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June 18, 2021

Singer Macy Gray writes that we need a new flag, asking, "What if the stripes were OFF-white?," and that might not even be the dumbest part.

American flag Cover

MarketWatch, a well-regarded financial news site is part of the Dow Jones family that includes The Wall Street Journal and Barron's.  No doubt they were thrilled over having successfully landed a famous recording artist to write a guest opinion piece for them. 

What follows is a cautionary tale of why it's really important to read a piece before you agree to publish it.

The piece appears as part of a series called, "Outside the Box," which I presume to mean, "Outside the normal expectations of coherence, sentence structure, vocabulary, and basic logic."

The Confederate battle flag, which was crafted as a symbol of opposition to the abolishment of slavery, is just recently tired. We don’t see it much anymore. 

No, no we don't.

However, on the 6th, when the stormers rained on the nation’s most precious hut, waving Old Glory...

When "the stormers rained on the nation's most precious hut?"

Um,... what? 

At least now we know why she tends to co-write songs, presumably with people who have a talent for things like words.  (Really helpful in the writing game, I'm told.)

She continued with that thought.

...— the memo was received: the American flag is its replacement. 

Macy Gray received a memo no one sent. She's talented like that.

President Biden, Madame Harris and members of Congress: the American flag has been hijacked as code for a specific belief. God bless those believers, they can have it. Like the Confederate, it is tattered, dated, divisive, and incorrect. It no longer represents democracy and freedom. It no longer represents ALL of us. It’s not fair to be forced to honor it. It’s time for a new flag.

All this, because a small band of lunatics with American flags broke into a building.

Oh, and, yeah.

I'm curious, were I to break into Antifa headquarters waving an anarchy flag, would they have to instantly abandon it, because that might be worth it.

You might be curious to know that we haven't gotten to the really good stuff yet.  Oh, no, she's just getting warmed up.

Incorrect? Let’s look to the stars. There are 50, where there should be 52. D.C. and Puerto Rico have been lobbying for statehood for decades.

Got that?  There should be 52 stars so that all the states are recognized including the ones that exist solely in Macy Gray's mind.

Ah, but she can explain!

Both have been denied, since statehood would allow each territory’s elected officials seats in the house. 

Certainly partisan political interests play a role, but in the case of DC, it would simply be unconstitutional given that the Constitution is very specific about the establishment of a federal district. As for Puerto Rico, statehood is not "denied." Puerto Rico is a territory, like many others, and has no right to become a state. The populace itself remains closely divided on the issue.

Assuming D.C. reps would be African-American and Puerto Rican reps would be Hispanic, the ultimate assumption is that these elected officials would be Democratic. That alone is racist. 

It's racist to believe that the District of Columbia, where 76% of registered voters are Democrats, would vote Democratic.

Puerto Rico has less to do about assumptions (the current non-voting delegate from Puerto Rico caucuses with the GOP), and more about general resistance to adding new states, which I guess is also racist.

On to the stripes.

No, please...

The Smithsonian documents that the “white” stripes represent purity and innocence. America is great. It is beautiful. Pure, it ain’t. It is broken and in pieces.

Her solution? 

What if the stripes were OFF-white?

I don't know. What if they were eggshell?  How about "Chantilly Lace" or "White Heron?" 

We could have ourselves a VERY fashionable flag.

What if the stars were the colors of ALL of us — your skin tone and mine — like the melanin scale?

Wait, what?

I'm not sure if she knows this, but the stars do not represent "white" people. No one is the color of those stars.  No one is bright white. Really, and if they are, they either need to go to the emergency room right now, or they're a porcelain doll possessed of supernatural evil and they need to go dramatically terrorize some innocent family.

The blue square represents vigilance and perseverance; and the red stripes stand for valor. America is all of those things.

That's nice.

She's going to go ruin it now, isn't she?

Yep.

So, what if those elements on the flag remained? What if the flag looked like this?

IMG_9880

It would look like a fifth-grade elementary school project gone horribly wrong?

Actually,

In 1959, 17-year-old Bob Heft designed the current flag for a school project when there were only 48 states. Hawaii and Alaska were up for statehood and Bob had a hunch they’d get the nod. He crafted a NEW flag with 50 stars for the then-future, because things had changed. 

Sixty-two years later, in 2021, we have changed and it’s time for a reset, a transformation. One that represents all states and all of us. 

What's interesting is that the current flag does that, and it does that precisely because it is purely symbolic of enduring values. It does not attempt to capture us as "colors" which is unavoidably divisive. It represents all of us because it doesn't do that.

Besides, can you imagine the endless arguments over hue, numbers, and placement?

Nobody can "hijack" the flag unless we let them.

Do you want to be the one to explain to your kid how you  let a guy in a buffalo hat hijack our national symbol?

Let's hold firm on this, otherwise we'll all be talking about the "good old red, white, blue, offwhite, cream, balboa mist, stone hearth, light khaki, bleeker ridge, Shenandoah taupe, Tudor brown, dark coffee..."

J.

June 18, 2021 at 02:13 PM in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (1)

Study proves that wearing a mask in the classroom ensures a safe and secure environment! Not for your kids, for pneumonia-causing bacteria.

Pathogens on Masks Cover

 

Masks may be ineffective, but at least they make things worse!

A group of parents in Gainesville, FL, concerned about potential harms from masks, submitted six face masks to a lab for analysis. The resulting report found that five masks were contaminated with bacteria, parasites, and fungi, including three with dangerous pathogenic and pneumonia-causing bacteria.

Do you know what the mortality rate is for the elderly admitted to a hospital with Covid?

11.0%

Want to know what it is for pneumonia?

30.0%

Out: Wear a mask or you hate grandma.

In: Wear a mask because you hate grandma.

The study was a very small one, consisting of six masks in total. Four were the surgical type and two were cloth with one being worn by an adult. Brand new unworn masks were tested as a control along with a T-shirt one of the children had worn.

The face masks studied were new or freshly-laundered before wearing and had been worn for 5 to 8 hours, most during in-person schooling by children aged 6 through 11. One was worn by an adult. A t-shirt worn by one of the children to school and unworn masks were tested as controls. No pathogens were found on the controls; samples from the front top and bottom of the t-shirt found proteins that are commonly found in skin and hair, along with some commonly found in soil.

Although small, it appears to have been well done and the tests were performed by a credible lab. (Report here.)

It also confirms pretty much what everyone who still retains critical thinking skills has known from the beginning.

Not only that, but the results weren't even close.

Pathogens on Masks 5

Half of the masks were contaminated with one or more strains of pneumonia-causing bacteria. One-third were contaminated with one or more strains of meningitis-causing bacteria. One-third were contaminated with dangerous, antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens. In addition, less dangerous pathogens were identified, including pathogens that can cause fever, ulcers, acne, yeast infections, strep throat, periodontal disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and more.

Oops?

Keep in mind, these kids weren't touring the Wuhan Institute of Virology, or visiting Hunter Biden for the weekend. They were in school.

This is what was found in the masks:

Pathogens on Masks 6

Some commenters have pointed out that this is no big deal as many of these pathogens were likely harbored by the wearers themselves in the first place.

Nothing to see here, we truly are all awash in a sea of bacteria, and fungi. The only difference is that we're collecting all those organism and concentrating them in a warm and moist medium in which they can flourish and reproduce unabated while held in close proximity to our noses and mouths.

Why, is that a problem?

These results were tested on fresh masks worn for just one day. Can you imagine the results if tested on the typical mask as actually used? You know, the cloth mask you forgot to wash the night before, or week before, or perhaps never and you don't recall it being green when you bought it?

Or how about the "disposable" mask that you use day after day until the ear loops disintegrate or you notice the bacteria flourishing in the folds has advanced to the point of having developed a written language and and is engaging in a primitive form of agriculture.

That's why real-world results never live up to the ideal, because the real world is never ideal. In the real world, masks don't slow the spread of COVID.

Speaking of COVID, care to take a guess as to what they didn't find on the masks?

Although the test is capable of detecting viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, only one virus was found on one mask (alcelaphine herpesvirus 1).

So, to recap: In order for children to be in the classroom, we are having them wrap their faces in paper and fabric Petri dishes soaked in pathogens in order to protect them from a virus that isn't in the classroom, or if it is in the classroom, isn't being stopped by the masks anyway.

J.

June 18, 2021 at 08:44 AM in Covid-19/Coronavirus, Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (3)

June 15, 2021

Nothing to see here, just the CDC holding an emergency meeting over higher-than-expected reports of heart inflammation in young people receiving the Covid vaccine.

What are you? Some kind of anti-vaxxer?!?!?!?

It should be noted that this "emergency meeting" on a potentially fatal heart condition among the young being caused by a vaccine that is being administered by the thousands every day is set for... Friday.

How serious an issue is this?

You can usually tell by the lengths to which the Vax-Everybody-Right-Now-Reeeeeeeeee! mainstream media is trying to downplay it.

Overall, 226 cases of myocarditis or pericarditis after vaccination in people younger than age 30 have been confirmed... Further investigation is needed, however, to confirm whether the vaccination was the cause of the heart problem.

Fair enough: Correlation doesn't prove causation and 226 cases out of many millions of doses ("under age 30" is a broad range) isn't statistically a lot.

Wait, "younger than age 30?" Isn't this about teenagers and younger?

Yes, yes it is, and they later reveal this.

Teenagers and people in their early 20s accounted for more than half of the myocarditis cases reported to the CDC's safety monitoring systems following Covid-19 vaccination, despite representing a fraction of people who have received the shots.

"We clearly have an imbalance there," Shimabukuro said.

Do we now.

How imbalanced?

Alex Berenson took a look at the VAERS data (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System). Keep in mind that VAERS is purely a reporting system and not the end word on anything; however, it has been used for decades as an early-warning system of sorts. (It has only recently been criticized because it was interfering with the preferred narrative).

While care should be taken in putting too much faith in the raw numbers, you can certainly compare results within the system itself – that is, VAERS reports for one age bracket vs. another. Same system, same vaccine, just different demographics.

The results?

Let's focus on this one:

Heart Inflamation Covid 1

There are several things to note here.

First, in the upper age ranges, the incidents of this heart inflammation, or myocarditis/pericarditis, are within or even below what you'd expect to see in the population, or the number of people who would come down with it anyway. This establishes that VAERS isn't systematically over-counting incidents of heart inflammation.

Second, there is very little data for the lowest age range given the vaccine was only recently approved for that demographic.

So far, so good, the VAERS is not reporting anything out of the ordinary for older age groups, with the numbers well within (and in one instance below) what would be expected in that population absent getting the vaccine, and there is just too little data to draw any conclusion regarding the youngest age group.

That leaves the younger people for whom we have sufficient data, and that's where it gets um, "troubling."

Heart Inflamation Covid 5

Reported incidents of myocarditis/pericarditis among the younger age groups for which there is sufficient data are multiples of what would be expected.

Further, note that the while these younger age groups represent only 8.8% of all those who have been vaccinated, they account for over half of all incidents of myocarditis/pericarditis.

Heart Inflamation Covid 4 (1)

Perhaps even more troubling is just how consistently the elevated incidents of myocarditis/pericarditis grows relative to what would be expected for a given age group as you move down in age. I plugged the numbers into a spreadsheet and did a quick calculation: There is a clear correlation between age and the higher-than-expected incidents of heart inflammation, the younger the age, the worse it gets. There is no variation. The younger you go, the greater the ratio gets.

Heart Inflamation Covid 10

If that holds upon closer examination, what does that portend for the babies they want to vaccinate this September?

I found the PDF Berenson was using and discovered this slide towards the end.

Note the difference in "rate per million" between the first and second doses.

Heart Inflamation Covid 2

You'd think they could have skipped the BBQs and last weekend and looked into this...

Shutterstock_398294269

Their summary, thus far:

Heart Inflamation Covid 6

Initial safety findings from Pfizer-BioNTechCOVID-19 vaccination of 12-15-year-olds from v-safe and VAERS surveillance are consistent with results from pre-authorization clinical trials.

In other words, they expected some collateral damage, that "collateral" being your kids.

In fairness, they are balancing risks, and argue that the risk of the vaccine is less than the risk of contracting Covid.  The lingering question is, is that true?

Analysis of VAERS preliminary reports of myocarditis/pericarditis is in progress, including follow-up to obtain medical records, complete reviews, apply CDC working case definition, and adjudicate cases.

They're on the case! Well, later this week anyway.

Preliminary findings suggest: Median age of reported patients is younger and median time to symptom onset is shorter among those who developed symptoms after dose 2 vs. dose 1

Yep! Might want to look at that one closely.

Predominance of male patients in younger age groups, especially after dose 2‒Observed reports > expected cases after dose 2 (16–24 years of age)

It's worse for boys and young men. Potentially much worse.

Limited outcome data suggest most patients (at least 81%) had full recovery of symptoms

"Most" patients. So stop getting so excited. Take the jab or your kids don't get an education!

As I write this, the CDC has not changed its recommendation.

CDC continues to recommend COVID-19 vaccination for everyone 12 years of age and older given the greater risk of other serious complications related to COVID-19, such as hospitalization, multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), or death.

The fact is, they don't know that, they can't know that. It's too early to know that. This feels like it has less to do with science, and more to do with institutional inertia.

Naturally, Big Tech has their back:

Only the anointed priests of high media may speak the forbidden words.

Interestingly, the "if-it-will-save-just-one-life" media has suddenly decided that a few losses here and there are sort of "meh."

The vast majority of the cases were sent home following a visit to a hospital as of the end of May. It's unclear how many patients were admitted to the hospital, or, for example, were discharged following a visit to the emergency room. Fifteen patients remain hospitalized, with three in intensive care units. Two of the patients in the ICU had other health problems.

This isn't even long-term data, because we have none, this is short-term data. Very short term.

All medications have risks, and the trick is to balance those risks against the benefits.

We have been told about the benefits ad nauseam, but their approach to the risks has been largely along the lines of "shut up, anti-vaxxer."

There is not a single pharmaceutical product advertisement that does not include, by law, a lengthy recitation of possible side effects, often comical. This one is for Cymbalta, a popular anti-depressant.

CONTACT YOUR DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY if you experience bizarre behavior; confusion; excessive sweating; dark urine; fainting; fast or irregular heartbeat; fever or chills; hallucinations; loss of coordination; new or worsening agitation, anxiety, panic attacks, aggressiveness, impulsiveness, irritability, hostility, restlessness, or inability to sit still; red, swollen, blistered, or peeling skin."

Contrast this to the CDC's own marketing efforts among which is a "Community-Based Organizations COVID-19 Vaccine Toolkit" that includes material that can be used to promote adoption of the vaccine.

For our purposes let's focus on their "fact sheet" for preteens and teens:

Heart Inflamation Covid 7

The full PDF can be found here.

This is what they have to say about safety:

Heart Inflamation Covid 8

"Are COVID-19 vaccines safe for my child?"

It's the most important question a parent has. Their answer, an unequivocal "Yes!"

The whole document is like this.

Heart Inflamation Covid 9

Okay, then. I guess that settles that. Shut up and take the jab.

There are some very minor side effects, of course, but nothing to worry about really. In fact, side effects are good!

What are the side effects?

Your child may have some side effects, which are normal signs that their body is building protection. These side effects may affect your child's ability to do daily activities, but they should go away in a few days. Some people have no side effects. Side effects from the second shot may be more intense than after the first shot.

See? No big deal.

Heart Inflamation Covid 0

We are being instructed to believe that a brand new vaccine developed in record time using cutting edge mRNA technology and still under Emergency Use Authorization (and therefore literally "unapproved") is PERFECTLY SAFE.

Unlike, say, Advil.

NSAIDs, except aspirin, increase the risk of heart attack, heart failure, and stroke. These can be fatal.

The CDC is advertising these vaccines in a manner that would have a private company prosecuted.

Pharmaceutical companies are required to disclose long lists of possible side effects, no matter now rare. And yes, even in the limited trials performed, Covid vaccines have been found to have side effects.

Somehow, that didn't make it into the CDC's "Community-based Toolkit."

This is not about being anti-science or anti-vaxxer (I got the vaccine myself after weighing the pros and cons) or being a conspiracy theorist, or any of the other slurs the powers that be want to throw at you. This is about being an informed citizen entitled to know all the facts.

This is about being treated like an adult and not a child, like a citizen and not a subject.

But they don't seem very interested in that.

I mean, you love your children?

Don't you?

June 15, 2021 at 10:09 AM in Covid-19/Coronavirus, Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (2)

June 07, 2021

Montgomery County public school students taught that the campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again," and the statement "We're just one human family," are signs of "covert hateful white supremacy."

MCPS CRT Summer Cover (1)

With just under one million residents, Montgomery County is the most populated county in the state of Maryland and lies just to the north of Washington DC. It is considered part of the DC metropolitan area, and a national leader in unhappy upper middle-class progressives desperate to find meaning in their sad, empty lives.

At least, that's the only explanation I can come up with, short of mass psychosis, to explain things like this:

This information comes from a request by Judicial Watch under Maryland's Public Information Act and was accompanied by a CYA letter.  I mean, "cover" letter. Cover letter is what I meant.

Records regarding Montgomery County Public School's Thomas Pyle Middle School's social justice class include a cover letter, noting that the class in question was a one-week "Summer Boost" class called "Reading and Taking Action for Social Justice" offered from July 13-17, 2020, and that "no grades were given and no actual work due."

Nothing to see here, MCPS wants you to know. Why, they didn't even bother grading it or having the kids turn in "actual work."

It may be self-serving but at least it's also not true.

The program was littered with slides like this.

MCPS CRT Summer 3

Plus, nearly every slide ended with this action item.

Students, write your response!

Maybe the "actual work" wasn't "due," in the sense that the kids could just ignore it, maybe play Minecraft instead, if they chose.

I'm sure the taxpayers are delighted to hear their money is being spent wisely.

On to the pyramid.

MCPS CRT Summer 1

There are lot of entries on this pyramid (so much resentment to sow, so little time), but permit me to pull out a few favorites.

Keep in mind, these are all signs of "covert hateful white supremacy."

There is of course the campaign slogan of an American President who received the second most votes of any candidate in history.

MCPS CRT Summer 9

Totally appropriate for a public institution supported by tax dollars to smear an opposition political candidate and his 75-million supporters under the guise of "education."

And then there's this.

MCPS CRT Summer 8

It is hateful white supremacy to have a curriculum centered on the central source of the culture and history of the country you are in.

Note they say "centric." That does not preclude teaching other history, which they do, and have been doing for as long as I've been alive.

But hey, I'm sure they are not so racist as to teach Chinese-centric history in China or Sudanese-centric history in Sudan.

Let's move on to the "shut up" portion of our discussion session!

MCPS CRT Summer 4

MCPS CRT Summer 6

Denying being a racist is a sign of racism.

So you are either a racist, or you are a racist.

Shutterstock_348313331

And then we have possibly my favorite: Redefining NOT being a racist to being a racist.

MCPS CRT Summer 5

MCPS CRT Summer 7

"But we're just one human family."

Viewing people as individuals and not as a member of a race is... racist. 

Where do you even start a conversation with someone who believes this? I mean, after you suggest they seek professional counseling.

As nutty as the pyramid is, it's arguably not the worst thing in this lesson plan. While there is much to choose from, I'd pick this one out purely for its unvarnished hatred and resentment.

MCPS CRT Summer 10

Let's take a loot at a few.

I Have The Privilege Of Attending Segregated Schools Of Affluence.

This is odd, almost suggesting that a segregated school is desirable. Is that the point?

As for the affluence, the Washington DC area is an extremely wealthy area, including large numbers of accomplished, well-to-do black people.

I assure you, they are not sending their kids to crappy schools as is suggested here.

I Have The Privilege Of Learning About My Race In School.

That's interesting. I never learned about my race in school either.

Of course, they are conflating race with heritage or culture again. If we're learning European history, we're learning about the white "race?"

It's unhinged, and betrays a deeply racist world view.

I Have The Privilege Of Playing The Colorblind Card, Wiping The Slate Clean Of Centuries Of Racism.

"Wiping the slate clean."

These CRT grifters don't want reconciliation. They don't want to move forward.

They want revenge for things that happened to people who aren't them, and they want the people who had nothing to do with it to pay the price.

J.

June 7, 2021 at 12:38 PM in Current Affairs, Racism | Permalink | Comments (2)