If this doesn't piss you off then...

[DURHAM D]

Link to tweet

[MineralMan]

1. Unconscionable.

[Warpy]

34. Captialism at its absolute finest.

[MineralMan]

38. More like Elitism.

Football players are more essential than nurses, apparently.

[Warpy]

40. Uh, no. They're protecting an investment

It costs a lot to buy players and operate those taxpayer built sportsball megaplexes.

Hospitals where the proles go are not on their radar, they're not money makers.

[mucifer]

2. It's INFURIATING!!

[TheBlackAdder]

42. Adding the Tweet text so others don't have to click in the link.

The Seattle Times
@seattletimes
Registered nurses gathered in Los Angeles to protest the fact that UCLA's athletic department conducted 1,248 tests in a single week while health-care workers at UCLA hospitals were denied testing.

[PhylliPretzel]

46. Thank you, Black Adder!

[RKP5637]

3. The US is a country with endless misplaced priorities! n/t

[DURHAM D]

6. AMEN ! eom

[yonder]

31. +1.

[calimary]

71. No kidding!

[Pacifist Patriot]

4. Yet another example of how fucked up American priorities are.

ETA: Actually, not just Americans. Athletes being treated like fragile pieces of glass while the needs of the common person are ignored is a global phenomenon.

[Eyeball_Kid]

7. So when vaccines are distributed,

those highest on the priority list might include... athletes instead of health care workers. Athletes first, immunocompromised seniors second.

I'd like to be mistaken.

[Pacifist Patriot]

21. I hope you're mistaken. I have my reservations on that.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

28. If tRump had remained in office, it would be highest paid CEOs first and....

of course all Rethug high-level politicians.....

Then, highest paid athletes and then Republican healthcare workers....

Thank goodness for Joe and Kamala........ .....

[cwydro]

33. Pro athletes will be right up at the front of the line.

I have no doubt.

[JI7]

45. Americans need their fucking football

[BlueJac]

5. Pitiful!

[Wounded Bear]

8. As usual, it's all about the money...

Big ticket athletic programs and pro franchises can afford the extra testing. Hospitals "can't."

Yeah, our priorities suck as a nation.

[Shermann]

10. It will be interesting to see if Biden employs the DPA to reprioritize this

The DPA can fix what the free market can't.

[Wounded Bear]

11. He has said he will. It would be a great help, TBS...

[Sherman A1]

15. Yup, money talks

at least as long as those with the money don't have tubes down their throats.

[erronis]

18. I think it's more about the power than the money. Tests don't cost that much.

But if you're a man (usually), white (usually), with money and power, then you can get what you want.

[Wounded Bear]

51. Money and power are pretty interchangeable...

Have been for centuries. The Golden Rule: He who has the gold makes the rules.

[bluestarone]

9. What the HELL?

WHY WHY WHY???? Gotta change THIS!

[Demobrat]

37. The players are men. The nurses are women.

Any questions?

[Delphinus]

49. Well,

that adds another dimension to this - I hadn't thought of it in that light.

[Ferrets are Cool]

56. That is a really wide brush you are painting with.

Almost 10% of the nurses in America are male.

[Demobrat]

58. What percentage of college football players are women?

Just curious.

[Ilsa]

76. A real answer: 1/73712 or 0.00135663%

or something reasonably close to it. :ca

As long as states are left to their own devices to get tests, the priorities will be screwed up, and the test results may be questionable. Major Trump FAIL.

[bdamomma]

62. There

are male nurses too.

[Demobrat]

65. Do you think they figure into the equation?

Bless your heart.

[dansolo]

72. Even if the nurses were 100% men

They would still be fucked over. This is not an issue with sexism, and claiming it does just ignored what the real problem is, which is the blatant disregard that hospitals have for their employees. They won't spend the money to keep their employees safe, even though they are being exposed every day.

[2naSalit]

12. As usual, it's all about the Benjams, baby.

[KPN]

13. "Money, money, money, it's a rich man's world."

Priority one.

[Blue_playwright]

14. Ok. Devil's advocate

I agree it’s outrageous especially as they are all in the UCLA system, but my thought about testing athletes frequently was to prevent spread to the population in places they might visit. One infected person on one football team... wow, that’s a super spreader.

[HUAJIAO]

63. Nurses go places too...

Plus, imagine one infected nurse in an elder care center, or an ER, or ICU, or maternity department.....

[marble falls]

73. Sowing a little panic there, ain'cha? I bet healthcare workers are far, far, far more likely ...

... to get it than give it.




And if you don't get it, you probably don't give it.

[HUAJIAO]

74. No, I do not intend to sow panic. I believe I'm being realistic.

Not all health care workers dress like that. In fact, most do not.

[marble falls]

75. Oh? What percentage don't?

[healthnut7]

16. Not a shocker!

[AllaN01Bear]

17. this is why i hate sports.

[NurseJackie]

19. It oughta be a crime.

[paleotn]

20. Welcome to Amurka....

football = money. Networks must have content or no eyeballs on ads and they don't get paid. Athletic programs don't get the real money unless they meet their TV contract requirements. Large universities are slaves to their athletic programs. Yes, that's pointed at YOU Big Ten and Pac 12. You caved. The SEC? They're money grubbing whores where their member institutions actual mission is a minor nuisance. Everyone knows this. Of course they're going to do the WRONG thing. But I thought you guys had more backbone. Foolish me.

[JDC]

22. Just outrageously wrong.

[DeminPennswoods]

23. The tests on athletes are rapid tests

If one of them shows a positive, then the athlete, coach, staff, etc, gets a PCR test to confirm. Athletes are not getting PCR tests every day.

Does the medical staff want rapid tests or PCR tests?

[BobTheSubgenius]

24. So college athletes - the vast majority of which will end their athletic careers in a year or so,

are more valuable than highly-trained medical professionals who will go on giving comfort to the sick and injured, and saving lives, probably for years to come. And some will undoubtedly have those years cut short because of this.

Am I missing something?

[58Sunliner]

25. Male athletes and money vs women/workers at risk.

Gee, why am I not surprised by how fucked up this is.

[dlk]

26. Welcome to Republican world

This is their way of administering healthcare. Which workers are valued is a policy decision and we can make different choices.

[Revlon10]

27. WOW

WOW, Just,WOW, when will we start protesting,or boycotting?

[Iggo]

29. Link to tweet?!?!?!?!

Oh my god I am so pissed of !!!!!

[BlueNProud]

30. Gotta play football. It's the most important thing.

[Fla Dem]

32. Folks, folks, please...You have to prioritize!!!

After all, football players make money for the university. We have to pay the nurses.

[Roy Rolling]

35. Be Pissed Off at the Right People

Like the economy, don’t blame poor people. It isn’t that sports teams have so MUCH, it’s that medical institutions have NONE—a complete failure by the Trump administration’s federal government response.

Be mad at them, athletic teams just buy in bulk. Commercial test-makers sell theirs one-at-a-time. Why?More profit. It’s all about the money, Trump will enable his corporate buddies to make money off of the suffering of citizens.

[SunSeeker]

36. K & R & Retweeted!

[Vinca]

39. It's always been this way when it comes to sports. College coaches make millions while

professors eke out an existence. Our country has had just about everything ass backwards for what seems like forever, but this particular example is at the top of the list. I couldn't believe an interview I heard with a nurse the other day. She's been working in the Covid ICU since February and hasn't been tested once. It's beyond shameful, it's lethal.

[Thunderbeast]

41. If you hate testing priorities....

Just WAIT to see who gets to the front of the vaccine line.

More bullshit about "Job Creators" is my guess.

[PJMcK]

43. Well, who makes more money for UCLA?

I hate to be so cynical, but this is truly the evil side of Capitalism.

Universities need to be reformed.

[rickyhall]

44. College Athletics always get 1st dibs

When I was at UofA Fayetteville (1980) the Physics Dept. needed upgrading or lose accreditation. Instead, Little Rock spent $2M on an indoor tennis court. Just sayin'...

[SleeplessinSoCal]

47. When Schwarzenegger was governor, he went after nurses.

Why nurses, of all groups?

[Tikki]

52. He is not a good person. Some say to give him a break. Maybe he wasn't all that bad. HE WAS.

Follow his political history from meeting with energy companies through to his embarrassing end.

Tikki

[SleeplessinSoCal]

59. He is a mixed bag. He has been on the right side of Climate Change.

And there are conservatives in CA with children who deny it. They listen to those saying it is happening, but not for bad. There are as many explanations for climate change as there are versions of Christianity. Not by accident.

[JI7]

69. He is ok out of office but he was a shitty Governor. Actually being in office and especially a major

state like California which is almost like being a national leader of a top country needs people who can actually govern and do the job. Just having the right positions on various issues is not enough .

[Moostache]

48. Not one bit surprised...

This nations' values are clear to anyone wishing to look...

Do we care about education?
Ask an elementary teacher spending part of their own paltry wages on supplies...

Do we care about healthcare?
Ask these nurses about access to widespread and pervasive testing...

Do we care about small businesses?
Ask those who are bankrupt right now about this country's love of them...

Do we care about meaningless entertainment?
See how many hoops are being jumped through for football season right now or the NBA and MLB recently...

Do we care about truth and honest journalism?
Tell me how many people believe Facebook nonsense and yet 'doubt' the experts on virology or climate science or simple goddamn math!

We care about 'likes' and 'favs' and 'tags' and nonsense above everything else. Vacuous entertainment and vehicles for marketing more and bigger and flashier shit we can't afford and do not need...

This society is terminally ill and the patient (our habitable climate zones) are already on ventilators. We will all be gone in 100 years time because there is no common good to rally around any longer and no willingness to compromise, collaborate or even logically debate the issues at hand. The faster the better for the rest of life on Earth.

[Blue Owl]

50. tRump's made it great again alright

[kacekwl]

53. College football is the most ridiculous thing ever.

Unless the whole student body gets to attend free then these schools with massive football/ basketball programs along massive tv contracts and massive coach/staff salaries should be ended. Not to mention pro ball. These teams should pay for their own tests and wait in line way behind healthcare workers and other essential workers.

[Oldem]

54. I just changed channels.

I found the entire Seattle Times story, read it, and switched from an NFL game to a movie. There are lots of reasons to shun the NFL, college football too. But this one is particularly egregious and indefensible. The only way to bring these SOBs in line is to stop consuming their product, in massive numbers.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

55. If you think THAT's irksome, just wait for the vaccinations.

Despite stated priorities, I'd bet the professional and college sports teams get the Covid vaccinations before healthcare workers. Follow the money.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

57. One of the ways you can tell our enemies do not understand

the football culture in this country, is that no one has ever attacked during a Superbowl. Although, it would be best to wait for a year when the Washington Football Team is playing. Especially if they win, it would be days before anyone in DC would notice.

[George II]

60. I don't know how many times in the last year or so I've been grateful that my nurse wife retired.

[bdamomma]

61. Crap

Nurses and Drs. on the front line aren't being tested and the UCLA Athletic Department is. SMH.

[Meowmee]

66. It's a disgrace

[Ilsa]

67. Georgia Tech was testing out of their own labs.

I don't know if that would affect regional or national supplies to any large degree. I imagine they developed their own test for students, faculty, etc.

I don't know if UCLA is doing the same. Regardless, perhaps universities could help provide testing.


I don't know how the supply chain organization works, except to say it was the Trump Administration's duty to make testing available to everyone. That is what pisses me off, not that the Athletic Dept can test.

[denbot]

68. WTF!

Holy shit, that’s fucked up!

[Brainfodder]

70. Perfect analogy of all that is wrong in America?