Well-being While We Battle the Many Unknowns of the COVID-19 Pandemic!

While it is not easy to put into theory a healthy way of adapting and sticking to a good and healthy lifestyle that keep our bodies free from foreign substances and disease-causing organisms or infectious viruses, and have the exact same impact on our bodies universally…after all our physiology and anatomy may have shared characteristics and functions but processing what goes in and out of our bodies is not one-size-fits-all…We inherited different body-makeups (DNA & RNA) as such, our blood groups are not the same, our metabolisms are differently wired, and neither our heights nor our weights are the same, and that impact everything in our bodies, from moods, to the overall health of our bodies.

Nevertheless, understanding the best ways to take care for our bodies against foreign invaders that attack our bodies should be in the interest of everyone. It is imperative to be mindful of what we consume to keep our bodies healthy.

Food offers you what nutrients, but also when you need certain foods for certain reasons crucial for healthy living. Thus, Foods’ choices whether by preference or by its nutrients’ credibility must be learned/acquired to guide us in making smart choices of credible foods for healthy bodies.

Establishing, adapting, and sticking to good eating habits that promote good health and longevity have not been attained and sustained for the majority of us, perhaps simply because we tend to focus on other things in life than our bodies or forget that our bodies are engines of everything else, we do, and if so, priorities and focus should start with the state of your body, thus, you are what you eat.

Living under the cloud of COVID-19 pandemic and as a post-COVID syndrome person or sometimes known as “Covid long-haulers”,  that you recovered from COVID-19, and may thereafter test negative for COVID-19 but you have acquired lingering health problems that may last for long-term…COVID long-haulers can be experienced by and persistent in people who were perfectly healthy with no medical history of underlying conditions for some reasons so far unknowns and known reasons such as organ damage, persistent inflammatory, autoimmune response. That is why paying attention to our body’s health during this Covid pandemic is crucial than ever.

A-year-and-a half into the novel coronavirus 2019 that causes the COVID-19 disease, I have learned quite a lot about the importance of keeping my body healthy depends on my choices of what I consume everyday-body, mind, and spirit.

Learning how to defend ourselves against diseases constructively and holistically from our kitchens first and foremost, and of course, to the medical field (your doctor-Science medicines) has never been so essential like this time of COVID-9 pandemic.

Food is medicine too! Why? Food is medicine because food offers a complex mixture of credible nutrients that can never be perfectly prepared and replicated by manufactured supplements, fortified shakes, or meal replacement bars. You cannot substitute credible foods 100% with the manufactured supplements or even medicine. Nature offers perfect remedies if we nurture nature to nurture and nourish our body, mind, and spirit.

 

Can food boost health hence robust body immune system?

Many recent studies reveal that food choices have a tremendous effect on our bodies for better or for worse; food can even affect our moods, causing negative emotions that trigger emotional eating, hence wrong food choices, thyroid disorder, etc. With the skyrocketing cost of medicines and doctors’ visits while many people are underinsured or uninsured to receive proper healthcare, relying on good health habits, credible food choices are not a complicated science, but a simple embrace of the natural ways of living a heathier life-eating for better health!

Healthy living is a must to battle the COVID-19 that is intruding in us in every way of our everyday life. With the Covid-Delta variant infection clusters increasingly germinating across the country, no one is immune to it and the choices on how to contain this virus is upon us all…we can suffer less from it and even put it at bay if we make better choices and the good news is that we all can make those healthy choices if the WILL to beat COVID-19 is deployed and adapted.

CDC and WHO have given us what to look for in terms of symptoms, guidelines to safeguard our health, and even the vaccines to ease the severity of the illnesses COVID-19 can cause. However, people with COVID-19 may have a range of symptoms-ranging from undetected symptoms (asymptomatic), mild, to severe illnesses which require everybody to be vigilant and mindful of not only own health but also of the others.

Over the period of 18 months under COVID-19, both known and unknown symptoms have changed considerably adding complications on how to contain this virus from the asymptomatic, unvaccinated, vaccinated but asymptomatic, and mask-wearing and vaccines diners.

If I say COVID-19 can make you go nuts, it will be under treatment. COVID-19 is a monster and a nightmare…it gets into your head and takes you hostage!

COVID-19 has affected everyone in one way or the other- physically, psychologically, emotionally, mentally, and or socially, leaving you vulnerable to illnesses-unhealthy body, mind, and spirit, even sick and death. Why?

Coronavirus infections attacks and compromise your body immunity-it suppresses your body immune system and lead to organs failure to function, hence illnesses and deaths.

While COVID-19 has no cure so far, but various safety and health guidelines requirements have been made available for the public to follow…mask-wearing and vaccines are helping to slow the transmission and severity of the COVID-19 illnesses. However, because of the mysterious ways this Covid virus is manifesting itself on people-some get it with full known symptoms, others get it with minor signs, yet some get it without any known symptoms or contact source; likewise, some get it and recover fast, others get it and take longer to heal, yet some get it and die within a short period; and few battle it for some time, recover from it, and get it again, even the vaccinated people have fallen into a breakthrough infection cases leaving the public confused than ever.

As mysterious and notorious the COVID-19 can be, it is also how it is spreading and attacking your body. So far, the weapon you must have to battle the COVID-19 is to comply with the COVID-19 guideline, as stated by the CDC or World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, you can start the good habit of building a natural healthy body immunity as your second line of defense, especially if you have underlying medical or health problems, which might compromise your body’s immune system and leave you with either immunocompromised (a weakened/low body immune system defense, affecting its ability to fight against infections and disease-weakened immune systems are more susceptible to COVID-19 attack) or with autoimmune (a condition that turn your body immune cells into double agents that fight against own healthy tissues).

So, what should we do now as we face this outbreak of Covid-Delta variant and heading to the Fall/Winter seasons which Covid virus tends to flourish?

So much has been debated and contested about the vaccines and vaccine boosters especially now that we have the COVID vaccines and as we head to a possible second wave of an outbreak of Covid infections from Delta variant or other variants, and after seeing the increase of infection trending across the country.

With the Delta variant and the slow pace of accepting the vaccination, we must forge for reliable ways or alternatives on how to beat the COVID-19 attacks on our bodies by learning how to build and boost natural body immunity good enough to protect our bodies from many illnesses, not just COVID-19…the organic body immunity booster.

 

What is the organic body immunity booster means?

Organic body immunity booster in other words is, “You are what you eat”! But first, what does the body immune system means?

 

What Does the Body Immune System Means?

According to the Cancer Research Institute, the immune system is the body’s natural defense system. It makes various body parts to perform the functions of keeping you healthy and alive. Immune system does not reside in one part of the body; instead, it comprises a network of cells, molecules, tissues, and organs working together to protect the body. These cells, molecules tissues, and organs play a crucial role in how the body immune system works and its function, which is essential in preventing infections or diseases.

To maintain a sound body immune system, you need the tools to fight back against the invasion of infectious viruses and bacteria. The best natural tool is credible nutrient foods. Nutritional foods are natural medicine-the, “you are what you eat”.

When you have a healthy body, you have a robust body immune system defense that can detect the virus and kill it. When your cells of the immune system cannot see the infectious virus that enters your body and therefore do not know that your body cells have infections, your body’s health is compromised-immunocompromised. The contagious virus has weakened your defense-response (immune system) that attacked the infected cells, hence failing to protect you from diseases and deaths.

The body’s ability to protect and defend itself against a foreign enemy invader is what immunity is all about.

We know there are several types of immunity, but the two major ones are the natural immunity and the acquire passive immunity. Thus, natural immunity is a type of general inherited protection, you are born with it, and it is species specific-like humans do not get dog distemper and dogs do not get humans cold!

Natural immunity is also can be active immunity or passive immunity, henceforth requiring a person to be immunized by using vaccines to help individuals develop active immunity that will protect a person against a disease and offer him or her a lifetime protection when the body immunity need to be protected or unable to produce its own defense (antibodies) against harmful invasions by foreign substances and disease-causing organisms. Active immunity is long-lived and may even last a person’s lifetime.

Passive immunity is a temporary form of immunity that is borrowed from another source. It is short-lived. A baby receives passive immunity from the mother before is born and after is born from the mother’s milk…passive immunity protects the baby until the baby is old enough to have its “baby shot” …then the baby will develop its own active immunity. Natural active immunity can therefore be the food you eat-food is medicine, and food is your immunity only when you build and develop healthy living that encompasses healthy food choices and active lifestyle.

The other type of passive immunity is what is known as acquired passive immunity, the immunity that a person develops after his or her body immune system responds to a foreign substance or microorganism after a person receives antibodies from another source. Acquired passive immunity too, has two types-adaptive and passive. Thus, adaptive immunity occurs in response to being infected with or vaccinated against a microorganism, and your body sustains the protection-the body makes an immune response, which can prevent future infection with the microorganism. Passive immunity occurs when a person receives antibodies to a disease or toxin rather than producing his or her own body immune system and may rely on receiving antibodies to protect her or his health because her or his body cannot produce enough immune system against infections or harmful foreign substance inter the body, henceforth vaccines and vaccines booster shots.

Now let’s talk about body immune system that lasts and everyone can build it naturally and keep it active.

 

How to Build and Boost your Body Immune System During this COVID-19? (You Are What You Eat)!

It is vital to build a habit of eating good food to create a healthy body capable of fighting and preventing infections and diseases. The right foods give you more energy and keep you healthy and fit. Good nutrition means a good healthy life.

In addition to choosing the right foods, there are the best vitamins and minerals supplements that aid in boosting your immune system. Some suggested the right supplements that may increase your body immune system during this COVID -19 include Vitamin C, Vitamin E, D3, B6, B12, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, and Zinc. Check your iron level often too! These vitamin and minerals are not medicine to cure or prevent diseases, including COVID-19, but help increases your nutrient intake in return; you get a robust body immunity.

Research has shown that vitamins and minerals supplements, nutritious foods, and certain herbs; also, routine exercise and getting enough good sleep can significantly boost your body immunity and potentially protect you against many infections and diseases, including COVID-19.

Failure to maintain good health, especially now that COVI-19 is known to be responsible for suppressing the body’s immune system, may mean putting yourself at a health risk. Weak bodies are susceptible to infections and disease. 

Unhealthy food, such as canned foods, processed food, and or fast foods loaded with salt, sugar, oils, preservatives, and coloring, may suppress your immune systems, leaving you vulnerable to virus attack. Coronavirus flourishes fast in a weak immune system body.

Likewise, stress, loneliness, especially during this time of social isolation and distancing, can weaken the immune system. When we interact with nature and the outdoors-going for a walk or engage in gardening activates your body and offers a positive state of body, mind, and spirit. The outdoor environment has benefits to our overall body health. Direct sunlight provides natural Vitamin D and clean air, especially early mornings, or late evenings when there are fewer cars and people congestion on the streets. 

According to a research study on college students on Immunity and Disease by Health psychologists Sarah Pressman, Ph.D., Sheldon Cohen, Ph.D., and fellow researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Laboratory for the Study of Stress found that social isolation and feelings of loneliness each independently weakened first-year students' immunity. Teaching your body to handle and manage stress may require repeated practice, just like eating and exercising; a night of good night sleep is a night of better sleep and a significant health factor in the overall body health and wellness. 

 

So, what is the organic body immunity booster means?

Here, are what we should all try to do for the sake of feeling well and healthy, but also build good healthy habits that boost our body’s immune system. Building good health habits is the best organic tool we have in our power to battle the COVID-19 inside out!

 

When your body, mind, and spirit are connected, you are more optimistic and resilient to negativity-stress or anxiety, you are self-motivated to do positive things, and you will undoubtedly sleep better and feel good. 

We know the credible nutrient foods are expensive, and it can be tough to build a healthy body that requires credible nutritious foods and supplements when reasonably you are struggling to put any food on the table-the irony being poor but need a health body!!!

I do not know how this will align well with the current and crucial need to eat credible nutritious foods to maintain a healthy body that is strong enough to fight this COVID-19. However, since there is no cure or vaccine, it will be challenging and problematic for many people to balance the need to stay healthy and the little income they get during the COVID-19 pandemic to afford credible nutritious foods as an organic body immunity booster.

Nevertheless, to disregard the fear of counting your little money at the expense of your health may sound odd, but what are the consequences? Your life depends on your healthy lifestyle, and consequently, being able to beat the COVID-19. Lifestyle changes such as balanced nutritious foods, exercise, and stress management can boost your body immunity significantly.

Everything currently seems to come with unnegotiable risks. However, risking your life by settling for poor health habits choices is not negotiable when battling the coronavirus pandemic.

 

The powerful foods + Vitamin Supplements you should confidently use to feed your body during this COVID-19?

Having experienced the COVID-19 attack and symptoms that won't go away, feeding my body credible nutritious foods is not only the powerful weapon I can bestow to build and maintain a robust immune system, but also to keep the COVID-19 battle at bay.

From morning breakfast to the evening dinner, my food choices intakes are intentional with COVID-19 in mind. I must intentionally reconsider recipes, and many ways to prepare and cookout meals daily-I reinvented the wheels to make meals with COVID-19 in mind adaptable to give me the nutrients my body needs the most under the COVID-19 situation…Don’t mind being labeled “foody” or “queen of foods” because everyone eats, even Uber Eats!!! What others eat or how others eat is a matter of style, but for me it’s a matter of building resilient natural body immunity.

First, know that colds and flu, pneumonia, respiratory disorders, fever, sore throat, stress, sleep disorders (Insomnia) are the primary illnesses that have shared symptoms as COVID-19, and therefore, knowing foods that heal these illnesses is a bonus in the battle against coronavirus attack.

Since the COVID-19 attacks the respiratory organs such as lungs, causing respiratory disorders to include bronchitis-severe coughs, emphysema, pneumonia, and sinusitis; drinking plenty of fluids-warm or hot helps to loosen mucus and make your breathing easier and more comfortable.

When I am suffering from Colds/flu and respiratory disorders, I find these foods to be powerful healing:

Vitamin C-Citrus fruits-oranges, red grapefruit, and Lemon, plenty of water (10 glasses a day-adding lemon or mint is a bonus to your health), and 100% Juices with no sugar added. Vitamin C intake is your first line of defense tool to support the immune system.

I often use other fruits, papaya, pineapple, banana, mango, apples, and berries. Watermelon and other red or pink fruits are good targets for their benefit in providing lycopene. Red fruits are rich in lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that supports cells in your body to maintain good health-improve your heart, and avoid the risk of certain types of cancer. 

To get enough Vitamin C, I add Vitamin C Supplement 1000mg daily, and I sometimes double it, depending on the severity of my cold/flu symptoms.

You also get additional Vitamin C from other foods like tomatoes, cantaloupe, green leafy, spinach, peas, asparagus, brussels sprouts, carrots, beetroots, mushrooms, and other fresh vegetables. These foods offer you Beta Glucan, an immune regulator. The soluble fiber found on these foods helps maintain a sound immune system, which provides relief from cold/flu and other immunocompromised illnesses like lung cancer, diabetes, etc.

Also, foods that are rich in Zinc and Vitamins D3 as they provide proteins your body cells need to protect your organs from the invasion of the virus.

Foods like turkey, chicken, red meat-pork chops, sea foods-oyster, wild salmon, yogurt, eggs, milk, whole grains, rice-predominantly brown rice, nuts, and pumpkin seeds are rich in proteins and zinc minerals. Zinc minerals help your immune system and metabolism. They are also essential to wound healing and your sense of taste and smell. It also helps stimulate the activity of many different body enzymes (8 milligrams mg a day for women and 11 mg a day for men is all you need or recommended to keep your body zinc to a healthy level.

 

Spices and Herbs

Also, be sure to “spyce” up your meals with these spices and herbs for excellent health benefits and add delightful flavors and enticing aroma: garlic, ginger, chiles, turmeric, dill, mint, cilantro, rosemary, thyme, and parsley, basil, lemongrass, lemon balm, and sage. These herbs and spices will not only boost your mood but also are good defenders of the immune system as they are rich in antioxidants. Intentionally, I use them as frequently and in every food preparation as possible can.

 

Finally, Your Body, Mind, and Spirit

It is easier to lose it all than to keep it all, but life depends on maintaining it all and keeping it all. Unlike any other time in our lives, living under the threat of COVID-19 has changed everything normal to abnormal, and to uncertain, but we must forge for the ways to adjust, and make changes as we go on with life with the COVID-19 upon us.

Despite the COVID-19 lingering fear, life is how you respond and confront the challenges it brings to you. Under the COVID-19, the priority and the battle are how to keep safe and healthy, since COVID-19 tends to attach the respiratory organ:-lungs, respiratory disorders include bronchitis (severe-persistent cough) emphysema, pneumonia, sinusitis, lifestyle, good health-living choices are crucial than ever to beat this coronavirus invader. 

Keeping your body healthy is more than just food choices and consuming credible nutrient foods and meal choices. It is also about taking care of your mind and spirit. It is the attitudes and habits towards healthy living. It is the self-esteem and self-confidence in the ways you live your life, unscripted and unapologetic-you are who you are; and you are what you eat to sustain your body, mind, and spirit.

Sejal Gandhi, a great health educator, considered health as not only the absence of physical diseases or sickness of the body but a positive state of body and mind.

Food nourishes your body, but having a positive attitude and perspective feeds your mind and spirit and help heal faster and or overcome many illnesses and daily life obstacles and challenges.

Your overall body health and wellness, especially during this COVID-19 Pandemic, depend on your ability to listen to the body and to the recommendations for safety and health guidelines that will safeguard your health and life during this Covid-19 pandemic. Pay attention to the signals your body is sending you and using your instincts and senses to act quickly and soon as your body starts acting unusually and giving it a care boost it needs! Do not brush the unusual feelings away, for they don't usually go away but multiplied to a bigger problem.

 

 

 Masking up For In-Person Schooling Should Never Be Politicized or An Option, But A Universal National Mandatory!

We are living in a time when the coronavirus crisis escalating again, which means the virus is soaring and is contagious and causing illnesses faster and in younger people.

According to CDC, “the Delta variant causes more infections and spread faster than the earlier forms of the virus that causes COVID-19. It might cause more illness than previous strain in unvaccinated people.”

We know the severity of the COVID-19 what it does to our bodies when you get infected with the virus-you may live with it for a while or long-term, you may recover from it, or you can die from it as millions have worldwide. Living with COVID-19 is a matter of life and death-but fighting to prevent it, is the best choice to sustain your health, hence life.

We have come so far with this coronavirus to defy the rules that prevent and protect us ALL-young and old from its attack in the past.

Across the country, the number of Covid-Delta variants is increasingly growing with speed-from the month of July 2021 heading to August 2021 the numbers of Covid-Delta infections are in the tunes of above 200,000 cases a month just about the same as it was at the beginning of the pandemic.

But unlike now, then we did make some commitments to follow the safety and health guidelines, the number of infections was able to decrease drastically; and with the availability of the vaccines, the spread of the virus can be controlled even more if we collectively do our part.

While schools are reopening for Fall sessions for full in-person learning and under the cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic, we must ALL show care and conscientiousness in one another’s work or duties to bounce back to the safer zone again.

It is unsettling to hear and see that the Covid-Delta variant is affecting younger people and more kids are being hospitalized across the states, than during the previous variants, and at a time that there isn’t a vaccine available for them yet to shield them from the severity of the COVID-19.  Following the guidelines in place such as mask-wearing, distancing and avoiding crowd places while continue maintaining hygienic practices-handwashing and sanitation are viable and only preventive measures at our disposal.

As schools are gearing up for full in-person learning this Fall, the situation could be dire and worse if we defy the safety and health guidelines that are proven to have worked in the past in preventing the spread of the virus especially mask-wearing.

Already released data shows that in the Southern states like South Carolina, Texas, Florida, and Louisiana cases of Covid-Delta infections have skyrocketed to the alarming point simply because they relax in implementing a mask-wearing rule.

This unfolding situation is making teachers, parents, students, and schools super nervous, frustrated, and fearful for the return to in-person learning that many parents and students want the most!

By this time last year, the Coronavirus has taught us that mask-wearing is the best, if not the only preventive tool ever been in reducing and protecting you from contracting and transmitting the virus because even if people are vaccinated they still can get infected with this new Delta variant since the vaccines are not available for younger children, but also the vaccines do not prevent you from getting infected by the virus, rather it minimizes the severity of the Covid illness. It is therefore logical and common sense that mask-wearing is the best preventive tool since we don’t know who is infected and who is not (asymptomatic) whether vaccinated or unvaccinated; or whether the virus is in the air and or where so that to avoid those places.

 

Mandating the Mask-Wearing

Most Americans about 69% are in favor of mandatory mask-wearing in school, however, the issue has become so polarized and politicized and party divided with 92% of democrats supporting a mask-wearing mandate and only 44% of Republicans are in support of mask-wearing even as many red states showed uncontrollable surging numbers of Covid-Delta variant infections.

Again, it’s logical and common sense that mask-wearing is the BEST preventive tool we all have at our disposal since not all age groups have available vaccines and even those who are eligible for vaccines have not all been vaccinated, and the virus keeps eluding us and infects us whether vaccinated or unvaccinated. However, with the mask on, chances of getting infected whether you are vaccinated or unvaccinated is low with the combination of following the other safety and health guidelines.

As a parent and an educator, yes, it’s my responsibility to ensure our kids and all students are safe while under the school custodian.

In K-8 specifically (or even K-12 since not all students eligible for vaccines are vaccinated) teachers, students, and parents must all abide by the Code of Ethical Conduct and Responsibilities-Guideline for Responsible Behaviors in K-12 education; more so while COVID-19 pandemics is upon us-focusing on practices that maintain safety and healthy learning environment for everyone.

Ethical responsibility to children is that our paramount responsibility is to provide care and education in an environment that is safe, healthy, nurturing, and responsible for each student; maintaining safe and healthy schools that foster student’s social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development, respect their present and participation; in addition, support the right of each child to play and learn in an inclusive, yet safe environment that meets the needs of the children with and without disabilities.

Universal and consistent guidelines for schools are inevitable under the cloud of Covid pandemic threat and must therefore be in place and be followed by all involved to maintain our ethical responsibilities to our children.

Schools cannot afford to give every student special preference (some wear masks and others not) or excluding them from schools or activities based on others being defiant in mask-wearing to avoid virus transmission.

With the Covid-Delta variant soaring across the country, the federal government should be the leader in issuing universal national safety and health guidelines such as mask-wearing mandate back in place instead of leaving it as unilateral action by the states or local governments. Giving this as an option or choice of the local government to decide whether to wear a mask in school or not while new infections are skyrocketing is a recipe for disaster-we should focus on curbing this virus not paving the way for another lockdown like last Fall.

Certainly, when it comes to schools, teachers, students, and parents have responsibility for and to one another-none can operate safely and effectively without the cooperation of the others involved!

NAEYC Code of ethical responsibilities to children reminds all adults (teachers & parents) on principle-1.1 that “Above all, we shall not harm children. We shall not participate in practices that are emotionally damaging, physically harmful, disrespectful, degrading, dangerous, exploitative, or intimidating to children.” (NAEYC Code of Ethics 2005). What this principle means is that as adults we have ethical responsibilities to our children’s safety and health at home and in school. Violating this principle and other schools’ rules and behaviors for students, teachers and parents can lead to child neglect…families have the responsibility to ensure effective and smooth communication and transition from home to school more so during this pandemic. Developing and maintaining relationships of mutual respect, trust, and partner with schools with a common goal of nurturing effective learning for our children is fundamental.

Parents moral conduct include views of what is good, right, and proper; parents beliefs about their responsibilities and or obligations to their children and schools; parents ideas about how they should behave to accommodate sensitive issues like the crisis pandemic brought to our schools must be checked/navigate with restrain to avoid the unnecessary and unwanted tug of war between parents and schools, parents and teachers, or between students and teachers/schools, for such unrestrained behaviors is counterproductive and toxic for the learning environment…balancing our responsibilities to our children with caution and focus on things that are relevant and matter the most, is how to react to a vulnerable situation or crisis…There have been reports of violence in various states from people opposing mask-wearing. During a back-to-school event in Texas, an angry parent ripped a mask off from a teacher’s face…irrational responses or behaviors tend to make matters worse, not better.

 

School Rules Vs. Parents Choices during the pandemic

As an educator who has contracted the COVID-19, and a parent with children still in school, I know at hand the dilemma both parents and educators are facing during this COVID-19 Pandemic.

For the parents, if you believe you are the first teacher to your child and that nobody (the teachers or schools) can tell you how to raise your child, you may have a decision to make and options/choices out there for you! While some will be asking for universal mask-wearing because we believe it’s the best preventive tool against spreading the covid-delta variant, parents who oppose mask-wearing should have the right to remove their child from schools that calls for or implementing mask-wearing as a mandate especially with this new variant which is infecting children more while they have no other best tool due to their ineligibility for vaccines.

If parents don’t like the mask mandate rule in their kids’ school, they have the right to pull their kids out of school-they have the option to choose from private schools, homeschooling, or virtual learning if their school districts offer that option. For other districts through virtual learning is not a conducive option for their learning. There are challenges from internet connectivity, affordability of internet subscription may require additional teachers or even available spaces in their homes for comfortable-bother free learning can be an issue that may hinder effective virtual learning. I do not believe it is realistic or even fair to others who feel the need for the protection mask-wearing offers to change the rules at the expense of few groups of parents or political leaders who oppose school rules such as mask-wearing a mandate in school during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Vaccinated Vs Unvaccinated Saga

If anything, we know that vaccinated and unvaccinated alike have the responsibility of curbing the transmission of the Covid virus. Everyone’s safety and health depend on her/his WILL to do the right things-to follow the safety and health guidelines in place to prevent yourself and others from contracting the virus.

Vaccinated and or unvaccinated people must follow the safety rules and protocols. Not all people unvaccinated are antivaccine-some are only hesitant at the moment because of medical reasons-they might be immunocompromised, have a bad experience with vaccines reactions in the past, or they want to buy time to see where this virus with so many unknowns is heading, especially those who have maintained good health, with strong body immunity and taking all precautions that in 18 months of this virus they have not to get sickened by the virus; and of course, there those who got sick by the virus and recovered without the help of any drugs…they too have the right to weigh in as long as they are following the safety and health guidelines in place and beyond…

These different groups of people have been played and labeled as antivaccine or vaccines deniers which flare up a heated debate among the members of the community and families and people are divided or categorized causing yet more resentments to the vaccination…the divisiveness rhetoric over those vaccinated and unvaccinated as having two Americans is detrimental to the overall success in making people take the vaccines willingly or not.

Everyone should be encouraged or apply self-courage to comply and to protect not only self but also the public from making the virus uncontainable …ask yourself whether young or old how you can be a part of the solution in battling this virus, not a problem, a distractor, or stubborn in complying to safety and health guidelines that prevent you from being a super-spreader of the virus. The virus does not care who it infects, and our body defenses depend on how we take precautions and good care to prevent the virus infection.

We know the vaccines will not prevent you from getting a Covid-Delta variant infection if you do not wear a mask after vaccination. We, therefore, know that mask-wearing is the best tool to prevent you from contracting the virus…we know so because those vaccinated people who removed their masks and were exposed to the virus and cause breakthrough cases of COVID-19 infections.

Since we do not know who is vaccinated and who is not when in public after the universal masking mandate was dropped, we cannot say with the certainty that the vaccinated people are getting infected by the unvaccinated people…also we cannot tell who is asymptomatic and not wearing a mask and who is not at this time when the mask is not universally mandated… also, we do not know how one is contracting this elusive virus-when, where, how or why some have not been infected 18 months in the pandemic while others have been infected multiple times regardless of how careful and dedicated they are in protecting themselves and others by following the safety and health guidelines in place, and so vaccines may not necessarily be one-size-fits.

If the virus is in the air, everyone should wear a mask…if the virus is transmitted from human to human, everyone should wear a mask and maintain distance and avoid crowds/big gatherings…if the virus is coming from the unknowns, everyone should wear a mask.

It is common sense at the moments when the Covid-Delta variant is surging to adapt to what works best, a universal mask-wearing mandate work best.

I am sure no one has a desire for a second lockdown. So, let’s not allow ourselves caught into the politics of virus-politicizing this deadly virus in being irresponsible, instead people should rise above it and acknowledge once again our willpower to fight a good fight and overcome this virus by rising above our differences in perspectives on how best to first prevent while continue vaccinating others and coming up with possible drugs or permanent vaccines that will put the Covid virus at bay.

 

 

 

YOUR VOTE is YOUR VOICE and YOUR CHOICE to CHANGE COURSE!!!

(This Article is the Updated version of November 6^th, 2018 Election article) …

 

In 1776, the United States declared independence because people then had a strong desire to vote…they wanted to have a say in the laws, they tried to have government representatives that will represent them because they were being ruled by the British. Also, we know they went to war and fought to defeat the British, formed their new government so that they could vote for their leaders.

Don’t you now want the government of the people, by the people, and for the people? The leaders you vote for should represent you and your ideas, ideals, and values, to work for all people, not for themselves and the few, and if they don’t do the job people send them to do, you retire them with your vote.

Today’s political atmosphere of the nation reminds us of those old days and something else! It reminds us that democracy is free and secure when you relentlessly protect it.

In 1778, the nation’s founders wrote the Constitution which is the law of the land. The Constitution stated that the United States was a democracy-a government that will be governed by and for the people. The Constitution also promised many rights and the right to vote was mostly mentioned although they left the voting rights to the states.

Ever since the voting rights have evolved and given many groups rights to vote including women and young people, and continue to evolve today as some people, especially those who want to accumulate power in the hands of few or the disruptors of democracy would like to tamper with the voting rights! To counteract the forces of the few who want to disrupt our political systems and voting rights require the same strong desire to vote as that of the nation’s founders if democracy is to remain alive and protected.

Women and young people must take their power of voting to the polls in 2020 than any other time in the history of our nation because they the two groups of people who are the most vulnerable groups of people in the society that are susceptible to violence whether its gender discrimination or sexual assault against women or gun violence in schools and inequity in education among the students. These groups are often suffered from discrimination and often deprived of their power to advance or protect themselves. Your vote is your protection.

In 2016, we saw election being taken away from an experienced political and intellectual woman to a non-political, inexperienced, a less intelligent Whiteman with the spectrum of prosperity (billionaire businessman), whose statements and policies are rooted in racism and his administration disrespect and reversing civil and human rights as we have never seen in the 21^st Century government politics.

It started with the confirmation of the Supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh was both an abomination to all women and the justice system. Now has packed the federal courts with conservative judges to foster conservative agendas signaling a very unsettling truth that our democracy is at stake!

Our current president surrounds with radical non-political groups to pre-select leaders in key positions including the nominee to the supreme court.

Nothing about his selected people, like Supreme Court Justice, Brett Kavanaugh was ordinary or normal-the process was not normal, the hearings were not normal, the confirmation was not normal! And that was/is what they want us to accept, to merit, and to value. But that was not normal and therefore still not normal and still unacceptable in our democratic society. We are experiencing a unique time in the nation’s political history and that requires our extraordinary reactions and actions on November 3^rd, 2020, to vote for who and what is best for the common good of the people.

It is another turn to make your voice heard, to choose and vote for the candidate that cares about your welfare, protect and secure your rights, and abide by the Constitution that values all people and their ideals regardless of their economic backgrounds, culture, ethnicity, or gender.                                                                                                     

This coming election unlike any before will determine how you are governed tomorrow-do you want to maintain that status quo, which means keep the things the way they are today or you want the change-the administration that will work for the common good of all people?

Like many have said, this election is the most important one in our lifetime given the unfamiliar partisan politics under President Donald Trump administration with its divisive policies that have brought the nation to its worse party-politics behaviors ever experienced in the 21^st century.

 

In less than two weeks Democrats will kick-off their Party National Convention across America August 17-20 …Unity and bring back the country to normalcy after 4 years of chaotic leadership and unfortunate of the COVID-19 Pandemic crisis is paramount in the 2020 presidential election…We are UNITED for BIDEN to keep the UNION.

                                             

Reflecting on July 25-28, 2016 when the Democratic Party Convention opened and the whole world eagerly watched with great anticipation given the unusual and unchartered battle between two presidential candidates that were as different as Day and Night-Hilary Clinton, a woman, and a lifelong politician who by all means and beyond doubts was a leading and clear choice (at least that what all the polls showed) but of course, in the end, Donald J. Trump, a billionaire businessman with no experience in government governing and trailed behind as he failed all the three major presidential debates; yet, to the astonishment and disbelief of many people, he won the presidential election! His uncharacteristic and chaotic leadership is on the referendum of this 2020 presidential election.

 

Our nation has been sharply divided leaving many people angry and with many unanswered questions-what went wrong? Was it that America was not ready for a woman president? Was it that people did not vote for Hilary or people did not turn out to vote? Was our election system hijacked, hacked, or it is our rigged election systems that gave us unfavorable candidates? The candidate whose campaign was nothing but ruthless, pathetic, lies, and scare tactics; at times, it was backstabbing and character assassination; and many things of less substance. And while all these were in place, Donald Trump emerged as a winner! And America has not been the same ever since Donald Trump became the president!

 

So, where are we now, today? A better America today that was yesterday? Are we moving forward or backward? The answers to these questions lie on your voting power on November 3^rd, 2020 presidential election. 4 more years of Donald Trump has not to Make America Great Again (MAGA)! It has Failed America Greatly Again (FAGA)! Imagine giving him 4 more years, he will forever change America to the worst of all. Do not allow that to happen!

 

How we are governed today is a question in the minds of many Americans. The nation has lost its moral compass and values, the unity and the opportunity that glue us together as one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all is been challenged and it is up to the voters to decide to protect and restore our nation’s founding principles and democracy.

If we must remain true to ourselves, to the constitution, and the political institutions and systems in place today, we must resist the politics of today and its leadership-the divisive politics and the violation of civil and human rights!

By remembering the men and women who gave it all when fought for freedom, peace, and justice for this nation, we can honor their sacrifice by acknowledging that their battle then was tough, yet relentlessly they fought to secure their freedom and democratic government which now call for us to continue with the founder’s sentiment of preserve democracy. Their battle then was tough, but ours today is not in comparison, yet we ignore and neglect the very civic duty that ensures our freedom, peace, and justice-the the voting duty! November 3^rd, 2020 get out and vote to fulfill your right and civic duty.

Voting gives people, a voice in decisions that affect them. Over the last century, the right to vote has been extended to many social groups and populations, although the struggle for civil and human rights continues in many parts of the world including the United States of America. Why? Because of the unwillingness of the elected democratic government leaders to support and abide by the laws of the land, like the Trump administration and his political machine reversing laws that are in place for the common good of the nations and its people, like the demonizing immigrants and instill policies of racism; support for weaponizing law enforcement and the police brutality against people of color; fueling gun violence and use of force on the streets and schools; and honoring gender discrimination and ignoring sexual assaults and LGBTQ rights, etc.

In the current modern society, the politics of few is on the rise (the rise of the disruptors of democracy) and have found ways to undermine the democratic institutions and systems put in place by the people, for the people-the unprecedented plan and actions that defy the rule of laws to cause the economic disparities gap and social injustices.

If 2016 the presidential election of Donald Trump was dominated by voters suppression, low turnout, or in general term rigged election systems, this 2020 the presidential election we have reminded once again the importance of our secure voting rights and fair election systems that work for every eligible voter-all citizens with the rights to vote must be allowed to vote, and their vote must count for their voice to be heard!

When people exercise their civic duty of voting, the system must be fair and deliver what it promises-fair and free election and every vote count! Also, having the impartial Supreme Court Justices for a democratic election should they need to intervene on behalf of the people.

Former president Ronald Reagan, the 40^th President of the United States of America once said, "For this Nation to remain true to its people, we cannot allow any American's vote to be denied, diluted, or defiled. The right to vote is the crown jewel of American Liberties, and, we will not see its luster diminished.”

In just three months from today, American people will once again cast their ballots to elect a president and a leader who will lead Americans for the next 4 or 8 years.

So, here is What Lies Ahead for the 2020 Presidential Election.

1.  Your Turn to Vote.                                 

Youth, women, the minority has all the reasons this time to turn-out in numbers. They are a group of people mostly discriminated against, and their rights are often denied. Getting out and vote in numbers will be your "ENOUGH" reason to stop this discrimination and the violation of your rights. When we all vote we increase the chance to influence and impact the election and bring changes you want to see. So, all people with voting rights and credentials is a MUST to show up and vote in November 3rs, 2020.

2.  What You Need to Know to Never Waste Your Vote Again.

You need to know that your vote is your Voice and your Choice. This means voting is both your Right and your Civic duty. Be on the ‘I know’ side https://www.usa.gov/how-to-vote. The well-informed voters make sure they choose their leaders wisely. They prefer a good candidate who speaks for them and who hears and listens to their voices.

As of Nov. 3^rd, 2020, near-up, be sure to get prepared and take part in key decisions. You will soon be bombarded by TV-Ads, Newspapers filled with headlines and catchy phrases-some intended to inform and inspire, and some with misleading information about one candidate, one party, or the other; soon you might be watching candidates debating and interviewed on TV and social media platforms. But in the end, the decision is solely personal, and yours alone to unleash the potential.

Make this presidential general election a historic election by showing up and voting in numbers and exhibit the power of the vote, the "Let the People Rule, and “People’s Power Speaks”.

Remember, in the end, only you, the voters can choose whom you want and how you will be governed. Choose wisely, know the presidential candidates, the stakes are too high in this election, to waste your vote!

3.  Why Your Vote Matter!

 

Your vote matter because voting is not only your powerful weapon to use to decide and influence the outcome on the matters that impact your life but is also a means of gaining negotiation power and make the change you wish to see. The only way to influence policy or bring about changes people want to see!

Voting and democracy is crucial in a democratic government because it provides people an opportunity to voice your opinion and vote for what you believe to be right and holds the elected officials accountable for the behavior while in office, to either re-elect them or vote them out.

Moreover, voting prevents a minority from dictating the policies that do not favor the majority. With Trump administration, what we have experienced in his 4 years in office is a nation divided between the powerful and political class that wants to consolidate power into their hands-politics of divisiveness, a growing element of racism, police brutality against people of color, violence rhetoric’s on the streets and in schools, bullying is on the rise; and the disregard of the rule of laws, the violation of human right, and yes, the lies and scare tactics; the leadership that want to empower the 1%  rich people at the expense of the remaining 99% of the people; thus, the glorification of dictatorship and the suppression of individual rights, and the list goes on, all intended to confuse, exploit people and dismantle the democratic system and undermine the America position in the international stage.

This current administration is a good reminder as to why your vote matter. It matters when you reject all that Trump administration stands for and has exhibited time after time the past 4 years.

Amplifying your voices collectively matters and can make a big difference. It can change the administration and its leadership when we all vote. Today we have the most diverse Congress in the history of America because in 2018 people get out and vote their conscience. In2020 you can do it again…make another historic vote turn out in the history of the presidential general election and elect a patriotic leader, not a self-serving power monger.

Remember, when we all vote we are voting for unity and opportunity. On the issues that make your life better-your voting against a tax break for 1% rich that make other programs that help poor and middle-class citizen just get to the next day been underfunded and or defunded-the affordable health care, the education funds for school programs and equity in education not to buy guns for teachers or underfunding the public schools; you are voting against women violence; you want women voices to be heard when they report being sexually assaulted; you are voting against gender and racial discrimination and the inhumane treatment of immigrants and their children, you are voting to bring back the values that bind us together as people of this nation. So, when we all vote we can be a game-changer!

4.  And Now, the Dos and the Don’ts of this Presidential Elections.

The Dos:

             Know why your vote matters in this election and cast your vote

Already registered to vote and meet all the voter ID requirement-what you need to bring to photo ID vs. Non-photo ID, know your polling Station, familiarize with voting procedures and rules, types of voting-Early Voting, In-Person Voting, Absentee or Mail-In-Ballot/ Voting-By-Mail, Vote in other Language, and voters registration deadlines.

 

Check or update your Voter Registration-Check names and address-how, when, and why to avoid anything that may jeopardize your voting rights and ultimately your vote.

 

                   Decide whom to vote for-research your candidate to know what they stand for (their positions on the issues) so that you can evaluate the good and right candidate to vote for. Who is likely to unite us, than to divide us? Who is likely to bring opportunities you can be part of it-opportunities that impact and improve your livelihood?

Vote against things that are not right, issues that are the reason for your struggle with housing, education, Health Care Discrimination in the workplace-equal pay and pay increase, violence against women-sexual abuse, and gender bias. In doing so, you are demanding solutions; you are using your voting power to change the status quo that neither represents you not working for you-your ideas and values.

 

The Don’ts:

                   Do not register to vote and not vote.

Do not say you are undecided! Decide to vote.

 

Do not give any excuse-Like I am too busy; I have no time, Lines are too long, Polling Stations are too far, I do not have a proper or Qualifying ID. When you do not vote you lower or limit the chances of improving the issues that are at stake in every election, issues that affect your daily livelihood. When you do not vote, your problems remain unsolved and may get worse.

 

Do not know the issues? Use all the means to lookup necessary and important election information… use the internet-their websites, their social medias pages-Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, ask your co-worker, your friends, your neighbor; use your Smart Phone to ask questions and find answers-ask, Siri or Alexa anything you want to know about 2020 presidential election, you will get answers to you your questions! 

 Neither waste your right nor your duty to vote.

For you, us, and we the people is how you or we want to be governed and treated. This election is upon us to weigh the pros and cons of Donald J. Trump’s leadership and exercise our right and duty towards shaping the direction of the country. 

If you feel you are not treated equally, it should remind you about-are you a slave or a citizen? It should tell you about your right to vote and be represented rightfully.

People from the time immemorial have rejected a government that controls its people by divisiveness policies, by instilling fears on its people, and by violating the basic civil and human rights-people inspired by the ideas about the rights of man with these powerful words Thomas Jefferson wrote on the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that "All men are created equal” that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…Right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”.

We have, therefore, come too far to give up our rights or to be denied our rights, and who we are as Americans. As a democratic government, we must all come together and vote for our voices! People’s collective power brings change. Election gives power to the people.