It seems what you are saying Erick, biblically, God had to teach His children, the Isralites, by punishing them when they don't do as He said. What I call going "Old Testament" on them. I agree. And I think God is about to go "Old Testament" on the USA! To instruct and humble us.
Life is a great deal like a game of golf: You can't have a perfect score. No golfer has even come close to shooting an 18 and no one has ever come close to living on earth forever. Jesus promises the only way out of the living forever conundrum. If more followed him we would have far fewer problems. Vandallii referred to Chronicles 7:13-14 below. Here it is for those who haven't looked it up or don't know how to find it:
13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
MSM is the new "Bread and Circuses" to keep the population distracted. Sadly, it appears to be working in a lot of segments of our society.
As for "science" and COVID, the four important words our "experts" refuse to acknowledge is, "We don't really know". Yes the vaccine was developed to address certain mechanisms of COVID within our bodies, but it refuses to stay in Fauci's box - it keeps doing what all viruses do - mutate. We also refuse to acknowledge that there will never be a "no COVID ever" day. Picking YouTube videos and MSM for information is certainly a crap-shoot, and at the end of the day, the one person that knows the answers is the One we've chosen to push out of the public square: God Himself. I'm not suggesting that if we follow II Chron. 7:13-14 as a literal promise, I am suggesting that God truly is in control, His purposes will be fulfilled, that life will go on with COVID just as it did with The Plague, Spanish Flu, the nuclear age fears, SARS, Avian Flu, yadda-yadda-yadda.
The question becomes whether we remain prisoners of fear propagated by MSM and the left or recognize that risk tolerance in our lives has a new player we need to address.
A lengthy quote below from C.S. Lewis. Change "atomic age" to "COVID-19". Much of what is said applies today regarding risk in life for [name your crisis]. To live in fear and stop living is its own problem...
“On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948)
“How are you to live in an atomic age? Why, just as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.
“In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.
“This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies, but they need not dominate our minds." -- C.S. Lewis
Crazytown is going to become Insaneville in the near/not-too-distant future - especially if Repubs take over in 2022/23 and Repub becomes president on Jan 20, 2025.
So you blame conservative principles for Crazytown? If that is a shot at Trump, fine. I voted for him and am convinced every day it was the right vote. But he needs to go away and not come back.
Are you saying that if conservatives would simply go along with the liberal social/economic agenda all would be right?
I think liberal policies are responsible for most social and economic problems, and we are seeing that unfolding in real time.
Is the GOP the answer? Absolutely not. No political party is. But I know what direction I want to go in and also what direction is absolutely going to end in social and economic disaster. I will take not going that direction now even though we won't be going 100% in the right direction.
I don't think I implied that at all. I hope Trump doesn't run. I'd rather someone like Desantis or Noem run on Trump policies, but not Trump himself.
But remember how the Left went bonkers after Nov. 2020. Remember that woman screaming at the sky at the inauguration. Imagine how much worse things will be if the Left loses the House (& maybe the Senate) after the 2020 elections and if they lose the White House after the 2024 elections.
Date: Afghan Hostage Crisis, Day 17. Personally, I'd just LOVE to see leftists everywhere yelling at clouds after the Republicans win back control of both Houses of Congress next year. Then, if Joey doesn't shuffle off to the home (as he should), we can get on with impeaching him for the unmistakable, and far more real than anything Trump was accused of, violence against the Constitution, the rule of law, and the civil society. You say, "But what about a President Kammy?" She'll know we can do it again, won't she?
And let President DeSantis clean house at the Department of Defense. No more politicized butt kissers like Mark "Thoroughly Modern" Milley and the others; let him go out and find some real live warriors who remember which end of the rifle you hold, and understand that their counsel to any President MUST be based, first and foremost, on sound military principles, unlike anything involved with the recently concluded Biden Bugout, with the leaving behind of the required number of American hostages we'll end up ransoming and all those Afghans who we'll soon see raped and murdered throughout Afghanistan. And, within 12 months, we'll probably have "something worse": We'll have a terrorist outrage courtesy of the Taliban/al-Queda/ISIS-K (all parts of the same beast, just with different names as window dressing to fool the gullible), and we'll be faced with the apparent need to return to Goidforsakenstan, which this time will be well armed with the stuff we were too stupid to destroy the last time.
I like Ron DeSantis too, and yea, with the hit jobs on him already in the MSM, when he wins the left will be Trump 2.0 level stupid.
I think what would help is not behaving like Trump. Although it was satisfying to see someone stand up to the left and give it right back, that perpetuated the problem.
President DeSantis needs to simply not engage with stupid. Do what's right, let the results speak, and let the crazy left scream into the wind. The only people that will believe the stupid will be the true believers. Don't antagonise people and you take away that excuse to oppose you, they have to deal with reality.
Spot-on, Erick. I am shocked by the number of close friends and family with whom I cannot broach subjects I ASSUMED we were in lock-step agreement on: Afghanistan; COVID lockdowns, vaccinations, & masks; Biden; climate change; BLM & Antifa; good cops, and bad politicians. We might as well be discussing UFOs, Bigfoot, and the Loch Ness monster given the level of absolute CRAP I hear from them. People gravitate towards a "news source" that agrees with their predispositions, and then that becomes their gospel. Alternatives are rejected as ignorant, unenlightened, academically inferior, unresearched, and heretical. I used to have a core group with whom I knew I could discuss anything and we'd be on the same page. No more.
I have wondered many times "how could 81 million people be so stupid" as to vote for Biden. I realize that a large part of it is because almost all MSM and social media platforms constantly lied to the American people about how terrible Trump is. Don't get me wrong....Trump has plenty of faults, but the MSM equates him to Satan. The MSM has blood on their hands in my opinion.
"Black people have received smaller shares of vaccinations compared to their shares of cases and the total population in about half of states reporting data. In the remaining reporting states, the share of vaccinations they have received is similar to their shares of cases and the total population. However, in most reporting states, the share of vaccinations received by Black people is smaller than their share of deaths. For example, in the District of Columbia, Black people have received 43% of vaccinations, while they make up 56% of cases, 71% of deaths, and 46% of the total population.
"Reflecting disproportionate levels of infection, Hispanic people have received smaller shares of vaccinations compared to their shares of cases in most reporting states. Their share of vaccinations is similar to or higher than their shares of deaths and total population in most reporting states. However, in some states it remains lower. For example, in California, 30% of vaccinations have gone to Hispanic people, while they account for 63% of cases, 48% of deaths, and 40% of the total population in the state." https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/latest-data-on-covid-19-vaccinations-race-ethnicity/
Guess what? It isn't Trump voters and other "insurrectionists" who are refusing the jab. Someone could ask our Maximum Leader why - were he capable of answering with other than mixed word salad, that is.
This is about balancing risk tolerance and risk mitigation. This may or may not help in this "Chicken Little" age, but this is not the first major crisis humanity has faced.
Change "atomic age" to "COVID-19". Much of what is said applies today regarding risk in life for [name your crisis]. To live in fear and stop living is its own problem...
“On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948)
“How are you to live in an atomic age? Why, just as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.
“In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.
“This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies, but they need not dominate our minds." - C.S. Lewis
You should have concerns over the long term effects of getting COVID, which are well documented. And also the negative effects of isolation or limited socialization.
What is your criteria for "going back to normal"? If it's zero COVID there are a lot of things you should stop doing because you might get hurt.
It's a serious question. When will you stop being afraid of COVID?
I can understand your concern over the long term effects - sort of - except that bad effects from vaccines typically show up within the first six months, so we're past that at this point. I have concerns about not living my life free of a mask and human contact. Chances that I'll regret that are pretty low. Plenty of people dying who "have concerns" about long term effects. Death is fairly long-term.
It seems what you are saying Erick, biblically, God had to teach His children, the Isralites, by punishing them when they don't do as He said. What I call going "Old Testament" on them. I agree. And I think God is about to go "Old Testament" on the USA! To instruct and humble us.
Who are the puppet masters behind Biden? If there wasn’t an agenda then he would have been retired long ago.
Life is a great deal like a game of golf: You can't have a perfect score. No golfer has even come close to shooting an 18 and no one has ever come close to living on earth forever. Jesus promises the only way out of the living forever conundrum. If more followed him we would have far fewer problems. Vandallii referred to Chronicles 7:13-14 below. Here it is for those who haven't looked it up or don't know how to find it:
13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
MSM is the new "Bread and Circuses" to keep the population distracted. Sadly, it appears to be working in a lot of segments of our society.
As for "science" and COVID, the four important words our "experts" refuse to acknowledge is, "We don't really know". Yes the vaccine was developed to address certain mechanisms of COVID within our bodies, but it refuses to stay in Fauci's box - it keeps doing what all viruses do - mutate. We also refuse to acknowledge that there will never be a "no COVID ever" day. Picking YouTube videos and MSM for information is certainly a crap-shoot, and at the end of the day, the one person that knows the answers is the One we've chosen to push out of the public square: God Himself. I'm not suggesting that if we follow II Chron. 7:13-14 as a literal promise, I am suggesting that God truly is in control, His purposes will be fulfilled, that life will go on with COVID just as it did with The Plague, Spanish Flu, the nuclear age fears, SARS, Avian Flu, yadda-yadda-yadda.
The question becomes whether we remain prisoners of fear propagated by MSM and the left or recognize that risk tolerance in our lives has a new player we need to address.
A lengthy quote below from C.S. Lewis. Change "atomic age" to "COVID-19". Much of what is said applies today regarding risk in life for [name your crisis]. To live in fear and stop living is its own problem...
“On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948)
“How are you to live in an atomic age? Why, just as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.
“In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.
“This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies, but they need not dominate our minds." -- C.S. Lewis
Ahh, what a perfect statement for the times! I now recall reading it sometime in the past but hadn't thought of it. I may copy it and pass it around.
Crazytown is going to become Insaneville in the near/not-too-distant future - especially if Repubs take over in 2022/23 and Repub becomes president on Jan 20, 2025.
So you blame conservative principles for Crazytown? If that is a shot at Trump, fine. I voted for him and am convinced every day it was the right vote. But he needs to go away and not come back.
Are you saying that if conservatives would simply go along with the liberal social/economic agenda all would be right?
I think liberal policies are responsible for most social and economic problems, and we are seeing that unfolding in real time.
Is the GOP the answer? Absolutely not. No political party is. But I know what direction I want to go in and also what direction is absolutely going to end in social and economic disaster. I will take not going that direction now even though we won't be going 100% in the right direction.
I don't think I implied that at all. I hope Trump doesn't run. I'd rather someone like Desantis or Noem run on Trump policies, but not Trump himself.
But remember how the Left went bonkers after Nov. 2020. Remember that woman screaming at the sky at the inauguration. Imagine how much worse things will be if the Left loses the House (& maybe the Senate) after the 2020 elections and if they lose the White House after the 2024 elections.
That's all I was saying.
Date: Afghan Hostage Crisis, Day 17. Personally, I'd just LOVE to see leftists everywhere yelling at clouds after the Republicans win back control of both Houses of Congress next year. Then, if Joey doesn't shuffle off to the home (as he should), we can get on with impeaching him for the unmistakable, and far more real than anything Trump was accused of, violence against the Constitution, the rule of law, and the civil society. You say, "But what about a President Kammy?" She'll know we can do it again, won't she?
And let President DeSantis clean house at the Department of Defense. No more politicized butt kissers like Mark "Thoroughly Modern" Milley and the others; let him go out and find some real live warriors who remember which end of the rifle you hold, and understand that their counsel to any President MUST be based, first and foremost, on sound military principles, unlike anything involved with the recently concluded Biden Bugout, with the leaving behind of the required number of American hostages we'll end up ransoming and all those Afghans who we'll soon see raped and murdered throughout Afghanistan. And, within 12 months, we'll probably have "something worse": We'll have a terrorist outrage courtesy of the Taliban/al-Queda/ISIS-K (all parts of the same beast, just with different names as window dressing to fool the gullible), and we'll be faced with the apparent need to return to Goidforsakenstan, which this time will be well armed with the stuff we were too stupid to destroy the last time.
Poe's Law. Thank you for clarifying.
I like Ron DeSantis too, and yea, with the hit jobs on him already in the MSM, when he wins the left will be Trump 2.0 level stupid.
I think what would help is not behaving like Trump. Although it was satisfying to see someone stand up to the left and give it right back, that perpetuated the problem.
President DeSantis needs to simply not engage with stupid. Do what's right, let the results speak, and let the crazy left scream into the wind. The only people that will believe the stupid will be the true believers. Don't antagonise people and you take away that excuse to oppose you, they have to deal with reality.
I'm not sure I agree totally. You disagree without being disagreeable. But I don't think you can allow lies, etc. go unchallenged.
That is what Bush did to his detriment. He felt the Office of the President was above directly responding to the lies, innuendo and half truths.
Trump went too far the other way.
President DeSantis needs to parry, not jab.
Spot-on, Erick. I am shocked by the number of close friends and family with whom I cannot broach subjects I ASSUMED we were in lock-step agreement on: Afghanistan; COVID lockdowns, vaccinations, & masks; Biden; climate change; BLM & Antifa; good cops, and bad politicians. We might as well be discussing UFOs, Bigfoot, and the Loch Ness monster given the level of absolute CRAP I hear from them. People gravitate towards a "news source" that agrees with their predispositions, and then that becomes their gospel. Alternatives are rejected as ignorant, unenlightened, academically inferior, unresearched, and heretical. I used to have a core group with whom I knew I could discuss anything and we'd be on the same page. No more.
Spot on. If someone thinks it's only the other side doing everything wrong, they are part of the problem as well.
I have wondered many times "how could 81 million people be so stupid" as to vote for Biden. I realize that a large part of it is because almost all MSM and social media platforms constantly lied to the American people about how terrible Trump is. Don't get me wrong....Trump has plenty of faults, but the MSM equates him to Satan. The MSM has blood on their hands in my opinion.
And I wonder today - how can 81 million people who are eligible to get the vaccine not be getting the vaccine?
"Black people have received smaller shares of vaccinations compared to their shares of cases and the total population in about half of states reporting data. In the remaining reporting states, the share of vaccinations they have received is similar to their shares of cases and the total population. However, in most reporting states, the share of vaccinations received by Black people is smaller than their share of deaths. For example, in the District of Columbia, Black people have received 43% of vaccinations, while they make up 56% of cases, 71% of deaths, and 46% of the total population.
"Reflecting disproportionate levels of infection, Hispanic people have received smaller shares of vaccinations compared to their shares of cases in most reporting states. Their share of vaccinations is similar to or higher than their shares of deaths and total population in most reporting states. However, in some states it remains lower. For example, in California, 30% of vaccinations have gone to Hispanic people, while they account for 63% of cases, 48% of deaths, and 40% of the total population in the state." https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/latest-data-on-covid-19-vaccinations-race-ethnicity/
Guess what? It isn't Trump voters and other "insurrectionists" who are refusing the jab. Someone could ask our Maximum Leader why - were he capable of answering with other than mixed word salad, that is.
I still have concerns over the long-term effects. There's too much uncertainty for my liking. So we limit our exposure to the outside world.
This is about balancing risk tolerance and risk mitigation. This may or may not help in this "Chicken Little" age, but this is not the first major crisis humanity has faced.
Change "atomic age" to "COVID-19". Much of what is said applies today regarding risk in life for [name your crisis]. To live in fear and stop living is its own problem...
“On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948)
“How are you to live in an atomic age? Why, just as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.
“In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.
“This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies, but they need not dominate our minds." - C.S. Lewis
You should have concerns over the long term effects of getting COVID, which are well documented. And also the negative effects of isolation or limited socialization.
What is your criteria for "going back to normal"? If it's zero COVID there are a lot of things you should stop doing because you might get hurt.
It's a serious question. When will you stop being afraid of COVID?
I can understand your concern over the long term effects - sort of - except that bad effects from vaccines typically show up within the first six months, so we're past that at this point. I have concerns about not living my life free of a mask and human contact. Chances that I'll regret that are pretty low. Plenty of people dying who "have concerns" about long term effects. Death is fairly long-term.
Won't you take me to....crazytowwwwn??? Oh, we're already there...roll 'em up.