I live in one of the strangest places on Planet Earth, The Villages, Florida. The Villages is a census designated, planned 55+ retirement community of over 140k residents and growing. Their catchphrase is “Florida’s Friendliest Hometown”...weirdest would be more appropriate!
I am only here in The Villages because my wife insisted. This is not her opinion; she loves every little thing about it. For me though other than the warm winter weather, it sucks. Driving anywhere is a pain. Way too much traffic and it will continue to get worse as they are continuing non stop developing. Homes are crammed together & you can hear everything from next door, conversations, dishes clanking, dogs barking - it can be as noisy as living in an apartment building. Hope you don’t mind nosey neighbors either. Those near the Florida Turnpike or busy Morse Blvd have 24-7 traffic noise. The really unlucky people live near a pickleball court. Pickleball is played with a paddle and a hard plastic wiffle-type ball on a badminton-size court with a tennis net. The sound of a paddle striking a pickleball is similar to a ping-pong game amplified. All day long - bonk, bonk, bonk, bonk. I heard the CIA is replacing waterboarding with audio tapes of pickleball games to make enemy suspects talk. A couple of hours listening to pickleball and they would give up their own mothers! Heavy golf cart traffic is ridiculous and dangerous. I ride my bike on the cart paths and it is scary. Read the Villages-News.com online newspaper for all the latest drunk cart driving accidents and the real unvarnished truth about what goes on here. Recently there has been a number of drivers with their full-size vehicles inadvertently on the cart paths. Stupidity & senility go hand-in-hand whether driving a full-size vehicle or toy car (aka golf cart) in The Villages. Many of the ridiculously expensive golf carts are pimped out with these godawful conversion kits to look like Hummers, Jeeps, Rolls Royces, etc. Then here in the land of sunshine, they fully enclose the carts with heat & AC. It was in the mid-70’s the other day, not a cloud in the sky, and most of the golf carts I passed had their doors closed & people even had on winter clothes. Back home I used to drive my Jeep Wrangler from May to the end of October with the doors and top removed. I just don’t get it! The swimming pools are all heated too. I mean it is 90 degrees in the shade and you need a heated pool? It must have something to do with poor blood circulation in old people. Leesburg, Florida is next door to The Villages and has more crime than seems possible for such a small town with only 20k residents. I used to think that Erie, PA was like the Wild West when it came to drive-bys, shootings, drug crime, and robberies. All those crimes and more are rampant in Leesburg and make Erie look like a peace & love commune! Don’t make the mistake of thinking there isn’t any crime within The Villages. Just because people get old doesn’t necessarily mean they are all now honest upstanding citizens! Stalking, sex crimes, road rage, vandalism, theft, gun crime, assaults, alcohol & drug related incidents are in the local news regularly. The other day a 76 year old man was arrested for strangling his female partner over an argument involving their cats! Today a woman was arrested for throwing rocks at a child, hitting the kid 5 times. You can’t make this stuff up...its nuts! If you are a fan of plastic artificial stuff in general, The Villages is the place for you. There are currently 3 imitation Western, Spanish, and Seaside themed town squares with overpriced shops, boutiques, restaurants, and markets. There are even pretend Country Clubs where you can go and hang out while you make-believe you are a member of an elite club. The Villages is a gated community. Not really though. There are gates but they are just to slow you down as the cart paths & village entrances intersect at that point. You do not need any ID or passcode to enter. Some of the entry gates actually have people manning them but it is just for show. There are no guards to enforce strict entry rules. The gates get knocked down all the time by idiot drivers. The gated community term is a marketing tool and to make residents feel privileged & entitled. The Villages is a marvel of overpriced cookie-cutter homes arranged in villages that remind me of a Twilight Zone episode in which a couple woke up in this picture perfect town only to find out everything in it was fake and they were in a giant being’s terrarium. The Villages is like The Stepford Wives meet Pleasantville in The Twilight Zone. The place is as strange and unnatural as it gets. The Villages has been described as an adult playground, a land-locked cruise ship, and a Disney World for adults. I always thought a person should age with some semblance of dignity but reverting back to their childhood is a common theme here. Playing games all day, driving toy cars, wearing silly hats & clothes, they are an embarrassment to senior citizens in general. When someone back home asks me where I live in Florida, I just say between Orlando & Ocala, never The Villages. Get outside TV and this central part of Florida is pretty darn ugly. Swamps, brush & scrubs, ugly trees, trashy homes, dumpy house trailers with plenty of crime & drugs to go around. I carry a legally concealed handgun pretty much everywhere I go. If you like alligators, The Villages has more alligators than we have stray cats up north. They wander across golf courses, backyards and trails. The alligators don’t seem bothered by humans. Coincidentally the neighborhoods are inexplicably free of any stray cats. I am more critical of The Villages than most because I don’t play golf, I don’t like games or clubs, I don’t like to socialize, I don’t like pools, I don’t like replicas and would much rather be around animals than people. I’ve been here almost 4 months and haven’t needed or would even use an ID card for anything they offer. I prefer solitary pursuits; cycling, hunting, fishing, kayaking, reading, television, sitting on a beach, etc. Any natural setting by an ocean, forest, river, or lake is my cup of tea. I live in a small lakeside community at home in Edinboro, PA. The homes are all quaint & unique. The people are genuine and the setting although developed retains a natural look and feel. As I said before, I am not your typical resident. And so the stranger asks, “Where is it you live?” Somewhere between Orlando and Ocala :-)
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When rock music exploded onto the scene, my favorite music came from the three-piece rock bands. Guitar, bass & drums - period! The music was raw, loud & unfiltered. Jimi Hendrix Experience, Johnny Winter, ZZ Top, the early Grand Funk Railroad, James Gang, and Blue Cheer. Blue Cheer’s cover of ‘Summertime Blues’ has been cited as heavy metal’s ground zero. I first saw Blue Cheer on American Bandstand of all places. Dick Clark always showcased mainstream dorky pop rock bands like Paul Revere & the Raiders but wow, here was Blue Cheer with hair down below their shoulders and just thrashing ‘Summertime Blues’...awesome! But, I digress. So what about Rush? I just finished watching (for the 3rd time) the 2010 documentary, ‘Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage’ on Netflix. I give the documentary (and Rush) 5-Stars and 2-Thumbs up! It is refreshing to watch a behind-the-scenes story of a successful band who deeply care for one another as family, put each other’s well being ahead of business, and whose history is not littered with drug & sex scandals. Rush defied the record companies, made their music their way and succeeded despite the world’s rock music establishment critiques & ignorance. My favorite parts (if I had to choose) included the high school video footage, Gene Simmons (he is too funny) & Jack Black’s humorous but insightful comments, the backstory(s) to the different albums... actually the entire film was my favorite part! It wasn’t just musical genius & ingenuity that set Rush apart from their contemporaries. Rush was a family in the truest sense of the word. In 1997 Neal Peart needed time & an 88,000 km motorcycle road trip to deal with the death of his 19-year-old daughter Selena, killed in a car crash, followed by the death from cancer of his wife Jackie 10 months later, and then the death of his dog a month after Jackie died. The band came together as a family instantly putting the business aside for 5 years. Alex Lifeson said they didn’t even think about the business but only what they could do to help Neil. Neil was the master of a 40-piece drumset. There’s a joke that asks, how many drummers does it take to screw in a lightbulb? The answer is five: one to screw in the bulb, and four to talk about how much better Neil Peart would have done it. I found it amazing to learn that at the pinnacle of his career he never wanted to stop improving and took lessons to learn & try different techniques. In my opinion Rush stood the test of time better than any other band. Yes, the Rolling Stones, Arrowsmith and a number of others are still going strong but unlike the Stones (as an example), Rush did not need to communicate with each other through attorneys, endure sex scandals, the Altamont tragedy, drug arrests, heroin addictions, numerous replacements of band members and become daily gossip fodder for the tabloids. By not joining the list of “bad boys” in the rock industry such as the Stones, Van Halen, Ozzy, and more, Rush was marginalized by the music industry & press. Their music did not conform or relate to any other style of rock, they didn’t write music just to get airplay, and they were just too darn nice and boring. Nice guys with uneventful lifestyles don’t sell newspapers & magazines! On the website ‘Outsiders And Misfits’ in an article entitled ‘Rush: A Rock Band for Introverts’, author A.E. Westerling relates that “Rush never tried to make a hit song and they simply didn’t care about being radio-friendly. Nevertheless, they have sold 40 million records worldwide including 24 gold records and 14 platinum records, placing them fifth behind The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Kiss, and Aerosmith on the list of rock bands with the most consecutive gold or platinum studio albums.” In addition Rush was nominated for seven Grammy Awards, won several Juno Awards, and won an International Achievement Award at the 2009 SOCAN Awards. The band was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1994 and FINALLY (for what it’s worth) the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. Just goes to show you, nice guys don’t always finish last! Rush ceased large-scale touring at the end of 2015, and Lifeson announced in January 2018 that the band would not continue. On January 7, 2020, Peart died of glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer at the age of 67. Many other hugely popular bands such as Boston, Styx, Queen, etc. have continued cashing in on their name & to relive their glory days but missing some or almost all the original members and without any new releases for decades. There could be and would be no thought of ever replacing Neal Peart. Each member was integral to the whole. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson would stay true to the memory of Rush. ‘Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage’... Be sure to check out ‘ZZ Top: That Little Ol' Band From Texas’ also on Netflix. Here’s another group of nice guys whose music was marginalized by the critics. "Massive New Sign Installed at Bayview Park" reads the headlines on a popular Erie, PA news website. A ten-foot wide, five-foot high sign now stands proudly at Bayview Park. Operations manager Benjamin Davis said “the sign will bring foot traffic to an area that is looking to enhance the appeal of the Erie region."
I don’t know about you but I can't wait to see it! I do hope the crowds of sign-spotters are not too bad. I am planning our next family vacation around it. We plan on getting lots of selfies with the sign, picnicking in the cool shade it will provide, watching the sunsets with the sign in the foreground, standing under the sign, hugging the sign, camping out beneath the sign, starting a Facebook page about our visit to the sign, tweeting sign updates to all our followers, and checking off this box on our list of 'Sign Vacations' (the 'Hollywood Sign' is next on my bucket list). Then we'll pretend it is falling on me as I get my photo taken, hold a candlelight vigil around the sign for fellow sign enthusiasts who have passed away, renew our wedding vows beneath the sign, make a friendship circle around the sign while holding hands & singing ‘Kumbaya’...gosh I am so excited! I just know that the awe inspiring sight of the sign will induce me to shop ‘till I drop and spend money like crazy in Erie! NOTE: Parking could be scarce so be sure and get there early for the best views of the day! Masks for COVID - False Sense of Security (or worse)?
The only protection that has been proven to be truly effective against COVID is a N95 facemask that must be properly fitted, discarded & replaced routinely. Homemade cloth & surgical masks do offer minimal protection but can be potentially harmful. Once a mask is worn, that mask is now considered contaminated and should be discarded or disinfected with a bleach solution. If you touch the outside of the mask and touch your face, you just gave a contaminant a way inside your body. In reusing a mask you are breathing through a petri dish of bacteria and worse being fed with your warm humid exhalations. Now that many people have been vaccinated or have natural or active immunity the "mask mandates for all" needs to be changed. Just those who have not been vaccinated or do not have natural/active immunity should wear a mask...but one that works, as in a N95. Many people will argue that natural or active immunity is different from vaccinated immunity. Here is what the CDC has to say; “Active immunity results when exposure to a disease organism triggers the immune system to produce antibodies to that disease. Exposure to the disease organism can occur through infection with the actual disease (resulting in natural immunity), or introduction of a killed or weakened form of the disease organism through vaccination (vaccine-induced immunity). Either way, if an immune person comes into contact with that disease in the future, their immune system will recognize it and immediately produce the antibodies needed to fight it.” And from the WHO, “Vaccines train our immune systems to create proteins that fight disease, known as ‘antibodies’, just as would happen when we are exposed to a disease . Even people without symptoms develop an immune response.” People who have been vaccinated or have natural or active immunity from having COVID (like I have) do not need to be masked; it would be pointless. We cannot get COVID and we cannot transmit COVID. Now there are a number of “experts” who think we should continue wearing the masks just in case the vaccine did not work and to prevent possible infection/transmission of any COVID variants. I say “Enough is Enough”! Florida does not require the wearing of masks & left it up to the individual whether to wear a mask or not. The number of reported COVID cases in Florida is no more than that of other states with strict mask mandates. Unfortunately I have found that logical arguments backed by proven science (not “may happen” or “might not be”) fall on deaf ears. It is similar to having an argument over religion. The true believers have blind faith and no person will ever sway their belief no matter how sound the opposing view. “A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears.” - Michel de Montaigne Frank Zappa and ‘I Am the Slime’ - still valid 52 years later! In 1970 I was in the tenth grade and my first introduction to Frank Zappa was when a friend of mine bought a copy of “Chunga’s Revenge”. Next came “The Mothers – Fillmore East - June 1971” and I became an instant lifelong Frank Zappa fan. Zappa recorded a cut from his “Roxy and Elsewhere” in Edinboro, PA where I live most of the year and I had the good fortune to see him in concert in Erie, PA in the late ‘70s. Needless to say, the performance was fantastic. I have copies of pretty much everything that has been released & last fall I bought the Frank Zappa remastered release of “Halloween 81: Live At The Palladium, NYC, 6 CD Costume Box Set”. My all time favorite is still that 1971 Mothers live at the Fillmore album. Frank Zappa was first and foremost a serious and gifted musician. Zappa could do straight-up jazz, fusion, blues and rock as good or better than anyone but he had a real flair for mixing in a lot of fun stuff with the music (“The Dangerous Kitchen” 1983), political commentary (“Joe’s Garage” 1979) and in support of free speech (“You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore” 1988). Fast forward to 2021 as we are bombarded daily with COVID exaggerations, misinformation and government mandates. Imagine what Frank would think of the mindless groupthink behavior linked to COVID. The song “I am the Slime” may have been released 52 years ago but his cautionary tale of manipulation is as valid today as it was then. I Am the Slime I may be vile and pernicious But you can't look away I make you think I'm delicious With the stuff that I say I'm the best you can get Have you guessed me yet? I'm the slime oozin' out From your TV set You will obey me while I lead you And eat the garbage that I feed you Until the day that we don't need you Don't go for help . . . no one will heed you Your mind is totally controlled It has been stuffed into my mold And you will do as you are told Until the rights to you are sold - Frank Zappa, 1973 I don't think that the government could ever have designed a more effective mind control experiment as we have with COVID (or did they?). Frank would agree with me, I’m sure! Why I am NOT getting vaccinated (and maybe you shouldn’t either).
Myself, my family, my neighbors, and millions of others have already had COVID and are actively (or sometimes called naturally) immune. A person who is now immune cannot get or give the disease. The COVID virus is NOT one of those diseases in which an immune person can be a carrier. Therefore we do not need to get vaccinated or wear a mask. Even if I did not previously have had COVID I would still refuse a vaccine for the reasons that follow. Many people will argue that active or natural immunity is different from vaccinated immunity. Here is what the CDC says; “Active immunity results when exposure to a disease organism triggers the immune system to produce antibodies to that disease. Exposure to the disease organism can occur through infection with the actual disease (resulting in natural immunity), or introduction of a killed or weakened form of the disease organism through vaccination (vaccine-induced immunity). Either way, if an immune person comes into contact with that disease in the future, their immune system will recognize it and immediately produce the antibodies needed to fight it.” The WHO (World Health Organization) had this to say. “Vaccines train our immune systems to create proteins that fight disease, known as ‘antibodies’, just as would happen when we are exposed to a disease . Even people without symptoms develop an immune response.” Who else should consider abstaining from the vaccination? “People with underlying health conditions that weaken their immune systems (such as cancer or HIV) or who have severe allergies to some vaccine components may not be able to get vaccinated.” - WHO “Vaccines can cause anaphylaxis and other dangerous life-threatening side effects.” - NIH (National Institute of Health) Example: “The United States stopped giving mandatory smallpox vaccinations 30 years ago. Some people die from it; and others have serious reactions, some permanent. Scientists say it's the most dangerous vaccine known to man.” - CBS News, 60 Minutes These new COVID vaccines containing genetic instructions were rushed into use with extremely short trial periods. According to the IFPMA, the development of novel vaccines is a long endeavor. “It takes usually between 10 to 15 years to develop a novel vaccine, as well as establishing its quality, safety and efficacy.” states the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations. The NIH, CDC, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and the Department of Defense (DoD) combined to find the vaccine and dubbed the project OWS which stands for “Operation Warp Speed”. - Source/NIH’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases. So bear in mind when you are being told that this vaccine is safe that this is the same government whose EPA said the air quality at the 9/11 site was safe for the cleanup workers, the DoD who had no qualms conducting LSD experiments on unsuspecting soldiers and said there was no cancer link to Agent Orange, and for-profit drug companies who market drugs in third world countries even though the same drugs have been banned in the U.S. and Europe due to harmful side effects. From 08/30/2017 to 02/03/2021 327 drugs previously approved by the FDA as safe & effective were recalled. This information was obtained from the FDA’s official website. My final concern is that the COVID vaccines utilize genetic engineering. Messenger RNA vaccines (mRNA) vaccines have strands of genetic material called mRNA - source/CDC I am NOT an “anti-vaxxer” nor a conspiracy theorist. I have had the DPT, pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine, HBV, and the zoster vaccine. I am susceptible and was routinely exposed to these diseases at my workplace. These vaccines have a proven record and were not rushed into production. For those who have NOT already had a positive COVID test, I would carefully weigh the pros & cons of a new, relatively untested vaccine developed at “warp speed” (their words not mine) that uses genetic engineering against a virus that is just a nuisance for most people. Before you jump on me for stating it is “just a nuisance for most people” here is another direct quote from the WHO; “Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment.” COVID is not on a plane with Ebola, the Plague, Cholera, Malaria, or Yellow Fever. Not even close! Unfortunately I have found that logical arguments backed by proven science (not “may happen” or “might not be”) fall on deaf ears. It is similar to having an argument over religion. The true believers have blind faith and no person will ever sway their belief no matter how sound the opposing view. My previously published views on COVID have stirred such animosity that people have gone so far as to wish me “homeless” and that my children “die of cancer”. I have also been called a “quack”, a “know-it-all”, “part of the problem”, a “disgrace”, “brainwashed by Trump” (of course) and the list goes on and on. I refuse to be bullied into silence when I see so many people who have been paralyzed with irrational fear and making decisions about their health based on largely one-sided views without fully examining all sides of the issue. Human beings are capable of independent thought and reason. We are not sheep or lemmings. I am a retired RN, EMT-Paramedic with an ASN degree graduating summa cum laude, a member of 2 national honor societies, with past American Heart Association certifications in Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support. I also am a certified coroner after receiving my training at the Pennsylvania State Police Academy and served as the Chief Deputy Coroner for Venango County in Pennsylvania. I worked during the onset of AIDS/HIV, H1N1, MRSA & Necrotizing Fasciitis (flesh eating bacteria) and never have I seen such a level of misinformation and a bombardment of articles that focus on rare atypical cases and the hypothetical. I only include this professional background information to distinguish myself from authors with absolutely no background in healthcare whatsoever and who state unproven theories often with no scientific support. I do not claim to be an expert, just experienced. As the actor Walter Brennan was often quoted from an old television show, The Guns of Will Sonnett; “No brag, just fact.” |
AuthorDavid H. Dallas has had a variety of notable careers in his 67 years & been a keen observer of the human condition. Now retired and spending time between his homes in PA & FL, his articles have appeared in numerous publications. BonafidesRegistered Nurse, EMT-Paramedic, ASN, summa cum laude, 2 National Honor Societies, American Heart Association certifications in Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support. Certified Coroner following training at the Pennsylvania State Police Academy and served as the Chief Deputy Coroner for Venango County in Pennsylvania. Archives
May 2021
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