 |
| From daily timewaster blog |
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Today’s Poser
How can many politicians put their own self-interest ahead of those of their constitutes, their country ... and even the world they would be leaving for their children and grandchildren?
Preferred Pronouns
It has become a compulsory method of addressing someone these days. You are compelled to use their preferred pronouns when referring to the woke folks ... usually subject, object and possessive pronouns. So, Elizabeth Warren’s preferred pronouns, like when she is being addressed in a group selfie, are she, her, hers.
Some transgenders are oddly asking to be singly referred to as they, them, theirs. Funny though, I haven’t heard anyone insist on being referred to as “it.”
Headlines
Taliban council agrees to a ceasefire in Afghanistan
2019 US box office projected for $11.4 billion haul, second highest of all time
Zuckerberg’s personal wealth rose by $27 billion this year ...
Walter Williams warns Virginia about Gov. Northam’s gun registry plan
Joe Kennedy: Pelosi handling impeachment the right way
Wave of new laws to take effect in 2020: Electric cars, data privacy, pot & more
Biden leaves unclear if he would honor a Senate subpoena ...
Kennedy: If we question Hunter Biden, what about Trump’s children?
5 stabbed at rabbi’s house on Hanukkah, suspect in custody
It’s an election year, but don’t expect new fiscal stimulus, says Goldman
NYC bail reform setting suspects free after string of anti-semetic attacks ..
Suicide bomber slays at least 90 in Somalia attack
Monday, December 30, 2019
Normal
It has become increasingly obvious that “normal” is inching much more toward the abnormal. — Anon.
Headlines
Biden reveals deep bench in campaign bundlers
Imus dead ... Shock jock spanned generations
Christian Post: Buttigieg’s ‘bible missing a lot of pages’
Did Democrats take black voters in Michigan for granted in 2016?
70% of American investors wish they’d handled money differently in 2019
Mystery drone sighting continue in Colorado, into Nebraska ... Fleet of 30?
China doubles U.S. soy purchases during phase 1 trade deal talks
Intel probe puts CIA’s Haskell in a bind
Russia claims its new hypersonic weapon is ready for war
2010s = 1984: The decade we finally understood George Orwell ...
Sunday, December 29, 2019
Today’s Poser
Why do all of the Democrat candidates for president eschew any of Trump’s populist messages? Do they hate the Orangeman so much that they would choose loosing dogma over winning pragmatism?
2020 Predictions
- Republicans retake House, expand Senate lead
- Trump re-elected, winning popular vote too
- 10%+ stock market correction in early Spring
- Clapper turns states-evidence in Durham probe
- Durham grand jury indicts 8 from Obama admin.
- Phase 2 China trade deal done in Summer
- GDP growth for year 3%+
- Pelosi never submits Impeachment to Senate
- North Korea doesn’t resume nuke testing
- Democrat ticket: Bloomberg and Yang
- Baltimore wins Super Bowl, Tom Brady retires
- RIP: Jimmy Carter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ted Turner
Yes, I know a lot of these are obvious, but I can’t help myself ...
Headlines
‘We have a huge problem’: European tech regulator despairs over lack of enforcement
Elizabeth Warren’s campaign sounds the alarm as fundraising slows about 30% in fourth quarter
Michael Moore predicts: 4 more years
Report: FBI investigating Jeffery Epstein’s alleged ‘madam’ Ghislaine Maxwell
AOC for President? The buzz has begun
Powerful storm pounds Southern California with rain, snow
Private jet sales soar ...
Russian-made fighter jets crash in Russia and Iran
Reversible decay: Confronting America’s oral health crisis
Top money manager Jack Ablin warns stocks are moving deeper into a danger zone
Wages rising fastest in decade ...
Japan approves naval group for Middle East deployment
Saturday, December 28, 2019
Headlines
Trump warns Syria , Russia, and Iran against killing ‘innocent civilians’ in Idtib Provence
New rule would make it possible to track and identify nearly all drones flying in the U.S.
ChinaRussinIran navy drills ... Growing alliance
IG Report shock: Steele funneled claims through John McCain after FBI dropped him as source
Democrats seize on anti-Obamacare ruling to steamroll GOP 2020
Trump stock market rally is far outpacing past US presidents
Trump already searching for his next Secretary of State
Lisa Murkowski ‘disturbed’ by coordination vow between Senate and White House
Democrat insiders: Bernie could win the nomination
China races to build its own Tesla as economy slows and subsidies dry up
Americans retiring to Vietnam, for cheap healthcare and decent living standard.... Monthly expenses rarely exceed $2,000
Michael Moore: Trump will not debate Democrat candidate
Friday, December 27, 2019
Bloomberg
 |
| Found on Mostly Cajun blog |
And $61 billion. If Trump’s billionaire businessman model worked in the presidency, won’t Bloomberg be even better?
Today’s Poser
Did classical music invent symphony orchestras or did the advent of symphony orchestras usher in classical music?
Trust
Apple just requested that I update my iPad operating system. I said “yes” because I kinda trust Apple ... to a degree. I’m not sure that I should have. Big tech is getting more and more cavalier in their abuse of their customer’s trust ... Apple included.
Apple presented me with a statement of privacy and protection that was miles long ... which I didn’t and couldn’t read ... so I have again defaulted to Apple not screwing me. Yet when the new OS was installed, it presented me with all kinds of defaults for directing me to its online AppleStore. Bah humbug! I don’t want this. Already I get an increasing number of unsolicited emails offering me AppleStore “deals.” How can I turn this spam off? I’m certain there is a convoluted way to do this ... that I have neither the time or eyesight to transverse.
So I am now a captive of Apple marketers ... and Apple is among the best of the FAANG companies. I’m also sure Google knows far more about me than I even know about myself ... my email contents, my browsing history, my locations, etc. And it might not be long before it knows all about my finances, my medical history, my DNA secrets!
Combine this with advances in artificial intelligence and big data analysis technologies ... and the entire notion of personal privacy will be an obsolete concept. This really will usher in the age of what science fiction has forewarned us of. When we are prisoners of Bug Brother ... when we are controlled like lab mice running through a maze ... to a predetermined destination ... very much like what the Chinese are doing to the Uyghurs today.
Bottom line — St. James Comey has taught us that we can’t really trust our government ... and now, anybody who is paying attention has learned that we can’t trust big tech either ... even Apple.
If I were much younger, I might be tempted to take to the woods ...
North Pole
T’was a fat old man from the North Pole
Who lost his mojo in a Rasmussen poll.
With his clay pipe he had a smoke.
Because of same, was no longer woke.
Was brutally disparaged by an Internet troll.
Headlines
De Blasio attacks Giuliani over ‘anti-Semitic rant’
Stock markets increased $17 trillion in value in 2019
Bibi rushed off stage over rocket fears
Buttigieg proposes no jail time for possession of any drug
Vladimir Putin: Russia has edge in new weapons
China’s November imports of soybeans rise as tariff-free cargoes arrive
Christmas shock poll: 55% support removal of Trump ...
Afghan who murdered Swede teacher has sentence reduced
Pompeo gets low marks from employees who know him best
The Santa rally in stocks could lead to January selling
US spy planes fly over NKorea ...
‘Done deal’: Donald Trump says he and Xi Jinping to sign trade agreement
Thursday, December 26, 2019
Cursing the Darkness
I have long since tired of angry social justice warriors ranting about our societal sins past and present ... by getting in my face to fix things while they sit on their skinny arses basking in their virtue.
You listening Bernie?
Headlines
Mike Lee is the quiet force to get Trump acquitted
Bloomberg campaign vendor used prison labor to make calls for 2020 presidential bid
$34.4 billion ... Biggest shopping day in history ...
Pollak: Pelosi’s delay, by itself, denies Trump a ‘fair trial’
China, Japan and South Korea meet as North Korea threat looms
Trump jokes that North Korea’s ‘Christmas gift’ may be a ‘beautiful vase’ not a missile test
Multiple reports of object traveling ‘at 1,000mph’ over Vegas ...
88% of students agree ‘Merry Christmas’ is not offensive
House counsel suggests Trump could be impeached again
IPOs overall beat the market this year despite some ‘mega busts’
Laser-linked satellites could deliver worldwide ‘Internet from space’ ...
Private investigator claims Hunter Biden under criminal probe for Burisma-linked money laundering
Wednesday, December 25, 2019
Legislative Fibrillation
A rapid irregular heartbeat is called cardiac fibrillation ... and it often precedes a heart attack or even death. The irregular and frenetic stunts emanating out of the House of Representatives of late, centering around Trump’s impeachment, put this observer in mind of legislative fibrillation.
The Pelosi, Schiff, Nadler tag team seems to be orchestrating a staccato disruption of the norms usually enjoyed on Capitol Hill ... with the clear intent of emasculating our president ... using whatever weird and twisted tactics it takes ... a solemn sinister plot.
This unconstitutional and farcical finagling might well be presaging a heart attack for this Deep State cabal ... hopefully resulting in its figurative demise.
Headlines
Schumer demands new documents for impeachment trial
5G may reveal actionable data in everything — from vehicle health to storm drain efficiency
Obama talks up Warren behind closed doors
Activists plan $3 billion city to solve California’s homeless problem
Saudi sentences 5 to death for Jamal Khashoggi’s killing
Millionaires support a wealth tax — as long as they aren’t getting taxed — CNBC survey
McConnell NOT closing door on impeachment trial witnesses ...
Donald Trump approval rating surpasses Barack Obama
Corey Booker would rather defeat Trump at the polls
GM, Ford and others cut thousand of jobs and closed factories to save billions in 2019
Blind mystic predicts Russian meteorite and war for 2020 ...
Boeing CEO resigns amid MAX 737 aircraft problems
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Headlines
Dick Durbin: Senators have ‘gone too far’ in stating impeachment positions
Chip stocks are the top performers of the decade as the industry’s products infiltrate everything
Shock poll: 43% of evangelicals want Trump removed ...
Judicial Watch sues Adam Schiff for phone snooping records
Debbie Dingell says Trump’s remarks [about her husband] were a gut punch
Here’s why investors should shift emphasis to international opportunities
Trump has installed 187 judges to federal benches ... and counting!
President Trump signs defense bill creating Space Force
France’s Macron gives up presidential pension, asks for Christmas truce on strikes
Pete Buttigieg unveils his immigration agenda, pledging ‘path to citizenship’
Biden plays to 98 in Iowa ...
WSJ op-ed: ‘American Democracy depends on “Deep State”’
Monday, December 23, 2019
The Hammer
No, this blog post is not written to refer to Elizabeth Warren’s continual reference to “poor Americans being hammered.” It is meant to reinforce a point I have previously made about the economic competition between the United States and China. President Trump is making slow progress in his attempt to level the playing field in this economic arm-wrestling match between Xi Jinping and himself.
It appears the Phase 1 trade deal is done and now comes Phase 2, the harder one,. Trump has one tool for this phase besides tariffs, a huge hammer, he has yet to use in this competition ... and that is to force Chinese companies listed on American stock exchanges to comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAPs) and to undergo annual audits by a reputable accounting firms.
Why our SEC has allowed Chinese companies to slide on these restrictions is beyond me? This has permitted its companies access to American capital that they shouldn’t have had ... and given them an unfair advantage against those American companies who have had to comply. And this capital has also indirectly funded much of China’s worldwide mischief.
At the very least, Trump should make such compliance a requirement for Xi to get a Phase 2 trade deal ... a hammer that finally would make the Chinese economic competition a far fairer match.
Starr Power
Ken Starr has a studied legal view on impeachment. Yes, he is conservative, but he also has gone through the Clinton impeachment and Senate trial process, so he knows a lot of detail about what might and might not happen when Trump’s trial opens in the Se nate. (If it opens.)
So, if you want to know what is to come, watch: Levin Interview. If need be, use the bottom slide to reset it to the beginning.
Headlines
Judge delays Roger Stone’s sentencing until Feb, 20
Trump signs bills to avoid government shutdown, scrap Obamacare taxes and raise tobacco buying age
Millions sickened across America as flu season heats up ...
Franklin Graham: My father Billy Graham ‘voted for Donald Trump’
Pelosi invites Trump to deliver State of the Union on Feb. 4
Trump and Xi sparked a year-end rally that should extend into new year
EXODUS: California population growth slowest since 1900 ...
Sen. Rick Scott: If Pelosi doesn’t send articles, we won’t deal with impeachment
Gabbard lays low after voting ‘present’ on impeachment
Why we don’t have electric planes yet
Massive M-13 bust: 96 members charges in Long Island takedown ...
Harvard Law Professor: Trump not impeached until articles transferred
Sunday, December 22, 2019
Never Mind
I have previously posted that Biden announced for president on Aug. 25th. Mea culpa ... it was April 25th. Another blunder due to my failing eyesight. Never mind.
Obvious Truth
Dementia is the mind shutting down first to soften the realization that the body is soon to follow. — Anon.
Headlines
‘Family Feud’: Trump still grumbling about witness-free impeachment trial
Elizabeth Warren releases $10.7 trillion plan to create 10.6 million green jobs
NOONAN: Crazy won’t beat Trump ...
Iceland’s 30 feet of snow: ‘We’ve never had on this scale’ ...
Democrat legal expert: Trump isn’t impeached until articles go to Senate
Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill passes Commons vote
Boeing Starliner fails key NASA mission as autonomous flight system malfunctions
Apple wants to bypass mobile carriers ... Beam Internet right to your iPhone ...
Federal funding bill gives Democrats $25M for gun violence research
Trump lashes out as Christian magazine calls for his removal
Trump says he had a ‘very good talk with President Xi’ about China trade deal
GDP unrevised at 2.1% ... Record 9,300 stores closed in ‘19 ...
Schumer: Pelosi withholding impeachment articles is a ‘win-win’ for Democrats
Saturday, December 21, 2019
Obama’s Piss Poor Presidency
A commenter asked on Presidential what I meant by Obama’s “piss poor” presidency. I gave it short shrift and it deserves better ... so here is more — the urine that the “chosen one” managed to spread around during his pampered eight years:
- His initial apology tour ... disparaging his country
- Gutting our military
- Significantly deepening the domestic racial divide
- Doubling our notional debt burden by $10 trillion
- Spending $1 trillion on [non] “shovel-ready jobs”
- Cash for clunkers
- Attempting to destroy our coal and oil industries
- Relying on monetary and not fiscal levers for economic recovery
- Tens of billions lost on Solyndra and other crony “investments”
- The stupid Paris Climate Accord
- Oblivious to huge trade deficits with China, Mexico and the EU
- Frequently disrespecting Israel
- The Benghazi debacle
- Allowing Hillary’s private email server
- Politicizing our intelligence agencies
- Obamacare which is slowly being fixed by Congress and the courts
- The Iranian nuclear deal giving it $150 billion and $1.6B in hard cash
- Giving lip service to defeating ISIS ... possibly even arming them
- Reneging US commitment to put missiles in Poland
- Colluding with the Muslim Brotherhood and Black Lives Matter
- Unconstitutional DACA executive order
- Pardoning spy Chelsea Manning
- Swapping deserter Bowe Bergdahl for five senior Taliban bad guys
- “Fast and Furious” gun running to Mexico cartels
- IRS discrimination against Tea Party groups
- Spying on political opponents and the media
- Selling 20% of US uranium to the Russians
- Russian reset including allowing them to annex Crimea
- Not arming the Ukraine with anti-tank missiles against Russia
- Not making NATO countries meet their committed military spending
- The very expensive Afghanistan “surge” producing nothing
- Not confronting North Korea’s for its bad behavior
Enough? And I’m sure I forgot quite a few!
Quotable Quote
Regrets are the fervid dreams that rationalize miscues you made while you were awake. — Anon.
Presidential
What does being “presidential” mean? It suggests that the person in the White House is an appealing orator, is a conservative dresser, is respectful and empathetic ... and represents America well to the rest of the world. Barack Obama was very presidential but a piss-poor president. Whereas, Donald Trump is hardly presidential but one of the best presidents we’ve had in our lifetimes.
You choose ...
You choose ...
Headlines
Pelosi downplays threat to withhold impeachment articles from Senate
S&P rises to another record as investors shake off impeachment, hits 3,200
Reporters caught celebrating [impeachment]?
Pope Francis has migrant crucifix installed in Vatican
Democrats stockpile cash for state-by-state redistricting fight
Housing supply hits record low, igniting prices
Schiff claims that Trump made ‘veiled threat’ to him ...
Clyburn: I would delay transmitting articles ‘as long as it takes’
Putin says Trump won’t be removed on ‘trumped-up charges’
Investors bet on a Clinton-like rally with stocks up 7% since impeachment inquiry began
Senate trial in doubt ... McConnell threatens to cancel
Mitch McConnell: Pelosi ‘to afraid’ to send impeachment articles to Senate
Friday, December 20, 2019
Reconciliation
If Trump keeps winning ... on trade, on employment, on the economy, on immigration, on NATO, on the climate, on Russia, on Hong Kong, on the stock market, on impeachment(?) ... then there will be an even greater divide ... between the never-Trumpers and those of sound mind.
The problem persists: How do we bring these two factions back together? I have a suggestion ... we need to have a month of reconciliation! Maybe it’ll take a year? Anyway, during this period, the progressives will be given a chance to confess their sins to AG Barr ... wire tapping, phony dossiers, cut-outs, pay-for-play foundations, voter fraud, political dirty tricks, set-ups of naive campaigners, perjury, spying on political opponents, destruction of incriminating evidence (like 33,000 emails), soliciting graft, selling 20% of US ‘s uranium to the Ruskies ... maybe some out-of-statute-of-limitations Arkancides.
Then, after all these reconciliation confessions have taken place, the DOJ can drop the hammer on all these reprobates.
Headlines
New York judge tosses state fraud charges against Manafort
The thing that freaked everyone out about a recession is now moving in the other direction
Dems ordered not to victory dance ...
Nancy Pelosi wears all black on ‘somber day’ of impeachment
Susan Collins will run for re-election in Maine
Uncertainty remains on Wall Street about China-US phase one agreement: ‘More trade truce than deal’
Secret Surveillance court demands answers from FBI for errors, omissions in campaign investigation ...
Schumer admits Trump impeached ‘without the facts coming out’
Pelosi: Unless we impeach Trump, ‘say hello to president-king’
Trump’s economic approval hits highest level in year as Americans remain split on impeachment
French strikers angry about pension reforms, cut power to homes, businesses
Lisa Page on Maddow show: ‘This is not how public servants should be treated’