Levied on wealthy Americans with phones in 1898 to help fund Spanish-American War, tax was discontinued Tuesday.

Aug. 2, 2006 6:01 a.m. PT

The Spanish-American War has been over for more than 100 years, and now so is the tax imposed in 1898 to help fund it.

As of Tuesday, all phone companies selling long-distance phone service are legally required to eliminate the 3 percent federal excise tax on long-distance service, which had been established in 1898 as a luxury tax on wealthy Americans who owned telephones.

Another source of Worobey’s origins “investigation?” The WHO report. Yes, that WHO report that only briefly examined the potential of a lab leak. Yes, that same WHO report that contained only information provided by the Chinese Government, absent any independent investigation or acquiring of evidence. Yes, that WHO report which was partially written by Peter Daszak, funder of some of the gain-of-function research conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. And Yes, that same WHO report that even the WHO has labeled as unreliable. It is so bad that the WHO has scrapped that whole report in favor of conducting an entirely new investigation. This was known before Worobey even published this piece, yet Worobey included the report as a source to back up his findings. Nowhere in the study does he even acknowledge the WHO’s concerns with the veracity of the report, nor the acknowledged conflicts of interests for the data contained therein, including those of Peter Daszak. //

Worobey presents information as if it is the totality of possibility in these cases, thus eliminating other equally likely potentials in the process. If this market vendor isn’t the first case, which it appears it is not, then the wet market theory ends. There are no other cases known to have originated at the market before then. Ignoring the potential that the wet market was not the origination point, but was simply a super spreading event, denies the factual potential of other origins. This paper is simply a regurgitation of other previous information, just organized in a different way. Think, reorganizing deck chairs on the Titanic. Sure, the presentation is different, but it in no way changes the fact that the ship is going down.

I reached out to Worobey to ask additional questions about his study, but at the time of writing this, nearly a week and a half after my attempted contact, he did not respond to me. While it really shouldn’t matter though, I think everyone should also be aware of who funds Dr. Worobey’s research.

Worobey Acknowledgements, SOURCE: Science Magazine
Yes, that Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The same one that was funding viral research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

If not for international tennis stars and the World Tennis Association’s courage, we probably would never see Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai again. //

The [World Tennis Association's] CEO and stars have taught us several valuable lessons. First, China doesn’t have all the leverage, as some think. Too often, businesses, organizations, and well-known individuals in the west are unwilling to stand up to China because they believe nothing will happen because China has all the leverage. But the west has many things that China wants: western markets, financial systems, natural resources, and technology.

Like all dictatorial regimes, the CCP wants to be both “loved” and “feared.” It has invested millions of dollars in shaping global public opinion to “tell China’s story right” from the regime’s point of view, albeit unsuccessfully. It desperately needs foreign organizations’ participation in events hosted by Beijing to legitimize the regime and raise the party’s international profile in front of an increasingly sophisticated domestic audience. It will be a massive embarrassment for the CCP if a well-known organization such as the WTA pulls out of China right before the nation is ready to show off its power and prestige at the Olympics.

International businesses and organizations should recognize both the leverage they possess and the CCP’s limits. Suppose more organizations and corporations stand up to the CCP? Although the CCP would not give up oppressing the Chinese people altogether, it may not go as far as it wants.

One of the CCP’s most potent weapons is economic coercion. The party often uses market access to China to pressure international businesses and organizations to silence their criticisms and do whatever China demands. The WTA has shown that when an organization is ready and willing to bear the cost of standing up to the CCP, such an organization frees itself from the CCP’s coercion and puts itself in a powerful position. More often than not, the CCP will be more willing to compromise.

Last but not least, it’s time to realize that every interaction with China, be it a sporting event, a commercial transaction, or a cultural exchange, can quickly become a test of an organization’s morality. The CCP has taken on a “whole of society” approach and compelled all of society to follow the party’s orders. Sooner or later, all involved must choose whether to side with human rights and human dignity or an oppressive authoritarian regime.

Enes Kanter Freedom, center for the Boston Celtics and an outspoken human rights activist, wrote that freedom “must be defended at all costs.” We must “wake up and speak up. Change is coming, and no one can stop it. They can’t silence us all.” The WTA and its star athletes have shown us the way.

If someone tests negative, logically, they do not need to stay locked in a room for a week. Further, they would have tested negative prior to the flight as well, which means people would be quarantined after not one, but two negative tests. And for what, exactly?

That’s really the cardinal question here. Is the idea that such measures are going to put even the slightest dent in the community spread of current and future variants? Because if that’s the assumption, it’s a really bad one with no evidentiary backing. If we’ve learned anything over the last year, it’s that stopping the spread of COVID-19 is essentially impossible.

For example, Florida and Michigan have had wildly different COVID mitigation measures in place, yet both states saw big Delta variant spikes based on what is clearly a seasonal pattern. You certainly aren’t going to reduce spread by making the lives of international travelers, including US citizens, absolute hell for no reason. That’s especially true given spread on airliners continues to be largely non-existent due to the filtration systems in place.