AAANNDD….now the Chinese claim it was India that started this.

 First, of course, it was a “Wet Market” that served bats from a location 180+ MILES away from Wuhan that was the origin of the Sars-Covid-19 outbreak….Even though the epicenter of the first outbreak was mere tens of feet from the Wuhan center for weaponized diseases. 

THen, of course, they said it might have been Italy….

Now the Chinese are claiming that the outbreak was first found in India…..after the idea that it first originated in Italy failed to gain any traction….(because it was a lie). 

Despite the (multiple) claimed origins for the disease, it first surfaced in Wuhan,  likely not in the “Wet Market” (that didn’t serve bat carcases from mearly 200 miles away)…..but that is what they first claimed…..it came from a disease warfare lab that is located on the same block as the Wet Market they pointed to…..

I think that the Chinese are afraid of (and rightly so) repercussions from the rest of the world….so they are pointing to anyone but the Chinese as the source….

But I doubt that (all of)  the rest of the world will buy their lies…..It seems to be a cultural issue with eastern asians (not just the Chinese) to lie to Westerners….and for some reason, many Westernaers keep buying the lies over and over and over….

A legal question:

 So the State governments have (mostly) mandated a mask in all enclosed public spaces. Essentially, one cannot legally do business without a mask in todays society. 

On the horizon: a (relatively) untried set of vaccines for Covid-19…

Now, one is required to possess a drivers license to drive a car on roads,  In many states, one needs a permit to carry a firearm on one’s person (despite the protections of the Second Amendment of the Constitution). One cannot do banking nor other fiancial businesswithout proving ones identity with a Government issued Identification Card. Similarly, one must “identify” when asked by a policeman or other law enforcement official (The difinition of “Identify” might mean showing an Id or simply stating your name and DOB..it varies).  There is precedent for the following:

Would it be legal for the States or the Federal Government to require that the citizens of this country be vaccinated for Covid-19 in order to do business or to leave one’s home? To buy food or medicine or to mingle with others in public? 

It is, after all, a short step from mandated “Mask Up” in public to “Vaccinate”…..

I fully expect someone to try this…

Black Friday

 I’m not a “Hide behind your Mask” sort of guy. 

I do think that the Covid is real, and serious. 

If you wear a mask,  except under protest, that is your choice. 

But if you go out today, and mingle with everyone else to do your Black Friday shopping, in large crowds, you are an idiot. 

Thanksgiving 2020

 Well, this year, compared to most years, has Royally Sucked Ass. Financially, personally and for other reasons, it has been, shall we say, a less than stellar year ( I am sure that I am not alone in this sentiment).

Having said that, I am very thankful for my life. I live in a country where, despite recent developments, I still enjoy a relatively great deal of freedom. I have a country which is, mostly, still under the rule of law, with the protections that our Constitution provides, against both the Government and it’s minions, and my fellow citizens. I am thankful for the security and safety that the Military and the Police provide.

I have my home, my possessions, all of which are mine (debt free), and relatively free of the threat of theft or confiscation. 

I am thankful for my friends and family, and their support. 

My life is, actually, pretty good. I’d bet that 75% or more of the people in the world would gladly trade their problems for mine. When one considers the Big Picture, my life is pretty good. 

All in all, while this has been, as I said, a less than stellar year, I am thankful for what I DO have, and that it hasn’t been worse. While the next year will entail some changes and some learning in my life, I also have the belief that things will get better. 

I hope that everyone reading this has things for which they can be thankful. 

The horror:

 I’m seeing lots of video of the surge of travelers at the airports….Those traveling for Thanksgiving. 

Yet, in all the videos, I am NOT seeing much “Social Distancing: in the lines leading up to the folks fondling those travelers screening those passengers. Odd, that. One might think that these lines would be a major place where “Social Distancing” would work best, as tens of thousands of people per hour funnel through this checkpoint, coming from a diverse range of places, interacting with the others, mingling in a line that can last for an hour or more…in close proximity to those strangers….

Perhaps the masking, the Social Distancing is as much Theater as the TSA’s “protection”?

I guess it is Covid

 But, at least in my area, you really have to work to get a speeding ticket right now. Unless your speed is egregiously over the limit (like 2X or more what the sign says) then the cops tend to not see you. 

How is it in your area? 

an observation and a question:

 So the Media is showing tens of thousands of people lining up in their cars to get prepackaged food handouts.  Idling in their cars for HOURS, waiting for the handouts. 

Each person appears to pull up to the staging line, where another person loads the prepackaged box of food into the trunk:

I have noticed that the boxes are pre-printed with slogans like “food Bank” or “Helping Hands” or other slogans. I find it interesting that these boxes are not just repurposed or off the shelf boxes, but are printed especially for this food handout….tens of thousands of boxes. One wonders what the lead time is for a purchase of tens of thousands of custom printed boxes?  

These folks are not sitting in junk cars…they are high end automobiles. One might think that if one has the ability to own such a car, that one might have the means to feed their families without handouts. I mean, these cars cost a lot not only to purchase, but for things like insurance and such…

But there they are, sitting in line, each burning gallons of gasoline, (Probably 5 or more while in line) just to get a $50 box of food…..

(Of course, the question comes up also…..Where is the food coming from? Who is paying, not only for the food, but for the labor to package it (in those custom boxes) and for the labor to set up the distribution point and for the labor to move it to the distribution point and put it into the waiting car?)

 

Missing the point:

 Watching the weather and news this morning, (channel 2 Chicago/WBBM-TV) and listening to their advice on Covid….Stay home, don’t travel unless necessary, don’t do thanksgiving, etc…..followed by their human interest segment where they told the rest of us about the neat things these TV announcers (who are based in and work in Chicago) had seen and found in neighboring states…one showed us the neat stuff she found in a market in Wisconsin, the other a neat decoration he and his wife had found in Michigan,,,

And, remember, for anyone else who travels across the state line, Illinois requires a 14 day quarantine period….I guess this doesn’t apply to “journalists” Talking Heads. 

Yet the rest of us should stay home. 

It’s different

 And yet, at the same time, pretty much the same.

I’m taking Multi-Engine instruction now…

Flying a twin is like driving a Corvette…when I’ve been driving a station wagon. 

Make no mistake, I love my Cessna 182. But compared to the Baron that I am getting my multi engine instruction is, it is a dog. 

LOTS more power, which makes for MUCH greater performance. And all that power (and the fact that it is a twin) means that it can kill you in ways that a single engine plane won’t.. (Which is what I am learning…not How to Fly ..I (supposedly) already know that…but how to fly a twin engine plane when one engine isn’t working). 

It has been a challenge.