Over 100 years ago, an article about our climate being affected by carbon dioxide produced by burning coal (as opposed to wood? We were keeping warm before coal by burning wood which also produces carbon dioxide.)
Saturday, January 11, 2020
Woke Warning
Over 100 years ago, an article about our climate being affected by carbon dioxide produced by burning coal (as opposed to wood? We were keeping warm before coal by burning wood which also produces carbon dioxide.)
Headlines
Pelosi not budging on impeachment articles
Iran missile appears to have shot down Ukrainian-bound Boeing airliner
Impeachment trial next week?
Donald Trump blames Barack Obama for helping fund Iran missiles
Lawmakers approve Brexit bill, U.K. on course for January 31 exit
CEO confidence in the economy appears to have cratered, while consumers believe things are OK
Israel unveiled ‘laser sword’ to ward off threats ...
Court releases $3.6 billion for border wall
Trump says Soleimani was planning to blow up U.S. embassy
Jail video of Jeffery Epstein’s first suicide attempt was deleted, prosecutors reveal
Fed pumps $83 billion more ...
5 states craft measures to prevent transgender sports chaos
Friday, January 10, 2020
Hammered
 |
| From daily timewaster blog |
Perhaps Liz Warren could use this GIF in one of her campaign ads talking about those Americans being ”hammered.”
Talk About Liars
President Trump has been called a congenital liar. This claim seems to be raw politics since anybody listening to the Orangeman understands that he is fill of bluster ... but not a “keep your doctor” liar. So this blog post will try to determine how truthful Trump is when he says that Obama gave Iran $150 billion to sign the nuclear deal ... plus $1.8 billion in hard cash on pallets flown into Tehran in the dead of night.
Let’s get started by listening to Obama’s then Secretary of State John Kerry’s obfuscating take on this issue: John Kerry Bloviating. Wow! Nothing to see here folks ... everything was above board!
However, notice in that video that Kerry never specifically denied the $150 billion number. Rather he said that this agreement was saving the U.S. taxpayers money because we would not be paying all the accumulating interest on the assets we had frozen around the world ... $12 billion of which was frozen in 1979 after Iran had seized our embassy in Tehran and held our diplomats hostage for 444 days. Forty years of compound interest grows this $12 billion into quite a tidy sum ... plus other asset we froze around the world as a result of sanctions the Bush White House had placed on Iran because of its terrorist activities and nuclear ambitions. Bottom line: this $150 billion number appears close to being correct ... see: Truth to Fiction. AND any accumulated interest on the $12 billion should go to the American people for the embassy insult ... not paid by them!
Kerry makes another weasel claim in this video, OK it was a big number but Iran owed lots of countries lots of money, so they really only got part of this money. (The above hyperlink claims it was about $56 billion.) Hold on pilgrim ... if I have a mortgage on my house of $100K and $30k on a car loan ... and I win $200K in the lottery, does the state (ignoring tax implications) only give me $70K? Of course not! Kerry’s assertion is full of excrement.
And insofar as Obama handing Iran $1.8 billion in various cash currencies as ransom in exchange for American hostages, read the following: Fortune Magazine Article.
Now, kind reader, who is the liar after all?
Afterward: not on the money topic but important to ask about the Iran nuclear deal ... for what reason other than producing atomic bombs was (and is) Iran enriching uranium? This would be equivalent to our believing that Xi is building aircraft carriers to transport soybeans back to China.
28th Amendment
Now I can understand why loyal Republicans, including Gaetz and Senators Mike Lee and Rand Paul, would jealously guard the powers given to Congress by the Constitution ... and I sympathize with them. However, we need to be more realistic about this Constitutional power.
The difference, dear reader, boils down to timing. When the Constitution was written, wars tended to develop slowly ... over weeks and maybe months. Today, wars are far more precipitous and can develop over hours and minutes ... soon to be seconds and microseconds ... not enough time for the House to debate any needed war resolution. Pragmatism rears its ugly head.
Therefore, rather than tying the executive branch’s hands when it comes to war powers, it seems rational to amend our Constitution to acknowledge this foreshortening of how our president must react in real time to kinetic threats. I won’t suggest the language of this 28th Amendment here ... after all that is why we elect “lawmakers.” No?
Headlines
How Trump created a credibility problem for the Pentagon
Trump says: Iran ‘appears to be standing down’ after missile attacks on US targets in Iraq
Two quakes strike near [Iranian] nuclear plant ...
Iran claims it’s ‘not seeking escalation’ after multiple attacks ...
Ukrainian airplane crashes near Irani’s capital, killing 176
Oil falls 4% after Trump says Iran is ‘standing down’ in Mideast fight
Survey: Fewer than third of American voters can point to Iran on the map ...
POTUS: Iran deserves a great future of prosperity and peace ...
Barbara Boxer joins D.C. lobbying firm
Private payroll growth surges in December, to end 2019 strong, ADP says
Cancer death rate drops by largest amount on record ...
NY may give automatic voter registration to illegal aliens with drivers licenses
Thursday, January 09, 2020
Ping Pong
Most of our problems in the Middle East have to do with our inserting ourselves in the middle of the centuries-long conflict between the Shia and Sunni Muslims. Our overturning of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, made the Iraqi Shia believe we were on their side ... and Obama’s sucking up to Iran (Shia) reinforced this notion.
But Trump’s dumping of the Iran nuclear deal seemed to indicate we favored the Sunnis. However, the ISIS caliphate was Sunni-based ... and Hillary, with Obama’s permission, seemed to favor these butchers.Then Trump destroyed this caliphate ... with some help from Iran.
And the Shia-Sunni blood feud is also being replicated elsewhere throughout the Middle East ... Saudi Arabia. Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Oman, Turkey, Yemen, Pakistan, Egypt, Gaza ... all but Pakistan predominately Sunni ... where America has difficult problems ... making things even more complex.
And so it goes, back and forth between these Muslim sects (and other offspring sub-sects) like a ping pong match on an Islam table covered in blood. Unfortunately, our troops represent the ping pong ball ... batted back and forth at the cost of U.S. soldiers’ lives and limbs.
Hair Trigger
The conditions that President Trump has set for an attack on Iran are ... if Iran or any of its many proxies kill just one American ... clearly a hair trigger that is bound to be pulled ... even if by accident. So it is inevitable that this red line will be crossed somewhere inside of Iran’s terror network ... therefore it is virtually certain that Iran will be attacked with a ferocity that will cause the world to rock back and cringe over what night happen to them if they step out of line.
Will this brinkmanship start World War 3? I doubt it and clearly hope not ... because the consequences are so dire that only insanity would unleash such a holocaust. Let us pray that no one in the world ... not even Kim Jong Un ... is that nutty.
Headlines
McConnell prepares to move forward on impeachment trial rules without Democrats
Mortgage rates fall further, as buyers rush into first open houses of 2020
Tesla: most valuable car company in America ever ...
State Department urges Americans abroad to ‘keep a low profile’
Pompeo says U.S. will abide by laws of war after Trump suggests targeting Iranian cultural sites
US trade deficit falls more than expected to hit lowest level since Trump took office
IRS personal income-tax audits drop to lowest level in decades ...
Nancy Pelosi to introduce Executive Surrender resolution in House
Grassley: Impeachment could delay USMCA by a month
GM warns of ongoing challenges in China as stock falls 15% in 2019
Super Pump: Repo panic returns as Fed injects $99 billion ...
Chelsea Clinton rakes in $9 million as corporate board director
Wednesday, January 08, 2020
AMT
Believe it or not, there is one thing that I agree with Elizabeth Warren about ... and that is that profitable big tech corporations like Amazon should not be paying zero taxes ... even though the present tax code allows it. There is an AMT, Alternative Minimum Tax, for individuals ... so that the accumulation of tax loopholes (hopefully) doesn’t allow high-income individuals pay no, or very little, taxes.
Trump, if he were wise, would promise to make such a tax-code change part of his next tax reform legislation once he is re-elected in November.
President Hothead ...
... cools it down. Last night Iran launched missiles at Iraqi bases housing American soldiers which killed and injured no one. This seems a calculated charade designed to save face. Iranians are very proud people ... so prideful that they would risk destroying themselves to prove themselves manly.
One could liken this possible ruse to a participant in a duel first shooting into the ground. Once President Trump realized what Iran was doing, however risky, he proclaimed, “All is well.” In other words, you have displayed your masculinity and regained a measure of your pride ... now I will step back and see what you do next. If the ayatollah is satisfied with this charade, Trump unlikely will respond in force. He, known as an unpredictable hothead, seems satisfied with cooling things down. He has unloaded his bazooka and seems to want to see what Iran does next.
Perhaps, this bunch of testosterone-crazed mullahs will now be finally ready to sit down and negotiate a real nuclear treaty ... and stop their reign of terrorism? Wouldn’t that be nice ... and a real win for Trump’s foreign policy.
Afterward: Just read the Diplomad’s take on things. He has an even more interesting spin ... the Iranians actually gave up Soleimani ... see: The Diplomad.
Presidential Critique
One can’t turn on almost any TV channel these days without seeing President Trump being viciously maligned. Here is a recent acerbic example from CNN: “Trump is a poo-poo head!”
Headlines
White House prepares to brief lawmakers on Iranian leader’s killing
Wall Street market analyst see ‘developing Iranian conflict’ leading to deeper market sell-off
Pelosi: House to vote on limiting Trump actions
Iran formally announces it will continue violating the nuclear deal
Julian Castro endorses Warren for president
Defense stocks double S&P 500’s return six months after Middle East turmoil, history shows
Judge Judy will join Bloomberg on trail ...
AOC: Biden and I would not be in the same party in any other country
John Bolton willing to testify in Trump’s impeachment trial
Donald Trump Jr. shows off rifle magazine that shows Hillary Clinton behind bars, crusader cross
More pump: Fed adds $76.5 million in overnight money to markets ...
Bloomberg: ‘Outrageous’ to call Soleimani death an ‘assasination’
Tuesday, January 07, 2020
US History
Those who disparage all US history are guttersnipes of the first, second and third order. — Anon.
Pins and Needles
Pins and needles — there are a number of important issues pending at the moment:
- Iran’s response to Soleimani’s killing
- Kim Jong Un’s “Christmas present” to Trump
- Results of the Barr/Durham investigation into the origin of the spying on Trump
- Pelosi’s delivery of the Impeachment Articles to the Senate
- The next stock market correction
- The signing of the USMCA and Chinese trade deals
- The building of the Mexican border wall
- Who the Democrats’ nominee will be
- Fate of Netanyahu and his coalition
- Brexit actuation
- Possible John Bolton testimony in the Senate impeachment trial
Headlines
Iran official says Israeli cities can be revenge targets
Iraqi parliament calls for US troops to be expelled — coalition suspends operations against ISIS
CARR: Trump ordered the strike, and came down to dinner cool, collected ...
Carlson: ‘Washington has wanted war with Iran for decades’
Flush with cash Yang wrestles with where to spend it
Trump threatens to hit 52 Iranian targets if Tehran retaliates over top general’s death
Patriots eliminated ...
Britain backs Trump on Iran, deploys Royal Navy to Persian Gulf
Britain orders navy to protect ships after Soleiman's killing
Graham wants to start Trump impeachment trial in days: ‘We need to take matters into our own hands’
Netanyahu, in apparent stumble, calls Israel ‘nuclear power’ ...
Iranian ex-pats in Canada celebrate [Soleimani’s] death ...
Monday, January 06, 2020
The Duel
Let me paint the scene ... an analogy to the current US-Iran standoff.
You are armed. Facing you is a well-known evil person also armed. This person snarls, “Say goodbye chump, I’m going to shoot you and your whole family through your heads!”
What do you do? Do you wait for the fatal shot ... knowing your family is also dead ... or do you shoot first?
In other words, is such a verbal threat enough to take lethal action? Or do you need more blatant evidence ... at the risk that all is lost?
My take. Shoot the bastard first and repent in leisure.
Now, imagine that your evil opponent’s name is Qasem Soleimani ...
Fake News
Trusted media types who manufacture fake news end up as the coal shovelers in hell. — Anon.
Australian Bushfires
The bushfires in Australia are devastating and may be unprecedented in size ... but they have happened many times before ... see: The Guardian Article. According to this article this year’s fires are unprecedented in that they are projected to be much larger over the next two months than the total devastation that occurred in the mid-1970s.
And, of course, the climate alarmists are pointing to these bushfires as evidence of climate change ... while others are blaming the Australian government of mismanagement of the normal actions needed to be taken to anticipate this oft-repeated scourge. The above chart suggests that these government critics may have a point in that ... as the area of prescribed burns has gone done in Australia, the area of wildfires has gone up.
Is this an example, like in nutty California, of government inaction designed to prove a political point? Nah! ... politicians would never be that callous ...
My Hero!
Ricky Gervais, the creator of the TV show “Office” and the emcee at the Golden Globes last night, stood in front of his audience of spoiled, drug-addled children and rightfully scolded them for their self-indulgent behavior ... see: Hollywood Reporter for a full transcript and videos.
He is now my hero!
Quotable Quote
“We make a living by what we take, but we make a life by what we give,” — Winston Churchill
Obvious Truth
The most important qualification for serving as US president is how many push-ups one can do.
Headlines
NATO suspends Iraq training mission
Trump says US not seeking war or regime change in Iraq, but is still ready to act if ‘necessary’
Iran unveils red flag at mosque warning of severe battle to come ...
Zumwalt: Soleimani demise could end Iran’s long, one-way war with America
Booker raises $6.6 million in fourth quarter
Oil prices surge to highest level since April after US kills Iran’s top commander in airstrike
Poll: Bloomberg pops to third place in Dem race ...
Russian pranksters: Maxine Waters fell for call from ‘Greta Thunberg’
Fed officials saw decreased recession risk in December meeting
Australia fires kill half a billion animals as crisis mounts
Worst flu season in decades ...
Gaetz: The world is witnessing a ‘change in doctrine’
Sunday, January 05, 2020
Sour Grapes
The contrast between how Obama dealt with Iran and how Trump does is so dramatic that it makes Obama supporters uncomfortable. Here is a typical liberal quote: “I’m kinda happy that this evil man Soleimani is dead ... but, but I still want to blame Trump for something. Let’s see, perhaps he didn’t think things all the way through to 2034? Or perhaps Trump will certainly have blood on his hands when the Iranians strike back.” (Not that this Iran Revolutionary Guard leader didn’t kill and wound thousands of Americans already.) Or even, maybe this was Trump’s attempt to distract the public from his impeachment.
All rubbish! What’s the saying? “Having your cake and eating it too?” Particularly if topped with sour grapes.
Puppet-Masters
The strategy is simple. Russia and China use surrogate puppet states ... Iran and North Korea ... to distract America and draw down our resources rebuffing the crazed antics of their puppets while they plan their world domination.
America has for many years been cowed by the bluster emanating out of Iran and North Korea. These two nut-job countries have continually threatened mayhem in order to get their way. And they have been egged on by their puppet-masters, Russia and China. And the United States, fearing World War 3, has backed down. This brinkmanship, of course, has exacerbated the situation ... for every capitulation and appeasement has led to the next confrontation.
It was inevitable that the limit of American patience had to be reached ... and it was last week ... when President Trump cut the head off of the Iranian snake ... namely Qasem Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard ... while he was in Iraq planning more lethal mischief.
Of course, it is unclear whether this dramatic step will trigger the escalations that Iran has threatened. Trump and most Americans hope it doesn’t. But, if it does, it is only precipitating what would have happened eventually anyway, as the bluster-ers would have done something horrendous that they could not retract. So Trump’s calling Iran’s bluff has only changed the timing of things ... not the actual event itself ... whatever it may turn out to be.
Our president has busted the bluster that kept us backing up... both in Iran and North Korea ... at what cost is still to be determined. Will their puppet-masters now step in to cool things down before the world ends? One would expect so. But, at least America is no longer groveling and our attention can be focused on our real adversaries, China and Russia ... more so China ... for Russia I think sees the wisdom in counteracting China’s growing threat.
Headlines
Trump fiercely defends killing Soleimani as he plunges U.S. deeper into foreign conflict
“Dangerous escalation”: World reacts to the US killing of Qasem Soleimani
Ex-CIA director: ‘There will be dead Americans’ ...
Nancy Pelosi complains: No notification before attack on Soleimani
Bill Gates calls for higher taxes on the rich
US to deploy 3,500 additional troops to the Middle East after Iranian general killed
Factory gauge unexpectedly falls to lowest since 2009 ...
USMC firearm policy updated to allow concealed carry for self-defense
Israel’s Netanyahu seeks immunity from corruption charges
Sales of priciest Manhattan apartments plunge almost 40% in fourth quarter
Terrorist wearing explosive vest shot dead in Paris after stabbing four people ...
Biden slams Soleimani assassination: Trump ‘tossed a dynamite stick into a tinderbox’
Saturday, January 04, 2020
Praying Mantis
Was the US’s killing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard General Soleimani in Iraq justified? The Smerconish program on CNN this morning asked this question of its viewers. Surprisingly, 72% of respondents said it was NOT justified. This suggests that Liberals in general do not approve of this Trump decision ... not a surprise. But, was this a never-Trump knee-jerk or, perhaps, an indication of fear of Iranian retaliation?
Probably a bit of both. And yes, Iran might respond in kind. But the repercussions of Trump’s boldness will likely be felt in other spheres: North Korea, China, Syria, Venezuela ... maybe even Russia. And remember that Iran went quiescent for a number of years after President Reagan destroyed half its navy in 1988 after it had mined the Persian Gulf ... see: Operation Praying Mantis.
Maybe Reagan’s boldness was a template for Trump’s decision?
Today’s Poser
Did General Qasem Soleimani believe that all his grotesquely evil deeds were, in fact, his being good?
Refreshing
Isn’t it refreshing that our American intelligence agencies are finally turning their attention on defeating our external enemies, like Iran’s Soleimani and his henchmen, instead of focusing inward ... like against the Democrats’ political opponents?
Kind reader, this seems a much more reasonable and satisfying use of these expensive and powerful resources.
Headlines
‘It simply isn’t our time’: Julien Castro ends his presidential bid
‘First five days’ indicator, which has a solid track record at predicting year, off to good start
Bernie cash blowout ... Tops Dem field
Trump: Iran will pay ‘Very BIG PRICE’ for embassy attack
Trump warns Turkey’s Erdogan against military intervention in Libya
Amazon threatens to fire employees who speak out on climate change
Florida poised to surpass New York in congressional seats ...
Pope Francis apologizes for slapping woman’s hand
‘The game has changed’ : Defense secretary warns of defensive strikes on Iranian group
People couldn’t wait to leave New Jersey in 2019
Fed pumps [liquidity by] $56.72 billion ...
Joe Biden urges coal miners to ‘learn’ to code
Friday, January 03, 2020
Toilet Paper
My granddaughters gave me a roll of toilet paper with Trump’s picture on each sheet. I thought it was funny and put it in our guest bathroom. If I gave any of my liberal friends toilet paper with a picture of Obama on each sheet, I wonder how this might be received? In fact, this seems the significant difference between today’s dogmatic liberals and more open-minded conservatives.
Soothsayer
The more specific is your prediction, the less likely it is to come true ... a lesson Nostradamus learned early on in his successful career as a mystical soothsayer.
Headlines
Why Pete Buttigieg enrages the young left
Small business pay checks are growing at a fast pace as job gains slow
Tear gas fired at pro-Iran mob ... Retreat [from US Baghdad embassy]
Iran: Trumps $200BN sanctions have wiped out Obama’s $150BN nuclear deal
Lewandowski won’t run for Senate in New Hampshire
Pete Buttigieg raised a huge $24,7 million haul in forth quarter, campaign says
Iran defiant ... Taunts Trump ... ‘Can’t do damn thing’ ...
Sweden: Over 230 bombings and explosions in 2018
Susan Collins says she’s ‘open to witnesses’ in impeachment trial
North Korea leader Kim Jong Un warns of ‘shocking’ action, new strategic weapon
Militia leader who led attack on U.S. embassy a White House visitor [under Obama]
Pentagon: US. to deploy 750 troops after embassy attack in Iraq
Thursday, January 02, 2020
Disturbing!
The ACLU and the SPLC have published some disturbing statistics saying a disproportionate number of people arrested in the United States are criminals. How can this be?
Resolutions
- Stop worrying about the looming ice age
- Make friends with Hunter Biden
- Memorize the Old Testament
- Visit Mar-a-Largo
- Read the Mueller Report and IG Horowitz’s FISA Report
- Walk around the block at least once a week
- Try to like Bernie Sanders
- Start a charitable family foundation to fund our vacations
- Get Greta Thunberg an Exxon credit card
- Stop making New Year’s resolutions
Headlines
Mexicans protest Trump administration’s latest deportation plan
After its strongest year in a decade, Apple stock is historically expensive
US embassy attack on Baghdad ... pro-Iran mob ... Trump: Tehran will pay
Lindsey Graham’ There will be no Benghazi on Trump’s watch
CBS airs picture of Elijah Cummings during segment about Rep. John Lewis’s battle with cancer
Fugitive ex-Nissan chairman, Carlos Ghosn says he fled Japan to escape ‘injustice’
Buchanan: Will war derail Trump’s re-election?
Joe Biden: ‘We’re all dead’ if we don’t stop using fossil fuels
Trump claims America stopped terrorist attack in Russia, Putin called to thank him
This decade saw Warren Buffer finally turn his back oh IBM and jump big time into Apple
Consumer confidence unexpectedly drops on dimmer outlook ...
Joe Biden: I would consider a ‘decent’ Republican for my running mate
Wednesday, January 01, 2020
Today’s Poser
If all matter has gravity, what happens to its gravity when matter disappears, say in an atomic explosion ... or in the fusion producing the sun’s radiation?
Unreal Realities
This blog has pointed out that America has been living with unreal realities ... see: Reality Check. Pre-Trump, the United States was embracing many media- and politician-inspired “truths” that the Orangeman is attempting to kick into a cocked hat. They include:
- We can trust Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions and stop its sponsorship of terrorism
- Once China embraced capitalism, its 1.3 billion people would become huge customers for U.S. companies
- The Chinese model of totalitarian capitalism is superior to free-market capitalism
- Abortion, even right before birth, is moral and a woman’s legal right
- The European model of democratic socialism is superior to the U.S.’s free-market capitalism
- Large numbers of unscreened immigrants (even illegals) enhance American diversity and makes us stronger and safer
- Anti-ballistic missile defense and atomic weapons upgrades were a waste of money
- The Second Amendment is causing mass shootings
- The US. needs to continue to be the major financial supporter of NATO and the UN
- America’s middle working class is a basket of deplorables
- The United States needs to continue to insure peace in the the world ... and even nation-build where necessary
- High taxes and more government regulation is necessary and good for a strong America
- The checkered history of the United States makes it a flawed country not to be revered
- Carbon dioxide emissions from burning hydrocarbons are creating climate havoc that will shortly destroy mankind
- Israel and Great Britain are not America's friends
- Russia is our mortal enemy
- North Korea, even with its nuclear weapons and missiles, can be appeased and safely ignored
- Islam is a religion of peace
- America cannot be and will never be again another manufacturing powerhouse
If you agree with pushing back against even half of these reality illusions, you might ignore his sandpaper personality and reconsider your adversity to the Orangeman.
Reality Check
Life was so much simpler when we believed that the world actually worked the way the media and the politicians assured us it did.
New Years
If you can find the whole movie, just watch the frenetic climax depicting midnight on New Year’s Eve. It is memorable.
Headlines
The Fed could face a possible ‘inflation scare’ in 2020 with commodity prices on the rise
Pete Buttigieg knocks Joe Biden’s support of the Iraq war
Bill De Blasio calls NYC ‘the safest big city in America’
The battery decade: How energy storage could revolutionize industries in the next 10 years
GALLUP: Obama, Trump tied as most admired man ...
Barack Obama picks his own documentary among favorite movies of 2019
Hunter Biden owed $113,000 in unpaid taxes for year he served on Burisma board
Ivanka Trump may not return to the White House if her father wins in 2020
Shooting at church in Texas ... Gunman shot dead by parishioner ...
Suspect arrested, drenched in blood, in Hanukkah machete attack ...
CBS reporter says Trump’s record with minorities is one ‘any president after 3 years would want to claim’
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