Dueling Dashboards

Posted on by Thor

Florida now has Dueling Dashboards. Rebekah Jones was the former manager of Data and Surveillance for the Florida Department of Health Covid-19 Dashboard. She was removed from the state’s dashboard project after she questioned other officials’ commitment to accessibility and transparency. In April, she was working on the results that would specify which countries in Florida could open. Superiors told her they did not like the results. A report had been written on the criteria needed for a county to re-open. Many rural counties did not meet the standards needed to re-open. Some more populated counties at the time did meet the criteria. She was told, “We can’t tell Jackson and Franklin Counties that they can’t re-open but Broward and Maimi-Dade can.” They wanted to exempt counties with populations of less than 75,000 allowing them to re-open regardless of their status. She was asked to delete data and hide information making the information not publicly inaccessible. Basically they wanted justify the Governor’s desire to re-open regardless of the facts.

The reputation of the dashboard had been built on it’s transparency. The data was eventually put back, but now it is hard to know how reliable that data is. They have changed how the date is calculated and how it is recorded. Data continues to go missing since the dashboard keeps crashing.

The way percent positive cases were calculated was re-worked. As she put it, Lets say there are 100 apples and 50 are rotten. 50% of the apples are rotten. Now lets say 30 were rotten yesterday, 10 were rotten 2 days before and 5 are almost completely rotten but not quite, the rest of the non-rotten apples are diced into hundreds of pieces. No matter how you slice it 50% of the apples are rotten. The scenario is made more convoluted than it has to be.

Percent of positivity was one of the bench marks each county needed to meet to re-open. Positivity had to be below 10% and decreasing for two weeks. The way it was calculated was to divide the number of positive tests by the number of tests given. It was changed to the number of new cases per day divided by the number of negative tests per day. If someone gets tested multiple times it throws off the results. She refused to mislead the public during a health crisis and was fired.

Since leaving Rebekah decided to create her own Covid-19 Florida dashboard and she accomplished that in 3 days. Jones’s website floridacovidaction.com is paid for entirely by donations. Her dashboard reported about 77o2 more positive cases than the Florida Department of Health dashboard on March 1, 2020, because she bases her findings on science and data.

The new dashboard also shows report cards on where each county stands on reopening. Based on the facts she presents only one county is actually ready to open every other county included Orange County failed.

After being fired, Gov. Ron DuhSantis attacked Rebekah’s character but he can have no say on her new dashboard since the information is publicly accessible. He accused her of not being a scientist, and not having access to the date. Her new Dashboard clearly shows that she was the architect of the FDH dashboard and I for one will be consulting her new dashboard often since I tend to trust her results more that the FDH site.  She was able to quickly assemble the new and improved Covid-19 Dashboard since she knows exactly how to find and access the data. The dashboard she had created previously was praised by Deborah Burks a member of the White House Task Force and her credibility remains unquestioned.

Liberty County up tin the Florida panhandle is the only county that meets all the criteria of the Department of Health to re-open. Decrease in ER Visits for COVID-like illness: YES
Decrease in ER Visits for influenza-like illness: YES
Decrease in new cases by date: YES 

Orange County where I live, has not met the criteria to Re-open.

According to Department of Health, Orange County does NOT meet the criteria for the next phase of reopening.
Decrease in ER Visits for COVID-like illness: NO
Decrease in ER Visits for influenza-like illness: NO
Decrease in new cases by date: NO 

Social distancing grade for Orange County is:
F
Distance Grade: D
Encounters Grade: F
Visitation Grade:  F

Florida reported another 2,610 cases of COVID-19 on the morning  of Wednesday June 17, 2020, and saw its Covid-19 death toll rise to over 3,000. Those numbers come one day after the state set a record with 2,783 new cases. The rush to re-open has consequences. Wear masks, socially distance and stay home if you can. If 80% of people wore masks this virus could stop dead in its tracks.

What Point?

Posted on by Thor

The 1,107 graduating Cadets at West Point have been studying remotely since March 19, 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The spring break was extended indefinitely due to the spread of the virus across America. By studying at home, cadets helped stop the spread of the disease. Despite these successful safety measures, President Donald Trump insisted that he wanted to give a commencement speech in front of all the cadets at West Point.

Every cadet had to return to West Point two weeks weeks early to self isolate so that the POTUS who never wears a mask in public and often does not social distance might be kept safe. “Trump’s reckless decision to gather 1,000 Cadets at West Point for a speech puts our future military leaders at increased risk – all to stroke his own ego,” Army veteran Senator Tammy Duckworth wrote in April.

“Because travel increases your chances of getting infected and spreading Covid-19, staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from getting sick,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote on it’s website. On top of this, New York State has had the highest number of cases of Covid-19 in America. West Point is just a 90 minute drive north of New York City which has been the epicenter of the outbreak of the virus.

Prior to the ceremony every cadet had to take Covid-19 tests to keep the POTUS safe. The ceremony flouted New York Governor Andrew Cuomo‘s social distancing directives for graduations in the state to be limited to 150 people. Sixteen of the graduating class tested positive for the Covid-19 upon their return to campus. The 16 cadets are receiving treatment but are not showing symptoms of the disease, Lieutenant. General Darryl Williams, West Point’s superintendent, told USA Today. Other than the 16 cadets, 71 of the more than 5,000 faculty, staff and civilians at West Point have also tested positive for COVID-19 since March, USA Today reported. I am sure that Trumps SS would kept anyone who was infected far from the president.

A rift has become evident between the executive branch and the military. The government’s highest ranking military official, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley apologized for his role in Trump’s now infamous photo op in front of Saint John’s Church last Monday June 8, 2020, saying “I should not have been there.” Hundreds of West Point alumni, two days before Trump’s address, also called out the top Pentagon leaders, for failing to uphold the Constitution in their responses to nationwide protests.

Top Army leaders and Defense Secretary Mark Esper were “open” to the discussion about re-naming military bases that are named after Confederate generals who lost the civil war. The  GOP-led Senate Armed Services Committee approved a new amendment that would require military bases named after Confederate soldiers to change their names – setting senators on a collision course with the president. Trump tweeted that he “will not even consider” renaming military bases. The bases are located in  southern states that helped Trump secure his 2016 victory, and as Election Day approaches, he needs their support.

The class of 2020 West Point graduates entered their commencement ceremony on the Plain Parade Field wearing white face masks. Once they got to their socially distanced folding chairs they could remove their masks. There was no family of friends allowed. I imagined that if I was a graduate I would probably make a scarecrow to wear my hat. The POTUS probably wouldn’t notice the difference. The scarecrow could easily stand in for the military salute photo op.

The presidents speech was sleepy and insipid. I read his speech, but don’t pay attention to what he says anymore, I just watch what he does. He hobbled  off the stage after the cadets all threw their caps in the air. 16 0f those caps might have been carrying the Covid-19 virus.

Pre-Pandemic: Significant Trees

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On March 19, 2020, I did this last sketch for the Orlando Significant Trees series before settling in and isolating for the Covid-19 pandemic. This tree in Big Tree Park, (930 Thornton Avenue Orlando FL) is likely 350 to 400 years old. It is the oldest tree in Orlando. Live Oaks can live for centuries.

While doing this sketch a woman walking her dog approached to see what the sketch looked like. Because she got closer than 6 feet from me, I decided it was no longer a good idea to be doing drawings on location. The Covid-19 Pandemic had been announced on March 13, 2020 so it was rather foolish of me to have been thinking I could still sketch on location safely. Several other trees need to be sketched But I decided to wait to do these until after the new cases of Covid-19 infection level off for 14 days. That has yet to happen as new cases rise each day here in Florida.

On March 19, 2020 more than 14,200 people had tested positive in the U.S. and at least 187 had died. These numbers seem so small looking back. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a statewide order for residents to stay at home. Floridians would not be asked to stay at home until April 3, 2020. The State Department told citizens who traveled abroad they should come home immediately or prepare to remain overseas. This rush back into the United States would result in a huge spike in cases in New York City as people who went untested upon return, poured into the city airports.

Projections models at the time predicted a possible 1.1 million deaths in America assuming there was little to no social distancing. A better scenario envisioned Americans embracing drastic restrictions and school closures, which would reduce the  death toll closer to the thousands as the country prepares for a grueling but surmountable road ahead. We are today somewhere between these very different scenarios with almost 2 million cases and 111,390 dead and rising.

 

Trump’s Rally Plans Toppled

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The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse are pestilence, war, famine, and death. The fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse is astounding incompetence. After dismissing prescient advice on pandemic preparedness from the outgoing Obama administration, the Trump administration went on to weaken the nation’s pandemic response capabilities. Trump eliminated the White House global health security office that was established following the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic to foster cross-agency pandemic preparedness, and in late 2019, he ended a global early warning program, PREDICT, that identified viruses with pandemic potential. Quite simply Trump ignores science and reason. Rather than “Making America Great Again”  incompetence and failure of leadership have ushered in an unprecedented public health crisis that continues to threaten the lives and livelihoods of countless Americans.

On top of the pandemic the country has become galvanized behind the protests after the murder of George Floyd by a Minnesota police officer kneeling on his neck. The tide it slowly tuning as protests have been going on for weeks. NASCAR has decided that displays of the Confederate flag at races are no longer tolerated. The US military is considering re-naming bases that are named after confederate traitors like Fort Bragg names after Braxton Bragg, Confederate army officer who served as a general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. The confederacy tried to split the union and lost.

Protestors are toppling Confederate statues around the country. The statues were put up long after the south lost the war a symbols of slavery. A neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, Virginia, that led to the death of one protester resulted in calls to tear down statues of Confederate leaders, but conservative local politicians largely managed to keep the statues in place. Those tides are finally turning. There are now also calls to remove confederate statues from inside the US Capitol building. Racism is a painful sickness this country has dealt with for a very long time.

Trump is adamantly opposed to changing the names, tweeting Wednesday that he would “not even consider” doing so. Just hours after Trumps announcement, the Republican-led Senate Armed Services Committee approved an amendment to the annual defense policy bill that would require the Pentagon to rename bases and other military assets bearing the names of Confederate leaders. Senator Dick Durbin, from Illinois said, that Trump’s resistance is so out of touch as to be almost irrelevant, it’s part of the reckoning that’s long overdue.

Some things need to be toppled.

Dreamland

Posted on by Thor

Donald Trump has decided to hit the campaign trail again with a rally in Tulsa Oklahoma on June 19, 2020 which happens to be Juneteenth or Emancipation Day, which commemorates the anniversary of the reading of the General Orders, No. 3, which officially informed slaves that they were free after the civil war. Tulsa was the site of one of the most vicious acts of racial violence in American history when, in 1921, a mob of white people attacked a section of the city known as Greenwood or “Black Wall Street” and murdered hundreds of African Americans. For a president who asserted that “both sides” were to blame for white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 this seems like a strange choice of venue.

This will be Trumps first time at a rally since March 2, 2020. He has desperately missed the rally’s, and fondly remembered the good old days. In a CNN national poll released earlier this week, 88% of black voters said they disapproved of the job Trump is doing in office. Ninety one percent disapproved of how he is handling race relations. And 88% said they would vote for Biden over Trump in a hypothetical general election match up. Trumps heavy handed actions on the issue police violence and racism speak far louder than any words he could at a rally.

Nation wide protests are bringing about change. Confederate statues are being topples and even NASCAR has decided to ban confederate flags, a symbol of hate from future race events. The Navy on Tuesday June 9, 2020 announced it would prohibit the Confederate battle flag from all its military installations, following the lead of the Marine Corps which last week began implementing a ban on its troops displaying the flag in any form. Elizabeth Warren, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, filed an amendment to the annual defense bill last week to rename all bases named for Confederate generals. Anthony Brown, a retired Army Reserve colonel, said in a statement that scrubbing the names of Confederate leaders who took up arms against the United States would help ensure “an honest accounting of our history.” Trump has decided to reject this idea.

Registration for the event requires would-be attendees to acknowledge “that an inherent risk of exposure to Covid-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending the Rally, any guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree not to hold Donald J. Trump for President, Inc liable for any illness or injury.” In other words, going to this crowded venue may result in death.Anyone who goes to this rally shouldl get tested for Covid-19 immediately afterwards to try and avoid infecting friends and family.

Tulsa has been under shelter-in-place orders since March 29th. One republican argued the case for going to the rally saying that protestors have been going to crowded demonstrations for some time. Tulsa has 986 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 44 dead. Oklahoma state had about 7,626 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 357 dead.

Enemy of the People?

Posted on by Thor

Freedom of the press is the right of newspapers, magazines, TV Radio, etc., to report news without being controlled by the government. The First Amendment of the United States constitution states… “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Journalists have been under attack since the first nights of protest of the George Floyd murder in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25, 2020. Some are sustaining serious injuries. Demonstrations have continued for the past 22 days despite the police violence. As of 9pm Thursday June 5, 2020, the US Press Freedom Tracker had received 192 reports of journalists being attacked by police while covering the protests across the US.

“When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” Donald Trump tweeted as mass unrest unfolded in America following the death of George Floyd. This seemed to set the tone of the police violence to follow. Since then, the president has called protesters thugs, terrorists and hoodlums. He tweeted… “If you watch Fake News CNN or MSNDC [sic], you would think that killers, terrorists, arsonists … would be the nicest, kindest most wonderful people in the world.”  And then, shortly after: “It is almost like they are all working together?”

“When the president declares you an enemy of the state … Well the police, their job is to protect the state, right? So if they view us as the enemy they will treat you any way they choose,” says Pulitzer prize-winning photojournalist Barbara Davidson. “I think the police see journalists as attacking their tribe – they feel they are getting a lot of bad press because of what happened to Floyd and so I think they are retaliating against us.” she added. If police terrorize the journalists into going away, they can do as they please to the protesters with no chance of accountability.

“There are a lot of Trump supporters in police departments,” said Christopher Mathias. He pointed out the speech made by Trump in Long Island in 2017, when a crowd of officers clapped as he encouraged them to rough people up.

On the third night of protests May 29, 2020 a CNN new crew was arrested live on national TV. On the same day Breonna Taylor and her crew were shot at by police live on TV while covering a protest protest in Louisville. Police fired off paint balls and tear gas at reporters in Denver. The photographer got hit four time and the camera lens was destroyed. Photographer Hyoung Chang was hit with two pepper balls in Denver. Juliette Martinelli in Atlanta, said, cops came from 3 directions and closed around people in an intersection throwing tear gas and pepper spray.

On Saturday May 30, 2020, Photojournalist Ed Ou was attacked by police. He had documented civil unrest in the Middle East, Ukraine and Iraq, where he learned a few things: never get in the police’s way, find cover and always have an escape route. He was shocked by the direct attack, saying, “They literally started throwing concussive grenades in our direction, in the middle of the journalists.” The police approached Ou directly and maced him in the face, spraying his camera, too. What ensued was a prolonged attack that involved being hit at with batons, being teargassed, dodging concussive grenades and begging for help. Los Angeles Times’ Carolyn Cole, who incurred an eye injury, and Molly Hennesy-Fiske, who was shot with rubber bullets several times in the leg  described the journalists as having been “completely against the wall, in an alcove, at least 15ft off the road to allow the police line to pass.” Linda Tirado, a photojournalist, was hit in the face with a tracer round, resulting in loss of sight in one eye. MSNBC reporters were almost hit with concussive grenade by law enforcement officers in Minneapolis. In Atlanta, Linda Tirado was hit in the eye with a tracer bullet blinding her.

May 31, 2020 Michael Anthony Adams, a Vice News Corespondent who was seeking shelter in a gas station, was thrown to the ground and sprayed with pepper spray. He identified himself as press and the officer shouted “I don’t care!” Radio Canada journalists and many others in Minneapolis had their car tires slashed. Star Tribune reporter, Ryan Faircloth was cut by flying glass when police shot out his car window as he was  driving through Lake and Chicago.

Monday June 1, 2020 close to the White House. Police were dispersing protesters and an officer used his shield to attack an Australian cameraman who was part of a team reporting live in front of the White House. The dramatic footage was criticized by the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne who said in a Tuesday interview with ABC that the Australian government has officially requested an investigation into the incident. WCCO photojournalist Tom Aviles was struck by rubber bullet fired by the police. He was later arrested, as well.   NBC News reporter Garrett Haake was hit as police clash with protesters near White House.

June 2, 2020 A tear gas canister just bounced off of MSNBC’s  Joling Kent while she was live on the air from Seattle.

June 9, 2020 A staff photographer/reporter for the USA Today Network was jailed by Delaware State Police while covering a protest near the state’s capital. This arrest was caught live on Facebook live.

These incidents of violence against the press are just the tip of the iceberg. The point is, these incidents are not isolated these are a concerted attack on freedom of the press. Trump wants to fan the flames of discord and then run a re-election campaign claiming he will “dominate” the streets. He wants a police state and so do the police. Few stand against this treat to democracy. GOP senators do all they can to distance themselves but fear crossing the POTUS for his insane conspiracy tweet. This willingness to lie down is what gives any wanna be dictator his strength. Perhaps the only way to stay in power is if there is no election.

The inhabitants of a police state may experience restrictions on their mobility, or on their freedom to express or communicate political or other views, which are subject to police monitoring or enforcement. Political control may be exerted by means of a secret police force (or just tape over badges) that operates outside the boundaries normally imposed by a constitutional state.

General James Mattis put it well saying Trump is a threat to the American Constitution. “I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled,” Mattis wrote. “The words ‘Equal Justice Under Law’ are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values—our values as people and our values as a nation.” He continued, “We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution.”

The Deadliest Place on Earth

Posted on by Thor

Walt Disney World has plans to open July 11, 2020 followed by Hollywood Studios, Epcot and Animal Kingdom on July 15, 2020. The Orlando parks will have social distancing and wellness measures, including temperature screenings, wearings masks, keeping guests six feet apart while lining up for attractions and a guest reservation system to limit capacity.

Fireworks, parades, and character meet and greets have been suspended. Disney World also isn’t selling any new tickets for now, it will focus on guests who have existing tickets and reservations, like those who made bookings prior to the pandemic and had to postpone, as well as annual pass holders.

Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground on June 22, 2020. Disney Springs shopping and dining area reopened May 20, 2020 with limited parking, fewer entrances, temperature screening before entry, masks required, physically distanced lines and barriers, reduced hours, no entertainment and more sanitation and disinfectants. Plenty of images circulated online however of guests not wearing their masks. One rumor circulated is that if you are holding a drink you don’t need to wear the mask. The bottom line is that enforcement seemed lax to non-existent. Americans in particular seem to resist the idea of protecting others by wearing a mask.

I spoke with one character actor who dreads the idea of getting back into a costume. Universal Studios opened the week of June 1, 2020. Many of the character meet and greets will still exist, but the characters will be kept in areas separate from the guests. Additionally, the characters will be wearing masks. This allows for picture-taking and conversation to continue, without any of the contact.

Universal Character actors will not share the same costumes throughout the day. Each costume must be laundered before someone else can wear them. Typically there will be more than one of each costume so multiple performers can be the same character on the same day.

It seems smart of Disney to wait and see if the way Universal is showcasing characters will result in a spike in Covid-19 cases among talent and or the guests. Though the Disney parks will have enhanced health and safety measures, guests are advised to follow all posted instructions while visiting. There is an inherent risk of exposure to Covid-19 in any public place where people are present. Covid-19 is an extremely contagious disease that can lead to severe illness and death. According to the CDC senior citizens and guests with underlying medical conditions are especially vulnerable. By visiting theme parks all visitors voluntarily assume all risks of exposure to Covid-19. I assume that character performers also sign away any liability for possibly being exposed to the virus when they get in to their costumes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the pandemic is worsening globally after new cases reached a record high on Sunday, June 7, 2020. Have a great vacation!

Enough

Posted on by Thor

Protests across the country are growing even spreading to rural communities. At a peaceful protest march in Indiana protestors walked past this line of citizens holding assault rifles asserting their second amendment right to carry deadly weapons. They feared that the peaceful protestors might actually be terrorists. They therefore planned to defended their town with assault rifles. When the protestors walked past the single police car parked near the counter protestors, they thanked the officers.

President Donald Trump encouraged the counter protestors since his “Law and Order” rose garden speech stressed the importance of the second amendment, saying, “I am mobilizing all available federal resources — civilian and military — to stop the rioting and looting, to end the destruction and arson, and to protect the rights of law-abiding Americans, including your Second Amendment rights.” This acted as an invitation for vigilantes. One Guy in this line up actually had on a tin sheriffs star. I didn’t notice it until I sketched him.

A group of Invaders Motorcycle Club members rode to Freedom Park in Lowell Indiana and listened to organizers speak at the start of the Black Lives Matter March. There was a lot of fear on social media that the protest would bring destruction to the quiet town of Lowell.

Since nationwide protests began, President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr have, without evidence, blamed the antifa movement, a loose network of groups made up of radicals who rely on direct action, and sometimes violence, to fight the far right and fascism — for the looting and property damage seen during some of the otherwise peaceful rallies. Social media rumors claimed bus loads of antifa members were heading to rural towns to cause damage. The rumors were unfounded.

The Lowell Black lives Matter March ended at Liberty Park. When demonstrators came to the picnic shelter they found a group of armed men inside. They were invited in, “Come in, we can share this space. It’s OK. It’s safe. Don’t be afraid.” Members from both groups spoke about their hopes for the future and the trials they have endured. By the end, the demonstrators invited the Invaders to join them on their march and thanked them for coming out. The day was about peace and unity. People took the time to listen and to understand. If only all communities could come together and share their common experiences.”  An armed man who was worried about antifa coming to murder white people, in Lowell posted an update to his Facebook page acknowledging the risks had been overblown. There was peace in Lowell that night.

Black Lives Matter Plaza NW

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The Mayor of Washington DC, Muriel Bowser, wanted to remind Trump that Black Lives Matter, so she had it painted on the street in giant letters over two city blocks leading up to the White House. It stops just short of the church which the POTUS used as a promotional prop when he had troops, parks officers, secret service and unmarked corrections officers tear gas peaceful demonstrators as well as clergy and parishioners so he could have his picture taken in front of the church with a bible in hand. The street was renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza NW.

Trump has finally built himself a wall by adding high chain link fencing all around the white house and expanding that perimeter to include Lafayette Park. He has walled himself in from the rest of the country who are up in arms about racial injustice. Secret service moved the president into a bunker below the white house on the first evening of protests where fire were set around the city. The president claims he was only inspecting the bunker.

Muriel did not approve of Trumps moving troops into her city as a show of force against protestors against police violence against black Americans. The Pentagon confirmed that approximately 1,600 active-duty troops from North Carolina and New York were flown into the D.C. area. Police forces and National Guard vehicles are used to block 16th Street near Lafayette Park and the White House on June 3, 2020 in Washington, DC.

“The deployment of federal law enforcement personnel and equipment are inflaming demonstrators and adding to the grievances of those who, by and large, are peacefully protesting for change and reforms to the racist and broken systems that are killing Black Americans. Furthermore, I continue to be concerned that unidentified federal personnel patrolling the streets of Washington, D.C. pose both safety and national security risks,” the the mayor added. Trump responded with nonconstructive and hateful tweets. No surprise there.

Seeing the mayors Black Lives Matter street mural made me smile for the first time in days. She knows that art can make an impact. Pentagon Defense Secretary Mark Esper flip flopped several times caving to Trumps demand for troops but ultimately ordered several hundred troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to return home to Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Protests are still going on around the country but some tensions have eased since the officers responsible for the murder of George Loyd are now under arrest. However videos are surfacing every day of police brutality towards peaceful protestors and journalists. Change is needed.

Blackhawk

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As a show of force, Donald Trump positioned at least 60 National Guard troops clad in riot gear on the steps of the Lincoln memorial. Many wore masks and protective eye covering but some followed the presidents lead and ignored the Covid-19 virus threat. The scene came a day after President Trump threatened to send in soldiers to patrol the streets of D.C. and other US cities. They faced off a crowd of perhaps a hundred protestors gathered at the reflection pool, standing in the same spot where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his iconic ‘I have a dream’ speech half a century ago. The monument is a symbol of emancipation and justice but on this day it was a symbol of strong arm militarization against the American public. This is also the spot where Forest Gump was reunited with Jenny. In this fictitious movie Forest and Jenny crossed a divide, fining hope and love in the face of civil unrest.

16 statues and memorial were defaced during the Sunday May 31, 2020 protests. The graffiti on this public art was removed by Tuesday June 2, 2020. The Shaw Memorial, dedicated 123 years ago on May 31st, the same day it was defaced. The memorial celebrates the first African American volunteer infantry unit, the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, that fought after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. At the Lincoln Memorial vandals wrote “Yall not tired yet?” in black spray paint. There was also some spatter at the base of Lincoln’s legs. It is strange that vandals would attack a monument to someone who fought for their freedom. Because of the actions of the vandals, peaceful protestors would suffer.

A US Park Police spokesperson said Friday in an interview it was a “mistake” to insist in a statement on Tuesday June 2, 2020, that it didn’t use tear gas in Lafayette Square, near the White House, to disperse a crowd ahead of President Trump’s photo op, at Saint Luke’s Church, explicitly noting that pepper balls shot by officials irritate the eyes and cause tears. The White House insisted on semantics, asking the press to retract their earlier reports. The reports were accurate. “Tear gas” is a broad term, often defined as a synthetic chemical irritant. Pepper spray is a naturally derived chemical irritant that causes many effects similar to that of common types of tear gas, including temporary blindness and a burning sensation in the nose. Regardless of the gas used by the various agencies, it was an attack on peaceful demonstrators as seen in video shot during the attack.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper joined Donald Trump on the walk across the street to St Luke’s Church after the attack that cleared the street. He claimed ignorance over the church stunt, saying, “I didn’t know where I was going.” He claimed that he was going along to inspect damage to the vandalized bathroom across from the church. He didn’t have much time to inspect the urinals since Trump marched across the street where he was handed a bible for a photo op. I couldn’t get the thought of him going to inspect the urinals. Up until the 60s bathrooms and water fountains were segregated, with signs for Blacks and Whites. It is as if Trump wants to use the military to bring us back to those days. Regardless it isn’t reassuring that the defense secretary had no idea where he was going. He was just along for Trumps wild ride.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  said Thursday June 4, 2020 that it was “stunning” and “scary” to see uniformed troops standing on the steps of Lincoln Memorial. “They crossed a threshold,” She said at a news conference in the Capitol. “While I have great respect for men and women in uniform, I don’t think it was appropriate to have them on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial,”

When Esper realized the Church stunt made him look like a fool, he broke with the president and said he didn’t think the troops should be used to police American citizens. Later that day he was called in to the White House and he reversed his decision deciding to leave troops in DC. 200 soldiers with the 82nd Airborne remained in DC. Finally two days later Esper ordered the active duty troops who were moved to the Washington DC area back to their home base of Fort Drum in New York.

On Tuesday June 2, 2020 Trump ordered military helicopters to fly low over protestors in DC. The National Guard is investigating this unusual show of force. The War Zone reported, that one UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter struck a tree and caused a branch to fall, narrowly missing people below. Another FBI-operated Blackhawk flew low over the capital carrying members of the bureau’s elite hostage rescue team, dressed in camouflaged clothing and wearing night vision goggles. Still another helicopter, a U.S. Army or Washington D.C. UH-72 Lakota, flew so low over protesters that the down wash from the main rotors kicked up dirt and debris. The overflight was done deliberately to intimidate or disperse protesters on the ground.

Former General James Mattis strongly denounced the actions of Donald Trump who had turned the military against American citizens. While Esper caved to his ideals as Trump used the Military as his personal play thing, Mattis felt he had to stand against his former commander in chief.

Friday June 5, 2020 saw another record number of new cases of Covid-19 since the sate re-opened with 1,495 cases reported. That is over 4,000 new cases in three days.