Hope and Encouragement: Making People in Power Uncomfortable

"The bottom line is, I’ve been hearing a little bit of chatter in the internet about voting versus protest, politics and participation versus civil disobedience and direct action. This is not a either/or this is a both/and. To bring about real change, we both have to highlight a problem and make people in power uncomfortable, but we also have to translate that into practical solutions and laws that can be implemented and we can monitor and make sure we’re following up on. "--Barack Obama, town hall meeting 6/3/2020

Obama was, and still is, all about hope.

And there have been signs of great hope.

The whole movement, at his core, is hopeful. The protests have been carrying on for more than two weeks now, in big cities and small towns across the United States. As I write this, the nation is seeing its third weekend of protests. The protests are now peaceful in most communities. The protesters are diverse. Young and old, black, white, people from all backgrounds, and everyone else, have come together to fight injustice. And this is wonderful. They have decided that this is important enough to come out and protest, shoulder to shoulder, even in the middle of a pandemic. Millions have decided that yes, this is worth risking their life.

And as of today, there is no sign that the momentum is slowing. People are motivated and mobilizing.

In case you need proof, here are some tidbits of hope I've collected.

Maybe most importantly, people are confronting their own subtle (and not-so-subtle) racism and white privilege. There is a lot of introspection going on. Many of my friends have said that they are confronting their white privilege and their insulation from racism. They are looking at racism within themselves. They are embracing change and growth. This is a good start! It's going to take all of us to effect change.

Cops have been taking a knee or have been marching with protesters. Some cynics may believe this is meant to fool us and soften us. I don't believe in conspiracy theories. I choose to believe these folks are genuine and represent hope.

Here's just a few, but photos like these have been taken all over the country.

Atlanta: Christian Science Monitor

KMSP Channel 9, Minneapolis-St. Paul

Santa Barbara Indpendent

The protests have spilled over our borders. Protesters are joining us in France, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Greece, Denmark, Syria, Mexico, Brazil, and Canada, among other places. Just think: the movement is important enough to millions of people around the world to risk their lives.

Most of these other places are examining their own inequality issues, and may now look to the United States as a leader once again if we can keep the movement moving forward strongly.

Especially moving was this Haka performed by some supportive New Zealanders.

THIS! Literally just brought me to tears. This is so beautiful. Our Polynesian Brothers and Sisters doing their traditional Haka for Black Lives Matter in New Zealand. The world is coming together and it is so beautiful. #blacklivesmatter #georgefloyd #breonnataylor #ahmadarbery pic.twitter.com/8zLNeQJCmr

— Melany Centeno (@_NotISaidTheCat) June 1, 2020

I was at the first large local protest on May 31. I found it hopeful. I did not expect to be among a crowd of 3000 masked protestors at the County Courthouse, listening to the many black stories and demands. I did not expect to be marching in the street peacefully and purposefully. It was the biggest protest I had been in since the Women's March on January 21, 2017. To me, it embodied hope. Here are my pictures:

Socially-distanced protestors listen to black speakers making their demands.

Say their names.

A fellow Karen came from L.A. to protest

Even my toddler granddaughter got involved.

The momentum is finally taking Confederate statues down.

• Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam planned to remove the Robert E. Lee statue from the Richmond. A judge has temporarily blocked the plan, but hopefully it will eventually be removed. 

• Statues will be removed in Alexandria, Virgina, too; as well as in Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida. 

• Our brothers and sisters in Great Britain removed a statue of a slave trader and threw it in the river. 

• NASCAR has banned the use of the Confederate flag. What the what?! NASCAR? This is big! 

• Fredericksburg, Virginia removed a slave auction block from their downtown. 

Other local governments are honoring the Black Lives Matter movement by renaming streets and landmarks:

Within days of the protests' beginnings, mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington D.C. sent a powerful message when she ordered the words "Black Lives Matter" to be painted, spanning the entire street and stretching for two blocks leading to the White House. It's a message big enough to see from space. This was shortly after she renamed Lafayette Plaza, the site where SCROTUS violently cleared the way for his tone-deaf photo op. The new name? See below.

New York City mayor Bill DeBlasio has announced plans to rename a street in each NYC borough "Black Lives Matter." 

A discussion from coast to coast has begun to reform the police. One idea is to defund the police. No, it doesn't mean abolish the police. I'll tackle what this means in a future post.

There has already been action on police reform in cities from coast to coast. 

New Jersey: chokeholds haven been barred, and the state is reviewing and updating other use-of-force guidelines

New York City: funding for police is being shifted

New York State: police disciplinary records will be more available to the public. 

Maryland: the state has formed a police reform work group

Washington D.C.: the city council worked fast on reform legislation. 

Boston: the mass transit system has refused to use public buses to transport police to protest sites.

Minneapolis: there are motions to dismantle its police department. 

Dallas: chokeholds are no longer legal

Portland: Police officers will no longer work in high schools

Seattle: funding is being shifted to community programs and a Black Commission has been formed

Reno: barred chokeholds and is working on deescalation policies

Davis, CA: chokeholds have been barred, among other policy reforms including new requirements for officers to intervene when a fellow officer uses excessive force.

Los Angeles: defunding is underway, with the city council moving toward reducing the LAPD budget.

Firings and suspensions are on the upswing across the country for police misconduct.

Camden, NJ may be a model for many cities, as they disbanded and rebuilt their police department several years ago. 

The U.S. House of Representatives, as well as the Senate, have introduced bills addressing police reform. It's something, but undoubtedly if they can get anything passed and signed by "law and order" Asshole-in-Chief, it will be tepid at best. We need to focus our efforts on the local level. States and cities will have more power to implement reform.

The one barrier, is police unions. Police unions have been a large part of the root of the problem in police abuse. They work to protect officers at all costs, even (especially?) the really rotten ones. Minneapolis is moving to confront the union issue. 

This is going to be a long and contentious discussion. White people in power want to stay in power. So buckle up and get ready to get involved in your city's discussions about police reform. NOW is the time for you to call, write, and go to city council meetings. 

Other signs of hope:

 "Cops" has been canceled and "Gone With the Wind" was yanked from HBO Max 

Merriam-Webster has changed its definition of "racism" after a request by a young black woman. 

Kpop fans have emerged as an unlikely BLM support system.

The Confederate flag has been banned from being displayed publicly by the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy. There is a movement to rename U.S. military bases named after Confederate soldiers. Why in the hell were they named after people who took up arms against the United States in the first place? The movement is getting some pushback, predictably, from the Racist-in-Chief.

Corporations and businesses have responded. Pay attention. Your money talks. Vote with it. Here are some statements that have been released. 

I especially want to share Ben and Jerry's statement. Powerful stuff.

We Must Dismantle White Supremacy

All of us at Ben & Jerry’s are outraged about the murder of another Black person by Minneapolis police officers last week and the continued violent response by police against protestors. We have to speak out. We have to stand together with the victims of murder, marginalization, and repression because of their skin color, and with those who seek justice through protests across our country. We have to say his name: George Floyd.

George Floyd was a son, a brother, a father, and a friend. The police officer who put his knee on George Floyd’s neck and the police officers who stood by and watched didn’t just murder George Floyd, they stole him. They stole him from his family and his friends, his church and his community, and from his own future.

The murder of George Floyd was the result of inhumane police brutality that is perpetuated by a culture of white supremacy. What happened to George Floyd was not the result of a bad apple; it was the predictable consequence of a racist and prejudiced system and culture that has treated Black bodies as the enemy from the beginning. What happened to George Floyd in Minneapolis is the fruit borne of toxic seeds planted on the shores of our country in Jamestown in 1619, when the first enslaved men and women arrived on this continent. Floyd is the latest in a long list of names that stretches back to that time and that shore. Some of those names we know — Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Emmett Till, Martin Luther King, Jr. — most we don’t.

The officers who murdered George Floyd, who stole him from those who loved him, must be brought to justice. At the same time, we must embark on the more complicated work of delivering justice for all the victims of state sponsored violence and racism.

Four years ago, we publicly stated our support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Today, we want to be even more clear about the urgent need to take concrete steps to dismantle white supremacy in all its forms. To do that, we are calling for four things:

First, we call upon President Trump, elected officials, and political parties to commit our nation to a formal process of healing and reconciliation. Instead of calling for the use of aggressive tactics on protestors, the President must take the first step by disavowing white supremacists and nationalist groups that overtly support him, and by not using his Twitter feed to promote and normalize their ideas and agendas. The world is watching America’s response.

Second, we call upon the Congress to pass H.R. 40, legislation that would create a commission to study the effects of slavery and discrimination from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies. We cannot move forward together as a nation until we begin to grapple with the sins of our past. Slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation were systems of legalized and monetized white supremacy for which generations of Black and Brown people paid an immeasurable price. That cost must be acknowledged and the privilege that accrued to some at the expense of others must be reckoned with and redressed.

Third, we support Floyd’s family’s call to create a national task force that would draft bipartisan legislation aimed at ending racial violence and increasing police accountability. We can’t continue to fund a criminal justice system that perpetuates mass incarceration while at the same time threatens the lives of a whole segment of the population.

And finally, we call on the Department of Justice to reinvigorate its Civil Rights Division as a staunch defender of the rights of Black and Brown people. The DOJ must also reinstate policies rolled back under the Trump Administration, such as consent decrees to curb police abuses.

Unless and until white America is willing to collectively acknowledge its privilege, take responsibility for its past and the impact it has on the present, and commit to creating a future steeped in justice, the list of names that George Floyd has been added to will never end. We have to use this moment to accelerate our nation's long journey towards justice and a more perfect union.

Side note: Contrast this with this statement from my professional organization. For a group of people devoted to communication, they fell woefully short in both effective communication and in substance. After nearly 50,000 members condemned this message, ASHA revised its statement. Below is the original tone-deaf statement and here is the revised statement.

Penzeys Spices, a wonderful, progressive company, shared this video of hope arising from the protests in Minneapolis. Please buy from Penzeys. Besides being progressive and vocal, they produce amazing spices!

And now, some Encouragement.

We have Hope. But Hope is not the end.

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Right now it feels like the goals and the plans are unsurmountable.

So many of us have begun to do the hard work of self-reflection. We are learning about racism in the world and within ourselves. We are acknowledging our white privilege and finally understanding that it's unfair.

It's uncomfortable work, but it's important work. Don't be afraid to make mistakes as you learn about racism and face your white privledge. Keep going. Keep learning. We have been fed the pablum for a long time; it will take some time to un-learn some things and learn new things.

I saw a good analogy floating around. It likened white people's experience to showing up an hour late to class. You neither expect the professor to show great gratitude that you made it to class, nor do you expect him to sit down with you and explain what you missed in the last hour. No, you open your book, get other students' notes, read and research, and try to catch up. In this case, we are 400 years late. There's a lot of catching up to do.

If it feels uncomfortable, that's because you are squeezing out of your old cocoon. It's ok to be uncomfortable. Just keep squeezing.

And don't stop with just your own expanding understanding. Once you acknowledge your white privilege, or as one friend called it, unearned advantage, you must act to effect change. This is going to be a long-haul operation. Keep the outrage, keep the momentum. Know that your one action today, right now, is going to move us forward.

It feels overwhelming how much work there is to do. There are multiple factors, multiple layers to these Racist States of America. To dismantle systemic racism, it is going to take concerted effort and a lot of time. But don't get discouraged. 

"I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything; but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do." – Everett Edward Hale

History will view this moment as no less than the spark point of a revolution. If we let it be. 

Do your piece. You don't have to do it all. If all of us millions carry one small little piece, it will build up a mountain.

Just pick a lane...

Or pick a class...

....but do something.

And here are many somethings to try. 

Continue learning how to be an ally.

• Save this outstanding guide! Justice in June gives allies a concrete action plan, whether you have 10 minutes per day to spare, or more. 
• Here is another Guide to Allyship

Join Color of Change to help with action.

Donate to organizations that are helping fight injustice:

Southern Poverty Law Center

Equal Justice Initiative

ACLU

NAACP

Black Lives Matter

Black Voters Matter Fund

Fair Fight

Now, you may have noticed that in my last few posts I haven't much mentioned the latest symptom of the widespread cancer that has infected our nation for 400 years: the 45th "president" of the United States. His response to the death of George Floyd and the larger Black Lives Matter movement has been about what you would expect. I don't want him in this space right now; I'd rather focus on the positives today.

The people in power are becoming uncomfortable. And some are becoming another source of hope. I'll let these Republicans speak their minds. This movement has moved some powerful Republicans to speak out against the Racist-in-Chief.

Sen Mitt Romney (R-UT) protested with the marchers in D.C.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is "struggling" in her support of IMPOTUS
George W's secretary of state Gen. Colin Powell has endorsed Joe Biden.
And former secretary of defense James Mattis denounced him in a strong rebuke.

Pat Robertson condemned 45's militant stance (what the what?! Pat Robertson?!). "You just don't do that, Mr. President. It isn't cool."

...and I'll end by Stephen Colbert and John Oliver offer some pretty profound thoughts. Please watch.

Stephen Colbert:

John Oliver on This Week Tonight:

Let's roll. 

Boosting the Signal

"Nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change." – Barack Obama

I wasn't sure if I wanted to say a lot more about the Black Lives Matter protests and all the issues surrounding the systemic and individual racism that has plagued our nation for more than 400 years. I'm white, and there doesn't need to be more white voices spouting white ideas.

But white silence is white complicity, and I can't be silent either.

So, I'm taking this space to boost the signal of black voices. Listen to black voices. Don't talk. Listen.

Erika Smith in the LA Times reminds us, in your quest to be an ally, to be mindful to do your own homework. Be respectful of your black friends' time and energy. They do not need to be your teacher. Do your own work. (Read Ms. Smith's piece here if you don't subscribe to the LA Times. But really, subscribe to the Times or your local paper. Seriously. We need journalism to survive)

I've done some of your homework for you, so keep reading....

While you are waiting for your copy of  How to Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi or The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michele Alexander, or White Fragility: Why it's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, check out these movies. I've watched the below and recommend all of them. You will learn important truths. 

• 13th
• The Kalief Browder Story
• The Innocence Files
• The Life and Death of Marsha P. Johnson
• Becoming (also read the book by Michele Obama)
• When They See Us
• Do the Right Thing
• Just Mercy (also a book by Bryan Stevenson)
• Selma

These on my to-watch list. Buzzfeed has more, and Rolling Stone has a list. And so does Time.

• Black History since MLK: And Still I Rise
• LA 92
• Whose Streets?
• The Central Park Five
• The Murder of Fred Hampton

Hear voices of black people and learn a little about what they face daily. People like Lori Lakin Huthcherson, who describes some of her experiences, typical to every single black person in America.

Or people like Late Night's Amber Ruffin, who shared a few of her stories last week. Here they are:

Here are some black voices in tech to follow. And here are some other black voices in social media to hear. 

Go to Black Lives Matter  and find out about your local chapter's, or other local black organizations', demands in your community. Here is Santa Barbara's.

Add these black voices to your newsfeed:

Ebony - one of the oldest black publications

Black Girl Nerds - just what it sounds like

NewsOne - news site

HuffPost Black Voices - news and features

Black Enterprise - business oriented

The Root - news, politics, and features

Blavity - news geared toward Millennials
Good Black News - news and everything good

African Voices - arts and literature

...and speaking of African voices, take a listen to Playon Patrick who introduced President Obama the other day during his televised town hall meeting.  He has a powerful voice.

There ya go. Go and read, listen, and learn. And then, act. Check out the action plans in the last post.

Next: Hope and Encouragement

#Resist

White people: It's your problem. Fix it.

Black lives matter.

I've been paralyzed this week after the murder of George Floyd.

At first, I wanted to turn away. I wanted it to not have happened. I wanted to not have to deal with it.  Denial stage of grief? Or maybe that was my white privilege talking to me. Ancient voices of, "not my problem."

But it is my problem. It's your problem. White people, it's our problem.

Then, I felt I must face it. I thought to myself, "I've got to try to process this."

But there is no way to process it. To "process it" means that there is some way to make sense of it, to make it comprehensible. But it is incomprehensible. It is unacceptable. It's atrocious. There really are no words.

If I have no words, think of the black people who face this every single day of their lives.

Without words, some folks have been acting on their anger. From coast to coast the oppressed are finding their voice in violence. Instead of tsk-tsking the looters, how about stepping back to understand why?

I am sympathetic to them. For over 400 years of our nation's history, the oppressed have had no voice.

You want non-violent protest? Then listen to it. Listen to Colin Kaepernick when he and his colleagues take a knee. Listen to the peaceful marchers at Black Lives Matter protests. Listen to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr who worked for non-violent change and YET HIS LIFE WAS SNUFFED OUT BY VIOLENCE.

The voices of the oppressed have always been smothered. Their voice in court, their voice at the polls, their voice in business, their voice on the screen, their voice on their knee on the football field. Why are you surprised that they have found their voice in violence? The voices against them have always been violent.

It's not "racism" – it's a systemic, deep and wide system of oppression that has been wrought upon people of color from the beginning times of this country. "Racism" is an inadequate word. "Racism" is an individual trait. We need a new word for the mechanizations of brutalization that black people have endured since they were brought to this country.

The brutality has never ended. It has simply changed form.

WHITE PEOPLE! YOU NEED UNDERSTAND THAT THIS YOUR PROBLEM AND YOU NEED TO FIX IT!

Here's what to do.

Know their names. In just the few years, these people have been murdered by us. By all of us. The police are citizens; citizens are the police. White people made the systems that foster racist law enforcement.

Know their names. Know their stories.

From NPR's Code Switch. Just some of the black citizens killed by police in the last six years.

Learn. See through a black person's eyes.
Our criminal "justice" system has nothing to do with justice and everything to do with systemic racism.

• Read. Here are some books to start with. (Remember to buy from your local independent bookseller!)
• How to Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
• Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
• Find more here from a list by Ibram X. Kendi
• For the teens: Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi or The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
• For little kids: Here is a list of books to start, and here is another one. 
• Watch "13th" on Netflix and face the fact that racist machinations are embedded into our Constitution.
• Watch "The Central Park Five" or "When They See Us."
• Listen to Season Three of Serial for a snapshot of the criminal justice system in one American city.
• Listen to In the Dark, Season Two and learn about the truly rotten justice system in Mississippi.
• Learn how "colorblind" "reverse racism" and "all lives matter" don't help and are actually subtle racist phrases and are quite harmful to the movement to rid our lives of systemic racism. Speak out to people who use those phrases.
• Face your white privilege. You may not want to. It will make you uncomfortable. But you must see it to change it. Here is my piece from a year ago about white privilege. Read it, follow the links, and learn. Goddamn it, learn!
• STOP BEING A WHITE VICTIM. YOU ARE NOT A VICTIM. YOU ARE PRIVILEGED TO MOVE ABOUT THIS WORLD WITH EASE AND IN SAFETY.
• Step back and look at the bigger context when looting arises. Learn how looting is the last language of the oppressed. Here is an article that came out after Michael Brown's murder in Furguson, Missouri.
• Here is Trevor Noah talking about Minneapolis. The whole thing is worth watching, but he talks about the act of looting starting at about 8:13.

Understand racism. It isn't just racial slurs or lynchings. Here are some graphics:

Get angry.
You should be angry. Feel that anger and let it spur you to action. I'm at the anger stage of grief. But I doubt that I will ever get to the acceptance stage, until this thing that can change does change.

Listen to black people!
Here's a start:

Read Steve Locke's experience being detained for being black.

From Tyler Merritt:

Or how about this 68-year-old lady who, along with her son, was falsely accused of stealing a TV from Sam's Club and were assaulted by police, even after the store employee told them they had bought the TV?

These stories are everywhere, every day in America. Get angry about it.

Act.

• Respond to the George Floyd murder. Here's is an action list. Pick one. Do it. 
• Be an ally. Here's how.
• Fix voting laws - enfranchise people of color.  Support Stacey Abrams's organization, Fair Fight, which is working to stop voter suppression.
• Donate money.

• Black Lives Matter

• Black Visions Collective

• Reclaim the Block 

• ACLU

• Southern Poverty Law Center

• NAACP

• Innocence Project 

• VOTE
• Reject the current "president," who not only condones violence against people of color, but instigates it. Vote as if our lives depend on it. Because they do.
• Pressure your local communities to be rid of law enforcement officers who display racism. Make agencies more accountable. Be involved at your local level.
• Talk to kids. Stop racism early.
• STOP the "all lives matter" shit in its tracks. 

Kris Straub

Face the horrible truth about systemic racism in our country and work to fix it now.

#RESIST

Paradise Found

"Let us permit nature to have her way. She understands her business better than we do." – Michel de Montaigne

And during the last few months, nature has had her way. While the world's human population has been holed up at home, Mother Nature has been conducting her business in the way she sees fit.

You may have seen stories about nature reclaiming its space. The animals that have always been there are finding that they have a little more room to stretch.

Here is a compilation of just a few of the stories from around the world.

While Parisiens stayed at home, some deer came out to play.

In Kruger National Park in South Africa, the lions took advantage of the empty roads to take a snooze.

Kruger visitors that tourists do not normally see. #SALockdown This lion pride are usually resident on Kempiana Contractual Park, an area Kruger tourists do not see. This afternoon they were lying on the tar road just outside of Orpen Rest Camp.
📸Section Ranger Richard Sowry pic.twitter.com/jFUBAWvmsA

— Kruger National Park (@SANParksKNP) April 15, 2020

Wildlife throughout the U.S. National Parks have been lovin' the closed parks.

Here is Ranger Katie at Yosemite, talking about the park and the bear tracking program. She also talks about the parties that the bears are having without human visitors.

A large herd of elk decided to hang out at a football field in Colorado last month.

Next with Kyle Clark

Also in Colorado, this mountain lion visited the hospital.

Estes Park News

More locally, a condo complex here in town near the beach also had a mountain lion visitor.

Also locally, a big ol' bear needed to be removed from downtown Solvang a couple weeks ago.

Rod Simmons, for the Santa Ynez Times

Down the road and 26 miles across the sea, bison have been frequenting the beach on Catalina Island.




And here are a couple fun video complications

For the first time in decades, residents in India can see the Himalayas.

Here is a view of Mount Everest from Kathmandu, for the first time in memory:

Abhushan Gautam, Nepal Times

Los Angeles, a city with some of the most polluted air on the planet, has also seen a turnaround.

Business Insider

This week, communities in the United States began gingerly stepping toe out to some regular activities as the lockdown restrictions are being eased. Soon, the animals will find their paradise lost.

Questions

"Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers." – Voltaire


Questions like these have been floating around social media. Most of the answers are pretty clear if you stop to think a bit, or do a cursory Google search. But lists like this are meant to create fear and distrust, at a time when fear and distrust is dangerous. I don't know if the writer of these questions truly wants the answers. But I want to try to answer them.

1. Why can you go to Walmart but not Kohl's?
Because Walmart, bless its heart, sells essentials, like food. Many local communities banned big box stores like Walmart from selling non-essentials. I wouldn't know. I won't step foot into a Walmart unless I'm forced to.

2. Why the Dollar store and not a mom-and-pop shop?
Again, essentials like food. Mom-and-Pop shops that sell essentials are still open in my area. Have you even checked in with your locally-owned stores? Or are you still pining for Kohl's?

3. Why can't you have an elective surgery, but you can have an abortion which is elective?
Abortion is time-sensitive and not "elective" for women who seek them.

4. Why should you stay inside but yet heat and sunlight kill the virus?
First of all, you should not stay inside. You should go walk in your neighborhood and exercise in your yard. No one said to stay inside. You need to stay home except for essentials, and exercise is essential. When you go out walking, stay six feet away from others. Pretty simple IMHO.

We weren't sure that sunlight killed the virus at first. Science has helped us understand more in the last two months. But sunlight won't kill the virus that are in the droplets on their way from an infected cougher's mouth to your nose.

5. Why can't kids (who are not at risk) play on an outdoor playground, where sun kills this virus?
Kids are at less risk for expressing symptoms of the disease, but because of a lack of testing, we don't know enough about children being carriers or vectors of transmission. Also, kids at playgrounds mean adult supervision at playgrounds. Which means congregations of people. Which means increased risk of transmission. Again, sunlight can't sterilize the droplets when someone sneezes on your face.

6. Why don't people know that these are "recommendations" not laws because they have not gone through due process?
I think most people know this. And luckily, the majority of people have common sense and follow the recommendations. If someone in your community is misinformed, inform them.

7. Why is it okay for government officials to get a haircut, but not common citizens?
Mostly because of income disparity. Government officials have the means to pay plenty of people to assist them with many everyday tasks. Have you heard that 45's valet that serves his food has tested positive? Has your valet been tested?

8. Why the fear, when this virus has a less than 1% death rate?
A question back: Why is up to 3000 U.S. deaths per day a shrug? But more to the point, we simply don't know the mortality rate due to a lack of testing. Science will help us learn more if testing -- both testing for infection and testing for antibodies -- becomes more available. But death rate is only one part of this highly contagious disease. There have been hundreds of thousands more that have experienced COVID as a serious, life-threatening disease, with long hospital stays, dependence on a ventilator, and long recovery times. It's a trauma that will stay with them.

Another question back (given your 1% figure): which one of your 100 family and friends are you willing to sacrifice to show how un-afraid you are?

8.5 Why have coroners questioned death certificates listed as CV-19?
I hadn't heard this, but without researching, my science brain tells me that because this has been a very fast (1,322,000 U.S. cases in four months) and chaotic pandemic, it is difficult for medical professionals and coroners to keep up with the immense numbers of deaths. Looking it up, on the contrary, the coroners in at least one state -- Pennsylvania -- fear that the death toll from COVID is UNDERcounted. I think that coroners, like the rest of the medical professionals in this country and around the world, are feverishly (hopefully not literally!) working to do their very best in chaotic conditions.

9. Why are areas like Chicago and NY gearing up for mass va*cc*ination?
A question back: Why the asterisks in vaccination?
But more to the point: ummmm, to protect the citizens?

(Once a vaccination is available, we'll go through another trauma as anti-vaxxers make their faulty arguments.)

10. What makes one person essential and another not?
Really? Do I need to explain this?

11. Doesn't shelter at home mean there is a whole population of people not staying home so we can?
Yes.

12. Why are they dividing us?
Who are "they"? I don't think we are divided, I think we are temporarily separated. We should be – and the people I know are – united.

13. How do people not know that we are a Republic, not a democracy?
By taking civics classes. Which I suggest writers of lists like this do.

14. Where has the flu gone?
The official flu season is October 1 - March 31. The flu will be back later this year, as always. It hasn't gone anywhere. And I suggest you get a va*cc*ine.

15. Why do the homeless consistently demonstrate the lowest infection rates?
They haven't. Where is your data, anonymous Facebook inciter? Because you are lazy, I provide it for you. The homeless are potentially at even more risk given their lack of resources, their increased rates of pre-exisiting conditions, and their sometimes congregate living situations. Now is the time to support the most vulnerable citizens in our communities, not spread misinformation.

16. Why are they telling us to mask up after 2 months of lockdown?
It was chaotic at the beginning. There is more known now. Guidelines have been in flux from the start. At the beginning, too, "they" were worried about hoarding of masks and a lack of equipment for medical personnel. "They" were right. So when the pandemic evolved, recommendations evolved. As they should. Wear a mask when you go do your essential tasks. It will protect your neighbors.

17. Why is the CDC saying kids need to be masked when they return to school or attend church, when they know cloth masks restrict oxygen?
Cloth masks do not restrict oxygen. (I want to say "idiot" here but I also want to be generous).

18. What is this oppression and loss of liberty doing to the mental health of our kids...to us?
This is a charged question. (At this point I start to wonder why I am validating these stupid questions; but I'm more than half-way and so I forge ahead). Ignoring the charged language, I will say: mental health is a legitimate concern in these fraught times. We may be facing a whole new crisis as the pandemic continues.

19. Why have most other death rates dropped since the virus?
They haven't.

20. Why did world leaders meet in China in October 2019?
Are you talking about the Potato Blight Summit in Beijing? Or are you trying to instill fear and conspiracy theories?

21. Why are the common people being controlled by the government and no one is controlling the government?
Have you called your Members of Congress lately? Do you plan to vote in November? <fighting fingers from typing I D I O T again>

22. Why are hospitals paid more for Covid 19 deaths?
Because of the bi-partisan CARES Act, which allowed for an increased payment. There is no evidence that hospitals are fraudulently benefitting, however, and in fact COVID cases are probably undercounted due to lack of testing.

23. Why are some doctors speaking out and then getting silenced?
Many medical professionals have been intimidated by their administrations against speaking out about lack of PPE and other equipment. This is outrageous.

24. Why did Obama give the Wuhan lab $334 million dollars?
He didn't.

25. What does a computer geek have to do with a pandemic and why does he want 7 billion corona virus v*ccines?
Again, why the asterisk? Which computer geek are you talking about? Thousands of them have been infected. Most of them would like a vaccine, as would most of the general population.

26. Why ID 2020, Agenda 21 and 2030?
What does this even mean? There is so much shit in these questions I'm beginning to regret that I tackled this.

27. Why did the CDC have a job posting for pandemic relief workers in November 2019?
Could it be because the Moron-in-Chief fired the pandemic response team the year before?

28. Why did Dr. Fauci say in 2017 that the Trump administration would be faced with a “SURPRISE PANDEMIC" and then runs the pandemic team?
Fuck this I'm getting tired of this. I don't even want to look this one up. We have been expecting a pandemic for years. Pandemics are not new. They are just different from each other.

29. Why are they infringing on Christians’ religious freedoms?
"They" aren't.

30. Why can 500 people shop at Fred Meyer or Home Depot, but we are not allowed to go into a church building?
Which Home Depot are you shopping at? Mine has a line out the door due to limited numbers being allowed in. A question back: Can your gods hear you from inside your home?

I don't care if you are Republican, Democrat, Libertarian or vote for unicorns. If you're not asking these questions, you should be.
I'm not asking them, but unlike some, I'm willing to answer them.
Done.

Michael Ramirez

The Protests

"No mother would ever willingly sacrifice her sons for territorial gain, for economic advantage, for ideology." – Ronald Reagan (but apparently some sons are willing to sacrifice their mothers)


There is no doubt that these are devastating times for all of us. The human toll has been immense. There have been unprecedented job losses. There have been unprecedented deaths. The whole world is hurting, plain and simple. We hope for a swift return to normalcy, whatever that may look like.

But normalcy can only happen when the virus has stopped spreading. And the virus will stop spreading when we don't let it spread. That happens when we stay home. It's painful. There is no doubt. We truly are all making a sacrifice.

This pandemic crisis has been compared to a war. But today's enemy is microscopic, at once nowhere and everywhere. This enemy doesn't have a weapon other than itself; it doesn't have a policy, other than to invade and replicate. It has allies: close spaces and uncovered noses.

And this week we passed a milestone. The United States has lost more people to COVID-19 in the last four months than we lost during a decade of the Vietnam war. Though that comparison is fraught, it's still a sobering perspective. And we don't yet have an end in sight.

RJ Matson

Like during a war, we have been asked to sacrifice. During WWII, our parents and grandparents had to deal with rationing of food and goods, price ceilings, sometimes having their freedom of speech curtailed, and being drafted into the armed services. Heavy stuff. Our sacrifices today are simple, and frankly, quite comfortable. Stay home. Wear a mask. Stay six feet from others. Wash your hands often. But unlike during a war, not everyone has made these sacrifices graciously for the greater social good. Many on the far-right have been protesting and outright refusing to follow the experts' guidelines.

War is often protested. The United States saw many protests against the Vietnam War. Citizens wanted our soldiers home and safe. The sacrifice of human life was too great. There weren't widespread protests during WWII. Americans may have grumbled about rationing, but they knew their sacrifice was for the common good, for America and for the world.

Last week, about six weeks into our national lockdown, protests have popped up across the country, demanding that the country be reopened. Some of the protests have been quite militant. Many protesters have been carrying large weapons and white supremacist signs. These protests popped up after a series of inflammatory (and arguably unconstitutional) all-cap tweets from the Inflamer-in-Chief, "LIBERATE MINNESOTA!" "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" and "LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!"

The protesters' demands? Well, see for yourself in photos.

(Images mostly from Newsweek and Times of San Diego.)

Oh the irony!

Really? You'll sacrifice grandma for a haircut?

This one literally made me sick to my stomach. How dare they usurp the oppressed black experience for a round of freaking golf?

Will you and your friends be volunteering in the hospital?

You'll get your wish. Unfortunately, so will your Auntie Louise.

The below was a disturbing image from a protest in Chicago, one that the Auschwitz Museum condemned. This charged phrase, "Work will set you free," was erected above the gates to Auschwitz and other concentration camps. These are the most hateful words this scum could've chosen for her sign. Disgusting and disturbing.

JB refers to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who is Jewish

Protesters in Ohio also brought anti-Semitic imagery:

Perhaps the most disturbing of the protests was when armed protestors entered the Michigan statehouse. Many men came armed with big guns, Confederate flags, swastikas, nooses, and of course pro-TЯUMP sentiments.

(images below by Jeff Kowalsky / AFP - Getty Images)

This image is probably the most iconic of them all:

For a little comic relief, the internet has been busy (caution – not for sensitive souls): Someone is Photoshopping Anti-Lockdown Protesters' Guns into Dildos.

The whole spectacle in Michigan was disturbing. This is not my America.

I want to make clear: I believe everyone has a right to protest. I do not want anyone's freedom of speech to be squelched. But without masks, in close proximity, they are not asserting their freedom of speech or their own "right to die." They are endangering others' lives. With weapons, they go a step further: terrorism.

Everyone has a right to protest whatever they choose, but not if it puts other lives in danger or engenders hate. I don’t welcome purposefully spreading a disease so that you can go golfing. Its not the protester’s life at stake. It’s my mother’s life. It's the pizza guy's life. It's my nurse friend's life. I reject intimidation and hate. It’s not the protest that’s the problem, it’s the method. Find another way. How about you call your representatives?

And what's with their proclamations that they liken the lockdown as "socialism" or "communism?" I wrack my brains trying to understand this perspective. And all I can come up with is:

What are their demands?

They ask for death in exchange for freedom. If it were only that simple. I would say: Darwin, get to work. I would be fine with that. But it's not their body. Oh, it may be, but it's also the body of everyone with whom they come in contact with their germy breath. Your right to freedom ends where my nasal passages begin.

They demand "My body, my choice." Oh the irony is rich, and laughable if not so tragic. Will they be first in line to escort women to Planned Parenthood?

And when they proclaim they do not wish to live in a fear, I wonder if they will be the first ones to volunteer to hold someone's hand as they lay in their hospital bed without family able to be at their side. Not holding my breath. Or maybe I should. Less chance of transmission.

Once again, the right shows their true colors. There is no consideration, or even a thought, for others, let alone empathy. There is, however, an abundance of hate.

 Once again, they defend the Racist-in-Chief and spin leftist conspiracy theories over something that is global. And blind. And deaf. True to form, protests from the right include hate. It is part of their fabric. And this is at the base of what is wrong with our country. It starts with "w" and ends with "ite."

Do we even call them protesters? Coming heavily armed, with hateful slogans that work to intimidate? What is their true goal? Is it really going back to work, getting a haircut, going golfing, or rejecting a life of fear? Or is it inciting fear themselves? What do we call armed mobs with white supremacist slogans again? Oh yeah. Terrorists.

It should be obvious by now that these protests are organized by those on the far right. Right-wing organizations are instigating them, with conservative mega-doners behind the funding. Makes sense. Does anyone really believe these idiots could organize all by themselves? And it's got the stink of the Slime-in-Chief's stamp of approval. You know it's unsavory if he is ok with it all. He has called the armed protesters toting anti-Semitic signs at the Michigan Governor mansion, "very good people." All of this is simply a dangerous attempt at keeping the Disgustoid in power. Frightening and sickening.

But, please, let's not forget: these covidiots are truly the minority. There are millions of us who are sacrificing for the greater good and will not be intimidated. And I believe these hateful ones are in the minority of conservatives as well. Former Pennsylvania Governor and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and former President George W. Bush agree. There is no room for partisanship. We have a common enemy, one who doesn't see red or blue. These militant protestors disgrace veterans as well as the rest of us who are doing our best to keep our communities safe and take care of our neighbors. After you read Mr. Ridge's piece, take heed of Dubya:

A Message from President George W. Bush@TheCalltoUnite pic.twitter.com/FIn9wuOPTF

— George W. Bush Presidential Center (@TheBushCenter) May 2, 2020

(Late breaking: unsurprisingly, SCROTUS has blasted Bush after his plea for unity.)

We all want freedom. But with freedom comes responsibilities. And if you don't behave responsibly, then you are acting like a toddler. Which makes sense for the covidiots, because their role model is none other than the Toddler-in-Chief.

I, like you, like all of us, am hurting. But we are willing to hurt a little longer for our neighbors to stay well. We are willing to have a temporary suspension of some freedom to move about the community in order for medical professionals to stay well. We're willing to give up our freedom to not breathe through fabric so that the grocery checkers stay well. (WTAF, Stillwater, Oklahoma? Violence so as to not have to wear a mask? You are sick.)

Never thought that wearing a mask would be a form of resistance. But let's get to it. Resist, Brother and Sister Resisters. Resist a lot. We're all in this together, and together we'll get through it.

Stay healthy, friends.