by John

PANDEMIC

Details: Published: Wednesday, April 01, 2020 11:16; by John Campbell; Hits: 1366

A couple of months ago I was skeptical about the naysayers telling us that we had a serious virus epidemic. I lived through many epidemics in the past and never saw anything like what they were saying. The polio epidemic when I was in first grade took my uncle and left crippling scars for many who survived, and then there was the Asian flu, the Swine flu and the H1N1 and so on. I used to get the flu every year until I started to get the flu shot. I have not had the flu since. I could not believe that this virus was going to be any different than those before it. I do remember my father telling me that his little sister died of the flu as a child in 1918, and I still visit her grave by her parents, my grandparents. That flu killed millions, but we have not seen anything like it since and modern medicine has come a long way since then. To me the ebola epidemic in Africa was the most scary since most who get it die.

INVESTMENT--HOW & WHY

Details: Published: Sunday, March 01, 2020 13:29; by John Campbell; Hits: 2329

One day this last week while I was working on a machine at a local health club, Dr. A came rushing in and said “John, it’s all red.” He was referring to the TV screen tuned to CNBC. It was five in the morning, and the stock market had already started its epic fall. Dr. A and I discuss the stock market quite often, and a few weeks before this we had talked about the sudden rise in the market with the expected correction. Neither of us thought that it would happen this quickly and to the extent it corrected. The corona virus seemed to be the trigger.

SOCIAL SECURITY

Details: Published: Monday, February 10, 2020 15:42; by John Campbell; Hits: 929

I recently read a letter to the editor in our local paper about why we should vote Democratic and get rid of Republicans because the Republicans were going to do away with Social Security. This was the first that I had heard of this but do remember that Democratic candidates have for many years claimed that they were the saviors of Social Security and their opponents would destroy it. I got on a few websites and did some research.

ENERGY---FROM WHERE

Details: Published: Monday, January 13, 2020 15:46; by John Campbell; Hits: 2033

I have always been “energy aware” because it costs money. Last year I bought a Tesla automobile and have not bought a gallon of gas since. My electric bill increased about $30 per month while I used to spend about $150 per month on gasoline. The electric car really saves money on the energy expended to travel. Many people whom I know think I was trying to save the planet, but they did not realize that to charge my car I use electricity that is produced by burning coal. Trading gasoline carbon for coal carbon is not really doing anything to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. I am helping my pocketbook but not the planet. I will never save enough to recover the cost of the car, but then the real reason I bought the car was my love of technology, and the car is a marvel of technology.

WHAT IF

Details: Published: Wednesday, January 01, 2020 12:56; by John Campbell; Hits: 1254

What if things were different three years ago? What would our country be today? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Just after Trump took office, a friend who happens to be a college professor and liberal, asked me what I thought of Trump and why. I told him that when I started college at Syracuse University I had a new group of friends. As I was from upstate New York and grew up in a farming region, I was shocked to meet and live with young men from the New York City area. They were rude and crude next to the way I was raised and expected to behave. I had forgotten about this first encounter until Trump started to campaign. I was meeting my college friends all over again. So I told my friend this and explained that most of Trump’s language was the same as I had experienced as a freshman in college—in your face, rude and crude. I added that as I got to know my new friends I found them to also be sincere and trusting and became close to many of them. So, what if Trump had come from upstate and had been a politician who owed his rise to the top to other politicians and lobbyists as most of those running for the highest office are? Would he have been more acceptable to his political foes and many in his own party? You will have to answer this as you read because it is hard to imagine.

Commentary by John Campbell

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Topics

PANDEMIC

INVESTMENT--HOW & WHY

SOCIAL SECURITY

ENERGY---FROM WHERE

WHAT IF

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