tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19971697861986368852024-03-05T21:31:43.953-08:00VerboStratisEssays by Susan Baumgartner. Copyright 2016-2024.Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.comBlogger187125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-90225921095212693592024-03-03T06:53:00.000-08:002024-03-03T06:53:42.252-08:00My Vessel- A Poem<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWwdfi8l_-uOkYy8oWoF-wruaqEk9dcut7-P7gYkUFEVqhFVU9_lN5qxU59BQBIGqrVmqsIbpOevurYfoh94rFbnUhzbL2UJ9A594OFdV7dgwjrd7KRjyKTK_9HTloeIpHUCf5mgvjNhRJa6iza30YW0sg0zazEuxcFw8jbV2j2cFtUN1VkBNjigzc5ug/s4032/PXL_20210508_194928134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWwdfi8l_-uOkYy8oWoF-wruaqEk9dcut7-P7gYkUFEVqhFVU9_lN5qxU59BQBIGqrVmqsIbpOevurYfoh94rFbnUhzbL2UJ9A594OFdV7dgwjrd7KRjyKTK_9HTloeIpHUCf5mgvjNhRJa6iza30YW0sg0zazEuxcFw8jbV2j2cFtUN1VkBNjigzc5ug/s320/PXL_20210508_194928134.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I thought of my 3 parts this morning and some words came out:<p></p><p> </p><p>My Vessel</p><p>Three parts: body, mind, and soul.</p><p><br /></p><p>Body feels so small now</p><p>How can I bend forward and already be at my feet?</p><p><br /></p><p>I thought I was bigger.</p><p><br /></p><p>My beautiful feet-</p><p>Beautiful because of what they have allowed me</p><p><br /></p><p>Motion</p><p>Drivers</p><p>Balance</p><p><br /></p><p>I love them more now that</p><p><br /></p><p>The path we’re on is so much shorter than it was before.</p><p><br /></p><p>Mind is so much slower now</p><p>Why do I always seem to be forgetting something simple?</p><p><br /></p><p>I wished for years for it to stop.</p><p><br /></p><p>My beautiful brain-</p><p>Beautiful because it has connected and recorded so so many things</p><p><br /></p><p>Sights</p><p>Smells</p><p>Ideas</p><p><br /></p><p>I love it more now that</p><p><br /></p><p>It works more in tandem with my feet.</p><p><br /></p><p>Spirit is so much more content now</p><p>How can I express the delicious peace I am able to reach now?</p><p><br /></p><p>I howled in pain for so long.</p><p><br /></p><p>That beautiful spirit-</p><p>Beautiful in its veil of acceptance that slowly settles when allowed</p><p><br /></p><p>All</p><p>Is</p><p>One</p><p><br /></p><p>My feet.</p><p>My mind.</p><p>That spirit.</p><div><br /></div>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-21528010221549897232023-12-31T09:55:00.000-08:002023-12-31T09:55:23.462-08:00Another Turn<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlRnSdelvz0J5TQQ9lKIWFT8JC7ac7YNvaMFNkTfvYQLYMLwPKwHz618SX9XUQKnEaZihjfdJJmdWy2tLf8-rGDIaHyNEkFOiAWOUnUe7hu_V4AvlDuu7h6ypYRw9TYD-MVkIU7ty27bGSCdaENB0L1euRnF9FUQ5gmHjb0DHF6L18BFJ1T01hgI6c9v8/s4624/PXL_20231231_173205526.PORTRAIT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3472" data-original-width="4624" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlRnSdelvz0J5TQQ9lKIWFT8JC7ac7YNvaMFNkTfvYQLYMLwPKwHz618SX9XUQKnEaZihjfdJJmdWy2tLf8-rGDIaHyNEkFOiAWOUnUe7hu_V4AvlDuu7h6ypYRw9TYD-MVkIU7ty27bGSCdaENB0L1euRnF9FUQ5gmHjb0DHF6L18BFJ1T01hgI6c9v8/s320/PXL_20231231_173205526.PORTRAIT.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Reading my essay from the beginning of 2023 was difficult. So much has changed. Damn that “letting go” thing.<br /><br /><br />We ended Owen’s life on January 6. When I wrote last year’s essay, he was still with us and I said we were trying to hear what he wanted. His last months and the aftermath were both an honor and an emotional tsunami to survive. For the time he couldn’t quite do it for himself, I carried him outside, cleaned him, pet him, and we all loved him and circled up when it was time to bury the shell he left behind. That cat never gave up going downstairs to use his litter box. When I found him struggling to make the journey, I felt I wanted to let him go with his dignity more than I wanted to cling to his precious soul. Was his voice in there, too? Maybe someday I’ll know. The pain of loss is no longer raw but still catches me at times. We put his body into the ground and in the spring we adorned his grave with 13 ginger plants. Finding catnip left during the year by other members of the family let me know they have felt his loss, too. He was and forever will be, family.<br /><br /><br />My written goal on my Twitter account for 2023 was to work on moving the mic to others who haven’t had it. <br /><br /><br />I terminated my account on Formerly-Known-As-Twitter in 2023 and that was another big change for me. I’d made it a habit to use my profile page there to establish for myself and the world what my goal for the year was. While it was never perfect, the turns that platform has made since the new guy in management took over drove me away. That stage is not a place to be right now, in my opinion. Some people from around the globe who had become somehow dear to me are no longer in my world anymore because of that change. It’s strangely painful when I stop to think about it. However, if I send them loving energy into the vast cosmos, I hope it finds them somehow. I can find new and sustaining relationships near and far through other means. I know that truth now.<br /><br /><br />There’s that letting go thing, again. <br /><br /><br />What do I see when I think of 2024?<br /><br /><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For one thing, 2024 is going to be about fledging: getting big enough wings to fly.</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br />Our youngest son will go away for college in the fall if all goes as we see now.<br /><br /><br />I will nurture (with a lot of help) a garden into existence big enough to substantially support 3 high schools if all goes as we see now.<br /><br /><br />I will get into a system of self-care that will see me remain pain-free but develop a return to better food choices, glucose management, and strength/cardio characteristics if all goes as I see now. My body has been handling the carrying of excess weight surprisingly well but it’s time for me to see if my next evolution can pull away from the lures of the flesh a bit and fly a bit further and farther before it’s time for this me to rest. Will my rainbow aura expand and brighten even more? I can hope.<br /><br /><br />I got a second tattoo in 2023. In 2021, I decided to honor the evolution I'd undergone to that point with my first which finally happened in early 2022. I may have physically been stronger through those previous years, but my insides had been an absolute mess. The messages and atmosphere of BTS played a big role in my growth. As did friends. And COVID. And a host of other things. It’s all represented in that first tattoo, which faces me as a daily message to myself: <i><blockquote>"I’m good enough. Face the world with your head up. Speak your truths. Love yourself. You’re not alone and you are much, much stronger than you think you are because of that."</blockquote></i><br />This second tattoo crawls down the length of my left forearm making it easily shareable with others because it’s a message to the world. It's my chosen message to the world. I heard this phrase during the Grammys, I believe, and it was spoken by an Indian award winner. He said it was part of his religious tradition and its truth screamed at me as he joyously proclaimed, “The world is one family!”<br /><br /><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The world…is one family. Wow.</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br />My 2024 will be grounded in that wondrous idea and what it really means. What if we lived everything grounded in that short declaration? It’s incredibly humbling and awe-inspiring to me to consider. The term “family” has always had a bitter current running through it for me so this use helps me work through that. I had the tattoo artist add a bumblebee and dandelion to the phrase. The insects are my family. The weeds are my family. And yours! And I am yours! That darn yellow flower has haunted me for years with its messages:<i><blockquote>"I’m a weed. But I feed others. I birth seeds that can fly to far places. I survive. We survive."</blockquote><p> </p></i></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">They are all my family and I am theirs.</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br />So, my goals for 2024 are ones of flying and acknowledging more and more family. Nothing really new for me from the last few years, but It’s another turn on the theme. I feel a fullness of hope and anticipation for a new year, which are both actually rather new for me. In 2023, I wanted to witness. This year, I want to jump in.</span><p></p><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's time for another turn.</span></div>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-53029836852665209842023-07-09T11:24:00.004-07:002023-07-09T11:41:25.667-07:00Bumpers, First Amendment Rights, and School District Culture<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To Waukesha School Board members Mark Borowski, Bette Koenig, Karrie Kozlowski, Patrick McCaffery, Marquell Moorer, Kelly Piacsek, Diane Voit, David Wadd, and Anthony Zenobia</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />CC: Superintendent James Sebert and Deputy Superintendent Jennifer Gennerman<br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">RE: Support for Melissa Tempel, First Amendment Rights, and Overall District Culture Review<br /><br /><br /><br />I have been a parent in the district for 13 years and have worked in the district for several as well. My youngest will be a senior at South, where he chose to go after his experience in the STEM program. I am very impressed by what I've seen over the last three years and am glad he made that decision. His counselor Mr. Darling has been amazing and my son has come home several times with interesting things to talk about from some of his classes, including Dr. Freshwater’s.<br /><br />The recent open resignation letters from South teachers including Dr. Freshwater, coupled with what I have seen as both a parent and employee through the years, tell an uncomfortable story that shouldn’t be.<br /><br /></span></div><div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Teachers are not robots- they are people.</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Perceptions of and regulations for the promotion of robotic behaviors are both individually and communally destructive.</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />To me, laws and rules act as bumpers: they seek to help us all stay on a roadway heading toward a common goal. I believe the common goal in a school is to create well-adjusted children who learn facts and skills to become constructive members of society, capable of working within that society. All those individuals out there.<br /><br />Cooks. Welders. Parents. Butchers. Pastors. Computer programmers. Nurses. Small business owners. Soccer players. Singers. YouTubers.<br /><br />While a public school district is a public entity, it’s also a workplace. I believe anyone would agree with me that a healthy workplace, one that people stick with and work hard within, is one that makes them feel valued and appreciated.<br /><br />The bumpers within a school district need to support EVERYONE involved. I have developed a deep hatred for the mantra of “Do it for the kids” due to my discovery that many teachers here and across the country have absorbed that phrase in such a way that its actual meaning is “Keep your head down and just sacrifice yourself- physically and mentally”. They feel they must stand stoically and say nothing to anyone about anything. I personally know some who even refused to speak out about a principal because they feared losing their jobs. That person ended up not able to complete their first year in the school, but not before a contract extension was given. <br /><br /></span></div><div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">My guess is that the entire situation ended up being both a financially and mentally expensive one. One that could have ended differently had there not been a lot of fear.</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />I feel the need to mention another phrase that angers me. The phrase “Right to work state”. The original meaning was that employees didn’t HAVE to join workplace unions. Today, for many people it means “You don’t like the rules and requirements in place? Leave. We’ll find someone who will do it. No discussion.”. I see many connections between these two phrases and the situation we find ourselves in within the district today.<br /><br />My point? Yes, we need bumpers within the district to make sure an employee is not spouting off about or promoting something truly destructive and there’s no way to stop them. But we also need to have trust in each other. We need ways to help someone after they hit a bumper so they can keep going down the road with us. Rainbowland was never going to be truly destructive. <br /><br /></span></div><div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This teacher should not lose her job over this. In fact, it was an opportunity to grow.</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />Yes, we need rules. But rules sometimes need to be adjusted to reflect the road we really want to be on, too. The future we really want. Trying to make professional people into robots isn’t my idea of a great future. In fact, I question who was responsible for the robot design?<br /><br />I believe the overall district culture and rules need to be sat down with. Let’s go back to our common goal. I believe it’s to create well-adjusted children who learn facts and skills to become constructive members of society, capable of working within that society. <br /><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Together.</span></h3></div>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-61974915867387431852023-03-08T05:56:00.003-08:002023-03-08T06:02:32.088-08:00On the Subject of Education<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">This week, our public school board posted on their website the "<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CiUgA3BygoiVnZT83v_vd3kNlyv2KHrt/view">resolution to affirm</a>" they approved in January with this as the final (of six) statements:</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-b7dea78e-7fff-db94-485e-f9e68ac864a5"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"No student shall be compelled to affirm, through speech, writing or action, an opinion that violates their deeply held personal, religious or moral beliefs."</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's in a resolution officially titled as being supportive of "parent rights" and "transparency".</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I know why this whole resolution was even proposed let alone voted on and passed. It's based on templates designed by and promoted by groups who identify themselves as "conservative" in an attempt to “save” something. They picture specific topics they wish to not see promoted because they feel that would negatively impact their histories and beliefs.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I outlined in a response to Sen. Kapenga's recent newsletter about a survey conducted by the UW System on First Amendment Rights, I'm concerned about the application of words like "opinion" and "beliefs" within the education system. This applies to all minds. Opinion and belief are not necessarily, at the very root, true. And our understanding of what is true grows the more we explore.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I do believe this resolution substantiates my assertion to both boys during the years that they do NOT have to recite at school the current Pledge of Allegiance that includes the phrase "Under God" instead of “indivisible” as it was originally written because it goes against my beliefs. My kids' beliefs at early ages are, as 99% of all kids' are, influenced and directed by my own. That’s the beginning of early childhood development.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brennan is still under 18 and still within the district. If he decided to say the modern pledge or write an assigned argumentative essay in support of his opinion that God created the world in 6 24-hour periods of time and that each species we see was created as-is, I will question his logic. I will ask if he truly believes these things and why. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Will I get upset? Probably. Will I blame the sources he cites? No, but I will examine them and provide contradictory ones with as accurate & true supporting data as I can find. Would I email the teacher to ask questions to see why he’s writing this? Probably. That, calling, and meeting with teachers has ALWAYS been available. It didn't need a resolution promoting "transparency".</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Will I seek to get myself elected to the board to get a resolution passed that I believe supports my opinions/side but could be used in other directions that I hadn't intended and actually wasn't needed in the first place? Probably not.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Public education is supposed to build an understanding of the realities of this world. I can go into it with loads of opinions, but studying and experiencing different realities will mold those opinions. Hopefully, for my overall growth and benefit. There have been many examples over time that this hasn’t been the case- either because of a single individual or a more systemic one.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However faulty and deeply affected by the society from which it springs may be, public education's goal has always been to help set children up with the tools they will need to live the long-sought goal of "a good life". What does that mean and are we providing that to all of our public? All of our children? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just like the evolution of the realities behind our founding documents, the methodologies and details have changed over time. Thankfully. "We the People" means something completely different today than it did when it was written. "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" also means something vastly different today than it did when it was written. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We and everything else in this world are both deliciously diverse and intrinsically connected. Every day we're alive should be an opportunity to explore those truths and reach deeper understandings. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s real education.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-53529704167119023322023-03-06T12:21:00.005-08:002023-03-06T12:21:51.772-08:00A Response to Sen. Kapenga on the UW System<span style="font-family: helvetica;">The following is the headline from the newsletter my Wisconsin State Senator Chris Kapenga sent to constituents on March 3, 2023.<br /><br /><br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Survey Finds UW-System Students Afraid to Express Views on Campus”</span></h4><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br />He goes on to explain that the ones who are afraid are those with “conservative” political views, stating “Though disheartening, the results revealed what many of us have known for a long time. College campuses have become “safe spaces” for liberal thought and quite the opposite for conservative leaning students and faculty.”<br /><br /><br />I went through <a href="https://www.wisconsin.edu/civil-dialogue/download/SurveyReport20230201.pdf">the 97-page report</a>, and it definitely is interesting. There were very detailed questions about how the student feels about topics (both in classrooms and beyond), if they have opposed a class-focused idea of a topic, and what happened. I fail to agree with Sen. Kapenga’s analysis. For example, on page 18 of the report, in regards to how likely a student would be to “consider viewpoints they disagree with”, the findings were “Across the various topics [bridges and roads, religion, police misconduct, racial inequality, climate change, Covid 19 vaccines, immigration, gun control, sexual assault, transgender issues, and abortion], only about 1 in 10 students reported that they would be extremely likely to consider viewpoints they disagreed with.” So, regardless of where the student was on the spectrum of support for a topic, it seems less than 10% of ALL would “consider” an opposing viewpoint. <br /><br /><br />I’d like to focus on the survey’s focus of the term “viewpoint”. Viewpoint is opinion- it’s not fact. If it’s my belief- my viewpoint- my opinion- that Catholicism is the “best” religion, I would naturally tend to NOT “consider” my classmate’s belief, viewpoint, and opinion that being an atheist is the “best” religion.<br /><br /><br />The survey doesn’t seem to address directly what “conservative” and “liberal” mean to those involved. It did indicate that the only campus with more “conservative” students than “liberal” was the UW-Platteview campus. Overall, there are more “liberal” thinkers than “conservative” ones in our state college system. Whatever that truly means.<br /><br /><br />I’m using a lot of quotation marks because I think this entire survey has issues relating to word choice. What exactly do they mean by “consider”? To debate? To possibly think about agreeing with?<br /><br /><br />Sen. Kapenga asserts that “conservative” political voices are afraid to speak out on UW campuses. The report states on page 20 that “Some groups of students feel relatively more or less comfortable expressing their views.” and breaks down the comfort levels of a variety of groups for each topic covered.<br /><br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Some. Relatively more or less comfortable.</span></h4><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />The topics covered in the survey have both overall life and political layers of meaning- we cannot examine them without that understanding. We also cannot ignore the fact that the survey is asking about BELIEF. It’s my understanding that collegiate education is a time to stretch one’s understanding of the world and what we believe it to be all about. As a first-year med student, I may believe that the human species is at the apex of all of life and beholden to none due to an inherent superiority of some sort. After studying microbiology, parasitology, organic chemistry, and biochemistry, I may realize that while we are amazingly complex, we both need a host of other organisms for our survival and there are some organisms or things that can take us down with little effort. At a personal level, I may have to struggle with any inner religious connotations of that understanding I might have, but that is outside the purview of the collegiate structure.<br /><br /><br />I question at what level many of the topics of concern would even come up in many majors of study. Certainly, if one would take humanities or social science classes, subjects such as immigration, gun control, sexual assault, transgender issues, abortion religion, police misconduct, and racial inequality might arise. The health and natural sciences would cover climate change and Covid 19 vaccines. Engineering might cover bridges and roads, but from angles of their mechanics and expense, not on how to pay for them- business and some social sciences would cover that.<br /><br /><br />I’m left wondering if the fear of speaking one’s truth comes from one of two fears I believe could cause a person to think they may suffer some sort of physical or social harm. First, is the fear of appearing to have invalid beliefs: I don’t want to look foolish because I can’t substantiate my beliefs in a way the group can accept. The second fear is that, if I change my belief I will lose the support of people who have supported me up to this point because of those beliefs I’ve held until now. As one example, this survey showed a majority of people who describe themselves as “conservative” or “very conservative” feel uncomfortable talking about their beliefs on transgender topics. I assume they are saying that this discussion would occur in a class. I also must assume the opinions or beliefs of that self-described “conservative” person must somehow go contrary to individuals who are transgender and/or contrary to what the person thinks are the beliefs of others within the classroom. Those are the logical reasons for feeling discomfort given those parameters. Is that discomfort a bad thing or an opportunity to grow in understanding, which is what college life is all about?<br /><br /><br />I will repeat here that the survey conductors said “only 1 out of 10 students reported that they would be extremely likely to consider viewpoints they disagreed with”. It’s hard for ANYONE to change their mind. I will add that, on page 57 of the survey results, when asked for their “perceptions of how often, in classes where viewpoint diversity is relevant, their instructors create a classroom climate in which students with unpopular views would feel comfortable, or uncomfortable, expressing them”, NO political leaning had a majority where the students felt very uncomfortable- even those self-identifying as “very conservative”. The UW System seems capable at some level, when relevant, of providing a means to share viewpoints.<br /><br /><br />I’m going to share an example from my own time in college (not in Wisconsin) back in the early 1990s that I was reminded of upon reading Sen. Kapenga’s thoughts, the results of the UW study, and my response to both. While I was going from the library to a class, there was a man standing on the walkway with a sign and he was protesting “the evils going on here”. A crowd was gathering and I had to slow down because of that, and I started to hear more of what he was saying, which included his belief that the women shouldn’t be there, but should actually be “at home”. To him, having women seeking higher education was wrong.<br /><br /><br />My gut twisted and my anger rose. I ended up calling out if he thought we should be having babies and he nodded. I have no idea if the university knew this guy was even there, let alone whether they sanctioned it. His views disgusted me, but he meant little to me because I had heard similar ideas before and didn’t accept them. I had to get to my class so I shook my head and got out of there while others stayed behind.<br /><br /><br />The survey given by the UW system included questions about situations such as what I just described: I would be one of the students who would be upset over a university supporting speakers that had offensive (personally and socially) beliefs they were sharing publicly. Should a public university pay someone or give space for someone to say things like that man did? Should I as a student have reported him and complained? I believe I probably should have because his beliefs would deny me access to education if they were followed by society. A majority of self-identifying liberal students in the report said they would report a speaker doing this sort of thing. Back in my day, he was alone. Today he might be fronted by others with weapons to ensure he could keep talking as he wished. Students today have a lot more to consider than I did 30-some years ago.</span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /><div>In closing, I wanted to highlight a huge irony of one result of this survey- a survey that was supposed to unveil students views on Freedom of Speech. The survey asked each student if they had learned about the First Amendment or not and then tested their knowledge a bit. The results? Students who reported they had learned about the First Amendment in their classes scored only slightly better on the First Amendment knowledge items presented in the survey compared to those who reported they had not learned anything about the First Amendment.</div><div><br /></div><br />One thing the survey does make clear is this: we need a lot more focus and practice on the real work of discovering and discussing what is real, what is an opinion, and how we move forward together peacefully.</span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div></div>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-88349068248335914922022-12-31T09:48:00.005-08:002022-12-31T09:50:00.284-08:00Letting Go<span style="font-family: helvetica;">My writing withered this year.<br /><br /><br />I wrote twice, and that is basically a cheat because the first one was my review of 2021.<br /><br /><br />But, having already written my new Twitter profile for 2023, when I re-reading my single piece from February, <a href="https://www.verbostratis.com/2022/02/with-teacher-and-student.html">With Teacher and Student</a>, I see a huge connection with where I see myself going in the coming year.<br /><br /><br />At the beginning of 2022, I was pooped and worried. My Twitter profile included that fact when I said that a goal of mine was to “Just keep going”. To just remain in the system was a goal. If I could stay, I could do the other things I wanted to accomplish: to keep mentally expanding and to also DO what should be done.<br /><br /><br />I’m happy to say that I accomplished or made good progress in everything I wanted. I kept going. I read books and met with people who expanded my awareness. I taught as I thought I should in order to support that awareness. I wrote letters to my representatives describing what I saw happening and what I’d like to see happen, and why.<br /><br /><br />My son started 2022 mouthing off about the stupidity of elections. Over the course of the year, he realized that what he saw on YouTube was false. He saw locally that voting (and whether people run or not) matters. He saw that propaganda doesn’t sway all things as We The People stopped an “inevitable” red wave, that abortion was supported in some states, and that marriage rights would be advocated for by national political leaders even if the Supreme Court was potentially going to not.<br /><br /><br />While he’s not a philosopher, we had some good discussions over the year, as I did with my other son who can’t vote yet. Our young people are more aware than many believe. And, they are motivated to not accept the status quo. I think my hope of not belittling and of empathizing has helped us understand one another better. I am extremely hopeful that I (we) can let go of the reins to them. I think they have great potential to fly.<br /><br /><br />Having focused on being more aware of this huge globe in 2022, I see myself seeking to let go in 2023.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img height="320" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/jh0qujMfqciGm9NDQPFM_gxeYR5e_6zVTuBJLrWp-Q_afoSFVbSfIwwhywaTaSxilbILiDYgYICuHJfiT_u7uqA7hPaVaiDIHBcAbXCsqQHFqJcndgAQMjfT5juVYcJaio8XchpYnzEc3Nj-qLpPiomxzpxghSZ6Zlt2BurKG7YpOdbpCaDIlP0x0HzkZA=w306-h320" width="306" /><br /><br /><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Simply put: the mic belongs to those who haven’t held it.</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br />Many are trying to cling to what they’ve known. We should truly live in a post-colonial world that has nations on equal footing with one another and the non-human components must also be included in that equality of voice.<br /><br /><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">All people. All living things. All non-living things.</span></h3><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br />Who should be off the mic and working in empathic support?<br /><br /><br />Those who cling to the term “white”, regardless of gender or their actual DNA. Technically, that would include me by my skin color and DNA. And yes, I don’t want the mic. For example, I don’t want to run for an office. But I *do* want to support with deeds others who haven’t held the mic: for BIPOC, LGBTQ+, for water, air, land.<br /><br /><br />The white world needs to let go.<br /><br /><br />I am not advocating for the disappearance of any people. That’s a white concept, anyway, and needs to be let go. Some Native American cultures greet one another with a phrase like “I greet you, relatives of mine.”. I learned in 2022 that “relatives of mine” means ALL. That was a humbling discovery. And so full of good potential!<br /><br /><br />This non-white and more-than-human world is a heady concept that goes against so much I was brought up with, and I’m sure others will experience feelings of fear, disbelief, anger, or confusion. Letting go is hard. James Bridle's 2022 book <a href="https://amzn.to/3VKr0Ug">Ways of Being</a> is a great book to support the more-than-human concept. <br /><br /><br />My feline friend of 13 years, Owen, appears to be slipping away. We’ve spent a month of rollercoaster emotions- is he getting better, how much can we spend, is he suffering. It’s another example for us as a family that everyone dies at some point. It’s the daily living that’s important. If we do that, we can more readily let go when the time comes. We’re trying to listen to him tell us what he wants.<br /><br /><br />That circles back to my main point. Cats deserve a voice. Our rivers deserve a voice. Our fellow human beings deserve a voice. Our forests deserve a voice. The cats, rivers, people, and forests on continent thousands of miles from me deserve voices. The UN has had a program on protecting biodiversity since 1992 and just completed an <a href="https://www.cbd.int/">international summit in Montreal</a> that, to me, supports and rolls in those non-human voices as well as those who haven’t had the mic. <br /><br /><br />My only goal for 2023 is to continue this journey toward getting that mic to those who haven’t held it. Bringing the ideas and skills of all onto the stage can let us all work out a better deal…for the whole. My daily actions, words, and connections with others are my tools to do so.<br /><br /><br />I’m thinking of Ukraine, who some thought would be absorbed by Russia in February 2022. People from around the world came together in a myriad of ways before, during, and to this day to make that not happen. That authoritarian leader has destroyed people, land, water, air, and I’m sure many animals. So many voices silenced. But the Ukrainian people and land still cling to that mic and there are others who are supporting them.<br /><br /><br />I confess I don’t feel a fire inside me as I look to a new year. I’m neither in a deep pit nor a scenic overlook with a glorious view. I am here. <br /><br /><br />But you know what? Let’s just go. </span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-55672446541530095202022-02-05T09:41:00.000-08:002022-02-05T09:41:10.228-08:00With Teacher and Student<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"></span></p><blockquote>“No. It’s stupid.”<br />“It doesn’t mean anything.”<br />“None of my friends are voting.”<br />“Who cares. It just makes people angry.”<br />“I’ll just vote for all Trump people. He was funny as hell.”</blockquote><br /><br />These were the adamant protestations of my 18-year-old son about voting this year- a typical mixture of honesty, avoidance, and defiance.<br /><br />As I think back over my life and consider how I would have responded to these statements at different ages and stages, I see more clearly how I and my thinking have evolved. That evolution has been made possible by the people I have been exposed to and the life stories they have shared.<br /><br />That includes people I have been in direct contact with and those I only know of from a distance. Chance meetings, friendships, disagreements, classes, books, presentations, TV shows, and arts- they all add up to who I am today.<br /><br /><div><h4 style="text-align: left;">In every encounter, each person can be, and perhaps should be, both teacher and student. </h4><br />Daniel Tatum said something to that effect to Celeste Headlee in her book, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Speaking of Race</a> and it has stuck with me. I can learn where my son is right now as he speaks. I can tell of my own experiences. We can both listen and take in each other’s truths as best as we can. We can ask each other how we have come to think what we do. Perhaps, the interaction will nudge one or both of us in a slightly different direction.<br /><br />What we are all going through now is not anything completely new to the world, but each day is new to us. It’s a new opportunity. It’s a chance for us to take comfort in the fact that we’re all imperfect, but we can be both bigger and more whole in the future by learning and teaching with each other every day.<br /><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;">“With”. </h4><br />That’s a big word in a little package. To be with someone or something is to be beside- not above or below. Not that you’re the same- but you are there in body, mind, and spirit. Another word that springs to mind is: empathy.<br /><br /><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;">Can I empathize with my son? </h4>Yes. Or, I could belittle and push my own desires.<br /><br /><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;">Can I empathize with a stranger? </h4>Yes. Or, I could belittle and push my own desires.<br /><br /><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;">Can I empathize with a forest?</h4>Yes. Or, I could belittle and push my own desires.<br /><br /><br /></div><div>If I had you, perhaps I lost you on that last one. I do believe an ecosystem has something that one can be with. That’s the subject for another time, but I wanted to offer it for those who might be ready to consider. If it’s too much, it’s OK to step back from the idea. We can give each other some respectful space.<br /><br />That’s how we learn and grow. <br /><br />Did I like my son’s reactions? No. Did I feel the urge to belittle and push my own desires? Yes. I tried to both understand his point of view and offer my own. Did I change his mind? No. But perhaps, not yet. <br /><br /><br /><a href="https://www.verbostratis.com/2017/09/yearn-embrace-try.html">Not yet</a>. <br /><br /></div>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-1675790758305175172022-01-01T11:52:00.001-08:002022-01-01T11:52:48.626-08:00Borahae 2022<div class="separator"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIVNdQcQKyKeSVBlzSJPLT94JOYgW4tXUXy1uo7IJPgnPYrYoOeja4QL9oeVu3uoMJ4mwqu47A_hArLr_99sSLvTmf0tAE0ldFCCqpeHsGJL-o75YeuNKOgz3QZvWg0FwrlblLOcY6O9Hh3Ud4Tdld6_GourJkl1UalK4UOtNQQFhnqmwzXzx2obWE=s1800" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIVNdQcQKyKeSVBlzSJPLT94JOYgW4tXUXy1uo7IJPgnPYrYoOeja4QL9oeVu3uoMJ4mwqu47A_hArLr_99sSLvTmf0tAE0ldFCCqpeHsGJL-o75YeuNKOgz3QZvWg0FwrlblLOcY6O9Hh3Ud4Tdld6_GourJkl1UalK4UOtNQQFhnqmwzXzx2obWE=s320" width="320" /></a>Every year I create a new Twitter bio to reflect my life focus for the upcoming 12 months. It’s time once again and I just read through my <a href="https://www.verbostratis.com/2020/12/oh-2020.html">2020 to 2021</a> thoughts. <br /><br /><br />Wow. <br /><br />Here’s my 2021 Twitter bio:<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/S_uNgk-sW8UDzjFVJ77O4P8oHqVeZsyERwzcojJJPRdEAgWZ3C2WAFeHGvUf3X8X62oaUVFA8JRg2I_UIawyPsCqNRjS7Re0KKBGJzxNV-r0PKjg4WRKc9P6YAioF1Teq8Oqc4xf=w156-h320" width="156" /><br /><br /><br />So...how’d I do on what I wanted to accomplish in 2021?<br /><br /><br /><blockquote><i>“<b>ONE BOAT: </b>Nationally, we need massive efforts on multiple fronts: public health, social justice, green economy, education, infrastructure, and health care. Covid is top, but the others are vitally connected. By the end of 2021, I just want to see some progress on all these. We didn’t get here overnight. We won’t get out of it overnight, either. Dr. Richardson was a reminder to me of that truth and I hope to read one of her books this year to further my understanding.”</i></blockquote><br /><br />I didn’t read any of HCR’s books but I do see some progress in public health, social justice, green economy, and infrastructure. George Floyd’s murderer was found guilty. We have vaccines in about half our population. Infrastructure got some money. But we don’t have BBB and our voting rights are under attack. <br /><br /><br /><blockquote><i>“<b>REAL PEOPLE AND THE PLANET: </b>We need to show we care about both. That we need to care for both. It's not about years old customs and stock prices.”</i></blockquote><br />This one…is still a dream. Build Back Better and other work need to be put into place to walk us toward what we say are our ideals- that this is the land of opportunity for all. We (all humans and species) ALL deserve healthy food, water, shelter, and space to the best of our communal abilities.<br /><br /><br /><blockquote><i>“<b>STAY ENGAGED:</b> To that end, I want to see an expanding political/societal participation by all the people at all levels- especially state and local. Volunteering somewhere. Supporting candidates. Talking with family and friends. Attending meetings as a citizenry. It’s important. Unfortunately, our problems are so big,many can’t do much more than try to survive. Those who can, should.”</i></blockquote><br /><br />My 2021 Verbostratis is filled with copies of letters to school boards and political leaders. I’ve joined meetings and a great book club. I’ve talked and I’ve written. I’m proud of not backing down and feel compelled to forge on in 2022.<br /><br /><br /><blockquote><i>“Personally, I just want us all to feel a little safer- to not feel like everything's hanging by a thread. That's #1. Then, I’d love to work with others and earn some sort of reward in return- money, food, other? Keeping busy would also help me shed some of those pandemic pounds. I’d love my kids to get back into society and the oldest to get a job and his driver’s license. A nature-based retreat sounds delightful: I want stars, water, and living stuff. And a bustling gathering of friends with great food, music, and drinks would be a dream come true. That's it. Well, that and finally see BTS again live.”</i></blockquote><br /><br />Except for the first line, I have achieved this entire paragraph. I feel less safe today than January 2021 and it’s not because of the current administration. I have found a new way to work with others, my children have rejoined the world, and our oldest has gotten a job and his driver’s licence. And though it did take until December, I was gloriously and joyfully able to see BTS again live. This time with a friend in a new environment I never dreamed I’d be a part of.<br /></span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What about 2022?</span></h2><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjWeQDHcaWWp4sQF8A6INcDn6aizNpqEmmuLynl1TepgkfXAFwObBCV41cFDrbcwZ5tVVTs_W8zjn-HPOIMLCBgHsClgpaUtjMMsxGGLwZoyuS639hQEV7KiyfmcB1NJWUpE0FyAszQ8fX6FIPCnMgCReju41K2cHBZtUAq12rxylUfU_OoPf77CrN=s1294" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1294" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjWeQDHcaWWp4sQF8A6INcDn6aizNpqEmmuLynl1TepgkfXAFwObBCV41cFDrbcwZ5tVVTs_W8zjn-HPOIMLCBgHsClgpaUtjMMsxGGLwZoyuS639hQEV7KiyfmcB1NJWUpE0FyAszQ8fX6FIPCnMgCReju41K2cHBZtUAq12rxylUfU_OoPf77CrN=s320" width="267" /></a><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">KEEP EXPANDING MY AWARENESS OF THIS WORLDWIDE WEB OF LIFE</span></h2><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />It’s a never-ending journey of discoveries and realizations: this person and I share X, that organism gives me Y, this element connects me with that, this country reminds me of that country but that other country has a really cool and different way of doing this.<br /><br /><br /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">KEEP STRETCHING MY HEART AND POSITIVE ACTIONS</span></h2><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />Connected to the first goal, not only do I have to see connections, I have to process/internalize them and answer the question, “So, what am I going to do to participate in this?” As an example. in 2021, I began exploring a better understanding of Indigenous peoples of Wisconsin past, present, and future. In answer to that question I’m posing- “So, what am I going to do to participate in this?”, I gladly accepted and began practicing Land Acknowledgements when I am out in our natural world. I remember wherever I step, there are peoples who were stewards of this land long before me.<br /><br /><br /><br /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">JUST KEEP GOING</span></h2><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />Chunks of me are exhausted- at some levels it’ll be good enough to me to simply keep putting one foot in front of the other. It’s a common problem today and by saying it out loud, I weaken the power of the lure to give up. <br /><br /><br /><br /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I PURPLE YOU/BORAHAE/보라해</span></h2><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />According to Urban Dictionary, “Kim Taehyung a.k.a. V of BTS gave a new meaning to the word purple. Purple means love, trust and loyalty. So technically if someone tells you "I purple you", that someone is saying "I'll trust you, love you, support you, and be loyal to you until my last breath".”<br /><br /><br />Using a purple heart tells the reader you trust, love, and support both yourself and them. I can’t think of anything better in life, whether applied to people or anything else on this planet. <br /><br /><br />Here’s to 2022.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />보라해.<br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><br />Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-26209480604556311592021-10-03T11:52:00.000-07:002021-10-03T11:52:16.622-07:00Yes, Virginia. Racism and Sexism Do Still Exist<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix0zOZSUgVCPqZ2lUO-Mse_IeUX1tJb7ZwRvTIOSzB-PP4ngeL3IYmtXKuek6ekwVZ6hRyvJP-1LIbEdzrYXWu1HRRna_Z_bm0y_hQG0p44TZ7twfVel0vohzqFt3rs2D6_Xe-iXn6ydM/s2048/PXL_20211003_183510417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1659" data-original-width="2048" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix0zOZSUgVCPqZ2lUO-Mse_IeUX1tJb7ZwRvTIOSzB-PP4ngeL3IYmtXKuek6ekwVZ6hRyvJP-1LIbEdzrYXWu1HRRna_Z_bm0y_hQG0p44TZ7twfVel0vohzqFt3rs2D6_Xe-iXn6ydM/s320/PXL_20211003_183510417.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>I wrote the following letter today because someone on my Assembly rep's page (Scott E. Allen) said no one reads these bills. And they were sort of right. So I challenged myself to print them off and REALLY read them. <br /><br />Rep Allen stands by the wording of the bills as passed by the Assembly. He had an interesting response in a <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">WISN UPFRONT piece</a> last week that he shared in his weekly newsletter this weekend. I agreed with some of the counterpoints Rep. LaKeshia Myers made. </i></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Senator Chris Kapenga</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-de4b2f37-7fff-2369-8acb-6932a026608c"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 South</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">State Capitol</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">P.O. Box 7882</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Madison, WI 53707-7882</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">RE: Please vote against SB 468, 410, and 411</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Senator Kapenga,</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am writing as one of your constituents to voice my opposition to these faulty bills. I have read all three and have a number of concerns.</span></p><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SB 463 places an extremely heavy financial and resource burden of documentation on already stretched IT capabilities in districts. There already are rules about transparency in curricula that should suffice. How are these extra costs and infrastructure needs to be covered?</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SB 463 creates additional rules for assemblies, guest speakers, and other events that enrich the education of students. Will those experiences be denied students because of fears that something will be said by a speaker that goes against rules such as those being proposed in SB 411? I recall being moved as a child when a Holocaust survivor spoke at my school. That sort of thing may become a relic of the past with the passage of these new bills.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why are these bills being proposed? I heard Rep Allen’s call that AB 411 is simply a means to establish what should not be taught in the classrooms. Has any school, district, or teacher been convicted of doing any of the things described in AB/SB 411?</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SB 411 turns the very definition and understanding of “anti-racism” and “anti-sexism” on their heads. It reads as a call for people who have been in power to not be blamed for anything past, present, or future. </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I would ask all Senators to run the teaching of 1845’s Manifest Destiny, the ADA, or Title IX through SB 411. How could a teacher teach these history lessons without teaching about racism and sexism? Were there women and Black people in the federal government in 1845? What led to needing the ADA and Title IX?</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I agree 100% that teachers should not ADVOCATE racism or sexism of any kind. But they have to TEACH it. SB 411 does not clearly state that and leaves the door open to being able to discuss, examine, and make decisions about our modern and historical issues of race, sex, rape, objectification, civil rights, reparations, and bias. </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In SB 411, I would ask that if modern students should not feel bad about people in their past, should we also teach them they can’t be proud of people in their past, either? True equity would mean embracing the goodness of all people through time and acknowledging the bad choices as warnings so we can move forward together.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My issues with SB 410 run along the same lines as SB 411. It reads like a cut/paste with edits to reflect the same ideas applied to all city, county, and state employees. It appears to be an attempt for those who have been in charge to avoid any sense of responsibility for what we exist in today instead of embracing an honest review and working with all of our citizens to build a better tomorrow. </span></p></li></ul><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wisconsin has rebuilt before- we were at the forefront of the mid 20th-century environmental movement. We have great thinkers and doers today in every corner of the state and from all walks of life. Our laws can and should reflect supporting them all as they work to bring us all forward into the future. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sincerely,</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Susan Baumgartner</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-7394817741734939352021-09-20T08:21:00.002-07:002021-09-20T08:26:52.264-07:00We're a Friendly and Adaptable Species<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq72J1iZQNhKSMEEVFd_PBJ0CLdQOQAq0HajEzw2DnFwdl_KVTNig56_jE2MFh8rQqCgAOSgvkC42j4VPFecQapZnJydikgjXfBhPKWm8HmvlSwPZyjqrlGudv4S7B6hnQDgE1ai-A3oc/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="750" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq72J1iZQNhKSMEEVFd_PBJ0CLdQOQAq0HajEzw2DnFwdl_KVTNig56_jE2MFh8rQqCgAOSgvkC42j4VPFecQapZnJydikgjXfBhPKWm8HmvlSwPZyjqrlGudv4S7B6hnQDgE1ai-A3oc/" width="240" /></a></div><br />I sent this message today. <a href="https://youtu.be/jzptPcPLCnA">BTS and South Korea's President Moon spoke</a> at the <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdg-moment/">UN Sustainable Development Goals Moment 2021</a> this morning about how global crises <b>connect us all</b> and the solutions and improvements to avoid further crises need to <b>come from us</b> <b>all </b>working creatively and flexibly...together. </i></span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>I think it fits what I tried to convey in my letter.</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>The title I gave to this blog post relates to an interesting video from 2020 that I saw on the BBC this morning. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/reel/video/p08rvzn8/why-our-understanding-of-survival-of-the-fittest-is-wrong?ocid=ww.social.link.facebook&fbclid=IwAR0AtyzamDGHhEjvjB-pghqhJu159XeaEDzXjfqKnbtKQ1AjoeJb_yEejys">Why Our Understanding of "Survival of the Fittest" is Wrong</a>.<br /></i><br /><br /><br /><br />To the WSD Board and Superintendent,<br /><br /><br />Your job is harder than it has ever been.<br /><br />Your job is more important than it has ever been.<br /><br /><br />I continue to hope you are able to close your eyes and take a long, deep, full breath in, hold it for a moment, and then let it out slowly and exhale fully. Paying attention to that rise and fall can be a reminder of how <u>nothing stays the same forever.</u><br /><br /><br />From the outside, it appears this county and district are attempting an experiment to see how loose we can be with pandemic protocols. No mask mandates nor mandatory quarantining of close contacts seems to be on the outer edges of practices nationwide and beyond.<br /><br /><br />I'm not one to just "do what everyone else is doing". But in certain cases, group thought is extremely powerful. Watching the United Nations assembly speeches in NYC today reminded me of the benefits of us all working together as a worldwide species. Of the necessity, as well.<br /><br /><br /><u>I'd like to ask that testing in schools be reconsidered, especially if masks are going to continue to be optional, which I would also ask you to reconsider.</u> There has to be money for testing and even offering masks. Let's help understand this pandemic and help our kids safely stay in school or get them safely learning off-campus if they are positive and until they are not positive. <br /><br /><br /><u>My 15 year old has been notified 4 times at South of close contact.</u> We tested him on Friday because he had symptoms but because it came back negative, we sent him back today. I have no idea if he had it and we just didn't find it. If he could get tested 4 times at school, I'd be much more confident. You could be more confident, too.<br /><br /><br /><u>This past week saw the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, but it also saw the anniversary of the battle of Antietam, which occurred in the Civil War fight over "states' rights".</u> We need to encourage the full understanding of our past and present- both the golden and the tainted bits. The speeches by students and the Sept board meeting said a lot. I ask you to emphasize and encourage the ideals of inclusion and acceptance of all within the district. All people who act in ways that help the overall whole should *all* be valued members of the community with the same rights and opportunities.<br /><br /><br />It's a huge job.<br /><br /><br />Your job is harder than it has ever been.<br /><br />Your job is more important than it has ever been.<br /><br /><br />Thank you.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-16305497741920700592021-08-27T07:03:00.011-07:002021-08-27T07:47:10.043-07:00Dear School Board<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbrMhP98cb7sunvHwriDgGHErx6yBa-V1_9X7JbyuCBbZ8ZoArToZhLqlwNrrwuH6EYYv6Wge4R_Q-JMnYkXeDD4BTmDof-f85qMpfZKoGb9YDuvh9TuTqK0ZknFhHMEXpPQOPML_NRcQ/s2048/Screenshot_20210827-083532.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1722" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbrMhP98cb7sunvHwriDgGHErx6yBa-V1_9X7JbyuCBbZ8ZoArToZhLqlwNrrwuH6EYYv6Wge4R_Q-JMnYkXeDD4BTmDof-f85qMpfZKoGb9YDuvh9TuTqK0ZknFhHMEXpPQOPML_NRcQ/s320/Screenshot_20210827-083532.png" width="269" /></a></div><br />I emailed my local school board and superintendent the following message yesterday. My last two posts in Verbostratis were letters to leaders and followed a similar thread of thought, but this one is a bit simpler. I welcome constructive and supportive discussion of any of them. <p></p><p><br /></p><p>For background information regarding the topics: </p><p><a href="https://www.wuwm.com/2021-08-23/waukesha-is-only-wisconsin-school-district-to-opt-out-of-federal-free-meals-program" target="_blank">Waukesha Is Only Wisconsin School District To Opt Out Of Federal Free Meals Program</a> </p><p><a href="https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/waukesha-school-district-informs-staff-to-remove-controversial-signage?fbclid=IwAR3iZdLp8MG4rJyfdg6xRcQLd0KdJghcfP6waPSDAF7gqRQxSd1Fe-wbJTs" target="_blank">Waukesha School District informs staff to remove controversial signage</a></p><p><a href="https://patch.com/wisconsin/waukesha/masks-optional-2021-2022-school-year-waukesha" target="_blank">Masks Optional For 2021-'22 School Year In Waukesha: The board of education removed most of its COVID-19 mitigation measures</a><br /></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">RE: Requests to revisit masks, universal food service, anti-racism, and equity</h3><br /><br />To the WSD Board and Superintendent,<br /><br /><br />I ask you to close your eyes for a moment and take a long, deep breath in, hold it for a moment, and then let it slowly out in a long exhale before slowly opening your eyes once more.<br /><br /><br />Breath. We all do it. We all inhale, stop, and exhale over and over all day and all night long. Deep breaths feel good. Whatever we look like. Whatever our bank account says. Whatever language pours from our mouths. We all breathe.<br /><br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">That breath. We are all connected by that one need and many others. Whether we like it or not. Whether we believe it or not.</h3><br /><br />When you picture our students, I hope your vision includes ALL of them and ALL their realities. Do you see all the colors, all the genders, all the religions, all the ethnicities, all the classes and castes?<br /><br /><br />I hope. They all breathe. Just like you and me. <br /><br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">Angry parents, demanding citizenry, fuming pundits. How is their vision? How is their breath? It’s all shallow and constricted. </h3><br /><br />It’s a duty of the board and administration of a school system to help expand vision and breath- to cultivate that broad vision of ALL, despite the broken bits that some have. Will it upset some? No doubt. But we must remember, the goal is to help ALL the students breathe a bit better over time.<br /><br /><br />Because if all the students breathe well, they can create an amazing future for themselves- ALL of themselves- and their eventual children. It gives them the space to try and to fly. That’s what education is all about, in my opinion.<br /><br /><br />There’s a lot going on, but if I just focus on this idea of giving breath to all our students, I see these three things as vital. I hope you consider them:<br /><br /><br /><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><u>Please work that universal food service back in for all our students.</u> Shared meals are a time to be together as a community and being full makes one breathe easier. If there’s extra food, I am sure older students would gladly organize sharing with others in need. Extra waste? Get the students to build a district-wide composting program.</li><li><u>Please implement a mask mandate.</u> We want our kids in school and that face-covering helps. Districts already in session across the country are seeing absences skyrocket.</li><li><u>Please get back to equity and anti-racism.</u> It’s not political- it’s moral. Our history, civics, and literature cannot be taught without facing our full truths. If we face it, we can breathe.</li></ul><br /><br />I really hope the teachers have been provided with a strong support system for this 3rd school year of Covid. I really hope a detailed system is in place for parents/guardians for what the district will do when kids/teachers become ill and what the district needs them to do.<br /><br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">I hope we all work together so we can all breathe slowly in, pause, and slowly out...together. </h3><div><br /></div>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-39221638411663399462021-07-16T15:36:00.001-07:002021-08-27T07:04:56.866-07:00The Future<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcHj9PmN4ID7iQZ3gWeOpvH3up5x9tA_JiFJg1nD67dwyJODNPSohgr-aBi1ulVlk0g0XS6eCbmMKU2LpPs5aJhaE5rYP1IWAe_kYoPRDblBGiy4o7HhxOxZVS45kBTdDQXiqH5Uosrrw/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1243" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcHj9PmN4ID7iQZ3gWeOpvH3up5x9tA_JiFJg1nD67dwyJODNPSohgr-aBi1ulVlk0g0XS6eCbmMKU2LpPs5aJhaE5rYP1IWAe_kYoPRDblBGiy4o7HhxOxZVS45kBTdDQXiqH5Uosrrw/" width="146" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's been a long time since I wrote here. Not that I haven't written- it's been mostly to friends and politicians. Today, I decided to take my state rep up on his offer to allow emailed comments for a listening session he will be holding next week. Rep Kapenga will be at the Sussex Library on July 20 as described in the attached photo.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Here's a copy of what I sent him. I included the request to keep my address hidden as many folks on social media are being attacked for voicing their opinions to politicians. It's a rough world out there. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I am sorry I won't be able to attend this listening session. It would be my first and I would love to, but I have a prior book club engagement. Thank you for allowing written comments of your constituents.</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You ask what is most on our minds concerning the state of Wisconsin.</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></i></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For me, it boils down to this: who is on our team?</span></i></h2><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If it includes <b>kids</b>, we should ensure all kids have bountiful supplies, healthy schools, plenty of quality teachers, and job opportunities after they graduate.</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If it includes <b>Black and Brown people</b>, we should make sure our criminal justice system doesn't single them out for judgment. If a young white woman gets arrested for drug dealing and having a weapon, she should get the same court care and sentencing as a young Black person.</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If it includes <b>rich and poor</b>, both should contribute what they can to our overall society. For the very poor, it's really not worth the cost of collecting. Wealthy folks should pay into the system in such fashions that follow the old adage: for those with more means, more is expected. We have spent 40 years trying out trickle-down. It hasn't worked. We need to change our ways.</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If it includes <b>folks with medical and/or mental conditions</b>, they shouldn't be expected to go broke or work tirelessly just to pay for their medical needs. If human life is truly sacred, we should support ALL of it with universal physical health and mental health care.</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If it includes <b>the elderly*</b>, we should create incentives to support them. Middle-aged folks are left trying to support their parents and raise kids at the same time. If they are unable, the elderly suffer. Again, if human life is sacred, we should create systems that support that. Youth/elderly campuses are just one idea. *And that idea of "elderly" must include *all* elderly.</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If it includes our <b>land, air, and water and all the species that reside therein</b>, we should establish and administer laws to protect them. PFAs are an abomination we know must be stopped. All people should have clean food, water, and air. Our biodiversity relies on those things as well.</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If it includes <b>everyone</b>, we should all have easy access to voting rights- rights that are fundamental to our representative democracy. My choices should have as much of a chance of being picked as yours. The game cannot be rigged through restrictive voting rules and/or gerrymandering.</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thank you again for allowing this sharing. As a constituent, I am grateful. I trust my address will not be made public.</span></i></p><div><br /></div>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-74030494742499277752021-03-12T12:29:00.001-08:002021-08-27T07:06:02.001-07:00Mind Metamorphosis<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzeoyoIfOq03oKuJGx-KkCH98XDlQzN4hYJ6u1IWfiF_IrkKHyv8oEcDX0zgUptCvlk63b-Pt1iQ5GXtFpYxoaXw11A0AUF5-YsRyVYkI9K5z5VQUpKWUoLUPfraW0D6UOY9YPccO0L6Y/s1632/Mind_Metamorphosis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="1632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzeoyoIfOq03oKuJGx-KkCH98XDlQzN4hYJ6u1IWfiF_IrkKHyv8oEcDX0zgUptCvlk63b-Pt1iQ5GXtFpYxoaXw11A0AUF5-YsRyVYkI9K5z5VQUpKWUoLUPfraW0D6UOY9YPccO0L6Y/s320/Mind_Metamorphosis.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 12, 2021</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-64103a7b-7fff-8d3d-4561-8da69581b615"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Representative Scott Allen</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">97th Assembly District </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 West</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">PO Box 8952 </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Madison, WI 53708-8952</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dear Rep. Allen:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As one of your constituents, I wanted to comment on your Youtube video </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWL6umXCpJs">Science, Faith, and Fundamental Fairness</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You reference the biblical message that you and the rest of humanity are created in God’s image and indeed, I recall in Matthew the story of Jesus saying that whatever we do to/for the least, we are doing to/for him. To me, that says we’re not just in God’s image- each one of us is of God. I believe that can help us all not fall back on our ego: the part of us that differentiates the “I” from everything and everyone else. Too much ego leads to overvaluing oneself and one’s thoughts over the other and, in my mind, that leads to that fairness issue you mention. You and I are equals, despite what our egos might want to convey.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ego is an internal mental booster at its best- a motivator that we can accomplish something if we try. It can also help us believe we are better than “other” for whatever reason(s), including but not limited to our looks, intelligence, family, job, sports ability, country of origin, religion, or gender. Too much ego leads to overvaluing oneself within one’s framework of life. Too little ego leads to feelings of helplessness and despair within that framework.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Your tone on the topics of science and gender is pretty derisive- as if your ego has you on a higher ground on these topics. One’s sex is, as you mentioned, based on chromosomes. But when one looks beyond 1980s high school biology of which you referenced, humans can have mixes beyond XX and XY. They (we) are all human beings in the eye of God, I would assume, because they (we) are all his creations. There are even sexual variations in other species. May I suggest “</span><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56189600" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rare bird: 'Half-male, half-female' cardinal snapped in Pennsylvania</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” for a fascinating read in this year’s BBC site on one case.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gender is another facet of humanity. Quite a bit of “gender” is societally-based on the assumptions of sex-based roles that you alluded to. As I’ve already outlined how fluid “sex” is, once we add our personal interests and abilities into the subject of DNA, “gender” can become wonderfully complex. A “man” doesn’t have to be a stern breadwinner (if they don’t want to or have other skills) and can laugh and cry with their loved ones and wear makeup (if they want to). A “woman” doesn’t have to keep house (if they don’t want to or have other skills) and can be a stern breadwinner and not wear makeup (if they want to). In fact, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">anyone</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> with skills and abilities can do </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">any</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> given role and should be applauded for their attempts- it’s a “they” situation, not a he/she. Again, I felt derision when you described gender misidentification as a “fad”. Yes, we all struggle at some level with identity, but to be boxed in any form is one’s truth and should be respected. Some of us get boxed quite a bit more than others. As a woman, I have felt quite a bit of sex and gender boxing. This reminds me of a famous woman whose roles have been the source of much studying.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jesus valued Mary Magdalene. To me, that shows again that all are welcome and that is the fair behavior to model. She wasn’t the “ideal” by societal sex or gender standards. And yet, her name lives on today.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m not going to argue your statement that “biologists have proven men are stronger and faster and have greater endurance than women”. I’ll simply direct you to Georgetown University’s </span><a href="https://csd.georgetown.edu/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Center for the Study of Sex Differences in Health, Aging & Disease</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. There are </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">differences</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and studying all benefits all- perhaps your 3 criteria relate to this sports focus that really isn't an issue. Rather than waste time and money on the notion that women’s sports need to be defended against transgender people, how about we work to make sports and all other realms in our country open and safe for everyone? Women aren’t clamoring for protection against trans people. We want to be safe from sexual harassment as we’re seeing in the Cuomo case and what we saw in the Clarence Thomas case. LGBTQIA folks are seeking to feel safe and equally protected under US law. Black and POC folks are looking for the same. And every last one of us deserves the right to vote and be represented in our government. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are definitely many facets of US life that need critical help to be fair for all. “Protecting” girls’ and women’s sports from transgendered people is not one.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I thank you for your work and consideration for all of your constituents.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sincerely,</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Susan Baumgartner</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Waukesha, WI</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-64927364704937174952021-01-31T13:08:00.005-08:002021-01-31T16:33:21.052-08:00It's Weird. But it Shouldn't Be.<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1m8d9MhQStRMT4fiyKgYvs5zqDu7K5Mnyqdoo-QUlufW8S3_DrmwbasT5aJeOJabda1770bQ6E8x_2X7Ak2z-hWdKdIqyxNLjg-vKnMEgWqxpbCooyL6CXsNDWQsnxHy3m2DKtnPTkSM/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1m8d9MhQStRMT4fiyKgYvs5zqDu7K5Mnyqdoo-QUlufW8S3_DrmwbasT5aJeOJabda1770bQ6E8x_2X7Ak2z-hWdKdIqyxNLjg-vKnMEgWqxpbCooyL6CXsNDWQsnxHy3m2DKtnPTkSM/" width="320" /></a></div>Overcast winter weather can give you plenty of time to think. I’ve been thinking about feelings and perspectives a lot lately. Since January 20, I and many I know have felt differently than they have for the last few years. Some have slept better. Some think the world is over. It all has to do with US politics, and I felt compelled to list a few things about life right now. <p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-a0d02f00-7fff-5844-3c99-bd6846ec4407"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">President Biden hit the ground running. According to federalregistry.com, Biden has recorded 24 EO’s so far. </span></p><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 14008: Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 14007: President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 14006: Reforming Our Incarceration System To Eliminate the Use of Privately Operated </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 14005: Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America's Workers</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 14004: Enabling All Qualified Americans To Serve Their Country in Uniform</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 14003: Protecting the Federal Workforce</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 14002: Economic Relief Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 14001: A Sustainable Public Health Supply Chain</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 14000: Supporting the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education Providers</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 13999: Protecting Worker Health and Safety</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 13998: Promoting COVID-19 Safety in Domestic and International Travel</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 13997: Improving and Expanding Access to Care and Treatments for COVID-19</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 13996: Establishing the COVID-19 Pandemic Testing Board and Ensuring a Sustainable Public Health Workforce for COVID-19 and Other Biological Threats </span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 13995: Ensuring an Equitable Pandemic Response and Recovery</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 13994: Ensuring a Data-Driven Response to COVID-19 and Future High-Consequence Public Health Threats</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 13993: Revision of Civil Immigration Enforcement Policies and Priorities</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 13992: Revocation of Certain Executive Orders Concerning Federal Regulation</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 13991: Protecting the Federal Workforce and Requiring Mask-Wearing</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 13990: Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle the Climate Crisis</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 13989: Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 13988: Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 13987: Organizing and Mobilizing the United States Government To Provide a Unified and Effective Response To Combat COVID-19 and To Provide United States Leadership on Global Health and Security</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 13986: Ensuring a Lawful and Accurate Enumeration and Apportionment Pursuant to the Decennial Census</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EO 13985: Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government</span></p></li></ul><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s weird to see so many topics that support so many different people and our environment. But it shouldn't be.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The CDC has revamped their COVID19 screens and added new reports, including a </span><a href="https://beta.healthdata.gov/National/COVID-19-Community-Profile-Report/gqxm-d9w9" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">daily community profile report</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that is currently 33 pages. In it, Wisconsin is now described as a “yellow” state with prolonged high risk of spread. It’s good to see that all our parameters (cases, deaths, positive percentages, new hospital admits, percent beds used, percent ICU beds used) are trending downward. Unfortunately, testing is also going down. Hopefully neither the new fulltime face-to-face school in 6th-12th grade in the WSD that started this week, nor the attempts of our state legislature to remove Governor Evers’s emergency orders (including, but not exclusively, his mask mandate) throughout the state, won’t negatively impact those data trends. Alas, we’ve lost 61 residents in Waukesha County since 1/14 when I last tracked weekly figures. That’s more than 3 a day. In Wisconsin, for every 100 folks who are hospitalized, 24 won’t make it. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s weird to see so much data on the CDC website regarding COVID-19. But it shouldn’t be. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The White House has established regular press briefings and COVID pandemic briefings. In addition, all agencies have been directed to speak clearly and regularly to the public about what is going on in their areas. The WH transcripts are all posted in a timely fashion on their website. On January 29, Press Secretary Jen Psaki gave a heads up for a trial of giving Biden’s upcoming week’s schedule. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Next Monday, the President will meet with the Secretary of State at the State Department.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Tuesday, President Biden will deliver remarks and sign an executive order advancing his priority to modernize our immigration system.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And Friday is, of course, Jobs Day, and the President will deliver remarks about the economy.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s weird seeing such transparency and breadth of work in the White House. But it shouldn’t be</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In EO 14008: Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, the following wording on scientific autonomy is included:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“President Biden will also sign an important Presidential Memorandum on scientific integrity to send a clear message that the Biden-Harris Administration will protect scientists from political interference and ensure they can think, research, and speak freely to provide valuable information and insights to the American people.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s weird to see explicit shout-outs to the autonomy of science and scientists. But it shouldn’t be. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A number of cabinet members have been confirmed. While they may have histories within the Democratic Party, they passed through the process fairly quickly and Janet Yellen in particular received strong bipartisan support. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Antony Blinken: SECRETARY OF STATE </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Janet Yellen: SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gen. Lloyd Austin: SECRETARY OF DEFENSE </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Avril Haines: National Intelligence Director</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s weird knowing none have direct family or business ties to the current president. But it shouldn’t be.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s weird not seeing the president golfing and tweeting rants. But it shouldn’t be.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s weird seeing the president bow his head and go to church services and memorials to those who have died to COVID19. But it shouldn’t be.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s weird thinking we may actually see shifts at the federal level toward policies that will support people and not “business” and those who control the majority of wealth. But it shouldn't be. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s weird feeling some hope. But it shouldn’t be.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-75934090795727985642021-01-13T05:46:00.003-08:002021-01-13T05:48:12.710-08:00Our Choices Our Dance <span id="docs-internal-guid-0b5097f9-7fff-c65c-5099-7ddf0878f5a9"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEiYD5aW7XMoSO4ramz_tX9EAtIdZoyVwr6kLxJhxmRzs30yEusdX3E2aP44qE_CF8Dj8D86yqlUEm0BzwC-yFgLmC4OHPchaB97vM-NutLGs5erShxjOHdgNARfVKW7pEJ6aZQTfKskY/s4032/PXL_20210109_204919543.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEiYD5aW7XMoSO4ramz_tX9EAtIdZoyVwr6kLxJhxmRzs30yEusdX3E2aP44qE_CF8Dj8D86yqlUEm0BzwC-yFgLmC4OHPchaB97vM-NutLGs5erShxjOHdgNARfVKW7pEJ6aZQTfKskY/s320/PXL_20210109_204919543.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />School District of Waukesha Board of Education Members Bill Baumgart, Joseph Como Jr., Greg Deets, Patrick McCaffery, Corey Montiho, Kurt O'Bryan, Karin Rajnicek, Amanda Roddy, Diane Voit</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">School District of Waukesha Superintendent Jim Sebert</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">School District of Waukesha Deputy Superintendent Joe Koch</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mayor of Waukesha Shawn Reilly</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">County Executive Paul Farrow</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Monday, January 11, 2021</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dear Officials, </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am writing as a resident and parent to advocate that our schools and community adopt a science-based system with gating against COVID-19 that emphasizes safety for all our citizens, especially our students and teaching staff.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A pediatrician friend here in SE Wisconsin shared the recent article by NPR, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/01/05/953705563/how-covid-19-attacks-the-brain-and-may-cause-lasting-damage">How COVID-19 Attacks The Brain And May Cause Lasting Damage</a> with the reflection that they are very concerned about the public not taking this virus seriously enough. We all know today that there is an average 1% chance of death in Wisconsin for those who contract this virus and this now includes 2 of our children aged 10 to 19. In the article, we are shown that there is also the real possibility of developing significant long-term side effects involving the brain. “For many affected patients, brain function improves as they recover. But some are likely to face long-term disability, de Erausquin says.” The damaged brain areas may include parts that control the body, leading to malfunctions in heart rate, blood pressure, and even urinary control. I also recall the Ohio State study in September that showed college athletes with recordable damage to the heart muscle itself after a COVID-19 infection. This virus is NOT the flu. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I believe the push by some politicians to safeguard entities from potential future COVID-19 litigation is because they know that what they are advocating, pushing to stay open (both businesses and schools) and not adhere to medically-based protocols, are risky and dangerous choices.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We can make different choices. Many scientists and medical professionals have established covid gating criteria for different places around the world. Former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden’s PreventEpidemics.org has a <a href="https://preventepidemics.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Annex-1_Alert-Levels-Grid.pdf">great one that includes alert tiers</a> for when and where different ages of school children should be as community viral rates change. While our numbers have gone down, our hospitals are still very busy, rates are “very high” per DHS, and appear to again be rising.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We (all adults everywhere) knew this would be a dance. We (all adults everywhere) knew we’d need to adapt. If rates fell, we could relax. If rates rose, we would need to contract. We (all adults everywhere) have done a poor job at that dance so far because too many sat on the sidelines or even put their feet out to trip those out on the floor. To consider coming back together until we have fewer infections and appreciable levels of vaccinations throughout the community is folly.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We should have done this all months ago. However, it’s not too late as we move forward to finish the second half of the school year. Please do what you can to support and protect our children and staff. Please advocate to those you know within other entities at city, town, and county levels to adopt a strong plan. We need to work together. Please.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a side note, if nothing new is done locally, and the federal government releases plans for vaccinations and/or viral control when the Biden Administration takes over on January 20, I ask that the school board, the city, and the county accept those plans, promote them, and actively put them into practice. Again, we need to work together. As so many have said before: together we rise, divided we fall.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I thank you for your work and your consideration.</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sincerely,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Susan Baumgartner</span></p></span>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-54989394501123065492020-12-31T10:56:00.004-08:002020-12-31T10:57:37.848-08:002020 to 2021<div class="separator"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_nCZuYudFMcvNsaWM_nmv3XJX2iic2buH3PtTeoIFtaWFzZhJ9zzU8z5MhnsM7IJvnJ9jq67mRV_EPU9voWFESOmSrv6zz-CYEMXPn_TFAtmbUps6qvcC_S2HBBGiyuEBgNu_e9uBIyo/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_nCZuYudFMcvNsaWM_nmv3XJX2iic2buH3PtTeoIFtaWFzZhJ9zzU8z5MhnsM7IJvnJ9jq67mRV_EPU9voWFESOmSrv6zz-CYEMXPn_TFAtmbUps6qvcC_S2HBBGiyuEBgNu_e9uBIyo/w300-h400/image.png" width="300" /></a></div><br />Oh, 2020. You little rascal. You got us all with your little surprises. I wrote about my hopes for you on January 1, in an essay called <a href="https://www.verbostratis.com/2020/01/peeping-into-2020.html">Peeping into 2020</a>.<br /><br /><br />I’ve not been one to make resolutions, but my Twitter profile has become a place that sums me and my efforts in 160 characters or less. Revising it annually has become a fun practice. Here are my 2018 and 2019 ones: <br /><br /><img height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/m0FkGG4BXKUSVL7x69vSU3p8sjTXXGO37DDoLa0eg8WE7U8srBHaTv7eF1Mn0Q-_ggRowfFLFFFxoD4zWugd_WGQ7l86hS7ytjsBI26y8mHASLVZEISAZHMJpMTvODfLPajkQM3N=w225-h400" width="225" /><img height="400" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/3R51eD6etOYJFSpDSi5zpFAs-TXoDkYviX93BLRqbVrNpRBZhypGclpENDY509bZFvWJlakXqD6MFdfdXxoPDE2hJMUqaJUcDmBtsRC4jkIKqQ4GlsONSb7fcQ9lpd0dhuBZH0Hv=w225-h400" width="225" /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And here’s my 2020. <br /><br /><img height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/dBgNxSb1Ks9h_Ute8zE5YbZclnb29ZfKwKiTkrQiy3QEAxzYuqdvgqEsAaOhh4YDpgGVgx60oWCQIWnyWrlgd2Eww7MgGS_bSmuGFqU9yiuPhT7oPhREHLOMrWbYznNFPd5x3WWT=w195-h400" width="195" /><br /><br />It’s evolved a bit over the year- which is not something I’ve done before- all thanks to what 2020 ended up being and how I responded to it. I added the she/her. I switched my photo a couple of times- at one point I was so upset at the US political landscape I changed my photo to a picture of a tree stump roughly cut by a chainsaw. My pinned tweet became not a plug to sell my books, but to remind myself and others of my involvement in this country’s problems (more on that to follow). <br /><br /><br />In 2020, I had hoped to write about and learn new ways to present information on how we humans are amazingly linked to each other and to our natural surroundings. I had visions of officially studying and exploring first-hand in my own life and environment the types of connections I had read about in Peter Wohlleben’s <a href="https://amzn.to/2F3VL1o">The Hidden Life of Trees</a> or Robin Wall Kimmerer’s <a href="https://amzn.to/2Q5uSR2">Braiding Sweetgrass</a> in 2019. I pictured filling myself and those I was privileged enough to teach with wondrous examples of these amazing truths and being inspired to project that new understanding into imagining and building a more unified and beautiful future for us all. I imagined bringing people together in closer harmony and understanding to both each other and all the green spaces.</span><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">Sometimes, our connections can threaten us or take us down unplanned paths.</span></h2><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><br />Then, a new-to-us microbe living in China leaped into that web of connections and threw our globe into chaos. On top of that, the simmering racial inequities in the US blew up as more Black lives met early deaths at the hands of police. As each country in the world reacted to SARS-CoV2, we learned so many things about worldwide medical and science preparedness and how leaders can cultivate or destroy hope and direction. I saw political affiliation eat away at things I thought everyone could agree upon. <br /><br /><br /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">The US’s gutted interest in and means to provide communal needs like public health were dramatically exposed to the world this year.</span></h2><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><br />Some might say this microbe is simply another facet of the world’s connections that we need to adjust to- that some individuals will perish but a new balance will eventually be found overall. Some might say that the loss of certain people or peoples is simply part of that every changing balancing act, too.<br /><br /><br />Those notions seem way too easy for me to accept. They free us from any responsibility for our choices and actions and that's not right. Cain’s story reminds us we are each other’s keepers. We are, or can be, stewards of all we touch. I think I spoke to that in my Twitter profile when I said “everyone has outside burdens”: we should try to HELP each other because we ALL have burdens. COVID19 became a universally shared one. <br /><br /><br />2020 hammered home to me that I need to be even more inclusive- my long-term belief in us being stronger together? For all my unity fervor (how many times have I typed "we're stronger together"?), I could do way more thinking, speaking, and writing to promote and argue for that truth. I will do so in 2021. Learning of historian <a href="https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/">Heather Cox Richardson</a> this year has been an incredibly positive thing for me as she is able to wonderfully describe where we are politically and how we got here. Her social media and others have opened my view on how many people are on this path to understanding. Folks like <a href="https://robertreich.org/">Robert Reich</a> and <a href="https://fairfight.com/">Stacey Abrams</a> give pointers on what we can do about it all. <br /><br /><br /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">It’s ALL connected. WE are all connected. And NONE of us is more or less “human”. </span></h2><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /><br />Political sectarianism has settled into the US and I struggle against siloing or vilifying myself. In 2021, I pledge to speak up and stand up, but to also gut-check. Am I shaming or finding commonalities? Am I escalating a situation or cultivating space for us all to work through some stuff? I’m looking back at my experience with <a href="https://www.playworks.org/">PlayWorks</a> and places like <a href="https://www.tolerance.org/">tolerance.org</a> for inspiration.<br /><br /><br />What could that look like?<br /><br /><br />“I hear you say…” Truly listen.<br /><br />“I see you…” Validate.<br /><br />“I also like…” Connect.<br /><br />“What are your three favorite foods?” De-escalate.<br /><br />“I’m interested in our success together…” Extend that hand.<br /><br />“What if we…” Collaborate.<br /><br />“Let’s table this for now.” Walk away from conflict.<br /><br /><br /></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">What exactly do I hope for in 2021?</span></h2><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">Here's my 2021 Twitter:</span><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></span><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiCyR9FhypytJvm1ehwX49IaGqop8kad_gQbMWXrOTSutFge4JdNasDFbxUcLtZcNDRKRIMld51E9uTGvE9Boyy3VAHO_H-IoR9p2mNosGS3_RamGxEU0HCyRgbbiF3OLdCPfwz9-qnrY/s2220/Screenshot_20201231-113228.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2220" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiCyR9FhypytJvm1ehwX49IaGqop8kad_gQbMWXrOTSutFge4JdNasDFbxUcLtZcNDRKRIMld51E9uTGvE9Boyy3VAHO_H-IoR9p2mNosGS3_RamGxEU0HCyRgbbiF3OLdCPfwz9-qnrY/s320/Screenshot_20201231-113228.png" /></a></div><br />ONE BOAT: Nationally, we need massive efforts on multiple fronts: public health, social justice, green economy, education, infrastructure, and health care. Covid is top, but the others are vitally connected. By the end of 2021, I just want to see some progress on all these. We didn’t get here overnight. We won’t get out of it overnight, either. Dr. Richardson was a reminder to me of that truth and I hope to read one of her books this year to further my understanding.</span><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">REAL PEOPLE AND THE PLANET: We need to show we care about both. That we need to care for both. It's not about years old customs and stock prices. </span><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /><br />STAY ENGAGED: To that end, I want to see an expanding political/societal participation by all the people at all levels- especially state and local. Volunteering somewhere. Supporting candidates. Talking with family and friends. Attending meetings as a citizenry. It’s important. Unfortunately, our problems are so big, many can’t do much more than try to survive. Those who can, should.<br /><br /><br />Personally, I just want us all to feel a little safer- to not feel like everything's hanging by a thread. That's #1. Then, I’d love to work with others and earn some sort of reward in return- money, food, other? Keeping busy would also help me shed some of those pandemic pounds. I’d love my kids to get back into society and the oldest to get a job and his driver’s license. A nature-based retreat sounds delightful: I want stars, water, and living stuff. And a bustling gathering of friends with great food, music, and drinks would be a dream come true. That's it. Well, that and finally see <a href="https://twitter.com/BTS_twt">BTS</a> again live. <br /><br /><br />Here’s to a 2021 that sustains us. May we find ourselves more grounded by what we do and experience in the next 12 months. May we be open to fully experiencing all of it, but also able to not cling to any of it. It's the breathing of life that's crucial to our growth and development. <br /><br /><br /><br />Peace!<br /><br /><br /></span></div><br /><br />Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-53143874992245369982020-12-23T15:29:00.000-08:002020-12-23T15:29:00.263-08:00Time Will Tell: The Mess and Hopes of Wisconsin and Beyond<p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: transparent; clear: both; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGXHp74U7R0puX-e11xODWvcHvHFDnO0dr4fFr5FSxAXjdpjD7egDdu_Xe47W9QxZtJBZfB8uVyblD7e9WN5FaOsV8dvqwNIFyY_8GHPdyZDlU8xT4UZTjHC6pJFSOXmlMsYPadGfDX4/s2048/Screenshot_20201223-121017.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1100" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGXHp74U7R0puX-e11xODWvcHvHFDnO0dr4fFr5FSxAXjdpjD7egDdu_Xe47W9QxZtJBZfB8uVyblD7e9WN5FaOsV8dvqwNIFyY_8GHPdyZDlU8xT4UZTjHC6pJFSOXmlMsYPadGfDX4/s320/Screenshot_20201223-121017.png" /></a></div><div><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I didn’t do a monthly look back on the 14th as I have since we were all back intto school back in September here in Wisconsin. The data spoke for themselves. The increasing numbers of folks knowing friends and loved ones suffering and dying spoke of our realities.<br /> </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For a great review of where the nation is at, I again refer you to Dr. Tom Frieden and his blog, <a href="https://www.tomfriedenpublichealth.net/tom-frieden-blog#december-21-2020">Covid Epidemiology</a>, where this week he says this will hopefully be his last report as the federal government operations that normally are in charge of this stuff aren’t being muzzled anymore and are posting this information publicly as they should have been since the beginning. It’s bad. Most of the nation is about “six times the rate at which we figured contact tracing would be hard or impossible” to do.</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Through 12/21, Milwaukee County has lost 942 to COVID19 while neighboring Waukesha County (with 42% the population) has lost 310. There’s a disparity there just as there is in the populations that need addressing but that’s for another day. One could argue that it’s “only” 0.10% and 0.08% of each county’s respective total population suffering the ultimate penalty. One could say it’s “only” a death rate of 1.2% of all positives in Milwaukee County and 0.9% of all positives in Waukesha County.</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But it’s also 1,252 families with new holes at the family tables. Thousands of friends with one less number on their phones. Probably hundreds of workplaces with one less employee, religious organizations with one less congregant, and businesses with one less customer.<br /> </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It’s also about 112,944 folks who have had to isolate- or who should have. Who had to stop working and interacting with others to not spread the virus, thus affecting everyone they live with. Or should have. If those folks worked, it impacted their employers and probably cost them wages. Or should have. The government isn’t helping much in that regard.<br /> </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It’s about the approximate 4,870 people of that 112,944 who have been hospitalized and have either slowly recovered or...are still fighting. 4% of all positives in Waukesha end up in hospital care. 5.8% of all the Milwaukee County ones do.<br /> </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It’s thousands of healthcare workers who have to treat all the positives in their care at nursing homes, care facilities, and at clinics and hospitals as positive cases become critical. Those HCW impacted also have families of their own who are touched by this all: children, spouses, parents…</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Looking at <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus">today’s totals on world rates of covid</a>, the US has the 5th highest overall positive count in the world from the beginning of this pandemic- behind only Czechia, San Marino, Montenegro, Luxembourg, and Andorra. 55,075 cases for every million people. People are suffering around the world, make no mistake. But the US is showing the world a side of COVID19 in a shameful scale.</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The world isn’t partying while the US wallows in some false reality of a fake virus. The fact that the “greatest” country in the world has a huge percent of the population believing things like this and not working together with medicine and science is so depressingly mind-blowing. Watching this unfold has been stomach-turning.<br /> </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We have so much work ahead of us. Dr. Frieden highlights this, too. This virus needs to be controlled and THEN people need to be reintroduced in widening circles to each other in systematic ways. National and international pandemic plans need to be created to be in place for the next time this happens. (I love how Dr. Frieden put it: “It’s literally now or never to fix public health at local, city, state, national, [and on] global levels.”) Our economy needs to be rebuilt, including collecting taxes and/or donations of investment from our most solvent corporations and individuals to restore the nation’s financial strength. All the other crises the US is facing also need to be addressed in their own ways by thought-leaders within those fields, including racial equity, climate change, green economy, education, and health care.</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">After this year is done, we can take a look back and see how our overall death rates compared in 2020 to what we have experienced in previous years. Perhaps folks like me will be begging forgiveness at blowing this virus out of proportion. I for one would be glad to do so.</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We have to get through this virus first. I eagerly await 2021. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></div><p></p>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-76209063452836804812020-11-14T12:56:00.000-08:002020-11-14T12:56:00.847-08:00Time Will Tell: Three Months In and a Challenge for Us All<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTiQt3U6ubmgUr6x95h6eJjbyI8CytQOvgU71xL4-EZKrjpGysjN_96DvjxNSNSamJENtrH09X5vd6rJ8MvFOO7DV7hsoiZuZzmzAaILt9s1unbh2xda93coK3dkERXET9drcODqvXpB8/s1080/E4O8o1605383855.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTiQt3U6ubmgUr6x95h6eJjbyI8CytQOvgU71xL4-EZKrjpGysjN_96DvjxNSNSamJENtrH09X5vd6rJ8MvFOO7DV7hsoiZuZzmzAaILt9s1unbh2xda93coK3dkERXET9drcODqvXpB8/s320/E4O8o1605383855.jpg" /></a></div><br />This line strikes me. </span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This is the one thing Dr. Frieden presses when confronted with the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I have to question it. “Rebuild social cohesion”? We never had it. Well, we had a manufactured unity based on white culture. This election cycle proved that we have issues going way back that have precluded true cohesion of the whole. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And yet, we must have unity moving forward if we hope to manage this microbe and others that will arise in the years ahead. Cohesion and trust are the two items that countries who are successfully responding to SARS-CoV2 have. No one is completely safe from this microbe, but teamwork is proving to lead to positive results and recoveries. There are large countries with only hundreds of deaths and economies recovering.<br /><br />A bit more than 3 months into the 2020-21 school year. How badly are we failing in comparison? I will list mid-September, October, and November numbers. <br /><br /><br /><b>85. 100. 163.</b><br /><br />County deaths. When I took IHME’s state death projections and adjusted them to Waukesha County’s population, I predicted we’d lose 220-240 people by 12/1. That’s only 57-77 more people. It’s highly likely we will surpass that awful number.<br /><br /><br /><b>8%. 21%. 38%.<br /></b><br />County positive test rates. Our testing has remained fairly steady, but we’re losing it on contact tracing. Data are only good if they are received quickly and used. This viral growth is completely unacceptable- we are not isolating it. We’re just saying “Yeah, it’s here." Our contact tracing is now being farmed off to those who receive positive results. <br /><br /><br /><b>134. 484. 1,145.</b><br /><br />County infections per 100,000 people. If we picture the virus as salt dissolved in water, we are living in a really salty sea right now. The virus is receiving exactly what it needs to thrive and we seem incapable and unwilling to change its living conditions.<br /><br /><br /><b>1,210. 1,508. 2,573.</b><br /><br />State Deaths. IHME predicted in late summer that 3,708 COVID-19 deaths will have occurred in Wisconsin as of 12/1. We are within sight of that now, everyone, and we could blow past it. We lost 1,065 people across Wisconsin in the last month.<br /><br /><br /><b>Oh, come on. How bad can it really be?</b><br /><br />If you’re not following him, I recommend checking out Dr. Tom Frieden, the former Director of the CDC, and someone who’s specialized in pandemics and recoveries. He posts regularly and <a href="https://twitter.com/DrTomFrieden/status/1327449021179449344">this week’s summary</a> was particularly packed with both depressing data and helpful information.<br /><br /><br />He references <a href="https://covidtracking.com/blog/weekly-update-nov-12">The Covid Tracking Project's</a> weekly report for the nation:<br /><br /><br /><blockquote>“Cases are up 41%, hospitalizations up 20%, and deaths up 23%. States reported 875,401 new cases this week; <b>1 in 378 Americans tested positive for COVID-19 this week.<br /></b><br />The seven-day average of deaths now exceeds 1,000 per day, a level not seen since the summer surge. States reported another 7,382 lives lost to COVID-19 in the past week.”</blockquote><br />That positive rate seems shocking but we must remember this: that’s only 0.26% of our population. Even if we’re missing 80% of infections, that would still mean only a tiny fraction of our total population has been infected.<br /><br /><br />Herd immunity without a vaccine? Picture what we have gone through to-date and it just keeps going for months. Getting worse. Until finally, someday, it peters out. What and who will be left?<br /><br /><br />This report mentions Wisconsin specifically several times. Wisconsin is among the top 5 per-capita infection centers of the nation at the moment. Mayo Clinic is stating its facilities in northern Wisconsin are full. Full. And now there are data showing our Indigenous population is increasingly being affected by Covid-19, which is just another facet of that overall equity and social justice problems underlying our lack of cohesion and trust. <br /><br /><br /><b>So, all the news just sucks?<br /></b><br />No. Dr. Frieden points to some evidence coming to light about our immune systems and having hd OTHER coronaviruses. There MAY be some “cross-reacting antibodies” that some of us have that might help us combat SARS-CoV2. We still don’t know why some people’s systems react so strongly to this virus, though. <br /><br /><br />We also have reports on two vaccine studies with promise, and about a dozen overall in the works around the world. Data about this virus are multiplying and that can only aid the worldwide fight to control it.<br /><br /><br />Dr. Frieden wrote and published an <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/11/covid-19-is-out-of-control-what-can-we-do/617097/">article</a> in The Atlantic yesterday to expound upon the current situation and our future. My lead quote is from that article. We’ll be seeing 2,000 deaths per day- every day- soon. Most of our 2021 living will be controlled by this virus. <br /><br /><br /><b>What can we do?</b><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Social cohesion and trust. Can we do it?</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br />The current administration's failure to orchestrate a coordinated, focused approach to this virus leaves us with a huge mountain to climb. But, as Dr. Frieden says in his article, all is not lost. I will both quote the article and include some of my own interpretations of what he says in the article.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /><b>There are things for individuals and businesses to do:</b><br /><br /><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Indoor restaurants, bars, and social gatherings are, sadly, unsafe right now.”</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Many clusters of cases come from people who go to work, school, or social get-togethers while ill. No testing, government, or health-care program can control COVID-19 if people continue this behavior.”</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Business meetings and work that can be remote should stay so.”</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Delivery, curbside pickup, and strict shopping safety measures.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Keep hair salons and stores open by maximizing safety measures.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Take care of body, mind, and spirit. Outdoors is safest and can be good for mental health, too.</span></li></ol><br /><b>There are things for our leaders to do:</b><br /><br /><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Communicate honestly, directly, and regularly.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Universal mask mandate for public places.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Support The People. “Around the world, the best-performing countries provide stipends, social support, and temporary housing to help people who are quarantined.”</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Science-based standards. Strategic closing of parts of our system needs to be based upon community spread. “An effective closure needs to be nuanced, specific, and tightened and loosened based on real-time data about where the virus is spreading.”</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Support the delivery and rollout of a safe, effective, and widely available vaccine.</span></li></ol><br /><br />Social cohesion and trust. Can we do it?<br /><br /><br />We’d all rather go about what we WANT to do. We’d all rather focus on something ELSE. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">COVID-19 is hanging about all our heads. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br />Those "something elses". We have a lot of different ones and it seems like we all have a pet cause or two or more. Things like personal freedoms, jobs, human rights, social justice, religious freedoms, environment, health care, mental health, green industries, education, clean food, clean water, clean air...the list of things we hold dear goes on. Please feel free to add to what I have begun here.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /><b>Now consider:</b><br /><br />Each is connected to the other.<br /><br />We are connected to each other.<br /><br />Social cohesion and trust. Can we do it?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Time will tell.</span></div>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-37890756351792847512020-11-05T10:18:00.001-08:002020-11-05T10:22:37.786-08:00The White Funnel<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://kinja.com/michaelharriot" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"></span></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJbfO3yXQ6QyCBvv7gcIBGuQQHMLNeO8UTBVvJfOqssvJgUOCmDDwcexlbw7wkAAE2LmKo6TTRJ8ZL44D6hYfezhT1LQ6ZQfECbn0EGIAmSUdP7Mm7VirV2spkoHdo0nemBuL85T9dbog/s901/The+White+Funnel.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="901" data-original-width="760" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJbfO3yXQ6QyCBvv7gcIBGuQQHMLNeO8UTBVvJfOqssvJgUOCmDDwcexlbw7wkAAE2LmKo6TTRJ8ZL44D6hYfezhT1LQ6ZQfECbn0EGIAmSUdP7Mm7VirV2spkoHdo0nemBuL85T9dbog/s320/The+White+Funnel.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://kinja.com/michaelharriot">Michael Harriot</a> created one of his amazing <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">tweet threads</a> on November 4 that left me again facing something that I had to address for myself here.<br /><br /><br />My interpretation is this: there’s a status quo funnel that everyone needs to pass through in order to belong in the group of people who deserve a piece of The American Dream. That funnel is whiteness, resulting in white privilege. And if you don’t belong, you are Black or Other, and you will face specific restrictions and penalties.<br /><br /><br />The modern Republican Party headed by Donald Trump is the ultimate vision of this funnel. According to the voting statistics, at least 68,726,780 people have chosen that funnel.<br /><br /><br />Regardless of your DNA makeup, if you can get through that white funnel, you’re in. That’s the only way to explain why various “white” groups have gone from being “bad” to “acceptable” through our history: Irish, Italian, Swedish, German, Polish, and Spanish are all examples. It also explains why there are non-European ancestry folks who are “OK” and in the white nationalist camp: they have dropped their own individual genetic and cultural identities to get through the funnel and become “white”. Your genes may be African, Asian, or Middle Eastern, for example, but if you’re working to fit down the “white” funnel, you can stick around. If the white funnel's opinions change, as they did during the WWII era when we incarcerated Japanese-Americans, you are no longer in that funnel's care and become Other once more.<br /><br /><br />“White” is a construct. I’ve struggled my entire life trying to understand what “white” is, and this is the one explanation that actually fits. I’ve known about the ways “white” people hate on each other from the inside. My mother rattled off all the derogatory terms for Italians and Polish people among others- I never understood why but “knew” they weren’t as "good" as "we" were. It makes complete sense if “white” is a funnel. “Those people” haven’t made it through yet. They haven’t conformed and been accepted yet.<br /><br /><br />Fitting down the white funnel is typically beneficial- and for some, it's extremely so. That's why it's succeeded to maintain itself. Maybe you can make it big. Maybe not, but you’ll be “better off” than The Other (I’ll explain that in a bit). You have access to more opportunities like loans, jobs, housing, education, and healthcare. If you look a little different but know the right folks, you can still flourish in the white system. For some of us with pale skin and blue eyes, we can appear to be “OK” to a white nationalist even if on the inside, we’re raging at the violence and injustice done around us. We can go decades just moving along in that whiteness because it’s easy. Our birth gave us a special pass that might take years to recognize and address because the system is built for us. Depending on our choices, we may never understand it.<br /><br /><br />Why wouldn’t everyone just try to be white, then? To just go ahead and slide down the funnel with both feet? Doesn't matter if you're Indigenous, Black, or from somewhere else- just blend in and learn the rules.<br /><br /><br />Universal assimilation could be a thing, but it’s not. And even if it were, we’d lose so much. As I’ve heard some Indigenous People say, their traditions state that if their language is lost, their spiritual world is, too. They are another group of peoples who have always been considered Other- not white. Abandoning the self for material gain via acceptance robs us all in terms of cultures, viewpoints, arts, and so much more.<br /><br /><br />And there’s never been universal assimilation because Black people have always been rejected. Slaves were Other. Slaves weren’t human. Black people were enslaved, therefore, they could never even approach the funnel. For those who argue we haven’t had slavery or its problems since the Civil War, I suggest you start with Richard Rothstein’s <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">The Color of Law</a> or Michelle Alexander’s <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">The New Jim Crow</a>. <br /><br /><br />Because of those in the Civil Rights Movement and the many people to this day who defend and maintain those rights, some things have gotten a bit better. But the old rules and notions have extremely long tails. The fact that some don’t even want to move Confederate statues in more accurate contexts and think our modern segregation is not influenced by current and historic white-controlled laws is telling. Many are clinging to that funnel because historically it’s been the ticket to living in some comfort here. To “belonging”. Losing that is frightening.<br /><br /><br />That concept of belonging or not...I think that's connected to the real request Black people have made to the white people of the US: they don't need or want *help*. They want an equal *chance*. To not be penalized just for being who there are.<br /><br /><br />Besides law changes such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act that put cracks in the funnel, the fact that more recent immigrant communities have emphatically resisted fully jumping down the white funnel by not abandoning their languages, cultures, or religions, is a positive change. But those choices are met with grumbling by some and extreme resistance and hostility by others who either jumped down the funnel themselves or whose ancestors did. <br /><br /><br />The US is a land of opportunity...if you conform. <br /><br /><br />The US is a land of opportunity...if you are not Black.<br /><br /><br />Those are the truths we’re wrestling with today. As I reflect on how my own ideas of human beauty and constructive living have changed dramatically over my years, I know positive change is possible. I am so grateful for the comfort that I have now, instead of the anxiety, of seeing different people doing different things. It also helps me be more accepting of myself.<br /><br /><br />I embraced the Democratic ticket this year more so than I ever have because, even though I know I still benefit from that funnel, I want to break it. I want our ideals to have a better chance of becoming reality. A party that at least mouths the words “together”, “diversity”, “equity”, and “green” in positive terms with written plans was my only option and hope. <br /><br /><br />I couldn’t vote for a 3rd party in 2020. I have voted that way in other local and national elections. I will again in the future if this behemoth white funnel loses some of its power. I long for a system that supports 3 or more strong parties that must work together to get us further along in our quest for a land of true opportunity.<br /><br /><br />It’s going to be a long, hard process. But if we’re truly great, we must do it.<br /></span><br />Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-50347048979790203732020-10-25T12:04:00.000-07:002020-10-25T12:04:34.773-07:00Together We Can Get Through This...We Can Do Anything<div class="separator"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjADq8M3s0t1Jc1xlQ_CsgB66FvGj-nxZIbFiCsT8YWxzMBqzFa5pK6-Jc6lVSaopzj9rzpDNu4VEizmpNpgZS5PWZuVHZB8LDYfMs1X4ngh6abawxIXaCUp0EUJjOD_bUIeHITszjz1uo/s2016/we_can_get_thru.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjADq8M3s0t1Jc1xlQ_CsgB66FvGj-nxZIbFiCsT8YWxzMBqzFa5pK6-Jc6lVSaopzj9rzpDNu4VEizmpNpgZS5PWZuVHZB8LDYfMs1X4ngh6abawxIXaCUp0EUJjOD_bUIeHITszjz1uo/s320/we_can_get_thru.jpg" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I have recently been listening to a playlist of BTS group and member collaboration songs from over the years. For a good overview, Michele Mendez recently wrote <a href="https://www.elitedaily.com/p/all-of-bts-collaboration-songs-prove-they-can-tackle-any-musical-genre-35547908">All Of BTS' Collaboration Songs Prove They Can Tackle Any Musical Genre</a> in Elite Daily and included links and short descriptions of the top 20. I picture everyone involved in these projects as learning from each other and growing to become both better artists and people. <br /><br /><br />That’s the hope and potential available, anyway.<br /><br /><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X7rzi4T9YSY" width="320" youtube-src-id="X7rzi4T9YSY"></iframe></div><br /><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">RM’s late 2017 collaboration <a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/6PurllVXXGL1s6UkLtzMVF">Champion with Fall Out Boy</a> has struck me hard lately. I touched briefly on my appreciation for his Wale one that year in <a href="https://www.verbostratis.com/2017/03/whens-it-gonna-change-right-now.html">When’s it Gonna Change? Right Now</a>. I never explored Champion but I should have. They relate: cynicism, disillusionment, hope, and self-affirmation to build something new are all mixed up in both these songs.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Along with one overriding truth: relying on each other will benefit us all.<br /><br />This fact is especially poignant in 2020 as we are mired in the SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic. Can we all be “champions” by getting through this?<br /><br />For me, “Champion” started as a strongly angry, angst-ridden rock tune that grew with the additional lyrics by RM and the influx of electronic-pop and rap elements. The flesh RM adds to the body of the song gives more depth to the reasons why there are both such anger and such determination to overcome it. <br /><br /><br />RM raps:<br /><br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i></i></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Have you ever felt how hard it is to be an anybody</i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>To be living, to be breathing, not choosing a dead body</i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Remember, the man told me that this life is a party</i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Yeah, all the glory's so short you should put away the garbages</i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Normal ain't normal, ordinary is a luxury</i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>People say "Woo, pessimism" what the other mean?</i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>If you wanna understand, you stand under</i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>This shit is vital, respect to the mothers and fathers</i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>What's wrong with the life of a passenger</i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>If somebody gotta be, then I'mma be the messenger</i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>I'm just too young, don't know what to believe in</i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>But too young, you know, not to be living</i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>I will stay, I will wait and I'll fight like a king</i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>Even though I can forever ever be a king</i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>I will marry this goddamn world, by my own</i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>And put myself on a goddamn ring</i></span></blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i></i></span><p></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br />He lists the hardships bluntly: that youth or lack of connections and power can make success seem impossible, but he’s willing to try hard and put the ring of success on himself by getting himself in the ring to fight. <br /><br /><br />Patrick Stump sings:<br /><br /><br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And I'm back with a madness</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I'm a champion of the people who don't believe in champions</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I got nothing but dreams inside</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I got nothing but dreams</span></i></blockquote><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></i><p></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /><br /></i>To me, he’s saying that even if the people have given up hope in champions because of hardships, the concept of and truth that a “Champion” exists is not necessarily lost just because people don’t believe. There are those who can fulfill that role if they act on the dreams they have inside. What a message for 2020!<br /><br />I also love how the song plays with the concept of defining the term “champion”. RM describes 3 levels of existence:<br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Somebody” is those we normally look up to but are they worthy of that respect?</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Anybody” is a person living the best they can, so perhaps truly worthy of respect.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Dead body” is a person dead on the inside, who’s truly pitiful.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I have felt at times in my life that if I didn’t have a fire inside me telling me things are wrong and could be better, life would be easier. I have felt that if I were able to just put my head down and work within the system I find myself, I could be really successful- a champion of some sort. I haven’t been able to do that because making myself into someone else's image has made me feel dead inside. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This what I think of when Patrick sings:<br /><br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">got rage every day, on the inside</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The only thing I do is sit around and kill time</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I'm trying to blow out the pilot light, I'm trying to blow out the light</span></i></blockquote><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></i><p></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i><br />To me, the pilot light is that inner voice telling me to try to fix things that cause the rage. If he or I could snuff it out, we’d have less internal conflict and just do what’s expected. Others have interpreted that differently. That inner turmoil of rage at the status quo and the desire to not feel compelled to try to fix it is summed up in his next lines:<br /><br /><br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I'm just young enough to still believe, still believe</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But young enough not to know what to believe in</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Young enough not to know what to believe</span></i></blockquote><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></i><p></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i><br />To me, he’s saying he KNOWS there’s a way- a better way. He KNOWS there’s a chance for something good- something better. There’s just so much fear and resistance out there and perhaps inside too, he doesn’t know if he has the strength to try.<br /><br />BUT...if he does. If I do. If WE do...<br /><br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i></i></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>If I can live through this</i></span><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If I can live through this</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If I can live through this</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I can do anything</span></i></blockquote><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></i><p></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />That’s why this song is speaking to me now. 2020 is a cliff in so many ways. So many things could happen as a result of what we choose to do. <br /><br />Public health, social justice, civil rights, education, health care, mental health care, environment, gun control, economic development…what if we reach out to one another across the country and around the globe like these artists who collaborate to build bigger and better art?<br /><br /><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If we can live through this</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If we can live through this</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If we can live through this</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We can do anything</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div></div>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-33998951053125490552020-10-15T11:34:00.003-07:002020-10-15T15:03:23.100-07:00Time Will Tell: Two Months and 100 Deaths<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7KBKUFXY5rr5q9EGMgPF2TZr3wwuZ4aLWMKhfykbNzRoJ_9lUbMd9mEzqVR-2Hy1PXiUw9F7c9JLbozceFMvwXcN3tM2bVTPl7b2iOZvkoAMR9vAgU3VpBha1cj5h9eCyJXg1S3I5bEA/s1024/how_are_you.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7KBKUFXY5rr5q9EGMgPF2TZr3wwuZ4aLWMKhfykbNzRoJ_9lUbMd9mEzqVR-2Hy1PXiUw9F7c9JLbozceFMvwXcN3tM2bVTPl7b2iOZvkoAMR9vAgU3VpBha1cj5h9eCyJXg1S3I5bEA/s320/how_are_you.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">How are you?</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-af41f2d6-7fff-89c2-aa9d-b9b81fd10c92"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s a simple question. And yet, if we really decide to unbox it, we could unleash floodgates of emotions and thoughts.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve taken to asking the boys this question at the daily stand-up meetings we started doing this month. Hubby recommended we do it as a way to encourage them to stay on top of their school responsibilities. I may start officially speaking up, too. We all should be willing and able to say what we’ve accomplished, what we plan on doing tomorrow, where we see obstacles and worries.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s done? What do you see up ahead?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wrote in this blog in August about the projections being made in regards to the virus, SARS-CoV-2, and the illness it causes, COVID-19. Another month in, it’s time to look at it again.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On 8/14, I said we had 64 dead, a 14-day positive testing rate of 11%, and 148 facilities-based investigations. On 9/14, we had 85 dead, a 14-day positive testing rate of 8%, and 123 facilities-based investigations. Here as of 10/14, we have 100 dead.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I said 2 months ago that a quarter of our total losses of life had occurred in the previous 30 days. I called that stunning. Well, we’re now at 36% of all loss of life having been AFTER I said that. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What do you need help on?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stunning, indeed. What’s even more stunning is that we have no gameplan. I watched parts of a Waukesha School District board meeting last night and several members asked to establish some rules for the district if the County was not providing them. The state legislature has unsuccessfully pushed back against Governor Evers’s mask mandate and successfully against his public gatherings restrictions. Yet they have not themselves provided leadership to encourage people, to cultivate helpful behaviors, or to provide gateways that will allow us to control the spread of this virus. They are encouraging businesses to maximize their incomes now, for citizens to “live our lives now”, heedless to the health care and life costs that will result for us down the road.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They are being reckless and destructive. I </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">state here and now that people who are running businesses and laughing at containment measures are cushioning their own wallets now to the long term detriment of the rest of us. The politicians encouraging them are guilty of supporting threats to public health. The increased infection rates are leading to increased expenses for health care and lost wages for both the customers and the public at large.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you have any shout-outs for appreciation?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have said before I’m grateful for the school district for posting their positives and quarantines. Right now, we have 21 people positive and 278 in quarantine where those numbers were 10 and 198 a month ago. Everyone should be doing this data tracking. Some claim we’re violating HIPAA with this information. It’s clear our understanding of and use of these regulations need to be revisited in light of public health crises like this pandemic. This is a situation where one’s health is connected to everyone else’s and we should be behaving as such.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In connection to that, the Deputy Superintendent, Dr. Koch, discussed how test results and contact tracing have been slowed and that can lead to control problems. He also suggested that community buy-in is needed because behaviors outside of school are driving infections. Again, we rise or fall together. Public health is an issue for all of us.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What roadblocks do you see?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our positive rate per 100,000 population has gone from 133.7 on 9/10 to 483.6 as of 10/15 and for the overall state, it’s 627.9. As I pointed out last month, we were 34 points away from being in a lower category of risk. Now, look at us.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One could argue, I suppose, that it’s not worth society’s efforts to avoid a few deaths. That the disruptions would be too great. However, as I see some industries evolving to adapt to different norms, I question that fatalistic perspective. In addition, there is research showing possible links to long-term health problems in those who have gone through COVID-19 infections. Our societies may be on decades-long hooks in terms of direct costs and losses to inputs to society from these infections.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">IHME predicted 3,708 deaths will have occurred in Wisconsin as of 12/1. In September we were at 1,210, up 185 since 8/14. Now we’re at 1,536, up 326. The current growth rates still do not indicate we’ll be at the IHME prediction, but the rate of increase is quickening. My extremely rough, straight-line chart points toward 1,830 (126 in Waukesha County) by mid-December. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s next?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A month from now, the election will have come and gone. I hope we know who will be leading us. I hope there’s real change and fresh energy coming into play. I hope we have a plan and a sense of responsibility and renewed understanding that we all need to continue our involvement.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will work on my physical well-being. I will focus on the daily care of my body, mind, and spirit. I will look for opportunities to connect with and support others. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wish you the best in the days ahead. As others have suggested, drink plenty of water, exercise, eat well, and sleep. Also, I hope you can surround yourself with spirits who lift you as you work forward. We need boosts from others. We need to boost each other.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-32431318643461830362020-09-15T09:25:00.001-07:002020-09-15T09:25:17.473-07:00Time Will Tell: One Month Later<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyOCB1k3Dui0u3CMxV1IZlGJgytTR-5jzjsB8THPsKNXHFKOdjRuWCdlQz7JSHHEeBq_3hHnPpuxKtNQpHjG1zvSBOiyAs_8TI01O5Sa5LiS7j2vf6oe-JdyNC1YwchZn5rSPgERywOs/s1024/one_month_in.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyOCB1k3Dui0u3CMxV1IZlGJgytTR-5jzjsB8THPsKNXHFKOdjRuWCdlQz7JSHHEeBq_3hHnPpuxKtNQpHjG1zvSBOiyAs_8TI01O5Sa5LiS7j2vf6oe-JdyNC1YwchZn5rSPgERywOs/s320/one_month_in.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-f98c2756-7fff-36fd-f2a4-281fc6667b83"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">While the equinox has not yet occurred, summer is breathing its last, and fall’s energy is wrapping itself around everything like a wool scarf.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fall means a return to academia in the US but this is unlike any other fall in modern times. We have fires raging on one coast, hurricanes threatening 2 others, unrest over police brutality in multiple cities, and a microscopic lifeform replicating itself in varying degrees of success inside humans on every land around the globe except Antarctica. And no leadership cohesion on any of these fronts as political factions multiply their hateful rhetoric and actions. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wrote in this blog a month ago about what projections were being made in regards to that virus, SARS-CoV-2, and the illness it causes, COVID-19. I decided to check in today a month later to document where we’re at.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On 8/14, I said we had 64 dead, a 14-day positive testing rate of 11%, and 148 facilities-based investigations. Today, we have 85 dead, a 14-day positive testing rate of 8%, and 123 facilities-based investigations. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A quarter of our total losses of life have occurred in the last 30 days. Stunning. The other numbers sound like we’re getting things under control. It’s been claimed that teams have been assembled and trained to contact trace. The school district we’re in has a new dashboard reporting positive and quarantine counts by school, subdivided further into student and teacher numbers. Currently, a total of 10 people have positive cases and 198 are supposed to be in quarantine.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The qualifiers in the previous paragraph are because I have seen little emphasis on true tracing or quarantining in this county. Political rallies, local events, and comments by residents all indicate there is little to no interest in or understanding of these practices in a large portion of the citizenry. There is tracking of how well tracing or testing turn-around are going. There are no marketing campaigns to cultivate involvement in stopping this virus.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While positive rates are down, our testing rates are abysmal. Fewer data points mean less reliability to any analysis, to the point of being almost meaningless. It’s as if the county has given up. The superintendent remarking again this week in his youtube update that some believe it’s impossible to get below 5% (a benchmark to safely head towards a return to normal) supports that opinion.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The replication factor of Wisconsin is the second-highest in the country at 1.23, ranging from 0.97-1.46. A month ago we were at 1.13, ranging 1.04-1.21. To me, this appears to be a reason to believe the leadership on this disease is failing at a statewide level as well.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The US death rate on this disease is less than the worldwide rate of 3.17%. One could argue, I suppose, that it’s not worth society’s efforts to avoid a few deaths. That the disruptions would be too great. However, as I see some industries evolving to adapt to different norms, I question that fatalistic perspective. In addition, there is research showing possible links to long-term health problems in those who have gone through COVID-19 infections. Our societies may be on decades-long hooks in terms of direct costs and losses to inputs to society from these infections.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The county’s calculated burden rate is significantly down from a month ago: from 280 to 133. I don’t have the testing data for back then. If we were testing the same number of people, I’d be more confident in that reduction. We’d only need to go down another 33 points to enter the second-highest threat level.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">IHME predicted 3,708 deaths will have occurred in Wisconsin as of 12/1. We’re currently at 1,210, up 185 since 8/14. The current growth rates do not indicate we’ll be at the IHME prediction. My extremely rough, straight-line chart points toward 1,650 (140 in Waukesha County) by mid-December. Still hard to contemplate that at least another 440 families, friends, neighbors, teachers, etc...have yet to suffer these losses, but in all likelihood will. If spread grows exponentially the IHME numbers could be possible and if the entire population is exposed before a vaccine is implemented, 5,200 could die in the county and 75,686 could succumb statewide in total based on the current 1.3% death rate.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The weather is gorgeous today. It’s a reminder that we’re here today and should enjoy it despite thoughts and worries of the past and the future. Flowers are still blooming. Insects are still crawling and flying. The sun shines and the winds blow whether we want them to or not. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7XiZGS-TRZfe16Fwmce9_xBsfnjXEKfUzh8JbH-a8bRHDu0tT7liW-bOTU2bFsCU7p4xyGq6lpPEik3L9xnd3qgAvcEyyyqhd1jXOhN5jvqI8uBW2IbiYVCTnPJRqcf-I8klsdDc8-mY/s4032/PXL_20200915_134004364.PORTRAIT-01.COVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7XiZGS-TRZfe16Fwmce9_xBsfnjXEKfUzh8JbH-a8bRHDu0tT7liW-bOTU2bFsCU7p4xyGq6lpPEik3L9xnd3qgAvcEyyyqhd1jXOhN5jvqI8uBW2IbiYVCTnPJRqcf-I8klsdDc8-mY/s320/PXL_20200915_134004364.PORTRAIT-01.COVER.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6BPaMzr2eEzdl0lyURpnolv6WQUnbsK3cFVWIn2foJtbfsil-XJ83ncUnkEOFOwIkpNKynb8Le_7iDT0Z_RrEUyBJF9x1P07TShjaQ0Vh3ran6LWW-3R6ys9JYIQ8HlhiJvXomhBE3eE/s4032/PXL_20200915_134014455.PORTRAIT-01.COVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6BPaMzr2eEzdl0lyURpnolv6WQUnbsK3cFVWIn2foJtbfsil-XJ83ncUnkEOFOwIkpNKynb8Le_7iDT0Z_RrEUyBJF9x1P07TShjaQ0Vh3ran6LWW-3R6ys9JYIQ8HlhiJvXomhBE3eE/s320/PXL_20200915_134014455.PORTRAIT-01.COVER.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Breath still flows in and out of our own lungs.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Buddhism has always intrigued me. To me, it’s about developing a presence that just “is” and that observes what just “is”. I know part of me wants to be able to eventually say, “See!?!?”. Another part wants to reassure myself that things didn’t turn out as bad as they could have.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With so much going on, it’s important to return to that breath and to today- to this very moment. To what we love and really value and to release both fear and want. Maybe if we all just sit for a bit and send those feelings of love and value to both ourselves and the rest of the world (all plants, animals, people, land, water, and air), we’ll all have a better tomorrow.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiMVXZ50ZHz9rc44j0NhpW3OHa1HkfVZV7c9DV6UGmiyhVPv5f1rGKrukgagO0vqAawrv1ml9JYq_-i0AOANIs7JanjRUorSa0Sr4Aiq-GAMHExxuOrVNw6zHw_sM_lIpUSRW0SL_emL4/s4032/PXL_20200915_135422622.PORTRAIT-01.COVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiMVXZ50ZHz9rc44j0NhpW3OHa1HkfVZV7c9DV6UGmiyhVPv5f1rGKrukgagO0vqAawrv1ml9JYq_-i0AOANIs7JanjRUorSa0Sr4Aiq-GAMHExxuOrVNw6zHw_sM_lIpUSRW0SL_emL4/s320/PXL_20200915_135422622.PORTRAIT-01.COVER.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-60823919986049625232020-08-15T13:15:00.004-07:002020-08-15T13:28:28.079-07:00Time will Tell<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFYDEkrHdTyogfCv21eRl-cifesxF5S3WTw9DOsNevj6reA5Dflgu5hBp52HWdXvmpcq2u63GmF8gulQ_UygGIceP8yYcWS9lJyRMFVf-U-0dO_u8qHLMHKMxTriZ4Hwcg046uv-01_3M/s1024/time_will_tell.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFYDEkrHdTyogfCv21eRl-cifesxF5S3WTw9DOsNevj6reA5Dflgu5hBp52HWdXvmpcq2u63GmF8gulQ_UygGIceP8yYcWS9lJyRMFVf-U-0dO_u8qHLMHKMxTriZ4Hwcg046uv-01_3M/w512-h384/time_will_tell.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I look at the calendar, I know we’ve been in the second half of the year for a while. I “know” it, but it’s still hard to comprehend.</span><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-69e901ff-7fff-30d0-e2e2-e754df8b636f"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>THE TIME</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I see the milkweed pods ripening and goldenrods just starting to reach their full heights, yellow flower buds swelling. The bird cacophonies of spring have largely been replaced by the equally loud and diverse calls of millions of insects like grasshoppers, crickets, and cicadas. Overhead, tree leaves are starting to darken, dry, and some are already falling as the season’s wear shows. The shortening daylight is causing the trees to begin preparing for what’s to come. Life is living now, but it’s also readying. </span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>THE WILL</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The human species is readying, too. We always have some feelings (positive and negative) for what fall and winter typically bring to our lives. This year, it’s a bit different. Actually, significantly different. We are in a space and time none of us have experienced before. And that newness is causing a ton of responses including anxiety, sadness, anger, frustration, fear, and apathy. </span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Months ago, I claimed that if we had to go through all this to get to a place where we have forged constructive plans for and actual changes to our health care, education, social justice, clean water/air/land, climate policy, and criminal justice systems, it would be worth it. I still do. It’s just extra ugly right now as many people are clinging to their old ways. They are trying as hard as they can to hold onto their vision of summer while the seasons march on. They are using everything they have in them to push back against what’s around them because they are drowning in those heavy emotional responses I listed above- especially in their fear.</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been trying to track my county’s covid situation on a weekly basis since May. I generally enjoy studying things and trying to figure out what they are, what they mean, and what they could be. I love logic and the beauty of patterns and connections that come out when you really look at something. With covid19, I want to try to understand what it really is, what we might know/not know, and how it’s developing based on both its abilities and how it responds to what we humans are doing.</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m preparing myself by using as many resources as I can to know what is going on around me. In my mind, it’s no different than the trees, plants, birds, and other species responding to their surroundings and using their adaptations to survive and thrive.</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>THE TELL</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As of 8/14, Waukesha County now has 64 dead, a jump of 6 more lives lost compared to a week ago. Our 14-day percent positive is now 11%, 4% higher than Milwaukee County, which has steadily reduced theirs from their early days of high losses and percentages. That 11% seems fairly steady, but only goes through 8/12. The 154 positives from 8/13 aren’t included. 8/14 numbers have not been posted at all.</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Waukesha County dashboard is supposed to be revamped this week. I’m really hoping because the data being examined is not very substantial. The color codes right now indicate 5 greens out of 6 possible. We haven’t had a better color pattern for 60 days. On June 14, we had all greens. Back then, the 14-day average was 3% and our death count was 35. Having a “steady” 11% infection rate is not the same as a steady 3%.</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The one “red” parameter deals with healthcare worker infections. That’s both sad and scary. While our hospitals are not filled with covid patients, our healthcare workers are taking hits. I can only hope they are all OK and do not suffer long-term problems for risking their lives. Others in their workplaces are risking their health, as well. Currently, the county has 148 active cases in either long-term healthcare facilities or other workplaces. That’s 25 more than last week. Those are in places where spread can occur through multiple groups of people.</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have come to this level of infection and death because of what we all do. If a person who is changing their behaviors towards containment happens to cross paths with someone who isn’t, transmission could very well occur. When 2 or more meet where there are no thoughts for containment, spread is that much more likely. Milwaukee County has had much stricter containment protocols in place for a while and it shows in their results. Their trajectory is -13 whereas Waukesha County’s is flat. Their burden is 278 cases per 100,000 residents while WC’s is 280. Both counties are described as “high activity”. </span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That commonality of high activity is probably because none of us ever fully quarantined, tested, or invested in contact-traced aggressively. We have little means to truly know how far or how deeply this organism has spread. We could have herd immunity right now and not know it. Or we could have only 1.1% of our 5,822,000 residents having truly gone through it if the positive cases are counted as the only ones who have gotten it. We don’t know because we don’t have the data. Other places around the world have done this hard work and the virus is almost non-existent in their communities. In South Korea, which has been almost clear for about 5 months, just 170 positive tests in Seoul on Friday triggered a new set of restrictions in the city. They have installed body temperature triggers on train doors that won’t open if a fever is registered and air sterilizing equipment to clean public transport air of viruses.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>THE FUTURE</b></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Within all this, my kids’ school district voted in-person hybrid for 6-12th grade. If parents weren’t comfortable with that, they were told to sign up for the online school that has been in place. Of those 2 choices, we picked the latter. 4K-5th have the option of 5-day in-person, virtual with school building teachers, or the online school. In other countries and states, we would all be in lock-down. Here, folks are hopeful sports will all go and life will begin again. Perfect like summer. With a <a href="https://cdn4.sportngin.com/attachments/document/2583-2194898/COVID-19_Student_Permission_Form_and_Release_SDW.docx.pdf#_ga=2.66995245.248885191.1597522967-339210918.1597522966">waiver that holds everyone harmless</a> for even the classroom settings.</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">IHME predicts 3,708 deaths in Wisconsin by December 1. That works out to about 220-240 total deaths in Waukesha County. I really hope that’s not the case. Their prediction through Aug 4th was actually a couple of hundred short of actual. </span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope we can all breathe a bit and give both ourselves and each other support. Change is tough and can feel threatening and frightening. But we should be able to use our abilities to not only get through this, but to make things better- healthier, more sustaining, more sustainable, and more just for even more people than before. We can have a beautiful spring after the winter if we work and prepare together. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Time will tell.</span></p><br /></span>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-4885178651216236522020-06-21T10:34:00.003-07:002020-06-21T10:40:11.583-07:00Respecting Re-Specting Respect<span id="docs-internal-guid-d7d1ea0b-7fff-4f63-4cb7-e00d214d7192"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "open sans", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjV3A_WVO17RyHgCuKxw74ufbCRaRjTYLQsnNyp5rEQrMwurlv1yRyaZOtDHrzZ93QafTOze2Tea4f4qNTYMCwRAmaqAj5rW5JhgDjK1r36ftQXW4cWAEJ4kua8lCN9BhW3lZN-z0CpkE/s1024/respecting.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjV3A_WVO17RyHgCuKxw74ufbCRaRjTYLQsnNyp5rEQrMwurlv1yRyaZOtDHrzZ93QafTOze2Tea4f4qNTYMCwRAmaqAj5rW5JhgDjK1r36ftQXW4cWAEJ4kua8lCN9BhW3lZN-z0CpkE/s320/respecting.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BT21 Characters by RM & Suga<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">What do you think of when you hear the word "respect"?</span></span><div><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">What message do you really want to convey when you say “I respect you.”?</span></span><font face="helvetica"><br /><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">I absolutely love the history and evolution of language- and it’s important to realize that it’s moving all the time. </font></span></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When a musical artist uses a second language, it allows natives of that language to see their words in a different light. BTS songs allow that to be a two-way street: I can learn about Korean from my English perspective; they can examine English from a Korean one. We both benefit. I’ve included an English translation of the BTS song </span><a href="https://genius.com/19109806" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Respect</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(from </span><a href="https://amzn.to/2Bs5TCF" style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Map of the Soul: 7</a><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to explore this a bit more. I also looked at </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfj26CQKpvU" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lemoring’s youtube translation</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for help. First, respect to the fans who use sites like </span><a href="https://genius.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">genius.com</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and YT to do these translations and the reflections they attach. It helps so many of us learn. It’s awesome to have so many brains available, noting references to other songs and discussing the Korean idioms used and their equivalents. Notions are voted up and down, creating more accurate reports. I hope you take a look at the page.</span></font></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">I have italicized the lines of the song that are performed in Korean. As you’ll see, RM and Suga rap in an awesome mix of both languages. They use whatever works best for both the situation and intent.</font></span></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moving on, in the paragraph above the last I used “respect” to mean “kudos” to or “appreciation” for fans. This use may have been the starting point for BTS in this song. “Respect” has become a slang or short used both in South Korea and elsewhere in everyday conversation to mean these things. “</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nowadays this word floats around me”. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They are questioning this use- they are arguing that it might be pretty hollow or shallow.</span></font></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">So RM dives into the Latin basis for the word, which is really cool to me:</font></span></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Re-spect: Look at. Again. And again. </font></span></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">“Look again and again and you'll see faults</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you still want to keep looking, despite of that”</span></font></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">He’s remarking that we SHOULD look at something over and over again. Do we really respect the person or thing being examined? We should put the effort in to look closely. And keep looking. Powerful, powerful stuff!</font></span></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Today, I see the connections of inspecting and re-specting all our systems: social justice, civil justice, criminal justice, political, medical, environmental, mental health care, educational- and doing the same regarding our leaders. The massive success of thousands of youth and young-at-hearts signing up to attend the June 20 Trump rally with no intention of attending was, to me, an example of re-specting. We can’t give up- we must forge ahead and work. We need a lot more of this to be able to truly respect our ideals, what we have, and who we are.</font></span></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">RM seems to mirror this idea that respect is a vital part of human life that and we always need to be working on ourselves:</font></span></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You'll need that perfect belief towards someone </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Ayy, ayy)</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">So I can't get myself to easily say</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">The weight and thickness of it is vague</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">I hope someday I can confidently say it</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And mean it when I do, to you and to me</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, huh”</span></font></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">RM is admitting he is reluctant to either use the term toward someone else or have it applied to himself. I love the phrase “the weight and thickness of it is vague”. That’s delicious thinking to me. Words have weight and thickness. </font></span></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Verse 2 is performed by Suga, who is the oldest group member of BTS. He’s addressed as “hyung” and “hyungnim” by RM because of that elder status. To my understanding, in Korean culture, someone older than you is to be addressed with more respect and is to be the leader to follow. A younger man refers to a slightly older one with the term “hyung” this way. The bigger the gap, the more respect needs to be shown to the elder. This includes using different titles, words, and behaviors. It’s another reason why I find this song so interesting. There’s this cultural structure they grew up in, but they want to keep examining themselves and others to decide if they should really “respect” them or themselves. Suga raps:</font></span></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">“To be honest, there's no need for admiration</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">When there's not even respect</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Everyone except you knows people talk shit behind your back</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I honestly </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">respect </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You have no intention to </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">respect </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">me so just skip it</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Respect</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">respect </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Applause to that pal who speak ill while smiling”</font></span></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Suga is not assuming the dominance his culture appears to automatically give him in regards to RM. He’s calling out a general tendency to adore someone to their faces but then pour hate on them when no one’s looking. The translation help on Genius on “talk shit behind your back” was really interesting to me. The Korean phrasing used relates to an old story where a wife secretly ate pumpkin seeds and tried to hide it from her husband. She didn’t get away with it because he either found the empty shells she hid or saw them after she pooped them out. Shells don’t get digested. Truth comes out.</font></span></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">The fact that Suga is saying he respects RM is big. It’s real because culturally, I don’t think it’s expected. And while he says he respects RM, and I believe he truly does, he still refers to RM as “kid” and “rascal” in this song. </font></span></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">The Outro of the song is an adorable, seemingly unscripted conversation all in Korean- as if they are exhausted. They are still confused about the word, but laughing and having fun with each other before deciding that “admiration” is a great synonym. Suga, who is known for having an old-sage type personality, ends up muttering how hard English is in general. To me, it’s also a wry admission that life’s tough and never perfect.</font></span></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">[Intro: RM & sampling]</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Re-re-re-respect</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Should I go or should I?</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Should I, should I go or should I stay?</font></span></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">[Verse 1: RM]</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Put your hands in the air</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Put your hands in the air</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Just like you don't care</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Just like you don't care</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ayo SUGA </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(why?) nowadays this word floats around me</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Respect"</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> but these days I'm confused of its meaning</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">They say it's said when someone keeps doing something (Why?)</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm not really sure either,</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> brotha, </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">do ya know?</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">It's obviously superior than love</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Probably a concept that exists at the most superior rank</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Out of all the superiors</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Isn't that called respect,</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> huh? </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(what I'm sayin')</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Re-spect" </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">means as it sounds, to literally look again and again</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Look again and again and you'll see faults</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you still want to keep looking, despite of that</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You'll need that perfect belief towards someone </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Ayy, ayy)</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">So I can't get myself to easily say</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">The weight and thickness of it is vague</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">I hope someday I can confidently say it</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And mean it when I do, to you and to me</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, huh</span></font></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">[Refrain 1: Suga, RM]</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Please don't say respect easily</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, yeah</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Because even I am not sure</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, yeah</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Sometimes I'm scared of myself</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">What if the weak me is found out</font></span></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">[Chorus, Suga, RM]</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Respect) </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everybody says it so easily</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Respect) </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though you don't know what it is</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Respect) </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Please take a look again</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(Respect) One time</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(Respect) Two times</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Respect) </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I won't say it easily</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Respect) </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even if I don't know well now</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Respect) </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One day I'll say it</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(Respect) One time</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(Respect) Oh yeah</font></span></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">[Verse 2: Suga]</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Respect"- </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">what is it? (What, hyung?)</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">I don't know, that's why I'm asking, you rascal (Oh, I see)</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Respect"- </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">what even is it?</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why is everyone saying </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">respect</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Honestly I can't understand</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Admiring someone</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Was it something really that easy?</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">I still can't understand it</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">To be honest, there's no need for admiration</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">When there's not even respect</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Everyone except you knows people talk shit behind your back</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I honestly </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">respect </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You have no intention to </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">respect </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">me so just skip it</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Respect</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">respect </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Applause to that pal who speak ill while smiling</font></span></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">[Refrain 2: Suga, RM]</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(Respect respect)</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Hope all the glory and prosperity seep into your life</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(Respect respect)</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Hope the road in front of you is eternally blessed</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(Respect respect)</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">Money, honor, forward, forward</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(Respect respect)</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, I respect you</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, yeah</span></font></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">[Chorus: Suga, RM]</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Respect) </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everybody says it so easily</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Respect) </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though you don't know what it is</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Respect) </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Please take a look again</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(Respect) One time</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(Respect) Two times</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Respect) </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I won't say it easily</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Respect) </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even if I don't know well now</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><font face="helvetica"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Respect) </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One say I'll say it</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(Respect) One time</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(Respect) Oh yeah</font></span></p><font face="helvetica"><br /></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">[Outro]</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(S) "Aye, do ya know what respect is?"</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(RM) "I don't know, hyungnim,"</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(S )"I don't know either,"</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(Both) "Why is respect this hard?"</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(RM)"'Respect', well, is to look again, I don't know,"</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(S) "'Respect', what?"</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(Both) "'Respect'!"</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(RM)"'Admiration'!"</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(S) "Kid, I think this is what respect is. Why is English so hard?”</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica">(RM) "I know right?"</font></span></p><div><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="helvetica"><br /></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "open sans", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></div>Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1997169786198636885.post-22042210746474075372020-06-03T09:17:00.000-07:002020-06-15T06:42:07.867-07:00Racism Then to Now<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Item
2nd: It is my will and desire that all my estate consisting of land, town
property, Negroes and all other property owned by me, both real and personal or
mixed be sold by my executors either for cash or on time as in their judgement
it would seem best.” </span></span></i></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Last Will and Testament of Gideon Barnes [1791-1871] </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pike County, Barnesville Georgia </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Late 1863 or early 1864 </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Sworn to in Open Court </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">June 1, 1871</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It’s true that all white people in the US
today have benefited from white privilege and systemic racism. Tolerance.org’s
article </span><a href="https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/fall-2018/what-is-white-privilege-really" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1155cc;">What is White Privilege, Really?</span></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> offers an
excellent overview. But with these above lines penned in a musty county records
book, I discovered that I, and all those related to me past, present, and
future through my father, benefited directly from the labor of enslaved people. Gideon
Barnes was my great great great grandfather.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From what I’ve gathered, Gideon was a big fish
in a small pond. He founded Barnesville, Georgia, which was initially just a
crossroads between Augusta, Georgia and Montgomery, Alabama, in 1826. With a
hotel, mercantile, and eventually receiving the post of its first postmaster,
Gideon helped grow the spot to a village by 1852. It’s still only a small town
today, at about 6500 people. You won’t see it in the city literature, but
clearly, if the town founder had “Negroes” in 1863 to sell along with “other
property”, the enslavement of peoples of African descent was a truth and foundation
of the growth and development of this community. And that truth led to Gideon
Barnes, when he died in 1871, having inheritances to hand out to the five
children he named in his will. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gideon did not run a plantation. Pictures of
him and his daughter, my great-great grandmother Sarah Virginia, show them as
worn and wiry. She eventually moved to Michigan after her husband, my great-great grandfather William Keifer, died in 1877 in a sanatorium. Records show
Wiliam drank excessively, accrued debt, and beat Sarah Virginia at least once. Rough life
stories. But the free labor of other human beings- enslaved people- made what they did have
possible.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By 1860, there were approximately 44,100 enslaved people-owning white men in Georgia and they “owned” 462,198 enslaved individuals-<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>44% of the state's total population (<a href="https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/slavery-antebellum-georgia"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Slavery in Antebellum Georgia</span></a>). About ⅔ of
white Georgian males didn’t "own" enslaved people, but they supported the system
as many wished to join the ranks for the privileges that “ownership” gave.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, the average Georgia enslaved people-holder “owned”
10-11 enslaved human beings before the Civil War. I have no idea how many Gideon Barnes
“owned”. My guess is he was average. But “owning” humans helped him and the others
acquire wealth and property. That was all passed down to their descendants.
White skins and systems like redlining and racial covenants in
housing deeds enabled future generations to get factory jobs, buy suburban
houses, have savings accounts at big banks, get loans at lower rates, and
access a host of other goods and services. Just because of their...our... DNA.
And generation upon generation, each bequeathed their leftovers to the next
generation to benefit from and build upon. Objects, property, money, beliefs. Some did fairly well. Others lost
big. Being of European-descent does not protect against wars, accidents,
disease, or economic downturns. But this American reality has given advantages
to some people, including me. These advantages were not available to Black Americans and because of that, their descendants are at different places than the white ones. I don’t know of any super-wealthy relatives, and many have been “blue-collar”, but I’m left asking: How
do we address these centuries of two realities? How do I address these
centuries of two realities? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That’s the basis of reparations. There are so
many things we could do or should do. I know they won’t make everyone happy.
But we must try. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of
Color) civil and social justice experts are out there prepared with what needs
doing and in what order. What I say next is all based on a “we” where they are
in charge and the white voice follows: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What if we all truly participate in and help
evolve our democracy? What if we rewrite our legal systems based on modern
realities and our combined futures? What if we implement universal healthcare?
What if we embrace clean air, water, and land standards for all? What if we
invest in healthy homes and schools for all? What if we find a way to invest in
something that does give back directly to all the peoples we have wronged
through the centuries? What if we drop old things like Columbus Day and get the
modern citizenry to define what we celebrate and what we mourn. I’m only
scratching the surface of ideas. Whatever is chosen, it’s going to take a long
time. But what if we try?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If we’d do all that, then the “we” would end up
being close enough to universal that all peoples would truly be together. That is my end goal: seeing how far we can take the term 'we're stronger together'. I used to not see the
middle transition ground and wonder why Black Americans scoffed at me on my
“we”. I didn’t understand. In their experience, they never were a “we” with
people that look like me in any genuine way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I didn’t understand partially because the idea
of owning a person was and is so anathema to me, I had to use the word in
quotation marks in my writing here. But I know it was real. I have to own this.
No quotations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some argue this was all settled in 1865. The
Civil Rights Act of 1964 is one of many pieces of evidence that prove
otherwise. I was recently introduced to a 1966 McGraw-Hill Films documentary
called <a href="https://youtu.be/ujw_KJzTF8k"><span style="color: #1155cc;">A
Time for Burning</span></a>, produced by William C. Jersey and executive
produced by Robert E.A. Lee that captures the push-back of a culture that
doesn’t want to change. This film examined how a Lutheran pastor (<a href="https://www.startribune.com/obituaries/detail/13565977/"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Rev. Luther (Bill) Youngdahl</span></a>) tried to
integrate his white congregation with a black church in Omaha, Nebraska. While
he ultimately failed, I learned that a congregant (<a href="https://www.startribune.com/obituaries/detail/129874/"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Raymond J. Christensen</span></a>) was so moved by the
process that his entire life path was positively altered as a result. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Chambers"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Ernie
Chambers</span></a> and his powerful analysis were the stars the entire film
pivoted upon, but the Black youth were also incredible to hear, as those voices
were not captured much in those times. Watching this film was tough because the
responses of some of the white congregants were so similar to things I heard
from my mother and the family stories she told me as I was growing up. It was
extremely uncomfortable to see and hear people like that again. “I think it’s
forced. I don’t think they [the congregants] can accept this.” “I’ve never
talked with a Negro.” “We’ve had problems with these Mexicans.” “What happens
if a colored family moves in?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I
watched, the smells of my mother’s mother’s house and the photos on her walls
came to my mind. That grandmother died in 1986. The fingers of white privilege
are long and insidious.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Speaking of long fingers...did you notice the
date of Gideon Barnes’s death? Six years after the end of the Civil War, and
they still recorded his wishes as to include selling his Negros. Disgusting. As is the washing of their history that they share with the world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Old systems die slowly and only with effort
and disruption of the norm. I experienced my racist mother and it’s taken my
lifetime to understand it and make changes in myself to correct her and our society's influences. Clearly, even if he was nicknamed “The Reverend” by a friend during
his military service, at least some of my father’s ancestors were racists, too.
And I know that he knew he could do things others could not. He was also the
one who noted his ancestors’ real truths in his genealogy work. Every human is a mix of helpful and harmful.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I couldn’t find a smoking gun on my mother’s
side like Gideon’s will, but if I found the correct family tree, there’s
evidence that some of her ancestors arrived very early to North America from
England, settling in what became Maryland. I found a Revolutionary War officer
among them. But if those positive connections are true, they probably owned
enslaved people, as well. At the very least, Maryland was a slave state, so I’m perhaps
doubly guilty as a descendant and inheritor of this mess. Triple if we include the Indigenous peoples all my European ancestors helped kill directly or indirectly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now, we find ourselves in 2020, with Black
Americans being killed by police officers, many regions deeply segregated, with
uneven funding and infrastructure in our public education systems because of
the residential segregation, and many Black Americans feeling they are looked
at as a threat by white ones. As the BBC wrote on in <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52877678"><span style="color: #1155cc;">George Floyd: How are African Americans Treated Under the
Law</span></a>, Black Americans are about 13.4% of the US population but constitute
23.4% of police fatalities, are arrested substantially more often for drug
crimes despite similar drug use statistics compared to white Americans, and
constitute a much greater percentage of prison populations than they do overall
US populations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The time to act was hundreds of years ago. The
time we have is right now. We need to take it. We need to try.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">EDIT NOTES June 15, 2020: I replaced the term "slave(s)" with "enslaved person/people" for the most part as suggested by <a href="https://twitter.com/al0nte">@al0nte</a> on Twitter. It definitely feels better and to me supports why I struggle with the word "owned". </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I retained "Black Americans" because I want to remind that we are all just as "American"- good or bad. The Indigenous cultures white settlers/colonizers killed are the only originals to this land in the bigger sense. I use and capitalize Black because I have heard many voices requesting it. I capitalize Indigenous along similar logic lines. I don't capitalize white because I don't believe it should be- it was a term chosen for control. I think "European-descending" would be more logical.</span></span></div>
<br />Susan Baumgartnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16650573099588264143noreply@blogger.com1