A good Saturday morning all. Now that my coffee has been poured I want to mention that my morning coffee isn’t just a consumable, it’s my morning sanctuary.

With the continuing ‘lockdown’ it’s come to a point where, when getting up, I slap myself – it’s a new ritual to alert me as to whether or not it’s a new day, or if I’m just waking up from a nap. This lockdown business is keeping me tired to the point of wishing it was garbage day; those trucks are amazing and watching them perform their ‘magic’ is absolutely captivating. Is it wrong to sit by the window and wave at the garbage workers?

It reached a point where I felt a quick call to ol’ buddy Earl might be what was needed. That’s Earl Pitts, “Uhmerikun” for you who weren’t sure. From what he tells, he has a grip on the situation. Some folk are just smarter than the average bear, here’s Earl:

Coronadoom – This whole Coronadoom period I’ve continued to maintain my daily walk regimen; in part to keep my sanity. Realize that our neighborhood (including the corner of Chaos & Mayhem) is literally amazing and this makes the going about doable and even fun.

Last Thursday evening at dusk we had quite a downpour. I was looking outside at the pounding sheets of rain just as a convertible drove by – top down. I was caught gawking. The driver of the top-down convertible did have an umbrella opened up, leading edge tucked by the sun visor and the rear jammed between the back of his head and the head rest. It all seemed just a bit too normal Reminded me of Dire Straits singing in their song Money for Nothing; “that’s the way you do it.”

Earlier in the week we had a bit of a rain and wind storm. Our neighborhood has no nearby trailer parks. I suspect that the wind therefore took aim at any available chimney. This was what I spotted at a house around the corner; house – 0, wind – 1.

Five houses down the street I spotted a Salvador Dali-esque apparition parked curb-side. That really does look like it belongs.

Walking, I am now also keeping track of passing cars with just a driver inside who’s dutifully (OCDC?) wearing a face mask. I plan to avoid these characters when I happen to be driving somewhere, just in case they collapse from Hypoxemia.

I have caught myself openly singing while walking. I think it’s me fighting for my brothers in California whose idiot governor has outlawed singing in church. On the other hand, I have noticed that when passing someone who asks me; “how is it?” my answer of, “fine” sounds more like an ugly snarl. Yup, in general, my walks are therapeutic, and as I said, “even fun”.

Election Special – First of what could be a new series: As we’re in the beginning throes of another Election Season all sorts of wild idiocy is being hurled at us. This rational information came to mind.

“The reason slavery ended in 1865 and not in say 1900 or 1950 was because the Electoral College allowed a guy who won 37.5% of the popular vote to become President” ~ Miles Smith IV

Contrarian Views – The sad thing with this whole Coronavirus thing is that all the trust for guiding is being channeled through just a very few like minded folk. Dr Fauci is in the lead of that pack and he does not have a perfect record of trust – a quick on-line search will readily track his 40+ year fairly spotty track record.

There are many MDs, Medical Statisticians, and research scientists who hold contrarian views regarding the Corona virus, the forms of treatment, and the management of the virus. Shouldn’t input also have added to a solution?

This single viewpoint has resulted in what I only see as a power grab by many elected officials and bureaucrats. They’ve subjected us to massive levels of onerous regulations and restrictions; bypassing the fact that we in our nation do have due process protections. That these restrictions must be put in place by the least restrictive and most narrowly tailored means. I’ve now been watching as the courts are beginning to react to lawsuits dealing with this. However, so much damage has been done – and much of the damage was not for the betterment of the population at large. Are you listening Governor DeWine?

Fini – Last evening the 2020 Baseball season started here in the ‘Nati, sans much of anything other than kneeling players. Without digging into the weeds, I’m just mentioning that I’ve decided to skip involvement with Major League sports. Marcia claims that for me that’s like giving up chocolate covered grasshoppers for Lent.

Yesterday 109 years ago (in 1911), the American historian Hiram Bingham discovered Machu Picchu in Peru. Originally believed to be a ‘lost’ Incan city, the prevailing opinion has changed, today it’s that Machu Picchu was not a city in the classical sense of the word but served as an imperial estate, a religious refuge, or a secret ceremonial city. Eighteen years ago it was one of my life’s highlights when I visited the site — SPECTACULAR!

This week the lawsuit filed by the Covington Catholic School student Nick Sandmann against the Washington Post was settled. Sandmann was attending a March for Life march in Washington DC. (2019). The suit was as a result of defamation, in articles printed by the WP. This was the second settlement (CNN was the first) out of 8 such lawsuits filed – NBC, ABC News, CBS News, The New York Times, Rolling Stone and Gannett are still being argued. It’s amazing that all these media entities not only saw fit to hastily print misinformation but then continued to repeat and repeat – as the NYT front page reads; “All the News Fit to Print”. Yah, right!

And for everyone complaining when meal service is canceled on a flight. Remember that today in 1909 French aviator Louis Bleriot became the first man to fly across the English Channel in an airplane – around 22-miles.

Make it great week, keep the peace, stay safe, and be healthy! All Lives Matter.

Dirk