How Covid-19 changed America

 In 2020 the world changed dramatically.  Covid-19 began spreading like wildfire and countries struggled to handle the pandemic response.  While the initial evidence pointed to a lab in Wuhan may in our media and Government took the opportunity to take shots at the President for wanting to prevent travel from China.  They called him Xenophobic, Racist, and a White Supremacist all because he wanted to limit Americas exposure to people traveling from the suspected country of origin.  In March the Government suggested we lockdown for 15 days.  The phrase "15 days to slow the spread" lead the way.  Most Americans were understanding of that request and many businesses shut down, schools closed, and people stayed home.  High school graduations were cancelled or moved to virtual ceremonies.  By Aug 2020 when schools were to open back up people had been locked down for 5 months or more.  Almost all of the schools chose to move to remote learning.  Business had moved to remote work.  People had gotten used to the lockdowns and just went along, forgetting "15 days to slow the spread."  But not all people forgot that, some started pushing back on the regulations and rules imposed by our government.  Masking became a point of conflict.  One side supported masks forever, the other supported no masks at all.  In reality everyone should have been free to make their own choices.

So what did the Government learn during all of it?  They learned how easily Americans would believe whatever their chosen news source fed them.  They learned that Americans would go along to get along, even at the expense of their lives.  They learned how easily we could be manipulated to turn against one another.  They took two years of lockdown and divided us even further and faster than their previous idea (racial division).  Now we are divided by race, medical opinions, fear and income levels.  The poor and minority communities are being told the "rich" are doing whatever they want while locking us commoners down.  Minority communities have historically been told and are being told to not trust law enforcement because "All cops are racist."  We have seen a rise in lawlessness as cities refuse to prosecute "petty" crimes like theft and arson.  Violent crime is on the rise as we have seen attacks on the street in broad daylight.  Instead of stepping in people pull out their phones and "get the footage" so they can be famous.  Criminals and illegal immigrants have more rights than war veterans.  Cops are attacked in their cars and murdered and nothing happens.  We saw entire city blocks taken over and turned into autonomous zones where law enforcement was forced out.  That area, which was meant to be similar to a hippy commune, quickly was turned over to warlord Raz Simone and his "police" force took over.  People were injured and killed, and medical help was prevented from getting to them.  Did the government blame him or his goons?  Nope they blamed the medical professional for not doing enough and getting there in time.  All of this in just 2 years.

Just this week we saw a man pulled from his car by 5 police officers and brutally beaten and killed.  Major news networks quickly blamed white supremacy and the cops, until they found out the officers were all black and so was the man killed.  Fox news highlighted the cops as having gone way beyond protect and serve and even demanded justice.  What did the left-wing media do?  Had headlines like "Fox news finally puts blame where it belongs, with cops" and then they proceeded to demand police reform and once again "defunding" the police.  I watched that terrible video and all 5 of these cops need to face the justice they refused the man they killed.  Do I think that will happen?  No.  My reasoning is simple, it doesn't fit the left-wing narrative.  The left-wing narrative is simple, minorities are suffering under white supremacy every single day and white people are to blame.  For them nothing is not racist.  They say things like "If you aren't actively anti-racist then you are racist."  Remember earlier I said that was the first tactic they tried to use to divide us.  

Everything being pushed in the media and from left leaning politicians is meant for one thing, to push division.  That division is needed to control us as people.  While the elites run the government, we suffer.  While they make the rules, we suffer.  While they continue to keep people under their thumb, we suffer.  As we saw with masking and lockdowns once we as Americans unite and push back they change course.  America is a melting pot of all cultures and people.  We embrace LEGAL immigration.  When left to our own will we naturally do the right thing.  We do care about each other once we clear the fog of what the media is telling us.  Yes there are evil people in the world.  Some people are racist, sexist, and all the other words used to divide. Most people who embrace those values are quickly outed and suffer social consequences for their words and actions.  

America is not systemically racist.  In America we have the unique opportunity to move between economical classes.  You might be born rich, middle class or poor, but you alone can change all of it with your actions and motivation.  Yes some people start ahead with "generational" wealth and some of those people lose everything because of their actions.  Some people are born poor and with less but they make it out and move into the upper class with hard work and motivation.  To tell any kid "No matter how hard you work you will never be as good or get as far ahead as this kid" sets them up for failure.  It disgusts me that we have accepted mediocrity and whining as the standard.  Newer regenerations have accepted being victims.  They all believe they should not have to work long hours or put in max effort at work because they have been conditioned to believe if they aren't given it the person refusing to give it is "attacking" them or hates who they are.  We have raised a generation of pushovers who can't even handle a full 8-hour shift without devolving into the stock room to cry and make a Tik Tok video demanding "unionization."  Those who went to college to get a degree demand that society pays their student loans (yes that system sucks and needs to be overhauled as well). They demand $15/hour for entry level work and then cry about milk being $7/gallon.  They haven't been taught supply and demand, skill-based income or simple economics and survival skills.  For 2 years they did distant learning and honestly how many of them put in the effort?  We have seen scores and motivation decline.

Our future generations are in trouble.  Covid-19 showed the Government how quickly they can seize control.  They control the media, our school systems and our businesses.  Covid-19 did not force the government to do these things, they were working toward it already.  Covid allowed them to take what they have wanted all along.  We as Americans need to unite, demand term limits on all elected positions, demand the government work for us not the other way around.  Lets stop fighting against ourselves and do what is best for future generations!

Catching up on America

 

    9 days since my last post and a lot has happened in America that I want to cover.  So this post will hit the top events going on and my feelings about them.  As you can see from the picture everything going on will be open to interpretation. 

    So lets start with our fearless leader, President Joe Biden.  In recent videos and press conferences we saw him lose his train of thought and mumble himself off stage, trip going up the stairs to Air Force One twice, and assign what is possibly the least qualified person to tackle the debacle on the border, Kamala Harris.  The one thing I have to say about this is I truly feel sorry for him.  He is obviously not well mentally or physically yet the left and the Democrats are pulling him along like Bernie in the movie Weekend at Bernie's.  It is a disgrace that they seem to want all of us to not believe what we are seeing and that he is still the vigorous politician of his hay day.  That leads to the second big thing that has happened, the crisis going on at the border.

    We have seen interviews with the "refugees" admitting they only came here due to Biden being in the office and if Trump was still there they would not even have tried it.  The media has been kept out of the detention centers until the past few days when the over crowding and conditions have been brought to light.  I saw a video yesterday of smugglers dropping a 4 and 7 year old girl over the 14 ft border fence and left them, miles from the nearest anything.  Our border patrol rescued them and also another baby who was dumped into the Rio Grand by coyotes.  We are seeing border patrol being told to release the illegal immigrants without any sort of court day setup and no way to track these people.  If we do not get this under control I honestly believe we will see the decline of America sped up at an alarming rate.  So Kamala was put in charge of getting it under control to which she has avoided visiting the border or the detention centers and actually laughed at a reporter who asked her if she was going to.  

    We also saw several mass shootings.  Conservatives responded by preaching about self defense and using the 2nd amendment freedoms we have.  Liberals demanded more gun control and taking of weapons.  Same shit different day I guess.  

    Several states have put bans in place preventing Trans-athletes from competing with the group opposite their biological sex, ie trans-women in women's sports.  The left immediately rose in defense of Trans-girls being girls, despite the science that says otherwise.  Here is my take, the science and physiology of men and women is different.  If you look at only the physiology you will see why this idea of allowing men to play women's sports is a bad idea.  I also have previously written a blog about this so all my research is there if you want to read an in depth analysis of my thoughts.

    GA and other states have passed laws protecting voting integrity.  They have things like Voter ID, minimal mail-in voting, and a limit on when polls would close and voting would end, hint it is all the same day ending at 5pm in most cases.  The case that has been presented against voter ID is that poor, marginalized and elderly people would not be able to get one, thus preventing them from voting and ultimately being a racist policy.  The left wing media giants and other companies have begun to push for banning their companies from working in GA and the other states.  In essence punishing the govt and people of GA for trying to make the voting fair and equal.

    The covid vaccine is being shot out in mass everyday and we are still under lockdowns and told to avoid people and wear masks at all times.  For those who don't see the problem here nothing I say will make you realize how stupid this is.  I have gotten my 1st vaccine and I only wear a mask when absolutely needed.  

    Our kids are still being kept at home and taught from a distance but the illegal immigrant kids in San Diego county are being given in person instruction by the same teachers unions who say that is dangerous and have fought against going back to class.  Why are the tax dollars being paid by parents in San Diego being used to educate illegal immigrants in person but it is too dangerous for the children of those parents to go back to class?

    I will sum the past 3 months with this final paragraph.  Trump preached America first and his policies and negotiations with other countries put the interests of America first in ever way.  We became energy independent and saw gas prices stay below $2/gallon a majority of his term in office.  We saw the flow of illegals into the country slow to a trickle (about 850/day).  We saw jobs created and unemployment hit the lowest it has ever been across all demographics.  We saw major corporations return to America to produce their products which was a huge boost and led to the best economy we have ever had.  But last Nov he was "voted" out because he was mean and tweeted things!  Since Biden took office thousands of jobs have been lost, unemployment is rising, illegal immigration has sky rocketed (now almost 6,000/day), big companies are leaving for other countries to avoid the coming tax hikes, violence is on the rise, and policies being proposed will sink us trillions upon trillions into further debt.  3 full months into 2021 and at this rate we will be lucky to make it to December.

Biden and his first primetime appearance!

 

I took time about four days ago to listen to our fearless leader Joe Biden address the nation for the first time officially.  I wanted to make this blog to cover what was said and my thoughts on it.  I went into the speech with low expectations but open to being surprised. Lets get going!

The first statement he made was "A year ago, we were hit with a virus that was met with silence and spread unchecked, denials for days, weeks, then months."  As I expected his first point was to point fingers and say Trump did not act fast enough, which we know has been proven false.  He followed that up by pointing out his concern by pulling his "card" out of his pocket which he carries at all times with the most up to date number of "Americans who have died from COVID." He makes sure to add "That's more deaths than in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War and 9/11 combined."  While an accurate statement it is comparing apples to cars.  Wars are nothing like a communicable disease.  He moves onto the human aspect of isolation and job loss due to the restrictions placed by governments across the US and mainly in states or cities run by liberal Democrats.  

In the next section of the speech he moves onto the vaccine.  He states when he took over "this country didn't have nearly enough vaccine supply to vaccinate all or anywhere near all of the American public" while forgetting the vaccines were created during Operation Warp Speech under President Trump and when he took power there was only 2 vaccines and they had just began being distributed and administered one month earlier.  He praises the companies, and rightly so, while at the same time taking credit for the vaccine being shipped and administered when he simply took over the process in its early phase and followed the same plan already in place.  He then talked about his "plan" to open vaccination centers across the US but did not give any firm plan forward.  

Then we get to the real meat of what he wanted to say.  He says "in the coming weeks, we will issue further guidance on what you can and cannot do once fully vaccinated to lessen the confusion, to keep people safe, and encourage more people to get vaccinated."  This statement is skillfully crafted to encourage getting vaccinated while at the same time issuing a backhanded threat of more lockdowns and restrictions if we as Americans choose to not get vaccinated.  He then adds "If we all do this, if we do our part, if we do this together, by July the 4th, there's a good chance you, your families and friends, will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout or barbeques and celebrate Independence Day."  How freaking nice of him to give us independence day for complying with big governments demands.  He goes on further to state "Because if we don't stay vigilant and the conditions change and we may have to reinstate restrictions to get back on track" aka do what we say or else.

He concludes with "God bless you all and please, God, give solace to all those people who lost someone.  And may God protect our troops.  Thank you for taking the time and listening.  I look forward to seeing you."  No God Bless America?  Not a big shock to me but there we have it.  

Here is my thoughts on the virus and vaccine.  Just like the masks and other precautions I believe it should be every single Americans right to do or not do any of these things.  The good news is Biden made it through the 30 min without completely botching it.

The masks are coming off...

 

As we approach the one year anniversary of the 15 day lockdown to slow the spread of Covid some states are taking steps to open up and end mask mandates.  Just this week the Texas and Mississippi Governors ended their state mask mandates and reopened their states 100%!  As the numbers of deaths and infected are falling quicker than the legacy that is Andrew Cuomo some Governors are realizing their states need to reopen and are finally taking the steps necessary to provide their citizens the ability to survive and pay their bills.  I support this decision completely.  It is actions like these that will define which people begin to live again and which ones will become drones living off the govt for a lifetime.  Family finances, mental health, and self sufficiency is what is at risk.  So now is the time to decide are you willing to give up your freedoms for "safety" or are you willing to accept risk to support yourself?

Since the beginning of the pandemic I have been an avid supporter of people deciding for themselves the precautions they are willing to take to avoid getting themselves or their families sick.  Our government officials have made people think they are the end all be all of information and encourage compliance instead of allowing people to educate themselves and make the decisions.  A friend of mine had shared a comic the other day which showed a guy getting the vaccine and then running out and licking all kinds of things like door knobs, animals, etc.  My friend commented "Please keep in mind the vaccine is intended to protect others from you. lol".  I googles what is a vaccine and found the definition is "A vaccine stimulates your immune system to produce antibodies, exactly like it would if you were exposed to the disease.  After getting vaccinated, you develop immunity to that disease, without having to get the disease first."  And I commented this shows that vaccines ONLY protect the person not anyone else.  After taking a day and discussing this post and my comment with my wife, who has a degree in biology, she helped me realize the personal decision to vaccinate is to protect yourself but the benefits to others is you cannot get the virus and thus it does protect others as well.  So I replied to my comment correcting my error.  This is what more people need to do!  Get educated on a topic and then be willing to admit you were wrong if need be.

I wanted to take this time and post to restate my position on Covid, mask mandates, and lockdowns.  First I know Covid is real and exists.  The lockdowns while good in intention have proven to do more harm than good.  The mask mandates are just ridiculous, the "science" has constantly changed and I have been told it is because as scientists learn more they have to correct their recommendations.  While I do understand new evidence can change the recommendations, why not wait until you have a steady conclusion before mandating every American to comply?  In the past month we were told that wearing two or three masks would make you safer, if that is true why have we been unprotected with one mask for the past 12 months?  I think every single citizen and business should have the freedom to work, be open, mask  or no masks, and make the ultimate decision as to what precautions they are willing to take to avoid the risk of contracting Covid.  I firmly believe the federal and local govts have taken this opportunity to snatch power and impose regulations that only benefit big corporations and government entities.  

There is no reason at this point any state should not be following Texas and Mississippi and ending this ridiculous lockdowns and mask mandates.  Next blog I will dive into cancel culture and the woke mobs destruction of everything.

Obama Administration years 9-12

 

Not matter if you agree with the election results or not the fact is Joe Biden is our new President, well kind of.  During the election Joe Biden made very few appearances and made a promise to build back better.  He promised the far left that his presidency would be the most progressive in history.  He promised to place people in cabinet positions who hold extremely progressive values and ideals.  For voters who believe in such things like the BLM riots, teaching 5 year old's about sexuality (grooming), and trans men being allowed to play women's sports his rhetoric sounded like nirvana.  He spoke of equity for all and pushing America into the future.  We are now almost a month into his Presidency and what have we seen?

To start his cabinet was filled with the exact same people that President Obama had in his cabinet positions.  Joe Biden pulled Obama's Rolodex out and brought back people like John Kerry.  The same old white men that Obama had advising him on all things.  He rolled back the oil pipeline which cost 20,000+ Americans jobs and also reduced our relations with Canada.  He rolled back almost all of President Trump's executive orders that protected women, LGBTQIA+, farmers, small businesses, and children.  He made sure to instill the good old boy club back into the seats of power and it is disgusting.

President Biden touted his plan for handling the Covid-19 pandemic.  He claimed his plan would have us all back to normal in his first 100 days.  Just last week he came out and admitted that no matter what we do the curve of the virus will not change.  He put in a federal mask mandate on all federal lands, then immediately went to the Lincoln memorial with his family and did not wear a mask.  He lauded President Trump for not leading by example while at the same time not leading by example himself.  His plan to distribute the vaccine has failed as vaccines are going unused and eventually no longer usable.  The website most states use to schedule the vaccine have either not worked or are not reliable.  He claimed in his first 100 days he would have the schools back open, in all honesty a lot of them are open but only 1 day a week.  I think most people thought he meant full time.

So how does Obama play into this?  Well it is simple, Biden's plan for his Presidency is almost an exact copy of the Obama admin.  Under Obama we saw the press secretary avoid questions and use phrases like "I will have to get back to you on that."  President Trump hired Press Secretaries who were willing to answer any and all questions.  The last one was amazing and tended to push back on reporters who asked questions that were deliberately bias and not true with facts and resources.  Our new Press Secretary said she was bringing transparency back to the press room, then immediately refuse to answer questions or use the old "I will circle back to that later" approach.  The truth is that the next 4 years will be almost an exact copy of Obama's eight.  We will see unemployment rise for all ethnicities, our economy go into recession (which will be blamed on Trump), continued divide amongst all races and genders pushed by the left wing media, and ultimately very dark days ahead.  I have tried to give Biden a chance to prove me wrong and up until this post he has only hurt America.  Guess it is time to buckle up!

Hindsight really is 2020

 

Well it has been a few weeks since I posted a blog and it was an intentional pause in my fairly regular posts.  I wanted to take the end of the year and focus on my family and friends.  But we are now in 2021 and you can fully expect to see more regular posting!  I know you all are super excited as am I.  This year I will focus on the usual business but have decided to take about one of every five posts and make it light hearted and fun.  Doom and gloom filled everyone's 2020 and I want to make sure we don't continue the trend this year.  So for my first post of the new year I wanted to look at just how Covid-19 changed our everyday lives and the fallout from those changes.

The first thing that changed was our work environments.  For me personally I still had to go into work and battle the daily grind.  But for so many others including my wife work had moved into our homes.  Our kids also moved into the homes.  This forced parents to not only adapt to working from a distance but also being home teachers and students as they sat through the grade level of their kids.  For my wife it was work, teacher and third grader and believe me when I say it was a challenge.  So in looking at how this changes our future I can say my company found about 30% of our workers were capable of working from home and being as efficient or more efficient than being in the office.  For any businesses this is great news as they can stop paying for real estate for their offices and save money on the bottom line.  The bad side of the lockdowns was of course many long standing local businesses closed their doors for good.  This has cause major impact to the economy in every single state.  In 2021 I think we will see continued troubleshooting and finding ways to be profitable that are outside of the "normal" and I think that is a good thing.

Next was our interactions with other at work and in society.  We had a huge divide in mask vs no mask, lockdown vs no lockdown, and of course politics continued to be as divided as ever.  The only take away I have from all of it is that the powers that be have gained power using fear and difference of opinion.  The very same people who told us 15 days to slow the spread and tossed crumbs at us in the form of stimulus payments are the same people who continued to make millions or billions of dollars all while telling us we needed to struggle to ensure the health and safety of our fellow citizens.  They intentionally caused mistrust among the people and sat back watching the United States burn.  They showed they have no concern for anything except their own power and profit.  To them it is a game as they advocate shutting down restaurants because it is too dangerous for us and then the very same day stopping and eating at those restaurants on the way home.  They adopted the do as I say not as I do attitude.  We were told to avoid gathering for holidays and travelling because it was dangerous, yet they left those press conferences and went to their private jets to fly and spend time with their families.  My takeaway here is that none of these restrictions are about our safety, they are about controlling our lives.  That to me is completely unacceptable.

Finally we saw our government more divided than ever.  We saw the Democratic party move so far left they embraced socialism fully and the Republicans continued to ignore what many consider very dangerous.  President Trump got blamed for a worldwide pandemic, massive deficit caused by congress, and businesses suffering due to restrictions put in place by state governments.  He has done so many positive things for America all while donating ever single penny he earned as President to charity.  He gave up millions of dollars to server the American people while other govt official got rich.  This shift in our govt, if not slowed or reversed, will cause the downfall of America as we know it.  That also to me is unacceptable.  

So in the end 2020 is in the rearview and we can look forward to 2021.  As we do this I ask all of us to do what we can to make positive ripples in our ponds.  We have no control over the massive ocean that is the United States but we do have control over caring about our family and friends.  It doesn't matter if you are Democrat or Republican, white or black, female or male, or any other trait used to divide us as people.  Love those around you, care for your fellow citizens, and do your best to make someone else smile every day.  Only by uniting as people and Americans can we make this country everything our founders wanted it to be.  Remember how you felt on Sept 12, 2001.  That day we were united as Americans who had suffered a massive tragedy.  I think Jan 1, 2021 we are also Americans who have suffered a massive tragedy, the loss of our freedoms and country as we know it.  Spread positivity and love not doom and gloom.

"This is the worst year humans have ever lived through"

 So 2020 is almost over and as many people point out on all forms of social media "it is the worst year ever!"  I have read and watched videos of people claiming that Covid, loss of jobs, economic impact, and everything else we have dealt with is the worst thing to ever happen in human history.  So I spent the past few days pondering on such claims and really examining what could make this the worst year ever, here are my findings.

As the world got hit with a worldwide pandemic many countries took a strong stance of locking everything down to slow the spread of the virus.  Some countries chose not to do this.  Since I live in America I wanted to focus specifically on how the virus has made this the worst year ever.  Here in America we were running head first into an already heated election cycle.  The vast majority of the media had taken a side and began to run only stories to hurt the sitting President.  The other candidate was a 70 something man who was obviously in cognitive decline, but the media denied this and said he was the one to save us from the virus.  In March our government said we needed to lockdown for 15 days to slow the spread of the virus, most of us were ok with that because we understood our hospitals and medical supplies needed to have time to be fully prepared for the impact of the virus.  So we as obedient citizens closed our businesses, left work, cleared shelves of toilet paper and began the 15 days of sleeping in, watching Netflix, and hanging on ever update about the virus.  That 15 days got extended to 30, then 45, and here we are 8 months later with a lot of us still unemployed and businesses closing permanently (The one exception of course were big fish like Amazon and Walmart who have made millions leaning towards trillions while people struggled to pay bills).  Our kids schools have been closed and some parents forced to choose keeping a job and allowing their kids education to suffer or quitting the job and become a full time home school parent.  For a majority of us the financial impact is where we got hurt the worst.  In the end the media spread scare tactics and people ate ever last drop of it.  So what made the year so bad for us as Americans?  We have gotten to spend more time with our spouses and children, we have gotten to take that time to reaffirm faith, help other people as much as we could, and have the time to enjoy the fruits of our freedoms.  For me that isn't so bad.

The next step I took was looking into what scientists say was the worst year or period of time ever.  The most current article I can find came in 2018.  Some believed 1347 was as the black plague began to ravage the world.  Some said 1941-1945 when the holocaust happened.  1918 when the flu pandemic started which killed over 100 million people worldwide was another.  In the end they settled on 538, why this year?  That year a mysterious dusty fog appeared blocking the sun, causing temps to plunge and setting off years of around-the-world chaos.  Drought, crop failure, summertime snow in China, and widespread famine.  So at that time people didn't have Netflix and were not being asked to sit on their couches and wait it out.  People literally struggled to find food and survive!  

My point in this whole thing is asking people to take a step back and put this year into perspective.  You did not have to fight genocide, famines, droughts, plagues, great depression, or any other major event that the world has lived through.  You were asked to wear your jammies, watch TV, wear masks, and wait.  To me that makes this year one of the best years we have lived through.  Because of my job I have not had that luxury.  I have continued to have to go to work, battle the stores (So my spouse and kids did not have to take the risk), and most of all listen to all you entitled and self indulged asshats complain about masks or no mask, needing another series to watch on Netflix, why is this protest a virus spreader and this other one isnt, and most of all listen to all the bullshit theorists and non-fact scientists debate something we simply have no control over and have to wait out.  The only thing that made 2020 bad for me was you idiots.  Outside of that this year has been ok.  Sure I have to do things differently when I go into public.  Sure some of my favorite places have closed for good.  But in the end I got to see the true nature of this generation of people.  I got to cut people out of my life that I might disagree with but due to Covid realized they are not and will never be rational.  In the end my personal relationships have grown and I feel closer to my family than any previous year.  My only fear leading into the future is how all of the things I mentioned above will impact our stability as a civilization.  How those divisions will hurt our future.  But as many TV shows used to say stay tuned!

I value......

 In recent weeks I have had several conversations with people about the current political climate being created in America.  Many of my friends believe in the extreme measures being taken by our Governors and politicians to protect the "greater good".  I have been told I am minimalizing the Covid deaths because I point out that the virus has an extremely high survivability rate.  I have been told I don't care about my fellow man because I want businesses and schools open.  I have been called a lot of names and told I should stop being so contrary and see the good of these decisions I feel are not doing anything for the greater good.  The three things that have been pointed out the most are locking down to stop the virus and prevent further deaths, redistribution of wealth so the poor can be in a better position and making radical change to our political structure to provide "safety".

The first greater good I fight against are the draconian lockdowns.  The other side says the lockdowns are needed because of "science" and if you don't agree then you must not believe in science.  I do agree that science is an evolving thing and what the "experts" say today that may contradict what they said last month may indeed be true due to new evidence.  Do I think lockdowns will stop the virus?  NO.  Do I think it will slow the spread to help the hospitals catch up? YES.  But at what social cost do we lock everything down.  There is another science that should be taken into consideration, Psychology and the emotional impact of these lockdowns.  Since we first locked down back in March we have seen huge spikes in drug and alcohol addiction, physical and sexual abuses in the home, homicides, and suicides.  All of those things matter too.  All of those things lead to deaths that are being disregarded by the lock down "scientists".  The fact remains that while Covid is highly contagious, it is not highly deadly.  Unless you are seventy years or older and have pre-existing conditions the likelihood you will get Covid and survive is incredibly high.  Just like all other viruses throughout history we will survive this one.  We will come up with a vaccine that minimizes the effects and death associated with it.  We will go on with our lives.  The only lasting impact will be how we as an economy survive.  We will either end the lockdowns and learn to live with the virus and ultimately maintain our thriving economy or we will turn all authority over to the government lock everything down and cost millions of people businesses and their livelihood and become another third world socialist country for "the greater good".  I for one an terrified more of the later.

Next I get told that the biggest problem we face is Capitalism.  I get told that Capitalism only aids the rich in getting richer.  Here the truth matters as well.  What we consider poor in America other nations would love to have because their people are starving and dying in the streets.  If this pandemic has shown anything it is that the only people making any money are the giant multi-billion dollar businesses like Walmart or Amazon.  These major corporations have made over one TRILLION dollars in profit this year.  That is more than any previous years.  And while these giants are raking in money hand over fist the small and medium business owners are being forced to close their doors and fire all their employees for "The greater good".  These business owners have no way to survive shutting down for more than two months in most cases.  Small and medium businesses run on very thin profit margins and in the end cannot and will not survive long term shut downs.  Why do these people that preach the "greater good" not see that the greatest good is done by letting businesses open and allowing people to take the proper steps in wearing masks, social distancing, and using proper hygiene to ensure people have jobs and can pay their bills.  A friend of mine yesterday said "They are only having to close because the Government did not do enough to help them".  My problem with this statement is the govt needs to get that money from somewhere.  He believes they should raise taxes on major corporations and big business and give the money to these small businesses.  I know for a fact this will cause businesses to take their headquarters and move out of the country costing thousands or millions of jobs. We need to stop thinking the government is there to solve our problems.  So in the end do we give up our freedoms and allow the govt to run our day to day lives or do we fight for our way of life and maintain the freedom and luxuries Capitalism has afforded us?  I for one am not willing to give up my freedoms for the idea it will help the "greater good".

Lastly I have been told we should move to a form of Democratic Socialism like Norway or Canada that way everyone can have access to healthcare, universal basic income, and everyone can prosper.  The problem with that is simple, we are vastly larger than all of the so called democratic socialist countries.  Those types of policies work when the population is small and the govt can pay for all of those things.  The healthcare in Canada and these countries is terrible, that is why they come to the US for most major surgeries and procedures.  The other thing that fails is the freedoms the citizens give up for the illusion of safety.  The governments in these countries tell their people not to worry about anything, the govt will take care of you.  Throughout history we have seen fascism and communism rise from societies built upon these beliefs.  Fascist dictators preach unity and doing what is best for the greater good.  Telling their citizens they need to give up their rights to allow all of them to become better.  They have told individuals that individualism is bad and we should all be "German" or "Italian" or "Russian" first.  In America we reject that idea and preach individual freedom, expressing yourself, and being who ever you want to be.  In a country that has the values I am being told are for the greater good we would lose those freedoms. 

I value all human life, born and unborn.  I value my freedoms and the luxuries I have here in America.  I value my way of life and the ability to go to the store and have the shelves stocked.  I value the ability to go out and spend time with family and friends.  I value the comfort of knowing our military is one of the best in the world.  I value knowing people float on make shift rafts and battle oceans to come to our country.  I value all of the things that America is and stands for.  So if you ask me if I will ever give up all of the things I value for the "greater good" my answer is simple, Hell no.  The same people using the freedoms America provides to protest, riot, argue on Facebook via their new I-Phone, scream at people in restaurants and bars, and do all of the other things to virtue signal to everyone how woke they are will be the first ones arrested by the tyrants they put in charge and give all of their freedoms to.  For those of us willing to stand up and say enough is enough and value all our freedoms and principles, we may be the ones put to death when these tyrants take over but the best thing about that will be the fact we wont be around to see the downfall of our once great society.  Stand up now so we don't have to kneel later.

Tale of two viruses

 

Covid-19 has turned 2020 into a tale of two viruses.  On almost every media outlet we are told the death tolls and fed fear about the infection rate.  But there is another side to this issue and that is what hardly anyone else is talking about, the survivability rate.  We are bombarded daily by the newest death toll, lockdowns from govt officials, told if we don't all wear masks we are trying to kill off the elderly and high risk people, and given numbers which go up and down on an almost hourly basis.  The problem here is very obvious to anyone willing to verify sources and validate claims, NOBODY knows anything for sure!

At the beginning of 2020 Covid-19 reached American shores, or so we were told.  I know some people personally who had symptoms and such long before Jan 2020.  The list of protections included masks, social distancing, hand sanitizer, and proper hygiene.  At first we were told by govt officials and medical experts not to go and buy masks as they were not effective against this strain of virus.  Then a few months later we were told masks were the only way to prevent yourself from getting the virus and they had only told us they were not so the medical front line workers would have access to the masks they needed to protect themselves.  Then about a month or so later other medical experts came out claiming masks could not protect you and the CDC shifted to protecting others as the reason for the masks.  It has gone on like this all year.  The only things that were constant were social distancing and washing your hands.  

As we reached March we saw widespread lockdowns and were told 15 days to slow the spread of Covid to ensure the hospitals did not get overwhelmed.  The period for the lockdown varied by state with some staying locked down for months on end.  These decisions crushed local businesses while giants like Walmart and Amazon made billions.  It should be noted that those giants are also the ones backing lockdowns until a vaccine is available, wonder why.  So did the lockdowns help?  Yes it did slow the spread and allow our hospitals to stock up and prepare for virus better.  As states began opening up we saw a rise in cases as expected.  The hospitals did not get overwhelmed yet some state governors refused to open things back up.  This caused a massive protest against the lockdowns.  When that happened the news told us that all the business owners were putting us all at risk being out in large groups protesting.  Yet when there were large groups protesting police brutality the media  applauded these people and claimed the virus would not be spread there.  I think this is the first virus in history to be so socially conscious.  

So here we are Dec 2020 and I am still seeing people on social media spread fear of a virus that has a survivability rate that exceeds 98%.  Daily they post about the latest death numbers, how it isn't a flu and should be feared, and mock those of us who are looking at this from a statistical and real perspective.  They say that looking at it that way is discounting those who have died or will die from this illness.  As we saw from Thanksgiving a few days ago people are tired of not being around family and friends.  People are sick and tired of isolation.  People just want to get on with our lives.  I have yet to hear anyone who looks at the actual statistics say that masks, social distancing and protecting those most vulnerable should not be done and don't make a difference.  

So which of these two viruses is reality and which is not.  Truth is both exist and it is up to every single person to decide their level of comfort and what precautions and risks they are willing to take.  I happen to fall into the camp that knows the virus is not going away.  I understand the large impact these restrictions and lockdowns are having on communities all over the US.  I have had family members get the virus, be hospitalized, and make it through even though they were in multiple high risk categories.  I know people who have lost loved ones are impacted but also know that other factors are causing loss of life as well.  Alcoholism, domestic violence, suicide and homicides are all on the rise.  As people lose their business, jobs, income, homes, and marriages who is going to protect them?  The most honest answer for all of this is simple; Wear a mask, social distance as much as possible, was your damn hands, avoid being around people if you feel sick, and most of all stop being afraid.  This virus will be with us forever and we need to look it in the face and say we will not live in fear.  Our govt will not stop us from living our lives.  Businesses need to stand up and be willing to open despite the risks.  Only if we unite against tyrannical leaders unjust policies can we ever see some form of normality again.

How 2020 has turned into 1984

 

In America Thanksgiving means something.  For some it is a terrible day of oppression and the slaughter of Native Americans.  For others it is a celebration of our freedoms and a time for family and friends to get together and share a great meal and great memories.  But this is 1984, oh sorry I mean 2020, and as we know from all that has happened this year we can not expect anything to go as usual.  In the last month we had an election, which is still not finalized, and the hope of many was that the results would put the Covid-19 risks to rest and allow us to return to normal life, fat chance.

As Thanksgiving has drawn closer we have seen an increase in Governors flexing their political muscle and imposing their will on the citizens in their states.  In NY Gov. Cuomo got into a shouting match with a reporter about the schools closing down again despite the risk being almost non-existent to the children of the NY City school systems.  Gov Newsome in California has imposed lockdown restrictions on his citizens, closing businesses, and forcing curfews at night.  I watched a video today of the police in Los Angeles rolling down the street to "enforce" the curfew.  One officer gets out of his armored car and approaches a man in a robe on his front porch.  He tells the man to go inside due to the curfew.  The guy says something about it being his front porch at which point the officer tackles him and shouts he is under arrest for violating the Gov's curfew order.  THE GUY WAS ON HIS FRONT PORCH!  In Pennsylvania the governor put an order in place closing stores and also prohibiting alcohol sales after 5pm tomorrow.  Does any of this seem like Big Brother from 1984 is actually happening here in 2020?

You may be asking Why should I care?  Well it is simple, the governors are taking away the freedom we are preparing to celebrate!  We as Americans should have the freedom to go to a store to buy food for the celebration, booze to drink, and other supplies you may need in your home.  How many freedoms will we give up before it is to late?  Well I did see a business owner in Boston who had police come into his business and try to close him down.  They said he was in violation of the shut down order issues by the Gov.  He told them who reported him because he is lawfully allowed to confront his accuser.  They refused to answer and he then told them to leave his business and if they wanted to shut him down to come back with a warrant!  What did the cops do? They left.  They realized they had no authority to tell this guy he could not be in his business.  That is exactly how we need to handle this tsunami of authoritarian control.  

1984 was a work of fiction, 2020 is not.  We are being restricted in tiny steps more and more.  It started with lockdowns in March, then went into mandatory mask wearing, then we were told we couldn't worship at churches while thousands rioted in the streets, and now we have come full circle and lockdowns are immanent again.  If the lockdowns worked the first time why is it needed again?  If it didn't work why are we doing it again?  The answer is simple, authoritarians trying to usurp our constitutionally given rights.  They want us to Never Trust Your Own Eyes, Believe What You Are Told.