Headlines

Schumer call on Azar to resign over political meddling in virus response

Pelosi blasts GOP ‘skinny’ deals, doubles down on call for large coronavirus relief deal

Biden visits Florida after court requires ex-felons to payoff fines before voting

Jerry Brown mocks people who want to leave California: ‘Where are you going to go?’

Turkish ship’s return home raises hopes of Greece-Turkey tensions cooling

The Federal Reserve will stay on hold until 2023, according to CNBC survey

President Trump’s says coronavirus vaccine could be approve ‘in a matter of weeks’

Junk Science: Biden climate speech ‘one falsehood after another’

Justice Department watchdog is probing handling of Roger Stone case

Coronavirus live updates: Global deaths rising, Bill Gates calls for equitable distribution of any vaccine

Freudian slip? Kamala talks plans ‘during a Harris administration’

LASD sheriff challenges LeBron James to match reward money in manhunt

STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Headlines

Pelosi says election threats from Russia and China are not equal

Trump signs orders aimed at extending some pandemic relief after Congress fails to reach a deal

Centrist Democrats pose a significant roadblock to Biden’s radical climate plans

Poll: Majority of Americans are not wearing masks outdoors

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine again tests negative for coronavirus

U.S. tops 5 million coronavirus cases as outbreak threatens America’s Midwest

National Security Advisor O’Brian issues warning to Americans about Chinese espionage

Gallup: 35% of Americans would not get a coronavirus vaccine

Kudlow: Trump’s executive order will stop evictions

Nearly 80% of credit card holders say they’re concerned about making minimum payments

Trump suspends student loan payments through December 31

Report: Gretchen Whitmer met with Biden in Delaware

STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Headlines

Schumer says addressing gun violence will be top Dem priority this fall

Reliable China insiders hint that this round of trade talks could lead to a breakthrough

Bernie: Population control to save climate

Pete Buttigieg admits no combat ribbon from Afghanistan

Democrats seize on climate as 2020 priority weapon

Cramer: US economic strength empowers Trump to continue to play hardball on China trade

Survey: USA 47th best place to live in the world ...

Winning: ADP and Moody’s estimate jobs blowout

Greg Craig found not guilty in Ukraine lobbying case

Private payroll growth well above Wall Street estimates despite recession fears

Feds line up another quarter point cut ...

Boris Johnson’s brother quits Parliament, gov’t

Determinism

When I first started out programming computers, they were deterministic ... meaning a set of operations would always produce the same result. Somewhere along the way, I think when timesharing computers were introduced, they became stochastic ... meaning an element of randomness was introduced. (The technical reason was that processes became interrupt driven.)  Now, working on this IPad, I can perform the exact same action twice and get different results. This is maddening. We humans desire predictability. We want to know that pushing this button makes the doorbell ring and not just sometimes ... while at others, it turns on the window fan.

So, recognizing what is deterministic and what is stochastic is important in life. Controlling a nuclear reactor with a computer that was not deterministic would be quite dangerous. While saying that weather ... or climate .... was deterministic would be foolish ... there is too much randomness involved ... much more so with climate than with weather.

However, human nature being what it is, we dislike a stochastic future. So we invent soothsayers and palm readers and oracles ... and economists. We allow some charlatan like Al Gore to assure us as to what the unmeasurable global temperature will be in ten years and give him and his acolytes trillions of dollars to fix things. Of course their predictions were well off the mark ... and they are not going to give us our money back. "It's the next ten years!"

So kind readers, today's lesson is to learn to distinguish between deterministic and stochastic processes. And if someone tries to tell you that a stochastic process is deterministic, keep your hand on your wallet.

Got Gas?

Our natural gas bill to heat our house normally runs in the mid-$200 range in January. Just got our latest heating bill yesterday -- $471 -- WOW! And I know, I know that weather is not climate ... but something is going on here. Can I ask Al Gore for a donation toward this "anomalous" gas bill?

A Flat World

This AM on CNBC there was a discussion on the outlook for housing prices in which the term "better neighborhood" was used. This caught my attention because such a designation still persists in our nation that seems in a headlong race toward an egalitarian society. If Bernie Sanders has his way a "better neighborhood" would be outlawed in concept if not in fact. Why should one group of citizens be permitted such an advantage over another? Are we not all equal in God's eyes? So why should some have better homes or better roads or better parks or even better schools?

No! This is not permitted! We all must live in a constructed paradise like Havana, Cuba ... where no one has a cultural or environmental advantage over  his neighbor. No one will live in higher ground. We will level all the topologies until everyone lives at the same elevation ... a flat world. And the climate will be the same for everyone. If it rains somewhere, it must rain everywhere. All residents need to enjoy the same clime, the same temperature, the same intensity of sunshine, even the same number of hours of daylight. If some people live on the shoreline, then everyone who so wants must live by the ocean. If some residents want beautiful views, then everyone must have beautiful vistas. Earthquakes, typhoons, floods, volcanoes ... even meteor strikes are no longer permitted.

The government under The Bern will insure that the climate, the economy, the topology, the flora, the fauna, the medical care, the entertainment, the abodes, the diets, the bank accounts, the employment, the apparel, the education, everything that citizens experience must be flat or equal ... except for Bernie and his flat head friends, that is.

Counterpoint

Recently I wrote a blog specifying all the good things that can be said about the United States ... see: Rose-Colored Glasses. However, daily we see media articles that show these advantages often slip-sliding away. To illustrate this I have juxtaposed below, next to my previously-stated advantages, media stories that show the slow dulling of our nation's edges:

We have a capitalism-driven growing economy ... the largest in the world. See: China Overtakes the U.S. as World;s Largest Economy.

We have a plentiful supply of cheap labor to our south ... anxious to experience our American life. See: Donald Trump Was Right.

We have a premier higher-education system ... the envy of the world ... and one which keeps supplying us with gifted entrepreneurs. See: Higher Education -- Not What It Used To Be.

We have the geographic advantage of being isolated from most of the rest of the world by two large oceans. See: How Geography Explains The United States.

We have a very low inflation rate. See: What Official Inflation Figures Aren't Telling Us.

We have a generally benign climate. See: Scientists Warn Sun Will Go To Sleep In 2020, Cause Temperatures To Plummet.

We have a national park system that is the envy of the world. See: Obama Designates More Than 1 Million Acres For Three New Monuments.

We have the world's best health-care professionals and technology. See: Healthcare Is Getting Worse Under Obamacare.                 

Despite continuing declines, we still have an enormous manufacturing capacity. See: Fast Track To Lost Jobs.

We are currently not in a hot war draining our treasury and supply of young people. See: Pentagon Official Lists Militants, Russia and China As Threats To The U.S.

Most crime in this country is on the decline except in a few hot spots. See: Murder Rate Surges In Major U.S. Cities.

We have a democratic-elected government and all the freedoms provided by our Bill of Rights. See: The Constitution Is Eroding.

We are abundantly supplied with raw materials. See: How Putin's Russia Gained Control Of A U.S. Uranium Mine.

We have a stable currency ... the basis of most world-wide commerce. See: Momentum Builds To Label Chinese Yuan A Reserve Currency

We have the strongest military in the world. See: Lawmakers Blast US Army Force Cuts.

We have a very large middle class that supports our democracy and our way of life. See: The Shrinking American Middle Class.

We have an enormously efficient food-supply chain. See: America.s Fragile Food Supply Chain.

We lead the world in most technological advances. See: U.S. Moving From Technology Leader To Laggard.

We still carry a large surplus of prestige with most world governments. See: The Decline Of U.S. Power?

Now you see "the rest of the story."

Help!

Eastern United States Snow and Ice Cover

I realize that one extended bout of severe weather does not equate to "climate," but the Eastern United States is going through a rough patch of record-breaking cold temperatures that could benefit from a little of that so-called "global warming" that is so easily bandied about these days ... see: Watts Up With That Blog.

I wonder if the Congressional investigations now proposed to determine the extent of our government's tampering with official temperature data will somehow help to resolve any thinking-person's disconnect between what we are seeing and feeling and what these government "scientists" are telling us ... see: The Daily Caller Article.