Thoughts on Cuba

Why now, Cuba? First, when Castro took over they were propped up by the USSR. Then when it collapsed they turned to Venezuela which Cuba had infected with Communism. In turn it collapsed and Cuba lost again in the game of dictators. Both countries lost enormously in the exodus of its middle and upper class. When tourism finally came back to Cuba under Obama's circumventing the law, the pandemic soon followed. Supported by relatives in the U.S. for decades with remittances (billions), the Cuban government and its lackeys and apologists in the U.S. media and the Democrat party, the people have said, ENOUGH. Is it too late?

We could learn from Cuba and Venezuela, but will we? We have powerful socialism lovers in Congress and the White House.

https://providencemag.com/video/venezuelas-chavismo-disaster/  

Our media flunkies are bragging about the literacy rate in Cuba. What's to read? More Communist propaganda about how great the Castros were? More lies about the heroic Motherland? And who can trust the data from a Communist country? Other Latin American countries also saw literacy and health care improve in the same decades, and they didn't have to give up their freedoms. Also, if a family tried to provide their children with religious instruction, those children would then not be allowed a higher education and a career. How's that for literacy?

And it's all coming to the USA if you don't pay attention to your local school board, stop the cancel culture workshops in your churches and community organizations, if you don't put the NFL and MLB owners in their place by refusing to play (watch) their games or support their sponsors, if you don't go to the polls in 2022, if you don't insist on honest elections free of "pandemic" special rules for some.

Senator Sanders Is Wrong on Cuban Education and Healthcare | Cato at Liberty Blog

Cuba isn't the only western country with political prisoners. Compare the January 6 prisoners with those arrested for the ongoing assaults on Democrat run cities and federal property. You can't even find a total because our "free press" refuses to investigate. Here's just ONE list for ONE riot in ONE city. Our Columbus still hasn't recovered from the Floyd riots. 

More than two dozen Antifa rioters charged for Portland mayhem (nypost.com)

There will never be a fair investigation as long as Nancy Pelosi is in charge, because she's the one who dropped the ball (deliberately, I believe) when she knew from undercover investigation that people planned to storm the capitol. That said, she's ordered no investigation of who killed Ashli Babbitt, and unless that's included there should be no investigation.

Media bias

Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC is blaming Trump that Biden minority voters aren't getting the vaccine. She's blaming the people who are telling the truth for "misinformation" on cable news (which Democrats dominate). She's the culprit. No one on Fox or Newsmax has told people not to get the vaccine, but plenty on MSNBC and CNN have blamed Trump who pushed to have the vaccines developed for their failed roll out. Trump is living rent free in their heads.

The wealth gap--again

Democrats have whined and moaned about the wealth gap or wealth inequality for as long as I can remember--even back to the 40 years I was a Democrat. That Jeff Bezos and Nancy Pelosi would laugh at my current wealth compared to theirs really doesn't bother me. What bothers me is when Bezos can buy and sell Pelosi and SHE is fearful of that gap between them. She's the one insecure, not me. Together they (with other Democrats and CEOs) pass laws that take my wealth to transfer to people who probably need a social safety net, but she and he won't pay for it.

What really helps the poor are good jobs, not more government handouts. Under Trump, real wealth held by the bottom half of households grew faster — over three times faster — than wealth held by the top half of households in the 2017-2020 period, and almost three times faster than for the top 1 percent. Now Biden is paying people to not return to work, something that will not help them advance and succeed.

Thank goodness for men who can fix things

I'm back in my Columbus home at my desk by the living room window. While we've been gone (at Lakeside), the light bulbs have all been replaced and the windows and screens have been washed by a friend who started a handyman service after he retired from his corporate CEO job (likes to putter). I need sunglasses it's so bright. And at Lakeside, all our 1944 cast iron plumbing is being replaced by plumbers who are strong and thin enough to slide into the crawl space next to the basement to get access.

 Old age is certainly exciting. So many changes.

And I still don't have a smart phone

Four years ago I wrote this. Nothing much has changed.

Not only do I not know how to use a smart phone as many my age do, but I don’t know how to do the simplest, ordinary everyday tasks familiar to my grandmothers (b. 1876 and 1896): harness a carriage horse, kill, gut and pluck a chicken, milk a cow, trim a kerosene wick or bank the stove with corn cobs to heat water for a weekly bath. Nothing I did in my professional life (academic librarian in Slavic Studies, agriculture, veterinary medicine at 2 different universities) lasted even a year or two, and unless they were digitized, my publications have disappeared. Did the student reconstructing road kill for a class project go on to make a difference, or the horse on the treadmill help someone get tenure? It was exceptionally interesting--but did it matter?

I do think education is over rated. At least higher education Did my job make a difference like the men who build, plumb and wire houses that last for over a hundred years? Or was it even as important as the commercial truck drivers who deliver food that someone else has grown, harvested and packaged for my use?

 
I probably spent half my professional life attending meetings, or writing reports, or staring at budgets of cuts that never seem to come together. At annual review time with my boss (he visited each library) I'd scoop everything off my ancient desk and put it in a box. About 6 weeks later I'd look in the box--usually nothing needed attention. Occasionally today I run into a former dean or department chair at Panera's who remembers me, and that's nice, but I do wonder if they have the same thoughts I do.

There is a new normal after the pandemic

I doubt that I'm the only one who is questioning the "new normal" for work, church and education, let alone reliance on virtual medicine. I'm stunned by the happy talk. No one expected a pandemic to disrupt our lives; so why do smart people expect there will be no more world wide disruptions or disasters of a kind we're not prepared for?

Like a volcanic explosion to create another "year without summer" like in the 19th century or a little ice age to last 500 years instead of global warming?

Like China totally in control of the cyber-grid and closing down the financial system, the churches, and their puppets in the White House?

Or a bio-disaster escaping from our own government supported labs?

Or a natural plague of rodents like the mice in Australia?

Or increasing shutdown/lockdown of Christians and our courts upholding that oppression?

Or unusual tropical diseases brought in across our border by illegals from many countries entering through Mexico then scattered around the country by plane and bus to be dropped in unsuspecting communities?

We had a taste earlier of a gasoline supply hack, and a hack of one of the major food suppliers (increasingly controlled by only 4 companies). Those hacks should have shown us how vulnerable we are, how fragile the safety net is. We've already seen Big Tech become more powerful than an elected President while half the country and one party looked the other way. Why do we assume this behemoth can't shut down the entire government, the military and the science complex we're depending on to solve our moral and spiritual problems?

Those who misled us during the pandemic

"The United States suffered through two lethal waves of contagion in the past year and a half. The first was a viral pandemic that killed about one in 500 Americans—typically, a person over 75 suffering from other serious conditions. The second, and far more catastrophic, was a moral panic that swept the nation’s guiding institutions.

Instead of keeping calm and carrying on, the American elite flouted the norms of governance, journalism, academic freedom—and, worst of all, science. They misled the public about the origins of the virus and the true risk that it posed. Ignoring their own carefully prepared plans for a pandemic, they claimed unprecedented powers to impose untested strategies, with terrible collateral damage. As evidence of their mistakes mounted, they stifled debate by vilifying dissenters, censoring criticism, and suppressing scientific research."

https://www.city-journal.org/panic-pandemic

Joanne Reece Launer (1933-2021)

A friend called today and told us of the death of Joanne Reece Launer, a friend since 1967, one of the first we met when we moved to Columbus. We were in a Couples Group with her and her first husband, Jim, at First Community Church, and they lived just a few blocks from us. We knew her daughter as a toddler and remember when her son Tim was born. She was 88.

Joanne Pugh Reece Launer. On Sunday, June 21, 2021, Jo went home to be with the Lord at the age of 88 after struggling with Parkinson's disease for several years. Joanne ("Gumpy" and "JoJo" to her 6 grandchildren) was born on February 17, 1933, in Dayton, OH to Walter and Margaret Pugh. She graduated from Springboro High School, received her elementary education degree from Miami University in 1955, and taught for many years in Kettering and Upper Arlington, OH. On April 11, 1964, she married the first love of her life, James Sabine Reece. They shared 28 wonderful years together and raised two children, Christine (Reece) Mathews and James Timothy Reece. After being widowed for 18 years, she married the second love of her life, Emil Andy Launer on March 13, 2011. They were devoted to one another and enjoyed 10 laughter-filled years. Joanne's life was marked by her love for her family and friends, her passion for education, and by living out her faith in the Lord through her wonderful cooking, hospitality, and service to others. She was an avid Cincinnati Reds and Ohio State football fan all her life, as well as a killer Rummikub player. She was active in church membership and attended several Bible studies. After her retirement, she kept busy traveling with friends, substitute teaching, and leading tours at the Ohio Statehouse. She was an extremely loyal friend and had a sharp wit and a fantastic sense of humor. Joanne was preceded in death by her parents Daniel and Margaret, her brothers Bob and Tom, and her first husband Jim. She is survived by her husband, Andy; sister, Sandy (Larry) Hefflin; children, Christine (Todd) Mathews and Tim (Harriet) Reece; and her grandchildren, Amanda, Trenton, Aaron, Kathryn, Luke, and Rachel. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the charity of your choice, in Jo's memory. A Celebration of Life service will be held at Dublin Baptist Church later this summer. Please visit www.schoedinger.com to share a memory or send condolences to Jo's family. Arrangements Entrusted to SCHOEDINGER NORTHWEST, 1740 Zollinger Rd., Upper Arlington, OH 43221. Legacy.com