rpbobcat

Even if DCI wants to consider moving forward with a 2021 season, there are a lot of "what ifs" . Difficulties in housing and practice sites have already been discussed in detail. Another issue is seating capacity. Right now no one knows what the rules will be next season. N.J. currently limits outdoor gatherings to 500 people. There's also talk of 25% or 50% seating in venues. I don't know what other states are doing. Obviously,DCI and corps need to know this to be able to book venues and sell tickets. Is it economically viable to only sell 1/2,or less, of the seats at Birnie Crum ? Will domes like LOS even be open for summer activities next year ? Can corps have their home show ? Unfortunately,right now all there is in uncertainty,with no time frame for when information on events like drum corps,will be available. That makes planning kind of hard.

YEA was the "parent" organization at the time. The Cadets were one component of YEA. So,I would think his contract/agreement, or whatever he had, was with YEA .

1.Some Presidents have exceeded their powers. Others have tried and weren't able to. In my opinion,given the current political environment,if the President attempted anything the other side felt even remotely exceeded his Constitutional Authority,they'd be in court. 2.The President did use the Defense Production Act to get companies to make ventilators and masks. That's got nothing to do with State's rights. 3.Do you really believe if the President said "the situation . . .", people on the other side of the aisle would agree and go along with it ? I mean we're talking the same people who did all kinds of name calling after the Chinese travel ban earlier this year.

They've been talking quite a bit about people who had Covid, getting reinfected. Happened to a guy my neighbor worked with. He got tested at work. Came back positive. Self quarantined for 14 days. No symptoms. Retested,negative. Went back to work. After a few weeks,he got really sick. Tested positive a second time. Didn't make it. Apparently, possible reinfection, isn't uncommon. There's an article about it in the " Nation's Health" section of today's The Record by John Bacon of USA TODAY. It won't link,but if you google his name it comes up. Currently there's only anecdotal evidence of reinfection. But it is significant enough that scientists are studying it to see if reinfections are occurring. The article says a second infection seems to be more serious then the first. The other "issue" is that,if reinfections are occurring,it really calls into question the ability to come up with an effective vaccine.

I'm a bit of a history buff. When they were drafting the Constitution,one of the biggest concerns states had was a too powerful Federal Government taking away states' rights. Under the Constitution,the Federal Government's powers over states are actually quite limited. They've "stretched" their powers over the years,but its still limited. When this thing first started ,there were calls for the President to impose a national lock down. It was pointed out that,under the Constitution, he can't. Its up to each state. Same with states reopening or requiring masks.

its not quite that simple. I posted yesterday about the problems my wife has wearing a mask because of her Asthma. She's never had an issue when she takes it off. But ,if anyone said anything,she was told by our atty. that,legally ,all she has to say is that she has a medical condition ,that prevents her from keeping a mask on. Under HIPAA that ends the discussion. Don't think a store would want to risk the P.R. and legal nightmare forcing her to leave, because she had to take her mask off to be able to breathe ,would create. The problem is,anyone can make the same statement and,under HIPAA the store is just as stuck.

Not just the Second Amendment,he said the entire Bill of Rights was "above his pay grade'.

The problem,from what I've read is,under the Constitution,the Federal Government doesn't have the authority to impose a national lock down like Italy and Spain did. That would violate state's rights. A friend of mine is a Constitutional Lawyer. He's actually qualified to argue cases before the Supreme Court. He said that,not only would attempting a national lock down violate the Constitution, if challenged in court ,so would a lot of the Executive Orders put in place by some Governors. I know in N.J. our governor wanted to suspend the Second Amendment, by stopping all fire arm and ammunition sales. In that case the Feds did step in an stop him.

From what was said at the meeting last night,right now there hasn't been much in the way of comment from the teachers or their Union. They may be waiting for more specific details on what plan the district decides to go with.

My wife is a visiting nurse,with Asthma. Even with A/C, after about 15 -20 minutes in a patient's home,with the N95 ,she starts having trouble breathing. If the patient's home doesn't have A/C it can be less then 10 minutes. She's a little better in stores with A/C. The other thing that happens is that, during the day,the more she has to wear a mask her tolerance decreases. She also has about the same tolerance for N95 and cloth masks. So,while some people with Asthma may not have a problem with a mask,some people do.

I was at a meeting last night where the Superintendent of the local school system gave a presentation of their plans to reopen K-8 schools. High school kids go to regional high school. Ha said last Spring showed that there's no question "in person'" learning is superior to on-line. He said a number of parents have called the results of the on-line learning "regressive", not progressive. They are currently working on a couple of options to reopen schools. Right now,this seems the preferred approach: They are planning on having in person learning 2-3 days a week,to start. One day a week would "float". They're going to "grab and go" breakfast and lunch. They're also adjusting the school day to end with kids taking lunch home. Classrooms would be set up to Socially Distance and be cleaned to exceed all CDC criteria. He stressed that there haven't been any objections to reopening. But,instead,a lot encouragement,especially from parents.

Its a lot different where I live in northern New Jersey. We had a similar situation a few months ago when they first started drive in testing. But,they bumped up the number of drive thru testing sites and got rid of the back log. in fact,now they've actually shut down a number of testing sites,due to a lack of people seeking tests. Pretty much every CVS and Rite Aid around here offer Covid tests. Again,you used to have to make an appointment. Now in a lot of places you can pretty much walk in. Also haven't seen anything about delays in getting test results.

Thing is,without seeing their financial records,I don't know any way to know if a corps is "financially secure" or not. You really can't tell from the 501C3 tax forms. YEA is a pretty good example of how "deceiving" they can be,when it comes to an organization's financial health. I would have thought BD,SCV and the Troopers would,thanks to BINGO,been able to weather a financial storm. But,with that income stream gone,I don't know. Maybe its just Public Relations,but there seems to be a somewhat "desperate" tone in several of the fundraising requests I've seen. I don't think we'll know "financially secure " any corps,or for that matter DCI is,until we get closer to 2021.

I have a couple of friends who are New Jersey judges. They're being told not to expect being able to have jury trials till December/January.

In addition to Drum Corps my wife and I are roller coaster enthusiasts. The issue having of having to wear masks at all times in parks has been a hot topic on the coaster boards. One topic is the effectiveness of face coverings. One person put up an interesting post on the subject. www.coasterbuzz.com/forums/topic/cedar-point-facing-backlash-over-face-mask-policy/3 (I'm a dinosaur.If someone can get up a link,I'd appreciate it) The post is by Gary Gowdell. Regardless of how you feel about masks,its an interesting read. Personally I wear a mask where I'm required to. But sometimes,after a while, even in air conditioning,I have trouble breathing. When that happens I uncover my nose. But I've had situations where I had to take it off.

The "blue baloney" reminded of this : Years ago I worked at a Snack Bar in an S.S. Kresge . The hot dogs we served came in an unmarked white box. One time,when I put them on the steam table,some of them got green stripes, where the steam touched them. Called my Manager over. He said it wasn't a problem,just put that side down on the bun. Nah,when he left,they went in the trash.

We have a Democratic Governor,Assembly and Senate. Even a normally sympathetic press is going after the governor's scatter brained approach to reopening. Asbury Park,a Democratic stronghold voted to allow indoor dining. He sued them and got a temporary restraining order. This week Jersey City's Mayor,another staunch Democrat said the Governor needs to mover faster on opening thing back up. He said it needs to be done much faster. Then again,Murphy refuses to release data on how/where PPE equipment was distributed. Why ? Because it could be used by terrorists.

My problem,at least when it comes to N.J., is the inconsistency on the part of our governor. He allowed "essential" businesses to stay open,but never defined "essential". He considered stores like Home Depot and Target to be "essential" because they sold food. No problem. But they could sell anything in the store,while clothing and appliance stores had to be closed. Barbers had to stay closed,even if they could follow the same safety protocols as other businesses. Starting Monday you can go to a Massage Parlor. But gyms have to stay closed. He also refuses to say what "metrics' he follows in making his decisions.

Have to ask. What is a "mulch pit access card" ? As I posted,I have issues with wearing a mask. That being said, I respect the right of any business/property owner to require me to wear one in his place of business or on his property.

In N.J.,at least the area where I live,Shop Rite cashiers will not put groceries into reusable bags. Either you bag yourself,or they put your groceries in a plastic bag,and you put it in your tote.

What is really disturbing is that,at least in N.Y.'s case they had the ability to use the Javitz Center and USS Comfort. Even though the Comfort was refitted for Covid,NY didn't use it,at least not much. I'm also sure,if there was beds available on the Comfort,N.J. could have that ship for covid patients too.

I'm kind of the opposite. I go to work every day. I don't wear a mask in public. I do wear one where required. Haven't worn gloves,except where a store owner requests you do. Have been using shopping carts,door handles,even public rest rooms. The one change I have made is washing my hands more often. Haven't had any issues. Same with my wife,who is a nurse. Obviously ,at work she does full PPE when dealing with covid patients. I'm 66,with no underlying health issues. My dad is 93 with Parkinson's. Been seeing him at least a couple of times a week,non-stop, with no mask (his call). He's doing O.K. (knock on wood) Maybe we just have good genes. Or maybe covid isn't quite as contagious as they first thought.

if you go on you tube and search "1980 bridgemen" there's a 6 minute PM Magazine story about the corps. The whole video is fun to watch. But at the 3:10 mark they talk about the Bridgemen getting a special dinner,paid for by a third party. Shows how scarce food could be.

I have a problem when people say they want to "demilitarize" the police , and eliminate funding for "military hardware". Organizations like police,fire ,etc. have to able to function in any emergency situation,be it man made or natural. That requires a clear "chain of command". That, in and of itself ,requires a quasi military model. Same thing,what exactly is "military hardware " ? Everyone seems to have have their own definition. At one time,the standard procedure in N.J. ,when dealing with an "active shooter (s)" situation, including schools,was for a police officer to wait for back-up. Not now. An officer is expected to go in immediately. That requires more "fire power" then a semi automatic pistol. Police have carried shot guns for years. Given their "spread", they aren't well suited for "close quarters" with "civilians" possibly in the "line of fire". Hence,an AR-15 or something similar is now standard in police vehicles. Does every police department need an armored vehicle ? No. But the terrorist attack in Jersey City last December showed the necessity of hainvg this type of equipment available on at least a County basis.