Alaska COVID Updates Missing Amid National COVID Surge

 Up among the tabs under the orange banner on top is a link to Respiratory Virus Cases.  That goes to a 'page' in Blogger's lingo, that is separate from the main posts I do here.  

Today I posted a new update there and I'm posting it here as well because it's important for Alaskans to know that State simply isn't updating the numbers in a timely manner, even though there is a national COVID surge.  A friend cancelled dinner plans last week because he got sick the night before and tested positive for COVID

I've been posting these updates there as they come out from the State.  That used to be weekly, but now it seems to be whenever they get around to it.  That Page (Tab) also has the charts the State publishes (used to publish?). Before that I tracked the COVID numbers they posted since March 2020.  Those are on other tabs up there under the banner.  

Here's today's update to my Respiratory Virus Cases update:

August 5, 2024 -  The last time I posted was July 12, a bit over three weeks ago.  The last date the state posted numbers for was July 6 - just under a month ago.  Meanwhile a lot of people are getting COVID, but in Alaska we aren't finding out because the State has cut back on how often they update the numbers.  To clarify, the post weekly updates, but they don't post them weekly.  They post two or three weeks at a time.  

As of today, there are four unreported weeks.  

Meanwhile, from the LA Times (I think this link isn't pay walled):

"COVID surge’s tenacity surprises experts

Doctors, others say infections have been strong this summer, with KP.3.1.1 subvariant the most common.

BY RONG-GONG LIN II

California’s summer COVID surge has proved to be particularly strong and enduring, surprising experts with its tenacity as it storms into a third month.

The strength of this summer’s COVID surge probably is largely related to the ever-more infectious subvariants that continue to emerge as the coronavirus evolves, said Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious disease at Kaiser Permanente Southern California.

A dizzying number of related subvariants — collectively dubbed FLiRT — have emerged in recent months. One in particular, KP.3.1.1, has been picking up steam at a startling pace and has become the most common strain nationwide."

Pension Funds: One Of The Many Causes Of Housing Shortages, Homelessness

 I started a long post trying to show that homelessness isn't a local issue.  Well, sure, the impact is local, but the main causes are outside the control of local politicians.  While that post sits around (maybe forever) waiting for me to make it perfect, an article in Sunday's LA Times gives a great example of how greed and uncontrolled capitalism set up a structure that makes many ordinary folks with money in pension funds unwitting accomplices to the high cost of housing.  From the LA Times:

"At the Shady Lane Apartments in the suburbs east of San Diego, the carpet could be worn, the appliances old. But with some of the cheaper rents around, the complex was a relatively affordable home for an increasingly priced-out working class.

Then, in 2021, the nonprofit that owned the 112-unit property sold it. In less than three years, the new owners raised rent for vacant units 21 percentage points more than landlords in nearby neighborhoods, according to data from a real estate research firm. On average, available homes at the complex went from less expensive than the surrounding area to more expensive.

Existing tenants saw change too. Rubin Flournoy, a supervisor at a city water treatment plant, said he’s seen his rent climb roughly twice as much annually since the sale. What he didn’t know was that the new owners had a surprising funding source: people like himself.

The El Cajon complex had been sold, according to research firm CoStar and commercial loan reports, to a giant real estate investment fund managed by the private equity firm Blackstone. Investors in the fund include the California State Teachers’ Retirement System and other public pension funds across the country.

There's the bind.  Pension and other such funds, like the Alaska Permanent Fund, are supposed to be invested to increase the value of the fund.  For pension funds, the purpose is to be able to pay pensions once people retire.  An important goal.

But few fund managers worry too much about the social and environmental impacts of the funds they invest in.  Some have started to pay attention to these issues - generally called ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance).    Republican legislators have started introducing legislation demanding punishing companies that use ESG criteria in investing.   [This is a Forbes article and I assumed I'd be blocked.  They said it was 1 of 4 free articles.  Clear out your cache regularly]  It seems Republicans are against regulations except when they aren't.  

Now, this was a short and easy post to write (and I hope to read).  Store it in that part of your brain that monitors housing and homelessness issues.  And the negative side effects of unregulated (or loosely regulated) capitalism.  

Also check on the funds your money (personal or pension or Permanent Fund, etc.) is invested in.  

I did look at the Alaska Permanent Fund Investments and the Alaska Teachers Retirement Fund (2021), but I couldn't find Blackstone.  But such funds could be hidden somewhere I didn't know to look.  I did find that Blackstone bought the Alaska Permanent Fund's infrastructure portfolio for $1 billion.   I didn't go much beyond the headline because of a paywall. (Giving them my email address is a kind of paywall to me.)

Fundraisers - Great Way To Meet Candidates - Also Get Your Mail In Ballot Soon

 Our mail in ballots came several days ago.  The primary is August 12.  It's an open primary - all the names will be on the ballot and the top four (if there are that many)
will go on to the ranked choice ballot at the November general election.  

Anchorage has moved to vote by mail, so everyone gets ballots sent.  

The primary and general in November are  state elections so if you want to vote by mail, you need to request a mail ballot.  

You can do so online here.  But hurry (deadline is August 10) so you get the ballot on time.  If you don't get a mail in ballot, you can go to your regular polling place.  But check to be sure it hasn't moved.  

I've been to several candidate fundraisers this summer.  These are great ways to meet candidates, to ask them questions, and just get a feel for them.  You don't have to give them a check, but if you decide you like them, a donation is always welcome.  

 

One was for Ted Eischeid who came close to winning his NE Anchorage seat in 2022 - he was 72 votes short, in a district where Democrats won handily for US Rep, and State Senator.

Ted's a retired teacher, so education is a priority issue for him.  His opponent voted NOT to override the Governor's veto on education funds.  The override needed just one more vote!!

Another one for Calvin Schrage.  He's an incumbent, but it's probably a close race.  He's on the right in the blue shirt, with his campaign manager Erik Gunderson.  

And finally, just this week a fundraiser for three state Senate candidates - two from Fairbanks - Sen. Scott Kawasaki whose district was made much redder in the last redistricting.  I got to know Scott while I was blogging the legislature back in 2011.  A good man.  And Savannah Fletcher, an attorney, and she's Presiding Officer of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly.

Matt, Scott, Savannah

The Anchorage candidate was Matt Claman.  Matt's wife was a colleague at the University, so I've known him for a long time.  He wanted the Fairbanks candidates to get some Anchorage exposure.  

Matt pointed out, when he spoke to the crowd at the fundraiser, that Alaska is the only state in the country that has multi-party (Democrats, Republicans, Independents) coalition majorities in the state House and Senate.  And that keeps us from going to either extreme.  

They'll be a lot more fundraising and campaigning between now and November.  I encourage people to go to fundraisers.  It's one of the easiest ways to meet the candidates in your districts. As I said, a donation is not required, but if you like the candidate, donate what you can.  Five dollars is good if that's the limit of your budget.  We don't currently have any limits on campaign contributions so you could give $10,000 too.  And some people are giving more than that.  

Talk to them, ask them hard questions, tell them your priorities (after you ask questions, not before).  

Kamala Harris As New Presidential Candidate - UPDATED

 I wrote a couple of posts strongly defending Biden staying as the Democratic presidential candidate (for example.)  I had several serious concerns should he drop out of the race:

1. Chaos that would result as various potential candidates jostled for the nomination and the impact on Black voters if Harris wasn't the candidate.
2. Issues over who had access to the money that had already been collected
3. Questions about whether a new candidate would be listed on the ballots of all states. 

I acknowledged that Biden was getting on in years (as is the GOP candidate) and that he clearly did not do well in the debate with Trump, but was worried the three concerns listed above would doom a new candidate.  I was also concerned that some of those calling for Biden to step aside - people who normally are politically savvy - might have had personnel encounters with Biden that revealed more than a single debate's worth of issues.  And I also heard people who said it was the money people who were pressuring other Democrats to get rid of Biden.  

Well, I was wrong.  The new candidate has stirred a level of enthusiasm for a presidential candidate I last saw at the Alaska Democratic caucus in 2008, when the Begich Middle School was packed - seriously packed like a sardine can - with people who had come out to caucus for Obama.  

The people working on all this - including Biden and Harris - made sure the three issues I listed above were resolved before the announcement.  Clearly they made sure Harris was the only candidate and the issues about the money - with her as candidate - apparently was not an issue.  And getting the new nominees on the ballot apparently will not be a problem.  Which makes sense since the Democrats haven't had their convention yet anyway.  

Yesterday I signed up for the White Dudes for Harris call this afternoon (Alaska time) and watched cavalcade of (mostly) white men explain from different perspectives why they were supporting Harris.

Singer Josh Groben

      

 There was an alternating pattern of politicians/officials and celebrities - mostly actors. 

New Orleans Mayor Landrieu

Others included:  Pete Buttigieg, Illinois Governor Pritzker, Wisconsin Gov. Tim Walz,

Actor Paul Shearer

Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, California Rep Adam Schiff, 

Actor Rob Lowe

Actor Joseph Gordon Levitt,  Actor Sean Astin (Patty Duke's son), Rep. Steny Hoyer, and others.  (You can tell by the money amounts listed on the screenshots that I don't have them all up in the right order.  Well maybe it's not clear enough, but the totals were on the blue/red bar on the right.)

North Carolina Gov Roy Cooper

 It went on for about three hours and they said that there were 170,000 participants.  Though the white dudes were not nearly as generous as other groups.  By the end there was about $4 million donated, which pales compared to the - STOP - 

I went back to check on the numbers for the White Women's call.  Different sources give different numbers.  BBC said $3 million in one hour.  The Hollywood Reporter writes that

 "Author Glennon Doyle shared on Friday [the call was Monday] that the call raised over $8.5 million so far."

So the $4 million raised in the three hour call was actually significant.  

Most of the celebrities who participated talked about activism they're involved with such as unions or spoke about why different issues were important to them.  

I'd note that I 'registered' Sunday, but never got a link to the Zoom call.  I tried again just before the call.  I couldn't figure out how to skip the donation page.  Maybe you couldn't.  Maybe that's a way to screen out saboteurs.  I wasn't pleased and donated the lowest amount - $25 - though I guess I could have done my own custom donation, based on amounts listed on the bottom of the screen.  But even then I had trouble getting to the Zoom link.  Eventually I found a link to the Youtube live page.  I would have contributed more once I got on if I hadn't been forced to pay before getting on.  (And perhaps there was a way that I didn't see.)

So, despite my earlier Keep Biden stance, I'm a happy camper.  I know I wouldn't want to keep the hours and travel schedule a president keeps and that Biden's already done this for four years.  Now he can be an elder statesman rather than possibly die in office.  

And there appears to be a great deal of enthusiasm over Harris being the candidate, while it appears that Trump's pick of Vance - who apparently was pushed on him by Peter Thiel and perhaps Elon Musk - isn't working out as well as Trump might have liked.  

Hillbilly Elegy is still on Netflix and we watched it the other night.  I'm not sure it's the most flattering portrait. Perhaps he thinks his rise from poverty and abuse are admirable - and I'm sure they are - but he comes across as pitiful in many scenes.  And I'm not sure how accurate a portrayal of his life the film is.  I doubt Trump has seen the film because he hates weak losers (which is how the young Vance is portrayed in many scenes).  If he did see it, it would support the idea that he chose Vance because of the financial support from Thiel and other tech billionaires. This is going to be a troubled relationship.   

UPDATED July 30, 2024

I got this as part of an email from Ross Morales Rocketto and Brad Bauman, who organized the White Dudes for Harris call:

"Over 193,000 people attended the kickoff call

We raised $4.2 million dollars last night for Harris for President

Over 150,000 folks signed up to join White Dudes for Harris

And our twitter account was banned…no joke, Guess we got under someone’s skin yesterday ;)" [emphasis added]

It becomes clearer each day that Musk bought Twitter to be an election influencer.  

900K

Today I got to 905 kilometers on my bike for the summer.  That's 562 miles, which is why I'm sticking with kilometers.  900 sound so much better than 562.  To get some perspective:

• St. Louis to Cleveland = 567 miles
• Washington DC to Indianapolis = 565 miles
• Los Angeles to San Francisco = 403 miles
• New Orleans to Dallas = 504 miles
• Milan to Frankfort = 412 miles
• London to Edinburgh = 256 miles
• Madrid to Lisbon = 390 miles
• Bangkok to Phuket = 524 miles
• Tokyo to Osaka = 314 miles
• Dehli to Mumbai = 724 miles
• Beirut to Bagdad = 600 miles
• Buenos Aires to Mendoza = 600 miles

The 900 km point was about here:

That's 900 k in four months.  Put that way it doesn't seem all that much.  225 k per month.  It just means getting on that bike regularly.  And once I'm out and on the trails it's great.  Last year by July 26 I was at 749 k.  But things started slower because trails had snow and ice longer in April.  

Seventy Nine

"79 is a prime number... 79 has 2 factors, 1 and 79. It's the 22nd prime number . . ." from Prime Number fandom

ELIE WIESEL

I have lived here for some twenty years, more than anywhere in the world, and yet I have devoted only a few pages to New York in The Accident and one chapter in The Gates of the Forest. Why? Because I have not yet exhausted my childhood. Words grow, age, die, and I am still interested in that metamorphosis. And the words that I use are still those that relate to my childhood.  Elie Wiesel, The Art of Fiction No. 79

Encyclopedia Britanica

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

"Whilst I alone did call upon thy aid,

My verse alone had all thy gentle grace;

But now my gracious numbers are decayed,

And my sick muse doth give another place.

I grant, sweet love, thy lovely argument

Deserves the travail of a worthier pen;

Yet what of thee thy poet doth invent

He robs thee of and pays it thee again.

He lends thee virtue, and he stole that word

From thy behavior; beauty doth he give

And found it in thy cheek. He can afford

No praise to thee but what in thee doth live.

 Then thank him not for that which he doth say,

 Since what he owes thee thou thyself dost pay."

Sonnet 79 

79 MILES = 127.138 KILOMETERS

People born in 1879:

Albert Einstein

Leon Trotsky  

E. M. Forster

Paul Klee

Edward Steichen

Will Rogers

Wallace Stevens

"In 2013, there were 79 death sentences handed down across 15 states. At the time, that was the second-lowest number of condemnations since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976." Alabama Reflector

Vesuvius

"In autumn of 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius violently spewed forth a cloud of super-heated tephra and gases to a height of 33 km (21 mi), ejecting molten rock, pulverized pumice and hot ash at 1.5 million tons per second, ultimately releasing 100,000 times the thermal energy of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[5][6] The event gives its name to the Vesuvian type of volcanic eruption, characterised by columns of hot gases and ash reaching the stratosphere, although the event also included pyroclastic flows associated with Pelean eruptions.

The event destroyed several Roman towns and settlements in the area. Pompeii and Herculaneum, obliterated and buried underneath massive pyroclastic surges and ashfall deposits, are the most famous examples.[4][5] Archaeological excavations have revealed much of the towns and the lives of the inhabitants leading to the area becoming the Vesuvius National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site." Wikipedia

"Rule 79. Records Kept by the Clerk

Primary tabs

(a) Civil Docket.

(1) In General. The clerk must keep a record known as the “civil docket” in the form and manner prescribed by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts with the approval of the Judicial Conference of the United States. The clerk must enter each civil action in the docket. Actions must be assigned consecutive file numbers, which must be noted in the docket where the first entry of the action is made."  The rest is here. 

Psalm 79

A psalm of Asaph.

1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;

    they have defiled your holy temple,

    they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.

2 They have left the dead bodies of your servants

    as food for the birds of the sky,

    the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.

3 They have poured out blood like water

    all around Jerusalem,

    and there is no one to bury the dead.

4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,

    of scorn and derision to those around us.

5 How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?

    How long will your jealousy burn like fire?

6 Pour out your wrath on the nations

    that do not acknowledge you,

on the kingdoms

    that do not call on your name;

7 for they have devoured Jacob

    and devastated his homeland.

8 Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;

    may your mercy come quickly to meet us,

    for we are in desperate need.

9 Help us, God our Savior,

    for the glory of your name;

deliver us and forgive our sins

    for your name’s sake.

10 Why should the nations say,

    “Where is their God?”

Before our eyes, make known among the nations

    that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.

11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you;

    with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.

12 Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times

    the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.

13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,

    will praise you forever;

from generation to generation

    we will proclaim your praise. From Biblegateway

"79. After 45 years of travelling and teaching, the Buddha had reached his eightieth year. Although his mind was strong, he felt that his body was getting weaker. He realised that his life was coming to an end. So he decided to go north to the foothills of the Himalayas, the region where he was born. He wished to enter the final nirvana, or freedom from suffering. On the way north, the Buddha and Ananda stopped in the Bamboo Grove Village, in the kingdom of Patali. The Buddha decided to stay there for the rainy season."  From Buddhanet

Trump's Ear

I have questions.  First reports said a teleprompter was hit and Trump's ear was cut by glass.  News reports now say he was hit by a bullet.  What doctors treated him and when do we get a report on his ear?  Did anyone locate the bullet that hit his ear?  

So I've been googling away with these sorts of questions.  

Here's a close up of the picture from Getty Images.  It's the best I can find that shows his ear immediately after he was shot.  

So here's some of the most relevant things I found: 

 “I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening.” Variety July 13, 2024

“The bullet took a little bit off the top of his ear in an area that, just by nature, bleeds like crazy,” Mr. Jackson said in an interview. “The dressing’s bulked up a bit because you need a bit of absorbent. You don’t want to be walking around with bloody gauze on his ear.” New York Times July 16, 2024

"[Trump] spoke off-camera to the New York Post and the Washington Examiner, among others, in the days following the shooting, but he was mum about his medical condition, volunteering only that, 'the doctor at the hospital said he never saw anything like this, he called it a miracle.'" NBC News July 16, 2024

What hospital?  I understand that doctors can't talk about their patients' health.  But this is someone running for president.  The candidate should ask the doctor to tell the nation what the situation is. 

"His campaign said he was taken to a nearby hospital, but it’s not clear which medical center the GOP candidate was rushed to.

There are at least three hospitals in the area.

Butler Memorial Hospital, located in Butller, is part of the Butler Health System. It offers a comprehensive range of medical services, including emergency care and trauma services.

Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, is a Level I trauma center known for its advanced medical care and trauma services. It is approximately 35 miles south of Butler, providing a nearby option for specialized trauma care.

UPMC Presbyterian, also located in Pittsburgh, is another Level I trauma center. Like Allegheny General, it is about 35 miles south of Butler." NorthJersey.com July 13, 2024  (J. Staas Haught USA TODAY NETWORK)

BUTLER, Pa. (KDKA) — "Former President Donald Trump was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital after shots were fired at his rally on Saturday.

The hospital is about 11 miles from the Butler Farm Show grounds, where the rally was held. KDKA-TV learned the former president walked into the hospital on his own.

Video obtained by KDKA-TV also showed a motorcade escorting Trump from the hospital. At the end of the significant line of police cars, there was an ambulance. It was not clear if the former president was inside that ambulance. He was then taken to Pittsburgh International Airport." KDKA News July 13, 2024  

The Only Doctor We've Heard From

I'm concerned that the only medical person who saw the ear and is talking about it is Rep. Ronny Jackson, the White House physician who was called the Candyman for all the drugs he handed out freely at the White House, and who was demoted from a one star admiral to a captain after a scathing Inspector General's report about his service both in the military and the White House.

Aside from all that, after leaving the White House Jackson was elected to Congress from Texas and has been a loyal Trump supporter.  Not the most objective reporter.  

Now, bullet or shard of glass?

The New York Times has three photos from Doug Mills, purporting to show the bullet coming toward Trump, him grasping his ear, then we see the bloody hand.  I use the word 'purportedly' not because I doubt it, but only because it's not that clear, even when enlarged.  

Snopes used that same photo to debunk the story that went viral Saturday, that Trump was hit from a piece of glass from the shattered teleprompter.  They also say the teleprompter was fine.  And they point out parts of the ear they say show torn skin.  

In an article in STAT,   Usha Lee McFarling  and Rohan Rajeev talk to doctors about what they would be concerned about and testing for if they had a patient who'd had his ear shot.   They mostly want scans of the brain to make sure there was no damage.  Who is STAT?  The site says:

"STAT delivers trusted and authoritative journalism about health, medicine, and the life sciences."

Given all this, I'd also say this was not likely staged.  The bullet was less than an inch from his skull.  That's way too close for a fake assassination attempt.  

But the Secret Service - remember all the guys that deleted their texts on January 6, 2021 - slipped up.  They keep blaming the local SWAT team for messing up, but it's their operation.  Why didn't they get Trump off the stage when people said there was someone on the roof?

One Spouter gave the best short explanation of Crooks' motive.  Maybe it's this simple.  

So at this point, I'm reasonably convinced that Trump was hit by a bullet.  And this was not a set up to glorify Trump right before the Republican convention.  But we will, over time learn more - unless Trump becomes president again.

But I couldn't find anything on whether the bullet was recovered.   You'd think the media and the US public would be demanding specific, reports on all this.  Before Trump, doctor statements (not Candyman type doctors) would have been made with lots of detail.  

This Sure Was A Convenient Assassination Attempt

I started to write first impressions of the shots toward the ex-president Saturday night, but I decided to wait til there was more information.  

As I wait, there really isn't a lot more so far.  Days later.  

It's possible that some lone Republican 20 year old decided to take his AR15 out to where Trump was speaking, climb up on a roof about 150 yards from the ex-president, with a bunch of people seeing him and pointing him out to police and the Secret Service.  It's possible that at the very last minute a local cop saw him and ducked and then the kid shot wildly at the ex-president before a Secret Service sniper shot him.  

It's possible he heard this InfoWars with Ivan Raiklin and Alex Jones discussing how assassinating Trump would absolutely win the election for the Republicans.  Maybe he heard them last February, or more recently, and when Trump came to speak an hour from his home, he decided to act.  

But I think about the Nazis and the Reichstag fire in 1933.  It never was clear that the Nazis arranged for the fire themselves though there are historians who believe they did.  Whether they did or not, they used it to their advantage.  

"[It] induced President Paul von Hindenburg to issue the Reichstag Fire Decree suspending civil liberties, and pursue a "ruthless confrontation" with the Communists.[1] This made the fire pivotal in the establishment of Nazi Germany." [from Reichstag Fire link above]

A Trump attempted assassination that he survives pretty much unscathed the weekend before the NRC convention.  Two days before Judge Cannon dismisses all charges against Trump in the confidential documents case on what most legal experts are saying are crazy grounds.  

This is not nearly as far-fetched as the pedo pizza parlor.  

Really, how did the Secret Service around Trump know the sniper was shot dead?  How did they know there wasn't another sniper?  They didn't, yet let Trump stay there on the stage long enough for him to do his fist pumps.  He should have been hustled away to cover.  Unless. . .

I'm not saying this is what happened.  But I'm leaving it there until it's looked into more thoroughly.  It is as plausible as the lone 20 year old Republican getting through security long enough to shoot at his party's presidential candidate.  

The reporting has been terrible.  The Anchorage Daily News ran a national story today which still alleged that Crooks had donated $15 to a progressive get-out-the-vote campaign in January 2021.  How many 17 year olds make political contributions?  How many Republican 17 year olds make political contributions to progressive campaigns?  This story was already debunked by Sunday if not sooner, when people found another man named Thomas Crooks, a 60 something Democrat, who lives in Pittsburgh and is credited with the contribution.  But, sure.  I don't know that for certain.  

I don't doubt that the Biden team can get a lot more votes than the Trump team.  I am concerned that the party that tried to overturn the election in 2021, will do everything it can to suppress voting, fiddle with voting machine counts, and everything they can think of to throw the election for Trump.  

A Beto O'Rourke interview laid out the many ways the Republicans in Texas have blocked Democrats from voting - from purging the rolls, to putting one polling place in Black neighborhoods, forcing voters to wait in 8 hour lines to vote.  

How one has to pass a test and get certified to register voters, and you have to do that in every county separately.  They're doing this, he said, because they know whites are no longer the majority in Texas and it's only a matter of time.  And if Trump wins this election, they will be able to put off the inevitable forever.  

There are plenty of ways to get involved.  One of the easiest is postcardstovoters.org  This technique - writing post cards to left leaning citizens who don't regularly vote - has gotten lots of people to vote in recent elections.  

Biking For Veggies Gets Me Into Police Blockade

 It's Thursday.  The Refugee Assistance and Immigration Service of the Catholic Social Services in Anchorage has a farm - Grow North Farm - where I subscribe for weekly veggie pickups over the summer.  It's about 7.4 km or or a bit over 9 miles round trip.  I can do much of it on wooded bike paths.  But eventually I get to a quiet residential street in Airport Heights.  

My first hint was a police car a block to the east.  But then as I headed down the street there were more police cars.  Lots of them.  My first reaction was a bad crash, but I'm on a bike and I can go around on the sidewalk if necessary.  But then I got within about 20 feet of the cars and police behind them, yelling at someone I couldn't see.  But I could see that at least one officer had a gun pointed over the car.  As regular readers of this blog probably know, guns are not a fascination of mine.  But one of the benefits of blogging is that I learn new things.  Here's an image of shotguns I got when I googled 'police guns'.  What I saw most resembled one of the circled guns, probably the bottom one, because he was holding it and I saw that box magazine as well.  (Based on the pictures and interactive description from here.)  Of course, I'm just guessing from my brief look and googling now.  

I realized quickly that if the police had guns pointing further down the street, over their cars, that there was someone down there who might start shooting toward the police, near where I was.  (There are fairly regular reports in the newspaper of Anchorage police involved in a shoot out.)  Rather than pull out my camera and try to catch this dramatic scene, I turned my bike around and headed back, turned the corner and tried the next street over, which got me to DeBarr.  From DeBarr and Airport Heights, I took this picture while waiting for the light to change.  I never heard any shots fired.

I originally encountered one set of police coming from the south.  Now I'm looking south from two blocks to the north.  So there were police on both ends of the street.  

I carried on toward Grow North Farm.  It seemed bizarre that cars and people were carrying on normally so close to this dramatic scene, without even knowing that something was happening.  

On my way back everything on that block was back to normal.  Not a sign that anything had happened.  It was like a movie set had packed up and gone home. (I grew up in LA where there were movie shoots all over.)  But I don't know that a movie set would have cleaned up as well.  

At home I unloaded the veggie haul.  Today's selection was:

• Rainbow Chard/ Collard Greens

• Mizuna

• Cilantro

• And a choose-two grab bag of: Kohlrabi, Cucumbers, Zucchini, Salad Mix, Hot Peppers, Tarragon, and Oregano

From the grab-bag, I chose Kohlrabi and Cucumbers.

I played around a bit with the Curves on my photo program to offer you this somewhat alien looking kohlrabi.

As a bonus, we got to pick out a peony.  This one made it in pretty good shape sticking out of my backpack on the ride home.  

Project 2025 Table of Contents + Links For Info On Each Author

The Heritage Foundation has the 800+ page Project 2025 posted online.  It outlines the steps to be taken when President Trump takes office. While Trump recently said he knows nothing about Project 2025, this is clearly untrue [how unexpected].  Many of the authors of sections of the report worked in the Trump administration.  

I recently read someone who suggested downloading a copy of the report because now that it is getting attention in the media and is likely to become a target in the president campaign, they might take it down.  So I've downloaded it and you can download it here.  I promise you this will become the focus of much attention in the election.

As I said, there are over 800 pages.  So as my first blog post about this (well I think I've mentioned it), I'm just offering you the table of contents.  

My value added is that I'm adding to each author a link to info about them.  

But I warn you.  As I'm doing this I realize that somebody - the Heritage Foundation? - appears to have done a good job of scrubbing info about these people off the internet. Others are highlighted on friendly websites, like the Heritage Foundation itself.  But even there you can get information.  Newspaper articles and government documents are still up in some cases.  

So minimally you'll get a sense of who these people are, but Google searches don't net much on these folks, except the most well known.  The Wikipedia entries often have lots of footnotes that take you to more information.

PROJECT 2025 TABLE OF CONTENTS

 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.......................................................................................................ix

THE PROJECT 2025 ADVISORY BOARD................................................................xi

THE 2025 PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION PROJECT: A NOTE ON “PROJECT 2025”.....................................................................................xiii

AUTHORS....................................................................................................................................xv

CONTRIBUTORS..................................................................................................................xxv

FOREWORD: A PROMISE TO AMERICA..................................................................1

Kevin D. Roberts, PhD

SECTION 1: TAKING THE REINS OF GOVERNMENT...........................19

1. WHITE HOUSE OFFICE.....................................................................................................23

Rick Dearborn

1. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES..................................................................................................43

Russ Vought

1. CENTRAL PERSONNEL AGENCIES: MANAGING THE BUREAUCRACY..............................................................................69

Donald Devine, Dennis Dean Kirk, and Paul Dans    [Can't find much on Kirk. Given the photo, this could be the guy.]

SECTION 2: THE COMMON DEFENSE...............................................................87

1. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.........................................................................................91

Christopher Miller

1. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY......................................................133

Ken Cuccinelli

1. DEPARTMENT OF STATE..............................................................................................171

Kiron K. Skinner

1. INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY......................................................................................201

Dustin J. Carmack

1. MEDIA AGENCIES.............................................................................................................235

U.S. AGENCY FOR GLOBAL MEDIA.................................................................235

Mora Namdar

CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING......................................246

Mike Gonzalez

1. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT........................................253

Max Primorac

SECTION 3: THE GENERAL WELFARE..........................................................283

1. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE..........................................................................289

Daren Bakst

1. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION...............................................................................319

Lindsey M. Burke

1. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND RELATED COMMISSIONS..................................................................................363

Bernard L. McNamee

1. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY.......................................................417

Mandy M. Gunasekara

1. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES................................................................................................449

Roger Severino

1. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT....................................................................................503

Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., MD

1. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR...........................................................................517

William Perry Pendley

1. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE........................................................................................545

Gene Hamilton   [Hamilton was an aggressive advocate for expanding family separation prosecutions ]

1. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND RELATED AGENCIES............................................................................................581

Jonathan Berry

1. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION...............................................................619

Diana Furchtgott-Roth

1. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.............................................................641

Brooks D. Tucker

SECTION 4: THE ECONOMY......................................................................................657

1. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE................................................................................663

Thomas F. Gilman

1. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY........................................................................691

William L. Walton, Stephen Moore, and David R. Burton  [Not sure this is the same William L. Walton, probably]

1. EXPORT–IMPORT BANK................................................................................................717

THE EXPORT–IMPORT BANK SHOULD BE ABOLISHED.....................717

Veronique de Rugy

THE CASE FOR THE EXPORT–IMPORT BANK..........................................724

Jennifer Hazelton

1. FEDERAL RESERVE..........................................................................................................731

Paul Winfree  [See this also from a Wikipedia footnote]

1. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION..................................................................745

Karen Kerrigan

1. TRADE.......................................................................................................................................765

THE CASE FOR FAIR TRADE................................................................................765

Peter Navarro

THE CASE FOR FREE TRADE...............................................................................796

Kent Lassman

SECTION 5: INDEPENDENT REGULATORY AGENCIES................825

1. FINANCIAL REGULATORY AGENCIES................................................................829

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION AND RELATED AGENCIES......................................................................................829

David R. Burton

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU....................................837

Robert Bowes  [Couldn't find much]

1. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION................................................845

Brendan Carr

1. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION.......................................................................861

Hans A. von Spakovsky

1. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION.............................................................................869

Adam Candeub

ONWARD!................................................................................................................................883

When I was about halfway through this list, Google got me to this Twitter thread, that was written to point out that while Trump claims to know nothing about Project 2025, many, if not most, of the authors were in his administration.  Most significantly, he adds photos.  

Trump is desperately claiming he has “no idea who is behind” Project 2025.

Here are some of the top Trump advisors and allies who are behind his Project 2025 agenda.

🧵 pic.twitter.com/HJck9lOJO6

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) July 9, 2024