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Sunday, August 30, 2020

DONALD TRUMP TALKS TO GOD

From Worldometer,  COVID-19 new deaths:

           DAY USA   WORLD   Brazil      India   South Africa
June      9     1093    4732        1185      246         82
July       5       251    3572          535       421       173
             7       993    5504        1312       479       192
           12       380    4118          659       500       108
           15     1001    5760        1261       614       107
           19       412    4606          715       675         85
           22     1205    7128        1293     1120        572
           26       450    4307         556       715        114
Aug      1    1462     6429       1191       765        193
            3       467     4430         514       514        213
            5     1362     6292       1394       849        345
          10       534     4813         593     1013        198
          12     1504     6556       1242       835        130
          16       522     4525         582       961        162
          18     1358     6312        1365    1089        282
          21     1170     6062        1031      953        225
          22       974     5349          823      918        144
          23       430     4247          495      846          72
          24       510     4356          679      854        100
          25     1290     5856        1215    1066        149
          26     1289     6341        1090    1017        194
          27     1143     6057          970    1065        126
          28     1105     5711          868    1019        115
          29       954     5305         904       944        238

Summary:
  • Better, but still terrible.
  • South America is in real trouble.   New cases yesterday:
    • #1  India  78,472
    • #2  USA  42,843 (worst state, Texas, 4,780)
    • #3  Brazil  34,360
    • #4  Peru  9,474
    • #5  Colombia  9,394
    • #6  Argentina  9230
    • #7  Mexico  5,824
    • #8  France  5,453
    • #9  Russia  4,942
    • #10  Texas  4,780
    • #11  California 3,863
  • Of course, Donald Trump says this is because we test too much.  And he is partly right. 
I was sent a book a quarter century ago, Conversations with God, by Neale Donald Walsch.  Well, I had to at least open the book and make an attempt, even though the title was outside my range of interest.  After a short while I said to myself, what drivel, I could have written all that myself.  I should have, for Walsch went on to write nine more books of essentially the same thing.  And people bought them.

Who is Neale Donald Walsch?  Just a guy three years younger than me who essentially was living in a tent somewhere in Oregon, collecting aluminum cans so he could redeem and buy food.  Sure, he had had a bad period, for a fire destroyed his belongings, his marriage broke up and a car accident left him with a broken neck.  Now, he is a respected religious guru, millionaire and father of nine children. Very fruitful.  Must also say something about this field.  What an amazing country.  What a wonderful World, for him.  What an equal opportunity Universe.

Did he actually talk to God?  Sure.  Just ask him, as Larry King did 20 years ago.


He said: "You know what that is? That's right. That's God testing me. He said, You know, you did it once. And I said, 'Did I do a great job, God? I'm the only one who could do it.' He said that you shouldn't say. Now we're going to have you do it again. I said, 'OK. I agree. You got me.' But I did it once. And now I'm doing it again. And you see the kind of numbers that we're putting up. They're unbelievable. Best job numbers ever. Three months, more jobs in the last three months than ever before."

You know what?  There are people out there, many in fact, who still believe Trump.  This, even if, according to The Washington Post, he has made misleading statements or outright lied more than 20,000 times...and only since he became President.  How can a well-educated society like we have in the U.S. have a sufficient number of people so out to lunch as to even consider voting for him?  Enough, apparently, to maybe get him re-elected on November 3, for almost 90% of Americans believe in God, many who, no doubt, also converse with God.  According to Gallup:


Here is Trump on this relationship to God.   However, as the public at this point does not think he is particularly religious, as the following Pew survey showed, he is correcting this deficiency:


Ironic, but religion might propel Trump to the greatest comeback in American history.   This is not a punchline.  Frightening, but this could well be true.  So much so that I'll skip the jokes today.

But to ameliorate the depressive tone, a photo I took on my lanai yesterday:  the final flowering of Pearl's sunbursts.  There were around 15 blooms this year.


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