POLITICS BY PAIGE

If the recent voyage of the Grand Princess is any indication:

When I read about the recent Grand Princess voyage heading for Hawaii, I realized we could learn a lot from that vessel and its voyage. The ship represents a closed universe like planet Earth. The story is still unfolding, but we can gather some basic information and look at the reported numbers.

More than 3,500 people were on this voyage (USA Today, Coronavirus). Ships and planes are notorious for having close quarters and historically have aided in the spread of disease.

Out of the 3500 people on the cruise, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed two deaths. Both passengers were in their sixties and died from complications from the coronavirus (USA Today, Coronavirus).

1103 of the passengers elected to be tested. 103 of those tested positive. 699 tested negative. We are still waiting for some of the results (USA Today, Coronavirus).

I have used the numbers given to compute the following percentages.

103 out of 1103 tested positive,  9%
699 out of 1103 tested negative,  63%
301 out of 1103 tested with no results as yet,  27%
2 out of 3500 died,  Below 1%

Bottom line is that this study seems to indicate the death toll may be quite low. The picture is as yet incomplete, but I believe this analysis is informative.

Exercise caution but don’t panic. I see no need to close down a whole country and depress the economy (which will cause deaths). Under the advice of President Trump and Governor Newsom, we are still waiting to see how things unfold. Indications are that we have not seen the acceleration of the pandemic yet. But if this cruise is any indication, it will not be as dire as the news is predicting. We will see.
It is unfortunate indeed that two people died. Even one death is terrible. Life is not without risk.

References:

https://www.ktvu.com/news/nearly-800-disembark-grand-princess-cruise-ship-process-to-continue-thursday retrieved on March 26, 2020.

usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2020/03/25/coronavirus-cruise-grand-princess-two-passenger-deaths/5081851002/ retrieved on March 26, 2020.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/grand-princess-passengers-were-quarantined-on-bases-how-many-actually-have-coronavirus-will-remain-a-mystery/2020/03/23/12a91ae4-6bde-11ea-abef-020f086a3fab_story.html retrieved on March 26

My degrees are in chemistry, mathematics and English with a masters in Environment Management.

I’m a landlady in California and I have many tenants. They rent rooms from me in a very large house. I also live in the house.

The house is big and quiet and I never have any trouble. My tenants are excellent tenants. They always pay their rent on time.

But, with the coronovirus outbreak and Governor Gavin Newsom telling anyone to shelter in place, businesses are closing and tenants are losing their jobs.

What will happen if tenants can’t pay their rent?

I have asked my senator for assistance for my tenants but the word is perhaps the assistance will go to the tenants and not the landlord. What assurance is there the assistance will go to pay the rent? There is also a bill afoot to keep landlords from evicting anyone.

What will I do? I have a mortgage to pay. Taxes. Insurance. Utilities. . . .

I have also lost my source of income.

How long will this go on?

What will be the outcome?

Is the government setting up a scenario whereby we fail and tenant is set against landlord?

If I’m fully responsible but completely blocked from solving problems and surviving, what terrible dynamics may be created?

This is the stuff of science fiction.

Or is it?

No, it’s California where we know our leaders want a poor economy and socialism.

Are the democrats using the coronavirus outbreak to break us?

FAMILY HISTORY
My father’s father (my grandfather) died of the Spanish flu on January 19, 1919 in Utah. He was not in the service. He was the only member of the family that died. He left a wife and seven children. Subsequent research seems to show that the victims of the Spanish flu had massive lung infections. Apparently, the flu spread quickly and victims died within about six days. The Spanish flu outbreak, which continued for about two years, is known as the most-deadly pandemic ever.

COVID-19 — THE CORONAVIRUS IS DIFFERENT (2002-2004)
Coronavirus does not cause the flu. It’s more like SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome, with cough, fever and shortness of breath.

WE STILL HOPE TO DEVELOP A VACCINE FOR 2020
Although Edward Jenner developed a vaccine to inoculate against smallpox in 1796, little was known about the details of viruses or vaccines. We have subsequently learned a lot and now can develop vaccines nearly as needed. There is no vaccine for the coronavirus as yet. (There is a quest for a universal vaccine against viruses, but viruses mutate quickly and a universal vaccine is elusive.) The government is attempting to slow the outbreak of COVID-19. If they are successful, that will give more time to develop a vaccine.

THE MOST RECENT PANDEMIC IN HISTORY
We look back to the 2009 breakout for some answers. The 2009 pandemic was an H1N1 similar to 1918 but was not nearly as severe. The 2009 epidemic peaked after about 20 weeks. It took 26 weeks to develop the vaccine for the 2009 pandemic so the vaccine was late and missed much of the outbreak. What we did do was largely the same as 1918. Isolate. Control. Manage.

CURRENT RECOMMENDATIONS.
We still must rely on managing an outbreak by avoiding crowds, avoiding travel and distancing ourselves from others. Keep healthy. Protect the immune system. Use common sense. Coronavirus is spread person-to-person. Avoid sneezes. Don’t touch hair, face, clothes and wash hands often. Avoid contaminated surfaces such as tables, doorknobs, light switches, handles, toilets and sinks. (Use a tissue once and throw it away in the trash.)

FROM THE CDC.
I read a well-written, fascinating article on the history of the Spanish flu and other pandemics. In 1918 little was known. We couldn’t even fight secondary (biological) infection with penicillin until it was developed in 1928. We have since learned the genetics of viruses and now know they come in types. The 1918 virus was H1N1. 1957 was H2N2. The 1968 virus was H3N2. In 2009 the virus (H1N1) was similar to the 1918 virus but less severe with lower mortality rates.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/reconstruction-1918-virus.html#background retrieved on March 20, 2020

I’m told that on March 3rd, one-third of the democratic voters in California voted to nominate Bernie Sanders for president.
The California voters flunked their IQ test!
This proves to me the voters are ignorant. Who are they even listening to? Have they been listening to the mainstream media or PNR or some other propaganda mill? Do they not understand what America is all about? Have they not heard the messages out of Cuba or North Korea or Argentina that socialism and communism don’t work? Do they not realize a socialist state is bad no matter where its location, even beautiful California? Do they think California is immune from ruination?
Why don’t the voters know better? Can they have really fallen for anything Bernie Sanders says? Nothing he has said is good for California, much less the country – or anywhere?
Can people be so stupid as to waste a Vote – a God-given right –something so precious as a Vote — that it is to be a valued as representing Life or Liberty itself – on a lying, communist! How could anyone take that nitwit Bernie Sanders seriously? A person thinking Bernie Sanders is okay is one who has been terribly misled, has not read or understood the U. S. Constitution, or hasn’t taken time to educate himself.
I live in California. I have lived here all my life. I love California. I hate that it’s fallen into the clutches of the democrats. No, not even democrats! – socialists! – communists!
Have you no sense, people?
Have you no shame?
No pride?
No heart?
No soul?
That anyone would vote for Bernie Sanders just illustrates how far we are from where we need to be.
A vote for Bernie Sanders is a vote to lower education, reduce the quality of healthcare, lower the economy, banish freedom – you name it. It lowers it!
I’m furious. And embarrassed for this once great state!

I was born in Sacramento. I’ve lived here all my life.
The Democrats are bending California until I fear it will break.
But, first, I want to remember what’s amazing about California.
The Golden Bridge
Hollywood
The Pacific Ocean
The Santa Cruz Boardwalk
The Sierra Nevada Mountains
Lake Tahoe
Yosemite
Agriculture
San Francisco
The San Andreas Fault
geographical variety
Silicon Valley
wealth
Disneyland
Santa Catalina
The oldest living species on earth – the bristle cone pine of Inyo National Forest
The highest and lowest points in the continental United States within 100 miles of each other – Mt. Whitey at 14495 feet and Death Valley at -282 feet.
There’s no doubt that California is a most amazing state.

I think the most amazing!

Because the democrats are horror film scary doesn’t mean the republicans need to be afraid of them. On the contrary, the only way to fight the democrats is to go on the offensive.

               Republicans: “The democrats will never like you. There’s no point at all in trying to please them. You will never be able to get good press from the bought-and-sold mainstream media.

               Instead, play to us, the good Americans. We are your audience. And we need you.

               President Donald Trump is brave. He shows strength in the face of opposition. In fact, he doubles down. Take his example.”

                My fondest hope is the republican party will show some backbone. If they can’t do that, I’m not sure what good they are.

               What America is experiencing is like a civil war — Democrats against good Americans. A war cannot be won if only one side is fighting. America is under attack by the powerful Democrats in Washington, D. C., New York and California. The stakes are high. If we surrender, America will be lost.

               “Wake up GOP. You are the party for America.                 ‘

‘ This is no time to sit on your hands.”

What is a liberal in the new sense of the word?

I had occasion to discover more about this recently. My second son was in town. I have three children, all grown. They are intelligent and successful, so that’s not the problem. They don’t all live in California. So, that isn’t the problem either.

I hadn’t been sure my second son was a liberal because he lives in the Midwest and has a religious family. Some of the trappings of liberalism seem to be associated with public school, lack of religion and residence in California. I wasn’t sure. I was hopeful.

But we got to talking and he is definitely a liberal. At first he was being polite. We were having a conversation. I told my son how I was worried about California. I told him how had the California assembly may try to overturn Jarvis-Gann which would raise property taxes significantly. I said I was worried about how the new governor of California Gavin Newsom had expensive socialist ideas which would curb our freedoms. Mind you I wasn’t sure my son was liberal at this point. If I’d known I would have not even tried to talk to him.

It wasn’t until my son threw Trump’s name into the conversation I knew I was in deep water. Suddenly my son was Trump-bashing. I said this wasn’t about Trump. I said that I loved the country and cared about America. I said, “President Trump’s going to only be in power a few more years. I care about the Constitution, freedom, smaller government.”

I shouldn’t have but I tried to reason with my son, saying Trump had done lots of good things for everyone during his short time in office. “I have a list of what he’s been able accomplish. It’s right here on my cell.” I reached for my phone.

“Oh, no, I don’t want to hear it,” my son said.

I put my cell back and I said, “I know we can’t talk politics. I’ll stop.”

Was it. The conversation was over.

As soon as facts were mentioned, there could be no further discussion.

That’s how you can tell if someone is liberal.

No one is allowed to discuss facts.

I asked my son about the book he was reading. I learned in a fantasy. Someone had written a dozen in the series.

I had never liked fantasies.

Not enough information about the real world!

I was born in Sacramento.
When I was eighteen, I escaped the Sacramento Valley, with its hot summers and cold winters, to live in the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco is the most beautiful city in the world. It has the best climate — a moderate Mediterranean climate. It’s right on the Pacific Ocean. And San Francisco is in my favorite state – California. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
But crazy people are ruining my paradise.
House of Representative Nancy Pelosi lives in San Francisco. Since the sixties, California and, in particular, San Francisco has attracted the strange, beginning with hippies and druggies.
I don’t mind diversity. I just want people to appreciate this great country and understand the U. S. Constitution. Misinformation by the press and universities – and everywhere – is promoting ignorance. And, now, embarrassingly enough, especially in San Francisco, I find that I’m living in the center of Anti-Americanism.
I suffered through the Obama years. Don’t get me started!
Then came streetfighter Donald Trump. He openly loves America and American citizens. He doesn’t care if someone is black or white, Hispanic, or whatever. He and his policies have uplifted everyone. He pushes his way out front and implements his good policies, practically alone. The Supreme Court is better under Trump. In spite of a bad Congress, President Trump has made a large improvement in the lives of Americans. He has done this largely without the help of the press or the Congress. During his first term, he has already shown that he is one of the greatest American presidents ever. After Obama, President Trump is a breath of fresh are, for sure.
And Nancy Pelosi has the nerve to lead a movement to impeach this great man. She is like a mouse next to him. She is nothing. She has to know that!
Why is she doing it?
I have heard people say it’s because of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others. But I’m convinced House Speaker Nancy Pelosi herself is behind the impeachment madness. She is doing everything in her power to make President Trump look bad. She’d love to get him impeached, but she hopes to at least cause as much damage to his presidency as she possibly can. If she could actually get him impeached, she would be ecstatic, but whether it goes that far or not is unclear at this point.
Trump is completely innocent of anything bad things said about him. Pelosi knows this. Even so, she wages war against him. Isn’t that treason?
What I find more shocking than Pelosi’s evil actions is how the United States Constitution is written in such a way as to as allow her diabolical scheme to flourish. The president seems to be powerless to stop her. I believe that, at some point, the Founding Fathers (or Framers) had to decide to turn things over to us, the Future. They knew “high crimes and misdemeanors” could be interpreted a hundred ways and that they had left the door open for a bad congress to act badly. They had to trust We the People to be educated, avoid corruption, and to vote wisely. (How did we do?)
I have a dear friend who is conservative but doesn’t understand how impeachment works in the Constitution. She doesn’t understand how threadbare the impeachment wording is. You’ve got to read the Constitution, study the Constitution, to have a clear realization. Both Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi know the Constitution well. They’ve studied the Constitution in order to use it against the American people. They are artists at this.
The sad part for me is that Nancy and the democrats are causing such embarrassment to my president and my country. How dare they!
There are currently 235 democrats and 197 republicans (and 1 independent) in the House. Nancy has enough votes, 217 theoretically, to impeach Donald Trump. She could push it that far. A simple majority is all that is needed.
Right now, Speaker Pelosi is lying through the press and pretending to impeach. So far, her subversive actions are having such a great impact, that she doesn’t need to spend any political capital on actual impeachment. She is getting her way regardless, at this point. But I believe that if she believes she must go forward with impeachment, she will.
There are reasons she doesn’t want impeachment to go to a vote. She’s avoided including loyal republicans because then they would have a say in the proceedings. She doesn’t want to serve subpoenas that would shed unfavorable light on any democrats. In other words, all her motives are political and have nothing to do with serving this great country. And the ignorant public, lead by a lying press, are providing cover for her.
It’s unlikely President Trump will be removed from office by the Senate. Even if the House did vote to impeach, the Senate then takes the matter to impeachment trial and a 2/3 vote is required there to remove the president from office. We’ll need the help of rino Mitch McConnell at that point. Will he give it?
Nancy is betting that the American citizens are too busy or unaware to follow what’s happening. The press lambasts the president daily. With all the bad press, many good American citizens are afraid to stand for the president.
I am amazed President Trump can hold up under this onslaught of democrat negativity. But Donald Trump is wildly popular in spite of every democrat in power, and some republicans. He continues to serve us well even with the press jabbing at him, even with wild accusations of prejudice and a whole manner of misguided allegations being hurled at him.
Possibly what Nancy is doing is using the Constitution to try to make it look like the House of Representatives is impeaching our president so that he is as weak as possible before the 2020 election.
If Nancy has power, she will use it. The voters, in their misguided ignorance, elected democrats to the House and then voted Nancy Pelosi in as Speaker of the House. With that power comes opportunity. I am reminded of something Bill Clinton said when asked why he did something. “Because I can,” he said. Be careful who you vote for, people. No more democrats, please. Because of democrats in office we now have Nancy Pelosi as Speaker and a fraudulent, embarrassing, hurtful impeachment proceeding.
Your vote has consequences. The democrats will use the U. S. Constitution to promote socialism until there is nothing left of our freedoms or the Constitution. Socialism is anti-American. The socialists want to destroy the Constitution because it protects the American citizen against power hungry socialists.

If it wouldn’t promote civil war, I’d be in favor of letting California go for the sake of the nation — just have 49 states. Let California fend for itself. Save the country.
53 members of the House of Representatives are from California. Eight are republican. I did a little figuring and worked out that, if we got rid of California, there would be 190 democrats in the House of Representatives, 189 republicans and 1 independent. In other words, half of the House would be democrats. We’d have a fighting chance for a healthy country. Please forgive me for the rough numbers and approximations. Each election changes things somewhat. The bottom line is that by cutting California loose, the rest of the country would be freer.
Tempting isn’t it.
However, instead of tossing California out like yesterday’s leftovers, I would rather save it.
Remember, I live here. it’s the state I love.
Let’s save it.
Vote conservative! Support republicans. Expose democrats for the frauds they are.
Let’s do it!
Maybe after Trump is finished serving his two terms of presidency, he can move to California and run for governor! Ha-ha! (He was thinking of moving to Florida. Maybe with a little encouragement, he will move to California. Don’t we all wish we could find a great leader to bring California back!)

I’ve been trying to clean up my credit. It’s pretty good, but I want to improve it.

I have naturally been enlisting the help of experts. (Dave Ramsey is great, by the way.)

I have a house I could market and exchange into something else. That would pay any debt I have and free up money to find a new property.

I decided to exchange into a new property in San Francisco. So, I talked to a real estate agent who referred me to a bridge loan specialist. That plan was to refurbish the original property with borrowed monies and then exchange into the next property with large sum of money I made from the “sale.”

I met with the bridge loan specialist and answered all her questions.

After a while she told me I did not qualify for a loan. She suggested a reverse mortgage. She said I could pull money out of my home until I died and then the house would be sold. No one would inherit anything (although that’s ok because my children are well off). But that would be the end of me and everything that I had worked hard for. Gulp!

As she talked and I listened, I began to realize she was whittling my equity down to nothing.

My house is worth approximately $2,000,000. I live in the San Francisco area. My mortgage balance is less than $500,000.

I listened as she explained where the money would go. First she subtracted out the balance of the mortgage and then anything I owed, like my new roof, etc. All right, that was logical.

Then she subtracted fees for the real estate agent, then the financing fees, and fees for a CPA and fees for an exchange specialist, if needed. As she talked and I listened, I realized she was using round figures, always rounding down to a smaller equity.

Bottom line, she said I would have about $700,000 to work with. Then she told me I wouldn’t really be able to do anything with that small amount of money in the Bay Area.

“Maybe you can buy out of the area,” she said. “You can buy a nice condo somewhere.”

By the time she was done with me, I realized, the way she explained it, I couldn’t afford to sell a $2,000,000 property.

I also realized I was talking to a liberal. They really know how to make nothing out of something, don’t they?

As we were winding up the meeting, I thought to myself, “It’s like cotton candy. My $2,000,000 property dissolved in front of my eyes.”

I have seen this before. I once new a bankruptcy trustee that did everything she could to turn hundreds of thousands of dollars into nothing and make any equity disappear. It was a talent of hers.

Beware the liberals out there! They are not really good with money. They are not good with numbers. They can’t add. They can’t figure out the national debt or the state budget. They want to use the taxpayers’ dollars to pay for welfare and food stamps. They ignore state and federal budgets that run in the red.

A liberal can smell money in your pocket. Like pick-pockets, they quickly and instinctively can find a way to take what you have. It’s a trickster’s shell game and it’s hard to even figure out what happened.

Don’t let the liberals dissolve your equity or anything else you own into nothing.