WHO’S THE IDIOT WITHOUT A MASK ON?

What does everyone in this video know that VP Mike Pence doesn’t? Well, nothing. Prior to his visit to the Mayo Clinic, the clinic let his staff know that they have a mandatory policy that everyone needs to wear a mask. Pence declined to wear one. And Pence is the Administration lead for the pandemic response!

(Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/28/us/coronavirus-updates.html?referringSource=article)

According to the article:

During the tour, Stephen Hahn, the Food and Drug Administration commissioner, and other administration officials wore masks; all employees around Mr. Pence were wearing face masks, and a patient wore a mask. Mr. Pence stood out as the only person with his face uncovered as he toured the virology laboratory’s labeling area, thanking employees and then participating in a round table with local officials and Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.

After the visit, the Mayo Clinic tweeted that it had “informed @VP of the masking policy prior to his arrival today.” The clinic then deleted the tweet.

Mr. Pence defended his own behavior. “As vice president of the United States, I’m tested for the coronavirus on a regular basis, and everyone who is around me is tested for the coronavirus,” he told reporters.

He said he was following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that indicated that masks were good for preventing the spread of the virus by those who had it.

Public health experts said his argument for not wearing a mask in public settings was faulty.

Vice President Pence was demonstrating, once again, that the White House policy for the coronavirus pandemic is to say, as well as do, the things that health experts warn should not be said or done. In other words, as Trump has basically demonstrated since the beginning of this crisis, this thing is not a big deal, we don’t really need to take it seriously, everything will be fine, blah-blah-blah-blah.

Meanwhile, in the United States as of today, at least 1,008,000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed, and 57,966 Americans have died of the disease. 

Thank you, Vice President Pence, for directly contributing to so many illnesses and deaths! I’ll bet you don’t even wash your hands. Well, the American people can’t wait to wash our hands of you and your boss! 

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IT IS TRULY TIME TO TEAR THIS F**KER DOWN!!

First: peruse this:The Tax-Break Bonanza Inside the Economic Rescue Package https://nyti.ms/2VzfL4X

As small businesses and individuals struggle to obtain federal aid, the wealthiest are poised to reap tens of billions of dollars in tax savings.

Does it surprise you? Of course not, it is the proverbial "business as usual" in the United States of America. No matter how outraged I get, I just can't get outraged enough! Every. Single. Day.

How does this end? A dystopian world of the very. very wealthy few and the very, very poor many? Oh, that's right, we already live there! It's called America.

Trump is not, contrary to popular belief on the left, the problem. Trump is the symptom, the messenger, the open, running, oozing sore that we were always too repulsed to look at but that we now have become oblivious to. Trump is the buffoon, puppet string-pulled by the super rich and the big corporations that don't really give a rat's crap about anyone who isn't them. Did you know that the wealthiest neighborhoods in Manhattan are ghost towns because all the rich folk have moved to their country homes, or yachts, or French Riviera villas, or...anywhere but where there are sick and dying people in the lower classes?

Yeah, I know, there are some very wealthy folks who are trying to do good things - they are the ones we know, not the ones we don't know.

And so here we are, in the midst of a pandemic that has killed 196,000 people and counting in the world, including 51,192 dead in the USA - as of today. Congress is scrambling to keep pace with this disaster by passing relief bills as fast as they can. Notice I said "keep pace," they are actually running behind the pandemic curve, but not catching up to it. Piecemeal relief, instead of a comprehensive package that looks forward as well as at the present/past.

And the very wealthy and their corporations? Special provisions in these relief bills to shovel even more of our money to them! Shameful is a very mild word. Criminal is getting better. Reprehensible - maybe there isn't a word strong enough to describe these bloated blood-sucking leeches.

America - wake the eff up, stop scrolling through Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, and get pissed. And do something. Number 1, do not re-elect Donald Effing Trump. Number 2, tell Joe Biden and every Democratic politician you can that enough is enough. It stops here; it stops now. Change it. We demand it.

I'm finished.

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LESSONS WE NEED TO LEARN FROM THE PANDEMIC OF 2020

I truly hope that, once this pandemic is behind us and we are trying to return to some sense of normalcy, that we and our elected officials pause to think about what we've learned in this trial by fire. The lessons are many. Here are just a few:

• every person in the United States should have health care, without having to worry about how to pay for it; 
• every working person should receive a living wage, paid sick leave, affordable child care, and paid vacation;
• ​every person in America should live in a clean environment, including air and water - think about what cities look like during the pandemic;
• ​the United States should have a modern, efficient and fast system of commuter and long-distance rail service in and between urban areas, and also serving rural communities;
• ​the fossil fuel economy must end and be replaced by one based on sustainable energy sources;
• the wealth gap in America needs to be drastically narrowed and the standard of living raised for all Americans
• a college education would be available for free, or affordable, and existing student debt  should be cancelled;
• the United States should have a reasonable and comprehensive immigration program, and undocumented people now in the country, as well as the "Dreamers," should have a clear path to citizenship.

And more....

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THE 50TH EARTH DAY

It has been 50 years today since the first Earth Day; are environmental conditions better now?  

That's me, above, 50 years ago on the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970. The location was the relatively new* University of California campus at Irvine (UCI). (Note: if you watch the first Planet of the Apes movie, you will recognize the building in the background.) I was standing next to Trashman, a sculpture my wife, Sherry, and I (maybe others) made out of, you guessed it, trash.

Sherry and I were co-chairs of the UCI Environmental Teach-In Committee that organized and facilitated the first Earth Day, on the UCI campus. We were graduate students; I was in the Population and Environmental Biology program, working on a Ph.D. that I didn't complete (I got as far as being advanced to Candidacy, then got derailed by the anti-war movement - more on that another time).

I still have a copy of the UCI Earth Day program listing the events and participants in multiple panel discussions, presentations, break-out sessions and speeches.  Here is a list of those events:

Panels:
Land Use and Development: Functions and Priorities
Water
Air
Workshop Discussion Groups:
Population
Newport Bay
Pollution Strategy
What Is A Scenic Coast Freeway?
Films:
Project Survival
The San Joaquin Marsh - A Recent Acquisition of the University of California
- keynote address: Environment and the Total Society. Congressman George Brown, Jr.
- Nature Sensitivity Awareness Sessions
- exhibits

As evidenced above, the big environmental concerns of the day were air and water quality, urban development, and human population growth. A few local issues were also included. We did not imagine then that 50 years in the future we would be facing the global crisis of human-induced climate change; or did we? Looking back, we were envisioning the future, but without the terminology of the 21st century. After all, what were the outcomes of unbridled air and water pollution, urban growth and development, and human population growth? An altered climate, among other results. Did we imagine a half-century ago that human activities could actually alter the climate in ways that would change everything? Some forward-thinkers must have; most of us probably not.

Earth Day solidified the burgeoning environmental movement of the 1960's and moved it forward. Great strides were made in environmental regulation, and the United States became a global leader in environmental protection. A new industry developed, the environmental industry, in which I built a career as a consulting ecologist. Air and water quality improved overall, greater amounts of fish and wildlife habitat were protected and conserved, the Endangered Species Act placed protections on plant and animal species that were at risk of disappearing. And yet...and yet.

Here we are, in the year 2020, witnessing dramatic climatic events wreak havoc around the world; events linked to the enormous levels of carbon compound emissions to the atmosphere from human activity. It is ironic that fossil fuels, formed from the remains of plants over millions of years, have become the thing that now threatens human populations. These fuels are the foundation of most human societies on Earth; every aspect of modern societies is intimately connected to fossil fuels.

Could human societies have developed and modernized without fossil fuels? I don't see how. Could we have recognized earlier that our fossil fuel use trajectory was going to result in climate change, and find ways to avoid the crisis in which we now find ourselves? Yes, most certainly; in fact, there have been scientists and others ringing alarm bells for many decades. So why didn't we heed these warnings?

It is truly amazing that, even as the reality of climate change became widely recognized over the past decade or more, we (human societies) have found new ways to extract even more fossil fuels from underground and under sea, and actually increase the carbon loading to the atmosphere. Yes, the efforts to reduce emissions have grown considerably, with governments signing climate accords, setting goals for reduced emissions, the energy sector rapidly increasing the proportion of wind, solar and other alternative energy sources. And yet...and yet.

Turn on the television and watch for awhile How many advertisements do you see for electric vehicles (EVs)? How many do you see for large SUV's and big pickup trucks? People who notice things have noted that there were 3 ads for EVs during the last Super Bowl, an amazing thing. True; however, the ads were for the EV Hummer, EV Porsche sports car, and the EV Audi - all very expensive big or fast vehicles (and they were advertised that way). When will we see ads for regular vehicles that are electric, with the point of the ad being that it is good for the environment and public health, and besides, why do you need a very fast car or monster pickup truck? Yes, I've seen a few of those ads, but they are rare.

I am encouraged by the new environmentalism of the younger generations. Our environmentalism in the 1970's was, to a great extent, born out of understanding new concepts, based on the fairly young science of ecology, and a growing realization that human societies were doing things that would not turn out well. The environmentalism of youth in the year 2020 is born more out of anger and fear; anger at those in charge who let it get to this point (capitalists, politicians, etc.), and fear of a future world so dreadful that many young people do not want to bring children into it. One result of this new environmentalism is policy proposals such as the Green New Deal, and that is positive.

I've saved Trump for the end of this post. Trump, in my view, is a symptom, not the problem. He and his enablers have wrought great havoc on the world, including the environment. These selfish people deny science, deny climate change, scale back environmental regulation, maximize profit for industry, including fossil fuel companies, and do everything that is counter-productive for reducing environmental risk. They will be directly responsible for many millions of deaths, and a future of more human suffering. They are, in my view, criminals. And yet...and yet.

The Earth is not in peril, and climate change is not an existential threat to the human species. The planet will be just fine, thank you, no matter what. And humans will be around for a long time. The climate will be different, resulting in changes to human activities, as well as plant and animal species. Human populations will move around based on rising sea levels and changing weather patterns. These will very likely be huge disruptions of human societies, and future wars based on access to water or farmland; but the human species will adapt and survive. These words are not meant to be comforting; they are not, especially for my grandchildren and the generations after theirs. We humans have made choices throughout our history, and we always have to live with the results.

And so, to the question: are environmental conditions better today than 50 years ago? Was/is Earth Day meaningful? I look up from my computer, sitting in our kitchen on day 43 of sheltering at home during the novel coronavirus pandemic of 2020. I am amazed that 50 years have passed - a half century!! - since we so optimistically planned and participated in thousands of teach-ins called Earth Day. I have to say that, in my humble opinion, the present and future impacts of global climate change vastly outweigh many, if not most of the environmental advances made over the past 50 years. To a large degree, things like air and water quality and urban development can be worked on at more local or regional scales with measurable results, and many good things have been accomplished. But climate change is in a different ball park, the entire planet, and the solutions have to be at a planetary scale. Time will tell, and there is almost no time left before we pass the tipping points (some think we are already beyond those). I am not very hopeful, but I'm trying to be.

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* The UCI campus was dedicated in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

DONALD TRUMP IS A MASS MURDERER (AND SO ARE HIS ENABLERS)

I have written many things over the years of this blog; some serious, some humorous, many sarcastic or cynical. It's been OK, because few people read this thing. But sometimes I wish lots of people read my blog.

I usually, mostly, think about the words I use here. For this post, I considered words very carefully. I decided that the words in my title are good words, and truthful words; Donald Trump is a mass murderer.

The novel coronavirus that causes the illness labeled COVID-19 is a serious and dangerous disease. Donald Trump and some of his enablers (Rush Limbaugh comes to mind) have said that the COVID-19 coronavirus is just like the annual, seasonal flu, and no big deal. Trump said initially that the coronavirus is a big hoax perpetrated by the Chinese and supported by the Democrats. Wrong. The seasonal flu has a lethality rate of under 1%; COVID-19 has a lethality rate of somewhere between 2% and 5% (the determination is difficult), and that is a huge difference. The U.S. has, as of today, more than 24,000 confirmed new cases per day, and more than 2,000 deaths per day. To date, there have been almost 800,000 confirmed cases in the U.S., and almost 42,000 deaths.

Donald Trump did not cause the coronavirus pandemic, but a great many of his actions, inactions and comments have resulted in the U.S. response to the pandemic being greatly delayed and seriously flawed. Here is a good article documenting my conclusion. Trump has politicized the federal government response to the pandemic; he has also failed to provide the leadership and resources needed to minimize the pandemic effect. Trump likes to tout the United States as being Number One. Well, we are number one in the world in the number of COVID-19 cases and the number of COVID-19 deaths. The best responses in the U.S. to the pandemic are at the state level, with a number of governors providing the kind of leadership and resources needed, in spite of federal efforts to undermine them.

As if the above isn't bad enough, the past few days have seen demonstrations in several states against the "shelter at home" and business closing orders. These demonstrations have been organized by conservative right-wing groups that have ties to the Trump campaign, and are taking place in states with Democratic governors. In addition to carrying signs about the social distancing orders, the demonstrators carry signs and wear hats for the Trump presidential campaign, some carry guns and 2nd amendment signs. In other words, these are political campaign demonstrations by Trump supporters. Tragically, most of these demonstrators do not wear masks or maintain a safe distance from each other, with the certain result that the coronavirus is being spread through the crowds and is then carried back into the communities where these idiots live.

Trump not only supports these demonstrations, he encourages them on Twitter, on Fox News, and in his daily statements. "LIBERATE MINNESOTA" he tweets."LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!" The tweet about Virginia was interpreted by extremists as a call to arms! 

It is neither "fake news" nor hyperbole to state that Donald Trump is directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans by COVID-19. And so are his many enablers, from Republicans in Congress to hosts on Fox News to the people who throng to these dangerous demonstrations. Trump is an extremely dangerous madman who needs to be removed from office as soon as possible. Unfortunately, our best chance to remove him will be the 2020 elections, and he will continue to murder people and cause other great harms to America and the world until then. 

I mourn the victims of Trump's evil. 

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WHEN LEADERS FAIL US

There are many, many lessons to be learned from the coronavirus pandemic of 2019-2020. It remains to be seen if any of these will actually be learned in meaningful ways. I am not optimistic.

Primary among these lessons is that of leadership, specifically when it fails. The United States has a President who has demonstrated time and again over the past three years that his leadership leaves much to be desired. No, this post is not just about Donald Trump; so much has already been said and written about him that repetition would be wasteful here.  However, the major point regarding Donald Trump is that, in this time of a national and global crisis, he has not just failed as a leader, but failed spectacularly. Trump is uninterested and incapable of being the leader needed in a time of crisis. His basic message is "you are on your own, stop whining, and I'm upset because you don't appreciate me. And how am I going to profit from this?"

We are witnessing other leaders failing spectacularly. A large number of governors waited too long before ordering people to stay home and socially distance. Some of them have yet to fully implement these pandemic mitigation measures, and some have even overruled preventive measures implemented by local governments in their states. 

These spectacular failures of leadership are not just notable, they are responsible for people dying. They are, in my opinion, criminal acts perpetrated by men in positions of power. How many COVID-19 deaths in the United States would have been prevented had these men stepped up and provided the leadership needed to slow the pandemic, equip front-line medical workers with the tools and equipment needed, inspired people to do the right thing, and put in place mandatory rules applicable nationwide? This is a number that could be estimated, and it would be a very large number.

Leadership is both an innate personality quality as well as a learned skill. To lead means to inspire others to follow; in other words, a leader cannot be a single person without followers. And the direction being lead towards is important; there have been many leaders in history who have led their followers towards darkness and evil. As followers, we have choices; who do we choose to follow?

Our system of electing political leaders often results in the election of people into leadership positions who are not the leaders we need. Trump is a prime example of this. And once in power, ineffective leaders like Trump put people into lower positions of leadership who are not good leaders, and who do not threaten the poor leadership of the top dog. This might all seem fine for awhile, until a crisis strikes and the extent and dangers of poor leadership are exposed. The coronavirus pandemic we are now in is such a crisis. 

I truly hope the majority of Americans understands the lessons to be learned from this pandemic once it is behind us. I hope Americans understand the spectacular failure of leadership exhibited by Donald Trump, a number of governors, some federal agency directors and others. And I hope Americans use this understanding to make decisions at the ballot box (or the virtual ballot box). As I said at the beginning, I am not hopeful. I hope I'll be surprised.

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A STARTUP IDEA

There is Instagram.
There is Instacart.
I hope to soon start a new company that will deliver big reptiles that live in swamps:

INSTAGATOR

for people who want to start something

(obviously, I have a lot of time on my hands....)