caucus99percent

free-range politics, organic community

Morning, this is not a cheery diary today. I thought I was done writing about China, but changes in current events keep happening fast.

The first phase of coronavirus infections are on an upswing as lockdowns in the United States are easing. Nearly half of US states seeing an uptrend in new US cases, and 10 seeing 7-day averages climb to their highest levels since the beginning of the crisis. This is not the second wave. A second wave will happen after we have reestablished a new normal and Covid-19 cases are naturally diminished for a while.

Moving past what I consider the first hurdle necessary to successfully address treatment and prevention. Healthcare providers fearing their patients. The current interviews and videos of health care professional do not show the same level of fear in their eyes.

We are getting closer to the stage of considering it like any other other contagious illness. Take appropriate precautions to avoid catching, early treatment and protocol to follow as seriousness of the condition increases in a patient.

Updated with statement by Facebook

Apparently the Nazis made political prisoners wear this red triangle on their uniforms in their concentration camps.

If yes then why? If no then why not?

I don't ever answer my phone for calls from an unknown number, so I never participate in political polls. But today, they decided to get creative and sent a text message inviting me to give my opinions via a text survey. This seemed like a fun enough distraction, so I said ok.

Here is the part that floored me the most:

This one by Federal Police. (From various sources)

Dylan Shakespeare Robinson (22) of Brainerd, MN, and was apparently captured on CCTV film inside the precinct building. He’s being charged with arson, and a second count of aiding and abetting arson, which can apparently carry a penalty of twenty five years in prison.

Bernie Sanders inoculated several generations with the idea that the US should step up and act like a democracy.

We assumed we could win if we just worked hard enough. How wrong we were, and how transparent and disappointing his transition (again) away from his candidacy to his old-time used-to-be.

Much of what was alive during that campaign is now alive in the protests.

The current administration and cronies are having a very hard time controlling the narrative, so far. The typical divide and conquer strategy is not working. Certainly we are united across race, across gender and across class to a great extent.

So, how will they divide us? Can they take control of the narrative?

‘Race Is a Social Construct, Scientists Argue’, Megan Gannon, 04 February 2016, livescience.com

“More than 100 years ago, American sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois was concerned that race was being used as a biological explanation for what he understood to be social and cultural differences between different populations of people. He spoke out against the idea of “white” and “black” as discrete groups, claiming that these distinctions ignored the scope of human diversity.

Of course one possible answer to the title of this essay is, "both." Nevertheless I submit that this question is extremely important. A recent superb essay on this board focused on how to talk with lesser-evil voting folks, and cited the infamous Chuck Shumer line about picking up suburban moderate Republicans while losing traditional lunch pail Democrats.

It's symbolic of the U.S. today. Poor African countries are alarmed at the deterioration of human rights in the United States.

I was talking with an old friend in Austin this morning. He mentioned a newly published study in the British Medical Journal regarding the use of famotidine to treat infected patients.

Hello dear friends, old and new! First off, I want to say that I know I have been away too long; I have massive time-management issues, that is pretty much the only thing that has been keeping me away from these lovely parts. I recently wrote a post that is currently pinned at the top of r/WayOfTheBern and "stolen" (lol) by the mods to pin at the top of r/Kossacks_For_Sanders ... a very humbling experience. An old friend suggested that I post it here too, which I am more than happy to do. I hope you find it insightful.