We recently watched a stand up comedy event that was taped sometime after the end of COVID restrictions. The comedian did a bit about what it was like to be on lockdown.
That bit stirred my own memories of that time in Washington State.
I was never on lockdown, not even for one day.
Earliest days of WA COVID concern: We were told that COVID-19 was a life and death concern requiring regular people to stay home from work and school while marijuana and booze sales were designated as essential. This policy may have made people wonder about the science here.
Each day of every month, there was an opportunity to pump a tank of gas, shop at the grocery store, buy lotto tickets and go out to walk on state parks trails.
People who are free to show up for all of the above every day of every week are not on lockdown.
People who had ties to a school or place of business may have seen these facilities shut down. Even if that was the case, it did not place anyone on lockdown.
We learned that we could take off the mask when seated at a restaurant. Germs remained at a level in the room that would impact people when standing/not sitting.
A local Mom and Pop’s restaurant is still using the banned and evil plastic bags that are best suited for their customers to carry home hot menu selections.
Business people would make business decisions. I would let restaurant people run restaurants. They have an incentive to keep their customers safe and happy. Health Dept. standards would be in place for restaurants. I would not get involved in fast food or take out packaging regulations. Customers would support or walk away from the businesses of their choosing. Telling small business people they can’t use the traditional bags they prefer doesn’t seem to fit with a society that can’t stop bragging about freedom, thanking the troops for freedoms, fighting wars for freedoms, staging military jet flyovers at sporting events for freedom, etc.
Ultra Lightweight Produce Bags
Give the planet a break and reach for these super lightweight, environmentally-friendly produce bags. Use caution when loading sweet potatoes, ears of corn, bananas, etc. Using two, three or four of the lightweight bags creates enough strength to recreate the use of the old bags that were not OK for the global environment.
Also, be sure to allow plenty of time and patience to pick away at the proper end of the bag in order to try and get it open. Using several bags for a few sweet potatoes requires the attempt at opening the bag steps to be repeated multiple times for the same size produce purchase.
Took a look on the web to see if others were sharing on this topic. No such luck. Independent thinking and blog posts appear to have been scrubbed away. The web is now about trying to sell you stuff.
Don’t Be a Litterbug
I think we’ll use the bag shown at the top of this page to clean out our cat litter box. We will not toss it out the window of our car as we blast down the highway. We will not leave it on the beach. We will bag up our trash and have a proper lid on the trash can. We will pick up trash when we see it blowing through the neighborhood.
How has the greater maritime industry dealt with COVID crewing challenges?
How have various industries and public agencies handled this?
Airlines? US Navy? FedEx? UPS? local fire dept?
Here at Oak Bay Starfish, we have been posting Re: WA State Ferries for years. A favorite story was the auto tollbooth upgrade at Mukilteo. Here is what we found on the web:
We got our ass kicked on 911.The federal government has been squandering credibility ever since. If the US Armed Forces were keeping us safe– first responders would have had a routine day at work on 911. The giant government and “Dept of Defense” were nowhere to be found on 911. For federal government convenience, take the day, follow along, pledge your allegiance and behave as that government sees fit. Do as you are told. Fly your flag as you are told. Think and behave as that government tells you. Divert your attention away from federal government failure and stay busy with federal suggestions for the day.
Here at Oak Bay Starfish, we will observe the day by avoiding network TV. At the bottom of this page, we will offer up some readings featuring voices of dissent and alternative media.
Aftermath
Let’s say the federal government did everything right before and on the day of Sept. 11th, 2001. The uniparty press avoids questions on how things have come together since.
Big Homeland Security spending
The US Dept of Homeland Security was established on November 25, 2002. Plenty of time for lessons learned, and more cartel drugs entering Hometown, USA than ever before?
Lessons Learned?
Anytime there is a plane crash, a loss at sea, or an industrial accident, a thorough investigation takes place. Lessons learned are used to prevent future accidents. A major aircraft manufacturer grounds certain airplanes after mishaps. Time is required to investigate and find out what went wrong.
Any similar effort after a big cartel drug bust inside the US?
The folks who show up and investigate the plane crash don’t spend time congratulating each other. Their work is designed to try and prevent similar future incidents, not promote themselves.
Preventing drugs from entering local communities would kill the chance for various agencies to get publicity for the occasional big drug bust happening in those communities.
Wonder what was happening at border crossing/port of entry inspections during the 12 months Operation P-22 (to take down just one branch of the cartel activity) took place. Do the good guys who made the local bust notify the good guys at the border about the weak links in their process?
Were federal authorities at the border notified of this ongoing investigation?
Did the cartel traffickers get fast track screening at the border so as not to disrupt this ongoing investigation?
If the drug traffickers were given a pass at the border- would that have tipped them off as to the investigation- or would that have been seen as standard protocol?
Imagine that LE authorities observe a shoplifter or bank robber in action. Instead of going in to make an arrest they back off and conduct an investigation that goes on for months. What if they applied the same tactic Re: crimes involving arson, terrorism, child abuse, DUI, etc.
This time next year- will there be any shortage of cartel product in the Puget Sound area? Has any city, county or state jurisdiction been able to cleanup their drug problem using these methods?
Snohomish 2015
Local law enforcement agencies may benefit when the US Dept. of Homeland Security fails to keep heroin out of the US:
Newspeople are good about posting a drug bust press release. Newspeople remain silent when it comes to asking questions about Homeland Security funding and performance.
Big DOD spending on undeclared/unwon wars for our freedoms.
School children are taught about a free enterprise system. They grow up to find out that the federal government will tell them what kind of shower head they must install in the bathroom, and what type of gas can they must buy for their lawn mower.
Did hostile forces in distant lands attempt to replace US consumer demand with government demand and end the free enterprise system?
Several news sources published this quote. View them here.
The idea that sending hometown troops to Africa would be linked in any way with keeping the people of Salisbury Maryland safe and free calls for more discussion.
Mayor Day,
While the troops were deployed, federal law was signed prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to adults age 18-20.
Can you help us to understand the militarized version of freedom here?
Freedoms come and go. None of the above are linked in any way with The Joint Chiefs of Staff, The Troops, The Dept. of Defense or the outcome of military operations overseas.
Maybe a few more decades of undeclared/unwon wars and the freedoms will get better.
Why do we speak of the US Armed Forces as if they function as some sort of giant civil rights organization?
Both major parties are OK with treating 18-20 year old adults as second-class citizens.
Both major parties are good with a land of the free holding pattern where alcohol, marijuana, tobacco and firearms restrictions are in place for 18-20 year old adults. Is there any state where recreational marijuana laws remove prohibition for adults at age 18? Are The Joint Chiefs of Staff working to change any of this?
Doesn’t seem to fit with a society that can’t stop bragging about freedom, thanking the troops for freedoms, fighting wars for freedoms, staging military jet flyovers at sporting events for freedom, etc.
Has it become harder to find blogs, videos and alternative media that ask questions or point to the failures of 911 and its aftermath? How about COVID? How about a giant US Dept. of Homeland Security?
“Nearly 1,800 victims’ relatives, first responders and survivors are calling on Biden to refrain from attending any memorials over his refusal to release Sept. 11 documents.”
“The administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump also declined to declassify supporting documents, citing national security concerns.”
22 Years Later
Part of the reaction was to send The Troops into undeclared wars.
If DOD was an NFL team, sports talk radio would feature comments like:
The Dept. of Defense was nowhere to be found on 911. We haven’t won a war since.
Any college or pro football coach would have been fired a dozen times over for what DOD has done with the US Armed Forces during the fake GWOT era.
Fake GWOT?
The US Dept. of Homeland Security was invented after the catastrophic military failure of 911. The idea was to keep bad people from coming to the US to do bad things/attempt another 911, etc.
Wouldn’t the giant War on Terror be a cartel drug trafficker’s worst nightmare?
If REAL ID is critical to the safety of America, have travelers out at the airport been less safe since 911?
The new REAL ID requirement for domestic air travel has now been extended out more than 20 years past 911 – May 7, 2025
If sending US troops to Afghanistan and creating a $51.6 billion (every 12 months) US Dept. of Homeland Security was meant to keep bad people from coming here to do bad things, why are drug cartels able to move product into all 50 states?
If the CIA (est 1947) serves as an advantage to the US, why does the Department of Defense have such a poor record of winning undeclared wars going back to 1949, the year DOD was established?
Show up early to wait in line and squeeze the toothpaste out of the tube at the airport?
What keeps the terrorists of the GWOT from creating a disruption at the back end of the screening line?
Has anyone ever seen any member of the press ask questions on this?
“What goes on at airports is not security. It is Security Theater. When the government’s own agents try to smuggle “weapons” aboard airliners to test the system, they succeed ninety-five percent of the time.”
“Further, a terrorist doesn’t need to get aboard an airliner to blow up spectacularly. At many airports, hundreds of people line up at ticket counters during peak hours. A carry-on bag of explosive would easily create enough slaughter to shut down air travel and to make international headlines for weeks.”
Will sending the National Guard, active, reserve and IRR forces to support NATO/Ukraine stimulate new enlistments over at the recruiting office?
National Guard
The people of Minnesota need more applicants to maintain a place to live and a regular job in their hometown area when they are not doing time in foreign lands helping DOD with undeclared/unwon wars and missions completely unrelated to their home state.
A few decades back, people might think of the National Guard as one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer plus a way to support your home state by being ready to get called out for floods, fires, natural disasters, civil unrest, etc. Maybe a way to help the next state over if they needed it.
Any members of the press available to show up and ask why the people of Home State, USA needed services in distant lands, absent any military emergency, national emergency, draft, or declaration of war?
Recruiting crisis for Uncle Sam? Elected officials, top Pentagon Generals and the press earned it.
Thousands of men and women who signed up for the National Guard in the past 25 years did tours in places like Syria, Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo.
These families have stories to tell and they’re not all positive. Will their stories support a draft?
Zero questions from small or large newspapers. Zero questions from TV newspeople.
The small papers will say they need more support from subscribers and advertising dollars or cash from the federal government to stay alive. All this because COVID or the internet or lack of newspaper sales, or a free and independent press that needs taxpayer support.
People who take no public funds, private donations or advertising dollars are free to ask questions at any time. Why not the press? Call for unpaid volunteers and you’d get better news coverage than what we have now.
I’d be more interested in paying (again) for a local paper subscription if there was more in the way of newspeople asking questions.
No sense in subscribing to newspapers that do not ask public policy-related questions.
JFK speaks about the role of the press in a free society:
The mainstream press provides news coverage that favors government agencies, departments and policies.
We are at a place where alternative media and comedians are asking the questions and highlighting the issues.
Small town newspaper (image at top of page) displays junk mail style advertising instead of front page news. The small papers will say they need more support from subscribers and advertising dollars or cash from the federal government to stay alive. All this because COVID or the internet or lack of newspaper sales, or a free and independent press that needs taxpayer support.
People who take no public funds, private donations or advertising dollars are free to ask questions at any time. Why not the press? Call for unpaid volunteers and you’d get better news coverage than what we have now.
Last time, we learned that we could take off the mask when seated at a restaurant. Germs remained at a level in the room that would impact people when standing/not sitting.
Last time, we learned that we could take off the mask when seated at a restaurant. Germs remained at a level in the room that would impact people when standing/not sitting.
I did not speak out against vaccines or anyone who takes them. Ditto for mask wearing indoors or out.
Around September of 2021, we moved to a new community. My wife and I agreed that in the first few weeks, while getting settled, we would find a local place where we could get the shot. Just about that time, there seemed to be some question about which version of the vaccine was the one to take or avoid.
Restaurants were still changing up inside dining protocols.
Last night, ketchup comes in tiny cups. Water comes in a bottle.
The place we went last night appeared to be fully staffed with good people. Not here to complain about restaurant staff.
Here to ask:
How much of the new dining format (not masks) is forced by the state and how much is made up by the local business?
Is there any medical advantage that comes with the new format?
If it is the choice of the business, what are they trying to achieve?
It seems like the plan is to cause meaningless inconvenience.
If you notice the inconvenience, maybe you will think that the establishment is somehow going out of their way because they care about protecting you.
I will wait on the sidelines if dining out features unpredictable new protocols. The whole idea of returning to a place you like is to duplicate the experience you had before.
About this time, info on vaccine side effects was being discussed somewhere. We were aware that getting the shot did not mean getting to go without a mask. The idea that more than one shot would be required was out there. Somewhere along in there, people were being accused of spreading misinformation and having their social media accounts suspended if they questioned the government version of COVID protocols.
Before the internet and social media-
If different people selected different churches to attend, or they decided to attend no church at all, was this because of misinformation?
Americans were never meant to agree on matters of a personal nature.
Back into wait and see and never did get the shots.
We were aware that some employers required vaccines, but employees were still getting sick and in some cases facilities were shut down because too many people on staff could not come to work or something like that.
I always wore a mask when entering a business, post office, etc. Always took it off when I stepped back outside. I never spent a day on lockdown. The term lockdown seemed to apply to people who were associated with an employer, school, or maybe a church that was shut down. None of that applied to me.
Every day I wanted to go out and visit a state park or go shopping, I was able to do so.
COVID restrictions handed down by WA
My personal preference would be to let business people make business decisions.
Let customers support or walk away from the businesses of their choosing.
Avoid one size fits all mandates. Mask required? Let the business owner decide. Make the whole thing voluntary, like a stop smoking, or wear your seatbelt campaign.
WA COVID Oddities
Do property taxes go down because fleets of school buses sat idle and students remained at home? Any questions from newspeople?
Earliest days of WA COVID concern: We were told that COVID-19 was a life and death concern requiring regular people to stay home from work and school while marijuana and booze sales were designated as essential. This policy may have made people wonder about the science here.
The state took money from some people, and gave it to some other people.
If your construction crew is working on a project based on any sort of voluntary exchange or honest demand for services, you might have to stay home for a while.
During COVID, a few letters and editorials compared this time to the past and made the case that people did a better job of pulling together during WWII.
They are correct.
A man on the moon in 1969 was a proud American moment.
Since that time, both major parties have taken turns in power and have squandered credibility that would help in the current situation.
It seems typical that the cashier, who handles cash, coins and cards-also places napkins in the to-go bag.
This really doesn’t seem to make sense even before concerns Re: COVID-19.
Food handler card? Cross-contamination? Health Department? State of the art protocols practiced by global corporations, restaurant management professionals, etc. No one seems to notice.
Whoever designed the building did so by code/permit. Size of building dictates number of exits/entrances and how large the space is where people are able to move shopping carts, enter with their family, etc.
COVID brings on restricted store entrances and exits. To enter the store, the normal access is restricted and made more narrow, forcing people to bunch up in order to get into the store. What is the medical advantage of this?
Landlords required to provide rent-free housing during COVID
“Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has again extended the state’s eviction moratorium, this time through the end of March.”
Love to see newspeople ask:
Have any arrangements been made to cover property owner’s costs for mortgages, taxes, repairs, maintenance, water, trash pickup, sewer, insurance, etc.
Who pays to have the apartment complex dumpster emptied if the property manager cannot collect rent?
If you called 911 to report an emergency and described why the local state park is shut down, would the operator agree that this situation involves an emergency?
If there is a list of the things government does well, it must be a small one. Will people have a never again attitude towards restrictions during a future crisis? Will the government think it was able to prove that people can be herded into submission?
To me, the most interesting people in politics are the people who are willing to question their chosen political party.
When is the last time all of Penn Cove was safe for recreational shellfish harvest?
Went to a favorite Asian restaurant yesterday. To go box/containers are made of 1970s style styrofoam. Take out bags are made of plastic.
Feels great. I do not have any fetish about using or going without plastic and styrofoam. That ends when big brother says you can’t/here is a deadline, etc.
In recent months-
Visiting/shopping at more than one Puget Sound area military installation:
Plastic bags are still readily available and in use. No extra fees/questions, etc.
Having/wanting a choice on plastic bags does not indicate a disregard for the planet.
Governor Inslee,
Please take a look at several Whidbey beaches that remain closed all year long for recreational shellfish harvest because of sewage treatment outfall.
Sewage treatment outfall. Not stormwater. Not climate change.
Reporting on this topic appears to be completely off limits to the press.
View the Washington State Department of Health beach list here.
Coupeville
“Clams, mussels and oysters CLOSED year-round.”
“This beach is within the closure area for a sewage treatment plant outfall and is unsafe for recreational shellfish harvesting.”
Love to see the press get out and interview people on various sides of this issue.
My take: TV newspeople tend to report only one side of the story.
Much of what we get today is sort of a press release style of news reporting where a statement is prepared by whatever agency was involved in the latest policy update, drug bust/federal grant money award, etc.
Newspeople post this statement as is.
A 5th grade book report would require more in the way of asking questions.
I want to know what various people are thinking on various issues.
Today, voices of dissent, and their social media accounts, are suppressed.
I think people could reject alternative media and be totally good with mainstream media, but it would require the family friendly, hometown pride-oriented local small town papers and TV news folks to try harder.
“The order, which took effect Sept. 4, was challenged in action filed in Clallam County Superior Court by six eateries in Sequim, Port Angeles and Joyce.”
“A half-dozen local eateries have sought the injunction. They say it unconstitutionally targets a single industry and harms their freedom of commerce.”
Long-term closure? No chance for a quick cleanup, ongoing State Patrol enforcement, maintenance & volunteer groups to keep rest stops cleaned up and ready to go?
49 other states operate highway rest stops. If I was Governor, I would insist on picking the top 3 states that are best at running rest stops and running WA rest stops in a similar manner until further improvements could be made.
These are federal highways. Publicly funded highway safety facilities will be shut down because of misbehavior? WTF?
“…another Snohomish County traveler mentioned filthy conditions in August, including sewage around the crowded RV waste-disposal areas, and suggested tighter State Patrol enforcement.”
Symbol of a culture that was once strong (Man On The Moon in ’69). A culture that is now weak. A culture that will yield the right of way to violators while pushing good citizens to the side & collecting big tax money all along the way.
Alternative media is good about keeping an active comment section up & running. There’s always something to learn or think about from the points others make in the comment section.
Local papers have stripped away all comments from past articles, and removed the opportunity to post comments to new articles.
Various newspapers in the Puget Sound area have gone with this trend.
Suppressing comments, getting away from asking questions related to public policy and telling us they need more support from subscription and advertising sales.
Got it.
My personal preference would be to let business people make business decisions.
Let customers support or walk away from the businesses of their choosing.
My take: TV newspeople tend to report only one side of the story.
Much of what we get today is sort of a press release style of news reporting where a statement is prepared by whatever agency was involved in the latest policy update, drug bust/federal grant money award, etc.
Newspeople post this statement as is.
A 5th grade book report would require more in the way of asking questions.
I want to know what various people are thinking on various issues.
Today, voices of dissent, and their social media accounts, are suppressed.
People who work in and around the medical field who have been on the job over the past 18 months and reject the vaccine? Why not connect with a couple of these people and interview them?
“WSF said they are experiencing a severe staffing shortage due to an aging workforce, recruiting challenges, while feeling the impact of the global pandemic and now a vaccine mandate for state workers.”
The Puget Sound area includes several military bases. Has the US Navy delayed or canceled sailings because of crewing issues? Any chance that TV newspeople could go and do some interviews and ask these sorts of questions?
I do not speak out against vaccines or anyone who takes them. Ditto for mask wearing indoors or out.
I am OK with the Washington State Ferries workforce protesting COVID mandates.
TV News
Would TV newspeople be willing to interview people from various sides of an issue?
Much of what we get today is sort of a press release style of news reporting where a statement is prepared by whatever agency is involved in the latest policy update, drug bust/federal grant money award, etc.
Love to see TV newspeople ask: How has the greater maritime industry dealt with COVID crewing challenges? How have various industries and public agencies handled this? Airlines? US Navy? FedEx? UPS? Costco? Local fire dept?
Port Townsend is a good walking town. We have visited many times to take a look around, go shopping, drink a couple beers, enjoy a local restaurant or pub, meet friends and family, etc.
Today we had to wait for the ferry and it was time for lunch. Several restaurants are within an easy walk of the ferry dock. Over the years, these restaurants must have done a significant business serving people waiting for the ferry or showing up in town just to visit.
We quickly realized that the county we were in would not let people enter to dine in a restaurant without proof of vaccination.
One of the restaurants closest to the ferry was clearly open, but the parking lot was completely empty.
The outdoor dining area was completely empty. There was no sign of life.
Like many other locations, they are looking to add staff.
The lunch rush appears to be dead. If the customers are gone, how will new hires serve customers?
Snohomish County – Trip Report
Later in this same trip, we visited a traditional Mexican restaurant.
A very active dining and cantina scene here. Customers and staff seem happy. Masks required to enter. We have been here several times over the years. Recommended for anyone who still wants to get out to a Mexican restaurant. It looks like the large cantina has a bit of a sports bar vibe too.
Visiting/Shopping at more than one Puget Sound area military installation
Installation number one:
Saw a Got Freedom? t-shirt. The concept behind this could be discussed for hours.
Installation number two:
On Oct 2nd, 2021, plastic bags are still readily available and in use. No extra fees/questions, etc.
Having/wanting a choice on plastic bags does not indicate a disregard for the planet.
“Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday he is extending Washington state’s eviction moratorium for one month. The state’s moratorium was set to expire on Sept. 30, 2021.
USS Calhoun County sailors dumped thousands of tons of radioactive waste, using GIs in mustard gas experiments, using GIs to test nuclear weapons, Agent Orange, MCAS El Toro and Camp Lejeune water contamination & Gulf War Syndrome.
Love to see KING 5 ask: How has the greater maritime industry dealt with COVID crewing challenges? How have various industries and public agencies handled this? Airlines? US Navy? FedEx? UPS? local fire dept?
Is there any medical advantage that comes with the new format?
If it is the choice of the business, what are they trying to achieve?
I will wait on the sidelines if dining out features unpredictable new protocols. The whole idea of returning to a place you like is to duplicate the experience you had before.
There has been a lot going on in the news. I’d like to move away from it, but the big stories have pulled me in over the past few days.
A man on the moon in 1969 was a proud American moment.
Since that time, both major parties have taken turns in power and have squandered credibility that would help in the current situation.
We were told we needed to send troops to Vietnam.
Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.
Some may have become skeptical along the way.
Love to see the press, school teachers, sports announcers and politicians come clean on how any of this was linked to American rights and freedoms or defending the constitution.
Much of the TV news reporting we get today is sort of a press release style of reporting where a statement is prepared by whatever agency was involved in the latest policy update, drug bust/federal grant money award, etc.
Stopped by a WA bar on Friday. Masks must be worn to enter. Masks come off inside and people carry on as always. Even for people with a completely neutral mind, much of all this seems like just going through the motions.
My personal preference would be for business owners to make business decisions. Customers would support or walk away from the businesses of their choosing. If people want to sit at the bar and drink, let’s leave that option open.
A One Size Fits All Society?
TV newspeople tend to report one side of the story. Would TV newspeople (prior to the protest phase) be willing to interview people from various sides of an issue?
A large number of news stories Re: parents showing up at back to school protests tell us that different people believe different things.
Allowing people to voluntarily opt in or out may ease the tension-similar to the way people select the church they attend, or chose to attend no church at all.
People who wish to wear masks and get vaccinated may do so at any time.
None of these images belong to me. I did not create them. They were shared on the web.
Don’t miss our companion blog-found here: Old Man Blog
Earliest days of WA COVID concern: We were told that COVID-19 was a life and death concern requiring regular people to stay home from work and school while marijuana and booze sales were designated as essential. This policy may have made people wonder about the science here.
The state took money from some people, and gave it to some other people.
If your construction crew is working on a project based on any sort of voluntary exchange or honest demand for services, you might have to stay home for a while.
I live near a military base that I visit frequently. Over the past year, a wide range of changing COVID restrictions have been in place.
You can find different requirements at different buildings and facilities all on the same base, in the same day.
Military exchange
Over the past 12 months, every possible combination of closing one or most entrances to the building and channelling shoppers into and out of one door. Next visit, a different combination of entrance/exits closed is in place. Ask anyone who works or shops there, they would be able to verify. Never have understood how COVID risk is minimized by changing up the building entrances and exits. Masks are always required.
Military commissary
Overt the past 12 months: count shopping carts so that a limited number of shoppers can be in the facility. Check ID cards before entry. Later, no more checking cards or counting shoppers. Masks are always required.
Other base facilities have required a temperature check before entry. Some have required a face covering. Some have required a cloth face covering.
Walmart
Whoever designed the building did so by code/permit. Size of building dictates number of exits/entrances and how large the space is where people are able to move shopping carts, enter with their family, etc.
COVID brings on restricted store entrances and exits. To enter the store, the normal access is restricted and made more narrow, forcing people to bunch up in order to get into the store. What is the medical advantage of this?
If terrorists are trying to kill us, and REAL ID matters, why are drug cartels able to move product into all 50 states?
Love to see newspeople interview the US Dept. of Homeland Security & ask:
Are passports/enhanced/REAL IDs effective in keeping cartel drugs out of the US?
Standard driver’s licenses have not been accepted at the border since 2009.
If sending US troops to Afghanistan and creating a $49.8 billion US Dept. of Homeland Security was meant to keep bad people from coming here to do bad things, why are drug cartels able to move product into all 50 states?
“There are currently 33 HIDTAs, and HIDTA-designated counties are located in 50 states, as well as in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia.”
Look for newspeople to ask zero questions in this area.
Alternative media continues to ask questions.
30:35
Joe Biden is wearing a mask on a zoom call-when he has been vaccinated:
Would it make sense to have age/physical standards requirements in hiring? The US Armed Forces are one example of where these requirements are in place.
Do property taxes go down because fleets of school buses sat idle and students remained at home?
Are deadlines for payment of property taxes extended?
If we could save just one life-
We might reduce the speed limit on the highway to 40 mph.
We might require all drivers on state roadways to wear a NASCAR/Indy-style helmet.
If driving a car without a seatbelt is not legal, should motorcycle use be phased out to save lives?
Cartel drugs can be deadly for some.
US Troops at the border, the big El Chapo takedown, opioid lawsuits, REAL ID, Homeland Security grant money, CBP social media posts, strict post 911/GWOT security protocols, and a $49.8 billion US Dept. of Homeland Security fail to keep meth, heroin and fentanyl from arriving in Hometown USA.
Should further restrictions be put in place?
The legal drinking age could be raised to age 35, if it would save lives.
Everyone could be required to go to 12 step meetings as a preventative measure.
High risk activities could be phased out.
Mountain climbing, riding in a hot air balloon, operating a home built aircraft, and swimming in any location without a lifeguard are examples of activities that could be restricted.
Would it make sense to have age/physical standards requirements in hiring? The US Armed Forces are one example of where these requirements are in place.
I think people could reject alternative media and be totally good with mainstream media, but it would require the family friendly, hometown pride-oriented local small town papers and TV news folks to try harder.
We are fans of alternative media here at Oak Bay Starfish.
Are the people who took steps to discover that new evidence conspiracy theorists?
Apply this same curiosity and desire for knowledge to some controversial topics and you’ll be labeled a conspiracy theorist.
Why the effort to suppress questions?
The culture of the Marine Corps includes taking a careful look at things that may have gone wrong in order to prevent them from happening again in the future:
If we have a party and order 3 large pizzas, the pizza place will tell us if they are unable to make a delivery or unable to have product ready for pickup. When orders for 1,200 doses of vaccine are placed with the state, is the state indicating the delivery will be made? What is changing between the time the order is made and the delivery date?
This item came in the mail weeks ago. It did not look like official government mail or tax info to me. It looked a bit questionable. I set it aside and forgot about it. Later, I read more on the web about this card and could not remember if I threw it out. After a thorough search, I found the card.
We have a local financial institution that we are very happy with. My wife and I both have accounts there. My wife activated the card at home, then called our Bank/CU. She was told that we would both need to go to the bank and both go inside to have the funds deposited into our separate (not joint) accounts. Months ago, when the stimulus check arrived, we were able to make the deposit from the drive-thru. Access to the inside of the Bank/CU is quite restricted now. We waited to enter the outside lobby area. When it was our turn we went in and were told by the screener that we would have to go in and sit down one at a time. Wife went first with the card. I went second. This Bank/CU has a very high reputation for efficiency and none of that changed today.
It took extensive data entry for the person helping us to complete this transaction. We both have had accounts there for years, and the stimulus check deposit was a simple & fast process.
The data entry required today was similar to what I would expect for opening a new account after moving to a new town or city.
The card came in an envelope with instructions and lots of fine print. None of this had been required to deposit a check from the federal government.
Love to see a mini-documentary with banking professionals to inform the public on how much more time consuming the card is compared to a government check of the exact same value.
Computers, the web, government, banks and credit unions have been around for years now. Why not keep it simple? Why does depositing funds from the card seem to be much more time consuming?
Some people have been out of work and missed paychecks because of COVID.
Some people have missed zero checks because of COVID.
Seems odd to send the same bulk amount of cash out to everyone, no matter what their situation is.
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