Covid – A Cautionary Tale

 Yes, another Covid post. I know, if you are like me you are rather tired of Covid. Someone even was so bold as to state that she was done with Covid on national TV. She has gotten some flak about that. Perhaps with good reason.

We are still seeing protests, in multiple countries, against vaccine mandates or mask mandates. I don't presume to know what the path of the virus will be. And that is the gist of this post. I would like to relate to you one story that happened to a Minnesota resident. It is a sad story, to be sure, like so many other Covid stories.

This man contracted Covid in October 2021. He lived in a small town and was admitted to his local hospital where they put him on a ventilator. Eventually he was moved to Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, which I presume was a larger facility than the first hospital, otherwise they wouldn't have moved him. He was unvaccinated. I do not know why he chose not to get the vaccine.

He remained on a ventilator until January 2022 at which point Mercy wanted to take him off, making the determination that he was not going to survive. His wife sued to stop the hospital and eventually found a hospital in Texas that admitted him. The doctors there said they had never seen such a malnourished patient. A week after he was moved he died.

There is some speculation that the family will sue Mercy Hospital. As hard as the result of this man's path was I think that this is not the fault of the hospital. This path was the result of his choice. I can't imagine that anyone on a ventilator for 2 ½ months is going to maintain a healthy weight. I know people who have had milder cases of Covid who also lost a lot of weight and they were not in the hospital.

This man had had Covid before. This was his second go around. Perhaps that is why he chose not to get the vaccine. I know people who have had Covid who feel that they have acquired enough immunity to be able to beat it again. That didn't work out for him. The second case ended in his death. It is something to consider if any of you out there are in the same boat.

We hope that the virus is weakening, because omicron appears to be less severe. But we really can't be sure of that. So perhaps it is still too early to let down our guard. Get vaccinated, wear masks and avoid large crowds of unmasked, unvaxxed people.

Stay safe. 

2022 - A New Year

Yes, really, a new year. I know you might be fooled because it looks so much like last year. The pandemic is still raging, with hospitals overwhelmed with people still refusing to get vaccinated. Our political divide is just as great, with most Republicans still believing that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, when in point of fact it was Donald Trump who was trying to do the stealing.

We still can't seem to find what really made our country great. In fact we still seem to be on the edge of losing what made our country great. I can only hope that this year will see the United States finding her democratic roots. Because we have many challenges facing us in the future and we can do that better together.

If you have Netflix there is a new movie out, “Don't Look Up”. I will be honest and say that I didn't really like the move that well. But perhaps that was because it was rather painful to watch. It hits too close to home.  But if we don't watch, and don't take to heart its message, we may very well suffer the fate of the characters in the movie, as Leonardo points out. Here is Leonardo DeCaprio speaking on the film's message.

Let's hope we make better choices in the New Year.

A Christmas Wish

 

Take care and stay safe this Christmas!

A Fatal Night

 A jury in Kenosha Wisconsin has found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges for his actions in Kenosha on the night of August 25, 2020.

Verdict

Here is a very good investigative report on the events leading up to and including that night.

Investigative Report

I listened to the testimony of Dominick Black, the friend of Kyle Rittenhouse who purchased the weapon Rittenhouse carried that night. It's long but it gives some background and insight into Rittenhouse's actions.

Dominick Black Testimony

There are no easy answers to what happened, no easy blame to place. The whole situation was a long time in the making. I look at the people who found themselves in the streets on that night and see not just their anger, but the inability to see each other; their story, their emotion, their need to be heard. Kyle Rittenhouse was a boy inserted into a volatile situation he did not have the maturity to handle. With a deadly weapon. A deadly weapon purchased by a friend with the approval of that friend's step-father.

Kyle Rittenhouse may have been acquitted but his life will never be the same. And two people are dead. Here is a small remembrance of one of those people.

Remembrance

Halloween 2021

We are all struggling to get back to a little more normal existence. Here on Halloween 2021 our doors are again opened to the little, or not so little, ghosts, goblins and witches, or perhaps Squid Game guards, who knock on our doors. In a break from politics, pandemics and riotous school board meetings I am going to do a Halloween music post. So on this Halloween sit back and relax with a little ghostly, creepy music.

How could I not start with this?

Ghostbusters

An oldie, but still creepy.

The Addams Family Theme Song

Have to include some classic rock.

Witchy Woman

Doesn't have to be a monster on land.

Jaws Theme Song

And last, but not least...

Ghost Riders

Fake News

I know you've heard the term. It has been bandied about by Trump and his followers for some time now. Fake news.  But have you ever actually looked at it? We just recently dodged a bullet, created by Mitch McConnell & Co., with regard to the debt ceiling. After initiating the crisis by not rubber stamping the raising of the debt ceiling, as has been done multiple times in the past by both Democrats and Republicans, McConnell voted to kick the can down the road to December. This was his solution to his manufactured crisis.

Basically Mitch McConnell and the Republicans were using the debt ceiling as a political tool to use against the Democrats because they are in the process of negotiating a couple of rather large infrastructure bills. Raising the debt ceiling allows our government to pay its bills. Bills that have accrued under both Democratic and Republican administrations. It will also allow our government to pay the benefits that so many Social Security recipients and our military rely on. It has absolutely nothing to do with bills that may or may not even become law. Yet Republicans and their supporters, such as the TV personality I have a video of, are determined to risk tanking the American, and indeed the world, economy with their bullying tactics.

So here is a video of Sean Hannity excoriating Mitch McConnell for “caving” and voting to temporarily raise the debt ceiling. He professes to be a conservative. Sorry, I don't see it. Conservatives pay their bills. No, all I see is someone who is twisting news for propaganda purposes.

Fake News

Hannity has one thing right, Joe Biden has been in office 9 months. Hardly long enough to create the inflation Hannity talks about. No, the problems we are facing were made before Biden came to office. I would take everything Hannity says with a large grain of salt. Fake news, indeed.

In the Garden of Good and Evil

No, not the book. Although I could understand if you might think that, since I do like to read. No, I am talking about what happened on September 11, 2001. On that day the world was witness to both great evil and greater good.

Hijackers at the behest of Osama bin Laden took over four American planes with the intent of killing as many people and destroying as many symbols of United States existence as they could. Two planes were flown into the World Trade Center towers in New York, both north and south. A third plane was flown into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. The fourth plane was flown into the ground in a field in Pennsylvania. That fourth plane was retaken by a group of brave, steadfast, loyal Americans. Due to the amazing technology of cell phones they knew about the earlier planes crashing into buildings and killing innocent civilians. They were determined that they would not be used as a weapon, they were determined that they would do what they could to protect and defend our people and our country. Because of them that plane never reached its goal.

If Osama bin Laden's minions were the epitome of evil those who responded to their actions were the epitome of good, from those passengers of Flight 93, to the first responders who ran up the stairs of the World Trade Center towers to help those in need and to those on the ground who gave of themselves to help in some way shape or form. Too many to count.

As I sit here and listen to some of the speakers in Pennsylvania I was struck by the remarks made by Gordon Felt, whose brother was a passenger on Flight 93. His words embody my thoughts and I cannot see where I could improve upon them. I assume they will eventually show up on YouTube, everything does. I will watch and add that to this post if I run across a video of his remarks. Because they are important. Meanwhile, here is a written version of some of his thoughts:

Gordon Felt's thoughts

I too wish for a September 12^th moment, when we were all unified, intent on standing together as one. I too wonder, as I watch the pitiful behavior of some who would not even consider putting the well being of others before their “rights” as Americans, are we worthy of the sacrifice made by all of those on 9/11?

Update:

I have not been able to find a video yet of Gordon Felt. However, I do have one of President George W. Bush in Pennsylvania on 9/11.   As Lee pointed out in the comments section Dubya has something to say that we should listen to.

President Bush remarks on 9/11