rouge cops.  If that is true, then let us get these number out there for all to see, but unfortunately action speaks volumes louder that mere words or numbers, especially when the action winds up being the senseless loss of a human life at the hands of police officers sworn to serve and protect ALL lives.

What we need right now, is STRONG LEADERSHIP from the very top (i.e., the President of the United States) to say "The loss of life of George Floyd and others like him shouldn't still be happening in our nation.  Previous Presidents and community leaders have not done enough to date to root out these bad cops, as evidences by repeated tragic occurrences in the needless loss of lives. Any needless loss of life at the hands of our police officials is one life lost too many!  As such, my administration is committed to providing the leadership necessary to guide and implement immediate and lasting reforms throughout our nation's police and law enforcement agencies.  This leadership will be spear-headed by Attorney General Bill Barr, who will be heading up a commission to issue timely and effective guidelines for assessing individual officer conduct and behavior, as well as training programs to promote more equitable conflict resolution skills.  It is our sincerest hope that Police Unions across the country will work with us to formulate and implement these guidelines, because at the end of the day doing so will help to present our nation's dedicated men and women in law enforcement in a more favorable light.  Once established, these guidelines will be rigidly enforced, with regional assessments of progress reported back to the AG and his commission over the course of the next two years.  Moving forward, we will have zero-tolerance policy for egregious behavior on the part of rouge cops who do a disservice to our rule of law, to their fellow officers and to their sworn oath to protect and serve the citizens of their communities at large."  Now that would be a real game-changer, wouldn't it?

The time has finally come to respond to the very HEART of this matter, by temporarily relinquishing  the predictable myopic focus of only addressing the FIRE in the house (i.e., violent protesters and looters who have systematically co-opted a legitimate movement of protest).  You can put out the immediate fire, but if you do nothing to substantively address the underlying spark, then the fires will inevitably rise once again, on down the line.  Mr. President and leaders of cities being hardest hit by protests, you can actually walk and chew gum ... Be firm by cracking down on violence, vandalism and looting, while simultaneously addressing the underlying issue ... the spark behind the destructive fires now burning madly across our nation.  We must address the underlying problem behind these protests if we are to have any hope of restoring faith our law enforcement agencies or the over-arching rule-of-law moving forward.  The time has come to stop kicking the can down the road for the next President by taking the timely and immediate action as outlined above.  Timing is everything ....................

My heartfelt sympathy and best intentions are being sent out to the family of George Floyd in this time of loss and mourning.  May God Bless keep and guide you all during this difficult time!


6/23/2020  It kind of surprises me that Congress is taking up writing legislation in an attempt to help prevent future loss of Black Lives.  Not that I think this is necessarily a bad thing, just that I thought Police agencies fell under the jurisdiction of States Rights. As such anything Congress passes with respect to police agencies would not be legally binding, right?  Such legislation would wind up being kind of like optional, highly advisable best-practice guidelines?  That's why I was thinking that guidance and over-arching follow-up would be best coming from the Department of Justice.  I guess, however, at the end of the day Congress does control the "$purse strings$" and they can say, "Hey, States, you either follow our federal guidelines, while demonstrating an on-going compliance, or you're not going to get any federal funding for X, Y and Z."

Thoughts and prayers are with Rayshard Brook's family and friends, who "send him home today" with a home-going celebration.  May God especially Bless, watch over and guide Rayshard's four precious little children that he leaves behind.