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Post by pooka on Dec 13, 2020 3:13:44 GMT -5
Chuckie, I had to look that up to see if it was true. Actually Nixon froze civil servant wages as inflation took it's toll. They called it stagflation. I'm sure it was way more complicated though. I just heard part of a piece on PBS radio the other night about Agnew's shenanigans that forced him to resign. He had a kickback scheme that dated back to him being Governor of Maryland, & before that as comptroller of Baltimore to award contracts in exchange for literally envelops of cash that he continued to get in the White House. He tried to keep doing it with Federal contracts, but couldn't get his hands into it. He had no authority in that process. Nixon knew about it as the Watergate scandal was unfolding. nana, at one time, congressmen actually knew one another socially & mingled at diner parties & other social events. They all lived in Washington during congressional sessions. There was much more cooperation in private back then. The bluster was mostly for the press. Today, they are bitter enemies in a pitched battle where no one is willing to step into the middle ground & compromise on anything. Especially the republicans. There's no such thing as a moderate on either side of the aisle. If a republican even suggests compromise, they get branded as a RINO (republican in name only).
I was disturbed not long ago watching a PBS program of the rise of Hitler & the NAZI party, who were actually called the Social Democrats. Three points jumped out at me. First, the term, Lügenpresse. That translates to the Lying Press or Press of Lies. Sound familiar. Trump calls it Fake News. Second, the slogan, Make Germany Great Again. That one is a pretty obvious parallel to Make America Great Again. The third is the big lie concept. If you tell a lie long enough & loud enough, there will be those who will buy into it no matter how ridiculous & far fetch the lie is.
Now I want to make it clear. I'm not calling anyone a NAZI. I'm only pointing out the parallels. It's much more complicated than that. Hitler was able to get control by winning thirty some percent of the legislative body among thirteen parties before seizing control. He also was elected by about the same slim margin as Trump after suppressing nearly half the voters through intimidation. People forget Hitler was elected before he seized total control. Our political system is a bit more robust. People don't want to admit they are easy to manipulate. P. T. Barnum pointed out a long time ago when he said, there's a sucker born every minute. Ask anyone in advertising how easily the public can be steered to adopt an idea with slick slogans & ad placements. If you can sell pet rocks, you can sell anything. As a group, humans are not great critical thinkers. A mob mentality can take over, causing people to do things that are beyond belief. Reagan help us down this dark path a long time ago when he abolished the FCC fair & balanced doctrine in broadcasting. So now we have information sources that become echo chambers for ideas & concepts that are so devoid of facts & rational reasoning, the public domain becomes so filled with the most nonsensical balderdash, even the smartest of us begin to question what is real or factual. First they came ... First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me If you aren't a student of history, you can be led down a dark path, & at some point, there's no going back, & you won't like where you'll end up.
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Post by nana on Dec 13, 2020 8:55:47 GMT -5
My mother grew up in Nazi Germany and saw the rise of Hitler, and the horrors that followed, firsthand. She died in 2013, long before the rise of Trump. I have often though to myself I’m glad she’s dead because this would have killed her. She already saw the parallels happening in the George W years. She told me it felt like she was living through it again. The groundwork for the big lie began in the Reagan years, and was reinforced and buttressed by Newt Gingrich in his battles with Clinton. They distracted people with the sideshow of culture wars and meanwhile they were initiating and carrying out a massive, massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to that 1% we hear about. Many Democrats were complicit with it because they were lining their pockets too.
How many years have we heard both sides claim that small businesses are the backbone of America? How many years have we heard both sides claim that they are on the side of the middle class? Yet...how’s the middle class actually doing? And I’m not even talking about the damage done by the pandemic. That’s just been one more big nail in the coffin. 40 years ago a high school education could get you a good job, where one wage earner could support a family, and buy a house, and the washing machines and yes, even the Chambers stoves to go in it. Then the middle class started the long slide down. We all feel it to some extent; we know in our hearts that this is not the way America is supposed to be, but they have us at odds with each other, at each other’s throats, fighting over the crumbs that are falling from the gluttonous banquet table of the oligarchs and multi-national corporations. The crazier it becomes it seems the more entrenched we become. I don’t know how to reach people.
The other day I went for a checkup on my knee (all good!) and a woman in the waiting room was loudly complaining about how stupid she thought having to wear a mask was. She was wearing one because she had to in the doctor’s office, but she was letting everyone know how she thought it doesn’t do anything, how it’s just a way to control us and make us afraid and take away our rights... the whole 9 yards. I told her well, it’s not perfect protection, but it helps to slow down the transmission so the hospitals don’t get overwhelmed they way they are now in the places where people weren’t serious about taking precautions. She said oh where are hospitals getting overwhelmed? I said turn on the TV, read a newspaper—all over the country! She said that’s just the media hyping it up, fake news. I felt myself getting angry at her and I didn’t want to be, but I couldn’t help myself. So I guess I’m part of the problem. I told her go ahead stick your head in the sand, I hope you don’t get it. She got up in a huff and sat down on the other side of the waiting room. I wish I could have handled it better. My husband says just don’t even talk to people like that. They argue and get loud and spray the covid that much further. But there’s the problem in a nutshell. How can we start talking to each other again? We have to start from some common ground, but what common ground can I find with someone who doesn’t believe a pandemic that is now killing 3000 people a day isn’t even happening?
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Post by pooka on Dec 13, 2020 10:55:35 GMT -5
I'm at a loss. I fear for the future where facts & truths are at odds with what people will believe.
My cousin is with the loony mob. During the Obama years, he would repetitively bring up the many lies about him, like him not being a citizen. I would try to talk him down asking for proof. I would say, the bigger the claim, the bigger & more convincing the proof needed to be. But he's a bigot, so that was the hook that helped him down the garden path to even greater lies. He's also one of these more fringe christens who believes in some of the more literal interpretations of the bible, so he's already primed to believe in magic, & the myths that can have no basis in rational thinking & science. I on the other hand, although raised in a catholic household, learned from an early age to have a firm belief in science & rational & critical thinking. I went to a catholic grade school for my first three years, but could never abide the ridiculous claims of the bible stories that were obviously not based in reality. Even back then, the catholic church was conceding & teaching the idea of some of the stories being parables, & not factual. But I couldn't buy into any of it, no mater how it was rationalized or qualified. To me it was all nonsense. That's why I ended up in public school starting in the fourth grade. I mean how can you believe a story you can't sell to a five year old.
I guess I'm a natural born skeptic who can't be conned. But there are far too many people who don't want to think about things for themselves. They prefer things handed to them on a silver platter, & let others do their thinking for them. They take the easy path to be spoon feed poison in small doses until they're saturated with a lethal dose. By then it's too late, & their mind are so thoroughly corrupted, & it's impossible to purge their system of the lies. If they are presented with a fact & a lie, they prefer the lie because it's more convenient & easy to swallow, because it takes no effort to process in their mind. We're becoming a race of slaves, because it take less effort to swallow the poison than fight for more wholesome nourishment. We've lost the will to fight back. It's becomes easier to be swept along by the title wave than to try to swim against the current.
Sometimes I wish for death, because it's become too painful to watch the train wreck that mankind has become. I've become weary of the fight. Let me find a comforting rock to cling to or a cave to crawl into as the rest of the world gets swept over the edge to oblivion. Let me live out my life in isolation rather than swim along in the sewer that mankind has become. I see no path to prosperous ending. Good thoughts & prayers are an empty promise, & are of no solace to me. The Origins of Conservatism has always been about an elite class ruthlessly ruling over the rabble masses. Those that follow it have been sold a bill of goods. It is virtually medieval feudalism in the modern age, & always will be.
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Post by pooka on Dec 14, 2020 2:41:11 GMT -5
I want to apologies if I've insulted anyone's sensibilities with this tirade. I've done by best to do honest judgement & representation of the facts. I really don't like talking politics with people I don't know well, because I don't want to offend anyone, but honest & sincere discussions are a healthy way of hashing out apposing points of view without coming to blows. If I've misrepresented anything, please, please point it out. Although I'm a pretty good student of history. I'm in no way an expert, so again if I've made any errors, be so kind to point it out. I'm not out to convert anyone, but perhaps to inform. I'm willing to hear apposing points of views, but I'm not out to pick a fight. I'm still friendly with my cousin, even though I think his political views are largely distorted nonsense. I think we've both decided to avoid discussing our radically different points of view. I think I just confuse him, & he doesn't like that so I let him be. The last time he tried to start a discussion, it was about mental health. He stared raising his voice as if he was about to launch into a loud unbalanced rave saying a lot of it was due to demon possession. I cut him off short, because I wasn't about to exacerbate his disillusions. I had no interest in getting into a shouting contest about his ignorance. I feel sorry for him, but I'm not going to pick at him.
I don't mind a spirited discussion on any subject, but not if it gets unfriendly & abusive. I don't enjoy insulting anyone, because more often that not, I know more about the subject that they do. I really don't like showing off & hurting anyone's feelings, but I will if you try to hurt mine. I heard a program on the radio tonight where they talked about people getting a bit edgy, because of the shut downs & isolation. I suppose this extended written discussion is my way of working through my cabin fever. The added drama of the election & it's unprecedented post election conflict has heightened my concerns. If you had written this out as a screenplay a few years ago, you couldn't give it away, because it would be considered way too dystopian to be believed.
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Post by nana on Dec 14, 2020 21:47:01 GMT -5
You’re speaking your mind. It’s still your right as an American! And it’s hard not to react to the level of tension and antagonism that’s swirling around us every day. Discussing politics and religion used to be avoided in polite company because it was so difficult to avoid arguments and unpleasantness. Often people could be friends and neighbors for years and not even know what each other’s politics were. But lately it seems everyone’s got to shout their view right in your face and if you don’t see things the same way you’re not only in disagreement, you’re the enemy. And they can’t even just ignore you, they’ve got to crush you. Yet I have to believe most people are basically decent at heart. I don’t think people enjoy being so at odds with their countrymen. Well, maybe some do, the ones who have gone all in for the church of Trump, like a cult. Everything he does is calculated to keep the pot boiling, and he’s got to keep adding fuel to the fire to keep people in a state of fury, because if they have time to reflect they might not like the path they find themselves going down. Maybe once he is out of office cooler heads will prevail. I hope so!
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Post by pooka on Dec 15, 2020 8:24:10 GMT -5
I really find discussing this rather distasteful, but as the old adage says, the only thing that evil needs to thrive is for good men to do nothing.
The electorate has been complacent in the past, to the extent, Trump & Clinton only drew something like a bit over fifty percent of the eligible voters. Clinton actually won the popular vote, but the electoral collage quirk gave it to Trump. People being complacent has been a problem that got us here. Republican voters typically turn out in bigger numbers. They've also been suppressing the vote in all kind of ways for years. This all started years ago with the republicans starting with school boards, city counsels, mayors moving up to state governments which have control over voting districts, so gerrymandering gave them out sized advantage on congressional districts. Republicans have been playing the long game manipulating state & local voting rules to goose the votes for them, & suppressing voting groups that typically vote for democrats. Republicans are strong in rural areas. Democrats strength is urban areas. Play with the voters there, the democrats are at a disadvantage. Throw in complacent voters, the republican win more often than not. They can also shortchange schools to make the voting blocks more ignorant.
As you say, most people are basically good. I believe that's true. You do hear the odd story of Thanksgiving tale of a reasonably normal family's with that one crazy uncle or brother in law who is a nut, & sours the festivities by shooting his mouth off. I don't think that kind of thing is that common, or it didn't use to be. With the advent of the internet chat groups, Facebook & the like, the lunatic fringe, although spread out all over the place can hook up into echo chambers pumping one another up. The internet can give them an outsized voice & reach they didn't use to have. They can radicalize people & suck them into groups, swelling their numbers. Some are true believers, others are just hanger-ons, but not really committed to a cause. This can make these groups seem bigger & more wide spread than they really are. It can also embolden people that lean toward these views more vocal, having a snowball effect. In the past, I've read about KKK members might hide their views from their friend & neighbors, & only being active in secret, or traveling to other areas when they were public about their actions, so their local town folk might never know who were members, shielding them from criticism. That's the reason they wore masks. Today, people can be a bit more public, because they feel more emboldened by the seemingly larger public face of these hate groups. These people were always there. They just weren't brave enough to openly show it, for fear of being ostracized. It's the mob effect too.
I'll admit these time are extraordinary, & overly hyped after the last four years. Hate groups & cults can act like abusive relationships. They can attract the marginalize, then retain them through manipulation & isolation. It's an old playbook.
Surprisingly, the Klan, usually though as a southern thing had some of it's largest memberships here in Indiana back in the early years of the last century, until in 1925 it's leader raped & brutalized a young white woman leading her to take poison, & later dying. He thought he could get away with it, because he had dirt on many public figures, including the governor. It didn't work. This lead to a precipitous loss of membership, all but ending their widespread role in this state. Here's the write up from Wikipedia.
Scandal
In 1925 Stephenson, head of the Indiana Klan, met Madge Oberholtzer, the head of the state's commission to combat illiteracy. The night of the inaugural ball of Republican Governor Edward L. Jackson, she was abducted from her home, taken to the Indianapolis train station, and held in a private railroad car. On the train to Hammond, Stephenson raped her repeatedly and attacked her. In Hammond, she pleaded the need to get to a drug store, where she secretly ate mercury tablets and bi-chloride. Using the illness brought on by the poisons as an excuse, she begged Stephenson to release her. He took her back to Indianapolis and held her at his place. After Oberholtzer refused to marry him several days later, he had her returned to her home and secretly placed in bed. When her parents found her, the young woman was nearly dead. Taken to the hospital, Oberholtzer died about a month later. She told her story in detail to several witnesses. Stephenson was immediately arrested and charged with second-degree murder. The attending doctor, who testified in the trial, said that Oberholtzer's wounds appeared as if a cannibal had chewed on her. The prosecution held that the wounds and mercury together caused the death of Oberholtzer. Stephenson was convicted and the State Supreme Court upheld the decision in Stephenson v. State. He was sentenced to prison, serving until 1956, when he received parole. Edward L. Jackson, 32nd Governor of Indiana, who had the strong support of the Indiana Klan in the 1920s
Denied a pardon by Governor Jackson, whom he had supported for office, Stephenson in 1926 began to talk to reporters from the Indianapolis Times and expose many of the high-profile members of the Klan. Stephenson gave the reported names of politicians and officials whom the Klan had bribed, and who had accepted money. The mayor of Indianapolis, John Duvall, was jailed for thirty days and later convicted of bribery. Numerous commissioners and other local leaders across the state were forced to resign on bribery charges, stemming from acceptance of support from the Klan. Governor Jackson was charged with bribery for his role in attempting to influence McCray. The court found the charges against Jackson true, but judged him not guilty, as the statute of limitations had expired on his crimes. He ended his term and did not seek re-election. He was disgraced and never held public office again. Many other leaders of the Klan were arrested and tried on charges of conspiracy to bribe public officials.
The press investigation, which won a Pulitzer Prize, revealed that more than half the members of the Indiana General Assembly were Klan members. The Stephenson rape case and bribery scandal destroyed the Klan's image as the defenders of women and justice. Members abandoned the organization by the tens of thousands.
The historian James Madison cautions that the Klan cannot be dismissed as either an aberration or as simply the insidious appeal of a fanatical few. Nor should the Klan be seen as thoroughly dominating the state and accurately reflecting racist, violent, or provincial beliefs shared for all time by all Hoosiers.
Although some people tried to revive the Klan in the 1960s and 1970s, when changing social values, the Vietnam War, urban riots and industrial restructuring caused widespread economic and social disruption, the organization never regained the members or power it held during the 1920s. Disruptive times bring these groups out into the open from the shadows where they bide their time for a chance to again have their day in the sun. We have to be ever vigilant not to answer their siren song calling for support for their violent & twisted ends. Like a demon laying in wait, they never go away, but we must not let them ever have free rein in polite society, or we're all lost to the forces of darkness. Complacence is the enemy, & the friend to the dark lords who would consume us all. Like in the story of The Lord Of The Rings, the evil forces can never be completely destroyed, but only beaten back, & held in check.
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Post by nana on Dec 15, 2020 18:44:08 GMT -5
I definitely feel better for a while when I turn off the news and ignore the internet. But then I also remember that old adage about evil needing only for good people to do nothing. Pretending everything is fine when it isn’t will not make an evil thing go away. I think I may have mentioned somewhere here before my friend Sylvia’s good advice:
Conduct yourself with integrity and nothing will stand against you.
-and-
Truth will vindicate itself.
It just may take some time, but I think we’ll get back to a place where compassion and humility return to our land. 🤞🤞🤞
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Post by pooka on Dec 16, 2020 4:25:22 GMT -5
I often tell people who are overly wrought, or in distress & likely to have an outburst, because something bad has happened, or some kind of mishap, you have to bend like a willow in the wind, & let it roll off your shoulders, lest it sweep you away, or crush you, then say Ah Well, & go on. As far as news, it is unquestioned bad news raises your stress levels. I think that's all tied to the basic animal instinct of fight or flight. It's an unconscious response of continuous heightened awareness to be ever wairy to threats. Your body is flooded with stress hormones. It's like revving an engine needlessly. You're running the risk blowing it up, or needlessly putting wear with no net gain in benefit. In short, you're getting worked up, & it's not helping anything. The thing is, it's an unconscious response. The only way to avoid it, is to, as you say, turn off the news and ignore the internet, or at the very least the part that's setting you off.
I can get lost searching eBay, or the general internet for a subject, or particular thing that's peaked my interest for one thing or another. Literally following the rabbit hole until I get tired. I can modulate to an always turned on TV. Some times muted. I scan till something catches my eye. I got rid of cable a while ago, so I only get what few local content I can pick up with an antenna. Lots of old westerns, or old TV shows from the 50s to the 80s. KET (Kentucky Education Television). It's one of the oldest PBS Networks in the country. They've got a big library of their own Kentucky related programs that they dip through. Most of it is from decades ago. So it's totally detached from the here & now. I do my best to avoid news as much as possible. Although I'll catch a tidbit here & there, but I try to follow the advice I mentioned above. At work, my latest response to erratic events or snafus. Rather than question what happened. I just say, I stopped asking, & keep working. You just do what ever you have to, & let it go. I try to read, but have trouble concentrating of late. We're in some ways hunkered down as World War COVID is raging around us. Often unseen, but filling up boot hill at an alarming rate all the same. It's not real to some until it's someone they know, or someone close. OR them. I saw a story from Texas. 30 year old unbeliever. Attended a what was described as a COVID party seeking to catch the non existing ailment. He was infected, & is dead. That's more information than I wanted to know. I shake my head, & move on.
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Post by nana on Dec 16, 2020 19:09:21 GMT -5
I’m not a high stress person. I’ve always been able to live on the sunny side of the street, so to speak. If I get mad or upset, I quickly get over it and all is forgiven and forgotten. Lately that’s been hard to do, and I feel the effects of chronic stress and worry and let me say how sorry I am for the people who are that way by nature. We’ve had a few positive cases at my school, and we were all remote in the elementary for a week last week, and for a few grades this week. It was mostly because of all the teachers who had to quarantine, which is how I found out through the grapevine and my powers of deduction that I had been in a classroom for three hours with one of the positive cases. All the teachers I work with were quarantined, yet the aides in the rooms were not even officially informed of the exposure. I went to complain to the superintendent and he told me the health department had determined I was in the “second rung” of exposure and thus didn’t have to be notified. How on earth they made that determination without talking to me I don’t know. I was furious. My husband and I are the childcare for my grandkids, and my daughter is immune compromised from cancer treatment. And they know that. And they still didn’t feel it worth a heads up to me. I sweated out the past two weeks, counting from when the kid who tested positive in my class was last in school, and this past Monday was 14 days so I guess I’m in the clear for now, but now I am terrified of when the next case will be and will anyone think to tell me? I’m not so worried for me, but for my daughter. This whole thing just sucks. There’s no other way to put it.
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Post by pooka on Dec 17, 2020 0:28:01 GMT -5
To use your language, life just sucks sometime, & it's beyond your control.
Epictetus said,
Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.
Also,
It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
Finally,
There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.
These times are tough in a way, because he have no playbook to give us guidance. So much of our actions, we're having to make it up as we go. It's as if we've sailed off the edge, far past the signs that said, Beyond Here, There Be Dragons. Because we're blessed & plagued be a host of involuntary responses to our environment. Some of those traits are handy, but many we have to overcome with our intellect & rational mind. We'd hate to admit that frightened animal in us is just bellow the surface. It can be a chore to try to contain it. Some channel that fear into misdirected hate that can always find a target.
We are at war with a disease, with ourselves & within ourselves. All we can do is take the best advice from our healthcare experts to overcome the disease. We need to ignore the chicken little's running rampant in the streets. Let cool heads prevail amongst our leaders. At all cost, we have to resists the rabble-rousers. Some have ulterior motives, while other are just dumb sheep following the Judas goat, maybe to their doom. We have to do our best to keep our wits about us, & take all the precautions deemed necessary. After that, it's all up to the fates. Constantly second guessing ourselves is just an exercise it frustration, & serves no good. This current crisis will end in time, & we will wear the scars thereafter.
You can take two roads to get through this. Keep your head down, & plow through one day at a time until you see the daylight at the other end. Another tack would be to keep your head up, & try to look out past all this mess to Christmas 2021, with hopes we'll be sailing calmer waters by then, & back to some sort of normalcy.
We'll get through this one way or another, but will we still want to look at ourselves in the mirror after it's all said & done. I hope I don't have to be ashamed of myself for anything I do during this panic.
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Post by Chuckie on Dec 24, 2020 12:22:39 GMT -5
Well, Monkey came down w/a head cold on Friday night. ZERO other problems--no shortness of breath, fever, etc. Come Tuesday, she lost her sense of smell, and said we MUST be tested. So I told her I was going to get test for the antibodies that day (which was TRUE), and we could go together and get tested. She said she'd go along, and see if they did the rapid test, as that was what she wanted. They didn't so she made an apt in KC for one later in the afternoon. L-O-O-O-O-N-G story short, we get a call about 8:30 Wednesday morning from the place I went to. OMG, says I when I see the caller ID--I've GOT it!!! Gal on other end said it did NOT show any evidence for the antibodies, so I have NOT had it. She went on to say "there are no markers to indicate you currently have a COVID infection either". Which was a relief to ME, as I was afraid it had come home on MY coattails!!! Well, around 9pm, Monkey gets an email, and she is POSITIVE!!! WHAT a Christmas present!! And dwayner can testify, she was almost out of CONTROL on the steps she CONSTANTLY took to AVOID it!! She still has zero other symptoms, praise God! She THOUGHT a coupla times yesterday she got a "whiff" of something--no, NOT me!!! So we'll see how things fair. BUT as SHE said, IF the COVID had to come a calling, @ least I didn't get it w/all my health problems, and "if this is the WORSE it's gonna GET, we are T-R-U-L-Y blessed compared to the fate of others!" If that be the case, I guess we DID get a good Christmas present then!! Que sera, sera....
At any rate, Merry Christmas, Felize Navidad, Happy Hanukah, Winter Solstice, etc, et al to all our Chambers friends!!! And best wishes for a happy, HEALTHY 2021!! CHEERS! Chuckie and Monkey
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Post by pooka on Dec 24, 2020 13:32:39 GMT -5
I'm sure we'll all be sending our good thoughts & wishes your way, hoping for her swift recovery. Those vaccine can't come to us all anytime too soon to banish this affliction from our midst.
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Post by nana on Dec 24, 2020 20:01:10 GMT -5
I’m sending you all my best wishes for a complete and speedy recovery for Monkey! It is a scary thing, because you never know who is going to have it mild and who will end up in the hospital. I have a friend who works at a hospital and she came down with the virus right after the election, and her husband got sick as well, and we were so worried for them both because they both have health problems, one kidney and the other heart. The health department had them isolating from each other in the house even though they both had it because if one had it worse than the other they could reinforce the infection in the other. They were both really sick for three weeks, and I suppose it was what they consider a moderate case. They didn’t have to be hospitalized, but a couple times they felt like it may go that way, and even now they haven’t gotten their strength or energy back. Or their sense of smell. They’re back at work, but any exertion brings on shortness of breath and a burning sensation in her chest. It is nothing to fool around with for sure.
I had my reservations about the vaccine because it is such a new technology, but I have decided the benefits definitely outweigh the risks. I will take it as soon as I can get it!
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Post by karitx on Dec 27, 2020 17:00:17 GMT -5
I missed this originally. Yikes, Chuckie! I hope Monkey is well ASAP and that you don't catch it!
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Post by Chuckie on Dec 27, 2020 17:45:21 GMT -5
I missed this originally. Yikes, Chuckie! I hope Monkey is well ASAP and that you don't catch it! She's FINE, Praise God!!! She's back to walking the dogs daily since Thursday, and today she said, "oh, I'm getting there, I could smell EVERY DOGGY BAG I PICKED UP!!" LOL Thanks for the well-wishes, again, I was just THUNDERSTRUCK that SHE got it, Captain Cautious!!! I mean, she was over-the-top on EVERYTHING, wearing rubber gloves in the cars from the dealership, wiping everything w/sanitizer wipes, NEVER w/o a mask, wouldn't go out w/me anymore ('cept to KofC), etc. No rhyme nor reason just HOW the crap operates!!! CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by Chuckie on Dec 27, 2020 17:50:02 GMT -5
I’m sending you all my best wishes for a complete and speedy recovery for Monkey! It is a scary thing, because you never know who is going to have it mild and who will end up in the hospital. I have a friend who works at a hospital and she came down with the virus right after the election, and her husband got sick as well, and we were so worried for them both because they both have health problems, one kidney and the other heart. The health department had them isolating from each other in the house even though they both had it because if one had it worse than the other they could reinforce the infection in the other. They were both really sick for three weeks, and I suppose it was what they consider a moderate case. They didn’t have to be hospitalized, but a couple times they felt like it may go that way, and even now they haven’t gotten their strength or energy back. Or their sense of smell. They’re back at work, but any exertion brings on shortness of breath and a burning sensation in her chest. It is nothing to fool around with for sure. I had my reservations about the vaccine because it is such a new technology, but I have decided the benefits definitely outweigh the risks. I will take it as soon as I can get it! I saw a gal out shopping that tends bar in one of the taverns I USED to frequent, before this hit. She's like 4 years younger than me--again, non-smoker, etc--and she got it. The bar is about maybe 20' long, and she told me that when she walks all the way to the other end, she has to rest a minute to catch her breath. At FIRST when she went back, she said she was making "quite a few mistakes" on the scheduling, deposits, etc. Says she THINKS she's over that finally. And they were the outfit that were RELIGIOUS about wiping down the bar w/sanitizer when someone left, doing the bathroom door knobs like every half hour & flush handles too, and not only had antibacterial soap in the washrooms, but also a pumper of hand sanitizer. Mind boggling!! Again, nothing to jack with!! CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by vaporvac on Dec 28, 2020 18:12:47 GMT -5
Chuckie, I'm praying for Monkey and hope she doesn't overdo it trying to recover. Keep safe yourself. Nana, I'm horrified you weren't notified of an infection right in your classroom, especially given your circumstances. I hope your daughter is doing well. What a year. I recently learned my PICC's eldest son contracted it and was hospitalized and intubated and had to have his esophagus rebuilt as a result. He's out of the hospital recuperating, but what an ordeal for a relatively young person.
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Post by nana on Dec 28, 2020 18:41:13 GMT -5
Thanks, Vaporvac! Believe me, I do my best! But stupidity abounds all around. I just read a news alert that 50 area teenagers attended a big drinking party before Christmas and now 10 have turned up positive, and I would bet more to come, as it works its way through their families. The biggest local school district is now full remote until at least the middle of January because of it. The sister of a local town councilman just died from it, 40 years old. She was taking care of her elderly mother, being careful, just going out for groceries and necessities, but got it anyway, and was one of the unlucky ones, I guess. The mother has it too and is hospitalized...And stories like this are playing out all across the country every day, and there are STILL people who what, think it’s still a hoax? Still think it’s just like the flu? And now we all get to wait and see what Christmas travelers will bring home with them besides their presents. Sigh. You can try to be careful, but even careful people get it, if they’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. My daughter is a teacher, but at a different school from mine, and so far they seem to be much more proactive than mine. They had a case in the elementary and they put the whole school, even the high school, on remote the last few days before the Christmas break. It’s a K-12 building, just like mine, and there really isn’t a lot of contact between the upper and lower grades except on the buses, but they didn’t want to take chances, which is fine with me. I’m glad she works there and not where I do!
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Post by pooka on Dec 30, 2020 3:07:47 GMT -5
I have to reach back to my pizza delivery days for my survival strategy. You just have to assume all other drivers are out to kill you, either by intention, or by incompetence, & make sure you never get in their path. At work, a few days ago, a coworker, one who's a bit older than a lot was pointing out what someone had done badly. I was walking over to put a stack bread stick pans under the table. When I stood back up, I told him, "we're surrounded by idiots". As I walked away, he looked around, & just busted out laughing. I went back to work doing my best to ignore the chaos around me.
At this point, it's you & yours against the world of idiots who could care less about you. This doesn't mean you can be obnoxious about it. Our greatest enemy is not a known or unknown out there somewhere. Our greatest enemy is ourselves. You have to walk through life as if it were one big psychiatric ward. Some of the patients seem relatively normal, while others are obviously unbalanced to extreme. Just keep calm, & keep your wits about you at all times. There are some safe places where you can let your guard down. But when you have to dive back into the world of random idiots, at least until this pandemic is raging, caution & reserve is the best path. Hunker down & plow through this as best we can. The last few years feels more like some warped graphic novel, that until you've lived it, you'd never believe it to be true. The last year have been such a cascade of hysteria, outrage & violence like I haven't seen since the 70s. The daily pandemonium wears us down. I'm sure we're all weary of the slog. Some have wanted to ignore things, & keep going on like nothing is happening. For others, it's just another conspiracy let loose by some foe, known or unknown. The rest of us are stuck in the middle dodging bullets from every direction. I heard a interview of a healthcare worker today, where he said, people aren't taking this seriously, because they're not seeing the bodies in the street so to speak. Except for the news, & if it hits someone they know, this COVID thing is invisible to most. It's only the healthcare workers who sees the overflowing wards & morgues. They are working to the breaking point with no end in sight. As the album title says, Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! Meanwhile the government is doing.....................? Oh, fighting over a lost election.
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Post by nana on Dec 30, 2020 8:54:12 GMT -5
What makes me so sad is that it’s really not that hard to keep people relatively safe from the virus. The fact that schools being open has not led to massive outbreaks proves that even half-assed precautions work! The schools around here have had cases, but they have come from outside exposures. It’s not spreading within schools. They go remote more because so many staff need to quarantine because of health department regulations and there aren’t enough substitutes, not because so many people are actually getting sick. So the masks WORK! Social Distancing WORKS! Contact tracing and quarantines WORK!! Bars and restaurants are tough because you can’t use their services without removing your mask, but a lot of other places could probably resume almost normal operation if EVERYONE did their part. I place the entire blame for how bad things have gotten entirely on the shoulders of a president and a government that not only abdicated their responsibility to protect the people, but actively worked in ways that made things worse. They couldn’t have prevented the pandemic, but they could have mitigated the damage. And they didn’t. And still aren’t.
You’re so right, Pooka. Hunker down and avoid the random idiots as best you can, that’s all you can do.
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Post by nana on Jan 10, 2021 12:49:03 GMT -5
Hey Chuckie! Looks like I’m in the quarantine club! I’m not sick myself, at least I don’t feel sick, but I had exposure at school on Tuesday. I just got the call from Public Health last night. Complicating everything is I had my grandkids with me for the weekend, so now I have exposed my immune compromised daughter somewhat, and exposed my grandkids out the wazoo, wherever that is. Since we found out, I have been isolating from them as much as possible, (leaving my hubby on his own, poor guy. He’s like Ado Annie in “Oklahoma” with those kids—he just cain’t say no!!), wearing masks, washing hands like crazy, etc, but it all feels a little like locking the barn door after the horse is stolen. Thinking about levels of exposure, and when could I be come contagious IF I have it, and am I asymptomatic or perfectly healthy, is like thinking about time travel. Your head starts to spin. At what point does being careful and cautious become insanity? Hard to tell.
I have an appointment to get tested on Tuesday, but by the time I get the results my quarantine will probably be over anyway. But just for my peace of mind.
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Post by pooka on Jan 10, 2021 14:46:00 GMT -5
I'm hoping you get good news from your test.
These are scary times we're living in. I'm hoping for sweeping changes in the near future. This insurrection at the capital has brought things to a head. We should be at an all out war against the virus, but we're having to fight for our democracy with equal fervor. Such an blatant attack on all of our freedoms needs to be put down with an iron fist. We're all in a fight for our lives, & that's not hyperbole. We should be concentrating on defeating this virus, but we've got to divide our focus in order to save us all from those who would take our liberty. This is now a bare knuckle fight of our lives. I wish that was a jest. Inauguration day can't come too soon. In the mean time, we all need to be on our guard to root this poison from our midst. After the 20th, there need to be a public inquisition to stomp this evil to dust. There's a whole group who need to be locked into little windowless boxes & left to rot.
Stay safe nana. We're all keeping out fingers crossed hoping to hear good news.
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Post by Chuckie on Jan 10, 2021 14:49:11 GMT -5
Hey Chuckie! Looks like I’m in the quarantine club! I’m not sick myself, at least I don’t feel sick, but I had exposure at school on Tuesday. I just got the call from Public Health last night. Complicating everything is I had my grandkids with me for the weekend, so now I have exposed my immune compromised daughter somewhat, and exposed my grandkids out the wazoo, wherever that is. Since we found out, I have been isolating from them as much as possible, (leaving my hubby on his own, poor guy. He’s like Ado Annie in “Oklahoma” with those kids—he just cain’t say no!!), wearing masks, washing hands like crazy, etc, but it all feels a little like locking the barn door after the horse is stolen. Thinking about levels of exposure, and when could I be come contagious IF I have it, and am I asymptomatic or perfectly healthy, is like thinking about time travel. Your head starts to spin. At what point does being careful and cautious become insanity? Hard to tell. I have an appointment to get tested on Tuesday, but by the time I get the results my quarantine will probably be over anyway. But just for my peace of mind. I KNOW the FEELING(s)!!! As stated, I was SLEEPING w/Monkey for four days after she had the 1st head cold symptoms & before her diagnosis, yet I never caught it--praise God!!! This stuff is CRAZY!!! Good luck, nana!! Being in lockdown DOES get old though after about the 9th or 10th day--if not BEFORE!! Best wishes & prayers, CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by nana on Jan 10, 2021 19:10:55 GMT -5
Honestly, I was sick as a dog for 3 weeks starting in January of 2020, and as we now know, it was here a lot sooner than we we were all led to believe. I had the exact symptoms. So I think I already had it, unconfirmed of course. And no one knows for sure how long immunity will last. So quarantine I shall! My daughter did end up taking the kids home when they got back today. We figured they all had plenty of contact with me Weds, Thurs, and Fri, so the little bit of Saturday before I got the call was probably not going to change things one way or the other. In for a penny, in for a pound, as they say. So it’s just me and my hubby. I don’t mind so much. We like each other’s company. But ask me again next Friday... As far as our country goes, there will have to be a reckoning before this country can move on, I think. Something like what they did about apartheid in South Africa. Serious consequences for the truly culpable who were ringleaders, forgiveness for those who were swept along, but recant and repent. But I hope even if our leaders can’t get their act together, that there is some serious soul searching going on in individuals who allowed themselves to be led to this point by a conman who even as he was excitedly watching the horrific events unfold, found time to complain about how disappointed he was in how low-class his followers looked on TV. I’m hoping they realize he doesn’t really “love” them, he never loved them. Only the adulation they gave him. I saw a message online from Arnold Schwarzenegger, who I never particularly thought of as a statesman, although I did enjoy some of his movies. It was moving and powerful, and if you can catch it somewhere, I suggest you try. It sounded like something my mom would have said if she were still alive. Here is a link to a story about it. Pooka, you can probably find a link to the actual video. I saw it on Facebook, but I don’t know how to link to that here. abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/schwarzenegger-calls-president-trump-worst-president-75165493This has a link to the video, I think: www.kcra.com/article/former-ca-gov-arnold-schwarzenegger-video-denouncing-pro-trump-riot-unity/35173138#
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Post by pooka on Jan 11, 2021 3:09:48 GMT -5
What they had in South Africa was called a Truth & Reconciliation Commission. Anyone who committed crimes during the Apartheid era could come forward & confess their wrong doing in a public forum & be forgiven. If you didn't, you could be charged with those crimes. Maybe something like that could be tried. I'm not really sure if it'd work.
The South Africa situation was pretty black & white to use an apt phrase. In our case, it's a whole mixed bag, from militia groups that never trusted the government, like Timothy Mcveigh belonged to. You know, the guy who blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City. Other white national groups of various stripes have taken cues from trumps long standing bigoted views he's dog whistled about. Still other have gotten pulled into this, beginning with the Tea Party movement, which was a reaction to the first black president. It quickly morphed into something far worse. With all the truly false conspiracy's flying around in recent years, a lot of otherwise innocent dolts have been sucked into these cults of lies & brainwashed. Fear is a powerful motivator. Stoke irrational fears & invented phantoms, & keep pounding the drum of impending doom, & you could march these fools right into a lions den.
The evangelical crowd seems an odd bedfellow, but again this is the end of a long road to here. The old Moral Majority got started when the IRS started enforcing desegregation on these private Christian colleges like Bob Jones University, & Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, threatening to pull their tax exempt status. They knew desegregation wasn't a hill they wanted to die on, they invented the family values, pro life, gay agenda among other over hyped nonsense to sell to the masses. So I guess the core purpose from the beginning has come home to roost. They'd also like to have a christian version of sharia law if they could get away with it. They don't believe in the separation of church & state.
The craziest supporters I've discovered are the orthodox Jews who seem a heavy trump ally, which seemed paradoxical. I saw a report one of the capital mob was an reformed orthodox Jew whose father is on the New York Supreme Court. It seems they like trump because he's pro Israel. All that seems an bizarre fit given I'd seen another report some of the mob wore shirts emblazoned with SMWNE (Six Million Was Not Enough). I take that slogan as extremely anti-jew, don't you? This con man/carnival barker has been able to illicit support from a range of groups by giving them each a piece of hate & greed to chew on. It's like a pack of wild dogs jumping at scraps. All lies are true, & all truths are a lie. The enemy is everywhere. The shadows are out to get you. Love me & I will save you. The biggest of all lies. It's an old game of fear & greed, & power corrupted.
We took a wrong turn a long time ago, & have been veering ever closer to the edge of the abyss. The death cults among us are battling to drive us over the edge into a nightmare world of horrors. It's tough to fight phantoms in the dark. We're not out of the woods yet, but there's signs of hope if we can eek through this crisis of the next few weeks. The typically largely ignored Electoral College vote count was the last gasp to circumvent the checks & balance's of our system. The mob thought if they could stop it, the crazies could win the day. The sad fact is they really had no plan of action. They were just a mob pumped up with blood lust to fight. Once they broke through into the building, they degenerated into pillaging thugs out to spread mayhem in general. It could have been far worse. Luckily it wasn't. Order was restored. The count went through. Now it's official. Next step, Inauguration Day. You can bet it'll be the most guarded in history. If we can thread this needle, I think we'll be heading away from the edge, & there's hope. Here's the full video of Governor Schwarzenegger's Message Following this Week's Attack on the Capitol. I saw it before I went to work & was duly moved by the personal confession of abuse. Despite him being often dismissed as a politician, at any rate his own personal story lends genuine insight into his words. He's seen the aftereffects of fascism, & worked in the fantasy world of Hollywood, then plumbed the depths of real world politics. To use a movie quote, There is iron in your words.
"If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide." Abraham Lincoln
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Post by nana on Jan 11, 2021 9:20:29 GMT -5
Every erstwhile supporter of Donald Trump needs to stop pretending that what he stands for and what he was doing is anywhere close to normal for a US president. These aren’t matters of opinion, like the way you could differ on tax policies or business regulations.
I don’t mean to denigrate all Republicans, I want to make that clear because it might sound that way sometimes. Some give and take and disagreement is necessary in our system so that everyone’s ideas and solutions to problems can be heard and discussed and negotiated, and in the end the best result is usually some form of compromise. That can only happen if both sides are facing reality, though, and for four years Republicans in Congress were willing to look the other way, and make excuses for Trump’s behavior and actions and rhetoric as those became more and more absurd, except for a precious few who retired rather than be caught up in this. Maybe at first Republicans thought they could control him. But bit by bit they gave moral and ethical ground, until I think some found themselves all of a sudden sinking into quicksand. Or they just gave in and drank the kool-aid because they wanted his voters. Well, what kind of person wants voters who would do such things as they did on the 6th? My own representative, Elise Stefanik is one of those who apparently does. I am so ashamed to be represented in Congress by her.
I truly think a Truth and Reconciliation Commission is what we need here too. Thanks for clarifying what that was. Confession is good for the soul, as they say. But merely confessing isn’t enough. As we tell the kids at school, a sincere apology is also an apology of action. If you say you’re sorry for calling someone names and then the next day you call them names again, then your apology was not sincere, not real. I don’t want people who were willing to destroy democracy in support of a despot to weasel out of consequences with false contrition. They need to walk the walk, too.
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Post by pooka on Jan 11, 2021 10:48:54 GMT -5
I thought about this last night after mulling over governor Schwarzenegger's message of his father. In many ways, this crisis is the sins of our fathers coming back to visit the sons, the grandson & great grandsons. Unresolved issues from the Civil War reawakened a century ago in the teens & 20s, then again during the civil right era of the 60s, & again when Barack Obama was elected. Racial injustices & monetary injustices have left us fertile ground for incitement. People at the bottom in this country are being squeezed out with all economic gains going into the hands of the few. There's a certain desperation & hopelessness in a society of wage slaves.
When our workforce is dominated by people who don't make a living wage, expect unrest. Throw in a false prophet to point blame on the brown & black people, shake & stir, & you get insurrection. The blame is on greed & lust for power. Ancient bedfellows. A whole web of thieves clawing for their share of the loot. A sea of heaving angst among the have nots to manipulate spells trouble. Some accomplices I think idolize trumps cold naked clutching greed. His unrepentant self interest as some sort of warped idea of a tough guy. In reality, he just a common thief with a better wardrobe. He was notorious for not paying his suppliers & services. Telling small businesses to take him to court. He just human poison who never past up an opportunity for a crooked deal. To me this was all obvious to me decades ago. It baffled me how an blatant crook could aspire to be president & win. Only in a cesspool of corruption could that happen. Good men have done nothing while evil flourished. If we don't face this squarely, we'll just have this spin & repeat forever.
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Post by nana on Jan 14, 2021 19:35:44 GMT -5
Just got my results—NEGATIVE!! I am so relieved! All I have thought about since Saturday is God forbid I gave this to my daughter. I’m currently three sheets to the wind and going on four!
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Post by Chuckie on Jan 14, 2021 20:18:29 GMT -5
Just got my results—NEGATIVE!! I am so relieved! All I have thought about since Saturday is God forbid I gave this to my daughter. I’m currently three sheets to the wind and going on four! CONGRATS, and CHEERS!! Chuckie
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Post by chipperhiker on Jan 14, 2021 20:27:12 GMT -5
Yay, Nana! Excellent news.
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