Musings and opinions

A former in-law writes: “The Hunt Club tavern is still packing them in at its small location. I get pissed every time we go by it.”

Yes, it’s too bad when people can still go to bars, but not to church. However, this whole lockdown would have made more sense if it involved keeping people our age at home—we are the people with age, heart conditions, lung problems, obesity, diabetes, etc. If you were out and about, I hope there was a good reason, and that no one could have done that errand for you.

The good news is that although cases are on the increase, the fatalities are below 1%, which means that those getting Covid now are much better off with the newer treatments and more knowledge that those who got it in March and April. Our president has been successful and cut about 15 years off the approval schedule for a new drug that should be delivered to health care workers in early December. We will still have people who fear vaccines, but hopefully we’ll have more herd immunity besides that which we’ve developed through the spread of the disease. 95-99% success for a vaccine is unheard of. Let’s see if it works that well on the general public. Every media outlet will announce every side effect, or death with anxious faces and whispers, when they never paid attention to flu deaths, or shingles side effects, or falls among the elderly. They may even demand on Twitterverse that immunizations stop until NO ONE has any side effects, although if Biden takes office in January, those alarm bells will stop so the end of the pandemic can be attributed to him.

Alzheimer’s Disease Hot Spots

If you see this link as Wall Street Journal, there is a fire wall. You can read it at MSN. The WSJ article refers to several studies. One study co-author is Jeffrey Wing, assistant professor of epidemiology at OSU. Article is: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 76, no. 4, pp. 1309-1316, 2020. If you see the words "equity," or "disparity," in titles or names of organizations, the focus will be race. Always good for fund raising. Wing's focus is rural areas, specifically Appalachia. I've read it--looks solid, but author admits needs much more investigation. I've tried to look at the UsAgainstAlzheimer organization (also mentioned in WSJ article), but a big splashy ad for Giving Tuesday covers everything up, so I can't tell you much about it except its focus is blacks and latinos.

Alzheimer's Research Looks at Hot Spots Across the U.S. (msn.com)

Ugly public architecture

If I could write as well as R.R. Reno*, I would have said this decades ago—I read a lot of architecture magazines.

Nearly 3/4 of Americans (72%) – including majorities across political, racial/ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic lines – prefer traditional architecture for U.S. courthouses and federal office buildings. At least Americans can agree on ugly. National Civic Art Society/Harris Survey Shows Americans Overwhelmingly Prefer Traditional Architecture for Federal Buildings — National Civic Art Society.

In the Dec. issue of First Things R.R. Reno comments: "Modern and postmodern architecture have no visual vocabulary for distinguishing civic from commercial life, which is why during the last 2 decades every attempt at grandeur has ended up looking like an airport terminal." . . . "Modern architecture of the International style can be elegant and pleasing. Its blank walls of glass are the perfect idiom for faceless modern corporations. Postmodern architecture can be ironic and clever, which is why our disenchanted elite like it so much. But these styles cannot speak a civic language, and this is why the public disfavors them and wishes our government would return to older ways of building."

I would disagree with Mr. Reno that it's only the last 2 decades. The most ugly architectural style for public buildings in my opinion is "brutalist," and it looks like it sounds. It's an assault on the eye, and must drive building managers crazy. In Columbus we have the Ohio History Center near the Fair Grounds, built in 1970, but it had become ubiquitous in the 1950s-1970. Very famous architects contributed to this horror. AIA gives them awards, probably because there's so much concrete in them, there's no way to get rid of them.

National Civic Art Society Op-Ed in the New York Post: Trump’s Right: Americans Deserve Nice Public Buildings — Even if Elites Sneer — National Civic Art Society

National Civic Art Society/Harris Survey Shows Americans Overwhelmingly Prefer Traditional Architecture for Federal Buildings — National Civic Art Society

Antiracist Hysteria by R. R. Reno | Articles | First Things  *Scroll to “While we’re at it.”

Thanksgiving--a felony or just a misdemeanor?

"States and regional health departments have created a patchwork of COVID-19 precautions and safety measures this holiday season. One challenge all of them face is enforcement. In Oregon, the governor is asking people to call the cops on their neighbors if they see people violating COVID-19-related restrictions like gathering sizes." (Denver Channel News)

Los Angeles to shut off water and power to houses hosting large parties or gatherings - CBS News

 

 Oddly enough, this 4 part series by Norman Rockwell was based on FDR's speech in January 1941. Rockwell did them for Saturday Evening Post in 1943. "Freedom from Want" isn't in the Constitution (as were the first two, speech and religion--although FDR said "worship" which is not correct). President Trump was well on his way to providing that with the lowest unemployment rate in history before the virus took down the economy with the assistance of over zealous governors who discovered power previously never known to them.

Purging and packing in 2005

We’ve been working at removing more clutter—professional papers, memorabilia from travel, old art supplies, frames, books I had given Phil over the years,  extra Christmas things rarely used, as well as destroying some musty, dusty boxes.  And back in 2005, we did even more.  I think these things just grow the more you toss out!

From December 2005 blog:

I think there is over $10,000 of drapes in the pile--however, used drapes have no value especially if they've been created for specific windows. And there are size 37 sport coats and suits, an almost new pair of black loafers that hurt my feet, bright fuchsia Capri pants size 8 with an even wilder top (what was I thinking?), winter sweaters, Hawaiian shirts, a 20 cup coffee maker, about 50 8-track tapes, pictures in frames, a double bedspread with matching pillow shams, twin bed skirts, two director's chairs, b & w TV, microwave, books, toys, a number of cookie tins nesting, notebooks and paper and pencils, portable typewriter, a tall chair for a drawing table, and other stuff I've already forgotten. Three 40 gallon trash bags of shredded documents went out with the trash pick-up this morning.

Thanksgiving Proclamation, George Washington, 1789

By the President of the United States of America. A Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be—That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks—for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation—for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war—for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed—for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted—for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions—to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually—to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed—to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord—To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us—and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New-York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go: Washington

Let us answer the call of George Washington to use this opportunity to render unto God our sincere and humble thanks.

Happy Birthday, Phil

 Today is Phil's 52nd birthday. We will always miss him. 

 

 

  

  

  

 

Life is hard

 

Retelling a Christmas classic

T’was the year 2020, and all through the house
every creature was stirring, from Human to Mouse.
The stockings were tossed on the chimney, who cares,
It has been months since we entertained, would Saint Nick even dare?

The children were nestled all snug in their beds
as visions of rubber gloves danced in their heads.
and Mama in her gaiter and me and my mask,
had just settled our brains for a long cleaning task.

When out on the roof there arose such a clatter.
I sprang from my mop to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash.
I peeked through the shutter, barely touching the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
gave me faith that someday we'd have somewhere to go.
When what do my wondering eyes should appear,
but a miniature sleigh, and eight spotless reindeer.

With a little old driver decked out in full gear,
I knew in a moment we'd have Christmas this year!
More safely than Hazmat the reindeer they came,
and he whistled and shouted and called them by name.

Now Clorox! Now Pine-Sol! Now Lysol and Purex!
On Comet! On Purell! On Top Job and Germ-X!
Wipe the top of the porch! Then the top of the wall!
Now wipe away! Wipe away! Wipe away all!

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
when they finished and then took a jump to the sky.
So up to the housetop the reindeer they flew.
With a sleigh full of masks, and Saint Nicholas too!

And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof,
the pawing of each little rubber gloved hoof.
As I pulled up my mask and was turning around,
Down the chimney a big bucket came with a bound!

It was covered in plastic from bottom to top,
and the contents were sterile, despite the long drop.
I missed seeing his eyes and his dimples so merry.
But this virus prevents that, these times are so scary.

I imagined his face and his little round belly,
That shook when he laughed like hand sanitizer jelly.
but I saw him outside though, as he stood near his sleigh,
and I laughed when I saw him, from six feet away..

With a wink of his eye and a wave of his hand,
I felt warm inside, Santa too understands.
And without a word I went right to my work.
I filled all our stockings, then turned with a jerk

And laying a finger aside of his mask,
The reindeer rose up, they had finished their task.
He waved to me then, to his team gave a shout,
and socially distancing, quickly flew out.

But I heard him proclaim as he drove out of sight,
Merry Christmas to all, we will all be all right!

Carole L. Campbell
2020

Update:  Facebook put a warning label on this!  Maybe its lefty checkers object to "Merry Christmas."

Thanksgiving mandates—an opinion

"I think public health experts should not just listen, but HEAR what people are saying. Americans are saying that despite all the damage done by COVID-19, despite the rising cases and at-capacity ICUs around the country, their desire for human connection is so great, that they are willing to take the risk and have Thanksgiving. Americans are, in effect, expressing the longing and desperation of their soul."

"My worry is that the very nature of the modern media ecosystem is to promote messages that spark anger, shame, and fear. The original article hits these emotions. Doctors then tweet messages that amplify the 'shame on them' message and escalate tensions. The reward system of Twitter gives these actors positive feedback with likes and retweets."

Full piece at Medscape.com (need to register, but free) Op-Ed: Demanding Thanksgiving Abstinence Is Not Public Health | MedPage Today

How to pray for unity

I've heard Christians saying, "We need to pray God brings unity and restores our divided country." Should we be asking God to bring our Christian friends and neighbors to an understanding of the grisly truth about abortion and repent? It certainly causes division. Should we pray that Israel can continue on the peace path President Trump assisted with (Netanyahu met in Saudi Arabia with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pompeo according to news reports)? I've heard Christians discounting this historic event for peace. Can we continue to pray for the protection of our border agents as they guard our borders and follow our laws? Will God provide answers? Should we continue to support our First Amendment Rights when Democrats attack them? And how about the illegal votes revealed in the last election? Do we just stop discussing it in the name of unity? Is it OK to ask God that Hunter Biden be brought to justice for what was revealed on his laptop? We'd do that for other criminals. And what about prison reform. Haven't Christians been asking and preparing for that, and then it's rejected because Trump made headway? And what about poverty? God has so much to say about that in the Bible, but how do we reconcile the differences between a good job and a government program? Should we give an elbow bump (no handshakes) to those who have been calling us racists for 4 years instead of asking for some facts or policies to back up the charges? Do we pray for survival of our jobs and economy if those we are praying with want a long, destructive lockdown?

Praying for the president and the election

Today I was thinking about the millions and millions of people praying for President Trump and the nation. It's really amazing. Maybe 70 million. Maybe not since FDR and D-Day has a president brought so many to this awareness that our country can be destroyed, but this time, from within. Franklin Delano Roosevelt's D-Day Prayer - Word Foundations  Check out this website for more articles and prayer concerns about what happened on November 3-4.

Another prayer group is Intercessors for America, TRUMP TEAM HAS A LEGAL STRATEGY, WE HAVE A PRAYER STRATEGY | Intercessors for America (ifapray.org)

Many Democrats are Christians. I wonder how they are praying? "Dear Lord, please let this election be legal so we can kill more babies in the name of women's health." or "Heavenly Father, Guide our chosen one who is under a black cloud for his activities with his family in China with the CCP."

Crock Pot Chicken by Pat Miller

Mix:

1/2 cup of mayo

1/3 cup of Panko bread crumbs

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

1 tsp. of Italian seasoning

Spread:

The above mix all over pieces of chicken and place  in your crock pot.

Cook:

Low setting in crock pot  5-6 hours

Throwing out the 4th draft of a 25 year old never published paper

 I think I'm in my 5th day of packing and pitching--my professional files (if you think I write a lot now, it's nothing like the 1990s), valentines from 3rd grade, letters to my parents, fiction and poetry I wrote in the 1990s. I can only do about 2 hours a day. Sad and disturbing. It's unbelievable what I've forgotten, but when I re-read those files, I don't want to throw away what I didn't know was stored in musty boxes. I have no recollection of applying for an exchange program to attend a Negro college in the south in 1958, but I told my parents about in a letter home from Manchester College.  And the next month there was a letter to them filled with my plans to attend the University of Illinois to study Russian.   And then. In a folder I found a photocopy of a poem written by Billy Collins (Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003) and published in Harper's Magazine, October, 1994. It's called simply, "Forgetfulness." I checked the internet and found a YouTube of his own performance. The audience was laughing.  I wasn't--it's a very sad poem.  

 https://youtu.be/aj25B8JYumQ   https://poets.org/poem/forgetfulness

The Thanksgiving lockdown is so convenient

Sometimes we oldsters complain that "kids today" don't know American history as we learned it in the 50s and 60s. But we've learned in 2020 that our elected leaders don't know the history of the 80s and 90s or even the 21st century. A Thanksgiving lock down plays right into the hands of the far-left, cancel culture, kill the sense of national identity and destroy the family game plan. It's like a gift, wrapped with a big bow and delivered by Amazon.

The battle over Thanksgiving and its origins has been going on for at least 40 years. Nasty powerful white Europeans with guns and a foreign religion came and destroyed a benign, peaceful, close to nature indigenous culture. Just google it--the algorithms are all set to find that meme for you in the top 10 listings.

Thanksgiving is not technically a religious holiday, although all religious people understand WHO is getting the thanks. True, it's not called family day on the calendar, but families under any definition or "like family" gather to eat at a table of shared abundance, tell stories, play games and watch football. Marxists can strike their biggest blow--they are anti-religious and anti-family, particularly the nuclear family because those two support the "system" they wish to destroy.

You can read the works of Karl Marx, or Vladimir Lenin, or the mission statement of Black Lives Matter. It's all there.

The Gettysburg Address as delivered by Eisenhower

I haven’t checked these figures but 87 years ago, I think it was, a number of individuals organized a governmental set-up here in this country, I believe it covered certain Eastern areas, with this idea they were following up based on a sort of national independence arrangement and the program that every indi­vidual is just as good as every other individual. Well, now, of course, we are dealing with this big difference of opinion, civil disturbance you might say, although I don’t like to appear to take sides or name any individuals, and the point is naturally to check up, by actual experience in the field, to see whether any governmental set-up with a basis like the one I was mentioning has any validity and find out whether that dedication by those early individuals will pay off in lasting values and things of that kind.

Well, here we are, at the scene where one of these disturbances between different sides got going. We want to pay our tribute to those loved ones, those departed individuals who made the supreme sacrifice here on the basis of their opinions about how this thing ought to be handled. And I would say this. It is absolutely in order to do this.

But if you look at the over-all picture of this, we can’t pay any tribute—we can’t sanctify this area, you might say—we can’t hallow according to whatever individual creeds or faiths or sort of religious outlooks are involved like I said about this particular area. It was those individuals themselves, including the enlisted men, very brave individuals, who have given this religious character to the area. The way I see it, the rest of the world will not remember any statements issued here but it will never forget how these men put their shoulders to the wheel and carried this idea down the fairway.

Now frankly, our job, the living individuals’ job here, is to pick up the burden and sink the putt they made these big efforts here for. It is our job to get on with the assignment—and from these deceased fine individuals to take extra inspiration, you could call it, for the same theories about the set-up for which they made such a big contribution. We have to make up our minds right here and now, as I see it, that they didn’t put out all that blood, perspiration and—well—that they didn’t just make a dry run here, and that all of us here, under God, that is, the God of our choice, shall beef up this idea about freedom and liberty and those kind of arrangements, and that government of all individuals, by all individuals and for the individuals, shall not pass out of the world-picture.

By Oliver Jensen, after too many press conferences

http://librarysystems.com/gettys.htm

Which party has wanted freedom for all Americans since before the Civil War?

Nearly 60 years ago, we had real bi-partisanship. 40% of the House Democrats VOTED AGAINST the Civil Rights Act of 1964, while 80% of Republicans SUPPORTED it. Republican support in the Senate was even higher. Similar trends occurred with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was supported by 82% of House Republicans and 94% of Senate Republicans. (From my blog, Feb. 15, 2012)

It was Everett Dirksen, Senate Minority leader from Illinois who lead the way and knew the history of freedom and equality for blacks, not Lyndon Baines Johnson who had a career of holding them back. Read his eloquent speech from 1964 which provides the history of the Act and the history of the acts. https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/DirksenCivilRights.pdf

How many people who have graduated from high school since the mid-1960s know that it has always been the Republicans who fought for equal rights? That Democrats are the party of the KKK and Jim Crow, voter suppression, lynching, enticing the black father from his home with government programs, and aborting generations of black babies? Even today, the lies about President Trump being a racist are a cover for Democrats trying to regain power over black Americans.

Denmark’s mask study

Another mask study. Can you take it? Some couldn't and held up the publication of this study because it has the potential to block some power grabs by low level government officials, like heads of agencies and mayors.

A randomized, controlled trial done in Denmark and published in one of the top medical journals looked at the effectiveness of adding mask recommendations to other control measures. The randomized trial showed there was no difference in reducing the infection rate of SARS-CoV-2. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-6817 Infection occurred in 1.8% of the participants who wore masks, and 2.1% of the participants in the control group who didn't wear masks. Surgical medically approved masks were used for the study, which almost none of us in the general public use in the U.S.A. Also, the participants had training in how to use the masks, which we don't have. Even so, it appears that less than 50% of the mask wearers used them correctly all the time.

At the time of the study a few months ago, Denmark had a much less restrictive procedure and a lower infection rate than the U.S. with masks worn outside a hospital setting being rare. Both the mask wearers and the control group in the study also used the other methods--frequent hand washing, social distancing, quarantines, and limiting visits to nursing homes. Yet their infection rate was the same.

This study is a real blow to those who believe masks will stop most of the spread, although I wouldn't expect it to change anything.

How Big Tech manipulates our voting behavior

Robert Epstein is not some right wing kook.  In fact, he’s a Democrat, who voted for Hillary Clinton, but a computer expert.  He studies Google. Google has about 3 million pages of information about you (if you use g-mail, Chrome, Google). “Go vote” reminders from Google went only to liberals--that's voter manipulation. Epstein began his investigation around 2012 of search results on Google.  He figured you could manipulate vote decisions on Google by about 2-3%, but when he did the research, it was win margin of 48%. He redid it and got 63%.  And it’s invisible to people. Billions of people not knowing they’ve been manipulated. But it gets worse.  Watch the video.

https://youtu.be/wqtKQgTps_g

Google has about 3 million pages of information about you (if you use g-mail, Chrome, Google). Go vote reminder from Google went only to liberals--that's vote manipulation. Epstein began his investigation around 2012 of search results on Google.

Because he is the leading expert in this field, he's been warned and has had death threats. He was warned about an auto accident. He didn't die in an accident, but his wife did.

Google employees manipulated views on the Trump travel bans. . . reengineered our thinking without us being aware. Epstein has testified before Congress that Google could shift 15 million votes without anyone knowing just with transitory messages that can't be traced. Bing and Yahoo did not display the same bias as Google. However, Yahoo gets its information from Google, and Bing has a contract with Google, and Windows 10 was built on Google’s surveillance model. Watch this video!!

Mygoogleresearch.com is his website.

Albert Sabin letter in my file

I'm sure I've done this several times in the last 20 years (since I retired)--condensing and throwing away files, especially those related to work. Now I'm into personal things. Considering the news about the vaccines, it was interesting to find a copy of a letter I wrote in 1983 to Dr. Albert Sabin who developed the oral polio vaccine which was much easier for school children. (I had the Salk vaccine given at school).

"I will always be grateful that as a parent I didn't have to go through the worry my parents' generation suffered. In 1949, my cousin Jimmy died of polio and 3 weeks later my sister became ill with polio. Although she lived, now in middle age she is suffering many after affects of deterioration.

Thank you for your contribution to the health of the world."

I had seen a newspaper column by Bob Greene who reported that Dr. Sabin was paralyzed in a lot of pain and unable to walk and was confined to a hospital bed at the National Institutes of Health. Green thought letters from the public could cheer the 77 year old.

Maybe it worked, because he lived another decade. I read a NYT obituary for him today and was surprised to see many parallels to other viral diseases, and how he continued to work on this problem. He also worked on Sandfly fever, dengue fever, toxoplasmosis and encephalitis. He and Dr. Salk (credited for the polio vaccine injection with booster shots) had a rivalry.

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0826.html

He denounced the Federal policy of vaccinating all adults against the Swine flu virus in 1976, which bore a strong chemical resemblance to the virus of 1918-1919. He spoke the truth as he saw it without diplomatic considerations and thus many government doors were closed to him even though he was a hero.