AbolishBorders [any]

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Joined 4 years ago
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Cake day: July 26th, 2020

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  • AbolishBorders [any]tomain*Permanently Deleted*
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    4 years ago

    Would recommend Grainger for both the filters and the actual respirator itself if you can wear a half mask respirator. Grainger does not have N-95 masks available to the public. 3M respirators are available; shipping is pretty fast too. Grainger is an actual industrial supplier, so fakes are much less likely than Amazon. Remember to buy both the filters and respirator. Medium will fit most people. If you have a beard/ facial hair, you're going to have to shave it all off for a good fit for both respirators and N-95's.

    Watch the youtube videos made by 3M on how to wear a respirator and take it off and assemble. Watch them again. Learn how to do both a positive and negative pressure fit test, and do it every time you put it on/ adjust the respirator. (Same if you choose to go with N-95's or similar). Replace filters every 3-6 months; it will get harder to breathe inside the respirator over time (but the respirator will not lose effectiveness; think of holes getting clogged - the filters actually perform better, at the cost of oxygen).

    Respirator is around 30 dollars, filters are around 10 dollars for a pair; I'm guessing 1 respirator + 3 filter pairs is enough to weather out until a vaccine - possibly far shorter. This is probably the most cost effective way to get good protection, if you're in a situation where you need it daily, and the look of the half mask doesn't matter too much.

    Keep in mind that there's an exhalation valve, so you can still spread COVID if you have it.

    Test it by using something with a strong scent (perfume, cooking, air freshener) - the respirator won't necessarily block out all of the smell, but will block out a good amount. Test by putting on the respirator, then moving into an area with the scent; after trying to smell whatever the scent is, take the respirator off by lifting the top head strap and moving it forward to let the respirator fall - and smell the air; if there's a big difference, you probably achieved a decent fit. You can do a similar test with an N95, but that will block out fewer smells and particles.

    Other equivalents to the N-95 include the KN-95 (China), KF-94 (Korea), FPP2 (Europe). If there's an H-Mart or perhaps a Great Wall supermarket in your area, they most likely have either the KN-95 or the KF-94 in stock - and are more likely to be legit than online ordering. If you're buying a mask, never buy the masks that fit with loops around the ears like surgical masks - loops do not fit faces well. The typical bands for these masks are circular ones that go over your head; the direction they go on is similar to necklaces.

    As a stopgap, a surgical mask underneath a tight cloth mask (surgical mask is loose, but no holes, cloth mask is tight but has holes) will be significantly more effective than just a surgical or just a cloth mask. If you want to be super effective, search "Fix the Mask" - you can make something that helps tighten your surgical mask out of rubber bands. It's sincerely painful to wear the rubber band fitting mechanism. If you want to test your surgical masks, run a used one under a sink, inner side facing upwards; it should be able to hold water.


  • Would argue that the two big ones are climate policy (not because Biden is good - but because small harm reduction might buy us a few years), and immigration policy. Trump would have most likely tried for another repeal of DACA (the Supreme Court case only said that Trump didn't follow procedure to remove DACA the first time) along with a repeal of Temporary Protected Status (refugees), while DHS will most likely pursue more strict policies against international students and tighten H1-B regulations to favor people from Western countries. Biden wins on that part by doing nothing. I do think that the possibility of the DREAM Act is highest in the next four years, though it has been 19 years of false hopes.

    Any immigration reform (for those outside the US) that happens will involve a large dose of sinophobia, and any DREAM act will involve a compromise with Republicans, most likely to give ICE lots of money. The 2017 version of the DREAM act was co-sponsored by five Republicans, but died in committee - it might have passed if we had a standard neoliberal ghoul for president.

    While there are some piecemeal reforms that Biden will support (15 dollar minimum wage), I'm not counting on those being enacted due to Republicans and centrist Democrats.


  • AbolishBorders [any]toelectoralism*Permanently Deleted*
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    4 years ago

    As much as the NYT sucks - you're interpreting the "Path To Victory" tool incorrectly. It's not providing a probability of victory - but rather, a count of the number of total paths. The New York Time counts the paths, but says nothing about how probable a path is. Imagine flipping 15 coins for the 15 states - and getting each possible combination of coinflips. Calling coin 1 heads would remove all combinations where coin 1 isn't heads - and so on. There's no commentary on the actual probability a certain coin actually flips heads or not.

    If the remaining states (not TX, FL, GA, and NC) all had a 50-50 chance to go for any candidate (each remaining path equally likely), then Trump would have a 60% percent chance.


  • Holy fuck. For those that don't know, RAICES is an organization dedicated to giving legal aid to immigrant communities, including undocumented and DACA; especially near the border. It wouldn't be exaggeration to describe them as the legal frontline against ICE atrocities, directly helping those victimized by ICE and helping prevent such victimization. They'll literally walk people to court and make sure ICE doesn't take and detain them. IMO one of the best non-profits in the country.


  • AbolishBorders [any]tomainHow bad is that covid test? Does I hurt?
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    4 years ago

    Your eyes will water a ton - but it's no more than 20 seconds of extreme discomfort (around 10 for each side). I would say less of a sharp cutting pain, and more of a pinching type of pain. Imagine an extremely stuffy nose, just without any of the humidity.

    Edit: Should mention that mine was done with a bit over an inch of swab into the nose; not the one that goes all the way in.