I’ve been seeing more Jesusland-styled talk on various comment threads and Twitter threads recently, stuff talking about how people get the government they deserve and that people suffering from the pandemic in the red states (Note: alongside being stupid and misguided, this map is rather old and outdated; some of the states are purple now) can be written off. That talk of course ignores the large number of marginalized groups that reside in ‘Jesusland’ who were never able to vote for what they wanted because of partisan, racist, pro-rich gerrymandering efforts and other underhanded tactics that have deprived people of much-needed representation at the multiple levels of government.
Also, with the whole chloroquine thing, it’s got me worried that soon I’m gonna be seeing people delivering cheap clapbacks and handing out “Darwin Awards” to people who die from thinking that taking that will protect or save them. I remember that George Carlin delivered a nihilistic diatribe once about how we should remove safety labels and regulations so that people could “filter themselves out of the gene pool”. For how much he rightfully lambasted those in power and used his stand-up to talk about being skeptical of the rich and powerful, the part of his comedy that I could summarize as “We’re all going to die, everyone’s stupid, everything’s a lie and everything sucks, but some stuff sucks less” aged hilariously badly, and sadly became one of the key things that a lot of people took to heart from his work.
This pandemic has everyone on edge, but what deserves to happen is justice and aid, not death or suffering.
This, exactly. Writing off entire states where millions of people (usually poor and Black or Hispanic or Latino) are disenfranchised isn’t a good look on anybody. If that’s your idea (general you, not specific) of progressiveness, leave me out.
Same with scared people listening to someone who’s promised to protect them and then coming to harm. Go after the people who lied to them. Half the reason grifters get away with things is that their victims are ashamed. So they don’t speak up. So call out and shame the people selling the snake oil, instead.
FWIW, Time Magazine just published this today. Mainstream media, the sort in every doctor’s office, red state or blue. Only the true extremists are still toeing the party line:
I appreciate that there are tons of problems with online learning generally, but the “massive rush to move K-12 education online” is not a mistake, it is the only way to continue education at this time. I am in awe of the teachers and staff in our school system who have in two weeks rebuilt for an online curriculum with which to finish out the school year: even for my son who is in preschool. They’ve pulled together laptops for children who lack them and are working to provide internet access to children who don’t normally have that at home, all on top of arranging for safe handouts of workbooks and even meals.
I mentioned earlier that the healthcare system is already buckling, and we are still early days in this. Even when we cross the peak, there will be a long downhill on the other side. And if you throw a profit making requirement on top of this, the disaster will be that much worse. If no other lesson comes out of this, I pray it will be that profit consideration has no place whatsoever in healthcare. Ever.
It looks like they made at least a superficial attempt to run it, though the intention certainly could always have been for it to fail. As for turning it into condos, if the City wants they can make that hard. The South Tower is of historical significance so probably can’t be torn down, and hospital decommission requires a very high level of environmental certification and planning. The guy tried to jerk the City around, it would be completely reasonable for them to jerk him back.
It wasn’t smart to piss off both the Mayor and City Council. Some of these folks will be quite happy to screw with this guy going forward.
Of course- he could just go the usual speculator route of sitting on the property a few years while paying no taxes on it and wait for a time to sell at a profit or develop when the administration changes.
Sitting on property while not paying taxes being a time honored tradition- speculators can drag that out four or five years then enter a payment agreement if it hasn’t sold yet.
Yes, but in an emergency situation you can make your own, or wear a bandana. That’s better than not wearing anything. And fuck the Trump administration for not preparing for this situation starting three months ago. We could have plenty of protective equipment today if we had a competent federal government.
Did you read the article? He’s not saying “don’t do this ever”, he’s saying that this cobbled together stuff is leaving swathes of kids behind.
Great that your kids’ school pulled it off. Fantastic that you’re managing, but that’s not the story for many. Instead, accept the reality of a shortened school year and use the coming months to design something that won’t do that.
