My walking routine--no rain today

No one has ever accused me of being an athlete, but I do walk 2 miles every morning along the lake front and maybe another 2-3 miles during the day. Or maybe it's a stroll. However, this morning on my walk I fell in step with a younger woman, about 65 maybe, and she was really stepping. I changed my pace because we live on the same street and it seemed rude to fall down on a park bench to catch my breath. I barely made it to my front porch before I collapsed.

Ike warned us in 1961

When Democrats like Pelosi or Schumer piously mouth the words, "Our Democracy," it's not because they are patriots who are in awe of American exceptionalism or America the leader of the free world. No. They really mean "Our Oligarchy." They definitely don't mean Conservatives, Republicans or Libertarians. Ike warned us about government leaders like them 60 years ago--and at the time I thought only of the military, not being able to see our future relationship and a McCarthy-like control by leftists in Congress and Big Tech, which is bigger and more powerful than the military was in the 1960s. But his warning about government married to private business holds. Corporate power now pulls the strings of government, intent on "transforming" (destroying) our Republic.  When Big Tech has the power to shut down the President of the United States, The Commander in Chief of the military, then it's more powerful than the President or the military. Interpretation: Commander in Chief Clause | The National Constitution Center

 
"President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had come to understand large organizations that feed on government power and dispense vast private benefits, was not shy in warning about the danger they pose to the republic. His warning about the “military-industrial complex” that he knew so well is often misunderstood as a mere caution against militarism. But Ike was making a broader point: Amalgams of public and private power tend to prioritize their corporate interests over the country’s.

That is why Eisenhower cautioned against the power of government-funded expertise. “The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever-present and is gravely to be regarded,” he said, because “public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.” Government money can accredit a self-regarding elite. Because “a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity,” government experts can end up substituting their power for truth. " (We the People Convention) America is now a Classic Oligarchy - Not a Republic! | We the People Convention | wethepeopleconvention.org

  

  

From The Nation, 

August rain showers

 This morning I started out on my 2 mile walk (sort of a loop, and I'm probably exaggerating).  I stopped at a near-by "little library" and selected a book, "Nutribullet. Life changing recipes."  They lie.  I have one and it didn't change my life.  I went back and dropped it on our front porch rather than walk with it, then headed south to Fourth Street.  I'd gone about 3 blocks (stopping at another little library) when I felt a few sprinkles.  So I turned around and walked about a block to the Idlewylde Bed and Breakfast and sat on the porch for awhile.  When it stopped, I decided to go north along the lake, dawdled a while in the Walnut Street business district, and headed for the dock.  The sky over Kelley's Island was purple.  I thought that meant the rain had gone north over the lake.  No.  I waited at the pavilion for the storm to pass along with 3 fishermen and a dog walker I see every morning.

The Lakeside mission is to enrich the quality of life for all people, to foster traditional Christian values and nurture relationships through opportunities for renewal and growth which we call the four pillars--spiritual, intellectual, cultural and physical--while preserving Lakeside's heritage.  For almost 150 years (established as a campground in 1873) Lakeside has welcomed all ages to its beautiful grounds on the shore of Lake Erie, west of Cleveland and east of Toledo, and two and half hours from our home in Columbus. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Paces. Our little town has more than 900 private cottages which we own (lease) with 99 year leases. The non-profit organization, officially called "Lakeside Association" owns more than 50 structures, four major parks, and a large waterfront area for recreational water sports and fishing. There are cottages for rent, bed and breakfasts for brief stays, two hotels, and a campground for seasonal or overnight stays. Our little town is supported in part by assessing the cottage owners and through gate fees for all who enter from approximately Memorial Day to Labor Day. This way all who enter are able to enjoy our many recreational and educational events at the lakefront, the playgrounds and parks, the pool and wellness center, tennis courts, pickleball and shuffleboard courts, education and religious programs and lectures, entertainment in Hoover Auditorium by name performers and local groups, the Steele Memorial Bandstand in the park, and our wonderful Rhein Center for the Living Arts and the beautiful lakefront pavilion (built in 1909 and rebuilt in 1988) for enjoying sunsets and sunrises, concerts and worship. Most of the businesses in Lakeside are seasonal and include restaurants, a real estate and rental office, dress and gift shops, a wonderful book store, ice cream, coffee and carry out spots, and a beauty shop. There are many active organizations and volunteers that support the community from art teachers, to shuttle drivers, to garden helpers, to ushers and greeters. We also have a museum and archives to keep us grounded in our history.  

Our first summer at Lakeside was 1974 when our children, Phoebe and Phil, were 6 and 5 years old. We rented various cottages near the lake until 1988 when we purchased a small, year round house built in 1944 surrounded by wonderful neighbors from around the country. We went from one week rentals, to two weeks, to partial summer to full season Lakesiders after we retired over a 47 year period. Lakeside and the near-by Marblehead Lighthouse have presented many opportunities for subjects to paint as well as a place to teach at the Rhein Center for the Living Arts. 

El Paso, surviving a tragedy

One of the most unfortunate outcomes of the pandemic and lockdown is the division, even hatred, it has generated in our country, churches, and relationships--politically, spiritually, and physically. I appreciated this blog by Carrie Bucalo, who wrote about how El Paso came together to pray and work to heal after a shooting on August 3, 2019 that killed 23 at a Walmart wreaked havoc on the community. I scrolled through about 20-30 articles (mainly on the 2nd anniversary of the tragedy) and found only the usual ramping up of hate, alarm, anger, pleas for more gun control laws, and blame from NYT, LAT, NPR, CNN, and local news. The "never waste a crisis" usual suspects. I didn't browse FB, Twitter or the other cesspools of hate on the internet. It's as though the media can't be sated; it must have more blood to meet the budget and needs of stockholders.

Jesus has a different way.

CITY OF FAITH
by Carrie Bucalo

"There are many things that can weigh a marriage and a family down, but nothing could have prepared us for the day a gunman showed up at our local Walmart and wreaked havoc on our El Paso community. It was our eldest son's birthday, and a miracle, really, that we weren't in that store buying a present the morning the shootings occurred.

Immediately, my husband and I called everyone we knew, and we received phone calls from worried family members and friends all around the world [she's a military wife]. My heart sank when I saw my children's school on national television. It had become the reunification center for all those misplaced by the tragedy. We watched the story unfold from our living room as our school's principal, counselors, and staff worked behind the scenes, attending to the needs of survivors, all the while preparing for the first day of school, just nine days away.

We prayed for the survivors and the victims at Mass the next day, and we attended a city-led prayer vigil. It was amazing to see a city come together like that, and even more amazing to see the smiling faces of our school's principal and teachers on the first day of school. Against all odds, they were there with open arms and open hearts to welcome everyone back. My family is deeply grateful for all of those mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers who didn't let hate paralyze their faith. Their witness is still moving mountains today." Articles (healedbytruth.com)

Using aborted baby parts in medical research

Can you really trust science and scientists? Recent revelations by the Center for Medical Progress show how scientists used scalps from aborted babies to create “humanized” mice and rats to study the human immune system. BREAKING: University of Pittsburgh ADMITS Hearts Beating While Harvesting Aborted Infants’ Kidneys – The Center for Medical Progress I looked through the NIH forms for the grants to use baby parts for medical research and wondered about the long chain of experts, from language to enumeration to composing the agreements between NIH and University of Pittsburgh (and I'm sure many others). If I read this correctly, there is great care in assuring that the lab animals received "humane" care. Too bad the babies didn't.

Government-Funded Researchers Sought Aborted Minorities for Organ Harvesting (freebeacon.com)

NIH reverses Trump-era restrictions on fetal-tissue research (nature.com)

Scientists are Growing Aborted Baby Hair on Lab Rats - The DENISE SIMON EXPERIENCE (founderscode.com)

Here's what it reads like in medical, sanitized, safe jargon (I've removed the footnote numbers, but those lead you to other studies): "Humanized mouse models with human fetal-derived hematopoietic system and autologous lymphoid tissues are well-established. Additionally, full-thickness human fetal skin readily engrafts onto immunodeficient mice and develops into adult-like skin due to its high regenerative capability. Furthermore, human fetal skin exhibits low levels of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) I and II expression, which results in reduced immunogenicity compared to adult skin. Thus, human fetal-derived tissues and cells provide a feasible means to develop a humanized mouse model with autologous human skin and immune system."

For longer term studies, rats are used: "Evidence also suggests that nude rats support engraftment and development of full-thickness neonatal foreskin." https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-71548-z

Fixing little leaks

I cut and pasted this from Joan Shaw Turrentine's post and she got it from the Facebook page “Christians Laughing.”

 
A man was asked to paint a boat. He brought his paint and brushes and began to paint the boat a bright red, as the owner asked him.

While painting, he noticed a small hole in the hull, and quietly repaired it.

When he finished painting, he received his money and left.

The next day, the owner of the boat came to the painter and presented him with a nice check, much higher than the payment for painting.

The painter was surprised and said “You've already paid me for painting the boat Sir!”

“But this is not for the paint job. It's for repairing the hole in the boat.”

“Ah! But it was such a small service... certainly it's not worth paying me such a high amount for something so insignificant.”

“My dear friend, you do not understand. Let me tell you what happened:

“When I asked you to paint the boat, I forgot to mention the hole.

“When the boat dried, my kids took the boat and went on a fishing trip.

“They did not know that there was a hole. I was not at home at that time.

“When I returned and noticed they had taken the boat, I was desperate because I remembered that the boat had a hole.

“Imagine my relief and joy when I saw them returning from fishing.

“Then, I examined the boat and found that you had repaired the hole!

“You see, now, what you did? You saved the life of my children! I do not have enough money to pay your 'small' good deed.”

So no matter who, when or how, continue to help, sustain, wipe tears, listen attentively, and carefully repair all the 'leaks' you find. You never know when one is in need of us, or when God holds a pleasant surprise for us to be helpful and important to someone.

Along the way, you may have repaired numerous 'boat holes' for several people without realizing how many lives you've save. 

Make a difference....be the best you can be ...

Have a blessed day

Judging polices on intentions rather than results

We have so many "feel good" policies that drain us dry, and should be a warning, but our leaders never learn, and perhaps the citizen-voters don't either. Virtually every transfer of wealth program in the War on Poverty failed a the macro level, and struggled at the micro. Like Head Start. The government's own studies at year 50 showed almost no advantaged for the thousands invested in each child. But it feels good, hope never dies, and the program will continue to be a bloated, over-sold, under achieving with good intentions so you can get back to your nice life. These programs make politicians wealthy, they get them reelected. These programs provide millions of jobs for the middle class bureaucrats and their staff who run them, from the grant writers, to suppliers and operators, to social workers to the low income who are hired in to staff them.

This article is 22 years old--but not much has changed. https://fee.org/articles/why-the-war-on-poverty-failed/

I remember the Harrington book that launched LBJ's war. I was so excited we could end poverty in my life time. However, the standard for poverty simply went up to accommodate a perpetual lower class. Then we went to "gap" instead of material wealth. Or looked at ZIP codes. Then we judged all by race, color and ethnicity, not actual need. And in all the administrations since LBJ, only the Trump years made an actual, real dent and improved the lives of millions without robbing Peter to pay Paul. And that was just too scary for leaders of both parties--loss of power, sound the alarms!

The War on Poverty: 50 years of failure | The Heritage Foundation

The War on Poverty After 50 Years | The Heritage Foundation

Homelessness in America: An Overview | The Heritage Foundation

"The welfare state is self-perpetuating. By undermining the social norms necessary for self-reliance, welfare creates a need for even greater assistance in the future. President Obama plans (2014) to spend $13 trillion over the next decade on welfare programs that will discourage work, penalize marriage and undermine self-sufficiency."

And scholars will always disagree. The Accomplishments and Lessons of the War on Poverty | Scholars Strategy Network

Where are the workers?

Yet still Joe Biden pretends he needs to "save" Trump's booming economy with inflationary government goosing.

NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg reports: [From the Wall St. Journal]

Small businesses continue to struggle to find workers to fill open positions. Forty-nine percent (seasonally adjusted) of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, up 3 points from June and a record high reading. Unfilled job openings have remained far above the 48-year historical average of 22 percent.

Overall, 61 percent reported hiring or trying to hire in July, down 2 points from June. The issue will be whether the supply of labor will cooperate. Owners’ plans to fill open positions remain at high levels, with a seasonally adjusted net 27 percent planning to create new jobs in the next three months, down 1 point from June’s record high reading.

Operating almost like a law of physics, a labor shortage naturally and reliably motivates employers to increase the incentive for employees and potential employees to show up for work. Mr. Dunkelberg reports:

Seasonally adjusted, a net 38 percent reported raising compensation, down 1 point from June’s record high of 39 percent. A net 27 percent plan to raise compensation in the next three months, up 1 point from June and a 48-year record high reading. There is little an owner can do to attract needed employees other than offer higher compensation."  Where Are the Workers? - WSJ

Wall St. Journal, "Where are the workers?" Aug. 5, 2021

Global Economic Intersection Blog | June 2021 Small Business Optimism: Labor Shortage Remains a Challenge for Small Businesses as Inflation Increases | Talkmarkets

Jobs Report and Jobs Data from the NFIB Small Business Research Center | NFIB

TB vaccine is 100 years old--and it's not 100%; and flu season is coming

 Although we have the BCG vaccine for TB, it isn't 100% and other public health measures are necessary to control the disease. Killing nearly 1.5 million people in 2019, it stood as the leading global cause of death from an infectious pathogen, according to the World Health Organization. Do not expect the Covid vaccine to be perfect or 100%.

 Bile and Potatoes, 1921 | The Scientist Magazine® (the-scientist.com)

Although masks don't provide much protection against Covid19, they really help during flu season. I plan to mask up for that. And the flu will probably be baaaack with a vengeance this fall and winter.
"In the United States alone, influenza viruses cause hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and tens of thousands of fatalities each year. During the pandemic, however, a drastic change occurred: there was a precipitous drop in infections with influenza and other respiratory viruses—and in some parts of the world, some of these pathogens are nowhere to be found.

. . . Mask wearing, social distancing, and other restrictions implemented to stave off SARS-CoV-2 are thought to be the primary culprits in the decline in other respiratory pathogens in circulation. As such measures are lifted, though, scientists are expecting the missing viruses to return—and are pondering what will happen when that occurs. " The Pandemic Crushed the Flu--What Happens When It Returns? | The Scientist Magazine® (the-scientist.com)

Who controls the information that is supporting your beliefs and values?

There are many ways to interpret statistics for this lockdown, and this is just one of them--Case Fatality Rate--CFR. It is the political slant of the writer which determines which is selected. I'm a conservative Christian, so CFR supports many of my points. The Case Fatality Rate for the seasonal flu is about .1% to .2%.  That's higher than the CFR for Covid19.  By age, Covid19 looks very bad, unless you realize many or even most, of the people who were/are most at risk (in China it is 20%) are not in the labor force, and not in school. So why were the schools and the economy shut down?⁠

Most of the fatalities had co-morbidities. So why was the health system which managed those diseases for us put in peril? See the other methods at Ourworldindata.org to find the figures that match your level of fear and anxiety, your politics and your list to the left or right so you can be better informed than the Facebook and Google fact checkers and the Washington Post.
⁠
I'm a retired academic librarian (Slavic studies, Latin American studies, agriculture, veterinary medicine over the course of 25 years) and although I've forgotten a lot, I do remember well that to the victor belong the archives. Whoever controls the information controls what you are allowed to know, even in your public library. And keep in mind that public librarians are 223:1, liberal to conservative, higher than the ACLU.   And right now, that is Big Tech. If they can shut down the most powerful man on the globe, the President of the United States, imagine how they can crush us!

Note: Case fatality rate, also called case fatality risk or case fatality ratio, in epidemiology, the proportion of people who die from a specified disease among all individuals diagnosed with the disease over a certain period of time. Case fatality rate typically is used as a measure of disease severity and is often used for prognosis (predicting disease course or outcome), where comparatively high rates are indicative of relatively poor outcomes. It also can be used to evaluate the effect of new treatments, with measures decreasing as treatments improve. Case fatality rates are not constant; they can vary between populations and over time, depending on the interplay between the causative agent of disease, the host, and the environment as well as available treatments and quality of patient care.

Case fatality rate is calculated by dividing the number of deaths from a specified disease over a defined period of time by the number of individuals diagnosed with the disease during that time; the resulting ratio is then multiplied by 100 to yield a percentage. This calculation differs from that used for mortality rate, another measure of death for a given population. Although number of deaths serves as the numerator for both measures, mortality rate is calculated by dividing the number of deaths by the population at risk during a certain time frame. As a true rate, it estimates the risk of dying of a certain disease. Hence, the two measures provide different information. (Britannica)

Who and what is science? Who can you trust?

Most of you who lived through the tobacco cancer linked investigations and pay outs of the 1990s, would react with shock if you were told to trust R. J. Reynolds "science" about lung disease and smoking today. And that's about how unbiased today's scientists are who are taking money from the federal government (NIH) to investigate the novel virus currently causing the lockdowns and mask orders. Even if the NIH funded scientists are not publishing in that field, they will be shut out of research on immune system, or ivermectin or HCQ as a tool in fighting a global pandemic. If they appear as expert witnesses on a cable show or podcast, they risk their careers and funding if their conclusions don't support Big Pharma, CDC and WHO. The host who books them or interviews them, risks being deplatformed or their monetization contract. 

Trust the "science?" No, follow the money.

Exercise in the afternoon? I'm ready for a nap

Afternoon exercise instead of morning? I'm ready for a nap!

"Exercise training elicits superior metabolic effects when performed in the afternoon compared to morning in metabolically compromised humans." https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.14814/phy2.14669?

"Compared to participants who trained in the morning, participants who trained in the afternoon experienced superior beneficial effects of exercise training on insulin-stimulated peripheral glucose disposal, insulin-mediated suppression of adipose tissue lipolysis, fasting plasma glucose levels, exercise performance, and fat mass. In addition, exercise training in the afternoon also tended to elicit superior effects on basal hepatic glucose output."

Well, I'm not metabolically compromised, I hope.

Obesity and discrimination

Someone sent me a link about obesity by Theodore Dalrymple. There was a paywall, so I didn't read it, but wondered--was she telling me something? Bob and I are both 30 pounds heavier than when we met in 1959.

So I did a search, "Dalrymple obesity" and see there are over a decade of articles by him, each just as alarming as the previous. It seems one is no longer "obese" but "has obesity." That's an important language change. It's a disease in the new medical speak, he says (he doesn't seem to agree with that language). Now it's a pandemic larger than the one we're in right now and accounts for a high death rate. And over 2 billion (in 2014) globally have this disease. It used to be a disease of the rich, but now it's a disease of the poor.

 
Dalrymple, a physician, admits he's prejudiced toward personal responsibility. He's balanced enough to point out evidence going a different direction, like a study on antibiotics which is so much more common in the last 50 years, particularly given to children. Something similar has often occurred to me--we consume an alarming amount of medicines, supplements, toxins, and chemicals that produce a stew that probably isn't fit for human consumption--the fluoride in water for tooth decay to zinc oxide for skin protection to antibiotics in the meat. And there must be hundreds of examples. I take 2 prescriptions for my heart and one for my bones, then I toss down non-prescription fish oil for my bursitis (it works), calcium for my bones, and Vit. B complex for my brain health (not sure that's working). Your mileage will vary.

However, whether obesity is a "have" or an "is", overweight people of every ethnic group, sex, age, and race face serious discrimination and bullying everyday. I believe it is far worse than racial discrimination and because it affects both health and careers, existing or new laws and regulations don't stop it. There have been advocates, support groups and ad campaigns, urging the non-obese who are now the minority to just be kind, nice, and non-prejudiced, but so far I don't see it working.

 
So while the jury is out on the cause of 73.6% of Americans being either overweight or obese, it's everyone's responsibility to be kinder and stop the discrimination. No rioting or culture cancelling necessary.

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