Revolving door

Eisenhower warned against the power of the military-industrial complex and when Obama took office he declared and end to the revolving door between people who worked in the defense department and the defense industry. He said that anyone working for him would have to wait two years after leaving government before working in private industry. After he was elected and before he was inaugurated, he broke his rule. Willian Lynn who was a lobbyist for Raytheon and he had previously worked in the Clinton defense department where he was in charge of budgets and acquisitions before he took his job at Raytheon. Obama hired Lynn and three years later he left to work to return to private industry where he worked as a CEO making $10 million per year. This sort of thing happens on a regular basis in all administrations. A GAO report in 2021 showed that 28 of the 32 generals and admirals that retired went to work in private industry as lobbyist or consultants.

Future power

Large nuclear power plants (one gigawatt) cost about $4 billion outside the US and about twice that in the US. Much of this is regulatory and is currently being addressed as nuclear makes a comeback. The cost of subsidies for wind and solar 2010–2023: Cumulative costs for solar and wind subsidies were $76 billion and $65 billion, respectively Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) projections: The 10-year cost of wind and solar tax credits is projected to be around $421 billion between 2025 and 2034 Add to that the subsidies for EV’s Projections for the total cost of energy/clean vehicle subsidies under these acts range from an estimated $391 billion over 10 years (per the CBO) to up to $1.2 trillion (per Goldman Sachs' 2023 projection) This does not include the environmental cost of mining, processing and disposal of the materials needed to make windmills, solar panels and EV’s. Then the human cost of boys working in cobalt mines in Africa, Indians in Peru watching their land being destroyed by lithium mining and ground water contamination in China mining rare earths. Moving away from fossil fuels is necessary to reduce carbon but also because these materials will run out. Scientist realize more each day that nuclear power is the answer.

Rent of buy

Many young couples are comparing buying a home vs renting a home. The average home in Hastings cost $330,000 and is 2,100 sq ft in size. For a conventional loan this means 3% down or $9,900. The monthly payment on a 7%, 25-year loan is $2,263 for principal and interest. Include $2,600 for property tax, $1,500 for home owners’ insurance and $140 for mortgage protection insurance for a total monthly payment of $2,744. The average rent for a three-bedroom home is $2,100. For a home owner the cost of interest, taxes and insurance is deductible and saves about 20% in federal and state income tax. This brings the monthly net payment down from $2,744 to $2,195. At the end of the first year the house has gone up in value by 3% which is $9,900 in unrealized profit. This offsets the down payment. Most young people should save for a down payment as the long-term benefit increases as the property value increases. Over time the value of housing has increased 3% per year. The law allows gift money to be used as down payment. The question for grandparents is, would you rather give your grandchild $10,000 for a down payment on a home while you’re living or give them $10,000 in your will after your dead.

Nuclear is coming

The government announced this week plans to invest $80 billion along with $100 billion from Japan to build Westinghouse nuclear reactors. This will include large one-gigawatt reactors plus small modular reactors. Two AP1000 reactors were deployed and are now operating in Waynesville, GA. The plants produce 4.5 gigawatts. The plans include building SMR the AP300. There will be a total of 10 large reactors and a number o small modular reactors to be under construction by 2030. The reactors will use small uranium pellets as fuel. The US +government will take a 20% ownership in the project meaning that approvals will be fast tracked. The projects could be completed in five years meaning sometime in the 2030’s. While this is going on private companies are setting up to build small reactors to power data centers. Nuclear is on the way to replacing fossil fuels and the goal of carbon free by 2050 may be possible.

Carbon free

England set a goal of being carbon free by 2050 and the result is the country who started the industrial revolution is de industrializing. The main reason is the high cost of energy. For hundreds of years England maintained its industrial position by using coal but that ended with climate change. Today the price of electricity in England is 38 cents per kWh while in the US the cost is 18 cents or less than half. In England the cost of natural gas is $49 per 1000 cubic feet and in the US the cost is $25. The UK was the first country to industrialize, but also one of the first to deindustrialize. UK manufacturing as a share of GDP has fallen from 30% in 1970 to 8% in 2024 The US was headed in this direction up until ten years ago when the country realized that wind and solar could not replace fossil fuels. The next step is to understand that nuclear is the answer. The same thing is going on in other European countries like Germany.

Benefits

During Covid the Biden administration offered enhanced subsidies for Obamacare and this doubled the number of participants from 12 million to 24 million at a cost of $1,400 per person. These are set to expire at the end of 2025 and the democrats want to make them permanent. They will not agree to reopen the government until these subsidies are codified and this is the main hold up on the shutdown. Once benefits are given it is difficult to take them back. These benefits were enacted by congress and can only be extended by congress. The law allowed people with incomes higher than 400% of the poverty level to get subsidies. Lowered the premium free coverage up to 150% of poverty level. Income at 400% of poverty level for a family of four is $124,800.

NY mayor

There is an old joke about the eighth grader running for class president who promised longer recesses, no homework and free candy at lunch. He won. This exemplifies what socialism is all about. The candidate for mayor in NY City is promising free public transportation, free childcare, debt cancellation and $30 minimum wage. He plans to pay for these benefits by increasing taxes on the rich. No mention of expanding the economy or creating jobs.

Middle class

Throughout history the norm has been a few well off at the top and a large number of poor at the bottom. The most obvious example is the King along with his nobles and then a mass of worker bees. This was the case until the 1800 when the industrial revolution started. To begin with the old system remained with the robber barons, people like Rockefeller and Carnegie, but in time work rules were past and business was regulated and unions were formed and a middle class arose. The lesson is that the middle class is not something that comes about naturally but must be fought for. The only weapon the worker has is to organize. This is what happened after WW 2 in the US as the war machine turned into consumer products and companies formed partnerships with the workers and all profited. These years from post war up to the 1970’s represented the time when salaries increased each year a little more than inflation and workers were able to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Over the next 50 years the US moved from a manufacturing economy to a financial economy and this was the downfall of the middle class. Today as the country begins its return to growing manufacturing it is time for the workers to unite as they did in the 1950’s and once again bring back the middle class. People say that automation will stop the working person but the same problem existed in the 1950’s. Automation was a hot topic in the 1950s and ’60s—a subject for congressional hearings, blue-ribbon panels, newspaper editorials, think-tank studies, scholarly symposia, documentary films, World’s Fair exhibits, even comic strips and protest songs.

Migrant criminals

Since President Biden took office in January 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has recorded approximately 11 million migrant encounters nationwide through fiscal year (FY) 2024 not including 1.5 million known got a ways. Crossing the border into the United States without authorization is against the law. Entering the U.S. without being inspected and admitted by an immigration officer at a designated port of entry is a federal criminal offense, not just a civil violation. To better understand the options, these migrants should be divided into three groups. First group is comprised of 450,000 with criminal convictions on ICE’s non detained docket. Second group are 1.3 million migrants who have been adjudicated and found not eligible for asylum and remain in the country. The rest have not had their day in court and should be evaluated for work permits to allow them to remain in legal status. The got a ways must be found and their status determined and the 300,000 missing children must be found. ICE is experiencing difficulties in rounding up the migrants because local authorities are not cooperating. They allow criminals to go free into the community which leads to ICE rounding up those convicted criminals with some who have not been convicted.

Reshoring

The US plan to bring back manufacturing jobs is on a slow but steady course. US companies have committed to $1.2 trillion between January and September 2025. In the first half of 2025 foreign countries invested $150 billion in US manufacturing facilities with many times that projected for the future. Companies want to invest in the US because that is where the market is. The US with four percent of the world’s population produces 26% of the world’s GDP. The US also wants to bring home products for national defense reasons along with safety, like pharmaceuticals. This also minimizes the concerns about supply chains and with shorter supply chains companies can change directions to meet market demands more quickly and efficiently.

Chicago Blacks

For the past 30 months innocent civilians in Sudan have been killed because of civil unrest. This is not prominent in the news and a deep search must be done to find out what is happening. Here are a couple of reports. Briefing ambassadors in the Security Council, the UN’s top relief official Tom Fletcher said “women and girls are being raped, people being mutilated and killed – with utter impunity,” adding: “We cannot hear the screams, but – as we sit here today – the horror is continuing.” “Tens of thousands of terrified, starving civilians have fled or are on the move,” Mr. Fletcher said. “Those able to flee – the vast majority women, children, and the elderly – face extortion, rape and violence on the perilous journey.” Some have suggested that this is not considered worthwhile news because the people are black. Once again it is case of Black lives don’t matter. On a much smaller scale this is happening in US cities. In Chicago in 2024 438 Blacks and 111 Hispanics were murdered while during this same time period 23 Whites were murdered. These statistics are buried in the back pages of the news. Once again, the question arises, would reporting be different if 500 Whites had been murdered.

New jobs

As the dawn of AI begins to react with jobs some changes will be necessary in how society works. The early effects can already be seen in education, in particular for entry level jobs. Instead of highly specialized AI development roles, entry-level AI factory jobs for high school graduates will focus on the operational and maintenance needs of these facilities. These roles often require hands-on technical skills over a traditional college degree. Companies are not looking for college graduates with degrees in humanities but those who major in STEM. If you are a young person looking for work in the age of AI, then start training in high school, by taking industrial arts and computer classes. Follow this up with a year or two at a tech college and industry will be coming looking for you. Also consider tech college to learn trades like plumbing and electrician. Above all make sure you have good reading comprehension skills as much of your on-the-job training will require you to read and understand new processes and procedures. As the economy expands there will be millions of new jobs in manufacturing and the country is entering the next industrial revolution. Get ready the world is changing.

National health insurance

As the US moves away from paying for most of the defense for Europe, Canada and Japan this is good time to visit national healthcare again. It is estimated that if the US closed down all healthcare and started one plan, something like Medicare for all, it would cost $4.9 trillion per year. In 2024 the government spent $1.9 trillion on healthcare. US companies spent $1.3 trillion US consumers spent $165 billion out of pocket (company insurance plans) Medicare recipients paid $133 billion in part B cost Medicaid and Obamacare recipients paid $270 billion These total $3.8 trillion. This means the consumers would no longer pay for their existing coverage but would have to come up with the $1,100 billion shortage. For the 150 working families that would be $7,300 per year or $610 per month. Based on todays rates the average employee pays $500 per month for family plan health insurance through the company. This would standardize treatment across the country much like Medicare does today. It would end the private insurance business which employs 600,000 people.

Education

A common question is why universities tend to be liberal and one explanation is jealousy based on disbelief. There are 1.4 million college professors and they averaged eight years of school beyond high school at a cost of $150,000. The salaries of those in the humanities are lower than those in business and engineering. Most of the political talk comes from the humanities. These people find it difficult to understand why the rest of the country doesn’t realize that their superior education makes them more qualified to determine what is best for the country. When they see people with far less formal education making more money and having more influence they are dismayed. How could some middle manager or some plumber understand the complexities of the world. In the classroom the teacher is the expert and often corrects students. This has a tendency to carry over into private life.

France

France is on the leading edge of what is happening to most European countries and that is simply they’re going broke. After 50 years of public assistance programs, they are unable to meet their commitments to the people and the people are upset. They have been through four Prime Ministers in one year as each tried to rein in spending and then got the boot. Once people receive a benefit, it is very difficult to take it back. Europeans not only work less than Americans they no longer innovate. They are being left behind. Over the past 10 years Europe has gone from producing 20% of the worlds GDP to 13%. Many public officials in the US would like to add more public programs but Europe should be an early warning.

Rent control

The NY mayoral candidate is promising rent control to stabilize the cost of apartments. St Paul implemented rent controls three years ago. Rent control in St. Paul led to a decrease in new apartment construction, with building permits dropping significantly after the ordinance was passed. Multiple sources point to a sharp decline in new housing permits, with one report showing an 80% drop in the months following the ordinance's implementation. The decrease is attributed to developer disincentives caused by rent control, as it impacted the financial viability of new projects and made it harder to secure financing. When builders are told they cannot increase the rent they stop building. People in rent-controlled apartments don’t want to leave and so there is no room for growth. The latest trend is to carve out exceptions to the rules based on approval which opens the door to misadventure by governments colluding with builders.

Germany

The fall of Germany is evident by two years of recession and no sign of relief in sight. Germany is a manufacturing economy and depends heavily on trade which results in a favorable balance of trade with a high in 2017 of $261 billion. This allowed the country to avoid going into debt with the average debt being about $70 billion. This compares to $37 trillion in the US. Germany was so sure of its plans that in 2009 the constitution was changed saying the government could never borrow more that .35% of GDP vs the US which routinely borrows ten times that much. Germany’s problems began in 2000 with Covid which shut down trade and cut deeply into Germanys GDP. Next came the Ukraine War where Germany quit buying cheap Russian gas. This was followed by the US placing tariffs on German imports and most recently the US telling European countries that they would have to start paying for their own defense. The result is that Germany once again changed its constitution and now allows the government to borrow what ever is needed. They recently approved $500 billion to rebuild infrastructure and to help struggling steel, chemical and auto companies.

Obamacare for 2026

Obama care has been around for 15 years and it is time for an update. First off in order to pass the law it was deemed necessary to keep the first ten-year cost below one trillion dollars and they succeeded by coming in at $940 billion. What most people are not aware of that this was accomplished by collecting premiums starting in 2010 but withholding most benefits until 2014. Thus, the ten-year cost was spread over ten years but the coverage over six. Second most people who qualified for free coverage signed up but many young people who were faced with small premiums chose not to sign up. This prompted the government to instigate the individual mandate which was a penalty for not having the insurance. In 2019 the Trump administration eliminated the mandate. Many young people chose not to sign up deciding instead to just use emergency rooms much like illegal migrants were doing. As the cost for Obamacare rose more and more people, in particular, young people started dropping out. This creates, what is called in the insurance business, a death spiral. As more people drop out the cost for the remaining group goes higher which causes more to drop out and so on. Third. This year the cost for the Silver plan under Obamacare will rise 18% but the real cost is in the annual deductible. For those living below the poverty level the monthly cost is zero and the average annual deductible is $700. Most of these people will keep their coverage. The poverty level for 2026 is $15,650 per family. For each additional person the level rises by $5,500. This means a family of four can get free insurance with incomes up to $25,000. For those families earning between $23,475 and $31,300 their annual deductible increased to $3,600. The income limits still allow $5,500 per child. Thus, a family of four earning over $42,300 will pay $500 per month and have a $5,000 annual deductible. That means the annual cost would be $11,000 before insurance kicks in. Many families will drop out. Interesting enough, 5 million who are eligible for free care fail to sign up mostly because they are now aware or find it to much trouble.

Migrants in Europe

Angela Merkel was Chancellor of Germany for 16 years and made two crucial mistakes, which came back later to haunt the government. After the accident at Fukushima, Japan, she decided to shut down all 17 of Germany’s nuclear power plants and that was completed by 2023. When Russia invaded the Ukraine, Germany stopped buying oil and natural gas from Russia and must now restart their old coal plants and buy natural gas from the US at a higher cost. Next in 2015 she opened the doors to migrants from mostly Eastern European and Muslim countries. In the first year 1 million came in, which based on population, would be like 6 million in the US. Two years ago, Germany began to deport many if not most of these migrants. They first closed the border, by allowing the police to use stop and search methods to turn back people at the border. Fast tracked the process and used private planes to deport people to two countries who agreed to take them. Then they changed the immigration laws to accept people based on merit meaning what could they bring to help the economy. These procedures are being followed by other European countries who have been experiencing problems with migrants.

Police

Some cities show their appreciation for the police by offering good benefits including salary. The police in Hastings have life and disability insurance, holiday and personal time pay, health insurance and pension. The average salary is $98,000 and an officer can retire at 90% of pay with 30 years of service at age 55. After retirement they no longer pay into the retirement or social security so they can retire with more net pay than while they were working.

Harvard

Each year more than 50,000 student apply to get into Harvard. Only 2,000 are accepted and 25% of those are foreign students. Harvard accepts around 1,900 to 2,000 undergraduate students each year. For the 2024-2025 academic year, nearly 7,000 international students were enrolled, making up over 25% of the total student body. Why are US students turned down to make room for foreign students? Since 40% of US students accepted are Asian Americans is this discriminating against Asians. Students are admitted based on merit and studies and court cases have indicated that Asian American applicant often have very high academic ratings.

Trade

Prior to 1970 the US ran a positive balance of trade but since then things have turned around. It has now reached one trillion-dollar deficit. This is primarily the result of tariffs. US price due to factors like higher import taxes, VAT, shipping costs, and market demand. For example, a US-market Chevy Tahoe that starts at around $59,000 in the US can cost over $100,000 in Europe, once taxes and other fees are included. A Jeep Grand Cherokee starts at $38,490 in the U.S. but $64,830 in France and $61,990 in Germany. In Japan and China it would cost around $61,990. In 2024, approximately 165,000 American vehicles were imported into Europe. This number is significantly smaller than the number of vehicles the US imports from Europe, which was around 750,000 in the same year Trump’s plan is to have reciprocal tariffs meaning that if a country charges the US a tariff the US will charge the same tariff. If this succeeds then most countries will remove tariffs which will lead to free and fair trade. Free trade is best for all but they must be fair

Race

Since the majority of migrants being picked up by ICE are people with brown skins the government is being accused of racial profiling but the majority of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. come from Mexico, but the population is increasingly diversified, with significant numbers also coming from Central America (especially El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras), South America, and Asia. Some say this is racist but the real racism is in the big cities in the US. In 2024 there were 573 people murdered in Chicago and 26 were White. If these racial figures were reversed more would be done to solve the problem. Scholars have found that journalists are more likely to put in extra effort for victims whose cases are perceived as more "newsworthy." This disproportionately benefits white victims and those in more affluent neighborhoods. This is racism but it doesn’t seem to matter to the officials who are mostly Black. Chicago has a Black mayor a Black deputy mayor and forty percent of the city council members are Black including the chairman and vice chairmen.

Egos

Often times marriages break up because neither side will subjugate their egos for the good of the partnership. The government is currently shut down because the two parties refused to get their egos under control. The war in Ukraine continues because each side is protecting their egos. When a person views all of these situations from thirty thousand feet it looks kind of sad.

Game

The world should be thankful for the United States. One way to understand this is to play a simple mind game. Suppose that some other country had the military force that the US now has. How would things change ff China had this great force. How about Russia or North Korea or even Europe. The US does not have territorial designs like most others would have. After WW 2 the US was in a position to take over the world but it chose not to. The US does place economic pressure on other countries and for a while a rogue CIA interfered internally with other countries but there is no attempt to directly take over another country using military force. Picture Kim Jung Un with the US military in his pocket.

Census

The number of illegal migrants living in California has been lowered from 2.6 million to 1.8 million and 14 million live in the US and this is down 2 million since the start of Trump’s term. Most people are not aware of the fact that illegals vote indirectly for the president of the US. According to the 2020 census there were 331 million people living in the US and dividing that by 535 means that each 618,000 people equates to one electoral vote. This means that the illegals give California 3 additional electoral votes. There are seven states that have only one representative in congress and California has three just from illegals. Illegals across the country equates to 23 electoral votes and this can determine who is president. Right now, the republicans only have a 6-vote advantage in the house. This house majority could easily be determined by illegal migrants. In addition, most experts feel the number of illegals is undercounted. Trump is pushing that only citizens be counted in the next census.

US vs EU

NATO past and future. There are 32 countries in NATO and in the past, they have used 1.5% of their GDP for their own defense while the US has spent 3.75% of its GDP on defense. The reason for the discrepancy is that NATO relies heavily on the US to help defend against potential enemies. Under pressure from Trump the NATO countries have committed to spending 5% of their GDP on defense. This switch is already underway as over the past three years the US has spent $120 billion on military aid sent to fight the war in Ukraine and now the EU is buying military equipment from the US to defend Ukraine. Canada is in much the same position as the EU. These are countries who have national health care. Some have suggested if they had to pay for their own defense they couldn’t afford such care.

Lives

Most Americans agree that there should be no discrimination based on race but in the real world that is not what is happening. People are seemingly unaware of why Blacks are treated as second class citizens. A Black male at age 62 who starts social security will collect on average eight years while a White female starting at age 62 will collect for 18 years. Black families are headed by single moms 70% of the time while White moms are only 25%. Poverty rates for Black families is higher. Black students have lower test scores, more discipline problems and higher dropout rates. Black youths are more likely to be arrested and incarcerated and Blacks are disproportionately represented in prisons. Black males represent 6% of the population and 38% of prisoners. Black males between ages 15 and 50 represent 3% of the population but commit 50% of the murders and 90% of those are Blacks killing Blacks. Black females of child bearing age represent 4% of the population but have 40% of the abortions. Medium household income for Black families is $56,000 and $85,000 for Whites. Home ownership among Whites is 74% and 46% for Blacks. Many of these problems are the result of problems in school and many of those are the result of problems at home. These statistics are readily available but mostly ignored. In 2024 murders in Chicago were 438 Blacks, 111 Hispanics and 23 Whites. This was a typical year. Many feel that if these numbers were reversed more would be done to cut the murder rate. It is almost as if minority lives don’t matter.

Charity

Should rich people donate to charity. The answer is, depends. Sam Waltons children own 3.6 billion shares of Walmart stock that pays 88 cents per share so their annual income is $3.2 billion. They give $500 million to charity and invest the rest in other businesses. Elon Musk invested $100 million dollars of his own money in Space X in 2002. Today the company employees 13,000 mostly high paid tech people. The economic impact is in the tens of billions and projected to be trillions by 2030. To answer the question, yes people like the Waltons should donate to charity but people like Musk should innovate. The Waltons are giving a man a fish but Musk is teaching him how to fish. People like Musk and Steve Jobs should use their abilities and their money to create new industries. Of course, most rich people do both innovate and donate. 31 years ago, Jeff Bezos borrowed $300,000 from his parents and started Amazon in a garage with the idea of selling books on line. For the first ten years all profits were reinvested in the company and then over the next 20 years it grew into a trillion-dollar company employing 1.5 million people. He could have given the early profits to charity and kept the company just selling books.

Unions

The democratic economic plan is today the same as it was yesterday and the day before. It is to redistribute income and wealth. They will take money from those who have a lot and give it to those who have less. In the process they will decide who gets what, when and how. The objective is to offer benefits in the hope of getting votes but in the process, they gain the power of the purse. This then leads to control of policy which means power over the people. Both parties use this but the democrats have perfected the art. Republicans besides offering goodies will strive to ease regulations on business to create jobs which leads to economic growth which leads to expanding the opportunities for innovation. It is the private sector that has the incentive to come up with new ideas and these lead to new industries. The public sector can also create jobs through innovation in NASA and other areas of research and development like the CDC. These areas provide the ground work for private groups like Space X and pharma companies to grow. The democratic party now has an opportunity to right one of the most serious wrongs in the country and that is the large discrepancy called the income and wealth gap. As the country brings home the manufacturing jobs it lost over the past 50 years the door is open for unions to gain more power. Most economist say that if wages go up then prices will follow but that doesn’t take into account the increased buying power of the consumers whose wages increased. When Henry Ford started paying $5 per day it allowed his workers to buy the cars they were producing. This led to increased consumption and the country profited. When ordinary people earn more money, they spend more money and since the economy is based on consumer spending the economy will grow producing more jobs. Add to that the fact that new facilities will be more efficient further adding to productivity and everyone wins. The government can broaden collective bargaining rights and simplify the unionization process. Under the present system people are not paid based on their ability to produce but rather on their ability to bargain. It is ridiculous to think that the CEO is more productive than a thousand workers yet that is how they are paid. Unions will provide more bargaining power to the workers. In 1950 35% of workers were unionized and today that figure is only 6%.

Student loans

There are currently 42 million college students past and present who have outstanding student loans that average $40.000. Of these about 2 million have been paying on these loans for more than 20 years. Under the new rule signed yesterday these 2 million will have their remaining loan balances forgiven at cost of $80 billion to the government. This still leaves $1.5 trillion in outstanding loans.

net zero

A misguided way to transfer wealth in the US was spearheaded by climate change. The idea that replacing fossil fuels with wind and solar was a social program to transfer wealth at its heart with a cover story of saving the earth from climate change. This did not take hold in the US but in Canada it did. In the early 2000’s articles began to appear showing how increased carbon dioxide was warming the earth. By 2004 the UN got on board with climate activist to change laws to encourage the development of non-fossil fuels. In 2015, 130 countries met in Paris to sign a climate agreement to go to zero carbon by the year 2100. Next in 2018 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change changed the zero-carbon date to 2050. When people challenged these proposals, they were called climate deniers and accused of not caring about the earth. Somewhere along the way the whole process moved from science to politics and the first signs that this was a way to move money from one group to another with government agencies deciding who got what, where and how. What happened in the US was now exposed on a world-wide basis. There were early clues that something was amiss but they were ignored and the momentum of net zero won the day. When leading scientist said that the science was settled, good scientist recognized that science is never settled and always subject to change based on new information. While Biden signed on to the Paris Agreement, it was not confirmed by congress so one of the first things Trump did was rescind Bidens executive order. Canada, on the other hand, stayed with agreement and took further steps toward zero carbon. When Canada signed then PM Justin Trudeau said proudly, Canada is back and will save our grandchildren from climate change. How this was to be done was not discussed. For a country whose whole economy centered around natural gas and oil this seemed unlikely to happen. There followed a series of new laws demanding carbon taxes, emission controls and increased regulations on fossil fuels. In 2021 Canada passed into law the zero carbon rules. This led to legislation requiring all cars to be EV by 2035. The new PM in Canada Mark Carney has pledged to carry on the goals of net zero. This has led to threats by Western Provinces whose economies depend on oil and gas to object to the new laws. Alberta is currently signing a petition to separate from Canada.

City bathrooms

Bureaucracy has run amok. The purpose of government regulations are to protect the people and the environment, both worthy goals, but in practice things have moved to the extreme. President Obama spoke eloquently about shovel ready jobs but when it came time to implement, he ran into some snags. Despite the promise of a rapid economic boost, many projects took months or even years to get off the ground. Complex planning, permitting, and environmental review processes caused delays, meaning funding could not be deployed as quickly as anticipated. One simple example can illustrate the whole point. San Fransico decided to build one public toilet and the estimated cost was $1.7 million. Most of the cost went for permitting fees of various sorts. Two private companies agreed to donate the materials and labor to build the toilet which they proceeded to do. The final cost was $300,000 mostly for permitting. The toilet is a 10 by 15-foot structure about the size of the master bath in most new homes.

Deportations

Some sanctuary cities have adopted the strategy used by Hamas and it is effective. Hamas mixes in their fighters with the general population and when they are killed many innocent citizens are killed and then these victims are published in the press showing how the Israelis are killing Palestinians. The sanctuary cities instead of handing over criminals in the jails to ICE are releasing them into the general population and when ICE captures them, they also arrest migrants who have not been convicted of committing a crime. Then these cases are showcased on TV. A better solution would be for the local authorities to turn over the convicted migrants to ICE who could then arrest and deport. Next ICE could help find the 300,000 missing children and this could lead to a road to citizenship for those migrants whose only crime is being here illegally. These people could help fill the many jobs that will be created when the US brings manufacturing back home. Instead, the cities are doubling down and permitting local police to help protect the criminals from ICE. This is the old story of a house divided.

EV's

Sales of electric cars hit a record in the third quarter of this year. The reason was this quarter ended the $7,500 subsidy. As people realize that the grid cannot handle the needed charging stations and cold weather continues to limit the milage, EV’s are losing popularity. More people are coming to understand the harm caused to the environment by the mining, processing and disposal of the elements needed for car batteries and this also hurts sales. The need for electric power will double in the next five years to supply the new data centers being built around the country. This will lower the demand for EV’s and perhaps they will be replaced by hydrogen when small nuclear reactors come on line.

Europe

An old adage says that if you want to dance you have to pay the fiddler. The day of payment is fast approaching in Europe. Most EU countries have prided themselves on their vast social programs. National healthcare, generous retirement plans, weeks of vacations and up to a year of full pay for having a baby in addition to time off for fathers. For years these programs have been paid for by exports and low expenditures for national defense. In recent years exports have declined as the US demands equivalent tariffs and that the EU countries begin to pay for their own defense instead of relying on the US. These countries have also allowed millions of refugees to enter the country which is placing stress on public assistance plans. Politicians in Brussels are trying to instigate austerity programs to cover the new cost but the people are objecting to any reductions in their government benefits and this is leading to rioting. One suggested solution is to institute a wealth tax. This has been tried in the past but failed in more countries like France, Italy, Belgian and Netherlands but remains in Norway, Spain and Switzerland. In Norway the tax is one percent for all net income over $3 million for married couples. Even if a workable system could be developed where the money would be taken from the rich and given to those who are not rich it would be only a temporary solution because in time the rich would run out of money. It is like Margaret Thatcher said, socialism is a great idea until you run out of the other guy’s money. The best solution is to have an economy that is growing and creating new jobs. The per capita income in Europe is $34,800 and in the US $86,000 or more than double. One of the main differences in these numbers is the fact that Americans work 1,811 hours per year while the Europeans work 1,511 and in Germany and France the number is 1,341.

Fair

One of the things that has hurt the democratic party is called in the current vernacular, identity politics. This concept centers around the word fair. It says that certain things in the past were unfair and so the solution is to make new things unfair to try and equalize the playing field. The way to measure the success of this approach is to strive for equal results. When minorities achieve at the same level as Whites then we have reached equity. The impetus for this is the fact that not everyone is at the same starting point because of past injustices. In order to make up for this the rules are changed to give an advantage to one group. This is not for all things. For example, in sports only the best qualified get to play but in applying for a job as a firefighter the test is race adjusted.

Antisemitism

Many pro-Palestinian groups who were quite vocal in their demands to free Palestine are suddenly quiet as Palestine is freed. This leads some to believe that the real intent of these people was not to free Palestine but to destroy Israel. This idea is promoted by the recent revelations regarding the teacher’s union emailing three million of their members information about Palestine. The nation’s largest teachers' union sent a mass email to its members containing a map that erased the state of Israel and labeled the area "Palestine," along with materials supporting Hamas’ barbaric Oct. 7 attacks. The emails continued trying to justify the holocaust saying: Another page on the Palestine Remembered website also contains a page that claimed "the last thing Hitler wanted to do was genocide" and praised Hitler and claimed that "the majority of German and Austrian Jewry" were saved because of his policies. Add to this the fact that many major universities in the US allowed Jewish students to be threatened by pro-Palestinian protestors who shouted “from the river to the sea” which was promoting the end of Israel and a picture emerges prompting the end of Israel. The FBI reports that 70% of all Religion-Based hate crimes were against Jews.

Gaza War

A brief history of the Middle East war and why it ended. It begins with the major achievement of Trump’s first term, the Abraham Accords. This was an agreement between Israel and four Arab countries, UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco to normalize relations with Israel. In the fall of 2020 Saudi Arabia was considering the possibilities of these Accords as a force united against Iran. As relations warmed with the Saudis, Iran became increasing concerned. Many feel this was the reason that Iran gave the go ahead to Hamas to attack Israel. In October of 2023 Hamas attacked Israel and this led to a series of events that ended in the destruction of Hamas. In Sept 2024 Hezbollah was destroyed by bombs in telephones. On December 2024 the Syrian government collapsed cutting off the access road to both Hezbollah and Hamas. In June of 2025 the US bombed the nuclear sites in Iran and along with the sanctions left Iran in disarray. At this point Israel went all in on destroying Hamas. Last week 30 countries, including nine Arab countries, met in Egypt to set up plans to bring peace to the Middle East. The plan is to rebuild Palestine.

Gaza today

The rebuilding of Gaza will mean high rise apartments since the population density is so high. The ideal situation is to use money from the rich oil countries along with Israeli construction companies and Palestinian labor to first remove the rubble and then set up communities with housing and commercial development. The beach front is 25 miles long and half would be for public beaches and half for commercial development. This would mean 12 miles of resorts to attract visitors and provide jobs. For example, Miami Beach is a mile wide and nine miles long. They get 28 million visitors per year and that supports 200,000 jobs. The weather is similar to Miami as is the water temperature. Palestinians are known to be good businessmen. With some start up loans from the World Bank many new enterprises will develop and grow. Before the recent war hundreds of thousands of Palestinians worked in Israel and that can resume. These are ambitious hard-working people and given the opportunity

Test gap

Back in the 1970’s and 80’s the schools began to deemphasize the importance of using phonics to teach reading in favor of something called the whole language method. Mississippi, a state that ranked last in reading skills went back to phonics in 2013. They had a special two-year training program for K-3 teachers and passed legislation that students who could not pass the reading test given to third graders would be held back. They would then be giving one on one training by specially trained teachers. The result is that Mississippi students now rank number three. Should this system be tried in other states? Should some states use AI for individual one on one teaching. The income gap and the test score gaps are two of the biggest problems facing the country. The test gap is particularly harmful since it impacts minority students the most.

GDP

The trade imbalance effects the GDP. The GDP combines the personal consumption, private domestic investment, government expenditures and net exports. Net exports are imports minus exports. For 2024 the situation looks like: Personal consumption $19.9 trillion Private domestic investments $5.3 trillion Government expenditures $6.8 trillion Exports $2.0 trillion Imports $4.1 trillion Total $19.9 plus $5.3 plus $6.8 plus $2.0 minus $4.1 equals $29.9 trillion. This shows how the negative balance of trade effects the GDP. If exports equal imports the GDP would be 19.9 plus $5.3 plus $6.8 equals $32 trillion. The US GDP per capita in 2024 was $85.810. If exports and imports were equal the GDP per capita would be $91.515. This is why the government is using tariffs to equalize imports and exports. US manufacturing is increasing in all areas. For example, GE appliances invested a historic $3 billion and Samsung and LG have expanded their US based plants in items like washing machines and refrigerators. This is all part of bringing manufacturing jobs back home.

AI teacher

Ask Google does smaller class size improve learning and you get Yes, fewer students per class generally leads to improved student learning and achievement, with the most significant benefits seen when class sizes are reduced substantially in the earliest grades and for disadvantaged students. Smaller classes allow for more individualized attention, increased student engagement, improved academic performance, and reduced achievement gaps. However, benefits are most pronounced with large reductions in class size (e.g., fewer than 20 students), and the effectiveness depends on maintaining teacher quality. This opens the door to AI teacher. All students have individual computers and the powers to be get together and taking the best parts from the best teachers devise the AI teacher. It will be designed to teach students how to thing not what to think. Every class, every lesson can be immediately analyzed with feed back and grading. Parents can be kept abreast on a daily basis. It will be two-way communication from student to the AI teacher. It is one on one education. There will still be a need for the classroom teacher especially in the lower grades but the teacher will have time to spend on things other than the fundamentals.

New jobs

In the recent past the US trade deficits have increased dramatically and today stands at $1.2 trillion. Up until the 1960 the US normally had a trade surplus but this changed as globalization became the new world economic system. The result was the decline in manufacturing and the rise of the financial industry. This meant stagnant wages for working people and high profits for big business and the executives that worked in these businesses. The income gap soared based not on productivity but on favoring the financial sector and this was not based on merit. While a specific average CEO salary for 1950 is not readily available, the average CEO's pay was about 20 times the salary of the average worker during that era. This was a period of lower income disparity between CEOs and employees, with CEO compensation increasing to more than 600 times the average worker's pay by 2020. It is not reasonable to assume that today’s CEOs are 30 times more productive than those in the 1950’s. The country and indeed the Western world is now reversing this trend and the US will once again become a manufacturing power house. A recent poll said that 25% of respondents feel they would be better off working in a factory. This would be a three-fold increase over the 8% who now are factory workers. These new factories will be using the latest technology and AI to increase productivity which means higher wages and benefits. High schools and tech colleges along with on-the-job training will increase the value of the employees and add to the efficiency of the operation.

Type of racism

The origin of modern eugenics (late 19th century) Francis Galton coined the term meaning good birth. Galton believed that human society was hindering natural selection by protecting the weak. He argued that selective breeding should be applied to humans to improve the race. Historical eugenicists used a range of methods to eliminate "undesirables," primarily by curtailing reproduction and, in the most extreme cases, through extermination. These practices, which were based on the pseudoscientific belief that complex human traits could be bred in or out of the population, disproportionately targeted marginalized groups, such as people with disabilities, immigrants, and racial minorities. Less than 4% of the population is represented by Black females of child bearing age and they have 40% of all abortions. Some might consider this a type of eugenics.

Murders

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was elected on April 2023. In 2024, Black Chicagoans were disproportionately affected by homicides, making up 78% of the victims despite being 29% of the population and 22 times more likely to be killed than White residents. Hispanic residents were also disproportionately impacted, making up 18% of homicide victims and being about 5 times more likely to be killed than White residents. White victims were the smallest group, representing the baseline for these disparities. This means that less than 4% of murder victims were White. This doesn’t seem to alarm anyone and could or should be considered racism.

Catch 22

Over-policing vs. Under-policing: North Minneapolis faces the paradox of historical over-policing, which can inflate crime data, alongside a reality of being under-protected and underserved by adequate police resources, notes the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and the Department of Justice. Here is the dilemma. A new police chief is hired because crime is out of control. He finds out that 80% of the crime happens in 20% of the city so he assigns more police in that area. Over time crime decreases and the citizens are satisfied. A few years later some enterprising report does and in debt study which shows that disproportionate number of minorities are being arrested and convicted. This awakens groups like the ACLU and demands that changes be made so the police are moved to other parts of the city. In time crime increases in the minority areas and citizens demand that the police do something. It’s a catch 22.

Campus

In today’s world many people wonder why colleges and universities have changed and there are number of reason but one rarely discussed is the increase in women in academia. In the past 50 years the number of female professors has doubled from 25% to 54%. In 2020, 85,230 male and 104,950 female students earned a doctoral degree in the US. In a nut shell women have become the majority of teachers in universities. If you agree there are differences between men and women you would expect some changes when the percentage of women in a position increases rapidly. In 2020 women earned 74% of the PhD’s in psychology and 20% of the PhD’s in physics. In some ways these two careers require similar skills like critical thinking but in other ways the skills are quite different. A physicist needs a strong background in math whereas a psychologist needs a strong understanding of human nature. How do these differences change the culture on campus?

Medical abortions

The abortion pill came out in 2000, a year in which there were 1.3 million abortions. By 2023 that number had decreased to 900,000 even though the population had increased by 50 million. During that time the number of medical abortions (using the pill) increased to 63% and many of these are not recorded so it is assumed that the number of abortions is not decreasing only the reporting. Many medicated abortions go unreported, especially self-managed abortions conducted outside of the formal healthcare system. This is a well-documented issue that affects the accuracy of abortion statistics in the United States and other parts of the world. Some states offer legal access to these pills without a prescription from a doctor and as those spread to other states it will become more difficult to count abortions because many will occur in the privacy of a woman’s home with no doctor involved. Many suggest, that in the future it will be a common practice for women to have amniotic fluid tested early on and medical abortions to be used to discard any fetus with potential problems.

Courts

People are often concerned about the court system becoming political. This has been in the news since the Supreme Court now has 6 six judges who are considered more conservative. Since Trump 2.0 the lower courts have been active in blocking presidential executive orders but they too have been somewhat political Of the 30 judges who partially or fully blocked a Trump administration's executive actions in 38 cases, 26 were appointed by Democratic presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. The result is that liberals are complaining about the Supreme Court and conservatives are complaining about the lower courts.

European migrants

Mismanagement of immigration policy can lead to a quick decline in a country. A good recent example is Sweden. This was a country that industrialized, had natural resources and high levels of professionalism in its workforce pushed forward by exports. It was a high-tech capitalist country with a solid welfare system providing good education that enabled entrepreneurship an innovation. The Swedish people were compassionate and welcomed Muslim immigrants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000’s. These were people fleeing war torn countries and the Swedes open their doors. The Muslim population increased to 12% but the new immigrants failed to assimilate and this led to neighborhoods where police were not welcomed. In these areas there is poverty and gangs leading to unrest. Sweden is now changing its immigration policies to become more restrictive, shifting focus from asylum-based to mandating that migrants adhere to honest living to avoid deportation. The rationale is to address issues such as crime, fraud, and the rise of undocumented migrants. Similar situations are happening in other European countries like France and Germany. Migrants with criminal records are being deported across Europe with Germany deporting 20,000 in 2024.

Data centers

The genius of Elon Musk is on display in Memphis, TN. He took 100 acres that was formally an Electrolux appliance factory and in 122 days converted it to the largest data center in the world. Then in three weeks he installed the computers and the entire one-gigawatt plant will be operational by early 2026. These plants use so much electricity that the power source must be set up before the plant can operate. Memphis could not supply that much power so Musk purchased a nearby abandoned power plant. He brought in gas turbines from closed plants in Europe and installed them at the old power plant site. The future of data centers depends on adequate power supplies and this means providing a private power source for each new plant. They will start with natural gas turbines but in the near future small nuclear reactors will take over.

SMR's

As many of the dire predictions regarding climate change have failed to materialize it is time to take a closer look at renewable energy and at wind and solar in particular. First off wind and solar are intermittent since the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow which means a backup source of energy is needed. Some feel this can be batteries but current technology is inadequate. Second both wind and solar take up lots of space. A one-gigawatt solar field requires 4,500 acres, a one-gigawatt wind farm 8,000 acres and a one-gigawatt natural gas power plant about 8 acres. Third since the solar fields and wind farms are installed many miles from the use points, they require long cross-country transmission lines. Forth the mining, processing and disposal of the materials needed for wind and solar is detrimental to the environment and thus most of these materials currently come from China. Fifth, batteries cannot be used for airplanes, ocean liners, heavy construction and farm equipment and rail trains which means there will still be a need for the diesel and jet fuel. The only realistic solution to climate change is nuclear power. Small modular reactors (SMR’s) cam be produced on and assembly line and shipped to the use point on semis. This removes the need for long transmission line and they operate 24/7 and need no backup. Using the latest gas turbines both uranium pellets or thorium can produce both electricity and heat. The reactors can be used to produce hydrogen by electrolysis of water and diesel and jet fuel can be produced by using hydrogen and carbon dioxide taken from the atmosphere and returned to the atmosphere when burned for a carbon neutral cycle. Cars and small trucks can use hydrogen for fuel and the only biproduct is water. The reactors have walk away safety meaning no meltdowns and the government is fast tracking the approval process which was the main reason for high building cost.

Mamdani

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has moved into the lead with a combination of standard democratic policies and some that are considered extreme. He favors raising taxes on the rich to provide universal child care, freezing rents and offering free bus service. This is the standard liberal approach to redistribution of income. He said there should be no billionaires but he would work with them to pay for some social benefits. He has proposed city owned grocery stores to be placed in poor neighborhoods. He suggested to defund the police stating they were racist, anti-queer and a major threat to public safety but has since back off of this idea. He wants to create a new “Department of Community Safety” that would deploy mental health care teams, rather than armed officers, to handle certain emergency calls involving people in crisis. He is a defender of Palestinian civil rights and accuses the Israeli government of committing a genocide in Gaza. He uses the phase “globalize the intifada” a call to violence against Israeli civilians. He is an active member of the Democratic Socialist of America, a group that advocates for universal health care, immigrants’ rights, tuition free college, a 32-hour work week and getting rid of mandatory jail time for some crimes. He has not said he wanted to get rid of jails but he supports an “Agenda for Decarceration” that includes proposals to eliminate cash bail, decriminalize drug possession and prostitution, and fight the construction of new jails.

Europe

Europe is slowly sinking into a morass of economic and social quicksand. Over the past 30 plus years Europe has moved to replace fossil fuels with green energy. While doing this most countries, other than France, began the process of closing nuclear power plants. In a dramatic example of not thinking things through, they thought they could replace fossil fuels with wind and solar only to discover that there was not much wind or sun. The push toward EV’s neglected to consider Chinas influence on the market which all too soon produced better EV’s at lower prices. Then the US introduced reciprocal tariffs on EU goods and many European countries, like Germany, were heavily dependent on exports. When Russia invaded Ukraine, the European countries stopped buying Russian natural gas before they had set up adequate replacements. This caused a spike in energy prices which is still adversely affecting countries like Germany. Many countries are reducing production of autos and chemicals and moving plants to the US. Then, many European countries following post WW 2 guest worker programs, backed by compassionate leaders allowed mass migration of Eastern Europeans and Middle Easterners to enter Europe. Many of these new people were unable to assimilate due to language and cultural differences and this led to criminal activities. Muslims are facing discrimination and disproportionate numbers are being incarcerated and this is leading to unrest. As the countries find it necessary to cut back on social programs the people are protesting, most notably in France. The US has stopped financing Europe’s defense and they must now spend more on their own military which is putting pressure on the social programs.

Criminals

In a recent group discussion, the subject moved to public safety. What could be done to make neighborhoods safer. One person suggested that putting criminals in jail would help. That was reinforced when it was noted that most crime is committed by repeat offenders. Later in researching this, the facts were startling. While the overall rate varies by definition and jurisdiction, studies from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) show that about 66% of state prisoners are re-arrested within three years of their release. More broadly, a significant proportion of the prison population consists of repeat offenders, with some studies indicating that over 90% of state prisoners have either prior violent offenses or previous nonviolent convictions.

Crimes

When Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg campaigned, he did not promise to prosecute Trump. Here is what he said. "I have investigated Trump and his children and held them accountable for their misconduct with the Trump Foundation. I also sued the Trump administration more than 100 times for the travel ban, the separation of children from their families at the border. So I know that work. I know how to follow the facts and hold people in power accountable." A Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of falsifying records to cover up hush money paid to Stormy Daniel. Letitia James made public statements during her 2018 campaign about investigating Trump. She said he was an “illegitimate president” and an “embarrassment”. In 2024 James successfully won a fraud case against Trump and the judge barred Trump from operating any business in New York and fined him $350 million dollars. The New York Supreme Court through out the fine and the case will eventually go to the US Supreme Court. In both of these cases there is concern that Trump was guilty before the trial. Some say, this smacks of the Stalinist Levrentiy Beria who said, show me the man and I’ll show you the crime.

UN

Most people were in favor of the UN back in 1945 when it started but after watching it in action their minds were changed. By the mid-1980’s American approval of the UN dropped to 28%. Today Trump spoke at the UN and castigated them for their ineptness. The UN is one of the main stays of globalization whose main purpose is to redistribute wealth. They push for migrants to move to developing countries, they push for low carbon footprints and this leads to the transfer of manufacturing. In recent years the UN has become more political. For example, the UN General Assembly passed 140 resolutions against Israel from 2015 to 2022, while passing 68 against all other countries combined. The US has also vetoed numerous Security Council resolutions concerning Israel. Many delegates come from poor countries where people are going hungry and the delegates are wined and dined in the expensive New York restaurants. Like so many organizations the UN has lost its way. There is much it could accomplish under the proper leadership but they are all talk and no walk. Many feel the time has come to revamp the whole organization.

Data centers

A nuclear power plant produces about 1000 megawatts (MG) and some plants a bit lower. A 1000 MW plant is equal to one gigawatt (GW). The US is currently operating about 5,000 data centers using about 5 GW’s of new power and the demand is for 50 GW’s. There are 10,000 more data centers on the drawing boards and they would like to plug into the local power plants to avoid depending on the grid and to avoid long transmission lines. They will compete with local public and be willing to pay a higher rate. This will cause great consternation among the public users and will put pressure on data companies to build their own power plants. While these data centers will use less than ten percent of US power, the grid cannot handle the increase. A government watch dog agency says that data centers must bring their own power supply. The 50 GWs of additional power needed by 2030 will require $500 billion in new investments. The need for more power is immediate so the best short-term solution is to build natural gas plants but the longer term looks to nuclear. Nuclear provides a small land foot print, no pressure on the grid, no transmission lines, 24/7 power and no carbon emissions.

Europe

Trump is forcing Europe to save itself from economic collapse. Since the EU stopped buying oil and natural gas from Russia, utility costs have risen dramatically. Today the price of natural gas in the US is 3 dollars while Europeans are paying 10 dollars. The cost of electricity Europe is 43 cents and in the US 13 cents. The result is that many chemical companies and steel companies are closing and some are moving to the US where energy costs are lower. There are 50 large German companies thriving in the US because of low energy prices and the customers are nearby. To understand how Europe will come back, use the US as the example. In the 1920’s the US produced 40% of the worlds manufactured goods and then the Great Depression hit and things came to a stop. Ten years later the US began to manufacture war materials and the economy rebounded. After the war the US continued manufacturing by switching from weapons to consumer goods and by 1950 was once again producing half the worlds manufactured goods. Europe must now reignite their economies by starting to manufacture materials for their national defense and to supply Ukraine with weapons.

Good jobs and change

Trump came on the scene as an outsider. He was never elected to public office and even today is not a regular politician. He got attention by being outlandish. His idea was that any news is good news to get his name recognition up. He was considered a joke and TV stations reached out to him and gave him the publicity he needed. Behind the laughing and snickering by the press stood a man who realized that the American middle-income worker had been left behind in the race for profits. Millions of workers gave up their good manufacturing jobs for cheap TVs. Trump realized that the glory days of the 50’s and 60’s had given way to a service economy at the expense of the factory job. While corporate profits grew the middle-income group lagged behind and the income gap widened each year. Trump went after the establishment and they fought to hold onto their privilege position. The middle group had not seen their real wages increase for 40 years while wages in the service area improved. People began to wake up and in the 2016 election 67% of white voters without a college degree voted for Trump. These are the people who were considered die hard democrats. The vary personality traits that upset the elite appealed to the working people. They liked his bluntness and political incorrectness. They heard regular politicians promise to increase their station in life using the proper verbiage and realized that it had all been just talk. For many, Trump is vulgar but to others he represents change and that is what the working people were hoping for. They are willing to overlook his unorthodox ways in order to get better jobs. His attempts to bring back manufacturing jobs is still questionable but it is a start.

Wood burning

Here is a headline from a climate magazine on Sept 22, 2025 Leaders promised to cut climate pollution, then doubled down on fossil fuels. Many predicted this as the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 was seen as a farce. It was a lot of feel-good speeches with no enforcement. Most now understand that if these countries had followed up on their promises the world would be in a depression. Wind and solar cannot replace fossil fuels. Only nuclear can do that but nuclear does not offer the new social programs that come from wind and solar. Climate was the excuse to introduce new ways to redistribute wealth from rich western countries to poor underdeveloped countries. It was a laudable goal but misleading. The West must help countries develop nuclear energy programs. A vast portion of the world’s population, about two billion people, depend on wood for heating and cooking. The reliance on open fires and inefficient stoves, fueled by wood, contributes to millions of premature deaths from smoke inhalation, according to the WHO.

H1-B

H1-B visas are special visas sponsored by tech companies to bring in STEM workers to help fill the shortage of techies needed by industry. The program has been misused by some companies who use the new immigrants not to add to their staff but to use instead of US citizens in order to get by with lower salaries. Recent changes introduced a mandatory $100,000 per visa to curb abuses. Tech companies are objecting as is India where 70% of the visas are issued. This is another example of putting American first.

Families

I listened to Erika Kirk, the wife of fallen Charlie Kirk, speak and was impressed with their emphasis on the value of the family. Many Black writers, like Mary Wright Edelman founder of the Children’s Defense Fund and heroin of Hillary Clinton, said the two things that held families together in the post-civil war era were the family and the church. John Wooden, the famous coach of the UCLA basketball team, recognizing that most of his players were inner city Black kids, also emphasized the importance of families, when he said the most important thing a man can do for his children is to love their mother. Since the passing of the civil rights laws in the 1965, the Black family has been destroyed. The number of out of wedlock births increased from 25% to 70% and this led to poverty for most. Black females in the child bearing years represent 4% of the population and they have 40% of the abortions. Black married couples with children have an average income of $94,500 while Black single mothers’ average income is $34,500. Black boys from single mom families have the lowest test scores, the highest dropout rates, the most discipline problems in school and the highest incarceration rates. This is from Google AI The family is the bedrock of society means that the family unit serves as the fundamental foundation upon which society is built. It is the basic unit where individuals first learn values, socialization, love and cooperation, shaping future citizens and the overall health of the community. A strong family system is seen as essential for a stable, harmonious, functional society. It appears once again that Black lives don’t matter.

Unions

The income gap in the US has been growing since the early 80’s. It started slow but has accelerated in recent years and is a major problem in the country. One of the more important reasons is, that in business a small group of people determine the economic security of the employees. This is the standard business model. Many people suggest that government would be more efficient, if it acted more like business but some are now realizing that business would be more effective, if it acted more like government. In government people elect the leaders and if they don’t produce the desired results they are not reelected. In other words, people have a vote in determining what happens. One way, that business can and does operate in this way, is through unions. As unions gain a voice in the decision-making process, they bring power to the workers. Union wages and benefits are increased. The current plans to reindustrialize the country, presents the ideal opportunity for unions to grow in numbers and influence. Unions can reverse the 50-year trend and begin to slow the growth in the income gap. The push by nationalist to end globalization has encouraged some unions to join in the reindustrialization movement. Government officials who want to bring back manufacturing jobs should encourage the unions. The establishment will oppose this but that is part of the current trend of turning away from the status quo complex, that now controls the country. This will be opposed by all the powers that have been running things. It will be a David/Goliath battle and unions can be the stones.

Memphis

The population of Memphis is 650,000 with Blacks at 63%, Hispanics at 10%. The police force is 52% Black, the mayor is Black and the city council has 9 Black members and 4 Whites. Memphis has the highest crime rate of any US city including 393 murders in 2023. Of those 85% were Black and 90% of those were killed by other Blacks. Memphis schools rank in the lowest third in the country. Home ownership is 46% compared to the national average of other cities at 66%. If Black lives matter, then some changes are needed.

Kimmel

The controversy surrounding the Jimmy Kimmel show is being explained in two ways depending on politics. Liberals contend that the FCC threatened the network and they folded out of fear of losing their license. Conservatives say Kimmel was shut down because of ratings and his remarks about Kirk were just the straw that broke the camels back. The ratings of late-night TV shows have been on the decline for years an in particular the last ten years. In 2015 Kimmel averaged 2.4 million viewers and that dropped to 1.5 million by 2021. Average viewers in the critical 18 – 49 demo dropped from 1 million in 2015 to 261,000 in 2025. Ad revenues declined from $439 million in 2018 to $220 million last year. While all the major late-night shows were in decline a new late-night show on Fox called Gutfeld started in 2021 with 2 million viewers rising to 3 million today. Much of the decline of the major networks is attributed to the constant negativity against Trump. Overtime, conservative viewers begam to tire of the constant anti Trump monologues and many question the wisdom of turning off half of the country. Many feel it was a mistake for the FCC to get involved as these programs were already dying. There is an overall trend in the country for media to move to the right. This includes both print and TV and it is part of the move away from traditional news to social media and podcasts.

Wages

Between July of 2024 and July of 2024 wages increased by 4.2% and inflation was 2.7%. This resulted in a real wage increase of $141 per month for the average worker. The average wage today is $60,000 and if that continues in ten years the real wage will increase to $70,000. As long as the inflation rate is less than the increase in wages the average person feels like they are getting ahead. This will be especially important over the coming years as manufacturing jobs come back to the US. This means the companies will have to pay higher wages to make things here in the US. The average pay for places like Walmart and McDonalds is $18 while the average pay in an auto manufacturing plant is $28. Adding manufacturing jobs will add upward wage pressure and this puts upward pressure on inflation. One thing that can help increase wages is the increase in productivity expected from the new manufacturing facilities which will use the latest technology helped along by AI.

Revolution

For 50 years after WW2 the world relied on the United States as the leader of the free world to promote and develop the concept of globalization. The basic idea was that using free and open trade would allow all countries to prosper and in time bring communist countries around to free market economies which would then lead to political freedom. For 50 years this was allowed to grow and it led to bringing one billion people out of poverty. China opened its economy to the free market but it never carried over to free politics. China remained communist while its economy grew rapidly by selling low cost manufactured goods to the West, primarily the US. In American it caused the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs while the rich got richer. Corporate profits rose from 5% of GDP to 8% while the stock market rose 7.5%. Income for working people stagnated while CEO salaries sky rocketed. The US was providing defense for the European countries along with far eastern countries like Japan, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippians. The US was providing the bulk of the financing for world groups like the UN and WTO. This led to a US national debt of $36 trillion and trade deficits of $1.2 trillion. While international businesses were enjoying the benefits the country as a whole was facing a crisis and something had to change. That change started about 15 years ago as the US began to move away from globalization. It has caused a quiet revolution as the US is forcing other countries to start to take care of themselves and they are not happy. They do not want to spend money on their own national defense and agree to fair trade practices but that is what they are facing. Nationalism has replaced globalism and it is happening in Europe and the US.

Vaccines

Past vaccines, including the first for smallpox, were developed by growing the vaccine in live cells under adverse conditions to weaken it. The flu virus may be grown in eggs at a temperature of 80 degrees instead of body temperature of 98 degrees and this weakens the virus. It is then injected either live or dead, depending. The Covid vaccine was developed in a faster way by adjusting the DNA of the virus to weaken it. Test are being done to check the efficacy of the Covid but most people are aware of someone who was vaxed and still got the disease and many people got the disease more than once. More studies are needed to determine the value of vaccines developed using the DNA approach.

Left to right

For the past 30 years the media has been mostly left leaning but that began to change when Musk bought Twitter and moved it to the center right. Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post and it began a slow shift to the middle. Billionaire Larry Ellison bought CBS and wants to bring Bari Weiss on board. She is thought to be in the center. Ellison is now considering buying CNN. Late night hosts Colbert and Kimmel have been suspended. Time and Newsweek, powerhouse liberal magazines of the past, are now just hanging on much like newspapers but social media is coming on strong. People like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Tim Cook of Apple are leaning toward the center. Talk radio and most political podcasts lean right. As the media shifts from left to right, the complaints that free speech is threatened are becoming common place.

War and oil

Russia is fighting war the old fashion way; they’re fighting to win. They are bombing cities and killing civilians. They are taking over assets in their country owned by foreign countries. They are kidnapping Ukrainian children and taking them to Russia. Meanwhile the West is fighting war in the new more civilized way, which in the past would be considered an oxymoron. Russia is firing long range missiles into Ukraine including the city of Kiev while the West refuses to fire long range missiles at Moscow. The fear is that Russia would respond with tactical nukes. The West has declined to take the $300 billion in Russian assets sitting in Europe and the US and giving that to Ukraine, because it is illegal under international law, while Russia is breaking the law by seizing Western assets in Russia. It is the flow of oil money that is financing the war for Russia and Trump is using the threat of tariffs to force India and China to quit buying Russian oil. The G7 group set a price cap on Russian oil at $60 and this was recently changed to 15% below market price. China is buying Russia oil at the discounted price and reselling it on the open market at a profit. There seems to always be a way around sanctions. Trump has tried to negotiate with Putin for 8 months in an attempt to end the fighting and Putin talks a good game but just keeps on killing Ukrainians. It appears that the only way Putin will stop is by seeing the cost of the war exceeding the benefits. Recent polls show that 70% of the Ukrainian people want a negotiated peace settlement. Trump thought his relationship with Putin would help end the war but he was naïve, perhaps forgetting the Putin was just an old fashion KGB guy. As it stands now the EU is going broke trying to finance the war and the US is making profits selling arms to Europe while not risking any lives.

Speech

Most observers are well aware of the hypocrisy that is displayed in politics and it is not limited to one party. The most recent examples surround the claims of free speech. People should be reminded that the first amendment applies to government and not private business. When conservatives were being banned from social media under the claims of misinformation there were many complaints claiming free speech was being attacked. The only illegal action here stems from the fact that there were allegations that government was pressuring social media companies to ban certain people and that would be illegal. Currently private company employees are losing their jobs over controversial statements but once again the allegation is that government is putting pressure on these companies based on their desires to merge. If that is true it is illegal. The complaints only come from those who are being affected while the other side remains quiet and therein lies the hypocrisy. If a person makes derogatory remarks in public about their employer, they should expect consequences. The same is true if they make public statements that contradict company policy.

Money

In 2010 the Supreme Court ruled that money was speech. This was the controversial Citizens United case. The result has shown that total contributions to parties have been close but in the presidential races the advantage went to the democratic candidates. In the 2024 election the democrats spent $6.7 billion and the republicans spent $7.6 billion while independents spent $500 million. In the presidential race Harris spent $1.1 billion while Trump spent $500 million. The money helped the democrats down ballot but did not have much effect in the Harris/Trump race. In any event the disaster that Citizens United was suppose to create never happened.

Power

From 1960 to a peak in 2007, US annual CO2 emissions increased by over 50% before beginning a decline driven by fuel shifts in the power sector. Net emissions declined by 17% from 2005 to today. The primary reason was the use of natural gas which increased from 18% in 1950 to 36% in 2023. In 1950 fossil fuels were 86% of total US energy production and by 2023 that had dropped to 84%. This is during a time when trillions were spent on wind and solar and illustrates the fact that energy consumptions in increasing faster than wind and solar can keep up. The use of natural gas should continue to increase while the US makes the change to nuclear power.

Change minds

Once people become comfortable with an idea, it is difficult for them to change their minds. This happens for a number of reasons. Something called confirmation bias (seeking information that supports existing beliefs), belief perseverance (clinging to beliefs even when disproven, and the brain’s natural fear of the unknown. Cognitive dissonance happens when people hold onto conflicting ideas. Starting slowly back in the 1990’s and getting stronger in time the idea that climate change could be challenged by using wind and solar. All of the articles then and since then have talked about the lowering cost of wind and solar and how bad CO2 from fossil fuels are to the climate. To many people it sounded like a panacea. Free electric power from the wind and the sun. Huge government subsidies were offered to reduce CO2 while stories about storms and fires and other natural disasters pushed the green ideas into the minds of the people. As time passed the shine wore off and information about the mining, processing and deposal of the materials needed for green energy exposed problems. Thirty years before the new green deal, the people were misled by other groups regarding nuclear power. The use of fear was used effectively to discredit nuclear and it also remains today. For those who are willing to change based on new evidence nuclear is the answer but it is not easy. As new information brings on the cognitive dissonance the people remain stuck. The story is told of the young girl who was invited to a friend’s birthday party. The friend came from a wealthy family and the girl’s mother told her not to accept any gifts as a matter of pride. When the host offered the girl an orange she reached out and took it while saying no thanks. Many people today find themselves in the same position of that little girl.

Change minds

Once people become comfortable with an idea, it is difficult for them to change their minds. This happens for a number of reasons. Something called confirmation bias (seeking information that supports existing beliefs), belief perseverance (clinging to beliefs even when disproven, and the brain’s natural fear of the unknown. Cognitive dissonance happens when people hold onto conflicting ideas. Starting slowly back in the 1990’s and getting stronger in time the idea that climate change could be challenged by using wind and solar. All of the articles then and since then have talked about the lowering cost of wind and solar and how bad CO2 from fossil fuels are to the climate. To many people it sounded like a panacea. Free electric power from the wind and the sun. Huge government subsidies were offered to reduce CO2 while stories about storms and fires and other natural disasters pushed the green ideas into the minds of the people. As time passed the shine wore off and information about the mining, processing and deposal of the materials needed for green energy exposed problems. Thirty years before the new green deal, the people were misled by other groups regarding nuclear power. The use of fear was used effectively to discredit nuclear and it also remains today. For those who are willing to change based on new evidence nuclear is the answer but it is not easy. As new information brings on the cognitive dissonance the people remain stuck. The story is told of the young girl who was invited to a friend’s birthday party. The friend came from a wealthy family and the girl’s mother told her not to accept any gifts as a matter of pride. When the host offered the girl an orange she reached out and took it while saying no thanks. Many people today find themselves in the same position of that little girl.

Vaccinations

Most people assume that childhood vaccinations are the proper thing to do but many are surprised at the number. In 1980 children got five shots and today they get 17. One area of concern is the long-term effects of childhood vaccinations. When ever an unexpected result appears the first reaction is that they are just testing more. This sounds reasonable but in 1980, one in 2,500 were diagnosed with autism and today that figure is 1 in 30. Many studies have been done and they all show no connection between vaccinations and the increase in autism but these numbers continue to cause lingering doubts. Chronic childhood diseases are on the rise in the United States, with nearly one in three young people now living with a chronic condition or functional limitation. Research shows a significant increase in conditions like ADHD, autism, asthma, obesity, prediabetes, anxiety, and depression among children and adolescents over the past two decades. This rise is linked to public health, societal, and lifestyle factors rather than genetics, and it necessitates increased investment in long-term care and support for these youth It is notable that the action offered was to treat the symptoms.

Free speech

There are recent reports of people losing their jobs because of insensitive remarks made about Charlie Kirks death. This is just more cancel culture and is an afront to free speech. The first amendment gives one the right to express satisfaction and even joy over someone’s misfortune. Many colleges tried to stop Kirk from speaking and these attempts to punish people for what they say is the same thing. Private companies have the right to fire over speech but just because they can doesn’t mean they should. The standard is best explained by the French writer Voltaire who was a strong advocate of free speech. His ideas were summed up by Evelyn Beatrice Hall in her biography of Voltaire when she wrote, I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. You cannot silence me because someone may use my words to commit a violent act but there are legal restrictions. You can say that Trump is Hitler but you cannot say Trump should be killed because he is Hitler. What people infer from your remarks is not your responsibility. The best approach is to criticize people’s actions and not who they are. This is often said in churches where they say to hate the sin but not the sinner.

Floyd

In the past five years there have been two high profile murders and they were two very different types of men. Charlie Kirk was born into a White middle-class family in a Chicago suburb. Right after high school he got involved in politics which led to the development of Turning Point USA. This grew rapidly and within a few years there were 3,500 high school and college chapters around the country. He married and had two children and he emphasized the importance of family in his rallies. His philosophy was God, family and country. He was very controversial because he spoke about taboo subjects like Black on Black crime and affirmative action as a replacement for merit. Depending on how his remarks were interpreted he was hated or loved. This is always the case when unpopular subjects are broached. History is clear as the same thing happened with MLK and he too was assassinated. Kirk was assassinated by a lone gunman when he was 27 years old. George Floyd was born into poverty and raised by a Black single mom. He made it into his mid 20’s without much controversy but then between ages 24 and 31 he served 8 jail terms on various charges including drug possession, theft and trespass. In his 30’s he went through a period where he was plagued by drug use. He was murdered by a police officer at age 41. He had severe underlying heart disease, including arteriosclerosis and high blood pressure. His autopsy report found fentanyl and meth in his system. After Floyd’s murder there were violent protest around the world and since Kirk’s death there has been mostly prayers and a push for the country to unite and end the divisions. There are other situations where people born in poverty become productive citizens and some born wealthy become addicts.

Jan 6

Five years have passed and it is time for a review of two major events, first the May 25, 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and second the January 6, 2021 attempt to take over the government. The death of Floyd resulted in nation wide protest that lasted almost one year. Considered the largest protest in US history, spread to over 2,000 cities. In the US, 25 people died and more than 1,000 buildings were damaged at a cost of $2 billion including a police station and several federal buildings. The protest led to reforms in police departments including the cutting of funds along with other activities such as removing confederate statues. 120 people were found guilty of crimes and 70 were sent to jail. On January 6 about 10,000 people headed for the Capital Building and about 2,500 entered the capital starting about 1:30 in the afternoon and ending about 8 PM. Four protestors died and Capital police officer died the next day from a heart attack. The cost to repair the damage was $3 million. 1575 people were charged with federal crimes and 1126 were convicted and 720 were sent to jail The different response by the authorities is justified by saying the crime of Jan 6 was more serious.

The West

Over the past 50 years the West has embarked upon a slow path to destruction. It comes in four parts. Europe is ahead of the US in this regard and can be used as a warning. First off Europe decided to replace fossil fuels with wind and solar and this has led to high energy cost and overall economic decline. Second, they opened their borders to mostly Islamic immigrants and these people are placing pressure on social services and they are not assimilating because of cultural differences. Third, their population replacement is 1.4 which means they are running out of young people. Finally, fourth is DEI. This policy tends to give special treatment to certain groups and leads to tribalism and this is the antithesis of individualism which is what democracy is founded upon. The US has witnessed the harm caused by these policies and is trying to avoid falling into the same trap. The idea that wind and solar can replace fossil fuels has been refuted and the way around that is nuclear. Second the border has been secured and immigration will once again return to an orderly fashion. Third the concept of DEI is on the way out having been exposed as just a way to put skin color above merit. What is left is the low birth rate and that can be taken care of by allowing the non-criminal migrants to gain citizenship. These are all self-inflicted wounds that can be corrected.

College

The word fascist is in the news and sometimes not well understood. One interesting way of looking at the word is to see it as an extreme version of right wingers. This is what communism is for far-left people. As each side moves further away from the center, they approach each other and mesh together. They become authoritarian dictators. From the standpoint of governing there was not much difference between Hitler and Stalin. The misunderstanding of the word can be seen in the fact that many in the press expressed surprise at the fact that 6,000 students at the university where Charlie Kirk was shot signed a petition asking that his visit be cancelled. University students have been involved in a growing trend of trying to ban or disinvite speakers from campus since at least 2014, using tactics like protests and petitions, and a significant portion of students have become more accepting of such actions, including shouting down speakers, blocking access to events, and even using violence. In principle, colleges and universities are designed to be places where controversial ideas can be expressed and debated. This has changed over the past ten years. One question is did the professors have anything to do with this change.

Kirk

The shooting of Charlie Kirk is big news because he was a controversial speaker and his life style. He and his wife were deeply committed to Christianity and conservative values. He often said things that many people were thinking but afraid to say, shades of Rush Limbaugh. His comments on gender, race and politics often drew fierce liberal criticism. Here are some examples. If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, boy, I hope he’s qualified. If you’re a WNBA, pot-smoking, Black lesbian, do you get treated better than a United States marine? Happening all the time in urban America, prowling Blacks go around for fun to go target white people, that’s a fact. It’s happening more and more. If I’m dealing with somebody in customer service who’s a moronic Black woman, I wonder is she there because of her excellence, or is she there because affirmative action? Kirk's comments often drew fierce liberal criticism. His opposition to gun control was among issues he discussed. It is understandable why many would be offended by these remarks but that is what the first amendment is all about. He promoted family values such as marriage and having children. He encouraged young people to work hard and go after the American dream using the ideas of God, family and country. He believed that you won the lottery when you were born in the USA.

Clicks

As the various stations cover the news regarding the Charlie Kirk shooting, they all agree that all sides should cut back on divisive language and then they put on the news the most divisive people they can find. They cannot help themselves as clicks are all that count.

Migrants

Many articles are written pointing out that the Ukraine War continues because the egos are getting in the way and this is also true in domestic politics. Right now, there is an opportunity to reach a compromise on immigration that would benefit the country. Trump fancies himself as a great deal maker and the democrats could approach the situation with compromise in mind. Go to Trump and say now that the border is secure, we would like to help ICE find and deport the migrant criminals who are in the country and then work with the government to get work permits for the remaining migrants. The permits would be for five years at which time they can convert to Green Cards and in another five years to citizenship. In addition, they will cooperate with the government to find the missing children. The country needs these migrants to fill the many jobs that will be created as manufacturing comes back home.

Crime

Crime has been a problem for many years but in recent times, like most news, it is on social media and gets more attention. Statistics show that crime rates were much higher in the 1990’s and following some tough on crime legislation the rates dropped. This was the result of policies like three strikes and your out and arresting people for minor crimes, the theory being that this would reduce major crimes. After 25 years of this the pendulum swung back as people realized that the jails were filling up with nonviolent criminals and there was a racial component that came out of the surge in crack cocaine arrest. This was followed up by the oppressor/ oppressed view that also had a racial component. This led to many seeing criminals as victims and the result is that many district attorneys tend to go easy on criminals. This resulted in many jurisdictions recording crimes in ways that tend to minimize the numbers. Over the past few years, the number of illegal migrants with criminal pasts have increased and this has added to the crime problem.

Sex attacks

Many cities have instituted no cash bail. Without this change people who have the money can get out of jail while they await trial but those without the money remain in jail. This was deemed unfair and thus the law changed. In practice this has resulted in accused felons being freed the day after they were arrested with the written promise that they would show up in court on the appointed day. What has happened is that these accused have committed more crimes. Statistics show that 64% of federal violent offenders were rearrested for new crimes within eight years of release. On average, formerly incarcerated people are arrested five times within nine years of their release. For every 1000 sexual assaults, 50 reports lead to arrest, 28 cases lead to conviction and 25 are incarcerated. Seventy percent of those jailed serve less than 5 years.

Subway

Virtue signaling is a pejorative term used to describe liberals who suggest ways to provide benefits to the poor, often times people who are not working. They do this to show their compassion for those less fortunate. They are sometimes called bleeding hearts ore do gooders but for the most part they have good intentions. What is needed is to think things through and to anticipate what the results of their actions might be. Case in point is the New York City candidate for mayor Mandami. He is proposing to eliminate the charge for subways. This will encourage the homeless to spend their nights riding the rails, especially during the colder months. These are people who are afflicted with mental problems, drug problems and personal hygiene problems. In time this will cause fewer working people to take the subway and the tent camps on the street will be moved to the subway. The subways have already earned the reputation of being unsafe and this will further exacerbate the problem. On a grander scale are those who wanted to help the migrants crossing the southern border, which led to many of the problems in today’s society and most of these could have been anticipated.