This and That---October 7, 2022 Edition

A few random observations, charts and factoids to provide some context on what is going on in the world.

Disaster Relief and Ukraine

Hurricane Ian hit Florida on September 28.

Joe Biden signed a continuing resolution on September 30 that Congress passed to provide appropriations to keep the federal government running through December 16 to allow time to negotiate a broader budget deal for fiscal 2023.

What was in that CR that was critical to avoid a federal government shutdown beyond the funding for normal government operations?

It included another $12 billion in aid for Ukraine but only $2.5 billion in aid for communities devastated by natural disasters.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/09/29/1125749481/government-funding-bill-senate-vote-continuing-resolution

Yes, the contents of the bill were put together by Democrats in the House and Senate before Ian hit Florida.

However, the Democrats are the same ones stating we are going to have more natural disasters because of climate change.

In fact, Biden said this yesterday about Hurricane Ian.

“I think the one thing this has finally ended is a discussion about whether or not there's climate change and we should do something about it."

Considering all of this why would we be sending more money to Ukraine than doing something about setting money aside for natural disasters in our own country?

Climate Change and China

The Democrats like to talk about climate change and they seem intent on destroying the nation's access to affordable and efficient fossil fuels.

In the meantime, China burns more coal for electricity generation than the United States does from all sources.

The Biden administration is also more intent in trying to get Saudi Arabia and Venezuela to produce more oil while doing everything it can to inhibit any oil and gas production in the United States.

I also don't understand why Biden, AOC, Al Gore and Greta Thunberg never lecture China about this like they do the rest of us?

Does any of this make any sense at all? We all live on the same planet.

A Very Bad Year If You Are An Investor

2022 is proving to be a very bad year if you are an investor.

There is always real estate.

Never mind.

Why is that?

In 2021, for a $2,500 monthly payment and 20% down you could buy a $750,000 house.

With current interest rates, that same payment means you can only afford a $475,000 house.

One Generation Away

Ronald Reagan often reminded us that "freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction".

You can say the same thing about religious beliefs.

Bear in mind this is 32 years after German reunification and abolition of the East German Communist state.

Covid and Taiwan

For most of the Covid pandemic we were told that Taiwan was a model for containing the virus.

When a SARS-like virus, later named as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), first appeared in China in late 2019, it was predicted that, other than China, Taiwan would be one of the most affected countries, given its geographic proximity to and close people-to-people exchanges with China. Yet even as the disease continues to spread around the globe, Taiwan has been able to contain the pandemic and minimize its impact on people's daily lives. The transparency and honesty with which Taiwan has implemented prevention measures is a democratic model of excellence in fighting disease. 

That was true until about six months ago.

Taiwan is now experiencing more Covid cases than anywhere else in the world.

 

This is a country that has one of the highest mask usage percentages (95%+) and vaccination rates in the world (over 2.6 doses of vaccine doses administered for every man, woman and child ).

Taiwan now has almost the same number of reported cumulative cases of Covid as the United States has had since the beginning of the pandemic.

Almost all of them have come after vaccinations were deployed.

The greatest surge was after boosters were introduced (early in 2022).

Have you heard anything about this?

Is it not curious that not one "expert" is willing to explain why masking and vaccines have not curbed the pandemic in Taiwan?