ΟN A VIRUS —WHAT IS IT?

 Recently we have all heard so much about the flu virus and the new and scary “Covid 19” virus. But what are these infectious “bugs” that  cause the common cold and other diseases and so much disruption?   So what is a virus? 

You all (almost all of you) will remember  that each animal and plant cell has a nucleus (like a nut) embedded in “cell jelly” (protoplasm). Each cell is surrounded by  a thin membrane to keep things together and protect it.  You also have heard of DNA— the long chain complex molecule— that encodes and defines each cell and is found in the nucleus of every animals and plant  ell.  DNA is packed tightly into the nucleus (the word means “nut’)  which is located in the interior of  the jelly filled cell.  

DNA stores the master “code” (hereditary material) that controls duplication of the the cell and determines what that cell will look like and what it will do. DNA acts like the maestro at the head of an orchestra.  Imagine the orchestra as a single big cell. DNA in the nucleus operates to conduct the “music” of the cell.  Like an orchestra leader, it indicates  to the various cell components —in our orchestra analogy: such as the brass or string sections—what to play and when to play it—and how loud or soft.     All living things are made up of cells and must have DNA to control them.  

Bacteria are very simple plants. These single celld  primitive organisms are composed of a rigid outer cell coating made up of sugars and amino acids and an inner cell membrane, but no nucleus.  Their DNA—the master cell control center  (or “orchestra leader”) is dispersed throughout  the cell jelly and not confined into a little “nut”.  

Viruses are an even simpler and unique to class of “organism”.   They have no “cell”, no cell “jelly”, or cell membrane.   They are composed of only a strand or two of the “orchestra leader”  the encoding molecule which is surrounded by a protein or lipid (fatty)  sheath.  Some have DNA (it has two strands)  others have RNA ( only a single strand).  Thus a virus is an  “orchestra leader” with no orchestra to lead.  The virus survives by entering a cell and taking it over.     Viruses have evolved to attack many different animals and plants.  There are some viruses that attack only bacteria.  “New” viruses are often those which have simply switched from one host animal to another...like the coronavirus—which some believe was originally adapted to attack the Pangolin—or others claim it was a bat virus. 

 If these virus “bugs” are indeed “living” they are reduced to the simplest possible form—only a strand of DNA or RNA which can control a cell-if it had one.  A virus  might be analogous to a conductor without an orchestra. just waiting for the opportunity to take over a group of musicians to conduct. 

No one knows for sure how these virus entities evolved.  Did they just “slim down” as a result of  evolutionary adaptation from a former tiny cellular organism? Or are they the holdovers  from the earliest stages of life—the  primordial organism from which all other life evolved?  I suspect it must have been the former—since they seem to have adapted to attack more complex cells.  Thus  they must have come on the scene later on—after more complex cells had evolved.  

Since viruses are composed of only a few strands of nuclear material,  they must be, indeed very very small. They are much smaller than a cell or the nucleus of most cells.  (Imagine an average hen’s egg as a typical human cell.  The size of a virus relative to that human “cell” would be smaller than a poppy seed (in fact, about 1/4 the size of an average poppy seed)

The virus’  survival plan is correspondingly simple as well .  They must enter a host cell and take over that cell to survive and reproduce (replicate) new copies of themselves inside the cell.   They have evolved various strategies to get close to living cells in  a l organism like a plant or animal) and then somehow squeeze their way through the host cell’s protective cell membrane and enter into the cell “jelly”.   Once Inside,  they take control over that cell.  In fact they destroy that cell’s own DNA and substitute their nuclear material.   Inside the cell they use the substance of cell jelly and other parts to reproduce their own nuclear material, finally destroying the host’s cells and converting its substance into copies of itself. These  break out and spread far and wide to infect other cells.  It is assumed that these “beak out” cells are the one that are found in the mucus and other body fluids of the host.. By destroying so many host cells to covert them into virus entities is not good for the host. The host begins to feel sick when it’s lung,liver, or kidney cells are being destroyed to become a bunch of virus units.  

Imagine the band leader of a Hard Rock Band—like “Metallica”— as if he (or she) was a virus. The Metallica band leader  wanders around the music world  alone with no band to lead.  At some point it encounters an orchestra playing within a philharmonic theater—and  sneaks its way inside  where a full symphony orchestra is performing Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.  Pushing aside the tuxedo-clad maestro at the rostrum, the Metallica (virus) band leader rips the baton from the maestro’s hand and  pushes him off the rostrum. Then he begins directing the now confused members of the  orchestra’s strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion sections into playing a cacophony  of awful  dissonance.  Finally, in full control and with the players  responding to commands—the orchestra begin to play “Rock a Billy” in a “Metallica style.  

As that “music” takes hold each of the orchestra members begins to turn magically into a physical a copy of the Metallica band leader.  As this change progresses the sounds from the instruments  fades and stops—when all the instruments and musicians have turned into clones of the Metallica band leader.  These  newly formed band leaders —now race out of the theater to spread out in a frantic  search to find a new symphony orchestra to take over.  Ugh! 

In the human body a virus may enter your nasal cavity and enter the membrane of an epithelial cell.  It makes these cells work extra hard producing secretions that make your nose drip.  You get the sniffles and sneezes.   These outpourings of fluid are populated with the new viruses.  They can give you a runny nose and make you sneeze or cough.  Sneezing and coughing are the means viruses use to help disperse the virus copies it has  made in the cells it has taken over.  When a person sneezes the fluid droplets enter the air and are light enough to remain suspended for some time.  If you are close enough—within 6-10 feet— you may breathe in these droplets.  That is what the virus’ life plan mostly depends on.  Getting one host to sneeze and another host near-by to inhale its newly created virus copies.  The fact that humans like to be close together is part of the virus’ evolutionary plan.  It depends on this for survival.  

In very dry air —like cold winter air that has been drawn in from the outside and then been heated, like in a warm house air,  a. movie theater or school room—these liquid droplets begin to evaporate fluid our of the drop and into the air.  Under these circumstances the drop loses moisture to the air and  decreases in size as evaporation continues.  But as a smaller droplet, it has less and less attraction to the earth due to the laws of gravity.  Also as a very tiny particle it can stay lofted for very long periods of time.  Even tiny air currents like someone’s hand moving through the air can loft it up higher.  So in dry interior air especially in winter the droplets can become very very small and thus remain lofted for very long periods.  This makes them even more dangerous in winter and in enclosed places.  These very small drops (aerosols) can be breathed in an may then be drawn far down into human lungs where they may cause more severe forms of the flu like disease. 

But even if no new host inhales the infected droplets —the virus has a back up plan too.  Eventually, some of these floating droplets will settle out of the air like dust or pollen to form an invisible  film.  They will adhere to  surfaces like tables, chairs, desks, clothes and even the floor  They can remain infective on surfaces for log periods of time...hours on some surfaces days on others.  If you touch these places,  then put your hand to your eyes, your nose, or you mouth you can self-infect.   The virus seems to have evolved in such a way as to take advantage of the fact that humans have a natural habit of touching their face—nose, eyes and mouth—sometimes several times a minute.  The virus depends on that habit to move itself  right into the very places it prefers—the mucus membranes of the eyes, mouth and nose. 

One thing more.  The fatty coating on the exterior of the virus which protects the nuclear material inside is subject to the action of soap—just like grease stains on your hands.  That is why thorough hand washing with foamy soap and warm water is so effective.  The soap molecule has the ability to attach itself to both water and oil or fats. One end of its molecule attaches to the fatty covering on the virus and the other end continues to adhere to the other water molecules—the result is that the soap action tends to pull this outer coating of the virus apart.  It breaks up the outer coating and carries it away with the soap bubbles.  That exposes the interior nuclear materials to the soap, water, bases and acids of the external environment which denatures them—renders them no longer viable.  

So I hope that this helps you to understand something about viruses—as well as the importance of avoiding infection.   Avoid places where people are coughing or sneezing. Stay out of crowds, stop touching your face and mouth and wash your hands regularly.  

Got the idea? 

ON MA PARKER’S TREE —IN BROOKLYN

In my youth in the 1950s a great American plane tree ( Platanus occidentalis )  a seventy foot tall sycamore—dominated the sidewalk on our city block in Brooklyn’s New Utrecht neighborhood.   The tree’s massive, shaggy-barked bole was so big four giggling ten year old kids holding hands couldn't join together to reach around it.  Its great curling roots, like those that entwined Laocooon and his sons, rose from the pebbly red soil  to lift and  crack the sidewalk squares and push the carefully laid NY City stone curbing out of line.  Local elders reminisced that the widow, Ma Parker,  the first person to own the 1920s era house in front of which it grew—planted the tree in honor of her son who fell at Belleau Wood, France during WW I. 

In the concrete and asphalt canyons of my youth in Brooklyn Ma Parker’s tree was always there  a sign of persistent nature..growing across from my house so I could always look through a grime soot stained glass and see it in its tangled natural magnificence.  It seemed to boldly assert the existence of  another  green and natural world—among the smog, noise, smoke, brick and asphalt in hard angled surfaces of a man-made world I knew only.

In summer the first birds species I came to know—the English Sparrow and the Starling— twittered among its shade dappled branches.  Its young and fuzzy gray-green buds sprouted in the Spring into bright green tri-lobed  leaves to wave and tremble in the summer breeze.  Its light and dark shadow patterns cooled the asphalt and concrete from which it sprang.  A great branch arising close to the ground  above its swelling base,  gave access to agile and adventurous  youngsters into the secrets of its higher (and dangerous) cool and shadowy branches.  Below, in the tree’s cool shade Johnny Rico’s grandma dozed in her rickety chair on the red brick stoop.  Above her, birds sang among the branches and gray squirrels ghosted lightly from limb to limb.  In the Fall, the  leaves turned  red and gold and as winter approached they browned and curled up like old man’s hands to fall on asphalt and concrete —unable to return as humus to the asphalt covered earth. Winter winds pushed up brown leaf windrows and woolen covered kids happily shuffled among them just to hear the leaves complain.  It was in those cold gray days that one noticed the hanging seed balls —“itchy balls’ we called them— which only then became apparent among bare leaved terminal branches of Ma Parker’s tree.  

Our block’s well loved sycamore boldly asserted to our young minds each day of the year and in each season that someplace outside of our cityscape world there exited another land—of clean fresh air and greenery where nature ruled over man.  Each year, like a persistent weed growing in a concrete crack it sprouted its green leaves and made us watch the grand designs of nature as it grew to top over the highest local roofs.  Its very existence, against all odds— its age and permanence — asserted to us that the natural world existed —even if out of our view—in the form of this massive tree—too big to tame, too massive to cut down. It was there to state the ascendency of Mother Nature over what mere humans could devise for for us and our earth.

ON RON DESANTIS, OPEN BEACHES, COVID!9, MORTALITY CURVES

Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida (R FL) continues to make weak and  irresponsible excuses for NOT closing the Florida beaches. These ciastal strips of sun drenched sand are venues where our nation’s youths fully bare their skin and drink themselves into oblivion.  These places  continue to act as the “Siren’s Call” for  irresponsible Americans—the “Spring Breakers” and the politicians who facilitate their dangerous behavior.  These youngsters with more testosterone (or progesterone) and alcohol in their blood than is good for them might be partly excused—they simply are not that smart or don’t know any better.  But adult politicians should.  

These youngsters are the perfect example of how we as a wealthy, permissive  nation have all fallen into self destructive and often dangerous practices that ignore the dictates and imperatives of biology and evolution.  These young people envision themselves as invulnerable to the laws of nature.  Their behavior once only affected themselves -in surges odf STDs and evolution of drug resistant bugs which can not be cured.   Misinformed “students” ignore safe health practices and the surge in STDs and other diseases prove it. In the past our advanced medical technology provided cures for STDs and similar diseases, but that was then. Today there is no cure for the Wuhan corona virus.  

Spring Break is the perfect example of what NOT to do during a pandemic and national crisis.  So In the age of Chinese pandemics the free-for-all  in Florida and elsewhere are no longer safe or permissible   Perhaps we can understand the poor behavior of these less than fully mature youths —and the mental lapse of their parents who pay for this dangerous stupidity, but what about those elected officials who act to facilitate such behaviors?. 

Let’s take the example of Republican Governor Ron De Santis.  DeSantis has refused to close down the Florida beaches bars and restaurants where these irresponsible youngsters congregate, drink excessively and pass body fluids between multiple partners many of which are surely laced with the Covid19 virus as well as your common STDs, fungi, bacteria and flu viruses.   When these still-financially dependent “students” return home to their families—they will surely carry with them this opportunistic Covid 19 pathogen  to infect their unsuspecting local friends, siblings, parents and grandparents—all across this nation.  

DeSantis as the new governor (seated 2019) is obviously putting the financial well-being and profits of the Florida beach, bar and hotel establishments- ahead of the lives and physical well being of the nation as a whole.  At a time when the rest of the nation’s businesses are shuttered and facing debt and despair, DeSantis has permitted Florida establishments to stay open and profit from the misbehavior of many.  But this act is not just self serving.  By permitting these places to operate he also places the rest of the nation in danger by creating young “Typhoid Marys” of these students as they become unknowing vectors of this deadly disease all across the nation.  

 In January of this year  the  President, learning about the Covid 19 outbreak in China closed our borders to the Chinese.  He did so in the face of stiff political opposition and opprobrium from the media, from business interests  as well as the “politically correct” crowd.  He was called a “racist” and worse for acting to protect us from the menace of Chinese carrying the virus to this nation.  Ron DeSantis’ behavior in this crisis is a stark comparison with that of the President. .  DeSantis is still stuck in the old pre-pandemic way of thinking; “what’s best for me?”, which is on a par with the youthful spring breakers whose behaviors he is facilitating.

So when the infection and mortality curve that our illustrious Dr Fauci keeps warning us about,  rises into a steep exponential climb after these spring breakers go home and infect others,  in good part we can thank Gov DeSantis of Florida for keeping the beaches open.  

(The Italians who have a large number of Chinese nationals working in the textile industry in northern Italy (Milan).  To accommodate these individuals they had daily direct flights from Wuhan City to Italy. After the outbreak was reported the Italian government blithely (or cowardly) failed to close down those flights and the human sources of infection from China.  They suffered for that act of hesitation, serving the interests of powerful industries, self-serving, political correctness (and stupidity) .  Italy ( a nation of only 60 million) now has a death rate higher than that of China (1.4 billion population) where the virus originated.  So it is clear that in times of crisis being politically correct can have deadly consequences. )

On the Huston Astros Sign Stealing Scandal—A Sign of the Times?

Our world is changing (deteriorating)so fast. Can our national sport not be immune? 

The allure of baseball...the quintessential American game— is its promise of spring training,  thrill of opening day, the sight of the green infield diamond and sandy pitcher’s mound,  the white pentagon of home plate, as well  the green, oh so bright  green of an the outfield grass in an urban park. It is the brings the promise of a 162 game season,  number-crunching of batting and pitching statistics, and the easy relaxed pace of play on a summer day....all interspersed with the roar of the crowd when a homer scorches through the sky and into the bleachers.  And most importantly for America the game supports feelings of decency and good sportsmanship.

The recent scandal of the Huston Astros has smeared our national game.  

What did they do? 

The essence of  baseball is a duel in the sun  between a burly  batter of team one and a slim, lithe pitcher of the other team. The latter  stands on a slight elevated mound where he gracefully delivers a sewn, leather-covered sphere —the hardball—so it speeds over the white pentagon of home plate 60.5 feet away.  The contest combines elements of.deadly Spanish bull fighting, and dangerous  swordplay, with the quiet strategy of (boring and horribly confusing) British cricket.  Sadly the mental and physical combat between pitcher and batter—the main contestants—  is mostly hidden from the fans—even those in the best box seats down near home plate.   It is this pure essence of combat between equal opponents which the Astros schemed to overturn and upset for their own base motives. 

In this silent battle, the catcher, garbed like a medieval jouster  in his face mask and padded outfit and armed with a huge  round leather “mitt” to safely intercept the 95 + mile per hour hardball thrown from pitcher’s mound to batter.  The batter’s goal is to hit the ball and drive it as far as he can. While the objective of the pitcher is  to prevent his opponent from achieving his goal.  

The pitcher and catcher work together to achieve their goal in this sun drenched  ballet  on grass and sand supported by massive amounts of money, notoriety all organized by Major League Baseball teams in two major leagues..

The catcher is the only player who can see the entire field, arrayed behind the pitcher where threats like baserunners and shifting player positions can be seen.  He also knows the batting predilections and propensities of the particular opposing player in the batter’s box.. He knows where this guy likes to swing his fat hickory stick to possibly send the ball driving just over the pitcher’s head or skyward into the bleachers.  To facilitate their strategy to strike out  this batter catcher and pitcher work together as a team.  The catcher  signals the pitcher as to what type of pitch to throw, and where to direct it  so as to fool the batter so his mighty swings miss the ball three times.  Or he is fooled by passing up balls within  the strike zone that he passes p on. In either case—swinging out or being called out—after “three” he must retire him in defeat to his  dugout.  

How it works.  After agreeing to the signal from the catcher, the pitcher in his windup arches backward like  a  limber fishing rod then lurches forward  his lower body moving faster and his upper body, arm and ball hand  lagging behind to accentuate the  slinging motion that must be made as he springs forward. Then with a final crisp snap of his wrist, the ball flies off —-aimed at the narrow 17 inch wide (batter’s shoulders to kneecap height) target of home plate.  

The ball speeds away from the relaxed hand, taking only 1/4 of a second  to reach the plate. In that instant  the batter must decide— is this ball a strike (over the plate and above my knees up to about elbow height ), or a ball (out of the strike zone). If its within the strike zone and the batter does not swing—he is penalized with a called “strike”. The umpire standing behind, watching all, will call “strike!”. (It’s of course “three strikes —you’re out”).  So in that 0.25 second interval the batter must decide—“shall I swing or not?”.  The batter box  is no place for slow thinkers or “pitch shoppers”. 

Those are the essential elements, but the  actual contest is more complex—and intriguing. While the batter wields a fearsome looking 2.6 inch thick mass of hickory wood club to swing in an powerful arc to intercept the speeding ball (the ball is a tiny bit wider at 3 inches in diameter), the pitcher also has an array of tricks and stratagems to prevent the colossal  collision of wood and leather—and a “hit” or home run— from happening.  As a result the contest between batter and pitcher are always in delicate exquisite balance.  Only the most talented and best trained pitcher can strike out a great hitter and visa versa. 

On the pitcher’s side  he  can snap his wrist at the last millisecond of ball-release to alter the flight of the ball in several subtle and different ways. The wrist snap is often coupled with a grip of the ball  dominated by one or more of his fingers in such a way that the ball will leave the hand rotating one way or another in the air —and this rotation affects ball flight—generating various curving paths over its only one-quarter second flight.  Most pitchers can throw a “fast ball”( straight, no curve and very fast flight); a “change up” (slow and curving flight), a “curve ball” (slower,  but with a sharp change in direction just before reaching the plate) and several variations of these—such as the slider and screw ball.  

In addition to this the catcher-pitcher team use psychology in an attempt to “play” the batter by accustoming him  to one ball speed, curving flight or direction, and then confusing him with a change of speed or type of pitch.  Typically a series of curve balls might be followed by a “fast ball”,  or a  “change up”.  Strategy:Get him to see your curve ball.  Make him miss it. Then follow this pitch with a “change up”, a slow ball that may make him swing too early.  It is a cat and mouse game between two highly trained, practiced and determined opponents.  There are other stratagems as well.  The pitcher-catcher team my direct the ball to the outside of the plate—just inside enough to be  a  strike, then throw the next one on the inside—so close that the batter may have to back up. These stratagems are the essence, of the real contest going on at home plate.  

To effectively play this game, the pitcher-catcher team must cooperate and effectively communicate.  The catcher uses hand signals (generally) to indicate to the pitcher what pitch to throw.  When the catcher crouches down behind the plate ready to catch the pitch,  he uses his throwing hand, held close to his crotch to signal to the pitcher. Down in his crouch only the pitcher can see his hand and the signals he is sending.  Often one finger held down between the catcher’s thighs is a call for a fast ball, two fingers—a curve ball, three fingers a change up, four fingers calls for a slider (etc)   These signals can be modified to be used to designate “in” (close to the batter)  and “out” pitches too. 

These are the intriguing aspects  of play that most fans do no see, but are the essential—critical components of the game that decide wins or losses. . The central contest of the game is that between the batter and pitcher.  The infielders and outfielders —the part the fans can observe  clearly on field —and roar or boo over—are only one-half of the game—the defense side.  The offensive part —the main part—of the game is that which is taking place mostly unseen between batter and the pitcher-catcher team. 

It now must be clear to you my readers,  that if a batter knows exactly  just what type of pitch is coming next, he has a great advantage over the pitcher.  He could  more effectively hit it. And he can not be “played” by the pitcher.  Such knowledge could change the outcomes of games—enabling a less proficient team to win over a more practiced better trained team.   That’s just what the Huston Astro’s did in 2017 -2018 games.

Stealing catcher’s hand signs is cheating.  Just as a golfer moving his ball to a better lie, or ignoring the  two extra strokes he or she took in that sand bunker is—- cheating. Stealing signs in baseball goes to the essence, the heart of the game—it should not be tolerated. 

But that’s just what the Huston Astros did in the 2017 and 2018 seasons.  They used elaborate scheme and modern technology to video-graph the opposing team catcher with a telephoto lens set in the bleachers in a centerfield position. From that position they could telescopes in on the catcher’s legs while he is in his crouch. The video of the catcher signaling the pitcher was was transmitted to a bunker behind the Astro’s dugout, where a team member would be posted. The Astro team member viewing the video screen would identify the sign and then signal the batter at the plate  by some means.  The Astro’s  used various methods to indicate to the batter shat pitch was coming—such as flashing lights, loud whistles, and most often the sound generated by rapping a baseball bat against an empty metal garbage can.  These signals indicated the next pitch would be.  

A recent investigation by MLB just released (January 2020) revealed the details of the scheme , who participated, and what technology  they used. They stole signs mostly at home games during the 2017 season, and post season 2017, during which they won the league Pennant and then won the World Series.  

The Astros gave baseball and the MLB organization a black eye.  They hurt us all. 

Rush Limbaugh a homophobe? No!

Rush Limbaugh recently commented negatively on presidential candidate Pete Buttiigieg’s openly expressed  homosexuality and same sex marriage.

Limbaugh was immediately labeled a “homophobe” by the main stream “progressive” media.  

Homophobia is a misnomer coined by homosexuals to obscure the reality of their behavior.  (Let us not ignore the pain and suffering of youthful victims of sexual predators as well as the economic fall out of massive abuse case suits, in the billions of dollars, against the Diocese of Catholic Churches and  the Boy Scouts of America).

Men do not experience “homophobia” when they are forced to encounter blaring homosexuality.  They experience only revulsion.  The term “homophobia” suggests ”fear” of homosexuals.  There is no fear.  The actual feelings engendered are closer to disgust and revulsion. The sensation is akin to that experienced watching someone at your dinner table determined to verbally express themselves forcefully  with their mouth full of partly chewed food.  Thus a more accurate term for this form of human aberration  is “homorevlsion” not homophobia.

Rush Limbaugh is not homophobic but simply expressing a form of  valid homorevulsion.

CHINESE EXCHANGE—WE GET VIRUS THEY GET GOOD JOBS

The Chinese got our technology and our factories and millions of our well-paying jobs; while as a result of the “Chines Exchange”  we got the Asian Flu SARS and the 2019 novel Corona Virus.  Globalization was a boon to China—and the top 1/10 of one percent of our big shots—the rest of us got the short end of the stick.  When do our political  leaders right and left get the point? 

In 1972 -the same year of President Richard Nixon’s now infamous “opening to China” American author Alfred Crosby published a book on environmental history entitled: “The Columbian Exchange” .  Crosby’s book  documented the exchanges of culture, goods, animals and plants which were passed between Europe and the New World after 1492.  Cosby  named the process after Christopher Columbus.   In the Colombian “exchange” European explorers came back to Europe with new plants such as corn (maize), potatoes, tomatoes, coffee(!) and tobacco (and many others) :  while Europeans brought with them as introductions to the New World animas such as horses, pigs, chickens, goats, donkeys, and even the honey bee, to the New World.  Sadly it was not only the critters they carried in the holds of their ships but also disease that European explorers carried with them.  When they landed in the New World they introduced  all the common communicable diseases of Europe and the west: the mumps, plague, small pox, chicken pox  and malaria. Some claim western indigenous natives may have carried syphilis which was carried by European sailors back hometo the west.  These western common childhood diseases often devastated whole tribes and communities of indigenous peoples who had no resistance to these common diseases.  In those years of the exchanges the main impetus for the Colombian exchanges were —simple greed.  Men could make a tidy profit if you had sole access to a new plant or new animal.  

Well nothing much has changed.    

Today we are still experiencing the fallout from an later cultural and economic exchange—this one between the USA and China—the  “Nixonian exchange”.  It was President Richard Nixon who got the brilliant idea in 1972, to normalize relations with China.  Nixon saw his “opening”  as a ploy to build  leverage over the  Soviet Union—At that time we were fighting  what was termed a Cold War conflict with the Soviet Union.  The objectives were to force concessions from the Soviets and —what was so brilliant about it —was that it would make a lot of American business men enormously rich.  Again the motive was profits.  US companies greedily eyed the potential profits which were right there before them in they could get access to the billions of Chinese consumers.  Nothing much has changed since 1972 —our leaders and our business leaders are still bending over backwards to the Chinese—even givinging up technological secrets—just to get access to those 1.4 billion consumers (2020)  which increase by a rate of 7 million more consumers annually . 

Just as in the Colombian Exchange, the driving force for the Nixonian Exchange was profits and greed.  Nixon and his scheming side kick Kissinger had no thought of long term consequences for the US worker.  In 1972 who would have thought that the USA would eventually transfer its top technology, its know how and well-paying  jobs of million upon millions of American workers to tiny villages in China and the eager low wage Chinese workers.  Why?  Because business owners,entrepreneurs  and elites could line their pockets with gold by cutting labor costs, production costs, sell their product to billions of Chinese for enormous profits while continuing  to hold market share in the USA in communities they abandoned to joblessness, empty rusting factories and hollowed middle working class.  The massive disparity between righ and middle class we have here in the USA which Democrats so often point to—yeah its true.  Bernie Sanders often states that the top 0.1% (1/10 of 1 %) owns more wealth than the bottom 90%. Well it is true.  We have more multi billionaires than any other place on earth.  How did it get that way?  Most of it happened after 1972 and the Chinese Exchanve.  You can credit Nixon and every Democrat and Republican administration since that time.  They were all in on the robbery of the American middle class worker.  

But the icing on the cake is that not only did they rob us of our jobs, steal our technology, threaten our military and naval superiority, and have plans to dominate the world—but they are continually sending us terrible deadly diseases as well.  

While the Democrats are pointing at the perfidy of poor Putin—the real bad guys are the ones in China....they are “le perile jaune “. 

Since the “China Exchange” (we get disease they get US jobs and technology secrets) is not likely to change much over the near future, we must reevaluate how we operate at present.   We in the USA should reconsider our pact with China —our illogical embrace of globalization —a system which hurts many and profits only the few.  As well it is now apparent that China can not be a reliable partner. It is hog tied with a massive population only recently elevated from a third world form of agriculture and ancient culinary practices which increase possibility  of animal to human virus exchanges which have generated our most deadly diseases—HIV. SARS. MERS, Wigan virus,  etc.  Our survival both economically  and militarily depends on  being more independent in many ways. Our present high dependency on manufactured goods (and pharmaceuticals) from China is a dangerous and precarious situation.

And yes lets get sensible about these massive cruise ships we permit to operate from our ports which are nothing more than floating Petru dishes for human disease.  Anyone who is foolhardy enough to board one is putting their health and life in jeopardy.  They are a health threat (an abomination)  to the ports and cities in which they dock to disgorge thousands of disease bearing tourists  Again greed and stupidity motivate the supporters of these monstrosities.

Furthermore, we need better screening and interdiction and quarantine procedures at our busy (casual) airports in an age of potential deadly biohazards. This is now (an for the foreseeable future) an era when rapidly evolving incurable pathogens are likely to spread worldwide.  Our trade practices and all too common air transportation (and passenger crowding) are ideal for opportunistic germs but make our nation highly vulnerable to the pandemics they generate.

Let’s not forget that Mexican-border wall either.  We can not abide with “open borders” in an age when undocumented, unevaluated migrants and potential vectors of deadly disease can simply cross our border and enter vulnerable population centers at will. Though at this writing there is only a modest threat there that situation is likely to change.  It is likely that illegal migrants desperate to enter the USA may carry incurable diseases like the novel Corona virus and other potential pathogens that have the potentially  infect millions of our citizens.  

  

  

NANCY’S TANTRUM WILL LIVE ON IN INFAMY

Like an angry and impotent housewife in her own kitchen tossing dirty dinner dishes into the sink after a domestic row, Nancy Pelosi, unable to control her hyper-rage, frustration and sense of utter impotence, stood behind President Trump last night as he finished his third State of the Union Speech, and methodically tore up her formal copy of the President’s formal speech piece by piece and tossed them on the dais.  

Over these last weeks, since the House impeachment,  when asked if “the House action was worth it?”  Ms Pelosi, her lips curled and canines bared  in anger responded: “the President  might be acquitted by the Senate,  but he will always be impeached”.  

With her actions last night, Nancy has now joined the President in infamy.  For after her childish  display of uncontrolled hissy fit rage at the head of the  House of the People,  she, as the first female Speaker will be forever tagged as unable to contain her emotions.  She bared her weakness and vitriol  to the world.

If anyone was unaware of how debilitating and dangerous the Trump-Derangement-Syndrome (TDS)  was for the nation’s leaders here in front of us was the typical way the disease is presented.  . The pathogen is rampant in Democrats ranks.  (And one GOP Senatoris apparently affected as well ).  This mental disorder clearly affects the victim’s  performance in the halls of Congress, and Senate. The etiology of TDS is derived from the victim’s embarrassing loss in 2016 and their continual and ineffective often deranged responses.  Nancy’s  tantrum has only exposed clearly how uncontrolled hate can debilitate.  Can the nation  expect normal behavior from these folks? .

Over the last three and a half years the Democrats, in collusion with the media, holdovers from the former Obama Administration, our government entrenched bureaucracy, the liberal establishment, and Ms. Pelosi and her team of white-cloaked Congressional harridans have all colluded, plotted and schemed to unseat this President.  (They forget or ignore the fact that this man has the mandate of a legitimate election)   But to their despair their plots and schemes have all failed miserably.  

The early sinister attempt at a “palace coup” and the scheme to enact the 25^th Amendment, the sinister traitorous acts of  rogue elements of the FBI and CIA, the Russian Collusion scam, the Ukraine conspiracy, and finally the hastily patched together “whistleblower” and   “Pelosi impeachment attempt” were all massive failures.  

To add to the Speaker Pelosi’s  rage, was her sense of failure, impotence and impending doom resulting from the historic and massive disaster of the Iowa Caucus debacle of the previous night in which the Iowa Democrat party could not successfully determine  the results of who among their frighteningly unimpressive slate of candidates actually won the first election challenge of the 2020  cycle.  

Apparently,  Nancy’s 78 year old mind is simply not up to the challenge of these continual and reoccurring failures and disappointments. Then to top it off she was forced to sit behind the Democrat’s “bete noire” and listen to the President tout a long list of his legitimate accomplishments made in spite of the Democrat attacks.  So she sat there with her eyes darting left and right, and  her face contorted with Commissioner Dreyfus-like (recalling inspector Cluseau) twitches and smiles. Her nemesis,  President Trump after all these attacks was still standing post impeachment, and now even more popular than ever.  Only an arm’s length away he pounded his drum loudly like the TV commercial’s ‘Energizer  Bunny”.   Nancy’s mind snapped, her legs stiffened reflexively bolting her upright, but unwilling to pull out her carefully and meticulously coifed hair,  she turned instead to the offending document in her hands, the formal copy of the President’s speech—which she ripped apart and tossed around the dais.  

One can almost (but not quite—considering all the pain, suffering and waste of time and tax dollars she has engendered in her pursuit of revenge and hate) feel a bit sorry for her.