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shadowkatPersonal Milestone.
Eighty days.
Eighty days since I was on a subway or any other mode of transportation. Eighty days since I walked further than Greenwood Cemetery or Prospect Park.
Eighty days.
And yes, the number of hospitalizations, cases, deaths, etc are down - they are at the numbers they were on March 6. According to the Governor, we not only flattened the curve - we frigging bent it - something he claims no one else has done. (Keep in mind he's a born and bred New Yorker from Queens, with Brooklyn roots.) More on that later.
But first...
1.) To celebrate? My desk chair arrived.
Good news? It was fully assembled.
Bad news? They left it in a enormous box in the lobby of my apartment building. Apparently, it was too much trouble to lug it upstairs and place it outside my apartment like they did with the paper towels.
I went downstairs and stared at the enormous 75 pound box and it stared back at me. Then I attempted to lift it - wasn't happening. I couldn't even get my arms around it. So I went back upstairs to get my little carrier - a metal thing with wheels that I'd used to cart book shelves to my apartment ages ago. It was too small. So I took it back up to my apartment and came down with my purse and scissors - thinking maybe I'll dismantle the box in the lobby, take the chair out and roll it into the elevator and up to the third floor.
Super's wife arrives, and I ask her if I can borrow a furniture cart or anything similar. She looks at me blankly. I show her the box. She tries to lift it. It ain't happening. She tells me to push it. So between us we push it into the elevator. I get into the elevator with it, while tempting to send the box up the elevator by itself, it's not necessarily practical. (We are both wearing masks. I have two surgical masks on.) Once on the third floor, I push the box out of the elevator, and push it around the corner and down the hall to my apartment. Then, upon reaching my apartment - discover the box is too big to get through the entry way to apartment. I figure the chair will be fine, it's the box that's too big. So I dismantle the box in the hallway. With Scissors. No mean feat. The box is so big that it contains a desk chair, another box, a styrofoam tube and yet another box to protect the chair.
See - a fuzzy picture of the partially dismantled box containing the chair in the hallway in front of my apartment. It's fuzzy because I hadn't eaten yet, my hands were shaking.
Took a while to pull it out - it was not easy pulling that chair out of the box. There are downsides to living alone. Such as pulling heavy desk chairs out of boxes.
Why did I get it? Because current desk chair has been threatening to collapse on me since April. I live in fear it will - when I least expect it.
Also, my boss informed us all at the last staff meeting that we would most likely be working remotely from home for the foreseeable feature - my work does not require me to be in the office. I can do it from home with little difficulty. It's actually cheaper and easier for the organization if I continue to do it from home. Saves them a hell of lot of problems.
Anyhow pictures of new desk chair and old one...aren't you happy that I figured out the picture downloading thing? Also shows you my work space, computer table, wireless mouse, and lap-top lift top. Along with the window that I get to look out of each day.
Shitty desk chair is on the left, I think. You can sort of tell. The new one has adjustable lumbar support, headrest support, back inclination, arm rests, and seat height. Also it's very sturdy. It's not going to collapse on me.
I can deduct the cost from my taxes next year as a business expense, along with wifi, and other related computer expenses. Also I got it on sale via Amazon (I did buy the warranty - in case the damn thing came damaged or broke), I didn't go for the premium leather - and it was the version rec'd by wirecutter magazine and New York Times for best ergonomic chair on the market at the moment. It's the Steelcase Leap Erogonomic Chair - I got black. It goes better with my apartment design scheme. (I do care about these things on some level.)
2. It looks like it is going to storm - the clouds are dark and ominous and it's in the upper 80s with 100% humidity. (I kind of wish it would storm, instead of just threaten to constantly. We've received some rain, but upstate is VERY dry, my brother states they haven't received any rain in weeks.)
I was hot and sweating just getting the chair out of the lobby this morning. So, I think I'll just stay inside my apartment with the air conditioner and the air purifiers - my apartment doesn't really get direct light - so much as filtered light or light from angles, so it's easier to cool down. (I was very very picky when I went apartment hunting the last go around. I hate moving.)
So, no walk today. You get a break from the Cemetery Photos. I don't want to get stuck in the middle of Greenwood Cemetery in a downpour. I don't care so much about me - just not sure my purse and phone and wallet will survive the experience.
Mother talked to brother this morning, and apparently my brother is doing well with his vegetable farm in upstate New York. He's even built his own outdoor kitchen next to a fire pit for canning, and making maple syrup. Meanwhile..his wife, besides designing her own jumpsuit, has been harassing museum curators.
Me: Museum Curators?
Mother: I asked the same thing. Apparently, she discovered that the Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Design was curating an exhibition of a close friend of her mother's work - whom he mother had collaborated with. So, she got the catalogue...
Me: And?
Mother: It was inaccurate. It didn't acknowledge her mother's work at all and got various historical facts wrong about her friend. She pulled out her mother's old papers and items - and discovered a few things. Then she contacted the curator and informed him that their information was completely inaccurate. Now she's working with Rhode Island School of Design and some other museums to put together an accurate exhibit of her friend's work and her mother's. Apparently her friend was very involved with various people in design, including David Boway - Bovie?
Me: Bowie?
Mother: Yes, David Bowie.
Mother can't pronounce David Bowie's name to save her life.
The Exhibit is Willi Smith Street Couture
During his twenty-year career Willi Smith (1948–1987) united fashion and American culture, marrying affordable, adaptable basics with avant-garde performance, film, art, and design. Smith hoped to solve what he called “the problem of getting dressed,” or the lack of control fashion afforded the everyday person, by using clothing as a tool for the liberation of stereotypes around race, class, sex, and gender, and bringing art into the mainstream. In the wake of the 1974 recession and Vietnam War, Smith founded WilliWear Ltd. with business and creative partner Laurie Mallet to produce clothing, events, and experiences with a wide range of collaborators who used new technologies and progressive ideas to transform their creative fields and instigate social change. At the time of his sudden death from AIDS-related illness, Smith was considered to be the most commercially successful Black American designer of the 20th century and a pioneer of “street couture”—fashion inspired by the creativity of people from the cities to the suburbs that captured the egalitarian spirit of the age. Willi Smith: Street Couture surveys Smith’s pathbreaking imagination of an inclusive, collaborative, and playful new society.
Sisinlaw's family was heavily involved in the New York Counter-Culture Art Scene of the 1960s and 70s. They basically went to school with and hung out with folks like Philip Larkin, Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgewick, and one of their best friends was very close to David Bowie, as was Willie Smith. I may have met his family at sisinlaw's mother's memorial service.
According to mother - sisinlaw is considering going back to school to get a Ph.D in Colonial History or the History of Colonialism, she wants the credentials for two major fashion/textile design projects she's working on.
Me: Ah, be nice to have the money to do that.
Mother: I think she's doing it for the research not to teach.
Me: Wouldn't it be cheaper to just research it herself?
Mother: No - she needs the credentials to push forth the design.
Could get into costume design. Sis-in-law is interested in the fashions of colonialism and settlers.
3. New York vs. the Corona Virus
New York has managed to do what was seemingly impossible a mere month ago - it has defeated the Corona Virus. It's reached almost 0% infection rate. We went from 57% infection rate on testing to almost 0% in a little over 96 days.
We've bent the curve. We also lost over 30,000 lives (confirmed) to the virus - possibly more if you add the probable. And over 379,000 have been infected in the State of New York. We were the hardest hit. But we've rallied - apparently, and the infection rate is at an all time low - which means NYC is scheduled to enter Phase #1 next week and other counties will enter Phase #2.
In other news, this is what the Entertainment Community has sent the Governor's of New York and LA regarding how they plan on handling COVID-19 in their filming and workplaces.
The entertainment industry has released its blueprint for resuming production amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 22-page “white paper” was delivered Monday to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office and will also be delivered to California Gov. Gavin Newsom along with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
“Regular, periodic testing of the cast and crew will be used to mitigate the risk of the spread of COVID-19,” the report said.
“Employers will utilize current effective testing protocols that must be developed in conjunction with, and approved by, the Unions and Guilds. Employers, Unions and Guilds shall rely upon medical experts for advice and guidance. As tests are developed and others become more accurate, the testing protocols shall also change.”
The document contains dozens of recommendations, highlighted by the need for physical distancing.
“Limiting face-to-face contact with others is the best way to reduce the spread of COVID-19,” the report said. “Cast and crew must practice physical distancing whenever possible. Physical distancing involves maintaining a distance of at least 6 feet from any other person at all times, except when doing so is incompatible with one’s job duties. Cast and crew should avoid congregating in groups. When practical, separate work locations into zones to facilitate physical distancing.”
Rumor has it that they will be back to filming or back to work at any rate by June 12. New York has kind of laid the ground work for how they can continue to move forward in the age of COVID-19.
*Contact Tracing
* Test, Test, Test
* Temperature Taking
* Social Distancing
* Masks
* Washing hands
* Disinfectant
Apparently Mass Transit - subways and Long Island Railroad Trains are disinfected trains now - according to the Governor - they are cleaner than his house and bathroom or anyone's. Like I said at the beginning of this whole trip down the rabbit hole - New York is certainly going to be really clean.
4. The Black Lives Matter Movement vs. the Police & the US Government & All Lives Matter
Right now, the Black Lives Matter Movement has encompassed us all. Also the police infractions and brutality has ...become widespread. It kind of always was. I remember being robbed back in 2005, and the police coming to my apartment and laughing at me. I did have a decent conversation with two black female cops about Buffy. I went to the station to see if they'd recovered my goods and they laughed at me again. The white male cops did.
Then, in 2009, when I left my wallet at work - a black cop, kindly gave me enough money to get home and talked me out of cancelling all my credit cards - stating it was probably at work. (It was.)
[Speaking of work - my old MP3 player is still there - although I no longer use it - preferring the phone. But still.]
There are some good articles out there on it:
* How to Actually Fix Americas Police
The hyperlocalized nature of policing in the United States is one factor here; the country has more than 18,000 police agencies, the majority of which (more than 15,000) are organized at the city or county level. Reforms tend to target single agencies. But it is not just the Minneapolis Police Department that needs reform; it is American policing as a whole.
What we desperately need, but have so far lacked, is political will. America needs to do more than throw good reform dollars at bad agencies. Elected officials at all levels—federal, state, and local—need to commit attention and public resources to changing the legal, administrative, and social frameworks that contribute to officer misconduct. As the University of Colorado law professor Ben Levin recently wrote, “Feigned powerlessness by lawmakers is common & frustrating. It reflects political cowardice or actual acquiescence in the violence of policing.” It’s time for that to change. Here is a blueprint for what they should do.
Federal Intervention
At the federal level, Congress should focus on three objectives.
The first is getting rid of qualified immunity. Qualified immunity is a judicial doctrine that protects officers who violate someone’s constitutional rights from civil-rights lawsuits unless the officers’ actions were clearly established as unconstitutional at the time. As the University of Chicago legal scholar William Baude has persuasively argued, the Supreme Court has provided multiple justifications for qualified immunity—including that it is the modern evolution of a common-law “good faith” defense, and that it ensures that government officials are not exposed to liability without “fair warning” that their actions are wrong—but neither the Court’s historical nor doctrinal justifications can bear the burden of scrutiny. Nevertheless, as the Court has described it, qualified immunity “provides ample protection to all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law.”
* Interesting take on the Black Lives Matter vs. All Lives Matter Controversy
Kutcher took a moment to educate those who cried "All Lives Matter" in response to his Black Lives Matter social media posts.
In an emotional video shared to Instagram Tuesday, Kutcher said he didn't want to dismiss those who disagreed with him, but wanted to take a moment to "educate" them.
"We all agree all lives matter, but I had a really poignant experience tonight when I was putting my kids down to bed that lent the words for why black lives matter," Kutcher said. "Usually Mila and I put our kids to bed, we read them a book. Our daughter always gets to go first and tonight as we were reading her book, my son says 'Wait, why don't I get to go first?' "
The 42-year-old actor explained that his wife Mila told their son it's because girls go first.
"'You know why girls go first? For you and me, girls go first and the reason why is, for some boys, girls don't get a go at all," Kutcher said to his son. "'And so for you and me, girls go first.'"
He tied the exchange with his son to the reflect the importance in saying Black Lives Matter.
"I think what folks that are writing ‘All Lives Matter' need to understand is that for some people black lives don't matter at all," Kutcher said fighting back tears. "So for us, black lives matter. So, while you may have the best intentions in saying ‘All Lives Matter,' remember, for some people, black lives don't matter at all."
Buffalo Police Officers Suspended and Charges Filed After Allegedly Shoving 75 Year Old Protestor
This is the video that enraged and sickened the Governor of New York and everyone else. One woman from my church, who is an attorney, went so far as to call the Erie County Mayor's Office and asked why the other policemen weren't charged for walking by the man, and even kicking him to one side.
The Mayor's office explained - they were investigating it, and that actions were being taken, and they had a lovely discussion.
I also saw the Governor and Lt. Governor address it at the latest news briefing this morning. (I try to watch them every day because I don't quite trust the media - as much as I once did. They are bored and like to exaggerate things. I watched them do it.)
Apparently the policemen who resigned - didn't really resign, so much as have their unit resigned and sent home with pay. They are removed from emergency duty and collecting a paycheck for the time being. The reason for this is that they are covered under a "union" contract. If you are under a "contract" or collective bargaining agreement - then you are protected from certain things like being fired. Only "at-will" employees can be fired outright or with cause. A Union employee under a contract - requires a bit more information and investigation. You can't just fire them. There's good reasons for this - it is in part to protect the police, firemen, teachers, nurses, transit workers, etc from being arbitrarily fired without cause or for doing something right. Unfortunately, it also protects the assholes.
(Kind of like the First Amendment.)
There is an investigation underway. And this week - New York plans to pass into law legislation that will aid in the investigation and firing of police who commit these violations of power. I don't think it is enough - but it is a start.
A Letter Not From a Birmingham Jail
Despite what you may have heard elsewhere, I was not arrested covering a protest. When dozens of police officers lined up to surround Linn Park, the site where the rumored showdown between the Klan and the residents of America’s fourth-blackest city was supposed to go down, the protests were over. Everyone had dispersed, except for four stragglers, all white, who later told me that they came with intentions of being arrested.
But the Birmingham Police Department’s plan to break up the violent clash between white supremacists and protesting, curfew-breaking scofflaws wouldn’t be deterred by details like the lack of white supremacists, protesters or even a protest. As Shakespeare once said: “The lack of a monkey doth not stop no show.”
I was positioned in an area across the street from the park, surrounded by reporters and cameramen. One of the cameramen and I discussed the fact that we had intentionally left our neck lanyards in the car after media watchdogs advised journalists covering the recent uprisings not to wear lanyards for our safety. The two reporters who were detained by cops the night before had neck lanyards. One of the reporters who was attacked had a neck lanyard. Neck lanyards are stupid. Wallets are stupid.
Plus, I was actually a reporter. I was surrounded by reporters. I have a digital media credential. I know what the hell I’m doing. In the days leading up to this event, I had already spoken with a few reporting colleagues in and around Birmingham. Trust me guys, I’ve done this before.
There I was, doing my job, sweeping the street, wanting to be left alone when, out of nowhere, I was attacked from behind by a thug who was obviously trying to rob me for my phone. I gripped my phone tighter, turned around and prepared to square up with this street thief as I thought to myself, “Not today, nigga. You gon’ get this smoke. You must not know who the fuck you’re…”
Oh. It was a cop.
To be precise, it seemed like it was all the cops that ever was. I informed them that I was with the media and I knew they were about to be in some deep shit when they rounded up those of us who didn’t have visible credentials. Locking me up was one thing, but arresting journalists for doing their job was another thing. We were not protesting. We were all together. Everyone within 100 feet of where I stood was a media professional who had specifically chosen this spot to safely report on whatever happened.
They did not arrest “journalists.”
They arrested the only black journalist.
What have I done?
Oh, I signed two petitions - one for Breonna Taylor and the other for George Floyd. I donated money to Minnesota Freedom Fund and the Black Lives Collective. Prior to this year - I've been donating to the ACLU and the New York Chapter, also to The Southern Poverty Law Center.
Today, I donated to Amy McGrath's campaign to unseat Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, and to Jamie Harrison's campaign to unseat Lindsey Graham in South Carolina.
I checked in with my black co-workers and friends. They are fine and doing better than I am actually. I bought a book - on Amazon Kindle cheap entitled
It feels like nothing though. I've fought with a conservative on Facebook, with logic.
I'd like to protest, but it's not feasible. So I do what I can from the sidelines. And hope and pray that it is enough. I also meditate, stay calm, and don't give into rage or hate. (Although it is very hard sometimes.)
I do however get hope from small things. Such as the Governor's decision to attempt to fix this and his condemnation of what happened in Buffalo and in NYC. Also, The DC Mayor Changed the Name of the Street in Front of the White House to Black Lives Matter and Painted it in huge Yellow Letters on the street. (This was the only article I could find on it without a Fox News logo - I'm actively boycotting Fox News.)
And I bought Me and White Supremacy - Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor Kindle Edition by Layla F. Saad - which was on sale at Amazon. And I'm going back to watching an X-men cartoon, I may watch the movie American Son later on...
I leave you with...a picture of the earth taken from a plane window ages ago...showing how tiny we all are and how we are truly a part of each other and this world we live in, whether we can see it or not from down on the ground.
Eighty days.
Eighty days since I was on a subway or any other mode of transportation. Eighty days since I walked further than Greenwood Cemetery or Prospect Park.
Eighty days.
And yes, the number of hospitalizations, cases, deaths, etc are down - they are at the numbers they were on March 6. According to the Governor, we not only flattened the curve - we frigging bent it - something he claims no one else has done. (Keep in mind he's a born and bred New Yorker from Queens, with Brooklyn roots.) More on that later.
But first...
1.) To celebrate? My desk chair arrived.
Good news? It was fully assembled.
Bad news? They left it in a enormous box in the lobby of my apartment building. Apparently, it was too much trouble to lug it upstairs and place it outside my apartment like they did with the paper towels.
I went downstairs and stared at the enormous 75 pound box and it stared back at me. Then I attempted to lift it - wasn't happening. I couldn't even get my arms around it. So I went back upstairs to get my little carrier - a metal thing with wheels that I'd used to cart book shelves to my apartment ages ago. It was too small. So I took it back up to my apartment and came down with my purse and scissors - thinking maybe I'll dismantle the box in the lobby, take the chair out and roll it into the elevator and up to the third floor.
Super's wife arrives, and I ask her if I can borrow a furniture cart or anything similar. She looks at me blankly. I show her the box. She tries to lift it. It ain't happening. She tells me to push it. So between us we push it into the elevator. I get into the elevator with it, while tempting to send the box up the elevator by itself, it's not necessarily practical. (We are both wearing masks. I have two surgical masks on.) Once on the third floor, I push the box out of the elevator, and push it around the corner and down the hall to my apartment. Then, upon reaching my apartment - discover the box is too big to get through the entry way to apartment. I figure the chair will be fine, it's the box that's too big. So I dismantle the box in the hallway. With Scissors. No mean feat. The box is so big that it contains a desk chair, another box, a styrofoam tube and yet another box to protect the chair.
See - a fuzzy picture of the partially dismantled box containing the chair in the hallway in front of my apartment. It's fuzzy because I hadn't eaten yet, my hands were shaking.
Took a while to pull it out - it was not easy pulling that chair out of the box. There are downsides to living alone. Such as pulling heavy desk chairs out of boxes.
Why did I get it? Because current desk chair has been threatening to collapse on me since April. I live in fear it will - when I least expect it.
Also, my boss informed us all at the last staff meeting that we would most likely be working remotely from home for the foreseeable feature - my work does not require me to be in the office. I can do it from home with little difficulty. It's actually cheaper and easier for the organization if I continue to do it from home. Saves them a hell of lot of problems.
Anyhow pictures of new desk chair and old one...aren't you happy that I figured out the picture downloading thing? Also shows you my work space, computer table, wireless mouse, and lap-top lift top. Along with the window that I get to look out of each day.
Shitty desk chair is on the left, I think. You can sort of tell. The new one has adjustable lumbar support, headrest support, back inclination, arm rests, and seat height. Also it's very sturdy. It's not going to collapse on me.
I can deduct the cost from my taxes next year as a business expense, along with wifi, and other related computer expenses. Also I got it on sale via Amazon (I did buy the warranty - in case the damn thing came damaged or broke), I didn't go for the premium leather - and it was the version rec'd by wirecutter magazine and New York Times for best ergonomic chair on the market at the moment. It's the Steelcase Leap Erogonomic Chair - I got black. It goes better with my apartment design scheme. (I do care about these things on some level.)
2. It looks like it is going to storm - the clouds are dark and ominous and it's in the upper 80s with 100% humidity. (I kind of wish it would storm, instead of just threaten to constantly. We've received some rain, but upstate is VERY dry, my brother states they haven't received any rain in weeks.)
I was hot and sweating just getting the chair out of the lobby this morning. So, I think I'll just stay inside my apartment with the air conditioner and the air purifiers - my apartment doesn't really get direct light - so much as filtered light or light from angles, so it's easier to cool down. (I was very very picky when I went apartment hunting the last go around. I hate moving.)
So, no walk today. You get a break from the Cemetery Photos. I don't want to get stuck in the middle of Greenwood Cemetery in a downpour. I don't care so much about me - just not sure my purse and phone and wallet will survive the experience.
Mother talked to brother this morning, and apparently my brother is doing well with his vegetable farm in upstate New York. He's even built his own outdoor kitchen next to a fire pit for canning, and making maple syrup. Meanwhile..his wife, besides designing her own jumpsuit, has been harassing museum curators.
Me: Museum Curators?
Mother: I asked the same thing. Apparently, she discovered that the Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Design was curating an exhibition of a close friend of her mother's work - whom he mother had collaborated with. So, she got the catalogue...
Me: And?
Mother: It was inaccurate. It didn't acknowledge her mother's work at all and got various historical facts wrong about her friend. She pulled out her mother's old papers and items - and discovered a few things. Then she contacted the curator and informed him that their information was completely inaccurate. Now she's working with Rhode Island School of Design and some other museums to put together an accurate exhibit of her friend's work and her mother's. Apparently her friend was very involved with various people in design, including David Boway - Bovie?
Me: Bowie?
Mother: Yes, David Bowie.
Mother can't pronounce David Bowie's name to save her life.
The Exhibit is Willi Smith Street Couture
During his twenty-year career Willi Smith (1948–1987) united fashion and American culture, marrying affordable, adaptable basics with avant-garde performance, film, art, and design. Smith hoped to solve what he called “the problem of getting dressed,” or the lack of control fashion afforded the everyday person, by using clothing as a tool for the liberation of stereotypes around race, class, sex, and gender, and bringing art into the mainstream. In the wake of the 1974 recession and Vietnam War, Smith founded WilliWear Ltd. with business and creative partner Laurie Mallet to produce clothing, events, and experiences with a wide range of collaborators who used new technologies and progressive ideas to transform their creative fields and instigate social change. At the time of his sudden death from AIDS-related illness, Smith was considered to be the most commercially successful Black American designer of the 20th century and a pioneer of “street couture”—fashion inspired by the creativity of people from the cities to the suburbs that captured the egalitarian spirit of the age. Willi Smith: Street Couture surveys Smith’s pathbreaking imagination of an inclusive, collaborative, and playful new society.
Sisinlaw's family was heavily involved in the New York Counter-Culture Art Scene of the 1960s and 70s. They basically went to school with and hung out with folks like Philip Larkin, Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgewick, and one of their best friends was very close to David Bowie, as was Willie Smith. I may have met his family at sisinlaw's mother's memorial service.
According to mother - sisinlaw is considering going back to school to get a Ph.D in Colonial History or the History of Colonialism, she wants the credentials for two major fashion/textile design projects she's working on.
Me: Ah, be nice to have the money to do that.
Mother: I think she's doing it for the research not to teach.
Me: Wouldn't it be cheaper to just research it herself?
Mother: No - she needs the credentials to push forth the design.
Could get into costume design. Sis-in-law is interested in the fashions of colonialism and settlers.
3. New York vs. the Corona Virus
New York has managed to do what was seemingly impossible a mere month ago - it has defeated the Corona Virus. It's reached almost 0% infection rate. We went from 57% infection rate on testing to almost 0% in a little over 96 days.
We've bent the curve. We also lost over 30,000 lives (confirmed) to the virus - possibly more if you add the probable. And over 379,000 have been infected in the State of New York. We were the hardest hit. But we've rallied - apparently, and the infection rate is at an all time low - which means NYC is scheduled to enter Phase #1 next week and other counties will enter Phase #2.
In other news, this is what the Entertainment Community has sent the Governor's of New York and LA regarding how they plan on handling COVID-19 in their filming and workplaces.
The entertainment industry has released its blueprint for resuming production amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 22-page “white paper” was delivered Monday to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office and will also be delivered to California Gov. Gavin Newsom along with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
“Regular, periodic testing of the cast and crew will be used to mitigate the risk of the spread of COVID-19,” the report said.
“Employers will utilize current effective testing protocols that must be developed in conjunction with, and approved by, the Unions and Guilds. Employers, Unions and Guilds shall rely upon medical experts for advice and guidance. As tests are developed and others become more accurate, the testing protocols shall also change.”
The document contains dozens of recommendations, highlighted by the need for physical distancing.
“Limiting face-to-face contact with others is the best way to reduce the spread of COVID-19,” the report said. “Cast and crew must practice physical distancing whenever possible. Physical distancing involves maintaining a distance of at least 6 feet from any other person at all times, except when doing so is incompatible with one’s job duties. Cast and crew should avoid congregating in groups. When practical, separate work locations into zones to facilitate physical distancing.”
Rumor has it that they will be back to filming or back to work at any rate by June 12. New York has kind of laid the ground work for how they can continue to move forward in the age of COVID-19.
*Contact Tracing
* Test, Test, Test
* Temperature Taking
* Social Distancing
* Masks
* Washing hands
* Disinfectant
Apparently Mass Transit - subways and Long Island Railroad Trains are disinfected trains now - according to the Governor - they are cleaner than his house and bathroom or anyone's. Like I said at the beginning of this whole trip down the rabbit hole - New York is certainly going to be really clean.
4. The Black Lives Matter Movement vs. the Police & the US Government & All Lives Matter
Right now, the Black Lives Matter Movement has encompassed us all. Also the police infractions and brutality has ...become widespread. It kind of always was. I remember being robbed back in 2005, and the police coming to my apartment and laughing at me. I did have a decent conversation with two black female cops about Buffy. I went to the station to see if they'd recovered my goods and they laughed at me again. The white male cops did.
Then, in 2009, when I left my wallet at work - a black cop, kindly gave me enough money to get home and talked me out of cancelling all my credit cards - stating it was probably at work. (It was.)
[Speaking of work - my old MP3 player is still there - although I no longer use it - preferring the phone. But still.]
There are some good articles out there on it:
* How to Actually Fix Americas Police
The hyperlocalized nature of policing in the United States is one factor here; the country has more than 18,000 police agencies, the majority of which (more than 15,000) are organized at the city or county level. Reforms tend to target single agencies. But it is not just the Minneapolis Police Department that needs reform; it is American policing as a whole.
What we desperately need, but have so far lacked, is political will. America needs to do more than throw good reform dollars at bad agencies. Elected officials at all levels—federal, state, and local—need to commit attention and public resources to changing the legal, administrative, and social frameworks that contribute to officer misconduct. As the University of Colorado law professor Ben Levin recently wrote, “Feigned powerlessness by lawmakers is common & frustrating. It reflects political cowardice or actual acquiescence in the violence of policing.” It’s time for that to change. Here is a blueprint for what they should do.
Federal Intervention
At the federal level, Congress should focus on three objectives.
The first is getting rid of qualified immunity. Qualified immunity is a judicial doctrine that protects officers who violate someone’s constitutional rights from civil-rights lawsuits unless the officers’ actions were clearly established as unconstitutional at the time. As the University of Chicago legal scholar William Baude has persuasively argued, the Supreme Court has provided multiple justifications for qualified immunity—including that it is the modern evolution of a common-law “good faith” defense, and that it ensures that government officials are not exposed to liability without “fair warning” that their actions are wrong—but neither the Court’s historical nor doctrinal justifications can bear the burden of scrutiny. Nevertheless, as the Court has described it, qualified immunity “provides ample protection to all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law.”
* Interesting take on the Black Lives Matter vs. All Lives Matter Controversy
Kutcher took a moment to educate those who cried "All Lives Matter" in response to his Black Lives Matter social media posts.
In an emotional video shared to Instagram Tuesday, Kutcher said he didn't want to dismiss those who disagreed with him, but wanted to take a moment to "educate" them.
"We all agree all lives matter, but I had a really poignant experience tonight when I was putting my kids down to bed that lent the words for why black lives matter," Kutcher said. "Usually Mila and I put our kids to bed, we read them a book. Our daughter always gets to go first and tonight as we were reading her book, my son says 'Wait, why don't I get to go first?' "
The 42-year-old actor explained that his wife Mila told their son it's because girls go first.
"'You know why girls go first? For you and me, girls go first and the reason why is, for some boys, girls don't get a go at all," Kutcher said to his son. "'And so for you and me, girls go first.'"
He tied the exchange with his son to the reflect the importance in saying Black Lives Matter.
"I think what folks that are writing ‘All Lives Matter' need to understand is that for some people black lives don't matter at all," Kutcher said fighting back tears. "So for us, black lives matter. So, while you may have the best intentions in saying ‘All Lives Matter,' remember, for some people, black lives don't matter at all."
Buffalo Police Officers Suspended and Charges Filed After Allegedly Shoving 75 Year Old Protestor
This is the video that enraged and sickened the Governor of New York and everyone else. One woman from my church, who is an attorney, went so far as to call the Erie County Mayor's Office and asked why the other policemen weren't charged for walking by the man, and even kicking him to one side.
The Mayor's office explained - they were investigating it, and that actions were being taken, and they had a lovely discussion.
I also saw the Governor and Lt. Governor address it at the latest news briefing this morning. (I try to watch them every day because I don't quite trust the media - as much as I once did. They are bored and like to exaggerate things. I watched them do it.)
Apparently the policemen who resigned - didn't really resign, so much as have their unit resigned and sent home with pay. They are removed from emergency duty and collecting a paycheck for the time being. The reason for this is that they are covered under a "union" contract. If you are under a "contract" or collective bargaining agreement - then you are protected from certain things like being fired. Only "at-will" employees can be fired outright or with cause. A Union employee under a contract - requires a bit more information and investigation. You can't just fire them. There's good reasons for this - it is in part to protect the police, firemen, teachers, nurses, transit workers, etc from being arbitrarily fired without cause or for doing something right. Unfortunately, it also protects the assholes.
(Kind of like the First Amendment.)
There is an investigation underway. And this week - New York plans to pass into law legislation that will aid in the investigation and firing of police who commit these violations of power. I don't think it is enough - but it is a start.
A Letter Not From a Birmingham Jail
Despite what you may have heard elsewhere, I was not arrested covering a protest. When dozens of police officers lined up to surround Linn Park, the site where the rumored showdown between the Klan and the residents of America’s fourth-blackest city was supposed to go down, the protests were over. Everyone had dispersed, except for four stragglers, all white, who later told me that they came with intentions of being arrested.
But the Birmingham Police Department’s plan to break up the violent clash between white supremacists and protesting, curfew-breaking scofflaws wouldn’t be deterred by details like the lack of white supremacists, protesters or even a protest. As Shakespeare once said: “The lack of a monkey doth not stop no show.”
I was positioned in an area across the street from the park, surrounded by reporters and cameramen. One of the cameramen and I discussed the fact that we had intentionally left our neck lanyards in the car after media watchdogs advised journalists covering the recent uprisings not to wear lanyards for our safety. The two reporters who were detained by cops the night before had neck lanyards. One of the reporters who was attacked had a neck lanyard. Neck lanyards are stupid. Wallets are stupid.
Plus, I was actually a reporter. I was surrounded by reporters. I have a digital media credential. I know what the hell I’m doing. In the days leading up to this event, I had already spoken with a few reporting colleagues in and around Birmingham. Trust me guys, I’ve done this before.
There I was, doing my job, sweeping the street, wanting to be left alone when, out of nowhere, I was attacked from behind by a thug who was obviously trying to rob me for my phone. I gripped my phone tighter, turned around and prepared to square up with this street thief as I thought to myself, “Not today, nigga. You gon’ get this smoke. You must not know who the fuck you’re…”
Oh. It was a cop.
To be precise, it seemed like it was all the cops that ever was. I informed them that I was with the media and I knew they were about to be in some deep shit when they rounded up those of us who didn’t have visible credentials. Locking me up was one thing, but arresting journalists for doing their job was another thing. We were not protesting. We were all together. Everyone within 100 feet of where I stood was a media professional who had specifically chosen this spot to safely report on whatever happened.
They did not arrest “journalists.”
They arrested the only black journalist.
What have I done?
Oh, I signed two petitions - one for Breonna Taylor and the other for George Floyd. I donated money to Minnesota Freedom Fund and the Black Lives Collective. Prior to this year - I've been donating to the ACLU and the New York Chapter, also to The Southern Poverty Law Center.
Today, I donated to Amy McGrath's campaign to unseat Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, and to Jamie Harrison's campaign to unseat Lindsey Graham in South Carolina.
I checked in with my black co-workers and friends. They are fine and doing better than I am actually. I bought a book - on Amazon Kindle cheap entitled
It feels like nothing though. I've fought with a conservative on Facebook, with logic.
I'd like to protest, but it's not feasible. So I do what I can from the sidelines. And hope and pray that it is enough. I also meditate, stay calm, and don't give into rage or hate. (Although it is very hard sometimes.)
I do however get hope from small things. Such as the Governor's decision to attempt to fix this and his condemnation of what happened in Buffalo and in NYC. Also, The DC Mayor Changed the Name of the Street in Front of the White House to Black Lives Matter and Painted it in huge Yellow Letters on the street. (This was the only article I could find on it without a Fox News logo - I'm actively boycotting Fox News.)
And I bought Me and White Supremacy - Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor Kindle Edition by Layla F. Saad - which was on sale at Amazon. And I'm going back to watching an X-men cartoon, I may watch the movie American Son later on...
I leave you with...a picture of the earth taken from a plane window ages ago...showing how tiny we all are and how we are truly a part of each other and this world we live in, whether we can see it or not from down on the ground.
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Date: 2020-06-07 12:18 am (UTC)