Tuesday, March 24, 2020

The COVID-19 Chronicles, March 24, 2020

I’m doing whatever I can to abide by the rules laid out to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, AKA CODIV-19; I’m social distancing, I’m standing and sitting far apart from people, and regularly washing my hands. It does suck, not being out, but I don’t want to burden the hospitals as one more patient. I always look at the news to find any good news out of this-but the reality is, our commander in chief has abandoned us by his actions. He has told people to get back to their jobs immediately, even as medical professionals-the only ones we should pay attention to-warn that the spread of the COVID-19 has not yet abated; trump is more worried about the stock market and bailing out luxury industries-like his own-than in the health of the American people, not caring if they get sick or die; his own followers, who believe every lies he coughs up, are expendable to him. (https://www.aol.com/article/news/2020/03/24/trump-again-breaks-with-experts-by-calling-for-people-to-go-back-to-work-claims-seniors-will-be-watched-over-protectively-and-lovingly/23960346/?a_dgi=aolshare_facebook&fbclid=IwAR11M7GPyURptlLVyR1V_ZO10syiCdtn6Qk_j2qcjnZ-s40RwZd08blYMGg) (https://news.yahoo.com/america-not-place-shutdown-trump-222523478.html?soc_src=newsroom&soc_trk=com.apple.UIKit.activity.PostToFacebook&.tsrc=newsroom) There are always these little nuggets of hope; a few days ago, my neighbor’s son’s girlfriend gave me a big box of groceries-fresh and canned veggies, oranges, pears-God bless them! People are in need this time; a lot of people, who work in restaurants, hotels, airports, etc., have been laid off due to shut-down orders; they need help, so let’s stay in contact with them; phone them and ask how they’re doing and do they need anything. There are many private individuals, of varying levels of affluence, who have stepped up and donated money and supplies to hospitals and medical staff who are working round the clock to save COVID-19 patients, so let’s support them however we can. Let’s also commend the state and local officials who have taken charge in this crisis, particularly Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York, who has demanded help for the federal government, which has the greatest amount of power to set up aid for states, and who has called for contributions of surgical masks, and people have stepped up. The refusal of the “president” to do anything about the pandemic-besides piling on some fabulous lies- is a crime, period, and he needs to be evicted from the White House NOW. Can you imagine Lincoln during the Civil War, and FDR in the Second World War and Great Depression-three of this nation’s greatest crises-acting this way? He had told the governors “you’re on your own” in acquiring needed equipment -ventilators, respirators, hospital beds, etc.-even as the federal government outbid the states for this equipment. Couldn’t he just donate the gear to the states’ hospitals? Has he continued, even in a crisis, his habit of greed and avarice, “Gimme more, gimme more!”? At ANY moment, trump could implement the Defense Production Act of 2020, authorizing the federal government to order the production of the venerators, respirators, and other machines, and he would come off as a hero; but NOOO, he remains close to our nation’s oligarchy, who are too addicted to the “free market,” even at the nation’s hour of need, to put their greed aside, just once, to fight off this enemy. (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/22/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-defense-production-act.html?searchResultPosition=1) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X0NHWy_Q6I) And Congress? The Republican leadership-yeah, you, Mitch McConnell!-has tried to push through the Senate the trillion dollar spending bill that would have a little for working people-maybe-but $500 BILLION for businesses, to be handed out at Steve Mnuchin’s and trump’s discretion, with no oversight or transparency. (https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a31901316/mitch-mcconnell-bailout-bill-steve-mnuchin-500-billion/) The emphasis on the fund has been on such luxury industries as hotels (like trump’s), cruise liners, and airlines, companies that have used the money saved from the 2017 tax bill to buy back stock to raise the value of the remaining stock. You KNOW that trump will divert some of that money to his own properties, like he has held campaign events at Mar-A-Lago and his other clubs. (https://qz.com/1823225/senate-republicans-corporate-rescue-more-like-slush-fund-dems-say/) (https://www.alternet.org/2020/03/trump-refuses-to-promise-his-own-company-wont-get-a-taxpayer-bailout/0) The attitude is that corporations-vast soulless bureaucracies that overpower the state-are more worthy of help than working people who need to pay their bills, feed their families, and live their lives. Even more insidious, Bill Bar, technically Attorney-General but acting like trump’s personal legal valet-is calling for the power to hold people without trial and suspend the right of Habeas Corpus, and to allow judges to pause trials during “emergencies”. (https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a31903481/william-barr-emergency-powers-coronavirus/) (https://thegrio.com/2020/03/22/department-of-justice-emergency-powers/) This is another Republican-plutocratic dream, to repress any popular opposition without consequences-or are they afraid of a popular uprising? Americans, we DO NOT need to accept this. We deserve a government-particularly a President-who will work of, by, and for the American people, and not be lignin their own pockets and the pockets of already billion-dollar criminals. We deserve and demand action NOW to fight this disease killing our loved ones, and we must organize for that; current communication technology like the internet make that doable during this social-isolation period. Stand fast, stand strong, and stand together, and we’ll beat this.

Saturday, March 21, 2020

The Mason Missile, March 21, 2020

Greetings! Since this publication takes a good deal of work and time, I welcome any donations, and I am willing to discuss ad space. I will be happy to advertise your business in the Missile. Please contact me and we’ll discuss it. The Corona Virus-COVID-19-has hit this country, and it’s getting real here. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has ordered a shutdown of schools and “non-essential” businesses in the state for two weeks (https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2020/03/pennsylvania-coronavirus-statewide-shutdown-tom-wolf-governor/ ). Restaurants would only have take-out service, no sit-down dining. Meetings and conferences have been postponed, as are religious services. I, as many of you, am frustrated by the turn of events; but I will adjust to it, and I’m sure you will be able to also. We in this country have been through difficult times in this country, this is only a phase we’re going through, and we will definitely get through this. I advise we follow the basic practices for health, like not going out so much if we’re not feeling well, washing the hands, and calling our loved ones to see if they’re okay. Where is the leadership in this situation? Mostly at the local and state levels, such as Governors Andrew Cuomo of New York, Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania, JB Pritzker of Illinois, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, who have criticized the trump regime’s refusal to deal with the crisis, telling the governors about acquiring ventilators and respirators, to “get them yourselves.” trump, true to form, resorted to attacking them on Twitter for “playing politics,” while they were standing up for the people of their states and pointing out the refusal of the “President” to do something about the public health crisis. (https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2020/03/17/keep-politics-out-of-it-trump-lashes-out-at-governors-critical-of-federal-coronavirus-response/#19a12af160c3) Part of the regime’s failure was to not accept a testing mechanism produced by German scientists, and offered by the World Health Organization (WHO) (https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a31677485/coronavirus-trump-administration-rejected-who-test/?fbclid=IwAR3vSjEnuWmEXWlIX7RNsGW-UYEKLi8w3c_jOtVDLbwhdekEpGwmrtPlPdE). The “America First” mentality of the regime is one factor; it has shown contempt for international agreements and longtime allies, while it has shown affection to the most infamous dictators on the planet. It may be also the trump tendency to make a buck or two out of the Presidency; Joshua Kushner, brother of First-Son-In-Law and “Senior Advisor” Jared, is a part owner of Oscar Health Insurance, which has developed a system for locating testing sites for COVID-19. (https://www.dcreport.org/2020/03/16/how-the-kushner-family-is-cashing-in-on-covid-19/) Plus, Reuters reports that trump tried to persuade a German biotech firm, CureVac, to move to the US and produce a vaccine for COVID-19-but exclusively for the US. (https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-germany-usa-idUSL8N2B8075) This, along with trump calling the disease the “Chinese virus” and an aide joking about “Kung Flu” to a reporter, are all parts of his blatant racism, xenophobia, and look-out-for-number-one attitude, for himself and for what he perceives to be “America.” (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-pacific-heart/202003/calling-covid-19-chinese-virus-or-kung-flu-is-racist?fbclid=IwAR0cLn66ubdqFYq5CCJhNKXOSc4ILitUQ9c9Av-qVW2--oor34Y_G6x24Q4) No leadership anywhere! Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina spoke to a group of affluent people in his state-HIS kind of people-and warned of the danger of the virus earlier than was previously announced-at the level of the 1918 influenza epidemic. (https://www.npr.org/2020/03/19/818192535/burr-recording-sparks-questions-about-private-comments-on-covid-19) As Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he could have sounded his own warning about the pandemic, but what did he do? Burr, and several other senators-“representatives of the people,” so-called-cashed in their stocks, to the tune of $598,000 to $1.6 million, ahead of what they saw was an upcoming Stock Market crash. The others were Kelly Loeffer of Georgia, Diane Feinstein of California, and James Inhofe of Oklahoma (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/19/reports-burr-loeffler-sold-stocks-ahead-coronavirus-marketcrash/2882006001/). So many of our elected officials-aside from the ones to have actually taken action during the virus-who we need for leadership in times of crisis-like this!-have failed us, they have betrayed us, they have focused on lining their own pockets. We need confidence and faith that we can surmount this crisis, and from the experience to the past few weeks, the “president” has not inspired the confidence or hope the American people need in this time. It is compatible to right after Pearl Harbor; the nation was frightened and worried, and FDR regularly spoke to the American people assuring them of victory. Whatever we can do in our own localities, whether it’s sewing surgical masks, calling you neighbors to see if they’re okay, demanding help and accountability from our elected officials, donating time and money-let’s do it, and we’ll beat this enemy. As in earlier crises in our history-the Depression, the Civil war, and World War II-we have emerged a stronger and better nation. we have that in our hands. Bye!