I've had this uneasy sense for a few years now, and my latest around the world trip reinforced my feeling that something is wrong about America.  On that later, but first, what is right about my country. When it comes to most of the important things in life, the USA is #1 Our economy is probably the best today of all our competitors. In  Gross National Product/year . #1 at $20.5 trillion.  China #2 $13.6 trillion and Japan #3 $5.0 trillion. However, and this a warning, with respect to Gross National Income/year, the U.S. is only #8 at $77,530.  #1 Norway at $118,440, Qatar #2 $110,640 and Singapore #3 $107,030. China has an inflation rate of 0.2%, France 2.2%, South Korea 2.4, Euro Area 2.5%, Japan 2.8%, Canada 2.9% and the USA at 3.0% are the  lowest.  India 5.08%, Russia 8.6% and Argentina 272%. We are far ahead in medals won at all the summer olympics, and have prevailed on how many times we were #1:  18, compared to  the Soviet Union ( Russia ...

From  Worldometer  (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):            DAY    USA    WORLD      Brazil      India      South Africa June     9     1093     4732         1185        246       82 July    22      1205     7128         1293      1120     572 Aug    12      1504     6556        1242        835     130 Sept     9      1208      6222       1136       1168       82 Oct     21      1225      6849         571        7...

First, guns.  What is the matter with the USA?  The Texas massacre was only yet another for many more to come...unless the U.S. Congress acts. The New York Times  this morning chimed in: By now, the story of American gun violence is unsurprising. Mass shootings happen frequently. The list from just the past decade includes supermarkets in Buffalo and in Boulder, Colo.; a rail yard in San Jose, Calif.; a birthday party in Colorado Springs; a convenience store in Springfield, Mo.; a synagogue in Pittsburgh; churches in Sutherland Springs, Texas, and in Charleston, S.C.; a Walmart in El Paso; a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis; a music festival in Las Vegas; massage parlors in the Atlanta area; a Waffle House in Nashville; a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla.; and a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.   Even school shootings happen often enough that we know some of the names: Sandy Hook Elementary School, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Oxford High School, Santa Fe Hig...