Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins

DIY 3 Minutes

Nothing says Fall more than pumpkins to me.  But buying a bunch of fresh pumpkins each year can be expensive.  So, I learned to make fabric pumpkins, using old clothes, fabric scraps or just about anything cloth—like napkins or tablecloths.   There are 3 different methods to make these and the method you choose depends on the shape pumpkin you want and how much hand sewing you want to do.

Circular Pattern Pumpkins

General Supplies

Fiberfill

Fabric

Thread

Needle

Felt, stick, or saved pumpkin stem

Felt for leaves, or berries for top of pumpkin or ribbon

Instructions

Trace a circle on a piece of paper—the size will determine your pumpkin.  If you want to make small pumpkins for place cards at Thanksgiving dinner, you will want to use a circle of about 4-6 inches wide.  Increase the circle size to make larger pumpkins. Using the paper pattern, trace the circle on the fabric and cut out.

With the needle and thread, sew a running stitch around the outside of the circle about ½  of an inch from the edge.  Gather the edges somewhat so that you can stuff the fiberfill inside.  When the pumpkin is filled to your liking, draw the thread tight.  Knot the thread.  Use another length of thread (or yarn) to create the pumpkin sections.  Insert the needle close to the stem and go downward through the center. Loop over the pumpkin and back to the center, drawing tight enough to create an indentation in the pumpkin side, and insert the needle again, making another loop.  Continue in this fashion around the pumpkin until you make 5 pumpkin ridges. Knot the thread or yarn.  Place hot glue in the indention, place the stem in the glue, then hold it until it sets up. Add raffia, ribbon, tendrils, and or leaves to decorate your pumpkin.

Rectangular Pumpkin Pattern

General Supplies

1 rectangle piece of fabric – any size will do but 12” x 8” is great
1 8” x 3” piece of felt
Thread & Needle; yarn
Hot glue gun & glue
Fiberfill (pillow stuffing)

Instructions

With your fabric lying flat on a table and the long side laying horizontal, fold the fabric in half inside out.  Stitch up the side opposite to the fold. You can do this by hand if you don’t have a sewing machine.

Next, taking your needle and thread do a simple gathering stich along the bottom of your fabric. Don’t cut the thread yet. Pull the thread tight so the fabric gathers in the center. Tie off the thread and cut the extra thread.

You are ready to start stuffing the pumpkin. Try to get the stuffing placed evenly throughout the pumpkin. Now at the top of the pumpkin you are going to do the same thing with a gathering stich like you did at the bottom. Gather the fabric by pulling the stich tight, tie off the thread and cut extra thread off.

Using a large needle, thread the yarn starting at the bottom of the pumpkin up through the center. Pull tight and loop back over the side of the pumpkin back through the bottom.

Repeat 4 – 5 times around the pumpkin. Tie off with a knot. Next, take your felt fabric with the long end horizontal. Place a line hot glue along the short end and start rolling the fabric on itself. You should end up with a short and thick roll of fabric.

Cut the felt to the desired length you would like for the pumpkin stem. Attach the stem to your pumpkin with a generous dollop of hot glue.

Toilet Paper Pumpkins (NO SEW)

Supplies

roll of toilet paper

rectangle of fabric approximately 18″ x 22″

stick for stem

ribbon

Instructions

Unroll the toilet paper about 10 times, and then roll it loosely back up to give more of a round shape.

Lay out your fabric and place the toilet paper in the center.

Grab one corner of the fabric and tuck it inside of the toilet paper roll. Slowly work your way around gathering up the fabric and tucking each corner into the roll.

Tie a ribbon around your branch piece and stuff it into the center.

Published by FJB

Published

180 thoughts on “Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins”

  1. Morning All!
    still dark here so I can’t tell if it’s going to be sunny or not…lol…
    the water in the pond has risen to the rim of the outfall pipes–which is amazing. once it rises above that, the pipes will fill and create a waterfall further down the mountain. the deer prefer to drink from that running water source so I’m hoping that happens! we can see the waterfall from the lower part of the driveway–it’s really pretty!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Like

  6. Liked by 1 person

  13. the little fascist wanted to exert “executive privilege”?
    FTA
    A federal judge on Tuesday ordered top-ranking Biden administration officials — including Dr. Anthony Fauci and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre — to hand over their communications with five social media giants within 21 days.

    The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed earlier this year by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Louisiana Attorney General Jeffrey Landry alleging the Biden administration colluded with Big Tech firms Twitter, Meta (Facebook’s parent company), Youtube, Instagram and LinkedIn to censor certain viewpoints under the guise of preventing the circulation of “misinformation” or “disinformation.”

    U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty in July ordered the Biden administration to swiftly produce records requested by the plaintiffs as part of the discovery process.

    On Aug. 2, Schmitt and Landry filed discovery requests seeking documents and information from the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and its director, Fauci; White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre; Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy; and former Disinformation Governance Board executive director Nina Jankowicz.

    Attorneys for the plaintiffs also sent discovery requests to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and its director, Jen Easterly; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS); and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

    The requests resulted in a cache of documents revealing more than 50 Biden administration workers and 12 U.S. agencies had been involved in a censorship push over social media.

    However, some government officials — including Fauci — refused to provide records or answer any questions posed by the plaintiffs, claiming the communications were protected under executive privilege.

    The government claimed Fauci should not be required to answer the plaintiff’s questions or provide records related to his capacity as NIAID director or related to his capacity as Biden’s chief medical officer. Additionally, the government sought to withhold records and responses from Jean-Pierre.

    Judge Doughty on Tuesday broke the stalemate by ruling that both Fauci and Jean-Pierre must comply with the interrogatories and hand over the requested records.

    “First,” Judge Doughty said in the ruling, “the requested information is obviously very relevant to Plaintiffs’ claims. Dr. Fauci’s communications would be relevant to Plaintiffs’ allegations in reference to alleged suppression of speech relating to the lab-leak theory of COVID-19’s origin, and to alleged suppression of speech about the efficiency of masks and COVID-19 lockdowns. Jean-Pierre’s communications as White House Press Secretary could be relevant to all of Plaintiffs’ examples.”

    https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/fauci-biden-administration-covid-censorship-emails-big-tech/

    Liked by 1 person

  14. they do find loopholes, don’t they?
    FTA
    Sen. Raphael Warnock (D., Ga.) has an unusual financial arrangement with an outside employer that allowed him to avoid income taxes on $89,000 in outside salary last year, according to tax experts.

    Warnock, who works as the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, said the church paid him $89,000 last year as a “parsonage allowance”—as opposed to regular outside income, which is subject to strict limitations for senators under federal law. Lawmakers are not allowed to receive more than $29,895 in outside income.

    The news raises questions about whether Warnock is taking a tax break that’s unavailable to the vast majority of Americans. Republicans say Warnock wants to raise taxes, pointing to his vote for a spending package in August that some analysts claim would increase taxes on low- and middle-income earners. The senator has also faced criticism for his outside financial arrangements from his opponent, Republican Herschel Walker. The Walker campaign has slammed Warnock for doubling his annual salary since taking office, raking in $120,000 from the Ebenezer Baptist Church and over $240,000 for a book deal.

    Tax experts said the Internal Revenue Service created the modern “parsonage allowance” provision in the 1950s as a tax break for religious leaders, who historically lived in tax-exempt church-owned parsonages but now often rent or own their own homes. The provision allows pastors and other clergy members to deduct their estimated annual housing expenses—including mortgage payments, lawn care, furniture, and pool maintenance—from their income taxes.

    Warnock’s campaign declined to comment on whether he paid income taxes on his housing allowance.

    Some legal experts also questioned the Senate Ethics Committee’s decision to approve the arrangement, saying it appears to violate federal law that prohibits members of Congress from receiving more than $29,895 in outside income. Warnock’s campaign suggested that the “parsonage allowance” wasn’t subject to the same cap as regular income, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which first reported on the arrangement last month.

    “Sen. Warnock’s arrangement appears to be an abuse of both the parsonage allowance provisions of the tax code and Senate ethics rules,” Charlie Spies, a Republican campaign finance attorney with Dickinson Wright, told the Washington Free Beacon. “The parsonage exception in Sec. 107(2) is targeted for those who are pastors, not boondoggles for politicians.”

    Tax experts told the Free Beacon qualified clergy members are allowed to designate up to 100 percent of their salaries as tax-free under the parsonage exemption. Although clergy members need written acknowledgment from their church to participate, religious institutions have no say over the percentage the clergy requests and don’t provide oversight into how the employee spends this money, according to experts. Instead, participating clergy members are supposed to be regulated by the IRS.

    While many pastors claim less than 40 percent of their salary as a parsonage allowance, one forensic accountant said he has seen some who take upwards of 70 or 80 percent—an amount he said was “bordering on abusive.”

    Warnock’s parsonage allowance adds up to nearly 75 percent of his income from the Ebenezer Baptist Church, which breaks down to about $7,400-per-month in housing expenses.

    The senator owns a home in Atlanta that was recently appraised at around $1 million, according to property records. In addition to mortgage payments, the parsonage allowance can be used to cover any housing-related costs, including security, landscaping, and home furnishings.

    https://freebeacon.com/democrats/how-raphael-warnock-dodges-income-taxes/

    Liked by 1 person

  15. from tcth
    gda
    September 8, 2022 7:54 am

    Hearing the Queen may soon pass – the next day or sooner.

    Charles, Camilla, William & Kate are on their way to her now.

    Not looking good

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Aggiegirl
      September 8, 2022 8:08 am

      Fox is reporting that the Queen of England is under medical supervision and possibly in the hospital?….Royals arriving…?

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11193345/The-Queen-kept-medical-supervision-Balmoral.html

      https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-62836057

      God Save the Queen!

      The stress of losing Philip probably broke her heart and her age….one more and I will ‘get back to America’…Prayers for her health…

      Like

  18. EXCERPT: “The Dutch farmer protests are growing increasingly dangerous. Undercover police officers are running ‘snatch-and-grab’ arrests more commonly seen in authoritarian dictatorships than Western ‘liberal’ governments.

    In Amsterdam, public footage has surfaced that appears to show undercover police officers violently arresting a civilian. The undercover operation reveals a disturbing escalation in state action against the the Dutch farmer protesters.”

    Additional footage corroborates that uniform police intervened to assist with the undercover operation.

    In the Netherlands, there are reports of “undercover police agitators” who infiltrate protests against the government known as “Romeo’s.” They can often be identified wearing masks more commonly seen under the Covid pandemic response.”

    https://trendingpolitics.com/undercover-police-confronted-after-making-street-arrest-at-dutch-farmer-protest-knab/

    Liked by 1 person

  20. I lived for many years in various towns around Prince Wm. County…..

    Entire Article @ JustTheNews: “The former registrar in one of Virginia’s most important electoral counties has been indicted for corruption and false statements related to the 2020 election, Attorney General Jason Miyares announced Wednesday.

    Ex-Prince William County voter registrar Michele White is charged with two felony counts alleging corrupt conduct as an election official and making a false statement, and one misdemeanor charge of willful neglect of duty by an elected official, Miyares said.

    White resigned abruptly last year without explanation. Miyares’ announcement did not specify exactly what activities were involved in the criminal conduct, except to say it occurred between August and December 2020. But the county’s Office of Elections said White’s conduct “did not impact the outcome of any election contest” and was discovered by her successor.

    Eric Olsen, the current director of elections/general registrar, reported “discrepancies” to the Commissioner of Elections and State Board of Elections earlier this year, which led to the investigation by Miyares, the office said in a statement. “Many improvements and best practices have been adopted to ensure a safe and transparent voting experience for the voters of Prince William County,” the statement said.

    Prince William County is one of Virginia’s fastest growing communities in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. and has been a bellwether in recent years for elections.”

    Liked by 1 person

  21. I had to go 4 levels down to get to the original article via The Liberty Daily – the 2 sites in between added material not in the original…..another explanation for why I try to avoid news aggregators.

    Entire Article @ ReclaimTheNet in August: “The Android app store, Google Play, has introduced sweeping new rules that ban apps containing what the tech giant deems to be “misleading health claims that contradict existing medical consensus, or can cause harm to users.”

    The new rules are part of a Google Play “health misinformation” policy that came into force on August 31. Some of the examples of in-app content that’s banned under this new policy include “misleading claims about vaccines, such as that vaccines can alter one’s DNA,” “advocacy of harmful, unapproved treatments,” and “advocacy of other harmful health practices, such as conversion therapy.”

    Google’s new policy comes at a time when the medical consensus has changed multiple times over the last few years. In 2020 Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said that Pfizer’s reported 90% COVID-19 vaccine efficacy rate was “extraordinary.” In 2021, Fauci said the vaccine will “protect you against the surging of the delta variant.” But this year, former White House COVID response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx admitted that she “knew” COVID vaccines would not prevent infection.

    Despite this constant flip flopping, Big Tech platforms have still heavily censored users that dare to contradict whatever the current medical consensus is. Facebook banned users for suggesting that COVID-19 vaccines are ineffective and YouTube banned anything that goes against the World Health Organization (WHO). Even after the consensus changed and some of the censorship rules were quietly dropped, most of the censored posts and channels weren’t reinstated.

    The new health misinformation rules add to Google Play’s extensive set of existing misinformation rules which prohibit apps containing “election misinformation” and “misleading” content. Google Play has already removed thousands of apps under these existing rules.”

    Liked by 1 person

  22. from tcth truth social
    Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump
    The Perverts and Lowlifes of the Lincoln Project are back on, where else, Fox News. I thought they ran away to the asylum after their last catastrophic campaign, with charges made against them that were big time sleaze, and me getting many millions more votes in 2020 than I got in 2016. The Paul Ryun run Fox only has high standards for “Trump” ads, but not for anyone else. The Perverts should not be allowed to “false advertise,” and Fox News should not allow it to happen. See you all in Court!!!

    Liked by 1 person

        1. Hmmm….good luck with that one….I enjoy latch-hook but the kits are so expensive. I’ve always wished I could get a big wall canvas with a picture of my Z imprinted on it, with a color guide for me to follow. A one-of-a-kind wall hanging…..that would be really cool!

          Liked by 1 person

          1. there’s gotta be companies that do that. when i first met hubby, I took a picture of his yellow lab and sent it to a company that made a cross stitch chart for me…i had to buy the cloth and the thread–but they mapped it all out for me…and that was 30 years ago…so there must be a company somewhere that will do that

            Liked by 1 person

        1. Cute n’all but….meh…..I’m just not into decorative in that way. I get things put in their place and that’s where they stay……forever, in most cases…..I’ve adjusted a few pictures along the way, and switched out some furniture, but not much. My house is pretty much exactly the way I had it set up from the git-go, after almost 10 years.

          The only major change was when HB died and I had to make room for Mom’s furniture and other things he was just going to give away. That’s when I got rid of all my 20 boxes worth of books. I had plans to turn one side of the room into a small library area but those plans went out the window.

          Liked by 1 person

            1. THAT is my “niche!” That is what gives me the most satisfaction – permanent changes, living changes, that likely will live on no matter who owns this property in the end. Houses can be painted and renovated, “stuff” can be sold or given away, but the land…..that is a different story!

              Besides, I’ve always been happier outside than inside, even when I was a child. Were it not for those damned Texas stickers, I would spend the summer months barefoot, literally!!! And I would have no problem living in a nice tent for an extended period of time. I’ve often thought about making room for a single bed on my patio so I could sleep out there.

              Liked by 1 person

            2. Besides, Pat, literally no-one EVER comes to my house…..when Leeann finally came by, it was the first time in months anyone but me had been on this property. The ONLY time anyone but me is on this property is when the mail or a package is delivered – period!

              When I first moved here? Oh, I had grand plans of future neighborhood parties on my patio, doors wide open, neighbors coming and going; invites to their parties on their patios; friends to go watch the fireworks with; go out to dinner with; celebrating weddings and birthdays. And absolutely NONE of that is possible here……and believe me, I spent the first few years COMPLETELY hiding my true nature, except via my letters to the editor. I was particularly cautious working at the Legion, Museum, Speedy Mart……yet here I sit…..and no-one in this town wants anything to do with me.

              Well, fuck ’em all, I say!!!! And I just don’t care any more!

              Liked by 1 person

              1. well that doesn’t sound neighborly of them…no welcome wagon? no hi, I’m your next door neighbor…here’s a pie?
                they should get to know you—you’re a BLAST!

                Liked by 1 person

              2. Oh, initially, they were welcoming and my neighbors are pleasant – Mark still plows my driveway, I keep an eye on the sprinkler system for Denny and Delores to the west and use their clothesline, Oran/Lois and I keep an eye on each others’ house. But the people are not sociable and it’s all very superficial. The people are also very cliquey.

                One night, I decided to throw myself into it and stopped by the Keystone bar near the grocery store – one of the 2 bars in town. I had gotten to know the owners of the other one because of my involvement with the Klown Doll museum and the Legion. But it has changed hands a couple of times now and the old owners don’t even live here any more. Some guy from Norfolk bought it.

                I came in and saw a group of people sitting together that included a couple of my neighbors so I walked over to join them. They all greeted me appropriately enough but then they returned to their on-going convos about people I had never heard of, nor did they make any effort to bring me into the conversation by explaining anything. I sat there silent, feeling like a bump on a log. I had one drink and then left. I’ve given up on these people, tbh.

                Liked by 1 person

              5. maybe if we have a few drinks, you and I, I could convince you to let me teach you to quilt…bwahahahahahaha
                can you IMAGINE?
                I’M ROLLING ON THE FLOOR THINKING ABOUT IT

                Liked by 1 person

  25. Filly? you ever heard of this???
    from tcth

    Southerngirl
    September 8, 2022 9:41 am

    I cannot hear news of the queen without remembering Jeanette Archer and her telling of the horrible satanic abuse that she and so many other children went through at the hands of the queen.

    Liked by 1 person

    2. I just did a search and the first site that came up with the story is a Humor/Satire site…..the only other links I’m finding go back to the original Satire site so, I’m giving this one a thumbs down, personally.

      Liked by 1 person

              2. True, that is certainly a big part of it. And I REALLY despise surprises, even good ones!!! Soooo many times I’ve been caught unprepared….and yet, I suck at long-term planning. I am getting better, tho – and I do learn my lessons, it’s just sometimes, I have to do it the hard way! LOL

                Liked by 1 person

    1. Yeah, well, some of them have been saying that for years so…..considering that the family has been called in, I expect she’s close, at a minimum. And it’s not surprising they would take the time to get their ducks in a row before any public announcement. Preparations have to be made, after all!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. If only we had known way back then…..or had our eyes opened to the dangers of that so-called Patriot Act!!! I feel soooo much shame for all my years of rah, rah, rah for all of this bull shyte!!!!

      Liked by 1 person

          1. I’m not talking about Cue … Europe is about to implode … going into depression and we won’t be sittin’ on the sideline unharmed… I also think Russia’s SMO is about to become a “war” wwrt Pentagon’s latest admissions.
            Got nuttin’ to do with Cue!

            Liked by 2 people

            1. I wasn’t talking about Cue either. Yes, it is about to implode and yes, it will affect us here. But I can do nothing about it any more than the next person so…..I do what I can and focus on what I CAN change. Unfortunately, the following is all-too-often what happens!!!

              Liked by 2 people

              3. I will remind grandson AGAIN to fill the tank … take his money out of savings … both reminders will fall on deaf ears … 😉

                Liked by 1 person

        1. it is…
          gosh i will have to refresh my memory on what happens after the “queen” falls in cue drops…
          just to see if there’s any symmetry to real events…

          Liked by 2 people

  30. Oh, I saw Little Man earlier……he is uninjured except the spot behind his ear is really raw. I gave him some food out by the shed – he danged near tripped me getting over there. A little bit of petting and he quickly focused on the food.

    Liked by 1 person

  31. Prince William has just arrived in Scotland and on his way to Balmoral, she is still “under medical supervision,” Prince Harry and Me-again are also enroute. Keeping her “medically comfortable.” Yep, bet she’s basically gone.

    Liked by 1 person

  38. Just now watched the forecast from last night….hot again today and windy but rain moving in tomorrow with a high of 75 and only 64 for Saturday!!!! Down into the 40’s at night….need to start thinking about moving the plants inside to the bath room soon…..

    Liked by 1 person

  44. EXCERPT: “But what happens to those who, after all these attempts to cow them into irrelevance, continue to ask impertinent questions?

    Well, here is where we see perhaps the most grotesque appropriation of testimonialism’s nobly-inspired practices: the spectacle of the most powerful among us portraying themselves as the world’s ultimate victims, laying the groundwork in this way, for the effective banishment of those who refuse to bow down before their evidence-free, or evidence-challenged personal renditions of the “truth.”

    This is what Fauci did when he declared himself the poor, unfairly embattled emissary of “science itself.” And this has been what the Biden cabal, fully backed, no less, by the enormous repressive apparatus of the Deep State, has done at every turn, first with January 6th protestors, then with the unvaccinated and now with the seeming majority of citizens who refuse to recognize the providential nature of his presidency.

    Make no mistake about it. These are dog whistles designed to prime the 30% army of cancellers to work their magic in the upcoming campaign to further take down the non-complaint.

    Testimonio, or testimonialism, as I have rendered it in English, was a very noble and necessary attempt to salvage and distribute the disappeared history of the many victims of military government and economic power in Latin America’s recent history. After it rightly gained a foothold in the American academy, its laudable emphasis on widening the chorus of voices involved in the making of the historical record caused it to spread like wildfire to other humanistic disciplines. Its fruits were many.

    But somewhere along the way, this drive broadening our understanding of the past was commandeered by academic cynics who saw in its exaltation of the personal a way to effectively marshal power without going through the arduous work of having to convince others of the wisdom of their interpretations or their policy prescriptions.

    More alarmingly, these same cynics began openly encouraging students to eschew argument and rely on the allegedly unassailable reality of their personal stories, and/or their personal, if often grotesquely ill-informed, interpretations of the past.

    “Like, I feel…” is now arguably the single most uttered phrase in our college classrooms today, and it would seem, in an ever-growing percentage of our “educated” young.

    Since these students have often not been forced to structure arguments in the crucible of the classroom (being allowed instead to substitute their personal testimonies rooted in the flotsam and jetsam of popular culture and woke orthodoxies for ordered argumentative discourse), they do not know how or why they should demand such well-honed explanations from others.

    “If, like, Fauci, like, says it’s safe and effective and the President, like, says we need to do it to protect the vulnerable, like, what more do you want?. Are you, like, one of those anti-vaxxers or something?”

    This virtual dialogue between no-reason issuers of edicts and young citizens who don’t demand arguments forms a virtuous circle…to the benefit, of course, of those already in possession of power.

    We must begin to stubbornly hold our places when both the powerful old, and the insouciant young, spring the “agree-with-my-sound-bite-version-of-the-truth-or-be- banished” gambit on us. Yes, they will amp up the volume to try and get us to cower and fold. We need to be stubborn and conflictive with them in ways that many of us never wanted, or believed we could be.

    If we do otherwise, we are, I honestly think, looking at the end of both democratic republicanism and the ideal of pursuing truth through study.”

    Long article but very well-written – I learned a couple of new words!

    https://brownstone.org/articles/the-appropriation-and-corruption-of-testimonialism/

    Liked by 1 person

  45. Entire Article @ RealClearMarkets: “It’s too easily forgotten that human beings are the most crucial capital of all. Which means how they deploy their talents is of utmost importance.

    This is something to keep in mind as scholars like Nicholas Eberstadt wonder about “the bizarre imbalance between the demand for work and the supply of it.” His analysis was disappointing. It’s as though he witnessed the cruelty of the lockdowns related to the coronavirus without catching on to what the suffocation of freedom meant for human capital.

    For those eager to perhaps understand it better, human beings are making a crucial investment when they accept a job. In life there are no dress rehearsals, so the choice of work can’t be taken lightly. Please think about this with the lockdowns top-of-mind. Politicians, policymakers, and experts who would never miss a paycheck or a meal suddenly decided that workers not like them were no longer essential. In making this choice for others, they robbed human beings of years of investment of self in certain industries while also bluntly telling these others that their livelihood could be taken from them near overnight.

    It’s all worth thinking about with Eberstadt’s musings about “a bizarre imbalance” post lockdowns top of mind. In reality, the latter is a statement of the obvious and it’s not remotely bizarre. Real people saw up close what government can do to jobs and what we call “the economy” in short order. That so many would be rather reluctant to re-commit their own capital to certain fields really isn’t at all surprising. It was disappointing that Eberstadt didn’t acknowledge this.

    Instead, he pivoted to policy. In particular, he wrote about how in 2020-21 “Washington pulled out all the monetary and fiscal stops to avoid an economic collapse.” This was very disappointing. Eberstadt essentially decided to write about what Washington did in response to an economic collapse, while ignoring Washington’s definitive role in the collapse.

    Absent panicky politicians on the local, state and national levels taking away individual freedom to assemble, go to work, and operate one’s business, there’s no “economic collapse” to avoid. That the entity behind the economic collapse was empowered to fight it didn’t seem to trouble Eberstadt.

    At which point Eberstadt glossed over the folly of Washington “doing something.” Lest readers forget, command-and-control was foisted on the American people beginning in March of 2020. That the economy collapsed in response was and is a blinding glimpse of the obvious. For Eberstadt to then assert that trillions of federal spending somehow staved off “economic collapse” is Eberstadt’s very disappointing way of saying that command-and-control in response to command-and-control is the source of economic advance. Not at all.

    The trillions in federal spending that Eberstadt concludes was necessary (the stuff about alleged monetary “stimulus” is hard to take seriously, but would require another column) to “avoid” economic misery ignores that absent federal subsidization of lockdowns, there wouldn’t have been lockdowns. Think about it. And in thinking about it, ask yourself if elites generally sanguine about lockdowns would have felt that way if their own jobs had been threatened. The question answers itself, at which point it’s safe to say that if a panicky President Trump had properly not panicked and not signed a $2.9 trillion spending bill, the jobs and business destroying lockdowns would have ended around the country very quickly out of necessity. Talk about “stimulus.”

    Indeed, imagine if the political class hadn’t extracted nearly $3 trillion from the private sector, thus rendering lockdowns dead in the water? If so, the people who populate the economy would have been free to go back to work much sooner, and they would have been free to do so sans the politicized allocation of nearly $3 trillion. In short, an economy that was already booming would have continued to boom. Such is the norm absent command-and-control married with trillions of government waste.

    From there, Eberstadt observes that “Americans actually had more money in their pockets during pandemic emergency years.” What he leaves out is that government can only give out what it’s first taken, and the rich are generally those taken from. To the Keynesian-leaning, this is a good thing. More consumption! Alas, it’s investment that truly powers advance only for government to dampen economic spirits with the forced movement of wealth from individuals most prone to invest their excess into the hands of those most prone to consume. Eberstadt’s essay routinely omits that government didn’t help us avoid collapse as much as its interventions were the collapse.

    The view here is that Eberstadt disappointingly missed, only to miss again and again. From the forced wealth transfers he finds reasons for workforce exit without happening on the original sin of government decreeing the work of millions non-essential. Having missed this truth, Eberstadt then pivots to wealth transfers that he thinks helped us “avoid” collapse, only for him to conclude now that it’s harming the same “economy” through reduced workforce participation. You think?

    The challenge now for the macro-focused Eberstadt is the crucial unseen. In particular, it’s perhaps lost on him that the most important capital (human) was suffocated to the tune of millions by government force. A failure to see this renders his other analyses about “Men Without Work” not as useful as it could be. Investment of human and financial capital powers all growth, but in 2020 government crushed the investment in numerous ways. That men are withholding their capital in the aftermath of immense federal blundering is very much a statement of the obvious.”

    Liked by 1 person

  46. EXCERPT: “In three previous articles, I explored the puzzles of Dr. Deborah Birx’s appointment to the White House Coronavirus Response Task Force, her dubious scientific claims, and the people and groups she may or may not have worked with. In order to make sense of all the inconsistencies and incongruities that emerged, I hypothesized that Birx probably had ties to a group of military/intelligence/biosecurity actors who wanted to cover up a lab leak of an engineered virus – a group I am calling “the lab-leak cabal.”

    It is my (as yet unproven) theory that the lab-leak cabal, for which Birx was a primary agent in the US government, wanted to impose strict lockdowns all over the world. Why they wanted lockdowns may include any or all of the following:

    The cabal, in tandem with Chinese authorities, wanted to divert attention from their culpability in creating a deadly and highly infectious virus that escaped into the world’s population.
    Population exposure to an enhanced pandemic potential pathogen was unprecedented, so they felt it had to be countered with unprecedented containment measures, on an unprecedented scale.
    China said their lockdowns were working to stop the virus, and the cabal really wanted to believe China that lockdowns could work if they were strict and long enough.

    They saw the pandemic as an opportunity to test their ideas and experiment with tactics for global crisis management, including lockdowns, rapid vaccine manufacture and distribution, real-time surveillance of individuals and entire populations, media manipulation and other novel solutions waiting for a catastrophic problem.

    Whatever their motives, the goal seems very clear: Get as many countries as possible to lock down for as long as possible, at least until vaccines became available. But locking down entire countries full of healthy populations was never an accepted or ethically/medically/scientifically supported pandemic response, and people might object to such draconian measures. So Birx+cabal had to create enough panic to make it happen.

    What, then, was their strategy?

    An outsider unknowingly provides the lockdown blueprint:

    In his scathing account of his time on the Task Force, A Plague Upon Our House, Dr. Scott Atlas – the only outsider I’m aware of who managed to penetrate the Task Force’s inner workings – uses phrases like “Kafkaesque absurdity,” “incomprehensible error,” and “frankly immoral” to describe what he witnessed. Indeed, if the Task Force had actually been trying to apply best practices to pandemic mitigation, then everything they did would seem incomprehensibly misguided and obviously terrible – as it did to Atlas.

    However, if you believe (as I do) that Birx was imposing the lab-leak cabal’s agenda on the Task Force and the country (and, by extension, the world), then everything they did suddenly makes perfect sense: All the policies that seemed ridiculous when examined separately worked splendidly together to whip up massive panic, which in turn induced global compliance with draconian lockdowns.

    In other words, each anti-scientific, non-public-health measure in itself – e.g., universal cloth masking, testing and quarantining after the virus was widespread, focusing on cases instead of hospitalizations or deaths – was not intended to achieve anything, except the singular goal of fomenting massive fear. And the purpose of the fear was to ensure maximum compliance with lockdowns.

    Which brings us back to Scott Atlas, who inadvertently, in decrying the Task Force’s terrible policies and behaviors, managed to reveal the outline of their hidden agenda. Based on Atlas’s astute observations of Birx and Co.’s worst practices, I have compiled a ten-step list of instructions for how to get the world to comply with totalitarian lockdown policies in response to a not-very-devastating pandemic.

    [ALL QUOTES ARE FROM ATLAS’S BOOK, KINDLE VERSION]”

    https://brownstone.org/articles/debi-does-lockdowns/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. “Upon the Queen’s death, Prince Charles has immediately become the new monarch. A period of national mourning has begun and is set to last until the funeral, which is expected to take place in 10 days time. Her body will be moved to Buckingham Palace, where it will likely remain for five days.

      The government is not expected to announce any other business, unless urgent, to allow focus to fall completely on the Queen. Major sporting events, including football and cricket matches, could now be postponed as a mark of respect.”

      Liked by 1 person

  49. Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.