Tuesday, August 04, 2020

CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION THREATENS STRIKE AND THEN MAYOR AGREES TO FULLY REMOTE LEARNING WHILE MULGREW HAS A PETITION

A tale of two cities:

First Chicago from their local CBSTV news:

CHICAGO (CBS) — The Chicago Public Schools are expected to announce a plan for remote learning for all of the Chicago Public Schools system to start the 2020-2021 school year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The announcement is expected on Wednesday, a source told CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov.

That news came after an announcement that the Chicago Teachers Union planned to hold an emergency House of Delegates meeting early next week to discuss a possible strike vote, in an effort to pressure CPS into starting the school year with remote learning.

An unnamed source also confirmed to Kozlov the that union had planned to convene its House of Delegates next week to discuss a process led by rank and file members to take a strike vote to demand remote learning at CPS in the fall.

Now NYC where we have a petition:

School building reopening plans must meet safety standards

Dear UFT Member,

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s current plan for reopening school buildings does not meet the safety standards our children and school staff need.

With lives in the balance, we believe that public school educators in New York City should not return to school buildings unless there are adequate protocols and procedures in place to ensure the safety and health of our school communities.

Tell Mayor de Blasio that his plan must include critical health and safety measures.

Sign the petition

The UFT worked with the city to develop many of the safety standards included in the reopening proposal, but the mayor’s current plan falls short.

For school buildings to reopen, school communities need:

Voluntary testing for all students and school-based staff returning for in-person instruction.

A rolling testing regimen in every school community for adults and student volunteers to identify those infected with the virus but asymptomatic.

The results of these tests should be available within 24 hours.

A dedicated group of contact tracers to investigate who else has been exposed when an adult or a student in a school contracts the virus.

A school nurse in every school building.

Evidence that the protections and procedures outlined in the plan have been implemented, including the testing and upgrading of ventilation systems, and the necessary staff and supplies to deep clean the buildings every night.

Without these protections in place, staff and students — and the families they go home to at night — will not be safe from the coronavirus.

Add your name to the petition

Please sign the petition to affirm your agreement with this approach.

Stay healthy and safe.

Sincerely,


Michael Mulgrew

All of you can sign but I will not be signing as I will not affirm that I am in agreement with this approach!

Which mayor, Lightfoot in Chicago or de Blah blah in NYC, is worried about their teachers union? I'll give you a hint, it isn't de Blasio.

When are the UFT members in NYC going to say enough is enough and demand real union action? 

Militancy really works. Don't worry about the anti-human rights Taylor Law. There are parts of the DOE documents for fall reopening that can be used legally to stay out. They are almost asking for a sickout. I'll explain in a future post.

82 comments:

  1. Because the uft sucks. Wake up. When will the idiot teachers learn?

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  2. MEANWHILE, HERE NYC MULGREW UFT UNION sends out a email having NYC teachers sign a petition...NYC UNION BIGGEST SELL OUT!

    Chicago Teachers Union to call for strike vote at meeting next week

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  3. Let me get this straight:under an unprecedented health crisis, where the DOE outright LIED and got members KILLED while others strike and others go all remote--U want us to sign a f'ing petition?
    #RefuseToReturn #NotOneMore #EqualityForAll

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  4. I think James you should email Mr Mulgrew the developments in Chicago with the caption from John Quinones, what will you do? I think rank and file has had enough!!!!!!

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    1. @11:31 pm: Great idea. Here's Mulgrew's email so you can share it with him: Mmulgrew@uft.org. I hope you share his response on this blog.

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  5. Why is practically nobody in a position of power being realistic about reopening our school buildings? We need to find the courage to tell delusional parents the truth. Instead we are gaslighting them with promises of safety that we cannot deliver.

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    1. @11:37 pm...Unfortunately this isn't new. Gaslighting has been the norm for decades. I had an aha moment. I've always been disappointed at how willing some educators were with just passing students in order to "just get along" with the system. I now see that some educators won't even take a stand for their own life. Some people prefer to just talk and not act. It's clearer now.
      Unfortunately staying on the sideline is never enough. Time for some Good Trouble.
      PS Stop passing failing students. That's part of the problem. It weakens the country. #USAPROUD

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  6. There are many parents in agreement. The City is in free fall with sky rocketing crime, in large part from our teenage youth. Everyone wants them off the streets. DeBlasio rejects law and order and would prefer a zoo like holding pen to our youth, corralled from 8AM - 3 PM. Mulgrew takes his direction from deBlasio - not the rank and file. This pesky virus be damned. About 200 parents and teachers did indeed march from UFT to City Hall Monday. (They even used the guillotine metaphor as a prop.) In my opinion there has to be a massive march on 52 Broadway demanding Mulgrew’s resignation. He has betrayed the rank and file, time and time again. With him out, the teachers of NYC will have a chance at having a safe working environment, even if that environment is from home.

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    1. Excellent. Good for those educators and parents. Hopefully we can payback the parents by providing their children with a challenging, quality education that will help them get into excellent post secondary schools or job training programs. Teamwork makes the dreamwork

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  7. So what do we do? What's the game plan? How do we mobilize rank and file? Do we start our own petition? It's easy to say sick out, but people are afraid of the Taylor Law. How do we reach parents, the governor, whoever, and let them know this plan is unsafe and irresponsible?

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  8. Parents are not being informed. Most especially non English speaking parents. If you have a way to reach out to parents who speak Spanish, Urdu. Farsi, mandarin, etc, DO IT.These people are not going to opt out by Friday if they don't have proper information.

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  9. #DrBirx: “We are asking people to distance learn at this moment, so we can get this epidemic under control.”
    Are you listening de blasio? mulgrew?

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  10. The way to reach out to parents through a translator is through Linguista International for schools. 1-800-889-5921.

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  11. Anonymous 7:42- Accurate. My Spanish speaking cleaning girl asked me to explain the Remind message she got about opting for remote learning. She had no idea keeping her daughter home was an option, and I filled out the form for her. For a Chancellor who is all about equity, he is doing an abysmal job.

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    1. @9:36am...that was wonderful of you to help. I'm sure she will inform her family and friends. P.s. unless your cleaning person is under 12...maybe you can say my cleaning lady?

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  12. This comes down to strong leadership in Chicago pure and simple. We need that here in NY. It's the union's job to lead and protect us.

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  13. Trump just announced that he believes all teachers within a certain age group should not return to work. Right there he is acknowledging that it's dangerous to go back to school.

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  14. Also you have to read Trump's quote in the post about Covid. This is the man running our county. "This thing will go away, the way things go away." (Sic). Very reassuring indeed. Sounds like the way my students write.

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  15. @1:00pm: LOL. Some poster said "we don't care that Trump is ignorant--we like his policies". Jesus take the wheel

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  16. And yet W4S some of us will still vote for Trump. One can be ignorant on some issues and enact good policies on others. Obama raised my taxes. Trump lowered them. Trump rejects snowflake cancel culture. The democrats cower and pander to it. Policies.

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    1. @7;36...oh we know. There are many many folks who love dumbazz because well he just "tells it like it is. Damn that he doesn't know how to even pretend to have a brain. Taxes are lower. That will make America Great. Gotcha.

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    2. @7:36pm...he is not ignorant on some issues. The dude is ignorant. It's as if English isn't his first language. I'm sure he receives security briefings daily yet one of his favorite phrases is,"they say on the internet". But hey your taxes are lower so all is well. Boy oh boy oh boy. That's why we are the best country in the world. If we keep saying it maybe it'll become true? Let's just keep following the cult leader. He promises us salvation

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  17. Trump promised his health care package would be ready by August 1. This is August 5.
    I am still waiting.

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  18. Trump raised my taxes big time with the end of the SALT deduction.

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  19. Riddle: HHow do you know Trump is lying? His lips are moving. The stupidity of some teachers is mind boggling g. No wonder they can't stand up to Mulgrew.

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  20. Trump is the worst.

    Deaths per 1 million population (8/5/20), Worldometers.

    NJ - 1,793
    NY - 1,686
    MA - 1,256
    CT - 1,245

    United Kingdom - 677
    Spain - 608
    Sweden - 564
    USA - 461

    FL - 345
    TX - 264

    Forgive me for asking this question, but who failed the American people?

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    1. So let me understand your math. 4 northeast states have over 1000 deaths per million but then you list the USA as 400+ per million. So you are skewing numbers to suit your narrative by taking the higher affected states. I'm not saying Trump is perfect but you cant compare Europe to the US. Those countries have closable borders while our states don't. The disease will spread. We need the schools to stay closed but let's not fight for this with skewed facts.

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  21. When did you work on voting mulgrew out?

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  22. What is enough? What number are remote applications up to? I know the applications were in the high 15000s when I applied on Thursday night. I saw somewhere on this page someone posted they were in the 22000s but they didn’t specify the day or time. That would hypothetically put us at 29% of teachers who applied so far. Curious to know what number range and day time you saw that new number especially if it was higher than the 22000s now. Especially from others who may have applied or know someone who applied today.

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  23. JoeBiden to Black Journalist: ‘Are You a Junkie?’

    His insults follow 8 years of ignoring drug crises as VP. Overdose deaths skyrocketed 72% during Obama-Biden.

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    1. @9:49...Trump idiot who lowers taxes v your comments. I will take Biden.

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  24. Your SALT deduction ended because your state and local taxes are too high.

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  25. Has anyone heard back after filing for accommodation request? I got the initial form letter back but nothing since then.

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  26. The whole country should have closed and not only 50% as Dr Fauci said. A competent federal response could have slowed this thing. Leaving it up to states and then encouraging states to open up when there is still community spread is just condemning people. Opening schools now by de Blasio or Trump is more of the same bullshit.

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  27. Mayor Beetlejuice from Chicago is as big of a disaster as Diblasio (wilhelm real last name) and they have more in order than this shit hole new york has been.

    No shame at this point to admit we need to go full remote for MP1 to gather more data and have better plan in effect.

    @8:25 stfu and stop watching Maddow. For christ sakes, Trump was xenophobic for banning flights, biden would had had millions dead. China is to blame and the who are in cahoots with china. Dr Fauci has been wrong more than right, so if top scientists fucked up what else was trump to do when he brought ventilators and ships for our moronic leaders here. He is far from perfect but nobody was hard on Obama for H1n1.

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    1. @Anon2323: There is a learning curve. Fauci is more right than wrong. He is open minded. Trump is useless. He doesn't listen. Why do you think his staff turnover is so high? He doesn't have any leadership skills. Obama is Trump's albatross. Whatever Trump attempts to do, he compares it to Obama. I get it. You always want to measure up or surpass the thing you perceive as great. I will give Trump credit for a few things:
      He speaks his mind. Unlike some liberals who say one thing but do something else. Trump isn't the cause of a divided nation--he just shined a light on this division. Black folks have experienced this division for centuries. With Trump in office, people are simply more comfortable expressing their true thoughts and feelings (The Karens and Kens). Trump calls out the media for being one-sided (black folks have been saying that for years). Trump wants a wall. Well, what's a country without borders? Now that doesn't mean I will ever vote for him. This idiot isn't a leader. There is no frigging national plan to fight a pandemic. The bit@^ says, "it is what it is". Wtf. Naw. I get a vote, it will go to Curious George before it will ever go to Trump. Obama triggered something in Trump and the trumpets. Trump's a fragile man who panders to other fearful people. He makes them feel as though he and only he can protect them. Fear can make people act irrationally. Oh and if your taxes are lowered by him, well then what more can you ask for.

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  28. Look at the death rates in Europe, Canada and other advanced wealthy countries like Japan compared to the US. A state by state approach here was foolish. The data does not lie. This needed a strong federal response and Trump downplayed the problem and hasn't stopped so it has never been brought under control nationally.

    We should lock down nationally now. Trump is so stupid he does not realize he would look strong doing so and the infection rate would drop right before election time

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    1. @11:33 pm: exactly. But hey, some folks taxes are lower soooooo all is well.

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  29. Republicans will choose free market ideology over preserving lives the same way Mulgrew will choose his dues over our lives. Trump and Mulgrew are actually both similar.

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  30. Mulgrew is warming up....

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  31. W4S, If you're going to insist on calling Trump names then we have to consider the antifa riot loving, senile, you ain't black, I supported the crime bill that took black men to prison Biden deserving the same treatment. Biden is no less ignorant than Trump.

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    1. @6:56 am: who is antifa riot loving? If Biden is senile, so is Trump. They did make him take a dementia test. Trump is the most ignorant. He shouldn't be in charge of a gumball machine. Sorry

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  32. I am voting for Trump. Others are not. I'm fine with leaving Trump/Biden out of teacher issues since neither party gives a shit about teachers. But to act like Biden is a good candidate and Trump is all bad is bullshit. Calling Trump voters names only results in someone calling Biden and his voters names. Is that what this blog is about? No. No one is changing their mind on who they are voting for. Let it be.

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    1. agree at 7:05 am...i may have called Trump followers trumpets. My apologies. People will vote for whomever they prefer.

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  33. 11:33. Every top official, pro Trump or not, has said that wearing masks, keeping a 6ft distance, washing hands, staying out of bars and limiting large groups is just as effective as a lockdown. A modified return to school would work if those things could be enforced but they can't be so schools should remain remote.

    Trump has made some good decisions (stopping travel from China and Europe, moving along vaccine research) and some poor decisions (saying it would go away and pushing hydroxychloroquine) but, as an educator, then you know that the US Constitution gives Trump as President no authority to shut a state down. The governors make the decisions and should coordinate with other states like NY, NJ and CT successfully did to have uniform guidelines. It was choices of the states to not enforce safer guidelines and the choices of those (particularly the 20-30 yea olds) to continue traveling, partying, and not consider others to allow the virus to spread.

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    1. We needed a national approach to COVID-19 and never really got one. Dr Fauci said we only 50% shut down. I really doubt it would have been called unconstitutional if Trump just said we are shutting the US down until we get this virus under control and we're going to save lives and make sure the medical system can handle this. Instead, Trump's "It isn't that bad" philosophy as the deaths kept adding up has been a huge error and he keeps repeating it. I think that is the main reason his poll numbers have plummeted.

      Not only did Trump not close states down, he encouraged them to open too fast (Georgia, Florida, others) where there was still widespread community spread of COVID-19. I know someone who was sickened with hydroxychloroquine by the way. It is no miracle cure. And now, Trump is encouraging schools to reopen so Covid-19 can spread some more as there is still community spread in most places.

      On the other hand, I can acknowledge that fast tracking a vaccine and mass producing it while trials are going on is a worthwhile investment that I hope and pray succeeds.

      That said, between de Blasio and Trump, it is very hard to figure out who has botched this thing up worse. We have done plenty on de Blasio's dithering and hiding cases in March and then keeping schools open for too long. Oh and I didn't forget Cuomo with the liability shield for nursing homes which I understand the Republicans have copied and pasted for their national liability shield for businesses and states that they are insisting goes in the next relief bill.

      What a mess. Back to the topic. CTU has fought for and protected their members. UFT has protected their dues. Mulgrew and Trump do have much in common in that their supporters never hold them accountable no matter how much they screw up. Trump for the debacle and Mulgrew for not urging members to leave what he knew were infected buildings.

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    2. A message requesting that all states follow uniform guidelines is needed. That message should come from the president. This guy mentioned injecting disinfectant. Come on now. Do you think this is how a sane person thinks?

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  34. @8:26 whats wrong with hydroxy? It saved my aunts life. Plenty of good Doctors agreed on using it dont give a shit what Fauci thinks anymore.

    Cuomo must give schools flexibility and creativity to make own plans/schedules. This is not the year for mandates on how long need to be in school. High school should literally be going to 4 core classes grabbing lunch and going home before 12:30. Teachers at 12:30-1 go home and either plan remotely or for next day and thats it.

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  35. Xenophobic trigger warning for those who respect others, regardless of their language of origin.

    "It's as if English isn't his first language."

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    1. #9:45: If English is not your first language, it's possible that you may struggle speaking it. English is Trumpy's first language. However, he struggles. We have students whose first language is not English. They are ESL/ELL students. It's not xenophobic to state "English isn't their first language". It is xenophobic if i stated that I hated or feared Trump because of this perceived deficit.

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  36. No, we need to stop with the draconian laws and lockdowns. Sweden just released its Q2 GDP yesterday, down 8.6% compared to the catastrophic 33% in the US. (The worst year in the Great Depression had a 13% drop) Their death rates aren't much different than the lockdown countries like Italy, Spain, the UK and the US yet they didn't destroy their country in the process. Like NY, it had a problem with its old age homes, and like NY it is seeing little in the way of new infection now.

    Like Rush said on his show yesterday we have to figure out a way to deal with it and go about our lives.

    If you want to hide in your basement go ahead, good luck with that, you're going to have to come out eventually if you want to eat, and pay your bills. Just don't get in the way of someone else trying to make a living and live his life.

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    1. Rush. Maddow. People listen to whomever. Some people stand for the pledge of allegiance. Some take a knee. People do what they want. So how and when does the UNITED States of America become UNITED? If it's each person for himself than so be it. Just lock your lips when someone else start protesting for their life. Just go on about YOUR life

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  37. Look at Sweden's death rates compared to Norway and Denmark. Not pretty. All you offer is saying we gotta live with the virus. Very scary. Same it isn't that bad shit that got us 150,000+ deaths and made us a joke to the rest of the world.

    Do you want to talk about real success stories like Taiwan and New Zealand?

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  38. James you mentioned Taiwan and New Zealand. First those are tiny, homogeneous, and insular island nations. Taiwan is about the size of Florida; Florida does not have control over its borders, Taiwan forces people into "quarantine hotels". New Zealand, about the size of Alabama (under 5 million) operates a government tracking app for cell phones. No thanks. I'll take dangerous liberty over peaceful slavery every time.

    The facts remain that for anyone 55 or under COVID is less dangerous than the flu, driving, or using a pool or bathtub. "If we could save just one life" or even thousands would mean outlawing cars, bathtubs, pools, etc. The restrictionists would even outlaw sex to stop HIV/AIDS.

    We were told in March to shelter in place to slow down the virus so as to reduce the load on hospitals, not to eliminate the virus. Despite the alarmism the hospitals did not run out of room and we did not run out of ventilators. In fact the "field hospitals" went unused and in Florida at its worst weeks ago they still had 20% vacancy in their hospitals and ICUs.

    Now if a pharmaceutical company could guarantee it could develop, test, manufacture, and distribute 320 million vaccines, then have practitioners actually inject them, all within 2 weeks, I could almost go along with the lockdown idea. Almost, because at a minimum you still need trucking, gas stations, agriculture, grocery stores, hospitals & doctors offices, pharmacies, police, fire & EMS, sanitation, utilities workers, child care (schools or otherwise), etc. When you put your mind to it you realize how impractical and nonsensical "the whole country closed" is.

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  39. WFS I agree. Someone may agree or disagree with what someone says or does but ultimately it is that person's right to do it. That's what liberty is about.

    You bring up a great question about unity. The government is supposed to guarantee our right to life, liberty and property. That's about it. Besides those fundamental principles in any diverse free society there are going to be great differences in how people live.

    I won't stop someone from protesting but I also won't lock my lips. And neither should someone else, no one should be muzzled.

    I want to go about my life and anyone should be able to do likewise. Right now we're still locked out of work. If I still lived in the City my kids would be locked out of school for half or two-thirds of the week. Business owners and their employees still can't make a living because of the government.

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    1. Right to life. Many will say to get a better handle on Covid people must wear masks, practice social distancing and washing their hands. Until the numbers go down. Our medical personnel need a break.
      Liberty: Protest Protest and Protest. No justice. No peace. The status quo will end.
      In a well functioning society, we should sometimes sacrifice for your neighbor. We probably would have been in a better position by now if all states were on the same page. Our democracy has leaders elected by us. There will be an election in November. Whoever is elected must get control of this pandemic and country. We all want to get back to "normal". Some of us just happen to care about the wellbeing of others. Some don't mind sacrificing so that everyone comes out better. Some people don't.

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  40. You made my point TJL. Florida does not have borders. That is why we need a national approach and deferring to states won't work and has failed miserably.

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  41. The US does not control its borders either. That was my point. We had a national policy that allowed people to fly in from Europe (or anywhere besides China). We still let people walk and swim across the borders and work without punishment. Other countries don't do that, or it's far more difficult (to physically do in the case of Taiwan and NZ) or they enforce their laws better.

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  42. Daily Kos Alan Singer

    As we approach the 2020 election in November, Donald Trump and the Republican Party are already responsible for the deaths of over 150,000 Americans. In March, Trump promised the American economy would be up and running by Easter. In May, he demanded that states ease up on COVID-19 restrictions and rapidly reopen. In July, Trump forced revisions of C.D.C. guidelines so public schools could fully reopen this school year with face-to-face instruction. As a result of Trump and Republican administration incompetence and disregard for human life, the United States has the most COVID-19 deaths and fifth highest daily rate of infection per million residents in the world trailing only are Oman, Bahrain, Panama, and South Africa.

    Trump’s lunacy and incompetence are on dramatic display in an Axios interview with national political correspondent Jonathan Swan broadcast by HBO on Monday. Everything he did was great. “Those people that really understand it, they said it’s incredible the job that we’ve done.” All the experts think he is right. “Some people say you can test too much.” China is to blame for the virus. “They are dying. That’s true. It is what it is. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t doing everything we can. It’s under control as much as you can control it.” Claims otherwise are “fake news.”


    Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Arizona, Alabama, South Carolina, Texas, Idaho, and Tennessee, if ranked separately, would lead the world in infection rates. While Trump rails against fictitious dangers in “liberal Democrat” governed cities, these eight deadly states, Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, all have Republican governors and Republican-controlled state legislatures that refused to act to protect their citizenry. The deadly eight and Louisiana, with a Democratic governor but a Republican-controlled state legislature, all cast their electoral votes for Donald Trump in 2016 and reopened much too quickly this spring.

    As the Coronavirus surges in her state, Alabama’s Republican Governor Kay Ivey largely remained quiet. At a press conference, Arizona’s Republican Governor Doug Ducey declared the state was facing a “maximum challenge,” but refused to impose new restrictions on businesses or issue a stay-at-home order. Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis saw his approval rating in public opinion polls drop from 50 percent to 37% with over 60% of respondents calling the state’s reopening process “premature.” Critics of Tennessee’s Republican Governor accuse him of “wishful thinking” instead of concerted action. According to one state senator, it is “time to acknowledge that the response of the Tennessee state government isn’t working.”

    In Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott issued executive orders starting to reopen the state at the end of April, but a leaked recording revealed he knew the order would lead to a surge in COVID-19 infections. In June, as the number of hospitalized Texans climbed, Abbott declared there is “no real need to ratchet back the opening of businesses in the state” because “we have so many hospital beds available to anybody who gets ill.” Texas’ Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has been even more callous than Abbott. In March, in support of President Trump’s COVID-19 response, Patrick argued that senior citizens should be willing to put their lives at risk if it meant stabilizing the economy. More recently, he announced that he would no longer listen to advice from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading expert on infectious diseases.

    Donald Trump and every Republican candidate for office this November should be forced to explain how the party that pledged to “Make America Great Again” failed so dismally.

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  43. NY Times explains US failure

    First, the United States has a tradition of prioritizing individualism over government restrictions. That aversion to collective action helped lead to inadequate state lockdowns and inconsistent adherence to mask wearing based on partisanship instead of public health.

    Second, many experts agree, America’s poor results stem in substantial measure from the performance of the Trump administration. “If you had to summarize our approach, it’s really poor federal leadership — disorganization and denial,” said Andy Slavitt, who ran Medicare and Medicaid from 2015 to 2017.

    The administration’s travel restrictions were insufficient. Health officials initially gave confusing advice around wearing masks in public. And the president’s public statements — including claiming that the virus wasn’t serious and would disappear — regularly spread misinformation. In no other high-income country have political leaders so frequently departed from expert advice.

    Together, skepticism toward collective action and the administration’s scattered approach have undermined the national response to the pandemic. True, the United States has made some improvements, including on mask wearing and testing. But unlike in South Korea, Germany and other countries, the virus continues to overwhelm daily life for Americans.

    The frustration for many experts is that this outcome was avoidable. As one said: “This isn’t actually rocket science. We know what to do, and we’re not doing it.”

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  44. But taxes are low. So all is well. Open up the country so we can all hurry up and possibly get covid or pass it along to grandma and grandpa. They've lived their lives. Cancer? So what. Time to get this economy up again

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  45. Trump in his own word on Fox and Friends

    “My view is the schools should open. This thing is going away. It will go away like things go away, and my view is that schools should be open.”

    You MAGAs and Mulgrew are killing us.

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  46. Yes WFS. We can live our lives and choose to use precautions. Protest absolutely. Rights don't take a vacation for pandemics.

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  47. How about compassion and sacrificing? The war on pandemic requires both and more.

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  48. Wednesday, August 05, 2020 9:28:00 PM

    Keep in mind it's not only teachers that are applying for accommodations. It's teachers and all other school staff, administrators, central staff, clerical workers as well. My number was over 13000 when I applied last Wed. evening. No answer yet.

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  49. The government can't and shouldn't mandate compassion and sacrifice. Who's to say what's a sufficient sacrifice?
    On the other hand, a good leader would tell the young to go to work and live your life, go out to eat and drink (and tip well!) but don't bring it to your elderly parent or grandparent. Wear a mask when in close quarters because you don't know if the person near you is a cancer patient.
    I agree we all can use some more "be your brother's keeper" as long as it's voluntary. That's what I hear at Church. I can give more at Church because I can work; there are needy people because of these laws, and not enough of us allowed to work to be able to give.

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    1. I meant humans offering compassion and sacrifice not as a government mandate. Thank God for those people who during WWII sacrificed for the greater good. As I said, there are different types of people. Some lean more towards individualism and others who lean more to collectivism. We know America is more individualistic. Maybe this is why America struggles to be great. Anyway I hope we can all get through this time alive. We can disagree and be respectful. However i still think Trump is in a position that is way above his pay grade, he doesn't have a plan, he doesn't care and he needs to go. Folks are dying and he has a cavalier attitude. No good.

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  50. This is the democrats who continue to play dirty as ever, between russia shit, kavanaugh, the insane phone call crap which overlooked COVID as trump was on it closing borders saving millions, Pelosi and Diblasio begging people to come on out and party late feb early march. Trying to get mail in voting to steal election, everyone bashing trump were quiet as a mouse during h1n1 thousands children died, 60 million affected.

    Obama had stock market at 18,000, Trump stock market collapsed because of the chinese and the WHO's complicit negligence and was still better than Obama's best. ALL the markets on fire, lowest unemployment, social justice reform, law and order, better trade deals, tougher on china (unlike biden, pelosi) including USMCA, no wars, demolished middle east, north korea quiet, school choice, I mean damn we all wish Obama could do anything like that. Do not get me wrong Trump SALT fucked us and that was terrible, his tweets can be just obnoxious, devos was a shit terrible decision. That does not change the fact he is better than Biden, Clinton and Obama by 1000.

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    1. @anon: Trump can never be better than Obama. The world leaders. His former staff and most likely his current staff know that he's just not president material. Truth be told he probably knows it too.

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  51. There is no hope for the two MAGAs here. Comments are just so dumb on so many levels. President has power to shut things down. He won't do it because of stupid ideology so more will die. Not us, we aren't going back to school until it's safe.

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  52. Biden is a senile racist. I'll take the ignorant racist instead.

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  53. Senile maybe but senile is better than psycho. Calling Biden a racist, no.

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  54. I'll take the psycho who lowers my taxes.

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  55. My taxes weren't lowered. I pay more under Trump. I am not a corporation. Any public school teacher who votes Trump or Mulgrew is too stupid to be a teacher. Two psycho narcissists.

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  56. w4s....do see what's going on in dem cities? All's well and taxes are 2 different issues. All is well where I live because no ones getting robbed or shot not because we have an appreciation for lower taxes. All is not well in NYC because it's dodge fucking city and Wyatt Earp was cancelled by the left.

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  57. WFS: We have sacrificed. Some a hell of a lot more than others. The nanny state is unAmerican. Couple that with political leaders cowering to the mob and I'm more than a little concerned, Liberty comes with risk. People have a right to earn a living. Pursuit of happiness is what makes our nation special. It's as important as the right to peacefully assemble. I have compassion for many including families losing their small businesses due to the continued lockdowns.

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  58. 5:29 is happy with the US being a third world country so he can keep to his libertarian philosophy that brings nothing but misery to so many while he has a good public sector job.

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  59. Fact: The US has been and continues to be delusional about our greatness. If we were so great,smart and powerful we certainly would NOT be in the condition that we are in: the laughing stock of the world. Just vote in November. Forget about division. It's wacky how divided this great nation is. Dem cities. Liberals. Radicals. Progressives. On and on. Either we work and live together or we die together. Sh%& is going to change. The status quo is a wrap. Read the writing on the wall.

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  60. People with money in their pocket are abandoning these cities. Suburban homes flying off the market. New gun owners increasing in counties in PA that voted Hilary. Seems like the left can't read the writing on the wall. We're not a third world nation but let's put the Ilhan Omars in charge and we will be.

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  61. In what other developed nation isn't there universal healthcare? No, it is only in the third world USA where anyone can get a gun and the pandemic rages out of control. Mulgrew and Trump, perfect leaders for this failed state and union.

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  62. Talk is cheap. All of this back and forth on a blog won't change anything. In due time I guess we shall all see how great America really is. In the meantime and in between time thousands of people are dying and nyc educators have been tagged "it". In a few weeks an experiment will possibly begin.

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