Saturday, February 29, 2020
New England Journal of Medicine suggests Coronavirus may be no worse than severe flu season
New England Journal of Medicine suggests Coronavirus may be no worse than severe flu season
Random Thoughts for March 2020
Random Thoughts for March
2020
By Robert A. Hall
Feel free to post or forward.
If they had to
add a day to the calendar, why not in June when it's warm?
Dear Mr. Trump: Signing a peace deal with the Taliban is
like Chamberlain getting Hitler’s written promise that he would not seek more
territory after the Sudetenland.
That promise lasted six months. I don’t give this “deal” that long.
Thinking about the Coronavirus, the country came through the
1919 flu pandemic intact. Of course, Americans were made of sterner stuff in
those days.
In the current Democrat field, a “moderate” is a candidate
who isn’t as radical as Bernie on every point.
When people
hear me coughing from my lung transplant, I say, "Nothing serious--I'm
just back from China.”
People ask what
I’m doing for the pain of my hip arthritis. I say, “Tylenol and toughing it
out.”
I don’t pray for evil to happen
to my enemies. I think being them is punishment enough.
I’m a heterosexual,
old, white, male, Christian. I’m a Marine vet who volunteered for Vietnam, so I’ve
always been willing to risk my life opposing communism and socialism. I’m a
Republican and a gun owner. I’ve been faithfully married to my first wife for
over 27 years. I’ve never tried pot, heroin, crack, meth, or any other illegal
recreational drug. I do drink, and a few times in the past to excess, but now
my lung transplant limits me to one drink a day. I never smoked cigarettes. I
smoked a pipe, but like Bill Clinton, didn’t inhale. I gave it up 20 years ago.
I believe that all lives matter, that only free markets have lifted people out
of poverty, and that people should be judged as individuals—black, white, red,
yellow, or brown. Male or female. Gay or straight, old or young, Christian,
Jew, Buddhist, Muslim, atheist, or Hindu—and that you cannot attribute good or
bad characteristics to any individual because of group membership. I believe
that violence attacking others because of their religion, political views, or
race is wrong, whether it’s white supremacists or antifa, and should be
punished. I believe in the death penalty. All this should be enough to make any
snowflake take to his safe space for a year.
The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to
allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that
all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms
have prepared their own downfall by so doing. Indeed, I would go so far as to
say that the supply of arms to the underdogs is a sine qua non for the
overthrow of any sovereignty. So let’s not have any native militia or native police.
--Adolf Hitler
The more painful it is to bend
over, the more I seem to drop things.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be
Roy Rogers or Hopalong Cassidy. Now I’m their cantankerous old sidekick, Gabby
Hayes.
Some people’s souls are sewers.
You can tell we're past the point of no
return when corrupt ceases to be a flaw in the system and has become the
system. --LtCol Tom Kratman, retired, best-selling military science
fiction author.
From the Net: A socialist is someone who
wants everything you have…except your job.
The world is full of people who will think
up work for you that they don’t have to do themselves.
Too bad Stalin’s dead. He’d be perfect VP for
Bernie.
The days may drag, but the years will fly by.
People say, “What were you thinking?” when
they mean, “Why weren’t you thinking?”
Recently we had to take two cats with
stool samples to the vets for a check-up. The seven-year-old grandson, Dale,
was with us. When we got there, I said, “Dale can carry the poop.” He said,
“No, grandpa can carry the poop.” I said, “How come I always get the poopy end
of the stick?” He shot back, “Because you’re at the bottom of the food chain!”
Tearing up the State of the Union Speech
or a Bible on TV isn’t brave. Tearing up a Qur’an on TV would be very brave.
From the Net: Imaging the reaction from
the media and Democrats if then-speaker John Boehner had torn up Obama’s SOTU
speech on TV.
Electing Democrats is like getting on a
plane with a suicidal pilot.
I used to have a great future in front of
me. Now I have a great future behind me.
“Very few of the
so-called liberals are open-minded.... They shout you down and won't let you speak if you disagree with them.” –John Wayne
Progressives
don’t like math because it doesn’t lie.
New Hampshire
should change its slogan from, “Live Free or Die,” to “Live Free or Vote
Socialist.”
I had a lung
transplant for pulmonary fibrosis six years ago. Now I have severe
osteo-arthritis in my right hip. That seems to be a clear case of piling on.
Somebody should throw a flag.
Though much
disparaged, history is a far better guide than feelings or wishful thinking.
Government always
grows until it collapses into itself, like a star going super-nova. See Union,
Soviet.
We
have a construction project near our home where they have put up 8 to 10
hand-made emotional support posters on the chain link fence. Things like,
“Don’t give up,” “You got this,” “You matter,” or “You’re not alone.” I want to
sneak out there at night and put up one that reads, “Forget it, you’re
screwed.”
When
we are young, we notice things that make our bodies feel good. (Yes, that.)
When we are old, we notice things that make it feel bad or hurt. Which grow
every day.
When
you are clumsy, life is harder.
From the net: “In
countries where Muslims are in the minority, they agitate for minority rights.
In countries where they are the majority, there are no minority rights.”
I would suggest that we
teach “English as a Second Language” to blacks who speak “Black English” and who
want it. Progressives will howl, but I’d wager that speaking standard English
improves blacks’ educational and job prospects, giving them the opportunity to
rise above poverty. Think of successful black folks you know (not pro athletes).
Don’t they all speak standard English? Dr. Thomas Sowell demonstrates that as a
group, black intellect is equal to other races. This affirmative action program
would help them show it.
We all have fantasies,
but progressives try to turn theirs into policy.
“We’re taking the fun out
of fundamentalism, Sir.” Marine squad leader in Falluja to then-MajGen Jim
Mattis.
I’d like to hear an
infomercial that said, “Our operators are standing by to fleece you.”
I seem to be getting
younger. I’m almost at the toddler stage.
TV could talk the life
out of a grizzly bear.
It’s pronounced “grizzly.”
It’s pronounced Gris-ly (not grizzly) when you are talking about a horrific
(grisly) sight. There is no Z in grisly.
I think it’s a
combination of ego and fear that makes people think anyone will care how big
their tombstones are.
Standing between a
progressive and his vision of utopia is as dangerous as standing between a mama
grizzly and her cubs.
Character assassins
on both sides no longer care if the allegation is true if it will hurt the
target.
Looking at
the positions of today’s Dem candidates, maybe the much-maligned John Birch Society
was on to something.
President Ronald
Reagan said that, “Freedom is only one generation from extinction.” That
generation may be here.
The older you
get, the more you will choose comfort over appearances.
Your gender,
race, or sexual orientation are not job qualifications.
From the net:
There are more American flags on the moon than at the Democrat debates.
The America
left and media fell in love with the Arab spring, fantasizing that it would
lead to democracy. From our perspective now, how many Arabs are better off than
they were? How many Arab countries are democratic?
“Rebellion,
no matter how idealistic in origin, can as often as not lead to chaos that
often leads to tyranny.” –General Jim Mattis, USMC
Get the collection! My
“Random Thoughts” from 2009 through July, 2013 are collected in this book: The Old Jarhead's Journal: Random Thoughts on Life,
Liberty, and Leadership by Robert A. Hall
The Old Jarhead’s
Journal is a collection of Random Thoughts on politics and life and
Conservative Political Essays, mostly published on the author’s blog, including
the essay “I’m Tired” which went viral on the Internet in 2009, “The Hall
Platform,” “This I Believe,” and “Why I’m a Republican.” While they will be of
interest to conservative thinkers, they are collected here in book form as a
service to readers who wish to give a copy to favorite liberals and watch their
heads explode. All
royalties are donated to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.
*****
Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam Veteran who served five
terms in the Massachusetts State Senate. He is the author of The Coming Collapse of the American Republic.
http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Collapse-American-Republic-prevent/dp/1461122538/ref=sr_1_5?s=booksandie=UTF8andqid=1304815980andsr=1-5
For a free PDF of Collapse, e-mail
him at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com. Hall’s twelve books are listed here: http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html.
His blog of political news and conservative comment is www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com. He currently works
part-time as a writer-editor in the My Life, My Story program as the Madison VA
hospital, interviewing vets and writing up their life histories.
Delhi Anti-Hindu riots: NDTV edits out visuals of a Mosque with huge pile of stones from drone footage, shows only ‘secular’ rooftops
Delhi Anti-Hindu riots: NDTV edits out visuals of a Mosque with huge pile of stones from drone footage, shows only ‘secular’ rooftops
Burqa-wearing man steals nearly $1 million in jewelry from Piaget in Hudson Yards
Burqa-wearing man steals nearly $1 million in jewelry from Piaget in Hudson Yards
https://nypost.com/2020/02/24/burqa-wearing-man-steals-nearly-1-million-in-jewelry-from-piaget-in-hudson-yards/
https://nypost.com/2020/02/24/burqa-wearing-man-steals-nearly-1-million-in-jewelry-from-piaget-in-hudson-yards/
Friday, February 28, 2020
The Unlikely Relationship of Trump and Modi
The Unlikely Relationship of Trump and Modi
https://www.nationalreview.
Excerpt: This week, President Trump became the seventh sitting American president to visit India. But no presidential visit has been as important to the world’s largest democracy. Most of these past visits were largely celebratory in nature, involving vague proclamations about the future potential of a relationship between the two countries. But that relationship may have finally turned a corner. To understand why Trump has become smitten with India as a partner, you must understand why he values Indian prime minister Narendra Modi as a confidant and ally. And to understand this relationship, you really must understand Modi the person. [This is a great article! The Obama administration wouldn’t even talk to this guy. Trump and Modi have formed a strong relationship that has India now being our major non-NATO partner in Asia for military, naval, and intelligence matters. Conceivably, we may even end up as allies, something that was unthinkable even 10 years ago. There are a good many trade issues to work out, but this is looking really promising. Wouldn’t that be a stick in China’s eye, too (the Indians and Chinese have gone to war at least twice since India became independent after WWII). Ron P.]
Biden reverses course, admits he didn’t get arrested in South Africa
Biden reverses course, admits he didn’t get arrested in South Africa
Where was Bernie when Americans fought for Soviet Jewry?
Where was Bernie when Americans fought for Soviet Jewry?
https://www.jns.org/…/where-was-bernie-when-americans-foug…/
This "useful idiot" of cultural communism who professes to be a proud Jew could not see fit to use his political capital with his soviet friends to help his fellow Jews. He could have taken a side trip to the Kremlin while on his honeymoon. While he is an idiot he is not ignorant. Surely, he remembers Stalin's last murderous purge of his house Jews (see enclosed).
https://www.jns.org/…/where-was-bernie-when-americans-foug…/
This "useful idiot" of cultural communism who professes to be a proud Jew could not see fit to use his political capital with his soviet friends to help his fellow Jews. He could have taken a side trip to the Kremlin while on his honeymoon. While he is an idiot he is not ignorant. Surely, he remembers Stalin's last murderous purge of his house Jews (see enclosed).
The antisemitism of the Soviet Union and its support for wars to annihilate Israel is front page history: http://www.quest-cdecjournal.it/focus.php?id=212. Jews who support Bernie Sanders must be self-loathing Jews. Could it be that Sanders' attempt to salve his loathing of his origin and heritage is by professing simultaneous identification with Judaism and rejection of Jews?
Contmplating a communist in the White House who has no shame for his excuses and rationalizations for the political murders of Cuba, not to mention its myriad human rights abuses and impoverishment of that once prosperous country, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Cuba and the elected dictatorship of once-rich Venezuela, http://www.rfi.fr/…/20190705-venezuela-death-squads-have-ki….
He has been the water bearer for international communism his entire life. And now historically blind Americans would put him in the White House. It would be a shame if American Jews don't expose Sanders for what he really is.
Yours truly,
Larry Greenberg
Larry Greenberg
Here's a Devastating, Little-Known Story About Bernie Sanders.
Here's a Devastating, Little-Known Story About Bernie Sanders. Why Haven't His Rivals Exploited It?
townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2020/02/27/heres-a-devastating-story-about-bernie-sanders-why-havent-his-rivals-exploited-it-
Here's a Devastating, Little-Known Story About Bernie Sanders. Why Haven't His Rivals Exploited It?
townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2020/02/27/heres-a-devastating-story-about-bernie-sanders-why-havent-his-rivals-exploited-it-
Black Leaders Pray for Trump at Black History Month Celebration
Black Leaders Pray for Trump at Black History Month Celebration
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Stop the coronavirus?
Stop the coronavirus?Regular blog readers know I use a Neti pot twice a day, 365
days a year. I’ve had only two fairly mild colds in 15 years, both in 2016,
despite being immune suppressed. My theory is that the salt kills the viral
spoors and the water washes them out of my sinuses Will it help prevent the coronavirus? I don’t know, but it
can’t hurt. Certainly, doesn’t help if you breath the spoors into your lungs Using one sounds worse than it is. I didn’t try it for two
weeks after I bought one. You put a half-teaspoon of salt in the pot, and fill with
boiled/distilled water. (People in the south have died from a parasite in the
local water.) Warm for 25-27 seconds in the microwave so you don’t freeze your
nose. Pour half up the right nostril, tilting your head over the
sink so it runs out the left one. Then repeat with the left nostril. It’s not
really bad, but require discipline to do something that at best is a little
annoying. I find a lot of people don’t have the discipline to stick with it.
Your choice.
NeverSanders?
NeverSanders?
Excerpt: Almost everything the Democratic Left said about Donald Trump causing a Republican Party implosion proved untrue—and yet is proving true this year of the Democrats. Trump’s agenda, for the most part, was Reaganesque, with a few important exceptions—closing the border and enforcing immigration law, getting tough with China’s unfair trade policies, restoring assembly and manufacturing jobs to the hollowed-out interior, avoiding optional wars abroad, and trying to drain the proverbial federal swamp of its careerist bureaucrats and revolving-door apparatchiks. Those wrinkles from the Republican agenda, in fact, were consistent with traditional conservative values, and thus even among establishment and mainstream Republicans still polled well enough. That reality later was empowered by Trump’s effort to keep his campaign promises, by an economy at near-record employment, and by foreign policy recalibrations that are starting to win grudging, if unspoken, bipartisan support on China, given news coverage of the Hong Kong crackdown, the reeducation camps, the coronavirus debacle, and the Orwellian surveillance state apparat. [This is worth reading, but.... Though I have great respect for Hanson, I think he is under-estimating the strength and loyalty of Bernie’s supporters. I think the coming election battle will be tough to watch and brutal in its ferocity. When the bat-carrying Amtifa thugs show up at the polling places, there will be blood on the sidewalks in places currently swearing “That can’t happen HERE.” I fear we will see that, yes, it can–and will. Ron P.]
Bernie Sanders’s Long Career
Bernie Sanders’s Long Career
Excerpt: Some of the Democrats who are most worried about nominating Bernie Sanders right now will bury their doubts and objections down deep and insist that anyone who isn’t on board is some sort of unthinking lunatic, or that not being a Sanders supporter must reflect a complete endorsement of everything Donald Trump has done as president. One of the arguments you are certain to hear in defense of Sanders, when others criticize his past stances and statements, is a variation of: “Why are you bringing up all this ancient history?” The correct answer is: “Because you guys nominated an ancient candidate. You notice nobody’s talking about what Pete Buttigieg did in the 1980s.” [Geraghty then proceeds to list a quick 15+ times Bernie has made idiotic statements to the press or participated in what can fairly be called “un-American activities.” No matter who wins the Dem nomination, the up-coming election will be brutal and no-holds-barred. Hold on to your hats, folks, the ride will be bumpy. Ron P.]
Virginia Secession Movement Underscores Left’s Growing Contempt For Rural Americans
Virginia Secession Movement Underscores Left’s Growing Contempt For Rural Americans. A number of people in the rural areas of Virginia are openly exploring the idea of urging their county governments to leave the state of Virginia and join West Virginia.
Venezuelans Send Message To Americans Who Want Socialism
Venezuelans Send Message To Americans Who Want Socialism
Bernie Sanders reveals 'major plans' to be funded by new taxes, massive lawsuits, military cuts
Bernie Sanders reveals 'major plans' to be funded by new taxes, massive lawsuits, military cuts
The Treason of the Elites
The Treason of the Elites
This except from Lowry's book succinctly captures what I judge to be a perversion of the history profession in America. The effect of this perversion is so profound and widespread as to precipitate the fracturing of our country. The ineluctable conclusion of this trend is that there is little or nothing to be proud of in our history and that our society is so flawed that our dismemberment would be just desserts. (Highlighting is from me.) Yours truly, Larry Greenberg
Satire: Nation's Bernie Supporters Frantically Cobble Together Makeshift Rafts To Paddle To Utopian Cuba
Satire: Nation's Bernie Supporters Frantically Cobble Together Makeshift Rafts To Paddle To Utopian Cuba
FORMER NIGERIAN MINISTER FAULTS OBAMA FOR SLAUGHTER OF CHRISTIANS
FORMER NIGERIAN MINISTER FAULTS OBAMA FOR SLAUGHTER OF CHRISTIANS
WHEN IS FAMILY BIDEN GOING TO HOLD AN INTERVENTION?
WHEN IS FAMILY BIDEN GOING TO HOLD AN INTERVENTION?
On the Left, a New Clash Between Feminists and Transgender Activists
On the Left, a New Clash Between Feminists and Transgender Activists
Excerpt: In January, the august New York Public Library withdrew as host of a forum organized by a self-described radical feminist group called the Women’s Liberation Front, or WoLF. The irony was palpable: The planned meeting was titled “An Evening With Canceled Women,” since the five speakers from WoLF all claim to have been “deplatformed”—i.e., shouted down by hecklers or kicked off speakers lists—because they questioned claims made by transgender advocates regarding sexuality and identity. In other words, as some conservative news outlets gleefully reported, the New York Public Library canceled the “canceled women”! Why? The library had no comment, but it likely feared that it too would become a target of activists who have demonstrated and even threatened violence during other programs sponsored by the group. (when leftists take power, the first people they shoot are their allies who are not pure enough. ~Bob)
Reasons You Should Not Be Too Worried about the Coronavirus in the United States
Reasons You Should Not Be Too Worried about the Coronavirus in the United States
Excerpt: The Associated Press fact-checkers point out that the Democratic accusations that the administration is unprepared are based upon a budget proposal that was never enacted: “Trump’s budgets have proposed cuts to public health, only to be overruled by Congress, where there’s strong bipartisan support for agencies such as the CDC and NIH. Instead, financing has increased. Some public health experts say a bigger concern than White House budgets is the steady erosion of a CDC grant program for state and local public health emergency preparedness — the front lines in detecting and battling new disease. But that decline was set in motion by a congressional budget measure that predates Trump.” All across the United States, since 9/11, hospitals and first responders have been training and running drills to deal with bioterrorism and mass-casualty events. This means for roughly eighteen years, everyone in the medical profession has been thinking: “If the worst-case scenario happens, what is my role in responding? How do we contain it, treat the sick, and minimize the danger to everyone else?”
Holocaust survivor, Israeli professor targeted at Pittsburgh College
Holocaust survivor, Israeli professor targeted at Pittsburgh College
Excerpt: In the same city where the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue was met with an outpouring of support for the Jewish community and the promise that Pittsburgh is “no place for hate,” anti-Israel activists have weaponized anti-harassment and anti-discrimination laws in an attempt to end the academic career of a local Holocaust survivor and the only Israeli professor at Point Park University (PPU).
Coronavirus breakthrough? Israeli researchers make discovery that could lead to vaccine
Coronavirus breakthrough? Israeli researchers make discovery that could lead to vaccine
Shouldn't be available to anti-Semites who hate Israel. Like Iran. ~Bob
Iran may have many more coronavirus cases than reported, Canadian research suggests
Iran may have many more coronavirus cases than reported, Canadian research suggests
Excerpt: Pakistani medical staff were stationed at the Pakistan-Iran border in Taftan on Tuesday after Pakistan closed border crossings due to the outbreak of coronavirus in Iran. The true number of coronavirus cases in Iran may be upwards of 18,000, according to a preliminary analysis by Canadian researchers, suggesting an epidemic there nearly 200 times larger than what the country has reported — and a situation with potentially grave global consequences. A spokesperson for Iran’s health ministry said Tuesday that the country had 95 confirmed cases of COVID-19, as the disease caused by the novel coronavirus is called, and 15 deaths.
Credibility of European Court of Human Rights lies in ruins after judges’ links to Soros revealed
Credibility of European Court of Human Rights lies in ruins after judges’ links to Soros revealed
By John Laughland, who has a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Oxford and who has taught at universities in Paris and Rome, is a historian and specialist in international affairs.
Ex-Baltimore mayor sentenced for book sales scheme
Ex-Baltimore mayor sentenced for book sales scheme
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Are We Seriously Debating Capitalism vs. Socialism Again?
Are We Seriously Debating Capitalism vs. Socialism Again?
Excerpt: Myth is right, and it was too much for Michael Bloomberg, who called him out for favoring socialism in a country in which the most famous socialist owns three homes. To be sure, to someone like Sanders, there is nothing contradictory here. The dictatorship of the proletariat always needs a vanguard elite to channel the interests and energies of the working classes; it stands to reason that they should live well, in this way of thinking. Such has it always been. Socialism is a movement not of the working classes but of the elites, born of arrogance, snobbery, and preposterous pretense, kept alive not from lived experience but the astonishing capacity of an ideologically soaked brain to live in denial of reality. But what about this term capitalism? The case against it as a description of the market economy is that it was an invention of the Marxists, and for a reason: it was supposed to describe an economy ruled by the capitalists. In fact, capitalism is nothing more than the working out of the advanced stage of a society that respects private property, peace, and freedom of association and trade. It is not an imposition or even a system; it is a description of what happens when violent actors bow out of the process of social evolution. [I added emphasis. Ron P.]
Wasn’t There Supposed to Be a Surge of New Democratic Voters by Now?
Wasn’t There Supposed to Be a Surge of New Democratic Voters by Now?
Excerpt: One reason to look forward to Super Tuesday is that it will give us our first large-scale comparison of turnout in the Democratic primaries of 2016 and this year’s primaries. Since about late Election Night 2016, Democrats have believed that President Donald Trump is a one-man Democratic get-out-the-vote machine, and they certainly saw supporting evidence for that theory in the 2018 House races. Suburban soccer moms and white-collar dads who had previously split favorably to Republicans turned to the Democrats in significant numbers. But you don’t run on socialism, banning private health insurance, a ban on fracking, abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, banning U.S. exports of oil, or praise Fidel Castro (see below), and pledge to allow convicted felons to vote from prison while serving sentences if you want to keep suburban soccer moms and white-collar dads. The argument of the Bernie Sanders campaign is that he doesn’t have to worry about alienating or frightening the suburban soccer moms and white-collar dads, because he’s going to bring out a big number of people who previously didn’t vote. As David Frum summarized: “The Sanders campaign is a bet that the 2020 race can be won by mobilizing the Americans least committed to the political process while alienating and even offending the Americans most committed to it.”
Media Silence on Voter-Registration Attack Deepens Our Divide
Media Silence on Voter-Registration Attack Deepens Our Divide
Excerpt: In the hours and days after Gregory Timm reportedly plowed his vehicle into a tent of Republican Party volunteers registering voters in the Kernan Village Shopping Center parking lot in Jacksonville, Florida, national coverage of the event has been alarmingly lacking. Local news channel WJXT reported days later on the arrest report, which showed Timm telling the sheriff’s office his “disapproval of Trump” was the motivating factor for the attack. He showed the office a self-recorded video of him driving straight at the volunteers, expressing frustration that the video cut out before “the good part.” Even then, as I write this, the best the New York Times could muster was wire coverage. No teams of reporters were sent to uncover his dark motivations, upbringing or political leanings. No psychological profiles have been written up, nor have any experts weighed in on how this is a growing threat. These are all tools that would have been used by an army of reporters if Timm had been a Trump supporter plowing into Democratic Party volunteers registering voters. The problem isn’t that Timm’s attack on the GOP wasn’t covered by most of the media. It’s that it wasn’t covered with the same voracious appetite news organizations have whenever someone who is even peripherally associated with the right does something to a Democrat. This isn’t whataboutism; this is realism. [This is an excellent article, well reasoned and well written, and I agree with it and recommend reading it. But, I hate the way the article is broken up every few lines by repetitive advertising. I understand someone has to pay for the “free coverage and content,” but have to question if this is the best way to do it. Ron P.]
Medical Supply Chain Dominated by China
Medical Supply Chain Dominated by China
Excerpt: According to his recent Senate testimony, Scott Gottlieb, a physician who is also a former Trump administration Food and Drug Administration commissioner, detailed some of our strategic reliance on China for pharmaceuticals: “About 40 percent of generic drugs sold in the U.S. have only a single manufacturer. A significant supply chain disruption could cause shortages for some of many of these products. [In 2019], manufacturing of intermediate or finished goods in China, as well as pharmaceutical source material, accounted for 95 percent of U.S. imports of ibuprofen, 91 percent of U.S. imports of hydrocortisone, 70 percent of U.S. imports of acetaminophen, 40 to 45 percent of U.S. imports of penicillin, and 40 percent of U.S. imports of heparin, according to the Commerce Department. In total, 80 percent of the U.S. supply of antibiotics are made in China.” Oh, and by the way, Gottlieb notes, “When it comes to starting material for the manufacture of pharmaceutical ingredients, a lot of this production is centered in China’s Hubei Provence, the epicenter of coronavirus.” This isn’t the free market at work. It’s the result of Beijing’s typical and strategic market manipulation, including underselling global competitors to put them out of business and enable China’s market domination.
Death by a Thousand Progressives
Death by a Thousand Progressives
Excerpt: Pete Buttigieg is encouraging a nine-year-old boy to “come out the closet” on the stage of a presidential campaign. Hip Hop rapper YG targeted a conservative young man and threw him out of his concert because he would not say, “F— Donald Trump!” Two young Trump supporters were run off the road by a car because of their Trump flags on their bikes. To top it off liberal style, there are rumors that the tarnished Hillary Clinton is being courted as a VP candidate for Bloomberg. Sigh. If America is to be destroyed it will not explode from outside, but implode from the inside. Hence the phrase “death by a thousand progressives.” [Willie’s Weekly is worth reading. Patriot Post usually runs one or two of his columns every week. Ron P.]
Capitalism, Socialism And Nationalism: Lessons From History by Niall Ferguson
Capitalism, Socialism And Nationalism: Lessons From History by Niall Ferguson
Excerpt: Schumpeter warned that socialism might ultimately prevail over capitalism, for four reasons. Creative disruption is rarely popular. Capitalism itself tends towards oligopoly. Intellectuals are susceptible to socialism. So are many bureaucrats and politicians. Socialism had manifestly failed everywhere it had been tried by the 1980s, apparently proving Schumpeter wrong. But the adverse consequences of the 2008-9 financial crisis, combined with the left-wing bias of much Western education, have led to a revival of interest in socialism among young people. However, what young Americans mean by ‘socialism’ is not the state taking over ownership of the means of production. They merely aspire to policies on healthcare and education that imply a more European system of fiscal redistribution. They fail to grasp that the defining feature of socialism is the violation of property rights. To an extent Schumpeter underestimated, socialism’s greatest weakness is its incompatibility with the rule of law
Sunday, February 23, 2020
Will Christians Disappear Entirely From the Middle East?
Will Christians Disappear Entirely From the Middle East?
Saturday, February 22, 2020
Amazon Echo Dot
Amazon Echo Dot
Our granddaughter, Britnye, gave both Bonnie and I dots for
Christmas. We are hooked. One in the bedroom, one in the living room. We signed up for Amazon Music Unlimited on moth of them,
total $8 a month. At a request, Alexia pays music I have loved since the 1960s
Kingston Trio, Clancy Brothers, Brothers Four, Limelighters, Joan Baez. And
music I have discovered since: the Corries, The Dubliners, North Sea Gas, Jean Redpath. This morning we left at 8. I left John Denver on for the
pets. It was still playing when we got home at 6. And some new music I found looking for particular songs on
YouTube: Old Blind Dogs, Sheila Ryan. The sound is amazing for such a small device.
I won’t give up the CD player. Amazon doesn’t have some
groups I thought were well known: Cherish the Ladies, Gaberlunzie, or
local/regional music I like: Charlie Zahm, Margaret Gravitt, The Eddystone
Singers, Two for the Brew. Yes, I’ve read the staff that says she is listening. To What?
Who Cares? ~Bob
Liberals Oppose Equal Status for Faith-Based Organizations
Liberals Oppose Equal Status for Faith-Based Organizations
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