Not sure you agree with the ending ;) The song is from 1962 and Brel, while one of the big names of French Chanson, for many the biggest, actually from Belgium... Warm greetings, Julia
Thanks for writing! I finished the transcription for your post- this is the first post I have read on this site. You have inspired me to live a more thoughtful and meaningful life and to appreciate all aspects of my life a whole heck of a lot more than I have been. I truly hope that you are safe and healthy and that you stay that way until the end of your sentence!
In the Czech Republic, masks were not used during the initial outbreak, but after a grassroots campaign led to a government mandate on March 18, masks in public became ubiquitous. The results took a while to be reflected in the official statistics: The first five days of April still saw an average of 257 new cases and nine deaths per day, but the most recent five days of data show an average of 120 new cases and five deaths per day. Of course, we can’t know for sure to what degree these success stories are because of masks, but we do know that in every region that has adopted widespread mask-wearing, case and death rates have been reduced within a few weeks. We know a vaccine may take years, and in the meantime, we will need to find ways to make our societies function as safely as possible. Our governments can and should do much—make tests widely available, fund research, ensure medical workers have everything they need. But ordinary people are not helpless; in fact, we have more power than we realize. Along with keeping our distance whenever possible and maintaining good hygiene, all of us wearing just a cloth mask could help stop this pandemic in its tracks.
I hope any of this is useful to you! So sorry to read your parole hearing did not have the outcome you hoped for. I wish you all the best with digesting that outcome. Here, all is fine, though no progress concerning the Portuguese language... Warm greetings, Julia
The effectiveness of mask-wearing depends on three things: the basic reproduction number, R0, of the virus in a community; masks’ efficacy at blocking transmission; and the percentage of people wearing masks. The blue area of the graph below indicates an R0 below 1.0, the magic number needed to make the disease die out. Models show that if 80 percent of people wear masks that are 60 percent effective, easily achievable with cloth, we can get to an effective R0 of less than one. That’s enough to halt the spread of the disease. Many countries already have more than 80 percent of their population wearing masks in public, including Hong Kong, where most stores deny entry to unmasked customers, and the more than 30 countries that legally require masks in public spaces, such as Israel, Singapore, and the Czech Republic. Mask use in combination with physical distancing is even more powerful. While cloth masks are sufficient for protecting others, people who are immunocompromised or those who have a few left over from fire season or hobbies may be considering wearing N95s, to better protect themselves. One note of caution: Many nonmedical N95s have exhalation valves (to make them less stuffy to wear) that let out unfiltered air, and thus won’t stop the wearer from infecting others—so they shouldn’t be worn around other people unless the valve is covered over with tape or cloth.
The community use of masks for source control is a “public good”: something we all contribute to that eventually benefits everyone—but only if almost everyone contributes, which can be a challenge to persuade people to do. It’s like emission filters in our car exhausts and chimneys: They need to be installed in all cars, factories, and houses to guarantee clean air for everyone. Usually, laws, regulations, mandates, or strong cultural norms ensure maximal participation. And once that happens, the result can be amazing. For example, in Hong Kong, only four confirmed deaths due to COVID-19 have been recorded since the beginning of the pandemic, despite high density, mass transportation, and proximity to Wuhan. Hong Kong’s health authorities credit their citizens’ near-universal mask-wearing as a key factor (surveys show almost 100 percent voluntary compliance). Similarly, Taiwan ramped up mask production early on and distributed masks to the population, mandating their use in public transit and recommending their use in other public places—a recommendation that has been widely complied with. The country continues to function fully, and their schools have been open since the end of February, while their death total remains very low, at only six.
Think of the coronavirus pandemic as a fire ravaging our cities and towns that is spread by infected people breathing out invisible embers every time they speak, cough, or sneeze. Sneezing is the most dangerous—it spreads embers farthest—coughing second, and speaking least, though it still can spread the embers. These invisible sparks cause others to catch fire and in turn breathe out embers until we truly catch fire—and get sick. That’s when we call in the firefighters—our medical workers. The people who run into these raging blazes to put them out need special heat-resistant suits and gloves, helmets, and oxygen tanks so they can keep breathing in the fire—all that PPE, with proper fit too. If we could just keep our embers from being sent out every time we spoke or coughed, many fewer people would catch fire. Masks help us do that. And because we don’t know for sure who’s sick, the only solution is for everyone to wear masks. This eventually benefits the wearer because fewer fires mean we’re all less likely to be burned. My mask protects you; your masks protect me. Plus, our firefighters would no longer be overwhelmed, and we could more easily go back to work and the rest of our public lives. To better understand what level of mask-wearing we need in the population to get this pandemic under control, we assembled a transdisciplinary team of 19 experts and looked at a range of mathematical models and other research to learn what would happen if most people wore a mask in public. We wrote and submitted an academic paper as well as a layperson’s summary. Every infectious disease has a reproduction rate, called R. When it’s 1.0, that means the average infected person infects one other person. The 1918 pandemic flu had an R of 1.8—so one infected person infected, on average, almost two others. COVID-19’s rate, in the absence of measures such as social distancing and masks, is at least 2.4. A disease dies out if its R falls under 1.0. The lower the number, the faster it dies out.
A key transmission route of COVID-19 is via droplets that fly out of our mouths—that includes when we speak, not just when we cough or sneeze. A portion of these droplets quickly evaporate, becoming tiny particles whose inhalation by those nearby is hard to prevent. This is especially relevant for doctors and nurses who work with sick people all day. Medical workers are also at risk from procedures such as intubation, which generate very tiny particles that can float around possibly for hours. That’s why their gear is called “personal protective equipment,” or PPE, and has stringent requirements for fit in order to stop ingress—the term for the transmission of these outside particles to the wearer. Until now, most scientific research and discussion about masks has been directed at protecting medical workers from ingress. But the opposite concern also exists: egress, or transmission of particles from the wearer to the outside world. Historically, much less research has been conducted on egress, but controlling it—also known as “source control”—is crucial to stopping the person-to-person spread of a disease. Obviously, society-wide source control becomes very important during a pandemic. Unfortunately, many articles in the lay press—and even some in the scientific press—don’t properly distinguish between ingress and egress, thereby adding to the confusion.The good news is that preventing transmission to others through egress is relatively easy. It’s like stopping gushing water from a hose right at the source, by turning off the faucet, compared with the difficulty of trying to catch all the drops of water after we’ve pointed the hose up and they’ve flown everywhere. Research shows that even a cotton mask dramatically reduces the number of virus particles emitted from our mouths—by as much as 99 percent. This reduction provides two huge benefits. Fewer virus particles mean that people have a better chance of avoiding infection, and if they are infected, the lower viral-exposure load may give them a better chance of contracting only a mild illness. COVID-19 has been hard to control partly because people can infect others before they themselves display any symptoms—and even if they never develop any illness. Three recent studies show that nearly half of patients are infected by people who aren’t coughing or sneezing yet. Many people have no awareness of the risk they pose to others, because they don’t feel sick themselves, and many may never become overtly ill.
RSS
Girls
Ça joue au cerceau
They play hula hoop
Ça joue du cerveau
They play with the brain
Ça se joue tango
They’re played tango-style
Les filles
Girls
Ça joue l’amadou
They pretend to be made of tinder
Ça joue contre joue
Their game is rather cheeky
Ça se joue de vous
You are their fair game
Les filles
Girls
Ça joue à jouer
They play the game of playing
Ça joue à aimer
They play the game of love
Ça joue pour gagner
They play to win
Les filles
Girls
Qu’elles jouent les petites femmes
Whether they pretend to be young ladies
Qu’elles jouent les grandes dames
Or pretend to be great ladies
Ça se joue en drames
It’s always a drama play
Mais les chiens
But dogs
Ça ne joue à rien
They play no game
Parce que ça ne sait pas
Because they don’t know
Comment faut tricher
How to cheat
Les chiens
Dogs
Ça ne joue à rien
They play no game
C’est peut-être pour ça
That’s perhaps why
Qu’on croit les aimer
We think we love them
Les filles
Girls
Ça donne à rêver
Make you dream
Ça donne à penser
Cause you to think
Ça vous donne congé
They offer you a leave
Les filles
Girls
Ça se donne pourtant
Are nevertheless given
Ça se donne un temps
They are given for a time
C’est donnant donnant
It’s a give and take matter
Les filles
Girls
Ça donne de l’amour
Give you love
A chacun son tour
Everyone gets a turn
Ça donne sur la cour
They lead you to court…(-ship!)
Les filles
Girls
Ça vous donne son corps
Give you their body
Ça se donne si fort
They give it so strong
Que ça donne des remords
That you end up filled with remorse
Mais les chiens
But dogs
Ça ne vous donne rien
They give you nothing
Parce que ça ne sait pas
Because they don’t know
Faire semblant de donner
How to pretend that they are giving
Les chiens
Dogs
Ça ne vous donne rien
Give nothing
C’est peut-être pour ça
Maybe that’s why
Qu’on doit les aimer
We ought to love them
Et c’est pourtant pour les filles
And yet it is for the sake of girls
Qu’au moindre matin
That at any morning
Qu’au moindre chagrin
At the smallest grief
On renie ses chiens…
We disavow our dogs…
good to hear from you, also got your snail mail.
I wonder, did Jacques Brel write Pslam 152? In any case, this song comes to mind:
Jacques Brel: “Les filles et les chiens” (“Girls and Dogs”)
Les filles
Girls
C’est beau comme un jeu
It’s beautiful like a game
C’est beau comme un feu
It’s beautiful like a fire
C’est beaucoup trop peu
It’s way too little
Les filles
Girls
C’est beau comme un fruit
It’s beautiful like a fruit
C’est beau comme la nuit
It’s beautiful like the night
C’est beaucoup d’ennuis
It’s too much trouble
Les filles
Girls
C’est beau comme un renard
It’s beautiful like a fox
C’est beau comme un retard
It’s beautiful like a delay
C’est beaucoup trop tard
It’s way too late
Les filles
Girls
C’est beau tant que ça peut
It’s beautiful as long as it lasts
C’est beau comme l’adieu
It’s beautiful like a goodbye
Et c’est beaucoup mieux
And it’s much better
Mais les chiens
But dogs
C’est beau comme des chiens
It’s beautiful like dogs
Et ça reste là
And it stays there
A nous voir pleurer
Seeing us cry
Les chiens
Dogs
Ça ne nous dit rien
They tell us nothing
C’est peut-être pour ça
That’s perhaps for that
Qu’on croit les aimer
That we think we love them
Les filles
Girls
Ça vous pend au nez
They grab you from the nose
Ça vous prend au thé
They take you for a tea
Ça vous prend les dés
They get dicey
Les filles
Girls
Ça vous pend au cou
They grab you from the neck
Ça vous pend au clou
They nail shut you
Ça dépend de vous
It depends on you
Les filles
Girls
Ça vous pend au cœur
They grab you from the heart
Ça se pend aux fleurs
With flowers they ought to be hanged
Ça dépend des heures
It depends on the hours
Les filles
Girls
Ça dépend de tout
It depends on everything
Ça dépend surtout
It depends especially
Ça dépend des sous
It depends on money
Mais les chiens
But dogs
Ça ne dépend de rien
It depends on nothing
Et ça reste là
And it stays there
A nous voir pleurer
Seeing us cry
Les chiens
Dogs
Ça ne nous dit rien
They tell us nothing
C’est peut-être pour ça
That’s perhaps why
Qu’on croit les aimer
We think we love them
Thanks for writing! I finished the transcription for your post- this is the first post I have read on this site. You have inspired me to live a more thoughtful and meaningful life and to appreciate all aspects of my life a whole heck of a lot more than I have been. I truly hope that you are safe and healthy and that you stay that way until the end of your sentence!
Best,
Holly
We know a vaccine may take years, and in the meantime, we will need to find ways to make our societies function as safely as possible. Our governments can and should do much—make tests widely available, fund research, ensure medical workers have everything they need. But ordinary people are not helpless; in fact, we have more power than we realize. Along with keeping our distance whenever possible and maintaining good hygiene, all of us wearing just a cloth mask could help stop this pandemic in its tracks.
I hope any of this is useful to you! So sorry to read your parole hearing did not have the outcome you hoped for. I wish you all the best with digesting that outcome.
Here, all is fine, though no progress concerning the Portuguese language...
Warm greetings, Julia
Models show that if 80 percent of people wear masks that are 60 percent effective, easily achievable with cloth, we can get to an effective R0 of less than one. That’s enough to halt the spread of the disease. Many countries already have more than 80 percent of their population wearing masks in public, including Hong Kong, where most stores deny entry to unmasked customers, and the more than 30 countries that legally require masks in public spaces, such as Israel, Singapore, and the Czech Republic. Mask use in combination with physical distancing is even more powerful.
While cloth masks are sufficient for protecting others, people who are immunocompromised or those who have a few left over from fire season or hobbies may be considering wearing N95s, to better protect themselves. One note of caution: Many nonmedical N95s have exhalation valves (to make them less stuffy to wear) that let out unfiltered air, and thus won’t stop the wearer from infecting others—so they shouldn’t be worn around other people unless the valve is covered over with tape or cloth.
The community use of masks for source control is a “public good”: something we all contribute to that eventually benefits everyone—but only if almost everyone contributes, which can be a challenge to persuade people to do. It’s like emission filters in our car exhausts and chimneys: They need to be installed in all cars, factories, and houses to guarantee clean air for everyone. Usually, laws, regulations, mandates, or strong cultural norms ensure maximal participation. And once that happens, the result can be amazing.
For example, in Hong Kong, only four confirmed deaths due to COVID-19 have been recorded since the beginning of the pandemic, despite high density, mass transportation, and proximity to Wuhan. Hong Kong’s health authorities credit their citizens’ near-universal mask-wearing as a key factor (surveys show almost 100 percent voluntary compliance). Similarly, Taiwan ramped up mask production early on and distributed masks to the population, mandating their use in public transit and recommending their use in other public places—a recommendation that has been widely complied with. The country continues to function fully, and their schools have been open since the end of February, while their death total remains very low, at only six.
If we could just keep our embers from being sent out every time we spoke or coughed, many fewer people would catch fire. Masks help us do that. And because we don’t know for sure who’s sick, the only solution is for everyone to wear masks. This eventually benefits the wearer because fewer fires mean we’re all less likely to be burned. My mask protects you; your masks protect me. Plus, our firefighters would no longer be overwhelmed, and we could more easily go back to work and the rest of our public lives.
To better understand what level of mask-wearing we need in the population to get this pandemic under control, we assembled a transdisciplinary team of 19 experts and looked at a range of mathematical models and other research to learn what would happen if most people wore a mask in public. We wrote and submitted an academic paper as well as a layperson’s summary. Every infectious disease has a reproduction rate, called R. When it’s 1.0, that means the average infected person infects one other person. The 1918 pandemic flu had an R of 1.8—so one infected person infected, on average, almost two others. COVID-19’s rate, in the absence of measures such as social distancing and masks, is at least 2.4. A disease dies out if its R falls under 1.0. The lower the number, the faster it dies out.
But the opposite concern also exists: egress, or transmission of particles from the wearer to the outside world. Historically, much less research has been conducted on egress, but controlling it—also known as “source control”—is crucial to stopping the person-to-person spread of a disease. Obviously, society-wide source control becomes very important during a pandemic. Unfortunately, many articles in the lay press—and even some in the scientific press—don’t properly distinguish between ingress and egress, thereby adding to the confusion.The good news is that preventing transmission to others through egress is relatively easy. It’s like stopping gushing water from a hose right at the source, by turning off the faucet, compared with the difficulty of trying to catch all the drops of water after we’ve pointed the hose up and they’ve flown everywhere. Research shows that even a cotton mask dramatically reduces the number of virus particles emitted from our mouths—by as much as 99 percent. This reduction provides two huge benefits. Fewer virus particles mean that people have a better chance of avoiding infection, and if they are infected, the lower viral-exposure load may give them a better chance of contracting only a mild illness.
COVID-19 has been hard to control partly because people can infect others before they themselves display any symptoms—and even if they never develop any illness. Three recent studies show that nearly half of patients are infected by people who aren’t coughing or sneezing yet. Many people have no awareness of the risk they pose to others, because they don’t feel sick themselves, and many may never become overtly ill.