China thorium

India is the largest of the undeveloped countries and represents their feelings about climate change. They point out that the industrial revolution of the 19th and 20th centuries was fueled by coal and western countries built their economies on coal. Now when it comes time for the underdeveloped countries to use coal to grow their economies the west says no. When the common refrain these days is fairness these countries have a ligament complaint. The Paris agreement and today's conference in Glasgow are all about transferring money from the west by using guilt from the past. It also nicely fits into the concept of globalization. The best solution is to have these countries skip the oil and gas stage and go right to thorium nuclear and China is leading the way.

Wind solar and nuclear

Most everyone agrees that the increase in CO2 is at the center of the climate change controversy. Most also agree that to combat this all sources of energy must be considered. Most agree that geothermo and hydro are acceptable which leaves wind, solar and nuclear. Thorium nuke plants are small, inexpensive and safe so they could be the backup power for solar and wind when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow. Thorium is readily available and unlike wind and solar does not cause environmental problems when mined. Thorium plants are small and compact and can be mass produced in an assembly line process and shipped to differently locations and assembled on site. They can start by replacing power plants and in time start producing hydrogen for transportation. In time wind and solar will no longer be needed. Thorium plants do not have the problem of disposal that uranium plants have and can even use stored nuclear waste as fuel. This will be possible if politics is removed from the equation and climate change is not uses for social change. Come on man we can do this.

Inflation

Most people have not been concerned about inflation since it has been about 2% for the past 25 years. During this time the money supply increased from $5 trillion to $20 trillion. Econ 101 defines inflation as too much money chasing too few goods and that is exactly what has been going on for over 20 years. It now appears that this is coming to an end and the country is facing wage/price inflation. This is because too many people had extra money handed out to them and thus demand has increased. While this is going on supply is limited as products sit in ships off the California coast. The government is about to spend another $1.75 trillion and the supply chain is broken so inflation should continue.

Big spending

The new big spending bill contains $555 billion for climate change meaning replacing fossil fuels with wind and solar. This will require large numbers of solar panels which are primarily made in China and large amounts of rare earth metals which are mined in China. The amount of CO2 is constantly referenced when talking climate change but the damage to the earth and water are rarely mentioned. They are willing to trade clean air for dirty water. This could be avoided if the emphasis was on natural gas for transportation and thorium nuke plants for electric power. After enough plants are built excess electric power could be used to make hydrogen by electrolysis of water and use that for transportation. That way we can have clear air and clean water. It will be economical to desalt sea water and use that to grow crops in the desert.

1.75 trillion bill

Pushback from moderates over the size of the package has meant tough decisions about what to cut and what to keep. Progressives argued for preserving as many of the proposal’s policies as possible, while saving money by having them expire sooner than initially planned. Some moderates, meanwhile, advocated for the opposite: funding fewer programs for more time. The strategy is to start a give away program, keep it going for three to five years and then ask the politicians not to renew the program. This is the way Obamacare stayed under a trillion dollars in the first ten years. The benefits were only paid six of the first ten years. President Joe Biden backed the former strategy as well, and that appears to be the course Democrats will pursue. Biden and the progressives hope the policies will be so popular — even if they’re only implemented for a short period — that it will be difficult for future lawmakers to let them lapse, regardless of who controls Congress.

Epstein

Ghislaine Maxwell is going on trial. You remember her, the girl friend of Jeff Epstein the man who had the sex island where many important people went for entertainment. Epstein was convicted of sex trafficking and sent to jail. He was placed on suicide watch for six days and returned to the jail. He was to have a cellmate and be checked on every 30 minutes. On the night of his death his cellmate was transferred leaving him alone. The two guards that were supposed to check on him every 30 minutes fell asleep. The three cameras that were to watch him all malfunctioned. He wrapped a bed sheet around his neck and tied it to the bunk and hanged himself. The day before his attorneys visited with him and said he was in good spirits. He made his will and left everything to a trust. All charges were dropped after his death. It was earlier reported that the FBI had confiscated a large number of videos showing these important people in various compromising situations but those videos have since disappeared with no explanation as to what happen to them.

Nike

A bill called the Uyghur Force Labor Prevention Act has passed the house and the senate and is awaiting the presidents signature. The bill prohibits the import of products made by Uyghurs in China. Working conditions at these factories are notoriously bad and often referred to as slave labor. Big companies like Nike and Apples make their products in these factories. Nike is the company that raised Colin Kaepernick to national prominence when they backed his claim that America was racist. They were fighting for the down trodden here while getting their products made by slave labor. Banning these products could be the first step to bringing production back to the US.