Code Blue: Defund. Abolish. Deconstruct. Reorient. Reform. Transform.
The words are plentiful as to what should be done to police departments throughout the land. Depending on your background and experience with law enforcement, they mean different things.
I’m too ignorant to know which direction policing should go in the wake of the tsunami of mostly unarmed Black deaths at the hands of law enforcement. I agree with what Marian Kaba, director of Project Nia (Nia is Swahili for “with purpose”), wrote in Sunday’s New York Times: “We should redirect the billions that now go to police departments toward providing health care, housing, education and good jobs. If we did this, there would be less need for the police in the first place (https://nyti.ms/2YBa4UG).”
Why would that be?, you may ask. For a partial answer I turn to Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) who recently tweeted:
“1.7 million students have police in their schools but no counselor.
“3 million have police but no nurse.
“6 million have police but no psychologist.
“10 million have police but no social worker.
“We need systemic change—now.”
If you don’t see the connection between the presence of police and the absence of social services in schools where childhood character is molded into adult behavior I’m afraid any explanation I could offer would not register with you.
Facebook Follies: Eager to deliver fresh meat to his blood red constituents Donald Trump will embark on his first rally since the COVID-19 pandemic stifled public gatherings. Close to 20,000 will attend an indoor rally in Tulsa on Saturday, June 20, with countless more outside.
But prior to the self-adulation Trump seeks, here are two recent posts I came across on the Internet:
Surrounding a picture of Trump at an earlier rally, Jim Calvert posted:
June 20 — Tulsa, OK
Coronafest 2020
Come for the racism,
Stay for the plague
Be sure to reserve your
ICU and ventilator!
Under a picture of Trump’s signature Make America Great Again red hat, the following appeared:
“One day the red MAGA hat will be viewed the same way we view the Confederate flag and the swastika.”
Masquerade: It is widely accepted by the medical community that wearing masks can stem the spread of the coronavirus. Yet Republican leaders keep demonstrating their antipathy to science and a cavalier attitude toward their constituents.
The main transgressor is Trump who has disregarded pleas not to hold mass rallies. His ego demands stroking so he is embarking on the first of what no doubt will be many public gatherings of his faithful.
Though masks for attendees will be provided they are not required to be worn. The arena will become a petrie dish for viral spread. Trump must know this because he is requiring all who come before him to genuflect at the rally to sign a waiver absolving him and his campaign from any liability should they contract COVID-19.
Trump is not alone in dissing medical advice. The Republican governor of Nebraska, Pete Ricketts, Thursday “told local governments they will not receive any federal money to help fight the effects of the coronavirus pandemic if they require people to wear masks in public buildings,” the AP reported (https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Nebraska-governor-Mask-requirement-will-cost-15349550.php).
In what rational world do leaders purposely endanger their citizens?
Not So Friendly Skies: Air travel is slowly making a comeback but its smooth trajectory will be challenged by those opposed to the mandatory requirement many airlines have imposed that passengers wear a mask on board.
The opening salvo in Trump-inspired civil disobedience came Wednesday when one of his acolytes was removed from an American Airlines flight for failure to wear a mask. The incident happened pre-takeoff (https://mol.im/a/8435857 ).
Next time the unmasking could happen in flight. The airline’s only recourse would be to blacklist the passenger for future flights. Meanwhile, he or she will be compromising the air compliant passengers expected to be breathing.
Animated Graphs: Ever wonder how COVID-19 deaths stack up against other current scourges of mankind in the United States?
Using CDC and Worldmeter data, Public Flourish Studio put together an animated graph showing the average number of deaths for the one month period March 15-April 20 for 16 ailments. COVID-19—2,168; Heart disease—1,774; Cancer—1,641; Flu and pneumonia—153. For the complete list, click https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/1830480/.
For a worldview of COVID-19 vs. other causes of death, from January 1 through June 8, click on this animated graph to view the dramatic rise affecting all humanity: https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/2562261/
Send for a Librarian: Under what genre should we classify John Bolton’s new book, “The Room Where It Happened”? Fiction or non fiction?
Bolton claims it’s all true.
Trump says the book “is a compilation of lies and made up stories.”
The Justice Department says the book contains “highly classified” information.
Never mind asking a judge to adjudicate if the book may be banned from distribution or available to the public.
What we need is a librarian to classify the tome as fiction or non fiction (https://mol.im/a/8436039).
