The Weekly Watch
Past the Peak or a Second Wave?
Let's conduct an experiment with our kids and teachers. Put them back in school and see if there is more spread of COVID-19. As a retired teacher, I suggest the teachers are the ones holding the bag. In my old district they are offering three options...regular class attendance, on-line distance learning, or a hybrid blend of the two. Guess who has to organize and prepare for all three approaches...not to mention cleaning the classroom between groups of students? Lots of talk about student safety and not a word about staff. And it's the coaches who have matriculated to the central office that are calling the shots with claims of following state guidelines. We'll know in a couple of months (before the election) how successful this strategy is. A Georgia student was suspended this week for posting a picture of crowded hallways and no mask wearing. (2.5 min)
A Georgia student named Hannah who posted a shocking photo of her high school’s jam-packed hallways says she was called to the principal's office and suspended for five days. The school principal came on the PA system and warned students not to post negative content on social media, warning that “there will be consequences.”
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/08/geor-a08.html
Young people need to learn early that we punish truthtellers. Just ask Julian...
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is imprisoned in the high-security HMP Belmarsh in London as he faces extradition to the United States, where he has been indicted on 18 counts for obtaining, possessing, conspiring to publish and for publishing classified information. With the first-ever use of the Espionage Act for a publisher, the indictment represents an unprecedented attack on press freedom around the world. For Julian Assange, who could face up to 175 years in prison, a conviction could be a death sentence.
https://consortiumnews.com/2020/08/08/watch-what-would-assange-face-in-t...
Here's the report from the local schools near me:
Chattooga County School Superintendent Jared Hosmer released a “Weekly COVID-19 Report” after the first full-week of school for the Chattooga County School System. According to the report, five have tested positive for COVID-19 at Chattooga High School and one has tested positive at Sumerville Middle School. Leroy Massey Elementary, Lyerly Elementary, Menlo Elementary and the county office have not reported any positive cases. The reports include staff and students at each school.
In the adjoining county teachers are not happy about the return to the classroom...
Several Walker County teachers spoke to the School Board about their concerns with opening schools under the threat imposed by COVID-19. At a meeting on the millage rate Thursday night, teachers told the board they fear taking the virus home to family members who may be vulnerable due to pre-existing health conditions.
One of the four who spoke said the current re-opening plan does not do enough to protect students and staff. Another said social distancing is not possible under the current plan – and asked the board to consider mandating face masks at all times.
A LaFayette High teacher told the board she feels that her life is “expendable”.
Those speaking also mentioned concerns that teachers were not asked for their input on the school opening plan… and suggested on-line learning until infection rates begin to drop.
School starts next Thursday in the Walker County school system.
Texas attorney general orders in-person education as state cases top 500,000
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/08/texa-a08.html
Demonstrating the bipartisan support for the campaign to reopen schools in the US, New York’s Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo gave the green light for all school districts in the state to resume in-person instruction in the coming weeks. Making the blanket announcement, Cuomo declared, “Good news, all schools can reopen.”
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/08/cuom-a08.html
WTF? We've lost our collective minds.
Oh, I know, you may SAY you’re mostly eager for schools to reopen to benefit the poor kids, the kids from single-parent homes, the foster kids and the kids on the wrong side of the “achievement gap.” And I believe that you believe that this is why (some of) you are arguing so vehemently that we should open the schools “as soon as it is safe” (which is pretty much an unknowable moving target at this point, for much of the country).
https://scheerpost.com/2020/08/02/the-kids-are-alright-at-least-yours/
I would like to be hopeful, but we will have to wait and see how things evolve. Chris proposes the X,Y,Z hypothesis in this video which suggests we may be close to herd immunity. (40 min)
Currently it is the South that is facing the biggest challenge in the States. Looking at COVID hospitalizations is a good metric to see regional differences.
In a Dutch study of 9400 COVID cases age and comorbidity are again the primary complicating factors.
Figure 3. Heatmap illustrating mortality among SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive cases, specified by age and number of comorbidities. Total number of comorbidities is assessed as the total number of any of the following conditions: Chronic lung disease, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, stroke, diabetes, dementia, cancer, chronic liver disease, hospital-diagnosed kidney disease, alcohol abuse, substance abuse, major psychiatric disorder, organ transplantation, overweight and obesity, and rheumatoid arthritis/connective tissue disease. Mortality was defined as all-cause mortality within 30 days from the index date.
Conclusion: In this first nationwide population-based study, increasing age, sex, and number and type of comorbidities were closely associated with hospitalization requirement and death in SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive cases. In the absence of comorbidities, the mortality was, however, lowest until the age of 80 years. These results may help in accurate identification, triage and protection of high-risk groups in general populations, i.e. when reopening societies.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.24.20111823v1.full.pdf
Chris discusses this Dutch study and more
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp0hiFVm1U8 (40 min)
So the bottom line is older folks, especially those who have health issues should remain at home with minimum exposure. My concern with school openings involve the grandparents these students will encounter, as well as the many many students, staff, and teachers with pre-existing conditions like obesity and diabetes.
Doctors Mark Hyman and Aseem Malhotra suggest only 12% of us are metabolically healthy which might explain the severity of COVID-19 in the US....and it is because of the way we eat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r__rOU2G_P8 (1 hour)
As we continue to learn more about COVID-19, we see a pattern in those more at risk. People who aren’t metabolically healthy (think obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension) are much more likely to experience severe complications if they are to get the virus. And to put that in perspective, only 1 in 8 Americans are considered metabolically healthy. That means a lot of us are at risk during this already alarming time. We can start changing that today, though, and create a newfound health baseline while creating a greater level of resilience when it comes to chronic disease and future situations like this.
The US isn’t the only place dealing with an epidemic of obesity and other metabolic diseases. The UK and other parts of the world are also struggling, thanks to the spread of the ultra-processed food and a sedentary lifestyle. On this episode of The Doctor’s Farmacy, I’m joined by Dr. Aseem Malhotra to talk about the impact COVID-19 is having on the UK, the risks that metabolic diseases pose with the virus, and much more. Dr. Aseem Malhotra is a founding member of Action on Sugar and was the lead campaigner highlighting the harm caused by excess sugar consumption in the United Kingdom, particularly its role in type 2 diabetes and obesity. His first book, co-authored with Donal O' Neill, The Pioppi Diet, has become an international bestseller.
*For context, this episode was recorded on April 24, 2020
Our poor dietary habits have been re-enforced by a corporate food system whose products are designed to be addictive. Have you seen the documentary, Food Inc.? (1.5 hours)
Chris suggests...
Given all that we know after our months of intensively tracking the coronavirus pandemic, what are the best ways to prevent & treat it?
1) Everyone should invest in boosting the "terrain" of their own body's health. Boost your intake of Vitamins D & C, eat healthy, get plenty of rest, and avoid stress.
2) Everyone should wear a mask, practice social distance, and get tested asap if exposure or illness is suspected. At-risk people deserve extra precautionary protections.
3) If exposed or in initial sickness stages, administer HCQ + zinc within 2 days or sooner of symptoms onset.
4) If symptoms progress, administer MATH+ cocktail.
5) If symptoms worsen further, deliver advanced therapeutic support, ideally in a hospital setting.
I was surprised Chris list didn't include ivermectin which appears to show promise.
The real issue is 40% of infected people are asymptomatic unknowingly spreading the virus.
I think we need wide spread saliva tests.
https://e25bio.com/products/
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/07/22/893931848/rapid-che...
3M is developing paper COVID-19 test with goal of giving accurate results in minutes.
They are being offered for free in some Texas locations, as well as Hawaii Some universities are trying these tests with their students as well.
So these saliva (spit) tests could be used at home and only take 30 minutes for results. As you can imagine many universities and companies are rushing to release them. They could be a game changer for those in the workplace or in school...testing every morning before going out. Then we could safely open schools.
Instead the pandemic continues to enrich the oligarchs...
America’s largest and richest hospital chains rushed to the front of the COVID-19 bailout line this spring to pull $15 billion from the government’s emergency fund. They pocketed the taxpayers’ money despite sitting on tens of billions of dollars of their own cash reserves.
https://scheerpost.com/2020/08/08/covid-19-isnt-the-only-virus-killing-a...
Many economists in the US and Europe argued that the next time the banks failed, they should be nationalized – taken over by the government as public utilities. But that opportunity was lost when, in September 2019 and again in March 2020, Wall Street banks were quietly bailed out from a liquidity crisis in the repo market that could otherwise have bankrupted them. There was no bail-in of private funds, no heated congressional debate, and no public vote. It was all done unilaterally by unelected bureaucrats at the Federal Reserve.
https://scheerpost.com/2020/08/05/wall-street-gets-another-bailout-as-ma...
Max and Stacy think escaping fiat currency is the answer...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyaJD6bxhZg (25 min)
Max and Stacy chat to precious metals and bitcoin investor Mark Valek of Incrementum.li. They discuss the ‘FREE MONEY’ cover story on the Economist magazine and how that money printing has caused the rise in gold and bitcoin prices. The conversation turns to the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency and whether or not Goldman Sachs is correct in their forecast that this exorbitant privilege will soon end. They look at what role bitcoin and gold will play in a post dollar world and whether or not Elvira Nabiullina will be seen as the Charles DeGaulle of central bankers.
And now for other news...
I heard a fun discussion with Thomas Frank, Matt, and Katie. Thomas tells a great story about reporters and food in the first 5 minutes. It is mostly a discussion about populism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvxyEta01EU (1.2 hours)
Cornel West was so good in this interview. I think you'll enjoy it.
Prof. Cornel West: Joe Biden a Neoliberal Disaster, Donald Trump a Neofascist Catastrophe!
He discusses the 2020 election of Donald Trump vs Joe Biden, Joe Biden’s role in the rise of mass incarceration, US imperialism and foreign policy in the Middle East, the explosion at Beirut port in Lebanon, why Donald Trump’s opposition to Middle East intervention is farcical, the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and the Trump Administration’s response, the loss of Bernie Sanders in the democratic primary, the murder of George Floyd and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and the challenging of neoliberalism within the black community, why the US is an empire in decline and much more!
The first episode of "The Con" came out this week. It looks like a prediction of what is about to happen again. Deja vu' all over again?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XGZ7F3IPY8&t=3m50s
Trump is going after all public services.
Government watchdogs, Democratic lawmakers, and pro-democracy advocates declared it a "Friday Night Massacre" for the U.S. Postal Service after news broke in a classic end-of-the-week dump that Louis DeJoy—a major GOP donor to President Donald Trump and the recently appointed Postmaster General—had issued a sweeping overhaul of the agency, including the ouster of top executives from key posts and the reshuffling of more than two dozen other officials and operational managers.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/07/friday-night-massacre-us-po...
In the wake of what was dubbed a "Friday Night Massacre" at the U.S. Postal Service—compounded by news that first-class postage rates, as opposed to cheaper bulk rates, would be charged for processing mail-in ballots in November—calls overnight and into Saturday have gone out for people across the U.S. to rise up in a coordinated fashion to end what many observers warn is a blatant effort by the Trump administration and the GOP to sabotage the federal mail delivery service ahead of this year's elections.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/08/five-alarm-fire-2020-electi...
And now openly admitting Social Security and Medicare are next on the chopping block...
President Donald Trump on Saturday afternoon openly vowed to permanently "terminate" the funding mechanism for both Social Security and Medicare if reelected in November—an admission that was seized upon by defenders of the popular safety net programs who have been warning for months that the administration's threat to suspend the payroll tax in the name of economic relief during the Covid-19 pandemic was really a backdoor sabotage effort.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/08/trump-just-admitted-live-te...
Does he really think that is a good election strategy? I'm sure it will increase his donations from the oligarchs, but I don't see how that buys votes...or maybe he's already rigged the game as Greg Palast suggests. Chris Hedges discusses the potential for voter fraud in the 2020 US presidential election with investigative journalist, Greg Palast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCEEFaP39K0 (28 min)
Russiagate will not die...
Yesterday the mislabeled U.S. 'Intelligence' Agencies trotted out more nonsense claims about foreign interferences in U.S. elections. The New York Times sensationally headlines:
Russia Continues Interfering in Election to Try to Help Trump, U.S. Intelligence Says
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2020/08/no-evidence-of-foreign-interferenc...
“In my family, being kind was considered being weak,” says Mary Trump, President Trump’s niece, a clinical psychologist and author of “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.” She describes his upbringing in a dysfunctional family that fostered his greed, cruelty and racist and sexist behaviors — which he is now inflicting on the world. Mary Trump also discusses the president’s mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic, his long history of lies and misrepresentations, and the dangers of his reelection. “I believe that this country is on the knife’s edge, and I don’t want anybody going to cast their vote in November being able to claim that they just don’t know who they’re voting for,” she says. (video or text)
https://www.democracynow.org/2020/8/7/mary_trump_how_dysfunctional_famil...
This week marked the 75th anniversary of the first use of atomic weapons.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/06/pers-a06.html
History Professor Exposes One of America's biggest History Myths - Part 1
In the first part of our video series with author and Professor of History at American University Peter Kuznick, we examine one of the biggest myths in American history, which states that the use of atomic bombs in Japan in August of 1945 were necessary to save American and Japanese lives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QGZmPNbhKs (22 min)
The Actual Reason Why America Dropped 2 Atomic Bombs on Japan - Part 2 with Prof. Kuznick
In the second part part of our video series with author and Professor of History at American University Peter Kuznick, we dive deeper into the topic of why the United States actually used atomic bombs against Japan in World War II. In addition, we discuss why it is important to educate people on this issue and what significance it has on our collective future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZVIuvxIZ84 (23 min)
A major reason to use the new bombs was to demonstrate to the Soviet Union - already selected as the next enemy - that the U.S. had superior weapons. But it did not take long for the scientist in the Soviet Union to catch up and to test their own nuclear device.
It then dawned on some in Washington that a world with nuclear weapons is less secure than one without them. For 75 years they tried to stop the race for more nuclear weapons and to create a path to their total abolishment. But the hawks were more numerous - they still are - and they won out each and every time.
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2020/08/addicted-to-nuclear-weapons-why-us...
Larry Wilkerson suggests a war with China is inevitable
And China is probably right now, I won’t say probably they are, all my contacts tell me they are embarked on a review, thorough review, of their own nuclear policy, the result of which will probably be a much more robust Chinese nuclear stockpile, one that can, as much as we used to say in the old days, ride out a first strike and respond massively. That means lots more nuclear weapons for China.
Most people don’t understand that China doesn’t have very many nuclear weapons at all. Mao Zedong thought they were stupid weapons, they didn’t make any sense. But if others had them, he ought to have a few just so he could threaten those others in case. They’re getting ready to change that, I think, and become a full up, “I can strike you and get away with it power”, which of course is nonsense, nonsense for Russia, nonsense for the United States, nonsense for anyone to think that they can strike first and get away with it, as you intimated, we will have started a cycle of environmental change that added to the climate crisis will put us out of action as human beings probably 50 years earlier.
https://theanalysis.news/interviews/the-danger-of-war-with-china-is-real... (video or text)
Writing this week in the prestigious US-based journal Foreign Affairs, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warns that the danger of armed conflict between the United States and China is higher than at any time since the 1950s. His essay, titled “Beware the Guns of August—in Asia: How to keep US-Chinese tensions from sparking a war,” recalls the extreme geo-political tensions in August 1914 as the world was plunged into a catastrophic war.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/08/rudd-a08.html
Don't worry, if nuclear war doesn't end the species, climate chaos will.
The latest data tells us that if we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, then between one-third and one-half of glacier ice will be lost by 2100. If not, and we carry on with business as usual, then two-thirds of Himalayan glaciers will vanish by the end of this century.
https://theanalysis.news/uncategorized/two-thirds-of-glacier-ice-in-the-...
Glaciers around the world are melting — and for the first time, we can now directly attribute annual ice loss to climate change.
We analysed two years in which glaciers in New Zealand melted the most in at least four decades: 2011 and 2018. Both years were characterised by warmer than average temperatures of the air and the surface of the ocean, especially during summer.
Our research, published today, shows climate change made the glacial melt that happened during the summer of 2018 at least ten times more likely.
https://theanalysis.news/commentary/how-climate-change-made-the-melting-...
'It's Disintegrated, Basically': Last Fully Intact Canadian Ice Sheet Collapses
The formation was the final survivor of its kind in the nation's Arctic
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/07/its-disintegrated-basically...
Have you seen the documentary "Chasing Ice"? It came out several years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbdi76Gz98w (1.25 hours)
Stuart has cancer. He has spent years working to limit climate disasters. Here he gives a message of hope which I want to feature...
a song made famous by Bette Midler, but actually written by Julie Gold, and here performed in New York City in 2011 at a celebration of singers, songwriters and performing artists, a song with a deep message performed by the woman who wrote it. Enjoy, and as always, please subscribe and share it widely, along with our channel, and our message that, as Greta says, "When we act, hope is everywhere."
and the snow-capped mountains white.
From a distance the ocean meets the stream,
and the eagle takes to flight.
From a distance, there is harmony,
and it echoes through the land.
It's the voice of hope, it's the voice of peace,
it's the voice of every man.
From a distance we all have enough,
and no one is in need.
And there are no guns, no bombs, and no disease,
no hungry mouths to feed.
From a distance we are instruments
marching in a common band.
Playing songs of hope, playing songs of peace.
They're the songs of every man.
God is watching us. God is watching us.
God is watching us from a distance.
From a distance you look like my friend,
even though we are at war.
From a distance I just cannot comprehend
what all this fighting is for.
From a distance there is harmony,
and it echoes through the land.
And it's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves,
it's the heart of every man.
It's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves.
This is the song of every man.
I'm not so sure of the god or goddess saving us from ourselves, but I love the hope part of the message. I'm convinced nature is healing, and in these unsettled times it does wonders to walk or bike through our beautiful natural systems. Absorb the growth and peace of nature and find hope that we can change our destructive course of aggression and consumption, and transition to a world of cooperation, peace, and mutual respect. It is darkest before the dawn. Be well my friends.
Comments
Just read this email about the peoples party convention
Sign up to digitally attend The People’s Convention on August 30, from 4-6 pm ET, with a historic vote to form a major new party and a regional organizing breakout session at the conclusion of the event. https://peoplesconvention.org/
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I registered for the People's Party Convention.
Haven't heard from them yet.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
Well I hope it is a worth while project...
at least it is something proactive instead of just beating our heads against the wall of corporate demoncraps.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
See you there...
I registered this morning and started a recurring contribution. I’m still a sucker for Hope, in spite of my deeply ingrained pessimism.
What do I have to lose that isn’t already on the way to gone?
“ …and when we destroy nature, we diminish our capacity to sense the divine,and understand who God is, and what our own potential is and duties are as human beings.- RFK jr. 8/26/2024
Thanks for all the hard work putting this together
Given me a week's worth of things to watch and read after I finish with some of the chores that are piling up around me!
Did my early morning ride before many people were moving and was very pleasant and great way to start the day. Reading about the situation in Texas and the starting of the schools....there is so much to say. This is so frightening because like so many other directives, no money or assistance provided. I was in the local hardware store yesterday and there was an elementary teacher buying plastic sheeting to make shields for all the desks in her room. Who was paying and doing the building? Not the school and she is one of the ones that has someone who can help her build them.
Been having a lot of discussion with my nephew and his wife about what schooling will look like for their 7 year old son with dyslexia and is ADHD. Not a real clear path for them. They are creating a pod of 4 students of the same general level to have a tutor in the room to make sure the lessons are being done since all the parents work and cannot monitor this for a full day. I have been staying with my sister in law, their grandmother and have seen first hand some of the problems that are manifesting themselves and this is just discipline and not the learning component. He is also having nightmares about people dying and what is going to happen when a fellow classmate and/or teacher dies. These are real issues and it is hard for me to comprehend why anyone thinks it is OK to go ahead without being cautious.
Just a bit of trivia about how the Texas government is structured. It is a weak governor system with the most powerful person being the lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, land commissioner, and then governor. A possible reason why things are so messed up here.
Enough of the rambling and thanks for the song at the end. Really a great way to send me off to do chores. Can even stop every once in a while and look down at the lake and enjoy the sounds of the birds!
Have a great day!
Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.
This ain't no dress rehearsal!
I like the saying...
We don't inherit from our ancestors, we borrow from our children.
Learning should be fun. There is so much kids can do to help - cook, clean, gardening, hunt, raise animals, and so on. Those skills take measurements (math), science (how things grow), plus add in arts and crafts making useful things. My background teaching was working at summer camp, and I've always thought camp is a better model for learning than schools. I would not send my kid to school, this semester anyway. Home school. I like the idea of a tutor if your kinfolk can afford it. Sitting down as a family and developing a learning program would be useful for everyone and would provide deeper learning than schools.
Thanks for the visit, and best of luck as you transition to NM. Just read about the heat wave. I think it was Phoenix that has had 33 days of 110 F and another week expected breaking all the records. We are in the middle of the climate crisis for sure. I'm thinking you are in the cooler highland there. Anyway take care in your travels and be well!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks for all the hard work putting this together
Given me a week's worth of things to watch and read after I finish with some of the chores that are piling up around me!
Did my early morning ride before many people were moving and was very pleasant and great way to start the day. Reading about the situation in Texas and the starting of the schools....there is so much to say. This is so frightening because like so many other directives, no money or assistance provided. I was in the local hardware store yesterday and there was an elementary teacher buying plastic sheeting to make shields for all the desks in her room. Who was paying and doing the building? Not the school and she is one of the ones that has someone who can help her build them.
Been having a lot of discussion with my nephew and his wife about what schooling will look like for their 7 year old son with dyslexia and is ADHD. Not a real clear path for them. They are creating a pod of 4 students of the same general level to have a tutor in the room to make sure the lessons are being done since all the parents work and cannot monitor this for a full day. I have been staying with my sister in law, their grandmother and have seen first hand some of the problems that are manifesting themselves and this is just discipline and not the learning component. He is also having nightmares about people dying and what is going to happen when a fellow classmate and/or teacher dies. These are real issues and it is hard for me to comprehend why anyone thinks it is OK to go ahead without being cautious.
Just a bit of trivia about how the Texas government is structured. It is a weak governor system with the most powerful person being the lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, land commissioner, and then governor. A possible reason why things are so messed up here.
Enough of the rambling and thanks for the song at the end. Really a great way to send me off to do chores. Can even stop every once in a while and look down at the lake and enjoy the sounds of the birds!
Have a great day!
Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.
This ain't no dress rehearsal!
meant to add...
just heard the kid who was suspended for the photo was allowed back to school starting tomorrow. I hope the principal had his hand slapped!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
It's bad enough that schools
are reopening but consider that their parents are sending/allowing them to return to classrooms. WTF is wrong with all of these adults?
Repeating a line from a comment I made in our local expat online daily: What can go wrong with using our kids as a Petri dish for Covid? I'm sure nobody can foresee the outcome. Even most of the people and governments of trump's "shithole countries" know that answer.
Thanks for the enormous amount of content.
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..."
Good to see you
The failure of the system has become apparent to almost everyone. Using children to try to hang on to power amid the collapsing house of cards is too much.
I think they are trapped in debt and are doing what they can to help their families. Just trying to hang on, and the system is screwing them.
Jonathon Pie had a fun rant about the misinformation about masks...(4 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZQkBHysrig
Hope all is well in your corner.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Todo esta muy bien aqui Lookout.
The economic pressure has to be enormous on families. Before Covid the vast majority of people were living hand to mouth in crushing debt. That’s exactly where we have to look for the solution that is the topic of your thread -change.
I completely disagree with placing blame for current troubles on a supposedly homogeneous generational entity. I do however accept it is my generation, baby boomers, who gave us the idea that debt is your friend and a path to a better life. It is not our friend and it is only a path to more stuff/shit, not better, and ruin.
Had people (small business, huge corporations, and governments too) not become used to living on increasing debt loads they would have the recommended emergency funds and low/no debt servicing loads to allow them to scrape by through tough times. We not only eat the seed corn these days but it’s someone else’s corn. We have to learn this lesson from this catastrophe. We have to accept that more is more and better is better. We have to change.
Change doesn’t stop there either. A major reason so many of us are in dire straits is that they fell for the allure of cheap credit and the appearance of having the good life in a time of decreasing incomes for more work that becomes the profit of the wealthy. It isn’t entirely our fault even though it’s another “Who could have known?” event. We have to relearn the lessons the Great Depression taught to our parent/grandparents.
This, of course, drags so many other issues like labor laws and the decline of unions into focus for re-education. The more I think of the plight of people and the path forward the more that I see an obviously FUBAR’d country as well as so many obstacles to change erected for the benefit of those who profit from our poor choices.
The solution is tearing down the walls and is changing. It is going to get really ugly but there is no easy fix, no political fix either. This is personal for the most part. Banding together to help each other out of the ditch we’ve driven into is essential. I just don’t know if most people can get over petty differences, the rugged individual BS, and the need to see their plight as mainly of other’s doing. We went for the worm and found the hook. Only a real come to Jeebus look at ourselves is going to let us change for a better life.
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..."
excellent comment
Glad to hear all is well. The change has arrived, and as you suggest the choice we make on a personal level is the path toward collective change.
Ain't that the truth.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I don’t know if change has arrived
but there are plenty of big red flags flapping in the gale, horn honking, glaring neon signs, and cheerleaders doing cheerleader things. Whether people notice is unsure and whether we can learn the correct lessons is doubtful in my opinion. The denial is very strong.
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..."
I think evictions are going to be a powerful effect...
on people's attitudes. I hate it, but it seems to be coming.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I hope so.
The two biggest obstacles that I see in people is almost everyone being only concerned with their own plight (or a very narrow range of family members)and a refusal to accept their situation enough to make the accommodations required. Then again, something like being evicted into homelessness brings necessity into play. And like I've heard said, necessity is a muthaf..., shut your mouth!, that's really hard to ignore.
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..."
A quibble with this:
Credit cards gave that idea to everyone, and that was inaugurated in 1978 with MARQUETTE NAT. BANK v. FIRST OF OMAHA CORP. Until then, older boomers didn't embrace credit (other than student loans and perhaps a car loan) because generally they didn't qualify for credit cards. Explained here
Personally, I had a corporate draft book and AMEX card before I ever applied for a credit card. We paid cash for purchases.
I really don’t remember
the details of my finances until I left the USAF in 1984. I was far too busy from 1969 until then to do much except work. There are a lot of holes in history and current events during that period. I do know that we used credit liberally from then on partly due to circumstances that took until my last few years before retiring to get fully under control. I also remember friends and family in the same boat with few exceptions. I really can’t explain why I could make so much money and still feel always on the edge. It was a bad habit that would have lead to disaster with worse timing or lesser income. Never more.
I stand by my point that I put myself in that position. I did become overcome by circumstances a few times: left the USAF for a year of a 60% pay cut with a house I couldn’t live in until I sold it 3 years later, two pay cuts- 17% and 40% - from labor contracts, and a few lesser potholes. Not using debt and easy credit was a choice. There were alternatives but not pretty or as easy. That’s on us. Predators prefer the easy prey. It’s not their fault for being who they are.
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..."
You're not alone --
easy credit creeps, particularly when the 'rules of the game' for ordinary people changes without their awareness. They may not have been conscious of what those rules were. For example, until 1973 real wages had always increased in the US. So, one could stretch a bit in the short-term with confidence that income would continue to increase.
At the same time, interest rates began escalating and they stayed very high for twenty-five years (thank Volcker and Greenspan). People got it that they weren't making it, but their misguided energy went into demanding lower taxes. And chasing cheaper prices for everything. Like hamsters on a wheel.
In 1992 I inadvertently ended up assisting a 55 year old woman with her personal finances because she'd dug a deep hole. How that happened was an old small investment suddenly became a huge chunk of cash. She claimed that her accountant had her set aside 10% for capital gains. (Very bad advice for a spender which she'd always been.) When that was gone, she continued spending at a much higher rate than she had before. (Her annual income was about $125 thousand.) Then the tax man cometh. As a consequence of her windfall, she ended up doubling her mortgage and was still carrying $50 grand on credit cards. Without anything most people would consider real pain, she could have cleaned it up in two years. Four years with a still quite large discretionary spending allowance. Her plan was to increase her income. And never retire.
Some time later her mother whispered to me that she was "spending like a drunken sailor again." (As European immigrants, her parents paid cash for everything, including houses.) I nodded and shrugged.
Good morning
I was fortunate to have depression vintage parents who strongly encouraged no debt. I made it through college borrowing less than $1000, which I quickly repaid. Then the only other debt in my life was our place/mortgage which we paid off in 6 years. Being debt free is what allowed us, two teachers, to prepare for a comfortable retirement drawing a pension, annuity, and SS.
The system has encouraged debt for decades now.
You may recall that Biden is owned by the credit card industry.
https://www.propublica.org/article/bidens-cozy-relations-with-bank-indus...
He also helped create the student debt problems...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/02/joe-biden-student-loan-d...
Y'all both have a good week!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Conditions are much worse today
especially for young people. Many need the credit to merely survive. That’s a major reason my son came with us. I was spending more propping him up than I do supporting him in Cuenca. That’s for a college graduate with zero student debt.
These problems contribute to further damage to the economy that most people don’t have a clue about. To most this the other people’s problems and their own fault. Fools don’t know their turn is coming.
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..."
I understand and agree
Things are more difficult/expensive/rigged today for young folks. I came along in the golden age and feel ashamed by the way we treat our young folks...hell, all folks.
Take care and be well. Best of luck to your son.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Peoples convention
Now that sounds like something to sink ones teeth into.
F*ck the duopoly. We need a choice.
Thanks Lookout!
Save USPS
Save SS
Bleed the billionaires
question everything
It will stream live
on several platforms including Jimmy's youtube channel.
On Sunday, August 30, from 4-6 pm EST
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks Lookout. I recently saw a recently released study
which indicates that those youth under 6 yo who get covid 19 have a truly massive viral load, it isn't known, afaict, if this is also true for other youthful age groups. One thing we do seem to have learned is that at all ages those who recover have a high likelihood of having serious organ damage of some type. This is an interesting price to ask a whole generation to pay simply to save the money that we would have to spend to make good remote learning feasible. It's also a good counter argument, imho, against simply sitting back and waiting for naturally acquired herd immunity to happen.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
spit tests would go a long way
to limiting spread. They estimate a $1-2 per day cost. A cheap fix.
We seem too incompetent to get anything right these days.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Lots of news. Lots to digest.
Not surprised that Trump’s family believes kindness is a weakness. I guess when you’re surrounded by fellow sociopaths that’s probably true. Pity those in Washington and in the executive boardrooms of power choose to live that way. Even stranger that they actually pity us for not living that way. I think we need to come up with something more consequential then the generic hell we’d like them to succumb too. But maybe that’s not very kind of me to say?
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
when you're going through hell, keep going
There's hope that we have more immunity than has been revealed. Now economic and politics look more bleak the the pandemic...its a mess.
Be careful out there. Noticed CA has a lighter hospital load than AL or GA.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Anja, if it was only trump
and his sociopath peers, I'd be more encouraged for our ability to dig out of this without major upheaval. It isn't. Ordinary people have the same feelings for almost everyone they don't know well and like personally. We're so terribly divided and deluded.
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..."
That suspension could save her life,
and maybe the lives of her family. She did the right thing.
I hope she thinks twice before returning to deadly conditions.
I walked out of two medical facilities last week because they weren't practicing CV hygiene. Nose out is worse than no mask -- false sense of security and false compliance.
Talking on the phone is NOT a reason to take your mask off!
These are behaviors I see all the time. Personally, I'm going out only when necessary and practicing extreme caution when I do. Finally got around to buying face shields. I've ordered maskless people off my property, and gee, I heard gunshots out back last night. Rump country. It's crazy out there.
Some good news about a nasal spray
recommended for dental workers in UK
can't find the link, sorry
question everything
Ironically, I felt safe
going to the dentist, because the waiting room was empty and they were being very careful.
Getting med and dental work done now before what I fear will be a bad Fall.
If you come across that link, post it and message me. Could be valuable.
The expendables
...mainly just old folks, people of color, and poor folks, right?
Our local judge is in ICU but he's on the upswing. As el said above most survivors have damage.
The suspended student is returning Monday, so ...
Let's keep on keeping on. Stay well!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I think the real reason
for all this pressure to physically open schools, non-remote, is so the schools can fulfill their warehousing function, and let the poor parents slave away at their low-paying jobs. Rich parents have au pairs, nannies, tutors, etc., or private schools with the money to be safe(r).
I'd say you're right....
Get to work and make me some more money. Death is quick if you get COVID...usually within two weeks. We gotta look at the bottom line.
Sad commentary on the US and capitalism in general.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
CoronaMoloch
Burning children in the iron furnace.
But we're a xristian nation. Abrahamic. I guess that means we're used to sacrificing children.
Just because I feel like it:
"God said to Abraham kill me a son
Abe said where you want this killin done
God said out on Highway 61"
-abbreviated. God and Abe on twitter, maybe, double-thumbing it.
Heard some Johnny Winters today, made me think of it.
Quick input on obesity and immune system health
There is an evolving understanding of the relationship between the immune system and obesity. At the moment it is a little like the Chicken and Egg question, which came first? General assumption is obesity reduces immune system function resulting in many chronic conditions or at least making them worse and reduced immune response to infections (including vaccines). Suggested treatments have been lose weight with calorie restriction, increase exercise, gastric surgeries, low fat diets and so on. Chronic conditions are treated separately with tiered medical responses as the conditions worsen.
On the otherside is the idea obesity is a symptom of an impaired immune system. The primary treatment would be immune system support and reduce factors contributing to chronic bodywide inflammation. Chronic conditions are treated to prevent further damage to body and quality life style with constant monitoring to adjust medical responses to minimal intervention. For example monitor blood pressure and reduce or stop medication when appropriate to avoid falls and poor mental status due to low blood pressure.
This paper stretches the mind a bit
If food is a contributor it is important to read the ingredient list on all foods in the cupboards. In the last 10 years many products, including natural and organic, have added thickeners, emulsifiers and stabilizers to improve shelf life of products. These all effect the biosystem of the gut microbes.
Thanks for another valuable diary.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Thanks for the link
It is chicken and egg with the gut biota in between. There are metabolically healthy obese people and thin people with lots of internal fat. There's also toxicity issues
My total wild hypothesis on obesity and COVID has to do with leaky gut. The immune system is already overwhelmed with the LPS which leak/pass into the system.
I go back to my usual place - the body can repair that damage usually with fasting and a LCHF diet. It isn't that hard once you make up your mind (and learn some cooking tricks).
Thanks for coming by. Hope you're having a good garden season!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I second or third that thought. Metabolism, immune system,
diet if it is heavy on processed foods, can all play a part. I see grossly obese people and can tell by watching them move/or not, that they don't feel good and don't know what to do to improve.
The more I have read about gut biome, leaky gut and general health of the digestive tract top to bottom, the more I believe however slowly we can unwind our bad health.
I had infections which affected my fluid balance, which doctors took as intentional starvation. They tested for that and didn't find it, but I ended up losing a litre more a day than intake. Eventually my heart which was working overtime to pump fluids and nutrition to my brain, started to decompensate (give up).
A really smart endocronologist had seen something similar in a patient with a brain tumor on the Pituitary. So he conducted tests to see if my Human Growth Hormone was at normal levels. It was. My body couldn't see it. He corrected it by injecting micro doses of synthetic HgH which after six weeks started to right my system. After six months I was gaining back my weight which had gone from 134 to 110 pounds. It was scary.
During that time I went from normal to wasting and before he got that my body had figured things out I was gaining so much weight, a size 16 was too small.
Big lesson there. I don't judge anymore. More, I think maybe the person I'm seeing could use real help.
The gut biome, Vagus nerve, Central Nervous system, Hypothalamus, Pituitary all played a part. Working on all of this was not easy, but eventually I was unwound and ended up able to eat almost anything. I would give up cocktails before coffee, but in the end could do it all. Getting out of a health hole is a slog, and seeing any improvement at first is really the thing that motivates continued work.
Last thing: exposure to toxins such as herbicides, insecticides (Endosulfan, glyphosate) molds and poorly ventilated spaces with exhaust gases, can be silent but incredibly able to push our bodies into dark holes of imbalance. Our systems try to stay in balance, but eventually can get overwhelmed. Infections that might be otherwise dealt with, become active and yet one more cause of inflammation and long term unbalance.
We are incredibly resilient. Our complex marvel of systems are not separate entities but a communicating, balancing whole. Given the chance, and not letting surgeons cut us up, is the beginning of repair and return to health and strength.
Hug a tree; look at the stars; love a dog; garden; sit by a stream; watch and listen to insects; make small meadows instead of a lawn. So much to be awed by and to breathe good air.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Good morning ...
Lots of good stuff in this morning's WW. Thanks again, Lookout, for putting these together.
I don't have much to add.
There's this: July scorches its way into record books as hottest month ever recorded in Tucson
We're watching global warming in real time here. I can't believe there could be anyone in Arizona who still doesn't get it.
And this: America Is About To Feel Like A 3rd World Nation
My wife is a retired teacher, K-3 mostly. She says she would refuse to go in in she were still working. No way the little ones will be able to social distance, they're too impulsive.
This will put older family members at risk as well as older teachers.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
I saw y'all have had 33 days of 110 F so far
And another week of them coming up. Stay cool!
We have miraculously avoided the worst of summer heat...so far anyway.
Thanks for the Ian Welch piece
Glad to hear your wife is out of the classroom. Y'all take care!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
morning lo
and all
.
.
Here are a couple of things that caught my eye this week
'It's Disintegrated, Basically': Last Fully Intact Canadian Ice Sheet Collapses
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/07/its-disintegrated-basically...
Violent, secretive fascistic networks operating inside California police stations
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/07/comp-a07.html
I seriously doubt that action will be taken...
The Department of Homeland Security is a rogue agency. Democrats must take action
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/07/dhs-homeland-secur...
We had a fire in the preserve that my house borders. All safe but scary beyond. I have cleared my side but the other is owned by whatever Fish and Game is called now and flush with underbrush. They came and put it out really quickly. Four fire trucks. Ak.
All well in the garden pulled the peas and peppers and putting in new plants. Stay safe at your end of the world. Take good care and have a good one.
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook
We've got our fall plants seeded in flats
And we'll direct seed some things too.
Thanks for the links. If you have not seen the chasing ice film, the last 15 min or so is well worth your time, IMO. Here it is cued up...
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbdi76Gz98w&t=60m]
Have a good week and hope the fires took care of the fuel load near you and can give you some peace. Our place burned within a month of closing 30+ years ago. Luckily we had no structures at the time.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Your weekly compendium is a masterpiece.
I sat down to comment on 'herd Immunity' — which is to Covid-19, what the 'Laffer Curve' is to macroeconomics. That is to say, these wishful theories only work within tight parameters, during precise windows of opportunity, and only if there Is no volatility in the larger environment.
Nonetheless, trickle-down economics and herd immunity provide a "Happy Place" of denial for simple-minded ideologues — a place where magical thinking and hope-filled solutions (such as the GOP Health Care Plan we never saw) will free them of personal and moral obligation to their society and civilization, all the while confirming their political biases.
I never got around to explaining why Covid-19 is not a likely candidate for herd immunity — mostly because I kept reading and chasing information instead of writing. The whole piece, woven together along intellectually lines, is just brilliant. Lookout. It delivered, to me at least, far more than the sum of its parts. The concept of Bellum omnium contra omnes was especially diverting. It threw open a window of clarity about the nation's deliberate social experiment that produced us. It gave our society extreme swings of mood and made us deeply anxious and insecure. Violence is just part of the scenery.
The goal was never to help People succeed or help the population establish a decent standard of living. That's not where our taxes went. The people were always a 'resource', meant to be used up and fed to the machine. Populations in other countries gained enough control over their governments to maintained basic human rights and an effective social safety net, but in the isolated environment of the US, we've adapted to the phony government narratives about the world. We failed the domestic social experiment because we were unfit to self govern. The practical and philosophical knowledge that we needed to empower us had been plucked from public education. We choked down wacky religions and patriotic slogans instead. Meanwhile, the post-Hiroshima hegemonic power of the US, where might makes right, allowed US greed to put a fatal drag on the collective good of the world. Americans didn't put a check on their government's rogue behaviors, or on government officials — and especially on Presidential powers. When Americans turned a blind eye toward US unilateral atrocities in the World, and ignored the trail of environmental and social damage that US corporations and banks left across the world, they failed the species, too. I think it is really important that we come to an intellectually honest understanding of what has occurred on this planet, and we find a way to leave a people-centric record behind.
Meanwhile, six hours later, I was still pretty immersed in your composition and thinking — and had yet to comment on the content. Have you written a book yet?
your comment was so good...
Thanks for coming by. If I'm writing a book it is here at c99. I'm now at 190 ww columns (of course I've written other entries here as well). I appreciate you reading and commenting.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thank you so much for compilation of the Weekly Watch
Reading through it that late is a pity, but I am grateful to say the least. Over the years I learned so much through them. A true teacher you are. Very deep kudos to you. (Finally looked up the meaning of kudos and learned it's something else than I thought. I was thinking kudos are the same as obeisance, or kowtows. What a surprise they had another meaning than I thought.
Anyhow they all fit, be it kudos, cowtows or obeisance.
Be well and stay safe and best of luck to you your garden plants.
https://www.euronews.com/live
thanks for your kind comment...
really I write these pieces for myself...trying to hammer out my thoughts of the week. I was lucky to take some writing courses throughout my schooling. I find writing helps me think through my views...like teaching, it forces you to create a message.
Always glad to "see" you!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Absolutely great work. And so glad we all get a chance to
read what you are trying to 'work out'. This is a lot of work and inspiration.
I never get through it all, but am deeply greatful for your writing here. I really enjoy the long road on thinking. I like to follow along while someone tries different pathways and then the comments which can add so much.
We have so many good and thoughtful writers here, and I don't thank everyone enough. But I find so much to digest and think about. I find it is easier to read counter arguments to standard fair here also because I know the intent is to try to understand the millieu we are in.
Thanks to everyone, and please be careful out there.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Absolutely great work. And so glad we all get a chance to
read what you are trying to 'work out'. This is a lot of work and inspiration.
I never get through it all, but am deeply greatful for your writing here. I really enjoy the long road on thinking. I like to follow along while someone tries different pathways and then the comments which can add so much.
We have so many good and thoughtful writers here, and I don't thank everyone enough. But I find so much to digest and think about. I find it is easier to read counter arguments to standard fair here also because I know the intent is to try to understand the millieu we are in.
Thanks to everyone, and please be careful out there.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing your health journey above
Love your sig line. I'm still planting trees. Trying to get American Chestnuts growing here again. So far so good...no fungus yet.
Glad you enjoy the column. I too appreciate our little community of evidence based, free thinkers. Thanks for being a part of it.
Take care and have a good week. I bet you can get quality produce in France to enhance your health.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
We have weekly fresh food and local cheese, meat and
fish markets: each village on a different day, but usually in a small geography the same farmers, producers and vendors. Our organic which is almost everything is less expensive than store-bought, so not the chi-chi high prices we saw in the Pacific NW. Makes market day fun and seasonal. I've learned to look forward to what's fresh this month rather than picking a recipe and expecting everything to be there.
We buy fresh eggs from a 'Plein Aire' chicken/egg farm just up the road. We are surrounded by Charolais cattle/bœf, calves, pastures and bocages.
I love the red sweet peppers from Spain, having never grown or bought so much flavor. The mineral soils burst with growth and produce incredibly good tasting food.
Thanks again.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
that is what I figured...
Love the European markets. I remember one Vienna vendor sold many many vinegars.
I feel lucky to have our young farmer community here on the mountain. I don't raise animals but they do...pastured chickens, pork, and cattle.
well take care and be well!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Hey LO.
I've been meaning to share this. Might be other/better sources but I find this handy.
Weather Underground's WunderMap ( https://www.wunderground.com/wundermap ) has a covid check box. Zoomed out it shows colors by state; zoomed in by county. Like the radar info for which I usually use the WunderMap, you can hit the animation button and watch infections (generally) increase. There isn't lots of data - just since 27 June then every 5 days after that.
Anyhoo, handy.
That is all.
Compensated Spokes Model for Big Poor.
many thanks...
Been meaning to ask how is your yogurt is doing. I'm still running off my initial culture with fluffy nice results. Can't really say if I'm healthier but like to think I am.
https://blog.undoctored.com/lactobacillus-reuteri-yogurt-anorexigenic-ef...
Here's a description of the tricks, if others have an interest.
https://www.luvele.com/blogs/recipe-blog/new-improved-l-reuteri-yogurt-m...
Good to "see" you this evening. Are you able to sail in the current situation? I love to sail but have not been in decades. All the best!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Unfortunately I have not been sailing in some years...
...yet the handle persists.
And also unfortunately my yogurt got the red mold infection and I have not started a new batch. (I read somewhere silicone utensils can harbor the red mold and I had been using s silicone spatula.) While I had it going it had a...different, very different, texture and flavor. Not fluffy nor particularity nice - it was not palatable. I have fine luck w regular yogurt so I went back to that.
Compensated Spokes Model for Big Poor.
My acquaintance toll
reached 4+2+2 this weekend. I have now lost 4 friends and extended family members to diagnosed cases of Covid 19 (requiring hospitalization, the use of a ventilator, and eventual multiple organ failure). I've lost 2 to sudden heart attacks because they would not go to the hospital during the pandemic to have chest pains diagnosed, and it turns out that "waiting until tomorrow" might not have been the best decision. And I have two friends who have actually recovered from Covid-19 post-ventilator, but are still on supplemental 02. One of those (aged 34) used to be a very talented vocalist, has now been on it for 17 weeks, and she is having no luck weaning off. The other was only released last week, so we'll see how he does. I've stopped keeping track of the folks who had it with only minor early symptoms- so we'll see how they all do long-term as well.
All but the one of those were in the 60+ age range like me. Statistically, it would appear that "knowing usefewersyllables" is a real comorbidity.
I was in line at the grocery store yesterday after having just tele-attended a memorial service for one of those folks. And there was a family with something like 6 ill-behaved kids, no masks in sight, and the "Murika fuk yeh" you-can't-make-me-do-it attitude, giving their checker grief for wearing *her* mask. And I couldn't even muster up the energy for a comment to them. What would have been the point? It is now a freakin' technoreligion, very much akin to that observed by the flat-earthers and moon landing deniers. And this alone is why I no longer believe that we as a nation will be able to get the better of this pandemic. It's a lost cause. When I eventually contract it, I have no expectation of surviving it. So my wife and I will continue distancing as much as our jobs and grocery needs will allow unless and until a vaccine appears.
I really, really feel for the teachers and school staffers. There is no way for them to win here, and once the weather turns and the snow flies, this is going to get Ugly with a capital U.
Everyone be as well as you can, stay as safe as you can, and hang in there. Thanks for providing a venue and a community in which a little venting is tolerated...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
I'm just starting to see folks I know come down...
here in the boonies. Sorry you've had so many friends impacted. All we can do is our best to avoid infection. I like to grocery early AM and just go once a week.
Take care and be well. Don't forget your Vit D and C. Zinc is a good idea too IMO.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”