Posts Tagged ‘covid19’

Governor Baker has jumped the totalitarian shark

Posted: August 27, 2020 by Jon Fournier in Uncategorized
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This past week Governor Charlie Baker, the esteemed Republican governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, ventured further along the road to totalitarianism than any other governor during the Coronavirus pandemic.  This article contains the gist of his latest and most outrageous proposal.

Gov. Charlie Baker says that the new flu vaccine requirement for Massachusetts students is aimed at trying to keep hospitalizations down this fall and winter as the coronavirus pandemic persists. The Department of Public Health announced Wednesday that all students in the state will be required to get the flu vaccine by Dec. 31.

The new mandate affects all children 6 months or older in Massachusetts child care, pre-school, kindergarten, K-12, and colleges and universities.

When Governor Baker made this proposal public I don’t believe he had any idea the outrage it would generate on social media.  The amount of outrage it did generate was spectacular, even among those who blindly accepted all of his other overbearing Coronavirus decrees.

With his flu vaccine mandate Governor Baker is intruding rather forcefully into two  sacred and intimate relationships.   Parents alone should determine if their children should be vaccinated.  Governor Baker is absolutely trampling on the parental rights of every single parent in the State of Massachusetts.  That fact is at the very heart of the outrage that swept across this state. 

Governor Baker is also sticking his nose into the sacred relationship between doctors and patients.   That has also led to a lot of outrage.  Government at no level has a right to intrude into that relationship just like it has no right to intrude into the child parent relationship.

With this one addition to his flu vaccine mandate Governor Baker did not descend into absolute totalitarianism:

Exemptions will be made for medical or religious reasons, the state said. Homeschooled students and college students who are completely off campus and only learning remotely are also exempted.

According to the article 81 percent of students got the flu vaccine last year.  With that high rate already why is the mandate even necessary?  I believe the mandate will actually lead to fewer students getting the flu shot.  Government forcing someone to do something is a great way to make sure a sizable percent of individuals do not do that something even though it is in their best interest.

For the second month in a row Massachusetts has the highest unemployment rate.  That is thanks to Governor Baker’s disastrous business lockdowns.  Business owners are losing enormous amounts of money because they cannot open their doors.  So many business will never open their doors again.  All of this is unnecessary, About 200 individuals a day are discovered to be infected with the Coronavirus.  That is only because about 10,000 a day are being tested.  Deaths and hospitalizations are way down.

Report from Louisiana: Week One – Done

Posted: August 24, 2020 by Pat Austin in Uncategorized
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By:  Pat Austin

SHREVEPORT – Schools across the country are opening up, some all virtual, some all in-person, and some a hybrid mix A/B schedule. School districts are making decisions about transparency and how much information to share with the public with regard to Covid exposures and outbreaks. These policies differ from district to district.

When making decisions about exposure transparency several factors seem to be at play. First to consider is patient privacy, of course. Some districts are interested in image and in containing community panic. Others are wide open and are making weekly disclosure announcements.

In exploring this same topic last week, The New York Times spoke with Dr. Ashish Jha, of the Harvard Global Health Institute, who said “If schools don’t notify, it actually can make disease control more difficult. And it’s not like no one will know. Word will get out through a rumor mill. You don’t scare people by telling them what’s going on. You scare them by hiding information.”

Personally, I think communities should be informed, but I do see the problem if it is a very small community where patient identity would be obvious.

Most districts are choosing to notify only close contacts who might need to quarantine, and the rumor mill is taking care of the rest. This is a poor system.

I teach high school, and we had four days of inservice and training of the new programs that will support virtual learning, and then we had students for two days so far on an A/B hybrid schedule. We get half of our students on an A day and the other half on the B day, then they alternate Fridays.  This is my twenty-fifth year to teach high school, and it was the first year that I felt sad at the end of the day. There were no hugs, no high-fives, and no smiles that I could see because everyone was wearing a mask.

Many people were so anxious for schools to open so we could “get back to normal,” but let me tell you, this is in no way normal. When the bus drops kids off they go straight to a homeroom, or to the cafeteria to pick up a grab and go breakfast in a big Ziploc bag, then they go to homeroom. Everyone sits in homeroom until the first bell at 7:25. We are six feet apart, and there are no more than ten kids in any classroom at one time.

Same procedure for lunch.  The kids never go outside, and can’t let loose and relax much at lunch, because they are sitting six feet apart in a desk.

This is not normal.

Classes aren’t even normal. There are no group projects – we have to sit in straight rows all facing the front. Some elementary teachers have spent their own money to build plexiglass partitions and cubicles for students to avoid the rows.

The halls are quiet because you can’t stop and socialize – six feet apart.

It’s just very surreal and dystopian and it made me sad.

My colleagues and I are trying as hard as we can to find solutions, to break the monotony, to be engaging. To make them laugh, to feel safe, to feel welcome.

But this is not normal school. It still is better than 100% virtual for some students, that is certain. There is still bound to be a little bit of social stimulation here.

But outbreaks and exposures are already happening. I personally know of several in quarantine after only two days. I take precautions – I’ve bought a HEPA air purifier for my classroom (out of my own pocket.) We wipe down Chromebooks between each student, and desks, all day long. At the end of the day the custodians come in with foggers to kill any lingering virus. We have to exit our classrooms right after the students leave, so no more long afternoons at my desk catching up on grading. When I come home, I leave my shoes outside, change and shower immediately. The clothes go straight into the washer.

Meanwhile, a large part of the general public tells us teachers to quit whining, that grocery clerks, medical personnel, and other frontline workers have been working since March. Suck it up. I’m in my classroom from 9:05 – 2:15 with kids, with no personal break. None. I’m eating breakfast and lunch with them. (First block is my planning block, so after breakfast in have 90 minutes to take care of things prepping for the day). Cleaning. Sanitizing. Worrying – did I miss something?

I’m already exhausted, and I can’t imagine how my kids feel.

And if that’s not enough on anyone’s plate, here in Louisiana we have two hurricanes rolling in this week. TWO. IN THE SAME WEEK.

 I mean, really. Stop, already.

I’m not having a pity party, I promise. I love my job, and I love my school and my students, but I worry – this is not normal school. And if parents thought that’s what they were getting, it’s just not. Basically, they are getting virtual school, in person.  And they may or may not be notified if there is an exposure in their child’s school.

Even with all that, the kids really do seem happy to be back! And I’ll do everything in my power to keep it that way.

Pat Austin blogs at And So it Goes in Shreveport and is the author of Cane River Bohemia: Cammie Henry and her Circle at Melrose Plantation. Follow her on Instagram @patbecker25 and Twitter @paustin110.

Everything fun has been canceled and it’s getting everyone down

Posted: August 20, 2020 by Jon Fournier in Uncategorized
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Normally summers are packed full of fun events for me, so much so that I rarely have a free weekend between the beginning of June and the end of September.  This year has been the exact opposite, every event I usually attend except for one was canceled, and that was the Ham Radio Field Day event I organized. 

Two of the biggest events I attend every year are agricultural fairs. One is in Brooklyn Connecticut and the other one is in Woodstock Connecticut.  This year they were cancelled along with just about every fair.  I won’t get to pig out on fried dough, sausage grinders, giant donuts, and so much more.  Usually the Woodstock Fair has great concerts, horse pulls, midway rides, and so much more I usually enjoy.  Not this year.  So many people are going to miss out on so much fun, which they really need.  So many local businesses and traveling vendors rely on the fairs for so much yearly income.  They will sorely miss all of that income.  Even the Big E has been cancelled.

Every since I was four years old my family and I belonged to a fife and drum corp.  All summer long we would travel around southern New England attending fife and drum musters.   If you have never attended one I highly recommend doing to. It is a truly enjoyable way to experience history and a lot of great music.  This year all of the musters have been canceled.  They usually draw many hundreds, if not thousands, of spectators along with many dozens of fife and drum corps.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims landing in Plymouth.  I was looking forward to attending all of the festivities starting with the Mayflower sailing from Mystic Seaport up until the last event.  All of this has been scaled back or cancelled completely.  I was planning on taking bus trips to the events since I live so far away and traffic would have been a nightmare because of the crowds.  All of the bus trips have been cancelled.

These cancellations are not just affecting me,  they are affecting all of my neighbors, just about everyone in this country, and all across the globe.  These cancellations are having a very negative impact on my frame of mind.  They are really getting me down.  I know I am far from alone.  We all need fun events, especially if they are so much fun we look forward to them all year round.  These events are not cancelled because of the Coronavirus pandemic.  They are being cancelled because of government over reaction to the Coronavirus and by media coverage of the pandemic that has crossed over to hysteria,  How much longer the cancellations will go on is unknown.  Most likely they will go on until we stand up and say enough.

Governor Charlie Baker is placing all of his state under double secret probation

Posted: August 13, 2020 by Jon Fournier in Uncategorized
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After a very modest and short lived increase in the number of Coronavirus cases in the state of Massachusetts, Governor Baker took a hissie fit.  He held a press conference where he harangued all of us for our bad behavior and announced that he is putting an indefinite halt to his painfully slow reopening process.  We are now stuck at part 1 of phase 3 of his plan and will not move on to part 2 of phase 3 until he gives it his personal approval.  In the mean time, thanks to his so expertly crafted reopening plan, Massachusetts is stuck with the nation’s highest unemployment rate. 

This WHDH News article discusses a very troubling new wrinkle to Governor Baker’s  Coronovirus response plans, a wrinkle that totalitarian dictators have used a great many times.  Our law enforcement agencies will now monitor us to make sure our behavior meets the standards of conduct laid down by our imperious leader, the great and terrible Governor Baker.

Baker also announced the formation of a an enforcement and intervention team, which will be tasked with ramping up enforcement in key communities and evaluating rising trends such as new positive cases and the percentage of positive tests.

Public safety officials, including state and local law enforcement, now have the jurisdiction to enforce safety orders and crack down on events hosted in violation of the orders, according to Baker.

“These teams will coordinate an increased enforcement effort across the state to assure businesses and residents are aware of and are following the COVID-19 orders,” Baker said. “By authorizing state and local police to enforce these orders, we can not only increase the number of people who will be out there to enforce these measures but also ensure that are penalties for those who refuse to make the adjustments that so many people in Massachusetts have made and continue to make.

Those who fail to comply with the orders will be subject to fines or cease and desist orders

Taking another page from totalitarian leaders Governor Baker announced  travel ban

Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday announced a new order mandating a 14-day quarantine for anyone who travels into Massachusetts from a high-risk state in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Beginning on Aug. 1, high-risk travelers who come into the Bay State will need to quarantine for 14 days or produce a negative coronavirus test, according to Baker.

Our right to travel where ever we wish to is one of our most important rights, interfering with it is a major injustice.  Living our lives free of government snooping and government interference has always been something that sets the citizens of the US apart from the citizens of totalitarian nations.  That has all changed with this Coronavirus pandemic thanks to terrible governors such as Charlie Baker.  I am shocked and saddened at all of the people in my state who blindly submit to this type of injustice.

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