Minutes Williamson County Board Of Education: Fill & Download for Free

Ahmed Mohamedis a sudanes arab decent americanif you want to fallow him her you goAhmed Mohamed (@IStandWithAhmed) | TwitterAhmed Mohamed clock incidentFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to navigationJump to searchAhmed Mohamed clock incidentAhmed Mohamed, October 2015DateSeptember 14, 2015VenueMacArthur High SchoolLocationIrving, Texas, United StatesThe Ahmed Mohamed clock incident occurred when 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed was arrested on September 14, 2015, at MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas, for bringing a disassembled digital clock to school. The incident ignited allegations of racial profiling and Islamophobia from many media and commentators.The episode arose when Mohamed reassembled the parts of a digital clock in an 8-inch (20 cm)[1]pencil container and brought it to school to show his teachers. His English teacher thought the device resembled a bomb, confiscated it, and reported him to the school's principal. The local police were called, and they questioned him for an hour and a half. He was handcuffed, taken into custody without permission to see his parents, and transported to a juvenile detention facility, where he was fingerprinted and a mug shot photograph was taken. He was then released to his parents. According to local police, the reason for his arrest was because they initially suspected he may have purposely caused a bomb scare. The case was not pursued further by the juvenile justice authorities, but he was suspended from school.Following the incident, the police determined Mohamed had no malicious intent, and he was not charged with any crime.[2][3]News of the incident became popular – initially on Twitter – with allegations by commentators that the actions of the school officials and police were due to their stereotyping of Mohamed based on his Sudanese ancestry and Muslim faith. Afterwards, U.S. President Barack Obama as well as other politicians, activists, technology company executives, and media personalities commented about the incident. Many of them praised Mohamed for his ingenuity and creativity, and he was invited to participate in a number of high-profile events related to encouraging youth interest in science and technology. Although Mohamed was cleared in the final police investigation, he became the subject of conspiracy theories – many of them contradictory, citing no evidence, and conflicting with established facts – which claimed that the incident was a deliberate hoax.[2][4]On November 23, 2015, Ahmed's family threatened to sue the City of Irving and the school district for civil rights violations and physical and mental anguish unless they received written apologies and compensation of $15 million.[5][6]This lawsuit was dismissed in May 2017 for lack of evidence.[7]The family also sued conservative talk show hosts Glenn Beck, Ben Shapiro, and another Fox News commentator for lesser amounts on the grounds of defamation of character. Both cases were dismissed with prejudice for First Amendment free speech reasons.[8]In late 2015, his family decided to accept a scholarship from the Qatar Foundation and move to Qatar, partially because of unsupported accusations of terrorist links and continued harassment by conspiracy theorists.[9]Contents1Incident1.1Background1.2Clock and arrest1.3Suspension1.4Lawsuits1.5Immediate responses1.5.1School district1.5.2Irving's mayor1.5.3Ahmed Mohamed and his family2Reactions3Opinions3.1Politicians3.2Media3.3Conspiracy theories3.4Others4References5External linksIncident[edit]Background[edit]Photo taken by the Irving Police Department of the clockAt the time of the incident on Monday, September 14, 2015, Mohamed was fourteen years old and a high school freshman. In interviews with local media, Mohamed said that he wanted to show the engineering teacher at school what he had done over the weekend; he had taken apart a clock and rebuilt it inside a pencil case that resembled a small briefcase.[10]His father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, said that he had driven him to school that morning and encouraged him to show his technological skills.[11]In an interview on Al Jazeera's Ali Velshi on Target, Mohamed said the clock was "built from scrap around the house" and that "some of the boards were already manufactured".[12]He told Larry Wilmore on The Nightly Show that it took him only "10 or 20 minutes" to put it together and that he had built more complicated items in the past but that the clock was simple, using some parts that were "scrapped off" so that it was easier.[13]According to the initial report in The Dallas Morning News, he had done this "before bed on Sunday [September 13, 2015]".[14]Ralph Kubiak, Mohamed's seventh-grade history teacher, said that Mohamed was known as an electronics enthusiast with a history of being disciplined for using a handmade remote control to cause a classroom projector to malfunction on command. Mohamed was also noted for making a battery charger to help recharge the cellphone of a school tutor.[15]The Dallas Morning News commented, "[s]ome of these creations looked much like the infamous clock – a mess of wires and exposed circuits stuffed inside a hinged case, perhaps suspicious to some."[16]According to the Guardian, everybody in middle school knew Mohamed as "the kid who makes crazy contraptions" and who fixed electronics classmates brought to him, earning him the nickname "Inventor Kid".[17]According to the Dallas Morning News, Mohamed's discipline record "was thick by some accounts", and he was suspended for several weeks while in middle school.[16]According to a family friend, one of the suspensions was for blowing soap bubbles in the bathroom and another was for his reaction to an alleged attack in the school hallway by a schoolmate. During that time, Mohamed "was complaining of bullying – not just by students, but by staff", reportedly for being Muslim. After reviewing a letter of support from the same family friend and meeting with Mohamed, the school principal overturned that suspension.[16]Clock and arrest[edit]Mohamed said he brought the clock to school because he "wanted to impress all of his teachers".[12]His engineering teacher, upon seeing the clock said, "That's really nice", but advised him to keep the device in his backpack for the rest of the school day, as he thought it resembled something akin to a briefcase bomb.[14]Mohamed, however, later plugged it in during his English class and set a time on the clock.[12]When the clock alarm started beeping, the English teacher requested to see it, and said, "Well, it looks like a bomb. Don't show it to anyone else."[11]In an interview posted on KXAS-TV (NBC 5), Mohamed said he "closed it with a cable ... 'cause I didn't want to lock it to make it seem like a threat, so I just used a simple cable so it won't look that much suspicious."[18]After the English teacher confiscated the clock and reported him to the school principal's office, the police were called. The principal and a police officer then took him out of class and led him to a room where four other officers were waiting.[14]Police indicated that he was interrogated only in order to clarify his intentions when he brought the clock to school.[2]According to Mohamed, he was not allowed to contact his family during the questioning and he was threatened by the principal with expulsion unless he would sign a written statement.[14]After interrogating him for about an hour and a half, he was taken out of the school in handcuffs and into police custody. Following his arrival at a juvenile detention center, Mohamed was fingerprinted, required to take a mug shot, and further questioned before being released to his parents.[2][19][20][21]Police determined that he had no malicious intent, and he was not charged with any crime.[2][3]Irving Police Chief Larry Boyd said that "the officers pretty quickly determined that they weren't investigating an explosive device", and that Mohammed was arrested over the prospect that it was a "hoax bomb".[22]Under Texas law, it is illegal to possess a "hoax bomb" with an intent to "make another believe that the hoax bomb is an explosive or incendiary device" or to "cause [an] alarm or reaction of any type by an official of a public safety agency or volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies."[23]After releasing Mohamed, police continued to question his clock's purpose, saying, "He kept maintaining it was a clock, but there was no broader explanation."[14][24]Some of Mohamed's teachers at Sam Houston Middle School were surprised to learn that staff at the high school called police, as they have known Mohamed to bring more elaborate devices to their school.[16]His supporters have speculated that the questioning and subsequent transfer by police to a juvenile center exemplifies Islamophobia in the United States.[2]Suspension[edit]Mohamed was suspended from school for three days.[25]MacArthur High School's director of communications said he was welcome to return after his suspension.[26]Lawsuits[edit]His family sent a demand letter on November 23, 2015, saying they would file a lawsuit if they did not receive $15 million in financial compensation and a public apology from the City of Irving and the Irving School District.[5]He later withdrew from the school.[27]His family then filed a lawsuit against the City of Irving and the school district on August 8, 2016.[28][29]The lawsuit alleged that officers racially profiled him and treated him differently on the basis of his race and ethnicity, starting with when “Yep, that’s who I thought it was,” with the implication being that they expected a student with a Muslim name to be the culprit.[30]The lawsuit continued that the officers "pulled A.M. forcefully out of his chair, yanked his arms up behind his back so far that his right hand touched the back of his neck, causing a lot of pain."[31]On May 19, 2017, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying the plaintiff presented no facts demonstrating intentional discrimination against Mohamad.[32]Mohamed Mohamed, on behalf of himself and Ahmed Mohamed, filed a defamation suit in Dallas County District Court on September 21, 2016.[33]The named defendants were The Blaze, Inc, Glenn Beck, Center for Security Policy, Jim Hanson, Fox Television Stations, LLC, Ben Ferguson, Ben Shapiro, and Beth Van Duyne.[34]Case No. DC-16-12579. The Mohameds were represented by Susan E. Hutchison of Hutchison & Stoy, PLLC.[35]A hearing was held on December 16, 2016, during which all claims against the defendants KDFW Fox 4 and Ben Ferguson were dismissed with prejudice (meaning the suit cannot be re-filed, though this can be appealed). On January 9, 2017, Judge Maricela Moore dismissed the suit against several media outlets (TheBlaze, Glenn Beck, Jim Hanson and the Center for Security Policy).On February 2, 2017, the suit against Ben Shapiro was also dismissed with an order citing the Texas Citizens Participation Act.[36]Legal fees and other relief were awarded to all defendants.[37]On March 13, 2018 a federal lawsuit filed by Ahmed Mohamed's father against the Irving Independent School District, the city of Irving, and several specific individuals, was dismissed with prejudice and with the court ordering Mohamed's family to bear all the costs of the lawsuit.[38][39]Immediate responses[edit]School district[edit]School district spokeswoman Lesley Weaver said, "We are never going to take any chances for any of their safety [...] It doesn't matter what child would have brought a suspicious looking item. We still would have taken the same actions." She further said "If the family is willing to give us written permission, we would be happy to share with the public the other side of the story so they can understand the actions we took."[11]Irving's mayor[edit]Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne defended the actions of the police and the Irving Independent School District, stating that they were following the procedure set when a "potential threat" is discovered.[40]Van Duyne said that from the information she had seen, Mohammed had been "non-responsive" and "passive aggressive" in response to questions from police officers.[41]Van Duyne said there was one-sided reporting of the interaction between Mohammed and police, saying that they are unable to release records because Mohammed is a juvenile and his family has refused to allow it.[41]According to The Dallas Morning News, Mohamed's family never received the request to release his records, because the school district mailed it to the wrong lawyer; the letter was later sent to the correct attorneys.[42]Ahmed Mohamed and his family[edit]According to Mohamed, when questioned by the school staff as to whether he had tried to make a bomb, he said, "I told them no, I was trying to make a clock."[43]He also questioned the fairness of the situation "because I brought something to school that wasn't a threat to anyone. I didn't do anything wrong. I just showed my teachers something and I end up being arrested later that day."[11]On September 18, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed announced that his son would either be transferring to a private school or be home-schooled.[44]The family has since withdrawn all of their children from schools in the Irving Independent School District, and the father said the events emotionally affected his son, who was not eating well and having trouble sleeping. He said, "It's torn the family and makes us very confused."[45]Though many schools offered to enroll Mohamed, his father said he wanted to give his son time before making a decision.[45]The family hired counsel "to pursue Ahmed's legal rights and regain his science project from the Irving Police Department".[46]The police issued a statement saying that they had made the clock available shortly after the incident and were awaiting pick-up by "the student's father, or his designated representative".[47]Mohamed eventually got the clock back from the police on October 23 shortly before the family left the United States.[48][49]In October 2015, the family decided to move to Qatar, where Mohamed continued his education in the capital city Doha with a scholarship from the Qatar Foundation for Education[50][51][52]and will attend Qatar Academy.[53]Mohamed's uncle said another reason for the family's leaving the United States was fear caused by all the attacks they received, the conspiracy theories, rumors, and unwarranted accusations of terrorist links.[9]The family returned to the Dallas area in June 2016, saying they missed the relatives who had stayed in the U.S.,[54]and they would return to Qatar in the fall.[55]In August 2016, it was reported that Ahmed Mohamed would start 10th grade at Qatar Academy in Doha in September 2016.[56]Reactions[edit]President ObamaTwitter@POTUSCool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great.16 Sep 2015[57]After the initial report in The Dallas Morning News caught his attention, tech blogger Anil Dash created an online form for people to send supportive messages and offer ideas about how to encourage Mohamed. Dash, with more than 500,000 followers on Twitter, was among the earliest to widely publicize the story through social media, and was first to tweet the photo of Mohamed handcuffed, wearing a faded NASA T-shirt. Within hours, the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed began trending on Twitter and Dash had received thousands of responses.[58][59]According to social analytics site Topsy, close to a million people sent out tweets with the supportive hashtag #IstandwithAhmed in less than 24 hours.[60]Mohamed opened his own Twitter account @IStandWithAhmed in the morning of September 16 and had more than 37,000 followers by the afternoon.[61]Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne said that Irving's police chief and other police officers, as well as teachers and school administrators, were receiving death threats as a result of the controversy.[41]Mohamed also received support from President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Mark Zuckerberg. On Obama's Twitter feed, a post said "Cool clock, Ahmed", and asked "Want to bring it to the White House?" continuing "We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great." Zuckerberg invited Mohamed to Facebook headquarters. Mohamed and his family announced that he was going to the White House for its annual Astronomy Night, where he would have the opportunity to meet other aspiring young scientists.[62][63]NASA astronaut John M. Grunsfeld with Ahmed Mohamed at the 2015 White House Astronomy Night.On October 19, 2015, Mohamed attended the White House Astronomy Night event on the South Lawn of the White House and met with President Obama.[64][65][66]The President gave a speech to the audience in attendance at the event, saying: "We have to watch for and cultivate and encourage those glimmers of curiosity and possibility, not suppress them, not squelch them."[66]After his speech, the President talked with Mohamed briefly and hugged him, in addition to looking through a telescope and being placed on a call with the crew of the International Space Station.[65][66]Google invited Mohamed to attend its science fair, urging him to bring the clock along; when he arrived he "received a warm welcome, touring the booths and taking pictures with finalists."[67][68]Twitter offered him a chance to intern with them.[69]Retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield invited Mohamed to his science show in Toronto.[70]According to Ahmed's father, the family was invited to the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City where, he said, United Nations officials wanted to meet his son.[45]On September 25, 2015, Ahmed met with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, who was in New York attending UN meetings.[71]He was also invited to the Social Good Summit in New York City,[72]and during his visit, he met with Mayor Bill de Blasio, City Comptroller Scott Stringer, Public Advocate Letitia James, and members of New York City Council[73]on a visit arranged by the NYPD Muslim Officers Society.[74]After meeting Mohamed, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams tweeted "I'll buy one of his clocks!"[73]In late February 2016, the school district filed suit against the Texas Attorney General, in order to challenge an order that the school district release a copy of a letter sent by the U.S. Department of Justice to the school district while investigating the case.[75][76]According to The Dallas Morning News, the letter had described allegations of "both harassment and the discipline of students on the basis of race, religion and national origin".[76][77]After the incident, MacArthur High School's 2015 valedictorian, then in college, wrote that MacArthur High School and the Irving Independent School District were very supportive of her and her beliefs as a Muslim, and that she did not experience any instances of religious discrimination or Islamophobia.[78]Opinions[edit]Politicians[edit]White House press briefing on incidentIn a debate among 2016 Republican presidential candidates, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said that he did not think that a 14-year-old should ever be arrested for bringing a clock to school but defended the police who were "worried about security and safety issues."[79]Twenty-nine members of the United States Congress, including Asian-American and Muslim members, sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney General at the Department of Justice requesting an investigation of "the civil rights violations that took place during the unjust arrest of Ahmed Mohamed."[80]The letter said "Ahmed was denied his civil rights on numerous occasions as he was consistently refused his right to speak with his father. Texas Family Code clearly states 'a child may not be left unattended in a juvenile processing office and is entitled to be accompanied by the child's parent, guardian, or other custodian or by the child's attorney.' (Section 52.025)"[81]The letter went on to say that reports about the incident suggested "that Ahmed Mohamed was systematically profiled based on his faith and ethnicity both by the Irving Police Department and MacArthur High School".[81]Letter from 29 members of the Congress to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch requesting a full investigation into the arrest of Ahmed MohamedWhite House press secretary Josh Earnest said that the incident "is a good illustration of how pernicious stereotypes can prevent even good-hearted people who have dedicated their lives to educating young people from doing the good work that they set out to do", and that Mohamed was invited to the White House South Lawn for Astronomy Night on October 19.[60][82]Media[edit]Techdirt writer Tim Cushing wrote that the Texas "hoax bomb" law Mohamed was accused under was too loosely worded, as a mere reaction by a public safety official was enough to fall under it (regardless of whether someone had intentionally meant to cause such a reaction), and that it could theoretically apply to other legitimate devices (such as phones and road flares) because they can "cause alarm or reaction of any type" from a public safety officer. At the same time, he wrote that the school itself may have also violated the same law, as they presented the clock to police as potentially being an explosive device.[23]Rose Hackman of The Guardian stated, "The incident caused international outrage, with critics claiming such drastic treatment would never have occurred had the teenager not been Muslim."[83]Writing in The Texas Observer, Patrick Michels said the Irving school district has a history of overly-punitive criminalization of childhood behavior and similarly called the arrest an example of "school-to-prison" thinking. "A child learns in school that he's a criminal, and he remembers that lesson for the rest of his life", Michels wrote.[84]The Wall Street Journal commentator James Taranto said he believes what happened to Mohamed is not uncommon; he points to a similar story from 2001 in New Jersey, in which Jason Anagnos, a nine-year-old non-Muslim boy, was arrested, charged and convicted for having brought a fake bomb along on a gifted-and-talented class field trip.[85]Kyle Smith of the New York Post brought up other cases of schools being overzealous in punishing white children for safety breaches, including a 7-year-old who pretended that his pop tart was a gun and a South Carolina teenager who had his locker searched for writing a story about shooting a dinosaur; he added that none of these children received the same level of attention as Mohamed.[86]George Takei, the Japanese-American actor who played Sulu on Star Trek, wrote an open letter to Mohamed, offering his support and drawing a parallel between Mohamed's experiences and those of the Japanese Americans (including Takei and his family) who were interned in the United States during World War II.[87]Kevin D. Williamson, a correspondent for the conservative magazine National Review, argued that the media was pushing a case for exaggerated Islamophobia, "because it can be used to further a story that the media already want to tell: that the United States is morally corrupt and irredeemably racist; that Muslims are under siege; that white privilege blinds the majority of Americans to the corruption at the heart of everything red, white, and blue", stating we now live in a time of "race-hustling and grievance-mongering". He contrasted the high level of media coverage for the incident with that of a lesser-reported incident involving the arrest of an eighth-grader for refusing to remove a National Rifle Association T-shirt in class.[88]Bill Maher said on his HBO series Real Time with Bill Maher that Mohamed deserves an apology but that his clock "looks exactly like a fucking bomb."[89][90]Conspiracy theories[edit]The Dallas Morning News and other media sources, including The Washington Post, referred to some comments and claims that emerged in the aftermath of the incident as conspiracy theories, reporting that most of them "cited no evidence, contradicted each other, or clashed with known facts".[4][91][92][93][94]Viral online posts sought to cast suspicion on Mohamed's family and Muslim groups that supported Mohamed after his detainment, positing that Mohamed planned to provoke his arrest to embarrass police and speculating the incident was a plot orchestrated by Islamist activists.[4]After reviewing these theories, Avi Selk of The Dallas Morning News wrote: "No theory that The News has reviewed cites any evidence that Ahmed, who routinely brought electronic creations to his middle school and said he wanted to impress high school teachers, planned to get handcuffed and hit the news" and reported that "a police 'investigation determined the student apparently did not intend to cause alarm bringing the device to school'."[4]Slate observed that at no point did officials exhibit any concern that the clock was dangerous.[95]The Washington Post and Time also noted that Internet-spawned "conspiracy theories" about Mohamed's motivations were partially responsible for his family choosing to leave the United States.[91][92]Others[edit]NASATwitter@NASAWe're supporters of #STEM & inspiring kids like Ahmed to pursue their dreams. Get involved: go.nasa.gov/1NxQJIz16 Sep 2015[96]Terri Burke, executive director of the ACLU of Texas, stated, "Islamophobia, and probably racism, certainly played a role in Ahmed's ordeal, but the fact is overzealous administrators, zero-tolerance policies, and law enforcement officers ill-equipped to deal with schoolchildren have compromised educational environments throughout the country. [...] Ahmed suffered through a terrifying, traumatizing, and unjust ordeal. Yet because of the mass exposure of what he endured, he's received invitations to the White House, Facebook headquarters, and the Google science fair. [...] For too many others – the ones whose stories won't go viral – the possibility of the American nightmare remains too real."[97]According to an article in The New York Observer, the widely circulated photograph of Ahmed in handcuffs wearing a NASA T-shirt has brought attention to the topic of STEM education (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) in America. "And now, children will be inspired to study STEM thanks to Ahmed's continued interest in it beyond all odds."[98]

Because too many in America are quick to only go by what they think, what the media feeds them, and don’t have any clue about reality, rather than question everything the media feeds them. I personally don’t fear C-19 because I’m informed. I’ve traveled a bit (not 1/2 of what several friends & family have done), and enjoy meeting new people, picking their brains, learning about their culture, trying to understand them, and why they believe what they do. I’d also say I’m not the smartest guy that I know, but as an educator, I read a lot. Also encourage my students to stay current on national & worldwide events (so I have to keep up with all of them combined), to consider at other viewpoints, look at the science (as well as the politics and history) behind different ideologies, & I personally enjoy looking at compiled statistics (altho I’m no statistician, and the actual compiling is too tedious for me). Also, I actually am “protecting myself” from the virus, but do not blindly follow the blatantly false narratives of the news media.The FBI’s data for 2017 (obviously, there’s no complete, published 2020 data yet, so I’ll try to stick to 2017 numbers across the board) reported 7,694,086 property crimes that year, 1,401,840 burglaries, and 1,247,321 violent crimes (included in that number were 15,192 deaths by firearm… which is not a whole lot higher than the 13,840 fire-related deaths & injuries the same year, but quite a bit lower than the 40,231 traffic deaths).However, the Bureau of Justice Statistics stated that there were actually 2,538,170 Household Burglaries (because only ~49% were reported) and 10,285,240 Other Thefts in the same year. (With a 95% confidence rate in the higher number.)Currently, the CDC has reported 174,645 deaths from C-19 (as of 8/22/2020… preceding link will have updated numbers as the days go by)… and according to their published numbers that is a 97% survivability rate. (On a side-note, I know over 200 people that have had it… all around the country… and refused to get tested… but they had all the symptoms, so I’m pretty sure that 97% survivability rate is on the low side.) The majority of reported deaths were people with pre-existing conditions, the elderly, or both. The CDC also reported the 2017 flu had 61,000 deaths (affecting the same demographic), and the Spanish flu of 1918 had a mortality rate in the US of 675,000 (which primarily affected the healthy under 5, 20–40, & 65+).All that means (as of today) is violent crimes, home invasions, and other crimes are over 5,900% more likely to happen to any American in an average year than death from the C-19 virus. (Another, un-related side-note: even if the Spanish Flu were to happen this year and kill the same number as 1918, the probability of a violent crime, home invasion, or other crime happening to any individual would still be over 3,000% more likely than dying from the Spanish flu.)I’ll come back to this later, but in light of those numbers, it seems a bit naive to me if someone has NOT done something to attempt to thwart (or prepare for) violent crimes, burglaries, and property crimes… even if it’s just getting a Ring doorbell or a medium- to large-size dog… everyone should do something.Moving over to masks, up until 2020 started, every study I found on the effectiveness of using masks showed no cloth or N-95 mask was very effective in stopping the spread of germs & diseases (if spread by droplets or aerosolized particles); they mentioned that they were responsible only for slowing the spread of anything, rather than effective to stop the spread. Yes, I know hospitals use them for pretty much everything (even TB)… I do have a lot of medical-professional buddies off whom I bounce questions, but there were studies (again, prior to the C-19 breakout) that stated using a plastic face-shield was much more effective (unless using them together, which was recommended, or a higher grade of mask). However, since C-19 started I’ve found many “studies” touting both cloth masks & N-95 masks… claiming those masks are now (miraculously) highly effective in stopping things that they could not stop (or they were very poor in stopping) just 9 months ago. That’s why I highly doubt the objectivity & truth of these recent studies. I’ve read the data on several that claim to have used several hundred people, but deeper into the study they admit they actually used only 1 or 2 people for their study (and they’d counted how many people came in contact with the 1 or 2… to come up with the “several hundred” number… rather than the old way of counting thousands that had contact “with a minimum of X others”). Sadly, a lot of these recent studies even mention having no “control” group… yet are still calling their work “clinical research” or a “surveillance study.” Publishing anything with no control group and 2 people in contact with under 200 others each is shoddy. Studying only 1 or 2 people shouldn’t be called “clinical research” or a “surveillance study,” because it’s actually just a “case report” (or a “hypothesis sample,” which should determine the direction of the planning stage of the clinical research study). Almost all of the “studies” conducted earlier than the C-19 craze required thousands of participants and a large control group… or no other medical professionals would recognize that work as legitimate. There are several good papers on what constitutes accepted protocols for conducting and publishing studies, I like this published paper at NCBI (2016) because it’s written in fairly plain language and is fairly comprehensive for such a short paper. In discussing how to calculate the number of subjects in a good study, it states,“The entire source from which the data are obtained is called a universe or population. A small group selected from a certain universe based on certain rules and which is accepted to highly represent the universe from which it is selected is called a sample and the characteristics of the population from which the data are collected are called variables.” — (Italics were from the paper, bold was added by me.)Most of the 2020 mask “studies” fail to “highly represent” the universe from which they’ve been selected (total US population), and consequently, the error probability of much of the current mask research is high.In spite of this, I still wear a mask, but the primary reason I wear my mask when I’m not sick is due to the county-wide mandate to do so. (I spent time in Japan during my HS years, so it seems perfectly sane to wear a mask when I am sick. Completely ridiculous to wear a mask when someone else is sick tho… the data is not there to prove the efficacy of masks on everyone. Maybe by 2023 there will be decent data one way or the other. )However, just because I discount the legitimacy of many recent mask studies, only wear masks because I’m forced to, and recognize death from the C-19 virus is only a very small possibility, that does not mean I’m not taking steps to protect myself from the virus. In addition to my “old fart” daily supplement, I take 1,000–2,000mg of timed-release vitamin C twice a day (with zinc), echinacea, & D3 (plus selenium & saw palmetto for “mens’ issue” prevention), I don’t go out if I don’t need to, I stay away from others that are sick, and I carry a bottle of hospital grade cleaner inside the door of my vehicles that kills all known pathogens on contact. (Most people cannot get this cleaner; I got a couple of cases of it from a lab that did extensive AIDS research when I was working as a biomedical technician.) I spray it on every gas pump I use and let it sit for a minimum of 30 seconds before I use that pump. (The next guy will have a nice clean pump too.) When I get back to my vehicle after shopping I also spray it on my hands. If any store I enter looks dirty, then I’ll also spray the soles of my shoes after leaving (right before I step into my vehicle). If I feel any symptoms of sickness, I stay home &/or wear a mask until they go away (more on this later). I feel these few steps are more than sufficient measures to lower my risk of infection, the risk to my immediate family, & that I’m not contributing to the spread of any disease.I actually do know many people that have contracted C-19 (got a positive test result); most were fine in 2 weeks without treatment, some said they lost their taste, smell, or both. A few friends said they felt like they were going to die, while my neighbor had to wear a defibrillator vest for 3 weeks (it restarted his heart 4 times that I know of). Also know of 9 (family of very close friends) that have died (4 in other countries), but no one I know first-hand has actually died. More importantly, I know my DR has been successfully treating the C-19 virus since early April using a deep infrared sauna (with slightly elevated, but not hypoxic CO2 levels during treatment). He’s had a 100% success rate so far: no side effects, no pneumonia afterward, & no recurrences. I’ve recommended him to everyone I know with symptoms, and nearly all testing positive have gone to get his treatment. I have several friends working in large hospitals here that have his number and they’ve already told him they’re going to see him immediately if they get anything more than a runny nose. What Doc does, is… if anyone goes right in for a treatment as soon as a sore throat, sniffle, or other flu-like symptom manifests… he’ll prescribe them one 15-minute treatment and they go home (that’s with no C-19 test; has worked for “regular flu” diagnoses & colds as well). If OTOH, they’ve received a positive C-19 test result and are mild or asymptomatic, then he prescribes two (to three) 15-minute treatments based on the severity of symptoms and time since symptoms first occurred. He’ll go up to four 15-minute treatments for acute cases (those near death), but very few have needed four. I’ve contacted numerous influential people in the news media, our local govt, DRs, local hospitals, even the CDC, but no one so far has wanted to hear anything about it, none have wanted to come view his treatments, or even read a copy of his data. When I press them, most admit it’s because there are no drugs or vaccines, nothing is able to be patented, and the treatment is inexpensive ($35/treatment). YT & FB have taken down every link, video, and paper he’s attempted to post… even tho they’ve been clearly labeled “clinical study” or “experimental C-19 treatment.” (I recommended to Doc that when he publishes he does it both in the US and in Sweden. Pretty sure if he doesn’t, then all of his research will be confiscated, and he’ll be put under a gag order.) According to his eqpt supplier, he’s the only one using this treatment right now, so if you want it, you’ll either have to fly to Broward County, Florida or buy a unit yourself (~$500). So, no… I’m not worried at all about contracting C-19… at least not any more than I would be getting the regular flu or a cold.I’m not “afraid” of a home invasion either, but I have some preparation for one (and not all of my defense layers will ever be posted online). Primary preparation is carrying one or more condition-1 firearms, pretty much everywhere… as long as I’m not in the shower (or in any legally restricted gun-free zone when I leave my home). Secondarily, I’ve prepared by installing hurricane windows and doors… the windows are bullet-proof straight-on at close range… there are deadbolts (even tho you only see 1 from outside), and all of the door jambs aren’t just sitting in place (with short nails or screws), they’re set deep in the concrete with 6″ tapcons. (Other than the windows, all of these are fairly easy and inexpensive preparations anyone could do in a weekend.) The third (and most important) layer of defense was teaching my entire family gun safety (first) & how to skillfully handle firearms. None of the kids have horsed-around, or “played” with firearms or other weapons; they recognize firearms as tools and treat them with respect. I teach them gun safety at a young age with Nerf- (when they’re young and more apt to play with a weapon), then airsoft-, & finally BB-guns. After they’re knowledgeable in gun safety, they’ve matured, and shown significant responsibility, then I’ll put them in a controlled environment (gun range with a single round in revolvers, rifles, & then semi-automatic handguns, etc.) to teach them proficiency with the tools available in our home… and only those tools that a rational person would think they can operate safely at their age (primarily .22lr rounds… until they’re adult-sized and big enough to handle a 9mm).Did that because I had to stop 2 home invasions myself (wasn’t hard, simply had firearms close at hand & knew how to use them). Was ~8yo the first time and ~10yo the second. Both times the cops said (based on what had been happening in that area) the probability was better than 90% that they’d have raped my mom & sister, then killed all 3 of us, robbed the house, and left our bodies for dad to find when he got home. That was a long time ago, and the world isn’t any better. Since I’ve stopped home invasions, I know they happen. Have also had several friends experience them, most successfully stopped them, a few just survived them (one “survivor” was physically abducted at knife-point, tied up, terrorized, and held for several hours… she still has extremely bad PTSD).Based on my experience and that of my friends, I feel it would be much better to teach gun safety (not gun operation) to all kids in school than it is to keep all guns under lock and key all the time. Yes, I know guns aren’t accessible in a safe or under lock and key, so they can’t be used, but that’s part of the problem. Several of my “home invasion survivor” friends had their guns locked in a gun safe at the start of the home invasion… because they were afraid to have a firearm out of the safe with the possibility of a “tween” or teen seeing the weapon. It would be much better to teach the kids the how & why of gun safety in elementary school, that they are not toys, that friends & loved ones can die if you mess around with them, and get most of the kids in schools over the fascination with real guns… or the idea that since all real guns are locked up, every gun you find will be a toy gun someone lost.Had 2 cousins shoot family members because their anti-gun parents lived in an anti-gun city, in an anti-gun county, and thought that telling their kids, “guns are bad” was enough to keep everyone safe. It wasn’t. The 3yo cousin (nearly 4yo) thought he found a toy gun in a nail bin, pulled it out, pointed at his dad, and pulled the trigger (his dad didn’t live to see the ambulance). The 12yo cousin (different part of the family, but the same town) thought he found a toy gun in a creek and did nearly the same thing, but killed his best friend (big brother) instead. All-around pretty devastating for the family.As a result, my dad thought it would be better to teach me to be responsible and to have a grasp of the basics of gun safety at a young age. Was a good thing he did: when I was ~8yo, & saw a car-full of scary-looking guys coming down our driveway, with my mom (who didn’t know how to get the safety off or shoot well), we were able to run them off. The 2nd time (~10yo) was a van-full of scruffy guys that actually made it to my porch, started pounding on our front door to break it down… it was just me and my little sister at home for 10 min while my parents ran to the nearest convenience store. If my dad hadn’t left me a 12 gauge (used that the 2nd time) or a handgun (used that the 1st time, but also had one with me the 2nd time too… in case they got thru the door), then I wouldn’t have been able to use a firearm to drive off the criminals, my dad would’ve been a widower before 30, and my mom, sister, & I would have been no more than a sad statistic today.IMO, if a kid isn’t responsible and mature, they still need to learn gun safety, however, they shouldn’t have access to any firearm, or be taught how to operate them. (The US would be a much better place if everyone knew the finality of screwing around with a firearm.) Also don’t think people with serious mental issues should have access to firearms, either. (Have close family members that gave their firearms to others in the family to hold when they realized they were depressed; smart move IMO.) Lastly (& I’m sure this one will be controversial) I think there is a whole new test that should be created and given to concealed carrying firearms owners: All conceal-carry permits should be nationwide (like a driver’s license), but after the teaching on gun safety and before a permit could be issued (and right before every renewal) there should be a mandatory urine test for illegal & non-prescription substances. If anyone fails that drug test, then they should be put on 2-week probation, & re-tested (blood test the 2nd time)… if they fail the 2nd, they should be restricted from carrying firearms for 6mo (receiving another drug test at both 3mo and 6mo). If they fail either of those, they should have to get all firearms out of the house for 3 years… and have drug tests every 3 mo for the duration of that 3-years (re-setting the 3-year clock for every failed drug test).I also think the US would be a better place if we had similar restrictions for those with a first offense DUI, a domestic abuse case (proven, not just claimed), & sexual abuse cases, etc. (on that note… after passing a gun safety class & drug test, the abused spouse should be allowed to purchase & concealed carry a firearm for self-defense regardless of their state.) The abusing spouse should be required to store their firearms away from their home either with a relative or friend (who will be subject to the same amount of jail time for whatever crime the abuser commits against the abused spouse with that stored weapon), or the local PD, or a gunshop for a 3-year minimum after their offense (if it included no jail time).My thinking is, if it’s federal, everyone has to have the same level of safety training as well as the illegal substance tests… and losing firearms for non-weapons offenses: if someone is so irresponsible as to endanger the lives of others (DUI), then on the 2nd offense, they should lose their carry permit for 3 more years, and on the 3rd, no longer be allowed to carry a concealed weapon. If they’re a ticking time-bomb behind the wheel of a car, then they probably will be with a weapon too. Those serving time for any abuse, violent crimes, or weapons-related crimes (murder, rape, robbery, home invasion, assault, etc.) should also not be allowed to have guns in the home for at least 10 years after their release (with random drug tests), unless the victim(s) petitions for a waiver… and there is irrefutable evidence of a changed life. I also feel that any household in which all of the members have passed gun safety classes should be exempted (in all states) from locking up all the firearms that aren’t in the direct possession of someone using the firearm (i.e. gun racks in homes with responsible, mature, trained kids would be fine), unless a non-tested individual came over to visit (which would seem to be common sense to me). Another side-note… also think it would be nice if those standard weapons lost to forfeiture could be made available for abuse victims for free (first), then to schools, 4-H Clubs, and Boy- & Girl-Scouts (places with gun clubs for kids), and any exotic, or left-over firearms could be sold and the proceeds go to whatever the voters in each county deemed a “worthy” cause.I’ve looked for recent data on firearms stolen annually in an attempt to determine the validity of the “lock up all firearms because hundreds of thousands are stolen every year” (I’ve heard people say they’re stolen to commit crimes), but the most up-to-date report I can find is from the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2010 and it really doesn’t indicate that theory holds much weight either. It does, however, denote a clear annual downtrend in firearms stolen annually since the mid-1990s (firearms stolen annually was under 150,000 by 2010) and that most of the thefts are taking place in roughly the same percentages of where the most population resides (~55% of the US population is found in suburban areas, and they had ~50% of the property crimes & burglaries, the difference was split between urban and rural areas).Another unfounded statement that annoys me is when people try to tell me that firearms deaths in the “under 18” bracket is in the tens of thousands annually. The FBI’s data has that clearly available to anyone willing to look thru all of their tables and take some note: of the 17,251 firearms-related offenses (not only murder) in 2017, only 803 of those were committed by someone under 18. Of the 15,129 that were murdered in the same year, only 1,208 were under 18 (680 killed with a firearm). The kicker: how many under 18yo victims were killed by under 18yo offenders? that would be a grand total of 85. The “children victimizing children with firearms” scenario doesn’t hold water. Suicide prevention needs much more attention than preventing kids from learning gun safety. It’s the 2nd leading cause of death (after accidents) in 10 to 18-year-olds; it’s much higher (2,381) than total homicides (1,358) in the same report (didn’t have homicides with firearms in that one).In our house, guns are mainly just tools. Over the years I’ve had to grab a gun many times to run out and shoot poisonous snakes & rabid animals that were threatening livestock, pets, family, and neighbors. I’ve also driven thru fields to find my cows down on the ground with broken bones… once with a debilitating gunshot to the abdomen (that one really irked me). If I don’t have a gun on me when something like this happens, then I generally toss my keys to whichever of my kids is riding along (as young as 10) and send them back to the house with the truck to get a fully loaded 9mm, .45, or .44, so I can put the suffering animal down without causing it more pain & anguish (I prefer to stay and calm the animal as best as possible while someone else goes for the weapon… and I usually ask them to return with a backhoe to bury it). I get ludicrous responses when telling this to others…Many people have tried to say something about how it’s “different” for me “living out in the country” or because I’m “living out west” but… I don’t. I’m in Broward County Florida; the 17th most populated county in the US. In 20–25 min I can drive to downtown Ft. Lauderdale, downtown Miami, or out into the Everglades. (The infamous “Liberty City riots” were actually about 15 minutes from my door, but thankfully that happened before I moved down.) So no… it is not “much different here” and I’m not “in the country,” I just happen to have a small farm in a densely populated area and my kids are mature and responsible for their age because I taught them to be.As for blindly supporting Trump across the board… I don’t. He wasn’t very my last choice of everyone that was running as an independent or as a Republican (Jeb…cough…my former governor… gag), but he was pretty close. (Not one of the Democrats seemed like a sensible option even next to Jeb.) I’m not a die-hard Republican Christian… I’m just a God-fearing, pro-life, anti-socialist. The (D), (I), & (R) labels aren’t relevant to me. If a candidate fails either of the 2nd or 3rd categories above, then they don’t get my vote; if they fail the first, then at least I know what I’m dealing with.I’m pro-life because I’m pro-science. If I want to know something, I find good books on the subject and teach myself… for example: baby brains start developing around the 3rd week while the heartbeat is detectable between 5–1/2 to 7 weeks. If someone has a brain and a pulse, I consider them human, with their own right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.I’m anti-socialist because I’ve got a lot of Cuban, Romanian, Venezuelan, and Russian friends that have told me exactly what their lives were like living under a Communist regime. I don’t want to see the US going anywhere near socialism, communism, fascism, etc. Personally, I think that anyone that supported Bernie (or an equivalent candidate… for any public office) should voluntarily go live in Venezuela (which was the 4th largest oil producer in the world, before Chavez… and only if Maduro is still in power), or Cuba, or North Korea… for at least 2 years, so they can experience a “true” socialist or communist society. (If they aren’t willing to experience true socialism or communism, then they aren’t being honest about their ideology.) After their first 2 years in a socialist, or communist country, then they can either decide to stay in that country (if they’re still socialists), or come back here and vote with their brain rather than support that failed ideology… socialism is anti-Constitution.Getting back to Trump, I’ve not been impressed with very many of his pre- or post-Presidential actions (have been with Pence tho, that guy is a class act), except that he does do the unexpected. Sometimes I laugh, other times I smack my head, and sometimes he surprises me with something good. On a personal level, Trump appears to be an OK guy if he’s your friend. He’s not really got much else going for him personally, except that he’s doing what he believes is best for America & supports our veterans, and those are things I support & respect.Administratively, since Trump does have a firm grasp of business principles, I’d love to see how America could really take off if we cleaned out the career politicians that have been camping in DC for decades and put in some business owners to make our country run more efficiently. I really can’t imagine why anyone would want to vote for a President, Senator, Representative, Governor, or Mayor that’s never held any job except that of a lawyer or politician? & what modern-day career politician has even the smallest inkling of how to make a business profitable? Most Americans that have started their own business (or even managed someone else’s business) know that it’s simple to start out: cut costs, don’t give away the store, and make sure there’s no “dead-wood” taking a paycheck for doing nothing. I would think that this one thing (of knowing how to make a business profitable) would be more important for regular Americans to see in a candidate than someone who promises to give out free phones, or free money to people that are not working (& not looking for a job), or trying to pay for the medical bills of illegal immigrants (or people that have shot themselves up with drugs for years). If we had more business-minded people in Congress than activists, then we’d have a shot at getting our country out of debt.Most of the things I like about Trump’s Presidency so far I’ve heard echoed by other church-going people. I (and nearly all of them to whom I’ve spoken) not only dislike his pre-presidential personal life… but also will tell you that right away. The main administrative things I like are: he’s trying to improve the economy, decrease federal spending, lower taxes, cut out the dead-wood in the federal govt., and he’s doing that for a $1 paycheck. No President in recent history can say all of that.