Do masks work?

N95 masks outperform all other types of masks

 

Are you up to the challenge? If you think you can make health decisions for you and your family independent of the advice given by experts -- maybe even going contrary to the opinions of the experts, answer the following question.

 

Do masks work for fighting covid-19? 

 

If you answered, "No, they don't", you flunked the test. Read on for the correct answer.

COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, and the main route of transmission is through the air—especially in the form of fine aerosols and respiratory droplets exhaled by infected people when breathing, talking, coughing, or sneezing.

• Masks filter inhaled and exhaled air. Depending on the mask type (cloth, surgical, N95/KN95/FFP2), the fit, and how consistently it’s worn, the degree of filtration varies. Even if not perfect, a mask always provides some reduction in exposure, both for the wearer and for others nearby.

• Effectiveness is a spectrum. A loose cloth mask is a weak barrier; a properly fitted N95 is a strong barrier. Poor fit, gaps, or wearing it under the nose reduce effectiveness, but even then there is partial protection.

The question isn’t whether or not masks work, but rather how well do masks work. The degree of benefit varies.

In “real-world” settings, much depends on how well the mask is worn (gaps, slipping, reuse, moisture), the type of mask, and for how long it is used or reused.

1. Masks reduce risk, but by how much depends on several factors.

• Wearing a mask is associated with a reduced risk of infection. The reduced risk is variable.

• Always wearing a mask or respirator in public settings is an improvement over never wearing one. The type of mask is important. Wearing an N95/KN95 mask is better than wearing a surgical mask and both are an improvement over not wearing a mask.

• Well-fitting respirators (N95/FFP2 etc.) outperform surgical and cloth masks in terms of filtering aerosol particles.

• It is believed that a “duckbill” N95 blocked almost all exhaled particles from infected individuals.

• Studies suggest that if many people wear masks, even moderately effective masks can have substantial community-level impact on transmission. 

The following is only anecdotal evidence but I am going to mention it anyway. 

During the peak of the covid-19 pandemic, I always wore an N95 in public. As the danger from covid waned, I switched to well-fitted surgical masks. I also got vaccinated. As the virus has mutated, I have gotten my covid-19 booster shots regularly. I have now had nine covid-19 vaccinations. 

Neither I nor my wife have ever had covid. And a good thing, too, as my wife and I are getting up in years.

Are All Christians Christian? Maybe not.

I have relatives who openly and constantly proclaim their strong Christian beliefs. You might say they are continually  bearing witness, publicly declaring their great love for Jesus. They believe they are confirming their deep commitment to God but are they?

 

I was raised a Christian. I taught Sunday school in my teens, and yet I am repulsed by self-admitted sinners who readily accept Jesus's gift of imputed righteousness. They put their faith in Jesus and this faith is, in their eyes, the conduit for God’s grace—a grace available to all sinners.

 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor killed by the Nazis, had a word for this. He called it "cheap grace"—forgiveness devoid of true repentance or transformation. If a sinner is truly "in Christ", they must forsake their evil ways. Sinners cannot persist in their sinning ways confident that Christ forgives all.

 

Bonhoeffer practised what he preached: "costly grace". Bonhoeffer saw cheap grace as one of the greatest dangers to Christianity. He went so far as to help form a church in opposition to the mainline German Christians movement which supported the Nazis.

 

For his efforts, Bonhoeffer was arrested in April 1943. He spent about two years in jail where he suffered greatly. Just weeks before the war ended, he was hanged.  Bonhoeffer's death was true to his message: “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”

 

Most evangelicals have not been asked to put their lives on the line for Christ but they were asked to get vaccinated against covid-19. Many refused. When vaccination was mandated they saw this as an attack on their God-given freedom of choice.

 

This attitude is not in keeping with the Christian religion of my youth. Back then, I would have argued that Saint Paul taught personal freedom ends where the danger to another begins. If refusing the covid-19 vaccine puts the old and the weak at risk, then the choice to not get vaccinated appears to be driven not by Christian values but by selfishness with an overlap of pride. 

 

But the covid vaccine is the least of my concerns. A big concern, one of many elephants in the room, is the truly horrifying war in the Middle East. On October 7, 2023, Hamas crossed the border into Israel, killing about 1200 Israels and others and then retreated with about 250 hostages.

 

The Israelis responded with an all out attack on Hamas with massive collateral damage. As of the middle of September, some 65,000 Palestinians have died. About 39,000 are women and children.

 

I believe Jesus would be appalled. Jesus said: “When he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.’”
— Luke 19:41–42

 

What were the things that made for peace? I believe they were, and are, compassion, forgiveness, generosity, and trust in God, in stark contrast to the violence, division, and hard-heartedness encountered as a rule.

 

Palestine and the war are complex situations but, no matter, this war must stop. The monstrous number of dead is shocking but the number of injured and the types of injuries are truly horrifying. Today, hell flourishes in Palestine.

 

Like many on the extreme-right, my relatives are not appalled. They don't even believe the widely reported casualty numbers. They are insulated from reality by a mix of theological conviction, political ideology, and media distrust.

Sources such as the NYT or the CBC are discounted as "fake news". 

Today's state of Israel is seen as a direct fulfillment of God’s promise. Its survival and expansion since its birth in 1948 are signs that all is unfolding according to God's plan. As God's plan does not included the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent civilians, the reports must be fake news. The New York Times, CBC, BBC and even UN reports are all part of the fake news conspiracy.

 

How would Jesus react to the fake news conspiracy story? It is hard to say but let me hazard a guess. He would see this refusal to see truth as the sin of wilful blindness. The Jesus of my youth was discerning, not gullible. He would not have been taken in by either Roman spin or manipulation by the Pharisees. He would not have dismissed all the MSM with one broad brush stroke.

 

In a related situation, Jesus confronted those who shut their eyes to what was immediately in front of them. Quoting the prophet Isaiah, he said: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand… their hearts have become calloused, they have closed their eyes” (Matthew 13:13–15).

Working for three decades in the media did not give me credibility. 

There is so much amiss with today's extreme right-wing Christianity that I will begin wrapping up this post. Otherwise, I might go on and on almost endlessly. Instead, I will leave you with this thought: For all the talk of love, Christians on the extreme-right are fear-driven, anger-filled and insulated by hate.

 

They demonstrate fear of losing their culture (replacement theory), fear of religious displacement (Christians are under attack) and fear of the other (gay people, Muslims, immigrants) just to name three.

 

Anger is also a mixed into this nasty brew and there is a lot of anger to go around. Liberals, progressives, Muslims, gays, immigrants, woke folk and all-too-often blacks quickly come to mind. These are all easy targets for right-wing hate.

 

In this worldview, love isn’t absent—right-wing Christians still talk about it and talk about it incessantly—but in practice love is restricted, contained and finally stripped of the compassion of Jesus.

Sech SCB568P Smartwatch with Bluetooth Calling, Heart Rate & SpO2 Monitor and more (like problems)

All I wanted was watch with an alarm. That's all. I take oodles of pills for my heart and at four different times during the day. I often take some meds late or even totally forget to take some. Clearly, I needed a watch with an alarm.

I found a simple watch and it was on sale. A plus. The fellow at the store assured me this watch had an alarm. He was sure of it; It was a smart watch. I took it home, opened the box and discovered I needed a smart phone to set-up my smart watch. There was a QR code, there was Bluetooth, everything that I would need but for one small thing -- a smart phone. I don't have one and don't want one. I have a flip phone. 

Undaunted, I thought maybe I could use my computer. Nope. A little daunted, I thought maybe I could download an emulator, a bit of software to allow my computer to emulate a smart phone. Nope. My computer was not smart enough to talk to my smart watch.

Totally daunted, I sat beaten. Then Ashley, my daughter, stopped by. She has a smart phone. The cavalry had arrived. In moments my watch was up and running. And, did it have an alarm? It sure did. Eight to be exact. Ashley programmed the watch to ring four times daily to remind me to take my meds. Yes!

Then Ashley showed me how my smart watch could take my blood pressure, heart rate, blood oxygen level, count my steps, record my sleep patterns and more. It is too bad none of its tricks were medically unacceptable. My smart watch, it seems, was not as smart as it claimed.

Then Ashley watched a video on her phone. The audio could be heard throughout the room. Her phone, thanks to Bluetooth, was connected to my watch and my watch, in a sharing mood, was sharing with everyone in the room. We all wondered if my smart watch would do the same with a private conversation and make it a public conversation. Hmmm. Smart phone. Smart watch. Maybe not so smart.

Oh well, it keeps good time. The alarm is the bee's knees. I can ignore everything else -- including the watch. I think it is ugly. No matter what face it shows the world, and it has a few different faces, to me, it is ugly. It screams, "Cheap!" On the plus side, it is small and tucks into the watch pocket of my jeans.

I hate change! (If you have one of these and don't think it is ugly, you are probably young and use an iPhone. You're forgiven. I understand. You're an inhabitant of the digital world.)

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After weeks of trying, I had to admit my watch needed to be paired with a smart phone. My family pooled their money and bought me a used iPhone 11 for my birthday. 

But, even with the new smartphone, my problems did not all immediately disappear. Learning how to get more and more out of my little smart device is proving tough for an old geezer who finds it hard to even call it a watch. Telling time is just one of its many functions. I confess, I find it confusing.

I thought I could write something to help others with their Sech smartwatch. At the moment, I can't. Everyday I learn something new about my watch. It is hard to share stuff that even you do not understand completely. My suggestion? Use Perplexity to assist you.

That said, I will leave my first attempt at assisting Sech smartwatch owners online. No promises. 

Before you can do anything with your Sech smartwatch, you must download the "da Fit" app and link your smartphone to your smartwatch. The Sech smartwatch will not work with the Apple Watch app—only with DaFit.

 

 1. Scan the QR code in the instruction booklet that came with your watch.

• Open the Camera app on your iPhone.

• Point your phone steadily at the QR code printed in the Sech smartwatch booklet.

• A banner or link should appear at the top of the screen—tap it.

• This will take you to the App Store page for Da Fit.

(If nothing happens, you may be able to search manually in the App Store for “Da Fit” and download it from there.)

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2. Download the Da Fit app

• Tap the Get button.

• Enter your Apple ID password or use Face/Touch ID to confirm.

• Wait for the app to install.

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3. Set up Da Fit on your iPhone

• Open Da Fit after it installs.

• Allow all the permissions it requests (Bluetooth, Notifications, Health data, etc.)—these are needed for proper syncing.

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4. Pair your smartwatch

• Make sure your Sech smartwatch is turned on.

• Ensure Bluetooth is enabled on your iPhone (Settings > Bluetooth > On).

• In the Da Fit app, go to “Add Device” or “Bind Device”.

• The app should search for nearby watches. Select your Sech smartwatch from the list.

• Confirm any pairing requests both on the watch and on the phone.

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5. Finish setup

• Once paired, the app should show your smartwatch’s connection status immediately below the Sech name and model number.  

• You can now adjust watch settings, sync data, and customize notifications through the app.

  If the above does not work for you, please comment and I will try and find a solution. 

WATCH FACES: I did not find any of the supplied six watch faces worked for me. I discovered alternate watch faces can be downloaded directly from the "da Fit" app.

Downloaded from da Fit: Business black

Tap "da Fit" app > find Watch Faces (The watch icon, third icon from the left at the bottom of the screen, should be lit.) > tap Face Gallery below the third watch face shown. Touch this and see numerous optional smartwatch faces. I picked "Business black" found in the "New Watch Faces" group.

Now I have a watch face displaying the percentage of battery power remaining rather than simply showing a bar graph. To switch between watch faces, turn the small knob on the right side of the smartwatch. It turns both clockwise or counter clockwise.

Wrist Raise Turns on Watch Face: Still on the subject of the watch face, the face may light up when you move your arm quickly. This can be a battery drainer. To prevent this from happening, you must disable the Wrist Raise feature. Go to settings on the watch (stroke down) and touch the gear wheel. You will see settings. Scroll down to Wrist Raise, touch it and then touch the slide the contro to the off position.

More on using the da Fit app on your iPhone, you can find all the smartwatch perks displayed on the phone. Perks are what I call the functions. Touch the first icon at the bottom left of the iPhone screen. The “Today” screen opens. See all the perks, I mean functions, by scrolling up and down. Here is the function list: “Activity”, “Sleep”, “Heart Rate”, “BP (Blood Pressure)”, “Blood Oxygen”, “Stress”, “Weight” and “Intake Reminder”.

All functions work in a similar manner. Click on the function field and new screen with related, in depth information appears. To close, tap the “X” at the top left of the window.

And always keep in mind: to paraphrase Dirty Harry, a smartwatch has to know its limitations. Smartwatches are not medical devices and their data is suspect.

1. Activity: Scroll down to see your Steps for the day, plus Yards, Calories and Exercise. I am still learning how to use Yards, Calories and Exercise on both the watch and the phone. Steps seem to record automatically. I took a long walk and found the steps function relatively accurate. I counted my steps and found this function was often dead-on accurate. It was never off by more than 3%.

2. Sleep: The more I use this, the more I realize this is just for fun. It cannot be trusted. I am not wasting time on this feature. Play with the Sleep function if you like. You will quickly find it promises a lot but delivers very little. If you want another, more generous opinion, please click the link to: Do Sleep Trackers Really Work posted on the Johns Hopkins Medical Health site.

3. Heart Rate: Tap the heart rate field and a full screen heart rate page appears. Tap “Measure” at the bottom of the iPhone screen. The smartwatch will measure your heart rate and display it on both your watch and your phone. I have found this to be amazingly accurate. Very close.

   One problem: Occasionally, the iPhone and the smartwatch do not show the same heart rate. The link is broken. Using the da Fit app and the iPhone, touch the smartwatch icon, third from the left at the bottom of the screen. At the top of the screen, you will see the SECH smartwatch. Below the watch faces you will see Find Device. Touch Find Device and the smartwatch should sound an alarm. Below the SECH name, you should see "Connected". 

   If this fails, turn to the smartwatch. Go to the smartwatch screen showing all the function icons and scroll down to "Settings". Touch Settings. Scroll down to "System". Touch System. Touch "Restart". If this does not work, touch "Reset".

   Restart will not lose the alarm settings and other settings. If you use Reset, you will have to reload your alarm settings and other features you had modified. Reset resets the smartwatch to its factory settings. For instance, if you are using an optional watch face, you will have to reload it. 

4. 

   BP (Blood Pressure): Tap what looks like an old incandescent light bulb icon and a full screen BP rate page appears. Do not use this feature. It is not to be trusted. If you need to know your blood pressure, get a proper Omron blood pressure unit with a proper upper arm cuff. Play with it, it you like, but I will not encourage using this feature.
   

5. SpO2 or Blood Oxygen:  Touch what looks like a drop of liquid with O2 at the top right of the icon and a full screen Blood Oxygen rate page appears. Touch “Measure” at the bottom of the screen. The smartwatch will measure your Blood Oxygen level and display it on both your watch and your phone. This seems to be amazingly accurate. Let me know how it works for you. 

6. Intake Reminder: This will track your liquid consumption for the day but you must enter each drink yourself. You can set a goal and it will calculate your success.

If the phone and the watch do not agree, I have found that tapping the second icon from the right at the bottom of the da Fit screen and tapping “Find Device” will force the iPhone and smartwatch to connect. The smartwatch will emit a brief sound confirming the link. The word “Connected” should appear under the watch name.

 MORE TO COME. 

Perplexity believed Mark Carney wasn't Prime Minister!

If you need any proof that putting too much faith in the accuracy of AI "facts", check out the following screen shots from a session with Perplexity -- a big player in the AI arena.

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Hot damn! Stop the presses. AI does not know Mark Carney is the Canadian Prime Minister. When challenged, Perplexity stuck to its position:

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It took a third challenge to elicit a correction from Perplexity:

It finally admitted its error, saying, "You're absolutely right, and I apologize for the earlier mistake. Mark Carney is indeed the 24th Prime Minister of Canada. (The bold type was used by Perplexity.) It closed the session by saying, "Thank you for pointing out the error, and I appreciate your understanding."

My prayer: Jesus, Save Us From the (Far-Right-Wing) Christians

This is my second post on Jonathan Cahn. My first was, "If you believe Jonathan Cahn, you are betting against the house." If you are interested, click the link in the previous sentence.

 

An opinion piece in the New York Times today, "The Problem of the Christian Assassin," mentions Jonathan Cahn. The writer, David French, mentioned Cahn in an earlier piece. Here is a link, "The Donald Trump Leap of Faith."

 

The Christian assassin is Vance Boelter, the Christian who stalked two Minnesota lawmakers and assassinated them. Boelter is a 1990 graduate of Christ for the Nations Institute (CFNI) and once served as a missionary in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

 

Both the CFNI and Jonathan Cahn are part of the right-wing evangelical-charismatic movement. Of the two, Cahn is the more explicitly political and apocalyptic but both leave me feeling uneasy. Boelter's murderous acts does lead one to examine more closely the ideas the institute is instilling in its graduates.

 

French called Cahn, "one of the most popular Christian public figures in America." Today, he tells us Cahn has been sharing his Jehu prophecy with all who will listen. You may well ask, who is Jehu? Here is French's concise answer:

 

Jehu is an obscure and vicious ancient king of Israel whose chief claim to fame was overthrowing the house of Ahab, ordering the execution of the king’s wife, Queen Jezebel, killing King Ahab’s sons and piling their heads outside the city gates.

 

Most would agree, King Jehu is not a fine role model. Yet Cahn, like many evangelicals, believes King Jehu was an instrument of God. These evangelicals also see Trump is an instrument of God in the same mould as King Jehu and King David. Supposedly, God used all three to further his goals.

 

I find that Cahn treats the Bible as a codebook. Break the code and he promises all will becomes clear. Trump, the Christan warrior, will emerge from the fog. 

 

For me, what becomes clear is that Cahn is a spiritually manipulative charlatan with a sensationalist marketing technique. His is not a sober reflection on biblical teachings. 

 

Take care and steer clear of Jonathan Cahn and his ilk. They are delivering something more akin to propaganda than healthy religion.

Another Pierre Poilievre slogan?

In his address to the Conservative caucus, Pierre Poilievre claimed Mark Carney used a slogan to attack Poilievre for sloganeering. Poilievre insinuated this was very ironic. It would be, if it were true.

There is no evidence that Mark Carney has used the phrase "A slogan is not a plan" in a public speech or statement. All attributions of this phrase to Carney come from political opponents (notably Pierre Poilievre and Conservative MPs) and media commentary, who claim that Carney "took great delight in saying that 'a slogan is not a plan'" during the campaign.

Carney, as leader of the Liberal Party, positioned himself as a steady, policy-focused alternative to Pierre Poilievre's slogan-heavy,populist rhetoric. Now, we can add the slogan "A slogan is not a plan" to the long list of Poilievre slogans such as "Axe the Tax”, “Bring it Home”, “Fix the Budget”, and “Stop the Crime.”

The media has been taken in by Poilievre again. The CBC journalist, Benjamin Lopez Steven, reported something to the effect (the original report has been taken down):

On the campaign trail, according to Poilievre, Mark Carney frequently criticized Poilievre for his slogans. Carney repeatedly said "a slogan is not a plan," according to Poilievre. Laughing, he turned the tables on Carney saying, “I’ll point out that that is a slogan.” The crowd roared and CBC reported Poilivre had turned the tables on Carney with his witty attack.

One problem: Carney never used the phrase repeatedly. In fact, he may have never used those exact words. This is a Poilievre fabrication but no surprise here. It is just the latest of his famous slogans. Poilievre can take a bow. He is now writing slogans for the Prime Minister or at least trying.

The CBC has posted a correction.