Month: March 2021

Finally, somewhat stepped up and confronted the powerful teacher’s unions – in Massachusetts, nonetheless! The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) finally drew the line on kids going back to school in April.

From Boston 25 News:

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education met and voted 8-3 on 3/5/21 to authorize Massachusetts Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley to put a timeline on ending remote and hybrid learning.

Finally a state has the kahunas to say enough is enough.

In response to the vote Friday evening, Massachusetts’s Governor Baker released a statement:

“Learning in the classroom is the best and safest place for students to be with proper safety protocols, and our administration is pleased that the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education took this step to get more kids back into the classroom. The data is clear that students learning in the classroom can be done safely and it is vital to their emotional and intellectual health. We are grateful for the Board’s support and look forward to getting all students back to in person learning soon.”

Back in the summer, the Massachusetts school districts were required to come up with three plans: remote, hybrid and in-person learning, so schools should already have a plan in place if to return to having students in the classroom. Finally, no more delaying as a plan to return students to the classroom should already be in  place.

The details, still from Boston 25 News:

Districts must offer full-time, in-person learning five days a week for kindergarten through fifth grade by April 5, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Commissioner Jeff Riley announced Tuesday. The deadline to begin full, in-person learning for sixth through eighth grade is April 28.

The state has not yet set a date for a full return for high-schoolers, saying only that the timeline will be announced in April, with at least two weeks of notice.

The regulations released Tuesday, 3/10, are “legally binding,” DESE writes, adding that districts that do not comply and do not obtain a waiver from the state “will be required to make up any missed structured learning time.” That may include summer school or additional lessons next school year.

FINALLY ! No more stalling!

Only two questions:

1. What took them so long to finally put on their big-boy pants?
2. California are you listening?

(BTW: Parents may still choose to keep their children remote for the rest of the school year.) 

I just read a front page article in my local Sunday “newspaper” that in a way infuriated me. The piece was titled, “Many Families of Color Wary of Return to School.” With that title, I initially optimistically had thought that there was going to be some educating of those who are reluctant to return their kids to school. Educate them as to what the statistics are as far as kids getting Covid at school and then bringing it home. Wrong! No such stats, and therefore no educating of anyone.

I also thought that there would be some encouraging stats on how impressively well kids do when they are exposed to and come down with the virus. Oops, wrong again! No such stats were presented, and thus no educating of the readers.

I also erroneously assumed that it would be pointed out that it is the poorer families, mainly those of color, whose kids are disproportionately adversely effected by being forced to do Zoom school. In fact this was mentioned at the end of the article, but was pooh-poohed in a quote from the CEO of the Chicano Federation, who went off on a non-related tangent about discrepancies in education that existed long before Covid. True as far as educational discrepancies in the past, but not related to the subject matter at hand.

Next were the individual stories from parents concerning their fears of getting sick from Covid. Interestingly members of a few of these families had already had Covid and had recovered. This would have been the perfect opportunity to educate these families (as well as all of the readers) that their chance of getting Covid a second time is minuscule. Again no such attempt to educate.

The final disappointing straw that broke the back of the non-education scenario involved the vaccine. The author comprehensively noted the Covid stats in San Diego County for Hispanics, Blacks, and Whites. It is certainly true that the Hispanic population has had a higher percent of the county’s Covid cases (56%), and a higher percent of the county’s Covid related deaths (43%) compared to the percent of Latinos (38%) living in the county. However, while Latinos make up 38% of the population, they have only received 17% of the vaccinations. Why is that? Perhaps another perfect time to educate the readers, especially the Hispanic readers, on how safe and effective these various vaccines are at preventing Covid, and even more so at preventing Covid-related hospitalizations and Covid deaths. But no . . . another education fumble. 

Parenthetically, perhaps this would have been the perfect opportunity for the same CEO of the Chicano Federation, Nancy Maldonado, to spread the vaccine-safety and vaccine-effectiveness word to Chicanos, and maybe demonstrate that by receiving her vaccine with a fanfare of publicity.

To me, without question this pandemic has had devastating effects on many families of color, but now is the time to educate these families so that their kids can get back to school. Publicize the statistics that should help overcome their Covid-school fears. Why do I not see anything like this in our newspapers?

3/10/21

These are Covid tidbits that you will not read in your “newspaper:”

• In some places they are using specially trained dogs to detect Covid. These dogs have a 94% accuracy in both symptomatic and asymptomatic Covid positive individuals. They are being used in airports in Helsinki, Finland and Santiago, Chile and also in Dubai. In the US these dogs have been used at Miami Heat basketball games.
• The Czech Republic and Slovakia have just approved using Ivermectin by prescription as treatment in hospitalized Covid patients who are over eighteen years old. Ivermectin (Huvemec) comes in 3mg size tablets. The dose is 0.2 mg/kg/day on days 1, 3, and 5, with a maximum daily dose of 24 mg. They have not seen any safety issues with this regime. It is not to be used in pregnancy. This Ivermectin approval is for six months.

YouTube has removed President Trump’s CPAC speech from it’s platform. This is the latest infringement on free speech. The Social Media giants, including Facebook,YouTube, and Google had been suppressing free speech  since prior to November 2020 in order to sway the election outcome. Itworked (allegations against Biden’s son seem to have miraculously disappeared!) Now four months after the November presidential election, we have a “President” who won’t (and possibly can’t) speak without a script. The Social Media giants continue to silence conservative free speech on their platforms because of absurd, made up reasons that, me thinks, translates into spite or perhaps fear.

Actually, I did not listen to Trump’s entire CPAC speech when it was “okay” for me to listen, but since it is now verboten, I have found some clips that will provide everyone with the essence of that speech, and I will provide it for free.

From Townhall:

1- What Trumpism Means

“It means low taxes. It means eliminating job-killing regulations. Trumpism means strong borders, but people coming into our country based on a system of merit so they can come in and help us as opposed to coming here and not being good for us, including criminals.”

TRUMP: “Trumpism means strong borders… no riots in the streets. It means law enforcement. It means very strong protection for the Second Amendment… It means support for the forgotten men and women who have been taken advantage of for so many years” 

2- Not Creating a Third Party

Although there has been growing speculation about President Trump breaking off from the Republican Party and creating his own political party, he said that was not the case.

“I am not starting a new party. That was fake news,” he told the crowd. “Wouldn’t that be brilliant, start a new party and let’s divide our vote so that you can never win? No, we’re not interested in that.” 

TRUMP: “I am not starting a new party. That was fake news”

3- Work to Elect Republican Leaders

The former president has vowed to work to elect Republicans up and down the ticket. 

TRUMP: “I will be actively working to elect strong, tough, and smart Republican leaders.”

4- Take Back Congress and the White House

Trump has the ultimate goal of taking back the House of Representatives, the Senate, and ultimately, the White House. He hinted at another run in 2024.

TRUMP: “With your help we will take back the House, we will win the Senate and then a Republican president will make a triumphant return to the White House. And I wonder who that will be. I wonder who that will be. Who, who, who will that be, I wonder?”

5- Election Integrity

According to Trump, Democrats across the nation used the Wuhan coronavirus to transform the vote by mail system, something the former president said is “illegal” because state legislatures failed to approve the changes.

In order to make elections that are “honest, fair, and accurate,” Trump called for “one Election Day,” which would effectively eliminate early voting. 

“We must pass comprehensive election reforms and do it now,” he explained. 

The former president said the election’s outcome would have changed if those laws and reforms were in place.

TRUMP: Democrats used the China virus as an excuse to change all of the election rules without the approval of their state legislatures… It had a massive impact on the election.”

TRUMP: “We need one Election Day, not 45, 30 — One. Like it’s always been.” 

Trump’s CPAC popular video (4 million views) was supposedly removed because the former president brought up the issue of fraud in the 2020 presidential election. (If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you!)

To me, if there was no truth to the issue of fraud in the election, there would be no reason to ban anyone from talking about it. 

As Queen Gertrude from Shakespeare’s Hamlet said, “[They] doth protest too much, methinks”

(You’re the) Devil in Disguise was a hit song by Elvis Presley back in 1968.

I have always liked Elvis, and lately the lyrics of this song have reminded me of Joe Biden. Is he the “devil in disguise?”

The lyrics go like this:

You look like an angel 

Walk like an angel 

Talk like an angel 

But I got wise…

You’re the devil in disguise

Oh yes you are

The devil in disguise

You fooled me with your kisses

You cheated and you schemed

Heaven knows how you lied to me

You’re not the way you seemed

Why do these lyrics remind me of Joe Biden? Just listen closely to them :

There is little question that Mr. Biden fooled us and schemed us, and for sure he is not the way he seemed. He may have looked like an angel, but he certainly seems like the devil in disguise.

For the many years that I have penned this blog I have not once devoted one to a religious theme. I have not mentioned my religious beliefs in the hundreds of essays that I have written over the years. I have avoided religious themes because I realize that many of my readers are not only not Christian, but some are not religious at all. No problema, as different strokes, etc.

Now while it doesn’t matter to me what an individual believes or doesn’t believe, I do have some standards as to what the titular head of any particular organization says and believes. For instance, if a governor of a state says that those who live in his state should remain in strict lockdown, then he also should remain in strict lockdown. If he subsequently is seen cavorting with his cronies in the restaurant, “French Laundry,”. . . well, my friends, the polite term for that governor is, “a hypocrite.”

What about President Biden? Again from the song’s lyrics: “heaven knows how he lied.” Mr. Biden appears to be the devil in disguise, especially when he loudly proclaims that he is a Catholic, but in reality he is a big proponent of abortion. In fact, he is being considered by some as “the most aggressive antl-Catholic President in history.” 

(https://www.westernjournal.com/priest-declares-joe-biden-aggressively-anti-catholic-president-history/)

Furthermore, while Mr. Biden loudly proclaims that he is a Catholic, from the other side of his mouth he spews the pro-choice, pro-abortion standard lines. In addition to being the devil in disguise, Joe Biden is also like that certain governor, a hypocrite.

Closer to home the nominal head of all Catholics in any area is the Bishop, and likewise that is the case in San Diego where I live. Just like a governor needs to set an example for those who live in his state, a Bishop should set an example in his diocese, otherwise, to my way of thinking, he is also a hypocrite. In January our Bishop came out with a long dissertation praising President Biden, and this was spread throughout the San Diego area. Since then I have questioned the Bishop by email multiple times, about his backing of this pro-abortion President. He has never responded to my concerns about President Biden’s pro-abortion policies. Certainly it is possible that the Bishop does not read his emails, but it is much more likely that he has chosen to ignore me, seemingly like the Catholic Church has chosen the ignore Biden’s pro-abortion policies. 

Like Father Jerry Pokorsky said, the institutional Catholic response to Biden is one of “disarray,” mingling, silence, flattery and now then a little opposition. [To read in detail what Father Pokorsky says and why, look at the following website. (CatholicCulture.org.)]

Father Pokorsky further said the silence is “an anti-sacrament of cowardice and the spiritual treason of collaborating with the enemy.”

I agree 100% with that statement, and likewise I think that it applies to our very silent local Bishop.

The Our Father prayer says “deliver us from evil.” Abortion is one of the major evils of our time. It seems to me that we need someone in our diocese to speak up and deliver us from this evil. Will our Bishop remain sanctimoniously silent, or will he and the Catholic Church, in general, besmirch Joe Biden, the devil in disguise in Washington?

Initially, I thought that it must have been a dream, as it was unusual. It was about Covid, but it was not bad news. It was not about the number of new cases. It was not about the new variants, and how they can potentially make things worse because they are spread more easily. It was not the minute-to-minute tally concerning the steady increase in the number of deaths due to Covid. It was a video from Great Britain in which Dr. John Campbell interviewed a British physician researcher, Dr. Tess Lawrie, about a drug, ivermectin, potentially useful to treat Covid. This drug has been used in billions of patients world wide for about forty years, with relatively very few side effects when taking into account the vast number of individuals who have taken it for various conditions caused by parasitic worms and external parasites like headlice.

The interviewer in the video, Dr. John Campbell, is also British physician. He was initially skeptical of the use of ivermectin in Covid, but as Dr. Lawrie presented her evidence, it was obvious that he was being swayed. I have watched Dr Campbell’s videos frequently throughout the various stages of this pandemic, and he is a stickler for hard evidence … “show me the evidence and the studies, so I can analyze them myself,” is a frequent mantra for Dr. Campbell.

Dr. Lawrie did just that. She presented the results of Randomized Controlled Trials (R.C.T.), Observational Controlled Trials (O.C.T.), and meta-analyses, all about ivermectin and Covid. After she had drawn her own conclusions, she then had two independent research investigators painstakingly go over all the data themselves. The results from all three were remarkably similar – ivermectin cut the death rate from Covid by about seventy to eighty percent. Moreover, it was also remarkably effective when used prophylactically in low doses to prevent Covid in susceptible populations, e.g. health care workers.

From the beginning the  “expert” in the U.S., Dr. Fauci, has said ad nauseum that R.C.T.s were necessary whenever a new treatment option was considered. I would be interested to see what Dr. Fauci’s response would be to the hourlong presentation by Dr. Lawrie, with data mainly from R.CT.s.

In the U.S. some recent comment about ivermectin by the FDA tells the story here … “anyone considering taking ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19: Don’t.”

Let’s be clear. At this point ivermectin is not being used above board in either in Britain or in the U.S., although it is apparently used by many in India and South America, being available over the counter practically everywhere.

To be honest, however, there is one huge problem with ivermectin . . . It is dirt cheap!

(For those of you who are skeptical about ivermectin, I would suggest that you allow ample time, sit down, get a cup of coffee or later in the day, perhaps a beer, and watch this Dr. John Campbell/Dr. Tess Lawrie YouTube video . . . before it is taken down.)

I am certain that this is the first commentary that I have ever written about something that occurred in the small town of Aberdeen, which is in Monroe County, Mississippi. Maybe it could be prescient of things to come.

Perhaps you are asking yourself, “what could possibly have happened in Aberdeen, Mississippi that would be of interest to anybody who doesn’t live in Monroe County, Mississippi ?”

From The Monroe Journal:

“Special Judge Jeff Weill, Sr. of Jackson signed an order Feb. 26 for a new election for Ward 1’s alderman seat, setting up Aberdeen’s second special election scheduling in approximately a month’s time.”

What could possibly have happened to convince a judge to cancel the results of an election? Could it be that something was not on the up-and-up in an election? At this point everyone knows that elections are always honorable and the results are fair, uncorrupted, and righteous because that’s what we have been told now for months.

Is Judge Weill some radical?

Again from the Monroe Journal:

“As another result, Judge Weill ordered a separate bench warrant and order setting bond at $500 for Dallas Jones, who notarized absentee ballots for the election. Court documents state she admitted clear violations of notary duties and furthermore state she assisted a person or persons to vote absentee in violation of Mississippi Code 23-15-753, which pertains to voter fraud.

“The filing also stated testimony from a second notary public, Lu Stephens, was not believable.

“According to court documents, finding of facts in the case included substantial irregularities occurred in accepting/rejecting absentee ballots, including several that should have been rejected. Findings of fact and conclusion also state errors were made in accepting and rejecting challenged ballots.”

OMG!  Let me get this straight, Judge Weill wants us to believe that there was some skullduggery with absentee ballots. Is Judge Weill trying to subvert the will of the people? He must be a Republican, as Republicans are the only ones who think that fraud actually occurs with mail-in and absentee ballots.

Is what just happened in Judge Weill’s courtroom in Aberdeen an indication of things to come? 

Addendum: Although at this point it’s just an unsubstantiated rumor, but my sources tell me that the notaries, Dallas Jones and Lu Stephens, are encouraging Monroe County Democrats to start impeachment proceedings against Judge Weill.

State tuned! 

Right from the gitgo, I do not mean to imply that what you are going to read is happening in all big cities to the same extent that it is happening in Baltimore. The following story is so unbelievable that you are all going to say, “No way! Impossible!” But this story is true.

The following is from Fox 45, BALTIMORE (WBFF) 

“A shocking discovery out of a Baltimore City high school, where Project Baltimore has found hundreds of students are failing. It’s a school where a student who passed three classes in four years, ranks near the top half of his class with a 0.13 grade point average.

“Tiffany France thought her son would receive his diploma this coming June. But after four years of high school, France just learned, her 17-year-old must start over. He’s been moved back to ninth grade.

“France told Project Baltimore. ‘Why would he do three more years in school? He didn’t fail, the school failedhim. The school failed at their job. They failed. They failed, that’s the problem here. They failed. They failed. He didn’t deserve that.’

“France’s son attends Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts in west Baltimore. His transcripts show he’s passed just three classes in four years, earning 2.5 credits, placing him in ninth grade. But France says she didn’t know that until February. She has three children and works three jobs. She thought her oldest son was doing well because even though he failed most of his classes, he was being promoted. His transcripts show he failed Spanish I and Algebra I but was promoted to Spanish II and Algebra II. He also failed English II but was passed on to English III.

In his first three years at Augusta Fells, he failed 22 classes and was late or absent 272 days.

But in those three years, only one teacher requested a parent conference, which France says never happened. No one from the school told France her son was failing and not going to class.” (How is it possible that someone can be absent or tardy 272 days over three years and his mother not realize there is a problem?)

This story is obviously a travesty for this teenager, and his mother, who is not without some guilt here. But it gets worse.

Again from Fox45 in Baltimore:

“In his four years at Augusta Fells, France’s son earned a GPA of 0.13. He only passed three classes, but his transcripts show his class rank is 62 out of 120. This means, nearly half his classmates, 58 of them, have a 0.13 grade point average or lower.”

How can all of these students have been be passed along when they are failing more than half of their classes? If it was just one student, I suppose that one could say that this one student slipped through the cracks, or one could solely blame the mother for not paying attention . . . but 58 in a senior class of 120 students with a GPA of less than 0.14? 

But it gets even worse!

A Project Baltimore investigation has found five Baltimore City high schools and one middle school do not have a single student proficient in the state tested subjects of math and English. Not a single student!!

This is not only unconscionable, but to me this is criminal, as the teachers in these failing schools are getting paid to educate, but that is obviously not happening. Again who’s failing?

Whereas this school system’s failure is a catastrophe for each of these disenfranchised students, it is a calamity of enormous proportion for Baltimore. This sort of educational abandonment will effect that city for years with hundreds of students not being able to get any reasonable jobs because of grossly suboptimal reading and math skills. With no job skills how many of these kids will turn to drugs and crime?

Granted I do not know the racial make-up of the disenfranchised students  in those schools in which not one student tested proficient in either math or English, but I can make a educated guess.

Will we be hearing anything from BLM on how that organization is going to change this educational system’s failing and humiliation into an education success story? My guess is that we will fail to hear a peep from BLM about what should really matter, namely education and schools.

Will this debacle be covered on the National news, or in any of the local papers, or will they also fail to report on what is truly important ?

3/5/21

Say goodbye to more Dr. Seuss classics. On Tuesday, 3/2, which happened to be the author’s birthday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that a half dozen of his books will no longer be published because of racist imagery. (An unusual way to say ‘Happy Birthday!’)

The company said they came to their conclusion after months of discussion and feedback from “teachers, academics, and specialists.”

Dr. Seuss Enterprises could have gone about its business, but they decided to cave to these unhinged provocateurs.

For what it’s worth from National Review:

President Biden left Dr. Seuss out of mention in the presidential proclamation of the National Education Association’s Read Across America initiative, breaking with prior proclamations by Donald Trump and Barack Obama. This does not appear to be an accidental oversight. As the New York Post notes, Dr. Seuss has been under some siege of late by the cancelers, leading up to Biden’s decision. On the other hand Biden could have just as easily forgot.

My response to Biden’s move . . . “What did you expect from Squishy Joe?”

From Townhall and Twitter:

But some lawmakers did not agree with the decision. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) fumed that it’s just the latest example of cancel culture.

“Now 6 Dr. Seuss books are cancelled too? 

When history looks back at this time it will be held up as an example of a depraved sociopolitical purge driven by hysteria and lunacy.”

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) had a perfect observation on his Instagram page. Back in 2016, Obama gave the most glowing review you can give an author when he declared, “Pretty much all the stuff you need to know is in Dr. Seuss.” Judging by where we are now, that would mean today’s Democratic Party is even “too radical” for 44.

Following the announcement by Dr. Seuss Enterprises at least 158 copies of the newly banned books were placed on Ebay for auction (Daily Caller). One of these, “And To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,”  is selling for $799!

Is everybody caving to “cancel culture”?

From Townhall:

Some companies have actually withstood the onslaught. Well, maybe I should rephrase that: they’ve withstood it…for now. Jeep was targeted by Native American groups to rename its Cherokee line.

Jeep introduced its Cherokee sport utility vehicle in 1974. After the car was retired in the early 2000s, Jeep revived it in 2014. Since that time, the Grand Cherokee has become one of Jeep’s most popular models, with more than 200,000 sold last year.

Kudos to Jeep for holding the line. But how long will their bravado last?

With the now verboten Dr. Seuss books selling at inflated prices on EBay, perhaps it is now a good time to buy a new Jeep Cherokee, eh Kemosabe ?

From Freedom Wire:

NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins (the other Dr. C) told Fox News on 2/24/21 that, “Even after vaccination we don’t know exactly whether it’s still possible for [a] person to carry the virus” and “until we have better data, then masks are still important.”

Until the government has their preferred amount of data, acquired over an unknown length of time, the vaccinated public will still be recommended to wear masks, according to the NIH Director.

The other Dr. C admitted that she knows Americans no longer want to wear masks but argued they’re a “life-saving medical device,” so “just put it on,” she demanded.

“Even if we’re overdoing it, that’s fine,” the other Dr. C continued, “Better that than run the risk of infecting more people.”

Now to be fair, the other Dr. C is a health professional who is touting the now all too familiar health professional’s mantra of “we don’t know, but, . . .“ She is not an economist nor is she a governor who has to be concerned about what is happening in real life. She is essentially saying “if we can save just one life, we should all be wearing masks” . . . almost a reverse Sodom and Gomorrah scenario. To me the other Dr. C is a Democrat.

Whereas in Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced that on 3/2/21, which happens to be Texas Independence Day, starting next week, all businesses will be able to open “100 percent” and he is ending the state’s mask mandate.

The Texas Governor said on Twitter, “Today’s announcement doesn’t abandon safe practices that Texans have mastered over the past year. Instead, it’s a reminder that each person has a role to play in their own personal safety & the safety of others.”

He continued, “With this executive order, we are ensuring that all businesses and families in Texas have the freedom to determine their own destiny.”

Governor Abbott is a Republican.

The Democratic Governor of California doesn’t agree with this decision by the Republican Governor of Texas. “Absolutely reckless,” he says

What we have here is a clear dichotomy. Choose your side. I have chosen mine.