Rapid Response

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

		03/2003	04/2003	05/2003	06/2003	07/2003	08/2003	09/2003	10/2003	11/2003	12/2003
01/2004	02/2004	03/2004	04/2004	05/2004	06/2004	07/2004	08/2004	09/2004	10/2004	11/2004	12/2004
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01/2008	02/2008	03/2008	04/2008	05/2008	06/2008	07/2008	08/2008	09/2008	10/2008	11/2008	12/2008
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01/2011	02/2011	03/2011	04/2011	05/2011	06/2011	07/2011	08/2011	09/2011	10/2011	11/2011	12/2011
01/2012	02/2012	03/2012	04/2012	05/2012	06/2012	07/2012	08/2012	09/2012	10/2012	11/2012	12/2012
01/2013	02/2013	03/2013	04/2013	05/2013	06/2013	07/2013	08/2013	09/2013	10/2013	11/2013	12/2013
01/2014	02/2014	03/2014	04/2014	05/2014	06/2014	07/2014	08/2014	09/2014	10/2014	11/2014	12/2014
01/2015	02/2015	03/2015	04/2015	05/2015	06/2015	07/2015	08/2015	09/2015	10/2015	11/2015	12/2015
01/2016	02/2016	03/2016	04/2016	05/2016	06/2016	07/2016	08/2016	09/2016	10/2016	11/2016	12/2016
01/2017	02/2017	03/2017	04/2017	05/2017	06/2017	07/2017	08/2017	09/2017	10/2017	11/2017	12/2017
01/2018	02/2018	03/2018	04/2018	05/2018	06/2018	07/2018	08/2018	09/2018	10/2018	11/2018	12/2018
01/2019	02/2019	03/2019	04/2019	05/2019	06/2019	07/2019	08/2019	09/2019	10/2019	11/2019	12/2019
01/2020

SUNDAY, February 16, 2020

IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE THIS MONTH,
read: "The Urgent Need For A United States Space Force", by Steven L. Kwast, (in Imprimis, January 2020, hillsdale.edu).

Here is yet another example of the status quo / self-serving Swamp that President Trump set out to drain nearly four years ago. Only this time it involves our Department of Defense. As the author points out, we've been here before - in the official military attitude in the 1920's towards planes and tanks in warfare. That resulted in America nearly losing WW ll - and definitely losing too many of our men.
Read it. Then get Angry and Mobilized.

GS

SATURDAY, February 15, 2020

AN "OUT-OF-MIND EXPERIENCE".
I was recently reminded of a nearly out-of-mind experience I had during psychiatry training as a senior medical student in New York City.
Time was always of the essence. Among my many pending tasks, I was assigned to do a complete work-up on a paranoid schizophrenic patient at Kings County Hospital, a task that could take up to three hours and two or more trips to the hospital. And this was long before the effective medical treatments available since then for these patients.
So, I decided to this this in one swell foop. For over two hours I sat listening to and probing the ruminations and hallucinations of this middle aged man.
That was almost an out-of-mind experience for me: for a short time thereafter I could not get my thinking straight. Never Again!

Well, almost never. Please read the quite long article and interview entitled:
"Who Is The Ruthless Cabal Willing To Do Anything To Stop Bernie Sanders?" (www.teaparty247.org).
This is the weird world in which the Left live. But I warn you: you might not want to do it in one sitting.

GS

WEDNESDAY through FRIDAY, February 12 through 14, 2020

RR#1

JUST SO YOU KNOW....

GS

Obama Intervened, Repeatedly, In Ongoing Trials And Investigations

RR#2

"WHO'S ON FIRST. WHAT'S ON SECOND....?
As I try to keep up with this stage of the 2020 presidential election activities, that's the best I can do...almost.
But let's try.

President Trump's national approval ratings continue to rise, largely because he is accomplishing the actions he promised to take in 2016. What a concept!
Then there is this: "Are You Entertained By President Trump?"(by Lee Elci, in The Day, Feb. 12, 2020).
Then there is "Trump's Smart Play for African-Americans" (by Jason L. Riley, in WSJ Feb. 12, 2020, Opinion, pA17): not only smart for Trump, but also a gift to that hypnotized and man-handled group.

And then come the Democrats - certainly not the Party of which I was a member for 30 years until 1990 - and for which I served three times in elected public office. The Democrats of today have largely lost their way, thanks to the fevered and even insane activities and demands of the Leftists...of whom liberal but reasonable Democrats are terrified.
That was evident when Speaker Pelosi was stupid and intimidated enough to proceed to Impeachment despite the losing cards in her hands.
And that is evident now in the candidate / wannabees they have fielded: all Leftists or Leftist impersonators - including Klobuchar and the former small town mayor with the difficult name. Just look at their positions.
Or just read the anguished cries of James Carville, that colorful and very savvy Democratic political consultant:
"Notable and Quotable: Cajun Is Ragin'" (in WSJ Feb. 10, 2020, Opinion, pA19.
My opinion right now: if you Democrats are hoping for Joe Biden or Mike Bloomberg, you're betting on the wrong horse. Reasonable Democrats are too intimidated for that. They will pick a Leftist - and they will lose Big.

GS

TUESDAY, February 11, 2020

RR#1

MORE...
See: Ransomware Attacks Grow, Crippling Cities and Businesses,
by Nathaniel Popper ( in NYTimes Feb. 10, 2020).

GS

RR#2

IN THIS AGE OF POPES AS SUPERSTARS,
we should not forget Pope Pius Xll, who carried and protected both the Church and the Jewish community in Italy through WW ll.
For decades this good man was subjected to calumny from many uninformed sources.
That period was recently brought to recollection by an article about
Father Robert Graham, S.J. in Columbia, the publication of the Knights of Columbus (February 2020, p15). It was he with whom my wife Therese communicated and whom she met at a seminar in Maryland in the course of writing her monograph in 1989:
"POLAND AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DURING THE NAZI DOMINATION".
That monograph In Toto and many other relevant references can be found on my website (asthma.drsprecace.com) within the Section entitled:
"Catholic Church".

GS

RR#3

"Just the facts, Ma'am; just the facts".

GS

Liberal Media In Awe Over Trump’s Massive NH Rally, ‘Far Bigger Crowd Tonight For Trump Compared To Dem Rally On Saturday Night’ (Video)

RR#4

This is in reply regarding the article entitled:
"New Year's Resolutions For Concerned Catholics: A Few Suggestions", by George Weigel (in the January 16, 2020 publication of Catholic New York).
If there was ever an example of "bringing a knife to a gunfight", this is it.

The predicted trials for the Church are accurate but incomplete.
The proposed responses are laudable but totally inadequate.
God's Church will survive all of this - as it survived the heresies of the early Church and the egregious sins of many Popes in the Middle Ages, the excesses of the Inquisition, its more recent suffocation of Pope John XXlll' "Aggiornamento" aborning, and the Clergy sex scandals.
But it will be a truncated vestige of its past and proper self - and a failure to its Laity and Clergy.

I am certainly not a theologian. I am just a life-long faithful and thinking Catholic. I am open to being corrected and convinced by appropriate and knowledgeable authority. I certainly do not want to spread scandal.
But this I believe at this time as necessary for the Church to restore its necessary authority and guidance for its many disaffected present and former followers.
There is nothing wrong and morally prohibited regarding:
1) Married Priesthood...and Women as Priests;
2) Recognizing Homosexuality as a biologic fact for some, from conception;
3) The "Unitive Function of Sex" as a disastrous misreading of God's plan
for man and woman in marriage;
4) Non-Abortive Contraception as a legitimate decision between a committed married couple who are open to bearing and raising offspring;
5) Abortion as Always wrong, except when absolutely necessary to save the Life of the mother;
6) Denying all pro-abortion "Catholics" access to Holy Communion;
7) Allowing divorced Catholics who took that action thoughtfully and necessarily a path to full return to the Church.

Complete and open discussion of these issues and opportunities, with full participation by the Laity - the Body of the Church - would go very far to restoring Catholics' interest and participation in a now - vestigial Church which is in the middle of an actual although denied schism...and whose Authority is either seriously questioned - or worse, ignored.

In all of this, I pray for guidance from God: for myself and for the Magisterium.

GS

MONDAY, February 10, 2020

"CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?"
"Internet Security" is an Oxymoron.
How long can the big tech companies keep up their charade before individuals and nations pull the plug on them and insist on developing a new "www", this time beginning with SECURITY rather than "Open Source", as this one was created?
Not long, and maybe even before a nation's electrical grid is totally compromised.

GS

The U.S. charged four members of China’s military in the 2017 Equifax hacking, in which the personal data of about 145 million Americans was stolen.

SUNDAY, February 9, 2020

RR#1

NOW THAT WOULD BE "A CANDLE WORTH THE LIGHT"!

GS

Here’s Why Rudy Giuliani Just Challenged This Fox News Hack To A Debate

RR#2

THE "ANTI-VAX MOVEMENT", IN ALL OF ITS MANIFESTATIONS,
is much more dangerous than events like Zika and Coronavirus.
WAKE UP. AMERICA.

GS

Anti-vax movement is based on an 'entirely fraudulent publication': NIH chief Francis Collins

FRIDAY and SATURDAY, February 7 and 8, 2020

RR#1

THE BEST HUMOR IS TRUE LIFE.

GS

Some Smiles (PDF)

RR#2

HERE IS A LESSON IN "BUSINESS ETHICS"...AN OXYMORON

GS

Mitt Romney Profited Roughly $20K for Every American Laid Off via Bain Capital

TUESDAY through THURSDAY, February 4 through 6, 2020

I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY TO HAVE LOST A BET.

Several months ago, I made a $10 dollar bet with someone that House Speaker Pelosi would not be so STUPID as to attempt to impeach President Trump on the available evidence.
Well, thankfully she was - and is.
I now hope that the Democrats and their certifiable Leftists continue to do exactly what they have been doing for the last three years. That will guarantee the re-election of the President for a second term in a landslide.
And, if that is not enough for you, look up a Bill that has been introduced in the House of Representative by 40 Democrats:
"THE NEW WAY FORWARD ACT". Don't believe me. Just read it.

GS

MONDAY, February 3, 2020

Obama-Biden Admin Fined Bank Millions for Something Suspiciously Similar to Burisma Hiring Hunter

SUNDAY, February 2, 2020

RR#1

HAVE YOU CHECKED OUT THE SCOPE OF MY OFFERINGS ON THIS WEB SITE?
One is "Movie Reviews: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly".
With the exception of references to excellent Netflix Documentaries, I have found slim pickings in recent years.
Of course, "Docu-Dramas" are different: some good, some not so good as too reflective of their authors' biases.
One which is worth viewing is "The Two Popes". Excellent actors, superb scenes and scenery (eg. The Vatican). And if you have a personal bias in favor of one or the other of the Popes, as I do, that also will resonate.
But make sure also to read the movie review on this docu-drama offered by Steven D. Greydanus and entitled "Papal Caricature". It appears in National Catholic Register, Feb. 2, 2020. The writer purports to know a great deal about his subjects; and he paraphrases Roger Ebert on this:
"The more you know about the subject matter and movies, the less you are likely to enjoy them".
Having lived and through Popes back to Pope Pius Xll, and having been in the presence of and blessed by Pius Xll in1950 in St. Peter's Basilica at the age of 17, I will continue my direct observations - and my biases.

GS

RR#2

WOW. THE IN-HOUSE PHYSICIANS AT THE NYTIMES MUST BE VERY BUSY.
Just check out Maureen Dowd's article and Ross Douthat's article in the Feb. 2, 2020 edition of the NYTimes, Sunday Review.
("Trump, Unrepentant And Unleashed", by Dowd).
("The Only Way To Remove Trump", by Douthat).
With the amount of hyperbole on parade there, you can see their hair on fire. I just hope for their sake that there is "a doctor in the house".

GS

RR#3

MORE REGARDING MEDICAL PRACTICE,
this from ground level.
Read it and weep...and then get angry and motivated - for yourselves.

GS

My Millennial Doctor Peers Think They're Walking Into a Crisis

SATURDAY , February 1, 2020

RR#1

SO YOU WANT TO PAY LESS FOR HEALTH INSURANCE...AND HEALTH?

Now, this is something you should Really Get "Woke" On".

1) Good Health is your responsibility. Start by "picking the right parents"...and being the right parents. Choose your mates wisely. Genetics Counts!
2) At least 50% of illness and health care delivery is Life-Style related: Obesity, excess alcohol use, smoking, illicit drugs, sexually transmitted diseases, avoidable stressors, avoidable adverse occupational exposures.... If that's you, live and die with it...and don't expect me to pay for it.
3) Don't go to your doctor with a "national lottery" mentality. Medical Mal-practice is a growth industry for lawyers, not for doctors. Most adverse outcomes are not the result of negligence - and don't lead to wins in MM suits. But that's why over 25% of health care costs are related to "defensive medicine": physicians and other "providers" trying to protect themselves by over-testing and over-treating.
4) The "Medical - Industrial Complex" is massive and growing, consisting of health care insurers, the hospital industry, the pharmaceutical industry - and your Government / legislators beholden to all kinds of pay-backs. The higher the costs, the higher the profits. You the patient, and now the physicians who are becoming mere widgets in the system, are the fodder.
That's the diagnosis.
What is the Treatment?

A) Be aware of your genetic background, your heredity. Learn from it and adjust your life and actions accordingly. As an example,women with a family history of breast cancer should know about their Brac 1 and 2 status.
B) Live a prudent life-style. It's easy, safe, responsible and reassuring.
C) Although it is becoming much more difficult, search for and select a good doctor who can also be a good friend - for life. There are still some out there, although they are ever dealing with Moral Outrage at the stupid, unfair and cynical conditions under which they increasingly have to operate - even the private practitioners who are still out there literally fighting on your behalf.
D) Be a Knowledgeable Advocate for yourself - or have one with you at all health care encounters - especially in hospital ER's or as in-patients. It's a jungle out there. Ask questions. Demand answers that you can understand. Rattle the Cage. The time is long gone when you could "don't just do something; lie there".
And demand effective changes in health care costs:
Health Savings Accounts that force you to Think about what costs you are incurring. Self-Insure prudently.
Government Negotiations with pharmaceutical companies regarding drug prices - something that your legislators made it UNLAWFUL for them to do in the Medicare Act of 2002! I wonder why.
And don't expect prior medical problems that are the direct result of irresponsible personal Life-Style to be covered by prospective health insurance policies.

ARE YOU "WOKE" NOW?

GS

RR#2

"PRECIOUS".

GS

“Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!” Schiff Fumes As Nadler Races Past Him To Deliver Impeachment Q&A Finale

RR#3

"PRECIOUS".

GS

Former White House counsel says Trump thinks differently

RR#4

MORE ON GLOBAL WARMING (WITHOUT QUOTATION MARKS)...
but this time a rational approach.
See: "Ignore The Fake Climate Debate", by Ted Nordhaus (in WSJ Jan. 25-26, Review, pC3

GS

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