So here we are again on a dull bleak Sunday wondering what life is all about as civil liberties are questioned globally and death tolls rise instead of fall. Let's take a look at what's rantable today.
In America as protests across the nation continue calling for police impunity and brutality to be stopped, the USPS is slowly defunked by it's corrupt post master general, what do we find Trump doing? Surprise, surprise he's on the golf course once again. You know what is really and truly sad about the fact he was seen on the golf course again, it's that while he played golf his younger brother died in hospital without him at his side. Trump did however use the US media to say how sad he was (in finely worded letter which was probably written by his speech writer), but can you really believe he is grieving when he is a man that cannot even show empathy for others even his family and by the way is one Trump dying really classed as world news, wouldn't a simple obituary have been enough instead of the full blown media circus for a man who wasn't even in the public eye or a celebrity. Trump may have lost a brother, but millions of Americans have lost or are losing loved one's daily due to Trumps administration ignoring the scientific facts about COVID-19 and you don't see them getting an official announcement by the Whitehouse, do you! If he is really grieving then my condolences, not!
So protesters were seen out in force in Washington DC marching in the rain against the rise in police brutality across the country, while others were seen in New York protesting in solidarity for Belarus's fight against a corrupt election and also further demonstrations were seen outside post master general DeJoy's home calling for his resignation over his handling of the USPS since Trump made him PMG. His decisions have undermined the effectiveness and productivity of a nationally constituted service which is been systematically defunded and run like a fortune 500 company when it is a governmental department funded by the government not investors. While DeJoy faces backlash, Trump has defended the US Postal Service chief while been at the centre of an escalating row over allegations of electoral interference ahead of November's election. The service has found itself in a political battle after admitting it would not be able to guarantee that all postal votes (known as mail-in ballots in the US) would arrive at counts on time, even if they are sent by state deadlines meaning that millions of voters will lose their voice in this year's presidential election, which has been made more difficult to run as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump has consistently denied extra funding for the USPS ahead of the November election claiming that mail in voting is an opportunity for fraud and election interference, yet the only publicised cases of voter fraud have been at the hands of Trump supporters. Mail-in voting is common place in the US as most or all US military personnel vote by mail, as does Trump and his family. But Trump has been unwilling to make a deal with Democrats that included more money for the agency which has provoked accusations of Trump deliberate actions to suppress voters rights making it more difficult for Americans to vote.
I have said it before and I will say it again the powers given to a US president are far too wide ranging creating a vacuum between the power of one person and the elected politicians who sit within Congress and the Senate. The president should only be a figure head who represents the country with little or no legal power to unilaterally enact policy change without it been run through the correct channels first. This thing called executive orders which gives the president power to veto or overrule decisions should be removed or reformed so that one power hungry person cannot enact their own whims over the people like Trump has done on many occasion proving how flawed the American style of government really is. American democracy has been held high as a beacon of how countries should be organised, but in recent years especially under Trump it has been shown to be inadequate allowing corruption and deceit to run rampant through the halls of power. Another flaw is the fact that anyone can run for president without having served in a role of government previously which is just stupid as how can someone without a background in selflessly serving the people ever be thought of as a good choice to serve as leader. Point of fact is once again in Trump, a failed businessman with no background in working for the good of the people been being allowed to run and then elected to the highest level of government which he has corruptly used this power against the people instead of for the people.
On that note I will check in on dear old Blighty on this lousy bleak Sunday. As the debate trundles on over school reopening as we edge ever closer to the time students are expected to return to school resuming their suspended education. The big question is over whether recently opened hospitality venues which have been seen to cause the recent upsurge in recorded cases of COVID-19 should be shut to allow schools to reopen safely. A campaign aimed at persuading parents in England that it will be safe for children to return to the classroom in September is being launched by the government. Under the #backtoschoolsafely slogan, it will highlight the various measures being implicated to minimise the risk of coronavirus transmission and comes on the back of Johnson stating there was a moral duty to get pupils back to school, while the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer stated it was the PM's moral responsibility to ensure that schools reopen and that he expected children to be back in the classroom in September "no ifs, no buts, no equivocation, but also emphasised that it was the prime minister's responsibility to guarantee children got the education they required along with the benefit of being back with their teachers and classmates, again offering his help to the government to reopen schools.
As a single bloke without kids I look at this with a unbiased eye and see that children need a proper education, but also deserve the safety and protection from harm which in this current climate is uncertain. Putting the safety of children first is the role of a teacher, but if that teacher could be the reason children become ill, that is a major factor, as we are yet to understand how the virus is transmitted between victims. If I had children due to return to school I would be scared for them and really unwilling to take the chance they could fall ill.
The ongoing question on everyone's minds is the safety of all concerned and how much the virus effects them relating to such factors as the huge harm caused by lockdown itself versus's the obviously huge harm caused by the virus. When compared the ways the virus is spread in pubs is different to that in schools, so how do you justifiably come down on the side of economic catastrophe over schools? As public health experts continue to urge the government to treat claims that transmission is low in schools with caution because it varies between age groups or contrary to to belief that there is a straight choice to be made, it's not a zero-sum game, it's not the case of if pubs and bars are open X will happen and if you open schools Y will happen. It is surely a case of if everyone is compliant with the rules of social distancing, cleaning their hands and wearing masks in public, you can basically have both at once meaning children can return to school and parents can return to work because without one you can't have the other creating a domino effect. It doesn't matter what the decision is, the reality is that this disease is here and, despite optimistic signs, there is still no clear idea of when a vaccine will arrive. The main point coming from the debate on schools versus hospitality is that the virus is still mostly dangerous for the elderly and vulnerable, so if the country can return to some form of normality those more likely to catch the disease can be cared for.
On the other side of the coin I am classed in the vulnerable bracket myself and have self isolated except for going out for essentials since February and even though I am an introverted unsociable sod at the best of times this week I had to venture out to get my car test done, so while the garage did the test I went in to the local pub next to the garage and had a coffee. It was well set out with the distancing markers, one entrance, one exit, and no one was near me, yet I still felt unsure of myself because non of the staff I witnessed going about their work were wearing masks or gloves. It has been five days since that little outing which lasted all, but an hour, yet on a nearly hourly basis since I have questioned whether I was safe from infection second guessing a sniffle, a cough, a migraine or anything my brain tells me could be a symptom of coronavirus. The point I am trying to make is that even with all these social distancing safeguards I am still not feeling safe when venturing out as I see people blatantly disregarding advisory policy and not wearing masks in public. On that note I will call a day,
Rant you tomorrow!
