Author: shellzonit

Former investigator and mother of three wonderful girls. My blog is about learning how to navigate through life without placing yourself and the people you love at risk. I focus on parenting, community, and issues that define us as a nation.

Texas Positivity Rate Reaches 10% & Still Silence From Leaders

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Within a matter of days, Texas has seen an increase in COVID-19 cases. On Friday, cases were floating around 5 percent, and now news outlets are showing 10 percent positivity. Meanwhile, the Nextdoor apps are seeing arguments in local neighborhoods dealing with the outbreak. The attitudes are anywhere from skeptical to concerned about community members living through the next wave.

Many people are frustrated that we are still dealing with COVID a year and a half later. Others are still trying to push the conspiracy theory idea regarding the virus and the vaccine. This morning one poster tried to link the vaccine with the mark of the beast. As a member living in the community, it is alarming that we have people with that mindset dictating their stance on the vaccine.

Part of the problem stems from the fact that people are just too uneducated about the vaccine. The vaccine doesn’t prevent people from getting COVID-19; it helps to minimize the effects. This means it might prevent some people from having to get on oxygen or see hospital rooms. Numerous places are offering the vaccine, but there seems to be a lack of public education around the benefits of getting it.

The administration needs to implement a plan on educating the public due to there being so much negative information. There are a couple of groups that could reach out via phone like, Health and Human Services. The problem, however, seems to be that our governor isn’t talking about the rise. The only information we are hearing in Texas has been misinformation from Senator Cruz linking the rise in cases to people at the border. One poster on Nextdoor tried to link the current rise in our county to the increase mentioned by Cruz. We live 14 hours from the border, which means our rise, has very little to do with the border.

While Governor Abbott is staying silent on the situation, people are still going out and filling up restaurants, stores, and stadiums. It is a scary time to live in Texas and just another reason why our current leadership isn’t cognitively ready to deal with COVID.

https://www.news4sanantonio.com/news/local/texas-covid-19-positivity-rate-is-10-officials-say-we-have-more-tools-to-fight-it

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Texas Governor Abbott Silent About COVID-Surge

AUSTIN, TX – MAY 18: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Texas Governor Greg Abbott announces the reopening of more Texas businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic at a press conference at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on Monday, May 18, 2020. Abbott said that childcare facilities, youth camps, some professional sports, and bars may now begin to fully or partially reopen their facilities as outlined by regulations listed on the Open Texas website. (Photo by Lynda M. Gonzalez-Pool/Getty Images)

Over the last few days, area hospitals are reporting a new surge in COVID cases here in Central Texas. This past week Senator Cruz publicly announced that illegal immigrants were causing new cases of COVID-19 in some parts of Texas.

https://abcnews4.com/news/nation-world/senator-ted-cruz-says-covid-19-cases-rising-in-south-texas-due-to-border-crisis

I live in a city that happens to be 14 hours from the border. We are a very red area, politically speaking. Most of the people here do not wear masks. Our uptick is not due to illegal immigration; it is due to people, not social distancing, not wearing a mask, plus other nonsense. Sadly, once again, COVID is being used as a political weapon.

For over a year, COVID-19 has been the political machine that has driven people against each other, and due to more lies, like the ones told by Cruz, it will continue to be that way. From churches to the government, there’s no slowing down arguments surrounding COVID.

Once again, at this rate, we will walk into another closure of businesses. Our governor seems to always miscalculate the severity of COVID, and right now, he is not expressing any public concern regarding the recent outbreak. We are now at a level 3, which means we are witnessing a moderate outbreak, and nobody is being warned.

Given the comments made by Senator Cruz earlier this week, I fully expect to see the Republicans place the current outbreak on Central Americans. This is what happened when Trump was in office, but it was towards China.

Without Abbott talking about the surge, Texans are going to get sicker. We have all businesses open with remote workers returning to their offices. There are large gatherings all over the place, and the majority of people have taken their masks off. Not to mention, he has reversed the need for children to wear a mask while attending school.

As for the vaccine, our county has a low number of people who have taken the vaccine. In red areas, which are Republican, people listen to their leadership; when it comes to matters like this. Sadly, the voice of reason no longer sounds like a voice of reason if the person behind it isn’t a Republican. With so much political pandering, the current atmosphere is ripe for more death and blame.

Photo by Bert on Pexels.com

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Studio Wildcard Is Slow About Taking Down Hackers.

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Hackers are slowly ruining Ark, the survival game by Studio Wild Card. If you are not familiar with Ark, it is an adventure/survival game that allows you to build and tame dinosaurs. Players can mate and breed dinos to get the best stats in stamina, melee, and health. These stats help defeat bosses at the end of the expansions or maps.

Gen 1

Whenever a new map comes out, you often find servers full of players on the official servers. There are other servers, but they are your non-dedicated servers. That means they are run my people who rent servers from people like G-portal or other companies. Right now we are losing the battle on hacking. Hacking hasn’t been a big issue in the past. We’ve known about hackers or dupers for a while, but amount of duping wasn’t so horrible that it crippled game play for nearly the entire server, all the time. For some reason, the hackers are hacking overtime.

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While, I could easily play on another server, I have found this server to have a great community. In the end, it’s about community. Some servers are really cool with awesome people. I’ve met friends who are from Sweden, Ireland, and other countries around the globe. During the lockdown, Ark was a really big help for many of the players in hard-hit areas. They tried to help ease real-life struggles by hosting in-game incentives so that people could focus on something rather than death. It was also a small token of how much they cared about their community.

Fast forward to today, and we are seeing some players ruin the game by constant hacking. The server I play on is constantly crashing, and it is happening so frequently that very little gets done. There are constant rollbacks which once again prevent people from getting things done. So, the enjoyment that once came with starting a new map and meeting new people is starting to dull. Sadly, these tribes did not start on the server day one. They came after people were already building their bases and blocked about three tribes from finishing their bases. It is aggressive gaming at best.

If Studio Wild Card doesn’t want to lose players, they will need to find a better or more efficient way of getting rid of hackers. Perhaps, looking into a mandatory downtime like WoW would be beneficial. There has to be something the company can do to make sure their players feel satisfied with the end product.

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Can We Still Claim Religion As a Shared Characteristic ?

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Religion is a funny thing. For many of us, we wear it like a necklace around our necks. It often comes up in conversations when addressing the concerns of today. However, how many of us are trying to practice it as Jesus would request?

21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Matthew Chapter 7 NKJV

God knows the color of our heart, and our heart gives birth to our actions. Many of you talk about not liking Democrats due to their stance on homosexuality and abortion. However, I would like to call your attention to something.

Exodus 22:21 – Moses gives God’s law:  “You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien; for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.” 1 Corinthians 13:13, KJV: “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

Immigration is a hot topic right now because our leaders are trying to cause attention to it. However, I want you to ask yourself what Jesus would do if he were at the wall? We are not talking about the criminals, we are talking about innocents people looking to make a better life.

This past year has been a giant teaching moment for our entire country. We have seen what a virus can do to even the strongest of nations. Here in Texas, we got a taste of global warming via a winter storm so unparalleled that many of us still carry some remnants with us today. Yet, we still argue. We still argue and pick up the same drama from pre-Covid America.

It’s time to put politics aside and think about right and wrong. If you claim the victory over two talking points, but you cannot honor the main objective of being a Christian, who are you? We are called to love and be a light. I used to get so angry when I watched movies showcasing Christians as being mentally unstable and cruel. Then you look at some of the people who take up the name Christian today, and you understand the reason behind it.

Part of the problem is that some of us aren’t studying the Bible anymore. We are going to Church and thinking that the preacher is supplying us all the knowledge we will ever need to call on.

 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2nd Timothy 2/15

This was the first bible verse I learned, and it never grows old.

For some of us who might not have understood pre-covid, now we should understand. Some of the countries that are seeing a mass decline are seeing it due to global warming. Global warming is affecting different regions in different ways. For us, it was a great freeze that killed an unknown amount of people. For those coming from hotter climate areas, it is hindering their ability to produce food. Due to what we encountered in Texas, I feel like we should be more open to helping others.

These situations are freak and devastating. Nobody is saying let anyone break the law. I am asking that we find it in our hearts to be kinder to our neighbors. This isn’t about undoing the law, it is about fulfilling God’s law. Hate has no place. We should be handing water and food to those behind the gates, not holding guns in their faces.

King James Version Matthew 25-35

For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

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