Page 4 - Mid Valley Times 1-7-21 E-edition

Thursday, January 7, 2021 | A4 | Mid Valley TiMes Editorial & Opinions
Serving the Readers of the Reedley Exponent, Dimuba Sentinel and Sanger Herald.
A Mid Valley Publishing Newspaper
Founded March 26, 1891, in a two-story building on the corner of 11th and F streets, by A.S. Jones
Fred Hall — Publisher
In my OPINION
It makes little sense to not publish Fresno County recovery numbers
Jon Earnest — Reedley Editor Dick Sheppard — Editor Emeritus
Since Christmas has come and gone — or a strange version which was tailored to satisfy the personal whims of a handful of bureaucrats — we felt it appropriate to “gift” these people and the events they drove, with the proverbial lump of coal in their stock- ing. These will not be in any particular order, because there is no identified or recogniz- able scale to indicate the impact their ac- tions have had on the great democracy that is America.
Fred Hall
It's pretty much been a tricky task working and weaving my way through COVID-19 numbers since this pandemic began busting out last spring. However, a recent move by the Fresno County Department of Public Health's COVID website is a curious one, and something that may bring some blow- back from the public.
Shortly before Christmas, I noticed that the number of pa- tients recovered from the vi- rus remained stuck at 26,742, and wasn't being updated. It wasn't overly startling, as this late fall-early winter spike of positive cases likely has had those running the page scram- bling to keep pace. Also, the website's COVID data and surveillance dashboard page has been "under construction" (wording from the county) in recent weeks.
But last week, the website published on its home page that it was no longer report- ing recovered cases, at least for the time being. In their own words, county officials said, "At this time reporting of recovered cases has been discontinued to reallocate staff for new COVID-19 cas- es. Recovered cases were de- rived from FCDPH conduct- ing follow up contact with COVID+ patients after the isolation period. FCDPH will
continue to provide the most up-to-date and relevant data to the public."
That's all well and good, but why the total cutoff of re- covered cases? Are we to be- lieve that there isn't enough staff on the website to follow this important factor? Is the present staff overrun with the month-long-plus rise in new positives to not provide the recovery information. I hope the website will at least remain active enough to provide a weekly update in patient recoveries. Or find a way to eventually catch up with accurately chronicling the recovery rate. I believe it's a number that public has a definite interest in knowing.
Which begs another ques- tion of the county. Just when will this "under construction" phase of the date and surveil- lance dashboard actually be completed? The banner atop the page says that a new dash- board is expected to be avail- able in early 2021. That's a bit vague. February or March is still considered "early" 2021. I would hope that the county has the fully back up and run- ning well before that time. It's a valuable tool for the public to keep tabs on their respec- tive community's number of positive cases. More impor- tant, we're not able to get a daily (or even weekly) run-
ning count on active cases.
To Fres-
no County's
credit, they
are providing
the occasional
screen shot
of data maps
showing county communi- ties. On Jan. 5, they also ran a graphic showing each city's positive cases; at least the cit- ies with more than 100 cases. Also, the county has posted photos that have a color-cod- ed breakdown of "hot spots" in many of these cities. It's a good gauge to go by.
As high numbers continue, it's important to keep wearing masks when in close contact with people. Outside, if noth- ing more than courtesy. But it will help the public to know the continued progress (or re- gress) of the virus at as accu- rate a level as possible.
•••
A word of caution to Reed-
ley and Orange Cove resi- dents. Kings Canyon Unified Schools elementary students are returning to on-campus instruction next week, so be safe on the roads around schools. We wish a healthy, happy and productive return to studies this winter and spring for all students in the region, be it live or distance learning.
ANTIFA: This bunch of thugs spent much of the summer burning, looting and hitting people in the head with bats and bricks which had been strategically placed and funded by a mysterious source. Their thuggery changed the landscape of free speech at all of our universities.
BLACK LIVES MATTER: Simplistically viewing this group on its surface produced a group which celebrities, pro athletes and the media who managed to deify this group. They were allowed to grow so strong as to become a political force whose only real objective was political power and defunding the po- lice. They solidified the position of law enforcement being the most dangerous of all occupations. Being white became the original sin.
LOCAL MAYORS AND GOVERNORS: People who ran states and cities like Oregon, Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City seemed to do everything possible to destroy the lives of their citizens. These are the same “woke” people who allowed the thugs to take over their cities. Many “autonomous zones were set up by young college- trained people who were sorely in need of a shower and com- mon sense.
NANCY PELOSI: One would have difficulty finding a more despicable and privileged individual who epitomizes the Wash- ington swamp. I can't clear my mind of the image of her being interviewed at her San Francisco estate, standing in front of twin refrigerators — each of which cost north of $10,000 — eating her designer ice cream. This happened when most of America was suffering because of the government lock down of business due to Covid. This would be the same classless individual who tore up the President's speech at The State of the Union. Her political power is the only thing which truly interests her. To hell with her constituency!
GAVINNEWSOM: Wepresent,foryourconsideration,the man who visited Ecuador to study poverty while serving as governor of what has become one of the poorest, over-taxed states in the union. Newsom, along with Los Angeles Mayor Gil Garcetti, will have overseen a record number of business clo- sures and people being thrown out of work — all in the name of protecting us from COVID-19.
CANCEL CULTURE: This group spent their summer pull- ing down statues which they associated with an event that oc- curred a century and a half ago.
Next in line will be military bases and schools for renam- ing. Dumb really came to the forefront when San Francisco decided to change the name of Abraham Lincoln school. Seems that in the eyes of those morons, Lincoln didn't do enough when he was president. All he did was abolish slavery and hold the Union together. To these people, apparently ignorance is bliss!
THE MEDIA: Thanks to NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, The Washington Post and The New York Times, it's now safe to say that real journalism is dead. It died from self-inflicted wounds. All of these folks have become advocates for liberal politics. Read all the surveys and one will find that readers and viewers have lost all faith in what they read, see or hear. It's hard to believe that anyone could hate Donald Trump so much that they would commit suicide of an entire industry.
Space has limited us to a mere handful of bottom feeders. There are many more who deserve special recognition. We will continue the “awards.” With folks like Fauci, big tech, Schiff, Schumer, Swallwell, the Biden family, the Clinton Family, all the members of “the squad, Comey, Brennan, Clapper, the peo- ple and corporations who funded fascist groups, all the Demo- crat candidates for president (with the possible exception of Tulsi Gabbard) and the Democrat majority in the House of Representatives. There is a huge number of “bottom feeders” who deserve the scorn of all religious, hard-working Ameri- cans. I almost forgot our educational system, and its professors who are about 95 percent radical. We can only hope the damage which they inflict on our democracy is limited before they are assigned to the dust bins of history.
Letters from readers
Jon Earnest
But, as always, that's only one man's opinion.
A contrast in accomplishments
In answer to Mr. Mendo- za's letter on Dec. 17, he blasts President Trump and praises the incoming Joe Biden. What has Biden accomplished in 47 years in office? Research shows that Biden in that time has not done anything worthy of praise, besides collecting his pay. Can he present some evi- dence of his accomplishments?
My research shows dif- ferent with Trump, who has accomplished more in four years than most presidents have accomplished in eight
years. Most notably, almost four millions jobs created including 400,000 manufac- turing jobs since his elec- tion. More Americans are now employed than ever re- corded before in the county's history. There are so many more accomplishments, but not enough room in this letter.
Then, there's the very best of President's Trumps ac- complishments with the de- velopment of the COVID-19 vaccine. He worked hard and stood his ground, urging med- ical doctors that they must try to develop a vaccine to stop the pandemic. After ma-
ny months, the doctors finally found a possible vaccine that would stop the pandemic. Ma- ny consider this accomplish- ment a great miracle and are delighted an appreciative. A job well done!
Let's end this year with a good, positive attitude that the vaccine will work well and save many lives. May the coming year of 2021 be a very positive one, with many graces in abundance for all.
Manuel Madrid Reedley
Editor's Note: This letter is being re-published because of typographical errors last week.
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QUOTE
“Count Hermann Keyserling once said truly that the greatest American super- stition was belief in facts.”
— John Gunther (1901-1970)