Public Health in the UK

For John, BLUF:  Maggie Thatcher noted that, with socialism, you eventually run out of other peoples' money.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The NHS is our religion: it’s the only thing that saves it from the Tories

Acronym Alert:  NHS is Britain's National Health Service (Socialist Medicine).

Here is the sub-headline:

Public support remains passionate, allowing our health service to fend off attempts to undermine its core purpose

From The Guardian, by Ms Polly Toynbee, 3 July 2018.

Ms Toynbee is my favorite Labour Columnist.

Here is the lede:

lorious celebrations for this week’s NHS 70th birthday mark the proudest social democratic moment of our history.  The Labour party descended on Tredegar, Nye Bevan’s birthplace, to march through the streets to brass bands, and London marched too.  Everything lyrically expressed in Danny Boyle’s Olympic ceremony, with its 300 glowing NHS beds filled with bouncing children, is emotionally reprised in this reminder of our better selves.

Aneurin Bevan was a Welshman and a Labour Member of Parliament.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Nevada Traffic Deaths Fall in Last Year

For John, BLUF:  Maybe legal marijuana won't be as bad as some of us feared.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Nevada Traffic Deaths Plunge 10% Following Marijuana Legalization

Here is the sub-headline:

It is the one-year anniversary of recreational marijuana in Nevada - how has the state fared?

From Zero Hedge, by Mr Tyler Durden, 2 July 2018.

Key Paragraph:

According to a report from NBC Reno, about 310 people died in traffic accidents in Nevada between July 2016 and May 2017.  From July 2017 to May 2018 — the first 11-months of legal recreational marijuana — just 277 people died in car crashes across the state. KRNV noted that the Nevada Department of Public Safety was unable to provide data for June.

As Stephen Green notes, correlation is not causation, but something is going on.  My wife suggests that maybe people are just staying home and smoking.  Or maybe they aren't drinking as much and are thus not quite as impaired on the road.

I wonder what the results are for Colorado?

The National Bureau of Economic Research suggested that there is “little evidence” that the legalization of marijuana is responsible for increases in traffic deaths in states that have legalized recreational marijuana.  And, in Nevada, local tax revenues are up.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Military Casualties

For John, BLUF:  Almost an Army Division's worth in twelve years.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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15,851 US service members have died since 2006.  Here’s why.

From Military Times, by Mr Aaron Mehta, 13 June 2018.

The first four paragraphs:

Since 2006, 15,851 active-duty personnel and mobilized reservists have died while serving in the U.S. armed forces.  But only 28 percent of those deaths came from going to war, a stark reminder of the danger service members face even away from the battlefield.

The numbers come from a new report by the Congressional Research Service, disclosed to the public by the Federation of American Scientists.  CRS drew on official figures from the Pentagon for its accounting.

The report breaks down the casualties by OCO and non-OCO deaths, where OCO is defined as a military operation “in which members of the armed forces are or may become involved in military actions, operations, or hostilities against an enemy of the United States or against an opposing military force.”  That covers the vast number of military operations, although it does not cover individuals killed during train and equip operations.

Seventy-two percent of the overall casualties ― 11,341 deaths ― occurred under circumstances unrelated to America’s ongoing wars, the report found.  Ninety-three percent of all these casualties occurred in the U.S., although incidents happened in over 70 nations around the world. Accidents, self-inflicted wounds or illness made up the bulk of casualties.

It is a dangerous profession.

Regards  —  Cliff

Democrats Upping the Rhetoric

For John, BLUF:  Yes, the Democrats should be the Party with the red color.  They are the party out calling for revolution, waving the bloody shirt.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Michael Moore asks Bill Maher if people are ready to die to protect democracy from Trump: ‘Fascism is at the door step’

Here is the sub-headline:

Moore said that he thinks Americans can stop Trump, but only if they’re all-in.

From Nation of Change, by Mr Martin Cizmar, 2 July 2018.

The words of Mr Michael Moore, at the end of the article:

“What are people willing to commit to?  What would you give your life for?” he asked.  “What would you be willing to actually put yourself on the line for?  That moment is now.  We are going to lose our democracy if we haven’t already.  We have no choice, my friends.  We have to rise up.”

At what point is a small group of folks going to heed the words of a Michael Moore and take to the streets?  While there be killings involved?  Should Republicans worry about their homes or offices being firebombed?

Perhaps most important, what happens after 6 November of this year, if the Republicans retain control of both Houses of the US Congress?

I hope that the vast majority of Americans treat Mr Bill Maher and Mr Michael Moore as the comedians they are and not as serious revolutionaries.

Regards  —  Cliff

Things Are Getting Better

For John, BLUF:  All politics is local, until your national government decides to go for socialism.  Then it is national and it is bad, for you.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The World's Poorest People Are Getting Richer Faster

From Human Progress, by Alexander C. R. Hammond, 27 October 2017.

Yes. this is close to a year old, but the point is still good.

Here is the key thought:

Well, in 1820, 94 percent of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty (less than $1.90 per day adjusted for purchasing power).  In 1990 this figure was 34.8 percent, and in 2015, just 9.6 percent.

Of course, this progress can be reversed.  For example, with Bolivarian Socialism.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Happenings in Mexico

For John, BLUF:  PAN stands for National Action Party (Partido Acción Nacional) of Mexico.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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A town in Mexico overthrew their local government. Things couldn’t be going better.

The big news is that Mexicans elected leftist Lopez Obrador as President in the largest landslide in the country's recent history.  Heck, it would have been News if he has just beaten the PRI Candidate.

But the local news is also important.

The original headline is from Vice, by Mr David Noriega, 28 June 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

Seven years ago, the people of Cherán — a town of some 20,000 inhabitants in the highlands of Michoacán, one of the Mexican states worst-affected by the drug wars of the last decade — decided it was time to start over. And now, after they've kicked out all the criminals, cops, and politicians, things couldn't be going better.

The town had been terrorized for years by an organized crime syndicate devoted to illegally logging the surrounding forests. So after mobs drove out the criminals, they disarmed and drove out the corrupt cops who had protected them. Then they banned the politicians, along with the parties that put them in power.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Media Mostly Ignoring a Big Story

For John, BLUF:  But Democrats do have a shiny new toy, Ms Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is also one of the Democratic Socialist of America.  Until we know better, think Bolivarian Socialist, e.g., Venezuela.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Democrats are in a crisis and the media won't talk about it

From The Washington Examiner, by Mr Eddie Scarry, 30 June 2018.

Well, not all the media:

NBC’s Chuck Todd:  Trump ‘Is Winning,’ Dems Are ‘Reeling’

But, most of it, as per Mr Scarry's article.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit, and my wife.

Regards  —  Cliff