Nicaragua's case is a text-book example of how genuine human rights
research has been subverted so as to produce highly biased reports.
“The human rights industry markets itself dishonestly,
but very powerfully, as if it were driven by humanitarian concern rather
than ideological bias.”
Ever since January 2007, the Western human rights industry has
attacked Nicaragua's Sandinista government for being undemocratic and
repressive. For over a decade, Nicaragua's social and economic
development and successive democratic elections repeatedly contradicted
that mendacious narrative. Frustrated by Nicaragua's embarrassing
example of undeniable, sovereign, socialist inspired social and economic
progress, the US authorities, over several years, prepared, organized
and finally openly supported the violent coup attempt of April 2018.
During that coup attempt and ever since it failed, the North American and European human rights industry has falsely accused the
Nicaraguan authorities of having brutally repressed peaceful opposition
protests with disproportionate lethal violence. In doing so, reports by
human rights organizations have systematically ignored numerous very serious crimes and even massacres by
Nicaragua's US supported right wing opposition and their allies.
Between April 18th and July 17th 2018, 23 police officers were killed by
opposition activists and 400 officers suffered gunshot wounds inflicted
by opposition gunmen. Reports by Western human rights organizations
have concealed that deliberate lethal opposition violence by
systematically suppressing conventional witness testimony, documentary
evidence and audiovisual material.
-- Stephen Selfton, "Nicaragua – How Phony Human Rights Groups Slandered a U.S.-Targeted Nation " (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).
Wednesday, July 08, 2020
Truest statement of the week II
Cutting police budgets without establishing public control over their
behavior doesn’t solve the problem, and invites politicians to shuffle
budget numbers around like a three-card monte swindle.
“False friends display window dressing and treachery.”
Unfortunately, a key demand of the new movement has led to confusion and to political defeats at a crucial moment. At first glance, the idea of defunding the police seems to have merit. Everyone who wants to end police brutality welcomes the idea that they might lose some of the resources they use in their terrorism spree. The police are the modern day slave patrol and any effort to diminish their capabilities seems like a good idea. But the state doesn’t work that way.
It has no intention of just giving up the power it has bestowed on the police. One can see how the ruse works as false friends display window dressing and treachery. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio is the head phony in charge. He claimed he would cut the NYPD budget by $1 billion, but after the budget was finalized the trickery became clear. He moved budget lines for school safety officers from the NYPD to the Department of Education. He also postponed two police academy classes. But the NYPD is exempt from the hiring freezes that apply to every other New York City agency. Philadelphia approved a similar trick. Philly’s mayor eliminated a proposed increase to the police budget while also moving school safety lines to other agencies.
-- Margaret Kimberley, "Freedom Rider: The Police Defunding Con Game" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).
“False friends display window dressing and treachery.”
Unfortunately, a key demand of the new movement has led to confusion and to political defeats at a crucial moment. At first glance, the idea of defunding the police seems to have merit. Everyone who wants to end police brutality welcomes the idea that they might lose some of the resources they use in their terrorism spree. The police are the modern day slave patrol and any effort to diminish their capabilities seems like a good idea. But the state doesn’t work that way.
It has no intention of just giving up the power it has bestowed on the police. One can see how the ruse works as false friends display window dressing and treachery. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio is the head phony in charge. He claimed he would cut the NYPD budget by $1 billion, but after the budget was finalized the trickery became clear. He moved budget lines for school safety officers from the NYPD to the Department of Education. He also postponed two police academy classes. But the NYPD is exempt from the hiring freezes that apply to every other New York City agency. Philadelphia approved a similar trick. Philly’s mayor eliminated a proposed increase to the police budget while also moving school safety lines to other agencies.
-- Margaret Kimberley, "Freedom Rider: The Police Defunding Con Game" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).
A note to our readers
Hey --
Wednesday.
Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
And what did we come up with?
Peace,
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Wednesday.
Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
And what did we come up with?
- Truest statement of the week
- Truest statement of the week II
- Editorial: What are the goals?
- TV: Putting the "BO" in HBO
- Coronavirus roundtable
- From The TESR Test Kitchen
- Science -- Milky Way and life
- Worst 'news' report of the week
- Video of the week: Left Lens Eps 1 DEBUT: On Joe B...
- This edition's playlist
- I'm sick of NPR's sexism
- Highlights
Peace,
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Editorial: What are the goals?
A death in Iraq is garnering attention -- and we all know how rare it is for the US media to pay attention to Iraq these days.
Saphora Smith (NBC NEWS) reports:
A leading expert on the Islamic State group who had recently turned his attention to Iran-backed militias in Iraq was gunned down outside his home in Baghdad on Monday night, triggering outpouring of grief among Iraq-watchers and analysts.
Husham Al-Hashimi, 47, was ambushed by four men on two motorcycles who shot him several times with silenced weapons, Saad Maan, a spokesman for Iraq's Interior Ministry said. He was later declared dead at a hospital in the city.
He was a leading expert on ISIS. You figure he probably knew this violent outcome was a possibility. were possible.
What motivates someone to fight when they know it puts them at risk?
Don't ask most members of Congress. Don't ask Joe Biden.
But serving in the military doesn't make you appreciate life more automatically. Look at Tammy Duckworth, a US senator who suffered a real loss in the Iraq War but who has shown no initiative on ending the Iraq War and bringing all US troops home.
Despite this, she's one of the many on The Fright List -- Joe Biden's v.p. possibilities.
It's just another indication of how little leadership there is in the United States.
Simona Foltyn (ALJAZEERA) reports,
"The United Nations, foreign governments and Iraq's leaders are condemning the killing of a well-known Iraqi expert on al-Qaeda, ISIL (ISIS) and other armed groups."
It's a sad death. It's part of a battle and it's a battle for Iraq.
The US needs to leave Iraq. ISIS is not an excuse -- not a valid one -- to remain in Iraq.
The war never ends in part because the end was never defined. This has allowed US troops to still be in Iraq in 2020 fighting endlessly. That's not what the US military is for.
It's past time that clear goals were established and followed. You may remember that when Bully Boy Bush occupied the White House, the Democratically controlled Congress (both houses) demanded benchmarks for success. If these benchmarks were not met, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi insisted, funding for the Iraq War would be stopped. They accepted the benchmarks, they wrote them into the 2007 war-spending bill. And then?
Nancy and Chuck Schumer looked the other way as the benchmarks were never met.
To this day, these benchmarks, that the Iraqi government signed off on, have never been met. So if Congress ever had any backbone, they would have cut off the funding for US military operations in Iraq long, long ago.
A leading expert on the Islamic State group who had recently turned his attention to Iran-backed militias in Iraq was gunned down outside his home in Baghdad on Monday night, triggering outpouring of grief among Iraq-watchers and analysts.
Husham Al-Hashimi, 47, was ambushed by four men on two motorcycles who shot him several times with silenced weapons, Saad Maan, a spokesman for Iraq's Interior Ministry said. He was later declared dead at a hospital in the city.
He was a leading expert on ISIS. You figure he probably knew this violent outcome was a possibility. were possible.
What motivates someone to fight when they know it puts them at risk?
Don't ask most members of Congress. Don't ask Joe Biden.
But serving in the military doesn't make you appreciate life more automatically. Look at Tammy Duckworth, a US senator who suffered a real loss in the Iraq War but who has shown no initiative on ending the Iraq War and bringing all US troops home.
Despite this, she's one of the many on The Fright List -- Joe Biden's v.p. possibilities.
It's just another indication of how little leadership there is in the United States.
Simona Foltyn (ALJAZEERA) reports,
"The United Nations, foreign governments and Iraq's leaders are condemning the killing of a well-known Iraqi expert on al-Qaeda, ISIL (ISIS) and other armed groups."
It's a sad death. It's part of a battle and it's a battle for Iraq.
The US needs to leave Iraq. ISIS is not an excuse -- not a valid one -- to remain in Iraq.
The war never ends in part because the end was never defined. This has allowed US troops to still be in Iraq in 2020 fighting endlessly. That's not what the US military is for.
It's past time that clear goals were established and followed. You may remember that when Bully Boy Bush occupied the White House, the Democratically controlled Congress (both houses) demanded benchmarks for success. If these benchmarks were not met, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi insisted, funding for the Iraq War would be stopped. They accepted the benchmarks, they wrote them into the 2007 war-spending bill. And then?
Nancy and Chuck Schumer looked the other way as the benchmarks were never met.
To this day, these benchmarks, that the Iraqi government signed off on, have never been met. So if Congress ever had any backbone, they would have cut off the funding for US military operations in Iraq long, long ago.
TV: Putting the "BO" in HBO
HBO. It used to stand for HOME BOX OFFICE. YOUTUBE reminded us of that. Specifically, when we were in a mix of Diana Ross videos and this one came up.
Is there anything special about HBO these days? How long has it been since there was a concert that they aired -- one that anyone wanted to see? They churn out a lot of product but that last time they had a series that really mattered and people wanted to watch? Season one of BIG LITTLE LIES.
Every week, they seem to strike out a little more. Which brings us to the Perry Mason mini-series.
Matthew Rhys stars in the pre-quel. Why do we need that? Why does anyone need that? We're referring to the pre-quel, not to Matthew Rhys.
If the mini-series has any saving graces, Matthew is one of them. But he's also 45 and, no offense, looks it. He's 45 and Raymond Burr was 40 when he started playing Perry Mason on the TV show PERRY MASON (1957 to 1966) followed by 26 TV movies. Matthew is too old to be playing the character as written.
He's dim witted and rather slow in the mini-series. He's a lot like Jason Patric's character in the film noir classic AFTER DARK MY SWEET but Jason was 24 when he played that role. Matthew's Perry Mason is shell shocked from the war -- WWI, this is set during the Great Depression. It's very hard to watch Perry in this mini-series and think that he's going to end up an attorney, let alone one of the greatest attorneys of all time.
Why did they have to make him Perry Mason?
We ask as two who read all of Erle Stanley Gardner's books as well as the books he wrote under the pseudonym AA Fair. We both grew up with family members who belonged to a book club that, every month, sent out a hardbound book with three mysteries in the volume. We aren't recognizing Perry Mason on screen at all. Not even a tiny bit.
It was beyond stupid to create a new character and try to pass him off as Perry Mason. It's an insult to the books, it's an insult to the original TV show. Most of all, it's an insult to the fans of Perry Mason. Erle Stanley Gardner's books still sell. PERRY MASON still airs in syndication and on AMAZON PRIME, he is a beloved character.
He was never thought to have been a failed investigator at the age of 45. And the notion that this failure is going to turn it around, hit law school and set up a practice is not only dubious, it's also pretty much mathematically impossible. By 40, Perry Mason is supposed to already be a legendary attorney.
Matthew has to share some of the blame. He is a producer of the show. But a lot of blame can go around. Too many TV shows have been turned into bad movies because people were too damn lazy to create new characters. With HBO's PERRY MASON, they have stolen the name of an established character and slapped it on top of new character. That's a cheat.
This story could have been told with Matthew playing a character named anything but Perry Mason and it would have worked. But as it is, the mini-series is a disaster and it should end with no future seasons.
It's not awful the way THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA is. When you put a hack writer (Philip Roth) with a pulp producer (David Simon), you get crap. That's all that garbage is. We weren't amused with the novel in 2004 when it was published. Winona Ryder brings a little life into the proceedings but even she can only do much with a stereotype. These dystopian fools, do you ever notice, think 'dystopian' translates as: No real characters needed.
Why do they wallow in this garbage to begin with? We create the world we want. And the world people like David Simon keep creating is a world no one should want to live in. There are many stories to be told -- including true stories. But here we are, back with a Nazi storyline, back with a White cast, back with scenes that in no way reflect the world we live in.
When HBO goes American, it's nothing but a garbage dump. Maybe they should stick to airing British imports? We've already praised YEAR AFTER YEAR and certainly I MAY DESTROY YOU is also worthy of praise. Isn't it something how the shows made in England offer more diversity than the shows made in the United States?
80% of the population in the United Kingdom are White British (2011). White Anglos made up 64% of the US population in 2012.
Maybe the problem is hiring hacks like David Simon to begin with?
Linda Bloodworth-Thomason's 12 MILES OF BAD ROAD was never aired. All this time later, HBO still hands the bulk of its production money to men -- and White men, at that. The only way African-Americans enter the room as producers with HBO is if they're doing comedy. It all sends a message -- as does the weekly sexism and racism and Muslim hatred that Bill Maher spews. This week, a Boeing executive was forced to resign over a column he wrote in the 80s. Let's hope HBO addresses their problems much more quickly. Otherwise, the cable network will continue to be known as Home Body Oder, the network that stinks up your TV. In the meantime, please note that while HBO continues to offer all White hosted public affairs shows, NBC NEWS has announced a plan for diversity.
Is there anything special about HBO these days? How long has it been since there was a concert that they aired -- one that anyone wanted to see? They churn out a lot of product but that last time they had a series that really mattered and people wanted to watch? Season one of BIG LITTLE LIES.
Every week, they seem to strike out a little more. Which brings us to the Perry Mason mini-series.
Matthew Rhys stars in the pre-quel. Why do we need that? Why does anyone need that? We're referring to the pre-quel, not to Matthew Rhys.
If the mini-series has any saving graces, Matthew is one of them. But he's also 45 and, no offense, looks it. He's 45 and Raymond Burr was 40 when he started playing Perry Mason on the TV show PERRY MASON (1957 to 1966) followed by 26 TV movies. Matthew is too old to be playing the character as written.
He's dim witted and rather slow in the mini-series. He's a lot like Jason Patric's character in the film noir classic AFTER DARK MY SWEET but Jason was 24 when he played that role. Matthew's Perry Mason is shell shocked from the war -- WWI, this is set during the Great Depression. It's very hard to watch Perry in this mini-series and think that he's going to end up an attorney, let alone one of the greatest attorneys of all time.
Why did they have to make him Perry Mason?
We ask as two who read all of Erle Stanley Gardner's books as well as the books he wrote under the pseudonym AA Fair. We both grew up with family members who belonged to a book club that, every month, sent out a hardbound book with three mysteries in the volume. We aren't recognizing Perry Mason on screen at all. Not even a tiny bit.
It was beyond stupid to create a new character and try to pass him off as Perry Mason. It's an insult to the books, it's an insult to the original TV show. Most of all, it's an insult to the fans of Perry Mason. Erle Stanley Gardner's books still sell. PERRY MASON still airs in syndication and on AMAZON PRIME, he is a beloved character.
He was never thought to have been a failed investigator at the age of 45. And the notion that this failure is going to turn it around, hit law school and set up a practice is not only dubious, it's also pretty much mathematically impossible. By 40, Perry Mason is supposed to already be a legendary attorney.
Matthew has to share some of the blame. He is a producer of the show. But a lot of blame can go around. Too many TV shows have been turned into bad movies because people were too damn lazy to create new characters. With HBO's PERRY MASON, they have stolen the name of an established character and slapped it on top of new character. That's a cheat.
This story could have been told with Matthew playing a character named anything but Perry Mason and it would have worked. But as it is, the mini-series is a disaster and it should end with no future seasons.
It's not awful the way THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA is. When you put a hack writer (Philip Roth) with a pulp producer (David Simon), you get crap. That's all that garbage is. We weren't amused with the novel in 2004 when it was published. Winona Ryder brings a little life into the proceedings but even she can only do much with a stereotype. These dystopian fools, do you ever notice, think 'dystopian' translates as: No real characters needed.
Why do they wallow in this garbage to begin with? We create the world we want. And the world people like David Simon keep creating is a world no one should want to live in. There are many stories to be told -- including true stories. But here we are, back with a Nazi storyline, back with a White cast, back with scenes that in no way reflect the world we live in.
When HBO goes American, it's nothing but a garbage dump. Maybe they should stick to airing British imports? We've already praised YEAR AFTER YEAR and certainly I MAY DESTROY YOU is also worthy of praise. Isn't it something how the shows made in England offer more diversity than the shows made in the United States?
80% of the population in the United Kingdom are White British (2011). White Anglos made up 64% of the US population in 2012.
Maybe the problem is hiring hacks like David Simon to begin with?
Linda Bloodworth-Thomason's 12 MILES OF BAD ROAD was never aired. All this time later, HBO still hands the bulk of its production money to men -- and White men, at that. The only way African-Americans enter the room as producers with HBO is if they're doing comedy. It all sends a message -- as does the weekly sexism and racism and Muslim hatred that Bill Maher spews. This week, a Boeing executive was forced to resign over a column he wrote in the 80s. Let's hope HBO addresses their problems much more quickly. Otherwise, the cable network will continue to be known as Home Body Oder, the network that stinks up your TV. In the meantime, please note that while HBO continues to offer all White hosted public affairs shows, NBC NEWS has announced a plan for diversity.
Coronavirus roundtable
Jim: Roundtable time. We'd refer you to C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" earlier today. This is our coronavirus roundtable. Illustration is Isaiah's latest THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Lady Liberty."
Jim (Con't): So who likes the masks? Anyone?
Trina: I know of no one I work with -- doctors, nurses, techs, front desk, custodians, no one -- that likes wearing the masks.
Jim: They are irritating.
Trina: They are. And normally, they aren't worn all day.
Dona: I'm jumping in to note that (a) Trina's a nurse and (b) she's referring to surgical masks.
Trina: Correct. These are a pain. Much more so than cloth masks -- which we are forbidden from wearing at work. We have to wear each mask five times before we can toss it. And by the second time wearing it, when you breathe in, you have strands coming in your mouth. Normally, these masks would be worn in a surgery, for example. And you'd take them off before you went into another one -- using a fresh one for the next surgery. Now, in a clinic setting, for example, we are all required -- every worker -- to wear one of those masks and to do so for our entire shift -- except when eating lunch. This is irritating. I understand anyone who says that and makes that argument. It is also necessary. We have to take steps to slow the growth of the pandemic. If people have additional ideas, let's hear them. But I think first and foremost everyone needs to wear a mask. My opinion.
Dona: C.I. was asked about that and wrote how she wears one but she's not here to tell other adults what to do.
Trina: And I agree with that. I don't like having to tell people to put them on. They'll come in and they'll take them off. I'm not talking pulling it down to take a sip of water or something, I'm talking about taking it fully off or letting it hang off one ear. No. That's not appropriate. And if I see it, I have to say something. I sometimes help with screening. I'm at the front asking questions -- fever, etc. Taking temperatures, etc. And telling people put on the mask. It's not my place. We need a law of some form. I am not your mother.
Mike: You're my mother!
Trina: Ha ha. Yes, I am. But in terms of patients coming in, I am not their mother. It is not my job to police their behavior. If it's a law, I can simply cite the law.
Jess: That would be much more practical. I'm hearing people complaining and griping about this healthcare worker or this grocery store worker who made them put on a mask. As usual, the government's avoiding its job and its the people who are getting griped at and blamed. It's not Trina creating this, it's not C.I. The government needs to take accountability.
Ty: Donald Trump won't. If he orders masks, he loses some of his voters and he knows that.
Jim: Why?
Ty: Because they see this as a government intrusion.
Rebecca: Well it is. It's also necessary. And we need to be, as C.I. noted, having a national discussion about this issue. We need to all be participating to decide, as a nation, what needs to be done. That's how we own the decision as a country. I watch all the nonsense on cable news and it's amazing that they haven't done town halls asking what we need to do as a nation. They're cheap to produce, do it as a Zoom if you have to, and they will keep us all interested in terms of viewing. Town halls, the format itself, are popular.
Ruth: I would agree. We need that ownership. It doesn't need to be coming down from on high. I support the masks and I would participate in a town hall making the case for it.
Jim: Isaiah, you were telling me about something you saw. Isaiah's in Texas. Can you talk about that.
Isaiah: The governor, Greg Abbott, ordered masks last Thursday. And yet I was at the gas station on Saturday by lotto tickets and egg rolls -- I know we're not supposed to eat gas station food but the one by me has great egg rolls -- and I start out but groan because I don't have my mask. So I unlock, grab my mask and head out. Then marvel over the fact that there are six people in the store as customers and I'm the only one in a mask. Then I marvel over the fact that neither person at the two registers is wearing a mask. The lady who makes the egg rolls and chicken and burritos and corn dogs is wearing a mask and gloves. She and I are the only ones wearing a mask. I had to run into Walmart on Monday to pick up a prescription and it was right after five o'clock. I'm wearing a mask, all the people working there are wearing masks but I can count easily 11 people shopping who are not wearing masks. I kept thinking, "Did I misunderstand what the governor said?"
Ty: I've pulled it up at that governor's website and I'm going to read it and we'll have it in the roundtable with links.
Governor Greg Abbott today issued an Executive Order requiring all Texans to wear a face covering over the nose and mouth in public spaces in counties with 20 or more positive COVID-19 cases, with few exceptions. The Governor also issued a proclamation giving mayors and county judges the ability to impose restrictions on some outdoor gatherings of over 10 people, and making it mandatory that, with certain exceptions, people cannot be in groups larger than ten and must maintain six feet of social distancing from others.
"Wearing a face covering in public is proven to be one of the most effective ways we have to slow the spread of COVID-19,” said Governor Abbott. “We have the ability to keep businesses open and move our economy forward so that Texans can continue to earn a paycheck, but it requires each of us to do our part to protect one another—and that means wearing a face covering in public spaces. Likewise, large gatherings are a clear contributor to the rise in COVID-19 cases. Restricting the size of groups gatherings will strengthen Texas’ ability to corral this virus and keep Texans safe. We all have a responsibility to slow the spread of COVID-19 and keep our communities safe. If Texans commit to wearing face coverings in public spaces and follow the best health and safety practices, we can both slow the spread of COVID-19 and keep Texas open for business. I urge all Texans to wear a face covering in public, not just for their own health, but for the health of their families, friends, and for all our fellow Texans.”
Additionally, the Governor released a new video message to coincide with his Executive Order, encouraging Texans to do their part to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and keep their communities safe. The video can be downloaded at this link and can also be viewed on YouTube.
View the Governor's Executive Order.
View the Governor's Proclamation.
Ty (Con't): And, Isaiah, if you use the link for the actual order, the governor states that it is effective "12:01 pm on July 3, 2020." So that would be Friday last. Everyone you saw should have been wearing masks.
Dona: Back in June, our governor ordered masks in public places, work, outdoors, etc. Are all the governors doing this? I don't think so. There's not a uniform standard and yet we have people traveling from state to state.
Betty: That's a good point. Can we do travel right now? Mike and Elaine are thinking about -- Mike's written about this at his site -- coming in way early for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Mike: We live in Hawaii. My family lives in Boston. Elaine and C.I. have a long standing tradition of doing Thanksgiving together and C.I. lives in the Bay Area. So we are concerned that as Thanksgiving approaches, they might ground flights or the coronavirus might be worse or whatever.
Elaine: I can do tele-med with my patients. So we are trying to figure out what to do. Of course, one of the things we thought we had on our side, we do not. We thought the summer would see a huge drop in the number of coronavirus cases and that's not happening. I'm glad Betty brought this topic up because we don't have any answers but I'm sure Mike, our daughter and myself are not the only one wondering how do we pull off the holidays in the coronavirus world?
Betty: If it's like it is now, I won't be going home to Atlanta. My father's at risk due to his age and due to having diabetes. We don't want to risk bringing something into the home. I hadn't even been thinking about how this might impact Thanksgiving or Christmas until Elaine and Mike were talking about it.
Marcia: Which goes to C.I.'s point n the snapshot today that we need to be having a national dialogue. In our family, Stan's my cousin, we're talking about two houses being set up -- at least two. One for elderly that would be especially strict on who gets in and on procedures in terms of cooking and in terms of cleaning.
Stan: Right. Again, this should be something we should be discussing as a nation. We want our family members to be safe. We want to see them, but we want them to be safe. We're thinking the at risk home will visit with the others via facetime or something like that. And we're tossing this out to our family members now so we can get feedback and so we can all make our decision together.
Cedric: We need to do that. I hadn't even thought about this and I read Mike's post and agreed with him on it. But I thought, "Oh, he lives in Hawaii and he needs to plan ahead in case their airport gets shut down or something." Ann and my family lives in the same basic area so no one's going to be flying in but that doesn't mean we don't need to be sorting this out now.
Ann: Agreed. And Stan and Marcia's talk about the at risk family members is something that we'll need to address in our family as well. I have to say, when the pandemic started -- when Trina pointed it out, she was ahead of WHO and the CDC -- I honestly didn't see this as something that would be effecting the winter holidays. I really didn't get it, did I?
Wally: I don't think most of us did. I'm trying to get my mom to fly out to California because I really don't see going to Florida. First off, it's a hot spot. Second off, she could relax here and have some fun.
Kat: I don't -- I don't know. I don't -- we're just being honest, right?
Jim: Absolutely.
Kat: Maybe there is an urgency taking place to find a vaccine but I don't feel it right now. Back in April, for instance, we had constant news about work being done. I don't see that kind of coverage now. I'm sure it's taking place, work on the vaccine, but what happened to the sense of urgency?
Ava: A really good question. I think some have become complacent, I think some have enough stress and have to focus on other things. For example, Kat, you and Elaine have both heard from readers of your sites that they would prefer you focus on music when possible. That's not because they don't care about the coronavirus. It's because they're overwhelmed.
Jim: Pause everybody. Ava had finished speaking and I wanted to give C.I. time to write that down and give Ava time to be ready to take over -- they take the notes during the roundtables. Okay, C.I.?
C.I.: As Ava was saying, some people are overwhelmed. It's perfectly normal to be overwhelmed during a pandemic. That's another reason I won't be telling people what to do. I'm happy to share what I do and why I do it. But adults who are trying so hard to cope with this really don't need someone telling them what they have to do. If the government wants or needs to, that's one thing. But no one needs me to tell them what to do. Not how to address the coronavirus, not who to vote for. If you're feeling pressured already, you certainly don't need anyone bossing you around. If there are orders or laws put in place, they need to be followed -- or legally challenged, if you feel that's the case -- but you don't need people in your business telling you what to do. We are all under enough stress and worry and, as Trina said, I'm not your mother, I'm not your sheriff, you don't need me to tell you what to do.
Jim: Is anyone here opposed to wearing masks?
Trina: I think we all are. I'm sick of them. But I think we also support wearing them for safety.
Ty: I would agree with what Trina's saying. I do need to note something, if you shave -- even Magic Shave -- you're going to have irritation with a mask on. It's a pain. But for me, it's a pain I endure because this is about safety.
Jim: Okay, with that we're going to wind things up. This is a rush transcript. Best e-mail to reach us is common_ills@yahoo.com or thethirdestatesundayreview@yahoo.com.
Jim (Con't): So who likes the masks? Anyone?
Trina: I know of no one I work with -- doctors, nurses, techs, front desk, custodians, no one -- that likes wearing the masks.
Jim: They are irritating.
Trina: They are. And normally, they aren't worn all day.
Dona: I'm jumping in to note that (a) Trina's a nurse and (b) she's referring to surgical masks.
Trina: Correct. These are a pain. Much more so than cloth masks -- which we are forbidden from wearing at work. We have to wear each mask five times before we can toss it. And by the second time wearing it, when you breathe in, you have strands coming in your mouth. Normally, these masks would be worn in a surgery, for example. And you'd take them off before you went into another one -- using a fresh one for the next surgery. Now, in a clinic setting, for example, we are all required -- every worker -- to wear one of those masks and to do so for our entire shift -- except when eating lunch. This is irritating. I understand anyone who says that and makes that argument. It is also necessary. We have to take steps to slow the growth of the pandemic. If people have additional ideas, let's hear them. But I think first and foremost everyone needs to wear a mask. My opinion.
Dona: C.I. was asked about that and wrote how she wears one but she's not here to tell other adults what to do.
Trina: And I agree with that. I don't like having to tell people to put them on. They'll come in and they'll take them off. I'm not talking pulling it down to take a sip of water or something, I'm talking about taking it fully off or letting it hang off one ear. No. That's not appropriate. And if I see it, I have to say something. I sometimes help with screening. I'm at the front asking questions -- fever, etc. Taking temperatures, etc. And telling people put on the mask. It's not my place. We need a law of some form. I am not your mother.
Mike: You're my mother!
Trina: Ha ha. Yes, I am. But in terms of patients coming in, I am not their mother. It is not my job to police their behavior. If it's a law, I can simply cite the law.
Jess: That would be much more practical. I'm hearing people complaining and griping about this healthcare worker or this grocery store worker who made them put on a mask. As usual, the government's avoiding its job and its the people who are getting griped at and blamed. It's not Trina creating this, it's not C.I. The government needs to take accountability.
Ty: Donald Trump won't. If he orders masks, he loses some of his voters and he knows that.
Jim: Why?
Ty: Because they see this as a government intrusion.
Rebecca: Well it is. It's also necessary. And we need to be, as C.I. noted, having a national discussion about this issue. We need to all be participating to decide, as a nation, what needs to be done. That's how we own the decision as a country. I watch all the nonsense on cable news and it's amazing that they haven't done town halls asking what we need to do as a nation. They're cheap to produce, do it as a Zoom if you have to, and they will keep us all interested in terms of viewing. Town halls, the format itself, are popular.
Ruth: I would agree. We need that ownership. It doesn't need to be coming down from on high. I support the masks and I would participate in a town hall making the case for it.
Jim: Isaiah, you were telling me about something you saw. Isaiah's in Texas. Can you talk about that.
Isaiah: The governor, Greg Abbott, ordered masks last Thursday. And yet I was at the gas station on Saturday by lotto tickets and egg rolls -- I know we're not supposed to eat gas station food but the one by me has great egg rolls -- and I start out but groan because I don't have my mask. So I unlock, grab my mask and head out. Then marvel over the fact that there are six people in the store as customers and I'm the only one in a mask. Then I marvel over the fact that neither person at the two registers is wearing a mask. The lady who makes the egg rolls and chicken and burritos and corn dogs is wearing a mask and gloves. She and I are the only ones wearing a mask. I had to run into Walmart on Monday to pick up a prescription and it was right after five o'clock. I'm wearing a mask, all the people working there are wearing masks but I can count easily 11 people shopping who are not wearing masks. I kept thinking, "Did I misunderstand what the governor said?"
Ty: I've pulled it up at that governor's website and I'm going to read it and we'll have it in the roundtable with links.
Governor Greg Abbott today issued an Executive Order requiring all Texans to wear a face covering over the nose and mouth in public spaces in counties with 20 or more positive COVID-19 cases, with few exceptions. The Governor also issued a proclamation giving mayors and county judges the ability to impose restrictions on some outdoor gatherings of over 10 people, and making it mandatory that, with certain exceptions, people cannot be in groups larger than ten and must maintain six feet of social distancing from others.
"Wearing a face covering in public is proven to be one of the most effective ways we have to slow the spread of COVID-19,” said Governor Abbott. “We have the ability to keep businesses open and move our economy forward so that Texans can continue to earn a paycheck, but it requires each of us to do our part to protect one another—and that means wearing a face covering in public spaces. Likewise, large gatherings are a clear contributor to the rise in COVID-19 cases. Restricting the size of groups gatherings will strengthen Texas’ ability to corral this virus and keep Texans safe. We all have a responsibility to slow the spread of COVID-19 and keep our communities safe. If Texans commit to wearing face coverings in public spaces and follow the best health and safety practices, we can both slow the spread of COVID-19 and keep Texas open for business. I urge all Texans to wear a face covering in public, not just for their own health, but for the health of their families, friends, and for all our fellow Texans.”
Additionally, the Governor released a new video message to coincide with his Executive Order, encouraging Texans to do their part to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and keep their communities safe. The video can be downloaded at this link and can also be viewed on YouTube.
View the Governor's Executive Order.
View the Governor's Proclamation.
Ty (Con't): And, Isaiah, if you use the link for the actual order, the governor states that it is effective "12:01 pm on July 3, 2020." So that would be Friday last. Everyone you saw should have been wearing masks.
Dona: Back in June, our governor ordered masks in public places, work, outdoors, etc. Are all the governors doing this? I don't think so. There's not a uniform standard and yet we have people traveling from state to state.
Betty: That's a good point. Can we do travel right now? Mike and Elaine are thinking about -- Mike's written about this at his site -- coming in way early for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Mike: We live in Hawaii. My family lives in Boston. Elaine and C.I. have a long standing tradition of doing Thanksgiving together and C.I. lives in the Bay Area. So we are concerned that as Thanksgiving approaches, they might ground flights or the coronavirus might be worse or whatever.
Elaine: I can do tele-med with my patients. So we are trying to figure out what to do. Of course, one of the things we thought we had on our side, we do not. We thought the summer would see a huge drop in the number of coronavirus cases and that's not happening. I'm glad Betty brought this topic up because we don't have any answers but I'm sure Mike, our daughter and myself are not the only one wondering how do we pull off the holidays in the coronavirus world?
Betty: If it's like it is now, I won't be going home to Atlanta. My father's at risk due to his age and due to having diabetes. We don't want to risk bringing something into the home. I hadn't even been thinking about how this might impact Thanksgiving or Christmas until Elaine and Mike were talking about it.
Marcia: Which goes to C.I.'s point n the snapshot today that we need to be having a national dialogue. In our family, Stan's my cousin, we're talking about two houses being set up -- at least two. One for elderly that would be especially strict on who gets in and on procedures in terms of cooking and in terms of cleaning.
Stan: Right. Again, this should be something we should be discussing as a nation. We want our family members to be safe. We want to see them, but we want them to be safe. We're thinking the at risk home will visit with the others via facetime or something like that. And we're tossing this out to our family members now so we can get feedback and so we can all make our decision together.
Cedric: We need to do that. I hadn't even thought about this and I read Mike's post and agreed with him on it. But I thought, "Oh, he lives in Hawaii and he needs to plan ahead in case their airport gets shut down or something." Ann and my family lives in the same basic area so no one's going to be flying in but that doesn't mean we don't need to be sorting this out now.
Ann: Agreed. And Stan and Marcia's talk about the at risk family members is something that we'll need to address in our family as well. I have to say, when the pandemic started -- when Trina pointed it out, she was ahead of WHO and the CDC -- I honestly didn't see this as something that would be effecting the winter holidays. I really didn't get it, did I?
Wally: I don't think most of us did. I'm trying to get my mom to fly out to California because I really don't see going to Florida. First off, it's a hot spot. Second off, she could relax here and have some fun.
Kat: I don't -- I don't know. I don't -- we're just being honest, right?
Jim: Absolutely.
Kat: Maybe there is an urgency taking place to find a vaccine but I don't feel it right now. Back in April, for instance, we had constant news about work being done. I don't see that kind of coverage now. I'm sure it's taking place, work on the vaccine, but what happened to the sense of urgency?
Ava: A really good question. I think some have become complacent, I think some have enough stress and have to focus on other things. For example, Kat, you and Elaine have both heard from readers of your sites that they would prefer you focus on music when possible. That's not because they don't care about the coronavirus. It's because they're overwhelmed.
Jim: Pause everybody. Ava had finished speaking and I wanted to give C.I. time to write that down and give Ava time to be ready to take over -- they take the notes during the roundtables. Okay, C.I.?
C.I.: As Ava was saying, some people are overwhelmed. It's perfectly normal to be overwhelmed during a pandemic. That's another reason I won't be telling people what to do. I'm happy to share what I do and why I do it. But adults who are trying so hard to cope with this really don't need someone telling them what they have to do. If the government wants or needs to, that's one thing. But no one needs me to tell them what to do. Not how to address the coronavirus, not who to vote for. If you're feeling pressured already, you certainly don't need anyone bossing you around. If there are orders or laws put in place, they need to be followed -- or legally challenged, if you feel that's the case -- but you don't need people in your business telling you what to do. We are all under enough stress and worry and, as Trina said, I'm not your mother, I'm not your sheriff, you don't need me to tell you what to do.
Jim: Is anyone here opposed to wearing masks?
Trina: I think we all are. I'm sick of them. But I think we also support wearing them for safety.
Ty: I would agree with what Trina's saying. I do need to note something, if you shave -- even Magic Shave -- you're going to have irritation with a mask on. It's a pain. But for me, it's a pain I endure because this is about safety.
Jim: Okay, with that we're going to wind things up. This is a rush transcript. Best e-mail to reach us is common_ills@yahoo.com or thethirdestatesundayreview@yahoo.com.
From The TESR Test Kitchen
Everybody loves to make money -- especially The Kellogg Company.
When you can't develop any new ideas, how about you try to find a way to sell the same product twice?
If that spells success to you, get your resumes over to Kelloggs.
In the meantime, consider POP TARTS.
Wait, you've had POP TARTS, you've loved them for years.
Now they want you to also try POP TARTS BITES -- "TASTY FILLED PASTRY BITES."
They're about the size of a FROSTED MINI-WHEAT.
They taste a lot like a POP TART -- but minus the hard edges of a TART. It's all soft and mushy.
If that sounds like fun to you, make a point to pick up a pouch. Yes, they come in a little bag, not in a box like the POP TARTS you know and love. Even bought in a box, you'll find the box contains individual pouches.
Science -- Milky Way and life
INVERSE covered big news on Monday:
Every second, a star dies in the universe. But these stellar beings don't just completely vanish, stars always leave something behind.
Some stars explode in a supernova, turning into a black hole or a neutron star, while the majority of stars become white dwarfs, a core of the star it once used to be. However, a new study reveals that these white dwarfs contribute more to life in the cosmos than previously believed.
The study, published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy, suggests that WHITE DWARF STARS are the main source of carbon atoms in the Milky Way, a chemical element known to be crucial to all life.
That is huge news.
If you're not getting the importance of this news, here's a lengthy explanation from ASTROBIOLOGY.COM:
As dying stars take their final few breaths of life, they gently sprinkle their ashes into the cosmos through the magnificent planetary nebulae. These ashes, spread via stellar winds, are enriched with many different chemical elements, including carbon.
Findings from a study published today in Nature Astronomy show that the final breaths of these dying stars, called white dwarfs, shed light on carbon's origin in the Milky Way.
"The findings pose new, stringent constraints on how and when carbon was produced by stars of our galaxy, ending up within the raw material from which the Sun and its planetary system were formed 4.6 billion years ago," says Jeffrey Cummings, an Associate Research Scientist in the Johns Hopkins University's Department of Physics & Astronomy and an author on the paper.
The origin of carbon, an element essential to life on Earth, in the Milky Way galaxy is still debated among astrophysicists: some are in favor of low-mass stars that blew off their carbon-rich envelopes by stellar winds became white dwarfs, and others place the major site of carbon's synthesis in the winds of massive stars that eventually exploded as supernovae.
Using data from the Keck Observatory near the summit of Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii collected between August and September 2018, the researchers analyzed white dwarfs belonging to the Milky Way's open star clusters. Open star clusters are groups of up to a few thousand stars held together by mutual gravitational attraction.
From this analysis, the research team measured the white dwarfs' masses, and using the theory of stellar evolution, also calculated their masses at birth.
The connection between the birth masses to the final white dwarf masses is called the initial-final mass relation, a fundamental diagnostic in astrophysics that contains the entire life cycles of stars. Previous research always found an increasing linear relationship: the more massive the star at birth, the more massive the white dwarf left at its death.
But when Cummings and his colleagues calculated the initial-final mass relation, they were shocked to find that the white dwarfs from this group of open clusters had larger masses than astrophysicists previously believed. This discovery, they realized, broke the linear trend other studies always found. In other words, stars born roughly 1 billion years ago in the Milky Way didn't produce white dwarfs of about 0.60-0.65 solar masses, as it was commonly thought, but they died leaving behind more massive remnants of about 0.7 - 0.75 solar masses.
The researchers say that this kink in the trend explains how carbon from low-mass stars made its way into the Milky Way. In the last phases of their lives, stars twice as massive as the Milky Way's Sun produced new carbon atoms in their hot interiors, transported them to the surface and finally spread them into the surrounding interstellar environment through gentle stellar winds. The research team's stellar models indicate that the stripping of the carbon-rich outer mantle occurred slowly enough to allow the central cores of these stars, the future white dwarfs, to grow considerably in mass.
The team calculated that stars had to be at least 1.5 solar masses to spread its carbon-rich ashes upon death.
The great thing about science is that we are constantly learning new facts, it's always a world of discovery.
As Joni Mitchell wrote in "Woodstock:"
We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden
RT notes:
New findings show that when stars die they gently sprinkle chemical-rich ashes throughout the cosmos. The revelation helps to explain how the element carbon arrived in the Milky Way.
The study, published in Nature Astronomy on Monday, revealed that the final breaths of white dwarfs pollinate space with their element-rich-ashes via stellar winds, spreading chemical elements such as carbon across outer space.
We all come from dust. Repeating Joni:
We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden
Let's hope this discovery brings us closer to our earth and our understanding of how related to one another we all are -- how related to our planet we all our.
Every second, a star dies in the universe. But these stellar beings don't just completely vanish, stars always leave something behind.
Some stars explode in a supernova, turning into a black hole or a neutron star, while the majority of stars become white dwarfs, a core of the star it once used to be. However, a new study reveals that these white dwarfs contribute more to life in the cosmos than previously believed.
The study, published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy, suggests that WHITE DWARF STARS are the main source of carbon atoms in the Milky Way, a chemical element known to be crucial to all life.
That is huge news.
If you're not getting the importance of this news, here's a lengthy explanation from ASTROBIOLOGY.COM:
As dying stars take their final few breaths of life, they gently sprinkle their ashes into the cosmos through the magnificent planetary nebulae. These ashes, spread via stellar winds, are enriched with many different chemical elements, including carbon.
Findings from a study published today in Nature Astronomy show that the final breaths of these dying stars, called white dwarfs, shed light on carbon's origin in the Milky Way.
"The findings pose new, stringent constraints on how and when carbon was produced by stars of our galaxy, ending up within the raw material from which the Sun and its planetary system were formed 4.6 billion years ago," says Jeffrey Cummings, an Associate Research Scientist in the Johns Hopkins University's Department of Physics & Astronomy and an author on the paper.
The origin of carbon, an element essential to life on Earth, in the Milky Way galaxy is still debated among astrophysicists: some are in favor of low-mass stars that blew off their carbon-rich envelopes by stellar winds became white dwarfs, and others place the major site of carbon's synthesis in the winds of massive stars that eventually exploded as supernovae.
Using data from the Keck Observatory near the summit of Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii collected between August and September 2018, the researchers analyzed white dwarfs belonging to the Milky Way's open star clusters. Open star clusters are groups of up to a few thousand stars held together by mutual gravitational attraction.
From this analysis, the research team measured the white dwarfs' masses, and using the theory of stellar evolution, also calculated their masses at birth.
The connection between the birth masses to the final white dwarf masses is called the initial-final mass relation, a fundamental diagnostic in astrophysics that contains the entire life cycles of stars. Previous research always found an increasing linear relationship: the more massive the star at birth, the more massive the white dwarf left at its death.
But when Cummings and his colleagues calculated the initial-final mass relation, they were shocked to find that the white dwarfs from this group of open clusters had larger masses than astrophysicists previously believed. This discovery, they realized, broke the linear trend other studies always found. In other words, stars born roughly 1 billion years ago in the Milky Way didn't produce white dwarfs of about 0.60-0.65 solar masses, as it was commonly thought, but they died leaving behind more massive remnants of about 0.7 - 0.75 solar masses.
The researchers say that this kink in the trend explains how carbon from low-mass stars made its way into the Milky Way. In the last phases of their lives, stars twice as massive as the Milky Way's Sun produced new carbon atoms in their hot interiors, transported them to the surface and finally spread them into the surrounding interstellar environment through gentle stellar winds. The research team's stellar models indicate that the stripping of the carbon-rich outer mantle occurred slowly enough to allow the central cores of these stars, the future white dwarfs, to grow considerably in mass.
The team calculated that stars had to be at least 1.5 solar masses to spread its carbon-rich ashes upon death.
The great thing about science is that we are constantly learning new facts, it's always a world of discovery.
As Joni Mitchell wrote in "Woodstock:"
We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden
RT notes:
New findings show that when stars die they gently sprinkle chemical-rich ashes throughout the cosmos. The revelation helps to explain how the element carbon arrived in the Milky Way.
The study, published in Nature Astronomy on Monday, revealed that the final breaths of white dwarfs pollinate space with their element-rich-ashes via stellar winds, spreading chemical elements such as carbon across outer space.
We all come from dust. Repeating Joni:
We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden
Let's hope this discovery brings us closer to our earth and our understanding of how related to one another we all are -- how related to our planet we all our.
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