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Collected Poetry
VOLUME SIXTEEN 
Original materials - Copyright © 2020 by Gary Bachlund All international rights reserved
"In reading The History of Nations, we find that, like individuals, they have their whims and their peculiarities, their seasons of excitement and recklessness, when they care not what they do. We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first." Charles MacKay, 1841.
" 'Climate crisis trends show an increased chance of warmer, wetter winters and hotter, dryer summers, along with an increase of frequency and intensity of extremes. Better wrap up warm, stockpile food and remember there is a surprising amount of food in the average household pet. Looking ahead we are on course to sail past our 1.5 degree centigrade target putting us on track for long lasting and irreversible change'." in "Dame Emma Thompson gives gloomy forecast in Extinction Rebellion protest," BT, 5 December 2019.
Fido filet is served up the day
When panic envelops us all.
Hound dog chops -- a hyperbole, say? --
Are surprising filling, though small.
Mutt, not mutton, is served as fine fare
As crises burst into flame.
Imagine the victuals when larders go bare,
To blunt the carnivores' shame.
Indulge in indulgences, mostly in cash,
That governments would close this bazaar.
If only, yes only, the smorgasbord hash
Were cooler, not crueler, by far.
Kitty so pretty will quite fill the bill
When imagining all sorts of things.
It takes just a dame to act out this swill,
As panic its new menu brings.
Fido filet was served up the day
When rose the last socialist squall.
Hound dog chops -- doesn't history say? --
Were surprising filling, though small.
Envoi: "Life is a comedy to those that think; a tragedy to those that feel." Jean Racine, 1639-1699.
Addendum of Eating Fido I: "The tradition of eating dog meat dates back four or five hundred years in China, South Korea and other countries, as it is believed to ward off the heat of the summer months, according to state news agency Xinhua. However, this festival began in recent years, Xinhua said. City officials have distanced themselves from the gathering. 'Some residents of Yulin have the habit of coming together to eat lychees and dog meat during the summer solstice,'" the city's news office wrote on Weibo." In "China Yulin dog meat festival under way despite outrage," BBC News, 22 June 2015.
Addendum of Eating Fido II: "Video footage shows a dog apparently being blow torched alive ahead of an annual dog meat festival in China. As many as 15,000 dogs are tortured, killed and cooked to be sold at Yulin Lychee and Dog Meat Festival every year. Canine meat is considered a delicacy in China, where about £10m worth of dogs and £4m cats are sold for their meat annually." In "Yulin Dog Meat Festival: Dogs blow-torched alive in footage from China," Chiara Giordano, Independent UK, 21 June 2019.
Addendum of the Potentially Edible Living Being: "Miss Newkirk said: 'Animals are not pets – they are not your cheap burglar alarm, or something which allows you to go out for a walk. They are not ours as decorations or toys, they are living beings'." In "Don't call your pet a pet: Animal rights charity chief says term is derogatory because it makes living things sound like a 'commodity' or 'decoration'," by Victoria Allen, Daily Mail, 31 January 2020.
Addendum of One of Extinction Rebellion's Jet Setters: "Many viewers of her interview slammed Miss Jones's 'crocodile tears' and called for her and fellow Extinction Rebellion - XR - protesters to leave the area. Now the 23-year-old eco-warrior faces claims of hypocrisy after photos emerged of her carbon spewing lifestyle, globetrotting to far-flung exotic locations." In "Revealed: 'Rank hypocrisy' of globetrotting Extinction Rebellion jet setter's lifestyle after she shed 'crocodile tears' over climate protest that stopped son seeing his dying dad," by Jake Wallis Simons, Daily Mail, 25 July 2019.
Addendum of Remedies for the Irremediable: "Three causes especially have excited the discontent of mankind; and, by impelling us to seek for remedies for the irremediable, have bewildered us in a maze of madness and error. These are death, toil, and ignorance of the future—the doom of man upon this sphere, and for which he shews his antipathy by his love of life, his longing for abundance, and his craving curiosity to pierce the secrets of the days to come. The first has led many to imagine that they might find means to avoid death, or, failing in this, that they might, nevertheless, so prolong existence as to reckon it by centuries instead of units. From this sprang the search, so long continued and still pursued, for the elixir vitæ, or water of life, which has led thousands to pretend to it and millions to believe in it. From the second sprang the absurd search for the philosopher's stone, which was to create plenty by changing all metals into gold; and from the third, the false sciences of astrology, divination, and their divisions of necromancy, chiromancy, augury, with all their train of signs, portents, and omens." In "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds," Charles MacKay, 1841.
Consider the Recent and Proven History of Bankrupt green
and a Musing on The Privileges of Intellectuals
Addendum of an Alternative to Eating Fido: "Let nobody tell you that the second decade of the 21st century has been a bad time. We are living through the greatest improvement in human living standards in history. Extreme poverty has fallen below 10 per cent of the world’s population for the first time. It was 60 per cent when I was born. Global inequality has been plunging as Africa and Asia experience faster economic growth than Europe and North America; child mortality has fallen to record low levels; famine virtually went extinct; malaria, polio and heart disease are all in decline." In "We’ve just had the best decade in human history. Seriously," by Matt Ridley, Spectator UK 21 December 2019.
Addendum II of an Alternative to Eating Fido: "...the climate change crop scare is pure fiction. Presenting crop data collected by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the Global Economy website documents that U.S. crop yields are enjoying excellent short-term, mid-term, and long-term growth, with new records being set almost every year. According to the USDA publication, 'Crop Production Historical Track Records,' the past three years produced the three highest U.S. wheat yields per acre in history. The past five years produced the five highest U.S. corn yields and the five highest soybean yields per acre in history. U.S. and global crop production are a story of steady growth and almost yearly new records as the Earth modestly warms." In "Waking up on climate change: Farm yields keep shattering records," by James Taylor, CFact, 3 January 2020.
Addendum of the Necessity to Not Eat Fido: "A ban on eating dog and cat meat in Shenzhen would be 'extremely welcome,' said Peter Li, China policy expert for Humane Society International, an animal welfare group. 'Although the trade in Shenzhen is fairly small compared with the rest of [Guangdong] province, Shenzhen is still a huge city and is larger than Wuhan, so this would be very significant and could even have a domino effect with other cities following'." In "Shenzhen prepares ban on eating cats and dogs after outbreak," by David Kirton, Reuters, 27 February 2020.
What the fear mongering brings....
Addendum of Emma Thompson Being Prescient: "Kim Jong-un has declared that pet dogs are a symbol of capitalist 'decadence' and ordered that dogs in Pyongyang be rounded up - and owners are fearful that their beloved pets are being used to solve the nation's food shortages. Dictator Kim announced in July that owning a pet is now against the law, denouncing having a dog at home as 'a tainted trend of bourgeois ideology'." In "North Koreans are ordered to hand over 'decadent and bourgeois' pet dogs for 'restaurant meat' as the country is rocked by food shortages," by Julian Ryall, Mail Online, 17 August 2020.
Addendum of Communist Cuba's Rodent Roast: "A government television broadcast in Cuba this week urged citizens to eat guinea pig and other rodents, suggesting rodent meat is more nutritious and 'sustainable' than pork or beef, Cuban outlets reported on Wednesday. The Communist Party has presided over major food shortages in Cuba for decades, beginning almost immediately following the Cuban Revolution in 1959." In "Cuban Communists: Add Rodent Meat 'to the Family Dinner Table'," by Frances Martel, Breitbart, 24 December 2020.
"When the global elite are aligned against him and laughing like the immature cool kids you hated in middle school, President Donald Trump is winning When the liberal law professors are neglecting their Thanksgiving turkeys to read congressional transcripts and snarking about Trump's 13-year old son, Trump is winning. When the politicians are mad — so mad that they have shut down all policymaking to impeach the President of the United States on what constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley called 'wafer thin' evidence —Trump is winning." In "Donald Trump was elected to break the elite. Of course they want to impeach him," by Scott Jennings, CNN Opinion, 5 December 2019. [ 1 ]
That's how it works
As partisan quirks
Sink bi-partisans' ship.That's how it goes,
As partisan woesDrip and slip and rip.
That's how it acts,
Threats and attacks,
A partisan fever to whip.
Addendum of a Proper Target to Defeat: "...I have my freedom – unlike 1.4 billion living in China, where President Xi Jinping has tightened the party’s grip. My friends, along with many activists, journalists and lawyers, have been jailed; some are persecuted to death. The situation for repressed peoples such as the Uighurs and Tibetans is worse than in war since they cannot fight back. They have no weapons against the all-powerful state and its mass surveillance. People used to think I was crazy when I warned about China. They did not turn their eyes there, could not imagine what was really going on. Inside the country, no one can resist the party will or refuse its demands." In "The world must unite to defeat coronavirus and stay united to beat another virus – China’s Communist Party, says SHENG XUE," by Shen Xue, Mail On Sunday, 18 April 2020. [ 2 ]
Addendum of Media Racism: "A new Chinese coronavirus, a cousin of the SARS virus, has infected hundreds since the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December. Scientist Leo Poon, who first decoded the virus, thinks it likely started in an animal and spread to humans." In "Coronavirus explained: What you need to know," by Jen Christensen and Meera Senthilingam, CNN, 18 February 2020. [ 3 ]
Addendum of Fearing Leaders Who Exploit: "While the negativity effect is wired into the primal region of our brains, we also have the rational capacity to override it. We could learn from history—and gain a new appreciation for a much-quoted line in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first inaugural address. When FDR said that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, he was offering excellent but incomplete advice. Besides fearing our own irrationality, we should fear leaders who exploit it during a crisis." In "The Politics of Fear, For economist Robert Higgs, Covid-19 is just the latest emergency justifying expanded government power," by John Tierney, City Journal, 20 May 2020.
NOTES
[ 1 ] "Break the elite?" The assertion might be mere politics, but Jennings adds, "...partisanship is more important than policymaking? That House Democrats have no confidence in their party's ability to beat Donald Trump in an election. And, perhaps most alarmingly, that impeachment — once reserved for the gravest of situations — is now just another tool to inflict damage on their political opponents."
" 'Before I finished my testimony, my home and office were inundated with threatening messages and demands that I be fired from George Washington University for arguing that, while a case for impeachment can be made, it has not been made on this record,' Turley wrote in an op-ed published Thursday in The Hill." In "Anti-impeachment witness says he's received threats since Judiciary Committee hearing," by Devan Cole, CNN, 5 December 2019.
[ 2 ] The notions of American politics as ever and always partisan shows why Politics
Chinese Communism as a Virus
Sheng Xue observes: "...we do know that the Chinese Communist Party does not care about people dying, about people living in freedom, about the rights of humans. The world must come together to defeat this disease from Wuhan. But then it must stay united to beat another evil. We are not just confronting coronavirus at this moment in history but the even deadlier Communist Party virus."
It is instructive to note that the elite of Communist China have become massively wealthy -- through the one-party rule under Communism. Should one need more proof, one only need consider the media quote, addenda and footnotes telling of Capital for Communists
And yet, closing air travel with China was termed "xenophobic" and "fear-mongering" by the current political opposition to Trump. One must consider that this issue, as commented upon by Sheng Xue, is not about the Chinese people as an ethnicity or race, but against the Chinese Communist Party.
And so the question: can a politician be xenophobic or a fear-monger against Chinese Communism? And for this, apparently, Jennings writing for CNN states, "Of course they want to impeach him." But Trump was acquitted. So, a next step is to level the accusations of "hysteria, xenophobia, and fear-mongering," a "partisan fever to whip."
Alas then for the partisan, a fair question is this. If Trump stands against the Chinese Communist Party, do you stand with the CCP? If not, why not If so, then are you also a xenophobe? That's how it works....
[ 3 ] This is also how it works. Prior to Trump referring to the corona virus as a "Chinese" virus, many in the media referred to it as "Chinese coronavirus" and "Wuhan coronavirus." This was apparently not "racist" on their part, and yet once Trump took up the phrase, it became "racist."
Media - racist until it's not
The media itself noticed: "Before the media's fake outrage, even CNN called it 'Chinese Coronavirus'." In "Biden accuses Trump of 'xenophobic fear-mongering' over 'Chinese virus' remark," by Erica Davies and Danielle Cinone, Sun UK, 19 March 2020.
In the last presidential election when I voted by absentee ballot in California, I selected Jill Stein, for her clear anti-war statements. Of the three candidates, Clinton, Trump and Stein, Clinton was the obvious "war candidate," while Trump was a wild card, and Stein clear about this position. Stein carried a meager 2 percent of the vote. Apparently my view can be quite in the minority.
One might consider A Modern Observation on The Anti-War Movement, Trading Places
"...to break the elite. Of course they want to impeach him." That's how it works.
For more on the "Chinese" virus, consider Everything's about some Chinese skin
"...the regime confiscated all private firearms back in 2012. Exempted from the ban: the regime’s 'Bolivarian Militias' — modern-day brownshirts who have done much of the work of crushing protests for years now. The government says their ranks now number 3.3 million, so Maduro’s 4 million goal seems all too reachable. All around the world, earnest fans of socialism insist it has never failed, as critics claim, since 'true socialism has never really been tried.' Maduro is showing that the sure way to make it 'succeed' is for the self-proclaimed socialists to have all the guns." In "Maduro's socialist miracle: To 'succeed,' you just need all the guns," by Post Editorial Board, New York Post, 10 December 2019.
If you've each and every gun,
It's sure you'll have a lot of fun
Defined by all who will have none.
Confiscation thus has won.
If you've people without a fight,
It's sure you claim you have the right
To do most anything with such might.
Servitude rises in full sight.
"The little-publicized breakdown of how the Holy See spends Peter’s Pence, known only among senior Vatican officials, is raising concern among some Catholic Church leaders that the faithful are being misled about the use of their donations, which could further hurt the credibility of the Vatican's financial management under Pope Francis. The Vatican is currently embroiled in a scandal over opaque real-estate investments in London, which has triggered a power struggle within the Vatican's bureaucracy and led to the dismissal of its chief financial regulator. Last month, the Vatican was suspended from an international network of anti-money-laundering watchdogs." In "Vatican Uses Donations for the Poor to Plug Its Budget Deficit: Only 10% of donations to the Peter’s Pence collection go directly to charitable works," by Francis X. Rocca, Wall Street Journal, 11 December 2019.
Peter's pence amounts to cents,
As most goes towards the rent.
Charity is the rarity,
For elsewhere much is spent.
Deficits accrued quite occlude
As heaven is downwards bent.
Holy moly, the elite's not lowly
It seems peters have overspent.
Addendum of Vatican Salaries: "About 45% of Vatican City’s budget of 300 million euros, or $329 million, is devoted to salaries for 3,000 employees, according to the Wall Street Journal, many of whom are in non-essential roles, budget hawks argue. Officials say the Pope won’t approve layoffs." In "Pope Francis urges Vatican leaders to fix city's ballooning budget deficit," by Shawn M. Carter, Fox Business, 3 September 2019.
$329 million / 3K employees = $109,667 per employee
Addendum of Comparative Average Salaries s in Rome: "Average salary in Rome is EUR 49,614 (Gross). All data are based on our survey (151 individual salary entries). Average take home earning is EUR 31,970 (Net). The most typical salary is EUR 33,800 (Gross)." In "Rome, Italy Salary," Average Salary Survey, updated 18 November 2019.
Addendum of Duping, Dealing and Dubai: "Originally in 2013, the IOR [Istituto per le Opere di Religion] set up a committee to decide on how to invest €30 million. The decision was to have Futura buy out a non-performing loan of €32 million from the owner of the Exchange Palace, and then convert that loan into an 84% share in the Hungarian company redeveloping the property. But the IOR claims Futura made an undeclared profit of €11.6 million by duping the Vatican on the price of the Hungarian deal; and then by planning to sell Futura’s 90% stake in the Exchange Palace’s holding company, to Cougar Real Estate of Luxembourg, which is, in turn, owned by a Dubai firm." In "Vatican chases millions in bid to stop Malta fund from ‘abusive’ sale," by Matthew Vella, Malta Today, 14 December 2019.
Addendum of Theodore's Tithe: "Theodore McCarrick, the first Catholic cardinal to be defrocked over sexual abuse allegations, sent over $600,000 to powerful clergy in the Church over almost two decades, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. The payments started in 2001 and went to high-level clergy around the world, including Vatican bureaucrats, papal advisers and two popes, according to the documents and former Church officials. In total, the former cardinal gave money to over 100 officials, several of whom were closely involved in assessing misconduct claims against McCarrick, the Post reports." In "Disgraced cardinal gave over $600K to popes, Vatican officials: report," by Marty Johnson, The Hill, 27 December 2019.
Addendum of West Virginia Waste: " 'I'm a Catholic — I'm a parishioner down the street, and for years it has just bugged me to no end,' Baller said. 'I've seen them waste all that money on that place and then turn around and ask us every Sunday to donate more, donate more — always asking for money. It's sickening'." In "West Virginia Catholic bishop spent $4.6M renovating mansion where he 'inappropriately touched young priests' - fitting it with a sunken bar, a wine cellar and a $20K dining table - before church quietly sold it for only $1.2M after he was fired," by Megan Sheets, Dailymail.com, 30 December 2019.
Addendum of Peter's Deficits: "In an interview with Vatican Media, Father Guerrero said he expected to further cut expenditures by 8 percent in 2021, without resorting to layoffs, which Francis opposes. But even then, the 50 million euro deficit expected for 2021 will require once again dipping into reserves of past donations to cover expenses. Fr Guerrero confirmed that in 2019, the Vatican used 27.2 million euros in Peter's Pence reserves to cover its operating costs, on top of the 53.8 million euros in revenue to the Peter's Pence fund that year." In "Vatican admits it has nearly depleted its financial reserves and pleads for more donations from the faithful," by Chris Jewers, Mail Online and Associated Press, 12 March 2021.
Addendum of Peter's Loss-Making: "Cardinal Becciu was a close aide to Pope Francis and previously had a key job in the Vatican's Secretariat of State, which manages the Church's donations. He will face questions over a controversial loss-making deal to invest in the luxury London building while he was in charge at the secretariat; the deal has since been the subject of a financial investigation. The $200m (£155m) paid for the apartment block in Sloane Avenue came out of Church money through offshore funds and companies - a deal the cardinal had defended in the past." In "Vatican embezzlement trial: Cardinal Angelo Becciu among 10 charged," BBC, 3 July 2021.
Addendum of Peter's Loss-Making Yet Lavish London Apartment: "Neighbours complained to the local council and even to the London Nuncio about 'hellish noise' from late night gatherings, some involving DJs. The purchase of the flat and several other luxury London properties in 2014 was decided by Francis and overseen by his right-hand man, Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu. The properties were paid by money from Peter's Pence and are held through Jersey shell companies. The currently unoccupied 9,000 square feet triplex apartment features a large garden and indoor swimming pool installed as part of a multimillion-pound refurbishment. It is advertised for rent for £30,000 a week." In ""Infernal Noise" Poured Out of Vatican Property in London," EN News / Gloria TV, 20 July 2021.
Consider the costs involving Two popes
Use a kid for politics, part two - more political optics' tricks for you
"People are suffering, people are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!?"
Save the planet by painting it with murals here and there.
The kids' crusade was quite a hit. Big Brother's gal can stare,
Glaring from each picture. How dare you not commit
To each upcoming stricture demanding you submit?
Save the planet by painting it, with great icons to transmit
A giant message to befit moneyed interests' sniveling snit.
Trading carbon forth and back will most surely benefit
The traders who'll ride piggyback on indulgences they'll permit,
Through carbon markets' access which trade what some emit,
Paint and credits coalesce, as the latest, wholly writ.
A review of previous artwork may be considered: Use a kid for politics
Addendum of Historical Precedent: "The same strong feelings of piety and righteousness that led knights to take the cross and march to war also affected the common people, who lacked the wealth or training to do the same. The repeated failure of the organized Crusades to reclaim Jerusalem and the True Cross frustrated all Christians. This combination of frustration and strong religious enthusiasm led to frequent and sometimes bizarre manifestations of popular piety, such as the so-called Children’s Crusade in 1212."
In "The Children’s Crusade," Britannica, n. d. [ 1 ]
Addendum of Children Who Are Not Greta Thunberg: "The report documents how traders buy cobalt from areas where child labor is rife and sell it to Congo Dongfang Mining (CDM), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese mineral giant Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Ltd (Huayou Cobalt). Amnesty International’s investigation uses investor documents to show how Huayou Cobalt and its subsidiary CDM process the cobalt before selling it to three battery component manufacturers in China and South Korea. In turn, they sell to battery makers who claim to supply technology and car companies, including Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, Daimler and Volkswagen. Amnesty International contacted 16 multinationals who were listed as customers of the battery manufacturers listed as sourcing processed ore from Huayou Cobalt. One company admitted the connection, while four were unable to say for certain whether they were buying cobalt from the DRC or Huayou Cobalt. Six said they were investigating the claims. Five denied sourcing cobalt from via Huayou Cobalt, though they are listed as customers in the company documents of battery manufacturers. Two multinationals denied sourcing cobalt from DRC." In "This is What We Die For: Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Power the Global Trade in Cobalt," Amnesty USA, 15 January 2016.
Addendum of COP25: "In what was widely denounced as one of the worst outcomes in a quarter-century of climate negotiations, United Nations talks ended early Sunday morning with the United States and other big polluters blocking even a nonbinding measure that would have encouraged countries to adopt more ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions next year." In "U.N. Climate Talks End With Few Commitments and a 'Lost' Opportunity," by Somini Sengupta, New York Times, 15 December 2019.
Addendum of No Deal on Carbon Markets: "...almost 200 countries failed to agree on article six of the Paris Agreement, concerning the carbon markets system." In "COP25 ends with no deal on carbon markets," by Elena Sánchez Nicolás, EU Observer, 17 December 2019. [ 2 ]
Addendum of False But Profitable Solutions: " 'In most social climate summit organisations this is seen as one of those false solutions,' Isidro Castaner, one of the spokespersons for Extinction Rebellion Spain, told Euronews. For this activist, the underlying problem with carbon credits is that they perpetuate the dynamic that 'everything can be traded and measured from an economic perspective'. 'I don't believe in ecological capitalisation,' agrees Madalina Scarlat, an activist for Fridays for Future Romania." In "What are carbon markets and why are they the talk of COP25 in Madrid?" by Marta Rodriguez Martinez, Euro News, 12 December 2019. [ 3 ]
Addendum of Convening Carbon Market Participants: "IETA has a proud history of convening carbon market participants. In 2004, IETA joined the World Bank and Koelnmesse in co-founding Carbon Expo, the first annual global carbon trade fair and conference. It continues today under the banner of Innovate4Climate, still the largest and most authoritative gathering of carbon market stakeholders. IETA built on this experience to co-organise regional Carbon Forums in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America. This series is conducted in partnership with the UNFCCC, other UN bodies and international and regional development banks. It offers IETA members platforms to discover new opportunities around the world." IETA History, n. d. (International Emissions Trading Association).
Addendum of Every Trick in the Book: "The executive director at NGO Oxfam International, Chema Vera, believes that UN nations have just argued over technicalities, instead of committing to more ambitious cuts in emissions. 'Wealthy nations have used every trick in the book to stall progress and avoid paying their fair share,' Vera said, adding that 'now more then ever, it is vital that people across the world keep up the pressure on governments to deliver more ambitious climate action'." In " Prostituting Charity: The Oxfam Debate," by Dr. Binoy Kampmark, Counter Currents, 1 March 2018. [ 4 ]
Addendum of Stymieing Progress: "Challenges include Brazil’s insistence on a carbon accounting approach others say is baffling and Australia’s insistence on carrying over old credits to meet its Paris emissions targets, which others see as an accounting trick. Brazil and developing countries, in turn, accused the European Union and other industrialized economies of stymieing progress on financial aid for poorer countries, saying they could not be more ambitious on their climate goals unless they received more assistance." In "Under fire over climate summit, Chile blames big polluters," by Aislinn Laing, Matthew Green and Isla Binnie, Reuters, 16 December 2019. [ 5 ]
Addendum of Ironic Merchandising: "The Times [ UK ] has claimed in an analysis that despite a boom in the sale of Swedish eco-activist Greta Thunberg-related merchandise indicating greater environmental awareness, much of it is either transported from China or made from environmentally unfriendly materials. The 'Greta' memorabilia includes a variety of T-shirts, mugs, stickers, badges and bags which are currently available online via Amazon, eBay and Etsy." In " 'Greta Thunberg' Merch Made of Toxic Materials, Shipped From China – Report," by Oleg Buranov, Sputnik News, 21 December 2019.
Addendum of Ironic Merchandising II: " 'Pray to Saint Greta Thunberg, Saint of Climate Change,' the Shrine On description reads. The candle, which includes a picture of Greta Thunberg dressed up as Jesus Christ often is in votive candles, sells for $18 plus shipping. The Etsy listing is slightly cheaper at $14.43, and it reveals that the item will be ready to ship from Canada in 3-5 business days." In "Pray to Greta, Saint of Climate Change, for $18 Plus Shipping," by Tyler O'Neil, PJ Media, 7 January 2020.
Addendum of Africa's Increasing Energy Consumption: "According to the International Energy Agency, 95% of the global population without access to electricity is found in sub-Saharan Africa and developing Asia. Africa also has the world’s fastest-growing population, so the potential for increased energy consumption is huge. South Africa's Mines and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe also warmed to this theme. Noting that Africa has long exported its hydrocarbons to the rest of the world while the region remained energy-deficient itself, he told a media briefing at the conference that: 'We must consume sizeable amounts of what we produce and export what is left'." In "The new scramble for Africa is all about providing energy," by Ed Stoddard, Business Maverick, 8 November 2019. [ 6 ]
Addendum of More and More Chinese Coal: "Coal consumption is back near peak levels after rebounding over the past three years, despite China’s pledges to make steep cuts in what is the country’s most prevalent and polluting source of energy. The country is building more coal-fired plant capacity than the rest of the world combined. Infrastructure stimulus measures to offset the impact of the prolonged trade war with the U.S. have boosted consumption, while Beijing has taken a softer stance on coal use after a missile attack in September on Saudi Arabia, China’s biggest source of oil imports, underscored the country’s reliance on foreign energy. " In "In Tougher Times, China Falls Back on Coal. As worries mount over a slowing economy and energy security, coal use has climbed despite Beijing's claims to be leading climate-change fight," by Stephanie Yang, Wall Street Journal 23 December 2019.
Addendum of China's 29 Percent: "When it comes to climate change, Beijing holds the fate of the planet in its hands. China accounts for 29 percent of global CO2 emissions, more than the next three countries -- the US, Russia, India -- combined, according to the Global Carbon Project. Its carbon footprint has tripled in 20 years from 3.2 to 10 billions tonnes in 2018." In "Five Reasons COP25 Climate Talks Failed," by Marlowe Hood, International Business Times, 25 December 2019.
Addendum of Admitted Public Therapy: "He described how the young climate activist 'fell ill' and stopped eating and talking to others, staying at home for a year from the age of 11 when she was first diagnosed with Asperger's. Her recovery started when he became vegan and her mother, Swedish opera star Malena Ernman, stopped flying, Mr Thunberg said, adding: 'We are not climate activists, we never were. We knew it was the right thing to do - but I didn't do it to save the climate, I did it to save my child'." In "Greta Thunberg's father Svante reveals he thought the 16-year-old's eco-crusade was a 'bad idea' - but believes it has actually saved her from a pit of depression he feared would KILL her," by Lara Keay and Martin Robinson, Mail Online, 30 December 2019.
Addendum of Preparing for a Bonanza: "...the Greta phenomenon has also involved green lobbyists, PR hustlers, eco-academics, and a think-tank founded by a wealthy ex-minister in Sweden’s Social Democratic government with links to the country’s energy companies. These companies are preparing for the biggest bonanza of government contracts in history: the greening of the Western economies. Greta, whether she and her parents know it or not, is the face of their political strategy." In "Greta’s very corporate children’s crusade," by Dominic Green, Standpoint, 30 June 2019. [ 7 ]
Addendum of Asset Control over a Bonanza: "BlackRock joins more than 370 global investors, including pension giant CalPERS and HSBC Global Asset Management, already participating in the initiative, which aims to sway companies ranging from fossil-fuel producers to consumer-product conglomerates to be carbon neutral by 2050. With BlackRock on board, total assets under management represented by Climate Action 100+ now top $41 trillion." In "World’s largest asset manager BlackRock joins $41 trillion climate-change investing pact," by Rachel Koning Beals, MarketWatch, 9 January 2020. [ 8 ]
Addendum of the Worldwide Bonanza Meeting: "...Lucy Gilliam, a shipping specialist at European clean transport nonprofit Transport & Environment, criticized the idea of carbon offsetting to CNN. 'You're not actually removing the emissions that have been created by that plane,' she said. 'The plane will have burned that fuel, and the carbon has been released into the atmosphere'." In "Davos says it is focusing on the climate crisis, but its billionaires and world leaders are still arriving on private jets," by Sinéad Baker, Business Insider, 20 January 2020.
Addendum of a Message for an Adolescent Girl: "You’re way out of your league. You’re up against people who represent decades if not centuries-old interests, as well as -aspiring- politicians in every Parliament and even city counsel who know full well their careers will be nipped in the bud if they don’t go along with those interests. And then there’s 10,000 Middle East sheiks. Davos is not your stage, Greta, and it’s not the stage for the people who believe in you. You’re betraying them by going there, because you have no control over the stage. Still, the other side really want you to think it is, the oil companies do, US and EU governments do, Mercedes and Toyota and Ford, do. Because you are their meal ticket. They want you to believe that the problem that keeps you up at night can be solved with electric cars and solar panels and wind turbines. Because they have invested heavily in companies that produce all of those. And now there’s a trillion here and a trillion there, because people listen to you." In "'Climate Puppet' Greta Thunberg Shames Davos Attendees For 'Doing Nothing'," by Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge, 21 January 2020. [ 9 ]
Addendum of the Prince's Meeting: "...the Prince met activist Greta Thunberg and used an electric Jaguar car to travel to the Swiss resort. But the MoS can reveal that in the 11 days before his high-profile appearance, Charles took three flights on private jets for official Government business and one on a helicopter." In "Prince Charles flew 16,000 miles in just 11 days using three private jets and one helicopter before proudly posing with Greta Thunberg in Davos," by Kate Mansey, Mail On Sunday, 25 January 2020.
Addendum of a Handful of Financial Giants' Gain: "What few realize is how carefully all this is being orchestrated to prepare a massive shift in global capital flows where a handful of financial giants stand to gain. ... What is becoming clearer is that the latest global push for dramatic climate action is more about justifying a major reorganization of the global economy, that to a far less efficient energy mode, implying a drastic lowering of global living standards. In 2010 the head of Working Group 3 of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Dr Otmar Edenhofer, told an interviewer, '…one must say clearly that we redistribute de facto the world’s wealth by climate policy. One has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. This has almost nothing to do with environmental policy anymore…' What better way to do it than to start with the world’s largest money controllers like BlackRock?" In "Follow the Real Money Behind the New Green Agenda," by F. William Engdahl, New Eastern Outlook, 27 January 2020. [ 10 ]
Addendum of Controlling Trademarks: " 'My name and the #FridaysForFuture movement are constantly being used for commercial purposes without any consent whatsoever. It happens for instance in marketing, selling of products and people collecting money in my and the movement's name,' she wrote on her Instagram account." In "Greta Thunberg seeks to trademark her name to stem misuse," by Anna Ringstrom, Reuters, 29 January 2020.
Addendum of Can and Can't in the 2020 Democrat Primary: "Dozens of scientists have endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) sweeping plan to combat global climate change after fellow Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden declared that 'not a single solitary scientist thinks it can work.' The former vice president derided Sanders’ proposed $16.3 trillion Green New Deal during a campaign stop last week in New Hampshire, adding that 'you can not get to zero emissions by 2030. It’s impossible'." In "Joe Biden Said No Scientist Supports Bernie Sanders’ Climate Plan. Dozens Just Did," by Chris D'Angelo, HuffPost, 29 January 2020.
Addendum of Why Such Optics Fail: "...many scholars are undertaking new theoretical efforts. a core effort is developing a more general theory of individual choice that recognizes the central role of trust in coping with social dilemmas. over time, a clear set of findings from the microsituational level has emerged regarding structural factors affecting the likelihood of increased cooperation. due to the complexity of broader field settings, one needs to develop more configural approaches to the study of factors that enhance or detract from the emergence and robustness of self-organized efforts within multilevel, polycentric systems. further, the application of empirical studies to the policy world leads one to stress the importance of fitting institutional rules to a specific social-ecological setting. 'one-size-fits-all' policies are not effective." In "Beyond markets and states: polycentric governance of complex economic systems'" Nobel Prize Lecture of Elinor Ostrom, 8 December 2009. [ 11 ]
Addendum of Transgressing Against the Icon: " 'It is fine to demonstrate for climate change as long as you are not asked to contribute to pay for it,' Borrell said, calling this attitude 'Greta syndrome' in reference to 17-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. Under pressure, Borrell, a Spanish socialist, later apologized. 'I want to apologize to anyone that may have felt offended by my inappropriate reference to the important youth movement fighting #climatechange,' he tweeted on Saturday." In "EU's top diplomat under fire again for 'Greta syndrome' remark," by Francesco Guarascio, Reuters, 10 February 2020.
Girls at work
Addendum of Children Not on a Friday's Climate Strike: "No one knows exactly how many children work in Congo’s mining industry. UNICEF in 2012 estimated that 40,000 boys and girls do so in the country’s south. A 2007 study funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development found 4,000 children worked at mining sites in Kolwezi alone. Local government officials say they lack the resources to address the problem. 'We have a big challenge with the children, because it is difficult to take them out of the mines when there are no schools for these children to go to,' said Muyej, the provincial governor. 'We have to find a solution for this'." In "The cobalt pipeline," by Todd C. Frankel, Washington Post, 30 September 2010. [ 12 ]
Addendum of a Pertinent Question: "Carbon emissions have been declining in developed nations for the last decade. In Europe, emissions in 2018 were 23% below 1990 levels. In the U.S., emissions fell 15 percent from 2005 to 2016. Do Sanders, Thunberg, Extinction Rebellion and other apocalyptic greens really believe that, by raising the alarm about the end of the world, they will persuade societies to choose the low-energy path? Perhaps. But they may also fear, consciously or unconsciously, that the outsized role played by natural gas and nuclear means that climate apocalypse can be averted without any of the radical societal transformations they demand. After all, if nations were to simply use natural gas to transition to nuclear, there would be little need to stop traffic in London, moralize about the virtues of foregoing meat, flying, and driving, or deploy renewables." In "If They Are So Alarmed By Climate Change, Why Are They So Opposed To Solving It?" by Michael Shellenberger, Forbes, 18 February 2020.
Addendum of When Left and Right See the Same Thing Behind the Wizards' Curtain: "The film shows Al Gore, the political godfather of climate alarmism, raked in approximately $100 million when he and his co-owner of Current TV sold the channel to Al Jazeera, a network funded by the government of Qatar, whose operations are largely funded by oil and gas revenues and whose citizens have the largest per capita carbon footprint in the world. Simultaneously, Gibbs shows Gore, his billionaire corporate investment fund cronies, and environmental groups including the Sierra Club, promote and are profiting from biomass burning—cutting down and burning trees often mixed with used tires—to replace coal for electric power generation. This emits as much or more carbon dioxide and even worse toxic pollutants into the atmosphere than coal." In "Climate Attack Dogs Target Michael Moore for Exposing Green Energy Myths," by H. Sterling Burnett, Townhall, 30 April 2020.
Addendum of Even Less Time to Save the Planet: "The world has only six months in which to change the course of the climate crisis and prevent a post-lockdown rebound in greenhouse gas emissions that would overwhelm efforts to stave off climate catastrophe, one of the world’s foremost energy experts has warned. 'This year is the last time we have, if we are not to see a carbon rebound,' said Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency." In "World has six months to avert climate crisis, says energy expert," by Fiona Harvey, Guardian UK, 18 June 2020.
Addendum of an Alarmist's Confession: "...until last year, I mostly avoided speaking out against the climate scare. Partly because I was embarrassed. After all, I am as guilty of alarmism as any other environmentalist. For years, I referred to climate change as an 'existential' threat to human civilization and called it a 'crisis.' But mostly, I was scared. I remained quiet about the climate disinformation campaign because I was afraid of losing friends and funding. The few times I summoned the courage to defend climate science from those who misrepresent it I suffered harsh consequences. And so I mostly stood by and did next to nothing as my fellow environmentalists terrified the public." In "An environmentalist's apology: 'I was guilty of alarmism', 'I feel an obligation to apologize for how badly we environmentalists have misled the public'," by Michael Shellenberger, Spectator, 7 July 2020. [ 13 ]
Addendum of Apology for the Climate Scare: "Here are some facts few people know: Humans are not causing a 'sixth mass extinction.' The Amazon is not 'the lungs of the world.' Climate change is not making natural disasters worse. Fires have declined 25% around the world since 2003. The amount of land we use for meat — humankind’s biggest use of land — has declined by an area nearly as large as Alaska. The build-up of wood fuel and more houses near forests, not climate change, explain why there are more, and more dangerous, fires in Australia and California. Carbon emissions are declining in most rich nations and have been declining in Britain, Germany, and France since the mid-1970s. Netherlands became rich not poor while adapting to life below sea level. We produce 25% more food than we need and food surpluses will continue to rise as the world gets hotter. Habitat loss and the direct killing of wild animals are bigger threats to species than climate change. Wood fuel is far worse for people and wildlife than fossil fuels. Preventing future pandemics requires more not less 'industrial' agriculture.' I know that the above facts will sound like 'climate denialism' to many people. But that just shows the power of climate alarmism." In "On Behalf Of Environmentalists, I Apologize For The Climate Scare," by Michael Shellenberger, Environmental Progress, 29 June 2020.
Addendum of an Applicable Commentary: "The urge to save humanity is almost always a false-face for the urge to rule it. Power is what all messiahs really seek: not the chance to serve." H. L. Mencken, Minority Report, New York, Knopf, 1956.
Do you remember the good old days?
NOTES
[ 1 ] The young leading into folly is a historical truth. As Britannica also notes: "...in early 1212 a young man named Nicholas from Cologne became the focal point for a popular movement that swept through the Rhineland. After having allegedly received divine instruction...."
[ 2 ] A "worst outcome" as the NY Times opined is that "carbon markets" did not assign "voluntary" and thereby mandatory obligations to "trade" in carbon credits. The "carbon markets system" is about traders profiting, when all is said and done. More details flesh out the reality of the "markets," which are not markets.
The mural imagery above yields to a mural defaced in only two days in Canada, followed by logos of some of the real players behind the larger "carbon" picture.
Carbon Commodities and Electronic Exchange Platforms
Among the many traders lining up to profit from a "not new" concept -- the commodity -- is Carbon TradeXchange. From their website, one learns of their "products": "Today CTX is operated by Environmental Markets Services Ltd, a UK-based subsidiary of Global Environmental Markets (GEM). Under the CTX brand, EMS trades Carbon Credits certified by the Gold Standard, Verified Carbon Standard and United Nations CDM. We also offer other Carbon Services, including: Carbon Offsetting; Carbon Neutral Certification; Carbon Project Development; and Carbon Footprinting." Carbon TradeXchange, n. d.
CTX is that "UK-based subsidiary" of a larger trader, led by Wayne Sharpe. One reads further: "Since its foundation in 2009, GEM has built its own proprietary technology and IP with the help of heavy investment. As a result, minimal 'redevelopment' is required for personalisation of the technology to suit industries and sectors. GEM also provides market operators with electronic exchange platforms that help to facilitate fair, orderly and transparent electronic exchange trading platforms that give their participants the complete confidence to trade. Furthermore, GEM has a proven track record in designing, developing and operating web-based exchange and registry systems that suit any market requirements. These requirements can range from listing new products, disseminating market knowledge and information through to facilitating trading and providing world class, real time, clearing and settlement."
What is being traded? Paper. Certificates. "The concept is not new." One may refer back to the sourced footnotes under the title, Green Job
But What Are Carbon Commodities?
And yet, the COP25 could not define a simple term, "The talking was endless: more than 70,000 hours were spent failing to define a 'market instrument,' something that was meant to have been decided at last year’s conference in Katowice, Poland. Even though the Madrid conference ran over into the weekend, making it the longest ever, the issue will be kicked into next year’s talks, in Glasgow, Scotland." In "Madrid Climate Conference Ends in Failure," by Rupert Darwall, Real Clear Energy, 16 December 2019.
Given there is no "market" without enforcement mechanisms and treaty-like obligations, it is of course difficult to define a "market instrument." What is the worth of a certificate? What is its backing? Shelf-life? Long-term value?
EU carbon market collapses, version 2020
As to the "market," it again loses the worth of its traded credits in 2020. One reads: "The Covid-19 pandemic has turned Europe’s carbon price upside down, with prices dropping by 40% since early March when they were still trading at about €24 ($26) per metric ton, analyst IHS Markit said. The current trading levels of between €16-18 per metric ton are roughly two thirds of the level of the high of 2019 of €29 per metric ton." In "EU carbon market collapses as Covid-19 causes ‘perfect storm‘: IHS," by Bernd Radowitz, Recharge News, 7 April 2020.
[ 3 ] This is a problem for the traders in "carbon" credits, pieces of certified paper more or less.
Purchase the Right to Pollute?
One reads: "The idea behind this system is that the most polluting countries can purchase the right to pollute more from countries that have not reached their emissions limits. The concept is not new. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol turned polluting emissions into a commodity. For example, the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is the largest in the world and has been in operation since 2015. 'Carbon markets are regulatory structures that allow, in particular, oil and gas-intensive companies or heavy industry (or, in the case of COP25, countries) to reduce their economic footprint through a series of incentives,' Reed Blakemore, associate director of the US international affairs think tank Atlantic Council, told Euronews." In "What are carbon markets and why are they the talk of COP25 in Madrid?" by Marta Rodriguez Martinez, Euro News, 12 December 2019.
Proposed for murals: Multimillionaire traders Sharpe, Gore and Blood,
and their Carbon Investing and Marketing
And so Madalina Scarlat's objection makes sense, as she declared "I don't believe in ecological capitalisation." Millionaire traders do. But should nations wish to cut their carbon emissions, they may do so from within their own national borders by national and local law and regulation.
Madalina Scarlat in Madrid, not on a mural
Buying extra-national pollution credits does not reduce proposed pollutants. But it will make some very few very rich, as they take a fee from the "market" of pieces of paper. Perhaps the faces of the traders, advocating for countries to sign up to their trading services could be painted large, as murals once the ones above have lost their cache?
There is much money to be won. One reads further: "Generation Investment Management, co-founded by former US Vice President Al Gore, has raised $1 billion (£786m) for its latest private equity fund to back sustainable start-ups. Generation IM Sustainable Solutions Fund III will invest between $50 million and $150 million in companies helping the health of the planet or individuals, or those driving financial inclusion." In "Al Gore’s investment fund Generation raises $1bn to back eco-friendly start-ups," by James Cook, Telegraph UK, 21 May 2019.
CO2 Will Be Priced as an Asset, and Pollution Rights Will Be Purchased
And from years before: "The potential impact of climate change on asset pricing is highly material. For example, CO2 emissions will eventually be priced. The longer we wait, the higher the price point required to control global warming and the higher the risk of catastrophic outcomes. These events will eventually have negative stock price consequences in such industries as utilities, mining, transportation, chemicals, and fossil fuels." In "Sustainable capitalism: taking responsible investment mainstream," by Keith Ambachtsheer, Guardian UK, 16 July 2013.
So, to review: "The idea behind this system is that the most polluting countries can purchase the right to pollute more from countries that have not reached their emissions limits."
Isidro Castaner, of Extinction Rebellion, not on a mural
Those who act as middlemen stand to make money from all sides. This is what the Guardian called "sustainable capitalism." The Telegraph used the term, "eco-friendly." Climate activist Isidro Castaner, above, stated "the underlying problem with carbon credits is that they perpetuate the dynamic that 'everything can be traded and measured from an economic perspective'."
The traders would like that. Theirs are the faces of the carbon trading schemes.
[ 4 ] The "optics" of Oxfam International has been sullied, as the article refers to a Times UK article, and notes: "The revelations this month that the charity’s staff sexually exploited victims of the Haiti earthquake in 2010, a point subsequently concealed, have triggered a storm of British discontent. The revelations included a very active country director, Roland van Hauwermeiren, who revelled in sex parties as he went about his humanitarian work. Allegations of sexual abuse in Oxfam shops have also made their searing mark. The organisation has lost over 7,000 donors since the revelations, and MPs on the international development committee overseeing aid have been unimpressed."
One might imagine other sorts of murals in public spaces such imagery might bring? Optics ticks....
[ 5 ] One reads of smaller, poorer nations, that "they could not be more ambitious on their climate goals unless they received more assistance." Exactly the point, and fully rational.
COP25: A wrong turn causes delays, which could hamper ambition / HSBC-ThomsonReuters
Ambition for Assistance...
The potentially capitalist explanation is that many wish to be paid for their efforts. The likely socialist explanation is that many have greater need and therefore need "assistance," as the "ambition" now elevated into the COP discussion is for income transfers. This further amplifies the quote above that "everything can be traded and measured from an economic perspective," given the demands, expectations and push for treaty mechanisms of "credits" in the hands of traders who may profit from the "mechanism," and transfer of wealth thereby, for such reasons as any might make.
...to ambition for Wealth and Power
Prince La-di-dah and gazillionaires
One of the ballyhooed "renewable" energy sources which appears in climate talks is wind. Of this one reads: "You may have got the impression from announcements like that, and from the obligatory pictures of wind turbines in any BBC story or airport advert about energy, that wind power is making a big contribution to world energy today. You would be wrong. Its contribution is still, after decades — nay centuries — of development, trivial to the point of irrelevance." In "Wind turbines are neither clean nor green and they provide zero global energy," by Matt Ridley, Spectator UK, 13 May 2017.
Not exactly zero, but by rounding to the nearest whole integer, zero. "To the point of irrelevance." Ridley notices the economic side of this, as one reads further: "Everything else is a political displacement activity, one that is actually counterproductive as a climate policy and, worst of all, shamefully robs the poor to make the rich even richer."
Why such skepticism? Why the media blitz? One reads: "Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media is a 1988 book by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky, in which the authors propose that the mass communication media of the U.S. 'are effective and powerful ideological institutions that carry out a system-supportive propaganda function, by reliance on market forces, internalized assumptions, and self-censorship, and without overt coercion', by means of the propaganda model of communication. The title derives from the phrase 'the manufacture of consent,' employed in the book Public Opinion (1922), by Walter Lippmann (1889–1974). The consent referred to is consent of the governed." In "Manufacturing Consent," Wikipedia article, n. d.
The Art of Engineering Consent
This is fleshed out further: "For Herman and Chomsky, the acceptance of government policies by people in the USA on the basis of the partial picture of issues offered by the mass media, denying them access to alternative views which would lead them to oppose such policies. They present this as a propaganda model in which the mass media select material in relation to the values of those in power. The concept found in Gramsci and Althusserian Marxism, in which the dominant class sustains its hegemony through engineering assent: see also ideological state apparatus." In "Manufacture of consent," Oxford Reference, n. d.
Manipulating the Unaware
Oxford Reference also notes: "An allusion to the concept of 'the engineering of consent' defined in 1947, by the Austrian-American public relations pioneer Edward Bernays (1891–1995), as the art of manipulating people without them being aware of it. Bernays, a nephew of Freud, argued that people can be enticed to want things that they do not need if these are linked to their unconscious desires, a notion pursued by Dichter, the 'father of motivation'."
One may then return to the art, as many murals have been painted recently, in this latest of the many children's crusades which have been mounted across centuries.
China Coal is a Chinese Goal
"Save the planet by painting it / With murals here and there." The carbon traders and their wealth-making images will not be seen in such murals, manufacturing consent in the Western world. But in China more coal-fired power plants are being constructed.
What do the Western activists say of this? What murals will be painted in China? Which Extinction Rebellion protest will be mounted there? What "credits" will GEM and the EU's European Trading System sell to China, when the Chinese have started their own "system" for trading pieces of paper? What "sustainable" investments will Generation Investment Management place under Chinese Communist control?
The story is not yet complete. Tick tock.
[ 6 ] How about the optics of a white north European telling Africans who are ramping up power production, "How dare you?" Not on a mural....
How about the optics of a white north European telling Chinese who are ramping up power production including coal plants, "How dare you?" Not on a mural.....
How about the optics of white Anglo-world multi-millionaires urging government-controlled "market mechanisms" to profit by trading in energy indulgences? How about "how dare you?" Not on a mural....
The Poor Dare to Want Affordable Energy, Even in the First World
One reads: "More than 340,000 electricity customers across Germany have their power cut off each year for failing to pay bills. A new proposal from one political party aims to change this. Figures from 2017 show that there were 343,865 cases of people having their electricity shut down off due to not paying a bill, an increase of 14,000 from the previous year." In "Call to prevent power cuts in poorest German households," TheLocal.de, 14 May 2019.
This, years after the observation in rhyme: green screws red
How about the optics of hundreds of thousands of Germans being threatened with power cuts or unpayable price increases? Murals and public protests by middle and upper class do not answer any of these questions, as they shout "How dare you?" When people are poor enough, they dare.
[ 7 ] In terms of optics, the "teenager" face of this is media-hyped, while other faces will never appear on murals around the world.
Printing and Selling Carbon Credits
One reads: "For Sweden’s energy titans, saving the planet means government contracts to print the green stuff. Green energy lobbyists use populist scare tactics and a children’s crusade to bypass elected representatives, but their goal is technocracy not democracy, profit not redistribution. Greta, a child of woke capitalism, is being used to ease the transition to green corporatism." In "Greta’s very corporate children’s crusade," by Dominic Green, Standpoint, 30 June 2019.
Ingmar Rentzhog, founder of a social media platform, whose
marketing motto is "Together we are the solution to the climate crisis"
What will not been seen painted on a public mural, Rentzhog alongside Al Gore, left above, is his article in Finance Monthly, August 2018.
A Game Changer? A Game?
"I think it’s beyond doubt that social media is a real game changer. Institutions and organisations don’t have the same control over their message and the image they project. So they must be much more proactive in terms of building relations with influencers and creating innovative strategies that work in today’s media landscape." In "Climate Change: We Don’t Have Time," Ingmar Rentzhog, 31 July 2018.
Green politics, for many, has meant the search for investors to place money in the hands of "green" investment managers, like Gore, Sharpe, and many like Rentzhog.
Finance, Investment Relations, Real Estate Funds and Investment Corporations
Dominic Green's article notes of this "green" public figure, whose "Swedish" social media platform operates in English, " 'Trained by Al Gore's Climate Reality Project, Rentzhog set up We Don't Have Time in late 2017 to 'hold leaders and companies accountable for climate change' by leveraging 'the power of social media'. Rentzhog and his CEO David Olsson have backgrounds in finance, not environmental activism, Rentzhog as the founder of Laika, an investment relations company, and Olsson with Svenska Bostadsfonden, one of Sweden's biggest real estate funds, whose board Rentzhog joined in June 2017. We Don’t Have Time's investors included Gustav Stenbeck, whose family control Kinnevik, one of Sweden's largest investment corporations. In May 2018, Rentzhog and Olsson of We Don't Have Time became chairman and board member of a think-tank called Global Utmaning (Global Challenge). Its founder, Kristina Persson, is an heir to an industrial fortune."
Of this "foundation" and from its own site, one reads: "The company’s majority shareholder is stiftelsen WeDontHaveTime Foundation. The non-profit foundation was founded by Ingmar Rentzhog and David Olsson, and is based in Stockholm, Sweden. Its principal purpose is to contribute to a reduced climate impact and an ecologically sustainable environment. Board of directors: Cathy Orlando, Stuart Scott, Per-Espen Stoknes, Ingmar Rentzhog, David Olsson, Jamie Margolin (youth advisor)."
One might be skeptical and conclude among its purposes is to pursue politics and investors willing to turn over their wealth to these "managers." While this foundation states it is "non-profit," the surrounding companies in which its founders are heavily invested are profit driven.
How would these whose backgrounds are in finance, real-estate funds and investment corporations look on a mural? Perhaps replacing a child? After all they, according to their own words, are "the solution to the climate crisis."
These "solutions" will take their percentage/fee for "trading" printed certificates. If investors lose, these traders will still win. And so "exchanges" proliferate alongside media-fed climate predictions.
To Generate Credits That Can Be Sold That Traders Get Paid
One reads somewhat outdated information: "Currently, there are six exchanges trading in UNFCCC related carbon credits: the Chicago Climate Exchange (until 2010), European Climate Exchange, NASDAQ OMX Commodities Europe, PowerNext, Commodity Exchange Bratislava and the European Energy Exchange. NASDAQ OMX Commodities Europe listed a contract to trade offsets generated by a CDM carbon project called Certified Emission Reductions. Many companies now engage in emissions abatement, offsetting, and sequestration programs to generate credits that can be sold on one of the exchanges. At least one private electronic market has been established in 2008: CantorCO2e. Carbon credits at Commodity Exchange Bratislava are traded at special platform called Carbon place. Trading in emission permits is one of the fastest-growing segments in financial services in the City of London with a market estimated to be worth about €30 billion in 2007. Louis Redshaw, head of environmental markets at Barclays Capital, predicts that "carbon will be the world's biggest commodity market, and it could become the world's biggest market overall." In "Emissions Trading," Wikipedia, n. d.
"Could become?" Ergo, as Green wrote above, "...the biggest bonanza of government contracts in history: the greening of the Western economies." Government contracts. Not free markets. Green calls this "the transition to green corporatism." At this point, rereading the quote above from "Manufacturing Consent"
To Finance the Climate Transition
And so, government marches along to become even greater government. One reads: "To finance the climate transition, the EU plans to dedicate a quarter of its budget to tackling climate change and to work to mobilize 1 trillion euros ($1.1 trillion) in investment over the next 10 years."
But has it not been stated clearly and repeatedly that "we" don't have more than ten years?
The Associated Press also notes: "The financial plan includes a mechanism designed to help the regions that would be most disrupted economically by the transition to cleaner industries. Von der Leyen added that the commission started working on devising a 'carbon border adjustment mechanism' aimed at avoiding a situation where EU countries reduce emissions as part of their ambition to make the continent carbon neutral by 2050, but at the same time import CO2 imbedded in goods. French President Emmanuel Macron has been promoting the idea of a carbon tax at the bloc’s borders for countries that did not sign up to the 2015 Paris agreement and do not regulate CO2 emissions as strictly as the EU does." In "EU commission unveils climate law amid criticism," by Samuel Petrequin, Associated Press, 4 March 2020.
Too Little? Too Late? Too Much? Too Soon?
Such mechanisms, should they come to be by the EU Commission, predict tariffs and trade wars in the future. Additionally, with the Brexit casting a broad shadow on the EU budget itself, there will come more demands for the larger and more productive member-states to pay more to the less productive member-states. What could go wrong?
Optics, for one, as one reads: "Thunberg, 17, and other environmental groups have already criticized the proposal, saying it does not go far enough. Thunberg specifically voiced concerns over the law's failure to address emissions targets for 2030. ' 'Net zero emissions by 2050' for the EU equals surrender. It means giving up,' she and 33 other youth climate activists said in an open letter published on Tuesday. 'We don't just need goals for just 2030 or 2050. We, above all, need them for 2020 and every following month and year to come. Distant net-zero emission targets will mean absolutely nothing if we just continue to ignore the carbon dioxide budget – which applies for today, not a faraway future,' they added." In "European Commission unveils first climate law; Thunberg slams it as 'surrender'," by Justin Wise, The Hill, 4 March 2020.
" 'A target 30 years in the future does not represent emergency climate action – our house is on fire and Europe is still twiddling its thumbs,' she said in a statement." In "The European Union’s proposed climate law has not gone down well with Greta Thunberg," by Anmar Frangoul, CNBC, 5 March 2020.
Optics? Use a Child Rather Than Wealthy Corporate Traders Because "Doomsday"
As to Thunberg and commercialization, from the PJ Media article also above, "Another Greta candle on Etsy, also going for $18 but shipping from Chicago, casts the 16-year-old climate doomsday preacher as the Virgin Mary, complete with the sacred heart image — a heart pierced with a sword. In her left hand, the climate saint holds a globe designed like a bomb with a lit fuse."
And remember to panic. In this way, the climate change carbon credit traders can build their "bonanza."
[ 8 ] One notes that all these "investment managers" are pressuring companies and those who also invest through their management services to involve themselves in the worldwide trading systems, which will make traders a "bonanza." Where will such profits come? As always and ever, the little people will pay in increased costs in terms of prices, as the few as ever profit from the many. As an example cited above and worth becoming more aware of:: green screws red
[ 9 ] As a matter of "optics" for the "sustainable" green movement, enormous frauds are not being perpetrated.
Massive Green Fraud? "Sustainable" Un-sustainability
As an example: "U.S. Attorney Scott stated: 'This billion dollar Ponzi scheme hurt investors and took money from the United States Treasury. This case represents not only the largest criminal fraud scheme in the history of the District, it also represents the largest criminal forfeiture in the history of the District with over $120 million in assets forfeited. All of this money will be returned to the victims. This scheme also targeted the United States Treasury, and we have returned $500 million to the Treasury to date. Agents, investigators and attorneys from various federal agencies are still working to continue to return money to victims and the United States Treasury. Today’s guilty pleas sends a strong message that fraudsters will get caught and will pay for their crimes. You can run, but you cannot hide'." In "Top Executives Plead Guilty to Participating in a Billion Dollar Ponzi Scheme—the Biggest Criminal Fraud Scheme in the History of the Eastern District of California," Department of Justice, U. S. Attorney's Office, 14 January 2020.
One observes that this fraud targeted "investors" in the individual sense and an investor in the sense of the government loans being made to a purportedly "sustainable" energy source.
Seeking investors -- private and public alike -- which can be fleeced is supported by the belief that all "can be solved with electric cars and solar panels and wind turbines," as the above citation states.
Massive Legal Green Fraud? More "Sustainable" Un-sustainability
A "legal" failure of another "sustainable" energy scheme took more money from governments, state and federal alike, as one reads: "Government planning and subsidies will make America the world’s green-energy superpower, create millions of jobs, and supercharge the economy—or so we’re told. The reality is closer to Crescent Dunes, a Nevada solar-energy plant that has gone bust after receiving a $737 million federal loan guarantee." In "The Best-Laid Energy Plans," Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal, 16 January 2020.
A review of many unsustainable "sustainable" projects in recent years is warranted. Bankrupt green
[ 10 ] "Follow the money" is good advice when considering political optics and its branding. Financial giants "stand to gain?"
Wealth and Power Are Not Candidates for Public Murals
Lagarde and Carney, faces not found on public murals
Engdahl details: "It was no accident that Davos, the promoter of globalization, is so strongly behind the Climate Change agenda. Davos WEF has a board of appointed trustees. Among them is the early backer of Greta Thunberg, climate multi-millionaire, Al Gore, chairman of the Climate Reality Project. WEF Trustees also include former IMF head, now European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde whose first words as ECB chief were that central banks had to make climate change a priority. Another Davos trustee is outgoing Bank of England head Mark Carney, who was just named Boris Johnson’s climate change advisor and who warns that pension funds that ignore climate change risk bankruptcy (sic). The board also includes the influential founder of Carlyle Group, David M. Rubenstein. It includes Feike Sybesma of the agribusiness giant, Unilever, who is also Chair of the High Level Leadership Forum on Competitiveness and Carbon Pricing of the World Bank Group. And perhaps the most interesting in terms of pushing the new green agenda is Larry Fink, founder and CEO of the investment group BlackRock.
Rubenstein, Sybesma and Fink, more faces not found on public murals
Lots of "power and wealth" players among the world's "elite," one finds. And "appointed trustees" suggests no evidence of democratic control over the movers and shakers who intend to rule while accumulating more power and wealth.
Alongside this the irony: " 'There appears to be a trend towards larger aircraft, with expensive heavy jets the aircraft of choice, with Gulfstream GVs and Global Expresses both being used more than 100 times each last year. This is at least in part due to some of the long distances travelled, but also possibly due to business rivals not wanting to be seen to be outdone by one another'." In "Davos 2019: Record number of private jets set to fly into conference addressing climate change," by Adam Forrest, Independent UK, 23 January 2019.
Power and Wealth Does Not Travel Economy Class
"...Lucy Gilliam, a shipping specialist at European clean transport nonprofit Transport & Environment, criticised the idea of carbon offsetting to CNN. 'You're not actually removing the emissions that have been created by that plane,' she said. 'The plane will have burned that fuel, and the carbon has been released into the atmosphere'." In "Davos says it is focusing on the climate crisis, but its billionaires and world leaders are still arriving on private jets," by Sinéad Baker, Business Insider, 21 January 2020.
How about a teleconference instead?
The Wealth and Power Party of Davos
One observes an interesting sentiment which political optics cannot obscure. " 'Davos Man,' a term coined by nationalist scholar Samuel Huntington, is bipartisan. To be sure, Democrats tend to be more comfortable with the forum’s informal seminar-style and big-think topics like global poverty, cultural diversity and executive stress. Bill Clinton goes often, and Al Gore, John Kerry, Robert Rubin, Madeleine Albright, Joe Biden and other prominent Democrats are familiar faces. Republicans generally prefer more private venues. George W. Bush, of course, doesn’t do anything unscripted. But people like Dick Cheney, Newt Gingrich, John McCain and Condoleezza Rice have all worked the Davos circuit. That the global economy is developing a global ruling class should come as no shock." In "The Party of Davos," by Jeff Faux, The Nation, 26 January 2020.
A New Constitution Written by Wealth and Power?
Faux notes: "...Renato Ruggiero, the first director-general of the World Trade Organization, noted in a rare moment of candor, 'We are no longer writing the rules of interaction among separate national economies. We are writing the constitution of a single global economy'."
The "appointed" by wealth and power construct a "constitution of a single global economy? It is assured that the optics of this, when clearly seen though not appearing on murals and in the popular press, will contest such.
Faux concludes with a quasi-populist statement: "The Party of Davos may not be over, but the rest of the world seems less willing to foot the bill. "
And so, the "engineering of consent," as mentioned above, seems to be more and more evident by the one percent wearing their masks of "saving the planet." It will be deemed saved when they have gathered enough power and wealth -- over the many and small and poor.
Such has been the dreams found in The Privileges of Intellectuals
[ 11 ] One surveys, as reviewed above, enormously wealthy individuals and entities standing alongside a teenage girl presented as icon for a movement. The optics is meant to convey one message and yet obscure another, all the while planning to profit from the movement. Such is therefore the pressure to form and force a "market instrument" or instruments which will generate fees and charges for traders for their sought-after "bonanza."
One-size-fits-all Policies Are Not Effective?
And yet a recent Noble Prize winner in economics assures that "one-size-fits-all' policies are not effective." In this she might well be incorrect as the wealthy and powerful angel to take their slice from "ecological capitalization" which would drive up prices on the average Joe while rewarding the traders and that governance which continues to demand taxation to fund more of what is demonstrably Bankrupt green
Were this not so, today's Davos men and women would be wildly buying "CO2 emissions" credits as investments. Rather, one sees them merely wanting to extract fees for trading them to others and requiring their purchase by companies through edict and law. The dreamed of "constitution of a single global economy" flies in the face of a Nobel Prize winner's simple assertion that "one-size-fits-all' policies are not effective."
The choices are a "comprehensive planetary regime" -- Everything within
Game on, as before. This time with the latest in optics. Use a kid for politics. Again.
And then: "The prince used his speech to launch a new Sustainable Markets Initiative to help financial markets become more sustainable." In "Prince Charles calls for green TAXES as he meets Greta Thunberg in Davos and pitches radical new world economy to tackle climate change - a day after Donald Trump rejected 'prophets of doom'," by Martin Robinson, Mail Online, 22 January 2020.
Reject Assumptions in Favor of Polycentric Devolution of Power
Ostrom counsels: "The assumption that individuals have complete information about all actions available to them, the likely strategies that others will adopt, and the probabilities of specific consequences that will result from their own choices, must be rejected in any but the very simplest of repeated settings."
[ 12 ] Optics is of course a marketing strategy, which aims to employ iconography to sidestep debate, comparison and contrast, and disagreement.. Here are some photos which contrast with the optics above to show the optics of some children's reality:
African children not worthy of being painted on public murals
One might then consider: "Armed groups had made a simple gate of sticks, and everybody going in or out had to pay them money. Around 15-25,000 people were trapped inside this village made of mud and plastic bags. It was like stepping into the front yard of hell. Women everywhere were calling out their offers of sexual services to bypassers as if they were selling vegetables. Boys as young as 12 stared at us with layers of dried mud on their still-childish cheeks, shy of the bright light after days underground digging out valuable minerals. Everything brought into the village is taxed at the gate; a bottle of water cost several dollars, a kilo of meat cost $12. But because it is more expensive to leave, people stay inside just to get a meal." In "Children of the Congo who risk their lives to supply our mobile phones," Frank Piasecki Poulsen, Guardian UK, 7 December 2012.
A Swedish child worthy of being painted on public murals and photographed a lot
"Scraping through shovels-full of silt for the precious mineral with their bare hands, miners use these primitive methods to harvest coltan - the magical conductor that powers your iPhone, Samsung Galaxy or other smartphones. Covered head-to-foot in the ore-laden mud, hundreds of workers toil for 12 hours a day - in scenes reminiscent of a 19th century gold-rush. Wielding picks and shovels legions of strong men delve deep into the mountainside to retrieve the precious natural deposit, which enables our high-tech mobile world of emails, social media and the internet." In "Picks, pans and bare hands: How miners in the heart of Africa toil in terrible conditions to extract the rare minerals that power your iPhone," by Nick Fagge, Mail Online, 22 October 2015.
Minor African miner, not pictured on a mural
"Dorsen, just eight, is one of 40,000 children working daily in the mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The terrible price they will pay for our clean air is ruined health and a likely early death. Almost every big motor manufacturer striving to produce millions of electric vehicles buys its cobalt from the impoverished central African state. It is the world’s biggest producer, with 60 per cent of the planet’s reserves. The cobalt is mined by unregulated labour and transported to Asia where battery manufacturers use it to make their products lighter, longer-lasting and rechargeable." In "Child miners aged four living a hell on Earth so YOU can drive an electric car: Awful human cost in squalid Congo cobalt mine that Michael Gove didn’t consider in his ‘clean’ energy crusade," by Barbara Jones, Mail Online, 5 August 2017.
"Amnesty International researchers also found that the vast majority of miners spend long hours every day working with cobalt without the most basic of protective equipment, such as gloves, work clothes or facemasks to protect them from lung or skin disease. Children told Amnesty International they worked for up to 12 hours a day in the mines, carrying heavy loads to earn between one and two dollars a day. In 2014 approximately 40,000 children worked in mines across southern DRC, many of them mining cobalt, according to UNICEF." In "This is What We Die For: Human Rights Abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Power the Global Trade in Cobalt," Amnesty USA, 15 January 2016.
The Thumberg "school strike" for "green energy" ignores the child labor used to extract rare earth metals from mines, day in and day out. When an adolescent far away from harsh realities involving child labor fantasizes about a quasi-utopian future, she becomes really only a useful tool to multinational corporations whose goals require expending child labor to realize their "dreams."
Children "carrying bags of rocks" is green? Hardly. But children laboring in unsafe mining conditions makes for poor optics for the "green" revolution. One looks for murals around the world portraying the child laborers in their unsafe circumstances. One looks for "climate change" activists to highlight such injustice. One looks in vain.
Uncomfortable Silences and Whiteness
The optics would prefer we look at Thunberg and her allies, fans and even her celebrity photographers, than at smiling Davos jet set attendees, multimillionaires with their various trading schemes and strategies being planned for their "bonanza," and certainly not at unnamed children at work to mine for a "green" future.
Amusingly, one reads: "Whenever I would question the whiteness of these spaces and how strategies didn’t take race into account, I would be met with uncomfortable silences. The last time, at a nationwide movement-building workshop last April, I was asked, 'Well then, why are you even here?' So I decided not to be there anymore." In "Why I Quit Being a Climate Activist," by Karin Louise Hermes, Vice Motherboard, 6 February 2020.
And so, climate activism mingles with issues of race, as Everything's about your colored skin
[ 13 ] Shellenberger adds: "Environmental groups have accepted hundreds of millions of dollars from fossil fuel interests. Groups motivated by anti-humanist beliefs forced the World Bank to stop trying to end poverty and instead make poverty 'sustainable.' While status anxiety, depression, and hostility to modern civilization are behind much of the alarmism. Once you realise just how badly misinformed we have been, often by people with plainly unsavory or unhealthy motivations, it is hard not to feel duped."
Feel Duped
It is recommended then to return to the graphics which accompany this rhyme, addenda and sourced footnotes, and refresh the "faces" in the story. Fabulous wealth and world-straddling wealth lie behind what Shellenbrger calls "anti-humanist beliefs." But more than just beliefs, the "movement" has been about using slogans and optics to camouflage a larger edifice, one built of and defended by money and power.
To quickly review that summary of the "optics," click here
, and simply scroll down and consider those cheerful faces....
Berövade - vade retro
"Opposition politicians, however, have blamed the government for years of inaction. 'This government has lost control over crime in Sweden. We have seen in recent years how the number of fatalities has increased. Now bomb blasts are also increasing in a way that lacks international equivalence,' said Ulf Kristersson, leader of opposition party the Moderates. Police have identified around 60 deprived areas, mainly in and around larger cities, where unemployment is high, incomes low and where drugs and gangs have gained a firm foothold." In "Sweden suffers surge in bomb attacks as gang violence rises," by Simon Johnson, Reuters, 16 January 2020.
Deprived and disenfranchised is the tale of woe one hears,
When booms and gangs and violence stir up societal fears.
Alas and alack, oh woe are they who haven't what they want.
With high, explosive energy society bears the brunt.
Deprived and disenfranchised is politics of a sort
But it does little more than 'tsk, tsk, tsk' rather than violence abort.
Addendum of the Deprived and Hopeless: "SWEDEN Young people who carry out sadistic and humiliating robberies against other young people do so because they feel hopeless and that they do not belong in society. That statement was delivered by Minister of the Interior Mikael Damberg (S) in yesterday's News. ...I don't think I should have an explanation. I'm probably waiting for criminologists and others to tell me what it is. But it is obvious that there is a total lack of moral beliefs here, where these young guys can commit almost any harsh action against other young people. It is something that is lacking in the parenting role, but also that society does not intervene early enough, says Damberg." In "Damberg (S) -- the robbers who piss their victims in the mouth: 'They feel hopelessness'," Nyheter Idag, 20 February 2020. [ 1 ]
NOTE
[ 1 ] "I don't think I should have an explanation," said a government minister. Yet his explanation for "sadistic and humiliating robberies" is "hopelessness." Tsk, tsk.
Original Swedish: "SVERIGE Ungdomar som utför sadistiska och förnedrande rån mot andra unga gör det för att de känner hopplöshet och att de inte hör hemma i samhället. Den förklaringen levererade inrikesminister Mikael Damberg (S) i gårdagens Aktuellt. ...Jag tror inte jag ska ha en förklaring. Jag väntar nog på att kriminologer och andra berättar för mig vad det beror på. Men det är uppenbart att det finns en total brist på moraluppfattning här, där de här unga killarna kan begå nästan hur vidriga åtgärder mot andra ungdomar som helst. Det är ju något som brister i föräldrarollen men också att samhället inte ingriper tillräckligt tidigt, säger Damberg'."
The sadistic robbers humiliating their victims feel hopelessness. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Starbursts and snowflakes fine to see,
Crocheted in colors kaleidoscopically.
The one begets many geometrically
That others enjoy such work with glee.
" 'These doctors sought to enrich themselves by performing unnecessary back injections in exchange for highly addictive opioids, violating their Hippocratic Oath to do no harm,' said U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider of the Eastern District of Michigan. 'Our office will continue to prioritize the prosecution of doctors whose criminal behavior puts patients at risk'." In "Four Detroit-Area Physicians Found Guilty of Health Care Fraud Charges for Role in Over $150 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme," Department of Justice, 4 February 2020.
Doctor doctors.
Does each do?
Shoot us up,
And cash accrue.Doctor doctors.
Charge a lot --
Billings' jolly
Juggernaut.Doctor doctors,
Shot with fraud?
Come the cops,
And you're outlawed.
Addendum I: "The charges against Patino are related to a broader investigation into the Tri-County Network of pain clinics in Michigan and Ohio, which involves over $300 million in alleged Medicare fraud and the alleged distribution of over 6.6 million dosage units of controlled substances. In connection with the investigation, 22 defendants, including 12 physicians, have previously pleaded guilty or been found guilty at trial." In "Physician Charged for Alleged Role in an Over $120 Million Health Care Fraud and Money Laundering Conspiracy Involving Sponsorship of Ultimate Fighting Championship Hall of Famers," Department of Justice, 26 February 2020.
Addendum II: "Aleksandr Suris, 51, of Sherman Oaks, California, was sentenced to 144 months in prison by U.S. District Judge S. James Otero of the Central District of California, who also ordered Suris to pay restitution of $11,826,444.65 to Medicare and $17,109.39 to CIGNA. The court ordered Suris to make an immediate partial restitution payment of $500,000. Maxim Sverdlov, 45, also of Sherman Oaks, was sentenced to 144 months in prison by Judge Otero, who ordered him to pay $11,826,444.65 in restitution to Medicare. The court ordered Sverdlov to make an immediate partial restitution payment of $500,000." In "Two Los Angeles Pharmacy Owners Sentenced for Multimillion-Dollar Scheme that Billed Medicare, Cigna $11.8 Million in Fraudulent Medication Claims," Department of Justice, 26 February 2020.
Addendum III: "According to evidence presented at trial, Tompkins and others billed the federal government approximately $21.8 million for medically unnecessary compound gels and creams that were predicated on illegal kickback payments. The jury heard that Tompkins and Anoop Chaturvedi, 48, a legal permanent resident from India, created a scheme to generate compounded pain cream prescriptions and bill health care programs for injured state and federal employees. As part of the scheme, Tompkins and Chaturvedi created a separate entity - Wellington Advisors - to receive the program money from the Department of Labor (DOL) - Office of Workers Compensation Programs and Federal Employees Compensation Act. Evidence introduced at trial showed that Tompkins sought to disguise illicit kickback payments as legitimate 'marketing' expenses and continued to ship patients compound gels and creams even after patients repeatedly complained they did not want them." In " 'Compound King' Convicted in $21 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme," Department of Justice, 11 March 2020.
Addendum IV: "Mitchell 'Chad' Barrett, 54, of Gulf Breeze, Florida, David 'Jason' Rutland, 41, of Bolton, Mississippi, and Thomas 'Tommy' Shoemaker, 56, of Rayville, Louisiana were charged on May 27, 2020, in the Southern District of Mississippi. The indictment alleges that between September 2011 and January 2016, Barrett, Rutland, and Shoemaker conspired to and engaged in a scheme to defraud numerous health care benefit programs of more than $180 million, including more than $50 million from federal healthcare programs. Using several pharmacies, including Gluckstadt Special Care Pharmacy and Compounding LLC, World Health Industries Inc., Opus Rx LLC, and Rx Pro Pharmacy and Compounding LLC, the defendants, as alleged, fraudulently formulated, dispensed, shipped, and billed insurance companies for compound medications in the form of topical creams and capsules, some of which contained controlled substances. To further facilitate their scheme to defraud health care benefit programs, the defendants allegedly conspired to and engaged in a scheme to solicit and pay kickbacks and bribes to marketers, physicians, other medical providers, and beneficiaries to refer, prescribe, and receive prescriptions for medically unnecessary compound medications." In "Three Charged in $180 Million Health Care Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme," Department of Justice, 12 June 2020.
Addendum V: " 'Novartis AG's subsidiaries profited from bribes that induced medical professionals, hospitals, and clinics to prescribe Novartis-branded pharmaceuticals and use Alcon surgical products, and they falsified their books and records to conceal those bribes,' said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. 'The resolutions announced today reflect the paramount importance of effective compliance programs and the department's commitment to holding companies accountable when they fall short'." In "Novartis Hellas S.A.C.I. and Alcon Pte Ltd Agree to Pay over $233 Million Combined to Resolve Criminal FCPA Cases," Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, 25 June 2020.
Addendum VI: "Ten individuals, including hospital managers, laboratory owners, billers and recruiters, were charged in an indictment unsealed today for their participation in an elaborate pass-through billing scheme using rural hospitals in several states as billing shells to submit fraudulent claims for laboratory testing. The indictment alleges that from approximately November 2015 through February 2018, the conspirators billed private insurance companies approximately $1.4 billion for laboratory testing claims as part of this fraudulent scheme, and were paid approximately $400 million." In "Ten Defendants Charged in $1.4 Billion Rural Hospital Pass-Through Billing Scheme," Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, 29 June 2020.
Addendum VII: " 'For more than a decade, Novartis spent hundreds of millions of dollars on so-called speaker programs, including speaking fees, exorbitant meals, and top-shelf alcohol that were nothing more than bribes to get doctors across the country to prescribe Novartis's drugs. Giving these cash payments and other lavish goodies interferes with the duty of doctors to choose the best treatment for their patients and increases drug costs for everyone. This Office will continue to be vigilant in cracking down on kickbacks, however they may be dressed up, throughout the pharmaceutical industry'." In "Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces $678 Million Settlement Of Fraud Lawsuit Against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation For Operating Sham Speaker Programs Through Which It Paid Over $100 Million To Doctors To Unlawfully Induce Them To Prescribe No," U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, 1 July 2020.
Addendum of Doctoring the Books: "These defendants have been charged with submitting more than $6 billion in false and fraudulent claims to federal health care programs and private insurers, including more than $4.5 billion connected to telemedicine, more than $845 million connected to substance abuse treatment facilities, or 'sober homes,' and more than $806 million connected to other health care fraud and illegal opioid distribution schemes across the country." In "National Health Care Fraud and Opioid Takedown Results in Charges Against 345 Defendants Responsible for More Than $6 Billion in Alleged Fraud Losses; San Diego Defendants Charged," Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, 30 September 2020.
Synthesizing a Stance
One finds continued fraud shot through the "healthcare" industry as run by government. As further examples within a short span of time: 1) "Four Florida Men Charged for Their Roles in a $54 Million Compound Pharmacy Kickback Scheme," Department of Justice, 5 June 2020; 2) "Former DEA Official Pleads Guilty to Elaborate $4 Million Fraud Scheme," Department of Justice, 11 June 2020; and 3) "Nine Pharmacists Charged for Role in $12.1 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme," Department of Justice, 17 June 2020.
For the proponents of a "national" system, the safeguards seem weak, chasing criminals after the fact, suggesting that the system is "ripe for the picking." What of the "health" of the governments' budgets? Prosecuting after that fact is one way to curb abuse. Another is to conceive of a revised or even new system wherein criminals have less chance to defraud the public and its commonweal. Little is heard in the political circuses in the moment, for the seekers of 'power and wealth' themselves as they practice their forms of Politics
Such is the circumstance of big government, big bureaucracy and big opportunities to defraud the public. For this reason among so many others, one should ask Should government be limited?
"Some protesters on Saturday called WoLF members 'TERFs,' an acronym WoLF considers derogatory that stands for 'trans-exclusionary radical feminist.' Dansky noted that the accusation of 'TERF' is 'typically accompanied by threats of rape and death.' Crowd members, including Antifa members, made threats of violence against event attendees and even used physical intimidation — one woman was shoved by a protester. 'We are women who simply wanted to assemble and speak about women’s rights,' Dansky said. 'That’s it, that’s all we wanted to do. And we were told that that was hateful'. Dansky pointed out that the optics of an all-female group having its voices quashed, especially in such a physical way, resemble the struggles the suffragettes faced in the 1800s." In "Women's group says Seattle Public Library protests belong in '19th century'," by Dori Monson, KIRO Radio, 4 February 2020. [ 1 ]
Once upon a male
Screamed at a female
Who was once all the time.
How fast did each assail
That only one prevail,
Paradigm against paradigm.
Oh, do they bewail
In politicked detail
Irony some find sublime.
Once up, on a male,
Demands to be female,
And spurs some hateful crime.
Once constructed, sail
Abroad a societal scale,
With meaning-free words in rhyme.
Addendum of He, She, or It: "In the clip, recorded in March before he announced his campaign, Bloomberg used the language to warn 2020 Democratic hopefuls against stressing transgender issues, arguing that they wouldn't play well in Middle America. 'If your conversation during a presidential election is about some guy wearing a dress and whether he, she, or it can go to the locker room with their daughter, that's not a winning formula for most people,' he said at a Manhattan forum hosted by the Bermuda Development Agency." In " Mike Bloomberg referred to trans women as 'it' and 'some guy in a dress'," by Vincent Barone, NY Post, 18 February 2020.
Addendum of Not Going Together Nicely: "The things other people have put into my head, at any rate, do not fit together nicely, are often useless and ugly, are out of proportion with one another, are out of proportion with life as it really is outside my head." Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Breakfast of Champions, or Goodby Blue Monday, Delacorte Press, 1973. [ 2 ]
NOTE
[ 1 ] A comment posted to the site: by "Alan," - "When your entire worldview and belief system is based on identity, gender, race and class, you are going to be in conflict with EVERYONE that is not staring back at you from the mirror."
The question simmers: Who just says what?
[ 2 ] Some who "simply wanted to assemble and speak" are opposed by those who would use "threats of violence against event attendees...." One finds much does not "fit together nicely." Vonnegut's fiction suggests we all may be unaware that our views are not so "actionable" as we might believe them to be.
From his Breakfast of Champions, "Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne."
"Limited intelligence" keeps us guessing, it seems, WoLF members and TERF members alike. And everyone else too.... There seem to be so many meaning-free words pretending to meaning.
Bagdad Bob and Tokyo Rose
Ranted for a losing side
As history shows;
Lots still rides on what one knows,
Like a Bagdad Bob and a Tokyo Rose.Like a Bagdad Bob or Tokyo Rose?
Lots is learned when words turn to blows,
As looking back shows
Those who ranted for the losing side,
Like Bagdad Bob and Tokyo Rose.
they butchered their cow for meat
they butchered their cow for meat
but expected to milk it tomorrow
and signed up for only joy
ignoring accompanying sorrow;
never planning to pay it back
they raged that they must borrow;
such is their life, their path, their ways
by which they stumble in their daze;
they built their house of cards
which stood quite tall and proud
then teetered and then collapsed
as gravity has thus allowed;
they built on shifting sands
under which they soon were plowed;
such is the outcome never planned
as they so well misunderstand;
they is many and they is one
and they is us, would we admit,
and they is he and they is she
and they is every hypocrite
and they is the sober and the dull
and they is those with rhyming wit;
such is they, us many as one,
who gather beneath a blinding sun
Fall down seven times, but get up eight.
It's better to arrive, even if you're late,
And better is just fine, if you can't be great.
When it's on a hook, don't bite the bait
And don't spend your hours being irate.
Consider putting down what's dumb deadweight.
Add it up, the negatives please negate.
We're all gonna leave this place
We're all gonna leave this place,
Sometime, somehow, somewhere.
And in that game of leaving,
Some will wail, 'unfair!'
But which of us can find a way
To linger far beyond
The time, before sometime, somehow,
Leaving takes each vagabond?
We're all gonna leave this place,
As ticks the ticking clock.
And in that time of leaving
Eternity shall knock.
Sometime, somehow, somewhere.
Consulting the Delphic Oracle, detail, 19th century painting
"Many of these points are captured by the following statement of David Relman: 'Woefully insufficient input has been obtained from a wide variety of scientists and from many other stakeholders among the general public. It is unethical to place so many members of the public at risk and then consult only scientists—or, even worse, just a small subset of scientists—and exclude others from the decision-making and oversight process … In many cases, conversations have only involved infectious-disease researchers and conflicts of interests among participants have not been adequately acknowledged or addressed … It is our responsibility as scientists to explain the rationale behind our work, including its benefits and risks, to the general public in terms that are accessible to those with an average level of education, rather than to be dismissive. This is especially important when the work has important consequences for the whole of society (Relman in Duprex et al. 2015, pp. 61–63)'." In "Gain-of-Function Research: Ethical Analysis," by Michael J. Selgelid, "Sci Eng Ethics. 2016; 22(4): 923–964."
He counted up the rain drops,
And the grains on the sandy shore;
If you don't believe he did that,
Your suspicions he'll abhor.
She tallied up all the data,
And didn't miss a trick;
If you don't believe her forecasts,
That's just a denier's shtick.
They calculated, oh so well,
Citing much and citing more;
When you find that they were guessing,
You're a reactionary boor.
Their models gleamed acutely,
But soon they were revised;
And though you'd caught them guessing,
Still none apologized.
Divination was once the word,
And now it's modeling, fine;
And if you'll not accept it,
It's you they'd redefine.
Raindrops are not counted
Nor all the grains of sand;
But divination, as of old,
Births errors, bright and grand.
An egg spurts, under pressure,
And experts seldom do.
Forecasts divine the future
Until they're found untrue.
The eel eats until the day
It itself is eaten.
Our elites with predictions proud
Prefer their prey browbeaten.
Divine the panic, amplified,
Which brings compliance plenty;
Start at millions and work right down
To about four-score-and-twenty.
Envoi in Numbers: 2,200,000 > 240,000 > 100,000 > 80,000 = trillions of dollars from lockdowns expertly lost
Envoi in Text: "Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has headed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984, has played a major role in promoting and funding gain-of-function research, both in the US and China. Newsweek reported: 'He argued that the research was worth the risk it entailed because it enables scientists to make preparations ... that could be useful if and when a pandemic occurred.' Those claims are belied by the empirical evidence. GoF experiments have neither prevented a pandemic, nor provided useful information about safe and effective pandemic countermeasures. Numerous prominent scientists argue that these experiments deviate from morally justifiable research, and the experimentally altered pathogens have put the entire human species at risk. However, GoF research is defended by a closed circle of scientists within government and those who are contracted by government to conduct this line of research." In " What is Gain-of-Function Research & Who is at High Risk?" Alliance for Human Research Protection, 19 May 2020.
Addendum of Fauci's Hand in Things: "In 2019, with the backing of NIAID, the National Institutes of Health committed $3.7 million over six years for research that included some gain-of-function work. The program followed another $3.7 million, 5-year project for collecting and studying bat coronaviruses, which ended in 2019, bringing the total to $7.4 million. Many scientists have criticized gain of function research, which involves manipulating viruses in the lab to explore their potential for infecting humans, because it creates a risk of starting a pandemic from accidental release." In "Dr. Fauci Backed Controversial Wuhan Lab with U.S. Dollars for Risky Coronavirus Research," by Fred Guterl, Newsweek, 28 April 2020.
Divination, circa 330, B.C.E.
Envoi of Divination: "Delphi is perhaps best known for its oracle, the Pythia, the sibyl or priestess at the sanctuary dedicated to Apollo. According to Aeschylus in the prologue of the Eumenides, the oracle had origins in prehistoric times and the worship of Gaea, a view echoed by H. W. Parke." In "Delphi," Wikipedia article, n. d.
Divining the future -
Murray with Gates, 2017
Addendum of Worst Case Scenarios that Hasn't Happened: "Between 160 million and 214 million people in the United States could be infected over the course of the epidemic, according to a projection that encompasses the range of the four scenarios. That could last months or even over a year, with infections concentrated in shorter periods, staggered across time in different communities, experts said. As many as 200,000 to 1.7 million people could die." In "Worst-Case Estimates for U.S. Coronavirus Deaths," by Sheri Fink, New York Times, 13 March 2020.
Addendum of a Big If of February: "In February, Murray and a few dozen IHME employees turned their attention full-time to forecasting how Covid-19 will hit the US. Specifically, they were trying to help hospitals—starting with the UW Medicine system—prepare for the coming crisis. Brandenburg says the collaboration could turn out to be, quite literally, life-saving. 'It’s one thing to know you may be getting a surge of patients,' she says. 'If you can make that more tangible—here’s what it’s actually going to look like—then we’re in a much better place in terms of being able to plan for the worst.' But it’s a big if. During a pandemic, real data is hard to find. Chinese researchers have only published some of their findings on the spread of Covid-19 in Hubei. The ongoing catastrophe of testing for the virus in the United States means no researcher has even a reliable denominator, an overall number of infections that would be a reasonable starting point for untangling how rapidly the disease spreads. Since the 2009 outbreak of H1N1 influenza, researchers worldwide have increasingly relied on mathematical models, computer simulations informed by what little data they can find, and some reasoned inferences. Federal agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health have modeling teams, as do many universities." In "The Mathematics of Predicting the Course of the Coronavirus," by Adam Rogers and Megan Molteni, Wired, 30 March 2020. [ 1 ]
Addendum of the Big If of March: "Unmitigated epidemic scenarios for GB and the US. (A) Projected deaths per day per 100,000 population in G Band US. (B) Case epidemic trajectories across the US by state. For an uncontrolled epidemic, we predict critical care bed capacity would be exceeded as early as the second week in April, with an eventual peak in ICU or critical care bed demand that is over 30 times greater than the maximum supply in both countries...." In "Report 9: Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID-19 mortality and healthcare demand," Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team, 16 March 2020. [ 2 ]
Addendum of the Big Ifs Are Shrinking: "The real problem is the way that models are latched on to at a time when information is very limited. They take on a life of their own, rather than being treated as preliminary estimates, feeding into a sense that we should always prepare for the worst-case scenario rather than the most realistic one. Interestingly, the government has delayed introducing tests for the disease until they are proven to be accurate. So why is it apparently relying on models that haven't been tested?" In " The expert behind the Covid-19 shutdown was wrong on CJD and foot-and-mouth, and is probably wrong again now. But he’s not alone," by Rob Lyons, RT, 1 April 2020.
Addendum of Simple Math versus Complex Fear: "Why were the original IMHE projections, first published March 26, so far off the mark? We don’t know." "Birx did not name MSNBC personality Chris Hayes, although he was one of the worst scaremongers in the media mob. On his March 23 program, Hayes warned that 'millions of lives are on the line' if the economic lockdown response to the virus was not extended indefinitely: 'There is no option to just let everyone go back out and go back to normal if a pandemic rages across the country and infects 50 percent of the population and kills a percentage point at the low end of those infected and also melts down all the hospitals.” Applying simple arithmetic to that sentence — treating it like one of those word problems we learned to do in middle-school math class — we find that 50 percent of the U.S. population is more than 160 million people infected with COVID-19. If just 1 percent of those infected died from the virus, that would mean a death toll of at least 1.6 million'." In "Coronavirus: Statistical Stupidity," by Robert Stacy McCain, Spectator, 8 April 2020. [ 3 ]
Addendum of a Poor Comparison: "The novel coronavirus pandemic will define the modern era in the same way World War II shaped an earlier generation, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates says in a 11-page memo outlining his ideas on how best to tackle the disease. 'This is like a world war, except in this case, we’re all on the same side,' he writes." In " 'It is impossible to overstate the pain': Fight against coronavirus will define our era, Bill Gates says," by Sandi Doughton, Seattle Times, 23 April 23, 2020. [ 4 ]
Addendum with Suffering a Media Epidemic: "Personally, I would say the best advice is to spend less time watching TV news which is sensational and not very good. Personally, I view this Covid outbreak as akin to a bad winter influenza epidemic. In this case we have had 8000 deaths this last year in the 'at risk' groups viz over 65% people with heart disease etc. I do not feel this current Covid will exceed this number. We are suffering from a media epidemic!" In "A view from the hVivo / Open Orphan #ORPH Laboratory – Professor John Oxford," Novus Communications, 31 March 2020.
Addendum of the Pressure of Incompetence: "I have the impression that the government is acting very well and carefully. However, it is put under pressure by the international authority (here, in my opinion, the WHO; comment from the translator) with the death rates that the experts of the WHO use mathematical calculations to compile. However, this is not about bad will, but about incompetence." Quote of American Virologist Paul Goldschmidt, in "Der Corona-Totalitarismus," Rubikons Weltredaktion, Rubikon, 30 March 2020. [ 5 ]
Addendum of Wrong Assumptions: "According to data from the best-studied countries such as South Korea, Iceland, Germany and Denmark, the overall lethality of Covid19 is between 0.1% and 0.4% and thus up to twenty times lower than initially assumed by the WHO." In "Facts about Covid-19," swprs.org, 14 March (updated 25 April) 2020.
Addendum of the Damage from Not Understanding: "Professor Carl Heneghan, director of the centre for evidence-based medicine at Oxford University, told Radio 4’s Today programme: 'In fact, the damaging effect now of lockdown is going to outweigh the damaging effect of coronavirus.' Heneghan argued that not enough testing has been done so the government cannot understand how many people have actually had COVID-19, and that lockdown was preventing people seeking help for potentially life-threatening issues. 'The key is no-one has really understood how many people actually have the infection,' he said." In "Damage done by lockdown could outweigh that of coronavirus', warns professor," by Emily Cleary, Yahoo News UK, 20 April 2020. [ 6 ]
Addendum of Communist China Doing Things Right: " 'How would you respond to the charge that hte Chinese covered this up. They've essentially deceived the rest of the world, and as a result, they should be held in some way responsible for this?' asked Zakaria. To which Gates responded: 'Well, I don't think that's a timely thing because it doesn't affect how we act today. You know, China did a lot of things right. At the beginning, like any country where a virus first shows up, they can look back and say that they missed some things,' Gates said, adding 'Some countries did respond very quickly and get their testing in place, and they avoided the incredible economic pain - and it's sad that even the US that you would have expected to do this well, did it particularly poorly - but it's not time to talk about that.' Gates then suggested that this is the time 'to take the great science we have, the fact that we're in this together, fix testing and treatments and get that vaccine, and minimize the trillions in dollars and many things that you can't even dimensionalize in economic terms that are awful about the situation that we're in'." In "In " 'China Did A Lot Of Things Right': Bill Gates Defends CCP, Slams America Over Handling Of Coronavirus," by Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge, 26 April 2020. [ 7 ]
Addendum of Some Alternative Cures: "He advised his viewers to drink camel urine three times a day for three days and said that the urine is best drunk while in its 'initial, hot temperature.' Videos of a cleric giving coronavirus patients at a hospital in northern Iran a perfume to smell as a cure for the virus also went viral on social media last month. One of the coronavirus patients visited by the cleric died a few days later. The cleric, who is also a follower of Islamic medicine, was later arrested. Abbas Tabrizian, a cleric who is considered the 'father of Islamic medicine' by his followers in Iran, had said in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak in the country that 'inserting velvet oil into the anus' can cure the virus." In "Watch: Iranian ‘Islamic medicine specialist’ says camel urine cures coronavirus," Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English, 20 April 2020.
Addendum of Fauci-fed, Fear-fattened Fascism: "Hospitals in New York City and parts of New Jersey have been tested to their limits. But throughout much of the country, hospitals are drastically underutilized, both because states have banned elective procedures and because people have been afraid to show up. One reason that we didn’t want hospitals to get overrun by COVID-19 patients is that we’d crowd out everyone else needing care. But we’ve ended up crowding out many people needing care as a deliberate choice — even where COVID-19 surges haven’t happened and probably never will." In " We’re destroying hospitals in the name of fighting the coronavirus," by Rich Lowry, NY Post, 27 April 2020. [ 8 ]
Addendum II of Fauci-fed, Fear-fattened Fascism: "Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a coronavirus press briefing earlier this month that the world may never return to the 'normal' that was known before the outbreak. 'When we get back to normal, we will go back to the point where we can function as a society,' he said. He continued, 'If you want to get back to pre-coronavirus, that might not ever happen in the sense that the threat is there.' Fauci said people must be prepared for a resurgence next year, which is why officials fighting the pandemic are pushing for a vaccine and clinical trials for therapeutic interventions so 'we will have interventions that we did not have' when this started." In "Coronavirus likely to come back each year, Chinese scientists say," by Edmund DeMarche, Fox News, 28 April 2020.
Priests Consulting Famous Grecian Oracle Pythia (detail), H. Leutemann
Addendum of Models Not Forecasting an Accurate Overall Death Rate: "...despite a growing COVID-19 infection rate (due mostly to a jump in testing) and rising fatalities, the overall U.S. crude death rate (total deaths per 100,000 population from all causes) is falling. That’s right, falling. 'Despite the panic over the Wuhan virus, it now appears that the overall U.S. death rate this winter season is at a multi-year low, no worse than 2014, 2016, and 2019, and far better than 2015, 2017, and 2018 (when we were hit with one of the worst flu seasons in years),' writes blogger Robert Zimmerman. Let that sink in for a minute. Centers for Disease Control data indicate the current average U.S. overall death rate, even amid the coronavirus pandemic, is actually lower than it has been for much of the past seven years and well below the long-term average." In "If Coronavirus Threat’s So Great, Why’s U.S. Overall Death Rate Down?" by I & I Editorial Board, Issues and Insights, 28 April 2020.
Addendum of Crucial Questions versus Softball: "Back in March the two doctors went into the Oval Office and urged President Trump to lock down the economy or 2.2 million Americans would die. Of course, their original mortality predictions were 33 times what has occurred and yet they have not altered their lockdown recommendations to date. In interviews to date the two doctors have been given softball questions. Their expertise is respected despite the fact that over 30 million Americans have lost their jobs and livelihoods thanks to these doctors and their faulty models." In "MUST READ: 15 Questions for Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx Before They Completely Annihilate the US Economy," by Jim Hoft, Gateway Pundit, 3 May 2020. [ 9 ]
Addendum of the Covid-19 Hysteria: "Under the illusion of legitimacy, science, and medicine, people will be pressured to submit to big-pharma and their co-conspirators within regulatory bodies, advisory organizations, the government, and the media, and whatever it is they actually fill these syringes with – whether it protects the public from Covid-19 or not – and whether such a vaccine is truly necessary or not. While Covid-19 might be an actual pathogen, evidence suggests it does not warrant the overreaction we have seen worldwide. 'Covid-19 hysteria' is – by far – having a much more devastating impact on humanity than the actual virus itself. Amid this hysteria, the biggest genuine threat to human health – a corrupt pharmaceutical industry and their partners in the government – are poised to expand both their profits at the expense of the public, and their power over the public." In "Criminal Big-Pharma Put in Charge of Covid-19 'Vaccine'," by Tony Cartalucci, New Eastern Outlook, 30 March 2020.
Addendum of the Class Divide and Inconvenience: "...by and large, this class divide is as much about wealth as working by computer. It is a divide between those with investment accounts, and those who live paycheck to paycheck. It is a divide between those who have never been on unemployment without knowing where their next job will come from, and the securely employed, such as government bureaucrats, tenured professors and the golden-parachuted, for whom working remotely is just an 'inconvenience' (a term I’ve heard Dr. Anthony Fauci use to describe the shutdowns)." In "Coronavirus Shutdowns Expose The New Class Divide," by James Lucas, Federalist, 4 May 2020. [ 10 ]
Addendum of Inflating Numbers: "The Post reported that Birx and others feared that the CDC's data-tracking system was inflating coronavirus statistics like mortality rates and case numbers by up to 25%. Birx later told The Post in a statement that 'mortality is slowly declining each day'." In "Dr. Deborah Birx said 'there is nothing from the CDC that I can trust' in a White House coronavirus task force meeting," by Michelle Mark, Business Insider, 9 May 2020.
Declining each day
Addendum of Hoping to Rapidly Respond, November 2019: "...the other thing I aspirationally hope to be able to encounter is the ability to rapidly respond to something brand-new whether it's a brand new pandemic or as you mentioned a brand new attack on us deliberately by bio-terror." Quote of Dr. Fauci, in "Predicting a Pandemic with Dr. Anthony Fauci," Ian Bremmer, G-Zero, 17 March 2020.
Ian Bremmer: "Weeks before China first reported cases of what would come to be known as COVID-19, Dr. Tony Fauci came on the show to discuss pandemics. The takeaway: we were not prepared."
Addendum of a Recent Divination: "Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious disease specialist, warned in early 2017 that a 'surprise outbreak' would occur during the Trump administration, and he said that more needed to be done to prepare for a pandemic. 'There is no question that there will be a challenge to the coming administration in the arena of infectious diseases,' he said in a speech titled 'Pandemic Preparedness in the Next Administration' at Georgetown University Medical Center. He delivered it just days before Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2017." In "Dr. Fauci Warned In 2017 Of ‘Surprise Outbreak’ During Trump Administration," by Nina Golgowski, HuffPost, 6 April 2020.
Addendum of Counting the Lockdown Cost: "The Treasury Department plans to borrow $2.99 trillion from April through June to cover the federal government’s massive response to the coronavirus pandemic, issuing a tremendous level of debt to try and limit the economic impact on U.S. businesses and workers." In "Treasury plans to borrow $3 trillion from April through June as enormous coronavirus costs pile up," by Rachel Siegel, Washington Post, 4 May 2020.
Addendum on a Differing Public Policy View: "The appropriate policy, based on fundamental biology and the evidence already in hand, is to institute a more focused strategy like some outlined in the first place: Strictly protect the known vulnerable, self-isolate the mildly sick and open most workplaces and small businesses with some prudent large-group precautions. This would allow the essential socializing to generate immunity among those with minimal risk of serious consequence, while saving lives, preventing overcrowding of hospitals and limiting the enormous harms compounded by continued total isolation. Let’s stop underemphasizing empirical evidence while instead doubling down on hypothetical models. Facts matter." In "The data is in — stop the panic and end the total isolation," by Scott W. Atlas, MD, The Hill, 22 March 2020.
Addendum of Divination from the University versus Empirical Reality: "Sweden’s numbers are a standing rebuke to the Imperial College study that has done so much to influence UK policy. Researchers at the university predicted that Sweden’s approach would leave it with an R of above 3, leading to 40,000 coronavirus deaths by May 1. Sweden’s current death tally is just 2,769." In "How Sweden suppressed infection rates without a lockdown," by Richard Orange, Telegraph UK, 5 May 2020.
Imperial Ferguson
Addendum of Ferguson's Unforeseen Catastrophe: "The scientist whose advice prompted Boris Johnson to lock down Britain resigned from his Government advisory position on Tuesday night as The Telegraph can reveal he broke social distancing rules to meet his married lover. Professor Neil Ferguson allowed the woman to visit him at home during the lockdown while lecturing the public on the need for strict social distancing in order to reduce the spread of coronavirus. The woman lives with her husband and their children in another house." In "Exclusive: Government scientist Neil Ferguson resigns after breaking lockdown rules to meet his married lover," by Anna Mikhailova, Christopher Hope, Michael Gillard and Louisa Wells, Telegraph UK, 5 May 2020. [ 11 ]
Addendum of Imperial Modeling Skepticism: "All papers based on this code should be retracted immediately. Imperial’s modelling efforts should be reset with a new team that isn’t under Professor Ferguson, and which has a commitment to replicable results with published code from day one. On a personal level, I’d go further and suggest that all academic epidemiology be defunded. This sort of work is best done by the insurance sector. Insurers employ modellers and data scientists, but also employ managers whose job is to decide whether a model is accurate enough for real world usage and professional software engineers to ensure model software is properly tested, understandable and so on. Academic efforts don’t have these people, and the results speak for themselves." In "Code Review of Ferguson’s Model," by Sue Denim (not the author’s real name), Lockdown Skeptics, 6 May 2020. [ 12 ]
Addendum from a Minnesotan: "Our political leaders now find themselves trapped. Along with the experts on whom they relied, they have invested heavily in their narrative. There is little evidence they have carried out the kind of objective, data-based cost/benefit analysis that is indispensable to responsible crisis management. But having started down this road, they can't change course without acknowledging that they have made a vast miscalculation. Today, the shutdown appears to be a tactic in search of a strategy. The government has moved the goalposts." In "Minnesota must recover from its pandemic of fear," by Katherine Kersten, Star Tribune, 7 May 2020. [ 13 ]
Addendum of the Deadly Ferguson-Fauci Fear: "New York physician Dr. Nicole Saphier told DailyMailTV that the drastic rise in unemployment due to the nationwide shutdown has caused a spike in overdose deaths and suicides in some communities which could end up outnumbering even the tens of thousands who have died from COVID-19. Dr. Saphier pointed to stark warnings from cities across the country showing rocketing overdose death rates, while a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found that each 1% increase in unemployment led to a 3.3% spike in drug overdoses and 1% increase in suicides. 'The economy should be considered a public health emergency,' Dr. Saphier told DailyMailTV. 'The indirect consequences of the pandemic may far outweigh those of the direct virulence of the virus'." In "Drastic rise in unemployment is causing a spike in suicides and overdose deaths says leading physician, who predicts 80,000 could die due to coronavirus shutdown anxieties - more than the virus itself," by Josh Boswell, Dailymail.com, 8 May 2020.
Addendum of the Double Whammy: "...rather than hectoring productive workers to 'stay home!' (and then showering them with handouts for not working), it makes more sense to allow them to work and keep the economy alive with suitable protections for the vulnerable. That would allow herd immunity to develop. Our one-size-fits-all lockdown strategy resulted in a double whammy: economic devastation and the prospect of more infections and deaths due to lack of herd immunity. Whether we can recover from this national nightmare and reclaim our free and prosperous nation depends on what we have learned and how we change. Will we realize that life is worth the risk and that avoiding pain and death is not always possible? Will we learn to resist groupthink and media sensationalizing?" In "Why Did We Treat Coronavirus So Differently Than Other Epidemics?," by Tom Patterson, Ricochet, 7 May 2020.
Addendum for the Humor of It All: "CNN’s social media was soon served with an onslaught of virtual eye-rolls. 'Greta Thunberg? Now, she’s a COVID expert? @CNN is a joke!' reads a top response to the network’s Wednesday announcement. 'Not picking on the kid,' said another. 'Picking on a 'news' network for featuring a child to inform the public.' 'I remember when my thread about E. coli in Romaine lettuce went viral and trended on Twitter only to have CNN put Food Babe on the air to discuss the issue,' tweeted Dr. Eugene Gu, referring to another controversial health 'expert' in the media. 'Greta Thunberg on this panel is an improvement from that at least'." In "Greta Thunberg added to CNN’s expert coronavirus panel, Twitter erupts," by Hannah Sparks, NY Post, 13 May 2020. [ 14 ]
Addendum of the Body Count: " 'The case definition is very simplistic,' Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of Illinois Department of Public Health, explains. 'It means, at the time of death, it was a COVID positive diagnosis. That means, that if you were in hospice and had already been given a few weeks to live, and then you also were found to have COVID, that would be counted as a COVID death. It means, technically even if you died of clear alternative cause, but you had COVID at the same time, it’s still listed as a COVID death.' Medical examiners in Michigan use the same definition. In Macomb and Oakland Counties, where most of the deaths occurred, medical examiners classify any deaths as Coronavirus deaths when the postmortem test is positive. Even people who died in suicides and automobile accidents meet that definition." In "The US is Dramatically Overcounting Coronavirus Deaths," by John R. Lott, Jr., Townhall, 16 May 2020.
Addendum of No Guarantee: "Fauci delivered the somber warning Tuesday to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions during a hearing about the road to reopening businesses across the nation. U.S. officials have pointed to the development of a vaccine as a key turning point in the Covid-19 pandemic, even though it will take at least 12 to 18 months." In "Fauci tells Congress: 'There's no guarantee that the vaccine is actually going to be effective'," by Lauren Feiner and Berkeley Lovelace, CNBC, 12 May 2020. [ 15 ]
Addendum of Beating up the Numbers: "The overcounting, in Colorado and elsewhere, is far more important than it might seem. The presumption is that the “due to” category means a positive COVID-19 test. It does not. The DPHE web site states that the more restrictive category 'represents the total number of people whose death was attributed to COVID-19 as indicated on a death certificate. This number is determined by the CDC.' And the CDC explicitly does not require a positive COVID-19 test. On March 4, the federal agency issued an advisory that in absence of testing, COVID-19 could be put on a death certificate 'where the disease caused or is assumed to have caused or contributed to death.' So if the patient had other 'comorbid' or pre-existing conditions that may actually have killed him or her, coronavirus can still be labeled the primary cause of death. Three weeks later it stated comorbid conditions could be listed on the certificate as contributory, but the primary cause of death would still be COVID-19, and that’s what would go into the databases." In "Beating up the numbers: The loose definition and inflated tally of COVID-19 deaths," by Michael Fumento, Just the News, 26 May 2020. [ 16 ]
Addendum of Beating Up the Numbers II: "On Thursday, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) confirmed a report by the Freedom Foundation that they have included those who tested positive for COVID-19 but died of other causes, including gunshot injuries, in their coronavirus death totals. This calls into serious question the state’s calculations of residents who have actually died of the CCP pandemic." In "Washington State Counting Gunshot Victims Among Its Coronavirus Deaths," by Jeff Reynolds, P J Media, 25 May2020.
Addendum of Inflation: " 'The case definition is very simplistic,' Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of Illinois Department of Public Health, explains. 'It means, at the time of death, it was a COVID positive diagnosis. That means, that if you were in hospice and had already been given a few weeks to live, and then you also were found to have COVID, that would be counted as a COVID death. It means, technically even if you died of [a] clear alternative cause, but you had COVID at the same time, it’s still listed as a COVID death'." In "U.S. COVID-19 Death Toll Is Inflated, Commentary," by Timothy Allen and John Lott, Real Clear Politics, 29 May 2020.
Addendum of a Changing Tune: "...Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Friday, 'We don't inevitably have to have a second wave. I mean people talk about it but it doesn't necessarily have to occur.' Two months ago, Fauci said just the opposite: 'We will have coronavirus in the fall: I am convinced of that.' Why the change of tone?" In " 'We don't inevitably have to have a second wave,' says Anthony Fauci, top U.S. infectious-diseases doctor," by Elizabeth Buchwald, Market Watch, 5 June 2020.
Addendum of an Inexpensive Drug, a non-Fauci non-Vaccine: "A cheap and widely available drug can help save the lives of patients seriously ill with coronavirus. The low-dose steroid treatment dexamethasone is a major breakthrough in the fight against the deadly virus, UK experts say. ...About 19 out of 20 patients with coronavirus recover without being admitted to hospital." In "Coronavirus: Dexamethasone proves first life-saving drug," by Michelle Roberts, BBC, 16 June 2020.
Addendum of More Info on an Inexpensive Drug: " 'This is the only drug so far that has been shown to reduce mortality, and it reduces it significantly. It's a major breakthrough,' Dr. Peter Horby, chief investigator on the study, said in a statement. Head researcher Dr. Martin Landray added that the drug’s low cost would lead to an even greater impact. 'There is a clear, clear benefit. The treatment is up to 10 days of dexamethasone and it costs about £5 per patient. So essentially it costs £35 to save a life. This is a drug that is globally available,' he said, emphasizing that for every eight patients on ventilators that are treated with the drug, one life could be saved." In "Oxford Researchers Identify First Drug Proven to Reduce COVID-19 Fatalities," by Tobias Hoonhout, National Review, 16 June 2020.
Addendum of More Info: "John Ioannidis, a professor of epidemiology and population health at Stanford University, argues in a paper published earlier this month that COVID-19 'seroprevalence studies,' which measure infection rates using the presence of antibodies in blood samples, 'typically show a much lower fatality than initially speculated in the earlier days of the pandemic.' 'It should be appreciated,' he writes in the paper, 'that [the fatality rate] is not a fixed physical constant and it can vary substantially across locations, depending on the population structure, the case-mix of infected and deceased individuals and other, local factors.' In the paper, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, Ioannidis surveyed 23 different seroprevalence studies and found that "among people <70 years old, infection fatality rates ranged from ... 0.00-0.23% with median of 0.04%." In "Stanford prof: Median infection fatality rate of coronavirus for those under 70 is just 0.04%," by Daniel Payne, Just the News, 20 June 2020. [ 17 ]
Addendum of Africans Suspicious of White Western Saviors: "The activist and political commentator brought up the widely circulated remarks earlier this year by a French researcher, Jean-Paul Mira, who said, 'If I can be provocative, shouldn't we be doing this study in Africa, where there are no masks, no treatments, no resuscitation?' He compared it to some AIDS studies: 'In prostitutes, we try things because we know that they are highly exposed and that they do not protect themselves.' 'The narrative we got is our continent is a dumping ground,' Phasha said. First ensure the vaccine works elsewhere before bringing it to Africa, she added." In "Protest versus Africa's 1st COVID-19 vaccine test shows fear," by Cara Anna, Associated Press, 1 July 2020. [ 18 ]
Addendum of Asking Why: "These three states [ New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts ] account for nearly 56,000 of the nearly 133,000 deaths in the US, even though they represent just 10 percent of the population. If these three states are excluded, the US suddenly finds itself somewhere in between nations such as Luxembourg (176/1M) and Macedonia (166/1M), where some of the better fatality numbers in Europe are found." In "3 States Account for 42 Percent of All COVID-19 Deaths in America. Why?," by Jon Miltimore, Foundation for Economic Education, 9 July 2020.
Addendum of Being About Ten Percent Positive: "The report showed that Orlando Health had a 98 percent positivity rate. However, when FOX 35 News contacted the hospital, they confirmed errors in the report. Orlando Health's positivity rate is only 9.4 percent, not 98 percent as in the report. The report also showed that the Orlando Veteran’s Medical Center had a positivity rate of 76 percent. A spokesperson for the VA told FOX 35 News on Tuesday that this does not reflect their numbers and that the positivity rate for the center is actually 6 percent." In "Florida Department of Health says some labs have not reported negative COVID-19 results," by Robert Guaderrama, FOX 35 Orlando, 13 July 2020.
Addendum of False Positives and Testing Flaws: "DPH said the false positive test results were discovered by DPH laboratory scientists while examining previously positive samples to determine the feasibility of testing 'pooled' specimens at the state lab. Dr. Jafar Razeq, director of the state lab, said staff were looking at the 'background information' of the specimens and 'we realized that these specimens shouldn't have not been reported as positive'." In "Connecticut says it found testing flaw, 90 false positives," byh Susan Haigh, Associated Press, 20 July 2020.
Addendum of What Was Crucial Was Not Crucial: "A $52 million coronavirus hospital once billed as 'crucial' by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio served a total of 79 patients before closing May 13. An exposé by The New York Times details the bureaucratic debacle that unfolded after the temporary hospital was rushed into existence at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The piece by Michael Rothfeld, Robin Stein, and Susan C. Beachy covered 'missteps made at every level of government' soon after the hospital’s April 10 opening." In "Bill de Blasio's 'crucial' $52 million coronavirus hospital treated 79 patients," by Douglas Ernst, Washington Times, 21 July 2020. [ 19 ]
$52,000,000.00 / 79 patients = $658,227.84 per patient in NYC's temporary hospital
Addendum of the Doctrine: "When the COVID-19 pandemic began, a search was made for suitable antiviral therapies to use as treatment until a vaccine could be produced. One drug, hydroxychloroquine, was found to be the most effective and safe for use against the virus. Federal funds were used for clinical trials of it, but there was no guidance from Dr. Anthony Fauci or the NIH Treatment Guidelines Panel on what role the drug would play in the national pandemic response. Fauci seemed to be unaware that there actually was a national pandemic plan for respiratory viruses. Following a careful regimen developed by doctors in France, some knowledgeable practicing U.S. physicians began prescribing hydroxychloroquine to patients still in the early phase of COVID infection. Its effects seemed dramatic. Patients still became sick, but for the most part they avoided hospitalization. In contrast --- and in error -- the NIH-funded studies somehow became focused on giving hydroxychloroquine to late-presenting hospitalized patients. This was in spite of the fact that unlike the drug’s early use in ambulatory patients, there was no real data to support the drug’s use in more severe hospitalized patients." In "An Effective COVID Treatment the Media Continues to Besmirch," an analysis by Steven Hatfill, RealClear Politics, 4 August 2020. [ 20 ]
Addendum of What Was Crucial Was Not Crucial II: "The city of Chicago invested nearly $120 million on four separate emergency coronavirus facilities in the spring that ended up treating a total of 38 patients, bringing the effective price tag of the massive project to over $3 million per patient. Municipal officials spent $66 million on the rapid construction of a 2,750-bed makeshift facility in the city's McCormick Place Convention Center in April, as well as an additional $50 million preparing three previously shuttered hospitals in the nearby districts of Elgin, Blue Island and Melrose." In "Chicago spent nearly $120 million on 4 coronavirus facilities to treat a total of 38 patients," by Daniel Payne Just the News, 14 August 2020.
$120,000,000.00 / 38 patients = $3,157,894.74 per patient in Chicago's "massive project"
Addendum of Being Profoundly Ill-Served by Fauci: "As an epidemiologist, I believe that America has been profoundly ill-served by the contribution of its public health authorities to the debate on the efficacy of treating vulnerable COVID-19 patients with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). ... Demanding proof when time is short and when there is highly suggestive observational evidence has been condemned by Drs. George Fareed, Michael Jacobs, and Donald Pompan in an open letter to Dr. Fauci. They point out that the FDA has approved many drugs without RCTs—penicillin was so efficacious in treating pneumonia that there was no need for RCTs. Moreover, RCTs are not designed to test the efficacy of a therapy in high-risk outpatient settings before a patient is notified of the results of a test for COVID-19. It cannot be ethical for public health bodies to demand impossible standards of proof for potential lifesaving therapies. To require an RCT for the HCQ triple therapy is indeed unethical; evidence supporting its use comes from large patient series, controlled trials, and even a natural experiment in the Brazilian state of Pará. In assessing ongoing patient outcomes, keep in mind that observations might be affected should the SARS-CoV-2 virus lose virulence." In "Dr. Fauci’s Hydroxychloroquine Denial," by Mikko Paunio, RealClear Politics, 31 August 2020.
But it will all be better and maybe even cheaper Any day now, believe you me
NOTES
[ 1 ] From the Wired article: "You can see how fiddling with the numbers could generate some very complicated math very quickly. (A good modeler will also conduct sensitivity analyses, making some numbers a lot bigger and a lot smaller to see how the final result changes.) Those problems can tend to catastrophize, to present a worst-case scenario. Now, that’s actually good, because apocalyptic prophecies can galvanize people into action. Unfortunately, if that action works, it makes the model look as if it was wrong from the start."
The CDC's Dr. Fauci
The Wired author's notion is apologetic. "Wrong from the start" which will "catastrophize" is explained away by the game called falsifiability. "...first argued by Austria-born British philosopher Karl Popper (1902 - 1994) as one of the staple canons of the general idea surrounding a science. If a concept can be disproved or proven incorrect, it is falsifiable. FALSIFIABILITY: 'It is now a widely held belief that if a concept or a theory cannot be falsified (such as the existence of a God) then it cannot therefore be classed scientific or credible'." "FALSIFIABILITY," by N., Pam M.S., Psychology Dictionary, 11 May 2013.
Wholly incorrect, and in only a few weeks time
The divination of a worst-case which was wholly incorrect: "The forecast predicts that 41 states will need more ICU beds than they currently have available and that 11 states may need to increase their ICU beds by 50% or more to meet patient needs before the current wave of the pandemic ends." In "US Hospitals Could Be Overwhelmed in the Second Week of April (IHME)," Health News, Department of Global Health, University of Washington, 26 March 2020.
One reads: "You may have heard during a recent White House press briefing about 'the Chris Murray Model,' a new COVID-19 forecasting model created by Dr. Christopher Murray and researchers in Washington state that predicts the state-by-state impact of the coronavirus pandemic on health systems in the United States. That model is our model. Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, was referring to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s model when she spoke with 'Meet The Press' host Chuck Todd in a March 29, 2020, conversation about steps the US government is taking to support COVID-19 'hot spots' across the country...." In "Our COVID-19 forecasting model, otherwise known as 'the Chris Murray Model'," by Brie Ripley, IMHE, 2 April 2020.
One reads further: "The real problem is the way that models are latched on to at a time when information is very limited. They take on a life of their own, rather than being treated as preliminary estimates, feeding into a sense that we should always prepare for the worst-case scenario rather than the most realistic one. Interestingly, the government has delayed introducing tests for the disease until they are proven to be accurate. So why is it apparently relying on models that haven't been tested?" In " The expert behind the Covid-19 shutdown was wrong on CJD and foot-and-mouth, and is probably wrong again now. But he’s not alone," by Rob Lyons, RT, 1 April 2020.
The Forecasts Have Fluctuated
Weeks later, the IMHE divination changes, as it often has. One reads: "The projections are presented as a range, with the latest forecast – 147,000-plus deaths – representing the average between a best-case scenario of 102,783 lives lost and a worst-case scenario of 223,489 fatalities. The forecasts have fluctuated over the past couple of months, with a projected death toll as low as 60,000 on April 18." In "New IHME model predicts more than 147,000 Americans will die from COVID-19 by early August," by Chris Aung-Thwin, MSN, 13 May 2020.
One only need wait from 13 May to "early August" to evaluate the "latest forecast," reported as news. One may forecast that forecast will be wrong. Why?
Of the IMHE, one reads: "An even bigger issue with the IHME model is that the way the model is published can obscure its problems. When it’s updated, it can be hard to see what its old, obviated predictions were. A website, covid-projections.com, has been set up so that you can look at the predictions made by old versions of the IHME model (and at the history of other models). The IHME models are frequently fairly far off." In "This coronavirus model keeps being wrong. Why are we still listening to it?" by Kelsey Piper, Vox, 2 May 2020.
For 13 May, a CDC web page shows the loose way in which classification is being done. One reads: "Table 1 has counts of death involving COVID-19 and select causes of death by the week ending date in which the death occurred." In "Provisional Death Counts for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)," CDC website, 13 May 2020.
On that page for 13 May, one finds "COVID-19 Deaths (U07.1) - 54,861," with "Deaths with confirmed or presumed COVID-19, coded to ICD–10 code U07.1"Confirmed or presumed. And then on the same page for 13 May, "Deaths with Pneumonia and COVID-19 (J12.0-J18.9)" and "Pneumonia death counts exclude pneumonia deaths involving influenza." Thus, a death caused by pneumonia is gathered into the COVID-19 toll, where or not it was the cause of death. This is being shown in other instances around the world, where significant and terminal co-morbidities may -- the verb which so many of the divinations to date have included, and therefore apt here -- be the true cause of death. Thus, the taxonomic "science" seems oriented to increasing the "lethality" of one -- COVID-19 -- while decreasing the lethality of a co-morbidity. And it's "provisional" and it's "presumed," wiggle words more suited to PR than the rigor, as if a political dimension were involved in the process of classification.
How "provisional?" How "presumed?" The CDC offers some encouragement to code in a driection. One reads: "If the provider documents 'suspected,' 'possible,' 'probable,' or 'inconclusive' COVID-19, do not assign code U07.1. Assign a code(s) explaining the reason for encounter (such as fever) or Z20.828, Contact with and (suspected) exposure to other viral communicable diseases." In "ICD-10-CM Official Coding and Reporting Guidelines, April 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020, CDC.
Moreover, ""Signs and symptoms without definitive diagnosis of COVID-19 -- For patients presenting with any signs/symptoms associated with COVID-19 (such as fever, etc.) but a definitive diagnosis has not been established, assign the appropriate code(s) for each of the presenting signs and symptoms such as: • R05 Cough • R06.02 Shortness of breath • R50.9 Fever, unspecified."
A cough, shortness of breath and/or unspecified fever" may be reason enough to gather such into the CDC taxonomy. And so, models continue to extrapolate from "data," when the data sets include "suspected," "possible," "probable" and even "inconclusive."
Inconclusive is now a data point. On this one may be certain.
Their Role as Scaring People
One finds more skepticism of the now-failed models: "More generally, he [ Michael Levitt ] complains that epidemiologists only seem to be called wrong if they underestimate deaths, and so there is an intrinsic bias towards caution. 'They see their role as scaring people into doing something, and I understand that… but in my work, if I say a number is too small and I’m wrong, or too big and I’m wrong, both of those errors are the same.' He believes the much-discussed R0 is a faulty number, as it is meaningless without the time infectious alongside. He describes indiscriminate lockdown measures as 'a huge mistake,' and advocates a 'smart lockdown' policy, focused on more effective measures, focused on protecting elderly people." In "Nobel prize-winning scientist: the Covid-19 epidemic was never exponential," by Freddie Sayers, Unherd, 2 May 2020.
"There is no doubt in my mind, that when we come to look back on this, the damage done by lockdown will exceed any saving of lives by a huge factor."
Are the various models which had been proposed and then had to be severely redefined, yielding wildly different outcomes, false? To justify a worst-case scenario is a good thing to push people and nations to act in some manner, then "wrong" is being praised for non-scientific, political reasons.
That Fundamental Arrogance Is Scaring the Lemmings?
And so, a fair question is raised: "How much of a lemming was President Trump? Or the state governors? All of them were, to one degree or another. Thus, we were plunged into the grandest of experiments in authoritarian paternalism, whereby we plebeians — i.e., those without government jobs — are deemed incompetent to judge if it's safe to take a dip in the ocean or a walk in the woods." In "The Danger of Letting Lab Coats Run the World," by Bill Dunne, American Thinker, 14 May 2020.
As to Ferguson: "...he’s absolutely typical of the breed. He suffers from the same fundamental arrogance that progressive interventionists have exhibited since at least the middle of the 18th Century – wildly over-estimating the good that governments can do, assuming there are no limits to what 'science' can achieve and, at the same time, ignoring the empirical evidence that their ambitious public programmes are a complete disaster. At bottom, they believe that nature itself can be bent to man's will." In "The Fatal Hubris of Professor Lockdown," by Toby Young, The Critic, UK, 6 May 2020.
[ 2 ] Relating directly back to previous articles, catastrophizing a "worst case scenario" is certainly demonstrated by the "COVID-19 Response Team," divining "projected deaths per day per 100,000 population, and "30 times greater than the maximum supply" of care beds. This divination of only weeks ago, as this footnote is being completed, was utterly incorrect. Wildly incorrect. It was their belief -- unfalsifiable at the time -- and therefore an expression of belief, not knowledge.
It was asked and observed: "Models are only as good as the data that goes into them." In "How can coronavirus models get it so wrong?" by Sarah Boseley, Guardian UK, 7 April 2020.
Doomsday Predictions Not Matching Changing Data
As to the many models: "Models are models. We are -- there is enough data of the real experience with the coronavirus on the ground to really make these predictions much more sound. So when people start talking about 20% of a population getting infected, it's very scary, but we don't have data that matches that based on our experience." In "Dr. Birx: Coronavirus Data Doesn't Match The Doomsday Media Predictions," by Ian Schwartz, RealClearPolitics, 26 March 2020.
Whose predictions, pray tell?
As to the criteria for the numbers, these are changing as well. One reads after five months of the pandemic: " 'It is remarkable how low the standard is now,' Hill said at last week's commissioners court meeting during a briefing on the changes: 'I fear this is coming at a time when we're just now starting to reopen. If the numbers jump in a false way, it's going to start to be very concerning to our citizens that we're actually going backwards.' 'I am not happy with the state-mandated changes,' Commissioner Darrell Hale said following the meeting. 'As a county, we have been good about reporting cases and information. And now, midstream, the reporting methodology is changing. This change will make quality decisions harder'." In "Texas' New Coronavirus Criteria Could Artificially Spike Collin County Cases," by Erin Anderson, Texas Scorecard, 26 May 2020.
The Oracle (detail) - by Camillo Miola (Biacca) 1840 - 1919
In a short few weeks, the brightest and best -- for so we are told -- changed their forecasts -- divinations -- radically downward, as the "worst case scenarios" were eviscerated by basic reality. Beginning with the worst case of approximately 2.2 million deaths, the number is very different. This is being observed.
Dr. Birx at a briefing with charts and graphs
One reads: "Last TUESDAY Coronavirus Task Force Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx pushed the talking point that by completely locking down the US economy and American public, the US government and Coronavirus task force 'experts' were able to cut the total coronavirus deaths in the United States from 1 to 2.2 million deaths to 100,000 to 200,000 deaths. This is based on 'models' by her chosen scientific 'experts' — Chris Murray and the IMHE. Here is the chart Dr. Birx discussed during the daily coronavirus press conference at the White House. There is not a single country in the world today with over 16,000 total coronavirus deaths. On Sunday night the IMHE cut their numbers in half. Today the IMHE model used by the CDC and Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci estimate the total US coronavirus deaths to be 81,766 by August 4th. And 81,000 by May 21st." In "OUTRAGEOUS!… Top Experts Used by CDC Move Total US Coronavirus Deaths From 2.2 Million to 200,000 to 81,766 in Only 8 Days!" by Jim Hoft, Gateway Pundit, 6 April 2020.
Then weeks later, "U.S. At A Glance, As of April 26, 2020. 957,875 total cases and 53,922 deaths.... "Total cases includes 4,999 probable cases and total deaths includes 6,142 probable deaths."
Without the "probable," the number becomes 47,780. Without or without "probable," this seems in the range of preceding years' influenza seasons, and yet the lockdown and media hysteria has been a unique event in comparison. One waits for an explanation to why models were so catastrophic and massively wrong.
[ 3 ] Divination has long been a feature of humans. Foretelling the future. Gazing into the crystal ball. So many versions across many cultures and across millennia.
Dr. Fauci's NIAID outsourced to China's Wuhan Lab
In order to foretell, today's experts of and in government "research." One reads of the CDC under Fauci: "A CDC internal report described how scientists failed to follow proper procedures to ensure samples were inactivated before they left the lab, and also found 'multiple other problems' with operating procedures in the anthrax lab. As such in October 2014, because of public health concerns, the US government banned all federal funding on efforts to weaponize three viruses – influenza, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). In the face of a moratorium in the US, Dr Anthony Fauci – the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and currently the leading doctor in the US Coronavirus Task Force – outsourced in 2015 the GOF research to China’s Wuhan lab and licensed the lab to continue receiving US government funding." In "Why US outsourced bat virus research to Wuhan US-funded $3.7 million project approved by Trump's Covid-19 guru Dr Anthony Fauci in 2015 after US ban imposed on 'monster-germ' research," by Christina Lin, Asia Times, 22 April 2020.
One notes the reporting. "Trump's Covid-19 guru" was also in charge during the Obama administration in 2015 when "outsourcing" with United States money funded the Wuhan lab. Imagine that.
Almost Nothing to Improve Our Preparedness
And consider: "Fauci’s studies alarmed scientists around the globe who complained, according to a December 2017 NY Times article, that 'these researchers risk creating a monster germ that could escape the lab and seed a pandemic.' Dr. Marc Lipsitch of the Harvard School of Public Health’s Communicable Disease Center told the Times that Dr. Fauci’s NIAID experiments 'have given us some modest scientific knowledge and done almost nothing to improve our preparedness for pandemic, and yet risked creating an accidental pandemic.' In October 2014, following a series of federal laboratory mishaps that narrowly missed releasing these deadly engineered viruses, President Obama ordered the halt to all federal funding for Fauci’s dangerous experiments. NIAID-funded gain of function research continued after the moratorium in a Wuhan-based laboratory. Congress needs to launch an investigation of NIAID’s mischief in China." In "U.S. Government’s $3.7 Million Grant to Wuhan Lab at Center of Coronavirus Outbreak," by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Children's Health Defense, 15 April 2020.
Conducted in Secret and In Spite of an Obama-era Moratorium
"...in October 2014, because of public health concerns, the US government banned all federal funding on efforts to weaponize three viruses – influenza, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). In the face of a moratorium in the US, Dr Anthony Fauci – the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and currently the leading doctor in the US Coronavirus Task Force – outsourced in 2015 the GOF research to China’s Wuhan lab and licensed the lab to continue receiving US government funding." In "Why US outsourced bat virus research to Wuhan," by Christina Lin, Washington Examiner, 22 April 2020.
This should be emphasized: In the face of a moratorium in the US, Dr Anthony Fauci – the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and currently the leading doctor in the US Coronavirus Task Force – outsourced in 2015 the GOF research to China’s Wuhan lab and licensed the lab to continue receiving US government funding
Similar coverage: "...the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the organization led by Dr. Fauci, funded scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and other institutions for work on gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses. In 2019, with the backing of NIAID, the National Institutes of Health committed $3.7 million over six years for research that included some gain-of-function work. The program followed another $3.7 million, 5-year project for collecting and studying bat coronaviruses, which ended in 2019, bringing the total to $7.4 million. Many scientists have criticized gain of function research, which involves manipulating viruses in the lab to explore their potential for infecting humans, because it creates a risk of starting a pandemic from accidental release." In "Dr. Fauci Backed Controversial Wuhan Lab with Millions of U.S. Dollars for Risky Coronavirus Research," by Fred Guterl, Newsweek, 28 April 2020.
The Newsweek article notes: "The reviews were indeed conducted—but in secret, for which the NIH has drawn criticism. In early 2019, after a reporter for Science magazine discovered that the NIH had approved two influenza research projects that used gain of function methods, scientists who oppose this kind of research excoriated the NIH in an editorial in the Washington Post. 'We have serious doubts about whether these experiments should be conducted at all,' wrote Tom Inglesby of Johns Hopkins University and Marc Lipsitch of Harvard. '[W]ith deliberations kept behind closed doors, none of us will have the opportunity to understand how the government arrived at these decisions or to judge the rigor and integrity of that process'."
Anthony Fauci.
NIH Supporting Communist China's Virology Research?
$3.7 million was reported on the 15th. Later: "Fauci’s National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases had shelled out a total of $7.4 million to the Wuhan Institute of Virology lab — which has become the center of theories about the origin of Covid-19, according to Newsweek. The National Institute of Health, which oversees the NIAH, shut down all funding to the lab last week." In " Dr. Fauci backed funding for controversial Wuhan lab studying origin of coronavirus," by Joe Tacopino, NY Post, 29 April 2020.
And so it is prudent to heed Segelid's words cited above: "It is our responsibility as scientists to explain the rationale behind our work, including its benefits and risks, to the general public in terms that are accessible to those with an average level of education, rather than to be dismissive."
Dr. Birx illustrating a "could be" which wasn't
Quite a number of scientists and forecasters have made enormous errors by catastrophizing, amplified by the "if it bleeds, it leads" journalists making all into partisan politics. The pandemic has been proven to be transmittable by divinations of modern-day oracles and a shrieking media. with damages to society in the several trillions of dollars. Experts were wrong, repeatedly. 2.2 million "catastrophize" into about 80 thousand when data replaces "could be." A graph of that would be instructive of the changes made to "could be" as the divined, imagined catastrophe weakened into the reality of a bad flu season, which in every year has produced deaths, but this time produced a firestorm of media panic 24/7. "Could be" weakens into "could have been," an unfalsifiable claim.
Quoting Birx: 'I'm sure many of you saw the recent report out of the UK about them adjusting completely their needs,' she said. 'This is really quite important. If you remember, that was the report that said there would be 500,000 deaths in the UK and 2.2 million deaths in the United States. They've adjusted that number in the UK to 20,000. So, half a million to 20,000. We're looking into this in great detail to understand that adjustment'." In "The Lie That Launched a Thousand Lockdowns," by Dan O'Donnell, News/Talk 1130, WISN, Milwaukee, 15 May 2020.
Catastrophic shrinkage of changing catastrophic divinations
One reflects: Karl Popper"...held that genuinely scientific theories are never finally confirmed, because disconfirming observations (observations that are inconsistent with the empirical predictions of the theory) are always possible no matter how many confirming observations have been made. Scientific theories are instead incrementally corroborated through the absence of disconfirming evidence in a number of well-designed experiments. According to Popper, some disciplines that have claimed scientific validity—e.g., astrology, metaphysics, Marxism, and psychoanalysis —are not empirical sciences, because their subject matter cannot be falsified in this manner." In "Criterion of falsifiability, philosophy of science," by the Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, n. d.
The unfalsifiable claim of 'scientific' validity
"Could be" and "might be" as an initial "scientific" claim has been proven to have been wildly wrong. Because it remains a "modal" expression as to what "could have been," the claims of the early divinations cannot be falsified. The fact of there resultant errors looking back at these erroneous claims is a scientific fact. The initial claims were not scientific fact. They could have been right, they will argue, though they were not in the end. This is not empirical science, but merely the unfalsifiable claim of scientific validity. The result was the destruction of trillions for an economy.
A coarse bit of simple arithmetic calculates that each death in this COVID-19 phenomenon "cost" $25 million dollars per COVID-19 death to the society as a whole, this in a society where inner city killings seem some sort of new "normal" and where abortions are "chosen" in the hundreds of thousands per year. As one reads for the sake of death comparisons, "For 2016, CDC reported 623,471 abortions from 48 of the 52 reporting areas. The abortion rate was 11.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 years, and the abortion ratio was 186 abortions per 1,000 live births." In "Abortion Statistics in the United States," Wikipedia, n. d.
How does 623,471 compare to about 80,000? A catastrophe? A new normal? Maybe? Could be?One might think critically about Could and May
[ 4 ] To state "It is impossible to overstate the pain," is to catastrophize. The inverse is true, in terms of logic, grammar and the initial divinations imaging millions of dead. It is quite possible to overstate the pain.
Impossible To Overstate the Pain?
Additionally, one notes that the dead as of 24 April 2020 according to the CDC are 50,439, with "total deaths includes 5,402 probable deaths." World War II ended with 419,400 US dead, according to many sources, and so the invoking of the comparison is poor numerically.
A more apt comparison would be from the CDC's own data, for another flu season. The University of Washington recently predicted 60,000 deaths in the US until early August. For reference the 2017-2018 flu season was approximately 80,000 dead (US) according to IMHE, while the CDC states it to have been "61,000 influenza-associated deaths," found in "Estimated Influenza Illnesses, Medical visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths in the United States — 2017–2018 influenza season," CDC.
50,439 (including "probable" estimates and reports) < 61,000 < 80,000 < 419,400 *
* Numbers have changed over time. The overall scheme has not. See "Synthesizing a Stance" below
Catastrophizing in order to advocate for a vaccine, when 1) one does not as yet exist, and 2) reports of the COVID-19 virus breaking into different strains as well as lessening in intensity, is to "overstate the pain." It is overstated, in the comparison to World War II, by a factor of eight.
A more reasonable but less dramatic comparison would be to another flu season. But that does not fulfill the dictum, "if it bleeds, it leads."
Deadly Medical Errors
Another numerical comparison would be apt too, but would minimize the hyperbole of Gates' claim. One reads: "Analyzing medical death rate data over an eight-year period, Johns Hopkins patient safety experts have calculated that more than 250,000 deaths per year are due to medical error in the U.S. Their figure, published May 3 in The BMJ, surpasses the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) third leading cause of death — respiratory disease, which kills close to 150,000 people per year." In "Study Suggests Medical Errors Now Third Leading Cause of Death in the U.S.," Johns Hopkins Medicine, 3 May 2016.
Comparison to World War II, According to Gates?
Placing these numbers into the "greater than" statement, one finds, as of April 24:
50,439 < 61,000 < 80,000 < 150,000 < 250,000 < 419,400
All this data is publicly available, and therefore to plead ignorance of some is no apology for catastrophizing the smaller of the numbers above, while ignoring the larger, or using the hyperbole of a WWII comparison to make a rhetorical splash.All the data above proves additionally that it is wholly possible to "overstate the pain," and Gates has managed that quite well. But it is not science, but, as Popper observed.
Public Policy Supports Death Depending....
One may also then calculate the relative dollar value to lives for each of the above classes of events, from war to medical errors to economic devastation from public policy poorly informed by catastrophic divinations, to derive relative costs to life itself. So, adding the most recent Guttmacher Institute abortion numbers to the above statement, one may read:
50,439 < 61,000 < 80,000 < 150,000 < 250,000 < 419,400 < 623,471
Where is the pain and what is its cost to society in each of these numbers and the phenomena they represent? Gates has overplayed a rhetorical hand with perhaps purposeful reason, as he is an advocate of vaccines and vaccinations, even perhaps made mandatory, such that an income stream to certain pharmacological manufacturers and patent holders would be guaranteed in order to reap massive financial windfalls.
Rather the same structure is observed, as when one considers the "rich" financial machinations behind how one might emotionally Use a kid for politics, part two
After all, the pain cannot be overstated, it has been claimed. But Any claim can be made
Overstating and Understating
Given that the current pandemic is rooted in Communist China, placing another number in the "pain cannot be overstated" greater-than statement, one considers "China (PRC)" from "1949-87" murdered 76,702,000 of its own citizens, according to Professor Rudolf Rummel's "Power Kills," and its rigorous statistical studies into what he called "20th century democides." (https://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/20TH.HTM).
50,439 < 61,000 < 80,000 < 150,000 < 250,000 < 419,400 < 623,471 < 76,702,000
Indeed, Gates' rhetoric about the current pandemic seems asinine, given the scale of "pain" which such enormous numbers of dead put into horrid relief. Add to this picture the simple fact that early on, such "forecasts" as were made by the Imperial College, by the University of Washington and others were un-provable, and therefore not science per se, but "sciency" guesswork, proven off in retrospect and in short order by orders of magnitude.
Oops.
Divination, portrayed as science, is found as the gathering data proves such "science" to be akin, as Popper suggests, to the non-empirical realm. Guesswork, but educated guesswork?
Who shall divine tomorrow? Murray? Fauci and Birx? Gates? Such divination and its effect on public policy are expensive lessons in the hubris of man.
"Tomorrow" has been divined of late, as one reads: "The IRC's report, which is based on models and data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Imperial College London, estimated there could be between 500 million and one billion infections globally." In "Coronavirus: 'One billion' could become infected worldwide - report," by BBC, 28 April 2020.
80,000 < 150,000 < 250,000 < 419,400 < 623,471 < 76,702,000 < One Billion
Could be. Estimates. Divination. And the conclusion is, send more money. To the IRC to administer. Or someone. And also, the picture is even scarier.
7,000,000,000 People! Could Be!
One reads: "Without intense government intervention, the novel coronavirus could infect 7 billion people and kill 40 million this year, according to a new report from researchers at the Imperial College of London. ...The report, according to co-author Charles Whittaker, is meant to project the impact of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The projections are not an inevitability, he said. 'The results we present in this paper are not predictions of what will [necessarily] happen,' Whittaker told BBC NewsHour on Friday morning. 'Instead, what we're trying to do is illustrate the magnitude of the problem and the benefits of acting quickly'." In "Without any interventions like social distancing, one model predicts the coronavirus could have killed 40 million people this year," by Isaac Scher, Business Insider, 27 March 2020.
Note the wiggle words: "The results we present in this paper are not predictions of what will [necessarily] happen...." Really? if not predictions, what are these "results?" Guesses? Stabs in the dark? Scary stories?
What's the Cost of Predictions? Clearly Human Life Is Not Priceless?
" 'I'd say the cost of a human life, a human life is priceless. Period.' That was Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, arguing for stretching the economically catastrophic lockdowns into the foreseeable future. Never mind that more than 105,000 abortions were performed in New York in 2017 alone, at an average cost of about $600. Clearly, human life is not priceless. In a world where resources are limited and everything involves a tradeoff, we are constantly making decisions that put a value on human lives." In "How Much Are We Spending To Prevent One COVID-19 Death — Millions, Billions, Trillions? Nobody Knows," by I & I Editorial Board, Issues and Insights, 15 May 2020.
Priceless. $600. "Millions, Billions, Trillions? Nobody knows.
Most Expensive and Least Effective?
"Clearly, human life is not priceless." And, according to Cuomo, also "priceless." The economic impact of not thinking in economic terms is fraught with troubles. The I&I editorial adds: "The massively intrusive and costly government lockdowns are looking more and more like the most expensive and least effective regulations ever imposed in this nation’s history. Will anyone be held responsible for the calamity, or will we just go on pretending it was worth it?"
The history of doctors and biological warfare research is not well known. But medical doctors staffed it, and it was headed by Dr. Shirō Ishii. Of one glaring example, one reads: "Its parent program was officially known as the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kwantung Army." In "Unit 731," Wikipedia article, n. d. Pertinent to this discussion in rhyme, addenda and footnotes, one learns in that article, "The researchers involved in Unit 731 were secretly given immunity by the United States in exchange for the data they gathered through human experimentation." Physicians and governments were involved, without question.
The National Socialists and Soviet Socialists provide other examples of physicians and politicians jointly perpetrated atrocities, so the argument that "physicians" and "researchers" and "forecasters" and "academics" are somehow to be trusted is ludicrous. In this supposedly modern era, doctors are often found to be corrupt, as one might survey Doctor doctors
[ 5 ] Incompetence, indeed. In the original German: "Ich habe den Eindruck, dass die Regierung sehr gut und vorsichtig handelt. Sie wird jedoch von der internationalen Behörde (gemeint ist hier m.E. die WHO; Anmerkung der Übersetzerin) mit den Sterberaten, die die Experten der WHO anhand mathematischer Berechnungen erstellen, unter Druck gesetzt. Es handelt sich hier jedoch nicht um bösen Willen, sondern um Inkompetenz."
Incompetence? At the CDC, one finds it too. One reads: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) acknowledged Thursday that it is combining the results from viral and antibody COVID-19 tests when reporting the country's testing totals, despite marked differences between the tests. First reported by NPR's WLRN station in Miaimi, the practice has drawn ire from U.S. health experts who say combining the tests inhibits the agency's ability to discern the country's actual testing capacity. 'You've got to be kidding me,' Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, told The Atlantic. 'How could the CDC make that mistake? This is a mess'." In "CDC acknowledges mixing up coronavirus testing data," by Marty Johnson, The Hill, 21 May 2020.
[ 6 ] The professor observed: "In fact, the damaging effect now of lockdown is going to outweigh the damaging effect of coronavirus."
Divination's Incompetence Wedded to Unethical Totalitarian Impulses
A picture forms. The WHO first advised there was no human-to-human transmission, then announced a lethality rate of 3.4%, while now one reads "the overall lethality of Covid19 is between 0.1% and 0.4% and thus up to twenty times lower than initially assumed by the WHO." Divinations -- forecasts, predictions, models -- in this episode in the history of man have been proven in a short period of time to have been, at the minimum, incompetent.
Societies and nations, led by worst case scenarios and catastrophizing, will bear the recovery costs of policies enacted by incompetent and demonstrably incorrect divinations, amplified by incompetent media infused with partisan politics.
Selgelid observed: "It is unethical to place so many members of the public at risk and then consult only scientists—or, even worse, just a small subset of scientists—and exclude others from the decision-making and oversight process...."
The silly rhyme imagines: "The eel eats until the day / It itself is eaten. / Our elites with predictions proud / Prefer their prey browbeaten." What remains now is to await how the "prey" will react going forward. The elite will be surprised, I suspect.
When public policy becomes totalitarian -- as in the article title above, Der Corona-Totalitarismus - and the hard science and data is ever more clarified, one should expect citizens to remember for a time the thuggish nature and egotistical stance of their "betters" in the political and media realm, who so easily acted in totalitarian ways. We shall see.
[ 7 ] Aside from the fact that China is a one-party state run by the Chinese Communist Party, Gate's assertion about "the great science we have" fails to note that said science predicted death numbers wildly inaccurately, generating panic and skewing public policy greatly.
'It's not an awful match, but it's not a very good match'
Additionally, as to vaccines and "great science," one read: "This year's flu vaccine is 'not a very good match' for a common strain of the flu that's especially tough on children, according to the nation's top infectious disease doctor. 'It's not a very good match for B/Victoria,' said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, referring to the strain. 'It's not an awful match, but it's not a very good match'." In "There's a mismatch in the flu shot -- and it's not good news for children," by Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, 14 January 2020.
One notes the wiggle words, "not an awful match" mixed with "not a very good match." So what is the science here. Not awful but not good either?
A Look Back Only Months in the Past
One looks back to divinations in late January 2020: "Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said Sunday the American public shouldn’t worry about the coronavirus outbreak in China. 'It's a very, very low risk to the United States,' Fauci said during an interview with radio show host John Catsimatidis. 'But it's something that we as public health officials need to take very seriously... It isn't something the American public needs to worry about or be frightened about." In "Government health agency official: Coronavirus 'isn't something the American public need to worry about'," by J. Edward Moreno, The Hill, 27 January 2020.
Similarly: "On Jan. 21, he [ Fauci ] emphasized that it was unclear whether the virus could spread from person to person: 'Is it a continual spread? Is it sustained? We're not quite sure yet.' A University of Minnesota expert offered that 'this is one of those inflection moments in outbreak history where we have enough information to be very concerned, but not enough information to say this is going to be an international crisis.' In "Virus Experts' Early Statements Belie 'Prescient' Portrayal," by Kalev Leetaru, Real Clear Politics, 3 April 2020.
That article also notes: "Asked whether the U.S. might contemplate city-wide shutdowns like those China was enacting at the time, Fauci replied, 'There's no chance in the world that we could do that to Chicago or to New York or to San Francisco, but they're doing it. So, let's see what happens'."
City- and state-wide shutdowns were enacted, some more draconian than others. No chance became a divination which was incorrect.
Who Got It Right? WHO? Communist China? No One?
Gates is supporting the WHO which declared first no human-to-human transmissibility, and a month later a lethality of 3.4 percent in humans, and later revised that "guess" significantly downward. Gates' assertion about "great science" is true in this modern age generally, but specifically, as regards the coronavirus divinations, such "science" has been wildly incorrect guesswork, masquerading as hard science. This is proven by the addenda and footnotes above.
Gates, in his compliment to Communist China's getting "a lot of things right," has ignored in such a statement the tyranny of Communist China, a one-party state.
General Secretary Xi heading the Chinese Communist Party
Getting a lot of things right?
China and Its Crackdown on Religion - Right?
One reads: "The Chinese government also raided or closed down hundreds of churches in 2019. Authorities removed crosses from churches and banned youth under the age of 18 from participating in religious services, the report says. Images of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary were also replaced with pictures of President Xi Jinping. 'They just can not tolerate citizens having loyalty to anything higher than the Chinese Community Party,' Bauer said. 'In the last 30 years, a lot of Americans forgot that the country is 'communist' China. And being a committed communist regime, they will not tolerate any loyalty by the people they rule over to something higher than the Communist Party of China. Any loyalty is seen as dangerous and unacceptable'." In " 'A Regime That Fears Religion:' New Report Details China’s Crackdown On Religion," by Marol Safi, Daily Caller, 28 April 2020.
China and Transparency - Right?
One also reads: "Asked by Sky News whether there was a good reason not to include the WHO, Dr Galea replied: 'From our point of view, no.' The Australian government has said that an independent public enquiry should be held into the origins of COVID-19, a measure EU countries are reportedly considering publicly endorsing. China has reacted angrily, saying that the investigation into the virus should be a matter for scientists." In "Coronavirus: WHO 'not invited' to join China's COVID-19 investigations," by Tom Cheshire, Sky News, 1 May 2020.
China Jailing Journalists - Right?
And: "China is the biggest jailer of journalists in the world, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and tightly controls the press at home while censoring most foreign media outlets via the Great Firewall, its vast online censorship and surveillance apparatus." In "Chinese Journalist Jailed for 15 Years for ‘Vilifying the Communist Party and Government'," by Wire Service (CNN Wire and Epoch Times staff), Wire, 1 May 2020.
China and Mocking Propaganda - Right?
And: "A Chinese state media outlet has released an animated video using Lego pieces to mock the United States' coronavirus response and the Trump Administration's claims of an initial Chinese COVID-19 coverup. Entitled Once Upon a Virus, the short animation — released by China's official Xinhua news agency — takes the form of a back-and-forth between China and the US with China being represented by a Lego terracotta warrior and a team of hazmat wearing characters, and the US by the Statue of Liberty." In "Chinese state media releases animated propaganda video mocking US coronavirus response," by Tracey Shelton and Iris Zhao, ABC Australia, 1 May 2020.
China and the Footprints of the Omnipresent Gates - Right?
Moreover: "...this the fact that the Gates Foundation and related entities such as CEPI constitute the largest funders of the public-private entity known as WHO, and that its current director, Tedros Adhanom, the first WHO director in history not a medical doctor, worked for years on HIV with the Gates Foundation when Tedros was a government minister in Ethiopia, and we see that there is practically no area of the current coronavirus pandemic where the footprints of the omnipresent Gates are not to be found. If that is to the good of mankind or grounds to be worried, time will tell." In "Coronavirus and the Gates Foundation," by F. William Engdahl, New Eastern Outlook, 18 March 2020.
China Spying on Vaccine Experts - Right?
And then: "Chinese spies have targeted Belgian biological warfare and vaccine experts, Belgium's security service suspects. They are also targeting British pharmaceutical giant and vaccine-maker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in Belgium and Belgian high-tech firms, Belgian intelligence fears." In "China suspected of bio-espionage in 'heart of EU'," by Andrew Rettman, EU Observer, 6 May 2020.
Right Might Have Been Wrong
Did Gates "forget" that China, a nation of people, is ruled by the Communist Party, operating forced internment camps, large-scale citizen surveillance and the like? Refusing examination in possible medical errors by other nations who are its customers? Apparently, so. So what did they get "right?" It is an assertion unsupported.
Moreover, one can compare as thought experiment that phrase to such as "Hitler got a lot of things right" or "Stalin got a lot of things right," and so on. Such has been asserted in the past, to widespread and correct condemnation.
Gates no doubt is aware that interesting fact of Capital for Communists
Additionally vaccine as a panacea for future pandemics is an approximation, as Fauci's own "not a very good match" pronouncement indicates. "...get that vaccine," given that there are many different vaccines and new variants to viruses as well, is not specific. It is a generalization. A divination. A sales pitch, perhaps?
One considers Gates' and others' attachment to Moolah
Gates Got a Lot of Things Right If China Got a Lot of Things Right?
Other views on Communist China and its role in this historic moment are clearer than Gates', as one reads: "Aside from being an incubator for pandemics, China is a country that just last year put one million of their own citizens in concentration camps just because they were Moslems. China is a country that has been brutally suppressing freedom advocates in Hong Kong. China is country that rattles its sabers, missiles, warships and jet fighters every week against democratic Taiwan, threatening to invade and conquer them militarily. China is the main backer of the nefarious regime in North Korea and helps support Venezuela and Cuba among other bad actors. China is a country that essentially relies on the slave labor of untold millions to produce goods at ridiculously low prices so that Western nations can’t compete and then turns Westerners into consumer vassals – making Western nations utterly dependent on them for essentials including medicines and medical supplies, vitamins, clothing, shoes, hardware, electronics, you name it. To protect America against the evil depredations of despotic regimes such as China and to ensure peace, freedom and stability in the world we must wean ourselves off the teat of cheap (and often shoddily made) Chinese goods even if we have to pay more for them. Make things in America or in allied nations so that we retain our independence on all levels – and one sure way to put us on that path is to send our young people back to work and back to school now so that as a nation we are not bankrupted, enfeebled and ultimately dominated by malevolent dictators." In "The China Syndrome – Ghosts of Pandemics Past & Affinity for Despotism," by Howard Barbanel, Jewish Voice, 13 May 2020.
Speculating on the Need
As to Gates' participation in this, one reads: "At another invitation-only 'Good Club' conference held behind closed doors in California in 2010, Bill Gates read out a TED talk titled 'Innovating to Zero!' about reducing worldwide CO₂ emissions, where he spoke of the need to reduce the population, and one of the ways this could be done is by creating new vaccines. 'Now, we put out a lot of carbon dioxide every year,' he said. 'It's an average of about five tons for everyone on the planet.' 'And somehow, we have to make changes that will bring that down to zero.' 'This equation has four factors, a little bit of multiplication […] and that's going to be based on the number of people.' 'First, we've got population. The world today has 6.8 billion people. That's headed up to about nine billion. Now, if we do a really great job on new vaccines, health care, reproductive health services, we could lower that by, perhaps, 10 or 15 percent.' Gates does not hide his interest in vaccines, and is able to pursue his goals through the World Health Organization, which he continuously finances, influencing the work of the organization, its plans and priorities. The big pharma companies behind him are prepared to mobilize large-scale drug deliveries and have done so on many occasions, but their activities have often been accompanied by scandals." In "Who is Performing Human Experiments and Why?" by Vladimir Odintsov, New Eastern Outlook, 15 May 2020.
In this next portion of the speculation, enormous consequences are alleged, in some detail and around the entire world.
Odintsov continues: "Mass vaccination against polio in India has been linked to paralysis in thousands of children. Malaria and meningitis vaccinations administered in African countries have also been linked to paralysis, febrile seizures and infant deaths. And a trial for experimental human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines rolled out in remote Indian provinces has resulted in severe side effects, including autoimmune diseases and infertility in young girls. Doctors from different countries have already suggested that what Gates is really trying to achieve through his vaccination programs implemented through the WHO is to weaken third-world citizens and make them more susceptible to disease and premature death. Or perhaps his goal is to make them sterile and infertile. The media has repeatedly reported that substances known to reduce female fertility were detected in these vaccines when they were analyzed in laboratories. That is why people are growing more and more skeptical of 'the Bill Gates vaccines' not only in the United States, but also in many other countries, which are considered to be human experiments, along with the wide network of biolabs the Pentagon has set up in numerous different countries."
Funding Failed Model-Makers? To What End?
Watching the effects of a multi-billionaire, one finds Gates' funding the WHO, and further: "The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently provided massive amounts of funding to both the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) and Imperial College in London, which both produced wildly incorrect models for the Coronavirus outbreak that sparked worldwide panic and provided false justification for government leaders to shut down the American economy, creating mass unemployment." In "Gates Foundation Funded BOTH Imperial College and IHME, Failed Model-Makers," by Patrick Howley, National File, 16 May 2020.
On-patient Medical Records
Gates' interest extends to markers. One reads: "Delivering the dye required the researchers to find something that was safe and would last long enough to be useful. 'That’s really the biggest challenge that we overcame in the project,' Jaklenec says, adding that the team tested a number of off-the-shelf dyes that could be used in the body but could not find any that endured when exposed to sunlight. The team ended up using a technology called quantum dots, tiny semiconducting crystals that reflect light and were originally developed to label cells during research. The dye has been shown to be safe in humans." In "Invisible Ink Could Reveal whether Kids Have Been Vaccinated," by Karen Weintraub, Scientific American, 18 December 2019.
Then: "To create an 'on-patient,' decentralized medical record, the researchers developed copper-based quantum dots, which emit light in the near-IR spectrum. The dots are only about 4 nm in diameter, but they are encapsulated in biocompatible microparticles that form spheres about 20 microns in diameter. This encapsulation allows the dye to remain in place, under the skin, after being injected. The researchers designed their dye to be delivered by a microneedle patch rather than a traditional syringe and needle. Such patches are now being developed to deliver vaccines for measles, rubella, and other diseases, and the researchers showed that their dye could be easily incorporated into these patches." In "Near-infrared quantum dot dye stores vaccination history under the skin," BioOptics World, 24 January 2020.
Privacy Concerns and Tattoos
The SA article notes: "The approach raises some privacy concerns, says Prausnitz, who helped invent microneedle technology and directs Georgia Tech’s Center for Drug Design, Development and Delivery. 'There may be other concerns that patients have about being 'tattooed,' carrying around personal medical information on their bodies or other aspects of this unfamiliar approach to storing medical records,' he says. 'Different people and different cultures will probably feel differently about having an invisible medical tattoo'."
Would complying with each demand for a new vaccine -- considering Fauci's "not a very good match" -- with a requirement to show an "on-patient, decentralized medical record" be a step too far for many? Given that the lockdowns as of April 2020 are to many, and given the economic disruption in the millions and the clear fact that the current season's "not a very good match" flu shot did not protect against the latest virus variant on which this stream of divinations and sometimes hysterical reporting hinges, would any of this predict the next virus before its outset and onslaught? Of course not.
Divination, a phenomenon of mankind over millennia, is still seductive and still without hard data and hard science, though divination is now costumed in assumptions, statistics, graphs and models. Popper's distinction need be heeded.
Alternatives to Vaccines Blunt Many Arguments and Cause Others
Non-vaccine therapies are being tested around the world, and are the subject of partisan politics seemingly arguing that a possible cure should not be used, as some wait for a vaccine with a lockdown until that moment in the future.
One reads from the Virology Journal in 2005: "Chloroquine is effective in preventing the spread of SARS CoV in cell culture. Favorable inhibition of virus spread was observed when the cells were either treated with chloroquine prior to or after SARS CoV infection. In addition, the indirect immunofluorescence assay described herein represents a simple and rapid method for screening SARS-CoV antiviral compounds." In "Chloroquine is a potent inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread," by Martin J Vincent, Eric Bergeron, Suzanne Benjannet, Bobbie R Erickson, Pierre E Rollin, Thomas G Ksiazek, Nabil G Seidah, and Stuart T Nichol, corresponding author, Virology Journal. 2005; 2: 69.
A non-vaccine answer to the coronavirus annoys those for whom vaccination development and prescription are a preferred alternative. And yet, in Nevada as one example, a governor threatens punitive action if physicians treat with this drug because politics knows best. It comes down to competition and potential business opportunities versus known drugs now out of patent. If Fauci's "not a good match" vaccine is compared to an effective non-vaccine therapy, one can imagine the disappointment to investors in some researched-for vaccine. But when this virus evolves or a new one erupts....
But then the issue arises. One reads: "Nikolai Petrovsky, the lead researcher, said his team suspects human manipulation in Wuhan because of the unmatched ability of the virus' protruding spike to infect human cells. The virus' binding strength for human cells 'far exceeds' similar properties for infecting other animals, he said in a statement on the forthcoming report. 'This, plus the fact that no corresponding virus has been found to exist in nature, leads to the possibility that COVID-19 is a human-created virus,' said Mr. Petrovsky, a professor at the College of Medicine and Public Health at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia." In "Australian researchers see virus design manipulation," by Bill Gertz, Washington Times, 21 May 2020.
The tale is not complete, though the politics rages.
[ 8 ] One size fits all lockdowns of entire states based on wildly "catastrophized" divinations amplified by an hysterical media has proven its own and far more destructive pandemic. As the Post article notes: "...the prohibitions on elective surgeries — more than 30 governors had issued some form of them as of late April — were too clumsy and sweeping, and not geographically selective enough. They can’t be loosened up fast enough. In retrospect, they fail the cardinal rule of health care: First, do no harm."
Suffocating the patient by the overuse of ventilators and significant lung damage from the positive pressure as a cure has been often as foolish as drinking camel urine.
Zero Apologies for Being Incorrect
One reads an opinion: "Then there were the models. America was supposed to suffer 2 million dead, yet as of this writing we are at less than 3% of that number. How ironic – the scientists are about 97% off, with 97% being (coincidentally) the number of scientists who we keep hearing are supposedly all aboard with the radical climate scam agenda. We destroyed our economy by listening to these people, and one would imagine we might see some humility in light of their devastating failure. Instead, we got zero apologies and infinite arrogance directed at people begging to be allowed to go back to work for the selfish purpose of feeding their families." In " 'Climate' Hoax Is Another Coronavirus Casualty," by Kurt Schlichter, Pipeline, 1 May 2020.
Another views weighs in: "I’m a virologist, and modelling complex processes is part of my day-to-day work. It’s not uncommon to see long and complex code for predicting the movement of an infection in a population, but tools exist to structure and document code properly. The Imperial College effort suggests an incumbency effect: with their outstanding reputations, the college and Ferguson possessed an authority based solely on their own authority. The code on which they based their predictions would not pass a cursory review by a Ph.D. committee in computational epidemiology. Ferguson and Imperial College’s refusal of all requests to examine taxpayer-funded code that supported one of the most significant peacetime decisions in British history is entirely contrary to the principles of open science—especially in the Internet age. The Web has created an unprecedented scientific commons, a marketplace of ideas in which Ferguson’s arguments sound only a little better than 'the dog ate my homework.' Worst of all, however, Ferguson and Imperial College, through both their work and their haughtiness about it, have put the public at risk. Epidemiological modelling is a valuable tool for public health, and Covid-19 underscores the value of such models in decision-making. But the Imperial College model implementation lends credence to the worst fears of modelling skeptics—namely, that many models are no better than high-stakes gambles played on computers." In "The Unexamined Model Is Not Worth Trusting," by Chris von Csefalvay, City Journal, 15 May 2020.
A Devastating Mistake
Another: "In the history of expensive software mistakes, Mariner 1 was probably the most notorious. The unmanned spacecraft was destroyed seconds after launch from Cape Canaveral in 1962 when it veered dangerously off-course due to a line of dodgy code. But nobody died and the only hits were to Nasa’s budget and pride. Imperial College’s modelling of non-pharmaceutical interventions for Covid-19 which helped persuade the UK and other countries to bring in draconian lockdowns will supersede the failed Venus space probe and could go down in history as the most devastating software mistake of all time, in terms of economic costs and lives lost." In "Neil Ferguson's Imperial model could be the most devastating software mistake of all time," by David Richards and Konstantin Boudnik, Telegraph UK, 16 May 2020.
Another: "Don't expect an apology from our Government, or any other Government, any time soon. The Festinger effect is far, far more prevalent than a clear-sighted view of reality and the tragedy is all the greater. Brexit meltdown, climate change disaster and the Covid population cull look very like the earthquakes and flying saucers that never actually arrive. We can’t bear to face the fact that, whether greatly feared or greatly desired, our prophecies can fail. Maybe, just maybe, we are wrong and we need to summon the clarity and courage to admit it." In "CC2 Covid, Brexit and Flying Saucers…" by Hugh Willibourn, hughwillbourn.com, 5 May 2020.
Destroying Years of Life While Saving Lives?
An opposing oracle finds the Ferguson-Fauci-Birx-Murray divinations have side effects. A cure worse than the disease is identified.
"Government overreach is the virus"
One reads: "Based on a broad array of scientific data, Just Facts has computed that the anxiety created by reactions to COVID-19 — such as stay-at-home orders, business shutdowns, media exaggerations, and legitimate concerns about the virus — will destroy at least seven times more years of human life than can possibly be saved by lockdowns to control the spread of the disease. This figure is a bare minimum, and the actual one is likely more than 90 times greater. This study was reviewed by Joseph P. Damore, Jr., M.D., who concluded: 'This research is engaging and thoroughly answers the question about the cure being worse than the disease.' Dr. Damore is a certified diplomate with the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, an assistant attending psychiatrist at New York Presbyterian Hospital, and an adjunct professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the U.S. Military Academy." In "COVID-19 Anxiety Will Destroy At Least Seven Times More Years Of Life Than The Lockdowns Save," by Andrew Glen and James D. Agresti, Issues and Insights, 5 May 2020.
Later in the article filled with links to a variety of studies, one repeats: "In other words, the anxiety from reactions to COVID-19 — such as business shutdowns, stay-at-home orders, media exaggerations, and legitimate concerns about the virus — will extinguish at least seven times more years of life than can possibly be saved by the lockdowns."
Massed Casualties Hiding in Plain Sight
Doctors disagree with the CDC doctors who advised the lockdown: "It is impossible to overstate the short, medium, and long-term harm to people's health with a continued shutdown. Losing a job is one of life's most stressful events, and the effect on a person's health is not lessened because it also has happened to 30 million other people. Keeping schools and universities closed is incalculably detrimental for children, teenagers, and young adults for decades to come. The millions of casualties of a continued shutdown will be hiding in plain sight, but they will be called alcoholism, homelessness, suicide, heart attack, stroke, or kidney failure. In youths it will be called financial instability, unemployment, despair, drug addiction, unplanned pregnancies, poverty, and abuse. Because the harm is diffuse, there are those who hold that it does not exist. We, the undersigned, know otherwise." In " 'Mass casualty incident': 600 doctors sign letter to Trump calling for end to lockdowns over health concerns," by Jordyn Pair, Disrn, 20 May 2020.
Actual Harm in Place of "Do No Harm"
Similarly, one reads: "After a lull in emergency room visits due to the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors at four Chicago emergency rooms told the Tribune they have seen an increase in non-COVID-19 patients in the past few weeks, along with signs that some patients are suffering because of pandemic-related delays in care. Some of the affected patients avoided hospitals or doctors' offices due to fears of getting COVID-19; others had trouble getting treatment due to job loss, health insurance loss or disruptions in the health care system, doctors said. The American College of Emergency Physicians had previously found that patients were delaying care because of fears of contracting COVID-19, but reports from Chicago emergency rooms and an interview with ACEP President-elect Dr. Mark Rosenberg indicate that doctors are now seeing the results of some of those delays: actual harm to patients." In " As non-COVID-19 patients return to Chicago-area emergency rooms, doctors see skyrocketing blood pressure and other side effects of delays in care. 'It's terrible, and it's frightening'," by Nara Schoenberg, Chicago Tribune, 27 May 2020.
A Taste of Tyranny
"Fauci-fed fascism" might seem a strong rhetorical assertion, but states' governors and city mayors are evidencing draconian actions far beyond "first do no harm."
An immigrant who fled from the murderous Nazi tyranny in WWII, that event against which Gates wants us to compare, opines: "Perhaps this panic and the resulting confused reaction from our political elites have shown us what the future could bring if we are not careful – perhaps they have given us a taste of tyranny from which we can learn that it can happen here just as it has happened elsewhere." In "Commentary: COVID-19 lockdown gives Americans a taste of tyranny," by Ingrid M. Sigler, Delaware State News, 24 April 2020.
A taste: "New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday a funeral for an ultra-Orthodox rabbi that drew thousands of mourners in Brooklyn 'was absolutely unacceptable,' and he warned that police will start issuing summonses or arrest violators at similar gatherings. 'It was a large gathering, again, tragically thousands of people. The amount of danger created by that kind of gathering is inestimable,' de Blasio said at a press conference. 'People will die because of it, which goes against everyone’s values'. Jewish organizations blasted the mayor’s comments." In "Orthodox Jewish funeral that drew thousands was 'absolutely unacceptable,' NYC mayor says," by Noah Higgins-Dunn and Marty Steinberg, CNBC, 29 April 2020. But his stroll with his wife in Prospect Park during the lockdown was not?
De Blasio has set his measure. Now, based on real science, one only need wait for proof that "people will die because of it." But notice the assertion. It cannot be falsified because it is no real measure at all. If this ultra-Orthodox community does not experience an uptick in COVID-19 fatalities, then de Blasio has merely shown his anger at a dictate being disobeyed. A taste of tyranny, one might well conclude.
Tastes of Tyranny under de Blasio
Another taste: "Not properly wearing a mask in New York City can get you thrown to the ground, handcuffed, and arrested. It doesn’t even matter if your young child is there to witness it all. That’s the message from a video of one mom’s arrest by a large group of NYPD and MTA officers for her mask etiquette in a New York City subway station this week." In "Video: 6 NYPD Cops Forcefully Arrest Mom Holding Toddler’s Hand For Improper Mask Etiquette," by Erin Perri, The Mix, 14 May 2020.
And another taste of tyrannical incompetence: " 'The mayor’s policies are crushing our businesses, but even worse they are destroying New York. We the small business owners and worker, who are the lifeblood of the city’s economy and its dreams for the future are pleading with him to trust us to open our businesses safely, before it is too late. These policies are counterproductive, cruel and they are indiscriminately targeting our working and middle classes. They are exacerbating the gap between rich and poor,' Bruce Backman, of Reopen NY, a coalition of 300 small businesses, told DailyMail.com on Tuesday." In "The man without a plan: NYC lockdown drags on DESPITE hospitalizations falling to just 63, as de Blasio admits there's still no reopening date OR plan for the subway and businesses plead 'let us back to work before it's too late'," by Jennifer Smith, Daily Mail, 26 May 2020.
And then: "Shocking footage has emerged showing a 'full-on looting street party' in Soho Tuesday night, taken as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio downplayed the extent of rioting in the streets of the Big Apple." In "Shocking footage shows 'full-on looting street party' in Soho - while NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio downplays the extent of rioting in the streets of the Big Apple," by Rachel Sharp, Daily Mail, 3 June 2020.
Shifting Standards and Shifting Rhetoric
Only weeks after railing at the Orthodox Jews for "congregating," one recalls his words and yet finds: " 'My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple,' Mr. de Blasio thundered in an infamous tweet, after having dispatched police to break up a funeral: 'The time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period.' All this seems a little odd now. Protesters in New York and across the U.S. have gone unmolested while gathering in 'large groups,' even as rioters smashed and looted and set fire to public and private property. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who not long ago said keeping houses of worship shut was essential to save lives, marched on Tuesday with protesters, his mask and his lockdown suddenly forgotten'." In "Politicians Shutter Churches and Synagogues, Then Tolerate Riots Congregating in public is now a privilege extended to political activists but denied to the devout," by Abigail Shrier, Wall Street Journal, 5 June 2020.
Deadly Lockdowns Worldwide?
According to South African media, this is deadly tyranny in the guise of caring. One reads: "By comparing the data models of both the lockdown and the killer illness, PANDA has concluded that implementing these civil limitations may work well at first, but allowing them to continue for months does more harm than good. Their numbers suggest that lockdown has the potential to kill 30 times more people than the 'invisible enemy' we’re currently facing: 'Our latest estimate is that South Africa’s lockdown will cause a loss of life at least 29 times greater than the loss of life it stands to prevent. It would be no exaggeration to say that each week of continuing lockdown will, in the long run, result in more loss of life than the disease itself'." In "SA researchers say lockdown ‘nearly 30 times more deadly’ than disease," by Tom Head, The South African, 5 May 2020.
Other international concern is expressed: "Maas listed repressive measures taken against journalists in Russia, Venezuela, Iran, Turkey and China as examples of responses to the pandemic, all of which are designed to repress freedoms." In "Germany's Heiko Maas says authoritiarians are using coronavirus," by jsi/rc (AFP, dpa), Deutsche Welle, 15 April 2020.
"...to repress freedoms." A Conclusion Is Forming?
A conclusion is forming. One reads: "The new coronavirus is real. The response to the coronavirus is hyped. And in time, this hype will be revealed as politically hoaxed. In fact, COVID-19 will go down as one of the political world’s biggest, most shamefully overblown, overhyped, overly and irrationally inflated and outright deceptively flawed responses to a health matter in American history, one that was carried largely on the lips of medical professionals who have no business running a national economy or government." In "Coronavirus hype biggest political hoax in history," by Cheryl K. Chumley, Washington Times, 28 April 2020.
One reads further: "...Tegnell’s assertion that there is no 'scientific basis' for the lockdowns deserves attention. There's a tendency to assume central planning is inherently rational and scientific, but this is hardly true. Karl Marx, perhaps the most famous central planner in history, was horribly unscientific in his methods, explained the historian Paul Johnson. '[Marx] failed precisely because he was unscientific: he would not investigate the facts himself, or use objectively the facts investigated by others,' Johnson observed in the book Intellectuals. 'From start to finish, not just Capital but all his work reflects a disregard for truth which at times amounts to contempt. That is the primary reason why Marxism, as a system, cannot produce the results claimed for it; and to call it 'scientific' is preposterous'. For his part, Tegnell says the science of COVID-19 is becoming clear on at least one point, whatever the models of Laura Glass’s hypothetical town said in 2006. 'We feel more and more confident about [not] closing schools,' Tegnell told TV host Trevor Noah in a May interview. 'It's not something that really is going to be effective for this kind of disease. Schools don’t seem to be very much of a motor of this epidemic'." In "Sweden’s Top Infectious Disease Expert Says COVID-19 Lockdowns Are Not Based on Science. History Shows He Could Be Right," by Jon Miltimore, FEE, 19 May 2020.
A Parallel to the 1930s Courtesy of Divination
As to the collateral damage caused by Fauci's carrying Ferguson's wildly incorrect divination to the US administration, one reads: "Small businesses employ almost fifty percent of American workers. Yet, our results underscore the financial fragility of many small businesses, and how deeply affected they are by the current crisis. In our sample, which is skewed toward retail sales, we found that 43 percent of businesses were temporarily closed and that employment has fallen by 40 percent. This represents a shock to America’s small firms that has little parallel since the 1930s. Our results suggest that many of these firms have little cash on hand, which means that they will either have to dramatically cut expenses, take on additional debt, or declare bankruptcy. This highlights the ways in which the immediacy of new funding might impact medium term outcomes." In "NBER Working Paper Series: How Are Small Businesses Adjusting to COVID-19, Early Evidence from a Survey," by Bartik, Bertrand, Cullen, Glaeser, Luca and Stanton, Working Paper 26989, National Bureau of Economic Research, April 2020.
Ergo, my editorial phrase, having already formed a similar opinion -- Fauci-fed, fear-fattened fascism is being tried out, perhaps as an audition for future lockdowns, across entire nations. Its pretense of saving lives and lack of consideration of the massive costs has been historic.
Fascism - Do What You're Told
It may seem a hard term, but "do what you are told" implies, at the minimum, a technocrat above others politically. One hears Fauci's words: "Fauci noted that scientists have been perceived throughout this pandemic as 'authoritarian' by members of the public, because of the steps taken to combat the virus. He noted that it’s unfortunate that science 'has been lumped into politics.' In a 'divisive' society, he said, people’s willingness to follow the advice of scientists has often been portrayed a political decision." In "Fauci says U.S. has 'independent spirit,' but now is the time to 'do what you're told'," by Christine Farr, CNBC, 12 November 2020.
So, though one finds scientists disagreeing with other scientists, and specifically scientists disagreeing with Fauci, he has anointed his understandings and conclusions are the only correct conclusions, and defined disagreement as "divisive" and "political." But to "do what you're told" is in fact not representative of science, but of politics and authoritarianism. That he does not parse his own words is odd. That he does not parse his own words as he calls for an entire populace to "do what you're told" is not scientific, but overtly political, and fulfills a definition of fascism. This is all the more applicable, when one considers that Fauci outsourced gain of function studies to Communist China, when it was no longer able to be pursued in the United States.
This virus has proven on a par with many others, and not as was initially "divined" by today's modern oracles. The virus, as with others, has sickened and killed on a par with those others, but revealed the dictatorial streak alongside double standards for an elite within many local, state and national politicians, ready to crack their whips in rage against disobedience to their dictates.
[ 9 ] The modern 'oracle' erred, and then erred is admitting she erred. The original 'divinations,' for that is what they were and faulty in the extreme, were cause to eviscerate a nation's economy, with continuing "lockdown" dictates being 'divined' by mayors and governors to the economic privation of local economies.
Months Later the Oracle Says: "We're Beginning to Understand"
One reads: "White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx told Fox News on Saturday night that the U.S. significantly underestimated the number of asymptomatic cases that existed of the coronavirus. 'I think we're learning every day about the virus and how it interacts with us as human hosts. And that's been very important to constantly be triangulating data,' Birx said. 'I think we underestimated very early on the number of asymptomatic cases. And I think we're really beginning to understand there are people that get infected that those symptoms are so low-grade that they don't even know that they're infected'." In "Dr. Birx: 'We Underestimated Very Early On The Number Of Asymptomatic Cases'," by Daily Wire News, 3 May 2020.
Inflated Statistics? Underestimated Asymptomatic Cases?
Then one finds some apparent dissention in the ranks of the oracles. One reads: "Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus task force response coordinator, blasted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a White House coronavirus task force meeting during a discussion on COVID-19 data, according to The Washington Post. 'There is nothing from the CDC that I can trust,' she told CDC Director Robert Redfield, two people familiar with the meeting told the newspaper. The Post reported that Birx and others feared that the CDC's statistics on mortality rate and case counts were inflated by up to 25%." In "Birx said 'there is nothing from the CDC that I can trust' in a White House coronavirus task force meeting," by Michelle Mark, Business Insider, 9 May 2020.
Overestimating deaths at the outset of this "madness of crowds" moment is followed by underestimating asymptomatic cases. See how that works?
One finds mislabeling accusations as regards death "caused" by this virus. When a death certificate states one thing, and "health officials" another, this becomes no longer a matter of simple facts, but of convoluted goals.
Later Blamed and Classified?
As an almost farcical example: "Back in April, health officials in Colorado classified three nursing home fatalities as COVID-19 deaths, even though attending physicians ruled they were not related to the coronavirus. While Yellow later tested positive for COVID-19, Deavers said his death had nothing to do with the coronavirus. 'It wasn’t COVID, it was alcohol toxicity,' said Deavers, according to the station. 'Yes, he did have COVID but that is not what took his life'." In "Colorado man died of alcohol poisoning, but death was later blamed on coronavirus: report," by Davod Aaroa, Fox, 15 May 2020.
"...that is not what took his life." Or their lives, per a gathering number of physicians.
That "number of asymptomatic cases" as divisor in concluding statistical studies would have shown the virus' lethality as far less than the oracles divined. In the interim, redefinitions and reclassifications to make the numbers seem greater rather than less have been done, with "probable" becoming a "science" word to the oracles who are only months later "beginning to understand." And trillions have been wasted in the interim.
Give Up Essential Liberty for Temporary Safety?
Thus the oft-cited and oft-contested quote by Benjamin Franklin is apt. One reads: "There is not in any volume, the actual writings excepted, a passage to be found worth the veneration of freemen, than this, 'those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety;' nor could a lesson of more utility have been laid at that crisis before the Pennsylvanians." Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin, Volume 2, pp. 99-100.
One may query: temporary safety or the appearance of temporary safety? A once prescient comment, oft-repeated and oft-criticized for being supposedly misunderstood or misapplied, is apt in this situation. Governments heeded their favored oracles who "divined" scary stories to advise for safety which has trampled on liberty. For all.
[ 10 ] Lucas observes quite rightly, and advises: "...please remember that the shutdowns are affecting the working class far more severely than the decision-making class. Also, to those crying for the shutdown to continue until we have a vaccine, can we ask this? Sitting in your home office, well supplied with all the necessities by untouchable delivery people, please spare us the 'we’re all in this together' pabulum. You are sitting in comfortable self-protection only because the delivery people and their brothers and sisters of the new working class are out on-site at their jobs, working to fill your and your fellow elites' every need."
The Decision-making Class Has Done Quite Well
This is a fine echo in language of the Hindu caste system and its "untouchables." The decision-making class through its error-ridden oracles deems things an "inconvenience" while for many the loss of employment, income and small business profits is a tragedy.
"Inconvenience," a word from Fauci's mouth? "Something right" about the Chinese Communists, an evaluation by Gates? More like budding tyranny by the "decision-making" class.
Thinking of Gates, the heads of large pharmaceuticals and the academic oracles, the government bureaucrats leaping to grasp greater control over their subjects, Braudel captures some of the perquisites of the decision-making class in prose: "Splendor, wealth, and pleasant living are grouped about the center of the world-economy, at its very heart. There the sunshine of history brings out the bright colors; there high prices, high salaries, banking, luxury merchandise, profitable industries, and capitalist agriculture are evident; and there the point of departure and the point of arrival for long-distance commerce and the afflux of precious metals, respected currency, and letters of credit are to be found."
And for the Fauci-fed and corporate media-amplified hysteria, the world's small business owners and operators and their lower income employees are hammered financially. For them, no splendor, no wealth and no pleasant living. For their lowly position, they get "inconvenience," about as tone deaf use of a word as is found in this crisis. Rather like cheering for what Communist China "got right."
One also learns that the current governor of Illinois is investing in all this: "The Cue Health Monitoring System enables a range of in-home and in-clinic diagnostics. The system uses a highly portable reader system to test clinical samples in a disposable test cartridge and sends the results to a connected mobile application. The Cue Influenza test cartridge, which is undergoing clinical validation is designed to detect Influenza A and B." In "Cue Health awarded $13 million government contract to develop portable, point-of-care COVID-19 test," Pritzker Group, 31 March 2020. The founders of Pritzker Group, which invests in Cue? Tony and J. B. Pritzker.
One would do well to consider the confluence of power-and-wealth as it plays out in this time and situation by reviewing the addenda and footnotes to: Ollie Garx and Karly Marx
[ 11 ] There is divine humor in all this divination.
One reads: "Why is it that the most zealous advocates for reining in human behavior, whether it's in Prohibition-era America or the midst of a public health crisis, always get caught with their pants down? I’m reminded of something the late Christopher Hitchens said: 'Whenever I hear some bigmouth in Washington or the Christian heartland banging on about the evils of sodomy or whatever, I mentally enter his name in my notebook and contentedly set my watch. Sooner rather than later, he will be discovered down on his weary and well-worn old knees in some dreary motel or latrine, with an expired Visa card, having tried to pay well over the odds to be peed upon by some Apache transvestite'." In "Neil Ferguson’s remarkable fall from grace," by Toby Young, Spectator, 6 May 2020.
As it turns out, Hitchens' turn-of-phrase applies equally well to all stripes of men, and especially to the current crop of demonstrably incorrect oracles.
A comparison, then, is in order. The Imperial College oracles' -- a flock of them, it turns out -- pronouncement was violated by its chief oracle. What was that pronouncement?
The "We Show"
One reads: "We show that in the UK and US context, suppression will minimally require a combination of social distancing of the entire population, home isolation of cases and household quarantine of their family members. This may need to be supplemented by school and university closures, though it should be recognised that such closures may have negative impacts on health systems due to increased absenteeism. The major challenge of suppression is that this type of intensive intervention package – or something equivalently effective at reducing transmission – will need to be maintained until a vaccine becomes available (potentially 18 months or more) – given that we predict that transmission will quickly rebound if interventions are relaxed. We show that intermittent social distancing – triggered by trends in disease surveillance – may allow interventions to be relaxed temporarily in relative short time windows, but measures will need to be reintroduced if or when case numbers rebound." In "Report 9: Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID-19 mortality and healthcare demand," by Neil M Ferguson, Daniel Laydon, Gemma Nedjati-Gilani, Natsuko Imai, Kylie Ainslie, Marc Baguelin, Sangeeta Bhatia, Adhiratha Boonyasiri, Zulma Cucunubá, Gina Cuomo-Dannenburg, Amy Dighe, Ilaria Dorigatti, Han Fu, Katy Gaythorpe, Will Green, Arran Hamlet, Wes Hinsley, Lucy C Okell, Sabine van Elsland, Hayley Thompson, Robert Verity, Erik Volz, Haowei Wang, Yuanrong Wang, Patrick GT Walker, Caroline Walters, Peter Winskill, Charles Whittaker, Christl A Donnelly, Steven Riley, Azra C Ghani, Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team, 16 March 2020.
Professor Ferguson didn't manage to follow his own "we show" but perhaps in light of his now-public indiscretion and infidelity, "measures will need to be reintroduced...."
On the Edge of Being a Publicity-seeking Charlatan
Further look at views of Ferguson inform: "Elon Musk calls Ferguson an 'utter tool' who does 'absurdly fake science.' Jay Schnitzer, an expert in vascular biology and a former scientific direct of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in San Diego, tells me: 'I’m normally reluctant to say this about a scientist, but he dances on the edge of being a publicity-seeking charlatan.' Indeed, Ferguson’s Imperial College model has been proven wildly inaccurate. To cite just one example, it saw Sweden paying a huge price for no lockdown, with 40,000 COVID deaths by May 1, and 100,000 by June. Sweden now has 2,854 deaths and peaked two weeks ago. As Fraser Nelson, editor of Britain’s Spectator, notes: 'Imperial College’s model is wrong by an order of magnitude'." In " 'Professor Lockdown' Modeler Resigns in Disgrace," by John Fund, National Review, 6 May 2020.
An Oracle Speaks -- about Promiscuity and Tolerance for Risks
From the advice of seeking "hook ups," one need not look further in this comedic tragedy than another "oracle." One reads: "Coronavirus expert Dr. Anthony Fauci offered advice to people considering an in-person date after meeting someone virtually, whether that be through Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, Zoom or any other dating app. 'If you're willing to take a risk — and everybody has their own tolerance for risks — you could figure out if you want to meet somebody,' Fauci, 79, told Snapchat’s 'Good Luck America' political show, according to a full interview obtained by Vanity Fair. 'It depends on the level of the interaction that you want to have'." In "Dr. Fauci dishes advice on Tinder hookups during pandemic," by Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 15 April 2020. Really?
Such advice coming from Fauci in a time of lockdowns is about as laughable as Ferguson's clandestine affair while pronouncing social distance and lockdowns for others.
Wildly, Repetitively Wrong "We Show" Over Eighteen Years
The National Review article notes other massive errors by Ferguson. "In 2002, Ferguson predicted that up to 50,000 people would likely die from exposure to BSE (mad cow disease) in beef. In the U.K., there were only 177 deaths from BSE. In 2005, Ferguson predicted that up to 150 million people could be killed from bird flu. In the end, only 282 people died worldwide from the disease between 2003 and 2009. In 2009, a government estimate, based on Ferguson’s advice, said a 'reasonable worst-case scenario' was that the swine flu would lead to 65,000 British deaths. In the end, swine flu killed 457 people in the U.K."
Ask me a question
Placing these "inaccuracies" in a simple 'greater than' notation, one finds the Imperial College professor and his team have been failures at divination, while apparently successes at garnering attention in the press as in government. Drs. Fauci and Birx, in relying on a latest "reasonable worst-case scenario" replicated the errors by an error-prone "absurdly fake science," in Musk's verbiage. Imperial College documented errors from past years:
50,000 divined > 177 actual
150 million divined > 282 actual
65,000 divined > 457 actual
A jolly good dose of skepticism is needed, for indeed these were not "scientific," as has been the latest prognostication purporting to tell the future, revised and revised again, without a true mea culpa anywhere in sight. Consider that Science is method
The Repulsive Word - Lockdown
That skepticism should be reinforced. Christopher Hitchens' observation above is added to by his brother: "I think I now understand why this period has come to be known by the repulsive word ‘lockdown’, an American term which describes the punishment of rioting convicts in a penitentiary, by confining them in their cells for long periods. I hate this word, because it does not seem to me to be fitting to describe free people in a free country. But we are no longer such people, or such a country. We have become muzzled, mouthless, voiceless, humiliated, regimented prisoners, shuffling about at the command of others, stopping when told to stop, moving when told to move, shouted at by jacks-in-office against whom we have no appeal. We are learning, during this induction period, to do what we are told and to become obedient, servile citizens of a new authoritarian State. We are unlearning the old rules of freedom." In "The new authoritarian State’s dream has come true thanks to the repulsive word 'lockdown': they’ve made us all prisoners," by Peter Hitchens, Mail on Sunday, 23 May 2020.
The More Repulsive Phrase - Totalitarian Lockdown
Moreover, as the gathering hard data shows, this massive worldwide, media driven panic has been rather like many previous episodes during which no "lockdown" was pursued. Indeed, this historic error compounded by additional historic errors seems a path to living under the Totalitarian
Shall hysteria rule? It seems to want to, as so many take up its banner.
"...the entire global population" - The Language of Fascism
As an example of a global view: "...you don't get to say, ignore what's going on here. There will be the ability, particularly in rich countries, to open up if things are done well over the next few months. But for the world at large, normalcy only returns when we've largely vaccinated the entire global population. And so although there's a lot of work on testing, a lot of work on drugs that we’re involved with, trying to achieve that ambitious goal, which has never been done for the vaccine, that rises to the top of the list." In "Transcript: Bill Gates speaks to the FT about the global fight against coronavirus," Financial Times, 9 April 2020.
One notes, at the time of this interview, these is NO vaccine, tested and approved. Moreover, with the volatility of virus changes, and Fauci's "not a good fit" observations about other vaccines, the notion of vaccinating "the entire global population" is the language of fascism. There would be no opt out, no resistance, no disagreement and nor dissent if "entire" were to be acted out across the world.
A Good Chance Never?
This is odd and speculative. One reads additionally: "There’s a good chance the coronavirus will never go away. Even after a vaccine is discovered and deployed, the coronavirus will likely remain for decades to come, circulating among the world’s population." In "Coronavirus may never go away, even with a vaccine," by William Wan & Carolyn Y. Johnson, Washington Post, 27 May 2020.
What do Wan and Johnson imply? First, the "vaccine" has not been "discovered" nor "deployed." Secondly, even after being "discovered and deployed," the virus will remain active "for decades to come." This is not news reporting, but like the many divinations cited and sourced in the context of this rhyme, addenda and footnotes, guesswork. Based on guesswork, "normalcy" is defined as "only" when Gate's vaccination program is followed or, according to the Washington Post's oracles, not "for decades to come." See how that works? The rationale then is that "the entire global population" must be brought to heal and then "there's a good chance the coronavirus will never go away." Wiggle words, par excellence, for those who would rule.
[ 12 ] The skepticism about the "sciencey" Imperial code expressed in this addendum comes from a website created/registered in Canada through Easyspace Limited, on 12 April 2020. Thus the opinions enter the debate late in the "divine" oracles' harmful effects on entire nations, all the while the Imperial College first forecasts are now being found to have been "catastrophized," wildly incorrect, and its lead "professor" a now public fool who violated his own public advice just to have an affair. An oracle to be trusted?
"The Problem Is That Government Has Been Doing It"
One commenter, 'Robert,' to the article noted: "The problem is the nature of government and politics. Politics is a systematic way of transferring the consequences of inadequate or even reckless decision-making to others without the consent or often even the knowledge of those others. Politics and science are inherently antithetical. Science is about discovering the truth, no matter how inconvenient or unwelcome it may be to particular interested parties. Politics is about accomplishing the goal of interested parties and hiding any truth that would tend to impede that goal. The problem is not that 'government has being doing it wrong;' the problem is that government has been doing it."
The critique of the Imperial "model" as of its now infamous modeler is apt. Previous models were also faulty, such that this Imperial model was a poor choice to inform public policy.
The problem is that governments have accepted error-prone divination as fact. Fauci and Birx were a crucial part of that chain of "sage" advice by a proven failure at divination.
The Genealogy of the Divination Leads Back
And yet, one reads: "Asked at a news conference with President Trump about what had led to the change in thinking by a White House task force, Dr. Deborah Birx, one of the task force leaders, said new information had come from a model developed in Britain. 'What had the biggest impact in the model is social distancing, small groups, not going in public in large groups,' Dr. Birx said. 'The most important thing was if one person in the household became infected, the whole household self-quarantined for 14 days. Because that stops 100 percent of the transmission outside of the household'. Dr. Birx’s description of the findings was consistent with those in the report, released on Monday by an epidemic modeling group at Imperial College London. The lead author of the study, Neil Ferguson, an epidemiology professor, said in an interview that his group had shared their projections with the White House task force about a week ago and that an early copy of the report was sent over the weekend. The group has also shared its fatality estimates with the C.D.C., Dr. Ferguson said, including that eight to nine percent of people in the most vulnerable age group, 80 and older, could die if infected." In "White House Takes New Line After Dire Report on Death Toll," by Sheri Fink, New York Times, 16 March 2020.
So "contact tracing" back the media panic, one finds shifting sands beneath the oracles' pronouncements, which have cost nations trillions in lost wealth.
The Whole World Can be Fooled by a Fact-free Panic
A German scientist and also onetime politician on the political Left in Germany is quoted: "Wodarg is reassuring for anyone concerned about 'the virus'. That danger is no greater than in any other flu season (now also based on tens of internationally leading scientists analyzing actual figures from all over the world). Wodarg's message is disturbing when you wonder how the whole world can be fooled by such a clearly fact-free 'panic' allowing itself to be led to the curtailment of the most fundamental freedoms. A world that thinks it has to prepare itself for a 'new normal'. In which incredibly dangerous and extremely undesirable 'solutions' such as 'mass vaccination', 'contact tracing', and other 'surveillance' are seen as attractive." In "Corona 'Crisis', what really happened and how to learn from it? Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg interviewed by Stefan Noordhoek, Off-Guardian UL, 7 May 2020.
Moreover, the "science" has been uncertain at best. As an example involving one of the characters in this drama: "Chinese researchers had previously suggested asymptomatic people might transmit the virus but had not presented clear-cut evidence. 'There's no doubt after reading [the NEJM] paper that asymptomatic transmission is occurring,' Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told journalists. 'This study lays the question to rest'." But now, it turns out that information was wrong. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the German government’s public health agency, has written a letter to NEJM to set the record straight, even though it was not involved in the paper." In "Study claiming new coronavirus can be transmitted by people without symptoms was flawed," by Kai Kupferschmidt, Science Magazine, 3 February 2020.
"No doubt" and a "study [that] lays the question to rest" is followed by "that information was wrong." From February to May, the "no doubt" of Fauci, proven wrong, should demonstrably recommend doubt in future "no doubt" statements. Here's a tale to ponder: Nemesis met Hubris
It Feeds the Fright of the People
As to Wodarg's observations in the interview about the politicians and media: "...they have all this misery. They can make a film and can feed the fright of the people...." The effect then, as in all the gathered quotes above, lead to "the curtailment of the most fundamental freedoms." From Ferguson, through Birx and Fauci, through the IMHE and the CDC, what has ensued has been this curtailment. And somewhere in all this the funding of Bill Gates and his foundation plays a role. That role has made the ridiculous statement that the Chinese Communists got "a lot of things right."
What Merits the Perfection of Total Control?
A different opinion by an author and blog writer speaks to this. One reads: "When the self is understood as relational, interdependent, even inter-existent, then it bleeds over into the other, and the other bleeds over into the self. Understanding the self as a locus of consciousness in a matrix of relationship, one no longer searches for an enemy as the key to understanding every problem, but looks instead for imbalances in relationships. The War on Death gives way to the quest to live well and fully, and we see that fear of death is actually fear of life. How much of life will we forego to stay safe? Totalitarianism – the perfection of control – is the inevitable end product of the mythology of the separate self. What else but a threat to life, like a war, would merit total control? Thus Orwell identified perpetual war as a crucial component of the Party’s rule. Against the backdrop of the program of control, death denial, and the separate self, the assumption that public policy should seek to minimize the number of deaths is nearly beyond question, a goal to which other values like play, freedom, etc. are subordinate. Covid-19 offers occasion to broaden that view. Yes, let us hold life sacred, more sacred than ever. Death teaches us that. Let us hold each person, young or old, sick or well, as the sacred, precious, beloved being that they are. And in the circle of our hearts, let us make room for other sacred values too. To hold life sacred is not just to live long, it is to live well and right and fully." In "The Coronation," Charles Eisenstein, blog, March 2020.All the players in this historic error, sparked by the same old human foibles as ever, and played out across whole nations and economies, will be dead in time. The conundrum is that in the interim many would seek ever greater wealth and power, perhaps even dreaming of forestalling death with "great science." This is the view of the evil man who would rule under the guise of "safety."
Tyranny Exercised for the Good of Its Victims
"Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. Their very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be 'cured' against one's will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level with those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals. But to be punished, however severely, because we have deserved it, because we 'ought to have known better', is to be treated as a human person made in God's image. In reality, however, we must face the possibility of bad rulers armed with a Humanitarian theory of punishment." In "God in the Dock" by C. S. Lewis, Eerdmans, 1970.
Similarly: "The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants, and it provides the further advantage of giving the servants of tyranny a good conscience. It would be easy, however, to destroy that good conscience by shouting to them: if you want the happiness of the people, let them speak out and tell what kind of happiness they want and what kind they don't want! But, in truth, the very ones who make use of such alibis know they are lies; they leave to their intellectuals on duty the chore of believing in them and of proving that religion, patriotism, and justice need for their survival the sacrifice of freedom." In " Actuelles III : Chroniques 1939-1958, Albert Camus (1958), from a speech at a banquet in honor of Eduardo Santos, 7 December 1955.
This observation by Camus serves to explain why and how Ferguson, advocating lockdown, broke his, and how and why Fauci has seemingly spoken out of both sides of his mouth, depending on the day and circumstance.
The modern, imperial oracles peering beyond their gates have divined a worldwide economic disaster of several months' duration, because we mere citizens seem to them, each a Totalitarian
[ 13 ] The opinion writer's observation is most apt. Of politicians as of policy wonks, "they can't change course without acknowledging that they have made a vast miscalculation."
Herded into a massive new regime of political control
The article summaries what has become true of whole nations, courtesy of catastrophizing: "Minnesotans have been herded into a massive new regime of political control over the details of ordinary life. They have been pummeled by apocalyptic propaganda that pressures them to comply. Those responsible include political leaders intent on extricating themselves from the disastrous steps they have taken, without acknowledging and reversing their mistakes, and a complicit media that refuses to criticize or ask hard questions."
A comparable situation would be an alcoholic awaking from a drunken stupor to find what a fool he had been. And yet, as one knows through Alcoholics Anonymous and similar counseling, to make a first step one must confess to the addiction itself.
Divine the panic
This addiction has been to fear and fear mongering, to catastrophizing, to believing the fantasies of "experts" who have been proven wrong, and who hide behind the rationale that "it could have been..." Divine the panic. The oracles have been wildly wrong at the outset, and their divinations have been economically catastrophic.
Lest this seem structurally hyperbole, one can consider the fundamental fascist principle: Everything within
And Then a Divine View of Secular Divinations
And then there are religious perspectives on this worldwide pandemic. One reads: "I am just astonished at the amount of fear that is so gripping, and the fact that people are willing to shut down entire economies right now in this country. As we speak I think there’s about 50 million people who filed for unemployment and we have about 70,000 deaths, which is very tragic, but on the other hand so are these people whose livelihoods, whose whole life, whose ability to support their families and use their gifts, run their restaurant or run their business, have been just harmed deeply and all the social ills that go with that. And this seems to be all because we seem to be utterly terrified of a virus that could kill a certain number of us but most people will actually recover. I am just astonished. And as a Catholic priest, I look at this and I think first of all it is so worldwide, and second of all it is so over the top, if you ask me, that is see demonic origins in it as well, as human foibles." In " The 'Demonic' Source Of Our Global Fear, And The Lesson Liberty-Loving People Must Remember About Our 'Hostile Government'," by Christopher Bedford, Federalist, 11 May 2020.
[ 14 ] One only need review the "optics" as some in the media believe a teenager who has been on strike against schooling, all the while traveling the world as an activist will add "science" to the panel being assembled. And the laughter ensues, as CNN would Use a kid for politics, part two
The parsing of words becomes quite the game, as one reads again from the NY Post: "CNN came under fire Wednesday for Thunberg’s placement on the program when journalist Yashar Ali asked his 619,000 Twitter followers, 'What place does Greta Thunberg have in this town hall?' 'I understand that but this is a panel of top health experts and administrators,' he wrote. 'A climate activist would be better suited on a different panel. She’s not a climate scientist. It’s a matter of placement'." In "Greta Thunberg denies appearing as an 'expert' on CNN coronavirus panel," by Jackie Salo, NY post, 14 May 2020.
The quote from Thunberg is telling: " 'I am an activist. The only people claiming that I'm an 'expert' are those who are trying to ridicule me,' Thunberg said. 'My message has always been to unite behind the science and listen to the experts'." Unless they disagree with you, that is.
The response is rhetoric, for "the science," as seen above has many fluctuations and much error in its divinations, and "the experts" so often means "those with whom I agree," in the sense of political activism. Thunberg is correct; she is an activist. An activist pursues a political agenda. It may be one or the other, Left and Right
This becomes all the more informative, as one peers behind the curtain of such optics to find the very wealthy and wannabe very wealthy movers and shakers planning to profit on such optics. Follow the money has been good advice for some time. Even in the midst of a pandemic.
Profiteers circle above their prey. The prey are not the dead from a pandemic, but the dying businesses which will be scooped up by profiteers. Corporatism replaces capitalism, in service to fascism's socialist goals.
[ 15 ] While some media is talking up a vaccine, the history of many vaccines is a sad tale. Fauci has played a part for decades.
Fauci on an HIV Vaccine in 2008
Looking back: "...a high-ranking official at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) pulled the plug on a hotly anticipated clinical trial for a government-funded vaccine to combat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the bug that causes full-blown AIDS. The announcement by Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), was the latest in a series of setbacks in the search for a vaccine the world has been anxiously awaiting for more than two decades. Fauci's reason for canceling the trial: There is not enough evidence that it's effective to justify a wide-reaching trial." In "NIH Official: HIV Vaccine Research 'Swimming in the Dark;'," by Nikhil Swaminathan, Scientific American, 28 July 2008.
Fauci on an HIV Vaccine in 2020
Twelve years later, while awaiting a vaccine, one reads of Fauci again: " 'An HIV vaccine is essential to end the global pandemic, and we hoped this vaccine candidate would work. Regrettably, it does not,' said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. 'Research continues on other approaches to a safe and effective HIV vaccine, which I still believe can be achieved'." In "Experimental HIV vaccine regimen ineffective in preventing HIV," NIH, 3 February 2020.
$100 Million HIV Vaccine Project Failed in 2020
A month later: "Infectious disease specialist Glenda Gray spent the last 10 years of her life organizing a clinical trial on HVTN 702, a vaccine she and her team hoped could protect people from becoming infected with HIV. But during a call with an independent board that evaluates trial safety and efficacy in January, their hopes were dashed; the vaccine was not working." In "A $100 Million HIV Vaccine Project Failed. But All Hope Is Not Lost," by Nadia Whitehead, National Public Radio, 2 March 2020.
If the decades of search for an HIV vaccine is the model, then a COVID-19 vaccine is not assured of speedy success. Time will tell. Divination will not.
Economic and Societal Implications Not Considered?
One reads an opinion, albeit partisan politically: "Fauci and company have relied on models that were later found to be deficient. He even has suggested that he can’t rely on any of the models, especially if the underlying assumptions are wrong. Yet, Fauci persists in advocating policies that have emasculated the medical care system and ruined the economy. ...Unbelievably, Fauci has suggested that the economic and societal impacts of policies for which he has advocated were not considered when he offered his advice. It seems to us that he has not fully considered the public health risks, either. We are seeing hospitals and medical groups having to close because they couldn’t treat patients. The very foundation of our medical care system has been rocked — not solely because of the virus, but also because of the response to the virus." In "Rand Paul, Andy Biggs: Anthony Fauci wants America closed until there's nothing to reopen; Maybe Anthony Fauci is out of touch with how many Americans are suffering due to our economic shutdown, but our country cannot afford to stay closed," by Dr. Rand Paul and Andy Biggs, USA Today, 21 May 2020.
Some economic and societal implications considered for Fauci and Ferguson: " 'There is no science of lockdown, there is not. We don’t have that science. It's all models, conjecture, theory, this isn’t science,' Pinsky told 'The Brian Kilmeade Show.' Pinsky said there has been 'absolutely' an uptick in mental health issues and substance abuse -- especially alcohol -- as people spend weeks in their homes. He disputed the notion that there is settled science behind implementing mass quarantines of healthy people, calling it an unprecedented step. 'The idea of quarantining a healthy population has never been done before in human history,' said Pinsky, adding that much of the spread of coronavirus has happened in homes and in tight spaces like mass transit." In "Dr. Drew Pinsky: Why governors pushing lockdowns are not following the science," by Joshua Nelson, Fox News, 22 May 2020.
Oracles at Best and at Worst
The advice of the CDC's Fauci and Birx to the American government was based on Imperial College's enormously flawed divination by Ferguson and his team. The lockdowns which followed in the US, and lockdowns in other nations as well, have had significant fiscal consequences. "Emasculating" even a medical care system has resulted from "medical" reliance on "medical" hyperbole and "sciencey" guesswork. The idea of quarantining the healthy "has never been done before in human history." Now it has.
The likes of Fauci and Ferguson only pretended that Science is method
[ 16 ] One learns also from this article of "beating up the numbers": "Elizabeth Pisani, a former epidemiologist for the WHO and other agencies, has called 'beat-ups,' as in 'beating up the numbers.' In her book, 'The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels, and the Business of AIDS,' she says of drastically inflated predictions, 'We did it consciously. I think all of us at that time thought that the beat-ups were more than justified, they were necessary' to get donors and governments to care. Finally, follow the money."
And so, one may well conclude that the above is testimony to other gathering testimony. "Beating up the numbers" is about money, and money of course is also about power.
Thus much of the "response" to this pandemic has been one of wildly and demonstrably incorrect guesswork, the abuse of governmental power, and the elevation of the technocrats as over-important and manipulative advisors to the government.
Official Numbers Are Apparently Not Official?
As to guesswork, one reads: "Multiple estimates from noted scientists, including the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimate that the spread of coronavirus across the country may be significantly higher than is currently confirmed, pointing to a much lower fatality rate for the disease as well as the possible ineffectiveness of past and present state-level mitigation efforts. Robert Redfield, the CDC's director, said in a news call on Thursday that the agency's 'best estimate right now is that for every case that's reported, there actually are 10 other infections'." In "CDC director says COVID-19 infections likely 10 times higher than official numbers," by Daniel Payne, Just The News, 25 June 2020.
The detail on this then: "Confirmed cases on Mar. 28 were at around 116,000 meaning the true number of cases, per the new research, may have been around 10 times the confirmed number." So...
116,000 x 10 = 1,160,000
To repeat the excerpt: "a much lower fatality rate for the disease as well as the possible ineffectiveness of past and present state-level mitigation efforts."
Similar reporting: "The estimate comes as a rising number of younger asymptomatic people are testing positive for the virus, fueling a spike in cases nationwide. Redfield urged people under 50 to socially distance from more vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and people with underlying health conditions. If the true case count is as high as Redfield said, that would mean the mortality rate is much lower than reported." In "Coronavirus infections may be 10 times higher than reported, CDC says," by Cassidy Morrison, Washington Examiner, 25 June 2020.
It is these petty, sciencey tyrants, technocrats and politicians in power, now who so blithely answer, Who decides if little you may frolic on the sand?
Even if there is "a much lower fatality rate." Given the numbers, perhaps the risk of death is many times lower than months of speculation have divined?
And Other Numbers....
" The findings suggest an alternative way of thinking about the COVID-19 pandemic. 'Our results suggest that the overwhelming effects of COVID-19 may have less to do with the virus' lethality and more to do with how quickly it was able to spread through communities initially,'” Silverman explained. 'A lower fatality rate coupled with a higher prevalence of disease and rapid growth of regional epidemics provides an alternative explanation to the large number of deaths and overcrowding of hospitals we have seen in certain areas of the world'." In "Initial COVID-19 infection rate may be 80 times greater than originally reported," by Jordan Ford, Penn State News, 22 June 2020.
And as of 25 June 2020
One reads a public statement: "Now we have over one hundred and twenty million dead from COVID." Joe Biden in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, "Biden on Affordable Care Act," ABC Live, 25 June 2020.
1,160,000 < 2,200,000 < 120,000,000
One hundred and twenty million! Such has been the enormous spread of numbers, divined, calculated, estimated, reported and used to heighten panic. Robert Redfield's "10 times higher than official numbers" is a number. One began with Ferguson's imaginary 2.2 million, infecting the United States through the CDC to panic, and the story six months later arrives at the laughable one hundred and twenty million, under-reported by the media which has fed on the panic for months.
[ 17 ] The numbers ebb and flow. One reads of CDC statements changing the character of the pandemic: "...it means nearly one in every ten Americans have already had the coronavirus, which is a fairly gigantic finding. It also means many of these infected people had such mild cases they felt no need to receive treatment. In fact, it probably means the majority of the people who have had the coronavirus in this country never even knew they had it. But it also means, and this is perhaps the most significant data point, the coronavirus is far less deadly than we’ve been led to believe. In fact, the CDC study suggests the all age death rate from the virus is roughly .5%. Meaning 99.5% of all people infected with the coronavirus, regardless of age, recover. (There are other studies that suggest the .5% death rate is still far too high, but it’s still significant that the virus has a 99.5% recovery rate per the CDC)." In "CDC Now Estimates There Have Been Over 20 Million Coronavirus Cases," by Clay Travis, Out Kick, 27 June 2020.
In only a few months of massive media-hawked panic, the "numbers" divined and the numbers reported and the numbers examined and double-checked have been, at the minimum, confusingly reported.
Clarity and therefore critique begins to take hold. One reads: " 'One of the bottom lines is that we don’t know how long social distancing measures and lockdowns can be maintained without major consequences to the economy, society, and mental health,' Ioannidis wrote. 'Unpredictable evolutions may ensue, including financial crisis, unrest, civil strife, war, and a meltdown of the social fabric.' Nearly three months after that interview, the world has seen unemployment levels unseen since the Great Depression, mass business closures, spikes in suicide and drug overdose, and social unrest on a scale not seen in the US since the 1960s." In "Modelers Were ‘Astronomically Wrong’ in COVID-19 Predictions, Says Leading Epidemiologist—and the World Is Paying the Price," by Jon Miltimore, FEE, 2 July 2020.
The technocrats who divined so wrongly have yet to say they were wrong. Rather the rhetoric has changed from lethality and actual deaths to number of cases, adding in the asymptomatic and the untested by some sort of further divination. The FEE article observes, "During the coronavirus pandemic, experts may have unintentionally brought about one of the most serious human disasters in modern history by removing choice from individuals with superior local knowledge."
One size did not fit all. One size never fits all, and yet ideologues affirm this and, when proven wrong, affirm it again.
One then can justifiably inquire why government teetering towards authoritarianism and a hysterical media chose to Mollycoddle the models
[ 18 ] Here's an odd thought. How about the investors and advocates for testing in Africa volunteer to to be inoculated with their test drugs, as a way of showing their confidence in the process and product?
African protest against being guinea pigs for American and European pharmaceutical companies
The teams at the various pharmaceutical companies and a selection of their investors, the staff of the Imperial College and University of Washington's IHME could be included? Ferguson? Murray? Gates? Redfield? Birx? Fauci? Why not?
After all, then the world could trust the process and resultant process by their shining and courageous examples.... It would be positively divine, and Any day now, believe you me
[ 19 ] And yet, after such fiscal waste and very high mortality numbers, one reads: "When anchor Judy Woodruff asked Fauci about a solution to increasing testing throughout the country, he said that New York did it right. 'Again, we have a problem. We need to admit it and own it. But we have got to do the things that are very clear that we need to do to turn this around, remembering we can do it,' Fauci said. 'We know that, when you do it properly, you bring down those cases. We have done it. We have done it in New York. New York got hit worse than any place in the world. And they did it correctly by doing the things that you're talking about'." In "New York 'did it correctly': Dr. Anthony Fauci says city is example of how to lower COVID-19 cases," ABC 7/Associated Press, 20 July 2020.
$52,000,000.00 for 79 patients and a now-closed hospital is $658,227.85 per patient. Money is no object, it seems, and some few got paid a great deal of money.
' 'I basically got paid $2,000 a day to sit on my phone and look at Facebook,' a nurse practitioner told the newspaper. 'We all felt guilty. I felt really ashamed, to be honest'." The New York politicians and Dr. Fauci do not seem to feel the least bit guilty or ashamed, one may conclude.
[ 20 ] The writer of the article has dubbed this the "Fauci-Hahn Doctrine." It seems apt to give names to any such strategy as it either succeeds or fails. What may be said as of the date of the article, it "succeeds" if the measure is the adulating press coverage by large media. What might also be said is that it "fails" if the measure is a comparative effectiveness for the use of the drug as prophylaxis in other countries "succeeds." Then the adulating media has failed.
A Tragic Mistake or Something Else?
The article dubs the name: "...the NIH promoted a much different strategy for the United States. The 'Fauci Strategy' was to keep early infected patients quarantined at home without treatment until they developed a shortness of breath and had to be admitted to a hospital. Then they would they be given hydroxychloroquine. The Food and Drug Administration cluelessly agreed to this doctrine and it stated in its hydroxychloroquine Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) that 'hospitalized patients were likely to have a greater prospect of benefit (compared to ambulatory patients with mild illness).' In reality just the opposite was true. This was a tragic mistake by Fauci and FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn and it was a mistake that would cost the lives of thousands of Americans in the days to come."
"Raindrops are not counted / Nor all the grains of sand; / But divination, as of old, / Births errors, bright and grand."
The heads of the NIH and CDC, the forecasters at Imperial College and the University of Washington birthed errors, as plain data and forecasts were revised and definitions changed, the first divinations now mostly studiously ignored or forgotten, so it seems.
Synthesizing a Stance: The mass of media quotes above and ever changing numbers will allow the proponents of "lockdown" government to prove their right to demand of a populace, in the words of Fauci, "do what you are told."
That media print "crisis" news and the whole has shifted from 14 days to "flatten the curve" to longer and more draconian acts by dictatorial governors and governments, one might well ask pointed questions of the whole divination.
One observes, eleven months into this pandemic, that simple arithmetic is rarely done on obvious numbers announced, sourced from the CDC. Here is a view, in simple words and simple mathematics. In November of 2020, the CDC is tallying deaths not only from but with COVID-19. An excerpt from an ever changing bureaucratic landscape:
One notes "with or without' and "excluding" to add to other CDC verbiage as seen above, including "presumed" and "assumed" as well as an earlier CDC statement that the deaths from COVID-19 without other "co-morbidities" is a small portion of the aggregate number.
One takes the above tally, divided by the current population of the US, and that result multiplied by 100 to change a number to a percentage to evaluate the hysteria in the context of a nation. The current population of the US is about 325 million.
As of 25 November 2020, that simple equation would be as follows:
( 240,213 / ~325,000,000 ) x 100 = 0.0739 percent
Given the reams of prose at the CDC site, this simple placement of the "divined" crisis places COVID-19 at less than 8 one hundredths of one percent of the populace. And one notes that in order to arrive at this, the procedural tools of the CDC wrapped deaths "from" with a far larger number of deaths "with" wherein a "co-morbidity" -- 2.6 in fact -- were at work. And so those co-morbidities -- including lethal influenza and pneumonia -- are relegated to not being defined -- using such science as "assumed" and "presumed" -- as the cause of death, in favor of the divined COVID-19.
Different nations use different definitions for causes of death, and the co-morbidity method by the CDC is not in evidence elsewhere. As an example, in October of 2020, I was in Germany. Using the simple data and math, as above, for Germany, one computes:
( ~15,000 / ~83,000,000 ) x 100 = 0.018 percent
Shall one conclude that the SARS CoV2 virus the US is 4 times as "deadly" as Germany? Or might one better conclude that rather different data definition, collection, testing and reporting is at work? I suspect that latter.
Germany, a nation in Europe, compares most favorably to another, the apparently hapless UK, out of which the first estimates from Ferguson and the Imperial College for the US were 2.2 million deaths. Using the same simple methodology, Britain is calculated to be
( 57,031 / ~68,000,000 / x 100 = 0.0838 percent
India, used herein as a comparative to the nations above mentioned, is a very populace country, and without the seeming benefits of a CDC in the US or NIH in Brtiain. One computes:
( 135,752 / ~1,385,000,000 ) x 100 = 0.0098 percent
One could do this simple routine for all the nations of the world, and the disparity from nation to nation after almost a year of this "pandemic" would show wide disparity, as if the virulence of SARS CoV2 devolving into deaths was wildly different around the world. The nation of Ferguson and the Imperial College divination leads the way in this small comparison, with the nation of Fauci and the CDC following closely behind. And yet These Anglo sphere "first world" nations seem the most deadly according to those who define COVID-19 as they wrap deaths from influenza, other respiratory diseases and especially pneumonia into one basket named and divined to be COVID-19.
For the CDC the "magic" of their rather new U07.1 and other coding is novel, as novel as a novel virus. One recalls: "COVID-19 should be reported on the death certificate for all decedents where the disease caused or is assumed to have caused or contributed to death. Certifiers should include as much detail as possible based on their knowledge of the case, medical records, laboratory testing, etc. If the decedent had other chronic conditions such as COPD or asthma that may have also contributed, these conditions can be reported in Part II." In "New ICD code introduced for COVID-19 deaths," COVID-19 Alert No. 2, National Vital Statistics System, March 24, 2020.
Something is at work here, and it seems an issue of questionable taxonomy, altered to prove a point which perhaps is incorrect, though politically useful. Summarized by one of the architects of the US' sizeable pandemic as compared to India's tiny outbreak, " 'I was talking with my U.K. colleagues who are saying the U.K. is similar to where we are now, because each of our countries have that independent spirit,' he said on stage. 'I can understand that, but now is the time to do what you're told'." In "Fauci says U.S. has 'independent spirit,' but now is the time to 'do what you're told'," by Christina Farr, CNBC, 12 November 2020.
Such a statement seems quite a succinct way for a Totalitarian
to express himself. Each totalitarian of the recent past has promised to "save" a nation. Even a planet. One only need look back at a wide variety of "saving" ideologies' end results.
"Out of cash and desperate for help in propping up its oil industry, Venezuela is raiding its gold vaults and handing tons of bars to its long-time ally Iran, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. Government officials piled some 9 tons of gold -- an amount equal to about $500 million -- on Tehran-bound jets this month as payment for Iran’s assistance in reviving Venezuela’s crippled gasoline refineries, the people said. The shipments, which resulted in a sudden drop in Venezuela’s published foreign reserve figures, leave the crisis-ravaged country with just $6.3 billion in hard-currency assets, the lowest amount in three decades." In "Iran Is Hauling Gold Bars Out of Venezuela’s Almost-Empty Vaults," by Patricia Laya and Ben Bartenstein, Bloomberg, 30 April 2020.
Boss man, boss man,
Running out of gas,
In a sea of oil reserves;
How is that, alas?
Boss man, boss man,
Crippled up inside;
All that ideology
Proved greed and pride.
Boss man, boss man,
Where next will you flee?
Time will tell, it will,
And most assuredly.
Boss man, boss man,
Man who had no shame;
Destiny will come for you,
Your end's always the same.The tale: Left to their own devices
"In a stunning development that should stun absolutely no one, the only way to solve the crisis of the temperature going up was also the only way to solve the crisis of the temperature going down. Imagine your luck if you stumbled onto a crisis where the only way out was to eschew debate and deliberation and simply give you everything you ever wanted." In " 'Climate' Hoax Is Another Coronavirus Casualty," by Kurt Schlichter, Pipeline, 1 May 2020. [ 1 ]
Science is method, not sacrament,
Yet human foibles are found
Working their ways around methods
That bias may still abound.
Science is method, not politics,
But man plays political games,
And if one denies the gaming,
Ad hominem spews hot names.
Science is method, and changes
When something new is learned,
While power over others
Is for what so many have yearned.
Addendum of Sciencey Ideas I: "Advice for today’s up-and-coming scientific charlatan: If you have an abundance of goofy but superficially sciencey ideas, a nice smile and a crazy dream of fame, riches and influence, your next step is to pick a path to success. One role model might be Soviet agronomist and pseudo-biologist Trofim Denisovich Lysenko. Lysenko is a superachieving standout among history’s ignoble inveiglers. He didn’t just win friends and influence people; he took control of an entire branch of the Soviet Union’s government, misdirecting resources, setting back that country’s agricultural and genetic science for decades, denouncing, and through his sponsor, Joseph Stalin, even disappearing those who questioned his ideologically driven pseudoscience." In " Lysenko and Lesser Science Grifters, Trofim Lysenko mixed pseudoscience and ideology to set back Soviet biology," by Kevin Hoover, Skeptoid, 23 June 2015. [ 2 ]
Addendum of Sciencey Ideas II: "Mardas was probably one of the more infamous characters from the Beatles universe. John Lennon was reportedly introduced to him by Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones after Mardas created a psychedelic light box for them. He was friendly with John Dunbar, who was a friend of Paul McCartney's and the husband of Marianne Faithful before she was involved with Mick Jagger. His strange electronic gadgets were embraced by all of the Beatles, but especially Lennon, who dubbed him 'Magic Alex.' Some of his ideas had foresight, like the phone that dialed by voice recognition and displayed the numbers of callers. But then there were others, like the electronic brooches that made noise and flashed in no particular order, the artificial sun using laser beams and the invisible curtain that used ultrasonic vibrations to screen the Beatles from their fans." In " 'Magic' Alex Mardas, Sham Technological 'Guru' to the Beatles, Dies at 74," by Steve Marinucci, Billboard, 13 January 2017. [ 3 ]
Addendum of Sciencey Ideas III: "Thirty years ago, as AIDS and chronic fatigue syndrome came to national attention, John Renner, M.D. observed that most of the quack cancer clinics began offering the same 'treatments' for AIDS and chronic fatigue syndrome—a tendency he coined 'rascal rollover.' Today, dubious pitchmen have 'rolled' into COVID-19." In "COVID-19 Schemes, Scams, and Misinformation," by William M. London, Ed.D., M.P.H., QuackWatch.org, 2 May 2020.
Addendum of Sciencey Ideas IV: " Medical quacks will often omit medical references from their research or provide dodgy ones with no means to access actual reports (for example, by listing New England Journal of Medicine, 2014 and nothing else). Another trick readily employed by quacks is single-source references, meaning a list of studies generated by a single person or entity. Often times these are done by the very individuals selling a product, or by a corporate entity that has not properly disclosed their connection to the research. That's not saying that every product or supplement you come across needs an encyclopedic list of references in order for them to be considered real. But if ever faced with a medical claim that seems too good to be true, ask yourself: where is the real evidence?" In "The 5 Signs of Medical Quackery," by James Myhre and Dennis Sifris, MD, Very Well Health, 30 April 2020.
Addendum of Sciencey Ideas V: "A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world. The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents." In "Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us," by Mark Townsend and Paul Harris, Guardian UK, 21 February 2004. [ 4 ]
Addendum of 600 Brazilians: "Scientists are human beings, therefore, skeptics and enquirers who can and should speak for themselves, like all scientists have the right to do, but NEVER A SCIENTIST OR A GROUP OF THEM CAN DECLARE TO BE AUTHORIZED TO SPEAK IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE! Nobody, absolutely nobody is allowed to speak for science or declare that he is 'been guided' by science! In times of pandemic, this impossibility is even greater, as we face an unknown enemy. Data is still being collected and researches are being performed and published by scientists divided by their worldviews, and by their political and party preferences. Whoever said he acted in the name of science, dishonestly usurped science prestige. For what type of 'science' is this, unanimous and consensual, that no one has ever heard of?' "In "Brazilian scientists and academics write an Open Letter on the 'science' of the coronavirus pandemic," Redação, Conexão Política, 25 May 2020.
Addendum of Sciencey Unraveling: "Surgisphere’s sparse online presence—the website doesn’t list any of its partner hospitals by name or identify its scientific advisory board, for example—have prompted intense skepticism. Physician and entrepreneur James Todaro of the investment fund Blocktown Capital wondered in a blog post why Surgisphere’s enormous database doesn’t appear to have been used in peer-reviewed research studies until May. Another post, from data scientist Peter Ellis of the management consulting firm Nous Group, questioned how LinkedIn could list only five Surgisphere employees—all but Desai apparently lacking a scientific or medical background—if the company really provides software to hundreds of hospitals to coordinate the collection of sensitive data from electronic health records. (This morning, the number of employees on LinkedIn had dropped to three.) And Chaccour wonders how such a tiny company was able to reach data-sharing agreements with hundreds of hospitals around the world that use many different languages and data recording systems, while adhering to the rules of 46 different countries on research ethics and data protection." In "A mysterious company’s coronavirus papers in top medical journals may be unraveling," by Kelly Servick and Martin Enserink, Science Magazine, 2 June 2020.
Addendum of Sciencey Retractions: "The Lancet retracted an influential paper published in May that claimed to analyze data from nearly 96,000 coronavirus patients in six continents. The study found those who took hydroxychloroquine showed increased heart rhythm problems and had a higher mortality rate than those who didn't take it. The New England Journal of Medicine then retracted a study from the same authors, also published in May, that said it analyzed 8,910 COVID-19 patients. That study suggested that widely-used blood pressure medicines did not raise the risk of death for COVID-19 patients." In "Authors retract hydroxychloroquine study that raised global concern about drug's use for coronavirus," by Jason Silverstein, CBS News, 4 June 2020.
Consider the many hoaxes, great and small, in life: Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha
NOTES
[ 1 ] The assertion by Schlichter is not without substance. One only need review the "news" which has stimulated other rhymes, as cited in addenda and footnotes to On a Winter's Day
[ 2 ] Lysenko, that "standout among history's ignoble inveiglers," was a murderous thug. One reads: "In 1940, Lysenko became director of the Institute of Genetics within the USSR's Academy of Sciences, and the exercise of political influence and power further secured his anti-Mendelian doctrines in Soviet science and education. Soviet scientists who refused to renounce genetics were dismissed from their posts and left destitute. Hundreds if not thousands of others were imprisoned. Several were sentenced to death as enemies of the state, including the botanist Nikolai Vavilov. Scientific dissent from Lysenko's theories of environmentally acquired inheritance was formally outlawed in the Soviet Union in 1948. Though Lysenko remained at his post in the Institute of Genetics until 1965, his influence on Soviet agricultural practice had declined after the death of Stalin in 1953." In "Trofim Lysenko," Wikipedia article, n. d.
Scientific dissent was outlawed. Science is dissent at times, as competing theories and new discoveries can undercut existing notions. This is the method which is to advance knowledge. Outlawing this is the method for political conformity.
Observing the Politics In and Over Science
One reads further: "Outside the Soviet Union, scientists spoke critically: British biologist S. C. Harland lamented that Lysenko was 'completely ignorant of the elementary principles of genetics and plant physiology' (Bertram Wolfe, 2017). Criticism from foreigners did not sit well with Lysenko, who loathed Western 'bourgeois' scientists and denounced them as tools of imperialist oppressors. He especially detested the American-born practice of studying fruit flies, the workhorse of modern genetics. He called such geneticists 'fly lovers and people haters'. Unable to silence Western critics, Lysenko tried to eliminate all dissent within the Soviet Union. Scientists who refused to renounce genetics found themselves at the mercy of the secret police. The lucky ones simply got dismissed from their posts and were left destitute. Hundreds if not thousands of others were rounded up and dumped into prisons or psychiatric hospitals. Several were sentenced to death as enemies of the state or starved in their jail cells (most notably the botanist Nikolai Vavilov). Before the 1930s, the Soviet Union had a strong genetics community. Lysenko gutted it, and by some accounts set Russian biology and agronomy back a half-century."
[ 3 ] It was the "consensus" among the Beatles for a time that Mardas was a scientific genius. And then: "In 1969, Mardas was chosen to put together a 78-track recording studio for them at Apple. But instead of the studio, The Beatles found only components from a German manufacturer still in boxes. When Allen Klein took over as The Beatles' business manager, Klein pushed Mardas out for good."
Observing the Celebrity In and Over Science
Before being "out for good," he was "in" and creating "Nothing." "A series of images of John Lennon smiling, having just had his teeth done in the United States in 1965. While in the U.S. (presumably) John purchased several 'Nothing Boxes' from inventor and associate Magic Alex, one of which is featured here. These boxes did just as they promised, nothing. Other than blink of course, until their battery runs out." In "John Lennon Posing With Alexis Mardas’ Nothing Box, 1965," Vintage Everyday, 30 March 2020.
[ 4 ] The year of the article is 2004. "...experts privy to its contents" speak as if this sciencey prediction was accurate.
Now, in 2020 the perfect vision of hindsight testifies to the malarkey which this was. But then, sciencey "stuff" continues to be sold in the media, as one might think on Globaloney
So sad that you've found your bed unmade; lie in it anyway.
So tragic the whirlwind which you'd sowed comes to reap today.
So difficult is this game of life which separates false from true.
So what will you learn -- sad, tragic you -- of what's ever best to do?
Who decides if little you may frolic on the sand?
Who decides if little you may frolic on the sand?
Or splash about the ocean waves, or if your splash be banned?
Whose diktat will not allow you tread some mountain trail?
Or clamber up a rocky peak? Who decides what you'll curtail?
Who determines just how many meet to bow their heads?
Or, if a little you refuse, would tear your life to shreds?
Who decides if God's green earth is forbidden to you now?
Or just how deeply little folks before their betters bow?
Who is it must grovel before decisions of the crowd?
Or who must heed the greater force, forcing what's allowed?
Who decides? The question, yes, is one of sharps details,
And dulling generalities which each so often fails?
Who decides and who's in charge? Who chooses for little you?
Or who shall reign, or who will cage you for some other view?
Who decides if little you may frolic on the sand?
Such questions rise as tyrannies show the fist-clenched hand.
Addendum of a Black Church in 2020: "Charles Hamilton was administering drive-in service as a pastor at the King James Bible Baptist Church in Greenville on Thursday night before a squad of police cars circled the church and threatened to fine anyone who refused to leave after local officials banned public congregations in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus. 'I'm a good citizen. I ain't breaking no law, I ain't selling no drugs, I'm just preaching the word of God, and look at all these police cars here,' Hamilton said in a video livestreamed on social media. 'This is America, private property of a church. Look at this, y'all, there's more police pulling up'." In " 'Our rights don't come from authority': Pastor slams Mississippi mayor after police break up drive-in service," by Spencer Neale,. Washington Examiner, 11 April 2020.
Addendum II of a Black Church in 2020: "The pastor of the mostly black congregation, Courtney Lewis, reportedly shut and locked the doors and refused to allow the officers to gain entry to the building, Todd Starnes reported. Pastor Lewis told Starnes that he felt like he was confronting 'the Soviet-style KGB' as the officers pounded on his doors and demanded entry to shut the church down. 'Thankfully, our doors were locked as a normal safety precaution we take each service to protect our members from the escalating gun violence in Chicago,' Lewis said." In "Chicago Mayor Launches Police Raid to Shut Down Black Church’s Sunday Services," by Warner Todd Huston, Breitbart, 24 May 2020.
Addendum of a Liberal Noticing Democrats Have Abandoned Civil Liberties: "The same mistake is now being made with civil liberties. Millions have lost their jobs and businesses by government fiat, there’s a clamor for censorship and contact tracing programs that could have serious long-term consequences, yet voters only hear Trump making occasional remarks about freedom; Democrats treat it like it’s a word that should be banned by Facebook (a recent Washington Post headline put the term in quotation marks, as if one should be gloved to touch it). Has the Trump era really damaged our thinking to this degree?" In "Democrats Have Abandoned Civil Liberties," Matt Taibbi, Substack, 15 May 2020.
Addendum of No Evidence: "Leaving aside the fact there's no evidence lockdowns actually work, we can nonetheless look to past pandemics—where coercive government interventions were at most sporadic—we should see immense economic damage. Specifically, we can look to the the pandemic of 1957-58, which was more deadly than the COVID-19 pandemic has been so far. We can also look to the 1918-19 pandemic. Yet, we will see that neither produced economic damage on a scale we now see as a result of the government mandated lockdowns. This thoroughly undermines the claims that the lockdowns are only a minor factor in economic destruction, and that the virus itself is the real culprit." In "Why Didn't the 1958 and 1918 Pandemics Destroy the Economy? Hint: It's the Lockdowns," by Ryan McMaken, Mies Wire, 21 May 2020. [ 1 ]
Addendum of Old Clarity in a Time of Modern Confusion: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." The First Amendment of the United States Constitution. [ 2 ]
NOTE
[ 1 ] Who decides? This is a fine question, and as time passes, the culpability falls on two entities: government and a hysterical media. It is odd to consider that the hysteria as represented by the initial steps to a "national emergency" by the Trump administration were supported -- not opposed -- by catastrophizing media and local and state governors, in so many cases.
McMaken observes: "Defenders of government-coerced 'lockdowns' have insisted that fear of the virus would have destroyed the economy even without lockdowns, but there is no historical precedent for this claim, and no current evidence to support it. Although some survey data has been proffered to suggest that more than 60 percent of Americans say they plan to comply with stay-at-home orders, this merely tells us how people make plans when threatened with fines, police harassment, and other coercive measures."
When the tyrants' fists are shown at any level -- the international, supranational, national, or local -- people of course react based on coercion, harassment and the threat of fines and imprisonment. Of course, economic damage to a nation's or state's economy is itself a fine, and as such those "defenders of government-coerced 'lockdowns'," of which McMaken writes defend the tyrants' fist, in the end.
Who decides if little you may frolic on the sand? Some say tyrants do. Who decides? The question, yes, is one of sharps details, and dulling generalities which each so often fails?
One who decides illustrates a great problem with government today. One reads: "... the people making these decisions are people with stable, steady paychecks – paid for by We the People. Ferrer definitely fits in that category, but the amount of her salary is stunning. According to Transparent California, a watchdog group, Ferrer’s total compensation package in 2018 was $553,249." In "Woman Dictating LA County Shutdowns Isn’t a Medical Doctor, Paid More than $500K," by Jennifer Van Laar, Red State, 14 May 2020.
This leaks into a parallel issue about Income Inequality
[ 2 ] Petitions for redress of grievances are finding their ways through the courts after such as fines, police harassment and other coercive measures. Local laws must adhere to the Constitution, not violate it, and as such watching the movement of "redress" through the courts will be instructive.
Americans Don't Get Ruled
In this regard, an Illinois judge, Judge McHaney, has written a decision against some of the lockdown as devised by the Illinois governor. That detail is: "When laws do not apply to those who make them, people are not being governed, they are being ruled. Make no mistake, these executive orders are not laws. They are royal decrees. Illinois citizens are not being governed, they are being ruled. The last time I checked Illinois citizens are also Americans and Americans don't get ruled. The last time a monarch tried to rule Americans, a shot was fired that was heard around the world. That day led to the birth of a nation consensually governed based upon a document which ensures that on this day in this, any American courtroom tyrannical despotism will always lose and liberty, freedom and the constitution will always win." In "Mainer vs. Pritzker. 2020-CH-10. Judge's Ruling Only, 22 May 2020.
A sad response from Pritzker: "In a Friday news conference before the ruling, Pritzker said it was clear McHaney 'has his own political agenda'." In "US intervenes in case challenging Pritzker's COVID-19 moves," by Herbert G. McCann, Associated Press, 23 May 2020.
The inanity of Pritzker's remark is that the inverse is also obviously true. It is clear Pritzker "has his own political agenda." That agenda surely seems "to rule" while McHaney's intends to "rebel against being ruled."
Governor "Not Me"
"Yeah. The comment is this, and I have those conversations all day long, with people who've lost people, right? We lost 139 people yesterday in hospitals. Who is accountable for those 139 deaths? How do we get justice for those families who had 139 deaths? What is justice? Who can we prosecute for those deaths? Nobody. Nobody. Mother Nature? God? Where did this virus come from? People are going to die by this virus. That is the truth. Best hospital system on the globe, I believe we have. Best doctors, best nurses, who have responded like heroes. Every medication, ventilators, the health system wants for nothing. We worked it out so we always had available beds. No one was deprived of a medical bed or coverage in any way. And still people died. Still people died. Older people, vulnerable people, are going to die from this virus. That is going to happen. Despite whatever you do. Because with all of our progress as a society, we can’t keep everyone alive. Despite everything you do. And older people are more vulnerable. And that is a fact and that is not going to change…Why do people die? Who is accountable?…." In a transcript of a Coumo Press Conference, "Andrew Cuomo Explains Placing Wuhan Patients in Nursing Home Deaths by Saying ‘Old People Die, That Is Going to Happen’," by Streiff, Red State, 17 May 2020.
Toss enough words into the breach,
With question marks aplenty.
Toss them, boss them, make them preach,
Pile, two thousand and twenty!
Stir in justice, nature and God,
Spew forth rationales quite odd.
Question questions, over broad,
For this is politics' word facade.
Cheer. Holler. Gush. Applaud!
Toss enough words, as if an answer,
And hope it's enough to feed.
Toss them, governing prancer chancer,
In hopes enough mislead.
Stir in accountable, excluding you,
Nobody and somebody in the brew.
Question questions for all chew,
For all are political words to skew.
Govern or not. Cheer. Yahoo!
Envoi: "Stupidity has a knack of getting its way; as we should see if we were not always so much wrapped up in ourselves." In "The Plague," Albert Camus, 1947 (1948 Hamish Hamilton, English).
Addendum in New York I: "California, New Jersey and New York have made nursing homes accept Covid-19 patients from hospitals. Residents and workers fear the policy is risking lives." In " 'Playing Russian Roulette': Nursing Homes Told to Take the Infected," by Kim Barker and Amy Julia Harris, New York Times, 24 April 2020.
Addendum in New York II: ""... in New York, the controversy over the mandate has escalated as the virus has battered hospitals and nursing homes alike: The state not only has more coronavirus cases than anywhere in the country, but also the highest number of known long-term care deaths — at least 3,500 — related to the virus, according to the state health department. A broad swath of nursing homes across the state have already accepted COVID-positive hospital patients in compliance with the mandate, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo has openly criticized facilities for opposing it. 'They don't have a right to object. That is the rule and that is the regulation, and they have to comply with that,' Cuomo, a Democrat, said in a Thursday news conference. 'If they can’t do it, we’ll put them in a facility that can do it'." In "Coronavirus spreads in a New York nursing home forced to take recovering patients," by Suzy Khimm, NBC News, 25 April 2020.
Addendum of Requirement and Reversal: "Cuomo, widely praised for his efforts to contain the coronavirus, has been roundly criticized more recently over a policy that critics say exacerbated the spread of the virus in New York's 613 state-regulated nursing homes. The policy required nursing homes to accept recovered COVID-19 hospital patients. The aim was to ease the burden on hospitals treating coronavirus patients. On May 10, New York reversed the policy amid criticism and the mounting death toll." In "Cuomo feels heat as New York's nursing home COVID-19 death data remains incomplete," by Robert Gearty, Fox News, 20 May 2020. [ 1 ]
Addendum of Zero: "A roughly $21 million Brooklyn field hospital authorized by the de Blasio administration at the height of the coronavirus pandemic opened and closed without ever seeing one patient, according to city officials." In "$21M Brooklyn field hospital never saw a patient amid coronavirus pandemic," by Carl Campanile and Natalie Musumeci, NY Post, 22 May 2020. [ 2 ]
Addendum of Hindsight: "Probably the biggest and deadliest mistake was New York’s requirement that recovering patients with COVID-19 be accepted by nursing homes. That’s right — people who were still contagious with a disease that is especially deadly to the old and sick were placed in facilities that were full of the old and sick. Nursing homes that protested were ordered to shut up and take the patients anyway." In "Why oh why is NY Governor Andrew Cuomo being praised for his coronavirus response?" by Glenn Harlan Reynolds, USA Today, 21 May 2020. [ 3 ]
Addendum of Villainy: "There’s something disturbing about Cuomo being hailed as the hero of the pandemic when he should rightly be one of the villains." In "Andrew Cuomo is no hero. He's to blame for New York's coronavirus catastrophe," by Lyta Gold and Nathan Robinson, Guardian UK, 20 May 2020. [ 4 ]
Addendum of Tossing More Words: " 'Now, people can speculate. People can guess. I think next week, I think two weeks, I think a month,' Cuomo told reporters on Memorial Day. 'I'm out of that business because we all failed at that business. Right? All the early national experts. Here's my projection model. Here's my projection model. They were all wrong. They were all wrong'." In "Cuomo admits 'we all failed' at making coronavirus projections," by Marisa Schultz, Fox, 25 May 2020. [ 5 ]
Addendum of Scrubbing from the Web -- Poorly: "The web page that once contained the order now directs to a page indicating that the file is "not found." The archive indicates that the deletion occurred sometime after May 5, around the time that criticism over New York's nursing home fatalities intensified. A copy of the page saved by the Internet archive Wayback Machine, however, shows that Cuomo's order stated: 'No resident shall be denied readmission or admission to the NH [nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19. NHs [Nursing homes] are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission'." In "New York health website deletes Cuomo's order linked to nursing home fatalities," by Gregg Re, Fox News, 26 May 2020.
Addendum of Policy: " 'I don't know if we've gotten a full and correct accounting of how many people died of COVID-19 in nursing homes and how many nursing residents transferred to hospitals died of COVID,' State Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) told The Post this week. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s policy of forbidding nursing homes from refusing to take in coronavirus patients after they were discharged from hospitals is being eyed as the source of the steep death toll." In "Almost half of US COVID-19 deaths are linked to nursing homes," by Sara Dorn, NY Post, 27 June 2020.
Addendum of I Don't Know What It Meant: "He then said that New York came up with its own plan, despite the CDC releasing a detailed plan for states to reopen in phases. Cuomo said the CDC’s guidelines were 'vague' and that 'I don't even know what they meant'." In "Cuomo dodges repeated questions on whether New York nursing homes are safe," Ronn Blitzer, Fox News, 28 June 2020.
Addendum of a Democrat Rejecting a Democrat's Exoneration of a Democrat: "The health commissioner said blaming the state’s March 25 order was a 'false narrative.' But Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Queens), a critic of the state’s nursing home policies, slammed the report as a 'cover-up.' 'This is a conflict of interest for the health department to investigate its own poor decisions,' Kim said. 'For them to say that the decision of sending COVID-19 patients from hospitals into nursing did not contribute to increasing infections is ludicrous,' Kim said. 'This is part of the beginning of a cover-up for their poor decisions,' he added." In " Gov. Cuomo's coronavirus nursing home edict not to blame for deaths, report claims," by Carl Campanile, NY Post, 6 July 2020.
CNN: "Cuomo: U.S. will be 'talking about' what NY did for decades"
Addendum of What Cuomo Is Talking About: "Look, I know a lot of New Yorkers are happy that the infection numbers are down and, you know, we all hope that they stay down. But let's be clear, this is revisionism. A lot of the crowing and governor Cuomo going on 'Late Night' is offending a lot of New Yorkers, given the fact that this is the highest death toll of any state more than 32,000 dead. The next closet is New Jersey, with 17,000. Are people going to be talking about what governor Cuomo did for decades to come in the way he hopes?" Jake Tapper, CNN, 14 July 2020.
What Cuomo says publicly New Yorkers shouldn't do. he did
Addendum of the Theatrics: "Continuing his victory tour after presiding over 32,000 deaths in New York, Gov. Cuomo traveled to Georgia to 'help them' fight the virus, urging the state to 'follow the numbers.' He could have told them over Zoom or directed them to the dozen times he has said this before. Cuomo forces the rest of us to isolate and socially distance, yet he jet-sets around and was even photographed on the plane wearing his mask like a 'chin guard,' something he has also warned New Yorkers not to do. In Georgia, maskless, he hugged a number of people in a crowded room. If you want a quick way to tell Americans that COVID-19 isn’t a big deal, and masks are pointless, nothing could do the job better than these pictures from Cuomo’s needless Georgia trip." In " All the COVID safety rules are little more than theater," by Karol Markowicz, NY Post, 3 August 2020.
Addendum to Taxes and Budgets: "New York is home to 119 billionaires, according to the group Americans for Tax Fairness. Forty-three of those billionaire families have donated more than $8 million to Cuomo's campaigns over the years, according to a recent report in The Guardian. Cuomo's office told the site that the suggestion that his campaign donations are related to his opposition to raising taxes on billionaires is 'stupid and insulting.' James Parrott, the director of economic and fiscal policies at the New School's Center for New York City Affairs, said he understood that the governor is 'trying to get as much fiscal relief out of Washington as possible,' but that Cuomo's comments on the tax burden of the wealthy should be put into context. While the wealthy pay disproportionately more in personal income taxes, they also account for the largest shares of income, 'so their share of the income tax is not that much greater than their share of income,' Parrott said. 'When you look at all taxes, the rich, the 1 percent, are not paying a disproportionate share. We have a regressive tax system overall. The personal income tax is the most progressive part of it, but it's not progressive enough to offset the regressivity of the sales tax or the property tax,' Parrott added." In "After Talking 'All Day Long' To Rich New Yorkers In The Hamptons, Cuomo Says He Can't Raise Their Taxes," by Sydney Pereira , Christopher Robbins and Annie Todd, Gothamist, 3 August 2020. [ 6 ]
Addendum of a Problem, Bro: "New York's coronavirus death toll in nursing homes, already among the highest in the nation, could actually be a significant undercount. Unlike every other state with major outbreaks, New York only counts residents who died on nursing home property and not those who were transported to hospitals and died there. That statistic could add thousands to the state's official care home death toll of just over 6,600. But so far the administration of Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has refused to divulge the number, leading to speculation the state is manipulating the figures to make it appear it is doing a better than other states and to make a tragic situation less dire. 'That's a problem, bro,' state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, a Democrat, told New York Health Commissioner Howard Zucker during a legislative hearing on nursing homes earlier this month. 'It seems, sir, that in this case you are choosing to define it differently so that you can look better'." In "New York’s true nursing home death toll cloaked in secrecy," by Bernard Condon, Matt Sedensky and Meghan Hoyer, Associated Press, 11 August 2020.
Addendum of NY Democrat Against NY Democrat: "Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Queens), whose uncle died from COVID-19, bluntly said that 'all of it is BS' and a cover-up. 'They could have given us the information back in May and June of last year. They chose not to,' Kim said after hearing Cuomo was blaming the Department of Justice probe for delays in releasing the accurate coronavirus death tally of nursing home residents." In "Democrats slam 'lying' Cuomo over COVID-19 nursing home 'cover-up'," by Carl Campanile and Nolan Hicks, NY Post, 15 February 2021.
Addendum of Cuomo's Bullying Other Democrats: "...assemblyman Ron Kim who said Cuomo made threats as part of an effort to get him to 'cover up' for a top aide who admitted that his administration concealed the real number of nursing home deaths from the virus. 'It's a sad thing to say ... but that's classic Andrew Cuomo,' de Blasio told the network. 'A lot of people in New York state have received those phone calls. The bullying is nothing new'." In " 'That's classic Andrew Cuomo': Bill de Blasio puts boot into embattled NY governor for 'threatening to 'destroy' New York assemblyman unless he helped cover up COVID-19 nursing home deaths scandal'," by Valerie Edwards and Frances Mulraney, Daily Mail, 18 February 2021.
Addendum of the Sexual Harasser: " 'He wanted me to know that I was powerless, that I was small and weak, that I did not deserve what relative power I had: a platform to hold him accountable for his words and actions. He wanted me to know that he could take my dignity away at any moment with an inappropriate comment or a hand on my waist. The way he bullies and demeans women is different. He uses touching and sexual innuendo to stoke fear in us. That is the textbook definition of sexual harassment,' she added." In "Cuomo's 30 new accusers: Reporter is SEVENTH to accuse him of sexual harassment, ex-staffers say he forced them onto anti-depressants and black speech writer accuses him of racism," by Frances Mulraney, Daily Mail, 12 March 2021.
Addendum of the Definition of Corruption: " 'What we've heard about the governor and his team trying to link vaccine supply to political support, that is the definition of corruption,' de Blasio said during a Monday press briefing. 'It is disgusting, it is dangerous. There are lives on the line, and it cannot be tolerated.' The mayor went on to call for an investigation of what happened with Schwartz's calls, in addition to the multiple ongoing probes Cuomo is facing." In "NYC Mayor De Blasio calls for investigation into Cuomo vaccine czar: 'The definition of corruption'," by Ronn Blitzer, Fox, 15 March 2021.
Addendum of Mister Untenable: "Employees say that Albany is notorious for sexual misconduct, and that Cuomo has fostered a demeaning and sexist workplace culture. Tuesday's report backs this up. Investigators found that the executive office was 'rife with fear and intimidation' that 'created a hostile work environment overall.' Cuomo's senior staff and outside advisers enabled his retaliation against at least one of his victims, including releasing private personnel files and passing around the office personal and professional attacks against the woman drafted under Cuomo's name. Nor did Cuomo keep his misbehavior contained in his office. The investigation found 'the governor's sexually harassing behavior was not limited to members of his own staff, but extended to other state employees, including a state trooper on his protective detail and members of the public'." In "New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo must resign following AG report finding he sexually harassed women - Our View: Andrew Cuomo faces allegations of sexual harassment inside the office and evidence of cover-ups outside of it. His position is untenable." The Editorial Board, USA TODAY, 3 August 2021.
NOTES
[ 1 ] The article notes "On Monday, New York City Assemblyman Ron Kim introduced legislation to repeal the provision. Kim represents a Queens district with a number of nursing homes. 'Behind closed doors and in secrecy, nursing home executives managed to push Gov. Andrew Cuomo into adding a provision in this year's budget that insulates them from criminal or civil liability during the COVID-19 pandemic,' Kim said, according to QNS.com. 'The executives running the nursing homes knew back in mid-March that their facilities could not keep their residents safe; they sought to protect their businesses and themselves from their expected negligence'."
Managed to push? One reads: "Critics say Cuomo removed a key deterrent against nursing home and hospital corporations cutting corners in ways that jeopardize lives. As those critics now try to repeal the provision during this final week of Albany’s legislative session, they assert that data prove such immunity is correlating to higher nursing home death rates during the pandemic – both in New York and in other states enacting similar immunity policies." In "Andrew Cuomo gave immunity to nursing home execs after big campaign donations," by David Sirota, Guardian, 26 May 2020.
[ 2 ] Other coverage: "Another New York City field hospital is being dismantled after taking in zero patients, while the city continues to be told it must stay closed into June due to a lack of hospital beds. The 670-bed makeshift hospital at Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook is being demobilized before it takes a single COVID-19 or non-COVID-19 patient, despite the city only needing an extra 420 hospital beds to meet one of state Governor Andrew Cuomo's requirements for the city to begin reopening." In "ANOTHER NYC field hospital is dismantled despite beds being needed to open up the city again - as deaths in the state fall below 100 to 84 for first time in two months," Rachel Sharp, Daily Mail, 23 May 2023.
[ 3 ] As politics plays its partisan game, and as Cuomo blames Trump for certain situations in New York, and individual in New York held a differing view, proving that the "narrative" is not a monolithic thing spun by some media, while others take an opposing view.
"Cuomo killed my Mom"
One reads: "Elaine Mazzotta is a nurse whose mother died last month at a Long Island nursing home. She says Cuomo’s inane decision accelerated the outbreaks of coronavirus in nursing homes, which have proven to be breeding grounds for infectious diseases. 'The way this has been handled by the state is totally irresponsible, negligent and stupid,' Mazzotta told the AP. 'They knew better. They shouldn't have sent these [COVID-infected] people into nursing homes'." In "Giant 'Cuomo killed my mom' sign erected on bridge as heartbroken New Yorkers grieve on Mother's Day," by Samantha Chang, BizPacReview, 10 May 2020.
The political game is often one of optics. As an example: Use a kid for politics
[ 4 ] The article is plain-spoken, detailed and harsh in its evaluation: "...Cuomo should be one of the most loathed officials in America right now. ProPublica recently released a report outlining catastrophic missteps by Cuomo and the New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, which probably resulted in many thousands of needless coronavirus cases. ProPublica offers some appalling numbers contrasting what happened in New York with the outbreak in California. By mid-May, New York City alone had almost 20,000 deaths, while in San Francisco there had been only 35, and New York state as a whole suffered 10 times as many deaths as California. Federal failures played a role, of course, but this tragedy was absolutely due, in part, to decisions by the governor. Cuomo initially 'reacted to De Blasio's idea for closing down New York City with derision', saying it 'was dangerous' and 'served only to scare people'. He said the 'seasonal flu was a graver worry'. A spokesperson for Cuomo 'refused to say if the governor had ever read the state's pandemic plan'. Later, Cuomo would blame the press, including the New York Times for failing to say 'Be careful, there’s a virus in China that may be in the United States?' even though the Times wrote nearly 500 stories on the virus before the state acted. Experts told ProPublica that 'had New York imposed its extreme social distancing measures a week or two earlier, the death toll might have been cut by half or more'."
Deflection
Deflection is found wrapped in rationalization: "New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office deflected questions about a report from The Associated Press that the state sent more than 4,500 patients recovering from coronavirus to nursing homes by saying they followed guidance from federal agencies. 'I just want to reiterate once again that the policy that the Department of Health put out was in line directly with the March 13 directive put out by (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) that read, and I quote, 'Nursing homes should admit any individuals from hospitals where Covid is present,' said Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa on Saturday during a briefing." In "Cuomo says New York followed federal guidelines when sending coronavirus patients to nursing homes," by Joe Ruiz, CNN, 24 May 2020.
"Should" is advice, and the CDC is neither a law-making nor a regulation-making body. But there is a difference between a patient with an infection and a patient who has been in a facility where there is infection present. "The dog ate my homework" and "Billy made me hit Suzy" is the level of such a "briefing."
Blame-shifting and Statistical Sleight-of-hand
But one reads further: "...Albany’s supremely unwise edict early in the pandemic requiring nursing homes to receive recovering, yet still contagious, coronavirus patients. The point was to free up local hospital beds, but the result was that more than 5,300 nursing home patients subsequently died — a figure, again, a third larger than the total number of coronavirus deaths in the entire state of California. As the scope of that calamity began to emerge, Cuomo’s reaction was both typical and unsettling. Typical, insofar as he blamed President Trump for the debacle rather than his own health commissioner’s bad judgment. And unsettling, in that Albany bureaucrats now appear to be adjusting numbers to make it appear that the policy was less a disaster than it actually was." Now, blame-shifting and statistical sleight-of-hand are a weasel’s way out of a tough spot. And that rarely works anyway, because it undercuts credibility, limits options and generates unnecessary ill-will." In " Gov. Cuomo: 'Ask President Trump' about nursing home deaths." by Aaron Feis. NY Post, 20 May 2020.
One will watch this tale on to its completion, as a public's remembrance is short, and media's watchful eye is often blinded by ideological slant. But for the moment, "...Cuomo should be one of the most loathed officials in America right now."
[ 5 ] The tossing of gubernatorial words continued: "There are a lot of variables. I understand that. We didn't know what the social distancing would actually amount to. I get it, but we were all wrong," Cuomo said. "So, I'm sort of out of the guessing business, right? We watched the numbers. We prepare as the numbers drop, so when the number actually hits the threshold, we're ready to go. We just finished that. We're in the midst of that with Long Island, Mid-Hudson region, etc. But... I don't want to guess."
[ 6 ] The plan all along has been to gain as much in political donations without upsetting the political applecart, and then simply play Kick the can
It's all just Politics
Give 'em the ole razzle-dazzle
Give 'em the ole razzle-dazzle;
there's a backstage everywhere.
Give 'em that sizzle, pipin' hot,
of theatrics' stage and glare.
Give it straight from the script you read,
hope that it's persuasive fare.
Give 'em something oh so snazzy,
Give 'em lots, but, ah, beware...
...once each well framed scene is done,
and once the shows elsewhere
tell a tale that's not your script,
your razzle-dazzle's flare...
...sends up flares that it's all for show,
your show time's costumed act.
But until the rubes guess your game
that ole razzle-dazzle remains intact.Give 'em the ole razzle-dazzle.
Addendum of Failed Razzle-dazzle: "An MSNBC reporter was called out by a bystander for attempts to shame people not wearing masks when half of his own camera crew were not wearing them. Cal Perry was delivering a Memorial Day report from Lake Geneva as hundreds traveled to enjoy the holiday weekend in Wisconsin, where businesses have reopened post lockdown. He was caught out while delivering a live report, when he attempted to use a passer-by as an example of people not wearing masks, only for the man to hit back with 'half your crew's not wearing masks!' Perry looked sheepish as he finished up his segment and shrugged at the comments about the crew's lack of face coverings." In " 'Half your crew's not wearing masks!' MSNBC reporter trying to shame people for not wearing masks is caught out by bystander," by Frances Mulraney, Daily Mail, 26 May 2020.
Congressman Jerrold Nadler, US NY-10, demonstrates proper use of face mask
Everything's about some "you ain't" skin - revealing the politics that lies within
"Biden explained that his wife had to do a show, and then, he said: 'If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black'." In "'Were in jest': Biden campaign downplays 'you ain't black' comment," by Emily Larsen, Washington Examiner, 22 May 2020.
What's the color of anyone's vote,
The hue of a view, opinion or quote?
What's the color that you would float
That's named a jest, some joke you wrote?
What's the color that one could note
Would shackle a voter to a one party boat?
Addendum of Deserving Better: "Biden’s relationship with black Americans, like the Democratic National Committee’s relationship, has been patronizing at best and actively harmful at worst. ...Joe Biden refuses to reckon with the harm that he has caused to people all over the world. His best line is that he is better than the other guy, and that is exactly how abusive relationships function. Black people – all people – deserve better than Biden and the Democratic party. And yes, we are still black." In "Black Americans are in an abusive relationship with the Democratic party," by Derecka Purnell. Guardian, 22 May 2020.
Addendum of the Distinction: "New York Times luminary Nikole Hannah-Jones, architect of the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1619 Project, touched off a social-media uproar Friday after drawing a distinction between being 'politically black and being racially black.' 'There is a difference between being politically black and being racially black,' tweeted Ms. Hannah-Jones. 'I am not defending anyone, but we all know this and should stop pretending that we don't'." In "Architect of NYT's 1619 project draws distinction between 'politically black and racially black'," by Valerie Richardson, Washington Times, 22 May 2020.
Addendum of a CNN Commentator: " 'It's not the racist white person who is in the Ku Klux Klan that we have to worry about,' Jones said. 'It's the white liberal Hillary Clinton supporter walking her dog in Central Park who would tell you right now, you know, people like that, 'I don't see race, race is no big deal to me, I see us all as the same, I give to charities,' but the minute she sees a black man who she does not respect or who she has a slight thought against, she weaponized race like she had been trained by the Aryan nation. A Klansmember could not have been better trained to pick up her phone and tell the police a black man, African-American man, come get him'." In "Van Jones: It's Not The Racist White Person We Have to Worry About, It's The White Liberal Hillary Clinton Supporter," by Ian Schwartz, RealClearPolitics, 29 May 2020.
Addendum of a Civil Rights Attorney on Democrats' Silence: " 'But, what cannot happen is this Democratic silence,' he added.' And, let me just tell the truth why: because these Democratic lawmakers do not want to alienate black voters.' But Terrell had a message for Democrats. 'I've got news for you: you're alienating me,' he said. 'I'm a black voter and you have lost me if you don't stand up and do something about these criminals'." In "Leo Terrell is furious at fellow Dems over riots: I'm a black voter and you have lost me if you don't stand up to these criminals," by Frieda Powers, BizPacReview, 30 May 2020.
Addendum of a Democrat Scared for His Family: "Mike Erlandson, a former chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer Labor Party, said he watched with his 15-year-old daughter in Minnesota this week as a man spray-painted on a wall, 'F--k the white people from the suburbs'. 'I do think that, particularly if this continues, the [congressional] districts like Dean Phillips' district or Angie Craig's district that right now I would say are relatively safe for the Democratic incumbent, could be very much in play,' he said. 'Both of those districts will be decided in large part by suburban women voters, and it would be hard for me to imagine those people aren’t watching this scared, like everybody else, for their family and for their children'." In "The most volatile swing state of all," by David Siders, Politico, 31 May 2020.
Addendum of Racial Politics: "Regarding allegations of racism, I say: 'I don't agree that our nation is racist. That mantra is the poison that entrenches resentment and division among us. The daily hunt for racism from top to bottom of our nation's institutions have institutionalized the perception of racism in the post-Civil Rights era. They have systematically reduced the fundamentals of citizenship to race, in the guise of diversity and inclusion -- and these illusive lies have sown increasing distrust and painful social distance in conflict with our reality,' I say. 'Most Americans are cordial to their neighbors, work hand in hand across racial lines, and just want to be left alone'." In "The Burden of Race and Rage," by Star Parker, Townhall, 3 June 2020.
Addendum of Seeing the Hijacking: "Rev. Bill Owens, president of the Coalition of African American Pastors (CAAP), says racial tensions have not improved in America because the true civil rights movement has been 'hijacked' by politicians who are using black Americans as 'a pathway to power'." In "Rev. Bill Owens: 'Civil Rights Movement Hijacked by Manipulative Politicians'," by Susan Berry, Breitbart, 5 June 2020.
Addendum of Thinking About Being Black: "If I wasn’t thinking about being Black, what would I think about?" by Natachi Onwuamaegbu, Seattle Times, 10 June 2020. [ 1 ]
Addendum of an Opposing Black Voice: "...aside from Biden’s obviously racist comments about blacks and other minorities, somebody unearthed more on Biden’s blase attitudes towards people who hated blacks. And the list of racist scoundrels can’t be pushed aside. These Democrats weren’t your run-of-the-mill racists. Instead, they were powerful anti-black racists of the worst kind. ...Americans know that segregationist-supporting racist like Biden will take one for the team as it were. Biden knew he could get no farther in politics without performing political fellatio on Obama. 'Suck it up, Buttercup', his pals taught him. But the Obama days are over. And so is Biden’s ability to hide his racism." In "Democrats' and Biden's LONG History of Racism," by Kevin Jackson, The Black Sphere, 25 June 2019. [ 2 ]
Addendum of Convulsions: "Convulsions on the street these past two weeks reflect the psychic implosion of the Democratic Party as the black vote they have taken for granted for 60 years threatens to slip away. They expose impure motives by fomenting black grievance and empowering black radicals, as black-owned businesses are looted and burned, and urban communities are left bereft. As for Biden, he acts as if he owns the black vote and has some special empathy on race. But his record tells a different story. When he arrived in the Senate in 1973, he sucked up to Democratic segregationists who gave him plum committee roles. He boasted he was the architect of 1994 crime legislation that was disproportionately tough on black lives. Its mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses resulted in the incarceration of a generation of young black men." In "A ‘Black Lives’ pander by Democrats," by Miranda Devine, New York Post, 10 June 2020. [ 3 ]
Addendum of Compare and Contrast 2007: " 'I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man.' — Joe Biden, describing fellow candidate Barack Obama. The remark was made the same day Biden filed the official paperwork to launch his presidential campaign. Biden later apologized and said the remark was taken out of context." In "Top 10 Joe Biden Gaffes," Time, 31 January 2007.
Addendum of Compare and Contrast 2020: "Protesters are criticizing the mayor of a Union County township for saying he was 'pro-Black for all the good Black people' that he knew during a demonstration against social injustice Saturday. In the video provided to NJ Advance Media by protester Reid Alexander Ranalli, several demonstrators during a protest in Clark Township asked Clark Mayor Sal Bonaccorso if he would declare that he was 'pro-Black'." In "N.J. mayor criticized after saying he's pro 'good black people' at protest," by Chris Franklin, NJ.com, 10 June 2020.
Addendum of Racist White Liberals: "Black Lives don’t matter if you vote for Democrats! Black Lives don't matter if you vote for Democrats! Move the f*** out of my way…We're tired of you white liberals always doing some f**ed sh*t… You guys don't care…Move the f*** out of my way. My kids are in this car. I want to go home. If you care about black lives, stop f****** voting for Democrats…You racist white liberals do this sh*t every f****** four years. We're tired of it…F*** you, you dumb bitch. You’re not here for me. You're here because you’re dumb as f***'." In "Black woman goes OFF on activists blocking her car: ‘If you care about black lives, stop f-ing voting for Dems! You racist white liberals do this sh*t every f-ing four years!’," by Robert Jonathan, BizPacReview, 11 June 2020.
Addendum of Separate but Equal from NBC, 2019: "...political experts and education policy researchers say Biden, a supporter of civil rights in other arenas, did not simply compromise with segregationists — he also led the charge on an issue that kept black students away from the classrooms of white students. His legislative work against school integration advanced a more palatable version of the 'separate but equal' doctrine and undermined the nation’s short-lived effort at educational equality, legislative and education history experts say." In "Joe Biden didn't just compromise with segregationists. He fought for their cause in schools, experts say," by Janell Ross, NBC News, 25 June 2019. [ 4 ]
Addendum of Tradition: "Just last year, Mr. Biden bragged how well he worked with other fierce segregationists in his own party. So enthusiastic is Mr. Biden about his fond memories of working with the ol’ time racists that whenever he waxes poetic about them, he slips into a fake Southern accent. At a fundraiser last year, Mr. Biden recalled warmly — in a fake Southern accent — how one of the old racist bulls 'never called me ‘boy.' He always called me 'son'.' This is how Mr. Biden always talks when channeling his party’s long, ugly history with racism and racist politics." In "Joe Biden's racism a Democratic Party tradition," by Charles Hurt, Washington Times, 28 May 2020.
Civil Rights Attorney Leo Tyrell
Addendum of a Racist DNC: " 'That tweet — I want people to hear this,' Terrell continued, 'The Democratic Party calling this a 'white supremacy' meeting is the race card at its highest level and that came from the Democratic Party. The bottom line is simply this,' he said, 'If you are a Democrat, you can be a racist. But the point here is, you accuse the Republicans of being racist and there is no evidence of that whatsoever. It’s embarrassing and I am embarrassed to be a Democrat tonight'." In "Leo Terrell: ‘Embarrassed To Be A Democrat’ After DNC Plays ‘Race Card’ With Mount Rushmore," by David Krayden, Daily Caller, 4 July 2020.
Detail from Snoop Dogg's Instagram Page
Addendum of Black Targeting Black for the Sake of the Democrat Party: " 'Coon' is a common slur used by black Americans against black conservatives, along with 'Uncle Tom.' The term, which dates back to the 19th century, is used today by black people to smear other black people who they believe have sold out to white people or who reject liberal thinking and the Democrat Party." In "Snoop Dogg Declares Black Conservatives ‘The Coon Bunch,’ Targeting Herman Cain, Candace Owens," by David Ng, Breitbart, 5 July 2020. [ 5 ]
State Representative Vernon Jones
Addendum of a State Representative's View: "...where was Biden for 36 years in the United States Senate on this issue? I’ll tell you. He was too busy shouting 'my children are going to grow up in a jungle, the jungle being a racial jungle.' That racial jungle he was referring to includes black and brown Americans like me. Right now, President Trump is being defined as a racist by the media, when in reality Joe Biden is the full-blooded bigot. Don’t take my word for it, take then-Senator Joe Biden’s own words for it. 'The truth is, every major crime bill since 1976 that’s come out of this Congress, every minor crime bill, has had the name of the Democratic senator from the State of Delaware: Joe Biden.' Now that Biden is running for president in a woke Democratic Party in 2020, he’s attempting to sweep his racist legacy under the rug. We can’t let him. Joe Biden is directly responsible for the mass incarceration policies of the 1980s and 1990s, which decimated the black community. Biden authored the 1994 crime bill which imposed mandatory minimum sentences, disproportionately putting hundreds of thousands of young black men in prison." In "I Am Black And I Am A Democrat. But ‘I Ain’t’ Voting For Joe Biden This November," by State Rep. Vernon Jones, Daily Caller, 7 July 2020.
Kayne West
Addendum of an Entertainer's View: "On Democrats - 'That is a form of racism and white supremacy and white control to say that all Black people need to be Democrat and to assume that me running is me splitting the vote. All of that information is being charged up on social media platforms by Democrats. And Democrats used to tell me, the same Democrats have threatened me…. The reason why this is the first day I registered to vote is because I was scared. I was told that if I voted on Trump my music career would be over. I was threatened into being in one party. I was threatened as a celebrity into being in one party. I was threatened as a Black man into the Democratic party. And that’s what the Democrats are doing, emotionally, to my people. Threatening them to the point where this white man can tell a Black man if you don’t vote for me, you’re not Black'." In "Kanye West Says He’s Done With Trump—Opens Up About White House Bid, Damaging Biden And Everything In Between," by Randall Lane, Forbes, 8 July 2020. [ 6 ]
Addendum of Seeing Sophisticated Manipulation: "The more Jarvis read, the more distaste he felt toward the Democratic Party and, in his eyes, its destructive paternalism. Democrats, he came to believe, don't really have the best interests of Black voters at heart, but prefer a transactional relationship: Here's some government aid; vote for us and we'll see you again in October of the next even-numbered year, when election time rolls around. It is part of a pattern, Jarvis suggested, as old as the country itself. 'Black people have been exploited,' he said, 'and manipulated and used as pawns for this entire time. Today it's just more sophisticated than it was before'." In " He's Black, Republican and working to reelect Trump. It's not easy," by Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2020.
Addendum of a Racism Allegation: "Chance the Rapper caused a stir on Monday by supporting Kanye West over presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden for president. While he said he understands the desire to oust President Donald Trump, he suggested that Trump’s opponents could do better than Joe Biden. Yet the rapper went further, too. He said black people might be 'racist' if they prefer Biden to Kanye." In "Chance the Rapper Dares to Ask, 'Can Someone Explain Why Joe Biden Would Be Better??' " by Tyler O'Neil, PJ Media, 13 July 2020.
Bob Woodson
Addendum of Being Bamboozled and Hustled and Scammed: " 'I believe that the salvation of this country... will be the sleeping giant: When low-income Blacks wake up and realize that they are being bamboozled and hustled and scammed by people like Lori Lightfoot and others -- they are going to realize that they must address the enemy within. The left derives this moral authority as being of legitimate representatives of the poor,' he said, pointing to another liberal city facing weeks of violence and unrest -- Portland, Ore. Woodson said a 'metaphor' for Democrats' assumed 'moral authority' over minority communities was when a white demonstrator reportedly stepped in front of Black law enforcement during the protests and said 'f--- the police.' 'What they are doing is falsely claiming that the failures of the last 60 years -- most urban centers all over the country have been run by liberal Democrats, many of them veterans of the civil rights movement who moved from civil rights, to run these cities -- They also had to spend about $22 trillion on poverty money in the cities and as a consequence, all of these inequities that they have been talking about have been done on their watch. Now the white left is coming in and exploiting the disparity and using it to really decimate the country, and the collateral damage are the lives of poor Blacks in these cities because what the left is doing is vilifying the police as agents of white supremacy and the more they are vilified, the less aggressive they are about enforcing laws and the more the murder rate rises'." In "Civil rights activist Bob Woodson: Low-income Blacks being 'bamboozled and hustled and scammed' by Democrats," by Charles Creitz, Fox News, 24 July 2020.
Addendum of a White Woman Reminding a Black Man that He is Supposed to be a Black Democrat: "...Handler has offered to pay the rapper's taxes should he reconsider his support for the president. 'Hey f--ker! I will pay your taxes in exchange for you coming to your senses,' wrote the frequent Trump critic on Wednesday. 'Happily! Black lives matter. That's you, f--ker! Remember?' " In "Chelsea Handler explains shaming of Trump-backer 50 Cent: 'I had to remind him that he was a Black person'," by Joseph A. Wulfsohn, Fox News, 24 October 2020.
Addendum of Identifying a Black Face of White Supremacy: "Larry Elder, the conservative pundit, radio host, and leading Republican candidate for governor of California, was recently subjected to a horrific display of bigotry that the Los Angeles Times actually published. Erika Smith wrote an article titled 'Larry Elder is the Black face of white supremacy. You’ve been warned.' In addition to the sheer absurdity of the statement, it must be legitimately asked, why do leftists, liberals, and Democrats get away with such blatant and unfiltered bigotry and discrimination?" In "The Los Angeles Times’ unbridled bigotry toward Larry Elder," by Christopher Tremoglie, Washington Examiner, 25 August 2021. [ 7 ]
Addendum of Black Against Black for Politics' Sake: " Others said the black woman's preference for a Confederate statue - regarded as racist by liberals - show Democrats are 'the party of racism.' 'There you go folks Dems are the party of racism. Always have been,' one person wrote. 'Can't have a black man that doesn't go along with the 'I'm a victim' mentality,' chimed another." In "Georgia Democrat is slammed for saying she would rather keep a CONFEDERATE statue outside statehouse than raise a monument to black conservative SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas," by Rachel Sharp, Daily Mail, 2 October 2021. [ 8 ]
Addendum of Leaving the Racist Party: " 'For far too long, the Democrat Party has gotten away with using and abusing the black community,' she added. "For decades, the Democrat Party has received the support of more than 90% of the black community. And what do we have to show for it? I represent a solidly blue district in the city of Atlanta. This isn’t a political decision for me. It’s a moral one." In "Georgia Democrat defects to GOP after she says Dems 'crucified,' 'abandoned' her," by Kyle Morris, Fox News, 11 July 2023.
Such is the way when on any side when Everything's about your colored skin
NOTE
[ 1 ] What would I think about? So begins an opinion article in the Seattle Times, as Antifa and BLM carve out a "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone" in the city center, and the Democrat mayor's resignation is being demanded by those to the political Left of her.
Natachi Onwuamaegbu
What would one think about, if not one's skin color? In the case of the racist cant of the author, one learns that she thinks about much more than "being Black." Looking into her young life and work, one finds this: "Natachi Onwuamaegbu is a freshman from Bethesda, Maryland. She is currently undecided but is leaning towards Political Science and English. Currently, Natachi is part of the Black Student Union and hopes to run a radio station on campus. When she's not wandering around campus, Natachi likes to sit in the sun, listen to music and overuse semi-colons." In "Natachi Onwuamaegbu," The Stanford Daily, circa 2018.
A freshman at Stanford in 2018, she wrote many articles for the Stanford Daily, In one, she writes: "Right now I’m a feminist, a struggling atheist, a rookie writer, a bad artist, an undeclared freshman. I don’t know what I want to major in, what I want to be or what I want my future to look like. Right now, 'the future' is a vague, grayish dot somewhere in the periphery of my radar. Acknowledging it scares me." In "My endless fountain of youth," by Natachi Onwuamaegbu, Stanford Daily, 1 February 2018.
What Would I Think About?
Two years later, she asks in a Seattle Times opinion article: "If I wasn’t thinking about being Black, what would I think about?" The answer is given by other information about her, proving her op-ed political and racist rhetoric.
One reads her from another source: 'Hi all! My name is Natachi Onwuamaegbu, and I’m a rising senior at Stanford University. I was raised in the greater D.C. area so I’ve always considered The Washington Post to be my local newspaper and national news to be local news. I love all kinds of stories and all the ways stories can be communicated. I love listening to slam poetry, writing short stories, discovering new places and listening to podcasts. I’m so excited to learn about my city by doing what I love best, and I can’t wait to cover people and events that may never have been featured in The Post before. I am also a karaoke fanatic. I’ve found it’s the perfect activity for people that can’t dance or sing but like to have an audience." In "INTERN CLASS OF 2020," Washington Post, 5 June 2020.
Poor, sad Natachi.
One sees that she is 'merely' a societal-oppressed senior at a prestigious university, intern at a prestigious national news organization, and a published writer of articles in at least three prestigious media. This gives a background to her rhetoric, poor and oppressed except for her well above middle class status. Other black voices, dismissed for their conservatism or independent stances by the political Left in this time, are clear counterpoint to the argument that "If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black'." A white man said that to a black man, proposing the same old racist cant that defines "blackness" as a political skin color.
One may then calculate with confidence that an ostensibly black Star Parker is a conservative and perhaps "ain't black" while a Natachi Onwuamaegbu is a young liberal, and perhaps more than that, a Leftist, as Joe Biden might define things. This small comparison seems to capture what passes for racism in American today. After all, President Clinton was described once as the "first black president" for the color of his politics. Yes indeed.
And another white Democrat governor asserted something like that -- White is black
One could consider what is happening as Doctor Oppression comes to call
What Would I Think About? Part II
Similarly, the racist, race focused game is afoot -- as Onwuamaegbu demonstrates above with her own words -- in another racist, who begins with skin color as measure of an individual.
One reads (highlighting the repetitive focus): "White people in North America live in a social environment that protects and insulates them from race-based stress. This insulated environment of racial protection builds white expectations for racial comfort while at the same time lowering the ability to tolerate racial stress. Although white racial insulation is somewhat mediated by social class (with poor and working class urban whites being generally less racially insulated than suburban or rural whites), the larger social environment insulates and protects whites as a group through institutions, cultural representations, media, school textbooks, movies, advertising, and dominant discourses. Racial stress results from an interruption to what is racially familiar." In "Publications: Books 'White Fragility," by Robin DiAngelo, robiondiangelo.com, n. d.
In four sentences, DiAngelo writes "white" six times, "race" and "racial" seven times. She is obviously "thinking about" and of course selling her "thinking about."
Essentially these two examples of skin color identitarians, one repeating words to focus on a certain skin color and one to focus on another skin color. The similarity of approach is most interesting, and for their advocacy that skin color makes for a valuation of an individual, I would conclude they are complementary racists.
This is racism from and of the Left, as approved of by some for their own political and fiscal goals.
What Would I Think About? Part III
One may look back from the heated racial rhetoric of the day to only years ago. One reads: "My experiences at Princeton have made me far more aware of my 'blackness' than ever before," the future Mrs. Obama wrote in her thesis introduction. 'I have found that at Princeton, no matter how liberal and open-minded some of my white professors and classmates try to be toward me, I sometimes feel like a visitor on campus; as if I really don't belong. Regardless of the circumstances under which I interact with whites at Princeton, it often seems as if, to them, I will always be black first and a student second'." In "Michelle Obama thesis was on racial divide," by Jeffrey Ressner, Politico, 22 February 2008.
The article notes: "To research her thesis, the future Mrs. Obama sent an 18-question survey to a sampling of 400 black Princeton graduates, requesting the respondents define the amount of time and 'comfort' level spent interacting with blacks and whites before they attended the school, as well as during and after their University years. Other questions dealt with their individual religious beliefs, living arrangements, careers, role models, economic status, and thoughts about lower class blacks. In addition, those surveyed were asked to choose whether they were more in line with a 'separationist and/or pluralist' viewpoint or an 'integrationist and/or assimilationist' ideology. Just under 90 alums responded to the questionnaires (for a response rate of approximately 22 percent) and the conclusions were not what she expected. 'I hoped that these findings would help me conclude that despite the high degree of identification with whites as a result of the educational and occupational path that black Princeton alumni follow, the alumni would still maintain a certain level of identification with the black community. However, these findings do not support this possibility'."
Disappointed that respondents' anecdotal evidence did not "support" her "hope." As in anything, not all agree, and not all "identitarians" who use skin color as a measure of worth or value agree. But it is likely this First Lady would agree with Biden, as he alleges, 'If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black'. Or would she?
[ 2 ] A radically different and sometimes even rude voice to Onwuamaegbu's: "...aside from Biden’s obviously racist comments about blacks and other minorities, somebody unearthed more on Biden’s blase attitudes towards people who hated blacks. And the list of racist scoundrels can’t be pushed aside. These Democrats weren’t your run-of-the-mill racists. Instead, they were powerful anti-black racists of the worst kind. ...Americans know that segregationist-supporting racist like Biden will take one for the team as it were. Biden knew he could get no farther in politics without performing political fellatio on Obama. 'Suck it up, Buttercup', his pals taught him. But the Obama days are over. And so is Biden’s ability to hide his racism." In "Democrats' and Biden's LONG History of Racism," by Kevin Jackson, The Black Sphere, 25 June 2019.
Kevin Jackson
Jackson in marketing one of his books, 'Race Pimping' leads with the following: "Race-pimping has cost America TRILLIONS of dollars, as there is fantastic amounts of money in guilt. Politicians line their pockets and those of family and friends, while delivering little to nothing to their constituents or the community at large."
Names, Accusations and Negativity
One finds a sentiment: "Robert Morris, a 72-year-old man who was fixing his van outside the arena before the rally started, had predicted as much to me. 'We're not that kind. They got a little carried away there,' he said of the Greenville crowd. Morris, too, said he was tired of being called a racist. Just yesterday, he said, he'd given a stranger $20 to help his foster child, who was black. And he sends money as often as he can to a school charity in the Dominican Republic. So if anybody started a chant like that, Morris said, 'I'll tell them, 'Shut it down. You’re acting like them. We're not them.' The Democrats—they call names, they accuse, they're always slandering, they always have a negative'." " 'We’re All Tired of Being Called Racists'," by Elaina Plott, The Atlantic, 2 August 2019.
Inartful Metaphors?
One looks back. " Defenders of the vice president suggest that he inartfully was attempting to play off language Republicans have used about President Obama needing to "unshackle" small businesses and the economy. Asked about the comments by Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC, Obama campaign deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter said the president 'probably agrees with Joe Biden's sentiments. I mean he's using a metaphor….' " In "VP Biden Says Republicans Are 'Going to Put Y'all Back in Chains'," by Jake Tapper, ABC News, 14 August 2012.
Back into Whose Chains?
One looks further back to the Civil Rights Act of 1964: "The final vote in the House of Representatives was 290–130 with 138–34 (80%) in the House Republican Conference and 152–96 (61%) in the House Democratic Caucus with 11 members voting present or abstaining, while in the Senate the final vote was 73–27 with 27–6 (82%) in the Senate Republican Conference and 46–21 (69%) in the Senate Democratic Caucus." In "Civil Rights Act of 1964," Wikipedia article, n. d.
Thus one sees that more Democrats opposed the bill than Republicans by a wide margin. From the article, one finds detail in some names: "Democrats and Republicans from the Southern states opposed the bill and led an unsuccessful 83-day filibuster, including Senators Albert Gore, Sr. (D-TN) and J. William Fulbright (D-AR), as well as Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), who personally filibustered for 14 hours straight."
One wonders how many inartful metaphors were spoken in an 83 day long filibuster, led by such once prominent Democrat names.
As to free people, one finds that while the Left sells its anti-gun rhetoric, as had been sold after the Civil War and targeting blacks of that time, one finds a seemingly odd phenomenon.
Pro-Second Amendment walk by free black men
One reads: " 'As an African American, it’s important to send a message to the governor and president that we aren't going to allow people to come into our communities and brutalize us,' Chatman said. 'That goes for corrupt police officers, white supremacists and criminals. Criminals have no color. It doesn't matter if you are a Black man, white man, Asian or Hispanic. 'If you come into our community, know we are armed'." In "Black gun owners plan pro-Second Amendment walk," by Adam Kemp, Oklahoman, 19 June 2020.
Placing this in context, one reads further: "After losing the Civil War, Southern states quickly adopted the Black Codes, laws designed to reestablish white supremacy by dictating what the freedmen could and couldn't do. One common provision barred blacks from possessing firearms. To enforce the gun ban, white men riding in posses began terrorizing black communities. In January 1866, Harper's Weekly reported that in Mississippi, such groups had 'seized every gun and pistol found in the hands of the (so called) freedmen' in parts of the state. The most infamous of these disarmament posses, of course, was the Ku Klux Klan." In "The Secret History of Guns," by Adam Winkler, Atlantic, September 2011.
Interestingly, today's proponents of strict and stricter gun laws are Democrats and those farther to the Left. Times have not changed as much as a presidential candidate would have one believe. One additionally surveys those who have long been governing over jurisdictions which are home to "systemic and institutional racism," such as White Eric and white Gavin
[ 3 ] The article challenges: "Let us know Biden and his party by what they have done for black people in all the decades Dems have enjoyed a firm hold on their vote. If they really cared about black lives, they would have tried to address the real reasons for black disadvantage. They would worry about fatherlessness, the 70 percent of black children born to single mothers, the illiteracy that holds down black achievement, and drugs that blight black lives." A look at "the decades" does offer a challenge to those whose eyes are not blinded by racist "truth."
Shelby Steele
Of such truth, one may learn: "Poetic truth—this assertion of a broad characteristic 'truth' that invalidates actual truth—is contemporary liberalism's greatest source of power. It is also liberalism's most fundamental corruption." In "Shame: How America's Past Sins Have Polarized Our Country," by Shelby Steele, Basic Books, 2015.
Measuring the Effect of Sixty Years of Deference
As Ms. Onwuamaegbu speaks of her truth, she speaks from a platform known as Stanford, which is also Steele's platform, "blackness" not being the province of any one political affiliation or leaning.
Steele says: " 'We've had 60 years of deference, the Great Society programs, the war on poverty, affirmative action, busing, public housing … and we're further behind now than we were in the '50s and '60s because it's not about us. It's about [a politician] winning power for himself, appeasing what he thinks his voters want.' In the end, 'continually trying to solicit the Joe Bidens of the world in that sort of corrupt symbiosis with white guilt' is a dead end. 'We have to be the engineers of our fate … We are our own best resource'."
What's the color that one could note / Would shackle a voter to a one party boat?
[ 4 ] The NBC article observes: "A 1977 report on school desegregation by the Civil Rights Commission, a federal agency, described Biden’s activities as stymieing school integration. Federal data analyzed by Johnson and other researchers shows that busing succeeded in narrowing racial achievement gaps before frontal assaults and legislative maneuvers by Biden and others rendered it easier for districts under court order to be released from integration demands. America’s school integration efforts lasted, all told, no more than 15 years, Johnson said."
Ronnie Dunn
From 2019, one reads a similar view: "Ronnie Dunn, an urban studies professor at Cleveland State University and author of the book on northern segregation 'Boycotts, Busing, & Beyond,' said Biden was making a case in favor of maintaining segregation. 'That's how I interpret that argument,' Dunn told the Washington Examiner. 'That was an argument against desegregation.' Dunn said opposition to busing was largely motivated by racism and that without the court-ordered policy 'we likely would not have had a black president.' Had Biden's arguments prevailed, he might well not have become vice president in 2009. 'What I find ironic is that [Biden] was the vice president under a president who, if it hadn’t been for the social interaction that occurred during the era of busing, I argue we likely would not have seen the election of Barack Obama,' said Dunn." In "Joe Biden embraced segregation in 1975, claiming it was a matter of 'black pride'," by Alana Goodman, Washington Examiner, 5 February 2019.
Politics does indeed make strange bedfellows. Which? Voters decide.
[ 5 ] And so there it is. The new definition of black, according to a black rapper, is "Democrat," and a black who is not a Democrat -- "ain't" -- is a "coon." There is consistency between Snoop Dogg and Joe Biden, then, as one revisits his assertion, " 'If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black'."
The assertion is oddly racist then, parsing some of a certain skin color into an approved party affiliation, and others with similar skin color out of not only the approved party affiliation but also a race. One may then consider what the definition of race is. It is divisive.
Consider instead The colors of man
[ 6 ] That "presidential" campaign lasted a couple of weeks. t served in part for those statements for which West sought news coverage.
[ 7 ] Painting a conservative black running for office as the "black face of white supremacy" received its blowback in short order.
. Since it was the intention to speak to the "face" of white supremacy by a Los Angeles Times writer, it is time to identify some faces, those of the Times writer, Smith, her "black face of white supremacy," Elder, and the writer of the quote below. Charles. Given the small cast of characters in this tiny vignette of modern Americana, Charles' assertion seems most apt. From left to right, in more ways than one, she thinks he is a white supremacist and, he disagrees.
One reads: " 'Whenever a black person doesn’t agree with your warped world view and your opinions about the black community, you are always the first ones to start hurling racist insults.' And this is the crux of the matter. In neither of her hit pieces did Smith give reasoned arguments attacking Elder’s policies. She didn’t explain why the gubernatorial candidate is wrong on the issues. She didn’t even lay out why Gov. Gavin Newsom deserves to keep his job. Instead, she went with the usual route which involves pretending that people who disagree with the left are white supremacists." In "Writer Who Called Larry Elder 'Black Face on White Supremacy' Whines About Getting Criticized," by Jeff Charles, Red State, 29 August 2021.
What may be gleaned from this little story? Politics painted in ad hominem easily reaches for the "racist" accusation. Even when the dramatis personae are all of a supposedly same "race. For this one so easily returns full circle to the thesis - Everything's about my colored skin
[ 8 ] The notion that skin color relates to political party, as if both are immutable distinctions is proven ludicrous, as one reads of just another hoax among race-related hoaxes: "Terresha Lucas, 30, has been charged with eight counts of making terroristic threats, according to the Douglasville, Georgia Police Department. ... Investigators allege that Lucas wrote letters describing herself as a ‘six-feet-tall white male with a long, red beard who did not live in the neighborhood.’ 'The letter is using the N-word, talking about the KKK, hanging people, killing kids, killing whole families, and setting houses on fire'." In "Black woman is charged with posing as Ku Klux Klan member and posting notes to seven African-American neighbors threatening to burn down their homes and kill their children," by Ariel Zilber, Daily Mail, 3 October 2021.
Hoaxes are part and parcel of politics. Consider: Ray shall hoax us
Everything's about some Chinese skin - more racial politics to serve the mandarin
"The resolution, introduced May 14, describes the terms 'Chinese Virus,' 'Wuhan Virus,' and 'Kung-flu' as 'anti-Asian terminology and rhetoric' that 'have perpetuated anti-Asian stigma.' The resolution on the Senate to condemn 'all forms of anti-Asian sentiment as related to COVID–19,' including 'all manifestations or expressions of racism, xenophobia, discrimination, anti-Asian sentiment, scapegoating, and ethnic or religious intolerance'." In "Kamala Harris Introduces Resolution To Condemn The Terms 'Wuhan Virus' And 'Chinese Virus' As Racist," by Jordan Lancaster, Daily Caller, 20 May 2020.
Wuhan is a race, and not a place?
Like, what's Chinese food's offence?
Is it that one says that it's Chinese
In some racial sort of sense?
Puns the likes of Kung-flu
Need be condemned by law?
Wherever a stigma can be found,
One must outlaw each guffaw?
In tolerance, one finds intolerance
Is all the modern rage,
As all the nicest racist folks
Design another cage.One might say 'Communist flu',
Like a virus of worldwide spread,
Which certainly can't be racist
For from it so many have fled.
What seems very odd is Red,
Which isn't only an Asian hue.
It's a sign of the Chinese Communist
For which the broadest stigma's due.
Anti-Asian Rhetoric and Racism / CNN
Addendum of Anti-Asian Rhetoric and Racism I: "U.S. health and Homeland Security officials will begin screening at major U.S. airports for the new Chinese Coronavirus that has caused two deaths and more than 40 infections in China." In "The CDC and Homeland Security begin screening for Chinese Coronavirus at three major US airports as outbreak spreads in Asia," by Sunny Kim, CNBC, 17 January 2020.
Addendum of Anti-Asian Rhetoric and Racism II: "The virus originated in animals and can be spread from person to person. While most of the patients visited an animal and seafood market in Wuhan, a city about 700 miles south of Beijing, some did not." In "Vaccine for new Chinese coronavirus in the works," by Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, 20 January 2020.
Anti-Asian Rhetoric and Racism / PBS News Hour
Addendum of Anti-Asian Rhetoric and Racism III: "The Wuhan coronavirus is in the same family as severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, which killed more than 700 people in 2002 and 2003, and Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS." In "First US case of Wuhan coronavirus confirmed by CDC," by Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, 21 January 2020.
Addendum of Anti-Asian Rhetoric and Racism IV: "Officials in China are racing to contain the outbreak of a new virus that has left at least nine people dead and sickened more than 440, after it was confirmed the infection can be passed between humans." In "China confirms Wuhan virus can be spread by humans," by James Griffiths and Nectar Gan, CNN, 22 January 2020.
Addendum of Anti-Asian Rhetoric and Racism V: ""The Chinese government struggled Sunday to cope with a worsening coronavirus epidemic as its official number of infections soared and the death toll rose to 80, while additional cases appeared in the United States." In "Chinese coronavirus infections, death toll soar as fifth case is confirmed in U.S.," by David J. Lynch, Simon Denyer and Brittany Shammas, Washington Post, 26 January 2020.
Addendum of Anti-Asian Rhetoric and Racism VI: "A new Chinese coronavirus, a cousin of the SARS virus, has infected hundreds since the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December. Scientist Leo Poon, who first decoded the virus, thinks it likely started in an animal and spread to humans." In "Coronavirus explained: What you need to know," by Jen Christensen and Meera Senthilingam, CNN, 18 February 2020.
Addendum of Anti-Asian Rhetoric and Racism VII: "CNN appeared to take the position this week that describing the coronavirus as the 'Wuhan virus' or the 'Chinese coronavirus' is racist but had a much different tone before the outbreak hit the U.S." In "CNN blasted for now declaring 'Wuhan virus' as 'racist' after weeks of network's 'China's coronavirus' coverage," by Joseph A. Wulfsohn, Fox News, 12 March 2020.
Addendum of Anti-Asian Rhetoric and Racism VIII: "Trump 'deliberately' using offensive term." In "Trump's malicious use of 'Chinese virus'," by Jill Filipovic, CNN, 18 March 2020.
Addendum of Anti-Asian Rhetoric and Racism IX: "...they’re certainly not serious people." In "53 Times the Establishment Media Said 'Chinese' or 'Wuhan' Virus," by John Nolte, Breitbart, 18 March 2020.
2015 Kung Flu Poster / Obama's Veterans Administration 2015
Addendum of Anti-Asian Rhetoric and Racism X: "In 2015, the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System's official website urged patients to 'Become a Kung Flu Fighter! Get Your Flu Shot!' The website has been taken down, but a copy of it was retained by an Internet archiving website. The text was accompanied by an image of a ninja wearing a mask in an airborne, flying-kick posture. Also in 2015, the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center sent a mailer to patients reading: 'Kung Flu -- Knock it out before it knocks YOU out!' The text is accompanied by a cartoon monkey in a karate outfit apparently kicking a virus molecule senseless." In "Obama admin VA hospitals used term 'Kung Flu' in official online, marketing materials," by Gregg Re, Fox, 25 June 2020.
Consider a non-racial 'Chinese' viewpoint: Capital for Communists
Renew a bull - energy
"Recognizing that industrial wind and solar electricity bring little to no value to electrical grids, Mexico is moving to avoid the higher electrical prices experienced by Germany, Denmark, Great Britain, South Australia, California, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and other governments that have heavily subsidized their supply of intermittent electricity. The only things 'inevitable' about the 'transition' to wind and solar are rocketing electricity prices and unstable power grids. As to the latter, the Mexican government has taken a stand that has sent renewable energy rent seekers into a tailspin." In "Mexico Pulls The Plug On Renewables – OpEd," by Ronald Stein, Eurasia Review, 19 May 2020. [ 1 ]
Renew a bull.
Revive a duck.
Remake the world anew.
Repair an egg.
Revoke; with luck
Some cash is left for you.
Renew a bull.
Retake control.
Rethink, refuse, not rue.
Replace the scheme.
Reject the toll.
Remove the bugaboo.
NOTE
[ 1 ] The article observes that "rent seekers" are among the renewable energy investors. The effect is simply higher prices for all, the lower classes hit hardest. See: green screws red
The article also notes: "After the trillions spent on industrial wind turbines and solar panels that do not deliver as advertised, the worldwide ecological destruction from the mining of precious minerals leave lands uninhabitable and worthless for plants and trees. Renewable taxpayer handouts have stripped landscapes. Left in the wake of intermittent electricity farms and subsidized biomass-fueled power plants is cynical at best, and mercenary in their ability to destroy nature’s ability to alleviate the coronavirus via cleaner air."
"Mr Soros, 89, believes perpetual bonds - bonds that cannot be redeemed but provide continuous interest payments to investors - could keep the EU afloat. But to fund these bonds, the EU may need to directly tax the citizens of its member states." In "George Soros says coronavirus may spell the end of the EU and Brussels may have to directly tax citizens," by Jemma Carr , Mailonline, 22 May 2020. [ 1 ]
Perpetual bonds, never redeemed, are shackles for serfs to wear.
Those atop such perpetual schemes dream they're monarchs beyond compare.
Perpetual bonds, shackles forever, the yet-to-be born would wear?
A next revolution is predicted from this, one may foretell and prepare.
Perpetual bonds is an empty phrase for nothing lasts forever.
Governments topple like houses of cards and debts fall with them never?
Perpetual bonds is an idiot's game, when idiots scheme together
To shackle the underclass with such, lower classes to tether. [ 2 ]
One might consider: You're Up
NOTES
[ 1 ] The article quotes: "He [Soros] said the EU would have to maintain its 'AAA' credit rating to issue such debt - and thus have to have tax-raising powers to cover the cost of the bonds - so suggested it could simply authorise the taxes rather than imposing them. 'There is a solution,' said Soros. 'The taxes only have to be authorized; they don't need to be implemented'." Until they need to be....
Unlike Soros, I believe in Europe
[ 2 ] The idiocy of the "modern" politician in Europe, as elsewhere, is to put all on a national or surprnational credir card, playing economic Kick the can
As an example of European lunacy, one reads: "Under the new plan, the E.U. will borrow €750 billion by issuing long term government bonds on international markets." In "European Union Reveals $826 Billion Economic Stimulus Plan To Battle Coronavirus Damage," by Sarah Hansen, Forbes, 27 May 2020.
The new plan for Europe? Same as every old plan? Debt
Long term government bonds allow those in government who agree to this on behalf of future generations to be long gone when the foreseeable economic consequences "hit the fan." With perpetual bonds, it so easily becomes "shackles forever." Or collapse. Either way the thieves using politics will be long.
If you've some personal dragon to slay
"Barbarians fear the unknown for the same reason that Agnostics worship it—because it is a fact. Fairy tales, then, are not responsible for producing in children fear, or any of the shapes of fear; fairy tales do not give the child the idea of the evil or the ugly; that is in the child already, because it is in the world already. Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey." In "The Red Angel," from "Tremendous Trifles," by G. K. Chesterton, 1909.
If you've some personal dragon to slay,
Please use your own damn sword.
If the monkey on your back's a problem,
It was not I who climbed aboard.
If you've a millstone around your neck,
Deal with it; I've got mine.
And if you carry the weight of the world,
Think again; you could that load decline.If you've some grudge that gnaws at you,
Why feed it? Starve it to death.
If you're outraged at the littlest things,
Consider a slow, deep breath.
If you'd unclench those fists of yours,
The world would more pleasant seem;
The chips on your shoulder could fall away,
And life would bright brightly gleam.
"Earlier this month, the University of Minnesota School of Public Health released projections from a revised coronavirus computer model that said deaths might double by Memorial Day. That didn’t happen. In fact, to a layman, it doesn’t even look close." In "Why was the U of M Covid Model so "Wrong" About Predicting Dwaths [ sic ] through Memorial Day?" by Dave Orrick, Twin Cities Pioneer Press, 26 May 2020.
Mollycoddle the models,
And swaddle the modelers bright.
Much was naught but twaddle,
Yet strong arms took delight.
Down were locked whole nations,
Them, from themselves, to save;
Big fish coerced their small fry
With the models' tidal wave.
Mollycoddle each model,
As dawdle the circling sharks.
So much proven twaddle
Is the hype the big dogs bark.
Addendum of Wrong, Wrong, Wrong: "...Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx have been wrong, wrong, wrong. Long ago the great Thomas Sowell wrote that 'It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.' The lockdown was never needed. The hospitals were never overrun, the mortality rate has been a fraction of what the 'scientists' predicted. The 'data' has all been corrupted. Thousands of those who have died these past few months died of other illnesses, drug overdoses, even homicides but were counted as having died of COVID-19. As everyone knows by now, most of those who have actually died with the virus were both elderly and already ill." In "In the end, it is the face mask that is the clearest symbol of America's divide," by Patricia McCarthy, American Thinker, 27 May 2020.
Addendum of Dodgy Death Numbers: "...if that COVID-19 designated patient is put on a ventilator, even if only presumed to have COVID-19, the hospital can get reimbursed three times the sum from the Medicare. Dr Jensen told a national TV interviewer, 'Right now Medicare is determining that if you have a COVID-19 admission to the hospital you get $13,000. If that COVID-19 patient goes on a ventilator you get $39,000, three times as much.' Little wonder that states such as Massachusetts suddenly began backdating cause of death totals back to March 30, significantly inflating COVID death numbers, or that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo began demanding 30,000 ventilators and emergency equipment around the same early April time, equipment that was not needed. In short, the COVID-19 death statistics in the USA are highly dubious for a variety of reasons, not least huge financial incentives to hospital administrators who had been told to cancel all other operations to make extra room for a predicted flood of coronavirus ill. That rising death toll said to be 'COVID-19 or presumed' impacts the decisions to lock down the economy and in effect create an economic pandemic of unparalleled dimension." In "Coronavirus and Dodgy Death Numbers," by F. William Engdahl, New Eastern Outlook, 11 May 2020.
Addendum of Overestimating the State: "The mistakes these liberal policy-makers have made are depressingly familiar to anyone who’s studied the breed: overestimating the ability of the state to solve complicated problems as well as the capacity of state-run agencies to deliver on those solutions; failing to anticipate the unintended consequences of large-scale state interventions; thinking about public policy in terms of moral absolutes rather than trade-offs; chronic fiscal incontinence, with zero inhibitions about adding to the national debt; not trusting in the common sense of ordinary people and believing the only way to get them to avoid risky behaviour is to put strict rules in place and threaten them with fines or imprisonment if they disobey them (and ignoring those rules themselves, obviously); arrogantly assuming that anyone who challenges their policy preferences is either ignorant or evil; never venturing outside their metropolitan echo chambers; citizens of anywhere rather than somewhere… you know the rest. We’ve seen it a hundred times before." In "The Fatal Hubris of Professor Lockdown," by Yoby Young, The Critic, UK, 6 May 2020.
Addendum of Considerably Less If One Assume: "If one assumes that the number of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic cases is several times as high as the number of reported cases, the case fatality rate may be considerably less than 1%. This suggests that the overall clinical consequences of Covid-19 may ultimately be more akin to those of a severe seasonal influenza (which has a case fatality rate of approximately 0.1%) or a pandemic influenza (similar to those in 1957 and 1968) rather than a disease similar to SARS or MERS, which have had case fatality rates of 9 to 10% and 36%, respectively." In "Covid-19 — Navigating the Uncharted," by Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., H. Clifford Lane, M.D., and Robert R. Redfield, M.D., New England Journal of Medicine, 382:1268-1269, 26 March 26, 2020.
Addendum of a Model Proving Incorrect: "On June 15th, reflecting on the model's failure thus far, I wrote: 'On June 29th, we will see if the same applies to its forecasts for ICU usage. If current trends hold and Covid-19 ICU usage is in the region of 250-300 when the model forecasts 3,397, we will have every reason to junk the model and the many of the measures it has justified. This includes Gov. Walz' emergency powers.' The verdict is now in. In " Minnesota's Covid-19 model forecast 3,400 in ICU on June 29th: There were 140," by John Phelan, American Experiment, 30 June 2020.
3,400 modeled > 140 proven
"Last week, a doctor in the Wall Street Journal pointed out that cloth masks—the type worn by the overwhelming majority of the population—are not very effective, echoing Fauci’s earlier admission. The WSJ author noted that even the N95 masks fall short: 'They're considered effective at blocking coronavirus particles only when they’re form fitted and tested to make sure there isn’t any leakage.' In short, cloth masks are largely symbolic. The science hasn't changed, but the agenda has." In "Mandatory Masks Aren't About Safety, They're About Social Control," by Molly McCann, Federalist, 27 May 2020. [ 1 ]
So shall control come to you,
With a mask, a covering or star,
A number on a forearm
To identify who you are.
Jude in yellow, N-95 or less,
Hijab required to cover up hair,
So shall control come for you,
To drag you to its lair.
Shall control of a social sort
Serve some other goal?
Each Scarlet Letter works to shame,
Coerce and pigeonhole.
So shall control so muzzle you?
Show your view quite plain?
Conform, submit, just go along
With the so shall control campaign.
Addendum of the Scarlet Letter: “...if truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom....” Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, Late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co, 1878. [ 2 ]
Addendum of Catastrofashion: "Forget virtue-signalling – the latest online trend is catastrofashion. Thanks to the outbreak of coronavirus, quarantine selfies and selfies with masks have become the fad du jour on Instagram. Photo galleries are popping up all over the internet of homemade masks using anything from Tesco carrier bags and paper cups to asbestos-soaked Soviet-era gas masks. Sadly, fashioning a muzzle from household waste, Art-Attack-style, performs no other function than making its wearer look like an attention-seeking lunatic." In "The worrying rise of 'catastrofashion," by Alexandra Phillips, Spiked, 12 March 2020. [ 3 ]
Addendum of a Bizarre Protest from Years Ago: "A bizarre protest involving three men wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood, a niqab and a motorcycle helmet, didn’t quite go to plan. Sergio Redegalli, 52, Nick Folkes, 45, and Victor Waterson, 49, attempted to enter Australia’s Parliament House today dressed in the outfits to demonstrate against Muslim veils being allowed in. But they failed to get past security and had to take the costumes off before being given access." In "Bizarre protest involving men wearing KKK hood, niqab and motorcycle helmet," by Jummiy Nsubuga, Metro UK, 27 October 2014. [ 4 ]
Addendum of Options for Increasing Adherence: "The options set out below are not mutually exclusive. In fact, there is evidence that greatest behaviour change impact is achieved by interventions that operate at many levels simultaneously and consistently (1). There are nine broad ways of achieving behaviour change: Education, Persuasion, Incentivisation, Coercion, Enablement, Training, Restriction, Environmental restructuring, and Modelling (2, 3)." In "Options for increasing adherence to social distancing measures," SAGE, UK, 22 March 2020. (This paper was prepared by SAGE’s behavioural science sub-group SPI-B, for discussion at SAGE #18 on 23rd March 2020.) [ 5 ]
Addendum of a Mask Study: "Results: Overall, 83 (10.2%) surgical site infections were recorded; 46/401 (11.5%) in the Masked group and 37/410 (9.0%) in the No Mask group; odds ratio (OR) 0.77 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.49 to 1.21), p = 0.151. Independent risk factors for surgical site infection included: any pre-operative stay (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.43 (95% CI, 0.20; 0.95), high BMI aOR, 0.38 (95% CI, 0.17; 0.87), and any previous surgical site infection aOR, 0.40 (95% CI, 0.17; 0.89). Conclusion: Surgical site infection rates did not increase when non-scrubbed operating room personnel did not wear a face mask." In " Use of Face Masks by Non-Scrubbed Operating Room Staff: A Randomized Controlled Trial," by Joan Webster, Sarah Croger, Carolyn Lister, Michelle Doidge, Michael J Terry, and Ian Jones, ANZ Journal of Surgery, Volume 80, Issue 3, March 2010.
Addendum of a Physician/Lawyer's View: "Many cultures mandate clothing that appears totally irrational to outsiders. Never have those cultures pretended that there is a scientific basis for their clothing requirement. Their leaders rule, and their citizens accept, that their choice of clothing is due to religious or cultural preference. Not wearing a mask is not mere 'personal choice' like deciding between a head covering or a t-shirt. It is a flashpoint for being a free human being who has consented to be governed but has not consented to be ruled. We do not consent to a masked America, because that is a fundamental change in American society, culture, norms, and rights." In "Dr. Simone Gold Commentary: We Do Not Consent," Simone Gold, Ohio Star, 29 June 2020. [ 6 ]
Addendum of an Encounter: "...the angry encounter started in response to a customer who harassed her because she wasn't wearing a mask. 'Right away he started using obscenities at me, saying 'f you,' the c word, 'wear your f-ing mask' all of this," she says." In "Woman speaks out after mask tirade at Trader Joe's store in North Hollywood," by Miriam Hernandez, ABC7, 30 June 2020. [ 7 ]
Political Theater: Fauci Slips his Mask After Press Conference - "Wear Your Mask" - late June 2020 [ 8 ]
Addendum of Masking the Politics of It All: "In March, at the pandemic’s serious start, masks weren't a great concern since in theory most of us non-essentials were cloistered at home. But as the virus scourge wore on and everyone didn't die, the urgent warnings of Washington officials began to sound hollow and overblown. Especially since you weren't sick and probably knew no one who was. Additionally, some governors and mayors, mostly Democrats, got rather high-handed about their orders. New York City's Mayor Bill DeBlasio took special umbrage at Orthodox Jews holding funerals and study groups and had police cite them. Americans in recent years have been attending religious services less frequently. But being told officially that was now prohibited incited growing fears and complaints about free speech and religion." In "How did masks morph from personal protection into divisive political symbols?" by Andrew Malcolm Special to McClatchy, The State, 7 July 2020.
With and without and not six feet apart, "hollow and overblown" seems worth a flowchart
NOTES
[ 1 ] A New England Journal of Medicine article notes: "We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes). The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic." In "Universal Masking in Hospitals in the Covid-19 Era," by Michael Klompas, M.D., M.P.H., Charles A. Morris, M.D., M.P.H., Julia Sinclair, M.B.A., Madelyn Pearson, D.N.P., R.N., and Erica S. Shenoy, M.D., Ph.D., New England Journal of Medicine, 21 May 2020.
The article observes: "It is also clear that masks serve symbolic roles."
Similarly, one reads among the changing stances of the CDC head: " 'There's no reason to be walking around with a mask,' infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci told 60 Minutes. While masks may block some droplets, Fauci said, they do not provide the level of protection people think they do. Wearing a mask may also have unintended consequences: People who wear masks tend to touch their face more often to adjust them, which can spread germs from their hands." In "March 2020: Dr. Anthony Fauci talks with Dr Jon LaPook about COVID-19," by Brit McCandless Farmer, CBS News, 8 March 2020.
And yet society is awash with the urge to Divine the panic
[ 2 ] Hawthorne writes: "The vulgar, who, in those dreary old times, were always contributing a grotesque horror to what interested their imaginations, had a story about the scarlet letter which we might readily work up into a terrific legend. They averred, that the symbol was not mere scarlet cloth, tinged in an earthly dye-pot, but was red-hot with infernal fire, and could be seen glowing all alight, whenever Hester Prynne walked abroad in the night-time. And we must needs say, it seared Hester's bosom so deeply, that perhaps there was more truth in the rumor than our modern incredulity may be inclined to admit."
The Regulations of Society
Hawthorne, then, is aware of a basic tenet of human nature: "It is remarkable, that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the most perfect quietude to the external regulations of society. The thoughts alone suffice them, without investing itself in the flesh and blood of action."
Deceived or seeing "fear porn"
Additionally, he wrote: "When an uninstructed multitude attempts to see with its eyes, it is exceedingly apt to be deceived."
This jives with the McCann assertion: "In short, cloth masks are largely symbolic." And as Fauci said on 60 Minutes: "they do not provide the level of protection people think they do."
[ 3 ] Fashion? Indeed. One reads: "From being a curious oddity seen only on Asian tourists, masks have suddenly become as essential as socks -- a signal of civic virtue and a passport to many public spaces denied to the bare faced. 'When you wear one you are saying, 'I'm not a threat',' said French designer Stephanie Coudert, who made her name with Paris haute couture. 'It's a civic gesture.' Yet when she sat down to design a mask, one thought kept coming back to her. 'It's a muzzle. It is hard to get away from that,' Coudert told AFP." In "How masks went from 'muzzle' to fashion's object of desire," by Fiachra Gibbons and Olga Nedbaeva, Agence France Press, 10 May 2020.
Mask from a previous era in history
[ 4 ] And yet masks have become the usual in other "protests" which include "riots." As to the politics of masks, simple pictorial illustrations suffice:
In the picture just above, one notes the variety of masks, from medical to bandanas, worn over the face and sometimes at the neckline. Many are to avoid facial recognition, via photos. Obviously caution in observing social distancing and mask protocol is "out the window" as "social justice" rioters in 2020 roil and rage for the socio-political adventure of it.
White, masked and an agent provocateur
More as to masked provocateurs: "As protests and unrest continued in Minneapolis following the killing of George Floyd, people are questioning the identity of a man filmed smashing windows. Footage emerged of the white man, dressed all in black, and in gloves and boots, calmly smashing the windows of an auto parts store with a large hammer. His face is obscured by an expensive-looking gas mask and he is also holding an open black umbrella — although it was not raining." In "Questions raised over masked white man with umbrella seen calmly smashing windows before Minneapolis riots," by Oliver O'Connell, Independent, 29 May 2020.
A mask of revolutionary politics
As to the white Leftist, enamored of masks, costumes and revolutionary role playing: "The white left knows its rights. First, the freedom to choose exemplary destruction for others. Second, the right to demand protection and favors from the white man’s government: student-loan cancellation and Universal Basic Income, for example. Third, the right to change the system so it works better for its hereditary proprietors. You may not be interested in antifa’s dialectic, but their dialectic is very interested in you." In "Antifa’s white privilege," by Ross Clark, Spectator, 30 May 2020.
The Pretense
The pretense of being anti-fascist while acting out violently is a sort of camouflage. From the 1930s in Germany forward, the anti-fascist has proposed a different form of authoritarianism, Communism, which has been historically more murderous to its own people than the comparatively smaller Italian fascism under Mussolini. As such, the hammer and sickle is not a sign of "liberty for all" but rather a sign of hoped for authoritarianism, just one of a different form from fascism. But fists, cudgels and mobs make little distinction between these. One form of tyranny is quite related to its cousins, the only remaining question being "who rules."
BLM Graffiti in Miami, 2020 - for other "representative" Leftist graffiti, click here
One sees this ever more clearly, as "protests" are signed by signature elements. One reads as an example: "The graffiti included a hammer and sickle, long a symbol of the Russian Revolution — and a symbol likely to inflame passions in a city full of Cubans fiercely opposed to communism." In " Columbus, Ponce De Leon statues vandalized in Miami, protest turns chaotic," by C. Isaiah Smalls II, Adam H. Beasley, and Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 10 June 2020.
One might survey notions about Veiled Threats
[ 5 ] It is noted that the SAGE group advising the government in the UK had among its members the "catastrophizing" Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College whose wildly incorrect predictions have urged on this time of lockdowns and "interventions" with the aim of "increasing adherence." One recalls that Ferguson stepped away from SAGE for having an extra-marital affair during his own advised "lockdown."
Perceived Threat Ignored in Order to Get Laid, Part One
By way of "sage" reminder: "The scientist whose advice prompted Boris Johnson to lock down Britain resigned from his Government advisory position on Tuesday night as The Telegraph can reveal he broke social distancing rules to meet his married lover. Professor Neil Ferguson allowed the woman to visit him at home during the lockdown while lecturing the public on the need for strict social distancing in order to reduce the spread of coronavirus. The woman lives with her husband and their children in another house." In "Exclusive: Government scientist Neil Ferguson resigns after breaking lockdown rules to meet his married lover," by Anna Mikhailova, Christopher Hope, Michael Gillard and Louisa Wells, Telegraph UK, 5 May 2020.
Note in the quote above the last entry in their ammunition -- "Modelling" -- and consider how governments and the media Mollycoddle the models
What that "sage" advice contains is: "The perceived level of personal threat needs to be increased among those who are complacent, using hard-hitting emotional messaging."
Perceived Threat Ignored in Order to Get Laid, Part Two
Apparently such "sage" advice did not raise the "perceived level of personal threat" to a "complacent" Professor Ferguson, whose SAGE group imagines this stuff into being.
Similarly and of the same government, one reads: "Health Secretary Matt Hancock has been having a secret affair with his closest aide, The Sun can reveal today. He cheated on his wife with Gina Coladangelo, 43, who he hired last year with taxpayers' money, as Covid gripped Britain. Mr Hancock, 42, and millionaire lobbyist Gina were caught on camera in a steamy clinch at his Whitehall office." In "CHEATING HANCOCK Matt Hancock’s secret affair with aide Gina Coladangelo is exposed after office snogs while Covid raged on," by Rob Patterson and Harry Cole, Sun UK, 25 June 2021.
The article notes: "He stands accused of failing care home patients with botched testing, wasting billions on a bungled Test and Trace rollout and squandering millions on PPE contracts which failed to deliver. And it is not the first time he has been accused of misusing public funds as the virus crisis raged. His former neighbour was awarded a lucrative contract worth millions to help make Covid tests, despite having no previous experience in the field."
Note the last words. "...no previous experience in the field." Such are "awards" these days....
The Carrot....
One reads "sage" advise about manipulating the public. As an example: "Social approval: Social approval can be a powerful source of reward. Not only can this be provided directly by highlighting examples of good practice and providing strong social encouragement and approval in communications; members of the community can be encouraged to provide it to each other. This can have a beneficial spill-over effect of promoting social cohesion (15). Communication strategies should provide social approval for desired behaviours and promote social approval within the community."
...and the Stick
In like manner: "Social disapproval: Social disapproval from one’s community can play an important role in preventing anti-social behaviour or discouraging failure to enact pro-social behaviour (15). However, this needs to be carefully managed to avoid victimisation, scapegoating and misdirected criticism. It needs to be accompanied by clear messaging and promotion of strong collective identity. Consideration should be given to use of social disapproval but with a strong caveat around unwanted negative consequences."
Scare Tactics and the Totalitarian
One notes how alike is such advice -- SAGE advice -- to the use of rudimentary Scare Tactics
Given the first addenda and footnotes' above, such reliance on "sage" advice to employ scare tactics in pursuit of "desired behaviors" in a citizenry as deemed correct by government is dangerously close to the aims and behaviors of the Totalitarian
As McCann observed above: "In short, cloth masks are largely symbolic. The science hasn't changed, but the agenda has." All that remains is to tear away the mask to see those who are behind that agenda practicing scare tactics, "so shall control come to you."
"...if truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom...."
Stanford Informs on Perceived Power
If cloth masks in 2020 are "largely symbolic" and those rated less than an N-95 are essentially theater more than effective caution, what mechanism is at work?
One reads: "The Stanford prison experiment (SPE) was a social psychology experiment that attempted to investigate the psychological effects of perceived power, focusing on the struggle between prisoners and prison officers. It was conducted at Stanford University on the days of August 14–20, 1971 by a research group led by psychology professor Philip Zimbardo using college students. In the study, volunteers were assigned to be either 'guards' or 'prisoners' by the flip of a coin, in a mock prison, with Zimbardo himself serving as the superintendent. Several 'prisoners' left mid-experiment, and the whole experiment was abandoned after six days. Early reports on experimental results claimed that students quickly embraced their assigned roles, with some guards enforcing authoritarian measures and ultimately subjecting some prisoners to psychological torture, while many prisoners passively accepted psychological abuse and, by the officers' request, actively harassed other prisoners who tried to stop it. The experiment has been described in many introductory social psychology textbooks, although some have chosen to exclude it because its methodology is sometimes questioned." In "Stanford prison experiment," Wikipedia, n. d.
Methodology questioned, and yet one finds the British 'game' quite in line with this SPE. "There are nine broad ways of achieving behaviour change: Education, Persuasion, Incentivisation, Coercion, Enablement, Training, Restriction, Environmental restructuring, and Modelling (2, 3)."
The "psychological effects of perceived power" are being played out around the world. As one watches supposed anti-fascists acting like fascists, supposedly liberal governments resorting to threats and thuggery, and all with the loveliest of concerns -- to "save" the individual through such things as 'persuasion' which so easily drifts into "coercion."
[ 6 ] Dr. Gold observes: "The Covid virus was supposed to be contained in the kind of lab where people wear astronaut suits and go through triple sealed doors. It is a con of massive proportion to assert that now, having escaped those environs, a bandana will magically do the trick. After all, size matters. The pore size of cloth face coverings range from ~ 20-100 microns. The Covid virus is 200-1000x smaller than that, at 0.1 microns. Putting up a chain link fence will not keep out a mosquito. Even the most esteemed medical journals admit their purpose is to calm anxiety. 'Expanded masking protocols’ greatest contribution may be to reduce the transmission of anxiety'…"
Thus one might well conclude that what has been called "fear porn" need be tamped down by a quasi-ritual public act, all the while ignoring that fact that the COVID-19 "pandemic" has been ongoing for many months before the "expanded mask protocols" have appeared.
Governments Have Ignored the Scientific Evidence?
Another view: "By making mask-wearing recommendations and policies for the general public, or by expressly condoning the practice, governments have both ignored the scientific evidence and done the opposite of following the precautionary principle. In an absence of knowledge, governments should not make policies that have a hypothetical potential to cause harm. The government has an onus barrier before it instigates a broad social-engineering intervention, or allows corporations to exploit fear-based sentiments." In "Censored: A Review Of Science Relevant To COVID-19 Social Policy And Why Face Masks Don’t Work," by Denis G. Rancourt, PhD, Technocracy, 30 June 2020.
That article also gives detailed information from many sources. The counter-ideas in the media seem in the moment "to exploit fear-based sentiments."
Indeed, ideas are viruses and transmitted, as one sees in the footnote above, wherein the recommended British methodology included persuasion through to coercion and finally to "restriction." But one observes that the British model, ham-handed as it seems, included "modelling." One then may recall the original Imperial College model by now disgraced Ferguson was incorrect to a massive degree.
So shall control come to you,
With a mask, a covering or star,
A number on a forearm
To identify who you are.
[ 7 ] This becomes an all the more interesting, if maddening, social phenomenon when considered in a larger context. See Veiled Threats
The demand to submit is found in many circumstances and many cultures. Given the ardor with which proponents of the object, which indicates proper submission, express, one finds a commonality most human. Do as I say, even in a small and interpersonal context, so easily falls over into anger and even attempts at enforcement.
And so one can join the chorus screaming Fa Queue
It was, is and likely will remains a sign of the times.
[ 8 ] Amusing detail of this amateur video shows that not only Fauci removed his mask when the press conference was finished and the media cameras were turned off, but the aide who comes into the frame behind him has removed hers as well. One should think of theater. Lights on; the show plays forward. Lights off; the show is over. This seems much like that reality, for someone who has worked for decades in and around theater.
Fauci and others slip their masks after a press conference is over
Fauci slips his mask several times during Senate testimony
One reads, with this in mind: "...the evidence is hardly strong enough to elevate mask-wearing into the epitome of moral behavior. Doing so reflects a greater preoccupation with the psychological effect of masks—perhaps as a restoration of control in the face of an unseen and often perplexing enemy with no cure and no prophylaxis—than with their scientific reality. Americans should demand evidence-based decision-making and policies driven by soundly attested facts, not assumptions or psychological palliatives." In "Mask Wars, While facemasks can’t hurt in the fight against Covid-19, the outrage directed at skeptics is excessive," by Chris von Csefalvay, City Journal, 30 June 2020.
Evidence above shows Fauci and others slipping their masks, in reality and perhaps politically.
A Similar Demonstration of Mask and Social Distance from Jerrold Nadler, NY-10
Little, If Any, Protection from Infection?
Perhaps a reliable source can speak? One reads: "We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes). The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic." In "Universal Masking in Hospitals in the Covid-19 Era," by Michael Klompas, M.D., M.P.H., Charles A. Morris, M.D., M.P.H., Julia Sinclair, M.B.A., Madelyn Pearson, D.N.P., R.N., and Erica S. Shenoy, M.D., Ph.D., New England Journal of Medicine, 21 May 2020.
If the New England Journal of Medicine article be accepted, then the photographic evidence of Fauci and others slipping off their masks after the press has stopped filming seems a rational behavior, even as it speaks against their "wear a mask" message. But the NEJM article goes further.
Paradoxically....
"What is clear, however, is that universal masking alone is not a panacea. A mask will not protect providers caring for a patient with active Covid-19 if it’s not accompanied by meticulous hand hygiene, eye protection, gloves, and a gown. A mask alone will not prevent health care workers with early Covid-19 from contaminating their hands and spreading the virus to patients and colleagues. Focusing on universal masking alone may, paradoxically, lead to more transmission of Covid-19 if it diverts attention from implementing more fundamental infection-control measures."
Paradoxically, the public message for the media "may lead to more transmission...." And slipping off his mask after a press conference about masks "may" indicate Fauci is not concerned for his own health in this era of contradictory opinions set forth politically as contradictory facts.
Potential Risk of Infection?
Perhaps Fauci is aware of this study: "The rates of all infection outcomes were highest in the cloth mask arm, with the rate of ILI statistically significantly higher in the cloth mask arm (relative risk (RR)=13.00, 95% CI 1.69 to 100.07) compared with the medical mask arm. Cloth masks also had significantly higher rates of ILI compared with the control arm. An analysis by mask use showed ILI (RR=6.64, 95% CI 1.45 to 28.65) and laboratory-confirmed virus (RR=1.72, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.94) were significantly higher in the cloth masks group compared with the medical masks group. Penetration of cloth masks by particles was almost 97% and medical masks 44%. This study is the first RCT of cloth masks, and the results caution against the use of cloth masks. This is an important finding to inform occupational health and safety. Moisture retention, reuse of cloth masks and poor filtration may result in increased risk of infection. Further research is needed to inform the widespread use of cloth masks globally. However, as a precautionary measure, cloth masks should not be recommended for HCWs, particularly in high-risk situations, and guidelines need to be updated." In "A cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers," by C. Raina MacIntyre, Holly Seale, Tham Chi Dung, Nguyen Tran Hien, Phan Thi Nga, Abrar Ahmad Chughtai, Bayzidur Rahman, Dominic E Dwyer, and Quanyi Wang, BMJ, National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 22 April 2015.
The Science is Not Resolved?
Another tidbit is found: " Nevertheless, the effectiveness of the use of masks for the control of SARS-CoV-2-laden aerosol transmission from an infected person to a susceptible host is uncertain and not fully conceivable. It has been a known fact that different commercial masks have different efficiencies in controlling the transmission of infectious agents." In "Transmission of COVID-19 virus by droplets and aerosols: A critical review on the unresolved dichotomy," by Mahesh Jayaweera, Hasini Perera, Buddhika Gunawardana, and Jagath Manatunge, PMC US National Library of Medicine, NIH, 13 June 2020.
No Guarantees
And this report allows the wiggle words: "The probability of getting infected under such a scenario is still positive, although it is very minute. None of these masks is, however, guaranteed against SARS-CoV-2."
Deaths February to end of June, CDC info
And yet, the statistics graphed above from the CDC, February to the end of June, show an optimistic tale of falling numbers of deaths, in the midst of a new Fauci-fed panic. Apparently the latest virus' behavior seems quite akin to earlier pandemic viruses, in which neither lockdowns were dictated nor masks advised under threats and coercion.
A Reprise for the Optics of It All
One looks back only months: " 'There's no reason to be walking around with a mask,' infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci told 60 Minutes." In "March 2020: Dr. Anthony Fauci talks with Dr Jon LaPook about COVID-19," by Brit McCandless Farmer, 60 Minutes/CBS, 8 Mar 2020.
The Mask Slips Again
But Fauci will say as he has said decades go, Any day now, believe you me
NY-10 US Congressman shows the correct way to wear a mask.
A Debilitating Mistake
And yet one reads: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is conflating the results of two different types of coronavirus tests, distorting several important metrics and providing the country with an inaccurate picture of the state of the pandemic. We’ve learned that the CDC is making, at best, a debilitating mistake: combining test results that diagnose current coronavirus infections with test results that measure whether someone has ever had the virus. The upshot is that the government’s disease-fighting agency is overstating the country’s ability to test people who are sick with COVID-19. The agency confirmed to The Atlantic on Wednesday that it is mixing the results of viral and antibody tests, even though the two tests reveal different information and are used for different reasons. This is not merely a technical error. States have set quantitative guidelines for reopening their economies based on these flawed data points." In "How Could the CDC Make That Mistake?" by Alexis C. Madrigal and Robinson Meyer, Atlantic, 21 May 2020.
Yet, like other non-debates being mythologized, the question of mask wearing is one of falsifiability.
Another Mistake?
One reads: "Fauci didn’t just fail to promote masks early on, he actively discouraged the use of masks, saying they didn't work. Americans are now paying the price because too many people think masks are useless to combat the coronavirus. In reality, masks have been shown to help prevent the spread of covid-19, as the CDC now admits. All we need to do is look at the things that Fauci was saying back in February—a time before most Americans were taking the threat of covid-19 seriously and people like Donald Trump were assuming it was just a problem for the Chinese government. 'There is no reason for anyone right now in the United States, with regard to coronavirus, to wear a mask,' Fauci told Spectrum News DC on February 14." In "Dr. Fauci Made the Coronavirus Pandemic Worse by Lying About Masks," by Matt Novak, Gizmodo/MSN, 16 June 2020.
Deaths reported, Feb-July 2020
This is a correct report of that time, as of July 2020, and can say nothing about coming months because the largest narrative is that deaths from COVID-19 are falling rather clearly, at the same time as the intensity of demanding mandatory mask wearing is rising, a 'sciencey' oddity, which also seems to be taking on a political tone. Rather than be cheered that actual deaths are decreasing before the calls for mandatory masking, the reporting has shifted from reported deaths to reported cases, the massive percentage of which are asymptomatic, telling that th virus is weakening, as others before it have. Herd immunity seems to be forming.
Blood on Whose Hands?
But as a nation's president, Trump, many states' governors, including Cuomo, and now even the CDC leadership are being accused in the media of the slur, "blood on his hands," the media takes no share in its own responsibility, 'immunity' being theirs by 'right.' Never mind that so much media reporting has been sensationalist, alongside being disinterested when something does not match to a current -- and often changing -- narrative.
The Novak article notes: "But America’s own health officials, people like Anthony Fauci, were telling Americans that masks were useless. And Americans are going to pay the price in the months and years ahead, as there’s no guarantee that a covid-19 vaccine will even work if it’s developed. It doesn’t matter if his heart was in the right place in some effort to save masks for doctors and nurses, Fauci did real harm to public health in the United States. When all is said and done, Fauci might be remembered as a folk hero, but he sure has a lot of blood on his hands. And none of this is anywhere close to done."
So shall control so muzzle you?
Show your view quite plain?
Conform, submit, just go along
With the so shall control campaign.
One observes without the need of another "fact check" by another "fact checker" that the range of speculation, much based on as yet inconclusive science, roils the body politic. One also observes that the Novak quote above ends with a worthy statement. "...none of this is anywhere close to be done." Proof positive is offered in the work of Dr. Fauci himself, who had predicted a vaccine for HIV/AIDS for decades.
See: Any day now, believe you me
Scratch a Leftist, find a joker - more clarity in rhyme
"Timothy O’Donnell, disguised in a Joker mask but easily identifiable from a neck tattoo, set fire to a Chicago Police SUV in the Loop on Saturday and now faces federal charges for the damage, according to a criminal complaint released Tuesday. ...According to the complaint, O’Donnell waived his Mirada rights and admitted he was the person in the photographs. Authorities found a Joker mask inside the apartment." In "Timothy O’Donnell, Wearing Joker Mask, Charged With Torching Chicago Police Car During Weekend’s Protest Violence," Channel 2 CBS News, 2 June 2020.
Timothy O’Donnell, Likely Leftist
Scratch a Leftist, find a joker,
Who'd have ever guessed?
His type isn't liberal,
But a loser, self-confessed.Catch a Leftist, a provoker,
Criminal and pest.
His type's no supremacist,
Just a vandal, prepossessed.Scratch a Leftist, each a Joker,
Stoking sought unrest
Through whitey-costumed violence,
Masked as if oppressed.
Addendum of Antifa's White Privilege: "There is no right to burn down your neighborhood, but it's always an option. Freedom means choice, and real freedom must include the choice of self-destruction — but not destroying someone else's neighborhood. Especially not when the neighborhood is mostly black and poor. That is what the privileged whites of antifa are doing by instigating disorder and destruction in Minneapolis's 3rd district and elsewhere. 'Every single person we arrested last night, I'm told, was from out of state,' says Melvin Carter, Mayor of St Paul. Cost-free kicks at black people’s expense: the height of white privilege." In "Antifa’s white privilege," by Ross Clark, Spectator, 30 May 2020.
Addendum of a Protest That Lied: "Shocking footage posted on social media shows the distraught New Yorker blasting the actions of looters as she stands in front of her shell of a store with its front now exposed and wires seen dangling down from the ceiling. 'The problem that bothers me? You said Black Lives Matter,' the emotional black woman is heard saying while other people cleaning up the destruction look on. 'I've worked here part time and I'm a part owner of this store. 'You said Black Lives Matter. Why don't you choke me? I'm black!' she says as she makes a choking gesture on her throat." In " 'You tell me Black Lives Matter - you lied': Black woman shames looters for destroying her Brooklyn store and tells them 'get a job'," by Rachel Sharp, Daily Mail, 3 June 2020.
Addendum of a Murdered Black Man Without a Protest in his Name: "...echoed in a tweet by the Ethical Society of Police, which read, '(Dorn) was murdered by looters at a pawnshop. He was the type of brother that would've given his life to save them if he had to. Violence is not the answer, whether it's a citizen or officer. RIP Captain!' " In "Retired St. Louis Police captain killed after responding to a pawnshop alarm during looting," by Susannah Cullinane, CNN, 3 June 2020.
Addendum of Hitting the Struggling: "The riots and arson that followed protests of George Floyd’s death have devastated organizations and businesses that serve communities of color. Destruction from the south side’s Lake Street to West Broadway in north Minneapolis has hit immigrant- and minority-owned businesses already struggling amid the pandemic-induced shutdown. Now, ethnically diverse neighborhoods are grappling with the loss of jobs, services and investments." In "Riots, arson leave Minnesota communities of color devastated," by Maya Rao, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 2 June 2020.
Addendum of a Black Victim of Black Lives Matter: "A black business owner and former firefighter was left sobbing when the Minneapolis Black Lives Matter rioters burned the small business that he worked himself to the bone to create. 'I don't know what I'm gonna do, I worked so hard to get here, so hard,' businessman Kb Balla told the media." In "Black Business Owner Sobs as His Business is Burned to the Ground by Minneapolis Rioters," by Warner Todd Huston, Washington Sentinel, 30 May 2020.
Addendum of Demanding Enrollment: " 'I'm tired of the Asian community being quiet or missing in action when it's time to side with our black brothers and sisters,' said Maius Bianca Bermejo, an Asian American activist and medical student who joined one of the Black Lives Matter protests in Austin, Texas. 'White people use Asians as pawns while some get to enjoy the privileges of the white system. And whenever we're attacked, we use the sympathy of being people of color. But when it's time to defend other people of color, we are missing in action'." In "Asian Americans need to talk about anti-blackness in our communities," by Rachel Ramirez, Vox / MSN, 3 June 2020. [ 1 ]
Addendum of New York Lawyers: "Two Brooklyn lawyers, including an Ivy League graduate corporate attorney, are facing federal charges for tossing a Molotov cocktail into an NYPD vehicle early Saturday morning during a protest over the police killing of George Floyd. Colinford Mattis, 32, a lawyer and member of Community Board 5 in East New York, was charged along with fellow attorney Urooj Rahman with the attempted attack on an empty police cruiser parked outside the 88th Precinct station house in Fort Greene." In "Pair of Brooklyn lawyers including Ivy League corporate attorney charged in Molotov cocktail attack on NYPD cruiser," by Noah Goldberg, Catherina Gioino, Ellen Moynihan and Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 31 May 2020. [ 2 ]
Addendum of an Absence of Leadership: " 'But what I'm disappointed about is the lack of leadership in the government – Mayor (Melvin) Carter, Mayor (Jacob) Frey, Gov. (Tim) Walz – to just allow lawlessness. 'Indefensible what happened to Mr. Floyd, but this doesn't make it better. And I don't know what does'." In "Their stores were burned, ransacked and looted. What's next for Minneapolis-area small business owners?" by Tyler J. Davis, USA Today, 31 May 2020. [ 3 ]
Addendum of People from Outside: " 'We do have anti-fascists, we have some anarchists, to a large degree, but there's people from outside of this state and outside of this area that we know that are involved and we're doing our best to identify them and backtracking what their affiliations are,' he said. 'I think that's clear. When you look at the things that they're targeting... I think we can all understand attacking the symbols of the past and of the racist past. But when you look at trying to burn down a VCU dormitory, or burn down people's homes, or burn down and loot the stores that we depend on every day. Those things don't correlate at all. So, you know, I think there is a much more organized effort, and we're doing our very best to determine where that's coming from and who's pulling the strings'." In "Outsiders spark Richmond riots: 'This is an organized effort'," by Scott Wise, CBS 6 News, 31 May 2020.
Brian Bartels, Likely Leftist
Addendum of Another Leftist Joker: "It is widely believed Antifa is driving members of Black Lives Matter to turn from peaceful protests to anarchic riots. This seems to be supported by the alleged actions of Brian Bartels as riots continue in his city." In "Antifa Pittsburgh: Arrest warrant issued for 'riot inciter' Brian Bartels," by Blaine Traber, NOQReport, 1 June 2020.
Emma Waters, Likely Leftist
Addendum of Yet Another Leftist Joker: "The Charleston Police Department charged Emma Waters with two counts of second-degree violent burglary. Her charges stem from burglaries at the Las Olas clothing store on King Street and the King Street Grocery store." In "Police charge woman accused of stealing from businesses during Charleston riot," by Ray Rivera, WCSC 5, 3 June 2020.
Hogan, Miller and Elder, Antifa Leftists
Addendum of Austin Antifa Arrests: "Lisa Hogan, 27, of Austin, is charged with Riot and Burglary of a Building. FBI officials said Hogan used Facebook Live from the scene to encourage others to join the looting. Samuel Miller, 22, of Austin, is charged with Criminal Mischief and Burglary of a Building. FBI officials said he destroyed and ripped out surveillance cameras at the store. Skye Elder, 23, of Austin, was arrested for Burglary of a Building." In "3 members of anti-government group ANTIFA arrested after looting a Target in Austin, FBI says, Property damage and stolen property valued over $20,000," by KSAT staff, KSAT Channel 12, 6 June 2020.
Addendum of Looting and Loot: "In the footage, taken on Monday night in Manhattan, unidentified individuals are seen carrying objects away from a store and then entering the luxury vehicle -- their apparent getaway car. 'Looters are literally pulling up in nice cars and cleaning out stores in #Soho. What #Curfew?' an NBC producer who shared the video wrote on Twitter. It has since gone viral. Car and Driver magazine said the latest edition of the Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV in the video, which it described as 'the epitome of wealth, incomparable interior comfort, quick and quiet operation,' is for sale starting at $332,750." In "NYC looters seen escaping in Rolls-Royce SUV worth at least $330,000," by Greg Norman, Fox News, 3 June 2020.
Addendum of Struggling after Unrest: "At least 60 Chicago-area pharmacies have been damaged or closed in recent days, according to one estimate from the Illinois Pharmacists Association. CVS Health said at least 42 of its Chicago-area stores were closed in recent days, though that number was down to 30 by Wednesday. Many of them are in the Loop and South Side." In " ‘It’s catastrophic’: Chicago-area patients struggle to get medications as pharmacies close amid George Floyd unrest," by Lisa Schencker, Chicago Tribune, 3 June 2020.
Branden Michael Wolfe, Likely Leftist
Addendum of Another Leftist Joker: "At the time of his arrest, Wolfe was wearing multiple stolen items from the Third Precinct, including body armor, a police-issued duty belt with handcuffs, an earphone piece, baton and a knife. Also, Wolfe’s name was handwritten in duct tape on the back of the body armor. Law enforcement later recovered additional items belonging to the MPD from Wolfe’s apartment — including a riot helmet, 9mm pistol magazine, police radio and police issued overdose kit." In "St. Paul Man Charged In Connection To Arson At MPD Third Precinct," CBS 4 Minnesota, 8 June 2020.
Seattle Antifa jokers at their "Capital Hill Autonomous Zone"
Margaret Channon, Likely Leftist
Addendum of Another Leftist Joker: "A 25-year-old Tacoma, Washington, resident was arrested this morning on five federal counts of arson for burning five Seattle Police vehicles parked in the area of Sixth and Pine in downtown Seattle on Saturday, May 30, 2020, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran. MARGARET AISLINN CHANNON was taken into custody without incident at her Tacoma residence today. She will appear on the criminal complaint in U.S. District Court in Seattle at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow, June 12, 2020. 'This defendant was captured by multiple cameras using an accelerant, lit like a blowtorch, to start fires in five vehicles -- putting the public at risk and creating the very real possibility of a structure fire amidst the throng of people protesting downtown,' said U.S. Attorney Moran." In "Tacoma, Washington, woman arrested for allegedly setting five police vehicles on fire during Seattle protest," U.S. Attorney’s Office, Department of Justice, 11 June 2020.
Dylan Robinson, Likely Leftist
Addendum of Another Leftist Joker: "Federal authorities on Tuesday charged a 23-year-old Brainerd-area man in connection with burning down the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct building amid rioting over the May 25 police killing of George Floyd. Dylan Shakespeare Robinson, 23, made his first appearance in federal court in Colorado, two days after being arrested in Breckenridge, Colo., as he traveled west along Interstate 70." In "Feds charge 23-year-old Brainerd-area man with helping to burn down Minneapolis Third Precinct building," by Stephen Montemayor, Star Tribune, 16 June 2020.
Lore-Elisabeth Blumenthal, Likely Leftist
Addendum of Another Leftist Joker: "Lore-Elisabeth Blumenthal, 33, faces two counts of felony arson, U.S. Attorney William McSwain’s office said in a news release. She is accused of setting the police cars alight during the first day of protests in Philadelphia, which began peacefully but gave way to mass looting and destruction as the day wore on." In "Instagram, Etsy Sale, Tattoo: How FBI Found Woman Accused of Torching PPD Cars," By Rudy Chinchilla, NBC 10 Philadelphia, 17 June 2020.
Jessica Lynn White, Likely Leftist
Addendum of Another Leftist Joker: "A woman from Andover has been charged with arson in relation to a fire that destroyed an Enterprise Rent-A-Car building in St. Paul. The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota said Jessica Lynn White, 33, has been charged with conspiracy to commit arson. She was arrested on June 16 and made her first court appearance June 17." In "Andover woman charged with arson of Enterprise Rent-A-Car," by Estefan Saucedo, KARE11 NBC, 19 June 2020.
Keveon Gomera, arrest photos, Likely Leftist painting swastikas
Addendum of Another Leftist Joker: "According to police, Keveon Gomera, 26, was charged with vandalism and assault with intent to commit a felony. Police say Gomera spray-painted swastikas, defaced multiple gravestones, then attempted to set a grass area on fire at the Dominican Cemetery on campus. According to a spokesperson for Providence College, the central cross and seven headstones were defaced. Providence College has repaired the damage." In "Man arrested for spray-painting swastikas at Providence College," by Brooke Taylor, ABC6 Rhode Island, 23 June 2020. [ 4 ]
"Fuck Israel" and "Free Palestine"
Addendum of Anti-Semitism by the Leftist Jokers: " 'The attack on our community last night was vicious and criminal. Fairfax is the center of the oldest Jewish community in Los Angeles,' Koretz said in a statement. 'As we watched the fires and looting, what didn't get covered were the anti-Semitic hate crimes and incidents.' Congregation Beth El was vandalized with graffiti stating 'Free Palestine' and '[Expletive] Israel.' The Baba Sale Congregation, in the same area, was spray-painted during the protests. It wasn't the first time that such words had been scrawled on the synagogue; a similar incident occurred last year on the anniversary of Sept. 11." In "LA Councilman Condemns Rioters Who Targeted Dozens of Jewish Businesses," by JNS News Service, Jewish Press, 2 June 2020.
Defaced Black Madonna, courtesy of the Leftist BLM
Addendum of Leftist Jokers in the Netherlands: "The Polish community in the Dutch town of Breda is in shock after Black Lives Matter activists vandalized a beloved shrine to the famous Our Lady of Częstochowa Icon, defacing the icon itself and spray painting 'BLM' underneath it. Ironically, the self-styled racial justice activists targeted a beloved icon that is popularly and affectionately known as the 'Black Madonna,' in a shrine erected in 1954 specifically in honor of the city’s 1944 liberation from German nazis at the hands of the Polish 1st Armored Division under General Stanisław Maczek, who was awarded honorary Dutch citizenship after the war." In "Black Lives Matter activists vandalize Black Madonna Icon shrine in honor of liberation from nazis," OrthoChristian, Breda, the Netherlands, June 26, 2020.
Claira Janover, Likely Leftist
Addendum of the Audacity of Harvard Privilege: "Janover took to video sharing platform TikTok to denounce people who had the 'caucasity' to use the controversial slogan which has been condemned as detracting from the suffering of black communities. 'Caucasity' is a slang term used to describe the act of doing something with the 'audacity of white privilege'." In "Harvard graduate threatens to stab anyone who says 'All Lives Matter' and says for black people the slogan is like 'comparing a paper cut to a knife wound'," by Sophie Tanno, Mail Online, 1 July 2020.
Addendum of the Audacity of a Pickup Truck: "Although Montana's leftwingers claim that anti-police protests around the Big Sky State are peaceful and that citizens being on guard for potential lawlessness amounts to 'intimidation,' it appears that there is indeed an ugly side to the activists. They just pulled down a monument to the Ten Commandments, chained it to a pickup, and drove off with it being dragged down the street." In "Montana Protestor Topples 10 Commandments Monument, Drags It Down Street With Pickup," Montana Daily Gazette, 27 June 2020.
Salt Lake City Police Photo of an Likely White Leftist Suspect
Addendum of the Audacity of Love: "Officers with the Salt Lake City Police Department say a man wearing a t-shirt which says 'love is always the answer' assaulted officers, including striking one in the head with a baseball bat 'causing serious injury,' police said." In "SLC police seek public's help finding man accused of assaulting officer during May riot," by Adam Forgie, CBS2 KUTV, 1 July 2020.
Black-owned Minneapolis Deli Closed by White Leftists' Instigation
Addendum of Unrest, Meaning a War Zone: " 'When I saw the fire two nights ago, it was like a trauma that was triggered again for me,' she said. 'I had put that away in my life a long, long time ago … I told my mom 'This is a war zone'.' It’s Lake Street’s minority-owned small businesses that may suffer the most from the racial firestorm that hit the city this week. As thousands of people protested a police force with a history of violence against people of color, the collateral damage spread wide — from immigrant-owned restaurants to a center for Native American youth to an affordable housing complex under construction." In "Unrest Destroys Minneapolis’ Landmark Street Of Diversity, Lake Street," CBS Minnesota, 31 May 2020.
We need a Communist revolution....
Addendum of a DC Protest: "Fuck your fucking independence day. We need a revolution in order to overthrow this system and bring a whole new communist world into being that can actually insure the rights of black and brown people. And whether or not you fucking agree, or if you're still caught up in this electoral politics bullshit, even if you are, even if your hopes for a more progressive...." Excerpt from a YouTube video, DC Protest, 1 July 2020..
Defacing the Victims of Communism Memorial in Ottawa, Canada, 2020
Addendum of Mindlessly Toppling a Black Hero: "The vandals dislodged the statue exactly 168 years after Douglass delivered one of his most important speeches. He delivered 'What to the Slave is the Fourth of July' on July 5, 1852, speaking to the Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society at Corinthian Hall in Rochester. Douglass, who escaped slavery in 1838 and settled in Rochester, lamented the horrific institution and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850." In "The Latest Toppled Statue Should Be a Wake-Up Call for the Left," by Tyler O'Neil, PJ Media, 6 July 2020.
NOTES
[ 1 ] One observes in the rhetoric of identifying "Asian" as "people of color," while "white" as in "the white system" is deemed essentially not a color in a a spectrum of "people of color," or perhaps a negative color as skin color becomes quite as all racists historically have used distinctions between skin colors.
Therefore one also observes the essential racism of the argument proposed, especially as the variety of "white" found as involved during that "time to defend other people of color" includes a collection of oddities. Oddities such as when one scratches a Leftist in a Joker mask.
Is the entire argument one of and about one skin color? It seems so, as one considers the broader context which states Everything's about my colored skin
Did You Notice?
As to Ramirez' argument, she need consider Leftists like Lily White and Billy Beige, a most modern Heroes' Tale
Steven George noticed enough to ask: "Did you notice that the majority of those attacking the Miami PD are not black or Hispanic kids? " One might conclude this more testimony towards "white Leftist privilege. White Leftist privilege is apparently attempting to "destroy our amazing, peaceful melting pot." So it seems, and ultimately in favor of Communism.
Did you notice?
White Leftist Privilege, Denver Arrest Photos, late August 2020
[ 2 ] One finds oppression writ large? "Mattis, a graduate of Princeton University and the New York University School of Law, is an associate at corporate Manhattan firm Pryor Cashman. Brooklyn Community Board 5 in East New York lists Mattis as one of its members. Rahman is also registered as an attorney in New York state, who was admitted to the bar in June 2019 after graduating from Fordham University School of Law. Their prestigious backgrounds were mentioned by prosecutors in the detention memo as evidence they knew exactly what they were doing when allegedly carrying out the vandalism." In "Molotov cocktail-tossing lawyers tried to pass out firebombs to protesters: feds," by Ben Feuerherd, New York Post, 1 June 2020.
Urooj Rahman with her Bud Lite, "Human Rights" Molotov cocktail
Does skin color figure into this tale of two New York lawyers as explanation or rationale or excuse? Perhaps these are just Leftist jokers, not considering the consequences of their actions.
Perhaps a political color has explanatory power? One reads: "A former Obama administration intelligence official who worked in both the Departments of State and Defense has guaranteed bail for a human rights lawyer accused of firebombing a police vehicle in New York City. The former official, Salmah Rizvi, told a judge the alleged firebomber is her 'best friend.' Rizvi, now an attorney at the D.C.-based law firm Ropes & Gray, helped secure the release of fellow lawyer Urooj Rahman by agreeing to be a suretor for her bail. That means Rizvi is liable for the full cost of the $250,000 bail if Rahman fails to obey the court's orders." In "Former Obama Intelligence Official Helps Secure Bail for Molotov Cocktail-Throwing NYC Lawyer," by Brent Scher, Free Beacon, 3 June 2020.
An Appeals Court ordered then back into custody, and then one hears Rahman's own video testimony.
"During the four-minute interview, Rahman claimed to be unaware that cops had been hurt by protesters during violent clashes sparked by the police killing of George Floyd — but said de Blasio should have held back the NYPD 'the way that the mayor in Minneapolis did.' 'I think the mayor should have done that, because if he really cared about his police officers, he should have realized that it’s not worth them getting hurt,' she said. Rahman was then caught on surveillance video just before 1 a.m. that day lighting a Molotov cocktail and tossing it into an empty police vehicle near the 88th Precinct, according to court papers." In " 'Molotov thrower' Urooj Rahman blames de Blasio for not holding back NYPD amid protests," by Bruce Golding, NY post, 5 June 2020.
Could be that many today still hope that Everything's about some "you ain't" skin
The overall argument, as one mulls Ramirez' argument above involving the color "Asian" as a hoped-for opposing voice to "the white system," and adds it to a "human rights" lawyer and her Molotov cocktail, one might well conclude that skin color is not the issue, but rather a particular political color being at the root of this period of violent-peaceful protests and Jokers.
[ 3 ] As to jokers illustrated above and the imagined Lily White and Billy Beige of a rhyme, picturing these named individuals might assist in a racial perspective. Or not.
Logo of a colorful "lack of leadership"
But if race is now characterized by political affiliation, then one may observe that the above named Mayor Melvin Whitfield Carter III is colored Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor, and Mayor Jacob Frey is colored Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor, and Governor Tim Walz is colored Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor.
For a small business man whose business was destroyed by a violent "protest" otherwise known as rioting, the above exemplify "the lack of leadership in the [ Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor ] government." Ah, people of Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor color -- POMDFLC, including the whitest ones. This leaves....
[ 4 ] Of Keveon Gomera, one finds a LinkedIn page for him. Details from that page include: "Experience: Manager/Assistant Tailor, Franklin Rogers Ltd. (Business Attire), Providence, Rhode Island - Apr 2014 – Present - 6 years 3 months; Youth Organizing Intern, Angel Taveras for Governor, East Providence, Rhode Island - Dec 2013 to Sep 2014 - 10 months; Fellow, Obama for America - Sep 2012 through Nov 2012 - 3 months."
LinkedIn photo and detail of swastikas on two graves
Additionally, he was an alumnus of the New Leaders Council, Rhode Island Council, in 2015. "New Leaders Council (NLC) is the hub for progressive Millennial thought leadership. Soon to be the largest voting bloc in American history (~83 million voters) and possessing significant economic power, Millennials will be the generation to truly change our institutions in American society."
"Change our institutions in American society" by desecrating graves, and spray-painting swastikas is indeed "change." The graves above which he defaced were of Catholic priests. Change. Scratch a Leftist, find a joker...
This rhyme is a sequel to Scratch a Leftist
"...California Governor Gavin Newsom strongly condemned the bi-county health jurisdiction for defying the statewide shelter-in-place order. ...dire predictions about the fate of the county following the May 4 order have not come to pass." In "These California counties reopened 'high-risk' businesses a month ago. Here's what happened," by Eric Ting, San Francisco Chronicle, 4 June 2020.
Damn those predictions; they didn't pan out;
Some damn politicians preen and pout.
Strong condemnation was just politics,
and dire predictions were of part of that mix.
Damn those predictions! Were they just fluff?
Given a month, they're proven a bluff.
Consider more accurate predictions of California and its Two teared society
Frey weeps for Floyd
Let's all go to the funeral
of someone we didn't know.
Let's all weep as if we knew
the stiff in that golden show.
Let's all grieve like the mourners,
and mimic their wails of woe.
Let's all go to the funeral
of some unknown so-and-so.Let's all go to the funeral
to signal our concern.
Let's all weep that others see
our virtues brightly burn.
Let's all grieve as if mourners
until the crowds adjourn.
Let's all go to some funeral;
as long as it's not our turn.
Addendum of No Political Tears for Local Businesses: "As of Friday night, at least 530 businesses across the Twin Cities had been vandalized, looted or had doors and windows smashed. Some have been reduced to rubble, and at least 67 have been destroyed completely by fire. Others have reported extensive water damage or severe fire damage." In "Businesses damaged in Minneapolis, St. Paul after riots, A look at Twin Cities businesses hit hard in the past week by looting and rioting following the Memorial Day death of George Floyd," by Josh Penrod and C.J. Sinner, Star Tribune, 5 June 2020.
Addendum of No Tears with a Uniformed Mental Health Crisis Response Team: "...a nine-member majority of the city council — veto-proof, in the 13-member chamber — has taken sides with Black Lives Matter. Activists tried to reassure the public Sunday that ending the police force would not mean the total disappearance of neighborhood security. MPR News quoted one activist as saying that 'a uniformed mental health crisis response team' might form the core of a new system that 'looks nothing like the current police department system.' 12 of the 13 members of the city council are Democrats (technically, members of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party); one is a member of the Green Party." In "Minneapolis City Council Promises to Abolish the Police; 'Police-free Future'," by Joel B. Pollak, Breitbart, 7 June 2020.
Addendum of Missing Tears and Absent Protests: "While Chicago was roiled by another day of protests and looting in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, 18 people were killed Sunday, May 31, making it the single most violent day in Chicago in six decades, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab. The lab’s data doesn’t go back further than 1961. From 7 p.m. Friday, May 29, through 11 p.m. Sunday, May 31, 25 people were killed in the city, with another 85 wounded by gunfire, according to data maintained by the Chicago Sun-Times." In "18 murders in 24 hours: Inside the most violent day in 60 years in Chicago," by Tom Schuba, Sam Charles, and Matthew Hendrickson, Chicago Sun-Times, 8 June 2020. [ 1 ]
Democrat Photo-op [ 2 ]
Addendum of Democrat Pandering: "A former national surrogate for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., ripped into white congressional Democrats on Monday after they wore African-patterned garb and knelt in a demonstration against racism and police brutality. 'I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that they draped these white people in kente cloth to 'honor' him. This has to be hell,' author Frederick Joseph tweeted, also arguing that black Americans are 'being pandered to, and ultimately, disrespected'." In "Ex-Warren surrogate blasts white Democrats for kneeling in African cloth: 'This has to be hell'," by Sam Dorman, Fox News, 8 June 2020.
Addendum of Democrats' Differences: "Lopez said he feared looters would eventually start targeting homes after ransacking businesses throughout the city. 'Once they're done looting and rioting and whatever's going to happen tonight, God help us, what happens when they start going after residents? Going into the neighborhoods? Once they start trying to break down people's doors, if they think they've got something,' he said. 'We know that people are here to antagonize and incite, and you've got them all pumped tonight, today. They're not going to go to bed at 8 o'clock. They're going to turn their focus on the neighborhoods. I've got gang-bangers with AK-47s walking around right now, just waiting to settle some scores. What are we going to do, and what do we tell residents, other than good faith people stand up? It's not going to be enough,' Lopez added." In "Mayor Lori Lightfoot And Ald. Raymond Lopez Have Foul-Mouthed Argument Over Looting; ‘You’re 100% Full Of S***’ Mayor Says," by Todd Feuer and Suzanne Le Mignot, CBS 2 Chicago, 8 June 2020. [ 3 ]
Addendum of Black Lives Something or the Other: "Black lives matter. That statement is undeniably true, but not all black lives matter to the group Black Lives Matter. Apparently, retired police Capt. David Dorn of St. Louis was not worthy of the same outrage as George Floyd. Dorn was gunned down by looters after answering an alarm at a pawnshop belonging to a friend. Black Lives Matter was silent. An arrest was made. Black Lives Matter was silent. As it turns out, it’s not the life that matters to Black Lives Matter, it’s the person who killed them." In "All black lives matter, but not all of them matter to Black Lives Matter," by Phil Valentine, Washington Examiner, 10 June 2020. [ 4 ]
Addendum of Kicking Your Own Ass as Apology: "A Manhattan NYPD lieutenant sent an email to his fellow officers apologizing for kneeling alongside George Floyd protesters late last month — telling them that 'the cop in me wants to kick my own ass.' In a June 3 email obtained by The Post Thursday, Lt. Robert Cattani of the Midtown South Precinct said he regrets his 'horrible decision to give into a crowd of protesters'’ demands' and kneel at Foley Square in Lower Manhattan, with several other cops." In " NYPD lieutenant apologizes for kneeling alongside George Floyd protesters," by Tina Moore and Amanda Woods, New York Post, 11 June 2020.
Addendum as Contrast on the Subject of Police Brutality: "On July 15, 2017, Justine Ruszczyk, also known as Justine Damond, a 40-year-old Australian-American woman, was fatally shot by Mohamed Noor, a Somali-American Minneapolis Police Department officer, after she had called 9-1-1 to report the possible assault of a woman in an alley behind her house. Noor was ultimately arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder following an eight-month investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Hennepin County Attorney's Office. In April 2019, Noor was convicted of third-degree murder and manslaughter, but acquitted of intentional second-degree murder. In June 2019, Noor was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison. Damond's family brought a civil lawsuit against the City of Minneapolis alleging violation of Damond's civil rights, which the city settled for $US20 million, one of the largest-ever settlements in a suit involving a police killing." In "Shooting of Justine Damond," Wikipedia article, n .d .
Addendum of Other Funerals for Minneapolis' Mayor to Attend: "There were a total of 12 victims in the shooting. One adult male died at the hospital and the remaining 11 adult victims are all receiving treatment for non-life-threatening injuries suffered in the incident." In "11 people shot, 1 person dead in overnight shooting spree," by Jon Haworth, ABC News, 21 June 2020. [ 5 ]
Addendum of Waiting for the Massive Public Outpouring of Grief: "Shots rang out Saturday night in Atlanta near the burned-down Wendy's where Rayshard Brooks was killed last month after stealing a taser from police and firing it at them. Secoriea Taylor, an eight-year-old girl was shot dead. Now, young Secoriea's father is speaking out. 'They say black lives matter. You killed your own this time. You killed a child. She didn’t do nothing to nobody,' Secoriya Williamson, the father of young Secoriea said at a press conference on Sunday." In "Father of eight-year-old girl killed in occupied Atlanta parking lot speaks out," by Barrett Wilson, Post Millennial, 5 July 2020. [ 6 ]
NOTES
[ 1 ] Charges of systemic racism dot the media's landscape. One notes of deadly Chicago, Illinois, the mayors have been mostly Democrats, the Cook County Board Presidents Democrats, and most governors have been Democrat as well. Additionally, one finds political statistics in Chicago, Illinois as follows. The political affiliation shows a Democrat percentage of 76.2% (2018). Being largely the political power there, one then faces a conundrum.
Systemic Racism in the System of Democrat Political Leadership
Chicago's Police Chief, David Brown, with Mayor Lori Lightfoot
With Democrat control of Chicago a historical fact for decades, is not this "systemic racism" less about race, per se, and more about systemic party behavior and systemic loyalty to certain narratives without diversity of other views and dissenting voices?
After all, "Chicago’s gay, black, Democrat mayor is the chief executive of a city that has been 100 percent controlled by Democrats since 1931, but if you ask her, the city’s high murder rate is the fault of… Republicans. The last Republican administration that controlled the Windy City ended in 1931 when 'Big Bill' Thompson left office. It has been a solid lock for Democrats ever since. But apparently his party is still at fault for Chicago’s bloody streets even 100 years later." In "Chicago’s Mayor in City Controlled by Democrats for 90 Years Blames Republicans for High Murder Rate," by Warner Todd Huston, Washington Sentinel, 4 September 2019.
But on the streets: "Four children were among 65 people shot across Chicago this weekend, 18 of them fatally. Three of the children were killed. The weekend gun violence brought Chicago past 300 homicides so far this year, the benchmark that Supt. David Brown challenged the police department to stay under in April. Last year, the city didn’t break 300 homicides until early August, according to Sun-Times data." In "18 dead, 47 wounded in Chicago weekend shootings," by Joanie Lum, FOX 32, 28 June 2020.
Systemic Racism in Democrat Illinois
Certainly one hears of systemic racism as an accusation in the moment: "From the signs to the chants and the heated one-on-one conversations, the message remained clear: speak up against police brutality, demand justice for George Floyd and unite to fight back against systemic racism." In "Chicago protests: Hundreds of protesters condemn police brutality in Wrigleyville, Lincoln Square, Mount Greenwood," by Michelle Gallardo, Jesse Kirsch and Alexis McAdams, ABC News, 8 June 2020.
Voddie Baucham
As a differing view to issues of race, one reads: " 'Segregation is morally wrong and sinful. Sin is separation … and segregation is an existential expression of man’s tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness.' In other words, what [ Martin Luther] King was clearly saying was this: When you divide what should be united, you are not an integrationist. You are a segregationist. And you are guilty of sin. Voddie Baucham, dean of Theology at the African Christian University in Lusaka, Zambia, says it this way, 'The concept of race is not a biblical idea; it is a constructed idea. You won't find the idea of races in the Bible. [In Scripture], we are all the race of Adam. One race, one blood … The separations we have created — the racial categories — are artificial … They are not real … Racial distinctions are things that we have made up to divide ourselves … But the all-sufficient Word of God says to us, 'That's a lie, stop believing it!' " In "'Race is a lie. Stop believing it'," by Everett Piper, Washington Times, 5 June 2020.
Reduced to Only White and the Other?
Race a lie? One opinion redefines: "To make it blunt: Our Planet has been reduced to only two races: White and 'the other'!" In "It is All about Race, Awful Hypocrisy Hypocrisy to Say it’s Not!" by Andre Vltchek, New Eastern Outlook, 11 June 2020.
Andre Vltchek
One summarizes a 'conversation' about race. So it's a lie, and sometimes a social construct, and sometimes "it is all about race," but only two races.
Vltchek observes a tragedy: "Close to 10 million people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in just a quarter of a century. It is because they have coltan, uranium, and other essential raw materials, desired by the West. But also, because to the West, their black lives matter close to nothing. My film, “Rwanda Gambit”, is clearly addressing the issue. But who cares? In the West, they rather watch porn, instead of learning the greatest genocide of the 20th Century, which they helped to trigger! And who cares about the West Papuans, who are murdered with almost the same intensity by the Indonesians, on behalf of their Western masters?"
One notes the absence of agency in Vltchek's assertion that the "planet has been reduced to only two races." By whom? By which group? By all the members of a specific race? Does this argument espouse "collective guilt?"
Genocides of "Others" and the White Perpetrators
Given the almost eight times greater genocide of Chinese Communism against Chinese citizens in the era of Mao, and the almost six times greater genocide by the Soviet Socialists against the citizenry of Russia and its satellites in the era of Stalin, and the greater genocide of the German National Socialists, Vltchek's tragedy remains a tragedy, but one to be placed in a proper perspective. His publicity for his books and films does not feature another Rwandan tale. One reads: "The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, was a mass slaughter of Tutsi, Twa, and moderate Hutu in Rwanda, which took place between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War," in "Rwandan genocide," Wikipedia article, n. d. But that would not fit his conceptual framework, any more than would the Cambodian killing fields.
Another genocide does not fit the popular Left's revisionism. One reads: "Barre, a major general of the gendarmerie, became President of Somalia after the 1969 coup d'état that overthrew the Somali Republic following the assassination of President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke. The Supreme Revolutionary Council military junta under Barre reconstituted Somalia as a one-party Marxist–Leninist communist state, renaming the country the Somali Democratic Republic and adopting scientific socialism, with support from the Soviet Union. ... Opposition grew in the 1980s due to his increasingly dictatorial rule, growth of tribal politics, abuses of the National Security Service including the Isaaq genocide, and the sharp decline of Somalia's economy. In 1991, Barre's government collapsed as the Somali Rebellion successfully ejected him from power, leading to the Somali Civil War, and forcing him into exile where he died in Nigeria in 1995." In "Siad Barre," Wikipedia article, n. d.
Time to Revisit Communism?
Vltchek dissolves the concept of race into two classifications, and then condemns the one for and through the mechanism of political convictions. He, among the classes, seems more white than "other." But as to his political loyalties, one reads from him: "150 years ago, on April 21, 1870, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, alias Lenin, was born. According to many, he was the greatest revolutionary of all times, a man who gave birth to both internationalism and anti-imperialism. It is time to 'revisit Communism''." In "Anti-Communism is a Fundamentalist Religion, Now Followed by Billions," by Andre Vltchek, New Eastern Outlook, 4 June 2020.
It is an ideological parsing of race, to divide the notion into "white" and "other" and then peddle a white Vladimir Lenin as some sort of model, given another genocide, the Holomodor.
Vltchek is an author and film maker, with a bent towards profiting as his "Rwanda Gambit," Vltchek's film documentary, sells for $100 and rents for one week streaming period for $25. His story from Rwanda is an important story, but not the only important story, as the Rwandan genocide itself proved.
But the suggestion to "revisit Communism" is informative of his journalistic aim. One might revisit Communism also by considering Lenin and Sheer Ignorance
Especially if one considers Baucham's view as an alternative viewpoint. Or perhaps yet another's view, an American professor's view?
Glenn C. Lowry
One reads: "The main threat to the quality of life of people living in black areas is the criminal behavior of their fellow citizens, most of whom happen to be black. Black people in American cities are victims of rape, robbery, and murder to a very significant degree, and the perpetrators are almost always black. The protection of life and property is the most important task of the state, and many African-Americans cannot feel safe in their homes. The police are part of the solution to this problem. Black people need the police more than other people do. Of course, the police must treat all citizens with respect. Racist officers must be disciplined and fired. I don’t want to apologize for anything here: bad policing is bad policing, and you have to do something about it. But depriving the police of resources, making them an enemy, vilifying them, violently assaulting them, or hindering them when they are trying to arrest someone who committed a crime is destructive to black communities. Blacks would suffer the most if police pulled out of their neighborhoods." In "Racism Is An Empty Thesis, An African-American professor says that blacks hold their fate in their own hands," by Glenn C. Loury and Peter Winkler, City Journal, 11 June 2020.
One finds the fingerprints of racism where one finds them around the world. In the inner cities of America, so long dominated by Democrat politics, the conundrum becomes clear. Democrats can be easily associated with systemic racism for having simply been the local authority in charge over decades. One might consider an interesting example of this: Everything's about some "you ain't" skin
[ 2 ] One learns of a photo op where Congressional Democrats knelt while wearing identical Kente cloth stoles: "Do you think there is a single person among that group of congressional Democrats who has the slightest understanding of the origins of the Kente cloth, or what its meaning is? Because, to very real human beings in Ghana, which served as one of the central staging points for the African slave trade centuries ago, those cloths and their patterns do have very special meaning. They aren’t some costume for cynical politicians to wear to Halloween parties, not some modern-day version of the blackface get-up worn by the Ralph Northams and Justin Trudeaus in their younger days. Do you suppose that Nancy Pelosi or Gerrold [ sic ] Nadler or a single one of their Democrat colleagues gave any of that a moment of thought as they dressed up for their moment of disgraceful cultural appropriation? If you do, you’re a fool." In "Pelosi’s $10.99 Cultural Appropriation," DB Daily Update, 9 June 2020.
The article is incorrect, as checking the Amazon website shows them for sale at about $29.99, when last checked.
" 'Yesterday the Democrats wore kente scarfs and knelt down for their photo op. So check this out, Kente cloth was worn by the Ashanti. It's made of silk so the affluent wore it. The Ashanti were also known as slave owners and traders. Huh?' Dave Brandon posted on Facebook June 9. 'This makes me wonder why they chose to wear this particular tribe's garb'." In "Fact check: Yes, Kente cloths were historically worn by empire involved in West African slave trade," by Devon Link, USA Today, 16 June 2020.
Cultural Appropriation and a Kid Throwing a fit
As to the various riots which stemmed from 'peaceful' protests, one reads a black commentator's words: "It's not about black lives and it's not about police brutality. This is literally America as a parent dealing with dealing a kid that's throwing a fit. We've already tried to give you a time out. We've already tried to talk to you and now it's time to get a whipping. That's pretty much what it has come down to." In "This has never been about George Floyd," Brandon Tatum, YouTube posted video, 1 June 2020.
The "fit" of which Tatum speaks is base Politics
Who?
On CSPAN, Pelosi flubs the name, giving Republicans fodder. But it highlights the rhyme's opening lines -- "Let's all go to the funeral / of someone we didn't know."
[ 3 ] The tensions mount, as "the Chicago way" is no longer a politics of which to brag or a bunker in which to hide.
Democrat versus Democrat
Of the exchange between mayor and alderman, both Democrats, one reads further: "One man, identified by WTTW News as Ald. Raymond Lopez, demanded that Lightfoot develop a plan to stabilize Chicago’s neighborhoods for five days, calling his Southwest Side ward 'a virtual war zone' where armed gang members were threatening to shoot black people. When he demanded she respond to the remarks, Lightfoot told him he was '100 percent full of s--t.' 'Well, f--k you then,' Lopez responded." In "People Found Admitting Out Loud To Looting, Selling Stolen Goods On Facebook," CBS 2 Chicago, 8 June 2020.
As to the "outpouring of grief" for one dead man no one in Chicago knew, the article details a different reality of the 'protests.'
'This Ain't (expletive) First Time I Did This'
CBS reads: "One woman posted a Facebook Live video publicly on Sunday, May 31, and it got about 6,600 views and 41 shares. It showed looting at a strip mall and a van filled to the brim. In a second public Facebook Live video, posted days later, a woman stands behind the videos and photos posted on her page – admitting out loud that she had looted. She called out the people tagging police in the video, and defended her selling of the looted clothing and liquor – referring to it as stolen and saying it wasn’t the first time. 'I don't give no (expletive) about this s**t. I upload stolen (expletive) 365 a year,' she is heard saying. 'This ain't (expletive) first time I did this'."
Let's all go to the funeral / of someone we didn't know.
In Chicago...
But in Chicago, there will be funerals aplenty for the mayor and aldermen to attend. One reads: "Nine people have been killed, four of them minors, and 47 others have been wounded in shootings across Chicago so far on Father's Day weekend. A teenage girl, 2 teen boys and a 3-year-old are among the dead." In "Toddler, 3 teens among 9 dead, 56 shot in Chicago Father's Day weekend violence," by Jesse Kirsch, ABC News 7, 21 June 2020.
While Democrat politics rages now between leading "public servants," one of whom is apparently '100 percent full of s**t.' according to the mayor, one wonders what they would do If Chicago were a war zone
[ 4 ] The writer challenges: "But let’s also address the portion of our population that’s disproportionately being victimized, and that’s poor black citizens being preyed upon by other black people. These are the people on the front lines of crime. We should be devising ways to protect them. Instead, Black Lives Matter calls you a racist if you even raise the issue."
Political and Philosophic Leanings Can Be Racist?
Many published black -- as we are programmed to refer to their skin color, because the 'conversation' is itself dominated by a focus on race in a society obsessed with skin color -- conservatives, one may think through the strange problem that Everything's about your colored skin
The belief that political and philosophic leanings can be accused of being racist is itself essentially racist, with its underlying axiom that variance in skin color is a marker for certain approvals and other condemnations. Thus the writer's assertion that a political movement such as Black Lives Matter is rooting in and built upon racist thought. And one is a racist if one disagrees.
The pejorative replaces rational thought and discussion, with the single aim of halting such thought and discussion. This is nothing new. One may see it in action, considering the rhyme, footnotes and addenda telling of those who line up in the Fa Queue
The Left-leaning Media's Anti-Semitism Parallels Its Racism
"The Left media have been so enthralled covering a few troubling but isolated cases of police roughness that they conveniently have refused to cover the anti-Jewish pogrom that took place in Los Angeles in the name of “Black Lives Matter.” The Black Lives Matter Pogrom saw attacks on Temple Beth El, Baba Sali Congregation, the Kosher Mensch Bakery and Kitchen, Cong. Beth Israel, Cong. Beth Tivereth Avi/Morasha, Shaarei Tefilah Synagogue, Shalhevet Yeshiva High School for Girls, and a Shul wall on which were spray-painted anti-Semitic and anti-Israel slogans. The Black Lives Matter pogromists even — get this! — defaced a statue of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who lost his life during the World War II era by leveraging his diplomatic status to save thousands of Hungarian Jews from being gassed and cremated by Hitler’s Nazis in Auschwitz. Wallenberg issued thousands of falsified Swedish passports to Hungarian Jews and rented 32 buildings in Budapest, declaring those edifices to be extraterritorial Swedish national property protected by diplomatic immunity. He hid thousands of Jews safely inside them. The haters of Black Lives Matter attacked Raoul Wallenberg’s memory during their anti-Jewish pogrom. Did you see that on social media? Do you remember Don Lemon, Wolf Blitzer, Jake Tapper, Chris Cuomo, Brooke Baldwin, David Axelrod, Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper, Van Jones, Robin Meade, Brian Stelter, Fareed Zakaria, Lester Holt, David Muir, Norah O’Donnell, Morning Joe, or Rachel Maddow reporting or commenting on the Black Lives Matter Nazi pogrom? No? Neither do I." In "Systemic Racism and Bigotry Are the Lifeblood of the Left," by Dov Fischer, American Spectator, 9 June 2020.
This is demonstration that the Left's racism is fundamentally political. Thus, it is argued on the Left that Everything's about some "you ain't" skin
If You're White and Your Burn Down Banks and Stores....
One reads: "The laws that antifa learn to despise in their four-year colleges guarantee their racial privilege. If you’re black and angry enough to burn down banks and stores in your black neighborhood, tomorrow you’ll have to live in the ruins. If you’re white and you burn down banks and stores in someone else’s neighborhood, tomorrow you’ll be back in white world: fixing bikes or brewing espresso, waiting for The Man to cancel your student loans, living in a historic urban neighborhood whose historic black population you and your white friends have gentrified out of sight." In "Antifa’s white privilege," by Ross Clark, Spectator, 30 May 2020.
One also reads: " 'That's where I see modern-day racism in 2020 coming at me. It's not some KKK guy in Arkansas in a mountain or something with a white hoodie on, it's a little college grad, you know, white kid, Antifa with a mask on, with a black mask on actin' a fool, talking about I'm not capable to get an ID and vote,' the man continued. 'That's the racism I see going on in 2020. That's what's going on, it's on the Left,' he concludes." In "Two black men will blow you away with their real thoughts about white guilt, victimhood and Trump," by Jon Dougherty, BizPac Review, 17 June 2020.
The Left today is showing its clears delineation from 'liberal' in the classic sense of the word, and obviously from conservative and libertarian voices, though for decades it has been camouflaged by wrapping itself in the "liberal" mantle while being illiberal, intolerant, anti-Semitic and -- yes -- racist. And often white and 'liberal' at that.
Don't Confuse Moral Bankruptcy with Racism
From a possibly black racist according to today's Leftist lunacy, one reads: "In 1960, a few years before passage of the Civil Rights Act, 61% of blacks over 18 were married. By 2010, 31% were. In 2015, per Pew Research, 54% of black children compared with 19% of white children were living in a single-parent home. If black Americans are victims of anything, it is that they live in a country that has become a wasteland of moral relativism." In "Don't Confuse Moral Bankruptcy With Racism," by Star Parker, Townhall, 10 June 2020.
Parker's observation of moral relativism among the Left, as delineated from the liberal, is apt. She send her opinion is this way: "...the only systemic racism that poisons and divides our country is the insistence of the powerful to see everyone through the lens of race, placing one's race ahead of one's humanity. The result is the isolation and separation of the 'black community' that they claim to care so much about from the community of the nation and the entire community of God."
One may observe how alike this is to the assertion of Voddie Baucham, as above. His view was, "Racial distinctions are things that we have made up to divide ourselves." The parallel assertions reinforce. "When you divide what should be united, you are not an integrationist. You are a segregationist."
And so Fischer's article's title aligns: "Systemic Racism and Bigotry Are the Lifeblood of the Left," as it becomes time for liberals to awaken to an awareness that the Left is not liberal. Ergo....
Scratch a Leftist, find a joker
[ 5 ] If there isn't a photo op like the weeping mayor on one knee as above, perhaps not. Perhaps the racial-police component is of less interest this time around?
[ 6 ] The article quotes a politician with a political perspective. " 'Now we are demanding action for Secoriea Turner, and all other people who were shot in Atlanta last night. Enough is enough. If you want people to take us seriously and you don't want us to lose this movement, we can’t lose each other,' Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said."
To whom was the highlighted quote addressed? Certainly not to the grieving parents of an 8-year old. To whom then? To those whose "movement" has resulted in the death of a child. But as one reads of the deaths of children in such cities as Chicago with its weekly deaths of children, one cannot look to the mayors of this "movement" to be proactive. Rather deaths go by, statistics get tallied, and the names are mostly forgotten, while the concern is that "you don't want us to lose this movement." Politics is the "movement," being fueled by the destruction of inner cities in the name of a "movement." "...we can't lose each other?" It seems we already have. For and in th name of a "movement."
It is assured that there will be NO funeral for this 8-year old like unto the enormous production of a three-day funeral for another, because.... Well, you know.
"You are now leaving the USA" - CHAZ
You're now leaving the USA;
Our little commune made it go away.
We've got barricades, one gun or more,
And beg for food from the capitalist store.
You're now leaving the USA;
Courageous Commune-ists have their way.
A mayor and a governor, Democrats, thus
Are just afraid to make a fuss.
You're now leaving the USA,
Leaving, then Left, not a unity play.
Commune-ists now will rule these streets
With social(ist) medias' posts and tweets.
You're now leaving the USA;
Commune-ism's having its say.
Please send food, we ask and plead;
We trendy Commune-ists are in need.
Addendum of Leaving the USA: "Exact statistics are elusive, but there currently seem to be between 300-400 full-time residents of the 'Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone', or CHAZ, where signs greet you reading 'Property of the People' and 'Leaving USA’." In "What’s it like in the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone?" by Christopher Sandford, American Spectator, 11 June 2020. [ 1 ]
Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best
Addendum of Seattle's Police Chief's View: "In an address to officers Thursday, Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best spoke out about the decision to abandon the East Police Precinct and surrounding neighborhood to the Revolutionary Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone and said city leadership has failed the police department. Best says it was not her decision to abandon the station and suggested law and order might return to the area soon. 'You should know, leaving the precinct was not my decision,' she told officers." In "Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best: City Leaders Have Failed, Abandoning Precinct "Was Not My Decision"," by Tim Hains, Real Clear Politics, 11 June 2020. [ 2 ]
Addendum of Some Waking Up: "A crowd of about 200 persons, mostly white men and women in their twenties, were dressed in black with masks and black hoods and carried signs that read 'Black Lives Matter.' Black Lives Matter protestors shouted profanity and insults at neighbors, took license plate information on vehicles, took pictures of homes, and asked little kids who lived in the neighborhood what schools they attended. Other BLM protesters carrying large duffle bags attempted to make their way to Chief Best's private residence. When confronted by neighbors to show the content of the large duffle bags, protesters refused to cooperate. There were no reports of any physical altercations." In "Hundreds of BLM supporters storm Snohomish County neighborhood to protest at Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best’s home," by Mario Lotmore, Lynnwood Times, 2 August 2020.
Addendum of a Hijacking: " 'The thing is, you have hijacked this! You have taken the meaning away!' a woman from the council said, addressing demonstrators inside the 'Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,' (CHAZ)-- a six-block region, which includes a police precinct-- that has been taken over by protesters." In "Black Lives Matter protesters say Seattle’s autonomous zone has hijacked message," by Vandana Rambaran, Fox News, 12 June 2020.
Addendum of "It Wasn't Me": "The leadership in Seattle appeared to be in disarray on Friday after the city's embattled mayor called the protesters who took over an "autonomous zone" in the city "patriotic" while the official who ordered police to flee the nearby precinct has refused to come forward. Despite the slow-moving disaster and protesters calling on Mayor Jenny Durkan and Chief Carmen Best to resign, the mayor resisted the call...." In "Seattle mayor, police chief deny making call to abandon police precinct," by David Aaro, Fox News, 12 June 2020.
Summer of Love in CHAZ
Addendum of a Summer of Love: "During an interview with CNN host Chris Cuomo, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan jokingly stated that the area could hold a 'summer of love,' alluding to a mass gathering of peace activists in 1967 in San Francisco. 'How long do you think Seattle and those few blocks looks like this?' Cuomo asked. 'I don't know. We could have a summer of love!' Durkan responded." In " 'We could have the summer of love!': Seattle mayor says she doesn't know when CHAZ occupation will conclude," by Anthony Leonardi, Washington Examiner, 11 June 2020.
"This could be the Summer of Love"
Addendum of Ten Bucks: " 'I want you to find by the time you leave this autonomous zone, I want you to … to give $10 to one African American person from this autonomous zone,' said the unidentified protestor speaking to dozens inside the area near the city’s East Precinct that was abandoned by police last week following two weeks of clashes after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis last month. 'If you have a hard time giving $10 you got to think are you really down with this struggle, are you really down with the movement,' he said. 'If that is a challenge for you, I’m not sure you are in the right place'." In "Protester in Seattle’s CHAZ demands white demonstrators give out cash," by Isabel Vincent, NY Post, 13 June 2020.
White BLM "peaceful" protestors attack black "race traitor" in CHAZ
Addendum of Racist Racial Inversion: "...labeled as 'Race Traitor'. 'Keep on walking you race traitor a** b**ch,' shouted a man over a bullhorn to a black man carrying an American flag inside the Seattle 'Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone' on 13 June, 2020. People then try to steal his flag. A woman carrying an American flag was robbed moments earlier. Both were chased out by a crowd." In "Video: Black Patriot Carrying US Flag Called a ‘Race Traitor’ Inside ‘CHAZ’," by Sarah Hall, Red State Nation, 14 June 2020.
Addendum of Naming: "First, some of the left-wing activists who inhabit the so-called Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) in Seattle are reportedly trying to rename it the Capitol Hill Occupation Protest (CHOP), and the evidence suggests it’s because they’re embarrassed. The thing about autonomy is it denotes self-reliance. Yet the Chazistanis, as they’ve been mockingly called, displayed zero self-reliance when they called the Seattle Fire Department late Thursday to help them with a dumpster fire." In "New letterhead, already? CHAZ purportedly changes name to CHOP amid infighting," by Vivek Saxena, BizPacReview, 14 June 2020.
Addendum of Private Security Firms Swamped with Calls: "Business owners, afraid that Mayor Jenny Durkan will continue to let the rioters go buck wild while simultaneously standing down the cops, are hiring private security at a frantic pace. The Seattle Times reports that local security firms have been swamped with calls asking for private security to watch their businesses in case rioters, arsonists and looters further target them." In "Seattle's Liberal Elite Cheer Anti-Police Protesters Then Hire Their Own Private Security," by Victoria Taft, PJ Media, 15 June 2020.
Beautiful downtown Seattle
Addendum of Seattle's No-Cop Zone "Summer of Love": "One person was killed and two others injured when a shooting erupted in Seattle's autonomous zone early Saturday, and police are now investigating in the 'no-cop' zone, according to a report." In " One killed, two injured during shooting inside Seattle’s cop-free zone," by Isabel Vincent, New York Post, 20 June 2020.
Addendum II of Seattle's No-Cop Zone "Summer of Love": "Harborview Medical Center confirmed that it received a patient with a gunshot wound around 11 p.m., and that their condition was 'serious.' That victim was said to have been transported to the hospital in a private vehicle by CHOP medic volunteers. Several gunshots can be heard in video taken at the time of the shooting." In "Another weekend shooting reported inside CHOP Sunday night," by Staff, MyNorthwest, 22 June 2020.
Addendum III of Seattle's No-Cop Zone "Summer of Love": "Protesters say the shooting unfolded only after the teens started firing and their vehicle plowed into a CHOP zone barrier. Those inside the zone say CHOP security guards, who are self-appointed and heavily armed, returned fire. 'The protesters responded quickly with CHOP security returning fire hitting both the driver and passenger in the front seat,' a CHOP member, only known as Stitch, told DailyMail.com." In "Black teen, 16, is killed and a 14-year-old boy is wounded after gunmen fired into their Jeep at Seattle's CHOP zone - as protesters claim those inside the vehicle opened fire first and police say the crime scene has been 'disturbed'," by Alan Butterfield and Emily Crane, Dailymail.com, 29 June 2020.
Addendum of the Mayor's Neighborhood's Summer of Love: "A group of protesters marched to the home of Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan on Sunday afternoon, upset that she pledged to dismantle the police-free "Capitol Hill Organized Protest" zone, known as CHOP. Seattle City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant joined a group of dozens of demonstrators gathered at Durkan's home who were holding signs, chanting, and demanding she leave the area alone or meet protesters' demands." In "Seattle mayor slams protesters for showing no 'regard for' her 'safety' as demonstrators circle her home," by Dominick Mastrangelo, Washington Examiner, 30 June 2020. [ 3 ]
Addendum of CHAZ/CHOP's Summer of Love Festival : "The Seattle Police Department (SPD) moved into the 'Capitol Hill Organized Protest' (CHOP) zone and returned to the department's East Precinct early Wednesday morning after abandoning the building three weeks ago. Officers arrested at least 31 people by 9:25 a.m. for failure to disperse, obstruction, resisting arrest, and assault." In "At least 31 arrested as Seattle police retake control of East Precinct in Capitol Hill," King5 News, 1 July 2020. [ 4 ]
Addendum of an Observable Result of Policy and Politics: "Durkan's emergency order booting protesters from the six-block cop-free zone makes mention of the 'narcotics use and violent crime, including rape, robbery, assault, and increased gang activity' within the CHOP since it first emerged in early June. June 2 to June 30 saw the 525 percent jump in crime compared to the same period last year." In "Seattle sees 525 percent spike in crime thanks to CHOP: Mayor Durkan," by Lia Eustachewich, NY Post, 2 July 2020.
Addendum of the Seattle Police Gelded by City Politics: "Dear Business Owner and/or Resident: ...know that the City Council Ordinance 119805 Crowd Control Tool goes into effect this weekend on Sunday, July 26, 2020. This ordinance bans Seattle Police officers the use of less lethal tools, including pepper spray that is commonly used to disperse crowds that have turned violent. Simply put, the legislation gives officers NO ability to safely intercede to preserve property in the midst of a large, violent crowd." In Seattle Police letter by Carmen Best, 24 July, 2020.
Addendum of Carmen Best's Resignation from Racist Seattle: " 'This is an anti-Blackness issue at the highest level,' declared police accountability activist Harriett Walden. Unlike Best and Durkan, Walden did not hesitate to blame racism among the city's diverse City Council for forcing Best out. 'So people of color, at the end of the day, they don't always stand for us,' she said. Walden says she sees the 'anti-Blackness' on the current council. 'That's right,' she said. 'I see it on this council. Because they wouldn't have done it against O'Toole. I don't care how many people was in the streets marching. There's no way they would have defunded the police department with a white lady'." In "Black community blaming ‘racism’ for police chief’s departure," by Deborah Horne, KIRO 7 News, 11 August 2020.
Addendum of the Coming Costs of Seattle's Summer of Love: "This isn’t exactly the Summer of Love described by Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan. In fact, it could end up costing the city, county, and state a huge payout. The taxpayers and voters in Washington will not remember that fondly." In "Father of Man Killed in Seattle's CHAZ/CHOP Sues City, State for $3 BILLION," by Jeff Reynolds, PJ Media, 28 August 2020.
NOTES
[ 1 ] The article notes: "One CHAZ resident tweeted, 'It's a victory for #seattleprotests, but please remember that we are still occupying Duwamish Indian land.' There have been similar effusions of solidarity with the gay community, illegal immigrants, the 'fascist-oppressed' in general, and even to the memory of poor George Floyd. But apparently our town's experiment in communal living has also had its challenges. 'The homeles [sic] people we invited here took away all our food,' one Twitter user reported glumly."
[ 2 ] Not having a plan, the CHAZ 'victory' seems Pyrrhic, as Chief Best's police move to re-occupy a protest-occupied police station. One reads: " 'I support this, but what's next?' said Max Hodges. That sentiment summarizes a cascade of questions demonstrators now face. Autonomous from what, exactly? Who is leading? How long can it last? Is it a distraction from the larger movement for police accountability and racial justice?" In "Welcome to the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, where Seattle protesters gather without police," by Evan Bush, Seattle Times, 10 June 2020.
[ 3 ] Democrat versus Democrat. Or perhaps conservative Democrat versus progressive Democrat? Or perhaps Democrat versus Democratic Socialist? Or perhaps Democrat versus Socialist? What's missing here?
The Overton Window is almost shuttered in Seattle, as there are no Republicans, Libertarians or Independents participating in this struggle. The Left contends with itself.
Consider the 3rd footnote and its short discussion of the Overton Window to a rhyme simply titled, Freedom is freedom is freedom
[ 4 ] 31 Arrests? One finds in the article: "SPD said officers enforcing Mayor Durkan’s order are 'wearing a higher-level of protective gear' because 'numerous people in the area are in possession of firearms' and that suspects in recent shootings may still be in the area."
Mostly White and Mostly Young, Masked Leftists Dressed in Black
An article also cited above notes: "Seattle Police Chief Best is the latest official to have been targeted by BLM groups. In June, 50 BLM supporters vandalized the home of Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby. Joined by Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, hundreds of BLM protestors demonstrated in front of the home of Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan. Only two weeks ago, protestors marched at the homes of Seattle councilmembers Alex Pedersen and Debora Juarez demanding their vote to defund the Seattle police department." In "Hundreds of BLM supporters storm Snohomish County neighborhood to protest at Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best’s home," by Mario Lotmore, Lynnwood Times, 2 August 2020.
"...mostly white men and women in their twenties, were dressed in black with masks and black hoods and carried signs that read 'Black Lives Matter'." Such has been Seattle's 'Summer of Love' 2020.
Given that Seattle's police chief is a black woman while the "crowd of mostly white" with some wearing "black hoods," one may expand on this theme, "racist" Leftist whites attacking blacks verbally and sometimes physically (under the pretense of protesting some form of racism) through the rhyme, addenda and footnotes: Black and White, part deux
Everything's about their colored skin - the game begins to wear quite thin
"Former CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien made stunning claims on Saturday that a network exec once told her she could only have the "right kind" of black guests on her show. Reacting to the controversy that has rocked ABC News over the weekend, O'Brien reflected on her time at CNN and indicated that a network executive discouraged her to sit down with black radio host Roland Martin. 'This is an interesting read. Reminds me of the CNN exec who told me: 'Roland Martin isn’t the 'right kind of' Black person.' She didn’t want me to book him on my show. L,' O'Brien tweeted." In "Ex-CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien: Network exec told her to only have the 'right kind' of black guests," by Joseph A. Wulfsohn, Fox News, 14 June 2020.
Everything's about their colored skin
When politics stirs resentment.
Everything's pigmentation's tinge
To conjure discontentment.
Racial-ize with racial eyes
All things about one's skin?
Racial lies that radicals rise
To stir up hate within.
Everything's about their colored skin
If politics were a color.
Everything's about one's hue and tint,
Excepting the game grows duller.
Raynard Jackson
Addendum of a Differing Voice: "Syndicated radio host Raynard Jackson was in a meeting with other black media figures and faith leaders in the Cabinet room with Mr. Trump when he blamed the liberal media for creating troubles for the administration. 'I'd like to say to all the media assembled here that I wish they would quit lying about what you've done specifically for the black community,' Mr. Jackson said. He told the president, 'So you got radical liberal journalists like Joy Reid from MSNBC, Don Lemon from CNN, Roland Martin, who are putting more poison into the black community than any drug dealer — who are killing more black folks than any white person with a sheet over their face'." In "White House guest: Joy Reid, Don Lemon 'killing more black folks than any white person with a sheet'," by Dave Boyer, Washington Times, 10 June 2020. [ 1 ]
Roland Martin
Addendum of Another Differing Voice: "Rev. Dr. William Barber and others are picking up the mantle of Dr. King and the Poor Peoples Campaign, and mainstream media is essentially ignoring their massive mobilization and direct actions nationwide. A broad coalition of folks from different races and religions are fighting for the people, but mainstream media doesn’t care to highlight their concerns, as well as the campaigns. I can go on and on, but you get the picture." In "Roland Martin Launches Daily Digital Show On Sept. 4," Roland Martin Unfiltered, circa September 2019. [ 2 ]
Charles Love
Addendum of Love's View: "The Democratic plantation really is worse than the plantation I grew up on. We were not told about so-called racism; we worked hard. My grandparents worked hard and their parents worked hard. We were very independent. Unlike the Democratic Party — their plantation causes you to become dependent on them and not on yourself. Once you become addicted to that, they will not let you off. If you try to get off, you are attacked. You're called Uncle Tom, a sellout, the N word, all kind of craziness because they do not want you to leave that plantation'." In "Unfiltered: 'The democratic plantation really is worse than the plantation I grew up on,' by Brian Prowse-Gany and Joyzel Acevedo, Yahoo News, 12 September 2018.
Tim Scott
Addendum of a the Token Process: "...a Republican black American, Senator Tim Scott. He noted in an email sent out, 'These are serious reforms to respond to the serious moment our nation is facing. My [Democratic] colleague from Illinois, Dick Durbin, took to the Senate floor to call my efforts to reform policing in our country a 'token process.' Those words hurt me in my soul. Senator Durbin went on to call my bill a 'half-hearted approach' to police reform. I don't know exactly what Senator Durbin meant, but his rhetoric was out of line and represents a divisive moment for our country. As the only African-American Republican senator, I have been leading efforts for years to reform our police on the issues impacting communities of color all across our country. Democrats like Senator Durbin are more interested in scoring political points'." In "Two Black Conservative Women Speak Out about the Democratic Party," by Elise Cooper, 28 June 2020. [ 3 ]
And so one returns to a theme: Everything's about your colored skin
NOTES
[ 1 ] Jackson observes: "We survived slavery, overcame segregation, and fought discrimination and are still standing. But, in order to restore the Black community, we must turn away from the media-appointed Black leaders. They have sold us out at every chance." In "By Raynard Jackson, founder and chairman of Black Americans for a Better Future (BAFBF)," South Carolina Village Voices, 15 February 2019.
[ 2 ] Martin observes at his website: "Now is the time for us to speak truth to power. Now is the time for us to control our narrative and have a voice that represents our interests and concerns. Now is the time to fight against fake news and the folks who wish to do our community harm." n. d. circa 2019.
[ 3 ] As to the two black conservative women, the article quotes Stacy Washington: "At the Breakfast Club he [ Biden ] uttered the words 'you ain't black' if they did not vote for him. He essentially claimed ownership of the black vote just because he is a Democrat. Today, black Americans want to know why they should vote for him. He criticizes President Trump but never provides viable alternatives of what he would do. Democrats feel they own the black vote."
Bringing Destruction, Instability and Violence
Kathy Barnette
And then the article quotes Kathy Barnette: "If someone is breaking into my home, trying to accost me, my children, or my husband, and I call 911, will I get a recording of soft music, giving me tips on how to manage my stress? Look at Chicago that recently had 104 shooting incidents. I am very aware that in the inner city it is hard pressed to find any conservative thought, competitive thinking, or political diversity. I talk about it in my book. When liberals are in control, they bring destruction, instability, and violence. Confusion is their middle name. The only remedy is to kick them out of office."
Through the Lens of Racism
Barnette is quoted further: "I think these liberal white liberals will try to come out of it with more power, control, and manipulation of the narrative. They want everything covered through the lens of racism, something I talk about in my book. I do not believe that this country is systematically racist. But as I say in my book, racism still exists. Bigotry is real. Hate is evil. Have I been called the N-word? Yes! I am the children's children of those who were bred for a business strategy, have had their children taken away and sold to the highest bidder, have had to take a literacy test to vote, or forced to live in a particular neighborhood. My great great grandmother was a slave."
One notes that "liberals" -- a word withering in meaning -- are "in control," they cannot come to blame themselves for the failures in their leadership and policies. Therefore the new game is to blame "systemic" and "institutional" racism, as they fail to observes that so many of them have been in charge of those systems and institution of which they complain.
Racist Messages for a Black Republican
One also finds that some "liberals" aren't. One reads: " 'We had dozens --- more than a dozen of them,' Scott told host Martha MacCallum. 'I only played two of them, which were the most racially offensive comments from liberals in this country. They called to say that I was in their crosshairs. It was so profanity-laced, you can't play five seconds of those videos on your show because there are that many f-bombs, the n-word -- by liberal Democrats -- causing a stir in my office, threatening my life. It is the most audacious, repugnant behavior I've seen in a very long time'." In "Tim Scott blasts 'liberal Democrats' for sending him racist messages: 'Audacious, repugnant behavior'," by Victor Garcia, Fox, 30 June 2020.
A View to How Leftist Racism Functions
Johnson Manning
There is an earlier sentiment as regards this. One reads: "...the average Negro realizes that his happiness and well-being are not served to him on a silver platter, but come as a result of hard and difficult struggle. He therefore seeks (1) practical solutions to all his problems, and (2) a way to get along with other Americans with the least possible friction. Sagely, he realizes that a man cannot live constantly in the miasmic fog of race hostility without stifling to death, nor can he live fighting all other Americans all the time. On the other hand, the vociferous Negro intellectuals, along with the reds, through their impractical, unrealistic, alien behavior, turn race relations into a shambles. Every Negro who opposes integration and the N.A.A.C.P. becomes a traitor or an 'Uncle Tom.' Every white person taking a similar stand is branded a “criminal” and 'outside of the law.' The fact that courts have been known to reverse themselves and that under our system of government every American has the right to protest and oppose any ruling considered onerous or prejudicial is ignored. Stupidly, they go about their business of forcing everybody to conform or be damned, thus building up fires of resentment that will require the work of centuries to extinguish." In "Color, Communism and Common Sense," Manning Johnson, Alliance Inc., 1958.
In the preface to Johnson's book, one reads of him: "His intelligence made him see through the stupidity of the communist doctrine, and see that he should strive to be a first class Negro instead of a third class white man." Archibald B. Roosevelt, in his Preface to "Color, Communism and Common Sense," Manning Johnson, Alliance Inc., 1958.
Mark Robinson
As to another racist message for another Republican, one reads: " 'On the second day of Black History Month, the first Black lieutenant governor of North Carolina has been portrayed as [racist],' he said. 'That you would portray a Black man, just because he's in the GOP, as a Klansman ... the hypocrisy is mind-numbing, folks'." In "North Carolina's first Black lieutenant governor slams critical KKK cartoon," by Dominick Mastrangelo, MSN/The Hill, 3 February 2021.
Vernon Jones
Another entertaining accusation is made, this against media, as one reads: " The aspiring governor suggested that CNN won't investigate some alarming irregularities in the 2020 presidential election because the race-baiting network only cares about 'controlling' black people. 'See, here's CNN,' Jones said. 'Because, see, CNN is about controlling Negroes. … That's what CNN is about. They don't want people of color to have conservative thoughts'." In "Vernon Jones Completely Destroys CNN Reporter: 'CNN Is About Controlling Negroes'," by Samantha Chang, Western Journal, 2 July 2021.
Vernon Jones had been a Democrat and changed party affiliation, the subsequent political pushback likely fueled his remark about CNN.
But ex-Communist Manning Johnson informs about political affiliation over six decades earlier as one reads that he "...was lured into the red movement by way of the American Negro Labor Congress, one of the many 'front organizations' set up by the communists to trap the naive, unwary, unsuspecting and idealistic Negro. The use of such attractive and appealing fronts as a means of entrapment is a most important serpentine method of the reds. After two years of practical training in organizing street demonstrations, inciting mob violence, how to fight the police and how to politically 'throw a brick and hide,' I was ready, in the opinion of my leaders, for a top communist school." In "Color, Communism and Common Sense," Manning Johnson, Alliance Inc., 1958.
The Secret Adversary - 1922
In Agatha Christie's fiction, as above, she writes of a subversive working in England: "The Russian laughed softly, as though amused. 'Yes, yes,' he said. 'That is true. They must have no inkling that we are using them for our own ends. They are honest men -- and that is their value to us. It is curious -- but you cannot make a revolution without honest men. The instinct of the populace is infallible.' He paused, and then repeated, as though the phrase pleased him: 'Every revolution has had its honest men. They are soon disposed of afterwards.' There was a sinister note in his voice." In "The Secret Adversary," by Agatha Christie, Dodd, Mead and Company, 1922, Chapter 8.
One may then view a political assertion from the political Left in light of decades of history, seen in the above voices. Consider the strange and seeming effective campaign remark: Everything's about some "you ain't" skin
While all politics is and should be suspect, the attacks on this modern era use pejoratives, with race being a prime component. It is a two-edged sword, cutting both ways.
Having governed systems and institutions the American Left now publicly shame as "racist," it becomes logical to inquire who has led these systems and institution. Ergo the metaphor of a ship and its captain, as below, to tell a demonstrable truth of the very White Eric and white Gavin
A White Clan
White Eric and white Gavin captain ships of state.
Their ships, for so do they say, haul institutional freight.
Their systems launch and leave a wake which swamps nice folks with hate.
Perhaps these captains of the fleet could better authenticate
They're pilots of racist vessels they command, to navigate
From high up in the wheel house of their systemic racist state.
White Andrew and white Bill the Tall steer the great New ship of state.
Their York so new, as they say, is run aground on hate.
The institutional racism is awash, as each will blithely state,
In the institutions and systems they steer and promulgate.
They're navigators setting courses which lead and legislate
Their systems and institutions to safe harbors of still racist hate.
Or else they too are victims of an ironic twist of fate,
Wherein these white boys don't mean the words they state.
Aubrey Shines
Addendum of an Opposing View: "These past couple of weeks have been some of the saddest I’ve seen in my lifetime as an African-American. It began with the tragic, needless, death of George Floyd, but then quickly escalated into some of the most vicious, violent rioting our country has seen in decades. The Democratic Party, true to form, never lets a crisis go to waste. It has seized on what should be a time of healing and instead made the conversation more divisive by lecturing us all about how systemic racism is supposedly rampant in the United States. The great irony here is that yes, there's plenty of systemic racism in our country; it's all wrapped up in the history of the Democratic Party." In "Of course there is systemic racism in America and it's in the Democratic Party," by Aubrey Shines, Washington Times, 12 June 2020. [ 1 ]
Addendum of White Eric: "Mayor Eric Garcetti was asked to define 'systemic racism' on Wednesday evening, and answered that it is 'racism that is built into systems'." In "Eric Garcetti Defines 'Systemic Racism': It’s 'Racism That Is Built into Systems'," by Joel B. Pollak, Breitbart, 10 June 2020. [ 2 ]
Addendum of White Gavin: "Newsom spoke at length about the long struggle to end racism and the failure society and both local and federal governments to foster real foundational change. 'We — our institutions — are responsible. We are accountable for this moment. Let's just call that out. We have a unique responsibility to the black community in this country and we've been paying lip service about that for generations,' said Newsom. 'We indulge on the margins but we don't systemically, foundationally address the root of these issues. We prune; we don't tear out the institutional racism from all of our institutions large and small. We don't! And we know that'." In "‘A Pandemic On Top Of A Pandemic’; Newsom Acknowledges Systemic Racism Fueling Protests," CBS/KPIX, 1 June 2020. [ 3 ]
Addendum of White Andrew: " 'We know that there's inequality in the health care system,' Cuomo said in the interview. 'We know that the poorer communities often pay the highest price for these types of emergency situations because they're really just bringing to light that systemic racism and discrimination in the system'." In "Cuomo: Systemic Racism Key Factor In Minority Coronavirus Cases," by Gillian Smith, Patch, 10 April 2020. [ 4 ]
Addendum of White Bill the Tall: "Earlier Sunday, Hizzoner shared a rambling talk about white privilege, faith and the NYPD in a short video released on Twitter. 'It's hard to talk about white privilege,' he said. 'I increasingly understand what I don't understand, and I have to find a way to see more clearly. Structural and institutional racism — it pervades the lives of so many, and yet for me, I have not spent a day in my life where that was the reality,' continued de Blasio, who's in his seventh year as mayor and frequently talks about his black wife and children in speeches. 'That clouded me, that surrounded me and held me back'." In "Gov. Cuomo calls on de Blasio, NYC Council to reform NYPD by April 2021, by Shant Shahrigian, New York Daily News, 14 June 2020. [ 5 ]
Addendum of Progressive "Hesitant" Systemic Racism: "The hesitation we are seeing to call for systemic change, even from supposedly progressive mayors such as de Blasio and Garcetti, makes it clear: If we want reform, we need to elect insurgent reformers. We need to put people in power at all levels of government who are ready to take on the difficult work of changing the system." In "How we can start dismantling systemic racism," by Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington Post, 9 June 2020.
Detail from Virginia's Democrat Governor's College Yearbook
Addendum of Overwhelming Evidence: "All these cities where black Americans are gunned down, where blacks claim they live under systemic racism… All of them are run by Democrats — all of them — and in most cases, have been for generations: Chicago, Minneapolis, Baltimore. St. Louis, Oakland, Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Austin, Charlotte, Atlanta, Detroit, New Orleans, Flint, Memphis, Birmingham… and on and on and on… Democrats, Democrats, Democrats, Democrats…" In "Overwhelming Evidence Exposes Democrat Party’s Ongoing Systemic Racism," by John Nolte, Breitbart, 15 June 2020. [ 6 ]
Black conservatives argue with White liberals about who is racist [ 7 ]
Addendum of a Greater Threat: "CNN's Van Jones argued Friday during an analysis on racial tensions that a 'white, liberal Hillary Clinton supporter walking her dog in Central Park' can pose a more insidious threat to African Americans than openly racist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan." In "Van Jones: A 'white, liberal Hillary Clinton supporter' can pose a greater threat to black Americans than the KKK," by Joe Concha, The Hill, 29 May 2020.
Colorado Democrat Compared Himself to a Slave and Dressed as an Indian Chief
Addendum of the (D) Comparison: "Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) has apologized after video surfaced of him comparing himself and elected officials to slaves on ships, comments he appeared to make six years ago while he was governor. 'Taking a look at this video from six years ago, I recognize that my comments were painful. I did not intend them to be. I offer my deepest apologies,' Hickenlooper, who is running for Senate, said in a statement released by his campaign on Monday." In "Hickenlooper apologizes for resurfaced comment comparing himself to slave," by Julia Manchester, The Hill, 16 June 2020.
Addendum of Recent History: "The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, in the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manifesto was signed by 101 congressmen (99 Southern Democrats and two Republicans) from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia." In "Southern Manifesto," Wikipedia, n. d. [ 8 ]
Addendum of Real White Privilege: "...understand that the tiny percentage of Americans who actually have 'white privilege' are spoiled-brat, Ivy League-educated white liberals. Whenever you meet a liberal lawyer, powerful Democratic politician or member of the media, there's your 'white privilege.' They're the ones you should be angry with. They're the ones you should be protesting." In "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About White Privilege," by Wayne Allen Root, Townhall, 28 June 2020.
Charles Love
Addendum of Woke Whites Doing Real Harm: "Most woke whites have good intentions, but their symbolic gestures will, at best, have little effect and, at worst, do real harm. The campaign against police is a good example. Broad anti-police sentiment has already caused cops to become less proactive in high-crime neighborhoods, with the predictable result that shootings have spiked around the country. Whites are engaging in activism motivated by a misperception about black life that doesn't comport with reality for most blacks. With their views of blacks as wounded and perpetually oppressed, woke whites would do more good by doing nothing." In "What 'woke' whites get wrong about Blacks' priorities," by Charles Love, NY Post, 28 June 2020.
Addendum of the Racist Democrat Party: "It is worth noting that the one institution seemingly immune from this purge is the Democratic Party, which served as the political wing of the Confederacy and, subsequently, the KKK. This filthy historical legacy is matched only by the Democratic Party’s contemporary record in supporting wars that, as a matter of fact, primarily targeted nonwhites. Democrats supported the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and under Obama destroyed Libya and Syria. The New York Times was a leading champion and propagandist for all of these wars. The New York Times and the Democratic Party seek to confuse and disorient the democratic sentiments of masses of people entering into political struggle against the capitalist system and its repressive forces within the state because they know that the growing multiracial, multinational and multiethnic movement of the working class will take place in direct opposition to their own politics." In "Hands off the monuments to Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Grant!" by Tom Mackaman and Niles Niemuth, World Socialist Web Site, 22 June 2020.
Addendum of a Perspective on Words: "When social justice warriors use the terms 'institutional racism' or 'systemic racism,' I suspect it means that they cannot identify the actual person or entities engaged in the practice. However, most of what might be called institutional or systemic racism is practiced by the nation's institutions of higher learning. And it is seen by many, particularly the intellectual elite, as a desirable form of determining who gets what." In "Institutional Racism," by Walter E. Williams, Townhall, 26 August 2020. [ 9 ]
Addendum of California Democrats Propagating Structural Racism: "California's largest local teachers union on Monday slammed the state's new school reopening plan as 'a recipe for propagating structural racism' hours after Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers unveiled their compromise proposal. The United Teachers of Los Angeles' strong condemnation is a bad sign for Newsom and Democrats who spent months working to strike a deal on legislation they believe will spur districts to reopen." In "LA teachers union slams California schools plan as 'propagating structural racism'," by Mackenzie Mays, Politico, 2 March 2021.
Addendum of Black Democrats Atop Systemic Racist Chicago Politics: "Black Lives Matter and Chicago’s Democratic politicians continue to blame 'police and systemic racism.' Yet: The mayor is black. The superintendent of police is black. The Cook County state's attorney is black. The chief judge of Cook County circuit courts is black. The Illinois attorney general is black. The fire department commissioner is black. The Cook County board president is black. The state senate majority leader is black. The lieutenant governor is black. The secretary of state is black. The clerk of the circuit court of Cook County is black. The Cook County clerk is black. The city treasurer is black. The Chicago Police Board president is black. The Chicago Transit Authority president is black. The CEO of Chicago public schools is black. The commissioner of the Department of Water Management is black. Forty percent of the City Council belongs to the black caucus. Nine aldermen are socialists. Their average pay is $122,304 annually each, plus $122,000 per year in expenses. Their pension for life is 80 percent of final pay. There are zero Republicans on the Chicago City Council. William Hale Thompson was the last Republican mayor of Chicago long ago, in 1931. For 89 years, Democrats have completely controlled the mayor’s office. The fiscal deficit in Chicago is more than $838.2 million and counting." In "Systemic Racism, Chicago-Style, The city's problems can't be the result of any systemic racism, unless you want to argue that Chicago's black officialdom doesn't give a damn about Chicago's black population," by Theodore Roosevelt Malloch, American Greatness, 11 May 2021. [ 10 ]
Addendum of a Great White Hunter: "The 51-year-old's computer had a week of his internet browsing history from March 2019 saved on it before he abandoned it at a Delaware shop, which showed pornographic photos and videos downloaded on his laptop included an orgy between a woman and several black men." In "EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden addressed his white lawyer as 'n***a' multiple times, used phrases like 'true dat n***a' and bantered 'I only love you because you're black,' in shocking texts unearthed days after Joe's emotional Tulsa speech decrying racism," by Josh Boswell, Daily Mail, 8 June 2021.
Addendum of NYC Blacks Against New York's Systemic Racism in Education: "...the problem, Duncan and others in the new Students Improvement Association say, is that the DOE's chief priority is making the adults who run the schools happy, rather than ensuring kids get the best education. Failed superintendents, principals and teachers aren't fired; they’re dumped on majority-minority districts. Meanwhile, the de Blasio-era rollback of discipline has also fueled classroom disorder, as Queens state Sen. Leroy Comrie has warned. District 29 isn't unique: Gotham spent nearly $27,000 for every public school student across the city in 2018 — with dismal results. But the teachers union and other special interests do just fine." In "Black parents; righteous fury at NYC public school failure," by Post Editorial Board, New York Post, 15 June 2021.
Addendum of Reimagining Systemic Racism: "Liberals are right to say systemic racism exists, but they’re wrong about its perpetrators. The systemic racists aren’t the non-woke white majority, who typically deny that systemic racism even exists. Today’s systemic racists—successors to proponents in the formal slavery period that ended with the Civil War and its informal continuance under Jim Crow—are America’s woke whites. These white liberals, though well-intentioned, are so blinded by their racism that they believe blacks can’t feed themselves and their families without food stamps, can’t succeed on their own merits without affirmative action programs, and can’t even manage to get voter ID to cast a ballot for the candidate of their choice." In "Systemic Racism Exists," by Lawrence Solomon, Epoch Times, 21 July 2021.
Consider the Leftists' Fiction of White Privilege and the Facts about a Wide privy ledge
NOTES
[ 1 ] Bishop Aubrey Shines is chairman of the newly-formed Conservative Clergy of Color and founder of Glory to Glory Ministries. As a conservative voice, the stance of the white Democrats is that his voice is not authentic, all the while they -- in long-term dominant political power in California and New York -- are. This is how it works.
An example of this political procedure may seen in Everything's about some "you ain't" skin
[ 2 ] One learns this white Democrat serving "institutional racism" from 2006 until 2020: "Eric Michael Garcetti is an American politician serving as the 42nd and current mayor of Los Angeles since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected in the 2013 election and won reelection in 2017. A former member of the Los Angeles City Council, Garcetti served as council president from 2006 to 2012." In "Mayor Eric Garcetti, City of Los Angeles," Wikipedia article, n. d.
Serving to Lead Institutional Racism since 2006
"Garcetti also blamed 'institutional racism' for the rise in homelessness, noting that African Americans were eight to nine percent of the population in the county, yet a third of its homeless population. He blamed discrimination going back to the post-World War II era in explaining racial disparities in homelessness. He did not explain why Los Angeles, a liberal and diverse city, would be more subject to 'institutional racism' than other parts of the country, where homelessness has been falling. Data released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in December showed that California was 'entirely' responsible for the nationwide increase in homelessness up to January 2019." In "Homeless Population Rises 13% in Los Angeles County in 2019 to over 66,000," by Joel B. Pollak, Breitbart, 14 June 2020.
Homelessness and, apparently institutional racism has increased in Los Angeles under white Eric, who has captained Los Angeles in various political roles for fourteen years.
White Eric has led "institutional racism" in various leading political roles since 2006. Apparently he has yet to make a dent in the systemic racism of Democrat-led Los Angeles.
White Eric's accomplishments now include suffering. One reads, " 'Black and Latino communities are suffering,' said Najee Ali, a community activist." In "LA reels from alarming spike in killings, shootings amid fears of a violent summer," by Richard Winton and Priscella Vega, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2021.
[ 3 ] One learns this white Democrat serving "institutional racism" from 2004 to 2020: "Gavin Christopher Newsom is an American politician and businessman who is the 40th governor of California, serving since January 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California from 2011 to 2019 and as the 42nd mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011."
Serving to Lead Institutional Racism since 2004
This makes his statement all the more ludicrous, as one reviews: "...we don't tear out the institutional racism from all of our institutions large and small. We don't! And we know that'.
White Gavin has led "systemic racism" in various leading political roles since 2004. Apparently white Gavin has yet to make significant change in the institutional racism of Democrat-led California.
[ 4 ] One learns of this white Democrat serving "institutional racism" from 1990 to 2020: "Andrew Mark Cuomo (born December 6, 1957) is an American politician, author, and lawyer serving since 2011 as the 56th governor of New York. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position his father, Mario Cuomo, held for three terms. ...He began his career working as the campaign manager for his father, then as an assistant district attorney in New York City before entering private law practice. He founded Housing Enterprise for the Less Privileged (HELP USA) and was appointed chair of the New York City Homeless Commission, a position he held from 1990 to 1993. ...In 1993, Cuomo joined the Clinton Administration as Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. From 1997 to 2001, he served as the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. ... In 2006, Cuomo was elected Attorney General of New York. He won the election as Governor of New York in 2010." In "Andrew Cuomo," Wikipedia article, n. d.
Serving to Lead Institutional Racism since 1990
White Andrew has led "institutional racism" in various leading political roles since 1990. Apparently white Andrew has yet to make any significant change in the institutional racism of Democrat-led New York State. One notes additionally that he had no significant impact on the institutional racism of the Clinton and Obama administrations, for which he served "systemic racism."
[ 5 ] One learns of this white Democrat serving "institutional racism" from 2002 to 2020: "Bill de Blasio (born Warren Wilhelm Jr.; May 8, 1961) is an American politician who has served as the 109th mayor of New York City since 2014. A member of the Democratic Party, he was New York City's public advocate from 2010 to 2013. ...He started his career as an elected official on the New York City Council, representing the 39th district in Brooklyn from 2002 to 2009. After serving one term as public advocate, he was elected mayor of New York City in 2013 and reelected in 2017." In "Bill de Blasio," Wikipedia article, n. d.
Serving to Lead Institutional Racism since 2002...
White Bill the Tall has led "institutional racism" in various leading political roles since 2002. Apparently white Bill has yet to make any significant change in the institutional racism of Democrat-led City of New York.
...with Hint of Anti-Semitism
But there is another side to his tale: "Mayor Bill De Blasio has gone out of his way to appease large groups of people protesting police, going so far as ordering Contact Tracers not to ask COVID-positive patients if they’ve attended a Black Lives Matter protest. The same social distancing leniency for the Jewish community is non-existent. Faithwire has covered previous instances of officers being sent to separate Jews who are gathering, whether it be in the street or at a community playground. Video emerged today of DeBlasio yet again singling out the Jewish community, as City workers were seen welding shut a park frequently used by Orthodox Jews in Williamsburg, Brooklyn." In "De Blasio Targets Gathering Jews Yet Again as BLM Protests Continue," by Dan Andros, Faithwire, 15 June 2020.
[ 6 ] The article ends with an assertion becoming proven by facts and the identity of the players in the institutional racism game: "Democrats, the media, Hollywood, and the organized left have made it their mission to devastate black America… To keep blacks poor, angry, frustrated, and bitter — even as other minority groups somehow flourish under all this 'systemic oppression'." And as to the "other," it began with "America is accused of racism, of holding racial minorities back by way of system-wide white supremacism, and yet Jews, black Nigerians, Indian Americans (from India), and Asians are more successful in America than whites, and their respective imprison rates are lower than whites. How is it possible in a country that we’re told is riddled with the cancer of white supremacism for those four groups to enjoy a higher standard of living and more success than their all-powerful, white oppressors?"
The Devastation of Black America to What End?
In addition to the political strategy of identity politics in general, and racial-ized politics in particular, one may find some instruction in the political ways of Three Little Democrats
But for Democrats to maintain their "systemic" and "institutional" power in racist California and racist New York, as elsewhere, they must continue to ignore their inability to deal with many crises alongside amplifying the drum-beat message that Everything's about my colored skin
All the societal problems which these captains of the ships of state lead are never, ever their responsibility. This is why "institutional" and "systemic" are the latest adjectives to serve one goal -- to deflect accountability yet keep themselves and their party in office.
[ 7 ] At the end of the YouTube video, the Black conservative is told by one of the White liberals, "you don't belong here." Indeed.
And so one is reminded: "The white liberal differs from the white conservative only in one way: the liberal is more deceitful than the conservative. The liberal is more hypocritical than the conservative. Both want power, but the white liberal is the one who has perfected the art of posing as the Negro's friend and benefactor; and by winning the friendship, allegiance, and support of the Negro, the white liberal is able to use the Negro as a pawn or tool in this political 'football game' that is constantly raging between the white liberals and white conservatives. Politically the American Negro is nothing but a football and the white liberals control this mentally dead ball through tricks of tokenism: false promises of integration and civil rights. In this profitable game of deceiving and exploiting the political politician of the American Negro, those white liberals have the willing cooperation of the Negro civil rights leaders. These 'leaders' sell out our people for just a few crumbs of token recognition and token gains. These 'leaders' are satisfied with token victories and token progress because they themselves are nothing but token leaders." In "Malcolm X speech," Malcom X in 1963, Digital History, University of Houston.
It seems ever more true that the terms liberal and conservative lose their meanings, when examined more closely in the failing model of Left and Right
Even with this cited quote of Malcolm , one finds the topic problematic. Malcolm X is reported to have said in 1961: the "Jew is behind the integration movement, using the Negro as a tool." ("Malcolm X: A Life Of Reinvention," by Manning Marable, Viking, 2011.) This foreshadows such animosity as is shown by New York's mayor, earlier.
While this rhyme envisions four white Democrats, one can continue on with others of many political parties and persuasions so heavily invested in continuing the politics of race.
[ 8 ] The article observes that this was "southern": "It suggested that the Tenth Amendment should limit the reach of the Supreme Court on such issues. Senators led the opposition, with Strom Thurmond writing the initial draft and Richard Russell the final version. The manifesto was signed by 19 senators and 82 representatives, including the entire Congressional delegations of the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Virginia. All of the signatories were Southern Democrats from former Confederate states except two Virginia Republicans, Joel Broyhill and Richard Poff."
"Patient effort by the good people of both races"
From the document itself, one finds vocabulary most interesting: "This unwarranted exercise of power by the Court, contrary to the Constitution, is creating chaos and confusion in the States principally affected. It is destroying the amicable relations between the white and Negro races that have been created through 90 years of patient effort by the good people of both races. It has planted hatred and suspicion where there has been heretofore friendship and understanding. Without regard to the consent of the governed, outside mediators are threatening immediate and revolutionary changes in our public schools systems. If done, this is certain to destroy the system of public education in some of the States. With the gravest concern for the explosive and dangerous condition created by this decision and inflamed by outside meddlers...." In "The Southern Manifesto (1956)."
First Black Southern Republicans, circa 1870
Similar use of vocabulary greeted the entrance of the first black Congressmen from the post-Civil War South, many black Republicans.
Of one of these, as an example, one reads: "Hiram Rhodes Revels (September 27, 1827 – January 16, 1901) was a Republican U.S. Senator, minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and a college administrator. Born free in North Carolina, he later lived and worked in Ohio, where he voted before the Civil War. He became the first African American to serve in the U.S. Congress when he was elected to the United States Senate as a Republican to represent Mississippi in 1870 and 1871 during the Reconstruction era." In "Hiram Rhodes Revels," Wikipedia, n. d.
A Racist, Race-obsessed New Left
In Seattle's "autonomous zone" in 2020, which now some wish to re-label given the hints of the history of succession in the US, and ostensibly in a time when "black lives matter," a black man carried an American flag, and was labeled "race traitor." A video testifies, though major news networks ignored this. One finds however: "Here they are, white liberals harassing a black man because he has a flag. Does that seem a bit odd to anyone? They yell some terrible things at the man as he walks through the crowd. This is supposed to be the peaceful protesters who started their own little neighborhood by taking over about six blocks of territory in Seattle. They've made it the no-cop zone and even planted a really bad farm. But instead of being welcoming to people who enter, they are being hostile to this one simply because he has a flag." In "Black man harassed for carrying American flag through protest zone," Trending News (video), posted by Frank the Tank, 17 June 2020.
Given the idiotic assertion by the modern Left that a black man carrying an American flag is a "race traitor," then the above pictured first black men in Congress, Republicans no less, in circa 1870 were also "race traitors." Rather they were targets of racist Democrats of that era, as a black man carrying an American flag is the target to today's racist Left.
Muhammad Ali, Jr.
One reads of an opinion: "Of the BLM movement, Ali Jr., a Muslim like his father, said: 'I think it's racist.' 'It's not just black lives matter, white lives matter, Chinese lives matter, all lives matter, everybody's life matters. God loves everyone — he never singled anyone out. Killing is wrong no matter who it is,' Ali said during an hour-long interview with The Post." In "Muhammad Ali’s son says dad would have hated 'racist' Black Lives Matter," by Chris White, New York Post, 20 June 2020.
This is not a new phenomenon. One may consider the Left - camouflaging itself with the mantle of "liberal" - has been moving ever more Left with an impatience which can be documented. Consider: Anthem of the Academic Left
Communism to be Utilized by Black Folk?
So BLM is what? One reads: "Those progressive fixations do not appear to be accidental. In a video interview from 2015, one of the group's founders admitted that she and her fellow co-founder are dedicated to the ideology of Communist figurehead Karl Marx. Patrisse Cullors, who founded the group with Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi in 2013, was interviewed by Morgan State University Professor Jared Ball in 2015 regarding the movement she helped to create. Ball in that interview asked Cullors about 'critiques' of her group, ones that allege 'a lack of perhaps ideological direction in Black Lives Matter that would allow it to be, to fizzle out.' Responding to that question, Cullors said that the group 'do[es] have an ideological frame. Myself and Alicia in particular are trained organizers. We are trained Marxists. We are super-versed on, sort of, ideological theories,' she said, adding that the group's founders sought to 'build a movement that could be utilized by many, many black folk'." In "Video resurfaces in which Black Lives Matter founder says group's creators are 'trained Marxists'," by Daniel Payne, Just the News, 20 June 2020.
A Root of Ironic Humor In All This
The sad humor in all this is that the modern Left traces their confusion back to a previous age when the accusation of being a Jewish nigger
A counterpoint to the adoration of Marx by BLM founders, one reads one from many other voices: "Marx was, first and foremost, a European bourgeoisie, a German to be precise, who thought of all non-Europeans, those without blonde hair and blue eyes (Nietzsche's “'blond beast'), as inferior beings, lesser humans. His works, especially his private correspondence with his colleague Engels and his journalistic articles are full of derogatory and racist terms describing and at times chastising non-Westerners and the non-white people of the world, Asians and Africans in particular. For example, when he and his colleague Engels talk of the poor working classes, they have the oppressed of Europe, especially of England, Germany, and France in mind, and not agonizing about the darker nations of Africa and Asia. Following his master, the German Hegel for whom History (yes with capital H) ends with the ideal German State in his head, and which is nothing less than a God-like 'Absolute', Marx thought of Africans in strictly Eurocentric and racist terms, even using the 'N' word for the black people of that continent. Moreover, The Communist Manifesto which many naïve leftist-activist types praise and quote often to make some superficial and reactionary anti-religious argument, is mostly about the virtues of capitalism as a dynamic tool for change that would eventually make the uncivilized non-Westerners (non-whites, that is) 'civilized' or enable them to enter 'civilization' as exclusively defined by Europeans like Marx and Engels." In "My Surkha Friends and Their Uncle Marx," by Dervaish Ali, Balochistan Voices, 28 December 2018.
Therefore it might be instructive to visualize celebrities of the liberal Left in their comedic racist humor, such as (in order, below) Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Howard Stern, the now iconic Ted Danson in blackface before Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Hanks and Alyssa Milano.
White Entertainers of a Progressive Era
It's a laugh a minute at the modern liberal minstrel show. An infinite jest perhaps. Thus one reflects on the empty charges of "systemic" racism made by those who have led systemic, racist institutions for decades, such as White Eric and white Gavin
For some additional humor, it is amusing to consider more elders of the Democrat Party whose mantra in the moment is that Republicans are racists, while they are not an entrenched leadership over those systems and institutions which are seemingly a part of racism. So, one surveys...
White Democrats in Power for Decades
An Aging Political Palette of Pale White
Diane Feinstein, elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1969, then Mayor of San Francisco 1978, and 28 years in the US Senate since 1992 to the present, in public office for over fifty years of systemic racism.
Joe Biden, Delaware's County Council from 1970 to 1972, and elected to the U.S. Senate from Delaware in 1972 when he became the sixth-youngest senator in American history. Biden was reelected six times and was the fourth-most senior senator when he resigned to assume the vice presidency in 2009, in public office for over fifty years of institutionalized racism.
Patrick Leahy, Vermont's State Attorney from 1966, and in his eighth six-year term of office as a senator, he is currently (since the December 2012 death of Daniel Inouye) the most senior member of the Senate, in public office for almost fifty years of systemic racism.
Chuck Schumer was elected to the New York state assembly on 1975, then then House of Representatives (from 1981 to 1998) and then Senate from 1998 to the present, in public office for over forty-five years of systemic racism.
Nancy Pelosi, was elected to Congress in 1987 and its current speaker, in public office for about thirty-three years atop institutions of racism.
Unaware for 33 Years?
As to Pelosi's political game, one reads: "Madam Speaker insisted in a news conference that she was unaware of the portraits or their unsavory provenance until recently, despite their conspicuous location just outside the House chamber where she has worked for the last 33 years. Having finally learned of the offensive paintings, Pelosi ordered them taken down. Oddly, she neglects to note in her letter ordering the removal that all had been Democrats...." In "Pelosi Secretes Her Party’s Pro-Slavery Past," by David Catron, Spectator, 22 June 2020.
Black Voter Suppression by a Black Democrat against a Black Democrat in NYC?
An amusing side note to the heated politics: a black Democrat in New York is accusing the party for his seeming loss to another black Democrat. One reads: "One Democratic source told the Daily News that the accusations seemed odd coming from Blake, a vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee. 'This is a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee ... accusing the Bronx Democratic Party of rigging an election for a candidate they didn’t even endorse?' the source said." In "New York Democrat refuses to concede House primary election, alleges 'black voter suppression'," by Dom Calicchio, Fox News, 26 June 2020.
Systemic racism? Meet some of the system's most prominent managers, in majority power under Democrats Carter, Clinton and Obama. Seen any institutional racism in the last decades? Democrats wish the public to see Republicans as the racists. But see these Democrat captains over the institutions they captain. This is because when Democrats politick, they assert so regularly that Everything's about my colored skin
Looking Behind the Systemic Racism Curtain
What then might be behind the latest charges of systemic and institutional racism by those who lead at the municipal and state levels, as well as across the federal level when considered over decades? Follow the access to money as one likely motive.
In White Eric's City of Los Angeles...
In White Eric's "systemically racist" Los Angeles, as one example among many, one sees: "In all, the developer doled out more than $800,000 in benefits in exchange for the councilman’s help in his ambitious plan to redevelop his property and build the tallest building west of the Mississippi, according to an affidavit. When federal agents searched Huizar's home in November 2018, the criminal complaint says, they found about $129,000 in cash hidden in a closet. Some of the money was concealed in red envelopes with Chinese characters, according to the complaint. 'This case pulled back the curtain on rampant corruption at City Hall,' said Hanna. 'Councilman Huizar violated the public trust to a staggering degree, allegedly soliciting and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from multiple sources over many years'." In "Los Angeles councilman charged in 'staggering' bribery scheme," by Andrew Blankstein and Rich Schapiro, NBC News, 23 June 2020.
Now there's a motivation for achieving high political office: access to money. Consider the reality of the political class and its of long history of blatant Corruption
White Eric's Cultural Competency Advisor Versus the "Slave Catchers"
But more as Garcetti has hobnobbed with some all-too-revolutionary folk. One reads: "Kevin Wharton Price of the Africa Town Coalition shared video from outside the hospital with a few protesters on Sunday in which he refers to the injured deputies as 'American's most notorious gang members'. He's also referred to the shooting as the 'start of retribution', calling it a 'good thing'. Over the weekend protesters have gathered outside of the hospital and some were heard chanting, 'We hope they die'. Price shared video going to the hospital with a few others in tow where he called the deputies 'murderers'." In "REVEALED: Protester who slammed shot LA deputies as 'murderers' and called the ambush the 'start of retribution' met with Mayor Eric Garcetti this year to discuss 'cultural competency' workshops," by Marlene Lenthang, Dailymail.com, 15 September 2020.
Of Wharton one reads: "... he expressed his glee at the shootings, saying that people should 'celebrate today because the oppressor has been slain.' Both LASD deputies are expected to survive and are recovering. One is a 24-year-old man; the other is a 31-year-old mother with a six-year-old daughter." In "Man Who Hoped for Death of L.A. Officers Has No Regrets: 'Slave-catchers … Got Popped'," by Joel B. Pollak, Breitbart, 15 September 2020. The 31-year old is a Latina, and apparently for Garcetti's "culutural competency" advisor a "slave-catcher." Such is the state of the Los Angeles "system" which is supposed to evidence "systemic racism."
White Eric will be required to choose sides. The attempted murder of a Latina deputy is either an evil thing or a "good thing" and "the start of retribution." Where White Eric will land in this "systematic" racist game is a question. After all, he governs over the City of Los Angeles' "systemic racism."
In White Gavin's State of California....
In White Gavin's "institutionally racist" State of California, one finds: "...a partial list of California politicians who have been convicted of crimes: Richard Alarcon, Lee Baca, Ron Calderon, Tom Calderon, Mike Carona, Duke Cunningham, Mary Hayashi, Duncan Hunter, Ross Mirkarimi, Ref Rodriquez, Paul Tanaka, Rod Wright, Leland Yee. That's three state senators, two state assemblymen, two members of Congress, one member of the LAUSD school board, one LA City Councilor, one undersheriff and 3 sheriffs; a rainbow coalition of criminals. This doesn't count the roundup in the crooked city of Bell that netted the mayor and four city councilmen, as well as literally hundreds of other small-town and county elected or appointed officials up and down the state. While the media fixates on Washington, our own nest is fouled." In "An Outbreak of Corruption in Los Angeles, by Doug McIntyre, Daily News, 15 March 2020.
In White Andrew's State of New York...
In White Andrew's "systemically racist" State of New York, one finds: "...New York is rich in corruption scandals due to a confluence of circumstances. Albany is a highly insular place. Political scientists have found that capitals that are far from the main population centers and main media outlets tend to be more corrupt. Although the New York media covers the capital, there are too many members from New York City to warrant much individual scrutiny. More importantly, power in New York State is closely held. The most enduring cliché about New York politics is the notion of 'three men in a room.' Nearly every major decision, from setting the state budget on down, is made in private by the governor, the Assembly speaker and the Senate majority leader." In "Congratulations, New York, You’re #1 in Corruption," by Alan Greenblatt, Politico, 5 May 2015.
One should consider the assertion by Greenblatt, that "nearly every decision... is made in private by the governor, the Assembly speaker and the Senate majority leader." Thus institutionally racist New York State remains institutionally racist because "nearly every decision" is made by White Andrew and his friends.
That should be clear. Ergo one needs camouflage. Cry racism.
In White Bill the Tall's New York City....
In White Bill the Tall's "institutionally racist" New York City, one finds: "...an old story: basically a Ponzi scheme enabled by lots of money sloshing around and a lack of regulation from the people who should have been protecting the victims. The story about Uber and Lyft is mostly just a fairy tale invented to hide what really happened. Corruption comes in all forms and sizes. This scam was small and local, but otherwise it was much the same as the housing bubble that wrecked the global economy in 2008. That’s why it’s important to root it out, no matter where it happens." In "Corruption and Bubbles in New York: How the Taxi Medallion Scam Ruined Thousands," by Kevin Drum, Mother Jones, 19 May 2019.
Many news reports could detail more, but the overall impression should be clear. Politics is access to money, and so political office is quite regularly sought by those who would obtain such access. In order to camouflage the "old story" being constantly retold, a shiny new object need be offered to the public.
Systemic racism charged by those in charge of the systems. Institutional racism found in the institutions run by these accusers -- of themselves.
Whose System Is Systematic Racism?
The current Democrat candidate for president as of July 2020 was Vice-President for eight years. Joe Biden. " 'We have a chance to rip the roots of systemic racism out of this country,' Biden says in the Independence Day video shared with POLITICO, which features images of protests though the years and includes references to Bull Connor, Martin Luther King, George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement." In "Biden focuses on racial justice in July 4 message," by Christopher Cadelago, Politico, 4 July 2020.
One might ask then why in an administration eight years long the "we" of that Democrat administration didn't take their "chance to rip the roots of systematic racism out of this country?
Whitehouse's White Club
White Sheldon
Then there's Democrat Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and his whites-only club: "Whitehouse's office repeatedly refused to respond to phone calls and multiple emails regarding the Senator's membership in a white-only club." In "Sheldon Whitehouse's 'White Only' Summer Beach Club," Staff and Kate Nagle, GoLocalProv, 21 August 2017. Apparently to avoid scrutiny the membership was merely shifted to his wife's name, which journalists easily found, noting she became among the "largest shareholders in the exclusive club."
Reporting on Senator Whitehouse's double-standard spread: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D.) is facing new scrutiny over his decades-long membership in an all-white private beach club, as he bills himself as a progressive and prominent critic of 'systemic racism' — dismissing membership based on race as 'a long tradition in Rhode Island'." In "Sheldon Whitehouse under fire for membership at all-white beach club," by Emily Jacobs, NY Post, 21 June 2021.
Complications ensue: "Whitehouse's office did not return a request for comment about why the senator has failed to promote diversity among his staff, especially in light of his claim to have 'worked relentlessly toward bringing greater equality of opportunity and outcome to all Americans.' His own office, it would seem, is the place where Whitehouse has the most power to effect positive change." In "ANALYSIS: Sheldon Whitehouse Senior Staff as White as His Private Beach Club," by Matthew Foldi and Andrew Stiles, Washington Free Beacon, 24 June 2021.
It couldn't possibly be that this long-time Democrat Senator doesn't live up to his publicly stated standards. Or is it?
Such a stance brings one to consider....
The Old Formula and No Need to Produce One Speck of Evidence
One reads from a black conservative and academic, Thomas Sowell, " 'What bothers me is that when he says things like that there is no need to produce one speck of evidence to back that up,' he elaborated. 'You simply make the assertion and it's repeated enough — it's the old formula by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, that the people will believe any lie if it's big enough and told loud enough, often enough. And that's the basis of so many of these things that are said. Once you start getting into facts, then all of this stuff crumbles. But the problem is neither the media nor a good share of academia feel like testing these fashionable notions'." In "Thomas Sowell Argues Income Inequality And Institutional Racism Aren’t Really Problems," by Jamie Weinstein, Daily Caller, 5 October 2015.
With this, one may fairly and annoyingly conclude that the modern Democrat Party is acting according to that old formula. And Biden, in particular, who could have shown with his President, Barak Obama, that their political party would "rip the roots of systematic racism out" and yet did not, given today's politics in 2020, simply repeats the slogan. It is indeed the "old formula" with a horrid past.Moreover, the "old formula" is a slippery game, at best. The so-called "race card" may be played in a variety of ways and to odd and varying effect.
Senator Whiteguy and the Cynical Ploy
One completes the picture: "Democrats don't care. Their entire spiel on race is a cynical political ploy, and this past week highlights that fact." In "'Senator Whiteguy' and Democrats show just how fake their fight against racism really is," by Zachary Faria, Washington Examiner, 25 June 2021.
Faria observes, "The infantilization of black and Hispanic Americans by Democrats has been on overdrive this week as they have tripped over themselves to show how phony their new 'anti-racism' act really is."
Past Time to Hit Reset?
It's a game of words. Consider: "Today's Dream is that white America will somehow wake up and understand that racism makes black America's problems insurmountable. Not in-your-face racism, of course, but structural racism—sometimes termed White Privilege or white supremacy. Racism of a kind that America must get down on its knees and 'understand' before we can move forward. The problem is that this Dream qualifies more as a fantasy. If we are really interested in helping poor black people in America, it's time to hit Reset." In "Black People Should Stop Expecting White America to 'Wake Up' to Racism," by John McWhorter, Daily Beast, 14 April 2017.
McWhorter challenges: "The old-time Civil Rights leaders did things; too often these days we think talking about things is doing something. But what, really, are we talking about in terms of doing? Who among us genuinely supposes that our Congress, amidst its clear and implacable polarization, is really going to arrive at any 'decisions' aimed at overturning America’s basic power structure in favor of poor black people?"
Consider a rhymed take on the political and supposedly "polarized" game: Donkey Skins and Elephant Hides
In politics as in the political media of any sort, follow the money. It hides behind a game of words. Words like White Eric's and White Gavin's.
[ 9 ] Given the postmodern game of defining racism as defined by those in power, white Eric and white Gavin, white Andrew and white Bill the Tall are racist by that definition, for holding political power.
As to Williams' observation of "institutions of higher learning," one learns their race related sentiments are in fact racist.
Yale and Its Institutional Racism
He writes: "Yale University is by no means alone in the practice of institutional racism. Last year, Asian students brought a discrimination lawsuit against Harvard University and lost. The judge held that the plaintiffs could not prove that the lower personal ratings assigned to Asian applicants are the result of 'animus' or ill-motivated racial hostility towards Asian Americans by Harvard admissions officials. However, no one offered an explanation as to why Asian American applicants were deemed to have, on average, poorer personal qualities than white applicants. An explanation may be that Asian students party less, study more and get higher test scores than white students." The next legal challenge will hone the argument.
Williams offers clarity: "...institutional racism or systemic racism. Both operate under the assumption that one race is superior to another. It involves the practice of treating a person or group of people differently based on their race." I would clarify that the assumption is either that one race is superior OR inferior to another. Such clarity upends each Robin Racist
For another confession of who runs states' systemic racism, simply consider Systemic racism
[ 10 ] Rather than identify by race, perhaps the political affiliation would unify the odd prevalence of certain politicians who govern over and above entities evidencing systemic racism, Rather than identify a single party of politicians, one might identify that politics which bathes itself in race and identify as the culprit?
It's a thought worth considering. Likely it will not be considered in this age of political corruption in so many areas and avenues, which is why one may Color me skeptical
The signs go up, the signs come down
"With that doomsday deadline about to come and go in just a few months time, the service is rather sheepishly pulling all ‘2020 signs’ from its displays after the computer models it relied upon from the early 2000s, which convincingly foretold of unending glacial retreat, have turned out to be catastrophically inaccurate." In "The NPS Removes all 'Glaciers Gone by 2020' signs at Glacier National Park, Montana after 'Larger-than-Average Snowfall over Several Winters'," by Cap Allon, Electroverse, 8 June 2020.
The signs go up, the signs come down,
The happy smile; the grumpy frown.
Doomsday looms in every town
Until it fades, aged and rundown.
The signs come down, to come again,
The next 'for sure' awaits 'amen.'
Doomsday's lure's just about when,
And doomsday's date's a comedienne.
Addendum in June: "Snow is coating parts of the mountain West for the beginning of June's second full week as an unseasonably cold air mass infiltrates the northwestern United States. The National Weather Service (NWS) in Reno, Nevada, dubbed the wintry weather pattern "Juneary" in a tweet that showed snow falling as low as 5,800 feet in elevation in California's Sierra Nevada early Monday morning." In "It May Be June, But Snow is Falling Early This Week in Parts of the West," by Brian Donegan, The Weather Channel, 13 June 2020.
Addendum of Running Out of Emissions' Revenues: "... the California Legislature that is getting just what it said it wanted when it passed the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 in Assembly Bill 32, which created the state’s Cap and Trade Program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG’s) from polluting industries. But lawmakers are just now learning that if you run out of emissions, you run out of revenues. Cap and Trade was devised to gradually reduce industrial emissions to the level that existed in 1990. Anything over the emission targets would require industries to buy or trade pollution permits (called 'allowances') in a quarterly market auction, rather than paying pollution fines or taxes. Due to the government-created coronavirus business shutdowns, California’s greenhouse gas emissions are reported to have fallen the most since World War II (minus 5% in 4 months), which is what environmentalists have long said they wished for. But along with this drop, Cap and Trade revenues from industrial purchases of pollution allowances dropped from $600-$850 million per quarter in 2019 to $25 million in May 2020 – a 97 % decrease. These revenues are used to fund 25 percent of the California High Speed Rail project and a number of non-profit agencies in disadvantaged communities involved in 'improving public health'." In "California’s Cap and Trade Runs Out of Emissions….and Money for Pet Political Projects," by Wayne Lusvardi, California Globe, 9 July 2020.
