No Nation is an Island

Posted on 18 November 2018 by eehines

That’s the concern of The Wall Street Journal in one of its Thursday editorials.

President Trump’s biggest achievement has been the revival of faster US economic growth, but past performance is no guarantee of future results. The White House should be worried about growing economic strains in the rest of the world, and policy makers need to prepare. The US is not an island.

The WSJ went on to note that the Germany economy shrank 0.2% in the last quarter, the Japanese economy shrank by 0.3% in the same quarter, and the PRC’s economy “only” grew by 6.5% year-on-year in the same quarter. The WSJ particularly worried about the German auto industry.

This is a preview of No Nation is an Island. Read the full post (367 words, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

Hillary Clinton, School Curriculum, and Censorship

Posted on 17 November 2018 by eehines

The Texas State Board of Education had been considering dropping ex-Presidential candidate (among other accomplishments) Hillary Clinton (D) from its social studies curriculum. Last Tuesday, the board voted 12-2 (plus one abstention) to keep her in the curriculum, for now. The two nay voters had their reasons.

I just do not respect the woman. As far as I’m concerned, she’s done a lot of detrimental things to our country.

And

The Benghazi thing did it for me.

This is a preview of Hillary Clinton, School Curriculum, and Censorship. Read the full post (280 words, estimated 1:07 mins reading time)

May’s Brexit Surrender

Posted on 16 November 2018 by eehines

The terms include these, via Deutsche Welle:

The rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU will be protected
EU citizens living in the UK can be joined by close family members…who live in a different country at any point in the future.
Workers and self-employed people will be broadly guaranteed the same rights they currently enjoy

All of which negate one of the motives for leaving the European Union. EU citizens resident in the UK will be magnets for drawing in others for the UK’s generous welfare system—and EU citizens still will be able to seek work in the UK preferentially, availing themselves both of the UK’s higher wage rates and that welfare system.

This is a preview of May’s Brexit Surrender. Read the full post (526 words, estimated 2:06 mins reading time)

A Thought on Amazon’s Choices

Posted on 16 November 2018 by eehines

Amazon.com has made its selection (-s, plural as it turns out) for its alternate corporate headquarters: Arlington County, VA’s Crystal City and New York’s Long Island City, with a booby consolation prize—or a scrap bone—tossed to Nashville, TN.

I have a couple of thoughts about this.

San Antonio, in Texas, had misgivings and declined to play Amazon’s game.

“Blindly giving away the farm isn’t our style,” wrote San Antonio officials in an open letter to Mr Bezos.

Others openly groveled and kissed the ground on which Amazon officials walked when those worthies deigned visit.

This is a preview of A Thought on Amazon’s Choices. Read the full post (258 words, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)

Doctors and Gun Rights

Posted on 15 November 2018 by eehines

Many in the medical profession have gotten their panties in wads because, on the matter of guns and gun rights, someone was impertinent enough to suggest that they’re really not that expert. The National Rifle Association, it turns out, had demurred from an American College of Physicians paper calling for ways to keep guns out of the hands of people who are a threat—with “threat,” of course, defined by the ACP.

This is a preview of Doctors and Gun Rights. Read the full post (355 words, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)

A European Army

Posted on 15 November 2018 by eehines

There’s a nascent move afoot to create a European army to which, presumably, all the member nations of the EU would contribute men, equipment, and money. German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested to the European Parliament last Tuesday that such a force

would complement NATO.

I’ll leave aside the question of how the EU’s member nations would pay for such an establishment when they’re having so much trouble finding ways—or reasons—to pay for their commitment (of all of 2% of their respective GDPs) to NATO.

This is a preview of A European Army. Read the full post (489 words, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

A Bogus Beef

Posted on 14 November 2018 by eehines

Recall CNN‘s Jim Acosta striking a White House intern (albeit lightly) and actively preventing her from doing her job. In consequence of that, the White House suspended Acosta’s accesses to the White House.

Now CNN is suing the White House to get Acosta’s credentials back. They’re doing it, too, on the risible grounds that the suspension violates Acosta’s 1^st and 5^th Amendment rights of free speech and due process.

Sure.

This is a preview of A Bogus Beef. Read the full post (259 words, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)

Yapping

Posted on 14 November 2018 by eehines

It’s what porch dogs do. The current noise-making is from Progressive-Democrats objecting to Matthew Whitaker having been appointed Acting Attorney General after Jeff Sessions’ resignation at the request of President Donald Trump.

A number of lawmakers called upon Whitaker to recuse from the Russia probe, citing his criticism of the investigation.

Some years ago, Whitaker expressed some opinions about the investigation of which these Progressive-Democrats disapprove, and so they want him to recuse himself from the Mueller investigation. Because anyone who, at any time, has said anything of which those folks disapprove is automatically disqualified for any government job.

This is a preview of Yapping. Read the full post (341 words, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)

A Bit of Perspective

Posted on 13 November 2018 by eehines

The 1%-ers, the Evil Rich. How much does it take, really, to become of member of the world-wide crowd of really rich folks, or how much would have to be given up to leave that group? Jade Scipioni, of FOXBusiness, offered some information from Credit Suisse Research Institute’s 2018 Global Wealth Report last week.

the global top 1% requires a net worth of US$871,320
the global top 10% requires a net worth of US$93,170
the global top 50% requires a net worth of US$4,210

This is a preview of A Bit of Perspective. Read the full post (328 words, estimated 1:19 mins reading time)

A False Dichotomy

Posted on 13 November 2018 by eehines

In an address near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to mark the end of WWI, French President Emmanuel Macron made a pitch for globalism. In the course of that, Macron let slip his true feelings.

Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism is a betrayal of it. By saying our interests first—who cares about the others—we erase what a nation holds dearest, what gives it life, what makes it great and what is essential: its moral values.

This is a typically false dichotomy offered by a man of the Left. The situation also could be, as a man of the US has said repeatedly, “Our interests first, but not at all alone.”

This is a preview of A False Dichotomy. Read the full post (259 words, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)

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