*Wordpress is up to its old tricks, so some things won’t be linked/highlighted all through. Sorry. I know it’s visually distracting, but I can’t figure out a work around – SAH*

Book Promo

If you wish to send us books for next week’s promo, please email to bookpimping at outlook dot com. If you feel a need to re-promo the same book do so no more than once every six months (unless you’re me or my relative. Deal.) One book per author per week. Amazon links only. Oh, yeah, by clicking through and buying (anything, actually) through one of the links below, you will at no cost to you be giving a portion of your purchase to support ATH through our associates number. I ALSO WISH TO REMIND OUR READERS THAT IF THEY WANT TO TIP THE BLOGGER WITHOUT SPENDING EXTRA MONEY, CLICKING TO AMAZON THROUGH ONE OF THE BOOK LINKS ON THE RIGHT, WILL GIVE US SOME AMOUNT OF MONEY FOR PURCHASES MADE IN THE NEXT 24HOURS, OR UNTIL YOU CLICK ANOTHER ASSOCIATE’S LINK. PLEASE CONSIDER CLICKING THROUGH ONE OF THOSE LINKS BEFORE SEARCHING FOR THAT SHED, BIG SCREEN TV, GAMING COMPUTER OR CONSERVATORY YOU WISH TO BUY. That helps defray my time cost of about 2 hours a day on the blog, time probably better spent on fiction. ;)*

FROM PAM UPHOFF: Agent of the 300.

Axel Vinogradov is back!

And trying to make Siberia Max self sufficient. But is traveling to other worlds to research dairy farms the cover for covert contact a foreign government about an illegal method of controlling portal travel, or are both cover to hide that he’s really there to help the son of a friend through his perilous Presentation and Challenge?

As Axel falls deeper into a tangle of outmoded laws and customs . . . his Cyborg friends have troubles of their own . . . or is that . . . opportunities?

FROM CELIA HAYES: Deep in the Heart.

Two husbands, a large house, many friends – that was predicted for Margaret Becker Vining. That she would be a widow, left to raise her four sons in a tiny frontier town was not mentioned in the old conjure-woman’s prophecy. Austin, the makeshift capitol city of the Republic of Texas, was threatened and besieged from all sides. Peace did not come with Sam Houston’s victory over the Mexican Army at San Jacinto. Between old and bitter enemies and the inconstancy of unreliable friends, Margaret Becker Vining, her family and her friends must fight to maintain their independence and security . . . while Margaret herself despairs of ever finding happiness again.

FROM KEN LIZZI: Obsidian Owl.

In the wrong hands, the obsidian owl can wreak death and devastation on an unimaginable scale.

A nihilist biker plans global extinction. A rival biker wants merely to retire, if he’s allowed to. A young woman wants revenge.

Karl Thorson, ex-Special Forces soldier, agrees to help Trisha Wagner track down the biker gang that slew her father and brother, and stole an artifact — an obsidian owl. Nero Jones intends to use the artifact in a ritual he hopes will cleanse the world with fire. Vegas Kuzmich wants to bring his drugs to market, then retire from the life of an outlaw biker. But his men demand he first get some payback from Nero Jones’ bikers. All of them are headed for a showdown in Yellowstone.

Can Karl Thorson retrieve the obsidian owl? Can he thwart Nero Jones’ scheme? And will Vegas Kuzmich ever get to retire?

Don’t miss the third book in the Semi-Autos and Sorcery series. It’s what fans of Larry Correia and Jim Butcher are hungering for.

FROM WILLIAM KLINE: The Channeler.

The people of this generation, man and woman alike, can remember what they were doing when the power commonly called “magic” returned to the world. Despite, or perhaps because of, the chaos and calamity that took place afterword, that moment remains locked in the memory of all humanity.

For Tommy Nelson, that day was notable because he didn’t have to go to school for a week.When people experienced a new power and went insane, Tommy didn’t care. No one Tommy knew lashed out, burned their family alive, or destroyed an entire building. When the government crackdown happened and squads of men came to Tommy’s school looking for “mages,” several of Tommy’s classmates were escorted away, never to be seen again. Tommy felt safe.

But Tommy wasn’t safe. His power was dormant and forced to emerge. Tommy was driven into hiding, away from his family, into a new world of dark and light magic where he must quickly learn to control his new powers, and figure out who to trust.

FROM NATHAN BRINDLE: The Lion in Paradise.

All Col. Dr. Ariela Rivers Wolff, M.D., Ph.D., USSFM – the Lion of God – wanted was a little piece of paradise to call her own.

Being stuck on a desert world – even if she was the CO of the premiere battalion of the 1st U.S. Space Force Marines that was based there – was not getting her any beach time. Mostly because, without an ocean, there’s really no beach at all.

But she’s got a fix for that problem.

Now, if only the academics studying the problem of terraforming the exile world of al-Saḥra’ would get out of her way . . .

. . . and if only the religious fanatics who want their planet left as a desert, despite all the water from the planet’s former oceans being accessible only a few miles down, will leave the terraforming project alone long enough to see the good it will bring them . . .

. . . then, the Lion would truly be in Paradise.

But even in paradise, black clouds – and black ships – can herald danger for the Lion, herself, and for her daughters as well.

FROM STEPHEN HOUGHTON: Clash at Grettier’s World: Book 1 of: Against the Tide, the Saga of the New Commonwealth.

The authoritarian Terran Union has been expanding for centuries conquering independent worlds on its frontier. When Justin Brand ambassador of Grettier’s World to the Union learns that his home is next on the list to be conquered, he must scramble to escape earth, warn his home world and find allies to help it resist Terran Aggression. Will he convince the New Commonwealth to help, or will the liberty of Grettier’s World be crushed under the heal of the Terran Union forever?

FROM MAGGIE HOGHARTH: Marda Quincesinger, Postulant.

When the Adversary shattered the world, the Savior and her Companions kept the remaining pieces from falling into the void. The school they established trains young boys and girls to continue their work, healing the cracks, facing wrongbeasts, and reversing the aims of the Adversary wherever they can.

And all of this is work for heroes, as far as Marda Quincesinger is concerned. She’s more interested in the cake her mother’s baking her for her fourteenth birthday than in taking on the daunting work of an Outremer. But faced with the chance to help her family, she decides to see if she has what it takes to join the Outremers’ ranks.

Full half the hopefuls who arrive for their first year don’t return. Will Marda be one of them? Or will she find the hero in herself?

A gentle story in the tradition of the Chronicles of Narnia, Anne of Green Gables, and Harry Potter.

FROM Z. M. RENICK: The Harper.

It’s been a year since Shane Richardson’s older brother was murdered by evil fairies. Shane is trying to rebuild his life and move on, but the supernatural seems determined not to leave him in peace. When his brother’s grave is vandalized and parts of his body are stolen, Shane finds himself drawn into the world of a powerful Fae known as the Harper, a creature with influence over the dead and the truths they can tell. Some would do anything to see that truth come to light, while others would kill to keep it buried. Caught in between multiple magical forces, Shane must figure out what side he’s on and fight to protect his friends, his family, and himself.

FROM LAURA MONTGOMERY: Transport and Deliver.

When flight on a boat jeopardizes all a family has worked for, can an errant son risk his life to save their future?

The Luwenthals—second generation settlers on the lost planet Not What We Were Looking For—confront the destruction of their past life, and are forced to flee. As the boat containing the family’s prized linotype crosses a river lit by the flames of the printshop they had to abandon, fifteen-year-old Tobias Luwenthal must face his father’s ire over what he sees as his son’s betrayal.  Disaster strikes, but will Tobias seize the chance to redeem himself at the cost of his own life?  Will his father learn from his son as Tobias has learned from him?

A short story that picks up right at the end of The Gear Engages.

If you’ve enjoyed the Martha’s Sons series, start reading now for a glimpse into what happens next in this dystopian lost world!

Vignettes by Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.

So what’s a vignette? You might know them as flash fiction, or even just sketches. We will provide a prompt each Sunday that you can use directly (including it in your work) or just as an inspiration. You, in turn, will write about 50 words (yes, we are going for short shorts! Not even a Drabble 100 words, just half that!). Then post it! For an additional challenge, you can aim to make it exactly 50 words, if you like.

We recommend that if you have an original vignette, you post that as a new reply. If you are commenting on someone’s vignette, then post that as a reply to the vignette. Comments — this is writing practice, so comments should be aimed at helping someone be a better writer, not at crushing them. And since these are likely to be drafts, don’t jump up and down too hard on typos and grammar.

If you have questions, feel free to ask.

Your writing prompt this week is: STOVE

Fifty Ways To Leave The Coof- Guest Post By GoSpace

I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV or in the movies. I am, however, someone who can read, look things up, and understand numbers- and when it comes to the dreaded covid, numbers are all important. And, there’s something you need to understand right up front- your doctor isn’t responsible for your health. Your insurance company isn’t responsible for your health. The government- especially the government- not only isn’t responsible for your health but seems these days to be actively working against it. There is one and only one person responsible for your health- you. Awesome responsibility, isn’t it? Doesn’t apply to children- PARENTS, adults, are responsible for their health Not teachers, not school superintendents or school boards, parents or in some cases legal guardians. Now that that rant is over¼

\

What can you do to reduce your chances of getting gravely ill or dying from the dreaded covid? Well, let’s start with- what can you do you improve your health, period? Mild exercise, even just walking, stop smoking or using illegal drugs, moderate your alcohol use, and if you’re carrying excess weight- LOSE IT! Your doctor, public service announcements, school. Well, virtually everyone, has already told you that. So what else? Ah, now we get into studies and numbers. And proof the government doesn’t care about you. And there are lots of links you can follow and look to see for yourself.

What is your Vitamin D blood level? Odds are, you have no clue. It’s never been measured. When you get a routine physical, you get a CBC and a urine test, and maybe an A1C level. (You SHOULD get that even if the doctor sees no need. He or she may be wrong¼.) But you don’t get a Vitamin D blood level. From the link.

Unfortunately, about 42% of the US population is vitamin D deficient with some populations having even higher levels of deficiency, including premenopausal women, those with poor nutrition habits, people over age 65, Caucasians who avoid even minimal sun exposure, and those who take prescription medication long term for heartburn, acid reflux, and constipation. Studies show people with darker skin, such as African Americans and Latinos, are also at risk for lower vitamin D levels because high amounts of melanin in skin reduce the body’s ability to produce vitamin D from sunlight. In addition, certain chronic conditions—such as celiac disease, bariatric surgery, obesity, and chronic kidney or liver disease—can contribute to deficiency.

42% of the population deficient, and it’s not a routine part of physicals. As I said, and I repeat- only you are responsible for your health. If you live in a free state, you can walk into a lab or pharmacy and order up a test- they’re not that expensive. If you live in a dictatorship like NY, you have to beg your doctor for a test, then visit the doctor again because you’re too ignorant to interpret it on your own. But let’s get to numbers- what is a good number vs a bad number? Some controversy in that¼ Let’s go to the intro page of The Vitamin D Society https://www.vitamindsociety.org/ “The sun is meant to be our main source of vitamin D. Our bodies naturally produce vitamin D from the sun under the right circumstances, such as the time of year or day, amount of clothing or sunscreen we are wearing, and other conditions. Given the chance, the body produces enough vitamin D from sunshine to reach recommended levels of 40-60 ng/ml (100-150 nmol/L).”  40-60 ng/ml- given the chance. Now, from our very own National Institute of Health https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/

Table 1: Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] Concentrations and Health [1]
nmol/L*	ng/mL*	Health status
<30	<12	Associated with vitamin D deficiency, which can lead to rickets in infants and children and osteomalacia in adults
30 to <50	12 to <20	Generally considered inadequate for bone and overall health in healthy individuals
³50	³20	Generally considered adequate for bone and overall health in healthy individuals
>125	>50	Linked to potential adverse effects, particularly at >150 nmol/L (>60 ng/mL)

Wait- what’s this? They say over 50 ng/ml is potentially unhealthy! A few years back, for unexplained reasons, they lowered the level of potential Vitamin D intoxication from 100 ng/ml to 50 ng/ml. The rest of the world hasn’t. At 70 or so, there’s no clear dividing line, some people MAY start to experience signs of Vitamin D intoxication. Surprisingly enough, Vitamin D doesn’t work all by itself. It needs Vitamin K. And- in using Vitamin D, it uses Vitamin K, depleting it. Adding Vitamin K supplements will keep Vitamin D intoxication from showing up at lower levels. Now for some studies of Vitamin D and various things.

From 2015: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4463890/ Adequate levels of Vitamin D is protective against influenza A in nursing home patients. And a quote: “Levels of 25(OH)D are quite low in nursing home residents, and supplementation with 2000 IU of vitamin D can bring levels to normal safely in most patients.”  And if you have a loved one in a nursing home, have they ever measured their Vitamin D levels?

From 2020:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7231123/

Quote: To reduce the risk of infection, it is recommended that people at risk of influenza and/or COVID-19 consider taking 10,000 IU/d of vitamin D₃ for a few weeks to rapidly raise 25(OH)D concentrations, followed by 5000 IU/d. The goal should be to raise 25(OH)D concentrations above 40–60 ng/mL (100–150 nmol/L)  Wait a moment- that’s higher than 50 ng/ml! Seems the NIH doesn’t agree with itself¼.

From 2017:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170216110002.htm

Date:

February 16, 2017

Source:

University of Queen Mary London

Summary:

Vitamin D supplements protect against acute respiratory infections including colds and flu, according to a study. The study provides the most robust evidence yet that vitamin D has benefits beyond bone and muscle health.

From 2010:

https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20100616/vitamin-d-may-cut-risk-of-flu

From 2010:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vitamind-study/vitamin-d-helps-fend-off-flu-asthma-attacks-study-idUSTRE62I3MK20100319

And even tuberculosis from 2010:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2954005/

So there’s nothing new about lower levels of Vitamin D being bad for all URIs- which includes the dreaded covid. And 42% of the population is Vitamin D deficient. And yet- we’re not measuring  Vitamin D blood levels routinely or seeing to it that the Vitamin D deficient get sufficient. Almost as I said before- the government isn’t looking out for your health. Even moreso:

From 2020: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7407997/

100% of sailors deployed to a war zone had deficient Vitamin D blood levels! They’re still not checking. Admirals should be cashiered for this as they punish people for not masking¼

From 2012:

https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00608.2011

A study of French submariners- and guess what? When you’re under the ocean for extended periods- you have low Vitamin D blood levels! Actually, they really shouldn’t have needed a study to figure this out.

\\

And remember – the government is actively working against your health- headline: “Tricare Ends Coverage of Routine Vitamin D Screenings”. 42% of the population is deficient¼. Why the end? Another quote: “This policy change was a result of recommendations from several professional medical associations, including USPSTF, the Endocrine Society, the American Society for Clinical Pathology and the American Academy of Pediatrics, all of which recommend against population level screening.” 42% of the population is low- but why screen? Medical professionals and medical associations do not care about your health! Remember that!\\

Link: https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/05/27/tricare-ends-coverage-routine-vitamin-d-screenings.html

Low levels of Vitamin D among sailors, particularly submariners, has been known for a long time. Finding the older studies is the hard part- they’re not all online. But from 2014:

https://vitamindwiki.com/2000+IU+daily+raised+vitamin+D+levels+by+5+nanograms+while+on+submarine+patrol+%E2%80%93+July+2014

And then 2005:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15945402/

So submariners are deficient in Vitamin D, have been known to be deficient for a long time- and yet, no admirals are being held accountable for ignoring the health of the men under their command.

So, bottom line, about Vitamin D and covid- you need to know your own Vitamin D blood level and take supplements as needed to get your level up to 40-60 ng/ml, and I’m also going to recommend you take a good Vitamin K supplement with all 3 K varieties.

And studies can be designed to fail There are 2 or 3 I know of that show Vitamin D is absolutely worthless against the dreaded covid. How could this be? Easy. All of them gave a single high dose, 70000-100000 IU D one time, after the patient already had covid, and in one study, were already in the ICU. Uh, the most ardent proponent of Vitamin D supplementation, for example, me, could tell that’s not going to work. Basically, those “studies” were medical research fraud to try and say your only hope is- THE VACCINE! A one time dose, especially when your body is fighting an infection, is going to do nothing for your Vitamin D blood level.

Next up- NAC, aka N-acetylcysteine. Is it an OTC supplement? Yes. Although in their effort to make your health worse the FDA pressured the largest seller- Amazon- to drop it. Reminder- the government is NOT responsible for your health- you are. So is NAC useful against covid? Yes. The NIH says so.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7649937/

More than once

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7649937/

Lots of other articles. If you or a loved one is in a hospital- they’re not getting it, and the hospital will probably not allow you to bring it in. Because the standard USA treatment is- do nothing and wait to see if the patient lives or dies. Should you take it a prophylactic? Sure- absolutely no reason not to. All the studies I’ve looked at, including the 2 referenced, use 1200 mg a day. Warning- the stuff smells and tastes absolutely foul! If you cannot taste or smell it- you have covid, or some other real problem.

Vitamin C and covid. Should you take it and how much? And for what? Recommendations for Vitamin C are all over the map. I take 5-6 grams a day, 1 gram at a time, at least an hour apart. I’m simply going to recommend the Linus Pauling Institute.

https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/vitamins/vitamin-C

I’m also going to say there are numerous studies showing intravenous Vitamin C is good for all kinds of things in a hospital setting. Likely to include the dreaded covid. You’re not going to get it. IMHO, gross medical malpractice. It should be standard for all IV hookups unless otherwise indicated

Quercetin- another OTC supplement. Yes, it is useful against covid.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8238537/

https://journal-inflammation.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12950-021-00268-6

Numerous other references online, but the one I found really interesting:

https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/60c74da94c8919a91cad3843

“Tripartite combination of potential pandemic mitigation agents: Vitamin D, Quercetin, and Estradiol manifest properties of candidate medicinal agents for mitigation of the severity of pandemic COVID-19 defined by genomics-guided tracing of SARS-CoV-2 targets in human cells.” Why in the world would anyone have thought of combining those 3? But- it seems to work. Again, in the USA- you’ll get nothing, and be happy with it.

Ever hear of the OTC nasal spray Xlear? It’s on phase 3 studies for use against covid. Apparently, squirting xylitol up your nose kills 95% of covid- and other viruses- it comes in contact with. The antiviral aspects of xylitol are well studied. And, there’s another nasal spray in phase 3 studies- that contains nitric oxide. Same thing. Searching nasal spray and covid comes up with a lot. “New Jersey-based medical devices company Salvacion, in partnership with the National Cancer Institute, is developing a nasal spray technology to prevent Covid-19 infection. The spray, COVIXYL-V, contains the active ingredient ethyl lauroyl arginate hydrochloride (ELAH) and creates a physical barrier that prevents the virus from attaching itself to the surface in the nasopharynx.” Just found this one searching- nasal spray and covid! And another one: “According to Amcyte Pharma, its Nasitrol^TM nasal spray was shown to be effective in reducing COVID-19 infections among intensive care unit (ICU) staff in an independent clinical trial.

Nasitrol is a patented nasal spray based on iota carrageenan, a sulfate polysaccharide synthesised by red algae, with demonstrated antiviral activity and clinical efficacy as a nasal spray in the treatment of the common cold. A previous study at the US’s University of Tennessee Health Science Center found that the formulation inhibits infection by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in vitro.” Wow. All kinds of nasal sprays, some recommend one, others another¼. No surprise. By the time you see this, there may be more. Use your favorite search engine- search nasal sprays and covid.

But let’s talk about xylitol for just a moment- and erythritol. Erythritol, another alcohol sugar, or if you prefer, artificial sweetener, also has several studies showing strong antiviral and antibacterial effects. And a very small number of studies find that if you combine them- they work even better! So, a personal recommendation, every night before bed, and every day after breakfast, or upon arising, whichever suits your lifestyle, fill a glass with warm water, and mix in a small amount of both xylitol and erythritol, and rinse your mouth and gargle with it. It will kill off all the viruses in the upper part of your throat. And in your mouth. Your dental tech will be very happy with you on your next visit- mine was. I’m going to skip my normal rant on nasal irrigation- if you’re already doing it- add both to your mix.

Next up- melatonin. That stuff that helps you sleep. Will it help against the dreaded covid. The NIH says- yes. So pop one each night before bed. Also pop a tryptophan. Less anti-covid evidence, but so what? You’re going to sleep better.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8190272/

Resveratrol- does it help? Apparently, yes. Pretty much the same mechanism as quercetin.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32985211/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33672333/

Haven’t mentioned zinc yet. Zinc is needed for proper immune system functioning. From the NIH: “The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for adults is 8 mg/ day for women and 11 mg/day for men.” Many covid sites recommend 40-50 mg/day. I’m skeptical- unless you’re actually sick. Then your body is using up zinc rapidly. My multi has 10 mg zinc. Between that and my red meat consumption, I get enough.  You’ll have to make your own judgement. Remember- too much zinc interferes with copper, which you need, and too much copper interferes with zinc. Metals in the body need to be balanced properly. One link for zinc:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/can‑zinc‑levels‑predict‑covid‑19‑severity

The numbers speak for themselves.

Bromelain, a digestive aid, may have some effectiveness against covid. Apparently, a combination of bromelain, quercetin, vitamin C, and zinc is in phase 4 studies. Which means it’s gone through 3 phases and shown some success.

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04468139

Actually, popping a few multi-enzyme digestive pills after each meal, with bromelain, papaya, and others, certainly isn’t going to hurt. It may or may not aid in fighting covid. It will do some good for your digestive system. So, why not?

Turmeric, circumin. Recommended by many, research says maybe, maybe not. Effects, either good or bad, likely minor from a quick search. If you already use them for seasoning, don’t stop. If you don’t, don’t start- unless you discover you like the flavor they impart.

Will taking all these supplements or using the nasal sprays or doing the gargling or nasal rinsing, will any of them keep you from getting covid? Probably no. But they lessen your chance of getting it, and if you do, they lessen the initial viral load, thus giving your body a better chance to fight off the virus before it sends you to the ICU. And maybe, you just won’t get it. I use many of the supplements. I nasal irrigate daily- with xylitol/erythritol, and gargle daily with it. I’ve met the CDC definition of close exposure to the dreaded covid twice. I haven’t gotten it. How do I know? 7 blood donations with no antibodies detected. They’ve stopped testing, darn it!

One last link for Vitamin D. The evidence continues to pile up:  

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.22.21263977v1

It’s a study of numbers- since it’s all about numbers. The key takeaway: “ Regression suggested a theoretical point of zero mortality at approximately 50 ng/ml D3.” I do believe they haven’t actually found someone with that level of Vitamin entering the ICU and dying. Or even entering the ICU.

Note- nothing about prescription medicines here. They’re a whole other subject.

It’s all relative. For instance one of my relatives asked me how I planned to survive if I wouldn’t take the vaccine, and I didn’t snort giggle. Well, not audibly. Because she lives in another country and I know how terrified they are.

Then there was the friend skedaddling from NYC to whom I said I was likewise skedaddling from Prison-Colorado and he — audibly! Rude! — snort giggled, because he said compared to NYC Colorado looked wide open and free.

And that’s part of what I want you guys to realize. It’s important.

It’s all relative.

There are two important assumptions not to make: Don’t assume the rest of the country is like your little corner of it. AND don’t assume that the US is just bending over for this. Not relative to the rest of the world.

Oh, yeah as a third assumption not to make (should I come in again?) don’t assume that the rest of the world is taking it lying down. Just more than the US from those I know in the rest of the world. And there’s a reason for that. And it’s important.

As you guys know if you read this blog, I was over the Covidiocy by oh, April? May? But even so it was enlightening when MIL died a year ago and we cannonballed cross country, meeting friends for dinner along the way.

If I had believed in the Covidiocy before then, this would have finished destroying my belief.

Understand, I’m not saying I don’t believe in Covid or Sars-2. I do. It exists. It’s one of a family of virus, and might be a little more lethal than its kind, but without the overblown psi-ops, it required no particular effort to fight. Certainly no more than Swine flu. Wash your hands, don’t cough on people. Don’t french strangers. If you get sick, get immediate treatment with one of many, many drugs that control it early on (and that the establishment is busily making inaccessible, because you must die at their command, peasant.) Also, take special precautions if you’re over 75 or so.

What I don’t believe in is Covidiocy: social distancing. Lock downs. Close “non-essential” businesses. Make people wear utterly ineffective cloth over their faces. Shriek at everyone who refuses to comply. Force people to take a vaccine that doesn’t offer a ton of protection, and hasn’t been sufficiently tested to be sure it offers ANY protection. Etc. etc.

Let me put it this way: If the level of protections necessary in CO were required, then everyone in Ohio would be dead, and other states would be very ill.

For instance, we attended church cross country (was still closed in CO, so we did it way more than on Sunday.)

State A: church was open, with distancing, and every other pew roped off. Communion was brought to you, you couldn’t line up. Masks required.

State B: Church was open no distancing, masks required.

State C: Church was open, completely normal, there was ONE chick (of course in her twenties) wearing a mask.

State D: Church was closed, same as in CO.

Their numbers? By percentage of population about the same.

Look, you don’t have to be a genius to realize that if the extreme measures were REQUIRED or even helpful, then the other states would be in deep trouble. Which made it absolutely clear that all the measures were tyrannical dick-waving and stomping for no reason whatsoever. In fact, I can’t possibly imagine anyone doing that trip by car and not coming to that conclusion, clear as day.

Of course, most people aren’t traveling, since the airlines have decided to make the experience one worthy of Zimbardo. (Seriously, mask between bites. These are my middle fingers.) And they wouldn’t be driving that far without an absolute necessity. So they don’t see it.

And most people aren’t traveling to other countries, because of vaccine passports, quarantines, and again, experiences worthy of Zimbardo. And of course, most people don’t have relatives abroad to whom they speak regularly.

Let me make it very clear that on an international scale, the US was always skeptical of the covidiocy. And is growing more so by the ticking minute. Yes, I know you’re impatient, but let me point out that most people aren’t us, and aren’t plugged in to alternate sources of information, so it will take a while to see the lies.

Actually that’s the big difference between us and the rest of the world. The anglosphere is a small caveat either (and I’d like to know how big the resistance actually IS in Australia. There are leaks around the edges) as they are somewhere between say Europe and us.

The US has the most blogs that discuss current events and politics. And it leads the world by like 95% in having us deplorables blogging in our pajamas. The rest of the world…

I had a vague idea of doing a world aggregator of blogs. I still can read (though not speak) in five languages, and can jack leg two more. I have friends who know other languages, pretty much spanning the world. So I thought “Like insty, but with an international focus.”

So I went looking. Portugal is one of the MOST connected countries. They do a ton of things on line. What they don’t do is have the blogosphere we have. They have mommy blogs, craft blogs, pet blogs, and yeah, tons of cooking blogs.

Politics? Opinion? Political scrum? Well, I’m sure there are some. I mean, there’s a lot of “online magazines” but that’s different. It’s just I couldn’t find them. A cursory look at other countries and it’s the same. I don’t know if it’s laws (The EU and their “hate speech” muzzles is a factor, I’m sure) or cultural, but normal every day people didn’t take to the internet to make rude noises at official news sources and poke holes in their narratives anywhere but the anglosphere, and even then the US is way ahead of the rest of it.

And that’s the difference. Just like you either believed FDR saved us from the depression, or kept your mouth shut about it even though it’s an obvious and glaring, lie, the unified mass media of the rest of the world has spun the covidiocy out of control and totalitarianism as our salvation as a species.

Here? Yeah, not so much. Though I expect our “elites” who set their clocks by the EU think that it’s the same here. And even how hard they had to fraud last election didn’t give them a clue. Which means they’re in for a very nasty surprise. (#teamheadsonpikes).

It is important above all to keep the conversation going; to find ways to keep connecting and talking. Oh, and to scream from the rooftops, even to a small audience when you know lies are being told. These things RIPPLE and propagate.

And in the US things are going to get worse, but we are losing patience and in the end we win they lose.

In the rest of the world? No fricking idea. I’m constitutionaly (eh) opposed to sending our boys to die for their freedom again, particularly since two of those boys are my genetic investment in the future. And a few are my “adopted as adults with will power and duct tape.”

But can we survive in a world in locksteap authoritarianism?

I don’t know. We could stop feeding them and watch them collapse. I suspect that will happen anyway, because it’s going to get worse here, before it gets better.

Interesting times ahead. But we, of team Liberty will win. (#teamheadsonpikes might have a hand in it.)

In the meantime, prepare. And meanwhile adapt, improvise and overcome. We’re Americans. It’s what we do.

And keep your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark.

HIPAA VS. ADA A Guest Post By Amie Gibbons

Come on. I’m a health law attorney and we have a giant shit show of violations of rights and dehumanizing of individuals under the guise of “medical science,” you knew I had to get to this eventually.

First up, lawyer hat’s on, so usual disclaimer. This is not legal advice. It is not to be taken as such. This is all very generalized and simplified legal ideas so y’all have a basic understanding of the difference here. Yes, I am a lawyer. NO, I am not your lawyer. And, since I want to keep my job, I have to make it very clear that none of this reflects the opinions or legal positions of my employer.

The main reason I’m writing this is because I am very much anti bullshit and anti using fear as a weapon en masse, as in the bullshit that’s been going on for a year and a half. Businesses were shut down, people were locked down, you couldn’t visit family in some places, and everyone had their faces covered (which is a very effective way to dehumanize people, but y’all probably already know that), and now there’s rules about who can do what if vaccinated or not, AND they’re back requiring fucking masks! (Don’t get me started, just read my last post on here about Creep Con).

Okay, that sentence got away from me there, what was I saying? Oh yeah, the point of all this is I want our side to argue properly against the massive mindfuck.

As in, everyone read this, and never, ever again argue against mask requirements, vaccine passports, or vaccines required to work somewhere by saying it’s a HIPAA violation.

IT’S NOT!

I’m gonna say that again for the people in the back. All this bull around health requirements are not HIPAA violations. Oh, they’re violations, the obvious one would be ADA, I’ll touch on that later, but they are not HIPAA violations.

When you’re arguing for our side, you argue correctly or you don’t argue at all. (Oh, dear lord, I’m channeling my father right now.)

HIPAA:

This is “The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996,” and it is not about individuals, or even businesses, asking you for private health info. Nope. Get that out of your head. It is a privacy law, and it is about health, but it’s about others who have access to your private health info spilling it.

HIPAA is the law that protects you from people like me (who can have access to your personal info by virtue of my job) from telling random others about it. If I know your name, social, that you’re in the hospital, you have herpes, and PTSD through my job, me spilling any of that, personally or on social media or to your friends and family, is a HIPAA violation.

If I have your consent to tell people about it, and I stay within whatever you allowed me to share, that’s no longer a HIPAA violation.

It’s your information, you have the right to control it. Along these lines, HIPAA is also about your right to access your own health info.

You give your name, social, and health info to your doctor when something’s wrong, because they need to know information to 1) charge your insurance; and 2) to figure out what’s wrong with you. Without that info, they can’t help you and they can’t get paid. So you hand over the info to help them help you. You do this, because you trust them not to spread it around. (There are some exceptions, but this is just a general info post.)

Then your doctor/hospital gets your consent to share your info with your insurance company and others who need to know, and tell you they won’t tell others who aren’t in the loop to know about your info. Those others in the loop are entities such as insurance, business partners who deal with other aspects of your care, possibly other doctors or institutions.

You also can give another person authorization to access to your health info, like me as an adult saying if anything happens to me, my emergency contact is my mom, here’s her info, and you are allowed to discuss HIPAA covered issues with her.

A big one people have gotten into trouble for doing in the past was hospital personnel taking pictures of celebrities when they’re in the hospital. Most of the ones who screwed up on this weren’t thinking when they took a selfie with their favorite actor/athlete/author (haha, we can dream about being famous enough for people to want to violate our privacy in that way) in the background in a hospital bed, and posting it on social media.

If there was absolutely nothing personal showing, it’s the celebrity in a hospital bed, but covered and you can’t see anything off about them or any kind of medical charts, so you have no clue from the picture why they’re in the hospital, you might think it’s not a violation of HIPAA.

Nope. It is. Because the mere fact that they are in the hospital is protected under HIPAA. If the celebrity says please take my picture and post it because I want my fans to know I’m okay, or whatever reason they’d ask you to post it, then you have permission to do that, BUT that wouldn’t mean you could say what they were in the hospital for.

You’re probably wondering about all those paparazzi photos of celebrities any time they’re doing anything, including going to the hospital. Well, the paparazzi aren’t restricted by HIPAA. They aren’t getting personal info through their job then sharing it; they’re busting in and violating privacy to get personal info for their job. Big difference.

Let’s say a nurse takes a pic with the celebrity in the background, but she doesn’t share it anywhere. (That’s getting into fine print of what exactly crosses the line for HIPAA. It may be a HIPAA violation or risk of one, and it’s just rude, so she shouldn’t have done it.) That one is a it depends what happens with that pic risk. If a photographer sneaks in and takes a picture and splashes it all over the news, that’s not a HIPAA violation, because he’s under no duty to protect that info. If the nurse takes a picture and sells it to the paparazzi, that’s a HIPAA violation. But, just to be clear, it’s not the paparazzi who printed it who’s in trouble under HIPAA, it’s the nurse who shared it, because she was the one with the duty to keep that info confidential.

In the health care field, we have access to info so that we can help people (that’s the heart of it, yes, it’s me looking at it in rosy light) so we have a duty to those people to keep their information safe. There’s a lot more that goes into HIPAA, like the measures hospitals and businesses have to take to keep health info private, especially electronically. It’s a huge tech area, people make big bucks to make sure those records can’t be hacked, and it’s a huge deal when they are hacked.

When there’s a HIPAA violation by accident or something like someone hacking in, then there’s steps the entity has to take to mitigate the damage, and there’s some hefty fines, especially if it’s done on purpose, like the nurse taking a selfie with the celebrity in the background and posting it on her Facebook page, but that’s not really the point for this article.

With vaccines or what illnesses you’ve had, whether you’re in the hospital, your social, and so on, generally your doctors/hospitals/insurance companies can’t tell others without your consent.

That’s the general HIPAA rule. It is a duty of us in the medical field to keep the info you give us in confidence to help you with your medical situation confidential, and to make sure you can access it since it’s your info.

That doesn’t mean these entities won’t ask you for your consent to share. They do all the time for a multitude of reasons. (My parents signed a HIPAA consent for my brother to be in a rehab facility’s brochure when he was 14 because he recovered so beautifully from two broken legs… skiing accident, whole other story, so he was a wonderful success story for them to highlight.) And it doesn’t mean others who have no reason to know it, like a store, asking you to prove you’ve been vaccinated against the C19 Zombie Virus or don’t have it/never had it/have been living in a bubble for two years, is a HIPAA violation.

It’s kind of like saying an individual deleting your comment off their Facebook page is a violation of your first amendment right to free speech. Nope, Constitution applies to what government may and may not do (whole other post on the violations going on these days may have to happen) and has nothing to do with an individual restricting your speech. That’s what saying a business asking you for personal health info is a HIPAA violation is like.

Great example in here of that principle. Me saying my brother broke his legs and was in the hospital for weeks, then rehab for months, isn’t a HIPAA violation, because I have that info from being his sister, not from having access to that info because I worked at one of the places that treated him, or the insurance company processing the claims.

So, are we clear on this now? No one on our side shall argue vaccine passports or mask requirements are a violation of HIPAA again. Let the other side argue using completely wrong facts, they’re much better at it than we are anyway.

ADA:

Here is one law that should apply to all this vaccine passport, you have to wear a mask, and sign away your soul and individuality for the “greater good,” join the Borg because resistance is futile bullshit.

I say should, because as far as I can tell, when it comes to Covid restrictions, the ADA doesn’t exist. Everyone is ignoring it. I’m hoping that becomes a bunch of massive class action lawsuits in the near future.

This is the Americans with Disabilities Act. Basically, its job is to protect you against discrimination due to your disabilities. And this one does apply to businesses as well as government. It (very generally) says no discrimination against those with disabilities for employment, public accommodations in commercial facilities, and telecommunications.

The big issue we see these days is the part about public accommodations in commercial facilities. Public services and education (schools, courts, public transportation), restaurants, hotels, stores, and convention centers, to name a few, have to comply with the ADA.

As in, this one does apply to private businesses.

So all those people saying a private business can make it’s own decision about who to let in, wrong! No, they can’t. They aren’t allowed to discriminate. People arguing it’s a private business therefore it’s their choice, obviously don’t know about the cases stating businesses can’t refuse to serve you due to the color of your skin, and know shit all about the ADA.

Businesses aren’t allowed to discriminate against you based on certain things, such as race, and thanks to the ADA, they can’t discriminate based on a disability. They have to make reasonable accommodations for you to receive services if you can’t receive them the same way as others due to your disability.

A big, obvious example of this is all the handicap accessible retrofits you see in stores, restaurants, and hotels. They have to have ramps alongside stairs for people in wheelchairs to get in since they can’t walk up stairs, have to have handicap bathrooms so that people in wheelchairs can wheel in, and use the bars in there to lift themselves from wheelchair to toilet. If they can’t make something exactly the same for you as for a person without that disability, then they have to make reasonable accommodations. What those are can still be a grey area in more established areas. In Covid restrictions matters now? Half the businesses I know aren’t even trying, and their employees have no clue what medical exemptions and/or reasonable accommodations are when asked.

It’s pretty clear under a straightforward reading of the law that discriminating against people who can’t wear masks safely due to medical conditions, like asthma, is not allowed. Like the businesses that don’t let you in unless you’re wearing a mask are discriminating, and at the least have to offer reasonable accommodations to you to stay within the law. Most of them don’t even try. You have to push them, get managers, and threaten lawsuits most of the time for them to try to accommodate you, and they act like you’re being a ridiculous, entitled Karen. Take that situation and apply it to someone who can’t get in because they’re in a wheelchair and can’t get up the stairs, and the employees who have to lift up her chair to get her through the door saying she’s an entitled Karen demanding special treatment.

Yes, it is like that.

BUT the Covid restrictions aren’t about actual medical issues and health, disabilities, not discriminating, treating people fairly, or any of that. If they were, then businesses would establish policies on how to stay within the ADA with the Covid restrictions. Governments wouldn’t be able to demand you wear a mask to be in a government facility, like schools, city buildings, or courts. They would have to do the equivalent of providing a handicap ramp or at least carrying you and your chair up the stairs.

They don’t. Businesses don’t even worry about it, because the “rules” say anyone who can’t wear a mask is just being difficult, or making a political statement, or that if they really can’t wear one then they shouldn’t be in a place that requires it, and that’s that person’s problem.

They don’t worry about it, because the “good people,” wear masks, because the “good people” follow the rules. All of us not wearing masks. We’re the “bad people,” the “others,” we’re the people who don’t follow the rules.

And because of that, because we might inspire others to stop blindly following rules, because not wearing a mask might be about bucking the rules, we’re dangerous. And it’s okay to discriminate against the people who refuse to follow the rules, because then it’s not discrimination, you’re just making people follow the rules.

You see how they have that in a nice little bow.

When a business doesn’t comply with the ADA, you can file an ADA complaint. People have for being discriminated against under the Covid restrictions, but so far, as far as I have heard, nothing’s come from those. I’ll be filing one for the discrimination I dealt with at Creepy Con. I’m almost positive it’ll come to nothing, but hey, I don’t know much about the process since I’ve never filed an ADA complaint, never needed to, so at least I’ll be able to share what going through that process looks like.

Under the HHS fact sheet on the ADA, here’s who’s protected:

“Who Is Protected Under the ADA? 

The ADA protects qualified individuals with disabilities. An individual with a disability is a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits major life activities; has a record of such an impairment; or is regarded as having such an impairment. Major life activities means functions such as caring for one’s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working. Under the ADA, a qualified individual with a disability is an individual with a disability who meets the essential eligibility requirements for receipt of services or participation in programs or activities. Whether a particular condition constitutes a disability within the meaning of the ADA requires a case-by-case determination.

Physical or mental impairments include, but are not limited to: visual, speech, and hearing impairments; mental retardation, emotional illness, and specific learning disabilities; cerebral palsy; epilepsy; muscular dystrophy; multiple sclerosis; orthopedic conditions; cancer; heart disease; diabetes; and contagious and noncontagious diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV disease (whether symptomatic or asymptomatic).”

Does asthma make me a qualified individual? I don’t know. I guess I’ll find out.

But PTSD sure as shit puts you in that category. You know what a common trigger for rape victims is? Having their mouth covered, because, surprise surprise, most rapists want to keep their victims quiet and cover their mouths. So far, everyone I know who has talked about it (and it’s a shocking and saddening amount) who was raped, has a trauma response to having their mouths covered.

I hope that helps clarify a bit why you shouldn’t bring HIPAA to a discrimination fight. I hope it was helpful information. I hope a lot of things. When it comes to the rest of the country, I don’t have much hope. (Post on Biden’s latest edict will probably be coming soon.) When it comes to our side, I have some.

And until the world as we know it ends, we’ll act as though it intends to spin on. For authors, that means writing and selling books.

So, if you want books that aren’t full of leftist woke bullshit spreading the “virtues” of fear and victim points, then check out my books. I have book bundles and my 911 Remembrance Day sale going on for signed paperbacks. The best part of that, besides the whole they’re signed thing, is big tech like Amazon doesn’t get an extra piece of these.

Books are $10 each. The Supernatural Streets Anthology is $12. And the Evie Jones Compilation is $8.

Bullet bookmarks are $4 each, 3 for $10, OR, you get one free for buying a book bundle.

Book bundles are: Buy 3 get 10% off, buy 6 get 13% off, buy 10 novels get 15% off, or buy all 12 and get 20% off, which knocks it down to $100. (Plus shipping and handling.)

Click here to order!

The SDF Series: Paranormal Mystery Romances: Ariana’s like Buffy with a badge.

Ariana’s a cute, spunky FBI agent who only has the job because she’s psychic, and she’s going to prove to her coworkers and herself that she’s more than just a pretty face on a too young psychic when a serial killer strikes.

The Elemental Demons Series: Psychic Thrillers: If you loved ‘The Conjuring’ this is a must-read series. Fans are saying these ain’t your daddy’s psychic thrillers.

Sarah is shattered after the man she loved dumped her, throwing away their life plans, and ran back home after college. But the refuge of home isn’t when strange things start happening. She’s not religious, but there are more things in Hell and Earth than are dreamt of in her philosophy. She’s going to have to face her fears and find her strength again before one of those dark things she doesn’t believe in uses her broken soul against her, and all of humankind.

The Gods Defense, The Magical Adventures of Evie Jones, and Supernatural Streets, can be checked out through on my sales page too, so you can see if they’re your thing too.

AND Brena Bock is doing a paperback sale (after being voluntold 😊 )

Brena is in 3 anthologies, and has them up to be signed and shipped at discount prices too!

Supernatural Streets and The Hearts’ Enchantment anthologies for $12 each, and the award winning Space Force anthology for $10. OR all 3 for $30! (Plus shipping and handling.)

Email Brena at Brena.Bock @ yahoo dot com to order your signed anthologies directly!

To contribute to my feed the kitties fund, go order your signed copies of my books, and your really cool author shot, author made bullet bookmarks. 😉

All my life, I have heard that the left have a plan, and it’s working perfectly and we’ve already lost.

If you’re my age — born at the very end of 62 — or older, you’ve probably heard the same from serious people, usually stroking their beards (even the women.) “It’s over. Communism will inevitably win. They have a plan. It’s lost. All we can do is delay.”

Often it goes back to how leftist the young are, and how “if you give me a child” etc. (Which btw is true in the small things (I still apologize to bread when I drop it) but not so much in the big ones, or no one would abjure the faith of their youth.) And sometimes to 1984 or other Ploddenapocaliptishmarxencrap (Probably a German word, or it should be.)

Yeah. Okay, the commies got a plan. That is sort of their one and only given strength. They plan, they organize, they work towards the world’s stupidest things, but they do it TOGETHER. (Eh, mostly.)

But to believe it’s working you’d have to forget everything from the collapse of the Soviet Union (THEY surely try to forget it) to the repeated smacks on the nose they have got in America, to the fact many of you don’t seem to know that the only reason that the Soviet Union survived that long was because we FED THEM. (Seriously. We should give all those who lost relatives to the Soviet Union and its depredations, including the poor bastards in Africa destroyed by Russia’s Cuban mercenaries a chance to disinter FDR’s corpse and kick it around. It’s no more than a very mild form of justice.)

Communism is in fact an idea so stupid that only intellectuals can believe it and try to apply it. Fortunately for them they do attract most intellectuals with the siren song of “because you’re smarter than other people, you see this.”

I was fortunate, I guess, to have grown up in a religion that has a long list of approved prophecies going back centuries, some of which range from the trivial tot he “OMG, that’s not even possible.”

But for every one of these prophecies, I can find a site on the internet where brilliant minds “prove” it’s already working out. “When they said the sky would turn purple with yellow polka dots, they actually meant my mom would wear a dress that color and stand on the fence. It’s happening, man. It’s happening.” And because I was raised and indoctrinated in that system I read those sites and believe it. For about ten seconds.

There is this kind of confirmation in the best written (and it’s brilliant fiction, btw) Ploddenapocaliptishmarxencrap. Yeah, 1984 is great fiction, though I’ll note I haven’t re-read it since I was 14. But I remember most of it, which tells you it was good. Just not fun.

However Orwell was a believer, even if a heretic. As an adult, read the damn thing and tell me it’s in the least likely.

Not only would it fall apart within years — if not weeks — because no one can manage a large economy well enough for it to survive that long (yeah, China. Sure buddy. If you think China is working out that well, you haven’t looked closely), but it could never extend to the whole world, or everyone would starve and die out.

The other thing is that it’s 1940s tech extended indefinitely. This might work — eh, sort of — under really tightly controlled regimes, but sooner or letter a clever monkey (ape, d*amn it. We’re apes) throws a wrench in. The internet is a big wrench, and their attempts to put the genie back in the bottle have been markedly unsuccessful. But it doesn’t take the internet. The Soviet Union was brought down by typewriters and copiers. At twelve I built a radio from old parts in the attic (well, you see, I wanted a radio. So dad put down Three Men In A Boat which he was re-reading and told me “So, get one. I have no objection.” (This is actually an accurate representation of that moment. Yes. I know. Look, I thought Have Spacesuit was not fiction, let alone science fiction. For all I knew any kid in America could go to the moon.).) It got BBC transmissions (better than FM, d*mn it.) Leaving aside a regime so nuts they thought that the BBC was “right wing” (Bernie? Is that you?) I did it at 12, broke, and well…. with not much knowledge. Because monkeys (apes, ook) will tinker.

Take a deep breath. I have in the backburner a project called “Loose a Heinlein character in 1984 stand back and grin.” But the truth is you don’t need a Heinlein character (I could never build a boat. I could learn to butcher my food I just never have.) You need a human. Just a human.

Communism is a toddler, trying to get humans to behave like building blocks, and screaming and yelling and breaking things when humans won’t. By definition it can’t win.

This should be particularly obvious when their strength is “mass everything” and we’re headed towards “individualized everything.”

They can hurt us. They can’t win.

In memory of our martyred — but not defeated — brothers in freedom in Hong Kong, all you have to do is be like water.

Be like water, my friends. Be like water.

In the end we win, they lose.

Be not afraid.

The area of Portugal I grew up in, or rather the part of the ocean accessible from it — when I was little an excruciating 2 hour trip through the city on overcrowded, irregularly spaced buses, now 15 minutes up the highway — is known for sudden and incredibly impressive waves. So impressive it’s become a surfing paradise, drawing people from all over the world.

When I was eight — I think — I drowned. Oh, no, not really. Not even to the point of stopping breathing and needing resuscitation. But … Let me explain.

I was eight and playing in the very shallow part of the ocean. I had my back to the main part of the ocean. And suddenly, out of nowhere, a wave lifted me off my feet and rolled me. My eyes were open, and it was beautiful greeny yellow inside and I inhaled some water, and I couldn’t tell which way was up and–

My dad must have been very close, saw me go under, and dove in before I was dragged out to see, and pulled me back. My first words to him coughing and spluttering and spitting were “I died.” He still quotes this as one of the funniest things I’ve ever said. And it’s probably true.

It’s true in the sense that wave changed me. it showed me that things are unpredictable, and also that the beautiful can be deadly. And in that moment of upsideownness (totally a word) the mind somehow changed and the world with it.

There have been other waves in my life, including the pneumonia that almost killed me at 33, the concussion at 40 and– other times. Including the year of the five moves, five years ago.

This wave…. The move from hell or house purgatory or escape from Colorado…. whatever you want to call it, might be bigger than all of those, or in retrospect it might prove to have been just a few minutes of being rolled around. Right now, we don’t know. There is danger still, though perhaps not as great as my paranoid mind perceives (I have money/security issues. Always had. Knowing I have them is no cure.)

We should have been done two months ago. We should. Except this has been house fix up from Murphy.

There are always things that go wrong, particularly when trying out a new process/way of fixing something/whatever. This one…

Part of it is the unvailability/unreliability of supplies, and part of it: like, stain two floors, made of the same thing with the exact same mixture, varnish with same varnish and how in heck is one greenish and one RED. Like the reddest wood I’ve ever seen? And no, it’s not the wood (it really was the same, same batch.) the stain? Possibly. It was a different batch, and yet….

More importantly, we’ve had stain that didn’t stick. Wood that was deffective and had to be torn out, varnish that inexplicably turned the floor coal-black. Contractors that were unreliable, etc. etc. etc.

Now? Almost done. Effectively “listed” though pictures will be taken next monday, and it will be officially up for sale on the Friday after that.

Younger son and husband had me come home last night. I mean last night. We drove through the night and got in at 3 am. Younger son went back to touch up a dozen small things and supervise cleaners.

I’m terrified it won’t sell fast. We spent our savings and overextended, because once things started going wrong, we had to finish it. You can’t sell a construction site. Or at least not do it and recoup.

I’m trying not to worry. Of course I do.

A lot of you are being run off jobs by the Juden-frei vaccine “mandates” of our serene Fuhrer Zhu Bai Den. My gut tells me there will be a giant economic crash. As in, massive. And I don’t know what that means for selling the albatross.

Trying not to worry.

Came home to a mostly-packed house, though my office is setup (good move on my part.)

And I’m dead.

As in, I feel like when I came home after pneumonia and 11 days in ICU. I am not sick, but I don’t feel well. Husband sent me up to bed, so I’m writing this post from bed. Taking in account how difficult this is, it’s probably right. He’s also insisting he cooks tonight.

I look pale and gaunt, and like I just had a great illness. And I worry about not being there for the final clean and “zipping up.” Though son is probably okay with it. I mean, he is the clone.

Prayers are requested for house to sell as fast as possible. Crazy person walking in with a cash bid above our wildest dreams first day it’s up would be GREAT.

I feel guilty I’m not writing or editing, but I do realize I’m “ill” or at least recovering. And tomorrow might not be much better. Against all my instincts and screaming internal sense, it’s too early to take that breath. I’d only drown faster.

The world has changed in the months I was head down in this, and I’m not sure I like the hints I’m getting, nor do I think I should look just yet.

Meanwhile and in an interesting development, About halfway through the day on Monday my brain decided I was done with the house stuff. I literally couldn’t think about it. Instead, plots and character voices too up all my brain. That’s still there. It will be worked on.

For now, though, I went for a gentle lunch break walk with husband, in the park next door, with the sun and the nice bench to rest in (seriously, I think we walked like 200 ft. I’m TIRED) and now I’m here, on the bed,with the laptop. Some friends on social media. Looking out the window t the beautiful golden trees.

The dye is cast. The Rubicon is crossed. On the other end, there will be time for fear, and work and determination.

For now there’s the bed. There’s Havelock cat sleeping next to me. (He is very determined I’m not allowed to get up. Going for the lunch walk got me a yelling at.)

In a way, I’ve died. (Just leaving my home-of-the-heart is a death, in a way.)

I just don’t know what comes next.

The alternate title for this post was “Can you hear the people Snark?” But it is early (considering I’ve been up for three hours) I’m uncafeinated, and very tired. Also possibly paint-fumed. So I couldn’t resist the idea of kitty-galt. And I need a drawing of THAT asap.)

Normalcy bias is YUGE in America. It is a testament to the founders’ vision that after a century of attempts to wrench us away from a constitutional republic, after a massive, in the open election steal, people are still counting on elections to right this mess.

They’re right and wrong.

Look, I’m holding up my lighter with tears in my eyes, and whispering hopefully “Team heads on pikes.” Because I think a brief, brutal convulsion is our best hope to come back to ourselves as ourselves.

In the end we win, they lose, but the gradual road is in the end more costly. Perhaps the butcher’s bill will be hidden. You won’t see heads on pikes and bodies on overpasses. But the squid farms on Mars, the unborn babies, the uninvented conveniences, the– more costly. Because socialism kills, either fast or slow, and the longer we play footsy with it, the more lives will be lost. In that case, probably lives that don’t exist.

And frankly, though #teamheadsonpikes might not eventuate, I still see a brief and violent convulsion in our future. Understand “violent” here does not refer to the butcher’s bill. I mean, I wouldn’t want to be the Junta and their toadies, as I think there will be a few Romanian Christmas Gift events, but MOSTLY? MOSTLY there will be a lot of retirements, if we’re lucky a few prison sentences, almost for sure a lot of people taking themselves overseas for retirement (I’m hoping the Obama posse and their cronies are dumb enough to run to China. (Looks heavenward. Lord, if I’m a very good girl for the rest of my life…) our institutions will turn over so fast you’d think they were on wheels. They might retain the name but that will be the last resemblance. People will lose all faith in government (we’re mostly there) and this bizarre idea of scientific governance will be finally put to bed with a shovel. About 100 years after it should have been, but hey.

Why do I think that? Why do I expect an uprising at all? Americans are supine and taking it and reeeeeeeee.

Will someone PLEASE get me my eyes? The cats aren’t here, but the floor is covered in dust and paint chips. That can’t be good.

Two things: Normalcy bias. As I said, most people who aren’t political animals (Party like it’s 1776, yo) are still waiting for the elections to fix everything. Hell, I’ve seen people who are political animals waiting for it. And the left is lying to itself very hard and half believes their wins are legitimate. (AH!)

And: IF there is a rebellion and the news doesn’t report it, would you know about it?

Hell, the world has been in more or less open rebellion for 5 years, and our news sits on it, like it’s their favorite thumb. And most people don’t see it, except for things like Brexit, or Trump’s election. Ask them about German farmers driving their tractors to city hall and they’ll look at you like you’re nuts.

So now?

This week, between stomach flu and paint fumes, I got a text from Bill Reader: “Is labor shortage” “let’s go Brandon” for “Going Galt””?

Eh. Sort of. It’s…. complicated. Part of it is demographic. Part of it is the cash influx of running blue state refugees. If our gambit in this house works, we could probably retire. We won’t, both because we’re broken to be the type that doesn’t, and because I know what happens to fixed incomes with runaway inflation. But I bet you a lot of people around my age (Not sixty, but I can see it) are just going “F*ckit. Retired now.* And we’re that awkward generation between the boomers and the Xs also known as “before the birth rate plummeted.” Most boomers I know unless they’re like us, are already retired.

Second, a lot of women discovered through the covidiocy that they like staying home. They like their kids. A lot of men discovered the gig economy. There will be fewer payrolls, we’ll just say that. And contrary to statist dreams, no we’re not at the singularity where robots do all the work.

They need everyone working and paying taxes. EVERYONE. Even then their system doesn’t work, but it fails SLOWER.

Third, yeah, we can see it coming. They want all our money. Why should we work for them?

This is something the left doesn’t get.

The other thing they don’t get because they can’t, is that no, they don’t have the support of the majority. Or even a substantial plurality. And that this country is not one large city. It’s vast, chaotic and ornery.

They’re starting to panic at sick-outs and resistance to the stupid vax mandates. They should panic harder, because as rumor leaks, more people are going to go “F*ck you. Make me.*

And the other part is that they can’t help themselves. They. Can’t. Help. Themselves. Noisome, having survived the recall through fraud is outlawing…. private homes and the two cycle engine? Thanks, Governor Noisome. My home in CO went up 50k this MONTH. Not that Polis is much better, but I guess Californians still want to go somewhat blue? And we’re …. freer. I guess.

And they want CRT. And you’ll eat bugs and like it. And women are just like men, except when men are women and women are men. And logic is white supremacy. And they will come into your work, your hobbies, your homes.
And they expect you to pay for all of it. ALL OF IT.

People are starting to resist and talk back. And the idiots have no clue what to do about it, because they’ve been sold on “we are the future.”

(Holds up lighter. #Teamheadsonpikes!)

It’s a snowball gathering momentum.

Americans are snarky bastards. We just are. Let’s go Brandon is indicative of what’s going on. It’s both in-your-face snark, and the left can’t do anything about it. Because doing something would be admitting they know they cheated and everyone wants Biden to F*ck himself. Well, 90% of the population, anyway.

And that’s it, in a nut shell. It takes all the effort in the world for them to keep their version of reality spinning. For us? We are entropy. We are chaos. We are reality reasserting itself. With a closed checkbook and tools downed.

We are team labor shortage. We are team sickout. We are team MAKE ME!

And they can’t make us. Even now. Much less as momentum gathers.

Hello Galt!

This is the death of collectivism, socialism, central control. It’s going to be nasty. So was the stupid collection of ideas.

But there is hope on the horizon.

Grid your loins and grit your teeth.

In the end we win, they lose.

Because reality is a bitch, and reality always wins.

Kind of knocked down a bit, though, and trying to make up for lost time.

Ended up coming to Colorado early. Access is so so, but I came down with something. (NOT URI; not the Koof.) Could be paint fume poisoning ;)

Made it to Colorado. Connection isn’t bad right now. However I caught son’s stomach flu. :-P

No, it’s not the koof. It is however pissing me off, because I’m not getting as much done as I should be.