LEXINGTON--All was NOT well here election day. Walk
in voting at our ONE precinct, Kroger Field, was really, really bad.
First off, just ONE place to vote? Madison County had 3, little Knox
county 2, but somehow, our election board went with one. OK, they got so
many mail-in requests they probably thought there wouldn't be so many
in person. Wrong. With hindsight, the large number of requests probably
showed heightened interest.
Second problem: the place. That site at
Kroger Field was too small, allowing for 4 check in stations, finally
six were squeezed in. Since I voted by mail I am not familiar with that
site, but in the vastness of the Field, a more spacious site was surely
available. I am told the check in site was the real problem and we had
enough polling stations. Maybe. Louisville had 350 at its one site. Then there was the rain - brief but bad. No provisions made for the line to get covered. No one thought about rain, apparently. Nor, apparently was bottled water provided, as was done at so many other voting places when lines appeared. I
am surprised because we usually do take care of our neighbors better.
Don't know that the totals will be affected, except for those who left,
wet & thirsty(!) but all of this adds up to a disaster that should
not have happened.
TULSA
---I watched Mr. Trump's speech in Tulsa and when he delivered the
lines about how if we slowed down testing we wouldn't have so many virus
cases. I decided that would be the topic of this blog. But then the
White House insisted it was all a joke, and a very, very senior Trump
official reassured the media that it was all tongue-in-check. So I
decided not to write about it. Then, a day or so later, The President, as
he has done before, pulled the rug totally out from under his staff and
the very senior official by insisting he really meant it. DUH, Mr. President, duh.
AMERICA. OK, since
no one else will, I will. I hereby proclaim to all of you who have been
worrying whether a "second wave" of virus cases would come, stop
worrying. They have. They are here. All because too many states and
cities jumped the gun; especially when the "word" from the White House
was to favor business ('reopening') over health care. Friday, Florida had
NINE THOUSAND new cases. Texas, California, Arizona are not far behind. And
the old "first wave" epicenter, New York has fewer new cases than
almost anyone because of its more rigorous reopening.
The Second Wave is here and I just hope Dr.'s Birx and Fauci have the guts to say so, and soon. But since they haven't, I will:
A LIFETIME IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN A LIVELIHOOD
I'm just sayin'...
Saturday, June 27, 2020
Saturday, June 13, 2020
The Viruses Among Us
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'...
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'...
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'...
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