Question

How many children 17 or younger have died of coronavirus in our most populous state, California?

For answer, scroll down please ...



















One ... see: California Department of Public Health

STAND UP FOR AMERICA

Children

An NBA spectacle designed to give China’s President Xi goosebumps ...



STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Another Fable

Bernie Sanders

Pied Piper of Burlington

Mind your children carefully, kind readers ...

Living Life

Children (and grandchildren) are the Jalapeño peppers in the Western omelets of life. — Anon.

Headlines

FEC dismisses self-enrichment complaint against Trump campaign

China announces retaliatory tariffs against $34 billion worth of U.S. goods, including agricultural products

Endogan bans Uber: 'That business is finished' ...

Mitch McConnell:Why can't the Mueller investigation finally wrap up?

White House, in traversal, endorses Dreamer legislation

Tesla short sellers have been getting creamed, but they're betting against Elon Musk anyway

Canadians boycott American products, cancel vacations ...

Kentucky man sentenced to 30 days in jail for attacking Rand Paul

Trump: I want 'my people' to 'sit up at attention' like in North Korea

About 2,000 immigrant minors separated from their families under Trump's 'zero-tolerance' policy

Major League Baseball sees sharp drop in attendance ...

Berkeley declares 'climate emergency worse than WW2

Wrinkles

Qualcomm announced today that it was acquiring NXP Semiconductor for $38 billion ... based upon its expectations of the growth of autonomous car technology. And many other companies are crowding into this end-user field, Tesla, Google, Bosch, etc. The expectations for the future of driverless cars, trucks, buses are dramatic and, I think, frothy. I have outlined my Luddite concerns in the past ... see: More on Driverless Cars, Google Strudle and Boiloing the Ocean.

I, personally, am not ready anytime soon to surrender my steering wheel and control pedals for many reasons. I have thought some more on this issue and have come up with a few more possibly serious wrinkles for the AI algorithms controlling driverless cars to deal with. Here are just a few more:

- Hand or spoken directions from flag men, crossing guards or policemen during various street or road restrictions

- What about drive-thru fast food and car washes .. or service stations?

- Any noises requiring a driver response -- honking horns, screeching tires, shouts, sirens, etc.

- Traffic merging situation where the gestures of the other driver(s) determine your actions

- Maneuvering around or through live traffic accident situations

- Dealing with car chase situations ... of which every one will be unique

- Driving between countries were the rules of the road and signage are different

- Dealing with extremely aggressive other drivers who might be performing foolish or hostile actions

- Anticipating the possible rash actions of children, mentally-ill people, motorcycles, protesters, etc.

- Dealing with weather extremes -- black ice, pea-soup fog, very high winds, floods, etc.

- Driving adjustments necessary for unique events -- funerals, road races, "walks for ...", etc.


There are likely many more. Thus, I think I'll be the last in line for this technology.

Compare and Contrast

The presumptive candidates for president from both parties:

                                        Donald Trump          Hellery Clinton
Age                                          70                                68

Birthplace.                             NYC                          Chicago

Alcohol?                          Teetotaler                     Wine Lover

Immigration View           A Big Wall                 Open Borders

Colleges                     Fordham and UPenn   Wellesley and Yale

Legal Jeopardy                     Civil                          Criminal

Mideast Leanings                 Israel                         Palestine

Sexual Preference                Female                        Female

Net Worth.                           $5-$10 B.                Less than $1B

Number of Spouses                   3                                  1

Number of Children                   5                                  1

Political Position.                 Center Right                Far Left

Artificial Invagination

We are obviously in a race to embrace any and all possible hook-ups as a tribute to our worship of diversity. You know the drill ... same sex, multiple partners, siblings, transgenders, children, animals ... and now robots are or should eventually be considered to be valid candidates for holy matrimony ... see: Slate Story. Here we are not talking about blow-up bed mates ... but full service A.I. spouses capable of all the Kama Sutra positions (reread this blog's title).

When this does eventually happen ... and I' m sure it will ... will all the complications of married life also follow ... divorces, spousal batteries, trial separations, child custody battles, etc.? Speaking of children, I can see robot husbands producing issue with female humans, but will female automaton spouses also be full-functioning reproductive partners?

At that point in time, I can imagine that  the only act that might be considered illegal and a crime against nature would be the marriage of two robots.

Death Trains

One has to ask oneself how is it that thousands of children can hop on top of freight trains out of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador and then travel at least a thousands miles across Mexico to get to the southern border of the United States ... then to be welcomed by the Obama administration ... so that they can be used as pawns in the illegal-immigrant amnesty battle (Dream Act) in Congress ... see: Breitbart Story? And I have many other questions:

- What has been the impetus for this mass immigration ... has the United States government instigated, in any way, this dangerous trek? If so, exactly how?

- How many children have died or been injured on these Death Trains?

- Is this the price in human suffering that Obama is willing to pay to get his legislative way?

- Mexico has long been known as being very tough on people crossing its own southern border ... what has now changed this rigorous enforcement stance?

- Can't Mexico see all these children riding on top of these freight trains ... and now choose to look the other way?

- If so, why? And has the U.S. played a part in this change of this Mexican enforcement attitude?

- How do those children survive this arduous journey? Who gives them food, clothing, shelter, money and health care?

- Why are the media and those from Congress being excluded from interviewing these children ... what is there to hide?

- Exactly what are the statistics associated with this mass immigration? Exactly how many? Where are their parents? What is this all costing U.S taxpayers? Are any of these children being sent back? Exactly where are they being settled?

- Are there any real health epidemic threats arising out of all this mass unscreened immigration?

I fully expect that these questions will be answered sometime in the next few centuries ...

Orchestration

To me this is all too suspicious. The influx of Central-American children crossing illegally into the United States has doubled since last year causing a humanitarian crisis in our southwest… see: Financial Times Story. This tidal wave of minors will cost American taxpayers over two billion dollars and, because they are “children,” put more media pressure on Congress to do something about immigration reform.

How convenient … just when Senator Upchuck Schumer is putting on a full court press to pass his immigration-reform legislation before August.

I can not imagine that this is an accident … this influx of so many unaccompanied children who have traveled thousands of miles through Mexico and found their way into our country. This takes money and planning. And apparently the Obama administration is pulling out all stops to compound this problem by enlisting lawyers to help them stay in this country … see: New York Times Story.

This smells to me of an orchestrated attempt to coerce opponents of the “Dream Act” into submission ... using these children as all-suffering pawns. One might even call it a shakedown.

If it can be determined that the Obama-istas are in anyway behind the funding and logistics of this tidal wave of young illegal immigrants, then, once again, they are overtly working against the established laws passed by Congress. If this would not be subversive anarchy, then we need better words for it.

Afterward: A Texas judge has said that "the government has simply chosen not to enforce the United States border security laws" ... see: CBS Story.

The Liberal Vortex

You sense that something is seriously wrong … most things seem to be out of sorts. You are worried about having enough money to pay your bills, whether your job is secure, how to prepare this year’s tax returns, more global warming, the meagerness of your life savings, what happens if you get seriously sick, and for the safety of your neighborhood. The only thing that relieves this angst is when you watch the nightly news and see President Obama assuring you … against a backdrop of nodding and applauding Americans … that he has your back. He sounds so confident.  He will crush those rascally Republicans and make sure that all of your worries are dealt with by his folks.

Suddenly all your troubles seem far away as you tuck in for the night … until you see the news the next morning and things have gotten worse. The United States is losing on the world stage and many countries are laughing at us. The economy sucks and our national debt seems to be skyrocketing … people are dropping out of the workforce in droves … and no one is proposing a serious cure. Random violence seems to be spreading on our streets and many of our cities are facing bankruptcy. So you fret and sweat through another day … waiting for your President to reassure you on nightly TV that things are getting better. His dulcet tones do it once again as he proposes two new government programs to fix things ... for just a small increase in taxes.  And you feel better anew.

This scenario is repeated daily for five years and, by now, you have gotten use to these mood swings.  In fact you have learned to enjoy them … and love that man who brings up your disposition every day. Finally, in resignation, you turn to the government to solve all your problems … to provide your housing … to feed your children … to entertain you … to give you healthcare and birth control … to insure your retirement … and to satisfy all your other wants.  But be careful … for you have been sucked into the Liberal vortex … and there is no escape. You have sold your soul and you must worship those who now nurture you.

Small price to pay.

The Christmas-Tree Angel

This is a story about how an angel came to be traditionally on top of a Christmas tree.

It seems that many years ago Santa came down with a serious case of the croup a few weeks before Christmas and Mrs. Claus had to minister to his illness.  She was up and down the steps all day with hot chicken soup, orange juice, and NyQuil.

Then two weeks before Christmas Santa's elves went on strike demanding time-and-a-half pay for weekend and evening work.  So Mrs. Claus, when she was not up and down the stairs with the hot soup, was out in the workshop putting the finishing touches on all the children's toys.

Then a week before Christmas Santa’s reindeer all got the trots.  So Mrs. Claus, when she was not up and down the stairs with the hot soup and out in the workshop putting the finishing touches on all the toys, was in the stable changing the reindeer's bedding straw and giving them Kaopectate.

Finally Christmas Eve came and Santa was up on wobbly legs, the elves had packed up the toys under binding arbitration, and the reindeer were sufficiently recovered to perform their annual flight.  Santa’s sleigh was piled high with his goodies for all the children of the world.  Santa got into his sleigh, gave his team a whistle, and they were off at last.

Mrs. Claus went back into the house and, with a deep sigh, sank into Santa’s big easy chair by the roaring fire.  Just then there came a tiny knock at the front door.  Grumpily, Mrs. Claus left her soft chair to go see what new trouble had befallen her.  When she opened the door, there was standing the most beautiful little angel holding a lovely Christmas tree she had brought for the Claus’s.

She sweetly said to the scowling Mrs. Claus, “I have brought you your Christmas tree.  Where would you like me to put it?”

Giving Thanks

This Thursday's trenchermen (trencherpersons?) would never sit still at our Thanksgiving table for me to enumerate all the things I am thankful for at this difficult time in our history ... so I will burden you, poor reader, with my list:

- a populous awakening in this country to many of the things that seem seriously awry ... as demonstrated by the Tea Party and, yes, even in their perversity, by the Occupiers

- all my beautiful grandchildren ... and the hope that I have for their bright and healthy futures (much of which I will probably never witness)

- all my children and their spouses who have produced these wonderful grandchildren and who are so carefully molding their lives within a creative and moral  template

- my wife, Jeanette, who has been such a great mother, grandmother, and life partner.  She has tirelessly toiled to create for me a wonderful home and make me a better person than I otherwise would have been

- the legacy that previous generations of Americans have left to us (in particular those who have given their lives) so that we can experience our national uniqueness and the best standard of living in history

- those (very) few politicians who had put their country ahead of their personal interests ... Ronald Reagan and Harry Truman, in particular, come to mind

- a leftover turkey sandwich bulging with stuffing, cranberry sauce, and lots of Hellmann's mayonnaise