tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80662288845218710202024-02-22T07:27:14.606-08:00nanaloshenAn advocate for the oneness of the Creator and His power in our lives. Written by a Chassidah of the Rebbe, the saintly Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, z"l, may he be a blessing for Klal Yisroel and all members of the human race.nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.comBlogger492125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-38924692298378552542023-07-31T16:56:00.002-07:002023-07-31T16:57:24.200-07:00Surviving A System Designed That You Don't Survive<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjLYXl6wppY5E7lJgiypgkyoxz8zdEm5eaWfrKx_GxZ4qpQ5pkGYiHvC1-d5RdBk-bM6daHGbu3mZOsTS6rfJIt1ppaGdKYApnDiGyEDflVcAGmfsLOwfUZeA2GVdrdwh-xXE8O-nNWvGZhAb1Nbeko-fTTRq8ggdeSipd-Ux1Di_aN1vd99RpeRS8Gyw/s283/hospital%20death%20bed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="178" data-original-width="283" height="93" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjLYXl6wppY5E7lJgiypgkyoxz8zdEm5eaWfrKx_GxZ4qpQ5pkGYiHvC1-d5RdBk-bM6daHGbu3mZOsTS6rfJIt1ppaGdKYApnDiGyEDflVcAGmfsLOwfUZeA2GVdrdwh-xXE8O-nNWvGZhAb1Nbeko-fTTRq8ggdeSipd-Ux1Di_aN1vd99RpeRS8Gyw/w148-h93/hospital%20death%20bed.jpg" width="148" /></a></div>The longer this "pandemic" lasts, the more we hear of its horrors. Not just that people died - we accept that no one lives forever. It's how they died, and why. <p></p><p>An eerie recounting of one woman's experience was published in The Defense (The Children's Defense online newsletter) and no doubt experienced by tens of thousands (if not more) of people here in the US and around the world. When hospitals decide that the Covid unvaccinated deserve to die but not before making as much money as possible, there's almost no way to survive. This woman did and this is her story.</p><h1 class="post-title" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 1.6rem; line-height: 33.28px; margin: 1px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">Exclusive: Survivor of CDC COVID Protocols Says She Was ‘Just a Paycheck’</h1><p class="post-excerpt" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 1rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 25.6px; margin: 10px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In an exclusive interview with The Defender, Gail Seiler describes how she was treated at a Texas hospital after they asked — and she told them — she wasn’t vaccinated.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In late 2021, Gail Seiler was enjoying life with her husband, adult children and her grandchildren. She was happily employed as a technology manager near Dallas after spending several years living in Europe.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">All this changed in December 2021, however, when Seiler said her “nightmare began.” On Dec. 3, 2021, two days after testing positive for <a href="https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender_category/covid/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">COVID-19</a>, low oxygen levels led her to go to her local hospital, Medical City of Plano, Texas, for treatment.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Unbeknownst to Seiler or her family, this would mark the beginning of a 13-day ordeal of being subjected to what she described as “cruel and inhuman” treatment. Seiler was denied nutrition and medications and was listed as “<a href="https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/do-not-resussitate.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Do Not Resuscitate</a>” (DNR) — despite repeated insistence to the contrary by her and her family.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In an interview with <a href="https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Defender,</a> Seiler, now 55, said the hostile treatment at the hospital began when doctors there learned that she had not received a COVID-19 vaccine. It culminated when her family, following a “standoff” in her hospital room, succeeded in removing her from the hospital and taking her home, which Seiler said saved her life.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Despite her doctors’ insistence that she would die if she left the hospital, Seiler says she has fully recovered. She credits medications such as <a href="https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/war-on-ivermectin-pier" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ivermectin</a> in helping to save her.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seiler’s experience motivated her to get involved with a nonprofit group, the <a href="http://www.formerfedsgroup.org/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">FormerFedsGroup Freedom Foundation</a>, campaigning to raise awareness about COVID-19 protocols sanctioned by the Centers for Disease Control and prevention and the harms they caused.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seiler shared extensive documentation with The Defender to corroborate her story.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘The first question he asked me was if I was vaccinated’ </span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seiler told The Defender she went to the Medical City of Plano because it was the closest hospital to their home and also where prominent Texas politician and former gubernatorial candidate, Col. Allen West and his wife had received the <a href="https://americasfrontlinedoctors.org/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">America’s Frontline Doctors</a> treatment protocol there.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The protocol included “hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, and budesonide along with vitamins,” she said. West was not vaccinated for COVID-19, and Seiler said his illness received <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/allen-west-covid-anti-vaxx-rhetoric-1239980/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">extensive media coverage</a> connecting his illness and hospitalization to his unvaccinated status.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Intending to receive the same treatment, Seiler said her husband printed out a couple of copies of the Frontline Doctor protocol and took them to the hospital with her.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">With her oxygen level at 77, Seiler was taken to the emergency room, but was not seen for at least an hour. When examined, Seiler gave the nurse a copy of the protocol and was told “yes, we’ve done this protocol, we can do this protocol.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Instead, “They just put me on some oxygen,” she said.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seiler spent 26 hours in the ER before being admitted to an ICU on Dec. 5, 2021, where she was examined by Dr. Giang Quash. “The first question he asked me was if I was vaccinated,” she said.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Quash responded by telling her, “I’m so sorry Mrs. Seiler, but you are going to die,” and that her only options were to receive <a href="https://covidreason.substack.com/p/how-did-remdesivir-obtain-approval" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">remdesivir</a> and be placed on a ventilator — although even with that treatment, he said she was going to die anyway.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seiler told Quash he was fired, but since he gave her a terminal diagnosis, she wanted her priest and she cited the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/133864/download" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Right to Try Act</a> — and demanded she wanted to try Ivermectin and Budesonide.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seiler said her husband, a former military nurse, “was very well informed about the mRNA technology and what it can do, and he questioned the speed to deliver [the COVID-19 vaccines] and the lack of informed consent obtained from patients.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seiler also had already had COVID-19 and “recovered fairly quickly” from it without hospitalization, and that as a result, she “wasn’t afraid of it.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘Cruel and inhuman’ treatment</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seiler said she knew Quash was “gaslighting me,” and immediately delegated all decision-making responsibility regarding her health to her husband, who was also “shocked” that she had been told she would die.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“I didn’t want them to say to my family, if they killed me, ‘Oh, she agreed to this’ or that ‘she agreed to death’ or ‘she agreed to be put on a ventilator.’ I didn’t want that to happen.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Instead, Seiler and her husband insisted on receiving hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin and budesonide, as well as vitamins. However, “They said no to everything,” she said, ignoring her requests even when she referenced the Right to Try Act or requested a copy of her <a href="https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/Patient-Rights-and-Responsibilities-_-Medical-City-Healthcare.pdf" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">rights as a patient</a>.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seiler said that what followed instead was “cruel and inhuman treatment” with numerous examples of abuse.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seiler said that the doctors and nurses claimed they were unfamiliar with the Frontline Doctors protocol and “would demonize ivermectin.” Instead, she was placed on a <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/24970-bipap" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">BiPAP machine</a>, which Seiler said “blows hot air, forced air, into your lungs,” which she described as “excruciating and unnecessary.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">She also was denied basic nutrition, water and personal care.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Even though I was more than capable of drinking,” Seiler was denied water for seven days and received “no nutrients for the first 11 days,” after which she “finally got a banana bag as per my daughter’s persistence.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seiler said her husband was able to bring her Ensure, but that it was placed “out of my reach” in the hospital room.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">After receiving no mouth care for 13 days, “I was developing thrush,” Seiler said, , “and was starting to get worse,” having developed a film covering her teeth that “required medication to clear up.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In addition, Seiler said she was forced to have a catheter on her first day in the ICU, which was subsequently never cleaned, leading to an infection. Doctors also “started loading me up with diuretics, so that I could not control my bladder or bowels,” she said, also described receiving “very little cleaning up,” leading to matted and lost hair.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">She also was denied physical therapy.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Some nurses were also particularly harsh in their treatment toward her because of her unvaccinated status, according to Seiler, sharing one example of an “nurse who was literally very cruel” The nurse did not respond to Seiler’s calls for over 20 minutes after a cord connected to her oxygen machine came loose. She was forced to hold it in manually so it would work.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">According to Seiler, when the nurse finally came in, “she hit me, slapped me on the shoulder, grabbed the cord, and said ‘I can’t come in here very much because you’re unvaccinated and you have COVID.’” Seiler said her response literally was, “If you’ve gotten the shot [but] are too afraid to come in my room, it reinforces why it was right for me to refuse to get the shot.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seiler also said she was administered insulin, despite not being a diabetic, and that she wasn’t told if there was a medical reason for this. When administering the insulin, the nurse “would plunge the needle into my stomach,” recounted Siler “I had so many bruises all over my stomach. It was horrific. My husband was livid when he saw it.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“She was very aggressively harmful,” Seiler said. “I call it medical battery.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">After two evenings of this, Seiler said she could take no more. “The third night she came in, I thought, ‘dear God, I can’t do this. This woman’s going to kill me.’” Seiler texted her daughter, telling her she was “terrified” of her nurse and worried “she’s going to kill me.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">After her daughter submitted a complaint, the individual in question, a travel nurse, was switched out with no explanation.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">At one point Seiler and her daughter requested high-dose vitamin C, only to be told there was a “national shortage.” The hospital would not let her daughter bring Seiler’s vitamins from home, instead only giving her “a kind of a child vitamin. “A high dose alone makes a huge difference — it saves lives, Seiler said.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Even when Seiler was eventually granted vitamin C, she said the dose administered was lower than recommended.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Protocol is one milligram every four hours through a nebulizer,” Seiler said. “And they would only do one milligram every 10 hours,” noting that the hospital pharmacist overruled the protocol and “would not allow it,” despite not having examined her.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Even with such a reduced dose though, Seiler began to show signs of recovery and was told by Quash “I’ve never seen this before.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“I thought, well, he’s seeing the light,” Seiler said. But when she asked him if her Vitamin C dose could be increased to protocol levels, her request was denied, as were her requests for “medications that I needed to fight pneumonia.” Seiler said these requests were denied “with no explanation” even for medications “they promised to give.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seiler said that her medical charts listed her as a “DNR” despite repeated insistence by her and her family members to the contrary. Even after her attorney intervened, “They wouldn’t change it,” Seiler said, although in notes accompanying her medical chart, “they acknowledged that I’m saying I’m a full code.” Yet, “on the chart, which is what they’re going to look at if something happens, it says ‘DNR.’”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Instead of her requested treatment, Seiler was told that if she agreed to take remdesivir, she would be permitted visitation from her priest.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Our faith is very important to us,” Seiler said, “and so we agreed.” However, when her priest was called away to an emergency on the night of his scheduled visit, the doctors administered the remdesivir anyway, she said.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“So, they got one round, which you know, we knew about the hospital bonuses,” Seiler said, referring to <a href="https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/jamie-kay-wylie-covid-protocol-death/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">bonuses given to hospitals</a> which administered the <a href="https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/ralph-marxen-jr-covid-hospital-death/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">COVID protocol</a>, including remdesivir, to COVID-19 patients. “They got their 30 pieces of silver, right?”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘If I stay here, they’re going to murder me’</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">After 13 days, Seiler said her husband and daughter “made the bold decision” to remove me into home hospice care so that I would have a chance to live,” adding that they had made arrangements with a private company “to set up a 7-day support and care plan.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“The hospital made this very difficult for us to do,” Seider said. “They tried to deny it, block it, scare me into staying … I asked many times if I was a prisoner or a patient.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“I knew that I wasn’t going to die of COVID,” Seiler said. “I felt I was going to be murdered in this hospital. … I wanted to go home, even if I died.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On <a href="https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/12.14.2021-Police-Report.pdf" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Dec. 14, 2021</a>, Seiler’s husband arrived at the hospital with copies of two Texas laws, <a href="https://legiscan.com/TX/text/HB2211/id/2308103" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">House Bill 2211</a> (“Relating to in-person visitation with hospital patients during certain periods of disaster”) and <a href="https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/SB00572S.htm" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Senate Bill 572</a>, which includes provisions allowing clergy to visit hospital patients. However, “they would not let him in,” she said.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Following this, the local sheriff and police were called, but according to Seiler, “They wouldn’t enforce the legislation.” Instead, officers stood guard at the door to her hospital room. Seiler said she told the officer “If I stay here, they’re going to murder me,” but that in response, the officer left without taking any action.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Early in the morning on <a href="https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/12.15.21-No-Police-Report-found.pdf" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Dec. 15, 2021</a>, Seiler’s husband called her and asked if anyone was in the room. Hearing there wasn’t, he said he was going to “come to save my life.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In a stroke of good fortune, Seiler’s husband encountered open doors and no security upon arrival at the hospital. Dropping off a cease-and-desist letter and copies of the two Texas laws at the entrance, her husband was able to make it all the way to the ICU unit. “They couldn’t stop him,” she said.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hospital personnel soon arrived and informed her husband that he “needed to leave, to get out.” However, his response was “I’m not leaving this hospital without her. You’re not going to murder my wife. She’s not your guinea pig. I’m taking her home today.” Following this, a “standoff” began, as Seiler described it.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Eventually, the hospital and police offered to allow Seiler release “against medical advice” (AMA) instead of home hospice — which Seiler refused. There were legal distinctions at play here, according to Seiler, since if an AMA form is signed, insurers can deny payment for treatment.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seiler recalled telling hospital personnel that she did have medical advice from outside doctors advising her to leave, noting that the hospital itself had said she “was terminal.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">According to Seiler, her husband was able to alter the release forms the hospital provided, “crossing out things,” and she signed it. Her husband also furnished a small bottle of oxygen to sustain her for the trip home.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘As soon as you walk in the hospital, you are a paycheck’</span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Despite her ordeal at the hospital and her poor physical state upon leaving the hospital, Seiler said she did eventually recovered fully. She began taking ivermectin and budesonide and was connected to a larger oxygen tank at home, in “a scary 72 hours getting me titrated off the oxygen.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“When my husband drove away from the hospital, that was the first time I felt I was going to live during the whole experience,” Seiler said. “And it wasn’t easy. I was a mess … I couldn’t walk. We had to have a wheelchair and walker … I couldn’t eat … I lost a lot of hair.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">She said it took months to recover but she has no lingering physical aftereffects from her hospital experience. “Just yesterday, I did … elliptical and swam,” she said. However, she noted that from an emotional perspective, she was obliged to start counseling and therapy for the effects of PTSD.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seiler explained why, in her view, she received the treatment that she did:</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Had I been given the ivermectin and budesonide at the hospital instead of them pushing only the harmful option of remdesivir and ventilation, my stay would have been very short. Instead, the doctors and the hospital administration made an early decision that I was going to die.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; vertical-align: baseline;">“They get a lot of money from the <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/coronavirus/about-the-cares-act" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">CARES Act</a> if they give you remdesivir and more if they ventilate you. That combination gives you a 12% chance to survive!</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; vertical-align: baseline;">“But they also get more money if they can put COVID-19 on your death certificate. It’s very lucrative for them. The bonus of killing the unvaccinated is in driving up the statistics. You can’t prove a pandemic of the unvaxxed unless you can drive the death count up by killing the unvaxxed.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For Seiler, a silver lining in this experience is the advocacy work she now performs on behalf of hospital protocol victims and their families.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In March 2022, Seiler joined the FormerFedsGroup Freedom Foundation, which had launched a citizen task force and the <a href="https://formerfedsgroup.org/the-covid19-humanity-betrayal-memory-project/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">COVID-19 Humanity Betrayal Memory Project</a> (CHBMP), which describes itself as an effort to build “a living archive of ongoing Crimes Against Humanity.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Through this organization, Seiler said “we have heard from tons of people” and “have documented many stories,” over 1,200 in all, although “most are not survivors” but instead, family members of those who didn’t survive.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">CHBMP has compiled a list of <a href="https://chbmp.org/commonalities/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">25 commonalities</a> shared by many of the victims whose stories the organization has documented. According to CHBMP, commonalities include isolation of the victim, denial of informed consent and alternative treatments, <a href="https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/catherine-parker-covid-vaccine-injuries/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #038bb3; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">gaslighting</a>, removal of communication devices, discrimination against the unvaccinated, dehumanization, dehydration and starvation, non-emergency ventilation, refusal of transfer and strict adherence to Emergency Use Authorization protocols.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Citing CDC statistics, Seiler said 1.6 million people are listed as having died of COVID-19, influenza or pneumonia — out of which only 167,000 died at home.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“The rest of them died in facilities, hospitals, some type of inpatient setting,” Seiler said. “And so, that’s where you start looking. … That tells you, look at the protocol,” along with “the isolation, the overall treatment. … They’re kind of thrown into these units like animals. It’s just incredible.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“As soon as you walk in the hospital, you are a paycheck,” Seiler said. “You have a target on your head from these bonuses. So … you’ve just walked into basically a prison … and they’re not letting go.”</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">FormerFedsGroup also launched a public awareness campaign, according to Seiler, with billboards placed in Michigan and New Jersey, asking people to question the deaths of loved ones attributed to COVID-19 and directing them to the CHBMP website.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seiler said that the FormerFedsGroup’s citizen task force has approximately 125 volunteers, who are “mostly victims turned advocates fighting for justice and change.” She described them as “eyewitnesses to crimes against humanity” who “lived through it and are not going to sit down and take it” and are instead sharing their stories.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Support groups for victims and their family members have also been organized. “It’s empowering” to connect with others who “have said the same thing” and who “see that they’re not alone,” Seiler said.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; line-height: 28.16px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seiler advised victims and their relatives to “not let anyone else silence you. Tell your story as much as you know it and connect with others. Don’t just take this. Be brave. We can help you.”</p><p> <a href="https://childrenshealthdefense.org/authors/michael-nevradakis-ph-d/" style="border: 0px; color: #038bb3; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 1.1rem; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.</a></p><p class="author-post-bio" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Open-sans, "sans-serif"; font-size: 15.2px; line-height: 24.32px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D., based in Athens, Greece, is a senior reporter for The Defender and part of the rotation of hosts for CHD.TV's "Good Morning CHD."</p>nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-36408960775905780712023-07-26T12:22:00.000-07:002023-07-26T12:22:01.457-07:00When Your Own Politics Bites You In The Ass<p>If this story wasn't so typical - the left eating its own. Let the author/victim describe in his own words what happened. A lesson to us all.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBdQlFsEDeHk7ATZBLe8SIawOJ1bkoIsj5waC66DVTjrkCU-3HVSMNH2kKpS8Ys_qZ2sfuuGJ_Ol2hHmjSdktSRXH68WEiQcgaIACYI_4p_4kd-aBxRqrt95lUhvAZMplUsYeghTAJcQ5urRAoHIbG1uwEMDyU2QYGs5Fqj-nn-9xe2kUsCVfHNRYCqk/s276/Lenin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="183" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBdQlFsEDeHk7ATZBLe8SIawOJ1bkoIsj5waC66DVTjrkCU-3HVSMNH2kKpS8Ys_qZ2sfuuGJ_Ol2hHmjSdktSRXH68WEiQcgaIACYI_4p_4kd-aBxRqrt95lUhvAZMplUsYeghTAJcQ5urRAoHIbG1uwEMDyU2QYGs5Fqj-nn-9xe2kUsCVfHNRYCqk/s1600/Lenin.jpg" width="183" /></a></div><p></p><div class="c-topper " style="background-color: #f2ede8; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: var(--space-32); margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: var(--space-40); max-width: var(--content-width); padding: 0 var(--grid-margin);"><div class="c-topper__content" style="border-bottom: var(--border-width) var(--border-style) var(--color-border-primary); box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: var(--space-16);"><p class="c-topper__standfirst" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-subhead); font-size: 24px; font-style: italic; line-height: var(--line-height-scale-6); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--space-8); padding: 0px;">David Volodzko criticized Lenin in ‘The Seattle Times.’ Now he is without a job. A story of profound intolerance in our country’s most “tolerant” city.</p><p class="c-topper__standfirst" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-subhead); font-size: 24px; font-style: italic; line-height: var(--line-height-scale-6); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--space-8); padding: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="c-topper__meta override__hidden_135450148" style="align-items: center; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-top: var(--space-16);"><div class="meta__left" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="c-topper__author" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-byline); font-size: 17px; font-weight: var(--font-weight-normal); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-3); margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">By</span> <a class="c-topper__portrait-link author-name" href="https://substack.com/@volodzko" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">David Josef Volodzko</a></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="c-topper__time" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-subhead); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-3); font-weight: var(--font-weight-normal); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-3);">July 26, 2023</span></p></div><ul class="c-share u-plain-list" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; gap: var(--space-16); list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px auto; padding: 0px;"><li class="c-share__item" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a aria-label="like" aria-labelledby="like" class="c-share__link" data-substack-reaction="{"id":135450148,"reaction":false,"reactions":{"❤":799}}" href="https://www.thefp.com/p/seattle-times-writer-fired-over-hitler-lenin?publication_id=260347&post_id=135450148&isFreemail=false#" style="align-items: center; background-color: var(--color-background-secondary); border-radius: var(--border-radius-circle); box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; height: var(--space-40); justify-content: center; text-decoration-line: none; width: var(--space-40);"><div class="icon icon--ei-like icon--s c-share__icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; fill: var(--color-text-secondary); height: var(--space-24); overflow: hidden; position: relative; width: var(--space-24);"><svg class="icon__cnt" height="0" width="0"><use xlink:href="#ei-like-icon"></use></svg></div><span class="u-screenreader" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Like</span></a></li><li class="c-share__item" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a aria-label="comment" aria-labelledby="comment" class="c-share__link" href="https://www.thefp.com/p/seattle-times-writer-fired-over-hitler-lenin/comments" style="align-items: center; background-color: var(--color-background-secondary); border-radius: var(--border-radius-circle); box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; height: var(--space-40); justify-content: center; text-decoration-line: none; width: var(--space-40);"><div class="icon icon--ei-comment icon--s c-share__icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; fill: var(--color-text-secondary); height: var(--space-24); overflow: hidden; position: relative; width: var(--space-24);"><svg class="icon__cnt" height="0" width="0"><use xlink:href="#ei-comment-icon"></use></svg></div><span class="u-screenreader" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Comment</span></a></li><li class="c-share__item" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a aria-label="share" aria-labelledby="share" class="c-share__link" data-substack-share="{"id":135450148,"publication_id":260347,"slug":"seattle-times-writer-fired-over-hitler-lenin","title":"My Family Was Hunted by Nazis. But I Was Fired For ‘Defending Hitler.’","cover_image":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd79d9a04-1ca7-46a3-875b-f51ea1ab5aa3_652x435.jpeg"}" href="https://www.thefp.com/p/seattle-times-writer-fired-over-hitler-lenin?publication_id=260347&post_id=135450148&isFreemail=false#" style="align-items: center; background-color: var(--color-background-secondary); border-radius: var(--border-radius-circle); box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; height: var(--space-40); justify-content: center; text-decoration-line: none; width: var(--space-40);"><div class="icon icon--ei-share-apple icon--s c-share__icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; fill: var(--color-text-secondary); height: var(--space-24); overflow: hidden; position: relative; width: var(--space-24);"><svg class="icon__cnt" height="0" width="0"><use xlink:href="#ei-share-apple-icon"></use></svg></div><span class="u-screenreader" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Share</span></a></li></ul></div></div></div><article class="c-post post tag-culture" style="background-color: #f2ede8; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: var(--content-width); padding: 0 var(--grid-margin);"><div class="c-content " style="align-items: center; box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-direction: column; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-4); font-weight: var(--font-weight-normal); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-4);"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; height: 0px; margin: 0px; min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"></div><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">I was just fired from my job at <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Seattle Times</em> after defending Hitler. The only problem is, I never defended Hitler. In fact, my family was hunted by the Nazis; my grandfather was a Nazi killer who later almost died in a concentration camp; and some of my best journalistic work has been exposing neo-Nazi lies. But if you want to hear a story about the intolerance in our country’s “most tolerant” city and the erosion of civil discourse in American life, read on.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">I began my career as a university lecturer of English and logic. Then, drawn by the need to tell stories of structural oppression, I switched to journalism. I have been a journalist for the past 15 years and have spent almost all of my adult life in Asia—four years in Japan, six in South Korea, three in China, one year traveling Southeast Asia, and two in Nepal and India, where for a short period I was homeless in Mumbai. But that’s another story.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">My work has largely focused on East Asian politics and culture—everything from <a href="https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/misogyny-persists-in-south-korea-despite-progress-on-women-s-rights/" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">sexism</a> in South Korea to the terrifying <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/modern-rise-of-nazi-chic/" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">rise</a> of Nazi chic in Mongolia. I <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/08/life-in-haebangchon-seouls-transforming-little-pyongyang-neighborhood.html" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">wrote</a> about North Korean refugees and Europe’s <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/prayer-for-denmark/" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">racist opposition</a> to the Syrian refugee crisis. While living in Israel, I <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/trading-lives-gilad-shalit-israeli-perspectives/" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">wrote</a> about Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who was held by Hamas for five years until he was released in a prisoner exchange in 2011.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">Perhaps the reason I am drawn to hard stories in far-flung places is because of my family background. After Vladimir Lenin turned Russia into one giant gulag, my family was scattered like leaves. My grandparents became refugees—they settled in Paterson, New Jersey—and for the rest of his life my grandfather sent boxes of whole cloth, candles, paper, and other essentials to his beloved family whom he could never see again.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">So when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, I flew to Eastern Europe to cover the war.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">My work on Ukrainian refugees resulted in more than one story, including a <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/04/ukraines-life-or-death-therapy-sessions.html" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">piece</a> for <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">New York</em> magazine about a therapist who helped a woman find the strength to flee her home amid explosions, saving her life and the life of her mother and daughter. I was never prouder of the work I’d done.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">About one year later, having recently moved to rural Georgia from my wife’s native Peru, I received a job offer from <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Seattle Times</em> to be an editorial board member and columnist. Our entire family had moved to Georgia together—including my parents, my brother, and his wife—so it was a tough call. But after consideration, we sold our house. My wife and baby daughter flew to Seattle. I drove the moving truck.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">I knew Seattle only by reputation. The great outdoors of the Pacific Northwest, a vibrant Asian community—a strong Latino community too, so our daughter could grow up with Spanish-speaking friends—and residents who routinely approved tax hikes to ensure those in need of help received it. I should mention that our politics fit the bill: I am a democratic socialist and my wife is a DEI trainer. Suffice it to say, the city felt like a great fit.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">The job was rewarding. From the first day, I found myself reporting on the protection of orcas and efforts to improve the level of civil discourse in Congress. When Pride Month came, my family proudly marched with <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Seattle Times</em>. What a beautiful new home, I thought to myself. How inclusive. How tolerant.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">How naive.</p><div class="captioned-image-container" data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%;"><figure style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="image-link image2" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1d60f73-339c-4658-b989-709f15762cfd_1336x24.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><source sizes="100vw" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1d60f73-339c-4658-b989-709f15762cfd_1336x24.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1d60f73-339c-4658-b989-709f15762cfd_1336x24.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1d60f73-339c-4658-b989-709f15762cfd_1336x24.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1d60f73-339c-4658-b989-709f15762cfd_1336x24.png 1456w" style="box-sizing: border-box;" type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d1d60f73-339c-4658-b989-709f15762cfd_1336x24.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":24,"width":1336,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":810,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null}" height="24" loading="lazy" sizes="100vw" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1d60f73-339c-4658-b989-709f15762cfd_1336x24.png" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1d60f73-339c-4658-b989-709f15762cfd_1336x24.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1d60f73-339c-4658-b989-709f15762cfd_1336x24.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1d60f73-339c-4658-b989-709f15762cfd_1336x24.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1d60f73-339c-4658-b989-709f15762cfd_1336x24.png 1456w" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-style: italic; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="1336" /></a></figure></div><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">Earlier this month, for my first official <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/dear-fremont-we-need-to-talk-about-lenin-and-your-statue-of-the-genocidal-tyrant/#comments" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">column</a>, my boss urged me to write about the local statue of Vladimir Lenin that stands in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood. The good people of Fremont enjoy dressing him up in tutus, Halloween costumes, and the like. </p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">I was more interested in writing about the astronomical cost of childcare in the city, but it wasn’t hard to make the column all my own. I simply had to talk about my refugee grandparents, making <a href="https://momsdish.com/recipe/76/pelmeni" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">pelmeni</a> with my <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">babushka</em>, and my grandfather Josef, the Nazi killer after whom I am named. I noted Lenin’s secret police raids, mass torture, forced resettlements, and genocidal killings.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">The column began by reflecting on Karl Marx’s last words as a London-based correspondent for the <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">New York Daily Tribune</em>, in which he “attacked the hypocrisy of Westerners who defend sacred values only when it suits them.” In other words, it was about selective outrage rather than the statue itself. I concluded by saying I am a democratic proceduralist who supports the community’s decision to keep the statue, even if it deeply offends me.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">Readers thanked me. Some shared stories of their own families fleeing Russia, or told me how their grandmothers broke down weeping when they reached America only to find Lenin staring down at them in the land of the free. Many critics claimed I had advocated for tearing the statue down. Perhaps the most common criticism I received was that no one takes the statue seriously.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">Oh, but they do. They admire it.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">The day after my column was published, I received my first response. “<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Seattle Times</em> is so desperate for new staff they hire folks from rural Georgia for their editorial board?” Another wrote, “We don’t need more faux outrage.” Another reminded me it was the Soviets who “single-handedly defeated Nazi Germany” and that the statue was “simply a funky piece of art.” Still another, “You miss the point. It is a JOKE.”</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">I also received a flood of positive responses. People shared family stories and photos. A retired high school history teacher said my piece was “excellent.” Someone else called the column “an exemplar of reporting as civic leadership. Every touch is perfect.” </p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">One letter came from a descendant of Western Ukrainian stock who said the statue should stay “as a testament to the failure of Communism.” A Lithuanian refugee recalled living long enough to see statues of Lenin fall in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilnius" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">Vilnius</a> and sadly pondered whether she would live long enough to see them fall in America. </p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">I responded to almost every email, and tried to be gracious, even to the nasty ones. A few I even won over.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">But I made a mistake when I posted the column on Twitter and compared Lenin and Hitler. Here’s what I wrote: “In fact, while Hitler has become the great symbol of evil in history books, he too was less evil than Lenin because Hitler only targeted people he personally believed were harmful to society whereas Lenin targeted even those he himself didn’t believe were harmful in any way.”</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">I was only speaking in terms of intention—of who <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">wanted</em> to kill more, not who <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">actually</em> did, and in a follow-up tweet I explained: “Hitler was more evil than Lenin if we’re looking at what they did to people and that’s a pretty important metric for assessing evil!”</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">Let me be absolutely clear: actually killing more people, which Hitler did, is more evil. Lenin killed 4 million people, possibly up to 8 million, whereas Hitler killed roughly 20 million, including 6 million Jews. “In terms of death and destruction, the Nazis were more evil,” I wrote on Twitter. I also wrote, “Hitler was more evil in terms of how many he killed.”</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">It’s the kind of topic that you can debate among trusted friends over drinks or dinner. But Twitter is very much not that kind of place. And the argument I was making is a fraught one even under the best of circumstances—you don’t need to compare anyone to Hitler to argue that they are evil—and my delivery was poor, to say the least. Four days after I started making these points on Twitter, I deleted the thread.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">That said, I do believe that in our culture many people have very little conception that communist leaders—Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot—have a far higher body count than fascists. Nor do they appreciate that Lenin was more ambitious in this regard than Hitler: his aim was to kill as many people as he possibly could. All ages, classes, faiths, ethnicities, regions.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">Nevertheless, people insisted I was “defending” Hitler. They called me a Nazi. They told me to kill myself—or suggested they’d do it for me. A local journalist <a href="https://twitter.com/richards1052/status/1679320974796410880?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">claimed</a> my ancestors were Nazis who “slaughtered Ukrainian Jews by the tens of thousands.”</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">I have been targeted by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankie" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">tankies</a> and neo-Nazis on Twitter before. But this felt different, more widespread. It also seemed a number of my Seattle-based critics were using my words to go after the editorial board, which is viewed by some as overly conservative. A University of Washington professor told me, after I mentioned I was on the board and writing my first column about the Lenin statue: “I certainly loathe the editorials,” citing their “arch-conservative and often Trumpist line.”</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">I reject his criticism. I sat on the board. I was part of its arguments and conversations. Board members thought deeply, and were open to new ideas and counterarguments. These were thoughtful people and I imagined that they—often unfairly mischaracterized by ideologues— would surely stand by me as I was being smeared.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">Six days after my piece was published, I was relieved when my boss told me she had reviewed the Twitter conversation and concluded I had obviously not “defended” Hitler. I was told the company had my back. I was told the paper would not stand for a lying Twitter mob coming after one of its own.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">But then, just a few hours later, my boss called me and told me I was fired. </p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">The official reason for firing me was “poor judgment” and “continuing to engage online.” I shouldn’t have “engaged,” but I admit it was hard not to defend my family against the baseless accusation they were Nazis who had killed more than 10,000 Jews.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">In a statement the day after I was fired, the paper <a href="https://twitter.com/SeattleTimesCo/status/1679623346860994561?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">tweeted</a> that “[an] editorial writer engaged in Twitter recently in a way that is inconsistent with our company values.” The statement added: “We apologize for any pain we have caused our readers, our employees and the community.”</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">I’m well aware, as I explained in a subsequent <a href="https://twitter.com/davidvolodzko/status/1679690620322062337?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">apology</a>, that my comparison of Lenin to Hitler was not only pointless but potentially dangerous: white supremacists could conceivably use my words to minimize Hitler’s atrocities—at a time when Pew research <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2020/01/22/what-americans-know-about-the-holocaust/" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">shows</a> most Americans are clueless about the Holocaust, and the number of antisemitic attacks is <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/antisemitic-incidents-on-rise-across-the-u-s-report-finds" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">rising</a>. The thought of neo-Nazis weaponizing anything I said makes me sick. </p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">But if I’m honest, I don’t think neo-Nazis follow the internecine battles of leftist Twitter. This wasn’t about actual violence or actual Nazis. This was about punishing a person who, however sloppily, pointed out that evil can also emanate from those who claim to be ushering in good.</p><div class="captioned-image-container" data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%;"><figure style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="image-link image2" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3b7352d-4ab4-4d93-9857-f488f735870f_1336x24.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><source sizes="100vw" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3b7352d-4ab4-4d93-9857-f488f735870f_1336x24.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3b7352d-4ab4-4d93-9857-f488f735870f_1336x24.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3b7352d-4ab4-4d93-9857-f488f735870f_1336x24.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3b7352d-4ab4-4d93-9857-f488f735870f_1336x24.png 1456w" style="box-sizing: border-box;" type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c3b7352d-4ab4-4d93-9857-f488f735870f_1336x24.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":24,"width":1336,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":810,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null}" height="24" loading="lazy" sizes="100vw" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3b7352d-4ab4-4d93-9857-f488f735870f_1336x24.png" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3b7352d-4ab4-4d93-9857-f488f735870f_1336x24.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3b7352d-4ab4-4d93-9857-f488f735870f_1336x24.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3b7352d-4ab4-4d93-9857-f488f735870f_1336x24.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3b7352d-4ab4-4d93-9857-f488f735870f_1336x24.png 1456w" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-style: italic; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="1336" /></a></figure></div><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">I had many defenders, especially within journalism. As soon as the <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Times</em> issued its statement, the paper’s Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter Dominic Gates expressed his anger in a since-deleted Twitter post, saying I did not deserve this. The paper’s former political editor Joni Balter, speaking on Seattle’s NPR member station KUOW, <a href="https://www.kuow.org/stories/week-in-review-spd-elections-and-baseball" style="box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">said</a> the decision was an overreaction and that I “deserved another shot.” I appreciated those statements more than I can say.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">I considered going silent, hoping one day to find work again once my fifteen minutes of infamy had passed and my reputation as the unhirable Hitler guy had faded. But staying silent won’t help me pay rent and childcare, or salvage my ability to continue doing journalistic work. It also won’t repair my good name or provide me with a clean Google search.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">What kind of journalist would I be if fear made me shy away from discussing my experience of viciousness masquerading as social justice? What would it say about my devotion to injustice if I remain silent when it is visited upon my family? This is not an abstract problem. I am now jobless, living in downtown Seattle, which is costly, and unable to help support my family, including my baby daughter. We can no longer afford our apartment, but neither can we afford the fee to break our lease.</p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">It was Lenin who said that a lie told often enough becomes the truth. I wish I could say he was wrong. But I am comforted by the words of one of the great heroes of the twentieth century, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who wrote, “Let your credo be this: Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me.”</p><div class="captioned-image-container" data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%;"><figure style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="image-link image2" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F188b3301-24f4-46f3-b278-5620176504e0_1336x24.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><source sizes="100vw" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F188b3301-24f4-46f3-b278-5620176504e0_1336x24.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F188b3301-24f4-46f3-b278-5620176504e0_1336x24.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F188b3301-24f4-46f3-b278-5620176504e0_1336x24.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F188b3301-24f4-46f3-b278-5620176504e0_1336x24.png 1456w" style="box-sizing: border-box;" type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/188b3301-24f4-46f3-b278-5620176504e0_1336x24.png","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":24,"width":1336,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":810,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/png","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null}" height="24" loading="lazy" sizes="100vw" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F188b3301-24f4-46f3-b278-5620176504e0_1336x24.png" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F188b3301-24f4-46f3-b278-5620176504e0_1336x24.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F188b3301-24f4-46f3-b278-5620176504e0_1336x24.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F188b3301-24f4-46f3-b278-5620176504e0_1336x24.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F188b3301-24f4-46f3-b278-5620176504e0_1336x24.png 1456w" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-style: italic; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="1336" /></a></figure></div><p data-substack-content="" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: var(--font-family-serif); font-size: var(--font-size-scale-body-copy); line-height: var(--line-height-scale-body-copy); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--content-flow); min-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">David Josef Volodzko is a writer and journalist. His Substack, The Radicalist, covers communism, fascism, and other types of political extremism. </span></em></p></div></article>nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-30176892888090829102023-04-03T23:30:00.000-07:002023-04-03T23:30:05.546-07:00When Your Life Changes . . .<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5RGoUgNqMl7JirVGTGsrGVOHZHZ9bFg4sd0ePNGYCUpR8l7oWI5JGD1KMoZFKtPz1yyI5IGBNQ1ta4fnF_yToOvFaHJv8lZWwcf4XTBzh8lU82Cu5sFiZiekXf5ocxrBw7_ERJBUUGSOBoh-L1ZRoG-jNlgDcnh1vD0qEWchLNVYneRLi8mfgPA4c/s300/Bone%20Marrow%20Cancer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="99" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5RGoUgNqMl7JirVGTGsrGVOHZHZ9bFg4sd0ePNGYCUpR8l7oWI5JGD1KMoZFKtPz1yyI5IGBNQ1ta4fnF_yToOvFaHJv8lZWwcf4XTBzh8lU82Cu5sFiZiekXf5ocxrBw7_ERJBUUGSOBoh-L1ZRoG-jNlgDcnh1vD0qEWchLNVYneRLi8mfgPA4c/w99-h99/Bone%20Marrow%20Cancer.jpg" width="99" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">In the beginning of May, 2022, I contracted Covid 19 from a triple-vaxxed coworker. I was a little shocked - I had gone two years into the p(l)andemic, following the Zelenko protocol, both Covid free and vaccine free. Not to mention flu and cold free. Whatever. I felt healthy and excited for the future.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">That future included attending the "Today's Dietitian" Spring Symposium in Florida. It took 10 days to finally get a negative test result, but I had plenty of time since I wasn't going to the symposium until late May.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But somehow I wasn't feeling healthy and I couldn't put my finger on the problem. I went to Florida, and once there, chalked up my exhaustion to the heat. I was losing my ability to focus and by the final day, I felt completely done in. I couldn't wait to get home.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The flight landed at LAX at night (never fly in during daylight - LA is an ugly city. It's the lights at night that make the magic!) and I hung in there long enough to get home. I actually went to work the next day, and went the distance (8 hours). But something was wrong and I knew it. I had my CBC panel drawn (white and red blood cell levels) and much to my horror, had a Hgb (hemoglobin) of 5.3. I needed a blood transfusion ASAP.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Two bags of blood infusion later, I was on the road to recovery. But was I? Long story short, I went from the frying plan into the fryer. Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), a really bad version of the blood cancer, had set in after years of suffering from polycythemia vera (creation of excess platelets). The response: Chemo.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I began this medication regime (chemo in pill and IV form) at 170 lbs. That was August, 2022. By November, 2022, I was just below 100 lbs. No appetite and nausea non-stop. Then I went into remission and a suspicious shadow on the CT scan made my oncologist fear the AML had centered in the spleen. That meant the spleen had to go and once out, revealed that repeated blood transfusions had led to a build up of iron in the spleen. No cancer, thank G-d, but a setback towards the ultimate goal: Bone Marrow Transplant.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It's all lined up - City of Hope, bone marrow donor (anonymous) and believe or or not, an improved appetite and no nausea. Guess what - the spleen was holding me back and now I can't eat enough. Just in time for Passover. Oy vey.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The Bone Marrow Transplant is set for May (G-d willing and the creek don't rise!), a year after this madness started. Now I am gaining weight and trying to regain my strength (I walk with a cherry red walker, complete with seat and storage compartment) from an overall weakness. I fainted twice and collapsed twice as well. My oncologists were starting to question if I would survive the treatment and encouraged me to get stronger fast. Like yesterday. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">To be continued.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p></p>nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-45657490764401924932020-11-04T17:57:00.000-08:002020-11-04T17:57:08.182-08:00The Day After . . .<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBYJipSeUHDRoVWA8iw09FnLU5VXfVqbMB7bgwZwGi-eZarpkzqQ2FbnBTHgBNbh6-SWkUm7f_3HnqazOCq054_GZUPjHrgf5XtbziLo8L4sJoptSGMoEKq6cBH5NshD63IzwguSIs7kY/s300/no+winner+yet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBYJipSeUHDRoVWA8iw09FnLU5VXfVqbMB7bgwZwGi-eZarpkzqQ2FbnBTHgBNbh6-SWkUm7f_3HnqazOCq054_GZUPjHrgf5XtbziLo8L4sJoptSGMoEKq6cBH5NshD63IzwguSIs7kY/w200-h112/no+winner+yet.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Have you ever had the feeling that something wasn't right? You can't really put your finger on it but your gut tells you something is terribly wrong. The 2020 election results are that something terribly wrong.<p></p><p>To be more specific, that something wrong is Joe Biden ahead of Trump in electoral college votes. No way. The man is unintelligible, clueless and corrupt. You don't spend nearly 50 years as a politician - a Vice President under Obama with access to everything - and not be tainted by it all. Couple that with a bitch running mate with a track record of doing ANYTHING to win. That includes imprisoning thousands of young blacks for drug offenses she herself has boasted about ("I did inhale") to boost a prosecutorial record and sleeping with the mayor of San Francisco to get the job in the first place.</p><p>There is no way in H*ll that the Biden Harris ticket is ahead legitimately. Harris, described as "ruthless" and Biden, described as "declining mentally" are the last two people who should be charge of America. They're only the last two because Hitler is dead. </p><p>I'm a registered Independent but lately, I've leaned towards Republicans. I like the underdogs. I side with the folks Big Media hates. Whoever they hate must be doing something right.</p><p>I heard Rudi Giuliani speak today about challenging the results of several state elections and I say GO FOR IT!!! Take these smug bastards down. One person, one vote. If you can't win on your merit, then step aside. </p><p>G-d Bless America. </p><p><br /></p>nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-44013917336889220142020-11-01T21:31:00.002-08:002020-11-01T21:39:42.607-08:00A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrdELudcwGAU-Y1DiQMKAiiNUaRBrBEVhl41DFMHzcLy4i3PeorupsrGwkRZJyg3jGNRkwiHBP8Y_HCZrHnvIlJUJiclJmGBNwH4zu_g7NvLvPkVJIK3GzFoyd9cxZuwAp5a5Xc3xy0WA/s320/ideas.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="320" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrdELudcwGAU-Y1DiQMKAiiNUaRBrBEVhl41DFMHzcLy4i3PeorupsrGwkRZJyg3jGNRkwiHBP8Y_HCZrHnvIlJUJiclJmGBNwH4zu_g7NvLvPkVJIK3GzFoyd9cxZuwAp5a5Xc3xy0WA/w200-h113/ideas.webp" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/SkJPDXrlP6w">The Most Dangerous Disease In The World</a><br /></p>nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-18594209440734135382020-10-30T16:41:00.000-07:002020-10-30T16:41:56.544-07:00Free Speech Ought To Be Free<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_KygNMO3QKTq-Cdh7g-gf-Erp29a3k_KbRzPvhZ_IwKvZ1h9edA3YL2UqgkAOzJWEdBoFw3OLUjKnaTE2mlmSooODP_33mCydOE3rdz3jAodG2iP5ViXmnHQ0NGb7mcoVp2eydUhaiCI/s259/no+free+speech.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_KygNMO3QKTq-Cdh7g-gf-Erp29a3k_KbRzPvhZ_IwKvZ1h9edA3YL2UqgkAOzJWEdBoFw3OLUjKnaTE2mlmSooODP_33mCydOE3rdz3jAodG2iP5ViXmnHQ0NGb7mcoVp2eydUhaiCI/w200-h150/no+free+speech.png" width="200" /></a></div>I've heard a lot lately about Twitter and Facebook shutting down opinions they don't like under one guise or another. But I don't spend a lot of time on either sites so whatever. However, I do like to peruse Yahoo and I really resent that they shut off comments with the bogus excuse of creating a safe space. It sounds like something Hitler would have said.<p></p><p></p><p>If that sounds a little much, I mean the part about Hitler, then know this is how much I despise perfidy in all forms. And when a communication system like Yahoo, which dictates what stories run and which don't (i.e., anti-Trump versus anti-Biden), then comments are the only way to truly allow free speech.</p><p>Which means the editors at Yahoo wouldn't know free speech if it bitch slapped them or bit them in the ass. Which means they are unqualified for their jobs and need to quit immediately. That's the dream.</p><p>The question is - what are these "big tech" companies so afraid of? That Americans might actually think for themselves? That we might just figure out that they're liars and we don't want what they're selling?</p><p>I am frustrated but I am optimistic. I believe that the American people can think for themselves and don't want to be lied to by "Big Brother." I believe that we will rise up and reject these bastards for who they are and what they represent - the end of the most cherished American value of all. Free speech didn't earn the number one slot in the Bill of Rights for nothing. Without free speech we aren't Americans and this isn't America.</p><p>I will do my part - speak and think freely. Join me. It's free.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-36567159253554554112020-10-28T21:11:00.001-07:002020-10-28T21:11:56.035-07:00Talking in LA<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPuwogmEHJ6lAVRIcIr0b3WdzpU72NCyezMnAk_yRHJF0P6KSQe7xyLICKQJu7OLcbR5Cp2pcOBEvDi2C-QtMnui3Qi1gfApUZ16iDhZEZO0UaSui0U2UOfdidZQUyjxy4P6rJZ1HvlJI/s278/assumption.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="181" data-original-width="278" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPuwogmEHJ6lAVRIcIr0b3WdzpU72NCyezMnAk_yRHJF0P6KSQe7xyLICKQJu7OLcbR5Cp2pcOBEvDi2C-QtMnui3Qi1gfApUZ16iDhZEZO0UaSui0U2UOfdidZQUyjxy4P6rJZ1HvlJI/w200-h130/assumption.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I was recruited, without my approval, to speak to new hires at my company about the role of the dietitian. I know it would have been so easy to ask "why me?" but I assumed that my dear friend and colleague, also recruited for the same task, put me up for it. So I swallowed my resentment at being imposed upon to speak in front of people I don't know because I thought I was doing it for a good cause.<p></p><p>Well, wasn't it something to find out today that another dear friend of mine who works for the company was the one who put me up for this assignment. I was shocked, actually. And relieved to know that my colleague, the best of the best and truly dear to me, would never have recommended me for anything without checking first. </p><p>Silly me. It's been about six months since this "extra" gig began and I've hung onto these feelings of imposition and thankfully, kept my mouth shut. Just goes to show you - never assume and never hold onto hard feelings. Lesson learned.</p>nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-70452289026219839492020-10-27T22:08:00.000-07:002020-10-27T22:08:07.211-07:00Today, I Voted<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbNygjXNhgLGnVuPmZ0qBVSHstergsORhMn35hsb0URy-WiYb7J2p5484i9aLgbOkx2UPhaLa98Y66dxbiWMf7Y-9ejKz1GVzjG6nbKAPvE6d8JTNVz_7cJOadMCrx0Znyb-nVMZGlBQo/s275/Voting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbNygjXNhgLGnVuPmZ0qBVSHstergsORhMn35hsb0URy-WiYb7J2p5484i9aLgbOkx2UPhaLa98Y66dxbiWMf7Y-9ejKz1GVzjG6nbKAPvE6d8JTNVz_7cJOadMCrx0Znyb-nVMZGlBQo/w200-h133/Voting.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>It's been a heck of a year so far. Riots, nightly fireworks, meltdowns. I live in Los Angeles and on the first night of curfew after George Floyd's death, my car, as well as my son's car, got smashed to smithereens by an idiot speeding down an empty road in front of our house while texting a friend. Two months shy of owning my car, which was parked at the time, I had it towed away forever and had to start all over again.<p></p><p>That's why it was so important that I vote in person. I got my ballot in the mail, filled it out and went to the Wiltern Theater on Wilshire to cast my vote via machine. Because if I learned anything this past year it's not to trust the system and the politicians who run it. I don't trust the mail system to deliver my ballot and I don't trust auditor to open it and input my choices. I wanted to push all the buttons and I wanted to send my choices direct to Washington. </p><p>I am disappointed with a media that selectively reports the news, a tech industry that disses alternative opinions and a populace that takes it on the chin. I want to say it was never like this when I was growing up but I'd only be fooling myself. Sure, we didn't have facebook and twitter, but we had reporters who tailored the news and selected what we all heard. But now, in the 21st century, it's just too in my face. I opted out of facebook when I saw that creep Zuckerberg "perform" before Congress last year. I don't really twitter because frankly, I don't know how. Haven't read a newspaper since Conrad trashed Israel daily in the Los Angeles Times. So what am I missing?</p><p>What I'm not missing is being a responsible citizen casting my vote. It's the antidote for what ailed me. And what ailed me was my lack of voice. Come on America. Take back our voice. Turn On, Tune In and Tell Big Brother -Big Tech to go to Hell where they belong. </p>nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-85942795901848510472018-11-29T12:59:00.002-08:002018-11-29T12:59:32.090-08:00Speaking of Style and Class. . .<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQZBPhnkmchGpZKiDnkb1RwegJS6aE4pBOmi6xB52O8zzbnsM0HaabPWzJKEo9AaZmEu4qndprMQEvSsHLlro-ixhAqFxc8TPxJRWERHKzJj9ABnazoywe4914ve2kosBNjzVh1UIzp-0/s1600/the+nanny.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="189" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQZBPhnkmchGpZKiDnkb1RwegJS6aE4pBOmi6xB52O8zzbnsM0HaabPWzJKEo9AaZmEu4qndprMQEvSsHLlro-ixhAqFxc8TPxJRWERHKzJj9ABnazoywe4914ve2kosBNjzVh1UIzp-0/s200/the+nanny.png" width="141" /></a></div>
Okay, I admit it. This is one Orthodox Jewish woman who is crazy about Fran Drescher's The Nanny. I know it's not politically correct - a Jewish girl who eats bacon, shrimp and lobster while pining away for her non-Jewish boss Mr. Sheffield.<br />
<br /><br />
Maybe it's the Yiddish, or the love Fran the Nanny showers on her charges. Maybe it's Niles and his hilarious battle to the near-death with Miss Babcock. I don't know. I can't explain it or justify it. In practice, she's not a terribly "good" Jew. And her "mather" - oy vey. She deserves a whole other post.<br />
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I guess what I really love about the show is the innocence of the 1990s. There was plenty of fakatah nonsense going on then; Reagan and Iran-Contra for example. But I have fond memories of those days and The Nanny exemplifies the height that Jews as Jews had reached on television. Fran was never ashamed of being a Jew, never had to explain her love of her people or justify Israel. <br />
<br /><br />
I miss that. I miss not having to explain how my people aren't Nazis and why we deserve a home of our own. Thank you Fran. To me, the Nanny, or Franny, certainly had style and class. And a lot of love. nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-71062855683829912552018-06-24T11:58:00.003-07:002018-06-24T11:58:35.727-07:00My Son, The Barber<br />
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Mazel Tov to my amazing Yitzy for seeing this through and earning his certification from the City of Los Angeles as a barber. This reminds me of a joke:<br />
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The mother of the first Jewish President of the United States was sitting in the front row to watch the inauguration. A reporter came to her and asked if she was proud of her son. Her reply: "Yes of course. But did you know, my other son is a doctor."<br />
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Now say this with a New York accent and you've got me telling my friends how proud I am of my son. Yitzy baby, you rock!!!</div>
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<br />nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-7869146038474086682018-06-17T10:19:00.000-07:002018-06-17T10:19:23.132-07:00I Knew I Parked Too Close<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Several dear friends of mine have been talking up a wonderful, wholesale jewelry store in downtown Los Angeles for a long time. I had to agree - their necklaces were gorgeous. And inexpensive. So I decided that since the store was located a few blocks from work, I was going to check it out.<br />
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At first, I got lost. I kinda remembered the street name but I mean, seriously, I didn't believe it could really be that close to work so I was in the left lane when I should have been in the right lane, et al. Just to make sure, I went another 5 blocks until I decided I had indeed missed the street and doubled back.<br />
<br />
And there it was. A parking spot. Right in front of the store. How is that even possible? Okay, I took it, thanked G-d and went straight into the store. Rows and rows of necklaces and earrings - it was paradise. Then I remembered I hadn't paid for parking and ran out. Having experienced downtown parking, I expected the meter to give me 3 minutes for 25 cents. Oh no - it gave me 15 minutes for 25 cents. I started to believe I was actually dead and this was heaven. I had change left over.<br />
<br />
I spent the next 30 minutes looking for the right necklace(s) and came up with three and a pair of earrings. No point going crazy the first time out. Then the not so sweet cashier asked me for my resale number.<br />
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My what? I panicked. I gave her my friend's name and business. Nothing. I wanted to plead with her to let me have the stuff but no, dignity first, deals second. I called my friend, no answer. I left the store confused, and sure that I was still very much alive and well, sans amazing necklaces on the cheap.<br />
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Well, after my dear friends got wind of my experience and called the manager, it turns out I may not need a resale number after all. It appears the clerk was a jerk. So I ask myself: Why did this happen? What did I learn? To be patient, keep my cool, accept rejection and move on?<br />
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All that and the restoration of my belief in local government's ability to get things done. Despite the homeless crisis in downtown, on Crocker and 9th Street, downtown Los Angeles, parking is very affordable indeed!nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-68713993766505454772016-12-26T10:46:00.001-08:002018-06-17T10:24:40.267-07:00All I Got Was This Lousy. . .<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today is December 26, and for many of us, it's a day off. Not that I knew that. I had to come to work today to find that out. Whatever. I finished up some immediate business and then left. With my bike.<br />
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Yes, I'm riding my bike again which means I'm riding the bus again. Unfortunately, in a city of 10 million people located in a state considered 7th in GNP, the Metro system is 3rd world. That's because poor people ride the buses here, most of which have limited English speaking skills. When I'm waiting nearly an hour for a bus my English language skills become limited to . . . think four letters, starting with an F.<br />
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So I got back on my bike at 8:05 am this morning and decided to stop at the 99 cents store on the block. I call that store my happy place. It's where all my dreams of cheap food and stuff comes true. Everyday. Sometimes several times a day. When I signed up for a "Secret Santa" at my office, I asked for gift cards to the 99 cents store. I'm into shopping there real deep.<br />
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I locked my bike to the front of the store and went inside, for less than 10 minutes. Seriously, it's a holiday. They didn't get any deliveries and I was there are on Friday. I needed some sundries and then I was ready for the road.<br />
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In less than 5 minutes, my bike was stolen. Actually, just the frame and the back wheel. What I didn't realize is that the front tire is quick release and it remained behind, along with my lock. There's no cameras at the 99 cents store (hard to believe), so I limped my way to the bus stop, sad, mad, using my limited English language skills over and over again, schlepping one wheel, a bike lock and a helmet.<br />
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It took over an hour, two trains and one bus to get home. I can't believe my stupidity, and I can't believe someone could steal what is not theirs. I know this is a message from G-d, and my bike is a stand in for losing something far more important. That's how I will console myself. Those thoughts, and, of course, chocolate.nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-1795172996000943372016-09-11T10:06:00.000-07:002016-12-26T10:22:15.354-08:00Look To The Cookie!Every Shabbat, the women in our Shul get together after Kiddish (light lunch) and say certain chapters of Tehillim (Psalms) for people needing to get married. There are 6 chapters (32, 38, 70, 71, 122, 124) we say together after reading out a list of names. Yesterday, we added a little twist to the Shabbat ritual.<br />
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One very enthusiastic member of the group brought in two boxes of little black and white cookies, broken in half (the black and white still intact) and told everyone needing to marry off children to eat one half. <br />
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Never, ever tell me to eat 1/2 of a black and white cookie. It's can't be done. Yes, I have marriageable age children (all boys, sigh, not of which are "ready) but it's torture to eat 1/2 of a cookie, especially an ity-bity black and white. <br />
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Bad news: I broke my diet rule to exclude cake, cookies and soda. Good news: I ate enough black and white cookies to get the whole world married. <br />
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Your welcome. That's how I roll.<br />
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<br />nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-42718478939291715542016-09-11T09:50:00.001-07:002016-12-26T10:46:41.018-08:00Time Does Not Heal This Wound<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">9/11: A wound that will never heal.</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> (Photo by Gary Friedman/Daily Beast)</span></td></tr>
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<br />nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-37100786359385763052016-07-19T22:36:00.000-07:002016-07-19T22:36:25.566-07:00Getting The Shabbat Groove Back<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I love the long, warm days of summer - it means I can work eight hours, come home, relax, catch up on my reading or viewing, and then leisurely take a shower before candle lighting. Last Friday was no different. <br />
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Until we all sat down for dinner and the bowl on the top of all the other dishes drying on the drain board fell and flipped the switch starting the garbage disposal. That's right, while we sat and tried to eat our herring and hummus, there was a horrible grinding sound coming from the kitchen sink.<br />
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California, once again, is in the middle of a terrible drought, so running water is pretty much out of the question. So is burning out the motor of the garbage disposal. So is any of us turning it off by hand.<br />
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So I got up from the table and went outside to find someone, anyone who is not a Jew to come into our home and turn off the garbage disposal. I was rehearsing in my mind just what I'd say when a big, beat up SUV park across the street from my house. I waited until the occupants got out, and then I approached them. Right in the middle of the street. I wasn't playing any games. This was serious.<br />
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Turns out, the young woman is my neighbor who I've never met in the two years I've lived on my street. Not only that, but she plays the piano wonderfully and has serenaded us every Shabbat day. When I explained to her what I needed ("the garbage disposal is on and as an observant Jew, I can't turn it off), this sweet, wonderful young lady jumped at the chance to turn it off. <br />
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This amazing, delightful young woman saved our Shabbat. Strange, and a bit sad, I haven't seen her since that Friday night. But it's a wonderful feeling living next door to a Shabbat Angel.nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-80902420511064509262016-02-27T21:00:00.000-08:002016-02-27T21:00:32.324-08:00The Best Kitty Ever<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today started out as a typical Shabbat - almost. My husband and I forget to set the hot water urn before sundown Friday so Shabbat morning started out without the possibility of hot tea. But we could survive that. What is harder to survive is the death of our Kitty.<br />
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Less than one year ago we adopted a cat from the No Kill LA event held yearly. Kitty was named Sultan when we took him home but that wasn't going to last. We decided on the name"Kitty". Not very imaginative, but it worked. <br />
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He was a "outside" cat, meaning he liked to live life to the fullest. All my prior cats were the indoor variety - so when Kitty made up his mind to live both outside and inside, well, it took some adjustment. But it made him happier so we all went along with it.<br />
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All the neighbors knew him. Kitty liked to follow people around, and he was friendly. Whenever me or the kids went for a walk, Kitty went with us. Once my dear friend Debbie and I walked to a Shabbat party a few streets away and Kitty came with us. We stayed for an hour and when we left, walking home, Kitty jumped out of a bush where he was waiting for us and walked us home.<br />
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People would see Kitty and I on the street and stop to ask if he was my cat. They would then tell about their adventures with him. It's no exaggeration to say that he was loved by everyone.<br />
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So imagine my shock when I learned today, that while walking my children to shul, Kitty was chased into the street by a neighbor's dog and got hit by a car. He died in front of my children, who brought his body home and then went to shul to join me. They waited to tell me until it was time to go home. <br />
We've had Kitty for less than a year, but he has had a tremendous impact on our lives. We loved him, and we showed it. Although he roamed the neighborhood, he came home to us. Everyday. Several times a day. <br />
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Rest in peace Kitty. We will love you always.<br />
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nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-56795070677583434142016-02-07T10:17:00.001-08:002016-02-07T10:17:16.998-08:00Walking in LA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well, I'm overweight (nee, obese) and I've can't take it anymore. I do belong to a gym, just like my 300 millions fellow Americans. But like 298 million of them, I can't find the time to get there.<br />
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So this morning I woke up to a beautiful day (that's right - 75 degree F) and decided to walk to the Farmer's Market, which is about 1.5 miles from my house. I ate my blueberry waffle (that's a story for another post) and went for it. Of course, I wasn't alone. My husband promised to pick me up if it got tuckered out.<br />
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Twenty five minutes after I began I was there. The place was jammed, so I had to suck in and dive between people to get my sprouts, which is all I came for. I thought it would take forever, but 10 minutes later I was done (yes, I did want to buy those earrings, but what the heck - $14 for studs? Not today!). So I walked home. The whole event took an hour. And I feel great!!!!<br />
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Every Sunday I plan to go for a walk. Every day I plan to make time for a walk. Especially after eating. Gotta lose weight, gotta get healthy. Gotta take my own advice. I'm not a Registered Dietitian for nothing!!!<br />
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<br />nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-68163053326139900372016-01-19T22:25:00.000-08:002016-01-19T22:25:01.973-08:00Good Morning LA!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sunrise in the City of Angels is 6:55 am and here I am driving on the Hollywood Freeway (101) just as the sun begins to show itself. Despite the bumper to bumper traffic and the insanity of the attempt, I shot three photos with my I-phone. You know G-d with with you when you can take your eyes off the road in such heavy traffic and survive in one piece. Thank you, Holy One, for sharing such a wonderful morning. You know, I love G-d and I love <i>LA</i>!!!<br />
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nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-37247527828450728512016-01-15T16:29:00.000-08:002016-01-15T16:33:08.492-08:00Feeling the Love<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My parents died one year and 4 days apart, so it isn't hard for me to know when their yahrzeit<span style="background-color: white;">s, or death anniversaries, </span>are. It usually falls out on the same week. It's interesting, as well, that my brother, sister and I all thought Mother would pass away first. She was sick with terminal cancer, and Dad, while aging, still exercised regularly. Strange that he would get pneumonia, have a sudden heart attack and pass away two weeks later. Mother, on the other hand, stayed the course of the cancer and died just before entering hospice. Now, so many years later, it's mother's yahrzeit that is first and Dad's that comes after. Just weird how things work out.<br />
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On my Father's yahrzeit I met some dear friends for breakfast and then had to race across town to pick up my daughter. I knew if I went to pick up my daughter, I would never get to the graves of my parents, which is between the two sites. Time would never permit, as our family spends the afternoon with my mother-in-law. I made a quick decision and detoured to the cemetery.</div>
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As I entered the gates and headed towards their graves, I realized I didn't have the paper with their site numbers and couldn't remember it other than in general terms. I spoke then to my parents, out loud, as I headed towards them. I said, "Mom, Dad, I've got to pick up Devorah as soon as possible. I don't have time to look for you. Help me."</div>
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Vaguely aware of where they were, I stopped the car, got out and started walking among the headstones. And there they were. Not two minutes from the car.</div>
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I didn't stay long enough to start crying, but enough to tell them I love them, miss them, reveal the litany of problems I need help with.</div>
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But I felt them so clearly with me. I have never found their grave sites so quickly, even with the exact coordinates. They were there, guiding me along. After all these years, still feeling the love.</div>
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nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-54009495123514737872015-07-26T16:32:00.000-07:002015-07-26T16:32:47.421-07:00My Nine Days<div class="MsoNormal">
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As I sit here fasting for Tisha B’Av, I’m looking back on one
heck of week. During the saddest 9 days
of the Jewish calendar, commemorating the destruction of not one, but both
Temples in Jerusalem, Iran gets a free pass to bomb the world, my daughter’s
host in Boston has asked me to bring her home early, I had dental surgery, and
found out my driver’s license is expired.
Oh dear.<br />
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What can we say about Iran?
The greatest hope is that these people extinguish themselves like the
banned VW terrorist bomb ad. We wake up
one morning, and the leadership is gone.
Oh goody. Let’s go clothes shopping.<br />
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My daughter’s best friend moved to Boston last year and they’ve
been skyping and texting and who knows what all year long. Finally, here comes summer and the chance for
the two to be together again. I was
hoping it would last a month, but instead it took about 2.5 weeks for them to
start arguing. For some reason, no one
thought to plan any trips or activities.
The girls, both 13, were home together all that time. Needless to say, the friendship
suffered. So when I got the call requesting
I bring my daughter home early, I scrambled to make flight arrangements – but we
don’t fly during the nine days. Add to
that aggravation the fact that my daughter is stuck in a place where she’s not
wanted until after today’s fast. I’ve
been a wreck about it since Tuesday.<br />
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Ok, my teeth are bad.
Surgery-bad. Had the right side
done in April, right after Pesach, and now the left side. My dentist only works on Tuesdays so I had to
pick the first Tuesday where the healing process wouldn’t interfere with
teaching at the university. That, unfortunately, was during the nine days. My mouth hurts, but not enough to stop me
from eating cake, which constitutes a soft food. The struggle continues.<br />
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Just before the nine days I bought a new car. My three year lease with the Ford Fiesta, a
wonderful car but not the right one for me, ended and now I’m the proud owner
of a Honda FIT. However, I wanted a
better detail job on both the interior and exterior, a driver’s manual (pushing
buttons is scary when you don’t know what it will do) and the GPS tracking
system which is listed with coming with the car but didn’t. My appointment was Thursday, the 7<sup>th</sup>
of the nine days.<br />
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A note about that dental surgery: the dentist used a “roofie”(<span style="background: white; color: #252525; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> Flunitrazepam</span><b><span style="background: white; color: #252525; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.5pt; line-height: 115%;">)</span></b>
to put me out. I woke up Wednesday
morning at 2:50 am not knowing where I was or how I got my bra off. Wednesday night, I couldn’t sleep a wink, and
woke up Thursday morning in a daze, knowing I had a 7 am at the Honda
dealership. I got there at 7:15 am. In one piece, thank G-d.<br />
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But the car would need to be there all day and a loaner was
lined up. All I needed to do was show
proof of insurance and a driver’s license.
The driver’s license expired 4 days ago – surprise, when I turned 57
years old. No renewal reminder, no
renewal. Complacency is a bitch – I just
assumed Big Brother was watching me. He
is, but not sending out the notice to renew.
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I ran out of that dealership so fast and got to the closest
DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) with one eye in the rear view mirror looking
for the Highway Patrol. In less than an
hour (a miracle in Hollywood) I was good to go.
No GPS, no driver’s manual, no detailed car. But safe from prison, which is kinda makes up for the loss.<br />
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G-d protect, grant us good health, long life, a new
leadership in Iran, and remind me to floss more often. Amen.</div>
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nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-88465844791495927712015-03-25T23:02:00.001-07:002015-03-25T23:02:34.905-07:00A Message From Above<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been blessed to hold a Lecturer position in Nutritional Science at my Alma Mater this past year and I've met some wonderful people, including students. But a year-long lecturer position requires a review for competency, and I am clueless, to say the least, as to how to go about preparing for it.<br />
<br />
Since the Department's Management Services Officer (MSO) has transferred to another unit, I have no one to help me but the person responsible for all campus-wide faculty reviews, who kindly agreed to plug me into his busy schedule. I was all set - his secretary gave me a date next week and I planned to prepare this weekend.<br />
<br />
That is, until a dear friend, also up for review, sent me a text this morning asking if I knew how to put our review binders together. <i>No problem</i>, I replied,<i> join me when I visit the Administrative Dean to review my binder next week. Next week</i>, she asked - <i>it's due next week. Isn't that cutting it close?</i><br />
<br />
Which was really a good question, and one that inspired me to call the Dean's office and inquire if the appointment date could be moved up. But what did I find out? That my appointment is for THIS Thursday, not next Thursday. In other words, TOMORROW!<br />
<br />
I wrote my friend, who's even dearer to me now than ever, and advised her to meet me tomorrow. I also thanked her and told her the truth - she saved me from missing one the more important appointments of my teaching career. <br />
<br />
But why did she contact me today? Why not tomorrow, or even Friday? Because the Holy One wanted us to make this appointment. My dear, dear friend was His messenger. Message received, loud and clear.nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-3548956842734697852015-01-04T21:29:00.000-08:002015-03-25T22:36:31.088-07:00When Your Boss is Boss<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My family and I recently moved (3 days ago) and it was traumatic. Not the packing and the moving part, just the realization that I have so much stuff. How can a ONE person have so much stuff? I feel like I'll be dealing with my stuff for the next six months.<br />
<br />
But the real story isn't my stuff, or the moving. The real story is how one person with a heart of gold helped me make it through today. That person is my boss. <br />
<br />
I've had many bosses in my LONG life, and most of them were jerks. Power hungry, insensitive people who were in charge simply because someone else was not. But in the last year my luck has changed. So when my boss asked me two weeks ago if I could work today (Sunday) to give a co-worker a longer holiday break, I jumped at the chance to help out, not realizing that my moving date was coming up soon.<br />
<br />
That's because we put a deposit down for the rent back in October, and then the landlord decided to remodel. We've been waiting nearly 3 months to move, and I saw no reason to believe January would be any different than December.<br />
<br />
When I realized that I would have to work on a day when boxes were literally blocking the front door, I spent the Shabbat in prayer that something would happen and I'd be free to address the mess in my brand new living room.<br />
<br />
When Shabbat ended, I grabbed my phone to see if there were any messages, but nothing. I was resigned to working today. But right after Havdalah (prayer officially ending Shabbat), my phone rang. Another co-worker was asking my permission to work today in my stead. I starting crying, thanked my co-worker profusely, and rejoiced at my sudden good fortune.<br />
<br />
I could not only see the Hand of G-d in this, but also the hand of the best boss ever!!! I truly feel blessed.nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-8633601802291740672014-12-30T17:10:00.001-08:002014-12-30T17:10:27.730-08:00Kindness On Loan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For the past few days I've been getting these annoying phone calls from my government student loan coordinator. When I looked online to see what was happening, I noticed that my monthly payment deal with the government mirrored Obama's current relationship with Bibi - filled with misunderstandings, missed opportunities, and dead as fish out of water.<br />
<br />
So I called the government office that holds my loan, prepared for a battle over my meager income and my not so meager loan debt. What I got instead was a warm, wonderful, considerate woman who not only wished me well in my home move (after 16 years, we're off to a new domicile just around the block), gave me amazing advice on how to make my meager loan repayment count, and wished me a wonderful new year.<br />
<br />
I started crying - unexpected kindness, coming at a time when I'm stressed out (guess who hasn't packed yet and the moving van comes tomorrow!), and thanked the woman at least 20 times. I do feel ashamed of myself for having girded for a fight when common sense should have ruled the day. But then again, two years in and this is the first person (government representative no less) to explain that all the money I've paid so far went to interest, not principle.<br />
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Oh well - the bad news was coupled with the antidote to remedy the situation. G-d bless this young woman, who really cared about a number -my social security number that is, and made my day so much more bright. nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-67116095303935666492014-10-23T07:37:00.000-07:002014-10-23T07:37:36.654-07:00Getting A Call Back<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I got it into my head that I need to lose weight. I had a lot of help getting that idea in there (I'm a Registered Dietitian, my doctor told me to, and my BMI is at a number I'd prefer for my age, not my body weight status). So I've taken to long walks after dinner, which is really helping.<br />
<br />
The other night I was walking down a busy street and found a necklace, a hamsa, which is my favorite symbol. I picked it up, and ran after several young high school girls who had just passed me by, knowing for sure it was their necklace. It wasn't.<br />
<br />
I went into the kosher market on the corner figuring someone had dropped it on the way in, but no. I walked out of the store really frustrated (and tired), and expressed my frustration out loud to G-d. "Here I am trying to do a mitzvah (HaShodus Avedah - returning lost objects) and it's not happening."<br />
<br />
I continued walking down the street and guess what? I found a wallet. Complete with ID and a swiping keychain for the local yoga studio. Is the Creator of the World listening or what!? I ended walking further than expected (there are two yoga studios on this street and it wasn't the closest one), but I fulfilled the mitzvah.<br />
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Okay, not trying to say I have a direct link to the Holy One, but it sure felt like it. Still waiting for Moshiach thought, and I've been asking for that for a long time.nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8066228884521871020.post-89095291020227322372014-07-09T18:37:00.000-07:002014-07-09T18:37:20.514-07:00Thoughts On A Seige<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I listen to NPR a lot not because I want to - but because it's the only station I get in my office. Obviously, with the war raging in Eretz HaKodesh right now, there have been a fair amount of interviews and BBC reports. But no one yet has dared to ask one simple question. <br />
<br />
I can't understand how journalists can interview a Hamas spokesperson and not ask why there are no bomb shelters in Gaza. The technology exists, the will to dig holes or tunnels, exists. I want to know why (well, I do know why), and I want to world to know why.<br />
<br />
There are no bomb shelters in Gaza because the goal of Hamas isn't to protect its people, or stop the occupation. The goal of Hamas is to get as many of its people killed as possible, because they know the world, like these journalists, want to blame Israel and wring whatever concessions they can out of them. Like releasing more murderers.<br />
<br />
Because the ultimate goal of Hamas is to destroy Israel, but they can't do it because that's not G-d's goal. G-d's goal is that Israel not only survive, but prosper, while the enemies of Israel whither. By their own choice the Palestinians have sealed their own fate. Because in order for Israel to survive, her enemies cannot.<br />
<br />
So don't be surprised if the number of dead Arabs in Gaza goes sky high. That's Hamas' plan. And if the people of Gaza go along with it, then that means it's their plan too. <br />
<br />
If the Arabs bothered to learn Jewish history, they would know that the 600,000 Jews of the Yishuv in 1947 defending Israel's existence is the same number of Jews who fought for the land and won under Joshua ben Nun, 40 years after the end of Egyptian slavery 4000 years ago. Which means that their attempts to destroy Israel then, just as now, were and are destined for failure.<br />
<br />
Am Yisrael Chai. The people of Israel live now, and will always live, Boruch Hashem yom yom. <br />
<br />
nanaloshenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13861396507216887521noreply@blogger.com0