My Daily Struggle in the COVID-19 Lockdown

 A whole year; a whole year has passed since I started writing this blog. It has been three days since the one year anniversary of the pandemic. This pandemic caused suffering all around the world, but not as much as it has affected Americans. As of today, 29,920,435 have been diagnosed with COVID-19. That is almost 10% of the population. That means, of ten people with whom you will interact this day, one will have had it or are suffering from it now. Also, the latest death toll is 544,424. Hence, if you have not lost a relative or friend from COVID-19, you know someone who has suffered such loss.  Let us look back a year ago and compare it to last week. First, there were still hate crimes and acts of intolerance against ethno-racial minorities, only the last weeks have seen an increase in racism towards Asians--since they are being accused of bringing the virus to America (even if they were born here and never left).  There was an incidence of our President sli...

This week, one of you who is a regular reader expressed to me that, while he did not agree with some of my views, enjoys reading my blogs and encouraged me to keep blogging. This, friends, is open-minded thinking--something this country sorely needs right now. Another regular reader is an Democratic Illinois senator, so I know much of my opinions cross hairs with policies he supports. I appreciate this, friends, and it is an honor sharing my thoughts with you. Another person who had read my posts could not see both sides of the coin. They would shut you down if you said anything slightly supportive of the previous president. They would rant and rave about him but would not listen to my response. If they disagreed with a point I made, they would ask me for my source, and if I told them, they would discredit it if it were from a conservative viewpoint. I would tell them not to discuss politics with me since they would not listen to other perspectives or be fair in their judgements, but t...

 Hello again. Many of you have been very encouraging about me continuing to write blog posts indefinitely. I was originally going to resurrect my previous blog, The Silver Soapbox, but I am not set on it. But, when I retire this blog, you can be assured that I will keep blogging. For those who have been religiously reading, you have my humble thanks. I know you may sometimes disagree with me, but I am comforted that my thoughts and opinions are safe with most of you.  As a special feature, here is a poem I wrote today. It testified to how I have been feeling since the Inauguration. Hope it inspires you. Since I was young, I loved America It was my proud, happy home And I was proud to be born here My teachers taught me rights and liberties My mother taught me responsibilities and morals Freedom came at a cost, and we all had to pay My feelings and wants were beneath The good of the people The security of the Republic And the fear of God We learned that we ar...

 This was not a very good week. First, the good old boy of a District Attorney, Michael Gravely, decided not to pursue criminal charges against the cops who shot Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Yes, this is the same incident that caused the rioting and the shooting of rioters last summer. Yes, Blake had a warrant for his arrest, and yes, he was probably resisting arrest, and while Officer Rustin Sheskey possibly does not have any racial bias, many of us are compelled to ask the question once more: What if Blake were White? We have seen too many cases in which perps of European descent resist arrest and commit exceedingly violent crimes, even with guns, and they are brought to jail unscathed--no matter how aggressive they are. Heck, let's not forget Dylan Roof--the White supremacist who shot at congregants at Emanuel AME Church--killing nine of them--even a nonagenarian woman. By the time he was booked at the local jail, he had no bruises on his face. He was even given dinner fro...