Neo

There is an editorial in today’s Washington Post calling for China to pay reparations to Africa. The author is a Nigerian woman and prominent World Bank representative from The Africa Region. A prominent international woman of color from the third world in a left leaning, reputable, newspaper. It’s here, ladies and gentlemen. Careful about collateral damage when you start tossing the darts! (not that you tossed a dart)!

1) I am the last person you want to rely upon for an analysis of The WHO. 2) Statement 1. does not prevent me from forming my view. It shouldn’t prevent anyone from doing the same. 3) Before I start, let me say that I see the WHO defended with statements telling me how important good health is. Well, I agree with the importance of good health! 4) When forming opinions, I have no choice but to watch and listen to the story told by the sources. Then I conclude. It’s all I got. 5) Spidey sense ... when you have a virus lab 1 mile away from a virus outbreak, tell the world that 83 thousand people got sick, and that there are no records to examine ... when the rest of the world goes up in flames ... and your well funded Ethiopian client state WHO Head shows up and says “nothing to see here, you racist xeno ... nevermind”, well, I get suspicious. Two articles to start you out. Before the ad hominem chorus chimes in, I’ll say this about the Council on Foreign Relations. It’s an inside baseball think tank with prominent diplomats, bankers, business people and educators from both sides of the aisle. CNN is, well, CNN. Neither source answers your question. Each can start you down a path of examining. If you’re looking for proof, it ain’t there, yet. If you’re looking to draw your own conclusion based on what you can find, have at it. https://www.cfr.org/blog/who-and-china-dereliction-duty https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/14/asia/coronavirus-who-china-intl-hnk/index.html

Setting aside COVID19 and this once in a lifetime world trajectory changing event for a few minutes ... 1). As I read more about these labs, it’s a wonder we haven’t completely exterminated ourselves. 2). Examine the acts and language out of the Soviet Union in the days and weeks following Chernobyl side by side with what the Chinese are saying following Wuhan. I’ll bet $1,000 against a bologna sandwich and take “it came from a bat in a Chinese lab” against any other position. 3). My knees are slow to jerk. My gut is telling them to get moving. My brain, which will always look for more information, has no objection to my gut‘s urging.

You know, I almost typed “the good news is, we can still blame Trump, for those keeping score at home” .... I saw it ... I saw it .... There are those who will take joy in that (not at all saying you are one of them).

As reported in that crazy right wing Washington Post .... (note ... the excerpt below appears on the Fox News Web site and quotes the Post. I can access some content on the Post, but not this article in full. I can see it, but access is subscription pop up blocked. In other words, I confirmed the story and the source. For those interested, there are dozens of media following this.) “In a series of diplomatic cables labeled "Sensitive But Unclassified," U.S. Embassy officials warned that the lab had massive management weaknesses, posed severe health risks and warned Washington to get involved. The first cable, which was obtained by The Washington Post, also sent red flags about the lab's work on bat coronaviruses and more specifically how their potential human transmission represented the risk of a new SARS-like pandemic. "During interactions with scientists at the WIV laboratory, they noted the new lab has a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory," the Jan.19, 2018, cable, written by two officials from the embassy's environment, science and health sections who met with the WIV scientists, said.“

I’d be careful attributing the “Wuhan Lab as the Source” story to political ideology. The earliest published reports to that effect come from China. Now, before someone asks me to prove it, I can’t. That’s why I use the phrase “be careful”. Dismissing those stories as “right wing” is as knee jerk as claiming they’re knowably true. I don’t think accidents are mind bogglingly complicated. I also think the Chinese are as willing to tinker with germs as we are. Now, cuz I’m ballsy .... I believe when this is all written, the Wuhan lab will prove to be the source. Call it the one story that seams to make sense in the sea of incomplete left, right and center media. You will see other nations join the inquiry. You are seeing the denials take the form of the usual suspects ... “this is racist xenophobia when the world needs unity” ... says China and the head of The WHO. When you didn't do something, you turn over the records. When you did something you want secret, you disappear people and yell xenophobia. Spidey sense .. ymmv.

St L is treating us like a garage sale. Show up, rummage through junk. Find a gem. Offer pennies on the dollar. Load the trunk and drive away smiling.

“Houle .. with an H .... like in Hogue”

LabattBlue visits some fun FaceBook groups! I closed my account ten years ago after being inundated with cat memes. By the way, when it comes to cat memes, three in any seven months is “inundated”.

This is great! I had to google images, but great fun.

This has become metaphor ... wonderfully.

“Kharlamov is really belted by Van Impe! That was a solid check and I didn't see much wrong with it.“ Bob Cole in the “they’re going home ... they’re going home” game. I don’t disagree with PA. I do acknowledge my checkered past.

I am eating column inches and may have missed things. Tell me to “scroll up” if thats the case. I have two kids in Hamburg. There is no mandatory curfew to their knowledge. There IS a guideline around essential people and common sense, of course. They've told me about PAUSE. Effective today, you can be ticketed/arrested (?) with a misdemeanor in Tampa. To add .... I learned with a cellphone text and a cell phone “robo call” with a robo voice. Creepy .... once in a lifetime.

Hillsborough County (Tampa) just enacted an every day 9 pm to 5 am curfew. Food, bank, pharmacy exception (as I understand it).

Well, that’s one possible explanation I have to remove from my list.

Oh, and I just watched this ... er, watched and listened .... live. Ave Maria, Sancta Maria, and Amazing Grace .... among others. If he had been in my living room asking me what I’d like to hear, those would’ve been the three I chose. What’s the Ricky Fitts quote, again?

Happy everything to everybody. For me, He is risen! He is risen, indeed. I watched The Passion of the Christ last night with Mrs. Neo. Remarkably, she’d not seen it. I took a youth group to the theater when it came out, some 16 years ago, but hadn’t seen it since. Mrs. Neo is the spiritual leader in our house. I’m glad to have watched it with her. The film was not her cup of tea, but it led us to Mary Magdalene and Bible study. What a fascinating character (s?). Who Mary was depends on your source! We did Easter service on television, screen mirroring an iPad. We still have community. Tonight, we will have a glorious dinner. We ordered out ... trying to keep one of our favorite restaurants alive. After dinner, we’ll adjoirn to the television, again, and watch Jesus Christ Superstar. I believe Andrew Lloyd Weber’s piece is pure genius. I love it. My kids are texting my wife and me with lyrics ... “He is daaaAaaangerrrRRRrrouuuus” ... and sharing “OMG Papa and that soundtrack, for a month, every year!” memories. For those of you with children ... they’re watching you and will remember your quirks forever. It’s nice. “One thing I’ll say for him, Jesus is cool”. Lloyd Weber, of all people, first challenged me with the idea of Judas as a full person. I am much more engaged in the conversation when Judas is three dimensional, and not just some backstabbing villain. Forty years later, I met Javert in Les Misérables, another three dimensional villain. They live in the same neighborhood in my head. Happy Easter, all.

Housley’s FIRST flinch. I learned early in life that sometimes you just take a whoopin’. The pain goes away more quickly than it does from whoopin’s you avoid.

No one is chest thumping. Ogre is telling a story with good guys and bad guys. The story was written long ago and can be produced, without connection to what’s actually happening, any time he likes. He left off the disclaimer. This blog post is protected under the copyright laws of the United States and other countries throughout the world. The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred. No person or entity associated with this post received payment or anything of value, or entered into any agreement, in connection with the depiction of tobacco products. No animals were harmed in the making of this blog post.

Could be it .... I’m not that cookie conscious, but I do clear caches from time to time.

... and community!

Hmmmm ... The Cleveland Clinic needed masks and made many outreaches. An Amish leader learned of the need and organized his small community. The Amish community, in most senses of the word, co-exists with, but is not part of, the broader community. Within days, the Amish were supplying masks and shields to hospitals and health care workers. They sewed and milled. They did it because it needed to be done. They view the work as a privilege. The Amish, communal in nature, are being hit hard by coronavirus and distancing. They apply for, and accept, no governmental assistance. “When something needs to be done, people show up”. ******* I don’t have a login, a registration, OR a subscription. The INTERWEBS!

Paywalled? Now, I have to investigate. I clicked directly to it. I do not have a NYT subscription. Hmmmmm ....

I need one. I found myself reading The New York Times. I’ve strayed. The article I linked is less religion and more lifestyle and philosophy, for those who’ve not looked.

Interesting view into a community I know very little about ... The Amish, service, government assistance and privilege. This story found its way into my recommendations. Shocker ... https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/us/politics/amish-coronavirus-ohio.html