Hi GMF peeps,
OK, so we already have the "can talk about Covid-19" thread, pinned to top of topic list --
I'm writing a hopefully very calm post to post on that thread, today,
will remind people how to mute topics/threads they don't care to see
One of the issues in this mess is, there really are things our group needs to talk about/educate/etc. around covid-19 --
the group is about cat care, and veterinary service is hugely impacted, some members are breeders, some are rescuers, some do both, and getting vet care, going to manage colonies, etc. is hugely impacted.? Adoptions are very low, many people are relinquishing pets to shelters on the mistaken idea that cats can give humans the virus, many shelters are closed.? It has become very difficult or impossible to get many veterinary drugs and treatments.? Just as with human care, many "non-critically-urgent" medical procedures are being postponed for cats.? Vet practices that still have some open hours, are having people call from the parking lot at the time of their appointment, a vet tech gets the cat-in-carrier and brings into the practice, the cat's human doesn't get to accompany.?
Another issue is the pouncing-members' tendency to label any criticism of government pandemic response, as "this is a political rant" -- which it is emphatically not.? There is no question that our government response is incompetent.?
Two of my best friends from Caltech (they graduated, I dropped out) work for major drug research firms, one of them is working huge amount of overtime since their employer is working to make a reliable antibody test, the other's employer is working furiously on developing more anti-viral drugs (they're a virus researcher).? Other friends work as nurses.? In our urban area, major hospitals are literally begging the public for PPE (personal protective equipment) like masks -- this includes major players like Kaiser, etc.? These folks are on the inside of the battle, and they make my statements seem incredibly mild.?
It isn't a political statement to say (and yep we can include, 'this is our opinion, AND the opinion of the virus researchers we know'), 'our government's response to pandemic has been incompetent', so we need to do more at local and state levels.
Ironically, when we moved this group to groups.io, and set out with the intent to reinvigorate the group, which like so many had lost a huge number of members when yahoo did the neo format, one of our goals was to restore the focus on critical thinking!? which had lapsed in the neo-format years.?
Quite possibly the fussing members may continue to fuss, the complaining-to-groups-io person threatened to quit (while they contribute good information on certain technical vet things, they're very prone to drama)(and a mod commented don't let the door hit you on your way out....)
Thanks for all your thoughts.? In the grand scheme of things these days, this is a very minor problem.? We'll post a mild post, and see how it goes.? Gesine
