Response to Tim Steller's column

China, McSally Column You came down hard on Senator McSally in today’s article. No doubt there were political reasons for her comments when Obama was President and Ebola was a threat worldwide. You wrote that her criticism of China was also political. Here I must disagree. Because of the secrecy and delay from the communist leadership the pandemic was allowed to spread all over the world. It was not only the United States that was ill-prepared. Many other countries have had their economies ruined with thousands of victims perishing. Our Federal Government is sending Trillions to prevent total disaster in our country. Assuming the House agrees with the Senate another ½ Trillion will be sent to bail out business and hospitals. Starting with a debt of $22 Trillion we will now be nearly $25 Trillion. It is as if money has no value, just spend like there is no tomorrow. China is to blame and must be made to pay not by citizens but by the countries suffering from their indifference. It may have started in wet markets or it might have come from labs experimenting with viruses. Time will determine. I for one am convinced they must be held accountable. This is too critical to be a subject of political discourse. China is to blame. All the people of the world are being held hostage. They cannot be allowed to get away with their outrageous behavior.

Reflecting on the difference between the early years and today

We have lots of time to reflect on world happenings today. One of my favorite writers is Tim Steller. He wrote one Sunday about the many options no longer available to be used today. It spawned the thought of comparing our current situation to what we experienced in the 30’s and 40’s. The following are closed today, health clubs, restaurants, movie theaters, bowling alleys, all sport access to fields and gyms, all bars, no sports entertainment that we took for granted such as golf tournaments, major League sports i.e.; baseball, football, basketball, shopping in stores or malls, flying to foreign countries, luxury cruises, Disney Land and other resorts, credit cards, smart phones with all the world’s knowledge Etc. Very few of these were available during my youth. We lived in rented lodgings, very few could afford to own a home. We played in open fields or on the streets, nothing organized, just get together with neighborhood friends and improvise. As a family, restaurants were something very seldom entered except to purchase a hot dog or ice cream. No TV. We read comic books. I had the original Superman, Batman and Captain Marvel books which would be worth a fortune if I still owned them. Shopping for clothes was a special event used only when we had saved enough. We were born and lived our lives in the same area, worked for the same company for 35 years and retired. Old in those days was 50+, the why is because of long hours of hard physical labor. In other words our lives were simple and well organized for the most part. All of the new advantages listed in the second paragraph did not exist. These are the lost jobs as the economy is in lock down and regarded as essential for our well being. I guess we just don’t realize how good we have had it.

The Splendid and the Vile

By; Erik Larson This is an account of the first year of the war between England and Germany from the time Winston Churchill became Prime Minister (May 1940-May1941). The information was gleaned from the personal diaries of people who were a part of the inner workings of the government. It filled in spaces from information I have known about from previous books or from being old enough at that time to remember. It confirms my belief that had he not been the leader England would have found some accommodation with Hitler and ceased resisting. With his dynamic leadership ability he was able to stiffen the backs of the people to continue when enduring nearly nightly bombing raids which killed or maimed many thousands. Hitler’s goal of bombing cities was to break the will of the people. Growing impatient he turned his attention eastward and invaded Russia thinking they would be defeated quickly after which he would turn his attention back to England. As we know that did not happen. Churchill realized that they could never defeat Germany without America entering the war. He courted F.D.R. step by step receiving aid short of declaring war. This book ends before that happened. We learn a lot about the interworking of the government as well as become acquainted with family on a personal basis. This book was suggested to me by a friend and a family member. You will enjoy it. I hope you will.

Made in America is now more important than ever

I am writing this as I obviously have the time available. I will be sending it to friends, family and officials. I am convinced that buying American is absolutely essential. We cannot allow our country to depend on the goodness of other countries. Our defense industry is protected and guaranteed to be produced in America. That industry is spread over all of the States providing high incomes. Other industries not protected have been driven off shore due mainly to low wages in other countries. Drugs, paper, medical and other essential products are no longer produced here. American companies like car and defense are now gearing up to produce respirators during our current crisis. I propose that these items be declared essential as we do defense and be produced here. The cost would be higher but would be available good times or bad. We would not be victimized as we are now. I am sure there are many other items we need that could be added to those mentioned above. Committees could be formed to study. If relief for high cost is needed by our people we could do as China does and provide free factories, low cost energy and other benefits. We have been asleep for 50 years as we allowed our jobs to be sent out of our country. All the while other countries were doing their best to attract jobs. I have mentioned before but will again, when WWII began we were just recovering from the depression. How were we able to become the “Arsenal of Democracy” in such a short period of time? The answer is government incentives. Think of a manufacturer like Ford leveling off ground and bringing a brand new factory into fruition building B-25s by the thousands. No private corporation could find the funds to do it. The government created the opportunity. American ingenuity and a dedicated work force got the job done. I sometimes wonder if the Americans of today have it in them as the WWII Americans did. There are enough examples of people pulling together to give me hope that we can still pull together as a unified country and resolve to never let us be caught wanting again. While writing this I found an excellent article supporting my thoughts. I urge you to read. You will find it on Google at “The five WWII Lessons that could help the government fight coronavirus”