Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving.
No turkey for me this year. But will have all the trimmings with two chickens. Not that I have anything against turkeys but when I got to the store the cupboard was bare of the one I ordered.
We do have much to be thankful for at this point in this year. Up to a couple of weeks ago I couldn’t say that with the virus running roughshod over our land. It’s still ravaging some but thanks to our scientific community a vaccine may soon be here. And thanks to 80 million American voters the sun will again shine on America.
I would be remiss if I did not mention that we must thank our scientists – yes those folk much mocked by some. – for the vaccine.
We must also be thankful for our medical workers, first responders, essential workers, truck drivers, delivery folk, school teachers, grocery store workers, and those that muddled on through despite the danger.
Especially must we thank Teamsters Local 25 – the guys who deliver the beer.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Crab cakes fried in butter, roasted potatoes, green beans simmered in mushroom sauce and two pies, pecan and toasted coconut. Just my wife and myself with three Siamese cats looking on, desperately trying to get at my crab cake. I broke down and gave them each a chunk.
Good health and much happiness to you all. Happy Thanksgiving.
P.S. I made the toasted coconut from scratch. What a pain.
Matt, Happy Thanksgiving to you and all the Connolly Clan! I just came from the Southie , Eastie game, Southie won on a field goal kicked by 251 older brother. I’m heading over to my grandmothers house at 127 Mercer Street All my cousins will be there and we will have a grand visit, usually crossing over to Columbia Park for a tag football game. Then we would hear that BCH beat CM and Latin out lasted English 22-21! Who would ever think that so many things would have to change! I’m watching on tv the Macy Parade and the Detroit Football game and there are no spectators! Also that Turkey referred to at 375 was called “Oscar” by the 6 children at that apartment. Have a great day and stay safe! Slainte. ☘️
JRC:
You got me for a bit with the Southie – Eastie game. I was telling my grandson Theo of the time when I was at White Stadium in the old days. I told how before the game started they would announce the starting players for each team. One year they started with Southie and as each player was named it turned out he had an Irish name. The Southie side would cheer; the East Boston side would boo. Then they went through the East Boston players. All the names were Italian and the Eastie side would cheer and the Southie side booed. Except the last player to be named on the Eastie team. Both sides erupted in cheers. The East Boston side heard the word “Cali;” the South Boston side “Kelly.”
I never knew the name was Oscar. Have a good weekend and give my best to all.
wa-llahi! So, much, for on topic brevity. Enter the enforcer.
wallahi! Good shout out. Happy holiday.
Matt
As you constantly remind us “ you are only as high as the people
you hang out with.
They can only take your consciousness to where their consciousness is”
In other gobble gobble news….
Charlie Sullivan , the former priest and co-founder of the
prison reform group CURE in 1973 sent me this email today.
Dear Friends, I told Pauline this morning that I would give you a break and not email anything out today. But the tribute to Ben Smith Jr. is so inspiring that I wanted to share it. Charlie
Nola.com:
Ben Smith Jr., who grew up in New Orleans’ Desire neighborhood and helped scores of men once imprisoned with him at the Louisiana State Penitentiary return to society through a pioneering non-profit organization, died last week after a battle with cancer. He was 69.
There are three types of people you meet in life. Aides, Allies and Associates, when you find someone who is all three that person is a friend. Sadly, last week I lost a friend. Ben Smith meant a lot to so many people, especially those who are formerly and currently incarcerated. He was also the owner of DA Grill the Green, Purple and Yellow food trucks you could find at the Second Line parades throughout the city.
For the last 17 years Ben and I traveled to Pardon and Parole hearings on behalf of individuals seeking relief from incarceration. Ben found real joy in being able to support the folks he left behind but never forgot. That zeal led to the creation of the First 72+ transitional house.
I have a lot of memories of Ben, but the fondest one was when we traveled to New York to attend a conference. It was four of us Ben, Tucker, Gigi and myself. Walking in the frigid cold from lower Manhattan (4th Street) to go to the NBA store some fifty (50) blocks away. Ben kept saying who would have thought (a phrased we often use) this was possible. In the wee hours of the morning when everybody’s energy was waning Ben wanted to go to Harlem to see the landmark Apollo theater. So, the two of us hop on the subway train and headed uptown. That night signaled to me that Ben and I would be on this journey together for some time.
Every day we wake up with a plan but my faith teaches me that man can plan, but that Allah is the best of planners. Ben’s work was a labor of love, not for himself but for the individuals he worked with and on behalf of. In closing, I ask everyone to reflect on:
“Why did Ben pass through your life?”
Hopefully you can find comfort in your answer.
– Norris Henderson
“You have to crawl before you can walk, that’s how you make it out here. If you were in for 13 years, you got nothing, but if you can stay out here 13 years you will accomplish something, give it time, give yourself a chance.”
-Ben Smith Jr.
Dr Meryl Nass MD ,a friend here in Maine says:
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
FDA Citizen’s Petition and Request for Stay of Decision on Covid vaccines–until accurate tests are used to determine actual number of cases and non-cases in Pfizer vaccine clinical trial
Dr. Sin Hang Lee and the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), through attorneys Aaron Siri and Elizabeth Brehm, have requested that FDA require accurate counts of Covid cases in the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 mRNA vaccine trial and other Covid vaccine trials.
Furthermore, until an accurate number of Covid-19 cases in the vaccinated and placebo groups has been determined, FDA is asked to withhold an Emergency Use Authorization for this and other vaccines.
The Pfizer Phase 2/3 clinical trial was designed for haste: in other words, to accumulate as many “cases” as possible in the shortest time, in order to speed approval and use.
To do so, only one symptom was required for a “case,” and almost any nonspecific symptom, such as a sore throat, fever, a cough or an episode of vomiting or diarrhea would do. Patients with a nonspecific symptom were then given a PCR test. Most PCR tests used the Cepheid XpertXpress system, which is known to have a high false positive rate. Cycle thresholds of 35 and over were used, even though Anthony Fauci and the NY Times have both noted such high cycle thresholds lead to false positives.
Thus, both required elements of the case definition (a nonspecific symptom and an inaccurate PCR test result) lacked precision, and allowed for the inclusion of false positives.
It would have been easy to establish that PCR positive subjects were truly positive by using the gold standard of Sanger sequencing. This verifies whether the PCR product really represents the SARS-Cov-2 virus. It is a standard procedure in many labs. Sequencing would probably have slowed the collection of Covid cases, thereby slowing FDA approval… and it was not performed.
FDA is being asked in the Petition to assure that PCR positive products are sequenced, so that accurate data on efficacy of the vaccine become available. Because Pfizer asked FDA to issue an Emergency Use Authorization for the its vaccine, using much less safety and efficacy data than are required for a full license, imposing a requirement to assure accuracy of the data is a no-brainer.
FDA is also being asked to withhold its decision on the EUA until such time as confirmed case numbers become available.
The Petition was filed on Nov 23, and the request for a Stay was filed on November 25. The 2 documents are similar
Oh!
UFO Craft pulled from the Ocean – Shannon Lee, US Coast Guard | 2020-10-11 | Disclosure Project Witness
Nov 24, 2020
Matt, that’s an old harbor trick . The call would go out that the cupboard was bare
and before you knew it you had more food ( TURKEY ) than you needed. Roger (God rest his soul ) taught you well. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
251:
Best Thanksgiving story ever involved Roger and his siblings. Their father won a live turkey at some lottery a couple of week before Thanksgiving. He brought it home to their spacious two bedroom apartment at 375 Old Colony Avenue where the kids fed it. A day or two before Thanksgiving they saw their turkey was no longer there. It came back Thanksgiving day right out of the oven. As you can imagine, none of them could eat it.
MS:
I have asked that the comments be no longer than 500 words and relevant to the subjects we are discussing. I have the ability to edit comments. If you exceed that number then I will edit your comment which is something you would prefer not to happen so I ask you to abide by my requests.