George
A. Sprecace M.D.,
J.D., F.A.C.P. and Allergy
Associates of New
London,
P.C.
www.asthma.drsprecace.com
RAPID
RESPONSE...Daily Commentary on News of the Day
This is a new section.
It will offer
fresh, quick reactions by myself to news and events of the day, day by
day, in this rapid-fire world of ours. Of course, as in military
campaigns, a rapid response in one direction may occasionally have to
be followed by a "strategic withdrawal" in another direction. Charge
that to "the fog of war", and to the necessary flexibility any mental
or military campaign must maintain to be effective. But the mission
will always be the same: common sense, based upon facts and "real
politick", supported by a visceral sense of Justice and a commitment to
be pro-active. That's all I promise.
GS
|
Click dates below
for past Rapid Responses
SUNDAY, May 20,
2018
RR#1
...AND I HAVE MORE.
GS
RR#2
IN THE DAY NEWSPAPER, MAY 20, 2018:
1) "Gunman blasted through school door, lingered for about 30 minutes";
2) "Why open plan offices are like a nudist beach".
WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO COMMON SENSE?
'Nuff Said...Already Said.
GS
RR#3
WHAT'S THIS?? A RATIONAL ARTICLE AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP
PUBLISHED IN THE NY TIMES?
See "Trump, MS-13, And Fake News", by Bret Stephens, OP-ED, pA21.
In it, the author corrects the fake efforts of the Leftists to expand Trump's comment regarding members of MS-13 as "animals".
"To call MS-13 'animals' is wrong only because it is unfair to animals".
GS
RR#4
U'OH. WE MAY HAVE JUST SEEN THE FIRST OP-ED ARTICLE WRITTEN BY AN A.I. COMPUTER!
"A.I. IS HARDER THAN YOU THINK", ostensibly by Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis, in NYTimes May 19, 2018, OP-ED, pA21.
Don't you believe it! This is a lullaby to put us to sleep. The Singularity is nearly here.
GS
SATURDAY, May 19,
2018
RR#1
WHEN MEN WERE MEN...
GS
RR#2
EXCELLENT. SUPERB. SPIRITUAL...
Not nearly good enough reactions to the Homily of Bishop Michael Curry at the Royal Wedding.
He
gave biblical authenticity and human meaning to the word LOVE, in a way
many had forgotten and too many had never experienced. God Bless You,
and God Bless the Royal Couple.
GS
RR#3
THE ROYAL WEDDING: MORE OF THIS TRULY HUMAN STORY,
thanks to Harry and his America Bride.
GS
RR#4
"AND THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT".
GS
GOD to ST. FRANCIS:
Frank
, You know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on
down there on the planet? What happened to the dandelions, violets,
milkweeds and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect no-maintenance
garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought
and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms
attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to
see a vast garden of colors by now. But, all I see are these green
rectangles.
ST. FRANCIS:
It's the tribes that settled there,
Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers 'weeds' and
went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.
GOD:
Grass?
But, it's so boring It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies,
birds and bees, only grubs and sod worms. It's sensitive to
temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing
there?
ST. FRANCIS:
Apparently so, Lord. They go to great
pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by
fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the
lawn.
GOD:
The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.
ST. FRANCIS:
Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it, sometimes twice a week.
GOD:
They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?
ST. FRANCIS:
Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.
GOD:
They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?
ST. FRANCIS:
No, Sir, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.
GOD:
Now,
let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And,
when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?
ST. FRANCIS:
Yes, Sir.
GOD:
These
Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the
rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them
a lot of work.
ST. FRANCIS:
You aren't going to believe this,
Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay
more money to water it, so they can continue to mow it and pay to get
rid of it.
GOD:
What nonsense. At least they kept some of the
trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The
trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the
summer. In the autumn, they fall to the ground and form a natural
blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes.
It's a natural cycle of life.
ST. FRANCIS:
You better sit
down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the
leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them
hauled away.
GOD:
No!? What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter to keep the soil moist and loose?
ST. FRANCIS:
After
throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call
mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.
GOD:
And where do they get this mulch?
ST. FRANCIS:
They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.
GOD:
Enough!
I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you're in
charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?
ST. CATHERINE:
'Dumb and Dumber', Lord. It's a story about....
GOD:
Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.
FRIDAY, May 18,
2018
RETARDING ADVANCED PRACTICE REGISTERED NURSES.
and efforts by some in their professional organizations to allow unsupervised practice.
My
interactions with APRN's has been uniformly favorable. They are humane,
highly motivated, fairly well educated and trained...and effective in
what they do.
BUT THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY DON'T KNOW!
That is the worst and most dangerous kind of ignorance.
It's
not their fault, not even their responsibility. Their career path just
does not provide for the comprehensive education, training and
experience vital for the ultimate responsibility of a physician for the
care of a patient entrusted to his or her care.
That is the one reason to work against free-standing APRN practice. It's not about turf or professional insecurity.
Therefore, please support efforts to retain APRN medical practice within the supervision of a licensed and practicing physician.
GS
THURSDAY, May 17,
2018
RR#1
MORE EVIDENCE OF THE "TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME".
You
may begin by reading President Trump's actual words regarding the
pending meeting with the North Korean leader. In a word: shrewd.
Then
read the entire article published in the May 17, 2018 edition of the
Day, by Marc. A. Thiessen of the Washington Post and entitled
"To understand why Trump won, look at Democratic hysteria".
Then check out the excellent political cartoon that appears in the same edition of the Day.
The above disease is proving intractable to those aflicted...and very obvious to everyone else.
GS
RR#2
AMERICAN NUCLEAR ENERGY: AN OPPORTUNITY LOST.
Nuclear energy was discovered and harnessed by America in a winning race against Nazi Germany.
Its secrets were stolen by the Soviet Union in the late 1940's.
Its
great power to destroy actually saved the world from destruction for 50
years during the era of "Mutual Assured Destruction".
Then came an
abortive effort in the 1960's to harness nuclear energy for domestic /
commercial use as a source of electricity. That effort was successful
in other nations...but not here in America. Why? Ham-handed marketing,
successful story-telling by other energy producers and the related
political actions of elected officials and paid lobbyists.
In
addition, the limited number of nuclear power plants here (as
distinguished from the over 40% of total energy production in France)
produced radioactive waste that had to be stored somewhere safe for
many decades.
A good plan was developed - and was developed at great cost - far below Yucca Mountain in an isolated area of Nevada.
Then came Harry Reid...and that was that.
Read the rest of the depressing story in the May 14, 2018 Editorial of The Day, entitled:
"Revive Yucca Mountain Plan And Buy Time With Interim Storage".
There
have been times when pressing National Interests could trump narrow
"NIMBY" sentiments and self-serving politics. Evidently not now, and
not any time soon.
A Shame.
GS
MONDAY through WEDNESDAY, May 14 through 16,
2018
RR#1
THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN - THE BACK STORY.
This
is like a Rubix Cube: plenty of facts and factoids to produce many
designs. Further manipulations of the "blocks" through continued
investigation will probably not produce a solution to the puzzle.
Personally,
I believe that candidate Trump was either not aware of or did not allow
himself to be made aware of this tangled mess, given its explosive
potential for all concerned. But I also believe that the integrity and
reputation of some of the highest organs of Federal Government are at
risk here, as well as the crass interference in our election processes
by a foreign adversary. Thus, the current investigations (Mueller,
Congress, the DOJ Inspector-General,...) should continue until they run
their course. That outcome may well prove to have been a stupid,
ham-handed - and also politically motivated exercise, as offered by
William Shakespeare:
"It is a tale as told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
GS
RR#2
DONALD TRUMP - THE BUSINESS.
This is as close to a factual, unbiased report of the subject as you are likely to get from today's biased main media.
GS
RR#3
LET'S TALK ABOUT THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND ABOUT ISRAEL.
"In
the Beginning..." there were the Jewish People, Jerusalem, Palestine
and their God. In the sixth century BC, after the Babylonian Exile, the
Jewish people were involuntarily scattered throughout the world. Hence
the term "diaspora: the involuntary mass dispersions of a population
from its indigenous territories, most notably the expulsion of Jews
from Judea and the fleeing of Greeks after the fall of Constantinople."
(Wikipedia). A very apt definition. There followed the many centuries
of blame for killing Jesus and the related and unrelated pogrums
carried out throughout the world. Then came a real effort at "the final
solution": the genocide of over 6 million Jews.
Meanwhile, the
Jewish people were trying to solve their own problem, first with the
Zionist movement of the early 20th century, then by receiving a
Protectorate in Palestine under British rule, then by being given an
actual State of Israel in 1947 by the United Nations, then being
immediately attacked by all of their neighbors - and winning! Then
being the constant target of destruction by all of their neighbors for
20 years until 1967 - when they were attacked - and won! Then being
attacked again in 1973 - and winning! And they have been the constant
target of destruction in many ways.
I could go on with this
history lesson. I am simply disgusted with the cynical reportage of
"all the Palestinians killed"...while admittedly trying to invade a
sovereign nation and by so many nations of the world "condemning"
Israel for defending its sovereign integrity. If the Palestinians want
a homeland, they certainly have not been able to do it on the
battlefield. They may do it by good faith negotiation - something that
they have not entered into in good faith in all of these decades.
Israel is Back...To Stay!
GS
RR#4
IMMIGRATION.
"You want the truth?"
This
is what the business bastards and the politician - government bastards
have done to our national sovereignty and to our national security.
This is what President Trump is facing...while trying to make America America again.
HELP HIM!
GS
SUNDAY, May 13,
2018
RR#1
REGARDING DRUG PRICING:
See the article published in The Day (May 12, 2018) entitled:
"Few Teeth In Trump's Prescription To Reduce Drug Prices".
"But
it does not include his campaign pledge to use the massive buying power
of the government's Medicare program to directly negotiate lower prices
for seniors."
"Drugmakers
generally can charge as much as the market will bear because the U.S.
government doesn't regulate medicine prices, unlike most other
developed countries."
AND DO YOU KNOW WHY?
Because
your Senators and House Representatives in Congress, in passing the
Medicare Modernization and Prescription Drug Act of 2002, specifically prohibited the Government from negotiating prices with the drug cartel.
Why
did they do this? Because they did not want to lose the many millions
of dollars of contributions to themselves from the drug companies. And
to hell with their constituents. That's why.
President Trump
cannot unilaterally reverse that. Only Congress can repeal or pass
Laws. Indeed, there is now a Bill in Congress which would address that
issue: "The Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2017.
It is
going nowhere. Why not? Reread the above. And don't swallow the
cyinical and divisive blame game being constantly dumped on the
President. THE SWAMP HAS PROVEN TO BE MUCH DEEPER THAN ANY OF US
IMAGINED. But give him time. He has accomplished a great deal of good,
despite all manner of obstruction, in a short time.
GS
RR#2
THIS IS FOR ALL THE COLLEGE GRADUATES (AND EVEN THOSE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES NOT INTENDING TO GO TO COLLEGE.
Great advice. Better than looking for a "mother" in your employer.
See: Wisdom of a Non-Idiot Billionaire, by Peggy Noonan, in WSJ May 12-13, 2018, Opinion, pA13.
Then read the autobiography by Ken Langone, founder of Home Depot, entitled "I Love Capitalism".
GS
RR#3
THE FOLLOWING IS NEITHER NEWS OR OPINION.
What
is it? It represents data, not vetted by me but very likely factual,
that relate to on-going investigations in and of our Federal
government: the House investigation of the FBI and the DOJ under Obama;
the investigations of private citizens without due process; the Mueller
investigations into whatever suits him: the indictment(s) questioned by
a Federal Judge....
Please pay attention as all of this plays out,
important both for our freedoms and for the possible criminal charges
at very high levels of our government.
GS
From 2001 to 2005 there was an ongoing investigation into the Clinton Foundation.
A Grand Jury had been empaneled.
Governments from around the world had donated to the “Charity”.
Yet, from 2001 to 2003 none of those “Donations” to the Clinton Foundation were declared.
Hmmm, now you would think that an honest investigator would be able to figure this out.
Guess who took over this investigation in 2002?
Bet you can’t guess.
No other than James “Wassup Homey” Comey.
Now, that’s interesting, isn’t it?
Guess who was transferred in to the Internal Revenue Service to run the Tax Exemption Branch of the IRS?
Your
friend and mine, our favorite person in the whole world if you are a
Tea Party Member, Pro-Life or a True the Vote supporter……. ding, ding,
ding, ding Lois “Be on The Look Out” (BOLO)Lois Lerner.
Now, that’s interesting, isn’t it?
It gets better, well not really, but I am sure this is all just a series of strange coincidences, right?
Guess who ran the Tax Division inside the Department of Injustice from 2001 to 2005?
No other than the Assistant Attorney General of the United States, Rod Rosenstein.
Now, that’s interesting, isn’t it?
Guess who was the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation during this timeframe???
I know, it’s a miracle, just a coincidence, just an anomaly in statistics and chances, Robert Mueller.
What do all four casting characters have in common?
They all were briefed and/or were front line investigators into the Clinton Foundation Investigation.
Now that’s just a coincidence, right?
Ok, lets chalk the last one up to mere chance.
Let’s fast forward to 2009, shall we?
James “Wassup Homey” Comey leaves the Justice Department to go and cash-in at Lockheed Martin.
Hillary Clinton is running the State Department, on her own personal email server by the way.
The Uranium One “issue” comes to the attention of the Hildabeast.
Like
all good public servants do, you know looking out for America’s best
interest, she decides to support the decision and approve the sale of
20% of US Uranium to no other than, the Russians.
Now you would think that this is a fairly straight up deal, except it wasn’t, the People got absolutely nothing out of it.
However,
prior to the sales approval, no other than Arkansas Bill goes to
Moscow, gets paid 500K for a one hour speech then meets with Vladimir
Putin at his home for a few hours.
Ok, no big deal right?
Well, not so fast, the FBI had a mole inside the money laundering and bribery scheme.
Guess who was the FBI Director during this timeframe?
Yep, Robert Mueller.
He even delivered a Uranium Sample to Moscow in 2009.
Guess who was handling that case within the Justice Department out of the US Attorney’s Office in Maryland.
No other than, Rod Rosenstein.
Guess what happened to the informant?
The Department of Justice placed a GAG order on him and threatened to lock him up if he spoke out about it.
Interesting, huh?
How does 20% of the most strategic asset of the United States of America end up in Russian hands
when the FBI has an informant, a mole providing inside information to the FBI on the criminal enterprise?
Guess what happened soon after the sale was approved?
~145
million dollars in “donations” made their way into the Clinton
Foundation from entities directly connected to the Uranium One deal.
Guess who was still at the Internal Revenue Service working the Charitable Division?
No other than, Lois “BOLO” Lerner.
Interesting, huh?
Ok, that’s all just another series of coincidences, nothing to see here, right?
Let’s fast forward to 2015.
Due
to a series of tragic events in Benghazi and after the 9
“investigations” the House, Senate and at State Department, Trey Gowdy
who was running the 10th investigation as Chairman of the Select
Committee on Benghazi discovers that the Hildabeast ran the State
Department on a unclassified, unauthorized, outlaw personal email
server.
He also discovered that none of those emails had been turned over when she departed her “Public Service”
as Secretary of State which was required by law.
He also discovered that there was Top Secret information contained within her personally archived email.
I
will spare you the State Departments cover up, the nostrums they
floated, the delay tactics that were employed and the outright lies
that were spewed forth from the necks of the Kerry State Department,we
shall leave it with this…… they did everything humanly possible to
cover for the Hildabeast.
Now this is amazing, guess who became FBI Director in 2013?
Guess
who secured 17 no bid contracts for his employer with the State
Department and was rewarded with a six million dollar thank you present
when he departed his employer.
No other than James “Wassup Homey” Comey.
Amazing how all those no-bids just went right through at State, huh?
Now he is the FBI Director in charge of the “Clinton Email Investigation” after of course his FBI Investigates
the Lois Lerner “Matter” at the Internal Revenue Service and exonerates her.
Nope couldn’t find any crimes there.
Can you guess what happened next?
In April 2016, James “Wassup Homey” Comey drafts an exoneration letter of Hillary Rodham Clinton,
meanwhile the DOJ is handing out immunity deals like candy.
They didn’t even convene a Grand Jury.
Like a lightning bolt of statistical impossibility, like a miracle from God himself, like the true “Gangsta” Homey is,
James
steps out into the cameras of an awaiting press conference on July the
8th of 2016, and exonerates the Hildabeast from any wrongdoing.
Can you see the pattern?
I
could go on, Rosenstein becomes Asst. Attorney General, Comey gets
fired based upon a letter by Rosenstein, Comey leaks government
information to the press, Mueller is assigned to the Russian
Investigation sham by Rosenstein to provide cover for decades of
malfeasance within the FBI and DOJ and the story continues.
FISA Abuse, political espionage..... pick a crime, any crime, chances are...... this group and a few others did it.
All the same players.
All compromised and conflicted.
All working fervently to NOT go to jail themselves.
All connected in one way or another to the Clinton's.
They are like battery acid, they corrode and corrupt everything they touch.
How many lives have these two destroyed?
It cannot be numbered.
Incest, it’s Incestuous
As
of this writing, the Clinton Foundation, in its 20+ years of operation
of being the largest International Charity Fraud in the history of
mankind, has never been audited by the Internal Revenue Service.
RR#4
THIS IS IMPORTANT: ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTE VS POPULAR VOTE.
Please read this Letter to the Editor, The Day, by Martin King, 5/11/2018.
GS
RR#5
RR#6
FINALLY, SOMEONE HAS GIVEN "LIBERALS" SOME GOOD ADVICE:
"Liberals, You're Not As Smart As You Think. Self-Righteousness is rarely attractive, and it's even more rarely rewarded." by Gerard Alexander (NYTimes May 13, 2018, Sunday Review, SR1).
But
not to worry. The "Liberals" he is referring to are actually the
hysterical and deluded "Leftists" who have taken over the Democratic
Party from the Liberals of whom I was a member for 26 years until 1990.
And those Leftists are too far gone to recognize the advice presented.
So 2018 will be another good election year for sanity. Until then, hang
on for the ride.
GS
RR#7
"HARD CASES MAKE BAD LAW".
This is a truism that as usual is often true.
The
Catholic Church has for nearly a century been espousing controversial
Law from hard cases, this time thanks to the progress of Science.
I
refer here to the Church's involvement with the heart of human
nature: human reproduction and the sexual impulses that drive it.
Marriage between a man and a woman, indissolvable except by death or by valid anullment.
The "Unitive Function of Sex", which "must always be open to procreation".
The
consequent prohibition against even non-abortifacient contraception and
even by a committed married couple otherwise open to child-bearing.
Abortion of a human being from the moment of conception. This is the gold-standard, about which there can be no compromise.
The
prohibition against "in-vitro fertilization", in large part because of
the consequent unavoidable destruction of human embryos in the process.
The
threshold of genetic manipulations that promise to "build" human lives
to order...and to destroy those not deemed worthy of life.
The Catholic Church is holding the line here, while other Religions - including Judaism and Islam - have found ways out.
Meanwhile, Catholics, even good and practising Catholics have found their own solutions, hoping in God to understand.
But who is this God?
He
is the Creator of All Life, including Human Life, to which He has given
the Divine Gift of Free Will...to do Good or to do Evil.
He is All-Merciful, God of Love.
But "Vengeance is Mine. I shall re-pay', sayeth the Lord."
So,
are there legitimate and moral areas of flexibility and compromise for
the Catholic Magisterium to embrace here? I am no Theologian, although
I consider myself a good and practising Catholic. And I believe that
there are such areas. All I can do meanwhile is to discuss these issues
with my confessor...and to stay current with the relevant literature on
the subjects.
One most recent article appeared in the May 13,
2018 issue of the Washington Post: "IN VITRO, WE TRUST", a
comprehensive review of the state of this tortured area of human
nature, law and morality. Read it - and examine your conscience and
Free Will. And Pray.
GS
SATURDAY, May 12,
2018
THIS IS "SEXISM".
And Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama are its spokes-persons.
GS
FRIDAY, May 11,
2018
HAVE YOU VIEWED THE NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY
"TRUMP. AN AMERICAN DREAM"?
That term, Documentary, could easily be placed in quotation marks, in view of its persistently negative tone.
Nevertheless,
it is worth viewing as a jaded presentation of the making of Donald
Trump. The contempt (read "envy") began soon after the son left the
successful father in Brooklyn to make his mark in Manhattan despite the
desperate times of the 1970's. He began with nothing but his name - and
the perpetual desire of Wall Street types and their political whores to
make money - with the conversion of the failed Commodore Hotel to the
Grand Hyatt. In this effort as in others through the years, he used the
legal methods available to all. But he used them in astounding ways
(like the 40 billion dollar tax abatement from New York City for the
hotel and a second massive abatement for the Trump Tower - that
supported by a unanimous New York State Court of Appeals)...and the
Bankruptcy Laws in Atlantic City. He was beating them at their own
game...and they hated it to this day. He also demonstrated the truism "
If you owe the bank a LOT of money, you own the bank". He became "too
big to fail".
He came from a cohesive family, tried to be a family
man...with limited initial success until his current cohesive family.
He was single-minded to WIN, or not to play. Not an altar boy...but not
the "sociopath" that he is accused of being by the jackals opining in
this piece.
When he decided that he could win the Presidency of the United States, he ran...and WON.
No "Casper Milque-Toast", he. Thank God for that in today's world.
GS
THURSDAY, May 10,
2018
"CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?"
GS
WEDNESDAY, May 9,
2018
ABOUT MARIJUANA, OTHER THAN STRICTLY SUPERVISED MEDICAL USE:
DON'T BE STUPID!
GS
MONDAY and TUESDAY, May 7 and 8,
2018
GOOD!.
The "Iran-Nuclear Deal" was a sham from the outset.
GS
SUNDAY, May 6,
2018
RR#1
A NICE STORY, FOR A CHANGE.
GS
RR#2
"RUDDDY, RUDDDY, RUDDDY".
Are these "friends", "attorneys" and supporters of Donald Trump - and including himself -
"crazy link a fox"...or just plain crazy? Stay Tuned.
GS
SATURDAY, May 5,
2018
RR#1
WHATEVER YOU THINK OF THE PERSON DONALD TRUMP,
he is the President of the United States...
and it is the Office of the Presidency that is under attack, in addition to the rights and freedom of every American.
Read this.
GS
RR#2
"AND THEN WE TAKE OVER THE COUNTRY".
Remember the caution stated by Admiral Yamamoto to the war-crazed Japanese leaders:
"IN AMERICA THERE IS A GUN BEHIND EVERY BLADE OF GRASS."
GS
RR#3
THIS IS GOOD ADVICE ABOUT TICKS.
Also:
1) Take a shower right after any walk in a wooded area;
2)
Remember that Lyme Disease is much more likely to occur in a person who
has already had one or more bouts of Lyme Disease than in a person who
by this time in this region has never had the disease;
3) A rash, or
"the target rash" does not occur in all cases. Any "flu-like symptoms"
especially between Spring and Fall are suspect and should be tested for
Lyme Disease and the other diseases related to tick bites.
As always, a diagnosis is most likely made by thinking about it as a possibility.
GS
FRIDAY, May 4,
2018
AND NOW, "POT POURRI":
a collection of interesting scents...and some stinkers.
1)
A cautionary tale for President Trump, both in articles appearing in
the May 4, 2018 edition of WSJ: a) "Summitry Can Be Risky Business";
and b) "The Stormy Daniels Damage"... "Mr. Trump should worry that
Americans will stop believing anything he says."
2) So that's why
Communism has been so lethal. See "Marx's Apologists Should Be Red In
The Face...the bicentennial of the man whose ideas killed untold
millions". (ibid, pA13).
3) A great book: "Scalia Speaks:
Reflections on Law, Faith, and Life Well Lived". Start with the
chapters on "What Makes An American", "American Values and European
Values" (terrific), and "Games and Sports", a description of all the
games my friends and I played in the Bronx in the 1930's and 1940's.
4)
"English Literature Isn't Brain Surgery: Why is American medicine so
expensive? One reason is that doctors are forced to get Bachelor's
degrees" (WSJ April 24, Opinion, pA17). This is one of the "stinkers".
The authors should have their heads examined.
5) The Spring edition
of the American Scholar (Phi Beta Kappa) purports to present an erudite
analysis of the difference between a "Populist" and a "Demagogue". But
it is merely a conclusory attack on President Trump. I would have
expected better.
6) Much hand-wringing continues regarding the
"Opioid Crisis". See the NYTimes Editorial, April 22, 2018 Sunday
Review, p10. This is neither new nor mysterious. Just RESTORE HOPE,
RESTORE DIGNITY AND PURPOSE TO LIVES, AND RESTORE FAITH IN GOD. That
will work.
7) And the ultimate sour grapes: "They Were Never Going
To Let me Be President: Hillary Clinton's campaign, from before it
started to the very end" (ibid, p1). Gimme A Break! Trump won it and
you lost it. It's that simple!
GS
THURSDAY, May 3,
2018
ON THE OTHER HAND...OR FOOT...
GS
TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY, May 1 and 2,
2018
RR#1
President Trump and Robert Mueller.
This
is the most clear description of the situation and of the options at
this point. I would follow Professor Dershowitz advice...and I would be
more optimistic for the President - and for any President under similar
circumstances.
GS
RR#2
WHETHER OR NOT THIS OPINION WAS CRAFTED BY DR. CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, IT IS DIRECTLY ON POINT.
In my opinion, this is the nature of the man in the White House, exactly the right person for the job at this time.
GS
> A TAKE ON DONALD TRUMP...
>
> A different take on Donald Trump: (a non-political agenda)
>
>
Trump Is Not A Liberal or Conservative, He's a "Pragmatist."
(Definition: A pragmatist is someone who is practical and focused on
reaching a goal. A pragmatist usually has a straightforward,
matter-of-fact approach and doesn't let emotion distract him or her.)
>
>
"We recently enjoyed a belated holiday dinner with friends at the home
of other friends. The dinner conversation varied from discussions about
antique glass and china to theology and politics.
>
> At
one point, reference was made to Donald Trump being a conservative, to
which I responded that Trump is not a conservative.
>
> I
said that I neither view nor do I believe Trump views himself as a
conservative. I stated it was my opinion that Trump is a pragmatist. He
sees a problem and understands it must be fixed. He doesn't see the
problem as liberal or conservative, he sees it only as a problem. That
is a quality that should be admired and applauded, not condemned. But I
get ahead of myself.
>
> Viewing problems from a Liberal
perspective has resulted in the creation of more problems, more
entitlement programs, more victims, more government, more political
correctness, and more attacks on the working class in all economic
strata.
>
> Viewing things according to the so-called
Republican conservative perspective has brought continued spending and
globalism to the detriment of American interests and well-being, denial
of what the real problems are, weak, ineffective, milquetoast,
leadership that amounts to Barney Fife Deputy Sheriff, appeasement
oriented and afraid of its own shadow. In brief, it has brought liberal
ideology with a pachyderm as a mascot juxtaposed to the ass of the
Democrat Party.
>
> Immigration isn't a Republican
problem, it isn't a Liberal problem, it is a problem that threatens the
very fabric and infrastructure of America. It demands a pragmatic
approach not an approach that is intended to appease one group or
another.
>
> The impending collapse of the economy wasn't
a Liberal or Conservative problem, it is an American problem. That
said, until it is viewed as a problem that demands a common sense
approach to resolution, it will never be fixed because the Democrats
and Republicans know only one way to fix things and the longevity of
their impracticality has proven to have no lasting effect.
>
> Successful businessmen like Donald Trump find ways to make things work, they do not promise to accommodate.
>
>
Trump uniquely understands that China's manipulation of currency is not
a Republican problem or a Democrat problem. It is a problem that
threatens our financial stability and he understands the proper balance
needed to fix it.
>
> Here again, successful businessmen,
like Trump, who have weathered the changing tides of economic reality
understand what is necessary to make business work, and they, unlike
both sides of the political aisle, know that if something doesn't work,
you don't continue trying to make it work hoping that at some point it
will.
>
> As a pragmatist, Donald Trump hasn't made wild
pie-in-the-sky promises of a cell phone in every pocket, free college
tuition, and a $15 hour minimum wage for working the drive-through at
Carl's Hamburgers.
>
> I argue that America needs
pragmatists because pragmatists see a problem and find ways to fix
them. They do not see a problem and compound it by creating more
problems.
>
> You may not like Donald Trump, but I suspect that the reason some people do not like him is because:
>
> (1) he is antithetical to the "good old boy" method of brokering back room deals that fatten the coffers of politicians;
>
> (2) they are unaccustomed to hearing a president speak who is unencumbered
> by the financial shackles of those who he owes vis-a-vis donations;
>
> (3) he is someone who is free of idiomatic political ideology;
>
>
(4) he says what he is thinking, is unapologetic for his outspoken
thoughts, speaks very straightforward using everyday language that can
be understood by all (and is offensive to some who dislike him anyway)
making him a great communicator, for the most part, does what he says
he will do and;
>
> (5) he is someone who understands that
it takes more than hollow promises and political correctness to make
America great again.
>
> Listening to Hillary Clinton and
Bernie Sanders talk about fixing America is like listening to two
lunatics trying to "out crazy" one another. Jeb Bush, John Kasich and
Marco Rubio are owned lock, stock, and barrel by the bankers,
corporations, and big dollar donors funding their campaigns. Bush can
deny it, but common sense tells anyone willing to face facts is that
people don't give tens of millions without expecting something in
return.
>
> We have had Democrats and Republican ideologues and what has it brought us?
> Are we better off today or worse off? Has it happened overnight or has it been a steady decline brought on by both parties?
>
>
I submit that a pragmatist is just what America needs right now. People
are quick to confuse and despise confidence as arrogance, but that is
common among those who have never accomplished anything in their lives
(or politicians who never really solved a problem, because it's better
to still have an "issue(s) to be solved," so re-elect me to solve it,
(which never happens) and those who have always played it safe (again,
all politicians) not willing to risk failure, to try and achieve
success).
>
> Donald Trump put his total financial empire
at risk in running for president and certainly did not need or possibly
even want the job; that says it all.
> He wants success for the U.S. and her citizens because he loves his country.
>
> God Bless America
> ~ Dr. Charles Krauthammer
MONDAY,
April 30,
2018
RR#1
"YOU WANT THE TRUTH?"
Here it is.
GS
RR#2
"YOU WANT THE TRUTH?"
Here it is.
GS
SUNDAY,
April 29,
2018
THIS ARTICLE IS A "MUST READ",
especially
for anyone who does not realize that the Entire World is now facing an
existential threat, similar to those that arrived many centuries ago
from the Far East - and also different. For now another and worse
threat has developed from within: the idea that an over-arching world
government complete with universal powers of enforcement should replace
our present structure of individual nations with their own
personalities and interests. This is way beyond stupid.
And in
America we have a clear opportunity to defeat this effort for many
decades to come: DESTROY THE LEFTISTS in the coming elections - and
return the Democratic Party to that which I joined many decades ago -
and then left in disgust over two decades ago.
Read the article.
GS
AS I SEE IT: THE THREE ISLANDS OF WESTERN CULTURAL EXCEPTIONALISM
By MELANIE PHILLIPS
The
statue of Britain's former Prime Minister Winston Churchill is
silhouetted in front of the Houses of Parliament in London. (photo
credit:REUTERS)
Israel’s strong sense of its own identity derives from the fact that it is the nation state of the Jewish people.
On
a plane to New York this week, I watched the movie Darkest Hour for the
second time. If it packed a punch the first time, on second showing it
seemed even more apposite to our current nail-biting era.
The
movie is about the traumatic period in May 1940 when, as the Nazis
swept across Europe, Britain was staring at the prospect of defeat and
invasion.
Darkest Hour points out the catastrophic error of trying to negotiate with a regime whose agenda brooks no compromise.
Britain
didn’t acknowledge this until it was almost too late. It was so much
easier to believe in a negotiated peace. Winston Churchill alone
understood this would mean annihilation and slavery, and so there was
no choice but for the nation to muster its courage and fight to the
death if need be.
The relevance of this to our current concerns
is all too obvious. Two terrible regimes, Iran and North Korea, present
an unconscionable threat to the world. Years of Western appeasement
have allowed both of them to accrue to themselves terrifying power.
Now President Trump is threatening to tear up the catastrophic Iran nuclear deal and reimpose stringent sanctions.
Britain
and Europe, however, want to continue appeasing Iran, deluding
themselves that the nuclear deal has neutralized the threat it poses
and perversely regarding President Trump rather than the Iranian regime
as the problem.
Nearer to home, there is intense pressure on
Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May to negotiate a compromise with the
European Union over Brexit by remaining in some kind of customs union.
This would mean, however, that Britain would still be bound by EU laws
which would cripple its ability to make trade deals in its own
interests.
So this negotiated compromise would in fact be a form
of surrender to those in Britain and Europe whose aim is to reverse
Brexit through the back door.
In the light of all this, one
phrase in Darkest Hour leapt out at me when I watched the movie again.
It was Churchill’s reference to the defense of “this island.”
The
phrase was echoed this week by the British MP and passionate Brexiteer
Jacob Rees-Mogg when, in attacking the proposed customs union, he
referred to “our great island story.”
The fact that Britain is
an island – or to be more precise, that the United Kingdom is a group
of islands – is an essential aspect of its national identity.
Surrounded by sea, it therefore has a natural fortification against
attack. As Churchill says in the movie, the English Channel is its
moat, and is one reason why Britain has not been invaded for the past
1,000 years.
This is the great difference between Britain and
mainland Europe. As much as anything, through its geography Britain has
understood itself to be distinctive and self-contained.
In this
respect, Britain resembles both America and, whether it likes it or
not, Israel. For all three countries are defined by a sense of their
own uniqueness.
BRITAIN’S SENSE of itself as a natural fortress
repelling invaders and fighting off potential subjugation is intimately
bound up with its history as the crucible of political liberty.
Israel’s
strong sense of its own identity derives from the fact that it is the
nation state of the Jewish people who are bound by a unique destiny and
history in a land that is uniquely theirs.
America’s confident
sense of itself derives from the belief that, like ancient Israel, it
is a godly nation. American exceptionalism is built into its national
DNA.
All of this, however, is under sustained attack. For
cultural particularism offends against the liberal belief that only
universal values are decent and good. In the West’s dominant
progressive circles, pride in one’s country and what it stands for is
derided as nationalism, nativism and racism.
But this is beyond
perverse. It is normal and reasonable for people to want to live in
communities of shared principles, traditions, religion, language and so
on, expressed through laws which embody those defining characteristics.
Indeed, only through such a shared sense of common purpose can a society give rise to generous and cooperative values.
In
his book The Virtue of Nationalism, which is due to be published in
September, Yoram Hazony provides a magisterial analysis making very
much this point.
Of course, nationalism sometimes morphs into
aggression and worse. But the idea that liberal internationalism means
sweetness and light and the brotherhood of man is simply false.
It
is those liberal internationalists, after all, who are primarily
responsible for the antisemitism and vilification of Israel now
coursing through the Western intelligentsia.
And these same
British and American liberals are also busily vilifying Britain and
America, trying to destroy and transform their culture and emasculate
Britain as a self-governing nation, for a similar reason to their
hatred of Israel – that these are nations with a strong sense of their
own exceptionalism.
That, of course, is why so many millions
voted for Brexit and Trump – precisely because in opposition to these
elites, they wanted Britain and America once again to uphold and defend
their national and cultural identity.
And that’s why liberals
have become hysterical about President Trump’s stated aim of making
America great again. It’s why those who want Britain to remain in the
EU are hysterical about Brexit. And it’s why British audiences have
been weeping and cheering at screenings of Darkest Hour.
It’s
because at some level at least they know how the free society in which
they so passionately believe has been systematically degraded,
undermined and weakened by those who choose to portray Western cultural
particularism as a form of bigotry.
As a result, the image of
Churchill using the poetry of the English language to breathe into his
people the courage and resolve to stand alone and fight to defend their
nation’s exceptional values is almost unbearably moving.
Britain,
America and Israel form a triple lock as islands of western
exceptionalism. And whether or not their people recognize it, it is
upon these three nations that the fate of the free world now depends.
The writer is a columnist for ‘The Times’ (UK).
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