Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

(Eift Aiiuancg 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 “"Abuance (The Advance Publishing Co., Inc) PO Box 669, 205 E. First Street, Vidalia, GA 30475 Telephone: (912) 537-3131 FAX: (912) 537-4899 E-mail: theadvancenews@gmail.com The Advance, U. S. P. S. #659-000, successor to The Advance and The Lyons Progress, entered weekly at Vidalia, GA Post Office. Periodical Postage paid at Vidalia, GA 30474 under Act of Congress, March 4, 1886. P.O. Box 669, East First Street, Wm. F. Ledford, Sr. Publisher. Subscription Rates per year: $35.00 in county, $50.00 out of 304 zip code. (POSTMASTER: send address changes to The ADVANCE, P.O. Box 583, Vidalia, GA 30475). Copyright © 2020, Advance Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved. The design, concept and contents of The Advance are copyrighted and may not be reproduced in part or whole without written permission from the publisher. R.E. "LID" LEDFORD, PUBLISHER 1924-1976 WILLIAM F. “BILL" LEDFORD SR., PUBLISHER 1976-2013 Publisher & Managing Editor: WILLIAM F. LEDFORD JR. Vice President: THE LATE ROSE M. LEDFORD Regional Editor: DEBORAH CLARK Pagination/Typography: LEANNE RICHARDSON Quality Control MILLIE PERRY Graphic Design: MATTHEW WATERS Sports Editor/Graphic Design: MIKE BRANCH Director of Advertlslng/Sales: DANIEL FORD Office Manager: GAIL WILLETT Financial Manager: CINDY SHATTO Contributing Writers: JOE PHILLIPS, JOHN CONNER, DICK YARBROUGH & AMBER NAGLE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION Member of the Georgia Press Association and the National Newspaper Association Winning