Silent Spring

                Rachel Carson was right after all. Almost six decades since her iconic environmentalist book “Silent Spring” was published, we are entering a season of strange and disconcerting soundlessness. In an ironic twist of fate, it turns out it is man and not nature that has been muted.

                There will be no groans of distress, grunts of effort and focus, nor shouts of joy on the athletic fields or in the pro-sports arenas this spring. There will be no umpire to yell “play ball!” No shrieks of joy as the Stanley Cup is proudly held aloft. There was no “March Madness,” only sadness and ennui. Tragically, there will be more of the same to come. Countless seniors in numerous winter and spring sports have been—and will be—stripped of the opportunity to compete for a championship and to be recognized on “senior night.” The Olympic Flame has been temporarily snuffed, the Summer Games postponed. Well, there’s always next year. Unless there isn’t.

                Hello darkness, my old friend

                I’ve come to talk with you again

                “Pomp and Circumstance” will not ring out across high school stadiums or college venues as joyful graduates receive their diplomas and degrees in front of their proud families and friends. Well, there’s always next year……strike that, maybe not.

                Because a vision softly creeping

                Left its seeds while I was sleeping

                Neither stadiums nor arenas, nor anyplace else, will thrill to the sounds of our favorite bands and musicians any time soon. Not in the COVID-19 Era. Those sounds you don’t hear coming from bars, restaurants, and brewpubs, would have been the clinking of glasses, the making of toasts and the telling of stories.

                And the vision that was planted in my brain

                Still remains

                Within the sound of silence

                Businesses and factories have been shut down. The hustle and bustle of city life hushed.

                “Ode to Joy” will not move throngs of marriage ceremony attendees to tears of elation, because there won’t be any sizeable marriage ceremonies. There will be no sermons in church, because there will be no public services. And there will be no gatherings at funerals, either. In the time of the coronavirus, you are not even allowed to say goodbye.

                And no one dared

                Disturb the sound of silence

Coronavirus Samples Stolen

            WFLD FOX 32, a television station in Chicago, recently reported that five coronavirus samples were stolen from a lab employee’s car at a Chicago gas station. Incredibly, the lab employee, a 42-year old woman, left her car unlocked and running while she went into the South Side gas station shortly before 7 p.m. Not surprisingly, as she entered the station, two men stole her car, a 2015 Jeep Cherokee. Apparently, after enlisting the help of a relative, the remarkably careless lab tech located her vehicle only a few miles away. Nearing midnight, she alerted nearby police officers that the two men were still in the car. Reports say the police then approached the vehicle, prompting the men to flee. Somehow, they got away from the police, who are still searching for them.

The police confirmed that all five of the samples were missing from the car after they repossessed the vehicle.

The whole episode is stupefying. Were the coronavirus samples in little plastic bottles with snap-on lids? Were they just sitting on the backseat of the ditzy lab tech’s car? On its dashboard? Did the ditzy lab tech have to use the rest room? Fancy a snack? Need to buy a pack of cigs? I mean, what the hell?! So, the two guys stole a car and then fled…with the virus samples? Did they know they were there? Did they know what they were? And the cops saw the two guys in the car and yet the two guys got out and fled and the cops couldn’t catch them? Were the cops afraid to get too close to the two car thieves? Or afraid to get too close to the coronavirus samples?

It’s a good thing this lab tech wasn’t entrusted with our nuclear codes or samples of uranium 235. “I know I should protect them, but, damn it, I crave a Twinkie! Couldn’t hurt if I left the doors unlocked and the car running, could it? Be a lot easier for me when I get back.”

Of all the ways “experts” have told us the coronavirus spreads, of all the things to watch out for…this wasn’t one of them.

Sunbathers, dog-walkers and lone paddle-boarders have been fined and/or arrested during this crisis. Will this lab tech be held accountable?

Of Pandemics And Miracles

Strange days are these.

During the present crisis, I have often written about government overreach and my fears for the post COVID-19 (COVID-1984?) world, should there ever be one. Today, however, I offer my considered opinion on what the best case scenario would be-- what needs to happen if we are to live happily ever after, or at least until the next existential crisis statists and would-be totalitarians seize upon to prevent the rest of us from ever threatening their power. We need to realize there is a tipping point economically, intellectually, and spiritually from which we can never return. I write this from the perspective of an American citizen, but many of the points made equally apply to nearly everyone around the globe. The following is a short list of what I believe we should learn from this pandemic, its genesis, and the various responses to it-- if we wish to see a better world, or even a future in which we care to be present.

*We must cherish and protect our freedoms, and never relinquish them again without the direst of proven threats. (Assuming we get them back.) And then only with the clear understanding and commitment from a democratic government that they will be promptly returned in full the moment the threat is past. Or else the old leaders will be cast out and new ones elected.

*We must always be prepared for a pandemic—or a war—so that there is no need for panic or for our liberties to be taken from us in a desperate attempt to save ourselves. This, too, is the best way to prevent either from occurring.

*We must never allow ourselves to be dependent on another nation for vital products (or services) pertaining to our national security, be they pharmaceuticals, energy supplies, military hardware, or high-tech components. We must continue strengthening our own manufacturing and energy sectors.

*We must stop relying on Chinese-made products in particular. This is not racist, just prudent. And we must never rely on the Chinese Communist government for anything whatsoever, including the truth.

*The world must demand that Chinese “wet markets” close forever. The people don’t need them. It is generally the wealthier citizens that purchase exotic animals, their carcasses, or parts thereof, as “status symbols.” The world can no longer put up with a continuing series of diseases emanating from these filthy locations.

*China must be held accountable and isolated until they give up on their attempt to dominate the world economically and militarily. (The same goes for Iran.)

*Socialized medicine should be seen for what it is. Do not forget that the elderly are often deliberately left to die due to the pernicious effects of government run health care.

*We must realize that the Democrats have clearly shown they only care about their agenda, their power, and not a whit about the American people. This realization must be reflected at the polling places in November.

*Similarly, those in the mainstream media have conclusively—and repeatedly—proven that there is no lie they won’t tell and no low to which they will not go to advance their own agenda and interests, which mirror those of the Democrats…even in the midst of a national crisis and worldwide pandemic.

*We should realize that President Trump was right about securing our borders, placing a ban on travel to and from China, and confronting China over its unfair trade practices…as well as a host of other issues. 

*We should finally realize that colleges, owing to progressive policies and dogma, have become vastly overpriced indoctrination centers, and that a viable education can be obtained online, for example, without the elaborate facilities, cadre of administrators and plethora of diversity coordinators for which physical colleges force students to pay.

*We must not rely on “experts” to tell us how to lead our lives. They have their own biases and are anything but infallible. In fact, they are often-- if not usually-- wrong.

*We must insist, through our purchase patterns and actions, that the Big Tech companies do not run roughshod over our liberties while playing patsy to the Chinese Communist government in their quest for ever bigger markets. Or we must demand our legislators take a stand.

*We should learn, once and for all, to never take another day—or loved one—for granted.

*We must awaken to the fact that we have become much too dependent on—and obedient to—government. We should ask ourselves, “What would the Founders have done?” while committing ourselves to relearning the founding principles. The best single resource I know for doing this is a book titled, “The 5,000 Year Leap: A Miracle That Changed the World,” by the National Center For Constitutional Studies.

*Finally, but perhaps most importantly, we should, each in our own way, consider revisiting and strengthening our faith. There are more things in heaven and earth than we dream of in our philosophy. If we lose this realm, it’s comforting to know the next one will be better.

Let us hope and pray that, like the Phoenix, we too can rise again.  And reclaim our freedoms and battered humanity.

                                                   ***************************

           Hebrews 11:1-- Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

         He is risen! Happy Easter!

Stressed Monkeys Chain-Smoking?

                Zoos around the world have been shuttered due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Apparently, this has made some of their animals confused and nervous. In the midst of the pandemic, a video of a monkey smoking a cigarette in a zoo enclosure has surfaced. The animal holds the cancer stick between his fingers like a natural between taking deep drags off the butt, blissfully exhaling smoke from his nose and mouth. Though some animal rights activists were concerned, the zoo’s staff were more sanguine about the chimp’s actions, because they said the chimp “didn’t inhale.” Ah, the old Bill Clinton defense.

               Some zookeepers and trainers state that this is not an infrequent occurrence and that monkeys often pick up butts previously discarded by human visitors, some of whom have discarded their lighters, too. Apparently, monkeys are smart enough—or dumb enough—to figure out how to light the cigs as well as smoke them. And then…addiction can set in. Some zoo officials say a few monkeys have been “chain smoking” due to their unease over the coronavirus pandemic. This seems like so much preposterous balderdash for multiple reasons. However, it did get me to thinking. If they are aping the behavior of the humans who (used to) come to see them, things could get ugly. Let’s hope cigarettes aren’t a gateway drug for simians. Hopefully, we won’t soon discover that they’ve been monkeying around with harder drugs, or one day we will visit our favorite exhibit of bonobos or orangutans and see them not just reach for a pack of Marlboros, but pull out a bong, coke spoon, or crack pipe. I fear some will also be drinking straight from a bottle of Old Grand Dad hidden in a small, wrinkled paper bag.

Who among us wishes to see our favorite simian exhibit devolve into a dystopian hell that makes Skid Row look like Park Avenue or the Miracle Mile? On their best days, monkeys are not exactly paragons of virtue—or stability. If they were to be on drugs, they would make Dante’s Inferno or Studio 54 in its heyday look like grandmother’s quilting bee.

So remember, if this crisis/lock-down ever does end, and we are once again “allowed” to visit zoos, be on your best behavior. Present a calming influence. And don’t smoke. After all, monkey see, monkey do.

Princeton University Paper Suggests "Pass-Fail" Grade System

                As someone once said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” The editorial board of The Daily Princetonian apparently agrees wholeheartedly, as it is urging the school to switch to a pass/fail grading system for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic-driven online-only class schedule. The board opined that the alternative grading system would “limit inequities, as well as the harms faced by the least-advantaged among us.” Well, it would certainly limit inequities between those who study diligently and those who don’t.

                The paper Tigers admitted that such a grading system might “deny many students a valuable chance to lift their GPAs” and would not “sufficiently reward their diligent work from the first half of this semester.” They concluded, however, that “whatever negative effects result” from the proposed pass/fail policy “will be washed out by a shared understanding of this crisis’ unprecedented scale and severity.” Too bad if your hard work and 4.0 grade point average are washed out, but at least you will have a shared understanding of the scale and severity of the politicized pandemic. And of Socialism, for that matter.

                Other Ivy League student groups have suggested that colleges provide free beer and marijuana, complete with home delivery, to their students in an effort to relieve stress caused by the pandemic and virtual coursework.

                Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said that his plan would include giving every student $10,000 and an ‘A,’ and would also include nationalizing marijuana production.

Democrats Ramping Up Their War On Babies

                Democrats have recently ramped up their war on babies, fighting on many fronts. On February 25^th, Senate Democrats filibustered a bill called the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would have banned abortion after 20 weeks. (Though some babies can survive outside the womb after five months, and one would think that amount of time would be sufficient to decide if one wants to keep the baby, why do today what could be put off until tomorrow, right?)

                Senate Democrats also recently voted to block legislation that would have required that medical care be provided to babies who survive abortion procedures. The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act did not receive the 60 votes necessary to advance out of the Senate. The final tally was 56 for, 41 against, with every single vote against the bill cast by Democrats. Hell yeah, even if the baby is alive and kicking after an attempted abortion, let’s just leave them on a table somewhere to die. Because, at that point, we can’t decapitate them or shoot them, sadly. Nice party you’ve got there, Dems-- full of loving, tolerant, folks who care so deeply about the marginalized, the downtrodden, the challenged, the little guy.

                What’s more, the American Civil Liberties Union recently filed a lawsuit against seven East Texas towns that had the audacity to declare themselves “sanctuary cities” for unborn children. The ACLU brought the suit on behalf of two pro-abortion groups, the Lilith Fund and the Texas Equal Access Fund (TEA Fund), saying that their rights to free expression and association are violated by the pro-life ordinances. Say what?! Abortion is “free expression?” Why not term it “performance art?” These group’ rights to “free expression” supersede the baby’s right to life? And “free association” is not a term I usually associate with the removal of a “fetus” from a womb. Nor did the Founders. Perhaps we need to rethink the Holocaust. Maybe it was just the Nazi’s preferred way of “freely associating.”

                Mark Dickson, the director of Right to Life East Texas, derided the ACLU’s complaint via a Facebook post, calling it "a meritless lawsuit brought to deter and intimidate cities from enacting these ordinances, which are entirely constitutional and consistent with the laws of Texas." He added, "We have a legal team ready to defend these ordinances at no charge to the cities, and we are prepared to defend all other cities that enact these laws at no charge to the taxpayers."

   Apparently, progressives believe only criminals and non-residents deserve “sanctuaries,” not innocent unborn babies in the womb. It is ghoulishly ironic that the ACLU will sue to prevent states from establishing sanctuary cities for babies while simultaneously holding the view that states have every right to disregard federal law and provide sanctuary cities for illegal aliens.

Criminals Released, Sunbathers Cited

            To say these are strange and perilous times is an understatement.

            A Sudanese national recently went on a rampage in the French town of Romans-sur-Isere, south of Lyon, attacking 7 people on a busy street, killing two and wounding five. He, of course, was chanting “Allahu Akbar” during the assault. This act of terror has gone largely unnoticed by the mainstream media, as they are solely fixated on the COVID-19 crisis.

              Meanwhile, nearly two dozen sunbathers were issued citations at a California beach for violating the formerly Golden State’s stay-at-home order. Not to be outdone, Riverside (California) County Sheriff Chad Bianco announced via a YouTube video that residents could now be imprisoned for violating an order to cover their faces in public during the current pandemic. County authorities averred that local law enforcement agencies do have the power to enforce the order “as they deem necessary.” Nice that local authorities have the power to override the Constitution at their discretion.

              Counties and states around the nation are releasing thousands of inmates from jails and prisons amid fears that they could experience coronavirus outbreaks and the federal prison system may soon do the same, Attorney General William Barr indicated. “Obviously, the health and safety of our inmates and our staff is a top priority for us,” Barr remarked at a Justice Department news conference. He added, “We take seriously our responsibility to protect those who are in our custody.” That’s nice, but what about the rest of us? We are all essentially in custody now.

              But back to California, where officials deemed firearm outlets non-essential and ordered them to close during the stay-at-home period. The state eventually relented after the National Rifle Association and other Second Amendment-supporting groups sued Governor Gavin Newsome and other state officials, allowing the stores to reopen. (Why would we need to protect ourselves now, when so many criminals are being released into our communities?) And, in Malibu, two lifeguard boats and a brace of deputy sheriffs were deployed to arrest a lone paddle-boarder. The paddle-boarder was near no one. At least until the deputies brought him in to be booked.

              Incredibly, these are not the worst abuses of power. In India, police are reportedly beating people who do not comply with social distancing rules. And Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte instructed his police to “shoot them dead” if residents of his nation too aggressively fought the lock-down measures. Yes, “shoot the bastards dead, we’re trying to save lives!”

              On top of all this, a pedophile rapist was recently released from a Massachusetts prison to protect him from the coronavirus.

              To recap, we are letting untold thousands of criminals out of jail so they will be less likely to contract the coronavirus. Yet, we are threatening to incarcerate people for sunbathing and paddle-boarding. Or not properly covering their faces. (Do pious Muslim women have an unfair advantage in this regard? Are laws being unevenly applied?)

 In a sane world, criminals and criminal illegal aliens would be forced to shelter-in-place, say, in a jail, while law-abiding citizens would retain their Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, not vice-versa.

                                                                   

Kennedy Center Pockets Taxpayer Cash, Releases Orchestra

                The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts received a $25 million bailout from the federal government (read taxpayers) as part of the recent coronavirus stimulus bill. Hours later it laid off the entire National Symphony Orchestra. The nearly 100 members comprising the orchestra will no longer receive paychecks until the Center reopens, the Washington Free Beacon reported. The Kennedy Center is tentatively scheduled to reopen on May 10th, but that is extremely unlikely given COVID-19 projections and government’s rapidly swelling propensity to control everything and everybody. If the center remains closed past May, the musicians will also lose their health insurance. Nice timing.

                Frankly, the Kennedy Center had no business getting a bailout as part of the emergency coronavirus package, or “CARES Act.” However, since it was handed $25 million, it had even less business furloughing its entire orchestra immediately after being granted the largesse. This would be as if GM and Chrysler had laid off most of their employees after receiving their massive bailouts in 2009. The stimulus package was intended to provide relief for those who are left unemployed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, not to cause folks to become unemployed. In fact, the law’s text states the monies granted were to “cover operating expenses required to ensure the continuity of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and its affiliates,” including “for employee compensation and benefits,” and specifically includes “artists and performers” as employees.

                The timing of the decision to stop paying the musicians seems preposterous, especially since the Kennedy Center also possesses an endowment of almost $100 million. The Washington Post reports that Ed Malaga, head of the union that represents the musicians, claims that his charges had previously expressed a willingness to discuss ways to accommodate the Center during this pandemic. And that the parties’ collective bargaining agreement requires the Center to provide six weeks’ notice before it can stop paying the musicians for economic reasons.

                Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter said that everyone should share the burden in this crisis and added that the taxpayer bailout would “provide long-term cash flow for essential personnel to ensure that we can reopen.” Essential personnel like, say, Deborah Rutter, no doubt.

China To Purchase MSNBC, CNN

Monday, April 13, 2020 (The Year of the Rat)

News Services— In a surprise announcement earlier today, China revealed that it has agreements in place to purchase both MSNBC and CNN, two of the three main American cable news networks. Wu Han Yú, spokesperson for China’s Xinhua News Agency, told reporters “It only makes sense to add these two great, independent news organizations to our Xinhua News Agency Family under the auspices of our Dear Leader, Xi Jinping, and the Chinese Communist Workers Party.” Yú added that, with the “exciting” new additions, his government’s news organization would henceforth be known as the Xinhua News Network, or XNN.

                When asked what made MSNBC and CNN attractive to his government, Yú replied, “We were impressed by the accuracy and unbiased nature of both networks. Frankly, we just have great respect for the truth. It will be a perfect fit.”

                Yú was also asked what changes Xinhua planned for the two erstwhile American news outlets. He stated, “Very few changes need to be made. They are already in tune with our worldview—meaning the truth!—and so we will basically leave good enough alone, to use an American expression. We may change the title of CNN’s “State of the Union with Jake Tapper” to “State of the People’s Republics with Jake Tapper.” And we might do more with Lisa Ling. Oh, and we’d like to see Rachel Maddow in a Hanfu or Zhongshan suit.”

Researchers Say Lockdown Might Need To Last 12-18 Months

            The government of the United Kingdom recently asked its citizens to cut off all unnecessary contact with other people, including friends and family, in response to recommendations from a British research team. Brits are also supposed to self-quarantine for 14 days if anyone in their home has a cough or a fever. What’s more, the researchers also averred that if the world’s lockdown measures are to truly be effective, they would need to be in effect for 12 to 18 months.

Doggone it. Does that make anyone else want to call the Euthanasia Society to see if they deliver? Oh well, as the Brits themselves say, “keep your pecker up!”

 Aris Katzourakis, a Professor of Evolution and Genomics at the University of Oxford, stated that the aggressive social distancing measures implemented now might only “buy time” for the U.K. and other countries to eventually implement aggressive high-tech tracking and surveillance measures. He added, “Once you get things under control, with a lot of targeted surveillance, there are ways of locally relaxing restrictions and returning to some level of activity. [But] it will never be the same until there is a cure, or a vaccine. ‘Returning to normal’ simply isn’t something we should expect to see for a very, very long time.”

It will never be the same? Hmm. The report essentially says that if even one person in the world has the coronavirus, the risk of the virus spreading will require us, meaning governments, to implement aggressive measures to stop it.

 Should this report be heeded, that is it for human life on Earth. Ironically, a purported attempt to (unrealistically) minimize the number of deaths will have guaranteed many more… and rendered freedom extinct along with those who perished. The world economy would be virtually destroyed, people destitute, hopeless, deranged. Domestic abuse, addiction and depression would be rampant. Civil unrest would jeopardize the lives of those who hadn’t already taken their own.

            Shouldn’t “aggressive measures” be taken to prevent this scenario?