Excess Death Rates for Republican and Democratic Registered Voters in Florida and Ohio During the COVID-19 Pandemic

 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2807617

Results  Between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2021, there were 538 159 individuals in Ohio and Florida who died at age 25 years or older in the study sample. The median age at death was 78 years (IQR, 71-89 years). Overall, the excess death rate for Republican voters was 2.8 percentage points, or 15%, higher than the excess death rate for Democratic voters (95% prediction interval [PI], 1.6-3.7 percentage points). After May 1, 2021, when vaccines were available to all adults, the excess death rate gap between Republican and Democratic voters widened from −0.9 percentage point (95% PI, −2.5 to 0.3 percentage points) to 7.7 percentage points (95% PI, 6.0-9.3 percentage points) in the adjusted analysis; the excess death rate among Republican voters was 43% higher than the excess death rate among Democratic voters. The gap in excess death rates between Republican and Democratic voters was larger in counties with lower vaccination rates and was primarily noted in voters residing in Ohio.

COVID-19 and Beyond: Economic Outcomes in Republican vs. Democratic States

 https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/118531/1/Covid_Paper_MPRA.pdf

We conclude that there was not a clear overall economic benefit to the less restrictive COVID-19 policies and lower virus avoidance by individuals in Republican states, particularly in the longer run.

Trump’s Final Numbers

 https://www.factcheck.org/2021/10/trumps-final-numbers/

The economy lost 2.7 million jobs. The unemployment rate increased by 1.7 percentage points to 6.4%.

Paychecks grew faster than inflation. Average weekly earnings for all workers were up 8.4% after inflation.

After-tax corporate profits went up, and the stock market set new records. The S&P 500 index rose 67.8%.

The international trade deficit Trump promised to reduce went up. The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services in 2020 was the highest since 2008 and increased 36.3% from 2016.

The number of people lacking health insurance rose by 3 million.

The federal debt held by the public went up, from $14.4 trillion to $21.6 trillion.

Home prices rose 27.5%, and the homeownership rate increased 2.1 percentage points to 65.8%.

Illegal immigration increased. Apprehensions at the Southwest border rose 14.7% last year compared with 2016.

Trump Doesn’t Exactly Condemn Biden’s Pardon for His Son

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-doesnt-exactly-condemn-bidens-pardon-for-his-son/

Donald Trump reacted to President Joe Biden’s sweeping pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, in a Sunday night statement—addressing the news only by claiming that the rioters convicted for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection also deserved to be offered the same privilege. “Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” Just hours earlier, the Trump campaign vowed to overhaul what it said was a “Democrat-controlled” Department of Justice that prosecuted Hunter Biden in the first place. “The failed witch hunts against President Trump have proven that the Democrat-controlled DOJ and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponizing the justice system,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung wrote in a statement. “That system of justice must be fixed and due process must be restored for all Americans, which is exactly what President Trump will do as he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people.”

What Trump’s Win Means for the Economy

 https://www.wsj.com/economy/what-a-trump-win-means-for-the-economy-50de4670?mod=WTRN_pos1&cx_testId=3&cx_testVariant=cx_160&cx_artPos=0

The consensus of economists and investors is that tariffs will put upward pressure on inflation while tax cuts could spur growth and add to deficits, together tending to nudge interest rates higher. And indeed, long-term Treasury bond yields had risen recently on strong economic data and Trump’s improved polling, and shot up early Wednesday, along with stock-index futures, as Trump’s victory became apparent.

Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky on Sherlok Holmes

 https://mishpacha.com/lead-like-a-lion/

He tells me about his entrance to the world of practical halachah; the Chullin shiur given by the rosh yeshivah, Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky. “He came in the first day of the zeman and asked “Did anyone here ever read mysteries?”

The bochurim nodded.

“How come Sherlock Holmes was always able to crack the mystery and Watson, nebach, was always oblivious? It’s because Sherlock Holmes knew how to look for clues; he noticed things, not only what was there, but what wasn’t there.”

The bochurim were captivated. “Now, you have to realize that every word in Torah is a mystery. There are clues everywhere; a hashmata, an extra word, a change in lashon. That’s how we reach a conclusion.”

“That,” Rabbi Levene concludes, “is greatness. A litvish rosh yeshivah, a tzaddik, a gaon, who discovered a means of connecting with American bochurim and wasn’t afraid to use it.”

Tiffany Trump’s father-in-law Massad Boulos to become senior presidential adviser on Arab affairs

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5016398-president-elect-trump-appoints-massad-boulos/

Massad Boulos is just the latest family figure in Trump’s orbit to land a post with the administration. On Saturday, Trump said he would nominate Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, as ambassador to France.

Bombshell Report Exposes Trump’s Mar-a-Lago GOP Grift

 https://newrepublic.com/post/183655/bombshell-report-trump-mar-a-lago-gop-grift

According to an analysis of evidentiary records in New York’s fraud case against the Trump Organization, Mar-a-Lago pulled in a net profit of $22 million in 2022. While the remainder of Trump’s clubs and properties also saw an increase in profits through and after Trump’s presidency, Mar-a-Lago—where Trump spends most of his time and to which conservatives flock, hoping for a glimpse of their dear leader—has seen more than double in profits, according to an analysis by the Times.

Smell like Trump: ‘victory cologne’ for sale as president-elect hawks his wares

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/30/trump-merchandise-for-sale

The shoes and the scents pale in comparison to the controversy created by Trump’s God Bless the USA Bible, which the president-elect endorsed and started hawking in March. Priced at $59.99 – $83.37 after tax and shipping – it was described by the Guardian as “a blasphemous, sticky nightmare”, and described by religious leaders as an example of “bankrupt Christianity” and in violation of one of the Ten Commandments.

Trump's new grift: Secret foreign money could be fueling Trump’s transition fund

Trump promised Jan. 6 pardons. His post-election silence is making loyalists nervous.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/30/trump-january-6-pardons-00192036

Donald Trump campaigned on a pledge to pardon a vast swath of supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But his silence on the matter since winning the election has begun unsettling some fervent allies awaiting even the slightest signal from Trump about how he intends to turn his campaign rhetoric into reality.

Adding to the anxiety expressed by some Jan. 6 defendants is a statement from Trump’s transition team that hinted at a far more limited approach than the sweeping pardons that many in Trump’s base have demanded.

Why don't some countries vaccinate against chickenpox?

 https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240229-why-dont-some-countries-vaccinate-against-chickenpox

However, the decision not to vaccinate children against chickenpox is down to more than budget constraints – in many parts of the world, it's a calculated risk that aims to prevent disease in a different group: older adults.   

In the last five years, opinions has begun to shift following large-scale epidemiological studies which have shown that the US and other countries have not actually seen the feared increase in shingles cases over the last three decades. One UK study even estimated that the supposed immunity boosting effect of adults exposed to infected children might be less impactful than previously thought.

"What has changed in the last few years is that we now have very clear evidence from the US that shingles rates did not increase any faster after the vaccine was introduced and if anything, have somewhat levelled off in recent years," says Pollard. "The improved certainty about this has really made the cost-effectiveness modelling more robust." 

There are signs that other countries are also beginning to shift their mindset on the vaccine. Marie Studahl, a professor at the University of Gothenberg in Sweden, said that she welcomed the UK recommendation, and expressed hope that Norway, Denmark and Sweden will soon implement varicella vaccination. "In Sweden we have been waiting a very long time for this… I am convinced that doctors are mostly positive to implementation," she says.

Yikes! Industries warn of devastating effects of Trump's tariffs; Trump ignores his own poor record

Saudi Arabia Has Its Own 'Deal of the Century' for Trump

 https://www.newsweek.com/saudi-arabia-has-its-own-deal-century-trump-1989311

"There is one crucial thing the Trump administration must understand well: it is wishful thinking on their part to assume that Saudi Arabia will join the Abraham Accords for free," Salman al-Ansari, a prominent Saudi political analyst, told Newsweek. "A Palestinian state is a must and an absolute prerequisite for normalization with Israel."