VIRUS NEWS:
CDC Director Robert Redfield took aim at the COVID-19 task force member Scott Atlas (the radiologist Trump is using for advice about the virus), telling a colleague in an overheard call that "everything he says is false."
Hope Hicks, one of the president's closest aides, tested positive for the virus yesterday.
Florida has reported a spike in new coronavirus cases just days after the governor relaxed restrictions there.
GLOBAL:
There have been 34,289,709 confirmed cases of the virus around the world. There have been 1,022,878 deaths from the virus globally. Yes, more than one million people have died from the virus.
Anew study suggests that more than 60 million people in India have caught the coronavirus.
On Monday, Canada reported 700 new Covid-19 cases in Ontario, a single-day record for the nation's largest province since the start of the pandemic.
After two months of being locked down, Australia has lifted restrictions as cases have fallen.
VOTE:
Florida has reported a spike in new coronavirus cases just days after the governor relaxed restrictions there.
One in five students can't finish their remote homework because they don't have access to a home computer.
One-in-three parents won't get their kids flu shots during COVID-19, a study shows.
With Governor (Mo)Ron DeathSentence...er, DeSantos (stupidly) reopening Florida despite huge numbers of infection in the state, college-aged individuals have been itching to party. Police had to break up a massive party of more than 1,000 near Florida State University.
The head coach for Notre Dame said the coronavirus 'spread like wildfire' among his team.
A healthy North Carolina college student has died from COVID 19.
The White House Coronavirus Task Force continues to issue recommendations to states via weekly reports and have again strongly recommended mask usage in some states that still do not have statewide mask mandates.
A pro-Trump (yet "Independent") candidate for the Senate in Maine cut up a face mask during a debate.
At the first presidential debate, the Trump family, seated in the audience, refused to wear masks, despite the fact the state they were in required it of them.
Some COVID-19 rule-breakers could be narcissists, experts say.
Top Trump officials were seen not wearing masks or social distancing at the White House's Supreme Court announcement.
A prominent Republican in Michigan, who fought the governor's public health orders, has tested positive for the virus.
At least one person has tested positive for the virus after attending a recent Trump rally in Michigan.
Trump was planning two separate rallies in Wisconsin this Saturday despite the fact the state is seeing a surge in cases. As usual, I am sure there would have been few masks and no social distancing. However, the events were canceled as a democratic mayor and democratic governor asked him not to come due to the state's recent spike in cases.
A man was sentenced to one-year in jail for holding several large parties, violating public health rules.
Dr. Fauci says that some coverage of the pandemic by Fox News is 'outlandish.'
Neanderthal genes may be to blame in some of the more severe coronavirus cases.
Herd immunity doesn't mean what Trump thinks it means.
Despite the pandemic, the Republicans are taking the Affordable Care Act to the Supreme Court in November with the hopes of dismantling it. AARP posted an article explaining to its senior citizen readers what the loss of Obamacare would mean to them.
Even though the House of Representatives passed the CARES Act months ago, the Senate is sitting on it. So, the House has passed more legislation to try to help the country during the pandemic. Will the Senate finally do something?
As coronavirus resurges, ‘now is the time’ to push COVID Alert app, experts say.
Check out the COVID 19 sniffing dog:
The White House has blocked an order by the CDC to keep cruise ships docked until February as it will hurt tourism in several swing states.
GLOBAL:
There have been 34,289,709 confirmed cases of the virus around the world. There have been 1,022,878 deaths from the virus globally. Yes, more than one million people have died from the virus.
Anew study suggests that more than 60 million people in India have caught the coronavirus.
On Monday, Canada reported 700 new Covid-19 cases in Ontario, a single-day record for the nation's largest province since the start of the pandemic.
After two months of being locked down, Australia has lifted restrictions as cases have fallen.
VOTE:
Trump sold voters on the folly that he's a successful businessman. That was a con. According to a New York Times article, Trump has paid little or no income taxes for years and is millions of dollars in debt.
Trump’s leaked tax returns suggest that he is a major risk to foreign influence.
A non-partisan watchdog group accuses the Trump campaign of 'laundering' $170 million.
A Trump campaign leak shows how he tried to stop 3.5 million black Americans from voting.
A recent poll says that most Americans say the winner of the November presidential election should choose the next Supreme Court justice.
Vice Presidential nominee, Senator Kamala Harris, will be questioning Trump's Supreme Court pick, Amy Coney Barrett, during the confirmation hearings.
Democrats plan to make Senator Mitch McConnell’s life Hell to delay the vote for the new Supreme Court justice.
Senator Ted Cruz told MSNBC on Monday that he and Senate Republicans were all for protecting pre-exisiting conditions. On Wednesday, he was voting to block an amendment that would protect those pre-exisiting conditions should the Affordable Care Act be overturned.
USA TODAY said in an opinion piece, that Trump is the worst president the country has ever had.Five Republicans in the House of Representatives voted 'No' on a resolution for a peaceful trandsition of power should Trump lose.
Trump's re-election team is worried that his former campaign manager, Brad Parscale, will spill the beans on the campaign's finance violations.
As Trump refuses to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses, the Pentagon stresses it will play no role in the election.
Last week, a federal judge in Washington state issued an order for DeJoy to stop messing up the post office. A second federal judge followed suite. A third federal judge has ordered that the Trump Administration halt further destruction to the US Post Office as well.
As states prepared mail-in ballots, the US Postal Service failed to update at least 1.8 million addresses in its change-of-address database.
FBI Director Christopher Wray again bucked President Donald Trump, saying the agency has seen no evidence of national voter fraud.
Trump falsely accused Representative Ilhan Omar of criminal activity in ballot harvesting campaign mere hours after the New York Times reported on his taxes. He's deflecting again...
CNN's Daniel Dale fact checked the president following the debate. Almost everything he said about mail-in voting was debunked.
Trump's campaign team bogusly sent out an email declaring Trump's victory over the debate...hours before the debate even began.
The Commission of Presidential Debates has said they will add new rules in response to the fiasco that was the first debate (which will include turning the microphones off).
During the first of the presidential debates, Trump was asked to denounce white supremacist groups. He was asked to tell the Proud Boys to "stand down". Instead, he told them to "Stand back and stand by." Understandably, this caused Black outrage in Florida.
In the debate, Trump claimed that the "Sheriff of Portland" supported him. It was a bold-faced lie. The sheriff there tweeted that he never supported Trump and he never will.
Trump also falsely claimed in the debate that no law enforcement group supported Joe Biden. Amazingly, a Fox News post says that Biden has the support of 175 current and former law enforcement officials and that they slam Trump as 'lawless.'
Trump’s ‘prophets’ were urging God to control Chris Wallace and mess with Joe Biden during the presidential debate.
The former Florida Supreme Court Justice, who opposed the 2000 recount in the presidential election between Bush and Gore, has publicly endorsed Joe Biden for president.
A Texas Representative's seat is on the line after he continually mocking the democrats and their concern about the coronavirus...now that his state is swimming in infections.
How badly does Trump want to win voters? Very badly. He has ordered the Department of Agriculture to include letters from the president in every food aide box as if it were a personal gift from him.
CNN's election expert says that Biden is siphoning off voters from Trump's base. (We can only hope that is true...)
The governor of Texas ordered all but one ballot drop box per county removed. (Can you say "voter suppression"?)
After paying $16 million in fines and fees for inmates who have served their time, just so they can be allowed to vote, Mike Bloomberg was accused of committing a "serious crime" in doing so by Donald Trump.
Eric Trump says his father will concede if 'he is blown out of the water.'
Republican Senator Tom Cotton says Trump will gladly transfer power...after his second term in 2025.
Mitch McConnell is refusing to debate Amy McGrath if the moderator is a woman.
Pope Francis said that he does not believe the PresidentTrump is a Christian. Hopefully this paves the way for Catholics to vote for Biden instead of feeling compelled to vote for Trump. The Vatican and the Pope also accused the Trump administration of trying to exploit the pope just before the election.
Kanye West, the recording artist who would be president (or, more likely, a distraction to try and pull voters away from Biden), has at least two people in his campaign with links to the GOP. What a surprise. NOT!
Kanye West, the recording artist who would be president (or, more likely, a distraction to try and pull voters away from Biden), has at least two people in his campaign with links to the GOP. What a surprise. NOT!
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham has pathetically (yet hilariously) been begging for campaign contributions.
Forty-five states and the District of Columbia allow voters to track their votes to make sure they are counted.
CREATIVITY:
Here is a clever musical remix of some crazed (?) minister's sermons. Wow! This guy, Ken Copeland, is apparently the real deal.
With the election only about a month away, the political ads keep coming hot and heavy. The first one features a song by Bette Midler, but the others are stellar in their own way:
There's a new music video from Puddles the Clown (Puddles Pity Party):
80's experimental pop band YELLO is still around and still making their own brand of music. Here is one of their recent videos:
Weird Al Yankovic has a new parody of the debate out -- already:
And just when you need a good laugh, get ready for a BORAT sequel...REALLY!
MAIL:
I had an email from my friend David and his partner Pablo in Australia on Friday:
"A lot has happened here in Melbourne, Victoria," he said. "When I last wrote, we had shut down the state because of a second wave. We were suddenly getting hundreds of cases a day. We had about 700 or so at the peak.
"So, the state government took a hard approach. We were told, on the day it happened, that the state was under a nightly curfew and we could not leave the house after 8pm, (Now, because we have been good, that bed time has been extended to 9pm).
"No one was allowed to travel further than 5km from their homes and we could only leave once a day to shop (1 hour maximum and only one member of the household). We could exercise for one hour with one other member of the household, but we could not interact with other people.
"Some idiots have been protesting the wearing of masks, including a large protest at the Queen Victoria Markets next door to where I live. There were approximately a few hundred police there and the riot squad and the helicopters. Fun Saturday that one... (*rolls eyes*)
"But for the majority of law abiding citizens, our tough rules and determination have paid off. This week we dropped to just over ten cases a day and our numbers are continuing to fall.
"This Sunday, there will be some very gradual easing of restrictions (maybe an extra hour taken off the curfew?). But it looks as though we may have a COVID-normal Christmas...
"Not that we can go anywhere, because all the state borders are closed."
My friend Linda in Castro Valley, CA sent this photo of a coronavirus-era Halloween decoration:
SHIRLEY:
If you'll recall, Shirley is being watched by others while I am away. I think about her all of the time. I can't help but worry about her. I haven't heard a word about how she is doing. I guess no news is good news. I'll be picking her up and bringing her home on Wednesday.
ME:
On Friday morning, I woke up to a beautiful day.
Erich and I were on Whidbey Island in Washington to visit my family...albeit it socially distanced. I hadn't seen my mom in a year. Last time, I shared a photo of my mother's house. We were not staying there. We were staying in another of her houses here. This one she bought "for me" to live in should I chose to move to the island, which it looks like I finally will be in the spring. There is a studio apartment on the ground floor in the rear of the house. My mother also has the house cut up right now with part of the main floor acting as a one-bedroom apartment. (That renter's car and motorcycle can be seen below.) The house was supposed to be painted, and you can see paint samples on the front of the house near the door. However, wood rot was discovered and the paint job is going to have to wait for repairs to be done.
This is the north side of the house. The bedroom I am staying in (the one I took the moring photo of above from) is on the second floor, with windows overlooking the front and on either side of the chimney.
This is the back of the house. Here, you can see the entrance to the studio apartment (lower doors and porch). The middle level (main floor) is divided off currently, with the kitchen, dining room, and master suite acting as an apartment. We are staying on the upper floor.
This is the north side of the house. The bedroom I am staying in (the one I took the moring photo of above from) is on the second floor, with windows overlooking the front and on either side of the chimney.
This is the back of the house. Here, you can see the entrance to the studio apartment (lower doors and porch). The middle level (main floor) is divided off currently, with the kitchen, dining room, and master suite acting as an apartment. We are staying on the upper floor.
This is the south side of the house. The double carport gives way to a double garage. There is a large deck above it.
Our friend Ricki was driving up to stay with us for the weekend that day. She lives in Florence, Oregon. She has a horrible sense of direction...missed the turnoff to head to Port Townsend (for a ferry across to the island), went to a ferry terminal in Seattle (that does not have a ferry to the island) before finally arriving in Mukilteo, which has another way to the island. Eventually she arrived safe and sound. We walked to Currents (formerly Christopher's), just down the block and around the corner, for dinner.
I woke up super early on Saturday and couldn't fall back asleep. I was awake as it started to get light out and snatched this picture of Coupeville waking up.
Erich happened to look out of his rear window and saw these tents all over the town commons behind the house. Oh my stars. I had completely forgotten. it was farmers' market day...and, as it was the last Saturday of September, it was the last one of the season.
We walked down into town following the market. A statue outside of the visitor's information office was masked up for the pandemic.
The sky was dramatic, but the rain stayed away.
Coupeville has been used in several films, most notably PRACTICAL MAGIC with Sandra Bullock and THE WAR OF THE ROSES with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.
This old bed & breakfast is just up the hill from Front Street along Main Street. My brother's house is just visible on the right.
I had a salad. It was just okay... Nothing special.
After lunch, we headed into Oak Harbor, the next town north. We visited the old section and checked out some shops.
This logo appeared on both sides and the rear of the car. Coronavirus Response Team? Yikes! I don't know if they were working or just out and about picking something up.
Inside, they were social distancing nicely. It was weird (WEIRD!!!) to be in a restaurant (and scary), but... we had fun. I just hope it was safe. (At least we weren't in Florida or Texas...)
The menu features $5 Spooky Sips. Spooky Sips? Huh? SOLD! (Yes, I had BOTH! Ha!)
The Tipsy Zombie came with a little gummy brain. Ha!
On Sunday, while Erich was out taking a walk, Ricki and I walked back down into Coupeville.
We hit some shops. Ricki is a shopper. We went in this one shop on the end of Front Street that I had never been in before. There was a cool Halloween display.
We also stopped at Kapar's Iskreme. Mmmm...
Kapar's is a must any time you visit Coupeville.
We grabbed some lunch at the Star Store (a great grocery/clothing store--trust me) and had lunch on the benches near the statue of the boy and his dog looking out to sea.
Just behind the bubble machine is a garden of glass flowers.
The glasswork is made in the shop. There is furnace in the center of the building.
You can watch the process if you like, or you can actually make your own creation.
Captain Whidbey is rustic but nice.
It started off as a hunting lodge in 1907. It has since grown into a sprawling lodge with hidden passages, secret stairs, and lots and lots of doors.
There were no outside tables left open that could accomodate the four of us. (Mom came, too.) So, we dined inside in the socially distant dining room.
Ricki left early the next morning. I went to Mom's house and while there, I saw these guys in her yard.
That afternoon, Erich and I went into Oak Harbor to see TENET at the movies with our rain checks from the previous week. The theater was only open to 25% capacity...but people are still staying away. Erich and I were the only ones in the theater. Afterwards, we did some shopping and then took the scenic way home. He wanted to get some photos to send to his friends...only it was I who ended up taking the pictures. Ha!
That was followed by another awesome sunset.
Since it had been go-go-go so much since we had arrived, we decided to take Tuesday easy. It was a gorgeous day though, so we walked about a block over and picked up lunch at Ciao!, an Italian restaurant and deli.
Wednesday dawned with fog billowing on the cove.
Down into Clinton, we turned off onto Cultus Bay Road. Mom had sent me an article about a local roadside attraction, the Red Door or the Door to Nowhere. I know...it's nothing exciting (and it truly wasn't)...but I like unusual things, so why not go?
Raja is apparently quite the local character. Since I have Shirley, Mom had sent me an article or two about Raja, thinking I might be curious. As an sulcata tortoise, he is quite a bit larger than Shirley.
I had wanted to ask the store owner about Raja, if he hibernated and how well he did on the island. Raja is only 9-years-old and full of energy. Shirley is an old lady tortoise and likes to sleep. The sticker on Raja's backside I think must have come from the deli next door, Pickles.
After a nice day of mini-adventures, there was another striking sunset.
Thursday morning, I awoke to fog. It took quite a bit longer for it to burn off than it had the previopus day, but another nice day was waiting.
With Ricki's visit and it being a work week, I still have not seen my brother or nephew yet. We are supposed to meet on Saturday sometime and we'll talk this evening to make plans. I'm looking forward to seeing them.
Stay SAFE! Stay HEALTHY! Stay ALIVE!
CHEERS!
CHEERS!
Continue to the next part HERE.
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