No Shoes, No Shirt, No Mask...No Service

I don't like to walk barefoot. I don't want to risk stepping on broken glass, sharp stones or creepy-crawly things. As a kid I went without a shirt if my buddies did, but stopped doing that when I developed vitiligo, a disease where the skin looses its pigment cells. People with vitiligo don't tan in the sun, they burn, and quickly. But because I don't do it doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to go barefoot or shirtless into any store or restaurant if I want to. I am a American citizen with constitutional rights that are being violated. 

I am considering creating a website for the purpose of organizing boycotts and protests against all businesses and public facilities that prohibit entry for not wearing shoes or shirts. And while I'm at it, how about protesting the mandatory wearing of seat belts, or no driving while drunk, or no texting while driving. Sure, those last three save lives, but to make them mandatory is an infringement on my constitutional rights. This is America and I should be able to make my own choices, whether my choices endanger my own life or others.

And don't even get me started on being forced to stop at red lights at intersections under the threat of being pulled over by jack-booted thugs wearing police uniforms. If I want to blow through a red light it should be my choice. 

Too many of my rights have already been taken away, and now I'm being told that in some locations I have to wear a mask or face a fine or even jail time. And every day more businesses are prohibiting entry without a mask. And for what?....based on emerging statistical evidence, experience and opinions of medical experts and institutions? Hah! Who cares what some nerdy scientists and researches at places like Harvard and John Hopkins Medical Universities say? Even if they're right...that wearing a mask does help to prevent transmission of the virus, I'll take care of myself thank you. I don't need white coated so called experts telling me what's good for me. As for me possibly passing the virus on to other people, I say let them look out for themselves. 

And another thing. If some pharmaceutical company comes up with a vaccine that supposedly kills the virus, I'm not going to take it. Any supposed 'vaccine' will actually be either a secret formula designed to take control over our minds by some foreign government or our own, or simply a placebo cash cow for the drug industry and corrupt politicians. And if you don't believe me, just ask any conspiracy theorist.

Can You Back it Up?

There are a few physics and cosmology forums that I regularly read. The posters are mostly scientists and discuss issues that I usually don't understand but occasionally something clicks and adds to my limited knowledge of cosmological theory. The forums have two general rules...no subjects can be discussed that are not current main-stream science, and no personal speculation/opinions are allowed. In other words, if you can't back it up with one or more citations from legitimate sources, don't say it. Just imagine if that last rule was a requirement for everyone in everyday life. 

Now, I'm not talking about stating impressions or opinions. In my world impressions are just that: impressions that don't have to be based on anything. Opinions are a little higher up the scale, and probably aught to be based not necessarily on fact, but at least on some reasonable line of thinking. Just don't present impressions or opinions as fact.

A conspiracy theorist recently told me that Covid-19 is not as prevalent in terms of number of cases and deaths as is being reported. Regarding deaths reported, he said that hospitals receive compensation for each reported Covid-19 death, so have the incentive to report all deaths as due to Covid-19. He went on to say that since February, not one single hospital death in this country attributed to illness has been reported as anything but Covid-19.

He is correct that hospitals receive medicare compensation for Covid-19 victims...$13,000 for each incident and $37,000 if a ventilator was used. It could be said that the situation provides incentive for false reporting and it may be reasonable to assume that some false reporting, either through error or deliberately is going on. But without proof that can't be stated as fact, and accusing all hospital administrators and all doctors of corruption is plain foolish.

As to his statement that no non-Covid-19 hospital deaths have been reported since February, it took only a 15 second search to disprove that.

I won't bother to show him the chart because it won't alter his thinking. Facts are anathema to conspiracy theorists. 

Facts are also anathema to Donald Trump. Throughout his term he has made countless unfounded allegations about people, organizations, Covid-19 and the economy. And when confronted with facts he has never, to my knowledge acknowledged or apologized for his own "fake news." Instead he either ignores or misdirects the issue. On a recent FOX news interview Trump claimed that Joe Biden said he wants to defund the police. When the interviewer proved him wrong, Trump fluffed it off by saying that Biden may have used different words but that's what he wants. 

Trump has criticized the World Health Organization, the Center for Disease Control, and Dr. Fauci for making mistakes, particularly about their early position about masks not being necessary. They didn't make mistakes nor were they lying. Their guidance was based on what was known at the time. In the mid-1950s I was taught by my science teacher, backed up by text books that the atom was the smallest particle possible. That assumption was based on the best available evidence at that time. That they were mistaken is not lying. It's called learning, something the CDC, the WHO and Fauci has done and continues to do but that Trump seems incapable of.

In my opinion Biden has the perfect election campaign strategy...just sit back, do nothing and let Trump continue to destroy himself. I can't wait for November.

It's difficult for me to watch or read news these days. I am feeling more and more angry and I know its having an affect on my blood pressure. If I were a god I'd be looking down at our country and be either really sad or really pissed off. An out of control pandemic, an economy in shambles, protesters, counter-protesters, looters, police heroes and villains, a president battling with governors, governors battling with mayors, conspiracy theorists stirring the pot, cities and states reopening and shutting down again, a white guilt syndrome hell-bent on proving how remorseful we are by rewriting if not destroying history and a black lives matter movement with the same purpose, people refusing to wear masks, racial unrest, young people having Covid-19 parties, and worst of all, no clear leadership for any of these issues. No, if I were a god I'd look at this country, proclaim the situation unsalvageable and push the reset button.

My personal survival tactic until/if this all blows over is to retreat into my little corner of the world. I have a large back yard where I can watch the walnut and pecan trees begin to bare nuts, and help Maribel harvest veggies from her garden, and watch the squirrels building nests in the water oak. I have my front porch where in the cool of the early evening I can sit in my favorite chair and eavesdrop on Gandalf and Elrond and the rest of the council as they develop their plans to dispose of the ring. They too have their share of problems, but they don't have to face the insanity that is rampant in the USA now.

What The Hell???

Yesterday morning Maribel and me helped a friend with a moving project. When the job was done he offered to buy lunch at a nearby restaurant. I thanked him for the offer but refused, saying that because of Covid-19 Maribel and me were not yet comfortable eating at restaurants. His face took on a quizzical expression. 

We were invited to go to the annual gun show in Chattanooga today but declined because of the virus. The same quizzical expression appeared on the face of the man who asked me. Many of the people we know are behaving as if the virus doesn't exist, and seem surprised that we're even thinking about it. Most municipalities have cancelled Fourth of July celebrations, except for Catoosa County who is having both indoor and outdoor activities in the afternoon and fireworks at night. As much as we'd like to we won't be there. I don't get it. Sometimes I feel like I have to apologize when declining invitations, or for wearing a mask and carrying hand sanitizer when it's necessary to go out. 

The evidence is there. There are over half of a million people dead globally, killed by the virus, and nearly 130,000 in this country. New cases are increasing at an alarming rate in most states. The Center for Disease Control, the World Health Organization and every infectious disease expert in the world is pleading with the people to wear masks, social distance, avoid crowds, and stay at home when possible. And yet I feel like I have to be apologetic because I'm following their advice. And some people look at me like I'm stupid for doing so. 

I'm not saying everybody is mask-less. In fact a recent ABC News-Ipsos poll released last Thursday showed that 89% of Americans say they are wearing masks outside. I'm not seeing that...maybe 50% of the people I see in town are wearing masks. The other 50% not wearing masks may be among those who believe that the corona virus is just a hoax perpetrated by the Democrats to discredit Trump. I wonder if the 130,000 covid-19 deceased people in this country know that they're not really dead...that this is all a hoax. 

There is no one I personally know who has contracted the virus, but it's going to happen. Hopefully it won't be fatal. For my part I will have the satisfaction of knowing that they didn't get the virus from me or Maribel. And I'm not sure how much sympathy I'll have for them.

Oh, and by the way, Happy Fourth of July!

Are there good reasons for carrying a concealed gun?

Back on January 26th I wrote a post about gun ownership and speculated that I might get one. I did get one and have since made several trips to a shooting range to get familiar with it and to sight it in. I was pleased to see that both the gun and me are capable of shooting tight groups. So now the gun is sitting in an easily accessible location in our house, ready to defend us against any threats. But what threats?

I have home-owner and automobile insurance policies that I have never used, have paid thousands of dollars for over the years, and probably would not have them if not mandated by state laws and banking regulations. I look at the gun as another insurance policy, and like the others one that I'll never use. Thankfully I don't have to pay monthly premiums on it. But back to what are the threats is it defending against?

Last week a young man dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans ran across the street in front of our house and continued running right through our back yard. A neighbor chased after and confronted him on our property. The man yelled over his shoulder that he was lost and kept on running. He jumped our back yard fence and disappeared from view. It turned out later that the police were looking for him, though I did not learn why.

What would I have done had Maribel and I been relaxing in the back yard, especially if I had been 'packing' (for the uninitiated that means carrying a gun)? What I would not have done is drawn the gun, ordered him to stop, or threatened him in any way. I would have been content to watch him leave our property. Had he done anything to indicate an attack on Maribel or me it would have been a different story.

In reality, unless you're living in or near a high crime area the chances of your property or yourself being threatened are really very slim. I am 99.9% sure that I'll never have to fire that gun to defend our home. Still, there is a feeling of comfort and security knowing that it's there just in case. Okay, so having a gun in the house probably isn't necessary, but if, against all odds it is needed it will be the best insurance policy ever purchased.

But what about carrying a gun on the street? Is there legitimate justification for that? I Googled the phrase 'reasons for carrying a concealed gun' and got thousands of hits. Almost all of them boiled down to defending yourself, family, property and others, all of which sounded pretty lame to me. The vast majority of us are never going to be physically threatened on the streets. Others said that they carry because the 2nd amendment gives them the right to do so. Some went even farther and said that an armed citizenry protects America. I laugh at that one. Back in the 1960s there were 700,000 deer hunters in Wisconsin for deer season. At night in the bars someone would occasionally suggest that if the Russians attacked us at that time, all of us hunters would wipe out the entire Russian army. This comment was always made by someone who had obviously never been in the military. A well trained regiment of 2000 men would easily defeat 700,000 unorganized, untrained hunters, most of whom would turn tail and run at the first shot. 

What I'm saying is that, in my opinion all of the reasons I read that were given for carrying a gun were weak and lacked real justification. Except for one. 

Mass shootings are a fairly recent phenomena. They happen in schools, factories, offices, restaurants, shopping malls, movie theaters and parking lots. I spent a lot of time trying to determine the duration of mass shootings and police response times to them, but every site I read had different numbers, so I'll use what seemed to me to be averages. The average mass shooting incidents lasts from 2.5 to 10 minutes. Police response time averages 3 to 11 minutes. The police arrive faster than I thought, but the shooter still has time to do lots of damage before they arrive. Armed civilians already on the scene could perhaps end the carnage much faster. To back that up, a 2017 FBI report stated that in 67% of all active shooter incidents, it was one or more unarmed civilians that stopped the shooter before police arrived. That to me that is a powerful, almost compelling reason for mature, responsible citizens to carry a gun.