Month: July 2022

These days when one reads about police officers it is often because the liberal media is critical of something they did or were perceived to have done. When a police officer does something truly kind and thoughtful, dollars to doughnuts, one will not read about it in the Main Stream Media, and that is what makes this story so special and deserving of a place in my Sunday Hall of Fame.

From Epoch Inspired:

Officer Andrew Brooks, one day late June, responded to the residence of a local man who said he’d simply been having a rough week and was in need of a friend. He told the officers he didn’t know what to cook for dinner, nor did he want to go through the trouble. All the while, he kept saying he was hungry.

“Without hesitation, Officer Andrew Brooks utilized the male’s garden and the food he had in the house and made this gentleman dinner,” the police department posted.

They shared a few photos taken at the scene, showing the man with the officer who is seen in uniform, in the man’s kitchen, cooking up eggs and serving him dinner.

“Sometimes a hot meal and someone to talk to is all it takes to lift someone’s spirits and change their perception on things,” the department wrote. “Thank you for going above and beyond Officer Brooks!!!”

The Middleton Police Department says that there’s no such thing as a “routine” call when it comes to their officers performing their duty, serving their community. 

A Facebook post from the department shared a heartfelt response when one of their officers paid a visit to a man who just needed someone to talk to, a shoulder to lean on.

Loneliness and depression are scourges of early twenty-first century. I do not know where Middleton is, and it’s locale doesn’t really matter, because it was the response of Officer Andrew Brooks that deserves our praise.

7/31/22

During the insanity of Covid and the insanity of the government’s selective restrictions, I wrote many times on the Canadian persecution of Calgary Pastor Artur Pawlowski. 

From BlazeMedia:

“Pastor Pawlowski made headlines last April when he released a video of authorities demanding entry into his church. The cellphone video of the altercation with the Calgary police escorting a public health official went viral on Twitter.

Following this first confrontation, authorities repeatedly attempted to gain access to Pawlowski’s church during the COVID restriction period. The pastor was arrested several times for refusing to comply with the shutdown orders. Despite the intimidation attempts, Pawlowski kept his church open to the public and encouraged attendance.”

On many occasions Pawlowski referred to the police as “Nazis.”

I watched many videos of the “Nazis” throwing their weight around … coming into his church during church services, and in a separate video making the pastor kneel on a highway while re-arresting him.

But last week Pastor Pawlowski won out in a Canadian courtroom. 

He had a tremendous legal victory last week after being previously found guilty of contempt for holding church services during COVID shutdowns and refusing an Alberta Health Services (AHS) employee access to his church. The Alberta Court of Appeal decided to set aside the finding of contempt and the sanction order imposed on Pawlowski and his brother, Dawid. The $15,733.50 fine to AHS was dropped and ordered to be reimbursed.

“We’re not criminals. Those that did that to us are the criminals. And I hope one day, we will be able to go after the real villains and charge them for the crimes that they have committed,” stated Pastor Pawlowski.

I cheered for Pawlowski back then, and am ecstatic that the bully Nazis in Alberta have been shown that their place is at the end of the line.

Meanwhile in the U.S.A. from The Epoch Times:

Air Force officials were ordered on July 27 not to discipline airmen who are seeking religious exemptions to the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

U.S. District Judge Matthew McFarland, a Trump appointee, entered a preliminary injunction against the military branch.

McFarland two weeks earlier issued a temporary restraining order. He asked the military to make its case as to why he shouldn’t enter a preliminary injunction, a longer-lasting measure.

Despite a 16 page filing by government lawyers, Judge McFarland wasn’t convinced. “Defendants fail to raise any persuasive arguments,” he said.

The Air Force has approximately 497,000 members. Of those, 97.1 percent have received a primary series of a COVID-19 vaccine as of July 11.

About 1,440 exemptions to the mandate have been granted, including 104 religious exemptions. Another 2,847 are pending, and 6,803 have been rejected.

The small number of religious exemptions granted is “farcical,” McFarland said earlier this year. He said that the Air Force “‘has effectively stacked the deck’ against service members seeking religious exemptions.”

Under the new order, the Air Force can’t take disciplinary action against, or attempt to kick out, members who have requested a religious exemption on or after Sept. 1, 2021, and were deemed by a chaplain as having a “sincerely held religious belief.” Most military members who apply do and were either denied or haven’t had action on their request.

So it seems that on both sides of the Canadian border, religion and religious beliefs do matter. Thank God!

7/30/22

californiacontrarian

It’s been almost three months since the unprecedented leak of a draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization sent shockwaves through the Supreme Court and the legal world. Those in the know figured that it was a clerk for one of the liberal Justices who let the cat out of to bag. Why? Obviously, because knowing the verdict before it was official could possibly pressure one of the conservative Justices to change his/her mind.

While Chief Justice John Roberts vowed to get to the bottom of who engaged in what he called a “betrayal,” we still know nothing about the identity of who gave the draft, (which overturned Roe v. Wade and sent abortion law back to the states) to the news media. 

If any progress has been made, the public is not being updated. Could it be that the reason that the culprit has not been identified is because those in the know actually do not want the leaker to be identified?

The final SCOTUS count was said to be 6-3, however, it was not actually this clear cut. Chief Justice John Roberts agreed with the judgment upholding the Mississippi law but did not join the majority in the opinion to overturn Roe and Casey. Perhaps better stated the decision was 5-4-1 with Justice John Roberts being the 1.

Now, there’s new reporting the leak of the draft opinion squashed efforts by Roberts to convince his colleagues to preserve parts of Roe. 

From Twitter: “New CNN reporting from @JoanBiskupic … Chief Justice John Roberts privately lobbied his fellow conservative justices to preserve Roe v. Wade – but the unprecedented leak of the draft opinion may have doomed his efforts.”

We are all aware that “dirty play” is normal for leftists, but is it possible that a conservative one-upped everyone by leaking Dobbs v. Jackson to Politico, which is obviously liberal. In other words could the leak have been from a non-liberal individual in the Court system? An individual who was worried that the politicking by the Chief Justice was gaining ground. If this is true then the impetus to find the leaker would possibly be subtly squashed by the Chief Justice as his skullduggery would then be unmasked. Thus, could it be that the  lack of success in identifying the leaker is purposeful?

7/29/22

californiacontrarian

How many of you can recall the slogan, “Progress is our most important product.”? … furthermore whose slogan was it? … and who said it?

The company was G-E, and the spokesperson was Ronald Raegan:

“Hello: I’m Ronald Reagan speaking for General Electric. At General Electric, you know, ‘PROGRESS IS OUR MOST IMPORTANT PRODUCT.’”

That was back in 1961. Today the word, “progress” has a very different meaning than it did  fifty years ago. Think progressives and you will be on the right track. Nonetheless, not everyone agrees that what the progressive left thinks is “progress,” is actually “progress.”

From Blaze media:

“Country star John Rich — one half of the popular duo Big & Rich — penned a decidedly anti-woke song he dubbed “Progress” that rails against left-wing politics and culture and stands up for traditional American values.

“However, Rich told Just the News that he foresaw a problem getting a song that tells leftists to “stick your progress where the sun don’t shine” played on the radio and distributed to the masses. Mainly because the music industry also leans left.

So Rich did an end-around on Friday, bypassing the music industry’s gatekeepers and instead releasing “Progress” on Truth Social — the platform started by former President Donald Trump — and on the Rumble video platform.”

So what happened with this rebel country song? 

In a matter of just a few hours “Progress” shot up to #1 on I-tunes!

Again from Blaze media:

“I’m watching what I consider to be the dismantling of our country at a lot of different levels,” Rich told Just the News. “And when you sit back and look at it, the vast majority of it’s being perpetuated on us under the banner of ‘progress.’ Like in the name of progress we’re going to send gasoline through the roof so you have to buy an electric car. In the name of progress, we’re going to let anybody and everybody into our country, and if that means we get overrun with fentanyl and every other bad thing, well, so be it. Because that’s progressive: You need to be open-minded and open borders in the name of progress. They target our kids in the name of progress; they do all these things that are actually the opposite of that. They’re regressive. They’re not constructive, they’re destructive.”

AMEN!

Just to give you an idea of what this song is about, here is the chorus:

Stick your progress where the sun don’t shine 

Keep your big mess away from me and mine 

If you leave us alone, well we’d all be just fine 

Stick your progress where the sun don’t shine

Will the country music stations play this song? Personally, I have my doubts, but we’ll see.

7/28/22

californiacontrarian

On most days Merriam-Webster sends me a word of the day. Usually I have a fair idea of its meaning, but the other day … nada, no idea, zilch. The word that day was “gibbous.” Before I tell you what “gibbous” means … any takers?

From Merriam-Webster “Gibbous is most often used to describe a moon or planet that is seen with more than half, but not all, of the apparent disk illuminated, for instance, a gibbous moon.” I was not dismayed that I was not familiar with that astrological term, but it did get me think a bit about the moon. When I was practicing medicine, I was very suspicious that the phase of the moon affected behavior – more specifically that a full moon affected behavior. On some days by lunchtime I was convinced that there must be a full moon, because I had seen some unusual and strange things that morning, and most of the time I was right … indeed, the moon was full.

On the same day that I learned the meaning of “gibbous,” Joe Biden had an editorial published … an editorial that he supposedly wrote. If you believe that the editorial was actually written by Joe himself … well, I’ve got a bridge to sell you! How could it be that Mr. Biden, who cannot properly read a teleprompter (“end of quote, repeat the line” … OMG!) could personally pen an editorial? Not possible, you say … unless, perhaps, “our President’s” behavior and his not infrequent faux pas are related to the phase of the moon! 

From now on I am going to pay attention to the phase of the moon whenever J.B. speaks. I will not be surprised to discover that his faux pas index rises appreciably when the moon is full. However, even when the moon is gibbous, he is far far from a scholar that could write an editorial.

7/27/22

californiacontrarian

In my initial foray into this topic I somewhat rhetorically asked if those in positions of authority have an obligation to admit when they have been wrong. Here I am not referring to minor errors in judgement which all of us are prone to make. If one is asked “how long will XYZ last,” and that someone’s answer is way off … “no me importa.” However, if that individual in authority is supposed to be an expert then I think that he/she is possibly not really much of an expert, and should apologize for the miscue … for example Secretary of the Treasury of the U.S., Janet Yellen and her previous “inflation” prediction. She did have the chutzpah to later admit that she had been wrong. Now granted by the time she issued her pseudo-apology, everyone and all of their brothers and sisters were well aware of the pain of the inflation that she had missed. From my perspective even if she had correctly predicted inflation, it would not have changed the inevitability of inflation, and the consequent pain that inflation carries with it.

Now on the other hand we have Joe Biden who has made multiple errors in judgement. His errors have not been of the “no me importa” type, but have had serious consequences. Here I am not talking of his malaprops, but am referring to some of his inane policies.  For instance,I have not heard him refer to the military personnel that were killed during his calamitous exit from Afghanistan, and likewise have not heard him apologize to their families. Does he have a moral obligation to admit that he screwed up … perhaps a rhetorical question.

In terms of gas prices why does he continue to insist that the rising prices are all Putin’s fault, when it is painfully obvious that gas prices were rising long before Russia invaded Ukraine. These high gas prices are causing mucho pain to many, especially those among us who are at the lower end of the economic spectrum. Either he is totally clueless about the pain that his energy policies are causing, or he doesn’t care. Nonetheless, his response is inert and listless. Does he have a moral obligation to admit that he screwed up … perhaps a rhetorical question, although it shouldn’t be.

Finally his immigration policy fiasco. Those fifty or so illegal immigrants that perished inside the semi outside San Antonio are directly his responsibility. So are those others who have perished while trying to enter the U.S. illegally. Likewise the surge in deaths due to Fentanyl are largely due to his border non-policies and all the drugs that are being smuggled across the southern border. Is he not aware of this issue, or doesn’t he care? Either way all of the adverse consequences of his lackadaisical border stance are directly on him. Does he have a moral obligation to admit the he screwed up? … no longer anything rhetorical about it! Yes, he does have a moral obligation, but no worries as he does not have the fortitude to do what is right.

7/26/22

The following is from a recent Hugh Hewitt radio show:

“I’m going to start with the San Diego Unified School District because I cannot believe, I really cannot believe that they returned to an indoor mask mandate in America’s finest city this week. But I looked it up. It’s not trolling. Originally, I was sent a pointer to the school board president, Sharon Whitehurst-Payne, on a local station, KUSI.”

Hugh Hewitt continued, “I’m reading the letter effective July 18th, indoor masking will be required at all school district and district offices. This is nuts. This is insane. This is just nuts in San Diego.”

Those of you who have read my opinions for a while are cognizant of my feelings on those with hyphenated last names, and Sharon Whitehurst-Payne does not disappoint. … Looney tunes! We are finally getting back to normal after our prolonged Covid restrictions, and Whitehurst-Payne wants to return San Diego to something that was always of very dubious benefit … the masking of school children. Purportedly she is doing this 

because of an increase in the incidence of the BA.5 variant of Omicron. For the most part everyone realizes that her latest cockamamie move back to masking school children is not for the benefit of the children, but rather is a power move on behalf of the teacher’s unions. While Covid was never a truly significant threat for school children, Omicron was even a lesser threat, and the BA.5 Omicron variant is even less worrisome for children.

Basically what Whitehurst-Payne said on this KUSI interview was … My way or the highway; if you don’t like it … tough. Either wear a mask at school, or stay home! 

This, my friends, is “nuts, nuts, nuts!”

7/25/22

californiacontrarian

As per my custom on Sunday, I write about someone who is worthy of our praise and appreciation. Often these are unsung heroes that we do not know about, and today’s honoree is such a man, in spades.

If you thought that his name, Patrick Kilonzo Mwaula (PKM) is a bit out of the ordinary, you would be correct, as Patrick lives in a place that is out of the ordinary … in Kenya, near Tsavo West National Park. Tsavo West National Park is located in the south central part of Kenya, near the Tanzania border.and the area has been in the throes of severe drought. Because of no rain since June of last year, animals were dying. PLM, being cognizant of this severe problem said, “If we do not help them they will die.” Like a true hero, he decided to act … he decided to bring water to these animals. 

About a year ago he decided to rent a large tanker trunk and to bring 3,000 gallons water daily to these animals in the African wilderness. He started with just the single rental and now has several trucks and drives for hours each day. Like a typical Pavlovian response, when the animals hear the tanker truck approaching, they congregate and anxiously await for Patrick to start draining the water from his truck … elephants, bison, lions, etc. then lap up the fresh water.

True heroes are a rare breed, and Patrick Kilonzo Mwaula is indeed one of them! 

7/24/22

californiacontrarian

Perhaps a rhetorical question … perhaps not … “Should those in authority be responsible for the outcomes of their actions?” Now here I am not necessarily talking about legal responsibility, but rather moral responsibility for what that is worth in today’s environment. Accepting responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions often would not be easy. It would require fortitude, and I do not think that most individuals who are in positions of authority have that sort of mental or emotional strength. Note that I am not just talking about politicians, but rather anyone who is in a position of authority. 

For instance, Pete Arredondo, the law enforcement official state police said was most responsible for a flawed response to the Uvalde elementary school shooting in May, has resigned from the Uvalde City Council. He was quoted as saying, “it’s the right thing to do.”

“After much consideration, it is in the best interest of the community to step down as a member of the City Council for District 3 to minimize further distractions,” Arredondo wrote in the letter. “The Mayor, the City Council, and the City Staff must continue to move forward to unite our community, once again. God bless Uvalde.”

Whether his decisions at Robb Elementary School on that fateful day were right or wrong, he has taken responsibility for them. To my way of thinking, he has done the right thing by resigning.

In a different vein, as most schools across the country are back to in-person learning, the detrimental effects of school lockdowns during coronavirus are showing themselves in real time: high levels of student depression and developmental and academic stunting.

“Kids have the highest level of anxiety I’ve ever seen: anxiety about basic safety and fear of what could happen,” Colorado elementary school counselor Susan Julien told the New York Times, which conducted a survey of 362 school counselors nationwide.

Children appear to have taken the brunt of the suffering from draconian lockdown measures and mask mandates in schools, many of which were unnecessary and ineffectual at stopping the spread of the coronavirus but were devastating to the personal development of America’s children.

Counselors “described many students as frozen, socially and emotionally, at the age they were when the pandemic started,” according to the Times.

Have any of those who are responsible for these horrific outcomes stepped up and admitted that they made the wrong decisions? Have any of those in authority resigned or even publicly spoken out about what is now happening to children as a consequence of their decisions? Here I am specifically speaking pointedly to governors and the heads of teacher’s unions. Their silence is deafening, but probably not surprising as most realize that there is no need to answer the non-rhetorical question, “Do either of these two groups in authority have any moral scruples?”

7/22/22

californiacontrarian

I am originally from Illinois. Thankfully I was able to escape before the stampede. “What stampede?” you might ask. Well let’s just say that it’s the beginning of a stampede very similar to what has been occurring in that other Democrat-run liberal bastion here on the west coast. Out in my west coast state you can only rent a U-Haul if go are coming into, but not going out of California, as there are no more U-Hauls left in California. Now to be honest, I do not know what the U-Haul balance is in Illinois. However, based upon some things I have just read, if you are thinking of leaving Illinois soon, do it before the state runs out of U-Hauls.

The richest person in Illinois announced on 6/23/22  that he’s moving his hedge fund firm’s headquarters from Chicago to Miami, Florida, commenting that crime in the Windy City is far too high.

“Chicago will continue to be important to the future of Citadel, as many of our colleagues have deep ties to Illinois,” billionaire Ken Griffin wrote in a note Thursday to Citadel’s employees. “Over the past year, however, many of our Chicago teams have asked to relocate to Miami, New York, and our other offices around the world.”

From Epoch Share:

Griffin has provided more than $600 million in gifts to educational, cultural, medical, and civic organizations in Chicago over the years, his spokesman, Zia Ahmed, told the Wall Street Journal. Who, if anybody will take up this slack when Ken Griffin moves to Florida?

Hmmm … how many U-Hauls will leave Illinois with Citadel stampede?

Boeing, which moved to Chicago from Seattle more than 20 years ago, announced in May that it would move its headquarters from Chicago to Arlington, Virginia.

Hmmm … how many U-Hauls will leave Illinois with Boeing stampede?

And Caterpillar, the construction firm, said it was moving out of the Chicago area to Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas.

“We believe it’s in the best strategic interest of the company to make this move, which supports Caterpillar’s strategy for profitable growth as we help our customers build a better, more sustainable world,” Caterpillar’s CEO Jim Umpleby said in a statement in June.

Hmmm … how many U-Hauls will leave Illinois with Caterpillar stampede?

In reality, these big companies will probably provide for moving companies to move these management type employees to the new locations. However, the continuing stampede out of Illinois is and will be mostly made up of lower and middle class families, and they will be renting U-Hauls!

7/21/22

californiacontrarian