Corona Virus tests.

 President Biden has called for millions of test kits.  Fox had Robert Redfield of CDC on this morning.  Redfield thinks we need more tests. 

   I have a few questions about all this test talk.  Do we need a lab test to tell if someone is sick?  And, what do we do about cases where the test comes back positive yet the patient is perfectly well?  Is this a real case of Corona virus or is it a false positive from the test?  How was the test verified?  How many subjects were tested by the test?  And how did we verify the test results.  Do we have other tests or procedures?  What might they be?  And how accurate are they.  In short, what makes us think this un-named test really works?  Some numbers would be convincing.  So far the TV news has offered NO numbers.

  And, even if the test works, how is it going to help in the Corona virus pandemic?  We can tell patients who are sick without using lab tests. 

Senator Manchin voted for his constituents.

 

Senator Joe Manchin just announced that he cannot vote for the Build Back Badder bill, a favorite of Joe Biden and leftie democrats that is pure pork and freebies.  Manchin said his constituents were solidly against the Build Back Badder bill and as their representative, he had to vote the way his constituents want, not the way the Democrat party wants.  Naturally the lefty side of the Democrat party was furious, called Manchin names, and acted out in other ways.

   I say more power to a politician who votes his district.  We have four congressional reps here in New Hampshire who don’t vote for what their constituents want; instead they vote for what the Washington Democrat party wants.

Why we don’t want Putin to invade Ukraine.

   We remember that Hitler started WWII by invading Poland in 1939.  We figure that if we forbid the invasion of neighboring countries, we can prevent WWIII.  And we don’t like invasions on humanitarian grounds; the people in the invaded country take it in the neck.  Ask any Pole, they will tell you. 

Ever since WWII America has believed that national borders should be inviolate.  We have even fought wars over this, the Korean War being the clearest example.  North Korea invaded South Korea with out warning.  We raised a huge army, fought a vicious 3 year war, and preserved the original state of South Korea.  As a side effect, today’s South Koreans have a warm spot in their hearts for Americans.  They have industrialized and are now an important power.  They were nowheresville back when the Korean War started.

One other factor in the Ukraine situation.  Today’s Russia is smaller; less populated, and has fewer natural resources than the old Soviet Union had it its disposal.  We would just as soon keep things that way.  The old Soviet Union was a dangerous competitor.  When the Soviet Union broke up in 1989, about a third of it became independent of Russia.  The new Russia, although a powerful state, is not as powerful as the old Soviet Union was.   

Cannon Mountain Ski Weather

 Just for the record, I am in Mittersill.  I am close enough to walk to the Peabody slopes chair lift.  I get the same amount of snow as Cannon, at least Cannon base.  Cannon summit often gets a bit more that the base.  I measure the snow fall on my deck with a wooden yardstick.  I am an old Cannon skier, I started skiing Cannon when I was four.  I finally gave up downhill skiing when I turned 70, which was a few years ago.

   It is 9:30 AM and the snow seems to have stopped, although the weather people are talking up a "winter storm warning" lasting until 11 AM.  They forecast 4 to 8 inches.  I got 5 inches.  That is enough to make the skiing really good at Cannon.  

How dangerous is the omicron variant of Corona virus??

How dangerous is the omicron version of the Corona virus? Really?  Guys like Tony Fauci are claiming it is worse than the original.  Some TV news states that NO ONE has died of omicron (yet).  Other TV newsies have said the omicron is very contagious but the symptoms are milder and less likely to kill than the original version of Corona virus.   No one has presented any numbers, so anything might be true.  It would be nice to have one of the few responsible news outlets left to give us some facts. 

Putin and Ukraine.

 

According to today’s Wall St Journal the Western Europeans told Russian dictator Putin that serious economic sanctions would follow an invasion of Ukraine.   You would think that would carry some weight with Putin, but who knows?  Putin may not believe the Europeans mean it; he may believe that Russia’s economy is so local and so self sufficient that European and American economic sanctions won’t hurt. 

   Driving Putin toward invading Ukraine is history; Ukraine has been a central and famous part of Russia since medieval times.  Putin undoubtedly wants to own Ukraine for its historic significance to Russia.  He may want to invade while he still has an army to do it with.  Russia’s birth rate is in a death spiral, and Russia may not be able to recruit a decent army by 2040 for lack of young men to draft

Merry Christmas.

 

Merry Christmas is almost dead.  Clerks and cashiers and bag boys are saying “Happy  Holidays” or “have a nice day”.  No “Merry Christmas”.