Sunday, May 31, 2020

Today is Pentecost Sunday, Acts 2:1-11

2 On the day of Pentecost[a] all the Lord’s followers were together in one place. 2 Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. 3 Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions, and a tongue came and settled on each person there. 4 The Holy Spirit took control of everyone, and they began speaking whatever languages the Spirit let them speak.

5 Many religious Jews from every country in the world were living in Jerusalem. 6 And when they heard this noise, a crowd gathered. But they were surprised, because they were hearing everything in their own languages. 7 They were excited and amazed, and said:

Don’t all these who are speaking come from Galilee? 8 Then why do we hear them speaking our very own languages? 9 Some of us are from Parthia, Media, and Elam. Others are from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, 10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, parts of Libya near Cyrene, Rome, 11 Crete, and Arabia. Some of us were born Jews, and others of us have chosen to be Jews. Yet we all hear them using our own languages to tell the wonderful things God has done.

http://preces-latinae.org/thesaurus/Hymni/VSS-2.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY8fDjBN1LU

Saturday, May 30, 2020

The riots have bumped Covid19 from the news

Even without an investigation and a trial, there was almost universal agreement that the white policeman killed an unarmed black man in Minneapolis. With such unity on a charged racial matter, the left had to move in and stop the peaceful protests with organized rioters in many major cities. Looting, burning, assaults and arrests.

Michael Rechtenwald wrote yesterday: “Just watched for hours as sectors of Minneapolis were burned to the ground, killing whatever message was being conveyed--although I don't think the rioters had a message, other than to reap and sow chaos and destruction. This is the work of the media, the left, and the wantonly depraved. It's not the mere loss of property that I lament. Thousands of people will suffer from this, including blacks, whose livelihoods will be lost and whose lives will be otherwise diminished. Whoever is behind this, and I have my suspicions that it was sown by particular contingents and their masters, they are enemies of the people.”

What has happened recently in Minnesota with the police is deeply disturbing, and seeing it is now turning into looting and rioting even in Columbus, Atlanta, and Los Angeles forcing people to take sides based on race when we know it is a small number of people doing criminal acts should give us pause. My nephew, a California policeman, has written an impassioned post on the grief and anger he feels that a member of his profession has done the unthinkable--caused the death of someone he should have protected. With other officers standing by and not intervening! I have heard all conservatives/Republicans in media condemn this from the very beginning. And now it's time for the liberals/Democrats to condemn the demand for retribution when there's been no trial.

It is disturbing to see people rushing to judgement with no trial, evidence or protection for the accused (by video) until proven guilty, reenacting the old lynch mob mentality of 60-100 years ago. They've made a joke of our justice system--a joke that has been used on minorities many times in the past. Instead of realizing this lynch 'em high method was used against blacks and poor whites to terrorize by mob demonstrates the failures of 60 years of passing and enforcing laws guaranteeing civil rights or assuring trials for criminals.

The looters, the Democrat leaders and finger pointing self righteous by-standers on social media haven't read the police statistics--more whites are killed by police and at a higher rate than blacks. Who riots then? The leading cause of death of black children under 5 is not guns or whites or police--it's the people who care for them--fathers, mothers, boyfriends, step-parents. And 38% of abortions are for black babies. Someone in the "black lives matter" movement doesn't know or care that even black children in the womb and crib and Head Start have lives, too. It's easier to have his buddies take a video in front of a smashed store window to show his bravery and manhood and rush in to steal a pair of shoes.

In 2016 there was an increase in gang violence and assaults in Minneapolis. No one rioted when the police chief said she was proud of the stats because they were lower than expected!

Friday, May 29, 2020

Affordable housing destroyed during protests

“Midtown Corner's upper five stories were planned affordable housing. The building would have had 190 units, with rent keyed to households making between 60 and 80 percent of the area's median income.

The apartments were the final piece in Wellington's development of the former Rainbow Foods space on East Lake Street. It had already finished adding an Aldi and a charter school called Universal Academy. Both of those buildings were also damaged in the protests.”

https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2020/05/28/affordable-housing-minneapolis-burned-wellington.amp.html?

Ted Talk by Jonathan Haidt applies to today’s division

https://youtu.be/8SOQduoLgRw Jonathan Haidt on the moral roots of liberals (and conservatives, but he's a liberal talking to liberals). He's lecturing (Ted Talk) during the Bush years, so that's where the laughs are. By understanding more about our moral roots, his hope is that we can learn to be civil and open-minded. And by "we" he means liberals (he surveyed the audience first). Still useful for the Covid divisions, on why liberals want to keep the lockdown, and conservatives want the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. This of course, is a flip of the usual vision of liberals as progressive, because in 2020, they are the regressives.

OK for Buckeyes to date Wolverines

All Ohio State students, faculty, staff and student employees are required to pass ANNUAL re-education courses in sexual matters. It's probably the same at your alma mater or institution of interest. I recall when this type of required re-education back in the 1990s was small group workshops from time to time, then they grew to a cottage industry for social workers and psychologists, now they are a national industry with thousands and thousands of employees and enforcers. The big catch all loophole which could get you denied a merit-based salary increase or public shaming is the term "gender-based." https://titleix.osu.edu/navigation/prevention/training.html

I read through the 17 pages of the university's sexual misconduct policy, only one brief paragraph of which was about protection of the accused (not innocent obviously)--and the policy is labeled, "interim," which means it could change at any moment.

It appears that the only safe relationship for a Buckeye is to date or become involved with someone from University of Michigan!

To mask or not to mask

I bought a box of disposable, one use, non-washable masks yesterday--50 for $25. I am concerned that they were made in China, but I'll keep a sack in the glove compartment instead of a used one on the passenger seat. Don't want to panic any people, and the evidence doesn't seem to be conclusive that it makes any difference. But I consider it polite like sneezing into a hanky, or using a napkin at dinner. Considering that most of us are self-centered (just look at all the selfies or dinner photos on social media) the story should have been that we protect ourselves, not others, by wearing a mask. And if we wait for the research to be published, it will probably say that.

https://fee.org/articles/stop-forcing-people-to-wear-masks-over-covid-19-fears/?

This is a very small study—4 patients: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-1342

Safety and sanitation in the workplace.

https://osu.app.box.com/s/yzjb809hg9tx6zg5jhm2d1r24r0x9y8s

Hand hygiene, social distancing, the proper use of PPE and routine cleaning—helps to reduce and limit the spread of viruses and infection to keep staff and patients safe.

I noticed from reading old (2009) recommendations during that pandemic (which didn't close down the economy or lockdown our normal activities) that sloppy habits of hygiene returned after the emergency passed. I hope some of these guidelines continue, like NOT EATING at workstations, and that applies not just to ICU, clinics, receptionist areas, but at ALL work places. It's difficult enough to clean computer equipment and keyboards, without adding the grease from French fries and Fritos. Plus for the patients nearby, there is the smell problem.

And I don't consider constant use of sanitizer a substitute for thorough hand washing with soap.

Thursday, May 28, 2020

Can we survive this pandemic’s economic fall out?

I survived the “Asian Flu,” 1957-1958 (was sick, but the college didn't close) with about 1.1 million deaths worldwide, 116,000 of those in the U.S. I survived the “Hong Kong Flu,” 1968-1972, with about 1 million people worldwide, including 100,000 in the U.S. I don't remember if we had it--maybe that time Phil threw up all over Dr. Batterson wasn't the chili. I also survived the 2009 H1N1 pandemic which was first detected in the U.S. in April 2009. There were an estimated 60.8 million cases, 274,304 hospitalizations, and 12,469 deaths. I don't remember anyone blaming President Obama. Certainly not the media.

You can read the summary at https://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/cdcresponse.htm. Medical measures like testing, public announcements, and vaccines were used. The only economic measures I saw in the summary were travel advisories. The economy survived those pandemics. The schools didn't close. The elderly didn't die alone in nursing home lock downs. I just don't know about this pandemic. Can we survive our "leaders?"

What I said about the 2009 Swine Flu in April 2009: https://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/search/label/swine%20flu

Marion E. Boyer, former Lakesider, has died

We were saddened to get a phone call from Jim Boyer last night telling us his dear Marion had died of ALS May 16.  I don’t remember exactly the year, but I know the place where I met Marion.  It was in the Green Room (now Chautauqua Hall) of the Fountain Inn at Lakeside.  We discovered chatting before the lecture began that we were both librarians.  “Marion the Librarian,” how often she must have heard that line from the musical, The Music Man, but she laughed anyway. She and Jim had the sweetest, tiniest cottage.  We loved going there and sitting on their porch. Jim and Bob were on the Design Review Board together, so instead of just the wives knowing each other, we were a couple friendship. Many breakfasts together at the Patio and over in Marblehead. It’s so hard to lose a friend, especially to such a terrible disease. Her final days were grim, but she stay alert and active until her final illness, pneumonia made her too weak. Karen “Happy” Day, also a Lakesider, died about 5 years ago of this disease.

“With God's help and with courage, Marion Elizabeth Boyer, age 77, battled ALS until her death on May 16, 2020. Marion was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She graduated from King's Collage, Canada's oldest university, established in 1789. She met her husband Jim, when he was an exchange student from Muskingum College at Kings. Marion earned a fifth year education degree from Dalhousie University and began her teaching career at historic Chebucto School in Halifax. The school's basement served as a makeshift morgue for Titanic victims. After studying at OSU and UT, Marion received an Ohio school librarian certification. She spent most of her 35 year teaching career as a school librarian and reading teacher at Northwood Middle School. Surviving are her husband, Jim; daughter, Lori Boyer Gow, Eddie Gow and two cousins living in Canada.

After retirement, Marion was actively involved in a number of organizations. She was a lifetime member of the Lucas County Retired Teachers Association where she was on the Board of Directors, was editor of the Slate, a monthly newsletter, association secretary, and chair of a program awarding scholarships to college students with financial need who demonstrated outstanding potential as teachers. She volunteered in the Toledo Hospital Gift Shop and directed the Flower Hospital Auxiliary High School speech contest. For a number of years, she was a judge of the First Lego Contest at the former DeVilbiss High School.

Marion enjoyed summers in Nova Scotia and at their cottage in the Chautauqua community of Lakeside, Ohio. As a member of the Lakeside Woman's Club she was in charge of the annual Tour of Homes. Marion is a 2014 graduate of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, the oldest continuous book club in America, formed in 1897 to support adult education. Each winter, she and Jim enjoyed Road Scholar trips to warmer states. So she could vote in support of progressive causes, Marion became a naturalized United States citizen in 1982. At St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Marion served on altar guild and was a Lay Eucharistic Visitor.

A service will be held at a later date. Ashes will be interred in St. Michael's memorial garden and All Saints Anglican Cathedral in Halifax. Memorial donations may be made to the Northern Ohio Chapter of the ALS Association, 6155 Rockside Rd., Suite 403, Independence, Ohio 44131.”

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/toledoblade/obituary.aspx?pid=196211449

Minnesota riots vs. Covid19 shutdown, guest blogger Brian Good

“I don't watch television news anymore so I am not being tripped up by the daily narrative. What I think is happening is that there were apparently riots, looting and maybe an assault yesterday that is getting some news coverage.

My question is simply this: I have no idea why these people are upset other than it appears there was the loss of a life that happened under questionable maybe egregious terms. (Keep in mind I don't know the underlying story so I am not dismissing the incident, I just don't know about it.)

What I do find to be concerning is that somehow we have managed to stop the US Economy in large part, traded civil liberties, and witnessed harmful effects to our population at large over what appears to be a media-driven fear campaign with questionable data, an undetermined source, and a massive display of tyranny by certain Governors who are demonstrating they are unfit for office at a minimum and possibly criminally negligent with the way that the nursing homes have been used in this situation.

Why are people rioting and freaking out about one person when they are losing their constitutionally protected rights, not just in one case but across the nation? Why isn't that the cause of riots?

The death count totals out of Italy have shown that something like 97% of the people that died from coronavirus were elderly with some complicating serious health condition. That seems to line up with the covered up but now released data in Ohio where 70% of the deaths were from nursing homes and the average age of the lost patient is 81. (I am sure these numbers will evolve so this is a snapshot in time of what the data is saying so far...) Look at NYC and the whole way that the nursing homes were used, there is a lot to that story; $1M political donation > exemption from lawsuits over corona > patients being parked into nursing homes when both hospital beds and alternate care/relief facilities were available (Comfort ship, makeshift hospitals that were built and went completely unused)...

So why make a big point here? 1) The elderly in nursing homes have essentially no voice, most are a burden financially to their states and it looks like they were targeted in this process. Criminals released from prisons over Coronavirus? Also a group with essentially no voice that is a financial burden to the states, also a large percentage of the population that was infected with the virus.

Nobody is rioting about the weakest in society being subjected to something that 1) can kill them at a high rate 2) They can't leave where they are 3) They should be protected 4) The mismanagement and related deaths are covered up by the Governors and health officials and even worse were used to spin tyranny on the US population!

That's the type of thing that I would hope we would have riots over. Not to mention the power grabs trying to limit or remove second amendment rights, right to gather and worship, etc...

It is fine if you don't agree with me, I just have to point out that the reaction to loot and riot over the loss one life under unusual circumstances while possibly a terrible thing, seems penny-wise and pound foolish.

Protest publicly if you need to but do it for the right things.”

A note from True the Vote

“They are LYING to you.

BIDEN. PELOSI. OBAMA. CLINTON. SCHIFF. CLAPPER. BRENNAN. ELIAS...

All of them.

They lied about IRS TARGETING.

They lied about SPYING.

They lied about RUSSIA.

They lied about FISA.

Now, using the fog of COVID, they are lying about the "convenience and safety" of their MAIL BALLOT SCHEMES. Make no mistake, this strategy has been well crafted and long-planned. They know full well that making radical changes to election processes could crater November's elections.

These politicos and power brokers look down at us from behind their podiums and issue edicts that are breaking the backs of millions of small businesses and families across the nation. Even as the “curve has flattened” they have continued to encroach.

Consider all we’ve been put through. Consider all that’s been exposed.

Then ask yourself- do you really believe power-drunk bureaucrats are creating new election laws to make it easier for you to vote them out of office?

No. They are engineering chaos to control outcomes. Just like we’ve seen them do with COVID. "

Where does love go to die?

Question for you. Where does love go to die? Does it just end up in a graveyard of documents, with bank records, divorce papers and junior high yearbooks?

Our son who died at 51 on April 21 had most of his life and memories packed into 8 cardboard "banker's boxes," which I've been going through. All neatly labeled. Lose papers in file folders. They were in a closet with his grandpa's fishing vest and pipe rack, and Christmas decorations which he didn't use in 2019 because he was mad at God. His friend Keith helped me bring them to our house and I've been sorting and pitching.

Last night's task was his school annuals, business management coursework from Columbus State (he got an A which I don’t ever recall seeing before), several packages of photos of a 1973 Olds to be restored, parts catalogs, owner's manuals, ideas for songs and poems, and. . . love notes and cards between him and his former wife and him and his step-daughter. There it was--evidence. Yes, they all went in the trash sack along with elementary school report cards. How many times does a mom need to read, "Phil is charming, but could do better if he'd just apply himself." Who would want notes of a dead love?

I had a really good chat with her and her daughter (now 29--can hardly believe it) after she called me on Mother's Day. She lives in California now and I'll probably never see them again. Where does love go to die?

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Putting COVID-19 in perspective. . .

"CS Lewis wrote this in 1948 after the dawn of the atomic age:

“In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds."

— “On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948) in Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Americans gave up too easily

Yesterday at the lake house we were getting ready to  go to a friends’ home for breakfast.  ABC tv news was on. Shouting fear, anxiety. Oh woe. This is so awful. We need to crawl back in our holes. So I switched over to Fox using Roku. Exactly the same stories, same footages. Calm reporting, no shouting; explaining that people on beaches and private parties weren't "social distancing." There was a video of a man throwing money from a car and he drew a crowd--they weren't social distancing either. Then on to the stories, honoring those who had sacrificed their lives. What this Memorial Day is about.

But now that our freedoms have been taken away for 2 months, perhaps the day will mean more? We've seen how easily Americans give up liberty and how quickly our governments at all levels are willing to take it.

Later, on our way back to Columbus from Lakeside  we passed a small cemetery on Rt 4 with the veterans walking through with flags and a good size crowd gathered. Did my heart good to see that rural America will not live in fear.

In one small town on Rt. 4 where the public library is on main street there was a sign announcing curb side pick up of books.  Now how hard could that be?  Our suburban public libraries didn’t do that, even though the restaurants figured out how to do it.

Yes, how easily Americans can give up their freedoms—libraries, churches, schools, leisure activities, parks, and no one put a gun to our heads.

Monday, May 25, 2020

An update from a Covid patient, Chad Crouch

This letter was dated April 13—The treatment in isolation sounds grim.

“First of all, thank you for praying, texting and checking in with us.  We appreciate your thoughtfulness and concern.

I am now on day 15 of fighting the Covid19 virus.  My symptoms started off as a fever and slowly went down hill from there.  I have experienced all of the various symptoms you have heard described.  On days 11 and 12 I could tell my breathing was becoming an issue and I could hear “crackling” in my lungs.  After talking to my GP, he recommended I go to the ER.  I waited a day and when things continued to spiral down, I went into the ER. 

Testing positive.  I had a chest CT and it showed pneumonia.  I then had the nose swab test and it too came back positive.  So I was kept in the hospital for monitoring.

I appreciate the work the nurses and Doctors are attempting to do during this pandemic.  However, there is no treatment, medicine or consistent information for the virus.  It is only a triage situation where if you need a ventilator, they take you to the ICU and if you don’t, they just monitor you. 

The nurses and techs don’t come in very often.  There are a number of reasons for that.  Exposure to the virus is primary.  Second, it take s a long time to get prepped to come in the room.  They have to put on two pairs of gloves, two gowns (one plastic), two face masks, a pair of goggles, and a face shield helmet.  You get your own stethoscope and thermometer that has to stay in the room.  When they leave, there is a specific way they have to take off the outer layer of plastic gown, fold it up, pull off the second pair of gloves and wrap it around the gown, throw them away in the room, then wash their still-gloved hands and exit the room.

This means they try to “bundle” their services and combine things like bringing food and checking your vitals into one visit.  Otherwise, they throw things to you through the door or put them on the floor for you to go pick up (tricky when you are connected to 8 wires and an IV), and talk to you on the phone or through FaceTime.  I never saw a doctor in person.  They only called and looked at me through a window.  I never saw the face of any nurse, tech or doctor. 

Other than one puff of Albuterol when I arrived, I had a total of 4 Tylenol pills.  I also had an IV drip with Saline and was monitored for Oxygen, heart rate and blood pressure.  My oxygen levels remained low, but acceptable.  After two days in the ER, I was discharged to come back home. 

I am now home.  I don’t feel any better or worse.  I am thankful I didn’t need a ventilator.  I could hear the lady in the room next to me cough endlessly for hours.  She was eventually moved to ICU. It was a good reminder to be thankful that I was stable and not getting any worse.  The nurse told me she was close to my age.

I am now quarantined for another 14 days.  I had already been quarantined for 21 days due to the fact that my son, Preston tested positive on March 23.  My daughter and Wife also have had it, but all three recovered relatively quickly and without need for any hospitalization.  I held out the longest and got it the worst. 

I now have to report my temperature, heart rate and oxygen levels every day to the hospital and to the health department.  When Preston tested positive, he was close to the first case in Jessamine county.  I was about #50.  Amy and Caitlyn were never tested.  We were all trying to avoid taking a test or medical treatment from others who needed it worse.

Next?

The doctors say I should recover from the pneumonia over time at home.  If my oxygen levels drop below 90%, they will have me come back in.  So I wait and monitor.  My fever still comes and goes, but not as much as before.  I am trusting for healing over this week.  I do have my GP on speed dial in case I do need to try the “experimental” treatment of a combination of anti-malaria and antibiotic meds. 

Once again, thanks for your texts, thoughts and prayers.  I wish I could report a sudden miraculous return to health, but I believe it is coming in time.

Chad

p.s.  Feel free to forward this on to anyone that has been asking or praying for me.  I can’t begin to imagine how many people that is, thanks to you.

Chad Crouch

Cre8tive Group.com

ChadMCrouch.com

President
Cre8tive Group
304 E. Main Street
Wilmore, KY 40390

When helping hurts—The Ross Rant, May 23

. . . A new study shows 68% of laid off workers now earn more, 134% of regular wages,  not working than on the job. 20% make twice as much and the bottom 10% three times as much. The Dems, of course, are demanding that the $600 and unemployment pay be extended through year end.  The study showed the average worker is no making 42% more sitting home than working. Reality of business never interferes with their ideology, and political pitch to lure workers to think the Dems will pay them more to not work while the greedy Republicans deny it to them. Welcome to the Dem policies of socialism. This is called buying the election. McConnell is correct that there should be no more money for states and cities beyond the $150 billion they were already given unless it can only be spent on virus needs.  The rhetoric about having to lay off cops and firemen is already all over the press and it is the standard political rhetoric from Dem mayors to avoid having to deal with the real issues of pensions and over spending. Hopefully the Republicans will hold firm on this. It is the last chance to fix the fiscal mess in big cities and blue states. This is a big issue for November. If you wondered what happened to the extra unemployment dollars plus the $1200 subsidy, retailers report it went to buy big screen TVs, apparel, and other non-essential goods since mid-April. So if you listened to the media there are only stories of food banks and people who can’t make it. That is just media propaganda. Reality is, most unemployed are better off now than if they were working, and getting them back to work and off the free ride is the real issue. “

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Deep differences in our country

Mike Huckabee: "The response to the coronavirus has revealed some deep differences in our country. In some states, governors, county executives and mayors have acted with a heavy hand in restricting the lives and livelihoods of citizens. Sometimes it just didn’t make sense.

In Virginia, Governor Ralph Northam, the governor who once wore blackface and did Michael Jackson impersonations, thought it was okay to keep the liquor stores open, but not the churches. He believed that abortion clinics should be open, but not elective surgery to have a hip replacement or even a dentist visit to get a tooth filled.

Governor Whitmer of Michigan thought going into a supermarket was okay, but not sitting in a fishing boat in the middle of a deserted lake. You could buy a hammer or saw, but couldn’t get your lawn mowed. How those policies made anyone safe is beyond me.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was heaped with praise by the media for his long-winded daily press briefings that were televised to the other 49 states that really weren’t that interested, yet his decision to place Covid-19 patients in nursing homes led to a tragically high death rate in those nursing homes.

FL Governor Ron DeSantis, who oversees a population larger than NY and with far more older citizens (many of whom had escaped New York’s high taxes, horrible traffic, high costs, and bad weather) was vilified by the media for not caring, but yet the COVID death rate in FL is about 10% that of New York. He took a very different approach in allowing local governments to drive what stayed open and what was closed and was excoriated for it by the press goons, but sure looks like he was right and they look like FAKE NEWS!"

Checking the site meter

I have a meter on my blog. Each post gets usually 40-50 hits, since blogging isn't as popular as it once was. (I've been blogging since 2003, before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) That doesn't mean the person necessarily reads it--keywords are used and a Google, Bing or Duck duck go search could just mean a search found it. The Google algorithms were changed a number of years ago to favor businesses and large news services and most people stop searching after the first 10-15 suggestions. I rarely check it, but did today because I was updating some labels. I noticed my memorial for Phil https://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/04/philip-vincent-bruce-1968-2020.html had almost 900 hits





Extending the pandemic damage

“We have not seen an application in weeks,” says Steve Anthony, CEO of the Anthony Timberlands sawmill in Arkansas. He’s offering jobs that pay $800/week. But in Arkansas, federal and state unemployment benefits reach $1,051/week.

Anthony told my TV producer Maxim Lott, “If Congress elects to extend this $600 unemployment bonus, it will simply support a higher level of unemployment.”

Lott also interviewed Otis Mitchell Jr., who quit his job transporting hospital patients once he learned about the increase in unemployment benefits.

“My little girl is loving it,” said Mitchell, because he has more time to spend with her.

But it’s bad for hospital patients who need transportation.

Shame on the U.S. government for making unemployment pay better than work.”

https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/05/20/the-dangers-of-caring-government-programs/?

Just don’t get Covid

“The cancellation of regular medical care during the coronavirus pandemic could yield a “massive wave” of cancer patients. [Breitbart News]

So what? So LONG AS YOU DON'T GET COVID, THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS.
Better to die from cancer than catch COVID. Better to lose all of your liberty, live with 50 percent unemployment and widespread impoverishment, and never leave the house again ... JUST SO YOU DON'T GET COVID. What is the central purpose of life? We now know the answer: DON'T CATCH COVID.

And: if preventing another person from getting COVID (with a 99 percent survival rate) means you or I die from cancer ... well, the sacrifice was worth it. Self-sacrifice is a good thing, right?

In the Middle Ages, mass waves of insanity gripped entire towns. Today we have a mass wave of insanity gripping the entire world. There are no words.”
[WWW.DRHURD.COM]

Open Memorandum to Barack Obama


  • by Sidney Powell, May 13, 2020
  • OPEN MEMORANDUM

  • To: Barack Hussein Obama
    From: Sidney Powell
    www.SidneyPowell.com
    Date: May 13, 2020
    Re: Your Failure to Find Precedent for Flynn Dismissal

    Regarding the decision of the Department of Justice to dismiss charges against General Flynn, in your recent call with your alumni, you expressed great concern: “there is no precedent that anybody can find for someone who has been charged with perjury just getting off scot-free. That’s the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that basic — not just institutional norms — but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk.”

    Here is some help—if truth and precedent represent your true concern. Your statement is entirely false. However, it does explain the damage to the Rule of Law throughout your administration.

    First, General Flynn was not charged with perjury—which requires a material false statement made under oath with intent to deceive.1 A perjury prosecution would have been appropriate and the Rule of Law applied if the Justice Department prosecuted your former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe for his multiple lies under oath in an investigation of a leak only he knew he caused.
    McCabe lied under oath in fully recorded and transcribed interviews with the Inspector General for the DOJ. He was informed of the purpose of the interview, and he had had the benefit of counsel. He knew he was the leaker. McCabe even lied about lying. He lied to his own agents—which sent them on a “wild-goose-chase”—thereby making his lies “material” and an obstruction of justice. Yet, remarkably, Attorney General Barr declined to prosecute McCabe for these offenses.
    Applying the Rule of Law, after declining McCabe’s perjury prosecution, required the Justice Department to dismiss the prosecution of General Flynn who was not warned, not under oath, had no counsel, and whose statements were not only not recorded, but were created as false by FBI agents who falsified the 302.

    Second, it would seem your “wingman” Eric Holder is missing a step these days at Covington & Burling LLP. Indelibly marked in his memory (and one might think, yours) should be his Motion to Dismiss the multi-count jury verdict of guilty and the entire case against former United States Senator Ted Stevens. Within weeks of Mr. Holder becoming Attorney General, he moved to dismiss the Stevens prosecution in the interest of justice for the same reasons the Justice Department did against General Flynn—egregious misconduct by prosecutors who hid exculpatory evidence and concocted purported crimes.

    As horrifying as the facts of the Stevens case were, they pale in comparison to the targeted setup, framing, and prosecution of a newly elected President’s National Security Advisor and the shocking facts that surround it. This case was an assault on the heart of liberty— our cherished system of self-government, the right of citizens to choose their President, and the hallowed peaceful transition of power.

    Third, the inability of anyone in your alumni association to find “anybody who has been charged [with anything] just getting off scot-free” would be laughable were it not so pathetic.
    Many of your alum feature prominently in the non-fiction legal thriller published in 2014: Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice. A national best- seller, it focusses on the egregious prosecutorial misconduct of your longest serving White House Counsel, Kathryn Ruemmler; your counter-terrorism advisor Lisa Monaco; Loretta Lynch’s DAG for the Criminal Division Leslie Caldwell; and Mueller protégé Andrew Weissmann. While they worked as federal prosecutors on the Enron Task Force—under the purported supervision of Christopher Wray—they destroyed Arthur Andersen LLP and its 85,000 jobs; sent four Merrill Lynch executives to prison on an indictment that criminalized an innocent business transaction while they hid the evidence that showed those defendants were innocent for six years. Both cases were reversed on appeal for their over-criminalization and misconduct. Indeed, Andersen was reversed by a unanimous Supreme Court.

    Fourth, even if your many alumni don’t remember multiple cases that had to be reversed or dismissed for their own misconduct, Judge Emmet Sullivan should remember dismissing the corrupted case against Ted Stevens. Judge Sullivan is the judicial hero of Licensed to Lie. It is that case that caused Judge Sullivan to enter the strong Brady order the Mueller and D.C. career prosecutors violated repeatedly in the Flynn prosecution.

    Fifth, there is precedent for guilty pleas being vacated. Your alumni Weissmann and Ruemmler are no strangers to such reversals. At least two guilty pleas they coerced by threats against defendants in Houston had to be thrown out—again for reasons like those here. The defendants “got off scot-free” because—like General Flynn—your alumni had concocted the charges and terrorized the defendants into pleading guilty to “offenses” that were not crimes. Andersen partner David Duncan even testified for the government against Andersen in its trial, but his plea had to be vacated. Enron Broadband defendant Christopher Calger had his plea vacated. There are many others across the country.

    Sixth, should further edification be necessary, see Why Innocent People Plead Guilty, written in 2014 by federal Judge Jed Rakoff (a Clinton appointee). Abusive prosecutors force innocent people to plead guilty with painful frequency. The Mueller special counsel operation led by Andrew Weissmann and Weissmann “wannabes” specializes in prosecutorial terrorist tactics repulsive to everything “justice” is supposed to mean. These tactics are designed to intimidate their targets into pleading guilty—while punishing them and their families with the process itself and financial ruin.
    Most important, General Flynn was honest with the FBI agents. They knew he was—and briefed that to McCabe and others three different times. At McCabe’s directions, Agent Strzok and McCabe’s “Special Counsel” Lisa Page, altered the 302 to create statements Weissmann, Mueller, Van Grack, and Zainab Ahmad could assert were false. Only the FBI agents lied—and falsified documents. The crimes are theirs alone.

    Seventh, the D.C. circuit in which you reside vacated a Section 1001 case for a legal failure much less egregious than those in General Flynn’s case. United States v. Safavian, 528 F.3d 957 (D.C. Cir. 2008). Safavian sought advice from his agency’s ethics board and did not give them all the relevant info. The jury convicted him on the theory it was a 1001 violation to conceal the information from the government ethics board. The court disagreed: “As Safavian argues and as the government agrees, there must be a legal duty to disclose in order for there to be a concealment offense in violation of § 1001(a)(1), yet the government failed to identify a legal disclosure duty except by reference to vague standards of conduct for government employees.” General Flynn did not even know he was the subject of an investigation—and in truth, he was not. The only crimes here were by your alumni in the FBI, White House, intelligence community, and Justice Department.

    These are just a few obvious and well-known examples to those paying any attention to criminal justice issues.

    Finally, the “leaked” comments from your alumni call further evinces your obsession with destroying a distinguished veteran of the United States Army who has defended the Constitution and this country “from all enemies, foreign and domestic,” with the highest honor for thirty-three years. He and many others will continue to do so.

    1As a “constitutional lawyer,” surely you recall that perjury (or false statements) also requires intent to deceive. In Bronston v. United States, 409 U.S. 352 (1973), the Supreme Court reversed a conviction of perjury. In Bronston, the defendant’s answer was a truthful statement, but not directly responsive to the question and ultimately misled federal authorities. The Court determined: “A jury should not be permitted to engage in conjecture whether an unresponsive answer, true and complete on its face, was intended to mislead or divert the examiner; the state of mind of the witness is relevant only to the extent that it bears on whether “he does not believe [his answer] to be true.” To hold otherwise would be to inject a new and confusing element into the adversary testimonial system we know.” Id. at 359. The FBI agents who interviewed General Flynn specifically noted that his answers were true or he believed his answers to be true—completely defeating criminal intent. Furthermore, General Flynn knew and remarked they had transcripts of his conversations.
    Click here to read a PDF version of Sidney’s Open Memorandum to Obama 





    Copyright © 2019 Sidney Powell.

    Saturday, May 23, 2020

    Normally, I wouldn't smile seeing traffic


    Restart the count

    These two tests are being conflated both by the CDC and some states. Let's start over on the count, shall we? It's just science, you know, and that is never wrong, except a lot during this pandemic.

    Viral tests — also known as PCR tests due to a process known as polymerase chain reaction — are administered to discover whether someone has an acute, current infection of COVID-19. These tests are what public officials are referencing when confirmed cases are reported.

    Antibody, or serology tests, on the other hand, measure whether or not an individual might have come into contact with COVID-19 in the past. They do this by testing an individual's blood to see if their immune system has developed antibodies in response to the disease.

    https://www.theblaze.com/news/cdc-misleading-covid-testing-data?
    https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/05/cdc-and-states-are-misreporting-covid-19-test-data-pennsylvania-georgia-texas/611935/
    https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/499085-cdc-acknowledges-mixing-up-coronavirus-testing-data

    Back home in Lakeside

    I stepped out this morning to a familiar hum--I think they are called "noseeums" tiny bugs you can't see but can hear.   The sound like buzzing in the power lines.  It was foggy, and with that hum I put my hood on my sweatshirt over my head.  By the time I got to the east end, the noise was gone.  They must be on their way west.

    We got here about 3:15 yesterday, stopped to pick up our pre-ordered summer passes.  If Lakeside ever needed the owners to step up and help pay for lost revenue, it is now.  I don't know if we'll be here enough to cover it, but we hope to.  The traffic is light, and there will be few programs, but walking around I see that the plant sale is still on--that's a Memorial Day tradition. People have their flags out--recognizing that this is a day to honor the war dead. 

    I brought along some frozen items for dinner last night, but we're hoping to eat at the Patio this morning for breakfast.  Usually we do that on Sunday, but with social distancing, there will be limited seating. We thought Saturday might be better. Best pancakes ever. There is an active catering service with very reasonable meals--$6-$7 a piece and they will deliver for those too elderly or timid to venture out. I saw the usual picnic tables used when the Methodists (a huge crowd) are usually here in June stacked in parking lot a few blocks from the "main drag." Still, there are many here we do know.  One of our neighbors just found out about Phil's death on Thursday and she has been alerting other neighbors, so they step out of their homes when we walk by and express condolences. And so we tell the story briefly, but even in the retelling (if it's not too often) there is some healing--or at least it makes the unbelievable a bit more real.

    The grounds crew have been busy, and we usually see a lot of work right after the spring storms, but I know they are have limited numbers of staff and limited funds, so the parks and lakefront look very good considering. Many have either been here in the spring, or live close enough to help, and I know there have been many volunteers. For a holiday week-end that is usually humming, I'd say we're about 1/4 of the usual crowd.  The regulars are opening; the renters are not here.

    Friday, May 22, 2020

    Where is the common sense?

    Here are five facts:

    1.) the overwhelming majority of people do not have any significant risk of dying from COVID-19;

    2.) we have a clearly defined population at risk who can be protected with targeted measures: older people and others with underlying conditions;

    3.) protecting older, at-risk people eliminates hospital overcrowding;

    4.) vital population immunity is prevented by total isolation policies, prolonging the problem; and,

    5.) people are dying because other medical care is not getting done due to hypothetical projections.

    Complete contact tracing? Why? What good will it do at this stage? From the looks of it contact tracing is commonsensically helpful to prevent a pandemic in its early stage — but we already know many of our population are infected and according to epidemiologist Dr. John Wong we’ve been actually infected since January (ie., the first wave was January, the second wave is now or already happened last April; “Epidemiologist warns of ‘3rd wave’ of infections,” PDI, May 7).

    Complete mass testing? Why? At this stage of the pandemic, what for? If somebody is asymptomatic or having very mild symptoms, as 80-90% of infected likely are, then what’s the point? You can’t isolate everyone or put them in the hospital. So why not focus testing for clinical/diagnostic purposes on those exhibiting severe symptoms? But if Stanford and other studies shows that only around less than 0.01% — 1.7% of those infected need hospitalization and the infection fatality rate (IFR) is between .1-.2% (a University of Washington study declared an IFR of 1.3% but admits their calculation excluded asymptomatic patients) then why lock down everyone, including reasonably healthy people, when the hospital system can focus their attention on the elderly or those with chronic illnesses. . .

    https://www.bworldonline.com/thoughts-in-a-triple-lockdown/?

    Thursday, May 21, 2020

    Thousands will die from this pandemic lockdown

    "Almost 40% of households earning less than $40,000 per year have someone who lost their job in recent months, according to the Federal Reserve. The Disaster Distress Helpline, a federal crisis hotline, received almost 900% more phone calls in March compared to a year ago. A recent JAMA Psychiatry analysis warned that stay-at-home orders and rising unemployment are a “perfect storm” for higher suicide rates. A California health organization recently estimated that up to 75,000 Americans could die from “despair” as a result of the pandemic, unemployment, and government restrictions."

    But Democrats call small business owners "greedy" for not wanting their lives destroyed. https://www.aier.org/article/will-the-political-class-be-held-liable-for-what-theyve-done/?

    Is this the future for workers?

    “Yesterday I got my oil changed at the dealer. Here is how my car was returned to me. Plus, they brought out a huge spray gun and disinfected the car before and after changing the oil.

    When I checked out with the service guy (whom I have come to know fairly well), I did as I always do: I tested him by making breezy comments about the madness of the disinfectant and the plastic coverings in my car. Well, I unraveled a guy who really needed to vent.

    He said he had come to hate his job. He told me the wait for service is long because they limit the number of technicians that can be in the shop at one time. Customers can't get timely service; everyone is on a short fuse; and he gets screamed at all day long by customers, in addition to having to deal with cameras set up around the shop making sure the employees are following "strict Covid guidelines." He told me that his temperature is taken several times per day. He said he's exhausted, over-stressed, and miserable. He is typically an upbeat and really great guy.

    He showed me one (of many) emails from an irate customer who left the shop after his service and wrote a crazed, angry email to management complaining about someone moving his car without a mask, people touching the outside of his car, etc. He said they get these complaints all day long *in addition* to being berated by every fear-mongered nitwit who walks in the door. In his face I saw a depressed guy, with a wife and small children, who said he is ready to give up.

    Now the thing is I’ve had _many_ of these conversations with folks, including my chiropractor and veterinarian. This is only the beginning of life under the boot of a totalitarian-authoritarian-surveillance state. There is much worse to come if the masses keep believing their masters. – KDC”

    From Facebook; anonymous

    Wednesday, May 20, 2020

    Draft deferments, Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Bill Clinton

    Draft deferments were probably not fair, but they were legal and very, very common, especially during the Vietnam when my husband was draft age. The government believed it had a stake in education, marriage and fatherhood. My husband had at least 3 student deferments, then 1 for being a father, and then later, married men were deferred by JFK, so he had that, too. And of course, the biggest deferments were age and sex. Both of my grandfathers, one was 27 and the other 45,  had to sign up for the draft for WWI—the government was getting desperate.  Even in WWI there was talk of drafting women, but it never happened. Haters are gonna hate. Standards for Democrats are always different. Always.

    From a friend of mine on Facebook:

    “Before the virus, I wrote an article that went viral about the truth behind Donald Trump's draft deferments. To sum it up, Trump went to the draft board on two different occasions and took the physical. On three of the draft notices he met the criteria for receiving a student deferment. He was in college and there was no need to draft students because the war in Vietnam was not WWII.

    So, the second time he took the physical he received a 4F status. It does not say why on the card, it just says that he is disqualified. Nowhere does it say "bone spurs" and where that information came from was when a reporter asked Trump why did he get disqualified for service, and he said that he didn't know, he thought it was bone spurs.

    Now, for those who hate everything about Trump without any real reason, they will call Trump a "draft dodger", which is kind of like charging someone you invited into your house, and fed them dinner, with breaking and entering. Trump didn't "dodge" something that he showed up and took the physical.

    The other thing is that the Trump haters like to say that Trump was an athletic guy, and a star athlete, and so he faked bone spurs. However, Trump was totally devoted to his studies. He did not go to parties; he did not drink alcohol and he didn’t even go to the football games.

    But that does not stop the Democrats and the left from calling him "Captain Bone spurs" and calling him a draft dodger every chance they get.

    OK, but what about Biden?

    Biden went through college at the same time, and he also did not go to Vietnam. So, why have there been no comments on Biden’s draft deferments? Trump received four draft deferments. Three were for being in college and the fourth one was for not meeting the physical standards to be in the US military. So basically, Trump was like 75% of the male population then, and 75% of the entire population now.

    Bill Clinton is one that actually dodged the draft by going to England during the war, but no one ever mentions him, since he cannot run for president anymore.

    So, what about Biden?

    Biden had five draft deferments. One more than Trump. Four of the five were for him being in college, but the last one gave Biden a 1Y classification, which means he was not physically fit to be in the military. This would be changed to 4F when the draft rules were changed in 1971. So, he was exactly like Donald Trump.

    Now Trump thinks his physical ailment was bone spurs. But what about Biden?

    Biden’s physical ailment was for asthma.

    Now, Trump did not do any sports or anything physical. Who knows, it may have been due to bone spurs, but Biden excelled at sports. While in High School Biden played on the football team. During the summer he worked as a lifeguard, where he told the story of how he faced down a knife wielding gang member by the name of Corn Pop, by wrapping a chain around his arm. Biden later lied about playing for the University of Delaware football team, but he was trying to show how physically fit and tough he was when he bragged about these things.

    Biden never mentions asthma in his book “Promises to Keep”, and continues to regale about how tough he was and how physically fit the young Joe Biden was. So, if that is true, then why did he fail a draft physical?

    Senator Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat who also served in Iraq, has called Donald Trump a coward and said his deferment was for the “yellow streak down his back”. Has Senator Duckworth ever said anything at all about Joe Biden, or his draft deferments?

    Mayor Pete Buttigieg told ABC’s “This Week” that ““You have somebody who thinks it’s all right to have somebody go in his place into a deadly war and is willing to pretend to be disabled to do it. That is an assault on the honor of this country.” So, does presidential wannabe Buttigieg consider Biden’s deferments an “assault on the honor of this country?”

    No, just like the Democrats keeping totally silent about Joe Biden’s sexual assault accusations, while they went out of their way to scream about the really flimsy allegations of Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh, I figure no Democrat will make any comments about Joe Biden’s record.

    Oh, and for all of those on Facebook who constantly use the term “Draft Dodger in Chief” or call Trump “Captain Bone spurs”, ask them if they are now going to call Biden “Captain Asthma” and consider him a draft dodger.”

    Tuesday, May 19, 2020

    Physicians speak out

    A physician speaks out about quarantining the healthy. The destruction of the first amendment freedoms while keeping marijuana shops and abortion clinics open. Liquor stores are essential but your business isn't? Dr. Jeff Barke of California:

    https://heavy.com/news/2020/05/dr-jeff-barke-video/?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmU6YYGfyUk What is happening to doctors. Learn what's going on. Dr. Yvette Lozano of Texas.

    A Democrat’s definition of “greed,” is a female owned business that has brought joy to northern Illinois

    The other day I told you about Beth George who has had a small resort within the White Pines State park in northern Illinois for 30 years. She was going bankrupt because of her Governor's orders. https://www.illinoispolicy.org/story/beth-george-white-pines-resort/ Apparently her going out of business sale was interrupted by the park police so she couldn't even return the down payments of the brides who had planned to use her venue!

    But the most ridiculous thing is today I received an e-mail from a Democrat who commented on her "greed" for having a restaurant, gift shop, cabins, theater and wedding venue. SMH. Only a Democrat could call the joy and pleasure people have received from her small seasonal business and the payroll for her 45 employees, GREED.

    The great divide

    Why is the divide over opening or not opening falling along party lines, conservative vs. liberal, red state vs. blue?

    First of all, it's Trump. Whatever he advises, the left and the Trump haters will fight. They oppose anything that looks like recovery because he will look good.

    It's also class. Many more white color and government workers have kept their jobs but they really don't employ people. The risk takers and entrepreneurs tend to be Republicans--they actually employ people and are small businessmen. They are the ones who have borrowed from their parents or taken a 2nd mortgage to start up a business. Also farmers and blue/pink color workers are more suspicious of government control of their lives and livelihood.

    Third. The news is out how the Obama administration tried to undermine/destroy the incoming Trump administration. That's political terrorism and the best way to keep that mum is to keep the focus on something else. Pump up the fear.

    Fourth. Academics, upper management and entertainers do not mind waiting it out--they have resources, they know how to get around the rules, they've got treadmills in their remodeled basement and can sneak that Hispanic housekeeper and Asian immigrant hair stylist in the back door (because they certainly don't live in their neighborhood). They just love those TV commercials with the cute kids putting puzzles together with dad in his jammies with sappy music and ridiculous slogans--they may even own the marketing company being paid to make them!

    Fifth. Not all Republicans are pro-life, but they haven't carved the initials of death into their political platform for 3 decades, for several generations of voters. In short, their moral compass is different. They are happier, more positive, more likely to be people who live their faith, more likely to be married and have families, and respect life at all ages including the unborn and the very elderly. They know without reading an academic paper or the Wall Street Journal that the longer the economy is closed the more people will die of a multitude of problems than Covid19 would ever touch.

    A good word for today

    1 Peter 5:6-11

    Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

    Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

    And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. 

    A little pill is more important than the worst scandal in our history

    Leftist/progressive/ Democrat reporters are more concerned that our President is taking a safe, FDA approved medication for Covid19 than they are that our last president was head of a coup to bring down our current president. The Clinton campaign paid for a fictional report that was used to spy on her political opponent, Donald J. Trump and his campaign. Perhaps hundreds of Obama officials were involved and they worked hand in hand with the media and launched an investigation that named Trump and his security advisor Michael Flynn as targets in an attempt to block disclosure of the investigation from the elected President. The impeachment failed and the Department of Justice is now looking at indictments against those deep state operatives in the failed coup attempt.

    And now to divert your attention, you'll see House Democrats launch another investigation into how he handled a "novel" SARS epidemic, because their other coup attempt didn't work.

    The equal opportunity crook

    I can see why white liberals have become so defensive.

    1) Their president who was supposed to absolve them and the country of all past sins of slavery, Jim Crow, discrimination and bloated ineffective social programs designed and run by their own party failed. He set out to make race relations worse, didn't improve conditions for minorities except in politics--becoming his own Tammany Hall for blacks, didn’t end the war he had opposed, and he dealt a death blow to a health system already struggling, creating massive mergers wiping out small practitioners.

    2) An outsider of both parties was able to bring in a brief golden age of freedom and opportunity for those shut out for decades--a man so crude and buffoon-like he actually conducted business on social media and fired people he had appointed. A man who could stare down the Europeans and Asians and demand respect from their frat club United Nations and European Union.

    And now the final blow.

    3) The man who made white liberals swoon with suave good looks, stellar "character" and fluid speeches has been found to be a crook of the magnitude we've never seen before in our history.

    Monday, May 18, 2020

    He’ll be called stupid either way

    The Fox News panel tonight seemed puzzled that President Trump would bring up that he's been taking Hydroxychloroquine, Z-pack and Zinc for a week or so, but not mention the progress in a vaccine that sounds promising. It just upsets people. After all this time, they don't know he baits the reporters to get more publicity? Besides, they've already called him stupid and naïve about getting a vaccine quickly so why not use the other story that they disbelieve and call stupid. It really makes no difference.

    It’s being tested on health care workers as a preventive method. It’s not a cure.  If it doesn’t work, it’s no different than the bazillion vitamin supplements that have never been tested—at least this one has been on the market for 70 years.

    Graduation Day

    The Crew Cuts were a Canadian boys group popular when I was a teen.  Today I was trying to get the cd player in my clock radio to work, and pulled their disc from a Lakeside appearance a few years back. It worked after some button experimenting. Graduation Day wasn't their hit (it was Four Freshmen), but it came on. It was a 50s do-wap collection. Made me sort of sad for all the graduates who didn't get their big day.

    With Mom in the dining room at 4 S. Hannah.  She was 45 and I was 17.

    Dr. John Ioannidis

    https://youtu.be/T-saAuXaPok

    Many more have been infected by the virus than originally thought which actually lowers drastically the death rate figures. We have data now (April 30) that shows we need rational steps, not panic. The frail and elderly still need to be careful--but that was always the case with flu and pneumonia. Suicides go up with unemployment; so does domestic violence. Heart attacks and other health problems have increased There are tradeoffs for the drastic measures we have taken.

    It makes you wonder what is motivating the governors of Illinois, Michigan and California and a few others. Politics? Money? Power?

    From the beginning, Dr. Ioannidis has been urging caution, saying we don’t have enough data on this virus.  Now there is much more, and still the governors are making bad decisions.  Now, it is no longer ignorance but something more serious.

    Not 1984, but 2020

    “To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy, to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again: and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself -- that was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word 'doublethink' involved the use of doublethink.”

    ― George Orwell, 1984

    Sunday, May 17, 2020

    The Flynn unmasking

    The names of private U.S. citizens caught on tape by U.S. intelligence are supposed to be “masked” so their privacy is protected. So why did 39 Obama officials ask for Flynn's unmasking? Some of the unmasking requests began BEFORE the conversation with the Russian ambassador. What did he know about Obama that had to be stopped cold? Flynn had served as Obama’s Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) from July 2012 to August 2014 when he was “forced out.”

    Debra Heine (PJ Media) back in 2018 explained:

    "Obama already despised Flynn. But his hate likely turned to fear when his former DIA decided to throw his support behind Donald J. Trump, another boat-rocker who had a real chance of winning. Obama made a point after the 2016 election of advising Trump not to hire Flynn. But Trump didn’t listen.

    Next thing Flynn knew, government spies were listening in on his innocuous phone conversations with Kislyak, his name was unmasked by someone in the Obama administration, and the contents of the call were leaked to the Washington Post (which remains the only serious crime to have emerged in the Russia investigation)."

    What do you think of Obama’s character now?

    Story from the Wall St. Journal--other major sources are mum and shaking in their boots as the growing illegal behavior of Obama's gang is revealed. And my question about Flynn has always been why shouldn't an incoming Trump official talk to a Russian ambassador or any ambassador? Obama had been ridiculing Russia's power--what had happened in the 4 years since he'd down graded them in public on TV?
    "When news stories appeared in early 2017 about Michael Flynn’s conversation with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., these columns wondered how Mr. Flynn’s call was so widely known. The names of private U.S. citizens caught on tape by U.S. intelligence are supposed to be “masked” so their privacy is protected. 
    Well, now we know. GOP Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson on Wednesday released a declassified list of Obama Administration officials who in their waning days in power “unmasked” the conversations of Mr. Flynn, who was set to become President Trump’s National Security Adviser. It seems everyone but the night janitor wanted to know who Mr. Flynn was talking to. 
    A stunning THIRTY NINE separate officials snooped on Mr. Flynn’s conversations with foreign actors, lodging nearly 50 unmasking demands between Nov. 30, 2016 and Jan. 12, 2017. Our sources say the nearly dozen redacted names on the list are likely intelligence types—who might have a legitimate interest in knowing who their foreign targets were speaking to in the U.S. But most of the rest are partisan officials who had no business SPYING on their successors. 
    The list includes then White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, then Vice President Joe Biden, and then Secretary of Treasury Jacob Lew. Ambassador to the U.N. and Obama confidante Samantha Power made no fewer than SEVEN requests, though she told Congress she had no recollection of unmasking Mr. Flynn. 
    Mr. Flynn was unmasked by at least four U.S. ambassadors, six Treasury officials, and people connected to the Energy and Justice departments and NATO, among others. Then FBI Director James Comey, then CIA Director John Brennan and then Director of National Intelligence James Clapper also made the list. This means they had access to the transcripts of any phone conversations Mr. Flynn had with foreign sources as he prepared to take power. 
    The media cordon sanitaire that protects Democrats will say this is no big deal because unmasking is routine and legal. But if the masking rule means nothing in practice, why pretend it exists?" . . .
    Maybe because pretending to have character (something they say Trump doesn't have) is all the Democrats know about character?
    . . . "The dates of the unmaskings raise further questions. The FBI’s interest in Mr. Flynn was supposedly triggered by conversations starting Dec. 29, 2016. Yet Mr. Flynn was first unmasked a month earlier—shortly after Mr. Trump named him security adviser."
    This was definitely "get Flynn" and crush him. What was the Obama parade of lackeys and toadies so afraid of?

    Doing church during the shutdown

    After listening to 2 great sermons by Lutheran pastor Gemechis Buba, we went down to the river (Griggs Reservoir), enjoyed a brunch of McDonald's sausage biscuits and coffee, listened to the choir of birds, geese and passing cars, observed all the joggers, walkers, families and boaters, and came home. Everyone was parking with "social distancing," with 2 empty parking places between each car.

    https://vimeo.com/113330866?fbclid=IwAR1Q9Uz3BUA9Id5zUR4hxuGNdJ9H6f3Oz4ee-EXYvbP87PZ7xAQ-RfI3C8g  5 years ago on end times

    https://www.facebook.com/DrGemechis/videos/261108571918907/  Mother's day sermon

    Enjoying coffee and a walk at Griggs
    Lots of boats in the water

    Why did the chicken cross the road—an internet story with no attribution

    Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?

    DONALD TRUMP: I've been told by many sources, good sources - they're very good sources - that the chicken crossed the road. All the Fake News wants to do is write nasty things about the road, but it's a really good road. It's a beautiful road. Everyone knows how beautiful it is.

    JOE BIDEN: Why did the chicken do the...thing in the...you know the rest.

    SARAH PALIN: The chicken crossed the road because, gosh-darn it, he's a maverick!

    BARACK OBAMA: Let me be perfectly clear, if the chickens like their eggs they can keep their eggs. No chicken will be required to cross the road to surrender her eggs. Period.

    AOC: Chickens should not be forced to lay eggs! This is because of corporate greed! Eggs should be able to lay themselves.

    HILLARY CLINTON: What difference at this point does it make why the chicken crossed the road.

    GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road or not. The chicken is either with us or against us. There is no middle ground here.

    DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?

    BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken.

    AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

    JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

    AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white?

    DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he is acting by not taking on his current problems before adding any new problems.

    OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross the road so badly. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a NEW CAR so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

    ANDERSON COOPER: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

    NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

    PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

    MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way the chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

    DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

    ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

    GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough for us.

    BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish it's lifelong dream of crossing the road.

    ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

    ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

    COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

    -------------------------------------------

    I’ve seen several versions; many have left out Trump and Biden but John McCain is in it.

    Saturday, May 16, 2020

    Covid19 vs Pneumonia

    Between Feb. 1 and May 9, 2020

    60,299 people have died of Covid19

    and

    81,318 have died of pneumonia

    National Center for Health Statistics, CDC

    Storage by Mary Oliver, a poem

    A good friend knew I was sorting and pitching things (some back to retirement) while moving back into my office after Phil's death, and she gave me this poem. I know many of you need this, so I'm passing it along.

    "When I moved from one house to another there were many things I had no room for. What does one do? I rented a storage space. And filled it. Years passed. Occasionally I went there and looked in, but nothing happened, not a single twinge of the heart. As I grew older the things I cared about grew fewer, but were more important. So one day I undid the lock and called the trash man. He took everything. I felt like the little donkey when his burden is finally lifted. Things! Burn them, burn them! Make a beautiful fire! More room in your heart for love, for the trees! For the birds who own nothing-the reason they can fly."

    I know there are several layers of meaning--like holding on to other trash such as regrets, anger, irritations, failures, etc.--but for now I'll just keep it at boxes of paper and photographs and old letters.

    Hydroxychloroquine and Remdesivir

    Hydroxychloroquine has been politicized. Why? Trump recommended it as a possible effective treatment for Covid19. Those infected with TDS went crazy. Likewise, Remdesivir isn't having the same battle. Why? Hydroxychloroquine has been on the market for decades, for other diseases. Remdesivir hasn't been approved for anything but has had some good early data. Some people say "follow the money." Hydroxychloroquine is cheap and available. Remdesivir is expensive, not approved safe yet, no generics. Democrats, you know those guys who hate capitalism and mega-rich people, seem to be backing the one that will cost us a lot of money--Remdesivir.

    Doctors who had been using Hydroxychloroquine are being told not to. Hmmm. Interview by Sharyl Attkisson with Dr. William O'Neill investigating both drugs. He has used Hydroxychloroquine on many and found it effective and believes the politicization has been harmful. He's looked at Remdesivir studies--it doesn't reduce mortality, but may decrease days in hospital. So a reduction in mortality vs. a reduction of days in the hospital? There are 6 studies on going for Hydroxychloroquine. There may be other drugs on the horizon. It may turn out it's a cocktail of drugs, not one drug. Hold your powder, folks. The media are not our friends in this search. It sometimes takes 10-15 years to fully understand a new disease.

    https://sharylattkisson.com/2020/05/hydroxychloroquine-politicizing-medicine-podcast/

    The censored voice of Aaron Ginn

    Social media giants like YouTube, Google, Facebook and Twitter have attempted to silence or "correct fake news" about the virus and pandemic. Today's Wall St. Journal points out that some of those canaries in the coal mine were correct and the censors were just wrong. What if in 10 theories, 9 are half-baked, but 1 is just perfect. We know the media, both main stream and social, will attempt to destroy all 10. But isn't that what theories are for?

    "Aaron Ginn’s story is a cautionary tale that even well-intended censorship can overreach, suppressing the search for truth. Mr. Ginn, 32, is the Silicon Valley technologist who posted an essay on March 20 titled “Evidence over hysteria—COVID-19” on the Medium website. Citing academic research and government data, Mr. Ginn argued that public-health experts were focusing too much on “flattening the curve . . . while ignoring the economic shock to our system” of shuttering businesses and schools and ordering Americans to stay home.

    “When 13% of Americans believe they are currently infected with COVID-19 (mathematically impossible),” he wrote, “full-on panic is blocking our ability to think clearly and determine how to deploy our resources to stop this virus.” The message was well-timed—the day he posted it, Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered “nonessential” New York businesses to close.

    Mr. Ginn’s essay drew 2.6 million page views in 24 hours—and a barrage of liberal criticism. Carl T. Bergstrom, a University of Washington biologist, called it “Shakespeare run through google translate into Japanese, then translated back to English by someone who’d never heard of Shakespeare.” Then Medium took it down, saying it violated rules under a “risk analysis framework we use for ‘Controversial, Suspect and Extreme content.’ ”

    But Ginn had been in Wuhan before most of us had ever heard of it. He also had some internal warnings about censorship--his grandparents had fled Communist China 50 years ago, he knew the Chinese language and (gasp) he had been a Christian missionary. Not only did he believe in the free expression of ideas (something Democrats have lost), but he knew the Chinese data was not to be trusted.

    Now millions of us have taken our heads out of the sand (or other dark places) and are seeing the wisdom in his warnings--although it may be too late for the businesses that have been destroyed all in the race to ruin the Trump economy.

    "Some belittle him [Ginn] as an “armchair epidemiologist.” He retorts that “facts and data are independent of your credentials..” Knowledge of the virus is evolving, and “we should always take in new evidence and judge it, and figure out what’s the sort of best policy prescription. A lot of things that we originally thought we were right on were wrong.” Take the “6-foot rule” for maintaining personal social distancing, which Mr. Ginn says isn’t supported by scientific evidence. The World Health Organization recommends 1 meter (3 feet, 3 inches), while Germany and Australia suggest 1.5 meters (just under 5 feet). Sweden recommends that people use “good judgment.” "

    “I want this to be an open dialogue,” Mr. Ginn says. “But we shouldn’t have public-health people making economic policy. We need to have the policy makers who people vote for make those determinations.” After all, “we’re a democracy—we’re not China.”

    Who knew?

    So when you see those red circles on the floor of the grocery store, just remember there is no scientific evidence for that. Not even by the so called "scientists" we're suppose to revere. Could be 3', or 5' or any distance you choose.

    Friday, May 15, 2020

    Lakeside will be different this year

    We own a summer home in a Chautauqua community linked to the Methodists, Lakeside, Ohio, which depends on the owners and visitors to keep it afloat for 3 months of its business season. Owners, of course, pay year around. There are constant appeals for money in any year, usually to rebuild, restore, restart something in the arts, religion, education and recreation areas. Now, it will be just to stay alive. $2.1 million deficit.

    "Lakeside is taking this expected loss of revenue very seriously. We reacted swiftly to implement immediate cost reductions. Reductions in staffing and cuts in operating expenses and programming costs for this summer total $1.6 million. We were able to cut another $200,000 from project spending to bring the cost reductions to $1.8 million, but we are still left with a $2.1 million projected deficit ($3.9 million reduction in revenue partially offset by $1.8 million in cost cutting).

    "How do we intend to cover the $2.1 million deficit? Lakeside received a $650,000 forgivable loan from the Paycheck Protection Program, part of the Federal government’s stimulus package. Lakeside already had bank lines of credit of $1.1 million that are typically used to manage variations in cash flow. We will use those. Lakeside is supplementing that by acquiring an additional $500,000 bank line of credit. We have enough debt capacity to cover the remaining deficit, although it comes at a future cost of paying back that debt. " (Lakeside newsletter)

    We'll be there, and it will be different. Our family has been Lakesiders since 1974, owners since 1988. Many of our family and friends have visited or stayed with us over the years. We will have Phil's service there this summer.