Those Stubborn Facts: Beijing’s CCP Virus Cover Up Continues

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CCP Virus, China, coronavirus, cover up, COVID 19, public health, Those Stubborn Facts, transparency, Wuhan virus, Zhejiang province

China’s central government official tally of new CCP Virus cases yesterday: 9,548

Zhejiang province government tally of new daily CCP Virus cases as of Tuesday: c. one million

 

(Source: “Explainer: Is China sharing enough Covid-19 information?” by Huizhong Wu and Annirudha Ghosal, Associated Press, January 6, 2023, EXPLAINER: Is China sharing enough COVID-19 information? | AP News)

 

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Those Stubborn Facts: Who’s Fetishizing AR-15s?

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AR-15, assault weapons, crime, gun control, gun violence, murders, Pew Research Center, rifles, The New York Times, Those Stubborn Facts

“States and the federal government should…pass far tougher regulations on the gun industry, particularly through restrictions on the marketing of guns, which have helped supercharge the cult of the AR-15.”

– The New York Times, December 10, 2022

 

Share of U.S. guns in circulation that are “semiautomatic military-style rifles” like AR-15s: 6%

 

Share of U.S. gun-related murders due to rifles of all kinds, 2020*: 3%

*Latest available FBI data

 

“America’s Toxic Gun Culture,” The New York Times, December 10, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/10/opinion/america-gun-violence.html and “What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S.,” by John Gramlich, Pew Research Center, February 3, 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/02/03/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/)

Those Stubborn Facts: NATO Chief Pushes Hopium on Members’ Defense Spending

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defense spending, national security, NATO, North Atlantic treaty Organization, Those Stubborn Facts

“NATO allies may decide to aim to spend more on defence than their current target of 2% of national output when they meet for their next summit in Vilnius in July 2023, the chief of the alliance said on Monday.”

– Reuters, November 21,2022

 

Number of NATO members that have met the target today: 8 of 30

Date the target was set: 2006

 

(“NATO allies may lift target to spend 2% of output on defence – Stoltenberg,” by While Europeans learn energy frugality, Reuters.com, November 21, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/nato-allies-may-lift-target-spend-2-output-defence-stoltenberg-2022-11-21/ and “Majority of NATO Nations Fail to Spend 2 Percent GDP Guideline for Defense,” by Jake Thomas, Newsweek, March 31,2022, Majority of NATO Nations Fail to Spend 2 Percent GDP Guideline for Defense (newsweek.com))

Those Stubborn Facts: The Digital Revolution in a Nutshell

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infotech, innovation, microchips, semiconductors, technology, Those Stubborn Facts

Number of transistors in a state-of-the-art computer chip, 1961: 4

Number of transistors in Nvidia’s latest graphics chip: 76 billion

(Source: “The ‘chip choke’ on China may breathe air into semiconductor industry,” by John Thornhill, Financial Times, September 29, 2022, The ‘chip choke’ on China may breathe air into semiconductor industry | Financial Times (ft.com))

Those Stubborn Facts: U.S. National Security Outsourced to China

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China, defense, Defense Department, national security, Pentagon, procurement, supply chain, Those Stubborn Facts

Number of Chinese entities in the U.S. Defense Department’s supply base, 2019: 655

Increase since 2012: “More than fivefold.”

 

(Source: “Pentagon Pushes Defense Companies to Limit Use of Chinese Supplies,” by Doug Cameron, The Wall Street Journal, September 18, 2022, Pentagon Pushes Defense Companies to Limit Use of Chinese Supplies – WSJ )

Those Stubborn Facts: The Biggest Bubble of Them All?

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bubbles, China, housing, property, real estate, Those Stubborn Facts

Number of people who could be housed in currently empty apartments in China: 90 million

Area of purchased but unbuilt properties in China: 500-600 million square meters:

Number of Manhattans this figure adds up to: 10

Estimated cost of finishing these projects: $300 billion

 

(Source: “Real estate will defeat Beijing, again,” by Pete Sweeney, Breaking Views, Reuters, July 21, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/real-estate-will-defeat-beijing-again-2022-07-21/) 

 

Those Stubborn Facts: U.S. Inflation Has Wiped Out Stimulus Gains – & Then Some

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cost of living, inflation, stimulus, Those Stubborn Facts, wages Covid relief

Combined total of individuals’ COVID stimulus checks passed during the Trump and Biden administrations: $3,200

Total wage loss from inflation for the average worker between June, 2021 and June, 2022: $3,400

 

(“Inflation Has Now Devoured All Biden’s Covid ‘Rescue ‘ Checks,” unsigned editorial, Issues & Insights, July 18, 2022, Inflation Has Now Devoured All Biden’s COVID ‘Rescue’ Checks – Issues & Insights (issuesinsights.com))

Those Stubborn Facts: Yes, Biden Really Has Opened the Border

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Biden administration, Biden border crisis, border security, illegal immigration, immigrants, Immigration, migrants, Open Borders, Those Stubborn Facts

“We preliminarily estimate that illegal immigrants accounted for two-thirds of the growth in the foreign-born population since January 2021 — 1.35 million.”

– Center for Immigration Studies, June 1, 2022

 

Average monthly growth in U.S. foreign-born population during first Obama administration term: 59,000

Average monthly growth in U.S. foreign-born population during second Obama administration term: 76,000

Average monthly growth in U.S. foreign-born population during Trump pre-CCP Virus years: 42,000

Average monthly growth in U.S. foreign-born population sofar during Biden administration: 132,000

 

(“Foreign-Born Population Hit Record 47 Million in April 2022,” by Steven A. Camarota and Karen Ziegler, Center for Immigration Studies, June 1, 2022, https://cis.org/Report/ForeignBorn-Population-Hit-Record-47-Million-April-2022%29)

Those Stubborn Facts: The News Media’s Priorities

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Amber Heard, celebrities, election 2016, Hillary Clinton, Johnny Depp, journalism, media bias, Michael Sussmann, misinformation, news, priorities, Those Stubborn Facts, Trump-Russia

Number of Google News search results today for “Michael Sussmann trial” (regarding misinformation and the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign): 16,300

 

Number of Google News search results today for “Johnny Depp trial”: 1.92 million

Those Stubborn Facts: China Celebrates Earth Day

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China, climate change, coal, Earth Day, energy, fossil fuels, Those Stubborn Facts

Coal production capacity China says it will add this year:   300 million tons

Increase from China’s new coal production capacity last year: 36.36%

China share of global coal production & consumption: c. 50 percent

 

(Source: “With coal surge, China puts energy security and growth before climate,” by Christian Shepherd, The Washington Post, April 22, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/22/china-coal-climate-change-xi-energy/)