Author Archena Posted on February 10, 2023February 10, 2023Categories Current, FridayTags , , , , , , ,

Basic Reasoning 101

No, it’s not the beginning of a logic course. Nor am I going to explain the intricacies of drafting an argument – virtually no one actually needs to know how to argue formally so why bother? There are things we can learn from formal argument like who has the right of way. Seriously, fancy term is the burden of proof. Basically, you state it as fact or conclusion, you own the burden of proving it really is a fact or … Continue reading “Basic Reasoning 101”

Author Archena Posted on February 8, 2023February 8, 2023Categories Current, WednesdayTags , , , , , , , , , , ,

COVID 19 Time for Truth: US Edition

Below you will find a link to a fairly dry little video of a doctor going over the latest research out of Italy. I fully agree with him that it’s pathetic that we have to wait for Italy to do what EVERY developed nation should have been doing, most especially the US. Here’s the TL;DR: Vitamin D is shown to reduce hospitalization and incidence of death. In normal people speak, vitamin D helps you fight off C19 so that you … Continue reading “COVID 19 Time for Truth: US Edition”

Author Archena Posted on February 6, 2023February 5, 2023Categories MondayTags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

COVID 19 Time for Truth: China Edition

I am a cranky old lady with 18 years disease control experience, two degrees in Political Science and no patience left for nonsense. Any questions? No? Good. The entire response to the panicdemic was botched. The WHO and ESPECIALLY the CDC knew better than the crap they were pulling. We here in the United States have over EIGHTY YEARS of successful disease intervention. We lead the charge in ERADICATING small pox. We DANGED WELL know how to handle a respiratory … Continue reading “COVID 19 Time for Truth: China Edition”

Author Archena Posted on February 3, 2023February 3, 2023Categories Current, FridayTags , , , , ,

The World Can’t be America

Which works out just fine – they don’t want to be nor should they. We have this goofy idea that nationalism is inherently a bad thing. Like all isms, it can be taken way too far. Any ideology can be made into a bad thing by taking it to extremes. But BOTH extremes are bad. Do you fix a broken cup? Most of the time the answer is no but what if it belonged to your grandmother and was special … Continue reading “The World Can’t be America”

Author Archena Posted on February 1, 2023January 31, 2023Categories Current, WednesdayTags , , , , ,

Why Arizona Elections Matter

Simple, letting cheaters get away with it is the same as destroying the system they are cheating within. See you next… Again? Okay, so let’s break it down. If you can guess which cup the pea is under I will give you two dollars. But if you guess wrong you will give me one dollar. Gambling is a lousy way to invest, just so you know. Odds favor the house or the house wouldn’t be in business. But hey, if … Continue reading “Why Arizona Elections Matter”

Author Archena Posted on January 30, 2023January 30, 2023Categories Current, MondayTags , , , , ,

Between Globalism and Isolationism

Okay, so globalism bad, we should just keep to ourselves and not bother the rest of the planet, right? Yeah, that so isn’t going to work. America was born in humble beginnings – we were a podunk backwater that only attracted riff raff and no respectable person went. But we grew up into a podunk backwater with a lot of perfectly respectable folks and some really big ideas about liberty and freedom. We were by nature cocky and self assured … Continue reading “Between Globalism and Isolationism”

Author Archena Posted on January 28, 2023January 28, 2023Categories Current, FridayTags , , , , , , ,

Ism Spectrum

We political scientists like to classify things. Put nice labels on it and shove it on the shelf where those things go – very scientific. Makes ’em easier to categorize so we can do statistics! Yeah, it annoys the heck out of the statisticians but what do they know? They were the ones that came up with the whole ‘stick everything in a category’ thing. Add science to politics and sausage making – things no one really wants to know … Continue reading “Ism Spectrum”

Author Archena Posted on January 25, 2023January 18, 2023Categories Current, WednesdayTags , , , , , , , , , , ,

Protecting American Freedoms is the Best Thing America Can do for the Rest of the World

Obviously. What? That’s not obvious to you? What they heck did they teach you kids in school? Can’t do math, can’t half read, can’t pay attention – How’d you end up worse than MY generation? Seriously, we grew up on Westerns and Tarzan, roaming the neighborhoods until dark, with permanently skinned knees, hyped on boatloads of sugar and watching way too much TV – we were supposed to be the space cases, not you kids! Do yourselves a favor, try … Continue reading “Protecting American Freedoms is the Best Thing America Can do for the Rest of the World”

Author Archena Posted on January 23, 2023January 18, 2023Categories Current, MondayTags , , , , ,

Is There Anything in the World Besides Russia and China?

Sure. Australia. See y’all la… What? You weren’t kidding? Sigh… Okay, let’s lay this out straight. Nations-states can rub their tummies and pat their heads at the same time because nation-states are made up of LOTS of people and have a bunch of those people working in their governments. No one person has to do it all. Individual humans have limitations. We can’t know everything we need to know at any given moment about the whole world. A supercomputer couldn’t … Continue reading “Is There Anything in the World Besides Russia and China?”

Author Archena Posted on January 20, 2023January 18, 2023Categories Current, FridayTags , , ,

Healthy Skepticism and Government

I’m a cranky old lady. I think we’ve covered that before but let’s just get it out in the open. As a cranky old lady, I come with a large dose of cynicism and a cat. The cat doesn’t care about politics but she also doesn’t care about her litterbox so maybe she’s not a great role model, especially not for other cats. I’m not a role model; I’m way too cranky for that. Crankiness tends to breed both cynicism … Continue reading “Healthy Skepticism and Government”