WHEN SCIENCE & RESEARCH IS DENIED IN PLANNING AHEAD!

By Will Dursens

Remember as kids, when one was asked to help tell their story about what is happening in their life, we would give them some crayons and a big sheet of paper. Remember how they would then draw pictures which would show total utmost honesty about how they looked at the world at that moment – that is what we have with our postings ‘My Box of Crayons’.

This is what and how my crayons see things going on in the world today.

Today I make a statement – IT’S POSSIBLE WE MAY NOT BE READY IF SCIENCE & RESEARCH IS PREVENTED FROM PLANNING AHEAD!!

One of the things taken care of by the current administration and the unqualified narcissist in the White House the past few years was to take a so-called ‘businessman’s approach’ to the health and well-being of our country and even the world.

Early on in 2018, the White House eliminated a position on the National Security Council tasked with coordinating a global pandemic response. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) that same year dismissed 80% of its efforts combating disease outbreaks overseas because its funds were depleted.

In the current budget proposal presented by the current Administration, they are seeking to cut funding for the CDC by another 16% even though Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar was seeking emergency spending from lawmakers to combat the current health concern called coronavirus.

What alarms me the most is the lack of connect to what the Center for Disease Control and Prevention actually does and what the narcissist in the White House thinks it does.

At a recent press conference he stated it was easy to bolster the public-health agency with his business approach toward running the government when he stated, “I’m a businessperson and I don’t like having thousands of people around when you don’t need them. When we need them, we can get them back very quickly.”

While adding to his statement comments about some of those experts targeted by his cuts ‘hadn’t been used for many years’ and that additional federal money and new medical staffers could be obtained swiftly.

Even myself as a layman living in the center of our grand country, knows that the CDC is constantly studying and preparing for not only updates on current vaccines and cures for current diseases but they are constantly trying to stay ahead of the learning curve for any new possibility of a major epidemic like we are staring at with the coronavirus.

The minion in the White House made his remarks despite the warnings from the experts at the CDC that the coronavirus spread in the United States was inevitable and they were urging citizens to become prepared.

Unfortunately, the current Administration has spent the last two years gutting critical position and programs that health experts have repeatedly said will weaken the federal government’s ability to manage a minor let alone a major health crisis.

I find it amazing that nobody made a bigger stink back in May of 2018 when Rear Admiral Timothy Ziemer abruptly departed from his post leading the global health security team on the National Security Council amid a reorganization of the council by then-National Security Advisor John Bolton.

It was reported by the Washington Post at that same time that a whole group of people had been fired just before Ziemer’s team was disbanded and that the team had ‘openly called for a comprehensive biodefense strategy against pandemics and biological attacks’.

Jen Kates, the director of the Global Health and HIV Policy Program at the Kaiser Family Foundation, said in an email sent to ‘Business Insider’ that the latest round of proposed budget cuts ‘would certainly hamper the work of the agency’.

With the cuts to funding for the CDC, the CDC was forced to cancel its efforts to help other countries prevent infectious disease threats from becoming epidemics. Among the 49 countries affected by the cuts was China.

With the spread of the coronavirus to at least 47 countries at this point in time and with over 60 confirmed cases in the United States so far, the current Administration has now requested $2.5 billion to address the coronavirus outbreak though many critics (including this writer) have made no bones about the fact that this emergency funding would not have been necessary if the previous programs and people cuts had not been done.

I agree with Kates when she notes that the CDC has ‘already been grappling with tight resources for addressing the nation’s public health, as well as domestic and global health security threats and that to date, such funding has been sporadic and typically coming only after an outbreak hits a tipping point’.

So while many seem to want to not take the coronavirus seriously, unlike the Ebola crisis, this time the health issue has spread well beyond one continent and could be a catastrophic event here in the United States without studies and research for a vaccine or medications to combat it, something which would have already been several months in the works had the current Administration not been so scared of scientific facts and research.

One other thing, will it really help by putting a man in charge of the coronavirus response team that does not believe in proven scientific research and results. Remember he is a guy who still claims smoking does not cause cancer and that prayer alone will make things go away.

Well folks, I am a strong Christian who believes in the power of prayers and blessings, but even I know that some people are blessed with minds powerful enough to help cure problems and plan ahead to avert disasters – because in most minds with faith, that is one of the creators wonders, the human mind.

But then again, I am sure with the vice-minion in charge, his lack of appreciation and respect for science and his muzzling of the doctors and researchers in charge, will be reasons for me to break out another set of crayons soon.

That my friends is, at least for today, where I am using my box of crayons – to talk get the conversation going about the main reason we as a country are not prepared for a possible epidemic of any kind thanks to the recklessness of a businessman who openly does not believe in science and is only looking out for a way to cut the bottom line and make a profit for those who can profit from it. I for one fear for our country and its citizens if and when any major illness hits within our borders since we have not the doctors, the researchers or the finances to play ahead – that my friends is a very scary idea.

What does your box of crayons say about your thoughts of these situations which ultimately will make a difference in your life no matter where you live?

With that, I simply say thanx for letting me share – – – Good Day!

(My Box of Crayons is copyrighted@2020 by CrossDove Writers – no part of this writing can be reprinted or used without written permission by CrossDove Writers and/or Will Dursens)

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