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Showing posts with label protective face masks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label protective face masks. Show all posts

Saturday, August 8, 2020

Public Health Decisions


Georgia currently has no statewide mask mandate.  The governor, Brian Kemp, as corrupt as they come in regards to science-denial, racist/racism and Trump surrogate, wants the good people of Georgia to make up their own minds about whether or not they need to wear a face mask.
Prior to becoming Georgia's governor, Brian was the Secretary of State there, in charge of voting and little things like denying voting rights and access to ballots to blacks, gerrymandering, and so on.  
So, yeah, he's a real stand-up guy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Some Cases, Such As A Public Health Crisis/Pandemic, You Have To Give Up Some Personal Liberties For The Good Of Everyone.
A national health emergency, such as the current Covid-19 pandemic, needs to be addressed by public health and government officials.  And YES, some of the decisions those groups or individuals make WILL EFFECT the population… such as wearing a protective face covering like a mask, covering the nose and mouth.
When that same government official (governor, deputy governor, assistant governor, and so on) mandates something like a mask, YES, we the people of that state have to abide by those directives.  Again, for public health safety.
So, when a high school principal makes a remark like, “Class changes at the high school level are a challenge when maintaining a specific schedule.  It is an area we are continuing to work on in this new environment to find practicable ways to further limit students from congregating.  Students are in this hallway environment for just a brief period as they move to their next class. … There is no question that the photo does not look good. ... Wearing a mask is a personal choice, and there is no practical way to enforce a mandate to wear them."
Read that last line again, slowly.
Astonishing, right?
NO. You have to GIVE UP that “personal choice” in order to keep yourself and others safe.  Period.  FULL STOP.
There is no personal choice involved here, but there most definitely should be discipline or punishment for not adhering to the state mandates. 
Maybe that’s where a lack of leadership comes in.  Maybe the governor doesn’t believe in science and public health over public safety.  In that case, heck, it’s an easy decision.  Go back to school or lose funding. 
Sure put the lives of these young people at risk.  They’re expendable, right?  You betcha, they are!
Here’s the picture, which clearly shows most of the students not wearing masks or other face coverings.   

Yes, teenagers do have many rights and are afforded many personal choices and liberties, even in a school setting.  They have rights and responsibilities, as well, and among those are being educated in a safe environment.
This is a situation where, try and weasel out of it as they may, the district and school board will be hard pressed to come up with a logical explanation as to how they can 1) Justify suspending a student for pointing out gross negligence on the part of the school and its board members, 2) How not wearing a mask is personal choice and not a requirement.  (Not to mention, appropriate social distancing.), and 3) How this is not a public health emergency situation.
We've seen time and again as businesses reopen after months of closures, that because this is so important to them and they desperately want to get it right, many are going above and beyond state guidelines and mandates to protect not only their staffs but their potential customers as well. 

They need to be thanked graciously and applauded for their efforts.
Schools, as we've seen,  have to go above and beyond.  
Our children's lives are on the line.

Saturday, May 16, 2020

New "Normal"

NO.  
This is NOT the new "normal" as many in government (President, Vice President, some Senators, and some members on the House) are saying. 
NO. There is nothing normal about wearing a protective mask anywhere in the world because of a pandemic environment. 
And do NOT get "used to this", either. 

Normal, what many are suggesting, is when the ONLY masks children should be wearing are these:

And NEVER these:


NO.  Don't throw your babies onto a live grenade, and absolutely DO NOT listen to Donald Trump in regards to opening schools, especially grade schools in the fall of 2020.

Now, it the question you're asking is, "Will my child be safe in school?"  That's an easy one. Yes, schools are safe for young children.  

The better, more appropriate question is, "Will my child be in harm's way of contracting  coronavirus?"   Again, that's easy -- a resounding YES.  Think about it. 

What does it say about someone, anyone even suggesting putting 25 to 30 little kids, young children into an enclosed space, no face masks, and insisting that schools reopen?  

Seriously.  What is wrong with people who even suggest that? 

It's rhetorical, but, the short answer... there's a few screws loose upstairs.

Trump's letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about how he is "exercising my power as President to remove... Inspector General of the Department of State."  Just because he can, doesn't mean he SHOULD. (He's exercising.  Who woulda thought?)   
Oh, and one last thing.  When we have a President who doesn't fire Inspectors General just because he can, when we have a Cabinet in the Executive Branch AND Attorney General who AREN'T LOYAL to the President but rather follow the rule of law and The Constitution, and a Congress (both the House and Senate) that HOLD THE PRESIDENT ACCOUNTABLE for 100% of his/her actions, then will be be approaching normal.