COVID 19 Mask of Silence

Some Healthcare Workers are Tarnishing their Medals

Ever since this pandemic was recognized all those who cared for patients from picking them up in an ambulance through checking them out of a hospital - hopefully alive - and everyone in between have been rightly lauded as heroes. This also includes those working in other types of care facilities also.

Now we are finding out that some of these individuals who are in daily contact with patients are not receiving their shots. They are actually refusing.

In the beginning when supplies of masks and other types of PPE were in short supply, these people were rightly number one in the queue. They often went for days with little sleep and seldom saw their loved ones. They have all seen their share of Covid19 deaths.

I was shocked when I heard that some were choosing not to be vaccinated. Last year we heard many of them appealing to the public to wear masks, properly wash their hands, and stay home if possible. So how can anyone in these positions now justify not getting vaccinated? Seriously? Do those few guilty parties still intend to deal with patients on a daily basis when they KNOW they could kill them, the patients' loved ones, or their own?

C'mon guys! This is not acceptable. If anyone should know the importance of these vaccinations it is YOU. Anyone of the guilty here loses their hero status in my books - and probably their job. This is like a police officer who distributes drugs or robs banks.

What a horrible example to set for others. It is a great thing to risk your lives every day to save ours but not to risk ours when you know better.

#thebrewsterblock

Patron or Draft Dodger?

 Would You Report if Conscripted Today? 

There is no conscription today in my country (Canada) or America - at present. I am fortunate that as a baby boomer I missed the mandatory calling to go to war. Millions of citizens around the world were not so fortunate decades ago.

You either responded or were a draft dodger or "conscientious objector." Some said coward. As the world knows hundreds of thousands of soldiers never returned and I am not just talking about Americans. Many, many more returned only to have to live with serious injuries - both physically and mentally.

Would people respond again today? It is unlikely to happen but certainly could. If the answer is yes, then I make only one point which I have made before. You would be responding to a call from your government to possibly lose your life for the sake of your fellow citizens and their future. The highest praise to you! 

Please tell me. Why is the request, or if it comes to it the order to get vaccinated for the sake of your fellow citizens any different? I just realized an irony here. Those wars were caused by somebody TAKING the first shot. This one - and it is a war - is caused by people NOT taking a shot!

If you are not willing to get two or more little jabs in the arm when the government calls then I suspect we would lose the next war and be overrun. Surely those same people who refuse to get the shot would all be draft dodgers for the same reason - governments can't tell them what to do.

For countries whose citizens are willing to go off to war we would be a pushover without a functional military. Yes it would quickly go nuclear but that is missing the point.

So PLEASE get the shot so you don't kill someone else even if you think you will survive yourself. 

That is not a command or a law - we are simply appealing to you if that makes a difference. Just go to the nearest centre or pharmacy with your tattoos in your Volkswagen van with the flowers on it and be vaccinated.

There are plenty of other useless things to protest if you must that do not affect the rest of us.

#thebrewsterblock

Trump 2024

Is 2024 just 1984 forty years later?

I never read the book "1984" by George Orwell but now I will. I have always heard about it and the term "Big brother is watching you!" I would say that some of Trump's more elite followers are trying to create the society depicted in the book. To get a flavor, just read its Wikipedia article - scary stuff.

I doubt if the Donald is capable of getting through an entire book of this volume but he appears to be modelling himself after some of its characters (someone must have counselled him). I have mentioned before, I think he is also a Joe McCarthy wannabe. Also remember that "Make America Great Again" was touted by Reagan long before Trump echoed it. He did author The Big Lie but I doubt much else.

What is alarming to me is just how far right the GOP has now swung. Some will point out that many Democrats have shifted very much to the left - also true. I believe however that the balance of violent behavior is coming from the right. As evidence one only has to look at the events on January 6th. It was not leftists or Democrats calling for Pence to be hanged and Pelosi to be shot or otherwise hurt, it was flag-carrying Trumpers. Remember that this was their own Republican Vice President.

Trump didn't just throw his own Vice President under the bus, he was willing to watch them march Pence up the stairs to the gallows and probably do nothing as he dropped through the floor! Look at the events this week-end, September 18. Trump is once again trying to fire up his people in defense of those who built those gallows and stormed the Capital.

The American Dream has become a nightmare. It is all but dead. To me the only way to salvage some of what America used to be is to have the bravest of the brave on the right form a new Republican party. It will have to totally redefine what it stands for. I recently heard a recording of Governor Reagan talking to Nixon years ago and referring to black Africans as monkeys! It needs someone brave enough to inspire a new following the way Trump or Trumpism did for his base. For sure conservative ideals must be a part of it but NOT violence. 

It also has to recognize that America is simply not going to be predominantly white anymore. That does not kill the dream - it just changes it. It will not only save America but prove to the world just how resilient this unique country is.

Please step up to the microphone Liz Cheney, or Mitt Romney, or a former General. Imagine how powerful it would be if such a man/woman did step up and win the Presidency with a partner of a different race.

If the country was capable of electing and tolerating Mr. and Mrs Trump for four years, it's not a big stretch!

#thebrewsterblock

FBI and Co. GUILTY in Nasser Probe

Somebody has to pay for those female athletes' abuse!

This Senate hearing into the abuse of young female athletes at the Olympic level and elsewhere was flawed before it began.

You could not help but feel for and admire the four athletes who spoke to the Senate hearings on behalf of many, many other girls. It is a travesty that so many responsible people in the FBI and Olympic groups ignored them. Somebody other than the girls must pay.

The problem I see with the Senate Hearing is that the optics were bad from the start. Why on earth are women not controlling these hearings? How can we say we understand when the athletes ended up facing a bunch of old men who look like they wouldn't understand sexual abuse if they tripped over it? These men were older than the victims' grandfathers. When most of them were as young as the girls, touching, kissing, feeling and ignoring such pleas were par for the course. The poor women had a large handicap before they even got up onto the tee. Who wants to lay it all out there for their Grandfather?

They should have been speaking first and foremost to other women. Nasser should have been behind bars after the first complaints - years ago. Those in the FBI and other organizations who ignored things, told the girls to keep quiet, or simply kept stalling must be punished.

Two additional things come to mind. Today in the realm Trumpism and the pandemic, we keep hearing people that sound completely zingy talking about demonic celebrities who are trying to capture and consume our children in some satanic ritual. This gives those dingbats ammunition to say - "See! We told you they are out there!" The authorities including the FBI are accessories in this matter.

Secondly, what I did not hear about was how on earth Nasser was ever hired or put into his position without appropriate screening. Surely anybody who is in constant contact - physically - with attractive and fit young women - too timid to scream as loudly as adult women might - must be screened at a much higher standard before being hired or appointed. This same standard by the way has to be applied to any of the so-called "support" groups and individuals to whom the girls are referred for treatment. Otherwise you could be rescuing these girls from the wolf and tossing them to a jackal. 

Those who ignored the complaints or covered them up must suffer severe penalties, because they deserve it and to set a precedent for others.

These are brave women who will forever be remembered. Sadly it is another broken cog in the already flawed American justice system. Let me guess: some people will say that the solution is to arm young female athletes with pistols so they can defend themselves in the future. The second amendment solves another problem!

#thebrewsterblock

Can Biden be a True War Time President?

More World Problems to Solve

On August 7th I wrote a piece "Problems for the World to Solve" - together. Read that one if you have not. This is a continuation.

The prime reason for our runaway environmental problems including the melting of the ice caps, fires, and super storms is that the world's leaders, both political and business, have ignored them - just kicked them down the road for the next generation. In fact this is primarily business leaders because they usually control the politicians.

Why do they stall? It is simple. Super, super rich people - the one percent - who live so lavish lifestyles we can't even imagine them, are by and large selfish. Not all are but most. Do auto executives really want to get rid of petroleum powered cars? Do oil execs want them to ? Do bank execs really want to teach people not to use credit to buy things they want rather than need? Do politicians really want to make the ultra rich corporations and their execs pay their share of taxes when those same entities finance political campaigns?

What individual really needs to be a billionaire let alone a multi-billionaire?

Let's go back to the title. Trump claimed to be a War Time President. Really? His administration did finally get industry to ramp up production of things we vitally needed to battle COVID. Good for him and those businesses. For the sake of our future, don't stop now.

In conventional wartimes Presidents and Prime Ministers - even dictators - got big industry to do some amazing things. Plants were halted and converted into making planes, tanks, and munitions. Women who traditionally did not work outside the home went to work making all of those things. Remember Rosie the Riveter? Luxury items were put on hold and vital foods were rationed to feed troops.

So why can't these business leaders who were capable of rapid development of aircraft and ships do the same again? We ARE in another war to save this planet. Stalling again will commit our own offspring to disasters only a few generations away. Is the lavish lifestyle really such a personal priority that you are willing to see your grandkids suffer?

Here is the list from August 7th:

Cars: Eliminate petroleum powered ones
Plastics: Eliminate or vastly reduce its use while ramping up ways to re-use and re-cycle it.
Drinking Water: Develop inexpensive ways to convert ocean salt water for those who have no drinking water.
Food: Build more giant greenhouses and stop eliminating farmlands. Develop more proteins from plants.
Energy:We need more clean energy that people can afford
Shelter: China is building multi-floored apartments in one day!
Clothing: Many have none or only one or two garments.

As mentioned, the COVID pandemic provided another example of what can be done in a hurry when lives are at stake. Now how about:

Harnessing the tides. This has begun in some places. The amount of energy available is virtually limitless for our purposes. Use it to power electrical generating plants.

Sunlight: Use focused sunlight through huge convex or parabolic mirrors to boil water (or other liquids?) which then power steam driven electrical generators.

Meat: This is a tough one but cattle create a lot of atmospheric gas. We love our beef but we would probably be better off without it. The land could be used for crops which are more healthy than beef. I now drink soy milk which I prefer and it has more vitamins and minerals by percentage than regular milk from cattle.

Population Control: This is even more controversial than eliminating beef but the world's population expansion is a huge problem. Limits on offspring per couple would help immensely. China has tried this but is considering its reversal. Until some of these other problems are solved it might be a good thing to press the pause button on an ever expanding population. If not mandated, then incentives could be offered.

International Aid: Surely in the long term helping 3rd world countries with education, equipment to grow crops, purify water, and build rudimentary shelter is cheaper than trying to overpower countries with war and military force? The problem is getting international bodies to cooperate.

Pay for Public Resources: Finally my favorite. This really gets those super rich mentioned above very up tight. Several administrations say the rich should pay their share. They don't. Usually the means is going to be income tax - and it should be. But there are other ways.

Living in a home over a certain size per resident should cost a high premium for electricity; gas; water; and property size. The same applies to vehicles and boats with huge engines for sheer enjoyment. The idea that since they "earned it" they should be able to have these things can no longer be justified. In many cases they did not - their parents or grandparents did. Many hard working people can't afford basic food OR shelter.

However the big one is that most of the huge corporations formed by individuals use immense amounts of those same resources to run those businesses. Some are manufacturing and resource processing plants; hotel chains; airlines and shipping to name a few. These businesses all utilize public resources paid for by you and me: electricity; gas; water; roadways; airports; maritime ports; liquid and solid waste. We pay for it but they get to deduct it as expenses thereby NOT paying the requisite proportion of costs to build and maintain all of that infrastructure. Meanwhile we can not deduct our paltry amount of electricity, gas, water, sewage etc. to run our homes.

THAT should change. The businesses will say that if such expenses can not be deducted, then prices will rise. They will. But then other businesses will find ways of becoming more efficient and competitive. Somebody has to buy their products or services.

Saving the planet is indeed a war. Super rich people are in the best position to wage it without becoming more rich in the process. Some very rich people have already given back to the society that made them rich and still are: Bill Gates; Warren Buffet; Ted Turner; Many celebrities too numerous to mention are also giving back.

The super rich I have in mind make the net worth of most celebrities pale by comparison. 
Cough up guys. You will help restore the the American Nightmare to the American Dream.

#thebrewsterblock