October 13, 2021

Eve of destruction lyrics and today

Yeah, my blood's so mad, feels like coagulatin'
I'm sittin' here just contemplatin'
I can't twist the truth, it knows no regulation
Handful of Senators don't pass legislation

And marches alone can't bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin'
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin'
And you tell me over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction

Was listening to music while I was working and these lyrics from Barry McGuire's Eve of destruction really struck me as so fitting for today.

Manchin and Sinema (handful of senators) don't pass legislation
Post Floyd marches by so many people -- and we have even more rising white supremacists storming the Capitol

I truly fear that unless those handful of Senators get on board ... we are truly on the eve of destruction -- first of our democracy and then the world because hate will spurn more wars to fuel the military-industrial complex as it has since Reagan because it is a great way to profiteer.

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May 13, 2021

Ten million reasons to vaccinate the world

Source: The Economist

This week we are publishing our estimate of the true death toll from covid-19. Using known data on 121 variables, from recorded deaths to demography, we have built a pattern of correlations that lets us fill in gaps where numbers are lacking. Our central estimate is that 10m people have died who would otherwise be living—more than three times the recorded number. Official figures suggest that the pandemic has struck in waves, and that the rich countries have been hit hard, while much of the developing world has seemed to get off lightly. But the overwhelming majority of the 6.7m or so deaths that nobody has counted have been in poor and middle-income countries. The virus has spread remorselessly from rich countries to poorer ones—and it is still doing so. Our findings contain an urgent warning. Unless vaccines go global, the tragic scenes now unfolding in India risk being repeated elsewhere. Millions more will die.






Read more: https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/05/15/ten-million-reasons-to-vaccinate-the-world?utm_campaign=the-economist-this-week&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=salesforce-marketing-cloud&utm_term=2021-05-13&utm_content=ed-picks-article-link-1&etear=nl_weekly_1

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This is truly scary. It is not surprising but still humbling and awful to think that there are 10 million people dead and that many of them would be alive if not for the mismanagement of preparedness and responses based on the WHO report.

Unless vaccines go everywhere, new deadlier variants will arise and travel across the globe with no regard for boundaries. Some may even develop that will be resistant to vaccine immunity -- and they may strike more quickly than new boosters can be developed, tested, and delivered.

We weep for the ten million already dead and am speechless for the countless more millions likely to die.

May 12, 2021

CDC approved Pfizer for 12-15 year olds

Woo hoo.

CDC approved Pfizer and my pharmacist said the system should be set to not kick out our14 year old son from booking an appointment either tomorrow or Friday once corporate fixed the website.

He has a chance for a normal summer.

So excited 😆

March 8, 2021

Joe Manchin -- how to get him in line ethics probe regarding Mylan and big pharma

Perhaps Joe would play ball if an ethics probe into him sinking Neera's nomination and other votes that helped his daughter's company Mylan would get him to se the light.

Not sure he would want all those dirty little secrets as to how he sided with big pharma and Mylan against the interests of West Virginians in light of the opioid crisis, insulin and epipen price hikes, etc.

Perhaps mentioning that this might all be exposed to the light of day might make him change his tune.

March 1, 2021

Hyatt Nazi

FWIW --

I used the Hyatt website portal to tell them that I would be boycotting their establishments until they fire the manager and facility managers at the CPAC location and issue a statement condemning the use of a Nazi rune as a stage. Someone had to approve that facilities request and it would not have taken long to find it on the internet.

I am going to ask my company to put similar pressure on the company.

I even stated, that I understand the need to do business in a pandemic and hosting the CPAC gathering was not why I was going to boycott them. It was the Choice that they made when they allowed their hotel space to be transformed into a Nazi rune that led to this decision.

I encourage as many of you as possible to do the same.

I am going to ask my companies travel group to do the same. In pre-Covid times, many conferences that people from the company would present had Hyatt as a host or partner hotel.

Not sure if it will do any good -- but this is my Quixote attempt for Monday morning.

February 24, 2021

Tiger isn't "lucky to be alive" the rest of us are lucky he didn't kill someone innocent

I am sickened by the lack of responsibility of the news coverage of Tiger Woods.

One look at the pictures of the crime scene and it is obvious that he was going over 100 MPH before he crossed traffic and flipped the car. (Took some classes in forensic science including car wrecks many moons ago)

This asshat was on a public highway driving over 100 mph. He showed no regard for the little people on the road; he wanted to go fast. This is not surprising to me as his complete lack of concern for little people has been ignored his whole career.

Tiger learned at a young age -- it is OK to be a jerk to little people (waiters, bell boys, etc) as long as you were nice to the press. He is the ANTI-STEVE CARLTON. Steve was reportedly nice to all the clubhouse staff, ball boys, waiters, etc (I know some from when he played. They said he was kind to them). But Steve refused to talk to the media so they painted him as a villain. Tiger is always nice to the media. BUT was notorious for how poorly he treated the little people. I know hotel staff, restaurant staff, etc who were berated, stiffed on huge bills with no tip, by Tiger. But he always put on a smile and joked with reporters so he got a free pass.

If this weren't Covid times, how many cars would have been on the road that he might have hit?

Add to that all the REALLY IMPORTANT NEWS from yesterday that got relegated to the second or later segments on local news : the bombshells from the hearings, the Covid bill, etc. and once again the ineptitude of the press just infuriates me. On second thought, it is more pandering than ineptitude -- they want viewers to show advertisers. More calculation than stupidity.
tside the family
I am grateful that no one was hurt by him. I feel no sympathy for him as I am a little person that he would have berated if he had chosen to come to the store down the street from the hotel that the golfers stayed at when the tour was in town when I was working. I know he blasted a co-worker over some perceived problem that was unreasonable for a corner convenience store.

My sister was permanently disabled by a reckless drunk driver -- not sure if he was drunk, on pain meds, or just plain reckless -- I am just grateful that no other family has to deal with the aftermath of Tiger's wreck.

February 16, 2021

Maybe some will realize why government regulation and control of key facets of society is critical

MAYBE just MAYBE some people will realize that the government should regulate and control facets of society that if they fail lead to catastrophic effects including death.

Unfettered greed without government regulation is a horrific problem.

Banks can sell and re-sell bad mortgages that they know would never be paid back...collapse the economy and then get bailed out by the rest of us.

Medicine run on a for profit model that makes billions for people while many suffer and die without health care.

Roads and bridges in disrepair that lead to wrecks, bridge collapses, etc. that cause deaths, breakdowns in the delivery of crucial goods and services that people need.

Power and energy. Electricity, natural gas, etc. where cutting corners can lead to devastating forest fires, people freezing to death, setting their houses on fire or getting CO poisoning as they use kerosene heaters to heat their homes without proper air circulation. This week should lead large groups of people to realize why these need to be regulated and controlled.

We could add schools, prisons, etc.

But we all know what d-bags like Ted Cruz will call for. Let's bail out these electrical companies while not making them pay taxes or regulating fair rates. As usual it is socialism for the very rich and the harshest forms of capitalism for the rest of us.


I hope that those in TX or OK etc will learn from this, but fear they will fall back on voting for the people who hate the same people that they do.

February 11, 2021

Sharing my letter to Grassley

Below is the text of the letter that I sent to Sen. Grassley. I know it is spitting into the wind to try to reason with a partisan moinster like him. I will also send a copy to Joni Ernst for what little good it will do. I can at least say that I did my civic duty even when the two clown senators from my state shirk theirs.


Once again, Senator, you sit with the eyes of history on you. You can do the right thing, the honorable thing, the constitutional thing…or you can do the partisan thing and apply the IOKIYAR standard: It’s OK If You are a Republican.

We saw the footage from the trial yesterday. Although I wonder if you saw it while you were allegedly breaking the rules and playing or reading on a tablet during the trial. But maybe you were listening – the angry mob that was incited to stage a murderous coup by then President Trump was less than 60 steps away from the Senate chamber while you were still inside. Some of that mob that was less than 60 steps away was chanting “KILL MIKE PENCE”. Some of your colleagues were removing their pins so that the crowd might think that they were staffers and not murder them. Your life was in grave danger.

The CPD formed a human barricade to protect you from that mob that was carrying Trump flags, chanting his slogans (stop the steal), and carrying a variety of weapons that they used to bludgeon those police officers. Some have been blinded, maimed, suffered debilitating brain injuries, and died from their injuries. Two have already taken their own lives. Most of them will likely suffet from PTSD as will your staffers, the cleaning staff, and the many other people who make what you do possible as a government official. All those officers who risked their lives to protect you are watching. All the others who work hard every day to keep the Senate and House running safely will be watching.

Can you look them in the eye – if you won’t even look at the evidence – and not ban the man who incited this riot. More than a dozen of the people who have been charged in the insurrection have filed in their court documents that they were acting on orders from then President Trump.

You may try to hide behind the argument that the whole trial is unconstitutional. That claim is baseless, as you well know former Cabinet officials and judges have been tried after impeachment to ban them from future offices. Others who have resigned have not been tried and then allowed to hold office. The legal precedent is there. However, after the vote that rejected Sen. Paul’s baseless claim was voted down it was decided that the trial was constitutional. That is now a matter of settled law. You swore an oath to defend the Constitution as a Senator and a separate oath for this trial. To vote not guilty based on that argument would be a violation of both of those oaths as you would be engaging in jury nullification which is a violation of those oaths.

If you try to make a specious first amendment argument, you know that is not correct either. Freedom of speech is not absolute. You know that both “fighting words” (Chaplinsky v New Hampshire) and the “clear and present danger” (Schenck v US) exceptions both apply here. Trump’s words claiming that the election were stolen and that his followers must fight for him began long before the election. They were intended to incite a breach of the peace which is the legal criterion from the Chaplinsky case. It was obvious that Trump’s rhetoric both on social media and in the real world presented a clear and present danger. Five people are dead. They were erecting gallows for the express purpose to hang Mike Pence. People who were inspired by Trump’s rhetoric had already planned to kidnap and assassinate at least one Governor.

A legislator from Iowa once said: “The true tragedy in this case is the collapse of the president’s moral authority. “ “…I took an a special oath along with 99 other United State senators to ‘do impartial justice.’ In the spirit of the that oath, I have worked to achieve an impeachment court that emulates the courtroom as much as possible. And that means leaving Republican and Democratic labels at the door of the Senate as we seek the truth and make sure the President gets a fair trial.”

What will it be Senator from Iowa – will you leave your party affiliation at the door and seek the truth in a court room about President Trump?

I hope that you do, because if you apply the IOKIYAR adage, then I leave you with another quote from a young Senator from Iowa just over 20 years ago.

“…There is the issue of the poor example the president’s actions serve for the Nation, especially for our youth. Is it now OK to lie because the president does it?”

Except the new question will be “is it OK to attempt a coup to overturn a free and fair election, assassinate the Vice President, threaten to murder Congresspeople because you voted that it was not a high crime that would prevent that person from future office?”

February 9, 2021

Corporations and "conservative" pretzel logic

As I was contemplating the lawsuits against Giuliani, and the Fox News hosts over defamation -- I had read that for DEFAMATION type lawsuits, corporations like Dominion are not treated as people.

BUT -- Citizens United says that for the purposes of influencing elections with gazillions of dollars -- they are people.

Just trying how to understand how someone who claims to go by what the writers intended could have such views without cognitive dissonance causing their heads to go all "Scanners" and explode.

January 20, 2021

Broidy pardon must be challenged

I would bet that Broody paid for Trump's abortion and claimed the kid was his. I'll bet he was promised a pardon to cover everything up.

A pardon must not be used in the furtherence of a crime by the president. Bribery statutes should also apply. Needs to be challenged in court and clarified by US SC.