COVID-19 Face covering question

[jnk...]

Or, All history is revisionist history.

https://youtu.be/h3ehstb-tI0

[ChicagoGranny]

I'm just going to throw this in here.

Even the great Northern universities – Harvard, Yale and Princeton – furnished quotas of soldiers for the Confederate ranks. From Harvard came 257, of whom 58 were killed in battle and 12 died in the service, and in this large list appear 8 brigadier-generals and 5 major-generals. Of the graduates and students of Yale, 48 entered the Confederate service, and of these 8 were killed in battle or succumbed to disease. At Princeton 55 men left the University, early in 1861, to enter the Confederate service.

[ChicagoGranny]

I got this from a Southern friend. There is a group that raises money to erect at least one "Confederate" flag for every monument toppled or removed. They are large flags on large, permanent poles. The flags are place on private property alongside Interstate highways.

I'm too old to travel much but were I younger, the sight of these along the highways would sicken me. Here is a photo of one the flags erected after a monument was removed.

confederate flag (2).png

[zonker]

As far as forgetting Francis Scott Key, no I don't think it will happen because we removed a statue. I am however sad that we have lost a piece of art created by William Wetmore Story in 1887. Taking them all down legally and putting them into a museum of slave owners seems like it might have been an ok compromise, though I am not sure one museum could hold all the artwork of the many slave holders we had. Where does it stop? John Hancock was a slave owner. Do we put the declaration of independence in a museum of slave owners? Not all the signers were slave owners but a good many of them were.

a number of them are being taken down legally. i couldn't tell you the exact number nor how it matches up with illegally removed statues.

in either event, i don't think the loss of mr. story's statue is going to have that great an affect on life going forward. i'm more in favor of having these statues removed because of the impact on a typical Black person. i can't imagine what a Black man has to go through in his daily life. of course, not just these statues but everything he goes through.

if there is anything good that come from this, is that we (white america) can certainly remove these symbols of enslavement.

i think that the time is right for what is going on. talk of "slave museums" doesn't exactly thrill me either. and this removing of statues didn't just spring up because of the protests, though i'm sure you know that. and i don't know of any agreement that has been reached before now. not sure that such a thing would ever come to pass.

i really don't what else to say.

[palerider]

Just to get back to the topic of the thread...
****************************************************
Listen, Gang, I get it.

The nation has been through a trauma. Many of us have had to spend months alone under lockdown. Our friends and family are supposed to stay six feet away from us with no hugs allowed. Even to protest horrendous behavior by our police we must put our health in danger. What kind of world is that?

Then finally the door opens a little bit, even though we are still deeply entrenched in the first wave, and the damn authorities want us to wear a mask. I have heard the endless excuses of how it blocks your beautiful face, ruins a perfect photograph, diminishes a private moment, you are not at high risk and you are hanging with folks who don’t have it.

Besides, it is really annoying, and I heard masks aren’t even effective.

Really gang, really?

When I was growing up, my uncles would share tales with me of being sent to fight deadly and horrific battles in World War II. No one complained that it was inconvenient or annoying. They did it because they loved their country and it needed them.

When I graduated from high school, family members and classmates were immediately drafted, some as young as 18, to fight and die in the jungles of Vietnam. Over 5,000 died in one month in May 1968. They went to fight because they loved their country and it needed them.

In Mississippi in the summer of 1964, thousands of students risked their lives to fight for the civil rights of African Americans. Three were brutally killed and buried in a dam in Philadelphia, Mississippi. No one complained that it was inconvenient or annoying. They did it because they loved their country and it needed them.

At many moments in history when great sacrifice was required by our country, whether it was fighting in wars or at home for civil rights, justice, and peace, young Americans have responded with an energy and dignity that gained them a place in history.

Now, your country, family and friends need you again.

The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more people in three months than all of World War I. It is projected to at least kill 200,000 Americans by October 1st. That is one third of the number of souls lost in our Civil War. The toll could be much higher by the end of the year.

Ironically, in one of the greatest crises in this nation’s history, your country is asking you to do just two things. No one must go to battle. No one must die in dangerous places for freedom.

Nope, all they are asking is that you wear a fucking mask and socially distance yourselves.

That is literally the ONLY sacrifice they are asking you to make to serve your country. Thousands of healthcare workers have died already to protect us. They are simply asking us to wear a fucking mask. The senior citizens who helped build this country are begging you to wear a fucking mask. Those with preexisting conditions who struggle daily with other health issues are begging you to wear a fucking mask. Scientists say that these folks, your family, friends and neighbors, are 12 times more likely to get COVID-19 than others.

Many folks who know of my work often say kind things to me or thank me for my journey of the last 60 years. For the last ten of those years I have had 11 surgeries and eight stays in critical care. I have recently been diagnosed with COPD. For the COVID-19 virus, it is like I have a big target on my back. I have done my part by washing hands until they are raw, wearing my mask and for 115 days I have been in lockdown alone in a small apartment because my country needs me to not get sick and become an additional burden on the healthcare system. Oh yeah, I also want to live, and have more things I want to achieve in my life.

I am begging you to serve your country, love your family, respect your neighbors, cherish your seniors, and honor your friends by just doing one thing. Wear a fucking mask. Is it too much to ask of you? You can go outside again, you can go to parks, pick flowers, visit with folks. Just remember there are 120,000 of our citizens who are no longer with us because of COVID-19 and they can’t do any of those things.

I know you know better. Stop making exceptions for yourself and excuses because it is annoying. Be a role model like younger Americans have been in the past. We are a people who love our country, cherish our families, and value our friends. Americans have and will do anything to keep them safe.

Please, wear the fucking mask.

All opinions expressed are those of the author.

David Mixner, whom Newsweek once named the most powerful gay man in America, has been a highly regarded leader in American politics and international human rights for over 40 years and is a best-selling author of Stranger Among Friends, At Home with Myself, and Brave Journeys (co-written with Dennis Bailey). A sought after keynote speaker around the globe, Mixner has lectured at Oxford, Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, and the London School of Economics.

Mixner has raised over $30 million for candidates and charity organizations, including well over $1 million for openly gay and lesbian candidates across the country, and has participated in over 75 election campaigns, serving as campaign manager, fundraiser, or strategist. Campaigns include Gephardt for President, Clinton for President, Hart for President, McGovern for President, Bradley for Mayor, and Brown for Governor and Senate. Additionally, Mixner is a past member of the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Party National Commission on Delegate Selection and Party Reform, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund (former National Co-Chair).

[babydinosnoreless]

i really don't what else to say.

Sending you a pm

[nanwilson]

Just to get back to the topic of the thread...
****************************************************
Listen, Gang, I get it.

The nation has been through a trauma. Many of us have had to spend months alone under lockdown. Our friends and family are supposed to stay six feet away from us with no hugs allowed. Even to protest horrendous behavior by our police we must put our health in danger. What kind of world is that?

Then finally the door opens a little bit, even though we are still deeply entrenched in the first wave, and the damn authorities want us to wear a mask. I have heard the endless excuses of how it blocks your beautiful face, ruins a perfect photograph, diminishes a private moment, you are not at high risk and you are hanging with folks who don’t have it.

Besides, it is really annoying, and I heard masks aren’t even effective.

Really gang, really?

When I was growing up, my uncles would share tales with me of being sent to fight deadly and horrific battles in World War II. No one complained that it was inconvenient or annoying. They did it because they loved their country and it needed them.

When I graduated from high school, family members and classmates were immediately drafted, some as young as 18, to fight and die in the jungles of Vietnam. Over 5,000 died in one month in May 1968. They went to fight because they loved their country and it needed them.

In Mississippi in the summer of 1964, thousands of students risked their lives to fight for the civil rights of African Americans. Three were brutally killed and buried in a dam in Philadelphia, Mississippi. No one complained that it was inconvenient or annoying. They did it because they loved their country and it needed them.

At many moments in history when great sacrifice was required by our country, whether it was fighting in wars or at home for civil rights, justice, and peace, young Americans have responded with an energy and dignity that gained them a place in history.

Now, your country, family and friends need you again.

The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more people in three months than all of World War I. It is projected to at least kill 200,000 Americans by October 1st. That is one third of the number of souls lost in our Civil War. The toll could be much higher by the end of the year.

Ironically, in one of the greatest crises in this nation’s history, your country is asking you to do just two things. No one must go to battle. No one must die in dangerous places for freedom.

Nope, all they are asking is that you wear a fucking mask and socially distance yourselves.

That is literally the ONLY sacrifice they are asking you to make to serve your country. Thousands of healthcare workers have died already to protect us. They are simply asking us to wear a fucking mask. The senior citizens who helped build this country are begging you to wear a fucking mask. Those with preexisting conditions who struggle daily with other health issues are begging you to wear a fucking mask. Scientists say that these folks, your family, friends and neighbors, are 12 times more likely to get COVID-19 than others.

Many folks who know of my work often say kind things to me or thank me for my journey of the last 60 years. For the last ten of those years I have had 11 surgeries and eight stays in critical care. I have recently been diagnosed with COPD. For the COVID-19 virus, it is like I have a big target on my back. I have done my part by washing hands until they are raw, wearing my mask and for 115 days I have been in lockdown alone in a small apartment because my country needs me to not get sick and become an additional burden on the healthcare system. Oh yeah, I also want to live, and have more things I want to achieve in my life.

I am begging you to serve your country, love your family, respect your neighbors, cherish your seniors, and honor your friends by just doing one thing. Wear a fucking mask. Is it too much to ask of you? You can go outside again, you can go to parks, pick flowers, visit with folks. Just remember there are 120,000 of our citizens who are no longer with us because of COVID-19 and they can’t do any of those things.

I know you know better. Stop making exceptions for yourself and excuses because it is annoying. Be a role model like younger Americans have been in the past. We are a people who love our country, cherish our families, and value our friends. Americans have and will do anything to keep them safe.

Please, wear the fucking mask.

All opinions expressed are those of the author.

David Mixner, whom Newsweek once named the most powerful gay man in America, has been a highly regarded leader in American politics and international human rights for over 40 years and is a best-selling author of Stranger Among Friends, At Home with Myself, and Brave Journeys (co-written with Dennis Bailey). A sought after keynote speaker around the globe, Mixner has lectured at Oxford, Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, and the London School of Economics.

Mixner has raised over $30 million for candidates and charity organizations, including well over $1 million for openly gay and lesbian candidates across the country, and has participated in over 75 election campaigns, serving as campaign manager, fundraiser, or strategist. Campaigns include Gephardt for President, Clinton for President, Hart for President, McGovern for President, Bradley for Mayor, and Brown for Governor and Senate. Additionally, Mixner is a past member of the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Party National Commission on Delegate Selection and Party Reform, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund (former National Co-Chair).

PR: I get it, since it applies in my neck of the woods too. I have had folks knocking on my door with " Hi! we know you are alone and thought that you could use a visit from me" NO MASK!!!!! Yes, I too have COPD along with other health problems and did not want a VISIT!! When my daughter got home from work, she nicely (?) went over to their house told them to not come to our home . again. I am fine staying home by myself as I have lots of hobbies and DO NOT WANT ANYONE TO ENTER MY HOME TO VISIT AT THIS TIME!!!! There are stupid people everywhere, and they just don't get it, this is a pandemic, stay HOME. If you don't know what the word PANDEMIC means....... go look it up!!!

Stay safe old friend and hopefully this will all be over soon and we can get back to our normal lives.

EVERYONE ---- BE SAFE and stay away from others

Cheers
Nan

[Janknitz]

I'm late to the party, but here's my take on it.

I belong to an asthma support group online. Until March, everyone was buying "Vog Masks". These are cloth masks rated N95 with the N95 valve. I bought one myself for two reasons: 1) Smoke from California Wildfires (including one that almost took out my house) and 2) occasionally having to work closely with clients who reeked of cigarette smoke which is a bad asthma trigger for me. I got very ill after a meeting with some very heavy smokers and having to review their papers which also reeked of smoke--ended up with pneumonia as a result. The mask lets me meet with people without risking my life and livelihood.

The masks work, I could be outside briefly even when you could cut the smoke in the air with a knife, or spend time at a particular client's home that you could see the air inside. But I was miserable, had a hard time breathing or conversing in the mask. Still I wore it, and a lot of other asthmatics did too for daily activities when they might be exposed to asthma triggers. Until . . .

When masks were suggested and then mandated, all of the sudden asthmatics couldn't wear them because it's too hard to breathe (insert little whiney voice here). Suddenly, the asthma group I'm in was all about ADA and doctor's notes and exemptions because it's too hard . . . Especially when people realized a mask protects others and not them from the virus, people started to whine and complain about "having" to wear a mask.

I HATE wearing a mask, but I wear one anyway. I'm running my business, banking, running the errands I need to in a mask, using hand washing precautions and/or gloves, limiting my contact with others, social distancing. It's hard, but I do it anyway.

Although I hope the chances are slim that I have covid, I don't know for sure. What I do know is that I don't have the right to put other people at risk--or their frail family member sheltering at home--if I do.

If you are too delicate to wear a mask when you go out, you are definitely too delicate to survive covid, so STAY HOME.

Medical excuses are bogus. Don't play that game. Either wear the mask, or don't go out.

[chunkyfrog]

I have noticed differing mask use among the patrons of various businesses.
Class seems to factor greatly,. Walmart and Goodwill are the worst.
Menards, Costco, and Aldi have far fewer "mask-refuseniks".
Our future (and especially present) shopping will adapt accordingly.

[palerider]

PR: I get it, since it applies in my neck of the woods too. I have had folks knocking on my door with " Hi! we know you are alone and thought that you could use a visit from me" NO MASK!!!!! Yes, I too have COPD along with other health problems and did not want a VISIT!! When my daughter got home from work, she nicely (?) went over to their house told them to not come to our home . again. I am fine staying home by myself as I have lots of hobbies and DO NOT WANT ANYONE TO ENTER MY HOME TO VISIT AT THIS TIME!!!! There are stupid people everywhere, and they just don't get it, this is a pandemic, stay HOME. If you don't know what the word PANDEMIC means....... go look it up!!!

Stay safe old friend and hopefully this will all be over soon and we can get back to our normal lives.

EVERYONE ---- BE SAFE and stay away from others

Cheers
Nan

The Sherrif's dept had a door sign that people who are more at risk could put on their doors, if you like, I'll dig up a PDF and stick it on my dropbox for you to download, and put on your door too

[lrob123]

And speaking of such things, everyone should watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krfcq5pF8u8

It takes a while, and it's painful, and sickening to watch, but maybe it'll cause a few people to think.

Thanks Pale Rider, I will watch it.

I saw this short video in the news today which made me happy. This happened at a school board meeting about changing the name of a school named after Robert E Lee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEUNnvG ... e=youtu.be "East Baton Rouge School Board Members Get Told Off By Citizen Gary Chambers In Powerful Speech"

[palerider]

And speaking of such things, everyone should watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krfcq5pF8u8

It takes a while, and it's painful, and sickening to watch, but maybe it'll cause a few people to think.

Thanks Pale Rider, I will watch it.

I saw this short video in the news today which made me happy. This happened at a school board meeting about changing the name of a school named after Robert E Lee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEUNnvG ... e=youtu.be "East Baton Rouge School Board Members Get Told Off By Citizen Gary Chambers In Powerful Speech"

I heard about that one, well done to the gentleman speaking.

[lrob123]

And speaking of such things, everyone should watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krfcq5pF8u8

It takes a while, and it's painful, and sickening to watch, but maybe it'll cause a few people to think.

Thanks Pale Rider, I will watch it.

I saw this short video in the news today which made me happy. This happened at a school board meeting about changing the name of a school named after Robert E Lee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEUNnvG ... e=youtu.be "East Baton Rouge School Board Members Get Told Off By Citizen Gary Chambers In Powerful Speech"

I also liked this 2018 YouTube video about the Confederate flag (he says it is a 'battle flag' not the real Confederate flag, OK but the important part is what that stands for today):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMIOCj7a3tI

[lrob123]

I saw this short video in the news today which made me happy. This happened at a school board meeting about changing the name of a school named after Robert E Lee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEUNnvG ... e=youtu.be "East Baton Rouge School Board Members Get Told Off By Citizen Gary Chambers In Powerful Speech"

I heard about that one, well done to the gentleman speaking.

My favorite part was when he said "If you want to name it after somebody, honor the right people!! The people who were on the right side of history." Also the way he knew the names of all the school board members, addressing them by name, obviously he's been involved in community meetings like this for a long time. I've seen how some minor town officials act at "bored" meetings since I've attended local zoning board meetings. When it is time for us citizens to give our feedback (e.g. whether a mosque should be zoned in our neighborhood or some business variance should be given), when the public citizens come to the microphone to talk, the zoning board members are whispering among themselves not listening to us, or they have their eyes closed appearing asleep or are writing or typing something on their laptop (they were zoning out, haha). So rude, they shouldn't have run for the office if it is so boring, and what is the point of allowing time for citizen feedback if you don't even listen. I vicariously enjoyed watching him chewing people like that out.

I just read that several years ago Connie the school board member/shopping lady, voted against removing "Lee" from the school's name, so this activist Gary Chambers and others took the opportunity to ask again for a name change now when renaming things that had been named for Confederate "heroes" is gaining momentum again. Crazy video of Connie walking in uninvited into a neighbor teenager's house party and then refusing to leave, apparently in order to video the teens, maybe planning to report them to police for being too loud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvOvCE_Cucc , and I see she's already gotten roasted by a comedian on the 'Let Me Stress You Out' YouTube show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKjVgsYRbVE