Month: June 2023

Many months ago I discovered Jeff Childers, ‘Coffee & Covid,’ and now it is the first thing that I read every morning. (BTW, thank you, Kim!) There are not many guarantees in life, but I guarantee that if you like my blog you will love Jeff Childers.

Today after reading two of the topics covered in Coffee & Covid, I thought, “OMG, how the mighty have fallen!” For me, when I think of prestigious entities, a few stand out. For instance, until just recently, Fox News was one of them. It was head and shoulders better than MSNBC or CNN, but since they jettisoned Tucker Carlson, Fox News has come back to the pack of the other ho-hums.

When I used to think of universities, Harvard seemed to be at the pinnacle, but as of today it is no longer. Why?

From Coffee & Covid:

“Speaking of disgraced lockdown mavens who were replaced with someone even more awful, you’ll be pleased to know, I’m sure, that former Chicago mayor and gay Beetlejuice lookalike Lori Lightfoot has been appointed as a Senior Leadership Fellow for the fall term at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.”

Yes, this is the same Lori Lightfoot who was thoroughly defeated in her recent quest for a second term as mayor of the floundering city of Chicago.

Yes, the same Lori Lightfoot who said, “Systemic Racism is a public health crisis in Chicago.”

The same Lori Lightfoot also broke new ground in race relations.

From the Chicago Tribune on May 19, 2012:

“Mayor Lori Lightfoot chooses only reporters of color ahead of her two year anniversary, sparking debate over media diversity and access.”

OMG, how the once mighty Harvard has fallen!

However, falling further that either Fox News or Harvard is potentially the Wall Street Journal with the following from Coffee & Covid:

TRUMP AND SPECIAL COUNSEL SIGNAL EARLY STRATEGIES

Garland Wanted Politics Out Of the Justice Department

Then Trump Came Along

Tell that last line to the parents at School Board Meetings or to those Catholics who churches were infiltrated by the DOJ.

OMG, how the mighty WSJ has fallen! 

6/12/23

Tanner Charles Schaaf is 29 years old and lives in Roseville, Minnesota. He is a storm chaser. Granted, I do not know a lot about storm chasing, but to me it is Evel Knievel-like with the ultimate adrenaline surge as a reward by putting yourself at risk. 

On March 31, the highest category severe weather warning was issued in portions of the central United States. Tanner who has been chasing storms for the last 13 years got into his car and headed for a safe vantage point. He didn’t know it at the time, but a tornado that was rated EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale was coming, with wind speeds up to 170 miles per hour (approx. 273 kilometers per hour)

“It was the first storm chase of the year for me,” Tanner told The Epoch Times. “Usually tornadoes only last about 10 minutes, so when a tornado touches down, and one that’s really photogenic … you have to treasure every second. You only get a handful of those each year.”

From the Epoch Times:

At 3:48 p.m., Tanner was filming some very good footage when he noticed the tornado approaching a town a few miles south of Hedrick, Iowa. His excitement turned to fervent prayer. “I was praying against it. I was just like, man, don’t you dare drop a tornado over a town,” he said.

All of a sudden, through harsh winds and heavy rain, a parked vehicle with airbags deployed emerged on the road ahead. Tanner pulled over and watched the driver of the other vehicle open his door and step out. It was Wayne Sanders and his wife, whose family had three houses nearby.

Tanner said: “They were trying to get to their parents’ house before the tornado hit. They didn’t realize how fast the tornado was moving. … [Wayne] knew what he needed to do, but his wife was crying, and she had a dog. The door wasn’t opening properly so I had to really pull, got the door open, got her dog, and we put them in my vehicle.”

A moment of decision for Tanner Charles Schaaf … put himself in even more danger by going and trying to help the elderly couple, or play it safe and get some awesome pictures.

Tanner knew that he needed to stop and help the couple. Plus our hero did what a hero does. He went straight into the path of danger.

In shocking footage of Tanner’s onward journey shared on YouTube, the trio approaches the home of Wayne’s parents, Nancy and Clarence Sanders, only to see it destroyed. Mercifully, moments later, they find the elderly couple alive having sought shelter in the bathroom, the only room of the house that wasn’t completely ripped apart.

The elderly couple were okay, and Wayne’s wife suffered only a minor head injury.

That day, Tanner suffered his own loss before the afternoon was over; when a driver ahead broke unexpectedly. Tanner swerved into a ditch, totaling his car. Luckily, he sustained no injuries and hopes to be back on the road before long.

Going straight into the path of danger … that’ what a true hero does!   Hats off to Tanner Charles Schaaf.

6/11/23

(C)BS + (P)BS = (Real)B.S.

This was originally written and published on my blog back on 4/7/21!

Just another example of main stream media deceit.

A friend of mine insists that the Main Stream Media is not slanted one way or the other. He will never convince me of that, as to me the MSM is obviously not only slanted to the left, but also sometimes they just BS their viewers.

BTW: As everyone knows, in today’s vernacular, “B.S-ing” is merely a synonym for outright LYING!

What follows are two glaring examples of “BS-ing”:

From American Thinker:

In October, news broke that Hunter Biden had dropped a computer off at a repair store and never picked it up again.  The contents were so disturbing that the store owner tried to get the FBI interested.  When the FBI dropped the issue, the store-owner went public.  The left, with National Public Radio (locally PBS) taking the lead, immediately announced that the computer was probably a Russian fake.  Now, though, with Hunter admitting that it could well be his computer, PBS (NPR) is ‘fessing up that its reporting was wrong.

However, the media announced that the story was fake. The tech tyrants used that narrative as the justification to delete from social media any attempts to share the story.

(After the election, it turned out that the story was kept so secret that many ordinary Americans — unlike political obsessives — knew nothing about it.  A poll showed that one out of six people who voted for Biden would not have done so if they’d been aware of the computer and its contents.  Considering that Biden allegedly received over 81,000,000 votes, that means as many as 13,500,000 people would either have voted for Trump or withheld their votes from Biden.  Either way, no matter what Democrats did, they wouldn’t have been able to pretend Biden won.)

In a normal era, the story would have been a huge October surprise.

One of the leaders in the charge claiming that the computer was a Russian plant was PBS (NPR,which you, dear taxpayer, help pay for).  In October, NPR refused to cover the story.

What turns out to have been politically driven was NPR’s silence.

Later NPR cavalierly admitted that it made a massive error in reporting a major news item. There’s no remorse here.  NPR can make this admission because it knows it doesn’t matter. Its disgraceful behavior worked.

Another example of “BS-ing”:

The latest example of MSM deliberately twisting a story to have its intended effect be different from the truth is the CBS 60 Minute fiasco. For those of you not attuned to the obvious deceit by CBS, 60 Minutes  “interviewed” Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, and asked obviously leading questions which implied wrong-doing with the governor being in cahoots with Publix, a grocery chain. DeSantis thoughtfully responded and explained the entire situation . . . Conveniently 60 Minutes did not include his explanation, because of “time constraints.”

But apparently it’s worse that that.

From The Federalist:

Democrat Mayor of Palm Beach County Dave Kerner railed against CBS’s “60 Minutes.” Kerner said the special was “not just based on bad information – it was intentionally false.”

Kerner continued, “I know this because I offered to provide my insight into Palm Beach County’s vaccination efforts and 60 minutes declined.”

“They know that the Governor came to Palm Beach County and met with me and the County Administrator and we asked to expand the state’s partnership with Publix to Palm Beach County.”

Kerner continued:

“We also discussed our own local plans to expand mass vaccinations centers throughout the county, which the Governor has been incredibly supportive. We asked and he delivered. They had that information, and they left it out because it kneecaps their narrative.”

In addition, Florida’s Director of Emergency Management Jared Moskowitz, who previously served in the state legislature as a Democrat, also dispelled CBS’s conspiracy theory that DeSantis rammed COVID vaccines through Publix after the Miami Herald made the same claims in March.

“This idea why Publix was picked has been utter nonsense,” Moskowitz wrote. “We reached out to all pharmacies and they were the only one who at the time could execute on the mission.”

Hmmm! Two different Florida Democrats saying that CBS knowingly attempted to deceive its viewers. It seems as if 60 Minutes got caught with its hand in the cookie jar . . . In other words it lied by only including info that reinforced their leftward-slanted narrative.

Will 60 Minutes take the high road and apologize to its viewers for intentionally misleading them? Hmmm! 

My money is on, “No, it won’t.” I’ll cover all bets, and that is no BS.

4/7/21

6/10/23

Back when I was younger, words and definitions actually meant something. If one believed something that was not reality, then that individual was rightly deemed to be delusional. Despite what one may believe in his/her mind, if that belief is contrary to what really is, then that belief is a delusion. “Two plus two equals five” or “the sun sets in the east” are both obviously contrary to reality, and thus one who believes that these statements are true is delusional. Might we feel sorry for this misguided individual? … yes, we might. However, if another acquiesced to this altered way of viewing reality, and said, “you are correct … actually the sun does set in the east,” then sadly that person would also have to be judged to be delusional. If a whole bunch of individuals acquiesced, and agreed that two plus two did indeed equal five, then what you would have is the Democratic Party!

Show me a Democrat who has come out and said that one’s chromosomes determine one’s sex … elongated pause … If you do happen to identify a Democrat who says, “if one’s genetic makeup is XY, then that individual is a male,” then that individual is a DINO (Democrat In Name Only). 

Note that the recent Biden-appointed Supreme Court Justice could not define a ‘female.’ (I guess that fortitude is not a ‘sine qua non’ to be confirmed to SCOTUS!) Note that all of the Democrats in the Senate then acquiesced and agreed that she was worthy of being a lifelong Supreme Court Justice. 

Furthermore, note that this is not the only JB appointee who has confusion about reality. Here I mean basic reality, as I am referring to Sam Brinton. For those of you not familiar with Sam Brinton, he is an XY who thinks that he is XX. Perhaps, we should have empathy for this delusional individual, but instead our President, appointed him to the position of ‘nuclear waste manager.’ Granted this was before Sam Brinton  was arrested due to his stealing luggage at Reagan National Airport in February. BTW this will be Brinton’s third set of criminal charges for stealing ladies’ luggage. Think about that for a second. This is a delusional individual who has been delusional for quite a long time, and our President wanted him in charge of nuclear waste disposal! 

As I questioned above, should anyone who acquiesces to the beliefs of a delusional person also be considered to be delusional? 

Are delusional lunatics running the asylum?? … Hmmm!

6/10/23

“I’m from the government, and I am here to help.”

That was one of Ronald Reagan’s famous quotes detailing the nine scariest words in the English language  … famous because it is so true!

While I am sure that many of you are tired of hearing about Ivermectin and Covid, I just watched a video about how duplicitous the FDA was in reference to Ivermectin. As background the discoverers of Ivermectin  won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2015, and subsequently Ivermectin has been safely taken by billions of individuals, mainly in Africa. (Note: that is Billions with a capital B!) The side effect profile has been outstanding, it has been proven to be extremely safe. 

So why did the FDA create the following conundrum by stating that Ivermectin was not recommended for Covid, and then citing that people were overdosing on it. In actuality the overdoses were because desperate individuals were taking Ivermectin in doses meant for animals, and this was because they could not get Ivermectin in pill form, because it was “not recommended” by the FDA!

But it gets worse! On its website the FDA had an article titled, “Why 

You Should Not Use Ivermectin To Treat or Prevent Covid-19.” In this 

piece the FDA referred to 89 different referenced articles, of which 32 were completed trials. Of these 32 … take a deep breath here! … of these 32 referenced completed trials, 16 said that Ivermectin worked either as treatment or as prophylaxis for Covid. 6/32 gave Ivermectin mixed results, whereas 10 said that Ivermectin did not work. The 16 referenced studies that said that Ivermectin was beneficial included a 363 patient study from Bangladesh, an 89 patient trial from Israel, and a 229 health care worker study from Argentina. This last Argentinian study had a follow-up with 1200 individuals that showed similar beneficial results.

In other words, from studies noted on the FDA’s own website, Ivermectin had either positive result or a mixed benefit result  in 69% of the papers that the FDA referenced. So what did the FDA say, “You’re not a horse; you’re not a cow; seriously ya’ll. Stop it.”

Someday in the future perhaps we will find out the why as to this FDA conundrum … or in plain language, why the FDA lied to the American public.

( BTW, if you are interested there is an excellent video on Epoch Times. It is posted in “Facts Matter” by Roman Balmakov. It takes 12:16 to watch the entire video. I would strongly recommend it, especially to those who are “Ivermectin doubters.”)

6/9/23

Yesterday morning I began to write about a dichotomy in Pennsylvania. As far as I can tell Pittsburgh (western Pa.) and Scranton (eastern Pa.) are in the same state. So why the following dichotomy?

From BlazeNews:

On April 18, student groups Intercollegiate Studies Institute and University of Pittsburgh’s College Republicans chapter hosted a moderated debate between the Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles and BASED Politics co-founder Brad Polumbo.

The University of Pittsburgh demanded that conservative students pay $18,734 in security and damage fees after a mob of 250 leftist protesters rioted at their scheduled event, according to a demand lettersubmitted to the school by Alliance Defending Freedom.

The debate was titled “Should Transgenderism Be Regulated by Law?” The event included an audience question-and-answer session and a meet-and-greet.

The College Republicans planned the event months in advance, following all university policies and procedures, according to the ADF.

A Theater Arts Professor urged students to attend “several events planned for Tuesday April 18 in response to Knowles’ unwelcome presence on campus.”

According to ADF hundreds of rioters filled the street “within striking distance of attendees.”

“This proximity allowed the mob to throw smoke bombs and other incendiary devices into the crowd, as well as using a road flare to burn an effigy of Knowles. That action prevented the police from keeping the O’Hara Student Center free of threats, and it ultimately caused Pitt police to urge ISI to end the event before it concluded because the situation was ‘deteriorating,'” ADF wrote in its demand letter to the university.

** None of protesters were arrested!

Whereas in eastern Pennsylvania a single protester, Damon Atkins, was arrested in Scranton was arrested while standing on a public sidewalk. 

What was the vicious crime for which he was arrested?

Cellphone video captured the moment when a man was arrested after trying to quote the Bible to Pride-rally attendees across the street from him in Reading, Pennsylvania, over the weekend.

Moments later when a handcuffed Atkins continues trying to speak to the Pride-rally attendees, the officer turns him around and walks him up against a building’s outer wall, and subsequently searches his backpack.

During this time, a Pride representative on a microphone mocks “protesters across the street” who managed to “get themselves in trouble with the police.”

The crowd loves it and begins cheering. The man on the mic then urges the protesters to get “some love into that heart of yours.”

**This single protester was arrested!

Like I noted above I wrote about this Pennsylvania dichotomy yesterday.

Today on BlazeNews I read the following headline:

“Charges dropped against man arrested after trying to quote Bible to Pride rally attendees; official reportedly says legal action may come against police.”

According to the Lancaster Patriot — which initially covered details of the arrest — an email from Berks County Commissioner Christian Leinbach said “from what I have seen thus far I believe this was an unlawful arrest and could open the City of Reading and their police department to legal action.”

** Legal action! Really! No duh!

It seems to me that Pennsylvania needs to get its act together as the laws   concerning who is allowed to protest and what constitutes an unlawful violent protest need to be the same in both western and eastern Pennsylvania!

6/8/23

Many years ago as my long-time readers are aware, I voiced my opposition to the legalization of marijuana. That opposition did not have anything to do with me being anti-libertarian, but rather was based on the fact that there was not, back then, and there still is not, a way to prove that someone is driving impaired. … under the influence of marijuana. Yes, evidence of marijuana usage can be tested for, but because of the long half-life of marijuana, a positive test cannot tell when the marijuana was imbibed or smoked.

Now there is accumulating evidence that marijuana is indeed harmful, but this has nothing to do with impaired driving.

From Jeff Childers:

“The New York Times published a triggering op-ed yesterday by conservative writer Ross Douthat headlined, “Legalizing Marijuana Is a Big Mistake.” The opinion piece, which Douthat presumably penned whilst stone-cold sober, cited several new negative studies:

• A new paper from the Journal of Health Economics finding that “legal medical marijuana, particularly when available through retail dispensaries, is associated with higher opioid mortality,” suggesting the natural pain killer did not have any effect on reducing opioid dependency, as advocates had claimed. 
• A new paper strengthening the existing link between heavy pot use and the onset of schizophrenia in some young men.
• A new study showing daily or near-daily marijuana use is up dramatically since legalization, with around 1‌‌6 million Americans (out of 50 million users) now suffering from what ‌‌is termed marijuana use disorder. 

Together, the three studies strongly suggest that legalization is not, as many advocates originally claimed, absolutely 100% harm-free. The debate now needs to how much harm is justified, acceptable, or tolerated compared to the benefits, given that blue states (and some red ones) are sprinting toward making the drug a freely-available recreational intoxicant.”

Wow! When the very liberal NYT starts to print anti-marijuana editorials, you can be sure that there is something there … “when there is smoke, there’s fire!”

So, to me, it seems that I have been right all along, albeit for a different reason. … Hmmm!

6/7/23

While EVs might be wonderful in places with a lot of sun and warm weather, they can certainly be a problem in places with very cold weather. Months ago I read an interesting piece. Is it true? … I do not know.

Could it be true? … Absolutely, especially in any cold state.

Electric Vehicle Knowledge

From an anonymous Wisconsin State trooper

I’m not a fan of all electric vehicles. Too many variables affecting

battery consumption. Definitely not suited for cold climates.

The following experience just cements my distaste for EV’s, especially

Teslas.

I get sent to a motorist assist the other day, at the start of our

snowstorm. Tesla on the side of the interstate, dead battery. So, I

arrive on scene and the occupants have the right-front door open.

They tell me that they can’t open any other doors, because the battery is

dead. Sure enough. Can’t open the doors from inside or outside. The

driver also can’t get her license out of the glove box where she put

it during their trip. Because the glovebox opens electronically… and

the battery is dead.

You actually have to use the computer in the center of the dash to open the glovebox.

They said they had 10% battery left, should’ve been plenty to get from

that location to the charging station nearby. Then all of a sudden,

the whole car shut off and they coasted to the shoulder.

So now I have to find them a tow. No one wants to tow EV’s. Finally

found one company to do it. 8-mile trip to the charging station in

Tomah. $1,000! Normal vehicle on the flatbed would’ve been $150.

So now we’re at the Tesla superchargers. Guess what. Can’t open the

charging port because the battery is dead!!! The ports open, you

guessed it, electronically!!! 🤦🏼‍♂️🤬. And we also can’t open the

doors now (had to close the one open door when it was loaded onto the

wrecker). The owner’s manual is in the on-board computer, but the

battery is dead.

I got the occupants to a store where they’d be warm while calling the

rental company to figure out how to charge this POS, so I’m not sure

of the outcome. I had to leave for a crash report.

EV’s may be the way, someday, but certainly not today!! I’ll stick

with my dinosaur burner.

6/6/23

As most of are aware on Sundays I pay tribute to someone who has demonstrated unusual personal fortitude or bravery. At the present time the names of minors are often withheld in news stories. Usually I do not disagree with this policy, but with regards to the following story, I wish that I knew the name of this Michigan minor.

From BlazeNews:

A Michigan boy is being heralded as a hero for allegedly using his slingshot to save his little sister from being abducted from their back yard, according to police.

The 8-year-old sister was reportedly hunting for mushrooms on Wednesday in the back yard of her home in Alpena, Michigan. Suddenly, a 17-year-old suspect emerged from the woods, covered the girl’s mouth, grabbed her around the waist, and attempted to drag her into the woods.

The girl’s 14-year-old brother was inside the family’s home when he witnessed the attempted abduction. The boy sprang into action by grabbing his slingshot and running outside.

“He was able to grab his slingshot and was able to slingshot something that hit the suspect right in the head. And that caused him to let go. The girl was able to struggle and get away, and he shot another one, hit the suspect in the chest, and then fled the scene,” said Alpena Post Commander Lt. John Grimshaw.

The Michigan State Police released a description of the suspect, and he was quickly located – hiding at a nearby gas station. The suspect had injuries on his head and chest, which authorities said helped confirm that he was the alleged kidnapper.

Grimshaw credited the brother’s heroic actions for saving the life of his sister.

“He really is the one that, I believe, saved his sister’s life or from having something seriously bad happening to her,” he stated. “For a 14-year-old to see that and to pop into action that quickly is extraordinary.”

Extraordinary, indeed! A true hero!

6/4/23

Today I read an article concerning the truthfulness of comments, and the success of restoring one’s reputation once it has been besmirched. If one’s reputation has been wrongly tarnished by a newspaper, then the newspaper might eventually issue a retraction. This “mea culpa” could  be buried on page 59, whereas the original untruths could have been on page 2. … Fair?  No, not in the least as the original damage to the person’s reputation  is what often mainly sticks in the reader’s head. Of course, the person whose good names was smeared can bring suit against the newspaper, and sometimes the newspaper will have to pay big bucks for the slanderous comments. e.g. the student from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky)

However, what if the slander was not directed at a person? Is there a way to correct the damage that had been done? Realistically, no. Take for example, the drug, Hydroxychloroquine (HQ).

An investigation has found that among the hundreds of COVID-19 research papers that have been withdrawn, a retracted study linking the drug hydroxychloroquine to increased mortality was the most cited paper.

With 1,360 citations at the time of data extraction, researchers in the field were still referring to the paper “Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: a multinational registry analysis” long after it was retracted.

So as I see it, Hydroxychloroquine was in appropriately maligned. In large part this was because Donald Trump spoke glowingly of it, and from then on basically the liberal press maligned it. A subsequent paper came out which continued to malign HQ. This paper was retracted, but its memory lived on!

How many lives could have been saved if HQ was used to treat Covid?

How many lives could have been saved if the initial, subsequently retracted paper that falsely accused HQ, was rejected in the first place?

6/5/