• About

Sacred Cow Chips

Sacred Cow Chips

Tag Archives: Viral Transmission

The Great Unmasking: Take Back Your Stolen Face!

28 Friday Jan 2022

Posted by pnoetx in Masks, Pandemic

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Aerosols, Anthony Fauci, City Journal, Cloth Masks, Cochrane Library, Dr. Robert Lending, Filtration Efficiency, Influenza, Jeffrey H. Anderson, Joe Biden, KN95, Mask Efficacy, Mask Fit, Mask Leaks, Mask Mandates, N95, Omicron Variant, OSHA, P95, Physics of Fluids, R95, Randomized Control Trial, RCT, Surgical Masks, Teachers Unions, Viral Transmission

Right at the start of the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci insisted that masks were unnecessary, which was in line with the preponderance of earlier evidence. Later, he sowed confusion — and distrust — by claiming he said that to discourage a run on masks, thus preserving supplies for the medical community. That mix-up put a stain on his credibility among those who were paying attention, and the reversal was simply bad policy given what is well established by the evidence on mask efficacy.

No Mas, No Mask!

Despite my own doubts about the efficacy of masks, I went along with masking for a while. It gave me a chuckle to see people wearing them outside, especially runners, or solo drivers. We knew by then that contracting Covid outside was highly unlikely. I was also amused by the idiotic protocols in place at many restaurants, where it was just fine to remove them once you walked a few feet to sit at your table, as if aerosols indoors were bound within narrow bands of altitude. Finally, I had reservations about the health consequences of frequent masking, which have certainly been borne out. Restricting air flow is generally not good for human health! Neither is trapping bits of sputum and hot, exhaled moisture rich in microbes right up against one’s muzzle. Still, I thought it polite to wear a mask in places of business, and I did so for a number of months.

In time it became apparent that the cloth and paper masks we were all wearing were a waste of effort. Covid is spread via fine aerosols and generally not droplets. That’s important because the masks in common use cannot block a sufficient level of Covid particles from escaping nor from penetrating through gaps and through the fiber itself. Neither can N95s if not fitted properly, as so many are not. And none of these masks can protect your eyeballs! When tens of thousands of tiny beads of aerosol are released with each cough or exhalation, a mask that stops 70% of them will not accomplish much.

The evidence began to accumulate that mask mandates were completely ineffective at “stopping the spread” of Covid. I then became an ardent anti-masker. I generally don’t wear them anywhere except medical buildings, and then only because I refuse to defer normal medical care, the consequences of which have been tragic during the pandemic. I have told clerks “I don’t need a mask”, which is true, and they have backed off. I have turned on my heal at stores that refuse to give on the issue, but like masks themselves, the signs on the doors are usually more for show than anything else. So I walk right past them.

Now, the Biden Administration has decided to provide to the public 400 million N95 masks — on the taxpayer! It’s a waste of time and money. But the timing is incredible, just as the Omicron wave crashes on it’s own. It will be one more worthless act of theatre. But don’t doubt for a moment that Joe Biden, when no one remembers the timing, will claim that this action helped defeat Omicron.

Mask Varieties

What is the real efficacy of masks in stopping the spread of Covid aerosol emissions? Cloth masks, including bandanas and scarves, are still the most popular masks. Based on casual observation, I suspect most of those masks aren’t washed as frequently as they should be. People hang them from their rear view mirrors for God knows how long. Beyond that, cloth masks tend to fit loosely and protect from aerosols about as well as the disposable medical or surgical masks that are now so common. Which is to say they don’t provide much protection at all.

But can that be? Don’t surgeons think they help? Well yes, because operating rooms can be very splattery places. Besides, it’s rude to sneeze into your patient’s chest cavity. Protection against fine aerosols? Not so much. “Oh, but should I double mask?”, you might ask? Gross! Just Shut*Up!

Face shields are “transparently” useless, offering no barrier against floating aerosols whatsoever except a fleeting moment’s protection against those blown directly into the wearer’s face. Then there are respirator masks: N95 and KN95, which are essentially the same thing. The difference is that KN95s must meet Chinese performance standards rather than U.S. standards. Both must filter and capture 95% of airborne particles as small as 0.3 microns. Covid particles are smaller than that, but the aerosol “beadlets” in which they are swathed may be larger, so the respirators would appear to be a big step up from cloth or surgical masks. R95 and P95 masks are made for protection against oil-based particles. They seem to be better overall due to thicker material and tighter fit with an overhead strap and extra padding.

Measuring Mask Efficacy

A thorough assessment of these mask types is documented in a 2021 paper published in The Physics of Fluids. Here are the baseline filtration efficiencies measured by the authors with an ideal mask fit relative to exhalation of 1 micron aerosols:

  • Cloth_______40%
  • Surgical____47%
  • KN95_______95%
  • R95_________96%

These are simply the filtration efficiencies of the respective barrier materials used in each type of mask, as measured by the researcher’s tests. Obviously, cloth and surgical masks don’t do too well. Unfortunately, even the N95 and KN95 masks never fit perfectly:

“It is important to note that, while masks … decrease the forward momentum of the respiratory jet, a significant fraction of aerosol escapes the masks, particularly at the bridge of the nose.”

Next, the authors assess the “apparent” filtration efficiencies of masks measured by relative aerosol concentrations in an enclosed space, measured two meters away from the source, after an extended period. This is a tough test for a mask, but it amounts to what people hope masks can accomplish: trapping aerosols containing bits of crap on material surrounding the nose and mouth, and for many hours. Here are the results:

  • Cloth___________9.8%
  • Surgical_______12.4%
  • KN95__________46.3%
  • R95____________60.2%
  • KN95-Gap______3.4%
  • KN95-Valve____20.3%

Cloth and surgical masks don’t do much to reduce the aerosol concentrations. Both the KN95 and R95 masks capture a meaningful share of the aerosols, but the R95 is a bit more effective. Remember, however, that the uncaptured share is a stand-in for the many thousands of virus particles that would remain suspended within the indoor space, so the filtration efficiency of the R95, while far superior to cloth or surgical masks, would do little to mitigate the spread of the virus. The KN95-Gap case is a test of a more “loosely fitted” mask with 3 mm gaps, which the authors say is realistic. Under those circumstances, the KN95 is about as good as nothing. Finally, the authors tested a well-fitted KN95 equipped with a one-way discharge valve. While its efficiency was better than cloth or surgical masks, it still performed poorly. The authors also found that various degrees of air filtration were far more effective in reducing aerosol concentrations than masks.

On the subject of mask fit, I quote Dr. Robert Lending, who has regularly chronicled pandemic developments for patients in his practice since the start of the pandemic:

“N95 type masks cannot be worn by men with beards. They must be so tightly fitted that they leave deep creases in your face. Prior to Covid-19, when hospital employees had to wear them for TB exposure prevention, they were told not to wear them for more than 3 hours at a time. They had to be fit-tested and gas leak-tested. … The N95 knockoffs such as the KN95s are not as good. N95 with valves do not protect others from you. There are now many counterfeit N95s for sale. … Obviously, N95s were never meant to be worn for 8-12 hours; and certainly not by youth and school children. If you are wearing an N95 and you can smell anything, such as aroma in a restaurant when you walk in, perfume, cologne, coffee, citrus, foul odors, etc.; then your fit is not correct and that N95 is worthless.”

Other Evidence

Another kind of evidence on mask efficacy is offered by randomized control trials (RCTs) in mitigating transmission of the influenza virus across a variety of settings, including hospital wards, schools, and neighborhoods of varying characteristics. A meta-analysis of 44 such RCTs published in the Cochran Library in late 2020 found that surgical masks make little or no difference to the spread of the virus. In a small set of RCTs from health care settings, the authors found that N95 and P95 masks perform about as well as surgical masks in limiting transmission.

An excellent review of research on mask efficacy appeared in City Journal last August. The author, Jeffrey H. Anderson, was fairly awestruck at the uniformity of RCT evidence that masks are ineffective. One well-publicized RCT purporting to show the opposite relied on effects that were negligible. Meanwhile, other research has shown that state-level mask mandates are ineffective at reducing the spread of the virus. Finally, here is a nice “cheat sheet” containing links to a number of mask studies.

Children

Children in many parts of the country are forced to wear masks at school. It’s well-established, however, despite wailing from teachers’ unions, that Covid poses extremely low risks to children. And there is no shortage of evidence that constant masking has extremely negative effects on children. The stupidity has reached grotesque proportions. Now, some school districts are proposing that children wear N95 masks! This is unnecessary and cruel, and it is ineffective precisely because children will be even less likely to use them properly than adults, who are generally not very good at it. From the last link:

“If N95s filter so well, why are respirators an ineffective intervention? Because masking is a behavioral intervention as much as a physical one. For respirators to work, they must be well fitting, must be tested by OSHA, and must be used for only short time windows as their effectiveness diminishes as they get wet from breathing.

“Fit requirements and comfort issues are untenable in children who have small faces and are required to wear masks for six or more hours each day. For these reasons, NIOSH specifically states that children should not use respirators, and there are no respirators that are approved for children. These views are shared by the California Department of public health. Concerns about impaired breathing and improper use outweigh potential benefits. There are no studies on the effectiveness of respirators on children because they are not approved for pediatric use.”

Rip It Off

At this point in the Omicron wave, which appears to have crested, we’re basically dealing with a virus that is less lethal than the flu and, for most people, comparable to the common cold. It’s a good time for the timid to shed their masks, which don’t help contain the spread of the virus to begin with. And masks do more harm than has generally been acknowledged, especially to children. So stop the bullshit. Take off your mask, and leave it off!

Mask Truths and Signals

26 Tuesday Oct 2021

Posted by pnoetx in Coronavirus, Public Health

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Aerosols, Anne Wheeler, Cloth Masks, Comorbitities, Coronavirus, Covid-19, Delta Variant, Emotional Interference, Endemicity, Germaphobia, Influenza, Mask Mandates, Masks, Michael Levitt, OCD Therapy, Outdoor Infectiions, Precautionary Principle, Randomized Control Trials, Seasonality, Viral Interference, Viral Transmission

It’s been clear since the beginning of the pandemic that your chance of getting infected with COVID outside is close to zero. (Also see here). Yet I still see a few masked people on the beach, in the park, on balconies, and walking in the neighborhood. Given the negligible risk of contracting COVID outdoors, the marginal benefit of masking outdoors is infinitesimal. Likewise, the benefit of a mask to the sole occupant of a vehicle is about zilch. Okay, some individuals might forget to remove their masks after leaving a “high-risk” environment. Sure, maybe, but cloth masks really don’t stop the dispersion of fine aerosols anywhere, indoors or outdoors. Of course, the immune-compromised have a reasonable excuse to apply the precautionary principle, but generally not outside with good air quality.

The following link provides a list of mask studies, and meta-studies. Several describe randomized control trials (RCTs). They vary in context, but all of them reject the hypothesis that masks are protective. Positive evidence on mask efficacy is lacking in health care settings, in community settings, and in school settings, and the evidence shows that masks create “pronounced difficulties” for young children and “emotional interference” for school children of all ages. Here’s another article containing links to more studies demonstrating the inefficacy of masks. Also see here. And this article is not only an excellent summary of the research, but it also highlights the hypocrisy of the “follow the science” public health establishment with respect to RCTs. Compliance is not even at issue in many of these studies, though if you think masks matter, it is always an issue in practice. Even studies claiming that cloth masks of the type normally worn by the public are “effective” usually concede that a large percentage of fine aerosols get through the masks… containing millions of tiny particles. In indoor environments with poor ventilation, those aerosols remain suspended in the air for periods long enough to be inhaled by others. That, in fact, is why masks are ineffective at preventing transmission.

Another dubious claim is that masks are responsible for virtually eliminating cases of influenza in 2020 and 2021. Again, to be charitable, masks are of very limited effectiveness in stopping viral transmission. Moreover, compliance has been weak at best, and areas without mask mandates have experienced the same plunge in flu cases as areas with mandates. A far more compelling explanation is that viral interference caused the steep reduction in flu incidence. The chance of being infected with more than one virus at a time is almost nil. Simply put, COVID outcompeted the flu.

Again, I grant that there are studies (though only a single randomized control trial out of India of which I’m aware) that have demonstrated significant protective effects. Even then, however, the mixed nature of this body of research does not support intrusive masking requirements.

Nevertheless, masks are still mandated in some jurisdictions. Those mandates usually don’t apply outdoors, however, and not in your own damn car! Mask mandates contribute to the general climate of fear surrounding COVID, which is wholly unjustified for most children and healthy working-age people. Public health messaging should focus on high-risk individuals: the elderly, the obese, and those having so-called comorbidities and compromised immune systems. Those groups have obvious reasons to be concerned about the virus. They have excuses to be germaphobic! Still, they are at little risk outdoors, the value of masks is doubtful, and breathing deep of fresh air is good for you in any case!

The incidence of COVID has declined substantially in many areas since early September, but the virus is now almost certainly endemic and is likely to return in seasonal waves. However, the Delta wave was far less deadly than earlier variants, a favorable trend many believe will continue. These charts from the UK posted by Michael Levitt demonstrate the improvement vividly. Perhaps the mask craze will fade away as the evidence accumulates.

The pandemic has been a moment of redemption for germaphobes, but no reasonable assessment of risk mitigation relative to the cost, inconvenience, discomfort, and psychological debasement of face jackets can prove their worth outdoors. Their value indoors is nearly as questionable. Yet there remains a stubborn reluctance by public health authorities to lift mask mandates. There are far too many individuals masking outdoors, and to be nice, perhaps it’s mere ignorance. But there are still a few would-be tyrants on Twitter presuming to shame others into joining this pathetic bit of theatre. I believe Anne Wheeler nailed it with this recent tweet:

“This is one of the first things you learn in OCD therapy – you don’t get to make people participate in your compulsions in order to lesson your own anxiety. It’s bizarre that it’s been turned into a virtue.”

There’s also no question that masks are still in vogue as a virtue signal in some circles, but a mask outdoors, especially, is increasingly viewed as a stupid-signal, and for good reason. I’ll continue to marvel at the irrationality of these masked alarmists, who just don’t understand how foolish they look. Give yourself permission to get some fresh air!

Cases Climb, Most Patients Faring Better

30 Tuesday Jun 2020

Posted by pnoetx in Pandemic, Public Health

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Air Conditioning, Bloomberg, Cases vs. Deaths, Confirmed Cases, COVID Time Series, Covid-19, George Floyd, Immunity, Increased Testing, Nate Silver, Pandemic, Protest Effect, Social Distancing, Viral Transmission, Vitamin D Deficiency

There’s been much speculation about whether recent increases in confirmed cases of COVID-19 (first chart above) will lead to a dramatic increase in fatalities (second chart). More generally, there is curiosity or perhaps hope as to whether the virus is not as dangerous to these new patients as it was early in the pandemic. I have discussed this point in several posts, most recently here. Based on the national data (above), we’re at the point at which an upturn in deaths might be expected. Based on the experience of many individual states, however, deaths should have trended upward by now, but they haven’t done so. Cases are generally less severe and are resolving more quickly.

Of course, more testing produces more cases (though there has been a mild uptick in test positivity over the past two weeks), but that doesn’t really explain the entire increase in cases over the past few weeks. In particular, why are so many new cases in the south? After all, there is evidence that the virus doesn’t survive well in warm, humid climates with more direct sunlight.

As I have mentioned several times, heavy use of air-conditioning in the south may have contributed to the increase. Nate Silver speculates that this is the case. The weather warmed up in late May and especially June, and many southerners retreated indoors where the air is cool, dry, and the virus thrives. Managers of public buildings should avoid blasting the AC, and you might do well to heed the same advice if you live with others in a busy household. In fact, nearly all transmission is likely occurring indoors, as has been the case throughout the pandemic. At the same time, however, with the early reopening of many southern states, younger people flocked to gyms, bars and other venues, largely abandoning any pretense of social distancing. So it’s possible that these effects have combined to produce the spike in new cases.

Some contend that the protests following George Floyd’s murder precipitated the jump in confirmed cases. Perhaps they played a role, but I’m somewhat skeptical. Yes, these could have become so-called super-spreader events; there are certain cities in which the jump in cases lagged the protests by a few weeks, such as Austin, Houston, and Miami, and where some cases were confirmed to be among those who protested. But if the protests contributed much to the jump, why hasn’t New York City seen a corresponding increase? Not only that, but the protests were outside, and the protests dissuaded many others from going out at all!

The trend in coronavirus fatalities remains more favorable, despite the increase in daily confirmed cases. One exception is New Jersey, which decided to reclassify 1,800 deaths as “probable” COVID deaths about six days ago. You can see the spike caused by that decision in the second chart above. Reclassifications like that arouse my suspicion, especially when federal hospital reimbursements are tied to COVID cases, and in view of this description from Bloomberg (my emphasis):

“… those whose negative test results were considered unreliable; who were linked to known outbreaks and showed symptoms; or whose death certificates strongly suggested a coronavirus link.”

Deaths necessarily lag new cases by anywhere from a few days to several weeks, depending on the stage at the time of diagnosis and delays in test results. The lag between diagnosis and death seems to center on about 12 – 14 days. Thus far, there doesn’t appear to be an upward shift in the trend of fatal cases, but the big updraft in cases nationally only started about two weeks ago. More on that below.

Importantly, a larger share of new cases is now among a younger age cohort, for whom the virus is much less threatening. The most vulnerable people are probably taking more precautions than early in the pandemic, and shocking as might seem, there is probably some buildup in immunity in the surviving nursing home population at this point. We are also better at treatment, and there is generally plenty of hospital capacity. And to the extent that the surge in new cases is concentrated in the south, fewer patients are likely to have Vitamin D deficiencies, which is increasingly mentioned as a contributor to the severity of coronavirus infections.

I decided to make some casual comparisons of new cases versus COVID deaths on a state-by-state basis, but I got a little carried away. Using the COVID Time Series web site, I started by checking some of the southern states with recent large increases in case counts. I ended up looking at 15 states in the south and west, and I added Missouri and Minnesota as well. I passed over a few others because their trends were basically flat. The 17 states all had upward trends in new cases over the past one to two months, or they had an increase in new cases more recently. However, only four of those states experienced any discernible increase in daily deaths over the corresponding time frames. These are Arizona, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas, and their increases are so modest they might be statistical noise.

Again, deaths tend to lag new cases by a couple of weeks, so the timing of the increase in case counts matters. Five of the states were trending upward beginning in May or even earlier, and 13 of the states saw an acceleration or a shift to an upward trend in new cases after Memorial Day, in late May or June. Of those 13, the changes in trend occurred between one and five weeks ago. Six states, including Texas, had a shift within the past two weeks. It’s probably too early to draw conclusions for those six states, but in general there is little to suggest that fatal cases will soar like they did early in the pandemic. Case fatality rates are likely to remain at much lower levels.

We’ll know much more within a week or two. It’s very encouraging that the upward trend in new cases hasn’t resulted in more deaths thus far, especially at the state level, as many states have had case counts drift upward for over a month. If it’s going to occur, it should be well underway within a week or so. Much also depends on whether new cases continue to climb in July, in which case we’ll be waiting in trepidation for whether more deaths transpire.

Lockdown Illusions

16 Thursday Apr 2020

Posted by pnoetx in Federalism, Liberty, Pandemic

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

CityLab, Coastal States, Coronavirus, Covid-19, Fixed Effects, International Travelers, Mood Affiliation, Pandemic, Population Density, Stay-at-Home Orders, Viral Transmission, Worldometers

Analytical sins have occurred with great regularity in popular discussions of the Covid-19 pandemic and even in more scholarly quarters. Among my pet peeves are cavalier statements about the number of cases or deaths in one country or state versus another without adjusting for population. Some of this week’s foibles also deal comparisons of the pandemic and public policy across jurisdictions, but they ignore important distinctions.

No matter how you weigh the benefits and costs of lockdowns or stay-at-home orders, there is no question that maximizing social distance can reduce the spread of the virus. But stories like this one from Kansas dispute even that straightforward conclusion. As evidence, the author presents the following table:

Now, I fully support the authority of states or local areas to make their own decisions, but this table does not constitute valid evidence that stay-at-home orders don’t reduce transmission. There are at least three reasons why the comparisons made in the table are invalid:

  1. The onset of coronavirus in these states lagged the coastal states, primarily because…
  2. These are all interior states with few direct arrivals of international travelers;
  3. These states are all more or less rural with relatively low population densities, ranking 40, 41, 42, 46, 48, 49, 52, 53, and 55 in density among all states and territories.

All of these factors lead to lower concentrations of confirmed cases and Covid deaths (though the first applies only on the front-end of the epidemic). The last two points provide strong rationale for less restrictive measures to control the spread of the virus. In fact, population density bears a close association with the incidence of Covid-19, as the table at the top of this post shows. Even within low-density states, residents of urban areas are at greater risk. That also weighs heavily against one-size-fits-all approaches to enforced distancing. But instead, the authors fall over themselves in a clumsy attempt to prove a falsehood.

Even highly-educated researchers can race to wholly unjustified conclusions, sometimes fooled by their own clever devices and personal mood affiliation. This recent study directly controls for the timing of stay-at-home orders at the county level. The researchers attempt to control for inherent differences in county transmission and other factors via “fixed effects” on case growth (which are not reported). This is an excuse for “assuming away” important marginal effects that local features and conditions might play in driving the contagion. The authors conclude that stay-at-home orders are effective in reducing the spread of coronavirus, which is fine as far as it goes. But they also leap to the conclusion that a uniform, mandatory, nationwide lockdown is the wisest course. Not only does this neglect to measure the differential impact of lockdowns by easily measured differences across counties, it also assumes that the benefits of lockdowns always exceed costs, regardless of density, demographics, and industrial composition; and that a central authority is always the best judge as to the timing and severity of a mandate.

The national crisis engendered by the coronavirus pandemic required action at all levels of government and by private institutions, not a uniform set of rules enforced by federal police power. State and local police power is dangerous enough, but better to have decisions made by local authorities who are more immediately accountable to citizens. Government certainly has a legitimate role to play in mitigating behaviors that might impose external costs on others. Providing good information about the risks of a virus might be a pivotal role for government, though governments have not acquitted themselves well in this regard during the Covid crisis.

It’s also important for federal, state and local authorities to remember that private governance is often more powerful in achieving social goals than public rule-making. People make innumerable decisions every day that weigh benefits against risks, but public authorities are prone to nudging or pushing private agents into over-precautionary states of being. It’s about time to start easing up.

 

Follow Sacred Cow Chips on WordPress.com

Recent Posts

  • Rejecting Fossil Fuels at Our Great Peril
  • The Fed’s Balance Sheet: What’s the Big Deal?
  • Collectivism Is Not the “Natural” State
  • Social Insurance, Trust Fund Runoff, and Federal Debt
  • Critical Gender Theory and Trends in Gender Identity

Archives

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014

Blogs I Follow

  • Passive Income Kickstart
  • OnlyFinance.net
  • TLC Cholesterol
  • Nintil
  • kendunning.net
  • DCWhispers.com
  • Hoong-Wai in the UK
  • Marginal REVOLUTION
  • CBS St. Louis
  • Watts Up With That?
  • Aussie Nationalist Blog
  • American Elephants
  • The View from Alexandria
  • The Gymnasium
  • Public Secrets
  • A Force for Good
  • ARLIN REPORT...................walking this path together
  • Notes On Liberty
  • troymo
  • SUNDAY BLOG Stephanie Sievers
  • Miss Lou Acquiring Lore
  • Your Well Wisher Program
  • Objectivism In Depth
  • RobotEnomics
  • Orderstatistic

Blog at WordPress.com.

Passive Income Kickstart

OnlyFinance.net

Financial Matters!

TLC Cholesterol

Nintil

To estimate, compare, distinguish, discuss, and trace to its principal sources everything

kendunning.net

The future is ours to create.

DCWhispers.com

Hoong-Wai in the UK

A Commonwealth immigrant's perspective on the UK's public arena.

Marginal REVOLUTION

Small Steps Toward A Much Better World

CBS St. Louis

News, Sports, Weather, Traffic and St. Louis' Top Spots

Watts Up With That?

The world's most viewed site on global warming and climate change

Aussie Nationalist Blog

Commentary from a Paleoconservative and Nationalist perspective

American Elephants

Defending Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

The View from Alexandria

In advanced civilizations the period loosely called Alexandrian is usually associated with flexible morals, perfunctory religion, populist standards and cosmopolitan tastes, feminism, exotic cults, and the rapid turnover of high and low fads---in short, a falling away (which is all that decadence means) from the strictness of traditional rules, embodied in character and inforced from within. -- Jacques Barzun

The Gymnasium

A place for reason, politics, economics, and faith steeped in the classical liberal tradition

Public Secrets

A 93% peaceful blog

A Force for Good

How economics, morality, and markets combine

ARLIN REPORT...................walking this path together

PERSPECTIVE FROM AN AGING SENIOR CITIZEN

Notes On Liberty

Spontaneous thoughts on a humble creed

troymo

SUNDAY BLOG Stephanie Sievers

Escaping the everyday life with photographs from my travels

Miss Lou Acquiring Lore

Gallery of Life...

Your Well Wisher Program

Attempt to solve commonly known problems…

Objectivism In Depth

Exploring Ayn Rand's revolutionary philosophy.

RobotEnomics

(A)n (I)ntelligent Future

Orderstatistic

Economics, chess and anything else on my mind.

  • Follow Following
    • Sacred Cow Chips
    • Join 120 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Sacred Cow Chips
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...