Elites

The news reports daily about the split in the country based on political parties but I have a different take on this matter. There is a split alright but it is between the Elites and the Peons. The Elites are represented by the 30% of the population who are college graduates and the Peons are other 70%. Elites are most commonly found in the federal bureaucracy, the national news people, the world of academia, Hollywood, most members of congress and other assorted white collar types. The Peons are the working class including most union members, service workers and other blue collar people. The Elites have more formal education, higher incomes and live in better neighborhoods. The Peons spend their lives working for the Elites. They clean their streets, serve their food, do their lawn care, drive public transports and wait on them in retail stores. The Elites have seen their standard of living rise over the past 50 years while the Peons have seen theirs decline. The Elites often refer to the Peons as the less informed plus a number of other not so desirable phrases. The Peons see the Elites as people who think they are better than them. Both sides usually talk past one another and so the stand off.

Votes

The population of California is estimated at 40 million and they have 53 congressional representatives meaning one rep for every 750,000 people. California is home to about 3 million illegal aliens which is the equivalent to 4 electoral votes. All states have two senators and each gets one electoral vote but the rest is based on population so a state like North Dakota with a population of 675,000 has one congressional electoral vote. There are 21 states that have 4 or fewer electoral congressional votes which means that the illegal aliens in California have the same influence on who becomes president as do the legal citizens in these 21 states. Some feel that these illegals should be counted in the census but not in the electoral count.

Electric cars

The best way to deal with climate change is multifaceted and involves solar, wind, and natural gas. Solar panels can be used to pay for home electric use. They cost about $20,000 and have a 12 year payback. This means no more electric bill and the use of an electric car for work while sending no carbon dioxide into the air. The downside is that only fairly wealthy people can afford this. Other uses of electric cars at this time is self defeating. To charge the batteries means using electricity produced at power plants most of which are using coal. Those using natural gas are better but as any physicist knows when ever you change from one source of energy to another you lose efficiency so it better to put natural gas into the car than to use natural gas to make electricity and then put that into the car. The government still insist on pushing electric cars instead of cars running on natural gas and most of this push comes from those invested in electric cars. Tesla is only there because of government support. Last year out of 18 million cars sold in the US only 200,000 were electric. The government subsidized and average of $10,000 per electric car and most of this when to the wealthy.

Growing up

Time is passing me by. I have lived in Hastings for 18 years and have eaten out three times. I have not been to one movie and I don't own a smart phone. I read books and work crossword puzzles. I don't go on trips and I don't take vacations. I can listen to music for hours and not get bored and there is nothing more invigorating than a long walk. The best entertainment is having the grandchildren over for a home cooked meal and yes going fishing. Life is good.

Kavanaugh

With the current controversy surrounding the nomination of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court it is interesting to google Justice Clarence Thomas. Even though he has been on the court for 25 years and has participated in many cases and has written 4 major court decisions none of these or any other court business appears in the first five pages on google. Almost every article about Thomas has to do with Anita Hill. If Kavanaugh is approved this is likely what will happen to him. Even if these accusations proof to be unfounded his life is forever changed. His wife and daughter's ages 10 and 13 will have to deal with this at school and with their friends. Here is one of the many threats he has received. “Please tell your rapist, lying, cheating, corrupt b—h of a husband to put a bullet in his ugly f—–g skull.” Another email to Amy Kavanaugh: “Hey b—h, did you know your husband was a rapist before you married him

Pot

Cigarette smoking by adults has declined from 42% to 17% while pot smoking has increased from 7% in 2013 to 12% today. Lung cancer death rates declined 45% from 1990 to 2015 among men and 19% from 2002 to 2015 among women. The link between tobacco smoke and lung cancer is well-known. Studies show that marijuana smoke has many of the same harmful substances as tobacco, and often more of them. It appears that we will have to allow for more years of pot smoking to gather data on cancer so as more states allow for pot smoking the lung cancer rates should catch up with cigarettes. Seems like a risky experiment.

Laundering

About 50 years ago I was watching 60 Minutes and they were interviewing a banker in Miami and asked him if he thought it was a little strange when a man came in and deposited $200,000 in cash and the banker answered, "no". This was a time when the drug problem was starting and laundering was a new thing. This past week a bank in Estonia was found to be laundering but my how things have changed. The bank was charged with laundering $234 billion dollars in mostly Russian money. While this is not drug money it represents money stolen from the Russia people.