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The ADVANCE, January 6, 2021 /Page 5A
OPINIONS
“I honor the man who is willing to sink
Half his repute for the freedom to think,
And when he has thought, be his cause strong or weak,
Will risk t’other half for the freedom to speak.”
—James Russell Lowell
editorials
I Checkmate
It was Thanks
giving, and I was
panicking because
: rom the Porch I still didn’t have a
By Amber Nagle Christmas gift idea
for my husband,
Gene. I knew it would be an exceptionally
lonely holiday season for us this year, since
we planned to spend it without friends
and family due to the rising number of
coronavirus cases. To counter the sadness,
I wanted to surprise him with something
particularly special.
Then a miracle occurred. On the sug
gestion of a friend, Gene and I watched the
Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit,” a sto
ry about an orphaned female chess prod
igy and her rise to the top of the world’s
chess stage. We both loved it and talked
about it even after we finished watching
the seven episodes.
Watching “The Queen’s Gambit” re
ignited Gene’s love of chess. My husband
was a member of the chess team when he
was a young man in high school, and from
what his parents told me, he was quite an
accomplished “chess man.” After we mar
ried and began merging our possessions,
I came across numerous chess strategy
books. People who aren’t passionate about
chess don’t have books of chess openings
and puzzles. He was a serious player. I, on
the other hand, was not.
My father and brother were chess
players, and my family always had a chess
board set up on a bar in our game room, so
I had learned the basics of chess early in
life, but I can’t think four and five moves
ahead. I also get a little bored with the slow
pace of the game. I’m more of a checkers-
and-television-game-shows kind of girl,
and so Gene’s chess playing days ended
the day we got married.
Shortly after we watched “The Queen’s
Gambit,” I read an online interview with
Garry Kasparov, a Russian chess grand
master and former world champion (con
sidered by many to be the greatest player
ever). Kasparov had helped with the chess
boards and moves in the Netflix series to
ensure the authenticity of the series. I rec
ognized his name, and I don’t know why,
but I Googled him that day. That’s when I
saw it — the top search engine result read,
“Garry Kasparov Teaches Chess — Mas
terclass.”
I clicked the link and learned that I
could purchase seven hours of interme
diate and advanced chess instruction led
by Kasparov for Gene. I knew I was onto
something big. I signed up for Kasparov’s
Masterclass and ordered my husband a
medium-sized, inexpensive chess board so
he could play along with the tutorials.
Christmas morning came, and we
exchanged gifts. He unwrapped the box
containing the chess board and gave me a
puzzled look. I cued up one of the videos
on my phone and handed it to him. He
watched it as if he was watching footage of
a long lost friend.
By noon, I was in the kitchen cooking
Christmas dinner for two while Gene sat
in our dining room with our guest, Rus
sian grandmaster Garry Kasparov on the
screen of his laptop. For hours, he started
and stopped the videos, taking time in be
tween to position the pieces on the chess
board in particular patterns to consider
different moves.
The following morning, just after we
woke up and rolled out of bed, he looked
at me and said, “I think I figured out the
last chess board.” He explained, and we
both smiled.
A week later, he’s still watching Kasp
arov videos and staring at the chessboard.
Seeing his joy filled me with the Christmas
spirit. After all, ‘tis better to give than to
receive.
In chess, the pieces move certain ways
in their pursuit to capture the opponent’s
king. “Checkmate” occurs when there is
no way to avoid capture. At that point, the
game is over.
This year, like a chess player, I planned
and strategized my moves to give Gene
something he would truly enjoy for
Christmas — a gift that would transport
him back to his childhood, playing with a
toy Santa had left under the tree especially
for him.
My moves were flawless. He didn’t see
it coming. Like I said, I’m not much of a
chess player, but even I know checkmate
when I see it, and my gift to Gene this year
was “a big win” for both of us. I feel like a
champion.
New Year's Eve Light Show
By Joe Phillips
Dear Me
What did you do?
New Year's eve
should never steal by
quietly.
The celebration of
another year calls for
loud lights and bright
sounds.
I think the first
changeover in my
memory was with
grandparents, who lived a half-mile west of
Taylor's Ridge.
There was so little sound pollution, one
could yell eastward and hear the echo.
That night boys and men set off fire
works, and the echo bounced from ridge to
hill up and down that valley as thunder does
today.
In the south Georgia communities
where I grew up there was enough ambient
light from street lights and homes that you
had to leave town to get a decent glimpse of
stars. Even out of town there was only a tease
of them.
I scratch this note to you from middle
America, Kansas. Here it is easy to find a spot
a mile from the nearest artificial light, and
after a suitable time of allowing eyes to adjust
the canopy of stars is reminiscent of sugar
spilled on black velvet.
This year, 2021, slipped by me like a kit
ten, with no more sound than the sigh of a
sleeping infant.
Leaning back on the hood of my rental
car for stability and warmth, I saw the stars
become visible slowly as if from shyness.
First the brightest, then airplanes passing
through the icy air, a satellite, and within a
half hour the sky was majestic.
Fve been in some interesting places on
New Year's Eve, including stuck in a muddy
ditch on a rainy night. I failed to measure a
turn on a clay county road and slid perfectly
into the far ditch.
That night we waited for help to come
while Guy Lombardo's orchestra kept our
spirits up with familiar music.
Help came in the form of a friend in a
Jeep with a wench. By that time there was
nothing to do but go home and try to explain
our appearance.
I understand there used to be some
pretty wild times in Enosdale, Kansas.
There isn't much left of “Beautiful
Downtown Enosdale” but a lot of memories.
This year they didn't bother with the muddy
truck parade or the old guy blowing a bugle
at midnight.
Enosdale is not far from Cuba, Kansas,
just across the county line.
Cuba is a sweet and determined little
town. It was named for the thriving eco
nomic powerhouse less than a hundred miles
south of Key West.
The residents of Cuba, Kansas, however,
have nothing in common with folks on the
socialist island nation.
There is much more to say about Cuba,
Kansas, Bohemians, food and music. We'll
try to touch on that soon.
The New Year's Eve light show I enjoyed
began millions of light years ago. They were
the same pin-pricks that hovered over pio
neers on the Oregon Trail and kept the Kan
sas Woman's pioneer ancestors company as
they migrated from Wisconsin into the lower
Midwest.
You don't have to go to Beautiful Down
town Enosdale at night to see the stars, but
you need to go for some reason.
joenphillips@yahoo.com
vWPlTgR
MARS
WURH EAKTU
Shifting Goalposts - COVID
Deaths versus Vaccine Deaths
By Brian C.Joondeph, MD
Imagine changing the rules in the
middle of a football game. The half
time score is 14-12, the Raiders scoring
two touchdowns while the Broncos
kicked four field goals. In the second
half the rules change with field goals
worth seven points and touchdowns
only three points. Suddenly the Bron
cos are ahead 28-6. Absurd isn’t it?
That’s what is happening with the
reporting of COVID deaths versus vac
cine deaths, the media and medical es
tablishment now defining deaths far
differently in order to push their agenda
of COVID bad, vaccine good.
COVID deaths don’t distinguish
between death with COVID versus
death from COVID. Early in the pan
demic, Dr Deborah Birx said as much:
“So, I think in this country we’ve
taken a very liberal approach to mortal
ity. There are other countries that if
you had a preexisting condition and
let’s say the virus caused you to go to
the ICU and then have a heart or kid
ney problem some countries are re
cording as a heart issue or a kidney is
sue and not a COVID-19 death. Right
now...if someone dies with CO
VID-19 we are counting that as a CO
VID-19 death.”
Perhaps that is why the US has
more COVID deaths compared to
many other countries, although in a
world ranking, the US is in tenth place
in deaths per million, behind Belgium,
Italy, Spain and the UK.
Preexisting conditions are cer
tainly important and death is often
multifactorial. According to the CDC,
only 6 percent of COVID deaths were
due to COVID only, meaning no pre
existing conditions. But what about the
other 94 percent?
Suppose coroners ask the ques
tion, “If not for COVID, would this
patient be alive today?” If the answer is
yes, it will be recorded as a COVID
death. But one could easily ask the
question differently. “If not for diabetes
(or COPD, heart disease, obesity, etc)
would this COVID patient be alive to
day?” in which case any of those other
comorbidities could just as easily be
listed as the cause of death, rather than
COVID.
In other words, the diabetic pa
tient may not have died if they didn’t
have COVID but may not have died
either if they didn’t have diabetes. It
seems COVID trumps everything else
in death attribution.
Is it the same for the vaccines or
have the rules now changed?
An Israeli man suffered a fatal heart
attack hours after receiving the CO
VID vaccine. The media was quick to
disavow any linkage between the two
events. From the Jerusalem Post, “Man’s
fatal heart attack likely unlinked to vac
cine he took 2 hours before.”
The Times of Israel says much the
same,
“88-year-old dies hours after vac
cine; doctors stress he was seriously ill.
Hospital says deceased, who collapsed
at home, had a long history of health
ailments.”
Some American press were more
straightforward in their reporting, sim
ply presenting the facts without caveats
distancing the death from the vaccine.
The New York Post headline, “Israeli
man reportedly dies of heart attack
hours after getting COVID vaccine.”
They did not tie the two events to
gether but instead just reported the
two events factually, without opining,
what journalism is supposed to do.
Other American media, of the left-
wing variety, were quick to draw a dis
tinction between the two events, claim
ing them to be unrelated, even though
that is speculation, not certainty, and
the opposite approach to COVID
death reporting. From The Wrap,
"NY Post Ripped for ‘Totally Irre
sponsible’ COVID-19 Vaccine Head
line
Outlet ran a story on a man who
died shortly after taking Pfizer’s vac
cine — but the headline failed to men
tion health officials believe it was “un
related” to the shot.”
A Swiss man also died after receiv
ing the COVID vaccine and again the
media was quick to deny any causation.
According to Yahoo,
“Swiss drugs regulator swissmedic
on Wednesday said it saw no link be
tween the death of a 91-year old person
in the canton of Lucerne and the CO
VID-19 vaccine, adding the deceased
suffered from multiple illnesses before
getting the shot.”
Are any COVID deaths reported
with such disclaimers? Do the death
counts touted on Fox News or CNN
ever mention those COVID deaths in
individuals “suffering from multiple ill
nesses” before getting COVID?
Will the Swiss man’s death certifi
cate say he died due to the vaccine or
natural causes? If we were to apply Dr
Birx’s rule to the vaccine paraphrasing,
“if someone dies with the vaccine, we
are counting that as a vaccine death”
then these two elderly men died from
the vaccine.
In reality, a 92-year-old man actu-
arily has a 20 percent chance of dying
within a year and I agree that it is un
likely the two events are related. If he
has multiple illnesses, that percentage
Please see Joondeph page 9A
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