Twitter: @stavridisj

Facebook: James Stavridis

Website: AdmiralStav.com

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This kind of thing drives me crazy. They pretend it's to protect investors but it's really about taxing as much as possible:

House Democrats' plan would prohibit individual retirement accounts from holding private equity, hedge funds (msn.com)

You hear people talking about ICU beds filling up, but what’s your guess as to what percent of ICU beds are normally full in hospitals? You often see stories like this, implying (or at least not trying hard to prevent the assumption) that ICU beds were nearly empty until COVID came along: Colorado ICU beds fill up, hospitals beg public to get vaccinated (denverpost.com)

But the reality is that a typical pre-COVID ICU utilization/occupancy rate was around 70%: Critical care medicine beds, use, occupancy and costs in the United States: a methodological review (nih.gov)

(Why? Because ICUs are incredibly expensive to build and operate so it's important to build them at a size where they will be mostly in use at any given time.)

Speaking of ICU beds, this is a great story, or at least a story with a great ending so far: After 169 hospitals, a dad finally got the Covid-19 care he needed -- and changed dozens of skeptics' minds - CNN

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I don’t like talking about abortion but I do think that legal wrangling around the issue is fascinating and potentially quite important. The first lawsuit against Texas’s controversial new law is a great example. First, an op-ed by a Texas doctor who performed a now-illegal abortion and wanted the world to know because he WANTS to be sued: Opinion | Alan Braid: I violated Texas’s abortion ban. Here’s why. - The Washington Post

He got his wish: Texas doctor who says he performed abortion sued in first known challenge under new law - CNNPolitics

Texas Abortion Law in Court: What You Need to Know - WSJ (may require subscription)

And the Supreme Court is going to hear a major abortion case in December: Supreme Court to hear oral arguments challenging Roe v. Wade on Dec. 1 | Washington Examiner

On the one hand this is a VERY bad look for US Border Patrol. On the other hand, what do you do when your border is being overrun and your own government wants to hide the issue from the public, not talk about it, and not help? The Secretary of Homeland Security is pissed: Alejandro Mayorkas, DHS chief, 'horrified' by images of US Border Patrol confronting migrants - CNNPolitics Ugh.

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