We have to protect the forest economy!

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Joe Biden based his entire 2020 presidential campaign on the promise he would solve COVID by trusting “the science”. That was all lip service. 2021 began with the hope that miraculous vaccines developed under the previous administration, would end the pandemic. Vaccines alone will not end the pandemic and that is something Biden does not understand.

President Joe Biden has been infected by COVID twice. He was fully vaccinated and got they best medical treatment possible. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stunned reporters on July 21 2021 when she brushed off an inquiry about how President Biden caught COVID-19, saying: “I don’t think that matters.” This is an example of how the administration gaslights and downplays the virus.

Since Biden’s inauguration on January 20, 2021, over 717,354 Americans have died from COVID-19. That is as of February 22, 2023 according to the CDC data tracker. Since about 500 people are dying every week we can assume that number is more like 718,354 today. According to Our World in data, 806,439 Americans died while Donald Trump was president, so he still leads in his ability to kill his voters.

Biden said, “If you’re vaccinated, you’re not going to be hospitalized, you’re not going to be in the ICU unit and you’re not going to die.” This is simply not true. Though vaccines reduce the likelihood of infection, serious illness and death, they are not a guarantee. Breakthrough infections are common and vaccinated individuals are dying more often than unvaccinated individuals. In August of 2022 vaccinated individuals accounted for 58% of COVID deaths.

Biden said, “I sometimes underestimate it (COVID), because I stopped thinking about it, but I’m sure you don’t: we lost 1 – over 1 million people in several years to COVID.” His policy clearly has been to ignore the ongoing pandemic and claim it is “over” despite over 500 deaths a week. This is the mindset of a fascist who does not value life. I voted for him and had high hopes but he has dropped the ball and chosen ignorance and death.

Biden intends to end the COVID public health emergency on May 11, 2023. The public health emergency should only end when the ventilation, air disinfection, N95 masking, and an updated variant-proof infection-stopping vaccine are available to everyone around the world!

SS “Lost” Texts

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The US Secret Service (SS) erased text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021, shortly after they were requested by oversight officials investigating the agency’s response to the US Capitol riot, according to a letter given to the House select committee investigating the insurrection and first obtained by CNN.

The National Archives and Records Administration is investigating the “alleged unauthorized deletion” of a large cache of text messages sent by Secret Service officials in the days surrounding the attack. There are only two explanations for the deletions, one is stupidity and the other is malicious intent to hide evidence.

The Department of Homeland Security inspector general, who is charged with overseeing the Secret Service, has criticized the agency’s handling of the matter and said some of the messages were deleted after he requested them in February 2021.

The SS ushered then-Vice President Mike Pence to a secure loading dock beneath Capitol grounds while the Jan. 6 attack was underway. Pence aides have described efforts by his detail to get Pence to leave the Capitol in his motorcade, which Pence refused to do, contending that he wanted to remain in the Capitol until the counting of electoral votes was complete. The vice president’s motorcade retreating from the insurrection would have been seen world wide as a symbol of defeat. Was the SS complicit in wanting to achieve that defeat?

The Homeland Security Department’s watchdog has opened an investigation into the loss of Secret Service text messages. The January 6 committee is seeking missing text messages from 24 Secret Service employees related to Jan. 5 and the day of the Capitol attack. The committee has subpoenaed the texts for clues to what happened that day, including reports of then-President Donald Trump being blocked by agents from accompanying his supporters to the Capitol.

Senator Gary Peters, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, called the allegations “concerning” in a statement August 11, 2022. “We need to get to the bottom of whether the Secret Service destroyed federal records or the Department of Homeland Security obstructed oversight. The DHS Inspector General needs these records to do its independent oversight and the public deserves to have a full picture of what occurred on January 6th,” the Michigan Democrat said.

Oldenburg

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Claes Oldenburg, best known for sculpting everyday objects like spoons and bowling pins into monumental public sculptures that loom large as buildings. Oldenburg died July 18, 2022 at the age of 93 from complications from a fall. He once proposed replacing the Washington Monument near the Capitol building with a huge pair of scissors.

During the Civil War, on July 11–12, 1864, Confederate General Jubal A. Early launched an attack on Fort Stevens, in what is now Northwest Washington, DC. Union reinforcements arrived in the nick of time to save D.C. from Confederate invasion.

On January 6, 2021 a mob of insurrectionists invaded the capitol building to stop the certification of the results of the presidential election and an attempt by Donald Trump to try and overturn the election. Insurrectionists who had been chanting “Hang Mike Pence” came amazingly close to the vice president of the United States.

The pandemic had kept Americans cooped up at home where they devoured super spreading conspiracy theories on the internet. Trump downplayed the coronavirus pandemic and promoting the unfounded claim that the US presidential election had been stolen from him. Conspiracy theorists took the bait and devoured it. Q Anon also claims that a powerful cabal of Democrats and elites are trafficking and abusing children and Trump is the only salvation. To this day, they still believe he won the election, and that the U.S. Space Force will hand the next presidential election to Trump.

In 1923 Hitler launched a coup from a beer hall in Munich. From there the marched on Berlin to overthrow the German democratic government. The coup was crushed and Hitler went to jail for a short time. He realized he had to take over the government from the inside and that is what he did in the years leading up to World War II.

Trump hasn’t learned his lesson from this despot. His coup was a desperate authoritarian attempt to stay in power. Trump lacks Hitlers cunning. He is a weak excuse for a despot but the dim witted still believe his every lie.

Hating Mini Me

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The former 45th US president hates his mini me. “Trump f#cking hates DeSantis,” a confidant told Vanity Fair. “He just resents his popularity.” Earlier this year, a 2024 straw poll taken at the Western Conservative Summit saw DeathSantis slightly ahead of Trump, 74 percent to 71 percent.

Former adviser Jason Miller predicted that Trump “definitely will” seek the 2024 Republican nomination. But former Trump adviser Sam Nunberg predicted to Vanity Fair that since DeSantis is “primed to push Trump off the throne,” Trump will “offer Governor DeSantis a joint ticket.”

“Trump tells people, ‘I made Ron,'” a prominent GOP source told Vanity Fair anonymously. “Trump says that about a lot of people. But in this case, it’s actually true.”

DeathSantis is following in his mentors footsteps by killing as many Floridians as he can. As children return to schools he is fighting tooth and nail to keep schools from enforcing mask mandates. He lost this case in court but is appealing. He was late to close down and early to open while he blocks local governors from protecting citizens from the virus.

On August 31, 2021, more Florida children were hospitalized with COVID-19 than in any other state, reflecting a rapid rise in serious illness among an age group still not eligible for vaccination. In Florida, 46 pediatric patients were admitted to hospitals with confirmed infections On September 3, 2021 and 22 more were hospitalized with suspected cases, according to federal data. DeathSantis is fueling his political fire with the health of children. Oddly some voters might not appreciate a candidate who is actively trying to kill their children.

The governor asked the former president to postpone a campaign style rally in Florida as bodies were being removed for the site of a seaside condo collapse that killed 98 people. The former president refused. Trump’s post-presidency operation is led by Susie Wiles who lead DeathSantis’s governor campaign. “There’s a huge rift between the DeSantis and Trump [camps],” a source said, pointing directly to the conflict over the rally. (Like others interviewed for this piece, the source was granted anonymity to speak candidly.)

So, which of these men could kill more Americans? How many could they kill if they work together?

Guess Who

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What to O.J. Simpson, George Zimmerman, Casey Anthony, The 45th U.S. President and The Duke have in common? They were all convicted a crime and got off.

Lo G and Colbonyx  are trying to send signs to the world that The Duke, their corrupt and greedy employer and CEO of a record label, is guilty for illegally supplying blood samples to Tim Nugget, CEO of a corrupt tech company called Manogen. The Duke was in a court case but was found innocent even though he wasn’t.

This is the premise for a series of illustrations I did for this local band. I branched towards caricature for the two band members in the series so things get a  bit distorted in a fun way.

Guess Who? is a two-player character guessing game created by Ora and Theo Coster, also known as Theora Design, that was first manufactured by Milton Bradley in 1979 and is now owned by Hasbro.

Each player starts the game with a board that includes cartoon images of 24 people and their first names with all the images standing up. Each player selects a card of their choice from a separate pile of cards containing the same 24 images. The objective of the game is to be the first to determine which card one’s opponent has selected. Players alternate asking various yes or no questions to eliminate candidates, such as:

  • “Is your person a CEO of a record label?”
  • “Is your person greedy?”
  • “Is your person wearing a top hat?

The player will then eliminate candidates (based on the opponent’s response) by flipping those images down until only one is left. Well-crafted questions allow players to eliminate one or more possible cards.

The Capitol Under Siege

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American Democracy is under siege. January 6, 20201 the Potus called on his mask less minions to descend on Washington D.C. for a “Wild” rally. He got on stage and proceeded to claim the election had been stolen from him. He then told the crowd to go to the Capitol building.

At the Capitol, the police were unprepared for the thousands of rioters who broke through barricades and and shattered glass to get inside the building. The police had to retreat from the crowds that pressed inside. Months before peaceful protestors were tear gassed by national guard troops. There were no National Guard troops on hand to handle the ratification day rioters.

A joint session of Congress was assembled to ratify the electoral college results of the presidential election. This is a largely ceremonial session but some republican senators were contesting the results. Mitch McConnell condemned GOP efforts to overturn the electoral college results. He said, “If this election were overturned by mere allegations from the losing side, our democracy would enter a death spiral.” In the middle of the session the chamber had to be evacuated. Legislators were told to grab gas masks from under their seats.

The entrance to the chamber was barricaded from inside and policy tried to keep protestors out with their guns drawn. Rioters entered the chamber from the upper balcony and they jumped down to the chamber floor. Legislative staff had to hide behind chairs hoping not to get shot. On female protestor tried t lunge through a broken window and she was shot by a security officer. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.

After dusk the protestors were driven from the capitol building and Nancy Pelosi said that the ratification process will continue well into the night. Trump made a video addressing his “very special” rioters and suggested they should go home. Facebook and Twitter had to remove the video because he then went on to make make false and misleading statements.

3963 people died from COVID-19 in America on the day of the siege. The highest single day death toll since the start of the pandemic.

Treading Water

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As of this writing the election for the President of the United States is still up in the air. Even if Joe Biden is elected into office, he will not take office until January 20, 2021. That means the United States will go through two more months with no leadership when it comes to handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

We as a nation have to tread water during a huge spike in COVID-19 cases. The worst is ahead of us. Waiting for the election results feels like dropping below the waters surface.

By late November to early December each state has its own deadline to certify the election. However, if ballot disputes, litigation or other factors delay the count, blowing this deadline doesn’t invoke a penalty in the presidential race.

December 8, 2020 is the safe harbor deadline. Congress can no longer challenge any state electors.

December 14, 2020 is the date when electors are required to meet in their states and cast their ballots for President.

December 23, 2020 the states electors are supposed to transmit their votes to Congress by this date.

January 3, 2020 the new Congress is sworn in.

January 20, 2021 the Constitution says a new presidential term begins.

So, until January 20, 2021 Trump is in charge and likely ignoring the pandemic as he always has. Over 100,000 American are now being infected each day, which is a new record, and death rates continue to rise as hospitals are strained to their breaking points. In recent weeks, Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci have become increasingly outspoken about the dangers of the president’s approach with the virus. Trump has pushed Birx and Fauci aside in favor of Dr. Atlas who is not an expert on infectious diseases and claimed masks do not work.  Masks do work, wear a mask.

If he’s elected, Biden’s COVID-19 advisory panel would work in parallel to President Trump’s diminished coronavirus task force. The task force would include former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler, New York University’s Dr. Celine Gounder, Yale’s Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, former Obama White House aide Dr. Zeke Emanuel and former Chicago Health Commissioner Dr. Julie Morita, who is now an executive vice president at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The team is expected to advise transition officials on managing the latest spike of Covid-19 cases, ensuring vaccines are safe, and protecting at risk populations. It is unclear how much this new task force can accomplish before the inauguration. The Biden transition team has also discussed contingency plans for the possibility that the Trump administration would refuse to cooperate and share information during a transition.

As of Election Day, the virus has killed more than 230,000 people in the U.S. and infected more than 9 million. In the 86 days until he inauguration, 100,000 more Americans will likely die from the virus if the president doesn’t shift course, said Dr. Robert Murphy, executive director of the Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, echoing estimates from other public health experts. Stay safe and keep treading water.

Rose Garden Super Spreader

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Now that the animation project is finished, I can not resist starting to do Covid-19 themed illustrations again. Every day brings a new heightened insanity. I am not trying to do a COVID illustration ever day just yet since I want to finish posting the storyboards and animation from the project I have been working on for the past month.

The COVID-19 Rose Garden super spreader event had to be painted. The super spreader event was staged to celebrate Trumps push to have Amy Coney Barrett take the supreme cort slot that opened when Ruth Bader Ginsburg died of natural causes. I researched who was sitting where and who fist bumped and hugged who. The White House is not doing any contact tracing so I felt as an artist I had to document who might have infected who. The number of people infected in the White House keeps rising. The latest number I have from earlier today is 34 people.

Among the infected are of course Donald and Melania Trump . Trump announced his infection early Friday morning October 2, 2020 via Twitter. Senators Mike Lee and Thom Tillis both tested positive on Friday Evening October 2, 2020. Lee is seen in the foreground of this illustration hugging a couple. Watching video footage of the Rose Garden event was like watching a train wreck of stupidity since few wore masks as they hugged an bumped fists. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christi has been hospitalized due to the virus as has Trump who has since returned to the White House claiming he was immune.

The latest count as of October 8, 2020 shows 34 White House staff infected according to a memo distributed to FEMA Homeland Security senior management. Hope Hicks and Stephen Miller who are senior aids to the president tested positive. Government officials have gone to great lengths to block information about the outbreak’s spread and basic information about the president’s health. No one knows when the president last tested negative for the virus. It is possible he went to a fundraiser in New Jersey and to the debate with Joe Biden knowing he was infected. As late as Wednesday October 7, 202 White House aides were seen in meeting  without masks. The White House seemed to rely on testing to keep the virus from the president but clearly that plan had holes when science and basic health safety measures are ignored.

The Trump Virus

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2606 New Yorkers died on September 11, 2001 when the twin towers were attacked. 3352 Americans died during the Republican National Convention between August 24 – 27, 2020. About 1,500 largely mask-less people gathered on the South Lawn of the White House so President Donald Trump could accept his party’s nomination. Uncomfortable looking white folding chairs were placed inches apart from one another, with no room for social distancing, in violation of president’s own public health recommendations. Only people the White House expected to be in “close proximity” to the president and vice president were tested for COVID-19. Guidance sent to those invited to the event specified that masks would not be required on the South Lawn. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the White House Trump accepted the Republican nomination on the South Lawn.

Vice President Mike Pence gave a speech speech Wednesday August 26, 2020, delivered in front of about 100 mask-less people, including wounded veterans, at Fort McHenry in Baltimore. Already 4 people who attended the vice presidents speech have been confirmed to have COVID-19. Pence was seen shaking hands, and exchanging fist bumps. No one appeared concerned about social distancing. An assassin would not need a gun, a simple hand shake could suffice.  Dozens of secret service officers have contracted COVID-19 in the struggle to keep the president and vice president safe.

The president pretends there is no virus in his struggle to get re-elected. People had to sit together for hours listening to Trump’s insanely boring speech which sounded like a Wikipedia summation of American history. It was hard to keep track of all the lies.

Hosting the campaign event from the White House South Lawn and the Rose Garden also violated federal ethics law called the Hatch Act which prohibits federal employees from engaging in most political activity inside federal buildings or while on duty. More important, to Trump, the TV ratings tanked. He was more concerned about the ratings numbers rather than the number of Americans that have died.

Sputnik V

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Russian President Vladimir Putin just approved a COVID-19 vaccine for use in tens of thousands of people, though it has not been thoroughly tested for effectiveness. One of Putin’s daughters had received the inoculation.  “She has taken part in the experiment,” Putin said, according to the Associated Press.

The vaccine was named Sputnik V, in reference to the world’s first artificial satellite, launched during the space race back in the 1960s. Putin said, “We must be grateful to those who made that first step very important for our country and the entire world,” Putin said in a cabinet meeting Tuesday morning, August 11, 2020 in reference to the vaccine developers. There is no published data from early human tests of the vaccine and no late-stage human trials currently underway. Early human tests of the Russian vaccine began in mid-June and included 76 participants, but no data from those trials has been released, according to The Associated Press. 

Scientists worry that there was no phase 3 clinical trial, which is the final stage of testing required for a vaccine to be approved. Phase 3 trials, which include thousands to 30 thousand volunteers, can compare rates of infection between those who are vaccinated and those who get a placebo. In other words, only phase 3 trials can demonstrate that a vaccine prevents COVID-19 infection.

Russia plans to begin such tests of its already approved vaccine on Aug. 12, 2020. Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, told reporters, according to The Associated Press. The phase 3 trial will include “several thousand” participants from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and possibly Brazil, Dmitriev said. But before any data from that trial becomes available, Russia will offer the vaccine to tens of thousands of people, he added. “People outside of clinical trials will have access to the vaccine in August, and some, already on a massive scale, in October,” Dmitriev said.

Without phase 3 data, however, there’s no way to know the vaccine will protect most people who receive it; in addition, rare side effects associated with the vaccine may only emerge as more and more individuals get the injection. Despite not sharing solid proof that its vaccine is both safe and effective, Russia has reportedly received requests from more than 20 countries for access to Sputnik V, Dmitriev said, according to Reuters.

It will be made available first Russia’s front line public-service workers, such as medics and teachers, before being released to the general public, said Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko. Medics could have access to it as early as late August or early September, according to the agency.

In testimony to a congressional committee on July 31, 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci said, “I do hope that the Chinese and the Russians are actually testing the vaccine before they are administering the vaccine to anyone. Because claims of having a vaccine ready to distribute before you do testing is, I think, problematic at best.” according to CNN. Fauci added that he remained optimistic that the US would be able to produce its own vaccine by the end of the year, while not cutting corners with safety standards.

Researchers around the world are developing more than 165 vaccines against the coronavirus, and 30 vaccines are in human trials. Vaccines typically require years of research and testing before reaching the clinic, but scientists are racing to produce a safe and effective vaccine by next year. Some trials will fail, and others may end without a clear result. But a few may succeed in stimulating the immune system to produce effective antibodies against the virus.

In he United States, Moderna is developing vaccines based on messenger RNA (mRNA) to produce viral proteins in the body. They have yet to bring one to the market. In partnership with National Institutes of Health, they found that the vaccine protects monkeys from the coronavirus. In March, the company put the first Covid-19 vaccine into human trials, which yielded promising results, After carrying out a Phase 2 study they launched a Phase 3 trial on July 27. The final trial will enroll 30,000 healthy people at about 89 sites around the United States. The government has bankrolled Moderna’s efforts with nearly $1 billion in support. There will be results from the Moderna study in the first quarter of 2021 at the earliest.

President Donald Trump says he’s “optimistic” that his “Operation Warp Speed” program might have a vaccine ready around Election Day, and it “wouldn’t hurt” his chances against former Vice President Joe Biden. But having a vaccine available for widespread public use before 2021 is unrealistic, according to public health experts, including the Coronavirus Task Force’s Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The Soviet Union vaccine announcement was a political PR stunt to be the first to offer a virus even if it isn’t safe or effective. Trump has already floated the idea of using disinfectants to battle the virus so it isn’t far fetched to speculate that he might also force an untested vaccine to market to help his re-election results. He doesn’t care if the voters are alive after the election.