TERRY MOSHER

TOP OF THE TOWN – I think we all are guilty of doing some things before we should or need to do. Mary and I still can’t find soft soap at Costco. Before the pandemic, it was easy to find and purchase. Now, we have been told that it sells out not long after the doors open. Now the rush is to play sports before their time and to open schools before most parents would like, I’m sure. When you have a household where there is a single parent (39 percent of marriages in the country will end this year) or both parents are working, there is a desperate need for their children to be in school (sort of child care). Of course, in this pandemic maybe parents aren’t working, or working from home, which would solve the problem of having child care. Bottom line, though, is that the rush to open schools is risky at best. As has been shown with states that rushed to open (mostly red states controlled by Republican governors) virus cases have raised to untold heights, causing deaths that might not have occurred if only these state would have not rushed it. This is why we needed effective leadership from the top, which we didn’t get. Good leadership would have called in all the top experts in their fields to help come up with the best solutions  to reopening the economy, a fact that everybody wanted. But it’s all helter-skelter now. So we see states like Arizona, California, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, South Carolina, Utah, Nevada, Idaho Alabama, and Florida have a spike in virus cases. Washington D.C. also has a big spike. So what to do? Younger people are now being affected. I don’t know why, but they are. Even if we could somehow manage to send our kids to school, what happens when they come home to their parents and grandparents? That would put them at risk. The solution, it seems to me, is to have virtual schooling, which means all public school districts would have to invest in computers for home use. That’s not impossible, but it would greatly decrease the risk because remember we would also have to protect teachers and all the support staff a school typically needs if we physically had in-building school. I also don’t see how you can have school sports, especially football and basketball. The plain truth is we should just shut down in-building school until we get a vaccine or a treatment that kills off the virus. That would take leadership from the top, which we don’t have, so that is probably impossible right now. So shut it all down until then. The same goes for professional basketball, football and baseball. I know I’m fighting against big-money that wants their teams to operate to make the big TV money, but at what cost to lives do we do it? If I tell you one out of 100 professional players in those sports will die of the virus, would you want to risk that? Not me. I wouldn’t. But I’m afraid I’m in the minority. Somebody – I won’t say who – told me a few days ago that, “Bullshit walks, money talks. There is a fear of not having enough and greed of wanting more.”  So true. Money rules our planet. Our capitalist system is set up to award those with the most money. If you are poor, that is your problem not mind. I got mine. That is the common refrain. White and stuffy lawmakers make their living off of you. They write and pass laws that support their financial interests. There is no pity for you. Our system especially rules out blacks and browns, Asians, Native Americans, other minorities and immigrants. It’s called white privilege or white supremacy and if you look at professional sports ownerships you will see what I mean. Money means power and absolute power corrupts absolutely. So expect these pro teams to play through this pandemic. They want their money and forgive them if they don’t care about the risk to the players. Besides, what options do we have other than to forgive and then offer our thoughts and prayers to those who succumb to the virus. That’s enough for you honyocks for today.

Be well pal

Be careful out there.

Have a great day.

You are loved.