Trump on Immigration

 Trump has been attacking immigration recently at his rallies and implying that immigrants are "poisoning" American society.

This is of course causing howls of fascism and claims that he is using the precise language of Hitler in Mein Kampf.

That is essentially using Level 1 of Graham's Hierarchy of Argument. People are calling him a fascist and comparing him to Hitler. That's just "Name-Calling." That's appropriate for toddlers in the playground but not for political commentary. I think we need to move up the hierarchy and address the claim itself. In 2023, in the US, are immigrants having a positive or a negative effect? Are some immigrants having a positive effect and others a negative one? I honestly don't know although every immigrant that I've encountered recently seems to be having a positive effect. 

This is not the first time in American history that there have been people that were anti-immigrant. Refer to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. So, rather than attacking the guy who said it how about we address the claims being made? I know very little about immigration policy so I don't feel qualified to evaluate the question. I could be wrong but I suspect the quote from Mein Kampf people are mostly referring to is as follows: 

"What history taught us about the policy followed by the House of Habsburg was corroborated by our own everyday experiences. In the north and in the south the poison of foreign races was eating into the body of our people, and even Vienna was steadily becoming more and more a non-German city." 

 Hitler uses "poison" or its derivatives fully 56 times in Mein Kampf. He accuses anyone he doesn't like, including Jews, political opponents (Socialist and Marxist), writers, actors and intellectuals in general of poisoning either the German people, German society, the German government or the German military. 

 Hitler was an equal opportunity hater. But that doesn't automatically mean everything he said was wrong. 

Historically he was right about the House of Habsburg in Austria-Hungary although he was talking about an empire with essentially conquered peoples rather than immigrants so I don't really think it applies. The polyglot empire was doomed to fail because it couldn't balance all of the competing political and cultural agendas. 

After WW I it was dismembered into multiple countries along ethnic lines.

Why Amazon Rules

One of my smoke detectors started acting up. It was sounding three low chirps about every minute. I knew that wasn't low battery because that's one chirp.

I knew it wasn't a carbon dioxide warning because that's four really loud beeps repeatedly and smoke was three really loud beeps repeatedly. Besides there was no smoke.

I took it down, dusted it off and changed the batteries just in case. It was OK for about three days and then did it again at about 3 AM. I took the thing down and took out the batteries to shut it up.

The next day I pulled up the manual and found, buried near the end, that three low chirps every minute is an end of life warning.

Great, the detector I had was a First Alert, battery operated, CO and smoke detector that screwed into a ceiling mount. What I really wanted was the exact same detector so I could screw the new detector into the existing mount.

On to Amazon. I typed in First Alert and the model number into the search function and, as is usual with Amazon, I got a page of options. However one of them was marked "You Bought this Last in 2016." 

The problem of finding a compatible detector was immediately solved AND they delivered it that afternoon. I didn't even remember that I had bought it on Amazon.

But, Amazon knows all. All hail the great god Amazon.

Gallup's Poll on Transgender Athletes

 Gallup has released a poll done in May of 2023 that reports that 69% of Americans hold the opinion that "birth gender" should dictate sports participation. I assume what they actually mean is birth sex.

This is up 7% from 2021. This doesn't surprise me given the number of cases of trans athletes dominating female competition.

More Democrats are starting to get the message as now they agree with everyone else by a slim 48%-47% margin. In 2021 it was 55%-41% in favor of athletes competing in sports based upon their gender identity.

This strikes me as a no brainer. We segregate based upon sex and not gender. Athletes that have gone through puberty as a male should not be competing against athletes that went through puberty as a female.

That 75 Year Number

When discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict people keep throwing around 75 years. While that may mark the birth of the state of Israel it's not really accurate.

75 years would be 1948 and the war of 1948 in which an Arab coalition attempted to destroy the newly declared nation of Israel. Now it doesn't matter whether one believes that war was justified or not. What matters is who controlled what at the end of it. 

The UN had voted to kick the British out (see Mandate for Palestine) and partition Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state. That plan fell apart pretty quickly as the Arabs rejected the plan and the Jews declared the existence of the state of Israel. What was a Palestine civil war spread as Egypt, Jordan and Syria joined the conflict. 

Once the war ended Jordan controlled the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza and Israel controlled everything else. 

Jordan annexed the West Bank in 1950. Egypt set up a puppet Palestinian government in Gaza which never really had any authority. Things remained that way until 1967. 

 In 1956 the Egyptians nationalized the Suez Canal because, why not, it's on their territory. They also closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. This led to an invasion of Egypt by British, French and Israeli forces which captured the canal. After both the Soviet Union and the United States expressed opposition to the invasion the British, French and Israeli forces withdrew essentially with their tails between their legs. 

In 1967, Egypt again closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping despite warnings from Israel that this would be viewed as a casus belli. The resulting war saw Israel capture the West Bank from Jordan, Gaza from Egypt and the Golan Heights from Syria. 

Jordan relinquished all claims to the West Bank in 1988 and recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization as "the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people." 

Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980 and the Golan Heights in 1981. In 2005 Israel withdrew from Gaza and Northern Samaria. 

The West Bank is currently divided into three zones A, B and C. Zone A (18%) is administered by the Palestinian Authority. Zone B (22%) is administered by the Palestinian Authority but with joint Israeli security control. Zone C (60%) is administered by Israel, contains all of the Israeli settlements and divides Zones A and B into hundreds of separate areas.

The Israeli-Gaza War Continues

The Israelis have invaded northern Gaza and continue to use airstrikes against targets. The casualty are rising and reportedly have exceeded 11,000.

This is urban warfare and civilians are caught in the crossfire. It's also the type of war where it's difficult to tell the difference between Hamas fighters and civilians. In other words it's a mess.

Two incidents stand out in particular.

The first was a bombing by Israel of a refugee camp where a Hamas senior commander was reported to be located. The attack killed about 50 people and the last I heard it was unclear whether the senior commander was killed.

The other is actions around the Al Shifa hospital which is Gaza's largest hospital. This is the stuff nightmares are made of. The hospital has no power and almost no supplies. Newborn premies are dying because there is no electricity to run their incubators.

There has been fighting near the hospital and the Israelis have entered the hospital grounds in search of Hamas fighters, weapons caches and tunnels. The IDF has claimed they have located a tunnel, a vehicle with weapons and the body of one of the Israeli hostages.

The hospital has effectively been occupied by the IDF and isolated from the outside world. This means that every day that goes by will result in the death of more patient including babies.

Israel is walking a fine line here. Two wrongs don't make a right and you can't avenge an atrocity by committing another atrocity or at least hopefully we're better than that.

Now I'm going to capture some history here for future reference.

The Palestinians have had Gaza since 2005. They have had total autonomy. Instead of focusing on building a decent life for themselves they voted to give Hamas control and Hamas has used Gaza as a staging ground for attacks against Israel. 

This has led to a blockade of Gaza by both Israel and Egypt and hardships for the people living there.

 Jordan controlled the West Bank from 1948 until 1967. They could have established a Palestinian state. Instead they decided to annex the territory in 1950. Jordan renounced claims to the West Bank in 1988 recognizing the PLO as "the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people." Of course they lost control of the West Bank to Israel in 1967. 

 Egypt controlled Gaza from 1948 to 1967 and set up a puppet Palestinian government which never really had any political power. Egypt could have established a Palestinian state but chose not to. Israel took Gaza from Egypt in 1967 and withdrew in 2005.

The Question of Transgender

You probably need a doctorate in psychiatry or psychology to understand what Gender Dysphoria is but I'm not going to let that stop me. I am simply amazed by the misinformation going around on both sides of this argument. 

 You cannot change your sex. Sex is a physical attribute that is unchangeable. You can't go into every cell and flip an X chromosome into a Y chromosome nor is there any surgery that I'm aware of that can give someone with XX chromosomes the ability to produce sperm or someone with XY chromosomes the ability to produce ovum. Then again there are some males that can't produce sperm and some females that can't produce ovum so it's not that simple. 

 But gender is not the same thing as sex. Gender defines societies expectations about the attitudes and actions associated with a given sex. When you have the physical characteristics of a male but the psychology of a female (sorry feminists but men and women do have different psychologies) or vice versa that causes all sorts of stress and psychological issues. 

 Some people decide to go with their psychology and have reconstructive surgery to change their physical attributes to line up more with their psychology. Others simply accept gender non-conformity as their normal. Honestly, as long as someone isn't negatively impacting someone else, I don't care what they decide to do.

Note that "as long as someone isn't negatively impacting someone else." I think allowing athletes that have gone through puberty as males to compete against athletes that went through puberty as females is negatively impacting female athletes. 

The same goes for people who still have male plumbing invading female privacy areas such as locker rooms and rest rooms.

Mike Johnson Becomes 56th Speaker

Well the Republicans finally managed to agree on a Speaker and have elected Mike Johnson. 

I don't think this is a good pick but I suppose we'll have to see how things work out. Honestly, I wouldn't be thrilled with Hakeem Jeffries either.

Let's face it; I'm old and grouchy and nothing makes me happy anymore.

The Republicans Pick Mike Johnson

The latest pick by the Republican Party for Speaker is Mike Johnson of Louisiana. Johnson is an asshole Republican which may be redundant these days.

He claims expertise in Constitutional Law yet signed an amicus brief in 2020 signed by 100 Republican congressmen supporting the Texas Lawsuit attempting to overthrow the 2020 election. 

You remember that lawsuit right? The one the Supreme Court drop kicked out the door? The one not even the SCOTUS conservatives could stomach?

Signing that brief alone should be enough to disqualify him.

The Republicans Select Tom Emmer

From the nine candidates the Republicans selected the majority whip Tom Emmer from Minnesota as their choice for Speaker of the House.

This makes sense. After all many people consider the majority whip the number two guy.

He didn't come close to getting the required votes.

Reportedly six new challengers have entered the lists.

• Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida
• Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee
• Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee
• Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma
• Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana
• Rep. Roger Williams of Texas

We shall see what we shall see.

Speaker of the House

 The House of Representatives has been without a Speaker for about three weeks now. How did this happen you ask? Well, I'll tell you.

Kevin McCarthy was Speaker and, in order to prevent a government shutdown, came to a temporary solution with Democrats to keep the government operating for 45 days.

A number of the right wing caucus types didn't like this and essentially put a motion to kick McCarthy out. It was essentially a no confidence vote. The Democrats gleefully jumped on this and went along with. I think this was a big mistake but there's not much we can do about that now.

First the Republicans put up Steve Scalise but he couldn't get enough votes because the Republicans are hopelessly fractured and the Democrats all voted got Hakeem Jeffries so no one could get an absolute majority. Scalise then withdrew.

Next Jim "The Traitor" Jordon threw his hat in the ring but even the Republicans aren't that far gone so he couldn't get enough votes either. Finally, in a secret ballot the Republicans voted to remove his name from consideration. Again the Democrats all voted for Hakeem Jeffries.

Now nine Republicans have stepped up for the job. eight white guys and one black dude. Apparently there are no women in the Republican Party.

This is happening because the Republicans have a very small majority and a right wing caucus that played hooky when the brains were given out. The rules are also stupid. If simply the person with the most votes, rather than an absolute majority, won then the Republicans would be forced to vote for the guy their party put up or accept a Democrat Speaker.

I have a solution. We rent out MetLife Stadium. We put these nine guys on the field with socks packed with horse manure and let them fight it out. The last man standing becomes Speaker. We could sell tickets plus put it on pay per view and take a big chunk out of the budget deficit.

A Tale of Two Wars

The war in the Ukraine continues to drag on. As far as I can tell it's bogged down into a stalemate. Casualties are serious with estimates nearing 500,000. 

I can see no end in sight especially now that the Israelis are looking for weapons from the same US stockpiles as the Ukrainians.

Now that McCarthy has been kicked out as Speaker and the post remains vacant I don't see any new appropriations any time soon either. To make matters worse the Republicans would probably strongly support aid for Israel but for Ukraine not so much. 

I don't think the Democrats are stupid enough to hold up aid for Israel if aid to Ukraine isn't included but the Democrats have surprised me before with their ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

In Gaza civilians and foreigners are trying to get out of the way of a possible Israeli ground invasion by fleeing south. Unfortunately the Egyptians have closed the Rafah crossing from Gaza into the Sinai.

This is causing multiple problems. First people with foreign passports, including a number of Muslim Americans, are unable to leave Gaza; second, Palestinians refugees fleeing the fighting have no place to go and third, aid supplies can't get into Gaza. There is a long line of trucks waiting to bring relief supplies into Gaza but the crossing is closed.

Whether the Israelis will actually launch a ground invasion remains to be seen. It could be a big bluff intended to get civilians out of the area so more airstrikes can be launched without worrying about extensive collateral damage.

There continue to be reports about fighting in the north between Hezbollah and Israel and the Israelis have reportedly bombed airports in Damascus and Aleppo to prevent their use for ferrying in supplies from Iran.

The US has dispatched Strike Group 12 with the USS Gerald R. Ford to the eastern Mediterranean. Strike Group 2 with the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is also enroute to the Mediterranean but its ultimate destination hasn't been announced. Britain has dispatched a Royal Navy task force to the area to help in "humanitarian efforts" or at least that's the official word.

That's a whole lot of firepower moving into the area.

You Have to Know When to Fold Them

Democrats in general, and so-called Progressives in particular, do not seem to understand when they have a loosing hand and should just fold.

Supporting the Palestinian cause after the horrific terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians is a loosing hand.

That doesn't mean people can't express humanitarian concerns about the impact of the war on Gaza civilians. Israel is apparently preparing a ground invasion and has warned about 1.1 million civilians to vacate southern Gaza within 24 hours. That may not be logistically feasible.

The UN feels it is not feasible and a number of Democratic Representatives have chimed in as well. Leading the charge are Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The former has already demonstrated that she's a traitor and really should STFU. The latter has no iron in this fire and should just sit quietly in the corner and allow the adults to handle things.

I understand that people are concerned that this could become a humanitarian crisis but war sucks and Hamas started the killing. Maybe they should have thought of the consequences before they went around murdering children?

Actions have consequences and Gaza has happily allowed Hamas to rule the area for over a decade. Now they're about to pay the price for that.

However, Israel needs to be a little careful. An all out assault with little or no concern for the welfare of civilians, including large numbers of woman and children, would not only be morally wrong but could backfire on them in the International Court of Opinion big time.

I don't think Netanyahu has the intelligence to realize this but hopefully smarter, and calmer, heads in the Israeli government understand the danger. I doubt delaying any planned assault for 48 hours to give civilians a chance to get out of the way is going to matter all that much.

If you are sensing a bit of uncertainty on my part that's a good call. I'd like to see Hamas eradicated but not at any cost.

Hamas Attacks Israel

 Hamas has launched a massive terrorist attack from Gaza against the people of Israel. I say the people of Israel because they appear to be more interested in targeting helpless women and children than in taking on the Israeli military.

This isn't a military operation. It's an exercise in terrorism.

Israel has responded with extensive military operations against the Gaza strip. Unfortunately the extent of the reprisal insures that many Palestinian women and children will die as well.

Here's a fucking idea. Let a battalion of the Hamas cowards meet a battalion of the IDF in the Negev and see how things work out.

There have been reports of exchanges of gunfire in the North between Hezbollah and Israel as well so there is the danger of a widening of the conflict.

There are several questions that need to be asked.

First, who's actually behind the attack? Is it all Hamas or are the Iranians involved? Early US intelligence reports seem to indicate that Iran as surprised as anyone else.

That's brings us to our second question. How did Israeli and other western intelligence services miss this?

Finally, what impact will this have on the Israeli-Saudi Arabia negotiations?

So-called Progressives haven't covered themselves with glory over this with Representatives Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib actually calling for the US to END Israeli assistance.

Now I have another reason for hating those two and they can go to Hell.

It's Been a While

 Gee, two months since I bothered to write anything. I have two excuses. 

The first is my "w" key is dead (or almost dead) on my laptop so writing anything is annoying. I have a remove keyboard off to the side and have to reach over for a "w."

The second is I've been playing Baldur's Gate 3.

Anyway, Trump has been indicted multiple times and there is a stirring of efforts to get him banned from being on the ballot. I don't see that working because he hasn't been convicted of anything yet.

In the meantime he is clearly going to win the Republican nomination and polls show him tied or even slightly ahead of Biden for the general election. I find this utterly absurd. All I can say is that people get the government they deserve.

In Washington the Republican House can't seem to get their act together for a spending bill and if they don't do something we'll have a government shutdown at the end of next week. Oh goodie.

October is shaping up as a bad month for me with multiple trips to multiple doctors including the big CT Scan to check for lung cancer. Oh well, we all have to die of something.

I'll try to spend a little more attention to the old blog just for the hell of it going forward.

Florida is at it Again

Florida is at it again. They published new African American History standards which included teaching that "slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” 

Obviously people jumped all over that. I sort of scratched my head and thought well imagine what they could have learned if they were free?

However, Florida's African American History Standard's Workgroup put out a response defending the claim. In it they included 16 names of blacks who, as slaves, had learned skills that they used to benefit themselves in later life.

I decided to check those names because, hey, Google is my friend.

Ned Cobb - Cobb was born in 1885 so he was never a slave.

Henry Blair - Blair was born in Maryland in 1807 but there is no record of him ever being a slave.

Lewis Latimer - Latimer was born in Massachusetts. He was the son of escaped slaves but he himself was apparently never a slave.

John Henry - Henry is an American folk hero who may, or may not, have actually existed. According to historian Scott Reynolds Nelson, the actual John Henry was born in New Jersey in 1848 so, again, if that's true he was never a slave.

James Forten - Forten was born in Philadelphia in 1766 and was never a slave.

Paul Cuffe - Cuffe was born in Massachusetts in 1759. He was the son of an emancipated slave but was himself never a slave.

Betty Washington Lewis - The only Betty Washington Lewis I can find is George Washington's sister so I don't know. 

Jupiter Hammon - Hammon was a slave in New York. He was allowed a rudimentary education and was the first black man in North American to be published. He was also an Anglican preacher that preached against the evils of slavery. Many of his poems were about slavery as well. He passed away in 1806. He appears to have remained a slave his entire life.

John Chavis - Chavis was born in North Carolina in 1763 and was an educator and Presbyterian minister. He fought in the Continental Army during the revolution but was never a slave.

William Whipper - Whipper was born in 1804 in Pennsylvania. He was the son of his enslaved mother and her white owner. He supported the Underground Railroad but does not appear to have ever been a slave.

Crispus Attucks - Attucks was born in 1723 in Massachusetts and was killed during the Boston Massacre in 1770. He had been a sailor and was either a freeman or an escaped slave. At least one report identified him as a Nantucket Indian so who knows?

Elizabeth Keckley - Keckley was born into slavery into Virginia. She learned to be a seamstress while enslaved and eventually earned enough money to buy her freedom in 1855. She opened a business in Washington DC and became the dressmaker for Mary Todd Lincoln in 1861. 

James Thomas - There are way too many people named James Thomas so I'm not sure who this was.

Marietta Carter - I could not find any reference to a Marietta Carter.

Betsey Stockton - Stockton was born into slavery in Princeton, New Jersey in 1798. She became a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Princeton in 1817 and may have been freed the same year. She was commissioned as a missionary and sailed for Hawaii in 1822. She returned in 1835 and taught at a school for Native Americans in Canada and a school for blacks in Princeton. I'm going to say that she learned most of what she learned after she was freed.

Booker T. Washington - Washington was born in slavery in Virginia in 1856. He was nine when he gained his freedom under the Emancipation Proclamation when Union Troops occupied the area where he lived.

So, of the sixteen names presented to defend the Florida Workgroup's claim, eight appear to have never been slaves. Hell, one wasn't born until 1885. 

Two, Washington and Stockton, appear to have been freed before they learned any useful skills. 

One, Attucks, learned his sailing skill either after he escaped slavery or was never a slave. He might not even have been black.

Three I just couldn't find any information on in my Google searches.

That leaves two, Keckley and Hammon that learned useful skills as a slave. So, if you include the three that I couldn't locate assuming that the Workgroup had better sources than I did, that would be five out of sixteen.

That's pretty pathetic.

More on the Affirmative Action Decision

Wow, progressives commentators, black and white, are not thrilled with this decision. They are all over the map with their criticisms and this is a bit of a problem. Not only are they contradicting each other but occasionally they contradict themselves.

They all seem to have a special ire for Justice Clarence Thomas not only because he voted to end Affirmative Action but apparently because he took a nasty swipe at Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson which was really uncalled for.

The main point of contradiction is over whether students accepted as a result of Affirmative Action were qualified applicants.

On the one hand Affirmative Action supporters claim that every student accepted under Affirmative Action was qualified and on the other hand they claim that these students would no longer qualify. Which is it? If they're qualified then why do they need Affirmative Action? If they're not qualified then they shouldn't be taking the place of someone who is qualified just because of their race. 

 If the issue is actually that not enough minority students qualify then that is an entirely different problem that needs to be addressed starting in Kindergarten or perhaps even earlier. 

Criticizing Justice Thomas, while it may be justified, doesn't change anything. Affirmative Action has been in place for a long time yet the gap between races in median income hasn't improved. In fact one could argue it has gotten worse. What exactly is the end game here? Affirmative Action was never intended to be permanent. It may help a few individuals, which proponents claim were qualified anyway, but it doesn't seem to be helping communities as a whole.

ABC/Ipsos Poll on Court Decisions

ABC/Ipsos did a poll on the three recent Supreme Court decisions and the American people sort of agree with the court.

On the web designer refusing to do an LGBTQ+ wedding sites it was almost an even split with 43% approving the decision and 42% opposing it. An interesting thing that came out on this case was that there may not have been a real case. Apparently no one asked the web designed to do a gay web page but she just applied for an exemption anyway.

Only 15% of Democrats approved of the decision compared to 68% of Republicans and 49% of Independents.

On striking down Biden's loan forgiveness program 45% were in favor and 40% were opposed. Unsurprisingly older Americans were more likely to be in favor of the decision with 61% of those over 65 approving but only 31% of those under 30.

71% of Republicans and 49% of Independents supported the decision but only 17% of Democrats.

The most support was for the designing ending Affirmative Action based upon race with 52% approving and only 32% disapproving. Whites and Asians approved the decision by 60% and 58% respectively. Latinos and Hispanics split 40%-40% and only blacks disapproved 52%-25%.

A majority of Republicans (75%) and Independents (58%) approved but only 26% of Democrats approved.

Supreme Court Decisions

There were three big decisions over the last two days.

First, as expected, the Supreme Court shot down Affirmative Action at least with respect to using race as a criterion for college admission. The decision only affects race and not things such as socio-economic class or geography.

I think this was a good decision. Using race as a criterion strikes me as dangerous. If colleges can use race as a criterion for admission then why can't companies use it as a criterion for hiring? If colleges really want "diversity" then I would think that socio-economic class would be a better criterion anyway.

The second had to do with a web designer that didn't want to do websites for LGBTQ+ clients because it (1) violated her freedom of religion and (2) violated her freedom of speech because it would force her to "say" things that she didn't believe.

The whole case was a bit of a stretch in my opinion but the court ruled that she could decline based upon freedom of speech. I don't know about this one. It seems to me that it opens the door for all sorts of abuse.

The third case was the long awaited decision on Biden's student loan forgiveness program. I thought the court might let this stand but apparently not. They ruled that the Department of Education exceeded its authority and shut the program down. 

Biden immediately announced an alternate legal avenue for doing the same thing. I suppose they had Plan B waiting in the wings just in case. I'm sure this will also be challenged so we shall see. 

Juneteenth

Juneteenth as a holiday upsets my sense of order. People keep calling it the day slavery ended and that's just not true.

Slavery hadn't ended in the entire US by June 19th, 1865. Only in the states of the Confederacy in areas not under Union control. Slavery didn't end until December 6th, 1865 when the 13th Amendment was ratified. June 19th, 1865 is simply the date when some random group of slaves found out they had been freed by presidential order two years previously. The only "holiday" that made less sense than "Juneteenth" was "Columbus Day" which celebrated some Italian dude, working for Spain, who accidentally bumped into Hispaniola, while trying to find India and proceeded to treat the indigenous people there terribly. Dates which might make more sense would be December 6th as explained above, September 22nd which was the date on which Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862 or April 3rd which was the date that black regiments (some say the first was the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry and others that it was the 29th Connecticut Infantry) entered Richmond and insured that the Confederacy, and by extension slavery, were doomed. Oh, by the way, the freed slaves were not citizens in June of 1865 because the Dred Scott decision was still in force. The 14th Amendment fixed that so June 9th, the date that the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868 and the former slaves became citizens, might make more sense as well.

Some may call this petty but I find it annoying that those who whine about the distortion of history have no problem with distorting it themselves when it serves their purpose.

Why I'm no Longer "Woke"

When "woke" simply meant an awareness to realizing that some people weren't treated equally it was a positive thing. But over the last couple of years it has become toxic. Suddenly everything is racist or sexist or some other sort of oppression.

- There's a morbidly obese woman on TicTok with a petition demanding that the FAA force the airlines to give obese people free extra seats because obese people are oppressed. That's insanity.

- There's a black woman with a video claiming that fat phobia is equivalent to racism and therefore being thin and working out are forms of white supremacy. That's even more insane.

- In California they're trying to introduce "equity based" mathematics whatever the hell that is. That sounds insane as well because anything associated with "equity" rather than "equality" tends to be insane.

When justified demands for equality morph into unjustified demands for equity or special privilege then we have a problem.

Apparently I have male privilege, white privilege and something called thin privilege so I should be coming up with ways to atone for all of this privilege. The first step apparently is to ask people what their preferred pronouns are before I can speak to them. Why I would need to know someone's third person pronouns when I'm speaking to them directly I haven't figured out yet.

All of this would be comical if it didn't result in a backlash even among people that would normally be sympathetic. The race card has been played so often and so wrongly that I no longer care if someone thinks I'm a racist. I saw an article this morning calling the SNAP work requirements included in the debt ceiling deal "racist." Regardless of what you think of those work requirements how can something that applies to everyone, and in this applies to more white people, be "racist?"

The Republicans know they have a winning story here because way too many people are fed up with this bullshit.

Medicare for All

I think Medicare for All would be a good thing but I think people are underestimating how hard it would be to implement.

People keep talking about the defense budget as if a hefty cut in the defense budget would pay for all of the progressive wish list.

The defense budget is peanuts compared to what Medicare for All would cost. In 2022 the defense budget was $747 billion. Medicare was $709 billion, Medicaid/CHIP was $695 billion. That's a total of $1.4 trillion for health coverage for 158 million people (93 million Medicaid, 65 million Medicare). There are 334 million people in the US so a simple extrapolation implies that Medicare for All would cost about $2.9 trillion. Note that this includes the estimated $600 billion in administrative costs saved by eliminating the insurance middle men. So that's a shortfall of about $1.5 trillion. The total revenue of the federal government in 2022 was $4.9 trillion including payroll taxes so MFA would cost something like 60% of current revenues and the shortfall would represent over 30% of current revenues. There's no way this is being funded without a broad new tax such as a Value Added Tax on non-essential items including cars and electronic devices. Food, clothing and other essentials would have to be exempt. Try negotiating this in our current political climate. But that's not the big problem. The big problem is that our current medical infrastructure in many places around the country might be incapable of handling the increased demand. That would mean we would also have to invest in additional medical infrastructure including, most importantly, more trained personnel. Note that neither of these two things is a reason not to have Medicare for All but it's going to take a lot more will power than a lot of people would like to admit.

The Debt Ceiling II

 The clowns in Washington can't seem to get their act together. Biden after months of saying that he wasn't going to negotiate is negotiating but, at least so far, there is no agreement. I can't even say with any certainty what, if anything, has been agreed to or what the current proposals are.

Reportedly the wok requirements for Medicaid are a major sticking point. 

A group of Democratic Senators led by Bernie Sanders have proposed that Biden invoke the 14th Amendment. A group of 210 Democratic House Members have proposed the same thing. But Biden appears loathe to do so without a previous OK from the courts which of course he's not going to get.

Invoking the 14th Amendment would be better than defaulting so I hope that someone is explaining the to Biden. 

The Corona Virus, May 21, 2023

President Biden has lifted the Covid emergency in the US. The World Health Organization has ended it worldwide and New Jersey is no longer reliably updating its website.

So, after three years I'm signing off on my Covid updates. I will continue to monitor what information is available but unless things start to go to hell I'm done publishing any numbers.

On the personal front, my root is out and I'm still a tad sore. My care has been serviced and the Generator has been fine.

The Corona Virus, May 8, 2023

 US Cases

Both the WHO and the US have declared the emergency over so Covid case numbers are getting harder to find. New Jersey, so far, is still posting but who knows for how long. If this isn't the final post then it's close. Thank goodness.

Dec 31-Jan 6 -  471,548

Jan 7- Jan 13 - 430,045

Jan 14-Jan 20-331,401

Jan 21-Jan 27-323,428

Jan 28-Feb 3- 284,798

Feb 4 -Feb 10-277,984

Feb 11-Feb 17-260,120

Feb 18-Feb 24-241,626

Feb 25-Mar  3-237,986

Mar 4-Mar 10-206,486

Mar 11-Mar 17-161,476

Mar 18-Mar 24-133,520

Mar 25-Mar 31-138,481

Apr 1 - Apr 7 -   120,530

Apr 8 - Apr 14- 101,145

Apr 15 - Apr 21- 94,140

Apr 22 - Apr 28-88,210

Apr 29 - May 5 - Unavailable

'New Jersey Cases

Dec 31-Jan 6 -  15,562

Jan 7- Jan 13 -  13,735

Jan 14-Jan 20- 10,529

Jan 21-Jan 27- 10,150

Jan 28-Feb 3-   8.910

Feb 4 -Feb 10-  8,326

Feb 11-Feb 17-  6,690

Feb 18-Feb 24- 5,545

Feb 25-Mar  3- 4,590

Mar 4-Mar 10- 3,772

Mar 11-Mar 17-3,334

Mar 18-Mar 24-2,996

Mar 25-Mar 31-2,626

Apr 1 - Apr 7 -   2,285

Apr 8 - Apr 14- 2,548

Apr 15 - Apr 21-2,170

Apr 22 -Apr 28-1,323

Apr 29 - May 5 -1,019

New Jersey almost got below a thousand case. It just missed.

Bergen County Cases

Dec 31-Jan 6 -   1,759

Jan 7- Jan 13 -   1,517

Jan 14-Jan 20-  1,074

Jan 21-Jan 27-  1.046

Jan 28-Feb 3-     903

Feb 4 -Feb 10-    884

Feb 11-Feb 17-    604

Feb 18-Feb 24-  525

Feb 25-Mar  3-  448

Mar 4-Mar 10-  375

Mar 11-Mar 17- 376

Mar 18-Mar 24-381

Mar 25-Mar 31-202

Apr 1 - Apr 7 -   205

Apr 8 - Apr 14- 378

Apr 15 - Apr 21-315

Apr 22 -Apr 28-283

Apr 29 - May 5 -133

The blip in Bergen County appears to have resolved itself as the numbers are playing with going under 100.

The Oral Surgeon will take out the root on the 11th. After that we'll see. He's good so I'm going to listen to what he says.

The technician looked at the generator and couldn't find any problem. It's been behaving since then (knock on wood). So go figure.

More on Reparations

 I'm opposed to reparations. It probably violates the equal protection clause. Citizens of the United States are entitled to "equal protection of the laws."

Reparations would punish white, Hispanic and Asian citizens for things they didn't do in order to compensate black people for things they didn't suffer. If you can find an ex-slave feel free to compensate him or her.

It would also probably violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which "prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin."

You would be discriminating against white, Hispanic and Asian citizens by using their taxes to give money to black citizens simply because they may have descended from a slave.

If they had been slaves that might be different. But no black person alive today was a slave.

I'll tell you something else that I would argue it might violate. Article 1, Section 9, Clause 3 of the Constitution which prohibits Bills of Attainder. A bill allocating reparations would be punishing white, Hispanic and Asians citizens without a judicial trial and so may be a Bill of Attainder.

Here's the bottom line. We are either a nation of laws or we're not. We can't pick and choose what laws to follow simply because we want to do something and that goes double for the Constitution.

I contend that reparations would require a Constitutional Amendment and a repeal or modification of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Debt Ceiling

This is starting to get serious. Kevin McCarthy has put a proposal on the table which Biden and company have called not serious.

If these two guys were serious about actually governing the country then I think there's a reasonable compromise here.

McCarthy wants to roll back to 2022 Discretionary Spending. The Discretionary Spending budget in 2022 was $1.722 trillion. The President's 2023 proposal is $1.748 trillion. That's a difference or $26 billion or 1.5% of the new budget proposal. Are these people seriously telling me that they can't resolve 1.5% in Discretionary Spending?

The biggest chunk of Discretionary Spending is Defense which was $751 billion in 2022. Other than that there really isn't a single big chunk of money but we're only talking 1.5%.

Note that Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP are not part of Discretionary Spending and wouldn't be affected by this part of McCarthy's proposal. All of these items are part of Mandatory Spending. Some of McCarthy's other proposals are more questionable. - Stricter work requirements. McCarthy wants to raise the age limit for SNAP recipients from 49 to 55. I don't see a problem with this considering most people work well into their 60s and many are forced to work into their 70s because Social Security doesn't provide enough to live on.

- Take back unspent Covid-19 relief funds. Offhand I don't see a problem with this either.

- Cancel the IRS budget increase. This would be just dumb. It will pay for itself and McCarthy should be embarrassed to make such a demand. I suspect that this is here to appease the Freedom Caucus.

- Cancel Green Energy incentives. This also sounds to me like it's a foolish thing to do. Green Technology is the future and even the oil companies should have figured that out by now.

- Cancel the $400 billion loan forgiveness program. Biden will never do this. Why not just let the SCOTUS have its say? If someone can convince them that the plaintiffs actually have standing I suspect they'll kill it. But it's not clear the court is convinced they have standing so this is a good gamble for both sides. This is also probably in there to make the Freedom Caucus happy. So negotiate. Work out the 1.5% reduction, accept the raised age requirement and taking back the Covid funds in exchange for letting the IRS budget increase and Green Energy incentives stay. Let the loan forgiveness plan play out in the courts. With Democratic support McCarthy doesn't need the Freedom Caucus.

The Corona Virus, April 24, 2023

 US Cases

OK, so I've been really lazy and busy so I have three weeks worth of data but I don't have national numbers for last week. I've also cut back to listing  just 2023.

Dec 31-Jan 6 -  471,548

Jan 7- Jan 13 - 430,045

Jan 14-Jan 20-331,401

Jan 21-Jan 27-323,428

Jan 28-Feb 3- 284,798

Feb 4 -Feb 10-277,984

Feb 11-Feb 17-260,120

Feb 18-Feb 24-241,626

Feb 25-Mar  3-237,986

Mar 4-Mar 10-206,486

Mar 11-Mar 17-161,476

Mar 18-Mar 24-133,520

Mar 25-Mar 31-138,481

Apr 1 - Apr 7 -   120,530

Apr 8 - Apr 14- 101,145

Apr 15 - Apr 21-Unavailable

 The National numbers have steadily dropped first by 13% and then by 16.1%.

'New Jersey Cases

Dec 31-Jan 6 -  15,562

Jan 7- Jan 13 -  13,735

Jan 14-Jan 20- 10,529

Jan 21-Jan 27- 10,150

Jan 28-Feb 3-   8.910

Feb 4 -Feb 10-  8,326

Feb 11-Feb 17-  6,690

Feb 18-Feb 24- 5,545

Feb 25-Mar  3- 4,590

Mar 4-Mar 10- 3,772

Mar 11-Mar 17-3,334

Mar 18-Mar 24-2,996

Mar 25-Mar 31-2,626

Apr 1 - Apr 7 -   2,285

Apr 8 - Apr 14- 2,548

Apr 15 - Apr 21-2,170

New Jersey had a bit of a wiggle there but overall continues to drop.

Bergen County Cases

Dec 31-Jan 6 -   1,759

Jan 7- Jan 13 -   1,517

Jan 14-Jan 20-  1,074

Jan 21-Jan 27-  1.046

Jan 28-Feb 3-     903

Feb 4 -Feb 10-    884

Feb 11-Feb 17-    604

Feb 18-Feb 24-  525

Feb 25-Mar  3-  448

Mar 4-Mar 10-  375

Mar 11-Mar 17- 376

Mar 18-Mar 24-381

Mar 25-Mar 31-202

Apr 1 - Apr 7 -   205

Apr 8 - Apr 14- 378

Apr 15 - Apr 21-315

I'm not sure what happened with that big jump Apr 8 - Apr 14. There is a pool of cases not allocated to counties so maybe they've been allocating them.

My dentist has finished doing his thing. I see the oral surgeon on May 1 about that root. My tongue feels better now that the permanent crowns are in.

I got the CT scan. My pulmonologist looked at it and said nothing appears to have changed although the official report wasn't available yet. The Thoracic say one of the larger nodules appears to have shrunk. He didn't have the official report either but said everything else looked the same. I get to this again in three months.

My generator is acting up. About a week ago it shut itself off and sent me a E2800 error code. There was a tech here the week before to do yearly maintenance so maybe there's a connection? Anyway, I checked and the code is triggered when someone turns off one of the two emergency switches, I went out to check and reset the unit but the tech had locked the top.

So, I went to look for the key. I found what I thought was the key but it didn't fit. I spent the next half hour looking around. Finally, I thought about it and decided this had to be the key. I went out with a flashlight this time and discovered that you had to push down on the front of the lock in order to get the key in. Both emergency switches looked closed so I reset the unit and it came back up. It ran its weekly maintenance check two days later and seemed OK.

Unfortunately last night it happened again. I reset the unit but then three hours later it happened again. So I left it off and called the electrician this morning. They're sending someone to check tomorrow.

The Corona Virus, April 9, 2023

 US Cases

Yes I've been lazy and I have two weeks of updates as a result.

Sep 5  -Sep 11- 463,113

Sep 12 Sep 18- 431,984

Sep 19 Sep 25- 379,673

Sep 26 Oct 2-   327,481

Oct 3 - Oct 9-  284,417

Oct 10-Oct 16-263,879

Oct 17-Oct 23-264,187

Oct 24-Oct 30-258,083

Oct 31-Nov 6- 279,769

Nov 5-Nov 11-279,503

Nov 12-Nov 18-282.037

Nov 19-Nov 25-298,683

Nov 26-Dec 2 -359,499

Dec 3-Dec 9 -  459,157

Dec 10-Dec 16-458,297

Dec 17-Dec 23-493,563

Dec 24-Dec 30-409,633

Dec 31-Jan 6 -  471,548

Jan 7- Jan 13 - 430,045

Jan 14-Jan 20-331,401

Jan 21-Jan 27-323,428

Jan 28-Feb 3- 284,798

Feb 4 -Feb 10-277,984

Feb 11-Feb 17-260,120

Feb 18-Feb 24-241,626

Feb 25-Mar  3-237,986

Mar 4-Mar 10-206,486

Mar 11-Mar 17-161,476

Mar 18-Mar 24-133,520

Mar 25-Apr 1-  138,481

 The National numbers dropped by 17.3% but then went up slightly the following week by 3,7%

'New Jersey Cases

Sep 5  -Sep 11-   9,895

Sep 12 Sep 18-  10,371

Sep 19 Sep 25-  13,288

Sep 26 Oct 2-   11,477

Oct 3 - Oct 9-   10,159

Oct 10-Oct 16-  9,034

Oct 17-Oct 23-  8.767

Oct 24-Oct 30- 9,538

Oct 31-Nov 6-   9,498

Nov 5-Nov 11-9,327

Nov 12-Nov 18-8,942

Nov 19-Nov 25-7,696

Nov 26-Dec 2 -11,437

Dec 3-Dec 9 -  12,519

Dec 10-Dec 16-14,246

Dec 17-Dec 23-14,424

Dec 24-Dec 30-13,241

Dec 31-Jan 6 -  15,562

Jan 7- Jan 13 -  13,735

Jan 14-Jan 20- 10,529

Jan 21-Jan 27- 10,150

Jan 28-Feb 3-   8.910

Feb 4 -Feb 10-  8,326

Feb 11-Feb 17-  6,690

Feb 18-Feb 24- 5,545

Feb 25-Mar  3- 4,590

Mar 4-Mar 10- 3,772

Mar 11-Mar 17-3,334

Mar 18-Mar 24-2,996

Mar 25-Apr 1-   2,626

New Jersey were down both weeks. The first around 10.1% and the second by 12.3%.

Bergen County Cases

Sep 5  -Sep 11-   1,107

Sep 12 Sep 18-   1,109

Sep 19 Sep 25-  1,486

Sep 26 Oct 2-    1,328

Oct 3 - Oct 9-    1,104

Oct 10-Oct 16-  1.019

Oct 17-Oct 23-  1,116

Oct 24-Oct 30- 1,161

Oct 31-Nov 6-   1,263

Nov 5-Nov 11-1,256

Nov 12-Nov 18-1,186

Nov 19-Nov 25-1,103

Nov 26-Dec 2 - 1,551

Dec 3-Dec 9 -   1,570

Dec 10-Dec 16-1,722

Dec 17-Dec 23-1,806

Dec 24-Dec 30-1,733

Dec 31-Jan 6 -   1,759

Jan 7- Jan 13 -   1,517

Jan 14-Jan 20-  1,074

Jan 21-Jan 27-  1.046

Jan 28-Feb 3-     903

Feb 4 -Feb 10-    884

Feb 11-Feb 17-    604

Feb 18-Feb 24-  525

Feb 25-Mar  3-  448

Mar 4-Mar 10-  375

Mar 11-Mar 17- 376

Mar 18-Mar 24-381

Mar 25-Apr 1-   202

Bergen County had another slight rise of 1.3% but then had a big drop of 47%

I suspect the temp that my dentist put in has been chewing up my tongue and its been quite annoying. It's not worth calling about and I go back a week from Monday. I have an appointment with the oral surgeon on May 1.

My taxes are done. I had to pay less than last year but still a decent amount.

I've been taking my blood pressure for the hell of it. The highest its been is 126/73. The rest of the time its been right around 115/70 so I don't get it. Actually most of the time its been more like 105/65.

Bad news coming up over the next two weeks. We do the CT scan on Wednesday, I see the pulmonologist on Thursday and then next Tuesday I get to see the Thoracic surgeon. Yuck. The best I can hope for here is no news.

Reparations for Slavery

I am utterly opposed to reparations for slavery. In San Francisco a group is recommending paying $5 million to each black citizen. This is absurd.

I have never voted Republican and that's saying a lot since I cast my first vote in 1969. However, I see so many fundamental things wrong with the reparations movement being pushed by Democrats that I don't see how I can stay with the party. I may have cast my last ballot.

-- It punishes people who didn't do anything wrong. People living today are not liable for slavery. This violates a fundamental tenet of justice. You do not punish one person for the sins of another.

-- It rewards people that were never slaves. This violates another fundamental tenet of justice. You do not reward one person for the suffering of another.

-- The amounts being considered in places such as San Francisco are ludicrous.

-- Reparations at the national level would result in a massive flow of wealth from Blue States, who mostly weren't slave states, to Red States, many of whom were slave states, because that's where most Black people live.

-- If one thing based upon race is OK then anything based upon race is OK. This is opening the Pandora's box that the 14th Amendment was meant to close. This is a greater danger to democracy than all the Trumps and DeSantis's ever spawned.

The Corona Virus, March 24, 2023

 US Cases

Sep 5  -Sep 11- 463,113

Sep 12 Sep 18- 431,984

Sep 19 Sep 25- 379,673

Sep 26 Oct 2-   327,481

Oct 3 - Oct 9-  284,417

Oct 10-Oct 16-263,879

Oct 17-Oct 23-264,187

Oct 24-Oct 30-258,083

Oct 31-Nov 6- 279,769

Nov 5-Nov 11-279,503

Nov 12-Nov 18-282.037

Nov 19-Nov 25-298,683

Nov 26-Dec 2 -359,499

Dec 3-Dec 9 -  459,157

Dec 10-Dec 16-458,297

Dec 17-Dec 23-493,563

Dec 24-Dec 30-409,633

Dec 31-Jan 6 -  471,548

Jan 7- Jan 13 - 430,045

Jan 14-Jan 20-331,401

Jan 21-Jan 27-323,428

Jan 28-Feb 3- 284,798

Feb 4 -Feb 10-277,984

Feb 11-Feb 17-260,120

Feb 18-Feb 24-241,626

Feb 25-Mar  3-237,986

Mar 4-Mar 10-206,486

Mar 11-Mar 17-161,476

The National numbers were 21.8%.

'New Jersey Cases

Sep 5  -Sep 11-   9,895

Sep 12 Sep 18-  10,371

Sep 19 Sep 25-  13,288

Sep 26 Oct 2-   11,477

Oct 3 - Oct 9-   10,159

Oct 10-Oct 16-  9,034

Oct 17-Oct 23-  8.767

Oct 24-Oct 30- 9,538

Oct 31-Nov 6-   9,498

Nov 5-Nov 11-9,327

Nov 12-Nov 18-8,942

Nov 19-Nov 25-7,696

Nov 26-Dec 2 -11,437

Dec 3-Dec 9 -  12,519

Dec 10-Dec 16-14,246

Dec 17-Dec 23-14,424

Dec 24-Dec 30-13,241

Dec 31-Jan 6 -  15,562

Jan 7- Jan 13 -  13,735

Jan 14-Jan 20- 10,529

Jan 21-Jan 27- 10,150

Jan 28-Feb 3-   8.910

Feb 4 -Feb 10-  8,326

Feb 11-Feb 17-  6,690

Feb 18-Feb 24- 5,545

Feb 25-Mar  3- 4,590

Mar 4-Mar 10- 3,772

Mar 11-Mar 17-3,334

New Jersey was down about 11.6%.

Bergen County Cases

Sep 5  -Sep 11-   1,107

Sep 12 Sep 18-   1,109

Sep 19 Sep 25-  1,486

Sep 26 Oct 2-    1,328

Oct 3 - Oct 9-    1,104

Oct 10-Oct 16-  1.019

Oct 17-Oct 23-  1,116

Oct 24-Oct 30- 1,161

Oct 31-Nov 6-   1,263

Nov 5-Nov 11-1,256

Nov 12-Nov 18-1,186

Nov 19-Nov 25-1,103

Nov 26-Dec 2 - 1,551

Dec 3-Dec 9 -   1,570

Dec 10-Dec 16-1,722

Dec 17-Dec 23-1,806

Dec 24-Dec 30-1,733

Dec 31-Jan 6 -   1,759

Jan 7- Jan 13 -   1,517

Jan 14-Jan 20-  1,074

Jan 21-Jan 27-  1.046

Jan 28-Feb 3-     903

Feb 4 -Feb 10-    884

Feb 11-Feb 17-    604

Feb 18-Feb 24-  525

Feb 25-Mar  3-  448

Mar 4-Mar 10-  375

Mar 11-Mar 17- 376

Bergen County has flattened out and even picked up an extra case. Bergen County is often a bell weather so we shall see how things go in the next couple of weeks.

My wife feels better and my dentist tells me that I have an infected root under a bridge which is causing the discomfort. I have to have the root extracted by my favorite oral surgeon but first he has to take apart the bridge. This sound like it's goin to be a joy.

We hit a speed bump on the taxes as well. H&R Block called me to say they were missing a 1099R from LPL. I tried to log on to LPL but it looks like someone had mangled the log on information. After the technician verified that I got sent to account support. They provided the 1099R data so my accountant could proceed and promised to mail me another 1099R.

Luckily my account exec at LPL called me and he had someone straighten out the web site access debacle and I managed to download and print a copy of the 1099R. I have an appointment to finish things up at H&R Block on Monday.

My physical sort of went not that great. I have a couple of blood work numbers that are always high or low and they were high or low again. One in particular seemed to have gone up a lot. We shall see. 

My blood pressure has also been higher than usual and was 134/70. The mask? Nerves? Who knows? I started taking it at home again and it's typically 115/70 so I don't know. In other news people would kill for my cholesterol numbers.

What is 'Woke?"

There's been lot of flak recently about people being asked to define "woke" and being unable to do so. The problem with that question is that "woke," like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

To some people it means something akin to being sensitive to injustice while to others it's akin to political correctness run amok. I tend to lean toward the later definition.

So, what is "woke" to me?

- Woke is seeing racism or sexism where it doesn't exist.

- Woke is worrying about race or gender ahead of merit or fairness.

- Woke is favoring equity over equality.

- Woke is thinking feelings matter more than facts.

If one can justify using race as a criterion for diversity then one can justify using race as a criterion for anything. It never ceases to amaze me that so-called progresses don't realize how dangerous it is to use race as a criterion.

Medicare for All - 2023

Marianne Williamson was on Fox and pitching Universal Healthcare. Now I think Universal Healthcare would be a really good but I don't think we're being realistic about the cost.

Williamson's response to the inevitable question of how do we pay for this was that a University of Massachusetts study showed that we would save $5.1 trillion over 10 years in healthcare costs with Universal Healthcare.

We'll save money is really not a good answer. Who will save money? We would be shifting healthcare costs from employers and individuals to the government. In the long run that would probably be a good thing but people who are currently paying for health insurance aren't going to turn that money over to the government so that money has to be replaced somehow.

$5.1 trillion over 10 years is $510 billion per year which is less than what we're spending for Medicaid today. it certainly isn't going to cover healthcare for over 300 million people.

What we spend as of 2021: Medicare $901 billion, Medicaid $734 billion, Private Health Insurance Spending $1,211 billion, out of pocket $433 billion and other public health activity $596 billion. That's a total of almost $3.9 trillion.

The savings she's talking about, if the University of Massachusetts study is accurate, is about 13% of what we're spending. Then there's the question of would there be a larger demand for health services if they were free? Basic economic theory says that there would be and it would be foolish not to take that into account. Another problem is that our current medical infrastructure may be inadequate to handle the increased demand and some money needs to be allocated to shore that up as well.

She then went off about how no one asked how to pay for Afghanistan or Iraq which is true. But the fact that no one asked how to pay for Afghanistan and Iraq doesn't address the question of how to pay for Medicare for All. It just says that our priorities are screwed up. 

Then she started talking about fairer taxation for the rich including possibly a wealth tax Now, fairer taxation for the rich is at least addressing the question. Unfortunately the wealth tax is probably unconstitutional since it is neither an income tax nor a direct tax.

The Corona Virus, March 18, 2023

 US Cases

Sep 5  -Sep 11- 463,113

Sep 12 Sep 18- 431,984

Sep 19 Sep 25- 379,673

Sep 26 Oct 2-   327,481

Oct 3 - Oct 9-  284,417

Oct 10-Oct 16-263,879

Oct 17-Oct 23-264,187

Oct 24-Oct 30-258,083

Oct 31-Nov 6- 279,769

Nov 5-Nov 11-279,503

Nov 12-Nov 18-282.037

Nov 19-Nov 25-298,683

Nov 26-Dec 2 -359,499

Dec 3-Dec 9 -  459,157

Dec 10-Dec 16-458,297

Dec 17-Dec 23-493,563

Dec 24-Dec 30-409,633

Dec 31-Jan 6 -  471,548

Jan 7- Jan 13 - 430,045

Jan 14-Jan 20-331,401

Jan 21-Jan 27-323,428

Jan 28-Feb 3- 284,798

Feb 4 -Feb 10-277,984

Feb 11-Feb 17-260,120

Feb 18-Feb 24-241,626

Feb 25-Mar  3-237,986

Mar 4-Mar 10-206,486

The National numbers were down by about 13.2%.

'New Jersey Cases

Sep 5  -Sep 11-   9,895

Sep 12 Sep 18-  10,371

Sep 19 Sep 25-  13,288

Sep 26 Oct 2-   11,477

Oct 3 - Oct 9-   10,159

Oct 10-Oct 16-  9,034

Oct 17-Oct 23-  8.767

Oct 24-Oct 30- 9,538

Oct 31-Nov 6-   9,498

Nov 5-Nov 11-9,327

Nov 12-Nov 18-8,942

Nov 19-Nov 25-7,696

Nov 26-Dec 2 -11,437

Dec 3-Dec 9 -  12,519

Dec 10-Dec 16-14,246

Dec 17-Dec 23-14,424

Dec 24-Dec 30-13,241

Dec 31-Jan 6 -  15,562

Jan 7- Jan 13 -  13,735

Jan 14-Jan 20- 10,529

Jan 21-Jan 27- 10,150

Jan 28-Feb 3-   8.910

Feb 4 -Feb 10-  8,326

Feb 11-Feb 17-  6,690

Feb 18-Feb 24- 5,545

Feb 25-Mar  3- 4,590

Mar 4-Mar 10- 3,772

New Jersey was down about 17.8%.

Bergen County Cases

Sep 5  -Sep 11-   1,107

Sep 12 Sep 18-   1,109

Sep 19 Sep 25-  1,486

Sep 26 Oct 2-    1,328

Oct 3 - Oct 9-    1,104

Oct 10-Oct 16-  1.019

Oct 17-Oct 23-  1,116

Oct 24-Oct 30- 1,161

Oct 31-Nov 6-   1,263

Nov 5-Nov 11-1,256

Nov 12-Nov 18-1,186

Nov 19-Nov 25-1,103

Nov 26-Dec 2 - 1,551

Dec 3-Dec 9 -   1,570

Dec 10-Dec 16-1,722

Dec 17-Dec 23-1,806

Dec 24-Dec 30-1,733

Dec 31-Jan 6 -   1,759

Jan 7- Jan 13 -   1,517

Jan 14-Jan 20-  1,074

Jan 21-Jan 27-  1.046

Jan 28-Feb 3-     903

Feb 4 -Feb 10-    884

Feb 11-Feb 17-    604

Feb 18-Feb 24-  525

Feb 25-Mar  3-  448

Mar 4-Mar 10-  375

Bergen County is down 16.2%.

So, my wife got sick after I did and she was really sick. She went to the doctor and it turned out she had the flu so I wonder if that's what I had? Honestly, she seemed sicker than I was.

Now my mouth is sore on my lower left side. It comes and goes but I'm going to have my dentist take a look Tuesday just in case. My physical is Monday and H&R Block says my taxes should be done Thursday so a busy week.