In the states of AL, MS, NC, and SC specifically, new coronavirus cases are way way up.
In West Hollywood, Boston, NYC, and San Francisco, the sites of some big riots and marches and looting, New Coronavirus cases are way way up. In the top protest and looting spots, there are at least 25 new or continuing Hot Spots for new coronavirus cases. Thought you should know.
First I want to write a letter to the year 2020,
Dear 2020, Wrong hole. Sincerely yours, Everybody.
Now to continue,
My Dad was quite the character in his own right. He was and rightfully so sometimes, criticized for the amount of beer and or alcohol he consumed on the weekends. Just about every weekend as far back as I can remember there was a case of beer bought for the weekend and he usually had a fifth of some rot-gut whiskey brand also. Something like Old Kesslers or Wild Turkey or some odd name like that. He also smoked a lot and smoked around all of his kids and his wife, my mother, who also smoked and sometimes drank beer right along with him. Nobody really knew any better although it was a nasty habit then and now there wasn't much said about it. TV commercials even had doctors smoking in them, so socially it was never presented as a health hazard until the 70s some time I think.
My Dad didn't hit us on any kind of a regular basis. If we lied or did something that deserved punishment, you can bet we got an ass beating but it was always with his hand, and that was bad enough trust me. You got two or three swats if you were really bad and that was it. I can't remember ever being disciplined any worse than that.
One thing you could not do and that I would defend to this day was to talk negatively about whether or not he was a good father or husband. He taught us important things that I still remember to this day and every time I am getting ready to do something, if it might be something stupid I an still hear his voice telling me not to be a dumbass. My Dad raised 5 boys after WWII after he came home from the war. He served in the Army in Patton's army during the war. Anyway, he and my mother raised 5 boys and I think he did a pretty damn good job if you ask me. I always knew I could ask my Dad questions, but he hated the game 20 questions, where you would just keep asking questions until Dad got flustered with you. Then you would get a chore than would send you off into the other room for a while so he could watch TV in peace and quiet. It was worth it as long as you didn't make him mad enough to yell at you. That was pretty rare really.
He worked every day, never laid off work even if he had to go to work with a hangover, and always was on time in uniform if need be and did his job, no question. He would be best remembered by those who knew him best for the things he stood for, as he never had a problem telling you where he stood. He was one of those guys where it was pretty clear that if you really didn't want to know what he thought about something, you shouldn't ask because he would tell you, even if he knew you wouldn't like the answer. He was just like that. He was a straight-ahead no-nonsense show no fear, face everything head-on with your head up kind of guy. That's just how he was built. My mother said he was like that before the war and when he came home from battle, he was even more like that. I loved him because of that style. You always knew if you were in trouble, there was never any doubt and he would always tell you what he was thinking and why. I still to this day struggle with people who won't just spit it out and say what the hell is on their mind.
My Dad had a few common precepts that he lived his life by and that he expected his family to abide by as well. When my older brother reads this he will probably call me laughing because we both know what it meant to be in violation of these principles. We laugh about Gibb's rules, well he didn't have anything on my Dad.
My father believed many things and had a lot of conceptual teachings and although I am sure he didn't know it then, he was way ahead off his time. Among others, for example, he would say that if you were going to be a ditch digger for a living you should be the best damn ditch digger there ever was, he said you always give a full day's work if you got a full days paycheck. No slacking off and there was no pretending like you were working either. He said you do not LIE. PERIOD. He always said it was much better to shut up than it was to lie. Always take responsibility for what you did, don't try to put it on somebody else. Be the person who tells on themself when you do something wrong, be accountable for your own actions, even if it hurt, even if it meant you were going to be fired for it, tell the truth. He said to always hold your head high, hold your chin up and face whatever was in front of you. He always told me not to take any crap from anyone, even if they were the boss, because if you take it once, they will cram it to you forever. Always defend your family. It is your number one job and will always be your first responsibility. Never bring a knife to a gunfight, pick your battles because there are some battles not worth fighting and others not worth winning. Judge people by what they do, then by what they say and never by the color of their skin.
He had one great love in his life, married one woman (my mother), fought in WWII, was deployed overseas to Spain in the 60s, and really hated being away from his family. He wasn't all that worried about how things would go however because he had a partner back home who took care of the family while he was away and pretty much saw things the way he did. He taught us to do the right thing because it was the right thing to do, not because someone was watching. Man, that day I stole the candy bar while he was gone and got caught was the worst day of my life at the time, just because I knew my mom would tell my Dad (who was still in Spain) and I knew he would be disappointed in me. All of my brothers let me have it too for being so stupid, and my next older brother reminded me that I had taken a check from Mom to the store to pay for something or another, so the guy knew where we lived. I was young and so stupid back then. Having to go back and apologize and pay the man and tell him I was sorry and face the music was pretty hard to do for a first-grader.
My Dad ever only said about maybe three things about his experience in the war, he didn't talk about it at all. He told me he was in Patton's Third Army (not sure maybe 5th?), that he carried a water-cooled submachine gun, and that walking in foot deep mud sucked real bad. He never - Not - One - Time - Ever, told war stories or talked about combat or glorified war. You could tell it deeply affected him, but he would not talk about it. At times I almost wished I had been a peer instead of his son because it was clear it bothered him very deeply and he probably could have used somebody to talk to that understood. His generation just did not talk about stuff like this out loud. It wasn't manly and it just wasn't done. He would also never sit around the house without a Tshirt on at least because his generation saw it the same as being naked. It just wasn't considered that someone could go through the horror of a war such as the one he went through and come through it on the other side unscathed. You were sort of expected to suck it up and deal with it like a man. He did and years later as a result of that and other things he died of a massive heart attack.
On the other hand, he always had lots to say about what he called "feather merchants", which was one of his beautiful phrases he created to please my mother who objected to crass cursing. It described more than one type of person and I noticed it was used on a whole class of folks he didn't care for. He didn't like bullies or liars, he didn't care for pushy people or mealy-mouthed politicians. Belligerent people who were just that way to get attention drew his ire as well. He didn't like it when anyone was judged without the facts. I didn't really learn until later in life that he was a fairly political person who followed the issues pretty closely. I just thought for some odd reason he hated all politicians, gee I wonder why?
He was at his daddy best though when I saw him one-time raising hell talking about George Wallace. Boy now that man, whew !! I just knew if they were face to face my Dad would have beat that guy's ass without thinking about it. He HATED THAT GUY!! He also had no patience for segregationists and when we went through bussing under a federal order in the 70s I asked him what would happen If I got sent to a black school? He was indignant that I asked such a stupid question. He said something like "Whaddayamean? You'll learn stuff, you'll crack the books open at home, you'll take tests, you go to school, what do you think would happen dipshit?". Oops sorry, Dad wrong question. My bad.
I remember one time I screwed up my courage while we were learning about Dr. King and the civil rights movement, and I asked him what his views were about people that were of a different color than us, Like black people and Brown people and so forth. He looked me in the eyes and said "They die in foxholes fighting for this country like everybody else, we are all the same." He said he didn't know why you knew needed to know more than that.
It blew me away and has informed my thinking about the subject ever since.
Gen. Curtis LeMay was one crazy son of a gunfighter.
- I spent some time yesterday cleaning weapons and accounting for ammunition. You never know when you may need it.
- James Mattis - Former Marine Corps General and Former SecDef, has spoke out and warned President Trump against militarizing or federalizing our response to the protesting around the country. He said "Never did I ever dream that troops that took the oath that I did, would under any circumstance be ordered to violate the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens, much less to provide a bizarre photo-op to the elected Commander In Chief, with military leadership standing alongside him"
He called the Photo-op and the actions taken "An abuse of executive authority." - A Butcher and restaurant owner in Upstate New York has installed a 24-hour meat vending machine. He says the customer response has been "Unbelievable". He said on the prior Saturday he had to stock it 4 or 5 times. Amazing.
- All of the iPhones and iPads and the like that were looted from the apple stores over the last few days have been remotely bricked by apple, and have had a message that they were bricked and being tracked displayed on their screens.
According to apple, these devices will never be allowed to be turned on and be operable.
Hahaha! - AMC theatres have said it has substantial doubt that they will ever reopen after this current crisis. They said they are producing zero revenue right now and may be forced to liquidate as a consequence.
Who do you show a $200 million dollar movie to if there is no $25 popcorn to eat it with?
BigMike
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