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Ruth King

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

So much for ‘the tragedy of the treadmill delayed’ in supply chain crisis — FDA warns of 100 vital drug shortages By Monica Showalter

By on December 7th, 2021

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/12/so_much_for_the_tragedy_of_the_treadmill_delayed_in_supply_chain_crisis__fda_warns_of_100_vital_drug_shortages.html

Over at the White House, the ongoing supply chain fiasco, which has left dozens of cargo ships stranded near West Coast ports awaiting offloads, is considered something of a joke.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki came under fire on Tuesday after joking that it’s a “tragedy” some people may have to wait longer for their treadmill to arrive amid the supply-chain crisis that has disrupted global economies.

“The tragedy of the treadmill delayed,” Ms. Psaki laughed when pressed about the supply-chain crisis during her daily press briefing.

Well, now we’re learning what’s really going on here from JustTheNews:

More than 100 pharmaceutical drugs are facing supply chain shortages, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned.

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EDUCATION Comments turned off

Remote Learning Fails the Test New research finds student scores fell more sharply where virtual learning was prevalent.

By on December 7th, 2021

https://www.wsj.com/articles/remote-learning-fails-the-test-nber-study-schools-11638463245?mod=opinion_lead_pos2

Accumulating evidence shows the damage of school shutdowns. Now a working paper published in the National Bureau of Economic Research documents how much remote learning reduced student achievement, especially for low-income and minority children.

The researchers—from Brown University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and MIT—examine the relationship between in-person learning and third- through eighth-grade student scores in 12 states. They found that the share of students who scored “proficient” or above declined in spring 2021 compared to previous years by an average of 14.2 percentage points in math and 6.3 percentage points in language arts.

What’s more, “these declines were larger in districts with less in-person instruction,” the authors note. For example, they found that “offering full in-person instruction rather than fully hybrid or virtual instruction reduces test score losses in math by 10.1 percentage points (on the base of 14.2 percentage points).” In language arts, the losses for full in-person instruction were cut by 3.2 percentage points. In short, remote and hybrid instruction were linked to two to three times more learning loss.

Losses in language arts were “significantly larger in districts with larger populations of students who are Black, Hispanic or eligible for free and reduced price lunch,” the researchers note. This isn’t surprising since lower-income parents may not have had the time or financial means to provide additional academic support to children. But here’s the kicker: The study also found that districts with lower test scores and more black students also offered less in-person learning.

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FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

The U.S. Needs a Hypersonic Capability Now Washington mothballed its program just as Beijing made developing the technology a priority. By Arthur Herman

By on December 7th, 2021

https://www.wsj.com/articles/america-needs-a-hypersonic-capability-china-xi-beijing-missile-weapons-attack-defense-budget-11638827597?mod=opinion_lead_pos5

Eighty years ago, imperial Japan used a technology first developed by the U.S. and the U.K.—carrier-based bombing and torpedo attacks—to cripple the American Navy at Pearl Harbor. Americans must now wonder whether China is setting the stage for another devastating attack on American forces using another U.S.-pioneered technology: hypersonic missiles.

China’s July 2021 test of a hypersonic missile was literally a shot “around the world,” according to Gen. John Hyten, the departing vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “It went around the world, dropped off a hypersonic glide vehicle that glided all the way back to China, that impacted a target in China,” he told CBS News. When asked why China was developing this advanced technology, Gen. Hyten replied, “They look like a first-use weapon. That’s what those weapons look like to me.”

Hypersonic weapons don’t follow a single trajectory like ballistic missiles. They can twist and turn on their way to a target, while their incredibly high speeds—above Mach 5, or a mile a second—make it impossible for existing land- and space-based systems to detect a hypersonic attack until very late in the missile’s flight path. It also isn’t clear whether current U.S. command-and-control systems can process data fast enough to respond to a head-on hypersonic threat.

China tested a second nuclear-capable missile carrying a hypersonic glide vehicle on Aug. 13. This means that Beijing is surging ahead with a technology against which the U.S. has very limited capability for defense or detection.

The shame is that the U.S. has been the primary developer of hypersonic vehicles, going back to the X-15 program in the 1960s. According to Mike Griffin, a former undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, the U.S. effectively shut down its hypersonic effort in the mid-2010s—while China made hypersonics a Manhattan Project-level priority. As a result, Gen. Hyten told the website BreakingDefense.com in October, China has performed “hundreds” of tests of hypersonic weapons in the past five years, while the U.S. has conducted nine.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Ira Gershwin at 125 The famed lyricist made the American vernacular sing. By John Edward Hasse

By on December 7th, 2021

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ira-gershwin-george-gershwin-great-american-songbook-porgy-and-bess-11638816267?mod=opinion_reviews_pos2

Lennon & McCartney. Rodgers & Hammerstein. Gilbert & Sullivan. Creative collaboration in songwriting comes in many shapes. None was more singular than that of composer George Gershwin and lyricist Ira, his older brother. Their mutual trust, respect and love made them deeply compatible creators. Ira’s words and George’s music melded into hundreds of sparkling songs, such as “The Man I Love” and “Embraceable You.”

Ira penned clever, virtuosic lyrics for their pieces. Falling in love was one of his favorite subjects, as in this stanza combining wit, whimsy and sentiment:

In time the Rockies may crumble,

Gibraltar may tumble

(They’re only made of clay),

But—our love is here to stay.

Although one of America’s pre-eminent lyricists, Ira has been overshadowed by George’s brilliance, fame and effervescent persona. George lapped up the limelight; Ira shunned it.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

California Needs To Stop Its Crime Spree Before It Goes National

By on December 7th, 2021

https://issuesinsights.com/2021/12/07/california-needs-to-stop-its-crime-spree-before-it-goes-national/

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is apparently convinced that the shoplifting and smash-and-grab robberies in California are a myth. But they are real, perversely spectacular, and likely to spread across the country if they remain unchecked.

The retail heart of San Francisco, with its abundance of luxury shops, is usually overflowing with commerce at this time of the year. Instead, it’s become a “ghost town.”

“Widespread ‘flash mob’ looting turned Union Square – the city’s most fashionable shopping district – into an area resembling a blighted neighborhood in Detroit,” Michael Shellenberger writes in a recent New York Post op-ed. 

Much of the state “seems to have become a plunderers’ paradise,” says the Pacific Research Institute.

Thieves have moved on from shoplifting with large garbage bags at drug stores to violent smash-and-run raids on retailers, some of them during the middle of the day. Neiman-Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Louis Vuitton, and other stores from San Francisco to Walnut Creek to San Jose, Los Angeles, and Beverly Hills have been robbed by hammer- and crowbar-wielding mobs that have left a few fallen store employees in their wake.

Late last month, a security guard protecting a television news crew working on a story about an Oakland store that had been hit by thieves was shot while doing his job. Kevin Nishita, a former police officer, later died. He was gunned down when he tried to stop three men from stealing the crew’s camera. This didn’t happen under the cover of darkness but in the middle of the day.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

POLL STUNNER: ONLY 22% OF VOTERS WANT BIDEN TO RUN AGAIN

By on December 7th, 2021

https://issuesinsights.com/2021/12/06/ii-tipp-poll-stunner-just-22-of-americans-want-joe-biden-to-run-for-president-again/

Just when it seemed President Joe Biden could get no lower in the public’s political esteem, a new I&I/TIPP Poll of Americans’ preference for the 2024 Democratic presidential ballot is a shocker: Just over one out of five want Joe Biden back at the top of the Democrats’ ticket in three years.

A number of recent I&I/TIPP Polls (here and here) have documented Biden’s sharp decline in favorability with the public due to a number of issues, ranging from his leadership of the military, the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, the recent inflation surge and supply-chain crisis, the border crisis, and a number of other vexing White House issues.

Even so, no favorite has emerged among the large field of potential challengers to run against Biden in the 2024 primaries. The I&I/TIPP Poll gave respondents the names of 16 other possible candidates, asking “Who do you want to see run for president on the Democratic ticket in 2024?”

As mentioned, Biden was named by just 22% of those asked, while 12% mentioned Vice President Kamala Harris, whose abrasive style, lack of preparation and revolving-door personnel changes have drawn criticism even from formerly friendly Democrats and the left-leaning media.

None of the rest rose above low single-digits: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg garnered 4%, while New York Rep. Andrea Ocasio-Cortez, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy and Georgia 2018 gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams each attracted 3% of the support.

New Jersey Sen. Corey Booker, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet all got thumbs up from 2%.

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ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Will Democrats learn from early election results? by Kristen Eichamer

By on December 7th, 2021

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/will-democrats-learn-from-early-election-results

When the Washington Post reports that the Democratic Party is facing a “Superstorm ” of revolt from voters, you know the political landscape looks pretty bleak for Democrats. Virtually every national political analyst and pollster is predicting that Republicans will easily win back majority control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022.

A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll revealed that if the midterm elections were held now, 51% of all registered voters would vote for a Republican in their congressional district. Only 41% of those surveyed said they would support a Democrat. That’s the largest lead for Republicans in more than 100 surveys taken by ABC and the Post since 1981 .

Even more troubling for liberals is how this same survey found that 62% of participants said the Democratic Party is “out of touch” with the concerns of most citizens. Mainstream news outlets are offering their usual excuses for the Republican wave, saying it’s a historical trend that the party occupying the White House loses congressional seats in midterm elections. News coverage also blames Democratic troubles on redistricting efforts in several states that will give Republican candidates advantages in 2022.

While these factors are true to a degree, centrist Democrats such as Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Mark Warner of Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, and a few others are voicing serious concerns about the broader agenda, the direction, and the political tone of a Democratic Party that has become hijacked by aggressive, outspoken activist members who demand unpopular, even frightening, policy changes in our country.

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CHARLOTTE'S NEWS WEB, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

World Health Organization publishes the horrific death toll from the Omicron variant of COVID By Thomas Lifson

By on December 7th, 2021

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/12/world_health_organization_publishes_the_horrific_death_toll_from_the_omicron_variant_of_covid.html

Yes, the death toll is horrific – if you are a power-hungry totalitarian wannabe looking for an excuse to impose controls on your citizens. Brendan Cole reports for Newsweek:

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that as of Friday, there have been no fatalities linked to Omicron but warned it could take several weeks to determine how infectious the new COVID-19 variant is.

The WHO’s assurance comes as the new variant first detected in South Africa last week has now been recorded in 38 countries. In the United States, at least 29 cases of Omicron across 11 states have been reported.

Yes, Omicron is new, and it is possible that in a few weeks’ time, we will see some deaths attributed to it.  Probably in people with other serious conditions. But South Africa, which has reported cases first, sees it as mild.

My hope is that the chicken little response of so many Western governments, using it as an excuse to repress their citizenry, will open a few more eyes to the scam being perpetrated in the name of public health.  An even greater hope – one that depends on the track record of harm from Omicron that will unfold in the next couple of months – is that not only will the symptoms be mild, but that Omicron will confer immunity on those who recover. Possibly superior immunity to that provided by the experimental mRNA gene therapies being pushed by many of the same people peddling fear and offering repression.

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FOREIGN POLICY, HISTORY Comments turned off

US military minds still stuck in Pearl Harbor mentality Eighty years after Japan’s surprise strike on Pearl Harbor, US is at risk of making the same mistakes vis-a-vis China David Goldman

By on December 7th, 2021

https://asiatimes.com/2021/12/us-military-minds-still-stuck-in-pearl-harbor-mentality/

“What would Winston Churchill say?,” protested China hawk Michael Pillsbury when Michael Anton, a former national security official in the Trump administration, asked him what he would do if China sank a US aircraft carrier. I reported the exchange in a November 3 analysis, “Sleepwalkers in the South China Sea.”

More relevant is what Churchill actually said just before the war. Like most of the Allied leadership, Churchill refused to believe that Germany could bypass France’s Maginot Line, or that the Japanese could roll up British forces in Asia in a matter of weeks. Hitler and Hirohito both threw the British into the sea, respectively at Dunkirk and Singapore.

With 350 intermediate-range missile launchers and DF-21 and DF-26 ship-killer missiles, China can sink American carriers as surely as Japanese torpedo bombers sank Allied battleships in World War II.

Allied leaders refused to believe that battleships were sitting ducks. Churchill and his cabinet were mental giants compared to the counterinsurgency soldiers who now lead the American military, but they got it terribly wrong. The Americans now may do worse.

America’s Navy, predictably, wants more aircraft carriers. “When we think about how we might fight, it’s a large water space, and four aircraft carriers is a good number, but six, seven or eight would be better,” Seventh Fleet commander Admiral Karl Thomas said on November 30 after exercises in the Pacific.

Not a replacement for the aging Aegis anti-missile system that can’t protect American ships from Chinese missiles dropping from the stratosphere at Mach 10; not a space-based anti-ballistic missile system that could intercept such projectiles at launch; not a defense against Chinese and Russian hypersonic glide vehicles that can evade all existing anti-missile systems; not an alternative to American GPS and communications satellites, which Chinese or Russian lasers and missiles could disable in a matter of hours. Admiral Thomas wants more of the same century-old weapons platform that the Chinese have spent billions learning how to sink.

The idea is Churchillian, to be sure, but that is not necessarily a recommendation.

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CHARLOTTE'S NEWS WEB, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Biden’s ‘Covid-19 Winter Plan’ Ignores Science David Catron

By on December 7th, 2021

https://spectator.org/bidens-covid-19-winter-plan-ignores-science/

Last Thursday, President Biden announced his “COVID-19 Winter Plan.” Despite his claim that it will fight the disease with “science and speed,” it ignores virtually everything scientists have learned about coronavirus during the past two years. Indeed, it contains a number of elements that epidemiologists have denounced and that evidence has proven counterproductive. These include an irrational emphasis on vaccinating low risk children, the promotion of booster shots that the World Health Organization (WHO) has pronounced ineffective, travel bans that could very well jeopardize efforts to contain future outbreaks, and strident calls for private businesses to bully their employees into getting vaccinated.

During his introduction of the plan, Biden insisted: “Vaccinating our children is critical to keeping our schools open. But while over 99 percent of schools are open now, we need to make sure we keep that throughout the winter — this winter.” He went on to say his administration would expand efforts to vaccinate children ages 5 and up. It is difficult to think of a more scientifically illiterate policy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the virus is responsible for the deaths of 200 children aged 5 to 14 between 01-01-2020 and 11-27-2021. This is tragic, of course, but statistically negligible. Nature recently published an analysis of several studies that unequivically confirm the infinitesimal COVID-19 mortality rate among school-aged children:

Of 3,105 deaths from all causes among the 12 million or so people under 18 in England between March 2020 and February 2021, 25 were attributable to COVID-19 — a rate of about 2 for every million people in this age range. None had asthma or type-1 diabetes, the authors note, and about half had conditions that put them at a higher risk than healthy children of dying from any cause.

Why, then, would the latest Biden plan put so much emphasis on such a low risk segment of the population? This is clearly the result of pressure by the teachers’ unions upon which the Democrats depend so heavily for campaign cash.

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