A Chilling Attack on American Democracy

Thanks to Donald Trump’s attack on the election system of the United States, that each state operates independently, millions of Americans now believe the entire system is fraudulent.

President Trump speaking on Wednesday at a rally on the Ellipse near the White House. He urged supporters to march to the Capitol

The Republican effort to contest the presidential election results on the Senate floor this week is raising questions about how media outlets should cover the moment, and whether the Trump-supported action should be called an attempted “coup” writes Alexis Benveniste for CNN Business.

Both conservative news media and many conservative members of congress are appalled by what transpired on Capitol Hill on January 6.

Fearing what Trump might do next House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her House colleagues today that she had spoken to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, about keeping an “unstable president” from accessing the nuclear codes.

The Wall Street Journal editorial board has joined the chorus of those in the media demanding Donald Trump resign as president. “This goes beyond merely refusing to concede defeat. In our view it crosses a constitutional line that Mr. Trump hasn’t previously crossed. It is impeachable,” the Journal wrote. “If Mr. Trump wants to avoid a second impeachment, his best path would be to take personal responsibility and resign.”

Time will tell whether the takeover of Capitol was a riot, a last gasp of a renegade president or an early skirmish in a civil war. But it already is clear that Jan. 6, 2021, will go down as one of the ugliest days in U.S. history.

What more could happen in the remaining days of the Donald Trump presidency? Trump hinted at his preferred answer at the end of his Thursday address, saying, “Our incredible journey is only just beginning.”

A Good News Start to 2021

Two additional vaccines for Covid-19 may be authorized for use in the US in the coming months as the country tries to deal with record hospitalizations and deaths.

The COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca wasn’t the first to be OK’d by regulators in the U.K.—health officials authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech jab nearly four weeks earlier. And it’s not the most effective—Stage 3 clinical trials suggest it prevents COVID-19 symptoms about 70% of the time vs. about 95% for the Pfizer vaccine and a similar one from Moderna (which is authorized in the U.S., but not the U.K.).

The first thing to know about the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab is that it’s cheap. AstraZeneca has promised it will not make a profit on the vaccine during the pandemic. As a result, it costs $3 to $4 per dose around the world. Compare that to $25 to $37 a dose for the vaccine developed by Moderna and about $20 a dose for Pfizer’s jab, according to figures reported in Europe.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine that the United Kingdom approved for use on Wednesday may be authorized for emergency use in the US in April, according to Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser for Operation Warp Speed.

In addition, Johnson and Johnson’s single-dose vaccine may be authorized for emergency use in February and could be a “game changer” for the US, Slaoui said. Phase 3 trial recruitment for this vaccine has been completed.

Source for this information is CNN and Time magazine.

The Wildest Political Moments of 2020

Thanks to the Washington Post this is how we will remember 2020. Thank God it’s almost over!

Happy New Year!!

A Sad Ending to the Trump Presidency

Knowing that his presidency will end on January 20, I would have expected Donald Trump to crow about his accomplishments. There are many things that are positive accomplishments that he can point to and they ought to pointed out to historians and others who criticized his administration.

The most important was brining a covid-19 vaccine into use in less than one year. Of course it was the scientists who found the medication but it was Mr. Trump who provided the funding to make it happen. Strangely he was not to be seen as the first vaccination were given at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Trump has battled the military in his desire to bring our troops home from Afghanistan. That never ending war has resulted in 2,372 U.S. military deaths and 20,320 American servicemembers have also been wounded in action during the war.

Previous administrations have not confronted China’s theft of our technology and they have taken thousands of American jobs. The tariffs Trump imposed on China was good first step in supporting America’s manufacturing sector.

Rocket Man has come to understand that the United States will take military action if necessary to counter North Korea’s nuclear weapons development.

Improved relations between Israel and it Muslim neighbors has reduced the chance of war in the Middle East was all brought about by negotiations prompted by the United States.

If it has not been for the virus the unemployment rate would still be at 3.5%. His adjustment to tax rates has been a boon to business and has raised the Dow Jones and S&P 500 to its highest value in history,

If I was Donald Trump I would be advertising all of his administrations accomplishments. Sadly, instead, he has chosen to try to overturn America’s greatest gift to the world. Democracy. So his effort to destroy America’s democracy will likely be his legacy.

Is Secession a Solution?

Is it time to split the United States apart?

Rush Limbaugh, conservative bigot and Medal of Freedom recipient, dropped a little bomb on his listeners the other day.

Bemoaning the fact that Republicans have not only lost the presidency but the culture wars as well, he said, “I actually think that we’re trending toward secession. I see more and more people asking what in the world do we have in common with the people who live in, say, New York? … There cannot be a peaceful coexistence of two completely different theories of life, theories of government, theories of how we manage our affairs. We can’t be in this dire a conflict without something giving somewhere along the way.”

I have been asking the same question that Limbaugh is asking for years. What in the world do Angelinos have in common with the people who live in places like Kansas or Oklahoma? I live in Los Angeles and have more in common with the people in San Francisco and NYC. Wheat fields and corn fields are important but my concerns are totally different then farmers. Farmers and ranchers aren’t concerned with homelessness and sufficient wages to pay the rent.

From abortion rights, to LGBTQ rights, to use of the death penalty, to gun ownership rights, Blue and Red states hold diametrically opposite views.

As to the Civil War, Lincoln may have kept the country together but at what price? Did the North really win? Southerners still resent the Yankees (Northerners). Jefferson Davis’ birthday is a state holiday in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The Confederate battle flag is still flown in Southern states.

California’s relationship with the federal government has been a non-stop battle on issues from immigration to air pollution.

States like Wyoming and the Dakotas with populations less than the San Fernando Valley have an equal voice in the Senate with the 40 million population California. People in Idaho, western Washington state, and parts of California and Oregon have dreams of a new state with laws that would conform with their social values.

So yes, there are so many things dividing us and that this really is the Un-United States of America. Splitting this nation apart doesn’t seem like a bad idea.

Impact of Legal Immigration on the United States

President Donald Trump has slowed immigration to the United States to a trickle.

As reported in Forbes magazine. Legal Immigration Cut in Half, Most Categories Blocked: By 2021, Donald Trump will have reduced legal immigration by 49% since becoming president – without any change in U.S. immigration law, according to a National Foundation for American Policy analysis. An April presidential proclamation blocked the entry of legal immigrants to the United States in almost all categories.

Reducing legal immigration most harms refugees, employers and Americans who want to live with their spouses, parents or children, but it also affects the country’s future labor force and economic growth: “Average annual labor force growth, a key component of the nation’s economic growth, will be approximately 59% lower as a result of the administration’s immigration policies, if the policies continue,” according to the National Foundation for American Policy.

Who are some of the immigrants that have made America a success?

Dr. Ugur Sahin and his company, BioNTech, were little known outside the small world of European biotechnology start-ups. BioNTech, which Dr. Sahin founded with his wife, Dr. Özlem Türeci, was mostly focused on cancer treatments. It had never brought a product to market. Dr. Sahin, 55, was born in Iskenderun, Turkey. They along with Albert Bourla, the Greek chief executive of Pfizer brought America a COVID-19 vaccine.

Hamdi Ulukaya – CEO of the Chobani Greek Yoghurt Empire. He is a Turkish billionaire, philantropist and activist of Kurdish ancestry based in the United States.

Sergey Brin – Founder of Google, Inventor and Engineer. Co-founder of Google with Larry Page was born in Moscow, Soviet Union.

Levi Strauss – Creator of Levis Jeans was a German-born, Jewish American businessman, who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans. His firm of Levi Strauss & Co. began in 1853 in San Francisco, California.

Arianna Huffington – Co-Founder and Editor in Chief at Huffington Post ) is a Greek-American author, syndicated columnist, and businesswoman. She is a co-founder of The Huffington Post, the founder and CEO of Thrive Global, and the author of fifteen books.

David Ho – AIDS Researcher. Ho’s work caused the introduction of the use of a “cocktail” of drugs, including protease inhibitors, to retard the advance of the virus upon the detection of HIV in the patient. David’s discoveries have raised hope that one day the AIDS virus will be eliminated altogether. He was chosen by Time Magazine as its 1996 “Man of the Year” for his discoveries.

Joseph Pulitzer – Journalist and Publisher. Born in Hungary, Joseph Pulitzer emigrated to America in 1864 where he would become the most powerful journalist of his time. He established the Pulitzer Prizes, which recognize excellence and achievement in journalism, literature and the arts. The Pulitzer Prizes are still highly revered today.

Patrick Soon-Shiong is a South African-American, born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, transplant surgeon, billionaire businessman, bioscientist, and media proprietor. He is the inventor of the drug Abraxane, which became known for its efficacy against lung, breast, and pancreatic cancer. Los Angeles Times owner.

President Joe Biden can reverse the impact of Trump’s actions. Will he?

Metric System Vs. Imperial (British) System

One of the age-old arguments a majority of the world has with the United States is why the country insists on staying with the imperial system of measurement. Aside from Liberia and Myanmar, the rest of the world, as you can see by the gray masses, use the metric system.

In America’s defense, they can actually blame the British on the unit of measurement. Hundreds of years ago, when the British colonized America, they brought with them the imperial system. Ever since, Americans have used that system. Great Britain developed that Imperial system of measurement. A formal UK government policy to support metrication was agreed by 1965.

But change is slowly happening in the United States.

Some U.S. consumer products come in rounded metric sizes. This appears to be increasing because of the international nature of manufacturing, distribution, and sales. Many items are produced in rounded metric quantities and some manufacturers opt to display the metric quantity first or more prominently (e.g., Oral-B Glide dental floss is available in 35-, 40-, and 50-meter packages).

Perhaps the most common metric item sold is the two-liter bottle. Some supermarket chains also make their store brand soft drinks available in 3-liter sizes. Soft drink containers of 1 and 0.5 liters (and more recently 1.25 liter bottles) are increasingly sold alongside 12 fl oz, 16 fl oz, 20 fl oz, and 24 fl oz (355, 473, 591 and 710 mL) sizes.

The half-liter water bottle (16.9 fl oz) has nearly replaced the 16 ounce size. 700 mL (23.6 fl oz) and one-liter sizes are also common, though 20 fl oz, and 24 fl oz sizes remain popular, particularly in vending machines.

People are stubborn. 30% of the world’s population drives on the left side of the road with steering wheels on the right side of their cars. They are not likely to change their cars and Americans are not likely to give up the Imperial measurement system.

“I’m the President of the United States”

President Trump condemned a reporter after being asked if he would concede the election if the Electoral College votes for Joe Biden.

How many judges must tell you that without proof you cannot claim the election was fraudulent? Today, Friday November 27. Federal appeals court denies Trump campaign effort to revive Pennsylvania lawsuit saying ‘claims have no merit.‘

Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas, who oversaw the case, began the scathing ruling stating: “Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.”