Democrat talking points are quite often devilish quarter truths ... designed to appeal to gullible uninformed ideologues. So, Estragon, be careful and forewarned when you repeat them. — Fletcher
STAND UP FOR BEING INFORMED!
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Today’s Poser
Why is there no backlash when the Dems so lustily embrace satanic outrages? Is that why we have a VICE President Harris?
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Infrastructure
President Biden is in Pittsburgh today to hype his plans for federal infrastructure spending ... $2 trillion in Phase One over the next 8 years. Let’s put this in some context. As of 2015, a 2017 CATO Institute study estimated that there was $52.3 trillion of infrastructure in the United States ... which means that Biden’s proposal would be likely less than a 4% increase ... allowing for our infrastructure growth over the last six years.
Which leads us to the question of who owned this $52.3 trillion of American infrastructure? Well, thankfully, in this same study ... see: Cato Institute Study .. CATO did its homework and determined that 65% ($40.7 trillion) was owned by the private sector, 30% ($10.1 trillion), by state and local governments ... and only 5% ($1.5 trillion) was owned by our federal government.
This then means that Biden’s Phase One proposal, would certainly more than double the federal government’s infrastructure ownership ... and likely also more than double its percentage piece of the American pie. There is one caveat however ... reading the details of Biden’s proposal ... see: CNN Article ... he seems to have a very lose definition of “infrastructure” ... (remember Obama’s “shovel-ready jobs” that weren’t shovel ready.)
Which leads us finally to the real question ... why can’t Biden construct an infrastructure plan that encourages the private sector to partner with state and local governments to improve our nations infrastructure? Oh, yes ... that would eliminate the need to increase taxes ... and take more goose-steps toward Bernie Sanders’ utopia.
Afterward: Steve Miller was on Larry Kudlow’s TV show tonight and said that the private sector would do all that Biden’s proposed bill would do ... merely by passing a law saying that all new infrastructure projects HAVE to be approved within one year.
STANND UP FOR LESS GOVERNMENT!
Obvious Truth
Society tends to credit the super rich with super smarts ... when, in truth, they generally have as many foibles as the general population. And the reason they are rich is often a character flaw or obsession that actually worked to their benefit. To validate this hypothesis, you need to look no further than Jack Dorsey and Howard Hughes.
STAND UP FOR CHARACTER FLAWS!
Headlines
North Korea calls South Korea’s leader ‘a parrot raised by America’
Global leaders call for pandemic treaty, but U.S. and China remain silent
New York Gov. Cuomo accuser speaks out
SCOTUS rejects efforts to depose Hillary Clinton over email server
Capitol police provided more than 14,000 hours of Jan. 6 footage to lawmakers
How Goldman and Morgan Stanley avoided losses from fund meltdown that buried Nomura, Credit Suisse
Derek Chauvin trial begins
Biden announces push for offshore wind farms to create union jobs
Trump lashes out at Fauci and Birx after CNN documentary
10-year Treasury yield hits 14-month highs, tops 1.77%
WHO ‘investigator’: We took China’s word for it on Wuhan Lab leak theory
Florida Gov. DeSantis promises action against vaccine passports
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
Unhinged?
Not just a little weird ... a lot weird! We have a demented president ... and now a problematic VP. Who can we rely on to negotiate with foreign leaders? I, for one, am quite concerned ...
STAND UP FOR LEVEL HEADS!
The Dawning
America ... too late ... discovers that we traded a headache for an upset stomach ... a real severe upset stomach ... and it was a rather mild headache. — Fletcher
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Carnac
The answer: A royal flush
The question: What happened to Meghan Markel after the Oprah interview?
STAND UP FOR GRATITUDE!
Headlines
Pete Buttigieg has a bridge to sell you
Biden to push infrastructure before health and family care in next phase of economic plan
Seattle social justice activist charged with anti-Asian hate attacks
SD House speaker to reject Gov. Kristi Noem’s trans bill revision
Ship ‘partially refloated’, but still stuck in Suez Canal
Draft of WHO-China study says animals likely source of Covid
SCOTUS sits on ‘potentially blockbuster’ abortion case
Activists pressure GA to boycott MLB, PGA after election reform law
Blinken punts on punishing China for coronavirus outbreak
Visa moves to allow payment statements using cryptocurrency
Suicide bomber targets Palm Sunday mass in Indonesia — 14 wounded
Vatican Cardinal: In a globalized world ‘there are no borders’
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Monday, March 29, 2021
Covid Cases
H
Saint Anthony [Fauci] has decreed that Americans are suffering another spike in Covid cases and we therefore need to stay masked up and socially distanced until he calls the all-clear.
Now, we do know that the world is experiencing a third increase in Covid cases ... particularly in Europe and England... see top chart.
But the bottom chart shows the Covid tracking in the United States. Do you see any surge in cases? Add to this the fact that nearly two thirds of those over 65 have been vaccinated at least once ... making Fauci a bit of a panic monger.
Afterward: Maybe that’s because he funded the Wuhan lab research that likely led to this pandemic?
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Carnac
The answer: Madagascar
The question: What kind of people buy electric vehicles?
STAND UP FOR HUGGED TREES!
Obvious Truth
Apparently President Biden didn’t clear appointing Kamala Harris as the Border Czar with the O-man ... see: Washington Examiner story.
STAND UP FOR BORDERS!
Headlines
Blinken condemns China sanctions on U.S. officials
Covid cases are rising and hospitalizations have plateaued even as vaccinations increase
‘Chaotic night’: Shootings in Virginia Beach leave at least 2 dead and 8 wounded
Baltimore ends prosecution of low-level crimes such as prostitution
Iran, China sign strategic long-term cooperation agreement
NASA wants companies to develop and build new space stations, with work to $400 million up for grabs
New York City becomes first big city to end qualified immunity for police officers
Montana A.G.: We’re worried migrants will be relocated to our state
Boris Johnson talks tough on China following sanctions against U.K. MPs
Myranmar mourns bloodiest day since coup, UN investigator condemns ‘mass murder’
Pompeo visit to Iowa sparks 2024 speculation
Teens who beat 13-year-old classmate to death sentenced to probation
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Sunday, March 28, 2021
Manila, We Have a Problem!
Chinese fishing fleet ... 183 strong ... invading Philippine waters
STAND UP FOR SOVEREIGNTY!
More on Wealth Redistribution
“A rising tide lifts all boats.” — JFK
I have some additional thoughts about achieving an acceptable level of wealth redistribution. There are some methods that have worked in the past: ... not all benign — revolution, economic collapse, a generation or two of ne’er-do-wells, Socialism, war, technological advances, political favoritism, organized crime and religious fervor.
I have already dealt with economic collapse .. see: Wealth Redistribution. These “methods” can be separated into two groups ... exogenous events and government-controlled events. And famed historian Victor Davis Hanson of the Hoover Institute warns us that government-controlled attempts at redistribution of wealth never have turned out well:
“History has shown that a government's redistribution of shrinking wealth, in preference to a private sector's creation of new sources of it, can prove more destructive than even the most deadly enemy.” — Victor Davis Hanson
So it seems the answer is ... in a democratic free-market society ... be patient ... time will eventually redistribute the wealth. It may not be pretty ... or to the “right people” ... but, one way or another, it will occur.
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Quotable Quote
Funny thing about tree huggers ... they likely don’t realize it, but they are trying to deprive the object of their affection of its primary food source, carbon dioxide. — Fletcher
STAND UP FOR TREES!
Headlines
U.S. Navy offers to clear cargo ship from Suez Canal
Ever Given owners plan new attempt to free ship on Saturday using high tide
‘Where’s Durham?’: Trump wants to know if special counsel is ever going to release report
Atlantic City to spend $36,000 to repaint BLM tribute
Warnock blasts Georgia voting overhaul
Amazon gets FDA approval for at-nome Covid-19 test
Sen. Cruz releases shocking photos of overcrowding at border facility
Spec Ops Command has diversity chief who posted anti-Trump memes
Trump CDC chief: Coronavirus ‘escaped’ from Chinese lab
Covid updates: U.S. sets single-day vaccination record; more states expand vaccination eligibliity
Trump considering trip to border soon
Boulder gunman passed background check, acquired firearm at retail outlet
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Saturday, March 27, 2021
Another Tesla Factoid
Our ever-alert government greenies have decreed that auto companies must reduce total carbon emissions. However, they allowed these credits to be fungible ... meaning they could be purchased from other car companies. Now since Tesla autos emit no exhaust fumes, it has sold these emission credits to others ... making a pretty penny in the process.
The history is that Tesla has made over $1.7 billion dollars selling carbon emission credits to General Motors and other auto makers. See: Inside EVs story. Some predict that this piece of idiotic largess will disappear soon. Both the article and I have our doubts ... particularly since Tesla has gone to court to increase these penalties ... see: MSN Story.
By the way, Tesla’s accumulated deficit since its founding is $5.4 billion. (Does anyone remember Control Data? It hardly every reported profits ... yet survived on hype ... kinda like a current EV maker.)
STAND UP FOR OPERATING PROFITS!
Quotable Quote
There are few things more disturbingly quixotic than trying to remedy long-past societal sins by rewarding those people who were never sinned upon ... by those who never sinned. — Fletcher
STAND UP FOR SANITY!
Headlines
MAGA world says Biden’s lost it. Republican senators disagree
Frustrations flare as Congress grills social media’s CEOs yet again
GAO investigates Biden to determine if he broke the law canceling wall construction
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signs election integrity bill
House launches wide-ranging review of federal handling of Jan. 6 insurrection
Suez Canal blockage is delaying an estimated $400 million an hour in goods
Report: Secret Service got involved in ‘bizarre’ Hunter Biden gun case
Biden: Don’t know if there will be a Republican Party
Final voting results show major setback for Israel’s Netanyahu
Dominion Voting sues Fox News for $1.6 billion over 2020 election claims
Biden snubs Fox News during first presser
Senate confirms Rachel Levine as Assistant Health Secretary
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Friday, March 26, 2021
Today’s Poser
The fact that there are capital gain and loss tax implications resulting from Bitcoin transactions raises the following conundrum — should people, who lose purchasing power due to inflation, be able to take a capital loss on their tax returns? Fair is fair!
STAND UP FOR CONSTANCY!
Headlines
Biden discovers that there is no way to script the presidency
Trading pattern where lower bond yields help growth stocks is breaking down
FaceBook spends more on lobbying than defense and pharmaceutical giants
EU could punish UK for not giving up vaccine doses to Europe
South Korea says North Korea fired projectiles into the sea
Fidelity to launch Bitcoin ETF as financial giant builds its digital asset business
14 states sue Biden admin over oil and gas leasing moratorium
Hillary Clinton: GOP trying to keep voters from voting
Yellen: Treasury faces ‘thorny questions’ about restrictions on state tax cuts
How Europe became the world’s top tech regulator
Kamala to oversee border crisis she won’t acknowledge is a crisis
AZ town declares state of emergency after Biden ignores plea for help
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Thursday, March 25, 2021
Biden’s Presser Today
“We have tens of thousands of children in these God-awful facilities [on the border]” — Joe Biden
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Conspiracies
The world is awash with conspiracy theories ... the Kennedy assasination, Watergate, Arkancide, Webb Hubble suicide, hanging chads, 9/11, Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, Hillary’s computer server, Benghazi, Seth Rich murder, Russian collusion, Covid virus origin, Stop the Steal, Capitol insurrection ... and many, many more.
Funny thing about conspiracies ... they all must have an element of truth to make any headway. My guess ... at least half the above stories are at least half true. The rub is knowing which is which.
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Green New Deal
Sorry, I forgot the source ...
When are we going see solar panels on the White House roof? (I really should keep some of my thoughts to myself!)
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Headlines
Blue-state Republicans slump without Trump as foil
Massive cargo ship turns sideways in Egypt’s Suez canal, blocking traffic in key shipping waterway
FBI knew about alleged Colorado mass shooter, who was linked to another individual under investigation
Blumenthal: Republicans are ‘complicit in these shootings’
China throws European Union trade deal to the wolves
Homebuyer mortgage demand inches higher, but rates hit highest level since summer
Dem Sen. Duckworth vows to stall Biden nominees over lack of Asians
Kamala Harris’ niece: ‘Violent white men’ are greatest terror threat
New York City high schools open
Covid updates: Hong Kong and Macao suspend BioNTech vaccinations over packaging concerns
White House won’t rule out executive orders to implement gun control
Mexico’s president says Biden responsible for migrant surge at border
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Carnac
The Answer: How are you feeling? What did you have for breakfast? How are the dogs?
The Question: What will be the first three questions in President Biden’s initial press conference?
STAND UP FOR POSERS!
Fractured Definition
Morass — what many college men constantly pine for ... particularly during Spring break.
STAND UP FOR HORMONES!
Bitcoin Factoid
Something I did not know ... there is a surcharge for using Bitcoin in a commercial transaction of anywhere of 5-13%! Wow! I understand why this is so ... because of the extreme volatility of its value (in dollars). But, if it weren’t to be converted, why would this make a difference?
STAND UP FOR THE DOLLAR!
Rule by Chaos
The Dems have discovered the secret for duping Americans ... they create a crisis to distract us from their pernicious governing. Viz:
- Allowing BLM and Antifa to run riot in their cities ... like Portland, Seattle and Minneapolis ... in order to frighten their populations into going along with their looney lefty policies.
- Flooding our southern border with illegal immigrants in order to supply the Chamber of Commerce with armies of cheap labor and the DNC with voters.
- Deluging the presidential election with unsolicited mail-in ballots in order to steal the results.
- Conflating the Capitol invasion into an “insurrection” so that they can cleanse our military and schools from white supremacists.
This rule by creating chaos is a cynical extension of Rahm Emanuel’s edict of never letting a crisis go to waste. Our conniving left has decided ... why not create the crisis too?
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Headlines
Killing the filibuster becomes new ‘litmus test’ for Democrat candidates
AstraZeneca may have included outdated data in U.S. vaccine trials, health agency says
Dems look to bypass GOP on infrastructure and climate spending
Noem: HB 122 flawed, nationwide coalition will protect Title IX
Merkel announces hard lockdown for Germany during Easter holiday
Tesla whistleblower complaint after solar fires is part of evidence in federal safety investigation
Kamala laughs when asked if she’ll visit border
Evanston, Illinois approves nation’s first ‘reparations’ for black residents
Colorado marks latest mass tragedy after 10 killed
Pension funds have to buy bonds to rebalance portfolios and that might be good for stocks
Biden White House ‘in regular touch’ with Barack Obama
Survey: President Joe Biden approval slips three points
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Reader Contribution
A kind reader sent a site with 24 interesting and informative maps. It became too complicated to put them in this blog post ... so please go to this link to view them: The Archive. The above is a sample to tease you to go there.
Thank you John B.
STAND UP FOR INFORMATION!
Nostradamus
Making predictions like Nostradamus is relatively simple ... particularly when you don’t have to say when they will occur. It is those people who can say what will happen ... and correctly when it will occur who are the real prophets. (And adding how makes one a real predicting virtuoso.)
STAND UP FOR AUGURY!
Headlines
Rallies in Atlanta, nation against hate after spa shootings
AstraZeneca vaccine found to be 79% effective in U.S. trial, ‘no increased risk’ of blood clots
Adviser: Trump to return to social media in 2-3 months with his ‘own platform’
Report: 15,000+ migrant children now held in U.S. custody
Jim Clyburn is ticking off some in White House. He’s perfectly fine with that
Treasurys gain on Turkey tumult, pushing 10-year yield down from recent high
Operation Warp Speed doc says Biden’s vaccine rollout plan 90% the same as Trump’s
Corporate donors dominate push to grant amnesty to 4.4 million illegal aliens
Pelosi 9/11-style Capitol riot commissioner stalls in political quicksand
Canadian Pacifific Railway to buy Kansas City Souther for $29 billion
Former WH physician: Something ‘not right’ with Biden’s health
Social distancing and wearing masks ‘could last years’
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Monday, March 22, 2021
Obvious Truth
Because of intrusive internet software and advances in communications technology ... and without strong enforceable laws ... any notion of continued personal privacy is wishful thinking.
STAND UP FOR PERSONAL PRIVACY!
Today’s Poser
Like Elmer, I am befuddled! What could possibly be the rationale and motivation behind cynical and pernicious people like George Soros, Bernie Sanders, Eric Swalwell, Nancy Pelosi, etc. ... who obviously want to take America down? Why is their thinking so shallow and short-sighted? The cold hard reality is that they are blithely damaging their home (and adopted) country!
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Headlines
‘The crisis is in Washington’: Overwhelmed border officials urge D.C. to act
Covid cases are rising in 21 states as health officials warn against reopening too quickly
CBO: ‘Dreamer’ amnesty bill would cost over $35 billion
Ted Lieu: Trump ‘gave permission’ to attack Asian Americans
Feinstein says Senate should look at reforming the filibuster
Saudi Aramco profit slumps 44% after Covid-battered year, but maintains dividend
Warren, AOC introduce bill throwing half a trillion dollars at electric trains, and buses
Federal judge accuses NY Times, Washington Post of ‘shocking’ bias’
DNC reports best-ever fundraising for non-presidential year
U.S.-China trade relations remain strained as Biden team takes tough stance similar to Trump
Record: 35% of homes sold above asking price last month
Covid infection rate at migrant minors shelters nearly doubles Texas average
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Sunday, March 21, 2021
reddit Pic
Recharging General Electric’s EV in 1900. (That’s 121 years ago for those of you in Rio Lindo.) And we think Elon Musk has done it all from scratch.
This car’s batteries weighed 700 pounds and produced a driving range of about 30 miles.
STAND UP FOR HENRY FORD!
Like a Dog
The most recent #MeToo revelation about New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and a female aide is that he said he “wanted to mount her like a dog.” See: Def-Con News post.
If that had come to pass, would Bill De Blasio have emerged to throw a pail of cold water on them?
STAND UP FOR COLD WATER!
Whipsawed
One problem with our democracy is that our foreign policy tends to whipsaw from one extreme to the other every four to eight years.
Barack Obama took five steps back from George W. Bush’s interventionism and nation building to a “leading from behind” stance which tended to favor the Muslim world and ignore China ... bowing to our adversaries and apologizing for past American sins, real and imagined.
President Trump took a firm America-first stance ... challenging our allies to fulfill their obligations, identifying China as our primary threat ... neutralizing North Korea and Iran ... and allowing that Russia might also see China as one that it might be wise to resist.
The next u-turn comes now from Biden ... or whoever is doing his thinking for him. This unfocused assembly of Obama retreads seems to think that anything Trump did was wrong and needs to be reversed ... “Restore America.”
So far, Making America Worse Again doesn’t seem to be working out too well ... particularly since the negative tinge to Biden’s foreign and domestic policies are causing embarrassing problems that are difficult to excuse or even explain.
And, if a Trumper wins in 2024, which seems likely given the current Biden trajectory, our nation will, once again, reverse course ... continuing the unsettling whipsaw.
StAND UP FOR AMERICA!
As We Suspected
Lo those many years ago ... more Mr. D.
Afterward: Only back then, the teacher threw the essays on a staircase and your grade was determined by which stair it landed on.
STAND UP FOR PEDAGOGY!
Headlines
Trump’s Mar-a-Largo partially closed due to Covid outbreak
The Fed can fight inflation, but it may come at the cost of future growth
Musk says Tesla would be shut down if its cars spied in China, elsewhere
‘One of the most incompetent displays I’ve ever seen,’ expert slams Biden admin’s China meeting
Biden to meet with Sydney Abrams during Georgia visit
Federal judge pens dissent slamming decades-old press protections
International spectators to be banned from entering Japan for Olympics
FBI investigating whether Cuomo admin gave false data to DOJ
Cohen on NYC Trump probe: You are going to see indictments flying
Biden trips on stairs of Air Force One
Charts show Europe’s third coronavirus wave has begun
Current aide becomes 8th woman to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment
Hawley: Beijing believes it can push Biden administration around
STAND UP FOR AMERICA!
Saturday, March 20, 2021
China’s Forced Labor
Remember these scenes next time you buy an iPhone, a pair of Nike sneakers or a Lacoste polo-shirt ... see: Daily Caller Article.
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STAND UP FOR AMERICA!