To mask or not to mask

I keep looking for research on the safety and efficacy of the masks used by the general public. This isn't it, but it's the best we've got. This is observational, not clinical, and it is for health care workers, not you and me. The article even says, "in the absence of data" [for the masks worn by the public] this will have to do. It also is one of the few articles (it's an editorial, not research) that says there are 2 purposes--one is it protects the wearer. Which is why I wear a mask. Why is no one putting together a study on the masks the general public uses? It couldn't be that difficult. There are all sorts of fabrics, thickness, filters, countries of origin (including China!). So far, it is observational, anecdotal, and opinion. Many states are making policy on this issue, and people are having fights. Let's do the research!,

In Ohio, the governor has now mandated masks outside our residences.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2768532?

The hypocrisy of the Left

The epicenter of the deaths and infection rate of coronavirus is NY and NJ. Both governors and Mayors have discriminated against religious groups and small businesses to favor a Marxist group, Black Lives Matter (BLM doesn't deny this). Mayor DeBlasio claimed 400 years of American racism was more important than religious services for Jews and Christians or upset store owners losing their livelihood. Gov. Phil Murphy was probably worse, congratulating BLM activists as being in a different orbit than nail salon owners. Their hypocrisy is not only sickening, it demonstrates horrible government over reach.

And even other states and cities not hit as hard by this virus have pastors and priests who cowered in fear and let their churches be designated non-essential. Again, government over reach and the public's lack of knowledge about the constitution.

Biden and China

"China and the US are now in a true cold war situation for years to come. If Biden is elected it will be China as supreme in a few years. Russia and the EU are now sideshows. The entire geopolitical set of relations and interactions for the world will never be the same after the pandemic. The next few years are most likely to be chaotic and potentially violent, as China tries to gain advantage, and as the newly poverty stricken wage war or terrorism, or other disruptions." (from an investment newsletter, 7/19/20)

Read that. Now read it again. Do you really want to vote for Biden given his fondness for and softness on China and with so many in his party rioting in the streets protesting capitalism and chasing after Communism?

Where did all this divisiveness and anger come from? Academe.

Got problems? Look at academe. Every protest you see today--race, gender, homophobia, gaps--all begin in academe. She warned us with this book in 2018, it was oozing and boiling then and most of us ignored it or laughed at the snowflakes. It's also affecting how the Covid19 virus is being handled.

https://youtu.be/l9URgeqIF-o

MS-13

The racism charges against Trump loomed large when he accused MS-13 gang members of being scum and thugs. I think it was Pelosi who defended them. She confused them with her Mexican gardeners (they are Honduran). Because of Covid and the general hate Trump news 24/7, I missed this. "The president also reported that, during his first term, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has deported over 16,000 gang members and arrested over 2,000 members of MS-13.” If you don't feel safer now, you get your level 3 "Hate-Trump" patch for your brown shirt. Next, your black Antifa uniform. Why the Left want more gang members in the U.S., I don't know.

"President Trump and U.S. officials with the Department of Justice, including Attorney General Bill Barr, held a press conference Wednesday in the Oval Office announcing the arrests of dozens of high-level members of the gang known as “MS-13.”

General Barr revealed “Project Vulcan” as a sting operation which was launched as part of President Trump’s directive to “destroy MS-13” which Barr labeled “a death cult.” "

https://thehayride.com/2020/07/trump-admin-announces-arrests-of-high-level-ms-13-gang-members/?

Bye-bye freedom of speech—The Cancel Culture

So you don't believe in the Cancel Culture run amok? You think it isn't happening? How about Cancel People? Here's a list, and I don't know this site or the one she quotes. Most of these are liberals (or appear to me to be that), or so low on the totem pole they shouldn't matter. One emergency room doctor in Ohio was dismissed after publicly speculating about why blacks have been hit particularly hard by Covid-19. Another was accused of "white privilege." Some work for liberal organizations or media and are accused in purges of racist ideas or statements. The Leftists take over, they eat their own.

https://elizabethjnickson.com/2020/06/27/list-of-people-canceled-in-post-george-floyd-antiracism-purges/

Where are the names and public funerals for these black lives?

I'm waiting to see the names and funerals of the 3 teens killed in Columbus, OH, week-end of July 14 announced nationally, because, their black lives mattered too. Will white liberals show up to show compassion and support for their families? In fact, one 15 year old (the only name I could find) was the son of someone killed in gun violence when he was a baby. Our mayor Ginther is verbally suggesting less violence is the answer, yet in actions, supporting the looting and burning by having police stand down. Such a wimp. Look at this sweet face. Probably wouldn't put a toddler in a time out chair. 

BLM is a Marxist Organization

A dialogue is not the intention of BLM, the organization. It is a Marxist group, organized by black radical feminists and now controlled by whites, with the usual shout them down and humiliate reasonable people until they submit.

Got a virtue signaling sign in the yard? Look out. They know the softies. Have you attended a "non-violent protest" in the last few weeks? Honey, you've been had. There are hundreds of examples over the last 100 years on what happens to people who submit. 100,000,000 killed by their own governments.  Fascism and Communism and flip sides of the same coin.  You can’t get a piece of dental floss between them.

These people are totalitarians. They are already taking out the first layer of "liberals" and "independents" who dare to have a non-anarchist opinion, or who question who has taken over the Democrat Party. God help the people who think all lives matter, or who think they have a right to cover the graffiti which BLM and the mayor smeared on city owned streets.

Academe loves mindfulness (Hinduism)

Ohio State University pays for and supports "mindfulness," another word for Hinduism blended with various other eastern techniques and healthiness methods to control stress. That's not unusual--it's a fad in most of academe. Why aren't other religions represented? Where's that "separation" of church and state that liberals love to honor? Oh, it's not a church? Good. Then you should have no problem with OSU staff teaching the Rosary, or Litany of the Hours or using Luther's writings on the Psalter. Maybe if an awkward position on the floor were incorporated they would qualify? Those rich sources are also relaxing, but they are mind filling rather than emptying. Content matters. Christians need to speak up--they've declared our churches non-essential, don't let them override our devotional practices.

"JamesCare for Life Presents Mindfulness in Motion, an 8-week research-based program combining guided mindfulness meditation, community sharing, gentle yoga-inspired stretches and relaxing music. This course, developed by Dr. Maryanna Klatt, has been shown to significantly improve perceived stress, resilience, and quality of sleep for cancer survivors."

The gaslighting of a nation

The whole nation was united in the Floyd case, before the rioting and looting. So we know something is afoot there. The Left does not want us to be unified on anything, especially not a race issue. That said, there was also no evidence that Floyd's take down and death were based on race. It's what we were told--from every source. If the cop had been black or Floyd white, I suppose some trouble makers might have screamed, "Police Brutality," or take a knee, but the racism charge would have slid off the table. After a day or two, it would have been business as usual. Same drug user committing same crime, and a cop's knee on the neck of perp. Nor do we have all the information--just a slice of a video. Now all we have are pundits, politicians and priests all soberly denouncing racist cops while also pushing the alarms to encourage tearing up cities.

Folks, is there a term for national gaslighting?

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/here-there-and-everywhere/201701/11-warning-signs-gaslighting

From little to big, from narrow to wide, from thin to fat, from minor to major, from cold to hot, from bright to dim, from friend to foe, from known to unknown

It is all such a mess. I’m as angry at the insignificant as I am the overwhelming.  When I look at my church website I see no order or sense, only glitz and programs I don’t care about. When I walk down the street I see a carelessly tossed empty can or sandwich wrap.  When I open the refrigerator I see nothing healthy or life promoting, just crumbs and crap. When I put on a shirt, it doesn’t fit, is the wrong color, or I didn’t notice a spot when I hung it in the closet. When I pull up my mask, I can’t breathe, and don’t really think they block anything.

And then there are the invading termites, ants and armies in our culture wanting to tear it all down from Confederate statues to language to schools with silly yard signs in our 99.9% white community. The world wide pandemic has our churches closed has become political and an economic crisis that makes the president’s enemies happy, rubbing their hands with glee at our suffering. The FBI swamp creatures knew the dossier was phony even before the misery of the impeachment disaster. Millions of school children will lose another year and do-gooders will accept grants to study the “gap.” All forms of sexuality have been normalized by our so-called “conservative” Supreme Court as our nation spits in the face of history and God.

Yes, it all looks like my church website or empty refrigerator, little or big.

Plessy v. Ferguson and BLM

The SCOTUS decision of Plessy v Ferguson perhaps didn't seem a big deal in 1896. It upheld "separate but equal" but really entrenched Jim Crow, the legal segregation of the races--rest rooms, drinking fountains, seats on trains and busses, housing, and jobs. It took years for SCOTUS to undo that mistake. Much of that progress since integration is now seen as racist and some radicals want to reinstate the separateness for some Americans.

Today #Blacklivesmatter, the organization, is the new Plessy v. Ferguson. To use another example from the past, it's the new McCarthyism. It's not a law, or a court decision, but it's being treated that way by "woke" corporations, CEOs, schools, businesses, and churches. BLM is not looking for "equal" but for privilege and special treatment based on race just like the Plessy decision. The founders of #BLM are radical, Marxist feminists, and as we've learned, Marxism is not about equality, ever. It's totalitarianism with special privilege for a few at the top.

At this time, the new BLM/Plessy v Ferguson is going after Democrat controlled states and cities, because they are the softest target. They have already elected to their local councils, courts and mayoral positions leftists who will toss a bone or two to minorities while passing restrictive environmental (greenish) regulations that hurt them, or raising minimum wage which in the long run cause entry level workers to lose jobs and businesses that hire them to fail. Now those administrations are falling in line with "defund the police," causing more pain and deaths in black communities. BLM are counting on the growing frustration and anger from the people who can't protect themselves for more riots and looting.

Columbus mayor fails to protect the citizens

Although we don't live in the city of Columbus, those of us in the suburbs feel their pain. The mayor, like many in major cities, is dismantling the protection and security of the residents. BLM and ANTIFA have made the downtown a mess. The protests have nothing to do with George Floyd, and the mayor has simply rolled over and is playing dead. White virtue signalers from the 'burbs prop him up. The Democrats steal and borrow votes to get in and then abandon the people who elected them. It's that way in all large cities. Population: 922,000, metro: 2,200,000, growth in last decade, 17% (expect that to drop under this mayor). 59% white, 28% black, 13% other, with the majority of new residents foreign born. I wonder why most of the black lives in Columbus don't matter to the mayor? 116,000 residents are foreign born, and probably left their homelands to escape the chaos the mayor is now offering in order to please his radical base. https://www.dispatch.com/news/20200713/teenrsquos-death-becomes-fourth-homicide-over-weekend?

Four dead (3 teens) and many others wounded this past week-end. Why don't their lives matter? Where are their televised funerals--they probably didn't even have any prison terms to glamorize like Floyd did.

The young are always messed up

I found another "Little Library" on my walk this morning. Good thing because the librarians our taxes pay for are cowering behind their computers (like our pastors). I picked out "Give war a chance" by P.J. O'Rourke, c. 1992, now almost 30 years old. Wow. He's not a favorite writer, but I did see one essay that I found interesting--at least the opening paragraph. He's an aging boomer from Ohio who doesn't like Trump. He's now like a pet for the liberals who don't realize that their country has been stolen from them. Anyway, this paragraph was right on, as we said in the 70s.

SECOND THOUGHTS ABOUT THE 1960s

What I believed in the Sixties

"Everything. You name it and I believed it. I believed love was all you need. I believed you should be here now. I believed drugs could make everyone a better person. I believed I could hitchhike to California with 35 cents and people would be glad to feed me. I believed Mao was cute. I believed private property was wrong. I believed my girlfriend was a witch. I believed my parents were Nazi space monsters. I believed the university was putting saltpeter in the cafeteria food. I believed stones had souls. I believed the NLF were the good guys in Vietnam. . . and so forth . . . With the exception of anything my mom and dad said, I believed everything." p. 90

The usual stuff kids think, but that was somewhat revolutionary in the 60s, even looking back with a little tongue in cheek snark. Those 60s guys are now the grandparents of the ones roaming the streets with detailed plans to break windows, close businesses, hit police with baseball bats, and demand recognition for auto zones. O'Rourke's generation almost sounds charming, because in our minds' eye we know they finally matured after the grown ups stepped in.

Not today. The screaming, hysterical white college-educated women who have joined in with the gang thugs and Antifa to make no lives matter are not about to back down or go home to mommy. Those born in 1997 are a very different ilk from those born in 1947 like O'Rourke. These charmers have grown up with the schools tearing down everything the boomers thought they had to rebel against. In order to rebel against anything, by the time they get to college, it all has to be torn down to the last statue, church and Broadway musical so the latest totalitarian dictator can take over. And not by voting--that's so 1960s--it must be violence.

Finding research on medical masks for the public

This is what non-medical mask research looks like. There's not a lot out there. None of my masks have filters, and none fit well, two important points. They might block air pollution to my lungs, but probably won't do much on droplets coming from me. This article is from 2010 and the last pandemic, but should give you an idea what to look for. When I want to see controlled research, not the opinion of a doctor or a news writer who does medical stories, or a politically charged harangue, I put "NCBI" in the search strategy. That will get the medical articles. This is a "review article." That's another good thing to look for because you'll get a whole group of studies rolled into one and save a lot of time. Some have abstracts, and some are full text. Most articles conclude with, "further studies are needed."

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20092668/

“Face masks to prevent transmission of influenza virus: a systematic review” Epidemiol Infect  2010 Apr;138(4):449-56

Go to the bottom of the page and look at additional sources.

College educated, hysterical, mostly white women

"If Biden is elected, the Marxists behind Black Lives Matter, Defund the Police, the de-incarceration of prisons, the end of bail, and every other entropy causing initiative will be in the driver’s seat in America. People will be amazed, in a terrible way, about how fast the road is to becoming the Mogadishu of the northern hemisphere. The end will come only when true totalitarianism appears on the scene because the strength of totalitarianism is the only thing that will stop the violence — and so the American people, ultimately, will embrace the tyrant that comes to claim them."

Bookworm Room. https://www.bookwormroom.com/2020/07/13/defund-the-police-the-speed-of-degradation/?

Goya CEO supports Trump (gasp)

We've seen shortages of toilet paper, hand sanitizer, bleach, disinfectant wipes and most recently, liquid hand soap in a pump dispenser. Now it will be Goya products as Trump supporters discover the industry and product that is a U.S. success story. They'll buy up every thing Goya creating a temporary shortage. (Where I live Goya is available at Marc's, or was last week.)

Robert Unanue, Goya CEO since 2004, has been demonized by saying we have been blessed for having Trump as our leaders.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/goya-foods-ceo-robert-unanue-not-apologizing-praising-trump/

https://www.rt.com/usa/494322-goya-hispanic-food-trump-cancel/

White liberals are still calling the tune on race

We have a white liberal problem, not a black problem, not a race problem. Liberal whites — not minorities — are setting the tone on race issues. White liberals will report that Trump's wall is racist; white conservatives do not think that. In earlier administrations, it was bipartisan, and we have Clinton and Obama on video stating the importance of border security to protect the nation and our values. When Obama was in office, white liberals' perception of racism soared--they found it everywhere and acted accordingly. Nasty. White conservatives' views on race barely budged.

It seems liberals have moved their focus from class to race. Whatever, the Man is still in charge and setting the rules.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/18/opinion/race-america-trump.html?

The Trump presidency is unprecedented

“Many aspects of the Trump presidency are unprecedented; he is the first president never to have sought or held a public office, elected or unelected, or a high military command; and this is the first presidency, at least in living memory, in which almost the entire national political press have completely and constantly misreported the president’s public remarks and policies.

The former newspaper of record, the New York Times, has been commendably forthright in declaring that it was opposing rather than just reporting on the Trump administration. Mr. Trump delivered the greatest speech of his career on Friday evening at Mount Rushmore, devoted altogether to celebrating the idealism of the American Revolution, the suppression of the Confederate insurrection in the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, and the enactment — albeit tardily — of the Jeffersonian promise, renewed by Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, that all men are created equal. The Washington Post editorial board declared that he had reached “new depths of depravity.” This is an outrage worthy only of the press of a totalitarian country describing an opposition figure.

With few exceptions, the United States is now served by a national political media that is incapable of reporting about the president accurately, that baits him at press briefings with disgusting insolence, and that is extraordinarily negligent in ignoring or downplaying anything that reflects poorly on the president’s other enemies, the media’s allies in the war against the president. “

https://www.nysun.com/national/press-now-plumbs-its-own-depths-of-depravity/91183/?

My mask collection

My scarf/mask collection. Inexpensive bandanas. I fold in an angle, tie in back and twist and tuck under my chin. I wash after each use. I'm not kidding myself. I've looked at the "science," and there is nothing that says what the general public uses as a mask, whether commercially or home made, stops a virus. Good for a sand storm, maybe. Or will keep a cough under control, just like any hanky. Satisfies the governor, however.