As a physician I am enraged when politics undermine science and medicine. It has been a decades long pattern, as described in Chris Mooney’s book “The Republican War on Science” published 17 years ago. Republican stances on masking, lax vaccination, and disposable health care workers/teachers/service industry workers have certainly kill…
As a physician I am enraged when politics undermine science and medicine. It has been a decades long pattern, as described in Chris Mooney’s book “The Republican War on Science” published 17 years ago. Republican stances on masking, lax vaccination, and disposable health care workers/teachers/service industry workers have certainly killed hundreds of thousands.
In terms of kids wearing masks while we are in the peak of the worst wave yet, and seeing Omicron cases (some mild, others not) spread even among vaccinated and boosted teachers and families, it is unethical and savage really to capitulate to parents who think masking their kids causes some greater harm.
My masked kid has had an opportunity to learn about community sacrifices, the greater good, deferred gratification, and mutual respect for the safety of other people. She has worn an N95 with grit, and has not spread Covid nor received an unnecessary lungful of coronavirus that could imperil her own and her parents’ short and long term health, and her grandparents’ very lives.
We need to instill a sense of duty and purpose in our children, and not make them feel like they are too fragile to put up with a mask for as long as it takes. Republican governors and politicians who undermine scientific truths, meddle with specific monoclonal treatment guidelines when variants render them obsolete, undermine basic public health measures that could limit deaths which are back up towards 4K/day- are they not practicing medicine without a license, and malpracticing it at that?
I am an elementary school counselor and we have almost no issues with kids keeping their masks on throughout the day. When they lose one to the floor or snow, I see them stopping by the health office to ask for a fresh one. So often, I think the Republican “leaders” need a review of kindergarten classroom rules for safety and kindness and learning.
I'm with you ScannyDo. As a substitute elementary teacher I see how seamlessly kids of different ages adapt to mask wearing. Some middle school students told me they really like masks because they don't feel stress about pimples or braces, and can make faces if they want.
And I lost 2 teeth in the last 2 years!! Haha. Thankfully they are located in the rear of my mouth and I have a small "flipper" to replace them. But who needs to wear it with a mask on!?
Yes, when students catch a glimpse of us with masks down they say "Oh, Teacher! Put your mask back up, you look so old!" Bless their young little honest hearts.
I agree with what you are saying about kids and masks. I live within walking distance of our town's elementary and middle schools and I see lots of kids walking to school with masks on. I think that, of course, it is the parents who are trying to put the kibosh on masking and distancing. The wearing of masks would not be an issue today if our leaders, right at the pandemic's start, would have encouraged the wearing of them. It simply would have been no big deal. I truly believe that we could have eradicated this virus if the right measures were used right from the beginning. The global pandemic is a world health issue, not political fodder.
He is not the only one. Many people around him placated him and his dismissive, uncooperative ways, hoping that in a moment of clarity, or weakness, he would acknowledge the seriousness of the situation. When it was obvious that he was saying it’s nothing simply because other people were saying it’s something, someone should have stepped up. Somebody who didn’t need the job, someone who could give independent press conferences, someone to create outside pressure. But Fauci is too nice, and he can make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich sound complicated. in the end it was too little, too late. Better late than never, though.
Had Hillary been our president it would be a whole lot different. However, the Republicans would still have fought her! Can you imagine all of the lies they would have told!
She did! So did Al Gore and now Joe. In each case, electoral skulduggery took place. This time it was stopped in its tracks. Yet, millions of Americans can't believe it because they are so used to the ends justifying the means— by whatever means possible.
I seriously doubt she would have survived. So deep was the hatred against her, including by Vladimir Putin, that an assassination would have been justified by the same mentality as the Jan 6 insurrection.
Every once in a while I ponder what our world would be like if Hillary Clinton had not been slandered and had been able to claim her rightful victory. The woman is brilliant, and had the capacity to truly guide our country in the direction we need. Certainly we would not have had to deal with the chaos of a failed response to the pandemic. It still might well have happened, but I have no doubt that our response would have been more orderly, more timely, and more effective.
I have long thought that the right-wing Republicans hated her so much simply because they were still trying to get at Bill, and Bill was their target because of Nixon: payback. So much that they were willing to accept something like Trump to keep Hillary out. We are paying the price. I struggle to understand how the Republicans allowed themselves to be taken over by so many people with such shallow senses of ethics and public responsibility. So many of the good Republicans forced out of office during that period by one means or another. And set the party up for takeover by people who are essentially out-of-control or complicit by silence. Makes me value those who do speak up all the more. And hope that somehow they can regain control of a once valuable partner in governing this nation still in progress.
Their "ethics and public responsibility"are so shallow but opaque that it makes it hard for those who follow them to see their failures and the depth of their lust for power and money which are SOOO deep.
But Bill actually invited Nixon to the White House early in his presidency because he wanted to pick Nixon's brain. And I think Nixon came. So this doesn't make sense. But then, almost nothing today's GOP does makes sense.
Hillary was right about a vast right wing conspiracy. The right demonized her unmercifully for years. She did not help herself with the “basket of deplorables” comments. The dark money was against her, but her mistakes were costly.
Before George Floyd was killed, I imagined making a documentary about Colin Kaepernick, including a scenario with a different president, a woman perhaps, kneeling with him in honor of all our fallen Black Americans who died at the hands of police AND all of our fallen police officers who died in the line of duty. How would America look today?
This fight by ignorant and entitled parents (almost entirely white) I fear will cause much anxiety in children. Elementary-aged children tend to adore their schools and teachers. I know from experience, that an angry vocal parent can cause behavioral struggles in their kids. I always told parents that you have every right to disagree with anything we do, but please don't talk about it in front of your children. As they grow older, and the messages are consistent from parents, you will see many children adapt to and adopt these messages. Isn't that how bias of any kind is developed?
As a kid in the 1930s my buddies and I clamored to get and wear a Lone Ranger and/or a Green Hornet mask. We were really upset when teachers didn’t let us wear them in class. I’m delighted and jealous that masks are now required in classrooms. Can I get a Lone Ranger N95 mask?
Scannydo, Good for the kids at your school. A friend who an elementary school paraprofessional told me kids show up without masks at her school every morning even though they are required. They tell her their parents think masks are stupid
Too many Americans don't have a clue about history and the lessons to be learned from it. As I spend each morning with Heather and all of you, and then go to a school board meeting or community forum on FB it is glaringly clear there are two different worlds.
You must add the ignorance of math and science to the list many Drump supporters possess. Often their statements are purely stupid. The biggest "evidence" for not wearing a mask is the caveat on the package that indicates a mask doesn't protect you from germs.
They need lessons on the Golden Rule. And how many have died of Covid or been seriously harmed. And those whose health is compromised and cannot vaccinate.
They need to be asked if they ever taught their kids to not run out into traffic without looking both ways first! Of course they have. How is that different from wearing a mask...the kid who runs into traffic will either get killed or cause the death of someone else.
From a retired special educator, I can attest that some parents have not taught this lesson to their kids as well as some other pretty basic skills. Do you know how the numbers are growing of children entering kindergarten not potty trained? It's crazy.
Parents will do horrible things to their children and this is a great example. They push the No masks ides on their kids creating a fear of the parent. I bet most those kids willing put on the mask provided by the school and don’t have an issue with it. The mental health damage is coming from inside the home, not the mask. Can you imagine the hate these parents give off non-stop?
I understand that many children do struggle with learning facial features wearing a mask all the time. But, you social distance and purposely teach these skills at home and at school. Good educators are understanding this downside to masks.
I have learned that we all rely on lip reading to some degree after teaching with masks for 1.5 years. But the students and I talk about it and have learned to adapt:)
And the innate good sense of the young child. Walking along a very busy city street in Italy once; my 3-year-old was amusing herself by ducking in and out of the decorative safety chains strung along the sidewalk. Not wanting to plant the idea in her head by naming the danger, I tried to take her hand, cheerfully suggesting we walk together. She looked up at me sideways: "I'm not going to walk on the road, you know!"
Yes, I also fear a society already demonstrating a willingness to figuratively burn books and legislate restriction on the teaching of actual history is only a small leap from assembling in real mobs to actually burn books and begin actual witch trials of teachers. I have already taken the step of using their lists of forbidden books to fill the Chiristmas present list of books for my grandchildren and books to add to my own home library to be sure they are available to them.
The two graphic novels by Pulitzer Prize winner Art Spiegelman have been banned from classroom use by a Tennessee School Board. “Maus” tells the poignant and tragic story largely though the dialog of Art and his father about his experiences in the Holocaust.
As a professional illustrator for over 25 years, it still holds a firm place in my heart as to what the real power of the graphic novel is. Art is also just a brilliant, individual beyond his art form.
“This banning is really the tip of the “CRT,” “you’re making my innocent child suffer guilt.” assault on public schools to end exposure for our kids on the realities of the greatest mass murder in history and to make opaque the racist institutions and the culture it supports for a White privileged nation to this day.
Again I reiterate that all these “thousand cuts” to Democracy are all part of the massive 2.0 Fascism that is hellbent on becoming what our nation is and will be from 2024 for the next 1,000 years.
Learning the truth about the Holocaust also teaches the children that wearing a mask or getting a vaccine does not equate to what happened when they murdered 6 million people because they were Jewish. Children that old enough will make the comparison easily and I hope rebel.
My father was a racist. I had a huge crush on a Jewish boy in the third grade and wasn’t allowed to be friends with him. I didn’t know what it meant to be Jewish but I remember being taught it was “bad”. When I learned all these things later in life I called him out on his behavior towards POC and other religions. Oddly sometime in my families past they left the Lutheran church for the Methodist church because of rules that they couldn’t marry outside their religion.
Sharon, thanks for your insights and experiences, because really human empathy is really only what separates us from monsters.
I took a course in the Holocaust and Jewish literature in the aftermath from USC online.
In my research I remember finding documents that were like spreadsheets reporting the mass murders of over 30,000 Jews (Men women and children) in just one week by one unit of a German SS Unit working with local units allied with them. The method was simple mass shooting. It. is literally beyond any decent persons comprehension to visualize this event,
So when disgusting list of hedge fund managers, fascist loving tech CEOs and scum like MJT, liken themselves to these people whose only crime was being of the wrong religion, truly illustrates just what's in store for our society if they are enabled to take over this nation as the great experiment in Democracy.
Because clearly these sociopaths have no recognition of other humans other than as a means to whatever greedy little ends they need to satisfy their malignant narcissistic needs.
That’s a good idea. There are 125 books on a list by Matthew Krause, Texas House Rep. There are pictures of those books being boxed up and taken out of a Library in a Texas school district. Disturbing, I am so concerned for our public schools, it’s on my mind constantly. I have grandchildren. I am a retired public school teacher 32 years. This is killing me to watch.
“The road to Auschwitz was paved with indifference”. In a way, all these identity politics issues involve indifference towards our fellow citizens. Indifference always leads to decay, in people, families, communities, countries.
There are memes going around that suggest that kids should read the forbidden books. This does work as my h.s. English lit teacher told us about the Miller's Tale in the Canterbury Tales and said he couldn't teach it, so we all rushed over to the public library and got a copy. Every time I read about what's happening in the country about books and teaching about race, I think that i had an easy time of it as a librarian and teacher. I had to fend off a few people, but not many. We did have a case involving one of our English teaches which was revenge against her. In a very complicated story we had the principal who was being sued for harassment and his curriculum coordinator who has issues with our English department, use some collections of plays as a hammer even though the teacher made clear that students could choose plays that were not a problem for them. The irony was that the curriculum coordinator (and evangelical Christian) was supporting the very bad behavior right in front of her over events that people could read about in newspapers. She also complained in the a school board meeting that the English department taught novels. Horrors I say. I am long retired and glad to be so. In some good news the school district north of us (Woodburn) just gave its teachers a $2000 bonus. We have two friends who teach there and are both wonderful teachers.
My wife and I are lifetime supporters of the performance of live classical music. We are patrons and supporters of two symphony orchestras and also have, before the pandemic, support an annual series of chamber music performances in “non-traditional” rural venues such as senior centers, nursing homes, and others where access to live classical music is often lacking. Recently, a neighbor who is an outspoken Trump supporter questioned why we did not support more performances of music by American composers. 🤷♂️ I explained that our Symphony actually did in fact perform music written by American composers as well and provided a number of examples including the next concert where the Symphony will be performing A Soldiers Tale by Igor Stravinsky. Their retort was that Stravinsky did not sound like an American name. 🤦♂️ I explained that though he was born in Russia he immigrated in his early years to Switzerland, later France, and finally to America in 1939, where he became an American citizen and lived until his death in 1971. My neighbor’s response was, “Ah, I knew he wasn’t an American with a name like Stravinsky.”
Willful ignorance seems often to be identically twinned to intolerance and bigotry.
A prime example of why so many changed their last names when they immigrated. This is always a good opportunity to ask what country their family immigrated from and what their last name was when they did.
It is also an opportunity to point out that unless an individual is of Native American heritage their forebears once immigrated to this country as well.
I have also pointed out on several occasions to the evident horror of some of my evangelical and conservative acquaintances that humans or Homo Sapiens first appeared on the earth in Southern Africa. This normally engenders a scoffing retort that is “just wrong and not possible.” Explaining that the anthropological and fossil evidence on that is quite clear is often met with the reply, “That’s not what the Bible says.” 🤦♂️
I must have hit a quota for likes, I can’t like any more comments! I usually like them all anyway. This blog is full of my people. It gives me hope. Thanks for trying with your neighbors, Bruce!
Somehow it's never occurred to me that there are people who don't realize H.sapiens came from Africa. But given how badly educated a lot of Americans are, it's not surprising.
We too are supporters of classical music although we no longer go to live performances. Our local classical station (all classical Portland OR) plays all sorts of music by American composers most people have probably never heard of. Does your neighbor accept only names that sound English....a lot of us are in trouble.
Lucky you. Basically ALL of the stations here in the Atlanta area that used to broadcast classical music are now pretty much all talk all the time. I've always believed the shift to all talk was to counter the overwhelming presence of right-wing radio all over the airwaves, AM and FM. The station out of Athens (where UGA is) has classical music, but I can't pick it up. So, I have to go online to listen to music as there is no more classical music available through the ether. (I have like a thousand CDs, but right now I have no way to play them, and a lot of them are packed up and in storage.)
Soon there will be no teachers. Fear of being persecuted will make them quit or not enter teaching. It will be back to religious zealots, unqualified to teach, in private schools and we will sink further down the ladder in education and innovation in this country. This is why China is surpassing us.
Schools of education at universities are experiencing drops in enrollment for teacher preparation. Why would a young person want to go into a profession that has historically low pay, is greatly disrespected, and in the case of NC, under attack by the legislature? The legislature doesn’t attack engineers or the the schools that train them. I taught school many years ago, and I would not go into teaching today. The mental health stresses are too great.
in 18th- and 19th-century Ireland, designed to secretly provide the rudiments of primary education to children of 'non-conforming' faiths (Catholic and Protestant mostly)
often in a barn, with a look out posted to warn of approaching
Our small local library had on display a table full of books that had been banned at some time or place, with a poster of banned titles they didn't have on hand. People donated extras to fill in gaps. Happy to say the place was packed with supporters bringing their kids and checking out books. My kids are long grown and so are (yikes) most of my grandkids. But the little ones coming up are still the future of their world, and my support part of my legacy to them
And the removal of "Maus" was downright political as well as antisemitic.....maybe they are the same. I will certainly try to buy that one for the future. Altho, using animals......not sure about that
Marquette, Michigan physician, "Dr. Bob" Lorinser, is running for Michigan's 1st Congressional District on the Democratic ticket against the current seditionist, Republican Rep Jack Bergman. Dr. Bob is currently the medical officer for the Marquette County Health Department, formerly practiced as a family physician for 20 years, then spent 10 years in our U.S. Diplomatic corps in foreign service. He is a superb candidate! Please help us to support his campaign!! Michigan loses one Congressional seat this year - let's make sure it's a Republican.
With my limited extra funds, I'm supporting three additional candidates for office this year, as well as Adam Schiff. Val Demmings is on my new list and now Dr. Bob may be too. I'm also looking for a school board member to support -- doesn't have to be local. .
My list keeps growing while my funds stay the same! Overloaded in GA with Warnock, Flowers (U.S. Congress), and Abrams. Then Fetterman in PA, Schiff in CA, and Kelly in AZ...not to mention my Virginia folks.
Last night, I got an email from Dr. Kermit Jones, who is running for the newly formed 3rd Congressional District of California. I realize he's a long shot in the red Eastern Sierras, but, I am going to hope. So, I
sent him a donation, because I need a little hope right now. He sounds like the exact opposite of some of the jokers that the GQP have elected. Well, at least the odious Jay Obernolte will no longer be my Representative!
Bob Lorinser's website says he is against mandatory masking in schools in favor of "recommending" masks for children. This contradicts physicians like Ryan McCormick who commented above about masking teaching children responsibility toward others.
I think Mr. Lorinser's approach for a Public School environment is the best we can do at this point. It has been proven that the Republicans will attack and court challenge, and legislate against mandatory masks. Mr. Lorinser's approach involves the parents in the care of their children and keeps the issue off the desks of Republicans.
Everything does not and cannot pass a purity test folks.
Yes. I almost mentioned his posiition on masking in my comment above, but feared folks wouldn't read any further about Dr. Bob. I agree with you and not Dr. Bob on masking, and will talk to him about it tomorrow when we meet. It is timely since our local schools just had to shut down again this week because so many teachers and other staff are out with COVID. The problem Dr. Bob faces is the one our superb, much beloved Grand Traverse County Medical Officer faced when he publicly opposed our (tRumper) county commission on their no-mask mandates position: Dr. Collins was fired. Also, while science still fully supports masking, the reality with the Omicron variant is that it is so contagious, one needs to wear a well fitting N95 mask. The feds are making them available for free at drug stores, but then do we have to mandate what type of mask? The dilemmas we have faced in public health in my nearly 50 years as an RN in this field are almost always both political and scientific. We know Dr. Bob's opponent, the incumbent Republican Jack Bergman, always toes the tRumper (and Enbridge Line 5) line of politics over science. Dr. Bob is our best hope for ousting him.
It gets complicated ~ ie, what kind of mask specifically. I have been in 2 places this week, including a pharmacy in a grocery store where a staffer waiting on me wore a mask, but it's below their nose. In the end, I stood 6 ft away, and then came home and changed my pharmacy to one that delivers via mail.
I understand Dr. Bob’s position and agree with Barbara about not getting bogged down with a single issue. Agree ( former PH prof) that dilemmas have always been about science and politics .Although now it’s much more extreme.Local FL health depts have been silenced.🤐
Yes, Barbara, thanks. And I hope you can come back to visit our beautiful Traverse City area again sometime! Our region remains beautiful in large part because of the hard (and gracious) groundwork of our longtime Republican governor, William Milliken. A conservative, he fought for conservation, the environment, and small business, while his wife, Helen, started Planned Parenthood in our state. Since the tRumpers stole our party, I am hearing more folks whisper that they are "moderate" Republicans. Our biggest industry "up north" after farming (and cherries!) is healthcare. With this COVID fiasco, I predict our hospital and long term care facility administrators, physicians, donors and board members - who typically vote Republican- will support Dr. Bob. The tide is turning.
Thank you! You have said everything so well. It’s been a challenging two years for everyone. And the anti maskers and anti vaxers continue to perpetuate it for their perceived individual freedom. All the while pushing our hospitals and healthcare workers to the breaking point.
I spent months in the hospital 2020/2021 for non Covid reasons but I got to know the staff. They are the heroes in our community. Everyone from the docs and nurses to people cleaning the rooms, suited up and showed up. Their sense of duty to their patients and colleagues was an inspiration.
Morning, Karen. Your statement about our healthcare workers being pushed to the breaking point really resonates with me. While so much emphasis is being put on young people masking to protect their elders (as it should be), lost in there is the idea masking would help healthcare workers who definitely need it.
Morning Lynell, thank you for pointing that out. It is incredibly sad that so many are being so reckless and selfish, and passing on these values to their children.
Ryan, For me, your standout posting raises the question of whether there are enough of us to reclaim the fundamental values upon which democracies are predicated—mutual respect, personal responsibility, and social accountability.
A mask is an easy accommodation, not an infringement of liberty. I wonder what anti-mask folks would think if they were wheeled into an OR and looked up to see that the surgeon and staff were maskless?
“ We need to instill a sense of duty and purpose in our children, and not make them feel like they are too fragile to put up with a mask for as long as it takes. ”
Thank you! This should go the a letter to the editor. We make kids go through active shooter drills and wear bulletproof backpacks for a small chance of an active shooter but have issues with a mask for a 100% exposure to Covid.
I am moved by your statement that this is an opportunity to learn. Similarly, there is an opportunity for children to learn about others, their feelings, their hardships when teaching about race related history in schools. But the parents only focus on their own feelings. And if their children feel uncomfortable, there is also an opportunity for the parents to explain to their kids that it's not about making the kids feel badly or guilty, it's about recognizing how someone else feels and understanding what they have been trough. But the parents don't see that as an option.
That's a very good and respectable way to explain, Kim. To divert away from using the CRT label, and outline the process exactly as you have, Kim. Using this approach with parents and others who have concerns could go a long way. I am going to adapt your words and pass them on. It is the kind of statement that makes very powerful testimony at school boards and at other events. Avoid the use of the term CRT at all, and focus on what we teach our kids about history. Thank you.
Indeed there are important moral and practical lessons for our children to learn in the pandemic, lessons in citizenship and lessons in self-reliance and care for others. A new effort is being made to instruct students about democracy, what it means, what it requires of responsible citizens, what it even means to be a citizen, EDUCATING FOR AMERICAN DEMOCRACY -- https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org/
I learned of this project from Barbara Walter's recent book "How Civil Wars Start." I taught philosophy for a number of years, and what I know to be true is this. If a democratic culture ceases to teach its young the Idea of Democracy, it will eventually fail to be one. The Idea of Democracy is a socially created construct and must be taught and modeled.
My sister just sent me a copy of the beautifully illustrated and inspiring children's book, "Justice is..." by Preet Bharara, illustrated by Sue Cornelison. I imagine it will inspire many important conversations with my grandchildren.
My sentiments EXACTLY. My grands wear masks and are bullied for it. When I worked at public schools. It wasn’t the administration that did the bullying
That is appalling. Bullying should never be tolerated. The people who want the freedom to not wear a mask should respect the people who want the freedom to wear a mask. If anyone says anything to me my prepared remark is to simply tell them I am free to make my own choices.
I recently met a nurse whose daughter could not get vaccinated due to serious medical problems. She eventually contracted the virus and as her parents watched her cling to life, two young people were rolled by, having died from Covid. As the father of two daughters, I would be satisfied with the lifting of school mask mandates if there were a requirement for in school students to be vaccinated. If they, or rather their parents, refuse, they must resort to online instruction. Problem solved.
Oh, I can't imagine that horror. I agree fully with both mask mandates and vaccine mandates in schools (as our local schools had to close down yet again last week due to teacher and staff members out with COVID). It's the only hope we have for protecting our children.
Thank you, Ryan. You've articulated hard truths that everyone needs to hear, especially those hell-bent on undermining public health, not to mention the emotional well-being of our children.
"Savage" is an adjective I've not heard to describe aspects of the pandemic. But reading it now, I apply it to virulent anti-maskers, especially parents. It's the perfect adjective, capturing the essence of their behavior. They scream, unmasked, at children en route to and from school. Their faces contort with rage. They seek to intimidate, oblivious to the emotional damage they inflict. The children are frightened, confused, even resentful. What seeds are being sown in malleable minds?
This savagery isn't just in the moment, it ripples out into the world, spreading not just a deadly virus but hate and havoc. Where does the savagery come from? The trifling inconvenience of wearing a piece of cloth over part of the face to protect the human race of 7.9 billion people, including those guilty of savage behavior? No, it springs from hate, a hate bubbling forth from flawed hearts. It's a darkness we've seen over and over and over throughout history.
A vaccine for hate could come via other public health programs such as expansion of maternal and infant support services, and family planning, as well as expansion of early childhood education, mental health and social services services, jobs programs and...all the supports Heather speaks of as essential for our democracy. Plus regulation of hate spewers like Fox "Entertainment." Just wish we could regulate sermons.
“ If only there was a vaccine for hate.” Would that a remedy could be so. Those who most need such vaccination would have to be told it was a one-shot cure for their high BP/cholesterol, etc. to get it. 😔
I suppose we will have to stop explaining gravity to schoolchildren as a force that holds them down. When did teaching children truth, a moral framework, ethics, empathy, kindness, civics, and civility become controversial? I along with my children have now taken on the responsibility completely for teaching these subjects to my grandchildren to complement the education they are receiving inpublic schools as we can no longer be assured they are being taught as part of the public school curriculum.
I think it is the role of parents to teach their children all those things you mention, with the schools being the complement to what they are taught at home. Just my two cents.
If that were the case, we'd still be in segregated schools, and my children would still be excluded from most activities because attitudes toward indigenous people are still all too common, and acted out. The schools I went to taught civics and civility, empathy and kindness as part of both the curriculum and the expectations of behavior toward both teachers and other students. As an expression of a societies values, schools are an entirely proper place to teach these things. I chose to raise them where I did because there was a school organized around those principles.
“We need to instill a sense of duty and purpose in our children…”
Yes, for too long our society has gravitated to a culture of “What’s in it for me?” instead of considering the greater good. We refer to “the greatest generation” as those who came of age during the Depression and WWII. One of their greatest attributes is the attitude “We’re all in this together” so they worked together for the greater good.
What’s happening in our country today is an absolute disgrace! I applaud your Daughter’s good sense and responsible character! Her actions speak well of her upbringing! Traits that aren’t exhibited by many in today’s society. How have we become so self centered and totally unaware of our surroundings? As an example, while grocery shopping the other day…at least half the people were without masks and oblivious of safe distancing mandates. Facts the guy (middle aged?) behind me was apparently clueless of. For when I asked him to back off a bit…he glared at me and said, “ his ears were fine but he couldn’t understand a word I was saying with that thing (mask) over my mouth…and added, expletive (a slang word for Anal Orifice) deleted!” I couldn’t help myself and left him to ponder what I meant by, “ears be damned…because sound doesn’t travel in a vacuum!” At that point my Wife stepped between us. Later she chided me by questioning how old I would be on my next birthday….which she thought would be 80 and not 18! Oh well! It must be a sign of the times? Fueled by totally irresponsible media, tin pot Governors and an out of sync Government we’re spinning out of control.
As a physician I am enraged when politics undermine science and medicine. It has been a decades long pattern, as described in Chris Mooney’s book “The Republican War on Science” published 17 years ago. Republican stances on masking, lax vaccination, and disposable health care workers/teachers/service industry workers have certainly killed hundreds of thousands.
In terms of kids wearing masks while we are in the peak of the worst wave yet, and seeing Omicron cases (some mild, others not) spread even among vaccinated and boosted teachers and families, it is unethical and savage really to capitulate to parents who think masking their kids causes some greater harm.
My masked kid has had an opportunity to learn about community sacrifices, the greater good, deferred gratification, and mutual respect for the safety of other people. She has worn an N95 with grit, and has not spread Covid nor received an unnecessary lungful of coronavirus that could imperil her own and her parents’ short and long term health, and her grandparents’ very lives.
We need to instill a sense of duty and purpose in our children, and not make them feel like they are too fragile to put up with a mask for as long as it takes. Republican governors and politicians who undermine scientific truths, meddle with specific monoclonal treatment guidelines when variants render them obsolete, undermine basic public health measures that could limit deaths which are back up towards 4K/day- are they not practicing medicine without a license, and malpracticing it at that?
I am an elementary school counselor and we have almost no issues with kids keeping their masks on throughout the day. When they lose one to the floor or snow, I see them stopping by the health office to ask for a fresh one. So often, I think the Republican “leaders” need a review of kindergarten classroom rules for safety and kindness and learning.
I'm with you ScannyDo. As a substitute elementary teacher I see how seamlessly kids of different ages adapt to mask wearing. Some middle school students told me they really like masks because they don't feel stress about pimples or braces, and can make faces if they want.
Kids not worrying about pimples or braces and making faces under the masks… my best chuckle of the week!
That goes for me. It hides my wrinkles!
Oh, Sharon! The wrinkles on people with good souls make them look even better.
Thank you!
I haven't bleached my upper lip in months!
Yep, for me, too!
It’s a beautiful thing!
https://www.google.com/search?q=female+movie+stars+with+milk+mustache&rlz=1CDGOYI_enPT947PT948&hl=en-US&ei=rKr4YdqqO6jBlwTeo7XgCw&oq=female+movie+stars+with+milk+mustache&gs_lcp=ChNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwEAMyBQghEKABOgcIABBHELADOgcIABCwAxBDOgwILhDIAxCwAxBDGAA6BAguEEM6BQgAEIAEOgQIABBDOgUIABCRAjoICAAQgAQQyQM6BQgAEJIDOgUILhCABDoICAAQBxAKEB46BAgAEAo6BAguEAo6BggAEA0QHjoECAAQDToGCAAQBxAeOgYIABAWEB46CAghEBYQHRAeOgQIIRAVOgcIIRAKEKABSgUIOBIBMUoECEEYAFDKD1j1hQJg8JECaAhwAXgBgAHTAYgBljmSAQYwLjQ2LjWYAQCgAQGwAQDIARHAAQHaAQQIABgI&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp
And I lost 2 teeth in the last 2 years!! Haha. Thankfully they are located in the rear of my mouth and I have a small "flipper" to replace them. But who needs to wear it with a mask on!?
I was in that position when we first started wearing masks. I wasted money on an appliance that I never wore!
Yes, when students catch a glimpse of us with masks down they say "Oh, Teacher! Put your mask back up, you look so old!" Bless their young little honest hearts.
And the double chin.
We have been experiencing frigid temperatures in Illinois, and I find wearing a mask keeps my face warm! Win!
I run and when it's below 10 degrees I wear the mask to prevent my cheeks from freezing.
Same here in VT, Christi. I am sure not the only driver wearing a mask! And I don't have to fiddle with getting it one if I have to stop somewhere.
Even here in mild-weather Brussels the mask is a great for outdoor winter comfort.
I agree with what you are saying about kids and masks. I live within walking distance of our town's elementary and middle schools and I see lots of kids walking to school with masks on. I think that, of course, it is the parents who are trying to put the kibosh on masking and distancing. The wearing of masks would not be an issue today if our leaders, right at the pandemic's start, would have encouraged the wearing of them. It simply would have been no big deal. I truly believe that we could have eradicated this virus if the right measures were used right from the beginning. The global pandemic is a world health issue, not political fodder.
100% true, chump has blood on his hands
He is not the only one. Many people around him placated him and his dismissive, uncooperative ways, hoping that in a moment of clarity, or weakness, he would acknowledge the seriousness of the situation. When it was obvious that he was saying it’s nothing simply because other people were saying it’s something, someone should have stepped up. Somebody who didn’t need the job, someone who could give independent press conferences, someone to create outside pressure. But Fauci is too nice, and he can make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich sound complicated. in the end it was too little, too late. Better late than never, though.
I'd add the media helped him and his sycophants spread these false statements and attitudes.
Had Hillary been our president it would be a whole lot different. However, the Republicans would still have fought her! Can you imagine all of the lies they would have told!
I still fantasize about waking up on Nov. 7, 2016 to find out that Hillary had won.
She did! So did Al Gore and now Joe. In each case, electoral skulduggery took place. This time it was stopped in its tracks. Yet, millions of Americans can't believe it because they are so used to the ends justifying the means— by whatever means possible.
Or, they are simply naive and can't believe anyonce could cheat like that.
And I should add that I voted for Sanders in the primary.
I seriously doubt she would have survived. So deep was the hatred against her, including by Vladimir Putin, that an assassination would have been justified by the same mentality as the Jan 6 insurrection.
Every once in a while I ponder what our world would be like if Hillary Clinton had not been slandered and had been able to claim her rightful victory. The woman is brilliant, and had the capacity to truly guide our country in the direction we need. Certainly we would not have had to deal with the chaos of a failed response to the pandemic. It still might well have happened, but I have no doubt that our response would have been more orderly, more timely, and more effective.
I have long thought that the right-wing Republicans hated her so much simply because they were still trying to get at Bill, and Bill was their target because of Nixon: payback. So much that they were willing to accept something like Trump to keep Hillary out. We are paying the price. I struggle to understand how the Republicans allowed themselves to be taken over by so many people with such shallow senses of ethics and public responsibility. So many of the good Republicans forced out of office during that period by one means or another. And set the party up for takeover by people who are essentially out-of-control or complicit by silence. Makes me value those who do speak up all the more. And hope that somehow they can regain control of a once valuable partner in governing this nation still in progress.
Thank you, Annie.
Their "ethics and public responsibility"are so shallow but opaque that it makes it hard for those who follow them to see their failures and the depth of their lust for power and money which are SOOO deep.
But Bill actually invited Nixon to the White House early in his presidency because he wanted to pick Nixon's brain. And I think Nixon came. So this doesn't make sense. But then, almost nothing today's GOP does makes sense.
I agree!
Hillary was right about a vast right wing conspiracy. The right demonized her unmercifully for years. She did not help herself with the “basket of deplorables” comments. The dark money was against her, but her mistakes were costly.
HRC was a terrible candidate. Certainly better than Don, but so bad people just stayed away from the polls.
Before George Floyd was killed, I imagined making a documentary about Colin Kaepernick, including a scenario with a different president, a woman perhaps, kneeling with him in honor of all our fallen Black Americans who died at the hands of police AND all of our fallen police officers who died in the line of duty. How would America look today?
This fight by ignorant and entitled parents (almost entirely white) I fear will cause much anxiety in children. Elementary-aged children tend to adore their schools and teachers. I know from experience, that an angry vocal parent can cause behavioral struggles in their kids. I always told parents that you have every right to disagree with anything we do, but please don't talk about it in front of your children. As they grow older, and the messages are consistent from parents, you will see many children adapt to and adopt these messages. Isn't that how bias of any kind is developed?
As a kid in the 1930s my buddies and I clamored to get and wear a Lone Ranger and/or a Green Hornet mask. We were really upset when teachers didn’t let us wear them in class. I’m delighted and jealous that masks are now required in classrooms. Can I get a Lone Ranger N95 mask?
See the link below for your Lone Ranger mask! This is a sticker, but they do have masks with this graphic on it!
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.redbubble.com%2Fi%2Fsticker%2FThe-COVID-Ranger-by-timshawlstudio%2F49139178.EJUG5&psig=AOvVaw3HsPpO_8phrSpwzwKAgm7f&ust=1643553889162000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAgQjRxqFwoTCLC2yMOZ1_UCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAF
Hi Ho Silver. Who is that masked man?
Scannydo, Good for the kids at your school. A friend who an elementary school paraprofessional told me kids show up without masks at her school every morning even though they are required. They tell her their parents think masks are stupid
Too many Americans have decided that "You are not the boss of me" is a good substitute for a political philosophy.
How is it that the stance of “you are not the boss of me” doesn’t extend to them telling women how many children they choose to bear and raise?
I’ve been asking the same question Jackie.
Too many Americans don't have a clue about history and the lessons to be learned from it. As I spend each morning with Heather and all of you, and then go to a school board meeting or community forum on FB it is glaringly clear there are two different worlds.
I'm not convinced we can bridge the gap
You must add the ignorance of math and science to the list many Drump supporters possess. Often their statements are purely stupid. The biggest "evidence" for not wearing a mask is the caveat on the package that indicates a mask doesn't protect you from germs.
They need lessons on the Golden Rule. And how many have died of Covid or been seriously harmed. And those whose health is compromised and cannot vaccinate.
They need to be asked if they ever taught their kids to not run out into traffic without looking both ways first! Of course they have. How is that different from wearing a mask...the kid who runs into traffic will either get killed or cause the death of someone else.
From a retired special educator, I can attest that some parents have not taught this lesson to their kids as well as some other pretty basic skills. Do you know how the numbers are growing of children entering kindergarten not potty trained? It's crazy.
Retired school nurse here. And these are not special ed kids. Parents say “I thought the school would take care of that”
Maybe the kids should bring their parents to school! Sounds like their education wasn’t very good!
Parents will do horrible things to their children and this is a great example. They push the No masks ides on their kids creating a fear of the parent. I bet most those kids willing put on the mask provided by the school and don’t have an issue with it. The mental health damage is coming from inside the home, not the mask. Can you imagine the hate these parents give off non-stop?
I understand that many children do struggle with learning facial features wearing a mask all the time. But, you social distance and purposely teach these skills at home and at school. Good educators are understanding this downside to masks.
I have learned that we all rely on lip reading to some degree after teaching with masks for 1.5 years. But the students and I talk about it and have learned to adapt:)
Here, here. They seem to have missed those lessons, or had their humanity curtailed by parents. Saw that happen a lot.
This is an ongoing problem, handed down one generation to the next and is hard to address.
Yes - "everything I ever learned, I learned in kindergarten"
And the innate good sense of the young child. Walking along a very busy city street in Italy once; my 3-year-old was amusing herself by ducking in and out of the decorative safety chains strung along the sidewalk. Not wanting to plant the idea in her head by naming the danger, I tried to take her hand, cheerfully suggesting we walk together. She looked up at me sideways: "I'm not going to walk on the road, you know!"
It is common practice to underestimate the smarts of a child... They know much more than the average parent understands. LOL
Robert Fulghum :)
Perfectly said!
Yes, I also fear a society already demonstrating a willingness to figuratively burn books and legislate restriction on the teaching of actual history is only a small leap from assembling in real mobs to actually burn books and begin actual witch trials of teachers. I have already taken the step of using their lists of forbidden books to fill the Chiristmas present list of books for my grandchildren and books to add to my own home library to be sure they are available to them.
The two graphic novels by Pulitzer Prize winner Art Spiegelman have been banned from classroom use by a Tennessee School Board. “Maus” tells the poignant and tragic story largely though the dialog of Art and his father about his experiences in the Holocaust.
As a professional illustrator for over 25 years, it still holds a firm place in my heart as to what the real power of the graphic novel is. Art is also just a brilliant, individual beyond his art form.
“This banning is really the tip of the “CRT,” “you’re making my innocent child suffer guilt.” assault on public schools to end exposure for our kids on the realities of the greatest mass murder in history and to make opaque the racist institutions and the culture it supports for a White privileged nation to this day.
Again I reiterate that all these “thousand cuts” to Democracy are all part of the massive 2.0 Fascism that is hellbent on becoming what our nation is and will be from 2024 for the next 1,000 years.
Learning the truth about the Holocaust also teaches the children that wearing a mask or getting a vaccine does not equate to what happened when they murdered 6 million people because they were Jewish. Children that old enough will make the comparison easily and I hope rebel.
My father was a racist. I had a huge crush on a Jewish boy in the third grade and wasn’t allowed to be friends with him. I didn’t know what it meant to be Jewish but I remember being taught it was “bad”. When I learned all these things later in life I called him out on his behavior towards POC and other religions. Oddly sometime in my families past they left the Lutheran church for the Methodist church because of rules that they couldn’t marry outside their religion.
Sharon, thanks for your insights and experiences, because really human empathy is really only what separates us from monsters.
I took a course in the Holocaust and Jewish literature in the aftermath from USC online.
In my research I remember finding documents that were like spreadsheets reporting the mass murders of over 30,000 Jews (Men women and children) in just one week by one unit of a German SS Unit working with local units allied with them. The method was simple mass shooting. It. is literally beyond any decent persons comprehension to visualize this event,
So when disgusting list of hedge fund managers, fascist loving tech CEOs and scum like MJT, liken themselves to these people whose only crime was being of the wrong religion, truly illustrates just what's in store for our society if they are enabled to take over this nation as the great experiment in Democracy.
Because clearly these sociopaths have no recognition of other humans other than as a means to whatever greedy little ends they need to satisfy their malignant narcissistic needs.
Thanks for reminding me of Maus. Among the books I recommend again and again
That’s a good idea. There are 125 books on a list by Matthew Krause, Texas House Rep. There are pictures of those books being boxed up and taken out of a Library in a Texas school district. Disturbing, I am so concerned for our public schools, it’s on my mind constantly. I have grandchildren. I am a retired public school teacher 32 years. This is killing me to watch.
“The road to Auschwitz was paved with indifference”. In a way, all these identity politics issues involve indifference towards our fellow citizens. Indifference always leads to decay, in people, families, communities, countries.
😔
And they wonder why progressives sometimes characterize them as Nazis?
There are memes going around that suggest that kids should read the forbidden books. This does work as my h.s. English lit teacher told us about the Miller's Tale in the Canterbury Tales and said he couldn't teach it, so we all rushed over to the public library and got a copy. Every time I read about what's happening in the country about books and teaching about race, I think that i had an easy time of it as a librarian and teacher. I had to fend off a few people, but not many. We did have a case involving one of our English teaches which was revenge against her. In a very complicated story we had the principal who was being sued for harassment and his curriculum coordinator who has issues with our English department, use some collections of plays as a hammer even though the teacher made clear that students could choose plays that were not a problem for them. The irony was that the curriculum coordinator (and evangelical Christian) was supporting the very bad behavior right in front of her over events that people could read about in newspapers. She also complained in the a school board meeting that the English department taught novels. Horrors I say. I am long retired and glad to be so. In some good news the school district north of us (Woodburn) just gave its teachers a $2000 bonus. We have two friends who teach there and are both wonderful teachers.
My wife and I are lifetime supporters of the performance of live classical music. We are patrons and supporters of two symphony orchestras and also have, before the pandemic, support an annual series of chamber music performances in “non-traditional” rural venues such as senior centers, nursing homes, and others where access to live classical music is often lacking. Recently, a neighbor who is an outspoken Trump supporter questioned why we did not support more performances of music by American composers. 🤷♂️ I explained that our Symphony actually did in fact perform music written by American composers as well and provided a number of examples including the next concert where the Symphony will be performing A Soldiers Tale by Igor Stravinsky. Their retort was that Stravinsky did not sound like an American name. 🤦♂️ I explained that though he was born in Russia he immigrated in his early years to Switzerland, later France, and finally to America in 1939, where he became an American citizen and lived until his death in 1971. My neighbor’s response was, “Ah, I knew he wasn’t an American with a name like Stravinsky.”
Willful ignorance seems often to be identically twinned to intolerance and bigotry.
A prime example of why so many changed their last names when they immigrated. This is always a good opportunity to ask what country their family immigrated from and what their last name was when they did.
It is also an opportunity to point out that unless an individual is of Native American heritage their forebears once immigrated to this country as well.
I have also pointed out on several occasions to the evident horror of some of my evangelical and conservative acquaintances that humans or Homo Sapiens first appeared on the earth in Southern Africa. This normally engenders a scoffing retort that is “just wrong and not possible.” Explaining that the anthropological and fossil evidence on that is quite clear is often met with the reply, “That’s not what the Bible says.” 🤦♂️
I must have hit a quota for likes, I can’t like any more comments! I usually like them all anyway. This blog is full of my people. It gives me hope. Thanks for trying with your neighbors, Bruce!
Somehow it's never occurred to me that there are people who don't realize H.sapiens came from Africa. But given how badly educated a lot of Americans are, it's not surprising.
Ancient DNA says otherwise, but your acquaintances have probably done their own "research" and of course, the Bible...which says all sorts of things.
Drumpf underwent a little surgery which made it even worse.
We too are supporters of classical music although we no longer go to live performances. Our local classical station (all classical Portland OR) plays all sorts of music by American composers most people have probably never heard of. Does your neighbor accept only names that sound English....a lot of us are in trouble.
Lucky you. Basically ALL of the stations here in the Atlanta area that used to broadcast classical music are now pretty much all talk all the time. I've always believed the shift to all talk was to counter the overwhelming presence of right-wing radio all over the airwaves, AM and FM. The station out of Athens (where UGA is) has classical music, but I can't pick it up. So, I have to go online to listen to music as there is no more classical music available through the ether. (I have like a thousand CDs, but right now I have no way to play them, and a lot of them are packed up and in storage.)
You can stream all classical 24 hours a day.
Soon there will be no teachers. Fear of being persecuted will make them quit or not enter teaching. It will be back to religious zealots, unqualified to teach, in private schools and we will sink further down the ladder in education and innovation in this country. This is why China is surpassing us.
I have thought this too. Not many health care workers either.
Schools of education at universities are experiencing drops in enrollment for teacher preparation. Why would a young person want to go into a profession that has historically low pay, is greatly disrespected, and in the case of NC, under attack by the legislature? The legislature doesn’t attack engineers or the the schools that train them. I taught school many years ago, and I would not go into teaching today. The mental health stresses are too great.
There will always be hedgerow schools.
What are they?
in 18th- and 19th-century Ireland, designed to secretly provide the rudiments of primary education to children of 'non-conforming' faiths (Catholic and Protestant mostly)
often in a barn, with a look out posted to warn of approaching
tattle-tales who would have them punished.
Our small local library had on display a table full of books that had been banned at some time or place, with a poster of banned titles they didn't have on hand. People donated extras to fill in gaps. Happy to say the place was packed with supporters bringing their kids and checking out books. My kids are long grown and so are (yikes) most of my grandkids. But the little ones coming up are still the future of their world, and my support part of my legacy to them
I think the only reason conservative groups have not yet decided to ban Melville’s Moby Dick from schools is because the whale was white.
Hah!
😂😂
And the removal of "Maus" was downright political as well as antisemitic.....maybe they are the same. I will certainly try to buy that one for the future. Altho, using animals......not sure about that
Someone put up a link to download it free so we got a copy. Amazon sold out right away and it has moved up quickly on the best sellers list.
Every time they ban one, I’m going to buy it.
Or two.
Rats were used to depict Nazis because Nazis referred to Jews as "vermin."
It is an excellent book.
Yes, I remember when it came out. One of the first graphic novels.
Marquette, Michigan physician, "Dr. Bob" Lorinser, is running for Michigan's 1st Congressional District on the Democratic ticket against the current seditionist, Republican Rep Jack Bergman. Dr. Bob is currently the medical officer for the Marquette County Health Department, formerly practiced as a family physician for 20 years, then spent 10 years in our U.S. Diplomatic corps in foreign service. He is a superb candidate! Please help us to support his campaign!! Michigan loses one Congressional seat this year - let's make sure it's a Republican.
https://www.votedrbob.com/
With my limited extra funds, I'm supporting three additional candidates for office this year, as well as Adam Schiff. Val Demmings is on my new list and now Dr. Bob may be too. I'm also looking for a school board member to support -- doesn't have to be local. .
My list keeps growing while my funds stay the same! Overloaded in GA with Warnock, Flowers (U.S. Congress), and Abrams. Then Fetterman in PA, Schiff in CA, and Kelly in AZ...not to mention my Virginia folks.
Last night, I got an email from Dr. Kermit Jones, who is running for the newly formed 3rd Congressional District of California. I realize he's a long shot in the red Eastern Sierras, but, I am going to hope. So, I
sent him a donation, because I need a little hope right now. He sounds like the exact opposite of some of the jokers that the GQP have elected. Well, at least the odious Jay Obernolte will no longer be my Representative!
https://kermitjonesforcongress.com
So many candidates and not enough money.
Bob Lorinser's website says he is against mandatory masking in schools in favor of "recommending" masks for children. This contradicts physicians like Ryan McCormick who commented above about masking teaching children responsibility toward others.
My 2022 election cycle bumper sticker:
RESIST SINGLE ISSUE VOTING.
I think Mr. Lorinser's approach for a Public School environment is the best we can do at this point. It has been proven that the Republicans will attack and court challenge, and legislate against mandatory masks. Mr. Lorinser's approach involves the parents in the care of their children and keeps the issue off the desks of Republicans.
Everything does not and cannot pass a purity test folks.
for some reason the like button is not responding to my click. But I think your comment is excellent.
David, I’m having the same “heart glitch.” It seems to click after a delay.
Someone else mentioned the same problem. I haven't gotten it to work after a delay, but occasionally it works normally.
With you, Barbara!
Thanks!
Yes. I almost mentioned his posiition on masking in my comment above, but feared folks wouldn't read any further about Dr. Bob. I agree with you and not Dr. Bob on masking, and will talk to him about it tomorrow when we meet. It is timely since our local schools just had to shut down again this week because so many teachers and other staff are out with COVID. The problem Dr. Bob faces is the one our superb, much beloved Grand Traverse County Medical Officer faced when he publicly opposed our (tRumper) county commission on their no-mask mandates position: Dr. Collins was fired. Also, while science still fully supports masking, the reality with the Omicron variant is that it is so contagious, one needs to wear a well fitting N95 mask. The feds are making them available for free at drug stores, but then do we have to mandate what type of mask? The dilemmas we have faced in public health in my nearly 50 years as an RN in this field are almost always both political and scientific. We know Dr. Bob's opponent, the incumbent Republican Jack Bergman, always toes the tRumper (and Enbridge Line 5) line of politics over science. Dr. Bob is our best hope for ousting him.
It gets complicated ~ ie, what kind of mask specifically. I have been in 2 places this week, including a pharmacy in a grocery store where a staffer waiting on me wore a mask, but it's below their nose. In the end, I stood 6 ft away, and then came home and changed my pharmacy to one that delivers via mail.
Yup.
I understand Dr. Bob’s position and agree with Barbara about not getting bogged down with a single issue. Agree ( former PH prof) that dilemmas have always been about science and politics .Although now it’s much more extreme.Local FL health depts have been silenced.🤐
Just donated to Dr. Bob. Keep us posted !💙
Thank You, Kathy!!
💙
My point is this. Can we make sure we do not get bogged down in a single issue that the Republicans have foisted upon us?
I have visited in the Traverse area. It is so beautiful there.
Yes, Barbara, thanks. And I hope you can come back to visit our beautiful Traverse City area again sometime! Our region remains beautiful in large part because of the hard (and gracious) groundwork of our longtime Republican governor, William Milliken. A conservative, he fought for conservation, the environment, and small business, while his wife, Helen, started Planned Parenthood in our state. Since the tRumpers stole our party, I am hearing more folks whisper that they are "moderate" Republicans. Our biggest industry "up north" after farming (and cherries!) is healthcare. With this COVID fiasco, I predict our hospital and long term care facility administrators, physicians, donors and board members - who typically vote Republican- will support Dr. Bob. The tide is turning.
Bless you, MaryPat. Thanks for this insight.
And thanks for checking out Dr. Bob's website, Melinda!
Thx for checking the website Melinda.
We are talking Michigan here. Sometimes in some places you have to adjust your message a little.
Let me know when to start writing postcards for this campaign.
THANK YOU!!
I sent a small donation. Please keep us updated on this. Thanks!
Same here.
Thank You Joan!
THANK YOU BARBARA!!
🙏 Marypat! Donating to his effort now.
Thank You Ted!!
DONE
Will do.
Thank You Fern!!!
Thank you! You have said everything so well. It’s been a challenging two years for everyone. And the anti maskers and anti vaxers continue to perpetuate it for their perceived individual freedom. All the while pushing our hospitals and healthcare workers to the breaking point.
I spent months in the hospital 2020/2021 for non Covid reasons but I got to know the staff. They are the heroes in our community. Everyone from the docs and nurses to people cleaning the rooms, suited up and showed up. Their sense of duty to their patients and colleagues was an inspiration.
Morning, Karen. Your statement about our healthcare workers being pushed to the breaking point really resonates with me. While so much emphasis is being put on young people masking to protect their elders (as it should be), lost in there is the idea masking would help healthcare workers who definitely need it.
Morning Lynell, thank you for pointing that out. It is incredibly sad that so many are being so reckless and selfish, and passing on these values to their children.
Your daughter is lucky to have such a good dad!
Ryan, For me, your standout posting raises the question of whether there are enough of us to reclaim the fundamental values upon which democracies are predicated—mutual respect, personal responsibility, and social accountability.
I agree. Politicians that work against the people should be called out for treason.
There very likely are enough of us but we'll need to work together and make enough noise to be noticed.
A mask is an easy accommodation, not an infringement of liberty. I wonder what anti-mask folks would think if they were wheeled into an OR and looked up to see that the surgeon and staff were maskless?
And coughing.
“ We need to instill a sense of duty and purpose in our children, and not make them feel like they are too fragile to put up with a mask for as long as it takes. ”
Thank you! This should go the a letter to the editor. We make kids go through active shooter drills and wear bulletproof backpacks for a small chance of an active shooter but have issues with a mask for a 100% exposure to Covid.
I am moved by your statement that this is an opportunity to learn. Similarly, there is an opportunity for children to learn about others, their feelings, their hardships when teaching about race related history in schools. But the parents only focus on their own feelings. And if their children feel uncomfortable, there is also an opportunity for the parents to explain to their kids that it's not about making the kids feel badly or guilty, it's about recognizing how someone else feels and understanding what they have been trough. But the parents don't see that as an option.
Seems like a novel concept these days, sad to say
That's a very good and respectable way to explain, Kim. To divert away from using the CRT label, and outline the process exactly as you have, Kim. Using this approach with parents and others who have concerns could go a long way. I am going to adapt your words and pass them on. It is the kind of statement that makes very powerful testimony at school boards and at other events. Avoid the use of the term CRT at all, and focus on what we teach our kids about history. Thank you.
Ryan,
Indeed there are important moral and practical lessons for our children to learn in the pandemic, lessons in citizenship and lessons in self-reliance and care for others. A new effort is being made to instruct students about democracy, what it means, what it requires of responsible citizens, what it even means to be a citizen, EDUCATING FOR AMERICAN DEMOCRACY -- https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org/
I learned of this project from Barbara Walter's recent book "How Civil Wars Start." I taught philosophy for a number of years, and what I know to be true is this. If a democratic culture ceases to teach its young the Idea of Democracy, it will eventually fail to be one. The Idea of Democracy is a socially created construct and must be taught and modeled.
My sister just sent me a copy of the beautifully illustrated and inspiring children's book, "Justice is..." by Preet Bharara, illustrated by Sue Cornelison. I imagine it will inspire many important conversations with my grandchildren.
My sentiments EXACTLY. My grands wear masks and are bullied for it. When I worked at public schools. It wasn’t the administration that did the bullying
That is appalling. Bullying should never be tolerated. The people who want the freedom to not wear a mask should respect the people who want the freedom to wear a mask. If anyone says anything to me my prepared remark is to simply tell them I am free to make my own choices.
I recently met a nurse whose daughter could not get vaccinated due to serious medical problems. She eventually contracted the virus and as her parents watched her cling to life, two young people were rolled by, having died from Covid. As the father of two daughters, I would be satisfied with the lifting of school mask mandates if there were a requirement for in school students to be vaccinated. If they, or rather their parents, refuse, they must resort to online instruction. Problem solved.
Oh, I can't imagine that horror. I agree fully with both mask mandates and vaccine mandates in schools (as our local schools had to close down yet again last week due to teacher and staff members out with COVID). It's the only hope we have for protecting our children.
Exactly, Randy. It must be one (and/) or the other!
Pray tell, the nurse’s daughter is thriving now?!
Thank you, Ryan. You've articulated hard truths that everyone needs to hear, especially those hell-bent on undermining public health, not to mention the emotional well-being of our children.
"Savage" is an adjective I've not heard to describe aspects of the pandemic. But reading it now, I apply it to virulent anti-maskers, especially parents. It's the perfect adjective, capturing the essence of their behavior. They scream, unmasked, at children en route to and from school. Their faces contort with rage. They seek to intimidate, oblivious to the emotional damage they inflict. The children are frightened, confused, even resentful. What seeds are being sown in malleable minds?
This savagery isn't just in the moment, it ripples out into the world, spreading not just a deadly virus but hate and havoc. Where does the savagery come from? The trifling inconvenience of wearing a piece of cloth over part of the face to protect the human race of 7.9 billion people, including those guilty of savage behavior? No, it springs from hate, a hate bubbling forth from flawed hearts. It's a darkness we've seen over and over and over throughout history.
If only there was a vaccine for hate.
A vaccine for hate could come via other public health programs such as expansion of maternal and infant support services, and family planning, as well as expansion of early childhood education, mental health and social services services, jobs programs and...all the supports Heather speaks of as essential for our democracy. Plus regulation of hate spewers like Fox "Entertainment." Just wish we could regulate sermons.
Tolkien could not have stated this better, well said, thank you
This article in The Atlantic suggests the term savagery is appropriate:
Since last summer, the conservative campaign against vaccination has claimed thousands of lives for no ethically justifiable purpose. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/human-sacrifice-ritual-mass-vaccination/621355/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
“ If only there was a vaccine for hate.” Would that a remedy could be so. Those who most need such vaccination would have to be told it was a one-shot cure for their high BP/cholesterol, etc. to get it. 😔
The very people who decry "participation trophies" think their own children are too fragile to endure wearing a mask and learning "divisive concepts".
I suppose we will have to stop explaining gravity to schoolchildren as a force that holds them down. When did teaching children truth, a moral framework, ethics, empathy, kindness, civics, and civility become controversial? I along with my children have now taken on the responsibility completely for teaching these subjects to my grandchildren to complement the education they are receiving inpublic schools as we can no longer be assured they are being taught as part of the public school curriculum.
I think it is the role of parents to teach their children all those things you mention, with the schools being the complement to what they are taught at home. Just my two cents.
If that were the case, we'd still be in segregated schools, and my children would still be excluded from most activities because attitudes toward indigenous people are still all too common, and acted out. The schools I went to taught civics and civility, empathy and kindness as part of both the curriculum and the expectations of behavior toward both teachers and other students. As an expression of a societies values, schools are an entirely proper place to teach these things. I chose to raise them where I did because there was a school organized around those principles.
It became controversial with values clarification in the 70s.
Right. And divisive how? Denying the realities of slavery and racism is at least as divisive as acknowledging them.
Understatement. Thank you for pointing out something that should be readily obvious, Joan.
“We need to instill a sense of duty and purpose in our children…”
Yes, for too long our society has gravitated to a culture of “What’s in it for me?” instead of considering the greater good. We refer to “the greatest generation” as those who came of age during the Depression and WWII. One of their greatest attributes is the attitude “We’re all in this together” so they worked together for the greater good.
What’s happening in our country today is an absolute disgrace! I applaud your Daughter’s good sense and responsible character! Her actions speak well of her upbringing! Traits that aren’t exhibited by many in today’s society. How have we become so self centered and totally unaware of our surroundings? As an example, while grocery shopping the other day…at least half the people were without masks and oblivious of safe distancing mandates. Facts the guy (middle aged?) behind me was apparently clueless of. For when I asked him to back off a bit…he glared at me and said, “ his ears were fine but he couldn’t understand a word I was saying with that thing (mask) over my mouth…and added, expletive (a slang word for Anal Orifice) deleted!” I couldn’t help myself and left him to ponder what I meant by, “ears be damned…because sound doesn’t travel in a vacuum!” At that point my Wife stepped between us. Later she chided me by questioning how old I would be on my next birthday….which she thought would be 80 and not 18! Oh well! It must be a sign of the times? Fueled by totally irresponsible media, tin pot Governors and an out of sync Government we’re spinning out of control.