 
# Stamping Out

# This Monster

By

### Mario V. Farina

Copyright 2020 by Mario V. Farina

Smashwords Edition

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced without permission

From the Author

Correspondence may be directed to:

Mario V. Farina

Email: mario@mariofarina.com

Contents

The Plusara Carara in the House

Difficult Times

Ordinary Arithmetic

A Few Random Thoughts

Hazardous Times

A Freeze is Better Than a Stimulus!

The Power of Doubling

What Everyone Should Know

The Mathematics of the Emergency

The Reward for the Inventor of Chess

An Early End to the Emergency

These are the Times that Try Men's Souls!

All at one Time or Piecemeal?

An Early End to the Emergency

Getting Infected Through Ordinary Breathing

The Stay At Home Orders

And it Must Follow, As the Night the Day

A Pledge Not To Get Infected

Reducing the Numbers

Am I Sick?

Operation Zero

When Do We Return To Normal?

A New Form of Money

Some Optimism in the News

What About Flare-Ups?

Fighting a Fire at the Firecracker Factory!

Demonstrations

Jackasses

Where Did The Virus Come From?

A Time For Everything

Leadership

Too Soon! Too Soon! Too Soon!

What Motivates the Pretender?

Kill Me Once, Shame of You!

Rushing the Re-openings

The Attacks on our Nation

Contact Tracing

Pepys' Diary and the Plague

World War II Ended in Europe on VE Day

A New Index

Reopened Too Soon!

Can You Breathe The Infection?

Today's Press Conference

A Hell On Earth? A Choice!

An Open Letter to Governor Cuomo:

Opening Too Soon Causes Death!

A New Deal Needed!

The Day It Found You!

Opportunity Lost

A Lollapalooza!

Lies, Lies, Lies

I May Have Made A Mistake

Reopened Too Soon

Reopening Houses of Prayer

A Resumption of Rallies

The Inane Question

The Achievement of Andrew Cuomo

Maybe It Is A Little Too Early To Tell

What Kind Of Mindset? What Kind of Brain? What Kind of Temperament

Where Love Abounds

The Terrible Protests

The Reopening That Failed

Did You Make Alfredo Sick Today

The Recording Of History

A Testimonial for Governor Andrew Cuomo

The Photo Op

Status at the Beginning of June

George Floyd Looks Down From Heaven

Governor Cuomo, Don't Reopen Yet

Don't Muzzle The Cops in any Way!

Stupidity in the Land

Governor Cuomo, Miracle Worker

Let History Be History

Insanity in the Land

New York Is Reopening

Shouting From the Rooftops

Living Through These Times

Destroying History

The Battle Has Been Lost

On Our Own

No, You Don't

The Pretender's Birthday

The Rayshard Story

Mass Insanity

What Do We Do Now?

Today, Wednesday, June 17, 2020

The Story of Jim Jones, November 18, 1978

Tulsa and Alts Oklahoma

The Tulsa Rally

Governor Cuomo You're Not Out of the Woods

The Tulsa Rally Revisited

Op-Ed by Mario V. Farina

You Picked A Fine Time to Leave Me Andrew Cuomo

The Arizona Trip

The Camel and the Tent With Apologies

The Time is Now

Some Dark Humor

Three Huge Spikes

June 27, 2020 Status

Coronavirus 101

Welcome to Square One

New Impeachment Ahead?

Ain't Misbehavin'

The Rushmore Spike

How Long Will It Take, Oh Lord?

This Virus Is Cruel

Have We Lost Our Moral Fiber?

My Opinions of the Day

An Easy Way To Rile Me

In Support of Anthony Fauci!

Living Under Our Form Of Government

Snippets For Today

Ann and I Were Talking

Five Facebook Posts

A Chart That Needs to be Understood

It's Beyond Me

a chart that needs to be understood

a new leader

softcover book, stepping out this monster published today

Five Facebook posts

Ann And I Were Talking

Snippets For Today

The Stalin Story

The Supreme Court

Living Under Our Form of Government

Eventually Why Not Now

Reopening Schools Now

In Support of Anthony Fauci

An Easy Way to Rile Me

An Appointment with the Pacemaker Doctor

My Opinions of the Day

Have We Lost Our Moral Fiber

This Virus Is Cruel

The State of the Nation

Trump Interviewed by Chris Wallace

Viewing the Future

What Needs to be Done

Hard Shutdown Needed

I Took The Draw-A-Clock Test

He Won't Go?

Vaccines on the Horizons

Two Unpleasant Discoveries

The Value of Testing

A New Pepys Diary

Are There Automatic Immunities?

Comment About the Election

Two Big Changes

Kristallnacht Must Reading by Americans

One In A Thousand

Snippets for Today, July 24, 2020

The Presidency 101 Course

He Does Not Like to Lose

Flying the Confederate Flag

Shut it Down Start Over Do It Right

Storm Troopers

Occupied France

Today, July 27, 2020, Some Events

Encouraging News From Dr. Anthony Fauci

A Warning With A Mind of its Own

Southern Soldiers During WWII

AG Barr's Testimony Today, July 28, 2020

Stupidity is Running Rampant in the Land

Obama, A Real President Speaks

An Open Message to Governor Cuomo

Stamping Out Book to be Revised

Biden's Choice for Vice-President

Upticks are Dangerous. Don't Let Them Happen!

Middle-Class Being Squeezed Out of Existence

Life is Good!

It Is What It Is!

Classrooms Are Deathrooms!

Research Needed

Prediction Election Day

His Bag Of Tricks

It Will Disappear

Schools Reopening In New York

Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota

Postal Service Slows

Student Posts Photo Showing Crowded Hallway

Book Updated

The Beirut Tragedy

It Will Go Away By Itself

Classroom Teaching Will Not Work!

Pretend, Pretend, Pretend!

The Vice-President Candidate

Huge Gatherings

A Tsar For Leadership.

Making the Stock Market Go Up

Biden's Selection

Putin's Vaccine!

What the Choice Means

First Steps

March 7, 2020

The Plusara Cabrara in the House

I haven't mentioned this because it's too frightening. Last week, Ann and I were going out to dinner when I saw a bug walking across the floor. It looked familiar but I couldn't place it. It was rather large for a bug weighing perhaps an ounce. It was my fault I didn't do anything. It came to me at the restaurant it had been a rare Plusara Cabrara.

"Oh my God," I exclaimed. That bug doubles in size every minute. Ann, who is good with numbers, said, "Do you know what that means?" I said "no".

In 30 minutes, it will weigh 1,073,741,823 ounces!

"So?" I said.

"That's nearly 67,108,864 pounds!"

"So?"

"At that time it will weight about 33,554 tons. That's the weight of a battleship!"

"That's impossible!" I said. "Nothing can grow that much that fast!"

But it had! When we got home, our home was in splinters spread all over the place! And from the Hudson River could be seen a huge Plusara Cabrara, doubling in size every minute, trudging downstream!

Believe it or not, this fiction story has a connection to the virus!

March 12, 2020

Difficult Times

These are difficult times. I've never seen worse! In my opinion, it behooves everyone to build a stock of food and water allowing isolated living in your home for several weeks. Several months would be better! For those who wonder, I'm being very serious!

March 12, 2020

Ordinary Arithmetic

Ordinary arithmetic and logic tells me virtually everyone in the world will be exposed to the virus at some time! However, mine is not the voice of doom! In my opinion, whether one successfully resists or not depends on the general health of the person, his or her age, the strength of their immune system, and their will to survive! I think the virus has only one bite of the apple. When a person survives, he or she become immune! I'm looking forward to becoming immune to this miserable creature!

March 15, 2020

A Few Random Thoughts

When I retired six or seven years ago, I thought I was going to be OK for an unlimited time. The only things I said I worried about were events like failure of our entire economic system, an asteroid hitting Earth, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, cyclones, and similar. Pandemics didn't occur to me. This one is bad and I believe it will be with us for several months, but most of us will survive.

I am one, of whom it is said, is more at risk because of age and pre-existing illness. However, I'm not worried. I never smoked, used drugs, lived wild, or strayed much from the healthful straight and narrow. These facts don't guarantee anything but keep me feeling optimistic.

Our country has been late in recognizing this is an era fraught with danger for many. The President deserves much of the blame. In his zeal for reelection, he wanted to maintain the aura our country was doing well and that he was the cause for it. Till very recently, he felt he could control events like hurricanes with a Sharpie. And perhaps this virus too.

Within reasonable bounds, I feel it's OK to store food, water, and other needs for extended periods of time. Denying the virus the fodder it feeds on can do much to bring its horrible control to an earlier demise. With people staying home, this will do much to dry up what the virus feeds on, people. I think it is possible for those afflicted with light cases of the virus to get well by simply staying in clean and comfortable accommodations at home. I believe after they have gotten well, they will become immune!

From what I read and hear, a vaccine will not be available for about 1-1/2 years. I think about 3/4 of our population will be exposed to this thing during that time and catch it, to at least, some degree. I think the more we can keep it from attacking too many of us at once, the better the care we can give to those who do get it. It's my hope that those who get it early, get over it early, and become immune to it can assist those who become victims later get well. Handling sudden influxes of the disease may be difficult and require extraordinary efforts. Leadership will be important here.

In short, I believe that by being vigilant, avoiding mingling, keeping clean, helping others as best we can, and keeping an optimistic outlook, we can put this ordeal behind us at an early time. Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, "All we have to fear is fear itself!" Good leadership at this time can help keep fear at bay!

March 18, 2020

Hazardous Times

We who are healthy, or think we are, should do everything we possibly can to avoid falling victim to the virus! I'm not saying anything new! I know that! But we can't hear this or say it too much!

Stay home the most you can! Beware of the outdoors! There is an invisible monster waiting for you to show! Don't let it touch you! Have the feeling that if it does, you WILL BE INFECTED! Wear a mask if you have one, keep several feet away from those near you! Don't touch anything you don't have to! Don't touch your face! Wash your hands, and do it often. Get back home as soon as you can. Have others in your family do the same as you!

Most everyone will be exposed to this at some time despite all these precautions. If you're going to get sick anyway, delay it as much as you can! You'll be helping others this way as much as you'll be helping yourself!

March 21, 2020

A Freeze Is Better Than A Stimulus!

Our economic system is straining to support a huge 21 trillion-dollar national debt. This is all the more disturbing since the recent huge "tax reduction" was actually mostly a gift to the richest persons in our nation. It became part of the debt. Now, another "stimulus" is being contemplated. This would add even more to the debt. This could turn out to be the "straw that breaks the camel's back!" A stimulus should not happen. It could bring down our entire economic system. A disaster is in progress now; there is no need for another at the same time!

To see what a single trillion looks like, please open Google and search it with, "Show me what A trillion dollars looks like." I think what you see will be awesome!

I think a freeze of the economy would be better than a stimulus. The way it would work would be something like this: If someone goes to a pharmacy to purchase medicine, the cost would be charged and the customer would not have to pay while the current virus emergency in effect. He or she would simply charge in a SPECIAL way that could be recognized at a later time. The same would apply to food, rent, mortgage payments and the like. The items purchased would not be considered to be free. They would need to be paid for at some time! This would be done when, in the future, a bill would be passed to pay for the items that had been charged in this way.

I call using this procedure, a "Freeze of Payment." A freeze of this kind would be better than a stimulus because the latter would further burden the national debt when this should not happen! Further, there is no possibility that a freeze might benefit the rich more than it would the people it was supposed to help. Yes, there are problems with this scheme, but it seems to me, they would be minor when compared to the problems caused by the collapse of our entire economic system. We simply cannot add another huge debt to the national debt now; a smaller amount later, with caution, might work!

March 24, 2020

The Power of Doubling

It is known amongst mathematicians that the number 1 doubled 30 times becomes 536,870,912. Governor Cuomo has reported that the number of new cases of the virus is doubling every 2-1/2 days. I don't have to say what this means for New York State. THIS RATE OF INCREASE HAS TO BE TERMINATED AND CHANGED TO A LOWER RATE! If it isn't, hospitals will be unable to take new cases! To you, this means, don't let the virus infect you! STAY HOME! STAY HOME! STAY HOME as much as you can. The reality, if you don't, may sadly be DEATH!

March 25, 2020

What Everyone Should Know

I hope I'm not being presumptive by saying this. It has become so clear to me; I just want to say it if only for those who do not know.

Doubling the number 2 to 4 is not a big deal. Both numbers are small. However, doubling 1,000 to 2,000 is important. So is doubling one million to two. I mention this because it seems so important the coronavirus is attacked early on — no, not early on, immediately! While only a few individuals are infected, it can be easily possible to stamp it out very quickly. With a delay, even a short one, it becomes a monster that grows faster than we cut it down.

The leaders of the United States should ACT at once when even ONE person is found with this menacing virus! Do whatever it takes to completely destroy it immediately! Even a day lost can make success much more difficult to achieve!

And people! Stay home! Stay home! Stay home. Avoid going out! Stay well away from others. Keep yourself clean! Even the one day you feel you can risk could be the one that gets you! Use the phone, etc., to keep in touch; Skype, Zoom; email! whatever! The virus is on the prowl looking for victims. Don't let it get you!

March 27, 2020

The Mathematics of the Emergency

How to get through this emergency can be easily explained but it's not easy to accomplish. We need to have more people getting well than getting sick!

In my calculations, I depend upon the assumption that people who get sick, then get well, become immune to the virus. If I'm wrong about this, what I'm saying below has no value.

Staying away from others is a huge aid in achieving the above objective. Make your home a cocoon during this period of time if you don't have the ability and/or opportunity to be a "first responder". But, of course, while you're doing this, be thankful for those who are helping others get well. Pray for them. Help them all you can in what they are attempting to do!

It is mandatory that the RATE at which people are getting sick is reduced. In this way, help can be given to those who become ill. If the facilities that help people are overwhelmed, people who didn't have to die, will do so. It behooves all those who are well to do all they can to stay well.

As I understand it, 80 percent of those who get sick have the ability to get well on their own. This is good news. To me, it stands to reason that if a community has not been attacked yet by this disease, they make every reasonable attempt to have it STAY this way, and if someone in that area does get sick, every reasonable attempt should be made to have him or her get well without infecting anyone!

Having the feeling that a community that has not been affected can return to the workforce and live and work "as usual" before ALL are able to do so, is, in my opinion, lunacy! I believe virtually EVERYONE in the ENTIRE NATION could, at some point, be exposed to this virus unless extreme vigilance is maintained by all against being exposed! A "return to normal" can't be made piecemeal. It has to be done only when it is known that the progress of the disease can be controlled for the entire nation. In my opinion, it will require many months into the future before this happy time can return!

Returning to normal will not resemble a honeymoon! Much will be required from all! Excellent leadership for the nation will be required at that time!

March 28, 2020

A Reward For the Inventor of Chess

Someone commented 100,000 cases of the virus is as nothing when compared to the nation's population of about 330,000,000. This assessment is not realistic!

In a recent post, I told about a fictional insect that doubled in size every minute. At the end of half an hour, the bug had grown to the size of a battleship!

Another story involved a boy who offered to work during the month of June beginning with a pay of one cent for the first day and doubling the pay for every additional day. At the end of the 30th day, he presented a bill for over ten million dollars!

Still one more story, involves the inventor of the chess game. This was in Persia and the Shah offered the inventor a reward. The inventor asked for one square inch of land for the first square on the chessboard doubling the amount for every additional square until all 64 squares of the chessboard had been taken care of. The Shah blurted, "Phleff, thou art a fool for asking so little!"

It turned out the inventor had asked for 9,233,372,036,854,775,808 square inches. To satisfy this request, all the land area in 23 earth-sized worlds would have been needed! The Shah was not able to grant the reward! It is whispered in Persia that Phleff was banished by the Shah to the 23rd world!

With 100,000, all that is needed is to DOUBLE THAT NUMBER twelve times in order to get a number WELL IN EXCESS of 330,000,000. With the virus, the entire population of the country could, THEORETICALLY, be infected before the end of April!

March 30, 2020

An Early End to the Emergency!

If I thought it were possible, I would suggest a FREEZE of all human interaction, but permit time to pass as usual; for, at least, fourteen days! The purpose would be to bring further infections by the Coronavirus to a screeching halt. In the meantime, of course, the curing of those already ill would continue!

With a discontinuance of infections, all our energies could then be devoted to curing those who still remain ill. This awful emergency could then end in as short a time as a month from today.

As a realist I understand not all individuals could or would go along with the freezing of all human interaction! Essential services would need to continue, of course. There would be other less meritorious reasons for not cooperating, including lack of caring, greed from continuing illicit conduct, rebellion of authority, and others. The better these persons could be convinced to collaborate, the earlier the nightmare could end. I think someone who believes he or she could lead an attempt such as the one mentioned here, should try. One name that comes to mind is Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York!

March 31, 2020

These Are The Times That Try Men's Souls

This line occurs to me and I apologize for borrowing it from Thomas Paine. It's not totally accurate, of course. For us, it should be, "These are the times that try everyone's souls!"

How each of us reacts to our responsibilities provides a measure of who we are. Some have already shown who they are, some are showing it during every moment of every day.

To get through these times in the best way possible, all should measure up to the highest level they can reach!

March 31, 2020

All At One Time or Piecemeal?

Our great governor of New York State, Governor Cuomo, has suggested the solution of the virus problem might require viewing it as a "rolling" problem with "hot spots" across the nation being solved at different times. With proper deference to the governor, I offer my opinion that this is a wrong approach. I feel a better way would be to attack the problem with one major effort all at the same time!

With my suggestion, a mandatory decree would be made by a high authority for the entire nation to hunker down at home for a period of time, say fourteen or fifteen days. This means there would be no activity by the population of any kind, except essential ones for this entire time. During this relatively short time, infections would come to an end, or almost to an end, because infectors and infectees would have no contact with each other. (The curing of those currently ill would, of course, continue!) At the end of this period of time, there should be very few, if any new infections ongoing! The virus would have been brought to virtually a standstill!

During the period described, the no activity decree would be strictly enforced by police and the military force with virtually no exceptions! With infections stopped, the biggest problem would be the curing of those who are still ill. There would also be a strong effort to keep the virus at bay!

This effort would require fourteen or fifteen days of sacrifice, yes, but it should work! With a piecemeal approach, re-infection storms could well return in areas that were brought into control at earlier times. The result would be no gain for the efforts having been made. The rampage by the virus would continue and end only on its own terms, and those terms could be horrible!

I present this solution with no sense of superiority of any kind; I am no mastermind! However, I feel I have a good sense of logic. When you deny fuel to a fire, it goes out! With no one to infect, a virus that can only infect for a limited time will be brought to a standstill! There would still be problems, yes, but the virus would be gone!

April 4, 2020

Getting Infected Through Ordinary Breathing

I have heard on the talk programs that the virus may infect through ordinary breathing. The following is pure conjecture and should be accepted as such. It may be that the "droplets" discharged by the virus may be extraordinarily tiny and float randomly in the air for lengthy lengths of time. It may also be that small rooms with several occupants in them are dangerous where no amount of separation by people is adequate; therefore, should be avoided.

April 7, 2020

The Stay At Home Orders

For a lot of people, staying at home is a huge sacrifice. It's too much like being in jail. The good news is it's not forever! Maybe 30 days! This number may cause chills to run up and down your spine. It can't be done, may be your thought. Maybe you'd feel better about it if you knew your sacrifice saves lives! It truly does!

People get infected mostly by persons who are already infected themselves. Picture a scene where an entire city is hunkered down. There is nobody in sight; there is no auto on the street! Now picture a vicious monster who is the manifestation of the virus appearing on the street with the intention of infecting people. But he can only do this for an infection window of perhaps five to ten days. He begins stalking the streets looking for victims. He is diligent in this effort, but is ultimately unsuccessful! One day he falls to the ground and dies.

Multiply the above story by many thousands and this describes what it means when the virus monster fares when people are staying at home. When people are not being infected, people will be getting well from having been infected at some earlier time; or, sadly dying for the same reason. True, many never became ill or were immune from the beginning. I feel these individuals will be glad to participate in the effort to help destroy the evil virus monsters!

Is it worth it for a unified society to engage in an effort of the kind mentioned above for the purpose described there? I think so! Some may protest, "It can't work!" I reluctantly admit they may be right. I suggest what might happen then is for the monster to have its way and end its rampage in its own good time!

April 8, 2020

And it Must Follow, As the Night the Day

With apologies to Shakespeare, I use the above phrase in another context. The idea that all can return to normal before the Coronavirus is utterly defeated, is unspeakably stupid.

In war, one does not defeat the enemy and leave pockets of resistance; in designing a business system, one does not implement it until it contains no unfinished parts; in building a football field, one does not leave out the hundred-yard-line! By the same token, in the field of logic, it must follow, as the night the day, that "normalcy" cannot return to the world until the Coronavirus is unconditionally defeated!

Does anyone doubt that when the virus is exterminated, even a pocket containing one infected person can instantly flare up with death to thousands? Yes, the knowledge that a single infected individual has been uncovered can trigger an all-hands-on-deck command to deal with it, each such announcement can cause much needless distress and fear.

What is needed before normal times can return, is for new cases of the virus to reach zero or a number so close to this number, it's believed zero can be reached soon!

April 3, 2020

A Pledge Not To Get Infected

Some of my readers may agree that the Corona Virus is a pretty bad thing and willingly wish to make the following pledge about avoiding getting infected with it. I do this every morning!

With the common good in mind, I pledge myself not to become infected today with the Corona Virus! First, I will judge whether I feel good. I will pledge only if I do feel good, but I know that feeling good does not necessarily mean I am not already infected. Away from my home, I pledge to wear a mask to protect others from possible infection from me, while, I, at the same time, will avoid presenting myself in places near others; who may be infected. I will stay at home to the greatest degree possible. Within the home, I pledge to wash my hands frequently, avoid touching my face, and clean surfaces I suspect may be contaminated with the virus. I pledge to take each day as it comes; however, with the knowledge that tomorrow, God willing, I will renew this pledge for another day!

April 9, 2020

Reducing the Numbers

A prominent commentator suggested we pray to God to lessen the numbers concerning the virus. I approve of that! But, God has a big job here, and it behooves us to assist.

To reduce the number of people infected, I think we can help God by staying away from other people to the greatest extent we can. A big part of this would be to stay home! If the entire nation does this for a full month, ordinary arithmetic indicates the number of new infections should drop right down to near zero! I MEAN, THE ENTIRE NATION NEEDS TO HELP GOD FOR A FULL MONTH!

In order to reduce the number of hospitalizations, God can easily do this because we shall have helped reduce the number of infections. And reducing the number of deaths should be easy to accomplish for the same reason!

While praying, I think we should pray for better leadership from the White House. We can help God do this by the way we vote in November this year. If a group of so-called leaders in Washington becomes wiser sooner than expected, they may discover the 25th Amendment to the Constitution works to this end.

When will the nation be able to go back to work without worrying about getting infected on the subway? I have no idea. I think it depends upon how much we help God destroy the virus. I think the earliest we can hope for is November 3, 2020!

April 10, 2020

Am I Sick?

With each new day, I ask myself, "Am I sick?" I'm really asking myself, "Have I been infected with the Coronavirus?"

I ask myself this because I'm 96, wear a pacemaker, and have been afflicted with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) for well over ten years. Some might ask, "Why are you concerned with this? You've lived a long life; what more do you want?"

My response is, "What you say is true! If I died today, I would have already gotten more happy living than I deserve! However, I'm intensely interested in what's happening and would like to "know before I go!" Also, I am currently working on several projects that I'd like to finish. Further, I have some projects on hold that I'd like to work on if and when time is available. I suppose others wonder whether they have become infected for the same sorts of reasons.

The problem with getting an answer to my question is that getting tested is not easy! And, the result might not be reliable. If a test indicated I had not been infected, this knowledge could only be depended upon for a minute or so. It's only a snapshot into the status of my health. To get a better idea whether I've been infected, I follow the procedure in the following paragraphs.

Upon arising in the morning, I ask myself if I feel anything out of the ordinary. If the answer is no, I then check my count of days since I last ventured into the realm of other humans. If it's been, at least, three days, I begin to feel I might be free of infection. But, three is not a magic number. I understand, if infected, I might not begin feeling bad until possibly, as many as ten days after having been infected. Therefore, I patiently wait, another day-count reaches ten. Now, I might be OK! But, wait! Not yet! Has anything come to the house that could have contained the virus? A letter, a package, an envelope of any kind. If so, I can't rest secure. What about surfaces? Could they have been contaminated in any way? If yes, I still cannot feel secure!

Regardless of how intently I check, I can never fully accept the fact I might be uninfected. There might be something I have overlooked. But, I do accept I'm probably OK! At that time, I resolve to remain this way as long as possible. However, the next time I venture out of the house, the self-testing automatically resumes.

I have given this detailed explanation of how I determine whether I've been infected because others might have the same question whether they are infected! They might wish to try this method to discover the answer! It goes without saying, however, if readers have mates, partners, or roommates, the system of checking explained above is more complex than it is for individuals living alone. At this point, I must admit I do live with a partner! The patter in the first part of this article applies only to those who live alone.

April 11, 2020

Operation Zero

Reopening society to normal activity needs to be carefully planned! Reopening too soon could cause a great many pointless deaths. It's my opinion, there should be a delay until the incidents of new cases throughout the country have reached, or almost reached, zero. I think "Operation Zero" should be conducted in every state, the objective being to stamp out the virus, to the greatest degree possible! I don't see how this could happen, however, without every state restricting outdoor activities. Every state should have a "Stay At Home" mandate! Otherwise, it won't matter what success other states have with Operation Zero, re-infection flare-ups will recur because of overflow from the states that have not commanded restrictions!

To assist in Operation Zero efforts, I think people who are immune from the virus or have become so through some other means may wear a necklace-patch stating the wearers cannot possibly infect anyone. They can instantly return to normal jobs. Wearing a patch that was not valid would constitute a serious crime!

April 12, 2020

When Do We Return To Normal?

Trump says he's soon going to make the biggest decision of his life! Whether to return to normal at the end of April, 2020. My opinion is, ABSOLUTELY NOT! So far as many new virus cases are being recorded, it would be foolish to do this. Instead of taking a step toward normalcy, we will be turning backwards.

Trying to return to normal a bit at a time will only bring back terrible conditions where improvements had been made. It would be like sending firefighters back, to three-alarm fires that been ALMOST put out! It would also open the door to the virus that been resistant to it!

In a previous post, I described Operation Zero. With the entire country WORKING TOGETHER, we can quickly stop new infections and concentrate on curing those who had been afflicted. In my opinion returning the New Infection Count to zero, or virtually to zero, can be done in TWO MONTHS! I can see the Fourth of July being declared "VICTORY DAY!" With almost no new cases of the virus being recorded, people will not be afraid to leave their homes, resuming hugging each other and having dinner at nice restaurants, going back to the ball games, opening the curtains on the voting booths and voting. But when there are "hot spots" raging in many parts of the country with more opening, when there are areas that had been cleared rekindling with the virus, when release from fear seems destined to be gone forever, our country may resemble a hell on earth!

I believe Operation Zero is a logical and mathematically effective way of our population returning to life as we knew it within a reasonable time!

April 13, 2020

New Form Of Money

I had a sudden realization today concerning the nature of money and the new form of it our government is using. The world has used many forms of money over the years. At one time, salt, was given to soldiers in Rome in payment for their services. At later times, gold and silver served as money. Then there followed paper representing quantities of these metals, then paper representing imaginary money, checks, IOUs, credit cards, and who knows what else.

Eventually, pure numbers began representing money. People could give a bank some money and get numbers in return, employers could put numbers into the bank accounts of employees, purchasers could pay for goods by giving numbers to sellers, and so it went!

There was a time when the national debt was something representing a thing to be paid with dollars. Gradually the debt morphed to numbers and numbers were used to deal with it. Today, the national debt amounts to a whole lot of numbers but not a great deal of money. If an emergency arises, an agency in Washington increases the numbers in a computer. The numbers can range into the trillions, but who cares? Numbers can rise to any height. The debt can easily rise to the quadrillions with the only problem being people trying to understand what the zeroes mean. The percent of interest needed to be paid on the debt can be dropped to almost zero and even zero, at times. There is even a term being bandied about called negative interest. (I can't fathom what that means!)

My sudden realization was that debt expressed with numbers can't ruin an economy. There is only one caveat! And that is that people need to believe that the numbers we use in credit cards and banks represent real money. Faith is the key. Yes, we can give a tax cut to people and simply change some numbers in the Federal Reserve Bank. With the current emergency, we can throw millions of checks out to people as a "stimulus". It can also be called money to bail people out, but who cares about terms? Where is the money coming from? Somebody uses a computer in Washington to create it! How's it being recorded? Some digits are changed in the National Debt! The time when mismanagement of money can ruin an economy has ended! There is no limit to how big numbers can get. At present, the name of the largest one I know is Googolplex (A googol to the googol power.) This one will serve so long a humans survive on Earth. (I think!)

April 14, 2020

Some Optimism in the News

There is some optimism in the news! Some of the curves indicating the virus is beginning to be defeated are turning in the right direction! Optimism is fine, but exuberance is not warranted. It's not easy for me to see and say there is much more sacrifice needed ahead before our people can return to what we referred to as "normalcy". With stupidity ruling, it could require years instead of months! Reopening the country should take place only when the right time has arrived!

Some states have not seen the light. They are not strongly enough urging staying at home and distancing. The battle against the virus needs the united effort of all the people! Flare-ups are the biggest danger. Some areas of the country could be freed from the grip of the virus, but it might continue to rage in others. We are a mobile people! We cannot claim the virus has been controlled when it is surging in even a few parts of the country.

Yes, pockets of activity can return in some areas, but pockets are not the whole! How can the kinds of gatherings seen in stadiums, at conventions in theaters, etc. can be trusted when no one can feel safe from the person or persons beside them? How can personal services like haircuts, dental treatments, doctors visits, massages and more take place when participants can't trust each other? Could even dating can become problematic?

When incidents of becoming infected become absolutely rare in ALL parts of the country, can a couple or a group of people attend a play, enjoy a concert, see a movie, attend church services, etc., without fearing they have a good chance of going home sick!

April 15, 2020

What About Flare-Ups?

Some individuals are suggesting we reopen businesses and watch diligently that there is not a virus flare-up! I strenuously object to this notion. There should be no such need for a lookout of this nature! It would be like winning a war, then watching diligently to make sure we don't have to fight it again!

Businesses, except for essential ones, should not be opened until the virus has been absolutely wiped out! The Coronavirus is not a human thing! It can't come to life from a state of death! The only way the virus can flare-up is by infecting someone. IT CAN'T INFECT ANYONE if it has been wiped out! If there is a flare-up, it means some incompetent person or group has failed at keeping it defeated. Or, too complacent, too careless, or lazy!

Does this mean, we can't expect even weak efforts for the virus to return? No, of course not! We're only human and humans make mistakes. However, if the war against the virus was fought and won, the victory should be kept inviolate as an established fact! Small flare-ups could occur, but these would be promptly pounced upon and destroyed! A MAJOR FLARE-UP COULD BRING BACK ALL THE MISERY WE ARE GOING THROUGH NOW! With stupid brains in control, we could go through many cycles of fighting the same war. As a further consequence, MANY PEOPLE MIGHT DIE WHO SHOULDN'T HAVE!

April 16, 2020

Fighting a Fire at the Firecracker Factory!

In my opinion, resuming normal operations in phases while fighting the virus is sheer absurdity! Fighting and defeating the Coronavirus has priority and is the job of a united country! It needs to be defeated totally and not during phases of "returning to normal!" In this respect, we're lucky in having only a few borders and two of them are oceans.

Image a fire department called to fight a fire at a Firecracker Factory. Arriving at the site, the Chief quickly observes the fire started in a room where precautions against fire outbreaks were poor and a fire resulted. The fire is roaring at the north side of the building but exists only as a tiny blaze in a room at the south side. This individual is known as having a limited potential to think logically; nevertheless, he must be obeyed as he issues orders to pour water on the north side of the building, while, at the same time, encouraging workers to resume making firecrackers on the south side! "After all," he states, "the country must return to normal activity as soon as possible!"

That's what reopening the country to normal activity in phases is like! I admit, I have limited intelligence myself! But I wonder if my question can be answered of what would keep parts of the country from being infected or re-infected with the virus while it is being fought in many other parts.

Maybe, reopening the country in phases is just an experiment to see whether there would be a "spike" in the number of cases reported in low-infection and low-population areas! How could this thought be suggested in good conscience? Can't it be easily observed that such a "spike," if it occurs, would mean that people who shouldn't have died would die as a result of the "spike?" Wouldn't it be better if the fire at the Firecracker Company were totally extinguished before activity therein resumes?

April 17, 2020

Demonstrations

I see demonstrations on the beaches of Jacksonville; the streets of Michigan; and the streets of Pennsylvania. I cannot help but think, I may be wrong, that these demonstrations have been instigated by a few who do not have the common good in mind! If spikes in infection result, the names for them shall have been already established; the Jacksonville Spike; the Michigan Spike; and the Pennsylvania Spike!

It would seem to be pure logic that going back to work should done only when the time is right! I've already mentioned this. Time will be right when the number of new cases has been reduced to almost zero for the entire country! How can anyone doubt that many infections can happen in some places even if they are currently showing only a few! A single individual infected with the virus, can infect hundreds of others!

I would strongly suggest that the only people working at a time like this, should be those who provide essential services, those who have been infected but have been cured and are now immune, and those who can do no harm. I think the category I've just mentioned, those who can do no harm, are those who have been immune to the disease from the beginning and can demonstrate this. Testing, when it becomes universally, and easily, available can help designate who these individuals are.

When there are a very few cases being reported on a daily basis, the new infections that show up, can be pounced upon and taken care of immediately. This would be done by the process called "tracing." A person newly infected could be closely questioned to determine what may have caused his or her infection and take action to close this source at once! In this way, a spike could be prevented at the very onset!  
It would seem to be pure logic that going back to work should be done only when the time is right! I've already mentioned this. Time will be right when the number of new cases has been reduced to almost zero for the entire country! How can anyone doubt that many infections can happen in some places even if they are currently showing only a few! A single individual infected with the virus, can infect hundreds of others!

I would strongly suggest that the only people working at a time like this, should be those who provide essential services, those who have been infected but have been cured and are now immune, and those who can do no harm. I think the category I've just mentioned, those who can do no harm, are those who have been immune to the disease from the beginning and can demonstrate this. Testing, when it becomes universally, and easily, available can help designate who these individuals are.

When there are a very few cases being reported on a daily basis, the new infections that show up, can be pounced upon and taken care of immediately. This would be done by the process called "tracing." A person newly infected could be closely questioned to determine what may have caused his or her infection and take action to close this source at once! In this way, a spike could be prevented at the very onset!

April 20, 2020

Jackasses

I'm sorry to be so blunt at this serious time.

It's my opinion that the governors who are reopening certain businesses in their states though it's not yet time, are turning into jackasses though they may still look like humans.

Matthew 7:16-20 King James Version (KJV)

16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

April 21, 2020

Where Did The Virus Come From?

I have no evidence for what I say here! I mention it because the topic is important! All I have is a little information already in the public domain, a logical mind, and a gigantic imagination!

Where did the virus come from? That it was made in a laboratory in China is not beyond belief. I think all countries prepare for war even when there is no current need for one. The Chinese may have been preparing a virus that would be difficult to control by an enemy. The constituents of the disease may have been designed to be so tiny, they could float in the air and infect people by their ordinary breathing. And they succeeded. Though it wasn't planned, its very design enabled it to escape the confines of the laboratory and be released to the world! Now, it may have become difficult to destroy!

April 22, 2020

A Time for Everything

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3, Verse 1 to 8 says: "There is a time appointed for everything and a time for every delight and event or purpose under heaven; A time to be born and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted."

It doesn't say so in Ecclesiastes, but I'm sure a time for waiting would not be out of place.

There is a time for a woman to start with child and wait for it to be born;

There is a time for a wife to wait for the return of a husband who has gone to war;

There is a time for a child to wait the long wait to become an adult;

A time for a caretaker to be trained to care for those who have fallen with an illness;

There are many good things that come through waiting!

It is through patience that waiting is implemented. This is a time when many of us need to stay at home and wait before venturing outdoors to embrace a passing friend; to enter a room where there is music and people swaying to its rhythm; to wait for visiting a room saturated with the aroma of good food and multiple guests waiting to enjoy; waiting to mingle amidst a jostling crowd in joyous celebration!

For me, despite that fact I am aged, I need to wait for a time when a return to normalcy comes to pass — though the call for death may come sooner. But even if it were so, I would not lament the loss because the waiting was for a good purpose.

Waiting is a time for patience. And patience cannot be rushed. Patience must be given its own time!

April 24, 2020

Leadership

It's an amazing picture present affairs are presenting. It isn't that I didn't expect it! I think I was expecting worse! From the outside looking in, it seems the unemployment system couldn't possibly be working. It wasn't created for the current purpose. It seems that if we're not careful, organized society might just disintegrate. We owe so much to all those who are doing essential tasks. (You included!) I think just giving people money with no strings attached is a good idea! In this way the gears in our economic system can keep turning, even if sluggishly. We can worry later about what problems this causes. Also essential people need rest and good health! Good planning and leadership is badly needed and, in my opinion, it's not there! And it has not been there! It may be thought that the pretender is simply thinking "out of the box" with some of the actions he displays. Yes, this practice is useful sometimes, but not now!

During the life I've lived so far, the worst thing that happened to our country was the attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor. What is happening now is, to my mind, a close second. There is a difference. Franklin D. Roosevelt took control of the attack and, through strength of his will, charisma, and determination, it worked! It's my opinion what the current individual does and says is mostly for his own personal benefit.

April 26, 2020

Too Soon Too Soon Too Soon

I know people want to go out as they used to. It's too soon! There is still much too much chance of getting infected. And getting infected means the person infected can infect others! It's my feeling "reopening" can only be done when the number of people getting infected has neared zero! I think it would be OK for a group of individuals who have overcome the virus can return to their previous jobs or start something new. At an earlier time I mentioned their wearing a necklace with a "badge" showing they have become well from having had the virus. I think they have become immune from this menace. I know this hasn't been proved, but I think the chances are good enough to believe it for a while. At the very least, going back to work could constitute good reason for believing they have become immune!

It's my belief those who espouse people going back where to work or to a job where their chances are excellent they will get infected and therefore will infect others ARE COMMITING A CRIME! They may be adding to the chances that other WILL DIE.

I know waiting until the time is right for going back to work requires patience. However, I feel it's better for people to behave on the side of keeping people FROM DYING rather than on the side of TO DYING! I feel the person who wants to go back to LA PALAZZA for dinner so bad he or she gets infected with the virus and infects another person who DIES, that individual HAS COMMITTED A

CRIME!

April 27, 2020

What Motivates the Pretender

From what he, himself, has revealed to us, we know the Pretender loves playing golf, receiving cheers at rallies, and spending time at Mar-a-Lago, but his plan for leadership in the Coronavirus Pandemic is not clear.

He seems to be taking two contradictory tactics. He wants the economy of the country restored to a state it was before it came crashing down to a ghost of what it had been before the virus attacked, and he wants the devastation caused by it to be ended at the earliest possible moment.

He understands his possible reelection as Pretender to the Presidency depends upon how well the economy is doing on Election Day. Therefore, he is blaming China for inflicting this disease on the world in an attempt to deflect attention that he fiddled as Rome's Nero supposedly did, during the early days of the virus's onslaught here in February and March. I feel he is not having a great deal of success with this endeavor.

He is also trying to limit the length of the virus's ravage in outlandish ways. A vaccine for the disease may come too late to do much good! Cleaning products will not wash it away! Trying remedies for other ailments is like clutching at straws. Reopening the economy anywhere while the virus is raging is obviously ludicrous!

It's my opinion, the best chance the Pretender has for reelection is to show the virus can be ended incredibly soon! If he were charismatic to the nation's entire population instead of to only the base he created, he could order the public to show patriotism and patience by strictly obeying his own guidelines (staying at home and distancing). Unfortunately, he doesn't have the skill to enforce this! The fact is his inept actions to do something effective are only making things worse! I'm unhappy to opine that the time for ending the current reign of the virus has elapsed and the disease will be racing unbridled on Election Day! I think the reopenings that are foolishly occurring these days in some states will fail causing the death of many who don't deserve them!

The new President will have a monumental crisis to deal with! Oh time, travel gently on those tracks of fate!

April 28, 2020

Kill Me Once, Shame On You!

Lots of bad news today! Many of our States are "opening up" effective today; also, the Pretender is not continuing his guide lines concerning the virus; and further, he revealed a plan to renew his "rallies" without everyone in the audience being seated a good distance from their neighbor.

What kind of brain is it that doesn't see huge spikes in the infection rates? And the death rates? I do, and I'm only a peon! There is blame for me that I didn't speak up loud enough when I could have! How can I express how I feel? I can steal a catchphrase a lot of people use, and modify it a little.

"Virus, you monster, kill me once, shame on you! Kill me twice, shame on me! When you kill me the first time, that's OK; I've lived a good life! But when you're trying to kill me twice, you're really killing, in my place, someone I love since I'm not around anymore! I can try, but probably fail, in shaming myself sufficiently! I should have warned my loved ones MORE about the Pretender who feels NO shame about ANYTHING HE DOES!"

April, 30, 2020

Rushing the Re-openings

Logic tells me that the country has made significant progress in the control of the Coronavirus, but it's possible all will be destroyed in a fraction of the time it took to build it.

The Pretender has shown support for rushing the opening of the nation's economies in many states before they are ready for it. Several states are relaxing the guidelines for dealing with the virus and reopening businesses which, in some states including barbershops, restaurants, theaters, and tattoo parlors.

I think his action is unwise and is based on the desire for people to have this unpleasant somehow taken immediately away. I believe his objective is economics over life. This is being done, I think, to increase his chances to be re-elected. I believe following this plan will bring spikes all over the country, each with new illnesses that did not need to happen, many with associated deaths that would not have happened. It seems to me he has made a choice where he accepts a number of deaths in exchange for an increase in his chances of holding his office.

It's my opinion choices made where curves that show increasing cases, increasing hospitalizations, and increases in the deaths that result are evil and unwarranted! It's my opinion that sacrificing human beings for dollars in order for someone to win re-election for any political office is obviously unjustifiable and immoral!

May 1, 2020

The Attacks on our Nation

We have been attacked by a fierce enemy, a monster virus. This is reminiscent of an attack on our nation in 1941 by the Empire of Japan. In one day our land was transformed from one of peace, tranquility, and prosperity to one suddenly thrust into war. We had suffered a terrible calamity at Pearl Harbor. We had not been prepared for war and did not defend well. There was anger and utter confusion in the land. President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke to the nation on the following day and told us the truth. He shared his anger with us and advised us that in our righteous might, no matter how long it took, we would emerge victorious! He asked the people to unite and work toward the ultimate victory. That victory came, but it took four years.

Winning was not easy. It required hard work, patience, sacrifice, and devotion to the country. It was the President's charisma and skill of language to help make triumph happen. Of course, it was our armed forces bore the brunt of this responsibility! During the war, the President told us the truth about what was happening and maintained our morale at a high pitch. Eventually, we celebrated victory over Germany, then over Japan. We had become the strongest power on earth and all nations respected us, not through fear, but through admiration. Our nation basked in the sunshine of this glory!

Today this vicious virus constitutes another attack; in many ways worse than the one in 1941. All of us feel we will emerge victorious because human beings have always defeated disease. (Could we be wrong?) But where is the leadership similar to the one that President Roosevelt had provided? We see only confusion from the White House. There is a pretender there that has no idea how to handle the challenge. He appears to have no plan for uniting the people, encouraging them to take the necessary steps that will assist us in defeating the scourge, and no ability to build morale. The only steps he seems he wants the country to take are the ones that will benefit him personally.

There are individuals in leadership roles in the country that know what it will take to defeat the virus: sacrifice, work, patience, and resolve. But their words are drowned out as being defeatist or fake news. The Pretender knew that chances to gain re-election to the presidency required a roaring stock market, low unemployment, and a strong base. The virus crisis came at the wrong time and uninvited! At first, he maintained a state of denial. Then saw the White House being taken from his grasp with all it prestige, glory, and monetary value! He needed the good times to return as soon as possible and has tried, and is trying, various schemes to bring them back as soon as possible. But many of his schemes are dangerous to health and some actually foster death! It is wrong to trade death for good economic conditions! He does not understand that recovery from this evil will require time as well as fortitude among the people. Attempts to rush the passage of time will only lead to conditions that are worse than those that prevail today.

It is time for our people to follow the guidance of our wisest personages. If we don't, conditions worse than what we have now will materialize sooner than later! Worse conditions will encourage the grim reaper to return; only this time, he will be grinning, not merely grim!

May 2, 2020

Contact Tracing

It's my opinion that testing, per se, is not useful in getting rid of the virus. It shouldn't be disregarded, however. There are times when it does provide needed knowledge. I think contact tracing, in its time, IS useful in stamping out this scourge. What do I mean by, "In its time"? When the number of daily new cases is very low. How low? I don't know — zero to ten, maybe. Too many new cases, I think, makes it difficult to make much sense of what an infected person tells a contact tracer.

Getting the number of new cases down, is most important! Indoors , stay away from others as much as feasible! Stay home! Stay away from others when you absolutely must go out! Wear a mask and avoid getting near anyone not wearing one! Cancel appointments that don't yield much, if any, benefit! If you do go out, try to remember details of what you did, remember who you were near and what places you visited. This virus is tricky. We don't know much about how it infects. It will find you if you give it half a chance. Use your brain to fill in any gaps I may have included in this message. Do your part in helping bring down the new-cases count. A count of zero is not impossible.

If, in any rare instance, you are infected and are questioned by a contact tracer, what you tell that person will help you as well as others!

May 3, 2020

Pepys' Diary and the Plague

Samuel Pepys was an administrator of the British Navy and a Member of Parliament. He kept a diary from 1660 to 1669 which depicts life during those years. The diary was published and is easily available these days for little cost. Part of the coverage in the diary was about the Bubonic plague. He began writing about it in April 1665. I think you'll find it interesting reading. On the Internet search for "Bubonic Plague Pepys Diary". This book depicts life as it was lived in England during this period of time.

May 5, 2020

How I Feel (In a Nutshell)

Maybe I haven't been clear. I tried! As a former computer programmer, my life has been greatly controlled by the proper use of logic. In connection with the virus, I'll try to be strictly logical here.

The virus is highly infective. It may take extreme measures to keep it from getting so effective in what it does, that it may get even more destructive than it has been in the past!

If we can keep it separated from humans, we would be destroying it because the virus needs humans in order to thrive. Are we able to FREEZE all human activity for a couple of months? If we were, we could kill it forever. Without humans, it can't infect anyone, which means it can't KILL anyone. Obviously, we can't freeze all human activity. There are some things humans must do, and one is simply eating! We also need health care, safety care, firefighters, and more!

We can do the best we can by hiding inside our homes; when we are near people, keeping our distance; when conducting business, wearing masks, etc. The virus loves to infect. Without controls, it may start with infecting one person, who may infect 2, who may infect four, who may infect eight, etc. When a lot of people get infected, many of them DIE! This is the TRAGEDY of it all!

The number of people dying may be small, at first, then increase rapidly. Finally, when human controls kick in, the rising trend may end and a lowering trend begin. If humans can get the number of people being infected to zero, the battle against the virus ends with a victory. However, working to reduce the number of people getting infected is difficult! It requires EVERYONE working together; it means personal DEDICATION, it means having PATIENCE, it means HELPING OTHERS; it means having FORTITUDE, it means employing INTELLIGENCE, and it means following GOOD LEADERSHIP! Under ideal conditions, the period of time all this effort needs could be as little as two months. Under less than ideal conditions, the virus could be with us for years, even FOREVER if a vaccine can't be found to bring it down.

Humans, beings, who they are, get cabin fever; pleasure-loving; bored; rebellious; anxious over having lost our jobs, and who knows what else. If the beaches have been closed, the want them reopened; if the tattoo parlors have been shut down, we want tattoos; if restaurants have been shut down, we want to resume dining leisurely while sweet music is being played in the background! We want EVERYTHING that has been closed down to be REOPENED. And we want that NOW! After all, it's in the United States Constitution. Further, we have to understand nobody is forcing any of us to get a tattoo! Nobody is forcing anyone to go to the beach! Nobody is forcing anyone to go to attend a football game! What is want is perfectly normal and LOGICAL!

That's all true, the Constitution doesn't force anybody to do anything! But, if we have been winning against the virus, when we reopen, we'll be taking a BACKWARD STEP! When we OPEN UP, we also increase the number of people who have been dying! What is a human life worth? How many humans are we willing to lose if we reopen a barbershop, or an ice cream parlor, or even the machine shop where some of us were employed? A lot of places that are reopening have a COST IN HUMAN LIFE! Many of those lives could be of innocent persons who were still fighting the virus by separating, staying at home, wearing masks, caring for the sick, etc. Worse, some of the people who die when they shouldn't have, could be members of OUR OWN FAMILIES. How would a man feel if he found that the tattoo he loves so much might have been obtained at the cost of his grandmother; how would a woman feel if she discovers that new hairstyle she wanted so badly might have been with a cost of the death of her brother? Making it more personal, how would one of my readers feel if that hotdog he enjoyed at the diner caused ME to die? I can say one thing about this: I'D BE DAMNED UNHAPPY ABOUT IT!

Why can't we wait until the time is right before we reopen anything!? My feeling is we should understand the HUMAN COST for any action we take! Every person we lose because of the virus was a human being who had a husband, wife, partner, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, cousins, friends! It isn't just one person who's affected; it could be dozens, if not more. Who among us is not willing to admit that even ONE person who dies when he or she shouldn't have, represents too high a price to pay for reopening anything until the battle against the virus has been completely won!?

May 7, 2020

World War II Ended in Europe on VE Day

World War II ended on two different days: VE Day on May 8, 1945, and VJ Day on August 15, 1945. The first date was Victory in Europe and the second, Victory in Japan. Some soldiers served in both places. My brother, Tony, was one! He served in Europe and in Okinawa, Japan.

There was a ceremony today commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the end of the war in Europe. The Pretender had the audacity not to wear a face mask at the celebration. There were World War II veterans in attendance. I feel he insulted them by this action!

May 8, 2020

A New Index

I've invented new indexes in the past having to do with selecting stocks to invest in. These are PEG and P/D. (The first was over 50 years ago; the latter only a few months ago.) Now I'm turning my attention to something more morbid; D/R, (Deaths to Re-openings). That is, what is the cost in extra human deaths for the "re-openings" of commerce in certain areas before it's time to do so?

Re-opening of walking on the beaches is perhaps innocuous and causes no deaths, but what about reopening theaters, restaurants, barbershops, tattoo parlors, and others that bring people close together is personal ways? For example, how many deaths will it cost to reopen restaurants? Anyone who dares say, "none," has simply lost the ability to use their brains! When restaurants are reopened before their time, there WILL BE spikes of some kind! Those spikes mean, people die!

This same example applies to most other openings! There is no way that an accurate cost in deaths can be calculated for any given re-opening. The best anyone can do is make an estimate. But the fact that certain re-openings will cost lives cannot be denied. These costs will forcefully manifest themselves even if they can't be calculated while they are occurring. My position is that nothing should reopen unless it can be honestly believed that no deaths will result. Re-openings should be done only when the proper times have come!

What about those who say, "I'm worried about providing for my family! I need to earn money so I can pay my bills, etc.? The government is already throwing money at the problem. This can be continued indefinitely until the virus has been beaten down. We can worry about finances later. This is an emergency and there is a logical sequence concerning the order in which remedial tasks must be performed. IT WILL TAKE LESS TIME FOR SOCIETY TO RETURN TO NORMAL IF WE BEAT THE VIRUS BEFORE WE WORRY ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE! AND BEATING THE VIRUS FIRST IS THE BEST WAY TO LOSE THE FEWEST LIVES!

May 10, 2020

Reopened Too Soon!

It must be obvious to some governors that they reopened too soon! The number of new cases of the virus is going up in their states. I suggest they ponder the speed with which numbers increase when they double: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc. the number 1 exceeds one-thousand after only 10 doublings; and one million after only 20. This virus could be doubling every few days. At that time all the gains that were recently made, will be lost! This, also, is important: New cases of the virus causes many people to die when they shouldn't have to do so!

May 11, 2020

Can You Breathe The Infection?

This virus is vicious. It is also persistent. What follows is mostly conjecture. I agree that conjecture without reason is outrageous. However, I believe, some conjecture SHOULD be aired.

Some individuals have mentioned that this virus can be breathed in. Because it is so infective, I feel there may be some truth to this. It may be true that the particulates of the virus are so small or light that they FLOAT in the air after having been breathed out by an infected person. If this is true, they may invade the body of a victim regardless of distancing and masking. IT MAY BE TRUE that two yards is not a sufficient distance to stay away from someone! IT MAY ALSO BE TRUE that small crowded areas are too dangerous to enter or to linger in! Some areas that come to mind are crowds exiting a theater or a church; small classrooms crowded with students; boards of directors congregating in a conference room, political rallies with closely assembled people, especially if yelling; playing areas at games like basketball and football, especially if cheering; people attending movies, concerts, and lectures. Other examples could be given.

In the Army, it was demonstrated to the soldiers the difference between being in an area filled with a poisonous gas versus the wearing of a gasmask. This virus has no odor, but it might be as poisonous as the gas I've referred to. IN SOME AREAS, IT MAY TAKE NOTHING LESS THAN A GASMASK TO KEEP FROM GETTING INFECTED! If this is learned to be true, people should be told!

May 12, 2020

Today's Press Conference

I had expected some relevant information in today's (May 11, 2020) news conference. The information provided about testing was interesting but not crucial. A question was asked about why the number of people dying is not going down. The answer was impertinent and insulting to the person who asked, and, frankly, to the entire country!

Everyone wants the emergency to end and have the economy, THEN, reopen. The Pretender is causing the number of deaths to increase by condoning the economy reopening too soon! His ham-fisted form of leadership is causing exactly the opposite occurrences to take place. Even if reopened, the economy cannot prosper if the population is sick with the virus or scared of this!

May 13, 2020

A Hell On Earth? A Choice!

Our Choice: A Hell On Earth Now For A Short time, or A Hell On Earth Forever More! That is the question! We, society, is making the choice. There is the drumbeat for "A Return to Normalcy NOW!" Those beating the drums may not be understanding that trying to return to normalcy now is not possible! The time to attempt doing this has not arrived. It requires all of us working together to make it happen. Working together means living through a Hell on Earth for a time! That time may be only a few weeks, but it could be as long as two years! This would be a time when we distance ourselves from others, when we wear masks, when we coop ourselves up in our own homes, etc. We all know the rules; we've heard them many times and read about them. The objective of living through this Hell on Earth is to drastically lower the number of people becoming infected and provide care for those who have become victims. My feeling has been that the number of people becoming infected should be reduced to zero! I may be too pessimistic here! I admit that!

The Good News is that it might take a long time for zero to be attained, but then we can resume living as we used to! A vaccine need not exist at this time, but it may be near! If there should be someone suddenly getting infected, all of society would surround the person with a passion and question, question, question! The idea would be to find out how that person got infected and FIX whatever was the cause! Fixing the problem might be hard, but surely easier than when hundreds or thousands of persons are getting infected every day!

The Bad News is that if the number of new cases cannot be reduced to a level considered safe, then society loses control! That's when Hell on Earth destined to prevail for an unlimited length of time will begin! I can't end with a note of pessimism. A vaccine, if it can be found, will probably defeat the virus. However, the number of human beings killed during the Unlimited Hell on Earth may be so high, it may make us all shiver to even think about it!

May 14, 2020

Open Letter to Governor Cuomo:

Dear Governor Cuomo, I have greatly admired your leadership with everything you've done in New York concerning the virus. But don't reopen too soon! Reopening means people die! REPEAT: REOPENING TOO SOON MEANS PEOPLE DIE! I know, the economy is important too. But like Admiral Farragut, who hollered out, "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" I shout, "Damn the economy; we can take care of that later!"

We can take care of the economy later, but we can't un-die the people that may die because you reopened too soon!

May 15, 2020

Opening Too Early Causes Death!

Opening Too Early Causes Death

I'm a story writer. I could write one as simple as this:

Bill met Jill at a party in a state that had reopened too soon. While discussing their new friendship, Bill infected Jill with the awful virus. She, later, became ill and died. He has not intended to do this! The irony is she died young while he lived to meet another young lady named Gertrude whom he married! Their marriage was dreadful.

This story would not make pleasant reading and I would not write such a pessimistic tale.

But I do want to make the point that opening can be the cause deaths of innocent individuals who would not have died if the state had not reopened too soon. In the first paragraph of this piece, if there had not been a party, Bill and Jill might have met at another time, married, had many children and grandchildren and lived to ripe old ages!

May 16, 2020

A 2021 New Deal Needed!

I do hope the new President in 2021 decides to inaugurate a New Deal for the American people by taking a few ideas out of Sanders Presidential Campaign.

I think it's wrong for a family to require, at least, two breadwinners to make ends meet. I think a more natural system would be for one in the family to work at a good job while the other person attends to affairs at home. No, I'm not against women having careers!

I think it's wrong for the brains of our most intelligent individuals should be underutilized during a period when they are needed most -- because those who have them are poor.

I think it's wrong for a family to be unable to rise above having to live from paycheck to paycheck. One person working in a family should earn enough to permit creating a savings plan that allows flowing through an emergency without needing to get food at a Food Bank.

I think it's wrong for a family needing to declare bankruptcy because of an unexpected illness.

I think it's wrong for the country to suffer the election of a totally incompetent president. Certain qualifying credentials should be established that must be met before anyone can even think of running for the job.

May 16, 2020

The Day It Found You!

Let's say you're what most folks would say about you — a very nice lady, married, three lovely kids. You're healthy except for the fact you get too many colds during the year and have a problem with AFib that is under control.

It's a nice day; your state has reopened. You listened to the President a couple of days ago and heard him saying how well he had handled the attack of the Coronavirus and that in a few months the economy would be booming again. Your state has reopened! You're super pleased. You and your family had been cooped up in your home and are happy you're free again to live without fear.

Saturday is shopping day. You make a list and tell hubby what you're doing. "Be careful, honey," he says and kisses you. The kids wave as you leave your home. The food market is crowded. A few of the shoppers are wearing masks. You're not! The checkout clerks are not also, but they still have the Plexiglas barriers between you and them. You're there for about an hour. That evening you put a nice dinner on the table for the family. Everyone smiles. It's like old times!

Three days later, you feel slightly feverish. No problem; maybe another cold coming. On the following day, the fever has gotten worse; you feel stiff all over and are experiencing extreme weakness. You feel a twinge of fear. Could this be? No! Your state reopened. It wouldn't have unless everything was fine!

The next day, you feel terrible. The fever is worse. You ache all over. You're coughing. Your husband calls the doctor. An ambulance arrives and you find yourself at the hospital. There, activity is furious. Everyone, wearing masks and gowns, seems to be functioning at warp speed! Yes, the kind of speed that will bring a vaccine! A few days pass. You're in and out of consciousness. A machine is wheeled in. Gradually, you lose awareness. As you fade, you know everything will be OK. You're young, in relatively good health. Hubby is not allowed to visit you. No, matter; nothing bad can happen! Your state reopened. It wouldn't have unless everything was fine!

May 17, 2020

Opportunity Lost

In war, when you see the enemy is losing, you redouble your efforts to ensure the victory! In a boxing match, when you see your opponent is tiring, you attack him more ferociously! In a football game, when you spot a weakness in the other team's line, you attempt to take advantage of it! The same principles apply with the Coronvirus. What people were doing in the various states, distancing, staying at home, wearing masks, etc., was, at last, beginning to turn the tide. Curves that had been going up, began to flatten, and go down. A few more days, a few more weeks, perhaps a few more months, would have defeated the monster. With a great deal of confidence, the reopening of the economy would have become advisable! We could have done so, and begun thinking of returning to a more normal normalcy! Instead, we threw away the victory; the opportunity to gain it, was lost!

With very few exceptions, most states are reopening the economy at exactly the wrong time. There is often a lag between the time a mistake is made and when it is observed. We know that when a person has been infected, it may take a few days before he or she, becomes capable of infecting. After a person has been infected, there may be a lag between the time the infection occurs, and when the victim knows that he or she must be hospitalized. Finally, there is a lag between the time it is known whether the victim will recover or die! With the states just having reopened, we are at the beginning of a lag that will allow us to understand whether the attempt of returning to normalcy was made too soon. I believe it was! I believe we lost the opportunity to beat the virus and stay on the winning end until a vaccine is created. Any attempt by the vaccine to flare-up could have been easily defeated.

Having lost the opportunity to gain victory, it is difficult to discover how much time has been lost in our quest to lay the virus low! When we do find out, we may learn it is much more than we might have expected, thus making our effort to make up the time more difficult. I believe that at the present time, it may take a few weeks before we know how bad it was that so many states tried to return to normal when they shouldn't have. I would urge those who read this, to keep observing the cautions that they have been undertaking if they have been so doing!

I'm sad to state that if the attempt to reopen the economy was too soon, we have guaranteed that it will surely be with us to the end of the year, at least!

May 18, 2020

A Lollapalooza!

The imposter's claim that he has been taking Hydroxychloroquine is a statement that veritably screams for comment. It was intended to be a distraction, yes, but it also shows how much of a Loony Tunes the Imposter is!

He is outrageously lying, of course. It is commonly understood, this stuff is dangerous when used for the wrong illness. The Imposter is not a fan of danger. This was adequately established by his deferments from serving our country at war. So why would he utter such a monstrous lie, which he will later excuse as joking!? I think it's because he was stung so badly when he first proposed it for Coronavirus that he wants to suggest he was right all the time and has been taking it to prevent the onset of the disease to himself!

Doesn't he realize a lot of people believe him when he speaks! What a tragedy it would be for one or several innocent people to take him as a competent individual and imitate his supposed action and suffer ill consequences!

May 19, 2020

Lies, Lies, Lies

Everything he said today was lies, lies, all lies! He will be forced to admit this about the hydroxychloroquine! He will claim he was joking or speaking sarcastically. Republicans, he has stolen the party from you! Don't you see the harm he is doing to the country!

May 20, 2020

I May Have Made A Mistake  
I may have made a mistake when I suggested the Pretender may be lying about taking hydroxychloroquine. In order to placate him, his doctors may be giving him a placebo! While this might solve some problems, it still wouldn't be right. By his words, he may have encouraged some people to take this medicine and it might be causing serious bad reactions in some people.

May 21, 2020

Reopened Too Soon

Reopened Too Soon

It's been only a few days since the nation "reopened"! To those who will look, the reopening was done TOO SOON. The right move for the nation RIGHT NOW is to close everything that was opened and to reimpose ALL the restrictions!

Where this virus is concerned, a few days ONLY means a lot! What is happening is a SPIKE in new cases! A spike means people have gotten infected. People getting infected means people some die! In the interest of saving lives, actions to close what was opened needs to be done TODAY! And not for a few of the states. ALL OF THEM! What this would mean is that having perhaps only a few people dying, many would!

It must be getting clearly evident the nation has had poor leadership. The Pretender has been encouraging reopening so that "the nation returns to work"! He believes a booming economy will help him get reelected. HE IS WRONG! People dying will trump a booming economy! I'm not suggesting a "second wave" will occur! I'm suggesting the "current wave" will get suddenly much worse, horrifying those who observe, and force the shutdown if it isn't done voluntarily!

May 21, 2020

Reopening Houses of Prayers

I don't know why I bother with this article. It's for the record, basically. I'm including all my postings concerning the virus in one e-book to be a sort of Pepys Diary to be published at some time in the future. Yes, I'm being arrogant! My effort may turn out to be a colossal blunder, but I'll never know it! (The e-book with a history of the virus exists now in www. smashwords. com. It's called, "Stamping Out The Monster." It has over 50 pages at present. It's not popular. There have been only 20 downloads of it!)

I'm not an atheist and not against religious practices or prayer, but I do need to state that what the Pretender says needs to be done is idiocy. There are many reasons why bringing large numbers of persons to be brought to one place where they can rub elbows, and breathe each other's air is dangerous. I can't agree with those who may state that God will watch over the congregations and prevent harm from coming to them. I don't believe any statement like this has ever been substantiated as being feasible.

May 22, 2020

A Resumption of Rallies

The Pretender has recently stated he is looking forward to a time when huge rallies in many places can be resumed. He has a period of time in mind — a couple of months ahead of the Presidential Election.

I wouldn't be able to ethically express opposition to this notion if it could be done safely. However, I cannot see September and October as being safe from the Coronavirus. I'm firmly convinced the foolish attempts to reopen the economy at the present time, has made rallies where thousands of cheering/singing individuals, congregated in relatively small spaces, jostling each other haphazardly can do anything except infect a large portion of them.

It's my opinion the virus will still be raging throughout the country at Election time. Any dreams that it might have been defeated and, therefore, not fearsome, would be better described as nightmares instead of dreams! Time, that would have allowed the virus to be categorically defeated, has run out. This could have been brought about if he had used his power, prestige, and charisma to encourage the population to stamp it out. He squandered this time on foolish notions like imbibing sterilizing fluids, shining bright lights inside the body, using a medicine intended for another ailment, and recommending reopening the economy at much too early a time!

I believe what I've said applies to conventions also. Holding conventions and having rallies are not possible ahead of the election!

May 22, 2020

The Inane Question

In one of the "talk programs" one of the talkers asked another "what would be his purpose in the Pretender's taking the hydroxychloroquine?"

This was a question without a lot of logic in it. HE WOULDN'T DO THAT! He was lying. I'm sure he's heard this is a dangerous drug to take but didn't care about this when he made the statement. He simply wanted to "prove" he was right all along. He is saying he took the drug to keep from getting infected. Soon, he will say his objective has been achieved and he has stopped taking it. In the meantime, a lot of people will believe him and risk deleterious effects by imitating him.

May 23, 2020

The Achievement Of Andrew Cuomo

Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York has achieved a wonderful conquest! He has brought the dreaded virus at bay in a relatively short time. Today is Saturday May 23, 2020. He reported the number of deaths in New York was down to 84. He asked an associate what should be the goal he should look to and was told "anything below one hundred for deaths."

On Facebook, I have been recommending a similar approach, but I made the goal zero in the number of new cases. Realizing this may be impossible, I changed the goal to "virtually zero"! The governor achieved what he did by (1) having a plan, (2) reporting and telling the truth every day, (3) asking for the people's help, and (4) using his understated, yet effective, charisma, to make it happen.

Now he wants to reopen carefully. My plan was to reopen fully when ALL states had achieved the same goal. When even "all but one state" does it, the one state would act like the proverbial apple in the barrel. In New York, if I were governor, I would keep closed down until all states had been as successful as Mr. Cuomo. But, I'm not the governor and he is. He may have a reason for reopening now and the Pretender may be at the source of it!

I believe any attempts to do what the Pretender demands should be rejected by the governors of the States. I believe, by law, their individual decisions cannot be overridden.

May 31, 2020

Maybe It Is A Little Too Early To Tell

Maybe It's A Little Too Early To Tell

Maybe it's too early to tell whether the so-called "re-opening of the country" has done harm.

In fourteen states, the number of new cases is increasing.

With the demonstrations going on, there is not much virus news being aired. I deem the news about the reaction to the killing of George Floyd extremely disturbing!

May 31, 2020

What Kind of Mindset? What Kind of Brain? What Kind of Temperament?

I'm 96, but I had never in my life seen anything like this! His name was George Floyd. He was a black man lying face-down in the street, a human being. Standing to his side, kneeling on his neck with one intransigent knee, was an officer of the law, a policeman! The man in the gutter was completely immobilized! However, he was in deep distress. "I can't breathe!" he was gasping.

"I can't breathe!" At one time, he called for his "mama"!

The kneeling man was showing no emotion. He was positioned bolt upright, hand in pocket, nonchalantly, glancing about. If he knew the life of the person trapped under an unyielding knee was causing death, he never showed it.

There were observers. Some were urging the firmly positioned man to defer, to ease off. If he had, George Floyd might be alive today. Three officers working with the kneeler were either helping or merely observing. However, none of them thought about giving the prominent participant in the scene a shove to dislodge him from his post. If one of them had, George Floyd might be alive today.

After several minutes of what might have been agony, George Floyd died.

Maybe the actor in this article had a reason for what he did. If so, it wasn't apparent. Maybe the reason, if there was one, will be revealed in a trial by jury. For the present, I can't help but wonder what was the nature of an individual who would do something like I've described.

May 31, 2020

Where Love Abounds

In a home that is led by a lover, love abounds; where it is led by a hater, hate flows out of the abode like a tsunami!

The White House is not currently a source of much love!

Nor is it the source of a role model most of us should emulate. If it were, it's my opinion most of us would have never heard of an American citizen named George Floyd.

May 31, 2020

The Terrible Protests

By the actions of one man in a mind-numbing act of either stupidity or cruelty, our country has been endangered by many hot-spots of protests in our land.

The protests represent a combination of earnestness, meanness, malice, and even disloyalty to our nation. In my opinion, some of what I see happening in some of our most crowded stories are acts I dare term rebellion! Most of the protestors are honest displaying angst over what happened to an American black citizen at the hands of an appalling police officer. I also believe a large disloyal fringe portion of the out-of-town protesters are not protesting anything at all, but attempting to cause division and havoc amongst our population. Out-of-towners are mentioned so much in the news, I'm wondering this is an organized system among the states. If it is thus, when did we lose control?

I feel the dishonest portions of these demonstrations should be eradicated in the best and quickest way possible. Perhaps with the coming election, better leaders can be elected who will work to find ways to avoid demonstrations for dishonest reasons.

May 31, 2020

Did You Make Alfredo Sick Today?

Was this the day you desired to dine in style?  
Or, did you need to walk the beach?  
Was this the day you had tattoos on your arm deliberated?  
Or, did you shop for DuFranco Bon in the Liqueur Store?  
Or, Did you yearn for Le Belle Scarpe at Marshalle Delornzo's?  
No matter, this is the day you made Alfredo sick!  
And he made Mary ill, and she put Henry down.

Though you had not intended it, this is the day you may have also extinguished me!

June 1, 2020

The Reopening That Failed

It's been a week or so since many states in the nation "reopened". This was not a "reopening", it was a monumental episode in stupidity. It was too soon! It was not supported by the Pretender. The fact is he didn't want it. He wanted a return of the economy to booming intensities so that he would have a better chance for re-election! Too many in our nation were deceived into believing this was a good thing and acted irrationally! We have lost months of moving forward! People are DYING because of idiocy. It's early for this assessment, but I believe it is accurate and that it will get worse before it gets better. It's my feeling that the blame for anyone dying now can be declared to be because of the "reopenings" at inappropriate times!

A notable exception to what I'm saying is what Governor Andrew Cuomo has done and is doing. He has waited and is waiting until the numbers and the trends were favorable before talking about reopening. There may be there are other states I should mention approvingly. I've just not been following them close enough to list them here.

The following comments are just my opinions. I'd be happy to understand where I'm wrong if some feel I am. This way, we can plan to do better! I feel this should be a NATIONAL effort, not by STATES. The hunkering down and the sacrifices should be for LONGER TIMES — until new cases have dwindled to zero or virtually that! Because of the mobility of our peoples, "hot spots" all over the country need to be eradicated at one and the same time. THE COUNTRY NEEDS A LEADER! A UNIFIED, MAJOR, ALL-NATION EFFORT IS REQUIRED. THIS WAY, THE VIRUS CAN BE BEATEN IN SIX WEEKS; OTHERWISE, WE MIGHT HAVE IT WITH US UNTIL A VACCINE HAS BEEN DEVELOPED — POSSIBLY FOR AS LONG AS TWO OR THREE YEARS!

As is, I think we should forget crowded, yelling, in-person conventions; forget about in-person voting, forget about crowded beaches, rallies, religious services, and all other assemblages of this kind! I repeat the question I asked a long time ago — DO WE WANT A TIME-LIMITED HELL-ON-EARTH OR A MORE PERMANENT ONE?

June 4 2020

The Recording of History

We're going through one of the most significant times in the history of our country. At a time when one of our citizens set foot on the moon, it seemed the sun could not shine brighter on our soil. What gradually happened since has made it seem as if the gloom of night has descended on it. But I feel most of us are tired of nighttime and can's wait for dawn.

I'm almost 97. I lived through a bad depression. For me, it was not so bad! I served in World War II. For me, it was not so bad! As an employee, I worked for low wages when expenses were high, but, still, for me, it was not so bad. Life for me was never bad — except . . . Yes, there came a time when a Pretender to the presidency came into power and acted like a child having a tantrum. He began to systematically destroy our country while shouting, "Make America Great Again!" I've wondered what I was supposed to do in my life. Maybe it was to write about this part of our history, and this is what I've been doing.

Yes, our country will be great again! The effort will begin in November of 2020, but, if possible, it should begin sooner. Oh, what damage could still be done in the short time to then!

June 4, 2020

A Testimonial For Governor Andrew Cuomo

It's my deep conviction that the way Governor Andrew Cuomo has handled the emergency presented by the Coronavirus has been exceptionally admirable. The challenge was monumental; his accomplishment, well beyond being simply adequate!

Nobody asked him to do this, but he began advising the people of New York what was the problem, its difficulty, and what he was doing to meet it. There were times when the way forward seemed blocked in every direction, but, by diligence and creative ways, he found the solutions.

No matter what the task looked like, he always told the truth. However, he always presented a voice of confidence. Through sheer, but low-key application of charisma, he obtained the cooperation to accomplish what was needed from those he addressed. It appears another person has won the right to strip the role of President from the Pretender, but, I feel he would have made an even better President than that apparent future winner.

June 4, 2020

The Photo Op

Standing in front of a church, he held up a Bible! What for?

It will take a long time for people to figure it out. He uttered not a word! It seems well known that what is written in the Bible means nothing to him.

Maybe, if he could have found a voice, it would have stated this: "I want to re-elected in this office that I hold. Many of you to whom this book has some sort of meaning, I have been a person who you believed was your leader! I never was, but the apparent role you gave me was enjoyable. Look, here is a copy! I do know what it looks like outside though what is inside remains unknown to me. Do keep me playing the role of your leader! It will help me continue to retain the office of which I pretend to hold!"

I would make bold to suggest, he does not have any credentials allowing him to be granted this request.

June 4, 220

Status At The Beginning of June

The country "reopened" about a week ago. I was against this, but my voice on this subject is less than feeble. It's pathetic. The best I can do is review and comment.

It's difficult to make a decision on how the reopening is doing. My stand is that it's moderately bad. People don't want to sacrifice! They WANT and they WANT IT NOW! There is no strong voice in the land saying, "Beating this virus will take "blood, sweat, and tears!" I think most governors want to reopen because their populations need to return to work so they can "put food on the table!"

My feeling all along has been that people should become scarce outdoors. Getting the numbers down should be the first objective. The number of new cases IN ALL THE LAND should be going down. The number of hospital admissions IN ALL THE LAND should be going down. The number of deaths IN ALL THE LAND should be going down. And a lot down! I think the numbers should be zeros in all counts! All right, if that's "pie in the sky" to points VIRTUALLY ZERO. How long should this take? With leadership, about two months!

Now, restart the economy with a VIGILANCE never seen in our country. Allowing cases to grow without vigilance means DEATH for, at least, some! Full reopening could be dons but not full-bore! Vigilance would be needed until a vaccine is developed and can be delivered TO ALL! How long: two years!

The bottom line that some states will do well and some will do poorly IS NOT ACCEPTABLE! Flare-ups will keep the virus with us for a long time killing people with impunity! Yes, getting done what I'm suggesting is difficult! Two years is a long time. To me (Age 97 on June 11, 2020), it more than a long time. It may be an eternity! If anyone should be wanting it ALL and wanting it NOW, it should be me. I can still have A LOT and have it while SACRIFICING. For most people, they can take two years as if it were passing in a flash, and this entire bad time can be recalled a being mostly like a bad dream!

June 7, 2020

George Floyd Looks Down From Heaven

The Pretender remarked about how George Floyd would feel if he looked down from Heaven and viewed the protests. He said George would say, "This is a great thing happening for our country." What is the problem with that man's mind! I don't think anyone would agree to die by having breath squeezed out of his or her body to the point of death in order to enhance an economy! Yes, sometimes individuals will give their lives for others, but the mind of this man doesn't understand that!

June 8, 2020

Governor Cuomo, Don't Reopen Yet

On TV today, Governor Andrew Cuomo was close to jubilant. And well he should be! What he has accomplished is almost a miracle. He wants to reopen! New Yorkers want to reopen. With all due respect, I'd like to suggest it's too soon. The number of new cases is not yet low enough. We don't know what the protests have caused. We don't need a spike. The States of California, Florida, Texas, and Arizona are experiencing spikes. Death comes with spikes. Preventing death is more important than restoring the economy! We also need to worry about people coming to New York from other states because it has become safer to live here than there! I'm suggesting he wait to reopen until the time is right!

June 11, 2020

Don't Muzzle The Cops In Any Way

There are foolish sounds in the air concerning restricting the actions of the police. I believe any ideas of restricting are ill advised. No restricting is wrong! Smarter training and smarter selection is a much better idea.

It's my opinion, and I think, that of most of our population that the police are dedicated individuals interested only in doing their duty as best as they can! I do believe that there are a very few individuals in the police who are cruel! Yes, cruel! Some may have joined the police force for the single reason of causing pain to others!

It's my opinion that selection of officers should be made more carefully. Then, if it is discovered a mistake was made, the individual should be dismissed as soon as possible. It goes without saying, if an officer has done something egregiously wrong, he or she should be properly prosecuted!

The police are an essential element of a safe and healthy society. Defunding them or restricting lawful actions by them should not be considered in any way.

June 11, 2020

Stupidity In the Land

One or two weeks ago, many states reopened their economies too soon. The numbers that I felt should govern whether reopening should or should not be accomplished were NOT low enough. However, there were many in the country who yearned to have a pleasant meal at a nice restaurant, to exercise at the gym, to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries with family and friends, and to indulge in many other activities under conditions that had been called normal in the past. With the blessing of the Pretender, most states reopened what their leaders may have thought was slightly wrong! However, it appears that most individuals didn't understand what had been intended and thought was That Happy Days Were Here Again was NOT true! The reopening's were too made too soon! The truth was that there was much, too much, STUPIDITY in the land! The huge protests added to the problem and currently seem to be ignored!

From what I can see, the bad numbers in too many states are going up. Their leaders don't seem to mind, perhaps because the upward trend is MINOR! The past has taught us that what begins small turns huge too soon! I would hope that these leaders realize that the time to act is now! Restore the restrictions! Restore them more rigorously! Enforce the restrictions more forcefully! A small step backwards often turns out to be a huge step restore! Quality leadership is required! Shakespeare once said that greatness may be thrust upon some individuals! It is my opinion that those leaders who realize Shakespeare meant these words for them, should act!

It has always been my opinion, and is at the present time, that the country should act as a single unit. The number of new cases should be as close to zero as possible before any thoughts of reopening should be done! Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York has shown the way in New York! I would advise the leaders of all the rest of the states to emulate his actions!

June 11, 2020

Governor Cuomo, Miracle Worker

Today, Governor Cuomo showed some figures that were truly impressive! He pointed out how much progress was made with the virus by showing the differences of the past compared with the present. He said it was New Yorkers who had done this! Yes, that's true, but it was under his leadership. He admits he wishes he had started sooner! I don't believe he should be criticized for not doing this since the Pretender was not doing his job at the time. But once the Governor realized what needed to be done, he took on the job with passion. He saw what needed to be done, and determined to do it! There were difficulties that needed to be overcome! With the strength of his fortitude and strong desire to accomplish, he overcame them! Not only that, but he also lent his low-key charisma to the task! He got the people of the state to cooperate in what he was asking them to do!

Now, he wants to reopen the economy of the state. I can't claim to see into his mind, but I do believe he realizes it may be too soon! He is torn between having the state return to work and keeping people from dying. I have believed from the beginning that all numbers involved during this period of the emergency should be before anything was done concerning reopening the economy. At the very least, I have believed that the new cases of the virus should be zero, or a figure that could be accepted as being virtually zero. At present, we do not know how the protests affected the number of new cases! The last thing we want is for the number of new cases to spike. Even a small spike could mean the deaths of many human beings!

I am not so naïve as to not understand that the Governor has taken many facts under consideration. I believe he is doing what he feels is best, and I bow to his judgment! This does not mean that I will automatically begin doing everything he says I can! I plan to use my own judgment while the reopening takes place! As New Yorkers, we have come a long way! Some of us may feel we should go just a little farther before accepting all the new freedoms that may appear to have been given to us!

June 11, 2020

Let History Be History!

There seems to be a motion to remove everything from history that has anything to do with the Confederacy. Why? The Confederacy was part of our history. Do we want to erase it because it made mistakes? I don't see much sense to that!

In the beginning, humanity began as cave people, cavemen and cave women! Humans made mistakes then! I'm sure someone discovered that fire was hot and decided to be careful when dealing with it! Some may have discovered that the wheels being made didn't turn very well and decided to make better wheels! Should these events not be recorded because they indicated humans were not as smart as they are now? That does not make sense to me!

Should WE be erased from history someday because future humans will discover WE made mistakes? The Germans were once our enemies, now they are friends! The Japanese were once our enemies now they are friends! The British were once our enemies now they are best friends. Should we erase all traces of the times they were enemies? That doesn't make any sense at all!

Let history be history! Let history be history because we can learn from history! I see no sense in taking down the statues that were erected during the time when the Confederacy was thought to be our enemy! The people that lived through that period of time thought they were right! They were brave and fought for what they believe in. Why would we want to fiddle with that? Those people are gone now! We learned from them! Let history be history!

June 11, 2020

Insanity in the Land

Unless I wasn't listening too carefully, I may have heard last night that the Pretender wants to hold a rally next week! In Tulsa, Oklahoma! If I heard wrong, please ignore what follows. Could he really mean it? I checked to see who the governor of the State is and decided it may be possible.

I've watched some of these rallies on TV. They are scary things! There could be thousands upon thousands of attendees in close proximity cheering their heads off. If there is anything the man can do well is run a rally. He may state something like, "I have made the stock market go up," and the crowd cheers as if they were all given a million bucks! Or, he could point to the news people in attendance and indicate they are guilty of publishing fake news with the result that the ensuing boos will threaten to cause a minor earthquake!

In viewing these, it seems he is so popular, he can win any contest he's involved in. I console myself that, despite the cheering, the attendees are not indicative of the general public! The impression given is impressive indeed. It is clear the Pretender loves these events. He loves the cheers and gets plenty of them!

This is not a time when a mass assemblage like a rally should take place anywhere. Having thousands of cheering, yelling, screaming folk in a rally seems to me to be a form of insanity. It should not be permitted to happen. If it does, I cannot see the result will be favorable for neither the Pretenders campaign for reelection nor the country as a whole.

June 11, 2020

New York is Reopening

New York is reopening! Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced this and I suppose that should represent good news to me. He has done a wonderful job of controlling the virus since it reared its ugly head. However, I remain apprehensive.

Too many of our states are showing upticks! Can we reopen when there are upticks anywhere in the country?

We haven't discovered what the protests have done to or for the virus! Shouldn't we have an idea about this?

We haven't considered what to do if people begin flocking to New York State because our state begins to look like the Land of Milk and Honey! Shouldn't we worry because of spikes they may cause?

I understand why the Governor wants to do what he's doing. Businesses should reopen in New York because the pandemic has cost this State so much. But he does realize that spikes bring death. I know he is sensitive to death; he has mentioned this many times. Is he looking for the "greater good?" If so, I consider the greater good saving lives! I think the restrictions should be kept on until the entire country begins to show a downward trend in new cases!

I'm sorry, Governor, I applaud you for what you're doing; as for me, today is my 97th birthday. And as for me, I plan to keep the restriction on for myself!

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June 11, 2020

Shouting From the Rooftops

Today, there was ominous news about the reopenings. From what I've heard and read, "we are on the edge of a precipice to a disaster." I believe it! If shouting a warning from the rooftops were still in vogue, and if I had the strength, I would be doing a good deal of shouting from rooftops.

I don't want to sound flip but would like to remind those who make decisions that what appears small at first could become huge in a flash. It was only a few days ago that the number of deaths in the U.S.A from the virus crossed 100,000. Today, it was well over 111,000. What I've written is not merely a number, it's a count of human beings. These numbers of people dying cannot be accepted, tolerated, or getting used to! The numbers represent a tragedy taking place with real people!

I think Governor Cuomo should rescind any thoughts of reopening and try to use his influence to get other states to cooperate in shutting down again until the numbers begin trending down again. The effort to beat the virus needs to be a united one with ALL the states working as a unit! Opening the country to the economy cannot be done simply because the Pretender wants to be reelected! How many deaths should this cost!? A leader should be found who will work to end to pandemic. I would nominate Cuomo as being the best candidate for undertaking this role.

As I've said before, the virus can be defeated with a short time of suffering FOR ALL. Perhaps three months. Or, it can become an unending period of suffering until the virus can't find any more candidates to infect. With luck and the perfection of a vaccine, I would estimate this would require up to two years of suffering with only an uncertain end in sight!!

The choice is ours and our leaders. A decision which way to go needs to be made today!!

If I could I would shout these words from the rooftops!

June 12, 2020

Living Through These Times

I'm 97, and a WWII Veteran. I would not have given up the chance to live through the present period for any kind of money. There are very few of us left and we are perhaps a valued member of the population. I feel I know how the sixteen million veterans of WWII would feel about what is currently happening and could speak for them with some authority. During the war, the veterans were young, possibly in the age of 18 to 20. The only president they had known was Franklin D. Roosevelt. They knew how a president should act and I did too.

Now, I know a lot more about how presidents should act and how they really do so. Every president since Roosevelt has left his or her stamp for what presidents are like. Most veterans who have lived since the war ended have never been involved with anything like the Pretender in the White House today. I do believe I can speak for the sixteen million other veterans about how they would feel if they were still alive.

Further, probably very few of those veterans had ever experienced anything like the present pandemic. I was there when it began and am following it carefully day by day. I think I could explain how veterans who are not with us any more would feel about how it came to be and what was done to control it. I trust many of these pages will give information to the present population how we the veterans of that war would feel about what is happening.

No, I'm not the only World War II veteran, but I may be one of the few that is writing about it! I think that adds to how my writing is helping the present population understand what the veterans would have felt.

June 12, 2020

Destroying History

During these days of turmoil, why are we so struck with destroying history! Because some of our leaders owned slaves? Because several of our states believed in owning slaves? All of us can make mistakes! History teaches us how to live better. Not all of us are fast learners, but that's not a good reason for destroying history.

Often history is written by the winner! We've all heard that. If we had lost World War II, we might be speaking Japanese today. Would we feel it would be OK to destroy the history of how our land had been created? Recall also, that we rebelled from the British. How would we feel if they had won and had made hot dogs, ice cream, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and all that illegal?

History has a right to exist. We've all heard that if we don't understand it, we'll have to repeat it! It is through experience and making mistakes that we learn.

The South lost the Civil War at the Battle of Gettysburg (though it lasted a year longer after that). There was a battle called Pickett's Charge! Fifteen Thousand boys from the South were involved. Surely, not one of them owned slaves, but they had been called to battle. They willingly did so. In that charge, they made a long line a mile away from the Northern troops and began a walking charge to cross that mile-long battlefield. In doing so, they were shot at with cannon directly into their ranks. The soldiers fell on all sides by the dozen, by the hundreds, then by the thousands. Only a few reached the Northern troops. They needed to retreat. Only a few of the soldiers that had begun the charge returned. General Robert E. Lee met them and said, "I apologize! It was all my fault." Are we now expected to say, "Great! Men, you died because your cause was bad!" Yes, their cause was bad, but they were bravely doing what they were being asked to do! Should we now destroy all remembrances of what happened during that war? Should the record of that hopeless charge be struck from the history books? I dare suggest, the answer amongst my readers would be "no"!

June 12, 2020

The Battle Has Been Lost

There is no point of any of us denying it, the battle with the Caronavirus has been lost!

There are spikes throughout the land and I don't see many of our leaders being concerned about it!

Deaths of our fellow citizens are occurring at one thousand or so a day and is being accepted!

The Pretender wants to have a rally in a few days so he can have a better chance of being reelected Pretender and nobody is shouting, "No, you can't do that!"

He is planning a political convention where thousands of individuals will be mingling close to each other, and nobody is shouting, "No, you can't do that!"

There is no leader in the country who has the intelligence of leading us out of this misery. The name Governor Andrew Cuomo might come up, but he has worked a miracle for only New York State. He's smart enough to know this is like a non-victory! Why hasn't he stood on a soapbox and hollered, "The Pretender has abdicated all thoughts of leadership! I will do it!"

What's next? I don't know; I guess the virus will deal with us as it pleases!

I think about the sad song, "Among My Souvenirs".

Among My Souvenirs

There's nothing left for me  
Of days that used to be,  
They're just a memory  
Among my souvenirs.  
Some letters sad and blue,  
A photograph or two,  
I see a rose from you  
Among my souvenirs.  
A few more tokens rest  
Within my treasure chest,  
And, though they do their best  
To give me consolation,  
I count them all apart,  
And, as the teardrops start,  
I find a broken heart  
Among my souvenirs.

You can listen to Connie Francis sing this on Youtube. It has made me sad and I'm going to bed!

June 13, 2020

On Our Own

The fact that the battle has been lost does not mean that we, individually, should give up! Young folk may feel they can survive an attack of the virus so they won't take any preventative actions. That's fine! Nevertheless, older people would like to resist!. As for myself, I plan to make myself scarce to the presence of the virus. I plan to go outdoors only when I must! I plan to continue wearing a mask when out. Also staying away from crowds! I'll ask Ann to be careful. If she gets infected, the chances are I will too. The reverse is true!

The Pretender is not giving me good guidance. What he wants most right now are cheers, glory, and reelection! He has no feelings for me or folks like me. We are on our own!

Will I have a toothache? I'll let it ache! Will I want a tattoo? It can wait! A haircut? That can wait also! Do I yearn to see a movie? go dancing? have dinner at a fancy French place? go protesting? go to a rally? make a parachute jump? my reaction will be "not today!". If the Pretender says it's OK, or my hero, Governor Cuomo says that, I'll say no! I'm 97! I don't mind allowing old age get me. That's normal, but I won't be a victim to a bug! If it attacks, I'll battle like a wildcat! I simply haven't accomplished yet what I want to in life!

June 13, 2020

No, You Don't!

Every so often the Pretender will announce he's going to be doing something outrageous! There may be voices from some objecting, but those don't seem to have any effect. Is it possible for a movement to be started with many shouting, "No you don't!" Is it possible this movement could be so loud and forceful, he'd need to obey since, to allow it, would mean the death of individuals? Some examples that "No You Don't!" could refer to might be rallies that could sicken many, conventions that could do the same, etc. Many other examples could be given. I would hope such a movement would be executed by big-name leaders in both parties and citizens of goodwill amongst the general population of our nation.

June 14, 2020

The Pretender's Birthday

I was sorry to learn today that the Pretender's birth date was on June 14, 1946. I know now, for sure, there is nothing to Astrology; he and I have no similarities except for the month we were born in. I'm upset over this since I claimed June for myself over twenty years before he did. There is a big un-difference between us though! I was honorably discharged from the Service after three years in 1946. He never served even a day in his life though called upon several times to do so!

June 14, 2020

The Rayshard Brooks Story

It was around 10:30 in the evening. A Wendy's employee called the police to state there was an individual sitting in a car in the Drive-Thru Lane and was preventing other customers from making purchases. An Atlanta police officer named David Bronsan responded. The latter opened Brooks' car door an shook him awake.

The two had a congenial conversation with Brooks responding to every question. Bronson told Brooks to leave the area and take a nap elsewhere. Instead, Brooks fell asleep again. Bronsan woke him up again and Brooks drove to a parking spot. Bronsan followed and asked additional questions.

An officer named Garret Rolfe arrived at the scene. He went to Brooks' auto and ask him questions. It seemed Brooks had been drinking. Bronson administered some tests. Brooks' blood-alcohol level was .108% slightly over .08% the legal limit. Rolfe told Brooks he had been drinking too much and asked him to put his hands behind his back. Brooks began resisting.

Soon all three men were on the ground wresting. One of the officers said, "Stop fighting and threatened Brooks with being tased. Brooks managed to take the taser from Bronsan and ran off. Rolfe fired his taser at Brooks but may have missed. Both Bronsan and Rolfe are seen in a video running after Brooks. At one point, Brooks turned and allegedly shot the taser gun at Rolfe who drew his service weapon from his holster and opened fire. A video showed Brooks falling to the ground, and the officers converging on him.

Rolfe was discharged and Bronsan was placed on Administrative leave pending an investigation.

It is my belief Brooks may have been shot and killed without justification, but I may be wrong based upon what are the results of the investigation.

June 15, 2020

Mass Insanity

What seems to be happening in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 20, seems to me to be a huge exercise in Mass Insanity! Unbelievably, it is a rally in favor of the Pretender who wishes to be reelected to that post!

The Pretender in Chief seems to be leading, and indeed urging on, this process! Even though he is requiring attendees to sign a waiver that they will not sue if they are infected by the virus, this requirement does not seem to be having much effect, if any!

There seems to be no resistance from any source that I have been able to detect! I had no illusions about who would attend! Members of his base will do so unquestioningly. They will impatiently sign the waiver and rush in wanting to be as close to the stage as possible. They may be the ones screaming the loudest and booing so when signaled to do so. Undoubtedly, they will know they are endangering themselves to becoming infected with the virus, but do not seem to care about what they also know, that they are endangering others at the same time!

I should think many who have some influence would be rising to yell, "No, you cannot do that! What you want to do is risk, not only, your own health, but also that of your friends, neighbors, and family! At least part of what you are attempting to do could be considered a crime!" I see no signs of this.

I agree there may be a rush of logic where much of his base will realize attending a political rally for the pretender at this time is not logical and there won't be mass attendance, but I am not expecting this. Based on what I have seen in previous rallies, attendees will consider this to be an evening of entertainment! All risks will be thrown out the window! In other words, "Que sera! sera!" "Whatever will be, will be!"

So be it!

June 16, 2020

What to do Now?

With the vital numbers in twenty-one states going the wrong way, it's clear reopening has failed. I would have claimed this even if only one state was involved! What do we do no? The answer is easy. Implementing it is very difficult. Restore all the restrictions! And enforce them!

The vital numbers are the new cases, the new hospitalizations per day, and the current number of deaths per day. All these, or at least the trends, need to be declining every day! And for ALL the country! It would require a great deal of bravery from any governor who would suggest this. Most persons in the entire country will not want to hear this and WILL NOT hear this! There is no one in the nation with the kind of leadership quality that can make these numbers come about!

I believe the rest of the year will be tainted by increasing lack of purpose, more infection and death from the virus, failing economy, and unhappiness. The good news is that as the next five months go by, the virus will, itself, begin weakening because of a lack of victims to attack. I believe a vaccine will be developed in the new year and will begin helping the world recover its health and emotional stability.

Today, Wednesday, July 17, 2020

There is a lot going on today. That's why I'm titling this post with a date instead of a topic.

Pence Op-Ed

Vice president Pence authored an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal which appeared today. He downplayed the Coronavirus. I don't agree with a word he said! The voice of the Pretender was very evident. Mr. Pence is a sycophant, pure and simple. While he is Vice-president, I will believe every word he says, and every action he takes, as being directed by the Pretender.

Governor Cuomo's Talk Today

I listened to Governor Cuomo's talk today on TV. He announced a new low in deaths from the Coronavirus. I was pleased with that! He did not tell, however, how many new cases had been recorded for New York State. And, he did not state how many new hospitalizations there had been. I believe, as I have said it in my posts regularly that Governor Cuomo performed a miracle in about 100 days. He had a virus to worry about and an economy! I think he should have emphasized the virus entirely! Further, I think he should have indicated that the battle to kill the virus is a countrywide endeavor. Doing a miracle only in New York is not sufficient. I believe he knows that!

He has been a magnificent leader for New York State! I believe he could do as well for the entire country! I don't see how he can undertake leadership for the entire country while the Pretender still holds the post of President. However, it may aid the situation if former Vice-president, Joe Biden, announces that as soon as he becomes President he will assign that task to Governor Cuomo! Killing this virus is not a one-state task! It requires the effort to be taken by every state in the union, and it requires the cooperation of every citizen! I do understand that what I am asking is virtually impossible, but I also think Cuomo is the only person who can accomplish the required result within a reasonable time!

Reopened Too Soon

The pretender wanted to be reelected so badly he did not care how he did it! Therefore, he urged Republican governors to reopen the economy at much too soon the time! What had been accomplished to that point was lost. We returned to a previous point. We are not in a second wave, we are in the first wave! We are losing the first wave Big Time. I think we will continue to be on the losing side for the rest of the year! It is possible, of course, that the governors will see the light themselves and restore the restrictions that had been imposed at an earlier time! There are three numbers that need to turn downward in every state, the number of new cases, the number of people being hospitalized, and the number of people dying! I know this is difficult to accomplish. Excellent leadership is needed from someone at the top to make this happen! It will take courage to ask the population to do what needs to be done! They are sick and tired of this virus! They want it to go away, but it will not do so until everyone in the country realizes that this is an emergency that cannot be ignored or pushed aside or downplayed!

The American Population

When I was a kid, the country was in a very severe depression. However, I believe the people had come to understand and accept this! President Franklin D Roosevelt took the reins in 1933 at the very bottom of the depression and made a turn around! Maybe he didn't do the best job that was possible, but the population was with him. The entire country worked together! Progress began to be evident at once! The theme song of the country seemed to be, Happy Days Are Here Again! You can hear the song and words on YouTube.

World War II completed the job of returning the economy to normal! It had taken several miserable years for this to happen. As I have said, maybe someone could have done it better, but the important point is the depression was conquered! We need now the kind of leadership that Franklin D Roosevelt provided during the depression!

The war did something to the population that I don't think was expected. I think it destroyed some of the excellent attributes of the American people. The depression had taught individuals that it was important to persevere with some efforts, to save for the future, to have a reason for living. When 16 million of the population went to war, they returned as a different kind of people. They had been without for so long, they were not willing to wait for good times to arrive. They insisted that good times arrived today! As soon as they could, they purchased the new cars they had been waiting for such a long time! For the new house! For a college education! For the American Dream! Yes, there was an American Dream for many, not all, not all but for many! As time passed, the number of people who were able to obtain the American Dream dwindled. Eventually, it became available to only the rich and the better educated.

However, most of the nation was able to live well despite the fact that the rich were getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. However, everyone insisted on living a comfortable life. Presidents understood that. That comfortable life for them came from the national debt.

I believe, our people have not been able to destroy the virus, because the feeling of wanting something, NOW is still present! If everyone cooperated, the virus could be destroyed in 2 to 3 months. This could be done following the tactics that Governor Cuomo has displayed in New York State. However, the ability to have patience, to work toward a common goal, to suffer for a better future, does no longer exist! But, with the proper leadership, I think it can be restored. We, as a nation, must understand that we may have to live under very stringent conditions for a while in order to destroy the virus. After that, we can return to a sort of normal, but not an actual normal, until a vaccine is produced that will kill it forever! Do our people have the fortitude to live under the conditions I have just described? I truly do think so, but it has to be done under the proper leadership! It's my belief the Pretender is definitely not that person!

The Rally On June 20, 2020

The Pretender wants to be elected so badly that he will be holding a rally on June 20, unless it can be prevented within the next couple of days. This rally will be in Oklahoma where all the numbers that I was talking about earlier are going up. Thousands of people with be congregating together in a building. Masks will not be mandatory! People will be yelling and screaming! Everything I have said here presents an environment for many individuals to become infected with the virus. A certain number of those individuals will be infected, and a certain number of those will die! I believe the responsibility of those who die will be that of the pretender for having urged they attend his rally. Yes, they will be signing a waiver that they will not sue him, but I don't believe that will prevent anything I have said in this paragraph.

Stamping Out this Monster

This entire piece was dictated to a program that understands language and types out what I say, "Dragon Naturally Speaking." However, the program is not perfect in understanding everything I say! When I post this, I will correct typos that I see. However, I may miss some, or perhaps many! I hope my readers will understand. I wanted to post as soon as possible since I think it is important and may help save lives. I will include this in my book, which I am authoring, called, "Stamping Out This Monster". When the book is actually published, it may have a different title. If so, I will advise what the new title is.

June 19, 2020

The Story of Jim Jones, November 18, 1978

It was about 42 years ago and it happened in Guyana. Many, maybe most, of you were not even born then. But everyone should know about this.

In Google, search for "The Story of Jim Jones." It's sad. A story like this should never again occur in history! There are two video clips connected back to back. Watch them and see if you're able to hold back your tears!

June 19, 2020

Tulsa and Altus Oklahoma

I'm a word-smith. I saw today that Tulsa and Altus in Oklahoma are anagrams of each other. The cities are located on opposite corners of each other in Oklahoma with Oklahoma City in the center. I don't know what this might mean, but I believe what is supposed to happen tomorrow in Tulsa should be stopped! It's bad, and it's wrong!

It was supposed to happen today, Juneteenth. Maybe God gave us this sacred day to pause, reflect, and think about what is scheduled to happen in Tulsa and make an attempt to stop it! It's bad, and it's wrong!

June 19, 2020

The Tulsa Rally One

Today, Juneteenth, it appears the Pretender's rally will actually be held tomorrow. The Supreme Court of Oklahoma has determined this! But wait! Will it really happen? The Pretender with his faculty for doing the wrong thing schedule the rally to be held on Juneteenth, a sacred day celebrating the ending of slavery. In his stupidity, he had never heard of this day so he scheduled his day for the day following Juneteenth. Again, evidence of his monumental ignorance. Thousands of people will be in Tulsa tomorrow, June 20 salivating for the rally. Other thousands will be there continuing their celebration of Juneteeenth. A flashpoint may trigger activity that should never occur! And Phoenix looms in a week!

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June 19, 2020

Governor Cuomo You're Not Out of the Woods

Governor Cuomo, you have accomplished what would have seemed impossible only a few months ago. You're now reopening the economy in New York on a phased basis! No matter what happens, you'll be able to deal with it. With all due respect, I ask you to resist being undisturbed.

With so many states spiking with the virus, there is no guarantee that the virus will return to New York State by way of travelers who may be infected. Until a vaccine is for the virus is perfected, we must not let down our guard against people who bring it back in their lungs! Extreme diligence must be directed to the detected of new cases. These must be wiped out at once and their history fully understood. Even one traveler can bring dozens or more cases!

You could provide an extreme service to the country by doing for the other states that you did for New York. You can't volunteer to do this since the Pretender will declare there is no virus problem and forbid you from taking any actions. If you, yourself, will never be President, I should think the new one, whoever it is, will direct you to take the action I've mentioned here!

June 20, 2020

The Tulsa Rally Two

The news is showing photos of crowds of people waiting in an arena for the Pretender to arrive and speak. Virtually none of them is wearing a mask and there is no possibility of distancing. I don't have to say how I feel about this. Oklahoma is spiking today with new cases. These people are not stupid! They know what it means not to wear a mask and not to distance oneself from others. They're risking becoming infected, infecting others at the rally, and, if they have come from afar, infecting friends, neighbors, and family when they return to their home states.

As I write this, it's 8:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on June 20, 2020. The Pretender has not arrived yet. The crowd is large but much smaller than had been estimated. He probably already knows this. I'll be interested in whether he makes note of this when he begins speaking. Word has been received he will blame the news media and protesters.

Later: The Rally was held! I had heard his rallies before and did not note much that was different. A great many people were in attendance, but it was obvious fewer than what the Pretender had expected. I'm sure he was disappointed. The outdoor "overflow" part that had been planned was canceled. I think the bottom line is whether he improved his chances for reelection. My feeling is he didn't.

Now, the country is waiting to see what effect his rally had on the overall health of the country!

June 21, 2020

Op-Ed Mario V. Mario Farina

I dictated the following with Dragon Naturally Speaking. It may contain typos and odd-sounding language. I tried to eliminate as many of the errors as possible. I want to get this out to save time. These days, time is of the essence!

"I will not be ignored, Dan!" This was Glenn Close speaking in the movie, Fatal Attraction released in 1987. It was a horror-filled movie that once seen can never be forgotten. A lot like the Coronavirus onslaught that we are experiencing. It will not be ignored! Michael Douglas was the other star in the movie. Do see the movie if you have a chance. It is one you'll remember!

It seems fashionable to write an op-ed once in a while. I've never done one in the past. This is my first try!

Several months have passed since I first heard of the Coronavirus. It seemed there was a great deal of confusion about what it was and how to deal with it. An early impression I had is that it was like the flu except more effective and more deadly. A good deal of time has been lost since not much had been done to control it. Early on, it seemed to me that if all of humanity was frozen in place but time was allowed to continue flowing outward, the virus would be killed because it could not find any humans to infect. The idea was, of course, not practical. Even though much human activity could be put on hold, much had to continue. For example, people who became sick needed hospital care; destructive fires needed to be put out; groceries had to be purchased, etc. Activity that needed to continue regardless of events was to be known as essential while others, nonessential.

I realized a better idea would be to stop all nonessential activity while continuing with the essential! People who had been infected would, of course, be hospitalized or taken care of at home. Those who worked at nonessential occupations would stop doing so at once. Essential would continue! Church attendance would be discontinued, so would classes in schools. Traveling that was nonessential would be postponed. In other words, society would begin a sort of hibernation. Most of the population would be staying at home. The entire country would be involved in this process. Leadership encouraging continuation of the effort would be continuous. The virus needed victims in order to survive. If access to victims were denied, the number of people being infected on a daily basis would lessen. Eventually, the number of people becoming ill with the virus would reach zero, or a point that could be termed "virtually zero". The number of people hospitalized would also lessen. Those that had been infected would either get well or die. If this process were to be continued for a period of time all of the numbers I've mentioned would eventually reach zero, or to a point that could be declared "virtually zero!"

In the meantime, efforts to create a vaccine would begin and continue on an urgent basis. A point might be reached during which activity that had been suspended would be resumed. While the virus was not infecting anyone or hardly anyone, economic activity could be resumed while the vaccine was being developed. The amount of time spent from beginning to end of the process I've mentioned might be as much as three months. It would be important that the project status of the nation at all points would be about the same at all times. In a 8mobile society, it would not be acceptable to destroy the virus at most of the points but not all of them. If even one state had not cleared itself of the virus, it could work to re-infect all the rest!

Yes, a three month period of unpleasant living could require a great deal of sacrifice. People would not be working and thereby not earning money with which to buy food and pay bills. People would not be able to continue seeing each other that involved ordinary activity. Staying at home would become very boring. There are many more disadvantages that would need attention to handle. Under ordinary conditions, people are required to pay attention to ordinary occupations such as paying their bills. They also need to continue eating and sleeping under acceptable conditions. It would not be an easy time to go through. However, the benefit would be that once this period had been successfully endured, there would be no virus to worry about and efforts to resume what had been known as normalcy could be reestablished.

The bad news is we had no leader that could encourage this kind of living while it was necessary! The Pretender has thought of how to be reelected and none other on his mind!

With this plan, there would be a period of normalcy before a vaccine could be developed. During this period, stringent attention would be paid to what was happening. If even one case of re-infecting or a sprinkling were detected, this should trigger urgent efforts to find how it had happened, so that other infections of the same kind could be avoided. The time when a vaccine might be available could be as much as an entire year or maybe even more. If the virus were allowed to return, much that had been done to eliminate it would have to be redone. It's obvious that a reappearance of the virus would not be a pleasant occasion; one that's should be avoided.

While the country was suffering under the virus, much work was being done in many places to alleviate the pain that it might be causing. Efforts were being made in many states to subdue the virus to the greatest extent possible while in other states efforts were inadequate. Great strides were made. In New York State, the three numbers that I have mentioned were lessened to a great degree. However, this was only one state, and none of the other 49 were even close. People got tired of sacrificing and yearned for "old times". The Pretender approved of this feeling and encouraged it. He had only one thought in his head — being reelected. There came a movement to reopen the economy. In my opinion, this movement was coming at too early a time. Reopening the economy was reopened throughout the country. The effort to return the economy failedl! The virus was not to be ignored!

At the time this is being written many of the states which had made progress early on, turned around and began losing ground. Those that had been losing ground early, continue to do so on an accelerated basis. Today, we are virtually at the point where all efforts to control the virus began. One obvious exception is New York State, which is in rather good shape. But one state in good shape is not sufficient. I see no other way to move forward except to resume the controls that the states were using in order to bring about a time when reopening the economy was accomplishable with safety!

The purpose of this document is to face the fact that if a better effort is not done, what may result is an uncontrollable pandemic in all states, yes even New York! At that point, the only hope that will exist for conquering the monster will be the vaccine. As I said before, a vaccine cannot be developed in a short period of time. It could take one or two years, or even more! I don't view the future with a great deal of pleasure. There is much work to be done, much to be sacrificed, much to be endured, much expense to be dealt with. However, with proper leadership, I believe that this suffering could be reduced to the lowest level possible with efforts with everyone working together!

The pretender wants you to think you can ignore this virus! He wants you to try to live as if it did not exist! He showed this resolve by resuming campaigning in Tulsa on June 20, 2022. The Coronavirus cannot be ignored. The more we declare it isn't there, the more it rises to haunt us!

June 21, 2020

You Picked A Fine Time to Leave Me Andrew Cuomo!

There's a memorable song on YouTube you should hear, if you haven't already done so, entitled, "You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me Lucille!" I plan to send Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York this message you're reading along with a suggestion that the song use the name, "Andrew Cuomo," instead of "Lucille!" Do listen to the tune on YouTube. You'll find it's catchy!

Just when we need Cuomo most, he seems to be declaring his job is done! No! It isn't! It has just begun. He has been the only leader in the country urging people to follow the guidelines and defeat the virus! He can see what is happening to many of the other 49 states. Their numbers are going up in all important counts. He needs to have himself named as the leader of the COVID-19 Defense Extermination Force! (CDEF, fictional at this time.) The Pretender won't agree to this, but, I think Biden will! I know the change of presidents may not happen until next year, but maybe people will be willing to heed Cuomo's suggestions now and follow his urgings. The virus grows stronger every day. A strong counter-measure should commence at once!

It's easy to email the Governor. Simply type "send email to Cuomo" in Google.

June 22, 2020

The Arizona Trip

The Pretender made a reelection trip to Arizona and got all the cheers he could have wished for! Nobody wore masks or try to put distance between themselves and other attendees. It went well, but it didn't go well! Yes, two meanings. I saw the entire talk on YouTube.

The number of new virus cases and deaths reached new highs. This trip will only add to them. Will the governor of the state restore restrictions. I see no signs of it. There is simply no mood for sacrificing in the state. And I don't see much in most other states! A question might arise, "How will people live to the end of the year?" I see much fear! And much death!

Will anything change this view? Yes, I think so. I believe the numbers of new cases, hospitalizations, and death will rise to such a point, the governors of many states will declare, "The hell with Trump; I'm going to put the clamps on, and even ENFORCE THEM!" Do I dare provide a date? Yes, August 1, 2020!

I think there will be many changes in the country by August 1. The Pretender may be out of office because of impeachment, illness with the virus, resigned, or 25th Amendment!

June 23, 2020

The Camel and the Tent With Apologies

You've heard the old story about the camel and the Arab. With apologies to the author of this story, I offer a tale about the Coronavirus and the guy. In this story, the guy heard the virus was roaming through the state infecting people. He didn't want to be infected, so he began following the guidelines of the state. He distanced himself from others, isolated himself in his home when asked to do so by his employer, left his home only to accomplish necessary tasks, wore a mask when in the vicinity of others, etc.

One day the virus spoke to the guy saying, "When you're out, masks get uncomfortable, stop using them. You'll feel so much better! The guy did this and did not get sick! Another time, the virus said, "It's all right to go to Mary's birthday party. She's not sick and you'll be OK. He did and did not get sick. After having stayed at home for a month, the guy got "cabin fever" and listened to the virus who told him he needed to protect his constitutional right to leave his home so he did. He thought he had avoided becoming ill. Unfortunately, he hadn't. Two days later he was afflicted with a stubborn fever, and, after a week with it, he died.

The virus has been like the camel who had said in the story, "It's cold; just my nose, please; then just my head, etc.), until the poor Arab had surrendered his entire tent to the camel!

June 23, 2020

The Time is Now

Why can't the Republicans in the Senate understand that we need a leader in the White House? The Pretender won't lead because he can't! Because he CAN NOT! Because he CANNOT! How many ways can I say it!

Worse, even if he could, he WOULD NOT!

All he wants is reelection. He doesn't care what action he takes unless it has to do with REELECTION! With the numbers going up, people DIE. How much clearer can this be said?

I thought we could wait until they get so horrified with the numbers of cases going UP and the number of Deaths going UP that they would realize they needed to do something to get some LEADERSHIP going!

Waiting is not an option! This needs to be done NOW! This needs to be done TODAY! This needs to be done IMMEDIATELY. How many more ways can I say it!

June 24, 2020

Some Dark Humor

The guy was very ill with the virus. The doctor arrived. "I have bad news for you," he said. "You'll die today!" The guy was devastated, "Please doctor," he gasped, "Are you saying there is no good news at all?" The doctor thought a while, then brightened up, "Oh, yes!" he said. "I do have some very good news, indeed! Sunday, they'll be reopening those beaches you love so well!"

That's sort of what the Pretender is saying. "I urge the states to reopen the economy. Yes, it may be too soon and a lot of people will die, but the good news is this will help me reelected!"

Good news? Some may not agree!

I spent some time reading about viruses this a.m. It seems the nose plays an important part concerning whether people will get infected or not. If the virus gains entrance into your nose, a fierce battle ensues with entities that wish to deny it entry into the body. If the virus wins, it gets into the lungs and does a great deal of damage!

Masks can help the nose fight the battle! They can also help you keep from infecting others if you are infected, but their importance for what they can do for you should not be overlooked! Wear your mask! The pretender doesn't but don't let this idiot be your role model!

Top of Form

June 25, 2020

Three Huge Spikes

Three states have reported huge spikes in the number of new Caronavirus cases. The states are California, Florida, and Texas. The governors of these states have imperative decisions to make. What is the right thing to do?

Doctors have made it know what the answer to the question is. It does take bravery to make these following remarks! They may cause a certain amount of consternation. After all, they recently "reopened the economy" and may have enjoyed the experience.

The first thing to do is restore the restrictions. The number of new cases needs to be reduced at once! This can be done by telling the populations of the states to STAY HOME! if they can. The virus loves to see people on the street. It is attracted to them as a bee is to honey. Second, STAY AWAY FROM OTHERS! My feeling is six feet is not enough. The more the better. Ten feet? Yes, even more!

Third, WEAR THAT MASK! It helps you avoid getting infected and it helps you keep from infecting others if you are ill!

I believe these three steps will begin reducing the number of new cases almost at once. Make zero new cases the objective! With fewer cases, there will be fewer hospitalizations; with fewer hospitalizations, there will be fewer deaths.

Tell the populations, these are not suggestions! They are directives! Tell them, the fight will be long; at least 100 days! Restoring normalcy is not near and can only be considered when the number of new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths have reached zero or a number near zero.

I believe the governors of the three states can work miracles if they decide this is what's needed. Reaching out to Andrew Cuomo of New York for encouragement may be a good element of making their plans work!

June 27, 2020

June 27, 2020 Status

This is how I see the status of our battle with the Coronavirus as of this date.

Vice-President Pence may see it differently. There was a briefing yesterday from the Coronavirus Task Force. The Vice-President spoke. There was much that was not true in what he said. Admittedly, what follows is my view. However, I believe it is much more accurate than the version he gave.

Our country is in very bad shape so far as The Coronavirus is concerned. Since the so-called reopenings which occurred in many states recently, much progress has been lost in controlling it. The important numbers were coming down! Now they are going up in about half the states. Some of the states are in desperate condition — California, Florida, Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, and more! The governors of some of the states are indicating that they are replacing the restrictions which were removed. In my opinion, the status of the nation so far as the control of the Coronavirus is concerned is that we are on Square One!

Much time has been lost. Much suffering has been caused to many people for no reason. Many lives have been lost because of the inept manner that was used to beat the virus! Nevertheless, it seems to me that the only way to proceed at this point is to start all over with the guidelines. The guidelines called for people to stay home as much as they could; to wear a mask when they were out; to separate themselves from other people when they were out by about 6 feet. People were doing this for a while, then were induced by the pretender to believe it was time for the economy to be reopened. This was a mistake! This was not the time! The numbers that were being watched; new cases, new hospitalizations, deaths, were not low enough. They needed to be much closer to zero. Furthermore, the Pretender advised that the use of masks was optional. He, himself, never wore one in public. In this, he was playing a poor role model! At the Tulsa rally he recently gave, and at the rally in Phoenix a few days later, there was no attempt to convince the attendees they needed to separate, and needed to wear masks. It was too soon for rallies, but he was more interested in reelection than in the health of the population.

The fact is that in many states, the situation is desperate! The important numbers are going up at too great a rate when they should be going down instead. The nation is at Square One so far as the control of the virus is concerned. Restrictions should be replaced at once and enforced!

June 30, 2020

Coronavirus 101

The author would appreciate knowing about errors so the article can be made more accurate.

It's not clear why the coronavirus should be a mystery to a lot of people. The fundamentals are easy to learn and understand. We don't have to get into words like waves, weather, food, etc.

A single virus is extremely small. It would take a great many of them laid back to back to cover the length of the width of a human hair. They don't creep on the ground yearning to find people to nibble on. The LIVE in people! All they want is a human being enough of a victim to allow the virus and his or her friends to get into his or her lungs. It that happens, the person as been INFECTED. Some infections are very little felt by the victim, but with others, the person will DIE. If you are infected, it may take a few days before you know it. If you are fortunate, you won't ever know it happened! If you become infected, you'll be able to INFECT OTHERS! It may take a few days before you, yourself can affect other people. You may feel fine and, perhaps, never know you infected one or more other individuals. With many, becoming infected may mean they will need hospital care. If you do get hospitalized, you may get well. OR, YOU MAY DIE. As I said earlier, not all people need to go to the hospital since their infection may be so mild that they'll get over it at home, often without even having known they were sick. It may take up to another week or two before people who have gone to the hospital will either get well or die.

The way a person gets infected is by breathing in the virus expelled from other individuals. That discharge can be in the form of a cough, a sneeze, or even by ordinary breathing! It is not fully known how infecting takes place. It is known that if you are positioned close to a person who coughs or sneezes, some tiny droplets of fluid are expelled and enter your nose. Your body resists, but perhaps not strong enough to keep the virus from entering your lungs. You may be infected at this time. It is thought that under some conditions, the ordinary breathing of the infected person can bring the virus into your body.

One way to make sure that no one is infected is not to allow a human being to come near a virus and a bunch of his friends. Without finding anyone to infect, it simply dies after a day or two, perhaps a few more. For a virus, a period of a week or 10 days is its lifetime.

What all this means is that if you as an individual or many as a group can become ill by simply being near an infected person. This leads to the advice, DON'T BE NEAR a person who is infected. It sounds easy but isn't. The infected person MAY NOT LOOK INFECTED. So, the advice changes to, DON'T BE NEAR ANYBODY that you think may be infected! STAY SIX FEET AWAY. This is a minimum. STAY AS FAR AWAY AS YOU CAN! Another protection you have to avoid being a victim of the virus is to wear a simple mask. This serves TWO PURPOSES! It provides some (not all) protection for you to avoid getting infected and it provides some (not all) protection from OTHERS IF YOU ARE INFECTED! This is an act of consideration on your part! It is not in vain; others will be wearing masks to protect you! As the saying states, ONE HAND WASHES THE OTHER! Finally, STAY HOME as much as you can! Don't present yourself as a willing participant in getting infected. You may not be able to stay at home a great deal because you have a job that is consider essential. Further, you'll need to go out from time to time to purchase groceries, keep doctors' appointments, give help to a family member, etc. Do the best you can! The virus needs a body in order to survive. MAKE YOURS HARD TO GET!

Summarizing, if many people in a community have become infected, the fastest way to get the virus them out of your area, be it neighborhood, city, state, or even country, is to make sure they don't find you! Become as scarce as you can to them. Stay home, stay separated from other people if you are outdoors, wear a mask if you are outdoors or any place where they are within a short distance from you! Do this religiously! It may take a while! It may take a week! It may take two weeks before they are all gone. You must persist. Do not believe they are all gone until you are sure, and enough time has elapsed for them not to have survive. You can keep checking to see how many other people in the community are getting sick. So long as there is even a few, you should not there feel that you are safe. Make sure! When you see that no one in the community has been infected, wait until a few more days have passed. A reasonable time to wait might be another week. At that time you can feel that the community is now virus free, and the community can begin living as they were before they became plagued with this evil creature!

A vaccine can keep the virus away! If no vaccine is available at the time when no one around you is getting sick, any sudden illness that occurs to anyone should be investigated at once. All kinds of tracking must be done to determine what has caused that individual to become sick. Once the reason is known, whatever needs to be done to make sure that the community does not become fully infected again, is to remove the reason that single individual became ill. If the reason cannot be found, the danger is that other people will become infected, and soon the entire community will be at Square One so far as controlling the virus is concerned.

Beating the virus so that you don't need to worry any more can take sacrifice on your part, as it will on everyone else's part. When new cases of the virus are being recorded, when only a few individuals need hospitalization, when even fewer people are dying, one can live a relatively sedate life! The emergence of a vaccine can defeat the virus permanently! Do your part as others will be doing theirs. The more everyone works together, the sooner can life return to a semblance of what it was before the virus made its introduction.

June 30, 2020

Welcome to Square One

Welcome To Square One

We are back to about March 1, 2020! Welcome to Square One! So many states have an increasing number of cases at this time that I feel the term, "Square One" applies. I won't spend a lot of time discussing whose fault it is. Most of it should be obvious. Some of them are, lack of leadership from the Pretender; lack of interest from him; lack of patience by our population; emphasis by the Pretender on getting reelected; reopening too soon, and more!

What do we do now?

What do we do now? These are worrisome times. We are, perhaps, worse off at this time than we were at the beginning. Strong action is needed! It is needed by all the states, not only those states that are flooded with new cases. As I see it, strong action means returning to your homes and staying there, freezing of all business activity except essential ones; on the outside, distancing yourself as much as possible from everyone; when outside, wearing a mask!

Leadership

Strong leadership is desperately needed! We have gotten precious little of this from March! I believe it should be obvious to everyone that the Pretender has been interested in only one thing, reelection. Taking care of the pandemic as quickly as possible has not even been a second choice! He has tried declaring it a hoax, a minor thing, something that will go away by itself, ignoring it, trying exotic medicines, etc. He believes in reopening the economy even though the country is not ready for this! And resuming the rallies even though doing this will only make conditions worse! He seems not to want to admit even that a mask needs to be worn in public! A new leader is needed as soon as possible! We can't afford to wait until the election. That is four months away and a great deal of harm can be done to the country during that time! If someone is unofficially designated as "Leader", the Pretender will probably not accept him or her! It is possible that someone capable may come to the fore with the declaration, "I will try!" For this role, I would nominate the governor of New York State, Andrew Cuomo. He has accomplished what I deem to be a miracle for New York State and several surrounding states. I believe he can do the same for the country! But I don't know how he can be officially named for this position and make it stick! Maybe, some strong Republicans will propose this and get others to agree! Regardless of how it's done, strong leadership is urgently needed!

In my opinion, the way to get the most benefit in the shortest time is for a resumption of the shutdown for businesses. All current reopenings should be ended at once, even the ones that Andrew Cuomo has worked with! We should see the results of this in the number of new cases within days! Strong appeals should be made for people to stay at home unless they have essential jobs! Strong appeals should be made for people to distance themselves and use masks. These directives should be made and enforced with the strongest words possible from the most charismatic and influential individuals in the country!

Huge improvement strides can be made in the nation in only two months! I think everyone would agree that two months of sacrifice would be well worth the effort. Think of the lives saved! Safe reopenings in stages could even be discussed!

Job One

For the country, working on a piecemeal basis is not the way to go! This is a job for all the people in all of the states working together for a common purpose! It seems obvious that if some states have made good progress in reducing the bad numbers, (new cases, hospitalizations, death), these cannot be held because of the mobility of the country! It's hopeless holding onto gains if all around there are only losses. It would be like spilling a gallon of water on the floor and not expecting the entire floor to get wet! Water will seek its own level. So will the Coronavirus! The Coronavirus is vicious! It's like Alex Forrest in the movie "Fatal Attraction" saying, "I WILL NOT BE IGNORED!"

Who am I?

Who am I, BRAZEN enough, to state the above? I am a NOTHING! I'm 97! How can a person of my age possibly know ANYTHING about ANYTHING? Well, if what I have said above, makes any sense to anybody, THAT is what a 97-year-old can know about SOMETHING! I offer it for whatever it may be worth! I offer it mostly for the purpose of SAVING LIVES!

July 1, 2020

New Impeachment Ahead?

I have nothing to hang this comment on except current events. Could there be conversations quietly being held in the background concerning another impeachment attempt or enactment of Amendment 25? It's possible, I think, that even the strongest supporters of the Pretender have come to realize this man is acting so irrationally, he should be replaced! Why? The election is barely 120 days in the future. Because this bounty thing with the Russians is the straw that HAS BROKEN the camel's back. AND a lot of damage can be done to the country by him in a bare 120 days!

July 2, 2020

Ain't Misbehavin'

Here's a play old folks can act out. Takes only a minute. It's called. "Ain't Misbehavin'!"

Look out the winder, Lizzie, the kids are here and with the chilldrin.

Gracious sakes, Danny! I thought there was a pandammie around!

Must gave gone away, Liz! The Prezeedent said it might go away by itself. By magic! Nobody inn the car is wearing a mask!

Land o' Goshen, Pa! Let them in! And, put away that smelly ceegar. Can't wait to hug the kids!

And I'll shake Tommie's hand till it falls off! This is wonderful. Happy days are here again!

Where have they bin Pa?

Mount Rushmore! The Prezeedent was making a talk! I seen some of it on the Tee-Vee! Boy, was he chargin' them up! He was praisin' hisself up like you wouldn't believe!

He disserves the praise! He stopped the dizease and he wants to be ree-ellected!

Great! And, he wants to make America great agin!

Fine with me. He saved the kids for us! And they is all here now! We can't thank him enuff!

Yay! Here they are! I'll open the door and let them in. Maybe they can stay for the weekend! They can use the guest bedroom you builded a long time ago. Remember the song I usetah sing when you was in Service drivin' one of those tank things on to the beach!

"Ain't Misbehavin!"

"No one to walk with, all by myself  
No one to talk with, but I'm happy on the shelf  
Ain't misbehaving, I'm saving my love for you!

I know for certain the one I love  
I'm thru with flirting, it's just you I'm thinking of  
Ain't misbehaving, I'm saving my love for you!

I'm Like Jack Horner in the corner  
I don't go nowhere, what do I care  
Your kisses are worth waiting for, believe me!

I don't stay out late, no place to go  
I'm home about eight, just me and my radio  
Ain't misbehaving, saving all of my love for you!"

"Isn't it wonderful! Pa! Now we can see and love the kids all the time. Makes me want to live alot more years!" I feel the Prezeedent has gave me ten more years of life!

July 3, 2020

The Rushmore Spike

This is a series of posts that will provide a record of the Rushmore Spike that is beginning today, July 3, 2020. As of today, the following is what the Internet tells us about South Dakota. I will feel this is the basis for starting from.

South Dakota has 85 new Coronavirus cases today, July 3, according to the South Dakota Department of Health website. The number of people hospitalized decreased to 58 from 64 on Thursday, July 2, 2020. Active cases increased to 832 from Thursday (814). There were 6,978 positive cases an increase from Thursday's 6,893. The total number of recoveries increased to 6,049 from Thursday's 5982. Deaths stayed at 97.

.  
The total of all hospitalized increased to 687 from 683 on Thursday. The total negative tests were at 76,015. Thursday's negative test total was 75,048. South Dakota has 85 new Coronavirus cases today, July 3, according to the South

Dakota Department of Health Website.

There were 6,978 positive cases an increase from Thursday's 6,893. The total number of recoveries increased to 6,049 from Thursday's 5,982. Deaths stayed at 97.

The total of all hospitalized increased to 687 from 683 on Thursday. The total negative tests were at 76,015. Thursday's negative test total was 75,048.  
The above is from two Internet sources. They may seem confusing, but I think what follows will tend to make the new situations clear.

July 4, 2020

How Long Will It Take Oh Lord?

Readers of these pages have, no doubt, discovered I am not a particularly religious person where traditional faiths are concerned. But, I have always believed in a supreme being, and do now turn to You, the creator of all that exists, to make a special appeal!

How long will it take, Oh Lord, for the people of these United States to be granted a person who will lead them safely from the dangerous waves of the current turmoil involving COVID-19 to a safer and more tranquil existence? The Pretender who now holds the position, which would normally do the leading, has other concerns on his mind! His testimony, by constant and everyday actions, indicates his main concern is for reelection to the position he now holds and, for which, he is utterly not qualified! He cares not for the health, nor the welfare, nor the lives of the country's population! The months that must pass before relief can arrive and reasonably take effect, is relatively few, but they seem like an eternity!

So many have already died because of this man's ineptness! Ordinary forecasting based on present data indicates the final number of those who die may be several times that of individuals who have already breathed their last. Shorten the time needed, I beseech you! Each life that exists occurred because of a miracle You affected. Use Your awesome powers, I beseech You, to safeguard those who have survived and those who may be currently endangered!

July 4, 2020

It's Time For The Virus To Be Defeated

Mario Farina It's time for the virus to be defeated. This will take the united effort of the entire country. This is Job One. Until this happens, many will die! Some think the facts we're being given are numbers. No, no, no. It is people who are dying, fathers, mothers, children, grandparents, great-grandparents, veterans, young and old, pretty and ugly, rich and poor! It doesn't matter, the virus randomly points a gun in some direction and shoots. It does not spare anyone, anywhere! Destroying the virus does not require rocket science. We are told every day how to do it! But all that results is talk, talk, talk. All we need is a LEADER! Otherwise, we may ultimately need a new word that means "a thousand times a tragedy!"

July 6, 2020

Status of the Virus Monday, July 6, 2020

The fourth of July Holiday has passed with, I believe, disastrous results. The Pretender held rallies and assemblies in Tulsa, Arizona, and at Rushmore, South Dakota. There was little effort by him to have people wear masks, or distance themselves from each other. The results are not in; it's too soon, but I believe the spikes in the number of cases will be huge!

Instead of speaking about the virus, the Pretender has shifted to a discussion of monuments and statues. There seems to be no sense that he needs to exercise a certain amount of leadership. In my opinion, there is not an ounce of leadership in him! I don't understand why many of the leaders in his own party, allow him to get away with what he does. I'm sure they are all intelligent people and know that his lack of leadership ultimately leads to the death of people who should not die!

Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York spoke this morning. He is proceeding with gradually opening the economy of New York State. It is my opinion he should not do that. With so many other states all around with cases going up in number, it does not seem to me that reopening at this time is wise! I believe the battle against the coronavirus should be countrywide. With the mobility of our people, it is my opinion, that states which have been cleaned out of the virus will be re-infected! This could be a case of two steps forward and one step backward!

The governor states that we know how to control the virus. Multiple approaches, masks, distancing, stay-at-home, checking, washing hands, and other methods that have been shown to be effective have been used to stamp down the virus! Why does he not make an effort to persuade other states to do as New York has done! He is sincere when he states that saving lives is important to him. By persuading other governors to follow his lead, he would be taking a giant step in guarding the safety of many people, who would, otherwise, die!

I commend the governor for what he has done. I liken it to a miracle! I beseech him to urge others to follow his lead! I don't know why I should have to suggest this. He is an intelligent man! It could not possibly have escaped his attention that if other governors do as he has done, states that are now gaining in the number of cases will begin lowering those numbers!

I have compared what he did to turning off the lights in a brightly lit room. In real life, when flicking the button to "Off", darkness immediately follows. With the virus, employing a stay at home policy, and of using masks, will immediately deny it with the means by which it can infect people. With a Stay at home policy and the wearing of masks, the result will be like turning the lights off in a brightly lit room. Darkness should follow almost immediately! With the virus, darkness means, it will almost immediately stop infecting people!

This was dictated to save time. Please excuse typos.

July 6, 2020

The Rushmore Spike

Note: This is a series of reports concerning a possible Rushmore Coronavirus Spike stemming from the Pretender's talk on July 3, 2020 at the Rushmore Monument in South Dakota. My choice of name for the series may have been unfortunate, but I will keep it so that that it can be identified with the study that began on July 3. The study began with a post on that date reporting beginning numbers for all of South Dakota as follow:

Active Cases 832

Hospitalized 58

Deaths 97

One cannot conclude there was or was not evidence of a spike until a month or so has passed since July 3. I believe a spike began on that date, but am not stating this as being a fact now! If interested, please keep looking for these daily reports.

July 6, 2020

Stamping Out This Monster

I have not mentioned this ebook hardly at all because it's not pleasant reading. I meant for it to serve as a historical document concerning the Coronavirus during this period of time. There are two versions of the book. One is as an ebook at www.smashwords.com, at no cost; and one is as a soft-cover book published by Amazon. This will cost a small amount. The book contains a history of the Pandemic. It contains my posts on Facebook from March to June, over 100 pages. It will have a different title as a soft-cover book. I plan to continue revising both books continuously with new posts as long as I can. I believe the book may serve as a useful document for historians in the future. It gives much information about the progress of the virus's control, but, I have to admit, it's not kind to the Pretender's role in the entire matter. All are welcome to view and/or download the ebook. Open Smashwords and search for the title of this post.

July 7, 2020

Reopening Schools

The Pretender believes schools should be reopened at once throughout the country. Of course, he would. This is in line with his only objective with the Caronavirus these days, which is getting re-elected. My opinion is "NO". It's much too soon to reopen schools! All other plans fall to the strong possibility that doing this will lead to more deaths. What else is there can be said!

July 7, 2020

Should Foreign Students Need to Return to Their Home Countries?

The Pretender states that foreign students who cannot take required courses in the U.S.A must leave to return to their home countries until they can comply with school requirements. I believe this is wrong! There are many reasons I could provide at this time, but, surely, they must be obvious to individuals of the ability to reason logically.

July 10, 2017

It's Beyond Me

it's 4:30 in the morning; however, I just wanted to take a few minutes to record something that is beyond me! I'm dictating this, in order to save some time. There may be a lot of typos.

I'm 97, but admit I've lived a sheltered life. I missed the awful flu of 1918. I didn't see much of the great depression that began in 1929. I was in the service during World War II, but was never asked to do anything dangerous, or anything that I would have hated to do! I worked for excellent companies and the New York State Labor Department. I retired at 90. I have sufficient income each month to allow me and Ann to live a comfortable life. I often wonder whether I was given a long life because I had something to do for the general good.

Is beyond me why there is so much evil in the world and so much disregard for human life. Usually, it's been in other countries, and I always felt I was lucky to live in the good old USA! At this time in my life, I am beginning to see much of the same in our own country. There is a pandemic running rampant, but so few people are doing something about it! In the meantime, people are dying by the thousands! These are ordinary folk, who don't deserve it! By and large, I think they are law-abiding, kind, generous, honest, and hard-working. They should live, but they die!

The pandemic would be more easily controlled if there were someone who had the ability, the wisdom, and the will to lead! Instead, we have a pretender whose only ambition is to be reelected. It may not be true, but it seems to me, he doesn't care about anything else that happens if it isn't something good for him!

It's beyond me why he has so many sycophants! Aren't there enough people near him who know he should not be in control! Don't they realize, that the lives of people are just as much their responsibility as it is that of the pretender! It is beyond me how they can live with themselves!

Perhaps, the 10 minutes that it has taken to dictate this will be read by some who can pass it on to someone who can do something about it. I would be willing to talk to anyone! I would be willing to be on anyone's program so I can tell them in person what I have just written. Again, I apologize for any typos you might see.

July 10, 2020

A Chart That Needs to be Understood

The chart seen below shows what could happen if someone was infected with the Coronavirus on Period Zero. This period could be a Day, Week, Month, or anything you want it to be! The chart shows only one person has died after having been infected during Period Zero. However, if the people that were infected during Period Zero infected others, the number of persons dying could have been twice as much as shown in Period 1. This chart assumes that during every Period the number of people dying double the number in the previous period. You can see that, at first, the total number of people infected is probably not large, but it doesn't take a large number of periods to make the total number of people infected huge, which would increase the number of people dying. Look in the chart and you will see that the number of people dying could reach one thousand as soon as the 10th Period! It could reach one million as soon as the 20th Period! It could reach one billion as soon as the 30th Period.

Does one billion people sound impossible? It is not impossible with this virus! This virus is very infectious. It can get out of control! And, if people allow it to get out of control, the virus, itself, will take control! Virus Control Is Never Gentle Control!

At the beginning, with diligence, the small number of people infected can be easily identified and taken care of. Only a few may die. Later, with a large number of people infected it would be far more difficult to identify those who have become ill. The number of people dying could now be huge, even astronomical! Don't dismiss this possibility as being impossible. It is possible!

At the time this is written, 133,777 individuals have died of the virus. The digits, 133777 don't represent a simple number. They represent people with families who have died! It requires only one additional Period to double the number! This is the reason, the number of people getting infected needs to be stopped. Stopped cold! Stopped at once! Stopped with a leader showing the way! A leader is needed right away! A leader is needed today!

Period ......... Number Dying  
0..................................1  
1..................................2  
2..................................4  
3..................................8  
4................................16  
5................................32  
6................................64  
7..............................128  
8..............................256  
9..............................512  
10.........................1,024  
11..........................2,048  
12..........................4,096  
13..........................8,192  
14........................16,384  
15........................32,768  
16........................65,536  
17......................131,072  
18......................262,144  
19......................524,288  
20...................1,048,576  
21...................2,097,152  
22...................4,194,304  
23...................8,388,608  
24.................16,777,216  
25.................33,554,432  
26.................67,108,864  
27...............134,217,728  
28...............268,435,456  
29...............536,870,912  
30............1,073,741,824

July 10, 2020

The New Leader

A new leader would not have an easy job. Most of the states are way up on the number of cases. The reason why these numbers may be radically during these times may be because the states reopened too soon; some went way up on holidays; some did so when the pretender told the public that they should reclaim their lives because this was guaranteed in the Constitution!

The new leader cannot be the Pretender because the Pretender does not want to do this, and he doesn't have the capability anyway!

The new leader will have a difficult job because he or she will need to tell the populace that we are worse off than being on Square One. Most states will probably need to lock out all activity, as was done at an earlier time, except for essential work. I sense an air of rebellion at this time. Many people have had a taste of what "normal" feels like and they don't want to be shut down again. I think many understand that staying home, distancing themselves from others, and wearing masks can save lives, that of others as well as their own, but are willing to risk the danger!

We know how to treat infected folk better, and we can test better, but this is not enough. The nation has not been led well. The Pretender was more interested in making it seem as if conditions were better than they truly are. He could not possibly be unaware that this ambition would result in needless death, but it seems that he didn't care.

If it were possible, I would suggest Governor Andrew Cuomo be the new leader. With people of goodwill working together, maybe a way could be found for this to happen. I think he would welcome the job, be good at it, and get almost instant results! With the nation working together and sticking to their resolve, low numbers in new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths could result in only two or three months! I've said this before: with all the nation sacrificing together, we could experience a "Hell on Earth" that might last several months; however, without this effort, we could experience a "Hell on Earth" that could last all the way through 2021! Which do we prefer?

I'm sending all the Facebook posts I made today to Chris Cuomo and Governor Cuomo. I want them to know how a veteran of World War II feels about defeating this virus. I want to do everything I can to help. What I'm doing today may be the reason why I've lived to be 97. This notion may not be true at all, but I want to try anyway with the hope that there is a slim chance I'm correct!

July 10, 2020

Soft Cover Book, Stamping Out This Monster Published Today

I published a book today in Amazon entitled, "Stamping Out This Monster." It's 6" x 9" and has over 100 pages. It's a history of my postings in Facebook from March through July this year. The book will be updated with time so long as the pandemic continues. You can find the book on Amazon if you'll search in the Search Box, "Stamping Out This Monster Farina". The cost of the book is $4.00. If you have Prime, shipping is free.

If you wish, you can get the same book in e-book form. This is in www.smashwords.com. Search for "Stamping Out This Monster, Farina" The book is free. It can be read via Kindle.

July 10, 2020

Five Facebooks Posts Made to Chris Cuomo & Andrew Cuomo

I sent five facebook posts I made today to Chris Cuomo and Andrew Cuomo. I want the country to defeat the virus and want to help do this in any way that may seem viable.

I suggested all the states that have huge numbers to shut down at once. Also to stay away from others as much as possible. Also to wear masks.

We're even worse off than being on Square One! Denying it people that it can infect is the best way (I think) to stop the virus in its tracks and bring the important numbers down!

It is killing too many good people!

The tough shutdown could last two months! I know that! It's a terrible sacrifice for a lot of people! But, it saves life! What could be more important? Shutting down this hard could cause a Hell on Earth of about two months. We can't fail now! If we do, the Hell on Earth could last two years -- maybe more!

July 11, 2020

Ann and I Were Talking

Ann and I were talking this a.m. I made the point, to which she agreed, that all of us should do something in our lives to benefit others. Most believe that. The sadness comes from realizing that a lot of good folk never get around to doing it! I added that, although I've tried, I'm not sure I ever succeeded.

July 12, 2020

Snippets for Today

I just heard Gov. DeSantis of Florida speak? This is only my opinion. I believe he is a very stupid person!

Opening Disney World today is dumb!

The Pretender commuting Roger Stone's sentence yesterday will come back to haunt him!

The rally in New Hampshire scheduled for today being canceled because of "the weather" is good for the country!

The Pretender feuding with Dr. Fauci is not a good thing!

July 12, 2020

The Stalin Story

Russia was once led by an individual widely believed to be a despot. His name was Joseph Stalin. Just before World War II, Hitler of Germany made a nonaggression pact with Joseph Stalin. This action stunned the Western world of Europe. It signaled bad times for them. Two strong forces they hated had now joined up! What could be worse!

On September 1, 1939, World War II started. England and France declared war on Germany for attacking Poland. At first, Hitler of Germany could do no wrong. It seemed he was winning every battle with ease! Then he did a foolish thing. He attacked the Soviet Union which was led by Stalin. Stalin was so shocked, it is said he did not know how to handle the attack for weeks. It came as a super surprise. After all, he had trusted Hitler!

At first, the Germans kept winning all the battles, but the tide turned and the Russians began moving toward Berlin. In the meantime, the USA had entered the war to help Britain which was fighting alone against the Germans. Suddenly, a man that the West hated, Stalin, became our friend! And we began helping him all we could!

After the war, Stalin became a problem with the Western world! He ceased being a friend! The USA and Europe then began living in fear of a war with the Soviet Union. Both we and the Soviet Union had atomic weapons at that time. Eventually, Stalin died and Khrushchev took his place. In some ways, Khrushchev was just as bad as Stalin, but at one point, it is said he gave a secret speech to the Russians where he denounced Stalin. This act was unprecedented! It probably took a mountain of courage to give it. In a sense, Stalin was then written out of Russian history. The Russian people did not seem to mind at all! We did not like Khrushchev, but did not mind either that Stalin had been written out of Russian history!

It appeared to the USA that the Soviet Union would become our bosom friends, but that never happened! Eventually, the Soviet Union ceased to be, but Russia continued to exist. Today, we are not very friendly with the Russians. But that's another story.

The reason I mention this is because it seems stylish to criticize previous leaders. We now seem to be doing this with Andrew Jackson who was once one of our praised presidents. He was not a typical president, and did a lot of things Americans do not like today! It's almost as if we would like to take him out of American history. I don't recall this idea ever coming forth in the past, but suddenly it is with us now, and I'm against it!

I don't think people should ever meddle with history. It is what it is and should be accepted as it is! History changes without notice from day to day and year to year. The Japanese once attacked us, and we hated them, but now they're friends! We hated Hitler, but Germany is now a good friend. Friends and foes sometimes do good things for us and sometimes bad! We should be pleased with what happens as being learning lessons. It is well-known, that I am not a fan of the Pretender. But I would not be in favor of writing him out of our history at some point in the future. Instead, I would suggest we learn from some of the atrocious stuff he has done and create protective measures preventing repetitions from other presidents in the future from doing the same things!

The flow of history seems to be random at times. We love our country at times for what it stands for, but dislike some of what it does. Why can't we just accept what happens and learn from it? The people of the USA do not believe in slavery anymore, but it was commonplace in the past and did not seem wrong in several states. We cannot right that wrong at the present time because the people that thought it was OK are not living anymore. Let us do the right today as we see the right! We would not like it at all, if someone in the future says that what we think is right today was actually wrong. They may be right! But, hopefully, they will not be able to punish us for what we thought was right today because we may all be gone at the time they believe this. And we surely we would not like to be written out of American history for the right we believe in today!

The population of our country may seem divided today. We are changing, and some Americans can't seem to accept what is happening. With time, we will be one country because the people in our country are mobile. As we grow, we'll move around and change the nature of the customs in the places we move to. At some point in the future, we will not be able to tell the difference between a cowboy from Texas and a Yankee from Vermont! In my opinion, that will be a good thing.

This was dictated to save time. Please excuse me if there are a lot of obvious typos!

July 13, 2020

The Supreme Court

I find it encouraging that recent decisions were adjudicated on the facts! I think the court that is led by Chief Justice John Roberts has turned out much more fair and honest than a lot of people had expected. Some expected, I think, the court would follow the wishes of the president who had installed them. It's not working out that way, and I'm glad! And poor Ruth Bader Ginsburg does not need to worry anymore of needing to live until the election. And, I think the Pretender is super disappointed. He may have hoped that any decision made by the court would always favor him regardless of the facts. I see the strong hand of Chief Justice John Roberts here!

Does this mean, we'll soon see the long-delayed tax records of the Pretender? No, not likely soon! Maybe eventually! But if he loses the election and won't leave because of the claim that the result was fixed, the Supreme Court will not automatically vote in his favor!

July 13, 2020

Living Under Our Form of Government

At the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Ben Franklin was asked a question as he left Independence Hall on the final day of deliberation. In the notes of Dr. James McHenry, one of the delegates to the Convention, a woman asked Dr. Franklin "Ben what have we got, a republic or a monarchy." Franklin replied, "A republic — if you can keep it."

What this means to me is that the delegates expected the American people would work to keep the republic. I think they expected most Americans would know much was expected of them! They were not going to make rules to cover everything that could happen! They expected if problems arose, that the people and those in power would work things out in good faith with reasonable solutions.

I think they may have envisioned a president like President Andrew Jackson who might bring our government close to a dictatorship. Or, like the current Pretender who is totally incompetent and making most decisions based on what is best for him! What could be done to repair the harm this person might do. Where could answers be found? Nobody ever attempted to write a manual on how to be President!

Perhaps a book called "How to be President, A Manual" is needed. I'm tempted to try it myself, but I think my better mind would come out against the idea. But, we have many talented writers in the land with the ability to write a book such as I have just described. They know who they are. Do they dare try it! I hope so!

July 13, 2020

Eventually, Why Not Now?

In 1907 a slogan was formed for Gold Medal Flour, "Eventually, Why Not Now?" Today, Gold Medal Flour is made by General Mills.

There are several states that have their Coronavirus numbers hitting new highs each day. Some of them are resisting what needs to be done. To them, I would suggest, "Eventually, Why Not Now?" They will eventually have to understand that they will ultimately, they will have no choice. They will have to shut down all economic activity, except for that which is essential, to have their numbers of cases cease rising and begin edging downward. I think the Florida Governor should announce this action at a very early date. Today would be ideal

July 14, 2020

Reopening Schools Now

There are dozens of reasons why this is impossible! Classrooms are too small to be safe. I believe one can become infected in a classroom simply because it is too small for the people who sit in it for long periods at a time.

It's my opinion that reopening schools full time can be done only when the number of virus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in a location are at or near zero. Am I suggesting children no return to school until these conditions are met? Yes, I believe learning by electronic means is fine; so is being taught by parents, also large auditoriums, but absolutely not by small classrooms.

July 14, 2020

In Support of Anthony Fauci!

How does one begin the support of Dr. Fauci? I can begin by saying I believe whatever he has said is accurate. I say this even though I haven't heard ALL he has said! From the way he speaks, I would say he is the kind of person that exudes belief in everything he says. HOW DIFFERENT FROM THAT PRETENDER!

When he has spoken on TV, I have eagerly listened. I knew I would learn! And now, I sense efforts to discredit and to silence him. Anderson Cooper on TV said today, "I can't believe to find where we are!" He can't mean these words literally. Today, when much of what we hear is untrue, spin, and misleading. How can't he believe it? These days, everything is possible.

Governor Andrew Cuomo worked a miracle in New York. He also influenced nearby states. He spoke to us daily as he did this. At no time did I hear he had said or done anything that Dr. Fauci would not agree with.

Many other governors did not follow suit. The Pretender said, "reopen"; Fauci said, "Too soon!" He was right! The Pretender said, "Do what you want! The Constitution says you have a right to be liberated." Fauci said, "wear masks, distance yourself from others, test, wash hands, stay at home as much as you can!" He was right! When people believed the Pretender, LIVES WERE LOST! When people believed Dr. Fauci, LIVES WERE SAVED. Dr. Fauci has been a person we can trust. The Pretender has proved himself to be just the opposite.

Now the Pretender wants to silence this great doctor. In doing this, he showed how stupid he is. He believed what he said would help him get re-elected. In fact, what he suggested worked in exactly the opposite way. When people are getting sick; when people are being hospitalized; when people are dying when this should not be happening, the economy will not flourish; it will wither!

I believe what Dr. Fauci says. I trust him! I'm old; I'm weak; I can't do much, but I want to help him all I can! If he called and said, "Mario, come help me! I'd fly to his side in a heartbeat!

July 14, 2020

An Easy Way to Rile Me

I don't rile easily, but there is an easy way to do it if you have a mind to do it! That is, say something against Governor Andrew Cuomo! So far as I'm concerned, he has done nothing but good for me! I worked for the New York State Labor Department for a number of years after doing so for General Electric and RPI. The pension I'm getting from the State has made all the difference since I retired at age 90 seven years ago. Because of this, don't ever say anything to me against Andrew Cuomo. This will rile me.

Next, he has kicked the Coronavirus out of New York State. I'm in that vulnerable group that has most to fear from it. In short, I'm alive, to a great extent, because of what he did! Because of this, don't ever say anything to me against Andrew Cuomo. This will rile me.

Next, I admire the way he plans. He faces problems head-on; decides what he needs to do, and does it without fear of being criticized by anyone; nor, being a sycophant for anyone. Because of this, don't ever say anything to me against Andrew Cuomo. This will rile me.

Yes, you have a right to say anything you want, on any subject you want, at any time you want; it's guaranteed by the Constitution! You can also easily rile me whenever you want if you want, but I'd like to point out that, at my age, I'm looking forward to a nice long period of time when I can live quietly and serenely sitting in an old rocking chair with a book in my hand.

July 14, 2010

An Appointment With Pacemaker Doctor

I had an appointment today with my Pacemaker Doctor. Ann did the driving. Arriving at our destination, we went through the outer door and were met by an individual who took our temperature and asked us some questions. She also made sure we were wearing masks. Then, she allowed both of us to enter so that I could register at an inside window. At that window, we answered some questions and an individual there made us ready to talk to the Pacemaker Doctor. We sat at designated seats that were separated until we were called. Soon, we were called to an inner office waited for the doctor to arrive. She did and was wearing a mask. She checked me out on the Pacemaker computer and said everything was fine. Then she allowed us to go to the checkout window where we made another appointment. All the while we were wearing masks and I noticed that everyone I could see in any direction was wearing a mask. Eventually, we left the building and both and Ann I felt we had been well protected from the virus inside the building. I realized there was still a chance that the virus had had a chance to infect us, but that chance had been very small.

As we drove home, I recalled that in a news clip yesterday the pretender had landed at a distant location and had left the plane without wearing a mask. At the bottom of the plane's stairway, there were waiting dignitaries who were all wearing masks. The pretender was the only one not doing so! I didn't wonder at the time, but now I did: who did he think he was? With all the care that others were taking of those they met, why wasn't he doing the same? It seemed he wanted to cast an aura that there was nothing extraordinary happening! That people didn't have to worry about getting sick; all they have to do was die, and that would help him get reelected! Did he not understand that, to many people, he is a role model! Some of those people may feel that if the does not see the need for wearing a mask, why should they? Did he not understand that, because of this, many folks who should not die, may do so? WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS?

July 15, 2020

Have We Lost Our Moral Fiber?

Maybe it's because we don't have a leader with the CoronaVirus! Many in our population are giving varied and imaginative reasons why we should not make sacrifices to reduce the number of new cases and the number of deaths due to the monster virus!

The Pretender states we should liberate ourselves. The Constitution permits it, he says. He does not state what price we should be willing to pay for this freedom. I don't believe he cares so long as it helps him get re-elected. I don't believe any life or lives should be paid in order for our peoples to "liberate" themselves. I believe liberation can be done when the time is appropriate, and, at no cost in deaths!

We are caught in the grip of a vicious and relentless monster! IT IS POSSIBLE TO RID OURSELVES OF THIS BEAST IN TWO MONTHS! It is possible to rid ourselves of this beast in two months if we have the moral fiber wanting to do it and the tenacity to stick with our resolve. What do we need to do? (1) SHUT DOWN ALL ECONOMIC ACTIVITY EXCEPT ESSENTIAL ONES; (2) STAY AT HOME TO THE GREATEST EXTENT POSSIBLE FOR THE DURATION; (3) SEPARATE FROM OTHERS; (4) WEAR MASKS; (5) KEEP OUR HANDS AND SURFACES CLEAN.

Notice I have not mentioned testing! I believe testing is beneficial to do during this period of time, but not essential. TESTING WILL BE ESSENTIALLY NEEDED NEAR THE END OF OUR OBJECTIVE!

I believe the above requirements need to be strongly enforced! No exceptions.

I believe within a week, key numbers, cases, illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths will begin coming done with lags between the categories. Forcing the numbers to keep coming down should continue until all of them, throughout the nation, are AT OR NEAR ZERO! The entire operation could be called OPERATION ZERO and ENCOURAGED FROM THE NATION'S to continue for as long as it takes!

A time should come when thoughts of reopening can be considered. The safest ones can be allowed at this time and WATCHED LIKE A HAWK! Heavy testing should be done at this time. Any movements in the wrong directions, if seen, should be attacked like the King of the Beasts on a prowl. The objective should be to remove the cause of the deviation! If we have a leader at that time, he or she will direct what activities can be safely reopened. (I would recommend Governor Andrew Cuomo be that leader!)

I would recommend the above procedure be maintained until a vaccine is created.

Do we have the strength of character and courage to initiate a program as I have outlined above? Do we have the stamina to stay with it? Do we have the wisdom to continue until our objection is accomplished? I would certainly hope so for the price of failure could be depression of mind and lack of morale amongst our people, accompanied by a loss of confidence, and a feeling of failure, to say nothing of a capitulation to the virus with all its injuries to health and seeming unlimited numbers of innocent people dying for no reason at all.

July 16, 2020

This Virus Is Cruel

This virus is cruel, but do you really know how much! Here is a story: It has me in it; hence the use of the word, "I". (I didn't want to tell a story that referred to "you" since I didn't want to put the hex on you! I don't believe and hexes, so the story not will affect me in any way!)

Let us say I am healthy. I congratulate myself for not having been a victim of the evil CoronaVirus. I had been doing all the right things and felt I could live long enough to see the end of the emergency and of the advent of a virus that would protect all of us in the future. What a happy day this would be for us! Now, we would all be able to resume our lives from where we left off! I wondered if people would celebrate!

A few days ago or weeks, I don't know which, I awoke feeling healthy and went to work. Later, in the evening, I began feeling a little feverish but paid no attention to it. Nothing to worry about! In the morning, I was not feeling very well. I seemed to have a fever, a severe headache, and a sore throat. I thought this might be the virus, but dreaded the thought. I called my doctor and told him about it. He asked me to come in and be tested. I did and was found positive for the virus! All at once, everything I had planned was smashed to smithereens! This couldn't be happening! I was healthy! And had a great deal to do! I should not be interrupted! But suddenly, it seemed I was about to undergo something disagreeable!

The doctor said I should stay at home for a few days to see what would happen. Then, the doctor wanted to hear from me. I did as I had been asked. Everything that had been bad turned even worse, and in a few days, I was told I needed to be hospitalized! That same day would be good, he said. My worst imaginations had come true! I didn't want this! I had heard too much about those vaporizers!

I packed a small suitcase. My wife and I drove to the hospital. I was met at the door and advised to say goodbye to her, which I did. That was the last time I ever saw her! Inside, someone asked me where I had been lately. All I could think of was a daughter's birthday.

I was placed in an ICU immediately. Someone with a mask and protective clothing would attend to me every few minutes, not always the same person, but always very solicitous. At first, I was not making much progress but then began making some gains. Suddenly, I relapsed and the doctor spoke to me. "Sir, he said, "you're not making the progress we had hoped. Immediately we are putting you into a room that contains a vaporizer. We're crowded and it has just become available. We will begin using it at once for you. This should help you!"

"Doctor," I said, "I've heard a lot about vaporizers. A lot of people who are put on a one do not make it. Should I worry about this?"

"I'll be frank," he said. "What you've heard is accurate, but it isn't the same for everyone. You're in critical condition, but there's plenty of hope for you!"

My time in the vaporizer seemed an eternity! I don't know whether it was days, weeks, or lifetimes. It was unpleasant and often painful. At times different parts of my body hurt for no apparent reason. My throat felt awful with a tube in it. I had hallucinations. I had thoughts that made no sense. I lost track of time. My wife was not allowed to see me. I was upset with this but realized it was necessary under the current conditions. I had hopes that time would come when I would be taken off. I wished I could talk to someone, but this never happened. I felt utterly alone. I also felt useless and wondered why I continued living.

One day I sensed that people had come to see me. I felt myself being moved. I heard people talking amongst themselves. I distinctly heard the word that one of the individuals said, "negative,". I died 30 minutes later. I had not been able to say goodbye to anyone in my family! I heard later my funeral had been abbreviated. Only a few people had been allowed to attend at my burial.

This virus is cruel! I decided to write the story to tell about how cruel it had been to me! I'm hopeful my story, unpleasant as it is, will encourage others who may feel that wearing a mask or staying at home for a few days will not resist understanding the necessity for doing this. My story has been fiction, but it's true to life, as I could make it. This virus does not know who is young or who is old, who is red or who is blue, who lives in the North or the South. It simply does not care. All it wants to do is infect you. If it can, it will kill you. Try your damnedest not to become a victim! Follow the advice of the people who know! Do not listen to those who are not interested in you but in some other objective that has nothing to do with your health!

You may wonder how I knew what had happened after I died. I'm an author. An author knows everything, even if it hasn't ever happened to him or her!

July 19, 2020

The State of the Nation

What follows is greatly my opinion. The state of the nation is bad! This is the state of the nation as I, a citizen of the nation, sees it. I don't know enough to declare audaciously what is the true state. Only a president of the nation can do this! The pretender has tried, but, one cannot believe anything he says. I feel the state of the nation's poor for several reasons. Since his inauguration as president, our nation has slipped in prominence in so many areas, I would not be able to list them all. The virus has been abysmally managed, and our economy because of this, is appallingly bad. The stock market is at a high level, but I think the reason for this it must be the opinion of investors that it will be good after the emergency with the pandemic is over. I feel that will be in about two years! In the meantime, it cannot be said that the pretender has been good for the country. Charles Wilson, once President of General Motors said around 1953 that what was good for General Motors was good for the country. For about four years the pretender has worked with a similar slogan: the only thing he has tried to do is make sure that what is good for him is what he did for the country. As a result, the state of the nation is poor!

July 19, 2020

Trump Interviewed by Chris Wallace

Chris Wallace of Fox News interviewed The Pretender on this date, Sunday, July 19, and asked hard questions. The interviewee handled it well. He has become good at answering hard questions with non-answers. If I say, he lies, spins, obfuscates, etc., the charge will be that I'm biased and I won't deny that. The entire interview can be seen on the Internet today. You can see the entire interview and make up your own mind by searching Google with, "Trump interview with Chris Wallace July 19, 2020".

July 19, 2020

Viewing the Future

I'm good with numbers! As of this date, it seems we're at an impasse. No progress in ending the rampage of the Coronavirus seems to be in the plans of anyone of any stature in the land. I'll document here what the numbers tell me, but hasten to say that what I envision cannot happen. My visions are too horrible to even state. There are about six months before a new president can possibly take over and attempt to change events.

At present, about 140,000 individuals have died in the USA because of the virus. I can see three doublings between now and the possible advent of a new regime. Doubling 140,000 three times leads to something over one million deaths during the next six months. Several governors are still under the firm control of the Pretender. They will not do anything to displease him. But, I cannot accept that NOTHING will be done. It may take a rebellion of several Republican senators, the coming to their senses of the Republican governors, or of something else I cannot foresee as I write this.

It's important to understand that a change in the numbers from 140,000 to 1,000,000 does not represent a simple change in numbers. It represents the deaths of many, many persons who have done nothing wrong, who have done the best they could as they understood the meaning of this, who are NOW ALIVE, who are innocent of any wrong-doing but are doomed to die. If they die, many families will be greatly saddened. So will the nation! All I can say to end this post now is, "SOMETHING MUST BE DONE TO STOP THE DYING, AND IT MUST BE DONE AT THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE MOMENT!"

July 19, 2020

What Needs To Be Done!

I've said all this before. I say it again in the fewest possible words.

1. Stop all non-essential activity in the entire country. Enforce this!

2. Mandate and enforce a stay-at-home policy except for essential activity.

3. Mandate the wearing of masks when out.

4. Mandate a distancing policy when out. (Six feet are not enough!)

What will this accomplish? Estimates: (1) after a week, a significant drop in the number of people becoming infected; (2) after another two weeks, a significant drop in the number of people needing hospitalization; (3) after another two weeks, a significant drop in the number of people dying! (4) After another month, all the numbers mentioned above beginning to approach zero!

I have been audacious enough in making the above statements! I am not the brightest light in the chandelier! Why do I see this so clearly when smarter people don't?

July 20, 2020

Hard Shutdowns Needed

Today is July 20, 2020, and the time is 13:35 Eastern Daylight. As of today, the number of people dying in the USA is reported as 140716. I have indicated in previous posts, this number could double in two months. It's too macabre for me to report frequently how this number changes daily. I won't do this. However, I plan to report infrequently what is happening so long as hard shutdowns are not mandated. I contend hard shutdowns will cause a dwindling rate of growth in the number shown above. I won't say now how I'll feel if hard shutdowns do not occur.

The Pretender seems to feel the pandemic is not a problem, or that we're doing well in managing it. I don't agree with this, but if my opinion changes, I'll say so! As of this moment, I feel hard shutdowns in the several states where the spikes are increasing alarmingly, hard shutdowns are essential.

With a change of subject, I'll ask Governor Andrew Cuomo to stop opening the economy in New York. With all due respect, I would suggest this might cause a spike in New York that we don't need! The effort needed to stamp out this monster is COUNTRY-WIDE!

July 21, 2020

I Took The Draw-A-Clock Test

I took the Draw-A-Clock Test! It was about three years ago. Wait a minute! Don't jump to conclusions!

My medical insurance company has a policy of sending a nurse directly to our homes once a year to be checked in person what is the condition of their health. I received a call and was asked whether I would agree to a visit from the nurse. I agreed and she came at the agreed date and time.

We had not spoken to each other for as much as a minute before she asked me to draw a clock on a piece of paper and to put a specified time on it. I had no idea why I should do that but did it willingly. Then she asked me additional questions. She asked my name, the date I was born, did I know who the president of the United States was, what year was it, and similar questions. At this time, I realized she was testing me for mental cognizance. I became annoyed. I wouldn't have minded if we had chatted for a few minutes before she asked me to do this, but this was the first thing that she asked me to do after she had arrived. I did not show my annoyance, however!

As we continue to speak, she did the usual things a nurse would do at a hospital, like take my blood pressure, pulse, temperature, and more. The visit lasted about three-quarters of an hour. During this time, she must have realized that, though I was 94, or thereabouts, I was still very active with projects requiring mental ability and creativity. When she left, she may not have realized she had offended me.

The following year, I got a call from the same health insurance people asking whether I would agree to a visit from a health nurse. I said I would, but there would be a condition. If the nurse asked me to draw a clock, I would end the visit immediately! They agreed and she did visit. There was no clock test.

A few days ago Chris Wallace of Fox News interviewed The Pretender. At one point the latter announced he had taken a test that included a number of questions beginning with easy ones and getting to harder ones. He said he had aced it! With more interviewing, it became clear the test he had taken was the one with the drawing of a clock in it.

This is what the Internet says about the Drawing-of-a-Clock Test:

"The clock-drawing test is used for screening for cognitive impairment and dementia and as a measure of spatial dysfunction and neglect. It was originally used to assess visuo-constructive abilities but we know that abnormal clock drawing occurs in other cognitive impairments."

Chris Wallace commented he had taken the test also. He did not describe it, however. I'm sure he understood that acing this kind of test does not indicate a great deal about an individual's intelligence.

July 21, 2020

He Won't Go?

With the interview on July 19, 2020 with Chris Wallace, the Pretender was asked whether he would accept the winner at the presidential election. That is, would he go? He said, "I don't know; we'll see!"

In my opinion, there is no question that is there is a legitimate issue concerning the election, it has to be worked out! The issue may be serious enough to require a decision by the Supreme Court. I feel it's important a decision is made now what the nation should do if he clearly loses the election and declares, "I won't go!" As I write this, it seems impossible that a president who loses will say, "I won't go!" But, with this individual, that possibility is not impossible!

He may declare the election was rigged! He may declare the nation needs him! He may declare the winner is ineligible! He may declare the country is at war and he cannot be spared! While he is still President, he may also be able to declare the country to be under Martial Law citing some reason or other. Typically, the imposition of martial law is accompanied by curfews, the suspension of civil laws, civil rights, and habeas corpus. There may be the application or extension of military law or military justice to civilians. Those defying martial law may be subject to court-martial!

Here, he may have the military on his side since, while President, he is Commander in Chief! He may have the Supreme Court on his side because of their leanings! All this may be illegal and unconstitutional on the face of it, but who is to say what should or could be the outcome?

I'm not saying all of the above to be alarmist, though what I am saying may be alarming! We all know this man is capable of anything! He does not like to lose! It's imperative the nation solve any possible problems that may arise if he loses, NOW, not at a time when they MIGHT actually arise!

July 21, 2020

Vaccines On The Horizon

We hear news almost every day about vaccines being developed and tested. This does not take away from the fact that preparing a virus for general use can take years. The Pretender may make a statement that any vaccine that seems to be working should be made available to all now! This suggestion, if made, should be rejected immediately! There is no shortcutting of the development of a vaccine! Adequate testing should and must be done! The entire world could be dreadfully affected by a bad mistake in rushing its use.

July 21, 2020

Two Unpleasant Discoveries

An unpleasant item of knowledge is that Covid-19 may damage the heart, brain, and kidneys, as well as the lungs by it presence. People may get well from becoming infected, but "becoming well" may also mean that the virus has permanently damaged a person's heart, brain, or kidneys. This puts a new dimension on what should be done by prospective victims. Do all you can so you DON'T GET INFECTED! There is much more to becoming infected than the discomfort, the possible hospitalization, the possible time spent with a vaporizer! To a large portion of those becoming ill, there may be residual damage to other organs. And this may be for a lifetime. DON'T GET INFECTED! DON'T GET INFECTED! DON'T GET INFECTED!

Another unpleasant, but important, discovery, might be that you can become infected with the air conditioning system in the building you may be finding yourself in. You might be inhaling the breath that an infected person might recently have exhaled! This could be another reason for staying home as much as you can.

July 21, 2020

He Value Of Testing

Those that read what I write in these postings, do you wonder why I have not mentioned testing very much, or perhaps, not at all. The reason is this: At the beginning of a pandemic, the most important thing is to get the numbers down; the number of new cases, the number of people getting sick, the number of hospitalizations, and the number of deaths! Testing does not have much effect here, though later testing and tracing are important.

It's my opinion that when all the numbers are high, testing and tracing is virtually valueless. There are, simply, too many people involved. When the numbers are near zero, or actually at zero, testing and tracing become super important. When a new case is detected, the testing and tracing should begin with a passion. People all around should pounce on the person who has become infected with questions, dozens of questions, hundreds. Officials need to know where the infection came from! The need to shut down the source so it will not infect anyone else!

Testing is important in another way. If a person has an opportunity to return to work, his or her employer will want to know if he or she is infected with the virus. Testing with a quick response can give this information. As an aside, a person who has gotten well from being infected, he might consider wearing a cloth badge stating, "I beat the virus!" (If someone starts making these badges, I'd request I'd be sent one!)

July 21, 2020

The New Pepys Diary

I'm presumptuous enough to call my book, "The New Pepys Diary." My only excuse is that I'm 97 and can do anything I want, so long as it's legal and not bawdy. Some of you have already seen the soft-cover version that is available at Amazon for $4.00. Its name is, "Stamping Out This Monster", and has 100 pages. I expect to keep updating the book until the Coronavirus emergency and the Pretender's role with it have ended. I need time to do this, of course, and time, for me is not a given.

The book at Amazon costs $4.00 but there is a free ebook version of it in smashwords.com that is free. There are not a lot of downloads, but the number of people looking is growing. The name of this version is also, "Stamping Out This Monster". Not a lot of people have downloaded the ebook version. It may have too many pages, but the number of people looking is growing. To look, open www.smashwords.com and search in the Search Box for the name of the book.

The reason I call this book, "The New Pepys Diary" is because it may be of interest to historians in 2420. Pepys Diary was published in 1660 and gives a picture of what life was like in London at that time. You're welcome to obtain a copy of either one! I'll cease being presumptuous now!

July 22, 2020

Are There Automatic Immunities?

Something came to me last night as I slept. There may be nothing to it, but I'll pass it on for whatever it may be worth.

In the past, I've suggested that people congregating in small rooms are likely to pass on the virus to others by simple breathing! This is just conjecture; I've not seen anything written about this. It just seems to make sense, but I may be wrong. I'm not a doctor!

Can simple breathing do something good for people? Ann and I have been together for over 27 years. We've lived, dined, and slept in the same rooms. Undoubtedly, we've also breathed the same air! Is it possible that one or the other of us may have passed on immunity to the virus to the other person automatically?

I say this because I've been free of colds for many, many years. As a youth, I had them regularly, and it required a week for each cold fade away. I understood that colds are caused by viruses and every cold has a different virus that causes it. I have believed that once you've had a cold by a particular virus, one becomes immune to that virus. By some freak, is it possible that I am immune to the CoronaVirus even though it is much more than a cold? Is it also possible, if I am immune, to have passed on that immunity to Ann by simply breathing the same air that she does?

As I said before, I don't know whether there's anything to this idea, and cannot say anything further unless both of us are tested. I'm just stating what may be possible; nothing else! It goes without saying that people who live together may have a problem with the virus. If one gets infected, can the other person avoid it? I haven't seen much written on the subject, and have not heard it discussed on television. I don't suppose wearing a mask in the house makes a lot of sense! I don't imagine one or the other of the couple should take a room at a hotel for several weeks. What is the right thing to do if a spouse or partner gets infected? It might be a good thing if there were such a thing as an automatic immunity!

July 22, 2020

Comment About the Election

It is still a long time before the presidential election! Anything can happen, but, I think it's beginning to look gloomy for the Pretender. I believe he's been told his chances are poor for winning and that he should turn a different face to the American people. But what can he do? He tried rallies in Oklahoma and Arizona that delivered the cheers he probably enjoyed but at a cost so many additional cases of the virus that people have become scared of attending them!

It seems every time he says he wants to do something, it's the wrong thing! He wants to send federal troops to aid people in certain cities who don't want him there? I don't think that's a good idea! If the inhabitants of those cities wanted assistance, I should think they would be asking for it!

Everything he tries seems to be based on the sole purpose of improving his chances for reelection. It does not seem to matter the damage it may cause or the number of people that may die! He points to the stock market and says it is hitting new highs. Yes, it's true! I had not expected it. I cannot explain it except to state that the stock market looks ahead a long way. It may be seeing good times coming when the monster virus is gone. I do feel that people should invest in stocks for the long term, but also feel that the market lives a life of its own! There is no one that can control its actions. It goes up and down as it pleases! Currently, he brags when the market goes up but is silent when it goes down!

He lost his opportunity to get his rallies early on. If he had been a good leader, he could have helped put the virus on its last legs. At this point and he would have several months for rallies still available. As is, it seems to me, the virus will still be raging on election day. If he begins doing the right things at once and does some good leading, the virus could be reporting good numbers near Election Day, but he won't ever admit to having made a mistake.

I don't see how fellow Republicans could miss what seems to be imminent in the future, and perhaps take some actions to force better conduct on his part, or even take him out of the picture, putting in someone who can do some leading. The 25th Amendment might be a possibility, but I don't see Pence suddenly turning to the public with a different message!

This posting has been recorded to save time. Please excuse typos if you see any.

July 23, 2020

Two Big Changes

Soon after the presidential election, I'd like to see two big things happening.

1. The USA begins making things again. Our country made the best products in the world. It can resume doing this! Yes, it will cost more to purchase goods we need, but the effect will be more and better jobs for the people and everyone will benefit. For a while, manufacturers will complain that they need to pay too much for labor. No problem, the country can give incentives to them in the form of rebates. I feel it would be better to give money to manufacturers instead of China.

2. The country should make sure the Middle Class of our population is restored. This way one breadwinner in a family will be sufficient. With both husband and wife in a family working, a good deal of damage can be done to the family fabric. One worker should be sufficient! I am not arguing against women wanting a career. They can have one if they wish; the husband can take care of the family fabric!

As is, our country is on a paycheck-to-paycheck economy. This is not right. Every family should have a reserve that can be called upon for emergencies instead of having to wonder where the nearest breadline can be found.

Adam Smith, an economist in 1776 said in "An Inquiry Into The Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" there is an "Invisible Hand". With everyone in the population looking to their own best interests, the result is that everyone would prosper. This book has been reported many times as being a source of economic wisdom. My comment is, maybe so, but the hand has been taking too much of the wealth generated by the people and giving it to only a few. I should think it needs to be spanked. That hand should distribute wealth more fairly to the people so that any family where one breadwinner has a good job and works hard should prosper.

It's not right that in many families there are two persons working, sometimes each with more than one job. Let's be clear, I'm not espousing Socialism or Communism! Just a fairer of the wealth the country generates!

July 23, 2020

Kristallnacht Must Reading by Americans

These days I sometimes think about the events that happened on November 9-10 in 1938. That period of time has become known as Kristallnacht, a German word that roughly means "The night of the broken glass".

Adult Hitler was Chancellor of Germany at that time. He had been in power since 1933. His regime, the Nazi Party, was not especially friendly to people of Jewish descent. At the time of this incident, a Jewish individual did something that triggered German anger to take violent action against Jews. During the night, mobs attacked Jews throughout Germany. Here is a brief description from the Internet:

"Kristallnacht was the result of rage. Starting in the late hours of November 9 and continuing into the next day, Nazi mobs torched or otherwise vandalized hundreds of synagogues throughout Germany and damaged, if not completely destroyed, thousands of Jewish homes, schools, businesses, hospitals, and cemeteries. Nearly 100 Jews were murdered during the violence. Nazi officials ordered German police officers and firemen to do nothing as the riots raged and buildings burned, although firefighters were allowed to extinguish blazes that threatened Aryan-owned property."

Why do I think of this? Because we Americans believe we are a different kind of people. We are a country of laws where actions are taken in an organized. systematic and legal manner. Our people are kept informed of problems and how they are being solved. We don't expect hidden acts to take place in the night or by people in disguise.

Sadly, I see a drift away from this. I don't know when the drift actually began, perhaps before the current regime. However, Trump has seemed to accept what was happening and has been using it to his advantage, even enhancing the practice. Many of our people don't seem to be even noticing, or even caring. Some seem to be actually endorsing what occurs.

From my posts, it is probably obvious I don't like what I feel is a drift away from our system of government. I'm hopeful that the election in November will stop the drift and restore what Americans feel about what Americanism means.

I've known about Kristallnacht for a long time but never thought anything like it would ever occur in our country; so never worried about it a great deal. But I have been thinking a lot about it lately, and I would urge my readers to look up Kristallnacht on the Internet. Maybe I'm making too much of what I have read, maybe you'll feel it can never happen here! But maybe you will experience some of the feelings I have!

Benjamin Franklin warned us that we have a Republic, but in order to keep it, it may require some effort on the part of all of us!

July 23, 2020

One In A Thousand

A man was interviewed on CNN today, along with his family. He had recovered from the CaronaVirus after having been in the hospital for weeks. Everyone present was expressing extreme joy! He had been very ill and, at times, the hospital was preparing the family to "pull the plug!" The man's wife kept pleading for the care to continue. She knew he was trying hard to make it. He finally did. In describing his ordeal, he mentioned being in and out of consciousness. He was fully aware of what was going on at times and not aware at others. He said, at times he had been terrified! He got well and everyone was happy, including me!

During the previous 24 hours, over 1,000 others in the United States had died! Sadly there was no family interview for any of them. There was no way to interview any of the individuals. Persons who are dead don't have the ability to speak! The persons who died could not tell anyone about how they felt while under care, nor how hard had they tried to continue living. They could not express their sadness at not being able to express any measure of joy in the future. Dying is a pretty final thing!

There are a lot of people dying for the wrong reason. A large part is because of stupidity, lack of knowledge, callousness, or greater interest in alternate agendas. I don't understand how people who see these baseless reasons for people dying, don't do something about it! This is wrong and people should speak out!

July 24, 2020

Snippets For Today July 24, 2020

The Cognitive Test

The Pretender does not understand that one does not brag about having aced a cognitive test. Bragging reveals to the observers much more than he might have intended to.

The Jacksonville Convention

Canceling the Convention in Jacksonville is a blessing. In my view, many lives will be saved. The Pretender indicates it was his idea to cancel since he wants people to be safe. I believe the opposite is true. I believe canceling was forced on him by better minds.

Shaving Brush

I purchased a Shaveway brush from Amazon. It was made in China. Does EVERYTHING we use have to be made in China?

Baseball Reopening

In my weak opinion, reopening baseball at this time in an empty stadium is not a good idea. I think there are risks of the players getting infected. I don't see the purpose. I say my opinion is weak because it's personal. I dislike sports in their entirety but understand my stand is not a popular one.

Schools Reopening

No, on reopening schools at this time! Safety for students and staff is greatly lacking. A safe reopening of schools may not be possible until January 2021. Maybe even the middle of 2021. A great deal depends on how soon may a vaccine be available. Also, how well the states reduce the numbers of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths from the virus. (All these numbers must be zero, or very, very close to zero.)

New York Reopening

Don't rush it! There is some evidence reopening has been too aggressive lately. The reopening has to be done well! Rushing could be a bad mistake!

Federal Troops to States is Wrong

Federal troops in Portland, Oregon and threatened for Seattle, Washington is wrong, wrong, wrong! It may even be unconstitutional!

July 24, 2020

The Presidency 101 Course

In this post, I would like to propose an idea that may sound radical at first but may make sense as you read about it. Why doesn't the Supreme Court create a course for only one student, the new president of the United States entitled, "How Do Be President 101". This course would be mandatory for newly elected presidents. At the beginning of his or her presidency, the president's attendance would be required for a couple of hours every so often, perhaps every week. At that time one of the judges in the Supreme Court would tutor the student on how to be president! The course would have as many sessions as needed and the number of judges acting as instructors would not necessarily be limited. It might be best for several of the judges to participate as tutors so that the new president would get an idea of how the Supreme Court operated.

As I have already said, attendance would be mandatory! If the new president did not attend as required, a formal report would be made to the Congress, at which point appropriate action could be taken by both houses if/as deemed appropriate. In the course, the new president would be instructed on the powers that he or she has and their limitations. He or she would also be instructed upon the demeanor that is expected from presidents of the United States

July 24, 2020

He Does Not like to Lose

In a recent interview with Chris Wallace, when the pretender was asked whether he would abide by the decision of the presidential election, he said, "I don't know, we'll see!" I got from this he has already decided to resist leaving office should he lose the election!

He might offer one of these as the reason:

1. The election was rigged and I demand a new election.

2. I declare a pandemic emergency and need to be president until it is gone.  
3. The country is about to be attacked and need to be in power at that time.  
4. There is violence throughout the land; I declare the country to be under martial law.

5. It is time to revamp the government of the United States and I am needed to do it.

6. A financial emergency is about to develop and I am needed to take care of it.  
7. There is no reason. I am commander-in-chief and will not go!

These are all the reasons I could think of, but I imagine the pretender is more creative at inventing reasons for remaining in power than I am in imagining reasons he might give. The country must be ready for any fantastic announcements that might be made if he loses.

July 25, 2020

Flying The Confederate Flag

I am a student of the Civil War. Though I'm old, I was not actually there. I need to say this upfront! However, though I joke here at the beginning, I have strong feelings about it.

Some of the leaders of some Southern states in the mid-1850s believed slavery could be justified and wanted it to be continued though a majority of the states did not feel that way. Those that wanted it continued argued there was nothing wrong with it and it was a states rights issue anyway. When events turned in such a way that the South thought slavery would be outlawed, they voted to form a new country called, "the Confederacy." And the Confederacy seceded from the union. This led to the Civil War. The majority of the states, the Northern, did not believe that the Confederacy had the ability to secede.

Though it had been believed the rebellion would be quickly beat down, the soldiers of the states that had ceded, fought bravely and the war continued for years. The soldiers of the states that had ceded were mostly youngsters who were loyal to their leaders. Most of them did not own slaves. They may not even have known the details of what was going on and why they were fighting. Nevertheless, they fought, and died!

After the war, the generals wanted to do no further discussion about what had happened. They were willing to accept the outcome. In many cases, though, statues were erected in their honor. There was a problem in that the Confederate flag was still being honored and being flown in various locations. In my opinion, the statues were no problem. The war had been an issue that had led to a historical ending. History should not be distorted but recorded as it happened. However, the flag of the Confederacy should never have been permitted to wave over our land!

It's my opinion that the Americans in our country who feel that the soldiers who fought in the Confederacy should be honored and should not be denied the ability to illustrate with statues and in other ways that they honor those who were loyal to the Confederacy and fought for it. They believed in their cause just as their opponents believe that theirs. It is my opinion however that when a country loses the war, they do not have any right to wave their flag over the land of the country that beat them. The bottom line to this post is that I'm not against statues to honor individuals, and names to honor places, but I am against any right of any Americans to fly the Confederate flag and wave it at any time over this land.

As a personal comment, I believe and have always believed that slavery was wrong and should never have been instituted in our country.

July 25, 2020

Shut It Down, Start over, Do it right

This is an open letter to the public by U.S. PIRG. The last four letters stand for "Public Interest Research Group". You can read the letter by searching for the title of this post with Google. It is intended to advise the leaders of certain states what needs to be done to stop the bad numbers generated by the monster virus from growing without limit.

The bad numbers are for the number of new virus cases, the number of new illnesses, the number of new hospitalizations, and the number of people dying from the virus. The governors of some states are watching these numbers grow and are doing nothing about it! Any person with an ounce of sense knows what to do. Shut down! Shut down! Shut down! I know this will be hard. It simply was not done right the first time!

I don't believe I'm wrong in what I say next. Shutting down will almost instantly result in a dramatic reduction in the number of cases. We've all heard of, "Nipping it in the bud!" Shutting down, staying at home, distancing, wear masks will NIP IN THE BUD!

If one of the stupid governors of the states of Texas, Florida, Arizona, etc., suddenly decides to SHUT DOWN, I will immediately begin recording the number of new cases that result and report daily what the count of new cases results. I claim there will be a spectacular reduction almost at once! If this doesn't happen, I'll accept your ignominious criticisms in utter shame!

Storm Troopers?

July 25, 2020

What the Pretender wants to do in Portland, Oregon is reminiscent of Hitler's storm troopers when he was trying to establish himself as the leader of Nazi Germany. The troopers were supposed to protect him in connection with the rallies that he planned to give.

The Pretender obviously is not up on Nazi history. If he were, he would recognize that that the federal troops rampaging in Portland look exactly the same as those troops. They will not help him win reelection! They will only make his chances for reelection even worse than they are now!

Occupied France

July 26, 2020

When world War II began, France was quickly defeated in 1940 by Nazi Germany. At that point, France was partially occupied by German troops from May 1940 forward. The part that was occupied was known for a time as, "Occupied France. This part had a government but its actions were dictated by Hitler.

I mention this bit of history because what the Pretender has threatened to do to cities in the United States with Democrat administrations is reminiscent of that period of time. He has threatened to send troops to Portland Oregon, Seattle Washington, Chicago, and other cities to "protect" federal property. There are already troops in Portland. Is he thinking of establishing areas in certain cities called "Occupied Portland," "Occupied Chicago," "Occupied New York," etc. The possibility is too grim to contemplate. But, is it an impossible reality?

July 27, 2020

Today, July 27, 2020, Some Events.

Rep. John Lewis, highly respected leader in Congress died some days ago. He is Lying in State at the Capitol as I write this. Former Vice-President has paid his respects as I write this. It's not clear what the Pretender will do. I hear Vice-President, Pence, may arrive to participate. The Pretender has announced he will not be going.

Protests are continuing in Portland, Oregon. Some of this is not peaceful. However other cities are providing support.

The number of new cases is beginning to decline in some

"hot-spot" states.

There is some hopeful news about the vaccine. Thirty-thousand volunteers have agreed to do testing.

The reopening of schools is under discussion, but there is nothing firm decided for the entire nation.

July 27, 2020

Encouraging News From Dr. Anthony Fauci

Dr. Fauci was interviewed by Wolf Blitzer of CNN today. He reported that an important final test has begun today to determine whether a new vaccine can be released for world use. He said the final decision may take "several months". He said about 30,000 volunteers will participate. There are some additional vaccines being made ready for tests.

My opinions about this are these: The decision of worthiness may occur on or about Election Day. I would advice against this or even leaking the news. It could have an unfair effect on the winner of he election. Further, the Pretender may begin pushing for immediate release of the virus without completing the tests! Pressure to do this must be resisted. The world has to know new vaccines are safe before they are released for use!

In the interview, Wolf told Dr. Fauci. His baseball card just created is the most popular issued!

July 28, 2020

A Warning With A Mind of Its Own

It's 3:45 a.m. I needed to come to the computer. It was not voluntary. I think it came from the virus, itself! I think it wants me to tell the story of a nice man who escaped with his life after it looked as if he had lost every hope. He was a nice man, 50-ish, who looked haggard after a horrible ordeal. Indeed it had been horrible. He had been on a ventilator for a long time and had just off it. He was going home. His family was with him. As close as I can remember, he was saying, "This thing is real! Don't let anyone tell you anything different! I went through hell! My wife tells me she had been asked whether they could pull the plug. She said, no. She knew how much I must be fighting, and I was fighting with everything I had! While under, I had horrible hallucinations! Pain all over my body. But I had decided not to die, an my wife saved me! To others, I say, this is real! Put on those damned masks! You don't want to go through what I did! I understand it may have affected my heart and my kidneys. I may have to do more fighting. If I do, I will! I wouldn't want to see anyone go through what I have!"

Readers, it's almost four. I think I'll be able to sleep. If what I've written saves only one life, a few minutes of sleep lost will have been worth it.

July 28, 2020

Southern Soldiers During WWII

During World War II, I often associated with Southern Soldiers. It was the first time in my life I had heard strong southern accents and was greatly impressed. I'm happy state that, except for the accent, they felt no different about the war, nor politics, the way I did!

In High School, we students had learned about the Civil War. My feelings had been that the war had been a tragedy. Both sides had fought gallantly for their states and their leaders. I didn't see anything wrong with this and neither did our teachers. The right to own slaves was involved, but the soldiers fought to be loyal to their states and their leaders, not to defend slavery. They didn't own slaves; they were 20-year-old-kids like I was.

During the war, I didn't treat them as traitors who had lost, but as buddies who I served with. We kidded a lot about the states we came from, but it was all good natured and nobody took it seriously.

I'm unhappy now to see that the issue of slavery during the Civil War is now an issue. To me statues were erected for certain individuals was because they had served their cause well. Huge numbers of Southern soldiers died for their cause, as had northern soldiers. I'm not prepared to forget this. I would rather remember that we served together during World War Il to rid the world as despots. And, lest we forget, there were black soldiers also serving for the same objectives. We were united in what we needed to do.

Today, the Pretender is doing all he could to divide the nation. I think this is wrong!

July 28, 2020

AG Barr's Testimony Today, July 28, 2020

There was a hearing today with the House Judiciary Committee where AG Barr was grilled about whether he has become a sycophant for the Pretender. The hearing began in the a.m. and ended about 4:30 p.m. I watched it all. In the hearing he was asked may questions where, I think, he came through looking very bad! Though I believe it was demonstrated his only purpose for serving was to help the Pretender all he could, it was not clear to me why the hearing was held.

The election is only a few weeks away and I don't think the will be an impeachment attempt. There isn't enough time for this. I think it simply may have been an attempt to get him on the record for the times he has seemed to take the Pretender's part and make it a matter of record.

Some of the questions indicated the questioners were worried about him saying, "I won't go!" if he loses the election and can't provide a reason. Barr did not indicate this was nothing to worry about.

July 29, 2020

Stupidity is Running Rampant in the Land

There are so many, so many stupidos in the country beginning with the Pretender, himself!

Now, he is supporting a woman who believes Hydroxychloroquine is a product that, even at this date should be considered as some sort of cure! That woman believes in witches, having sex with them, a substance called demon semen, and more! She also says Hydroxychloroquine is a cure and Stupido Number 1 believes it!

Stupido Number 1 has also told states with spikes they should reopen their economy. And the stupid leaders of those countries believe him and are causing the spikes to get worse! There is so much more!

It's over three months before the people will be able to vote to throw his guy out of office. He can do a lot of damage during the time between now and Election date. A lot of harm can be done and it looks like we have to live through this! All I can suggest we protect ourselves as best we can. (Stay home, separate, masks, test, etc.) And be ready for this: He will claim the election was rigged and say, "I won't go!"

The worst part of the terrible, awful, horrific effect of the damage I fear is that most of the damage will be done with people dying! People who don't deserve to die, with families, with kids, with fathers and mothers, will die. How many? It's a long time before a vaccine comes to the rescue! 350,000 have died so far. Without drastic changes being made, it will be over one million. Readers, this is not a mere number. These are people; innocent people, people you know; people in your families; people you love!

What can you do? Protect yourself as best you can. Help protect others! Stay home, stay separated, wear masks, test, argue against further re-openings! It will be a long time before the vaccine will be available for all! Begin deciding what to do when he says, "It was rigged! I won't go!"

July 30, 2020

Obama, A Real President Speaks

Former President Obama spoke at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta today in honor of John Lewis, a great man who deserve them. It was a pleasure listening to a real president instead of a pretender; a person attempting to suggest he is a real president when his guidelines consist only of deny, deceive, and distract!

This was on Fox News, a channel that is not renowned for truth and honesty. For a change, they allowed lack of spin to slip into their broadcast despite, what might have been protests, from the Pretender. I'm sure the latter was not listening. As the words in the memorable movie state, he "can't take the truth!"

I think Obama won the election of Biden today! The only problem is that the presidency can't change until January next year. A lot of damage can be done to the nation until then. A lot of innocent people will die. (I didn't say "may die"!) A lot of people will die because the Pretender has many sycophants who re-state his words as if they were recording machines. Words like "reopen now!" "Liberate yourselves!" "This virus is a hoax and will go away in a few days!" and more.

If you are well, protect yourself. "Stay home, separate from others, wear your mask" you know the advice well. They are not secret! The monster is roaming the world looking for people to infect. DON'T LET IT GET YOU!

July 30, 2020

An Open Message to Governor Cuomo

I heard today that the virus is pushing north. This is not accurate. What this really means is that the states that have done well recently in beating the virus are relaxing, taking things more casually, beginning to become complacent! New York is one of these states. I know you are responding to the wants of the people and to the needs of the State. The people want more joy in life; the State wants more income!

I believe reopening now is not the best way to go. More can be accomplished in less time by maintaining the restrictions you have put in place. ALL the important numbers must be reduced to as close to zero as possible! You have great influence. I know some won't listen, but I suggest you try to convince as many other leaders to do what you have done. You performed a miracle in New York. Somehow, maybe even you don't know, you knew what were the right things to do and you did them! You also convinced some of the nearby states to do what you had and they did well for their people!

This is not an effort for states. It is an effort for the entire country. It's my opinion that, with mobility, the virus will re-invade New York despite what you have done! Don't let it happened. Don't reopen too soon! The people of New York will believe you! You've said people dying trouble you greatly. I believe you! Work to keep the virus away! With all due respect, I suggest this is most urgent task to take care of!

July 31, 2020

Stamping Out Book to be Revised

My book, "Stamping Out This Monster" was published on July 14, 2020. It has 102 pages. It is a contemporary record of the Coronavirus as it has developed in the USA. On March 12. I used my postings for this purpose. The last one in the book was dated July 7, 2020. Since that date much as happened and I am planning a revision of the book. This should take a week or 10 days. At that time the book will have about 150 pages.

I have referred to my book as the modern "Pepys Diary." The classical Pepys Diary showed life in London several hundred years ago. One of the reasons I am working so diligently on my book is so that it may be possible that people living 400 years from now will be interested in learning how our country handled this sudden disaster. There may be interest even earlier that this!

I am trying to be as accurate as possible, avoiding much information that is inexact, such as spin, inaccuracies, fabrications, distortions, imagination, and also sheer, bald-faced lies! I watch the news intently every day, including CNN, CNBC, and Fox News, and believe I am able to ferret out the differences between the categories I've mentioned above. I hope the book will be reviewed at some point and recommendations made as to whether it should travel to the future are not! My posts are written as I see history unfolding. I do pay attention to suggestions and have taken some. Otherwise, I document events as I see them occurring.

I don't mind competition at all. If any of my readers feel they are better at documenting events, they can write their own "Pepys Diary". Then, 400 years from now readers will be able to make up their own minds as to whom they should believe! (I plan to be there observing!)

In my book, I'll never mentioned the names of any of my Facebook Friends. This is only common decency. I don't claim any special credit for this!

My current book is available in two forms. It's available as a soft cover book with the company that has published it. There, its cost is five dollars. Shipping is free if you have Prime Status. It's also available in www.smashwords.com free. I update the book there frequently, and you can either read online or download a hard copy for yourself. There is not a lot of interest in the book, I have to admit! I should take some of the blame myself admitting I'm a poor writer, or I could say it's a very dry subject that nobody wants to know more about, or maybe the book is simply too large to download. Currently, he has well over Smashwords pages.

This text has been dictated to save time. I apologize if there are typos or passages that are difficult to understand. If some of what I say doesn't make sense, see if there's the word, NOT, that has been inadvertently omitted. This could cause what I say to give the opposite meaning of what I had intended.

August 1, 2020

Biden's Choice for Vice-President

Let's see how good I am at guessing. Who will Biden select for Vice-President? As I see it, the candidates are Gretchen Whitmer, Governor of Michigan; Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senator Kamala Harris, and Susan Rice. If I'm wrong, it'll have to be Kamala.

I think Susan Rice is far more ahead of anyone else. When her name is mentioned, the Pretender will be so struck, he'll concede the election at once.

August 1, 2020

Upticks are Dangerous. Don't Let Them Happen!

Some states have done pretty well in bringing down the numbers. They've even begun reopening the economy! In my opinion, reopening anywhere is dangerous when not all states have brought down their numbers (number of new cases, number of hospitalizations, and number of deaths). There may be upticks in the graphs of some states that have done well. This is BAD!

Upticks can easily happen. The people of our nation move around a lot. What wouldn't be so obvious as people in Texas or Florida fleeing to a state where the virus has been well managed? Upticks need to be addressed and taken care of on the same day they are spotted.

August 2, 2020

Middle-Class Being Squeezed Out of Existence

It is appalling that there are such large numbers of people who live from paycheck to paycheck. In a country, supposedly wealthy for all, people should be able to pay their expenses between paychecks and invest something. For a lot of people, this does not happen.

Also there are many who need to go looking for a food bank when an emergency comes up. It's my opinion every family should have ready for emergencies, AT LEAST, a month's supply of food and water in a Larder (pantry). I don't thin up to a month should not be out of the question. Don't think I'm some of rich guy saying this. I have enough to pay bills, but I'm just an ordinary person.

Why is it that what I'm saying is true? It's my feeling that administrations have allowed the balance between rich and poor to become vague. A family where the inhabitants are hard working should not have emergencies they can't handle. Currently, the rich get super-rich and the poor get poorer. The middle class shrinks and is destroyed.

I should think the new administration will address the problems I'm mentioned here and take steps to remedy them.

August 4 2020

Life Is good!

On his program this evening, Chris Cuomo said, "Life is good!" Yes, it's true! Life is good for me! But, I've been blessed and very lucky. I've had CHF for well over ten years. My ability to function has gradually declined and the final output is death, but this has been without pain! I've worked hard at keeping life good. I realize fully that life is not guaranteed, and I could die at any moment. I do have to wonder why, at 97, life is good for me while this is not true for so many thousands of others.

I keep thinking there is something I need to do, but haven't fully understood what it is, and, therefore, may not have begun doing it yet! Fighting the virus has become an obsession with me! I'm fighting it in every way I can, because I know getting infected can be dreadfully unpleasant! In fighting it, I make audacious statements about the abysmal leadership the Pretender has provided. I make similar remarks about the Pretender sycophants who have urged individuals to ignore the pandemic and "free themselves!" As a result, THOUSANDS of human beings have died WHO SHOULDN'T have! Is this part of what I'm supposed to do?

Was it intended I should simply keep repeating the words, "Stay home!" "When out, wear a mask!" "When out, stay as far away from others as you can!" Is this what I was supposed to do?

I published a soft-cover book on July 14, 2020, entitled, "Stamping Out This Monster." using my Facebook postings and am currently bringing it up to date. I don't try to sell it but am giving out free as many as I can! Is this what I was supposed to do?

Today, I said to Ann, "I can accept death, and do accept it, from CHF. This is dying normally with dignity and honor for what I have accomplished in life; but I scorn having my life ended by a despicable beast called COVID-19 who has no business fiddling with my life!" Despite my wishes, was I fated to be a victim of the beast? I don't know, but I do know one thing! You, who are reading this, Don't get infected! Don't get infected! Don't get infected. This beast is insidious evil, and cruel! It's no respecter of persons! Don't let it get you!

August 4, 2020

It Is What It Is

When told today about the many daily deaths in our country, the Pretender's remark was, "It is what it is". My God, is this the first thought that would pop in his head when hearing this?

Yes, a president has to have a strong tolerance for the death of people. There are times when a president has to declare war on another country. He has known what this meant and probably did not feel well in having to do it. Sometimes, they've reported that sending people to war has been a hard burden to bear.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think so, when I say his remark sound as if he has very little concern for the innocent people who are dying because of the virus. I think even worse than the callous statement is the fact that the deaths are being cause because of his ineptness in dealing with the emergency when it first arose.

He said, "We have it under control!" That's balderdash! He's supposed to be a role model. Why hasn't he said, "Stay at home all you can, went out, separate from others as much as possible and wear a mask!" Why has he said, "liberate yourself, make up your own minds about the guidelines!" No, WE DO NOT have it under control!

August 4, 2020

Classrooms Are Deathrooms!

From TV images, reading material, and spoken words from doctors, it seems to me that classrooms were not designed well enough to thwart the onslaught of a virulent virus. With healthy teachers and students, there is little risk that the classroom will ever called a deathroom. But now is that time!

Classrooms are too small for attendance by a teacher and up to 30 students! All these people are breathing together for hours in ventilation that is not adequate for the conditions. I believe if one person in the room is infected by the virus, the air being breathed will eventually find its way into the lungs of everyone in the room! I think length of time is important also. If the principal walks in for a brief conversation with the teacher, he or she may be able to do this, even without a mask, with little risk. But, — if he or she sits for an hour with a person who has been infected, he'll get infected to whether or not the persons are wearing a mask. The room is too very much too small for conditions.

This is not to say that a modern school with great attention to air circulation would be unsafe. I think it would be OK, but these kinds of schools would be rare exceptions.

Summarizing, reopening schools without giving thought to whether the classrooms are safe is too damned dangerous.

August 4, 2020

Research Needed

Even though it has not been publically announced, I think a lot of research is being done concerning how COVID-19 should be dealt with. Much of what is known about this virus is vague.

We do need to know how infections take place; how much are masks needed by people associating with each other; what distance for social separation is truly safe? can ordinary breathing cause infections to others? are small rooms for congregating safe? is air conditioning safe? can people fly safely? is natural immunity possible? Can immunity be built? and much more.

COVID-19 is not a "little flu"! If it were, one could stay at home for a week, suffering all the while, but after it was over, it WOULD be over! COVID-19 seems as if it has a jealous brain and wants to be remembered with lingering problems! To my mind, this should be the strongest reason for not getting infected. Because it wicked and cruel and wants to linger.

August 5, 2020

Prediction Election Day

It's three months to Election Day. I'm assuming there will be an election. The Pretender does not want to lose. He may try all the tricks he's capable of and, at the end, if he loses, he may state, "It was rigged. I won't go!" Both parties should meet and decide what to do if this event takes place. (Reminder: He is Command in Chief!)

If the election takes place, the Pretender should be beaten overwhelmingly! Here are the reasons I believe this:

1. Most of the polls have Biden ahead by a huge amount. Yes, polls cannot be depended upon. However, in most of the so-called "battle states Biden is leaden by large margins.

2. Black people seem to strongly favor Biden.

3. Women seem to strongly favor Biden.

4. There is no Hillary to hate! People seem to greatly admire Biden.

5. Biden will be choosing a black (probably) woman for Vice-President.

6. The economy is awful. Yes, he'll claim it's not his fault, but he doesn't seem very interested in helping the people affected!

7. He's made a horrible mess with CORVID-19. He will surely be charged as being responsible!

8. The Pretender, himself, is not much respected by most Americans.

I believe there is a good chance the election will return control of the Senate to the Democrats. There is not real Republican Party at present.

History has shown that Democrats are good at losing won-elections. However, this time, try as they might, the won't be able to do this!

As time passes, I'll comment on the attempts of the Pretender that I'll deem a trick to reverse what I've predicted above.

One final comment: If my prediction is wrong, it'll spell a deep calamity for me and be mercilessly ridiculed. I understand that! My only conciliation will be that his election will be a calamity for the country. Why should I be spared?

August 6, 2020

His Bag of Tricks

In a recent post, I indicated The Pretender will try all kinds of tricks to give himself a better chance to be re-elected to am office he as no qualifications for.

He states the nation is in good shape concerning the management of the Virus; he says kids are virtually immune to the virus and can return to school. He says vote but mail is prone to abuse, he says the post office will not be handle vote by mail. Today, he said Biben is against God! What in the world prompts that statement. The is not an iota of substance for the statement! Evangelicals believe in the existence of an Antichrist. Is he getting ready to claim that Biden is the Antichrist? In it happens, that would be crossing the red line!

August 7, 2020

It will disappear

The Pretender says it will disappear. Yes, of course it will. A fire stops burning down a house after the house has burned down! A plague will stop plaguing the population after it has infected all the people it can. This is normal. It's a stupid remark to make because when the house is burning down, we want to save as much of the house as we can. This is also true when there is a plague. We want to save the lives of his many people as we can! This is also true of a pandemic. We want to save the lives of his many people as we can.

We just don't let a fire burn without trying to put it out. We don't just let a plague continue without trying to defeat it. We just don't let a pandemic continue without trying to defeat it!

This statement, "It will disappear," has no meaning and is pure nonsense.

This was dictated. Please excuse typos where and if they exist.

August 7, 2020

Schools Reopening In New York

Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced schools will be reopening soon in New York State. In my opinion, this is a very bad decision. Schoolrooms virtually universally are too small to accommodate the number of students that they usually do. I believe that putting up to 30 students in a classroom and the teacher is a blunder. Of course, there may be places in New York State where what I have stated is not applicable. It may be a small community, a small school, few students, very little danger from being infected by the Coronavirus. I see no reason why this would not be OK.

Because I believe reopening the school universally is dangerous, I feel the state of New York might quickly encounter a sudden spike in the number of coronavirus cases. This, of course, to many sudden deaths. I believe the reopening should have been made contingent upon a check to make sure the reopening was safe. I did not see any indication in the announcement that such a check had been made.

I can't state here what should be done in place of reopening. I don't know! All I know is that saving lives is more important than anything else. Of course, some parents are capable of teaching their own kids are what they need to know at their ages. I think the word "some" may indicate how I feel about this situation!

This article was dictated. Please excuse typos where and if they exist.

August 7, 2020

Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota

I am appalled to see what is happening in South Dakota's soon. Up to 250,000 motorcyclists will visit the city for up to 10 days in a sort of annual motorcycle rally. It seems apparent, that he spoke our freedom loving people, and, for the most part have decided not to use many if not all of the restrictions that have been either suggested or mandated for preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

I find this situation very dreadful. Sturgis is that a large city. The avalanche of people is far more than the population of the place. I cannot help but foresee a huge spike in the number of coronavirus cases in South Dakota. This comes at a time when I have virtually dismissed the idea that the recent Mount Rushmore gathering that a spike would occur! I believe the current rally will be even more likely to cause a spike, and I would be watching over the next several days and weeks to see whether it does, and will report on what my determination is.

This article was dictated. Please excuse typos where and if they exist.

August 7, 2020

Postal Service Slows

the Pretender recently changed the postmaster general, and he immediately began changing the procedures that the Postal Service follows. It's my opinion that slowing the Postal Service has been done at the direction of the Pretender with the objective being demonstrating that the Postal Service will not be able to handle the mail in ballots for the coming election.

If, what I am saying turns out to be true, it's one of the tricks that I mentioned the imposter would try before the election in an effort to prove his chances for getting reelected. This would, of course, be outrageous and probably illegal!

This article was dictated. Please excuse typos where and if they exist.

August 7, 2020

Student Posts Photo Showing Crowded Hallway

a Georgia student, Hannah Watters, was suspended after she posted a photo of a crowded hallway at her school. The name of the school is North Paulding High School. Hannah is 15, a 10th grader at the school. She says she did this because the hallway was very crowded and not many of the students were wearing masks. She feared that there would be many infections and wanted to do something to safeguard the students.

It didn't take very long before she found out that there were repercussions. She was suspended for three violations of school rules. The school superintendent, Brian Otott does admit that, ".... There is no question that the photo does not look good." In defense of what had happened he stated, "wearing a mask is a personal choice and there is no practical way to enforce a mandate to wear them." This incident caused an uproar among the news people, and they interviewed the teenager to learn what had been her motivation.

Hannah explained that her primary purpose was to protect the health of the students. At the time of this writing she has been reinstated at the school with no penalties. I personally am very proud of this individual. It should have been obvious to the higher officials at the school that crowding in the hall without the use of masks was dangerous even though, as they claimed, it was only for the purpose of changing classes and would not require a great deal of time for the students in the hallway. I feel this may have been logical for the officials, but the coronavirus does not use logic when it deals with possible victims.

This article was dictated. Please excuse typos where and if they exist.

August 7, 2020

Book Updated

My book, "Stamping Out This Monster" has been updated and republished by Amazon. The older book has a red edge on the cover and 100 pages. The new book has 150 pages and a green edge on the cover. I intend to keep updating the book until the CoronaVirus emergency has ended and until the Pretender has been replaced (hopefully) by someone who'll bring normalcy back to the nation, and, later, our first woman president! At this time, I have only one main desire and that is that God grants me the time and health to accomplish this!

I intend and have been writing this book with the expectation that it will someday be the new version of the well-known Pepys Diary. Our nation has been, and is, going through a horrible period of time, but, have faith, even this will pass! In the meantime, I ask my readers, even those who have not agreed with I've been documenting, to take care of themselves. I repeat what I have begged of you, don't get infected; don't get infected, don't get infected!

August 8, 2020

The Beirut Tragedy

On August 4, 2020, there was a incredibly huge explosion in Beirut Lebanon. A large number of people were killed and many more were made homeless. At first, it was not known what had caused the catastrophe. When the pretender was asked about it, he said he thought it had been a bomb! And labeled as an attack. He claimed he had been talking to his generals and they had indicated this.

Later, it appears that a huge amount of an explosive material had been stored in a warehouse for many years. Any small event could touch it off! Warnings were given to some which were ignored. This is not now believed to have been caused by a bomb of any sort!

It has not been made clear by the pretender why he had indicated he thought it had been something caused by a bomb and may have been an attack when it had really been a case of negligence.

August 9, 2020

It Will Go Away by Itself

A lot of people are not afraid of the coronavirus. Their attitude seems to be, "what will be will be!" I began thinking what would happen if everyone had bad attitude. It's my opinion that The Pretender's idea that it would go away is probably correct! The following is strictly conjecture, imagination, and my opinion. It's my idea of what might happen if nobody paid any attention to the virus. If work continued that normal, if life continued as normal, if business continued as normal, what would be likely to happen.

At first, a great many people will become ill. They won't pay much attention to it feeling that it may be just a little flu! They will continue as they have been living as usual. Many of these people will become more ill and need to be hospitalized. In the hospital, they may get better, and resume their lives where they had left off. Many of the people may get more sick and made more care. These may get well, or eventually die. I believe the people that get well have become immune to the virus from that point, possibly for a short time or for forever!

Many people may be already immune and even though they have contacted people that could have infected them they did not get infected. Many people become infected but show no signs of it. They can infect others, but they get well.

There comes a time when the number of people becoming infected is enormous. The hospitals may become overwhelmed and may not be able to take care of the people that need hospitalization. Via triage, they may be informed that newcomers cannot be treated and must return to their homes. Those at home will, therefore, be on their own. They were either get well or die.

There may come a time when the people who are being infected or dying are so many that business begins to suffer and probably slow down, or even shut down. Many people may overwhelm the mortuaries and either be frozen or buried en masse in the hurriedly-dug pits and those pets covered with bulldozers.

There will surely come the time when the number of people becoming infected will lessen because there were just not be enough left of the infected ones to provide the infections. At this time the number of people getting infected will lessen, the people becoming ill will lessen, and the people dying will dwindle to the point approaching zero. This is the point where people will begin to see the so-called light at the end of the tunnel. All the bad numbers will begin approaching zero, and the virus will evaporate of its own accord.

Throughout that all, much hope and expectation has been going on concerning a virus that many health organizations are working on. This will ultimately arrive perhaps after the virus has wrung itself out. Nevertheless, people will be happy because life can now be resumed and the virus can be used if it shows up again.

There may come a time when the pretender can make a public announcement saying, "There, didn't I tell you the virus would disappear; the virus would go away like magic; the virus was never anything that we should have been concerned about!"

I need to apologize for the words, "hurriedly-dug pits and those pits covered with bulldozers." These words should not be used in the United States! Unfortunately, this is the term I felt would be necessary in this post. If you are offended, you have my permission to use the words, hurriedly dug graves and those graves ceremoniously buried with all due dignity and honor!"

August 9, 2020

Classrooms Teaching Will Not Work!

This is my personal opinion: Most classrooms for teaching will not work! Classrooms in buildings are too small to be safe! Let me repeat that classrooms in buildings are too small to be safe! With normal ventilation, they will be breathing the same air as everybody else for long periods of time. All it will take for several students to be infected with the coronavirus is one student who is infectious. It could even be the teacher!

I suppose, I should allow for some special situations. I'm not talking about a rural area in the state that is not greatly populated, where no one is infected with the coronavirus, no one is ill, no one is in the hospital, and no one has died. If this is the situation, I would agree it is perfectly safe for kids and their teachers to be in a classroom as they have always been.

If in the unlikely situation, the school is brand-new, was built with a coronavirus in view, has dusts that are separated widely apart allowing only a dozen or so students in the classroom, and has a ventilation system that changes the air continuously, I would think that place would be all right also. But how many places are there like this?

I can't offer a suggestion as to what should be done in teaching kids if classrooms are not being used. Perhaps, electronic teaching could be a solution. Or, home instruction could be used. I don't have a strong belief that either solution would be completely acceptable, but might do a small part of the job.

I might even think that just waiting for the pandemic to have been crushed would be the best resolution. In the meantime, they might be browsing through books on the subjects that they are missing. After the pandemic has gone away, the kids might be as much as one or two years older and people might wonder whether harm could be done. In childhood, perhaps age is only a number. If it takes two years for the pandemic to go away, what would be wrong with the kids picking up where they left off even though they are two years older? Yes, they have not experienced the socializing that kids do! This is probably true, but wouldn't it be better to have a kid at home who has poor socializing skills than a dead one! If with poor skills, those could be worked on as the kid matures!

Bottom line: classroom teaching, no! It simply won't work! I don't think it will take a long time for those who try it to find this out for themselves within a few weeks!

August 9, 2020

Pretend, Pretend, Pretend!

The negotiations for another bill to help people who are struggling to live their lives despite the pandemic, has broken down. The pretender is trying one of his tracks to make it seem like it was and he who caused this. He has announced for presidential actions to fill the need!

The bad news about what he did is that it was all a sham! Most of it is pretend, and pretend, pretend, and pretend! Nothing that he did will be shown to be effective. Some of what he may have attempted to do may be harmful to those who need the help; some may be unconstitutional; and most of the rest is probably pretend, pretend, more pretend, and pretend.

It's a trick! It's a sham. He even wants the states to provide some of the money for which he has taken the actions. Where are the state supposed to get that money? Most of the states have overspent in their attempts to control the pandemic. What he argued for was pretend!

Some of what he argues for does not give anything at all. It simply delays payment. How will those who need help now will only be asked to make payments at a later time?

Meanwhile, he will be pretending that the reason negotiations broke down was because the Democrats were bargaining in bad faith. It is still several months before an election will be held and even longer before a new president can be installed. How are the people that need help exist during the 90 or more days before the election and during the additional days before we get a new president? I have no idea, and I have no suggestions for what the Democrats can do with the situation.

I believe when people really begin feeling the pinch, they will demand action, and not just for one party, but for both. In either event, I don't believe The Pretender has gained a great deal by what he is doing!

August 10, 2020

The Vice-President Candidate

Yes, this is a guess, but it's an easy one. Biden will select Susan Rice! All signs point in that direction. I think Biden has already made the decision, but is choosing the best day this week to announce his decision.

Why Susan Rice? All the candidates at very capable! Because he announced long time back it was going to be a woman. And — it has to be a black woman! There are two such women, and Susan Rice is the more charismatic!

But, — this does not mean the other possible candidates are being rejected! I'm sure they have already been told they are not it, but have been promised key positions in the new administration!

The selection will cause a high spike for Biden in the polls. A tweet storm by The Pretender against the selection will sound like a fierce thunder storm!

August 10, 2020

Huge Gatherings

The huge gathering of motorcyclists in Sturgis South Dakota is extremely disturbing! Why have the leaders of South Dakota permitted this? The assembly is not only hugely stupid, but also reckless leading to many deaths. And, the bikers will carry the virus back to there home towns — 250,000 carriers in all!

I should think that when these individual arrive back home, they will be required to quarantine, mandatory, and monitored!

Note: I don't have anything against motorcyclists! I was one before many years before I lost the ability to climb onto one. I still have a lovely red Honda two-cylinder with 400cc and Hondamatic in the garage.

August 10, 2020

A Tsar For Leadership

One of the greatest blunders for which The Pretender has committed is failing to designate a leader to deal with virus. He has no leadership talents himself so might have though that a leader should be designated. He or she would be titled, "Tsar" in the style used by other presidents; especially Franklin D. Roosevelt in connection with World War II. The Tsar would absolute authority in determining what needed to be purchased or constructions, what social rules to follow, and much more. Our nation has suffered greatly because for a lack of a leader!

It's my belief The Pretender did not do this is because he was in a state of denial. He did not want to legitimize that a there was an emergency requiring a leader! I don't think I'm stretching the truth if I declare that during his regime, he was interested only in getting re-elected and golf!

And why did he want to be in the role of President anyway. I don't want to say now. Maybe when his tax returns become available, we'll all know at the same time!

August 11, 2020

Making the Stock Market Go Up

The pretender brags that he makes the stock market go up! I began investing in 1955 and thought I had discovered that nobody controls the stock market! That it has a life of its own!

Nevertheless, I may have learned something I didn't know. I read about it in the children's nursery rhyme, Sing a Song of Sixpence. In the third verse are these words:

"The King was in the counting-house

counting out his money."

That's it! The King — Trump — was in the White House, not only counting his money, but also making the stock market work! Some days he makes it go up; some days he makes it go down; but only he knows which, and only he knows when!

August 11, 2020

Biden's Selection of Running Mate

It has been announced today that Biden has selected his running mate. Some days ago I guessed it would be Susan Rice. Some talk-persons on TV thing the decision may be announced as soon as today. I don't think so, but I think it may be as soon as tomorrow. I believe it will be Susan Rice. Biden wants to select someone he can work well with. Susan Rice is one of those persons. So is Kamala Harris. I believe it will surely be Susan Rice. I also believe that, Rice knows she will be appointed as Secretary of State!

I believe whichever woman is selected will someday be vying for the presidency. One of them would surely be elected as the first woman president in the United States! What could be better for the nation than for the first woman president to be a black woman!

I believe that when Biden announces the individual he has chosen, he will also be announcing the advent of the first woman president. The woman he chooses will undoubtedly be a candidate for the presidency next time. And that next time could be set as soon as four years from now!

August 11, 2020

Putin's Vaccine

Russia has announced it has produced a new vaccine which is ready to be used now. It has been named Sputnik, something or other, in line with the first satellite the USSR put into space many years ago.

It's obvious The Pretender will jump on this announcement saying he wants the United States to start using it at once, immediately, without wasting a moment!

I don't put much credence into this announcement. It just doesn't make sense! To this point doctors in the United States have been indicating it will require a great deal of testing before a vaccine can be released for general use. I believe that! I also believe what Russia has been announced cooked up by Putin and the pretender. I believe there is no such vaccine ready to go.

If the pretender speaks later today, I'm confident he will announce this news with great glee and suggest we began using it at once. If I were to be asked for my advice, I would say, "Don't you believe it!"

August 11, 2020

What the Choice Means

Kamala is a wonderful choice. I thought it was going to be Susan Rice. I was wrong, but Susan won't be left out in the cold. She may be named Secretary of State!

The choice is important for another good reason. Biden chose a person who had scolded him during the campaign about bussing. "That little girl was me!" It shows how unlike he is from The Pretender. Biden does not hold grudges! The Pretender is famous for "hitting back with ten times the force!" The contrast will be emphasized over and over!

I think this event clinches the election! Can there be doubt now? No, The Pretender does not like to lose. He will not take this lying down. I think there will be a storm of tweets! I think he will make it seem has suddenly become the Devil incarnate!

August 12, 2020

First Steps

There are so many first steps with the new administration, it's difficult putting them in any kind of sequence. Here are some that come immediately.

Successfully leading our nation out of the pandemic morass we are in.

The new administration should try to repair the damage The Pretender has done to the our relationship with our allies overseas!

Also the damage made to race relationships.

Stop the outrageous killing of black individuals.

Also the shootings in schools, churches, concerts, etc.

Improve the share of the wealth generated by our nation. Our population has come to the point where people live from paycheck-to-paycheck, need bailouts when emergencies happen, also food banks! People even need to work at more than one job just to keep going, and more than one member in the family working. This is outrageous. How did our country get this way?

Our nation needs to resume making things; the best in the world as we used to do!

Placing attention to infrastructure badly needs.

Improving Obama Care so people won't have to worry about having to go bankrupt over a sudden unexpected emergency.

There is more. Yes, all this will cost a great deal of money, but it's doable. All the above activity and more will act as a huge economic stimulant.

