Here is your sixth issue of The Geshrey. Sit down, relax, and know that you are one of the 25 people who have asked to be on the mailing list. If you read it you will be one of the three people who actually do so, counting me and my wife.
I am still tinkering with the composition of this blog. Note that I have eliminated the word “blog” and am using “issue”. I think this is a little more professional.
I actually received reaction to my change from “Rump” to “Trump” when referring to you-know-who. Some people like my use of “Rump”. I will then, at the suggestion of Issy K, use “T-Rump” as a compromise. (If you think this is beneath me you do not know me very well. I have given it thought. Use of “T-Rump” is beneath me but use of it does not sink to T-Rump’s low level.)
Albert Einstein once said, “genius has its limits. Stupidity does not.” Hopefully reading this issue of The Geshrey will help you reach your limits.
Didja know that this is the anniversary of the spaceship Challenger disaster? In 2003, while returning from an earth orbital flight, the Challenger broke up in mid-air, killing all 7 crew members.
In this issue I will try to not talk about T-Rump, other than incidentally. I will speak of others things.
Didja know that scientists have discovered that Neanderthal genes are present in modern humans? They have a name for this phenomenon. It is called the “Republican Congressmen” syndrome.
Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday. Of course, everyone knows that. But here is something everyone does not know. Because people like to watch the commercials during breaks in the game (sometimes the commercials are the best part of the game), many people do not go to the bathroom. They simply “hold it”. Well, holding it too long can result in a trip to the ER and a catheter because bladder muscles are not really equipped for Super Bowl commercials!
As of February 1 the coronavirus, for which there is no vaccine, has sickened nearly 12,000 people worldwide (so far only 7 in the U.S.) Of those sickened, over 250 have died, all in China. This year the flu, for which there is also no effective vaccine, has sickened 15 million Americans (yes, that is 15 with six zeros) and killed 8200. Yet the coronavirus is getting all the headlines and has been declared a public health emergency by U.S. officials. Really! Unless you have contact with someone has recently been to China and is infected your chance of getting the coronavirus is nil. Getting the flu is an everyday threat.
Didja know that the tongue is the only muscle in the human body attached at only one end? (Thanks again, Ed J.)
Alan Lichtman, an author, wants to repeal the Second Amendment. In support of this proposition he has written a book aptly entitled, “Repeal the Second Amendment”. Mr. Lichtman argues that contrary to the oft repeated mantra of the NRA and other gun supporters our country’s 2nd Amendment does not make us safer. Per capita (”per capita” means every man, woman, and child), Americans are 20 times more likely to be killed by gunfire that the citizens of the other G-7 nations which do not have anything comparable to the Second Amendment.
My own opinion is that the the Second Amendment was added to the Constitution to enable the new national government to quickly raise, equip and then call up local militias for national defense at a time when the U.S. had no effective standing army. It related to long rifles which were also necessary for hunting on the frontiers.
Some argue that the Second Amendment was to enable the states to protect themselves against the Federal government. Such argument reflects little knowledge of the difference between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. The Constitution transferred the power from the states to the Federal government. A strong central government was what was wanted.
Note: I am burning with the desire to talk about T-Rump’s Peace Plan for the Middle East, but I will keep my promise not to speak further of him except incidentally, at least in this issue.
I am a Democrat so I am allowed to say that Democrats are stupid. The Republicans’ campaign will bang on the idea that Democrats are Socialists and “we will never allow the United States to become a socialist country.” (This has already been said by T-Rump to a rally of his supporters.) This tune will resonate in many voters ears, particularly the voters that the Democrats must reach. These voters live in the 51st state: the State of Ignorance.
Socialism as an economic system dictates that the means of production are owned by the community. “Community” really means government, Not one Democrat is espousing socialism. They are only promulgating the idea that the government should require insurance policies to have certain terms and conditions in the policies or to establish another, expanded insurance policy. (Both Medicare and Medicaid are nothing more than insurance policies.) The role of an insurance policy is to pay for the health care.
Regardless of which Democratic candidates’ plan wins out, health care will still be furnished by private industry. The delivery of health care will not change. The only change will be how it is paid for and how much it will cost.
The Democrats must bang over and over and over that they are not socialists and they are not seeking to substitute capitalism with socialism. They are ”social humanitarians”. They should point out that every industrialized country that has some form of socialized medicine still has capitalism as its core economic system. The Democrats’ failure to rail against the charge of socialism is what makes them stupid. You cannot allow the Republican campaign to use lie after lie. We need to counter every lie with two, three, four or more truths specifically aimed at countering the lie.
I want to digress somewhat. National health care, sometimes known as socialized medicine, in various forms has been around since the end of WWII. To do away with it has never—I repeat, never—to my knowledge been an issue in any election in any country that has it. So why is having a national health insurance system become such a campaign liability in the 51st state?
Didja know that medical bills are the biggest reason for personal bankruptcies in the U.S.?
I leave you now with two thoughts. The first is that you do not know when you are dead. The pain is only felt by others. It is the same when you are stupid.
The second? As ever, I warn you to sleep with one eye open. T-rump is still president.