QUARANTINE BLOG # 322

February 15, 2021

Georgia election officials are referring for possible criminal prosecution a potential voter fraud case involving The New Georgia Project.  U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, elected to the Senate last month, is named as a respondent in the case.  Warnock was listed as the CEO for the New Georgia Project at the time, but the organization says his actual position was chairman of its board. He resigned from that post on January 28, 2020, 3 weeks after the run-off election in which he gained his Senate seat.

The New Georgia Project, which bills itself as a nonpartisan effort to register voters, is accused of submitting 1,268 voter registration applications after the 10-day deadline to do so.  Also among the other cases being referred to prosecutors, some of which date back several years: Four instances of felons voting or registering to vote; four cases of non-citizens voting or registering to vote; and one case of misplaced ballots during the 2020 general election.

👉  The fashion world is up in arms over a new offering by Louis Vuitton: A 100% wool knitwear sweater which boasts a colorful crochet menagerie – 14 puppets in all – including a panda bear, flamingo, scorpion, mouse, frog, monkey, as well as a few mythical creatures.  Fashion Nazis and PETA are railing at the price, reportedly $8,100, and the mistreatment of animals represented by having them dangling off of a sweater.  This report came from QB’s “Get A Life Department.”

👉  A “Sign of the Times”

👉  Friday, Walmart gave out its first doses of COVID-19 vaccine, targeted at areas that are medically underserved.  Pat Thomas and John Thomas of Skowhegan, Maine (in the photograph), got Walmart’s first COVID-19 vaccine doses.  Twenty-one retail chains and pharmacy networks started administering those doses, including CVS, Walgreens, Kroger and grocers in all 50 states. The government initially plans to give around a million doses a week directly to pharmacies.

👉  We’ve been looking at some older toys that are very valuable and a closer look at Barbie, the queen of dolls, has been promised.  The first Barbie was sold for $3.00 in 1959, and in pristine condition, MIB, has sold for close to $30,000.  But that original doll is not the most expensive. 

With 100 Barbies sold every minute world-wide – 58 million annually – the chances are not very good that your doll is worth that small fortune toy hunters crave, but here are a few that are quite valuable.

Pink Splendor Barbie was a limited edition released in 1996. Only 10,000 were manufactured worldwide.  The most expensive Barbie ever sold in stores, she originally had an asking price of about $900 retail, but the best price I found for a doll that actually sold on eBay was $450 + shipping.

From the Barbie Loves Lucy! Collection released in 2004, the doll is valued today at $1,050.  She is dressed in a polka dot dress and a white apron worn by Ball in the original “Sales Resistance” episode, broadcasted in 1953. 

The Chicago Cubs Barbie was a giveaway at the July 20, 1999 Chicago Cubs versus Kansas City Royals baseball game.  MIB, she fetches $2,000 from collectors.

Pirate Barbie (not from Pittsburgh – Mr. Nutting you are missing a bet here, see above photo) was released in 2007.  One sold on eBay last week for $189.99 + $19.52 shipping.

Stefano Canturi Barbie, launched in 2010 is adorned with a rare emerald-cut, 1-carat Australian pink diamond and 3-carats total weight of white diamonds.  It was sold at auction by Christie’s, New York for the $302,000 price tag.  100 percent of profits were donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

And from the sublime to, if not the ridiculous, then at least to the very strange, here are Ukrainian model “Human Barbie” Valeria Lukyanova and “Human Ken Doll” Justin Jedlica – he with total surgery expenditures of $800,000.  She claims to be entirely natural save for breast augmentation.

👉  Come with me to Garrett County, Maryland, for today’s bridge visit.  The Casselman Bridge is an historic transportation structure on the Casselman River, located immediately east of Grantsville in Garrett County, Maryland.  Your favorite bloggers rented their first apartment in Grantsville, and lived in it 3 days before moving – but that’s a story for another time.

The 354-foot-long stone arch bridge spans 80 feet with a 30-foot-high arch and a roadway width of 48 feet.  The first wheeled vehicles crossed the bridge in 1815.  Casselman Bridge had heavy traffic that included wagons drawn by 12-horse teams and carrying 10-ton loads.  The bridge was strengthened for motorized traffic in 1911 and continued in service as a highway until 1933.  Today it is part of Casselman River Bridge State Park.

👉  More bridges later this week, but before we close, listen to Paul Simon and Art Garfunkle’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.  It was the duo’s biggest hit single, and it is often considered their signature song.  It was a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks, and eventually sold over six million copies worldwide, making it among the best-selling singles.  It became one of the most performed songs of the 20th century, with over 50 artists, among them Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, and Johnny Cash covering the song. 

👉  Today’s close is by Chuck Swindoll.

The Four Monuments of Human Nature – Fortune, Fame, Power, Pleasure – are built in clusters, making them appear formidable, and acceptable. Our society is saturated with them.

Fortune. Its inscription at the base is bold: “Get rich.”

Fame. It reads: “Be famous.”

Power. Etched in this are these words: “Take control.”

Pleasure. The fourth monument is perhaps the most familiar of all. Its message is straightforward: “Indulge yourself.”

Conspicuous by its absence is the underlying philosophy of Jesus Christ who taught the truth about being eternally rich through giving rather than getting.  About serving others rather than looking out for number one.  About surrendering rights rather than seizing control.  About limiting your liberty out of love and saying “No” when the flesh pleads for “Yes.”  You know – the whole package wrapped up in one simple statement: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).

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