What Did We Learn - The Week of 9/25/21?

So what did we learn this past week, around the world and from sea to shining sea? Here are a few things.

We learned that it's true. Democrats do have a hard time governing. They may be great at organizing, recruiting candidates, campaigning and policy debates but when it comes to bringing it all together and getting things done, it's harder than it looks in that big tent.

We learned as a result of the above, Joe Biden's entire agenda is in real trouble.

We learned a lot about Haitians. Thousands were crossing the boarder from Mexico into Texas. Most had been away from Haiti itself  for 10, 5, 3 years as they searched for a new and better life in various parts of South America. They traveled thousands of miles to seek asylum in the United States. Brave people.

We learned that there are still those in our government who can and will be brutal and inhumane to other human beings, this time riding on horses and using reins to scare and terrorize people of color who need nothing more than help and hope as they were bringing food and supplies to their families.

We learned that Donald Trump lost the election again in Arizona after people spent millions of dollars and months trying to prove otherwise. He wants to repeat finding out about his loss  in a number of other states and in the end he just builds mistrust in the democratic process of voting.

We learned that Joe Biden won't shield the former President from investigation by the Select Committee investigating Jan. 6. and all of his activities leading up to the events of Jan. 6 will be open to some scrutiny.

We learned that a number of Trump's aides received subpoenas to testify at the Select Committee on events before and during the Jan. 6th. insurrection.

We learned that two more people died in the overcrowded and deplorable jails that serve NYC. 

We learned that NY Gov. Kathy Hochul is sticking to her plan to make sure that all health care workers in New York State get vaccinated or start the process by Sept. 27 or face dismissal.

We learned that China intensified a crackdown on cryptocurrencies with a blanket ban on all crypto transactions and mining, hitting bitcoin and other major coins and pressuring crypto and blockchain related stocks.

We learned that some private landowners and local governments are utilizing goats to help reduce the threat of wildfires in the west.

We learned that Beto O'Rourke is seriously considering running for Governor in Texas.

We learned about the difference in being white, blonde and missing and being a person of color and missing in America.

We learned that Facebook continues to be a place where misinformation and disinformation is able to thrive.

Health Care Employees and Personal Choice

There is a pretty awful and in my opinion crazy debate going on in my area of Upstate NY relative to a requirement for all healthcare workers to be vaccinated by the end of September. Gov. Kathy Hochul has put the requirement in place as part of her new administration. There are some medical exemptions but no religious exemption. 

Almost as quickly as the Governor put the requirement in place we began hearing from Hospital CEO's raising concerns about the vacancies this requirement would cause in their facilities. Of course it must be said that these facilities have traditionally had a high vacancy rate due to specific shortages, wage issues and other management decisions made by these CEO's. These folks also know how to muster political support for their issues so no surprise that other parties began to be heard from as well.

Employees themselves began to complain about the requirement and began throwing around the personal choice argument while holding demonstrations at their facilities. Of course burn out, vacancies and threats of quitting were all part of their approach too. Next we heard from 10 or so county leaders, administrators and surprisingly public health officials. These folks weren't so much against vaccinations or vaccines, they just thought the timing was poor and it would, yes, you guessed it, lead to more vacancies. The alternative being pushed was to offer employees weekly or more frequent testing. Personal choice was again the undertone of all of the discussions.

Now I understand that there are probably other things going on here. It's no surprise that most of this political support is coming from the Governor's opposition party. That's the party that says we don't have a legitimate President, that communists, socialists and nazis are lurking around every vineyard and dairy barn.  I'm also sure there are many reasons for the reality of impending resignations and increased vacancies in the health care field and they don't all have to do with anti vaccination feelings by these employees. 

We all need to recognize that these folks have been through hell. They have been short staffed, working overtime and watching people die and others not receiving appropriate care. Their wages have never been great. All of this takes a toll and none of us can really judge people needing to make a decision to leave those conditions. All of that though is very different than an anti vaccine position by an educated and trained health care or public health professional arguing for personal choice. People have gone to school, been educated and trained in issues like disease prevention, infection control and how diseases spread.

The Governor is saying she won't back down and I hope she doesn't. As a person with a serious, life threatening disease and disability, I don't want to receive health care in or from a facility where health care professionals aren't or won't follow the science or the things they were taught to receive their degrees and certifications. I don't want to be provided care by a facility who's top administrators can't figure out what's wrong with their own management. 

It's most disappointing that public health officials and departments have been dragged into this by their county administrators and convinced that a concern about vacancies outweighs their responsibilities for good public health practices. Public health is not local, its not about economic development and job protection.

Of course all health care workers should be vaccinated in a pandemic. Give me a break. The personal choice is still there. Find another job.

What Did We Learn? - The Week of 9/18/21

So what did we learn this past week, around the world and from sea to shining sea? Here are a few things.

We learned that always remembering the events of 9/11/0, the victims, the city, the other sites, the heroes, the families, the value of unity and pulling together as a nation and as the world are all critically important for our collective soul. These are things that should be remembered forever. We saw it in faces and celebrations of silence.

We learned that all of those respectful remembrances are different than belligerent chants of USA, USA or We're Number One!

We learned that Gavin Newsom survived a recall election and that people are beginning to think about perhaps having losers of such elections pick up the cost.

We learned that militarism and its relationship to money is very, very real. Witness France's anger over a $60 million nuclear submarine deal that was broken between them and Australia and brokered instead with the United States and Great Britain. No one is hiding it anymore. It's all about the money. Not even a discussion about more nuclear reactors, more nuclear weapons, more aggressive action against advisories.

We learned some awful things about Kabul. A drone strike that had been touted as a perfect attack on bombers and attackers actually was an attack on a civilian vehicle killing innocent adults and children. We learned that countries can and should admit to these mistakes. We know however, that many other deaths of civilians have been caused by drone strikes over the years. We know that Daniel Hale received 45 months in federal prison for reporting on the methods and many other attacks.

We learned that everyone, finally, seems to be concerned about the dreadful and inhumane conditions at the Rikers Island prison in NYC. Some prisoners have been in that facility for over a year without even getting a hearing in court. Others have languished for much longer fo minor offenses. Now we'll see who does what.

We learned that people will continue to fight with each other over things that should never require fighting. Things that were once easily accepted as common sense, looking out for one another and basic public health standards. People attacking each other physically over things like wearing a mask or showing proof of vaccination.

We learned that Joe Manchin continues to look out for Joe Manchin and that neither Democrats or Republicans really know how to govern. Voting rights, infrastructure, the economy be damned when it comes to these folks we sent to Washington.

We learned that Donald Trump vocally supports the people who attacked the Capitol and that he wasted more of our tax dollars by providing limousine service and extended protection to millionaires in his administration along with his adult children. We also learned that he still hasn't been held accountable for any of his actions.

We learned that Norm McDonald passed way too soon but left us with lots of good humor and laughs.

Remembering 9/11

Language can sometimes trick us or many times help us to learn about our communication with each other. To me there is a subtle difference between the often stated 'never forget' and the words I'd rather use 'always remember'. Some how 'never forget' comes out a bit more aggressive, perhaps threatening. I get the sense that those words are more for our enemies, letting them know that no matter what, retaliation is always possible, always on our mind. After 20 years and the 800,000 plus lives added to the 2996 who died on 9/11, I don't find any of that very useful.

Remembering though brings a different sense to me. One obviously of memories. Memories of all of those who died and of the heroes who showed up or pulled together or helped to unify a nation in shock. Memories of children and adults who needed hugs and words of comfort. Memories of helplessness that many of us felt. Memories it seems to me are always useful and hopeful and can be a part of reconciliation, something we always seem to need.

All of this is why I choose to use the term 'always remember'. Silly perhaps but my way of trying to find a different response to terror, heroes, killing, retaliation and continuous wars.

Labor Day and Dorothy Day

As I sit and ponder Labor Day, lots of things come to mind. As always, and especially in this time of a pandemic, I think of those many, many folks who will work this weekend, as they do every holiday and holiday weekend. Usually they're the people who keep us safe to some degree - nurses and other healthcare workers, firefighters, police. But there are others - grocery workers, food service workers, transit workers, people who help make sure the rest of us can enjoy the holiday, usually at low pay. Then there are the people who support and protect specific populations in places that always operate, 24 hours, 7 days a week. Employees in nursing homes and people who support people with disabilities in residential homes in communities all over the country.

These are the people who this holiday was meant to celebrate. Yet we tend to forget them as we make our plans for cookouts, times at the beach or the lake or camping in the woods. We also tend to forget their battles for fair wages and halfway decent working conditions. Battles that began over a hundred years ago. Battles where people were jailed and sometimes killed fighting for some level of fairness.

I also think about Dorothy Day, a woman I knew as a young man. Dorothy, like so many others, experienced the struggles of working men and women in the Depression. She saw young men, usually poor men, being sent to wars in Europe and Southeast Asia. She fought battles in the streets and told the stories of the poor with paper and pen. She traveled the country and spoke out about trying to find better ways of dealing with problems and each other. She understood the basics. The need for community, food and shelter, companionship and support. A House of Hospitality could be as simple as a guest room or as complex as an apartment building for people who needed it.

I was young (20) and she considered herself old (65) when I knew Dorothy. I wish I knew then what I know now. I would have spent different time with her, learning more from her or at least trying. Sadly, many of the battles of today are the same as yesterday. There are also new challenges. Things like technology, an even smaller wealth class, the speed of information and misinformation, 24 hour news cycles, a rise in hate speech and actions. Either the pendulum has swung or the underbelly of who we really are has been exposed. Somehow the basics become more appealing, at least to me, in times like these.

So what are the basics today on this Labor Day weekend? The same as they've been for ages - community, justice, freedom, working for peace, supporting people, relationships. This quote from Dorothy Day helps bring me back to all of those things:

“What we would like to do is change the world--make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe, and shelter themselves as God intended them to do. And, by fighting for better conditions, by crying out unceasingly for the rights of the workers, the poor, of the destitute--the rights of the worthy and the unworthy poor, in other words--we can, to a certain extent, change the world; we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world. We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever widening circle will reach around the world. We repeat, there is nothing we can do but love, and, dear God, please enlarge our hearts to love each other, to love our neighbor, to love our enemy as ourselves.”