David L. Nathan, MD, DFAPA and Jeffrey A. Singer In recent years, lawmakers have focused almost exclusively on stopping the flow of illicit fentanyl to combat the opioid overdose crisis. First appearing as a heroin additive in 2012, fentanyl largely replaced heroin in the underground drug market by 2021, driven by COVID-19 supply chain disruptions. Most heroin users “settled” for fentanyl and gradually grew accustomed to the drug. With those disruptions in the rearview mirror, the efficient underground […]
The last excuse that diehard defenders of President Trump’s tariff policies have advanced now lies in ruins. Trump had put in place exorbitant tariffs, these defenders acknowledged, but this was just a negotiating tactic, to get the targeted countries to lower their own tariffs on American goods. But if that is his aim, he is pursuing it in a blunderbuss fashion. As Paul Craig Roberts, a strong defender of tariffs, says: “Trump’s position on tariffs is problematical for […]
Dominik Lett It’s officially Tax Day. Time to take stock. The federal government spent $7.1 trillion in 2024. Tax dollars paid for $5.3 trillion, or 74 percent. The rest (26 percent) was borrowed. This $1.8 trillion in deficit spending is deferred taxation. Inevitably, borrowing will be paid for by new taxes or inflation, meaning our children and grandchildren will pay the price for higher spending today. Where did all that money go? The federal government spends the most […]
These three passages appear within pages of each other in Whole Foods Market co-founder John Mackey’s delightful new memoir, The Whole Story: “‘If you didn’t want to give up control of Whole Foods, then you shouldn’t have sold the company to Amazon.’” Then: “For the first time in my life, I felt unconditional love for myself, for all of life, and for God.” And finally: “Half veggies (kale, spinach, chard, broccoli, bok choy, and radishes) and half fruit (berries, […]
Trump’s exceptions keep getting reversed: President Donald Trump just can’t make up his mind about which Chinese products will have tariffs applied to them upon crossing our borders. All last week, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping engaged in a tit-for-tat trade war escalation. On Friday, the Trump administration made tariff exceptions (but don’t call them that?) for smartphones, semiconductors, computers, and other tech goods (modems, routers, flash drives, and the like), signaling that they’d be subject to […]
In the USA in 1997–2009, influenza and RSV in total killed 30,400 people per year. Such common viral infections are well worth curing as soon as possible. Focus on the Viral Infection, Then on the Complications Covid brought an explosion in respiratory virus research. This is explained in part by the fact that covid is caused by a respiratory virus that’s relatively potent. Most severe cases, for instance, feature destructive clotting. Even so, covid and common colds both […]