Have you wondered how it is that the State of Florida has reported lots and lots of cases of coronavirus infection but the Sunshine State's death count -- proportionally speaking -- is much lower than many other States?
I've been living in Florida since 1961 and I've been wondering. Our death count is relatively low -- in proportion to our reported cases -- because the death count is phony.
The sad truth is that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis the ringleader in Florida's efforts to manipulate the statistics in order to keep the count of COVID-19 related deaths artificially low.
This is a well-orchestrated campaign to deceive the citizens of Florida. It's deeply dishonest, it's politically-motivated and it should be a crime.
But the trump-loving political hack who holds the highest office in the State will just keep on doing it.
He's doing it because he can.
"Bulldog Ben" Basile
© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Of Birds and Zoos in Florida
I love the Ibis. Fascinating bird. You see them everywhere you go in Florida.
I love zoos. Here is a photo of an Ibis at the Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, Florida. It features an Ibis with unusual color seeming to be trying to adjust a string of lights.
Well, that’s the way it looks to me, anyway.
Regardless of what this bird might be doing — or not be doing — I think it’s a pretty good photo. Hope you like it.
"Bulldog Ben" Basile
Regardless of what this bird might be doing — or not be doing — I think it’s a pretty good photo. Hope you like it.
"Bulldog Ben" Basile
© 2016 Ben Lawrence Basile
Photo credit Benjamin Lawrence Basile
Photo credit Benjamin Lawrence Basile
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Green Energy Up, Nuclear Down
And now we see that this process of green energy displacing other forms of power generation — nuclear, in particular — is picking up speed because of the drop in consumption brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This afternoon, I came across a story from Yahoo Finance that details this trend in considerable detail. I recommend it highly for anyone who’s environmentally conscious and/or is trying to pay attention to some of the larger trends happening in the US and on the Planet in general.
Hope you’re all doing well and staying safe as we go through this ordeal. I’m still on furlough and somewhat stressed about how all of this will work out.
One silver lining in the cloud is that I do have more time for blogging. More is coming soon; about issues on the political scene and environmental affairs, as well.
“Bulldog Ben” Basile
© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile
Photo credit ssuaphotos/shutterstock
Monday, May 4, 2020
The COVIDIOTS are killing people now
There are people in Flint, Michigan who really hate being told to put on masks to enter places of business.
A couple of them murdered a security guard hired by a Family Dollar store on Fifth Avenue in Flint last Friday.
He had committed the unpardonable sin of not letting a customer enter the store until she put on a mask.
Yeah, he's dead. The Flint P.D. is looking for two people.
The store had hired him to screen customers and turn away any who couldn't or wouldn't don a mask.
And it cost him his life.
Sure, wearing a mask can be an inconvenience. But you'd still think bullets wouldn't start flying because of it.
But here we are.
"Bulldog Ben" Basile
© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile
A couple of them murdered a security guard hired by a Family Dollar store on Fifth Avenue in Flint last Friday.
He had committed the unpardonable sin of not letting a customer enter the store until she put on a mask.
Yeah, he's dead. The Flint P.D. is looking for two people.
The store had hired him to screen customers and turn away any who couldn't or wouldn't don a mask.
And it cost him his life.
Sure, wearing a mask can be an inconvenience. But you'd still think bullets wouldn't start flying because of it.
But here we are.
"Bulldog Ben" Basile
© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile
Sunday, May 3, 2020
Arrogance, Incompetence and Resistance
This post picks up where the previous one left off. That one is titled Trump, Clorox and that Straw Man.
The plain truth is that trump is clueless about how to do his job but somehow keeps coming up with harebrained or politically-expedient ideas about how others in his administration should do theirs. Think chloroquine for a moment.
Here's the worst part: in spite of his obvious ignorance and incompetence, he thinks he has the answer to every problem, that he alone can fix whatever may be broken. Those of us who clearly see what a huckster and fraud he is see this behavior as straight-up arrogance.
Trump has a decades-long history of ignoring any and all advice as he stumbles through life causing one train-wreck after another.
In fact, the way this scenario about possible treatments for COVID-19 has played out is quite similar to other controversies and problems he's caused.
This is why it illustrates clearly how stupid and arrogant trump is and helps to explain why those of us who won't drink the Kool Aid oppose him the way we do.
When he made the decision to take our troops out of Syria -- thereby abandoning our Kurdish allies -- trump claimed that he knew more than all his military advisors. They were, of course, very able, competent and experienced in military matters and special operations in particular.
Trump claimed -- as he has over and over -- that he didn't need to consult any of them.
When he was trying his best to ignore the Coronavirus calamity which was bearing down on us -- especially in the month of February when he took NO action to protect the country or to at least mitigate the damage -- he again said that he understood the situation just fine and didn't need any input or advice from the experts. All of whom had dedicated their entire careers to studying infectious diseases and epidemics.
This is trump's M.O. and has been since before he even ran for office. And it's a big part of why we have zero respect for him and are resisting all the self-serving and destructive things he does.
We will go on resisting. We are borrowing a page from the right-wing playbook.
We're giving him all the respect and co-operation that right wingers gave President Obama.
Which is, of course, none at all.
The difference is that Obama was intelligent, compassionate, well-informed and consistently put well-qualified people on his team and then trusted them and followed their wise, expert advice.
And right wingers hated his guts, obstructed him at every turn, called him every name in the book and spread constant lies about him.
What's happening now is different. We oppose the Moron-in-Chief for very good reasons.
He's ignorant, lazy and hateful to everyone in the country who doesn't support or fawn all over him.
He consistently makes bad decisions, speaks hatefully of those he doesn't like and thinks he's so smart -- and what a sad, sick joke THAT is -- thinks he's so smart that he doesn't need to listen to anyone or ever take anyone's advice.
Because he thinks -- and says straight up -- that he's smarter than all the experts. Whom he hates and ridicules over and over.
So, of course, we oppose him. Of course, we don't respect him.
And every time any trump supporters try to suggest that there's something wrong with that, we laugh and think back over all the shit right-wing haters threw at President Obama for eight years -- non-stop -- when he cared, was knowledgeable and engaged and consistently worked hard to make sure that his administration's policies took into account the welfare of ALL Americans. Whether they liked him or voted for him or not.
Trump is monumentally stupid, ignorant and uncaring, and spends about four or five hours a day doing his job. He bases all of his decisions on what would benefit him personally. What would benefit him, his family, and other upper-income people and large corporations who support him and write the big checks for his re-election campaign.
It's so vexing that he thinks he knows everything and that he's handling the president's job well and that he doesn't need even one shred of advice or expertise from the scientists and experts who are there to help him make sound, well-informed decisions and discharge the duties of his office in a sound way.
His arrogance is astonishing. He can't do his job and his greatest priority in life is to poke his stubby little fingers in the eyes of people he hates.
It's hard to decide which of his many character defects suck the worst. The two that always stand out to me are his ignorance and his arrogance.
"Bulldog Ben" Basile
© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile
The plain truth is that trump is clueless about how to do his job but somehow keeps coming up with harebrained or politically-expedient ideas about how others in his administration should do theirs. Think chloroquine for a moment.
Here's the worst part: in spite of his obvious ignorance and incompetence, he thinks he has the answer to every problem, that he alone can fix whatever may be broken. Those of us who clearly see what a huckster and fraud he is see this behavior as straight-up arrogance.
Trump has a decades-long history of ignoring any and all advice as he stumbles through life causing one train-wreck after another.
In fact, the way this scenario about possible treatments for COVID-19 has played out is quite similar to other controversies and problems he's caused.
This is why it illustrates clearly how stupid and arrogant trump is and helps to explain why those of us who won't drink the Kool Aid oppose him the way we do.
When he made the decision to take our troops out of Syria -- thereby abandoning our Kurdish allies -- trump claimed that he knew more than all his military advisors. They were, of course, very able, competent and experienced in military matters and special operations in particular.
Trump claimed -- as he has over and over -- that he didn't need to consult any of them.
When he was trying his best to ignore the Coronavirus calamity which was bearing down on us -- especially in the month of February when he took NO action to protect the country or to at least mitigate the damage -- he again said that he understood the situation just fine and didn't need any input or advice from the experts. All of whom had dedicated their entire careers to studying infectious diseases and epidemics.
This is trump's M.O. and has been since before he even ran for office. And it's a big part of why we have zero respect for him and are resisting all the self-serving and destructive things he does.
We will go on resisting. We are borrowing a page from the right-wing playbook.
We're giving him all the respect and co-operation that right wingers gave President Obama.
Which is, of course, none at all.
The difference is that Obama was intelligent, compassionate, well-informed and consistently put well-qualified people on his team and then trusted them and followed their wise, expert advice.
And right wingers hated his guts, obstructed him at every turn, called him every name in the book and spread constant lies about him.
What's happening now is different. We oppose the Moron-in-Chief for very good reasons.
He's ignorant, lazy and hateful to everyone in the country who doesn't support or fawn all over him.
He consistently makes bad decisions, speaks hatefully of those he doesn't like and thinks he's so smart -- and what a sad, sick joke THAT is -- thinks he's so smart that he doesn't need to listen to anyone or ever take anyone's advice.
Because he thinks -- and says straight up -- that he's smarter than all the experts. Whom he hates and ridicules over and over.
So, of course, we oppose him. Of course, we don't respect him.
And every time any trump supporters try to suggest that there's something wrong with that, we laugh and think back over all the shit right-wing haters threw at President Obama for eight years -- non-stop -- when he cared, was knowledgeable and engaged and consistently worked hard to make sure that his administration's policies took into account the welfare of ALL Americans. Whether they liked him or voted for him or not.
Trump is monumentally stupid, ignorant and uncaring, and spends about four or five hours a day doing his job. He bases all of his decisions on what would benefit him personally. What would benefit him, his family, and other upper-income people and large corporations who support him and write the big checks for his re-election campaign.
It's so vexing that he thinks he knows everything and that he's handling the president's job well and that he doesn't need even one shred of advice or expertise from the scientists and experts who are there to help him make sound, well-informed decisions and discharge the duties of his office in a sound way.
His arrogance is astonishing. He can't do his job and his greatest priority in life is to poke his stubby little fingers in the eyes of people he hates.
It's hard to decide which of his many character defects suck the worst. The two that always stand out to me are his ignorance and his arrogance.
"Bulldog Ben" Basile
© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile
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