The point is that the Cochrane review is probably wrong, and face masks do protect, just like parachutes and condoms. And the more general point is to criticize the whole process, that has made half of the Western medical doctors mask skeptics. The point is to say that there are protective equipment that obviously, measurably works, but for which it is difficult to present evidence from RCT-type studies.
But they are, as both are no longer necessary in a civil, functioning society. Consider Europe, much of Asia, which have been able to achieve democracy, stability, and little need for open carry or slavery.
Now, one has a lot of open supporters (gun rights exceeding the US second amendment, in that the regulated militia component gets left out).
Bear in mind that the chart covers a 20-year period. A 56% rise in prices over 20 years is 2.25% per year.
Why doesn't it make sense to you that this particular basket of goods can rise in price, on average, 2.25% pear year while individual goods in the basket can either fall in price or rise much faster?
"Nowadays you can get good robotized gearboxes that have almost none of the disadvantages, except for a slightly higher price."
1. These automatic transmissions are still the weak spot on most vechicles.
2. They still use clutch bands that wear. The trannies are anything but simple. Most mechanics farm out rebuilding a tranny. I would recon that a malfunctioning automatic transmission us the number one cause of junked vechicles, besides wrecked vechicles.
3. It's straight forward weekend job to replace a clutch.
4. We all know modern engines can put close to 300,000 miles on them. Manufacturers know it. There's a reason they only give 70-100k on the tranny.
5. A modern automatic transmission is not a simple fix. Even AMCO guys are learning on your dime (notice they won't just give a price for a complete rebuild over the phone? AMCO in San Rafael, CA. Yea, I remember you slick.)
6. When checking a used vechicle, check that tranny fluid. It should be pink as a baby's butt. (Even then--there's no guarantee. The seller could have just changed the fluid. It shouldn't be black, brown, or smell burnt.
7. Sorry about my tirate on automatic transmissions. I've been to Automotive school, and worked as a mechanic for two years. The Automatic Transmission always intimided me.
If anyone could come up with clutch bands that don't wear, well let's say, you could dine with the 1 percenters? Tyat that be hell though?
Yes, at FedEx, we considered that
problem for about
three seconds before we noticed
that we also needed:
(1) A suitable, existing airport at
the hub location.
(2) Good weather at the hub location,
e.g., relatively little snow, fog,
or rain.
(3) Access to good ramp space, that
is, where to park and service the
airplanes and sort the packages.
(4) Good labor supply, e.g., for
the sort center.
(5) Relatively low cost of living
to keep down prices.
(6) Friendly regulatory environment.
(7) Candidate airport not too busy,
e.g., don't want arriving planes
to have to circle a long time
before being able to land.
(8) Airport with relatively little
in cross winds and with more than
one runway to pick from in case
of winds.
(9) Runway altitude not too high,
e.g., not high enough to restrict
maximum total gross take off weight,
e.g., rule out Denver.
(10) No tall obstacles, e.g.,
mountains, near the ends of the
runways.
(11) Good supplies of jet fuel.
(12) Good access to roads for
18 wheel trucks for exchange
of packages between trucks
and planes, e.g., so that some
parts could be trucked to the
hub and stored there and
shipped directly via the planes
to customers that place
orders, say, as late as 11 PM
for delivery before 10 AM.
So, there were about three candidate
locations, Memphis and, as I recall, Cincinnati
and Kansas City.
The Memphis airport had some old
WWII hangers next to the
runway that FedEx could use
for the sort center, aircraft
maintenance, and HQ
office space. Deal done --
it was Memphis.
That's how the decision
was really made.
Uh, I was there at the time,
wrote the first software
for scheduling the fleet,
had my office next to that
of founder, COB, CEO F. Smith.
There is no evidence from RCT studies, that parachutes work (this post).
There is no (or only very weak) evidence from RCT studies, that condoms work: https://jech.bmj.com/content/65/2/100
According to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, there is no evidence from RCT studies, that face masks would protect against respiratory infections: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD...
The point is that the Cochrane review is probably wrong, and face masks do protect, just like parachutes and condoms. And the more general point is to criticize the whole process, that has made half of the Western medical doctors mask skeptics. The point is to say that there are protective equipment that obviously, measurably works, but for which it is difficult to present evidence from RCT-type studies.