Yesterday I talked to my neighbor and found out that most of her adult kids aren't vaccinated. Sad, her husband has cancer and they are looking to operate and try to remove it and then he will start chemo.
I told her that if my kid wasn't vaccinated, he wouldn't be allowed inside my house because my first job is to protect my husband.
What's even sadder is that I talked to one of her kids and asked why she wasn't vaccinated.
She gave me the same ole song about how she wasn't sure about side effects and then went on some rant about vacinated people giving blood and people having the vaccine get into their blood and do some kind of harm.
I have come to realize that you just can't talk to these people. While you are explaining the facts, they are already thinking about another excuse.
I just told her that I'm sad she's not vaccinated and that she won't be allowed in my house and next time I'm wearing a mask around them cause I have to protect my husband.
And it's not that I'm worried he will get sick and die, it's the fact that mentally he can't handle being sick. Having dementia makes normal things so much harder to deal with.
Just met my UPS man at my mailbox. He told me he got vaccinated and all his kids after last weeks mailbox casual conversation that we shared.
Last week I did my best to explain a few things. 1. "covid is viral pneumonia", 2. Hospital crisis standards of care protocols are being discussed and will most likely implemented soon, and 3. the growing Delta cases in kids and their hospitalizations around the country.
There is still time to help convince some of those who are unvaccinated. Everyday there is an opportunity to compassionately share with the vulnerable unvaccinated.
So no-one should give up hope. Just change your tactics and speak from a place of care. We all have the duty of care to share compassionately with our neighbors.
Last week my opening line to my UPS man, was, "You are essential to me and my family. Its not just boxes you are delivering here." And the conversation went on from there....
Beth, you are a beautiful person—my heart goes out to you and your husband. My mom and her siblings had dementia: it’s a one-day-at-a-time life—please take care of yourself, too.
“Having dementia makes normal things so much harder to deal with.” So true Beth. Caring for someone 24/7 is the hardest work in the world. Add in anti-vaxxers and anti democracy politics and things get really tough. Hugs to you both.
Politicians like Mo Brooks always speak in vague inflammatory buzz phrases — “I understand citizenry anger directed at dictatorial Socialism and its threat to liberty, freedom and the very fabric of American society.” Does anyone ever observe them offering specifics? What liberties and freedoms have they lost? They've lost NOTHING. I have never seen a group behave so threatened, so aggrieved in my long life. Yet, they're the ones guilty of seeking to rob people of the right to vote and free and fair elections. And seeking to deprive minorities of equal protection under the law.
Of course as their "sound-bites" are just that....noise. Their intent is to stimulate an emotional reaction and most certainly not logical analysis. Much like a dog-whistle.
By my reckoning, the claim that the 2020 election was stolen was not because the machines were faulty, or ballots were stuffed, or mail-ins were suspect, et cetera. It was because the people themselves who were black, brown or voted Democrat were not legitimate. That is their "logical analysis.
Indeed. That’s why Dan Patrick blamed black people for spreading Covid. “They want to vote AND kill you”. Talk about a party of victims, who can’t possibly be held responsible for their own stupid and selfish behaviors. Infuriating.
It is the rhetoric of the old south, the rhetoric of existential threat, that the rest of the country is out to destroy it and its way of life, that the only way to survive is to control the country themselves by any means necessary, that if they are not running things, especially the senate, the end is near. The south is never so dynamic as it is when defending its static nature.
When their buzz phrases are removed, it comes down to their being pissed over the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, which took away Americans' right to own slaves and tried to give the freed slaves the same rights they had. They are the heirs of the corrupted Reconstruction.
Right. The very observant and funny writer Cynthia Heimel said something that amounted to: people who spend all their time thinking they're victims think that that entitles them to f*** everyone else over.
Projecting has become the personality disorder of the ultra Trumplican/Republicans. They accuse everyone else of the behaviors they themselves are doing.
Those of us in North Carolina who are not part of the cult of the former guy apologize for the enablers of these antidemocratic attacks; we are embarrassed by the association with the tRump brand/family, Miller, Meadows, Cawthorn, DeJoy, and the domestic terrorists of Edgar Maddison Welch (Atomic Pizza/Pizzagate) and Floyd Ray Roseberry (Capitol Facebook Live streamer who claimed to have a bomb). Sadly, our state GOP continues to hook their wagon to the guy who created the Big Lie.
I hope that the state that produced the Greensboro Woolworth sit-ins of 1960,
SNCC and Ella Baker,
Pauli Murray who in some ways is the "Forrest Gump" of social change in the 20th Century,
the Rev. Dr. William Barber II who is continuing King's Poor People's Campaign,
Bree Newsome who took down the South Carolina Confederate flag after the Mother Emanuel Nine massacre,
the state that is the birthplace of George Floyd,
and went Blue in 2008 for Barack Obama
can once again show a progressive movement to combat the gerrymandering of its politics.
Yes, we owe much gratitude to all of those people. Nevertheless, about 70% of the white electorate in North Carolina voted for Trump in 2020. White people suck.
‘White people suck.’ 🤣 Well, may I amend w ‘Conservatives’ to replace 'White people.’ I live in the whitest part of the country, Maine, and we seem to get along quite well, with acknowledged misdeeds toward our Native brethren.
Maine is 94% white. They’re okay if you keep them all in a bunch. Also, there’s Susan Collins, still, and LePage before, still hanging around, I presume. Still, it’s a much better bunch, in the, average than the white electorate in NC.
You may recall, Rex, or you may have erased from memory, the “LaPlague” disaster with the arrival of thousands of refugees form Africa in the early 2000s, as Mayor of Lewiston. He added gas to a challenging situation. (btw, Catholic Charities performed a near miracle in helping with the resettlement of these people). Well, LaPlague is back to challenge our progressive female governor Janet Mills, who will easily win re-election.
"Paul LePage has spent most of his life tackling one challenge after another, the kinds of challenges that defeat most people. The oldest son of eighteen children in an impoverished, dysfunctional family, Governor LePage left home at the age of eleven to escape domestic violence and lived on the streets of Lewiston for two years, making a meager living shining shoes."
There is this documentary...following by Lewiston mayoral candidate Ben Chin--did he win?
"In the wake of the 9/11 tragedy a firestorm erupts when Mayor Larry Raymond of Lewiston, Maine sends a letter to 1,100 newly arrived Somali refugees advising that the city's resources are strained to the limit and asking that other Somalis not to move to the city. Interpreted as racism by some and a rallying cry by white supremacist groups across the United States, THE LETTER documents the crossfire of emotions and events, culminating in a "hate" rally convened by The World Church of the Creator and a counter "peace" rally involving 4,000 Lewiston residents supporting ethnic and cultural diversity."
Thanks for the update and the correction on the invovlement of Paul LaPage and the arrival of Somali refugees in the city. I relied on my memory and thought it was “LaPlague” - who boasts “I was trump before trump was trump.” He has a cadre, however his two elections as Gov. of Maine were due to ticket splitting on the liberal side, with each race featuring a strong, liberal Independent and a strong Democrat. This was before we elected to use Ranked Choice Voting through our referendum process.
Now, Ranked Choice Voting will allow this liberal, majority base to consolidate their vote, as RCV tabulates the preferred choice in the ranking system of each ballot, as voters now rank the candidates. However, if a candidate wins an outright majority (50% plus 1), then there is no need for the ranked tabulation. Surprisingly, Susan Collins won rather handily in 2020, well outperforming the two strong liberal candidates.
Just Yesterday NC passed a law that allows handguns to be sold without background checks. So disappointed in our state government, but hopefully the governor will veto it.
Moms Demand Action continue to work for common sense solutions to reduce gun violence. Thank the legislators who voted against the bill that would reduce background checks. Contact Governor Cooper's office to support the veto.
Lawrence O'Donnell, MSNBC's The Last Word, reported that TX Gov Abbott has been given Regeneron. (Abbott said he's also had a 3rd COVID vaccine. He's tested daily.) O'Donnell went on to report that Ken Griffin a hedge fund manager heavily invested in Regeneron is a big donor to FL Gov DeSantis who plans to open 15-20 Regeneron treatment sites in FL offerring up to 300 treatments per day. Pay back? Wouldn't mask be much cheaper & more effective?
What's the saying? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I'm willing to bet a treatment course of Regeneron is at least 3 orders of magnitude more expensive than 2 vaccine shots and 5 orders of magnitude more expensive than a mask. For those who need it, Regeneron can be life saving, but it is NOT a replacement for vaccines, masks, and social distancing. Thanks for your post!
U got the order right. Immediately wear masks. Get vaccinated. Distance, wash hands. Avoid indoors and crowds at all costs. Buy time. What good is a ventilator or monoclonal treatments without a skilled team of nurses, that are quitting from burnout or in short supply.
I agree. The problem with De Santis is that, in the service of his political ambition, he is actively disparaging the prevention part of the vaccine/treatment equation and putting all his eggs into the monoclonal treatment. He is doing this on the backs of the most unprotected-the children. We need to be working at both ends of this virus.
He has abandoned one end in hopes of keeping Trump voters. He is not working for the people of Florida; he is standing on all our backs in order to reach higher political echelons. Thank God for the growing number of County Superintendents of Education who have their priorities straight and are not being cowed by his threats-- threats which further harm children by taking away education dollars. If he runs for Governor in 2022 and wins it will mean that our entire State has collapsed into "the Florida man" meme!
The Financial Times reports today that AstraZeneca are seeking approval of a Covid non-vaccine, Antiviral-Cocktail which is proving effective highly in preventing serious covid infection when administered before symptoms show. Previous research on this product on their part concentrated, by "political" order, on post symptomatic treatment and was shown incapable of stopping the horse once it had bolted. This sounds pretty hopeful. I should imagine other pharma companies are doing likewise and are are in different stages of testing such "existing" products. Suggesting that this might work was considered "conspiracy" theory and severely criticisized just last year by the political establishment! Science evolves by testing and confronting theories.
There are a variety of antiviral, and anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as immune-based therapies, being used to treat COVID-19. All of them were in existence prior to the pandemic and found mainly through computer modeling. As far as I can tell, all of these therapies can only manage symptoms of covid (this often means the difference between living or dying), they cannot prevent or cure the disease. These treatments decreased the death rate from roughly 19% in April of 2020 to 9% in November 2020 (the overall covid death rate went from about 6% [?] to about 1% in that same period). They are effective, but do not compare to vaccinations, which have reduced the death rate among vaccinated people to almost 0. Then there is cost, both in dollars and in healthcare worker hours. Vaccines are cheap. All of these other therapies are very expensive.
I got away from AIDS activism (other than teaching the mandatory HIV-AIDS training where I worked) in the late '90s when Protease Inhibitors kept most ppl from dying. Now I have ppl talking about "Prep" which prophylactically prevents at risk ppl from getting the disease. That pandemic has pretty much met parity - tho I still see TV ads locally about prevention.
At 20-30 Euros a shot and significant refrigerated supply chain investment the Pfizer/Modena vaccines are not cheap. That explains why worldwide at 4 euros and ordinary tefrigeration AstraZeneca far outsells them. In tests of AstraZenica's new anti-covid coctail the researchers have said that in tests 5000 positive testing patients taking the product pre-symptom development their were no grave symptoms, no hospitalization and no deaths. Interesting to follow up.
Doctors in France have been forbidden to treat rather than vaccine and are being threatened with being struck-off the register if they do not recommend vaccination or give advice contrary to government instructions. Many doctors have rebelled and have stated publicly that this can be treated if taken very early.
My sister-in-law works for Astra-Zeneca. I will have to ask her about this new medication. Sounds promising, especially for the vaccine averse among us. As for the French government forbidding all treatment for covid except vaccinations, I am a firm believer that politicians should not be making medical decisions. Such actions increase suffering and cost lives. I am the medical director at a small youth detention center in NH (USA), Trying to maintain the cold chain for Pfizer vaccine was onerous, so now we have partnered with a pharmacy who sends vaccinations (once thawed, the Pfizer vaccine can be refrigerated at 40F (4C)for up to 31 days) as we need them. Pretty cool n'est-ce pas?
Cool indeed Steve....imagine if you were running the center in India! We have a friend working for Astra too and would be happier if all the doctors were treating patients rather than talking about politics on TV news/chat shows. Courage! Have a good day.
I imagine that the doctors at the testing center would giv it straight away after a positive result. There are already WHO gradations on the testing results apparently to determine who might have severe problems and of course there are those with specific prior conditions too.
"Regeneron’s REGEN-COV Shown to Reduce Mortality Risk
REGEN-COV, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ antibody treatment against COVID-19 currently being tested in a UK clinical trial, has been shown to reduce mortality risk by 20% among patients hospitalized because of COVID-19, reports The Wall Street Journal. However, this result was seen only among the close to 10,000 participants who had not already developed antibodies against COVID-19 when REGEN-COV was administered in addition to usual care with dexamethasone. REGEN-COV is a combination of 2 monoclonal antibodies, casirivimab and imdevimab, and could result in a 4-week reduction in deaths by 6 for every 100 patients, according to Bloomberg."
Mary Pat, I was asking Stuart about this drug he’s reporting here as being “hopeful”: “Covid non-vaccine, Antiviral-Cocktail which is proving effective highly in preventing serious covid infection when administered before symptoms show.” Yet requires being given in a narrow window before sx show up. But I see your comment suggesting he just get vaccinated so in that case my question is moot. I have no interest in checking out Financial Times. Thanks Mary Pat. 😁
Stewart, I would find this development of Covid "cures" far more interesting if they worked in extremis and were even close to the effectiveness of the vaccines. Even if these medicines are less expensive than the Pfizer vaccine, doctors cost more for diagnosis and treatment than med techs do for a quick jab. I got my two doses of the AstraZeneca as soon as the Italian govt made them available, am now the proud holder of a "green pass" in both paper and phone app form and beginning to enjoy life again despite the Delta variant. Same for my wife and most of the folks we know. Now we just need a few billion doses for the less lucky masses. They can even raise my taxes to pay for it
David, i wouldn't use the Pass if i had it in solidarity with a third of the population whose rights have been unconstitutionaly reduced by the Government and to prevent the government following me at every step. They are also building a centralized data base of all the info they are collecting on each checked, tested and vaccined individual for "future consideration" . Once they have installed a system such as this they can use it to impose other things on the people under pain of withdrawing the famous "Pass" ...good citizens à la chinoise; Science fiction on our doorstep! It does good to remember that vaccines are now showing hemselves to be uniquely personal protection as they have little effect on infectiousness and ability to infect. (See CDC guidelines)
Stuart, I think there are times -- like a worldwide public health emergency -- when governments (ideally, freely and fairly elected) can and should compel citizens to alter their behavior in the interest of the common good.
Does your freedom to do whatever you want extend to endangering other people? I have not received any verifiable information (as opposed to wild-assed conspiracy theories floating around on the internet where our personal data is surely being accumulated for the convenience of very wealthy people we have never elected) that would lead me to believe that vaccines are either unsafe (certainly compared to a myriad of other things we are subjected to every day without our explicit consent) or ineffective, or part of some nefarious plot to turn us all into zombies, unless the overwhelming majority of the scientific community is lying to us for reasons they have not yet revealed.
Vaccines are not the whole story (so I still put on my mask when I am indoors with people I don't know), but appear to be an essential piece of the puzzle. In my attempt to be a responsible citizen, I willingly give up my right to infect other people with a deadly virus I do not think I am infected with (but could be moments after being nose-swabbed) and to expose my handsome face to all citizens at all times while filling the air with my innocent (I hope) exhalations.
As to the "uniquely personal protection" provided by vaccines, I think this will continue to be the case as long as new variants can easily develop among the unvaccinated, though the statistics appear to confirm that the unvaccinated run the highest risk -- by far -- of serious illness and death from Covid.
As to the rights you believe have been "unconstitutionally reduced by the Government" (of France I presume), I have no response due to my ignorance of the details of the French Constitution, but I have faith that the French people will send the authoritarians packing whenever that becomes necessary.
And I, too, feel solidarity, but with those who have lost their loved ones to this atrocious illness and with the two-thirds (at least) of humanity who remain unvaccinated and vulnerable to premature Covid death through no fault of their own. Staking out your position on personal liberty by objecting to obligatory vaccination, or even the strong governmental encouragement to get vaccinated embodied by the Green Pass (at least in Italy) is a sign of the privileged life of relative luxury you and I live. We're the lucky ones, at least so far.
Stuart, I always read and find interesting your comments here, and I will continue to do so. I have said what I have to say about this Covid business, though if you wish to respond to my comment I will read yours with good humor and the fervent hope that both of us may survive this moment to discuss, well, anything.
As you say quite rightly, David, the people will throw out the autocrats and here, this particularly Non-credible bunch of would-be amateur autocrats should disappear next springtime thankfully. Once a government has lost the confidence of the people it is difficult to get it back especially when they've got everything wrong about and well before the epidemic. Ostensibly, given Macron's origins, electoral edges and strategic positioning everything should have been good but they got their "lines of software code" mixed up!
However that is the politics, David, and the health strategy obviously is coloured by it. Wearing masks protects others as well as self, whereas, according to recent Delta variant studies in England, Isreal, Iceland and in the US (the basis of current CDC policy) the vaccine 's ability to prevent the recipient's being infected and infecting others is a great deal less than thought with previous variants. Furthermore, it's ability to protect from grave complications starts to decline after 3 months (%s in the 60s rather than 90s...Astra faring better than Pfizer) and positively need boosting by 6 months. These studies confirm that the "viral load" of the infected vaccinated person is equivalent to that of the unvaccinated. These are not back of the envelope musings by rabid marginals! So it looks like vaccination using this technology is a multi-episode affaire.
I am not against vaccines per se but prefer it when they are fully tested and are not just certified for experimental use as are all of the current options...and they will never be enough as treatments are also necessary. As such for the mean time i prefer to protect myself and others by keeping my distance wearing my mask and generally being sensible. I'll look closely at Sanofi's "low-tech, traditional vaccine when it comes out in December.
That said , David, i too always read your comments with great interest and am always interested and search out your point of view. Delighted to know you...even if it is somewhat virtual.
Okay, Stuart, fair enough, though the seemingly targeted current spread of the Delta variant through areas of the USA where sizeable minorities -- and in some localities even majorities -- of people are not vaccinated is worrisome to say the least.
On the other hand, given that living things (includes and doesn't include viruses depending on how you define "living") tend to mutate and evolve in ways that favor survival of their species, and the most deadly viruses (such as Ebola or Lassa) tend to manifest quickly and kill their hosts before they can pass it on or travel very far, there is room for hope that the SARS-CoV-2 virus -- a corona virus in the same family as a number of common cold viruses -- will likely mutate away from virulence once most people have some antibodies to protect them, whether through vaccination or prior contagion.
Also, I think it is odd to worry about the officially ""experimental" vaccines the scientists have served up on pretty short notice, given the massive data base that has been compiled since January of this year (far more quickly than any standard large-scale trial), showing excellent efficacy and safety by any reasonable standard. At least 4 of the vaccines have worked really well, and the scientists are far better able to understand the workings and vulnerabilities of viruses at the molecular level than ever before, so there is reason for optimism that -- if needed -- science will quickly be able to counter and defeat future SARS-CoV-2 variants and other nasty viruses as well. But folks will still need to get their shots.
Anyway, when science writers speculate that we may never be rid of COVID, it may not be such bad news at all.
I'm feeling optimistic because our 2 months of stifling heat here in Le Marche has ended (only 29° C. today) and thunderstorms are on the way Monday and Tuesday.
Yes. Except "Person of Interest" is the classic American trope of "Brilliant scientist creates technology all by himself, and uses it secretly for good while the Evil Government Agents try to take control of it."
In reality, the technology is always created by large teams of engineers who may have moral qualms about the use of their work, but it's how they gain permission to eat, and they don't actually KNOW it's being used for pure evil, if there is such a thing, so it's okay. Best not to ask too many questions, to which you won't get straight answers, anyway. And if you do learn too much, and act on your moral outrage, you become Edward Snowden.
Hi Cathy, we had dinner last night with my wife's Goddaughter and her husband. They live in Pointe Noire on the Congo coast. They tell me that they see little vaccination and not a great deal of covid symptoms...poor public health structures and the people are taking anti-viral cocktails all the time against malaria and other endemic, infectious diseases
Hi Stuart, That's quite interesting. I had a friend who was totally non-symptomatic when she tested positive for COVID. She had the mono-clonal antibodies treatment. Never had any symptoms at all. I chocked it up to a strong immune system.
Well, Cathy, i think that the story hasn't finished unrolling yet. That of which I'm sure, though is that societies and individuals have to become "adult and responsable" and it hasn't been encouraged for a while. Thereafter, a public strategy should include masks etc, a treatment and vaccines. Doctors should get out of and politicians limit themselves to providing the ressources to make the health system work. If everybody assured excellence in their roles thus we'd be a lot safer...and still be free!
I've ordered some custom printed face masks that say "I'm protecting your Right to Life. You're welcome." Democracy means we protect the rights for others as well as ourselves. Rights without responsibility for the community is anarchy not democracy. We're a society now of poor education and narcissism. Just how autocrats want their subjects to be. Texas legislature has a bill that will probably pass that says Social Study teachers can't teach the importance of voting!!! Makes me ill.
Diane I believe I saw it on the Lawrence O'Donnell show and the photos were from Florida . Seems like the maker of this drug is a big donor to DeSantis.
Thanks Cathy. I know DeSantis is all about his donors, but, I hadn’t seen photos of the clinics. I sure hope he overplays his hand and it all comes crashing down on him. Another thug in a suit with a Harvard degree.
Vaccine hesitancy doesn’t really get at the motivational roots for why people don’t want to get vaccinated,” Taylor told the Guardian.
CDC data showing that urban and rural rates of Covid-19 transmission closely shadow each other, and broad availability of vaccines across much of the western world, suggests denser psychological complexities around “hesitancy” than described by political or economic orthodoxies to explain why 90 million adult Americans remain unprotected by any vaccine.
A preferable term, Taylor writes, and one that has been used by psychologists for close to 60 years, is psychological reactance – a motivational response to “rules, regulation, or attempts at persuasion that are perceived as threatening to one’s autonomy and freedom of choice”.
“Psychological reactance has been an issue around any public health guidance, whether that’s increasing the intake of more fruit and vegetables, good dental hygiene or vaccinations and masks,” Taylor said. “The you’re-not-the-boss-of-me kind of response is seen particularly in people raised in cultures that take pride in freedom and individualism.”
The harder you try to push and persuade psychological reactive people, the more they are likely to push back because they perceive their freedoms are being threatened. While they may be a minority, they are also highly vocal, and so we see many different types of people joining in because they perceive their freedoms are being threatened.
That in turn, leads to what psychologists term “motivated thinking”, otherwise fantasy-thinking in which Covid-19, or climate change, are seen as hoaxes so people can tell themselves positive stories that everything is going to be fine and their freedom is not threatened.
What has often been depicted as conservative individualistic intransigence is in fact a stand-in for diverse groups comprising conspiracy theorists, white evangelicals, some historically traumatized communities of color, new-age believers in natural immunity and others who believe that vaccines are a con by big pharma to maximize profits. The list goes on.
In 1988, just after James Hansen, the former head of the Goddard Space Institute had testified in front of Congress about the dangers of climate change, I talked to an artist friend of mine about how relieved I felt to finally be able to talk about climate change more openly. She gave me a “deer in the headlights” look and immediately said we’d find a different planet to live on. I was gobsmacked. This woman has an MA in communications, is a very successful graphic designer and artist, but absolutely cannot handle the stress of science-based reality. 30+ years later, she’s an anti-vaxxer too. And I’m still gobsmacked at her complete inability to accept reality. Needless to say, We don’t get together anymore.
After Hansen’s testimony and my experience with Diane, I spent the next several years trying to figure out why so many were/are in denial about what’s happening and discovered these theories. As a communications professional, it provided little help with how to work with the deniers. But some relief that there was no way to convince them. No fact would make any difference.
Minnesota is in the midst of an epic drought. But my focus has changed, thanks to LFAA. Voting rights is the biggest challenge and that’s what I’m working on. How fo we get The John Lewis Voting Rights Act through the Senate? Thanks for posting this article. Still gobsmacked but that seems the normal state of being right now….
Yes, thanks for the link. We need more psychological analysis such as this. There's also "cognitive dissonance" among these people. Then I wonder why they need to force their beliefs on everyone else, and I think they lack the capacity for empathy as well. They can't live and let live.
When you live with cognitive dissonance, particularly when it is sharpened by religious language and overt social/moral consequences, you need constant reassurance that you are right. The dissonance itself tells you that you are wrong, and you can see that you are supporting horrific, sociopathic outcomes that you are supposed to cheer on (Yay, God! Smite those sinners with AIDS!) But it is necessary, because it is God's Will. It must be necessary. It absolutely HAS to be necessary. Because if it isn't necessary, and godly, and right, then what in God's name (literally) have I done? That's an entirely non-trivial existential crisis.
It's a bit like sticking your hand down the throat of one of those eels that is filled with angled teeth, all the way down. You can't just pull your hand out.
Take, as an extreme example, that you lived in the South in, say, the 1950's, and you participated in lynching a black man with a group of your white "buddies." You were never identified, accused, or tried. Life goes on. But you know what you did. It had to have been justice. It just had to have been. Because if it wasn't justice, then you are a murderer.
The point is that when your "crazy theory" takes you into real world actions that cause cognitive dissonance, you are in big trouble. The more you seek out and obtain affirmation from the other crazies, the deeper your hand sinks into that toothy throat.
Yes! Thank you so much for this. It explains every frustrating interaction I have had with some people when trying to discuss COVID vaccine (I am a women's health NP). Excellent.
Good morning everyone. Here in looney tunes Missouri, the AG Eric Sch[m]i[d]t (I think it more appropriate to reveal his true name by removing the m and the d) has decided to sue not just Kansas City, but also Jackson County--both places where the governing bodies have approved mask mandates and extended them to the end of September (they have to renew them every 6 weeks evidently)--because the f***er has nothing better to do, as he runs for the Rethuglican nomination to replace Roy Blunt, than to wage nuisance law suits on regions in MO where the political leaders are trying to protect the populace. The St Louis County Council apparently capitulated and removed the mask mandate the county executive is still trying to keep in place, but we are made of tougher stuff here on the western border, apparently. All the local school systems--including those on the KS side--are requiring masks. So is the U of Missouri System. But only a few public schools are requiring that the staff and faculty be vaccinated. Sharice Davids, the lone Dem congresswoman from KS, just posted that she has breakthrough covid. She very sensibly has stated that the vaccine "did what it is supposed to do": protect her from the worst ravages of the disease. She probably got it because she had to have surgery and so was in the hospital for a bit. Unlike the death-eaters All-About-Me-Abbot and DeathSantis, she is using this as an opportunity to get the people in her district to vaccinate and mask up.
Reality is more surreal than a Dali painting. The dog and I are hunkering down. And I am thankful at this point that I don't have a cricket bat handy because the number of people I would love to dope-slap with one is growing.
Well, Linda, I am in FL and working non-stop with the school board and urging the complacent teacher’s union from behind their desks to help actively. Teachers within schools are on opposing sides regarding masks. A weak mask mandate with electronic opt-out clause for parents available for a couple weeks. The voice of reason has all but disappeared.
I look at my version of a bat, my Louisville slugger every day and imagine myself walking up to the school board podium or into a commissioners mtg with it. It’s tempting.
I am talking with multitudes of teachers. Many are risking their jobs by putting masks on the children. Others are up the ass of the most vocal anti-mask parents and not insisting their masked students keep them in place.
And now the Ronny and $5 million dollar donor Kenny show is on the road throughout FL touting their Regeneron prize to all the suckers willing to spread Covid to support their political gamble to seize control of the legislative and most likely executive branch of our government.
Our schools are in serious trouble. Our children are threatened. Our faith in our public schools as common good unequaled anywhere in the world is being trashed. And the worst of it? There are so many wringing their hands and being so “disappointed” in Atty Gen Garland and the Justice Dept or railing at the progressive Dems who might derail legislation because they want more for the Amer people or turning away from Pres Biden as if he is as incompetent as the former for pulling out of Afghanistan. And this is a small measure of the absolute dismal support for the fight for democracy. Almost like the battle is lost already. The pessimism literally gags me.
My suggestion. Walk into or tune into your local school board meeting and listen to how we value and take care of our children. The village is disappearing.
I’ve been closely following our Alachua County School Board & the county’s board of supervisors as we mandate masks in schools for another 8 weeks and in side public places where more than 2 persons are —a (very) small island of sanity in Bizarro World. My support and deepest gratitude to them.
Good morning, Linda and all. I am up a little late this am. I like the Dali painting imagery. I was once in a Costco (the last time ever) and it started to look like a Dali painting and I got the hell out of there. Here in Oregon the Benton County Commissioners have actually said that people have to wear masks (it's through September, but presumably can be extended) at Oregon State football games. Our very own commissioners here in Marion County, members of the party of death all, have taken a stance against masks. The governor has said masks in schools and inside all public places. She also has said health workers and all school personnel must be vaccinated. All over the state there have been nasty school board meetings and the Salem-Keizer school board just cancelled their next one because security said they couldn't keep it safe. In the meantime, we had one person with COVID die in Roseburg because they didn't have a bed for the person. Get ready to see more of this. In Portland a consortium of bars and restaurants have joined together to require proof of vaccination. One owner reported that once he was on the news, he got all the usual threats from people who had never been there and were not the regulars who accepted it. Big gatherings of far rights in Portland this weekend. It's not clear what LE is going to do if anything.
Yeah, I was reading about Portland. I have family in Jackson County, the new hotspot. My sister-in-law (former rabid antivaxer and now vaccine proponent) was in hospital on a ventilator for a week; is now home being tended to by her middle daughter (unvaxed). My sister works at a discount grocery store and is CONSTANTLY harrassed and yelled at over masking requirements. She's vaccinated, as is her son. Her partner is not, and that is about it for me with him. He "doesn't trust" it. Malarkey, I say.
I am sorry to read about your various family members. I am fortunate in that all our local family members are vaccinated as are all our friends who are older and mostly progressive in terms of politics. Both of us have had it with the unvaccinated. We are watching the local news and the lead story was at the ICU at OHSU. I really feel sorry for the health professionals and they all say the same thing....this is preventable. We have season tickets for the UO women's basketball and now we are wondering if we are going to be able to go.
I am also fortunate to have all family and friends vaccinated. My hairdresser isn't, and I was just texting her. She's going off hearsay because she had COVID in January. I instructed her to call her doctor's office and get facts instead of hearsay and opinions. I'll check back and will end up cancelling my appointment if she isn't. She's such a sweet person. Caring, etc. Just ignorant and maybe afraid of needles?
Our hairdresser had it also earlier. I forgot to ask last time if she was vaccinated. She has just a room in her house and so there isn't a lot of foot traffic there. I don't think she opposes having the vaccine. As an aside both University of Oregon and Oregon state are requiring that attendees at athletic events (and other things) be vaccinated and masked with exceptions for kids under 12 and under 5. You can show a negative test up to three days before and get in. I am waiting for the howling to start and I'm sure it has.
I am heading to Salem in a week to see my mom. It is a year and a half since I have been there. Part of me is afraid, part of me isn't. I work retail and have been face to face with people from the beginning. I still wear my mask at work (for a while it wasn't mandated by my employer but I did anyway) and will continue to for the foreseeable future. I'm vaccinated and so is she. I look at my trip as a day at work, exposure wise. When she sends me the news about the surge in Oregon I feel like I am making a trip into enemy territory. I will go forth armed with my kn95 masks, wipes and vaccinated self.
We have taken a step back just when we had started to out. Masks are required inside in public places. We grocery shop at the local natural food store and never have seen anyone fuss about their mask requirement. We go early to the Saturday Market which is outside and at that time not too many people are there and we can easily distance. Otherwise, we go very little and do take out. I think you will be fine since you are already following all the protocols. I hope, despite the problems, that you have an enjoyable stay here in Salem.
That bending, melting, watch of Dali ("Persistence of Time," the painting is called) well describes the reality in which many of the opponents of democracy in this country live. Hope we will eventually have a strategy to straighten out that watch.
Married a St. Louis man 47 years ago—a lot has changed since we came back in 1976 after having served in the USAF, and certainly not for the better, politically. Everyday the news from Jeff City is “you can’t make this stuff up” embarrassing. Doing what I can with like-minded people but too many people just give up and leave. Breaks my heart 💔
"So it’s time to stop being diffident and call out destructive behavior for what it is. Doing so may make some people feel that they’re being looked down on. But you know what? Your feelings don’t give you the right to ruin other people’s lives."
Astonished. At this point I'm not sure what is the difference between the Taliban and many republican Governors. The best I can tell, it's how they dress and the hats wear.
I think there will be a point when those like Mr. Brooks who probably thinks they can control the mob they have created may find the monster will come for them. During the French revolution, many of the aristocrats who sided with the revolutionaries found themselves at the guillotine as well as many of the leaders of the revolution. Never ends well.
Ends generally in the return to dictatorship when the revolution was to get free of it in the first place or its imposition when this wasn't the case. Such movements rarely keep majority support.
However there are some simili-autocratic systems that seem only vulnerable to revolution from the streets. To continue with the French example, the government-approved "coup d'étât" led by General De Gaulle in 1958 after the collapse of the 4th Republic...the republic of the interminably and implacably warring parties...led to the instauration of a "great man" system which gave massive powers to the directly-elected President and little effective power to Parliament. This is all very well as long as you have the "Great Man" running it who's only consideration was the needs and desires of the people but......we have experiencing a serious and prolonged drought of such men or women ever since. Only the elections of next April for the Presidency will show if the system, now in serious decline from continuing ineptitude on all sides of the political, careerist spectrum, can effectively heal itself. Once elected however, with all that power none of them have any motivation to change the system and reduce their power....and we then have to wait another 5 years for the people's voice to be heard again. This is not democracy!
Great as always. However, I would like to note one thing on Walmart’s vaccination mandate. They have mandated the vaccine for their employees at their headquarters and managers who travel, but they have not for their front line workers, who account for the vast majority of their 1.6 million employees. While it is a step in the right direction, I don’t think that they deserve the credit they have been getting in a lot of the media.
"In the midst of a growing insurgency of a minority that is illustrating its willingness to sacrifice our children on the altar of ideology..."
Anyone who is surprised by this has not been paying attention. Case in point, the gun lobby. They'd rather sell guns to teachers, and kevlar backpacks to students than to put any limits whatsoever on gun sales to individuals.
This makes it all the more imperative to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021.
Floyd Ray Roseberry (a three word synonym for "Bubba") claimed he was upset that he and his wife couldn't get health insurance and she was injured by the treatment they ultimately received. His now ex-wife of ten years, interviewed today, said "Well, he's never done anything like that before." And then said that the reason for their divorce TEN YEARS AGO was his "temper."
In other words, Bubba strikes (out). Again.
This clown may have been delusional about everything he said - he didn't have an operational bomb, there weren't four other "patriots" with bombs around the city - but remember "Clowns with flamethrowers - still have flamethrowers."
These redneck white trash ignoramuses are an embarrassment that they can claim membership in the species. Why an I unsurprised to find Bubba was a "good ol' farm boy" (in the words of his son's intended) from the South?
It really and truly is nuts out there summed up by Heather's words "its willingness to sacrifice our children on the altar of ideology ..." That is exactly how totally insane the republicans have become and there is the utmost urgency to make sure they are stopped at the ballot box. We've been forewarned . . .
"In the midst of a growing insurgency of a minority that is illustrating its willingness to sacrifice our children on the altar of ideology, stopping those extremists from manipulating the machinery of elections to seize control of the country has become imperative."
My school district has been back since Monday. The difference from last year is we don’t receive any reports of numbers of infections. So we don’t know how many are already out. We don’t have social distancing, nor do we require masks or desk shields. A little first grader struck fear in her peers when she announced this new delta virus is hard on kids. I’m very limited on what I can say because of our new state regulations. We do everything we can for students using masks and shields. It’s a line drawn on very obvious lines. With teachers in the cross hairs. Everyone is highly sensitive and nerves are frayed. Sacrificing our children for ideology is perfectly worded! I’ve never felt this attitude or seen anything like it. Worried every day for my sweet students and staff! One staff member has been out for a week with what they’re calling having symptoms. That person is vaccinated. Not everyone is. Starting the countdown to the end of the school year!
I have a theory about this with Public Schools and Public Health. Both are institutions that sustain democracies. The Libertarians want to do away with both and all Federal Gov. save for defense. The Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, the Federalist Society....they all "promote" charter schools and home schooling, the privatizing of our education system. I think they are using the pandemic to keep the crisis level high so they can propose more funding for charter schools and the like in a plan to destroy the Dept. of Edu. How else can you justify unsafe environment for our kids? You can't? And Deathsantis knows it. He is not stupid. Its a total act/con and a way for him to make a few bucks for his Regeneron donors. 50+ kids a day are being hospitalized in Florida these last two weeks.
And, you really have to wonder how and why parents go along with these governors (not stupid, but evil in their greed and desire for power) who are willing to put their children and others at risk to get a potent virus. It is chilling, but it is as though their children must die before the light goes off in their heads. I have never lived in a time when vaccines were not embraced and parents thought of the safety of their kids first. (with polio and smallpox eradicated in our lifetime). It is so bizarre, I’m sure Stephen King has the book manuscript already done! (Although, for our mental health, it is too soon to read!)
Janet, I said this in an earlier post on Facebook, we need children in caskets to drive home the point of the severity of this pandemic. Those people that are willing to sacrifice their own are only on board with that until it's them that are forced to bury their own.
and even a lot of military operations have been privatized through contracting out, along with Repub support for militias and paramilitary groups operating with greater and greater latitude for unregistered/open carry military grade weapons and gear among we the people.
"In the midst of a growing insurgency of a minority that is illustrating its willingness to sacrifice our children on the altar of ideology, stopping those extremists from manipulating the machinery of elections to seize control of the country has become imperative."
We're going to be quoting HCR a lot on that.
But don't wait for Congress. Start with California. Get your friends in California to send in their ballots to vote NO to recall Gov. Newsom. Simple majority wins. If the vote on Part 1 is yes, then there are 46 candidates on the ballot to replace Newsom: 9 Dems, 24 Repubs, 13 other. Plurality wins, and they are all bad options. Yet another opportunity for tyranny of a minority through exploitation of an outdated law.
And don't fret about marking one of the candidates on the back side of the ballot. Your vote is valid whether or not you mark a candidate. Just vote NO (do not recall) on the front side, put the ballot in the envelope, sign the envelope on the line provided, seal it, and mail it. There is no plan B. If Newsom goes down, California is going to be stuck with the leading lowlife rethug who is leading the next most popular replacement candidate (a youtube twerp) by twelve points. Vote now. Vote today. And tell your friends.
Absolutely! I now regret having only voted NO on the recall and not on an alternative if the Recall succeeds. Hubbell's final paragraph on the recall election: "Let me close with this thought: Remember that time we all thought it would be great if Republicans nominated Trump because he couldn’t possibly beat Hillary and he would destroy the Republican Party? Believing that Larry Elder will be harmless is the same dangerous thinking." So Californians, IMO, should also vote for Kevin Faulconer, the only other candidate close to Larry Elder in the polls. He's not ideal but thousands of miles better than Elder would be.
I voted NO on the recall and put my ballot in the mail the morning after it arrived. I'm now only saddened that I didn't also vote for Kevin Faulconer, not my favorite San Diego elected but far less crazy than the other 45. A vote for KF could help make the difference in stopping Larry Elder if the Recall (heaven forbid) succeeds). If Elder is elected, he'll joint the pantheon of governors like DiSantis, Abbott and other. And we'll be up the proverbial creek in California. https://wordsanddeedsblog.com/replacing-gov-gavin-newsom-with-larry-elder-really-can-happen/
Why minimize the consequences if Elder? I think we DO need to pay attention to the Part 2 of the ballot.
Incumbents have an advantage, and did we not learn a lesson about the former guy and "how much damage can he really do." From your "consider the consequences" article:
"Put simply, the recall election is about trying to take advantage of a disinterested electorate to put somebody into office who will undermine popular policies that voters take for granted. The only “win” for Republicans in this contest will be the ability to act like a bull in a china shop for one year. That’s right, folks, one year. Because the Governor’s job is on the ballot in November of next year. It will be a regular election, with a primary and the opportunity for voters to make real choices from a list of (mostly) qualified candidates. A Democratic somebody could even run against Gavin Newsom."
We all know how much lasting damage can be brought about in "only one year". And how long it takes to recover from the damage, if in fact recovery is possible from much of it. Larry Elder would also cause greater sickness and deaths among the unvaccinated and particularly among children too young for the vaccination. I am hoping that a sufficiency of California voters including Republicans will recognize this and vote NO.
This morning we see the brave and beautiful face of John R. Lewis. Braced for the difficulties and opportunities before us as Americans, let us remember John's face and the faces of the Afghan people. With everything you may be going through and want to accomplish , please consider the Afghan children, the women and girls, the fathers and sons and the elderly.
The following is a list from which you may select one or more organizations, which are helping the Afghan people. I am sorry that I cannot provide any more information at this time.
Please be patient, You will find repeats, need to do some pruning. Links are sometimes within the copy, at other times the organizations' functions are described without any links.
Your generosity affirms our solidarity with the people of Afghanistan. Thank you.
Many organisations have launched emergency aid appeals since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban on Sunday. Major international NGOs, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Rescue Committee, and the UN Human Rights Committee, are seeking donations to support their front line work in the country.
It’s possible to show support wherever you’re based; appeals have been established across the globe. The Australian organisation Baba Mazari Foundation has committed to distributing $100,000 in emergency aid to internally displaced refugees, while the U.K.-based charities Afghanaid and Turquoise Mountain have launched crisis funds.
Other organisations are working to improve particular aspects of the current conflict. Afghan startup Ehtesab is scaling their technology which provides civilians with live security updates. The Danish organisation, International Media Support, are calling for donations to support Afghan journalists who might be particularly vulnerable to Taliban violence. Miles4Migrants accepts donations in air miles for individuals with legal approval for travel who cannot afford the costs.
Many smaller crowdfunding campaigns have also sprung up online in the past week: this campaign, organized by a German human rights activist, is sourcing basic necessities to be distributed through local organizations on the ground, while this fundraiser launched by filmmaker Kyber Khan is offering urgent cash in hand relief. Other networks, such as this campaign organized by Afghan activist Samira Hamidi, are focussing their efforts on local volunteers helping vulnerable families.
Be sure you are confident your money is going where it is needed before making a donation: the not-for-profit network AFG Diaspora Hub has created a directory of verified organizations to help individuals make informed decisions about their giving.
Support refugees
Countries including the U.S. and Canada have launched special visas and pathways for Afghans who assisted Western forces during the war. Activists have published resources to explain the immigration requirements and processes, while other organizations are seeking volunteers to help with relocation procedures.
On Aug. 2, the U.S. The State Department announced an expansion of the refugee criteria to include at-risk Afghans who are not eligible for Special Immigrant Visas.
In anticipation of the wave of asylum claims expected in Western countries, you can support organizations which help refugees in their new countries. The U.K.-based Afghanistan and Central Asian Association needs volunteers to teach English and offer mentorship, while the Refugee Council U.S.A unites a coalition of charities helping refugees in the country.
Support women
Prominent women figures, from activists to judges, are now at risk of persecution and violence in Afghanistan. There are women-focussed organisations calling for donations, such as the Women’s Regional Network and Women for Afghan Women.
Many women journalists have continued to report on the conflict despite the risk to their personal safety. Rukhshana Media, an independent outlet committed to spotlighting Afghan women’s voices and stories which has collaborated with TIME, needs help to support its journalists. You can read work by local women reporters on education and healthcare in the country in TIME’s partnership with The Fuller Project.
In the last twenty years, women’s access to education has improved dramatically since the Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule. The fall of the country to the Taliban risks reversing the progress which has led to over half of the students attending Herat University, in the west of the country, being women. To invest in initiatives focussed on women and girls’ education, support organisations like Malala Fund, Sahar and Afghan Women’s Educational Centre.
Reach out to lawmakers and sign petitions
Pressuring politicians and lawmakers to open safe, legal pathways of migration might help ensure the safety of Afghan refugees. In the U.S., there are useful letter templates, forms, and contact information for Senators and Representatives which call for greater support to those who helped military forces.
You can also sign petitions to lobby the government in the U.S., the U.K., and Australia to expedite the resettlement of interpreters who aided allied forces and media organisations. Follow campaigns such as the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants’ push to provide safe, legal routes for asylum seekers into host countries.
This list is not comprehensive, and TIME has not independently confirmed the veracity of every source listed here and in related link.
Yesterday I talked to my neighbor and found out that most of her adult kids aren't vaccinated. Sad, her husband has cancer and they are looking to operate and try to remove it and then he will start chemo.
I told her that if my kid wasn't vaccinated, he wouldn't be allowed inside my house because my first job is to protect my husband.
What's even sadder is that I talked to one of her kids and asked why she wasn't vaccinated.
She gave me the same ole song about how she wasn't sure about side effects and then went on some rant about vacinated people giving blood and people having the vaccine get into their blood and do some kind of harm.
I have come to realize that you just can't talk to these people. While you are explaining the facts, they are already thinking about another excuse.
I just told her that I'm sad she's not vaccinated and that she won't be allowed in my house and next time I'm wearing a mask around them cause I have to protect my husband.
And it's not that I'm worried he will get sick and die, it's the fact that mentally he can't handle being sick. Having dementia makes normal things so much harder to deal with.
Sad.
We all need to Put up a “don’t breathe on me flag”
You made me laugh out loud, Ted!
Just met my UPS man at my mailbox. He told me he got vaccinated and all his kids after last weeks mailbox casual conversation that we shared.
Last week I did my best to explain a few things. 1. "covid is viral pneumonia", 2. Hospital crisis standards of care protocols are being discussed and will most likely implemented soon, and 3. the growing Delta cases in kids and their hospitalizations around the country.
There is still time to help convince some of those who are unvaccinated. Everyday there is an opportunity to compassionately share with the vulnerable unvaccinated.
So no-one should give up hope. Just change your tactics and speak from a place of care. We all have the duty of care to share compassionately with our neighbors.
Last week my opening line to my UPS man, was, "You are essential to me and my family. Its not just boxes you are delivering here." And the conversation went on from there....
You delivered great mail yourself, Ted. Homerun!
Good job, Ted!
"Share best practices", we owe each other that.
May i copy to my fb page, please
Absolutely yes!
Brilliant
👍
Beth, you are a beautiful person—my heart goes out to you and your husband. My mom and her siblings had dementia: it’s a one-day-at-a-time life—please take care of yourself, too.
“Having dementia makes normal things so much harder to deal with.” So true Beth. Caring for someone 24/7 is the hardest work in the world. Add in anti-vaxxers and anti democracy politics and things get really tough. Hugs to you both.
Keeping you and your fam safe is the most important thing Beth. Hang in there.
Holding you and your family in the Light with prayers for your safety and well-being.
Blessings, Beth. You are a warrior.
Thank you for your post. Se of my friends are in similar situations but dont talk about it, so you have given me a hint of what they’re experiencing.
Awful. 🥺
This is sad and distressing.
Politicians like Mo Brooks always speak in vague inflammatory buzz phrases — “I understand citizenry anger directed at dictatorial Socialism and its threat to liberty, freedom and the very fabric of American society.” Does anyone ever observe them offering specifics? What liberties and freedoms have they lost? They've lost NOTHING. I have never seen a group behave so threatened, so aggrieved in my long life. Yet, they're the ones guilty of seeking to rob people of the right to vote and free and fair elections. And seeking to deprive minorities of equal protection under the law.
Of course as their "sound-bites" are just that....noise. Their intent is to stimulate an emotional reaction and most certainly not logical analysis. Much like a dog-whistle.
By my reckoning, the claim that the 2020 election was stolen was not because the machines were faulty, or ballots were stuffed, or mail-ins were suspect, et cetera. It was because the people themselves who were black, brown or voted Democrat were not legitimate. That is their "logical analysis.
Cut through any other bullsh*t, and that is the persistent, diseased root of it all, Lynette. I’m frankly fed up with coating it any other way.
Indeed. That’s why Dan Patrick blamed black people for spreading Covid. “They want to vote AND kill you”. Talk about a party of victims, who can’t possibly be held responsible for their own stupid and selfish behaviors. Infuriating.
True.
Exactly - well put, Stuart.
It is the rhetoric of the old south, the rhetoric of existential threat, that the rest of the country is out to destroy it and its way of life, that the only way to survive is to control the country themselves by any means necessary, that if they are not running things, especially the senate, the end is near. The south is never so dynamic as it is when defending its static nature.
Just as in the 1850s.
And the 1870's and the 1890's and the 1920's and the 1950's.....
When their buzz phrases are removed, it comes down to their being pissed over the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, which took away Americans' right to own slaves and tried to give the freed slaves the same rights they had. They are the heirs of the corrupted Reconstruction.
Bingo Jack, we have a winner
…and sometimes i wonder if they are the heirs of old royalty…..
…who often tend to think the world owes them a living…
If they can paint themselves as victims then they have an excuse to victimize you, just to protect themselves of course.
Right. The very observant and funny writer Cynthia Heimel said something that amounted to: people who spend all their time thinking they're victims think that that entitles them to f*** everyone else over.
Projecting has become the personality disorder of the ultra Trumplican/Republicans. They accuse everyone else of the behaviors they themselves are doing.
Demagoguery.
…the practice of making use of popular prejudice, false claims and promises in order to gain power.
...and appeals to emotion and passions over reason and rationality.
Those of us in North Carolina who are not part of the cult of the former guy apologize for the enablers of these antidemocratic attacks; we are embarrassed by the association with the tRump brand/family, Miller, Meadows, Cawthorn, DeJoy, and the domestic terrorists of Edgar Maddison Welch (Atomic Pizza/Pizzagate) and Floyd Ray Roseberry (Capitol Facebook Live streamer who claimed to have a bomb). Sadly, our state GOP continues to hook their wagon to the guy who created the Big Lie.
I hope that the state that produced the Greensboro Woolworth sit-ins of 1960,
SNCC and Ella Baker,
Pauli Murray who in some ways is the "Forrest Gump" of social change in the 20th Century,
the Rev. Dr. William Barber II who is continuing King's Poor People's Campaign,
Bree Newsome who took down the South Carolina Confederate flag after the Mother Emanuel Nine massacre,
the state that is the birthplace of George Floyd,
and went Blue in 2008 for Barack Obama
can once again show a progressive movement to combat the gerrymandering of its politics.
Love hearing about unsung heroes and sheroes.
Yes, we owe much gratitude to all of those people. Nevertheless, about 70% of the white electorate in North Carolina voted for Trump in 2020. White people suck.
‘White people suck.’ 🤣 Well, may I amend w ‘Conservatives’ to replace 'White people.’ I live in the whitest part of the country, Maine, and we seem to get along quite well, with acknowledged misdeeds toward our Native brethren.
Maine is 94% white. They’re okay if you keep them all in a bunch. Also, there’s Susan Collins, still, and LePage before, still hanging around, I presume. Still, it’s a much better bunch, in the, average than the white electorate in NC.
You may recall, Rex, or you may have erased from memory, the “LaPlague” disaster with the arrival of thousands of refugees form Africa in the early 2000s, as Mayor of Lewiston. He added gas to a challenging situation. (btw, Catholic Charities performed a near miracle in helping with the resettlement of these people). Well, LaPlague is back to challenge our progressive female governor Janet Mills, who will easily win re-election.
Paul LePage:
"Paul LePage has spent most of his life tackling one challenge after another, the kinds of challenges that defeat most people. The oldest son of eighteen children in an impoverished, dysfunctional family, Governor LePage left home at the age of eleven to escape domestic violence and lived on the streets of Lewiston for two years, making a meager living shining shoes."
https://www.maine.gov/governor/lepage/about/
There is this documentary...following by Lewiston mayoral candidate Ben Chin--did he win?
"In the wake of the 9/11 tragedy a firestorm erupts when Mayor Larry Raymond of Lewiston, Maine sends a letter to 1,100 newly arrived Somali refugees advising that the city's resources are strained to the limit and asking that other Somalis not to move to the city. Interpreted as racism by some and a rallying cry by white supremacist groups across the United States, THE LETTER documents the crossfire of emotions and events, culminating in a "hate" rally convened by The World Church of the Creator and a counter "peace" rally involving 4,000 Lewiston residents supporting ethnic and cultural diversity."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0383460/
https://www.colorlines.com/articles/maine-mayoral-candidate-ben-chin-integration-inherently-messy-process
Thanks for the update and the correction on the invovlement of Paul LaPage and the arrival of Somali refugees in the city. I relied on my memory and thought it was “LaPlague” - who boasts “I was trump before trump was trump.” He has a cadre, however his two elections as Gov. of Maine were due to ticket splitting on the liberal side, with each race featuring a strong, liberal Independent and a strong Democrat. This was before we elected to use Ranked Choice Voting through our referendum process.
Now, Ranked Choice Voting will allow this liberal, majority base to consolidate their vote, as RCV tabulates the preferred choice in the ranking system of each ballot, as voters now rank the candidates. However, if a candidate wins an outright majority (50% plus 1), then there is no need for the ranked tabulation. Surprisingly, Susan Collins won rather handily in 2020, well outperforming the two strong liberal candidates.
Jasmine Beach-Ferrrara for North Carolina
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ADS_BS_JAS_DD_GS_2103_LAUNCH_NAT?source=ADS_BS_JAS_DD_GS_2103_Launch_NAT_OPPONENT&gclid=CjwKCAjwgviIBhBkEiwA10D2j3tlG0bCAFu5zkdaOyKfnnZJM_mydeccSy2uuciuj-nvsmrLnr_blhoCAI4QAvD_BwE
Just Yesterday NC passed a law that allows handguns to be sold without background checks. So disappointed in our state government, but hopefully the governor will veto it.
Moms Demand Action continue to work for common sense solutions to reduce gun violence. Thank the legislators who voted against the bill that would reduce background checks. Contact Governor Cooper's office to support the veto.
A group of HCR Substackers has formed to turn good talk into grassroots action. For more info, email:
heathersherd@gmail.com
Thank you Ellie Kona! Good to know. Definitely interested.
Are they out of their f...... Minds😡
It’s easier to buy weapons in NC than Afghanistan.
Truth
Thank you, says a former North Carolinian!
Lawrence O'Donnell, MSNBC's The Last Word, reported that TX Gov Abbott has been given Regeneron. (Abbott said he's also had a 3rd COVID vaccine. He's tested daily.) O'Donnell went on to report that Ken Griffin a hedge fund manager heavily invested in Regeneron is a big donor to FL Gov DeSantis who plans to open 15-20 Regeneron treatment sites in FL offerring up to 300 treatments per day. Pay back? Wouldn't mask be much cheaper & more effective?
The epitome of Pandemic privilege and corruption.
What's the saying? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I'm willing to bet a treatment course of Regeneron is at least 3 orders of magnitude more expensive than 2 vaccine shots and 5 orders of magnitude more expensive than a mask. For those who need it, Regeneron can be life saving, but it is NOT a replacement for vaccines, masks, and social distancing. Thanks for your post!
U got the order right. Immediately wear masks. Get vaccinated. Distance, wash hands. Avoid indoors and crowds at all costs. Buy time. What good is a ventilator or monoclonal treatments without a skilled team of nurses, that are quitting from burnout or in short supply.
No but both a treatment and a vaccine are essential to a sane policy as well as masks etc.
I agree. The problem with De Santis is that, in the service of his political ambition, he is actively disparaging the prevention part of the vaccine/treatment equation and putting all his eggs into the monoclonal treatment. He is doing this on the backs of the most unprotected-the children. We need to be working at both ends of this virus.
He has abandoned one end in hopes of keeping Trump voters. He is not working for the people of Florida; he is standing on all our backs in order to reach higher political echelons. Thank God for the growing number of County Superintendents of Education who have their priorities straight and are not being cowed by his threats-- threats which further harm children by taking away education dollars. If he runs for Governor in 2022 and wins it will mean that our entire State has collapsed into "the Florida man" meme!
Come join the Florida crew of HCR Substackers walking the talk. For more info, email:
heathersherd@gmail.com
Following the money, once again
The Financial Times reports today that AstraZeneca are seeking approval of a Covid non-vaccine, Antiviral-Cocktail which is proving effective highly in preventing serious covid infection when administered before symptoms show. Previous research on this product on their part concentrated, by "political" order, on post symptomatic treatment and was shown incapable of stopping the horse once it had bolted. This sounds pretty hopeful. I should imagine other pharma companies are doing likewise and are are in different stages of testing such "existing" products. Suggesting that this might work was considered "conspiracy" theory and severely criticisized just last year by the political establishment! Science evolves by testing and confronting theories.
There are a variety of antiviral, and anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as immune-based therapies, being used to treat COVID-19. All of them were in existence prior to the pandemic and found mainly through computer modeling. As far as I can tell, all of these therapies can only manage symptoms of covid (this often means the difference between living or dying), they cannot prevent or cure the disease. These treatments decreased the death rate from roughly 19% in April of 2020 to 9% in November 2020 (the overall covid death rate went from about 6% [?] to about 1% in that same period). They are effective, but do not compare to vaccinations, which have reduced the death rate among vaccinated people to almost 0. Then there is cost, both in dollars and in healthcare worker hours. Vaccines are cheap. All of these other therapies are very expensive.
Sounds a lot like what we've thrown at AIDS for the last 40 years. I also note that Moderna is now at the trial stage for an AIDS vaccine.
I got away from AIDS activism (other than teaching the mandatory HIV-AIDS training where I worked) in the late '90s when Protease Inhibitors kept most ppl from dying. Now I have ppl talking about "Prep" which prophylactically prevents at risk ppl from getting the disease. That pandemic has pretty much met parity - tho I still see TV ads locally about prevention.
At 20-30 Euros a shot and significant refrigerated supply chain investment the Pfizer/Modena vaccines are not cheap. That explains why worldwide at 4 euros and ordinary tefrigeration AstraZeneca far outsells them. In tests of AstraZenica's new anti-covid coctail the researchers have said that in tests 5000 positive testing patients taking the product pre-symptom development their were no grave symptoms, no hospitalization and no deaths. Interesting to follow up.
Doctors in France have been forbidden to treat rather than vaccine and are being threatened with being struck-off the register if they do not recommend vaccination or give advice contrary to government instructions. Many doctors have rebelled and have stated publicly that this can be treated if taken very early.
My sister-in-law works for Astra-Zeneca. I will have to ask her about this new medication. Sounds promising, especially for the vaccine averse among us. As for the French government forbidding all treatment for covid except vaccinations, I am a firm believer that politicians should not be making medical decisions. Such actions increase suffering and cost lives. I am the medical director at a small youth detention center in NH (USA), Trying to maintain the cold chain for Pfizer vaccine was onerous, so now we have partnered with a pharmacy who sends vaccinations (once thawed, the Pfizer vaccine can be refrigerated at 40F (4C)for up to 31 days) as we need them. Pretty cool n'est-ce pas?
Cool indeed Steve....imagine if you were running the center in India! We have a friend working for Astra too and would be happier if all the doctors were treating patients rather than talking about politics on TV news/chat shows. Courage! Have a good day.
Stuart - antivirals and timing are way too iffy. Get vaccinated - we can't risk losing you from this site.
Your too kind but i'm not at risk being a responsible adult with no prior conditions...and my doctor agrees that there is no rush.
Doctors agree when they know they can't win.
Stuart! Get the vaccine already. Louis Pasteur is rolling over in his grave.
Sanofi is rolling out an "old fashioned, low tech vaccine at the year end. That'll suit me, thanks.
Louis Pasteur Institute gave up under governmental pressure to favor big pharma's efforts.
What is an old-fashioned, low tech vaccine? Sanofi I looked up.
Yay. Darn.
Could you clarify Stewart? It has to be given between the time their screening test becomes positive but before they develop symptoms for it to work?
I imagine that the doctors at the testing center would giv it straight away after a positive result. There are already WHO gradations on the testing results apparently to determine who might have severe problems and of course there are those with specific prior conditions too.
"Regeneron’s REGEN-COV Shown to Reduce Mortality Risk
REGEN-COV, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ antibody treatment against COVID-19 currently being tested in a UK clinical trial, has been shown to reduce mortality risk by 20% among patients hospitalized because of COVID-19, reports The Wall Street Journal. However, this result was seen only among the close to 10,000 participants who had not already developed antibodies against COVID-19 when REGEN-COV was administered in addition to usual care with dexamethasone. REGEN-COV is a combination of 2 monoclonal antibodies, casirivimab and imdevimab, and could result in a 4-week reduction in deaths by 6 for every 100 patients, according to Bloomberg."
Mary Pat, I was asking Stuart about this drug he’s reporting here as being “hopeful”: “Covid non-vaccine, Antiviral-Cocktail which is proving effective highly in preventing serious covid infection when administered before symptoms show.” Yet requires being given in a narrow window before sx show up. But I see your comment suggesting he just get vaccinated so in that case my question is moot. I have no interest in checking out Financial Times. Thanks Mary Pat. 😁
AJMC June, 2021
Antivirals must be given early to have any chance of working. You can get a vaccine right now.
How do they know who to treat if they don’t have symptoms? Regular testing?
Test, test test to constitute a representative sample. Standard scientic proceedure.
Stewart, I would find this development of Covid "cures" far more interesting if they worked in extremis and were even close to the effectiveness of the vaccines. Even if these medicines are less expensive than the Pfizer vaccine, doctors cost more for diagnosis and treatment than med techs do for a quick jab. I got my two doses of the AstraZeneca as soon as the Italian govt made them available, am now the proud holder of a "green pass" in both paper and phone app form and beginning to enjoy life again despite the Delta variant. Same for my wife and most of the folks we know. Now we just need a few billion doses for the less lucky masses. They can even raise my taxes to pay for it
David, i wouldn't use the Pass if i had it in solidarity with a third of the population whose rights have been unconstitutionaly reduced by the Government and to prevent the government following me at every step. They are also building a centralized data base of all the info they are collecting on each checked, tested and vaccined individual for "future consideration" . Once they have installed a system such as this they can use it to impose other things on the people under pain of withdrawing the famous "Pass" ...good citizens à la chinoise; Science fiction on our doorstep! It does good to remember that vaccines are now showing hemselves to be uniquely personal protection as they have little effect on infectiousness and ability to infect. (See CDC guidelines)
Stuart, I think there are times -- like a worldwide public health emergency -- when governments (ideally, freely and fairly elected) can and should compel citizens to alter their behavior in the interest of the common good.
Does your freedom to do whatever you want extend to endangering other people? I have not received any verifiable information (as opposed to wild-assed conspiracy theories floating around on the internet where our personal data is surely being accumulated for the convenience of very wealthy people we have never elected) that would lead me to believe that vaccines are either unsafe (certainly compared to a myriad of other things we are subjected to every day without our explicit consent) or ineffective, or part of some nefarious plot to turn us all into zombies, unless the overwhelming majority of the scientific community is lying to us for reasons they have not yet revealed.
Vaccines are not the whole story (so I still put on my mask when I am indoors with people I don't know), but appear to be an essential piece of the puzzle. In my attempt to be a responsible citizen, I willingly give up my right to infect other people with a deadly virus I do not think I am infected with (but could be moments after being nose-swabbed) and to expose my handsome face to all citizens at all times while filling the air with my innocent (I hope) exhalations.
As to the "uniquely personal protection" provided by vaccines, I think this will continue to be the case as long as new variants can easily develop among the unvaccinated, though the statistics appear to confirm that the unvaccinated run the highest risk -- by far -- of serious illness and death from Covid.
As to the rights you believe have been "unconstitutionally reduced by the Government" (of France I presume), I have no response due to my ignorance of the details of the French Constitution, but I have faith that the French people will send the authoritarians packing whenever that becomes necessary.
And I, too, feel solidarity, but with those who have lost their loved ones to this atrocious illness and with the two-thirds (at least) of humanity who remain unvaccinated and vulnerable to premature Covid death through no fault of their own. Staking out your position on personal liberty by objecting to obligatory vaccination, or even the strong governmental encouragement to get vaccinated embodied by the Green Pass (at least in Italy) is a sign of the privileged life of relative luxury you and I live. We're the lucky ones, at least so far.
Stuart, I always read and find interesting your comments here, and I will continue to do so. I have said what I have to say about this Covid business, though if you wish to respond to my comment I will read yours with good humor and the fervent hope that both of us may survive this moment to discuss, well, anything.
As you say quite rightly, David, the people will throw out the autocrats and here, this particularly Non-credible bunch of would-be amateur autocrats should disappear next springtime thankfully. Once a government has lost the confidence of the people it is difficult to get it back especially when they've got everything wrong about and well before the epidemic. Ostensibly, given Macron's origins, electoral edges and strategic positioning everything should have been good but they got their "lines of software code" mixed up!
However that is the politics, David, and the health strategy obviously is coloured by it. Wearing masks protects others as well as self, whereas, according to recent Delta variant studies in England, Isreal, Iceland and in the US (the basis of current CDC policy) the vaccine 's ability to prevent the recipient's being infected and infecting others is a great deal less than thought with previous variants. Furthermore, it's ability to protect from grave complications starts to decline after 3 months (%s in the 60s rather than 90s...Astra faring better than Pfizer) and positively need boosting by 6 months. These studies confirm that the "viral load" of the infected vaccinated person is equivalent to that of the unvaccinated. These are not back of the envelope musings by rabid marginals! So it looks like vaccination using this technology is a multi-episode affaire.
I am not against vaccines per se but prefer it when they are fully tested and are not just certified for experimental use as are all of the current options...and they will never be enough as treatments are also necessary. As such for the mean time i prefer to protect myself and others by keeping my distance wearing my mask and generally being sensible. I'll look closely at Sanofi's "low-tech, traditional vaccine when it comes out in December.
That said , David, i too always read your comments with great interest and am always interested and search out your point of view. Delighted to know you...even if it is somewhat virtual.
Okay, Stuart, fair enough, though the seemingly targeted current spread of the Delta variant through areas of the USA where sizeable minorities -- and in some localities even majorities -- of people are not vaccinated is worrisome to say the least.
On the other hand, given that living things (includes and doesn't include viruses depending on how you define "living") tend to mutate and evolve in ways that favor survival of their species, and the most deadly viruses (such as Ebola or Lassa) tend to manifest quickly and kill their hosts before they can pass it on or travel very far, there is room for hope that the SARS-CoV-2 virus -- a corona virus in the same family as a number of common cold viruses -- will likely mutate away from virulence once most people have some antibodies to protect them, whether through vaccination or prior contagion.
Also, I think it is odd to worry about the officially ""experimental" vaccines the scientists have served up on pretty short notice, given the massive data base that has been compiled since January of this year (far more quickly than any standard large-scale trial), showing excellent efficacy and safety by any reasonable standard. At least 4 of the vaccines have worked really well, and the scientists are far better able to understand the workings and vulnerabilities of viruses at the molecular level than ever before, so there is reason for optimism that -- if needed -- science will quickly be able to counter and defeat future SARS-CoV-2 variants and other nasty viruses as well. But folks will still need to get their shots.
Anyway, when science writers speculate that we may never be rid of COVID, it may not be such bad news at all.
I'm feeling optimistic because our 2 months of stifling heat here in Le Marche has ended (only 29° C. today) and thunderstorms are on the way Monday and Tuesday.
Have a good one, Stuart.
The Last Enemy, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Chilling BBC series, 2008. Prescient.
I find myself wondering if the U.S. series "Person of Interest" was inspired by and expanded upon by the BBC series. Even more chilling.
Yes. Except "Person of Interest" is the classic American trope of "Brilliant scientist creates technology all by himself, and uses it secretly for good while the Evil Government Agents try to take control of it."
In reality, the technology is always created by large teams of engineers who may have moral qualms about the use of their work, but it's how they gain permission to eat, and they don't actually KNOW it's being used for pure evil, if there is such a thing, so it's okay. Best not to ask too many questions, to which you won't get straight answers, anyway. And if you do learn too much, and act on your moral outrage, you become Edward Snowden.
He's a really good actor.
Couldn't believe the sick people lying on the floor moaning at the Regeneron clinics!
Yeah, looked pretty bad. How many of them had received a covid vaccine prior to finding themselves on the floor?
None.
Hi Cathy, we had dinner last night with my wife's Goddaughter and her husband. They live in Pointe Noire on the Congo coast. They tell me that they see little vaccination and not a great deal of covid symptoms...poor public health structures and the people are taking anti-viral cocktails all the time against malaria and other endemic, infectious diseases
Hi Stuart, That's quite interesting. I had a friend who was totally non-symptomatic when she tested positive for COVID. She had the mono-clonal antibodies treatment. Never had any symptoms at all. I chocked it up to a strong immune system.
Well, Cathy, i think that the story hasn't finished unrolling yet. That of which I'm sure, though is that societies and individuals have to become "adult and responsable" and it hasn't been encouraged for a while. Thereafter, a public strategy should include masks etc, a treatment and vaccines. Doctors should get out of and politicians limit themselves to providing the ressources to make the health system work. If everybody assured excellence in their roles thus we'd be a lot safer...and still be free!
I've ordered some custom printed face masks that say "I'm protecting your Right to Life. You're welcome." Democracy means we protect the rights for others as well as ourselves. Rights without responsibility for the community is anarchy not democracy. We're a society now of poor education and narcissism. Just how autocrats want their subjects to be. Texas legislature has a bill that will probably pass that says Social Study teachers can't teach the importance of voting!!! Makes me ill.
WHAT!?!! (re bill...)
Where was this Cathy? I’m in rural TN with little connectivity and missed this entirely.
Diane I believe I saw it on the Lawrence O'Donnell show and the photos were from Florida . Seems like the maker of this drug is a big donor to DeSantis.
Thanks Cathy. I know DeSantis is all about his donors, but, I hadn’t seen photos of the clinics. I sure hope he overplays his hand and it all comes crashing down on him. Another thug in a suit with a Harvard degree.
Picture was in local paper yesterday, Diane, in article about “Ron and Ken’s” roadshow clinics.
https://news.wjct.org/post/photo-shows-jacksonville-regeneron-clinic-overburdened-covid-patients
Here's a link to an article with the photo. It was in Jacksonville.
https://news.wjct.org/post/photo-shows-jacksonville-regeneron-clinic-overburdened-covid-patients
Here's a link to the photo taken in Jacksonvill.
An interesting read. From The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/19/book-psychology-pandemics-steven-taylor
“
Vaccine hesitancy doesn’t really get at the motivational roots for why people don’t want to get vaccinated,” Taylor told the Guardian.
CDC data showing that urban and rural rates of Covid-19 transmission closely shadow each other, and broad availability of vaccines across much of the western world, suggests denser psychological complexities around “hesitancy” than described by political or economic orthodoxies to explain why 90 million adult Americans remain unprotected by any vaccine.
A preferable term, Taylor writes, and one that has been used by psychologists for close to 60 years, is psychological reactance – a motivational response to “rules, regulation, or attempts at persuasion that are perceived as threatening to one’s autonomy and freedom of choice”.
“Psychological reactance has been an issue around any public health guidance, whether that’s increasing the intake of more fruit and vegetables, good dental hygiene or vaccinations and masks,” Taylor said. “The you’re-not-the-boss-of-me kind of response is seen particularly in people raised in cultures that take pride in freedom and individualism.”
The harder you try to push and persuade psychological reactive people, the more they are likely to push back because they perceive their freedoms are being threatened. While they may be a minority, they are also highly vocal, and so we see many different types of people joining in because they perceive their freedoms are being threatened.
That in turn, leads to what psychologists term “motivated thinking”, otherwise fantasy-thinking in which Covid-19, or climate change, are seen as hoaxes so people can tell themselves positive stories that everything is going to be fine and their freedom is not threatened.
What has often been depicted as conservative individualistic intransigence is in fact a stand-in for diverse groups comprising conspiracy theorists, white evangelicals, some historically traumatized communities of color, new-age believers in natural immunity and others who believe that vaccines are a con by big pharma to maximize profits. The list goes on.
In 1988, just after James Hansen, the former head of the Goddard Space Institute had testified in front of Congress about the dangers of climate change, I talked to an artist friend of mine about how relieved I felt to finally be able to talk about climate change more openly. She gave me a “deer in the headlights” look and immediately said we’d find a different planet to live on. I was gobsmacked. This woman has an MA in communications, is a very successful graphic designer and artist, but absolutely cannot handle the stress of science-based reality. 30+ years later, she’s an anti-vaxxer too. And I’m still gobsmacked at her complete inability to accept reality. Needless to say, We don’t get together anymore.
After Hansen’s testimony and my experience with Diane, I spent the next several years trying to figure out why so many were/are in denial about what’s happening and discovered these theories. As a communications professional, it provided little help with how to work with the deniers. But some relief that there was no way to convince them. No fact would make any difference.
Minnesota is in the midst of an epic drought. But my focus has changed, thanks to LFAA. Voting rights is the biggest challenge and that’s what I’m working on. How fo we get The John Lewis Voting Rights Act through the Senate? Thanks for posting this article. Still gobsmacked but that seems the normal state of being right now….
Yes, thanks for the link. We need more psychological analysis such as this. There's also "cognitive dissonance" among these people. Then I wonder why they need to force their beliefs on everyone else, and I think they lack the capacity for empathy as well. They can't live and let live.
This is true of some who refuse the vaccine but we need to understand that there also are many other reasons people have not yet been vaccinated. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/06/opinion/covid-delta-vaccines-unvaccinated.html
Thanks for mentioning the comments. I meant to then forgot!
When you live with cognitive dissonance, particularly when it is sharpened by religious language and overt social/moral consequences, you need constant reassurance that you are right. The dissonance itself tells you that you are wrong, and you can see that you are supporting horrific, sociopathic outcomes that you are supposed to cheer on (Yay, God! Smite those sinners with AIDS!) But it is necessary, because it is God's Will. It must be necessary. It absolutely HAS to be necessary. Because if it isn't necessary, and godly, and right, then what in God's name (literally) have I done? That's an entirely non-trivial existential crisis.
It's a bit like sticking your hand down the throat of one of those eels that is filled with angled teeth, all the way down. You can't just pull your hand out.
Take, as an extreme example, that you lived in the South in, say, the 1950's, and you participated in lynching a black man with a group of your white "buddies." You were never identified, accused, or tried. Life goes on. But you know what you did. It had to have been justice. It just had to have been. Because if it wasn't justice, then you are a murderer.
The point is that when your "crazy theory" takes you into real world actions that cause cognitive dissonance, you are in big trouble. The more you seek out and obtain affirmation from the other crazies, the deeper your hand sinks into that toothy throat.
I have often referred to the MAGA crowd as the “you’re not the boss of me” party. This puts an academic wrapper around that.
Great link. Thank you. (Runs off to buy the book)
Now that makes sense. Thanks for the link.
Yes! Thank you so much for this. It explains every frustrating interaction I have had with some people when trying to discuss COVID vaccine (I am a women's health NP). Excellent.
When did Public Safety become "Socialism"?
Can we start a list of these infringements on my freedom?
Childhood vaccinations.
Second hand smoke.
Seat belts.
Bicycle helmets.
Motorcycle helmets.
Driver's licenses
Hunting licenses
Indeed, all licenses!?
What else?
Waiting in line.
Having to pay taxes.
Being polite and well mannered.
Respecting any race except “mine”.
Speed Limits
Schools Zones
Saloon hours
Indeed. Speed limits in general!
Food safety regulations
Environmental protection regulations
Airline safety regulations
zoning regualtions
Auto safety regs
Now I feel MORE free than before!
Pure food and drug laws
So move
Stop signs
Traffic lights
Yield signs
One-Way streets
No Trespassing signs!
Fences!
Fence-in or fence-out or both?
Good question
Good morning everyone. Here in looney tunes Missouri, the AG Eric Sch[m]i[d]t (I think it more appropriate to reveal his true name by removing the m and the d) has decided to sue not just Kansas City, but also Jackson County--both places where the governing bodies have approved mask mandates and extended them to the end of September (they have to renew them every 6 weeks evidently)--because the f***er has nothing better to do, as he runs for the Rethuglican nomination to replace Roy Blunt, than to wage nuisance law suits on regions in MO where the political leaders are trying to protect the populace. The St Louis County Council apparently capitulated and removed the mask mandate the county executive is still trying to keep in place, but we are made of tougher stuff here on the western border, apparently. All the local school systems--including those on the KS side--are requiring masks. So is the U of Missouri System. But only a few public schools are requiring that the staff and faculty be vaccinated. Sharice Davids, the lone Dem congresswoman from KS, just posted that she has breakthrough covid. She very sensibly has stated that the vaccine "did what it is supposed to do": protect her from the worst ravages of the disease. She probably got it because she had to have surgery and so was in the hospital for a bit. Unlike the death-eaters All-About-Me-Abbot and DeathSantis, she is using this as an opportunity to get the people in her district to vaccinate and mask up.
Reality is more surreal than a Dali painting. The dog and I are hunkering down. And I am thankful at this point that I don't have a cricket bat handy because the number of people I would love to dope-slap with one is growing.
Well, Linda, I am in FL and working non-stop with the school board and urging the complacent teacher’s union from behind their desks to help actively. Teachers within schools are on opposing sides regarding masks. A weak mask mandate with electronic opt-out clause for parents available for a couple weeks. The voice of reason has all but disappeared.
I look at my version of a bat, my Louisville slugger every day and imagine myself walking up to the school board podium or into a commissioners mtg with it. It’s tempting.
I am talking with multitudes of teachers. Many are risking their jobs by putting masks on the children. Others are up the ass of the most vocal anti-mask parents and not insisting their masked students keep them in place.
And now the Ronny and $5 million dollar donor Kenny show is on the road throughout FL touting their Regeneron prize to all the suckers willing to spread Covid to support their political gamble to seize control of the legislative and most likely executive branch of our government.
Our schools are in serious trouble. Our children are threatened. Our faith in our public schools as common good unequaled anywhere in the world is being trashed. And the worst of it? There are so many wringing their hands and being so “disappointed” in Atty Gen Garland and the Justice Dept or railing at the progressive Dems who might derail legislation because they want more for the Amer people or turning away from Pres Biden as if he is as incompetent as the former for pulling out of Afghanistan. And this is a small measure of the absolute dismal support for the fight for democracy. Almost like the battle is lost already. The pessimism literally gags me.
My suggestion. Walk into or tune into your local school board meeting and listen to how we value and take care of our children. The village is disappearing.
Even warriors need rest Christine. Hang in there.
I’ve been closely following our Alachua County School Board & the county’s board of supervisors as we mandate masks in schools for another 8 weeks and in side public places where more than 2 persons are —a (very) small island of sanity in Bizarro World. My support and deepest gratitude to them.
Christine, I'm spiritually walking with you. Your work, your heart, your mouth!...and your smile mean so much. Thank you.
Thank you for having the courage to fight the good fight. Sending strength your way.
Good things take time.
"Loony Tunes Missouri" is my new favorite. More civil than my term for F'd Up Florida. You have my utmost sympathy and wishes for better times.
Good morning, Linda and all. I am up a little late this am. I like the Dali painting imagery. I was once in a Costco (the last time ever) and it started to look like a Dali painting and I got the hell out of there. Here in Oregon the Benton County Commissioners have actually said that people have to wear masks (it's through September, but presumably can be extended) at Oregon State football games. Our very own commissioners here in Marion County, members of the party of death all, have taken a stance against masks. The governor has said masks in schools and inside all public places. She also has said health workers and all school personnel must be vaccinated. All over the state there have been nasty school board meetings and the Salem-Keizer school board just cancelled their next one because security said they couldn't keep it safe. In the meantime, we had one person with COVID die in Roseburg because they didn't have a bed for the person. Get ready to see more of this. In Portland a consortium of bars and restaurants have joined together to require proof of vaccination. One owner reported that once he was on the news, he got all the usual threats from people who had never been there and were not the regulars who accepted it. Big gatherings of far rights in Portland this weekend. It's not clear what LE is going to do if anything.
Yeah, I was reading about Portland. I have family in Jackson County, the new hotspot. My sister-in-law (former rabid antivaxer and now vaccine proponent) was in hospital on a ventilator for a week; is now home being tended to by her middle daughter (unvaxed). My sister works at a discount grocery store and is CONSTANTLY harrassed and yelled at over masking requirements. She's vaccinated, as is her son. Her partner is not, and that is about it for me with him. He "doesn't trust" it. Malarkey, I say.
I am sorry to read about your various family members. I am fortunate in that all our local family members are vaccinated as are all our friends who are older and mostly progressive in terms of politics. Both of us have had it with the unvaccinated. We are watching the local news and the lead story was at the ICU at OHSU. I really feel sorry for the health professionals and they all say the same thing....this is preventable. We have season tickets for the UO women's basketball and now we are wondering if we are going to be able to go.
I am also fortunate to have all family and friends vaccinated. My hairdresser isn't, and I was just texting her. She's going off hearsay because she had COVID in January. I instructed her to call her doctor's office and get facts instead of hearsay and opinions. I'll check back and will end up cancelling my appointment if she isn't. She's such a sweet person. Caring, etc. Just ignorant and maybe afraid of needles?
Our hairdresser had it also earlier. I forgot to ask last time if she was vaccinated. She has just a room in her house and so there isn't a lot of foot traffic there. I don't think she opposes having the vaccine. As an aside both University of Oregon and Oregon state are requiring that attendees at athletic events (and other things) be vaccinated and masked with exceptions for kids under 12 and under 5. You can show a negative test up to three days before and get in. I am waiting for the howling to start and I'm sure it has.
I am heading to Salem in a week to see my mom. It is a year and a half since I have been there. Part of me is afraid, part of me isn't. I work retail and have been face to face with people from the beginning. I still wear my mask at work (for a while it wasn't mandated by my employer but I did anyway) and will continue to for the foreseeable future. I'm vaccinated and so is she. I look at my trip as a day at work, exposure wise. When she sends me the news about the surge in Oregon I feel like I am making a trip into enemy territory. I will go forth armed with my kn95 masks, wipes and vaccinated self.
We have taken a step back just when we had started to out. Masks are required inside in public places. We grocery shop at the local natural food store and never have seen anyone fuss about their mask requirement. We go early to the Saturday Market which is outside and at that time not too many people are there and we can easily distance. Otherwise, we go very little and do take out. I think you will be fine since you are already following all the protocols. I hope, despite the problems, that you have an enjoyable stay here in Salem.
That bending, melting, watch of Dali ("Persistence of Time," the painting is called) well describes the reality in which many of the opponents of democracy in this country live. Hope we will eventually have a strategy to straighten out that watch.
Maybe we could change the title to Jack’s version just for today.
Thank you Linda Mitchell KCMO—you are a breath of fresh air in our very sad state of “Misery.”
This is why I admit to being raised in St. Louis, but never claim to be from Missouri.
Bad enuf that half my family is from Mississippi.
Married a St. Louis man 47 years ago—a lot has changed since we came back in 1976 after having served in the USAF, and certainly not for the better, politically. Everyday the news from Jeff City is “you can’t make this stuff up” embarrassing. Doing what I can with like-minded people but too many people just give up and leave. Breaks my heart 💔
Is there a Quaker silent meeting near you? You dont have to ne a member to attend.
Yeah - the lack of a weapon likely is a good thing, right? Certainly dont want to get close enough to breathe in THEIR germs - not worth it.
[From the Cutting To The Chase department]
The Quiet Rage of the Responsible
Paul Krugman
"So it’s time to stop being diffident and call out destructive behavior for what it is. Doing so may make some people feel that they’re being looked down on. But you know what? Your feelings don’t give you the right to ruin other people’s lives."
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/19/opinion/covid-masks-vaccine-mandates.html
Astonished. At this point I'm not sure what is the difference between the Taliban and many republican Governors. The best I can tell, it's how they dress and the hats wear.
That's how it looks from here. Earlier, someone mentioned the phrase "Y'allQueda". It fits.
That's about it.
Color of skin?
I think there will be a point when those like Mr. Brooks who probably thinks they can control the mob they have created may find the monster will come for them. During the French revolution, many of the aristocrats who sided with the revolutionaries found themselves at the guillotine as well as many of the leaders of the revolution. Never ends well.
Ends generally in the return to dictatorship when the revolution was to get free of it in the first place or its imposition when this wasn't the case. Such movements rarely keep majority support.
However there are some simili-autocratic systems that seem only vulnerable to revolution from the streets. To continue with the French example, the government-approved "coup d'étât" led by General De Gaulle in 1958 after the collapse of the 4th Republic...the republic of the interminably and implacably warring parties...led to the instauration of a "great man" system which gave massive powers to the directly-elected President and little effective power to Parliament. This is all very well as long as you have the "Great Man" running it who's only consideration was the needs and desires of the people but......we have experiencing a serious and prolonged drought of such men or women ever since. Only the elections of next April for the Presidency will show if the system, now in serious decline from continuing ineptitude on all sides of the political, careerist spectrum, can effectively heal itself. Once elected however, with all that power none of them have any motivation to change the system and reduce their power....and we then have to wait another 5 years for the people's voice to be heard again. This is not democracy!
One can only hope.
Great as always. However, I would like to note one thing on Walmart’s vaccination mandate. They have mandated the vaccine for their employees at their headquarters and managers who travel, but they have not for their front line workers, who account for the vast majority of their 1.6 million employees. While it is a step in the right direction, I don’t think that they deserve the credit they have been getting in a lot of the media.
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2021/8/19/22629327/employee-vaccine-mandate-walmart-uber-lyft
100%. Soon they will have, when their employees stop showing up for shifts, because they can't breathe.
Thank you for that sad clarification
Oh, that is creepy wrong.
"In the midst of a growing insurgency of a minority that is illustrating its willingness to sacrifice our children on the altar of ideology..."
Anyone who is surprised by this has not been paying attention. Case in point, the gun lobby. They'd rather sell guns to teachers, and kevlar backpacks to students than to put any limits whatsoever on gun sales to individuals.
This makes it all the more imperative to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021.
Great parallel with the Gunz crowd. Better to lose a few hindered kids than have to be responsible for your firearms.
Floyd Ray Roseberry (a three word synonym for "Bubba") claimed he was upset that he and his wife couldn't get health insurance and she was injured by the treatment they ultimately received. His now ex-wife of ten years, interviewed today, said "Well, he's never done anything like that before." And then said that the reason for their divorce TEN YEARS AGO was his "temper."
In other words, Bubba strikes (out). Again.
This clown may have been delusional about everything he said - he didn't have an operational bomb, there weren't four other "patriots" with bombs around the city - but remember "Clowns with flamethrowers - still have flamethrowers."
These redneck white trash ignoramuses are an embarrassment that they can claim membership in the species. Why an I unsurprised to find Bubba was a "good ol' farm boy" (in the words of his son's intended) from the South?
It really and truly is nuts out there summed up by Heather's words "its willingness to sacrifice our children on the altar of ideology ..." That is exactly how totally insane the republicans have become and there is the utmost urgency to make sure they are stopped at the ballot box. We've been forewarned . . .
"In the midst of a growing insurgency of a minority that is illustrating its willingness to sacrifice our children on the altar of ideology, stopping those extremists from manipulating the machinery of elections to seize control of the country has become imperative."
My school district has been back since Monday. The difference from last year is we don’t receive any reports of numbers of infections. So we don’t know how many are already out. We don’t have social distancing, nor do we require masks or desk shields. A little first grader struck fear in her peers when she announced this new delta virus is hard on kids. I’m very limited on what I can say because of our new state regulations. We do everything we can for students using masks and shields. It’s a line drawn on very obvious lines. With teachers in the cross hairs. Everyone is highly sensitive and nerves are frayed. Sacrificing our children for ideology is perfectly worded! I’ve never felt this attitude or seen anything like it. Worried every day for my sweet students and staff! One staff member has been out for a week with what they’re calling having symptoms. That person is vaccinated. Not everyone is. Starting the countdown to the end of the school year!
Thank you for being there for the kids, and the future of our country. That is so, so hard.
Thanks Ally! 💕
Grateful for your courage and love for your students Denise. 🙏🙏 wishing you continued strength and good health
Thanks Christy! 💕
💞 I am so scared for my grandkids.
I have a theory about this with Public Schools and Public Health. Both are institutions that sustain democracies. The Libertarians want to do away with both and all Federal Gov. save for defense. The Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, the Federalist Society....they all "promote" charter schools and home schooling, the privatizing of our education system. I think they are using the pandemic to keep the crisis level high so they can propose more funding for charter schools and the like in a plan to destroy the Dept. of Edu. How else can you justify unsafe environment for our kids? You can't? And Deathsantis knows it. He is not stupid. Its a total act/con and a way for him to make a few bucks for his Regeneron donors. 50+ kids a day are being hospitalized in Florida these last two weeks.
https://www.newsweek.com/50-children-florida-being-hospitalized-covid-daily-1619772
DeSantis is not stupid, you’re right. He is, however, vicious and cruel.
And, you really have to wonder how and why parents go along with these governors (not stupid, but evil in their greed and desire for power) who are willing to put their children and others at risk to get a potent virus. It is chilling, but it is as though their children must die before the light goes off in their heads. I have never lived in a time when vaccines were not embraced and parents thought of the safety of their kids first. (with polio and smallpox eradicated in our lifetime). It is so bizarre, I’m sure Stephen King has the book manuscript already done! (Although, for our mental health, it is too soon to read!)
Janet, I said this in an earlier post on Facebook, we need children in caskets to drive home the point of the severity of this pandemic. Those people that are willing to sacrifice their own are only on board with that until it's them that are forced to bury their own.
Yes, a very sad commentary indeed . . . to bury your own to see the light is tragic.
and even a lot of military operations have been privatized through contracting out, along with Repub support for militias and paramilitary groups operating with greater and greater latitude for unregistered/open carry military grade weapons and gear among we the people.
"In the midst of a growing insurgency of a minority that is illustrating its willingness to sacrifice our children on the altar of ideology, stopping those extremists from manipulating the machinery of elections to seize control of the country has become imperative."
We're going to be quoting HCR a lot on that.
But don't wait for Congress. Start with California. Get your friends in California to send in their ballots to vote NO to recall Gov. Newsom. Simple majority wins. If the vote on Part 1 is yes, then there are 46 candidates on the ballot to replace Newsom: 9 Dems, 24 Repubs, 13 other. Plurality wins, and they are all bad options. Yet another opportunity for tyranny of a minority through exploitation of an outdated law.
I voted NO on the recall and drove my ballot to the elections office already. I have a t-shirt that I am going to wear that says I DO CARE AND I VOTE.
BOLD, Marlene. 🙋🏽🙋🏼🙋🏻🙋🏾
Love your emoji people. Hadn’t noticed them before! 🙋🏽🙋🏼🙋🏾🙋🏻
Brava, Marlene!
And don't fret about marking one of the candidates on the back side of the ballot. Your vote is valid whether or not you mark a candidate. Just vote NO (do not recall) on the front side, put the ballot in the envelope, sign the envelope on the line provided, seal it, and mail it. There is no plan B. If Newsom goes down, California is going to be stuck with the leading lowlife rethug who is leading the next most popular replacement candidate (a youtube twerp) by twelve points. Vote now. Vote today. And tell your friends.
Thank you for clarifying this. Abstain on Part 2 of the ballot.
I did but have now come to believe I should also have marked the ballot for Kevin Faulconer in case the Recall succeeds. He's the least of the evils and a vote for him might be enough to counter votes for the person leading the pack at present, Larry Elder. https://wordsanddeedsblog.com/replacing-gov-gavin-newsom-with-larry-elder-really-can-happen/
FYI a group of HCR Substackers has formed to cause good trouble--turning talk here into grassroots activism. For more info, email:
heathersherd@gmail.com
Yes, Ellie!
Hubbell, another major HCR fan and gifted substacker, has a good section on CA recall:
https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/todays-edition-back-on-the-home-front?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo0OTM2MTQ0LCJwb3N0X2lkIjo0MDI1NTA2NiwiXyI6IjBxbXRNIiwiaWF0IjoxNjI5NDc4NTg3LCJleHAiOjE2Mjk0ODIxODcsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0yNzEzNTgiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.3wBUTK5-IZbtMR4yx_1KRLGXxVTsWz-QzEVQuJHxmhQ
Absolutely! I now regret having only voted NO on the recall and not on an alternative if the Recall succeeds. Hubbell's final paragraph on the recall election: "Let me close with this thought: Remember that time we all thought it would be great if Republicans nominated Trump because he couldn’t possibly beat Hillary and he would destroy the Republican Party? Believing that Larry Elder will be harmless is the same dangerous thinking." So Californians, IMO, should also vote for Kevin Faulconer, the only other candidate close to Larry Elder in the polls. He's not ideal but thousands of miles better than Elder would be.
I voted NO on the recall and put my ballot in the mail the morning after it arrived. I'm now only saddened that I didn't also vote for Kevin Faulconer, not my favorite San Diego elected but far less crazy than the other 45. A vote for KF could help make the difference in stopping Larry Elder if the Recall (heaven forbid) succeeds). If Elder is elected, he'll joint the pantheon of governors like DiSantis, Abbott and other. And we'll be up the proverbial creek in California. https://wordsanddeedsblog.com/replacing-gov-gavin-newsom-with-larry-elder-really-can-happen/
And then there's this. https://wordsanddeedsblog.com/california-recall-newsom-vote-consider-the-consequences/
Why minimize the consequences if Elder? I think we DO need to pay attention to the Part 2 of the ballot.
Incumbents have an advantage, and did we not learn a lesson about the former guy and "how much damage can he really do." From your "consider the consequences" article:
"Put simply, the recall election is about trying to take advantage of a disinterested electorate to put somebody into office who will undermine popular policies that voters take for granted. The only “win” for Republicans in this contest will be the ability to act like a bull in a china shop for one year. That’s right, folks, one year. Because the Governor’s job is on the ballot in November of next year. It will be a regular election, with a primary and the opportunity for voters to make real choices from a list of (mostly) qualified candidates. A Democratic somebody could even run against Gavin Newsom."
"Only" one year? I disagree.
We all know how much lasting damage can be brought about in "only one year". And how long it takes to recover from the damage, if in fact recovery is possible from much of it. Larry Elder would also cause greater sickness and deaths among the unvaccinated and particularly among children too young for the vaccination. I am hoping that a sufficiency of California voters including Republicans will recognize this and vote NO.
This morning we see the brave and beautiful face of John R. Lewis. Braced for the difficulties and opportunities before us as Americans, let us remember John's face and the faces of the Afghan people. With everything you may be going through and want to accomplish , please consider the Afghan children, the women and girls, the fathers and sons and the elderly.
The following is a list from which you may select one or more organizations, which are helping the Afghan people. I am sorry that I cannot provide any more information at this time.
Please be patient, You will find repeats, need to do some pruning. Links are sometimes within the copy, at other times the organizations' functions are described without any links.
Your generosity affirms our solidarity with the people of Afghanistan. Thank you.
https://womenforafghanwomen.org/
https://womenforafghanwomen.networkforgood.com/projects/123748-20-years-of-afghan-women-strong
https://www.refworld.org/publisher/AIHRC.html
https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/afghan-womens-organizations-key-actors-rebuilding-afghanistan-and-assisting
https://www.afghanaid.org.uk/
https://www.rescue.org/country/afghanistan
https://www.savethechildren.org/us/where-we-work/afghanistan
https://www.networkforgood.org/topics/international/afghanrefugees/
TIME MAGAZINE
Many organisations have launched emergency aid appeals since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban on Sunday. Major international NGOs, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Rescue Committee, and the UN Human Rights Committee, are seeking donations to support their front line work in the country.
It’s possible to show support wherever you’re based; appeals have been established across the globe. The Australian organisation Baba Mazari Foundation has committed to distributing $100,000 in emergency aid to internally displaced refugees, while the U.K.-based charities Afghanaid and Turquoise Mountain have launched crisis funds.
Other organisations are working to improve particular aspects of the current conflict. Afghan startup Ehtesab is scaling their technology which provides civilians with live security updates. The Danish organisation, International Media Support, are calling for donations to support Afghan journalists who might be particularly vulnerable to Taliban violence. Miles4Migrants accepts donations in air miles for individuals with legal approval for travel who cannot afford the costs.
Many smaller crowdfunding campaigns have also sprung up online in the past week: this campaign, organized by a German human rights activist, is sourcing basic necessities to be distributed through local organizations on the ground, while this fundraiser launched by filmmaker Kyber Khan is offering urgent cash in hand relief. Other networks, such as this campaign organized by Afghan activist Samira Hamidi, are focussing their efforts on local volunteers helping vulnerable families.
Be sure you are confident your money is going where it is needed before making a donation: the not-for-profit network AFG Diaspora Hub has created a directory of verified organizations to help individuals make informed decisions about their giving.
Support refugees
Countries including the U.S. and Canada have launched special visas and pathways for Afghans who assisted Western forces during the war. Activists have published resources to explain the immigration requirements and processes, while other organizations are seeking volunteers to help with relocation procedures.
On Aug. 2, the U.S. The State Department announced an expansion of the refugee criteria to include at-risk Afghans who are not eligible for Special Immigrant Visas.
In anticipation of the wave of asylum claims expected in Western countries, you can support organizations which help refugees in their new countries. The U.K.-based Afghanistan and Central Asian Association needs volunteers to teach English and offer mentorship, while the Refugee Council U.S.A unites a coalition of charities helping refugees in the country.
Support women
Prominent women figures, from activists to judges, are now at risk of persecution and violence in Afghanistan. There are women-focussed organisations calling for donations, such as the Women’s Regional Network and Women for Afghan Women.
Many women journalists have continued to report on the conflict despite the risk to their personal safety. Rukhshana Media, an independent outlet committed to spotlighting Afghan women’s voices and stories which has collaborated with TIME, needs help to support its journalists. You can read work by local women reporters on education and healthcare in the country in TIME’s partnership with The Fuller Project.
In the last twenty years, women’s access to education has improved dramatically since the Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule. The fall of the country to the Taliban risks reversing the progress which has led to over half of the students attending Herat University, in the west of the country, being women. To invest in initiatives focussed on women and girls’ education, support organisations like Malala Fund, Sahar and Afghan Women’s Educational Centre.
Reach out to lawmakers and sign petitions
Pressuring politicians and lawmakers to open safe, legal pathways of migration might help ensure the safety of Afghan refugees. In the U.S., there are useful letter templates, forms, and contact information for Senators and Representatives which call for greater support to those who helped military forces.
You can also sign petitions to lobby the government in the U.S., the U.K., and Australia to expedite the resettlement of interpreters who aided allied forces and media organisations. Follow campaigns such as the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants’ push to provide safe, legal routes for asylum seekers into host countries.
This list is not comprehensive, and TIME has not independently confirmed the veracity of every source listed here and in related link.
THANK YOU ALL.
PS, More is on the way.
UNHCR has a fundraising effort going for aiding displaced Afghans. Page down. https://www.unhcr.org/
Lest we forget Haiti, Partners In Health (PIH) has several specific ongoing efforts: https://www.pih.org/
Also, World Central Kitchen is also on the ground in Haiti. https://wck.org/
I know everyone can't donate to every one of these efforts but every little bit helps.
Many thanks for these giving resources, Fern!
Be patient, Ashley. Find one that is easy for you to donate to. Thank you for your generosity and solidarity with the people of Afghanistan.