Solidarity with Whom?

Posted on 22 May 2020 by eehines

President Donald Trump has threatened to permanently cut off US funding for the World Health Organization unless it enacts—not just chit-chats about—real reforms about the way it does business and the degree of independence from particular nations it chooses to exercise in the conduct of that business.

The European Union demurred from Trump’s position. EU’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Virginie Battu-Henriksson:

This is the time for solidarity, not the time for finger-pointing or for undermining multilateral cooperation[.]

This is a preview of Solidarity with Whom?. Read the full post (232 words, estimated 56 secs reading time)

A Retaliation and Response

Posted on 21 May 2020 by eehines

The Trump administration is musing about ways to stop Iran from trading its sanctioned oil to sanctioned Venezuela.

Some US officials have advocated restraint, arguing that the US should only intervene if the Iranian shipments become a permanent fixture, according to people familiar with the matter.

Never mind that restraint will guarantee that Iranian shipments become a permanent fixture, since if these officials become ascendant, they will infect all of the administration with their timidity.

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A Tale of Two States

Posted on 21 May 2020 by eehines

A Wall Street Journal editorial provided the comparison.

Since 2010

New York’s population has grown from a skosh under 19.4 million to a skosh over 19.4 million
Florida’s population has grown from 18.8 million to 21.5 million
New York’s spending has increased by $43 billion—about $570,000 for each additional person
Florida’s spending has increased by $28 billion—a $10,400 increase per new resident
New York’s spending on worker retirement benefits has nearly doubled
Florida’s spending on worker retirement benefits has grown by one-sixth of that
New York’s Medicaid consumes 40% of the state budget—twice as much as education

This is a preview of A Tale of Two States. Read the full post (347 words, estimated 1:23 mins reading time)

Usages

Posted on 20 May 2020 by eehines

The Associated Press has decided, from the depths of it Politically Correct garbage can, that “mistress” ought not be used anymore. Instead, folks should use “companion” or “lover” instead.

This means, of course, that Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, must be a companion to the Dark. Or maybe the Dark Lover.

A woman can no longer be Mistress of Ceremonies. Is it companions or lovers that ceremonies and rites have?

Nor can a woman be Mistress of her own home. No, the lady of the house must be her husband’s companion. Or lover. Either way, she’s no longer…mistress…of her fate, but merely an object for the man of the house.

This is a preview of Usages. Read the full post (274 words, estimated 1:06 mins reading time)

Backwards

Posted on 20 May 2020 by eehines

The transportation departments of a number of States are backing away from transportation projects, infrastructure projects that they have been claiming are desperately needed. Their excuse? They “need” more Federal aid. The already allocated $15 billion isn’t enough, they’re bleating.

The States have this backward. They don’t need Federal aid—the dollars of taxpayers in other States—they need to let their own citizens get back to work, including, perhaps beginning with, infrastructure projects like these road projects.

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Active Dependency

Posted on 19 May 2020 by eehines

The Transportation Security Administration is looking into the prospects and processes for taking passenger temperatures among all of TSA’s actual security duties.

Airlines have been pushing for the Transportation Security Administration to start taking passengers’ temperatures as part of a multifaceted effort to keep potentially sick people from boarding planes and to make passengers feel more comfortable taking trips again.

Such a thing is supposedly to cost under $20 million, and it won’t cost passengers anything. Instead, all of us taxpayers will be paying for the passengers’…concerns. To the extent those exist; it is, after all, the airlines pushing, not pax.

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House Relief Bill

Posted on 19 May 2020 by eehines

Here’s what’s in the House “relief” bill, written in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D, CA) kitchen where she could have ready access to her special ice cream. The bill was written with zero Republican input, zero Republican amendments, carefully limited debate on the House floor, and passed almost entirely along party lines; although the bill did make 14 Progressive-Democrats choke to the point of voting against it, and one Republican was too timid to oppose it.

$1 trillion in funding for state and local governments

This is a preview of House Relief Bill. Read the full post (461 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

Time for a New Plan

Posted on 18 May 2020 by eehines

That’s what Dr Marty Makary, Professor of Surgery at Johns Hopkins Medicine, says. Broad lockdowns might have been justified at the outset of the present Wuhan Virus situation, but new information has arisen.

Since that time, we have data that has taught us that this infection is associated with public transit, with density, with mass gatherings, with city-to-city travel and it is associated with climate[.]

And

What we do know, [is that] there are safe ways to conduct activities in society if we use certain precautions and we probably need a targeted approach where we find areas where there is either an outbreak or an ongoing increase in cases, and use some of the more aggressive strategies in that particular location.

This is a preview of Time for a New Plan. Read the full post (187 words, estimated 45 secs reading time)

Vote Harvester

Posted on 18 May 2020 by eehines

Progressive-Democratic Party Presidential candidate Joe Biden said proudly during a primary debate—back when Party held such things—that, if nominated, he would select a woman for his running mate.

There are a number of women who are qualified to be president tomorrow. I would pick a woman to be my vice president[.]

Notice that. Biden did not say he would pick a Vice President candidate who would happen to be a woman. He said he would pick a woman who happened to be qualified.

He has denied women their humanity—they’re only tools for harvesting votes.

This is a preview of Vote Harvester. Read the full post (195 words, estimated 47 secs reading time)

Trade Needs

Posted on 17 May 2020 by eehines

In an article about, among other things, the People’s Republic of China’s attempt to extort Australia into sitting down and shutting up about the PRC’s role in the Wuhan Virus’ spread across Earth, David Thomas, a consultant who for several decades has advised Australian businesses on investing in the PRC, said this:

The world is going to need China’s capital, manufacturing, and consumption power when this is all over.

That’s so wrong it’s foolish. We’re discovering that now, and after the Wuhan Virus situation has been dealt with from medical and economic perspectives, that we can’t afford to be very economically involved in the PRC.

This is a preview of Trade Needs. Read the full post (496 words, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

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