100 Day Patriots

Posted on by Thor

President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday December 3, 2020 said he plans to ask the nation to wear masks for his first 100 days in office. He also said he’ll issue a standing order mandating masks in certain places. “Just 100 days to mask. Not forever — 100 days,” Mr. Biden said. “I think we’ll see a significant reduction if that occurs with vaccinations and masking, to drive down the numbers considerably.”

In researching my great grandfather Augustus Arthur Thorspecken, I found that he registered for the WWI draft  in June of 1917. I then found a newspaper clipping that showed that he was on leave from Camp Funston in January of 1918. Camp Funston in Kansas was the place where the first cases of Spanish flu first appeared and within a few weeks 1100 were sick. Since army training was 6 weeks in length, Augustus was likely at ground zero for the start of the Spanish Flu before he was shipped over to France. Because of the war, the flu spread to 24 of 36 U.S. army bases and then to Europe. The tight quarters of the camps were a perfect incubator to ignite the spread of the disease that resulted in an estimated  50 million deaths worldwide with about 675,000 deaths in the United States. My grandfather survived the pandemic and the war only to die of pneumonia 25 years later at the start of WWII.

Because there was a war going on, politicians on both sides of the Atlantic downplayed the spread of the virus. They did not want to appear weak. The first wave of the virus was like a tsunami that initially pulls water away from the shore, only to return in a towering, second wave. As the influenza spread across America, public health officials, determined to keep morale up, began to lie. U.S. Surgeon General Rupert Blue said, “There is no cause for alarm if precautions are observed.” As the disease accelerated newspapers assured readers that influenza posed no danger.

People knew that this was no common flu. The numbers were too staggering. There were not enough coffins for the dead. Mass graves had to be dug. They could not trust what politicians said. Society began to disintegrate. In 1918, without leadership, without the truth, trust evaporated. And people could only look after themselves. The most important lesson from 1918 is that politicians need to to tell the truth. This is a lesson that was not learned by the 2020 POTUS who lost. Joe Biden wants to start working to mitigate the damage already done with the simple request to wear a mask. Patriots who care about fellow Americans will pitch in.

F#ck Christmas Stuff

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In July of 2018, former top aide Stephanie Winston Wolkoff secretly taped a conversation with first lady, Melania Trump that included several profanity-laced comments including: “”I’m working … my ass off on the Christmas stuff, that you know, who gives a fuck about the Christmas stuff and decorations? But I need to do it, right?””

Every Christmas Melania offers her apocalyptic vision of the holidays. In 2017 she chose to line the halls with F#cking dead white branches. In 2018 she decorated Christmas trees soaked in bright red cows blood. In 2019 she sucked any color out of the decorations and limited herself to pure white supremacy. The 2020 decorations come as her husband stamps his tiny feet and yells fraud. Golden tones permeate the halls as several thousand Americans die every day.

The White House is hosting 20 mask less Christmas parties in 2020 despite warnings from Top health officials. A White House official said they’re “providing the safest environment possible” but many attendees at a holiday party on Tuesday November 2, 2020 did not wear masks. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany shrugged off the concerns, saying “If you can loot businesses, burn down buildings, engage in protests, you can also go to a Christmas party.” This is very strange reasoning for putting guests lives at stake. Never take responsibility and deflect. The White House remains one of Americas top super spreader hot spots. It is the American way for 49 more days until Joe Biden in inaugurated.

A White House coronavirus task force report distributed to states earlier this week  warned “the COVID risk to all Americans is at a historic high.

Every Minute

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The U.S. Centers of Disease Control (CDC) reported that the United States is now averaging one COVID-19 related death every minute. The pandemic is increasing in severity as we head into the winter months.

The virus has causes 69,000 deaths in nursing homes as of November 15, 2020. The latest COVID-19 pandemic death toll for the U.S. stands at 267,302, with 1,251 new deaths being reported in the 24 hours leading up to Tuesday, December 1, 2020.

Hospitals in the Midwest are being overrun by  the increasing demand. COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising amid shortages of nurses and other health care workers, the situation in some places is becoming severe. If things don’t change, hospitals will have to ration care by turning patients away. COVID-19 deaths, have climbed more than 40% over the past two weeks and set records last week in places like Wisconsin. The Dakotas and Wyoming had the country’s highest infection rates last week, but Iowa and Wisconsin weren’t far behind, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

There is light at the end of the tunnel with vaccines becoming available. But the three of four month until those vaccines can be distributed to people, will be the darkest months of this pandemic. “We have not even come close to the peak and, as such, our hospitals are now being overrun,” said Dr. Michael Osterholm of Biden’s  coronavirus advisory board. The United States is headed for a COVID Hell.

Zombie Mink

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17 million mink were killed in Denmark in November after COVID-19 spread from mink farmers to the mink they were raising and then a mutated strain of the virus passed back to humans.

The Denmark Food and Agriculture Minister Morgens Jensen resigned when it was decided that the order to kill the animals was illegal. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen visited a mink farm after the mass killing.

Mass graves were dug at a military area in western Denmark for the 17 million mink and they were buried under six feet of dirt. Hundreds of bloated mink have started rising from the grave. It is believed that the CO2 gas used to kill the animals caused the decomposing bodies to rise to the surface. The local media has started referring to them as zombie mink.

Jensen’s replacement, Rasmus Prehn, said Friday November 28, 2020 that he supported the idea of digging up the animals and incinerating them. He said he had asked the environmental protection agency look into whether it could be done. Parliament was to be briefed on the issue on Monday November 30, 2020.

The American Mink Farming industry as been on high alert since the mass killings in Denmark. Thousands of mink have died at fur farms in Utah (8,000) and Wisconsin (2,000) after a series of COVID-19 outbreaks. In Oregon, least 10 minks and an undisclosed number of human farm workers tested positive for the COVID-19, the U.S. Agriculture Department confirmed Friday November 27, 2020. The infected animals were ordered isolated, so far sparing them from the grim fate of the Denmark mink. So far, no mutation has been detected in U.S. minks. The United States produces roughly 3 million mink pelts a year compared to Denmark’s 17 million. There are about 275 mink farms spread among 23 states; to date, 16 mink farms have had COVID-19 outbreaks in Utah, Wisconsin, Michigan and Oregon, according to figures provided to The Post by the USDA. The number of farm workers infected from the outbreaks is being withheld  by the Department of Agriculture, citing privacy concerns. Animal and environmental advocates, believe the privacy concerns are a smokescreen to protect thee American mink industry. The lack of transparency from the mink farming industry now poses a public health risk.

Holiday Travel

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Holiday travel this year is like holding a hot air balloon Festival during a tornado. This is 2020 so a firenado seemed more appropriate.

There are 37 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The constant refrain of holiday carols and commercialization leads to a desire for human companionship. Millions of Americans ignored warnings from health experts and decided to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday. The CDC has said that small home gatherings are the primary source of spread of the COVID-19 virus.in a recent study it was found that the virus was spread 65% of the time at small gatherings. The coming weeks will be difficult, especially since so many traveled over the holiday and held in-person dinners indoors.

Anthony Fauci, the nation’s foremost authority on infectious diseases, and Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned about the potential for a spike in infections stemming from holiday parties, even if they’re small and only among relatives.

Nearly 3 million air travelers passed through security checkpoints on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday before Thanksgiving. Sunday was the single-busiest day at airport checkpoints since March. The Thanksgiving travel damage is done. It will take 7 to 10 days for people to discover if they have been infected. Dr. Anthony Fauci described what the United States will experience in the first weeks of December as “A surge upon a surge.”

Fauci said the arrival of vaccines offers a “light at the end of the tunnel.”However we all have to stay vigilant to help slow the spread of the virus until that vaccines can be distributed. Health care workers will likely be among the first to get the vaccine, with the first vaccinations happening before the end of December, followed by many more in January, February and March, he said.

In the mean time do not let your guard down leading up to Christmas. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said to think of COVID like the Grinch. If you practice social distancing, wear a mask in public and wash your hands often we can all celebrate the holidays safely. In many places, hospitals are being overwhelmed by rising case loads. More than 20 percent of U.S. hospitals expect critical staff shortages in the coming week, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Beds can be built but you still need enough doctors to handle the rise in cases. we are fast approaching 100,000 people who are hospitalized for COVID-19. Now the Midwest, Great Plains, and Mountain West are the new hot spots, but some former hot spots are warming back up as well, with cases and hospitalizations surging again. Florida which is third in terms of the number of deaths from COVID-19 is again becoming a hot spot. “Thanksgiving may be the beginning of a dark holiday season as the surge in coronavirus cases is likely to persist, or even get worse, through December, January and February.” said Dr. Fauci.

Kansas Surge

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A Kansas mask requirement went into effect July 3, 2020 as cases began rising across the Midwest. However 81 counties opted out of the mandate, as permitted by state law. The other 24 counties — which account for the majority of the state’s population — chose to require that masks be worn in public places.

The CDC and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment analyzed trends in county-level cases before the mandate went into effect and two months afterward. Though rates were considerably higher in the 24 counties that required masks, over the two-month study period they brought the growth of cases under control and even reduced them. The counties that didn’t require masks continued to see their cases increase.

On average, the counties that required masks saw a 6% reduction in cases (calculated as a seven-day rolling average of new daily cases per capita). In contrast, the counties that opted out saw a 100% increase.  Along with other mitigation strategies including physical distancing and hand washing, “the decrease in cases among mandated counties and the continued increase in cases in non mandated counties adds to the evidence supporting the importance of wearing masks,” the CDC says. The conclusion is simple. Wearing face masks in public spaces reduces the spread of COVID-19.

Kansas hospitals are seeking the help of nearby states to help handle the surge of patients being admitted to hospitals. However the entire Midwest is struggling under the immense surge in cases.

Dr. Birx said that Americans who gathered for Thanksgiving should assume they’re infected and get tested. People who traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday are likely to cause a spike in cases in the next two weeks. If you visited family outside your home, you should consider yourself as possibly infected and should get a COVID-19 test.

Massive Mask-less Wedding

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An ordinance in New York allows gatherings of up to 50 people. In defiance of that ordinance, thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews packed into Yetev Lev D’Satmar synagogue in Brooklyn for a secret wedding. The building has a maximum capacity of 7,000 people and this event was packed shouder to shoulder with standing room only in the aisles.

Authorities learned about the secret wedding over the weekend and fined its organizers $15,000. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo condemned the event on Sunday as a “blatant disregard of the law” and called it “disrespectful to the people of New York.” Officials have issued strict limits on public gatherings in New York City’s boroughs and across the rest of the state. However, large parties have been cropping up on a near-daily basis, according to the New York City Sheriff’s Office.

A much smaller wedding in Maine had 55 guests. Guests reportedly did not wear masks, nor observe physical distancing rules. That wedding resulted in half the guests contracting COVID-19 with that then spreading to 177 people and killing 7. One guest who became sick visited a parent who worked at a retirement home. That resulted in an outbreak of 38 cases among staff and residents at the long-term care facility, over 100 miles away from the wedding. Six residents died at that facility.

In NYC the club scene went underground after the start of the pandemic. Those in the know can find crowded gatherings at warehouses, lofts, basements, boats, parks and rooftops. It is like the return of the prohibition ere only today people want to get drunk and deathly sick. Over Halloween weekend two parties were shit down by police, one with 400 people in Brooklyn and the other with 550 in the Bronx. Event organizers fail to understand or simply ignore the dangers of large indoor gatherings. Two bit event organizers see this as an opportunity to profit off the pandemic.

Beach Day

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The day before Thanksgiving, Pam and I decided we wanted to get away for a beach day with the dogs. Pam researched and found  a beach near Melbourne that allows dogs. The drive to the beach as fairly uneventful though Donkey kept blocking my view out the back window.

The beach had its own parking lot long with a bathroom and the lot was almost full with just a few parking spots left. Rather than carry the umbrella and towels out we decided to walk out to the beach with the dogs thinking we might have to turn around if it was too crowded.

We both wore masks the entire time and discovered that no one else on the beach wore masks. The beach was crowded but we decided to try and find an isolated spot. My comfort level included at least 30 feet of space or 5 times my height removed from others. That amount of space was hard to find. A sign staked out the limits for the dog beach and all said, maybe 100 yards were allowed for dogs. It was also high tide which meant people and dogs were crushed together. More than half the people on the beach also didn’t have dogs which was frustrating because they could spread out to the vast stretched of beach that were deserted on either side of this crowded mess.

The breeze was coming off the ocean so my other thought is that we should find a spot with no one camped out directly in front of us. We found one spot back by the dunes that was properly isolated. As I held the dogs, Pam started setting up the umbrella. As she was doing that a woman with her dog plopped down a few feet directly in front of us. Pam picked up stakes and we moved about 30 feet south to another spot.

We relaxed for a bit and then took the dogs out to the surf on their leashes. Our masks stayed on, we were no going to swim ourselves, we just let the dogs pay in the surf. Sprout was caught off guard by one wave, but swam back to shore like a pro. Donkey, a puppy, had never been to the beach and she had a blast. We played out in the surf twice. One lady lost her flip flop in the surf and we recovered it for her. On the way back to our umbrella that same lady lost her French Bull Dog and we had to catch it. All three dogs on leashed got tangled up. It would have been funny otherwise, but this lady was not wearing her mask. I worked hard to pull back from the chaos as dogs barked and tugged in all directions. When we got back to the umbrella two college girls had plopped down a few feet from us. We decided to call it a day rather than constantly having to pick up and move. The congested strip of beach kept getting more crowded.

We actually did spot one other responsible dog owner who wore a mask as she walked her pup. Several mask less children flew kites.

Financial Advisor

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I went to a presentation by  a Raymond James financial advisor at a local library in the four years between my separation and finally getting a divorce. His presentation was about gaining control of finances during the divorce.

I asked him to sit in on the final mediation since my lawyer was not offering much advice. In that mediation he cut through the numbers and boiled it down to simple straight forward facts.

After all was said and done, he now helps me in keeping track of those finances through these rough times.

Since the divorce work, keeps coming into my studio despite the pandemic. In the four years of waiting for the divorce to finalize, I learned how to hunker down to keep expenses low. Now that the pandemic has kicked in that war mentality of hunkering down continues.

Rockefeller

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Every year a large Christmas tree is cut down in Upstate New York and trucked down to Rockefeller Center to be installed behind the ice rink. This year, a 75-foot Norway spruce from was felled in Oneonta, in upstate New York and it made the 170 mile trip down to NYC.

A tiny owl was rescued from the branches of the tree in NYC, by a worker who helped transport and secure the tree and his wife called the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center.

At the Center the tiny adult Saw-whet owl owl  was  swaddled in a wool blanket and named Rockefeller or Rocky for short.

When the owl was found, she hadn’t eaten or drunk in three days, but began to recover after getting fluids and food.

The center said a return trip to Oneonta would likely be too traumatic to the bird, so it planned to release it on facility grounds in the upstate town of Saugerties.

Rocky was released Monday November 23, 2020 at dusk by avian veterinarians and owl experts. “Rocky’s release was a success!” the center said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “She is a tough little bird and we’re happy to see her back in her natural habitat.”