The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    Backlash to the Surgeon General’s Comments

    By rmrd0000 on Sat, 04/11/2020 - 10:00am |

    Surgeon General Singles Out People Of Color To Stop Alcohol, Drugs In COVID-19 Fight

    U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Friday singled out African Americans and Latino communities at the White House COVID-19 press briefing, telling them to refrain from “alcohol, tobacco and drugs” to protect their health during the pandemic. 

    Minutes later, after a challenge from a reporter, he said his comments were “not meant to be offensive” and that the advice was for all Americans.

    “Some people online ... are already offended by that language and the idea that behaviors may be leading to these high death rates,” noted Alcindor. She asked Adams to respond to “people who might be offended by the language you used.”

    Adams said he uses the language in his own family and that he didn’t mean to offend anyone

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/surgeon-general-jerome-adams-minorities-drugs-drinking-tobacco-covid-19_n_5e910917c5b6f7b1ea811195

    It is clear that Adams did mean to offend. He follows in the footsteps of black Republicans who for decades have called blacks who are not Republicans trapped on a plantation. 

    https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/23/opinion/blow-blacks-conservatives-and-plantations.html

    Omarosa was know for throwing black people under the bus to gain favor with Trump

    https://www.nola.com/opinions/article_95925724-ae5c-5833-a710-d90033277bbe.html

    Lynn Patton was willing to be used as a prop by Mark Meadows

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/02/28/what-mark-meadows-anger-rashida-tlaib-says-about-our-racial-politics/

    Ben Carson was an icon in the black community, until his politics were known

    https://democracyguardian.com/black-people-loved-ben-carson-until-he-started-talking-politics-7611bf06ce2

     

    We will see Adams defended but, if data is obtained, I think it will be shown that many black people lost faith in the Surgeon General.

     

    “US Surgeon General Jerome Adams says black, Latino & other ppl of color should ‘avoid alcohol, tobacco and drugs.’ ‘We need you to step up,’ he says,” Alcindor reported on Twitter, noting that some will find Adams’ language offensive.

    She also noted that Adams had previously stressed that behavior was not the reason why more blacks people are dying from COVID-19. It’s unclear whether Adams got his signals crossed, went off-script, or simply lost his damn mind.

    The comments are surprising for a number of reasons, including the fact that Adams was striking a very different tone earlier this week. Talking to BET earlier this week, Adams acknowledged that the health issues that have made black people so vulnerable to COVID-19 are systemic. He told the channel, “we’re addressing the social inequities that have occurred and that can cause poor health in our society.” Among the reasons he noted: less ability to social distance because of the work they do and the neighborhoods they live in, as well as higher rates of chronic disease—like asthma, diabetes, and lung disease—that can make COVID-19 more severe.

    https://www.theroot.com/surgeon-general-jerome-adams-tells-black-people-to-lay-1842797456

     

    Comments

    A parallel to Adam's "messaging", for lack of a better word, is Larry Kudlow talking about "people" wanting to go back to work again.

    The racial element is there along with an extra kick of the depiction that all social support is about encouraging people to wallow on a couch. Don't forget to include the Poor White Trash.

    These guys must be a hoot when they gather at parties.


    by moat on Sat, 04/11/2020 - 5:30pm

    Blacks are the canaries in the coal mine.

    Latinos are impacted. Indian reservations are being devastated.

    We simply do not matter. We create our own misery.

    Charles Murray put out a book with bogus statistics arguing that blacks were mentally deficient 

    After that, he went after poor whites who he said were morally deficient 

    A similar tone was set in "Hillbilly Elegy"

    Republicans don't care about blacks. They don't care about poor whites either, but they they get a pass because the racial attack is not taken seriously. Adams specialty is putting people to sleep so they ignore what is being said.

     


    by rmrd0000 on Sat, 04/11/2020 - 5:51pm

    Or the racism has been regulated to a second order effect.
    From Wallace saying "no way my kids will go to school with X" to another way to understand why things happen to people.
    The move does not make it less racist but connects the quality to a bunch of other thoughts. That clump is now a problem along with other problems. There is an additive element involved.

    ETA: To be clear, I am not interested in some accounting where the red column is balanced against a black one. Let's enter all the numbers on the red side first.


    by moat on Sat, 04/11/2020 - 6:38pm

    Lumping all the numbers together did not expose the fact that in some locations, blacks succumbed to coronavirus at a much higher rate than whites.

    The assumption would be diabetes, hypertension, obesity, etc. That is an assumption 

    There is no harm in verifying that other factors were not active

    In fact, the harm might come if the question is not posed.


    by rmrd0000 on Sat, 04/11/2020 - 6:54pm

    I wasn't suggesting the numbers have been lumped yet.
    I am not trying to say questions should not be asked.


    by moat on Sat, 04/11/2020 - 6:59pm

    Understood


    by rmrd0000 on Sat, 04/11/2020 - 7:08pm

    Good.
    You always have been the one who understood the coalition element.
    We are going to have to work that hard to survive.


    by moat on Sat, 04/11/2020 - 7:34pm

    In summary,

    I think enough people understand where they fit in the Republican worldview.

    Most of us don't matter.

    Most Trump supporters don't matter, but are satisfied as long as other groups suffer more.

    Sanders dropped out.

    AOC said that she would support the winner of the Democratic primaries 

    AOC is not a problem.

    Liberals are not the problem.

    Liberals propose solutions suggested by rational Republicans and are characterized as outcasts

    The focus has to be on voting every Republican we can out of office.

    There may be a shot at taking the Senate.

    A friend of mine posts snippets of Trump's words from his daily statements from the podium

    The words are verbal diarrhea

    There is no logic to his statements 

    Republicans still fall in line

    You saw what Republicans think about voters by their actions in Wisconsin 

    You see Republicans state publicly that we should die for the economy 

    We got 99 problems, but AOC and Liberals, even Democratic Socialists ain't one.

    The Republicans are the danger.

     


     


    by rmrd0000 on Sat, 04/11/2020 - 9:21pm

    Yes.


    by moat on Sat, 04/11/2020 - 9:24pm

    Were stuck with the fact that the Republicans   you correctly describe share that epithet with the family next door who came out to shovel  my car.  For all I know the shovelers , share the same bad attitudes .Could be.  Or not.

    I suspect that you are right that most Republicans , think mostly like Donald. But most¨ doesn ´t  = ¨äll .


    by Flavius on Sun, 04/12/2020 - 9:39pm

    Republicans are trying to kill us. We should die for the economy. They are ready to see people who are out of work starve. They forced voters to vote in public risking their lives.

    It doesn't matter if you received a personal benefit from them shoveling your car.

    Would you still want your car shoveled, if the effort instead went to making sure the lights were not turned off on a family that you don't know?

    Those who see the evil of Trump, have already gotten out.

    Edit to add:

    There is no argument that Republicans should be physically harmed. There is no argument that they cannot voice their opinions. They can face counter-arguments.The argument is that Republicans should be voted out of office and that Republican legislative proposals can be opposed. That is what the Governors of Wisconsin and Kansas opted to do through the judicial system.

     

     


    by rmrd0000 on Sun, 04/12/2020 - 11:00pm

    It might be more helpful to start worrying about HOW Democrats are going to save you? 

    You think all of the risk goes away for the poor disadvantaged and for the essential workers if Dem politicians are in charge? How?

    Edit to add: New York has a Democratic governor and NYC has a Democratic mayor and you made a great deal about minorities being disadvantaged in battling coronavirus there. So your problem, it is not just with "the Republicans"? Your problem is with our system including Democratic and Republican and Green Party etc.?


    by artappraiser on Mon, 04/13/2020 - 12:47am

    The Republicans represent the clear and present danger. In a battle you need to address the immediate threat. I want McConnell, Collins, etc. out of the way. AOC is not a present concern.

    The Democrats argued for more direct funding to aid the 99%. The Republicans argued for the 1%. There are Supreme Court justices who will have to be replaced. Do you want McConnell in control?


    by rmrd0000 on Mon, 04/13/2020 - 10:19am

    back to your topic: was the Surgeon General trying to kill you? I don't know if he is a Republican, but I know he works for them.


    by artappraiser on Mon, 04/13/2020 - 8:15pm

    Jerome asked blacks to step up and stop using alcohol, tobacco, and drugs for Big Mama's sake.

    The risk factors are: age > 65, nursing home residence, severe COPD, severe asthma, obesity, immune compromise, dialysis, heart disease including hypertension. and severe liver disease. 

    So Jerome might have instructed people to take their COPD, asthma, and hypertension meds, rather then implying alcoholism and drug use is rampant in blacks with coronavirus.

    Jerome was worthless.

    Edit to add:

    Bring back David Satcher


    by rmrd0000 on Mon, 04/13/2020 - 10:19pm

    Surgeon General was mean to black people even thou he's black. He should stop that.


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 04/14/2020 - 12:32am

    But how can you be so sure that he wasn't also trying to kill them all? Him and Ben Carson in league with Clarence. A plot. Maybe Diamond and Silk are in on it, maybe they are to be sacrificed, hard to know.


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/14/2020 - 1:09am

    Unfortunately, Trump and the Republican Congress are in charge of the national response. Trump had a meltdown on the podium when asked straight forward questions. He has no plan. Several Governors have taken things into their own hands. They are doing the best that they can. Because there is no national plan, they sometimes find themselves in competition with each other. They work out agreements to try to avoid conflict and to support sister states. These Governors often find themselves in direct competition with the federal government purchasing equipment from under their noses. One Governor is considering having state police or the  National Guard protect an incoming shipment of medical goods from China. Why is this protection needed? The protection is to prevent the Trump administration from stealing the needed material.

    You see the meltdown, the repeated incompetence and your major concern is that a Surgeon General is criticized for making a bizarre attack on the black community.

    People see the carnage. The citizens of Wisconsin risked their lives to vote because they see the big picture. They realize that Trump is trying to kill them. You got jokes. They have courage. Some probably had their car dug out of the snow by a Republican and still came out to vote for the Democratic Party. DeWine and Hogan may be rational. Other Republicans in South Dakota, Florida, Georgia, Alabama are not rational. The national GOP wants grandma dead. Jerome rants about ills in the black community, but he did not address the reason that blacks have higher death rates from coronavirus. He did not address hypertension, heart disease, systemic lupus erythematosus in black women, that are the known risk factor. If Jerome cared about Big Mama, he would have told her to avoid crowds. Jerome would have said to Big Mama's offspring and grand children to bring her needed groceries, etc. to keep her safe while practicing safe distancing. Jerome did not do that.. Jerome failed at his job.

    DeWine and Hogan are rational. They are what we call outliers.

    Watch Trump's presser tomorrow and see another rambling outburst and ask yourself if you feel safe in the hands of the modern Republican Party.
     

     


    by rmrd0000 on Tue, 04/14/2020 - 1:34am

     Republican Congress? Did someone tell Pelosi?


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/14/2020 - 1:38am

    She's just a sore DINO, no?

    Anyway, I wish the Sturgeon General would get back to bonesaws & rectal polyp jobs.
    Ever since Ben Carson left off extracting brain cavities, these doctor types just yammer on.
    I mean, it's like Corona Zombie Apocalypse time - where's the rush on kidneys?
    Guess with a prezdent healthiest ever, it's worse than being Maytag repairmen.
    Telling people to stop drinking & get exercise? seems a violation of Hunan rights


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 04/14/2020 - 1:48am

    Cantcha see? Theys out to kill is. With the virus it's just accidental.


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 04/13/2020 - 1:26pm

    Pushing a drug with known side effects is rational?

    Forcing people to vote in person is rational?

    Trying to open up the country early is rational?

    Telling people to sacrifice their lives for the economy is rational?

    Yes, Republicans would have us die.

    Edit to add:

    Here is Peter Navarro getting his ass handed to him for suggesting to Bill Whitaker that no previous President had to prepare for a pandemic. The 60-Minutes correspondent showed clips of preparations done by Barack Obama. Republicans are fine with people dying.

    https://theweek.com/speedreads/908406/trump-adviser-peter-navarro-made-bad-bet-60-minutes-didnt-cover-pandemic-preparedness-under-obama


    by rmrd0000 on Mon, 04/13/2020 - 1:59pm

    Republicans are blocking further aid in Congress

    The congressional stalemate over another fiscal package aimed at providing relief to those struggling from the coronavirus pandemic dragged into another week as both sides dug in and accused each other of stalling critical aid to millions of Americans.

    Top Democrats reiterated that more funding was needed beyond aid to small businesses, including money for hospitals, states and local governments, as well as food assistance to low-income individuals and families. 

    “We have real problems facing this country, and it’s time for the Republicans to quit the political posturing by proposing bills they know will not pass either chamber and get serious and work with us towards a solution,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a joint statement on Monday.

    Their demands were backed up by a bipartisan duo ― New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) ― who asked Congress for an infusion of $500 billion to help states meet budget shortfalls that have resulted from the coronavirus pandemic. 
     

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coronavirus-congress-business_n_5e946b40c5b6ac981513f6db

    Yeah, "they's" out to kill us.


    by rmrd0000 on Mon, 04/13/2020 - 2:03pm

    Yeah, "they's" out to kill us.

     

    I'm sorry, was this a poin​t of controversy?

     

    I know, I know, the mantra goes "great societal fuck ups are more likely the result of incompetence than malice"

     

    EXCEPT when every fuckin' where you look the malice grins back at you...

     

    Then you are merely being obtuse.


    by jollyroger on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 4:56pm

    Lol

    Now we have Conservatives protesting because they love their underpaid jobs so much, they will risk coronavirus. They want to be free to infect the rest of us.


    by rmrd0000 on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 5:20pm

    Recognizing the highest priority in a situation is not about judging the moral worth of your neighbors. I have a Trumpster in my family who would be the first person to help you shovel snow. That person is also one of many self righteous ignoramuses hell bent upon destroying the country.

    People don't "think like Donald." Donald is an assemblage of what some people think.


    by moat on Mon, 04/13/2020 - 11:24am

    Flav, I just saw very good advice from pundits on CNN after the president's  press conference today. Translated and summed up: Just say no to culture wars. Playing culture wars is feeding the troll. Do not feed the troll with culture wars. The troll wants to distract from his incompetence. His incompetence was outlined for history in the NYTimes article this past weekend. Along with falling confidence in his handling in the polls, this freaked the narcissist troll out, hence he needs to troll some more. 

    Will add just now that Anderson Cooper just called the president's video "a propaganda style campaign video", this continues with talk with David Axelrod and Julia Kayyem along the lines of: absurdity, ridiculousness, the president is clearly not in charge of what governors nor what American citizens do, what's he gonna do force me out of my house?

    P.S. Moving on to actual Fed. government in charge, interesting that Maggie Haberman mentioned being disappointed with Fauci's backtracking about what he said yesterday....

    Edit to add: first thing up I saw when I went to Twitter: don't feed the troll:

     

    The White House press corps should walk out of that briefing room right now.

    — Don Winslow (@donwinslow) April 13, 2020

    And on CNN right now is Republican governor of Ohio, Mike De Wine, who said the Feds (not the president) sped up sterilization of masks when he asked them for help. He says the president is using his bully pulpit as he likes and he is taking care of Ohio as he likes, though he will "consult the White House" mentioning Pence in particular but staying away from the word "Trump." He's stifling a laugh about Trump's claim to power, but says "the buck stops with me" as to what happens in Ohio.


    by artappraiser on Mon, 04/13/2020 - 8:35pm

    Something Jerome could have addressed 

    A Virginia bishop who defied warnings about the danger of religious gatherings during the pandemic and vowed to keep preaching “unless I’m in jail or the hospital” died over the weekend after contracting Covid-19, his church said. 

    The bishop, Gerald O. Glenn, 66, the founder and pastor of New Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Chesterfield, Va., died on Saturday night, according to Bryan Nevers, a church elder. 

    Mr. Nevers announced the death of Bishop Glenn during an Easter sermon, which was posted on the Facebook page of the Richmond-area Pentecostal congregation. He said that Bishop Glenn had transitioned from labor to reward.

    “The first thing I asked God is, ‘Why?’ ” Mr. Nevers said. “The bishop has touched our lives in so many ways.”

    Bishop Gerald Glenn in 2008.Credit...Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch, via Associated Press

    Mother Marcietia Glenn, 65, the bishop’s wife, also tested positive for the virus, Mar-Gerie Crawley, their daughter, said in an April 4 post on the church’s Facebook page. Ms. Crawley said at the time that her father was on a ventilator at the hospital.

    “It becomes very real to you,” Ms. Crawley said on Facebook. “I just beg people to understand the severity and the seriousness of this, because people are saying it’s not just about us, it’s about everyone around us.”

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/us/bishop-gerald-glenn-coronavirus.html?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage

     

    Many blacks are in jobs that make social distancing impossible. Jerome could have said that we need to tell Big Mama, as painful as it is, she needs to avoid attending any church that was still holding Easter services. But, Jerome was not up to the task. He had a chance to emphasize something that would actually save lives.


    by rmrd0000 on Tue, 04/14/2020 - 8:30am

    Jerome could have addressed the limited options for social distancing that Some Big Mama's families face.

    https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/4/9/21215630/coronavirus-covid-18-african-americans-chicago-social-isolation-physician-garth-walker

    Amber Ruffin, a writer for Seth Meyers, got straight to the point

    “Late Night with Seth Meyers” writer Amber Ruffin went ballistic Tuesday on Surgeon General Jerome Adams for telling people of color to “step it up” against coronavirus. (Watch the video above.)

    Addressing the disproportionate amount of deaths among Black and Hispanic people in the pandemic during a task force briefing, Adams called on minorities to take preventive measures for their “abuela,” “big mama” and “pop-pop” in a plea deemed “condescending.”

    Ruffin took serious issue with the doctor’s cry for battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Both the comedian and Adams are Black.

    “You friggin’ idiot,” she said in a “Minute of Fury” segment. “You are parroting classic right-wing talking points. If Billboard had a chart of racist talking points, ‘minorities just don’t take care of themselves’ would be No. 2, right after ‘never talk about the real root of the problem ― systemic racism.’”

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/amber-ruffin-jerome-adams-late-night_n_5e970ff5c5b6ead14005c3aa


    by rmrd0000 on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 8:08am

    I think you all are insane. The Surgeon General addressed the often worse physical conditions of people of color and the "social ills" that put minorities at various disadvantages. But his task wasn't to fix Civil Rights - it was to wake up minority communities to their particular dangers - yes, more than poor white folk - and that their actions don't just affect their own well-being, but their elder relatives who are more at risk. So we see black communities start to get hit hard, and we see nursing homes get hit hard, and we hear of the elderly dying at home and not even being listed as Covid19 casualties, but you all are going to sit around for days bitching because your hair-trigger pre-biased minds think the Surgeon General told you it's all your fault, rather than "y'all better be goddamn careful, because you tend to have worse health problems and worse living conditions anyway, and what would normally be normal & just take you out this time just might kill your elder relatives".

    I mean, what kind of crackerjack bullshit is this?


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 3:14pm

    It is not bullshit. 
    You cannot be a part of the solution because you are blind to the underlying problem. One risk is hypertension. Hypertension can lead to renal disease which can lead to another risk factor, dialysis. Lack of access to medical care is a risk. Living in a food desert is a risk factor for obesity. Obesity is a risk factor for coronavirus. Jerome did not address the immediate problem regarding coronavirus.

    The organizations who wanted the racial breakdown on the data did us a service. The emergency room physician above noting the problem with social distancing does a service. Kamala Harris addressing the structural problems does a service.

    You are someone standing on his lawn, shaking his fist, and yelling. Well everyone has to have a hobby.

    People and organizations will press for structural change. Change will be slow in coming, but at least they will be doing more than yelling.

    Note: There is also data on high maternal mortality among black women. It is part and parcel of the same structural problems and effects all economic levels. California is taking action to decrease the mortality rate.More needs to be done, but they are doing, not ranting.

    Fortunately, your ranting and name-calling have zero impact.


    by rmrd0000 on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 3:37pm

    You are one fucked up individual. The Surgeon General has no ability to fix racial inequality in a critical 3-5 month interval. He had about 3 minutes to tell minorities that like he, a minority asthmatic, they are quite possibly physiologically weakened due to typical conditions for minorities, and historical and structural wrongs, and that it's critical the community pay special heed to its health right now despite the crappy lockins and limited ability to exercise and get decent food ("food deserts", right?) and what not. Sure, blacks and Hispanics will have every justifiable excuse for dying and taking Mom and grandpa with them. Is that what you want to hear, another useless "it's not our fault" speech that doesn't address the volley of bullets coming over the hill? Chalk one up for another putrid edition of Political Woke Correctness in America. Won't affect me - I live in a country with health care, sane government, self-made masks,  access to food and medicine and even enough space and sunlight and exercise should I avail myself. Plus a family history into late 80's/90's. (And few guns around, not that that's part of the pandemic equation). So do what you want, I'll go out & put on some more popcorn.


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 3:53pm

    I realize this doesn't effect you. Go pop some more popcorn.

    There are structural problems that can be addressed. I noted that California is making structural changes to decrease maternal mortality. Similar programs can be established for other illnesses. 

    Jerome was speaking about the coronavirus pandemic. He brought up alcoholism and drug addiction. Neither illness is listed as a risk factor for coronavirus.

    The Chicago ER Doctor, the physicians and epidemiologists calling for race based data, and Kamala Harris, etc. are looking at how to change structural impediments. 
     


    by rmrd0000 on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 4:10pm

    you remind me here, he's a doctor, and this is exactly the kind of thing doctors say!

    "y'all better be goddamn careful, because you tend to have worse health problems and worse living conditions anyway, and what would normally be normal & just take you out this time just might kill your elder relatives".

    They lecture you. That's what doctors do. I just saw one on a televisit. That's what she did. I think really good ones can intuit how much they need to talk in your lingo and adjust to your knowledge level. And the bad ones make a mistake about reading who you are.

    In this case, he was lecturing to a certain group or tribe, a stereotype. Truth is that's why it might be insulting.  What I think rmrd doesn't get: all people like to be treated as individuals, not as a tribe. And just like the Sturgeon here, he's always lumping them into a tribe, just didn't happen to like the Sturgeon's stereotyping.


    by artappraiser on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 4:10pm

    Oh, many would like being talked to like a tribe if it was the right tribe like thing they wanted to hear, like "y'all be the awesome, keep on keeping on", with a bit of motivational Kobe Bryant chitchat.


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 4:20pm

    I think really good ones can intuit how much they need to talk in your lingo and adjust to your knowledge level.

    Condescending

    As Pew noted, blacks saw coronavirus as a bigger threat than whites did.

    The bigger problem was having jobs requiring close contact with people.

     

    I lump people into tribes.

    Jerome lumped people into a tribe. 

    Jerome insulted the tribe. 

    The good ones can intuit.

    Jerome didn't intuit 

    Jerome is a bad one.


    by rmrd0000 on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 4:25pm

    A black working next to a white will have a greater chance of infection, a greater chance of dying, a greater chance of infecting and killing one's grandparents. Men have greater chance than women. You can analyze all you want, but for the next 2 months, the best advice is "live, eat, sleep as healthy as possible, distance where possible". And doubly so if you're around old people. I already went into 90% lockdown for 2 weeks due to some concerns. Pissed me off, I had a lot I wanted to do, but it was a show stopper (there were some significant doubts after a few days or I would have made it 100%)


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 4:53pm

    A Wisconsin study identified a 7.3 (male) and 5.6 (female) difference in white/black lifespans, with homicides only accounting for 1 year of difference.

    Whereas homicide contributed most to the racial gap in male longevity during late adolescence and early adulthood, heart disease and cancer exerted most of their influence between ages 50–70 for both males and females. Other notable contributors were unintentional injuries (males), diabetes and cerebrovascular disease (females), and perinatal conditions (males and females).

    Those weakened adults are in greater danger than other 60+ groups, and infections or even asymptotic carrier status among their kids and grandkids can kill their parents and grandparents easier than other ethnic groups, and add the often closer living conditions to increase chances of transmission means start worrying.

    Or don't. I guess it's racist to take physiological and community conditions in account.


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 3:29pm

     I guess it's racist to take physiological and community conditions in account.

    The Chicago emergency physician above noted close living conditions and poverty as factors.

    Immediate and targeted intervention specific to African-American communities in Chicago is needed. It should include:

    1) Mass testing for the virus for our most vulnerable populations. By doing so, we can understand the extent of the virus and apply targeted strategies to minimize the spread within the community. 

    2) An action plan to direct COVID-19 positive patients to the treatment they need and provide necessary information to their families and communities to prevent further spread of the virus. 

    3) Access to housing options if self-quarantine is a challenge and physical isolation is not practical.

    4) Ramping up delivery networks so the most vulnerable populations do not need to keep going out for food and medication.

    5) Stimulus relief for those who are sick due to COVID-19 to buffer and mimic the length of time a virus is alive — 10 to 15 days from positive identification.

    6) If community members have essential jobs, supply protective gear of mask, gloves and hand hygiene.

    Longer term, we need paid sick leave and universal health insurance coverage for all. And we need to rebuild our low-income communities and give everyone a fair shot at a good job and a decent life.

    Not everyone has the luxury of being able to physically isolate effectively. Not everyone can stay at home safely. If a family member has an essential job, such as delivering mail, driving a truck or working as a grocer, the risk to their family increases.

     


    by rmrd0000 on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 3:50pm

    He's the Surgeon General, not the President. Surgeon Generals usually say "eat healthy" and stuff like that, and it wasn't even until Koop(?) that we had one who anyone notices. And yu've seen what happens to any public advisor, especially in health, who seems smarter than Trump, yet you want the Black guy to commit career suicide for what's not even his job. Curious.


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 4:16pm

    He was there to talk about coronavirus. He talked about Big Mama, alcohol, and drugs.


    by rmrd0000 on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 4:27pm

    He said in the middle of a longer sentence "stay away from alcohol, tobacco, and drugs" - he didn't "talk" about them - if he had, he might have told you that smoking greatly increases your chance of catching, and dying from, Covid19:

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-08/smoking-helps-open-ga...

    But that would just piss you off, because you want to be a victim. It's pretty obvious that for EVERYONE, during periods of depressing lock-in and less exercise, alcohol (and drugs) only makes mental attitudes and physical resilience worse. (Plus increases chances of domestic violence across all ethnic groups during such periods of stress - God forbid he brought that up)


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 4:33pm

    Take your blood pressure medicine would have had more impact. 

    A victim would let Jerome's nonsense pass.


    by rmrd0000 on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 5:30pm

    Just pondering the horrid kickback if he'd had the nerve to suggest eating mor fruits & vegetables and taking multivitamins. That wouldve been an angry storm.


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 5:51pm

    I'm going to try to dump arguing this stupid meme which is a total deflection from priority.

    I have MSNBC on, Rachel Maddow just started and it's very clear that she's going to do a full show on how the priority should be on nursing homes. That they are the highest infected and dying by far and it is where we must fight the pandemic.

    Forget all this stuff about race right now. Rmrd is just doing his usual cherry picking stories to frame absolutely everything, every news topic on earth, according to race. And the usual suspects are also using similar to drum up votes or drum up eyeballs and clicks.

    But if Maddow's on the nursing home thing, that's where the liberal MSM is going to go too.

    And rightly so, as Ithis is not about killing minorities. If you're going to do conspiracy theorizing, here's the plot: they're trying to kill everyone in nursing homes so that society is more productive and that expense is gone. It's mostly paid by Medicaid, after all. (Heck, even a "killing illegal immigrants" theory would make more sense.

    Thing is, even if you're for the death penalty for old age and think frail people should go off on the ice floe as well to save resources for the young reproductive: it's not science, it's not the way pandemics work.


    by artappraiser on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 9:12pm

    More proof that we are lucky that you and AA are not in charge of anything. There will be a move to directly address racial disparities in healthcare. This will not happen swiftly, but there will be motion in that direction.

    On paper, Biden has a plan to improve healthcare in the black community 

    https://joebiden.com/health-care-communities-of-color/

    We realize that this is not a zero sum game. Healthcare in the black community needs to improve. Healthcare in nursing homes needs to improve. You and AA are locked in a crabs in a barrel fight.


    by rmrd0000 on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 9:36pm

    Of course he does. Go back to sleep, it'll be ok. Joe has your back - all because you and people liked you complained about the Surgeon General. It was a tipping point. America will be renewed. There's no place like home, there's no pla....


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 1:19am

    I've drawn up some lists to elaborate on your point before exiting

    Joe is going to fix all these things, you'll see

    • poor people have worse health and health care than rich people
    • poor people have less space and privacy than rich people
    • poor people have less money than rich people
    • a higher percentage of black people are poor than white people
    • there are still more white poor people than black people
    • mature people have more space and privacy and money than twenty-somethings

    Oops, no, that might be wrong. Maybe that was Bernie who was going to fix all those things.

    Ok I'll try again.

    Joe is going to fix all these things, you'll see

    • there are racist people in the world
    • racist people are actually allowed to live and a lot of them aren't even locked up!
    • there are people in the world that hate other people

    All he's gotta do is tell stories about how he knew exactly how to handle Corn Pop, followed by the one about how his grief about Beau's death will never fade. Then it will all be kumbaya.


    by artappraiser on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 1:59am

    Please, not the wine

    If there’s one thing that’s been helping many of us get through the coronavirus dystopia we’re living in, it’s booze. Alcohol sales have risen drastically across the country since this pandemic upended our lives. (See, it’s not just me). But I’ve got some bad news, fellow drinkers: The World Health Organization says alcohol may put people at increased risk for the coronavirus, weakening the body's immune system. 

    Give it to me straight 

    U.S. deaths spiked to a daily high of more than 2,400 yesterday. More than 654,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in the USA, and more than 31,000 have died. See a map of confirmed cases here.

    https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/2020/04/16/coronavirus-stimulus-check...


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 1:31am

    He was there to talk about coronavirus. He talked about Big Mama, alcohol, and drugs.

    Edit to add: 

    The post is about the backlash to Jerome Adams. There was no profanity or name-calling used.


    by rmrd0000 on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 4:31pm

    Ignore what he fucking said and didn't say, and you provoke reactions. Funny that. If Trump behaved like that you'd be pissed.

    His main concern about drugs and alcohol is you are more likely to become a carrier (symptotic or not)so YOU CAN EASIER INFECT GRANDMA and GRANDPA, people over 60 who stand less a chance, not that you should have better Christian living. Because it's not usually obvious to 20 something's or 40 something's that their health and habits affects *older* relatives, unlike normal periods of drinking and smoking and drugs when you only affect yourself. But you missed all that. Yes, it goes for whites and their bathtub meth or packets of coke or opioid addictions. But they still don't have structural and societal discrimination that minorities do, so *75%* of the dying were blacks. And you want a lecture on voting rights about there, or some other useless as fuck distraction. The house is burning down - run, don't breath the smoke. The plane is sinking - don't grab your belongings, get an inflatable vest and get out a door or window. It's fucking crisis talk, not a campfire.


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 4:34pm

    He did not address the immediate risks related to the pandemic. 
    If not drinking alcohol was the message, he whiffed

    Alcohol sales are going through the roof

    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-alcohol-sales-spike-during-coronavirus-outbreak-2020-04-01

    Voting rights is important because we can then have people like the Chicago ER physician at the podium instead of Jerome.


    by rmrd0000 on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 5:28pm

    He whiffed? He said the word alcohol and your and a million others' heads exploded and burst into flames. Imagine he paused and noted the rise in drinking - a racist! Burn him, a witch!

    If that Chicago ER physician says anything about not using drugs you'll have his balls in a lathe.

    Must. Make. Us. Feel. Good.

    Important for a physician to discuss voting rights in a pandemic. Check.


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 2:17am

    Given your response, it seems like he said what you needed to hear.

    At any rate, there will be a racial breakdown and we will access the available facts rather than just make assumptions

    Right now, a big threat seems to be the white folks who want the shelter in place orders canceled so that they can go back to infecting theirs Big Mamas. 
     

    Don't see such protests in Harlem or Flint.


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 8:31am

    Huh? I'm a shelyer-in-place guy, no idea what youlls be doing over there.


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 11:57am

    Conservatives rarely use street demonstrations to petition their government but when the petty tyrant Big Momma in Lansing unnecessarily expanded her lockdown dictates they had to respond. 

    Power corrupts and Gretchen is a prime example of how some people love the fit and feel of jackboots.

    People in Detroit or Flint are conditioned to submit to the petty dictated of the rulers they are dependent on but the people in Badaxe are not so dependent or submissive..


    by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 1:20pm

    The Trump Death Cult wants people to die.

    They blocked an ambulance from reaching a hospital for ten minutes.

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/michigan-conservatives-not-concerned-about-covid-19-block-ambulance-during-protest-against-social-distancing

    The Death Cult is the biggest threat to life.


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 2:10pm

    Check back on how you view the matter when it is your turn in the barrel.

    The courage you exemplify while ensconced in your bunker is inspiring for us in the middle of the shit.


    by moat on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 3:26pm

    Here is Trump Death Cult member Dr. Oz

    Dr. Mehmet Oz was the subject of much ire online after appearing on “The Sean Hannity Show” to talk about the coronavirus and making some bold suggestions about how life can return to normal.

    The doctor and TV star told host Sean Hannity that he thinks “schools are a very appetizing opportunity” in the efforts to allow the United States to get our “mojo back.”

    “I just saw a nice piece in The Lancet arguing the opening of schools may only cost us 2-3%, in terms of total mortality,” explained Oz, referencing a percentage that suggests thousands could potentially die. As of Thursday, there are more than 600,000 confirmed cases in the U.S., and more than 26,000 deaths. Worldwide, more than 140,000 have died, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins university.

    “Any, you know, any life is a life lost, but to get every child back into a school where they’re safely being educated, being fed, and making the most out of their lives, with the theoretical risk on the back side. That might be a tradeoff some folks would consider.”

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dr-oz-coronavirus-schools-reopening_n_5e988d38c5b65eae70a0fbcb

     

    He is encouraged on by you and by Trump. Need to defy those stay in place orders

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/04/17/states-that-trump-wants-liberate-dont-pass-benchmarks-he-himself-set/


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 4:31pm

    Governor Witmer owns the stupid Death Squad

    "It's that kind of irresponsible action that puts us in this situation where we might have to actually think about extending stay-at-home orders, which is supposedly what they protesting," Whitmer, a Democrat, said in an interview with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. 

    "When you see a political rally – that's what it was yesterday, a political rally – where people aren't wearing masks and they're in close quarters and they're touching one another, you know that that's precisely what makes this kind of disease drag out and expose more people," Whitmer said.

    https://www.cbs46.com/news/black-people-fear-cdc-mask-guidelines-will-make-them-victims-of-racial-profiling/article_df17bfa8-7ad5-11ea-b6c8-ef22f9f4da85.html


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 4:41pm

    balls in a lathe.

     

    Scrambled metaphor alert:

     

    Unencumbered by philological investigation, and purely on the strength of the visuals, I suggest that it is:

     

    Balls in a vise

     

    or

     

    Dick in a lathe.

     

    You are welcome (I guess...)


    by jollyroger on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 3:02pm

    I loathe to lambast you at last, you lathery Lothario, but lathed l'uova look less lilted than your lopped lengua lunga. Leave it lie.

    But as consolation, here's one right up your, uh, alley.

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/1br-is-a-sex-cult-horror-story-blending-sc...


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 5:03pm

    It is not victimhood to point out disparities.Victims would remain silent.

    Victomhood is term term used to dismiss discussion of the facts.

    There is no super magical difference in physiology:

     


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 8:21am

    There is one, at least, that I know of.

    https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-21211/v1

    Vitamin D is implicated in ACE2 metabolic transactions.  ACE2 is thee receptor via which Covid does its dirty deeds., and all humans living this far North are pretty much chronically deficient.

     

    Add to that the higher melanin that we all evolved back in Africa to protect from the high UV rates near the equator, this positive adaptation becomes a Vitamin D deficiency risk for recently kidnapped populations and their descendants.

     

    For earlier migratory cohorts, the selective impact of predators selecting for lower melanin (you blend in better with the snow...) the weaker UV rays up north are more effective in producing Vitamin D


    by jollyroger on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 9:52am

    Kidnapped blacks are not deficient in bioavailable vitamin D  The test measures vitamin D bound to protein. Blacks generally have equal levels of bioavailable vitamin D, they just don't have the protein carrier.

    https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/11/20/246393329/how-a-vitamin-d-test-misdiagnosed-african-americans

    Vitamin D deficiency is certainly present in persons with very low levels of total 25-hydroxyvitamin D accompanied by hyperparathyroidism, hypocalcemia, or low BMD. However, community-dwelling blacks with total 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels below the threshold used to define vitamin D deficiency typically lack the accompanying characteristic alterations. The high prevalence among blacks of a polymorphism in the vitamin D–binding protein gene that is associated with low levels of vitamin D–binding protein results in levels of bioavailable 25-hydroxyvitamin D that are similar to those in whites, despite lower levels of total 25-hydroxyvitamin D. Alterations in vitamin D–binding protein levels may therefore be responsible for observed racial differences in total 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and manifestations of vitamin D deficiency. To improve the determination of vitamin D status in diverse populations, the measurement of vitamin D–binding protein will most likely need to be incorporated into the assessment.

    https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1306357


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 10:54am

    Didn't know that, thanks.


    by jollyroger on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 11:01am

    Low vitamin D has been a controversy regarding risk for diabetes, obesity, and cancer.

    Haven't seen data to suggest the binding protein does something more than just bind.

    It is an interesting thought. Appreciate being able to discuss it without drama.

     


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 11:20am

    without drama.

    .

    Hey, it's just science, it's not personal....(Pace, Galileo)


    by jollyroger on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 2:19pm

    Just a joke for my own pleasure

    Actually had nothing to do with you

    Enjoy the weekend 


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 2:37pm

    Oh I knew at whom the remark was aimed...

     

    you too.

     

    ETA: I just couldn't resist the opportunity to rope in the Pope...(Not Francis, he's the cool one.)


    by jollyroger on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 2:54pm

    Thanks


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 3:05pm

    Wisdom from Samantha Power:


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/18/2020 - 7:09pm