Onshoring

The onshoring that started with Trump and is continuing with Biden is beginning to provide the promised high paying jobs. So far it is just in the tech industry and that is mostly the result of the Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Chips bill and all this growth is the reaction to government spending but that is about to change. There are signs that companies are coming home and Walmart is a good example. They are pushing to buy more American. They started with food products but are moving into other areas. Walmart will buy more from existing domestic suppliers, do business with new domestic suppliers, and help current suppliers reshore their overseas production. Walmart has instructed its buyers to be more flexible with current supplier capabilities. Target and Home Depot are following similar programs. The United States is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the movement away from globalization. The US has a large labor force and access to 80 million people of working age in nearby Mexico. This will spur economic development toward a long term expansion. In the early years there will be high inflation but long term it will result is higher productivity because of shorter supply chains. These shorter distances are not only less costly but allow for quick changes in manufacturing making it easier to adjust to changing consumer demands. While the US benefits from the move away from globalization other places like the EU and China will suffer mostly because the shortage of workers and long distance supply lines.

Virus

When Covid first came out it was found in Wuhan, China and there was a lab in that city that was experimenting with this virus. Among the first explanations scientist said the virus came from a nearby meat market. This immediately caused many to wonder why. Over the years more and more evidence has come out pointing to the lab as the source and this week Dr Fauci's boss told a reporter that Fauci misled people to believe that the virus came from somewhere other than the lab. New information shows that Fauci's misled the public to cover up his involvement in the gain of function research. In the process of the cover up Fauci attempted and succeeded in shutting down other scientist who pushed the lab theory. This is where the idea of misinformation started. Anything that was contrary to what Fauci wanted was discredited by calling it misinformation and this led to other information in other areas the did not fit the agenda of government. It was a way to shut down free speech. There were many aspects of the pandemic that turned out to be wrong but if anyone pointed this out at the time they were shut down. They were able to get away with this because the issue had become political and as I often say, nothing with destroy good science like politics.

Nuke power

In discussing climate change there are four groups to consider. First off are the few people who get grant money to write horror stories about climate. A second and larger group are people who profit from the manufacture of windmills and solar panels. The next and still larger are the people who through ignorance are influenced by the fossil fuel business and politicians who see the climate as a way to promote social programs. Finally there are scientist who understand that the answer is nuclear and this group is gaining credibility. What the uninformed people do not understand is that they are not part of the solution but part of the problem. Their ignorance is being used to promote ideas that are counterproductive but they don't understand that is happening. They are much like the Greenpeace people who were opposed to nuclear power but now realize that was a mistake. Part of the Inflation Reduction Act includes investments in nuclear power. This is a start.

Venezuela

Venezuela has been in the news over the past few years because their economy has collapsed. Venezuela has the worlds largest oil reserves and the question arises, what happened. Oil was discovered in Venezuela in the 1920's and foreign companies mostly from the USA invested in and developed the oil industry. The economy grew during the ensuing years and in 1943 the government announced it would take one half of the oil income from the oil companies. This money was used to promote various social programs especially education. In 1960 OPEC was founded and Venezuela was one of the original members. In 1973 OPEC began setting oil prices and Venezuela continued to prosper. In 1976 Venezuela nationalized the oil industry and replaced many of the foreign managers with native people. They used much of the revenue to buy up other foreign owned companies and continued increasing social benefits to the people. In the mid 1980's the price of oil declined and in 1989 Carlos Perez was elected president and he tried austerity to stabilize the economy but the people objected to cutting their benefits and riots erupted. Hugo Chavez acting as a man of the people (a populist) took control of the government. He promised more benefits and installed a new constitution. In 2004, Chávez and his government returned to furthering their programs promoting welfare and the redistribution of wealth across the Venezuelan people, particularly focused on the poorer areas of the country. As the price of oil continued to rise the country prospered but in 2016 the price began a steep decline. This along with mismanagement of oil industry along with the many other companies that had been taken over by the government caused the economy to go into a recession. The government began printing money to pay for all of the social programs to prevent riots and this brought on inflation which led to hyperinflation. This led to food shortages and many people began to flee the country. It took only 20 years from Venezuela to go from being the richest country in South America to today where 80% of the people live in extreme poverty, the highest figure ever recorded.

Social security

The case for privatizing social security. In 1986 the federal government started the TSP (thrift savings plan) for all employees. There are five investment options and employees can transfer between plans. If the employee contributes 5% the employer will add 4%. At retirement the money all belongs to the employee who can then take it anyway they want. Employees have been satisfied with the TSP. With social security employees receive only a monthly contribution for life. If you start social security and die the next day all benefits are over. Black males have a life expectancy of 69 years vs White females who live on average to 81. If both start receiving benefits of $1,000 per month at age 62 the White female will collect $228,000 while the Black male will collect $84,000. If their contributions would have been in TSP they or their heirs would get back all of the money in the plan. In time this would tend to equalize the inheritance between races. The average White woman earns $1.5 million during her lifetime and the average Black male earns $1.8 million. Here is a real life example. The average White female earns $37,500 and would get a social security benefit at age 62 of $1,189 per month while the average Black male earns $45,000 per year and would get $1,247 per month. Over their life expectancy's the White female would receive $271,000 and the Black male would receive $105,000. This difference is compounded each generation and has resulted in Black falling further and further behind. This trend could be reversed by privatizing social security.

China

China is approaching the EV market the way they have approached other markets in the past. They steal technology and use government subsidies. The EV market will have the added advantage in that China produces most of the batteries. China mines more than two-thirds of the world's graphite, extracts 60% of the rare earths. It owns almost half of the cobalt mines and controls a quarter of the lithium. You can just add EV's to solar panels and wind mills and watch China control the world markets. They also continue to have cheap energy as they build more coal plants. They have no unions and very few regulations to protect workers from hazardous conditions. Their air is polluted and the water poisoned but this has little effect on the leaders. While they will have short term progress in the EV market the long term out look is bleak as many countries move away from doing business with China and most serious is their shortage of young workers.

UFO

his revelation. Both political parties are listening with open minds and finding it not news worthy. Personally I find the story so unbelievable that I don't believe it. While statistically the chances of intelligent life throughout the cosmos is almost a mathematical certainty the distances are so great that the chances of any alien life finding its way to our planet are almost nil. The question also arises about if they have such advanced technology why are they crashing and why are they not rescuing their pilots. This whole story does not pass the smell test. Perhaps we are all so hopeful that we are not alone that we chose to believe. It was commonly thought that if we found out we were not alone in this universe it would be the greatest story of all time. This week credible witnesses testified under oath that we are not alone and the news hit the general public with a ho hum. This is only possible because there is no discernible political advantage to t

Independents

With Joe Manchin and Robert Kennedy in the news there is a new interest in third party candidates. Polls show that 40% consider themselves as independents. The third party candidates platform would center around energy independence to lower inflation, a secure border, low crime and cooperation between parties. The current situation promotes discontent between parties because that is how they maintain power and control. Witness the upcoming election. When anything Biden does is wrong the response will be just look at Trump. When Trump is accused of any misdeed the response will be just look at Biden. This allows both parties to get away wrong doing and they want to keep it that way. The news people are part of this system and will continue to promote disunity and we the people will gather in our prospective corners and reinforce the two parties. We will then complain about how many politicians get reelected. As Pogo said, we have met the enemy and they is us.

UFO

As a scientist I am open to all possibilities when it comes to UFO's but if they are here there are some important laws of physics of which we are currently not aware. This in and of itself should not be surprising since civilization started here some 4,000 years ago and their are planets out their that are billions of years old. What will earthlings learn over the next billion years. Fiction stories talk about warp speed and worm holes to traverse the cosmos in fast time. While there is no way to explain how aliens could get using our present knowledge of physics it does not preclude the possibility. For now I will stick with some explanation from the government based on current physics unexciting as that may be.

BRICS

At the end of WW 2 the United States became the worlds super power and all money transactions were in dollars. This concept was solidified in 1973 with the formation of petrodollars. The US agreed to protect Saudi Arabia from any and all enemies and in return they agreed to only sell oil in dollars thus the name petrodollars. Now there are five big countries who are teaming up to have their own currency to replace the dollar. They are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and are known by the acronym BRICS. If they are successful it will be a major blow to the US who can now print all the money needed without concern about the rest of the world. BRICS has gained in popularity because the USA has increased the printing of money and the money supply has increased from $10 trillion to $20 trillion in the past ten years. This is particularly hurtful to poor nations who must pay higher interest on their debt.

Counting

Several years ago Trump slowed down the number of illegals entering the country by declaring that if they came across at points in between legal entry points they were not eligible for asylum. This was declared unconstitutional by the courts. A few months ago Biden instituted the same policy and now the courts have ruled once again that this is unconstitutional. The CBP reported a drop in illegals from 169,000 in May to 100,000 in June but they changed the way they are counting. They no longer count those who came across at a legal entry point.

CEO

Back in the 1970's and before CEO's earned about 25 times what the average employee earned but today they earn 400 times. What happened to distort the free market system. Companies used to pay their CEO's based on the compensation of other employees within the firm and this was called internal equity. Starting in the 1970's companies begin to hire outside consultants to determine CEO salaries. These consultant convinced the companies to use the average salaries of other CEO's in similar industries and this was called external equity. The consultant would be paid a fee and that can be tied to the compensation. Next the consultants instead of using the average salaries, they suggested that if the company wanted the best CEO he should be paid more than average. This led to many salaries being based on the top 20% of salaries as opposed to the average. In additions many board members belong to boards of other companies in something called interlocking directorates. These salaries were no longer based on past performance as demanded by the free market but based on some math gimmick that was sold to the board.

Repeat

The constitution says, excessive bail shall not be required but it does not disallow bail. Since some cannot afford bail then all bail must be eliminated in order to achieve equity. Many people who are out on bail are repeat offenders. The law could be changed saying that bail is not required on a first offense but is required on any subsequent offenses. Here is a quote from NY City. The numbers are absolutely jaw dropping, 10 men arrested 485 times after bail reform was enacted for all all kinds of crimes -- burglary, robbery, grand larceny, stealing cars. Yet, they have been let out again and again by judges who think they don't have the right to hold them in jail. Illinois has just eliminated all bail. Did anyone there think of other options. Just 327 serial shoplifters accounted for a third of the more than 22,000 retail theft arrests made in the city last year, officials said. This is an average of 70 arrest per person. Does common sense along with this statistic say repeat offenders should remain in jail.

Blacks

President Biden is running to save democracy. This means that MAGA republicans are trying to tear down our democracy and follows the Hillary's comment of "basket of deplorables characterized by racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic and Islamaphobic views. One of the most racist groups in the country are the college educated Whites who feel that the only way a Black man can succeed is with public assistance. He not only needs various welfare programs but affirmative action and lowering job requirements to help him get hired. They are the first to make excuses for Blacks citing things like poverty, education and closely associated with both is single mother families. This allows Black men to act as victims under the thumb of White oppressors. The bad things that happen to them are not their fault. The handouts to Black assuage the guilt of past sins like slavery. What should be done is find ways to get Black students out of inner city schools by transporting them to the burbs. Change the programs that encourage the breakup of the Black family and install programs that punish dead beat dads with prison time. Too many Black men are having babies with different women and not accepting the responsibility for their actions.

Purpose

My old life is over now but I will retain the memories. My new life begins and I will resume my daily walks and my subbing which have been temporarily interrupted. I will continue my push for nuclear power and ending the war in Ukraine. Much of which lies ahead is over my horizon but God has a purpose for me otherwise I wouldn't be here. This purpose will unravel in time as my path unfolds.

USSR

Gorbachev was elected President in 1985 and realized he had to improve the economy but he was well aware that this could not be done if he continued to fund defense. Reagan had vastly increased the US defense budget and Gorbachev realized he could not keep spending on defense like the US. He cut defense by half and tried to introduce some market ideas. The USSR United Soviet Socialist Republic, like all socialism, was government control from central headquarters. This was doomed to failure. Imagine a group sitting around in Moscow trying to determine in advance how much of every item will be needed in the future. Take only one example. How many pairs of shoes and what sizes will be needed in the coming years. They end up with shortages in one area and excess production in another. When Gorbachev started making changes it quickly got out of hand and other countries within the Soviet sphere began to make changes. Starting with Lithuania a total of 15 countries left the Soviet Union within two years and each headed straight for a free market type of economy. People rejoiced with the opportunity to elect their leaders in democratic fashion. This was known as a transition from a command economy to a market economy showing once again that socialism does not work in the long haul. The reverse also happens. When Venezuela transitioned from a market economy to a socialist government the country went broke in less than ten years. Gorbachev gets the credit for changing the USSR and got the Peace prize but it was the pressure from the US military build up that pushed him to make changes.

Mortgages

During the mortgage crisis of 2008 the government used $800 billion to bail out the big banks. Many felt it would have been better to pay the home owners what was needed to save their home. A total of 861,664 families lost their homes to foreclosure last year, according to RealtyTrac, which released its year-end report Thursday. There were more than 3.1 million foreclosure filings issued during 2008, The median price for a home sold during 2008 fell by $20,000. If the government had given these home owners the $20,000 they could have saved the house from foreclosure. This would have cost the government $600 billion instead of $800 billion. The interesting part is what happened after the crisis was over. Prior to 2010 big business did not invest in residential real estate. Home ownership was the American dream and that dream was transferred from the middle income people to the corporations because big business bought the houses that went into foreclosure at bargain prices. They then set up a separate division to rent out these houses. Now they owned the American dream because they not only got the rent but they got the appreciation along with it.

Funeral

It was a beautiful day for the funeral and I got to visit with many people I had not seen for a number of years some of the younger ones I didn't recognize. They grew up faster than my minds clock to keep up. My daughter spoke eloquently about her mother and offered prayers. The grandchildren were thankful for all the years grandma took care of them and spoke of her as their second mom. I wrote a eulogy to help others better know Eunice. Eunice was born March 11th, 1932 in a farm house in North Dakota, into a family of 16 children and all the babies were born at home. There was no running water, no indoor plumbing and no electricity. On windy winter days they had to follow a rope line to the out house to keep from getting lost in the yard. It was during the depression but they had a large vegetable garden and they had chickens and would butcher a hog so they had food. Each member of the family was assigned chores. Eunice and her sister milked 18 cows every evening and the butter was sold in town to purchase staples like sugar, flour, salt and pepper. On birthdays the only present was a cake which was shared with the family. This idea of sharing was the mainstay of the family culture and stayed with Eunice her entire life. She went to a one room school house and rode in a horse and wagon or during winter a horse and sled. Her mother sewed all of their outfits and the closest they got to store bought clothes was the Sears catalog which served a dual purpose. She graduated from high school and moved to Grand Forks where she got a job as a waitress. She loved this kind of work and started to save her money and in time she was able to purchase a four-plex. She and her sister lived in one unit and she rented the other top unit to a young couple and the lower level she rented to college students since the four-plex was close to the university. As a young girl she sang in church and later she had friend who was a voice teacher at the university and Eunice took four years of voice lessons. This led to her singing at weddings and funerals. She sang at her mother's funeral. On one occasion some members of the family were gathered together for a fun day and they had one of those reel to reel tape recorders. Eunice had encourage her youngest sister to study piano and she became an accomplished pianist so they recorded some songs with Eunice singing and her sister accompanying her on the piano. Two of the recordings, the Our Father and Ave Maria will be played here today. It was in the fall of 1967 that I was sent to Grand Forks on a project and one morning I went for breakfast and Eunice waited on my table. She was very busy and forgot my order and came back apologizing. It was no matter to me as I was just reading the paper but all the while I was watching her. The following Saturday night fate intervened. I went to a local dance hall and spotted Eunice with her two girl friends and so I asked her to dance. We danced several times and I made a date for the next Saturday night. At that time I had a new Ford Mustang and they sent me a stainless steel piece with a mustang on it and my name. Although my official name was John my family and friends all called me Jack. When I picked her up she noticed the name and started calling me John but I didn't say anything and from that day on I became John. Perhaps there was some significance to that sort of thing like when Jacob became Israel and received something special from God. We saw each other on a regular basis and I met some of her family members but soon my job was over and I was going to Georgia for my next assignment. I said good by and left in early February of 1968. I drove straight through to Louisville and stopped for the night. I clearly remember going down to the bar for beer and while visiting with the bartender and told him that I think I just left the girl I was supposed to marry. He said you better go back and get her. The next day I continued on and spent that night in a motel in Gainsville, GA. A couple of days later I called Eunice and we talked and that led to more calls and we decided to get married. I told her she would have to make all the arrangements and I would be busy for a few weeks but could get up there in early March. She set the wedding date for March 11th and she picked me up at the airport the day before the wedding. She had been one busy lady and made all the preparations. She lined up the bridesmaids, and grooms and selected her brother in law to be the best man. She bought all the bride gowns, selected her church, her pastor, the music, the flowers and the reception cite. Best of all she paid for everything. You know how the paper prints wedding stuff. There is a long column with the names of all the brothers, sisters and other relatives. Well this was a very long column and at the very bottom it said, and the groom is. I think I could have missed the wedding and no one would have noticed. Eunice sold her fourplex and her car and the wedding went off without a hitch. There was some concern on the part of her family as to who this stranger was and what would happen when she left the safety of her family. Their fears were allayed when her mother found out that I liked lemon pie. I have no explanation for that. In a few days we were on the plane on our way to Georgia. I left town with a new bride and a dowry and cash from the sale of the fourplex and the car plus her substantial savings. Now many people ask me what it is that I brought to this arrangement and according to Eunice what I brought was, "potential". She felt with the proper training and molding she could get a reasonable return on her investment. Our son Johnny was born on December 1st 1968 in a hospital in Atlanta. Eunice's mom and dad came down to help us. In October of 1969 I was transferred to a small town in Indian and there on January 20th our daughter Michele was born in the hospital in Louisville, KY. It was somewhat frightening as she was a premie and weighed only 4 pounds five ounces. But she quickly grew and on April I was transferred to Alabama. In July of 1971 I had the assignment under control and knew that Eunice was getting home sick and tied of moving so I resigned and we moved back to Grand Forks. During our travels we bought several houses and the process showed how we handled financial matters. We would sit down with the sellers and the broker and I would ramble on about interest rates, taxes, location and cost per square foot all the while keeping one eye on Eunice. At some point she would nod and I would announce that we would take the house. You see since I was the man of the house I made all of the important decisions. Back in Grand Forks we raised our children and when Johnny graduated he left for Arizona to pursue a career as a golfer. Michele stayed on and went to the University of North Dakota where she graduated in 1993 as a chemical engineer. About that time we celebrated our 25th anniversary by renewing our vows. It was the same church with the same minister, the same bridesmaids and groom along with the same organist, flower girl and ring boy. Our daughter made up a video of our lives and presented that at the church where we had a party. Michele accepted a job in Illinois and left home. The next year she came home with her husband to be and they were married in the same church. Eunice then took up oil painting and there is an example of her work on display here. In April of 1995 our son needed our help. He was living in Florida and we packed up and moved. There was only one thing that could get Eunice out of Grand Forks and that was Johnny needing help. We were in Florida two years to the day when Michele called to announce a new baby was on the way. We had always told her we would help with baby sitting so off we went to Illinois. In 2000 Michele was transferred to St Paul so off we went where she had three more children. From the time the first child was born until the youngest started driving we spent our days with them. In 2005 our son married a wonderful lady and they lived in Eagan. On January 28, 2008 our son died suddenly. This was easily the saddest day of our lives and our beautiful daughter in law along with our family help us through this crisis. Strangely enough our daughter in law died some 12 years later in an accident. We know our son is now back with his wife. It was during this time the Eunice wrote a book about her life and it is on display here. We had a truly good life together and these last years spending time with the grand children has been the frosting on the cake. We would spend time in the evenings rehashing the days events and all of the cute things the kids did. I recall one instance when the two older boys were outside playing waiting for the bus while Jacoby in second grade and Sawyer in kindergarten were getting ready and Jacoby came and told me he had an ear ache. I called his mom and she said he should stay home so I told Jacoby that because he has an ear ache he would stay home today. Then little Sawyer piped up and said Grandpa, I have an ear ache too. I said how long have you had that and she said 26 days. I told her to get on the bus. Over the years I wasn't often that in touch with my feelings but once in a while something would happen that awakened my inner soul. I recall once when we had been married about 20 years and we attended a wedding. At the reception I asked Eunice to dance and when I put my arm around her, I suddenly couldn't breath. In a few seconds it passed but I realized how I felt about her. On several other occasions I found my self feeling a little down when I would come home from work and her car was not in the garage. As a part of my daily prayers I ask God to help Eunice and I to leave this old world in a dignified manner and he answered our prayers as Eunice died peacefully in her sleep. In the stillness of the day While in her bed she lay A messenger from heaven came And whispered her away As I look back over the years we had a very good and exciting life with all the moving and raising children and finally helping to care for grandchildren but all good things come to an end. Her time was over and God called her home. She is gone but the memories linger on and n o w I'm e a s y.

Get Trump

If Biden decides to follow LBJ and say, "Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president." then what next. The democrats will either have a week candidate in Harris or a relatively unknown. The democrats along with the press, the social media, the never trumpers, the bureaucrats and Hollywood will all join forces to attack Trump. They will avoid policy because Trumps record of tax reduction, energy independence, border security, low crime, dumping Iran, the Abraham accords and getting tough on China are too popular. The emphasis will be on Trumps personality, abortion and various cultural issues. It is said that politics is a blood sport and never will this be more evident than the Trump blood which will be spilled across the country. They will go after him with both facts and made up facts including illegal activities. This will be justified because in their minds Trump is evil. The group that most fears Trump is the bureaucracy. He went after them last time but was naive and did not understand how powerful they are but this time he will be prepared and they know it. It will be the establishment verses the voters so the only way Trump can win is at the ballot box. No matter the election results the big winners will be the ratings at MSNBC and CNN. They will spend their time bad mouthing Trump and the meaner they get the more the audience will grow.

2024

Joe Biden won out over 7 candidates in the 2020 democratic primary because the insiders felt he had the best chance of defeating Trump and they were right. The same strategy was planned for 2024 but they have run into some snags. The idea that Biden could beat Trump again has lost some steam as recent polls show a tie. Other polls show that 72% of voters do not want Biden to run which includes 52% of democrats. More polls show that 71% of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. Finally for all those who are willing to take off their political blinders Biden is seen as being physically and mentally unfit for a second term. While many are predicting that Biden will announce early this fall that he is not running for reelection the power brokers are hanging on because of the possibility of ballot harvesting. They saw the effectiveness of this in the 2020 election and the 2022 mid terms and feel this is their ace in the hole. The republicans, although caught unaware of the ballot harvesting, will now go all out in the 24 campaign. The candidate that wins the ballot harvesting strategy will get 90 million votes and be the next president. The second reason the power brokers will hang on to Biden is VP Harris. If Biden does not seek reelection that leaves Harris as next in line and this means others will run and that means primary debates and this could spell disaster for Harris. The party insiders understand that stepping over the first Black, female VP for some outsider would be terrible politics. In addition, running a new comer against Trump would risk losing the White House and probably the senate. Their only option is to keep Biden and hope that ballot harvesting will save the day.

China

Our biggest competitor and potential enemy is China. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 4,366 migrants from China encountered Border Patrol officials after crossing the southern border without authorization from October 2022 to February 2023. Xiaosan told VOA's Mandarin Service that he and his 16-year-old son traveled for more than 50 days from Hong Kong to Macau to Istanbul to Ecuador. From there, they traveled through six Latin American countries, including walking on their own through the Darien Gap, a dangerous mountainous jungle between Colombia and Panama where tens of thousands of migrants crossed in 2022 on their way to the U.S.-Mexico border. Further evidence of the sacrifice people will make to come to America

War is hell

Here is a news item that shows that people do not understand war. The United States is supplying cluster munitions to Ukraine to help defend its territory against Russia, despite concerns from human rights groups that the deployment of such weapons endangers civilians. This attempt to clean up war is a misunderstanding of what war is all about. The last war that the US understood was WW 2 when the purpose was to win. This meant deliberately bombing civilians in order to demoralize the enemy and bring and end to the hostilities. Since that war generals have been replaced by politicians and keeping war neat has been the goal. There was an incident during the Iraq war when caravans of oil trucks moving oil to Turkey for sale were common place. These were perfect targets for bombing but this was not done for fear of killing the drivers. In many cases soldiers were given orders not to fire unless fired upon. All these things that come under the heading of preventing collateral damage merely prolong the agony. The rule should be if you are going to war either go to win or stay home. In an old sci fi movie two planets in the same solar system had been at war for generations and they devised a scheme to limit damage. The incoming rockets would be computer generated and the destruction would be avoided but then by agreement the number of people supposedly killed would be marched into gas chambers to die. This would be considered a clean war. If this sounds to far fetched consider the fact that neutron bombs have been developed to kill people through radiation without causing any property damage. As they say war is hell even if you try to make it less so.

Corn

As the war in Ukraine drags on the threat of food shortages grow larger, especially for people who live in Africa. Much of this shortage could be made up by US corn production if they just stopped using forty percent of the corn crop for ethanol. To add insult to injury the US Dept of Energy found that ethanol is 24% more carbon intensive than gasoline due to emissions resulting from land use changes to grow corn, along with processing and combustion. The belief that corn ethanol helps solve the problem of climate change is mindful of those who believe that wind and solar are good for the environment. These people mean well but they are misguided and like those who years ago opposed nuclear power, they need to look deeper into the issue. But alas the real goal here is social change not climate change.

Afghanistan

Back in 2014, then President Obama exchanged five Taliban prisoners for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. He was honored at a White House ceremony and Bergdahl was later given a dishonorable discharge. “We don't leave soldiers behind. ... Whatever those circumstances may turn out to be, we still get an American soldier back if he's held in captivity. Period. Full stop,” Obama said at a news conference in Poland. Seven years later when the US withdrew the troops from Afghanistan many people were left behind. While they were not soldiers many were interpreters who aided soldiers. Recently Secretary of State Blinken told Congress that there are still 175 Americans left in Afghanistan This could have been avoided if Biden had first pulled out the Americans, then the equipment and then the soldiers while keeping Bagram Airfield. Biden was trying to get the troops out before the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attack. His plan was to do a victory tour around the country to celebrate the bringing home of the troops but it all backfired when the withdraw became a disaster. The US left behind 78,000 Afghan allies in the chaotic withdrawal.

Economy

The Dow Jones Industrial Average returned 56% during the Trump presidency, according to LPL. This represents an annualized gain of 11.8%, The Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 6% since the start of 2021, when Biden took office. People who have stock in their 401K's and IRA's have noticed this. They also notice that the cost of food and gas has increased. These are referred to as kitchen table issues and will impact future elections. The economy remains the most important issue to voters because of inflation and high interest rates. The main issue in the press is preserving democracy which is a nebulous term which kind of means that conservatives are bigots. This also avoids talking about the economic issues but that is changing. President Biden confronted with the fact that 71% of the people think the country is heading in the wrong direction is out touting his economic success but the public is not buying.

Thieves

There are places in this country called food deserts. These are mostly in low income areas where they do not have convenient grocery stores or drug stores. Many places are no longer prosecuting thieves who steal less than a thousand dollars and many of these companies have policies that prohibit employees from interfering with anyone stealing goods. Combine that with the cut back in police department staffing and funding and you have a situation where more stores will close and leave the area. This all comes under the heading of social justice meaning too many criminals were minorities and therefor should not be arrested. Common sense tells us that this will lead to more crime and more store closings.

Virus

Just ten years ago in 2003 surveys showed that 70% of the people were extremely proud to be Americans and that figure has declined to 39%. When searching for why this is happening polls find that negative perceptions of the economy, scandals associated with congress and increasing public concern about crime. Common sense would tell us that the constant fighting between parties which has moved from complaining about policies to personal attacks would cause a loss of pride in the country. When people are unable to respond to a policy they don't like they resort to personal insults and that ends the conversation. When discussions about the origin of the Covid virus resulted in the name China virus, instead of investigating to find out the source people were labeled xenophobic and that ended the discussion.

Freedom

Private companies and individuals can censor but the government is prohibited by the constitution to censor. A court ruled yesterday that the federal government pressured social media to remove certain stories that the government called misinformation. This happened when groups tried to express their opinions on the pandemic and the Hunter Biden lap top. This occurred because the press remained silent and half the country was OK with this claim of misinformation. The government became so confident in their position that Homeland Security created a Disinformation Governance Board to promote what they considered to be the truth. Social media groups went along with the government request to censor. Instead of being watchdogs on government activity social media became willing partners with the governments attempt to censor. The press has joined forces with the government to present to the public the governments view. The freedom of press has been challenged and the press remains silent.

China bust

As China entered the modern world it went on a massive infrastructure program to provide jobs for the millions who moved from the rural areas to the cities. The result is an overbuilt infrastructure most notably real estate where there are ghost cities, where no one lives. A similar situation is happening in the United States but with much different results. More people working from home has caused a glut in real estate office space and the value of such space is falling rapidly but meanwhile the push to reshore has resulted in a shortage of manufacturing facilities. The US will undertake a huge building boom to provide for these new plants. China will be losing manufacturing while the US gains manufacturing.

America

This is a comment from a WNBA player. “Our country is trash in so many ways and instead of using our resources to make it better we continue to oppress Marginalized groups that we have targeted since the beginning of times". There is no question that America has many ways it could improve and in fact is trying to do just that but you must ask the question why so many people from all around the world are risking life and limb to get to America. One in five potential migrants (21%) -- or about 158 million adults worldwide -- name the U.S. as their desired future residence. The United States is the most diversified country in the world and in fact the most diversified country that ever existed. In all of the European Union which contains a population of 450 million there are fewer than ten million Blacks. In the United States with a population of 330 million there are 42 million Blacks. While the United States contains 4.2% of the worlds population, 20% of all immigrants live in the United States with people from every country. There are riots in France because of the inability of immigrants to join in the countries culture. This is mindful of Reagan when he said, you can move to France but you will never be a Frenchman and you can move to Germany but you will never be a German but you can move to American and you will be an American.

Anti nuke groups

In 1959, as he was leaving office, Eisenhower spoke to the United Nations and gave the optimistic promise that the world would use the power of the atom bomb to produce inexpensive electric power and he was given an approving ovation by the world body members. Eisenhower plan called Atoms for Peace was to start the world on the road to total nuclear power by the end of the century. Within a few years environmentalist groups like the Sierra Club and Greenpeace began to exagerate the dangers of nuclear power plants and they had friends like Ralph Nader who said that the best form of energy is free and clean and it is the sun. The big oil companies joined in the chorus and this resulted in all out assault on nuclear power which ended Eisenhower's dream. Plants under construction where shut down including one plant in Ohio which was 97% complete and it was turned into a coal plant. 88% of coal fired power plants were built between 1950 and 1990. Popular music groups put on anti nuke concerts and people like Jane Fonda went on 50 city tours to denigrate nuclear power. Did she understand the pollution caused by the mining, processing and disposal of the materials used in wind and solar. Today the founders of Greenpeace admit it was a mistake to disparage nuclear power plants. Did the country learn from this mistake. No they are doing the same thing today with wind and solar.

Attitude

Here is the story of two Black fathers talking to their sons. Mr. Smith says, beware of the White oppressors and their henchman in the police department. They will target you just like they did me and your grandpa. You are a victim systemic racism and you are not responsible for what happens to you. Don't allow anyone to dis you or you will appear weak. You are considered a second class citizen and there is nothing you can do about that. Mr. Jones says, you were born in the greatest country on earth. Opportunities abound and all you have to do is accept responsibility for your own behavior, pay attention in school, show respect for others and when you go to work always do more than your fair share. Black people were treated poorly in the past but that is not the case today. You can do anything you set your mind to. This is all about attitude.

Teachers

There is a lot of pressure on teachers these days to keep up with the assigned lessons. That is why it is important for a substitute teacher to carry out the instructions left by the teacher. Because of the time constraints the teacher must stick with the lesson plans and not be side tracked by other non academic issues. It is up to the parents to determine family values. When students have questions outside of the lesson plan the teachers should refer the student to the parents for answers. Teachers have not the time nor the expertise to advise students about non academic subjects. When students ask what religion is best for them or which political party they should vote for the teacher should refer the student to the parents for answers. If a student asks if sex outside of marriage is wrong or if homosexuality is a sin they should be referred to the parents for answers. In today's world if students are confused about their gender the teacher should refer all questions to the parents. Most teachers do not want to get involved in such personal matters and in most cases they are not qualified to answer such questions. Teacher will likely have different values on many of these issues and should not interfere with the family values of the students and most teachers would like to avoid discussion of such matters so they can spend their class time teaching their subjects.

Greenpeace

Greenpeace is an organization founded in 1970 to promote a cleaner earth. It had the best of intentions using only private money and many volunteers. They were concerned about the climate long before it became popular in areas like deforestation and plastic pollution but their biggest success was their biggest mistake. They opposed nuclear energy and thus were instrumental in shutting down the nuclear energy program in the US. Their plan was to replace fossil fuels with wind and solar and to this day they will not accept nuclear power. The new green deal people are following the same path. Just like Greenpeace they do not consider the damage done to the people and the environment caused by the mining, processing and disposing of the materials needed to make wind and solar work. They also never take into account that wind and solar need back up and miles of transmission lines. Many in the new green deal are more interested in social justice than climate change and so they can ignore the problems associated with wind and solar. Regardless of what these people think the world is slowly discovering that nuclear power is the only realistic answer to climate change. It is their misguided belief that has delayed the nuclear solution.

Loans

Banks got so far in debt the government came in and bailed them out and this led to what is called a moral hazard meaning it encourages banks to take more risk. All of the smaller banks who watched their P's and Q's received zero help. This was considered unacceptable and steps were taken to make sure banks have better control over their investments. We are now faced with the same problem with student loans. Those who took on more debt than they could handle are being bailed out but those students who were more responsible about their finances and getting zilch. Since no rules about borrowing are being changed students will continue to take out excessive loans with the understanding that they will be bailed out. This again represents a moral hazard but this time with student loans. This whole loan program was the governments attempt to help with higher education but like so many programs there were unintended consequences. So now it has become political and all common sense goes out the window.