Repartions

California is considering reparations to the tune of $350,000 per person and there are 2.5 million Blacks in the state so that comes to the tidy sum of $87 billion. The governor is projecting a $24 billion dollar deficit this coming year so they will be hard pressed to come up with money for reparations. That is their business but as far as reparations here in Minnesota I can opt out. My grandparents came here from Lithuania in 1880 when they were teenagers. This was 15 years after slavery ended so I have no responsibility to pay reparations.

Covid money

When the US sends military equipment to Ukraine we are just unloading inventory which will be replaced with newer and better stuff but if the US is sending cash then that is subject to misuse. The $113 billion appropriated approaches the $146 billion spent in 20 years in Afghanistan. "When you spend so much money so quickly, with so little oversight, you're going to have fraud, waste and abuse," John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, said in an interview. "Massive amounts." In May of 2020 polls showed that 60% of the American people favored providing weapons to Ukraine and by January of 2023 that number dropped to 48%. This trend will likely continue and at some point the tide will turn. Let's hope there is still something left of Ukraine when and if this time comes.

Covid info

One of the many threats to the United States comes from within and that is the bureaucrats. Take, for example, the origin of Covid. Bureaucrats are allowed to see the classified information but elected people are not. This is just asking for trouble. Following these rules they could do or say anything and the public would never know. They are the fox and the hen house. On a regular basis some new revelation comes out about the misinformation the public receives from these permanent government employees. The Senate passed a bill by unanimous consent on Wednesday to require the director of national intelligence to declassify information related to the origins of COVID-19 This week the house will pass this bill and the public will get an insight into how the bureaucracy works. When this information is presented, if it is like most times, it will be so redacted that it will be difficult to discern what happened. This assumes that the Justice Department won't just refuse to release the information. Realize that they are the enforcers and could refuse and there is not much congress could.

Ukriane

We Americans see our country as the good guys when it comes to helping around the world but we tend to leave a trail of destruction behind us. When we left South Korea it was a pile of rubble. 150,000 South Korean soldiers died along with 1 million civilians. When we left South Vietnam there was nothing standing. 200,000 South Vietnam soldiers died along with 2 million civilians. We left Afghanistan and it is a total disaster. 200,000 died there but women were left a bad situation. Now we are in Ukraine and it looks pretty much like we are up to our old good deeds. This will be another war of attrition until both sides just wear out and reach some type of agreement to end the conflict. What has not already been destroyed in Ukraine will be in the next year or so and then that country will be a mess. 200,000 have died so far but were not through yet. We are going to stay there as long as it takes even if it means killing thousands more and leaving behind something that looks like Germany after WW 2.

Railroad

The latest word on the train disaster in Ohio is that the railroad is responsible but that is no good for the people who live there. This will result in legal mumbo jumbo and will take months or years to resolve and meanwhile the people will be receiving no help. The government should step up and cover the people's expenses and then the government should go after the railroad. Then those two big guns can duke it out over the years. Even if the government is unable to recoup all of their expenses that is better than letting the people wait for help.

DC

The population of Washington DC is mostly Black. They have a Black mayor with a majority Black city council. The city has been plagued with high crime including a 115% increase in carjackings and the city passed a law reducing the penalties for carjacking. The mayor vetoed the law but the council over road the veto. Since DC is not a state the congress has the final say over the laws of the city and the US congress vetoed the DC law. The questions is that the citizens are suffering from the criminal activity and yet the council voted to reduce penalties for crimes. It appears the council is more concerned about criminals than they are about the citizens. It is difficult to understand this line of thinking.

Oil

There is as aspect to the new green deal that many are not familiar with and it is called Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing. The Biden administration is backing legislation that will prohibit big investment companies like pension plans from investing in the fossil fuel industry. This will make oil stocks less attractive to investors and will limit the companies ability to increase production. Biden has told Americans that he wants the oil companies to produce more oil to bring down the price of gasoline but rules like this will interfere with the oil companies ability to increase production. It is suggested that Biden is doing this to placate the greens while at the same time encouraging more oil production. It's a topsy turvey world we live in.