This year, currently only half-lived, has been crazy on a level that is hard to wrap the mind around. And that is putting it mildly, to say the least.
Covid-19, civil unrest, peaceful protests AND riots, looting, & burning, statues and monuments torn down in the name of racism, portions of cities being "taken over", CHAZ/CHOP, violence and murder in big cities exploding, oh, and one other tiny, little, thing - it's an election year.
The majority of the media appears to be blind in regards to the stuff that matters most, opting for whatever is the most sensationalist news and what best promotes racial division, in the midst of all the outrage over suspected criminals dying at the hands of law enforcement, there is barely a mention of the people gunned down outside a funeral home in Detroit - not by police, by the way or the children who have died in acts of senseless violence, but we can't talk about THAT, the loss of a child is something that, no matter what color your skin is, could be UNIFYING.
So, hush, sweep that news under the rug.
Because the LAST thing the mainstream media wants right now is UNITY in America.
Well, maybe there IS one thing more important to the MSM, seeing Donald Trump lose the upcoming election.
Yeah, they practically start foaming at the mouth at the mere thought that he be re-elected.
Why is that?
Before China gave us Covid-19, the gift that keeps on taking, our nation was prospering to an extent that was almost unbelievable - especially after the economic nightmare that was the Obama-Biden presidency.
Under Trump
People all across the nation were seeing record unemployment - no matter what gender, race, religion, etc...
Our nation's economy was booming.
It was amazing!
Then along comes Covid-19.
Which originated in China.
Who downplayed it & hid vital information from the rest of the world.
With the help of WHO
(World Health Organization)
They outright lied to the world about when they knew it existed, let people come and go from all over, silenced doctors who tried to raise the alarm, & when they got called out for it they even tried to claim that it was biological warfare from the USA.
They sold faulty test kits to nations who could least afford it - as well as masks, ventilators, etc...
Understand when I say "they" in regards to China, I am not talking about the PEOPLE of China.
It's the Communist Chinese government who is responsible.
Who continues to show their hatred for not just the US, but most of the free world.
Threatening Australia for demanding an investigation into their actions regarding this virus, taking away the autonomous status of Hong Kong, mocking the United States, attempting to hack in to the research and development of a vaccine for the virus, the list goes on and on.
But so much else is going on, so enough on China. If you don't already know this stuff, for God's sake start doing some research.
Just know that the MSM as well as a lot of democrats in office and even some folks in the general public are laying the blame for this virus on President Trump, as if he himself was the point of origin and sneezed on the entire planet.
Which is bullshit, but more about that later.
So, due to the virus the US (and a lot of other countries) basically shut down.
SHUT DOWN
as in closed the majority of the businesses in the country.
Stopped people from gathering in groups, set curfews, canceled events, closed public areas like parks and beaches, closed schools, turned restaurants into take-out only "drive through" locations
and as a result, LOTS of people - millions and millions of people suddenly were out of work.
If you're job was not classified as "essential" you were SOL
But the majority of us did our best to persevere, realizing this virus was a complete unknown & understanding it would take time to figure out how to best handle it.
We aren't there yet.
Even today, we are hearing of new symptoms, conflicting recommendations on best-practices for health - recommendations that sometimes change in the course of a day
because we still have more questions than answers.
Anyway, back to the part where we SHUT DOWN
to say it had a devastating effect on the economy is such a massive understatement
It put a lot of financial & emotional strain on families, especially those where kids were suddenly out of school & parents found themselves unemployed.
The government increased food stamp benefits, guaranteed unemployment to workers who suddenly found themselves without income due to the shut down & they put together a stimulus package for almost every single citizen to help get over the hump.
That was pretty amazing.
But anything requiring the approval of the House, Senate, & President is not going to move fast, & those currently holding office have animosity that is OFF THE CHARTS!
If a Republican has an idea, Democrats are already hating it before they even hear it.
The Democratic party has recently had an influx of new members who are more Marxist/Socialist than Democrat & their agendas are terrifying to contemplate.
And God forbid the President say or do ANYTHING.
He's under constant attack from the opposition. If he said the sky was blue, they would rather dispute his words until they themselves turned blue before conceding that he was right.
See, he's not a career politician. Not a member of the false face club. He's the kind of guy who, sorry to be vulgar, would fart & laugh out loud when your nose wrinkled from the smell.
His political enemies (and make no mistake they ARE his enemies) are from the school of fart silently, pretend you don't smell anything, and if someone dares bring attention to it, blame the dog - even if you don't have one. And do not, under any circumstance, even twitch a nostril in acknowledgement. That is the way of the career politician.
And anyone who isn't equipped with a smooth mask and tongue that effortlessly rolls out lies is the enemy.
They don't like blunt, honest truth. They prefer white-washed half-truths or even outright lies. He doesn't fit the mold they worked so hard to create. So at any cost, they decide he must go.
It's gotten ugly, & it's bound to get uglier before November.
So, back to the shut down - first, everyone who died (dies) of Covid-19 died (dies) alone.
No visitors, no goodbyes, imagine the awfulness of this, not only for the dying but for their loved ones who were not allowed in...
School graduations - canceled, most sporting events - canceled. Concerts. weddings, vacations... well you get the idea.
A lot of people were hurting financially, a lot of them lost loved ones to this virus, & a lot of people endured some pretty serious emotional strain from the "shelter-in-place" self-quarantine recommendations.
Businesses were ordered to shut down
Mostly small businesses, who could least afford that kind of revenue loss -
Many of those businesses will never open their doors again.
But hey, Walmart stayed open,
But they did start closing early - really early. 8:30 pm in my little corner of the world, not sure if that's the same everywhere.
(There are some things here that don't quite make sense to me, but let me get through this first before I start questioning the wisdom of the powers-that-be)
It appeared we were "flattening the curve" of infection & people started getting antsy to get back to work, back to school, back to their normal lives & routines.
And when that didn't happen, some folks got mad & decided to protest.
BOY THAT DIDN'T GO OVER WELL AT ALL!!
Called everything from selfish to "granny murderers", those folks caught a LOT of hell.
And then, just as everything started opening up, a new crisis occurs.
On May 26, 2020, George Floyd, a black man, was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis.
(If you are reading this & are thinking "Who?"
Then PLEASE go do a search for 2020 in the USA & get informed. Then come back if you want to, I did not start this with the intent of detailing every single thing.)
Now, Mr. Floyd's death was an unnecessary & horrible thing. It was an abuse of power by the law enforcement officers involved, it was an outrage.
And people got mad.
And started protesting -
But not JUST protesting, in many areas, this turned into full-scale riots, vandalism, looting, burning shit down - an estimated 15-26 MILLION people in the US have participated in these protests (source: Wikipedia)
As I write this, it is the last week of July, 2020 & the protests & riots continue.
And they are tearing our nation apart.
There is no unity to be found here. If you have a conflicting opinion on anything, you are immediately labeled as a racist & subject to all sorts of abuse, from verbal (online) to killed in the streets (up close and personal) - yes, this has happened.
And now, here, this is where I start putting in my 2 cents.
I still have the madness of politics to get to, but damn, at this rate, that my have to be a separate blog altogether.
Anyway...
First the virus.
It originated in China. No question there. The "when" is subjective because they hid it from the world til it got out & started spreading. The official report says late December - early January was when they "discovered" & identified it in Wuhan province, China BUT there are indicators that they might have known about it in November, if not earlier. They just clamped down on anyone who might warn the world in the way that any "good Communist country" would, & let that shit spread.
Misery loves company, after all.
And my God, spread it did. Search for Italy - Covid-19 to see some tragic coverage.
It's been bad pretty much world-wide.
But the coverage in/from Italy is... I don't even know how to describe it, you can't say amazing - not about this, & words like "accurate" don't even come close. I have a video link, just watch it, if you're interested. It's heartbreaking, and it's real.
And yet, here in America, the MSM & democrats have decided it is President Trump's fault. As if he were the origin, and sneezed on the whole planet. I'm not being facetious here, that is exactly how they are acting.
When he closed off travel to/from China early on, they called him "racist" & "xenophobic".
Later, they screamed that he "didn't act quickly enough"
The guidelines and recommendations, as I have mentioned, are all subjective because there is no absolute certainty - we are dealing with an unknown.
But every false start or wrong turn in dealing with it are said to be absolutely his fault.
Guess he is not afforded the chance to learn as he goes - even though that is what the entire planet is having to do in regards to this virus.
People outraged because he did not wear a mask, expressing said outrage with their masks on - but usually pushed down under the chin (see Pelosi for many great examples of this)
Then, when he goes to a VA hospital and DOES wear a mask, he is mocked.
There is no middle ground here.
Like, if you protest the economy grinding to a halt, you are a selfish "granny murdering" piece of crap.
But, if you are protesting racial injustice via the George Floyd killing, you are within your rights to do so, and even ENCOURAGED to do so by many mayors, governors, etc...
It seems that protests about racial injustice do NOT spread the virus.
However, concerts, graduations, political rallies, & attending church & similar activities apparently DO spread the virus.
People standing crammed shoulder to shoulder, in large numbers, screaming stuff like "pigs in a blanket fry em like bacon" (nice, huh?)
Spittle flying from their foaming mouths from the screaming, and sometimes from just spitting - mostly at law enforcement
Nothing to fear. Carry on.
You are absolutely within your rights to do so.
Just as long as you are protesting the "right" thing, you can go so far as to break windows, start fires, loot stores, attack police & you are given a green light all the way.
You can beat up old people in the streets for trying to protect their businesses, have it caught on camera and not have to fear any repercussions for doing so.
I keep saying the world has gone mad. It becomes harder & harder to laugh when I say it.
You can say "Black Lives Matter" but you can't say "All Lives Matter"
people have been killed for this.
The rationale behind that is another one of those things that make me wonder what the hell is the world coming to.
Because according to the media, a white woman was shot and killed for saying
"All Lives Matter"
Follow up information went on to say she reportedly used a racial slur at some point prior to voicing those words.
So I guess she deserved to die for that.
So, if someone uses a racial slur. it is apparently okay to kill them now.
Does that mean if I'm walking up the road & someone yells out
"cracker" or "honky" at me, I can shoot them?
NO
Because that is not the correct type of racial slur to justify murder.
White people are expected to
Apologize for being white,
Apologize & take full responsibility for the heinous practice of slavery in early America
*even though no person alive today in America ever was a slave or owned a slave*
Apologize, admit to, and hate ourselves for our "white privilege"
(Something that honestly, if it ever existed at all, I have NEVER been privy to - everything I ever had cost me in sweat, in tears, in blood, in money I worked for - nobody ever paved a road or opened a door for me because of my skin color, and that is a FACT)
And those who do the requirements above, does that let them off the hook for being born white?
How about if they also get down on their knees and beg forgiveness for their skin color?
Nope.
In fact, many have, after subjugating themselves to the mob, were ridiculed for doing so, & even physically assaulted until they ran away.
Wanna hear something even crazier?
When you look at the footage from these scenes, you see more WHITE faces in this mob than any other color.
Go figure that one out.
So now, the positive cases for the virus are rising again at what we are told is an alarming rate.
Damn you rally-attendees and churchgoers and people at gatherings.
This is YOUR fault.
(Remember, protesting racial injustice does NOT spread the virus)
And guess what?
The government says we are heading in to another shut down, if we don't take action immediately.
It is required now that everyone wear a mask or some type of face covering in public. Some stores will refuse to let you in without one.
But your face covering had better not offend anyone.
Or else.
Example (and yeah, I was just as disgusted as anyone else on this, but I also remember what the 1st Amendment says & understand that while something someone else says or even wears might be highly offensive to me - that does not deny them the right to say or wear it.)
You know what I am referring to, unless you just crawled out from under a rock, right?
The couple in Walmart with the swastika bandanas - yeah, that was pretty out-of-line. But supposed to be fully protected under that good ol' 1st Amendment.
OOPS
not anymore it's not!
