Some
(Not So) Random Thoughts While My Country Still Allows Me To Have Them by BJ
Neblett
Where:
Writing den, Ballard, WA
Music:
ZZ Top’s Greatest Hits
When:
July 4, 2020
Happy
Independence Day to everyone!
To
all of this country’s dilettante leaders in politics, health care and
education:
THANKS
FOR RUINING MY COUNTRY!
So
why did I include education? Simple. How many out there even know the meaning
of dilettante?
“The
goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of
truth.”
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
The
Boston Tea Party December 16, 1773
Humm….
The Great Seattle Mask Party
Nah….
Just doesn’t have the right ring to it.
From
October 1, 2019 to April 1, 2020 (considered to be influenza season) between
35.5 million and 60 million people in the US contracted influenza, with some
16.5 million seeking healthcare, 490,000 hospitalized, and 34,000 deaths.
Source: cdc.gov
Did
anyone wear a mask, close their business, or hide out in their houses?
As
of today, July 4, 2020 there are 2,784,452 Covid-19 cases in the US, and
129,393 deaths. According to many, the recent uptick in cases is due at least
partly from the increasing number of testing.
“Protests
don’t appear to be driving coronavirus surge in Seattle area or elsewhere, researchers
say.”
Source: Seattle Times June 30, 2020
“COVID 19 virus
particle size is 125 nanometers (0.125 microns); the range is 0.06 microns to
.14 microns,” the post said. “The N95 mask filters down to 0.3 microns. So, N95
masks block few, if any, virions (virus particles).”
In other words, the post (Facebook post, no
citation) asserts the virus is smaller than the filter on the N95 mask, so the
N95 mask doesn’t work.
Experts say this claim flies in the face of
numerous studies and reflects a failure to grasp fundamental principles of how
viruses behave and how face masks work…
…But the physics
involved don’t work like that at all.
The COVID-19 particle is indeed around 0.1
microns in size, but it is always bonded to something larger.
“There is never a naked virus floating in the
air or released by people,” said Linsey Marr, a professor of civil and
environmental engineering at Virginia Tech who specializes in airborne
transmission of viruses.
The virus
attaches to water droplets or aerosols (i.e. really small droplets) that are
generated by breathing, talking, coughing, etc. These consist of water, mucus
protein and other biological material and are all larger than 1 micron.
“Breathing and talking generate particles
around 1 micron in size, which will be collected by N95 respirator filters with
very high efficiency,” said Lisa Brosseau, a retired professor of
environmental and occupational health sciences who spent her career researching
respiratory protection.
University
of Edinburgh test results
Your
choice. And that is the point: It should be YOUR choice. Is a cloth face mask
the hill where you want your individual freedoms to die?
"I think we have
to figure out how to honor people who have done things that
are beneficial to society, and if they did things that were not
beneficial to society, that we can examine in the lens of having a
broad view of what we believe as Americans represents the best
attributes of our national identity, then we should look at
that," Crump told Fox News host Neil Cavuto on Saturday.
"Whether it should be a
situation where, if we keep statues up like that, we tell the history
of that individual so people will know the whole story,"
he added.
"I'm not sure
pulling the statues down is the right thing if we now don't get the
lessons to understand how we can learn from those things, so we don't
repeat those mistakes of the past. You know, they say history -- if not
studied -- we will often repeat it."
Ben Crump attorney for George Floyd’s family
“Those
who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
George
Santayana (paraphrased by Winston Churchill in a speech to the House of
Commons, 1948)
“We
are not the makers of history. We are made by history.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“I
went down to the river
I
set down on the bank.
I
tried to think but couldn’t
So
I jumped in and sank.”
Langston Hughes in part from Life Is Fine
“When all of our history is removed, there will be no history from which to learn.”
BJ Neblett
Final
note:
There
once was a magnificent hotel in Atlantic City, NJ, called the
Marlborough-Blenheim. It was constructed in 1902 and soon became a show piece
of the famed boardwalk city, known worldwide. In October 1978, a large portion
of the luxurious hotel was imploded to make room for gambling casinos. I
remember covering the demolition for a small local radio station where I worked.
A very large crowd of spectators had gathered, and the event was even cover on
TV. But after the ear shattering explosions, the crashing of concrete, the
settling of the dust, there wasn’t the enormous din of cheers from the onlookers.
Rather an ominous silence permeated the heavy air. The once magnificent edifice,
historical marker, and proud symbol to many, lay in ruin. As the crowd began to
slowly disperse, mumbled thoughts could be heard. “There goes another piece of
history.” “I can’t believe it’s gone.” “How will we remember now?”
But
one overheard statement has remained with me to this day. One that remains just
as appropriate today: “Damn. What the hell have we done?”
Don’t
shoot the messenger.
Happy
Fourth. Enjoy it while you still can.
Peace,
BJ
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