If you're wearing gloves, but not a mask, you need a different information source.

 

Keeping up with the latest on Covid-19 has been a challenge.  It's a moving target with new information coming in daily from all over the world.

 

On May 14th the CDC announced that mask wearing could be discontinued for people who were vaccinated.  And yesterday Guv. Cuomo announced that NYC will be following suit.

 

But I was surprised over the weekend, before the mask mandate was lifted in NYC, to spot several people wearing gloves but not masks.

 

How did that happen?

 

Confusion aside, both the data from Hong Kong about the virus traveling through an apartment complex and stories about people in the U.S. getting infected at their hairdressers and in church made it seem pretty obvious that Covid-19 is an airborne disease. (Regan, 2020)

 

As far as gloves go, the evidence has been scant.  I read about someone in New Zealand who contacted Covid-19 from a garbage can lid.  But it turned out that they actually contacted the disease from the air.  (Morton, 2021)

 

The retraction article was a bit harder to find than the original story. But all the other data I have mentioned was gathered from two reliable sources: CNN and The New York Times.

 

Those people still wearing gloves?

 

It's likely that they are getting their information from the most unreliable news source of all - social media.  Research has shown that fake news spreads faster and further on social media than elsewhere, thanks to algorithms that are designed solely to engage people for the longest possible time. 

 

So, it's pretty simple.  If you want to be better informed.  Don't get your news from social media.  

 

 

Morton, J. (2021, March 18)  Covid 19 coronavirus: Scientists solve the rubbish bin mystery.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-scientists-solve-the-rubbish-bin-mystery/4CRHEWJ24624THL7T5QWP6Z7PE/

 

Regan, H. (2020, February 12) How can the coronavirus spread through bathroom pipes? Experts are investigating in Hong Kong.  cnn.com.  Retrieved May 18, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/12/asia/hong-kong-coronavirus-pipes-intl-hnk/index.html

 

Bridgman, A., Merkley, E., Loewen, P., Pwen, T., Ruths, D., Teichmann, L., Zhilin, O. (2020, June 18)  The causes and consequences of COVID-19 misperceptions: Understanding the role of news and social media.  harvard.edu.  Retrieved May 18, 2021, from https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/the-causes-and-consequences-of-covid-19-misperceptions-understanding-the-role-of-news-and-social-media/

 

You can't yell fire in a crowded theater.

 

As the seditionists from the January 6th insurrection continue to be rounded up and charged with their crimes sycophants have begun shouting "free speech" in an attempt to defend their criminality.

 

Time for a little history lesson.

 

In 1919, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Homes, Jr's. opinion in Schenck v. United States held that a defendant's speech in opposition to the draft during World War I was not protected free speech under the first Amendment of the United States Constitution.

 

Holmes said that expressions which in the circumstances were intended to result in a crime, and posed a "clear and present danger" of succeeding, could be punished.

 

In 1969,  in Brandenburg v. Ohio the Supreme Court limited the scope of banned speech to that which would be directed to and likely to incite imminent lawless action, e.g. a riot.

 

Hence the shorthand phrase - "You can't yell fire in a crowded theater."

 

Research showed that fake election news declined by 73% after Trump and some of his pals were banned from social media.  (Dwoskin & Timberg, 2021)

 

It also showed that just a few bad actors are responsible for the distribution of fake news including: Sean Hannity, Eric Trump, James Wood and Breitbart News.  (Election Integrity Partnership Team, 2020)

 

Shouldn't they also be banned from social media for shouting fire in a crowded theater?  After all, they did incite an insurrection. 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shouting_fire_in_a_crowded_theater#:~:text=The%20original%20wording%20used%20in,is%20dangerous%20but%20also%20true.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schenck_v._United_States

 

Dwoskin, E. & Timberg, C. (2021, January 16)  Misinformation dropped dramatically the week after Twitter banned Trump and some allies.  washingtonpost.com.  Retrieved January 26, 2021, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/16/misinformation-trump-twitter/

Election Integrity Partnership Team (2020, October 29)  Repeat Offenders: Voting Misinformation on Twitter in the 2020 United States Election.  eipartnership.net.  Retrieved January 26, 2021, from https://www.eipartnership.net/rapid-response/repeat-offenders