Those bigoted against the disabled are at it again. It's a good thing COVID-19 was so mild, otherwise this plan to deny healthcare to people with certain disabilities might be forced to go into effect.
QALY- Quality of Adjusted Life Years- is something that people like me need to watch out for. We are targets not just for marginalization from society but for outright denial of care style euthanasia. I would not be surprised to find that the still relatively new involuntary euthanasia by starvation law in Oregon is based on this horrific utilitarian measure of human life.
This is how they are going to remove the right to life from everybody, eventually- and your life will only be worth your utility to big business and big government.
I'm Outside the Autistic Asylum!
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The crazy stuff I can't post anyplace else
Introduction to Wonko the Sane and Outside the Asylum, which this blog is named after.
Wednesday, April 29, 2020
Thursday, April 23, 2020
On the constitutional argument for abortion
I disagree with the US Supreme Court that the Constitution makes no provision for the unborn. It's right there in the preamble:
In fact, I argue that Doe vs Bolton (1973) was such a bad decision that it invalidated the entire constitution and changed the United States from being a philosophically legitimate government to a philosophically illegitimate government. Without the right to life, with the divorce of the Declaration of Independence from the Constitution in Doe vs Bolton (1973), we lost the moral upper hand for the entire country and the entire basis of law.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our *POSTERITY*, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
In fact, I argue that Doe vs Bolton (1973) was such a bad decision that it invalidated the entire constitution and changed the United States from being a philosophically legitimate government to a philosophically illegitimate government. Without the right to life, with the divorce of the Declaration of Independence from the Constitution in Doe vs Bolton (1973), we lost the moral upper hand for the entire country and the entire basis of law.
More From Duane on the Philippines Project
Hello Brothers,
Here is a followup email with pictures from the distribution of the food that was purchased by your donation.
Vivat Jesus,
Duane Morris
-----------------------
It is interesting to see how different countries have interpreted the rules differently. In the states this would be a lack of physical distancing, even with the masks, but apparently in the Philippines as long as everybody is wearing a mask it is ok. The amount our council gave is roughly equivalent to what we spend on our breakfasts at St. Clare's feeding 175 people. I have no idea how many people this food was distributed to.
It is interesting to see how different countries have interpreted the rules differently. In the states this would be a lack of physical distancing, even with the masks, but apparently in the Philippines as long as everybody is wearing a mask it is ok. The amount our council gave is roughly equivalent to what we spend on our breakfasts at St. Clare's feeding 175 people. I have no idea how many people this food was distributed to.
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
A few links related to abortion
When you meet a woman who is contemplating abortion:
http://standupgirl.com
When you meet a pregnant woman in financial distress:
http://letthemlive.org
When you meet a post-abortive person, mother or relative, who regrets the abortion:
https://www.rachelsvineyard.org/
When you meet somebody who says "Why don't you adopt if you are so pro-life?":
https://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/
When somebody tells you that minorities need abortion because they are poor:
https://youtu.be/I6XfU8KVkzI
When somebody tells you Planned Parenthood is nonprofit:
https://www.amazon.com/Unplanned-Ashley-Bratcher/dp/B07VGKNQLV/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Unplanned&qid=1587472415&sr=8-1
http://standupgirl.com
When you meet a pregnant woman in financial distress:
http://letthemlive.org
When you meet a post-abortive person, mother or relative, who regrets the abortion:
https://www.rachelsvineyard.org/
When you meet somebody who says "Why don't you adopt if you are so pro-life?":
https://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/
When somebody tells you that minorities need abortion because they are poor:
https://youtu.be/I6XfU8KVkzI
When somebody tells you Planned Parenthood is nonprofit:
https://www.amazon.com/Unplanned-Ashley-Bratcher/dp/B07VGKNQLV/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Unplanned&qid=1587472415&sr=8-1
Sunday, April 19, 2020
Calvin vs Kelvin
It occurs to me that part of my problem with moral relativism is indeed a tendency toward calvinistic scrupulosity. Despite my Catholicism and faith that my soul is never cleaner than on Divine Mercy Sunday- and my faith that we experience the height of justice and mercy together in the Sacrament of Mercy- I still want to see some effect of forgiveness in the real world.
I was dreaming about this post all night- and had the nightmare of a misspelling that would better fit my autism. I have Kelvinistic scrupulosity, at least from the point of view of neurotypicals. My inability to see what others call shades of grey, means my discernment is certainly based on absolute zero and the temperature of sin.
The cognitive dissonance that I'm feeling is because I recognize the danger of pandemics- and the danger of responding to pandemic inappropriately.
We should have had a travel-free Christmas, then we could have at least had the Mass. Failing to do so (because China refused to admit to the world there was an epidemic in Wuhan in November and early December), our eucharist-free Easter feels like too little too late.
The way to prevent pandemics is the same way you prevent any invasive species- long quarantines and decontamination protocols of travelers, not locking up people already in the country. But you have to have those in place *before* the invasive species arrives, and if due to a rogue government this cannot be done, almost no other measures taken will do anything other than mildly mitigate the problem.
Now that we know that the early estimates of hospitalizations and deaths were off by a factor of 100, let us start being smart, and take away the power to limit travel and close businesses from the governors- the County Sheriff and the County Board of Health need to be making the decisions. It's the only thing that makes sense.
Thursday, April 16, 2020
The difference between socialism and Catholic Social Teaching
Four items crossed my desk in the last 36 hours, that brought into sharp relief some ideas about Catholic Social Teaching.
The first, was my stimulus check- a form of UBI ( more on that in the second) in that it was granted free to everybody with no means testing. If you haven't gotten yours yet, it is clear why: You didn't have direct deposit set up with the IRS. I'm sad for you if that is the case- 28% of American citizens are in that boat and it will take a while to print 84,000,000 paper checks.
The second comes from a video series I watch daily, Anthony Stein's Return To Tradition on reports of Pope Francis supporting UBI. I had truly never heard of the Stanford definition of UBI before, and I was utterly unaware how far back the idea goes in American history (BTW, as a distributist, I'm with Thomas Paine's idea of a grant given to 18 year olds to start them out in life, I just think that grant should be an acre of land managed by the Bureau of Land Management, one with some mineral rights value with the mineral rights dividend checks going to the new "owner" and the right to build or park an RV on the acre of land so that nobody is ever truly homeless), But this also contains the basic difference between entitlement socialism and Catholic Social teaching.
The third is also a video from the Knights of Columbus. The Feast of Divine Mercy is Sunday- and there is no better version of Catholic Socialism than the divine graces granted to this week to build your treasure in heaven!
So yes, for now, the stimulus check that came this week is indeed an example of Universal Basic Income. It might not be ongoing, we may never get it again But it is remarkable how in a time of emergency, for the first time in the last 5 years, both political parties got together and passed this emergency spending bill unanimously.
As Pope Francis said in that statement that, rightfully, needed criticism: Perhaps hidden in this time of contemplation, this time of great sadness, is an opportunity to rethink economic justice. I have said before in other forums that in 2015 we had the Jubilee Year of Mercy- and that we needed a Jubilee Year of Justice. The first was proclaimed by man- perhaps this second, which started New Year's Eve with the first case reported in China (though clearly, there had been other cases earlier), God is proclaiming a Jubilee Year of Justice.
And part of that, rightfully should be economic- as first world countries are now hitting 30% unemployment and many small businesses face an uncertain future. As I was typing this, an e-mail came in from CNN: the small business loans to guarantee payroll for April and May have all been approved, and there is no more money in the guarantee fund to hand out more. If you are a small business owner, you are too late- and Congress has returned to normal partisan wrangling, so it could be a few weeks before more money is available.
So what do I suggest we do about it? I say we should return to Thomas Paine's idea, with the modification that I put forth above. Let us make sure every person, regardless of income, has a place that in an emergency they could at least build a lean to. Let the federal government- who owns billions of acres of land east of the Mississipi and who has been earning money off the mineral rights of that land for over a hundred years now- specifically grant 1 acre parcels to everybody from the portion of that land that has working mines or oil wells- with the mineral rights dividends going to the person the acre of land is assigned to and the right to hitch up a 2nd hand $200 trailer to your car and go park on that land if you have no place else to go. Or even pitch a $20 pup tent on that land if you have no place else to go.
Let no CITIZEN of the United States go homeless.
On our borders, set up apartments for the massive influx of immigrants that such lagress will cause. Use the apartments as a buffer, a sort of refugee camp, to house and feed people who are awaiting permission to come further into the country. Reduce immigration checkpoints to the area between the apartments and the border, thus freeing up ICE agents to interview and take applications for citizenship, and keeping immigrants where we can find them if for some reason it would be dangerous to let the immigrants further into the country.
This pandemic has given us a chance to rethink the wisdom of how we have previously run globalist capitalism. Do we really need this massive movement of people and goods across borders? Do we really need traditional workplaces, or can the majority of people now work from home over the internet? Do we really need massive corporate campuses, or can we get by with just in time factories that manufacture items according to plans sent across the internet locally to consumers?
But it also gives us a chance to examine the idea of Nationalistic Isolationism. In a time when we have the internet, do we really need a military or embassy presence in every nation? In fact, can't all diplomacy be done across the internet today, without need for in-person meetings or dangerous travel that spreads pandemics? And if all international travel is banned not by armies but by the wisdom of the experience of this time of contemplation, wouldn't that result in war being limited to internal civil wars? And better yet, without international trade in weapons, wouldn't that limit even civil war down to when all the weapons manufacturing plants are destroyed, the war ends?
These are the questions we should be using this time to answer. I thank President Trump for his generosity of UBI- I used it to make my family safer by paying off my home equity line of credit, making it available in case of emergencies. I thank our politicians- much as you are wrestling with these same topics,
The first, was my stimulus check- a form of UBI ( more on that in the second) in that it was granted free to everybody with no means testing. If you haven't gotten yours yet, it is clear why: You didn't have direct deposit set up with the IRS. I'm sad for you if that is the case- 28% of American citizens are in that boat and it will take a while to print 84,000,000 paper checks.
The second comes from a video series I watch daily, Anthony Stein's Return To Tradition on reports of Pope Francis supporting UBI. I had truly never heard of the Stanford definition of UBI before, and I was utterly unaware how far back the idea goes in American history (BTW, as a distributist, I'm with Thomas Paine's idea of a grant given to 18 year olds to start them out in life, I just think that grant should be an acre of land managed by the Bureau of Land Management, one with some mineral rights value with the mineral rights dividend checks going to the new "owner" and the right to build or park an RV on the acre of land so that nobody is ever truly homeless), But this also contains the basic difference between entitlement socialism and Catholic Social teaching.
The third is also a video from the Knights of Columbus. The Feast of Divine Mercy is Sunday- and there is no better version of Catholic Socialism than the divine graces granted to this week to build your treasure in heaven!
So yes, for now, the stimulus check that came this week is indeed an example of Universal Basic Income. It might not be ongoing, we may never get it again But it is remarkable how in a time of emergency, for the first time in the last 5 years, both political parties got together and passed this emergency spending bill unanimously.
As Pope Francis said in that statement that, rightfully, needed criticism: Perhaps hidden in this time of contemplation, this time of great sadness, is an opportunity to rethink economic justice. I have said before in other forums that in 2015 we had the Jubilee Year of Mercy- and that we needed a Jubilee Year of Justice. The first was proclaimed by man- perhaps this second, which started New Year's Eve with the first case reported in China (though clearly, there had been other cases earlier), God is proclaiming a Jubilee Year of Justice.
And part of that, rightfully should be economic- as first world countries are now hitting 30% unemployment and many small businesses face an uncertain future. As I was typing this, an e-mail came in from CNN: the small business loans to guarantee payroll for April and May have all been approved, and there is no more money in the guarantee fund to hand out more. If you are a small business owner, you are too late- and Congress has returned to normal partisan wrangling, so it could be a few weeks before more money is available.
So what do I suggest we do about it? I say we should return to Thomas Paine's idea, with the modification that I put forth above. Let us make sure every person, regardless of income, has a place that in an emergency they could at least build a lean to. Let the federal government- who owns billions of acres of land east of the Mississipi and who has been earning money off the mineral rights of that land for over a hundred years now- specifically grant 1 acre parcels to everybody from the portion of that land that has working mines or oil wells- with the mineral rights dividends going to the person the acre of land is assigned to and the right to hitch up a 2nd hand $200 trailer to your car and go park on that land if you have no place else to go. Or even pitch a $20 pup tent on that land if you have no place else to go.
Let no CITIZEN of the United States go homeless.
On our borders, set up apartments for the massive influx of immigrants that such lagress will cause. Use the apartments as a buffer, a sort of refugee camp, to house and feed people who are awaiting permission to come further into the country. Reduce immigration checkpoints to the area between the apartments and the border, thus freeing up ICE agents to interview and take applications for citizenship, and keeping immigrants where we can find them if for some reason it would be dangerous to let the immigrants further into the country.
This pandemic has given us a chance to rethink the wisdom of how we have previously run globalist capitalism. Do we really need this massive movement of people and goods across borders? Do we really need traditional workplaces, or can the majority of people now work from home over the internet? Do we really need massive corporate campuses, or can we get by with just in time factories that manufacture items according to plans sent across the internet locally to consumers?
But it also gives us a chance to examine the idea of Nationalistic Isolationism. In a time when we have the internet, do we really need a military or embassy presence in every nation? In fact, can't all diplomacy be done across the internet today, without need for in-person meetings or dangerous travel that spreads pandemics? And if all international travel is banned not by armies but by the wisdom of the experience of this time of contemplation, wouldn't that result in war being limited to internal civil wars? And better yet, without international trade in weapons, wouldn't that limit even civil war down to when all the weapons manufacturing plants are destroyed, the war ends?
These are the questions we should be using this time to answer. I thank President Trump for his generosity of UBI- I used it to make my family safer by paying off my home equity line of credit, making it available in case of emergencies. I thank our politicians- much as you are wrestling with these same topics,
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Why I am no-exceptions pro-birth (as a subset of my consistent ethic of pro-life)
I am no exceptions because I no longer believe that there is a medical necessity for abortion that cannot be better served with a c-section birth.
In some cases, yes, the child is too young to survive, but if the intent is to give both the mother and child *every possible chance* at survival, and with the uncertainty doctors have about fetal age to begin with, it is far better to attempt to give the child a chance at life and it is easier on the mother's body than an abortion to begin with.
As for rape and incest- I have met far too many (80% of women who get pregnant from rape choose life!) children and their mothers that came from these situations to EVER recommend the death penalty for the child.
And the bigotry of aborting a child just because they might have some birth defect you are not able to deal with? Eugenics never was the right thing to do, and it is pure bigotry.
So no, just no. There is never any reason to accept "exceptions"
Not to mention the VAST majority of abortions are inspired by temporal and temporary economic conditions, not medical or legal.
In some cases, yes, the child is too young to survive, but if the intent is to give both the mother and child *every possible chance* at survival, and with the uncertainty doctors have about fetal age to begin with, it is far better to attempt to give the child a chance at life and it is easier on the mother's body than an abortion to begin with.
As for rape and incest- I have met far too many (80% of women who get pregnant from rape choose life!) children and their mothers that came from these situations to EVER recommend the death penalty for the child.
And the bigotry of aborting a child just because they might have some birth defect you are not able to deal with? Eugenics never was the right thing to do, and it is pure bigotry.
So no, just no. There is never any reason to accept "exceptions"
Not to mention the VAST majority of abortions are inspired by temporal and temporary economic conditions, not medical or legal.
Friday, April 10, 2020
The case builds for a gradual restart in Oregon
I know it seems crazy now, but the case is building for a gradual restart of the economy in Oregon.
I suggest that six counties need to have the basic quarantine lifted NOW, and more based on Governor Kate Brown's idea of 10 days without deaths, but unlike her, I suggest a county-by-county assessment and keeping the tourism and non-essential travel bans in place.
We are in the week of Maximum Deaths, but are now well past the Day of Judgement of 04/07/2020 Data for Oregon as of yesterday: Positive 1,321 Negative 24,306 Total persons tested 25,627 Total deaths 44 I suggest that these statistics indicate that there is ZERO need to keep any county that does not have a positive tested case closed.
The following counties have ZERO positive cases or deaths: Baker, Coos, Gilliam, Jefferson, Lake, and Wheeler. The statewide travel ban on tourism needs to be kept in place, but I would suggest lifting the religious gathering, public school and restaurant bans in those last six counties And an additional 27 counties in the link below under demographic information, are poised for reopening as soon as current virus cases have recovered, if no new cases can be found.
Clackamas, Washington, Marion, and Multnomah counties on the other hand are the majority of those deaths- and the majority of those positive cases in a big way (P=Positive, D=Deaths, T=Tested): Clackamas 109P 3D 2243T Marion 235P 9D 2002T Multnomah 302P 13D 5763T Washington 311P 6D 3344T These quarantines need to be kept in place. https://govstatus.egov.com/OR-OHA-COVID-19
I suggest that six counties need to have the basic quarantine lifted NOW, and more based on Governor Kate Brown's idea of 10 days without deaths, but unlike her, I suggest a county-by-county assessment and keeping the tourism and non-essential travel bans in place.
We are in the week of Maximum Deaths, but are now well past the Day of Judgement of 04/07/2020 Data for Oregon as of yesterday: Positive 1,321 Negative 24,306 Total persons tested 25,627 Total deaths 44 I suggest that these statistics indicate that there is ZERO need to keep any county that does not have a positive tested case closed.
The following counties have ZERO positive cases or deaths: Baker, Coos, Gilliam, Jefferson, Lake, and Wheeler. The statewide travel ban on tourism needs to be kept in place, but I would suggest lifting the religious gathering, public school and restaurant bans in those last six counties And an additional 27 counties in the link below under demographic information, are poised for reopening as soon as current virus cases have recovered, if no new cases can be found.
Clackamas, Washington, Marion, and Multnomah counties on the other hand are the majority of those deaths- and the majority of those positive cases in a big way (P=Positive, D=Deaths, T=Tested): Clackamas 109P 3D 2243T Marion 235P 9D 2002T Multnomah 302P 13D 5763T Washington 311P 6D 3344T These quarantines need to be kept in place. https://govstatus.egov.com/OR-OHA-COVID-19
Thursday, April 2, 2020
From State Deputy Ron Boyce
Brothers,
You may have already received an email from Former General Agent Gabe Kennedy like me. Please look at the example email I received below. Gabe should not be sending these out to you and this issue has been addressed to the Supreme Office. Please forward any emails received by Gabe to the New General Agent Keith Whiteaker at keith.whiteaker@kofc.org. Please pass this on to all your council members. Thanks
From: Gabe Kennedy <gabekennedy@financialguide.
To: rboyce4539@aol.com
Date: April 2, 2020 at 12:01 PM
Subject: Financial Insight - Relevant Issues
To: rboyce4539@aol.com
Date: April 2, 2020 at 12:01 PM
Subject: Financial Insight - Relevant Issues
Hello Ron,
Life goes by fast, and it’s important you have information relevant to helping you achieve your financial goals. The following is a “5-question quick check-up” on issues you may find important. If you'd like more details on a topic, I'll be happy to provide it. Sincerely, Gabe Kennedy (503) 644-1952 gabekennedy@financialguide.com
MassMutual South Texas-Collins Agency
802 N. Carancahua Street
#1350
Corpus Christi, TX 78401
 |
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Why I do not believe COVID-19 is a Chinese Bioweapon
Strategically, a bioweapon need to do a few basic items. It needs to hit your enemy hard and at random. It needs to do so quickly. It needs to prevent your enemy from hitting you back.
1. A bioweapon should have a large death rate- more than 75% of the people who get it should be dead. COVID-19 barely kills 5% even when it is not treated and nobody does anything.
2. A bioweapon should kill quickly, limiting chances of nuclear retaliation. COVID-19 takes 15 days to kill even when it does from first infection.
3. A bioweapon should be virulent. at an R0 of only 2.5, COVID-19 is logarithmic, but it could be MUCH worse if it had more than one attack vector.
4. A bioweapon should have a cure for when your enemy surrenders. COVID-19 didn't until recently.
If it did leak from the Wuhan bioweapons factory into the wet meat market in Wuhan, then the researchers who created such an awfully useless weapon, in the dictatorship of China, deserve execution for being so useless.
This is in reference to Patrick Coughlin's video Is COVID-19 a bioweapon?
1. A bioweapon should have a large death rate- more than 75% of the people who get it should be dead. COVID-19 barely kills 5% even when it is not treated and nobody does anything.
2. A bioweapon should kill quickly, limiting chances of nuclear retaliation. COVID-19 takes 15 days to kill even when it does from first infection.
3. A bioweapon should be virulent. at an R0 of only 2.5, COVID-19 is logarithmic, but it could be MUCH worse if it had more than one attack vector.
4. A bioweapon should have a cure for when your enemy surrenders. COVID-19 didn't until recently.
If it did leak from the Wuhan bioweapons factory into the wet meat market in Wuhan, then the researchers who created such an awfully useless weapon, in the dictatorship of China, deserve execution for being so useless.
This is in reference to Patrick Coughlin's video Is COVID-19 a bioweapon?
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