Hearing from Albuquerque

By Bob Anderson (Albuquerque, New Mexico)

We are locked in. Jeanne and I, like you and Mary Beth probably are ground zero for this virus so we are staying in.  We saw it coming and stocked up on food, enough for a while. Got a lot of toilet paper, 100 lbs dry pinto beans, big bags of rice, canned goods, etc.   Went to Harbor Freight and got the last of N95 masks and paper masks they had.  A long line was forming behind me.  Kroger is delivering food as we order.

It is creepy on the streets.  Quiet.  Not many cars at all.  New Mexico is at this time relatively low in everything. Our governor was on it fast and called for social distancing early. The Veterans Administration (VA) cancelled all my appointments and they are taking in people for tests only it seems. 

It is a real challenge with the kids, a big change in their lives as well as us, keeping them occupied and not wanting to go out. I take them out on desert roads and teach them to drive in this time.  Checking in with old friends.   Most are taking this seriously.   We are bored too.   You all stay in and take care to be safe.

President Incredible is a real embarrassment to the country.  I am preparing to write a letter on it about how the VA was gutted and now they are using it to back up the private health care system, which they said was so prepared and better for veterans.

I would add to it the incredible scene here in Albuquerque and New Mexico with the Los Alamos and Sandia nuclear labs and the huge military complex of bases devoted to the mission of killing people when we have the need to put all this brain power to work on finding a solution to this virus that is taking us down.  It is like these lab and military contractors are far out in the wrong field, they are still going to work like normal while the city and state are being taken down by the Coronavirus.  It is a real clear point to many of us that the military complex is worthless for solving real life problems, right here on earth in real time.

It shows a simple point that none of us are safe until everyone has health care and a decent life free of war and threats of war… I could go on and on…. be safe.

~ Bob Anderson is a board member in the Global Network.