Canva is the Answer

It took me over a week, but I have now spruced up my all my eBook covers and added Amazon A+ content to individual book pages. In this gal’s opinion, it looks rather flashy. Kate McVaugh's Amazon Author's Page. None of this could have been done without utilizing Canva.

I found out about the online, mostly free, graphic design site maybe a year ago, after noticing some classy book/author graphics.  I asked around and was directed to their site.

Initially, I made a few simple graphics that could add to my short-lived twitter account. I then used it to produce a few things for my blog. But the book cover thing didn’t happen until a week ago.

It turned out that all the time I had spent on my book covers might have been defeating the purpose of author exposure. Although I had spent hours on covers, and they look great as paperbacks, those images did not translate to readable eBook covers on small devices. Blame for that is clearly on me. As a person who does not like to read on a kindle, does nothing but text on her phone, it never really penetrated the brain that the rest of the known world lives on their tiny screens. I got to work.

Back when I was first able to self-publish, the only tool at my disposal had been the KDP cover creator. Although quite limited, one could play around and get a decent cover, especially when I provided my own cover art. (photographs.)

On my book, Broadsided in Bali, I had a clear idea in my head, but it was impossible to achieve with the limits of KDP publishing. I turned to the internet and poured over tutorials on creating a book cover.

With only Word, Paint, and a purchased image of a temple in Bali, I came up with a cover. It took hours and hours – which I thoroughly enjoyed – and was quite pleased with the end result. If you had asked me two weeks ago if I still liked the cover, I would have pulled it off the shelf, looked at it, and replied Yes. Ask me now and the answer would be different. None of all the fancy stuff I employed on the cover translates to a tiny kindle image.

As for my other seven books, I took a good look. They all seemed professional and clean to me but did not stand out, especially in tiny form. Time to get to work using Canva.

Oh my goodness, I told myself after I started. I had no idea it was this easy and fun to create a cover on Canva. My preference is to use photos and there is no end to what is available on their site. For Murder, Jaz, & Tel Aviv, I went for a shot of the city coastline. When it came to the series sequel, Jaz, Tall Men, & Mayhem, I found a night shot of the same scene. (for that one I had to subscribe to the Pro account, but it’s a 90-day free trial.)

Another author advised using the same font across all books. Initially, I thought this would not work as six of my books are stand-alone titles. But I soon realized that employing the same font actually does make everything on my Amazon page stand out.

There is no shortage of fonts from which to choose. I played around until I found the one that appealed to my eye and was clearly readable, no matter the image size of the book cover.

Once all the covers were done and uploaded to KDP and on to my Amazon page, it was time for Amazon A+ content. 

Again, I only found out about this in the past few weeks. I had noticed all these fun banner-type graphics under, From the Publisher, on an author’s site. But was that available to self-publishers? Yes, it was!  Upon further reading I found that A+ content is especially important for book sales that come from browsing books of their phone. One other thing I had never even considered because I could not even imagine perusing book titles on my phone.

Back to Canva and more fun graphics. The part about actually using the A+ templates and having the right sized Canva images proved to be a bit tricky. I might need some more work on that but am more than satisfied with the end results.

The best part about all of this, or at least an added bonus, is that it is loads of fun! Possibly not all authors would feel the same, but I say give it a try. It really is very easy, and you can’t really make a mistake.

I would say the only bit of a problem is choosing the correct blank template for a given project. When I searched for book cover, then hit enter, it came back with “no such template.” But if one pays attention to list under search, book cover is there.

Also, I still can't figure out the difference between Jpg and PNG. Jpg seems to work better for my needs, but Canva suggests PNG. Minor problem.

Now, if I could just figure out what Canva templates will fit into the Amazon A+ templates, I’ll be set.

 

On the Pronunciation of Foreign Words, Masks, & Nuclear War

The Great Gate of Kiev, from Mussorgsky’s masterpiece Pictures at an Exhibition, is how I first learned of the city. Up until a few years ago, the only way I ever heard it pronounced was kee-EV. Gradually, news broadcasters began to call the city Keev, citing something about “That’s how the locals pronounce the name of their city”. That being a rather questionable proclamation, I decided to investigate. Over the past few days, I have carefully listened to several Ukrainians speaking about their capitol city, and not a one called it Keev. They also did not say kee-EV, however all pronounced it with two syllables. I challenge anyone to find me a native Ukrainian who calls the city Keev. That is not to say that kee-EV is any closer to the “proper” pronunciation, but it is no worse. And it sounds much more lyrical to my ear.

When a language is spoken by a non-native, and is also transliterated from a different alphabet, there is no correct way to pronounce it in English.

Should the world now adapt the practice of only saying the names of foreign cities the same as the locals?  By that reasoning Germany should be called Deutschland, Cairo – Al Qahirah, Moscow – Moskva, Rio de Janeiro, Hee-o.  I won’t even mention the inaccuracies when attempting to pronounce the name of a city where the local idiom is a tonal one. It simply cannot be done. It is an impossibility to assign a politically correct spelling or pronunciation to any geographical location. In the big picture, it does not matter.

With the exception of a very few, no non-native speaker – other than small children – will ever speak another language without an accent. Again, as long as one is understood, it is of no importance. I speak a few languages fairly well and I have always been able to get a good grip on any accent. Still, I doubt I will ever enunciate the words as well as one who grew up with the language. The reason for this is all the muscles in the face and mouth and throat need to be developed from the earliest age. If not, the brain never learns how to use those muscle combinations. Maybe it’s not quite atrophy that sets in, but something similar.

In order to mimic the sounds of a parent or teacher, a child must be able to see the face and mouth as well as hear the words. When that mouth is covered by a mask, the ability for a child to replicate a word is severely hindered. Ask any adult to attempt to learn a new language from a teacher whose mouth is covered. It will not work. Language is both auditory and visual.

The vast majority of the states have now carried out a real-time, two-year experiment, in the damage done to children attempting to learn language from masked adults. No doubt someone in the future will use this as a doctoral thesis. Regrettably for those small children who had to endure the torture of masks while trying to learn, it is too late. Some kids will be fine, others may never fully recover. All perpetrated in the name of pseudo-science.

I have now cleverly woven together the two insanities that are currently permeating our world. Regrettably, one has taken over the other. While the Covid lies continue, the narrative is rapidly falling apart and the truth, that has always been out there, is becoming more widely accepted. But when the Powers that Be feel they are losing their control of the populace, they switch as fast as they can to the next alarming situation. After all the destruction that the false covid hysteria has brought, I honestly did not think it could get worse. But I was wrong.

We have gone from covid panic to the current attempt at regime change in Russia in record time. Masked profile pictures switched to yellow and blue flags in the blink of an eye. All the Free Speech-ers who gladly handed in their membership cards two years ago have now relinquished their No More War bumper stickers in favor of promoting a nuclear conflict.

For the past two years, those who shared my thoughts about the China virus and tyrannical government mandates have been maligned and ostracized. Nevertheless, there were always a few sane voices on TV who were open to discussion of the subject. In this new rush to destroy the world, there is barely a whisper to be heard warning of the insanity of it all.

With all the advances in technology and availability of information, one would think that people would do the simplest of research to better understand the current geopolitical situation, the military industrial complex, and the real reasons for seemingly the entire US government going down a hot road to a hot hell.

I will leave you with the words of Dr. Michael Savage. He explains exactly what is going on. I join him in a Prayer for the Ripples of Peace.

 

 

 

Canadian Truckers to the Rescue

Rebel News Photo    rebelnews.com 

Big shiny trucks driven by big burly men. What’s not to like? I’ll happily admit that I’ve always had a thing for truck drivers. In my early days, I thought that steering a big rig across the open plains might be one of the most romantic jobs around. I suppose I could have given it a go back then, but at this stage of my life I couldn’t imagine even attempting to shift into second, let alone drive a massive truck on the highway. And those Canadian truckers deal with sub-zero temps and snow. I can’t leave the house if it is below 65°F, and I wouldn’t attempt to drive a tricycle in the snow. Thank goodness we have real men and women who are up to the task.

For two years now, many of us have railed against the insanity of lockdowns, restrictions, masks, and mysterious jabs. We cautioned about all the damage it would do, and it has. The destruction to society and health may never be fully righted; at least not in my lifetime.

Those of us who saw what was happening from about day twelve tried to push back against the insanity, only to be maligned. No amount of scientific papers or testimony by the smart people had any effect on the populace. We collectively witnessed the masses dive deeper and deeper into a pit of fear, hooked on the latest pandemic porn. It has taken a toll on all who watched and warned and felt helpless. Although we lost friends and family and jobs, we persisted.

And then came the Canadian Truckers! Those men and women who never stopped working and kept the rest of us supplied with food and drink and everything else over the past two years. Rather than lose their livelihood, some acquiesced to the vaccine. But that did no good. They still had to deal with restrictions and mandates and watch as their children paid the price.

We also have to thank those hundreds of cowboys and farmers on trackers riding in solidarity.

This past week or so has given me more hope than I have had in ages. Glorious lines of enormous trucks, rolling through the snow while thousands cheered along the side of the road and on overpasses. Joyful groups in the hundreds dancing in the streets, cooking food, and peacefully protesting the illogical and tyrannical mandates. The movement has spread to Australia, and I hear the US truckers are planning to join in. I hope so. I desperately want to hang over an overpass with big American and Canadian flags and shout out my love and support for these wonderful folks.

Many Thanks to Rebel News, the only ones carrying the protests both in Canada and Australia. The have some wonderful t-shirts available: Trucker T-Shirts

Honk Honk!

Tortuga Straits and The Parrot Hotel

 My new book, Tortuga Straits and The Parrot Hotel, is now available on Amazon. 

Tortuga Straits, a tiny village on the coast of a small island, floating in a forgotten corner of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. The Parrot Hotel, a once prosperous haunt, now rarely sees a guest. Yet those who still reside in town welcome the calm after decades of busier times.

It’s the anniversary of the day Trader first arrived in this beautiful, seaside town, some sixty-odd years ago. His plan to stay a few months turned into a lifetime, building The Parrot along the way. And with his hotel came jobs, and friends, and prosperity for the locals as well as the travelers who set down roots in Tortuga Straits.

Over food, beer, cigars, and rum, Trader and his friends reminisce about days gone by. Children born and raised and off to a better life in the Capital and beyond. Nature protected and saved from shady developers and ne’er-do-wells. Weddings of locals and travelers alike, brought together by events in Tortuga.  

Although the town may be slowly returning to its original state of only flora and fauna and tortugas and palm trees, all those who knew it are thankful for the years spent in such a magnificent place.

 

The Berkeley Schools Continue to Destroy Lives

I am struck by the profound disparity between the actions taken by cities and countries that oppose masks and vaccines for children, and those of the city in which I grew up. For example, in the UK there is a fight to keep children unmasked in schools and a concerted effort to stand up against forced childhood Covid-19 jabs. In the US, Florida and other states have banned forced masking and Covid-19 shots on anyone, especially children. Yet in the State of California, the governor has mandated the shots for all children in public schools. The two California State university systems have also mandated vaccinations for students. And in the City of Berkeley, CA, they have taken on that task of continuing to destroy children’s lives with uncontrolled glee.

When the Berkeley Unified School District closed their doors in March 2020, a week before the scheduled two-week Spring Break, I had my suspicions that they would not return before Summer Vacation. I was correct. I then wrongly predicted school would reopen after the November 3, 2020, elections. Sadly, it was not until the fall of 2021, when children were finally allowed back into classrooms. And although being in an actual school building was preferable to staring a screen all day, what learners encountered when they returned was nothing short of a torture chamber coupled with harmful, draconian policies.

To this day, children in the BUSD are forced to wear masks the entire day, both inside and out. The sit separated from their classmates, at times behind makeshift plastic barriers, and eat lunch outside. They jog around the track and play soccer fully masked.

With all the hysteria over the Latest Variant, and schools across the nation going back to virtual learning, I assumed BUSD would soon follow suit. Remarkably, they have remained open, at least for now. However, what they subject their learners to is reprehensible.

The latest BUSD newsletter clearly states their goals, as seen in the heading:

                                               Let’s get Vaccinated, Berkeley!

                                                       Free, Safe, Effective

It goes on to state that by January 3, 2022, “All students 12 and over shall be fully vaccinated. Students who are not vaccinated by that date must submit to weekly onsite testing”.

“Additionally, the district will set a date four months from FDA approval, (which includes emergency use authorization) by which 5-11 year olds must be fully vaccinated or participate in weekly testing.”

Although the BUSD guidelines allow for opting out of the jab, it entails much more than weekly testing. Un-vaxxed students are prohibited from participating in any extra-curricular activities such as sports, clubs, and music. They are barred from fieldtrips and graduations, among other activities.

The newsletter goes on to instruct parents on where to get the jab and how to prepare children.

What I find most disturbing, is the section on “Covid Misinformation”. This is followed by:

                                                  “Get the Facts. Myths vs Facts”

“Rumors about the COVID-19 vaccines are circulating online within Californian communities, contributing to vaccine hesitancy across the state.”

“There are currently three different COVID-19 vaccines available to the public. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has full FDA approval for ages 16+, and the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have been approved by the FDA for emergency use. Only Pfizer vaccines are approved for children (under age 18).”

They then list the Myths, followed by several bullet points falsely labeled as Facts.

“MYTH 1: People who had Covid-19 do not Need to get Vaccinated”

Below this are the FACTS, which are nothing more than a lot of CDC and FDA talking points. All are lies, provable by scientific studies and common sense.

“MYTH 2: Covid-19 Vaccines have not been properly studied or tested.”

This, if fact, is not a myth and provable by Pharma and CDC’s own websites.

“MYTH 3: Covid vaccines don’t work against variants”.

Again, not a myth. If so, why are the majority of people getting Covid fully vaxxed?

“MYTH 4: Covid vaccines are not safe for children”.

This statement is verifiably true and calling it a “myth” is the most horrendous lie the BUSD could make to parents.

I no longer dwell on the people I know who may very well end up with serious complications or death from taking three shots of an experimental cocktail. They are all adults and had every chance to read and study all the information that I have seen.

But harming the children is another realm altogether. I want to scream and yell and beg parents not to submit their little ones to this deadly experiment. Regrettably, here in Berkeley, it is too late. The vast majority of the children over five have been jabbed.

I have written about the disastrous consequences of shutting down schools since the spring of 2020. It has led to irreparable damage to children intellectually, socially and emotionally. And now they have poisoned them.

Warsaw In My Thoughts

 

Warsaw 1930's   *www.vintag.es

It would be impossible for me to ever truly understand or feel what my relatives experienced in Nazi-run Warsaw. It was not a good end for most of them. The few that did make it out of Poland left around 1920. And although they well knew what happened to the rest of the family, it was something that was never discussed while I was growing up. Were my grandfather or great-aunt and great-uncle alive today, I would ask many questions about those years and the ones we lost. But those who knew Warsaw are long gone and I am truly grateful that they, and my mother, do not have to see what is happening to the world today. Segregating society using a false narrative, separating clean from unclean, should not happen more than once in a person’s lifetime.

For nearly two years there has been a well-orchestrated effort to control, separate, and conquer the peoples of the world. A campaign of fear for a non-deadly virus, foisted upon those who have forgotten history and ignore the facts, has worked. Moreover, the utmost has been done to silence and disparage the minds of reason who speak the truth. Scientism has won out over science.

We have now reached the point of total lockdowns for the unvaccinated in Germany and Austria, with mandatory vaccines to begin in the coming months. Australia currently has prison camps, and Canada is not far behind. Make no mistake, home detention and forced vaccinations are just around the corner for Americans.

Because I refuse to take the experimental gene-therapy jab, I am now excluded from nearly every activity in my community other than going to the grocery store. I am not allowed into restaurants, movie theaters, coffee shops, gyms, dental offices, pharmacies, any large event, indoors or out, religious gatherings, and more. I am excluded from finding gainful employment as all of the above require a CDC vaccine pass for employment.

I have no doubt that I will soon not be allowed to fly on an airplane or get on a train or bus. It may be more difficult to erect prison camps for the unvaxxed in the United States, but it is not beyond the realm of possibility.

However, unlike my family in Warsaw, no one knows that I am unclean. In a town where nearly 100% of the population aged twelve and above is vaxxed, (and 70% of those aged five to eleven), someone like me – a woman of a certain age, goes unnoticed. My invisible yellow star marking my status may not be apparent to those around me, but it is to me.

To live in a community where seemingly not one other person is concerned with the destruction of our civil liberties, and then happily goes along with the medical tyranny taking place, is soul crushing. To exist within a city that thinks you are evil, accuses you of wanting to kill others, of being selfish, and of being ignorant, is a tough road. To fight the good fight all on my own becomes more burdensome with each passing day.

However, I will never give in and fall prey to the madness. I will continue to fight with what I can, and those are my words. Even if that is all I have to offer, I have to believe it counts for something.

I do not feel the fear that my Warsaw relatives must have endured. But possibly I can understand how they must have felt watching their rights being stripped away while the world stood by and let it happen.

In the name of all those I lost, and the millions more, I will never surrender.    זצ"ל

 

 

          

Digging the Coffee House Scene No More

Cafe Trieste - photo from MessyNessyChic.com

I’m calling on all the cool cats and hip chicks of the Beat Generation to give us a hand. Those of you that hung out at the coffee houses in San Francisco and Berkeley, reciting poetry, sipping java, smoking cigs, playing guitars, and giving the finger to the man.

Caffe Trieste in the city, along with Caffe Med across the bay in Berkeley were among your favored hangouts. Caffe Med is now gone, but you still have Peet’s.

You flocked to the original Peet’s Coffee in Berkeley when it opened in 1965, just as beatniks had begun to morph into hippies. Different names, but with many shared values. Drop by any day and you’d find Mr. Peet talking coffee and brewing cups for a variety of question-the-government hipsters and university professors alike. Personal freedom figured high on your list of priorities in life.

So where are all of you now? Possibly gone from this world, but I would have thought that some of your ideology had been retained. Regrettably, I fear it has all been lost to sheer panic over a false medical emergency.

The other day I dropped by the original Peet’s on Walnut and Vine to pick up my beans. And this is what I found on the door:   

The citizens of Berkeley, the original Stand up to Government Overreach city, are now required to show papers to purchase coffee. And they obediently follow orders. It is only a matter of time before one will not be allowed into supermarkets. (To their credit, no one at Peet’s demanded my papers.)                                                   

This is what happened in apartheid South Africa and the Bay Area locals protested against it. Much later, they protested against the marginalization of those with HIV/AIDS. Yet now it is completely normal to ostracize people who refuse to fall in line with masks and vaxxes.

According to the Rules of Berkeley, the un-vaxxed are now second class citizens. As far as I can tell, the only venues that do not require a vax card are supermarkets and possibly libraries.

In a city with, according to public records, only 55 dead from the virus since the beginning, Vax or be damned is the mandate. Even the Vaxxed-Clean, aged two and above, are  still required to wear masks indoors, and most wear them when outside. 

The poets of the coffe houses are long gone, along with all common sense. They have all lost their way. 

Dystopian Nightmare

Big Bird getting Vaxxed...as sick as it gets   *filmMagic photo

That dystopian novel I was never going to write is playing out right before my eyes here in the Golden State. They have been harming the children for over twenty months and no one seems to care.

Close schools. Close playgrounds. Mask all children over two. Lock them indoors. Take away their education. Take away their friends. Take away their grandparents. Instill fear to the point that they believe a virus, which has nearly zero percent chance of causing any harm, is more frightening than any monster under the bed.

Require masks in all educational settings, pre-school through high school, both indoors and out. Force them to eat lunch outside in the cold weather. Require that they do not see each other’s faces. Insure that they believe close contact is dangerous. Scare these young minds so relentlessly that the most terrifying thing in the world is an un-masked face.

Children now walk down the street willingly masked, sealing themselves off from humanity. They do not see smiles. They do not see danger. They do not see life. The young ones have never learned to read facial cues. The older ones have forgotten.

Brainwash the populace into believing that children can kill their grandparents with a single breath. This is as far from the truth as one can get. But even if it were true, since when does a society sacrifice children for the sake of the elderly and infirm? When did this become acceptable?

Every hour of every day, all forms of media continually blast vaccine propaganda. Little children are used in advertisements claiming they are heroes for taking the emergency-use shot so that they can “protect their community”. It is the community’s responsibility to protect the children, not the other way around.

The State of California has now mandated the experimental vaccine for all students, K-12, for in-person learning effective January 2022. Regrettably, the parents of California seem to be all in on this.

There are reports stating that between 60% – 90% of all children over the age of twelve have already been vaccinated. When they recently opened up the 5-11 year old vax sites, all available appointments were quickly snapped up. The parents here cannot wait to get their little ones injected so that they can “get back to normal.”

Except that there will never be a “normal”. Masks are now officially required in schools until June 2022, vaxxed or not. They are still required indoors in most places, vaxxed or not. No matter how many masks and how many injections the public submits to, there will never be a “normal”.

And so the onslaught of the false narrative continues, targeting the country’s most precious resource, its children. Government agencies and school districts keep touting the “Safe and Effective Vaccine.” They know it is neither. They know it is totally unnecessary for not only kids, but most healthy young people to submit to their experiment.    

The testimonials of parents whose children have either been severely harmed or killed by the “vaccine” are heartbreaking. I want to scream, “Why didn’t you know? The information is, and has been, out there since before they issued the first shot.”  But they didn’t know because they have been lied to, trusted the government, and had no reason to believe they were being played. When these distraught parents make pleas to warn others, the powers that be do their best to suppress the message.

I try to not think about the devastation to come from this brutal, global experiment. Possibly I am completely wrong and all the vaxxed people will live  long and healthy lives. There is nothing more in the world that I would like than to be proven wrong. 

 

Yes, the USA has Political Prisoners

Never in my life could I have imagined that the United States would hold political prisoners in solitary confinement, in deplorable conditions, and stripped of their civil liberties. I grew up with tales of such unwarranted detentions in the USSR, and in South America. I met former government prisoners while living in Brazil. These types of extrajudicial tactics happen every day throughout the world. But in America? How is that possible?

It began on January 6, 2021. As live events unfolded at the capitol, many immediately spotted the agitators among the peaceful protesters. Anyone involved in protests of the 1960’s could easily recognize the culprits. ( Agent Provocateur ) Anyone who had read the reporting on non-mainstream media knew there was great risk of violence that day. Antifa, and others with an agenda to sow discourse, had vowed to show up for the rally. And anyone with half a brain should have been alarmed that there appeared to be little, if any, extra security that day. Something was most certainly amiss.  

The video available from January 6 clearly shows that the majority who went into the capitol were not there to do any damage. They carried nothing other than flags and banners. It is also evident that the ones breaking windows and egging people on were instigators. And above all, the only one who was killed that day inside the capitol was Ashley Babbitt, an unarmed veteran.

Arrests were made on January 6, but the majority came days and months later. While the DOJ ramped up their efforts to track down anyone who had been within a few miles of the capitol, they encouraged neighbors to turn in their friends. Those are Soviet tactics, not American, yet people happily complied.

In April of this year the government established the CEWG – Countering Extremism Working Group. That should have sent chills up the spines of every decent American. Suddenly, the most powerful arm of our government began to hunt down “White Supremacists and Domestic Terrorists.”   

Not Antifa, not Black Lives Matter, whose organizations were responsible for over two billion dollars’ worth of destruction in 2020 alone. The CEWG happily ignored those that beat up countless people, killed police officers, looted entire city blocks, and burned down small businesses with impunity.

Instead, they have gone after people who walked into the capitol, through open doors, and often escorted by police officers. These same citizens are now being held in pre-trial detention, in horrid conditions, in a deplorable jail in Washington DC, denied even the most basic of rights. None has been charged with terrorism. Most charges are misdemeanors such as “parading” in the capitol. Yet they are treated worse than gulag inmates.

That the majority of the American people do not seem to realize, or care about, what is going on is distressing. There are people reporting the truth and uncovering the lies about January 6. Darren Beattie at Revolver News, Julie Kelly at American Greatness, and  Tucker Carlson  are among them. Although I am not surprised by anything they uncover, I appreciate all the work they are doing to document the wrongs being perpetrated against American citizens, and their efforts to get the word out. All that I have seen since the beginning, they have proved. 

In contrast, the mainstream media and, apparently, the majority in the Senate and House, do not seem to be bothered by the unconstitutionality of charges being pursued against the Jan 6 defendants now rotting in jail. They have fallen for the belief that if it is the Justice Department instituting such measures, they must be right.   

It is disturbing to hear the glowing terms now associated with the FBI and the DOJ in their pursuit of all the supposed White Supremacists and Domestic Terrorists. Nary a negative comment can be found. Suddenly, these agencies are the most respected, trustworthy government organizations in the United States, along with the CIA and NSA. If they say Domestic Terrorism and White Supremacy constitute the greatest threat to national security, we are to believe it at face value.  

Could it be that the country is suffering from mass amnesia and forgotten about the ill deeds perpetrated by said government organizations? It is not as if any of this is ancient history. Not that long ago the subversive activities of the FBI and CIA were common knowledge.  

Even the name J. Edgar Hoover, still gives me the shivers. The original track-the-public and keep-secret-files guy. Hoover, the first director of the FBI, kept enough dirt on political opponents that they let him get away with some really nasty stuff. Secret files on Martin Luther King Jr, Mohammed Ali, and anyone else he did not agree with. Wiretaps on anyone he chose to go after. Infiltration into left leaning groups, with or without any real evidence, just to try and prove they were a threat. These were, and are, methods and tactics one would associate with the KGB.

I won't go into what the CIA has engaged in overseas.

My writings are not loud enough to give the country a good shake. All I can really do is thank those who are spreading the word and hope that their exposure of the wrongs is enough to get our fellow Americans out of their current hell.

And, by the way, I have assumed since the 60’s that my phone is tapped, and so should everyone. 

 

Worshipping at the Altar of Climate Change

All the big boys and gals are currently in Glasgow to Protect the Future of the Planet.  They say that the world is going to end in ten years. I should be shaking in my rain boots…. or is it in my flip-flops?  Deluge or desert? The scenario changes every few years so it’s hard to keep up.

No, droughts are not increasing, neither are floods nor hurricanes. Video clips of forests burning and tornados whipping, and rivers breeching their banks, are not scientific proof of anything, let alone a Climate Crisis.

But if you yell loud enough that The Sky is Falling, and then get rich, entitled idiots to mouth off, accompanied by business moguls who stand to make a fortune in green snake oil, and follow that by doomsday-prophet-mentally-questionable teenagers, you set yourself up for a weeklong holiday in Glasgow. Oh goodie!

Green Energy is anything but green. It is nothing but a profiteering ploy to build wind turbines and batteries that will never be the answer to efficient energy. Rather than list the reasons behind this statement, I’ll leave it to the smart people at Prager U, with two, short, succinct videos.

Do We Have to Destory the World to Save it?

What's Wrong ith Wind and Solar

Even though this information is readily available for all those PhD smart folks in my famous university town, you’d never know it walking down the street and watching the solar panels go up, or the new Teslas in driveways. The Intelligentsia have bought into Green World Order hook line and sinker. Sinker being the operative word.

It strikes me as insanely bizarre that the hardcore, self-proclaimed environmentalists, that thrive in every nook and cranny of my town, live and breathe the false narrative of electric cars and solar panels. As outlined in the Prager U videos, both are devastating to the environment and its critters. Those batteries need rare earth minerals, which equals mining, which turns into a myriad of environmental disasters. And when the batteries die, and the wind turbines expire, they cannot be recycled. So what have the Greenies accomplished? Worse than nothing. Major damage.

But getting back to the Glasgow party scene, I wondered just how much money the US government is shelling out for our officials to hobnob with the elites who have never taken a cold shower in their life, nor gone without a meal. I suppose I could come up with an estimate, but that would be too depressing.

Meanwhile, our country is being flushed down the toilet of Socialism, inflation is raging, store shelves are empty. All the while a third of our Cabinet members are kicking up their heels and tossing backs shots of single malt.

Off the coast of Southern California, we have a parking lot full of cargo containers. One would think our Secretary of Transportation would be working 24/7 to resolve the issue. But Mayor Pete decided it was far better to extend his months-long paternity leave by jetting off across the globe.

While Americans are battling inflation, the Secretary of the Treasury felt it  necessary to take a fancy flight, book into a five-star hotel, and visit Scotland.

Along with them are the Secretary of state, the National Economic Council Director, the Energy Secretary, and the Interior Secretary. The USAID and EPA administrators, and all their hundreds of support staff.  Last but not least, the biggest hypocrite of them all, or at least second to Al Gore, John Kerry. I won’t bother to discuss Biden and his motorcade of 85 gas-guzzling cars.

Will the world ever wake up to the false prophecies of the Green Soothsayers? Certianly not in my neighborhood.

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

I strongly recommend the site Environmental Progress, and especially this page:

The Case Against Climate Alarmism

Thank You Mr. Shatner

 

I love the moon and the stars and the heavens above. For years I dreamed of being an interstellar traveler. I knew that true space exploration would occur well past my expiration date, but it did not matter. I devoured science fiction books to experience extraterrestrial flight and life on other worlds. When Star Trek rolled onto the evening television screens, I was their number one fan. Suddenly, my imagination had been realized on a weekly series that transported me to all those places I would never be able to visit.

Thus, it was extremely fitting when Captain Kirk, yet again, spoke to me over the communication device and opened my mind to a concept that I had never once considered.

William Shatner stepped off the Blue Origin, and wisdom flowed from this lips. We all assume that flying beyond the stratosphere will be quite a mind altering experience. However, I never once considered that the words of an astronaut would so deeply touch my being.

Mr. Shatner spoke of the profound effect of travelling between the blue of earth and the darkness of space. As he continued to speak, I felt dumbfounded. I have always known that we have blue skies. I have always known that space is black. But I had never once considered that one goes from blue to black in an instant, and the sheer magnitude of that effect on one’s soul. Once again, I was at one with Captain Kirk.

Thank you Mr. Shatner for taking me where man has gone before, but where no man has ever expressed it more eloquently.

My little bit of Science Fiction: Travels to the 14th Galaxy

Eve of Destruction

The eastern world, it is exploding

Violence flaring, bullets loading

You’re old enough to kill, but not for voting

You don’t believe in war but what’s that gun you’re toting

And even the Jordon River has bodies floating

But you tell me over and over again, my friend

Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction*

*P.F. Sloane

 

Eve of Destruction, released in the summer of 1965, became the unofficial anthem of many a Flower Child, myself included. The beautiful lyrics and enchanting melody captured the spirit of those of us who had grown up with the Free Speech Movement and anti-war protests in our own backyard.

I remember the feeling of despair we all had during those days – that the world was headed off a cliff.  However, there is no comparison to what is presently taking place. This time it truly feels that we are on that Eve of Destruction.

The Great Reset is underway. The plan, created by the World Economic Forum, (WEF), aims to fundamentally change the social and economic world landscape through global governance. How we got to this point, within such a short amount of time, is rather frightening. However, it is far from a mystery.

The Great Reset has been the topic of discussion by a wide-ranging group of concerned global citizens who regularly warn of the dangers the WEF poses to the world. That they have been ignored by the mainstream media and big tech only serves to show just how deeply the tentacles of the WEF reach. Look to the origins of the lockdowns and government overreach, and the WEF is there.

The world, after over a year and a half, is still consumed with a questionable pandemic. Yes, Covid-19 is a real virus, but has a low rate of mortality especially when treated early with therapeutics. That such early intervention has been maligned, along with the censorship of scientists and doctors, for the sake of an experimental vaccine should alarm every person on the planet. It did not happen by accident.

With a steady diet of fear-mongering, aided and abetted by the media, big tech, the CDC, NIH, FDA, WHO, the entire world’s population was convinced that they would never be able to leave their house until a vaccine was on the market. People happily went along with the lack of all safety protocols for vaccine development if it meant “freedom” from a self-imposed lockdown. The WEF has its hands in all these government organizations either directly, or through its members. Their contribution to the current state of affairs cannot be overstated.

As vaccine data began to come out, US governmental bodies, the media, and big tech continued to sow the seeds of fear by ignoring the data of vaccine death and harm. Whereas in the past such data would have resulted in the vaccine immediately being pulled off the market, it was ignored. To date, the media still refuses to accurately report the death count and harm to fully vaccinated individuals. Neither do they report the rise of variants caused by virus mutation in the vaccinated.  Again, this omission of data and truth is not by accident.

Most alarming is that anyone with an opposing view, even when backed by medical papers and statistics, is silenced. And now we are destroying young, healthy people and children by insisting they need a deadly vaccine against a disease for which they are basically not at risk.

I had hoped the world would come to its senses yet here we are, in the fall of 2021, with vaccine mandates increasing with every newscast.

Daily, I question why it appears that those with whom I interact are not even remotely aware of what is transpiring in today’s world. So consumed are they with the latest Covid variant and case count, that they do not see the bigger picture. They do not see that the authoritarianism, medical tyranny, abandonment of our constitutional rights, and the bowing down to global subjugation, is threatening our very way of life.

If I should mention any of the characters at the fore of this crusade, e.g. George Soros, Bill Gates, Klaus Schwab, or The World Economic Forum (WEF), I get a look of total bewilderment. These are the people and organizations that are in league to restructure world order with the express purpose of enslaving the rest of us peons. It is not a fantastical science fiction theory. It is real and it is here.

The WEF and The Gates Foundation have never hidden their intentions, although they couch their ideologies in eloquent terms that promote world peace and salvation. One does not need secret agents nor a top secret security clearance to find out their exact objectives. They are proud of their tactics to reshape and control the world, and publish it in plain sight.

Take, for example, The World Economic Forum. Established in 1971 by Klaus Schwab, it seeks to engage “the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry standards.”* In other words, the WEF has appointed themselves as the arbiter of What is Right for Mankind.

The question is how these globalist elites are connected with Covid-19, the deadly experimental vaccine, and the surrender of all our rights that we used to hold dear. How easily the world has unknowingly given over their human rights to these organizations is astonishing.

As stated above, Klaus Schwab, in collaboration with other megalomaniacs, has been building for the Great Reset for decades. What he and his cohorts needed was a way to achieve such a takeover, such as create a global crisis. What better way than a worldwide health crisis?  They certainly had planned for it.

These were some of their preparations:

1. In 2018, WEF partnered with Johns Hopkins to run a simulation of a global pandemic. Their results found that there would be catastrophic repercussions.

2. In 2019, the WEF, Johns Hopkins, teamed with the Gates Foundation to run Event 201, another global pandemic simulation.

3. In March 2020, the WHO officially declares a world pandemic.

It was now time for the WEF, The Gates Foundation, and others, to go forward with their plans. They needed a terrified world to initiate their control, and with the release of the Covid-19 bioweapon, they were set.

It is hard to say what part, if any, WEF or Gates had in the release. I prefer Dr. Reiner Fuellmich’s* supposition which is that as soon the WHO proclaimed a global pandemic, the Globalists saw their chance and pounced.

Their influence and control guided world governments into instituting unnecessary lockdowns. With loyalists like Gates and others in big pharma, combined with additional help from big tech and big media, it was then a simple task to push for the manufacture of covid vaccines.

Many foresaw the day when a digital covid passport would become mandatory. It is now a reality for a good part of the world. How entire populaces could so easily give up their rights to freedom of movement and medical autonomy is shocking. We have willingly entered into the realm of biometric tracking.

What I have yet to figure out, or find reference to, is how the WEF is tied in with China. I cannot see them ceding even a microscopic piece of power to the CCP. Or perhaps they their influence with the CDC and NIH was only to create a bioweapon. We may never know.  

My only hope is that the world wakes up and wakes up soon. The mass protests in other countries are cause for optimism. We do not have those in the United States partly becuase we do not have the same type of centralized goverment. But it heartens me that some people are beginning to fight the vaccine mandates. 

Regrettably, the harm done by the vaccines is here to stay. Whether or not it will this will lead to some rather horrific outcomes, remains to be seen. Still, we can prevent any more damage if we simply stand up to those who mean us harm.

WEF Mission Statement

Great Reset WEF paper

Dr. Fuellmich

Great video by Dr. McCullough, Oct 2021 Dr. McCullough

EVE OF DESTRUCTION     (background music)

 

 

VAX EXEMPT

Covid vaccinations are a total sham. Worse, they are far more dangerous than the disease for most people. Yet everyone, Left, Right, & Center is pushing them.

Folks on the right might believe individuals have the Freedom to Choose, but still advocate for taking the poisen dart. They acknowledge that some don't need it becuase of natural amunity. Or site religious and pre-existing conditions as other reasons for avoiding the jab. But no one seems to give the most valid reason of all: SCIENCE.

I decided to make my own vax passport, just for the heck of it. As soon as I hit the save button on Canva, the following message popped up:

                                    Coronavirus Awareness:   In light of the Covid-19 outbreak, we recommend checking the World Health Organization's website for the most accurate and up-to-date information.   blah...blah....blah.....  Stay safe and healthy.

Just when I think it cannot get anymore Big Brother, it does.

Feel free to copy my vaccination exempt card. I, for one, will never use it. I will not give my medical information to get into a resaturant, or a gym, or a museum. I will not give in to the tyranny. 

Newsome won.........California Lost

photo: Lucky Thompson, Oakland CA, Laney Tower News

Many of us truly believed that Governor Newsome could be recalled. But The Evil Disney Cartoon Villain* prevailed. (credit:*Dave Rubin) It had been a fair fight until mainstream media and Silicon Valley stepped in to silence those fighting to save our state.

What had been a movement to recall a truly inept, corrupt governor, became a Republican Takeover mantra. Local television stations, which not that long ago were fairly unbiased, began to report on the Newsome vs Elder contest. They echoed the cable news talking points. Stories ran on how Newsome would save us all from Covid, and Elder would kill us. Newsome actually stated that it “…was a matter of life and death.” That one, unsubstantiated lie, kept him in office.

Anyone who lives in California can drive around their city and see that one third of the small businesses are closed for good. Newsome did that. Parents can vouch that their children missed nearly a year and a half of in-person teaching and that schools are is still not back to normal. Newsome did that. Homeless encampments have blighted the entire state. Newsome did that. Forests continue to burn at an alarming rate, the power gird fails, water shortages are at an all-time high. Newsome did nothing to fix those problems.

How, I asked several people, can you possibly not vote to recall Newsome? The answers: “It’s not Newsome’s fault things are so dire. We might get someone worse. I looked at the other candidates and didn’t like them.”

At the time, I could only stare back in incomprehension. Now, possibly I have an answer.

For years, I have not been able to understand why the residents of the San Francisco Bay Area are so completely stuck in their view of Left is Good, Right is Evil. My conclusion: They are so wrapped up in their 1960’s liberalism that they do not realize that that world longer exists.

Back in the 60’s, middle- and working-class families, mine included, made up a good portion of the Democrat party, especially in Northern California. They represented the generation who had lived through the depression and WWII, gone on to build homes and raise families, all while keeping an eye on the world and the powers in charge. They were the party that would represent the downtrodden, prevent another world war, and protect against government overreach. That there happened to be more than a few Democrats in positions of power who were as corrupt as any Republican in the state, went without challenge.

In sharp contrast, they saw Republicans as country club elites. The fat-cats who drove Rolls Royce’s, wore diamonds and gold lamé, and, of course, ran Hollywood. These privileged rich folks had ever picked up a screwdriver or swung a sledgehammer. They looked down on the working class, and anyone who had to scrub out their own toilet. And naturally, they assumed that only they knew how to run the world.  

Over the past few decades, that equation has been turned upside down. The working class is now represented by the right; the elites control the left. However, the old and young hipsters in California have not figured that out. They are just happy that they turned California blue.

The rich and powerful no longer run country clubs but invent technology. The new crowd eschews the old symbols of power and wealth. Tesla’s replaced Rolls Royce’s. Solar panels and wind turbines, despite their severe damage to the environment, replaced a third of the power grid. Tree huggers prevented forest maintenance.

None of this occurred in the dead of the night with secret societies. It happened right out in the open. Those millionaire titans of industry began to dress like the common man, jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers. They were defiantly the new cool kids in town. They spoke of saving the environment and helping the poor. Motivations of power and greed could be ignored if they looked like the average guy or gal, and preached a good line. Hollywood, a true old boys club, slipped right in with the caring Democrat persona. No matter how much of an elitist life they led, they offset any challenge to their privilege by pretending to care about the peons.

It is not that I am against elitists, or millionaires, or working hard to make vast fortunes, as many have. It is the blatant hypocrisy that makes my blood boil. Suddenly, the Tech Oligarchs can decide who has the right to speak and who does not.  Hollywood stars truly believe that their opinions and views outrank anyone else’s. Elected democrats ignore half the country because “they are wrong.”

As to the Bay Area crowd, they appear to be unaware of what is taking place right in front of their eyes. They still believe that if a politician has an R in front of their name, they are the devil incarnate. It is why no one I spoke to would even consider voting out Newsome and replacing him with Larry Elder or any other Republican. Not one of them, I am sure, bothered to look into the qualifications or statements before the election. How could they have done so? Newsome ran on a failed record, and If you vote me out, the Republicans will kill you. Nothing else. No track record, no plans for the future, no solutions to problems. Meanwhile, Elder and others addressed the issues and had actual plans to improve California’s miserable existence.

I have long believed that there is no hope for the State. The recall had given me something to grab on to. Maybe even reverse my views on the death of California. But it failed, and I now know that this state will never, ever be The Golden State of years gone by.