america

When the novel coronavirus first made its appearance in Wuhan, China, it was newsworthy, but it seemed difficult to trust the information coming out of China, due to its communist governmental structure. To some extent, this suspicion appears to have been justified, as one of the main doctors who warned his own government about the danger of this virus just died from it. Now the virus appears to be making rapid advances in free nations, most notably Italy, South Korea and Japan, and in Iran, sadly taking the life of one of Ayatollah Khameini’s top advisers on Monday morning, March 2nd.

In early January, the world was shaken by news of a deadly epidemic spreading out of Chinese Wuhan, a new coronavirus that has not yet been scientifically researched and, as a result, has no vaccine to defeat it today.

Strictly party-line with an asterisk. President Trump acquitted of the two articles of impeachment 52-28 not guilty of “Abuse of Power” and 53-47 not guilty of “Obstruction of Congress.” The asterisk was Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney, who delivered a lofty sounding defense of the need to follow his principles, religious and otherwise to try and convict a President of a crime that had little more than political significance.

If one judges the age of nations by how old their constitutions and governmental structures are, Paul Ryan tells the truth when he says the US has the oldest democracy in the world. This is verified as True, even on PolitiFact. The US Constitution was ratified in 1788, and although it has been successfully amended 27 times, it has never been fundamentally changed since ratification.

I could go on, but I think you get the picture - bipartisan US administrations describe the Middle East and target regions as "uncivilised" but it is clear who are the real savages. Death is not a laughing matter, murder is a crime. They would do well to remember that.

[Prefatory Note: At this age, having exhausted prose options, I indulge myself during holidays, by sharing poems that seek also your indulgence. I searched 2019 forsome glimmers of good news, and felt stymied. Of course, here, there, everywhere there were glorious private exceptions, yet hovering over the public marketplaces ofthe world I cringe beneath menacing storm clouds and below chaos and misery, and catastrophes waiting to happen.

This is the audio version of the show. If you want to watch the video version go here.
Henrik and Lana cover the latest stories and important events of the week in episode 58 of Flashback Friday.
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It is easy to report on the United States “from the outside”, by scanning the discussion from the major media outlets. It is a different matter to describe what is actually going on from the point of view of “ordinary Americans.” To do that, one has to be in the country talking and listening to people.

The American news media is presently split between two “poles” of opinion regarding President Trump and the impeachment proceedings being brought against him.

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From: “Weekend Impeachment Update (a MoveOn alert)” <moveon-help@list.moveon.org>
Subject: How the Republican dam will (finally) break
Date: December 8, 2019 at 10:05:45 AM EST
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