When I travel, Buddy often sends me pictures from his morning that he considers throwaway, but I loved this one, not least because he stopped in the middle of hauling a trap to catch it.
Reminds me of sunsets I contemplated in an old metal rowboat on the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina, with a bottle of wine and steamed crabs with Old Bay awaiting my return to shore!
Anyone up for an open mic/thread? Figure I’ll post something here about the mask bans in places like North Carolina, since they are yet another fascist tendency that uniquely impacts my world as a doctor with vulnerable patients.
Mask bans are very un-American.
America aspires to be the land of the free, where government does not claim dominion over our bodies, our family privacies, and our freedoms to protect and express ourselves.
And yet we teeter on the brink of fascism in many ways. Women’s bodies. Disenfranchisement. Propaganda. Anti-intellectualism. Division. Xenophobia.
Here’s a small example among the many: a bipartisan groupthink that scorns the mask as an inconvenient reminder of this truth - Covid is still a problem. And now we have a radical partisan attack upon the right to wear one, in flagrant conflict with science and public health.
An excellent primer on this subject was published by The Sick Times:
Mainstream media coverage of mask bans has given space for politicians’ false claims that masks are associated with wrong-doing, like crime and antisemitism, while overlooking that bans are, in many ways, an effort to suppress the reality of Covid-19. There are 21 states and numerous municipalities with laws against masks or disguises on the books. Both Republicans and Democrats are pushing more severe mask bans than ever before in history. Democrats are more likely to give lip service to health needs without offering meaningful protections. Masks can and will be criminalized by police regardless of the language of the law, as arrest trends follow social trends. Police are also permitted by the Supreme Court to make mistakes in enforcing laws.
Even in New Jersey (where I practice) a Republican state senator recently introduced a bill to ban masks. Of course it’s a bad idea, with lots of potential for cruelty. The Star-Ledger then published a good editorial calling such bans dumb and dangerous. A few choice quotes: “ …this is a superficial policy that quickly falls apart on the details, and presents a clear danger to civil liberties. Start with this basic question: What if a troublemaker simply decides to disguise his face with large sunglasses and a hat, instead? Are we going to criminalize sunglasses and hats, too? …this “overbroad and vague” bill “also gives law enforcement the ability to target people based on their political beliefs.” If Republicans are trying to send a message, a more sensible way to do it would be to increase the penalties for anyone committing a crime in disguise. Criminalizing masks won’t help.”
As the Washington Post reported: “The day after the North Carolina House of Representatives passed its anti-masking bill in June in response to pro-Palestinian protests at the University of North Carolina, Shari Stuart said a man confronted her for wearing a surgical mask when she walked into an auto service center in the Raleigh area to get an oil change. After she tried to explain that she has Stage 4 breast cancer and a weakened immune system, Stuart said, the man called her a ‘f---ing liberal’ and insisted masks were now illegal. He later coughed on her and said he hoped the cancer would kill her.”
That guy and his ilk are not only un-American, but something much worse.
Several underpinnings of mask bans are built upon fascist principles. From Jason Stanley’s How Fascism Works, we can see how these core elements of fascism underpin the arguments in favor of mask bans: delegitimize any source of resistance by characterizing it as an “other” or an “out group” to be scorned; offer new “truths” to supplant “facts”; divide people while undermining unity and notions of diversity; emphasize law and order to protect citizens from “undesirable” elements, violently if needed.
If you don’t want to wear a mask now, fine. I usually don’t except in higher risk situations like my work, or flying in planes during surges.
But anyone who would take that personal and public health tool away from those who choose to deploy it, here in the land of the free, should know they are marching in step with a fascist agenda.
Recall that it’s less about banning the actual mask than it is about forcing an ideology - that Covid is all good now. That scientists and intellectuals and vulnerable people present an uncomfortable reality, so let's turn on them.
He later coughed on her and said he hoped the cancer would kill her.
The red pill is the one that uncovers the unsettling, actual truth.
Just got my 8th vaccination and Flu shot this morning. Always have a mask or two on me in a plastic bag, and will put it on if others are masked and look uncomfortable around unmasked people.
I feel worst about all the healthcare workers we lost, and the ones that still stayed though going to extreme lengths to protect their families from the consequences of the risks they took to help even the most resistant patients that need not have allowed themselves to become infected.
This thread reminds me of a thread in yesterday’s discussion about the P25 plan to target FEMA and NOAA and the Tennessee governor’s fast and pray, rapture is around the bend. It an us v them and anti science slash and burn approach, shared by the legislatures enacting such bans and the people spitting on vulnerable people for trying to protect themselves (and others btw). I experienced and will again experience a version of the mask ban in Sweden, where the health minister decided to buck the international trend towards mask mandates and the citizens took it as a sort of gospel that it was ‘wrong’ to wear them. (Huge generalizations but not unfair.) I am on immune suppressants and even without Covid circulating plague by viral and bacterial infections. The vaccine had little effect. So I masked in all public situations and could taste the disapproval, though Swedes rarely open conversations with strangers. It was almost like I was breaking the law. I was in the hospital in September ‘20 and NO one, nurses, doctors, patients, visitors, or the many construction and cleaning workers wore a mask. A different cultural dynamic than the mask-bans but the overall quasi heard immunity approach in Sweden resulted in so many deaths in nursing homes in the early phase and a reality that we in the risk group were on our own (and essentially need stay at home). Eerily echoing a more proactive policy of tour neighbor to the south in the time of the Third Reich.
Just for clarity, JD I am not a Swede to which ‘you’ is accurately applied. I am very much an American expat with dual citizenship by marriage who had overly estimate the enlightenment of this culture prior to our relocation from Maine. Long story short…many examples of bustable myths.
The Swedes are the fourth happiest country in the world, according to the latest World Happiness Survey. Other Scandinavian countries are #s 1, 2, and 3--despite the fricken cold! It's because they arrange their societies so that people don't have to worry about figuring out which medical insurance to provide--they get it from the govt. They don't have to worry about saving gobs of money to send their kids to college--education is free all the way through, and they don't have to worry about losing their homes. In other words, they are relieved of a lot of financial worries that plague a large percentage of Americans. The US is #23 on the happiness survey.
Yes, the Swedes blew it on how to deal with COVID. People make mistakes.
Okay, the education system at the university level…and the equivalent of trade schools…is a real example. I am not sure about the loosing your house but….the mortgages are usually lower interest rates than the US but it is a steep down payment system so you have an issue where the younger generations are having a hard time getting a house. Rents in the big cities is prohibitively high. On the health care system, well that is a huge trade off as the level of care is currently problematic almost countryside (a region by region responsibility) . Preventative care after childhood is …in the public system…nonexistent in our region, other than some tests like mammograms and paps with copays. Switzerland..often confused with Sweden…is supposed to have.one of the most functional public health systems; a description that many recent voters here would not describe their experience as being.
Welp.. we're clearly dealing with 'societal norms' here, so none of this is at all surprising. Human beings..., such a despicable lot!
How bout we change the subject away from un-called for annoyance with masks and have a conversation about 'service pets'. Particularly on airplanes and buses and the grocery store..., shall we? For me, I find it concerning that we have so many in-secure people running around freely amongst us. Aside from the fact that it's annoying to deal with some strangers idea of a 'clean' animal (whatever). Jusss sayin.
Sure. It's my understand that it's very easy go go on-line and print out an "official" thing say that your animal is a service animal. That needs to be cracked down on. Between "clean," people who have allergies, and the potential for a "service" animal to pee wherever, it's just - well, it's difficult. I am allergic to animals + I work in an auction house, where floors are often covered with valuable rugs.
Sadly, this "easy access" has to make it harder for people who truly do have service animals. I mean the people who physically NEED service animals that are trained to do their jobs.
Quite honestly, sounds like the whole idea of being "special" - putting yourself a bit higher on the scale than other people.
Come to think of it, that sounds really familiar, doesnt it?
Before retiring I worked in the operating room where of course masks were worn. If masks aren’t effective why did we all wear them to protect that patient on the table?
Here in California I haven’t heard of rules against masks. I still wear one in crowded spaces like Costco and theaters. I always see a few others doing the same. My son who had multiple myeloma died from respiratory failure. Before that he had a severe COVID infection.
His lungs never fully recovered from COVID so any cancer-related infections were more severe hence he became too weak for more chemotherapy to achieve remission.
Thank you again for sharing this. It’s important in this crazy world where facts are no longer guides for so many. May telling your story be some solace for you.
Jim, I'm with you on both counts! I will get my next vaccination/flu when I next have 3 days to lie in bed, sick. (We just bought a house, have to pay for it, have to move in, husband just had foot surgery ....) I often wear a mask when grocery shopping, or going into a cafe for coffee, and everyone's fine - BUT, I live in San Francisco.
With all the discussion these days about microplastics getting into the environment and into our bodies, I'm not sure plastic bags are the best places to put the masks. I have one or two hanging from my gear shift. If I'm walking around I often have one in a pocket.
Thank you for bringing this to light Ryan. The anti mask groups you are talking about are the epitome of cruelty and creeping fascism. They find joy in ridiculing and preventing people at risk for serious illness or death from protecting their health by wearing a mask. They make them an outsider or “other” to delegitimize their rights or their right to exist. Some are just dumb f***s that are still angry that they had to wear a mask for a nanosecond of their lives. Vote Blue!!
Thank you Ryan, Jim, Karen and all. I have an immune disorder and wear a mask when shopping. I have felt an increase in the stares and glares so much in the past six months that I want to write "IMMUNE DISORDER" on my masks. Instead I have limited my outings and order more products on-line. Seems like local stores would want to encourage my patronage of their businesses, as well as protect their own employees, with a "mask-friendly" policy and attitude.
I was in Trader Joe's yesterday. Masking is "trending" here for good reasons. Covid is everywhere. Everyone I talk to has either had it or knows someone who has.
True, it is less likely to send us into the hospital - but it could make us really sick. What a case of collective memory loss! How do millions of people forget how horrible Covid feels?
And to your point. My first reaction when I see someone with a mask is EMPATHY! My first thought is that the person is protecting him or herself for a REASON.
I don't doubt there is some memory loss, but it could be they have been taught to deny it because it was under Trump's watch. Ergo - never happened. We all know by now that actual facts will not penetrate their denial shields.
I had considered a similar outward explanation of my masking here. But it is almost self-stigmatizing. I really try to just do what I think is called for and not worry about what others think. No one is keeping distance anymore; boy, that common sense measure for any respiratory illness went out the door within a week of the declaration here that the pandemic was ‘over.’ And, even though Sweden is known for advancing vacation programs for less prosperous countries, it is very stingy now with COVID boosters in my opinion. We have never been offered any treatment, pre or post infection short of hospitalization when necessary. And the testing during the peak of the pandemic was bare minimum and very challenging to access for people in the rural area that I live in.
If wearing a mask is so freaking inconvenient - I guess these fine people would be ok with drs, nurses, anesthesiologists, - you know everyone in an operating room setting - just no longer wearing any masks or gloves - just doing their "thang" - you know, being an individual with an individual's freedoms!
To be honest, I just remember reading of some of these fine individuals back during the worst days of Covid and thinking: if your "liberty" is infringed upon by wearing a freaking mask - if THAT is what scares you? What Karen said!!!!! I agree.
The mask ban is the height of idiocy. Well, since they're banning books, discussion of slavery, abortions, voting rights, fact-checking, and policy to reverse climate change, they must have figured, "While we're at it, how about masks?" This belligerent ignorance is exhausting.
I think you're argument makes an unintended point. Having no strong support in their favor books have been burned and mask-wearing inhibited or not allowed. The people engaging in this effort are clearly misguided (ie, idiots), and not above using 'un-necessary force' when they deem necessary! These ARE the people we should be concerned with. And when it gets down to brass-tacks, they better stay out of my yard. In the meantime, ban automatic weapons, bump-stocks, and exploding pagers.
Back in the "olden" days - abstinence" worked fantastically well - remember? Plus now with the abortion bans - these pregnant teens (and others) will be forced to raise these children - how will that work when Florida as well as other states believe in birth, but not child care? I mean ANY care of children once they are born!
So, Frances, let's you and I come up with a method which works world-wide for personal identification. Facial recognition is a big deal presently.., and it's not working that well, particularly with societies where religion-aligned governments mandate head covering. How's that rule going to be worded? We're dealing with societal norms - not simple.
You’re right—there are so many factors to consider. i would go with the good old fashioned fingerprints and social security number. I don’t know if anything else would be better—DNA testing perhaps. I’ve read far too many dystopian sci fi novels, though, and the trope of an omniscient overseer still creeps me out. Facial recognition software feels like the beginning of the end for the human part of humanity. Don’t get me started on AI.
Frances, thank you for thinking about this. The 'logistics' of various ideas cause them to fall apart. Then, there's that invasive part of it you alluded to.. whew!! Good speaking with you. And it really is so fortunate we have this forum within which to roll our thoughts onto the table, for what they're worth.
Agreed. Thank you for writing on this topic so succinctly. It has been bothering me since I heard about this ban. I am in Illinois where the climate is more democratic and moderate leaning-so I am insulated from some of the repug legal nonsense in other states. Mask bans are fascist. I will use one if I feel others or I need it.
I wore one to see a doctor this week since I have heard the Covid cases in my town are increasing. But the dr. and staff were not. This is a small town in CA. where they closed the emergency part of the hospital due to short staff down with Covid just a few days before. To wear or not is one of our freedoms. Mask bans are Wrong!
Let's see.., Mask Bans are "fascist"? What about burning library books? Same people involved. The "mask bans" cannot hold up in a court of law. An individual facility can deny entry to anyone not wearing a mask. Wearing a mask, sunglasses, hats, hoodies, burkas? It's a free country. We've got some sick puppies in charge of things at the state and local level. The DOJ needs to wake them up. Soon, I would hope.
I wear a mask in public here in my senior apartment building. There have been three cases of Covid that I know of in this apartment building. I will be getting my latest Covid shot Wednesday along with my flu shot. I have always kept my shots up to date and so far have never caught Covid.
But another thought has occurred to me, Dr, McCormick, Halloween is 4 weeks from this Thursday, are the North Carolina police prepared to arrest all the little trick or treaters "prowling" the streets that evening? You never know if those little kids are secret Democrats
Surgical masks protect those around you if you are sick by limiting the range of how far your exhalations can spread virus particles. To protect yourself against others who are ill (masked or not) you need a properly fitted N-95 mask. You may already be aware of this, but I thought I'd throw that bit of info out there in case other readers aren't. Stay safe.
Me too, but I do eat in dining room when no Covid. Usually sit alone since I’ve never been a joiner. Did wear my tee that said “Make Racism Wrong Again.”
I love that Logo, Where is that tee available? They took our in house dining aay from us. in January 2022. When I moved in here July1, 2021 we were a Senior Independent Living Residence. The new owner decided that is not what they wanted, so first they discontinued daily wellness checks (which was one of 3 reasons I moved in here - I don't want to die in my apartment and no one knows for 3 or 4 days and my rotting body stinks up the place) Then we lost our manager - another f the reasons I moved in here, he was great and actually like old people. He left because he couldn't stand the changes they intended to make. Next went food service, followed by the 24/7 front desk and security service. So now we're just a plain apartment building.
And moving again is a challenge like few others. I moved here in Mar and it has been one disaster after another, but I will stay here if I can. But the foundation repair will be the next project. Tell God your plans and give him a good laugh. Lordy, you got screwed. They moved your situation and you are left hanging. Some women at the UU church I go to have agreed to a phone tree to check on people who live alone like I do. Except for two cats who are not good reporters of problems. Money is buying facilities like ours and making changes. (Cutting services.) My sis in VA is having the same experience.
I bought my tee online several years ago. It is pretty worn so I will take a pic of the front and have another one made. Did that with a cat tee and it turned out great. If I had your email I’d send pic to you. I’ve had positive comments, even in red Texas. Urban areas are purple. But the cheating is world class. We can’t let the cretins win…
I live in the "country" - dont socialize much anymore - lost quite a few friends over the past years (not all from covid). Just got the covid booster - will get the flu shot next week or so. I dont want to jinx myself, but managed not to get covid altho my kids and grandkids did. I think the whole staying away from most people made the difference!
Like a lot of us here, this "socialization" makes up for it.
Thank you, Ryan, for expounding on this topic of mask bans and naming it for the slippery slope to fascism that it is. I rely on your highly informed common sense advice to help me navigate the world of politically motivated medical misinformation. My little corner of this world is as a provider of gender affirming care, and here at the international symposium of WPATH in Lisbon, we are struggling to strategize the fight against the spread of misinformation about gender dysphoria and medically necessary treatments.
Thank you for your thoughtful, well written words. As an older retired nurse, I share your opinions and welcome your words. It’s as individual as a woman’s right to choose, and an individuals right to read written books, and I could elaborate. The time for mask bans and Covid deaths to the tune of loss of a million more is stupid, careless act and not built on science. After you die from disease or cancer or exposure is not the time to wonder maybe I should have listened to the scientific evidence about masks. I worry about what is happening and the direction we are headed. Vote, wear your mask to the polling place but vote! It’s a right we cannot ignore. I did yesterday. And go get your Fall immunizations. The uptick is starting for respiratory illnesses.
Thank you for supporting the cause of infection control,Dr McCormick.
Thank-you, Ryan. In reality, mask bans trample on individual liberties, force the burden of managing the pandemic on those most vulnerable to it, and dismiss the last 4+ years of public health expertise - gained at some cost, I might add.
You are correct in saying mask bans are more about control of 'the other' through coercion than about freedom, ideology, science, or even votes. It is weird, divisive, and un-american.
That’s absolute insanity. People have medical reasons to wear a mask other than Covid. Before Covid, I worked in a small natural foods store. A woman used to come in there regularly always wearing a surgical mask. As this was before Covid, almost no one else wore masks. She never volunteered any conversation so I just assumed she had a medical condition probably that affected her immune system that she had to be cautious about.
Are they going to ban inhalers? Or canes? Or any other kind of medical tool?
They never look in the mirror and see themselves as we see them. The treasonous trio in Texas is as fascist as one gets. I hope the fever breaks while I’m still around to breath
Our Primary Care Physician has never stopped wearing a mask. I believe she is under 40. She is the finest doctor we have ever experienced. She has two young kids at home. Maybe she would prefer to not bring home the ailments she treats? Maybe she would like to protect her (many older) patients from the myriad "bugs" her kids will get at school? Oh, wait, maybe she would prefer not to carry "bugs" from patient to patient? Duh?!
Whatever the reason, she has the facts of medicine. We are her students, so to speak.
In our region, Covid is on the rise. More and more people are wearing masks in the stores. Banning masks not only defies science and logic. It is stupid.
Good Lord, what evil is on the loose among us. Proud and not hid like the KKK cretins were. The only time I actually listened to Rush Limbaugh (trapped at a gas station), he disparaged liberals with every breath. He may be gone but his evil spread worse than cancer. Thank you, was not aware that people are still so berserk about masks
JD, my R father listened to Rush and he wanted to know if I did too. He got a resounding no and then wondered, although he knew my politics, why not. I said we were 180 degrees a part. Still wonder what he would have made of death star since he had a thing about criminal behavior. I have a feeling that R criminals would have been OK. We now wear a mask when we grocery shop.
Well, Michele 'they' are hopeless. The (r)ss-holes believe the "charges" have all been trummpd-dupp and that that smiling-sack-of ---t isn't guilty of any of it. So, they're very content with that (narrative). However, fueling their bandwagon are those 'cases' which do get thrown out.., legitimately. Those hurt.
There is a cruel, ignorant and dangerous part of the population in this country. They have always been part of us, from slave owners to wife and child beaters and animal abusers. Now they have been given permission to openly express themselves, following the example of their lord and master Trump. I just watched the movie “The Sixth” on prime Video. They are in action, on camera, for all to see. Frightening and sad.
After a deadly pandemic in Japan many people continue wearing a mask when they don’t feel well so that they do not get others ill. This is not political. It’s kind
It is important to clarify Ryan's statement about masks in NC, where I reside. I have shortened the AP url for easy access: https://tinyurl.com/APNewsreNCMasks
A law WAS passed on June 27, 2024, after much contention. Roy Cooper vetoed it because it is considered an affront to first amendment rights to free speech. HOWEVER, it had been amended to ensure a medical exemption for masks. They MAY be worn (which I do routinely in public groups indoors because of the uptick, despite being fully vaccinated, and always on airplanes). The amendment also provides for law enforcement to ask anyone to temporarily show face if the circumstances deem it appropriate.
The psycho in the auto repair in Raleigh was not only egregious and disgusting, he was wrong. And, of course, that comes from the environment created by legislation banning masks, despite any exceptions.
Helen, yes they do. I have been seeing pictures of the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. Yet in some of those states, there are laws forbidding using climate and the increasing power of storms in determining where and what is built.
And thank you, Heather, for that terrific conversation at the Cap Times Ideas Fest. I was writing postcards as I listened to it, and I thought it was a wonderful talk, a great synthesis of your recent letters, and I sent the link to my activist friends. I especially appreciated your explanation that the American people have been in an abusive relationship with the Republican party, but that now with Kamala as our voice, we're waking up and starting to push back against them. Thanks for your optimism and your daily encouragement.
I just finished watching and listening to this one hour plus program. It was EXCELLENT and I am very grateful to you, Susan, for posting the link. HCR is as good speaking off the cuff as she is in writing letters and it gave me a deeper insight into what makes her tick.
I love this Heather! That is a gift the two of you have. He saw the opportunity to stop his work and capture the moment, and you saw the beauty and understood it.
While we obviously are diametrically opposed in our political views, please know that each of you are important to me, and I love you.
Up until the Trump Administration, our country has had a three branch system of Executive, Legislative,and Judicial organizations that were set up by the country’s founders to balance the potential for abuse of power. You learned this just as I did in Civics in High School. However, now with Trump out of office and yet he controls the House of Representatives in Mike Johnson and other MAGA Republicans to quell such things as the bipartisan border bill, because passage of the bill would have hurt Trump’s election chances, that changes the three-branch balance of power such that a future abuse of power by Trump would be difficult to impossible to impeach.
My concern is that Trump, if elected, would implement Project 2025, initiated by The Heritage Foundation and endorsed by Trump. He has since backed off discussing or supporting Project 2025, although I believe he still intends to implement it. When those massive societal changes take place and you are shocked at how those changes negatively affect you, how will you, or anybody else fix it? Trump will be invincible and nothing short of an armed revolution will remove him from office. However, he has already talked about using the military to take revenge on his political enemies here in America so an armed revolt by citizens is essentially out!
A perfect example of how Trump has changed the balance of power is his appointments to the Supreme Court. In the vetting process of each of his three Supreme Court nominees, each of them lied in Congress regarding Roe vs Wade, saying that Roe was “settled law”. Now the Supreme Court has given Trump a pass on his responsibility as things a President does while in office.
Trump has said he will have the Ukraine conflict resolved in 24 hours. Well, the only way that could happen is that he gives Ukraine to Putin. He has a bone to pick with Zelenskyy because Zelenskyy threw him under the bus when Trump tried to have Zelenskyy lie about Biden. We know how Trump takes revenge on people who cross him. Can you live with Putin taking over Ukraine, then moving on Europe?
I know that you are feeling like you are worse off today than when Trump was in office, but while you are blaming the costs of goods and services on inflation and the Biden administration, take a good look at the fact that the high prices we all are encountering are corporate greed and result in huge profits and high CEO salaries and bonuses.
A Trump presidency will not bode well for America, and each of us will suffer. Most of the people (“we only hire the best people”) that Trump had in his administration who either resigned or were fired by Trump have endorsed Harris, saying another Trump Presidency will be a disaster.
I love this, Jay. Problem is, with my MAGAt friends, they deny fpotus has anything to do with project 2025, there was nothing wrong with how the current $COTUS was seated, and they do not believe their high prices at the grocery store or the gas pump are due to greedflation, but blame Harris (now that Biden isn't running.) I cannot get any of them to acknowledge a single segment of this because it is counter to their "trusted sources."
Rupert pulled the rug out from under the United States of America and made us the Divided States of Amnesia. Deliberately and for profit. The cult is ignorant but they are also stupid, and there is no remedy for that…
Gorgeous - I have fond memories of camping in Maine when my wife and I were first married. If we ever return to the US it will either be someplace like this in Maine where Buddy takes his lovely pics, or the coast of Oregon. Thanks as always for your work.
Beautiful sunrise. I hope it forecasts a brighter day for all of us. Take time off. Your work has kept us informed, and put things in perspective. Yet, it’s be a long, exhausting struggle. The results are not yet clear, which to many of us is baffling. Another 40 days.
exhausting...agreed. And, it promises to be a chaotic winter, if the rational, sane candidate wins, as the irrational and increasingly demented candidate whips up his minions to pursue every manner of rear-guard action attempting to throw out the vote and let the current House majority call the winner. What does one do when already exhausted and the marathon is still miles from completion?
Heather, Buddy’s beautiful photo transports me back to the 1940s. We would sail from Marthas Vineyard to Maine, making initial landfall at Burnt Coat Cove south of Northeast. There we would pick up a bushel of lobsters (@$.25/pound), and boil them as we sailed on to Bar Harbor.
Once we anchored and our boat was ship shape, we relished the landscape and demolished the lobsters.
For those who are enthralled by the brilliance of Heather’s penetrating American historiography, I recommend MYTH AMERICA: HISTORIANS TAKE ON THE BIGGEST LEGENDS AND LIES ABOUT OUR PAST.
Diverse historians skewer hoary American shibboleths ranging from ‘American Exceptionalism’ and ‘America First’ to ‘American Socialism,’ and ‘Voter Fraud.’
I find this a delightful antidote to the blatherings of Dufus Donald and Cats-and-Dogs Vance.
In Myth America, Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer have assembled an all-star team of fellow historians to push back against this misinformation. The contributors debunk narratives that portray the New Deal and Great Society as failures, immigrants as hostile invaders, and feminists as anti-family warriors—among numerous other partisan lies. Based on a firm foundation of historical scholarship, their findings revitalize our understanding of American history.
Hul Thanks!This seems like a sequel to Jim Loewen’s 1995 LIES MY TEACHERS TAUGHT ME: WHAT’S WRONG IN AMERICAN TEXTBOOKS.
I took 30 copies of Jim’s book during my 1997 visits to Native American colleges to try to establish summer training institutes for teachers at these institutions. Obtaining cooperation from various tribal leaders proved beyond my competence.
May this beautiful sunrise foretell our collective future.
You and Buddy give us so much hope, thank you.
Reminds me of sunsets I contemplated in an old metal rowboat on the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina, with a bottle of wine and steamed crabs with Old Bay awaiting my return to shore!
Anyone up for an open mic/thread? Figure I’ll post something here about the mask bans in places like North Carolina, since they are yet another fascist tendency that uniquely impacts my world as a doctor with vulnerable patients.
Mask bans are very un-American.
America aspires to be the land of the free, where government does not claim dominion over our bodies, our family privacies, and our freedoms to protect and express ourselves.
And yet we teeter on the brink of fascism in many ways. Women’s bodies. Disenfranchisement. Propaganda. Anti-intellectualism. Division. Xenophobia.
Here’s a small example among the many: a bipartisan groupthink that scorns the mask as an inconvenient reminder of this truth - Covid is still a problem. And now we have a radical partisan attack upon the right to wear one, in flagrant conflict with science and public health.
An excellent primer on this subject was published by The Sick Times:
Mainstream media coverage of mask bans has given space for politicians’ false claims that masks are associated with wrong-doing, like crime and antisemitism, while overlooking that bans are, in many ways, an effort to suppress the reality of Covid-19. There are 21 states and numerous municipalities with laws against masks or disguises on the books. Both Republicans and Democrats are pushing more severe mask bans than ever before in history. Democrats are more likely to give lip service to health needs without offering meaningful protections. Masks can and will be criminalized by police regardless of the language of the law, as arrest trends follow social trends. Police are also permitted by the Supreme Court to make mistakes in enforcing laws.
Even in New Jersey (where I practice) a Republican state senator recently introduced a bill to ban masks. Of course it’s a bad idea, with lots of potential for cruelty. The Star-Ledger then published a good editorial calling such bans dumb and dangerous. A few choice quotes: “ …this is a superficial policy that quickly falls apart on the details, and presents a clear danger to civil liberties. Start with this basic question: What if a troublemaker simply decides to disguise his face with large sunglasses and a hat, instead? Are we going to criminalize sunglasses and hats, too? …this “overbroad and vague” bill “also gives law enforcement the ability to target people based on their political beliefs.” If Republicans are trying to send a message, a more sensible way to do it would be to increase the penalties for anyone committing a crime in disguise. Criminalizing masks won’t help.”
As the Washington Post reported: “The day after the North Carolina House of Representatives passed its anti-masking bill in June in response to pro-Palestinian protests at the University of North Carolina, Shari Stuart said a man confronted her for wearing a surgical mask when she walked into an auto service center in the Raleigh area to get an oil change. After she tried to explain that she has Stage 4 breast cancer and a weakened immune system, Stuart said, the man called her a ‘f---ing liberal’ and insisted masks were now illegal. He later coughed on her and said he hoped the cancer would kill her.”
That guy and his ilk are not only un-American, but something much worse.
Several underpinnings of mask bans are built upon fascist principles. From Jason Stanley’s How Fascism Works, we can see how these core elements of fascism underpin the arguments in favor of mask bans: delegitimize any source of resistance by characterizing it as an “other” or an “out group” to be scorned; offer new “truths” to supplant “facts”; divide people while undermining unity and notions of diversity; emphasize law and order to protect citizens from “undesirable” elements, violently if needed.
If you don’t want to wear a mask now, fine. I usually don’t except in higher risk situations like my work, or flying in planes during surges.
But anyone who would take that personal and public health tool away from those who choose to deploy it, here in the land of the free, should know they are marching in step with a fascist agenda.
Recall that it’s less about banning the actual mask than it is about forcing an ideology - that Covid is all good now. That scientists and intellectuals and vulnerable people present an uncomfortable reality, so let's turn on them.
He later coughed on her and said he hoped the cancer would kill her.
The red pill is the one that uncovers the unsettling, actual truth.
Keep taking it.
Just got my 8th vaccination and Flu shot this morning. Always have a mask or two on me in a plastic bag, and will put it on if others are masked and look uncomfortable around unmasked people.
I feel worst about all the healthcare workers we lost, and the ones that still stayed though going to extreme lengths to protect their families from the consequences of the risks they took to help even the most resistant patients that need not have allowed themselves to become infected.
This thread reminds me of a thread in yesterday’s discussion about the P25 plan to target FEMA and NOAA and the Tennessee governor’s fast and pray, rapture is around the bend. It an us v them and anti science slash and burn approach, shared by the legislatures enacting such bans and the people spitting on vulnerable people for trying to protect themselves (and others btw). I experienced and will again experience a version of the mask ban in Sweden, where the health minister decided to buck the international trend towards mask mandates and the citizens took it as a sort of gospel that it was ‘wrong’ to wear them. (Huge generalizations but not unfair.) I am on immune suppressants and even without Covid circulating plague by viral and bacterial infections. The vaccine had little effect. So I masked in all public situations and could taste the disapproval, though Swedes rarely open conversations with strangers. It was almost like I was breaking the law. I was in the hospital in September ‘20 and NO one, nurses, doctors, patients, visitors, or the many construction and cleaning workers wore a mask. A different cultural dynamic than the mask-bans but the overall quasi heard immunity approach in Sweden resulted in so many deaths in nursing homes in the early phase and a reality that we in the risk group were on our own (and essentially need stay at home). Eerily echoing a more proactive policy of tour neighbor to the south in the time of the Third Reich.
Damn, I thought you (Swedes) were smarter than the average bear. I used to think Americans were common sense types, now it’s rare as hen’s teeth…
Just for clarity, JD I am not a Swede to which ‘you’ is accurately applied. I am very much an American expat with dual citizenship by marriage who had overly estimate the enlightenment of this culture prior to our relocation from Maine. Long story short…many examples of bustable myths.
The Swedes are the fourth happiest country in the world, according to the latest World Happiness Survey. Other Scandinavian countries are #s 1, 2, and 3--despite the fricken cold! It's because they arrange their societies so that people don't have to worry about figuring out which medical insurance to provide--they get it from the govt. They don't have to worry about saving gobs of money to send their kids to college--education is free all the way through, and they don't have to worry about losing their homes. In other words, they are relieved of a lot of financial worries that plague a large percentage of Americans. The US is #23 on the happiness survey.
Yes, the Swedes blew it on how to deal with COVID. People make mistakes.
Okay, the education system at the university level…and the equivalent of trade schools…is a real example. I am not sure about the loosing your house but….the mortgages are usually lower interest rates than the US but it is a steep down payment system so you have an issue where the younger generations are having a hard time getting a house. Rents in the big cities is prohibitively high. On the health care system, well that is a huge trade off as the level of care is currently problematic almost countryside (a region by region responsibility) . Preventative care after childhood is …in the public system…nonexistent in our region, other than some tests like mammograms and paps with copays. Switzerland..often confused with Sweden…is supposed to have.one of the most functional public health systems; a description that many recent voters here would not describe their experience as being.
Damn, it’s not just America that falls short and disappoints. Hopefully you don’t have such a percentage of outright nuts.
I'm so sorry ....
Welp.. we're clearly dealing with 'societal norms' here, so none of this is at all surprising. Human beings..., such a despicable lot!
How bout we change the subject away from un-called for annoyance with masks and have a conversation about 'service pets'. Particularly on airplanes and buses and the grocery store..., shall we? For me, I find it concerning that we have so many in-secure people running around freely amongst us. Aside from the fact that it's annoying to deal with some strangers idea of a 'clean' animal (whatever). Jusss sayin.
As an animal lover and owner of two pups I wholeheartedly agree!
Sure. It's my understand that it's very easy go go on-line and print out an "official" thing say that your animal is a service animal. That needs to be cracked down on. Between "clean," people who have allergies, and the potential for a "service" animal to pee wherever, it's just - well, it's difficult. I am allergic to animals + I work in an auction house, where floors are often covered with valuable rugs.
Sadly, this "easy access" has to make it harder for people who truly do have service animals. I mean the people who physically NEED service animals that are trained to do their jobs.
Quite honestly, sounds like the whole idea of being "special" - putting yourself a bit higher on the scale than other people.
Come to think of it, that sounds really familiar, doesnt it?
Right: what you said.
Thank you Jim🩷
Thank you, Karen!
Before retiring I worked in the operating room where of course masks were worn. If masks aren’t effective why did we all wear them to protect that patient on the table?
Here in California I haven’t heard of rules against masks. I still wear one in crowded spaces like Costco and theaters. I always see a few others doing the same. My son who had multiple myeloma died from respiratory failure. Before that he had a severe COVID infection.
It’s the personal stories like yours which, piled on each other, are the most convincing. Sadly, science is reduced to myth by too many.
Laura, I'm so sorry for your loss; it sounds like it might have been linked to covid infection?
His lungs never fully recovered from COVID so any cancer-related infections were more severe hence he became too weak for more chemotherapy to achieve remission.
Thank you again for sharing this. It’s important in this crazy world where facts are no longer guides for so many. May telling your story be some solace for you.
That's so sad ......
Jim, I'm with you on both counts! I will get my next vaccination/flu when I next have 3 days to lie in bed, sick. (We just bought a house, have to pay for it, have to move in, husband just had foot surgery ....) I often wear a mask when grocery shopping, or going into a cafe for coffee, and everyone's fine - BUT, I live in San Francisco.
With all the discussion these days about microplastics getting into the environment and into our bodies, I'm not sure plastic bags are the best places to put the masks. I have one or two hanging from my gear shift. If I'm walking around I often have one in a pocket.
Interesting point! Thanks.
You're welcome!
Thank you for bringing this to light Ryan. The anti mask groups you are talking about are the epitome of cruelty and creeping fascism. They find joy in ridiculing and preventing people at risk for serious illness or death from protecting their health by wearing a mask. They make them an outsider or “other” to delegitimize their rights or their right to exist. Some are just dumb f***s that are still angry that they had to wear a mask for a nanosecond of their lives. Vote Blue!!
Thank you Ryan, Jim, Karen and all. I have an immune disorder and wear a mask when shopping. I have felt an increase in the stares and glares so much in the past six months that I want to write "IMMUNE DISORDER" on my masks. Instead I have limited my outings and order more products on-line. Seems like local stores would want to encourage my patronage of their businesses, as well as protect their own employees, with a "mask-friendly" policy and attitude.
I was in Trader Joe's yesterday. Masking is "trending" here for good reasons. Covid is everywhere. Everyone I talk to has either had it or knows someone who has.
True, it is less likely to send us into the hospital - but it could make us really sick. What a case of collective memory loss! How do millions of people forget how horrible Covid feels?
And to your point. My first reaction when I see someone with a mask is EMPATHY! My first thought is that the person is protecting him or herself for a REASON.
It is so interesting you write this Bill. Trader Joe's in Hanover Ma is the one place I notice a lot of us masked too including some of the staff!
Just shows you where the smart people shop!
Here in SF I see masks in various places (I'm always conscious of that), and think, good for you!
I think the collective memory loss is why so many plan on voting for trump.
I don't doubt there is some memory loss, but it could be they have been taught to deny it because it was under Trump's watch. Ergo - never happened. We all know by now that actual facts will not penetrate their denial shields.
I had considered a similar outward explanation of my masking here. But it is almost self-stigmatizing. I really try to just do what I think is called for and not worry about what others think. No one is keeping distance anymore; boy, that common sense measure for any respiratory illness went out the door within a week of the declaration here that the pandemic was ‘over.’ And, even though Sweden is known for advancing vacation programs for less prosperous countries, it is very stingy now with COVID boosters in my opinion. We have never been offered any treatment, pre or post infection short of hospitalization when necessary. And the testing during the peak of the pandemic was bare minimum and very challenging to access for people in the rural area that I live in.
No explanation needed if one has even half a brain
You would think, how low the cretins have taken us.
Yes - exactly. Makes you wonder if other countries looked at that idiocy - well, that bit plus all the other current cretin induced idiocies, I guess.
They are worried that the MAGAts are a majority. They are not but the cheating is so ubiquitous with no pushback when the cheaters rule
Yes.
If wearing a mask is so freaking inconvenient - I guess these fine people would be ok with drs, nurses, anesthesiologists, - you know everyone in an operating room setting - just no longer wearing any masks or gloves - just doing their "thang" - you know, being an individual with an individual's freedoms!
To be honest, I just remember reading of some of these fine individuals back during the worst days of Covid and thinking: if your "liberty" is infringed upon by wearing a freaking mask - if THAT is what scares you? What Karen said!!!!! I agree.
The mask ban is the height of idiocy. Well, since they're banning books, discussion of slavery, abortions, voting rights, fact-checking, and policy to reverse climate change, they must have figured, "While we're at it, how about masks?" This belligerent ignorance is exhausting.
And it has been said before - with all the idiotic bans, like for masks and books, why not ban GUNS?
…or at least ban certain types of guns and weapons - those intended for war!?!?!
Oh for shame, we value life, but only zygotes who can’t vote
Good question.
I think you're argument makes an unintended point. Having no strong support in their favor books have been burned and mask-wearing inhibited or not allowed. The people engaging in this effort are clearly misguided (ie, idiots), and not above using 'un-necessary force' when they deem necessary! These ARE the people we should be concerned with. And when it gets down to brass-tacks, they better stay out of my yard. In the meantime, ban automatic weapons, bump-stocks, and exploding pagers.
Definitely guns !
Belligerent ignorance, indeed! Thank you for that phrase.
I bet between us we could come up with more :-D
Also banning instruction on contraception and consent in sex ed classes.
https://popular.info/p/florida-bans-instruction-on-contraception
Unreal the license the nuts have taken. Over all of us.
Back in the "olden" days - abstinence" worked fantastically well - remember? Plus now with the abortion bans - these pregnant teens (and others) will be forced to raise these children - how will that work when Florida as well as other states believe in birth, but not child care? I mean ANY care of children once they are born!
It’s like 1984—In the ministry of Sex Ed they would just teach you how to say yes to your husband and give birth to laborers.
Belligerent ignorance is as bad as gross stupidity. Or just call it evil, weaponized and proud
I like that term; I believe it is better than mine of "willful ignorance".
I stole “weaponized ignorance” from somebody on T years ago. Still fits.
So, Frances, let's you and I come up with a method which works world-wide for personal identification. Facial recognition is a big deal presently.., and it's not working that well, particularly with societies where religion-aligned governments mandate head covering. How's that rule going to be worded? We're dealing with societal norms - not simple.
You’re right—there are so many factors to consider. i would go with the good old fashioned fingerprints and social security number. I don’t know if anything else would be better—DNA testing perhaps. I’ve read far too many dystopian sci fi novels, though, and the trope of an omniscient overseer still creeps me out. Facial recognition software feels like the beginning of the end for the human part of humanity. Don’t get me started on AI.
Frances, thank you for thinking about this. The 'logistics' of various ideas cause them to fall apart. Then, there's that invasive part of it you alluded to.. whew!! Good speaking with you. And it really is so fortunate we have this forum within which to roll our thoughts onto the table, for what they're worth.
Agreed. Thank you for writing on this topic so succinctly. It has been bothering me since I heard about this ban. I am in Illinois where the climate is more democratic and moderate leaning-so I am insulated from some of the repug legal nonsense in other states. Mask bans are fascist. I will use one if I feel others or I need it.
I wore one to see a doctor this week since I have heard the Covid cases in my town are increasing. But the dr. and staff were not. This is a small town in CA. where they closed the emergency part of the hospital due to short staff down with Covid just a few days before. To wear or not is one of our freedoms. Mask bans are Wrong!
My doc wore one last week. Was glad to see it
Let's see.., Mask Bans are "fascist"? What about burning library books? Same people involved. The "mask bans" cannot hold up in a court of law. An individual facility can deny entry to anyone not wearing a mask. Wearing a mask, sunglasses, hats, hoodies, burkas? It's a free country. We've got some sick puppies in charge of things at the state and local level. The DOJ needs to wake them up. Soon, I would hope.
Yes- any of the ridiculous bans -books!? Real history?! bodily autonomy?! The list does go on…
BUT no bans on guns of any kind! We dont want our kids to have an actual education, but then far too many wont even make it thru a school day.
I wear a mask in public here in my senior apartment building. There have been three cases of Covid that I know of in this apartment building. I will be getting my latest Covid shot Wednesday along with my flu shot. I have always kept my shots up to date and so far have never caught Covid.
But another thought has occurred to me, Dr, McCormick, Halloween is 4 weeks from this Thursday, are the North Carolina police prepared to arrest all the little trick or treaters "prowling" the streets that evening? You never know if those little kids are secret Democrats
Surgical masks protect those around you if you are sick by limiting the range of how far your exhalations can spread virus particles. To protect yourself against others who are ill (masked or not) you need a properly fitted N-95 mask. You may already be aware of this, but I thought I'd throw that bit of info out there in case other readers aren't. Stay safe.
Thanks Steve I do have N 95 masks. But mostly I stay in my apartment and don't mingle with the residents
Me too, but I do eat in dining room when no Covid. Usually sit alone since I’ve never been a joiner. Did wear my tee that said “Make Racism Wrong Again.”
Jeri, you are my hero.
Nah, just really sick of stupid.
I love that Logo, Where is that tee available? They took our in house dining aay from us. in January 2022. When I moved in here July1, 2021 we were a Senior Independent Living Residence. The new owner decided that is not what they wanted, so first they discontinued daily wellness checks (which was one of 3 reasons I moved in here - I don't want to die in my apartment and no one knows for 3 or 4 days and my rotting body stinks up the place) Then we lost our manager - another f the reasons I moved in here, he was great and actually like old people. He left because he couldn't stand the changes they intended to make. Next went food service, followed by the 24/7 front desk and security service. So now we're just a plain apartment building.
And moving again is a challenge like few others. I moved here in Mar and it has been one disaster after another, but I will stay here if I can. But the foundation repair will be the next project. Tell God your plans and give him a good laugh. Lordy, you got screwed. They moved your situation and you are left hanging. Some women at the UU church I go to have agreed to a phone tree to check on people who live alone like I do. Except for two cats who are not good reporters of problems. Money is buying facilities like ours and making changes. (Cutting services.) My sis in VA is having the same experience.
I bought my tee online several years ago. It is pretty worn so I will take a pic of the front and have another one made. Did that with a cat tee and it turned out great. If I had your email I’d send pic to you. I’ve had positive comments, even in red Texas. Urban areas are purple. But the cheating is world class. We can’t let the cretins win…
I live in the "country" - dont socialize much anymore - lost quite a few friends over the past years (not all from covid). Just got the covid booster - will get the flu shot next week or so. I dont want to jinx myself, but managed not to get covid altho my kids and grandkids did. I think the whole staying away from most people made the difference!
Like a lot of us here, this "socialization" makes up for it.
Indeed, so much loss, but still so many who haven’t drunk the kool aid
Well-fitted KF-94s work well too. They have for me the past 4+ years.
Yo.. Fay! Ad infinitum.
Thank you, Ryan, for expounding on this topic of mask bans and naming it for the slippery slope to fascism that it is. I rely on your highly informed common sense advice to help me navigate the world of politically motivated medical misinformation. My little corner of this world is as a provider of gender affirming care, and here at the international symposium of WPATH in Lisbon, we are struggling to strategize the fight against the spread of misinformation about gender dysphoria and medically necessary treatments.
Thank you for your thoughtful, well written words. As an older retired nurse, I share your opinions and welcome your words. It’s as individual as a woman’s right to choose, and an individuals right to read written books, and I could elaborate. The time for mask bans and Covid deaths to the tune of loss of a million more is stupid, careless act and not built on science. After you die from disease or cancer or exposure is not the time to wonder maybe I should have listened to the scientific evidence about masks. I worry about what is happening and the direction we are headed. Vote, wear your mask to the polling place but vote! It’s a right we cannot ignore. I did yesterday. And go get your Fall immunizations. The uptick is starting for respiratory illnesses.
Thank you for supporting the cause of infection control,Dr McCormick.
Thank-you, Ryan. In reality, mask bans trample on individual liberties, force the burden of managing the pandemic on those most vulnerable to it, and dismiss the last 4+ years of public health expertise - gained at some cost, I might add.
You are correct in saying mask bans are more about control of 'the other' through coercion than about freedom, ideology, science, or even votes. It is weird, divisive, and un-american.
That’s absolute insanity. People have medical reasons to wear a mask other than Covid. Before Covid, I worked in a small natural foods store. A woman used to come in there regularly always wearing a surgical mask. As this was before Covid, almost no one else wore masks. She never volunteered any conversation so I just assumed she had a medical condition probably that affected her immune system that she had to be cautious about.
Are they going to ban inhalers? Or canes? Or any other kind of medical tool?
They never look in the mirror and see themselves as we see them. The treasonous trio in Texas is as fascist as one gets. I hope the fever breaks while I’m still around to breath
It's every bit as bad here in Ohio, although our group of grifters are a little more subtle than your Texas trio.
Our Texas trio is in your face evil and proud of it. Not a subtle bone in any Repub in this state.
Our Primary Care Physician has never stopped wearing a mask. I believe she is under 40. She is the finest doctor we have ever experienced. She has two young kids at home. Maybe she would prefer to not bring home the ailments she treats? Maybe she would like to protect her (many older) patients from the myriad "bugs" her kids will get at school? Oh, wait, maybe she would prefer not to carry "bugs" from patient to patient? Duh?!
Whatever the reason, she has the facts of medicine. We are her students, so to speak.
In our region, Covid is on the rise. More and more people are wearing masks in the stores. Banning masks not only defies science and logic. It is stupid.
And weird!!
Good Lord, what evil is on the loose among us. Proud and not hid like the KKK cretins were. The only time I actually listened to Rush Limbaugh (trapped at a gas station), he disparaged liberals with every breath. He may be gone but his evil spread worse than cancer. Thank you, was not aware that people are still so berserk about masks
JD, my R father listened to Rush and he wanted to know if I did too. He got a resounding no and then wondered, although he knew my politics, why not. I said we were 180 degrees a part. Still wonder what he would have made of death star since he had a thing about criminal behavior. I have a feeling that R criminals would have been OK. We now wear a mask when we grocery shop.
Well, Michele 'they' are hopeless. The (r)ss-holes believe the "charges" have all been trummpd-dupp and that that smiling-sack-of ---t isn't guilty of any of it. So, they're very content with that (narrative). However, fueling their bandwagon are those 'cases' which do get thrown out.., legitimately. Those hurt.
My B-I-l blathered Rush crap to me for awhile. He finally gave up and considered me a hopeless liberal. I considered him a phony Christian
Thankfully, my dad was not really a Christian, phony or otherwise.
Way too many are in for a surprise. I likely know more about that the Gospels say than most magats
There is a cruel, ignorant and dangerous part of the population in this country. They have always been part of us, from slave owners to wife and child beaters and animal abusers. Now they have been given permission to openly express themselves, following the example of their lord and master Trump. I just watched the movie “The Sixth” on prime Video. They are in action, on camera, for all to see. Frightening and sad.
After a deadly pandemic in Japan many people continue wearing a mask when they don’t feel well so that they do not get others ill. This is not political. It’s kind
It is important to clarify Ryan's statement about masks in NC, where I reside. I have shortened the AP url for easy access: https://tinyurl.com/APNewsreNCMasks
A law WAS passed on June 27, 2024, after much contention. Roy Cooper vetoed it because it is considered an affront to first amendment rights to free speech. HOWEVER, it had been amended to ensure a medical exemption for masks. They MAY be worn (which I do routinely in public groups indoors because of the uptick, despite being fully vaccinated, and always on airplanes). The amendment also provides for law enforcement to ask anyone to temporarily show face if the circumstances deem it appropriate.
The psycho in the auto repair in Raleigh was not only egregious and disgusting, he was wrong. And, of course, that comes from the environment created by legislation banning masks, despite any exceptions.
Ryan, I can’t believe it has come to this. I really feel the MAGAs have taken away our rights and actively try to ignore science and health.
Helen, yes they do. I have been seeing pictures of the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. Yet in some of those states, there are laws forbidding using climate and the increasing power of storms in determining where and what is built.
Thank you, Ryan.
It’s simply lovely. Tell Buddy thanks from me and have a good rest. See you tomorrow.
Another gorgeous shot. Thank you, Buddy!
And thank you, Heather, for that terrific conversation at the Cap Times Ideas Fest. I was writing postcards as I listened to it, and I thought it was a wonderful talk, a great synthesis of your recent letters, and I sent the link to my activist friends. I especially appreciated your explanation that the American people have been in an abusive relationship with the Republican party, but that now with Kamala as our voice, we're waking up and starting to push back against them. Thanks for your optimism and your daily encouragement.
I must have missed the link. It sounds like an interesting talk. Could you please share it here?
https://captimesideafest.com/one-on-one-with-heather-cox-richardson/
Thanks, Susan!
Morning, Lynell! I was about to ask for the link myself!
Hey, Ally! HCR was top notch on this "Idea Fest" interview.
Hope all is well on your end!
I just finished watching and listening to this one hour plus program. It was EXCELLENT and I am very grateful to you, Susan, for posting the link. HCR is as good speaking off the cuff as she is in writing letters and it gave me a deeper insight into what makes her tick.
Thanks!
Says I need to sign in. Drat!
Found it on YouTube!
Double thanks!
Thank you
I’m pleased you mentioned the Cap Times Ideas Fest as it led to the posting of the link below which I followed up with. Cheers!
I am so glad Buddy takes pictures while he’s working on the water.
I love reading your letters. And I love seeing what Buddy sees. You are a great twosome!
such a beautiful picture. The softness of the sunrise and the glorious colors juxtaposed with the straight lines and black color if the lobster traps.
I love this Heather! That is a gift the two of you have. He saw the opportunity to stop his work and capture the moment, and you saw the beauty and understood it.
Beautifully put!
Lovely. Thank you, Heather - and Buddy.
To my MAGA friends:
While we obviously are diametrically opposed in our political views, please know that each of you are important to me, and I love you.
Up until the Trump Administration, our country has had a three branch system of Executive, Legislative,and Judicial organizations that were set up by the country’s founders to balance the potential for abuse of power. You learned this just as I did in Civics in High School. However, now with Trump out of office and yet he controls the House of Representatives in Mike Johnson and other MAGA Republicans to quell such things as the bipartisan border bill, because passage of the bill would have hurt Trump’s election chances, that changes the three-branch balance of power such that a future abuse of power by Trump would be difficult to impossible to impeach.
My concern is that Trump, if elected, would implement Project 2025, initiated by The Heritage Foundation and endorsed by Trump. He has since backed off discussing or supporting Project 2025, although I believe he still intends to implement it. When those massive societal changes take place and you are shocked at how those changes negatively affect you, how will you, or anybody else fix it? Trump will be invincible and nothing short of an armed revolution will remove him from office. However, he has already talked about using the military to take revenge on his political enemies here in America so an armed revolt by citizens is essentially out!
A perfect example of how Trump has changed the balance of power is his appointments to the Supreme Court. In the vetting process of each of his three Supreme Court nominees, each of them lied in Congress regarding Roe vs Wade, saying that Roe was “settled law”. Now the Supreme Court has given Trump a pass on his responsibility as things a President does while in office.
Trump has said he will have the Ukraine conflict resolved in 24 hours. Well, the only way that could happen is that he gives Ukraine to Putin. He has a bone to pick with Zelenskyy because Zelenskyy threw him under the bus when Trump tried to have Zelenskyy lie about Biden. We know how Trump takes revenge on people who cross him. Can you live with Putin taking over Ukraine, then moving on Europe?
I know that you are feeling like you are worse off today than when Trump was in office, but while you are blaming the costs of goods and services on inflation and the Biden administration, take a good look at the fact that the high prices we all are encountering are corporate greed and result in huge profits and high CEO salaries and bonuses.
A Trump presidency will not bode well for America, and each of us will suffer. Most of the people (“we only hire the best people”) that Trump had in his administration who either resigned or were fired by Trump have endorsed Harris, saying another Trump Presidency will be a disaster.
VOTE BLUE
I hope your MAGA friends listen. Wish mine would hear your voice
Agreed. Mine won't.
Somebody said that it’s easier to fool somebody than to prove to them that they have been fooled. Should be etched on every cult nuts forehead.
Mine haven’t.
All of my Harris supporting friends have agreed with what I wrote. None of my MAGA friends have responded.😪
They will watch Fox lie til the cows come home, and feel so superior that they know the truth. Propaganda is surely as Orwell described.
I love this, Jay. Problem is, with my MAGAt friends, they deny fpotus has anything to do with project 2025, there was nothing wrong with how the current $COTUS was seated, and they do not believe their high prices at the grocery store or the gas pump are due to greedflation, but blame Harris (now that Biden isn't running.) I cannot get any of them to acknowledge a single segment of this because it is counter to their "trusted sources."
Rupert pulled the rug out from under the United States of America and made us the Divided States of Amnesia. Deliberately and for profit. The cult is ignorant but they are also stupid, and there is no remedy for that…
Similar situation with my MAGA friends.
Gorgeous - I have fond memories of camping in Maine when my wife and I were first married. If we ever return to the US it will either be someplace like this in Maine where Buddy takes his lovely pics, or the coast of Oregon. Thanks as always for your work.
A moment to celebrate being alive
Beautiful sunrise. I hope it forecasts a brighter day for all of us. Take time off. Your work has kept us informed, and put things in perspective. Yet, it’s be a long, exhausting struggle. The results are not yet clear, which to many of us is baffling. Another 40 days.
exhausting...agreed. And, it promises to be a chaotic winter, if the rational, sane candidate wins, as the irrational and increasingly demented candidate whips up his minions to pursue every manner of rear-guard action attempting to throw out the vote and let the current House majority call the winner. What does one do when already exhausted and the marathon is still miles from completion?
Heather, Buddy’s beautiful photo transports me back to the 1940s. We would sail from Marthas Vineyard to Maine, making initial landfall at Burnt Coat Cove south of Northeast. There we would pick up a bushel of lobsters (@$.25/pound), and boil them as we sailed on to Bar Harbor.
Once we anchored and our boat was ship shape, we relished the landscape and demolished the lobsters.
Buddy’s artistry triggers such lovely memories.
Love the beautiful Maine sunrise ❤️
For those who are enthralled by the brilliance of Heather’s penetrating American historiography, I recommend MYTH AMERICA: HISTORIANS TAKE ON THE BIGGEST LEGENDS AND LIES ABOUT OUR PAST.
Diverse historians skewer hoary American shibboleths ranging from ‘American Exceptionalism’ and ‘America First’ to ‘American Socialism,’ and ‘Voter Fraud.’
I find this a delightful antidote to the blatherings of Dufus Donald and Cats-and-Dogs Vance.
There are 20 succinct chapters.
https://www.amazon.com/Myth-America-Historians-Biggest-Legends/dp/1541604660/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=2V2TMTMD4NXWS&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.LQawpxiaGjmDLc2KVfEyt0nJl8GllEVfxcTEBl54qc3T__RqmAhzZQVLSSZytr1XK7SEoK9ABmGcegeU-zMwpQ.CSuWlDkuJHsAk6jOrJ_i3wwXcEJ0wMQjLJnsKyngFLk&dib_tag=se&keywords=MYTH+AMERICA%3A+HISTORIANS+TAKE+ON+THE+BIGGEST+LEGENDS+AND+LIES+ABOUT+OUR+PAST&qid=1727602693&sprefix=myth+america+historians+take+on+the+biggest+legends+and+lies+about+our+past%2Caps%2C171&sr=8-1
In Myth America, Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer have assembled an all-star team of fellow historians to push back against this misinformation. The contributors debunk narratives that portray the New Deal and Great Society as failures, immigrants as hostile invaders, and feminists as anti-family warriors—among numerous other partisan lies. Based on a firm foundation of historical scholarship, their findings revitalize our understanding of American history.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Hul Thanks!This seems like a sequel to Jim Loewen’s 1995 LIES MY TEACHERS TAUGHT ME: WHAT’S WRONG IN AMERICAN TEXTBOOKS.
I took 30 copies of Jim’s book during my 1997 visits to Native American colleges to try to establish summer training institutes for teachers at these institutions. Obtaining cooperation from various tribal leaders proved beyond my competence.
Thank you!