Our mother has passed from this earth.

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Written by David Lee Whitehead David Lee Whitehead

 On the morning of February 8'th of 2022, my brother Nathan notified me that our mother had taken her last breath. I was just starting to work a support request by one of the company's clients when the message came through on my cell phone. Although I knew this was coming, it of course hit me really hard. I notified Dispatch that I needed to get away from the computer and ultimately took the remainder of the day and the week away from work. Naturally, the past three days have been exceedingly difficult and the overwhelming grief has been coming in waves. It's slowly subsiding now though but as anyone who has lost of loved one knows, the pain never really goes away.

In 2008, February 23'rd my father had passed away. I was fortunate enough at the time to cover the flight to Houghton Michigan for my brother Todd and myself so we could be with him this one last time. I'm extremely grateful to have been with him as he passed from this earth and that I was able to speak with him, tell him how much I loved him and how I appreciated all that he had taught me about life.

My wonderful wife Debra had already lost both of her parents over the years, first her father and then her mother several years after. Although I deeply understand the loss of loved ones, I've learned that losing one's parents is different. It seems to make one feel alone and lost in the world. Although Debra has been my anchor through all of this, I can now completely understand how she's felt since the loss of her mother.

In November of 2021, we decided to to take a road-trip to Irving Texas so I could see my mother one last time. I'm so thankful that we were able to do so and will never forget it. At first, my mother didn't know who I was, then she thought she was hallucinating. Once she realized what was going on she just kept asking “You came call the way here just for me?” … at times with tears in her eyes. My brother Nathan took this picture the day before we had to leave for home and I’ll always cherish it. This is how I will remember her.

Shall we Balkanize America?

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Written by Michael Whitehead Michael Whitehead

Shall We Balkanize America, or Unify Her?

 

Dear readers. Allow me to recount two seemingly-unrelated experiences that clearly reflect two antithetical attitudes towards America’s linguistic unity as demonstrated by two residents of my home town, Irving, TX.

Let’s start with the attitude of a Mexican national who resides in Irving.

At Home Depot one evening, a man approached me and asked for advice on which brand of caulk to buy. I told him that I was not a store employee but that I could give him my own personal advice, if he was interested. Yes, he was interested.

I immediately noticed his heavy Spanish accent. He was struggling to speak to me in English and was having great difficulty understanding my responses. Being a fluent Spanish speaker, I continued discussing the merits of certain brands of caulk over others, in Spanish. He immediately warmed up to me when he saw that the language hurdle had suddenly and unexpectedly been removed. We continued conversing pleasantly in Spanish for several minutes. His wife joined the conversation, too.

He complimented my Spanish repeatedly and effusively. My response, translated into English: “And you, my friend? How about your English?”

He smiled and made the typical excuse that he can’t afford to take English classes and doesn’t have time. I told

him, “You are surrounded with English; there is no excuse. You owe it to America to learn it. This is a matter of respect for the country that is offering you a chance at a better life than you have found in your home land.”

He smiled, again, and heartily agreed, as did his wife.

As we parted ways, I said, with a smile, “¡Unase con América!” which means, “Join America.” His response: “Yes! That’s a great idea!” understanding that I was speaking linguistically, not politically. He even reached out and took hold of my elbow, smiled enormously, nodded his head vigorously, and repeated, “Yes! That’s a great idea!” (in Spanish, of course.)

He gets it!

Now, let’s take a look at a very different attitude.

Here in Irving, TX, a lovable, grandmotherly lady is running to replace our current mayor Rick Stopfer. Her name is Olivia Abreu. In response to my questions to her about why we should vote for her, how her values differ from Mayor Stopfer’s, and how she is more qualified to be mayor than he, this is the most salient qualification she proffered.

Good morning…

Mr. Stopfer has no background, to my knowledge, of having lived extensively in another country, trying to fit in a different society and a foreign language. As Irving is growing more diverse, I can better serve the city by being multilingual and knowledgeable about world cultures.

My oh my! Doesn’t that sound pretty! I grant it does, but only cosmetically, only superficially.

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Joe GED Reveals CoVid-21

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Written by Joe GED Joe GED

CoVid-19 Scare-Demic:  We are now two years in from the CoVid-19 [19 means the 2019 mutation of the existing Covid virus (previously SARS, CoVid-2 for 2002)] Pandemic Scare.  Yes, it’s still ongoing and it’s a serious viral illness.  However, what have we learned?

2002 CoVid-2: (SARS) hits the news with a vengeance.  However, the “regular” annual flu took precedence in the public mind so SARS was relegated to the back of the bus.

2019-Flu: The CDC published their statistics for the “2019 Annual Flu Season” as 1.0% fatal (mostly for elderly and immune compromised people).  No one cared/noticed as this was normal.

2019-CoVid-19:  A new mutation of the CoVid virus hits the airwaves in the midst of an on-going battle for the “control” of the American Dream (Democrat –vs- Republican). Both parties quickly seized the media to expedite their political vision, corrupting the scientific facts. ALL parties and news-outlets have been reporting the death toll/percentage for the past two years.  They have all consistently reported a “running” total (that means 2 years as opposed to annual) of 1.8% fatal (please note that the “annual flu” is 2% fatal for the same two year period).

2021-CoVid-19 Delta Variant: We must keep going. First it was the Brazilian variant that was going to overrun the US. Then the India variant. Now it’s the Delta variant (which supposedly rests entirely on the shoulders of the unvaccinated). All of these variations of the virus ARE deadly, but the politicians have seized the moment to scare all of us into surrendering our liberties in the name of “the common good” (translate their control).

The REAL Pandemic:  The Annual Flu Virus has been around so long that we -as a society- have become ‘immune’ to its presence.  This variant of the CoVid virus (pay attention to the vials [listed as sars] when you go to get tested) is exceptional and makes for high drama reporting.  It has also made for an opportunity for politicians (we elected them) and bureaucrats (we allowed our politicians to hire them) to convince us to relinquish more of our freedoms and rights (Benjamin Franklin – Any man who surrenders his freedoms to purchase what he thinks of as security, deserves neither).

1. Essential-Worker:  We willingly granted our elected politicians the right to designate our labor as essential or superfluous.  Why is employment at a Big Box company (i.e. Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes) essential during a crisis; while employment at Ho’s Hometown Hardware is not?  The obvious answer is campaign contributions.

2. Shelter-In-Place:  Man, we fell for that!  The scare of the deadly virus caused all 50 States (plus US territories) to allow our elected officials to dictate our freedoms.  The problem now (2021) is that 2-YEARS later we are still allowing them to control our freedom.  The reason for that is allowing Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.,) to dictate our beliefs.  Stand Up for what you KNOW is right.  Shelter-In-Place was the boldest attempt at controlling the people, and it worked!

Vaccinate:  Yes! It works. Much like the annual Flu vaccination. Don’t fall for the political NO IT'S TOO EXPERIMANTAL crap.  Our elected officials have been vaccinated, but will boldly tell you, “It’s bad and experimental” while laughing at the Sheeple who fall for their statement.  After all, they want to be the Queen Bee/Ant that we all serve in this hive.

POST PUBLICATION EDIT (12Sep2021): You can check the CDCs website for confirmation of statistics.