Always prepared

By now we are well acquainted with "Doomsday Preppers" the show that aired ten years ago and made a bunch of people infamous, ruined a bunch of their lives, and made them all seem nutty as a fruitcake.  Now that ten years have passed, has anyone learned anything?  Mostly no.  Why not?  Because the show made them look nuttier than a fruitcake, duh.

Did we learn anything last year with the major supply chain issues and work stoppages because certain industries or certain workers were not essential?  One would hope we learned that "just in time deliveries" are really misnamed and should be called "almost late," but to quote Agent K from Men in Black "A person is smart, people are dumb panicky animals."  A great example of this was people rushing out last year to buy every roll of toilet tissue they could grab, and fighting over it!  The fear of "running out" during what was essentially reported as a respiratory event created a self fulfilling prophecy and the world did, indeed run out--a moment of silence for those who needed toilet tissue but could not get it.

Now here we are again but, this time we are facing the Mu variant.  A variant so varied that the current vaccine does not completely to stop it--or so I have read.  So what do we do?!  I can tell you one thing NOT to do, DON'T STORE THE CHARMIN!  Seriously ask yourself how much do you need for a month?  Two rolls a week? Four rolls?  Let's get freaky and say a family of four and six rolls a week, that's 24 rolls in a month.  Did you know Charmin and others come in 30 roll packs?  That's five weeks of cleansing your anal sphincters in one bundle!  So one unopened bundle in reserve pretty much covers your butt for a month.

 

Food, this is kind of tricky but here is an adage: "Store what you eat, eat what you store."  Now some people don't get this at first so let's break it down.

 

Store what you eat: does your family eat a lot of beans?  Then store beans.  Does your family never touch beans?  Then do not store beans!  Don't store what you and yours won't eat because when times are tough they still won't eat it.

 

Eat what you store: this applies to lot rotation.  A ten year old can of Spam may still be good but, had you been eating the oldest cans first that can would have been eaten years ago and the current can would only be weeks old.

 

Right now we are coming into the holidays and with current supply chain issues you may consider spreading out your buying of Samhain/Thanksgiving/Yule/Christmas/Ramadan/Hanukkah meal ingredients and or gifts rather than wait for the last minute and be disappointed.

 

Now I'm not advising you need years worth of food but a month is very doable for most people and typically sufficient--not sure where to start try Ready.gov  Preparing for pandemic lock-downs means vital services such as water, gas, electric, will continue to work.  However are you in hurricane, earthquake, or other natural disaster areas?  Consider having water, a means of cooking that is not your home stove/microwave/instant pot small cheap gas grills and camp stoves are amazing, versatile, and cheap...but don't forget the GAS!  Battery powered lanterns and flashlights are needed as well but remember they need batteries and they will eat them quickly.  Cell phones need charging too, many dollar type stores have battery bricks reasonable, just keep them charged because a dead battery doesn't help charge a dead battery.

 

Buying this stuff isn't that hard if you write a menu for the week, buy one meal twice and put it back--store what you eat.  One bigger item a month ($20 tailgate grill) and in a month you have four days worth of food set back.

 

The biggest advice I can offer if you are in an area where electric or gas disruptions can occur consider quick cooking versions of your favorite foods.  let's look at rice, it is easily the most common staple grain in the world, but it takes 20 minutes to cook once the water is boiling!  Now Minute rice: boil water, stir in, turn off heat, wait 5 mins, done--you just saved 15 minutes worth of gas.  The same goes for many "instant" versions of common grains.  Also prepacked canned food like Spaghetti o's can be eaten directly from the can in a pinch--not recommended but can be.  Canned meat needs little prep, little cooking, and no freezer space.  Canned beef or chicken can be added to Helper type meals too.  Oh and the all important coffee!  Instant is well, instant.  It will work in cold water in a pinch--an acquired taste--but most prefer hot water.  Can't stand instant?  Try a French Press; add grounds, pour in boiling water, wait, press, coffee.  Percolators have their place in history but when saving fuel is crucial the French Press saves 10 minutes worth of fuel and believe me those little gas bottles go fast!

 

Use your imagination, try things before you need them, use that stove and grill so when the time comes to need it you know how it works and aren't ruining your meals.

-Maura

Whatever awards

Okay, first credit for the picture is on the picture and yes I used it without asking.

Now let's take a look at this but from a different view point.

Ms. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or as we commonly know her AOC is staying on brand in this dress that is a point in her favor.

The style suits her figure

It is relatively modest compared to many others at the Gala.

Some like to attack AOC just to attack her and will use any reason to.

She is a pretty lady, and she is smarter than most of her detractors.

She is energetic enough to have made it to Congress the old fashioned way, unseating an established incumbent by walking the district and knocking on doors--how many of her detractors would be willing to do that?

Now somethings we do and do not know:

We know tickets to the Gala were $30,000 each!

We don't know if AOC actually paid to attend but chances are she was an invited guest to gain publicity and didn't pay anything.

 

UPDATE! We do know it was gratis.

We know the dress was created by Brother Vellies

We do not what the dress is worth--most gowns/dresses worn at these events are not owned by the wearer but loaned to them by the designer.

We know that Brother Vellies creates $1,000 plus hand bags so most likely for her this is cheap advertising--hey we are talking a lot about her work aren't we?

Galas, award shows, etc, are really designed for a few things:

Attention--and we give it to them.

Self promotion--why do you think they wear such weird things?  To drag the cameras away from others in attendance.

Branding

That's it.  We eat it up.  We talk about it.  We give them the attention they want.  We are to blame for this, not them.

As to Ms. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, she stayed on brand, she stayed classy, she got our attention, bravo and kudos to her she played us and we were sucked right in.  Remember me saying she's smart?  There is all the proof you need.

-Maura

Ballot Zombies

It is now September--eleven months have passed since the 2020 election cycle ended.  We are still up to our eyeballs in conspiracy theories and issues that don't pass the smell test.  Will we ever get past this?  Probably not.

Now several states and the Federal Government have been working on legislation to fix issues--some of those solutions are still looking for a problem by the way.  But here's the rub, I have yet to see the most glaringly obvious point addressed and that is deceased voters still voting!

 

Under current conditions when your loved--or hated--one passes YOU are responsible for telling the County Elections Office of their death and provide proof; the Coroner's office is not obligated to tell the Elections office!  We all know the memes of a postal truck sitting at a cemetery delivering mail in ballots, it doesn't work that way.  Sometimes it is the decedent's family filling out one last vote for Mom/Dad because Mom/Dad just "would have wanted that person out" still illegal but it happens--these are one offs.

 

Usually we see sensational headlines via social media "10,000 dead people voted in Michigan!" No joke that was the claim (a good breakdown can be found here)  The issue with claims like this are false positives.  Much like going to the doctor and "hey your blood sugar is 209, you have diabetes," now two simple follow ups solve the issue, "what have you eaten today?" "Candy bar and pop." "Let's do a Hemoglobin A1c test just to be sure.  First issue in the sensational headline, how common is the decedent's name?  Was it John Johnson or Julio Capricorn?  I can guarantee you will find a plethora of John Johnsons all born on the same day and in similar places but not Julio.  So where did those commonly named people pass away?  If the answers were "not in Michigan" then those get taken off the list.  What remains is a much shorter list that is easy to verify with a simple knock at the door.

 

But Maura, what about those people who are registered to vacant lots?

 

Now we get into the nitty gritty of it.  Databases can be absolutely amazing tools--the speed at which they can compare and contrast vast amounts of data is mind boggling; sadly most databases are not used by highly trained data analysis technicians but by Alice who has a certificate in accounting--sorry for tossing you under the bus Alice--and got handed the job when Tim left to pursue his lifelong dream.  The point is a simple "match addresses" command can instantly show which addresses have multiple people at it.  Sometimes this is understandable, extended family living together, or an eight family flat are good examples.  Now as noted databases are amazing tools but the elections database of registered voters are completely separate from other county databases and typically can not connect.  So the assessor's empty lot/abandoned/condemned property database is not accessible to the elections department.  Similarly the Coroner's database is not available.  See where issues begin to arise?

 

Now, absentee ballots can not be delivered to empty property by Federal law as there is no mail receptacle.  Similarly you can not drop ship ballots to a single address--want proof ask an Indian on a Reservation where mail delivery only goes as far as the Reservation office and you have to trek in and get it yourself.

 

The first answer needed is simple a daily e-mail from the Coroner's office to the Elections department, nice and simple with every positive identifier needed--they already do this for Social Security--"these are yesterday's decedents" Alice--remember poor Alice?--can then check and delete the names from the voter rolls.  Boom! One issue solved!  Wouldn't need more than a paragraph of legislation and all parties should be able to agree on it.  Total cost?  Good question, I guess that depends on where you are--Washington County MO and Los Angeles County CA are exponentially different--and how busy is Alice?

 

The next issue is decedent's already there, this is partly accounted for in Federal law, if you have not voted in two consecutive Federal election cycles your name and information can be purged.

 

Ah, ha!  We have an issue "if you haven't," but what about those stories of people who were born in 1904 and have never missed an election?  Well some could still be alive, that's only 117 years ago after all, but we could add a paragraph to that legislation that registered voters who have exceeded the average life expectancy prior to requiring the Coroner communicate be physically verified--more work for Alice.  Up side this is a one time expenditure of resources but it is tedious and time consuming--Alice will need a temporary assistant or intern.

 

To me this is a glaring issue that for some reason has just been run right past and is glaringly obvious and simple to correct.

 

-Maura

The longest war...really?

Afghanistan--the war that shouldn't have.

United States involvement began October 7, 2001 and active duty troops remained until August 30, 2021 so 19 years, 10 months, 3 weeks, 2 days, too long.

Should we have been there?  Not for the reasons we as a nation were given from the administration at the time via our own media.

Should we have stayed out?  Maybe not, but did the regular Afghan people ask us to save them?  I don't know.

What can I say about it?  At best the Taliban are not very nice, and the few friends I have that understand what it is like there say they are not sticking to the teachings as they know them.

Was our retreat done well?  No, it was F.U.B.A.R.--this is a military term I picked up from my Special Forces father who served in Vietnam.

Sobering numbers Via the Associated Press

American service members killed in Afghanistan through April: 2,448.

U.S. contractors: 3,846.

Afghan national military and police: 66,000.

Other allied service members, including from other NATO member states: 1,144.

Afghan civilians: 47,245.

Taliban and other opposition fighters: 51,191.

Aid workers: 444.

Journalists: 72.

 

Now we are out of our longest armed conflict...not so fast!

People seem to forget Korea exists.  You know that place where all the really cool electronics and girl bands come from?  Remember they have that disowned Northern half too, you know the one with ballistic missiles that could reach California and nuclear payloads for those missiles and the leader that only former President Trump has spoken to directly?  Sounding familiar yet?

Well it turns out we entered the conflict between South Korea and North Korea on June 25, 1950 and it has never officially ended!  We still have troops watching "no man's land."  We are still actively prepared for shots to begin firing again.  We are still on alert for any shenanigans from the other side just as they are from us.  The hot war ended with an armistice signed on July 27, 1953, however there has never been an official declaration of peace between the two Koreas.

So we have been (as of this posting) at war with North Korea for 71 years, 2 months, 11 days

Now we don't have the same kind of breakdown for Korea as we do for Afghanistan but here is what I could find from Defense Casualty Analysis System

American deaths    26,073

Captured & declared dead    2,849

Total hostile deaths    33,739

Missing & presumed dead    8

Other deaths    2,827

Total non-hostile deaths (civilians)    2,835

The hot war lasted 3 years, 1 month, 3 days, and remember we almost nuked North Korea. Source

Now I am not trying to belittle the lives, limbs, and minds, lost in Afghanistan but don't let your learning come from "If it bleeds it leads" mainstream media.

Oh and Vietnam was from November 1, 1955 to April 30, 1975 or 19 years, 5 months, 4 weeks and 1 day

 Vietnamese death toll: 966,000–3,010,000 Combatants and civilian

 U.S. & Allies death toll: 282,000 From

These numbers do not account for all the disabled of mind and body on all sides from any conflict listed.

-Maura