Health Care, in Today's News 09.03.09

Health Care. The White House today announced that Obama will address next week a joint session of congress on the health care legislation.

This move is a high stakes gamble. As such, it shows the determination of the cryptocracy to change health care to government-directed cost-reducing care. They want this change so badly that they are willing to risk all of Obama's political capital to try to swing a vote. If Obama can't pull it off, his presidency will limp for the remainder of his term of office.

Obama's problem is a miscalculation by the cryptocracy. They precipitated the economic crisis to make a number of fundamental changes, among them a health care reform. They figured that the crisis will enable them to slip through their proposed new system of health care. But, when the time came to enact the legislation, the American people, who are concerned about the economy and jobs, revolted.

Now Obama faces the task of convincing the pubic to give their assent to something they don't see a need for, and, as they learn more about the legislation, scares the hell out of them.

Karl Rove, of Bush White House fame, made an interesting quote in regard to the above situation. "Presidents always encounter rough patches. What is unusual is how soon Mr. Obama has hit his. He has used up almost all his goodwill in less than nine months, with the hardest work still ahead. At the year's start, Democrats were cocky. At summer's end, concern is giving way to despair. A perfect political storm is amassing, and heading straight for Democrats." [Page A15, today's Wall Street Journal.]

And Rove was only discussing the health care situation. Add in the Afghanistan debacle and Obama is in a difficult political position indeed.

Afghanistan, in Today's News 09.03.09

Afghanistan. The news only grows worse for the US in Afghanistan, as the insurgents gain power and demonstrate their ability to control the political life of the country.

Today's Wall Street Journal has an article (page A8) that shows the growing problem. "KABUL -- A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 23 people including Afghanistan's deputy intelligence chief Wednesday, demonstrating the insurgency's reach and its ability to hit a vulnerable Afghan government. The morning assassination of one of Afghanistan' top antiterrorist officials..."

Whether Washington knows it or not, this war is kaput. Obama's big task is to somehow get out of the mess without falling on his face. It won't be easy.

Afghanistan, in Today's News 09.02.09

Afghanistan. The Wall Street Journal has a feature article today that reveals the deteriorating American situation in Afghanistan.

Here's the key quote, "Until recently, most of that fighting was limited to ethnic Pashtun south and eastern Afghanistan, the Taliban's stronghold. The Pashtuns who make up 42 percent of Afghanistan's 34 million people, account for the vast majority of Taliban militants...But now, as frustration is mounting with the slow rebuilding, endemic corruption, and the tactics of Afghan and foreign soldiers, non-Pashtun militants...have sprouted alongside their former Taliban enemies in northern and western Afghanistan."

So, lets see. There is insurgency in the 'south,' 'eastern,'northern,' and 'western' Afghanistan. Unless Afghanistan has a fifth direction, it would seem that the fighting is occurring throughout the country. Citing directions relieves the WSJ from having to say the whole country is up-in-arms against the Americans and their allies.

The WSJ journal discusses at length one of these militants, a highly respected mujahedeen commander who was a scourge of Soviet occupation forces and is a former strong ally of the US.

It is a sign of a drastic situation that is going down hill fast when your allies cross over to the other side

Obama will have only a limited time to make decisions to address the potential disaster. Any decision he makes will be unpopular. If he sends in more troops, the American public will show its opposition, not to speak of the left in his own political party. If he stands pat, the situation of American troops will only worsen, raising images of the last days in Saigon.

One way out is for Obama to just declare victory and get out. But it is probably too late for that; too much is known about the actual facts.

H1N1 (Swine) Flu Update No 39, in Today's News 09.01.09

H1N1 (Swine) Flu. The scare campaign directors continue to backtrack from their projections of the summer months. If they had their way with those guidelines, schools, businesses, churches, etc. would have closed down at the first sign of sniffles. However, someone higher up in the cryptocracy must have told them to cool it; all that is required is to herd everyone into getting their shots; there is no need to close down society.

Today's news story on swine flu is in this vein. Daniel Perez of the University of Maryland-based Prevention and Control of Avian Influenza Coordinated Agricultural Project stated that "Fears that the H1N1 swine flu will turn into a 'superbug' this year may be unfounded." (Quote is from HealthDay News article.)

A couple of weeks ago it looked like the campaign directors had backed off from their scare projection of the swine flu mutating into something much worse. Perez's research confirms their decision.

But, have no fear, Perez nonetheless makes a big pitch for everyone getting their swine flu shots. Perez: "Our findings underscore the need for vaccinating against the pandemic [swine] flu this season."

So, objectively, Perez's intervention is to rationalize the campaign's pull back and yet to strongly support the overall goal of getting everyone to accept their shots without protest.

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On another front The Journal of American Medical Association on August 12 contained an article on swine flu by Doctors David Morens and Jeffrey Taubenberger. They challenged the notion that a mid flu in the spring can herald a more severe resurgence in the fall. They studied 14 major flu epidemics dating to the 16th century and found no [!!!] evidence supporting the 'herald waves' theory. [Emphasis added.]

The 'herald waves' theory is exactly what the Center for Disease Control and others directing the scare campaign have been peddling. For months they have been talking about how the swine flu will severely expand in the fall because the virus kept going in the warm summer months.

So, maybe there are few people in the higher reaches of society who have some common sense and are not afraid to challenge the scaremongers.

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The preposterous projections of the scare campaign directors have spawned numerous critical commentators on the internet. The directors seem to be a little concerned that these critics may have some effect.

And so, a few editorials have appeared here and there warning readers to pay no attention to these critics. Instead they should go to the official government sites to get the 'real facts'. 

The Daily Herald, a newspaper in suburban Chicago, carried an editorial along these lines. "We're disturbed by the recent flurry of rumors about the flu pandemic swirling around the Internet and, no doubt, your inbox...listening on the wrong kind of advice can be dangerous -- for you, for your family and for others to whom you might repeat or forward inaccurate information...we urge you to turn to these accurate, comprehensive site for information about H1N1." Four sites are listed: the US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, Illinois Department of Public Health, and World Health Organization.

It seems that the Herald believes that only the information from government sites is accurate. The contrary is actually the case. 

The official projections for this flu have been other-worldly, the testing of the vaccine has been inadequate, and the instances of infection have resulted in minimal illness. So if you want to know what the scaremongers are saying to convince you that this flu is really, really serious, then read the recommended sites. If you want to know what is really occurring pay attention to the 'rumors' the Herald warns against.

Health Care, in Today's News 09.01.09

Health Care. Another Bishop, this one from Fargo, North Dakota, has made a stab at commenting on the health care situation. His letter may be found at www.usccb.org/healthcare. An article on his letter may be found at the Catholic News Agency.

Bishop Samuel J. Aquila directs his remarks to promoting "genuine health care reform." And right there he goes wrong. The task of the hour is not to come up with some health care reform that is better than the pending legislation. The task is to stop the maniacs who are trying to destroy the great Catholic legacy to humanity of compassionate health care for all. The task is to utterly defeat the attempt to base medical treatment on cost with the government intervening with priority lists and standard procedures.

Bishop Aquila entirely misses the point. By doing so, he is completely out of touch with the American public, which, incidentally, includes the faithful. The great mass of the population is frightened that the pending legislation will limit their health coverage and cost more money, not to speak of the perspective of having to deal with government bureaucrats on health decisions. Most Americans want no part of this legislation.

The Church leaders ought to be in the forefront of this uproar. The Church leaders ought to defend what the Church stands for: compassionate health care. The Church leaders ought to mobilize the power of the faithful to make clear that passing this legislation is unacceptable. (When this attack is defeated, then we can talk about proper reform of health care.)

Instead of what the Church leaders ought to do, we have silence, or in Bishop Aquila's case, the presentation of principles of what a reform should look like. His document would make a very nice PHD thesis. 

As with other issues, the current Church leaders cannot recognize a direct attack on them when it happens. They are so interested in being acceptable that their reaction is almost always to find a way to avoid the difficulties and find a 'nice' solution. In the case of health care, many of the leaders are strong supporters of liberalism and Obama. This stance makes it difficult to criticize the current legislation. About all they can do is making ivory tower-type remarks that try to set a moral tone.

What is missing is leadership!!!!! The faithful appreciate analyses of what is wrong with health care, but what they want more than anything is leadership in a fight that, if lost, threatens to undermine their present situation for something much worse.

The present Church leaders just don't see themselves as leaders. They see themselves at nice guys who try to maintain the Church edifice and try to talk their way out of any disasters.

What is needed is someone with the spirit of Joan of Arc. Someone who attempts to implement God's word and is willing to stand up and defend without compromise what the Church stands for.

Afghanistan, in Today's News 09.01.09

Afghanistan. General Stanley McChrystal, the top American commander in Afghanistan, issued his strategic assessment of the war today.

Here's the key quote from the Wall Street Journal article: "Gen. Stanley McChrystal said conditions on the ground were 'serious,' but he expressed confidence the war could still be won if the U.S. and its allies better coordinate their efforts and focus more heavily on protecting the Afghan population from Taliban violence and intimidation."

Better coordination!! Yeah, that'll work!!!

The U.S. policy makers are slowly coming to grips with the realization that the U.S. has no hope of winning this war. Obama has to figure out a way of declaring victory and getting out, before the U.S. armed forces are thrown out.

By the way, this protecting the Afghan population theme is just plain nuts, and one suspects that the commander knows it. Perhaps he has studied the Vietnam war where this tactic was tried and failed miserably.

Right now, it probably would be a good idea for McChrystal to study Custer's military career to avoid similar mistakes.

H1N1 (Swine) Flu Update No 38, in Today's News 08.31.09

H1N1 (Swine) Flu. It certainly would be interesting to know the identities of the directors and brain trust behind the swine-flu-scare campaign.

Whoever they are, they have thought this effort out very carefully. They devised a detailed schedule, thought through all the possible objections, made assignments to many key personnel, and have issued an almost daily stream of media releases on various aspects of their campaign.

Today's media release is designed to convince the public that there can be no substitute for the directors' precious swine-flu vaccine. The Tribune Newspapers carried an article today by one Shari Roan, "Misuse of flu treatment alarming."

The lead paragraph: "Indiscriminate use of anti-viral medications to prevent and treat influenza could ease the way for drug-resistant strains of the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, to emerge, public health officials warn -- making the fight against a pandemic that much harder."

In other words, if you take a medication other than the vaccine you will actually be making the pandemic worse!!!! [These people have no shame. They will use any argument, true or false, to stampede the public into getting their shots.]

Also note: the long-expected announcement that the swine flu virus has mutated to something more dangerous is hinted at in this release. The public officials' warning actually lays the basis for blaming the public (!) for a mutation. [They have no shame.]

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President Alvaro Uribe of Columbia is playing his part and earning some much-needed brownie points from the cryptocracy. His office announced today that he has swine flu, and that they are contacting other South American governments whose leaders attended a summit last week with the Colombian leader.

The idea here is to persuade the Latin American governments to shape up and be an enthusiastic part of the panic campaign.

Get this paragraph from the Associated Press, "Uribe, 57, is not considered a high-risk patient and will continue working from his computer, officials said. Public Health director Giberto Alvarez said there is no need to put Uribe in isolation."

So, in other words he is not seriously ill, but nonetheless all the South American governments are told to be on alert!!

No details are given on the illness. Is it sniffles or is it more involved? Also, it is not revealed how they know it is swine flu; it is just asserted.

So, you can be forgiven, if you believe that this is all a sham, designed to continue the stream of warnings that everyone, that is everyone, should get their vaccinations.