Month: May 2022

By now I am used to it … used to the mocking that occurs whenever I pull out my flip-phone. Actually, I just got upgraded to 5G and have a new phone, albeit still a flip-phone. Nonetheless, the mocking continues.

Granted my flip-phone does not have Google maps, but if I need to go somewhere that I am not familiar with, I look at Google maps on my home computer before I leave home. I then transfer the directions found on my home computer to that other computer which is above my shoulders. You know that computer that we all have although most of us have stopped using it for many things.

Be that as it may, I read something this morning that may stop, or at least decrease the mocking of my flip-phone.

From the Daily Mail:

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention paid for location data harvested from millions of cell phones to track compliance with COVID-19 lockdown measures, according to a new report.

The CDC paid $420,000 for a year of access to the cell phone location data from the data brokerage SafeGraph, according to documents reported by Vice News on Tuesday.

According to Vice, the documents show that the CDC planned to use the data to analyze compliance with curfews, track patterns of people visiting K-12 schools, and specifically monitor the effectiveness of policy in the Navajo Nation.”

This is Big Brother watching you  … tracking you, using your fancy cell phone!

Still from the Daily Mail:

“The CDC documents describe SafeGraph’s data as ‘critical for ongoing response efforts, such as hourly monitoring of activity in curfew zones or detailed counts of visits to participating pharmacies for vaccine monitoring.’ 

Zach Edwards, a cybersecurity researcher who closely follows the data marketplace, told Vice that it appears the CDC had broader ambitions for the location data, beyond tracking the pandemic response.”

This is truly “1984”-esque. However, what’s nice for some of us … flip phones are not trackable. A flip-phone user could break a Covid curfew, go to church, and even get a hair cut without the CDC knowing!

Realistically this CDC news will not cause a tsunami of those now wanting flip-phones. However, as time goes on and as everyone realizes that their movements are tracked whether their fancy cell phone is on or turned off, perhaps flip-phones will undergo a resurgence, and the mocking of my flip-phone will stop.

5/21/22

Karine Jean-Pierre had a rough first day as White House Press Secretary. She couldn’t give an answer to Peter Doocy simple question of “explain how raising taxes on the rich helps inflation?” He basically asked the same question three times and was driven around the block three times by Jean-Pierre … without her arriving at a destination. At this point I do not know how her second day went, but one would think that it had to have went better than day #1. I did not like Jen Psaki, but she did a credible job as Press Secretary. Let’s admit that trying to make Biden look good would be close to impossible for anyone, and as with most jobs there was a learning curve for her.

My question involves Jean-Pierre’s learning curve, and how long it will take for those on the left to start their accusations. What am I talking about? Let me ‘splain. While Psaki was white, Jean-Pierre is black. While Psaki was straight, Jean-Pierre is not. Whereas Psaki appeared to have tough skin, for Jean-Pierre, well we’ll see. My question is basically, “as Jean-Pierre falters, how long will it be before Doocy and others who might ask tough questions, are accused of being racist and/or homophobic,or both?” 

If Jean-Pierre’s first day is any indication, it’s only a matter of time! 

FYI: at this time the over/under line is at three weeks

5/20/22

Yesterday I watched another video on YouTube of Sen John Kennedy (R,LA) questioning someone at a Senate hearing. As you are probably aware, I find his questions fascinating. He gets his point across , particularly when his questions are danced around without an answer being given. I just love this guy.

Yesterday the recipient of Sen Kennedy’s questioning was the eminent Dr. Fauci. Sen Kennedy was especially kind and respectful toward the old curmudgeon. In multiple different ways with multiple varied questions the Senator basically asked if, in retrospect, some things should have been done differently with respect to Covid. The motive behind his questions was basically to see what we have learned in case this sort of pandemic happens again … in other words what would we do differently the next time around.

As has been par for the course with past recipients of Kennedy-questions, there appeared to be a fair amount of tap dancing by the eminent Dr. Fauci. No matter what the question, Fauci basically talked about vaccines, but … NEVER ONCE, was there ever a hint that in retrospect he would do anything different in the future … not a chance! With all of the dramatic downsides in terms of children’s education, the sobering increases in young adult suicidal ideation and depression, and the horrific economic ruination of many lives one would think that Dr. Fauci would at least pause and reflect. However, although he didn’t say it in so many words … NOT A CHANCE!

Actually from my rational perspective there are many many things that we should do differently if and when “Covid” recurs. As I described in my book, “The Keneally Chronicles,” the emphasis should be on protecting the vulnerable while trying to insure that the young and healthy do not suffer the irreparable and the long term consequences of lockdowns, school closures, etc. I am aware that many will say that it is easy to be critical when looking at how past judgements and decisions were made, however, please note that “The Keneally Chronicles” was written before the all knowing and never wrong Dr. Fauci took over.

Anyone who states that “I would not change my judgement on anything,” is probably not worth listening to in the future. … If only we had known!

5/19/22

Hypothetically, let’s assume that you are a physician, and have been told, “you must prescribe this medicine, order this invasive test, or give this shot to all of your patients. There is no long term data as to the efficacy or to the safety of the med, the test, or the injection. However, you must do as we say because we know best!”

If you, as an experienced responsible practicing physician, did not think that the med, the shot, or the invasive test was in the best interests of your patient, you might resist … you might choose to follow the Hippocratic Oath and choose to do no harm.

The response from those that know best could be, “Doctor, if you do not do as we say, we will accuse you of “disseminating misinformation.”

“Vaccine hesitancy,” “vaccine misinformation,” and “denigrating the vaccine” are terms that have caused a lot of trouble for some physicians who have questioned the mainstream media, big pharma, big tech, and political narratives that the COVID vaccines are “safe and effective.”

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) apparently knows best. It  supports its member state medical licensing boards, and it issued a statement saying that providing misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine contradicts physicians’ ethical and professional responsibilities, and therefore may subject a physician to disciplinary actions, including suspension or revocation of their medical license

“Those who know best” typically comprise organizations such as 

the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM), the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), and the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP),all of which support FSMB’s position when they said that they also want all physicians certified by our boards to know that such unethical or unprofessional conduct may prompt their respective board to take action that “could put their certification at risk,” the statement reads.

In September last year, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) issued a statement that threatened physicians who “provide misinformation” about the COVID-19 vaccines—without defining what “misinformation” entails. According to ABIM no physician is allowed to have an opinion separate from that of the Board of Medicine. In other words … “you must do as they say, or else!”

Probably, one of the first questions you might have would be … In which communist country did this occur? 

Actually it occurred repeatedly in the U.S. 

A recent 5/11/22  article in The Epoch Times documented the individual stories of four experienced physicians in the U.S. in different sub specialties who were railroaded  by “those that know best” because they each did what they thought was ethical and right. In future years I predict we will look back in disbelief at how these principled physicians were bullied. If this sort of reevaluation does not occur, God help us!

5/18/22

It seems to me that we are seeing more and more deceit from the Federal Government. Now here I am not talking about exaggeration or even only telling one side of the story, but, deceit, just plain and simple.

Today I will focus on Pete Buttigieg, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation who is showing how adept he is at deceiving with a straight face. Here I am specifically referring his remarks to questions about this baby formula crisis on CBS Face the Nation on 5/15/22. Buttigieg said that “the administration has been on top of the issue since day one.”

On the same day Rep. Kat Cammack, R, FL told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo how she exposed the baby formula stockpiles at the U.S.’s southern border by taking matters into her own hands and filming the scene firsthand.

REP. KAT CAMMACK: “Yesterday I was on the border myself and the facts on the ground are exactly how we have been stating them. Last week, I received text messages and photos from Border Patrol agents showing a stockpile of baby formula and there was complete outrage from the White House, CNN and other liberal outlets claiming that we were lying, so I decided to go down myself and film it. Lo and behold, not only was there stocked warehouses, but there were multiple stocked warehouses that have been not only filled with baby formula, diapers, wipes and clothing, but they have been doing this for months and there’s more en route. 

This just points again to how out of touch this administration is and they could stop this with a simple policy change. And to the Secretary of Transportation’s remarks that they have been on top of this from day one: That is a lie. They canceled 43% of this manufacturer’s production with no plan to backfill that market share that they make up. So, how have they been on top of this? Because moms for months have been saying it was getting harder and harder to find formula. This is just another example of the broken administration that doesn’t know how to govern.”

Personally, I do not have a problem with having a stockpile of baby formula at the border. One might say that if you are going to invite a bunch of people into your house, you have to be able to feed them. However, what I do have a problem with is the deceit that is part and parcel of the issue. If the Federal Government has warehouses of baby supplies at the border, this did not occur overnight. A lot of planning had to go into stockpiling these warehouses. Somebody had to know that a big time shortage of baby formula was soon to be on the horizon, and this individual obviously planned to be able to provide for his “house-guests.” However, what I do have a problem with is the deceit involved. This problem should have been recognized back in February, and possibly was. Somebody obviously did recognize it, and planned in advance to fill up these warehouses at the border … in other words somebody had to be on top of this issue since day one! Could it be that the U.S. Secretary of Transportation was the one who was on top of the problem since day one?

If not Buttigieg, then who? These warehouses aren’t now suddenly stocked with baby supplies, including formula, by happenstance. Somebody knew what was coming, acted on it at the border, but did not warn the American people … deceit, pure and simple!

5/17/22

The other day I happened catch a portion of ‘The Five’ on Fox (5pm eastern, 2pm pacific) as Geraldo was bemoaning the fact that Joe Biden has been a victim of circumstance with all of the nation’s present day problems. (FYI: Geraldo is the token liberal yo-yo on The Five.) I did not stay tuned to hear what the rational conservative other Four (Five minus One) had to say, but rather later I pondered on what Geraldo had said. Was Joe Biden merely an unfortunate victim of circumstance? You know … wrong place, wrong time by serendipity alone? Could the ‘One’ be right?

Let’s start with gas prices and inflation. Although these are closely related, they are not the same. Gas prices started to rise after J.B. closed down pipelines on his first afternoon in office. Serendipity? Err, no. Cause and effect! 

Inflation took off following Joe’s entrance onto the scene. As most of us are aware, inflation is basically a supply-demand thing, and J.B’s profligate spending with Build Back Better is one of the major reasons for out inflation. (As Sen, Kennedy, R,LA, has said, “nothing has been built, nothing is back, and certainly, nothing is better!”)

Certainly, ‘One’ could argue that J.B. was dealt an unfortunate post Covid hand with the pandemic, lockdowns, school closures, etc., however remember, that while campaigning, J.B. told the American people that he would be the one to get Covid under control. Also remember, Geraldo, that J.B. sided with those who promoted lockdowns and school closures. Any bad hand that J.B. was dealt as a consequence of the ramifications of Covid, were mostly because he cut the deck and was dealing.

The war in Ukraine is an example of not of ‘wrong place, wrong time,’ but rather the ‘wrong person,’ ‘wrong time.’ As former Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote back in 2014: “Biden has been wrong about “nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.” Well at least J.B has been consistent with his Ukraine approach, as he fiddled while Putin amassed 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s border. After Biden’s infamous Afghanistan withdrawal debacle, Putin knew that J.B. did not have the cajones to stand up to him. Biden’s threats were paper tigers, and consequently we are in middle of a very expensive mish-mosh in Ukraine with no end in sight.

The border debacle … totally Joe’s own doing. Apparently, the administration is now running adds on Central American TV stations telling the people not to come! Oops! Again too little, too late. Perhaps if these adds were run a year ago and Trump’s wall had been finished, our southern border would not now be the sieve for drugs and banditos that it is today. I would think that even ‘The One’ would have to agree that here serendipity played no role.

In conclusion the postulate of ‘The One’ that Joe Biden is merely an unfortunate victim of circumstance is … for a PG audience … total poppycock, total mumbo-jumbo, total malarkey, total hogwash, etc!

5/16/22

 Again for my Sunday special, someone we should admire because he did what needed to be done.

After 24 years of teaching advanced math, Will Frazer calculated how the COVID-19 plan would affect students during the 2020-2021 school year and cringed.

He couldn’t compute how remote viewing of classes from home could further learning. And he knew covering half his face with a mask certainly would impede his animated teaching style, even with those attending classes in person. If the goal was to keep students on track in math, the plan didn’t add up, argued the Wall-Street-whiz-turned-public-school-teacher. 

His students would fall behind, he knew in his heart. Already studies were emerging, documenting sickening trends teachers already recognized. Students kept out of classes because of the pandemic were experiencing learning losses, not gains. 

He recalls now, “I needed freedom to not follow a lot of these rules that were going to be set up.”

From Epoch Share:

Calling on his analytical skills, Frazer hatched a plan. His solution earned the blessing of his pastor, his principal at Buchholz High School and the county school superintendent, and Will Frazer did what he thought was best … he quit his job!

Frazer agreed to give up his paycheck, healthcare, retirement contributions, and seniority among faculty. In return, school officials pledged to give him access to his old classroom and teaching materials.

He moved his teaching operation to his own place of worship less than two miles from his high school. Pastor Calvin Carr, of North Central Baptist Church, asked for nothing in return for the use of Sunday school classrooms that sat empty on weekdays.

So maskless and engaging, Frazer taught seven, 50-minute classes each school day. Some students came before school, then drove, walked, or biked to campus. Some carpooled to the church between other classes at the school campus.

“I had kids who told me it was the happiest part of their day,” he says now. “They were learning from me, and getting to see some of their friends. That helped their mental side.

“And their learning gains were massive, compared to the rest of the world that was kind of in survival mode. Everybody else was shutting down, but we were barreling along.”

Parents who could afford it pitched in to cover Frazer’s salary and make a voluntary offering to the church to help cover electricity costs and normal wear and tear on the building. To make up for early pandemic setbacks, Frazer held classes 199 days that year, instead of the standard 180.

Competition results summed up the success of the makeshift math program best. In April 2021, Frazer’s team won their 14th state championship. Three months later, the 140-person team overcame other national championship competitors’ scores by a record margin. 

A the start of this school year, as pandemic worries relaxed, Frazer returned to a paid post at the high school. 

To sum it up, Will Frazer didn’t think that learning and mask restrictions added up, so he used “divide and conquer” tactics to come up with the right answer.

5/15/22

Remember the good old days when the citizens of the U.S. trusted government officials? Well, it appears that those trusting eras are gone. If the latest quagmire involving parents of school children speaking up at school board meetings and the consequences of this sort of behavior are any indication of the underhandedness and skullduggery of some of our government officials, then our country and the First Amendment are toast. I am tempted to ascribe this most recent behavior solely to the Democrats that are now in power, but certainly this sort of chicanery can well go beyond party lines.

To me the chain of events that I am going to describe borders on the unbelievable, or perhaps I am just a naive soul who has been raised to trust government and government officials. 

From the Washington Examiner:

Attorney General Merrick Garland directed the FBI and the Department of Justice to form a joint task force in October 2021 to investigate threats against school board members after the National School Boards Association (NSBA) asked the Biden administration in a September 2021 letter to investigate parents protesting at school board meetings as domestic terrorists under the Patriot Act.

(Referring to concerned parents and domestic terrorists in the same sentence is outlandish enough, but it gets worse.)

Garland issued the memo forming the task force a week after the NSBA sent its letter. After public outcry, the association apologized for sending the letter and withdrew it, as numerous state school board associations announced they were disassociating with the national organization.

Despite the NSBA’s backtrack, Garland said the substance of the letter was still relevant and defended his memo in late October testimony to the House and Senate judiciary committees. (I watched some of Garland’s testimony, and he basically told the committee not to worry as he was committed to follow up on the NSBA’s letter. Under oath, he assured the committees that he would not be using the NSBA’s concern for any nefarious purpose.)

Next comes the hooker … 

In January, emails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act showed that Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona had solicited the NSBA’s letter to the administration.

(So let’s get this straight … the Biden administration’s Secretary of Education, started the ball rolling by convincing the NSBA to write a letter in which they said that they were afraid for the safety of its members. Despite the fact that the NSBA later backtracked on the letter, Biden’s Attorney General felt that he needed to go forward. During the testimony that involved a lot of verbal tap-dancing by Merrick Garland, the Attorney General basically assured the committee nothing would ever come of investigating parents who were merely concerned with the welfare of their children. So it appeared that basically a lot was made of nothing. No harm, no foul!)

(However, to paraphrase Paul Harvey … you ain’t seen nothing, until you hear the rest of the story.)

Still from The Washington Examiner:

“The FBI has opened multiple investigations into parents protesting education policies, including a father who was upset over mask mandates, according to new whistleblower revelations.

The FBI’s activities were publicly revealed in a letter Wednesday, 5/11/22, from Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee to Attorney General Merrick Garland . The specifics of the FBI’s investigations were disclosed to lawmakers by whistleblowers.”

From this aforementioned letter to General Garland:

“The information we have received shows how, as a direct result of your directive, federal law enforcement is using counterterrorism resources to investigate protected First Amendment activity,” House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) wrote in the letter. Whistleblowers reveal the FBI has labeled dozens of investigations into parents with a threat tag created by the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division.

The representatives said the information shared by “brave whistle blowers” indicated that the FBI had opened investigations under a previously disclosed “threat tag” that categorized reported threats in “almost every region of the country and relating to all types of educational settings.”

(Hmmm, my trust in government officials is now rock bottom. What the government is essentially saying is, “we do not like concerned parents speaking up at school board meetings. And if you do dare to speak, the odds are that the FBI will be investigating you as a “threat.” Perhaps, more important, did Merrick Garland knowingly not tell the truth while under oath back in October?)

5/14/22

After looking today at the news items of the day, immediately the song, Naturally, by Selena Gomez came into my head:

“How you choose to express yourself

It’s all your own, and I can tell

It comes naturally, it comes naturally

You follow what you feel inside

It’s intuitive, you don’t have to try

It comes naturally, mm, it comes naturally

And it takes my breath away

What you do so naturally …”

The lyrics of this song seem to describe the actions and the inactions of the Biden administration as they seem to always be either on the “bozo-side” of issues, or they are totally unprepared for what is going to come. It’s almost like they do not have to try to take any rational person’s  “breath away, it just occurs naturally.”

In today’s headlines two things immediately struck me as prime examples of this … and the Biden administration does it all naturally.

First, as everyone is painfully aware, gas prices are skyrocketing … so what is the intuitive thing to do? … Err … The Biden administration has canceled U.S. oil and gas production lease sales in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. Naturally! I defy anyone to tell me how this makes any sense, unless they are “following what they feel inside.”

The second story involves the nationwide shortage of baby formula. Let’s be clear, this should have been easily predicted, and a plan should have already been in place.

The background from Amber Athey, the Washington editor, The Spectator, and the host of the Unfit to Print podcast:

“There’s a massive shortage of baby formula. About 40% of the normal market for baby formula is basically nonexistent right now. And that’s due to a couple of reasons. Some of it is the leftover supply chain issues from the pandemic and the lockdown. But there was also a major recall of one of the largest domestic manufacturer’s products. They’re called Abbott. They’re based out of Michigan. And the FDA had this investigation a couple of months ago and pulled most of their product off the market. But oddly enough, Abbott says, you know, we fixed the issues with our formula and yet the FDA has not given us approval to start producing product again.”

For those of you who do not have young babies, this is a major issue! Obviously, The White House is right on top of this problem … err, no!

Clip of Correspondent: Who’s running point on the formula issue at the White House, you mentioned the White House is involved?

Clip of White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre: I mean, at the White House, I don’t know. I could find out for you and get you a person who’s running point. But I don’t have a good person.

Not exactly reassuring, is it? Naturally!

Does this mean that no one is in charge, or does it mean that no competent person is in charge?

As Selena Gomez sings:

“And it takes my breath away

What you do so naturally …”

5/13/22

Is Joe Biden just a confused old man? Some of the stuff he says makes no sense, even to his backers. On 5/10 J.B. gave a speech on inflation. During that speech he said, and I quote:

“The number one threat is the strength, and that strength that we’ve built is inflation.”

Can someone … anyone, please tell me what the hell that means? Does it actually mean anything rational or is J.B. just a confused old man? 

The obvious first step to combat inflation is to open up the spigots and the drilling and the pipelines. Why is the global warming issue a top priority when Americans are suffering?

Why does it seem that J.B. is just not listening?

On 5/11/22 the latest inflation stats came out. The Labor Department said that the consumer price index, a broad measure of the price for everyday goods including gasoline, groceries and rents, rose 8.3% in April from a year ago, below the 8.5% year-over-year surge recorded in March. Prices jumped 0.3% in the one-month period from March.

Without getting caught up in the various details on the present status of inflation, suffice it to say that lt is one of J.B.’s main problems, and it is worsening. Either he doesn’t know what to do about it ,or he just doesn’t care. Which is it? Which is worse?

J.B., Why aren’t you listening?

Granted I do not like paying more for everything, but I can afford it. Stop and think: “Who does inflation actually hurt the most?”

My simple answer is that inflation hurts the young with families, the old on fixed income, and the working poor.

Young families : The primary concerns for the young with families is to feed and shelter the children. Food prices have jumped 1% over the month, marking the 17th consecutive monthly increase for that index. The largest monthly increases were in dairy (2.5%, the sharply monthly increase since 2007), meats, poultry, fish and eggs (1.4%) and cereal and bakery products (1.1%). And this is without mentioning the shortage and the rationing of baby formula.

Shelter, which accounts for about one-third of the Consumer Price Index, also rose by 0.5% in April. The gauge has climbed 5.1% on a yearly basis, the fastest gain since 1991. 

J.B., Why aren’t you listening?

Seniors: A recent story from The Epoch Times, titled, “Seniors Sacrifice Health and Comfort as Inflation Lowers Standard of Living,” details many of the struggles seniors are facing. Some are making tough decisions about what they can and can’t afford, including food choices and medicines.

“Food, water, electric—everything has gone up,” Tom Schultz, 85, told The Epoch Times. “Whatever [increase] you got in Social Security, you may as well forget it.”

A Cost of Living Adjustment increased the Social Security benefit that seniors receive by 5.9 percent in January—the largest increase in 30 years. But seniors say that increase was eaten up by inflation and an increase in the cost of Medicare Part B health insurance.

Linda Butts, 74, said her medications recently went up $500 per month. She used to pay around $900 a month combined for all medications, and it’s now closer to $1,500 per month.

“I’m seriously thinking of giving up medication and letting diabetes take over,” Butts said. “I realize everything is going up, but they are sure not thinking about us seniors.”

“J.B. … Why aren’t you listening?”

The working poor: Without belaboring the details of how Dems seem to do things that hurt those that are least able to afford it … and they do it again and again. Here again, inflation is hurting those who can least afford it. How are the working poor supposed to get to work with gas prices out of site?

“J.B. … Why aren’t you listening?” … SILENCE!

5/12/22