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(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.

CPAC was held this year in Florida, and after listening to a few of the speeches, I think I have a new hero. Yes, Donald Trump spoke and yes, he gave a good speech. He is still my hero, but he is not a new hero of mine.

My new hero is Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota.

Although Governor Noem did not appear to be an accomplished speaker, she received multiple standing ovations – not for her fire and brimstone delivery, but rather for the content of what she was saying. At the end of her speech she referenced the importance of her dad as an example of hard work and perseverance, and the tremendous effect that he had on her life.

Obviously to speak at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) a speaker must be a conservative, and Governor Noem indeed spoke a bit about the conservative principles of lower taxes and less government, but the best part of her speech had to do with how South Dakota dealt with Covid. She related how she was on one of the Sunday morning talk shows and the host, George Stephanopoulis, paradoxically suggested that perhaps his other guest, Governor Cuomo of New York, could give Governor Noem some tips on how to handle Covid in her state. In retrospect Governor Noem could have and should have given advice to both Governor Cuomo and Stephanopoulos as in the end her approach and subsequently the outcomes in South Dakota ran rings around not only those in New York, but also those in multiple blue states. In fact perhaps the eminent Dr. Fauci could have learned a bit from Governor Noem, as he cautioned her that if she continued her plan for dealing with Covid the hospitalizations for Covid in South Dakota would exceed ten thousand . . . at the peak in South Dakota the hospitalizations were just over six hundred. Oops! And at present South Dakota has the lowest state unemployment rate in the country.

In her own words the gist of her plan in South Dakota was that “public health policy needs to take into account people’s economic and social well being.” Governor Noem believed that the approach to Covid should be balanced, and not arbitrary. She stated, “to be clear, Covid didn’t crush the economy; government crushed the economy.”

SoDak never ordered a single business or church to close.

SoDak never instituted a shelter in place order.

SoDak never mandated that people wear masks.

SoDak never defined what an essential business was, because Governor Noem did not believe that a governor had the authority to tell anybody that their business was not essential.

Likewise Governor Noem believed that “no governor should arrest, ticket, or fine anyone for exercising their freedom.”

In September the students in SoDak were back in the classrooms as “priority was given to the students and their education.”

Her speech only lasted about twenty minutes and she was given her final standing ovation when she finished. 

Watch it, as it is well worth it!

“A responsible public health strategy treats the whole person, not just the virus.” 

To me this is obvious, but unfortunately what we see written and publicized are the number of infections, the number of hospitalizations, and the number of deaths due to Covid. What we are now just beginning  see written about are the ancillary effects of these prolonged shutdowns, which were initially supposed to help us get ahead of the virus and were supposed to help prevent our hospitals from being stretched to and beyond capacity.

The ancillary casualties are primarily small businesses, especially restaurants which are forced to operate way below capacity. Because of some arbitrary limit on the number of patrons that restaurants can accommodate at any one time, many have already given up and closed down, and many others are teetering on the brink.

At this point does the vaccine change anything? Better said, “should the vaccine change anything?” 

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was just approved. Vaccine makers say they’re on track to deliver 600 million doses by July. Pfizer is ramping up production and Moderna is now expecting to double its shipments by April. One would certainly anticipate that the ever increasing numbers of vaccinated individuals should change somethings.

Seventeen percent of U.S. adults have received at least one vaccine dose, a number that is growing every day. There is strong evidence that immunity not only makes people far less likely to get sick from covid-19, but also makes it highly unlikely they will spread the disease.

An article in the Washington Post on 2/26/21 by Dr. Makary of John’s Hopkins proposes so-called “Immunity Nights” where restaurants can fully open to those who either have had Covid, have a positive antibody test indicating a prior Covid infection, or who been vaccinated. Yes, this is the same Dr. Makary who recently wrote that we are approaching herd immunity . . . how refreshing to finally see some optimism. His thoughts on Immunity Nights for restaurants are also both refreshing and hopeful as this concept could be expanded to just about anything else that has been restricted because of arbitrary lockdown limits. Barber shops & beauty shops, gyms, and places of worship could henceforth have “Immunity Days” or “Immunity Hours” which would only be opened to those with a known positive immunity status.

Now to those that live in California . . . Do not hold your breath for “Immunity Anything” to start anytime soon.

From KUSI News:

“California is extremely far behind in the reopening process compared to every other state in the country, but our public health orders refuse to tell us why.

“California recently became the 50th state to allow outdoor youth sports to resume, and is the last state to allow indoor youth sports to resume.

Furthermore, California is the only state continuing to ban gyms, museums, weddings, and charity functions from resuming normal operations.”

Perhaps there should be a ballot measure in California that would guarantee us “Immunity from Politicians and from ‘those that know best’!” BTW, it would pass!

Once again as usual, let’s start out with “let’s be clear” . . . I still get my local “newspaper” for basically two reasons . . . to do the Sunday crossword puzzle and to read about the local college football and basketball teams. I do not continue to subscribe to it to read their slanted news coverage.

Once a week they have a section called, “Your Say,” where they have local community members write short essays on a topic. This weeks topic for discussion . . . Are you ready for this? . . . “The G.O.P.’s Future.” (When I read this, I had a hard time stopping my coffee from coming out my nose! – but I recovered!)

There were five essays, and excerpts of each are cited below. In summary, the whole concept was a joke, as it is a very liberal “paper” with an extremely liberal editorial board choosing essays from selected readers. Again let’s be clear, these printed essays were the encapsulated desired projection of the future of the GOP from the liberal editorial board of the “newspaper.”

For the sake of brevity I will point out some illustrative excerpts from these five essays, so that everyone will realize how fatuous this endeavor was.

#1 – Republicans Need Some New Leaders and Ideas . . . “Donald Trump must rapidly be removed as a significant source of influence.”

#2 – G.O.P. Must Get Some More Leaders Like Romney . . . “If we want to restore integrity to the Republican Party, we need more leaders like Romney and less like Trump.”

#3 – The GOP Can’t Just Be the Party of Division . . . “Callousness has always been a part of the modern Republican Party.”

#4 – Following Trump Will Just Cost the GOP More Races . . . “As a Democrat I am pleased that”, etc. etc. etc. “The center of the problem is Donald Trump.”

#5 – True Conservatives Must Find a New Home . . . “The base Republican Party, AKA Donald Trump’s Party, is a rabble of anarchism and authoritarianism.”

Now once again, let’s be clear. I still am a big Trump fan. I firmly believe that this past election was stolen by various nefarious means. After reading these trite selected essays, I have concluded that either there are no Republicans in my county (not likely), or no pro-DJT Republicans submitted an essay (even less likely), or perhaps there are no local Republicans that still read this “newspaper” (Increasingly likely all the time).

Finally, let’s be clear one final time:

My take on this puerile attempt at telling Republicans what they should now be thinking and doing means that a lot of somebodies (RINOs, Democrats, and liberal “newspapers”) are terrified of Mr. Trump

To be clear, in California, kindergarten is not required, although almost all kids do go to kindergarten. In a typical year, from a teacher’s viewpoint, it is very easy within the first few days of first grade for that first grade teacher to identify those who went to kindergarten and those who did not.

The initial “reading” level in kindergarten is level A. Basically everyone starts in level A, and the ideal goal is that they all progress at their own speed gradually into level D. Likewise, E.L.(English learners) also start at A and typically will progress to level C while in school. Keep in mind that this progress is mainly due to the ELs being physically present in school, as they simultaneously attain a beginning grasp of English. Most students will lose a level with summer vacation, and consequently almost all will start first grade at level C. Some will start first grade at D and a few will start at level B (again mainly E.L) In a typical year, none of those who went to kindergarten will start in first grade back at level A. However that is not the case this year as some EL students are still firmly entrenched in level A, now despite Zoom school for over half of the school year. 

While the reading goal in kindergarten is to progress to level D, the goal in first grade is to progress to level J, and in second grade the goal is to progress from J onward and upward. As most are aware reading is the key to learning which in many ways is ultimately related to a relatively successful and fulfilling life. To cut to the chase, if one cannot read, he/she is set up for failure.

Keep in mind that although this includes every child, it is even more critical for those at the lower end of the economic spectrum, and even more so for those whose family speaks a language other than English at home(EL).

Someone I know quite well teaches kindergarten at an inner-city school in a big California city. There are basically three non-swear words that describe her experience this year. Disastrous! Shameful! Chaos!

She has twenty-seven children in her class, and with seven of them, English is not the language spoken at home (EL). When tested last week on Zoom (zero in-person learning), all of these seven EL tested to level A, as there is no lower level, and this teacher doubts that any of them will improve to level B this year. For these kids this is disastrous. Their parents do not understand the instructions for picking up assignments and homework packets, and so they are not picked up. The result is that these kids are getting shafted, and the school system is setting them up to fail. . . . Shameful! Very frequently these same kids miss Zoom school, or if they do manage to get on line, the background in the house is chaos.

In first grade it is more of the same as only a small minority will make it to level J by the end of first grade. Most of the students in this inner-city school are projected to only make it into reading level G by the end of first grade, and even less for EL students. Then etc. for grade two. . . . behind again. What happening is that those who know best in education in California are setting them up to fail.

Zoom school for most kids at the lowest  grade levels is a disastrous, chaotic mess, and especially for the EL group of kids, it is shameful.