I just cannot comprehend the thinking behind letting our guard down on COVID-19 when it is still spreading in the community. In NYC, the growth of infections in children should ring major alarm bells.
This is from Jennifer Jennings Twitter citing an American Academy of Pediatrics report:
I am really almost wishing I lived in Australia or New Zealand where they value each human life. One case of the UK variant of COVID-19 in Perth, Australia has put most of the population of Western Australia into a really hard lockdown this week. Schools there are extending summer vacation.
Over in New Zealand, we have repeatedly praised their get tough early approach because it works. They have lost 25 to COVID-19. Minnesota, a state with a comparable population size, as of today has had a tragic 6,270 COVID-19 deaths. Hard lockdowns done early and real travel bans save lives. Bullshit from leaders of both parties in the USA leads to misery. The excuse is we have to keep the economy going. Ours shrunk by 3.5% in 2020. New Zealand's grew.
From the Financial Times:
New Zealand’s economy has accelerated out of a coronavirus-induced recession to grow a record 14 per cent in the third quarter, reflecting authorities’ adept handling of the pandemic.
For the year, the latest numbers show their economy actually eked out an annual gain.
Some of us keep screaming to shut it down, subsidize everyone for the duration of any lockdown, vaccinate the population and then we could eliminate community spread so we could get back to some kind of normal. I was always led to believe we Americans were pragmatic people. If only that were still true. We could limit the damage from the new variants if we focused more on contolling the pandemic than on prematurely opening school buildings or indoor dining.
Did you tell Biden? Or Randi?
ReplyDeleteTrump wanted to open so that meant our NY democrat Cuomo had to say the opposite. No more Trump, no more oppositional policies from NY democrats. What’s not to get? They all wanted to open. The republicans said it out loud. The democrats waited until they had all the power before they said it out loud. The squad and Bernie are towing the party line. The answer to your question is no. They never care about anything but getting elected. They told dem voters what they wanted to hear and now they don’t need you so if you die of COVID it’s no loss to them. $2000 checks Biden, Harris promised people aren’t coming either. Deportations still going on. Kids still in cages. Troops will soon be sent to another wasteland on the other side of the world. The military industrial complex and the investor class matter more to the Executive and Legislative Branches than the people who voted for them. It’s all pretty clear when the fog of Trump hate starts to dissipate. Biden Harris told you they would return things to normal, they wanted to restore the soul of America. Did you forget what normal was? Did you forget where their moral compass pointed and just how tainted their souls were? Progressives are on their own. At least until 2022 when they’ll make you promises they don’t keep yet again.
ReplyDeleteWe have many in authority, but absolutely no leadership. Money always trumps lives.
ReplyDeleteGore Vidal said "There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat..." and, while I disagree with much that Vidal said and did, I think his observation essentially correct. The business party or property party is in power still and there is little that will change. Some will cling to those little changes, surely a change in style is welcome, and ignore how much remains unchanged, unchangeable, inexorably and relentlessly "slouching toward Bethlehem" to be born. A zeitgeist, a spiritus mundi loosed upon the the brave new world, we the people, and not any Big Brother or fascist or populist government, whilst amusing ourselves, made monstrous and worshipped.
ReplyDeleteIt will not be defeated or replaced, for it, They, are We and Us.
There is only one power that can temper the excesses of the Property or Business Party. Organized Labor. But labor is not labor now. Unions are not unions. The UFT, not merely Unity, is not a union. It is a mechanical lap dog of the Business Party.
Maybe one reason CTU is so interesting is that it seems to understand this and it is resisting it. It matters not what party the mayor, the governor, the president. Labor must strike to temper the excesses of the party. A Union that doesn't use the strike, is not a union. Ours has always been bread and butter, though now we have no butter and half a loaf, so we can't expect UFT to ever strike. It had a chance. It deliberately missed it. It's pretense, its apparent flirtation with job action was always a ruse.
This Blog may be in the devil's company without knowing it. Or it may be, as I say, part of the reform movement that knows it will only maintain the status quo.
James says I must get my facts straight, but there are no facts in such statements. This is my opinion.
Luckily our politicians believe in Herd Immunity.
ReplyDeleteCOVID is a conspiracy to get us to buy masks;
There is no Global Warming due to humans - just look at all the snow;
Fracking does not cause geological instability nor contaminate the water supply;
The Earth is Flat;
Mulgrew knows what is in our best interests;
Don't worry people, In Unity I Trust.
So glad we've eradicated the flu and common cold with Herd Immunity...
Oh wait *smacks forehead* I think there's something wrong here...
Shout-out to my best friend:
Hi Amy! How's backstabbing and making snarky remarks about teachers going for you?
Don't fret - I'm sure other schools will be voting for you.
w/love,
An Endangered CL
Shelley, I have said for many years that unions need to be able to strike or at the very least have the ability to pull off a believable threat of a strike.
ReplyDeleteThis is not the first time that the UFT tried and failed to pull off a believable strike threat. The BTS is a failed strategy for UFT and you know it because you got sucker punched by it the last time the UFT flirted with the believable threat strategy. Yet, you continue to advocate it, knowing that it fails and that it will fail. And when it fails, indeed, before it fails, you blame the membership, arguing that they must sway the President and his insiders with 100% commitment to a cool hand Luke. Moreover, you know that when it fails the consequences are profound and lasting.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is how it is done at the school level where most Chapter Leaders use the bluff, the threat of grievance and teachers pay the price.
Our threat was never real or remotely credible last year. I don't blame that on the membership. Leadership's fault basically.
ReplyDeleteBefore last year, the last time the UFT even talked strike was 2005. The strike then was used as a scare tactic by union leadership to get teachers to accept a horrible contract. At the time, I was on the UFT Executive Board as an opposition HS rep. At the urging of my friend Bryant HS CL Sam Lazarus, I proposed that we combine unions with TWU Local 100 for a possible combined strike. Being with TWU would have made us credible. All Randi would say is that she spoke to Roger. Roger Toussaint was their president. Soon thereafter, we accepted the horrible 2005 contract that accelerated our downfall. TWU went at it alone.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I did not vote on the UFT's action plan after Randi signed off on the awful fact finding report that led to the 2005 contract. I voted to reject the report.
Did anyone hear that middle schools will be open after Feb break because they now have the capacity to test? Just curious. I’m assuming high schools will be late spring?
ReplyDeletePeople in the US are just like the kids in school. The attitude is "you can't make me do anything." In Europe and Asia you tell people to wear a mask, they wear it. They go into lockdown, they all do it. You don't have your protesters opening up to prove a worthless point. They conform, but in the US it's all pushback and that's what has led to the collapse in the economy and all the deaths. For the commenter on Global Warming, snow has nothing to do with Global Warming.
ReplyDeleteI think there was more than a touch of sarcasm in the 8:55 comment.
ReplyDelete10:33 We're Americans. If you want bended knee to authority figures, look elsewhere. And about the commenter who referred to snow, do you also think he thinks the earth is flat? I think you need to reread his comments. You missed the gist.
ReplyDeleteWe're Americans. Meaning? It sounds like it means individualism at all costs. Never mind community, or any altruistic outlook.
DeleteWe certainly bend the knee plenty to authority though. How else to account for the class system, and corporate control of that system, which keeps so many on the bottom, living in the streets? We allow it. So must be another one of those great American values.. the double standard.
For the commenter on Global Warming, snow has nothing to do with Global Warming.
ReplyDeleteWHAT?!? But, did you see how much snow?!?
Here's a solution for you Earth-lovers; take all the snow that fell here and drive it up to the artic (sic) in your Hummers so the damn snow-bears will be happy!
Personally, I'm trying to push the snow off the edge of the Earth so it don't come back.
Let's place this important motion at the DA for the UFT to support snow for snow-bears, but ignore that silly motion against ratings! In Mulgrew I trust.
--------
10:02 - I've heard it. Of course students have the right to refuse to be tested; in addition they are using the non-asymptomatic test for students (i.e. it only goes a little in their noses). This way the data shows they didn't catch it in the schools and allows them to attend even if they are asymptomatic carriers.
As Mulgrew tells me - the schools are safe and no one is catching things there. The data shows it to be true. I Heart Mulgrew & Amy as much as they heart me.
Sorry for the sarcasm/joking - it is just beyond belief with the politicians, Mulgrew, and Unity (and Amy! Hi Amy!) and humor is one of my coping mechanisms.
Keep up the fight and get the word out to your coworkers about what is going on here. Have a good day everyone!
Save the snow-bears!
Hell NO, dead people don't vote!
ReplyDeleteWe live in a leftist 1984 dystopia where conformity is a great virtue in some ways but not in others--it all depends on the Narrative.
ReplyDeleteAmazing what has happened to this country and how our loss of freedoms is celebrated by so many.
We never had freedom, but we've always had conformity. Overall, we are wage slaves dominated and controlled by the capitalist class. As a whole, we have consistently conformed to low wages, for profit health systems, for profit education systems.. zero freedom. Everything is dependant on us accepting things as they are and that is exactly what has happened.
DeleteThere is no democracy in our economy. Zero. This is a dystopia for sure, but it is one created by the capitalists and served up to the consumers and wage slaves. The United Corporations of America. Welcome
11:10. So it's better to have a collapse economy and 400,000 people dead than to give up a few privileges? Also, sometimes on this blog you don't know if someone is being serious or is being sarcastic.
ReplyDeleteYou’re more likely to hit by a stray bullet, slashed by a box cutter, pushed in front of a train or catching COVID, via mass transit, going to or going home from school than catching COVID inside a school that’s overwhelming underpopulated. I believe that can also be statistically proven by anyone who want to shift through the numbers. None of that is verbalized or addressed by anyone, in part because it casts a terrible light on the mismanagement of NYC and every facet of it. That’s a much greater danger for NYC public school teachers than what is or isn’t going on inside schools. Closing the schools mutes the commuting danger and for that reason they should be closed.
ReplyDeletework to prevent what we can. covid can be controlled.. school buildings opening or closing can be controlled.. stray bullets are a separate issue.
DeleteBloomberg: Biden needs to 'stand up' to unions on school reopenings, teachers need to 'suck it up'
ReplyDelete“I have never understood why it is "greed" to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else's money.”
ReplyDelete― Thomas Sowell
Conservative think tank baby Thomas Sowell hates poor people. He is not worth quoting.
Delete“Since this is an era when many people are concerned about 'fairness' and 'social justice,' what is your 'fair share' of what someone else has worked for?”
ReplyDelete― Thomas Sowell
12:22 Laws and rules don't make people care about community. Masks became a control issue when left wing media and democrats like Pelosi made it an issue by harassing Trump and Trump's press secretary about it every fucking day. Reporters literally screamed "wear a mask" as the press secretary left the podium. People stopped wearing masks as a way of telling Bob Acosta and friends to go fuck themselves. I too, who always wear a mask, wanted to burn my mask in front of every mask screaming liberal in mainstream media. If they wanted people to wear masks maybe mainstream media should have found a more persuasive way instead of trying to use mob mentality on those of us who would rather die of covid than obey. But public safety wasn't really their goal in the first place. Stoking the flames of hate was their agenda and it worked. If they all died of covid or were struck by lightning my only thought would be good riddance.
ReplyDeleteaww poor trumpy and his poor poor pwess secwatary. how dare those people yell at them. awww
Deletetheir goals, all the people you named, never align with the needs of the people. they align with wall street interests. big money makn more money. that's all any of them do. turn off all the mainstream media man. all of it. and don't concern yourself with them at all. wear masks for the community at large, nevermind what the press tells you about masks, and don't be sensitive to their yells.
How does one measure the value of what you or anyone else has earned? The market is as rigged as a UFT election. What is it that says Bezos or the Waltons have legitimate earnings but the guy who cleans their offices does not? How we divide up the pie no is so inequitable that it is unsustainable. Blaming the Dems or the almost non existent left is nuts. I would rather be where peope look out for each otber.
ReplyDeleteRigged indeed. Literally fictitious capital.
DeleteThree educators in my (small) Bronx school including myself got Covid-19 last March. Fortunately, we did not have serious cases, but it was a frightening, unpleasant experience. Interestingly, no one has ever officially asked me about my experience, and as far as I know none of our three cases were ever included in any official statistics. I can only assume that this is happening system-wide and therefore represents a means of further downplaying the danger that existed at that time.
ReplyDeleteAs a previous blogger stated, the political narrative is to proclaim that schools are safe while downplaying the fact that there is low attendance in schools, rather than admit there is a relationship with attendance rates and positive case rates. According to Jenning's research, where schools have opened and apparently, following proper safety protocols, cases have increased since reopening in January.
Why is making a political issue more than having people cover a cough or sneeze?ir is a barrier.foolproof?no, but helpful.if not, then we should sneeze and cough all over each other and get covid already.what is so bad about a stinking mask to fight?I compare it to using a hankie to block a sneeze.
ReplyDeleteWhy do people say it is useless?compare it to condom use.useful, yes.perfect. no.should we abandon them as well?I am so sick of it all.i dont know truth from lie.i guess confusion is their ultimate goal.
Hydroxychloroquine is over the counter in many countries and is safe.they just wanted to discredit trump and make Big Pharma billions on using us as Guinea pigs.and pushing minorities to be Guinea pigs is not racial equity.minorities are so affected cuz they tend to live in overcrowded dwellings.whites in overcrowded dwellings are affected.it is those kinds of factors, not race, that swing the stats.blacks in Africa dont die like here.they have hydroxychloroquine like we have aspirin.i got info from America's front line doctors.there is a petition to sign against this discrimination.
Btw, I agree that media is fake news...biased, paid off. Etc.you have to be a critical thinker.dont be a sucker for this wealth transfer.wear the mask, take cautions and be safe.end of story.
Not wearing masks,as stupid and selfish as it may be, is the only way many Americans feel they can respond to the groupthink dems who are canceling the greatness out of American culture. You doubt
ReplyDeletethis? Check out the school system of pelosiland where they are removing the names of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Paul Revere from the public schools
Towns can rename their schools. This is not a big deal. Hopefully they pick people more modern and interesting.
DeleteThe only reason you find Washington, Lincoln and revere uninteresting is because you are ignorant.
ReplyDeletei think the key word there is "more" ...people more modern and interesting.
Deleteand also offer a more modern and interesting critique of these figures, as opposed to just slapping their names on the fronts of buildings.
https://nypost.com/2021/02/03/nyc-schools-teach-blm-agenda-inspired-in-part-by-assata-shakur/
ReplyDeleteMaybe we should name your school after Assata 9:51
Yes we should!
DeleteChina's GDP also grew. And they hit their poverty elimination goals. Meanwhile in the US...
ReplyDeleteFor now on, all public schools should just be named as numbers: such as PS 72, JHS 264, and all high schools too. Unless, people start believing that even numbers relate to Republicans and odd numbers are Democratic.
ReplyDelete3:20 You insulted Thomas Sowell, a black man. You can’t agree with a black man? Can’t recognize that a black man can say intelligent things that make sense? Shame. Shame. Check your white privileged and apologize. Otherwise you need to be cancelled with all the other racists.
ReplyDeleteIdeology is an important piece of identity. Intersectionality, my friend.
DeleteI take my advice from NY hero Andrew Cuomo. I mean he won an Emmy and CNN, the most trusted name in media, loves him and he’s a democrat so I listen. Andrew Cuomo just announced he doesn’t trust the experts. No mask or vaccine for me. Prior to the governor setting me straight I listened to progressives like Mayor Lightfoot and only gathered maskless in large groups to celebrate Biden’s win but now I know I can celebrate maskless in large groups anytime I want because Governor Cuomo is right. The experts can’t be trusted.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that the CoVid-19 spread and deaths in US are about money and power. I do not suggest anyone wait for the governments, school system, or the UFT to do anything to help you.
ReplyDeleteThere are tech companies (google, Amazon, microsoft,facebook, twitter, etc), pharmaceutical companies, media, medical establishments, experts, politicians, all making astronomical profits from the spread and deaths of CoVid-19. Some of these are long term profits and positions of power.
There are numerous inexpensive and/or free prophylaxis protocols for CoVid that have been cancelled or just casually concealed by big tech, big pharm, the media, the experts, politicians, and others.
There are numerous inexpensive successful treatments for CoVid that have been cancelled or just casually concealed by big tech, big pharm, the media, the experts, politicians, and others.
Why not tell Americans the truth and provide what has been proven to be effective in preventing and treating CoVid? because lies, whether outright or lies of omission, make it easy to present an appearance of concern, valiant effort and duty. In reality, big tech, big pharm, the media, the experts, and politicians are enjoying and profiting from the spread and the deaths due to CoVid. The NYC DOE does this, too. They just lie about everything to give the appearance of educating people. The UFT does this, too. They lie about everything to give the appearance of supporting teachers.
There is a book by author Andy Andrews: "How do You Kill 11 Million People?" referring to Hitler in the Holocaust. The answer he found was "lie to them." Hitler was a notorious liar and millions of people believed the lies or just went along with the lies, no questions asked or allowed.
Americans are suffering the same fate when it comes to Covid-19.
Right on. Just look to Cuba. Lots of treatment, medical advances, coming out of that little island to our south that are never mentioned here.
ReplyDeleteNew Pre-Print Study Suggests COVID Reinfection Is Not That Rare
ReplyDeleteby Dr. Max Gomez of WCBS-TV News
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/02/03/covid-reinfection-study
I think a lot of people here have tin foil hats on - last time I checked, not really a trend anymore. Actually, never was.
ReplyDeleteI was more focused on the interesting part. But not sure why modern is necessarily better either.
ReplyDelete@7:25 I see where you are getting at, yet 11-13 million gassed, tortured, gunned down, experimented on is different that 200,000 dying from a virus.
ReplyDeleteMy aunt in cali suvived early in pandemic wqith hydroxy, everyoneeeeee sucking on media lies how dangerous it is, thats bullshit over the counter other countries and would have saved lives. Zinc is another weay to cure, this world is truly sick.
It's amazing the sick stay home and quarantine , this time the healthy need to stay home too. 98-99% chance you survive, the brainwashing and brain reprogramming happening is beyiond scary. Anyone on this blog who thinks Bill gates ir Dr Fauci have your best intererts at heart are the sheep with no critical thinking deep diving skills to see how disgusting they are.
####AOCSMOLLET
Did you even read the original post? New Zealand had COVID-19. They reacted by putting in a hard travel ban, shutting the economy down, subsidizing workers to stay home and crushing COVID-19. 26 deaths there compared to 6,302 in Minnesota with a similar size population. How many more Americans have to die before people get the message that what we have done has not worked? Western Australia is mostly in lockdown for one case. That is how you beat this shit.
ReplyDeleteDoes Jacinda Ardern have her peoples' best interest at heart?
Show me what works and spare me the conspiracy bullshit.
466,000 deaths in the USA. Our response has been a bipartisan failure.
ReplyDeleteI blame the gov't. This is not on the schools. Other countries have this under control. We could've had this under control. But chaos and capitalism are a priority, here.
ReplyDeleteAnon2323 Zinc helps but you need either hcq or quercitin along with it. Ivermectin is becoming more and more promising too. My doctor prescribed it for prophylaxis.
ReplyDeleteI too know someone who recovered with a drug similar to hydroxy... and antibiotics. Unfortunately his family had to go out of state to fill his prescription because Cuomo was playing politics with meds so they couldn't get a NY pharmacist to fill prescription. How does anyone wonder why so many don't trust the "experts." It's because they're not experts. They are bureaucrats with medical degrees who swear by whatever lie their politician master orders them to tell. And 4:01, I'd sooner wear a tinfoil hat than listen to Fauci or any other lying government hack.
ReplyDeleteMaybe, they bend the science to what government leaders want. I would trust the government science people in New Zealand or Taiwan or other successful countries who so far have beaten COVID-19. Do what works and cut the
ReplyDeleteSounds like you may be happier as a citizen of New Zealand. I'm an America First, fuck NZ, type myself.
ReplyDeleteIrony is if Trump put America first by doing a real travel ban and encouraging a national lockdown, we could have beaten this saved lives and he more than likely wins reelection.
ReplyDeleteAgree with you on an early, fast temporary lockdown. Trump blew it. But I don't believe any American president would have done it including Hillary. Biden himself condemned the travel ban. Pelosi in Chinatown. They all blew it. But Trumps gone and now the democrats control DC and NY and yet NY teachers still not getting protected so.... I still stand behind my Trump vote because in the end this is exactly how I thought it would all play out...Trump gone and gone with him are Cuomo calls for keeping schools closed.
ReplyDelete