• Editor’s note: Our entire social order is under assault when a small group of protestors can take over a prominent local [non-government] business to gain attention to their cause of a policy issue with government.
• How would you like your private business taken over due to some group’s call for government action?
• Born in this time of the pandemic’s desperation, this is not the way to resolve our problems.
• People being aggrieved and perceiving themselves as victims in being left-out is the same mindset that led to the Capitol riots, the Gamestop trading issues, and an impeachment attempt of Kentucky’s governor over policy matters, which is not the purpose of impeachment, rather to indict wrong-doing by elected officials.
• What kind of social order do we now have where a small group of protestors takes over businesses to get government leaders to act according to that group’s will, which we saw in Minneapolis and Seattle last summer?
• See Oly Housing Now new release below.
• Are we witnessing the breakdown of civil discourse that threatens the survival of American democracy and our economic powerhouse, when this method to resolve issues proliferated all the way to downtown Olympia?

“Housing group attempts to ‘take’ downtown Olympia hotel for pandemic housing“

“A group calling itself Oly Housing Now apparently tried to “take over” the Red Lion Hotel in downtown Olympia about noon Sunday, according to a news release issued by the group.

“The Red Lion on Capitol Way, across from Sylvester Park, used to be known as the Governor Hotel.

“About 35 people are protesting inside and outside the hotel. Oly Housing Now say they’ve purchased 17 hotel rooms for homeless people from nearby encampments and plan to stay until the county commits funds for permanent housing, according to a reporter at the scene,” by Rolf Boone, The Olympian. Read more

• Editor’s note: This Friday story in The New York Times is chilling in the context of American history. Repercussions can be expected:

NYT: Republican Ties to Extremist Groups Are Under Scrutiny – A number of members of Congress have links to organizations and movements that played a role in the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.

*** SELECT REGIONAL NEWS FROM FRIDAY ***

+ KING-5 TV: Indoor dining gets partial return to restaurants in 7 western Washington counties Monday

+ The Olympian: This historical building in Olympia could be sold [former county courthouse]

+ Tacoma’s News-Tribune: Washington National Guard asks Pentagon for more troops amid civil unrest, COVID-19

+ The Olympian: Thurston County still has illegal, discriminatory covenants on 100s of deeds and plats

+ Associated Press: State urges teachers to return to classrooms — shot or not

*** CORONAVIRUS NEWS ***

Seattle Times: New coronavirus variant detected in King County on Friday

JOLT News: Thurston County’s health officer answers top three questions in her letter to school district superintendents Returning kids to school

Mercola: Pfizer Admits Vaccine Does Not Prevent COVID

Delta Airlines News Hub: Delta earns hospital-grade ‘Diamond’ rating for cleanliness from Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) and SimpliFlying.

*** SELECT POLITICAL NEWS FROM FRIDAY ***

Business Insider: Russia has been cultivating Trump as an asset for 40 years, former KGB spy says

Bloomberg: World’s Most Vaccinated Nation [Israel] Struggles With Virus Variants

Daily Kos: New polling shows overwhelming support for Biden’s vision of unity, rejection of GOP obstruction

Truthout: Trump Chief of Staff [Mark Meadows] Liquidated as Much as $200,000 in Stock After Election

NYT: Body camera footage shows Capitol rioters trampling over woman [who died there]

Business Insider: Law enforcement veterans say the Capitol siege was just the tip of the iceberg of the ‘cult-like’ threat far-right extremists pose to the US

Newsweek: Donald Trump’s Return to Mar-a-Lago May Be Interrupted by Limited Stay Agreement

The Hill: Former House GOP leader: Fear of telling ‘truth’ to voters led to Capitol riot

The Hill: [Now 270] House staffers urge senators to convict Trump in impeachment trial

*** SELECT REGIONAL NEWS THURSDAY ***

Associated Press: Seven counties [includes Thurston] to advance to Phase 2 under modified plan

Tacoma’s News-Tribune: After move into Phase 2, high school sports officially back in South Sound

Associated Press: Seattle-area hospitals see hopeful signs in virus fight

JOLT News: State contract will create Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program in Thurston County – designed to serve the offenders who experience mental health issues

Thurston Talk: City of Yelm’s Longest-Term Employees Love Their Work [Ed. note: Interesting this article appeared as city management was developing a case against an employee, as the council’s January 26, 2021 agenda stated: “20 Minute Executive Session to Review the Performance of a Public Employee RCW 42.30.110 (g).” Stay tuned for more on this story!]

KING-5 TV: Boeing confirms 787 Dreamliner production is moving from Everett to South Carolina in March

*** SELECT NATIONAL NEWS THURSDAY ***

UK’s Guardian: Climate crisis: world is at its hottest for at least 12,000 years – study – Scientists say temperatures globally at highest level since start of human civilisation

NBC News: Biden rolls back Trump restrictions on abortion, Obamacare

Forbes: Jill Biden Expected To Help Reunite Separated Migrant Families

Washington Examiner: Biden starts to reverse Trump’s judicial legacy

*** SELECT POLITICAL NEWS THURSDAY ***

Business Insider: The QAnon Shaman says he’s willing to testify at Trump’s impeachment trial – against the president

CNN: Chief Judge Beryl Howell scorches Capitol riot suspects and keeps man who was in Pelosi’s office in jail

Reuters: Exclusive: Georgia election board member to seek state AG probe of Trump

Washington Examiner: Arizona GOP chairwoman facing demands for audit says results are ‘final’

The Hill: Virginia Senate votes to censure GOP gubernatorial candidate who defended Capitol rioters

Washington Examiner: Biden starts to reverse Trump’s judicial legacy

*** SELECT REGIONAL NEWS FROM WEDNESDAY ***

+ Yelm Dollars for Scholars: Upcoming Taste of the Prairie dates benefiting Yelm Dollars for Scholars Fundraiser

+ JOLT News: State contract will create Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program in Thurston County

+ Prestige Care: Connect Your Body and Mind with Prestige Senior Living at Rosemont through a Free Webinar – Friday, January 29 at 10:30 a.m. PST

+ CNBC: Boeing posts record annual loss, pushes out 777X deliveries to late 2023

*** SELECT NATIONAL NEWS FROM WEDNESDAY ***

WaPo: Millions of federal dollars for health emergencies were diverted to unrelated projects, watchdog says [investigation done by Health and Human Services Department’s inspector general, overseen by the Office of Special Counsel]

San Francisco Chronicle: US terrorism alert warns of politically motivated violence

CNN: The face mask that could end the pandemic – the N95

WaPo: Everyone should be wearing N95 masks now – by Joseph G. Allen is an associate professor and director of the Healthy Buildings program at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health

People: Pope Francis Marked Holocaust Remembrance Day [Jan. 27] with Warning That ‘These Things Can Happen Again’

NBC News: Small-business owners welcome Biden’s order to ‘Buy American’

NYT: Surge of Student Suicides Pushes Las Vegas Schools to Reopen – Firmly linking teen suicides to school closings is difficult, but rising mental health emergencies and suicide rates point to the toll the pandemic lockdown is taking.

*** SELECT POLITICAL NEWS FROM WEDNESDAY ***

MSN: Google Halts Donations to Republicans Who Voted Against Election Results

NBC News: He used Twitter to mislead voters. Now alt-right figure Douglass Mackey, known better by his alter ego, Ricky Vaughn, is being charged with election interference in conspiring with others “to disseminate misinformation designed to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote.”

Daily Kos: ‘No immigrant is an alien’: Advocates cheer Biden push to remove dehumanizing term from U.S. law

CNBC: Trump supporter arrested for pipe bombs discussed attacking Twitter, Facebook

Daily Kos: Now that Trump’s gone, a rush of federal judges decide it’s safe to step aside

WaPo: Anti-Trump Republican Adam Kinzinger accepts his fate, whatever it is [Ed. note: He has a perspective as a pilot with the Air Force National Guard, who formerly flew excursions into enemy territory in Iraq and Afghanistan.]

“Doubts That Creep”

“I know this can’t be forever, so why would we pretend, that there’s ever been a winter that didn’t, one day, end.”

Click here

Blogger Klein is a Probably Tomfoolery subscriber and contributor.

*** SELECT REGIONAL NEWS TUESDAY ***

Seattle Times: Washington state will soon get more COVID-19 vaccines, Inslee says

JOLT News: Thurston County officials provide detailed update on vaccinations

Associated Press: Washington considers open carry ban at demonstrations

JOLT News: Tell county officials via survey how to decide on issues and programs that support local farms and farmers

The Olympian: With just 5 jury trials in a year, Thurston courts feel the strain of COVID-19 delays – Thurston County Superior Court has extended its suspension of criminal jury trials through March.

Airliner Watch: Boeing commits to delivering commercial aircraft using 100% sustainable fuels

Inhabitat: Washington is the first U.S. state to hold a climate assembly

KING-5 TV: Washington hospital leaders worry of surge in cases from new COVID-19 variant

*** SELECT NATIONAL NEWS FROM TUESDAY ***

WaPo: Earth is now losing 1.2 trillion tons of ice each year. And it’s going to get worse.

NYT’s Stuart A. Thompson: Three Weeks Inside a Pro-Trump QAnon Chat Room

USA Today: Justice Department inspector general investigates whether staffers sought to improperly overturn 2020 election result [Ed. note: Now that the restrictions on the DOJ’s IG are removed with Trump gone, the IG can do their job!]

McClatchey News: Trust in federal government on the pandemic soars after Biden inauguration, poll finds

Yahoo: Polls find Biden’s approval rating higher than Trump’s ever was

CNBC: Biden orders DOJ to end private prison contracts as part of racial equity push [and to limit the transfer of military equipment to police.]

McClatchey News: FDA puts all alcohol-based hand sanitizers from Mexico on ‘import alert.’ What that means

*** SELECT POLITICAL NEWS FROM TUESDAY ***

WaPo: Pentagon restricted commander of D.C. Guard ahead of Capitol riot

Bloomberg: Twitter Bans My Pillow CEO Who Insisted Trump Won the Election [My Pillow Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mike Lindell continued false claims about the vote in violation of Twitter’s policy.]

WaPo: Why is it so hard to deprogram Trumpian conspiracy theorists? “No matter what happens, there’s always another explanation.”

WaPo: Giuliani wasn’t just a Trump partisan but a shrewd marketer of vitamins, gold, lawsuit says

Politico: YouTube extends Trump suspension, slaps new restrictions on Giuliani

CNN: Democrats stunned by briefing on Capitol’s security before insurrection: ‘It was only by pure dumb luck’ more weren’t killed

McClatchey News: Congress asks Pentagon to restore military base construction funds from border wall

Internationally acclaimed talk-show host Larry King died

CNN: Larry King, legendary talk show host, dies at 87, January 24

• Ed note: Larry King interviewed Yelm’s JZ Knight on August 2, 2008 in the show titled “Change Your Mind Change Your Life.”
• An except of the media release for CNN’s Larry King Live show said:
• “In a revolutionary new episode, Knight and King discuss and explore the vast potential of the human mind. Joined by a distinguished panel of guests including scientist and author of The Conscious Universe Dean Radin, psychoneuroimmunology pioneer Candace Pert [now deceased], “Dr. Quantum” Fred Alan Wolfe, producer/director/writer of the acclaimed film “What the #$*! Do We Know?“ Will Arntz, and astronaut Edgar Mitchell [now deceased], who was the sixth man to walk on the moon, Knight discusses the amazing capabilities latent in all of us, sheds light on the world of quantum physics, and explains how neuroscience plays a part in creating reality. CNN’s own Sanjay Gupta also lends insight with fieldwork from The Biocybernaut Institute in Santa Clara, CA.”
• Click here for the video to part 1
• Click here for the video to Part 2.

I met Larry King 45 years ago:

I met King while Manager of the University of Miami Football team. King was an avid UM Football fan and would often visit the practice field as a guest.

In the mid-1970s, he had a radio show that aired from Pumpernick’s Deli & Restaurant [now out of business], on Miami Beach across from the Carillon Hotel. His sports talk-show “Sports-a-la-King” featured callers asking his guests questions in the restaurant’s seated booths. He broadcast for Miami’s AM radio station W.I.O.D. (Wonderful Isle of Dreams), located on Harbor Island on the 79th St. Causeway between North Miami & Miami Beach.

King was one of the few non-UM affiliated spectators allowed in to see the team practice, so I got to meet him on the sidelines in 1976 & spring 1977. King got an interview with newly hired UM Head Football Coach (formerly of the Buffalo Bills) Lou Saban during Spring football practice of 1977, and did the radio session from UM Football Offices.

King did not return to UM practices after the Autumn 1977 football season ended, as his radio show went national on the Mutual Broadcasting Network (MBS) in January 1978. I did not see him again, as I became employed by Eastern Airlines and transferred to San Francisco later that year. King’s career took off at MBS and CNN hired him in 1985.   

As happenstance, King wrote a book in 2006: My Dad and Me, a signed copy he gifted to me 30 years after we met.

When I was employed at RSE as the Event Services Manager and Travel/Logistics Coordinator, I worked with King’s Executive Producer at CNN Wendy Walker, coordinating JZ Knight’s 2008 guest interview details. I then mentioned to Ms. Walker about meeting Larry in the mid 1970s at the UM Football Field House. After JZ’s show appearance, I received King’s book in the mail signed by him with a personal note that he remembered our visits at the Miami practice field. I still have his signed book! That simple gesture touched me greatly.

King did not become world famous until the mid-1980’s when he went with the then-fledgling cable network CNN and was a history-maker there for 25 years.
R.I.P Larry! 

Click here for an excellent tribute to King’s life from CNN.

Steve Klein

• Editor’s note: MSNBC’s Morning Joe reported: Tom Brokaw retires after 55 years at NBC News.
• For 55 years, America has appreciated the sincerity of Tom Brokaw, as have I since age 11.
• Brokaw is the only anchor to host all three NBC News broadcasts: Nightly News, TODAY Show and Meet the Press.
• He is also the one who coined the phrase, “The Greatest Generation,” popularized by the title of his 1998 book.
• Brokaw deserves the admiration of a grateful nation.
• Be well Tom Brokaw!

*** REGIONAL NEWS FROM MONDAY ***

Office of Gov. Jay Inslee: The state’s goal of administering 45,000 vaccine doses a day. is progressing. As of Monday, the state’s current seven-day rolling average was 23,960 doses administered.

Associated Press: GOP leaders demand Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA.) resign over impeachment vote

Alaska Airlines: Alaska Airlines takes delivery of its first Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft

The Olympian: 2 percent of Thurston residents have contracted COVID-19

Yelm Middle School: The Smile Mobile is Coming to Yelm Middle School from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Feb. 8, 9, 11, 16, 17, and 18.

*** SELECT NATIONAL NEWS FROM MONDAY ***

CNBC: House delivers Trump impeachment article to Senate, setting stage for trial

WaPo: 50 things that are better already

CNBC: Janet Yellen gets Senate confirmation as first woman to lead the Treasury Department

NBC News: Here’s the full list of Biden’s executive actions so far

WaPo: Baby boomers, to retailers’ surprise, are dominating online shopping

Redfora: The last week of January is officially Emergency Kit Week!

*** SELECT POLITICAL NEWS FROM MONDAY ***

Politico: Biden repeals Trump-era ban on transgender military service

NBC News: Biden moving forward with placing Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill

Politico: State Republicans push new voting restrictions: report

NBC News: Here’s the full list of Biden’s executive actions so far

NYT: Rudy Giuliani Sued by Dominion Voting Systems Over False Election Claims – accuses him of carrying out “a viral disinformation campaign.” [“The suit seeks damages of more than $1.3 billion and is based on more than 50 statements Mr. Giuliani made…”]

Politico: Poll: Majority of Americans support Trump impeachment and conviction

WaPo: Dogs are officially back in the White House

*** SELECT REGIONAL NEWS ***

+ The Olympian: How Carolina Mejia propelled herself to elected office in Thurston County – In many ways, Mejia’s story could be held up as an example of the American dream.

+ Seattle Times: Why did Inslee and DOH ease guidance for reopening schools in Washington state? “…a decision based on principle. State officials believe that, for academic and mental health reasons, more students should be learning in-person.”

+ Seattle Times: As Washington state aims to vaccinate millions against COVID-19, thousands sign up to help

*** CORONAVIRUS NEWS ***

Johns Hopkins Medicine: Brain Fog, Fatigue, Dizziness … Post-COVID POTS Is Real

Science Daily: Poor gut health connected to severe COVID-19, new review shows

FOX News: Delta CEO says airline will permanently ban passengers ‘who refuse to display basic civility’ – 800 people added to their no-fly list for refusing to wear face masks