June 27

 Every news program is focused on the "debate." We might watch a bit of it to see if it is less of a contest to see which can be the loudest, rudest A--hole on the stage. Trump has won that contest before but we'll see how the muted mikes work. One of the commentators yesterday told viewers that they had a duty to vote "no matter how tired" they are. Problem: we aren't physically tired. We are tired of the noise. We are tired of the lack of real debate that focuses on issues instead of personality. We are tired of the smug sanctimony on both sides which tries to force the rest of us to swallow their unpalatable bromides. We are tired of the lack of respect for those who hold different views.

BBC is by far the more interesting news. They are covering the unrest in Kenya where the President, yesterday, yielded to the protesters and won't sign the new financial law that would have raised taxes. He noted the complaint from those protesters that too much of the benefits of the tax increases were slated for government agencies and personnel which were of little benefit to ordinary Kenyans. That has only reduced the temperature from rolling boil to simmer. The protesters want other opaque aspects of the government's use of tax money as well as other complaints dealt with. 

An interesting segment showed a debate between Sunak and Starmer which was actually a debate, for the most part, and focused on issues. However, the last questioner from the audience was interesting. He said that in his opinion Sunak had a good history as Chancellor but a mediocre Prime Minister and that Starmer's strings are being pulled by party officials. He asked if they really thought they were the best options the voters had for the leader of the country. We might ask the same over here. 

Question: when is a bribe not a bribe? When it can be labeled a gratuity or a tip or a gift--according to the latest self-serving ruling from the (Not-So)-Supreme Court. You're welcome, Clarence. Enjoy that luxury travel trailer and the trips.

Well, the Julian Assange case has finally been resolved. Even if our government discovered something else to charge him with I doubt Australia would extradite him. He is an Australian citizen after all. So he pled guilty to conspiracy for which he was sentenced to the time spent in prison in the U.K. fighting extradition. What wasn't really settled is who is actually a journalist and what legitimate constraints can be put on journalists given the First Amendment? I wouldn't trust any government to designate who is or who is not a journalist and therefor who is or is not covered under our "freedom of the press." 

I clicked on this article because of the title: Capitalism's New Age of Plagues. We have had quite a few diseases appear in the U.S. for the first time but which are prevalent in other areas. We have also seen the migration of diseases into new areas of our country because their vectors can migrate to new areas. Malaria has been moving north with their mosquito carrier for example. Old diseases are reappearing as our faith in the vaccines that had held them at bay has eroded. This article discusses African Swine Fever (NOT Swine Flu) which is nearly 100% fatal among affected pigs and its spread which has hit China hard. Worse the Chinese have adopted our pattern of "concentrated animal feeding operations" and applied it with the fervor of a religious convert. Those kind of operations have serious negative side effects as anyone knows who lives near, or even travels by, such an operation. One of the latest cases of swine flu in humans was contracted from animals in such a concentrated feed lot. Think about how bird flu has cut a swath through chicken flocks and has moved into cows. Concentration multiplies the chances of such a disease migration.

Continuing the thread on bird flu--check out this article. I am not surprised that there is no coordinated effort to either research bird flu or to develop a general response to it. Early efforts to stem bird flu in domestic flocks involved the euthanizing of entire flocks which was a major financial hit to the farmers affected. But then they discovered that wild flocks were reservoirs of the disease. Doing the same to them would be difficult if not impossible and the side effects of such an action unknown but likely not at all good. Euthanizing entire herds of dairy cattle would be catastrophic. I am not surprised that the researchers and officials are getting no cooperation. We are going to have to adjust to these diseases the same way we handle COVID which we are treating as a seasonal flu.

This is amazingly stupid. The authorities in Delhi, India used WATER CANNONS to disperse a crowd protesting a WATER SHORTAGE. Of course the authorities aren't worried about water. I am sure their supplies aren't short.