Every now and so often, we are reminded of how much the inexact art of prediction dominates all facets of American society. The numbers that are crunched by non-humans (computers) find their way into reports and models prepared by think tanks. They then become fodder for a whole slew of influential pundits and spokespeople, from […]
Underlying Conditions
We’ve all become used to what doctors and other experts on the cable news shows say—people with underlying conditions are much more vulnerable to the COVID 19 virus and are in much greater danger of becoming seriously ill and dying. Those underlying conditions have been identified, among others, as heart disease, diabetes, lung ailments, suppressed immune systems, […]
An NYC Doctor’s Life During COVID-19
“I’m not heroic. I was never planning to be.” A 30-something year old New York City doctor gives an account of how COVID-19 has affected her life at work and home. The edited interview took place on April 6th and was given under condition of anonymity because she could be fired for speaking about her […]
Angola Prisoners Say: “This is a war – and we’re in it”
CJ LeBlanc is a journalist who writes primarily about issues related to criminal justice in the Deep South and seeks opportunities to amplify marginalized voices. In this short piece, CJ LeBlanc shares with us the communiques of incarcerated men inside Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, a former plantation and the country’s largest and most notorious […]
On Organizing the Grunts: COVID-19, the Sailors and Some Other World History
I don’t mean to sound old school here. When General Giap, a commander of the Vietnam Peoples’ Army, wrote in his memoir about the conditions that allowed a victory over the almighty US armed forces in his country, he gave a lot of reasons. A singularly important one for us was the resistance to the […]
“We Need to Change the Way We Live”: An ICU Nurse Speaks Out
Today we caught up with Sam, a nurse working in a cardiac ICU unit at a medium-sized private hospital in Newark NJ. In Sam’s workplace, a nurse was recently suspended for organizing a gofundme page to raise money for more PPE equipment. Sam’s co-workers believe that she was targeted because management believed that she was agitating […]