Sunday, April 19, 2020

Profiles in Courage, Denver Health Care Workers Stand Their Ground

Denver Health Care Workers Stand Their Ground


Medical worker blocks lockdown protester in Denver
image credit: Marc Zenn, April 19, 2020, Reuters

A medical workers stands in the road in front of a car carrying a woman protesting Colorado's stay-at-home order. Video credit: Marc Zenn
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‘Operation Gridlock’ protest against Colorado stay-home order brings hundreds to Capitol lawn


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A DeVos-Linked Group Promoted the Right-Wing “Operation Gridlock” Tantrum in Michigan

Edwin Rios  -  April 17, 2020



… Earlier this week, hundreds of demonstrators blocked the streets of Lansing, Michigan, and defied an executive order from Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to shelter in place to combat the spread of the coronavirus. 
The protest, known as “Operation Gridlock,” featured a fair share of MAGA hats, Trump flags, at least one Confederate flag, chants of “Lock her up!” in reference to Whitmer, and far-right groups from the Proud Boys to the Michigan Liberty Militia. They clogged up the streets outside the state Capitol and defied Whitmer’s ban on public gatherings. 
The whole charade was facilitated by the Michigan Conservative Coalition, a conservative political group that doubles as a front for Michigan Trump Republicans, and promoted by the Michigan Freedom Fund, a conservative group with ties to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, a Michigan billionaire philanthropist power broker before she joined the Trump administration. The Detroit Free Press reported that the fund was listed as one of the protest’s hosts on Facebook. The organization also promoted the event on Facebook.  … 
… In a series of odd tweets, President Donald Trump called for the liberation of states controlled by Democratic governors in what my colleague Inae Oh described as the “latest signal that social distancing has fully warped into a culture war, one that depicts Democrats as oppressors willing to sabotage the economy and perhaps, in turn, the president’s reelection chances.”
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Michigan Gov. Whitmer: "Operation Gridlock" Protest Was "Essentially A Political Rally," Put Lives At Risk
Posted By Tim Hains,  April 16, 2020
The "Operation Gridlock" event hosted by the Michigan Conservative Coalition in Lansing on Thursday drew thousands of people to the state capital Lansing to protest the state's strict stay-at-home quarantine order.  
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said the event was "essentially a political rally" and unnecessarily risked lives Wednesday in an interview with MSNBC's Joy Reid. 
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Operation Gridlock’ Arrives In Colorado To Challenge Polis’ Stay-At-Home Order

By Andrew Kenney and Bente Birkeland  -  April 18, 2020

'Stay Home' Opposition Also Brewing OnlineCritics of government efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus are starting to find each other on social media. A Facebook group titled 'ReOpen Colorado' that launched on Monday already has more than 13,000 members. And a conservative group, Colorado Freedom Force, has so far gathered around 2,500 signatures calling on the governor to lift restrictions on businesses and gatherings.  
Colorado Freedom Force part of the brainwashing campaigns of willful ignorance and the stupefying of Americans. … 
Governor Urges Patience In Face Of Pandemic
Nationally, Americans’ fears of the virus appear to mostly outweigh their concerns about closures. A recent Pew survey found two thirds of respondents are more worried that governments will lift restrictions on public activity too soon, instead of keeping them in place too long. That data did uncover partisan differences though; while Democrats fall overwhelmingly on the side of government not reopening things too soon, Republicans are more evenly split in their views. … 
… “Operation Gridlock would be a wholly irresponsible and reckless way to express those frustrations,” Martinez said in a statement. “We must remind everyone that it is illegal to willfully block a public right-of-way.” … 
Gridlock' Protests Come With Partisan Overtones
Protests against stay home orders have occured in states with both Democratic and Republican governors, but the movement has taken on a partisan tone. In Michigan, where the most high-profile demonstration took place, Trump flags and banners were on prominent display. 
On Friday President Trump appeared to encourage people to fight against restrictions specifically in states with Democratic governors, tweeting the phrases “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!” and “LIBERATE VIRGINIA!”  
The Colorado Republican Party is not involved in the weekend protests. But at least one GOP lawmaker may attend. Rep. Mark Baisley of Roxborough Park ...
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Okay, time to bring it back to Down to Earth Physical Reality:

LabRoots,  April 10, 2020

Presented By: Rowshanak Hashemiyoon, PhD

Speaker Biography: Dr. Rowshanak Hashemiyoon is a clinical scientist, author, and consultant. Her work focuses on identifying the altered network dynamics underlying the dysfunctional brain states of neuropsychiatric and neurologic disorders, and fostering the development of novel treatments which alleviate the symptoms of these disorders.

Webinar: COVID-19: Putting together the pieces of the pandemic

Webinar Abstract: With the discovery of idiopathic pneumonia in December 2019 began what is now the global pandemic of COVID-19.  Initially named 2019-nCoV, this disease is the clinical manifestation of a novel coronavirus first reported in Wuhan, China.  Coronaviruses are not new to humans, but their recent evolution has become a threat to them. 

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The specific issue may be different, understanding Climate related Earth Sciences and understanding COVID-19 Medical Science and pandemic dynamics.  

But the political tactics of calculated and malicious brainwashing and stupefaction remains the same.  We Physical Reality respecting people need to figure out how to stand up to such deliberate belligerent bullies for ignorance.  

Might I suggest some food for thought:

6)  Responsibilities of Scientists vs
Responsibilities of Citizens and Students

Scientists are dedicated to their work, given their education and accumulated knowledge, their time is very precious and we need them focusing on their respective tasks.  

They are not the ones to fight for the recognition that their work is rational, objective, factually, and morally authoritative.  They’ve done the difficult task of accumulating, digesting, reporting, and filing the substantive evidence. 

Who’s to defend them and the knowledge they share with society? 
  
A HEALTHY DEMOCRACY DEMANDS AN INFORMED AND ENGAGED CITIZENRY.
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7)  Define the Debate, A to Z

A Constructive Argument based on real facts
with the ultimate goal being a collective better understanding of the issue at hand.  

Such as a Scientific Debate where honestly representing your opponent’s position is required.  Striving to understand your opponent’s position well enough to reject or modify it with the merits of your own facts and reasoning.  

If one fail to convince it means something, and its our challenge to honestly figure out why.  It may hurt, but it’s a learning experience for the intellectually honest.  Mistakes have always been necessary learning opportunities for the stout.

Z Lawyerly Debate, winning is all that matters, facts are irrelevant obstacles to hurdle.  Being skilled in rhetorical trickery is a prerequisite.  Objective learning is not the object.

Amorality, misdirection and theatre are its hallmarks.
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8)  Intellectual Confrontation

The fact is, climate science awareness is being actively stifled by ruthless individuals with bottomless bank accounts and octopus news outlets and a growing army of passionate politically active recruits of the two pronged Koch/Bannon brainwashing efforts.  They have sold a lazy public a pack of lies that have become the comfort zone of all too many today.

How can the misinformation this juggernaut force feeds the public be neutralized without direct intellectual confrontation by masses of informed, concerned, engaged students, and citizens, everywhere it pops up? 

{Do an experiment, go to YouTube search some climate science term, then see how much malicious garbage you need to wade through before the serious honest videos start showing up.  Public input is what controls those things, our apathy is allowing their astroturfing on YouTube a free playing field. Plenty of other examples of the same.}

It’s not about attacking people, it’s about attacking the maliciously deceptive words, the lies and stupidity they’re spewing.   It’s about teaching them how our physical planet operates!

Focus.  Expose the dishonesty in their words and educate them.

A good resource for factual jump starts: 
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9)  Call out False Claims & Lies

When someone makes a malicious false claim, relentlessly demand evidence for said attack(s) - expose those who refuse to produce evidence for their malicious claims.  Examine and expose the props they substituted for substance.

Dissect and confront their tactics rather than being played by them! 
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10)  Better than Skepticism ===> Critical Thinking Skills

The term “Skeptics” has been poisoned by theatre and the grotesque double standard of the GOP.

Critical Thinking Skills is a clear descriptive that explains our process. 
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11)  Confront Trash Talk with Rhetorical Jujutsu

Contrarians depend on personal attacks to distract the discussion from their bankrupt “science”.  Learn to recognize the game, turn it to your favor, be prepared to point out the juvenility of the tactic, while forcing the discussion back to the real world facts your contrarian opponent won’t have.

      fyi, studies in the contrarian mindscape: 

LandscapesAndCycles, Jim Steele’s malicious deception.
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A contrarian shouts: “Science, science, science.”
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google Jujutsu”   ~  Food for Thought, turn the conversation into an exploration of the GOP's tactics of avoidance, evasion and lying.
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Where appropriate, why not point out Calumny in action?  
Be ready to define it:  https://dictionary.thelaw.com/calumny/

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12)  Faith-based Thinking - God or EGO?

Possessing the hubris to fancy that we petty, jealous, fearful, prideful humans can access and understand the real God of Light and Time, Life and Love, leads to a profound disconnect from our planet’s physical reality, and an immoral absolutism.  

It's one thing to believe in an unknowable god, quite another to mistake one’s own hyper-inflated EGO for God. 

for explanation see:
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13)  The pain of our brave new world

Face it, or not, we are like children being inextricably torn from our mother for all time.  Our brave new world is arriving, it will be traumatic, and it won't be wished away.  Our existence is transitioning into an ever more deadly game of Russian Weather Roulette and cascading consequences.

Delusional thinking and disregard for scientific understanding and rational constructive dialogue will only make the coming decades that much worse.  
Why are we all still allowing it?
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14)  WE THE PEOPLE,

have the right to demand honesty when hearing what real experts are trying to convey, without being flooded with the constant deceptive and fraudulent cross-screaming of the propaganda machine of unhinged self-obsessed oligarchs and their astro-turfing thugs.
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About me and why this flier

By nature, I’ve always been fascinated by, and actively learning, about our Earth in all her marvelous aspects - along with the humans she created and the evolving society Earth enabled and nurtured. 

Shared science has enriched me and made me feel a member of this world and this moment in the time that I find myself experiencing.  It’s this feeling of connectedness that drives me to share these thoughts in return.    

Best wishes,
CitizensChallenge at gmail com
for the complete version: 

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