Month: February 2021

I have wrote often how I believe that “those in the know” have abandoned small business owners with incessant recurrent lockdowns. This abandonment has led to the turning of another entire group of innocent bystanders into victims. Are there more unfortunate groups of similar victims? Without question the answer is a resounding, “yes!”

The group that immediately comes to mind is school children. Without question they been abandoned, and to me, what is worse, is that there does not seem to be any plan on how to proceed. It’s one thing to lock kids out of school, but “Come on, man . . . have a plan!” Back in March, 2020, Congressman Devin Nunes (R,CA) said that it was a mistake to not open schools. But in California, listening to a Republican is a big no-no, and so our elite Governor went his own way, and now close to a year later, the school children are still abandoned.

However, there is another very large group that has been abandoned with close to zero fanfare . . . college students. The following are excerpts from a NYT article that is mainly focused on college students in Europe, but here in the USA, things are no different.

From 2/14/21 NYT:

With curfews, closures and lockdowns in European countries set to drag into the spring or even the summer, mental health professionals are growing increasingly alarmed about the deteriorating mental state of young people, who they say have been among the most badly affected by a world with a foreshortened sense of the future.

Last in line for vaccines and with schools and universities shuttered, young people have borne much of the burden of the sacrifices being made largely to protect older people, who are more at risk from severe infections. But the resilience of youth may be overestimated, mental health professionals say.

“Many feel they’re paying the price not of the pandemic, but of the measures taken against the pandemic,” said Dr. Nicolas Franck, the head of a psychiatric network in Lyon, France. In a survey of 30,000 people that he conducted last spring, young people ranked the lowest in psychological well-being, he said.

The lasting effects on suicide rates, depression and anxiety are still being measured, but in interviews, a dozen mental health experts in Europe painted a grim picture of a crisis that they say should be treated as seriously as containing the virus.

“We are in the midst of a mental health pandemic, and I don’t think it’s treated with near enough respect,” said Arkadius Kyllendahl, a psychotherapist in London who has seen the number of younger clients double in recent months.

This issue is not confined to Europe.

In the United States, a quarter of 18- to 24-year-olds said they had seriously considered suicide, one report said. In Latin America and the Caribbean, a survey conducted by UNICEF of 8,000 young people found that more than a quarter had experienced anxiety and 15 percent depression.

And a study conducted last year by the International Labor Organization in 112 countries found that two-thirds of 18- to 29-year-olds could be subject to anxiety and depression.

Do colleges and universities have a plan for this additional abandoned group?

If they do, I am not aware of it.

Not to toot my own horn, but in my book, “The Keneally Chronicles” a small college town in the Southwest had a unique and ingenious plan to deal with the prospective abandonment of both its college students and its small business owners. (Keep in mind that this was written at the beginning of lockdowns, back in the spring of 2020.)

How did that work out? 

Without spoiling it for you, let’s just say, “prescient.”

I actually like tap-dancing. The rhyming movement and the resulting sound is mesmerizing. While tap-dancing is entertaining in an appropriate setting, that setting should not be in political leadership, and especially when it involves the well being of the nation’s school children.

Sleepy Joe told us that he would solve the problem of returning children to school. But how, Joe? Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki’s initial suggestion, on 2/9/21, that “teaching at least one day a week in the majority of schools by day 100” might be enough to clear the bar was met with a torrent of criticism from parents, teachers and administrators. “One day a week!” Every bozo realizes that one day a week would be absurd . . .err, except Psaki, who the next day started to tap dance.

While I do not make a point of listening to CNN, (I never watch CNN), I did see an article from CNN titled:

“Biden’s 100 Day Plan to Reopen Schools Meets With Messy Reality”

(If CNN is critical of Joe’s supposed plan . . . wow!)

The following is from that CNN article:

“CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky stirred the pot last week when she appeared to suggest that schools could safely reopen without teachers getting vaccinated.

“There is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen. And that that safe reopening does not suggest that teachers need to be vaccinated in order to reopen safely,” she said. 

Very quickly the tap-dancing began when on the next day, Psaki said Walensky had been speaking in her “personal capacity,” even though Walensky had made the comments in an official administration Covid briefing.”

Is tap-dancing leadership?

Still from CNN:

“Without clear guidelines for a safe return, an already enormous public health challenge has increasingly become a political messaging contest: Democrats largely argue that reopening decisions should “follow the science” — without clear agreement on what that means — while Republicans have zeroed in on liberal-leaning teachers unions, accusing them of making unreasonable demands on the system.

Biden entered office three weeks ago with a pledge to reopen schools nationwide within his first 100 days in office. It was an ambitious goal from the outset, but that timetable is now in doubt and the parameters for success are muddy.”

It sounds to me that it was easy for Joe to pontificate from his basement, but when he gets on the stage . . . he tap dances.

Again from CNN:

“Nearly a year into the unprecedented national experiment in remote learning in the face of a growing pandemic, millions of children are still at home, with no expected return date. Studies show them falling behind, with low-income or Black and Latino children hurting the worst — but the science is unclear on how, or when, they can safely return to classes, even as some teachers get vaccinated and schools districts work to fit classrooms for reopening. There is scant information on the effects of bringing students back together, in close quarters, could have on the communities they reenter after leaving the building.”

(Keep in mind that this is from CNN.)

Perhaps instead of tap-dancing Psaki and Biden should pay attention to what is actually happening on the real stage.

In Clark County, Nevada, its school district is rushing to reopen schools as soon as humanly possible due to a spike in student suicides. And now, in San Francisco, they’re seeing the same tragedies, which prompted the city to yank its own school board into court in an effort to get kids back in the classroom. These schools have been closed for over a year (via NY Post). In San Francisco, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital has seen a 66 percent increase in the number of suicidal children in the emergency room and a 75 percent increase in youth who required hospitalization for mental health services, the lawsuit said, quoting pediatricians, child psychiatrists and emergency room doctors.

Joe, stop tap-dancing. Stop playing footsie with the teacher’s unions. 

Make a decision that helps the children.

One of the recent readings at church had to do with lepers. Back in the day they were forced to identify themselves by wearing certain types of clothing and in addition they were isolated from the rest of society and often from their family. For those that do not know it, leprosy is caused by a bacteria, and is contagious, although nothing like the present day Covid.

Last night before bed I got to thinking . . . with the present day cancel culture is it possible that in the near future conservatives could be treated similar to how society treated lepers in the past? Think about it, as it’s already happening with movie stars like Gina Carano being fired by Disney. 

I fell asleep and sometime later, I awoke with a start from what most likely was a bad dream, actually a nightmare. Conservatives had been branded on their foreheads with a C. However, the C was not like Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter because it could only be seen with the aid of a special light. In other words the ordinary man on the street would not be able to tell if an individual was a conservative or a liberal, but those in charge could as they had these special lights. Simply by shining that light on the forehead, just above an individual’s glabellum, the C either became apparent or it didn’t, and thus so did the individual’s political views. In my dream these special lights were routinely used at restaurants . . . either there was an available table or there wasn’t. They were used at movie theaters . . . either the movie was sold out or there were still good seats available. 

Preposterous. Could never happen, you say. 

To that I say, if the likes of YouTube, Twitter, or Facebook can now ban an individual for life because of his/her political opinions, it is assuredly coming that a restaurant could easily choose not to serve you because of your political opinions. Scary!

A final word of advice  . . . If someone comes up to you with what looks like a kid’s toy, holds it to your forehead, and says “hold still this won’t hurt a bit” . . . immediately kick him in the groin and run like hell!

Today, 2/15/21, is a big day for both my wife and myself for today at 1:15, we are receiving our second dose of the Moderna Covid vaccine. We are both in the high risk age group, and so “whew!”

Wait! Wait! Hot off the press . . . “The vaccine inoculations scheduled for 2/15/21 in San Diego proper have been cancelled.”

Why? 

Supposedly because of inadequate supply, according to Nathan Fletcher (Dem), Chair of the County Board of Supervisors, who said the pause though unwanted, is not entirely unexpected. He added, “We are confronting a situation with an unstable supply chain . . .” (Oh, I see, it is not Fletcher’s fault, but somebody else’s.) 

What about Todd Gloria (Dem), the mayor of San Diego? Unfortunately I cannot find any comment about this “pause” from our mayor.

What about our Governor, Gavin Newsom (Dem)? Nada from him.

What about our President who told us how wonderful the vaccination process was going to be with his leadership. “Joe, come on, man!”

BTW: apparently there is speculation that the Biden administration might institute travel restrictions on Florida. Does that have anything to do with the vaccination process in Florida? Err, probably not. I know six seniors in Florida, and all have received both of their inoculations. Are these six exceptions?

As the Republican Governor of Florida recently said, “We’ve vaccinated the most people of any state in the age bracket where most of the fatalities occur: age 65 and plus. We have now, reporting about 1.6 million seniors that have received a shot; that’s about 35% of our gigantic senior population, which is almost 4.5 million. We are number one for shots for seniors; 75% of all shots administered in Florida have gone to senior citizens, and the percentages of seniors that have been vaccinated is one of the highest in the country and it continues to grow every day.”

I guess that Florida is apparently not having an “unstable supply chain.” Perhaps Nathan Fletcher should contact the Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, and inquire as to how Florida overcame the “unstable supply chain.”

However perhaps I should not be so harsh on Fletcher, a former Republican turned Democrat, as in general red states have done a better job than blue states in terms of distributing vaccines. 

From the Las Vegas Review Journal:

“Red states have given out more than 5,100 vaccines per 100,000 residents. In blue states, the rate is near 4,900 vaccines per 100,000. That’s from data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of 2/11/21. You can’t blame supply shortages. States have had many more vaccines distributed to them than they’ve administered, according to the CDC.”

What does that author mean when he says, “You can’t blame supply shortages?” . . . He apparently is not aware of the “unstable supply chain” that we have right here in California!

Was there some skulduggery involved in the 2020 presidential election? At this point the answer is seemingly, “no.” The mainstream media is not even bringing the topic up. The 2020 election is a fait accompli . . . there was no deceit; so move on. Hmmm! Go to sleep, America.

In the second impeachment trial, that btw I did not follow, I didn’t hear the “suspicion” of foul play even brought up, and I ask myself, “why?” If the best defense is often a good offense, why wasn’t this possibility being at least alluded to when the entire country, excluding me, is supposedly paying attention?

I do not consider myself a “conspiracy theorist.” But I was suspicious when the New York Post’s October article concerning Hunter Biden and his laptop was “conveniently” banned from just about everything, including Facebook, Google, and YouTube, before the election. Was that a conspiracy? Hmmm!  . . . Go to sleep, America.

On Friday, February 5th, Mike Lindell—Mr. My Pillow—released to America a video entitled Absolute Proof. Therein, he purported to provide irrefutable evidence that both domestic and foreign conspirators fraudulently derailed the 2020 election to unlawfully defeat President Trump and illegally deliver a victory to Joe Biden.

Shortly after hearing about Mr. My Pillow’s video, I listened to it – a scheduled two hour presentation by Mike Lindell about some supposed “funny stuff” with the 2020 election. Keep in mind that in order for me to watch this entire video, I had to stay up to 11 p.m. I haven’t seen 11 pm since Covid started, and I was rightfully concerned that I would be asleep long before the halfway mark. However, much to my surprise, Lindell’s presentation was spellbinding, and I could have easily watched another few hours. It was not so much about truckloads of ballots being brought in at 3am to Detroit, or about selected observers being banned from observing the vote counting, but rather the focus was much more about foreign interference (hacking, etc),especially from China via the Internet,. There was testimony from multiple experts in computer technology. It was very impressive. In fact I was going to watch it again the next day . . . but, oops, it had been taken down. Similar to the article about Hunter Biden’s computer . . .  it disappeared! Again, although I do not consider myself a “conspiracy theorist,” . . . Hmmm!  . . . Go to sleep, America, but not with My Pillow.

Yesterday, 2/13/21, before the innocent verdict, I read an opinion piece on Townhall by Clifford Nichols, an attorney and author. Basically Mr. Nichols had two questions.

First: Is the FBI aware of Mr. My Pillow’s video presentation? If the answer is “no,” why not? If the answer is “yes,” why are we, the public, not aware that they are at least looking into it? Hmmm!  . . . Go to sleep, America.

Second: Is there is there a reason that President’s Trump’s impeachment attorneys did not show Mr. My Pillow’s video presentation in its entirety during the trial?

To close, I would strongly recommend that every American should be able to watch Lindell’s video. It should be reinstated on YouTube, etc.

I would also strongly recommend reading the opinion piece by Cliff Nichols . . . before it also is taken down!

Since my gym closed again for the umpteenth time, I have taken to walking outside on a path at a neighborhood lake. (The fact the gyms are again closed just highlights the ludicrousness of the arbitrary decisions that “those who know best” are making as far as what is okay and what is not okay. The stats that are kept on “outbreaks” have repeatedly demonstrated that gyms are extremely low down on the outbreak risk totem pole.) But, oops, I got distracted! 

Back to my walking outside around the lake. Even though I listen to music, walking can be tedious . . . so I decided to pay attention to how many of those exercising (walkers, joggers, and bikers) were wearing masks. Better yet I decided to keep a count so that I could tell what percent of people exercising outside were wearing a face mask. For the first seven days 27.4% (153/580) of those exercising were wearing a mask. Then after a respite of a few days, I repeated my counting. On the second go-round, 26.3% (39/148) were wearing a face mask. Personally I was amazed at my stats . . . I couldn’t believe that a little more than 25% of outdoor exercisers found it necessary to wear a mask while exercising. I am never within six feet of anybody except for that fraction of a second when a biker whizzes by me. 

But then I read about what’s happening at some of our “Mecca’s of higher learning.” The University of California, Berkeley, this week banned outdoor exercise, masked or not, saying, “The risk is real.” The University of Massachusetts Amherst has banned outdoor walks. It encouraged students to get exercise by “accessing food and participating in twice-weekly Covid testing.”

Keep in mind that these nutcases are our potential future leaders!

What do the real experts say about masking and outdoor exercise?

From the New York Times article by David Leonhardt:

“Prohibiting outdoor activity is unlikely to reduce the spread of the virus, nor is urging people always to wear a mask outdoors.

Dr. Muge Cevik, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, told me. “The small number of cases where outdoor transmission might have occurred,” she wrote on Twitter, “were associated with close interactions, particularly extended duration, or settings where people mixed indoors alongside an outdoor setting.” The new variants of the virus are more contagious, but there is no evidence to suggest they will change this pattern.

“A student walking across campus — let alone a masked student — presents little risk to another student who remains at least six feet away. The same goes for joggers in your neighborhood.”

After reading what the experts say about Covid risk and outdoor exercise, perhaps next I am going to see if the majority of exercising mask-wearers are wearing Cal Berkeley or Amherst sweatshirts.

Was there some “funny stuff” in Detroit’s TCF Center on the night of 11/3 and the early morning hours of 11/4?

The following is from The American Thinker:

Several Republican witnesses claimed that, after the cut-off for ballots arrived in Detroit, Michigan, truckloads of late-arriving ballots showed up at the TCF Center, where votes were being counted.  Immediately after these ballots arrived, President Trump abruptly lost his lead of over 100,000 votes.  The Gateway Pundit website now claims that the TCF Center finally released security footage showing that these witnesses were telling the truth.

The TCF Center was the site of some peculiar activity even before the center was supposed to close to newly submitted ballots.  It was here that Detroit city officials covered windows with cardboard to prevent observers from watching the vote count.  In addition to this violation of the statutory right to observe the vote count, election-observers in Detroit executed sworn affidavits saying they witnessed truckloads of ballots arriving on November 3 at 10:30 P.M. and again on November 4 at 3:30 A.M.  The deadline for new ballots to appear was on November 3 at 8:00 P.M.

Democrats inside and outside the email dismissed these affidavits.  They were the paranoid delusions of partisan fanatics. “They’re lying,” the Dems said.

A security camera video footage from the TCI Center was subsequently requested and received by The Gateway Pundit, which says that the footage revealed that, just as the witnesses said, 50 boxes of ballots arrived at around 3:30 in the morning (actually at 3:25 a.m and again at about 4:25 a.m.)

Recall that in Wayne County (Detroit), 174,000 ballots were counted without being tied to an actual registered voter . . . 

And in Detroit, turnout was 139 percent of registered voters. . . .

And at 6:30 a.m, after voting had ended, Michigan suddenly reported 147,000 votes. An astounding 94 percent went to Joe Biden.

Biden won Michigan by a mere 154,000 votes.

We all know that a Detroit Lion is a professional football player, but we also know that a Detroit Lyin’ is a Michigan Democrat.

For months I have let it be known that I am not a believer in the present  overall status of masks, and the unproven dictum that masks are the solution to the coronavirus pandemic. These days just about everybody is sporting some sort of facial covering and yet the cases of Covid have not decreased or stopped. The “know-it-alls” are incessantly preaching that “cases are increasing because not everybody is wearing a mask,” but could it be that  “those who know everything” actually know nothing. (Okay perhaps “nothing” is a bit harsh. How about “not much” instead?)

My objections to the standard conclusion that mask wearing is the panacea to Covid have been threefold:

First not all masks are being worn correctly. 

Second, the wearing of masks is encouraging noncompliance in social distancing standards. Again here my standard example is Costco or Walmart.

Third, many things that are not masks are being worn as if they are as effective as masks. 

As best I can tell, the CDC was supposed to out with guidelines on the efficacy of individual masks . . . possibly like a rating system similar to the one for sunscreens, but so far . . . nada.

However the CDC did just come out with new data.

From Townhall:

(the bold type and underlining are my additions for emphasis)

This new data underscored the importance of wearing  a mask correctly and making sure it fits closely and snuggly over your nose and mouth. In this new study researchers used experiments in the laboratory, not the real world, to access different strategies to improve the different fits of masks impacts a mask’s ability to block aerosolized particles emitted during a simulated cough as well as to reduce exposure to aerosol particles emitted during simulating breathing.

“I want to be clear that these new scientific data released today do not change the specific recommendations on who should wear a mask and when they should wear one. But they do provide new information on why wearing a well fitting mask is important,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.

The CDC has new recommendations on how to improve mask fit:

“This includes wearing a mask with a moldable nose wire, knotting the ear loops on your mask, or wearing a cloth mask over a disposal mask”

Well this is a whole new ballgame. It appears that it is not wearing a mask per se, but wearing a “tight fitting” mask that is the important thing. Now this makes sense.

Perhaps now the new line we will be hearing from “those that know best” will sound something like this:

“The Covid cases are increasing because people are either not double masking or are not wearing tight fitting masks.”

On 2/9/21 I sent out a link to a Townhall piece by Dennis Prager which was  harshly critical of the medical profession because of their position on the use of hydroxychloroquine for Covid. Mr. Prager did not pull any punches in his article. One of those on my master mailing list apparently did not appreciate me sending that link to him, as he has a long-standing view that anything which is complementary to the use of the drug, hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of Covid is verboten. Shortly after I had sent out the link, he fired back with a long commentary about how the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat early Covid was basically heresy, and implied that anyone who thought otherwise should be burnt at the stake. [Let’s be clear here. I have never prescribed hydroxychloroquine although this drug was used by physicians in my book (The Keneally Chronicles) – with good results, I might add.]

When I asked him about his familiarity with Dennis Prager, I received another bazooka-like response with no comment as to his familiarity with Dennis Prager . . . nada, so I can only assume that he is not familiar with Dennis Prager. Who Dennis Prager is, and what he stands for.

There are multiple important issues here:

First off, I have a single email master list. I do not have a list titled “for pro-hydroxychloroquine readers only.” In the past I have had to delete someone from my master mailing list because they did not want to get any more political stuff. “Sorry Charlie, I have one master list. If you do not want to read political emails, do not open them.” I then deleted him from my master email list, and I have to assume that we both are now happy. Another guy objected to an email that was critical of Democrats. He was offended as he proclaimed “I am a Democrat.” He is no longer on my master list, but has been repositioned to my Ken/Karen email list. To my anti-hydroxychloroquine reader, “Sorry to have offended you. I will do my best to remove you from my master list.”

However, there are much more important issues with that Dennis Prager piece than whether or not hydroxychloroquine works for Covid. For me the entire hydroxychloroquine issue is basically a political issue. The left apparently felt that it had to attack the use of hydroxychloroquine, because Donald Trump spoke favorably of its use. Any of Dr. Fauci’s “do a prospective study” of the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine were cancelled. (Note: As best as I know, all prospective studies on the use of hydroxychloroquine in early Covid were cancelled because “physicians should not use a drug for an off-label indication and all drugs have potential side-effects.”) This is just an example of “true, true, but unrelated.” Drugs are used for off-label indications all the time … at least they used to be in the USA that I knew. True, all drugs have potential side-effects, however in many many parts of the world hydroxychloroquine is sold over the counter without a prescription. When I was prescribed this same drug for malaria prophylaxis, I was told how to take it, but was not warned of any “potentially serious side-effects.” Hmmm! Why was that? Could it have been because the risk of a serious side-effect was minuscule?

There is a group of physicians right here in what I thought was the USA that advocate for the use of hydroxychloroquine in early Covid. Their YouTube videos have been taken down. (I guess that now licensed physicians cannot speak freely about their own personal medical experiences if it “offends” YouTube/Google.) What’s worse is that here in what I thought used to be the USA, the governors of some states have “commanded” that the pharmacists in their states not fill any prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine if it is to be used for the treatment of Covid. (I thought that I lived in a country where the relationship between the patient and their physician was somewhat sacred and protected . . . I guess I missed the memo that I had moved to Venezuela!)

Now back to Dennis Prager, who I can only assume was unknown to my anti-hydroxychloroquine reader. For those who are unaware, Mr. Prager runs an educational website called Prager University. Multiple Prager U videos have been blocked and taken down (censored) by YouTube because they have been deemed to contain material that YouTube said was “inappropriate” for younger audiences. Were they inappropriate because of porn? No, rather they were deemed offensive because they promoted conservative values. More than 50 PragerU videos which have either been “restricted” or “demonetized” by Google/YouTube. The PragerU videos range on various subjects presenting a conservative point of view, and include a video by noted Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz on the founding of Israel. PragerU has compiled a complete list of their restricted videos which  includes: “Why America Must Lead,” “The Ten Commandments: Do Not Murder,” “Why Did America Fight the Korean War,” and “The World’s Most Persecuted Minority: Christians.” 

If these are the type of Prager videos that have been deemed offensive by the likes of Facebook, YouTube, and Google, just imagine what will happen to Prager’s anti-hydroxychloroquine piece if anyone tries to post it on Facebook.

In summation the hydroxychloroquine issue is really not about whether or not it works for early Covid, but rather it is about who is allowed to speak freely today in America. And more importantly what an individual in America is allowed to say if it somehow offends those who are in control.

Is this still America ?

Chiefs win Super Bowl.
Final score 32-31.
Gained 23 points overnight.
But the 23 points at 4:00 AM did NOT constitute “widespread” cheating and there is “no evidence” of cheating. Further, an elected official in Kansas City “certified” the victory of the Chiefs, and the NFL front office went along with that certification. When Brady objected, he was told that he has “no standing” to complain. Then all the media sports writers as a mob did a gang up and pile on and accused Brady of lying, bad sportsmanship, and hurting the NFL and said he should be quiet and go away. Some hot dogs were thrown at the referees, and because Brady told his team to “fight” he was accused of “inciting” the hot dog throwing, but later there was video showing that the hot dogs were thrown by some Chiefs fans. YouTube and Twitter banned & removed all content about Brady or the game. And the NFL accused Brady of cheating. The NFL declared that Brady should never play football again.

R.K.

2/9/21