SORRY ABOUT YESTERDAY.  I FINISHED THAT BLOG, BUT NEGLECTED TO POST IT.  You can read it by clicking on  THE HAPPIEST STATE IN THE USA . ************************ Yes, much of our Federal government is shut down.   Read this for details . The Hamas rejected President Donald Trump's 20-Point Gaza Peace Plan.   Watch this video . Defense Secretary Hegseth and President Trump yesterday summoned all the important generals into a room in Virginia and ....well,  here is what Jimmy Kimmel reported .  Quoting  Politico : Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s speech to top generals was supposed to serve as a rallying cry for military exceptionalism — but it didn’t land that way with many of the people it was targeting. Numerous defense officials — who watched senior brass scramble to Washington and then sit through a partisan speech from President Donald Trump and a return to old-school military standards by Hegseth — were left wondering why the event ...

The World is nearing 700 million covid cases and 7 million deaths, a mortality rate of 1%. The highest number of daily deaths occurred on 21January2021 with 17,000. Deaths dropped to 109 two days ago. Yesterday the world had 225,694 new cases, with South Korea alone suffering from 164,461.  The USA was #2 with 16,332 new cases. The mortality rate this past week for the World was 0.4%. S. Korea 0.02% USA  0.5% Thus you can see that the mortality rate has dropped quite a bit for the World and U.S., probably because of vaccinations and other treatments. But why is S. Korea's mortality rate today 25 times lower than the USA?  Looking at the mortality data from the beginning, S. Korea's rate is "only" 10 times lower. World  1% USA  1% S. Korea  0.1% How does the covid mortality rate compare to the seasonal flu? From the  World Health Organization : Influenza remains one of the world’s greatest public health challenges. Every year across the globe, there are...

President Joe Biden tested negative for COVID-19.  The four shots and Paxlovid worked well. Authorities don't know how best to  de-stigmatize Monkeypox , but: The global   monkeypox outbreak   appears to mostly affect men who have sex with other men.   A study published   in the   New England Journal of Medicine   found that 98% of people diagnosed with the virus between April and June in more than a dozen countries identify as gay or bisexual men, and   the WHO says   that 99% of U.S. cases are related to male-to-male sexual contact. Maybe the best policy is to just focus on this community. As of a week ago there were  14,000 cases and only 5 deaths.   While in the past  monkeypox  had a 5% mortality rate, the strain that is currently dominating has a much lower death rate, similar to COVID-19 before vaccinations.  There is a vaccine, and if given within four days of exposure, protects about 85% of the time...