DANGEROUS DICTATES FROM GOV CUOMO

 CUOMO’S  DEADLY ACTS OF POLITICIZING PANDEMIC RESPONSE 

Our NY State Governor Cuomo is responsible for thousands of nursing home deaths .  He has now gone off the rails with a new deadly dictate: to hold back distribution of any new covid vaccine. 

Governors, mayors and police chiefs may seem adequate to the task. during placid times or in  fine weather when there is no difficult decisions or crises which test the leadership and the system.   But it is when tragedy strikes that weaknesses are exposed and we get to know their real mettle.  Pandemics, 9-11 attacks, hurricanes, hundred-year floods and powerful winter storms expose weaknesses in our political leaders and our system. 

Our Governor Cuomo is a fine example of the weak rusty link in the iron chain, snapping when the strain is applied.   

Cuomo’s weak link first snapped while responding to the Covid 19 pandemic earlier in the year . It was the Governor’s missteps and malfeasance during the early months of the Coronavirus pandemic which resulted in the deaths of between six and eleven thousand elderly nursing home patients.  

Governor Cuomo was the official who signed off on a plan to return infectious recovering corona virus patients to  NY State nursing homes.  At the time,  the State’s hospitals were close to capacity, these recovering patients were occupying hospital beds needed for others in earlier stages of the disease.  The hospital bed crisis underscore the view that the State under Gov Cuomo’s administration was unprepared. The governor did have the option of transferring these patients to Federal prefab hospitals and the hospital ship sent to New York by President Trump. (These facilities remained almost unused throughout the crisis).  However, that option, giving credit to President Trump’s effort, was not a desirable political option either. Our Democrat Governor opted for the least politically costly and embarrassing decision. 

So Cuomo sent thousands of sneezing, coughing infectious corona patients to the State’s  nursing homes where there was no possibility of safe or proper care.   He sent thousands to their deaths.  

Now he is at it again.  He has made an irresponsible and dangerous proposal regarding the Corona19 virus vaccine.  Cuomo states that were the vaccine to be APPROVED  ( It has a complex route of approvals  First by the pharmaceutical company then, the CDC, the WHO, then to the FDA Safety Monitoring Board, and then finally to meet the approval of the eminent physician and scientist: FDA commissioner Dr Stephen Hahn.  

Even with Dr Hahn’s final approval, Cuomo would not accept the vaccine as safe for New Yorkers. His reason: his unsupported claim that  President Trump is putting his “thumb on the scale” to get the vaccine approved  as early as possible and his efforts for early approval will affect the vaccine efficacy.  

Thus, according to this recent dictate from Governor Cuomo, before the approved vaccine could be administered to the residents of the State of New York it will have to pass the scrutiny of Andre Cuomo.  Just who does he think he is?  

Let’s remember this man is not a Dr Fauci.  He is a professional politician.   He holds a BA from Fordham (no science or biology required for that degree), and has a  law degree...from Albany.  That is just adequate training for a NY state local politician (especially for one who is the privileged son of popular former Gov—Mario Cuomo).  His  resume does not even make him qualified to count out aspirin tablets In a corner pharmacy.  And certainly not one to decide who and when the citizens of the State of NY get access to a critical life-saving vaccine which is needed as soon as is humanly possible. Delay can only cost lives.  So on the basis of whose authority will our Governor base his decision, if not the FDA,.and the Established professionals ?   His New Democrat radicals? 

But these objections (above) are only the stench arising from the mound of malfeasance  accumulating around the Governor’s desk in Albany.  The most egregious of his acts is politicizing  the pandemic to pander to his radical New Democrat base.  His dictates on the vaccine will  UNDERMINE THE ACCEPTANCE AND ULTIMATE EFFICACY of a critical preventative treatment that can have the potential to finally control and eventually eliminate the  threat Covid virus  poses to our health, our social,lives, and our economy.  

For a vaccine to be effective, between 70 to 80 percent of the population (and more the better) must be inoculated.  What “off the rails Andrew” has just done in his dangerous pronouncement is make that objective even more difficult to achieve. His “I will not accept thee vaccine” dictate has undermined the efficacy of this vaccine even before it is formally approved.  

So if he actually does what he has stated he will retard the delivery of life saving treatment to millions of people in the State and be responsible for even more thousands deaths in  New York. 

CNN’S DON LEMON WANTS TO “BLOW UP THE SYSTEM” — ITS UNFAIR?

NOT THE SYSTEM DON, ITS YOUR PARTY WHICH NO LONGER SERVES A NATIONAL CONSTITUENCY

Don Lemon host of the Lemon Show and his TV buddy Cuomo, were on the air last night ( September 21, 2020) bemoaning the recent revelation that President Trump was rapidly moving ahead to fill a vacant Supreme Court seat  (his Constitutional duty) as a result of the passing of  Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg*

Lemon, initiated a wild bloviating rant during the segment with buddy Cuomo stating a plan to “blow up the system” and  also “pass a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College”.   Why? Because according to Lemon’s weak understanding of our government and its processes “Democrats just can’t seem “get a fair shake” to control the Senate or nominate Supremes, or even successfully elect a President ( he doesn’t have that good of a memory).  To him it was all the result of the bad Republicans stymieing  the “good” Democrats. 

But besides being uninformed Lemon is simply all wrong on the reasons why the Democrats feel so powerless and have been unable to share these certain and powerful levers of government power.  

The Democrat Party of today is not the one that my Dad —a working man—voted for so devotedly in the 40s 50s and 60s.  They have abandoned the American worker, the middle class, farmers, the small business man to become the advocate for an increasingly smaller and smaller more and more restricted and tightly localized constituency.  

The New Democrats do not have a broad constituency of all Americans—their power is large in number, but localized in tightly encapsulated and enclosed areas on the nation’s borders. They are no longer either in their constituency or in their geography a national political party.  

Their constituency does not encompass a broad swath of American voters.  They abhor anyone who is a Christian, or those who support traditional family life, (Catholics and Evangelicals are a particular virulent target of their ire). If you support the life of the unborn you are an enemy,  If you support the police you are not acceptable as a Democrat. You will be attacked as an outsider if you do not agree that the USA is based on systematic racism. If you  honor the glorious history of this free nation and its founders  you can’t be a Democrat.  Don’t bother to even show up at the entrance tent flap if you happen to own a gun—that puts you out of their political pup tent altogether. 

Those folks that the Democrats abandoned  make up the majority and a widely disseminated  broad swath of this nation.  The modern,  “new”  Democrats have such a restricted constituency that achieving a majority in the Senate and mastering the requirements of the Electoral College (which wisely requires any national leader to have both a popular and widely spread power base) has become increasingly difficult for them to achieve. 

So it is not true that  “they can’t get a fair shake”.  The real reason is  that they have abandoned the National stage to become a party to a small number of selected minorities which they can not stitch together into a broad coalition.   I

Think of how a large diverse nation like the USA would be governed if all a party needed was to win the popular vote (or a plurality)—as suggested by Don Lemon.  The teeming cites of illegal migrants, recent under-educated and un-assimilated immigrants in the west and east coasts can be easily manipulated and would dominate the popular vote.  The radicals in those cites-could easily control such groups and would then with a simple popular vote majority—“own” the entire nation.    

One need not imagine what it might be like.  All that is necessary is to watch your TV screen where images of life in the cities such as Portland, Seattle, Kenosha, New York City are shown almost every day where riots continue for over three months.  it’s clear these places  being governed (or misgoverned) by these same Democrats.  see the results there of defunded police forces, violent demonstrations, rampant crime, limited or absent services, no garbage pick ups, In these places the drivers of  utility services, fire trucks and delivery  vehicles are fearful for their lives so they do not enter large arenas of those cities.   These are cites governed by progressives who would like to extend their political machinations and malfeasance to the nation as a whole. No thanks Don Lemon.  

*Justice Ginsberg is claimed to have made a death-bed request, that her seat not be filled by the present President and not until after the election”  The fact is that Justice Ginsberg was made that very choice during the Obama Administration in late 2016.  She was encourage at that time to retire and permit President Obama to replace her with his choice no doubt a left leaning progressive, activist jurist just in the mould of Ginsberg. . 

Justice Ginsberg was at that time in her ninth decade, ill with more than one form of cancer.  Had she had the welfare of the Democrat base and the real wish to keep her seat in (so to speak) the “hands” of a progressive jurist like herself she could have accepted that offer.  But she did not.  She made the decision for her own reasons to remain on the court.  Events might have been different had she acquiesced to the Obama offer. 

ENOUGH WITH LIBERAL EXPERIMENTATION!

WITH THE DEATH OF RUTH BADER GINSBERG YESTERDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020 WE ARE ALL SADDENED BY PASSING OF AN EXTRAORDINARY, COURAGEOUS, INTELLIGENT AMERICAN AND AN ICONIC AMERICAN JURIST

HOWEVER, AN ERA HAS ENDED: IT IS TIME FOR THE PENDULUM  TO SWING BACK TOWARD SANITY !

WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH LIBERAL EXPERIMENTATION IN GOVERNMENT!  

THE VIOLENCE, MALFEASANCE, AND CHAOS   WE HAVE ALL OBSERVED AND CONTINUE TO SEE IN PORTLAND, SEATTLE, KENOSHA, SAN FRANCISCO, AND OTHER “PROGRESSIVE” STRONGHOLDS MAKES IT CLEAR WHAT WE CAN EXPECT FROM ANOTHER GINSBERG LIBERAL ON THE COURT: 

                                                          EXPECT 

A CONTINUED PUSH TO DESTROY FAMILY LIFE, CONTROL SPEECH, DEFUND POLICE, TOLERATE VIOLENCE, GENERATE CHAOS IN OUR CITIES, DENIGRATE OUR NATON’S HISTORY, INFLAME RACE RELATIONS AND ADJUDICATE AND LEGALIZE POLICIES WHICH WILL TAX US ALL INTO PENURY AND ECONOMIC DECLINE 

The President and the Senate have a duty to the people who voted for President Trump in the 2016  electoral college landslide to put forward a replacement for Justice Ginsberg who will bring sanity to the court.  The presidency lasts for four years. Not 3.5 years!  The Trump voters have spoken in 2016!  They have a right to their court pick too!   Where does that right come from? 

The Founders in their wisdom —always looking to maintain government stability— devised a system in which they gave greater power to the political party which held the broadest coalition of voters —in this case the party having the majority in the Senate as well as the presidency.  That political party now has  the right And duty to choose replacements to the Supreme Court that reflect their philosophy.  The system tends toward long term stability—one of the major goals of the Founders. 

The Republican Senate, put in place during the Trump Revolution has not only the right, but the duty to consent to and  install a conservative, Supreme Court member who will honor the Constitution and our heritage—not legislate from the Court and make up “Rights” as they go along following  an agenda for progressivism and socialist theories and dictates which were tried  the thirties of the last century and then discarded as despotic, undemocratic, harmful and unworkable. 

Any Republican Senator who does not go along with the President and Senator McConnell will have signed the death warrant for their political career.  Too much is at stake for the nation and its future continued strength and prosperity to give a pass to the posturing Murkowskis, Romneys and others of their ilk to permit them play out their petty differences with the President to great cost to the nation and its future.

To those iffy Republicans:  Vote with the President and the real Republicans on this critical issue or face a very angry Republican constituency.   

  

MY DAD’S FAVORITE SAYINGS

APHORISMs FROM THE LAST CENTURY USEFUL TODAY

My father was born early in the last century to German-American parents who inculcated in him and his brothers a strong work ethic.  He was the middle child in a family of five boys and one girl.     My grandfather had a successful plumbing business,  a large home,  and a lovely  vacation house  in the country.My Dad’s  youth was spent at a time of relatively good economic circumstances and I think he grew up as a well adapted, happy, kind , and loving  person.  But sadly just when my Dad was of an age to seek employment, the Great Depression of  1929 struck—unemployment was rampant.  Everyone struggled for economic survival.  It was a time of economic insecurity that had a lasting and great impression Dad. . Many of his favorite aphorisms had to do with ways to adapt and to survive.  They tell of hard times and how our ancestors responded to them. They are useful today as well. 

“Waste not want not”.  Don’t waste anything. Dad saved material things that might still be useful, such as foodstuffs and balls of twine, nails and wood screws that could be used over again.  He was an early conservationist who practiced not taking more game,  fish or shellfish than you could use yourself.  But he also was opposed to wasting his own energy.  Which leads to another of his favorite sayings. 

“Do it once and do it right.”  Do not waste energy that you could use to complete  some other project when you begin a job.  When I was tasked with painting the six over six double hung  window frames on our home, I was always seeking a shortcut, so  instead of “cutting the brush loaded with paint close to the glass-wood boundary —the way I was instructed to do it and which took a lot of effort and skill—I used the fast method smearing paint over it all and then going back with a razor after the paint dried to cut a clean margin on the glass. For Dad this was a waste of time and energy.. “You are making two jobs out of one” I was told and never allowed to use that method again. 

And the related:  “Measure twice and cut once”.  This is self explanatory but relates not only to carpentry but to many other human activities. 

“It’s what you get done  before 9 Am that counts”. Any job had to be started very early in the day and much of it complete before lunch time to be most efficient. 

“What you left in your plate could feed a whole Chinese family.”   Dad never complained about what he was served for dinner.  But he did complain if we kids skidded stuff around in our plates and left food over to be wasted. Like spinach ( broccoli or peas) or not, we had to finish what was in our plates. 

“There is a place for everything and put everything in that place”.  He had an orderly mind and insisted that we lived in an orderly house.  

“ Do it now”. It was easy to say to oneself “I guess I better clean up my room, it looks a mess. Ahh yeah, but perhaps I’ll do it tomorrow,“ or  “Ok, Dad I’ll do it when I get home from school.”   But Dad knew that almost always  those were simply empty promises.  His policy was that if  you saw something that needed done—do it now— or likely it wouldn’t get done.

“Be happy you can get up to go to work in the morning.”  After a horrific accident which occurred on a battle ship undergoing repairs in the old Brooklyn Navy yard during WWII Dad suffered from pain and swelling of his ankles all his life.  He never complained about his physical ailments.  As he sat on the edge of his bed and wrapped his legs with tape  for the day to come, he would respond to my query of:  “How’s the legs this morning?”,  with the above adage. 

“Don’t back up when you are on a roof”. We often had to go up on the roof of our home in Brooklyn for repairs or inspection.  I was taught how to climb the ladder and safely get onto the roof.  But once up there. The rule was “never back up”.  

“You have to watch out for  me, when we are working”. (Learn to stay clear). When I served as a young helper and Dad was sawing or using some tool, he was focused on the job at hand and a helper had to learn to stay clear.    Dad said. “ I can’t work and look out for you too. You have to watch to stay out of the way.”  

“You can always stretch farther  than you think”.  When working on a ladder to clean windows or install the storm windows for winter, one often had to stretch out over the side of the ladder—it’s “too far”  was not accepted.  

“Always have a back up plan”

“He knows what end of the hammer to hold”. (or “ He doesn’t know which end of the hammer to hold” ) 

“Don’t throw that out, I can fix it” 

BIDEN AS ANTI-VAXER TRIES TO SCARE PEOPLE AWAY FROM A COVID VACCINE

The unconscionable statement by Biden that he does not trust the President and will not be vaccinated is to my mind the last straw.  How can one claim to be qualified to “protect the people and the nation” as a potential President of the USA?  Such a statement can only harm the nation and increase mortality and intensify economic decline. 

Biden states that he would not be vaccinated because he does not “trust” Presidnet Trump.  What he is implying is that somehow the President would be able to “force“  the CDC and the whole medical establishment to produce then OK a vaccine that is not only ineffective but harmful—-to the point that people would be wise to avoid it.  

We can assume that  one of Biden’s handlers—some partisan hack perhaps in their early 20s —must have written that dumb statement for him to read off of his teleprompter.  This “handler” person was probably  unaware that between 70 to 90% of a community must either have had the disease (and is thus immune) or has been vaccinated to achieve they vaunted state of  “herd immunity”.  This is the point at which there are simply not enough potential  human “prey“  for the virus  to infect and thus it can not effectively reproduce itself and infect others.   At which point it dies out like poliomyelitis,  measles, small pox,  and other disease which have been vaccinated out of existence. 

Apparently that state of herd immunity  is not what Biden and his handlers want to happen—or at least not happen to early. .. They would rather have people fearful of a vaccine because Trump “did it” than to save lives.  A successful vaccine arriving at “warp speed“ does not play into the Democrat political strategy to gain power.   They apparently will sacrifice the health  and welfare as well as the economic life of the Nation to win   Shameful!

So the anti vaccination statement of Joe Biden that President Trump “hurried“ a vaccine  into production means that millions of people may die because they will be fearful of the vaccine and avoid being inoculated and thus extend the epidemic causing many others to die unnecessarily.   (By the way—being “hurried” into production is a good thing.  The longer we go without the vaccine the more people die....Just think of what the left would have been saying if the President did not have a “warp speed” policy in place. )

If Biden’s unconscionable, ill conceived, politicized “warning” is believed by  a large enough group—we as a nation my not be able to open our businesses, our schools, or our lives and get back to some semblance of normality because we will continue to be threatened by the virus.  

The Democrat strategy has always been to denigrate anything this President does, give no quarter,  give no credit,  but this statement goes beyond the pale of simple political stupidity and malfeasance into the words that can harm the entire nation.  Perhaps that word is terrorism. 

Kudos Fr James Altman: “You Can’t Be A Catholic Democrat”

From Fort Worth Star Telegram:

“Father James Altman, pastor of St. James the Less Catholic Church, (in Wisconsin) lashed out at Father James Martin, who participated in the Democratic National Convention. In a 10-minute video posted to YouTube, Altman called the priest a “hyper, confusing spreading heretic” and had harsh words toward Democrats.

“Here is a memo to clueless baptized Catholics out there: You cannot be Catholic and be a Democrat. Period,” Altman said in the video posted Aug. 30. “The party platform absolutely is against everything the Catholic Church teaches, so just quit pretending that you’re Catholic and vote Democrat. Repent of your support of that party and its platform or face the fires of hell.””

Let us hope that hypocrite Catholics politicians like mumbling Joe Biden (who claims to pray the Rosary), Nancy Pelosi (who,  as she maliciously  skewers  a tiny Trump idol  with knitting needles denies she  “hates Trump” because ‘she was raised a Catholic’) , and the phony Cuomo brothers take heed. 

R




Thanks ead more here: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/nation-world/national/article245560245.html#storylink=cpy

DEMOCRAT LIES AND CHINESE GERM “ WARFARE“

 The Democrats and their co-conspirators the “main stream media” distort the news and ignore events that do not fit into their plots, schemes and narrative  designed to advance their  political purposes. In this manner the  media and the Democrats continually ignored the growing violence and destruction of the BLM and Antifa instigated riots which have rocked the nation—calling them “peaceful demonstrations” while the nation’s voters—sitting before their TV sets could clearly experience  the violence, burning  buildings, chanting crowds throwing bricks and Molotov cocktails, and the billowing smoke of fire and tear gas canisters, all with their own eyes.  

The other story that does not fit into the strategy or narrative  line of the Dems and their media supporters is the Chinese origin of the corona virus and its use by Chinese’s officials  as a weapon.  These practitioners of lies and deception  would rather continue plugging away at the old Russia collusion hoax—than face the reality of the real and imminent Chinese threat. 

For example: 

During a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, (September 4, 2020) candidate Joe Biden’s speech writers had him read a line off of his teleprompter in which he absolves China from all responsibility for the Corona virus pandemic, claiming “all pain and suffering (from the pandemic) stems from President Trump’s failure to lead ”....This  line of distortion and deception is right there in equivalence in falsity with:  “Those people throwing rocks and beating that man with a bat are peaceful demonstrators.”

Since we can not trust the USA journalists we can turn to others outside of the USA via the internet who have a better grasp of reality and are  unaffected by Trump derangement syndrome  and hatred for the USA. 

The India Times published a an article entitled: How China locked down internally for Covid 19 , but pushed foreign travel  (April 30, 2020, Sandip Sen, in the “Economic Times” section)  

The author, Sandip Sen,  claims that new evidence from internet and  air traffic data confirms that China  “intentionally or otherwise” secretly locked down its cities to reduce the spread of the virus originating  in Wuhan  but aggressively pursued  a policy of increased foreign travel for its citizens from Wuhan.  This action led to a deadly worldwide  explosion of the virus eventually known as covid 19. . That act was to lead to a disastrous  pandemic which as of this writing  (September 8, 2020), has caused nearly 30 million cases and almost one million deaths worldwide.  As of today the USA  has suffered a massive economic upheaval, job losses, unemployment,  social unrest and the tragic loss of 180,000 lives attributable to the virus. 

The India Times author,  writes that in early January, in a “wet-market” in central Wuhan,  a virus outbreak occurred which Chinese medical professionals identified as a Corona virus Which exhibited high transmissibility from  human to human.  On January 1, the virus claimed its first life in Wuhan,  and two days later (Jan 3) the first case outside  of China was reported in Thailand. These events alerted experts in China of the ease of transmission and ability of the virus to spread rapidly. 

At a January 22, 2020 meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO) executive committee the Chinese report on the Wuhan virus outbreak was suppressed.   It is reported widely that the committee was strong armed by the Chinese to avoid revelations that were unfavorable  to China   At the conclusion  —the very organization responsible for disseminating such data in a timely fashion and which had it acted could have saved many lives —was not permitted to air the facts about the transmissibility and seriousness of the threat to world health due to Chinese pressure and the ignorance or culpability director (Tedros Ghebreyesus)    

But not withstanding its claims at the WHO that the virus was not threatening world health China on January 23, closed down Wuhan as well as all of Hubei province, locking down 50 million people in that province into to a brutal quarantine.  Chinese authorities also stopped all domestic flights  to Beijing and Shanghai to prevent transmission of the disease to those cities. But at the same time it “urged Chinese international flight carriers to maintain their schedules and continue to transport to nations which have not imposed travel restrictions.”   China claims that it made that decision to meet  the needs of Chinese passengers and international transport of supplies ( needed in China). But in hindsight that one decision exposed the entire world to the virus and generated a world shaking pandemic.  

 Chinese perfidy did not end there.   At the February 3, meeting of the WHO, Director Ghebreyesus supported or was coerced into supporting  the (false ) Chinese claim that all was well for international travel from and to China.  

His statement : “There is no reason to interfere with international trade and travel”..That  statement should go be emblazoned on this man’s tomb as one of the most death dealing  statements in modern world history.  President Trump had closed down all Chinese air traffic on the previous day (Feb 2) and at the meeting the Chinese complained about the US actions—withdrawing it embassy staff, and  being the first natiion to impose a travel ban on China. At home the President ways vilified for his actions as xenophobic by Joe Biden himself. 

Ghebreyesus and Chinese officials  effectively kept the WHO from declaring the outbreak a pandemic until 11h of March, when they belatedly made that call.  The nations of the world were by that time already infected by the steams of Chinese tourists, travelers and business people who  were permitted to travel internationally but could not fly to Beijing. These nations were sadly unprepared for what came next   The rest is history, of suffering death and economic disaster.  

We should not forget that the Chinese could have acted as responsible world citizens —instead they seem to have used their knowledge of the nature of the and threat of the virus to world health as  a political and economic weapon against the west whom they apparently see as an existential threat to be given no quarter.     

Anyone who tries to whitewash the Chinese acts as something other than a form of covert economic germ warfare, is simply ignorant of the facts, infected with Trump Derqngement Syndrome (TDS)  or possibly like Joe Bidenand  his family ( Hunter Biden in particular) who maintain some economic imperative to ignore the facts. 

Biden and his new left handlers are committing political prevarication  by attempting to absolve  the clearly guilty Chinese (and their facilitator Ghebreyesus) of culpability for the world pandemic, while attempting to further gild that awful deception by trying to blame the President for a world Alerting disastrous pandemic.  

They lie so greviously and so dangerously one wonders —who are they? 

FINALLY SOME GOOD NEWS!

The Russians did it.  They have an effective safe vaccine! 

September 5 2020.  

The Jerusalem Post has reported today on the race for a Covid 19 vaccine.  They review data from first and second phase vaccine tests reported in “ The Lancet” which revealed that the new Russian vaccine for Covid 19,  “Sputnik V”, showed that 100% of the participants developed antibodies and the protocol had no serious side effects.  The Russian team indicated that nurses , doctors and teaches will be given the vaccine first, after its expected release and during its mass production in Russia sometime in late October.  That is very good news for us all. . 

The result of the first two trials of the Russian effort  were published in the “Lancet” a prestigious peer reviewed journal.  The two trials were conducted in Moscow in June and involved 76 subjects who where given a two-shot jab.. The results showed 100% of the participants had developed antibodies to coronavirus 19 and  there were no serious side effects.  These first two trials are to be followed by large scale tests to establish long term safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. The Lancet article also noted that the Russian virologists revealed that the vaccine produced antibodies in the subject’s blood that were more than 1.5 times greater than the antibody levels in patients who had actually contracted and survived the disease.  They also noted that the vaccine appeared to have generated a “T cell” response—as well.  This is significant since recent studies have shown that “T cells” are a significant second level of protection against disease found  in normal healthy adults who survive the infection.  

As this author understands the effort by the Russians it is that they did not use the older method of dangerous and slow live virus production—in which the actual virus is grown in animal tissues or in vitro and then either weakened and then injected, or killed and macerated so as to render the virus no longer infectious.  The fragments of the virus (often elements of the outer shell of the virus) are then purified and sterilized and this is injected into the patient to stimulate the body to produce antigens against the “foreign invader” During an infection the body is thus armed against the live virus which it recognizes from the fragments of its outer shell.   

A more modern approach—and that used by the Russian team —was to chemically generate a copy of the gene for the “spike glycoprotein” which is that portion of the virus which attaches to the cell membrane of the host and permits entry into the cell where the virus then takes over the cell and recreates copies of itself.   This gene was recombined with and attached  to a “carrier” virus that permits the gene to enter the cells of the human recipient.  The  common cold virus (an Adenovirus)  was used to act as a carrier to gain entry into cells.  The gene enters the cell on the adenovirus and within  the subject cell it  is picked up by the cell’s ribosomes —a cellular organelle which functions to generate proteins from amino acids in the cell (like antibodies) needed in the cell or elsewhere. The introduced gene —likely a component of a messenger RNA  activates the ribosomes to produce the anti-spike protein antibody which then acts to prevent the covid 19 virus from passing through the host cell membrane.   Thus, the existing cell structures and processes of normal cells are enlisted to drive  the cell to generate the antibodies it needs to ward off a Covid 19 infection.  

The vaccine was named “Sputnik V” after the first manned satellite launched by the USSR.   The phase 3 trials were launched last week in which 40,000 individuals will be tested and  initial results of these trials are expected next month or in November of this year.   One element still not tested was the “control” aspect of the approval process  in which one group of people are given the vaccine and another are given a placebo (no treatment injection).  Typically neither  the scientists nor the test recipients   know who has received the placebo and who  the vaccine. This is referred to as a “double bind test”. These will be conducted in the upcoming phase three  of approval 

The good news is the the Russians will have a vaccine well before the end of this year. Other nations—the USA, China and the UK and others—the Jerusalem Post proudly and accurately notes that though Israel is not involved in the race many Jews  are— working for the USA and UK efforts—all racing to produce an effective vaccine..Thus it is likely that these other companies will very soon enter their trial phases and begin actual mass production and dissemination of these vaccines.  This is very good news indeed.  Kudos to the Russians and to all those who work with such ingenuity, scholarship and effort for all of mankind. 

The Lancet,  September 4 2020.  Safety and immunogenicity of an rAd26 and rAd5 heterologous prime boost Covid 19 vaccine......from Russia.
D Logunov. et al

POLICE OFFICERS: AN OPPRESSED MINORITY WHICH NEED PROTECTION

Police officers are not the oppressors, but oppressed victims in our present day society.

An interesting study conducted in the UK recently (2019?) indicated that almost 90% of police UK officers were assaulted during their careers.  And almost 40% were assaulted  within the year that the study was conducted. Both the violence  of the assaults and the frequency are on the rise according to recent UK studies. Being punched, beat up by gangs,  run down with a vehicle, spit on and having objects thrown at them were all on the rise    The commentators described the force as “an oppressed minority in the UK”.  They indicated that UK police were well aware that they were on the front line against those who have made a decision to break the law and thus expect resistance to arrest, but the rise in violence in has resulted in many leaving the department in large numbers. Often their expressed reason is: they do not want to be the butt  for  politicians who bad mouth them and the “punching bag” for a public who physically assault them .  Does this sound familiar? 

US Police officers are today similarly under enormous pressures from the media, and government-and some elements of our  political establishment.   The nearly one million (880,000) officers in the USA are often portrayed as “criminals and killers“ by the MSM  and left wing press and the political left.  They are indeed “ an “oppressed minority“ much like their colleagues in the UK.

The charges against police are too often overblown and misplaced—and are grossly out of proportion with the facts.  In  reality our police forces have a low rate of illegal, unprofessional and criminal acts. For example, between  2005 and 2019 (according to Washington Post data) some 104 officers were charged with murder or manslaughter over that 14 year period as a result of a confrontations which occurred while on duty.  That is about 7 unlawful killings per year (104/14=7.4 ) over that period of time.   But there are about 880,000 police officers serving in the USA. Thus for the nearly one million men and women serving -and not counting the millions of contact hours—only a very tiny proportion are involved with crime or disproportionate use of force.  The numbers:   7.4/880000 = 0.000008. ( 0.8/100,000)   OK so lets say roughly 8 officers in 800,000 or one “bad apple” in every 100,000 officers  (one in one-hundred-thousand  or 1/100000) is a pretty small number for any profession.  For physicians, those cited for malfeasance ( like removing the wrong kidney) the “bad apples” are about 7 out of 100.

It means that the vast number of police officers are innocent guys just serving the laws and thier community doing their jobs and committing no crimes,  . 

But to follow up on the oppressed minority theme—as in the UK—our officers are increasingly exposed to both verbal assault from politicians and journalists and physical assault as well as increasing numbers of deaths in the streets.  Sadly the rate of are fatal assaults on police are climbing at an alarmingly   The rate of officers that are killed—good decent men and women of all races —are on average about 150 per year.  Over the same time period of the Washington Post story —2005-2019— when 104 Police manslaughter’s and murders were committed —nearly 2000 offices were killed while on duty.  This should not have to be stated So bluntly but the facts must be put into perspective:  So bad apple officers killed with excessive force  about 7 individuals annually, but their own death rate on duty is approx150 officers killed per year.  That is (150/7.4= 20) or there are  twenty times (20) times more officers killed in the line of duty than those who committed crimes such as use of excessive force.   

All of us—black, white, Asian, Pacific Islander and Native American are dependent upon an effective functioning police force.  The first priority of any government is to protect its citizenry, to maintain order and encourage and enforce obedience to the laws that the society itself promulgates.  This is THE essential component that insures a civil society.  We are all  rely on , are served by, require the ability and freedom to go about our daily tasks, tend our businesses and our lives in peace tranquility and security....all of us.   When ill informed and unthinking government officials remove the threat of arrest, or of incarceration  (as in no cash bail schemes) or restrain police from functioning, or when they are removed from the streets, those elements of society who  have made the decision to ignore the law, and to break the law are then unrestrained —free to act outside of the norms of a civil society —and in this way the rest of us—all of society—become hostages to lawlessness.

A strong police presence is essential for our survival as a society and as a nation.  Those who suggest otherwise are simply ignoring  human nature, unaware of history and blind to what we see  every day on our TV screens and on our streets in certain cities where crime, chaos, burnt-out businesses, declining populations and decay are the result.

But simply supporting the police is not enough.  Police officers must be confident that when they are acting in their official capacity as officers of the law they are protected from unwarranted and unfair retribution.  We as citizens go into a contract with our police officers—we give them the authority to protect us and to confront those who break our laws. We give them the right to use justifiable force —we can not simply withdraw that solemn contract unilaterally when vagaries of public opinion and violent demonstrations become a source of political pressure.

At the present time, we have so undermined the nation’s police forces—“bad mouthing”, lack of support from government, politicizing the command structures, preventing police from using appropriate force to disperse violent mobs, etc. etc., etc. to such an extent that in some cities we may have a nominal police force—but they are so demoralized, so fearful of losing heir jobs, pensions or being charged with a crime that they are unable to perform the essential functions of a police force—-enforce the law.

This situation, this behavior is an existential threat to our nation, our economy, our cities and our liveihoods and bodes nothing but social and economic decline and descent into chaos and vigilantism. 

As of 2016, sixteen US states have codified the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights. (LEBOR)   The bill protects officers constitutional and other rights as well as the right to a safe, civil society in which citizens can live and do business without fear of violence and threat of crime.  It insures that police officers will not be fearful  of confronting rioters, law breakers, rapists, looters, etc., etc., etc, —insures us that they enforce the law —whomever beak it—-and treat all citizens as equals regardless of the color of their skin or their ethnic background. The police  are assured that there will be no retribution—as a result of their lawful professional acts.   They will not lose their pensions, lose their jobs or be charged or incarcerated for criminal acts while conducting lawful policing. The LEBOR should become national policy.  

The situation we face in some cities such as NY City, Chicago, Baltimore, Kenosha, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, etcetera is that citizens are taxed to support the police forces, but —as a result of recent riots and political pressures are too often  left to have to protect themselves, from thugs and looters, crime and violence, The results are ineffective and  often end with deadly consequences—to themselves. 

It is time to address the problem of this existential essential but oppressed element of our society—our police forces.  We must encourage the national adoption of the LEBOR, oppose thoughtless, defunding of police forces, maintain adequate force levels, increase training—especially use of non lethal physical force, jujitsu, martial arts so officers can more effectively disarm and subdue criminals rather than being forced to use more lethal assets,  The police  are essential to our all our well being as a civil society we must all unite to support them. 

LITHIUM ION BATTERIES: SUBSTITUTING ONE SOURCE OF POLLUTION FOR ANOTHER

Today (Sept 1,2020) I read an Editorial in the Los Angeles Times in which the editorial board  bragged about how the progressive state of California has recently adopted the “zero emission truck mandate”  and will soon achieve the “cleanest air in the nation” because this initiative will force all trucks and other vehicles which now belch greenhouse gases (ghg) will be outlawed to be replaced with electric vehicles storing energy with lithium ion (L-ion) batteries.   

But, as I read  I thought: “wait, these batteries must be produced with energy (mostly oil gas and coal) —the raw materials must be sourced from all over the world (oil-driven ships trains), the product had long and complex manufacturing processes which generated ghg.  Greenhouse gases are produced as a result of the mining of Lithium, its transport, processing as well as the manufacture and distribution of the batteries.   Most estimates indicate that for every kilowatt-hour produced by L-ion  batteries about  100 kilograms of ghg carbon is released into the atmosphere as a result of the production of the battery.  It is claimed that every “clean” electric car has already generated six tons of carbon dioxide emissions before it rolls off the assembly line.  

The LA Times article reminded me of an event during the October 1973 Arab oil embargo ( ‘73 oil shock) when the nation reeled from scarce oil, gasoline and other fuels.  At that  time I read a “letter to the NYT editor” in which a reader offered  a partial “solution” to  fuel scarcity.  The letter writer proposed that as a means of conserving oil and gas City residents should prepare  their morning tea or coffee using the hot water tap rather than the cold water one and in that  way decrease use of  gas at the hob to boil coffee (tea) water and thus conserve fuel.  The idea was silly...this person was suggesting, to save scarce oil —use “hot. tap water”—but  was just substituting one source of oil or gas —the one at the home or apartment gas range,  for another—the home or apartment oil-fired hot water heater in the basement.  Just as the “California” solution to decreasing use of Ghg generating fossil fuels is to cut their use in trucks and cars-by converting to electric—battery operated vehicles using batteries which in their production consume vast volumes of water and also generate great quantities of greenhouse gases. 

Other similar uses of Li ion batteries such as large-scale storage of electricity derived from wind and solar power raise similar but larger problems. Because renewables are often unavailable when needed at peak electric demand, so storage is required. Often the storage choice is LI-ion batteries.  

So perhaps more creative even simpler engineering solutions could be made. Some utilities pump water up into storage tanks and then release it to run turbines to generate electricity at peak demand.  That strategy avoids the problem.  

This and similar “no battery solutions” may be a better way to go. But even more creative ideas are required for the electric car and truck transport problem.