The truckers are 90% vaxxed as are most of the people supporting them. This has gone way beyond the vaccine. So now you hear all the media and political lies about Confederate flags, racism, and insurrections. I’m vaxxed too, although losing faith in it daily. Today I learned that a friend of mine who is vaxxed and boosted, has had Covid twice, which means she also has natural immunity, and she is extremely sick. (She also works with animals, and increasingly we see items about them being vectors). I have another friend who has had cancer, heart surgery, and hepatitis flares before 2020 when Covid started—she’s now had her fourth shot, which means they are rolling that out for the extremely immune compromised and we’ll all be next. She’s now having many incidents of A-fib, a known hazard/outcome for the vaccine. She’s 65, and in precarious health. I’m sure she decided to take the risk, but others should have that choice too without having their lives destroyed by the media and government. Also, although there are required vaccines in many places, there have been exemptions in the past, and also there definitely should be health exemptions, like young men with heart problems should be able to decide their risk. They know the natural immunity is real, they know there are test for natural antibodies, so why are the refusing to consider it. There are many things to protest. As in the 16th century. It's why millions of Christians are called "Protestants."
And it’s possible for 8,000 truckers to stop a government, but not a few hundred yahoos, unarmed in silly costumes. This “insurrection” and “take over the government” meme is just pandering to the worst sort of Democrats, the totally unhinged ones. Half a million women in pink hats on Trump’s inauguration day milling around and screaming in DC were far scarier.
Saturday, February 12, 2022
Daniel Joseph Donahoe, down the rabbit hole
My book collection has a provenance, a genealogy, a history. So today I write about "Early Christian hymns; translations of the Verses of the most notable Latin writers of the early and middle ages," Daniel Joseph Donahoe, The Grafton Press, 1908. I checked my shelves because I read an article by Anthony Esolen, "The Song of a Crippled Man."
Hermann Contractus was born with deformities--he couldn't walk or talk until he was seven or eight years old, but had a sunny disposition and a brilliant mind. Young men came from all over Europe to study with him. He was a master of ancient Latin, Hebrew, theology, astronomy and music. His music and poetry is still used to this day in the Catholic church.
Esolen provided a recent translation by John Henry Newman of Alma Redemptoris Mater from the Roman Breviary.
Mother of the Redeemer, who art ever of heaven
The open gate, and the star of the sea, aid a fallen people,
Which is trying to rise again; thou who didst give birth,
While Nature marveled how, to thy Holy Creator,
Virgin both before and after, from Gabriel's mouth
Accepting the All hail, be merciful towards sinners.
So you see I needed to go to the shelves of my own library to see if I had anything for Hermann the Cripple, b. 1013, d. 1054, and I found "Early Christian Hymns," by Daniel Joseph Donahoe. The introductory material on p. 151 states:
HERMANN CONTRACTUS The son of the Swabian Count Wolfrat of Voringen, Hermann was born in 1013, and died in 1054. He was surnamed Contractus, or the Lame, on account of a physical defect. Educated at the monastery of Reichenau, and after-ward admitted as a member of the fraternity, he added greatly to the reputation of that house, which had been noted for its learning from the time of St. Berno. He is famous as a chronicler of his time. He also devoted himself to mathematics and music, and constructed watches and instruments of various kinds. He wrote a number of hymns, besides producing a didactic poem on "The eight chief vices." The "Alma Redemptoris" and the beautiful anthem "Salve Regina," found in the Roman Breviary, are his, although the last words of the latter were added by St. Bernard of Clairvaux. The Vesper hymn, "Ave Regina Coelorum," is probably of a later period. In an on-line source http://lawlit.net/lp-2001/donahoe.html I found that Daniel Joseph Donahoe (1853-1930) was born of Irish parents at Brimfield, Massachusetts, on February 27, 1853. He is well known as a lawyer in Connecticut, and has been a judge at Middletown, Connecticut, since 1883. He was admitted to the bar in 1871.
He [has] written 'The Holy Maid of France,' a sequence of eight idyls, a poetical narrative of the life of Joan of Arc, in the Springfield Sunday Republican, and is a contributor to many Irish-American periodicals, such as the Boston Pilot, Donahoe's magazine (to whose proprietor he is not related), etc." [Source: D. J. O'Donoghue, The Poets of Ireland: A Biographical and Bibliographical Dictionary of Irish Writers of English Verse 112 (Dublin: Hodges Figgis & Co.; London: Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press, 1912) (Gale Research Co., reprint 1968)] [Daniel Donahoe died at Middletown, Connecticut. See W. Stewart Wallace, A Dictionary of North American Authors 123 (Toronto: The Ryerson Press, 1951)]
Poetry
D.J. Donahoe, Idyls of Israel and Other Poems (New York: John B. Alden, Publisher, 1888)(Middletown, Connecticut: Lucius R. Hazen, Publisher, 2nd ed., 1894) [online text]
___________, A Tent by the Lake, and Other Poems (New York: John B. Alden, Publisher, 1889) [online text]
___________, In Sheltered Ways: Poems (Buffalo [N.Y.]: Charles Wells Moulton, 1895)(1894)
Daniel J. Donahue, The Rescue of the Princess: A Song of the Great Dawn (Middletown, Connecticut: 1907) [online text]
_____________, Songs of the Country-Side (Middletown, Connecticut: The Donahoe Publishing Co., 1914) [online text]
Writings & Translations
Daniel Joseph Donahoe, Early Christian Hymns; Translations of the Verses of the Most Notable Latin Writers of the Early and Middle Ages (New York: The Grafton Press, 1908) [online text] (London: T. Werner Laurie, 1908)
__________________, Early Christian Hymns. Series II. Translations of the Verses of the Most Noted Latin Writers of the Early and Middle Ages (Middletown, Connecticut: The Donahoe Pub. Co., 1911).
How did I get this book I took from my office shelves by Donohue?
When I was employed by The Ohio State University Libraries I thoroughly enjoyed the annual used book sale sponsored by the Friends of the Libraries. I should ask some of my retired colleagues about the history of it and when it started, but it hasn't been offered for a long time--maybe two decades. I could almost swoon (it's a librarian thing) even remembering it, because not only did all the librarians contribute gift books to their own campus library, but many non-faculty and non-OSU people contributed, and the proceeds went to the Friends organization to enhance the libraries' collections with special purchases or equipment we couldn't otherwise afford. We were not allowed to sell or give away directly from our libraries to faculty who may have been collectors (in my case, of old veterinary titles), but before I would send boxes of books to the sale, (or to the dumpster in the case of journals) my assistant Sarah Terry would do a brief Author/Title search on each and a list would be prepared so my faculty could go to the sale in the main library basement "armed with information" after checking their own collections.
Hospital condemns man to death for not wanting vaccine when he's already extremely sick
Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston is refusing a heart transplant for David Ferguson Jr. whose wife and parents I heard on Candace Owens podcast this week. It was heart breaking. He's very ill, and extremely immune compromised; he is in stage 4 heart failure, and they want him to become a guinea pig for a vaccine, already known to be a challenge for the hearts of young men. And there are evil people sending him messages about how he deserves to die--for not taking an experimental vaccine when he's already at death's door. This China virus has been a great success--for the CCP. Has destroyed the moral fiber of our nation.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/boston-hospital-denies-heart-transplant-man-covid-19/story?id=82486765
Anti-slavery collection at Oberlin
"It is proposed to make in the college library an anti-slavery collection, complete as possible, for the future historian, in which shall be gathered every book, every pamphlet, every report, every tract, every newspaper, and every private letter on the subject. For such a collection nothing is unimportant. Scattered here and there these documents are all but worthless, but gathered in one collection they would be priceless." Rev. Henry Matson, librarian at Oberlin College, quoted in the Oberlin Weekly News, February 29, 1884.
Internet Archive (American Libraries collection) Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio
https://archive.org/details/antislavery
This would be a good source for Black History Month particularly the autobiographies.
Internet Archive (American Libraries collection) Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio
https://archive.org/details/antislavery
This would be a good source for Black History Month particularly the autobiographies.
On making new friends at this age
Six years ago I wrote about the joy of new friends I'd made in the previous 15 years. Since I didn't use surnames in the article, I had to pause and recall the names and faces. It's been hard to make new friends in these pandemic times, although I did renew some during the days we were taking care of our dying son, and his old friends from 30-40 years ago turned up to support him and us. It seems these days most of our new friends have been made during the summer at Lakeside, like the Priors, the Jankes, the Robys, a Bible study group at the Women's Club and a group of conservatives. I'll miss that when it's gone (just talked to the realtor today).
https://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/12/make-new-friends-but-keep-old.html
In this blog, I mention new people I'd met since retiring in 2000--in the retirees' luncheon group, in our Bible study group at church, in an Ohio history group, in book club, and in the Pregnancy Center where I volunteered.
Just another bit of I told you so wisdom from my mom . . .
Friday, February 11, 2022
Harmful for children--and everyone else
"It has become clear that the “follow the science” narrative – which has effectively shut down reasoned democratic debate and imposed harmful, life-altering rules on our children – was a political tactic to silence dissent, not an evidence-based philosophy for our protection. Two years into this political catastrophe, parents and citizens have begun to demand a meaningful say in the democratic process and a substantive role in the decisions our children are living with every day."
https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/op-ed-mistreating-children-as-following-the-science/article_66096e20-89d5-11ec-bc13-87c5710287b2.html
Thursday, February 10, 2022
Masks and dis- mal- information
It's no wonder people don't trust the "fact checkers." Anyone can read the label on the box of the masks we've all been wearing for 2 years. We can see the photo of the label which Politifact gives a "false." Then the checker does double back flips to tell us not to believe our eyes, or common sense. Or even me who told you almost 2 years ago there was no peer-reviewed research on mask efficacy and safety published before the current epidemic. I was checking every 2 weeks for anything that could justify muzzling children (aka child abuse) and loyal Americans. Zip. Nada. Zilch.
I also suggested two years ago using a mask to protect yourself if you are high risk with co-morbidities (like me), and I was ridiculed and declared a hater for not wanting to protect others. Yet, that is also now being promoted as a reason to wear flimsy masks by both the CDC and medical web sites.
Yesterday I was given a small N95 mask at Marc's, a grocery store, brand Moldex. Impossible to use and has staples next to skin. Probably meant to be stored at the workplace, but won't fit into a pocket or purse, or side tray in a car. There are 2 elastic bands for holding it to the head with collapse resistant Dura-Mesh® shell and soft foam nose cushion. It read, Warning: Misuse may result in sickness or death. IMO, if used properly you could suffocate.
I also suggested two years ago using a mask to protect yourself if you are high risk with co-morbidities (like me), and I was ridiculed and declared a hater for not wanting to protect others. Yet, that is also now being promoted as a reason to wear flimsy masks by both the CDC and medical web sites.
Yesterday I was given a small N95 mask at Marc's, a grocery store, brand Moldex. Impossible to use and has staples next to skin. Probably meant to be stored at the workplace, but won't fit into a pocket or purse, or side tray in a car. There are 2 elastic bands for holding it to the head with collapse resistant Dura-Mesh® shell and soft foam nose cushion. It read, Warning: Misuse may result in sickness or death. IMO, if used properly you could suffocate.
Old drug shows some promise in fighting lung damage of Covid, Disulfiram
But will Disulfiram be able to survive the politics of the Democrats in the lap of Big Pharma?
https://udumbara.net/decades-old-drug-may-help-protect-against-severe-covid-19-symptoms-study
Other drugs approved for different uses have shown some success against COVID-19, including ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, and fluvoxamine, though U.S. health officials primarily recommend ones such as paxlovid that are specifically approved for combating the illness.
I looked at one of the studies on Ivermectin (a meta-analysis of published articles) and found something in the small print. Note: Ivermectin must be used in the very early stages of the disease and symptoms.
"Conflicts of interest.
Pharmaceutical drug trials often have conflicts of interest whereby sponsors or trial staff have a financial interest in the outcome being positive. Ivermectin for COVID-19 lacks this because it is off-patent, has many manufacturers, and is very low cost. In contrast, most COVID-19 ivermectin trials have been run by physicians on the front lines with the primary interest of finding the best methods to save human lives and minimize the collateral damage caused by COVID-19. While pharmaceutical companies are careful to run trials under optimal conditions (for example, restricting patients to those most likely to benefit, only including patients that can be treated soon after onset when necessary, ensuring accurate dosing), many ivermectin trials do not represent the optimal conditions for efficacy.
Two ivermectin trials to date involve very large financial conflicts of interest [López-Medina, Together Trial] — companies closely involved with the trial or organizers stand to lose billions of dollars if ivermectin efficacy becomes more widely known. The design of these trials favors producing a null outcome as detailed in [López-Medina, Together Trial]. Note that biasing an RCT to produce a false positive result is difficult (suppressing adverse events is relatively easy [Evans]), but biasing a trial to produce a false negative result is very easy — for example, in a trial of an antiviral that works within the first 24 hours of symptom onset, trial organizers only need to avoid treating people within the first 24 hours; or with a disease like COVID-19, organizers only need to select a low-risk population where most people recover quickly without treatment. We note that, even under the very suboptimal designs, these trials produced positive results, although without statistical significance.
Designed to fail. Additional upcoming trials including ACTIV-6, COVID-OUT, and PRINCIPLE have been designed in a way that favors finding no effect, with a number of methods including late treatment, selecting low-risk patients, fasting administration, very high conflict of interest medication sourcing, and dosing below current clinical practice. For discussion see [Goodkin].
One patient reported their experience with one of the remote outpatient ivermectin/fluvoxamine trials: they were offered enrollment 7 days after symptoms (receipt of medication would be even later), were offered $400 to participate, and reportedly target healthy people [twitter]. ACTIV-6 also reportedly does not ship study medications on the weekend, adding additional delays [twitter (B)]. https://ivmmeta.com/ivm-meta.pdf
https://udumbara.net/decades-old-drug-may-help-protect-against-severe-covid-19-symptoms-study
Other drugs approved for different uses have shown some success against COVID-19, including ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, and fluvoxamine, though U.S. health officials primarily recommend ones such as paxlovid that are specifically approved for combating the illness.
I looked at one of the studies on Ivermectin (a meta-analysis of published articles) and found something in the small print. Note: Ivermectin must be used in the very early stages of the disease and symptoms.
"Conflicts of interest.
Pharmaceutical drug trials often have conflicts of interest whereby sponsors or trial staff have a financial interest in the outcome being positive. Ivermectin for COVID-19 lacks this because it is off-patent, has many manufacturers, and is very low cost. In contrast, most COVID-19 ivermectin trials have been run by physicians on the front lines with the primary interest of finding the best methods to save human lives and minimize the collateral damage caused by COVID-19. While pharmaceutical companies are careful to run trials under optimal conditions (for example, restricting patients to those most likely to benefit, only including patients that can be treated soon after onset when necessary, ensuring accurate dosing), many ivermectin trials do not represent the optimal conditions for efficacy.
Two ivermectin trials to date involve very large financial conflicts of interest [López-Medina, Together Trial] — companies closely involved with the trial or organizers stand to lose billions of dollars if ivermectin efficacy becomes more widely known. The design of these trials favors producing a null outcome as detailed in [López-Medina, Together Trial]. Note that biasing an RCT to produce a false positive result is difficult (suppressing adverse events is relatively easy [Evans]), but biasing a trial to produce a false negative result is very easy — for example, in a trial of an antiviral that works within the first 24 hours of symptom onset, trial organizers only need to avoid treating people within the first 24 hours; or with a disease like COVID-19, organizers only need to select a low-risk population where most people recover quickly without treatment. We note that, even under the very suboptimal designs, these trials produced positive results, although without statistical significance.
Designed to fail. Additional upcoming trials including ACTIV-6, COVID-OUT, and PRINCIPLE have been designed in a way that favors finding no effect, with a number of methods including late treatment, selecting low-risk patients, fasting administration, very high conflict of interest medication sourcing, and dosing below current clinical practice. For discussion see [Goodkin].
One patient reported their experience with one of the remote outpatient ivermectin/fluvoxamine trials: they were offered enrollment 7 days after symptoms (receipt of medication would be even later), were offered $400 to participate, and reportedly target healthy people [twitter]. ACTIV-6 also reportedly does not ship study medications on the weekend, adding additional delays [twitter (B)]. https://ivmmeta.com/ivm-meta.pdf
Where are the healthy people studies?
Because I've been blogging almost 20 years, I receive a lot of inquires from publicity people promoting books, nutritional plans, diets, religions, higher education, and appeals for money. Today it was a drug treatment program in Massachusetts. Out of curiosity I decided to look at the main page, then clicked around on the links. I found a guide for substance abuse for LGBTQ. "I wonder how deep into the guide I can got before it's my fault (society)? Not to worry. It was point number one.
I know there are healthy people who are "marginalized" (the latest term for blaming society). Why are there no studies on them? Maybe they could be role models, or perhaps blaming others is part of the pathology of the disease, and which keeps the helpers and caregivers employed?
Adele is called a trans hater because she loves who she is
“A decade ago, if someone had said a woman would [be criticized] for the thought-crime of saying she liked being a woman, I would have laughed at such a ludicrous suggestion. Now it is happening,” she wrote.
Wednesday, February 09, 2022
Sonja remembers February 9, 2020 with Phil
Sonja wrote on Facebook today: I miss my Philly B with every beat of my heart-he was the best friend a girl, like me, could ever ask for. [She was going through treatment for breast cancer and he for brain cancer. Her close friend Annie had just died of kidney cancer. All were members of UALC.]
2 years ago, this day, as he was in the battle for his life against Glioblastoma, his concern was for me, and my shattered heart on losing Annie, that is how Phil was.
The following are our text messages from the 9 & 10th of February 2020 [not included here] …I still treasure them to this day. He also “demanded” we take a picture together, which we then laughed and laughed, as we came up with the name for us “The Egg Heads”.
I went down and spent the 9th with him and then again, the following day, before I had radiation, as the Glioblastoma was kicking his ass, we ran some errands together, then picked up a pizza, and had lunch together. As we sat across the table from each other, we had a conversation that no besties should ever have, one of dying, it is still too personal for me to share, but it guts me every time I think of it…lots of beautiful silences, lots of tears, and most of all lots of pure love, that only two true friends can have for each other.
Phil made everything ok for me, he was my rock, a source great wisdom for me, my sounding board, and also my source of great belly laughs, especially when he would call me after work, and we would watch “Emergency” together. He had the biggest heart in the world, and it was also an ornery heart, which is probably why we were besties-ha! Not a day goes by that I don’t think of him…
Valentines Day is always hard, because that became [our] day, not for the reasons you would think, but because it was the day that we reconnected, oh so many years ago, and he “introduced” me to his meaning of it (and no, I won’t share that either, but it is hilarious), so every Valentine’s Day after that, he would wish me a “Happy VD Day” (and again, not what you think).
Damn, I miss him, I miss Annie…I hate February, I just hate it, and I hate it more that these 2 important people to my heart, have now been gone for 2 years. F*ck Cancer, just f*ck it to Hell, where it belongs.
2 years ago, this day, as he was in the battle for his life against Glioblastoma, his concern was for me, and my shattered heart on losing Annie, that is how Phil was.
The following are our text messages from the 9 & 10th of February 2020 [not included here] …I still treasure them to this day. He also “demanded” we take a picture together, which we then laughed and laughed, as we came up with the name for us “The Egg Heads”.
I went down and spent the 9th with him and then again, the following day, before I had radiation, as the Glioblastoma was kicking his ass, we ran some errands together, then picked up a pizza, and had lunch together. As we sat across the table from each other, we had a conversation that no besties should ever have, one of dying, it is still too personal for me to share, but it guts me every time I think of it…lots of beautiful silences, lots of tears, and most of all lots of pure love, that only two true friends can have for each other.
Phil made everything ok for me, he was my rock, a source great wisdom for me, my sounding board, and also my source of great belly laughs, especially when he would call me after work, and we would watch “Emergency” together. He had the biggest heart in the world, and it was also an ornery heart, which is probably why we were besties-ha! Not a day goes by that I don’t think of him…
Valentines Day is always hard, because that became [our] day, not for the reasons you would think, but because it was the day that we reconnected, oh so many years ago, and he “introduced” me to his meaning of it (and no, I won’t share that either, but it is hilarious), so every Valentine’s Day after that, he would wish me a “Happy VD Day” (and again, not what you think).
Damn, I miss him, I miss Annie…I hate February, I just hate it, and I hate it more that these 2 important people to my heart, have now been gone for 2 years. F*ck Cancer, just f*ck it to Hell, where it belongs.
Mis- Dis- and Mal- Information--our government warns us
If there were ever a whiff of fascism of the gestapo in the air it would be the warning yesterday from the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats called Bush a fascist and warned us that Trump was a fascist, I remember the cartoons, the nighttime hysteria on the talk shows, and the social media crazies. But that definition doesn't fit. Fascists urge a bigger and more restrictive government, they invade other countries, and at least President Trump wasn't doing that. Lowering taxes and strengthening (rather than expanding) our border just doesn't sound like Hitler or Mussolini to me. But in the current administration, those restrictions under cloak of "public health" abound. Now DHS has sent out a formal warning on Mis- Dis- and Mal- Information. And it is the arbiter of what is information, fact, gossip, fantasy, knowledge, fiction, narrative (the latest buzz word), conspiracy theory, or day dream.
The United States remains in a heightened threat environment fueled by several factors, including an online environment filled with false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories, and other forms of mis- dis- and mal-information (MDM) introduced and/or amplified by foreign and domestic threat actors. These threat actors seek to exacerbate societal friction to sow discord and undermine public trust in government institutions to encourage unrest, which could potentially inspire acts of violence.
The proliferation of false or misleading narratives, which sow discord or undermine public trust in U.S. government institutions:
For example, there is widespread online proliferation of false or misleading narratives regarding unsubstantiated widespread election fraud and COVID-19. Grievances associated with these themes inspired violent extremist attacks during 2021.
Malign foreign powers have and continue to amplify these false or misleading narratives in efforts to damage the United States.
In short, if you ask any questions about the Democrat run government, you are a terrorist.
Tuesday, February 08, 2022
Doctor muses on racism from the Left
"As Covid fear was waning, unnerved by the thought that we might regain our happy lives, the government-media complex blared that our society is systemically infected with racism and white people must repent.
The deafening drumbeat of race, racism, and more race is leaving its mark. New York City is using race as a criterion allocating Covid-19 treatments. That will certainly erode trust in the medical system. President Biden is undermining the legitimacy of the Supreme Court by pledging to fill a vacancy, not the best person, but a black female. The issue is not that black female bright legal scholars do not exist, but that the only stated criteria were gender and skin color. Of course, it didn’t matter that Bush nominee former California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown was a black female when her confirmation for the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. was delayed for two years for the crime of not supporting affirmative action.
To prove their anti-racist creds schools, corporations, and government entities instituted diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) “training.” Is that like house-breaking a dog? Are white people to be figuratively rapped on the nose with an old newspaper? And if obedience school is unsuccessful, we can tax them into submission.
California’s year-old, “first-of-its-kind” Reparations Task Force has determined that reparations should be limited to descendants of slaves who were “kidnapped from their homeland.” Black immigrants are excluded because they have a country to which they can return if they are unhappy with the racist United States. Missing the irony, California’s black female slave descendant Secretary of State posited that Barack Obama had the gumption to run for president only because he was not a descendant of slaves. Thus, he was not—these many generations later—“stunted” by the psychological impact of slavery that left slaves with only enough energy to merely survive. Moreover, Obama did not have limitations “drilled in his psyche.” Exactly who is doing the drilling today? California elected officials? Television shows with black stars? Teachers? Homeboys in the ‘hood? Absentee Parents?
Wow! So black people can’t aspire to greatness if they had a slave as an ancestor. Talk about the bigotry of low expectations. Show me the excuse for the success of slave descendant entrepreneur and philanthropist Madame C.J. Walker, considered the first female millionaire in the United States in 1910. And James Derham who went from slave to physician and treated patients of all colors in Louisiana in the 1700s.
Mr. Antiracism himself, Henry Rogers (aka Ibram X. Kendi) may have bamboozled corporate America into spreading the toxic instruction to find racism in every action and thought in every minute of one’s waking hours. Disturbingly, the American Medical Association as part of its Health Equity Plan aims to “excise the myth of meritocracy.”
With big money at stake, professional football players are chosen for their ability, not their skin color. Is winning games more important than saving patients’ lives? Should we not be teaching our students to be scientifically curious, compassionate, and have the health of individual patients as their prime concern. Should physicians not attain knowledge at the highest level possible?
Now it seems that political agendas, not patients have taken precedence. A medical school group called White Coats for Black Lives is making the rounds at medical schools. Its stated goals are (1) to “dismantle dominant, exploitative systems in the United States, which are largely reliant on anti-Black racism, colonialism, cisheteropatriarchy, white supremacy, and capitalism;” and (2) to rebuild a healthy future for marginalized communities by abolishing prisons, establishing federal universal health care, ensuring reproductive and environmental justice, and “queer and trans liberation.” Many of us want to improve health care for those who have poor access—black, white, and otherwise. But let’s not sacrifice quality care for individual patients for a broad political movement.
After two years of manufactured fear, negativity, and learned helplessness courtesy of loudmouthed ideologues fomenting unrest, we need a dose of reality. White people are not stamped with the mark of the devil. Every friendly gesture is not a feeble attempt at reparations. It’s just a fellow human being cheerful. Plenty of black and other persons of color have intelligence, strength and ingenuity. We are able to do more than merely survive."
Marilyn M. Singleton, MD, JD, (Oakland-California) board-certified anesthesiologist and immediate past President of Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
The deafening drumbeat of race, racism, and more race is leaving its mark. New York City is using race as a criterion allocating Covid-19 treatments. That will certainly erode trust in the medical system. President Biden is undermining the legitimacy of the Supreme Court by pledging to fill a vacancy, not the best person, but a black female. The issue is not that black female bright legal scholars do not exist, but that the only stated criteria were gender and skin color. Of course, it didn’t matter that Bush nominee former California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown was a black female when her confirmation for the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. was delayed for two years for the crime of not supporting affirmative action.
To prove their anti-racist creds schools, corporations, and government entities instituted diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) “training.” Is that like house-breaking a dog? Are white people to be figuratively rapped on the nose with an old newspaper? And if obedience school is unsuccessful, we can tax them into submission.
California’s year-old, “first-of-its-kind” Reparations Task Force has determined that reparations should be limited to descendants of slaves who were “kidnapped from their homeland.” Black immigrants are excluded because they have a country to which they can return if they are unhappy with the racist United States. Missing the irony, California’s black female slave descendant Secretary of State posited that Barack Obama had the gumption to run for president only because he was not a descendant of slaves. Thus, he was not—these many generations later—“stunted” by the psychological impact of slavery that left slaves with only enough energy to merely survive. Moreover, Obama did not have limitations “drilled in his psyche.” Exactly who is doing the drilling today? California elected officials? Television shows with black stars? Teachers? Homeboys in the ‘hood? Absentee Parents?
Wow! So black people can’t aspire to greatness if they had a slave as an ancestor. Talk about the bigotry of low expectations. Show me the excuse for the success of slave descendant entrepreneur and philanthropist Madame C.J. Walker, considered the first female millionaire in the United States in 1910. And James Derham who went from slave to physician and treated patients of all colors in Louisiana in the 1700s.
Mr. Antiracism himself, Henry Rogers (aka Ibram X. Kendi) may have bamboozled corporate America into spreading the toxic instruction to find racism in every action and thought in every minute of one’s waking hours. Disturbingly, the American Medical Association as part of its Health Equity Plan aims to “excise the myth of meritocracy.”
With big money at stake, professional football players are chosen for their ability, not their skin color. Is winning games more important than saving patients’ lives? Should we not be teaching our students to be scientifically curious, compassionate, and have the health of individual patients as their prime concern. Should physicians not attain knowledge at the highest level possible?
Now it seems that political agendas, not patients have taken precedence. A medical school group called White Coats for Black Lives is making the rounds at medical schools. Its stated goals are (1) to “dismantle dominant, exploitative systems in the United States, which are largely reliant on anti-Black racism, colonialism, cisheteropatriarchy, white supremacy, and capitalism;” and (2) to rebuild a healthy future for marginalized communities by abolishing prisons, establishing federal universal health care, ensuring reproductive and environmental justice, and “queer and trans liberation.” Many of us want to improve health care for those who have poor access—black, white, and otherwise. But let’s not sacrifice quality care for individual patients for a broad political movement.
After two years of manufactured fear, negativity, and learned helplessness courtesy of loudmouthed ideologues fomenting unrest, we need a dose of reality. White people are not stamped with the mark of the devil. Every friendly gesture is not a feeble attempt at reparations. It’s just a fellow human being cheerful. Plenty of black and other persons of color have intelligence, strength and ingenuity. We are able to do more than merely survive."
Marilyn M. Singleton, MD, JD, (Oakland-California) board-certified anesthesiologist and immediate past President of Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
This time next year we'll be laughing; a memoir by Jacqueline Winspear
Our book club met yesterday (via Zoom) to discuss Jacqueline Winspear's memoir. She is the author of the Maisie Dobbs series, that my husband loves and has read every title on the list. I've only read a few of them. Because it was on our 2021-2022 list and he loves her, I bought the book for him as a Christmas gift so I could read it! https://jacquelinewinspear.com/books/this-time-next-year-well-be-laughing/
I didn't find the memoir all that compelling, but what I enjoyed were those memories with which I could identify although I am 15 years older and grew up "across the pond." She is British (now lives in California) and grew up with WWII stories told by her parents and I lived in northern Illinois hearing my parents' stories of the Great Depression.
Two chapters (the book is not linear and each seems to stand alone as if she had written them for a class, and maybe she did) resonated for me--horses and neighbors. Young Jackie loved horses and wrote about her first encounter in her long relationship, even to this day, with horses. Sort of like mine. I remember the day (although not the date) I fell in love with horses. I think it's memorable because when our family was living on highway 64 in little Mt. Morris I probably never saw a horse except in the movies or in a parade. My grandparents lived on a farm between Franklin Grove and Ashton, but there were no horses. When we moved to Forreston in 1946 to a small farm house on the west edge of town there was a fenced 10 acre field right at our back yard that had several horses. I was fascinated; I fell in love. From that day forward I wanted a horse, I dreamed about owning a horse, I drew pictures of horses, I began reading all the horse series like Black Stallion and Marguerite Henry. When I finally got a 2 wheeler bike, it became a horse, at recess during play time I WAS a horse, and when in 1947 we moved to a better home, I became acquainted with the Ranz men, Charlie and Raymond, father and son horse and cattle dealers who had a barn--with horses! When I was old enough to earn my own money, it was saved quarter by dime in my "Marathon" bank (my dad delivered fuel oil for Marathon). How much money can an 8 or 9 year old earn to save for a horse? By delivering the Rockford Morning Star through the snow and rain, and by babysitting by age 10, apparently a lot. We moved back to Mt. Morris in March 1951, and that summer I babysat for $5/week (a magnificent sum for an 11 year old). Like Jackie's parents, mine had made a promise--I could have a horse if I had enough money. By the time I was in seventh grade I had saved $100.00--about $1,000 in today's value. I counted several times a week. One day I came home from my babysitting job and there on the railing of our house on Hannah Avenue was a leather, western saddle (not sure about the bridle). My dad got my old friend Raymond Ranz to look at a horse I wanted--a lovely roan mare my friend Mary Ann owned. He declared her "unsound"-- she had a hip problem which is probably why Mary Ann was selling her. Then dad found a chestnut and white pinto gelding owned by the Orr family who lived a few miles away on the road to Dixon. I had never seen the horse, but he was bought sight unseen by me, and my dad rode him to our house on Hannah (how he went back for his car I don't know). And my happy story ends there, because if you ever want to fall out of love with horses, just own one and try to support their upkeep on what a 12 year old can earn!
One of the other stories in her memoir was about her neighbors at the Terrace, one of the places the Winspears lived. There were the Martins and Jenners who took her to Sunday School (may be the only mention of church in her memoir), Elsie who took care of her own mother, two nosy sisters, the interesting Polly who apparently was a prostitute, Auntie Marion and Uncle Bryn, and Pat and Ken, teachers who had no children of their own. So I immediately wandered back to my old neighborhood on Rt. 64, with the Aufderbecks on one side and the Crowells, Ruth and Earl, on the other. Further down the street were the Ballards, my great grandparents, and the Potters. Behind us were the Rittenhouses, the Zickhurs, the Balluffs, and the Leopolds, plus some others whose names I've forgotten. Mike and Tommy and I would ride our tricycles up and down Hitt St. and around the corner to Mike's house. But I seemed to wander in and out of the houses of the neighbors--don't remember anyone telling me I couldn't.
Ruth and Earl had a box of toys that were charming--much more desirable than those I had to share with my siblings. Ruth made two cloth dolls for me, Blue Doll and White Doll, and I still have White Doll. Earl would actually play with us in the back yard--casting his fishing line for us to catch, although no one could. One of our neighbors was a chicken hatchery, and we were free to walk in and look at the baby peeps, who were just about eye level for a five year old. The Burkes lived across the street and also owned a filling station and auto repair shop. So I knew women could have careers because Minnie ran the station and repaired cars. Although I didn't know this until she died and I read her obituary, Minnie's brother was married to my Great Aunt. So we were sort of shirt tail relatives. When Tommy's dad (they lived next to my great grandparents) went hunting or trapping, I'd go down and inspect the skins nailed to boards in the garage. Tommy's dad had been a famous baseball player, Nelson Potter, so everyone in town knew him. When we grew up Tom was the valedictorian of our class and I was the salutatorian, so we sort of remained friends until his death a few years ago. He became a professor of philosophy at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Thomas_Potter_Jr. He may have been the smartest man to ever leave our little town. Ruth died in 1950 when she was about 49 from heart problems--I was devastated, and remember to this day that phone call. Earl died in 1965 and I remember waving to him as I walked past the campus where he sat every day with the other old men when I was in high school. In 1949, my great grandfather died, and we came from Forreston to attend the funeral. I met people I'd never seen before--all members of my grandmother's family.
White Doll in center
Putting this here
Yesterday I had to return a scarf to Talbots before it was too late for a Christmas return. My hair is white now, and although coral used to be my go-to color, it just doesn't work for me anymore. So after doing business with the cashier, I decided to browse a bit. There was a table with new arrivals so I decided to take a look. One really cute springy T was in pink with darker roses. Then I decided that after Valentine's Day it might be a bit seasonal. So I picked up one that was royal blue with black and white narrow stripes. Hmm. That might a nice 3 season style, I thought. So I took it back to the cashier to check on the price. With the amount I'd just put on my account, with the amount I still had from some other deep in the past exchange, the $65.50 T-shirt came down to $5.74. Sold! I wouldn't dream of paying $65 for a t-shirt (made in Vietnam), but this didn't seem like it, even though it was. Royal blue is one of my favorites, and if it's not too hot, I think I can wear it late spring into summer. Also a new wrinkle. The tag announcing that it is an "authentic Talbots" is sewn to the lower left front of the shirt. What's up with that?
I'm still learning to use my new smart phone, and because of lack of strength I need both hands. The mirror's beveled edge gives the table cloth and my shirt and extra ruffle, but this is the general idea.
A CNN vocabulary guide by Mike Huckabee
If leftists burning down cities, assaulting police and looting businesses is “mostly peaceful protest,” then what is it called when working people stage a genuinely peaceful protest of a leftist government that’s destroying their businesses and violating their rights?
(A.) “Sedition”
(B.) “A threat to democracy.”
(C.) “Insurrection driven by madness”
(D.) All of the above.
Click here to see the answer (as if you don’t already know):
https://www.foxnews.com/media/cnn-freedom-convoy-protest-sedition-threat-democracy
Fentanyl poisoning
It's not an "overdose," or an "addiction," it is poisoning and some people should be held accountable.. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, and up to 50 times more potent than heroin. Even tiny doses, as little as two milligrams, the size of two grains of salt, is a fatal dose for most people. Teen don't have a fully developed brain for the problems of risk taking, and are accidentally poisoned. And the origin is China, just like Covid. Why does the president not act?
https://www.rand.org/blog/2019/09/tackle-fentanyl-like-a-poisoning-outbreak-not-a-drug.html
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/teens-tragic-tales-meet-some-of-children-who-died-from-fentanyl-poisoning
https://www.rand.org/blog/2019/09/tackle-fentanyl-like-a-poisoning-outbreak-not-a-drug.html
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/teens-tragic-tales-meet-some-of-children-who-died-from-fentanyl-poisoning
Fentanyl, Covid-19 and Public Health https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wmh3.355
Putin and Biden and sanctions
Presidents Clinton and Obama set the stage to weaken Ukraine, so there's no reason for Putin to fear Biden who bugged out in shame from Afghanistan. Why is Biden waiting to shut down the Nord Stream pipeline (a system of offshore natural gas pipelines in Europe, running under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany)? Why did he shut down our Keystone pipeline making us dependent on others and unable to export energy to European countries at risk of Russian terrorism?
Biden has a REAL Russia, Russia, Russia scandal on his hands, and not a phony baloney good times fake story passed along to the Clinton campaign in 2016. Will the legacy media remain true blue?
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2020/03/17/crimea-six-years-after-illegal-annexation/
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-11-mn-10675-story.html
Biden ended 3 Trump measures that protected Europe from Russia and which allowed U.S. energy superiority and independence. "MedEast is the second major pipeline that the Biden administration has put a damper on: the first being the Keystone XL pipeline that would bring oil from Canada and North Dakota to the Gulf States. Canadian oil is heavy oil needed for U.S. refineries that retooled decades ago when U.S. light oil production was declining. Keystone XL would also provide more oil to the United States from an ally rather than being dependent on OPEC and Russia for oil. For several months since the pandemic began, Russia was the number 2 supplier of oil to the United States, competing with Mexico for that distinction. When Biden blocked the Keystone XL pipeline by canceling its Presidential permit, he blocked a project that went over and above existing standards to address issues such as carbon emissions, safety standards, and cooperation with indigenous people impacted by the pipeline.
Biden’s Keystone XL and MedEast pronouncements both overturn decisions made by President Trump. When Joe Biden agreed to set aside U.S. objections to the controversial Russian undersea Nord Stream 2 pipeline, he reversed former President Trump’s policy of opposing the project due to security concerns. The 760-mile Baltic Sea pipeline allows direct Russian natural gas supply to Germany and other western European countries and allows Russia to dominate the European energy market, making Putin a power player in continental Europe, where Russia already supplies over 40 percent of its natural gas." https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/international-issues/biden-anti-energy-onslaught-continues/
The Joe Rogan hypocrisy and double standard "scandal"
I'm waiting for all the bleeding heart blue media to count the number of times rappers have insulted and demeaned women, particularly black women, for money and then try to remove them from their platforms. Crickets. And how about a senator and former vice president and now president using the N-word in public speeches and putting down the race of candidate Obama and trying to smear Justice Thomas? Crickets x2. Why is that acceptable but a talk show comedian with a potty mouth isn't? Crickets x3. And oh, the black face on Democrat governors and comedians, just for fun, and an outspoken, nasty, mean View host? Crickets x4.
It's an old truism--if it weren't for double standards Democrats would have no standards at all.
It's an old truism--if it weren't for double standards Democrats would have no standards at all.
Monday, February 07, 2022
Trafficking in Persons Report, 20th
As this 20th anniversary report is released, we and our allies and partners find ourselves confronting a crisis that has reached previously unimagined proportions. While urgency has always marked the fight against human trafficking, the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic have magnified the need for all stakeholders to work together in the fight more than ever. We know that human traffickers prey upon the most vulnerable and look for opportunities to exploit them. Instability and lack of access to critical services caused by the pandemic mean that the number of people vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers is rapidly growing. (2020)
https://bd.usembassy.gov/release-of-the-20th-annual-trafficking-in-persons-report/
https://sharedhope.org/2020/07/13/20th-anniversary-of-trafficking-in-persons-report/
https://www.insidernj.com/press-release/rep-smith-20th-annual-trafficking-persons-tip-report-released/
The link to the report was down and archived.
Change in focus under Biden--climate change, various "vulnerabilities" and discrimination.
This year’s Trafficking in Persons Report sends a strong message to the world that global crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and enduring discriminatory policies and practices, have a disproportionate effect on individuals already oppressed by other injustices. These challenges further compound existing vulnerabilities to exploitation, including human trafficking. We must break this inhumane cycle of discrimination and injustices if we hope to one day eliminate human trafficking. (2021)
https://bd.usembassy.gov/release-of-the-20th-annual-trafficking-in-persons-report/
https://sharedhope.org/2020/07/13/20th-anniversary-of-trafficking-in-persons-report/
https://www.insidernj.com/press-release/rep-smith-20th-annual-trafficking-persons-tip-report-released/
The link to the report was down and archived.
Change in focus under Biden--climate change, various "vulnerabilities" and discrimination.
This year’s Trafficking in Persons Report sends a strong message to the world that global crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and enduring discriminatory policies and practices, have a disproportionate effect on individuals already oppressed by other injustices. These challenges further compound existing vulnerabilities to exploitation, including human trafficking. We must break this inhumane cycle of discrimination and injustices if we hope to one day eliminate human trafficking. (2021)
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