The Daily Q: Georgia is No Peach

In a lovely display of the ripple effect of public policy, the Peach Blossom Cluster dog show is proceeding as planned in Perry, Georgia in mid-June.

A cluster indeed.

Thank you, Deb!

Given that this show will take place in a state where the governor is ignoring those pesky science-types and apparently trying to go viral in the worst possible way, I guess I should not be surprised.

But I am.

The online discussions have been both interesting and appalling. The one side can be summed up as, “WTF?!” and the other as “my choice” and “stay home if it bothers you.”

Wait, what?!

Individual freedom is ALWAYS limited when one lives in community.

You may not drive as fast as you think is safe, you may not shoot someone you do not like, you may not beat your child or your partner or your dog, and you may not share your second-hand smoke, for fork’s sake.

Ponder that: SECOND-HAND SMOKE is restricted — but temporary restrictions about a new killer virus infringe on your rights?!

HUH?

That indoor show in Georgia — with air conditioning, known to easily share the viral love — will not allow you to exercise your individual right to blow smoke, but all you asymptomatic carriers and those with mild symptoms you think are a cold may cough away.

You have rights, after all!

Have you seen this?

Source: http://www.healthdata.org/covid/updates

It tells us with the right measures in place (they aren’t), the soonest Georgia should enter a more relaxed phase — which will STILL include limiting gathering sizes — is mid-June.

MID-JUNE. For a first phase of re-opening. I am struggling to understand how any intelligent and reasonable person could imagine a first phase should include a flipping dog show cluster.

Meanwhile in Canada — a large outdoor show in Alberta has been cancelled; it was to be held in AUGUST.

So outdoors in August is not a good plan but indoors in June is?!

No, friends, it is not.

Georgia may well be a peach, but these days it is a really rotten one.

Stay home. For all kinds of reasons.

Because we should not support or encourage stupidly dangerous decisions.

Because taking this virus seriously is a way to honor those who have lost their lives to it.

Because you matter.

The Daily Q: You Go First. No, You Go.

I feel like we are sitting on a cliff in the midst of thick fog just daring each other to jump, not knowing if the distance to the ground is two feet or two thousand feet.

In Las Vegas, the mayor happily offered to shove the hotel and casino workers off the cliff to test the vertical drop of Pandemic Precipice. Is it a coincidence that many of those workers are Latina/Latino? I think not.

The non-white among us, including immigrants and refugees are — like older adults — apparently a reasonable price to pay so the rich can stay rich. Consider, if you will, the case of Smithfield Foods as you chow down on that hot dog or crunch through your bacon.

There should be a national voice of reason we can all trust to know how and when to jump safely — and there isn’t. This leaves all of us scrambling to decide when and how to act.

Some are jumping because they were told it is safe — we need to wait 14-days to see where they all landed.

Others — like my Dear Daughter and many more — continue to show up for work because they are considered essential.

We have no idea how a mass exodus from the safety of home will impact essential workers. My daughter and people like her are just part of the social experiment being conducted by those who thumb their noses at science while staying safely isolated as they fret over their bank accounts.

I have an idea. Anyone who votes to open something needs to work there.

If the Missoula School Board wants to open schools again, each School Board member should be in a classroom. I am sure the mayor of Las Vegas can roll dice and clean toilets, and that liberty-loving governor of South Dakota can certainly get down and dirty with the dead hogs.

I suspect if the decision-makers were the ones doing the jumping, we would all sit tight on Pandemic Precipice for a bit longer — at least until the fog lifts.

And the reality that decision-makers are essentially telling our essential workers (including health care professionals!) and some of our most vulnerable populations to jump first says much about the need to stay home — and to vote their amoral asses right out of office as soon as we get the chance.

The Daily Q: An Answer

Asking questions is not actually as easy and straight-forward as it would seem but Sparkle and I finally got the question sorted out…

We posed said question to the Pandemic Canine Pregnancy Test…

…ignoring any labeled disclaimers about validity, accuracy, reliability, and so on. Who needs all that negativity shit in their life right now?! Not me!

We gave it a few good shakes and waited for the answer…

There you go. Now you know as much as I do.