Raoul’s 2 Cents
Lab Rats
I had my long-overdue haircut this afternoon. I made an appointment over the phone and my barber was overjoyed to see me. I looked around and I realized why. There was only one other customer instead of the usual 2 or 3 people in the waiting room. My barber is a petite South Korean lady and I was one of her very first customers when she opened up her business over a year ago. It’s sad to think that she may be losing her business unless things get back to normal. She was glad to see me… glad to see a customer. Like many beauty shops, business plunged since the pandemic started. There used to be 3 beauticians, now there are only 2.
She echoes the plight of many other small businesses that are struggling to survive. Some people say this pandemic was conjured up while others say the lockdown is necessary. Both seem to have data to prove their theories. Who to believe?
Do you get the feeling that there’s a giant microscope above the clouds and we are being observed like lab rats? Actually, we really are lab rats. The social media gods shape our politics, our world view…. our purchasing tendencies… almost everything.
If you have access to Netflix I encourage you to watch “The Social Dilemma.” It shows you the nefarious plans of the internet giants like Youtube, Facebook and Google. Top programmers share their concerns about the power they have over people’s minds. These companies manipulate the thoughts and behavior of unsuspecting fools like the rest of us. So when we meet someone who doesn’t agree with our worldview, let’s be a little patient. He/she may have been a victim of these social manipulators.
After my haircut was done, I gave her a huge tip to encourage her that we were all in this together.
Be safe, be healthy, and remember: we may be lab rats but lab rats have been known to escape. TGIF people!
Raoul
Joke of the Week
Thanks to Peter Paul of S Pasadena, CA for sharing this joke.
Video: Sports Agony
Thanks to Mike of New York
This Indian sports announcer is quick, witty and funny.
Video: Spelling Bee Backwards
Thanks to Ed of Quezon City, Philippines
When you spell, do you see the word in your mind? Can you read the letters backward? This kid can.
Don’s Puns
Thanks to Don of Kelowna, B.C. who sent these puns.
Parting Shots
Thanks to Mel of Washington, D.C.
Thanks to Don of Kelowna, B.C.
Thanks to Peter Paul of South Pasadena, CA
People from all over the world send him jokes and Raoul sends those jokes back with his original sketches. 
Karl
September 22, 2020 at 10:22 am
Interesting article Raoul. I think its fair to say that the virus is real, but how it has been handled is fraught with corruption. For example, early on, Dr Fauci told everyone NOT to wear a mask. When it was clear we were supposed to wear a mask later, he said that he lied to the American people because they were concerned that there wouldn’t be enough masks for medical professionals. This is false and criminal for the following reasons:
He knew that masks would slow the spread and save lives, thousands of lives.
He knew that they could re-route any needed equipment to medical staff, even if that equipment was already being shipped to a non-medical buyer or sitting in a store, in other words, it was not “necessary” to lie to people, and
He knew that he could have advised the people to make masks as the surgeon general did several weeks later. Unfortunately, by then a lot of damage was done.
Also Fauci participated with Tenent on a 95,000 patient study that concluded that hydroxychloroquine was not only not effective, but dangerous. That was in March. In July, several studies proved that the Tenent study was a fraud. They disclosed that the Tenent study used HQ on average 6 days too late, and that they administered doses as high as ten times the recommended dosage. The Tenent study was withdrawn. The new studies concluded that thousands of lives could have been saved by HQ or other anti-inflammatory medications, but as we have known for decades (around 60 years), these medications should be given in the normal dose and given as early as possible. The CDC still says on it’s website for patients to be sent home if they have early stages, meaning that thousands of hospitals are NOT using anti-inflammatory medications early.
In addition, we have been lied to about the numbers. As we know from a recent NY Times article, only 6% of patients died purely of covid. 94% had an average of 2.6 other “co-morbidities”. These include things like cancer, heart attacks, and even accidents. So, if someone falls form a ladder to their death, if they test positive for covid, then they died of covid. If someone is in latter stages of cancer and gets covid, they die of covid. That is NOT the way we reported in the past. If a patient was in later stages of cancer and died of a viral infection, the cause of death would have likely been cancer, not the viral infection.
This pandemic, or as many are calling it now, plandemic, is clearly an example of what Winston Churchill said: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”
To your health and wealth,
Karl
Raoul
September 22, 2020 at 11:26 am
Profound comment Karl. Thank you.
You brought up some very interesting details to the discussion. Indeed, the “specialists” were/are not prepared for this. And for the press/public to demand an immediate answer from them may not be fair. Perhaps we should give them a little more room … lower our expectations.
I agree they should be more straightforward … admit they make mistakes. They’re in the “damned if they do and damned if they don’t” predicament.
Of course there are politically motivated opportunists who just love to use their public comments to their biased end. Those are the worst players in the discussion.
I like the term “Plan-demic” — first time I heard that. I like it.
You should send me more comments. Love it!
Karl
September 22, 2020 at 2:54 pm
No doubt, mistakes are always a part of the equation. However, there were a number of things that were done that were not mistakes. For example, we have known for 60 years that anti-inflammatory medications, when administered early, are very effective for viruses that attack the lungs in general. None of that changed with Covid. If you want to learn more about this, look for videos on youtube by Dr Bartlett from Texas. He has been using anti-inflammatory medications with covid patients since the beginning, treating patients with all sorts of serious compromised immune systems, and, knock on wood, so far he has not lost a single patient. However, the CDC and the mainstream media have ignored him completely. Last I looked (around a couple weeks ago), the CDC website still recommends sending people home if they have early symptoms, and there was no recommendation for the use of anti-inflammatory meds. You would think that with Dr Bartlett’s success rate, he would be all over the mainstream media. Not the case. I know it sounds incredulous, but then again, it is quite incredulous that entities would kill millions of people in the middle east for profit. The bottom line is that the only reason people in the middle east are killed it’s for profit. How can we corroborate this? Venezuela is a perfect example. Powerful entities don’t seem to care about any “dictators” anywhere else in the world, but because Venezuela is sitting on perhaps the largest oil deposit in the world, these entities are very “concerned about the poor people in Venezuela and the horrible dictator ruining their lives”. So concerned, that they felt a need to cripple their economy through embargoes for decades, and then blame the current President for the condition of their economy. I know a bit about Venezuela because I used to live next door, in Colombia. One saving grace is the internet itself. How fortunate is it that there are independent journalists who, while they can’t get their evidence on mainstream media, they can present their evidence on what we call “alternative” media. It seems to me that the alternative media is often more truthful than mainstream media. A perfect example of this is wikileaks. They have not published a single example of “fake news”, unlike all of the mainstream media which lies and misleads on a daily basis. Yet, It’s founder and editor is sitting in prison as we speak for publishing the truth.
To your health and wealth,
Karl
Raoul
September 22, 2020 at 3:15 pm
I agree with you. Scary that the CDC is following a “different drum.” It is criminal. It feeds the notoriety of the lazy incompetent government official. Thanks for sharing your personal experience with Venezuelan politics. I was not aware of what drives the financial interests. You also brought up a good point about the alternative media and wikileaks. It does make you wonder a few years back when the internet wasn’t around —- how we got our news. How much of the news was manipulative? The news was controlled by the journalism elites of NBC, ABC, CNN, CBS, Fox, LA Times, NY Times, PBS, NPR, Washington Post, BBC, Reuters, Associated Press, Newsweek, Times, Life, Fortune, Esquire, People’s Magazine, etc. —- the editorial staff behind these handful of conglomerates dictated what was true and important. Sadly, since then, they have all transitioned from objective news to biased reporting. Hence the relief and importance of these alternative sources of news (although some of that is still being censored).
Thanks for your input on this subject. We covered a lot of ground.
EIGER
September 22, 2020 at 10:39 am
Nice. As usual.
Lois
September 22, 2020 at 10:40 am
There are data to prove the theory that the pandemic was conjured up? Why would you make such a suggestion? I’d love to see such data. Lois
Raoul
September 22, 2020 at 11:36 am
One America News’s Liz Wheeler has been touting about the ineffectiveness of a shut down. I’d have to look for the actual videos.
Here’s a more recent news that China deliberately spread the virus:
https://www.foxnews.com/media/chinese-virologist-government-intentionally-coronavirus
It’s still too early to make any conclusions but these are just samples of the discussions going on.
Jeff
September 22, 2020 at 10:42 am
Their cornbread ain’t done in the middle is from the Andy Grifith show. (not the saying, I don’t know, but the people in the pic.) In the show they were a father and 3 sons that sang country/hillbilly, and came to town, from the hills to be in an episode every now and then. Do you remember? They operated under the law of the hills and one episode was saying that Andy had to mary the daughter, another was that he (the dad) was to mary Aunt Bee.
They were probably professional in real life.
Anyhow it was good to see them and the joke was good.
There is another documentary out there about the news. ‘They’ don’t care about the truth or accuracy. The purpose is to keep you ‘engaged’ so you are around for more and more adds.
My 2-bits for today!
Keep up the good work, –Jeff
Raoul
September 22, 2020 at 11:35 am
Wow! You’ve got some memory. Wasn’t that Lee J McCobb or something like that? I didn’t really watch the Andy Griffith show but I can imagine what you just described. I watched Petticoat Junction more with Walter Brennen.
TGIF! Hope the forest fire isn’t bothering you.
Lee
September 22, 2020 at 10:43 am
Hi Raoul!
A good word today. I also found a barber who put wheels on his chairs and moved outside under two sideless tents. He takes appointments only and his business is going good. I also tipped him big for his service during these challenging times. I am beginning to have lots of doubts about the wisdom of many of the restrictions when for churches, gyms, theaters, or other shutdowns. People, including me, are getting tired of the shutdowns that are literally killing businesses. I have a suspicion that schools and businesses will be back open after the election. I’d love to play my harmonica with you playing your guitar, but I’m not sure how to do it with my mask on!
Blessings to you my friend!
Lee
Raoul
September 22, 2020 at 11:51 am
I hear ya. If you listen to One America News, they’re one of the first news organizations that presented charts showing the foolishness of shutting down.
I agree. There are a lot of political hypocrites. Our church has been doing parking lot services for well over a month now but we prefer watching online. It’s too hot for me.
TGIF!
Arnel
September 22, 2020 at 10:47 am
I know, I know. Huffpost is a left-leaning, liberal, ungodly website. But in all fairness, read this. Besides, I have been reading your posts and giving you with feedback from the other side of the aisle. I don’t have to convince any fervent believer; merely try to understand the other perspective. And I am being honest. Ok. Arnel
p.s. read the comments on the blog section
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/evangelical-christians-covid-19-pandemic_n_5f5b9875c5b6b48507ffc791
I Was An Evangelical Christian, And I Know Why Many Of Them Resist Logic…
This global pandemic has revealed there’s already a virus inside some American forms of belief.
Re- I quote:
She echoes the plight of many other small businesses that are struggling to survive. Some people say this pandemic was conjured up while others say the lockdown is necessary. Both seem to have data to prove their theories. Who to believe?
My answer: Truly, the rest of the world is not part nor party to this so called conspiracy? Why is the USA worse off with this pandemic? There’s science and there’s other things out there. What would you believe? Were it not for science, the world we’re living in right now would not have been possible. And this is not the first time this has happened. The 1918 flu pandemic happened and the same plot is being played now. We have the same script playing all over again. History, my friend, teaches us something! And were it not for the plague in Newton’s time, he might not have invented calculus and we would probably be still doing arithmetic and basic geometry, not have computers, the internet, cellphones, and yes- the atomic bomb!
There’s no hoax! Only magical thinking and beliefs in unwarranted and unproven conspiracies.
That should have been the right answer!
Raoul
September 22, 2020 at 11:27 am
If you heard the interview of Tucker Carlson and the Chinese scientist Dr, Yan, and if her claims are true, then you will see how conspiracy is possible in a grand scale. You can also include the billionaires like Bill Gates and George Soros to add to that worldwide conspiracy (there are several articles/videos about them).
The USA is not worse off. It’s actually better off than most — which makes it even sadder. The first question you have to ask is: whose science? Each side have their own data. Science is not as reliable as many like to think because scientific evidence has been known to be flawed. So called scientific data do not even pass their own standards of what can be considered fact. It used to be that scientific experiments should be repeatable — many are not. Many are biased — many skewed towards their personal financial advantage.
BTW, I’ve been meaning to respond to your last email. I just have been so busy. But I will.
Again, I enjoy our chat.
TGIF!
Heather
September 22, 2020 at 10:48 am
I went to my optometrist office. We worked together for 11 years and most of the people that work in his office I know. I greeted everybody and then someone tapped me on my shoulder and I turned around and it was Derek. He gave me the biggest hug I have got in months. I really shocked because that’s a No-No. It sure felt normal to have someone hugging me. It’s one of the things I miss most about these crazy last several months. Stay well..
Raoul
September 22, 2020 at 11:30 am
Awww … you’re right. I haven’t hugged anyone outside my family in a long long time.
Tom
September 22, 2020 at 10:49 am
Thanks Raoul, Good topics and that Soccer announcer is amazing and I wonder how long he will last getting that excited. I went to the Rose Bowl during the Olympics for Soccer game and had the ball kicked to me and was almost killed by those sitting around me. The fans dont need a seat as they stand and jump around for the whole game,
It is exciting and dangerous to attend as the crowd goes crazy and drinks too much.
I will try to see the movie you mention and feel the same way about how they make us think and act. Tom
Raoul
September 22, 2020 at 11:33 am
Yeah. That announcer was something else … and the guy with the balls … HE was something else!
Too bad a lot of the live games are so restricted. Personally, I haven’t watched a single sports game ever since politics got into the picture. I’m completely turned off.
Lois McKinney
September 26, 2020 at 1:21 pm
Read this about the claims by Dr. Li-Meng Yan.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/li-meng-yan-covid-19-lab/