The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (No. 32)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (No. 32)
January 14, 2022
THE GOOD
RESPECT: Lawrence Brooks, oldest U.S. veteran of WWII, dies at 112.
***BEST COMMERCIAL OF THE YEAR:
CAPITALISM: IS THERE ANYTHING IT CAN’T DO? Top 4 biotech breakthroughs of 2021
ANOTHER VICTORY LAP FOR CAPITALISM: Reasons to be optimistic in 2022
Since 1998, average global life expectancy grew by nearly seven years through 2019 (the last year of data available), while global GDP per capita rose by over 50%, even counting the 2020 recession. This means that a third of the increase in standard of living that human beings have ever attained – measured as income per person – was achieved in the last 24 years.
Extreme poverty decreased faster than ever, from 30% in 1998 to below 10%. On average — for two and a half decades — over 120,000 people have escaped extreme poverty not annually, or even monthly, but daily. While 2020 saw a rise in the number of people living in extreme poverty, the trend began to decline again in 2021, according to the World Bank.
Since 1998, global child mortality — the share of children who die before the age of five — was reduced by over half, from over 8% each year to below 4%. There are more children living today than ever, and yet five million fewer children die each year. And, according to UNICEF, child mortality continued to decline through 2020.
The proportion of the population with access to meaningful electricity jumped from 72.6% in 1998 to over 90% by 2019, while outdoor and indoor air pollution-related deaths fell by more than a million annually through 2017.
Read the whole thing.
I LOVE CAPITALISM (and stem cells):
Zero gravity conditions in space may advance stem cell research, scientists say.
New study brings us one step closer to growing human organs for transplantation.VERY COOL: How Erick Brimen Helped Launch a Honduran Charter City
FRIEDMANOMICS IS NOT PERFECT BUT IT’S BETTER THAN 99% OF THE ALTERNATIVES: The Rise of Socialism Means ‘Friedmanomics’ Is Needed Now More Than Ever
Friedman famously said that “the government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem.” Friedman’s set of solutions, or “Friedmanomics” as we could call them, are more than worth revisiting in our search for answers to many of today’s economic problems. So, for that matter, 30 years after the end of the USSR, are Soviet economics, but only as a warning of where the socialist road can lead.
VERY COOL: How Erick Brimen Helped Launch a Honduran Charter City
DOES THIS ALSO MEAN THAT THE PANDEMIC OF THE VACCINATED IS OVER AS WELL? Cases up, deaths down.
NOT SURE IF THIS IS GOOD OR BAD, BUT I’M GOING TO ASSUME FOR THE MOMENT THAT THIS IS A GOOD THING: Americans Fled California, New York, and D.C. During COVID
GOOD QUESTION, PRETTY GOOD ANSWER: What Is Evil?
THESE QUESTIONS ARE WAY ABOVE MY PAY GRADE, BUT I SAY FOLLOW THE SCIENCE AND LET THE TRUTH WIN OUT: New development could change views on evolution, Adam and Eve
A BLAST FROM THE PAST: What life was like 50 years ago in America, compared to now
THE BAD
I COULD HAVE SWORN ATLAS SHRUGGED WAS WRITTEN AS A WARNING AND NOT A “HOW TO” MANUAL. (This article may be slow to load): SCIENTISTS BELIEVED COVID LEAKED FROM WUHAN LAB — BUT FEARED DEBATE COULD HURT ‘INTERNATIONAL HARMONY:’
But a leading scientist told Sir Jeremy that “further debate would do unnecessary harm to science in general and science in China in particular”. Dr Collins, the former director of the US National Institutes of Health, warned it could damage “international harmony”.
THIS IS AMERICA IN 2022: ‘It’s like a Soviet store during 1981:’ Grocery stores across the US have empty shelves as supply chain crisis and COVID combine to make basics like milk, bread, meat, canned soups and cleaning products hard to find.
THIS IS HOLLAND IN 2021, NOT GERMANY IN 1937:
THIS IS RHODE ISLAND IN 2021 NOT ST. PETERSBURG CIRCA 1927: Rhode Island Allowing COVID Positive Health Care Workers to Work Amid Shortages.
WHAT WE HAVE HERE FOLKS IS A PANDEMIC OF THE VACCINATED: Government report: 95% of omicron cases are among vaccinated!
MORE ON THE PANDEMIC OF THE “VACCINATED”: German gov't reports 96% of omicron cases are among fully vaccinated
IS THERE A SINGLE PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION IN THE COUNTRY THAT IS NOT IN THE HANDS OF THE SEPPUKU LEFT? My resignation from the American Psychological Association.
THINGS ARE GOING FROM BAD TO WORSE IN OUR RELATIONS WITH CHINA: China Developing ‘Brain-Control Weaponry’ To ‘Paralyze Opponents’
China is developing brain control weapons that could be used to paralyze and control opponents instead of killing them, the US has alleged.
America has sanctioned China's Academy of Military Medical Sciences and 11 affiliated research institutes for using 'biotechnology' to support the armed forces including 'purported brain-control weaponry'.
The Commerce Department, which blacklisted the Chinese institutes, did not go into detail about the weapons - but a separate tranche of military documents penned in 2019 gives hints at what Beijing is trying to achieve.
Instead of 'destroying bodies', China should focus on 'paralyzing and controlling the opponent' by 'attacking the enemy's will to resist', the report says. . . .
One official, speaking to the FT, said the technology that China is trying to develop includes 'gene editing, human performance enhancement [and] brain machine interfaces.'
MAYBE THE LEADERS OF THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY ARE NOT AS SMART AS SOME THINK. Why would they continue to invest in war technology when 1) they can continue to keep international flights flying from Wuhan to the rest of the world; and 2) the Ruling Class of the United States continues to commit national seppuku: China Reportedly Years Ahead of U.S. On Hypersonic Missiles With Heat-Seeking Technology.
REDNECKS OF THE WORLD UNITE! You have nothing to lose but your civilization: Is Western Civ on the Way Out?
NOT GOOD. Almost 86% of Republicans believe that American society and culture are in a state of decline, and yet about 80% sit on their hands and do nothing about it: Poll: Majority of Americans Believe America’s Society and Culture are ‘in a State of Decay’.
NATIONAL SUICIDE WATCH—German Edition. Everyone knows that nuclear energy is remarkably clean, efficient, and safe: Germany shuts three of its last six nuclear plants
RACISM HAS NO PLACE IN 21ST-CENTURY AMERICA: NYC Admits Prioritizing Race In Distributing COVID Tests
THE VALUE OF AN ECONOMICS PH.D. IS NOW IN A DEFLATION DEATH SPIRAL: Assistant professor of economics suggests considering price controls as a way to deal with inflation
BIDEN GETS FIRST MAJOR VICTORY: NAMED AS THE WORST PRESIDENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY. The 10 worst things Biden did in 2021.
THE LAND OF DISNEY WAS FUN WHILE IT LASTED: Trouble in Paradise: The Crumbling California Model
THE UGLY
DECLINE AND FALL OF LATE STAGE AMERICA (call me old-fashioned): USA Today: Pedophilia Is Merely ‘Inappropriate,’ ‘Among The Most Misunderstood’ Conditions In America.
AMERICAN HIGHER EDUCATION. This is what it’s teaching America’s young people. Just to be clear, this is not Tehran circa 1980.
. . . and THE BEAUTIFUL
I’M DELIGHTED TO SHARE WITH YOU A POETRY READING FROM MY OLD FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE, COLIN PEARCE. Expect more poems from Colin going forward.
P.S.: Don’t forget to submit your aesthetic recommendations to: redneckaesthetic@gmail.com. Please always use as your subject line: “The Beautiful.”
Enjoy the weekend!