Our humanitarian crisis

[swamp]

Nov 13, 2020 7:56:44 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

MSF go where they're needed most. It does not mean we've become a third-world country. I'm guessing that a good deal of their donations come from the US (I've donated generously). No disgrace in needing help when US-funded organizations go everywhere else during crises (and how many foreign NGOs show up when we have major natural catastrophes)?

Nov 12, 2020 22:48:38 GMT -5 @shastasnewlife said:

NY brought in travel nurses from many other states. When every state is raging, where do those nurses come from? 

A funny/sad post-script on this: those nurses were horrified when they found out that their earnings while in NY were subject to substantial NY state and local city taxes. Yeah, states are greedy that way.

My husband was one of those people.   We are already in NYS, so he has to pay the state tax.  He filled out a form to be exempt from the NYC tax.  

[jerseygirl]

Neither side is trying to unite the country

[Tennesseer]

Nov 13, 2020 14:05:54 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Neither side is trying to unite the country

Biden is. Meanwhile after almost four years in office trump still isn't.

[Deleted]

Nov 13, 2020 14:19:52 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Nov 13, 2020 14:05:54 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Neither side is trying to unite the country

Biden is. Meanwhile after almost four years in office trump still isn't.

After more than a year campaigning and dividing before becoming president and dividing ever since, why would trump start now?

[pulmonarymd]

Nov 13, 2020 14:05:54 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Neither side is trying to unite the country

Keep telling yourself that. Biden is doing all the right things. Trump campaigned as if he wished to be president of the republican states of America. Trump has never tried to unite us. And maybe we will continue to see McConnell be an obstructionist, instead of solve problems. Not like everything is perfect right now.

[weltschmerz]

Nov 13, 2020 14:05:54 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Neither side is trying to unite the country

"Own the libs!"
"Own the libs!"
"Own the libs!"

Get back to me when Biden starts crowing about owning the conservatives.

[Deleted]

Nov 13, 2020 12:35:21 GMT -5 pulmonarymd said:

Nov 13, 2020 11:38:00 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

So #resistance he’s ‘not my president’ is still on? Great way to unite the country

Have anything to say the the large number of republicans who said the same thing about Obama, or the crap that is already starting with Biden. Or, is it only the Democrats who have to be the reasonable ones

This is something I’m just now really understanding. People can do bad, even horrible, things, and I am supposed to be reasonable and forgiving. I’m not supposed to feel any kind of way about or react negatively to the bad things they do. With what I’ve recently come to understand about this place I call home, issa no for me.

I was referring to more than the subject of this thread, but in regards to that topic, are the citizens of this country that know how serious COVID is because they work with patients that have it and have watched some of them die, they’ve had it themselves and got terribly ill.... or a loved one or someone they personally know did.... they’ve lost a loved one to it, how are we supposed to feel about the way the “leaders” in our country have handled it? Is it not reasonable for us to be upset and/or angry about all the lives lost unnecessarily, all the people that got very ill, the doctors and nurses that work long hours, sometimes without proper PPE.... putting themselves in harm’s way trying to help the people that got very sick from it, the essential workers that get exposed to it because not wearing a mask is some people’s hill to die on?

The lack of true leadership and the uncaring attitudes of our so called “leaders” feel like a big fat “Fuck you!” to me.... personally, and on behalf of all my fellow Americans that take this seriously and can’t get the best of the best care if the get sick, like Donald Trump and his cronies can.

I’ve been “reasonable” my whole life. I’m tired of being reasonable when people do bad things, especially when it’s harmful and most especially when it’s a matter of life and death.

Unite the country? Who, Donald Trump and company? That’s hilarious. Not really though, because I have never in my life felt the way I do now about this nation and the people that live in it, and I’m not the only one. At this point, it would probably take Jesus Himself to convince me to back down on the stance I’ve taken now. A divided nation is Trump’s legacy. 

[TheOtherMe]

Saw just enough of "notmypresident" press conference on my way to take a shower.  He still hasn't acknowledged he lost the election.  

A firmly ingrained divided nation is his legacy.  I hope some day and some way people can get back to center.  

This state is getting an F you from both the president and governor as people are dying every day and nobody in the government who can help cares.

They are not pro-life.

I will say that neither the House Dems or GOP should be holding their dinners tonight for their freshmen congressmen.  They are both indoors and both parties are wrong to be holding them.

[Opti]

Nov 12, 2020 17:41:59 GMT -5 @missrigby said:

I heard on the news that Doctors Without Borders is coming to the US. They go where the need is greatest, and so far it seems to me that they've always had a big presence in third world countries.

Is this what we've become because of the coronavirus and the government's seeming disinterest in making even the smallest effort to contain it? Are we now a third world country when it comes to medicine?

Yes. We also could have used an international election watchdog agency during the elections because of Trump's mouth.

[Opti]

Nov 13, 2020 12:54:09 GMT -5 swamp said:

Nov 13, 2020 7:56:44 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

MSF go where they're needed most. It does not mean we've become a third-world country. I'm guessing that a good deal of their donations come from the US (I've donated generously). No disgrace in needing help when US-funded organizations go everywhere else during crises (and how many foreign NGOs show up when we have major natural catastrophes)?

A funny/sad post-script on this: those nurses were horrified when they found out that their earnings while in NY were subject to substantial NY state and local city taxes. Yeah, states are greedy that way.

My husband was one of those people.   We are already in NYS, so he has to pay the state tax.  He filled out a form to be exempt from the NYC tax.  

This is true whenever you work in a different state than where you reside. City taxes are a big hit. Living in NJ, I estimate taxes and commute costs that a 80K salary in NJ is break even $100K in NYC. I'd want better $$$ for the hassle unless I worked for a TV station.

[Opti]

Nov 12, 2020 18:53:00 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Nov 12, 2020 18:32:46 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Your link doesn't read like a fundraiser event:

"In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) began working in key sites across the United States to reach vulnerable groups that often lack access to health care. We ran limited operations in the US between April and October and have now concluded these activities. MSF teams worked with local authorities and community-based organizations on a wide range of projects, including support for people who are homeless or housing insecure in New York City; migrant farmworkers in Florida; Native American communities in the Navajo Nation and Pueblos; and neglected and marginalized communities in Puerto Rico. Our teams also worked with staff in nursing homes and long-term care facilities in Michigan and Texas to offer training in infection prevention and control measures and support for mental health and wellness."

No, fundraiser in the sense that people will see MSF working and donate

OKay...
Isn't that true though of any organization and that given they are going to typically underserved areas, how will most people notice?
Trump has made the Presidency a full term constantly on fundraising machine. He grants access when he is on site at his golf courses, Mar Lago and the Washington Hotel to just name a few. And then there's the flotillas, the rallys, Trump campaign sponsored Women for Trump, Blacks for Trump, etc.

How horrible that an organization who uses volunteer medical labor might get some funds to pay for supplies! 
My primary care is at a clinic open only on a couple days a week for a few hours that uses volunteer labor and gets some supplies donated. 

[Opti]

Nov 12, 2020 22:28:12 GMT -5 pulmonarymd said:

Nov 12, 2020 20:15:52 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

I’ve been seeing references to MSF coming to the US with the recent spike (see OP) confirming that US is now? Turning into? A third world country under Trump
Google search seems to indicate MSF were in US but ended work here in October

Maybe you should talk to people who work with covid patients. It feels like we are a third world country.

Lack of ppe is ongoing, medication shortages, testing shortages, hospital bed shortages, staff shortages, and lack of real leadership. That sound like the richest, most technologically advanced country in the world? From my vantage point, it sure doesn’t feel that way

My stress level is currently through the roof over Covid. Most of the workers in my facility are dreading and waiting for the day we again have Covid+ patients and a red zone. We did not have sufficient PPE, some bad things were unavoidable and still are. (Think trying to isolate patients on a dementia floor when there is not staff for one to one and all outside agency help is canceled because of the disease.

It feels like the calm before the storm or the lull before hell part 2. There will be more nurse and aid turnover when it comes again. People like me, rec aides, etc. are somewhat F**d, but nurses and especially aides can always get jobs elsewhere. Some will choose to sit this next wave out if they can afford to financially or go to places where they won't admit any Covid patients at all. I'd I had financial support, I'd take an immediate leave of absence the day the first positive patient rolls into the skilled nursing side. Having lived through the first wave, I know the liklihood of them fully replacing me or having a fully staffed desk after the red zone shuts down is practically zero. Not many people apply for jobs in places they are guaranteed to have exposure to people with Covid. Not perhaps like working at a grocery store begging for staff, but your job might include going in to the red zone every day and getting much closer than you like to highly infected people.

[NancysSummerSip]

My plastic surgeon worked with Doctors Without Borders -- he traveled to Europe and repaired the faces of kids born with genetic malformations for free. Love the guy. It was one of the reasons I picked him. I figured he had worked in some pretty harsh conditions, so working on me would not be a problem.