Salem Political Snark

Outrage: Oregon seniors to get Covid vaccine after teachers

If Oregon seniors weren't so justifiably afraid of coming down with COVID-19, they should be marching in the streets after Governor Brown announced yesterday that those 65+ would have to wait in line behind teachers to get vaccinated.

This is a hugely irresponsible decision that is going to cause many old people to die. 

According to the Oregon Health Authority, those 60 and over comprise 17% of Covid cases in the state and a whopping 91% of the Covid deaths.

Yet Brown said at a press conference that I watched via You Tube that children are suffering from distance learning and need to get back into in-person instruction as soon as possible.

Hey, Governor, you know who else has been suffering?

The 1,600 Oregon seniors who have died from Covid, many of them isolated from loved ones in a hospital bed, unable to say goodbye other than, maybe, via an iPad held up by an ICU nurse.

Children have their lives ahead of them. Seniors are nearing the end of their lives. Children can recover from learning problems during this pandemic. Seniors who die from Covid are gone forever, no second chances.

Currently the plan is to start vaccinating most day care, preschool, and K-12 school employees on January 25. Seniors have to wait two weeks, with Oregonians ages 80+ starting to get the vaccine on February 8, followed by ages 75+ on February 15, 70+ on February 22, and 65+ on March 1.

This likely is an optimistic schedule. But even if it holds up, every senior who wants the Covid vaccine won't be able to get both doses until well into April, around three months from now.

Today 41 Oregonians died from Covid. Let's look on the bright side and say that only 20 die on average each day during the next three months, 90 days. That's 1,800 additional deaths. If 91% are seniors 60+, over 1,600 old people will die.

Sure, some seniors will be immunized in time to prevent getting the disease. So let's cut that number in half: 800. Or maybe you think I'm being too pessimistic. OK, cut the number in half again: 400.

Is it worth 400 senior deaths to give Oregon children a few months of in-person instruction?

That's my guess, given that it seems unlikely all school personnel could get their first shot before February 8, with the second shot being given three or four weeks later, which gets us to March 1-8. Full immunity takes a few weeks after the second shot.

So it would be the end of March before school personnel are 95% safe from Covid. Will schools reopen before this happens? I doubt it. Teachers would resist entering classrooms before their second dose has taken effect. 

Thus if summer vacation starts in June, Governor Brown is saying that it is worth hundreds of senior deaths to give children eight weeks or so of in-person instruction this school year.

Here's a not-so-crazy idea.

Ask teachers, parents, and students if they are OK with this? Have a statewide discussion about the morality of condemning the grandparents of school children to die so their grandchildren can sit in a classroom for a few months.

Consider what a learning experience it would be for educators to talk about how putting off in-person instruction until the fall of 2021 is a sacrifice being made so many old people can live.

My wife and I are 71 and 72, respectively. We were fortunate to be able to get a first dose of the Pfizer Covid vaccine last Thursday, though a bit unfairly. 

I'm happy about that. But I'm sad whenever I think about the seniors we know who, like us, have been living in fear for almost a year of coming down with COVID-19.

The Oregon Health Authority statistics show that a bit over 7% of those 60+ with COVID-19 die. That's 1 out of 14. Many or most of the other 13 suffer a lot, since seniors are affected much more than younger people by the Covid virus.

So it isn't irrational for many seniors to stay sheltered at home, unwilling to go out except for groceries, which often are picked up because those old people are wary of going into stores. Governor Brown spoke of the despair of students who can't be in the classroom.

Brown needs to spend more time talking with seniors who have been isolating to a much greater degree than students about their despair, their loneliness, their fear of getting sick and dying alone.

There's still time for Governor Brown and the Oregon Health Authority to rethink their plan to make seniors wait to get the Covid vaccine until school personnel have been immunized. I hope they do.

 

I get a Salem Health Covid shot, a bit unfairly

NEXT DAY UPDATE: BAD NEWS. My wife just spoke with an over 65 friend who, along with her husband, were hoping to get a Covid shot at the Fairgrounds today, Friday. She was told that they were turned away, likely because of what Governor Brown announced this morning about the state not getting additional vaccine doses from the federal government as promised. Looks like another screw-up from the Trump administration, among many others.

It's been an interesting 24 hours, Covid-wise. 

Last night I wrote a blog post, Salem Health is allowing people to get "extra doses" of Covid vaccine, where I argued that it was unfair of Salem Health to say on their Covid vaccine web page that only people in the initial 1a group (health care providers and nursing home residents/staff, basically) could be immunized at their Fairgrounds clinic, while allowing people to get shots on a drop-in basis if they showed up at the clinic.

This afternoon my wife and I got our first shot, Pfizer variety, at the clinic. So am I a hypocrite?

Not really. In the morning I perused my Facebook feed and saw that more people were talking about getting immunized at the Salem Health clinic even though they weren't in the 1a group. A few said that appointments can be scheduled through Salem Health's MyChart.

So that got me to thinking that given our age, early 70s, and health status, my wife has asthma and I have a bladder problem that would be tough to deal with if I got a bad case of Covid, it made sense to try to get immunized regardless of how fair it would be. Here's how today went for us. As you can read below, others have had a different experience when they went to the clinic to get the vaccine.

We got to the Fairgrounds site at about 1:50 pm. You enter via Silverton Road. There was a long line of cars in front of us. But the line moved along at a steady slow pace. It took us about half an hour to get to the place where someone talks to you while you're in the car. 

Laurel was driving. The person asked us if we were health care workers. Laurel said, "No, but we have appointments through MyChart; we're over 70 and have pre-existing conditions." Those words earned us an "OK, you're good to go; turn left up ahead." Turning right meant you were leaving the Fairgrounds because you weren't accepted for an immunization.

Now, what's rather strange is that a friend texted me later in the day.

They said that they'd also gone to the clinic in the afternoon today. The couple told the screener that they had MyChart appointments and were over 65. They were turned away. This points to a certain unfairness, since seemingly the only difference between them and us was that we'd mentioned pre-existing conditions.

At any rate, after getting the go-ahead to be immunized we parked and walked into the Jackman Long building housing the clinic after having our temperature checked via a forehead thermometer. 

I was instantly impressed with how efficient, friendly, and professional everybody working there was. 

We were pointed down a MyChart path, since we didn't need to fill out any paperwork, having handled that online. So if you have a MyChart account, click on the Menu with the three bars in the upper left corner, choosing "Covid Vaccination Clinic." The next steps are straightforward.

Laurel and I were given a card that said we got the first Pfizer dose on January 14 and needed to return to get the second dose on February 4. Card in hand, we then joined a line of people waiting to be immunized. Photos were taken to mark the happy occasion.

Laurel Hines

Brian Hines

It didn't take long to reach the end of the line. A staffer apologized for a short delay in the immunization process which lasted less than five minutes. Dr. Ralph Yates, the Chief Medical Officer of Salem Health, was at the head of the line checking cards. Yates saw me a few times early in 2020 about my sciatica problem. 

I told him that I was his sciatica success story, being much improved now. I thanked him for assuring me that I was going to get better, which meant a lot to me when I was despairing that the pain wouldn't go away, Then I thanked him for the marvelous immunization clinic Salem Health was putting on. Yates said that no other county is doing something like this (many more should), and that he was proud no vaccine doses have gone to waste.

We then were directed to tables with an open shot-giver.

Here's a photo of Laurel finishing up with the person who immunized her. The shot was virtually painless, though the needle has to remain in your arm for 10 seconds, which was no big deal.

We then waited in another area for 15 minutes to make sure we didn't have an allergic reaction to the shot. I spent the time texting my daughter and a friend about how we'd just gotten our first Covid immunization. The whole process took shout 90 minutes, including the time in our car.

In case anybody is worried about contacting Covid by going to this immunization clinic, rest assured that the Fairgrounds building is so large, there's plenty of room to socially distance. Naturally everybody wore a mask. 

After we were done, my overwhelming feeling was gratitude for everybody who is working hard to keep the Salem Health clinic going until everybody in Marion County who wants the vaccine can be immunized. This includes the National Guard troops who were much in evidence at the clinic.

I also have been feeling a huge relief that my wife and I got our first shots.

For about eleven months Covid has been an oppressive weight on everybody's mind. There's no escaping the reality of the pandemic, though unfortunately some people try to deny the truth of it. I knew I'd feel good after getting immunized. What I didn't know was how good. 

So I have very little to criticize about the immunization clinic.

As noted in my first post, I still hope that Salem Health will be more transparent about who, exactly, can get a shot. There's clearly a difference between the overt policy on the Salem Health Covid Vaccine web page that says only people who live in Marion County and are part of the 1a group can be immunized, and the actual policy of allowing people in the 1b group to get the vaccine.

Maybe there is a good reason for this. Sometimes rules deserve to be broken, because the rule is too rigid. That could be at play in this case.

However, on January 23 the 1b group will join 1a as officially eligible to be immunized in Oregon -- seniors 65+, teachers, other school staff. Will Salem Health then allow people in the next highest priority group, like store clerks or younger people with underlying conditions, to be immunized? I'm worried that this will create confusion and perhaps even some reluctance to be immunized if the process is viewed as unfair.

Unfair or not, I'm really happy that Laurel and I went to the clinic today. 

Salem Health is allowing people to get "extra doses" of Covid vaccine

Salem Health is allowing people to get the Covid vaccine who aren't part of the 1a group that supposedly comprises the only Oregonians eligible to be immunized currently.

This seems unfair to me, though I'm not criticizing those who took advantage of the extra doses that Salem Health has been doling out to those in the know who have shown up at the Fairgrounds vaccination site.

Yes, it is well known that often it is possible to get more shots out of a vial of vaccine than the usual number. That vaccine shouldn't go to waste. However, I don't understand why those extra doses are being given on a first-come, first-served basis to otherwise ineligible people when this opportunity hasn't been communicated to the general public. 

I learned about this from a Facebook post by Tom Andersen, a member of the Salem City Council who was able to be vaccinated today even though he isn't a health care provider or a resident/staff member of a long term care facility. Those are the basic 1a groups; a detailed list of who is currently eligible to get a Covid vaccine is here.

Andersen said: "I got my first COVID shot today. The local hospital has extra doses so opened up at the state fairgrounds on a first come basis. While not one of the first, I was one of around 1000 or more who got shot."

I'm bothered by what Salem Health is doing. Public confidence in what will be a lengthy Covid vaccination process will be undermined if there appears to be favoritism in who gets a shot, whether intentional or unintentional.

Yesterday Governor Brown announced that as of January 23, seniors 65+ will be eligible to get vaccinated, along with teachers and some others . Here's the three tweets from Brown. Note that this next group, which I gather will be 1b, isn't supposed to be vaccinated until January 23, not January 13.

So Governor Brown told Oregonians to be patient "if you are newly eligible."

Hey, I'm 72. I'm newly eligible. 

I'm also a Salem Health member, as my family physician works at their Edgewater Clinic. I didn't call my doctor's office, because Brown said I shouldn't. I figured that when seniors aged 65+ are able to be vaccinated, information about how to get a shot will be widely available.

But obviously a bunch of people learned that if you show up at the Salem Health vaccination site at the Fairgrounds, and there are extra doses available, it's possible to get vaccinated even though you aren't eligible to get a shot.

I went to the Salem Health Covid vaccination web page to see if there was any indication that someone not in the 1a group could be vaccinated. Answer: no, there is nothing about this. In fact, the message is the opposite. 

If you aren't part of the current 1a group, you aren't supposed to go to the Fairgrounds site. This is boldfaced. Here's screenshots.

So anyone who went to the Salem Health Covid Vaccine web page would be met with the words: "You must live or work in Marion County to be vaccinated at this site AND you must fall into Phase 1a (see below)." 

That "below" says that Phase 1a includes health care workers, residents and employees of nursing homes, and first responders. Also, "Anyone who arrives to be vaccinated will be asked to attest to their eligibility as a member of OHA's Phase 1a groups living or working in Marion County."

Yet other people who show up at the Fairgrounds site have gotten vaccinated even though they aren't in the Phase 1a groups. Hopefully Salem Health can explain why this is happening.

It would be understandable that those administering the vaccines would grab anyone within reach if some doses were going to expire for lack of refrigeration, or whatever, and otherwise would need to be thrown away.

But this comment by Tom Andersen says that "extra doses" have been used by Salem Health several times in the past week. How does someone learn that these extra doses are available? Salem Health should be more transparent about why and how they are administering vaccinations to people who aren't currently eligible to get a shot.

Again, I couldn't find any indication on the Salem Health Covid Vaccine web page that it is possible for someone to wait in line for extra doses being given on a first-come first-served basis, yet this is happening.

If a Salem business isn't requiring masks, report them to OSHA

Remember the saying popularized after the 9/11 attacks: "If you see something, say something." 

That's the patriotic thing to do if you're aware of a danger to your community.

These days it isn't so much terrorism that we have to be worried about. It is people and businesses not complying with public health measures, such as mask-wearing, needed to save lives and prevent illness from COVID-19.

So don't be shy about complaining to the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health division if a business is being lax about requiring that masks be worn by employees and customers, or is failing to enforce rules about physical distancing and how many people can be in the business at one time. 

It doesn't take long to fill out the online complaint form. If you don't want your name made public, indicate that you want your identity to be confidential. 

Remember: you could save a life by filing a complaint. No business has a right to endanger their employees and customers by ignoring the public health orders put forth by Governor Brown and the Oregon Health Authority.

If masks aren't being required, or next-to-useless face shields are being allowed instead, OSHA should be informed. 

A few days ago rob the bartender, tweeting as RobDrinkenstein, shared his outrage at how Lowes and Home Depot were failing to require mask-wearing in their Salem stores.

The next day, he tweeted an update.

Someone on Facebook left this comment on my Strange Up Salem Facebook page after I posted Rob's initial tweets.

I have reported both the Lowes and Home Depot in south Salem to Oregon OSHA -- got correspondence back saying there were open investigations. I just stopped going there, decided Ace Hardware (higher prices) was worth the extra money.

lt's great to see people holding irresponsible businesses accountable for not doing what they're required to do to help stop the spread of COVID-19. If those businesses get fined, they deserve it.

It isn't fair to responsible businesses to let their competitors get away with irresponsible Covid behavior without some serous consequences.

This has been important since the start of the pandemic. But it is especially vital now, given the skyrocketing Covid cases and deaths across the country just when Covid vaccines are becoming available. If everybody does their part to slow the spread of the virus, tens of thousands of lives can be saved, maybe hundreds of thousands.

Are you listening, managers of Lowes and Home Depot? If not, hopefully OSHA can spur your hearing with some hefty fines.

Lie of the Year is denial and deception about COVID-19

I agree with PolitiFact that the Lie of the Year is denial and deception about COVID-19. A runner-up must have been Trump's lie about the presidential election being fraudulent.

Which means the President of the United States is at the heart of two massive lies that have caused great harm to our country, leaving aside the many thousands of lies that Trump has spewed every day before and after his inauguration in 2017.

Here's an excerpt from PolitiFact's Lie of the Year story.

President Donald J. Trump fueled confusion and conspiracies from the earliest days of the coronavirus pandemic. He embraced theories that COVID-19 accounted for only a small fraction of the thousands upon thousands of deaths. He undermined public health guidance for wearing masks and cast Dr. Anthony Fauci as an unreliable flip-flopper. 

But the infodemic was not the work of a single person. 

Anonymous bad actors offered up junk science. Online skeptics made bogus accusations that hospitals padded their coronavirus case numbers to generate bonus payments. Influential TV and radio opinion hosts told millions of viewers that social distancing was a joke and that states had all of the personal protective equipment they needed (when they didn’t).

It was a symphony of counter narrative, and Trump was the conductor, if not the composer. The message: The threat to your health was overhyped to hurt the political fortunes of the president. 

With COVID-19 vaccinations starting, though it will take many months before everyone who wants to be immunized can get a shot, it's just as important now as it was in the earlier days of the pandemic to not spread lies and disinformation.

If you see someone doing this, do something about it. Don't share lies on social media. Correct people when you hear them saying stuff like "masks don't work," "there's no reason to close high-risk businesses," and "vaccines can give you Covid."

I'm surprised at how many people don't get the annual flu vaccine because they wrongly believe that it is harmful or can give someone the flu. Wrong and wrong. Immunizations of all sorts are safe and effective. 

Sure, there can be side effects. My wife and I had reactions to the Shingrix vaccine that prevents shingles in us older people. I spent a difficult night shivering from chills. It wasn't pleasant, but it was a heck of a lot better than getting shingles.

Likewise, you might have some side effects from the Covid vaccines. Almost all side effects are mild. Serious allergic reactions will be rare. So jump at the chance to get immunized when your turn comes.

That's a no-brainer of a decision, given how many people suffer from lengthy "long haul" health problems produced by the coronavirus. Those problems can linger for many months, leaving sufferers without much energy, headaches, and various other nasty symptoms.

Lastly, today Politico reported this disturbing news.

A top Trump appointee repeatedly urged top health officials to adopt a "herd immunity" approach to Covid-19 and allow millions of Americans to be infected by the virus, according to internal emails obtained by a House watchdog and shared with POLITICO.

“There is no other way, we need to establish herd, and it only comes about allowing the non-high risk groups expose themselves to the virus. PERIOD," then-science adviser Paul Alexander wrote on July 4 to his boss, Health and Human Services assistant secretary for public affairs Michael Caputo, and six other senior officials.

"Infants, kids, teens, young people, young adults, middle aged with no conditions etc. have zero to little risk….so we use them to develop herd…we want them infected…" Alexander added.

Herd immunity is a lie about the coronavirus that also was spread by Scott Atlas. There's no evidence that any country has ever achieved herd immunity by letting the virus spread unchecked through the population. Vaccines are the only safe way to achieve herd immunity.

Sweden tried this to a certain extent. It was a failure.

So it's outrageous that some in the Trump administration tried to have more Covid cases in the United States. That's how we've ended up with 300,000 deaths and many more to come. Trump and his co-conspirators in public health incompetence have mismanaged our national response in astoundingly dangerous ways.

Thankfully, Joe Biden will take over as president on January 20 and begin moving this country in the correct direction to fight the pandemic.

There's shameful silence in Salem about COVID-19

Ever since the pandemic reached Salem last spring, there's been little communication from Mayor Bennett, City Manager Powers, the three Marion County commissioners, and other elected officials (such as the eight city councilors) about the need to follow Governor Brown's public health orders.

Yes, some City of Salem press releases have been issued. Yes, city councilors have used Facebook to urge physical distancing, mask wearing, and such. However, this mainly happened early this year.

So by and large -- and especially now, when daily COVID cases and deaths have reached new highs in Oregon -- the silence from our local leaders has been deafening.

There's so much that Bennett, Powers, the county commissioners, local state legislators, and city councilors could be doing, but aren't. 

For example, why haven't politicians and city officials across the political spectrum gotten together to issue a joint statement that urges people and businesses to strictly follow the new guidelines put forward by Governor Brown and the Oregon Health Authority to slow the rapid spread of the coronavirus? 

That statement would be front page news in the Statesman Journal and Salem Reporter (OK, the latter doesn't have a front page, being online only). It would show that public health efforts have nothing to do with politics and everything to do with sound science.

Which can't be separated from economics. 

The reason Salem health clubs are closed and indoor dining at restaurants isn't allowed is because previous efforts to control COVID-19 weren't followed long enough and strictly enough. Half-hearted measures lead to a diminished economy. 

"Opening up" is crazy when the virus is everywhere in the community. 

Yet Trump has made that his mantra for purely political reasons. Sadly, many millions of Americans believed him when he claimed that this country had turned the corner on the pandemic.

Well, Trump was right in one sense. Fall and winter have turned the corner onto the most deaths, cases, and hospitalizations since the pandemic hit our shores. This is the sad result here in Oregon, as reported today by the Oregon Health Authority.

This isn't the time for Republicans, Democrats, and everybody else to stay silent. Anyone with an ability to reach people needs to speak up about the need to do what's advised above: minimize close contact with others, keep gatherings small, wear a face covering, and wash hands frequently.

Other countries have done much better than the United States at fighting the coronavirus.

Those nations have more of a communal sense of "we're all in this together," while Trump and too many other Republican politicians have made mask wearing and public health orders into a left vs. right thing -- whereas actually it is a medical science vs. ignorance thing.

That's why I believe it would be really helpful for Mayor Bennett, City Manager Powers, all eight city councilors (six progressives and two conservatives), all three Republican county commissioners, and other elected officials in this area to come together as one to urge everybody to comply with public health orders until the coming vaccines make it possible to relax our fight against COVID-19.

Sure, likely some of these people would refuse to sign on to a joint COVID statement because they're afraid of incurring the wrath of constituents who don't believe that the coronavirus is a real thing, and/or that governments have any business telling people what to do.

To which I'd reply: wrong and wrong.  The coronavirus is indeed a real thing, and governments do indeed have a right to protect the health of the community by issuing public health orders.

The good news is, sometime in 2021 almost everyone who wants a vaccine will have been able to get one. Until then, we need to save lives by uniting together to do what needs to be done to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Too many people have gotten overly complacent about the pandemic. They need a wake-up call. Our local leaders need to do some blaring of horns.

Oregonians need to step back from the brink of Crazy Cliff

A moderate amount of craziness adds spice to life. Who wants to be perfectly rational and reasonable all of the time? But currently there's way too much craziness going on -- both here in Oregon and elsewhere in the United States.

So join me in making a heartfelt plea to all Oregonians to take several big steps back from the brink of Crazy Cliff. Going over the edge won't benefit anyone on the left, right, or middle of our political spectrum.

I think of myself as an open-minded progressive. As you can read below, I'm fine with criticizing people on the left when they've done something objectionable. 

However, it seems indisputable that those manifesting the greatest degree of craziness these days are right-wingers. I can't call them conservatives because what those crazies are espousing has very little to do with traditional conservatism. 

Here's examples of the craziness in Oregon that needs to be dialed down.

Denying Biden won the election. Since Oregon isn't a swing state, we've been spared the worst of President-elect Biden denialism.

But since polls show that a clear majority of Trump voters feel that Biden didn't win a free and fair election, there's little doubt that hundreds of thousands of Oregonians have jumped on board the train to Crazy Town (to mix my crazy metaphors).

There's no evidence to support that assertion. Trump and his crazed legal team are simply out to steal the election. Rudy Giuliani and Co. are throwing out increasingly bizarre claims about how massive fraud was carried out on November 3.

Notably, "a claim by Trump lawyer Sidney Powell that U.S. voting machines made by Dominion Voting Systems Inc. used software made in Venezuela at the direction of Hugo Chavez. Chavez, who served as that country’s president, died in 2013."

That's super crazy! So it gets top billing in this blog post. 

Dowplaying the skyrocketing COVID-19 case, hospitalization, and death count. Throughout the pandemic Oregon has been doing better than most of the rest of the country. That's good news.

Yet instead of trusting Governor Brown and her public health team to continue doing what's necessary to combat COVID-19, there's been resistance to Brown's recent two-week rollback of some reopening policies, such as no longer allowing in-person dining at restaurants.

The Oregon Restaurant Association has sued the governor, objecting to the two-week restaurant policy. Protesters gathered at the state capitol, saying they wouldn't comply with Governor Brown's orders. Courthouse Club Fitness here in Salem is defying the two-week closure of health clubs. 

Crazy!

I can't understand why people are reluctant to save lives and lay the foundation for complete reopening of the Oregon economy by doing their part to comply with public health orders.

Oregon is facing the worst COVID-19 crisis of the pandemic, but many people are only thinking of themselves, not the common good.

Two counties make it a crime to enforce gun laws. Columbia and Umatilla counties in Oregon have passed ordinances that make it a misdemeanor crime for police to enforce certain gun laws.

Northwest Oregon’s Columbia County and eastern Oregon’s Umatilla County approved ordinances directing county workers – police included – to ignore the state’s extreme risk protection law, the concealed carry law and most other state regulation of guns. Passed in 2017, Oregon’s extreme risk protection law gives judges discretion to remove guns from people not convicted of a crime who show signs they might shoot themselves or someone else.

Deputies and officers who choose to enforce those laws risk prosecution and hefty fees -- criminal sanctions that “we are very proud of,” said Rob Taylor, an Oregon gun rights activist who has lobbied for such measures across the state.

Sometimes civil disobedience is called for. But this isn't one of those times. It is simply right-wing gun-nut craziness to claim that enforcing necessary laws is illegal. Almost certainly courts will agree and put a stop to this particular craziness. 

Portland "protesters" trash buildings. I'm not completely sure if this is an example of left-wing craziness, though it seems like it is, since it's hard to put anarchists on any part of the political spectrum. All they care about is creating chaos. 

It bugs me big-time when the nightly news calls those who damage businesses and other property in Portland protesters. They're thugs, rioters, criminals. Those are the names they deserve. An Oregonian story says: 

Crews cleaned up broken glass and boarded up shattered windows Saturday in Northeast Portland after demonstrators marched through the area the previous night.

Wooden boards covered broken windows and doors of multiple buildings along Northeast Sandy Boulevard, including a State Farm, Chase Bank, Whole Foods, Wells Fargo and Rite Aid. The Portland Police Bureau on Saturday said 26 businesses or workspaces and one apartment building were damaged with graffiti, broken windows or both in the Hollywood District.

Hey, Oregonian reporters. These aren't demonstrators. They are vandals. All they're demonstrating is how crazily stupid they are. They need to be charged with crimes and made to pay for the damage they do.

Courthouse Club Fitness defies Governor's order to close for two weeks

This is really disappointing. John Miller, the Courthouse Club Fitness owner, has decided to defy Governor Brown's order for gyms to close for two weeks beginning tomorrow because COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are rising so rapidly in Oregon. Here's part of an Oregon Health Authority graphic.


Miller has decided that making money is more important than the safety of his employees, club members, and the public at large.

He has joined the ranks of irrational anti-science right-wingers around the country who believe that public health orders needed to slow the skyrocketing COVID-19 cases are government overreach that must be fought.

What's next, John Miller? Are you going to lead a movement to allow people to drive drunk? Not wear seatbelts? Text while driving? How about if restaurants ignore violations of food safety regulations? OK with that? 

I wouldn't be surprised if armed "militia" guys who like to dress up as fake soldiers will show up at Courthouse Club Fitness locations, vowing to defend the freedom of people who can afford an athletic club membership to infect others by their heavy breathing as they run on a treadmill while watching Fox News.

My wife and I cancelled our Courthouse Club Fitness membership, which I've had for almost as long as the clubs opened up many years ago, after we learned that the clubs were going to allow people to wear face shields rather than masks when gyms were allowed to reopen. (Face shields are ineffective.)

That was the first sign Miller wasn't serious about doing his part to control the pandemic.

UPDATE: The notice from John Miller has been removed from the Courthouse Club Fitness Facebook page, along with the hundreds of comments associated with the post (though I copied some of them and have shared those comments below). Miller's notice is on the Courthouse Club Fitness web site, though.

The self-serving notice he posted on the Courthouse Club Fitness Facebook page is a much stronger sign that he is willing to ignore public health experts and the Governor's Covid orders so his business can stay open for the next two weeks while COVID-19 cases are increasing rapidly in both Marion County and Oregon as a whole.

Here it is. After the notice I've shared a critical comment I left on the Courthouse Club Fitness Facebook page, along with comments from other people taking Miller to task for defying the Governor's order. Which is totally legal, by the way. 

Most of the Facebook comments are supportive of Miller. Quite a few of those are similar to this one.

Thank you so much for your courage and stand against the unnecessary overreaching tyranny from our deranged Governor. Freedom, choice and self responsibility must be preserved. My prayer is that more local businesses can follow your powerful example. We The People!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

I guess John Miller is OK with making his clubs a haven for Trump supporters who hate Governor Brown and public health orders. Sort of surprising that Courthouse Club Fitness would decide that appealing to a decided minority of local people is a sound business decision.

The Statesman Journal has a story about this, "Salem's Courthouse Club Fitness says it will stay open, defying Gov. Brown's freeze." If you want to express how you feel about Miller's action, Courthouse Club Fitness has a contact page on its web site. 

The first of the non-supportive comments below is the one I wrote. 

Very disappointing decision. You should put the safety of people above your desire to stay open. You were closed for months previously and survived. And now you say you can't be closed for two weeks to save lives? Extremely selfish.

We cancelled our membership when you approved wearing face shields rather than masks in your clubs, which are next to useless at preventing Covid infections. Your decision to not comply with Governor Brown's order virtually assures that my wife and I will never rejoin Courthouse again.

Please reconsider your flawed decision to stay open. This won't help you in the long run, as people in Salem realize that you don't care much about preventing Covid infections. The Statesman Journal story says you view the mental health of your members is at stake. Hey, about the physical health of Salem citizens?

Dying from Covid, going to the hospital with Covid, suffering long term illnesses from Covid -- those aftect someone's mental health much more than exercising at an athletic club.

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Sadly, after 12 years and countless classes, I am discontinuing my membership. I expect the businesses I patronize to follow the law, not pick and choose what laws or state orders they will follow, especially ones regarding health and safety.

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Absolutely disgusting and appalling. You should be held personally liable for anyone and everyone who gets sick because of you and any selfish asshole that uses your club(s) during the shutdown.

I hope you get fined big time too. Like that idiot hair salon lady who also thought she was above everyone else.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

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You took PPP money and still charged all the members their normal monthly dues... how is two weeks going to end your ability to operate? If someone gets covid from going to your gym when it’s supposed to be closed, you could potentially face some serious legal issues... this is a terrible decision.

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How selfish. Profits over people.

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This is the wrong decision, people will disagree but it’s wrong. I’m sorry you have been put in this financial decision and ultimately this is my own personal opinion but it is not the “most responsible option”. Shame.

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I kind of find it hard to believe that THE MOST EXPENSIVE gym in town cant financially make it through the shut down like all the smaller, cheaper gyms out here that are all following the shut down order to keep our town safe. 🤷‍♀️ we are all struggling, we are all barely making ends meet, but we ALL need to listen and stay home or this shut down will just last longer and covid will continue to spread... If working out is a must there are PLENTY of other ways to get exercise in. 😊

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Was this poor man a member of your gym?
"Oregon’s 749th COVID-19 death is a 38-year-old man in Marion County who tested positive on Oct. 30 and died on Nov. 6 in his residence. He did not have underlying conditions."

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Imagine having so much privilege that not being able to go to your fancy gym for a couple weeks feels like an attack on your constitutional rights. Smh! It is amazing to me what is "too much" sacrifice for people in order to save the lives of other Americans. What happened to your Christian values?

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Maybe I'm missing something but when the first shutdown happened in March and the Courthouse did close their doors temporarily, members were still expected to pay dues. Refunds or deferrals of contracts were not offered. So I'm not sure how it negatively impacted your business in that respect. As members we lost one of our 2 incomes completely and were still charged for dues every month since March.

My comment is not about whether or not I agree with your decision to stay open I just feel like there is a lack of honest communication here about how dues have been handled since March.

What Twitter is saying about Trump's Covid illness

Here's 17 right-on tweets about Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis and hospitalization, including his attempt to do a Mussolini impression from a White House balcony after being released from the hospital. Sure, I could try to be as informed and witty as these people I follow on Twitter, but why try? Easier to simply share screenshots of their tweets. 

City officials allow Covid super-spreader event in Riverfront Park

I have a tough time figuring out who is more irresponsible:

(1) The Salem Awakening organizers who held a Christian event in Riverfront Park attended by hundreds of people in violation of Governor Brown's order limiting outdoor gatherings to no more than a hundred individuals. 

(2) The attendees, most of whom weren't wearing masks and failed to engage in required physical distancing. 

(3) Officials with the City of Salem who have been allowing Salem Awakening to use the park without a permit for most of the summer, and who did nothing to control last Thursday's super-spreader Covid event.

I'm going to go with a three-way tie. Salem Awakening, the attendees, and city officials all deserve a Who Gives a Shit About Life? award, given that they all displayed an astounding degree of uncaring about reducing the spread of the deadly Covid-19 virus.

On a positive note, today the Statesman Journal has a story by Whitney Woodworth about this, "COVID-19 'super spreader'? Concert, religious gatherings at Riverfront Park draw concern." To be clear, the Let Us Worship concert also was a religious gathering. Here's excerpts from the story.

Hundreds of people gathered at Riverfront Park on Thursday for a concert and religious celebration with little social distancing at times and few attendees wearing masks.

There is concern the concert could become a "super-spreader" event, especially as Marion County continues to have one of the highest rates of COVID-19 cases in the state.

Despite outdoor gatherings being limited during Phase 2 of reopening and masks being required outdoors if social distancing isn't possible, hundreds of people met at Riverfront Park for the Let Us Worship.

City officials said they were aware of the event but gave no answer on what enforcement would be taken to stop violations of the governor's orders. 

...Salem Awakening continued to meet at Riverfront Park and has said they will continue to do so until Labor Day. Their Facebook page promoted and included photos of the Let Us Worship concert on Thursday. 

After Labor Day, organizers said they plan to begin meeting outside Planned Parenthood in Salem regularly for a "worship service at the gates of Hell."

According to their social page, Salem Awakening organizers also helped organize Thursday's Let Us Worship concert. 

Well, that mention of Planned Parenthood shows some astounding hypocrisy.

If Salem Awakening really cared about preserving life, they wouldn't be sponsoring a Let Us Worship concert that put both attendees and their friends/families at considerable risk of being infected with the Covid virus.

Here's a short video someone sent me of what I assume is last Thursday's event. I uploaded it to You Tube because it deserves to be shared.