Tom Faranda's Folly

Liberal Glenn Greenwald resigns from the publication he founded - issue was censorship...

If you've never heard of him Glenn Greenwald is an interesting guy.

HA! Couple celebrating 50 years of marriage

From my friend Graham, one of my old Jamaica buddies.

A man and woman were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.

While cutting the cake, the wife was moved after seeing her

husband's eyes  fill with tears.

The wife took his arm, and looked at him affectionately. "I

never knew you were so sentimental." she whispered.

"No . . .  No . . ." he said, choking back his tears, "That's not

it at all. Remember when your father found us in the barn and told

me to either marry you or spend the next 50 years in jail?"

"Yes," the wife replied. "I remember it like yesterday."

"Well," said the husband, "Today I would have been a free man."

Economy booming; third quarter recovery and it looks like a V. But still ... troubles

Which is by no means to say everyone is benefiting. Pelosi has refused a stimulus compromise which would help the unemployed and underemployed. I'm sure she thinks delay will help the Democrat political chances. Appalling.

The economy grew at a record pace in the third quarter—increasing 7.4% over the prior quarter and at a 33.1% annual rate—recovering about two-thirds of the ground it lost earlier in the coronavirus pandemic.

Gross domestic product—the value of all goods and services produced across the economy—jumped as pent-up consumer demand and government support helped power spending after disruptions related to Covid-19 eased. The increase in growth, the biggest jump in records dating to 1947, followed a record decline earlier in the pandemic when the virus disrupted business activity across the country.

That puts the economy about 3.5% smaller than at the end of last year, before the pandemic hit.

***************

The number of workers filing initial claims for unemployment insurance fell by 40,000 to 751,000 last week to the lowest level since the pandemic began, suggesting layoffs are easing despite a rise in coronavirus infections. The U.S. as of September has recovered about half of the 22 million jobs lost in March and April, at the beginning of the pandemic.

*********

“There’s a long way to go until the economy’s healed,” said James Knightley, an economist at ING Financial Markets LLC, citing the “squeeze on incomes coupled with anxiety about Covid coupled with election uncertainty.”

Pilot texts his wife while coming in for a landing

This from Mike. A classic!

 

Michael Wolff, author and professional Trump-hater: "Trump will be history by 8:45pm on election night"

Hard to figure since polls in eastern US won't close until 9PM. Michael Wolff is the author who wrote Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House which was uhhh, uncomplimentary to Trump.

He's pretty sure of himself and the British interviewer eats it up.

This past weekend: "Jews for Trump" in NYC get beaten up.

Ugh, where were the police? They had to know trouble was possible. Throwing rocks at cars from overpasses - not to mention beating people up? Lucky no one was killed.

 

Rob Astorino endorsed by NY Post for NY State Senate.

Brigid and I know Astorino - he was the Westchester County Executive for eight years. Great down to earth guy and he did a good job as County Exec. Of course Astorino's playing the endorsement - and his endorsements from police unions and Hispanic and African American groups - for all they are worth.

Here's the Post's endorsement -

"SD 40 (Westchester-Putnam): Former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino (R) is the clear choice over incumbent Sen. Peter Harckham, who keeps having to apologize for his campaign’s lies. Where Harckham has enabled the no-bail, tax-hike crazies in the Legislature, Astorino will be a force for fiscal and criminal-justice sanity."

It's a very safe bet he won't be endorsed by the NY Times.

Last Thursday cataract surgery went really well

Within 24 hours my vision was almost as good as my right eye - which had the same surgery in February, 2016. And by Sunday the two eyes were the same. Yay! The ophthalmologist  -who also did my right eye - was Kayvan Keyhani. Highly recommended. I've discussed with him the medical missions he's been on to the Philippines and Haiti. Great person.

Minor annoyance: Here's the dumb plastic eye shield I have to wear when I go to bed for the week after surgery. It's to avoid my putting pressure on the eye while asleep. And of course the set of three eyedrops that has to be taken for a couple of weeks, four times a day. And will always need reading glasses. But all little stuff - my vision in both eyes is now 20/20.

 

New SC Justice Amy Coney Barrett on her role as a Justice of the Supreme Court

4 minutes long off the NBC youtube channel. Could be viewed as a lesson in civics and I love it.

 

New look in Farandaville!

T shirt cost $14. He's my second choice. Three views...

The happy me!

The pensive me...

The serious, thoughtful me -

 Brigid (again) told me I'm an idiot.

 

Game Five of the World Series - a rare (and exciting) home plate steal attempt.

The Dodgers v. Tampa Bay Sunday night. A very good and short analysis of the the whole bottom of the 4th inning. I did not watch the game until the bottom of the ninth.

 

Sad news - a victim of COVID, the Westchester Broadway Theater will not reopen

I've been here numerous times, including fundraisers for my old grammar school, St. Ann's in Ossining. The linked article is very interesting, giving the whole history of the dinner theater.

ELMSFORD — After 46 years and 217 mainstage productions, Westchester Broadway Theatre — where suburban audiences could take in dinner and a show without having to battle city traffic and parking, and where Tony-winners got their start — will not reopen, a victim of the extended shutdown brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement was made in a letter to staff from co-founders Bob Funking and Bill Stutler, and Stutler's wife, Von Ann.

Helen Hayes at the dinner theater in 1991. It opened in 1974.

 

Remember the Goya food boycott? How's it working out?

I'd forgotten about this. "Goya. Oh Boya". The company is privately held - under third-generation ownership of the Unanue family

How a Goya boycott led to a 'buycott'. Company sales have been 'fantastic' and 'historic' following the controversy surrounding his positive comments towards President Trump in July

It didn’t take long for Goya beans to become a weapon of politicization after the CEO spoke at a White House event for a Hispanic Prosperity Initiative, where he expressed his blessings for the President and called him “a builder.” Unanue was one of several Hispanic leaders attending the executive order signing to allow more taxpayer support to be invested in private and charter schools, in aim to “improve access by Hispanic Americans to education and opportunities.”

Celebrities, politicians and other popular figures took to social media to condemn Goya Foods, with hashtags like #BoycottGoya, #GoyaFoods and #Goaway circulating on Twitter.

Rep. Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez, for example, tweeted out her disapproval, saying she would find alternatives to one of Goya’s signature seasonings.

********************

The criticism towards the food brand and Trump prompted a counter-boycott and even inspired Goya Food supporters to contribute to a GoFundMe in efforts to buy Goya products for food pantries. The campaign has raised more than $300,000.

As the New Jersey-based company continues to see a significant growth in sales since the clash, its CEO continues to stand by President Trump and conveyed his blessings for his COVID-19 recovery.

Unanue told Varney, “In a little bit more than a week, he’s dancing 'YMCA' in incredible energy and encouraging all of us. This is sent from God, and we need to put God back in our country. We are one nation, under God. If we’re not under God, we are not indivisible.”

"Internet goes wild" for three MAGA nuns at Trump Ohio rally

UPDATE: Here are where the three nuns are from - a very new order Children of Mary, Cincinnati, Ohio with a very interesting history. Started buy a woman who first spent 11 years as a hermit.

Thanks to Jessica for sending me this. Of course, not all nuns are fans. But I would guess that many more than usual will be voting Republican.

'God was right behind our president!' Internet goes wild for three 'MAGA nuns' spotted holding up a Bible in front row during Trump's Ohio rally

On rereading important books in one's life

Here's a short essay. I find rereading books that have had an impact on me generally results in one of two reactions:

I get more out of the book then I got the first time (Like Steppenwolf - that's a cover of a new translation)

I find I got everything I could out of it the first time (Like Physics and Philosophy)

I digress. Here's the essay - only nine paragraphs long - and I've read very few of the books the author mentions!

"We reread our favorite books in gratitude, not only for the repeated pleasure of the experience but to know once again the good that our old friends have selflessly done us."

 

BB: "You can't mute Trump"

FULL DISCLOSURE: I did not watch the debate the other night (or any of the others) although I did watch a couple of short excerpts on youtube. BUT Brigid watched all three debates and she can't even vote. BUT lots of time off purgatory for her.

With Mic Muted, Trump Corrects Biden With Tweets

Unable to call out and correct Joe Biden while muted, President Trump took action and sent out a series of responses using Twitter.

This immediately caused a stir. “Hey! What kind of malarkey is this?” said Joe Biden as he saw the president firing off tweets during his response. “You can’t do that! I’m in the middle of my response, Jack.”

“WRONG! I’m the President. I can tweet as much as I want to!" the president responded on Twitter. “By the way, Sleepy Joe is a joke and his son Hunter is a total disaster!”

**********************

“Will you just shut up man?!” interrupted Joe Biden turning towards Trump in a sudden outburst.

“I’m not saying anything. I’m muted- remember, Joe?” the President tweeted. “You probably just don't like that you can’t remember all of your corrupt dealings with Ukraine and China!”

“That’s it, bucko, it’s time for you to put down the phone and take this outside like real men,” Biden said, lunging towards the President.

Fortunately, Trump’s secret service members and Biden’s handlers pulled the two apart before either could do anything. The debate was promptly ended, and the candidates were returned home.

At publishing time, Trump sent out a final tweet stating, “Thank you all for supporting your favorite President and unanimously decided debate winner! Beijing Biden is BIG MAD and never even stood a chance! MAGA!”

The great Governor Andrew Cuomo (#2): "Cuomo’s Claims about Hasidic Wedding Deserve Scrutiny"

This is from NR Online. Lots of questions about this - and his judgement. Worth reading the whole article.

In pre-pandemic days, New Yorkers knew that Governor Andrew Cuomo was an abrasive bully, intolerant of those who didn’t share his political beliefs. Yet Cuomo’s eagerness to take charge matched the moment back in March. Cuomo comforted those nervous about COVID-19 by communicating clearly at his daily press conferences.

Seven months later, though, the picture is different. It’s clear that too much power has been ceded to Governor Cuomo. Not only have state legislators provided the governor with “nearly unchecked power,” but the media have too. Events now follow an all-too-familiar script. Consider, for example, the story surrounding the Satmar Hasidic wedding in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Monday night. Governor Cuomo said something, reporters accepted it, and a negative narrative about New York’s Orthodox Jews took hold.

If you read or watch the New York Times, The Hill, New York’s NBC 4, ABC News, the Daily Beast, the Miami Herald, Britain’s Daily Mail, Australia’s Business Insider or countless other outlets, you may have heard “that upwards of 10,000 people were expected to attend” the wedding of the Grand Rebbe’s grandson. However, there are many questions that should have been asked — and indeed appear to have gone unasked — before Cuomo publicly blasted New York’s Satmar Hasidic community, and before the international media broadcast the story far and wide.

To recap, on Saturday, while Orthodox Jews were unplugged for the Sabbath, Cuomo told the media, “We received a suggestion that [an enormous wedding] was happening. We did an investigation and found that it was likely true.”

Next, the government’s source was someone with known animus toward New York’s Haredi community who has since acknowledged in an op-ed that he had “other motivations” beyond saving lives. Did no one on the governor’s staff think it important to be absolutely certain of the facts before discussing this wedding so publicly?

Did anyone ask a Yiddish speaker to translate the public wedding invitation? It included a box — in red — that read: “Please follow all of the regulations from the health department scrupulously; they will be strictly enforced.” That this health notice appeared in Yiddish, a language all invited guests would speak, implies that this wasn’t virtue signaling.

As for logistics, the synagogue in question could never hold a crowd of 10,000, as Satmar leader Rabbi Moshe Dovid Niederman explained to Cuomo during a Sunday call, published in the Orthodox daily Hamodia. The hosting congregation even published a statement explaining that “this wedding was designed differently,” because of COVID-19. So, only “a small circle of close family members” were expected to attend the ceremony and celebratory meal. The statement also noted that “unwarranted attacks on this event” were “detached from the facts” before remarking, “It’s sad that nobody verified our plans before attacking us.”

Shameful. And perhaps has something to do with the fact that Orthodox Jews don't particularly like Cuomo (and evidently vice versa) and don't vote Democrat? Hmmm...

Olbermann: "Trump Should Receive The Death Penalty" & other funny stuff (3 minutes, not parody or satire)

Keith Olbermann who was a very popular guy with this sort of stuff back in his MSNBC days. His real area of expertise is baseball cards.

And some other amusing stuff.

 

Great column: on SC Justices reading the Bible and the Constitution

Written by the head editor of the Jesuit publication America.  And it includes a really good explanation of the Catholic way of interpreting the various books of the Bible.

Supreme Court justices shouldn’t read the Constitution the same way Catholics read the Bible

The nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court has prompted a vigorous discussion among American Catholics about her faith as well as her method for interpreting the U.S. Constitution. As a practicing Roman Catholic, Judge Barrett presumably adheres to a Catholic method of biblical interpretation—that is to say, a broad approach, one that considers more than the literal meaning of the text. As a practicing attorney, Judge Barrett’s preferred method of constitutional interpretation is textualism, which is a narrow approach to interpreting the text.

This has prompted some Catholics to ask how Judge Barrett can take a broad view of interpreting the Bible and a narrow view of interpreting the Constitution. Are these two methods compatible?

The somewhat longer answer is that the two methods are compatible because the Bible and the Constitution are different kinds of documents, belonging to different genres of literature. It is entirely appropriate, even necessary, to apply different methods of interpretation to different kinds of literature. The method one employs to read a newspaper, for example, is likely different from the method one employs to read a novel and different still from the method one uses to read the Gospel of Luke.

*************

The Constitution is not divine revelation. God is not speaking to us through our nation’s charter. It is, rather, the voters who are speaking to us through it. For textualists, what matters most is not the intention of those voters but the meaning the words would have had to those voters when they voted. In the early 20th century, American voters, through their representatives in state legislatures, passed the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote. Why? Because no one who voted for the Constitution the first time around thought they were voting to grant women that constitutional right. It was not in the Constitution, so Americans voted to add it.

The Catholic method of interpreting Scripture prevents us from merely making the text say whatever we want it to (so that we can listen to the voice of God speaking through it), whereas the whole point of textualism is to preserve exactly the democratic possibility of making the text say (and do) what we want. The two methods are not only compatible but appropriate methods for the kind of text each document represents.

Great column - hit the link above or here for the whole essay - takes ten minutes to read. 

Amy Coney Barrett and her "People of Praise" community

UPDATE: Americans Back Amy Coney Barrett’s Confirmation By 23% Margin

 

 

Some very good information if you hit this link - 

 

Amy Coney Barrett and her "People of Praise" community

 

Here are some brief points from the link -

 

• • The AP also reports that "Barrett’s parents are both registered Democrats, according to Louisiana voter registration records."

• • In a Politico article, Adam Wren says, "What's difficult to understand outside of South Bend, however, is just how deeply integrated this group is into the local community." (Anyone who has studied cults knows that cults try to cut their members off from the rest of society.)

• • Peggy Noonan writes in the Wall Street Journal, "O. Carter Snead, a Notre Dame law professor and director of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, notes, Amy Barrett – herself a law professor as well as a judge – appears to be failing at being submissive and a total disaster at being subjugated."

 

A classic - CNN's Chris Cuomo and face masks (not parody or satire)

Dear me. Hypocrisy of the highest order. FULL DISCLOSURE: I wear a mask any time I might come in contact with people (church, shoprite, gym, etc).

 

Reminder: Fake news is not new!

1948. I wasn't born yet...  Thanks to Jessica for reminding me of this.

Cataract surgery today

Had my right eye done in February, 2016. Now it's the turn of the left - which is here. Pretty creepy looking ...

Good short video: Why the stock market is ignoring the real economy

And the rich get richer. BUT at least in the last several years, prior to COVID, that was starting to change. Income gains are now rising faster for low-wage workers

Hint: The stock market rise - It's all about interest rates.

A lesson - when on a zoom call, be careful what you're doing (not parody or satire)

CNN's chief legal analyst. Playing with himself. Or as one publication calls it a ... well never mind ...

Toobin says ‘I thought I had muted the Zoom video’ in apology

The New Yorker magazine has suspended one of its long-time staff writers, legal expert Jeffrey Toobin, while it investigates a report that he was allegedly masturbating during a Zoom work call earlier this month.

“I made an embarrassingly stupid mistake, believing I was off-camera,” Toobin said in a statement on Monday about the situation, first reported by Vice.

He added: “I apologize to my wife, family, friends and co-workers. I thought I had muted the Zoom video, I thought no one on the Zoom call could see me.”

Yes a good lesson. But on the other hand, and to be the Devil's Advocate, so what? It's a free country - who does it hurt?...  I do zoom meetings 3 -4 times a week. I better be careful...

Here's more - DISGRACED writer Jeffrey Toobin has publicly apologized to his long-suffering wife, Amy Bennett McIntosh, for allegedly exposing himself and masturbating during a work Zoom call. McIntosh, 51, has long stood by her Harvard College sweetheart, including during a well-publicized affair with the daughter of a CBS analyst.

I almost put up a picture of he and his wife, but decided not to. I feel very sorry for his family - but not so much for him.

 

 

 

 

The great Governor Andrew Cuomo will withhold the vaccine until his team deems it safe. (Not satire or parody)

And he had nothing to do with all those NY nursing home deaths. He's a Democrat; all-knowing and all-caring arbiter of morality. That's why he supports assisted suicide.

Thanks to Jessica for sending me this.

Governor Andrew Cuomo is threatening to withhold a COVID-19 vaccine from New York until his team of doctors deem it safe because he doesn't trust the FDA or CDC, raising serious questions about how and when it will eventually become available and who will be the arbiter of it.

Cuomo said during an interview with Good Morning America that the American people will be 'skeptical' about a vaccine because of how the federal administration has handled the pandemic and that he won't rush to recommend it. 

It's unclear if, once the FDA approves it, Cuomo will have the power to stop it from being administered across the state. 

But in a lengthy vaccine administration plan that his office released on Sunday, he says he will consult a 'task force' of his own doctors about it and, if necessary, withhold it. 

'The Task Force will advise on the vaccine safety profile, legal authority to withhold vaccine, and clinical best practices if New York State must withhold or pause distribution of the vaccine. 

'Once New York’s independent Clinical Advisory Task Force has advised that a COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective, the vaccine will be distributed and administered throughout New York State,' the plan reads.

 

The recently elected Democrat state senator from Virginia

Joe Morissey - quite a record. I actually doubted the picture below, which was sent to me by my friend Alicia. But no, it's all true (Snopes says it's "mostly true"). Like to hope the Dems will disavow the guy. Not holding my breath.

Morrissey married Myrna Pride on June 11, 2016, in Varina, Virginia. It is his first marriage, but he has fathered a total of six children by four different women (including his current wife).[41] Morrissey initially denied paternity of his son, who was born in March 2015. The boy's mother, Myrna Pride, was 17 and a legal intern at Morrissey's office at the time.[42] On May 20, 2015, he confirmed paternity of the boy.[43] Although Morrissey admitted having sexual relationships with Pride, then 17 years old, in a plea agreement following a conviction for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, both continue to maintain that no sexual activity occurred before she was of legal age.[44][45] Raised as a Catholic, Morrissey worships at New Kingdom Christian Ministry in Henrico County, a Baptist church.[46]

This is what was on the notepad Amy Coney Barrett held up

When the Senator from Texas asked what notes she was working off. This about sums it up. BUT Brigid says it's photoshopped, "she's too classy a lady to do anything like that." Brigid is right. It was blank. But it is amusing and accurate.

 

 

Politician promises!!

Love this - says it all.

COVID: "The Great Barrington Declaration"

Dr. Fauci thinks this is a bad idea, but plenty of scientists have signed onto it. Here are the three who wrote it.

Here is the link to read and see other physicians and scientists who have signed and also an opportunity for anyone to sign on (scroll all the way down).

https://gbdeclaration.org/#read 

And here is the text (which is available on the link) with the three co-authors bios:

The Great Barrington Declaration

The Great Barrington Declaration – As infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists we have grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies, and recommend an approach we call Focused Protection. 

Coming from both the left and right, and around the world, we have devoted our careers to protecting people. Current lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health. The results (to name a few) include lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings and deteriorating mental health – leading to greater excess mortality in years to come, with the working class and younger members of society carrying the heaviest burden. Keeping students out of school is a grave injustice. 

Keeping these measures in place until a vaccine is available will cause irreparable damage, with the underprivileged disproportionately harmed.

Fortunately, our understanding of the virus is growing. We know that vulnerability to death from COVID-19 is more than a thousand-fold higher in the old and infirm than the young. Indeed, for children, COVID-19 is less dangerous than many other harms, including influenza. 

As immunity builds in the population, the risk of infection to all – including the vulnerable – falls. We know that all populations will eventually reach herd immunity – i.e.  the point at which the rate of new infections is stable – and that this can be assisted by (but is not dependent upon) a vaccine. Our goal should therefore be to minimize mortality and social harm until we reach herd immunity. 

The most compassionate approach that balances the risks and benefits of reaching herd immunity, is to allow those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk. We call this Focused Protection. 

Adopting measures to protect the vulnerable should be the central aim of public health responses to COVID-19. By way of example, nursing homes should use staff with acquired immunity and perform frequent PCR testing of other staff and all visitors. Staff rotation should be minimized. Retired people living at home should have groceries and other essentials delivered to their home. When possible, they should meet family members outside rather than inside. A comprehensive and detailed list of measures, including approaches to multi-generational households, can be implemented, and is well within the scope and capability of public health professionals. 

Those who are not vulnerable should immediately be allowed to resume life as normal. Simple hygiene measures, such as hand washing and staying home when sick should be practiced by everyone to reduce the herd immunity threshold. Schools and universities should be open for in-person teaching. Extracurricular activities, such as sports, should be resumed. Young low-risk adults should work normally, rather than from home. Restaurants and other businesses should open. Arts, music, sport and other cultural activities should resume. People who are more at risk may participate if they wish, while society as a whole enjoys the protection conferred upon the vulnerable by those who have built up herd immunity.

On October 4, 2020, this declaration was authored and signed in Great Barrington, United States, by:

Dr. Martin Kulldorff, professor of medicine at Harvard University, a biostatistician, and epidemiologist with expertise in detecting and monitoring infectious disease outbreaks and vaccine safety evaluations.

Dr. Sunetra Gupta, professor at Oxford University, an epidemiologist with expertise in immunology, vaccine development, and mathematical modeling of infectious diseases.

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, professor at Stanford University Medical School, a physician, epidemiologist, health economist, and public health policy expert focusing on infectious diseases and vulnerable populations.