Iran

Most now realize that any agreement with Iran is not worth the paper it is printed on. Back in 2009 the US stood by while Iranians rioted in an attempt to over throw the government. The US was so committed to their nuclear deal they ignored the plight of the people. Today the US has a chance to make amends and Biden along with Musk are doing just that. Biden has lifted restrictions on providing technical equipment to Iranians and Musk has used his satellite system which allows the Iranian people to maintain contact with the outside world. Iran can no longer keep their people in the dark. While Biden is still contemplating a no nuke deal with Iran that seems to be on the back burner where many hope it will remain.

Global economics

The idea of globalization had been around for centuries but it came into its own in the 1950's when Nobel economist Milton Friedman promoted the idea that who ever could make the best product in the most efficient way should make that product. This opened the door to free trade around the world. While this was a great idea from a theoretical standpoint it was not so great when put into practice. The major flaw was that countries did not behave in an ethical manner and the free was turned into government supported industries and currency manipulation. Between 1950 and 2000 world trade expanded 300 times to $28 trillion. But it was after China joined the WTO that trade really took off increasing from $6 trillion to $28 trillion. The result was that 8 million manufacturing jobs left the US and these were mostly high paying union jobs. This resulted in wage stagnation from 1980 until 2020 and meanwhile China's economy was booming with all of the new jobs taken from Americans. When the mortgage crisis of 2006 hit it was the beginning of the decline in global business and this was further accelerated by the spread across the globe of populism headed by Trump in the United States. The pandemic hit and reinforced the move away from globalization. Make America great again was the call to bring the jobs home. US consumers enjoyed 20 years of low prices at the expense of sending jobs overseas and today America is at the mercy of such important items as computer chips, solar panels and pharmaceuticals. Those in the United Nations who still believe in globalization see it as a way to continue to move assets from developed countries to poor countries.

Abortion vote

Biden promises to codify Roe if two more Democrats are elected to the Senate but experts say this will not work. According to the constitution congress cannot overturn state law. Although many Americans believe that Congress has the power to enact laws in almost every field, that is a serious misconception. Under our system of government, the states are the basic source of lawmaking, and Congress is limited to the powers specifically enumerated in the Constitution. Those powers are significant, but far from unlimited, and do not include the ability to make abortions legal. Biden is counting on the fact that many low information voters will not know this and think if the democrats get these two votes that Biden can then return the country to Roe.

Low cost of living

John and Mary Smith a young married couple who recently graduated with degrees in computer science have job offers from a number of potential employers. They are looking at the options and have narrowed things down to Austin, Texas or Silicon Valley in California. Their starting salaries will be $100,000 each and they would like to settle down and buy a home. First off their state income tax in California is $14,600 and in zero in Texas. The average price of a home in California is $600,000 and in Texas $300,000. On a 30 year fixed mortgage this is $3,600 vs $1,800 monthly principal and interest payment. A savings of $1,800 per month is $21,600 per year and add to that $14,600 in tax savings and they have an extra $36,000 per year. They are on their way to Austin.

Justice

Restorative justice is the more formal name for social justice which is a more empathetic and comprehensive approach to addressing criminal behavior when compared with the traditional justice model. While this is an admirable objective, it runs into problems when it is instituted. Over time it has tended to care more for the criminal than the victim. In my youth I was a champion of social justice. When someone was convicted of a crime, I would look into their background and explain their behavior in a manner which made them seem like victims. John was convicted of beating his wife with a club. This would be a felony and could result in jail time. John grew up in a family where his father routinely beat up on his mother. His father was a alcoholic and he murdered his mother when John was ten years old. John witnessed the murder and testified in court. By the time I finished my story people forgot about John's wife and started feeling sorry for John. Today this type of thinking has become common place and criminals are let off with misdemeanors when they should be charge with felonies. The balance between justice and mercy has shifted toward mercy. The idea of personal responsibility has been tempered by a persons past experiences. At one time I got so good at this that I finally arrived at the point where no one was responsible for criminal activity.

Campaign spending

While the Republican National Committee has abandoned Michigan governor candidate Tudor Dixon, Trump is on the way there for a rally. Trump may be the exception. He’s scheduled to headline a Saturday rally for Dixon and other GOP candidates in the state. His visit comes at a time when Whitmer and the Democratic groups supporting her re-election are crushing Dixon and the GOP in ad spending, $16.5 million to $924,000 through Wednesday, according to AdImpact, an ad-tracking firm.  They say that money is the Mother's Milk of politics and this election may prove the point. But this is not always the case. Clinton spent $450 million while Trump spent $239 million. Overall spending including PAC's gave Clinton the lead $1.4 billion to $950 million.

Gaffs

President Biden has developed a reputation of making gaffs. In the latest while speaking of the death of a congress woman Jackie Walorski he said about her "I want to thank all of you here, including bipartisan elected officials like … Senator Braun, Senator Booker, Representative … Jackie, Jackie are you here?" Biden said, searching for the late congresswoman. "I think she was going to be here to help make this a reality." While this is of concern the explanation given by the White House is more concerning when asked about his gaffs White House spokesman responded. "Doing so has been critical to his success in everything from rallying the world to support Ukraine to empowering Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices," Patterson added. "And when he feels the need to add context to something he said, or to direct his staff to do so - as every President has - he doesn’t hesitate to." 

California today

The story of the decline of Detroit seems to be happening again. In the 50's the Motor City was booming with the Big Three automakers leading the world. Many Blacks moved from the south to get better jobs. At first there was turmoil as Whites refused to work along side Blacks but that changed as new plants were built in the outlying areas and Whites moved but the Blacks stayed in the city. This was the beginning of the economic divide which would bring down the city. As the Whites, who were mostly homeowners, left, the tax base left with them and houses sat empty as the city coffers shrank. The 1967 race riots pushed the exodus into high gear and the rest is history. California is the poster child for what is happening today and other states are following. People are leaving for various reasons. Taxes are the highest in the country at 13% and keep rising. People might move to Texas where there is no state income tax. The average home price in California is $650,000 almost twice the $350,000 in Texas. California is so overwhelming democrat that many conservatives feel their voices are no longer heard and want to move where the aren't faced with taxation without representation. The state has a homeless problem. California has more than 150,000 homeless people, more than any other state. Some of them are mentally ill and/or addicted to drugs. They wander the streets, defecating where and when they please. They expose themselves in areas where they can be seen by children. And many other problems that residents report. There is a general problem of filth in the cities. It’s not uncommon to see human poop in the state’s largest cities, with San Francisco winning the award as the “the doo-doo capital of the U.S“. Crime is up and people blame the government as the State Supreme Court did away with cash bail and other laws like not prosecution theft under $950. It is mostly low and middle income people who are leaving and this widens the gap between the rich and poor

Gasoline

The government has removed 200 million barrels of oil from the strategic oil reserve and is taking out 10 million barrels a week. This has lowered the reserve to the lowest point since 1984. The purpose is to bring down the price of gasoline and it is working as the price is now down over a dollar per gallon. This will continue until the election after which time it will stop and hopefully the production will catch up with demand and the price will stabilize. If the world's economies slow down this will reduce demand and that will help keep the price down.

Seniors revolt

More and more frequently, I am confronted with evidence that I am becoming and old foggy. An ad on TV this AM said that the most popular series on cable is a show about dead people walking around and second place went to a show about vampires. Either the major audience for cable is teenagers or I am past my expiration date. The first sign was my lack of tech skills. I can integrate x squared times e to the x power but I can't enter my email code. I can integrate x squared times e to the x power but I can't enter my email code. Where is Gun Smoke and Bob Newhart when I need them. It is time for a seniors to organize and revolt. Trash the smart board and bring back the chalk and black board. Upward and onward!

Child trafficking

Most people have very little knowledge of what is called child trafficking so here are some facts. There are an average of 30 million people being trafficked worldwide  The average lifespan of a trafficking victim is 7 to 10 years from the time they started being trafficked  All ethnicities are at risk. Average age of domestic sex trafficking victims is 13 years old  In the last year and a half there have been 267,000 unaccompanied minors cross the southern border. Their journey traveling alone is fraught with danger but most Americans have little information on these dangers.

Low wages immigrants

Most people, regardless of party, feel that the reason immigrants are allowed in, is because they are willing to do the jobs that Americans will not do and this is true. If things are looked at from a different perspective it opens the door to a new way of seeing the problem. If these people did not do these jobs then either the food would rot in the fields or the farming business would start paying higher wages to encourage Americans to do the work. If a person could earn $40 an hour to pick strawberries or to clean motel rooms there would be no worker shortage for these jobs. These jobs would then go to low income Americans with little job skills or education but the jobs are very important to the rest of the working public. People would have to pay higher prices for food and services but that is the price of providing a job that pays a living wage. That is $80,000 per year but without benefits. What people seem not to understand is that Americans won't do this work not because they don't like the work but because the pay is too low. These immigrant not only work for low wages but they keep wages down in general.

Border racism

Many liberals, including former President Obama, say that the concern about the border is based on racism. Most conservatives, including former President Trump, want a merit based immigration system where the people who are allowed to immigrate have the skills needed to provide for themselves. This is in conjunction with the skills needed by US businesses and the using merit is the best way to satisfy these requirements. Using merit based most of the new immigrants will come from Asia and most of those from India. These are people who have studied English in schools and have science and engineering skills. It just so happens that they are not white so the claim of racism is not accurate.

GOP platform

John Smith is the republican candidate for president of the 2024 election. His platform is laid out in clear concise detail. Will maximize fossil fuel output Will stop excess government spending to fight inflation Will push for parents to be in charge of school and the curriculum will be academic Will continue to increase import taxes on goods from China Will make the Trump tax cuts permanent. Will promote strong national defense Will promote strong local police departments Will reduce the flow of illegals by forcing Mexico to close their southern border, support remain in Mexico and build a wall. Will maintain sanctions on Iran Will not join the Paris climate agreement\ Will promote all ways to increase clean energy with emphasis on nuclear Will promote the Abraham accords bringing Muslims and Jews together Will encourage governors to fire DA's who promote no-bail laws Will support free market capitalism by reducing unnecessary regulations Will put America first as the best way to help others Will encourage other countries pay their share of NATO and the United Nation Will ask that other countries pay the full cost of US troops protecting them Will promote school choice where the money follows the student This is how things look if you remove Trump from the picture

Abortion

Some liberals running for office in MN are saying their opponents will outlaw abortion. In Minnesota, choosing to have an abortion is a right protected by the Minnesota Constitution (Doe v. Gomez). That protection is separate and independent from the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Dobbs v. Jackson decision does not change the Minnesota Constitution, does not change the Minnesota Supreme Court’s determination in Doe v. Gomez, and does not change Minnesota laws regulating access to and provision of abortion services. Abortion remains legal in Minnesota. All's fair in love, war and politics.

China

The United States is often referred to as the bread basket of the world. The country is self sufficient when it comes to food production. In addition the US exported food products valued at $173 billion. China on the other hand runs a food deficit and imports over $100 billion in food products. The US is a net exporter of energy while China is a net importer. Even though China still uses coal for 65% of its energy it imports 67% of its oil and 35% of its natural gas. China's per capita income is $4,200 and the US is $66,000. China spends $226 billion (1.3% of |GDP) on military and the US spends $800 billion (3.4% of GDP).

AIDS

Monkeypox is following the same path that AIDS took. It starts among gay men and later spreads to the general community. In both cases there is no condemnation of the gay life style of multiple partners. No complaints that these gay men are a threat to non gay people. Many people feel it is healthy for the country to talk openly about sexuality as it refers to gay life, gay marriage, transgender and other different life styles but political correctness steps in when discussing how AIDS and Monkeypox starts.

Nuclear

Holy Cow, is the tide turning or are people just jumping on the bandwagon. Either way it is a good thing. This AM on Morning Joe, Joe said, "for 25 years I have been saying that the only way is nuclear power". Now I am thrilled with that but quite honestly I have been watching Joe for many years and I have never heard him say anything good about nuclear power. Then he asked why are we buying dirty oil from dictators when we could be producing clean oil here in the states. The fossil fuels produced in the US are the cleanest from an environmental standpoint. As I have said many times, where are the scientist

Green plan

Some one has to take charge of the new green deal. There needs to be a plan. Their pushing electric vehicles but the grid is not prepared. The nation's transmission network, plagued by outages and increasingly severe weather, needs a trillion-dollar overhaul and that is just to bring the system up to date. To meet the demands of EV's means to triple the system. Last year the congress passed a one 1.2 trillion dollar infrastructure bill and one of 15 parts was for the grid. Now the projects have to be approved by the EPA. There has been little discussion about the environmental hazards involved in the mining of and disposal of rare earth metals that are needed for wind and solar. There seems to be little concern about being dependent on China for most of the equipment. There is no discussion for the back up power when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine. The subject of how airplanes will fly on batteries or ocean liners or rail locomotives will operate isn't discussed. This is like deciding to build a house and just start nailing boards together. Where is the plan to coordinate the green deal.

Elections

As the elections approach and people get serious about how they will vote, some call on the old Reagan question, are you better off now than you were two years ago. Look at the data. Inflation, which was at 1.4% is now at 8.3%. Illegal border crossings were 50,000 per month and are now 200,000 per month. After years of decline, crime has risen and in particular violent crime with murders up 30%. Low and middle income people saw their wages go from gaining 4% per year to losing 3% per year. Deaths from fentanyl have increased from 30,000 per year to 77,000 per year. While these are the top issues based on polls many voters will disregard this data and vote based on their feelings toward Trump. They have been conditioned over the years to see conservatives as racist, homophobic, anti-immigrant and in some cases as evil. They will vote based on these feelings. For them it is not the economy stupid.

Children

For years broad minded people have said that what two consenting adults do in private is their business. The assumption was that no children were involved. Having pornography on your computer is legal but having child porn is not. The line between adult and children is no longer quite so clear. It started about 30 years ago when schools and healthcare facilities began providing birth control to children without their parents approval. A student cannot go on a field trip without parents consent. Next came abortions for children without parental knowledge using court approval. More recently in a number of states parents have been left out of the loop for more sensitive issues. These ‘sensitive’ services include abortions, sexual assault treatment, drug abuse and mental health treatment, cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, and sex-change operations. In California, minors can consent to all of these sensitive treatments, except for sex-change surgeries, after the age of 12 under certain conditions, and consent to abortions at any age.” Many states allow consensual sex to children age 16. Many parents are unaware of how these laws have been implemented.

Immigrants

From 2006 to 2018 the number of illegals living in the US was estimated to be about 11 million. In the past two years another 4 million have come into the country. If nothing is changed this trend will continue and international polls show that 160 million people want to immigrate to the US. This is from a 2017 report. A Gallup World Poll has found that 15 percent of the world's adults (750 million people) would like to move to another country if they had the chance. The research is based on 453,122 interviews in 152 countries. Desire to migrate is strongest in Sub-Saharan Africa, followed by parts of Europe outside the EU. When it comes to the most desired destinations, 21 percent of potential migrants worldwide would like to move to the United States. That equated to 158 million adults. Canada was the second most desired destination followed by Germany.

Pandemic

Now that everyone is evaluating the way the pandemic was handled, I want to review what I have said in the past and expand on the idea. I will use the analogy of a manufacturing plant something that I am familiar with. If you are producing wigets the production manager wants to make as many as possible and the quality control manager wants to make each widget perfect. When these two people work together you get a product that is acceptable in quantity and quality. The plant manager is responsible for both quality and quantity as is the final arbiter in any disputes. The major mistake made during the pandemic was putting the quality control manager, Dr Fouci, in complete control. If people got sick and/or died he knew his bottom was on the line so the safest thing for him to do was to go all out on quality. He did what was necessary to cover his behind if and when people died. If the whole country shut and went into a deep recession it would be no skin off his teeth. There was no balancing force. We needed someone on the quantity side and then allow the plant manager (president) to handle any disputes.

Border

Bill Malugin is the Fox News reporter who reports daily on conditions on the southern border. He is aided by aerial views from a drone. The White House is irritated at a Fox News reporter's persistent coverage of the immigration crisis at the southern border, according to a Politico. When it was announced that migrants would be flown to Delaware, the press was ready to cover the event. News organizations including The Inquirer, the New York Times, and National Public Radio sent reporters to the airfield, all eventually to discover that nothing was happening. The plane landed in Tennessee. Still no coverage of the border by these news groups.

Delaware

Bill Malugin is the Fox News reporter who reports daily on conditions on the southern border. He is aided by aerial views from a drone. The White House is irritated at a Fox News reporter's persistent coverage of the immigration crisis at the southern border, according to a Politico. When it was announced that migrants would be flown to Delaware, the press was ready to cover the event. News organizations including The Inquirer, the New York Times, and National Public Radio sent reporters to the airfield, all eventually to discover that nothing was happening. The plane landed in Tennessee. Still no coverage of the border by these news groups.

Fed rates

In fiscal year 2022 the federal government spent $5.35 trillion dollars in the form of cash to individuals and businesses. They announced with great fanfare how this was helping so many people. This money was created out of thin air by the Fed. government borrowing surges and the Federal Reserve signals it could buy unlimited debt. Does the Fed believe in Modern Monetary Theory? These same experts said inflation, if it comes, will be transitory. Now the Fed is raising interest rates to slow inflation. How high will they go. Some say the answer is to follow the Taylor rule which says rise rates one and a half time as much as inflation. So if inflation rises from 2% to 8% you raise the rate one and a half times 6 (8-2) which is 9% and we are now at 3.5%.

Share the wealth

In recent years a new phrase has entered the vernacular. It is environmental equity. One of the main points of the Paris climate accord is helping poorer nations. One of the goals of globalization is sharing the wealth. Environmental equity means both protection from environmental hazards as well as access to environmental benefits for all, regardless of income, race, and other characteristics. Climate change is expected to dis proportionally affect low-income communities least responsible for climate change emissions. Skeptics say this all about income redistribution, taking money from the rich countries and transferring it to poor countries. China is considered a developing country and gets special treatment in world finance. For example the US contributes 10% of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and China adds 2.3%. The US contributes 21% to the World Bank and China adds 4%. This in spite of the fact that the Chinese GDP at $14.7 trillion is 67% of the US GDP which is $21 trillion. At the opening for the 2022 General Debate, UN Secretary-General António Guterres implored world leaders to “lift your climate ambition. Listen to your people’s calls for change. Invest in solutions that lead to sustainable economic growth.” He also called on all developed economies to tax the windfall profits of fossil fuel companies and re-directed those funds to countries suffering loss and damage caused by the climate crisis and to people struggling with rising food and energy prices.

Terror list

78 people on the terror watch list were picked up by the border patrol. This is twice the number of the previous four years. This brings to mind the question of how many of the 900,000 got aways were on the terror list. This sudden increase coincides with the change in illegals who are now mostly from Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. It is difficult to find out info about these people but for the first six months of 2022, 25 of the 27 known or suspected terrorists arrested were citizens of Colombia. Add to that during the 2021 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, ICE recorded 59,011 deportations, down from 185,884 in 2020. The number coming into the country is increasing while the number deported is decreasing. The 59,011 deportations reported last year were the lowest total since 1995. Many experts believe that sooner or later one of these suspects will cause some type of attack here in the states.

Dilbert

I don't watch comic strip because I don't subscribe to the newspaper but one very popular strip is under attack. The strip called Dilbert is about office humor. The strip was recently dropped from 80 papers and this happened when Dilbert poked fun at Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues and the introduction of a new character names Dave who is Black but identifies as White. Is this an example of cancel culture.

Jan 6

The congress is set to continue the January 6 hearing the end of this month and go on until the election. The first round of hearing, some of which were broadcast on prime time TV did not have much affect. A RealClearPolitics poll average shows that a short-term collapse in his approval rating after the Capitol riot has fully reversed; his net approval rating today, while negative, is still about 1.5% higher than Joe Biden's. What is strange is why they will not continue after the election. Even if the democrats lose the house they will still be in power until January.

Election

The 2020 presidential election was interfered with to the point where the interference could have affected the outcome. In the 2016 election this kind of charge resulted in a two year investigation by a special prosecutor but in 2020 the situation was much different. Presidential elections are infamous for what are euphemistically called October surprises and the big one in 2020 never got off the ground. It revolves around Hunter Biden's laptop. The FBI came into possession of this laptop a 18 months earlier but it was only just before the election that it became public knowledge. The New York Post, a reputable news paper that is the forth largest in the country and has been around for 200 years, broke the story and the rest of the media were told by the government that it was Russian disinformation and they dutifully went along with that and it was reinforced by social media. Not only did the press accept the government explanation but social media went so far as to ban any information to the contrary. Recent polls show: 79% Say ‘Truthful’ Coverage of Hunter Biden’s Laptop Would Have Changed 2020 Election Before the election the New York Times and the Washington Post concluded that the laptop was Russian disinformation long with 50 former senior intelligence officials who signed on to a letter outlining their belief that the recent disclosure of emails allegedly belonging to Joe Biden’s son “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” After the election the Times and the Post confirmed that the laptop was legitimate. We have yet to hear from the 50.

Wages and inflation

Inflation is hurtful but mostly over a long period of time. If we have 4% inflation and wages are going up 5% then overtime this works out very well for the average person. For example if you gross $40,000 and you have expenses of $35,000 you have $5,000 of disposable income. Fast forward ten years. You are now earning $65,155 and you have $51,808 of expenses leaving $13,346. Your disposable income almost triples. This is the situation we had during the fifties and sixties. From 1950 until 1965 wages increase 3% per year and inflation was 2.2%. If you earned $3,500 and had $3,000 of expenses you had $500 of disposable income. By 1965 your income had increased to $5,400 and our expenses rose to $4,150 leaving you with $1,250 of disposable income. Today we have inflation at 8.3% and wages rising at 5.3%. If this continues over the next three years what will our situation look like. The average family income today is $63,000. Assume you have $60,000 of expenses and $3,000 of disposable income. Now move forward three years and your income is $73,500 but your expenses are $76,200

Wage/price

With the tight labor market the number of employees going on strike is increasing rapidly. In areas like nurses and teachers plus unions gaining steam at places like Starbucks, Amazon and Apple it is a new day for big labor. Here is a headline from the Washington Post. Strikes are sweeping the labor market as workers wield new leverage While this is a good thing it does lead to what economist call wage/price inflation. As people make more money businesses must increase prices and things spiral up. In the high inflation days at the end of the Carter years wages went up but inflation went up more. Wages in 1980 increased by 10% but inflation went up by 12.5%.

Illegals

50 illegal immigrants showed up at Martha's Vineyard and received a lot of attention. NPR went to interview some of these migrants. Del Rio, TX is a city of 35,000 and in one month 50,000 migrants came to town but no one went to interview any of them. When the news media selectively reports based on politics the country loses. The power to ignore is still one of the great powers that media has and this issue illustrates this fact.

Prison

I don't watch regular TV shows but I do watch cable news. I do watch old movies from the 30's and 40's on youtube and I have noticed something odd. First off there very few Black actors and when they did appear it was as servants. Most people who watch these movies are aware of this but another interesting thing was that all the criminals that appear in these old flicks were white. The percentage of Blacks in prison was 21% in 1920 and 42% in 1986. That has come down to 36% today.

Illegal immigrants

This is information from the Center for Immigration Studies  an independent, non-partisan, non-profit, research organization. Tens of thousands of immigrants caught illegally crossing the border and then released under the new leniency policy of President Joe Biden are now dispersing to four corners of the United States on buses, with some of the more moneyed ones taking passenger jets Where are the buses going? They often drop their Haitian, Venezuelan, and Cuban passengers in Florida and New Jersey. Those from Nicaragua and other Central American nations have been delivered to Tennessee, Massachusetts, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and to large cities in Texas such as Dallas and Houston. This procedure is so common it has a name. It is call catch and bus.

Illegals

As migrants are sent to Washington DC the government says they don't have the infrastructure to deal with them. In a report from June of 2021 Judy Woodruff reported the following: A surge in crossings at the border in recent months has led the border agents to drop some migrants off at sites in rural American towns. These towns often lack the means to cope with the influx, even though aid groups have stepped in to help. It is necessary to do a deep search to find out much about the governments methods of moving migrants around the country. The government has been sending migrants to various locations across the country. Many times the end towns are not notified in advance and must make arrangements on the fly. It is only in the past couple of weeks that this has come to the attention of the news people.

Teachers

Teachers fall into a special category of people like nurses, clergy and eldercare workers. This is not a job or a career or a profession but it is a calling and if you don't have it you will be out of the business in a few years. Today teachers talk about low wages and smaller class sizes but that is what they say in public. In private their conversations more poignant. They speak softly with their trusted friends about the disruptive student that adversely affects the whole class. They must be careful with their words. It is okay to say Black lives matter but not all lives matter. They wish their principal was more supportive. They don't want the responsibility of being a parent to the students. They want to concentrate on academics a not social problems. Many in the public do not understand why teachers need summers off but for those who are aware of the stress of dealing with young people all day, it is no mystery.

Texas vs Mass

The Massachusetts Governor has activated 125 National Guard memberx to help care for 50 illegal immigrants in Martha's Vineyard. When the Val Verde, TX center opened in 2019, Burrow and her two volunteer staff members helped about 25 migrants a week, offering sandwiches, water and a few hours of rest while helping them figure out how to get where they needed to go. Now, they can see as many as 1,000 or more per week, Burrow said. Her remote city of about 38,000 residents — about 150 miles west of San Antonio.  Based on the actions of the Mass Governor this small town will need 125,000 National Guard to take care of the 1,000 illegals that enter the town each week.

Illegals

The federal government has been sending illegal immigrants to various cities across the country but there was not much in the news. Recently governors starting sending illegals New York and Washington and now it is in the news. The purpose was to get this problem in the news and to draw attention to the situation and it has succeeded. Main stream news outlets like ABC and CBS are now reporting on these immigrants. They are still not showing video of illegals crossing the border.

Venezuela

Illegal immigrants arriving in Martha's Vineyard are from Venezuela. Their trip through Mexico is amazing. It is just under 3,000 miles drive distance from Maracaibo to El Paso. While some fly part of the way, others walk the whole trip. Venezuela used to be considered a miracle country. Until the early 1980s, it was one of the only four Latin American countries certified by the World Bank as an upper-middle-income economy. It was also a stable, center-left democracy, quite an oasis in a region plagued by authoritarianism, insurgency, or unrest. The United Socialist Party was founded in March of 2007 by Hugo Chavez with his promise to redistribute the wealth. Countries become vulnerable to such populist leaders when the gap between the rich and poor gets large. He began to nationalize all business saying that the profits should be shared by the people. Between 2014 and 2020 the economy shank by two-thirds and is scheduled to decline another 5% by 2022. National debt is rising rapidly and inflation is at 2,000 percent. A central controlled economy has proven over and over it does not work. Free market economies build up wealth and popular leaders come in with the promise to share the wealth and things go down hill. The only socialist/communist governments that survive are the ones that allow a free market economy in conjunction with communist control of the government.

Railroad

There are 135,000 Class 1 railroad workers who earn the highest union wages averaging over $100,000 per year not including benefits. They were threatening to strike not for more money but for improvements in working conditions. They have not had a raise in pay since 2019 and will receive $11,000 up front to make up for that. Higher pay for these people is a good thing but it comes at a bad time, since this bonus will push into the economy another $1.5 billion dollars at a time of inflation. The Fed is raising interest rates to cool inflation and the government is adding cash from the Inflation Reduction Act and the student loan debt cancellation. These actions are working against one another.

Chinese nukes

The Industrial Revolution that swept through Western Europe and the United States during the 19th Century was powered by coal and this started the steady rise in CO2 levels which continues today. About 30 years ago the government became concerned about climate change but mostly what they did about it, did not have a serious impact. That took economics. When the energy industry recognized that it was more efficient to use natural gas instead of coal for power plants real progress started to be made. Lower CO2 emissions have largely been the result of a shift from coal to natural gas in the electricity generation mix. Green house gases decreased 7% since 1990 and 20% since 2005. The US population in 1990 was 250 million and today it is 330 million. China was able to fast forward through the Industrial Revolution because they copied the technology of the west and now they have a chance to by-pass the west and go directly to nuclear power. China has built a thorium nuke plant and is planning on producing plants like this on an assembly line basis and selling them around the world. Today we buy solar panels from China, tomorrow will we be buying nuke plants.

Tolerance

Some people have a difficult time dealing with the modern day issues surrounding sexual orientation and gender identification. Others who consider themselves as tolerant and open minded understand that there are different types of sexual behavior that may be foreign to them but they have respect for the life styles of others. This is fine but then these same open minded people become critical of those who are not so understanding and even this is understandable but then things tend to go awry. They begin to insult those they see as narrow minded bigots. They try to embarrass them in groups and belittle them as unsophisticated rubes. They are tolerant in some ways but intolerant in others.

Secure border

It can be safely assumed that the Biden administration does not think the American people are aware of the situation at the southern border and they may be right since Fox News is the only network that routinely covers the border. This weekend VP Kamala Harris echoed what presidential spokesperson Pierrre has said about the border when Harris said, "We have a secure border in that that is a priority for any nation. The border is secure". Recall that Pierre said that people are not walking across the border. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted on Monday that migrants are not just “walking” across the border — an event captured near daily by press photographers.

Social change

It is interesting that in the deep south state of Georgia, two Black men are running for senate and a Black woman is running for governor. Opportunities for Blacks abound across the country. They have been held back because of prejudice but that is not the only cause of so few Blacks being elected to public office. There have been a total of 58 women who have served in the US Senate out of a total of 1,314 senators since the founding of the county. There are 24 serving today. Just as the women have been coming on strong in recent years so have Blacks. It is not just in politics but in all walks of life that these two groups are becoming more represented. Social change is often painfully slow but things are improving. It has been my experience that most men gave little to no thought to women's rights until they had a grown daughter and then things changed quickly. Sometimes it takes a personal experience to wake up consciousness. This same awareness happens to those who have personal experiences with drug and alcohol abuse, sexual preferences and abortion.

Teachers

Randi Weingarten, head of the teachers union, has come under fire for pushing for school closings. She was concerned about the safety of teachers and that is her job. She represents teachers not students. Teacher safety comes before students remaining in school. It has now become apparent that students have suffered from being out of school and it has hurt the poorest students the most.

Language

One area in high schools that needs to be reevaluated is the foreign language requirement. Students who take four years can still not speak that language. The main reason is the only place they practice is in the class room. For most students their time would be better served if they studied some other subject like civics or economics. Students who study English here do quite well because they can practice every where they go.

2016

In September of 2017 Hillary said she would not rule out questioning the of the 2016 election. On NPR Hillary raised that critique up a notch, not only questioning the Trump presidency but refusing to rule out the possibility of contesting the results. In October of 2020, more than three years into the Trump presidency Hillary was sticking with her conviction that the 2016 election was not conducted legitimately, say details surrounding her loss are still unclear.

Solyndra 2

In 2011 Anthony Podesta, brother of John Podesta who has raised over $350,000 for national Democratic campaign committees this year, lobbies on behalf of two companies that are cashing in on a $737 million loan guarantee administered through the same program that gave a $535 million loan guarantee to the now-bankrupt Solyndra LLC. “If you thought the $535 million Solyndra scandal had chastened the fearless venture capitalists of the Obama Administration, think again. The Department of Energy shovelled out $1.1 billion in new loan guarantees to solar projects in Nevada and Arizona Wednesday, and more deals are pending before the $18 billion program funded by the 2009 stimulus expires Friday. Solyndra executives and shareholders made hundreds of thousands of dollars to Obama's 2008 campaign for the White House and in an apparent quid pro quo was given over 1/2 Billion Dollars in Federal loan guarantees. Fast forward to today. WASHINGTON — President Biden on Friday appointed John Podesta, a veteran Washington insider who spearheaded the Obama administration’s climate strategy, to oversee the federal investment of $370 billion in clean energy under a landmark new climate law. Will this be Solyndra 2.0 and provide the dems with campaign finance money?

Students

Many people are not aware of how the schools dealt with Covid. The social distance rule of 6 feet meant that class sizes had to be reduced. There was a note on the classroom door saying maximum occupancy is 12 or some such number. About half the students would be at home to accommodate this. Between classes the teachers would spray each desk plus door handles with Quaternary Ammonium Compounds which are similar to smelling salts and are only effective after 3 to ten minutes. There was never that much time allowed between class. Everyone in the school building was required to wear masks and stay six feet apart. The masks were mostly the blue paper type and most students did not wear them properly and of course many did not stay 6 feet apart. On the floor were arrows showing which way to go down which hallway and which stairs were up and down.

Immigrants

When unaccompanied children cross the border they are taken to detention facilities for up to 72 hours and then transferred around the country where there are beds available. Many come with information about friends or relatives and the government tries to connect them with these people. In the first eight months of this fiscal year, agents have encountered about 100,000 underage migrants traveling alone, compared with nearly 150,000 in the 2021 fiscal year, a record that could be exceeded this year. Others are placed into immigration proceedings and sent to an alternate detention program in the interior of the United States. They are expected to show up for their court date which can be months or years. Since these court records are secret on one knows how many show up. Records show that only 11% are granted asylum. While they wait most find jobs and after 180 days are eligible for a work permit. During this time most children are enrolled in school. Some common destinations are Texas, California, Florida and New York, followed by Maryland and Virginia. Rounding out the top 10 are New Jersey, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. It is not reasonable to expect millions to remain along the border.

College today

Advance formal education has changed dramatically since the country was founded. The founding fathers studied the classics and philosophy as well as mathematics and science. They wanted what was called a well rounded education which allowed them to think on a grand scale about worldly affairs. Very few people went to college. In today's world students do not have the luxury of studying things like Latin and Greek as the amount of knowledge has increased to the point where specialization has become a necessity. Going to college today means to forget about the well rounding stuff and look for studies that will provide you with a good paying job. Things like STEM, business, teaching and understanding computers will provide a return on the college investment. The days of majoring in French literature and Women's studies are OK for those who have lots of money but not for the person who is going to school on loans. When I was in school it was still possible to go to college to get an understanding of the world and the saying was, education makes green greener. If a person says they don't understand Art, it is because they never had the education to understand Art or the same could be said for things like sculpturing or to some extent music.

Inflation

The labor participation rate is down from pre pandemic numbers. There are 11 million unfilled jobs. This is the result of early retirement and people who have enough money to not work. Much of this money comes from government checks that were handed out during the pandemic. People not working reduces supply and giving out checks increases demand. The government is now planning to cancel student debt which will give these people more disposable income which will add to demand without increasing supply. Many students who work to pay their loans can now work less which lowers supply.

Laptop

WASHINGTON (SBG) - A justice department official has confirmed to Sinclair Broadcast Group that the FBI opened up a criminal investigation into Hunter Biden and his associates back in 2019, focused on allegations of money-laundering and that the probe remains active. Bobulinksi said he was first introduced to the former vice president in May 2017 by Hunter and Jim Biden in Beverly Hills, California During his remarks that same night, Bobulinksi displayed three phones he claimed contained evidence against the Bidens that would be turned over to the FBI. Less than a week later, Bobulisnki was interviewed by members of the FBI for several hours, where he says they went over each piece of evidence found on the phones. These phones have not surfaces since they were given to the FBI. The same is true for the laptop.

ESL

Fifteen years ago, I spent two weeks in Thailand. The thing about the visit that sticks in my mind was looking though the job openings in the paper. There I discovered that most jobs paid two or three dollars per hour but some paid six or eight and those had one thing in common. The applicant must speak English. I remember thinking that if I were a young man growing up in Thailand, if I didn't do anything else, I would learn English. It would be a small sacrifice to double or triple my income. The same thing holds true here in the US today. I have subbed in every class in middle and high school and going away the most exciting is English Second Language class. The students in these classes have one thing in common and that is they all want to learn. There is nothing more exhilarating than being in a classroom where students want to learn. Some people push for English to be the official language of the United States but that is not necessary because economics will do the job.

Gutfeld

A little over a year ago Fox News debuted the late night show called Gutfeld. This past month Gufeld overtook Stephen Colbert as the number one late night TV show. This is amazing since CBS has twice the viewership of Fox. While Gutfeld is talented one of the main reasons for his success is the format which leans right while all of the other late night shows lean left.

Transfers

In recent years the number of illegal immigrants transferred have increased dramatically. Transfer is the process where illegals are put on planes after they enter the country and flown to other border cities and then returned to Mexico. About half are sent back and many of those return and add to numbers and distort the true number coming into the country. Unaccompanied children are flow to areas where some relative may live. The number of unaccompanied children encountered in fiscal 2021—147,975. Many of these children cannot speak English and will enter the local schools. They cannot be expected to stay ahead of their school work without the special help of translators. Many spend one hour a day in a English second language (ESL) class and this can be costly. Others are mainstreamed with a para teacher going from class to class with them. This can be disruptive to the class and is just one more distraction with which the teachers must contend.

Chili

In Chili this week the people voted down a new constitution. It contained all of the things that one might think people want. There was tuition free college, national healthcare, recognizing the rights of indigenous people, guaranteed housing and stating that all public jobs must be filled by half females. It included strict climate change rules. 87% of eligible voters voted and 62% disapproved of the new constitution. Some interesting things about this vote. First the turnout as compared to the US. Second the margin. Not many elections show a 62% majority. The big question that has yet to be asked and answered is why did they vote this way. One possible answer is that Chili's national debt is only 38% of GDP indicating that they don't want what they can't pay for and maybe they just don't print the money like the US does.

China

Almost everything positive about China has to do with the free market economy and almost everything negative about China has to do with the Communist government. China's fast growth began with its entry into the World Trade Organization(WTO) in 2001 and since its GDP moved from one trillion to 15 trillion. This was only possible because China pirated most of the technology of the west and convinced western countries to invest in China by offering low wages, few business regulations, slave labor and coal for energy. As bad as that sounds it very much mirrors the way the western world went through the industrial revolution in 1800. The one big difference is that the west invented its own technology. China was able to cut its developing time by using western technology and did in 20 years what it took the west 200 years to get done.

Airlines

The top three reasons why businesses fail are lack of sufficient operating cash, poor management and taking on more business than can be properly handled. The airlines are looking at reason number three. They should be booking fewer flights and turning customers away rather than offering poor service with cancellations and late flights. This would also give their employees, especially pilots, a chance to rest. If all of this stress leads to a serious accident then the airline will suffer even more. Top management has to step up and slow things down.

LNG

Since 2015 US exports of liquefied natural gas(LNG) have quadrupled from 1.5 trillion cubic feet to 6.7 tcf. The US now exports (LNG) to 41 countries. The US has 8 existing LNG export facilities with 4 new ones under construction and 11 more approved but not yet under construction and 6 more proposed but not yet approved. Europe uses 5.1 trillion cu feet per year and 2 trillion of that comes from Russia. There are 175 LNG ships operating today and it would take 7 shipments per day to replace Europe's lost gas from Russia. US sent 74% of its exports of LNG to Europe so far this year and that is up from 34% last year. It appears that the US has enough gas to replace the Russian gas but not enough ships to get the gas there before winter sets in. On Europe's end, there are currently 28 large-scale LNG import terminals and 8 small-scale facilities which can only unload about half what is needed. As new terminals come online the shortage will be solved but that will not happen in time to cover this upcoming winter. The answer for this winter, at least, is to reopen closed coal and nuclear power plants and reduce home heating temperatures. Gas consumption has already gone down by 10 percent. It is surprising to many that the Europeans are willing to make these sacrifices to protect Ukraine.

Election

Labor Day is the kick off for getting serious about the election. The battle lines have been drawn. The republican will emphasize crime, the border, fentanyl, inflation and teaching academics in school. The democrats will push Mar a Lago, January 6, MAGA's and culture in schools. Not much mention of climate change or racism. It comes down to the same as the last election. It will be policy vs personality. The elephant in the room is, "its the economy stupid".

Schools

For the past 6 months data has been showing the harmful effects of closing schools. This is from the NY Times today. National test results released on Thursday showed in stark terms the pandemic’s devastating effects on American schoolchildren, with the performance of 9-year-olds in math and reading dropping to the levels from two decades ago. This year, for the first time since the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests began tracking student achievement in the 1970s, 9-year-olds lost ground in math, and scores in reading fell by the largest margin in more than 30 years. The declines spanned almost all races and income levels and were markedly worse for the lowest-performing students. As usual the low man on the pole gets the worst of it.

Israel today

Most of the land surrounding Israel from Egypt in the west to Jordan in the east is semi desert like with little natural forest. For thousands of years tribes roamed in and out of this area. Israel, a country the size of New Jersey, was founded in 1948 and has developed rapidly leaving the other countries behind. The per capita GDP of Israel is ten times larger than her neighbors. Israel is the only democracy in the region and the only country with a free market economy. The US sends $3 billion per year to Israel in foreign aid and about a forth of this is used to purchase US military equipment. This represents less than one percent of the GDP which is $410 billion. The US in conjunction with the UN and other Arab countries, sends $2 billion per year to Gaza but the two million people who live there remain in poverty. Hamas controls Gaza and they use most of the money to pay salaries of government employees which allows them to stay in power. The other Arab countries in the Middle East, the so called sand Arabs spent centuries living as Nomadic tribes in the deserts until the 1940's when English and American engineers went there and developed the oil fields. Muslim countries about 500 years ago chose to cut them selves off from the western world to keep their theocracies safe from foreign influence and in the process were bypassed by the industrial evolution. They are not interested in having a democracy and have shown no desire for a free market economy.

Buy China

The world is watching the problems Europe is facing because they allowed themselves to become dependent on Russia for energy. Many in the United States have discovered something similar is happening as we discover that too many critical products are produced in China. To add to the problem the United States today is promoting the idea of replacing fossil fuels with wind and solar. So where do the raw materials for these products come from. China takes up 7 spots among the world’s top 10 wind turbine manufacturers for wind power Of the world's top 10 solar panel manufacturers, seven are based in China. China is the world's largest producer of rare earth metals, accounting for almost 60% of global annual production.

California

California is concerned about its electricity use and has imposed a Flex Alert which means use less power. Here are the suggestions. Set the thermostat at 78 degrees or higher, if health permits Avoid using major appliances Turn off unnecessary lights Use fans for cooling Unplug unused item The state currently imports 25% of its electric power from Arizona, Utah and Oregon. This is while the governor recently announced that the state will no longer allow gasoline or diesel powered cars by 2035. This while they are in the process of closing down their last nuclear power plant. While this seems counterproductive it makes sense when it appears he might run for president in 2024. When politics gets involved with science strange things happen.