tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91752706793915214472024-02-07T05:44:19.236-06:00ColRebSezFrom Oxford, Mississippi, News and views on state and local happenings and politics, along with various items on travel, dining and random national and world observations.Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.comBlogger610125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-27796816987735954252020-09-22T20:28:00.001-05:002020-09-22T20:28:42.533-05:00This year's flu shot side effects gave me a COVID scare but I would take it again<div> I got my flu shot six days ago. I would do it again but this year it was not fun.</div><div> I had two days of arm soreness that was a little worse than normal. I didn’t think much of it. Then came the weekend and I spent most of Saturday and Sunday sleeping. I am lazy, but when I finally managed to get out of the bed I headed downstairs and hit the couch. I was just completely exhausted.</div><div> Monday morning came and I felt sick, with the muddled feeling that one gets when coming down with a virus, plus I had a little bit of a cough and the edge of a sore throat. I didn’t connect it with my flu shot so I headed over to the RedMed clinic in New Albany to get an instant COVID-19 test. It came out negative. For good measure they did a flu test, strep test, and general viral test, all of which came out negative. They told me in all likelihood it was a reaction to my flu shot, but insisted on doing a PCR test. I got the negative result on that test late today.</div><div> I’ve never had a bad reaction to a flu shot before, and while it wasn’t pleasant the good news is that the strong reaction means I developed a strong immune response to this year’s flu strains. With all of the precautions we’re taking against COVID-19, I don’t anticipate a bad flu season, but it is possible to have both the flu and COVID-19 at the same time and I don’t think that would be a good thing at all. Most people have no problems at all with their flu shots, so by all means get one.</div><div> My case of the mini-flu included two days of exhaustion followed by two days of feeling pretty bad. I am mostly better but am going to spend one more day at home for good measure. I’m glad I don’t have the Rona as of yet and that I don’t have to face the flu shot again for another year. And a couple of days of feeling a little bit bad is better than actually catching the flu – especially this year.</div>Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-49395521513927350682020-09-07T21:34:00.000-05:002020-09-07T21:34:05.676-05:00I said it in February and it's true today: Vitamin D important key to surviving COVID-19 infection<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIVACiA0dCX-mwIA1_ItXUqd8uOL76mc6lpLbMtdNy4WeJ5tadrnGlGEbIknfGACZ87tHNar36ZaIzqJVVpDxUE6HGI5yZznXmIbKeHFFCqx1GbcYG8kXZwu49gS_fQ3V2mWCUVu9tcKQ/s1044/marikupdate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="811" data-original-width="1044" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIVACiA0dCX-mwIA1_ItXUqd8uOL76mc6lpLbMtdNy4WeJ5tadrnGlGEbIknfGACZ87tHNar36ZaIzqJVVpDxUE6HGI5yZznXmIbKeHFFCqx1GbcYG8kXZwu49gS_fQ3V2mWCUVu9tcKQ/w400-h311/marikupdate.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marik Protocol (Click to Enlarge)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div> Back in late February 2020 <a href="http://colrebsez.blogspot.com/2020/02/we-are-all-likely-to-catch-china-flu.html">I mentioned the importance of taking Vitamins C & D</a> as a way to ameliorate symptoms of a COVID-19 infection, which at that time I said we all would eventually get. I also recommended taking a low-dose of a statin if a doctor had recommended one in the past. Many people quit taking statins due to muscle pain when the solution is simply to lower the dose or frequency.</div><div> That wasn’t my only advice. In February I also urged the wearing of masks in crowded places and called on churches to stop the repulsive practice of forcing congregants to rush around and shake hands during the service. And I suggested researching various drugs that might have been effective against SARS-02 and MERS, assuming that they might also be effective against COVID-19. (I also suggested stocking up on grocery staples such as hamburger meat; folks, you need to listen to me!).</div><div> On May 2, 2002, I blogged again, and far more explicitly stated the importance of Vitamin D in battling COVID-19. I also shared the <a href="https://www.evms.edu/media/evms_public/departments/internal_medicine/Marik-Covid-Protocol-Summary.pdf" target="_blank">Marik Protocol</a>, shown above, and pointed out that the best time to “treat” the virus was in advance. The Marik Protocol has been modified since May to include the heartburn medicine Pepsid, which is available over the counter and has been shown to be effective against the COVID-19 virus. My early advice is being proven correct.</div><div> One thing to keep in mind is that in battling COVID-19 we must never rely on double-blind studies. They are far too dangerous and time consuming. Instead we must study correlations and analyze whether there is a scientific basis for such correlation. <a href="https://www.google.com/search?biw=1745&bih=881&tbm=nws&sxsrf=ALeKk01wnkUjRYfDQA9TeApP2hKryKfoqw%3A1599531848778&ei=SOtWX6OLL9q7tQah55jYAg&q=vitamin+d+deficiency+covid-19&oq=vitamin+d+deficiency+covid-19&gs_l=psy-ab.3...19682.21438.0.21646.11.11.0.0.0.0.122.1035.8j3.11.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.4.401...33i10k1.0.5wcoPugBPRI" target="_blank">The correlation between Vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19 lethality is now about as sharp as such a correlation can be</a>.</div><div> I would urge everyone to follow the Marik Protocol, which now consists of:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Vitamin C, 500 mg, morning and night (no harm in taking more)</li><li>Vitamin D, 1000-4000 iu daily</li><li>Zinc, 75-100 mg per day for one or two months, then cut dose by half</li><li>Quercetin, 250 to 500 mg, morning and night</li><li>Melatonin, up to 2 mg at night</li><li>Pepsid, 10-20 mg morning and night</li></ul></div><div> Consider adding to the above a low-dose multi-vitamin and a selenium supplement.</div><div> After this whole thing is over I’d like to see the FDA disbanded. They should be telling people right now to take Vitamin D, if nothing else, but the agency is doing nothing. Instead, they sit around waiting for double-blind studies, by which time the virus will be gone or we’ll all be dead.</div><div> <a href="http://colrebsez.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-best-time-to-cure-covid-19-is-to.html" target="_blank">I wrote extensively about Vitamin D deficiency in my earlier post</a>, so no need to repeat it here, save that supplementation is especially important for blacks. I would urge you to read about this. Unlike the case with most vitamins, it is possible to overdose on Vitamin D, so taking 10,000 iu daily is probably a bad idea unless you are having regular blood work.</div><div> As a matter of public policy we need to encourage every citizen to follow the Marik Protocol, exercise caution, and go on about their lives. Simple precautions can keep us alive and keep our country going.</div><div><br /></div>Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0Holly Springs, MS 38635, USA34.767596700000013 -89.4486893999999923.7077745785016987 -124.60493939999999 65.827418821498327 -54.292439399999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-44080499332268406132020-06-22T14:12:00.000-05:002020-06-22T14:12:09.726-05:00New film portrays whites as slaves and blacks as owners, but there is no need for fantasy world<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUUMVrxB3ZouXw8N8NcfFF1ibReQuAsfw1n9_FbE5UCVRQ7pRWoYpSmj66fKXikiUvodXySbJ5XY7PDafxS6zLVHPO8b15GASVFt1IE9oQnxIVnf58PxUHT0E439Vff39R9cJiFk16jCw/s1600/white-slaves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="600" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUUMVrxB3ZouXw8N8NcfFF1ibReQuAsfw1n9_FbE5UCVRQ7pRWoYpSmj66fKXikiUvodXySbJ5XY7PDafxS6zLVHPO8b15GASVFt1IE9oQnxIVnf58PxUHT0E439Vff39R9cJiFk16jCw/s400/white-slaves.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A European woman being sold in an African slave market</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the spirit of the times a new movie, called <a href="https://allhiphop.com/news/upcoming-show-cracka-puts-blacks-as-slave-owners-and-whites-as-slaves-C3ANu-10YUqpINeVlN-kOw" target="_blank">“Cracka,” features blacks as slave owners and whites as slaves</a>. I rarely watch movies but do get a bit of sad amusement out of the crap that is being produced these days.<br />
What I find odd is that the movie is based in the United States instead of Africa, where <a href="https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-africa/white-slaves-barbary-002171" target="_blank">more than a million whites were enslaved by Africans</a>. In comparison, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/how-many-slaves-landed-in-the-us/" target="_blank">approximately 388,000 Africans were brought to the American colonies or later to the United States</a>. Although the slavers were North African, many were what we would consider today as black.<br />
The bulk of the kidnapings began in the 1500s and continued until the United States, tired of its citizens being kidnaped and sold into slavery, defeated the Barbary States in our nation’s first war, fought from 1801 to 1805. The defeat of these slaver states ended with the American flag being raised over Tripoli, a fact commemorated by the Marine hymn which includes the phrase “to the shores of Tripoli.” The United States again used military force against the pirates in 1815.<br />
There is no need for some masturbatory fantasy flic about whites being slaves to blacks. White slavery is a historical fact. Stories based on or incorporating true facts almost always have more impact than made-up fantasy films. We need a film showcasing the lives of white slaves and their black owners, but “Cracka” doesn’t pass muster at all.<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="230" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EtF5THjCu0M" width="410"></iframe><br />
<br />Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-80993603592410615432020-05-03T22:57:00.000-05:002020-05-03T22:57:01.912-05:00One study shows popular cough suppressant helps the COVID-19 virus reproduce Some important COVID-19 news. I'll be brief<br />
There have been a lot of studies about repurposing existing drugs to fight the coronavirus. These studies hold tremendous promise. Researchers who have tested these compounds have found a few that hold promise. <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/why-avoid-using-cough-syrups-132400458.html" target="_blank">But the were surprised to find that dextromethorphan, the cough suppressant found in Robitussin DM and Nyquil, actually aided in the replication of the coronavirus.</a><br />
This was an animal study, so it might not be a problem in "real life." But the best choice, in my view, if to avoid dextromethorphan like the plague.<br />
I've touted the non-narcotic drug benzonatate (Tessalon Pereles) before, but it is an outstanding cough suppressant. <a href="https://www.goodrx.com/blog/covid-19-advice-from-doctor-on-frontlines-coronavirus-pandemic/" target="_blank">One front-line doctor has blogged that this is an excellent drug</a> for treating the dry cough that comes with COVID-19. I also have had luck (for acid reflux cough) with over-the-counter Chloraseptic lozenges which contain benzocaine. The only choices I know of other than these are various opiods, which doctors are scared to death to prescribe. Pick your poison, just don't take dextromethorphan!<br />
<br />Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-77140983923606492552020-05-02T20:07:00.002-05:002020-05-02T21:08:10.293-05:00The best time to "cure" COVID-19 is to treat it in advance with vitamins and supplements<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlG0bmBeKtG4XsscLl90zeryE3Dw5KXuZ1ltEURSTQhHPnkV19Mb8e5NSADP4ZrDykxx4EtY73R63WOhwfGvj9w37J3mxTcxhP1Q4uKE47uu2wKCSftF1Ihcyj0LnVVpGc1HzoprBwYKw/s1600/marik.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1237" data-original-width="1600" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlG0bmBeKtG4XsscLl90zeryE3Dw5KXuZ1ltEURSTQhHPnkV19Mb8e5NSADP4ZrDykxx4EtY73R63WOhwfGvj9w37J3mxTcxhP1Q4uKE47uu2wKCSftF1Ihcyj0LnVVpGc1HzoprBwYKw/s400/marik.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to enlarge</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There is a lot of talk and argument about the best way to treat the COVID-19 virus. There is no officially recognized treatment, so it's pretty much every man for himself. This is a disease that has to be treated with hunches, not clinical trials. It seems to me the “cure” for the coronavirus would be to treat it in advance with vitamins, dietary supplements, and perhaps prescription drugs.<br />
The randomness of COVID-19 is scary. Most people apparently have little problem with this virus, with many being infected without even knowing it. Others are ravaged by it. Age and physical condition explain a lot of this, but it’s still scary.<br />
Vitamin deficiencies seem to be playing a huge role in who gets sick and who gets really sick or dies. <a href="http://colrebsez.blogspot.com/2020/02/we-are-all-likely-to-catch-china-flu.html" target="_blank">More than two months ago</a> I suggested taking decent doses of Vitamins C & D, along with a statin if a doctor had suggested one. This is now an official treatment protocol at at least one hospital (see below).<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrepghfp8u2-zphJOXYunj7d6kcTMrR30oeMRQA77ppqB8q5XZz68HO8dsWXz9vVHbkB9ZKQBgcSTMV2cR9DTCt0DFZa8g59Cvi1JbmJCghmEfhUrAwBXAP7r2C8DcIfT1KSN4IZ_FvjA/s1600/vitamin+d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="877" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrepghfp8u2-zphJOXYunj7d6kcTMrR30oeMRQA77ppqB8q5XZz68HO8dsWXz9vVHbkB9ZKQBgcSTMV2cR9DTCt0DFZa8g59Cvi1JbmJCghmEfhUrAwBXAP7r2C8DcIfT1KSN4IZ_FvjA/s320/vitamin+d.jpg" width="219" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vitamin D deficiency, by race</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Blacks have been especially hard hit by the coronavirus. Forty percent of whites have a Vitamin D deficiency; for blacks that number if more like 80 percent, because dark skin doesn’t produce as much Vitamin D as light skin. These figures are for the absolute minimum Vitamin D levels. Some experts say more Vitamin D is beneficial. With a higher threshold almost no blacks and fewer than 50 percent of whites have enough Vitamin D. The disparate racial impact of the virus might very well be in large part due to Vitamin D deficiency. I am at a loss as to why state and national leaders haven’t been urging people to take more Vitamin D or to spend more time outdoors, because there can be no harm from this. Instead they are closing beaches in an effort to deny the populace access to the sun.<br />
The chart at the top of this blog post shows <a href="https://www.evms.edu/media/evms_public/departments/marketing__communications/EVMS_Critical_Care_COVID_19_Protocol__4_2_2020-revised.pdf" target="_blank">a treatment protocol developed by Dr. Paul Marik, Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School</a>. For prevention he calls for:<br />
<ul>
<li>Vitamin C, 500 mg, morning and night</li>
<li>Vitamin D, 1000-4000 iu daily</li>
<li>Zinc, 75-100 mg per day for one or two months, then cut dose by half</li>
<li>Quercetin, 250 to 500 mg, morning and night</li>
<li>Melatonin, up to 2 mg at night</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>To the above Dr. Reb would add selenium</li>
</ul>
Quercetin is a zinc ionophone, which is a fancy was of saying it helps zinc get into the body’s cells. Melatonin is an over-the-counter sleep aid with antiviral properties. Computer models show that both of these compounds might actually bind with the COVID-19 or Wuhan virus (the operative word here is “might"). But even without the binding there is plenty of benefit.<br />
To Dr. Marik’s prevention or pre-infection protocol I would add the need for a selenium supplement, the best source of which may be a multi-vitamin. <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200429105907.htm" target="_blank">A study in China found huge differences in COVID-19 cure rates based on regional differences in selenium levels</a>. Much of China has virtually no selenium in the soil and thus the citizenry has low selenium levels in their bodies. A few areas have ultra-high selenium levels. Those in the selenium-rich areas had cure rates three times the average; those with the lowest selenium levels had death rates five times the average. (Why, oh why, did this report decide to use different measurements, cure vs. death rate, for the high- and low-selenium groups?)!<br />
Most Americans have enough selenium, but a little more won’t hurt. It is far better to have selenium and not need it than to need selenium and not have it. A good multi-vitamin can provide this, along with any other trace minerals that might help in the fight against a virus.<br />
It’s important to adjust our thinking insofar as a “cure” for the Wuhan virus is concerned. Most of us will get it at some point; a delay in infection will just give us much better treatment options -- hopefully far better than the ones I've outlined above. The only cure for this virus is not to die and to recover with little or no damage to our bodies. For those who prep their bodies in advance COVID-19 is likely to be like the flu, or even like a very mild cold. For those with severe vitamin or mineral deficiencies, hello Grim Reaper.<br />
Beat COVID-19 by treating it now. I've given you the recipe, so at this point the choice is yours.<br />
Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-33695370402790334292020-04-25T14:34:00.000-05:002020-04-25T14:34:28.521-05:00Elections have consequences; many Democrats have promised to bring back forced busing<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsBIMPu-FEjbRPqjZ98pVWqN6dQRyJV_-FLtqReI2Y_JC4ElvlAuc02xb4b13Vld3zmRSri7rORaXjUFv1FtJ3e7sFHLTOfGjniJ4LuAFbEwVSH842uBzOYIOROeTJQEI5As3lohryjyo/s1600/3262px-Integrated_busing_in_Charlotte%252C_North_Carolina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1600" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsBIMPu-FEjbRPqjZ98pVWqN6dQRyJV_-FLtqReI2Y_JC4ElvlAuc02xb4b13Vld3zmRSri7rORaXjUFv1FtJ3e7sFHLTOfGjniJ4LuAFbEwVSH842uBzOYIOROeTJQEI5As3lohryjyo/s400/3262px-Integrated_busing_in_Charlotte%252C_North_Carolina.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These Charlotte, N.C., students are being forcibly bused into the inner city to attend school in 1973. What an incredibly unpleasant experience!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It's easy to forget that we're in the middle of a presidential campaign. On one side we have Donald Trump, a loudmouth who always says the wrong thing but usually does the right thing. On the other we have a completely senile Joe Biden, who has been pushed far to the left by a Democrat party that is now an uneasy alliance of America's fringe groups.<br />
During the primaries virtually all of the Democrat candidates said they supported greater federal efforts to desegregate schools; many stridently advocated for forced busing, one of the most unpopular edicts our courts have ever imposed on the American citizenry. The definition of "segregation" has somehow been changed so that it applies to any school or program whose enrollment doesn't exactly reflect the surrounding population. For example, a highly competitive New York City school with a 30 percent white population has been described as "segregated" because only 15 percent of that city's public school students are white. The only real way to achieve the desegregation goals these leftists hold dear is through forced busing over very long distances.<br />
Busing, like communism or socialism, works in the short term. But in the long term it's pretty ineffective because people just move away; the same is true of other radical desegregation efforts. Leftists lament the 1974 Milliken v. Bradley, 418 U.S. 717, busing case in which the Supreme Court chose not to force busing on innocent children whose parents or school districts had never discriminated against anyone. The leftist view is that it is perfectly okay for children to be forced to spend hours on a bus every day being carted across two or more counties in order for schools to have perfect racial balance.<br />
I required my children to ride public school buses either to or from school for a few years. They are adults now but have made it clear that what I did was a moral wrong. School buses are just unpleasant and children who have less are often mean as snakes to those who have more. My kids finally impressed on me the importance of my dropping them off and picking them up for school. Their physical and mental well-being demanded it.<br />
In Oxford it took my kids almost 70 minutes of bus-riding time to get home. I wanted to let them take the bus from home to school but found they would have to get up every morning before 5 a.m. in order to catch a 6 a.m. bus to school. That's just too much. Of course, if they had been subject to some sort of Democrat busing scheme they would have had to spend four or five hours every day being carted to some school district in a neighboring county. It's just ridiculous, and people who support forced busing are truly evil.<br />
The photo at the top of this post shows innocent children from suburban and rural areas around Charlotte, North Carolina being forced to ride unpleasant buses taking them to and from that city's inner-city schools. Notice how extraordinarily crowded this bus is! No child should have to endure that, or at the least they deserve to be paid a high hourly wage for their suffering. Democrats effectively turned these children into uncompensated slaves, but of course the Democrats have always been the party of slavery.<br />
And could there be a greater vector for the transmission of disease than these dreadful school buses? If Democrats have their way Americans kids are going to be herded onto these buses by the millions, thus ensuring massive transmission of the COVID-19 and other viruses. They don't care how many millions of Americans get sick or die from their forced busing schemes so long as they are allowed to engage in their grand social-tinkering.<br />
Americans have a choice. We can elect a senile old man whose controllers are going to force our nation's innocent school children to spend hundreds of millions of hours on unpleasant school buses, all so they can be forced to attend schools in slum areas. Or we can vote for Donald Trump.<br />
It's a simple choice of good versus evil. Those who are evil can support Biden. Those who are good can support Trump. For me, and for anyone with children or who remembers raising children, the choice is easy.<br />
<br />Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-1494758470855713112020-04-13T22:15:00.001-05:002020-04-13T22:20:44.176-05:00Wuhan likely virus wasn't created in a lab, but lab negligence released it on the world Everyone seems to be debating whether the Wuhan virus came from a lab; the leftist media insists that it came from a "wet" market. The fact that this debate could even take place is evidence of how stupid the national media is.<br />
What do we know? We know that China has 1.3 billion people and that Wuhan has 8 million of them, or a little over one-half of one percent of the country's population. We know that "wet markets" where wild and exotic animals are bought and sold are present all over China, and that these wet markets are a vector for contagion. We also know that Wuhan has China's only Level 4 biological lab. Crunch these numbers and the odds of this virus starting in a Wuhan wet market are less than one in one hundred as there are so many other cities where it could have started. It simply is not reasonably possible for this virus to have started in a wet market a few hundred feet from a lab containing massive amounts of deadly pathogens.<br />
Note that I am not claiming that the Wuhan virus was "created" in a laboratory. Chinese scientists were on record as being very aggressive in isolating and preserving various bat viruses. There is no need to create a virus in the lab when one can isolate hundreds of them from the bat population. Several Chinese scientists reported that the virus originated in the Wuhan lab only to find them selves silenced and perhaps even dead.<br />
The only real question is whether or not China intentionally release this virus on the world. My inclination is no. Although there has been video evidence of Chinese citizens intentionally infecting public areas, I find it highly unlikely that the release of this virus was intentional. Equally unlikely is that this virus was released by anything other than negligence at the Wuhan biolab.<br />
I don't believe the Chinese government released this virus on purpose, but I do believe that it is 100-percent culpable in the release of the virus negligently. Those who would maintain otherwise need to explain mathematically why my view is wrong.Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-59819472717442207012020-04-08T13:54:00.000-05:002020-04-08T13:55:31.731-05:00Here are some tips on masks and gloves<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1vZ5gDJXiSQ7x0WP1DT1HbwLq_PadG4PWEwHdpNn3y1vVs7mZEb9zLAWyu3ifVplkeutjqFAdlGNJHqTDuIK1dilW6Lu38oo79QN8I4-Vs5kNMW78Ug2EOJcj-ByV4wY3Bl47OQqFeI/s1600/sports+mask.tif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="897" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1vZ5gDJXiSQ7x0WP1DT1HbwLq_PadG4PWEwHdpNn3y1vVs7mZEb9zLAWyu3ifVplkeutjqFAdlGNJHqTDuIK1dilW6Lu38oo79QN8I4-Vs5kNMW78Ug2EOJcj-ByV4wY3Bl47OQqFeI/s200/sports+mask.tif" width="178" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This sports mask needs<br />
a shop towel filter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
If you are going out to any stores you absolutely should wear disposable gloves and a mask if you have one. These things can be hard to come by, so here are some tips to make them last longer.<br />
<br />
1. Disposable gloves can and should be “washed” with soap and water just like you would wash your hands. If you are running short, when you get ready to take them off wash and then dry them first.<br />
2. When taking off gloves, try to do so without touching the outside of the glove.<br />
3. Both gloves and masks can be reused, but must be sequestered for several days to a week first. Viruses will naturally decompose over time. Masks need several days, gloves need a week. The longer the better, of course! Reusable masks such as the sports mask I'm wearing in the photo should be washed and dried.<br />
4. There is a real shortage of surgical masks. You can use a sports mask or balaclava. Some of these are quite thin, so to be effective you need to place two thicknesses of a shop towel between the mask and your face. Shop towels make excellent filters, which is why they have sold out in lots of places. Regular paper towels aren’t nearly as good, but better than nothing.<br />
5. Much of the benefit of both masks and gloves is that they keep you from touching your face. So a lousy mask is better than no mask at all.Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-31589113334185835282020-02-24T19:15:00.000-06:002020-02-24T19:16:28.240-06:00We are all likely to catch the China Flu, but that doesn't mean we are helpless The Coronavirus is coming. In fact, it’s likely already here. It’s a new virus against which no one has immunity, so most of us are going to get it at some point.<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The 1918 Spanish Flu had a high mortality rate among those who had the strongest immune systems. The Spanish Flu triggered an immune response so strong, resulting in a massive cytokine storm, that it resulted in fatal organ damage. Those who were the most healthy tended to produce the most robust cytokine storm. The Wuhan Coronavirus seems to trigger the same type of extreme immune response.<br />
I read somewhere the hopeful comment that only 20 percent of those who come down with the Coronavirus will need to be hospitalized. I’ve also read that almost everyone is going to get this at some point. So, if the United States has 350 million people, that means we are only going to need 70 million hospital beds. At present we have about a million, so as a nation we are a little short.<br />
Lest I get too far into gloom and doom, it bears noticing that viruses tend to become less lethal over time, because they are more easily spread by people who are up and walking around, so the less-lethal mutations are the ones that gets most widely spread. In addition, there is a general belief that the Coronavirus will become far less prevalent once warm weather arrives. So if we can just hang on for a few weeks without this thing exploding things might work out, at least for this year.<br />
There are some things that people can do to keep from getting sick, or to make sure that when they do get sick, the virus won’t be fatal. So take your fate into your own hands!<br />
<br />
<h3>
Fill up the pantry.</h3>
<a href="https://colrebsez.blogspot.com/search/label/food%20supply" target="_blank">I’ve long been an advocate</a> of having enough food on hand to last a month or two. I don’t think the Coronavirus is going to cause store shelves to not be replenished, but it could happen. Far more likely is that there may be a few days or even a few weeks when caution requires one to just stay at home<br />
This need not be expensive; just buy things you normally eat. Beans, rice, and pasta are cheap, and it’s easy to throw a few week’s worth of hamburger meat in the freezer. Just do it!<br />
<br />
<h3>
Lower your cholesterol!</h3>
I know a lot of people who have been prescribed statins who have quit taking them because they had unwanted side effects, usually muscle soreness. <a href="https://colrebsez.blogspot.com/2018/09/if-you-have-stopped-taking-statin-drug.html" target="_blank">I wrote a while back</a> that the key is to simply reduce the dose, as even a small dose of a statin can substantially reduce cholesterol. If you have access to statins, now is the time to take them.<br />
In addition to reducing cholesterol, statins are powerful anti-inflammatories. So they not only reduce cholesterol, but also protect the major organs. Should there be a cytokine storm, those taking statins will have far less damage and thus be more likely to survive. One study found that people on statins were half as likely to die from flu complications than those who weren’t.<br />
Lowering cholesterol has another benefit. Many viruses apparently require cholesterol to replicate, so the lower one’s cholesterol the lower the chance of contracting a virus. And for those who do get sick, those who have low cholesterol present a poor environment for viral replication.<br />
If your cholesterol is high, now is the time to treat it. For those with low cholesterol, I recommend starting a statin at the onset of cold symptoms, although that decision should ultimately be made by one’s doctor, with a little prodding from the patient.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Take your vitamins</h3>
Most vitamins seem to play a role in combating both viral and bacterial infections, with Vitamins C and D taking center stage. There is no need to take mega-doses of these vitamins while well, in fact it can be counter-productive. But at the first sign of symptoms of any virus one should increase one’s vitamin doses, particularly of Vitamin C.<br />
Make no mistake, Vitamin C is both an antiviral and an anti-inflammatory. While well, doses as low as 100 mg per day may be plenty, but viral loads deplete Vitamin C at an amazing rate. At the onset of illness I intend to increase my Vitamin C consumption to 4,000 mg spread throughout the day. Such levels are not healthy long-term but are no problem if taken for a few days. I’m not sure whether one should increase Vitamin D intake after coming down with a virus. Vitamin D seems to be more important in preventing the original illness, but it can't hurt to bump up intake a little bit.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Be aware of off-label anti-virals</h3>
I take a drug called propranolol for essential tremor; it also treats high blood pressure, so two birds with one stone. Apparently propranolol also functions as a fairly effective antiviral. So if you have a tremor – most people don’t – or if you have high blood pressure – most people do – ask your doctor for a propranolol prescription.<br />
Several years ago <a href="https://colrebsez.blogspot.com/2014/10/unreported-by-media-2013-study-found.html" target="_blank">I blogged about a study which found that estrogen modulators such as Clomid were effective against the ebola virus</a>. I don’t know why Clomid makes it hard for viruses to reproduce, but there it is. Clomid induces ovulation in women but increases testosterone levels in men and is prescribed accordingly. I don’t have any, but if I were to come down with a serious virus I sure wish I would.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Stop touching people</h3>
For the next couple of months, be a germophobe. Avoid shaking hands with people. Avoid bars. Exercise reasonable caution in avoiding crowds. Wash your hands and try not to touch your face or eyes. Churches definitely need to stop this nonsense of forcing congregants to rush around and glad-hand each other during the middle of the service. It’s highly dangerous, and as a religious practice it’s now no different from snake handling. It just needs to stop!<br />
<br />
<h3>
Anything else?</h3>
I currently use an ozone generator to repel pests and sanitize my home. This should only happen while you are away, as the ozone can damage your lungs. But in addition to repelling pests, ozone kills mold and viruses. I can’t say for certain if it really kills viruses, but it can’t hurt. By the way, don’t buy a puny ozone generator. But one that will really belch out the ozone, 10,000 somethin-somethins an hour.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Love one another</h3>
Finally, if you are sick, stay home. Wear a mask if you have to go out. Don’t get other people sick. And should this thing get out of hand, try to keep yourself posted as to the well-being of your friends and family. We may reach a point where a lot of people will need help. Be careful, but help!<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-68018126129052370722019-11-24T18:22:00.000-06:002019-11-24T18:29:17.409-06:00Before you throw away that faded photo, try scanning, editing it in Photoshop first<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizw5LQrNUIrSSJ9ejceYqOvFJb3Ws3zkRUhqHwmbil8G0uB5mqZqG4kYlYLphYy4J75PnqHsm9W61diGu1EhIZ7hQLSOoQ1NSeMqXAzFLVdoQt056k-Tvdd8f58yEqucQy82lRx1KTybQ/s1600/unedited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1186" data-original-width="1600" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizw5LQrNUIrSSJ9ejceYqOvFJb3Ws3zkRUhqHwmbil8G0uB5mqZqG4kYlYLphYy4J75PnqHsm9W61diGu1EhIZ7hQLSOoQ1NSeMqXAzFLVdoQt056k-Tvdd8f58yEqucQy82lRx1KTybQ/s400/unedited.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unedited photo scan from Photoshop</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjneLeuo1A6CjfFWP4Z6zHhZmoCOg-e_3NAAcZhdR0neImW5lFaHK0etCrlzPEeScKN27TjP1lrK3G981efmIJExCn7Ogs5yRXXK6FinIXxlyN6ScEY1ptYiGFEeu6QJNjudMZ7jeJ9QEU/s1600/edited+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1186" data-original-width="1600" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjneLeuo1A6CjfFWP4Z6zHhZmoCOg-e_3NAAcZhdR0neImW5lFaHK0etCrlzPEeScKN27TjP1lrK3G981efmIJExCn7Ogs5yRXXK6FinIXxlyN6ScEY1ptYiGFEeu6QJNjudMZ7jeJ9QEU/s400/edited+photo.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All I did was hit "auto" contrast and levels and this photo was saved!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I recently came across some old photos and have been trying to figure out what's what. One of the photos was so faded in various shades of sepia that I really could make much out. I decided to go ahead and scan the photo and open it in Photoshop to see if I could tweak it a bit.</div>
<div>
I really didn't do much "tweaking." I just hit the auto-contrast and auto-levels and suddenly a photo in which nothing could be seen became much, much clearer. I did make a point of scanning at 400 dpi, which is a little higher resolution that the typical photo scan. So if you have an old photo that looks like it has just faded away, try scanning it and hitting auto-adjust in Photoshop before you throw away that little piece of history.</div>
<div>
I still don't know what the photo is, but I think the woman in the shawl standing in front is my great-grandmother, Margaret Watkins Hurdle. I've seen photos of her wearing a shawl in that fashion before.<br />
ADDENDUM: Even if it is an old black and white photo that has faded into sepia, scan the photo in color. This provides far more information to aid Photoshop in bringing out the image. After editing it, if you want to convert to grayscale, fine.</div>
Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-328277134524418002019-06-20T08:09:00.000-05:002019-06-20T08:09:26.858-05:00If buying an expensive item from Wal-Mart, check the online app price first If you don't want to read my story I'll just tell you my conclusion: When buying a big-ticket item at Wal-Mart it pays to check the price on their online app before buying it in the store.<br />
Last week was in the market for a decent vacuum cleaner. My $40 vacuum worked, kinda. So I made use of my subscription to Consumer Reports and found that the top-ranked vacuum was made by Shark, and that 16 of the top 24 vacuums were as well. The top-rated Shark was rated at 77, but the Wal-Mart model had a rating of 75 (warning: there are a few mediocre Shark models). Consumer Reports said the Wal-Mart model cost $230. The Shark is especially good for bare floors, which is what I wanted since I hate sweeping.<br />
I was at the New Albany Lowe's and decided to take a look at their Vacuums. They had a well-rated Shark Vacuum for sale at $269. I decided to check the Wal-Mart price on their app and saw that the 75-rated Shark was on sale next door for $141. I beat a path to the Wal-Mart and headed to the vacuum section where my vacuum was priced at $199. I had heard that Wal-Mart would match their online prices on request and they did, thus saving me $60 on a vacuum, which is a pretty big savings. If a Wal-Mart refuses to honor the price you can just order it online for pickup; they don't want that and so will honor it at the register.<br />
One word of warning: I've seen videos demonstrating how some merchants disable online pricing when they detect that your phone's location is in the store. So if you're planning a big ticket purchase, check the online price away from the store first.<br />
I'm very happy with my Shark. For those who want the very best rated Shark, the 77-rated NV586, it's available only at target and is on sale right now for $220. My Wal-Mart NV-500 or 501 with its 75 rating is good enough for me. I'd rather have the $80 than two additional points.Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-78663640915033341992019-04-05T10:57:00.001-05:002019-04-05T22:20:40.544-05:00The Holly Springs City Cafe: Gone but not forgotten I was thinking about the Holly Springs City Cafe the other day. It’s said we don’t appreciate things until we don’t have them any more, and that’s certainly true of the City Cafe.<br />
I’m not sure how old I was when I first remember going to the City Cafe. I would guess 9 or 10. Cokes were served in 6.5 oz. bottles along with a glass of ice. I was always a little frustrated by the small bottle size, but at the same time the Coke from the smaller bottles seemed to taste better. They used to say they put the same amount of syrup in the 6.5- and 10-ounce bottles.<br />
The City Cafe was owned and operated by Juanita Jones. She either inherited it or owned it jointly with her late husband, who I think might have been named Ed. He was quite a bit older than her, which says something since I don’t remember her being that young. I don’t remember him ever saying anything. He just said at the cash register and took money. I think Mr. Jones died around 1975.<br />
There aren’t many restaurants that offer fresh vegetables, but the City Cafe did most days. They would buy them from local growers who would drop them off or perhaps off the back of the many pickup trucks that used to park across from the Post Office. I haven’t seen a pickup with produce for sale in quite a while; not sure what happened to the fresh vegetable supply.<br />
Most of the pies that were offered for dessert were homemade, or restaurant-made anyway. The late attorney John Kennedy would always ask when the pie was made and it was always “Made fresh this morning.” This really wasn’t true as sometimes the pie was a day or two old; it took some detective work and careful interrogation to ferret out which pies were truly just made. I don’t like coconut, but I remember liking Juanita Jones’ coconut pie.<br />
My junior year in high school I arranged my class schedule so that I could leave school at noon and work at my dad’s office. A few people have engaged in a campaign of lies and innuendos against me by suggesting that perhaps I didn’t expend too much effort on the job. Don’t believe them!<br />
I do remember that my work day almost always began with lunch at the City Cafe, sitting at the back table with Dad, John Kennedy, Ralph Avent, Hamlet Yarbrough and his cotton buying partner Mr. Allen, along with a host of others who joined in on an irregular basis.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Keeping up with the conversation was a bit like trying to follow a game of Ping Pong. Somebody might mention almost hitting a deer on the way to work; another might mention they heard Thus-And-So got in a wreck; etc., etc. with the subject changing every minute. One day Ralph Avent declared “I could have killed two this morning” to everyone’s puzzlement. You see, at the start of the conversation somebody had mentioned almost hitting a deer; the conversation had moved on, but Ralph hadn’t.</li>
<li>Ralph had the same order every day: “I’ll have what Sidney got.” One day my dad ordered and Ralph turned to him and said, “Sidney, you know I don’t like turnip greens!”</li>
<li>Mrs. Jones was slightly hard of hearing and would repeat everything you said, changing only the pronoun. If you said, “I’d like the pork chop and mashed potatoes,” she would start writing the ticket while saying in a fairly loud voice, “You’d like the pork chop and mashed potatoes.” One day my brother Lanier found a worm in his squash – a hazard when using fresh vegetables – and very quietly pointed out to Mrs. Jones that there was a worm in his squash. Mrs. Jones responded: THERE’S A WORM IN YOUR SQUASH! So much for being discreet.</li>
<li>The City Cafe always had French fries that were nice and crunchy and done. They had a great hamburger and a really good club sandwich, which cost $3.50 with fries included. One day my dad lavishly complimented Mrs. Jones on her fine sandwich by telling her that he had paid $6 for a club sandwich at the Cincinnati airport the day before and it wasn’t nearly as good as her club sandwich; he spent quite a bit of verbiage in telling her how fine her sandwich was. The next day the price of the club sandwich was increased from $3.50 to $6.</li>
<li>If someone got a dessert that was particularly good, a friend might ask for a taste. My dad never did that. On the other hand, if someone declared that something tasted awful, Dad usually said, “Lemme see.”</li>
<li>One day the conversation made me think of a joke I had read in a men’s magazine. It was a clean joke, mind you, so I threw it into the fray. John Kennedy, sitting at the other end of the long table turned and said in a loud voice, “So, you read Hustler, too!" My 15- or 16-year-old face got pretty red after that.</li>
</ul>
<br />
The City Cafe had a fine breakfast as well and different time slots would draw a different crowd. There was always a big crowd for breakfast, a smaller crowd mid-morning, then a big lunch crowd for about 90 minutes, and then a small crowd around 3 p.m. This was before the day of coffee places on every corner, but the City Cafe had Starbucks beat. And their iced tea was always perfect.<br />
Perhaps I’ll think of some more stories later on, but I sure do miss that place!Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-21220734892301717552019-02-02T19:47:00.000-06:002019-02-02T19:47:42.449-06:00Catholic smiles are just smiles; MAGA hats don't turn them into smirks<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNIUEYayMmz1SNdNFlL22z4areX6Y_oFtjml9ZaVFkXlzL47hlC0vjgrAGYd-5US0KxqIDXls3yB1jWudOLVNbXP26fQg6BGGpqcCkrT1C0GZ-5fjfl_IOcJyoVkepYVeXDl0b-zeyIOU/s1600/sandmann+smiling.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="644" data-original-width="1152" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNIUEYayMmz1SNdNFlL22z4areX6Y_oFtjml9ZaVFkXlzL47hlC0vjgrAGYd-5US0KxqIDXls3yB1jWudOLVNbXP26fQg6BGGpqcCkrT1C0GZ-5fjfl_IOcJyoVkepYVeXDl0b-zeyIOU/s400/sandmann+smiling.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann tries to suppress a smile after an Indian walks up and starts beating a drum in his face.</td></tr>
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<br />
The drumbeat heard around the world continues to reverberate, as social media and newspaper op-ed writers remain all atwitter over images of a smiling Catholic boy wearing a MAGA hat while some Indian pounds a drum an inch from his face.<br />
The Smiling Nick Sandmann has been declared a racist and every possible disparaging name imaginable; national figures have urged people to beat him up and he's received a massive number of death threats. His school, Covington Catholic in Covington, Ky., has been portrayed as in incubator of racism and evil. Many commenters retracted their defamatory comments about Sandmann after receiving additional information, but others continue to vilify both him and his school.<br />
I happen to believe the smiling Nick Sandmann is a good kid who simply stood in one place while approached by a crazy Indian beating a drum. Video of the event clearly shows Sandman just standing there with a silly grin on his face sort of taking in the surreal situation. When attacked by the Indian he can be seen trying without success to suppress a smile.<br />
Others, including a number of gay writers, have written very seriously that what Sandmann was doing was not smiling, but a demonstration of what they call the Catholic-schoolboy “smirk.” Apparently Catholic schoolboys, and only Catholic schoolboys, spend all of their spare time perfecting their smirks. <a href="https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a25966711/nick-sandmann-smirk/" target="_blank">Said Esquire writer Dave Holmes:</a> “We’ve seen it in our own personal histories, if we have ever been that terrifying combination of young and different in any way.”<br />
Holmes, who is gay, was writing about his unhappy time in a Missouri Catholic school during the early 1990s, when homosexual activity was considered a crime in that state. The Catholic church still maintains, rightly or wrongly, that homosexual activity is a sin, so I don't doubt that Holmes may have had a difficult time. But that doesn't make every smiling Catholic schoolboy an evil smirker.<br />
The claim has repeatedly and falsely been made that Covington Catholic School is a “segregation academy,” which is quite impossible given that it is located in a virtually all-white county. The argument of leftists making this claim is that Cincinnati whites fleeing school integration moved to various almost-all-white suburban counties. By operating or expanding their existing schools Catholics were therefore operating “segregation academies.” By that definition the local public schools in these counties would be considered “segregation academies,” too. The thought process behind this way of thinking is beyond my ken: you cannot have white flight or a segregation academy unless there is some group to flee or segregate oneself from. In almost-all-white counties there is simply no racial group to flee.<br />
My personal experience and common sense tell me that the Catholic schools of Northern Kentucky were not created to promote segregation or avoid integrated local schools. Most of these Catholic schools were founded in the early 1900s with a few going back to before the war. Prior to the Brown v. Board of Education decision about a third of the region's schoolchildren attended parochial schools, one of the highest rates in the nation; obviously they weren't fleeing integration since there was no integration to flee.<br />
The Catholic Church essentially stands alone in trying to organize its churches so that people of all races and all social classes will worship together in the same church, while most Protestant churches are segregated on the basis of both economic status and race. It's common to see multiple Protestant churches of the same denomination in small towns, each serving a different racial or socio-economic group. The Catholic Church would never allow such a thing. Civil-rights activist <a href="https://www.loc.gov/collections/civil-rights-history-project/articles-and-essays/school-segregation-and-integration/" target="_blank">Lawrence Guyot described how the Catholic church integrated its schools</a>: “The Catholic Church in 1957 or '58 made a decision that they were going to desegregate the schools. They did it this way. The announcement was we have two programs. We have excommunication and we have integration. Make your choice by Friday.”<br />
Catholics often do bad things. They sin. So do Protestants, Jews, Mormons, atheists, and everyone else. Those wishing to criticize any Catholic school or its students will find no shortage of ammunition, but they aren't operating segregation academies.<br />
And as a general rule a Catholic smile is just that; it's a smile. There are a plentitude of types of smiles: nervous smiles, happy smiles, sad smiles, conspiratorial smiles, threatening smiles, this-is-ridiculous smiles, and yes, even smirks. Smiling isn't limited to Catholics; people of all faiths smile and sometimes they may even smirk. But those who see every Catholic smile as a smirk are just paranoid.<br />
In the end a Catholic school is just that and nothing more, without nefarious intent by those who operate or attend them. A schoolboy who smiles is just smiling. Being Catholic didn't make Nick Sandmann's nervous smile a “smirk,” nor did wearing a MAGA hat.<br />
Those who have criticized Sandmann, his school, or his schoolmates have displayed a malevolence of spirit that is frightening. For these evil people I have just one thing more to say: I smirk in your general direction.Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-16897239724865548992019-01-19T12:20:00.000-06:002019-01-19T12:20:13.593-06:00Seventy bucks and 90 minutes results in some pretty nifty under-counter lights.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsMzb2h7T8zWK-LUUkBB8ja27Og9aNS7faULQCv3FVNM5YLBAzMR7LolcwzOgOieasv8fx_lLMtKQTNSg1t1yWjYfwsWZ8LLMVfuBbTThOp8mV0dVLAcWlJFfgNF3vxHabv2e0XBPSj64/s1600/lights+on.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsMzb2h7T8zWK-LUUkBB8ja27Og9aNS7faULQCv3FVNM5YLBAzMR7LolcwzOgOieasv8fx_lLMtKQTNSg1t1yWjYfwsWZ8LLMVfuBbTThOp8mV0dVLAcWlJFfgNF3vxHabv2e0XBPSj64/s400/lights+on.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lights installed.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQzF6-K-MRlYQaV8rRgWeQJB-XNM0Mguj4Bc0oIUMOmBIjKfR_04kAMdki7lDERQi8YtUZY_C-01XBZ3E8V3Y8N40ANNAcutmBqNpgR67uuZwT22BZT5XTz6oYsVA8qMorKuZ7qPaE_s/s1600/lights+off.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQzF6-K-MRlYQaV8rRgWeQJB-XNM0Mguj4Bc0oIUMOmBIjKfR_04kAMdki7lDERQi8YtUZY_C-01XBZ3E8V3Y8N40ANNAcutmBqNpgR67uuZwT22BZT5XTz6oYsVA8qMorKuZ7qPaE_s/s400/lights+off.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lights off except for microwave, which is weak. Note that it is daytime, so plenty of natural light. It's darker at night.</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;"> I'm not Mr. Handy when it comes to home improvements, but I just invested 90 minutes to install some pretty nifty under-counter lighting in a house I've been fixing up.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDE7gEe5lOIANaWTXjNfV6OR8-nJTobf25x7MgY2r2N8_qWvkFy5UCvMO1cNC8twCYHtpvtasRqv6Mk_Uwhcwq_xvFxAjDZiWzfPZ_7UocSXCABIwHbJHxePnjIPpt8ElsUArAL70lYyY/s1600/right+side.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDE7gEe5lOIANaWTXjNfV6OR8-nJTobf25x7MgY2r2N8_qWvkFy5UCvMO1cNC8twCYHtpvtasRqv6Mk_Uwhcwq_xvFxAjDZiWzfPZ_7UocSXCABIwHbJHxePnjIPpt8ElsUArAL70lYyY/s320/right+side.jpg" width="128" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to enlarge</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;"> I had some contractors doing some work on the kitchen, and the Sheet rock was off the walls, so having properly wired under-counter lighting would have been easy. But it still would have taken several hours to do the wiring, expenses were piling up, and I decided the kitchen was bright enough, and that the light underneath the microwave, along with 300 watts in the ceiling and a bright LED over the kitchen sink was enough.</span><br />
And indeed all of that lighting was enough; except it wasn't. I really like under-counter lighting and just wanted more light.<br />
I was fortunate that we installed an electrical outlet in the cabinet over the stove to plug in the microwave; this provided a power source. For my actual lights I purchased two Commercial Electric brand LED under cabinet lights. These lights come with a detachable plug and are linkable. A small linking cord is provided, but it's possible to buy longer linking cords.<br />
I didn't want a linking cord running underneath the microwave as it might be visible and I didn't like the idea of an electrical cord running over the stove. So I ran cords up the back of each cabinet from each light up to the outlet over the microwave and plugged them into a very small power strip. Since the cord was detachable I was able to drill a fairly small hole in the cabinets using a 5/8" spade bit. The lights are held in place by little plastic brackets. Installation was easy; I spent almost an hour putting in the first light because I had to think about things, but the second one was installed the next day in less than 20 minutes, and that includes the time to drill the holes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQH4oEl8Sl61fw4lAZygNqEPsMJO4O8p7TSEwN3vL9B7TDuG4c4C10uumF7JCm78v55G6yh504pnjxQwotpGWM58a4DxPq9MIc_AE3971cKqDFrvI6ZI8oypi7vxenv2Y3XamZdZ2dMfA/s1600/wireless+switch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQH4oEl8Sl61fw4lAZygNqEPsMJO4O8p7TSEwN3vL9B7TDuG4c4C10uumF7JCm78v55G6yh504pnjxQwotpGWM58a4DxPq9MIc_AE3971cKqDFrvI6ZI8oypi7vxenv2Y3XamZdZ2dMfA/s200/wireless+switch.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
The lights have a “high” and “low” setting and can be switched on and off by the switch on each light. I've ordered a wireless “light” switch that I can stick on the wall that will turn the power on and off at the outlet. It hasn't arrived yet, but when it does the lights will work just like hard-wired lights. They have a color temperature of 3,000, which is slightly starker than "warm white," but still easy on the eye with no blue tint found in "daylight" bulbs. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, although I'm shopping for some brighter lights for the microwave.<br />
As for cost, the lights were $23 each; the mini power strip was something like $8. The wireless wall switch cost $19, for a total project cost of less than $70 after tax.<br />
<br />Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-90051009847127689602018-11-12T23:02:00.001-06:002018-11-23T00:41:12.176-06:00Public hangings are not lynchings and Hyde-Smith's statement, while unwise, was not racist<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="236" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J2_EH0LSG-U?start=27" width="420"></iframe>
Mississippi's newly appointed candidate-Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith is being roundly criticized for a comment caught on video in which she states that her admiration for a supporter is such that she <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UatRz7reKuc" target="_blank">would attend a public hanging for the him if he asked her to</a>.<br />
The comment is actually complex, but Hyde-Smith is being accused of racism in light of the fact that Mississippi is known for having a high number of lynchings. Of course, by definition a public hanging is considered a governmental execution having nothing to do with lynching, so these criticisms of Hyde-Smith are bogus. Her statement was unwise, but by no means racist.<br />
The video above shows preparations for a public hanging that was to be held in Wolf City, Wyoming, in 1894. Obviously if a public hanging were tantamount to a lynching Nat King Cole, who just happened to have been black, wouldn't have been so happily singing about the event.<br />
Until the 1930s public hangings were common throughout the United States, and Mississippi was no different. <a href="http://www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/articles/84/history-of-capital-punishment-in-mississippi-an-overview" target="_blank">A botched hanging in 1932 caused public sentiment in Mississippi to turn against hanging</a>, which led to the introduction of the electric chair in 1940 (oddly enough, botched executions today don't cause so much upset). For a number of years Mississippi's electric chair was actually held up nationally as a more humane method of execution, but it was subject to malfunction, causing agonizing death. The electric chair, known as “Ol' Sparky,” was portable since the citizens of Sunflower County didn't want to be known as the Death County, and was used for about a dozen years, from 1940 to 1954, when Gov. Hugh White rammed through a law establishing a gas chamber at Parchman.<br />
I suspect, based on Cindy Hyde-Smith's statement and my own research that at some point attending a public hanging became something upstanding citizens just did not do. Assuming this is true, her statement makes sense, although I think it's important to note that I think it's a phrase she picked up from a grandparent or grand-uncle or other community members.<br />
The video of her statement is limited and I can't understand everything she says, but she's just talking informally praising a supporter and says, “If he invited me to a public hanging I'd be on the front row.”<br />
If you parse her statement out she is saying that few things are more distasteful to her than the thought of attending a public hanging, but she holds her friend in such high regard that if he invited her she would sit on the front row. Her statement is a witticism that most people can simply no longer comprehend. But she's no more supporting lynching than Nat King Cole was in his song.<br />
The fact is that the overwhelming majority of white people associate hanging and nooses with the Old West and the types of Hanging Days featured in the Nat King Cole video, not with lynching. For blacks the association is obviously different and as a politician Hyde-Smith should have been smart enough to anticipate that.<br />
My preference in this election was Chris McDaniel. I happen to think Mike Espy is a good man and if elected would be one of the more conservative Democrats in the Senate; but he would still be a Democrat. So I will be voting for Hyde-Smith and hope that she can update her repertoire of Southern aphorisms, although in doing so our language will become less rich and enjoyable.<br />
In any event, her statement clearly wasn't racist and those who accuse her of racism are engaging in the worst kind of jackassery. Her statement might have been stupid, but racist it was not.Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-3745559083549787682018-10-26T13:49:00.000-05:002018-10-26T13:49:48.622-05:00Using a courtesy title in a debate would have cost DeSantis nothing, but failure to do so may be costly If I lived in Florida I’d be voting for Republican Ron DeSantis for the Senate. I think Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum is going to try to turn Florida into another California, and he has some crime and corruption problems lurking just beneath the surface.<br />
But <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article220614110.html" target="_blank">Gillum was right to call DeSantis out for failing to refer to his as “Mayor” or “Mister”</a> during debates, instead only calling him “Andrew.” Gillum always referred to DeSantis as “Congressman” or “Mister.”<br />
When Sarah Palin debated Joe Biden in the 2012 vice-presidential debate she walked across the stage and shook his hand and said, “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOy7FQb2o6k" target="_blank">Can I call you ‘Joe</a>’?” Well of course he had no choice, and both used first names during the debate. Supposedly Palin kept accidentally saying “O’Biden” during rehearsals and was afraid she might do so during the actual debate. If DeSantis had asked Gillum permission to use his first name Gillum would have had to grudgingly agree, but DeSantis never asked.<br />
Prior to 1965 the number of white gentiles in the South who would willingly address a black person, regardless of rank or wealth, as “Mister” probably wouldn’t fill a conference room. It just wasn’t done. Surely DeSantis is aware of this.<br />
As an attorney my father always addressed his clients as “Mr.” or “Mrs.;” for many it was the first time they had been addressed in that fashion in their life, and Dad shared a few humorous stories about various reactions he received. A law school classmate who researched transcripts of the Congressional voting rights hearings held in every Mississippi county, in which almost every attorney took part, said my father was the only North Mississippi attorney she noted who addressed black witnesses as “Mr.” or “Mrs.” in 1965.<br />
A story my father shared with us frequently when we were growing up was about buying the land where I grew up from the widow of the black Methodist bishop, a Mrs. Cottrell, who lived in St. Louis. In the 1950s, people actually conducted business by letter, so my father wrote her and asked if she wanted to sell the land, and after several exchanges of letters they reached a deal. Dad traveled to St. Louis to close the trade, and after getting the deed my father asked her why she decided to sell him the land, since he knew a number of people had tried unsuccessfully to buy it.<br />
“Well Mr. Hurdle,” she responded, “I did receive a number of letters from people asking about that property. Their letters always started out ‘Dear Babe (her nickname).’ I didn’t even know those people and I just wasn’t very interested in doing business with them. When I opened your letter the first words I read were ‘Dear Mrs. Cottrell’ and I thought, ‘This might be a man I can do business with.’ ”<br />
I should note that my father was not a wild-eyed liberal; he was a Roosevelt Democrat, more moderate than most Mississippians at the time, but anyone from outside the South would have considered him quite conservative. But courtesy was free and so he gave it freely.<br />
Perhaps DeSantis would have treated a white opponent exactly as he treated Gillum. It’s not unheard of for politicians to refer to their opponents by their first name. But for DeSantis not to realize how his behavior would be received is just an amazing display of tone-deafness.<br />
Courtesy titles, like courtesy, are free, and DeSantis displayed an amazing stinginess of spirit that likely did him no good with most of the voters. I don’t think Gillum will be good for Florida, but DeSantis’ actions may have given him the extra boost he needed to be elected governor.Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-58118177032256018872018-10-10T13:06:00.000-05:002018-10-10T13:06:06.750-05:00I oppose renaming the journalism building, but to describe Ida Wells as 'reporter' misses the mark<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAa1lLHPkREqXklv5zanWj6NsezvxZxQl67lYNx65Y9YIyA6Uki6efK-zviPWmTCNeoyopTB8anmPGPD15aA1MV79GVsKaOAMYP-o_jSgIEe4HsZztPpRqtV2VWvrVu2n0DGjyqrT6QGg/s1600/wells%252C+ida.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAa1lLHPkREqXklv5zanWj6NsezvxZxQl67lYNx65Y9YIyA6Uki6efK-zviPWmTCNeoyopTB8anmPGPD15aA1MV79GVsKaOAMYP-o_jSgIEe4HsZztPpRqtV2VWvrVu2n0DGjyqrT6QGg/s200/wells%252C+ida.jpg" width="139" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wells</td></tr>
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There is a proposal to rename the journalism building at Ole Miss after Ida Well, a native of Holly Springs. I am opposed and find the proposal ironic, since Ed Meek, for whom the building is currently named, was the victim of a modern-day lynching insofar as his reputation is concerned. Wells was one of the first, most prominent, and most outspoken opponents of lynching in the South.<br />
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With that said, the AP story which told of the effort to rename the building described Wells as a "reporter." That's like describing Ronald Reagan as a radio announcer. Wells was an amazing woman, one of the most important to come out of Mississippi in the 19th Century. I don't remember being taught about Wells in school even though she was from Holly Springs; I hope that is still not the case. Even though I don't support the renaming of the building, she certainly has a record of accomplishment that is worthy of admiration.<br />
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Ida Wells, who was born and reared in Holly Springs, was born into slavery in 1862. Her father was owned by Spires Bolling, an architect whose homes were known for featuring octagonal columns. He also built the Walter Place, with its unusual octagonal wings on each end. The Wells family lived at the Bolling Place, which was later the Gatewood home, and is now the site of the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Museum, which features the signature octagonal columns.<br />
Wells, who lost both parents to the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1878, struggled to support and keep her younger siblings together by working as a schoolteacher. Her frustration over receiving $30 per month while white teachers were paid $80 per month led her to become active in a movement to seek equal pay for black teachers, which led to her firing, after which she moved to Memphis.<br />
In May 1884, Wells refused to give up her seat on a Tennessee train and move to another rail car; when the conductor tried to forcibly move her she bit his hand. She was thrown off the train and successfully sued the train company, obtaining a $500 judgment in circuit court. The Tennessee Supreme Court overturned this judgment in 1887 and assessed Wells $200 in costs. This case was later cited as support by the U.S. Supreme Court in <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16038751515555215717&q=plessy+v+ferguson&hl=en&as_sdt=6,25" target="_blank">Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896)</a>, which found that segregation laws were not unconstitutional under the "separate but equal" doctrine which remained controlling law until <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12120372216939101759&q=brown+v+board+of+education&hl=en&as_sdt=6,25" target="_blank">Brown v. Board of Education</a>, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).<br />
<i> (An interesting note is that Plessy v. Ferguson was a "friendly" lawsuit carefully coordinated between Plessy and the railroad company, both of whom believed that the Supreme Court would find Louisiana's forced segregation laws unconstitutional. The railroad company wanted Plessy to prevail, as it did not want the expense of having to maintain two sets of passenger cars. Plessy was one-eighth African and seven-eighths European). </i><br />
In 1889, Wells, who was working in Memphis as a schoolteacher, became owner of the Free Speech and Headlight, a newspaper published out of the Beale Street Baptist Church. Her opposition to segregation and articles decrying the poor condition of black schools led to her firing in 1891.<br />
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Also in 1889, three of Wells' friends were lynched, which led her to become active in the national anti-lynching movement, in which she often collaborated with W.E.B. Du Bois and Frederick Douglas. In 1892, she published a famous anti-lynching pamphlet, <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14975?msg=welcome_stranger" target="_blank">"Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases."</a><br />
On May 27, 1892, a white mob destroyed the offices of Wells' newspaper. Because of threats on her life she soon moved to Chicago, where she wrote articles for the New York Observer and began to work for the Chicago Conservator, that city's oldest black newspaper.<br />
During the 1890s Wells traveled extensively to promote civil rights, including trips to Europe. In 1909 Wells was one of seven black and 53 white founders of the NAACP. In later life she retreated from the national spotlight somewhat as she devoted herself to family life, although she remained active in support of civil rights throughout her life until her death in 1931.Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-29728864004235855652018-10-08T22:42:00.000-05:002018-10-08T22:42:43.737-05:00Violent and angry Democrats are unhinged, violent, and a danger to our republic<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="236" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VaHnAQ0du3I" width="420"></iframe><br />
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We’ve now had almost two years of unremitting violence against Republicans perpetrated by Democrats and various Democratic political action groups, along with the Democratic paramilitary wing, Antifa. Amazingly, Democrats seem to be very proud of all the beatings they’ve been administering to Republicans.<br />
We’ve just been through a judicial confirmation process for Brett Kavanaugh that was an absolute circus. Democrats paid protesters to scream and shout down senators and congressmen as they tried to do their jobs. Many were threatened, and armed guards became the order of the day. During all the commotion one congressman ended up with a bruised wrist from women barging into his office. A Democratic staffer published home phone numbers and addresses of several Republican senators on the Internet.<br />
When Democrats found they were not going to be able to stop Kavanaugh’s confirmation they released a bogus rape claim that they had been keeping secret for almost two months. The Democrats knew the claim wasn’t true; that’s why they kept it secret instead of allowing it to be properly investigated. By sitting on it they could spring it at the last minute to delay the confirmation; of course, then they wailed that Republicans weren’t allowing enough time for it to be properly investigated, the purpose being to delay, not find the truth.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI6IQbYmtXtiN95S60s3q9UZiO4rkuqQxatcYBl8PMbK9puRBGYb8Oh4zio9dj2u_m2TJ6I4DoQiMqRW-JdYzBMWoxpcFR_S9eblD71ozlBxLsW3Bjc_Ie68hncZFGJxBQgKD_43uLrjE/s1600/angrymob2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="770" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI6IQbYmtXtiN95S60s3q9UZiO4rkuqQxatcYBl8PMbK9puRBGYb8Oh4zio9dj2u_m2TJ6I4DoQiMqRW-JdYzBMWoxpcFR_S9eblD71ozlBxLsW3Bjc_Ie68hncZFGJxBQgKD_43uLrjE/s200/angrymob2.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Angry Dems attack Supreme Court</td></tr>
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The result was what we all saw on television or on Internet news feeds, with hired shills running up and down the halls of Congress haranguing key Senators and threatening their families. Following Kavanaugh’s confirmation a mob of angry Democrats actually tried to break down the doors and storm the Supreme Court, something I don’t believe has ever happened in the history of our republic.<br />
From the moment Donald Trump was elected various celebrities and members of the press started spewing vitriolic rhetoric that stopped just a millimeter away from urging violence against Republicans or Trump supporters. Sometimes they crossed the line, and from time to time assassination of various politicians was suggested, after which we would hear a “just kidding!”<br />
The Democratic base apprehended the message. Across the nation Trump supporters have been savagely attacked and beaten by Democrats on a regular basis. Sometimes they haven’t been beaten, just shoved and had their MAGA hats stolen. That’s still an assault and still a crime. The Democratic paramilitary wing, Antifa, now completely controls portions of Portland and beats or harasses Republicans on sight, but Antifa can be found throughout the West Coast and occasionally elsewhere, and wherever they are they are extremely violent. The level of violence and civil unrest being perpetrated by Democrats against Republicans is simply unprecedented.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHUEnon3Ey7FMA54VIrgGk9TtbB4hLD58OS754Hu-p81ffJSXwklNmV0qp-LD6MRbWnwxgV2Zmk8amsrWrhMcpO0ijyu7NouPCUVjssmz7k9XWluLTHeIsixX406cbOpMyD7ztcX3waQ4/s1600/scalise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="900" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHUEnon3Ey7FMA54VIrgGk9TtbB4hLD58OS754Hu-p81ffJSXwklNmV0qp-LD6MRbWnwxgV2Zmk8amsrWrhMcpO0ijyu7NouPCUVjssmz7k9XWluLTHeIsixX406cbOpMyD7ztcX3waQ4/s200/scalise.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scalise following shooting<br />by Democratic activist</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The suggestion that Republicans should be assassinated led one Democrat to try. Democratic activist James Hodgkinson of Belleville, Ill., tried to take out 24 Congressmen who were practicing for the annual Congressional baseball game on June 14, 2017. In all likelihood he would have killed most or all of the 24 who were there had it not been for the fact that Steve Scalice had a top leadership position and was thus accompanied by capitol police who were able to take down the shooter. Scalice was seriously wounded but survived. The Virginia attorney general said the shooter was “fueled by rage against Republican legislators,” and while he didn’t blame Democrats and the press, it’s pretty obvious where the blame lays.<br />
A host of Republicans have been driven out of restaurants, theaters, and other public places, from public officials to everyday people wearing political hats or t-shirts; <a href="http://colrebsez.blogspot.com/2018/06/it-wasnt-red-hens-refusal-of-service.html" target="_blank">the Red Hen ejection of Sarah Sanders</a> is just a very tiny tip of a very large iceberg. Elected Democrats such as Rep. Maxine Waters and Sen. Cory Booker have urged Democrats to harass Republicans when they see them in public. Such harassment can easily spill over into violence, and in fact it frequently does. Perhaps some Democrat somewhere, sometime has been mistreated, but never, ever on this scale or magnitude.<br />
The sad fact is that the Democrats in this country have become completely unhinged. Many are, if not violent, on the edge of violence, running around screaming in people’s faces; they are dangerous. And they have left mainstream America with a level of weirdness that is mind-boggling. When Democratic women started marching around with pink hats designed to look like vaginas on their heads, I thought they were freaks. This year they got rid of the vagina hats on the grounds that the hats weren’t inclusive enough,because “some women have penises.” I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP. They quit wearing the vagina hats because they didn't want to hurt the feelings of women who had penises. To me, these women have just gone from being freaks to well beyond the orbit of Planet Freak.<br />
Some people still vote for Democrats just because their father, mother, or grandfather voted for Democrats, but this ain’t Roosevelt’s party anymore; it's not even Obama's party anymore. It's not just a matter of Republicans being beaten up on a regular basis, although that is certainly a problem. America is under attack by a bunch of extremely violent Democrats and women with penises. If they should prevail, our republic will perish.<br />
To those very few normal people who still vote for Democrats, are these really the types of people you want to associate with?<br />
_____________________<br />
<br />
Many people have pointed out that Donald Trump urged his supporters to take action against protesters at his rallies. An undercover investigation found that the Clinton campaign hired people, often the homeless and mentally ill, to go to Trump rallies and start fights. In any event, it is a crime to disrupt a private political rally and those who do so are guilty of trespassing. Anyone disrupting a rally may be stopped with reasonable, violent force. Their coats should also be kept. Therefore, it is perfectly legitimate to advocate violence against criminal trespassers to the extent necessary to prevent them from disrupting the rally.Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-3865870293818555022018-09-22T16:48:00.002-05:002018-09-22T16:48:16.184-05:00If you have stopped taking a statin drug because of side effects, try again with low-dose Crestor<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGnClYWemtw1x9_eOhmKF4EW7IVZyYkOlkq8gaWWwFsok2ucUpOvss1lyYi4yBOwpcoZmZaSr9DN41joeUray1r6ZgI0GwTNMGLcOqvxJlI6Y-_h9U02cxRmpUAaEEcmnj2dOJeKJsuW0/s1600/crestor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="945" data-original-width="886" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGnClYWemtw1x9_eOhmKF4EW7IVZyYkOlkq8gaWWwFsok2ucUpOvss1lyYi4yBOwpcoZmZaSr9DN41joeUray1r6ZgI0GwTNMGLcOqvxJlI6Y-_h9U02cxRmpUAaEEcmnj2dOJeKJsuW0/s400/crestor.jpg" width="375" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lowest dose of Crestor does most of the work. Increasing from 5 to 40 mg, an eight-fold increase, only results in about a 40 percent increase in cholesterol reduction.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A lot of people are prescribed cholesterol-lowering statin drugs by their doctors and stop taking them because of unwanted side-effects, such as muscle pain. There is a lot better solution than simply not taking the drugs: just take them less often or at a much lower dose.<br />
My cholesterol has been hovering between 200 and 240 for my entire adult life, and my doctor has suggested several times that I take Crestor. A few years ago he gave me enough samples of 20mg Crestor to last six months, but I didn’t take them. Crestor was still on-patent at the time; I probably could have made money peddling my pills around nursing homes.<br />
After my last cholesterol screening my doctor's nurse called to tell me that he was prescribing me 10 mg Crestor to be taken every day. When I mentioned that I would rather just take it a couple of times a week she told me that he would have to increase the dosage to 20 mg., so I settled for the 10 mg every-day Crestor. Arguing with a doctor's nurse if futile.<br />
You can lead a man to pills but you can’t make him take them; I ended up taking the 10 mg Crestor about once a week, maybe a little more. There is a reason for my reticence in not wanted to take 10 mg of Crestor every day. Some years back I listened to a radio program which described Crestor as being the very strongest and most effective statin on the market; the downside to that is that it tended to have more side effects at higher doses. The point was made on the show that patients are usually best served by taking a very low dose of a powerful statin -- and Crestor is the strongest -- than a higher dose of a less-powerful one.<br />
One study found that 5mg of Crestor daily reduced LDL-C by 39% and non-HDL-C by 35%; 10 mg reduced LDL-C by 44% and non-HDL-C by 40%; 20 mg reduced LDL-C by 50% and non-HDL-C by 45%; 40 mg reduced LDL-C by 55% and non-HDL-C by 50%. Note that while high doses of Crestor do cause a greater reduction in cholesterol, the reduction is by no means linear. Increasing the 5 mg dose by 300 percent only results in a 30 percent increase in cholesterol reduction; a 700 percent dosage increase only increases efficacy by 40 percent. On the other hand drug toxicity, as measured by the occurrence and severity of side effects, rises with the dosage in a more-or-less linear fashion.<br />
Now for the takeaway. I’ve been taking 10mg of Crestor once every five to seven days for several months. I just had my total cholesterol checked for free at Wal-Mart and the result was 136, down from 206 in March. I still need to get a full cholesterol check, but that number confirms that a very low dose of Crestor can have a tremendous effect on lowering cholesterol. In Japan Crestor is marketed with a 2.5 mg dosage; sadly, we don’t have that option, but it is possible to use a pill splitter, and that’s what I’m likely to start doing after my next doctor’s visit.<br />
I’m not sure I will burden my doctor with the fact that I plan to split a 5 mg Crestor; I’ll just do it and check my cholesterol after a couple of months. In all likelihood it will be lower than 136, which should be plenty low.<br />
To anyone who has quit taking their statin drug because of unwanted side effects, I would suggest starting them again with a lower dose, either by taking them every other or every third day or with the use of a pill splitter, or both. Ask for low-dose Crestor if your doctor will cooperate; make your own low-dose Crestor regimen if he won't.Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-40124917703624683892018-08-10T09:13:00.001-05:002018-08-10T09:13:38.007-05:00Mississippi invention Comeback Sauce is easy to make; try my version and you may thank me<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBG5EpfDBDpZMJ46vbZSmNuFRXEw5E-bvNoXQGGNF2k4SvCVTzjcekB19KJzPGjCE1Z4Bblmo6tllIjNSBOVhn719tc3SI_TRz-QRnhRlNUrVLGEdGjSpWNAvdO8L5Je_jeuMsVO1zYLg/s1600/comebacksauce.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBG5EpfDBDpZMJ46vbZSmNuFRXEw5E-bvNoXQGGNF2k4SvCVTzjcekB19KJzPGjCE1Z4Bblmo6tllIjNSBOVhn719tc3SI_TRz-QRnhRlNUrVLGEdGjSpWNAvdO8L5Je_jeuMsVO1zYLg/s400/comebacksauce.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I snatched this photo off the web just to make people hungry! My sauce was a little thicker and darker.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There wasn’t anything much to eat in the house last night so I boiled a bag of frozen shrimp that we had in the freezer. While the shrimp were thawing I searched the Internet for a recipe for Comeback Sauce. Comeback Sauce originated Mississippi, being introduced and then copied in several Jackson restaurants. The <a href="http://www.mayflowercafems.com/" target="_blank">Mayflower Cafe</a> is often cited as having an outstanding Comeback Sauce, although it apparently didn't originate there.<br />
All recipes for Comeback Sauce contain chili sauce as one of the ingredients. I had never even heard of Heinz chili sauce before researching this recipe. I wonder how many other grocery items are lurking out there, being seen but not seen as I walk down the aisles?<br />
I’ve made Comeback Sauce once or twice before, but I’ve never been able to remember which recipe I used. Last night I found one on the <a href="http://grillax.com/comeback/" target="_blank">Grillax website which I thought was pretty good</a> (the website also has more of the Mississippi history of the Comeback Sauce). It’s quick and easy to make. I changed the recipe a little and have noted my changes below the recipe:<br />
<br />
<h2>
Comeback Sauce</h2>
●<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 clove chopped garlic<br />
●<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 cup mayonaise<br />
●<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1/4 cup chili sauce<br />
●<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 tsp. dry mustard<br />
●<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>½ cup corn oil<br />
●<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>½ t. Wocestershire sauce<br />
●<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 t. black pepper<br />
●<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1t. paprika<br />
●<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>½ t. onion powder<br />
●<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2 Tbl. lemon juice<br />
●<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 t. water<br />
●<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Dash of hot sauce<br />
<br />
Put all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Store in airtight container in refrigerator. Make the day before or a few hours in advance if possible.<br />
<br />
My changes<br />
I followed the recipe above but used extra garlic out of a tube (probably two cloves worth) a generous teaspoon of dry mustard, a scant ½ cup of oil, a teaspoon or more of Worcestershire sauce, extra hot sauce (I used Tobasco), and I omitted the water. I also added a teaspoon of white pepper. So here are the ingredients in list form with my changes.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Comeback Sauce (Col. Reb version)</h2>
■<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1.5 to 2 cloves chopped garlic<br />
■<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 cup mayonaise<br />
■<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1/4 cup Heinz chili sauce<br />
■<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 ½ tsp. dry mustard<br />
■<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A scant ½ cup corn oil<br />
■<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 t. Wocestershire sauce (slightly more to taste)<br />
■<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 t. black pepper<br />
■<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 t. white pepper<br />
■<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1t. paprika<br />
■<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>½ t. onion powder<br />
■<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2 Tbl. lemon juice<br />
■<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Several dashes of Tobasco<br />
<br />
This recipe makes a pretty generous amount, so it would be pretty easy to make this according to the “official” recipe, split in half, and then add a dab of mustard, Worcestershire, Tobasco, garlic, and a half-teaspoon of white pepper. A taste test could then determine which recipe was the “best.” I was very happy with my version.<br />
The beauty of this sauce is that it is quick and easy to make, and everyone can modify it slightly to suit their own tastes. I know that since I’ve started eating shrimp with Comeback Sauce the jar of cocktail sauce has remained unused.Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-47261253234869536312018-07-06T08:37:00.000-05:002018-07-06T08:37:24.332-05:00America: A family, a business partnership, a Chamber of Commerce, and a labor union all in one The Fourth of July has passed, but I think it might be helpful to think about how we view ourselves as a nation. America is a nation of people bound together by a common past, common struggles, and hopefully a common hope for her success in the world.<br />
• We should view America like an extended family. As the old saying goes, “You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family.” Maybe you don’t like or approve of every relative you have, but you still love them and try to help them when you can.<br />
• We should view America like a business partnership, in which every partner is expected to produce income for the firm. New partners – immigrants – are brought in only when it is believed highly likely that they will generate more income for existing partners they take out in benefits.<br />
• We should view America as both a Chamber of Commerce and a giant labor union; as a nation we should promote business and industry, but at the same time we should protect the quality of life of our workers and keep out scab labor, otherwise known as low-skilled immigrants.<br />
There is nothing wrong with helping another family in need, of course, but that can be done without allowing them to take up residence in one’s own home! Some people feel a religious obligation to help foreigners in need, but it is just as easy and actually more effective to help these people in their own country than in our own. There truly is no need to destroy America by allowing in a bunch of criminals and welfare cases.<br />
America has plenty of room to add highly productive immigrants to our family, our partnership, and our labor pool. And we have plenty of room for improvement in helping our own family members -- our own current citizens -- to become good and useful members of society.<br />
Our future as a nation depends on immigration control and a willingness to work together to improve the lives of our current citizens.Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-59662687457469336692018-06-27T11:43:00.000-05:002018-06-28T00:06:17.420-05:00It wasn't the Red Hen's refusal of service, but the breach of Hospitium that is the true evil<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKHoY5phK368Uc5gb_X8ifEuNRlaYCTgpBPTHzHK9qZ41ZLDMc92BpQlU93UsMME9KCsrwcTbh-EGJXLl9kjj_vqYLBoU02gmf-Rg0U2v92rNmpGCR23AyaACbhq52Klgzo-9KYMa_lzE/s1600/twoangels1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="500" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKHoY5phK368Uc5gb_X8ifEuNRlaYCTgpBPTHzHK9qZ41ZLDMc92BpQlU93UsMME9KCsrwcTbh-EGJXLl9kjj_vqYLBoU02gmf-Rg0U2v92rNmpGCR23AyaACbhq52Klgzo-9KYMa_lzE/s400/twoangels1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lot offered his daughters to the mob rather than breach Hospitium</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In a cluck heard around the nation if not the world the owner of the Lexington, Va., Red Hen restaurant kicked Sarah Huckabee Sanders out of her small, gourmet establishment because of her work for President Trump last weekend.<br />
Owner Stephanie Wilkinson claims the staff called her at home to tell her of Sanders' arrival (the reservation was in her husband's name), and she told them to go ahead and seat the party until she could arrive to make sure it was really her. When she arrived the Sanders party had already been served drinks and placed their order, and was eating a first course of bread and cheese.<br />
The owner told Sanders to leave and her party did with everyone but Sanders and her husband going to a neighboring restaurant. The Red Hen owner reportedly gathered a small crowd to follow the group and heckle them outside their new restaurant. A Red Hen waiter gloatingly posted on Facebook about the whole affair.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLMro_B1p5XsRroCoNyWpNMNl2fIFVMA-SgbrTRCQ_JNI7Klxdh-BH7vLRwY8DSySF8g6aymZ7L-_Ys1MINIss-Rm5tSf6QXgmstPn_j3CTlXwDTQYN_56NNm-rdTERNHATrEF4pPufs/s1600/red-hen-owners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="720" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLMro_B1p5XsRroCoNyWpNMNl2fIFVMA-SgbrTRCQ_JNI7Klxdh-BH7vLRwY8DSySF8g6aymZ7L-_Ys1MINIss-Rm5tSf6QXgmstPn_j3CTlXwDTQYN_56NNm-rdTERNHATrEF4pPufs/s200/red-hen-owners.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wilkinson with family</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The owner is quite up front about what she did; there is only one point that I doubt about her narrative. She said she told the employees to wait for her to arrive to “be sure” is was Sanders. I think her purpose of having Sanders seated was so she could arrive and have the pleasure of giving Sanders a piece of her mind while ejecting her.<br />
From the beginning it was this mid-meal ejection that bothered me more than would a simple turning away at the door. The reason for my visceral loathing of the Red Hen owner has dawned on me: she breached one of society's most ancient obligations, that of Hospitium, or the divine obligation of hosts to not only not attack, but to protect those under their roofs whom they have extended hospitality. Sanders had already been offered food and drink by the Red Hen; for her host to attack her was an unpardonable sin.<br />
I can already hear the leftists poo-pooing this notion, but it is an obligation as old as civilization. After the Muslim victory at the Battle of Hattin, the victorious Saladin brought the Christian King of Jerusalem into his tent and offered him water. The king then attempted to share the water with a nobleman who had murdered many Muslims and Saladin struck the goblet from his hand, stating that he was not offering him drink or protection under his roof. The king's life was spared while the noble was executed.<br />
Genesis 19 tells the story of Lot being visited by two Angels in the wicked city of Sodom. Word of this visit soon spreads and a mob arrived demanding that the visitors be turned out so that the crowd of men might rape them. So strong is the obligation of Hospitium that Lot's response was to offer the mob his two virgin daughters instead, an offer the crowd refused, at which point the Angles struck them blind.<br />
In recent popular culture, Hospitium is referred to as Guest Right throughout the Game of Thrones series, and it comes into being any time one is offered and consumes food and drink under another's roof, which is very much the traditional form of Hospitium. Guest Right is shockingly ignored by Walder Frey when he orders the slaughter of Robb Stark, his family, and his army at a wedding feast. The act was considered unspeakably evil, even by those who benefited from it. Following this act the Frey family was cursed.<br />
I believe the concept of Guest Right is genetically encoded, and that for most of us its violation is morally unfathomable. But there have always been and will be mutants among us who are genetically deficient in some way or another, or who have perhaps been programmed to overcome their genetically encoded morals.<br />
The owner of the Red Hen and those who support her are, very simply, Freys. Their very existence is a blight upon humanity. The Game of Thrones milieu is filled with imperfect and sometimes bad people, but none are more evil than the Freys. The House of Frey was cursed and those who would be modern-day Freys will find themselves to be equally reviled.Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-10541016710597086652018-06-23T16:39:00.001-05:002018-06-23T16:39:33.904-05:00Policy debates should be about helping Americans, not declaring others un-Christian “It’s the Christian thing to do.”<br />
<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-return-money-dnc-campaign-emaillist_us_5ae787e6e4b055fd7fced7bd" target="_blank">This was the pronouncement of a top Democrat</a> who insisted that Hillary Clinton return refund $1.65 million that the Democratic National Committee paid for Clinton’s email list just over a year ago. Such arrangements are not uncommon, as politicians carefully guard their mailing lists as one of their most valuable assets. Barrack Obama eventually donated his email list to the DNC, but not until 2015.<br />
Since purchasing the mailing list the DNC has used it to raise more than $30 million for the party. So the purchase was a great deal. But the Republican party has been far outraising Democrats. While individual Democrats have been very successful in fund-raising, the RNC has far outpaced them in both fund-raising and hoarding cash. The RNC currently has about $43 million in cash on hand with no debt; the DNC has about $10 million in cash coupled with $6 million in debt.<br />
And so the Democrats want their money back, and one spokesman has said their demand is ordained by Jesus Christ, and should Hillary not comply with it she is a apparently a bad Christian.<br />
Bollocks!<br />
Nowhere in the Bible is there a command to give money to either the Republican or Democrat party. Choosing to abide by the terms of a mutually beneficial contract doesn’t make one a bad Christian. But the far-left has taken to declaring anything they don’t like un-Christian, so it’s not surprising that one would hear such a ridiculous statement concerning Hillary’s email list.<br />
The Left adopted a policy some years back of infiltrating Christian churches in an effort to hijack the Christian faith. They have been remarkably successful in tying left-wing social policy to Christianity. Thus we are told that tax cuts are un-Christian; cuts in social spending are un-Christian; failure to support an open-borders policy which will destroy our nation is un-Christian; and so forth, ad nauseam, to the point that now failure to give millions to the DNC is un-Christian.<br />
If tax cuts are un-Christian then leftists should be able to tell us exactly what level of taxation is Christian. If cuts in social spending are un-Christian then exactly what level of social spending is Christian? If support for immigration control is un-Christian, they why do God and Jesus suggest otherwise in the Bible? Why would Jesus advocate policies which are certain to destroy America when the Bible insists that good rulers protect their subjects?<br />
As a nation the people of the United States have generally shared civic values that have absolutely nothing to do with Christianity or the Bible. It’s possible to support good or bad public policy without being a good or bad Christian.<br />
Our federal system of government is one of dual sovereignty: our first duty is to our federal government to the extent such duties are spelled out in our Constitution; our second duty is to our states (actually our first duty is to our states, but since they have ceded authority to the federal government we are bound to honor this concession). We likewise have a duty of dual moral fealty; first to God, for those things specifically spelled out in the Bible, and then to our civic polity for everything else. Most things we as Americans support or oppose have nothing to do with Christianity; they are instead arguments about civic values and how to best implement them.<br />
<a href="http://colrebsez.blogspot.com/2016/09/confederate-flag-resolution-gaines.html" target="_blank">Three years ago Southern Baptists voted to condemn the Confederate flag</a>, with no allowance made for the fact that the flag might mean different things to different people. At the same meeting the denomination elected Steve Gaines as its president. <a href="http://stopbaptistpredators.org/scandals/bellevue.html" target="_blank">As pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church Gaines allowed an associate pastor credibly accused of pressuring his teenage son to engage in sexual activity with him for more than a year to continue in his job for more than six months after learning of the abuse</a>. Even more appalling, the associate pastor’s job was to counsel victims of domestic and sexual abuse.<br />
To suggest that the display of the Confederate flag is un-Christian is heresy. Whether or not such display is right or wrong is determined by one’s personal motivation for such display. If to honor one’s ancestral parents, then such display is ordained by the Ten Commandments; if displayed out of a sense of hate for others then it is a sin.<br />
The decision to elect Steve Gaines as SBC president is another matter. For most his tolerance for incestuous child abuse violates both our sense of civic morality and our sense of Christian morality, not to mention the law. How can an organization that would elect such a man deem itself worthy to lecture the rest of us on what Christians should or should not do?<br />
Civic polity requires us to support laws and policies that operate to the benefit of our fellow citizens. Such a view is in concordance with the teachings of Jesus and the Bible. However, absent bad or evil intentions, no public policy decision is either Christian nor un-Christian.<br />
There is no such thing as corporate Christianity. Taxation of the wealthy to support the poor may very well be good public policy; but support for such taxation is neither Christian nor un-Christian. Only personal action taken with one’s own effort or assets allow one to meet Christ’s mandate to help the poor. Those who donate their time, energy, and money to help the poor are engaged in Christian behavior. Mere support for government spending to help the poor is not Christian at all.<br />
Our motivations for supporting various public policies can be Christian or un-Christian, but the policies themselves simply can’t be. To simply label a policy decision as un-Christian is to bear false witness against another, a violation of the Ten Commandments which is, in fact, un-Christian.<br />
As a general rule a Christian argument can be made for or against almost any public policy, which is why I think such debates should focus not on religion, but what is best for the American people and nation.Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-8017826445910261652018-04-09T08:15:00.000-05:002018-04-09T08:15:27.329-05:00On April 10 Daily Getaways offers Choice Hotel points for a half-cent each; run don't walk for this deal If you like to travel on the cheap, <a href="http://dailygetaways.com/">dailygetaways.com</a> offers heavily discounted hotel points along with other travel offers starting today. The annual promotion goes on for five weeks, which is two weeks longer than previous years.<br />
Points on offer include those from Hilton, IHG (Holiday Inn), and Choice. Marriott isn’t included in the first two weeks, but will likely be added later. If you want to buy some of these really cheap points the first thing you need to do is have a membership in the corresponding loyalty club; so do that right now!<br />
In my view, the best offer by far is the Choice Hotels points being offered for just under one-half cent per point; this is almost a 20 percent increase over last year’s price, but these are still a great deal. The Choice brand includes 11 mostly down-market hotel chains, although included in that is the semi-luxury Ascend Collection and the usually reliable Comfort and Sleep Inns. On the lower end are the EconoLodge and Rodeway Inn. Yes, you can earn points for staying at an EconoLodge.<br />
Even though the Choice hotel brand doesn’t include the most luxurious hotel brands, this point offer (and their loyalty program) offers great value. I’ve been buying these points since 2011, when I paid just over a third of a cent per point, thanks to a no-longer-offered American Express discount. That summer I was able to book four rooms in Venice, Italy for 10,000 points per room, or $35 per night. To understand what a value this is, do a search for Venice hotel rooms.<br />
Not every hotel offers rooms for only 10,000 points, as redemptions cost as much as 30,000 points per night, and 25,000 per night is common. But on the top end rooms in New York City at a Cambria or Comfort hotel go for 25-30,000 per night, so with these discounted points the cost per night would be $125 to $150 per night. For New York City that’s not a bad deal. Last fall I booked a room in Tuscaloosa on a ballgame weekend for 25,000 points when the going rate was roughly $350 per night. Choice frequently puts one or two European countries on “sale” for lowered point amounts. Right now rooms in Paris can be had for as little as 12,000 points per night and rooms in London near Hyde Park for 16,000. At $5 per thousand points that's $60 and $80.<br />
The Choice points go on sale tomorrow, Tuesday, April 10, at Noon Central time. In past years these points were so popular that they were sold out within a few seconds of being offered, although you could repeatedly try to buy them and get lucky when someone else’s sale fell through, either because their credit card didn’t process or because they didn’t have a valid membership number. I would open three different browsers in order to get as many points as possible. With this year’s 20 percent increase in price comes a 10-fold increase in the number of point packages offered, so odds are that lightning fingers won’t be needed, and the points might be available for several hours if not days days. But if you want these points it’s still a good idea to be sitting at your computer at the crack of noon!<br />
Also being offered are IHG points (formerly Priority Club) for $5.80 per thousand on April 11 and Hilton points at $5 per thousand on April 12. I have purchased a small number of IHG points every year and manage to put them to good use, although the savings aren’t nearly as extreme as those from the Choice points. Hilton points at a half-cent each are a pretty good buy, but I wouldn’t stock up on them unless I had already priced out a trip and could see the savings up front.<br />
There are a lot of good deals being offered during the Daily Getaways promotion, but I’m going for the Choice Hotel points; that’s where the savings are.Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9175270679391521447.post-34112622829562295522018-03-26T01:31:00.000-05:002018-03-26T01:31:12.637-05:00Gun control proponents keep denouncing semi-automatics; do they know what they are? In all of the grab-the-guns hysteria going on right now it’s clear that a lot of gun critics don’t know what they are talking about. Again and again I read or hear people say that semi-automatic weapons should only be used by the military, that there is no need for any private citizen to own a semi-automatic weapon, and that they need to be confiscated.<br /> These people apparently aren’t aware that the majority of guns in this country are semi-automatic weapons. Most hunting weapons are semi-automatic. Most pistols are semi-automatic. Revolvers aren’t semi-automatic, but they might as well be. A semi-automatic weapon shoots one round with one press of the trigger, at which point the energy from the fired round automatically ejects the spent shell and loads another round; but the gun will not shoot again until the trigger is depressed for a second time. A non-automatic weapon requires the manual operation of a bolt or pump to eject the spent round and load a new one, or else the manual reloading of the gun.<br /> An automatic weapon is most commonly known as a machine gun. They have been essentially outlawed through taxation and regulation for the better part of a century. If you want to own a machine gun you will need around $40,000, a very clean record, and a lot of patience.<br /> What are popularly called "Assault rifles” are hunting weapons that have been gussied up to look like military weapons. But they still fire just like hunting rifles; if anything, they are less accurate. They are often fitting with extended magazines holding 10 to as many as 30 rounds of ammunition. At one time magazines holding more than 10 rounds were illegal under federal law, but this law expired. Many, but by no means all, hunting rifles can accept larger magazines.<br /> It’s possible to modify some semi-automatic rifles to act in a manner similar to an automatic. For example, the Obama administration issued a ruling that bump stocks were legal. These stocks cause a rifle to bounce against the finger and act as an automatic weapon, albeit with terrible aim. The NRA has urged the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to ban these. I believe the ATF also has the authority to ban any gun designed so that it can easily be modified to become a fully automatic weapon, and they should.<br /> I'll save my Second Amendment arguments for another day. But if the issue of gun control is to be debated I do think it is important for people to understand the difference between an automatic and semi-automatic weapon.Col. Reb Sezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02962693457509336759noreply@blogger.com0