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Date: 5/18/2021
I received a press release from the Baker Administration the other day about the recipients of a state-funded grant program.
Nothing unusual about that as there are many grant programs in the commonwealth.
What struck me though is this is a program to provide funds to upgrade the security of houses of worship.
Please allow me to quote from the release: “Today, the Baker-Polito Administration announced $950,000 in grant awards to 53 faith-based organizations and houses of worship to strengthen on-premises safety and security. The 53 grants will help to fund safety enhancements to protect attendees at sites facing potential increased risk of violence … In 2018, Massachusetts established the Commonwealth Nonprofit Security Grant Program (CNSGP) to allocate state funding to nonprofit organizations selected through a competitive grants process managed by the Office of Grants and Research (OGR) within the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS). The program annually supports target hardening and other physical security enhancements for locations at high risk for terrorist attacks or hate crimes. To date, the program has provided about $3 million in funding to 124 organizations.”
I was gobsmacked. I had never heard of this program and I was appalled – not because of the program itself, but because we actually have to protect churches, mosques and synagogues.
Baker’s quote in the release was “Our administration remains committed to ensuring that all of the commonwealth’s residents can worship freely and safely. These grants help equip houses of worship with additional tools to keep the faith communities they serve safe.”
It’s so sad that we have come to a point as a society where someplace at which people worship has to be protected from the threat of terrorism. Two locations in Longmeadow were the only recipients from Western Massachusetts.
It’s more proof the crazy factor in the nation is only increasing.
Vice News – a great alternative news organization – reported last week that some people who railed against wearing masks to prevent the spread of the virus are now wearing masks because they fear coming into contact with people who have been vaccinated.
What?
Vice reported, “The conspiracy – which comes in several shapes and sizes – more or less says the vaccinated will ‘shed’ certain proteins onto the unvaccinated who will then suffer adverse effects. The main worry is the ‘shedding’ will cause irregular menstruation, infertility, and miscarriages. The entirely baseless idea is a key cog in a larger conspiracy that COVID-19 was a ploy to depopulate the world, and the vaccine is what will cull the masses.”
Reuters reported about the issue as well.
The gasoline shortage is also propelling another round of insanity. As you know a cyber-attack forced Colonial Pipeline to shut down its operations affecting the flow of fuel to the East Coast. It supplies about 4 percent of the gas for the East Coast, CBS News reported.
The company is resuming operations so this situation should be corrected, but there are still shortages.
What astonished me is the hoarding that has been going on, including people using plastic bags to transport gasoline. I’ve seen photos online to indicate that.
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission tweeted out last week, “Do not fill plastic bags with gasoline,” because some idiots have been doing just that.
Are we so panic-stricken, so open to rush to the wrong conclusion that we are not willing to actually think before we act? Apparently.
Hey, I’m a reporter who was born in Roswell, NM, in 1954 seven years after the crash – look it up – so I enjoy a good conspiracy. That doesn’t mean I believe whatever a blogger on the internet or a talking head on TV or radio decides to tell me and neither should you.
We need to calm down and think.