VIRUS #1
OK, enough
of the results are in. We have made a HUGE mistake in reopening so
soon, even in Kentucky, which thanks to the governor has been slower
than most to jump the gun, but even we are among 17 states where cases
have spiked since we have reopened for the sake of profits.
A LIFETIME IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN A LIVELIHOOD.
I
wrote that weeks ago and I stand by it. Yes, you and I have been
inconvenienced by some closings; some not very sensible, but life, even
if unemployed is still better than death, or spreading contagion to your
loved ones. So, what to do,...reconsider everything and backtrack where
there are indications such openings or relaxation to rules may have
contributed to new infections. it's the only sensible thing for Team
Kentucky to do, and the way we will all get thru this together.
At
the same time, not all the changes were bad, they just need to be
reanalyzed in light of recent spikes in virus cases to see which need to
be changed and which need to be retained. An example: my bank lobby was
closed; we customers were to use their walk-up or drive-in windows only.
Meadow Muffins! With several cashiers, a large lobby, and people
available to check masks and social distancing, banks should provide
lobby service. That's just one of several regs that ought to be studied
for possible change.
But, A LIFETIME IS
MORE IMPORTANT THAN A LIVELIHOOD, and with that as our mantra, we ought
to generally pull back from the rush (slow or fast) to reopen
everything. New York, once the epicenter of cases and deaths, is now
the state with the fewest new cases and deaths thanks to judicial
reopening rules. Kentucky can, and should, do better.
VIRUS #2
Racism
has bubbled to the forefront again, not that it has been long out of
the news or much below the surface. Minneapolis may be that epicenter,
but Louisville may well be number 2. First it took weeks for the Breonna
Taylor case to get the coverage it needed, but thanks to the ineptness
of the LMPD it got it. Then came Dave McAtee, where the final report on
that tragedy is not yet in. But together they have focused attention on
one major aspect of racism; the distinctly different, and unfair,
treatment of black citizens by police, for years, everywhere. In her
death, Louisville has made major changes, and Lexington needs to do the
same, although I must say I am pleased and encouraged by both the way the
majority of our local protesters--and police--have handled themselves
here.
Still, as a reporter who has covered the police beat in 6 different cities, let me urge the following changes here:
1--end no-knock warrants
2--end "qualified immunity" for police
3--end choke holds and similar measures.
4--expand body cam use
5--increase
police sensitivity training, updated periodically with the latest news
events and what they mean..and in many cases, how they could have been
done differently. (example..was the infamous Staten Island "I can't
breathe" case of only a few years ago used in such training in the Twin
Cities? Four cops there obviously didn't get it.)
6--set up a civilian review board, subject to appeal to city council.
7--review police salaries and pensions with an eye to increase and upgrade but also a system of modifying these for cause
8--report and make public cases of violence and similar major proven incidents against individual officers.
This
will get us started, and that's all. Lexington needs to examine far
more than just the police department here, but that's the current focus
of many racism complaints. But as Dr King said; "Injustice anywhere is
injustice everywhere." Lexington should live by that mantra, and:
A LIFETIME IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN A LIVELIHOOD
I'm just sayin'...
Saturday, June 13, 2020
Monday, June 1, 2020
ONCE AGAIN...
America is being consumed by protests of police brutality in a most Justifiable case in Minneapolis. And once again, "peaceful" demonstrations have gotten out of hand in Louisville as well as other cities. Firing weapons, by protestors, is not peaceful.
Setting stores and businesses on fire is not peaceful Looting is not peaceful.
Why does it always seem to happen? (Good case here for a consortium of social psychologists to take a look.) I am always skeptical when city officials blame "outsiders" for turning peaceful demonstrations into violent ones, but Minnesota officials seem to have factual evidence that 30% or more of those arrested, or license plates involved were from other states, some as far as Alabama. Still, we need more facts on this, and arrest and court records, and we need prosecutions.
People who loot stores (and I saw whites & blacks doing this in some cities) are not protestors, they are thieves. People who set fire to businesses (and PBS did a fine report on an area in Twin City St. Paul where the owners of the burned out places were often minorities or immigrants; a story that has been repeated over and over since the infamous South L.A. riots)--those firebugs are not protestors but arsonists and need to be prosecuted as such.
And, if convicted, let all of America have their names and hometowns. Meanwhile, Ms. Taylor's family in Louisville has put out a great statement denying that their daughter would approve such violence. An EMT woman, devoted to saving people from their injuries, would never support actions designed to injury others, often the truly innocent.
That said, we can not overlook the inexcusable actions of a few sworn "to serve and protect." One wonders if the Minneapolis PD ever showed, in training classes, the illegal choke hold that took a similar citizen's life not so many years ago, in the first of the "I can't breathe" incidents. Will police departments across the nation now incorporate into their training programs the video from Minnesota? Will "no knock" warrants finally be outlawed? Will we learn from the honest protests to incident after incident involving minority communities, and will civilian review boards (and juries) hold offenders culpable?
We need our police (and) I have ridden with many of them in many states over the years, been on the "cop shop" beat in several cities. I would not have their job, even if they were paid a better salary. But they are crucial to the workings of a "civil" society. Maybe we need a new national Kerner Commission (Google it) that can help us better address their crucial role, while maintaining the rights and liberties of ALL our citizens?
Some pundits are worried that we can not handle two major social issues at once. That misses the point. We have no choice; between saving another 100,000 and insuring the rights of all Americans, we must do both, before another round of "peaceful" protests totally shreds our American dream.
I'm just sayin'...
Setting stores and businesses on fire is not peaceful Looting is not peaceful.
Why does it always seem to happen? (Good case here for a consortium of social psychologists to take a look.) I am always skeptical when city officials blame "outsiders" for turning peaceful demonstrations into violent ones, but Minnesota officials seem to have factual evidence that 30% or more of those arrested, or license plates involved were from other states, some as far as Alabama. Still, we need more facts on this, and arrest and court records, and we need prosecutions.
People who loot stores (and I saw whites & blacks doing this in some cities) are not protestors, they are thieves. People who set fire to businesses (and PBS did a fine report on an area in Twin City St. Paul where the owners of the burned out places were often minorities or immigrants; a story that has been repeated over and over since the infamous South L.A. riots)--those firebugs are not protestors but arsonists and need to be prosecuted as such.
And, if convicted, let all of America have their names and hometowns. Meanwhile, Ms. Taylor's family in Louisville has put out a great statement denying that their daughter would approve such violence. An EMT woman, devoted to saving people from their injuries, would never support actions designed to injury others, often the truly innocent.
That said, we can not overlook the inexcusable actions of a few sworn "to serve and protect." One wonders if the Minneapolis PD ever showed, in training classes, the illegal choke hold that took a similar citizen's life not so many years ago, in the first of the "I can't breathe" incidents. Will police departments across the nation now incorporate into their training programs the video from Minnesota? Will "no knock" warrants finally be outlawed? Will we learn from the honest protests to incident after incident involving minority communities, and will civilian review boards (and juries) hold offenders culpable?
We need our police (and) I have ridden with many of them in many states over the years, been on the "cop shop" beat in several cities. I would not have their job, even if they were paid a better salary. But they are crucial to the workings of a "civil" society. Maybe we need a new national Kerner Commission (Google it) that can help us better address their crucial role, while maintaining the rights and liberties of ALL our citizens?
Some pundits are worried that we can not handle two major social issues at once. That misses the point. We have no choice; between saving another 100,000 and insuring the rights of all Americans, we must do both, before another round of "peaceful" protests totally shreds our American dream.
I'm just sayin'...
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
The Half-Great Generation
Is that us?
We know what the Greatest Generation did - sacrificed life and limb (both often) and future and health to give us victory in the war. What are we asked to do? ?
Wear a mask and stay home.
Big Deal.
And. we can work from home often, we even get paid by Uncle Sam for not working. We have 200 channel TV's and streaming, and video games, and on line shopping, and pizza delivered to our doors, and......some sacrifice.
And what do we do?
Complain, protest, object. (OK, that's in the American nature, our national DNA, but over masks and 6 feet between us and staying in??? Some sacrifice. Already in 3 major examples I know of, South Korea, India, and Texas, when the rules were lifted and people went back to "normalcy" horrible new virus outbreaks (and hundreds of deaths) occurred.
The "business of America" is NOT business - it's freedom. Yes to protest and Yes to NOT protest, to wear a mask, stay home, stay apart, and support those scientists, health officials, doctors, RNs, etc--all those we call "Heroes"--and who urgently ask us to stay home, wear a mask, stay apart, and NOT indulge in mass swimming at beaches, mass church services, mass bar hopping, mass messes.
Is that so much to ask of Americans, who still remember what sacrifice truly meant during WW2? As we applauded Captain Tom In England, and our American heroes of the Greatest Generation, can't we take their devotion to America to heart, do what little is asked today of us, and maybe, just maybe, be the Half-Greatest Generation of this decade?
It is so very little to ask of us.
I'm just sayin'...
We know what the Greatest Generation did - sacrificed life and limb (both often) and future and health to give us victory in the war. What are we asked to do? ?
Wear a mask and stay home.
Big Deal.
And. we can work from home often, we even get paid by Uncle Sam for not working. We have 200 channel TV's and streaming, and video games, and on line shopping, and pizza delivered to our doors, and......some sacrifice.
And what do we do?
Complain, protest, object. (OK, that's in the American nature, our national DNA, but over masks and 6 feet between us and staying in??? Some sacrifice. Already in 3 major examples I know of, South Korea, India, and Texas, when the rules were lifted and people went back to "normalcy" horrible new virus outbreaks (and hundreds of deaths) occurred.
The "business of America" is NOT business - it's freedom. Yes to protest and Yes to NOT protest, to wear a mask, stay home, stay apart, and support those scientists, health officials, doctors, RNs, etc--all those we call "Heroes"--and who urgently ask us to stay home, wear a mask, stay apart, and NOT indulge in mass swimming at beaches, mass church services, mass bar hopping, mass messes.
Is that so much to ask of Americans, who still remember what sacrifice truly meant during WW2? As we applauded Captain Tom In England, and our American heroes of the Greatest Generation, can't we take their devotion to America to heart, do what little is asked today of us, and maybe, just maybe, be the Half-Greatest Generation of this decade?
It is so very little to ask of us.
I'm just sayin'...
Monday, May 4, 2020
A Life Is Better Than A Livelihood
Well, now that I've gotten that off my chest, let me
remind you that Sunday was World Press Day; coming just a few days
after an out-of-state firm closed the Morehead News (and several others)
pleading virus financial hardships. Maybe true,
but the Rowan County area will suffer until a new paper arises, as I
hope it will soon. I have been a broadcaster for over 40 years but I
started in journalism as a printer's devil, then cub reporter for a
small weekly paper and, TV to the contrary, local
print is the backbone of American journalism, and we all die a little
when one member perishes.
BTW, 49 journalists were murdered around the world last year, and it's in their spirit we observe World Press Day this year--and every year. Many more were harassed, persecuted and jailed than were killed. To show you the lengths some nations will go, take Iran. It went after a woman journalism activist for criticizing the religious leaders there (a warning for us here) but when the officials couldn't find her to arrest her, they jailed her non-journalist brother instead. He's still in jail, no charges, no bail, no trial date; but many there know his fate is but a warning to journalists not to push their "freedom" too far.
A LIFE IS BETTER THAN A LIVELIHOOD
Canada this week banned over 100 types of assault rifles. Its prime minister said these weapons had one purpose, "to kill as many people as quickly as possible." One massacre in Nova Scotia of 20 plus was all it took for Canada to act. The US has had how many Nova Scotias so far?? Canada, whose history of exploration and fur trapping parallels our own doesn't have a Second Amendment to be misinterpreted by a Supreme Court or an NRA, so the PM could do this. When will we learn?
A LIFE IS BETTER THAN A LIVELIHOOD
And many lives are being taken in understaffed, unprepared, under-regulated and under-inspected state nursing homes. Federal stats showed 30% or more of Kentucky nursing homes did NOT meet US standards, and that was before Wuhan. Their lobby has kept Frankfort from imposing decent standards and inspecting them properly, so now your relatives and friends may die, needlessly. A former UK journalist , Bernie Vonderheide, tried to get proper rules to be followed by the homes., but his years of work were largely in vain. Bernie, they should have listened to you more. We all should have.
A LIFE IS BETTER THAN A LIVELIHOOD
I'm just sayin'...
BTW, 49 journalists were murdered around the world last year, and it's in their spirit we observe World Press Day this year--and every year. Many more were harassed, persecuted and jailed than were killed. To show you the lengths some nations will go, take Iran. It went after a woman journalism activist for criticizing the religious leaders there (a warning for us here) but when the officials couldn't find her to arrest her, they jailed her non-journalist brother instead. He's still in jail, no charges, no bail, no trial date; but many there know his fate is but a warning to journalists not to push their "freedom" too far.
A LIFE IS BETTER THAN A LIVELIHOOD
Canada this week banned over 100 types of assault rifles. Its prime minister said these weapons had one purpose, "to kill as many people as quickly as possible." One massacre in Nova Scotia of 20 plus was all it took for Canada to act. The US has had how many Nova Scotias so far?? Canada, whose history of exploration and fur trapping parallels our own doesn't have a Second Amendment to be misinterpreted by a Supreme Court or an NRA, so the PM could do this. When will we learn?
A LIFE IS BETTER THAN A LIVELIHOOD
And many lives are being taken in understaffed, unprepared, under-regulated and under-inspected state nursing homes. Federal stats showed 30% or more of Kentucky nursing homes did NOT meet US standards, and that was before Wuhan. Their lobby has kept Frankfort from imposing decent standards and inspecting them properly, so now your relatives and friends may die, needlessly. A former UK journalist , Bernie Vonderheide, tried to get proper rules to be followed by the homes., but his years of work were largely in vain. Bernie, they should have listened to you more. We all should have.
A LIFE IS BETTER THAN A LIVELIHOOD
I'm just sayin'...
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Earth Day @ 50
MY GOODNESS:
It's Earth Day.
How Ironic. Here we are, having ignored our Earth and its problems for so long, and now we are paying the consequences.
OK, Earth Day is about the land and the air and the water; all things we can not live without - they being in good shape, that is. But they aren't. And neither are we just now when the virus that takes all of our attention. Someday it will be over, and we will still have the problems of pollution, and toxic chemicals not properly regulated, and famine, all related to a Climate that IS changing--and which we have been ignoring also at our peril.
One thing COVID-19 should have taught us (??) -- a problem somewhere on our Earth can end up being a problem everywhere on earth. We are connected, we are one world, we are one mass of humanity, and we live or die together.
That should not scare us. Almost all religions try to teach us respect for and aid to our fellow humans. Now that their lessons have come home to us in spades--and caskets--can't we learn? "Can't we all get along?"
The "richest, most powerful nation on Earth" has been brought low by an invisible bug from a town most of us never heard of. And when this passes, will we go back to our old ways, or just wait for the next bug from the next unknown place? We should have learned we are "our Brother's keeper." Earth Day helps remind us of that, and boy did we need reminding.
But now we've had our faces rubbed in it; painful, but important. We, mankind, are resilient. We shall rise again, if we but learn the lessons Earth Day has so horribly reminded us. We can learn, we should learn, we MUST learn.
I'm just sayin'...
It's Earth Day.
How Ironic. Here we are, having ignored our Earth and its problems for so long, and now we are paying the consequences.
OK, Earth Day is about the land and the air and the water; all things we can not live without - they being in good shape, that is. But they aren't. And neither are we just now when the virus that takes all of our attention. Someday it will be over, and we will still have the problems of pollution, and toxic chemicals not properly regulated, and famine, all related to a Climate that IS changing--and which we have been ignoring also at our peril.
One thing COVID-19 should have taught us (??) -- a problem somewhere on our Earth can end up being a problem everywhere on earth. We are connected, we are one world, we are one mass of humanity, and we live or die together.
That should not scare us. Almost all religions try to teach us respect for and aid to our fellow humans. Now that their lessons have come home to us in spades--and caskets--can't we learn? "Can't we all get along?"
The "richest, most powerful nation on Earth" has been brought low by an invisible bug from a town most of us never heard of. And when this passes, will we go back to our old ways, or just wait for the next bug from the next unknown place? We should have learned we are "our Brother's keeper." Earth Day helps remind us of that, and boy did we need reminding.
But now we've had our faces rubbed in it; painful, but important. We, mankind, are resilient. We shall rise again, if we but learn the lessons Earth Day has so horribly reminded us. We can learn, we should learn, we MUST learn.
I'm just sayin'...
Sunday, April 12, 2020
Thoughts In The Time of Plague
I believe in God and consider myself a Christian.
(I hope God considers me a Christian, too.)
Perhaps I listened to too many good Presbyterian sermons growing up in my small West Virginia town, but I do believe, with them, that the "church" is not the brick and stained-glass building we worshiped in, but the people of the congregation, the members of the faith instead; maybe that's why I have not been much of a churchgoer over the years, but I believe, whether in a building or not.
If you truly "love thy neighbor" why would you put them at risk by insisting on a crowded meeting Easter Sunday, or any other? To insist on such here in Kentucky after we have had several examples of the virus traced to church meetings--including some deaths--hardly seems "Christian." And with broadcast services and drive in services even less so. I can "render unto God" without getting ill or putting others at risk even if I do skip the most sacred of all Christian services of the year, a genuine pity but a necessity in the time of contagion.
Far more that we spend time trying to learn the lessons of WHY this old testament pestilence has been visited upon us. Why we still have traditional areas of mass poverty where disease flourishes--after years of warnings---"wet"markets where this virus supposedly originated---after years of warnings---of failures to vaccinate properly which has allowed once eliminated scourges to reappear---after years of warnings.
And we can think and think and think why a "loving God" would allow this to happen to innocent people worldwide?
I don't know that answer, and I don't know anyone who does.
God knows.
I'm just sayin'...
(I hope God considers me a Christian, too.)
Perhaps I listened to too many good Presbyterian sermons growing up in my small West Virginia town, but I do believe, with them, that the "church" is not the brick and stained-glass building we worshiped in, but the people of the congregation, the members of the faith instead; maybe that's why I have not been much of a churchgoer over the years, but I believe, whether in a building or not.
If you truly "love thy neighbor" why would you put them at risk by insisting on a crowded meeting Easter Sunday, or any other? To insist on such here in Kentucky after we have had several examples of the virus traced to church meetings--including some deaths--hardly seems "Christian." And with broadcast services and drive in services even less so. I can "render unto God" without getting ill or putting others at risk even if I do skip the most sacred of all Christian services of the year, a genuine pity but a necessity in the time of contagion.
Far more that we spend time trying to learn the lessons of WHY this old testament pestilence has been visited upon us. Why we still have traditional areas of mass poverty where disease flourishes--after years of warnings---"wet"markets where this virus supposedly originated---after years of warnings---of failures to vaccinate properly which has allowed once eliminated scourges to reappear---after years of warnings.
And we can think and think and think why a "loving God" would allow this to happen to innocent people worldwide?
I don't know that answer, and I don't know anyone who does.
God knows.
I'm just sayin'...
Friday, April 3, 2020
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
I'm talking about the way the GOP majorities in Frankfort passed an unusual one year budget this week.
OK, they were absolutely right to make it only one year, instead of the traditional two. No one knows what the future of state revenue is in the time of Covid-19. I might quibble about their unusual voting plan, but if the Dems or the ACLU think that was illegal, let them sue. (Not that they did before when the legislature refused to follow the Constitution and pass a budget at all by April 15th only a few years back.)
End of most "Good"
No raises for state employees, including teachers. (Take that, Andy Beshear!) No funds for libraries, no funds for school textbooks, and no funds for any new social workers, at a time when everyone knows there will be many more demands on them in the weeks ahead due to the virus, when present workers are already way above the national standards in caseloads. That is truly ugly.
Why is it so easy for Republicans to raise "sin taxes?" But do nothing about real, basic revenue. No taxes on casino gambling, or even expanding casinos here when multimillions flow out of our state each year to every surrounding state that has gambling parlors. Stoopid! (More later) No taxes on medical marijuana.
Let me agree entirely with senate minority leader Morgan McGarvey, truthfully chastising the majority when he said.."Since 2008, when the economy collapsed the last time, the cupboard has been bare and we haven't restocked it." Even a broader tobacco tax the guv proposed went down, tho an increased vaping tax passed. While we wait a year, other states will reap revenue from Kentuckians traveling to their casinos. Sports betting, in this sports-crazy state, was also rejected. Makes no sense.
Will we know more in a year? Probably. Can the GOP majority be counted on to do better? Probably not.
Now let me add a few words of objection to some acts of our governor, who has been doing extremely well in his late afternoon virus news conferences. (Can anyone really see these conducted as well by Matt Bevin??)
You have overreached yourself guv, in closing so many places. Please reconsider and keep checking on places that might reopen, as well as others that may need closing. OK, this is personal, but I have a pair of glases that need repairs. Optical goods stores are closed. I also need a haircut. Every time I went to get one, social distancing was enforced, even informally. Are we to go back to Dan'l "Beard?"
But what is this crap about closing our borders to people from other states (any other states, not just hot spots apparently) I think that is beyond your powers, good goal tho it may be, and most likely UNConstitutional. Hope someone challenges it. Do we really want turn away all those people who come to buy our cheap bourbon, by quarantining them. And what about Kentuckians who go to Nashville or Illinois casinos, and come back? Are they to be put away for 2 weeks? Makes no sense either.
But, as Mr. Beshear said, this MAY be a small price to pay in the midst of a unique tragedy we are living through, but together, we will make it.
I'm just sayin'...
OK, they were absolutely right to make it only one year, instead of the traditional two. No one knows what the future of state revenue is in the time of Covid-19. I might quibble about their unusual voting plan, but if the Dems or the ACLU think that was illegal, let them sue. (Not that they did before when the legislature refused to follow the Constitution and pass a budget at all by April 15th only a few years back.)
End of most "Good"
No raises for state employees, including teachers. (Take that, Andy Beshear!) No funds for libraries, no funds for school textbooks, and no funds for any new social workers, at a time when everyone knows there will be many more demands on them in the weeks ahead due to the virus, when present workers are already way above the national standards in caseloads. That is truly ugly.
Why is it so easy for Republicans to raise "sin taxes?" But do nothing about real, basic revenue. No taxes on casino gambling, or even expanding casinos here when multimillions flow out of our state each year to every surrounding state that has gambling parlors. Stoopid! (More later) No taxes on medical marijuana.
Let me agree entirely with senate minority leader Morgan McGarvey, truthfully chastising the majority when he said.."Since 2008, when the economy collapsed the last time, the cupboard has been bare and we haven't restocked it." Even a broader tobacco tax the guv proposed went down, tho an increased vaping tax passed. While we wait a year, other states will reap revenue from Kentuckians traveling to their casinos. Sports betting, in this sports-crazy state, was also rejected. Makes no sense.
Will we know more in a year? Probably. Can the GOP majority be counted on to do better? Probably not.
Now let me add a few words of objection to some acts of our governor, who has been doing extremely well in his late afternoon virus news conferences. (Can anyone really see these conducted as well by Matt Bevin??)
You have overreached yourself guv, in closing so many places. Please reconsider and keep checking on places that might reopen, as well as others that may need closing. OK, this is personal, but I have a pair of glases that need repairs. Optical goods stores are closed. I also need a haircut. Every time I went to get one, social distancing was enforced, even informally. Are we to go back to Dan'l "Beard?"
But what is this crap about closing our borders to people from other states (any other states, not just hot spots apparently) I think that is beyond your powers, good goal tho it may be, and most likely UNConstitutional. Hope someone challenges it. Do we really want turn away all those people who come to buy our cheap bourbon, by quarantining them. And what about Kentuckians who go to Nashville or Illinois casinos, and come back? Are they to be put away for 2 weeks? Makes no sense either.
But, as Mr. Beshear said, this MAY be a small price to pay in the midst of a unique tragedy we are living through, but together, we will make it.
I'm just sayin'...
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