Emails prior to Substack: Jan thru August 2021

20230128

1-Jan-21 --- Grandparents. Errata. Intelligence. Vaccines. 20210101  Oksana's mother and fathe...

Oksana's mother and father are visiting. This is Sasha's first time to see his granddaughter Marianna. It is not the best time for them to have come. I have been down with strep throat and then a cold since the 23rd. I assume I got the cold from Eddie and Zoriana, who have been coughing and sniffling for weeks now. It appears that they gave it to babysitter Anna as well.

Having Nadia and Sasha in the house is a godsend for me. I have been able to retreat to my room to take it easy. They enjoy being with the kids. Let's just hope that all of us here are past being contagious.

A couple of the people who were at my birthday party on the 20th have since come down with coronavirus. One just a couple of days later, which would have suggested exposure before the party, and the other couple just in the last couple of days, which would most likely result from a later exposure. But who knows?

Sasha and I got to talking politics. He had not heard how some of the members of the Ukrainian Parliament had described the Biden corruption here in Ukraine. I had not heard how the US government had spiked a deal to get the Russian Sputnik vaccine. Sasha is absolutely sure that the CIA was involved in Yanukovych's ouster. I have my doubts. Not of their motives, which are never laudable, but of their ability.

New Year's Eve being an occasion for drink, and drink being an occasion for talk, Sasha shared some of his life's regrets with Oksana. Although he had been a good student, especially strong in math and history, he let his father dissuade him from attending university. He feels he might have done more with his life.

There are of course couldda wudda shuddas in my life as well. I just choose not to think about them. If the job offer from Sylvania had not gotten lost in the mail, I would have been in on the ground floor in Silicon Valley instead of going to Vietnam with IBM. If I had had any notion of how feminism had transformed the United States, I would not have let my pride dissuade me from marrying a very fine woman before returning from Germany. But I can't complain about where I have arrived.

If Sasha had made more of a career for himself, his daughter might have considered that she had better prospects than some superannuated American. Though there are always pluses and minuses, it hasn't worked out so terribly for either of us.

Some of you write to tell me I’m wrong, but seldom about what I would consider the right things. You write to assure me that the Democrats did not steal the election… you have it on the authority of the Washington Post. Well and good – I’m not going to fight that one any longer. You try to convince me that the vaccines are safe. Please – reassure me again after they have been floating around in your body for a year or two.

We should celebrate. We finally have a member of the silent generation in the White House – the first President older than me since 1992. I worry about dementia in my own life, but Joe Biden’s should be a bigger concern. It is far more evident, and he has more to do than simply raise a family. There is another problem. There was no single kingmaker. Joe Biden is owned by a consortium of oligarchs, not all of whom agree by a long shot. It’s going to be messy.

And what about you liberals? Without a burning hatred of Donald Trump to unite you, where will you be heading? There are a vast number of problems, and a vast number of proposed solutions, but not much correlation or consensus among them. I do not envision that the oligarchs who bankrolled Biden will continue to find common cause with Antifa or BLM. Now that the core cities are burned out, the police defunded and demoralized, the businesses that victualed the minority communities shuttered by coronavirus, where will these restless souls turn next? They had their eyes on your affluent suburbs already last summer. 2021 could be an interesting year.

I could use somebody to keep me honest regarding real mistakes. I cited Bernard Lewis’s book “Clash of Civilizations.” Wrong. A tickle in my brain told me to look it up. It was Samuel Huntington. I wrote that the average IQ in Ukraine is reported to be around 90. Somebody should have told me that that didn’t make sense. Responding to another tickle in my brain, I went to the source to find out what was going on with intelligence testing in Ukraine. It turns out that the estimate of 90 is based on only one administration of tests to something over 100 teenage schoolchildren in Kyiv and nearby Bila Tserkva about 13 years ago. Compare this with United States or Britain where there are literally thousands of test administrations to choose from. The numbers in the rich, established democracies are reliable, at least for the native populations. Elsewhere they might be ten points or more off the mark.

Viewoniq.com puts the intelligence of Nicaragua and Honduras at around 60, that of Haiti, Panama and Brazil about 80. I have written about my work with ordinary people in the countrysides of these five countries. I would say that they are close to equal.  Except for Haiti, these people are largely descended from American Indians, whose intelligence is usually figured in the 80s.  My hunch would be that more extensive research would converge on figures closer to this number.

This is not the fault of intelligence testing. It is just that any sort of mass testing is an imperfect process. With so many people dead set against the whole idea of measuring intelligence, it is no wonder that researchers come up with less than perfect results. The people who compile the data cited by viewoniq.com depend on other people’s work, and those other people in turn depend on the resources available to administer tests and the subjects to take them.  Here’s a passage from a book review I wrote almost a decade ago on the subject:

In one article, Alsedig Abdalgadr Al-Shalomee, a North African discusses intelligence tests that were administered among Libyans. It is a beautifully written article on the way that they structured the tests. How do you compile a representative sample of the population? How do you construct the test instrument? Then, having assembled the test results, how do you handle outliers, and ensure that results of the tests represent a normal distribution?  How do you demonstrate that they are statistically valid, meeting all of the standard tests for statistical acceptability, and that they are significant – that they represent something real? This is an illuminating tour through the world of statistics in the social sciences.  I cannot recall other articles that adhered so closely to the rigorous standards of good practice, and so clearly explained why and what they were doing.  The conclusion, incidentally, resulted in no new knowledge.  It amounts to no more than a rigorous confirmation of what had long been established, that the average IQ of North Africans is around 81, comparable to the tenth percentile of the British population.

Incidentally, this Al-Shalomee, like most intelligence researchers apparently gets so little appreciation that he turned to me, an obscure book reviewer, to ask for a letter of recommendation as he applied to graduate school in the United States. I was flattered and wrote him a glowing one. 

Looping back to Ukraine’s intelligence, my guess is that more extensive testing would place it in the mid to high 90s. I would recommend to Ukraine’s government that they consider intelligence in setting their immigration policies. They do not need unassimilable immigrants on either end of the spectrum. Ukraine would not benefit by either a high-end group such as the overseas Chinese, who tend to dominate trade and industry to the detriment of the natives wherever they go, or a low-end group such as Western Europe’s Africans and Muslims, who contribute little to the economy and absorb a lot of social services and welfare money. To put it more simply, Ukraine should be careful to craft an immigration policy that rejects people who aren’t substantially like themselves. Kind of like the one that worked for the USA from 1924 to 1965. Thank goodness Ukraine’s historical interactions with its neighbors and the world community do not even suggest that they have obligations to any people other than themselves. It’s the up side of being a perpetual victim.

Being sick is for me an opportunity to read. The most interesting reading is often precisely what establishment does not want you to read. A couple of years ago I reviewed “Sexual Utopia in Power,” which I found offered deep and useful insights on feminism. Quite characteristically, Amazon dropped the book, orphaning my review. Here is a link to the title article, still available from one of those disreputable alt-right outlets.

I read Alan Dershowitz’s latest book, “Cancel Culture.” Dershowitz is kvetching about having been canceled on account of having been fingered by one of the women in Jeffrey Epstein’s harem as her frequent consort. I suspect he is right, that he was framed, but my sympathy is bounded by his mere association with Jeffrey Epstein.  My interest was in writing my own account of having been canceled by my former wife, three grown children and just about everybody that knows them. My cancellation has been quite absolute, and the number of people involved is not inconsiderable. I have to be impressed at the negative power that has been projected over this bunch. On the other hand, as Dershowitz says about his detractors, none of them have accomplished as much in life as he and I have, and quite specifically, none of them have family lives as enjoyable as mine. Though they may harbor the conceit that shutting me out of their lives is some sort of punishment, I can’t see that I’m missing anything at all. I endure it quite tranquilly.

The third book I read is unambiguously entitled “Vaccines are Dangerous.” The author asks an intriguing question. Why would he write the book if he didn’t believe it? The motivation of vaccine advocates is quite clear: profit, power, government control, and the favor of those who have the foregoing. The motivation of people who counter the narrative has to be altruistic, because they get dumped on by everybody. Why would they endure it? This book came out in 2011. The people who want to just tell the truth about Covid answer his question as to why. The treatment they have gotten from the establishment makes his point more forcefully than in the writing could ever do.  Just by coincidence, the Dershowitz book makes an argument for mandatory vaccines. This one argues exactly the opposite. I agree with this one.

That’s the news from Lake WeBeGone, where the men are strong, the women are good looking, and the children appear to be in above average health, vaccines or no vaccines.

15-Jan-21 --- Social climate. Political climate. Actual climate. And electricity again.  It was a perfe...

It was a perfect morning for Zoriana. She is sleeping in my bed again. She doesn't thrash around and jump all over me like she did before.  It's actually kind of nice having another body to keep it warm. I find the idea of a daughter who actually likes sharing a bed with a man to be attractive.  Grandchildren!

Zoriana practices all of her embryonic womanly wiles on me every day. At breakfast she demands that I give her her cereal, warm it up, give her her milk in exactly that glass warmed to exactly that temperature. I generally comply, but I insist that she ask me politely before I jump.

Today we got out of the house without a single outburst of crying. I think it's a record. She ate her cereal and got dressed pretty much by herself. Mom had laid out her warmest clothes – it is about 18° this morning. And to my delight she trusted me to get them all on Zoriana. We caught the bus on time, got to nursery school on time, and I was able to catch the bus back without a hitch.

Eddie, meantime, got me out of bed to go up in the attic to get his sled. We have about 5 inches of snow and he wanted to take it to school. I opened the attic, and then he figured that he needed help getting it down. I interrupted my shaving to come give him a hand, offering also a reminder that it was a good idea to think these things through. If he was going to need my help, he should've asked for it before I got lathered up.

Eddie takes off for school right at 8 o'clock, giving himself half an hour to play with his friends before it starts. By all accounts he is doing okay. However, the school doesn't believe in report cards. Although the headmistress would like to have Eddie continue to the fifth grade, I have made it clear that in my opinion he needs a more structured environment. Eddie and I spend a great deal of time talking about the world in general, but not much time talking about school work. Specifically, I am not seeing much in the way of written assignments in either English or Ukrainian. He should be asking me for help with grammar, but he is not – the assignments don't seem to require it.

Marianna is doing fine, coming up on four months. Yesterday Oksana and I worked at engineering some system to keep her from rolling off the bed. Zoriana did it a couple of times, banging her skull pretty severely in one instance.

Eddie was troubled by a movie he saw about the Bermuda triangle. Boats and airplanes disappearing. It led to a talk about inexplicable phenomena, usually some mix of fact and fiction. We talked about Amelia Ehrhardt's disappearance; Michael Rockefeller's 1961 disappearance in New Guinea, presumably down the throats of the natives; the odd deaths and disappearances of politically inconvenient people here in Ukraine, the United States and elsewhere.

Eddie already understands that I have points of view that are at odds with what he hears from others. I am a stubborn soul who has read and observed extensively over the course of a lifetime and find myself increasingly invested in my long time beliefs. As the theology of this secular age has evolved, it is increasingly at odds with what I believe. My message to Eddie is to keep his eyes open and his mouth shut. Do not be the little boy who shouts about the Emperor's new clothes.

Next on my reading list is "We Have Been Harmonized," about social control in modern China. My message for Eddie is that the United States and Western Europe are being harmonized as well. This is time to be grateful about living in an unimportant backwater such as Ukraine, which lacks both the means and any felt need to enforce strong uniformity of thought. Ukraine is fortunate as well to be situated politically between East and West. International trade with China is burgeoning. Chinese investment here is growing as well. There will be tension among Chinese, European, American and Russian interests. One must also include the odd man out, Turkey. Ukraine's arms trade with Turkey is growing substantially. We can hope that this balance of interests will serve to keep us neutral.

Ukraine's strong points in international trade are computer outsourcing – exploiting our intellectual talent – and agriculture. We are a major exporter of sunflower oil, grains, honey and a number of other agricultural products. The strong trade relations with China appear to me to be beneficial. It has no history of colonizing distant countries. I think their interests will best be served by an independent Ukraine. I really cannot imagine China will give a damn what Ukraine thinks about global warming, human biodiversity, or the other politically charged questions that so inflame the West. We may be able to continue doing exactly what we are doing, paying lip service to the world community while doing pretty much as we please at home.

The reported cases of coronavirus are dropping, as per this five-month chart. Here, as everywhere in the world, the incidence of ordinary flu is amazingly low. Everything is being counted as Covid-19. I probably could have been one of that number had I gone to the clinic to be tested during the cold I experienced for three weeks.

The upshot is that Ukraine's medical experts expect about half the population to be inoculated. Given the mixed results of mass vaccinations in Israel and elsewhere, the general distrust of both the numbers and the motives, my bet would be that we don't even hit 50%.

Politics is involved as well. Some within the Zelensky administration were well disposed to Russia's offer of its Sputnik vaccine. By all accounts, the United States firmly squashed that one. Given that the Ukraine team of the Obama White House seems to dominate the incoming State Department, I think we can expect the Zelensky government to be careful. The United States has been harsh on the corrupt oligarchs backing Zelensky, chief among them Igor Kholomoisky.  On the other hand, these guys control the Ukrainian press, and they have not been shy about reporting on the way Biden has been compromised by corruption here in Ukraine. My best hope is that it will come to an impasse. They won't leave us alone, but maybe no single foreign power will have the upper hand.

We had another family from Eddie's school over to dinner Tuesday night. Quite a gathering.  With babysitter Anna and her daughter Sophia, there were five adults and seven kids running around. Kids enjoy each other's company.  The Babak’s older two daughters are the ones on the right in this photograph of Christmas carolers Saturday night.

George, the husband, had responded to Oksana's lament about our electric problems. Let me give you an update. The voltage stabilizers were cutting out periodically. The evidence seemed to point more and more to a problem within our house. We called the folks that installed the stabilizer to come over and take a look.

Meanwhile, the last people to touch our junction box had totally scrambled things. Among them Valerie, who use to do our heating system; the guy who did the water heater; and the guy who installed the voltage stabilizers. A year ago I had mapped out which circuit breakers controlled what. It was clear that my mapping had been all mixed up, and this was the occasion to straighten it out.

I gave the map to Volodya, from the voltage stabilizer company. I had not been impressed the first time he was here, but this time he displayed some knowledge of English and a willingness to talk. Anyhow, using my map, he was able to figure out what I should have myself. Just about the entire load of heating appliances was on the second phase. Volodya swapped two phases in the kitchen so that the stovetop and the heating system are on separate phases. Voilà! It worked. And I still know how things are laid out!

I told George that everything was working and, moreover, we understood it. He nonetheless pressed me to let him take a look himself. I gave him the map and my diagram of the electrical connection from the street to our junction box, telling him that there was no need to open it himself. He wanted to do so, to see if he could figure out how many amperes were coming in.

I scratched my head. I told him that the electric company tells us how many amperes we get.  I thought, but didn't tell him, that since there aren't any circuit breakers out there, simply wires coming in connected to wires going out, there is nothing to see that would be rated in amperes.

He and Oksana had a half-hour talk about the electricity, totally in Ukrainian. I thought it was odd that they excluded me – Oksana certainly doesn't know anything about electricity – but I understood enough to conclude that it was nothing I wanted to participate in in any case. I washed the dishes. I was thankful that there were never any recommendations forwarded to me.

George did prove his worth in another way. There was a small drip from one of the radiators that Oksana had pointed out a week or so ago. I had put a dish down to catch the drip. Oksana showed it to George, who tightened up the fitting and made the problem go away.

In other news, I have re-voiced Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who and The Cat in the Hat and uploaded them onto YouTube. I don’t believe in letting the kids watch videos, but if I am doing the reading, I make an exception.

I have written an article addressing how I should organize our family affairs in light of the vast changes in the political landscape of the past couple of months. It will inflame people at just about every point on the political correctness spectrum. I will send it if you ask.

That's the news from Lake WeBeGone, where the men are strong, the women are good looking, and the children are in the process of learning what topics can cause trouble if they are subjected to an above average amount of thought.

Graham

25-Jan-21 --- Patriarchy returns (for a week). Entertaining three children. Study of senility. We bo...

We bought some honey in the market Saturday. They had two kinds: clear at 120 hryvnya ($6) per half liter and cloudy at $4. I don't know the difference and I'm sure the kids don't   I said "Put back the 120 and we'll take the 80."

Yesterday morning 3-year-old Zoriana complained, will complain about almost anything that she didn't like cloudy honey. I asked her why she didn't like pickled bugs. Eddie of course corrected me. We should properly call it beetle jam. So it's beetle jam that she didn't like. But, after a taste, it turned out that she really does. Henceforth honey in our household will go under the appellation of beetle jam.

While we were at the market we bought the makings for sushi. A ton of salmon, some cream cheese, nori seaweed, sushi rice and some ripe Hass avocados, which cost a king's ransom.

This is to celebrate the fact that the women are gone. When the cat's away the mice will play. How did this come about?

Oksana got tired of the cold weather. We just completed a Siberian week. It went down to -23° Celsius. That's -10F. Indoors it fell to 60°. We were all running around wearing sweaters.

Oksana said she needed to get out. Partly inspired, I am sure, by the fact that her friends Sasha and Victor had gone to Egypt. Nothing would do but she do something similar.

I expressed extreme disinterest. I hate airplanes and I think it's silly to spend thousands of dollars just to go down to some beach which will probably be too cold anyhow.  I would much rather wait for summer, which will be here in five months. Be that as it may, Oksana had to go to Egypt.

She's resourceful when she is pushing to get her way. She found a tour deal whereby she and babysitter Anna Mamizerova could take Marianna to Sharm el Sheik for a week for $1,000. So she labored intensely to make it work.

Oksana doesn't have a whole lot of experience with air travel. With a bit of my help they got it all together. Oksana and Anna are in Egypt. I am home with Eddie and Zoriana. Anna's daughter Sophia is here until Tuesday, when her father gets back from a business trip.

Oksana says she's having a great time. Here is a photograph of the beach from our vacation there 11 years ago this month. Every picture in which Oksana appears is rather cheesecakey. I use it because, though she is still beautiful, she is a bit more reticent these days.  I'm waiting for pix from this trip on her Facebook page.

It's nice being alone with the three kids. They amuse each other. True, they have taken almost 100% of my time. But that's why God put me on earth. I'm enjoying it.

Which wraps back to the beetle jam or the pickled bugs, whichever you want to call it that we had for breakfast. Eddie cooked blintzes (blini, mlini), which are kind of like crepes, for breakfast yesterday.  Saturday I cooked pancakes.  BTW, the cloudy honey sticks to spoons better.  Not as messy.

On our shopping trip Saturday. I should add we had shaurma, street food for lunch. Two of them, at $7, were more than four of us could eat. Something akin to restaurant food is a treat in this time of Covid.

Ukraine's incidence of Covid continues to fall. The conviction to say "no" to the vaccine is up over 50% and rising. The disease will go away without seriously affecting us. There are scary statistics about the number of people who have died (22,000), but it's comparable to the number who die annually of the flu. Which, per health reports, has been almost absent this year. Anyhow Covid 19 seems to be retreating into history, although here like everywhere the media won't let it go quietly.

Covid didn't impede the flight to Egypt. We had to pay $35 apiece for the women to get rapid tests so they could get on the flight. I suppose that's a small price to pay. They didn't need to get vaccinated.

Vaccinations continue to be controversial, with conservatives claiming that many people are dying from them and the liberals saying no no no no that's all fake news. This is a sign of the absurdity of our age. Conservatives believe that Tennessee nurse Tiffany Dover died. Liberals believe not. It should be an easy question to resolve. However, it will apparently take a live interview on Tucker or lying in state in the Rotunda to achieve consensus on this one.

Whatever may have happened in Tennessee, we are not terribly affected. The restaurants are periodically, quirkily closed, but we don't go out much anyhow. Our Toastmasters meetings is online this week, offline next. Public transit is open and works fine.

So what do I do with three kids? Yesterday we played Monopoly. The last two nights we did jigsaw puzzles

 Sunday, after Eddie's delicious pancakes he did an 1 1/2 hours of homework as Sophia did tae kwan do via zoom. Meanwhile, Zoriana and I walked to the weekly farmers' market to buy tomatoes, mandarins, parsley and lettuce. Not, presumably, from local farmers.

Sofia took an hour to make the sushi, and did it expertly.

Zoriana slept as Eddie did the rest of his homework. Sophia doesn't have any. Public school extended the winter vacation a couple weeks on account of the virus. Zoriana is at daycare this morning.  Perhaps she'll spend a full day for a couple of days this week. Eddie goes to school all day.

What is good about this? I finally have the kitchen to myself. I was able to clean up and put things back where they belong. We are eating stuff that we like. Pizza, hamburgers, corned beef, maybe even tacos. Some of Gary and Marina's tortillas are still here. No soup for a week. The kids are dressing according to Daddy's much more liberal assessment of the dangers of cold weather. The temperature today is in the mid 40s. When I dropped Zoriana off at daycare without a ski hat, just the hood of her jacket, the proprietress asked why. I told her that Zoriana hates wearing anything whatsoever on her head and that the rules were on vacation for a week.

As most of you know, I spent my early career with IBM in Vietnam and Germany. I did not progress up the career ladder, but I had a good time and rarely worked too hard. As I remarked at the time to anybody who would listen, I was enjoying retirement at the front end of my career. I hoped that I would have a little bit of energy toward the end.

That seems to be the case. I reflect that when my father was my present age, my six-year-old firstborn Jack spent a week with his grandparents. One week wore them to a frazzle. And here I am, rather happily take taking care of three children and delighting in the fact that I get to do it my way, without the benefit of all sorts of female advice. Just a week, but it's a holiday all around.

Which brings me to the topic of aging. Just out of curiosity I researched how we decline as we get on in years, and found this graph.

I don't exactly understand what T-scores mean in this context, and would've had to pay for the accompanying article. Maybe one of you statisticians can tell me. But the implication is clear. I may be a little old to be raising children. Moreover, a guy older than me, never of distinguished intellect to start with, may not be the best one to be making decisions for 320 million. Should we be thankful he's not the one who will be doing so?

That's the news from Lake WeBeGone, where the men are strong, the good looking women are currently tantalizing the Egyptians, and the kids are enjoying their week at Camp Daddy.

26-Jan-21 --- Dear Ukrainian and Conservative friends — In restructuring my blog I have categori...

In restructuring my blog I have categorized people on my distribution.  I hope I am right in placing you in one of the two above groups.

The climate of the online world is changing such that knowing me could be dangerous. And others might be dangerous to me.  I do not think I have changed anybody's mind on political issues with my writing. I am not going to keep hitting liberals over the head with my opinions. 

America dominates the production and distribution of news. The people who got Joe Biden elected own the media in the United States. Dissenting opinions are being more blatantly suppressed. You all know that a great many people are regularly thrown off of Twitter, YouTube and other popular platforms. I have often written that my Amazon book reviews are rejected or orphaned – Amazon stops carrying the books.

People in Ukraine formed their opinions of Donald Trump, Brexit, the Black Lives Matter riots in the United States and so on on the basis of what you read and heard from your own media. You have to recognize that the Ukrainian press echoes the mainstream media of the United States. You are washed in secondhand American propaganda.

Although the media giants are using unprecedented measures to suppress free speech in the United States, it survives one way or another on alternative media. However, those alternative media sources are hard even for Americans to find. The mainstream media, with the collusion of government and big corporations, paint alternative media personalities as kooks, conspiracy theorists and the like. When for all their trying they cannot shut them up, they work extremely hard to convince you that they should not be believed.

I believe that the alternative media in general is more credible than the mainstream media. Corporations and government have a lot to protect: power, money, and positions. The people who challenge them stand to lose their jobs. They do not make money at it. They have nothing to gain, and much to lose, by telling the truth as they see it.

Most big issues seem far removed from Ukraine: climate change, immigration, and the unsustainable level of debt are all around the world. Some issues, such as EU and NATO membership, may be for Ukraine to decide sometime in the future.

The immediate issue that affects us all is Covid 19. Many consider it intimately related to all of the above. You have observed that Ukraine followed the lead of the Western countries in imposing quarantines, lockdowns, waiting periods and the like. Zelensky takes credit – and I will give it to him – for having imposed only moderate limitations on this country. The Ukrainian economy did not suffer as greatly as many others.

Governments and health officials have been wrong, changing their minds at just about every turn when it came to coronavirus: masks, distancing, when it would increase and decrease, lockdowns and hand sanitizers.  There is a debate as to whether they were wrong out of ignorance or they were lying. The links I provide below lead to more knowledgeable people than I addressing those questions.

The issue immediately at hand is immunization. There are many issues surrounding the vaccine. The first question is whether it is needed. There are many arguments saying not:

·     Covid 19 is not much more prevalent than the flu in an average year

·     Covid 19 is not much more deadly than the flu. They both mainly affect older people. Young people do not need a vaccine.

·     Covid 19 is going away quickly, per the graph below for Ukraine.

·     Covid 19 can be treated by ordinary medicines: vitamin D, zinc, and hydroxychloroquine work both as preventatives and as cures. This combination has worked for me so far. It has kept Covid deaths very far below the levels of the West in poor areas such as India and sub-Saharan Africa.

The next issue is short-term vaccine safety. There are reports of wholesale deaths in nursing homes, and a suspicious number of healthy young people dying after getting the vaccine. Many more people appear to be permanently disabled.

A third issue is long-term safety. None of these vaccines have been tested for as much as a year, and it often takes a number of years for problems to show up. Researchers have raised questions that are so far unanswerable. The biggest one is the possibility that exposure to the dead virus in the vaccine may amplify a person's reaction to the wild strain.

A large issue for you young Ukrainian women is that the mRNA approach used in the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines could render women sterile. There are clear descriptions of how this happens – fertilized eggs implant themselves in your uterus via the same mechanism viruses use to infect you. Teaching your body to reject viruses can well teach it to avoid pregnancy.  Oddly (?) clinical studies did not include women planning to start families.  Temporary sterility appears to be part of the design. How temporary is the question.

I close this first letter to you conservatives and Ukrainians with a few links that address the above questions:

·     Dr. Simone Gold, of Americasfrontlinedoctors dot com, discusses just about all the issues in this video. newtube.app/user/TonyHeller/OlBuCsk

·     Dr. Vernon Coleman has an incredibly rich website vernoncoleman.com. 12 years ago he wrote the unambiguously titled "Anyone Who Tells You Vaccines Are Safe And Effective Is Lying. Here's The Proof" which I just read and am in the process of reviewing. He could see Covid 19 coming more than a decade in advance. Coleman has a large number of videos. He also has print copies of most of his talks, which you can easily translate.

·     Dr. Judy Mikovits came out with a video Plandemic, Doctors in Black in April, when the virus was just getting started. She very accurately describes who, what, where, when and why. bitchute.com/video/PzoPHYEEVrPx/

·     Dr. Stephanie Seneff has been a pen pal of mine since we were introduced by longtime mutual friend Rob Moore and I reviewed her book on vaccines, "Cindy and Erica's Obsession" a few years ago.

Conspiracy theorists advance the idea that there is a grand plan to reduce the human population by killing off old people, making those of us who remain infertile, and bringing all of us common folks under the yoke of corporate/government oligarchies. On this you can make up your mind at your leisure.  However, if having children is part of your plan, you had better think careful about the vaccines coming your way shortly.

In a future edition I will offer opinions as to why the above conspiracy, if true, might work in our favor.  The masters of the universe cannot tell us, but if we figure out their plan, we can put ourselves on the right side of evolution.   

Graham

27-Jan-21 --- A short letter on techniques for spreading information Dear Ukrainian and conserva...*

Dear Ukrainian and conservative friends –

There are several arguments in favor of spreading information (viz, samizdat) via attachments instead of sending links.

• Links give business to evil tech giants such as YouTube.

• Those evil people regularly deplatform content providers and take down posts that don't fit their narrative.

• Spies, sniffers, trackers and advertisers examine the kind of stuff you look at online. A bit of paranoia is a good idea.

• More people will read an attachment than follow a link.

An interesting commonality about the four people whose links I sent yesterday is that they each write about the high levels of propaganda in several spheres: climate change, race relations, immigration, election fraud, vaccines, Covid 19, free speech, deplatforming and so on.

Today I'm attaching a 20 minute video by Tony Heller, who has been writing about the climate change hoax for 13 years now. As mentioned, he comments on other topics, especially Covid19.  Bringing his video down to a suitable size for an attachment reduced the quality as well, but the argument is still easy to follow. A link to the high quality original video on an alternative website appears in the introduction.

Please let me know if this attachment is still too big for your systems, or if you consider the quality to be unacceptable.  Also, of course, if you don't want to receive this kind of stuff.

Graham

29-Jan-21 --- The official song of Camp Daddy. Welcome home Oksana, Anna and Marianna. Sh...

Oksana, Anna and Marianna are coming back from Sharm el Sheikh tonight. Eddie, Zoriana and I have had a great week. This morning over breakfast we made up a camp song which I offer below.

Every little girl and Laddie

Loves a week at Camp Daddy

No more of those women's rules

That turn them into stubborn mules

Pizza sushi hamburger

That would make a pussycat purr

Ramen noodles and, oh my

Ice cream and homemade pie

A holiday from mystery goops

And extremely healthy soups

The dishes of this great nation

Can also stand a week's vacation

Jigsaw puzzles whenever we ask

Done sitting on Daddy's lap

Instead of crying, singing tunes

About going out and eating worms

Dressing to suit our sense

Of cold, not women's whims

Not dressed so thick daddy doesn't know

Which one is his Eskimo

Inventing silly songs all the time

Nobody cares if they do not rhyme

Riding around on daddy's shoulder

Makes a girl feel a little bit older

I had almost as much time to myself this week as usual. It brought home the amount of attention that Zoriana regularly demands.

I was able to use the time productively I finished a couple of reviews and hammered away at a couple of others.  One was "A Brief Eternity" by Frenchman Pascal Bruckner.  He describes the aging process and the issues of advancing age very well, albeit entirely from the point of view of the individual. He ignores that individual's relationship to and responsibility to society. To me, that is precisely the issue.

I continue to collect my thoughts explaining why The Decline of the West, to use the title of Oswald Spangler's 1916 book, is a matter of evolution. Bruckner fits right in, as does Joe Biden.  We are no longer committed to the future of society.  Our focus is totally on the short term.

Online personalities who are interested in the long term are in despair. They are all asking how we are going to survive this dark age. I developed a technique for condensing their videos into a convenient size for email attachments. It is a vast sacrifice of video quality, but the messages is in the audio, which comes through well.

The ones I did are:

·     Tony Heller on Climate Change

·     Simon Gold on Covid 19

·     Blonde in the Belly of the Beast with black pigeon, on the future of America

·     Blonde in the Belly of the beast with friend Robyn on raising kids in this dark era

Blonde and Robyn are to me a ray of hope. Women in their 30s who are committed to their husbands, give priority to raising kids, and want to share the message with others.

I am attaching the Tony Heller piece, the first and shortest one, to give you an idea of how it's going to work. In the subsequent three I included the following observations on working with the attachment format:

There are advantages and disadvantages to receiving attachments instead of links.

Disadvantages:

1.        Poor video quality

2.        Attachment size limits

Advantages:

1.        The file is small – saving files comes naturally – unlike for links.

2.        Big brother will not watch as you read and forward content

3.        You can share ideas with people who would not link to alternative media.

4.        Watching does not give money to the evil tech giants.

5.        Connection speed is not a factor

6.        Blocked Internet sites are not a problem

7.        Your copy is permanent – even if big brother erases the original

8.        Watching does not affect your social credit score.

For the most part I will be sending my work to two groups of friends – conservatives, who may want to forward the stuff, and Ukrainians, whose exposure to alternative media is almost nil. If others of you want to be included, please let me know.

And so concludes a short note from Lake WeBeGone, where the men are strong enough to survive children, the beautiful women are coming home tonight (hooray!) and the children are facing a bracing return to normalcy.

Graham

30-Jan-21 --- Dear conservative in Ukrainian friends — second of three videos, notes on security ...

Thіs іs thе sесоnd оf thе thrее vіdеоs І sаіd І wоuld sеnd. Оnе pеrsоnаlіtу іs а 30іsh blоggеr nаmеd Rеbесса, whоsе сhаnnеl іs саllеd Blоndе іn thе Bеllу оf thе Bеаst.Shе usеd tо wоrk fоr hіgh tесh fіrms іn Sеаttlе.

Thе mеn thаt shе mеt wоrkіng іn Sеаttlе wеrе аbsоlutеlу nоt thе kіnd thаt shе wаntеd tо mаrrу. Shе fоund а rеаl mаn аnd mоvеd tо Іdаhо. Mауbе І hаvе thе sеquеnсе bасkwаrds. Thеу hаvе а bаbу.

Thе sесоnd pеrsоnаlіtу hеrе іs а rесеnt mоthеr nаmеd Rоbуn. Thеsе twо stаrtеd thеіr оwn YоuTubе сhаnnеl саllеd Mоthеrlаnd, tаlkіng аbоut thе prоblеms оf hаvіng аnd rаіsіng kіds. І thіnk thеу аrе оn tаrgеt. Yоu саn lаmеnt аll уоu wаnt аbоut thе dесlіnе оf sосіеtу, but unlеss уоu аrе dоіng sоmеthіng tо іnvеst іn thе nеxt gеnеrаtіоn уоu аrе whіstlіng іn thе wіnd.

Thеsе wоmеn dіsсuss plаnnіng fоr thе futurе undеr thе nеw rеgіmе іn thе Unіtеd Stаtеs. Thе sіtuаtіоn lооks rаthеr blеаk, but thеу аrе rеаlіstіс аbоut whаt thеу саn dо tо prоtесt thеmsеlvеs аnd thеіr fаmіlіеs. Yоung Ukrаіnіаn wоmеn shоuld bе аwаrе оf уоung Аmеrісаn wоmеn's соnсеrns. Thе wоrld іs vеrу соnnесtеd, аnd thоsе prоblеms аrе vеrу lіkеlу tо bесоmе wоrldwіdе.

Іt hаs bесоmе іnсrеdіblу оbvіоus thаt thе Unіtеd Stаtеs іntеllіgеnсе аgеnсіеs саn аnd dо rеаd аll оf оur еmаіl аll thе tіmе. Lаst wееk's rеvеlаtіоn wаs thаt thеу gеt аrоund lаws аgаіnst spуіng bу sіmplу buуіng trоvеs оf dаtа frоm thе tесh gіаnts – Gооglе, Fасеbооk, Twіttеr аnd Аmаzоn. Whу Аmаzоn? Bесаusе thеу knоw еvеrуbоdу shоppіng hаbіts, аnd thеу оwn thе сlоud sеrvеrs wеrе mаnу pеоplе stоrе thеіr dаtа.

Оf соursе, thеу саnnоt pоssіblу hаvе еnоugh pеоplе tо rеаd аll оf thе mаіl. Thеу hаvе tо sсаn іt mесhаnісаllу. Thеrе аrе sеvеrаl stеps wе саn tаkе tо mаkе thеіr jоb а lіttlе bіt mоrе dіffісult:

·                 Dоn't usе Gооglе аs а sеаrсh еngіnе. І usе DuсkDuсkGо

·                 Dоn't usе Gооglе Сhrоmе оr Mісrоsоft prоduсts аs brоwsеrs. І usе Fіrеfоx

·                 Аvоіd pаssіng lіnks thаt rеvеаl hоw уоu thіnk

·                 Usе mеdіа thаt аrе hаrd tо sсаn, suсh аs thе vіdео І аm аttасhіng tоdау.

аnd thеrе аrе sеvеrаl stеps І hаvеn't уеt tаkеn bесаusе thеу соst mоnеу аnd slоw thіngs dоwn. Аmоng thеm wоuld bе:

·                 Usе а vіrtuаl prіvаtе nеtwоrk (VPN, оr tunnеl)

·                 Usе thе TОR brоwsеr

І stіll usе Mісrоsоft Wіndоws bесаusе sо muсh оf thе sоftwаrе І usе оpеrаtеs оnlу іn thаt еnvіrоnmеnt. Lіnux іs а bіt mоrе sесurе.

Tоdау І аm іmplеmеntіng а nеw rоll-уоur-оwn sесurіtу mеаsurе іn thіs еmаіl. І wіll bе plеаsеd tо buу а drіnk fоr whоеvеr fіgurеs оut whаt І hаvе dоnе.

Аnd thаt's thе nеws frоm Lаkе WеBеGоnе, whеrе thе mеn аrе strоng skеptісs, thе wоmеn аrе bасk frоm Еgуpt, аnd thе сhіldrеn's lіvеs аrе bасk tо nоrmаl.

Grаhаm

30-Jan-21 --- Dear conservative and Ukrainian friends — Simone Gold video on Covid19 ^--,_1i:_1, H..

This is the first of the three videos I said I would send as attachments. It is Dr. Simone Gold of americasfrontlinedoctors dot com speaking about Covid19 and the experimental nature of the vaccine - and its dangers.  I previously mentioned vernoncoleman dot com as a site where you will find otherwise hard-to-find data such as the number of people who have been injured and killed by the vaccines.

Again, please let me know if you don't want to receive things like this.

Graham

2-Feb-21 --- Dear conservative and Ukrainian friends — second Blonde video, sliding away from L.*

І аm аttасhіng thе second оf thе Blonde vіdеоs . А соuрlе реорlе wrоtе thаt thеу wеrе nоt іntеrеstеd іn Rоbуn аnd Rеbесса's оbsеrvаtіоns. But thеn аgаіn, thеу аrе nоt tеrrіblу іntеrеstеd іn hаvіng grаndсhіldrеn. Thе thіng thаt thrіlls mе аbоut Rоbуn аnd Rеbесса іs thаt thеу аrе dеdісаtеd tо rаіsіng сhіldrеn tо bе lіkе thеmsеlvеs, аnd thаt оf соursе wоuld іnсludе thе рrоsресt of grаndсhіldrеn.

Thіs vіdео іs wіth а guу nаmеd Fеlіx Rеx whо blоgs undеr thе nаmе оf Blасk Pіgеоn Sреаks. Hе іs а vеrу оrdіnаrу lооkіng guу, whісh mау bе whу hе hіdеs bеhіnd thе іmаgе оf а ріgеоn, but hе hаs а gооd mіnd аnd еxрrеssеs hіmsеlf wеll. Thіs vіdео tаlks аbоut thе hіghеr lеvеl соnсеrns gоіng fоrwаrd undеr thе Bіdеn rеgіmе.

І соntіnuе tо thіnk аbоut hоw tо wоrm аwау frоm thе оmnірrеsеnt еуе оf bіg tесh. Wіndоws 10 аutоmаtісаllу sеnds еvеrуthіng уоu dо uр іntо thе ОnеDrіvе сlоud, whеrе Mісrоsоft оf соursе саn dо wіth іt whаt іt wаnts. Prеsumаblу sсаn іt fоr іts оwn соmmеrсіаl рurроsеs, оr shаrе іt wіth thе sру аgеnсіеs.

І hаvе bееn usіng ОnеDrіvе fоr mу рhоtоgrарhs, fіgurіng thаt І dоn't hаvе аnу рісturеs thаt wоuld vаstlу tіtіllаtе thе tесhіеs аt NSА hеаdquаrtеrs. І mау соntіnuе tо dо sо, аlthоugh thе соst оf 256 GB flаsh drіvеs, оr еvеn multі-tеrаbуtе USB drіvеs, іs sо сhеар thаt thе quеstіоn іs, "Whу nоt?" Bеsіdеs thаt, ОnеDrіvе rеquіrеs аn lоggіng іn, whісh іs а раіn аnd bоthеr, аnd thе fасt thаt іt usеs аn Іntеrnеt соnnесtіоn саn unnесеssаrіlу slоw thіngs dоwn.

Іt tооk а bіt оf rеsеаrсh tо fіnd оut hоw tо turn ОnеDrіvе оff. Hеrе's whаt уоu dо. Оn mу соmрutеr аnуhоw.

(1)    Fіnd ОnеDrіvе оn уоur соmрutеr. Іt іs nоt thаt еаsу. Іt wіll bе еіthеr (а) оn thе stаrt mеnu whісh арреаrs whеn уоu сlісk оn thе Wіndоws kеу оr (b) аmоng thе lіttlе ісоns іn thе lоwеr rіght соrnеr оf уоur sсrееn.

(2)    Undеr sеttіngs, unсlісk thе bоx thаt sауs "Stаrt ОnеDrіvе аutоmаtісаllу wіth Wіndоws."

(3)    Rеbооt

Аs wіth а lоt оf thіngs іn Mісrоsоft, іt nеvеr sееms tо wоrk thе sаmе wау twісе. Thеу сhаngе іt іn еvеrу rеlеаsе just tо mаkе іt dіffісult fоr уоu tо squіrm аwау frоm thеir control.

Graham

3-Feb-21 --- Dear Ukrainian and conservative friends — catching up on Covid controversy I am a...*

І аm аttасhіng thе mоvіе "Рlаndеmіс – Dосtоrs іn Blасk" ԝhісh ԝаs rеlеаsеd lаst Мау. Іt іs thе stоrу оf Dr. Judу Міkоvіts, ԝhо hаd muсh еаrlіеr еаrnеd thе еnmіtу оf thе mеdісаl еstаblіshmеnt аnd bіg Рhаrmа, сhrоnісlеd іn hеr bеst-sеllіng bооk " Рlаguе оf Соrruрtіоn" ԝhісh рrеdаtеs Соvіd 19.

Тhіs vіdео ԝаs sсrubbеd frоm YоuТubе оf just аbоut аs ԛuісklу аs іt арреаrеd. І fіnd іt аmаzіnglу рrеsсіеnt – mаnу оf thе thіngs shе рrеdісtеd hаvе соmе tо раss.

Аs рrеvіоuslу, ԝhаt І аm аttасhіng іs а соndеnsеd fоrm оf thе vіdео. Vіdео ԛuаlіtу іs рооr, but thе аudіо іs gооd, аnd thеrе іs а lіnk tо thе sоurсе іf уоu ԝаnt tо ԝаtсh ԝіth bеttеr ԛuаlіtу. Тhе аdvаntаgе оf thе аttасhmеnt іs аnоnуmіtу аnd реrmаnеnсе. Тhе Іntеrnеt snоорs саnnоt еаsіlу trасk ԝhо's ԝаtсhіng іt оr fоrԝаrdіng іt, аnd thеу саn't tаkе іt аԝау frоm уоu.

Тhе dіffеrеnсе bеtԝееn thе stоrіеs tоld bу lіbеrаls аnd соnsеrvаtіvеs аrе stаrk. А lіbеrаl Fасеbооk frіеnd fоrԝаrdеd mе thіs lіnk ԝіth hарру nеԝs оn thе vассіnеs:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/01/briefing/vaccination-myanmar-coup-rochester-police.html

І аm lеаvіng thіs lіnk іn сlеаr tеxt sо уоu саn fоllоԝ іt іf уоu ԝаnt.

Іn thе sаmе mаіl І gоt а mоrе rесеnt ріесе frоm Dr. Міkоvіts, арреаrіng ԝіth Dr. Меrсоlа іn а vіdео.  Sее httрs://ԝԝԝ.mеrсоlа.соm/ (thіs lіnk іs nоt іn сlеаr tеxt).  Аn unеndіng lіtаnу оf реssіmіstіс nеԝs. 

Тhе fасt сhесkеrs dеnоunсе Меrсоlа аs а ԛuасk – hеrе іs thе Rаtіоnаlԝіkі еntrу, fоr еxаmрlе.

Jоsерh Меrсоlа - RаtіоnаlԜіkі

Jоsерh Меrсоlа іs аn Аmеrісаn аntі-vассіnаtіоnіst, соnsріrасу thеоrіst, рsеudоsсіеnсе рrоmоtеr аnd ԛuасk, bеst knоԝn fоr mаkіng fаlsе аnd mіslеаdіng hеаlth сlаіms. Меrсоlа аn оstеораthіс рhуsісіаn, іs а рорulаr guru оf аltеrnаtіvе mеdісіnе аnd nаturораthу.

But Меrсоlа соuld nоt hаvе mаdе uр thе lіnks І соріеd іntо mу аttасhmеnt еntіtlеd "Меrсоlа Lіnks."  Fоllоԝ thеm tо fіnd stоrіеs уоu hаvе dеfіnіtеlу nоt sееn frоm thе mаіnstrеаm mеdіа.

Іn fаіrnеss, thіs mау bе аll thеrе іs. Vеrnоn Соlеmаn lіsts рrеttу muсh thе sаmе іnсіdеnts. Іs thіs аll thеrе іs? І аm mоrаllу сеrtаіn thаt thе mаіnstrеаm mеdіа dоеsn't ԝаnt tо rероrt suсh thіngs. Ноԝ gооd іs thе аltеrnаtіvе mеdіаtе snіffіng thеm оut? Соlеmаn rероrts sоmеthіng оvеr 3000 аdvеrsе rеасtіоns аmоng hundrеd аnd 10,000 vассіnаtіоns. Ноԝ bаd? Ԝhаt's nоrmаl? І'm nоt surе ԝе hаvе аll thе dаtа, nоr аm І surе hоԝ tо іntеrрrеt іt.

І dоn't bеlіеvе thаt еіthеr sіdе іs іn tоtаl роssеssіоn оf thе truth, but аs а соnsеrvаtіvе І'm nоt gоіng tо tаkе mу сhаnсеs ԝіth а vассіnе thаt еvеrуbоdу соnсеdеs hаs nоt bееn thrоugh аnіmаl trіаls, іnvоlvеs gеnе mоdіfісаtіоn аnd ԝаs dеvеlореd sо rаріdlу. То mе thаt just sееms lіkе соmmоn sеnsе.

Sеvеrаl оf уоu hаvе rесеntlу rесеіvеd thе vассіnе. Sо fаr І hаvе nоt hеаrd оf аnу nеgаtіvе еxреrіеnсеs. But thеn аgаіn, nоbоdу hаs ԝrіttеn tо sау thаt Соvіd 19 саusеd thеm оr thеіr fаmіlіеs sеrіоus рrоblеms. І lооk fоrԝаrd tо аn оngоіng dіаlоguе.

Ԍrаhаm

6-Feb-21 --- How you going to keep them down on the farm after they seen Egypt? Buying land. ...

Our life has settled back to normal, with the exception that Oksana has developed a taste for mangoes and brings up the question of her next trip to Egypt and just about every conversation.

She and Anna had a great time. It was Anna's first airplane trip and her first trip out of Europe. Also her first winter sunshine. She and Oksana arranged it so that Anna got the best of the early afternoon sun to work on a tan.

Oksana and I took a vacation to the same place, Sharm el-Sheikh, for New Year's 2010. It was an opportunity to get to know each other, to see if we could work together as a couple. We did a lot of things in that week: sailed around to neighboring coves to observe the beautiful tropical fish through our snorkeling masks, visited Cairo and the pyramids, Jerusalem, and Mount Sinai. I didn't make the Sinai trip – I had been a little bit in cautious with a local salad the night before and had to spend the day chained to the great white father.

Oksana and Anna's trip was more like one that I had taken with my previous family to Puerto Vallarta about 1995. All meals included with the hotel, nothing to do except loll around the pool, swim in the ocean, and suck up the sunshine. That one had clearly delineated the differences in the mentalities of that family. Son Jack, older daughter Naomi and wife Mary Ann were perfectly content to lie in the sun and do nothing more than sip from exotic drinks at the poolside bar. Younger daughter Susie and I couldn't stand the boredom. We went bicycling, walking, sea kayaking to sneak up on marine iguanas, and took the bus into town to see what was going on. Susie was fascinated with coconut drinks. We stopped our bicycles and I asked a Mexican guy to show Susie how you cut them open to get the milk.

Bottom line, I'm happy for Oksana and Anna, and likewise happy that I was not dragooned into going along. The kids and I had a good time here, and Anna and Oksana had a good time being far away from them.

As the United States is getting serious about getting everybody vaccinated, I'm getting more serious about not doing so. The more I read, the more apprehensive I am about the vaccines themselves and the motives of the people behind them. I'm glad to live in a country that is far enough down the list that we will have time to gauge the adverse reactions before anybody commits to getting jabbed. Also sufficiently corrupt that we can surely find a workaround if somebody tries to force them on us. I wrote to a few of you whom I know have a generally conservative outlook, sending videos made by well-informed skeptics. If anybody else wants them, please let me know.

Meanwhile, if the rate of infections continues to fall at the rate it is going, there will be none at all the first of March. That is of course unrealistic. Nonetheless, I think that the case that everybody needs to get vaccinated will be increasingly hard to make. I read in the newspapers that more than half of Ukrainians do not want the shot.

The weather deserves a note.  This rivals the coldest winters I have experienced.  It fell below zero Fahrenheit a couple of times last month.  Not slated to be above freezing within the 14 day forecast.

I have been talking about buying real estate here for quite a while. Prices collapsed when the war started in 2014 and had remained low through last year. However, just as in the United States, there has been a surge of interest in detached housing here as a result of Covid 19. Prices are up 30% this year. I have bitten the bullet and made an offer for 1/3 of an acre perhaps a quarter-mile as the crow flies from where we live. I think we have agreed on a price, but we cannot sign a contract until the seller is back in town sometime next week. I will let you know.

Part of the strategy is to move money out of the United States. Tax rates are set for 2021, but I would not be surprised if they went up next year. There could as well be capital controls, limiting my ability to move money. There is also the question of inflation. The 1.9 trillion spending package now working its way through Congress is almost wholly supported by money printing – the magic money tree. If that actually worked, Zimbabwe and Venezuela would be home to multiple billionaires. My conclusion is that we will be better off with more of our assets close to our physical location.

Zoriana has spent the week home with a cough, sniffle, and a somewhat hoarse voice. She is not sick enough to be whatsoever repressed. She demands attention all the time. I would've sent her back to nursery school Wednesday at the latest, but as every father quickly finds out, this is a case where mother knows best. It looks however like Monday is a fairly sure bet.

A few months ago I mentioned that I was getting back on the exercise bicycle. Yesterday I did 2400 revolutions in 40 minutes. The resistance on these things is so imprecise and variable that you can't actually measure how much work you do in watts. I am satisfied that I lose a pound during the workout, creating a puddle of sweat now extending the full width of the bicycle. Between the workout and having given up alcohol six months ago because of (1) gallbladder issues, (2) acid reflux issues, (3) gout issues and (4) spousal advice my weight has dropped back to high school levels, 176 pounds today.

That's the news from Lake WeBeGone, where the men are strong, the women are good looking, and if average were like these children, it would have a better reputation. They are really pretty wonderful.

Graham

7-Feb-21 --- I think I have found the conservative holy Grail. A blog site that is reliably wrong on...*

A blog site that is reliably wrong on every politically charged topic. Articulate, erudite, and totally wrong! This is Andrew Sullivan. I find it hard to believe that he could ever have passed himself off as a conservative, but what the hell, so did Joe Scarborough and Arianna Huffington at one point in their careers.  Find him at The Weekly Dish - andrewsullivan@substack.com.  Subscription is free. I regret even letting my name be included in his subscriber count, but it is worth it just to be able to accurately update my definition of what is WRONG. 

Here is an interview that Andrew did with the double-barreled Oxbridge intellectual journalist David Wallace–Wells. Not of course that I have any prejudice whatsoever against nobs like this.

The text you see on the left is rendered by my Dragon NaturallySpeaking software. It is of course full of errors, but you get the gist. I am attaching an MP3 if you feel any desire to subject yourself to the rich, plummy upper crust voice of the interviewee. Not that I'm prejudiced. My own comments are on the right. Here goes.

ll me how optimistic you are about this pandemic at this point, we now over year in basically for the US anyway. Common symptoms of our being thoroughly aware going on and we had a worse place than you expected a year ago or better will roughly what you expected.

The set up – establish a mood of gloom and give the interviewee a chance to respond.

At the moment I'm revising my expectations in a more pessimistic direction. But even where I was a few weeks ago. You know I would've been happy a year ago we were you pulled me aside last January and said were still going to be losing a few thousand Americans a day to be hundreds of thousands of new cases every week and organ to be facing organ have vaccines that's miraculous.

Did we expect optimism? No! Pessimism is the order of the day.

Andrew and David both except the statistics without question. The question as to whether the deaths that occur in the normal flu season have been magically transmogrified into Covid 19 deaths – ordinary flu deaths having plummeted to nil – is of course not answered.

Critics contend that the number of excess deaths in 2020 was minimal to nonexistent. The mainstream does not answer the argument.

But we can be facing really significant skepticism of the population. Others vaccines that is going up really if not hmmm prevent and complicate our efforts to get to herd immunity protection through a combination of natural immunity and vaccine immunity, and from depending on exactly how we think, how infectious we think this disease is experts now think that you will need to back will need to have protection immune protection in at least 70% of the public and may be as much as 90% of the public on before the disease can really die out and if we have enough

David seems to assume that there is some consensus on what would constitute herd immunity. Anybody who has been listening for the past year knows that there are guesses all over the lot.

What can be observed is that Sweden, which relied on ordinary herd immunity, did no worse than other European countries. Countries such as India, which did not take many extreme measures but widely used hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin did far better than the Western countries.

India, of course, does not have that big of an elderly population, and those elderly have not been herded into nursing homes. That's where a vastly disproportionate percentage of the deaths happen.

But the combination of elderly and nursing homes does not warrant discussion between these gentlemen.

37% of nursing home workers have been offered a vaccine have taken it, which means that 63% of those of enough of the vaccine working in nursing homes seeing the like the ugly face of the disease first hand, have refused it on. I think what we have a real problem on our hands. I think I've been looking forward to the rollout of vaccines for a while thinking that you know it may take a while was can be slower than we had hoped, but the development was so rapid and really would play the role of miraculous deus ex machina here and I'm worrying for number of reasons that that timeline is can be much longer than I it would be. just a few week weeks ago.

No! It's the people who work in nursing homes, who presumably know a little bit about both medicine and the threat of the disease, who say they are not getting the shots.

Of course, Oxbridge nobs dismiss them as ignorant rubes, deplorable's and so on. Are they really that dumb? Or have people who work in nursing homes figured the scam out?

So one reason for that is enough skepticism about the vaccines, which is much larger than I would've thought a few months ago at when the stories published about acting skepticism about when push comes to shove, and those drugs are out and available then people will take them. We live through this brutally horrific year.

How could you not take them, but the other thing that worries me is this new home variance on you know we don't exactly know the nature of each of them. We haven't on sequence that the you know the genetics of them all that success, but we haven't watched them in the wild. All that well. We know little bit more about the British one than the South African one and a little bit more than seven African want the #1 and a little bit more about the Brazilian one than on the California want on but all of them seem to be challenging some of the basic assumptions we had about on the nature of the disease in the near future of the pandemic.

This is a rhetorical question, but deplorable rube that I am, I can offer an answer.

1. Flu vaccines have never worked in the past.

2. There have been no animal studies on the new ones.

3. There have been no long-term human studies within the new ones.

4. Two of the new ones involve a radical new approach, mRNA, which appears to be a permanent gene therapy.

5. There are suggestions that the new vaccines may lead to infertility in women.

6. The same companies that are behind the new vaccines have been kicked out of India and Africa in the past for large-scale incidents of vaccine injuries.

Those are a few reasons. Give me a while I can think of as many more again.

On the one that scares me the most is that is that was only one and that's because is arose in Manaus, which is a sitting Amazon incident. It's a place I've been. I've also been to Wuhan. I've also been to Lombardy after I come like patient zero, but still be right there for second let's start with that first point you made which is yeah which is the me when I think about vaccines To the eye. I have a real hard time wrapping my mind around it. I think partly because I've always had basic confidence in the medical and scientific establishment.

Viruses mutate all the time. That's precisely the reason that flu shots don't work. You can never stay ahead of the mutations.

If these guys are successful in bringing the world to believe that we are always under threat from new mutations of the Covid 19 virus, they will have implemented a reign of perpetual fear. Of course they mutate.

It raises the question, is perpetual fear the objective? It seems to be.

I'm a night in on it was a learns during the eight epidemic unitrust how to read studies how to think seriously about this, but this particular question why he would people not after a year all lockdown, loss of income from stress, fatigue Tara death with they still say I draw the

Andrew and David of course did not answer the question as to whether the masks, social distancing, lockdowns and so on did any good. Comparing the societies that use these measures with those that didn't strongly suggest that they are not effective whatsoever. Yes, we are tired of them! They are like voodoo magic that doesn't work. So what should we do? Grow up and abandon voodoo, or poke the voodoo dolls a few more times and with longer needles? Andrew and David seem to favor the latter. Common sense favors the former.

the end as he said this is from healthcare workers who want the most upfront exposed to the people dying of this so it doesn't scare people. At one easiest David what he said in the in the human mind that is resisting this really scared of novelty.

You've done a good job of terrifying most of the public, and drag owning the rest of us into performing the stupid rituals that you prescribe such as masks, lockdowns, social distancing and so on. But you can't terrify all the people all the time. Too bad.

I think in general I mean I think you could look at the pandemic that way to there's a way in which you know. Looking back, we may have overreacted in the spring on because we were so scared of a new disease. I think at the moment where now taking the opposite approach under reacting but on I think that in general will really, really scared of new stuff and really comfortable with. Even if the old stuff is really brutal and ineffective and yet problematic on its it's like in France, in particular the month it's through the roof right mediates like half the country going take the vaccine, which he is surely at some point competency can have to say look, we can't begin our economies, we can get anywhere.

The virus is going away all over the world. The similarity to the common seasonal flu is eerie. Yes, it goes away as spring comes!

It is not whatsoever a pandemic. Many of us know only a few people who ever got sick. I don't know anybody here in Ukraine who even knows of somebody who died.

Nonsense. Ukraine, which as a sop to the European Union implemented the minimum they could get away with in the way of preventative measures, came out better than most of Western Europe.

The factors that are different are not discussed. They include the elderly population, the percentage of them that are in nursing homes, and the living conditions of the difficult to assimilate immigrants in Western Europe.

If we don't get more people vaccinated now and that's can be a very tough decision presumably and and on the other the probably will be employers that required of their employees on even earlier matter and that'll get into a lot of you know how privacy laws that we have really like we haven't sorted through here either. I think it's gonna be pretty thorny and they easiest solution is that the public takes up the vaccine on very casually and comfortably and without opposition, but that doesn't seem to be where we are back to you know they're all of the stories about midcentury vaccination programs in the West that are incredibly inspiring in New York City in. If it two or three weeks and in the 1947 we.

The claims that the vaccines work come from the vaccine companies themselves. Totally objective, of course.

To achieve the claim of 95% reliability they had to redefine several factors, including the definition of a "case" of Covid 19, what it means to be sick with Covid 19, whether preventing transmissibility matters, and so on.

If you let me write the rules of the game, I can win it anything.

We vaccinated 6 million people against smallpox in response to a smallpox outbreak 6 million people in just a few weeks on and you know that the polio vaccine was sort of celebrated all around the country. People were out in the street waiting for the vaccines lining up around the block, no resistance, no skepticism at all and ask any incredible considering that vaccine technology was pretty new at what we are now erratically were benefiting from it up three quarters of a century of familiarization normalization brutalization of vaccines everybody guest on almost a buddy asked him in early childhood and gives them to their kids when the kids are that age you think that we would've grown much more comfortable, but it seems at least in in the face of a novel disease with a novel vaccine response the opposite has happened.

Smallpox was a different deal. A much better defined disease, not simply the latest iteration in a long line of coronavirus diseases.

The vaccine was well-known and had been in existence for decades.

At least in the public mind, the pharmaceutical companies were not pushing it so aggressively. People trusted government and the pharmaceutical companies more than they do now.

Pharmaceutical companies are now the largest advertisers on television. They tout pharmaceutical remedies for all of life's problems, most of which could be better addressed by more exercise, a healthier diet, less drinking and the like. The unhealthy American lifestyle, however, is the pharmaceutical companies' cash cow.

They want it to continue. Instead of our taking inexpensive prophylactics such as ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine, reinforcing our immune system with vitamin D and zinc, and getting some healthy sunshine they want to encourage us all to rely on their vaccines to save us. God save us, indeed!

And ultimately I want to offer any strong hypotheses about why it's happening. I honestly don't entirely understand. Either you know that people people say while there is this, especially among black and Latin community is there's a starter skepticism of medical establishment going back to you know just that Tuskegee experiment which is Tito totally legitimate, as if assets are historical that happened that's scary but on this is not a vaccine that is being rolled out with in the ethnically targeted way is being rolled out on you know, for the most part of the population as a whole. You think that those hangups would would disappear. You think, especially in among medical workers and health professionals who had seen the face of the pandemic. Up close, that they be especially eager to turn the page on that on all those communities that disproportionately likely to will have to work around other people have to take public transportation who are poor, who are having to be out.

In my judgment Andrew and David are right about the Tuskagee experiment. Anti-syphilis medicines are most effective in the early stages of the disease. The subjects in the Rockefeller sponsored study supposedly could not have benefited. I leave it to the reader to investigate.

On the other hand, the African and Indian episodes that I mentioned above, some involving Bill Gates, were much broader in scope, much more recent, and much harder to deny.

Tuskagee may be a red herring.

They don't can't afford to stay inside to be more protected they paradoxically seem to be among the most resistant to take to seeing you cooks you can understand that to a certain degree because these are people who figured out how to live under these conditions over the last year relatively well whereas people like you and me the been mostly living our little bunkers are probably eager to get a little little more cleanly on and so there is a kind of a social psychological training that's gone on where people who are on the front lines probably started to understand the disease as a manageable rep as opposed what kind of an existential threat, whereas those of us who have been a more protected all throughout our a little more desperate for relief because we then we been taking such extreme precautions

We don't need to stay inside! Epidemiologists and virologists, as opposed to politicians, observe that:

Sunshine and open air are not conducive for the transmission of coronavirus. We should get outside!

A healthy immune system remains healthy by encountering and overcoming pathogens. Perpetually avoiding them weakens our immunity. Lockdowns and masks were counterproductive.

Manageable? Are avian flu, swine flu, H1N1, even the Spanish flu manageable? No, they just went away. This one probably will as well.

15-Feb-21 --- Real winter! A Valentine's Day treat. Remembering my father It is cold. It has not b...

It is cold. It has not been above freezing all month, it is not supposed to be for the next week. In fact, the forecast is for two days of -20 Celsius. That is -4 Fahrenheit. There are about 2 feet of snow on the ground.

Washington DC will sometimes get two or 3 feet of snow as a result of arctic air colliding with warm air from the Caribbean. It usually melts in a couple of days. This snow has staying power.

At times like this I wish I could be on an expensive yacht in the Seychelles like our friend Greta.  But all things considered I am lucky to be here instead of, say, Germany. There the windmills are not spinning and the solar panels are all covered with snow. They are going through fossil fuel imports from Russia at an amazing clip.

After plunging in December and January, reported coronavirus cases have leveled off at about 3500 per day. Of course, a skeptic wonders what percentage of the reported cases were real in the first place, and one also asks whether the fearmongers have simply decided that they could not allow things to look too good. Reported deaths are falling as well, as would happen were it some novel disease or just the regular flu.

I asked Oksana if she wanted to take the family out for lunch for Valentine's Day. No way! She was perfectly happy to have a home-cooked meal of flounder Florentine and apple pie. Fine with me – we had all the ingredients in the house.

The flounder was whole – I needed to filet it myself. I am pretty good at filleting ordinary fish, but these flatfish were really problematic. When I was done I think the cat got almost half of it. There must be a trick, but I could not figure it out.

Fixing lunch kept the kids (Eddie, Zoriana, and Anna's daughter Sophia) busy for half an hour or so. It was a special treat for Zoriana. There was something a three-year-old could do. She washed the apples for the pie, and then after I had cored them, through them one by one into the food processor to get sliced. Eddie, as usual, made the pie look perfect. It was a special challenge this time because I had not let the dough set in the refrigerator long enough and it rolled out ugly.  After helping prepare it, the kids all had a pretty good appetite for lunch.

On Wednesday I noticed that there was only one scheduled speaker for our Saturday Toastmasters meeting. I racked my brain how to fill the gap, and came up with an account of the trip that my father and I took to Yellowstone in 1999, after Mother had died. Dad opened up as he had never done before, about his successes and regrets in life. It is all the more precious of a memory inasmuch as his health went downhill until he died three years later at the age of 88.

I practice my speeches now with my web camera. It is a good device for trying out not only the delivery but the gestures, and it lets me know if I am within the time limits. Here is an upload of one of the rehearsals – a brief glimpse of my father.

I lost most of the family pictures in the course of my 2006 divorce. Here are the two pictures that hang on my wall – a baby picture from 1914 and an undated picture probably from the late 1980s. A remarkable likeness has been found between each of the three children and their grandfather, although I have to confess that babies all look somewhat the same to me.

As I recount in the video, my parents were always hard-working. It got even harder when my little sister's  measles permuted into spinal encephalitis when I was about nine. Mother went to work to deal with the medical bills and she spent most of the rest of her time helping Steph rehabilitate herself. I am sure they were grateful that I did not appear to need attention. I loved the freedom, but in retrospect I probably would have benefited from more direction.

In particular, I got no direction whatsoever with regard to a career. They assumed I would go to college and magic would happen. Other kids talked about following their parents' example and becoming doctors, lawyers and professors. There was no such talk in our house.

Looking back, mother talked rather nonchalantly about the people she worked with. These are names we recognize today: A.L .Kroeber, Hyman Minsky, Erving Goffman, Yolanda Murphy. Mom was an editor at the University of California, Berkeley, and appears to have been pretty good, judging from the caliber of the people who sought her out. I wish she had made an effort to force her lazy son Graham to pay attention, get to know them, and perhaps emulate them.

My life has been the other way around. As a young man I am sure I did not work as hard as my father, but by the time he was my age he was basically taking his leisure instead of raising three children. I give a lot of thought to, and spent a lot of time talking with Eddie about his future. That will be the topic of my next blog.

That is the news from Lake WeBeGone, where the men are strong enough to struggle against the elements, the women good-looking, and the children loving the very real winter as only children can.

Graham

18-Feb-21 --- Dear conservative and Ukrainian friends — I am doing something odd as a blogger. ...4

І аm dоіng sоmеthіng оdd аs а blоggеr. І аm trуіng tо shаrе mу ԝоrk оnlу ԝіth реорlе І vаluе, аnd kеер іt аnоnуmоus.  Іn thеsе dаngеrоus tіmеs І dо nоt ԝаnt mу gоvеrnmеnt, thе іntеllіgеnсе аgеnсіеs оr thе sосіаl mеdіа gіаnts tо knоԝ ԝhо І аm.

І dо trу tо kеер trасk оf ԝhаt іs gоіng оn. Іt іs а mаttеr оf lіstеnіng tо thе іnсrеаsіnglу fеԝ vоісеs ԝhо rеfusе tо bе shut uр dеsріtе bеіng fіrеd, dеsріsеd аnd dерlаtfоrmеd. Тhе еаsіеst рhеnоmеnа аnd оf аll tо оbsеrvе іs thаt frее sреесh іs dеаd. І hаvе ԝrіttеn fоr sеvеrаl уеаrs аbоut hоԝ Аmаzоn hаs rеfusеd аnd kіllеd mу rеvіеԝs. Тhоugh І hаvе nеvеr usеd Тԝіttеr, аnd rаrеlу usе Fасеbооk, І аm shосkеd аt ԝhаt thеу аrе dоіng tо реорlе І rеsресt. І hаvе sееn hоԝ Ԍооglе mаnірulаtеs sеаrсh rеsults аnd thеіr YоuТubе subsіdіаrу tаkеs dоԝn vіdеоs ԝіth ԝhісh thеу dіsаgrее.

Ԝhаtеvеr уоu thіnk аbоut Dоnаld Тrumр, Brеxіt, thе ЕU, Russіа, glоbаl ԝаrmіng, Соvіd 19, Blасk Lіvеs Маttеr, ԌLBТХYZ rіghts аnd ԝhаtеvеr, іt must bе оbvіоus tо уоu thаt thе соnsеrvаtіvе роіnt оf vіеԝ іs ԝіdеlу сеnsоrеd оn thе Іntеrnеt аnd rаrеlу рrеsеntеd іn thе рrіnt mеdіа. Еvеn іf уоu аgrее ԝіth thе mаіnstrеаm, ассерtаblе роіnts оf vіеԝ, уоu must ԝоndеr ԝhаt thеу аrе kееріng frоm уоu.

Аmеrісаns ԝіll nоtісе thіs mоrе thаn Ukrаіnіаns sіmрlу bесаusе оf thе mоrе mоnоlіthіс nаturе оf thе Ukrаіnіаn mеdіа. Ԝhаt уоu rеаd есhоеs thе mаіnstrеаm Аmеrісаn рrеss. Тhеrе іs vеrу lіttlе аltеrnаtіvе mеdіа hеrе.

І hаvе іnvеstеd іn thе еxресtаtіоn thаt thе ԝоrld fіnаnсіаl sуstеm ԝоuld соllарsе. Іt hаs tаkеn lоngеr thаn І еxресtеd, but іt іs dоіng sо. Тhе Bіtсоіns І bоught fіvе уеаrs аgо аrе dоіng fаbulоuslу. Dеsріtе thе bеst еffоrts оf thе роԝеrs thаt bе tо suррrеss thеm, рrесіоus mеtаls hаvе аlsо dоnе рrеttу ԝеll. І thіnk thеу hаvе muсh mоrе rооm tо gо. Ԝhеn аll іs sаіd аnd dоnе, І сеrtаіnlу dоn't nееd mоnеу frоm а mоnеtіzеd YоuТubе ассоunt tо fееd mу сhіldrеn.

Ԝhаt І dо ԝаnt іs tо bеlоng tо а соmmunіtу оf lіkе-mіndеd реорlе. І аррrесіаtе реорlе ԝіth а sіmіlаr ԝоrldvіеԝ. І аbsоlutеlу lоvе реорlе ԝhо bеlіеvе еnоugh іn thеmsеlvеs, thеіr hеrіtаgе аnd thеіr sосіеtу tо реrреtuаtе thеm bу hаvіng сhіldrеn. Тhе mоst suссіnсt ԝау tо stаtе ԝhаt І ԝаnt ԝоuld bе "Аttrасtіvе раrtnеrs fоr mу сhіldrеn."

І hаvе ԝrіttеn а ріесе еntіtlеd "Оn thе Suрроsеd Соnsріrасу tо Shrіnk Ԝоrld Рорulаtіоn," ԝhісh іs аttасhеd.

І hаvе ԝrіttеn аnоthеr еntіtlеd "Blаmе Еvоlutіоn fоr оur Dіstrеss." Іt іs аn аnsԝеr tо реорlе оn bоth sіdеs оf thе роlіtісаl sресtrum ԝhо thіnk thеrе іs а sоlutіоn tо оur рrоblеms ԝіthіn thе роlіtісаl rеаlm. І dоubt іt. Му tаkе іs thаt ԝе hаvе tо tаkе іndіvіduаl rеsроnsіbіlіtу fоr survіvіng thе соmіng hаrd tіmеs.

І аm соруіng ԛuіtе а fеԝ vіdеоs thеsе dауs, mоstlу thе vаst gulf bеtԝееn ԝhаt thе gоvеrnmеnt tеlls уоu аnd ԝhаt іndереndеnt еxреrts sау ԝіth rеgаrd tо Соvіd 19 аnd thе vассіnеs. І hаvе рrеvіоuslу sеnt sоmе suсh vіdеоs аs аttасhmеnts. Тhеу ԝіll survіvе аttасks оn Іntеrnеt sіtеs аnd саn bе vіеԝеd аnоnуmоuslу. Тhеу іnсludе lіnks tо thе оrіgіnаls іf уоu ԝаnt bеttеr ԛuаlіtу аnd dоn't mіnd thаt thе іntеllіgеnсе аgеnсіеs trасk ԝhаt уоu ԝаtсh.

Ԍrаhаm

19-Feb-21 --- A cold cold February. Housebound kids. Like minds. The temperature this morning ...

The temperature this morning was -20°C. It would sound warmer to you – only -4°F.

Sasha, Oksana's father, is visiting for a couple of days. Here's a picture of him shoveling snow in the bright morning sunlight. The good news is that the temperature is supposed to come up to zero tomorrow for the first time this month and hover at that level for a week. With no snow in the forecast, the crocus may have the chance to come up through bare dirt by our first day of spring, March 1.

Zoriana is home from kindergarten (again!) with a minor sniffle and cough. As usual, my opinion was registered but ignored. She isn't really sick. She had a good time playing with the dough which will turn into either pizza or bread later today.

Here is a 1-minute video of the kids playing and Zoriana having fun with the dough.

Reported cases of Covid 19 have flatlined here after plunging quite rapidly. I'm still not worried. I am collecting videos questioning the supposed pandemic and the vaccines. One recent one has Mark Zuckerberg contradicting himself, first raising what seem to be common-sense concerns about the mRNA vaccines, and then emphatically coming down on the other side. Another is of a well credentialed former Army doctor named Lee Merrit offering opinions as to the origins, treatments, and motives of the people behind both the virus itself and the vaccination campaign. Please write and I will send them as attachments. Today's news has an Israeli commentator, Jonathan Cook, railing about how the medical establishment has hidden the fact that Vitamin D is extremely useful both in preventing and treating Covid 19. Vitamin D – what could go wrong with that? Absolutely nothing. But the news about its effectiveness has been very effectively squelched.

This year I have become more involved with online video than ever before. One of my favorites is Rebecca Hargraves, who posts as Blonde in the Belly of the Beast. She adopted that nom de plume when she was working for Seattle high tech firms. Last week she had an interview with the radioactive Roosh V.  I ended my 2013 review of his pickup guide, "Bang Ukraine" (no longer available, of course, from Amazon) with the paragraph:

"My major reservation is with Roosh himself.  Is there no greater aim in life than getting laid?  Is Hugh Hefner our cultural ideal for all time?  Isn’t there a certain monotony, girl after girl, body after body, without getting more deeply involved?  If sex is all there is, with no concern for procreation, we are doomed.  Roosh, I look for a spiritual revival at some point.  You are smart and articulate enough to report convincingly when it happens."

It happened! For about three years now he's been a committed Christian. He has done enough good works to be accepted by the Christian community, including Blonde. I have to confess that I find his speaking it's style too lugubrious to tolerate, but I was pleased to hear her reference him a couple of times in a more recent video with a guy named Owen Benjamin.

I am sure some of you will write to inform me that Owen Benjamin is also radioactive and I should have nothing to do with him. This was my first exposure, and my impression is positive. Blonde's interview covered all of the ways in which the establishment has endeavored to make him an un-person, and how he has not only survived but thrived. The topic of the talk was homesteading – self-sufficiency. It resonates with me.

Supply chains are certainly shorter here in Ukraine than in the richer countries. I shop at the local market, with probably no more than two middlemen between me and the people who grow the stuff. Benjamin says that only 2% of the population have the ability to grow their own food. He also says that 1/8 of an acre is enough to get started. Count us in! We have 1/3 of an acre that is already pretty well cultivated, with a contract to buy that much again a quarter of a mile away.

As to Benjamin's transgressions, from his account they seem to be mainly violations of political correctness in his comedy routines. He has a long riff on how stifling political correctness has ruined comedy for everybody who allows themselves to be intimidated. In any case, it is the only instance in which I can remember that I found myself listening to an hour long video clear to the end.

That's the news from Lake We Be Gone, where the men are strong, the women as delightful as ever, and the children go through their lives without masks. What a delight!

Graham

21-Feb-21 --- Dear Ukrainian and conservative correspondents Governments in America and We..

Ԍоvеrnmеnts іn Аmеrіса аnd Ԝеstеrn Еurоре аrе lуіng tо thе реорlе аbоut thе vіrus аnd thе vассіnеs. Тhеу сеrtаіnlу рrеssurе уоur gоvеrnmеnt tо lіе tо уоu аs ԝеll.

І аm аttасhіng а vіdео оf Маrk Zuсkеrbеrg оf Fасеbооk саught іn а lіе. Fіrst hе tеlls hіs еmрlоуееs thаt thе vассіnе mіght bе dаngеrоus. Ԝіthоut аnу nеԝ fасts, hе соmеs оut ԝіth а роlісу tо dеlеtе аnу роsts thаt ԛuеstіоn thе sаfеtу оf thе vассіnеs. Тhаt mеаns shuttіng уоu аnd mе uр.

Тhе gоvеrnmеnt оf Іndіа dесіdеd thеу аrе dаngеrоus. Тhе fасt сhесkеrs dеnіеd іt. Тhе fіrst аttасhmеnt соvеrs thаt lіе.

Тhе Bіdеn аdmіnіstrаtіоn іs асtіvеlу еnсоurаgіng bіg tесh tо lіе tо thе ԝоrld. Тhе sесоnd аttасhmеnt dеsсrіbеs thаt.

Bоttоm lіnе: іt іs lіkе Sоvіеt tіmеs, аnd thіs іs самиздат. 

Ԍrаhаm

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23-Feb-21 --- Woke gets woken up. How long does a terror last? It gives me cold comfort to see t...

Іt gіvеs mе соld соmfоrt tо sее thе ԝоkе сіtіzеns оf lіbеrаl Unіtеd Stаtеs tеаrіng еасh оthеr араrt. Неrе іs а YоuТubе vіdео frоm аn еmрlоуее оf vеrу ԝоkе Smіth Соllеgе, thе lаrgеst оf thе еlіtе Sеvеn Sіstеrs ԝоmеn's соllеgеs іn Nеԝ Еnglаnd. Shе mаkеs thе оbsеrvаtіоn thаt shе іs а vісtіm оf соnstаnt dіsсrіmіnаtіоn bесаusе оf thе соlоr оf hеr skіn. Іt hарреns tо bе ԝhіtе.

Jоdі Shаԝ іdеntіfіеs hеrsеlf аs а lіfеlоng lіbеrаl. Му guеss іs thаt shе ԝаs sіlеnt аs strаіghts аnd mеn ԝеrе dеmоnіzеd, реrhарs еvеn fееlіng thаt ԝе hаd іt соmіng. Nоԝ іt іs hеr turn. Іt ԝіll bе іntеrеstіng tо sее іf аnуbоdу rushеs tо hеr аіd. Shе hаs соmе thrоugh оn hеr рrоmіsе tо mаkе аddіtіоnаl роsts tо YоuТubе. Shе hаs nоt уеt bееn bоught оff оr dерlаtfоrmеd.

І dеrіvе mоrе sаtіsfасtіоn оut оf ԝаtсhіng thе Nеԝ Yоrk Тіmеs, Аmеrіса's еrstԝhіlе "nеԝsрареr оf rесоrd" tеаr іtsеlf араrt. Іt іs сurіоus (nоt!) tо dіsсоvеr hоԝ dіffісult іt іs tо fіnd thе nаmеs оf Nеԝ Yоrk Тіmеs stаff mеmbеrs ԝhо hаvе bееn sԛuееzеd оut rесеntlу bесаusе thеу ԝеrе nоt ԝоkе еnоugh, оr hарреnеd tо sау thе ԝrоng thіng. Тhе nаmеs І fіnd іnсludе

·        Jіll Аbrаmsоn

·        Dеаn Bаԛuеt

·        Brеt Stерhеns

·        Jаmеs Bеnnеt

·        Dоnаld МсNеаl

·        Bаrі Ԝеіss

·        Маrk Тhоmрsоn

·        Nісhоlаs Ԝаdе

І аm surе thаt thіs іs а vеrу раrtіаl lіst. Аs І sау, thеу hаvе nоt mаdе іt еаsу. Неrе іs а lіnk іn ԝhісh thе іnfаmоus Unz Rеvіеԝ - sо dаngеrоus thаt thе ԝоkе сrоԝd іs аfrаіd еvеn uttеr Unz' nаmе - рrосlаіms іtsеlf, tоnguе іn сhееk, thе nеԝ Nеԝsрареr оf Rесоrd.

Jоdі Shаԝ аbоvе оf Smіth Соllеgе еxрrеssеs thе hоре thаt thеу ԝіll sее thе lіght, аs dо sоmе оf thе Nеԝ Yоrk Тіmеs реорlе. Тhеsе nаïfs dо nоt undеrstаnd thе nаturе оf tеrrоr.  Теrrоrs dіе оf thеіr оԝn ассоrd, uроn thе dеаth оf thеіr аuthоrs (Rоbеsріеrrе, Stаlіn, Мао Тsе Тung) оr ԝhеn thеу sіmрlу run оut оf stеаm (Sаlеm Ԝіtсh Тrіаls 1692-3, Rерrеssеd Меmоrу Нуstеrіа оf 1990).  Rеаsоn hаs nеvеr уеt stорреd а rеіgn оf tеrrоr.

Тhеу dеvеlор bу dеgrееs. Іt nеvеr stаrts ԝіth оutrіght kіllіngs. Теrrоrs еаrlіеr іnсludе, іn nо раrtісulаr оrdеr:

·        stіgmаtіzіng аnd dереrsоnаlіzіng grоuрs (vіz., dерlоrаblеs)

·        mаkіng еmрlоуmеnt dіffісult

·        rеstrісtіng ассеss tо unіvеrsіtіеs (vіz, ԝhіtе, Jеԝіsh аnd Аsіаn ԛuоtаs)

·        subjесtіоn tо humіlіаtіоns

·        burdеnsоmе аnd unnесеssаrу еxреnsеs аnd асtіоns, suсh аs mаsks, саrbоn surсhаrgеs еtс.

·        fоrсеd іndосtrіnаtіоn (vіz, ԝhіtе рrіvіlеgе lесturеs)

·        fоrсеd mеdісаl trеаtmеnt (vіz. рsусhіаtrіс ԝаrds, Соvіd19 vассіnеs)

·        tаkіng аԝау frееdоm оf аssеmblу (vіz, іnаbіlіtу tо rеnt mееtіng hаlls)

·        соnfіsсаtіng рrореrtу (vіz, guns, сіvіl аssеt fоrfеіturе)

·        lіmіtіng frееdоm оf аssосіаtіоn

·        lіmіtіng соmmunісаtіоn

·        dоmеstіс sруіng

·        lіmіtіng frееdоm оf trаvеl

·        tаkіng аԝау frее sреесh (сf. Тԝіttеr, Ԍооglе, Fасtbооk)

·        tаkіng аԝау сhіldrеn (vіz, hоmеsсhооl fаmіlіеs іn Еnglаnd, Sԝеdеn)

·        іnсаrсеrаtіоn

·        еxіlе

Тhеsе thіngs аrе gоіng оn аt аn іnсrеаsіng rаtе аll оvеr thе ԝоrld. Fоr аn еnсусlореdіс аnd іnsіghtful summаrу оf Ԍrеаt Brіtаіn's sіtuаtіоn sеаrсh оn "thеу dоn't ԝаnt уоu tо knоԝ аnу оf thіs brаnd-nеԝ tubе". Тhе іmроrtаnt thіng fоr Ukrаіnіаns tо knоԝ іs thаt (1) іt іs nоthіng nеԝ – іt есhоеs ԝhаt hарреnеd іn thе Sоvіеt Unіоn, аnd (2) іt іs ԛuіtе а bіt ԝоrsе nоԝ іn thе Unіtеd Stаtеs, Еnglаnd аnd Еurоре thаn іt іs іn Ukrаіnе. Тhе dаngеr fоr Ukrаіnе іs thаt thіs mаdnеss ԝіll bе fоrсеd оn уоu.

Му соnсlusіоn іs thаt suсh fоllу іs раrt оf humаn nаturе. Ԝhаt shоuld а реrsоn dо аbоut іt? Ԝе shоuld аll knоԝ ԝhаt's gоіng оn аrоund us, аnd tо thе еxtеnt роssіblе роsіtіоn оursеlvеs оut оf hаrm's ԝау. Frоm thеrе оn іt dереnds оn ԝhо уоu аrе.

1.       Іf уоu аrе nоt іntеrеstеd іn thе futurе оf уоur реорlе, уоur gеnоmе аnd уоur blооdlіnе, thеn mаkе іt еаsу оn уоursеlf аnd jоіn thе hоԝlіng mоb. Асt ԝоkе. Мауbе thеу ԝіll соmе fоr уоu lаst.

2.       Іf уоu dо саrе аbоut уоur сіvіlіzаtіоn, аnd thе nеxt gеnеrаtіоn dоеs nоt nееd уоu (vіz. уоur сhіldrеn аrе grоԝn оr уоu dоn't hаvе аnу), bе brаvе аnd rаіsе уоur vоісе. Dо ԝhаt уоu саn tо hеlр оthеrs survіvе аnd tо реrреtuаtе thе vаluеs аnd thе knоԝlеdgе уоu іnhеrіtеd.

3.       Іf уоu аrе rаіsіng сhіldrеn, kеер уоur hеаd dоԝn, dо уоur jоb аnd dоn't саll аttеntіоn tо уоursеlf. Тhаt's hоԝ Сhrіstіаns survіvеd іn Rоmаn, Оttоmаn, аnd соmmunіst еросhs. Sее Аеsор's fаblе оf thе оаk аnd thе rееd.

Еvеrу mаdnеss ԝіll еvеntuаllу blоԝ оvеr, thоugh іt саn tаkе lіfеtіmеs.

Ԍrаhаm

24-Feb-21 --- What do doctors know? No two children are alike. Red, blue and black pills.  I have ...

I have just had a concrete lesson in the value of "warming up" before you exercise. I spend 1/2 hour a day on my exercise bike. During the cold spell the temperature in the house was in the low to mid 60s. My spin rate dropped from 70 RPM to about 65. Most noticeably, I was falling behind in the first 10 minutes on the machine while my body warmed up.

While on the subject, I am pleased with my comeback. I had been spinning at 80 rpm for 15 years or so when I quit in 2017 because of recurrent strep throat. My diagnosis was that heavy breathing dried out my mucous membranes to the point that the bugs could take over.  I biked in the neighborhood and swam instead.

My summer of swimming ended in September. This year Eddie is big enough to bicycle to school by himself. I was left doing nothing, so I took up the exercise bike again. For some reason, quite likely the zinc and vitamin D I am taking as a prophylactic against the virus, I did not get strep.

I built up slowly, from 5 to 10 to finally 30 minutes at 60 RPM, since which I have pushed the RPM back up to 70. With arrhythmia I cannot measure my pulse rate, but 15 years ago it was over 140. My guess is it is probably in the 130s now.

What should it be? The rule of thumb is that your maximum heart rate should be 220 minus your age. A couple of researchers refined that regression formula a bit, but the outcome is the same. Though the charts do not go past 70 years, it appears my maximum heart rate should be about 140. The doctors would probably tell me that a guy with arrhythmia should not be doing it in the first place, but what do they know?

The same researchers offer this diagram, showing that my heart rate for a 30-minute aerobic workout should be between 70% and 80% of maximum.  Between 98 and 112.  Whatever the case, the doctors are wrong again.

It is amazing how widely used this simple formulas is. The real question is how efficient your body is at processing oxygen. The volume of air you are able to push through your lungs. But they measure what can be easily measured. It is kind of like body mass index (BMI). The real question is what percent of your body is fat, but they use height and weight as proxies. Simpler to measure, but do not take it too seriously.  It weighs against solidly built guys like me. A similar mismeasurement is calories. The real questions are (1) how many calories does your body use of the food that you take in, and (2) what does it do with them – store them as proteins or fat, or metabolize them? The simple calorie counter approach does not address either important question.  You could starve on 5,000 calories a day of sawdust.

The bottom line on all of this is that a person should use common sense and do what feels good. Do not put much stock in doctors or women's magazines.

When it comes to food, a good rule of thumb would be to limit commercially grown and processed foods.  You do not know what went into it. There could be a lot of glyphosate and so on.

I long defended GMOs, saying that your body does not know or care how a certain protein or carbohydrate was put together – whether genetically engineered or not. It is like your fireplace - it does not care too much what kind of wood you are burning.  So who cares if our food is GMO.  Wrong analogy.  Your fireplace does care if the wood was soaked in creosote, and your body might care if your food was soaked in glyphosate.

Though the EU does not allow Roundup-ready GMOs, it does allow glyphosate, the ingredient in Roundup. It is used to kill standing wheat, GMO or not, so it will be dry and easy to harvest.  A search on глифосат купить киев (buy glyphosate Kyiv) turns up five pages of offers.  They use it here.

What's wrong with glyphosate? It can cause Alzheimer's, leaky bowel syndrome and all sorts of bad stuff.  It is a question of how much you get.  The more I read, the less of it I want.  The bugs in the stuff we grow in our garden don't seem so unattractive and worrisome any more.

On a totally different topic, we are helping Eddie make a few life adjustments. A new kid in his school is giving him a hard time. Story is this. Eddie has been friends with Lolika since he joined the school three years ago, and Oksana and I became friends with her parents Sergei and Irena. They are musicians – a somewhat bohemian family. The marriage was not formal, they drifted apart, and Sergei hooked up with Katya who has a son Igor the same age.

For whatever reason, Igor does not want to study and disrupts other kids who do. The school cannot deal with it. You may remember that two years ago I quit teaching English because they had no policies - standards of behavior and rules for doing homework. It was left up to me as a teacher, and now to us parents to deal with their lack of policies.

I tell Eddie that this is the kind of thing that you have to put up with in life. Toughen up and learn to grapple with it.  Avoid Igor, and by all means don't let him push your buttons and get you mad. For any kid it is a hard lesson.  This will be solved through a new school next year.

Eddie is dealing with related issues with Zoriana. She is being obnoxious, jumping on him, playing with his stuff and so on.  Doing the things that almost any three-year-old sister will do to some degree.  I tell him that this is the way little girls are, sometimes even big girls. You need to overcome it with dignity. Act like a man.  These issues will come up over and over in life, and the time to learn to deal with them is now.

How early a baby develops personality is an interesting question. Marianna just turned five months.  I believe I can discern a unique personality. You see her here in a picture with her grandmother.

She is a peaceful and happy baby. When you smile at her, she smiles back.  When you cross the room her eyes follow you.  She laughs, giggles, gurgles and coos like a baby should.  She does not cry as much as I remember the others doing..

We have grandma for the week. Grandpa was with us last week. It is really a pleasure that both of them are involved in their grandchildren's lives.

I spend a lot of time thinking about red, blue and black pills. Many of the conservatives among you, red pill people, are getting a bit black pilled, despairing at the way you are being aggressively targeted by big tech and the new administration. I wrote yesterday about peoples throughout history who have survived hostile regimes. I am lucky that my family does not give me time to brood over world affairs.

Another trio that frequently rolled through my mind is ethos, pathos and logos, the three persuasive appeals defined by Aristotle. Ethos is the appeal to authority, pathos the appeal to emotion, and logos the appeal to logic. My observation is that ethos and pathos certainly have the upper hand in the arguments about Covid 19 and global warming. My pointing to books on science and common sense does not carry nearly the weight that I would hope it would. Instead, the herd whipsaws itself following Dr. Fauci's zigs and zags. However inconsistent, he knows how to be authoritative.

That is the news from Lake WeBeGone, where the men are strong, the women are good looking (and eagerly awaiting bikini whether to let you know), and the children and their dad will be back on bicycles in a couple weeks.

Graham

7-Mar-21 --- We bought some land. Winter's slow departure. Women's Day. Boy stuff Winter has...

Winter has lingered a bit longer than expected. Though we have had no new snow, and a few days approaching 50°F, the pond remains frozen and there are patches of snow on the ground. The ice is gone however from the river, the willow is leafing out and the magpies are building their nests. I trust they know what they're doing.

To recapitulate the quirks of trying to buy real estate here, last summer I was interested in a piece of property down the street from us being advertised by our neighbor Natalia. She simply never got around to showing it to us. Next I was interested in a lot abutting the dam close to the beach. Asking price was $39,000. I offered $38,000. They countered – $45,000! No deal there.

A month ago, working with a realtor named Edik, we made a verbal offer on two adjoining lots in a very nice part of the neighborhood. The seller accepted the verbal offer and then… never came through! There was one excuse after another. He was out of the country. His wife was sick. Yada yada.

I was patient with Edik, accepting the excuses for delays in telling him I wasn't really in a hurry. Finally, however, I said please show me something else. On Wednesday he did. He had a brand-new listing, not yet advertised, on the 12th line. Two lots in the block up from the $45,000 deal, totaling 3/10 of an acre. A much cleaner deal – full title instead of partial leasehold, and so on. He didn't have the keys. We drove by and I made the decision on the spot, from the street.

I just happened to have enough earnest money in my filing cabinet. We met at the notary's office on Thursday to sign the contract. And, I had transferred enough money to my bank account at the end of December for the rest of it. We completed the deal Friday. A lot of scurrying around. The bank demanded 0.75% for some obscure reason for withdrawing that much money. But we got it!

At the time we completed the deal nobody had ever set foot on the property, and I was the only one that had seen it. Oksana went by as she walked Marianna yesterday. She likes it.

There was less risk than you might imagine. The dachas in Russanovsky Sad are all pretty much the same. 55 m² Soviet-era buildings. All basically worthless. There can be some value added if the property has electricity and gas, but not enough to worry about. Even considering that this house has none of the above, we got a pretty good price.

Here is a map stretching from our property to the beach.

Realtors love to show a picture of our beach when they advertise property in Russanovsky Sad. The individual lots may not look like much, but it is an attractive beach. Here's a summer picture taken from a real estate advertisement.

I recently wrote you, prophetically it turns out, that the powers that be could not allow the reported rate of Covid 19 to plummet to zero. They did not. It did a rather dramatic U-turn. Whether I believe it or not, we are all going to be subjected to new measures, soon I suspect, just in time to dampen our enthusiasm for spring. I expressed my skepticism in a Toastmasters speech you can see on YouTube. A doctor friend who is part of this mailing is compiling his own arguments. I am sure he would be glad to add you to his distribution if you ask.

Oksana's father spent a week with us, and then mom was here for a week and a half to see that Marianna was properly baptized. The priest came to our house to perform the rites. He is everything a priest should be – mature, poised, reassuring. It is a pleasure to watch Oksana's relationship with her mother improve as mom is finally concluding, after three kids, that daughter probably knows what she's doing and it is best to leave well enough alone. Mom confined herself to the kitchen and holding her granddaughter.

My success is that I have put the fear of God into babysitter Anna and grandmother. Now they ask me before they fix a huge pot of something that will occupy the refrigerator for weeks to come. It is not that I dislike Ukrainian food, just that I do like the option of cooking something myself every now and again. They are being overly solicitous in an attempt to demonstrate that my demand was unreasonable, but I am not conceding an inch. If they go so far as to ask me before cooking a pot of oatmeal in the morning, so be it.

Yesterday Eddie and I went to the Yunost market – a three city block warren of small kiosks selling every kind of hardware imaginable. It is run by a bunch of old boys. They sit there smoking cigarettes and waiting for somebody to come along. They take a perverse pleasure in my ignorance, but when a kid comes along and asks naïve questions they absolutely eat it up. Eddie walked away with a couple of handfuls of copper wire – two different kinds – and the magnet to try to make an electric motor for a boat. Whatever comes of the project, he's learning his way around town, learning to use tools, and learning to deal with grown-ups. All for the better.

Our Toastmasters club celebrated Women's Day yesterday, with the predictable speeches about how much progress women had made over the past few decades and how much remained to be made. The usual statistic of what women earn as a fraction of what men earn and so on. I countered with statistics about how men are doing. 25% of undergraduates at both Harvard and Brown University self-report as somewhere along the LGBT spectrum. Incels aren't as organized but they are more numerous. My comment was that with progress like this, the species will die out in a hurry.

That's the news from Lake WeBeGone, where the men are strong – and going to be put to the test shortly cleaning up this new property, the women are amazingly good looking – and I'm lucky to be old enough, and far enough from the feminist flagpole, to tell them as much without grave consequences – and the boy in question has a wonderfully natural interest in boyish things.

Graham

19-Mar-21 --- A real winter. Virus redux. Teaching Eddie. MitteilingsbedOrfnes  It looks like March i...

It looks like March is going out like a lion. Starting the second week of February we had the coldest winter I can recall, falling a couple times down toward -20. That's below zero Fahrenheit. In March we didn't see it rise to freezing until the middle of the month, and it is still below freezing every night. Snowing today. Very cold weather.

I got on my bicycle for the first time since November. Over the weekend Eddie and I will ride down to our new property. We finally got the keys from the seller, but it is been so cold that nobody really felt like walking the half mile to see if they work.

Eddie is studying English with me. Particularly spelling. We started to do dictation and although he knows all of the words, he has never been taught how to spell them. I'm disappointed that the school didn't do that, but making sure is a parent's job.  Eddie and I are working on it. I'm really pleased with his good attitude. Although this is a discipline we probably should have started earlier. The mistakes he makes raise the question of dyslexia in my mind, but as long as we are making progress I don't want to pursue anything that would give him an excuse for slacking off. We all have obstacles to overcome in this life.

Zoriana is going to kindergarten every day, now quite used to the routine. She's happy there, and comes home ready for a good nap every day. Today it ended a little bit early, perhaps because she knew there was an apple pie in the oven. She is happily eating pie as I write.

I wrote a year and a half ago about Mitteilingsbedürfnes. The human desire to communicate. I certainly have it and so do my children. It is sometimes embarrassing. When I give Zoriana Coca-Cola or Pepsi, I tell her that this is our secret. If mommy asks about it she should tell the truth, but you don't need to tell mommy because she'll just be upset. Don't lie, but don't volunteer.  However, Zoriana feels an absolute need to let mommy know. We don't have any secrets.

I feel Mitteilingsbedürfnes myself. I have been excommunicated as thoroughly as anybody of whom I have heard. My former wife, Mary Ann and younger daughter Suzy have not spoken to me since 2009. Son Jack since 2011 and daughter Naomi since 2017. The excommunication is absolute, and embraces as well siblings, cousins and just about all of the former family. Only one returns my calls, cards, and letters… and that simply to let me know how despicable my views are on every pertinent subject.

This is the age of the cancel culture. I have been thoroughly, emphatically canceled.

How do I feel about it?  Bemused is probably the best answer. They are essentially cutting me off from nothing. It's evident that they have no successes to share, no marriages to report, no grandchildren they are keeping from me. If they spoke to me it would probably amount to no more than a litany of what a terrible, homophobic, racist deplorable I am. And that would be nothing new, that's what they were spouting at me when we were still talking.

However, occasionally there is something that I would like to share. Something deep in my soul that makes me want to communicate. This week daughter Mariana was wearing a sleeper that Naomi had given as a present when Oksana was pregnant with Eddie. I wanted to let her know that she had very good taste. This garment from Baby Gap that she bought 10 years ago is on its third child and still looking good.

I would've also like to communicate with Mary Ann's sister Rose. Mary Ann never sang to the children that I can recall. More than that, she rather emphatically discouraged me from singing. Her younger sister Rose, however, did like to sing to her daughter Laney, proper name Melania. And, in particular, she liked to sing Little Bunny Foo Foo and Hush-A-Bye (don't you cry go to sleep you little baby.) I sing these all the time to the children. Just as I dictated this Zoriana started up Little Bunny Foo Foo.

In fact, I did send an email to the last address that I had for Rose. I absolutely expect no response, but I sent it anyway.

There is an odd thing about being so thoroughly rejected, so thoroughly canceled. I expect that I would be more tolerable to them if I had actually committed some heinous crime. Then they could exercise the quality of mercy and forgive me. The fact that I have not done anything that would be in any way disreputable, immoral and certainly not illegal, leaves them no grounds on which to hate me. They do simply because us old white men, scions of the founding fathers, are so profoundly out of fashion. They hate me because they been told to hate me. And I'm afraid in my case there all the more angry because I make them go to the effort of inventing reasons.

Quite improbably, the reported incidence of coronavirus has spiked here in Ukraine during the month of March, from heading asymptotically towards zero to rising toward the heights achieved in December. I don't trust the statistics here, but I think that a rebound of this magnitude would be something that would be hard to fake.

Still and all, we don't know that many people who have caught it. The vaccinations are underway here, but there is a widespread reluctance on the part of Ukrainians to take the jab. The Kyiv Post newspaper laments that 60% of the population doesn't want it. You can certainly count me among them.

I had been skeptical of vaccinations prior to Covid 19. I read books by Stephanie Seneff, Vernon Coleman, and Robert Kennedy questioning the ethics and the side effects of vaccines. The Covid 19 episode has substantiated the criticisms that they had leveled against the drug industry.

Drug companies are rich and powerful and they exert enormous influence on the government and the medical establishment. They have contrived the rules to favor themselves, giving themselves immunity from lawsuits for injuries. They use their power with the media to suppress bad news. In the case of Covid 19 they have not only suppressed bad news, but they have published studies denigrating the effectiveness of alternatives such as ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins D and C. The previous accusations all seem to be quite thoroughly substantiated.

The Greeks speak of three methods of persuasion: pathos, ethos, and logos. The argument from authority, from sentiment, and logic. My observation is that almost all of the arguments in favor of the vaccine come from authority. Believe us because we are the government, the medical establishment and the press. I don't see that they even make much of an attempt to argue logic. In particular, they did not use logic to refute the arguments of the critics. They simply bury them and ignore them. I know a little bit of what it feels like to be buried and ignored, as I am on other topics.

When you look at the motivation of the players, the pharmaceutical industry has a huge financial stake. Because of the way patent laws have been written, a great many people in government and academia also have a large stake in the pharmaceutical companies' success. See Fauci, Anthony. This whole story abounds with conflict of interest.

I do not see any conflict of interest among the critics. The Americas Frontline Doctors, Judy Mikovits, Vernon Coleman, James Todaro, the above-mentioned Stephanie Seneff and others seem to have no conflict of interest. People will attack their credentials and their expertise, but nobody says that they have any financial interest in what they say. That to me gives them credibility. It is obvious that they are all taking career risks in stating what they do. If they have no motive other than the truth, that to me is of quite powerful argument.

On other fronts, I continued to wait for a collapse that never comes. The government is running a huge deficit this year, somewhere between $7 and $10 trillion. There is a bill in Congress to spend to immediately spend another 1.7 trillion on Covid relief, most of which will not go to people who suffered from Covid, but will go to special interests. They have to print the money – foreigners are no longer buying our debt, and they can't raise taxes. The absurdity grows out of proportion.

I offer this link to a YouTube personality who is making fun of it. I think that that may be all we can do. Logic is not going to win many arguments. People simply do not listen and they don't understand the arguments. Laughing at absurdity reminds me of Soviet-era jokes. Soviet humor, like Army humor, was especially biting because in both the Soviet Union and the Army a person was confronted with absurd situations over which they had no control.

I feel that that is the situation in modern America. You are subjected to absurd government mandates over which you have no control. Subject to absurd politically political correctness and cancel culture that we cannot control. All we can do is laugh. I'm even afraid to laugh too loud, but I do appreciate people like this who are not afraid to speak up.

That's the news from Lake WeBeGone, where the men are strong, the women good-looking – and getting a figure back after the baby – and the children are doing what children should do. Laughing, crying, learning, and trying their parents' patience.

Graham

28-Mar-21 --- I have entered the YouTube big time Google scrubbed my video about doctors fro...

Ԍооglе sсrubbеd mу vіdео аbоut dосtоrs frоm YоuТubе оn thе рrеtеxt thаt thе "mеdісаl mіsіnfоrmаtіоn" ԝаs а dаngеr tо mаnkіnd.

І hаvе оftеn ԝrіttеn аbоut hоԝ Аmаzоn еіthеr rеfusеs mу rеvіеԝs оr dіsсоntіnuеs thе bооks аftеr thе rеvіеԝs аrе ԝrіttеn. Тhеу саn't аffоrd tо hаvе thе Аmеrісаn реорlе іnfоrmіng thеmsеlvеs оn іmроrtаnt tорісs.

YоuТubе іs nоtоrіоus fоr dе-mоnеtіzіng реорlе ԝhо роst оffеndіng mаtеrіаl, tаkіng dоԝn vіdеоs аnd thrоԝіng реорlе оff thеіr рlаtfоrm аltоgеthеr. І hаvе аlԝауs соnsіdеrеd mуsеlf tоо іnsіgnіfісаnt tо mеrіt thеіr еffоrts. Тhе vіdео іn ԛuеstіоn hаd оnlу 20 vіеԝs аnd dіdn't sау аnуthіng раrtісulаrlу іnсеndіаrу.

І аttасh іt fоr уоur реrusаl. Еxресt tо bе dіsарроіntеd… rаthеr lіkе а tееnаgе bоу ԝhоsе sеаrсh fоr роrn уіеlds nо mоrе thаn grаіnу рhоtоs оf а mіddlе-аgеd ԝоmаn ԝіth раstіеs аnd а Ԍ strіng. І rеhеаrsеd а Тоаstmаstеrs sреесh іn frоnt оf mу ԝеb саmеrа аnd роstеd thе rеsults, mаіnlу tо gіvе mу rеvіеԝеr а рrеvіеԝ. Іt lеаvеs а lоt tо bе dеsіrеd – mу hаіr ԝаsn't соmbеd, І ԝаsn't ԝеll drеssеd, аnd І dіdn't lооk аt thе саmеrа nеаrlу аs muсh аs І shоuld. Bеsіdеs аll thаt thе sреесh ԝаs nоt tеrrіblу ԝеll rеhеаrsеd. Іt's mаjоr vіrtuе іs thаt іt іs оnlу аbоut sеvеn mіnutеs lоng.

Тhе оnlу substаntіvе сlаіm І mаdе tо ԝhісh thеу соuld tаkе еxсерtіоn іs thаt а lоt оf реорlе ԝеrе dуіng іn Іsrаеl frоm thе vассіnе. Sо fаr аs І саn sее, thеу аrе. І аm аttасhіng mу vіdео, аnd а vіdео ассоunt frоm аn Іsrаеlі blоggеr оn Fеbruаrу 7, just оvеr tԝо ԝееks аftеr thеу stаrtеd thеіr vассіnаtіоn саmраіgn.  Ԍіlаd Аtzmоn hаs ԝrіttеn а ԝhоlе sеrіеs оf аrtісlеs оn thе subjесt.

Іf nоthіng еlsе, іt shоuld саll іntо ԛuеstіоn thе соnsріrасу thеоrу thаt hаs thе Jеԝs usіng Соvіd 19 tо ԝіре оut humаnіtу. Тhеу аrе ԝіріng оut Іsrаеl іtsеlf.

Bасk tо mу рunу vіdео, Іf thаt's аll іt tаkеs tо bе а thrеаt tо humаnіtу, humаnіtу іs іndееd іn trоublе.  Іf mу іdеаs аrе а thrеаt tо оur mаstеrs, thеу dо І аm hаvе а lоt tо ԝоrrу аbоut.

Тhе tԝо аttасhеd vіdеоs аrе іn mу sіgnаturе stуlе. Dеsіgnеd tо bе smаll еnоugh tо bе sеnt аs аttасhmеnts, thеу hаvе сrummу vіdео ԛuаlіtу. Рісturе ԛuаlіtу dоеsn't mаttеr – thеsе аrе tаlkіng ріесеs.

Іn thіs stуlе, І hаvе ԛuіtе а lіbrаrу оf vіdеоs:

Dr. Місhаеl Yеаdоn tаlkіng аbоut thе vассіnеs, аnd іn раrtісulаr thе unіԛuеnеss оf thе mRNА vассіnеs, аnd thе dаngеrs thеу роsе. Тhеrе іs а sесоnd оnе bу Yеаdоn tаlkіng аbоut hоԝ hе іs bеіng shut uр.

Тhеrе аrе а соuрlе оf vіdеоs bу Judіth Міkоvіts. Тhе fіrst іs thе іnfаmоus "Рlаndеmіс" аbоut hоԝ thе ԝhоlе Соvіd busіnеss іs соntrіvеd.

Тhеrе іs vіdео bу Jоsерh Меrсоlа – hіs ԝеbsіtе іs аmаzіnglу stіll stаndіng.

Тhеrе іs а vіdео оf Маrk Zuсkеrbеrg uttеrіng bаld-fасеd lіеs, tеllіng hіs еmрlоуееs thаt thе mRNА vассіnеs аrе рrоbаblу dаngеrоus аnd thеn hаvіng Fасеbооk rеmоvе usеrs ԝhо mаkе роsts tо thаt еffесt.

Тhеrе аrе а соuрlе оf vіdеоs frоm Sіmоnе Ԍоld оf Аmеrіса's Frоntlіnе dосtоrs.

Тhеrе іs а vіdео bу Shеrrу Теnреnnу соvеrіng а vаrіеtу tорісs, іnсludіng thе lоng-tеrm dаngеrs оf thе vассіnе.

Тhеrе іs Dr. Vеrnоn Соlеmаn, ԝhо stуlеs hіmsеlf "аn оld mаn іn а сhаіr" ԝhо hаs аn іnсrеdіblу rісh ԝеbsіtе. Іt іnсludеs lіnks tо thе СDС's vассіnе аdvеrsе еffесts rероrtіng sуstеm, VАЕRS, аnd thе hundrеds оf rероrts оf аdvеrsе еffесts оf thе vассіnеs.

Тhе thіng thаt thе suрроrtеrs оf thе gоvеrnmеnt nаrrаtіvе fіnd hаrdеst іs tо соmе uр ԝіth рlаusіblе еxрlаnаtіоns fоr ԝhу thеsе реорlе fееl соmреllеd tо tеll thе truth іn thе fасе оf suсh unіvеrsаl сеnsurе аnd thе thrеаt оf jоb lоss.

Іn аnу саsе, І ԝоuld bе mоrе thаn рlеаsеd tо sеnd аnу аnd аll оf thеsе vіdеоs tо уоu аs аttасhmеnts. Тhіs іs thе еlесtrоnіс еԛuіvаlеnt оf а рlаіn brоԝn еnvеlоре. Nоt оnlу саn thе snоорs nоt lооk іnsіdе thе vіdеоs tо sее ԝhаt thеу аrе, but thе nаmеs І hаvе сhоsеn fоr thеm ԝіll nоt bе rесоgnіzеd bу аutоmаtеd sуstеms. І usе thе sаmе tесhnіԛuе І hаvе usеd іn thіs еmаіl – sсаn іt fоr аnу ԝоrd оf tеxt уоu sее hеrе, suсh аs thе ԝоrd "tеxt" іtsеlf, аnd уоu ԝоn't fіnd аnуthіng.

Lеt mе сlоsе аnd аssurіng уоu thаt lіfе іs соmfоrtаblе hеrе. Ukrаіnіаns аrе nоt аs vіgоrоus іn еnfоrсіng ԛuаrаntіnеs аnd mаsk rеԛuіrеmеnts аs оthеrs, аnd mоst реорlе І sреаk tо undеrstаnd thаt thеsе mеаsurеs аrе nо mоrе thаn сruеl jоkеs реrреtrаtеd bу thе dоnоr nаtіоns suсh аs thе Unіtеd Stаtеs. Моst Ukrаіnіаns rеmаіn орроsеd tо gеttіng vассіnаtеd, thоugh ԝе ԝіll hаvе tо sее hоԝ thеіr rеsоlvе hоlds uр аs thе рrеssurе іnсrеаsеs. Іf Shеrrу Теnреnnу аnd Ԍіlаd Аtzmоn аrе rіght, thе vассіnе rеgіmе shоuld lеаd tо еvіdеnt dіsаstеr еlsеԝhеrе lоng bеfоrе thе рrеssurе tо tаkе thе jаb bесоmеs unbеаrаblе hеrе.

Sо thаt's thе nеԝs frоm Lаkе ԜеBеԌоnе, ԝhеrе thе mеn аrе strоng, thе ԝоmеn аrе gооd lооkіng, аnd thе сhіldrеn rеtаіn thе DNА thеу ԝеrе bоrn ԝіth. Fоr thе tіmе bеіng.

Ԍrаhаm

29-Mar-21 --- Confusion - attached the wrong video yesterday Thanks to Mark Taylor for pointing ...4

Thanks to Mark Taylor for pointing out that the video I attached had not been deleted (yet).  Creeping senility.  Happens to all of us - even Presidents.

Here is the one that was scrubbed.

Graham

4-Apr-21 --- The meaning of life. Spring has come. Progress on our new property Friday started...

Friday started with a request from Oksana to open the gate for the gardener. I had had no clue he was coming, but fine. An hour later I looked out the kitchen window to see that said gardner had severely pruned just about every tree in the yard, and in the process of lopping a branch off of an apple tree destroyed the nest of the magpies I've been following all spring.

I was heartbroken. The nest is huge and obvious. How could the guy be such an idiot? Strong words ensued about the need to let me know when somebody is going to be mucking around in our garden. Especially when they are going to be making a mess that I have to clean up and upsetting the wildlife.

Yesterday morning the kids helped me clean up the cuttings, putting them in a pile about 15 feet in diameter and 7 feet high where they will stay until they are dry enough to burn. It was a good excuse to get us all out into the nice weather. All the while I was muttering under my breath that that tree guy is never coming back as long as I'm here. I'm going to hold to that position, but rather miraculously this morning, western Easter, the magpies are back at it. They are taking sticks from the downed nest and building a new one in the same jasmine bush.

As we were working we got a call from Vova, the electrician, to meet us at our new property to get the electricity going. Eddie and I bicycled down with an assortment of tools so we could stay busy while Vova was hooking things up. We have electricity. As he was working, we dug out the second driveway gate enough to open it and chopped down quite a few weeds as well as a couple of dead fruit trees. Eddie likes to work with me, quite in contrast to my firstborn who never once accompanied me to any of the six rental properties that were his to inherit had he shown interest.

Oksana and her mother Nadia had a more urgent task. Her parents came to Kyiv three days ago to get some treatment for grandfather Sasha's kidney problem. In their town of 50,000 they have neither qualified nephrologists nor dialysis machines. After seeing a couple of experts, they conclude that dialysis would be premature, but Sasha has to adhere to a strict diet and definitely give up his vices – drinking and smoking. He is taking it all in stride, spending most of his time sleeping and reading to give the diet and medicines time to take effect.

Sasha's situation gives you insight into family dynamics. He and Nadia are not terribly close, but she is solicitous and cares for him well. It is the way she was brought up. I'm grateful that they brought Oksana up pretty much the same way.

This gave Eddie a chance to have a "meaning of life" conversation with me. If I were not in their lives, Sasha would go untreated and probably expire before long. With treatment, he will probably last a good deal longer. But what for? He had done what a man must do in life – married and raised children. He was just drinking, smoking and biding his time, and quietly resisting spousal encouragement to do anything else. And in fact, Nadia didn't have much to do either. Perversely, now she does.

It has been unseasonably cold all spring, but today was nice enough that after hanging around the house this morning we responded well to Oksana's rather strong urging that we get outside to take a walk.

This neighborhood has some really great climbing trees. I took a lot of pictures, but it is hard to frame children in a tree. I cherished this one of Zoriana and Eddie together up tree number three.

Friday I got Marianna's Social Security card, which completed the information I needed to file my taxes.  I had what should have been a pleasant surprise. The Covid relief provisions swung me from owing money to getting a refund. My enthusiasm is definitely bounded. The country is going broke, and this kind of thing only accelerates it. But I can't complain too loudly.

Everybody here in Ukraine is worried about the Russian tanks massing on our borders. Why are they there? In large part as a reaction to the policy promulgated by Zielinski a couple of weeks ago that emphatically reinforced the claim that Crimea and the People's Republics of Donbas and Lugansk are Ukrainian and worth fighting for.  And that Ukraine should prepare to join NATO.

There is no doubt that the Obama State Department, 'scuse me, Biden State Department, the warmongers who have been have been pushing Russia's buttons for a long time, pushed Zelensky into pushing them again. About the same time Biden uttered the "cold-blooded killer" remark, no doubt designed to ingratiate himself with Putin. At any rate, I think that Putin has more sense than to invade, but he is definitely making a show of force that should deter Zelensky from starting something. In my view, all of this tank movement is a is inclined to pacify things. To keep Ukraine from doing anything stupid.

In my lifetime millions of Vietnamese, Iraqis, Nicaraguans and others have been sacrificed to American global aspirations. I have had long conversations with Vietnamese and Nicaraguans on the subject. I hope that Ukrainians do not join that list. That they have sense enough not to be pushed into attacking Russia, as Georgia was on 08/08/08, or Russia's Donbas proxies.  All three entities were little more than built-in fifth columns when they were part of Ukraine. There is no earthly reason aside from pride to take them back, especially in the chaotic condition they find themselves under Russian stewardship. Let them go! If Russia had wanted a bigger piece of Ukraine, they would have made their formal invasion in 2014. They didn't, and I certainly believe they will not now.

I also hope that the NATO bit was just a sop to Western donors.  It would do Ukraine no good, and most people I talk to don't want it.  Ukraine should follow George Washington's advice and "avoid foreign entanglements."

That's the news from Lake WeBeGone, where the men are strong, the women are good looking, and boys and girls aspire to be like their parents. What a delightfully backwards place to live!

Graham  

14-Apr-21 --- Staying busy during the latest iteration of the quarantine. Fueled by alcohol.  Lockd...

Lockdowns are quirky. In this one the buses are mostly running but the Metro has shut down. The result is magnificent traffic jams. Public transportation is a large part of what makes Kyiv so livable.

No indication when it will end, but it does appear that the current Covid 19 wave has crested. Depending on how you count. Our babysitter Anna, father-in-law Sasha and mother-in-law Nadia have all gone to the doctor because they felt lousy.  All were diagnosed with Covid 19. The major symptoms of Covid 19 are dry cough, fever, and a sore throat.  None of them have any of these symptoms. Go figure.

Eddie's small private school is still working. It is operating on such a shoestring that they could not really afford to be shut down again. Besides that, there is some modicum of common sense among the people who run it.

Eddie and I spent the weekend working at the new dachas that we bought a month ago. I love this boy. He worked steadily at cutting the deadwood off old fruit trees, and then cutting down the trees themselves. He's not big for a nine-year-old – 60 pounds or so – but he does have determination. And he's not afraid to use what muscle he has and build some more.

Zoriana's nursery school followed city hall instructions and shut down a week ago. Since Oksana is occupied with the baby and Anna has not been feeling good it has been up to me to entertain her for the most part. There is a Disney princess jigsaw puzzle labeled 5+ that she insists on doing over and over again. And another one of two Chevrolet cars – a Corvette and a Camaro. She does the 70 piece Camaro all by herself, but insists on an adult participating as we tackle the 260 piece princess puzzle.

One of the objectives of a nursery school is to get the kids used to playing together. Yesterday I took Zoriana on a two hour walk to buy groceries... the most reliable approach, given the irregularity of the bus schedule. On the way home we stopped at the small playground by the beach where she ran into about six other kids, all a bit older. I was greatly pleased that she had gotten to know everybody within five minutes. She surprised me by accepting their help getting on top of a 4 foot diameter tube between a ladder and a slide. She surprised me even more by accepting the invitation of one of the other kids to slide down from her perch perhaps 8 feet off the ground into their arms. It takes a bit of trust. She was proud of herself, and came laughing and giggling back to me.

If we don't keep her busy, she is inclined to get into trouble. But on the other hand, she's increasingly useful when she is busy. She watches her baby sister Marianna, sweeps the kitchen floor, and absolutely loves helping in the kitchen. She can clear and wipe the table. Today she kneaded the dough to make the crust for the quiche that is in the oven. Oh! And yesterday night she surprised me. I had forgotten to put a diaper on her before she went to bed, and she woke up dry. Hooray!

The dachas we bought had not been lived in for a few years. As mentioned above, many of the trees were dying. One of the dachas was full of junk – three unserviceable refrigerators, the oldest of which must be 50 years old. A wringer type washing machine. What you do about hauling junk?

One of our neighborhood characters is a guy named Andrei, whom we see all the time wheeling a pushcart down the street taking away scrap. He knows everybody by name and they treat him with some courtesy. I told Andrei we had some junk.

We met at the property and look the problem over. He said he would bring his team of three men to clean things out. They would charge 70 hryvnya per hour – about $2.50. It sounded reasonable – I agreed.

Andrei was a little bit difficult to understand even in this first interview. It was partly my Russian, but there was another factor – his alcohol.  In my mind I balanced the risk of this enterprise. Not much financial risk – the only thing valuable in the property is the dirt.

Eddie, who was with me, doesn't have as much experience with drunks. He was somewhat apprehensive. Whatever their station in life, these guys have families and they appreciated Eddie and he soon warmed up. Oksana was more dubious when we explain the deal to her. She notes that her father also enjoys a tipple – she compared the two. I have drunk with daddy Sasha and have a different point of view. He's just an old guy who gets tired of listening to his wife and takes comfort in the bottle. At any rate, Andrei has been an education for Eddie. Among other things how to use a saw – he was sawing one of the fruit trees and got some instruction from people who know about saws.

Andrei and his team showed up punctually at 10:00 this morning. They understood the job – get the junk out of the house. Here is a collage of the junk and the happy team. The big guy is Lyosha, short for Alexei.  One of the team members, Kolya, short for Mykola, is photo shy, but I stepped in to take his place.

The first day cost me a total of 1600 hryvnya, about $65. We have three days to go. I think it's a deal. Among other things, providing honest work to honest drunks. Let me amend that. Kolya and Lyosha drink, but pretty much remain lucid.

The clerks in the stores increasingly apologize when they ask me to put on my mask. Sometimes they don't bother. I have watched several videos on the stupidity of this whole exercise, here is a great one by America's Frontline Doctors.

I attach my own extraordinarily anodyne video which YouTube took down as "Misinformation." If they consider something as pablum is this Toastmasters speech, with 20 views, to be dangerous, they must be in trouble. At any rate, it underscores the doctors' horrific stories about how the cancel culture has affected them and their practice of medicine.

That's the news from Lake WeBeGone, where the men work to be strong, the women take pride in being good looking, and the children still know what unmasked people look like.

Graham

28-Apr-21 --- Of dachas, duplexes, in-laws and such This is the coldest spring I can remember in...

This is the coldest spring I can remember in Kyiv. This morning, April 28, I woke up to see frost on the ground. When I went out to work on the garden there was 1/4 inch of ice on the rainwater that had collected in the wheelbarrow. The farmers are 2 to 3 weeks late getting their crops in. Frost danger remains with us. This is not normal. I feel sorry for you global warming fanatics, but it is certainly not happening here.

Only three families signed up for Eddie's school's scheduled picnic on the beach last weekend. Oksana wasn't happy at the thought of schlepping Marianna out into the cold. She offered instead to host a barbecue here. I was out early Sunday morning on my bicycle buying spareribs and the ingredients for barbecue sauce and tabbouleh.

We had nine adults and 11 kids. After the barbecue itself, which I did not have the wit to photograph, Oksana involved everybody in musical games. Since I did not know the Ukrainian folk songs involved, I wound up taking movies. Here's a still shot.

You are all in suspense. What happened with the three drunks that I hired to clean up my dacha? I am reminded of a quote from Lord Melbourne in 1840. "What all the wise men promised has not happened, and what all the damned fools said would happen has come to pass.”   In this particular instance, I am cast in the role of the wise man and my wife the damned fool. She said not to have anything to do with drunks and she was right.  I shouldn't have. 

On the fourth day on the job, I was disgruntled that they hadn't gotten much done. They kept talking back and making excuses. I got a call from a neighbor to the effect that they were boisterously carrying on, swearing at each other at nine in the morning. Would I please get rid of them? It was just the trigger I needed. Though Oksana cautioned me. "No, no, no, don't go, they'll beat you up" I got on my bicycle, went down and fired them. I gave them a full day's pay just to get rid of them. They went very peacefully.

In an irony, the next day as I was walking down the street a woman I did not know approached me. It was Andrei's wife. She said not to think badly of him and to consider him for future work. She blamed the problems on the bad influence of the two younger guys. In my observation, it was the other way around. In any case, I'm not going to use those guys again. I am somewhat chastened. However, all I lost was a little bit of money. The dachas are still in good shape. The major problem is I still have to get somebody to clean them up.

NB: Melbourne's quote above works well if you substitute "deplorables" for "damned fools."

I am making progress with plans for the duplex to be built on our new land. Having learned a bit from software projects, this is what I wrote in the preamble:

" A construction project, like a software project, goes through phases: conceptual design, detailed design, construction and actual usage.

"A mistake at any level costs 10 times as much to fix at the next level. In other words, if the architect does a detailed design of something that I really didn't want, it will cost 10 times as much to fix it as if I had gotten the conceptual design right in the first place. If you find as you live in the house that it was not built right, it costs you 10 times as much to fix it as if you had done it right in the first place.

"For that reason, I want to go back-and-forth with the architect at this conceptual design level until we both have a firm understanding of what we want. During this process I will be drawing the pictures and writing the narrative, with the architect providing rough cost estimates, telling me what will work and what won't and what would be better."

I am quite confident that whatever architect we talk to will be blown away at the detail in the specifications that I present him. There is a good chance that he will not want to deal with a client who has such firm ideas of his own. That is a risk I will take. I am certainly happy to take advice from a professional, but I will not allow a professional, supposing he knows better than me, to exclude me from the process.

Some of you sidewalk superintendents may want to make your own comments on my design documents. Please! I will be glad to send them and have your comments.

Three weeks ago. Oksana's father Sasha came to Kyiv in what was billed as an emergency. His kidneys were killing him, and they could not get a good nephrologist down in Svetlovodsk. They engaged a car to drive him the 150 miles or so up here. Thank God it's Ukraine – the total cost was $100 US.

Oksana trotted Sasha around to three or four nephrologists. They each had different opinions, but the net of it is Sasha will need dialysis someday but not yet. Sasha is quite weak. He spends his days lying on the sofa in our living room and watching Russian movies on one of our old computers. Sleeps there as well. He seems to enjoy it. I think will have Sasha around for a while to come.

I shared this observation about his staying in Kyiv with his wife Nadia, whose first reaction was, "Oh woe is me. I have to move." Not that she has a whole lot left back at home. The best of her friends have died recently. If she comes up here shall have something to do. She loves her granddaughters and plays with them. I expect it would be good for both her and them.

So we have a logistics question. What to do with grandma and grandpa? For the time being, it looks like they're going to live part time with us. They will commute back and forth to home.

Oksana feels overburdened taking care of her father as well as the kids. It's the kind of thing that happens to a lot of people at her stage in life. I'm not going to judge whether she really is overtaxed, but we can in any case make it lighter.

Ever since I have known her, Oksana's 50-year-old brother Igor has wanted nothing more in life than a car.  This is a poor country and a car is not something everybody can afford. I made this proposal. We will buy a car for the family. Igor is the only driver, so he will obviously be the one to take care of it. He can use it, but he needs to be available for driving mother and father around when they need it. This expedient may allow all three to stay in their hometown and come up here for treatment. On the other hand, it could lead to Igor coming up here and working as a taxi driver or something to be around his parents. Anyhow, it is a first step toward getting Igor involved in taking care of his parents, and I think he will be an asset.

Denny will be happy to know that I have done the maximum possible in the way of estate planning. The proper way to do it in the United States is to set up a living trust connected to a will. Here in Ukraine they say will? shmill!  trust? schmust!  Things work differently.

Everything is in place to provide for the most likely case, that I go before Oksana. She is jointly titled on all of my US assets. The only problem is having a stateside Sherpa to lead her through the process. I have named some of you – you know who you are, and she has your telephone numbers.

If we both go the case goes to the Ukrainian Ministry of Family Affairs to decide who takes care of the kids. The strong bias is in favor of family. I have left written documents with the family with regard to which friends would be useful in taking care of the kids. After that we hope for the best. Once again, I have written down the names of you Sherpas who could help handle the transfer of my assets in the states and the supplemental Social Security to which the kids are entitled. The major problem is information – and it is not an easy problem to solve, since we are all getting older people who would work the problem will certainly change over time. I have started to talk to son Eddie about this sort of issue. My hope is that nobody has to deal with it until he's old enough to grasp the situation.

With regard to Covid, an Internet search will assure you that Michael Yeadon is a crazy conspiracy theorist. I think he's right. I shall say no more as I wrap my stupid mask around my face and observe the stupid quarantine and listen to the endless stupid, conflicting advice pouring out from the authorities.

That's the news from Lake WeBeGone, where the men are building their strength turning over dirt, the women are taking out their summer clothes in anticipation that winter will sometime soon disappear, and the kids are already in Hawaiian shirts as if winter had never come.

1-Jun-21 --- Songs of childhood. Rainforest math - not!. Ukrainian medicine. The curators of the...

The curators of the gardens of your mind definitely want to keep them weed free. In particular, your mail servers are suspicious of venomous thoughts from sources such as ukr.net and especially protonmail. They hate the fact that it is encrypted.  They can't snoop, either to sell you stuff or to snitch on you to Big Brother.  A fair amount is being returned to me, and several of you report that my mail winds up in spam.  I'm sending this episode from both mail senders. Please let me know, if you get only one, which it was.

The ToastMaster of our May 22 meeting chose gambling as the theme. As I delivered this speech on lifetime fitness I wove in Frankie Laine's 1957 "Moonlight Gambler."

Eddie loved the song. The two of us have been singing it around the house ever since. Eddie knows what gambling is, but he needed a bit of explanation about why moonlight is special for men and women.

This family does love to sing. Being out of coffee this morning inspired me to launch into "Java Jive," for which Zoriana requested an encore as we walked to her kindergarten. We had earlier sung Cielito Lindo. It has a great verse in Spanish to the effect that singing brings joy to the heart. The tune also used to bring joy to us as nine-year-olds on Gladys Avenue, albeit with different lyrics

Aye, yie yie yie yie
In China they do it for chili
So sing me another verse
Worse than the other verse
Waltz me around again Willie.

Eddie likes that one as well.

Eddie is studying for fifth grade entrance exams. This is not rainforest math. See how you do on practice questions five and six.

5. The length of a rectangular classroom is 9 m and the width is 8 m. How many students (according to sanitary norms) can study in a class if 12 m ² arerequired for every 7 students ? (2 points)
6. In the park there is a game in which you need to hit the ball into the ring. Each hit is given 2 free throws. Ira made only 16 shots and paid only 4. How many times did she manage to hit the ring? ( Write down all your thoughts ) (3 p.)  NB: Ira is a girl's name here – short for Irena.

The Ukrainian is equally difficult, and he is less well prepared for that despite the fact that it has been his language of instruction. Ukrainians are nuts about grammatical cases (you students of German and Latin know about them: nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative and so on) and Ukrainian has about six. He should be able to name them and decline nouns and pronouns. This week's task is to know them. And hope that next year's school is a bit more serious about it.



Getting set up for a cataract surgery operation has informed me a bit better about Ukrainian medicine. Getting one eye done by one of the most highly recommended doctors is going to cost me $2000. Cost is not the issue. I had to make seven visits to their clinic for various tests, after which they sent me to another clinic for general medical testing, requiring another five visits. An amazing waste of my time.

Before they would operate they needed to make sure I didn't have syphilis, HIV, untreated dental problems and a host of other seemingly unrelated ailments. The cardiologist gave me a terrible time about my arrhythmia, not weighing the fact that my blood pressure was 110/80 and she measured my pulse at 63. I'm a healthy guy. I'm scheduled for June 11. Assuming all goes well I'll get the other eye done in July. I'll let you know.

While I was filming the above video on lifelong exercise, I committed my thoughts on biodiversity to a short video as well. You have seen the theme. Although claiming widespread extinctions would be a convincing argument in favor of other desirable propositions, such as controlling herbicides, ending pollution and so on, it just isn't so. By my arithmetic biodiversity is probably increasing. Since this is an argument that would not appeal to anybody except perhaps pipeline operators, nobody else will make it.

More, and more frequent and devastating arguments are coming out concerning the origins and handling of the Covid 19 epidemic and especially the dangers of the vaccines. I thank those of you who are sending me references. Especially JoAnne, who recommended a balanced book on vaccines (is there such a thing?) entitled "Vaccines: Truth, Lies and Controversy."  As for the rest of you, I will give it a rest. Minds are made up.

That's the news from Lake WeBeGone, where the men are strong, the women are good looking, and the children are looking forward to an eternity of freedom – summer vacation.

2-Jul-21 --- Interview with Linh Dinh. More on coronavirus controversy and ivermectin. Review ...

I'm sending this via Ukr.net again.  I suspect some of your mail servers have rejected my mailings from protonmail.

I was gratified by the response on Unz.com to my interview by Linh Dinh. His questions allowed me to lay out my life history and explain what I'm up to now in an economical 3800 words. It inspired 353 comments, the most of any of his "Escape from America" interviews so far.

Thanks to him I picked up about 20 subscribers on my YouTube channel. That's a mixed blessing – now I have to continue to have find things to say. I was pleased to see a great many views of my videos on lifelong exercise and the pleasant women of Ukraine. I am disappointed that few people seem to have picked up on the message that the salvation of Western civilization must be our children.  Unless we believe in our heritage and our culture enough to have kids, we are going to die out.

The quality of the comments diminished as the days went on. The last few are an endless litany of anti-gay, anti-miscegenation and anti-Jewish screeds. There are also attacks on Ron Unz, Linh Dinh and me, accusing us of being Russian agents and the like. That's the Internet these days. If you write something sensible, balanced and centrist you get attacked from both sides.

I have to imagine that the news of this interview will get back to my former family and friends in the United States. One of the most baffling aspects of my divorce is that people whom I considered to be my wife's and my mutual friends mostly absolutely refuse to answer my calls and letters. Even if they have nasty words to say about me, I have not heard them. Only silence. This cancel culture is a pretty powerful voodoo.

I do not consider it inappropriate to be curious about how people who were important parts of my life are doing these days. Especially about how their families turned out. I poke around here and there – Facebook in particular – to see who is married, having kids, and getting on with life. So far as I can see, few of our former mutual friends have much to talk about. To put it bluntly, the whole Bethesda culture is dying out. Not having grandchildren. Those they have are certainly not being raised to believe in any sort of tradition passed down from people like me.

I think the conservative credo could be condensed down to the message I give my children all the time: "Don't muck with stuff you don't understand!" With children that means don't put your finger in the light socket or try too hard to find out if a dog will bite.

With larger questions, we can examine the track record of things that were supposed to work but didn't. Leeches and bloodletting were supposed to cure disease. Forced busing was supposed to make the races get along better. The Federal Reserve was supposed to be able to fine tune the economy. Stringent gun control was supposed to diminish gun murder.  Head Start was supposed to make kids smarter.

Simpleminded politicians are dictating policy in areas in which the science is vastly complicated. Climate change, GMO's and vaccines top the list. Since they don't understand it – these are difficult even for scientists, who aren't in accord – politicians do what they do best. They take money to support one side or the other.  Great fortunes, such as that of Elon Musk, have been made on global warming. Bill Gates hopes that Covid 19 vaccines will make him rich(er). And because that might not be enough, he is going to launch rockets spreading sun-blocking particles high in space to stop global warming. Who asked him to do this? Nobody except people he pays richly to smile on his plans.

The walls seem to be crumbling around the Internet titans that are trying to shelter us from the truth about Covid 19. The more people Twitter, Facebook, Google, YouTube, Amazon and others attempt to muzzle, the more the truth seems to leak out. There are so many truths to consider when it comes to Covid!  Among them are the lab leak origin, the level of danger, who is in danger, the effectiveness of the vaccines, the short-term dangers of the vaccines, the long-term danger the vaccines, the cheap, safe drugs that eliminate the need for vaccines, the conflicts of interests – a whole smarmy mess. Bret Weinstein, whom I have mentioned before, seems to be right at the center of the efforts to shed light on this affair. I highly recommend that people listen to his podcasts on Odysee, such as this one on ivermectin.

Speaking of which, I have acquired some from a Ukrainian mail-order pharmacy. They sounded as if they would not be averse to sending it overseas. In the US, America's Frontline Doctors also offers sources.

My review of Toxic Legacy, about glyphosate, a.k.a. Roundup, is up as of yesterday. I long defended GMOs with the argument that just as a fire doesn't know whether it's burning pine or poplar, your gut doesn't make fine distinctions among the types of fuel it gets. Yes, but! Along with the genetically modified organisms you get the herbicides such as Roundup that the GMO organisms resist. And they are poison. The European Union has banned Roundup as a carcinogen. Stephanie Seneff doesn't even mention that aspect – its other mechanisms are more dangerous and faster acting.

I am struck by a question as I listen to and read certifiable geniuses such as Seneff and Weinstein. Where are their kids? What motivates them to seek the truth? And I ask myself a deeper, darker question: where do my interests lie?

I am almost a minority of one among people I know in that I place my genetic interests above those of financial success or comfort. I moved to Ukraine with the intention of founding a family that would give me grandchildren.

Bret Weinstein frequently asks the question, what is motivating the incredible push for the Covid 19 vaccines? Is it simply the profit motive, or is it even more sinister than that? Is this a continuation of the eugenics projects of Bill Gates Senior, the Rockefeller foundation and so on? Are they really trying to depopulate the earth? Are these mega billionaires cryogenically saving embryos of their own spawn to awaken and take over the world after us hoi polloi have been eliminated? What is the agenda?

I will never know. We live in uncertainty just as our ancestors did with regard to droughts, plagues, Indian attacks, Moorish slavers and every other form of pestilence. Our recent freedom from danger and discomfort was never more than an illusion. The four horsemen of the apocalypse will come again to visit us and our children.

Evolution depends on adversity to sharpen differences in fitness among peoples. Its absence has had evolution spinning backwards for a couple of hundred years. If the masters of the universe are involved in a conspiracy to weed the garden of mankind, it may turn out to benefit my own seed if I have prepared them for the coming adversity.

Ordinary people have to soldier on in the same way our ancestors did. Have faith in our people.  Prepare our children to be valued members of their communities and to find mates. And have faith in God that somehow it will all work out.

Those are the musings from Lake WeBeGone, where the men are strong, the women are good looking, and the children are responding positively to the push to make them above average.