Month: October 2020

The other day I happened to read two different articles that basically advocated two diametrically opposed points of view. One point of view was spoken by “someone who knows best.”  The second article was about the actions of some of those who have been the recipients of various diktats from those who know best.

First the latter (from NY Post):

About 20 residents protested outside Greeley, Colo.-based Fairacres Manor on Oct. 8, many in wheelchairs, holding signs that read:

“Prisoners in our own home” and “Give us freedom.”

One sign read: “We want families back.”

The most heart-wrenching sign read: “Rather die from COVID than loneliness,”

Presently the residents are able to see visitors but they must maintain the proper amount of social distancing and can’t have any physical contact.

Resident Council President Sharon Peterson, 75, worked with resident Josie Sanchez, 76, in organizing the demonstration.

“We want to see our families,” said Peterson, according to the Greeley Tribune. “We miss the hugs. We don’t like the distancing anymore.”

“They want to be able to hug their grandchildren, they want to be able to hold the hands of their loved ones,” said Ben Gonzales, an assistant administrator at Fairacres. Residents are able to see visitors, but have to stay 6 feet apart and can’t have any physical contact.

Democratic Colorado Governor Jared Polis responded:

“We absolutely understand how difficult it has been for residents of residential care facilities and their families. Social interaction is essential to physical and mental health and so we have provided guidance to residential care facilities that allows for that interaction while also keeping residents safe from COVID-19.” Blah, blah, blah . . . I know best!

Meanwhile “I know best,” Dr. Fauci weighed in on Thanksgiving (NY Post):

With Thanksgiving around the corner, Dr. Anthony Fauci issued a dire warning about the surging coronavirus cases around the country — saying “You may have to bite the bullet and sacrifice that social gathering, unless you’re pretty certain that the people that you’re dealing with are not infected,”

Here he is warning families who have not seen each other because of distance to continue to not see each other. In some situations the “better to be safe than sorry” option may be best, but I am traveling to see family for Thanksgiving.

BTW: No, I am not traveling to Colorado.

Because the list of President Trump’s accomplishments is so long, a single blog listing them would be way too long. Therefore, I am going to divide his list of accomplishments into multiple parts.

Please forward each of these to your entire email mailing list:

Secured $250 billion in new trade and investment deals in China and $12 billion in Vietnam.

Okay’d up to $12 billion in aid for farmers affected by unfair trade retaliation.

Has had over a dozen US hostages freed, including those Obama could not get freed.

Trump signed the Music Modernization Act, the biggest change to copyright law in decades.

Trump secured billions that will fund the building of a wall at our southern border.

The Trump Administration is promoting second chance hiring to give former inmates the opportunity to live crime-free lives and find meaningful employment.

Trump’s DOJ and the Board Of Prisons launched a new “Ready to Work Initiative” to help connect employers directly with former prisoners.

President Trump’s historic tax cut legislation included new Opportunity Zone Incentives to promote investment in low-income communities across the country.

8,764 communities across the country have been designated as Opportunity Zones.

Opportunity Zones are expected to spur $100 billion in long-term private capital investment in economically distressed communities across the country.

Trump directed the Education Secretary to end Common Core.

Trump signed the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund into law.

Trump signed measure funding prevention programs for Veteran suicide.

Companies have brought back over a TRILLION dollars from overseas because of the TCJA bill that Trump signed.

Wink, wink! Nod, nod! 

Just read something that is good news for the Democrats with the election less than three weeks away.

Apparently two members of Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign have tested positive for coronavirus. The Biden campaign statement says the two staffers are a flight crew member and Harris’ communications director. The two staffers are the first coronavirus cases Biden’s campaign has confirmed among its staff. Both Biden and Harris have tested negative for the disease since learning of the infections, according to Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon.

No, that is not the good news. as I do not wish this infection on anybody. 

So, you might ask, “What is the good news for the Dems?”

The good news for the Dems is that Sleepy Joe’s running mate, KA-mala Harris is going to halt travel and campaigning for three days. That means that any scheduled campaign appearances over the next three days by KA-mala will need.to be cancelled . . . and that can only be good news for the Dems as she is not a good speaker. Likewise any scheduled personal appearances in the next three days will also need to be cancelled . . . and that can only be good news for the Dems as KA-mala is not very likable.

The only better thing for the Dems would have been for KA-mala to quarantine herself prior to the VP debate, which was a real ouchie for the Dems.

Now that President Trump has had Covid, and seemingly has recovered, just think of the Dem’s panic if Sleepy Joe were to come down with the virus now  …. as that would mean that potentially KA-mala would indeed be actually running for President if their 78 year old candidate were to succumb to Covid.

Without going into details, why is she even on the ticket? 

At around noon on 10/15, during his fourth campaign rally in less than seventy-two hours, President Trump referred to Joe Biden as perhaps the worst candidate for President . . . Ever!

I will double down on what President Trump said:

The ticket of Biden/Harris is perhaps the worst Presidential/Vice Presidential ticket … EVER!

Another challenge? Why would President Trump agree to do a Townhall on MSNBC? After all MSNBC is a notoriously anti-Trump cable TV station. Everyone on the Trump team must have realized that MSNBC would attempt to ambush the President. He knew that he was going to be ambushed. Certainly it was going to be a challenge, and when has President Trump ever backed downed from a challenge? He seemed quite ready for the ambush. 

Certainly a Townhall on MSNBC would attract a number of typical MSNBC viewers, and in addition a Townhall like this would attract millions of viewers who would never watch MSNBC (like me). The potential for high ratings was there, and even though I do not know yet what the ratings showed, I would guess that the Trump-Townhall on MSNBC did better than the simultaneous Biden-Townhall on ABC.

I will say that I thought that the questions from the audience were fair and reasonable. The questioners were black, White, and Hispanic. The questioners were by their own admittance pro-Trump, pro-Biden, and undecided. Of course, I thought that the President did quite well in answering all the questions from those in the audience.

However, the “moderator” (Savannah somebody) was unbelievably biased and aggressive. Right from the git-go she was on the attack, thus giving a new definition to the word, “moderator.” I think that this was beneficial to the President as after the first few minutes, as he did not have to be worried about a sneak-attack. It was a head on assault from Savannah. Even when Mr. Trump was answering a question from the audience, the “moderator” was interrupting.

Overall, I’ll bet that Trump answered many much more difficult questions on MSNBC than Biden on ABC. He did not lose his temper . . . meaning that he did not bite on the MSNBC ambush hook – he did not take the bait.

I think that in the end, the President did quite well and probably picked up voters who were watching MSNBC, no less.

Because the list of President Trump’s accomplishments is so long, a single blog listing them would be way too long. Therefore, I am going to divide his list of accomplishments into multiple parts.

Please forward each of these to your entire email mailing list:

The tax cuts signed into law by President Trump promote school choice by allowing families to use 529 college savings plans for elementary and secondary education.

Under his leadership ISIS has lost most of their territory and been largely dismantled.

ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was killed.

Signed the first Perkins CTE reauthorization since 2006, authorizing more than $1 billion for states each year to fund vocational and career education programs.

Executive order expanding apprenticeship opportunities for students and workers.

Trump issued an Executive Order prohibiting the U.S. government from discriminating against Christians or punishing expressions of faith.

Signed an executive order that allows the government to withhold money from college campuses deemed to be anti-Semitic and who fail to combat anti-Semitism.

President Trump ordered a halt to U.S. tax money going to international organizations that fund or perform abortions.

Trump imposed sanctions on the socialists in Venezuela who have killed their citizens.

Finalized new trade agreement with South Korea.

Made a deal with the European Union to increase U.S. energy exports to Europe.

Withdrew the U.S. from the job killing TPP deal.

I just read an interesting article on Townhall by Matt Vespa that spoke of metrics that in the past have been quite good at predicting Presidential elections. He was quoting David Chapman who had compiled a thread that cuts through a lot of the poll B.S.

The following is about different metrics and is from Chapman’s Twitter account:

Bad economies:

Historically, the incumbent party is 12-11 when facing re-election during an economic downturn. Ergo this metric appears neutral.

Incumbents and primaries:

Speaking of incumbents, Chapman added, “no incumbent who has received at least 75% of the primary vote has lost re-election. Donald Trump received 94% of the primary vote, which is the 4th highest all-time. Higher than Eisenhower, Nixon, Clinton, and Obama.”

I can hear you countering that Trump wasn’t actually running against anybody of any import, so of course he was going to win a high percent of the primary vote. However what is noteworthy is that even though the primary was basically non-competitive, Trump set a record for most primary votes received by an incumbent with 18.1M. (The previous record was held by Bill Clinton with 9.7M primary votes.)

Covid 19: (The biggest issue in the campaign is Covid-19.)

There has been 11 Incumbents to face a pandemic during re-election. The incumbent is 11-0 (1820-present).

Other bad stuff going on:

Three times in history America has faced a pandemic, recession, and civil unrest during an election year. The incumbent party is 3-0 in those elections,” 

Experience in Congress:

No one who served 15 years in the Senate has ever become president. Joe Biden has served 36 years (nearly four decades).

Google Searches:

Since 2004, the candidate that led in google searches has won the election. Trump leads Biden in google searches by a ratio of 3 to 1. 

Strength of Support:

Pew gives Trump a 20 pt advantage in strength of support. The leader in this poll has won every election since 1964.

Voter Enthusiasm (in my view enthusiasm is the key metric):

An ABC poll shows Trump with a 19-point enthusiasm advantage. Every candidate who held the edge in voter enthusiasm since 1988 has won the election.

Last night I wanted to see for myself what Trump looked like and how he was acting after his Covid infection, so I watched the Johnstown, Pa Trump rally . . . I watched the entire rally, from him getting off Air Force One to him getting back on Air Force One. 

In my honest non-biased opinion, the President looked very good. He had spunk. His speech was close to one hour and it was a typical Trump speech. He was quite energetic. The crowd was energetic and huge.

So in conclusion, especially from the viewpoint of voter enthusiasm, despite what the polls are showing, Trump will win a second term, and may God bless America.

Before I start with the real message of this piece . . . Who can tell me the top hits by Tears For Fears ? (Answer at the end.)
Here in California we have a cockamamie, confusing, and arbitrary system of color-coded tiers curtesy of our enlightened Governor. These tiers are in place to signify what level of punishment in the forms of restrictions that each individual county is subjected to.If anybody has a hotline to Governor Gavin Newsom, tell him that perhaps he should be reading what follows here as it appears that his so-called “tier system” in California is not the wisest thing, despite what “those in the know” (his “advisors”) say.
Now for the real news: (From Townhall)The World Health Organization (WHO) has changed its position on government lockdowns as a measure for combating the Wuhan coronavirus. The WHO now believes that lockdowns have unintended consequences and should be avoided.
“We in the World Health Organization do not advocate lockdowns as the primary means of control of this virus,” Dr. David Nabarro, the WHO’s Special Envoy on Covid-19 said. Dr. Nabarro then cited some of the harmful negative consequences of prolonged lockdowns that conservatives and President Trump have been warning about for months. 
This statement from WHO comes following The Great Barrington Declaration.
For those not aware, The Great Barrington Declaration is a statement by >3500 infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists who have grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies, and recommend an approach they call Focused Protection. “Coming from both the left and right, and around the world, we have devoted our careers to protecting people. Current lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health. The results (to name a few) include lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings and deteriorating mental health – leading to greater excess mortality in years to come, with the working class and younger members of society carrying the heaviest burden. Keeping students out of school is a grave injustice.“Keeping these measures in place until a vaccine is available will cause irreparable damage, with the underprivileged disproportionately harmed.”
The Great Barrington Declaration also addresses herd immunity:“As immunity builds in the population, the risk of infection to all – including the vulnerable – falls. We know that all populations will eventually reach herd immunity – i.e.  the point at which the rate of new infections is stable – and that this can be assisted by (but is not dependent upon) a vaccine. Our goal should therefore be to minimize mortality and social harm until we reach herd immunity. “The most compassionate approach that balances the risks and benefits of reaching herd immunity, is to allow those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk.”
Those who have read by blogs before realize that now the WHO and The Great Barrington Declaration agree with what I have been saying for months. . . . Nuff said!!

BTW: the top hits by Tears For Fears are:

-Everybody Wants to Rule the World

-Shout

-Head Over Heels

At the present time in the Boston area there are towns where not only is in-person schooling prohibited, but also youth sports are prohibited. As many of you may or may not realize New Hampshire and Vermont are very close to the Boston area. People who had lived in the Boston area have now relocated to Vermont because Vermont has in-person schooling and, just as important to some, a modified variety of youth sports. Boys in Vermont can play seven-man competitive touch football and other outdoor sports, whereas most, if not all, sports are prohibited in Massachusetts. “Is it insanity to believe that the coronavirus cannot or does not cross over the Massachusetts-Vermont state border?”

Similarly just over the New Hampshire-Massachusetts state border playing youth basketball games is allowed, whereas in the Boston area it is “prohibito!” So of course what happens? Multiple,multiple, multiple  carloads of youth basketball players and parents drive over the border into New Hampshire to play basketball. “Is it insanity to believe that a state border somehow prevents the coronavirus from crossing over?”

I have known about this Massachusetts lunacy for a while, but figured that it was just an East Coast thing. However today I read an article in my local newspaper which showed me how wrong I was to attribute this unusual way of thinking about youth sports to the East Coast. (“Come on, man!” . . . We in California can out liberal-think you anytime.) 

In California youth soccer teams are now renting fields in Arizona in order to host league games. The major difference here is that the distance is much further that from Boston across the state lines to where it is “safe” to play sports. (From San Diego to Phoenix is 355 miles … to Tucson 407 miles … to Yuma, a mere 172 miles.) Youth soccer teams that practice a few miles from one another in San Diego now have to travel hundreds of miles to play each other. “Is it insanity to think that the California-Arizona border is impervious to the coronavirus?”

However youth soccer is not alone. AAU basketball tournaments (LA & Las Vegas) have moved across the border to St. George, Utah. “Is it insanity to think … etc?”

The top youth lacrosse players are now playing in Salt Lake City. “Is it insanity to think … etc?”

“Freak Show Wrestling” with 3500 entrants has moved from Las Vegas to Idaho. “Is it insanity to think … etc?”

Interesting, but not surprising: the states that are clamping down on youth sports are blue states. 

Warning:

If Biden is elected, look for nationwide clampdowns on just about everything from youth sports to pre-schools. The only ones likely to benefit if Sleepy Joe crawls across the finish line first are contractors . . . specifically those that are into designing basements.

For the past few weeks, I have not been emphatically and enthusiastically trumpeting Donald Trump in the upcoming election. Mea culpa. However in my defense I believe that was a gaslighting victim. For those who are not familiar with the term “gaslighting” (including me, the victim), read the following from Psychology Today:

Gaslighting is a tactic in which a person or entity, in order to gain more power, makes a victim question their reality. Victims of gaslighting are deliberately and systematically fed false information that leads them to question what they know to be true.

I admit that since the Presidential debate on 9/29, I have fallen victim to MSM’s gaslighting tactics. Granted the debate wasn’t a ballet, but rather more like a street fight. Subsequently I was led to believe that America felt sorry for old man Joe and Americans were criticizing the President for taking advantage. Then there was some poll that said that older individuals were strongly leaning to Sleepy Joe. Then the general polls showed Biden’s lead increasing to +11 up to +14. Which polls? I do not know . . . but I was manipulated and fell victim (I was gaslighted!) Then the President tested positive for Covid, and I think I hit bottom.

However, starting on 10/9 I could feel myself coming out of the doldrums. My recovery started with listening to the President answering questions on the Rush Limbaugh Radio Show. Mr. Trump sounded perky and energized just like his old self. Then I read a piece by Daniel Bobinski, M.Ed. who is a certified behavioral analyst, best-selling author, corporate trainer, executive coach, and columnist. He predicts that Trump will win in a landslide, basically because of the overwhelming enthusiasm of Trump supporters. (He also predicts that Biden will not concede, and chaos, confusion, and rioting will follow and that this conflagration will be fueled by the Dems.) Forget the post-election stuff, and just concentrate on “Trump will win!”

And to make my gaslighting-recovery complete, today I read various polls which  predict Trump winning in multiple crucial states including Florida, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. No, I do not know which polls these were, but at this point, I do not care, as my recovery is complete. MAGA!

Because the list of President Trump’s accomplishments is so long, a single blog listing them would be way too long. Therefore, I am going to divide his list of accomplishments into multiple parts.

Please forward each of these to your entire email mailing list:

Trump signed legislation forgiving Hurricane Katrina debt that threatened HBCUs.

New single-family home sales are up 31.6% in October 2019 compared to just one year ago.

Made HBCUs a priority by creating the position of executive director of the White House Initiative on HBCUs.

 Trump received the Bipartisan Justice Award at a historically black college for his criminal justice reform accomplishments.

The poverty rate fell to a 17-year low of 11.8% under the Trump administration as a result of a jobs-rich environment.

Poverty rates for African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans have reached their lowest levels since the U.S. began collecting such data.

President Trump signed a bill that creates five national monuments, expands several national parks, adds 1.3 million acres of wilderness, and permanently reauthorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Trump’s USDA committed $124 Million to rebuild rural water infrastructure.

[Prior to the unexpected coronavirus pandemic] Consumer confidence & small business confidence is at an all time high.

[Prior to the unexpected coronavirus pandemic]  More than 7 million jobs created since election.

[Prior to the unexpected coronavirus pandemic]  More Americans were employed than ever recorded before in our history.

More than 400,000 manufacturing jobs created since his election.

Trump appointed five openly gay ambassadors.

Trump ordered Ric Grenell, his openly gay ambassador to Germany, to lead a global initiative to decriminalize homosexuality across the globe.

Through Trump’s Anti-Trafficking Coordination Team (ACTeam) initiative, Federal law enforcement more than doubled convictions of human traffickers and increased the number of defendants charged by 75% in ACTeam districts.

In 2018, the Department of Justice (DOJ) dismantled an organization that was the internet’s leading source of prostitution-related advertisements resulting in sex trafficking.

Trump’s OMB published new anti-trafficking guidance for government procurement officials to more effectively combat human trafficking.

Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations arrested 1,588 criminals associated with Human Trafficking.

Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services provided funding to support the National Human Trafficking Hotline to identify perpetrators and give victims the help they need.The hotline identified 16,862 potential human trafficking cases.

Trump’s DOJ provided grants to organizations that support human trafficking victims – serving nearly 9,000 cases from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018.

The Department of Homeland Security has hired more victim assistance specialists, helping victims get resources and support.

President Trump has called on Congress to pass school choice legislation so that no child is trapped in a failing school because of his or her zip code.

The President signed funding legislation in September 2018 that increased funding for school choice by $42 million.