Today at the Beach
[guest post by JVW]
Los Angeles County beaches re-opened this past Wednesday, under strict regulations designed to limit the chances of large crowds congregating together. These rules dictated that beachgoers could only walk along the sand or the adjacent paved roads, and they could go in the water to swim or surf. Face coverings were to be worn when not in the water, and social distancing was to be maintained at all times. According to the regulations, bicycles were not to be allowed on the paved roads (probably to provide more walking space to pedestrians), nor were patrons to be permitted to relax on the sand in beach chairs or on towels. No organized sports such as volleyball were to be permitted either.
I have been taking walks along the beaches on a daily basis since they reopened, and this afternoon I went in for a quick swim. I can report to you that the regulations are being largely ignored: fewer than half the people on the beach are wearing masks, plenty of people have been sitting around in chairs and on towels, groups of teenagers (mask-less, naturally) were congregating together, people were playing sand soccer and tossing around a football, and a few bicyclists had decided to ride on the beach road. I doubt that the county intends for the lifeguards to enforce the rules, and as far as I could tell there was absolutely nobody from the local police or sheriff departments there to hassle people for noncompliance.
So now the big question remains as to whether the coven of Karens which has been dictating rules and regulations will be forgiving of the misdemeanors or if they will take great umbrage at the undermining of their authority and seek to reimpose the closures. It was always manifestly daft to think that beachgoers wouldn’t sit down and rest on the sand while their kids surfed and swam, or that teenage schoolmates who in some cases haven’t seen each other in two months wouldn’t decide to hang out together, mandates be dammed. If the county were to try to reimpose the beach closure I think they would have a great deal of civil unrest on their hands, especially with the summer months coming. Local media, while acknowledging the lax following of rules, are reporting generally positive weekend results. Here’s hoping that County Health Director Barbara Ferrer along with Mayor Eric Garcetti and his minions on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors agree.
– JVW
One of the most aggravating things to me is how the County Board of Supervisors has just meekly implemented county-wide any directive coming from Mayor Garcetti’s office. I don’t live in the city of Los Angeles, I don’t get to vote for the mayor of Los Angeles, so why is my county supervisor just rubber-stamping whatever edict comes out of 200 N. Spring Street?
JVW (54fd0b) — 5/17/2020 @ 6:56 pmOne can only imagine the pushback if the Karens try to reimpose any sort of beach closures, given that So. Cal. is experiencing incredibly gorgeous days, and residents have already whet their whistle for endless summer days at the beach. Is one ever able to get the horse back into the barn?
Dana (0feb77) — 5/17/2020 @ 7:05 pmAre you guys not getting the rain this week?
Nic (896fdf) — 5/17/2020 @ 7:07 pmCloudy, but from Monday to Thursday there will be a 15 degree jump in temps.
Dana (0feb77) — 5/17/2020 @ 7:32 pmI can only dream of going to the beach right now. The Broadwalk is open weekdays 6 AM to 9 AM. No more.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article242729906.html
That article gives the basic answer to your question in comment 1: if the county has something open and the city doesn’t, the city folks will start coming into the county.
BTW, if you look at the photo on the bottom of that link: the big white building is Margaritaville. The public garage I usually park in is just off the right edge of the picture.
Kishnevi (3cd3a0) — 5/17/2020 @ 7:35 pmLooking at the top videoin that Herald link, that’s about as crowded as the Broadwalk gets except at the height of tourist season.
Kishnevi (3cd3a0) — 5/17/2020 @ 7:38 pm@4 ah. we are all over the place for temps and pos rain tomorrow with thunderstorms on Tues.
Nic (896fdf) — 5/17/2020 @ 7:46 pmWe had what is now Tropical Storm Arthur Wednesday night, all day Thursday, and part of Friday…
Kishnevi (3cd3a0) — 5/17/2020 @ 7:51 pmI’m one of those optimists who thinks that if you get enough information out and treat the people the same way you’d wish to be treated yourself, most folks will act responsibly.
On the other hand, when your policies increase dependency and inhibit self-reliance, it’s harder to get people to think about taking care of their own individual space or respecting same of others.
And lastly, if the public feels that they’ve been lied to, that the virus isn’t as bad for the general public as claimed and/or the rule makers are not following their own policies, there’s going to be an understandable but scary pushback. The same goes for double standards based on which community is concerned.
All over the country this is a problem being grappled with by those in charge.
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Related:
Angelica
@Angelica3313
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So let me understand this, the police are giving out masks to the people that are not social distancing in Central Park but beating a black woman with child that didn’t wear their mask properly on NYC subway?
_ _
CBS New York
harkin (8f4a6f) — 5/17/2020 @ 7:55 pm@CBSNewYork
·
Moving forward, the NYPD will focus its social distancing enforcement on large gatherings and no longer issue summonses or arrests for lack of face coverings, the mayor says. https://cbsloc.al/3cAbVPl
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So let me understand this, our good friend harkin is promulgating some actress’s unsourced tweet about the New York police beating a black woman (“with child” of all things) for not wearing [gender neutral plural possessive pronoun] mask [singular] on the subway?
nk (1d9030) — 5/17/2020 @ 8:45 pmWhite House adviser blames CDC for letting ‘the country down’ with early testing snags
…..
When asked whether Trump had faith in the CDC, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, and coordinator of the Defense Production Act response, said that is a question for the president before criticizing the federal health agency’s initial response to the coronavirus pandemic.
…..
“Early on in this virus, the CDC, which really had the most trusted brand around the world in this space, really let the country down with the testing because not only did they keep the testing within the bureaucracy, they had a bad test. And that did set us back,” Navarro said Sunday.
In response:
Senior CDC official rebukes White House trade adviser’s criticism as tensions escalate over reopening strategy
“We should remind Mr. Navarro that the CDC is a federal agency part of the administration. The CDC director is an appointed position, and Dr. (Robert) Redfield was appointed by President (Donald) Trump,” the official told CNN.
“If there is criticism of the CDC, ultimately Mr. Navarro is being critical of the President and the man who President Trump placed to lead the agency.”
Ripmurdock (bbf61d) — 5/17/2020 @ 8:48 pm…..
The barbs come as CNN reported that tensions are rising between the White House and the nation’s leading public health agency. In interviews, senior administration officials in Washington as well as top officials at the CDC in Atlanta described a growing sense of mistrust and animosity between the White House and CDC over how quickly the US should reopen and how the government tracks data on the virus.
…..
Mr. Navarro obviously didn’t get the memo.
The administration’s response has been perfect, thumbs up, the best of the best, 10/10.
All the problems – of which there aren’t any, by the way, but just speaking hypothetically – are Obama’s fault.
Dave (1bb933) — 5/17/2020 @ 9:29 pmAfter the horse is dead, yes.
Dave (1bb933) — 5/17/2020 @ 9:38 pmWell, you sure can’t argue with Dr Ferrer, with all her degrees in … what? Social Welfare? I thought she was a medical professional, but it turns out that she is nothing of the sort. Trump is as qualified.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 5/17/2020 @ 10:41 pm11. When asked whether Trump had faith in the CDC, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, and coordinator of the Defense Production Act response, said that is a question for the president before criticizing the federal health agency’s initial response to the coronavirus pandemic.
…..
“Early on in this virus, the CDC, which really had the most trusted brand around the world in this space, really let the country down with the testing because not only did they keep the testing within the bureaucracy, they had a bad test. And that did set us back,” Navarro said Sunday.
12.
Obama realizes that. (and Trump’s too) For not realizing that the career people didn’t know what they were doing.
I don’t think Obama was criticizing Trump here, even though everybody seems to assume so.
https://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2020/may/17/barack-obama-criticises-trump-in-virtual-graduation-speech-video
Pulled back the curtain? I don;t think Obama thinks too many people thought Trump was the Wizard of Oz.
And Trump is pretending to be in charge, unless this is a reference to the Governors.
I think the folks Obama has in mind, but he won’t say it more directly, are the CDC, the NIH and the FDA, and WHO
Sammy Finkelman (07f19d) — 5/17/2020 @ 10:45 pmShe has a masters degree in Public Health. Her PhD dissertation was on hospital length of stay determinants for AIDS patients, which sounds pretty medical.
I don’t think medical doctors generally serve as county health officers.
That is a nonsense TrumpWorld talking point.
Dave (1bb933) — 5/17/2020 @ 10:58 pmPolice were first brought into existence in cities to supplement county sheriffs to control immigrants and minorities. It was what the term policing comes from. Do you know where the terms “paddy wagon” and “pokey” come from?
asset (96d672) — 5/18/2020 @ 1:44 amI don’t understand the special health risks of sitting on the sand. This makes no sense to me.
SarahW (08f5d7) — 5/18/2020 @ 6:38 amThe first known police, armed police at that, were state-owned slaves in the polis, metropolis, and polity of Athens, circa 500 BC. They were “immigrants”. Scythian archers, sold by slavers, or maybe their own feudal lords like the Hesssians, to the Athenian government.
The Roman vigiles were watchmen, but they were more worried about fires in wooden pre-Nero Rome than they were about crime. They were “armed” with leather buckets. They were free Roman citizens, but slaves under their command would do the heavy lifting.
Similarly, but not exactly, the “Paddies”, that is to say Irish, who formed the police forces in 19th century American cities, were recent immigrants. Their bosses had come over with Peter Stuyvesant.
Now tell us where “cop” comes from.
nk (1d9030) — 5/18/2020 @ 7:22 amIn TrumpWorld, being “wise” or having “good instincts” counts for more than actual knowledge about anything.
Radegunda (39c35f) — 5/18/2020 @ 8:15 amBut only if it’s Trump — or if you agree with Trump.
This sounds hopeful:
The market reacts positively.
Dana (0feb77) — 5/18/2020 @ 8:48 amnk:
“promulgating some actress’s unsourced tweet about the New York police beating a black woman”
That’s on me, I thought the link I included showed the arrest that was all over the interwebs the other day.
Here’s the reaction from the mayor himself when he was forced to change policy based on the video evidence:
Mayor Bill de Blasio
@NYCMayor
·
Face coverings are important to protect everybody — they’re not optional.
But no one wants to see an interaction turn into this.
We’ve made progress with de-escalation. This isn’t it.
[video included]
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And here’s the story when the city vowed to fix the disparity in enforcement tactics based on which community it happened in:
Mayor De Blasio Says Of Racial Disparity In NYPD’s Social Distancing Enforcement: ‘We Will Fix It’
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2020/05/08/coronavirus-covid-19-nypd-racial-disparity-in-social-distancing-enforcement-bill-de-blasio/
harkin (8f4a6f) — 5/18/2020 @ 9:22 am_
@19 nk, the term copper or cop comes from the origin of the NYPD. The officers who joined the force wore badges made of . . . copper.
Gawain's Ghost (b25cd1) — 5/18/2020 @ 11:35 amMy grandfather, who was LAPD for 35 years always insisted it was because of copper buttons on the officer’s coats.
But there’s this:
“ Some have proposed that the reason police officers are called “cops” is because of the New York force’s copper badges. The source of this word is much earlier. Several sources say the usages originated in Northern England.
The word “cop” is an old Anglo-Saxon verb for catch, grab or capture, deriving from a noun “cop” dating back at least to the 1100s. Some sources say this word related to the Dutch word kapen, with a similar meaning. The earliest written documentation of the form “cop” as a verb in English dates to 1704.“
http://orvillejenkins.com/words/cops.html
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“It’s a fair cop”
harkin (8f4a6f) — 5/18/2020 @ 11:50 am_
Apologies to ‘erman’s ‘ermits…
I’m sitting on the sand
The clowns in charge tell me it’s banned
Or maybe they think this is the new norm
But though my skin will cook
Ain’t got sun block, ain’t got no book
I’ll sit and wait for the coming KAREN swarm
I’m sitting on the sand on Carmel Beach is what I am
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 5/18/2020 @ 11:56 amIn case a certain swarm of ladies walk by
Oh me, oh my
I hope that swarm of nagging ladies comes by
That is a nonsense TrumpWorld talking point.
No, it’s hyperbole.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 5/18/2020 @ 11:59 amDana, that is encouraging news, but don’t get your hopes up.
It took four years to develop a vaccine for the mumps, the fastest on record. It took Salk a lot much longer than that to develop the polio vaccine. Scientists have been working on a vaccine for HIV for 40 years, and no progress has been made. Same for Hepatitis C.
Over at RCP, the current death toll is 91,300+, and counting. Texas saw a spike in the number of infections of 1,800+ over the weekend. Significantly, more than 700 sases were found in meat packing plants around Amarillo in the Panhandle.
That seems to be where this novel coronavirus is most infectious, in places where people work in close proximity, especially with ventilated air systems. There doesn’t seem to be much indication that the virus is as infectious in open air environments, but you never know.
Gawain's Ghost (b25cd1) — 5/18/2020 @ 12:18 pmWell, harkin, the Anglo-Saxon origin of the word may be why police wor copper badges and buttons in the first place.
Gawain's Ghost (b25cd1) — 5/18/2020 @ 12:26 pm*wore
Gawain's Ghost (b25cd1) — 5/18/2020 @ 12:26 pmI thought it was:
whembly (fd57f6) — 5/18/2020 @ 12:41 pmCitizen
On
Patrol
19. nk (1d9030) — 5/18/2020 @ 7:22 am
From Eric Patridge’s etymalogical dictionary “Origins” 4th edition, 1966:
The abbreviations should mostly be obvious.
But in any case:
v = verb
sl = slang
dial = dialect
A = American
E = English
prob = probably
OF = Old French
MF = Medieval French (cc13-15)
L = Latin
a.e. = anterior etymology.
Sammy Finkelman (07f19d) — 5/18/2020 @ 1:52 pms = stem
Sammy Finkelman (07f19d) — 5/18/2020 @ 1:53 pm