The PRSRT STDECRU.S. POSTAGE PAIDMADERA, CA.PERMIT NO. 61
Volume 16 Issue 11 2020 The Official Publication of Southeastern Madera County 50¢
RanchosIndependent
In This Issue Editorial • Page 5 / Aunt Jean’s Recipes • Page 8Classifieds • Page 18 / Fun Pages • Pages 22 & 23
CELEBRATING15 YEARSIN THE RANCHOS
Page 2
Click on “Local News” at
hrough Dec. 23, the state Depart-ment of Water Resources is accept-ing public comments on
Groundwater Sustainability Plans thathave been proposed for the Madera waterbasin. With a target date of 2040, theplans are intended to better managegroundwater for all users, including res-idents as well as agriculture.
At present, of the four plans beingprojected for the Madera water basin, theplans for the largest area is a “do noth-ing” plan that projects continuing declin-ing water levels by maintaining the samelevel of pumping of groundwater by agri-culture. Although protecting agricultureand thousands of ag-related jobs, thisplan will virtually assure the failure ofmany domestic wells as the water leveldrops below pump levels. Of course,dropping water levels also tend to impactwater quality.
Madera County, anticipating apossible problem, has come up withsome plans to potentially help. Basedon fees from water users, a fund couldbe created to drill new wells. Addition-ally, the County is looking at potentiallyputting a limit on the amount of waterthat can be pumped annually from thosecommercial wells. Added to that are
suggestions of groundwater recharge,all while trying to limit groundwaterpumping. Reducing evaporation is alsoon the table and purchasing water fromother areas of California is also beingconsidered.
You can comment on any or all of theproposed plans, but be warned: TheMadera plan is in excess of 3,000 pages.There is an executive summary that’s prob-ably the best place to start. The MaderaRanchos is part of Groundwater Basin 5-
022.06. With that information, next go tosgma.water.ca.gov/portal/gsp/all you canaccess all four plans proposed for ourarea. After you click on any of the plans,there will be an “Action” column whereyou can “Add Comment.” You can alsotake a look at the Madera Subbasin JointGSP in the same place and view the plancontents by selecting “Groundwater Sus-tainability Plan.”
The Sustainable Groundwater Man-agement Act, or SGMA, was passed in2014 in response to disappearing ground-water levels in California resulting fromthe drought coupled with ongoing overpumping and cuts to surface water deliv-eries. The law requires local officials tocreate groundwater sustainability plansby 2040 and then maintain “balanced”groundwater use through 2090.
The County and the State are givingeveryday citizens a chance to weigh in onthese decisions that will impact us all, butthat window of opportunity is quicklydrawing to a close. Dec. 23 is the last dayto register a comment.For further information, Stephanie
Anagnoson is the director of the MaderaCounty Water and Natural ResourcesDepartment. Her phone number is 559-662-8015.
T
The MaderaCounty Sheriff's De-partment opened abrand new Sheriff’ssubstation in the Ran-chos on Saturday,Nov. 7.
"This will be a sub-station where thedeputies are workingand the community cancome in and file reports,pull permits and doother business that theyneed to do at the sher-iff's office without hav-ing to drive all the wayinto Madera city," saidMadera County Sheriff,Tyson Pogue.
The substation,which had been in theplans for more than adecade, is located in thebuilding in front of theMadera Ranchos Li-brary on the corner ofBerkshire and Fern-wood.
Ranchos Finally Gets Substation A Sensible Anti-COVID Strategy
The grand opening was celebrated with a ribbon cutting byGolden Valley Chamber of Commerce President Verlain Elinburg,center. Also in attendance were Madera County District 1 Super-visor Brett Frazier, left, with Sheriff Tyson Pogue next to him.Madera County’s Chief Administrative Officer, former Sheriff JayVarney, far right, was also present.
By Jay BhattacharyaStanford University
My goal today is, first, to present thefacts about how deadly COVID-19 actuallyis; second, to present the facts about who isat risk from COVID; third, to present somefacts about how deadly the widespreadlockdowns have been; and fourth, to rec-ommend a shift in public policy.
1. The COVID-19 Fatality RateIn discussing the deadliness of
COVID, we need to distinguish COVIDcases from COVID infections. A lot of fearand confusion has resulted from failing tounderstand the difference.
We have heard much this year aboutthe “case fatality rate” of COVID. In earlyMarch, the case fatality rate in the U.S. wasroughly three percent — nearly three out ofevery 100 people who were identified as“cases” of COVID in early March diedfrom it. Compare that to today, when the fa-tality rate of COVID is known to be lessthan one half of one percent.
In other words, when theWorld HealthOrganization said back in early March thatthree percent of people who get COVID diefrom it, they were wrong by at least oneorder of magnitude. The COVID fatality
rate is much closer to 0.2 or 0.3 percent.The reason for the highly inaccurate earlyestimates is simple: In early March, wewere not identifying most of the peoplewho had been infected by COVID.
“Case fatality rate” is computed by di-viding the number of deaths by the totalnumber of confirmed cases. But to obtainan accurate COVID fatality rate, the num-ber in the denominator should be the num-ber of people who have been infected— thenumber of people who have actually hadthe disease — rather than the number ofconfirmed cases.
In March, only the small fraction of in-fected people who got sick and went to thehospital were identified as cases. But themajority of people who are infected byCOVID have very mild symptoms or nosymptoms at all. These people weren’tidentified in the early days, which resultedin a highly misleading fatality rate. And thatis what drove public policy. Even worse, itcontinues to sow fear and panic, becausethe perception of too many people aboutCOVID is frozen in the misleading datafrom March.
So how do we get an accurate fatality
Please see COVID on P. 4
Page 3
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rate? To use a technical term, we test for“seroprevalence”— in other words, we testto find out how many people have evidencein their bloodstream of having had COVID.
This is easy with some viruses. Any-one who has had chickenpox, for instance,still has that virus living in them— it staysin the body forever. COVID, on the otherhand, like other coronaviruses, doesn’t stayin the body. Someone who is infected withCOVID and then clears it will be immunefrom it, but it won’t still be living in them.
What we need to test for, then, are an-tibodies or other evidence that someone hashad COVID. And even antibodies fade overtime, so testing for them still results in anunderestimate of total infections.
Seroprevalence is what I worked on inthe early days of the epidemic. In April, Iran a series of studies, using antibody tests,to see how many people in California’sSanta Clara County, where I live, had beeninfected. At the time, there were about1,000 COVID cases that had been identi-fied in the county, but our antibody testsfound that 50,000 people had been infected— i.e., there were 50 times more infectionsthan identified cases. This was enormouslyimportant, because it meant that the fatalityrate was not three percent, but closer to 0.2percent; not three in 100, but two in 1,000.
When it came out, this Santa Clarastudy was controversial. But science is likethat, and the way science tests controversialstudies is to see if they can be replicated.And indeed, there are now 82 similar sero-prevalence studies from around the world,and the median result of these 82 studies isa fatality rate of about 0.2 percent — ex-actly what we found in Santa Clara County.
In some places, of course, the fatalityrate was higher: In New York City it wasmore like 0.5 percent. In other places it waslower: The rate in Idaho was 0.13 percent.What this variation shows is that the fatal-ity rate is not simply a function of howdeadly a virus is. It is also a function of whogets infected and of the quality of the healthcare system. In the early days of the virus,our health care systems managed COVIDpoorly. Part of this was due to ignorance:We pursued very aggressive treatments, forinstance, such as the use of ventilators, thatin retrospect might have been counterpro-ductive. And part of it was due to negli-gence: In some places, we needlesslyallowed a lot of people in nursing homes toget infected.
But the bottom line is that the COVIDfatality rate is in the neighborhood of 0.2percent.
2. Who Is at Risk?The single most important fact about
the COVID pandemic— in terms of decid-
ing how to respond to it on both an individ-ual and a governmental basis — is that it isnot equally dangerous for everybody. Thisbecame clear very early on, but for somereason our public health messaging failedto get this fact out to the public.
It still seems to be a common percep-tion that COVID is equally dangerous toeverybody, but this couldn’t be further fromthe truth. There is a thousand-fold differ-ence between the mortality rate in olderpeople, 70 and up, and the mortality rate inchildren. In some sense, this is a great bless-ing. If it was a disease that killed childrenpreferentially, I for one would react verydifferently. But the fact is that for youngchildren, this disease is less dangerous thanthe seasonal flu. This year, in the UnitedStates, more children have died from theseasonal flu than from COVID by a factorof two or three.
Whereas COVID is not deadly for chil-dren, for older people it is much moredeadly than the seasonal flu. If you look atstudies worldwide, the COVID fatality ratefor people 70 and up is about four percent— four in 100 among those 70 and older,as opposed to two in 1,000 in the overallpopulation.
Again, this huge difference betweenthe danger of COVID to the young and thedanger of COVID to the old is the most im-portant fact about the virus. Yet it has notbeen sufficiently emphasized in publichealth messaging or taken into account bymost policymakers.
3. Deadliness of the LockdownsThe widespread lockdowns that have
been adopted in response to COVID are un-precedented — lockdowns have never be-fore been tried as a method of diseasecontrol. Nor were these lockdowns part ofthe original plan. The initial rationale forlockdowns was that slowing the spread ofthe disease would prevent hospitals frombeing overwhelmed. It became clear beforelong that this was not a worry: In the U.S.and in most of the world, hospitals werenever at risk of being overwhelmed. Yet thelockdowns were kept in place, and this isturning out to have deadly effects.
Those who dare to talk about thetremendous economic harms that have fol-lowed from the lockdowns are accused ofheartlessness. Economic considerations arenothing compared to saving lives, they aretold. So I’m not going to talk about the eco-nomic effects — I’m going to talk about thedeadly effects on health, beginning with thefact that the U.N. has estimated that 130million additional people will starve thisyear as a result of the economic damage re-sulting from the lockdowns.
In the last 20 years, we’ve lifted one
COVID cont. from P. 2
Please see COVID on P. 14
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The Ranchos Independent is published by Five and Two Publishing.All contents of this publication are copyright 2020, all rights reserved.Reprintingwithout the permission of the
copyright holder is forbidden by law.All articles are submitted as the opinion of the author, who remains solely responsible for the content. The in-
formation gathered for this publication is from sources that are considered to be reliable, but are not guaranteed.Opinions expressed in advertisements or articles remain the opinion of the writer.
Randy Bailey............Publisher/EditorJean Briner -- Columnist, Advertising Sales Emeritus
RanchosIndependentThe
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Page 5
37167 Ave. 12, Suite 5C • Madera, CA [email protected]
Trump’s Staying Power
“I dont agreethat our
nation mustresign
itself toinevitable
decline,yielding its
proudposition to
otherhands.”
Guest Editorial
By Rich Lowry
Pending the outcome in a few keystates, Donald Trump may be leaving theWhite House, but he's not exiting theroom.
The fiercest Never Trump criticshoped for -- and wishfully predicted -- acleansing landslide that would wipe outevery trace of Trump and his enablersfrom the GOP.
That's not happening. Trump's poll-and pundit-defying surge toward the cuspof a second term vindicates Trump's ap-proach enough to give him and his poten-tial successors continued traction, if not adominant voice, in the party.
Trump's possible loss is nothing likethe shellacking the GOP experienced in2008, when Barack Obama won in a land-slide together with a 60-seat Senate ma-jority.
Trump's party has a chance to retainits Senate majority and will pick up Houseseats, while the margin of his own defeatmay be a whisker in the Blue Wall states,just as his margin of victory in 2016 was awhisker.
He did his own side the inadvertentfavor of perhaps buffering it from theworst consequences of his own possibleloss -- first, by filling the Ruth Bader Gins-burg seat on the Supreme Court that oth-erwise would have fallen to Joe Biden, andby performing well enough to aid thecause of Republican Senate candidates,
who will check a Biden presidency fromthe outset if they do indeed manage to holdthe majority.
Trump's voters were still there for him-- in fact, more so than ever. His tack ofdoubling down on his base wasn't quite asinsane as we were always told by com-mentators. His strong close proved hispower as a campaigner, with his signaturemadcap rallies serving as effective organ-izing and messaging vehicles.
This is not to deny that Trump's ownfailings helped sink him. There are a thou-sand pitfalls he could have avoided if heweren't so self-involved and undisciplined.No single one of them made the differ-ence, but cumulatively they blighted hispresidency and made him radioactive inthe suburbs.
No one should want to repeat them,and the party should never again get be-hind such a flawed personal figure.
Nevertheless, Trump points to a vi-able GOP future. He posted startling gainsamong Latino voters. This shows it's pos-sible to imagine a working-class-oriented Republican Party that isn't ademographic dead end, but genuinelycrosses racial lines, even if this potential isstill inchoate.
Given how Trump's base showed upmassively in the past two presidential elec-tions, it's also unlikely that these voters aregoing to be jettisoned anytime soon bysome other Republican presidential candi-date. Indeed, the education- and class-based re-sorting of the GOP -- affluentsuburbs peeling off and working-class vot-ers coming on board -- predated Trump.
The concerns of these voters have tofigure prominently in the agenda of theGOP going forward. That doesn't requireembracing any particular Trump policy.but it does mean the party will inevitablyhave a populist coloration.
Trump will remain an outsize pres-ence. His supporters will still consider hima legendary warrior, a totem of resistanceto the media and the cultural elite. His en-dorsements will continue to be valuable,and ambitious 2024 candidates will seekto inherit his mantle.
Trump might not win the biggest,most important prize of a second term in2020, but there's no doubt he has stavedoff political irrelevance.
Rich Lowry i s ed i tor o f theNational Review.
© 2020 by King Features Synd., Inc.
Click on “Local News” at
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I believe that one of the most
important times to express grati-
tude is when you struggle to find
things for which to be thankful. To
put it another way, the best time to
count your blessings is when you
don’t think you have any. With
state and local governments impos-
ing Lockdown: The Sequel on their
citizenry and going so far as to tell
us how many people can visit us in
our own homes, this is definitely
one of those times when finding
things to be thankful for seems out
of reach. Nevertheless, that’s what
I am going to do.
First and foremost, I am thank-
ful for our Lord and Savior. I am
thankful for His redeeming sacri-
fice. I am thankful that He made us
in His image and filled our minds
with the desire to seek knowledge
and truth. I’m thankful that He
blessed me with intelligence and
critical thought which has allowed
me to have a full understanding of
what is happening in the world
today and not be bamboozled by
lies, leftist rhet-
oric and social
engineering.
I am thank-
ful for my par-
ents and how I
was raised. I
was lucky
enough to have a
childhood filled
with not only
love, affection
and support, but
also structure,
discipline and
the strictest of
e x p e c t a t i o n s .
My youth was
filled with spectacular memories of
a mom and dad who were wholly
present and fully participated in my
upbringing. There were one-of-a-
kind birthday parties and incompa-
rable vacations. On the other side
of that coin, though, there were
high standards of excellence and an
unyielding dedication to ensuring I
wasn’t a screeching bonehead in-
tent on tearing apart a nation in the
name of expecting other people to
blindly agree with me and give me
free stuff.
I’m grateful to have known all
of my grandparents. Many people
Giving Thanks in 2020
lost their parents’ parents at a
young age and I was blessed to
have all four of them well into
adulthood. It’s a precious thing to
get to know the elders of your fam-
ily. They can share information
with you that, believe or not,
Google doesn’t know. They tell you
funny little stories about how your
mom chipped her front tooth when
she was a little girl by chasing a lit-
tle boy over a fence with a broom-
stick because he called her a bad
name. They talk about growing up
in a tiny little town in central Cali-
fornia during WWII. I’m also com-
pletely convinced that a
g r a n d p a r e n t
makes the ab-
solute best fan
and cheerleader.
We often take
for granted all
our grandpar-
ents can teach
us, but I know
that I have a re-
spect for past
g e n e r a t i o n s ,
family history
and the wisdom
of those who
have lived more
years than I, all
because of the
grandparents with which I was
blessed.
I am thankful for my very first
boss. Way back when I was in high
school, I started working at a Taco
Bell for a general manager who was
– I’ll say affectionately – referred
to as “the beastie.” I think the only
person who demanded a higher
level of perfection than she was,
perhaps, my own father. He at least
gave me a place to live and told me
he loved me. The beastie was
tough, unyielding and demanding,
I’m grateful to have knownall of my grandparents. Manypeople lost their parents’ par-ents at a young age and I wasblessed to have all four ofthem well into adulthood. It’sa precious thing to get to knowthe elders of your family. Theycan share information withyou that, believe or not,Google doesn’t know.
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but you know what? She was consis-
tent. There was absolutely no am-
biguousness where she was
concerned. You knew her expecta-
tions and you most assuredly knew
when you were not meeting them.
This served to strengthen the work
ethic that my parents instilled in me.
I don’t expect employers to coddle
me and cater to unreasonable de-
mands. I do expect employers to
treat me well, pay me fairly and cre-
ate a safe and healthy work environ-
ment and in exchange I am a
dedicated and hard worker, and all
of that because I had a boss that de-
manded nothing less from me.
Finally, I am grateful to live in
a country where I have the right –
although some have tried to take it
away from me – to speak my mind. I
am grateful that I have a consti tu-
tion that secures these rights for me.
I am grateful for a strong and faith-
ful military that defends these rights
for me. I have the right to review the
numbers, read the available infor-
mation and form my own opinion for
how to conduct myself . I have the
right to agree with experts who say
that lockdowns, other than to reset
healthcare and first responder sup-
plies and staff , do nothing except
strip some people of their l iveli-
hoods and rob everyone of their
freedom. I have a right to think that
the health of our economy far out-
weighs the possibility that someone
might contract – and yes, even die –
from a virus, and I am including my-
self in that. And I have the right to
invite my entire family into my
home for Thanksgiving, and you
know what, they have the right to
decline.
Despite our current crisis, de-
spite the ineptitude of our leaders
and despite the media’s relentless
narrative of fear and misdirection,
there is still plenty to be thankful for
this year. From my family to yours,
however you choose to celebrate and
whomever you choose to celebrate
with, Happy Thanksgiving!
GENWHY cont. from P. 6
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By Nancy Wayne
Kiwanis would like to wish you all a
Happy Holiday Season. This year Ranchos
Kiwanis will be sponsoring a Drive By
Christmas Lights House Decorating Con-
test. Please join us for our kickoff event,
Saturday, Dec.
12 from 6-8
p.m.
D r i v e
through the
F e r n w o o d
Nursery park-
ing lot, 12090
Fernwood Dr.,
and pick up a
map of homes
(one per fam-
ily). It will be
part of the con-
test and allow you to see the contestants
from the safety and comfort of your vehi-
cle. Your map will enable you to see many
of the beautifully decorated homes in our
community, including the ones who have
signed up for this contest. Vote for your
favorite decorated house and drop off your
ballot at the Golden Valley Chamber of
Commerce office in the Maywood Shop-
ping Center, 37167 Ave. 12 #5C in the
Madera Ranchos. If you cannot make the
Saturday kickoff event, you can pick up a
map and ballot at the Chamber office or
local businesses between Dec. 12-15. Be
sure to return your ballot to the Chamber
office before noon on Dec. 16, when the
contest ends. The winner of the event will
be announced in the January edition of the
Ranchos Independent.
To be part of the contest and receive
the $50 1st
Place prize
given by the
Madera Ran-
chos Kiwanis,
it is necessary
that you sign
up by Dec. 10.
Only those
who have
signed up are
part of the con-
test and can be
on the map for
voting.
Text 559-974-2450 and leave a mes-
sage and your phone number. We will call
you to confirm that you are a contestant in
the Christmas Decorating Contest and an-
swer any questions you may have at that
time.
Sign up, decorate your home, get a
map of contest participants, drive around
enjoying the festive lights of the Ranchos
community and vote for your favorite dec-
orated house.
Merry Christmas from Kiwanis
Kiwanis Korner
Page 8
SAY YOU SAW IT INthe Ranchos Independent
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g i v i n g w e w o u l d t o a s t t h e
b r e a d i n t h e o v e n o n b i g s h e e t
p a n s a n d m a m a w o u l d a l w a y s
m a k e a p a n o f c o r n b r e a d f o r
t h e s t u f f i n g . A n d i n - b e t w e e n
t o a s t i n g t h e b r e a d s h e w o u l d
m a k e t h e p i e s . I t w a s a b u s y
t i m e . I w a s m y m o m ’ s o f f i c i a l
s t u f f i n g “ t e s t e r . ” I ’ d g e t u p
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I l i k e c o o k e d . M a m a ’ s r e c i p e
w a s s i m p l e : W e w o u l d c h o p a n
o n i o n a n d a b o u t a h e a d o f c e l -
e r y a n d s a u t é t h e m i n b u t t e r
w i t h s o m e s a l t a n d p e p p e r .
W e ’ d b r e a k u p t h e b r e a d a n d
p o u r t h e v e g e t a b l e s i n o n t o p
a n d a d d e n o u g h s a l t a n d p e p p e r
a n d t h e o n l y o t h e r s e a s o n i n g
s h e w o u l d u s e w a s d r y s a g e .
S h e p r e f e r r e d r u b b e d s a g e i n -
s t e a d o f c h o p p e d ( i t i s v e r y
h a r d t o f i n d r u b b e d s a g e
t o d a y ) , t h e n a d d c h i c k e n b r o t h
a n d w a t e r a n d m i x i t u p w i t h
o u r h a n d s u n t i l i t w a s j u s t
r i g h t .
W h e n t h e t u r k e y i s d e -
f r o s t e d , I p u t i t i n t h e r o a s t i n g
p a n a n d p u t i t o n t h e b o t t o m
s h e l f o f t h e r e f r i g e r a t o r a w a i t -
i n g T h u r s d a y m o r n i n g . W i t h
t h e p e r f e c t i o n
o f t h e t u r k e y s
o v e r t h e l a s t
5 0 y e a r s y o u
d o n ’ t h a v e t o
g e t u p a t f i v e
o ’ c l o c k i n t h e
m o r n i n g i t g e t
i t i n t h e o v e n .
W e w o u l d f i g -
u r e a b o u t 2 2
m i n u t e s p e r
p o u n d o f
s t u f f e d t u r k e y ,
t a k i n g a b o u t
s e v e n a n d a h a l f t o e i g h t h o u r s .
I t o n l y t a k e s f o u r t o f i v e h o u r s
t o c o o k a s t u f f e d 1 8 - t o 2 0 -
p o u n d b i r d t o d a y a s o p p o s e d t o
a l l m o r n i n g 5 0 y e a r s a g o .
A s f o r t h e s t u f f i n g , I d o i t
t h e s a m e w a y m a m a d i d 5 0
y e a r s a g o , e x c e p t I d o n ’ t t o a s t
t h e b r e a d . I c h e a t a n d b u y
t h r e e b o x e s o f M r s . C u b b i s o n ’ s
– t w o b o x e s o f b r e a d a n d o n e
o f t h e c o r n b r e a d . A d d t h e
s a u t é e d v e g e t a b l e s , s a l t , p e p -
p e r a n d e v e n t h o u g h t h e b r e a d
i s s o m e w h a t s e a s o n e d , I u s u -
a l l y a d d s o m e m o r e s a g e . T h e n
s t a r t m i x i n g i n c h i c k e n b r o t h
a n d w a t e r u n t i l i t t a s t e s j u s t
r i g h t . I d o n ’ t u s e t h e g i b l e t s
b u t s o m e t i m e s I d o c o o k t h e
n e c k a n d t a k e o f f t h e m e a t a n d
a d d t o t h e s t u f f i n g . T a k e t h e
b i r d o u t o f t h e r e f r i g e r a t o r ,
r i n s e i t o u t a n d p a t d r y , c o v e r
i n s i d e a n d o u t w i t h b u t t e r ( o r
m a r g a r i n e ) , s a l t i n s i d e a n d o u t
by Jean Briner
Thanks for Thanksgiving
E d i t o r ’s N o t e : W i t h t h ep a s s i n g o f A u n t J e a n , Ih a v e d e c i d e d t o b r i n g y o u a“ B e s t O f ” o f h e r r e c i p e so v e r t h e p a s t 1 0 y e a r s .G o o d r e c i p e s a r e t i m e l e s sa n d I h o p e y o u e n j o y t h e ma l l o v e r a g a i n .
(November 2010)
For t hose o f you t ha tread th i s be fore Thanksg iv -ing , I hope you have a veryHappy Thanksg i v ing . Andfo r t hose o f you t ha t readth i s a f t e r Thanksg i v ing , Ihope you had a g lor ious dayand you have l o t s o f l e f t -overs .
Please see RECIPE on P. 9
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and you ’ r e r e a dy t o s t u f f . A l o to f p e o p l e d o n ’ t s t u f f t h e b i r dbu t we t h i n k t h e s t u f f i n g i s b e t -t e r t h a t i s c o o k e d i n t h e b i r dt h an i n a b ak i ng pan . Bu t , wha t -eve r you o r you r f am i l y p r e f e r s .
Some peop l e c a l l i t s t u f f i n ga n d s ome d r e s s i n g b u t d o y o uk n ow t h e d i f f e r e n c e ? I r e a ds omewhe r e t h a t i f y o u p u t t h em i x t u r e i n t h e b i r d i t i s c a l l e ds t u f f i n g and i f y ou cook i t i n ap an i t i s c a l l e d d r e s s i n g . A s f a ra s I ’m conce rn ed , wha t eve r i t i sc a l l e d I l o v e i t .
A s I ’ v e t o l d you i n a p r e v i -o u s a r t i c l e , my mom l o v e d t og e t r e c i p e s whe r e v e r s h e wen t .Z u c c h i n i C a s s e r o l e s h e g o t
f r om a c o u s i n f r om Tenn e s s e e .Mama p a s s e d away i n Oc t o b e r1 9 8 8 a n d wh e n we we r e c l e a n -i n g o u t h e r d e e p f r e e z e wef o u n d o n e s h e h a d mad e s o wecooked i t f o r Thank sg i v i n g t h a ty e a r . My s i s t e r Max i n e h a st a k en ove r t h e du t y o f b r i n g i ngo n e ( s ome t ime s s h e b r i n g s twoso t h a t t h e r e c an b e s ome t a k enhome ) t o a l l ou r f am i l y d i nne r s .I n f a c t , e v e r y o n e l i k e s i t s omu c h t h a t y o u wou l d t h i n ks ome t ime s s h e wou l d n ’ t b e a l -l owed i n t o d i n n e r u n l e s s s h eb r o u g h t t h e c a s s e r o l e . H e r e ’ st h e r e c i p e , h o p e y o u l i k e i t a swe l l a s we do .
Z u c c h i n i C a s s e r o l e6 C t h i n l y s l i c e d zu c ch i n i½ l a r g e on i on chopped
1 C g r a t e d c a r r o t1 c an c r e am o f ch i c k en s oup1 C sou r c r e am2 boxe s S t ov e Top s t u f f i n g(Ch i c k en o r Tu r k ey )2 cub e s o f bu t t e r o rma r g a r i n eCook t h e zu c ch i n i a nd on i on
f o r a b o u t f i v e m i n u t e s o r u n t i la l d e n t e , a nd d r a i n a s much l i q -u i d o f f a s p o s s i b l e b e f o r ea d d i n g t h e c a r r o t s , c r e am soupand sou r c r e am . Se t a s i d e .
I n a s e p a r a t e bow l , m i x onebox o f S t ov e Top w i t h on e cub eo f me l t e d b u t t e r . L a y t h i se v en l y i n t h e bo t t om o f a 9 x 12b a k i n g p a n . P o u r i n t h e z u c -c h i n i m i x . M i x t h e s e c o n d b o xo f S t o v e Top w i t h t h e o t h e rc ub e o f me l t e d bu t t e r a nd cove r
t h e z u c c h i n i m i x . B a k e i n p r e -h e a t e d 3 5 0 o v e n u n t i l l i g h t l yb r own and bubb l y .
Do NOT mix the Stove Top asd i r ec t ed on the package – on lypu t t he me l t ed bu t t e r i n the d rymix . Peop l e wou ld compla in tomy mom tha t when they made thecassero le , i t d idn’ t tas te l ike hersand the f i r s t th ing she would askthem was, “Did you use the StoveTop dry wi th only the mel ted but -t e r , o r d id you cook i t l i ke thepackage d i rec t s?”
Fo r those o f you tha t r eadth i s before Thanksg iv ing , I hopeyou have a ve ry Happy Thanks -g iv ing . And for those of you tha tr ead th i s a f t e r Thanksg iv ing , Ihope you had a g lor ious day andyou have lo t s of le f tovers .
RECIPE cont. from P. 8
Page 10
Click on “Local News” at
How to Have a“Happy” Thanksgiving
A section of the registers wereclosed due to COVID-19. The womanin line behind me began to complain."They should have more registersopen. It's hot in here ..." If 2020 hasgiven us anything, it's plenty to com-plain about. Complaining in negativecircumstances is normal, but how doesit serve us?
Dennis Prager, author of Happi-ness is a Serious Problem offers someinsight. “We tend to think that it isbeing unhappy that leads people tocomplain,” says Prager. “But it is truerto say that it is complaining that leadsto people becoming unhappy. Becomegrateful and you will become a muchhappier person."
Joshua Brown and Joel Wong’s re-search affirms this notion. The resultsof their study are found in How Grati-tude Changes You and Your Brain(www.greatergood.berkeley.edu). Outof 300 individuals receiving counsel-ing services for anxiety and depres-sion, one third of them were given thetask of writing a letter of gratitude tosomeone every week for three weeks.Not only did those given this assign-ment have significant improvements totheir mental health, the activity lastedfour to 12 weeks beyond the writingassignment.
The benefits of gratefulness don’tend with our emotional health. In thearticle, A Serving of Gratitude MaySave the Day (nytimes.com), JohnTierney says that cultivating an "atti-tude of gratitude" has been linked tobetter health, sounder sleep and kinderbehavior toward others. With all thesegreat benefits, what’s holding us backfrom cashing in?
Our brains create pathways forthings we do repeatedly, which makesthem easier to do. For many, the path-way for complaining is etched in thebrain, making that the default. Fre-
quent complaining releases more of thestress hormone cortisol which impairsthe immune system. Our brains, how-ever, have the remarkable ability tochange. Creating new pathways re-quires intentionality. If you’re seekingthe benefits of gratitude, here are someways to do that.
Transform complaints into thank-fulness: Search for things to be grate-ful for tucked inside the very thingsyou're tempted to complain about. Wecan be grateful that the store linesaren't as long as they appear, due to thefact we're spread six feet apart. Maybeturkey isn't your favorite, nor the peo-ple with whom you spend Thanksgiv-ing. You can be grateful it's just once ayear.
Schedule gratitude: Set aside timeeach day to ponder things for whichyou are grateful. Link it to somethingyou do regularly. While showering orbrushing your teeth, focus on that forwhich you are grateful. The first thingI do each day is sit down with myGratitude Prayer Journal and recordthings for which I’m thankful.
Verbalize gratitude: Last weekCostco welcomed back the samplingstations. Yay! As I picked up the pre-packaged samples, I thanked them notonly for the sample, but for returningto work. Many people perform acts ofservice all around us. Choose to beaware and verbalize your gratitude fortheir services, especially to those athome.
Put your gratitude into writing:Let others know in a card, letter, emailor even text, how much you valuethem. Tell them specifically how theyhave impacted your life. It’s awin/win. You will both experience joy.
Like many in our nation today,those celebrating the first Thanksgiv-ing had much to complain about. Theysuffered a great deal through that year,and yet, in the fall of 1621 they fo-cused on their blessings and gavethanks. Without Prager’s book or theuniversity study results to guide thischoice, what motivated them to begrateful? The words of King David inPsalm 92: “It is good to give thanks tothe Lord.” Indeed, it is.
Contact Organized by Choice (be-cause things don’t always fall intoplace) at P.O. Box 26152, Fresno, CA93729, call 559-871-3314 or emailinfo@organized bychoice.com. Youcan visit www.organizedbychoice.comwhen you go online.
HUGE varietyof BEAUTIFULtrees & wreaths
Come EARLYto pick your
favorite
See SANTANov. 28
from 1 - 4
We hope tosee y’all
soon.Merry
Christmas!
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regular menu will also be available on Prime Rib Nights
Ready for theHOLIDAYS!Christmas & NewYear’s DayMENUDO!
11/2
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Christmas Eve& New Years Eve
call to reserve your holiday dinners!Prime Rib Night!
’
Holiday HoursChristmas Eve
7 a.m. - 7 p.m.Christmas Day
7a.m. - 8 p.m.New Year’s Eve
7 a.m. - 5 p.m.New Year’s Day
9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
www.The Ranchos.com
Page 11
Senior Report
Staying Together While ApartBy Margaret Tynan
With the colder weather, thank-fully, the air is much improved. TheRanchos/Hills Seniors took advan-tage of the nicer days with an out-door, physically distanced, maskedget-together. The small group ofmembers engaged in lively discus-sion of how they are spending theirtime. Rosemary Janis and I sharedhow much the Writing Group appre-ciates the bi-weekly Zoom meetings.The group is hopingto have their work ina publication some-time next year. Wegot to see samples ofcute, bearded gnomesand other craft itemsthat Carol Wood andmembers have beenworking on for theupcoming ChristmasBoutique. Commu-nity service is fillingtime for some of themembers. Joliene Mason broughttickets and information on the open-ing of the Madera Sheriff substationin the Ranchos. Lou Janis is volun-teering some of his time tutoringMadera Community College studentsin Intermediate Algebra, as well asstudents at Fresno City College inDigital Logic. It was so good to seeeveryone.
Vicki Dougherty, a relativelynew member of the Center, also at-tended the gathering. Later, I wasable to interview her by phone.
Originally from the Fresno area,Vicki spent 34 years in Lodi beforeshe and her husband, Greg, moved tothe new Riverstone developmentabout a year ago. She retired, after along career in the medical field, firstas a licensed x-ray technician andthen as a medical assistant. The mo-tivation to move back to the area wasto be closer to their two daughtersand three grandchildren.
I asked Vicki how she heardabout the Senior Center and whatprompted her to join. She read aboutthe Center in the Ranchos Indepen-dent’s Senior Report. Having likedher experience in a Lodi senior cen-ter, she was excited to join here. Shebecame a regular participant in ourexercise program and had fun at the
Thursday night potlucks and games.Currently, she helps Jo Chase andothers getting the Treasure Houseready for the monthly sales. Shelooks forward to the day the Centeropens again. As other members havesaid, the Center activities and socialinteractions are very much missed.
Vicki has many interests. Shesews, does needlework and beading.She especially likes wood-burningcraft, making decorative woodenboxes and cutting boards for exam-
ple. She is a womanafter my own heart.Like me, she also en-joys doing difficultjigsaw puzzles. Gregkeeps occupied withhis hobby, which isdoing precisionmetal work. Bothmanage to stay busy,making the days flyby. Vicki says thatduring these unusualtimes, she and Greg
miss traveling and seeing their Cali-fornia friends. But the hugs of lovedones are what they miss most.
With the holidays close at hand,the Ranchos/Hills Seniors Centerwill hold two outdoor sales on con-secutive Saturdays in December,Dec. 5 and 12 from 8 a.m. to noon.The Christmas Boutique featureslovely holiday decorations and hand-made items, and great gifts for familyand friends. Find plants for your yardat the Garden Sale. Of course, theTreasure House is full of interesting,unique finds. Please wear a mask andmaintain physical distancing whileshopping.
Donations are always welcomedand appreciated. Make your checkout to Ranchos/Hills Seniors andmail to 37330 Berkshire Dr., Madera,CA 93636. Please note: At this time,we are only able to accept donationsof physical items by appointment.Call 559-645-4864.
The Ranchos/Hills Seniors mem-bers wish you and yours a happy,healthy, and safe Holiday Season.
Thought for December: “Mayyou have the gladness of Christmaswhich is hope; The spirit of Christ-mas which is peace; The heart ofChristmas which is love.” -- Ada V.Hendricks
New Senior Center member,Vicki Dougherty.
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Click on “Local News” at
Page 14
NNeeww MMeemmbbeerrss
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and cur-rent decrees from Sacramento, the followingannual events have been cancelled. TheGolden Valley Chamber of Commerce hopesto be able to sponser these events again in thefuture.
Thank you for your understanding.
• ANNOUNCEMENTS •
The Golden Valley Chamber ofCommerce would love to see you at ournext meeting, Wednesday, December 9 at6:30 p.m., 37167 Ave. 12 Suite 5C in theMaywood Center. Come join us and seewhat’s going on in your community. Call usat 645-4001.
WWhheenn’’ss tthhee NNEEXXTT CChhaammbbeerrooff CCoommmmeerrccee MMeeeettiinngg??
• Annual Community Christmas Tree Lighting
• CASA gift collection for foster children
• Supplies for VETERANS at Fresno V.A. Hospital
Join us in welcoming the newest membersof the Madera Ranchos business family
11/2011/2
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Servpro of ClovisDaniel Boulchard -- Owner
Shirley Viaral -- Marketing Rep
billion people worldwide out of poverty.This year we are reversing that progress tothe extent — it bears repeating — that anestimated 130 million more people willstarve.
Another result of the lockdowns is thatpeople stopped bringing their children infor immunizations against diseases likediphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) andpolio, because they had been led to fearCOVID more than they feared these moredeadly diseases. This wasn’t only true in theU.S. Eighty million children worldwide arenow at risk of these diseases. We had madesubstantial progress in slowing them down,but now they are going to come back.
Large numbers of Americans, eventhough they had cancer and neededchemotherapy, didn’t come in for treatmentbecause they were more afraid of COVIDthan cancer. Others have skipped recom-mended cancer screenings. We’re going tosee a rise in cancer and cancer death rates asa consequence. Indeed, this is already start-ing to show up in the data. We’re also goingto see a higher number of deaths from dia-betes due to people missing their diabeticmonitoring.
Mental health problems are in a waythe most shocking thing. In June of thisyear, a CDC survey found that one in four
young adults between 18 and 24 had seri-ously considered suicide. Human beings arenot, after all, designed to live alone. We’remeant to be in company with one another. Itis unsurprising that the lockdowns have hadthe psychological effects that they’ve had,especially among young adults and chil-dren, who have been denied much-neededsocialization.
In effect, what we’ve been doing is re-quiring young people to bear the burden ofcontrolling a disease from which they facelittle to no risk. This is entirely backwardfrom the right approach.
4. Where to Go from HereLast week I met with two other epi-
demiologists — Dr. Sunetra Gupta of Ox-ford University and Dr. Martin Kulldorff ofHarvard University — in Great Barrington,Mass. The three of us come from very dif-ferent disciplinary backgrounds and fromvery different parts of the political spec-trum. Yet we had arrived at the same view— the view that the widespread lockdownpolicy has been a devastating public healthmistake. In response, we wrote and issuedthe Great Barrington Declaration, whichcan be viewed — along with explanatoryvideos, answers to frequently asked ques-tions, a list of co-signers, etc. — online atwww.gbdeclaration.org.
COVID cont. from P. 4
Please see COVID on P. 17
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caused challenges across the agri-food supply chain. At the sametime though, it has also created new opportunities to innovateand teach people about farming and the food system. It’s criticalthat California school children continue to receive education incore areas such as math, science and English. But they shouldalso be learning in areas that provide important enrichment and
life skills, such as nutrition and agricultural literacy. Below aresome available and useful resources for schools, students, andfamilies:
• www.ed.gov/coronavirus • www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/index.html • deal-hack.com/blog/free-resources-during-the-covid-19-pandemic •
www.healthyeating.org/As part of the social dis-
tancing and contending withCOVID-19, our monthly boardmeetings on the third Monday ofeach month will be held via tele-phone conferencing. The publicis invited and encouraged to lis-ten in and offer ideas of projectsthat can help improve our com-munity. To join in at 6 p.m. dial312-757-3221. When prompted,dial the access code 715657949#. To call SEMCU for more in-formation, call 559-363-9095.Or reach the organization atwww.semcu.org or by email [email protected].
SEMCU is“By the Community,For the Community”
By Matt Maringer
We understand this is a troublingtime for students and families while try-ing to balance education and work, re-spectively. What is appropriate for eachdistrict will vary owing to Covid-19 in-fection rates, local resources, and staterecommendations. Ultimately though,school this year has not resembled whathas been normal in previous years. Nearly93 percent of people in households withschool-age children reported their chil-dren engaged in some form of “distancelearning” from home. Data from theHousehold Pulse Survey show the per-centage of households with childrenusing online resources at different incomelevels.
The Covid-19 pandemic has also
Covid and School
Page 16
the Ranchos IndependentSAY YOU SAW IT IN
Click on “Local News” at
Room Additions & General Contracting • Commercial & ResidentialDiscount Steel Buildings: Sales & Erecting
Concrete Foundations & Flatwork 11
/20
Hello 93636,
When the Ranchos Independent ed-
itor asked me to write this monthly col-
umn, he envisioned readers writing in for
automotive advice. In the absence of
community inquiries, I try to write about
related and interesting automotive topics.
It is not my intention to write an au-
tomotive “political opinion” column, but
sometimes I feel compelled to defend
my industry. If California wants to drive
Electric Vehicles (EV's), I'm fine with
that. I'm prepared. I'm one of 1,540 ASE
Certified Hybrid/EV technicians in the
United States.
EV's have some very distinct ad-
vantages such as no transmissions, dif-
ferentials, starters or alternators. They
don't use fuel pumps, fuel injectors or
spark plugs. I wish I owned an EV but
they are way outside my financial com-
fort zone.
I knew Gov. Newsom would blame
fossil fuel vehicles for the 3.6 million
acres burned from California's wildfires.
Quote: "Our cars shouldn't make wild-
fires worse — and create more days
filled with smoky air." I guess Gov.
Newsom didn't read the Science & En-
vironment article dated Nov. 15, 2018
which states some estimates suggest the
northern California wildfires of 2018
emitted as much CO2 into the atmos-
phere in one week as all the cars and
Ready or Not, ONLYElectric Vehicles?
trucks in California emit in one year.
Pacific Gas and Electric now turns off
power to homes across California during the
wildfire season to prevent additional wild-
fires. Why? Over the previous decades, Cali-
fornia’s leaders have diverted billions of
dollars from electrical grid maintenance to
solar and wind power projects. California's
wildfires have nothing in common with
global warming and everything to do with
California's forest mismanagement.
California's poor management, costly
regulation and high taxes are so intrusive
many companies are now exiting the state.
One of those companies is Tesla Inc.
Following a heated exchange with the
Alameda County
and California reg-
ulatory authorities
who were prevent-
ing Elon Musk
from reopening his
Fremont Tesla fac-
tory due to Covid-
19, Musk
announced he's
leaving California
for Texas. Musk is
relocating the
Tesla company
headquarters and
manufacturing to a
4 million square foot facility on a 2,100 acre
site in Travis County about 15 minutes from
downtown Austin.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Elon Musk
chose to build in Texas partly because the
state offers more “freedom” than places such
as California. “Musk wanted to get into a state
where he could expand the way he wanted to
expand." In the previous 12 months, Texas
has gained 123,700 new jobs.
"In MY opinion" Gov. Newsom's re-
cently signed executive order banning the sale
of new fossil fuel cars and trucks in Califor-
nia by 2035 is a gift to appease California's
34 EV manufacturers. Newsom said his order
would be an EV economic boom. The ban
will create an all-EV new car sales market
five years earlier than the previous order.
Where is California going to get the additional
electricity needed to power the state’s new
electric fleet? Last summer the state’s electri-
cal grid operator asked customers to volun-
tarily reduce electricity use. After power
reserves fell to dangerous levels, “Stage 3
emergencies” were declared cutting off power
across the state at 6:30 p.m. The immediate
reasons for the power black-outs were the
failure of a 500-megawatt power plant and an
out-of-service 750-megawatt facility.
The direct re-
sult was Califor-
nia's climate policy
banning natural gas
and nuclear electri-
cal generation.
Last Decem-
ber, a PG&E report
concluded the util-
ity’s customers
could see black-
outs double over
the next 15 years
and quadruple over
the next 30.
Even though
solar panel costs have declined, their down-
fall is they are weather-dependent. Summer's
peak power demand, primarily from air con-
ditioning use, is the several hours before and
after sunset. Solar generation ends when the
highest demand begins. Let's now add mil-
lions of new EV's coming home from work
and plugging into the grid. EV Lithium Ion
high voltage batteries are massive. The Nissan
Leaf EV battery I removed was under the car,
from frame rail to frame rail, from front axe to
rear axle, and nearly 500 volts. It takes a LOT
of electricity to fill an EV battery. In order to
have solar electricity available at peak de-
mand and around the clock, large new stor-
age facilities and transmissions infrastructure
will need to be constructed.
Without new massive and costly infra-
structure, I'm imagining every California EV
home will need their own home solar storage
system to avoid the black-outs. With installa-
tion and additional costs, a home system is
roughly $11,000 to $18,000.
The statewide move to solar electricity
also comes with the additional high cost of
transmission from inland industrial solar
farms to coastal populations. What's the so-
lution to the Valley's short, foggy and rainy
winter days? More massive storage facilities
I assume. A 1,000-megawatt nuclear power
facility needs about 1 sq. mile of land mass.
In comparison, a solar farm needs 75 sq.
miles to produce the same 1,000-megawatts
of power.
California's lone standing nuclear power
plant, Diablo Canyon, is scheduled to go of-
fline in 2025. The Diablo Canyon plant can
generate about 2,240 megawatts of electric-
ity. If I do my math correctly, it will take
roughly 168 sq. miles of solar panels to re-
cover the loss from Diablo Canyon's closure.
The city of Madera has a total land mass
of 15.8 square miles. The area needed to re-
place Diablo Canyon's production is 10.63
times larger. How much of our Central Valley
will be re-imagined into solar farms? I believe
our Valley agriculture, our homes and our
way of life is under great threat if we continue
on our current path.
OK guys and gals, that's all for this one.
As always, if you have any suggestions, rec-
ommendations, general or specific questions
about a vehicle I can be reached at com-
[email protected] or text to 559-
907-7661.
God bless America and God bless
93636. Warren Parr, an ASE/NAPA 2013-14
California Technician of the Year.
Will Gov. Newsom’s decree outlawing internal combustionengines put a massive strain on California’s ability to produce elec-tricity, in a state already plagued by brownouts and blackouts?
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The Declaration reads: As infectious
disease epidemiologists and public health
scientists we have grave concerns about the
damaging physical and mental health im-
pacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies
and recommend an approach we call Fo-
cused Protection.
Coming from both the left and right,
and around the world, we have devoted our
careers to protecting people. Current lock-
down policies are producing devastating ef-
fects on short and long-term public health.
The results (to name a few) include lower
childhood vaccination rates, worsening car-
diovascular disease outcomes, fewer cancer
screenings, and deteriorating mental health
— leading to greater excess mortality in
years to come, with the working class and
younger members of society carrying the
heaviest burden. Keeping students out of
school is a grave injustice.
Keeping these measures in place until
a vaccine is available will cause irreparable
damage, with the underprivileged dispro-
portionately harmed.
Fortunately, our understanding of the
virus is growing. We know that vulnerabil-
ity to death from COVID-19 is more than a
thousand-fold higher in the old and infirm
than the young. Indeed, for children,
COVID-19 is less dangerous than many
other harms, including influenza.
As immunity builds in the population,
the risk of infection to all — including the
vulnerable — falls. We know that all pop-
ulations will eventually reach herd immu-
nity — i.e., the point at which the rate of
new infections is stable — and that this can
be assisted by (but is not dependent upon) a
vaccine. Our goal should therefore be to
minimize mortality and social harm until
we reach herd immunity.
The most compassionate approach that
balances the risks and benefits of reaching
herd immunity, is to allow those who are at
minimal risk of death to live their lives nor-
mally to build up immunity to the virus
through natural infection, while better pro-
tecting those who are at highest risk. We
call this Focused Protection.
Adopting measures to protect the vul-
nerable should be the central aim of public
health responses to COVID-19. By way of
example, nursing homes should use staff
with acquired immunity and perform fre-
quent PCR testing of other staff and all vis-
itors. Staff rotation should be minimized.
Retired people living at home should have
groceries and other essentials delivered to
their home. When possible, they should
meet family members outside rather than
inside. A comprehensive and detailed list of
measures, including approaches to multi-
generational households, can be imple-
mented, and is well within the scope and
capability of public health professionals.
Those who are not vulnerable should
immediately be allowed to resume life as
normal. Simple hygiene measures, such as
hand washing and staying home when sick,
should be practiced by everyone to reduce
the herd immunity threshold. Schools and
universities should be open for in-person
teaching. Extracurricular activities, such as
sports, should be resumed. Young low-risk
adults should work normally, rather than
from home. Restaurants and other busi-
nesses should open. Arts, music, sports and
other cultural activities should resume. Peo-
ple who are more at risk may participate if
they wish, while society as a whole enjoys
the protection conferred upon the vulnera-
ble by those who have built up herd immu-
nity.
I should say something in conclusion
about the idea of herd immunity, which
some people mischaracterize as a strategy
of letting people die. First, herd immunity is
not a strategy — it is a biological fact that
applies to most infectious diseases. Even
when we come up with a vaccine, we will
be relying on herd immunity as an end-
COVID cont. from P. 14
Please see COVID on P. 18
Page 18
Classified
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point for this epidemic. The vaccine willhelp, but herd immunity is what will bringit to an end. And second, our strategy is notto let people die, but to protect the vulnera-ble. We know the people who are vulnera-ble, and we know the people who are notvulnerable. To continue to act as if we donot know these things makes no sense.
My final point is about science. Whenscientists have spoken up against the lock-down policy, there has been enormouspushback: “You’re endangering lives.” Sci-ence cannot operate in an environment likethat. I don’t know all the answers toCOVID; no one does. Science ought to beable to clarify the answers. But sciencecan’t do its job in an environment whereanyone who challenges the status quo getsshut down or “cancelled.”
To date, the Great Barrington Declara-tion has been signed by over 43,000 med-ical and public health scientists and medicalpractitioners. The Declaration thus does notrepresent a fringe view within the scientificcommunity. This is a central part of the sci-entific debate, and it belongs in the debate.Members of the general public can also signthe Declaration.
Together, I think we can get on theother side of this pandemic. But we have tofight back. We’re at a place where our civ-ilization is at risk, where the bonds thatunite us are at risk of being torn. Weshouldn’t be afraid. We should respond tothe COVID virus rationally: Protect the vul-nerable, treat the people who get infectedcompassionately, develop a vaccine. Andwhile doing these things we should bringback the civilization that we had so that thecure does not end up being worse than thedisease.
Jay Bhattacharya is a Professor ofMedicine at Stanford University, where hereceived both an M.D. and a Ph.D. in eco-nomics. He is also a research associate atthe National Bureau of Economics Re-search, a senior fellow at the Stanford In-stitute for Economic Policy Research andat the Freeman Spogli Institute for Interna-tional Studies and director of the StanfordCenter on the Demography and Economicsof Health and Aging. A co-author of theGreat Barrington Declaration, his researchhas been published in economics, statistics,legal, medical, public health and healthpolicy journals.
This article is reprinted by permissionfrom Imprimis, a publication of HillsdaleCollege.
COVID cont. from P. 17
Page 19
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• If you have apanic button foryour car alarm,keep your keys by
the bedside. If you experience a problemduring the night, trip the panic alarm. Letyour trusted neighbors know about yourintention, and they will be able to assistyou.• "Great gravy is only a plastic bag away!I take a quart-size plastic bag and set it ina glass measuring cup. Pour the pan drip-pings through a strainer, right into the bag.Let it sit for 15-20 minutes, and the fat willseparate to the top. Seal the bag, and snipa small hole in a bottom corner, drain theliquid into a saucepan to make gravy. It'sthat easy." -- T.C. in Idaho• Whenever I am baking and the recipecalls for, say, 1 cup of honey (or someother sticky substance), I used to pour thehoney into the measuring cup but then
have a hard time getting all the honey backout of the cup and into the mixing bowl.Now I rinse the measuring cup with waterright before measuring, or spray with non-stick cooking spray. It slides right out!• To create a self-watering area for pottedplants while you are on vacation, set plantsin the bathtub or in a kiddie pool and use alength of cotton rope to wick water from thebathtub to the plant's roots. You can eitherstick it up the holes in the bottom of the potor dig it down a few inches into the soil.This should get you by for a week or so.• If you have a table that's wobbly becauseof an uneven leg, and you are a winedrinker, you're in luck. Take a wine cork,cut it in small slices and glue the slices tothe uneven leg until the table no longerwobbles. Easy!
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Happy Masksgivingand Dreary Christmas!
It’s the holiday season, 2020 style.Watch out! The political turkeys have
sucked up too much free socialist cider,they’re drunkwith power and they’re trans-forming America one lockdown at a time!Power is intoxicating, after all.
Sarcasm aside, our nation’s situation isserious on two fronts. While a virus is in-fecting and killing Americans on the onehand, power-hungrypoliticians are bludg-eoning our Republicto death on the other,crushing our rightsand using the coron-avirus as an excuse.And if schemingpoliticians manage tokill the Republic thatprotects our God-given rights, it will be 100 percent fatal to theliberty of every American.
If there is good news, it is that the virusis deadly to a relatively small percentage ofthe population, with most who are infectednot knowing it unless they are tested. CDCestimates survival rates of those who are in-fected as 99.92 percent for people under 49and 94.6 percent for those over 70. And weshould have a vaccine at some point. It maybe small comfort, but the numbers of re-ported cases and deaths are actually lowerthan reported, perhaps significantly.
COVID-19 cases are over-reported aspositive. The U. S. Food and Drug Admin-istration warned on Nov. 3 that false posi-tive results “can occur with antigen tests…” A New York Times article reviewed areport stating that PCR nasal swab testsdon’t indicate the degree of viral load orcontagiousness, so positive results can bemisleading. According to ICD10Monitor.com, false positives occur in PCR tests forCOVID-19 (Covid) often enough to be asignificant problem. The tests are obviouslyunreliablewhen somepeople test positive oneday and negative the next, including even acandidate for the U. S. Senate in Georgia.
COVID-19 deaths are over-reported.Death certificates can listmore thanoneprob-able causeof death, oneofwhichmight be thevirus. Some poor soulwhomight haveCovid(or not) could die of a completely differentcause such as a heart attack and the death
could be reported as “with” Covid. Whenreadingnews reports, takenote ofwhether theperson diedwith or ofCOVID-19.
And some deaths were reported ascaused by Covid before tests were avail-able. Consider this timeline: The first U. S.case was reported on January 19. The firstU. S. death was reported on February 29.Widespread testing wasn’t approved untilMarch 3. Fresno ordered a shutdown onMarch 12. California was shut down onMarch 19.
Meanwhile, politicians are using thevirus as an excuse to take away our free-doms of assembly, religion, speech and pur-suit of happiness. Are freedom of speechand the right to bear arms next? They areshutting down our livelihoods, schools, en-tertainment choices, travel, sports and
restaurants. Theyhave kept us frombeauty shops, nailsalons and gyms.They have bannedfuneral services aswell as visitingloved ones in hos-pitals and care fa-cilities, andmothers from
holding their newborn babies. Holidaygatherings are now to be regulated. And thesame hypocritical politicians who have de-manded the onerous regulations for all ofus are the first ones to break the rules.
We know the problems. We’re all liv-ing through this. We know the politicians’lockdowns make no sense and have nobasis in “science.”We know they are over-reaching.We know the heartache and harmthat the lockdowns are causing.What is notknown is how to stop themadness. Perhapsthe best thing we can do is to personally tellthe culprits who are locking us down whatwe want, in no uncertain terms. Call them,visit them, email and text them – often.Vote them all out of office (assuming thatour vote will be counted). And recall Gov-ernor Newsom.
Whew! Right now, a good laughmightbe in order. I just heard this: “Six people areallowed at Thanksgiving but 25 are allowedat a funeral. So, I’ll be holding a funeral formy pet turkey who will pass away onThursday, Nov. 26 A meal and refresh-ments will be served.”
And for an entertaining treat, youmight watch Congressman Tom McClin-tock’s “In defense of Gavin Newsom”video at McClintock.house.gov.
Stay safe. And may you have a trulyblessed Thanksgiving and find a meaning-ful way to celebrate with family and friends... with condolences to the turkey.
Stay safe. And may you have atruly blessed Thanksgiving and finda meaningful way to celebrate withfamily and friends ... with condo-lences to the turkey.
Click on “Local News” at
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Page 21
ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Your ruling planet, Mars, allows you to assume a sense of commandthat can help you turn a chaotic workplace situation into one that's orderly, productive and, yes, evenfriendly.
TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Getting a relationship that's been stuck in a rut up and running againdepends on how far you want to run with it. Be honest with yourself as you consider which decisionto make.
GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Be wary of rumors that seem to be coming from everywhere this week.Waiting for the facts before you act means never having to say you're sorry you followed the wrong lead.
CANCER (June 21 to July 22) A difficult personal matter might prompt you to turn to a trusted friendto help you sort through a maze of emotional conflicts. The weekend should bring some welcomenews.
LEO (July 23 to August 22) Some of the new people coming into the Lion's life could play pivotal rolesin future personal and professional matters. Meanwhile, an old friend might have an important message.
VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) A delay in getting things moving on schedule can be a blessingin disguise. Use this extra time to do more research so you can buttress any of the weaker points withsolid facts.
LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) You might need to get involved in a personal matter before itbecomes a serious problem. Also, be wary of someone offering to mediate, unless you can be sure ofhis or her motives.
SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Taking sides in a workplace or domestic dispute couldprolong the problem. Stay out and stay cool. Then you can be friends with both parties when thingssettle down.
SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) A friendship has the potential to become somethingmore, and with this week's aspects favoring romance, you might feel that this possibility is worthexploring.
CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) The new job you want might require you to relocate. Ifso, keep an open mind and weigh all the positives and negatives before making your decision.
AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) A new relationship seems to be everything you could havehoped for. Congratulations. Meanwhile, it's not too early to get some feedback on that new projectyou're working on.
PISCES (February 19 to March 20) You might have decided to get out of the fast-moving current andjust float around hither and yon for a while. But you might find that the new opportunity is tootempting to turn down.
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Page 22
1. GEOGRAPHY: The country of EquitorialGuinea lies on which continent?2. MOVIES: Which 1989 movie containsthe line, "Have you ever danced with thedevil by the pale moonlight?"?3. U.S. STATES: Which state's officialflower is the Rocky Mountain Columbine?4. LITERATURE: Which 17th centurySpanish novel includes the line, "Wit andhumor do not reside in slow minds"?5. HISTORY: How many crewed moonlandings has the United States made so far?6. TELEVISION: Which 1980s sitcomfeatures a character named Al Bundy?7. LANGUAGE: What action is describedin the term nephelococcygia?8. GENERALKNOWLEDGE:What coloris cyan?9. MUSIC: Which group had the 1989 hit"Love Shack"?10. ANATOMY: What is a goiter?
1.Africa2."Batman"(TheJoker)3.Colorado4."DonQuixote"5.Six6."Married...WithChildren"7.Findingshapesinclouds8.Greenishblue9.TheB-52's10.Enlargementofthethyroidgland
Answers
TRIVIA TESTBy Fifi Rodriguez
© 2020 King Features Synd., Inc.
© 2020 King Features Synd., Inc.Click on “Local News” at
Page 23
SSuuppeerr Crossword
www.The Ranchos.com
11/2
0
Monthly SEMCU MeetingsAs always, the public is invited to
participate at the monthly scheduledSEMCU meetings. Feel free to ask
questions and bring up any concerns youwould like addressed. The
highlighted area below has the info andinstructions for the December 21 meeting.
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