The Queen is Dead

I have no goats in that rodeo but the Monarchy will continue with its patronage and lineage in tact as Britain goes forward to be great Imperialist nation it always has been. And with that I still look at all the world problems and see a direct link to Britain as the one Country whose hands have been in the puddings of all the colonies they dominated and in turn left more damage in their wake as they walked off with millions in the Bank of England, which like the Church is State controlled. It is how the Federalists see America as in the future. A leader that is both the head of State and Church, that the States self govern and the President is largely a figurehead whose job is secure as it is passed along through lineage and patriarchy, that voting thing is just for the local yokels who will have even less say on running their own States and Cities thanks to endless gerrymandering and legislation to ensure that the power remains in the “right” hands. Cromwell where are you now? ** look at the history of Cromwell and how he dissolved the Rump Parliament as in his view they were a sea of liars. And with that a replacement group were selected by their religious piety. Wow sounds not unlike the Boris Johnson years. Or the Trump years as history has a way of transcending both time and place. Again Cromwell was appointed/selected as the “lord protector of the realm” The piety of religion never ends frankly. Our current Congress is hot mess of incompetence on a good day and they are often evoking a religious fervor in the same manner. And hence that may explain January 6th. Again the parallels of Cromwell not lost.

This past week I was in Washington D.C. the center of power and of Democracy and with that as I walked the streets I got in ways I had not until I went there with the only agenda to try to learn about my Country in a new way. And thanks to Socialism you can! Yes all the Museums and Gallery’s are free to enter and they offer quite a perspective and history lesson on what defines America. I did not see or note much religion as a notation but I have a funny aside when it comes to discussing Religion I had a massage by a Brazillian woman who migrated here and is moving to California next year for reasons I was unclear but it seemed to vent her ire about the liberal policies of the State while espousing the fantastic conservative ones of Virginia where she lives and commutes into DC for work. Aside from confirming what I have long said, that many Immigrants are largely conservative and prefer the policies and stated beliefs of the Republican party it shows how little they know when they live and work in the shadow of Democracy, a liberal concept if any. And with that anytime I mentioned living in the South and finding the Conservative policies largely mired in Religion she changed the subject and with that I have two series injuries that I suspect were intentional. Was she a religious kook? I have no idea but that I have a bad bruise on my clavicle should make one wonder.

And as I wandered about DC I met some amazing locals, all Black and all long standing residents who work for the Government or had at some point as it is very six degrees of separation when it comes to that throughout the city. One of my observations was that essence of the air, the very streets seemed to posses an aura that was intoxicating, like the most powerful “crack” that permeates the skin and explains to some level what happens to one when they arrive with all their beliefs and appointments in place. It is a heady drunk that one could see easily becoming addicted to and again explains why so many of our Representatives in Congress are so useless. They feel destined if not mandated to behave utterly inappropriately and arrogantly in the same way Charles assumed the throne yesterday following his mothers death. The chain of command is well established and in place throughout history and little changes other than the names. And I have always believed that was Trumps fascination not the Authoritarianism that you see in Hungary, although I do believe there are many many Republicans that advocate such a system as this new crop of crackpots seem to have a fetish for. But it was that significant moment, that action and reaction that enabled, that drew them into the idea of being elected as once they too had whiff of the intoxicating air, after hand to hand combat and battling in the streets to enter the most hallowed chamber of Government, it had to be surreal and empowering in ways that bring us here to this state of chaos.

When I met many of the local residents, or at least all the faces of color, I had a better perspective if not understanding of how Politicians are seen in D.C. They are not viewed through the same lens we have, they have a much closer birds eye one and while they are dependent upon them for work they are not special or different as there are a parade of them that walk through those chambers and along those streets over time and with that they can see whatever power they have assembled can be gone in an instant. So the reality is that many of them, families included are looked upon with amusement if not disdain. I met a woman at the Visitors Center (which many locals had not heard of and yes folks it is by the White House and set up by Jacqueline Kennedy to provide insight into the families and history of those who moved in and out of that esteemed home on the hill. It is well worth a wander) who had much to say about the varying occupants who have passed her on the way in and out of said house. She expressed disdain that the Obama’s did not leave and stayed in DC, not returning to Chicago to bring cache and of course leadership, jobs and mentoring as promised. In fact we wondered what the purpose was as he no longer lived there and running said foundation from a distance seem odd but she felt that they were always aware of being part time occupants (as they all are frankly and you can see why Trump took it hard) and with that were not able to give up the position so easily as in DC they would be still be more famous and respected than in the Windy City. She said that they were notorious party people and with that were also out and about to all the “in’ spots. So again I get it, I really do. That is hard to give up. With that she had little good to say about anyone other than Trump. I found that interesting as she is not the only face of color who sings his praises. She said he was always on his own, only went to his hotel (which I have been too now renamed but I saw the original structure before he remodeled it and it was hideous and is pretty fantastic. The only thing changing is the main restaurant) and never was with anyone, almost always on his own. Interesting as I thought where was Melania. And she said that unlike many First Ladies she too was not seen much nor their son. And with that the trashing of the Clinton’s, Reagan’s and even Lady Bird Johnson (LBJ was praised but also commented as a philanderer) which none shocked me given what I had read over time, but Lady Bird was given the recent podcast of her tapes and her recordings of her that had a concentrated effort of her policies and desires at the time which seemingly have gone either unnoticed or disregarded. It appears that perhaps those were done to remake her image and legacy when time passed and memories fade. Hard to know as I had no sense of her as a Woman or First Lady until that podcast, but this woman’s words I felt may have substance as I did agree with regards to both Hilary and Nancy. And while I still to this day would have felt Hilary would have been a better President than Trump, I can point to Biden as true that. I never liked Biden and with that the recent story in the The New Yorker Magazine about his own revisionist history, does not shock. The ambition and intoxication of power is the headiest of drug.

And that brings me to the gossip portion of this post. And yes folks I did go to the National Art Gallery, the Gallery of Portraits (which has Trump’s being overlooked by a smirking Nixon portrait done by the folk artist Norman Rockwell) and of course the African American Museum which will of course be closed once Trump gets re-elected as frankly there is your Critical Race Theory in 3D. It is an amazing dedication to the role of Black Americans throughout the building of America and their contributions to all what we so appreciate in the concept of the American ideal – creativity, imagination, perseverance, dedication and intellect. And with that it defines the role of Slavery and the exploitation of Black Americans who came unwillingly and were imprisoned, exploited and murdered all in the pursuit of money and wealth. Yeah it takes a day or two to get through it and you will not come out of it without perspective. Irony that on Wednesday the day I left, the Obama’s were at the White House unveiling their official portraits that will hang in the White House (the gallery hangs a different set for the first families and are considered more informal and in a way more reflective of the individual and it will hold the two portraits currently on tour and are great btw) and with that the relationship of the Biden’s with the Obama’s was another issue of commentary and reflection by many I met who again have no kind words about either in some way or another, other than Michelle who no matter where one goes gets raves. She left a mark in ways other than it appears only Jacqueline Kennedy can compare.

And so back to my Biden gossip. I met a fantastic young woman in a local bar there and we had a great conversation and laugh and she met the infamous Hunter during Dad’s time as VP. She and friend were at the Capital Grill and having drinks when he came in and joined them at the bar. Outgoing and friendly he bought them drinks and invited him over to his place. They did not realize who he was and did not ask his last name and with that they drove out to the Biden mansion. She did not see the ballroom as the article linked mentions. But there he asked if he could smoke crack and proceeded to do so, asking them to join them. They refused and said they needed to leave and with that he offered to get them home, they again refused that, wisely so and with that found a cab to get them back to DC. My first thought was: Does he have a Black Fetish and assume that because they were Black and would be open to that or he was truly a fucked up lost soul and felt safer with Black women as well they are least judgemental about that. I have no clue and she did not think that but that he was truly an addict and had no concept of boundaries. That would be also true and that being the son of a powerful man has a sense of entitlement that would disconnect him from what is appropriate versus not. All White House families have a blacksheep and in my discussion at the Visitors Center we did laugh at the varying ones who have been paraded through that home. There was Jimmy Carter’s brother Billy, Rodger Clinton and even Jack Ford, the son of Betty and Gerald was a bit of a roue back in the day. And of course the President’s themselves have their own issues with that as well, including FDR, JFK and LBJ making one think having initials as moniker is not a good thing.

History is as complex and as dirty as we wish to make it. I was again surprised at the Trump accolades, which seem to be all over the map and while almost all agree he was nuts we all agree he is coming back like Grover Cleveland. Cleveland is the only president in American history to serve two non-consecutive terms in office. And he got married in the second one, his one wish that he always wanted, LOVE. So hey.

And with that I want to point out that crazy conspiracy theories, delusional thinking and weird beliefs are not just the provenance of white folks. During my tour of the AA Museum there was an exhibit to the former Cabinet Secretary, Ben Carson, noting his accomplishments as a Physician, with nothing about Trump mentioned. I was standing there shocked and with that two women said, “We just pretend that we did not know that either.” And with that we laughed and moved on as it is better to remind oneself of the good one does over the bad at times. And that Museum is laden with info both good and bad so you can remind oneself of that despite it all we are all here today sharing in that knowledge.

And when I came home I was reminded of that ignorance is wilful and with the discussion about Nixon and Trump in my laugh factor given their portraits, a young Black woman who works in the building informed me that Trump had done more for Black people than Obama and that Nixon came up with Father’s Day as a holiday in 1972 to hide his war on Black people aka the War on Drugs. (Father’s Day is not a federal holiday and with that it was around unofficially since 1910 so what Nixon did was federally recognize the day as one of significance) And she proceeds to show me some YouTube dude who has made that a fact. Well I agree that the War on Drugs was a war on Black people but Father’s day a false flag? Okay, bit of a reach but hey whatever! I did not bother to ask her to substantiate the Trump claim as that is time I don’t need to waste. She is also strongly anti vacc, a colorist, which equally disturbs me even more so now given my visit to the Museum, and has other odd views that again shows an ignorance fueled by the interwebs. This is America and we have Q’Anon folks that has contributed to much of the current state of affairs. So who am I to criticize.

My train trip home was joined by my local Senator, Menendez who has had his own issues regarding corruption and currently his son is running for our local rep here in Jersey City. The idea that it is only Royalty that has Birthright is not lost. So politics corrupts absolutely but with that I felt that DC deserves better and more. They need statehood and representation and with that they also need to allow people to live there and can afford to do so who work there and keep those offices and museums alive for us all to visit. They are free, your Socialist government in action.

K-Bye

Dr Anthony Fauci is retiring or not. About a month ago he announced he was “considering” retiring, then this week he confirmed that he is in fact leaving in December. What a great gig that you can announce you are thinking of retiring, then announce it and four months later do so. None of the other Pubic Health Officials left office with a six month time frame in which to continue to collect salary and benefits all while being a lame duck and ostensibly doing what? Quiet Quitting?

I have loathed Fauci for decades and I think Larry Kramer called it decades ago about who he is and what his role in Government is – A Bureaucrat with a medical title/degree. And with that I am not the only one who has issues with Fauci, as this article in Vanity Fair discusses some of the issues that surround Fauci, his secretiveness along with his love of the press. And with that he is mentioned in the book by Michael Lewis, The Premonition, which discusses the early Pandemic Team, called Red Dawn. assembled in a very ad hoc manner and with that their numerous conversations held online with Fauci listening in but not identifying himself to any of the partners. Really? In interviews he said he never paid attention to their emails. Okay then. And numerous mentions of his partaking in White House meetings not wearing a mask. Well again that goes along with his numerous contradictions and endless walk backs during the crisis. And the chaos and idiocy that resulted as a result of the politicking and overall incompetence by the White House that enabled if not provided the star making power of Fauci, who frankly I still question about the funding of Eco Health. But in those early days his constant if not omniprescent talks to media were a comfort to many. I ignored him, found a Biologist and immediately understood what was going on and early on realized the virus parallel to Whooping Cough down to 1:4 spread. So I masked inside and took care of all my own business. I did not wash things down but I was careful when out and about to wash my hands immediately after contacting public surfaces as no one was quite sure how live this was. And I watched many panic and of course fall and yes die. So I was not untouched nor unaware nor believing a word Trump had to say. I can loathe and distrust Fauci the same way I loathed Birx and Redfield, largely because they are Evangelical Christians but they too were equally inept during this time.

We may never know the origin of the virus or how it truly began to transmit outside the lab in Wuhan and with that the less said the less mended. But Fauci’s role in the that lab cannot be overlooked, nor his role with Big Pharma and consulting with all people Bill Gates in the early days about this subject. Why he consulted an man with no medical degree or science background is bizarre if not absurd. And again this made the politics and optics worse for many who believe in crazy conspiracies. That was another issue that cannot be ignored, Gates should never been consulted. But when I agree with Rand Paul that his questioning Fauci is egregious as it resulted in death threats says that Fauci feels above the law (hmm who else thinks that way?) and really anyone in Government should know that the door to that kind of bullshit is possible. Hell they do it to the morons on Big Brother, so shut the fuck up Fauci, and answer the questions with honesty and consistency, of which he has a problem. And yet that kind of behavior is met with utter acceptance and tolerance., which again makes it about politics and less about science.

I agree that we still have a Covid crisis and it has been badly handled from day one to now 907 days in. I started my timeline March 1, 2020 and this is the LA Times version. We have vaccines that are impervious to the new variants, of which I have now lost track. The CDC admits is an organization badly run and administered and with that Fauci now retiring perhaps we can actually find out what went on in the NIH that enabled him to be the most highly paid public official in Government. Really?

I have never been wrong about my feelings about Covid, the mishandling of it and even today I am not sure what is going on. I am getting my second booster as I consider it a marginal protection in the same way the Flu shot is and with that I will hope for the best, continue to mask and ventilate in the public schools as they are dumps and very little of that is frankly a healthy enviro in the best of times so at least it reduces me catching anything. I hate those schools and for the first time the kids within them so I will never stop socially distancing. Again the most misleading phrase ever, it is PHYSICALLY distancing why the rebrand? Was that Fauci?

I can loathe Fauci but then again I had resources and the ability to rely on those who were helpful and practical when I needed it. I laugh to this day the fucking asshole while I was sitting drinking coffee at the High Line and he stopped, stopped in front of me to ask if I forgot my mask. I pointed to the coffee next to me on the bench and to my mask sitting next to it; it said “Kindly Fuck Off” And with that he began to comment and I simply waved my mask at him. This was the insanity of the days of Covid where you actually believed it was transmissible by air outdoors and by touch. And then audacity to confront people which is another contradiction, it raises the bar for contraction. Keep moving folks. The panic and hysteria only fueled by the endless “follow the science” which changed more than Covid variants. Science is not a light switch. Recall the outdoor banning, the curfews at night as if during the day Covid was a lesser threat. Gosh packing people out at 8-5 on the limited streets as they also closed all the parks, golf courses and gyms was a smart idea, while dealing with the concept of public health and the need to be fit. Never been held accountable on that either.

It was insane and that Fauci who access to all the “science” seemed to not know this. In fact it was months and Fauci never commented on that CDC news dump on a Friday when the finally admitted it was airborne, but still believing it was highly transmissible once outside. Okay then. And with that we have never seen actual studies breaking down masking and effectiveness. Well I have, in of all places the Wall Street Journal and sure enough no mask among all parties, 30 minute max exposure. Which is not exceptional when it comes to virus transmission. But then they had it living for what 14 days? Now it is 5 and yet the virus has evolved so how would they know this? They don’t. Or are the rebound positives by both the President and First Lady just an anomaly? And are you still contagious? Maybe that 10 day quarantine is not a b bad idea after all or these tests are not reliable at all. Remember the false idea that you could NOT be asymptomatic and pass Covid. Hmm another false notion. And with that many lives lost as a result.

It was too many cooks in the kitchen on this one. They, being the “Scientists”, know as much as they did day one, which is not much. And with that another expression comes to mind, “Too many Chief’s not enough Indians” problem. I cannot recall how many spokesmodels auditioned for the Covid Authority from local Governments and Public Health Officials that have passed through that revolving door on their way to riches and fame or just well to another office somewhere where they continue doing what they do best and that seems to rely on the CDC. The only disease that was data driven and with that it too was a massive failure due to that inconsistency factor. Fauci not the only one. The First mistake of many in this pandemic. Stop blaming Trump he is gone now and we need to start looking at this in the present tense. And that Fauci is leaving right after the fall midterms is not lost on me as I suspect another commission being held on this. Hell they do these for all kinds of bullshit such as Emails, suicides, killings or just cause they can and I feel Covid will be one one the list. And this is how careers are made or lost.

And with that Big Pharma made out well, very well. We still do not have a workable vaccine for current strains, there are few getting children vaccinated and the booster program is to say the least mildly effective. This again falls to Politics and my Liberal cohorts right now threatening to kill me in the same way the Conservative ones did over Dr. Anthony Fauci.

We allow no differentiation of thought or belief and with that we are still at March 1, 2020, confused, angry and frightened. Both Presidents have contracted Covid, as did their Wives and it appears that both survived, how they fared is the difference as since that time we have some treatments that seem to work. The quarantine time is shorter and recovery is better but for many long term Covid will be another hurdle of which we won’t knock down or fly over any time soon, given our history. I will be happy to see the back of Fauci, and he can take with him Bill Gates, Andrew Cuomo, RFK Jr and the rest who seemed to use to push a personal agenda be that financial or political. That is a disease for which there is no cure.

A Memorial

This marks a year from the death of George Floyd, in that same year 965 others who were killed at the hands of Police, some known some not. We need to know their names as well.

And with that I will say that Police Reform in some States has moved forward while the federal reform promised has stalled as the issues surrounding the rise of gun violence, crime and physical assaults on people of color and of faith has risen as well, making everyone still angry, still afraid and still looking for answers.

I don’t think anyone in this country reads anything. I have said that my loathing of Millennials leads me to have a cognitive bias towards that Generation as they are very demanding of safe spaces and in mandating change yet few of them seem to have ever read a history book, picked up a newspaper or read a journal that covers said issues in detail. To note I was discussing Feminism and a young millennial declared Camile Paglia, her Feminist idol, (a farce given her views she is not), so when I referred her to an current article about Camille Paglia, who is now Trans and still not a Feminist, (odd) said: “That is a lot of words could you just sum it up for me with the important part.” I refused and said, “Try reading, you may learn something.” Not the first time I have had that discussion with that group, proffering articles and magazines and knowing that they are tossed aside upon my departure. The young man keen on getting into my pants was discussing this very issue of Police reform and I gave him an article from the NYT to review. He never discussed it and then wondered why I was not ever going anywhere with him. Truly what would our convos other than him touching my hair or commenting about me getting laid would we have? Oh yeah the part about what he wants on his sammie after he is done servicing me.

And with that the barometer of how I feel about sex and sexuality is my own and I would never presume, just like my own Atheism, that anyone has to agree with me nor even understand its history, but just treat me with respect and know that I have come to these places with full knowledge and time spent working through it. This folks is what is called “my truth.” And for many all of this is an ongoing learned process through encountering others not like you, reading and more importantly taking the time to do the work. Name me three millennials who do. Yeah, me neither. So the protests for George Floyd, were in my mind for all the thousands who have come before and since.

And with that we now are coming to day 438 of Covid Theater, the drama never ends even as we begin to resume to normal. There will be mass evictions I suspect and despite the demand for employees we are seeing fewer return to the work force by choice due to the low wages and crappy working conditions that existed prior to the pandemic. The exodus from the cities will continue and the debate about a centralized workplace will also be examined as this is not simply a light switch that turns back on. Even Biden is considering making some Government positions to permanently remain off site. Again he never ceases to amaze me each day.

And what about Covid itself, will we ever get the answers and the truth about the virus? Yes and no. We still have quite a large failure on the part of the Trump Administration to acknowledge their failures regarding this among many, don’t look for a January 6th commission anytime soon, so it will largely become a project I suspect for scholars to analyze with regards to the mistakes and severity of it all in decades to come. But the real truth, the origin of the virus itself is coming to light. I early on communicated with a Biology Professor who was sure that it was not Zooinotic and that it was an airborne flu-like virus that was almost random in the way it affected individuals who contracted it and at that point they were unclear as to the length and distance it traveled and remained in air. Since then we have decreased the space between people from 6 to 3 and the time frame was once considered 30 minutes now due to variants sits at 15. The CDC has finally acknowledged it is airborne and admitted well into the pandemic it was not tactile, that asymptomatic transmission is possible and yes folks being outdoors is the least likely way to contract Covid. Poor ventilation, air circulation, veracity of the virus in the host and close, prolonged contact is the source which again months spent on cleaning and other bullshit means, such as temp taking and erecting barriers did nothing to actually STOP THE SPREAD.

There is now clear information coming out that the lab in Wuhan as early as November 2019 had cases of two workers with the same symptomatic illness and in turn hospitalized. This is from Pro Publica’s research and collection of information regarding Covid.

Early in the pandemic, President Donald Trump and some scientists speculated about the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 was created and accidentally released by Chinese virologists doing some sort of research. That hypothesis was quickly and vehemently dismissed by the scientific establishment, which noted that the genetic makeup of the virus showed no signs of human tampering. I encouraged several ProPublica reporters last year to poke around on a slightly different theory: What if the beginnings of the pandemic were the result of a lab accident in which scientists studying the characteristics of coronaviruses inadvertently became infected with a wild virus and spread it to others. Lab leaks are far more common than one might think and have occurred in the U.S. elsewhere. Our reporting turned up some officials who shared that suspicion. But none could offer any direct evidence that it had happened. This situation is among the least favorable arenas for investigative reporting — a debate in which all sides are drawing conclusions from minimal evidence released by a foreign government renowned for its tight control over information. The credibility of the lab leak theory wasn’t helped by the breathless coverage by Trump-supporting media outlets that took as given China’s culpability. We moved on, but, partly based on my experience reporting on germ warfare, I continued to believe that a lab accident was one possibility among many that would explain the pandemic’s origins. In the year since, theories about the virus originating in a lab have gained traction, even among those who initially doubted it. A growing number of scientists feel China was less than transparent in its recent dealings with a visiting World Health Organization team that was attempting to gather evidence on the beginnings of the pandemic. In a May 14 letter to Science magazine, 17 prominent researchers from around the world called on the WHO to look more closely at the lab theory. “We must take hypotheses about both natural and laboratory spillovers seriously until we have sufficient data,” they wrote. “A proper investigation should be transparent, objective, data-driven, inclusive of broad expertise, subject to independent oversight, and responsibly managed to minimize the impact of conflicts of interest.” Days later, Harvard’s Marc Lipsitch, one of America’s most respected epidemiologists, added his name to the letter. “There just aren’t any answers yet, one way or the other, about how the coronavirus that’s now ravaging the world began,” Lipsitch told WBUR, a Boston radio station. “What we are saying is that the existing evidence has not ruled out a laboratory origin, nor has it ruled out a natural origin. And there’s really no positive evidence, either. It’s just pretty much a lack of evidence right now.” The absence of facts fueled a frenzy of internet speculation, a fair amount of which has focused on the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a government-funded lab. To conspiracy theorists, it cannot have been a coincidence that China happened to be doing research on coronaviruses just a few miles from where the pandemic broke out. The head of the institute, Dr. Shi Zheng-li, reminded me of many of the dedicated scientists I interviewed for the book “Germs.” Press accounts portray her as someone deeply committed to the battle against microbes. After China was hit by the SARS coronavirus in 2003, Shi led teams of researchers into caves to capture and take samples from bats that might be harboring more dangerous strains of the disease. When an inexplicable outbreak of pneumonia struck Wuhan in December 2019, she worried that a coronavirus had somehow escaped her lab. She told Scientific American that she frantically reviewed records about the genetic makeup of her samples. Li said she was enormously relieved when she learned that SARS-CoV-2 was only 96% similar to its nearest relative at the institute — decades of evolution away from a match. “That really took a load off my mind,” she said in her interview with Scientific American. “I had not slept a wink for days.” The Chinese came up with the now well-known theory for the origin of SARS-Cov-2. It began in bats and jumped to an intermediate animal that was sold at a wet market in Wuhan. Questions quickly arose about that narrative. Chinese authorities had destroyed all of the animals at the wet market soon after the outbreak began, and researchers have never been able to identify the intermediary animal that transmitted the virus to humans. Then, the British medical journal The Lancet published a paper that poked another hole in the wet market theory. It reported that nearly one-third of the people initially treated in Wuhan hospitals, 13 of the first 41 patients, had no link to the market or to one another. The uncertainty about the origins of the pandemic have only deepened over the past year. More facts emerged about Shi’s training, including that she worked with scientists who spliced together coronaviruses, creating the same sort of chimera viruses the Soviet germ warriors were experimenting with back in the 1990s. The 2016 paper documenting that research is now a central element in some of the online conspiracy theories. It had what turned out to be a prescient title. “SARS-like” coronaviruses, it warned, were “poised for human emergence.” The likely source? Chinese bats. As ProPublica President Dick Tofel likes to say, investigative reporting always begins with a question, not an answer. On Sunday, The Wall Street Journal quoted U.S. intelligence reports that three members of the Wuhan institute had become sick in November 2019 and required hospital care for unspecified illnesses. The head of the institute, Shi, has said that all of her lab workers tested negative for exposure to SARS-CoV-2, a result some analysts viewed with skepticism given the prevalence of the virus in Wuhan. The history of germ weapons shows that even eminent scientists can misread the evidence. In the early 1980s, Matthew Meselson, a Harvard geneticist and molecular biologist, disproved allegations that Hmong anti-Communists in Laos had been attacked by a mysterious Soviet chemical weapon known as “yellow rain.” Meselson and a colleague’s inquiry showed it was bee feces. On the other hand, Meselson backed the Soviet cover story that an outbreak of anthrax in the town of Sverdlovsk was due to consumption of contaminated meat. It turned out to be an accident at an anthrax factory. After the fall of Communism, Meselson was allowed to investigate in Russia and concluded that it was indeed a leak from a weapons facility. So where does that leave us? As I’ve watched the theories about the pandemic’s origin wax and wane, I believe more strongly than ever that reporters should begin their research agnostic and remain skeptical as new facts come to light. No story is ever really over. Certainly not this one.

We are a long way from ever knowing the full truth behind the origins of the virus and if it was intended to be a biological weapon, but never in the history of the globe has a virus done this much damage to as many countries at a single moment as Covid has.

I was reading Salaman Rushdie in the Post and he said this: We are not the dominant species on the planet by accident. We have great survival skills. And we will survive. But I doubt that a social revolution will follow because of the lessons of the pandemic. But yes, sure, one can hope for betterment, and fight for it, and maybe our children will see — will make — that better world.

To repair the damage done by these people in these times will not be easy. I may not see the wounds mended in my lifetime. It may take a generation or more. The social damage of the pandemic itself, the fear of our old social lives, in bars and restaurants and dance halls and sports stadiums, will take time to heal (although a percentage of people seem to know no fear already). We will hug and kiss again. But will there still be movie theaters? Will there be bookstores? Will we feel okay in crowded subway cars?

The social, cultural, political damage of these years, the deepening of the already deep rifts in society in many parts of the world, including the United States, Britain and India, will take longer. It would not be exaggerating to say that as we stare across those chasms, we have begun to hate the people on the other side. That hatred has been fostered by cynics and it bubbles over in different ways almost every day.

As I wrote in the post Chrysalis, I am not sure as we emerge from our cocoon’s we are able to fully grasp the seriousness of this pandemic and for those who are still afraid they will continue to be. Those who never took it seriously, never will and so on. I am at odds with most people in the best of times so my contrarian nature found myself living my best life during the early days of the pandemic. Perhaps because I was armed with scientific facts and a knowledge of history, and a well developed sense of personal responsibility I thrived. It was only in the waning days of winter with the endless cold that I became despondent, and with that dropped my “No Compromises” mantra to try to make friends with a Millennial! What was I thinking? But today that is behind me and the light is ahead of me. I believe in the power of science but not of medicine as those are two different worlds to me. The Medical Industrial Complex once again proved to me that it is as dangerous and deadly as any virus and that they are staffed and manned by incompetents whose idea of care is charging more and making you believe that you need it. This is one thing that too must change to go forward. But we shall.

Eye of the Tiger

No, this is not about the Tiger King who is still in jail awaiting a pardon from Trump but more about the mystique behind the stone, that which is to resemble the eye of a Tiger. The idea that it is a stone of protection, which may also bring good luck to the wearer. It has the power to focus the mind, promoting mental clarity, assisting us to resolve problems objectively and unclouded by emotions. Particularly useful for healing psychosomatic illnesses, dispelling fear and anxiety. I am throwing some on immediately!

This week was the endless parade of hysteria surrounding of course Covid, the vaccine rollout, Trump’s endless declarations that he WON (he can stop winning right now, thanks), and of course here on the East Coast the blizzard of death, not to be confused with the one from Dairy Queen. I literally glance at my New York Times front page and may read an article or two that is not about any of those subjects and go right to Arts and Business and natch the Food or Style sections that alternate during the week. Nothing yet on Tiger’s eye but I see it making a comeback, it was popular in the 70s. Which reminds me, that Bee Gee documentary on HBO was excellent and brings again to the forefront the era of Disco that brought equality to the dance floor, opening the club to Gay, Black and Brown folks and of course Women to be their free and flowing selves. Then came the blowback the Disco Sucks movement which now upon reflection was less about the music and more about racism and misogyny. Got it? Get it? Good. We have to realize that the Siamese Twins of American oppression is race AND gender.

And again speaking of the 70s, we have Trump a man in his 70s and Biden a man in his late 70s as the bookends of the year of hell. Great way to end it I think, the end of the power of the aging white man. As I watched the Netflix documentary on DSK, Dominque Strauss-Kahn, the white French version of the American asshole the one thing I learned was that thankfully we Americans are not the only crazy fucked up motherfuckers when it comes to sex and misogyny. Only of late has the French publishing industry come into fire over finally dealing with years of ignoring an awarded and successful author with regards to his predatory sexual abuse of children. Yes, children. If you are interested in this sordid disturbing tale, here is the first of many articles about this Gabriel Matzneff. And much like the American publishing reckoning with Black Lives Matter and other issues surrounding race, the French equivalent is dealing with theirs regarding sexual abuse of minors.

Watching the DSK episode you realize that it is again in the early days prior to #MeToo and in 2012 when I was drugged and left to die, I recall exactly how my male Attorneys, the female Prosecutor and the varying elements of Law Enforcement did NOTHING to help me. The idea, the belief that when you are harmed that the safety nets we have assumed will step in to fill the void, right the right, and fix the wrongs. WRONG – again. They have no vested interest in doing so and we have since that time learned of Bill Cosby over the decades, Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein, the Catholic Church, the Peter Nygards, the Jeff Raniere’s, the fill in the blanks of endless men who have used their position of power and access to wreak harm on women and girls and children for DECADES. The willful ignorance is exemplary in its is sheer level of magnitude across the globe, from royal families to foreign dignitaries, we seem to have a perpetual blind eye to admit their is a problem.

Then add to this the endless abuse towards faces of color with regards to law enforcement, blatantly murdering them on the streets and imprisoning them often without legal justification or conclusive evidence. Two things I do read daily, a story about a black man freed after years of imprisonment over a crime he did not commit or of another murder of a person of color by a cop. Meanwhile the Proud Boys are pulling a Tammy Wynette and standing by their man and bringing violence to the streets without so much as a cuff or taser applied as restraint. Wow, just wow.

What we do not see are the role of women in either those imprisoned falsely or because of drugs and abuse at the hands of men or the role of women who are encouraging if not supporting these men who are running amok in the streets. When I watched the DSK documentary the Prosecutor who dropped the charges on him was a woman. Shocking, I know, not really. Women are used quite frequently as beards in the Prosecutors office to feign concern when in reality few sexual assaults are ever prosecuted. And like their male counterpart they have no interest in getting to the truth or resolving issues, ask my former Prosecutor who has since left office and now is in private practice defending women. How ironic, don’t ya think?

The system is one broken and broken down into two parts – those with money and those without. It is that simple. When I realized that my Attorney’s were only interested in money it was simple to do the one thing and that was hide mine. I knew the outcome would be the same and it was too late to change anything for a fourth time as I had fired the first two Attorney’s, one as he was a no show and and other just drove me nuts and I felt he was truly out of depth and someone I did not like. (Funny I cannot even remember their names) I did not like my last two Attorney’s but they were supposedly skilled and that was my mistake; Lawyers are like shits, you have a big one and the rest are just ordinary but they serve a purpose to rid the body of toxins. And that is our system – toxic.

We have no idea how to fix any of this, well we do but it will require massive collaboration and cooperation and the reality of our culture and our history is that means it will never happen. We are too entrenched in our bubbles, we are afraid, we are too busy trying to survive and we are simply too fucking stupid. Man oh man we are a stupid lot. And with that it makes us easy to manipulate and control. Again Covid has proven that we are the little man behind the curtain of OZ, just wizardry, some angry monkeys, and a bitch on a stick that has been holding it together with super glue and duct tape. I just want to make it out to the other side of this tunnel and survive with my shit together.

Covid Chronicles – The Holiday Edition

With about two weeks left to Christmas and the inevitable third wave or fourth depending on who is counting.. again we had Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day and Thanksgiving. We we warned repeatedly during each to stay long and distant and while Covid spiked in some places it declined in others and round and round we went bringing us all back to ground zero with the same hysterical warnings, the same threats, the increasing numbers of hospitalizations and deaths which have never stopped while all the world’s a stage and we are all players in this macabre scenario that reminds me of the Jerry Lewis telethon of my youth, with the never ending pleading, begging, and tears just to remember the ones being lost to a disease that could be cured. That is what we need America, a COVID telethon! Dolly Parton would be the perfect host as she is already a winner in the Covid Chronicles donating a cool Million to Vanderbilt one of the hospitals working with Big Pharma on the vaccine.

And that is where we are America the roll out of vaccine number one to hot spots in America. Undoubtedly Jared Kushner who really showed his talents and gifts for crisis management during the nascent days with the PPE and Ventilator distribution issues will perhaps hopefully take a backseat on this one and let professionals take over to distribute the drugs to those in need. Remember those days with naval ships arriving in ports, field hospitals being erected in convention centers and the charity tents in public parks? Good times folks as those numbers of cases handled and the outcomes are still in question and the costs have yet to be fully explained on how and why many hospitals remained under utilized while others were maxed out with portable tents in parking lots and refrigerator trucks for the dead left on side streets by dumpsters which became a rather significant marker to explain how we were handling Covid in Phase One.

We have had several months to improve and centralize communications, to figure out how to educate and operate schools, how to handle crowd control and compliance and yet we have done fuck all nothing other than posture and threaten. It is working out great, or not.

The issues of self responsibility continue as now violence has begun on the streets over the failed re-election of the Dr. Frankenstein who has no interest in the continuing crisis and once again Governors are assuming control, co-opting Igor for their own agenda and like the media whore he is he simply pipes in supportive yet cautious remarks which mean nothing except to remind everyone to mask up. I recall that same messaging from him back in the 80’s, no love without a glove or something like that. While I do respect Fauci I feel he is not who we need to reach a younger and more diverse audience especially faces of color and those who are not well into Science. This has been another of the more insidious issues using Fauci and Birx two white Seniors to somehow communicate to the Tik Tok age and find a voice in those larger at-risk groups that are not old folks. Fauci’s recent affirmation with Big Daddy Bully Cuomo to close restaurants with no data to back this up is again another issue across the country in California that evoked the same mandate. There is so little real contact tracing and tracking that few believe indoor dining is the cause and reason behind the uptick when the last stat mentioned by Cuomo was that 76% of the cases were tied to “small gatherings.” Okay so they were where? Homes or in a public place or again the big perp – Churches – where they can no longer mandate closures on thanks to the Supreme Court. Again, here is where religious leaders would be an effective messengers to talk to those about how one can still be a participant in a religious community without the need to congregate in a specific place. But nope, crickets.

So we can keep schools open despite the fact that few educators wish to keep open but the consultants and policy wonks and those parents who hate caring for their kids see otherwise. The constant citing of statements like “falling behind” or the “lost generation” have been used to somehow validate that opening schools and allowing full attendance is the key to something, that something again seems economic in value and not about health and safety of those who work inside said buildings, you know the Teachers and Admins as well as all the other back of the house players who keep schools operating. You know that village thing.

I have always thought it was odd that the only data we ever hear are the positive cases, the number of hospitalizations and deaths. We have no idea how many are tested a day, what the status of thier case was/is and the number of recovered. Europe does provide that but even ages, gender race are not given. If we had a robust contract tracking and tracing we would but we don’t. Jared get on that you must have time on your hands.

The overwhelming failure by our Government be it on the Federal or State level is quite clear and it is why there is little compliance and at times sheer confusion as to what the current protocol is to be on a daily basis with now the incoming Administration adding their two cents further confusing and infuriating the Trumptards.

As for the media they do their best to further lend a voice not needed to the din with their endless stating conflicting studies and data that have not been vetted and tested to the level that should be before reporting. Facts matter and the most bizarre story was one in The Washington Post about South Korea finding a patron who contracted Covid in a restaurant with limited exposure of a scant 5 minutes from another seated over 23 feet away. Really? Of course that story was a rewrite of an LA Times story. No mention in either about possible extenuating circumstances or full examination of the strain verifying it through DNA testing and complete tracking/tracing of all the participants movements, their exposures to others? Wow that South Korea is amazing that is K Pop level shit right there. Or not. The article had no South Korean sources other than a person NOT involved in the study.. okay then. As for the American scientists and doctors contacted had doubt, one saying this:

“The problem that you tend to have is one of missing information,” says Richard Martinello, an associate professor at Yale School of Medicine and a specialist in adult and pediatric infectious diseases.“They may know well what happened within that restaurant,” Martinello adds, “but they don’t know what happened on the sidewalk outside the restaurant. They don’t know what happened back in the kitchen at the restaurant. There are so many other aspects,” including the fact that one in five people infected with the coronavirus will experience no symptoms, but may still spread the virus. But then again there is a story there that will scare the shit out of everyone and in turn validate the latest round of closing just restaurants, but not anything else. I see said the reporter who upon examining his credentials I see his was one with regards to restaurant reviews not science or foreign reporting including failing to list the CDC’s findings on indoor dining. Good job, I like BimBap too!

And if you question any of this you are labeled “histrionic” as that is the man’s way of saying to a woman, “I don’t like what you have to say, it confuses me.” Ah yes my menses is the problem, shame I don’t have menses anymore. The lack of true effective communication is a bigger problem than Covid at this point and it contributes to why few are truly grasping the urgency. And that many rely upon “social” media for information, shame that social distancing can’t be applied to that as well.

I read this report in of all things USA Today about the failures of the U.S. Government from the very early stages of this disease and how the haphazard manner of coordination and control led to what we are now dealing with. There is no way of knowing if better management could of stopped or offset this entirely but there are valid issues surrounding the death toll that clearly is related to this issue.

This says it all:

The virus shouldn’t have been able to sneak up on the United States. The world’s most powerful nation, historically among the most successful at stymieing infectious illnesses, had ample lead time during which the deadly pandemic was rampaging through Asia, and then Europe.

But in an early vacuum of leadership at almost every government level, with the message from the White House that the virus was not anything to worry about, Americans unwittingly spread the lethal virus to loved ones and strangers alike.

The U.S. squandered its early advantage. Roughly one year after the virus first came into existence, the country has suffered a loss of life far worse than any other.

I have written much about Covid and kept up with many studies, theories and stories about the virus, its transmission and the issues about vaccines and efficacy. I am over Fauci but I have been for a long time frankly and would like to see new faces (not celebrities there Cuomo but actual medical professionals) who could message more effectively than another aging white man, second wave fast approaching, January 20th. I also would like real information, better and more comprehensive data in which to understand the who/what/where/when/why. Shouting out numbers like I am in Vegas is not working for me and it is not improving my histrionics in the least. There is no cure for that apparently either.

Martyr or Victim

We are at the stage now in the pandemic and the post-election process to find ourselves on two sides of one argument. The belief that Covid is a serious contagious illness and that being proactive and personally responsible for behavior and actions can reduce the likelihood of contracting the virus and that Trump lost the election and his pouting and antics have done little to resolve, remedy or alleviate the fears about said disease before or since the election. Covid is the cause and the disease. of it all right now in America, the immense divisiveness and the fear and rage that are all the results not of Trump but of Covid ironically masked as political beliefs. I read one more article about how red states and blue states managed the virus I will cough in someone’s face, they all handled it badly and the virus doesn’t give a shit about your politics, your lungs however it can’t wait to attach itself to. Be it red or blue there are many questions about Covid that demand straight answers and true facts and that we will never get. But if you live in Florida that is coming faster than later as they are already finding out that their Governor, Trump diSantis, did in fact lie. Gosh no!

Because Trump downplayed the virus including his own contraction of it and its continued spread throughout the White House and in Congress, he was the archetype and originator of the bullshit peddled and in turn misled many Americans about the severity of Covid and the ultimate reality of how limited our fragile medical care system was prepared to handle any crisis of any kind. As a result, it became a game of chess between States to see which could in fact provide leadership and information to their constituents with the media donning one Governor over another as the bestest ever leading that asshole Cuomo to actually write a book in the middle of the pandemic about how well he handled it. Sure timing is everything and that was some kind of timing as round two, the second wave or the never ending one is back with a vengeance. So the daily scolds, the reprimands and the shouting of lottery numbers have returned to scare folks all under the guise of inspiration and encouraging cooperation. That is working out well… not really.

Despite the promise of vaccines there are still major hurdles to overcome and once again little Igor put his foot in the deep recesses of his mouth criticizing Britain’s approval of one and then only to retract that the next day. Kinda like many of those he did before, from masks to manner of contagion (he was one who said the virus lives on packages) that has done little to endear him to other than screaming liberals who are begging for some leadership that does not come from an elected official. Well good luck with that. And when January comes don’t expect that to change as the obsession with Trump will continue and th media will slavishly devote hours to his post-Presidency and outrageous tweets and posts that will rage on until he dies. And to think Covid is bad. And Fauci like a weed will be there with the new Administration once again warning and waxing on the dangers of Covid while the Bride has perhaps moved into a new lab by then but her scarf collection was pretty fab.

Even the CDC that were slow to the starting block are now free to actually do their job and today insisted that masks indoors when not at home are critical. Wow thanks. Didn’t the Karate Kid have to deal with that? Mask on, Mask Off. Oh wax, whatever same thing. But the reality is that we don’t even get what we are to do with masks when to wear them, how to and what type. This article in the Washington Post explains the Ps and Qs of mask wear, which again explains that they are not perfect but they are part of our new pandemic chic.

That said when you are walking outside it is perfectly good habit but there is little indication that you alone walking on a city street are likely to get infected nor infect others unless you get close, start talking to them and spreading droplets so in other words keep to yourself, mind yourself and in turn those who are not following the protocol means you keep moving on. Actually trying to engage in conversation over this with a scofflaw is putting you at risk and wasting time. When I see someone on public transport spare the face covering I GET OFF and not in fun way. And yesterday the mask debate began with me earlier in the day at the High Line where I asked if I could sit on a bench, drink coffee and have some food and they said yes but once up and walking mask on and try regardless to keep physically distant when both seated and standing. Makes sense and is what I have been doing all this time so I found a sunny spot, sat down with my coffee and my paper and began to read as the walkers kept passing me by until one didn’t. The male version of Karen stops directly in front of me and asks, “Did you forget a mask today?” Okay the patronizing and condescension aside, the park does not allow you in without one, so how did I get there? Then standing less than six feet from the unmasked woman is another odd choice and I responded, “I am drinking coffee is that alright with you?” “Oh I did not see that.” And I said, “well had you you would have seen my mask right alongside it and I will now put it on as it has a special message for you, it says, KINDLY FUCK OFF.” He and his companion with whom he was walking stood there and were of course shocked for a moment as I don’t fit the profile of a white woman with privilege who is not accommodating and apologetic was a new one clearly and he finally responded, “Well I hope you have a better day.” I go, “I will once you fuck off.” Would he have said this if I was a face of color or a man? No. As a woman I am the last bastion of safety for these people to scold, reprimand and verbally abuse. And as I walked out of the park I saw three people a few feet down from where I was unmasked and eating and I wondered if he spoke to them the same way? No, but again safety in numbers perhaps.White men are insatiably hungry for the attention and respect of white women to validate their dick size and place in society it is why the put on the adornments of flack jackets and MAGA hats and accessorize with M-16 as a surrogate symbol of their cock to remind you how much power and authority they have. The problem is that no one ever assumed power that way that was sane.

Covid fear is the new agita and that has enabled many to scream out as if the Zombie Apocalypse is upon them. The woman who verbally abused and targeted me last week was sure I had Covid, carried on and informed the staff of this then came out to wear I was sitting to somehow generate conflict and then furthered her angst by complaining more in the full coffee shop and writing the ultimate in the last word, the YELP review. As a quick review of her few reviews one included and owner berating her for her behavior in her store and informing her to never come back. To YELP she is the bread and butter of their existence and further explains why I have never used the service as there is no point. Can you not do anything anymore independently?

This is now where we are – victim or martyr with many actually pushing boundaries to somehow contract Covid as a right of passage, a symbol of toughness and those who on their dying breaths still tell hospital folks that they did not believe. Okay Santa I get but a fucking virus that is affecting the globe? Are you that ignorant? Yes as many folks don’t read actual news or listen to it, they rely on Facebook or some site that has little journalistic cred but hey whatever the great unwashed are doing I am too, I am special, unique and different, just like everyone else!

As we enter the big kahuna of holiday seasons I suspect this behavior will worsen. I was chatting with the PATH train conductor yesterday about the current situation and we both loved the early days of the pandemic, the streets were clear, the trains empty and people out were behaving well, as in cautious and proactive. Today not so much. He shared with me two tales of recent outbursts, where one man in shorts and flip flops, tan and young wearing a MAGA hat boarded without a mask, was asked to put one on and he refused informing him that the Governor is not the leader of America and cannot order such compliance. (Something tells me, however, when the issue of states rights comes up he is all there in a biscuit) And then proceeded to berate the passengers, many who exited the train as he ran between cars as then the Port Authority had arrived and he was attempting to well avoid them finally requiring them to tackle him to get him out of there. Wow I missed that? Then another man who walks between cars and Lysol sprays anyone not wearing a mask. Well how thoughtful. Sort of like a Priest and the washing of the feet. I wonder if he will molest you later or is that extra?

Martyr or Victim and then when you choose not what do you have? We are society that loves victims and we use their stories and statements in court to further generate sympathy and in turn generate a longer sentence and harder punishment on one who inflicts us pain. And we see Covid that way only that means it comes from a human, a family member, a co-worker or on a package apparently or by someone minding their own business sitting in a park drinking coffee not talking/spreading the virus, or from cats/dogs/tigers or whatever the media has today informed us that is danger danger Paul Revere Covid is coming. It is a virus. Close contact, under ventilated areas or confined areas, failing to follow protocols for safety when handling viruses (yes labs are the ones and hospitals for not actually doing just that) and working with patients and people who work with patients. We are clueless, directionless and we are all just in this alone despite the statements otherwise. I chose to thrive and anyone who comes in six feet of me fear my wrath more than Covid, as I bite.

The Covid Times

The weekly episodic has taken a hiatus for safety reasons and that like the President, America soon will be taking to the bunker to await the arrival of the promised vaccine, ironically or rather significantly from Pfitzer, that took no Governmental monies, is run by an Immigrant and the vaccine was in fact developed by two Immigrants who have a strong personal connection to the CEO and were already ahead of the curve when they heard of the virus emerging in China in January of this year. Yes it will be the ones in cages who will save us. Ah Christianity loves a child funny how that Evangelicals supported a man who put children in cages as one of them may in fact lead us. Maybe that was the problem or fear factor that explained that one… Jesus is white despite being Jew from the Middle East, it must of been regressive genes or something like that. Remember, science has no place in theory or delusion, as it is fact based not mythological in nature. That Bible is a good book folks, as it has a shitload of made up stories to fill quarantine times!

Covid cases are rising and in turn hospitalizations, now if people would stop getting tested and then having the audacity to become sick this shit would pass and then we could focus on more important shit like Trump’s attempt to steal the election. Oh wait wasn’t that the Democrats? From a hearsay story where someone heard something and told someone who then told someone, to a recanted mysterious USPS figure that claims evidence of voter tampering only to recant then recant the recanting, this is just day whatever of this. Like Covid this shit Trump is going to do will go on as long and become something we will become equally fatigued. That said at least the only risk there is that shit will go on as normal way sooner and with less pain. Or not given what side you sit on. And hey what happened to Q’Anon? I guess they are busy stopping human baby trafficking. The recent report and story about the Cardinal and the Pope (buddy movie anyone?) must be one in the Book of Revelations that needs attention. Head to the Church, they are loaded with raging pervs, maniacs and wierdos. Super spreader means many things to those inside the walls of those houses of worship. Another What exactly are they worshiping? I got some ideas. Add them to the White House as one of Covid’s hot spot. It appears that another death can be traced to Trump and of course it’s a Black Pastor. Hmm whose killing more Black Folks? Trump, Covid or Cops? And to think another Pastor has taken a fall for his faith.. oh wait it was for adultery! Shocking, I know. Not really. But there are many fine religious leaders carrying the sword to spread the faith of the Trump Doctrine, once again proving that most “religions” are cults, watch Scientology the Aftermath if confused about that. Season three finale included Jehovah’ Witness folks in the circle of shame of those who were duped by angry old white men to suppress and oppress others in search of money. Hey but the Nxivm dude is in the slammer for this earthtime lifetime and hopefully can share a cell with Harvey Weinstein and swap spit (Covid infected hopefully) and tales of rape and seduction of women for money. Maybe Trump can join you.

I have been reading the Atlant, with E. Jean Carrol, whose current defamation case will be awaiting Trump (along with several others regarding his business/charity/taxes) when he emerges from the bunker. She has been interviewed by the Columbia Journalism Review podcast, The Kicker, and she discusses with the women who have alleged that Trump sexually assaulted them during encounters with him over the years. What I found particularly fascinating is one woman felt it was due to his boredom during a flight leading him to molest her. Explains his odd behavior yesterday at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the weaving, the bobbing, the hands waving and his legendary inability to focus attentively, he is bored. So raping, molesting and abusing women is a great way to spend time and has been an very horrific explanation for his appeal to Latinx men. Not a good look folks given that El Salvador has high rates of Femicide and assault of women. Is this why we put children in cages to punish them for that? And this also explains his appeal to women, that high sexual drive and attraction to the opposite o are “lovers of women.” And again the religious right loathe same sex relationships so this too appeals to them as a safety net to assure them that they are protected. We have a long history of excusing if not justifying the endless of abuse of women as being tough. What.the.fuck.ever.

So how do we move forward into this next year with a cloud of Covid, the MAGA folks, the endless pouting and raging by Trump as he will not go quietly into the good night, and more importantly the faces of obstinate rebuke in place in Congress? We don’t. We will have another year of sheer chaos and confusion. Having lived in Nashville I can assure you that is what America is like. In denial, in permanent state of resignation and some folks who give a shit but are quickly shut down. I cannot forget the reality of stats on domestic violence there, the endless crime and poverty that are intertwined and affects the communities of color there in the same way Covid did. The Tennessean actually did an article covering how the city attempted to cover up the trail of Covid throughout the city, tracing the virus, its origins and how Covid can cross a city by simply one person who goes to the right place at the right time. This is Covid, a virus that doesn’t give a shit. Even David Chappelle laughed on SNL that of all the people who seemed affected by Covid from the outbreak in the White House was Chris Christie as he seemed to be the perfect “type” for Covid, overweight, health problems, from Asthma to Diabetes, a loud mouth that would constantly be talking and spitting is the prototype of Covid victim in the hospital for over a week. Again and Trump recovered? Funny how Herman Cain dies, the Preacher dies within a matter of weeks after exposure. Many events have shown repeatedly tied to Covid and yet again and again, tracking and tracing the individuals and their health has been a challenge. If Nashville can only track the ones in the city tied to the bars and restaurants locally, how can they find those who came from out of state and left with a little something extra in their carry on.

And this will mean the same for the upcoming holidays, Thanksgiving to Christmas and all of those in between. Regardless of one being your family member unless they have been tested, remains in isolation not just quarantine but isolation you have no way of knowing if they are safe and clear to be included. And that applies to every single member of the party. Good luck with that. Time and time again we hear of the mysterious case of individuals who seemingly managed to remain in isolation yet contracted the disease which means they were not. They failed to follow protocol when it came to family and in turn that individual was asymptomatic or simply thought it was a cold when it they began to have some type of symptoms. And through the hoarding of medications and fear and denial Covid is like the political polls that have endlessly failed these past two elections – PEOPLE LIE. And people simply refuse to believe they are contagious or infectious regardless of evidence. Trump is one such individual but the recent World Series showed where Justin Turner acted like an asshole. This is where we are in America. It is not a dangerous place but it is not a safe one.

I used to hear that phrase in Nashville daily, “Stay safe.” I could not get out there fast enough as it drove me nuts as I could not figure out from what I was supposed to be safe from and I assumed it was from black people. Again the crime stats there are truly reflective of that but again my experience was that everyone there was a scam artist, a liar and thief. From the endless damages to my body and soul by my medical professionals at Vanderbilt, the “eviction” to my bullshit with sublets including a rip off there, endless damages to my rental vehicles, to the petty theft from my front porch, the overwhelming harassment I experienced it was from all races in the schools and the irony of it all was they defined themselves Christian. That was the true equalizer – religion. Poverty followed, and in Nashville that fell largely to the black community, so they are the ones who feel the most pain and in turn experience it in ways that explain the violence. I am glad to this day to be here regardless of what happens outside the place I am it is truly for me a safe space.

Resignation

The word has many meanings and with that some connotations about acceptance but with grieve or sadness.

We learn resignation not by our own suffering, but by the suffering of others. W. Somerset Maugham

And we are suffering with now day five of over 100K positive cases of COVID being diagnosed daily. What that means, however, is the debate that fuels the argument over what COVID does and to whom it does it. The White House is a daily super spreader with more of the Trump team, from his chief of staff to his current Attorney being tested pos. None will likely show any outward serious symptoms, be treated in house by top notch medical care and will refuse to quarantine until they test negative, a period that can run up to 14 days but again did Trump ever test negative? As for his recovery to his diagnosis is one of the many issues that will always be in my mind, questionable.

Trump is Trump. The media fueled much of this over the endless coverage and debates over him on a daily basis from prior to his election to today. They have finally on social media elected (pun intended) to monitor the misinformation but too little to late and doing so on the way out the door makes it at best an attempt to rectify what had been an out of hand messaging platform for the isolated marginalized deplorables’

The anger and rage however is not exclusive to the right it is purely hot and as a invective on the left. This will never be resolved by President-elect Biden nor anyone as this is the thread of the cloth that runs along the fabric of what makes America. And what makes America is what we saw on Saturday, on one side of a street in Philadelphia, angry MAGA folks shouting fraud and other slogans while on the other a DJ spinning Beyonce and shouting “Count, one, two,….” while people were dancing and laughing and later a Marachi band showed up with more flavor to the pot of what again makes our country kinda, sorta, great. Not again, but always.

I have deliberately and intentionally stayed away from mainstream media other than the 6 pm local news and then PBS or just ABC for the remainder of the hour. I read of course the New York Times, the Guardian and Washington Post. But again like anything I can take my physical newspaper and flip pages, pick and choose and read what I wish. As for online sites it is a very cursory review. The New Yorker I read over days and the same with all the other magazines that I receive and in turn some are so outdated now it makes it much easier and with less guilt to simply read what I want. But I pay for all of them and with that I have that choice. I can see the whole document and read it if I CHOOSE. And we forget that choice is what is the foundation of our Democracy, it is not a perfect system of choice, the two party system, the popular vote that decides the electoral vote and in turn appointed electors are obligated to present them to Congress on December 20th once all votes have been certified by the States. And guess what folks there is an out there. The House and the Senate can have a member object to the results and both bodies can convene to decide if they accept the objection or reject and then validate the outcome as decided by the voters via the electorates. So you can see it is not a perfect transition and has its own loopholes built in for this type of challenged election. Here The Guardian explains how that play out.

On Twitter I read a tweet from someone upset that the New York Times had profiles on Sunday about Trump supporters and to reject that paper as peddling trash. I doubt they read it let alone read and pay for the NYT and when I asked what they read and PAID for it was crickets. In others words they read social media. Good for you. I read the profile of this sad idiot and that he was also from Massachusetts was a little extra for me to prove that the nickname, MASSHOLES, was not one unearned. Massachusetts reminds me of Nashville, red state masked in blue due to the intellectual component of Harvard in Boston and the legacy of the family’s that mark the territory that were. One blue, one red but the shores of those waters are filled with a panoply of folks largely uneducated, surrounded by the Chuch, one Catholic, one Evangelical and all the poverty and neglect that comes from such allegiance to God, Country and personal legacy/history to the region. The South marks this more than the North but the exceptions that exist are in Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island which are swing states in ways that Florida is not. Florida has always been red when wasn’t it? And to say that Trump has in turn ultimately changed the Republican party apparently does not know the history of said party and how it enabled him in ways that Democrats would not. And while we have a spectrum in that party it does not mean Antifa-Anarchists but they are in ways our version of Libertarians, who are Republicans who like Gays and smoke pot. The may read Ursula LeGuin versus Ayn Rand, but ultimately they are all about less Government.

History is about the past but it is also about the present. We are in a tumultuous time and rejecting norms about many things we once held dear, such as Democracy and the way of life. To say that “half of America” is racist by voting for Trump is as ignorant as saying all Democrats are Socialist. That would require understanding socialism and realizing that we have many elements of socialism in our society, such as Libraries, K-12 Education, Highways, Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, ACA and of course support of public television and the arts. Gosh that Socialism is bad!! And like the respective parties we have the same goes for Socialism as a concept, there are many kinds and many layers. There is the Socialism of Denmark versus that of Cuba, big difference but both have better health care than we do. So go Socialism!

The other form of that spectrum, like Autism, is Communism. There is Russia and there is China and then there is North Korea and we can go on about varying countries with takeovers of public/private production that almost always enriches a select cohort at the top of the ladder while the larger population remain on the rung they were assigned. Meritocracy here is a myth wrapped in a Unicorn, there it doesn’t even exist unless a fairy comes and sprinkles a dust on you to hop on said Unicorn. As I have never lived in such a country it is not one I need to in which to know how fucked that would be. So go Socialism!

This election is as free as it can be despite the best efforts to demoralize, denegrade the process and put more hurdles and obstacles in place to prevent eligible voters from participating in their Constitutional rights we had record turnout. Nearly 70% of said voters (which is NOT the same as saying 70% of Americans voted.. wrong) did and of that group, half of them voted for Trump. Does that make them Racists? Liars? Misogynists? No. As we have an idea that many vote “R” regardless. We have a cohort inflamed with rhetoric about religion and of course the big issue on that – Abortion – that supported his candidacy and then the larger of all of the chorts, the angry white male, angry black male, angry latin male, angry white woman and those women of color who may not be as angry as I rarely heard of them or from them, but they must exit. Again the issue of the BLM protests mattered but even that shows a clear division. But one of the most complex group, Immigrants, many Cuban, Mexican and Asian who are largely Republican and voted Trump. As they have vested interest in many of the issues Trump repeats from the GOP Playbook, low taxes, low regulation, “illegal” immigration and that sums up their support. And yes it tells you that angry comes in many shades and the GOP has given home to these individuals over the decades, a “safe space” in liberal terms to fester these angers to the point of having people put to death over vague accusations that are reminiscent to this day. If you are inclined to read a lenghty article this essay in The New Yorker, regarding the party post-Trump. The Grand Old Party, has always been a party that gets crazy in more ways than one.

Again, reading is not a provenance of the left as the right have as many, if not more grads from well established institutions and homes of intellectuals. Yale Law gave us the fabulous Stacy Abrams, it also gave us Kris Kornbach, a total idiot. Harvard gave us Barack Obama, it also gave us Bill O’Reilly. And I could go on. So folks nothing is easy and poll takers, pundits and the talking head class don’t really know Americans. We are a complicated lot, we are of many colors and wear many hats. We can be many people to many things and we are ultimately uneducated, unwilling and unaware of that as we live in a bubble of our own choosing. There is that word again, choice, which like resignation, means many things to both the speaker and the listener. The reality is we don’t listen, we nod and we go on often extrapolating and then regurgitating what we think we heard. I said yesterday to my coffee friend who doesn’t know the difference between Central and South America, that his generation is a negligent one as had they voted in 2016 with the idea that compromise is a key to being heard we may not have had to be here right now buckling down as we head down this new road and until we accept that we must hear others that we don’t agree with, don’t like and don’t care about until we do so we will have what we have. This was after a local Police Officer came in and we were discussing the new Pot law here in Jersey and what that will mean in the future. And immediately he asked me, “Does pot make you less hyper?” Well as I am not a 11 year old kid spinning like a top in a room I would not use the word “hyper” and also that he only knows me in what I call “show time” my public persona a the coffee shop where I am there to blow off steam and have a laugh, I am not sure he would know me outside said place where I am by far less “on.” It made me want to ask him, “Does it make you want to kill fewer Black men?” But no I was actually restrained and tried to explain how I wear two hats, public and private and that one has no affect on the other, I have boundaries and those two persona’s are well packed in their respective bags and placed on shelf and retrieved when needed. But in today’s world we rarely have them, we broadcast our entire lives online and then take offense or make offense over the slightest difference. That article on the MASSHOLE made me laugh as he won a lottery and that luck was all he had that enabled him to have a higher rung on the ladder so instead of being relieved and grateful he was angrier as he knows that and he cannot change the truth. Instead of getting an education to find a trade and build a business he is still and always be a hairdresser with a rental property as a his financial security in his dotage. But it is something and while he degrades others let’s just leave unsaid that his Baby Mama had his two children out of wedlock and is going along with him clearly for financial reasons to provide stability for them. And they will be chips off the old block and that is why we have Trump, there are a lot of chipped off people who have not resigned themselves to that fact.

“All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume.”
― Noam Chomsky

Soul Searching

The late Congressman, John Lewis, made the comment before his death in the opinion piece he wrote which was published after his death, that together we can redeem the soul of this nation. This from a man arrested multiple times, beaten, abused and threatened from men who remind me of Trump. This same aggrieved white man who lives in fear and rage that his place in the power hierarchy, no matter how low as there is still one rung on the ladder folks, the one at the bottom that takes you to the special top where meritocracy exists, who feels that his identity is tied to his skin, thin as it is, dumb as a rock and as sure as shit that he would be better, smarter and have more, do more if everyone, anyone did what he thought was best. It’s my way or the highway and we have seen many these past few months take to the highways, some good, some not, to be heard, to express their rage. And this story about the Nebraska farmer is one on many which express their ignorance and arrogance to justify their beliefs, but rather than find others that share their pain and do so in a positive healthy manner they will soldier on. And this is a new Army in search of those with like minds that will together in this belief heal this nation. And we have seen what this new army is capable of, none good.

I posted the video that Eric Stillwell (one of the parade of white men who ran for President, remember them?) using the song from Taylor Swift, Only the Young. I can assure you that without us, the old, transformation and healing cannot be done. Again did you not see the two men, both white, both septuagenarians running for office? They both speak of loyalty, dedication and commitment to the office and to America and of course loving God and Country are the twins at birth that clearly were never separated at birth so we deal with the idea that faith is not just a concept of belief, it is about belief in a single sense of religion, that of Christianity and some Judaism thrown in for that valued voting bloc. But this year the voters they have courted are not just the Evangelical right, they are Black Males, the Suburban Moms, the Latino vote, while Gays and Asians and Native Americans are afterthoughts and of course as complicated and marginalized as all collectives; Not one of the members of any group are singular members of one and one alone. And that is why we have souls as they transcend the extrinsic and are true values of our worth, regardless of faith or belief. The soul is a religious based term but I see it as our collective whole that gumbo that makes us more than what we see on the surface. Anyone who has tried a gumbo has found that the flavors can be subtle or broad and they affect the palate in ways that are endlessly surprising. And like all gumbos they reflect that of the cook who holds the spoon.

I identify as a woman, white, over 60, highly liberal, educated, a bitch, funny, kind, angry, loves theater and music and art, a teacher, a writer, an atheist, a racist or anti-racist as that seems to be a new barometer that I am figuring out. I WAS, a daughter, a wife, a lover, a teacher, a learner, a student, a retail clerk, a traveler, a friend, owner of a dog, a car, a house. The lists of what I am and was could go as that is what life is an ebb and flow of change and evolution that makes me whole. Some fear change, others embrace it. I have moved so much in the last 20 years I cannot recall the last place I truly called home as it is anywhere I have put a mat out front to wipe my feet. The last home I lived in Seattle was marked by more tragedy than joy but I truly look at is as the place I became who I am today.

The New York Times Style section had a series of articles on the pandemic and the effects that social isolation and quarantine have on our state of mind, mood and overall health and well being. From chronic insomnia to couples who elected to quarantine together to those in search of a date to emerge from said lockdown in which to meet. We are a lonely desperate afraid angry nation and it shows. And those adjectives I elected to not separate with commas it is a singular mood. And it is not just Trump it is of course Covid and the uptick of confirmed cases has allowed many to learn more about the progression of the disease and more importantly treating it which has led to fewer deaths.. deaths I have long suspected tied to incubation the true beginning of the end. The tragedy is that we are still hearing endless changing data and of course information about how the virus spreads and its incubation and transmission period. Trump is perhaps the most obvious glaring case that seems to transcend the standard, he is old and white and unhealthy and yet in three days he was up and about, and has been traveling within the supposed 14 day period where the virus is still active. To understand how a virus us tracked and traced this article discusses the recent White House event that is where we believe was the event where either Trump passed it on or contracted it, but without full transparency we may never know who or how many came to the event with their own special friend in tow. We have no idea if he is still contagious but we do know that his rally’s are super spreader events with over 30K individuals contracting the virus. But there are those stories of the invisible jump over the bushes, came in the Amazon package cases that have mystified health professionals leading some to simply say at this point contact tracing is useless so good luck! And then the same with the drop in cases, how is that possible? Well according to Trump that would be about testing, no tests=no positives.

This from the article: The positivity rate has become one of the most recognizable metrics in understanding the pandemic. But public health experts emphasized that the rate does not indicate the percentage of people in a specific area who are infected — rather, it indicates the infection rate among those who have been tested.

That means that when the amount of testing in a community increases or decreases, the rate can fluctuate. Selectively choosing who does and doesn’t get tested can also affect the rate.

“When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure,” said Rebecca Lee Smith, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois who helps run the university’s Covid-19 control strategy. “Once you have put out a single measure as a target, people will figure out how to game that measure.”

Drastic drops in the positivity rate are unusual, said Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

“If public health measures are seen as punitive,” she said, “you will drive cases underground.”

Now we know that one gets it and they give it to a miniumum of one to two people. And yet a family member can be stricken without the immediate family contracting the virus so it means they have immunity, were asymptomatic or that the individual who was sick was already patient 2:3 who had less shed to share, you know the kid who gets the last piece of cake its sort of been whacked at and is kind of sad alone on the plate. We know so little about the tracing of a single source of a virus other than in exemplary super spreader events we have never been able to truly contain and track a smaller one, such as the one in Hasdic community in New York. The one in New Rochelle early on was the closest they came and it was then when it was learned that the virus was from Europe not China, again changing the goal posts. But just recently it was learned that a patient died on a Spirit Airline flight in July and not one passenger was contacted or knew of the event that lead to the plane to land unexpectedly until October when they heard it on the news. So much for contact tracking in the early days….. or ever. This was the case in New Jersey with Trump fundraiser in Bedminister during his Covid outbreak. Chris Christie seems to be the only one infected by the Trump tards who seems to take this seriously……. now.

We are on the last march to decide not just the next four years but the next decade. As that individual will pass laws, make executive orders, appoint Judges and positions in Government that will have sweeping influence and decision making for policies that will affect the next generation. So health care? Education? Voting? Housing? Immigration? Living wages? Climate Change? Equality/Gender and Sexuality? Foreign diplomacy? Pick your identity politics and you may have one, more than one or all of them and they are all important to someone, somewhere. But the word we live in is increasingly myopic and isolated long before Covid. The birth of the Internet and Social Media affects the larger picture. For some its Twitter, others Tik Tok, What’s App?, Instagram, Facebook, Zoom and on and on. The methods of communication rival those matters of import and have many more ways and voices in which to lend to the tone and level of the dialogue.

We evolve and we change and those extrinsic factors in life have powerful forces that do lead to intrinsic changes, unless you are Trump as that seems to be his superpower, sheer denial marked with hubris that marks his propensity to lie and manipulate truth and fact. One only has to see the Republican Party’s transformation to Trump Tards in the process. From Marco Rubio to Lindsay Graham, former “never” Trumpers to fuck buddies they are right there excusing, explaining and defending the Psycho-in-Chief as not just the genius he claims he is but more like the cult leader he has become. I see why people have chosen to be ignorant as while it is not bliss it has to make 3 a.m. better and denial is just one super spreader event away.

Covid is here, the election is here. They are not distant events that are things to procrastinate about, to ignore or simply be oblivious about, that is not reality that is idiocy. I do find in fascinating that Journalists rarely, if ever, find articulate, interesting individuals to interview and quote when it comes to current events. I suspect they do but they don’t fit the angle, the story line and that is why perhaps it is marked as “fake news.” No fake is that of the tabloids, including the NY Post and the tale of the laptop, or the NYT with the line on Iraq by Judith Miller, the fabulists that have written for the Washington Post, The New Yorker and other outlets over decades of free press there have been many who have taken that as a free opportunity to sell a story or tell a tall tale rather than do the heavy lifting. The infamous “pee tape” is another urban legend that no matter how we tell it, from what ever angle, it was a hell of a story. And it was all bullshit. But no one knows bullshit better than Trump who played his own publicist to “trump” his business to the same paper peddling this current trumpism. He can write a new book and call this the “Liars Playbook” and teach us all how to manage to demand truth and loyalty while responding with wrath in kind. I never understood masochistic or sadistic relationships, but Billions the show explained it all and it is what we have now. A Showtime series in real time, in real life. Talk about Soul-less there it is . I want to jump on the Soul Train and dance out of this.

VOTE

I BELIEVE WE HAVE THE ANTHEM WE NEED