Deployed

The current trials and travails of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CV-72) during its deployment to support the conflict in the Middle East got me curious.

As you may have heard by now, more than 5,000 sailors on that nuclear-powered aircraft carrier have been deployed for more than 267 consecutive days in a war zone while experiencing unexpected problems, such as poor food quality, declining hygiene conditions and deteriorating mental health issues among some of its personnel.

Well, at least the carrots look OK.

 The length of deployment itself is not so unusual. Most vessels in the modern Navy can be at sea anywhere from six to nine months before being rotated out of frontline service.

So I looked it up.

What is going on right now isn't even the longest deployment for the USS Abraham Lincoln. 

In an article written for the U.S. Navy by Ensign Molly Fresher (who served on the carrier) in 2020, the Lincoln concluded a 10-month deployment of 295 days, at the time marking the longest carrier deployment in the post-Cold War era. Its theater of operations included the South China Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Suez Canal, the Strait of Hormuz, the Strait of Malacca and the Surigao Strait, all with the purpose of maritime stability and security.

In all, the carrier strike group, with its supporting vessels, covered 64,000 miles. Fresher's story was not clear if there were ports of call or if any at-sea resupply was involved, but I suspect there was. I don't remember hearing of any crew complaints about the mission at the time.

The longest U.S. Navy carrier deployment belongs to the USS Midway (CVA-41), which put to sea for 332 days during the Vietnam War from April 10, 1972, to March 3, 1973. The longest post-Vietnam era deployment was held by the USS Gerald Ford (CVN-78) of 326 days, from June 2025 to May 2026.

You have to go back to World War II to find the the longest continuous sea-time deployment during war time. The USS Hornet (CV-12, but not the Hornet that famously carried the Doolittle raiders {CV-8}. That one was sunk in the Battle of Santa Cruz in October 1942. Its namesake was commissioned in late 1943) was at sea for a whopping 495 consecutive days.

Soooo, given a brief history of long and longer naval deployments, why are we spitting salt water about the USS Lincoln?

If you go on Facebook, there are some interesting comments from the old salts who served in this man's Navy and have little time or sympathy for the complaints. "This is what the Navy does," or "It's the Navy, not the Princess Cruise Lines," or "You're not on vacation," or "Take away their cell phones so they can't call Mommy," or – best yet – "Beat Army."

Some are even questioning the man overboard story because, well, when they served, nobody jumped ship, diving 60 feet into a wide-open ocean. Who does that?

To tell you the truth, I can see both sides of the story. But I still tend to lean to the left on this one. 

If sailors are having mental health issues, where are the qualified mental health workers? Do we still have trouble diagnosing – and accepting – PTSD in the military?

If the food is so bad, or in short supply, can't MRE's be flown in until the deployment is over? You're an aircraft carrier, for crying out loud. Land some planes or helicopters with supplies. Hey, I've visited the USS North Carolina museum in Wilmington and learned they served their own self-produced ice cream to the crew during World War II. What's changed?

Are there not Plumber First Class ratings who can fix the USS Lincoln's gurgling toilets? You're at sea, for crying out loud. You're surrounded by water. Everybody on board should be a plumber.

I don't know how this is going to end. Will other crews start complaining? Will they have reason to? Or are the old salts right?

We're in 2026 and we're the United States of America. Deployments and rotations should be sensible, not to the breaking point. Service members should be supplied and properly equipped to get the job done. 

And it should start at the top. 

Balancing act

Not too long ago, Kim had me sign up for a class on better balance that was being offered at the Davidson County Senior Center.

This made sense to me on a couple of different levels.

 First of all, it always makes good sense to listen to Kim – even though it's taken me 46 years to figure that one out.

Secondly – not that I've been toppling over or anything – but I have noticed that as I travel deeper and deeper into my silver years, my sense of balance has become more and more suspect.

I hold onto railings as I climb – or descend – stairs. I usually have to lean against a wall or something to make sure I really don't tip over when putting on my socks or stepping into my shorts. I occasionally bump into doorways for no apparent reason. Even something as second nature as walking now requires more of my attention to make sure I'm not zigging and zagging down the sidewalk. (Just in case you're thinking that I need to cut back on the sauce, well, I already have. There's a point where you realize that the aging process is already screwing with your head, why compound it with alcohol? It was either that or have a serious talk with my inner ear crystals).

So I signed up for the class. It was only 15 bucks for 10 consecutive hour-long sessions (or $1.50 per session. Senior prices.) every Thursday from now until October. There's not many deals like that in this economy, so what the heck?

(Click on chart to enlarge)

 I didn't know what to expect going in. Was it going to be exercises? Were there going to be discussions about aging? About balance? Did I need to take notes? Kim and a few of my friends wanted me to show them what I was learning. It was like being back in school. The pressure was on.

Right from the start, it was about exercises. We started off by marching in place for a few minutes. Then there were some foot-to-foot weight-shifting drills, followed by some heel-and-toe rocking and hula-hoop maneuvers without the hula hoops. Pretty easy, huh?

Then came the fun stuff. 

"Okay, now I want you to stand on one leg," said the instructor. "Lift the other leg and extend it forward, and hold it for 20 seconds. You can grab onto your chair if you need to."

There were a couple of variations on this exercise, each one requiring that you raise one leg, extend and hold, before switching to the other leg. I didn't use a chair. But I couldn't go more than a few seconds of one-leggedness before I felt myself about to fall over. My ear crystals were laughing at me. Next week, I use a chair.

I later found out that some of these exercises incorporate the principles of Tai Chi, an ancient Chinese martial art designed to strengthen not only balance, but the inner core as well, while utilizing calm, relaxed breathing. That's not easy to do when you think you're falling over and you go into panic mode.

I reckon we did about 25 or so two-minute exercises within that hour. I started looking at the clock with about 20 minutes to go and wondered if this was ever gonna end. I even worked up a little sweat. Why did I think this was going to be easy? I'm 75 years old, for crying out loud. Three quarters of a century. I deserve easy.

Even the next day I had a few sore muscles.

The concept here is that you're supposed to take some of these exercises home with you and use them daily, but, me being me, that's not likely to happen. Too much like work. I did show Kim a few of the drills to give her an idea of what I'm doing. Plus, all you have to do is Google "balance exercises" and all this stuff comes up on YouTube anyway.

Nevertheless, I will continue to take this course. There are 14 of us, including two men, and I wonder how many of us will still be interested by October? So there's a challenge in that.

And I do see the benefits: in stress relief, in joint mobility and in heart health. For a person of my mature years, it's probably a good thing. On balance. 

 

 

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Fauci

Six years later – six years after the initial onslaught of the Covid pandemic – I never thought we'd still be talking about Dr. Anthony Fauci.

And if we were still talking about him, surely it would be about the millions of lives he helped save promoting the mRNA Covid vaccine while serving as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) (1984 to 2022) and as Chief Medical Advisor to the President (2021 to 2022).

Nope. Instead, we were presented with a sham Senate hearing, headed up by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, designed to try, prosecute and condemn Fauci, 85, for the role Fauci played during the pandemic. You know, where he advised convicted felon president Trump to do the right thing. Trump appreciated Fauci's advice so much that he awarded the physician the Presidential Commendation medal for his role in Operation Warp Speed.

But Dr. Trump often contradicted Fauci's advice. I guess Dr. Trump's medical training got in the way. (I might need to note for some of you when I'm being sarcastic. I'm being sarcastic).

I'm not quite sure what happened next. Paul, a nonpracticing opthalmologist by training and who happens to be the chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, has been on a six-year rampage in an effort to at least embarrass, if not imprison Fauci. That's why Fauci was in Paul's Senate hearing Wednesday, knowing full well that he was appearing before a Republican-constructed perjury trap. It's also why Fauci pled his constitutionally guaranteed Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.

You know, the way Trump did 440 times in a four-hour deposition in 2020.

Paul has been trying for years to question and prosecute Fauci over the origins of Covid and gain of function research. In other words, trying to pin the pandemic on Fauci. It's a Republican conspiracy theory that won't go away. As somebody recently wrote, there's no theory like a conspiracy theory.

Fauci is being blamed for mask mandates, vaccination requirements, small business failures, closure of schools, random social distancing, the deaths of millions of people through rushed vaccine research and anything else that annoyed people (Republicans) during the pandemic 

It's interesting to note here – and perhaps important, too – that Fauci served only as an advisor to the president, not as someone with authority to actually put those measures into effect. Those decisions were left to state governors and others on up to the convicted felon president himself.

So Wednesday's hearing was about, what? Giving advice? Show time?

What was the end result of the vaccine?

Well, no. The vaccine doesn't prevent Covid. Nothing will. Not horse wormer ivermectine. Not malaria medicine hydroxychoroquin. But the vaccine, in the face of an ever mutating virus, helped diminish the lethality of the disease. Death rates dropped. A kind of herd immunity developed. Even if you proudly proclaimed that you never took the vaccine, you're still here. Lives were saved, not taken. That's the empirical evidence.

Here are some things to think about. There are about eight billion people on the planet. A little more than five billion people took at least one jab, and more than 13 billion shots were administered. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 67 percent of the Earth's total population was vaxxed.

In the United States, with a population of 349 million, at least 676.7 million doses were given with 230.6 million people becoming fully vaccinated. That's 77 percent of the population. That's herd immunity.

I've heard the arguments: Fauci created the virus; Fauci did it for the money; Fauci did it for the glory; Big Pharma did it to keep people sick; Democrats did it to create votes; the vaccine killed millions.

I'm pretty sure Fauci, a dedicated scientist who earlier in his career helped in treating the HIV AIDS epidemic and spent more than 40 years in service to the country, suddenly went rogue and decided it was more profitable to become another Dr. Josef Mengele. That makes no sense.

Paul said he will consider filing contempt of congress charges against Fauci this week for pleading the Fifth while enjoying a preemptive pardon from President Biden. Paul said the pardon prevents Fauci from invoking the Fifth, which is a novel legal theory that is still to be litigated.

We're hearing a lot of complaining about witch hunts from the Trump administration these days. I guess we're seeing what one really looks like. 

Oh, yeah. And release the completely unredacted Epstein files. It's the law. 

 

 

Welcome back, measles

The other day I was casually listening to the news as background noise when I thought I heard the commentator say that the current measles outbreak now has reached a 35-year high in the United States.

Wha...?

Furthermore, this country is on the verge of losing its measles-free status after having virtually eliminated the viral disease in 2000, when it was officially declared eradicated in this country by the Centers for Disease Control.

But then something happened. Many people stopped getting measles vaccinations, even in the face of decades of evidence proving the shots work. 

Why?

Covid-19 made its appearance in 2019 and a vaccine was quickly developed (under Operation Warp Speed, the only initiative where I can find any reason to give convicted felon president Trump any positive credit) and introduced to the population.

The vaccine didn't prevent Covid – it still doesn't – but, consequently, all of those atrocious early Covid death rates began to diminish. Refrigerated trailer trucks no longer served as temporary morgues and hospitals were no longer running out of ventilators.

The Covid vaccine was enough to create something of a herd immunity to the point where now for many of us, getting Covid isn't much worse than the common cold.

But something else happened again. The Covid vaccine became politicized. Republicans said the vaccine was rushed and we didn't know what was in it. It would alter our genetic RNA. Do you know what you're putting in your body? It would kill us. And the fear seemed to spread. But why stop with Covid? What about flu shots? What about measles vaccines? What about all vaccines, period?

So what happened?

Measles, almost predictably, made a comeback. In 2025, there were an astonishing 2,289 confirmed cases of measles. As of July 23 of this year, there are an additional 2,318 confirmed cases across 45 states.

So, yeah, we're about to lose our status as a measles-free nation because some people don't believe the science or the evidence. But they seemingly will gobble up any conspiracy theory that aligns with the narrative they want to push.

I guess that explains why we have uniquely unqualified Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the head of the Health and Human Services Department. You know, the vaccine denier who swims in polluted creeks and dines on road kill.

Unbelievable. 

Footnote: Last year, the Journal of the American Medical Association's (JAMA) Network Open released the findings of a landmark four-year study in France to answer the question: Are Covid-19 mRNA vaccines associated with the long-term risk of all-cause mortality?

The findings revealed that among the 22.7 million vaccinated people in France versus the 5.9 million unvaccinated individuals, vaccinated individuals had a 74 percent lower risk of death from severe Covid-19 and no increased risk of all-cause mortality in a median follow-up of 45 months.

A whole nation was involved in this study, which ultimately supported the safety of mRNA vaccines currently being used worldwide.

And, in another footnote from several years ago, researchers from Yale University published a study in JAMA Internal Medicine analyzing excess Covid deaths of registered voters in Ohio and Florida. The study found that registered Republicans had an excess death rate 15 percent higher than Democratic voters between March 2020 and December 2021.

In addition, after Covid vaccines were free to all adults in April 2021, the gap widened even more. Republicans had a 43 percent higher excess death rate than Democrats. Hit me with a feather.

C'mon, people. Covid. Measles. Flu. Whatever. Take your damn vaccine shots, both you and your children. The evidence is clearly smacking you right between the eyes. 

 

 

It' getting darker

Originally, I planned to discuss the current debate between Eastern Standard Time (EST) and Daylight Savings Time (DST), hence the title of today's blog.

And I will in a minute.

But the deaths of two American military personnel Friday in Jordan by Iranian drones and missiles are not only saddening, but abhorrent and unnecessary. This country has now suffered 16 military deaths and a startling 430 wounded since adjudicated rapist and 34-time convicted felon president Donald Trump began his war of choice against Iran in February.

And he doesn't know how to end what he began. His response to the recent deaths is to launch more airstrikes against Iranian infrastructure and military capability in an effort to send Iran "back to the stone ages," whatever that means. It sounds a whole lot like the rhetoric of a war crime. Kind of like blowing up motorboats in the Caribbean with survivors clinging to debris. And without due process.

Furthermore, increased airstrikes increase the chances of losing more American personnel. 

Since Trump is a convicted felon, why is the military obeying his psychopathic orders anyway? Isn't this the time to invoke the Uniform Code of Military Justice? What am I missing here? The current assault on Iran – which has raised gas and food prices back home – has made the United States the aggressor nation. How do you feel about owning that title?

How is he still our president? 

•   •   •

 The hostilities with Iran underline the administration's "manosphere" train of thought where men are in control. That misogynist muscle-flexing philosophy was illustrated earlier last week when clueless Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that the U.S. military will test service members' testosterone levels. A service member will be advised to take hormone therapy, if needed.

But flu shots are optional. So are covid shots. So are most shots.

This kind of paints a picture of hyper-masculine men bearing arms who are coughing and wheezing their way to war. Only manly men need apply.

Government-sanctioned drugging also brings to mind the German armies of World War II, who were given generous amounts of Pervitin methamphetamine tablets to the point of addiction in order to help them stay awake and alert in wartime combat conditions. Many of those who became addicted to the stimulant also became over-aggressive, to the point of charging blindly into artillery and machine gun fire.

The manosphere. Pfft. Where do you park your paranoia?

•   •   •

This should be simple enough, but if the Trump administration is involved, it's anything but.

The House of Representatives recently passed the oddly-named Sunshine Protection Act by an overwhelming vote of 308-117 to make daylight savings time permanent nationwide. The bill is now in the hands of the Senate, where it is finding difficulty moving forward.

Under DST, you get an hour more of daylight in the evening. That's good. More daylight for outdoor recreation, retail shopping and mood.

Under EST, you are more likely aligned with the sun as well as human circadian rhythms. That means there's a chance for better overall sleep, as well as lower rates of obesity and stroke. Yay. I raise my hand for EST.

Plus, about two-thirds of the planet's nations do not adjust for daylight savings. Neither does Hawaii or most of Arizona. We can't even get the whole country to agree on this.

And with our current Health and Human Services department bringing back measles, downplaying vaccinations and failing to clean our lettuce, why worry about strokes and obesity?

Dark times indeed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commie scum

Alright, children. Settle down.

Today's civic lesson lesson will be to tell the difference between communism and democratic socialism. 

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of communism is: "a system where goods are owned collectively and are available to all members of society."

Democratic Socialism seeks to move away from capitalism through a multi-party democratic process.

The difference? Communism is based on the Marxist theory that seeks to establish a classless, stateless and moneyless society through the collective ownership of all economic production. 

Democratic socialism, on the other hand, embraces a highly regulated, capitalist free-market economy with high taxes to fuel a robust social safety net. It seeks universal healthcare in a single-payer system, living wages, free college education and wealth distribution

We need to discuss this because in the heat of the current political atmosphere, some ill-informed pundits and politicians are conflating communism with democratic socialism. For some reason, the convicted felon and adjudicated rapist President Trump thinks a resurrected 2026 version of McCarthy era Red Scare tactics will help the Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections.

That is sooo 1950s of him. But then, as he has shown us daily, he's a confused old man who is out of touch with the reality of the times. While he's calling Democrats communists, his closest international friends are Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un. Go figure.

While assailing the Democratic Party as dangerous communists, Trump has yet to identify a single communist.

Meanwhile, he is projecting again.

In the past year or so, the Trump administration has converted federal grants into direct equity stakes in private companies in such sectors as semiconductors, critical minerals and quantum technology. Wait, what? Government ownership of private businesses? Isn't that something like comm...???

Take a look. Some notable government equity holdings feature a 10 percent equity stake in semiconductor giant Intel, turning previously unspent  CHIPS Act subsidies into direct ownership. The government also holds an equity share in MP Materials, which deals in rare earth mining and processing. Then there is the U.S. Commerce Department making equity investments in several quantum technology companies.

Most telling of all, perhaps, is the government's "golden share" in U.S. Steel. Get this: the government now has veto power over specific corporate and supply-chain decisions made by the company.

In all, the government has spent $27 billion in equity stakes so far. 

What do you think farm subsidies are? Social Security actually has the word "social" in it. Where does Medicare come from?

Democratic socialism is in the fabric of American democracy. I once made an argument that Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase was a form of socialism whereby the government made a real estate purchase for the betterment of its people. It was so dicey even Jefferson had his doubts about the deal. But he made it anyway.

The Nordic states are the modern model for social democracy. They feature free trade, strong property rights, a business-friendly regulatory environment, labor protection with high unionization rates and collective bargaining and state-provided healthcare and childcare along with universal education.

It must be working pretty good. Nobody is calling each other "comrade." 

 

 

 

 

I declare...

Both Kim and I were having a little trouble getting cranked up for this year's Fourth of July celebration. It should have been easy. After all, this is the country's 250th birthday. That's pretty special.

But too much Donald Trump was getting in the way:

An unforced war with Iran. The detention and deportation of human beings – some, if not many of them legal citizens. But, hey, when you ignore due process, what does it matter? Inflation. Rogue police (ICE). The physical gutting of Washington DC landmarks, including the destruction of the East Wing of the White House for a grandiose ballroom that nobody asked for. A proposed arch that nobody asked for. An assault of voting rights with the incredibly stupid SAVE America Act.

It's all pretty embarrassing and it virtually sucks whatever pride you have in your country right out from the marrow of your bones.

So Kim and I wondered how we could celebrate with a joy we can't quite find.

Then Kim had a brainstorm.

Let's read the Declaration of Independence. Out loud. To each other. 

So we did. We got up Saturday morning, and a couple hours later, me made some time for ourselves. Kim lit a candle and placed it in the middle of our coffee table. Then I read the first of the document's 1,458 words: "In Congress, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America.

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another..."

I kept reading to the part that famously said, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..."

I teared up at that point. My voice cracked. For a brief, sterling moment, I felt myself channeling Thomas Jefferson, hearing my own voice give provenance to his words.  "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."

Wow. For the first time in world history, a true democracy (and a republic) was being formed. The declaration was personally directed at England's King George III – and not the British Parliament because the colonies didn't recognize Parliament's legal authority.

In other words, treason.

Kim continued our session. She was into the second half of the DOI (not DEI, although it is a document heavy with diversity, equity and inclusion. Consequently, it subsequently becomes one of the most un-American government policies ever for the Trump administration to disparage DEI. At least, that's what I think), which listed their grievances against the king and providing their reasons for declaring independence.

Here are some of those grievances. See if they don't apply in today's world. Maybe it'll help illustrate what today's protesters mean when they shout "No Kings!" in their righteous resistance:

• "He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good."

Trump refuses to sign into law the an affordable housing bill until his voter suppressive SAVE America act is passed. He's holding legislation hostage.

• "He has erected a multitude of New Offices and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance."

DOGE? ICE?  Holy cow, the founders saw this 250 years ago?

• "He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our legislatures."

And...

• "He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power." 

Sounds like calling out the National Guard and the Marines to quell constitutionally permitted protests.

• "For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world."

What have Trump's tariffs done?

• "For depriving us in many cases, the benefits of Trial by Jury."

How many immigrants have been deported by ICE without due process?

• "He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us..."

Jan. 6.

• "He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States, for the purpose of obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands."

The recent suspension of Temporary Protective Status comes to mind. So does the attack on the 14th Amendment and birthright citizenship.

Kim and I read on, both amazed at how current the 250 year old document had become. What goes around comes around? I don't know.

Kim finished with the inspiring "We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the Good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right, ought to be FREE and INDEPENDENT STATES (the use of all caps emphasizes their voice and determination); that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right to do. And for that support of this Declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

That takes my breath away.

Kim and I then read, alternately, the names of each of the signers. There were 56 of them. One of them, Benjamin Franklin, was the only one who signed all four definitive documents that established the United States: The Declaration of Independence (1776); the Treaty of Alliance with France (1778); the Treaty of Paris (1783) and the United States Constitution (1787).

Kim and I looked at each other. In that singular moment, I don't think we ever had a better Fourth of July.