Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts

Thursday, April 2, 2026

Tuesday, April 2, 1946. MacArthur bans fraternization, Murray tries for national health insurance.

General Douglas MacArthur issued the first regulations against fraternization between American soldiers and Japanese citizens as an attempt to stop soldiers from consorting with prostitutes.  The regulations would grow into an extensive program of segregation.

Montana Democrat Senator James Murray convened his Committee on Education and Labor for the first hearing on comprehensive national health insurance.  His concern arose from his prior role as a labor lawyer for coal miners.

Murray had been born in Ontario and was moved to Butte upon the death of his father that very year.  He was left a very wealthy man by an inheritance that came about when his uncle, who raised him, died.

Murray was an Irish American/Canadian Catholic and died in 1961.

It's really dispiriting to realize that national health insurance, which was a desire of the Truman Administration, has never come about.  All the arguments against it really fail, but the opposition to it has left the United States the only major nation without it and has contributed enormously to the decline of the United States as a first rate nation since the 1970s.

Last edition:

Monday, April 1, 1946. The April 1, 1946 Aleutian Islands Earthquake

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Ascendant Ignorance in the Age of Donald Trump. Ignoramus Watch Part 3. The Quack Edition.

  


BASH: Is this measles outbreak a consequence of the administration undermining support for vaccines?

DR OZ: I don't believe so. Secretary Kennedy has been advocating for measles vaccines

BASH: Oh, come on

From a CNN Interview of Mehmet Oz, a prime example of the Oprah Effect.1 

In fairness to Dr. Oz, who in fairness should not be a government official, he does want people to get the measles vaccine.

Also in fairness, the dissing of vaccines isn't really a Trump thing in and of itself, but he gave it some boosted unneeded assistance by taking the political step of promising Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. a job as the HHS Secretary if he'd drop out of the last Presidential race.  Kennedy is a quack, and an opponent of vaccines in varying degrees (it seems to change day by day).  The rise of this movement, however, started with people like Jenny McCarthy who sadly has a son with autism.  McCarthy herself was a Playboy model and her only real expertise is in showing her naked visage, something that really doesn't qualify a person for anything serious, and in fact may achieve much the opposite.

Oh, and by the way, Jenny McCarthy appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show multiple times in the 2000s to discuss her erroneous theories on autism and vaccines, and to promote a book she wrote.

Much of this story has to do with the inability to understand the difference between present conditions and past ones.  People tend to assume that negative developments in a population mean a negative present condition. Sometimes they do, but sometimes they also represent a positive one.  I'll give a personal example.

In 1982 I had pneumonia while at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma.  I was extremely ill, literally on death's door.  

Before the advent of antibiotics the fatality rates for bacterial pneumonia were between 60% and 70%.

Not good.

Now, the survivability rate is pretty good.

I've had a colon surgery for a developing condition that would have killed me even thirty years ago.

The point?  Well, if I go on to develop Alzheimer's, which I pray I do not, it'll mostly be because I didn't die at age 19 of pneumonia.

Also, fwiw, Meet The Press this weekend had a physician on who noted that diseases we can now vaccinate for are associated with cancer, which is a developing field of medicine.  I.e., you get some disease that's not big deal when young, and then you get cancer when older.  You don't want cancer.

A fellow I know who suffered a heart attack, and who was otherwise very healthy, may have developed his heart condition this way as well.

Get vaccinated.

March 10, 2026

The worst cabinet in American history

And it's not even close.

March 15, 2026

The Trump Interregnum is threatening to pull broadcasting licenses of those who do not give a happy spin to the war against Iran.

March 21, 2026

Waging a war against American airports must be easier than waging a war against a real country that fights back:

cont:


Absolutely reprehensible.

At this point, support of Trump is indecent.

March 31, 2026
We were horrible in Vietnam until we did Rolling Thunder One and Rolling Thunder Two, and then we won. As soon as we do half-measures, we lose. The faster we get this over the better. If we seize Kharg Island, it's technically boots on the ground. It could be done almost flawlessly. If we have enough firepower, it would be very easy to defend.
Rep. Rich McCormick, whom apparently is unaware that the US lost the Vietnam War.

Footnotes:

1. The Oprah Effect is so named here to explain the phenomenon of Oprah Winfrey putting some flaming bogosity on to her popular daytime television show and thereby having millions of people give it credence.  There are a fair number of examples, including the rise of Dr. Oz.

Related Threads

Doug Wilson, the Calvinist preacher who appeared in Pete Hegseth's weekly Pentagon prayer meeting, says that in his preferred Christian nation, anything that Protestants consider to be a "public displays of idolatry" would be banned, including Catholic parades.

Last edition:

Ascendant Ignorance in the Age of Donald Trump. Ignoramus Watch Part 2. The War is a Racket edition.

Wednesday, March 31, 1976. Karen Ann Quinlan.

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that Karen Ann Quinlan, suffering from irreversible brain damage, could be disconnected from the ventilator that had been keeping her alive since April 15, 1975. She had been found unresponsive after she consumed Valium along with alcohol while on a crash diet and lapsed into a coma. A Catholic, her parents had appealed to Catholic moral theology arguing that extraordinary means not be required to preserve her life.

She'd live for an additional nine years.

She had been trying to lose weight to fit into a bikini.

This is one of those events I can personally recall.  It was a major news story at the time.

The UN Security Council found South Africa liable for an act of aggression against Angola, a fairly dubious Security Council conviction given that what South Africa really did is intervene in a civil war that other powers were likewise involved in.

The slam dunk was restored as a legal college basketball feature.

Last edition:

Wednesday, March 24, 1976. Passing of Field Marshal Montgomery.

Friday, March 27, 2026

Ascendant Ignorance in the Age of Donald Trump. Ignoramus Watch Part 3. The Quack Edition.

 


BASH: Is this measles outbreak a consequence of the administration undermining support for vaccines?

DR OZ: I don't believe so. Secretary Kennedy has been advocating for measles vaccines

BASH: Oh, come on

From a CNN Interview of Mehmet Oz, a prime example of the Oprah Effect.1 

In fairness to Dr. Oz, who in fairness should not be a government official, he does want people to get the measles vaccine.

Also in fairness, the dissing of vaccines isn't really a Trump thing in and of itself, but he gave it some boosted unneeded assistance by taking the political step of promising Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. a job as the HHS Secretary if he'd drop out of the last Presidential race.  Kennedy is a quack, and an opponent of vaccines in varying degrees (it seems to change day by day).  The rise of this movement, however, started with people like Jenny McCarthy who sadly has a son with autism.  McCarthy herself was a Playboy model and her only real expertise is in showing her naked visage, something that really doesn't qualify a person for anything serious, and in fact may achieve much the opposite.

Oh, and by the way, Jenny McCarthy appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show multiple times in the 2000s to discuss her erroneous theories on autism and vaccines, and to promote a book she wrote.

Much of this story has to do with the inability to understand the difference between present conditions and past ones.  People tend to assume that negative developments in a population mean a negative present condition. Sometimes they do, but sometimes they also represent a positive one.  I'll give a personal example.

In 1982 I had pneumonia while at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma.  I was extremely ill, literally on death's door.  

Before the advent of antibiotics the fatality rates for bacterial pneumonia were between 60% and 70%.

Not good.

Now, the survivability rate is pretty good.

I've had a colon surgery for a developing condition that would have killed me even thirty years ago.

The point?  Well, if I go on to develop Alzheimer's, which I pray I do not, it'll mostly be because I didn't die at age 19 of pneumonia.

Also, fwiw, Meet The Press this weekend had a physician on who noted that diseases we can now vaccinate for are associated with cancer, which is a developing field of medicine.  I.e., you get some disease that's not big deal when young, and then you get cancer when older.  You don't want cancer.

A fellow I know who suffered a heart attack, and who was otherwise very healthy, may have developed his heart condition this way as well.

Get vaccinated.

March 10, 2026

The worst cabinet in American history

And it's not even close.

March 15, 2026

The Trump Interregnum is threatening to pull broadcasting licenses of those who do not give a happy spin to the war against Iran.

March 21, 2026

Waging a war against American airports must be easier than waging a war against a real country that fights back:


March 27, 2026.

In celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, President Donald J. Trump’s signature alongside @SecScottBessent's will soon appear on U.S. currency, marking a first in history, and symbolizes @POTUS ' leadership and dedication to our great nation will carry a lasting impact

U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach.

And hence, the era of defacement of U.S. currency began.

Seriously, my prediction will be for those dealing in cash, the number of "F***" next to Donny's signature, or replicas of his public Epstein birthday card's, or any number of defacements, will be epic.

The sycophantic sucking up this this demented twit is beyond all understanding.  When this is all over, and it will be soon, Bessant ought to spend every day for the rest of his life apologizing.

Footnotes:

1. The Oprah Effect is so named here to explain the phenomenon of Oprah Winfrey putting some flaming bogosity on to her popular daytime television show and thereby having millions of people give it credence.  There are a fair number of examples, including the rise of Dr. Oz.

Related Threads

Doug Wilson, the Calvinist preacher who appeared in Pete Hegseth's weekly Pentagon prayer meeting, says that in his preferred Christian nation, anything that Protestants consider to be a "public displays of idolatry" would be banned, including Catholic parades.

Last edition:

Ascendant Ignorance in the Age of Donald Trump. Ignoramus Watch Part 2. The War is a Racket edition.

Friday, January 23, 2026

Wednesday, January 23, 1946. Soviet Agent installed by Truman.

Soviet agent Harry Dexter White was appointed by President Truman to be the American representative to the International Monetary fund despite a warning from the FBI that White had passed secret information to the Soviet Union.

He'd later be exposed by Whitaker Chambers.

The Soviets managed to place an impressive number of operatives into the U.S. government during the 1930s and into the 1940s.  This was in part because the Roosevelt Administration simply didn't take the matter seriously, even though its now very clear that there were warnings, probably mostly from the FBI. There's fairly good reason to believe that McCarthy's "lists" of Soviet agents, which later proved to be quite accurate, probably came from the FBI which had grown frustrated with successive administrations ignoring what it was learning.  The Army likewise had a list of Soviet agents that it closely held, in part out of the reasonable fear that it wouldn't be taken seriously and that if too much was revealed, it'd be leaked.

FWIW, there's every reason to believe that the Soviets continued to attempt to penetrate Western governments after the McCarthy era and also inserted sleeper agents into the U.S.  The great American mini series The Americans is based on this widely known effort, as well as the movie Little Nikita. While known, it isn't particularly paid attention to, today.  As has been noted recently, and not without good reason, there are questions as to whether or not Donald Trump may be a Russian asset of the captive type today, which would explain some of his actions.  He's definitely a Russian asset, but it may be because he simply has a weak 19th Century mind.

The USS Brevard rescued 4,296 Japanese civilians from the ship Enoshima Maru as it sank near Shanghai. The event retains the record for being the largest number of civilians rescued at sea.

The nationwide strike wave had spread to packing plants.


The Army was looking for a way to recruit men into the post war service.


Out Our Way had a cartoon about medical advice, which would still be good advice today.



Last edition:

Tuesday, January 22, 1946. Central Intelligence Group formed.

Wednesday, December 31, 2025

The Madness of King Donald. The 25th Amendment Watch List, Seventh Edition. Night of Camp David

From Amazon:

Night of Camp David Kindle Edition

4.2 out of 5 stars   (863)

 “What would happen if the president of the U.S.A. went stark-raving mad?” Back by popular demand, The New York Times calls the 1965 bestselling political thriller by the author of Seven Days in May, “A little too plausible for comfort.”
 
How can one man convince the highest powers in Washington that the President of the United States is dangerously unstable—before it’s too late?
 
Senator Jim MacVeagh is proud to serve his country—and his president, Mark Hollenbach, who has a near-spotless reputation as the vibrant, charismatic leader of MacVeagh’s party and the nation. When Hollenbach begins taking MacVeagh into his confidence, the young senator knows that his star is on the rise.

But then Hollenbach starts summoning MacVeagh in the middle of the night to Camp David. There, the president sits in the dark and rants about his enemies, unfurling insane theories about all the people he says are conspiring against him. They would do anything, President Hollenbach tells the stunned senator, to stop him from setting in motion the grand, unprecedented plans he has to make America a great world power once again.

MacVeagh comes away from these meetings increasingly convinced that the man he once admired has lost his mind. But what can he do? Who can he tell?

Sound sort of familiar?

December 12, 2025


I'm reminded that as the Third Reich crumbled around him, Hitler concluded that the German people just weren't worthy of him.

And then there's this:
Q: Can you explain what's going on with the bandages on Trump's hand?

LEAVITT: We've given you an explanation. The president is literally constantly shaking hands.

Machinegun Lips Leavitt's statement is a dog that doesn't hunt.  At this point, it's clear that there's something going on.  The constant bruising on the hand suggest pretty strongly that Trump is frequently getting a picc line to his hand.  He's getting IVs, probably, but for what? 

He also recently had an MRI, and speaks of getting cognitive tests.  Somebody is monitoring him pretty closely medically, and Trump himself doesn't seem to know fully why.

Cont:

A blog entry on the same topic:

The Alarming Signs of a President in Decline

December 15, 2025

Trump's a complete a**hole.

cont:

Q: A number of Republicans have denounced your statement on Rob Reiner. Do you stand by it?

TRUMP: Well, I wasn't a fan of his at all. He was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned.

December 17, 2025

The National Review

The president of the United States is a hateful raging lunatic with all the empathy of Jeffrey Dahmer.

A prediction:

I stated here before that Trump would only last 18 months in office.  He hasn't even made 12 yet, and his mind is complete mush.  He has a television address tonight I'm unlikely to watch, but my first prediction, not the one I created the subtitle for, is that it'll be full of rambling praise for himself and blame upon Joe Biden.

It'll also be jam packed with lies.

The bigger prediction, however, is this.  I'm going to restate the 18 month prediction as an outer date.  He's really declining rapidly.  He'll make it to 2026, probably, but my guess right now is not past the end of March.  Part of this will depend upon how close he gets us to war with Venezuela and how utterly unhinged he becomes regarding his domestic opposition.

My next prediction is that this will completely shatter the GOP.  The GOP is going to get pounded in the 2026 election and become utterly unglued.  It won't go away, but it'll take it three or four years to rebuilt itself into something.  

December 21, 2025

Trump: I took cognitive tests. By the way, not easy. The first question is like what is this and they show a lion, giraffe, fish and a hippopotamus. And they say which is the giraffe.

Hmmmm. . . 

I don't follow Rod Dreher because I think he slipped off the rails some time ago, but there's no real denying he's one of the real intellects of the National Conservatives/Christian Nationalist whom I think largely have the levers of power in the Trump Administration right now.  So I was surprised when I ran across something he posted on Twitter.

Dreher hasn't changed his views on things, and he defends Trump on some thing I think Trump is actually completely wrong on, such as the recently released National Security Strategy (which makes sense form Dreher's point of view, because of his beliefs), but regarding Trump himself, after his comments on Rob Reiner:

Something is very, very wrong with this man. A father and mother were murdered by their son, most likely, and Trump makes it about himself.

Its been obvious for years that something is deeply wrong with Trump.  Indeed, given his overall character, something has been wrong with Trump for decades, but his earlier character flaws are now being overtaken by his dementia.  

I note Dreher here as I think what we can begin to see pretty clearly is the move to replace Trump with Vance.  We predicted that Trump would be out within 18 months, and its starting to happen right now.

Dreher, who was one of the first Christian Nationalist and National Conservatives, is outright stating that Trump is mentally ill.  He's also attacking the MAGA public figures like Fuentes.  Erika Kirk is endorsing Vance for President in 2028.  Mitt Romney, whom conservatives regard as the last real conservative Republican candidate for the White House, is writing op eds urging taxation.

Now, not all those things are related, but some of them are.  It's clear that Republicans are beginning to maneuver for the 2028 election and they're leaving Trump behind.  Romney is old at 78, but he's not demented and he's younger than Biden was when he ran for reelection and he's younger than Trump, whose most radical MAGA base is urging to unconstitutionally run again in 2028.

Related to that, Vance is only in the administration as he wants to run in 2028.  He's tainted with his association with Trump and the stench that creates is getting worse and he knows it.  He's also the only real National Conservative who stands a chance of being elected in 2028.  Indeed, there were never any others who stood a chance.  Marco Rubio is a conservative, but not a National Conservative.  Elise Marie Stefanik is a conservative, not a National Conservative, as well.  Marjorie Taylor Greene, who doesn't stand a chance, is a far right wing populist.  Kevin Roberts, who is behind the scenes and somethat close to Vance, is definitely a National Conservative but he has no chance.  Stephen Miller is loathsome.

So now we're seeing the jockeying for position, but we're seeing more than that.  Some Republicans are finally outright condemning Trump over things he says.  Massie and Rand Paul are outright defying him with no real consequences.  Republicans who don't want to be part of a 2026 and 2028 bloodbath are bailing out of Congress.

Behind the scenes, there has to be a raging debate about how much longer the GOP lets Trump carry on.  He's been the functional equivalent of World War One naval dazzle camouflage which has served their interests well. . .up until now.  Now he's drawing fire.  He falls asleep in public.  He rambles on and sounds rough, while making statements that are often downright weird.  He insults vast numbers of people for petty reasons.  He's causing inflation in many areas of the economy through his beliefs on taxes, while destroying the economy for those who supported him in other areas.  

And he's on the verge of getting us into war.

While all that's going on, of course, his administration has now gone so far in trying to keep the government's files on perverted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein secret its reached the absurd level. Everyone knows that Trump and Epstein were friends.  The lingering news story has served to remind people that Trump has a sexual track record which necessarily raises questions, given his association with Epstein, as well as John Casablancas.  Old information that was re-released from the Epstein files serves to remind that one of Epstein's teenage victims ended up as a contestant in one of Trump's pageants.  Trump sent Epstein, although he denies it a hand drawn birthday card featuring what appears to be the immature body of a teenage girl, with his signature drawn across where the reproduction organs are, and with a poem emphasizing enigma and shared secrets.

MAGA victims of TDS of course still desperately want to believe that there's no there, there, but something is there, if only the names of people who may have participated in the abuse of up to 1,000 girls and who are significant figures.  Maybe Trump isn't listed amongst them, but there's some reason his administration is trying to desperately to keep this stuff secret.

My guess would be that Vance has no idea what it is.  But Vance, Kirk, Roberts and Dreher all know that if Trump rides things out to 2028 his increasing dementia combined with the risk of scandal is just too high.  If this blows up, and its starting to, it'll wreck the GOP so completely there won't be one in 2028.

Kirk and Dreher are preparing the groundwork now.  Mentioning that what Trump is doing is vile is part of that.  Mentioning that Vance should run in 2028 is as well.

Vance will be sworn in as the President before June.

December 22, 2025

These things are just  nuts:

cont:

We need Greenland for national protection. They have a very small population…They say that Denmark was there 300 years ago with a boat. Well, we were there with boats too I’m sure.

Donald Trump. 

The United States isn't 300 years old. . . 

And that small population comment is just the sort of thing a New Yorker would say . . . 

And then there's this gem. Trump wants a fleet of twenty five battleships built.  Battleships have been obsolete for decades.

Everyone knows they're nuts, and yet they allow him to just charge on with this lunacy.

The man is not well, and they know it.

cont:

It appears the battleships will not be battleships.

Still, Trump's absolute megalomania in which everything must be named for him is clearly a sign of mental illness.

December 23, 2025

We’re bringing down drug price by 1000%, 1200%, 1300%, 1400%. A drug that sells for $10 in London is costing $130 in New York. We are bringing it down to $20. You can do your own math. But it’s 2000%, 3000%

Donald Trump. 

December 26, 2025

A Christmas rant from somebody who is clearly mentally unhinged:


By this point, it's clear that Trump, if not full blown insane, goes into fits of raving insanity.  We should all be scared as there may come a day when he goes from ranting into action.  

The real question at this point is why the cabinet has not removed him.  His unfitness for office, or anything else, is completely apparent, so there's a reason behind that.

The reason might be J. D. Vance.

In spite of Trump's propagandized reputation, Trump isn't a lot of the things he's claimed to be.  He's not smart, he's not an economic genius, he's not a conservative, and he's not a recognizable Christian.  He is a good salesman, or was, who has made his name into a brand. He's also a self serving narcissists. As part of his branding, he's managed to convince a fair number of people that he is what he clearly isn't.

But he is useful for certain elements that back him.  Once he's gone, the NAM, the NatCons, and the Dixiecrats really don't have everything in common by a long shot.  Vance is a NatCon, not a Dixiecrat, and people like Miller might fear Vance coming in.

The mass defection from the Heritage Society suggests, however, that Vance may have lost his shot.  If Trump is going to be retired people have to support Vance.  The NatCons are falling apart.  

December 31, 2025

Trump announced today that his dumbass triumphal arch will start construction in two months.

This likely needs to go up quicker than planned as the terminal limits of Trump's sanity/end of office/natural life are beginning to roar up into his view.  This will add to the pile of rubble that will need to be hauled off and dumped in the Potomac when he's gone.

Related threads:

Our Petty, Hollow, Squalid Ogre in Chief

 

Our Petty, Hollow, Squalid Ogre in Chief

2028 Election, Part I. The Preview of Coming Attractions Editions.

Last edition:

The Madness of King Donald. The 25th Amendment Watch List, Sixth Edition. The demented panicked Octogenarian edition.