Abusive Trump or Creepy Joe?

I think I lost some more sensitive FB friends.  It was so surreal, one of my female HS class mates posted a Trump video that showed the many times that Biden touched women, girls, etc.  From just touching their head, straightening their hair, and even touching a little side boob on purpose or by accident.  Most of them were when everyone was scrunching together for a photo...

And you will not believe what these Pro-Trump ladies had to say about creepy Joe...  One would think that he was a convicted pedophile...

So in my continual effort to keep folks honest...  I noted that:

• Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct ~25 times
• Biden has been married twice, buy only after his first wife and a daughter died in a car accident
• As compared to Trump's trading wives regularly
• And don't forget him bragging about grabbing women against their will

Amazingly or not it seems that I am no longer welcome in that dialogue.

So... What is happening to our country where citizens seem happy to attack others and then hide behind...  I am free to have my opinion?  Even when that opinion defies science, is easily proven incorrect or as in this case...  Is just plain old hypocritical?

To my friends who stick with me even though I challenge / question your posts.  Thank you for avoiding being sucked into echo chambers where everyone agrees with you.

By the way, I would leave my young adult daughters alone with Biden long before letting them anywhere near Trump... :-)

When Your Spouse Dies

Who Will you Blame?  The Hill

Juan Williams believes Older voters won't forgive Trump for COVID...

It makes sense to me that a WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE are going to be angry with Trump for his mishandling of COVID.  Let's say that ~200,000 citizens are dead by then, and most of them are 60 or older.

That means there are going to be a LOT of spouses, children and friends who will likely be in mourning and angry.  It will be interesting to see who they decide to hold accountable for their loss?

I am betting it is the guy who promised COVID was under control on Feb 24th...

Emperor Trump Rules?

And the GOP is Silent?  I can not even imagine the out cry if Obama had tried to spend money by Executive Order. :-)

And he just keeps repeating the same VA lie.  Why are GOPers so happy to believe his blatant lies.

I will never understand... :-(

Who Is HAPPY?

Let's compare...  So Laurie and Moose are trying use Happiness as an argument for adopting Liberal government.  I am not convinced the "causality" is there.

"USA is 19th in the world happiness report. Nearly all the countries of Europe score higher than we do." Laurie and Moose

Here are my random thoughts:

• It seems to me that the happiest people live in TINY Countries up North (kind of like if MN was a country)
• If Dem Socialism works, why is France, Spain, Italy lower on the list.
• The USA is the #1 happiest of the BIG Complicated Countries.  I mean even the UK and Germany are relatively small and simple.
• I think they should compile the number for the EU....  Then we would have an apples to apples comparison.

So does this mean that we have the BEST form of government?
I think so... :-)   God Bless America !!!

The GOP's Decline?

An interesting perspective by a long time political operative. The Atlantic

Here were their final thoughts:

"A reshaped GOP would be very conservative, but not radical. 

It would believe in limited government, but a government run by professionals, respecting data and science, and operating efficiently and fairly. It would believe in genuine fiscal discipline. 

It would try to apply free-market approaches to solving difficult problems, such as climate change. It would believe in the integrity of institutions and insist that those in office adhere to high ethical standards. 

It would respect the sanctity of alliances and the fundamental values of decency and equal treatment. 

It would work to broaden its base across racial and ethnic lines, not use division and voter suppression to cling to power. 

Sadly, even if Donald Trump is defeated in November, there is no sign that such a party will return anytime soon. But restoring the Republican Party to its traditional values is absolutely essential to preserve the core of our system of governance."

Personally I think the Trump Supporters are weakening the GOP, but only time will tell. Since both polarized end of the citizenry seem obsessed with their own brand of extremism. :-(

A Box with Your Name On It

Apparently we may not only end up in a refrigerated trailer, but in a cardboard box in a refrigerated trailer. (or in a conference room)

One death every 80 seconds: The grim new toll of COVID-19 in America

The sadly humorous thing about this post is that I was trying to search for HEAD Brand cardboard coffins...  It turns out the HEAD is where the HEAD goes...  And I love the label on the side of the box. "HANDLE WITH EXTREME CARE" !!!  As if the person in the box will notice. :-( :-)

No Smoking Allowed

Near the Fertilizer...  I wonder how many piles we have in our home towns...

"According to Lebanon's Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, exploded on Tuesday. Ammonium nitrate is a highly explosive material used in fertilizers.

The explosion killed dozens, injured thousands and blew out windows in buildings across Lebanon's capital city."

Remember what happen to the OKC Federal Building and that was just one truck full.

Mail In Voting is Good in FL

Or so Trump says... And why does that self serving idiot think that?

"Florida's got a great Republican governor. And it had a great Republican governor," Trump said, citing Ron DeSantis (R) and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.). "Two great governors. And over a long period of time they've been able to get the absentee ballots done extremely professionally."

now why would that weasel flip flop?

"Polls show a growing skepticism of vote-by-mail among Republicans, and in several key states, including Florida, more Democrats than Republicans have requested to vote absentee in November. 

Biden is leading Trump in Florida by a little over 6 percentage points in the RealClearPolitics average of polls."

I rarely let Trump's self serving manipulation bother me, but his attacking mail in vote accuracy and reliability is SO DANGEROUS for citizens and our country.  How can people still believe anything he says?

Trump Show Grows Tired

by Juan Williams is Excellent.

"But if pop culture celebrity is a winning hand, it is also a fact that Americans do not like reruns.

And in every episode of the Trump Show, the script uses the same schtick to hold the audience.

Trump's favorite schtick is making himself the hero. He alone can save America from - well, take your pick:

Remember when Trump promoted himself as the only man willing to imply the first black president was a fake because he was not born in the U.S.? It wasn't true. But in the Trump Show, only ratings matter.

Remember when he came down the golden escalator in Trump Tower to announce his run for the White House was to protect the nation from criminal, rapist Mexicans threatening the American way of life? It wasn't true. But it got ratings.

Remember the call to "lock her up," because Hillary Clinton's email server was somehow a threat to national security? Again, not true but it got some votes.

At some point, this act gets tired."

School Autonomy

Trump gets an education in the art of reversal

I found the following quote very accurate... Since Trump flip flops like a landed bass.

"“Whatever he says today he will change tomorrow, and he’s going to pretend like whatever he just said he never said,” National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen García said. “What he says and what he does are two different things. We look at what he does.”"

Now for my usual venting regarding the inconsistency of the Republican party membership.  They would have FREAKED OUT if the Feds / Obama had thought about ordering their states and local school districts around.  And yet they seem just fine with Trump trying to do it.

Bailouts vs Welfare

As Congress struggles with what to do, my liberal FB friends continue to argue what is the correct path?

They of course seem to think that the US should keep borrowing money and writing checks to everyone who is unemployed. 

Whereas I think that we maintain a welfare system for a reason.  And it should be used to help anyone who does not have adequate resources in these times of need.

I don't think that our children should have to bear the burden of supplementing the incomes of people who do not need assistance, or who chose to live above their means and did not maintain a rainy day fund.

I am not sure where this idea got started that the Federal Government is a BIG Piggy Bank meant to eliminate the pains caused in a world full of ups and downs?

Riots: Good for Both Sides

And Bad for Tax Payers, the Local Businesses and the citizens. 

My Liberal FB friends are LIVID about the US Federal government "taking over" cities.Some comparing it to Germany invading Poland pre-WWII.  Here is how the conversation usually goes. (I am the Green text)

Stop the occupation of Portland

Now that one made me smile. 🙂 Apparently the Portland Metro area has a population of 2,478,810 people....
The Federal government has sent ~200 law enforcement personnel there and their efforts are focused in a ~6 block area centered around the Federal Court House...
How do you see that as an "occupation"? 🙂

The reality is that the Protesters and the White House are getting what they want out of this situation. They both want cameras, news and social media focused on them.

The Conservatives will use it as propaganda regarding the lawlessness of Liberal cities.

The Liberals will use it as propaganda regarding the excesses of the law enforcement system.


When in reality the protesters could relocate 5 blocks away and there would be no conflict... Both sides are doing a wonderful job of manipulating the emotions of their bases. 🙂 As I see 
daily on the news and on my social media. 🙁

Have you heard Pres Trump (aka the art of the deal) trying to talk to the protesters? Sit down with them and listen to them and their demands? I haven’t. Until then, Portland is Iraq.

Why in the world should the US government be extorted by a small minority of our citizens?
10,000 of 2,478,810 people are protesting (some violently unfortunately) and demanding change...
Does that mean we should change? (ie capitulate)
If they want change, then tell them to get out and vote... And if they really want to change, tell them to figure out how to fix the root causes of the problem... (see below)

Unfortunately as long as Black and Hispanic males make up the majority of our country's gang members, all men in those population groups will suffer. So how do we get them out of the gangs? 

Do you think the protesters are willing to accept these simple facts?

Thoughts?

COVID Progression Diagram

Here is a new image I made for me to better communicate what should happen normally.

1. "People get the COVID virus" and show no symptoms and do not get tested. This is an unknown number.
2. People get tested for whatever reason and find that they have COVID.
3. About a week or 2 after getting the virus, some percentage end up in the hospital.
4. About 4 weeks later some percentage end up in the morgue.
5. Since a person can spread the virus to more than one person, COVID grows at a geometric rate. (ie. 1, 4, 16, 256, 65,536, etc) So the most important thing we can do is interrupt the spread early.

The question is how to best do this? COVID does not have feet, it needs people to travel. 🙂

Here is what the RED portion looks like so far...  Those are deaths each day.

And something on a funnier note.

COVID Symptoms to Death

About 3 to 4 weeks....  So I searched for a simple graph that showed this relationship after one of my FB Friends made light of Gov Walz's mask order when deaths are so low currently.  ("What is he trying to reduce it from 3 to 2 per day?" hahaha)

So as is often the case, I thought it provide an excellent teaching moment.

Actually if deaths are increasing you are taking actions about 5 or 6 weeks too late. 🙁 The graphic above and in my post below shows why they are taking action NOW and not waiting... 

Going from a "just reopening" positive test count of ~350/ day to ~550/day in a ~3 week period is NOT good. 

Waiting for deaths to start climbing is like waiting until you directional bore into a gas main... Things just blow up and you are screwed. 🙂 

So we know that cases are starting to climb rapidly again. What course of action would you recommend?

Of course you know that I never did get a better suggestion...  But I did decide to use the Texas Health data to put this together. (touch to zoom)

And if you did not hear the BAD news, we have been over 700 new cases per day this week...  You may be done with COVID, but it certainly is NOT done with us... :-(

Texas Data

Minnesota Data

Here is a new image I made for me to better communicate what should happen normally.

1. "People get the COVID virus" and show no symptoms and do not get tested. This is an unknown number.
2. People get tested for whatever reason and find that they have COVID.
3. About a week or 2 after getting the virus, some percentage end up in the hospital.
4. About 4 weeks later some percentage end up in the morgue.
5. Since a person can spread the virus to more than one person, COVID grows at a geometric rate. (ie. 1, 4, 16, 256, 65,536, etc) So the most important thing we can do is interrupt the spread early.

The question is how to best do this? COVID does not have feet, it needs people to travel. 🙂

Here Come the Masks

and we have only ourselves to blame.

We wanted our economy open, but many resisted doing 3 simple things:

1. Wash your hands often and well
2. Socially distance as much as possible
3. Wear a mask when not social distancing

Now I am no saint and violated the rules this weekend for our annual lake party. A gathering of about 25 friends and family at my parent's lake home. However we disinfected often and stayed outside most of the time.  I understand that sometimes exceptions occur...

I do NOT understand people who are resistant to wearing masks when they are inside public spaces and can not social distance? :-(

The unfortunate reality is that the MN COVID case number is climbing again and something needs to be done to slow it back down or stop it.  Any other ideas?

Remember the timing / process (see below):

1. More people get infected.
2. They pass it on to more people.
3. More people go the hospital ~2 weeks later
4. More people die about 2+ weeks later 

Walz COVID Videos