Tom Faranda's Folly

2nd moderna - as they say in show biz, that's a wrap

94% effective. Or so the studies say.

Gallup: USA Church membership falls below 50% for first time ever

UPDATE: I wonder if there's a connection? New York City: violent crime is way up

"The largest declines are in the Catholic Church."

The 47% of Americans who told the polling organization that they belong to a church, synagogue or mosque is a far cry from the 70% who said that just 22 years ago, in 1999.

“The decline in church membership is primarily a function of the increasing number of Americans who express no religious preference,” Gallup said. “Over the past two decades, the percentage of Americans who do not identify with any religion has grown from 8% in 1998-2000 to 13% in 2008-2010 and 21% over the past three years.” A summary from Gallup states: 

Given the nearly perfect alignment between not having a religious preference and not belonging to a church, the 13-percentage-point increase in no religious affiliation since 1998-2000 appears to account for more than half of the 20-point decline in church membership over the same time. Most of the rest of the drop can be attributed to a decline in formal church membership among Americans who do have a religious preference.

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

Among religious groups, the decline in membership is steeper among Catholics (down 18 points, from 76% to 58%) than Protestants (down nine points, from 73% to 64%). This mirrors the historical changes in church attendance Gallup has documented among Catholics, with sharp declines among Catholics but not among Protestants. 

In spite of all this, Gallup found the U.S. to still be a religious nation, with more than seven in 10 affiliating with some type of organized religion.

New York City: violent crime is way up

Very close friends of mine had one of their daughters move out of Brooklyn because of the dramatic increase in crime. She and her husband and small daughter have relocated to Vermont! I think they plan on working remotely online.

Here are stats from the head of the NYC Detective Benevolent Association. Pretty sobering.

Pretty good: "The black hole"

Sent to me by my friend Graham. He writes "how do I get one of these?"

 

Amazing: Danny Boy song by Emma Sophia (4 years old)

This is great. It went up on youtube a week ago. I've put the text explanation below  the video -

 

Danny Boy as you've never heard it before, performed by the incredible 4 year old rising star, Emma Sophia, from Kinsale, Ireland. Dedicated to everyone with Irish blood in their veins, this is both an emotional and spiritual experience. The video is set overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and the first part features stunning scenery from Nohoval Cove, along with the world famous Old Head of Kinsale. The second part was shot in the unbelievably atmospheric setting of Courtaparteen Church and Graveyard. This 6th century religious site is situated on top of a cliff overlooking the outer reaches of Kinsale harbour, at the start of the Wild Atlantic Way. Emma Sophia's sensitive interpretation breathes new life into this iconic Irish song, capturing its essence magnificently.

Available to download from iTunes: https://music.apple.com/ie/album/dann...​

All proceeds of downloads will be donated to Laura Lynn - Ireland's Children's Hospice.

Join Emma Sophia's mailing list and be the first to hear all her news: www.emma-sophia.com.

Aleteia: "10 Prayers for healing that bring peace and serenity"

The painting is a famous one of St. Teresa of Avila - I've put her prayer - first on the list - below. Hit the link for the rest.

Here are 10 prayers that ask God for healing, bringing us the peace and serenity we seek.

Serenity prayer of St. Teresa of Avila:

Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices. Amen.

Here are the all ten prayers -

WH reporter Ronald Crump queries Biden: "Why are you a total loser?"

Nice disguise...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—At Biden's first press conference today, most of the questions were thoughtful and pointed, with reporters asking things like "Why are you so amazing?" and "We demand you tell us your secret to being so incredible!"

But one reporter went further than the others. The reporter, a new CNN recruit, Ronald Crump, jumped up and asked, "Mr. Biden, why are you a total loser?"

"Hey, come on, Jack!" Biden replied. "That's just uncalled for."

"What's uncalled for is how much of a sad, pathetic, no-good failure you are!" Crump replied, twirling his mustache. 

"Come on up here, pal, and we'll have a good ol' round of fisticuffs to settle this once and for all!" Biden replied as Secret Service held him back. Finally, a shepherd's crook came from offstage and yoinked him out of there before a fight occurred.

"See? This guy can't even answer a simple question. Sad!" Crump replied.

At publishing time, Crump had calmly climbed up the stage and began answering questions for the next three hours, claiming it was "out of habit" from an old job he used to have.

 

NR: "Colorado shooter passed background check before gun purchase"

A Colorado gun store owner said Ahmad Al-Issa, the murder suspect in custody following the supermarket shooting in Boulder, Colo., passed a state background check before buying the weapon which he used to kill ten people.

“We are absolutely shocked by what happened and our hearts are broken for the victims and families that are left behind. Ensuring every sale that occurs at our shop is lawful, has always been and will always remain the highest priority for our business,” John Mark Eagleton, owner of the gun store, said.

“Regarding the firearm in question, a background check of the purchaser was conducted as required by Colorado law and approval for the sale was provided by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. We have and will continue to fully cooperate with law enforcement as their investigation continues,” he said.

Following the shooting, President Biden urged the Senate to “immediately pass the two House-passed bills that close loopholes in the background check system.”

“We need to act,” Biden said during his public address. “We should also ban assault weapons in the process.”

Sebastian Maniscalco on doing his first Passover

Pretty good. Should be catered by Italians?

 

CNN: "Fact-checking Biden's first news conference as president"

I didn't watch the President's first press conference but did see some "highlights" in the evening. He was reading off cards at times, which I've never seen in a press conference before.

President Joe Biden held the first formal news conference of his presidency on Thursday, taking questions in the East Room of the White House on immigration, foreign policy, the Senate filibuster, his political future and other subjects. Here is a fact check of some of the claims he made.

 

Dana Carvey does his Joe Biden impression

A work in progress. Nowhere near as good as his Bush impression, which is also below.

 

Here's George H W Bush -

Study: The minimum you need to do to maintain your fitness level

From Outside Magazine - the article discusses studies on maintaining endurance and strength when you have reduced or minimal amounts of time.  It starts with the assumption that the person is already fairly or even highly well conditioned. Below the article I've put the abstract of the study that the article is mostly based on.

the question endures: what’s the smallest dose of training you can get away with temporarily while staying mostly fit? ... a group of researchers at the United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, led by Barry Spiering, has just published an interesting review of the “minimum dose” literature in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

The review addresses three key training variables: frequency (how many days per week), volume (how long is your endurance workout, or how many sets and reps do you lift), and intensity (how hard or how heavy). It only includes studies in which the subjects reduced their training for at least four weeks, to distinguish it from research on tapering before big competitions—although some of the conclusions are similar. And it’s focused on athletic performance, not weight loss or health.

For endurance:

The third and final variable that Hickson manipulated was intensity—and here, finally, we get confirmation that training does matter. Dropping training intensity by a third (from 90 to 100 percent of max heart rate to 82-87 percent) led to declines in VO2 max and long endurance; dropping it by two-thirds (to 61 to 67 percent) wiped out most of the training gains. The takeaway: you can get away with training less often, or for shorter durations, but not with going easy.

For strength:

the overall pattern turns out to be pretty similar to endurance training. You can reduce both the frequency and volume of workouts as long as you maintain the intensity, and you’ll preserve both maximum strength and muscle size for several months.

For exercise frequency, several studies find that even training just once a week is sufficient to maintain strength and muscle size. That fits with the conclusions of a study I wrote about recently that demonstrated impressive strength gains on a simple once-a-week routine. The exception is in older populations: for adults older than 60, there’s a bit of evidence that twice-a-week sessions are better at preserving muscle. There’s a similar picture for training volume: one set per exercise seems to be sufficient for younger populations, but older people may need two sets.

And here's the abstract of the study the above article was based on -

Nearly every physically active person encounters periods in which the time available for exercise is limited (e.g., personal, family, or business conflicts). During such periods, the goal of physical training may be to simply maintain (rather than improve) physical performance. Similarly, certain special populations may desire to maintain performance for prolonged periods, namely athletes (during the competitive season and off-season) and military personnel (during deployment). The primary purpose of this brief, narrative review is to identify the minimal dose of exercise (i.e., frequency, volume, and intensity) needed to maintain physical performance over time. In general populations, endurance performance can be maintained for up to 15 weeks when training frequency is reduced to as little as 2 sessions per week or when exercise volume is reduced by 33-66% (as low as 13-26 minutes per session), as long as exercise intensity (exercising heart rate) is maintained. Strength and muscle size (at least in younger populations) can be maintained for up to 32 weeks with as little as 1 session of strength training per week and 1 set per exercise, as long as exercise intensity (relative load) is maintained; whereas, in older populations, maintaining muscle size may require up to 2 sessions per week and 2-3 sets per exercise, while maintaining exercise intensity. Insufficient data exists to make specific recommendations for athletes or military personnel. Our primary conclusion is that exercise intensity seems to be the key variable for maintaining physical performance over time, despite relatively large reductions in exercise frequency and volume.

 

 

"Get ready for Brood X: The once-every-17-years cicada swarm is coming"

Including NY.

Beginning in late April or early May, once the ground is warm enough, billions of Brood X cicadas will be seen across a dozen states⁠.

It's been 17 years, and the periodical insects, also known as Brood X, are back. 

When the world last glimpsed the cicadas, Facebook was brand new, theaters were showing "Spider-Man 2," and the 2004 Summer Olympics were underway. 

Since then, they've been underground, eating.

"They're in the dark, they're feeding on roots⁠, just living their best lives until the time is right," said Matt Kasson, an associate professor at West Virginia University who studies cicadas and the fungi that zombify them. "And that's when they decide, you know what, it may be time to go up and find a partner."

Body of firefighter found at Spring Valley assisted living facility fire

Horrible. A fifteen year veteran volunteer firefighter. God Bless Jared Lloyd and his family.

 

Good description of Cancel Culture -

This is actually from an ad on National Review written by a very bright journalist there, Alexandra DeSanctis. And she's left out plenty of other "cancellations" ... dozens in fact. As the late journalist and first amendment supporter and maven Nat Hentoff (liberal in most ways - but not on life issues) liked to say "Free speech for me but not for thee" is frequently espoused...

Here's the ad text - 

Though there’s no shortage of commentary from the political Left insisting that “cancel culture” is an invention of angry conservatives, the facts tell a different story. Here at National Review, we dedicate much of our work to ensuring that our readers are always up to date on the latest efforts to censor and censure controversial people and ideas — and we need your help so we can keep that work going.

 

This calendar year alone, we’ve witnessed almost too many examples to count of prominent figures being “canceled.” Disney star Gina Carano was fired after being criticized for having shared a controversial social-media post. A prominent New York Times journalist — arguably the paper’s leading reporter on the COVID-19 pandemic — was forced to resign after a student accused him of having responded to a question about a racial slur by restating the slur itself.

 

Seemingly immune to irony, the host of The Bachelor “stepped back” from his position on the show after he came under fire for having suggested that, perhaps, we should hesitate before excommunicating from polite society anyone who has attended a gathering with a costume theme that many of us now find objectionable.

 

The phenomenon of “cancel culture” isn’t isolated to cases of public figures drawing criticism for controversial comments. Lately, the problem du jour has been books. Without any warning, Amazon ceased selling When Harry Became Sally, a scholarly book by Ryan T. Anderson critiquing the Left’s radical approach to sex, gender identity, and sex-reassignment procedures. Under pressure from senators, the group asserted it would no longer sell books that call those with gender dysphoria “mentally ill” — though Anderson’s book does no such thing.

 

A few weeks later, progressives zeroed in on Theodor Seuss Geisel, the children’s author better known as Dr. Seuss, after a public-school district removed several of his books from the list for national Read Across America Day. At least one library chain relocated several of Seuss’s titles from the children’s section to the adult’s, afraid that kids might stumble across the books’ allegedly racially insensitive content.

 

We live in a time when an increasing number of powerful actors in our culture and our politics believe that free speech is dangerous, that ideas are literally violent, and that controversial or “backwards” notions ought to be silenced. Not only that, but these controlling culture warriors believe they should be the ones who get to determine which thoughts are good and which are bad, who gets to speak their mind in the public square, and who can sell their books in whichever marketplace they wish.

 

Who knew? Turned out Jesus was about my height & had short hair & a good diet

UPDATE: Brigid points out that the only thing I have in common with Jesus is I'm short and like wine.

Yup, makes sense. Especially the thing about the short hair. The only one I was familiar with was the bit about he and Joseph's profession.

It's all here - a 3 minute read

Here are 5 particularly fascinating facts about Jesus that give us an insight into the human side of his earthly life.

 

 

Report: "Wealthiest 1% of Americans fail to report 21% of income"!?

The two commenters on CNBC cannot figure out if it's done with tax avoidance (completely legal; we all use legal means to avoid taxes) or tax evasion (illegal; go straight to jail, do not collect $200).

My own guess is that its mostly tax avoidance - the 1%er's are heavily scrutinized by the IRS; much more difficult for them to cheat. Anyway pretty good short video. 

 

No longer wants to arm wrestle; Putin challenges Biden to stair climbing contest

"The winner of the contest will gain control of the other country."

"Stair-ascending contest, me and you, right now, let's go," said Putin as he met with the American president. "He who wins become supreme glorious leader forever of other puny weak man." Biden agreed to the contest, though it wasn't clear he knew who this man was or where they were.

"3... 2... 1... climb!" shouted the referee before firing off a pistol. Biden got off to a rocky start as he was startled by the gunshot and scurried off in the wrong direction. Putin, meanwhile, just walked up the stairs. Biden started gaining on him as his handlers corralled him and pointed him in the right direction, but he kept falling over and tumbling down the stairs.

It all looked good for Russia until Putin had to stop a few times to sign execution papers for journalists who criticized him, squandering his lead.

Finally, Biden jumped in a stair lift and started to close the gap, but it was too little, too late, and Putin emerged at the top of the 30-step staircase victorious.

Well, thanks to Biden losing the stair contest, we are now part of Russia. We also just want to say that Vladimir Putin is one fine fellow and a fantastic man, and he deserved to win and we welcome him as our new leader for life.

Pigs Fly #2: Bill Maher right again - Equality of outcomes vs. "the good ones"

Hmmm, despite Bill Maher being a vulgar pig, he again gets it right again. This from a few days ago, Pigs fly: Bill Maher gets it right - "A silly people"   and then this - love the part about white privilege and Paris Hilton... "my talent is being me" ...

 

Who knew? "Scotty" on Star Trek was not Scottish ...

Canadian! And had an interesting life, including being shot six times on D Day - by another Canadian! All an accident...

President Kamala Harris in about two years

That's my prediction. We'll see.

 

Short jog v. short rest; which is best for your brain?

As you may suspect -

Light exercise does more to boost cognitive function than relaxing for the same amount of time. And the reason appears to be that movement lifts mood and leaves people feeling more energized than doing nothing, according to psychologists from the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, France. A “brief bout of moderate intensity exercise can improve the efficiency of certain cognitive processes through increases in feelings of energy,” they write in Acta Psychologica (paywall).

The study subjects also completed cognitive tests involving connecting various numbers and letters as fast as possible. For the randomly assigned runners, results on the cognitive tests improved, along with their moods and energetic sense, after a jog. “[T]he primary finding… was that aerobic exercise improved perceptual speed/visual attentional control through increases in self-reported feelings of vigor-energy,” the paper concludes.

Alas, subjects told to relax fared worse. Their energy waned after resting and their performance and mood seemed to decrease.

Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco on St. Patrick and cancel culture

Yes he's taking a risk! Thanks to Jessica for this. Hit the link -

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CMiW3hGAitk/

And the person taking over the Rush Limbaugh radio time slot is ...

Dan Bongino. A hard hitting conservative - former NYPD and Secret Service. A graduate of Archbishop Malloy HS in Queens. He's run for office three times - and lost. Also a recent survivor of Hodgkins Lymphoma. Not clear which radio markets he'll be in - but definitely in NY.

Cumulus Media’s Westwood One said Bongino will begin a new three-hour radio program from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern, the same time slot Limbaugh occupied before his death due to lung cancer in February. Bongino’s news and opinion show will launch May 24 in markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.

That is setting off a race to offer an alternative in that time slot, said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine. Dana Loesch and Erick Erickson are among the personalities being bandied about, he said.

“There is no clear-cut favorite at this time,” Harrison said. “It is generally accepted that no one can replace Rush Limbaugh, even Rush Limbaugh as a posthumous performer.”

Bongino, a former Secret Service agent, has become a popular commentator on Fox News Channel, featured frequently on Sean Hannity’s show. He has a podcast and is considered a rising star in the community of conservative commentators.

“I’m excited to embrace the immense power of radio to connect with my listeners live for three hours every day,” said Bongino. “This is an incredible privilege, and I pledge to honor the trailblazing work of those who came before me.”

Although he’s starting with slots on Cumulus-owned stations in some big cities, it’s not immediately clear how many markets Bongino will be heard in.

In 50 seconds; converting pants to a dress - 71 million views in one month

The guy talks here into this -

Dramatic rescue - pickup truck hanging off a highway - long possible drop...

Whew. Guardian angels. Tow truck driver probably saved them. He "gave the credit to God."

 

And more video with dramatic pictures, here -

 

Salute to St. Patrick

This is from the Catholic League - they send it around every St. Pat's Day.

The heroics of St. Patrick are not appreciated as much as they should be. He is the first person in history to publicly condemn slavery, and one of the first leaders to champion the cause of equal rights.

 

There is much to celebrate on March 17. Fortunately, his writings, though slim, are eye-opening accounts of his life: Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus and Confession reveal much about the man. Along with other sources, they paint a picture of his saintliness.

 

Patrick was born in Britain in the 4th century to wealthy parents. It is likely that he was baptized, though growing up he did not share his family's faith. He was an atheist.

 

When he was 15, he committed what he said was a grave sin, never saying exactly what it was; it appears it was a sexual encounter with a young girl. No matter, it would haunt him throughout his life.

 

At age 15 or 16 (the accounts vary), Patrick was kidnapped and enslaved by Irish barbarians. They had come to plunder his family's estate, and took him away in chains to Ireland. While a slave, he converted to Christianity, praying incessantly at all hours of the day. After six years, he escaped, and made his way back home.

 

His family thought he was dead, and with good reason: no one taken by Irish raiders had managed to escape and return. St. Patrick biographer Philip Freeman describes how his family received him, stating "it was as if a ghost had returned from the dead."

 

After he returned home, he had a vision while sleeping. He felt called to return to Ireland. This seemed bizarre: this is where he was brutalized as a slave. But he knew what Jesus had commanded us to do, "Love thy enemy." He was convinced that God was calling him to become a missionary to Ireland. So he acted on it, despite the reservations of family and friends.

 

Patrick became a priest, practiced celibacy, and was eventually named a bishop. Contrary to what many believe, he did not introduce Christianity to Ireland, nor was he Ireland's first bishop. But he did more to bring the Gospel to Ireland than anyone, converting legions of pagans, especially in the northern parts of the island.

 

His missionary work in Ireland has been duly noted, but his strong defense of human rights has not been given its due.

 

No public person before him had denounced slavery, widespread though it was. Jesus was agnostic on the subject, Aristotle thought it was a natural way of life, and neither master nor slave saw anything fundamentally wrong with it. Patrick did.

 

Though he did not invoke natural law specifically, he was instinctively drawn to it. He taught that all men were created equal in the eyes of God, and that the inherent dignity of everyone must be respected.

 

Patrick did more than preach—he lashed out at the British dictator, Coroticus, harshly rebuking him for his mistreatment of the Irish. In fact, Patrick found his Irish converts to be more civilized than Coroticus and his band of thugs.

 

Patrick was way ahead of his time in the pursuit of human rights. Not only were men of every social status entitled to equal rights, so were women. In his Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus, he scolds "the tyrant Coroticus—a man who has no respect for God or his priests." More important, he made a startling plea: "They must also free Christian women and captives." His reasoning showed the power of his faith when he said, "Remember, Christ died and was crucified for these people."

 

He did not mince words. "So, Coroticus, you and your wicked servants, where do you think you will end up? You have treated baptized Christian women like prizes to be handed out, all for the sake of the here and now—this brief, fleeting world."

 

What makes this all the more dramatic is the way the pagan world thought about women: the idea that women were equal to men was totally foreign to them. But the women understood what Patrick was saying, and gravitated to him in large numbers. The Christian tenet that all humans possess equal dignity had taken root.

 

Did the Irish save civilization, as Thomas Cahill maintains? Freeman thinks not—"it had never been lost." But everyone agrees that had it not been for St. Patrick, and the monasteries that followed, much of what we know about the ancient world would not exist.

 

Indeed, it is difficult to fathom how classical Greek and Roman literature would have survived had it not been for the Irish monks who attracted students from many parts of Europe. They are responsible for preserving the great works of antiquity. And all of them are indebted to St. Patrick.

 

It is believed that he died on March 17, sometime during the second half of the fifth century. That is his feast day, the source of many celebrations in his honor. His impact extends beyond the Irish and the Catholic Church—human rights are a global issue—making him a very special person in world history.

 

Pigs fly: Bill Maher gets it right - "A silly people"

Bill Maher is a vile and usually cringe-worthy guy (and it's made him a centi-millionaire) and someone to normally ignore. But he got it right with this litany. Note: Four letter word warning ...

 

Is permanent Daylight Savings Time soon coming?

Looks like it's probable - the end of "Spring forward, fall back".

Congress may be more divided than ever, but there’s one thing on which Republicans and Democrats can agree: No one likes losing an hour of sleep when the nation “springs forward” at the start of daylight saving time every March. Momentum has been building across the country in recent years to do away with the twice-yearly switch between daylight saving and standard time. Starting in 2018, when Florida’s legislature became the first to pass a law to adopt year-round daylight saving time, 14 other states have followed suit.

There’s just one problem: While states can opt out of daylight saving time – as Hawaii and most of Arizona have done – federal law requires an act of Congress to allow states to adopt daylight saving time on a permanent basis.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced bipartisan bills to let states like Washington, along with North Idaho, permanently switch to daylight saving time. Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, whose state’s legislature also has voted to ditch standard time, was among eight senators who reintroduced the “Sunshine Protection Act of 2021” on Tuesday.

“Springing forward and falling back year after year only creates unnecessary confusion while harming Americans’ health and our economy,” Wyden said in a statement. “Making Daylight Saving permanent would give folks an hour back of sunshine during the winter months when we need it most.”

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

Benjamin Franklin suggested the idea of daylight saving time – as a joke – in a 1784 essay, but the United States didn’t adopt the system until 1918, as a World War I-era effort to conserve fuel and electricity by extending daylight hours.

The government abolished daylight saving time at the federal level after the war, but some states kept using it. The resulting confusion led Congress to pass the Uniform Time Act in 1966, which reimposed the springtime switch to daylight saving time across the country but gave states the ability to opt out.

The U.S. Department of Transportation, which enforces time zones and daylight saving time, maintains daylight saving time saves energy and reduces crime and traffic accidents. Proponents of never again “falling back” to standard time tend to agree, and wonder why the nation doesn’t just stick with daylight time all the time.

Leading physicians in China are committing suicide (Not parody or satire)

Murder and organ harvesting? "Deleting the "Falun Gong".

 

Yes! You can become a cryptocurrency miner -not that dificult and here's how

This is a follow up to my post a few days ago Cryptocurrency/Bitcoin in one (relatively) easy lesson and is from CNBC. A decent starting kit is about $4,400 plus the cost of electricity. And the rig just about runs itself. Mining is being done in Croton.

 

POLL: State lawmaker calling for renaming Cuomo bridge back to Tappan Zee

For sure. They never should have changed the name - the usual effort to deny heritage. I have no problem with naming something after a former NY governor - how about a govenrment  building in Albany?  Or the bathroom space on Randall's Island.

Vote here - It's not the first time a politician has called for changing the name of the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge back to the Gov. Malcolm Willson Tappan Zee Bridge — and it likely won't be the last.

My (new) congressman says Cuomo should resign

Mondaire Jones, the Democrat who replaced the retired Nita Lowey.  I myself don't think Cuomo should be forced to resign over alleged sexual harassment. He's entitled to his "day in court" and a thorough investigation on those allegations.

Much more troubling is his horrendous failures and covering up the Nursing Home deaths. He should be impeached for that -

Here's what Mondaire Jones thinks -

A large chunk of New York's representatives, including the Hudson Valley delegation, said the governor must step down.

Jones, a freshman Democrat representing Rockland County and most of Westchester, tied his condemnation to more than the harassment allegations.

"His mismanagement of COVID-19 spread in nursing homes and subsequent attempt to cover it up cost lives and has decimated the public's faith in our state government. New revelations about an alleged cover-up of potential structural defects in the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, which thousands of New Yorkers cross every day, as well as his refusal to establish a mass vaccination site in Rockland County despite it having the highest rate of COVID-19 infection in New York State, raise additional questions about the Cuomo Administration's commitment to keeping New Yorkers safe," Jones said in his statement. "Recently, the deeply disturbing allegations of at least six women, including several former employees, offer detailed descriptions of sexual misconduct that raise additional concerns about the Governor's fitness to hold any position of public trust."

Digital artist sells "Non-Fungible Token" (think cryptocurrency/blockchain) art piece for $69 million in Christie's auction

Amazing. Maybe think Dutch Tulip Mania of 1637? The video is less than two minutes long. Go here to find out what a non-fungible token is or watch the five minute interview with the creator below the first video.

Here's "Beeple" in an interview. Explaining the uses of NFT.

 

Shortly after the auction result, Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, tweeted: “Holy #$@” The record-breaking work, called “The First 5,000 days” was the first ever to sell at a major auction house. In 2007, Winkelmann set out to post a new work of digital art every day for the rest of his life and hasn’t missed a single day. The first 5,000 of those works, which he calls “Everydays,” were compiled to form “The First 5,000 days.” The Christie’s sale anoints Beeple as one of the top three living artists in the world by price, after Jeff Koons and David Hockney. “At this point, especially after today’s Christie’s sale, it’s not a question of whether NFTs will have an impact on the so-called traditional art market, but to what degree its impact will be felt,” said Andrew Goldstein, editor-in-chief of Artnet News. He added that the price is a sign that a new group of technology-enabled collectors can “destabilize the establishment in attention-grabbing ways.” While the number of bidders for the Beeple was small — 33 in total. They represented a new generation. Christie’s said 91% of the bidders had never been clients of Christie’s before. Nearly two-thirds were millennials or younger, and most were from the U.S. In an earlier interview with CNBC, Winkelmann said NFTs have the potential to change more than just the art world. “As soon as I saw it, I saw it as this massive, massive potential for this as a platform for digital ownership of a bunch of different things, not just art,” he said. “Moving forward, I think this will be seen an alternate form of asset class.”

Good Article: SciAm - "People Literally Don’t Know When to Shut Up—or Keep Talking"

From Scientific American - when should a person end a conversation? It's not a long article...

We are really bad at navigating a key transition point during one of the most basic social interactions

Mastroianni and his colleagues found that only 2 percent of conversations ended at the time both parties desired, and only 30 percent of them finished when one of the pair wanted them to. In about half of the conversations, both people wanted to talk less, but their cutoff point was usually different. Participants in both studies reported, on average, that the desired length of their conversation was about half of its actual length. To the researchers’ surprise, they also found that it is not always the case that people are held hostage by talks: In 10 percent of conversations, both study participants wished their exchange had lasted longer. And in about 31 percent of the interactions between strangers, at least one of the two wanted to continue.

Most people also failed at intuiting their partner’s desires. When participants guessed at when their partner had wanted to stop talking, they were off by about 64 percent of the total conversation length.

That people fail so completely in judging when a conversation partner wishes to wrap things up “is an astounding and important finding,” says Thalia Wheatley, a social psychologist at Dartmouth College, who was not involved in the research. Conversations are otherwise “such an elegant expression of mutual coordination,” she says. “And yet it all falls apart at the end because we just can’t figure out when to stop.” This puzzle is probably one reason why people like to have talks over coffee, drinks or a meal, Wheatley adds, because “the empty cup or check gives us an out—a critical conversation-ending crutch.”

Nicholas Epley, a behavioral scientist at the University of Chicago, who was not on the research team, wonders what would happen if most conversations ended exactly when we wanted them to. “How many new insights, novel perspectives or interesting facts of life have we missed because we avoided a longer or deeper conversation that we might have had with another person?” he asks.

Just how good is "Made in China" cutlery?

Not so hot based on this. The knife snapped while Brigid was cutting broccoli! Broccoli... one tough vegetable .. Did you know broccoli was bred out of wild cabbage plant - Brassica oleracea

Poor show here by the Chinese -

Gov. Cuomo's standard for himself; different from the standard he set for priests

Yes, quite, quite different.

From the Catholic League:

CUOMO HAD A DIFFERENT STANDARD FOR PRIESTS

Now that Gov. Cuomo has been accused of being a serial predator, he is insisting that his due process rights be respected. Yet when it came to accused priests, Cuomo sang a different tune.

 

Cuomo has a different standard for himself. When asked this week about the charges against him, he said, "You can allege something, might be true, might not be true. You may have misperceived, there may be other facts."

 

If this is his best defense, the man is in trouble. Nevertheless, what he said was accurate. Not all allegations are true. Misperceptions are not uncommon. There may be other facts that have yet to surface. That's why the accused, including him, are entitled to due process.

 

However, when it came to allegations against priests—for offenses alleged to have happened decades earlier—Cuomo showed no respect for their due process rights. He was happy to sign legislation that gave rapacious lawyers out to sunder the Catholic Church all the leeway they wanted.

 

Just as important, Cuomo knew these lawyers would focus on the Church and not pursue claims against public school teachers. Given the generosity of the teachers' unions at election time, he was not about to demand that their sordid record of child rape be prosecuted.

 

When Cuomo signed the bill aimed at the Catholic Church in 2019, he called out the Church for fighting the legislation. What he said was as ignorant as it was cruel.

 

Cuomo accused Catholic Church officials of "threatening" those who were not supportive of their opposition to the bill. He said, "I believe it was the conservatives in the Senate who were threatened by the Catholic Church. And this went on for years."

 

When teachers' unions oppose a bill it is called lobbying. When bishops oppose a bill it is called a threat. Cuomo's double standard, and his animus against the Catholic Church, could not be more plain.

 

What he failed to note is that for over a decade, bills targeting the sexual abuse of minors did not apply to the public sector. It took the bishops, and the Catholic League, to demand that the bill be made inclusive of all entities. We didn't threaten anyone.

 

Our major concern was the due process rights of accused priests. Most of the allegations took place a very long time ago, making it difficult to determine innocence or guilt. We know that memories fade and witnesses die, which is why we have statutes of limitations in the first place. There is nothing "threatening" about opposing bills that gut this fundamental due process provision.

 

If I had said about accused priests, "You can allege something, might be true, might not be true. You may have misperceived, there may be other facts," would Cuomo have agreed with me? Not a chance.

 

In fact, on the day he signed the bill that the Church opposed, he blithely assumed that all of the accused priests were guilty. "I want to start by applauding these victims/advocates who went through a horrendous violation in life and an aggravated defilement because it was a person in authority, a person who was supposed to be respected."

 

So there we have it. The accusers are to be believed and the accused is guilty. If Cuomo's standard for priests were applied to himself, then his accusers are telling the truth and he is guilty. And if that is the case, why is he still in office, especially now that he is accused of sexual assault?

 

Contact: Press.Office@exec.ny.gov

 

Awesome! Penguin outsmarts pod of killer whales

This is called lateral thinking? I wonder if the people in the little boats weren't worried about themselves?

 

Cryptocurrency/Bitcoin in one (relatively) easy lesson

I think cryptocurrency's are here to stay. If you have some knowledge or no knowledge at all then it's worth watching this 14 minute educational and entertaining video. And maybe watch it more than once. Ben Shapiro usually doesn't spend much time talking about this sort of stuff - but he's got it right about crypto.

 

Opening Day tomorrow: A classic: Deion Sanders (while a Yankee) inside the park home run

gotta love it. As the ball gets past another dual athlete, who had himself hit three home runs that day!

 

Harriet Tubman - An anniversary

UPDATE: Good Movie - Harriet - free on amazon prime. We watched it Sunday night. The incredibly talented  Cynthia Erivo who also wrote and sang the theme song, played Tubman.

Today is the 108th anniversary of the death of Harriet Tubman who was an escaped slave, made multiple trips back south to lead a total of about 70 escaped slaves on the Underground Railroad, functioned as a Union spy during the Civil War, and performed multiple well documented heroic deeds. Incredible woman, she lived much of her life in Auburn, NY (the Finger Lakes District) in a property sold to her ($$$ was raised) in 1859 by abolitionist Republican U.S. Senator William H. Seward . She used the property as a haven for escaped slaves and in her later years, she was an activist in the movement for the women's vote - women's suffrage. Tubman was born sometime in March 1822; she had a long amazing life. The picture above was taken in 1895, when she was 73.

The reason I'm posting this is because a week ago this past Saturday I found out (thank you Tom C) that a very famous sculpture of her was touring the country and happened to be in Peekskill, but was leaving the next day. So Brigid and I went up and had a look. Pretty cool. The artist statement is the last photo.

 

WSJ - Biden goal: Match Trump on unemployment and the economy

Well he's certainly going about it in a manner different from Trump ...

President Joe Biden wants America to know that he’s from the government and he’s here to help... Biden is now staking his presidency on the idea that the government can use his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan not only to stop a pandemic and jobs crisis but also to catapult the country forward to tackle deep issues of poverty, inequality and more...

Setting the bar for Bidenomics is Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who appeared Monday on MSNBC with Stephanie Ruhle. Ms. Yellen shared her hopes for the pending $1.9 trillion federal spending extravaganza:

• • I`m anticipating, if all goes well, that our economy will be back to full employment—where we were before the pandemic—next year, and the Congressional Budget Office estimated that without this, it could probably take until 2024.

In another recent interview, Ms. Yellen made clear that she is not just talking about the unemployment rate. On Friday Martin Crutsinger of the Associated Press reported on her comments in a PBS interview:

• • Yellen said the unemployment rate, which fell to 6.2% in February, was overstating the improvement in the labor force because it does not count the 4 million people who have stopped looking for work and have dropped out of the job market. She said the real unemployment rate is 10%.

In her MSNBC interview Ms. Yellen dismissed the idea that the huge federal spending increase, poured on top of an already reviving economy, might fuel a dangerous inflation. So the Biden bar is set: low inflation and historically high employment. Americans should hold Democrats accountable for clearing it.

The Myanmar nun again intervenes with the police and military

I posted this real life heroism a few days ago. In Myanmar, a Catholic nun steps up ...

And here is Sister Ann Rose Nu Twang again yesterday trying to head off further violence.

 

Pretty cool - catcher challenges runner to steal - then throws him out.

Neat. And what a perfect throw. Over a million views in three days.

 

Derek Jeter's Hudson Valley property is on the market

Nice! It's on the west side of the Hudson, just north of the NY-NJ border.

The estate, called Tiedemann Castle, is back on the market for $12.75 million, two million less than when Jeter listed it for the first time in 2018. From its five kitchens to the infinity pool to the boathouse, it's made for enjoyment and entertaining.

At the Croton Arboretum

Yesterday - Sunday - we had a quick walk at the Croton Arboretum which is next to the Hudson National Golf Course. The road into the Aboretum was closed, so we walked the quarter mile or so to it, and then walked the raised wood platforms. We didn't go up the hill or over the March trail. Much of the pathway had snow or mud, but about half was clear. Also went to two of the  golf course trail bridges near the walkway - no one was there to say you can't do that. In fact we were the only people we saw.

A few pictures -

Wearing my ancient but reliable LL Bean orangish fleece ...

Soooo Brigid - she looks down for something interesting - up for something cool -

water was flowing -

two more

 

 

 

 

NY restaurants outside of NYC can open at 75% capacity on March 19th

From Gov. Cuomo - who may soon lose his emergency powers to make these pronouncements

With the coronavirus positivity rate continuing its steady decline, restaurants will be able to open at 75 percent capacity across New York State beginning March 19, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday. That directive includes all New York restaurants except those in New York City, which will remain at 35 percent capacity. Other restaurants in New York have been operating at 50 percent capacity.

On Sunday, the state's positivity rate stood at 2.98 percent, with 59 deaths reported.

WSJ: Why senior officials quit New York state’s Health Department in recent months

Another report I read said Cuomo didn't want the true numbers coming out while he was promoting his book! Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Follow the Misleader. Cuomo advisers pressured health officials to obscure the nursing-home carnage.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s top advisers successfully pushed state health officials to strip a public report of data showing that more nursing-home residents had died of Covid-19 than the administration had acknowledged, according to people with knowledge of the report’s production.

The July report, which examined the factors that led to the spread of the virus in nursing homes, focused only on residents who died inside long-term-care facilities, leaving out those who had died in hospitals after becoming sick in nursing homes. As a result, the report said 6,432 nursing-home residents had died—a significant undercount of the death toll attributed to the state’s most vulnerable population, the people said. The initial version of the report said nearly 10,000 nursing-home residents had died in New York by July last year, one of the people said.

And here's a CBS report making the point about not wanting to mess up book sales:

Pope Francis meets with leading Iraqi Shiite cleric

UPDATE: Here is a link to the Mass held in the Chaldean Catholic Cathedral of St. Joseph in Baghdad. https://youtu.be/F6VvBTuFkOw

Calling for peaceful coexistence and fraternity.

ABC: tie-in - COVID deaths and obesity

Quite a relationship.