Birds of a feather flock together

 

P.S.

    Ever notice how Trump doesn't wave at people but uses a fist like a "strong man"?  Might be more effective if he didn't have such small hands.

What's wrong with Texas?

      

     Where do I start answering that question?  Texas has never given up on the reality that it used to be a separate country.  A wild west mentality has given Texas some of the loosest regulations in the United States.  The recent weather problems with its separate power grid is only the latest disaster to hit Texas.  Who knew that Texas was the only stand-alone power grid in the Country?  I guess a multi-state power grid is too socialist for freedom-loving Texans.  How does freedom feel when you don't have power for days and then have to clean up the water damage from broken pipes?

     Remember last year when Houston was flooded by Hurricane Beta?   So much of Houston has been paved over that there is nowhere for the water to go and flooding has been a regular feature of living in Houston.   The fear of regulation has contributed to the overgrowth of development in Houston. 

     

    How often do we see another oil refinery fire in Texas like the one shown above in Texas City?  Oil refineries are usually in the states with the weakest regulations like Texas and Louisiana.  

    With the high level of toxic substances being processed in Texas, it is no surprise that they have some of the most polluted rivers in the Country. 

      In regulation hating Texas companies can opt-out of government or private worker compensation plans and set up their own plans.  If you get injured at one of these companies you are at the mercy of the company's bottom line in what your compensation will be.  You can only imagine how generous the compensation will be when determined by company accountants.  Added to the fact that there are more uninsured people in Texas than any other state and you can see the health care crisis is a problematic reality for many Texans.

     Finally, the conservative State government is frequently at odds with more liberal cities that are fueling the growth in the population of the State.  Nowhere was this more apparent than the clash between the mayors of cities in Texas and the Governor on handling the COVID pandemic.

     For those of us who don't live in Texas, we might shake our heads and remember never to move there but we can't forget that they send elected officials like Ted Cruz to try and make the rest of the Country as bad as Texas. 

    

fear of regulation

10 year anniversary of blogging

      

HoCo Connect

Random musings of one Columbian, a place to connect and to learn more about issues and events in Howard County. If you would like to have me blog on an issue, organization or an upcoming community service event email me at duanestclair@gmail.com 

     Ten years ago I had recently retired and decided to reconnect with what was happening in Howard County.  The previous 8 years since I had left my job with the Howard County Office on Aging had taken me out of the County for most of my contacts.  I wasn't sure how to reconnect until I read that there was going to be a meeting to explain how to use the new form of communicating called blogging.  Attending the meeting and speaking with some bloggers I realized that this might be the avenue I was looking for to reconnect.  I chose the name of HoCo Connect with this purpose in mind.  I was not sure where this activity would lead me but it certainly gave me a platform to connect with a wide variety of people.  The blogging community at that time was a growing group of local people who shared a wide variety of information.  My initial posts had a strong local flavor that has changed over the years to reflect more of my political postings as the national news of the past few years has become so toxic.  I realize that I may have offended some of the earlier followers of the blog with my switch to a more political direction. 

      Unfortunately, the popularity of blogging has been declining over the past few years.  What were regular opportunities to get together at local restaurants with other bloggers has stopped completely.  The number of readers of my blog has fallen off dramatically as the popular bloggers who linked with my blog have stopped blogging.  The Baltimore Sun used to have a section on their web edition that would list popular blogs.  They would list 5 blog posts of the day and one would be featured as the "blog of the day."  My blog was regularly listed and would occasionally be selected as the blog of the day.  That would mean as many as 2000 people would read your blog post.  Now getting 40 people to read your blog is a good post.

     So why am I still blogging after 10 years when so many others have stopped?  I think it is because it is hard to do anything for that long without getting tired of doing it.  I have thought of giving it up in previous years when my life was busy but the pandemic has made it easier to have time to blog on a regular basis.  What else can you do sitting at home so much?  In many ways, it reminds me of when I wrote the political column for my college newspaper called "Between Extremes" and being able to keep in practice with any writing skills I have.  Thank goodness for Grammarly!

    What does blogging hold for me going forward?  I hope to get back to less political blogging now that Trump is not a daily fixture but that remains to be seen.  The truth is I do the blog more for organizing my thoughts on subjects than anything else.  If the information I share is interesting to others so much the better.

P.S.

    My first blog 10 years ago.

P.S. 1

Over 1,011,000 views in the 10 years.

#hocoblogs

Recreation Bureau Chief at Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks dies of COVID

    

     Now that we have the vaccines rolled out and the number of new cases is going down it is still shocking to hear about someone that you knew dying of the virus.  Laura Wetherald had been with the Department since 1987.  Laura became a leader in Maryland in the recreation field and was Howard County Employee of the year in 1998.  I first met Laura when I worked with the Office on Aging and more recently in meetings promoting pickleball in Howard County.  Laura was always a pleasant person with a smile on her face.  She will be missed by her co-workers and many people in Howard County and Maryland who had the pleasure to know her.

#hocoblogs

Maryland still not able to deliver vaccine shots

    The lack of a centralized registration process is still a problem with Maryland being 49th out of 50 states for the number of shots administered from the supply they have received.  This may be why the Governor has finally decided to attempt a centralized system for the mass vaccination sites in the state.  This doesn't include the pharmacies that are vaccinating people with their own sign-ups for appointments.  The uncoordinated system that Maryland residents have had to deal with seems to be the wrong start for Hogan as he looks at a 2024 presidential run.

P.S.

      I want to thank a high school Facebook friend for letting me see what is going in Trumpland these days.  Here is what they reposted:

"FROM A PHARMACISTS THREAD on TWITTER:

COVID-19

There’s something very strange going on with this COVID thing. I’ve been a pharmacist for 43 years, 30 years as an owner. It’s December 12, 2020, well into the “flu season.” I have not dispensed any Tamiflu this season whatsoever. Tamiflu generic is the most prescribed medication for the flu, once you’re diagnosed. Extremely effective.

I asked my friend Mike, who works as a salesman for a major national wholesaler, how much Tamiflu and generic has he sold to Pharmacies this season. He hasn’t sold any. He has 75 accounts of independent pharmacies across the United States.

By now, it’s well known that Covid tests give false positives. How many of these false positives are actually “the flu”? How many are just “the common cold”? Why does the CDC report daily case numbers & deaths for Covid and not for the flu?

CDC says Covid is more deadly than the flu. Well, if you’re potentially taking a large number of flu cases and bundling them into the Covid numbers, then yes, the perception is that it is more deadly.

I believe we are being played. YES, COVID is REAL, it CAN BE DEADLY. We now have drug regimens to treat Covid effectively, one being Dr. Zev Zelenko’s regimen, among others. I believe the Covid numbers are being skewed upward, on purpose to continue instilling fear and panic into people, for governments to continue with lockdowns, for more small businesses to be put out, for more people to commit suicide, or others; for more and more social upheaval. Why? Total population control through fear.

If we are so obedient to wear masks, stand here, don’t stand there, obedient to get a new vaccine, obedient to carry proof you’ve gotten the vaccine: otherwise you won’t be able to fly; then it will be buses, trains, taxis, Ubers, Target, Wal-Mart, grocery stores..everything. Just like that.

You’re slowly giving up your freedoms to a virus that has a 99.4% survival rate, according to the CDC. And the vaccine? Like I’ve told my customers all these years; don’t be the first on your block to try anything new. They really don’t know what they’ll find out in 6 months, a year, 5 years & longer, that can be attributed to the vaccine. It’s way past time for people to take their heads out of their backside and start thinking for themselves. Done. "