Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Quotable Quote



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!


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!


MAWA



Make America Worse Again!



STAND UP FOR AMERICA!


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!


reddit Pic



Baobab trees in Madagascar ...


STAND UP FOR NATURE!


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!


Fractured Definition

 


Conundrum — a reverberation from a French prisoner


STAND UP TO A PROBLEM!


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!


Show and Tell



Mr. D. and the rocket ship ...


STAND UP FOR YOUNGSTERS!


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!


reddit Pic



Utrecht, Holland ... famous for linen painters’ canvas 


STAND UP FOR TULIPS!


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.








STAND UP FOR AMERICA!