Opinion | I Was an E.M.T. While Covid-19 Devastated New York – The New York Times

Then things got worse. Scores of “diff breathers” turned into cardiac arrests, and worse — 83Rs and 83Ds — codes for dead after resuscitation initiated and for dead on arrival. That deep cough we once heard when we arrived on the scene was replaced by the agonized wails of inconsolable family members. A father or mother or grandparent had just died, and we couldn’t even offer the comfort of a hug because the virus was so contagious.

On one day in April, 800 people died.

The E.M.T.s and paramedics of the pandemic are the firefighters of Sept. 11. First in, last out. The risks have been consequential.

It was a terrible blessing to be an E.M.T. at a time when the city was in desperate need. Many of the people we tried to save died, but many lived. I still feel shaken when I think about those deaths. But I never felt hopeless inside the screaming ambulances that radiated so much light.

 

Guam governor offers Greene history book after falsely calling US territory a foreign land | TheHill (F. Gump: Stupid is as stupid does)

Guam has been part of the United States since 1899, and people born on the island in the west Pacific Ocean have been considered U.S. citizens since 1950. Guam’s roughly 170,000 residents do pay federal taxes but not federal income tax.

The island served a key military role during the Pacific campaign in World War II and there are roughly 6,200 active duty U.S. troops stationed there.

Greene made the gaffe last month during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, urging the U.S. to stop sending aid overseas.

“I’m a regular, normal person. And I wanted to take my regular, normal person, normal, everyday American values, which is: We love our country. We believe our hard-earned tax dollars should just go for America, not for what, China, Russia, the Middle East, Guam — whatever, wherever,” the Georgia Republican said.

Source: Guam governor offers Greene history book after falsely calling US territory a foreign land | TheHill

Arizona House Republican says party thinks ‘everybody shouldn’t be voting’ | TheHill (only wants “quality” people voting?)

“Not everybody wants to vote, and if somebody is uninterested in voting, that probably means that they’re totally uninformed on the issues,” he said. “Quantity is important, but we have to look at the quality of votes, as well.”Source: Arizona House Republican says party thinks ‘everybody shouldn’t be voting’ | TheHill

Court nixes upcoming argument on Medicaid work requirements – SCOTUSblog

The Biden administration, which is unwinding the controversial Medicaid policy, asked the court in February to scrap a pair of cases in which the justices had agreed to review the policy. Acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the justices that, in light of “greatly changed circumstances,” it no longer made sense for the court to take up the issue. She asked the justices to cancel the March 29 argument and instead vacate two decisions by a federal appeals court that the justices had agreed to review. Source: Court nixes upcoming argument on Medicaid work requirements – SCOTUSblog

Jamaica’s first vaccination day brings optimism, though COVID-19 numbers continue to soar · Global Voices (by Emma Lewis)

On March 10, the first anniversary of COVID-19’s arrival in Jamaica, a senior public health nurse who confessed to being “afraid of injections” was the first national to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. She received the vaccine at a faith-based centre for the homeless in downtown Kingston.

The day before the vaccination roll-out began, the Ministry of Health and Wellness announced that there had been 808 new cases reported in 24 hours, considered high for the country of 2.9 million. There have been 463 deaths recorded to date. Jamaica currently has close to 13,000 active cases and with 277 hospitalised, most public hospitals are close to or at full capacity.

Source: Jamaica’s first vaccination day brings optimism, though COVID-19 numbers continue to soar · Global Voices

A Small Town and a Spray of Bullets in Myanmar – The New York Times

Until Thursday, Myaing, a small town in central Myanmar, was best known for its production of thanaka, a bark that is ground for use as a cooling cosmetic.

But in the late morning of March 11, the town, which can be traversed in 10 minutes, became synonymous with the brutality of the military that seized power last month. Myaing’s rain-slicked streets were mottled with blood as police officers shot into a cluster of unarmed civilians, killing at least eight people and injuring more than 20, according to witnesses and hospital officials.

U Myint Zaw Win was among the crowd that scattered with the bursts of live ammunition in the late morning, outside Myaing’s police station. When he looked back, he saw a body with half its head blown apart, on a street that he has walked all his life. He did not know whose body it was, but he said a mason and a bus driver were among the dead.

“They were shooting people like shooting birds,” Mr. Myint Zaw Win said of the police officers, some of whom he said he knows personally because Myaing is a small town where almost everyone knows each other.

Lawmaker pushes to allow concealed weapons in Texas public schools | The Texas Tribune – (inviting mss murder into Texas K-12 schools-nuts)

Six years after Texas passed a controversial measure allowing licensed gun owners to carry concealed handguns on college campuses, one Republican state lawmaker is pushing to expand the law by allowing licensed adults to carry weapons in public and charter schools.

The bill’s staunchly pro-gun author, state Sen. Bob Hall, sees the move as a logical extension of Texas’ campus carry law, which passed in 2015 over the passionate pleas of Democrats, gun control advocates and some university officials who feared increased violence.

Hall’s bill is one of several addressing school safety this session, with other lawmakers seeking to expand the state’s school marshal program, which lets trained school teachers and support staff carry guns on campuses. Gov. Greg Abbott has endorsed that program, and the Legislature has expanded it in previous years.

Source: Lawmaker pushes to allow concealed weapons in Texas public schools | The Texas Tribune

Military leaders hit Tucker Carlson over ‘divisive’ remarks on women in military | TheHill

“Women lead our most lethal units with character,” tweeted Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston, the service’s top enlisted leader. “They will dominate ANY future battlefield we’re called to fight on. @TuckerCarlson’s words are divisive, don’t reflect our values. We have THE MOST professional, educated, agile, and strongest [noncommissioned officer] Corps in the world.”

“Thousands of women serve honorably every day around the globe,” tweeted Gen. Paul Funk, commanding officer of the Army Training and Doctrine Command. “They are beacons of freedom and they prove Carlson wrong through determination and dedication. We are fortunate they serve with us.”

Funk’s deputy, Lt. Gen. Ted Martin, posted a photo of his daughter in combat fatigues and said “contrary to what you may be hearing this WOMAN & 1000’s of WOMEN like her are NOT ‘making a mockery of our military.’”

“You WISH your daughter was as AWESOME as MINE! so BACK OFF,” Martin added.

Maj. Gen. Pat Donahoe, commander of Fort Benning and the Army Maneuver Center of Excellence, posted a video of himself conducting a reenlistment ceremony for a female soldier as “a reminder that @TuckerCarlson couldnt be more wrong.”

 

Source: Military leaders hit Tucker Carlson over ‘divisive’ remarks on women in military | TheHill