Protest Experiences

Having been to a number of protests by now, I want to share some of the experiences.

Have a check list. Mine is here:  https://phil-bythenumbers.blogspot.com/2026/01/protest-preparations.html

All in all, the company is pleasant. I'll shift positions about every 20 minutes or so and have different people to talk to.

Getting feed back from the drive bys is good and gives a good measure of where you stand. The anti-administration to supporter ration is about 50-1. There is the occasional bird flipping, motor revving, unimaginative F##k you, and the strange, "get a job!" Strange in that it is a fairly common retort. Enough where there must be a common source in their propaganda. Strange in that the protests are on Saturday, and obviously they are not working either...

Lets assume bias in that 50-1 observation. Lets say it's 25-1. That means 4% of the drive bys are for the illegal acts of the corrupt-leader-in-chief. You know what 4% is on a bell curve? A very vocal minority, but still the lunatic fringe.

Some post protest comments about a bunch of old people on the lines. And there some much older than me. Now think about it. How bad must the situation be to get a 75 year old out in the rain and cold to protest? Look to your elders folks, they know their mind. And they are not doing it for themselves, but for you.

The birth of an Urban Legend:

I have been to a number of locations. With a group of 300 in Swathmore, Pa, we were being harassed by initially 3 cars with loud engines and way over done with the pedophile-in-chief's paraphernalia. They went through the intersection several times before two cars got bord and drove away. The largest truck made a couple of passes and then decided to park cattycorner to our group. Putting up a sign, "Honk if you love T###p". There was some grumbling and anger from our corner, but cooler heads were prevailing.


My opinion was we needed him. The number of honks he received was minimal, see 50-1 above.
I told someone I think I'll go over there and give him a bottle of water. It was hot, and it would not due to have him pass out from heat stroke.

6 months later, another location. I had related this story a number of times. And someone this morning told me the same story, only it happened in Pottsgrove. How many times has this story been repeated now? Who knows? But it is interesting to witness an urban legend being made.

Protest Preparations

Let someone know where you are.
Hat
First aid kit
Dress for weather

Protest list
Name Tag
Sunblock
water
swim goggles
n95 mask
Cash

Hearing Aids
List with emergency contacts
484 ### ####
610 ### ####
Hotel/car location

writing implement
disable bio-metrics on phone.
reading glasses
snack bars
pills

Empagliflozin 25mg 1xday (morning)
Metformin 500mg 4xday
Tamsulosin .4mg 2xday (morning)
Losartan 25mg 1x day (morning)
Glimepiride 2mg 2x day (morning and evening)
Trazodone 100mg
Gabapentin 300mg 2xday (evening)

ACLU Lawyer list
intake@acludc.org
202-601-4269
(202) 457-0800

Public Defender
(202) 824-2463

Tariff Caused Bankruptcies in 2025

Tariffs were a contributing factor to a significant surge in U.S. corporate bankruptcies in 2025, which reached their highest level since 2010. Over 717 companies filed for bankruptcy through November 2025, a 14% increase from 2024, with many citing tariffs as a primary cause.

 

In contrast to previous patterns that were dominated by retail bankruptcies, this year’s impacted industries were primarily industrial, manufacturing and transportation.  

First Brand, a 2.5 billion dollar company that provides parts to the auto industry.

iRobot, maker of Rhomba.  Now owned by a Chinese company, Picea.

Spirit Airlines.

Wolfspeed, a 7.5 billion dollar company that makes semiconductors.

Ligado Networks.  A telecommunications and satellite company.  But with 7.5 billion dollars of debt, this one may have been in the works regardless.

2U, valued at 1.2 billion, builds and supports educational programs.

Tyson foods shuttering a beef processing plant in Nebraska.  This was caused by other countries no longer accepting American beef due to tariffs on their products.

Osage and Justice, both beef processing, also  "exited", cattle operations.

 

 

 

Infra-Man

True story. I saw Infra-man in the theater in 1977. Freshly out of Navy radar school, laughed my ass off at the blueprints.

Years go by. I saw a copy of the movie on VHS tape in a discount bin.

After watching it with more jaded eyes, it was still a riot.
My wife, however, was seriously reconsidering her life choices.

Decades go by.

I'm at "Blobfest". Phoenixville, Pa, honors the making of the movie, "The Blob", by closing main street in front of the movie theater the Blob attacks. There is a lot of kitchy stands put up, cos-players, and...
a young man sporting an Infra-man tee shirt????
40 years after this one shot wonder and someone made a fresh tee shirt?
We talked....
I could see his girl friend's eyes glaze over and with the thought, "Oh my god, he found a friend."

Another decade goes by.

I'm at a gaming event, "OttoDotCon", Née "The Weekend", where the evening is spent "MST3000ing" a truly bad movie.
One of the choices was Infra-man!
Totally worthy of MST3000.
If anything, the movie has improved with age.

The movie can be seen on YouTube here.

 

Coronavirus, End of Year 2025

It's been more than a year since my last "state of the Covid."  Because, well, it was largely samo-samo.  Variants come into being, prosper, fade.  Some surges in the numbers, which I have long stopped tracking, followed by retreats.  

 

France has completed phase 4 studies on Covid-19 vaccines.  One of the many advantages of universal health care is that there is a very large database to work with.  In this case, some 29 million individuals, ages 18 to 59, for a period of 4 years.  23 million were vaccinated by the mRNA Moderna and Pfizer.

 

Short form.  Vaccinated individuals had a 74% lower risk of death from severe COVID-19.

 

There was noticed a slight increase for Myocarditis. However, that is also a symptom of Covid.  And getting Myocarditis through Covid is much more devastating with the virus running rampant through your system than from the vaccine just boosting your immune system.

 

And vaccinated individuals consistently had a lower risk of death, regardless of the cause. Mortality was 29% lower within 6 months following COVID-19 vaccination.  Including oddly. boosting the overall survival rates some cancer patients when given before their treatments. 

 

As to why the this may be could be partially due a to "healthy-vaccine" effect.   Where healthier individuals opt for vaccination.  The reverse of this is "frailty-related" bias, where those in poorer health may avoid it.

 

See the Jama article here... 

Today is Dec 8

Today is Dec 8.  On this day, my sister and me are the same age.

But she has been in an urn some 18 years now.  Her life destroyed by cocaine and alcohol.   To her children, she served as an example how drugs have consequences beyond the immediate victim.

Of her children, she would be proud. From adversity, each one has blazed their own path into the world—razing a little hell along the way. Each has carved out a life marked by resilience, courage, and success.

Tracy Lynn Gardocki, 1977

They are innovators, dreamers, and doers. They have built careers, families, and legacies that speak to the strength instilled in them. And while their journeys were not without hardship, they carried forward the lessons of perseverance and the spirit of independence that defined their upbringing.

 Yes, she would be proud, as are we all.

 

The Oath to the Constitution

I noticed nearly silence by the many republican supporters over the issues of the last 8 weeks.  Like on the topic of the Republican controlled house of representatives taking an 6 week vacation in order to to keep the Epstein files from being voted on.  

The administration insisting that it was the D's, and not the R's that was holding up food aid, wasn't getting any traction. 

That the Democrats were showing up for work in congress throughout the shutdown.  Crickets. 

The release of  some Epstein emails that proved that DJT lied yet again about his relationship being broken off with Epstein.  There was shock, but no one was standing up and supporting him.

That he knew what was going on the island is almost a certainty, still quiet.

That DJT's banner waver in congress, MTG,  is resigning in disgust, and now needs extra security.  Whimpers.

But 6 lawmakers urging military members to "refuse illegal orders". And social media just explodes.

Many of the shouting is from veterans.  A lot of them who have been quiet during the big reveals as this administration continues to torture and fleece the country with their incompetence and malfeasance, suddenly found their voices.

Their claims that these lawmakers are committing treason and sedition fall flat in the face of the culture of the US Military.  The US Military is almost unique in the world.  We swore an oath to the Constitution of the US.  Not the president, the Constitution.  It reads, "I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." 

Yes, it does say obey orders of the officers and regulations up to the President.   But the overriding part of the oath is ..."support and defend the Constitution"... 

Before someone tries to legalize the wiggle room here.  This plaque is mounted at West Point.  Where future Army officers  see it for 4 years:

 

The priority is LAW over ORDERS.

10's of millions have sworn the oath.  That there is a duty to disobey ILLEGAL orders was taught in boot camp, to millions of soldiers and sailors.  

65% of veterans voted for the DJT.  See here...  Why?  I think it was down to they were not going to vote for a black woman.  And were willing to accept the crap faux news was putting out.  About the migrants that were NOT taking their jobs, or the few dozen trans athletes in collegiate sports.  That was just an excuse they were telling themselves to justify voting for the white man, who demonstrated his incompetence in the first term, causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans.  And leading an insurrection against the Republic.

Which was a violation of his oath as well.  It was obvious to everyone.  

The last 10 months have shown them what a deal with the devil they had made.  Many of them are working their way, whether they realize it or not, through 7 steps to acceptance.  Shock and denial, those we have seen a lot of in the last 10 months.  Now many are on step 3, Anger.  They know, that by supporting this con-man, that he was guilty of sedition and treason.

What Mark Kelly and 5 other law makers, 4 of which are veterans as well, was hold up a mirror to them. And they are ashamed.