Month: November 2019

Well, he did it again! On Thanksgiving the President made a holiday visit to Afghanistan to surprise the troops stationed there. As you probably recall President Trump made a surprise post-Christmas visit last year to Iraq.About a week ago Vice President Pence made a surprise visit with his wife to Al Assad Air Base in western Iraq. It was from this base that American Special Forces launched an operation that led to the death of the Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Among other things the Vice President and his wife, Karen served a Thanksgiving meal to the troops stationed there. As I am sure you all remember, last year President Trump and his wife, Melania, surprised the troops in Iraq and served them a Christmas meal.  I thought, ”What a nice tradition. Last year, the President, and this year the Vice President, each making the arduous trip with their wives to surprise the troops.

”But wallah! A trick play as President Trump surprised everybody with his secret 12 hour flight to Afghanistan to surprise the troops at Bagram Air Field on Thanksgiving. His first stop was the dining hall where he served turkey and thanked the troops. Before he began the long journey back to the states, he spent about three and a half hours on the ground for this holiday visit . . . the best I can tell that is three and one half hours longer that any holiday visit to the troops by the prior President. 

“Strong work again, Mr. President!”

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, the parking lots at the local shopping centers were almost full, as were the freeways. In addition, when we went for an early dinner at 4:30, Chili’s was also nearly full. And Costco . . .OMG! I felt that these recent observations were more that just serendipity, because at this time of the year, I usually come out with my answer to the question,”What am I most thankful for?”

This year my answer is fourfold:

1.) I am thankful for my health without which I would not be writing this.

2.) I am thankful for my wife, my family, and my friends without which I would not be happy.

3.) I am thankful that I live in the United States without which neither of the above   would be possible.

But back to my original recent observation. Why are the freeways, the shopping, malls, and the restaurants at near capacity? Anyone who is reasonably observant can answer that question . . . “It’s the economy, stupid!” ( A phrase originally used by Clinton strategist, James Carvelle back in 1992.) 

And why is the economy doing so well? Again anyone who is reasonably observant can answer that question . . . “It’s because of President Trump, stupid!” President Trump recently hit the bull’s-eye when he said, “People are working, they’re making money.” Right on Mr. President. People are out en masse, spending money, because people are now working and making more money (wages up again – 2.9% for the year). Why? Obviously, again the answer is . . .  President Trump! And this did not just start this week or this month, but the strong economy and its benefit to workers has been going on since shortly after Trump was elected almost three years ago. According to MSNBC back in Jan. 2018, the Employment Cost Index, a measure of salary and benefit costs, was up 2.6%, which was tied for the best since 2007, which gave President Trump the best wage gains since the Great Recession, thus easily topping any gains during President Obama’s entire term. 

In Chili’s and at the shopping malls, there was a potpourri of Americans, black, white, and brown. There have never been more Black and Hispanic Americans in the workforce, as was demonstrated by the Labor Department’s recent job report.  The jobless rate for Hispanics hit a record low of 3.9% in September, while African Americans maintained its lowest rate ever, 5.5%. The Hispanic women unemployment rate was 3.8% in September and the Black adult women jobless rate was 4.6%.Another bright-spot of the report was the overall unemployment rate. The jobless rate dropped 0.2 percentage points to 3.5%, its lowest reading in 50 years. 
Not only are Americans spending, but they seem happy about it. Fifty-seven percent of Americans approved of President Trump’s handling of the economy, up from 53% in August, and 50% in May.
Oops, I seemed to strayed a bit from Thanksgiving and those things that I am most thankful for:
4.) I am thankful that Donald Trump is President.
In addition, I would surmise that a lot of Americans, those on the freeways, those at the malls, and those at Chili’s are also thankful that Mr. Trump now resides in The White House.

Happy Thanksgiving!

“It’s a long way to Tipperary.” No I am not talking about the song that is associated with WWI about a British soldier longing for his sweetheart in Tipperary. Neither am I talking about Snoopy who fancied himself a World War One flying ace. In one cartoon Snoopy is walking so long a distance to Tipperary that he lies down exhausted and notes, “They’re right, it is a long way to Tipperary.” Snoopy aside, here I am talking about the fact that it’s a long way to the initial caucuses and primaries for the Democrats, and they have a problem. Mayor Pete of South Bend, Indiana is in the lead in both Iowa and New Hampshire. Keep in mind that South Bend is only the fourth largest city in Indiana, and if Norte Dame we’re not located there, no one would have a clue that it was even in Indiana. The last Democratic debate was boring, and no one even took a potshot at the mayor! I guess that tells everyone how significant his candidacy really is, as typically those on the debate stage will go after whomever is in the lead, but for Mayor Buttigieg . . . nada! The only semi-exciting part was the cat-fight between Kamala Harris and Tulsi Gabbard, but neither of them are polling well. Warren was exceptionally quiet, except for saying that to be a Democrat, you had to be pro-abortion! Think how that is going to go over with the millions of Catholics who typically vote Democrat! Sanders was . . . typical Bernie, but did not impress anyone other than himself. The good thing for the Dems, is that he has not had another heart attack! Booker and Klobuchar reportedly did well. (I say reportedly because I busy that night and did not watch this debate!) Neither of them have much of a chance, so “who cares!”

Biden got snickers from the pro-Democrat audience when he talked about punching out those who are guilty of spousal abuse . . . “nice choice of words, Joe!” Joe also told Cory Booker, “I’m as black as you!” Sleepy Joe is reportedly at the top of the National polls, even though his son, Hunter, is getting way more headlines, including his most recent paternity test that showed that he is the father, even though he denied it. The other Joe problem is Ukraine. This problem will not go away and will only get worse if this impeachment fiasco goes to the Senate. 
Right now for me the most riveting question is: Which got the lower T.V. ratings . . . the impeachment hearings or the last debate? I doubt that I will be seeing those results in my local newspaper!  However, my newspaper does have a Peanuts cartoon strip. Maybe the Dems could get Snoopy to throw his hat into the ring, as he would add a lot more interest and zip to their debate stage. On one occasion, Snoopy walks along and begins to sing the Tipperary song, only to meet a sign that reads, “Tipperary: One Block.” Yes, it certainly is a long way to Tipperary, but unfortunately for the Dems, it is getting shorter. Snoopy could probably do better than Yang . . .who is Yang anyway?

This afternoon while at the gym I saw multiple clips of Joe Biden speaking at a town -hall in Iowa. If you haven’t seen any of these clips, you should tune in to CNN, or MSNBC. I could not hear what “Sleepy Joe “ was saying, but the sparse crowd was clapping only sporadically, and some were not applauding at all. I could tell by looking at the crowd seated behind him, that they were not paid enough to be there . . . Joe and his staff could not have been too pleased!

Now while Joe prides himself as being the darling of the African-Americans, interestingly, there were no African-Americans that I could see in the sparse crowd behind the ex-vice president’s speaker’s dais. They were all Caucasian, and I saw only two youths (under twenty-five). To his credit, Joe was wearing an American flag pin just below the left lapel of his suit jacket. Something that is often missing from his liberal cohorts.

To sum it up, Joe’s Iowa “crowd” was white, bored, and old. Not exactly the type of support that is going to carry Sleepy Joe to victory. As I was watching this in Iowa, I could not help but compare the crowds at Trump rallies to those at this Iowa town-hall. Those at Trump rallies are uber enthusiastic, and they constantly stand and consistently applaud just about everything that the President says. There are  no cardboard cut-outs. When comparing both the crowd’s size and the enthusiasm of the crowd, I cannot imagine Sleepy Joe coming close to Donald Trump, much less winning in a head-to-head election! Perhaps the best thing would be to forget about Ukraine, and just let Sleepy Joe bore all of his supporters to death!

Since Chick-fil-A has been in the news lately, I thought that it would be appropriate to talk a bit about its founder, S. Truett Cathy.According to the Washington Post S. Truett Cathy’s restaurant chain just “blew past Wendy’s, Burger King, Taco Bell and Subway as it moved up the ranks from the seventh-largest restaurant chain in the United States to become the third.” The restaurant chain is Chick-fil-A, and S. Truett Cathy, now deceased, was its founder. Again from WaPo, “The company is not without challenges, from its faith-based decision to remain closed on Sundays (making things problematic for locations in airports and sports stadiums) to its management’s statements in opposition to same-sex marriage, which prompted boycotts and “kiss ins” organized by GLAAD.”
The only national stores that I am aware of that are closed on Sunday are Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby. According to its founder, Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays to allow the employees to attend church and spend time with their families. Mr. Cathy was a member of the First Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Georgia, and taught Sunday School there for more than 50 years. He said that the Bible is his guide-book for life, and this is most likely why he was opposed to same sex marriage. According to the LGBQ backers this made Mr. Cathy a bad person, and this subsequently made me look into some of the other things he had done, and at some of the books he had written. Mr. Cathy had a Leadership Scholarship program for Chick-fil-A restaurant employees, which has awarded more than $23 million in $1,000 scholarships in the past 35 years. In 1984, Cathy established the WinShape Foundation, named for its mission to shape winners. In addition, Cathy fostered children for more than 30 years, and he received the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership in 2008. Because of his vast philanthropy, he does not appear to be a bad person to me, but merely disagrees with LGBQ. In my review of S. Truett Cathy’s accomplishments, I came across some of his interesting quotes, which I thought I would pass on: – “Food is Essential to life, therefore make it good.”  – “We’re not just in the chicken business, we’re in the people business.”- “There’s no such thing as business ethics, only personal ethics.”- “I realized the importance of doing a job and doing it right. Pleasing your customers       and enjoying what you’re doing.”- “We’re not limited to traditional media for advertising. Some of the strongest  messages can be delivered for free. I carry a big Chick-fil-A shopping bag whenever  I travel.”
Perhaps from these quotes one can understand why the American Customer Satisfaction Index has rated Chick-fil-A the No. 1 company for the past four years.

At which point do Democrats become embarrassed with the workings of those that represent their party . . . notably Adam Schiff? Here I do not mean all Democrats, as there are at least two, and perhaps up to four different species of Democrats.
First we have the far-left Democrats from the Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders mold. They pay no attention to logic or common sense. Their pitch is based entirely on emotion, and so there is no way to have a rational conversation with any of them. Does this group ever become concerned by the far-out nonsensical tenets that are being pushed by similar far-lefties? No! Open borders, Medicare for all including illegals, post-birth “abortion,” violence against police, etc. . . . nothing is too extreme for this group. Can they be embarrassed? Apparently not.
The second group is basically Democrat-by-default, as President Trump is so offensive to them that they are forced to be “anti-Trump Democrats.” Does this group ever get embarrassed? The answer here is a conditional “No,” as they are never embarrassed by anything that is anti-Trump, but I supposed they can be silently embarrassed by other things . . . however their anti-Trump feelings are so strong that they find a way to make just about everything to be tangentially anti-Trump despite things that point in other directions.
The third group are what I would call “J.F.K. Democrats,” meaning that they believe in what the Democrat party used to believe in. “My parents and my grandparents were Democrat; my whole family is Democrat, and so I will always be a Democrat.” Most of this group are blind to what the Democrats actually stand for today, or worse, they choose to ignore what the Democrats stand for today. They vote Democrat reflexively. Are they sometimes embarrassed by the 2019 Democrat Party beliefs? I believe they are . . . but for the most part, they stagger into the voting booth, close their eyes, bite their tongue, and pull the “all Democrat” lever, because that is how they were raised. However I suspect that they do become secretly embarrassed when faced with some of the far-left policies that are almost the new “Democrat core beliefs.”
The final group are those that are now “independents,” having “switched over” from being called Democrats. This is the most likely group to be embarrassed by some of the things that the Democrats say and Adam Schiff does. This is the group of voters that are “uninterested” about the impeachment inquiry. They are suspicious of the secretive nature of the whole process, with hours of witness testimony behind closed doors with only select portions being leaked.
Any rational non-leftist, non non-Trumper Democrat would have to be embarrassed by this faux impeachment charade. Hopefully this embarrassment will carry over to 2020, both for the “JFK Democrats,” and the recently converted independents.

I just read about another law enforcement official who was killed in the line of duty in California. No, I did not read about it in my local liberal newspaper, probably because his alleged murderer is an illegal alien. On October 23, 2019 in El Dorado County (California) Sheriff Deputy Brian Ishmael was gunned down while investigating some possible marijuana growing violations. Deputy Ishmael had been on the force for four years, and was the father of three. Juan Carlos Vasquez has been arrested on suspicion of murder and assault with a deadly weapon. Rosario Bravo Morales has been arrested and is charged as an accessory. Both are illegal aliens. An interesting sidelight here is that Governor Newsom did not attend the funeral . . . Possibly because he was busy figuring out how to ban something else that is plastic or perhaps discussing with his fellow Dems how to push through another tax while calling it something else – both of the aforementioned for our own good!

To me it is very interesting that these days a crime committed by an illegal is brushed aside as just another everyday occurrence. I usually have a difficult time ascertaining whether the alleged perpetrator is illegal as even if he is, it is not often not mentioned. In 2018 President Trump mentioned Police Corporal Ronel Singh who was killed by Paulo Virgin Mendoza on 12/26/18. He also mentioned Marilyn Pharis, an Air Force contractor, who was killed in Santa Maria, California in 2015. Victor Martinez, an illegal alien, has been convicted in her killing . . . interestingly the reporter here focused on the fact that the other man convicted in her murder was not an undocumented immigrant. (I  am going to go out on a limb here, and guess that this writer was a liberal. Actually this guess is pretty easy as liberals usually refer to these illegal aliens as “undocumented immigrants.”)

How many murders and/or violent crimes are committed  by illegal aliens in California? Actually I looked for and, not surprisingly, could not find this info. However, I did find this data for Texas. A recent report from the Texas Department of Public Safety revealed that 297,000 non-citizens had been “booked into local Texas jails between June 1, 2011 and July 31, 2019.” So these are non-citizens who allegedly committed local crimes, not immigration violations. The report noted that a little more than two-thirds (202,000) of those booked in Texas jails were later confirmed as illegal immigrants by the federal government. According to the Texas report, over the course of their criminal careers those illegal immigrants were charged with committing 494,000 criminal offenses. Some of these cases are still being prosecuted, but the report states that there have already been over 225,000 convictions. Those convictions represent: 500 homicides; 23,954 assaults; 8,070 burglaries; 297 kidnappings; 14,178 thefts; 2,026 robberies; 3,122 sexual assaults; 3,840 sexual offenses; 3,158 weapon charges and tens of thousands of drug and obstruction charges.

Now even though I could not find comparable data for California, if the crime stats are only one-half of what they are in Texas, wow! . . . that’s a lot! On the other hand “researchers” have found that “undocumented immigrants” do not present more of a threat for violent crime than American citizens. However from my perspective one violent crime committed by an illegal alien is one too many.

If I am a baseball player, and need advice on hitting, I would seek counsel from a hitting coach. If I am that same baseball player, and want to learn how to paint, I would probably seek advice from a painting instructor. A prudent baseball player would not accept advice on how to improve his batting average from a painting instructor, as this would not be in the best interest of either himself nor of his baseball team. Likewise, an honest painting instructor would not think that he was qualified to give the player advice on hitting, as he has no training or expertise in that area. To me, this is all common sense! Ahh, but now to the real world.

Why is it that common sense does not seem to hold true with politicians? Why is it that someone who had earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Johns Hopkins University would think that he is qualified in the financial sphere? Why is it that the same person who in addition earned a Masters in Public Policy and Urban Planning at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government would think that he should be giving advice on which stocks to invest in? Why is it that San Diego Councilman Chris Ward feels that he should giving advice as to where the city should be investing its money? How is he any different from the painting instructor advising the baseball player how to hit a home run? The painting instructor would be doing the entire baseball team a disservice by pretending that he knew anything about hitting a curveball!  

Perhaps Mr. Ward has done something after his schooling that would qualify him to basically give financial advice to the city. Let’s review: He worked as an environmental planner at the firm EDAW, working with local government to develop land use plans and conduct environmental review, and as a researcher at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the University of California, San Diego. None of his job experience seems to make him an expert on anything, much less an expert on where the city should invest its money! 

Does the city employ people who are highly qualified in investing and managing its money? . . . Yes, it does, and these qualified individuals are interested solely on making investments with the best possible return. That’s what they do!

Does Chris Ward realize that he is doing a disservice to the team (those of us who live in San Diego) by pretending that he is qualified to tell the city where to invest its money? Obviously not!

Why is it that he is pretending to be knowledgeable in this realm? Is it because he went to Harvard, or is it because he is a Democrat? Could it be because he is against fossil fuels, the border wall, private prisons, firearms, etc.?  Probably a combination of all three!    

Granted, I do not know Chris Ward, but I know many like him. To all of the know-it-alls, including Chris Ward, I would say, “Please MYOB, and stick to things that you actually know something about! Neither a hitting coach, nor a painting instructor, nor a money manager should you pretend to be!”

I should have seen it coming. We all should have seen it coming. Global warming, saving the planet, and carbon paranoia are three facets of a religion, a lot of which is based on faith. It is not a well thought out religion, but then again how many religions are well thought out? Most religions are based on faith, but unlike other religions, this religion relies strongly on the unbendable and the unshakeable tenet that the use of fossil fuels is a shortcut to Armageddon. There is no place in this California electric-car-worshipping religion for thought or logic . . . we must all have faith!
“Our religion tells us to do this, and we will do it without having any inkling of even a sprinkling of doubt. We will have five million Electric Vehicles (E.V.s) on the road in California by 2030.”
Because it appeared to me there are many common-sense questions, I asked a fervent, well-informed member of this EV-worshipping faith-based congregation a few basic questions:
Q – Who is going to buy all of these five million EVs?
A – “Even though right now they are quite expensive, we know that the cost of E.V.s can do nothing but come down. While the E.V.s are being purchased predominately by upper or upper-middle class people at this time, we ‘have faith’ as this will change. There is an upcoming plan that is very similar to Obama’s “Cash for Clunker’s,” in which the state will persuade poorer people with old cars to trade in their “clunkers” for a price and in turn then apply this money towards the purchase of a used EV, e.g. a used Chevy Volt. This plan rids the roads of older gas-guzzling cars, and, in essence, replaces them with clean E.V.s.  Granted these used EVs will have a diminished battery life, but we ‘have faith’ that in a few years the new owners will probably easily be able to afford new replacement batteries, because we all ‘have faith’ that the prices of these new EV batteries will also come down.”

Q – How are all of these five million EVs going to be charged?
A- The obvious answer is that these EVs will be charged over night by solar panels that are on the EV-owner’s roof. Granted that right now only those who are the more affluent can afford rooftop solar panels, but ‘have faith’ . . . as this will change.”

Q – If the goal is to have five million EVs by 2030, does this mean that there will be well over five million solar rooftop panels by then?
A – “Yes, ‘have faith,’ as for all intents and purposes almost every EV owner will have his/her own rooftop solar panels. Keep in mind that some of the wealthiest among us may well have more than one EV, and so this will probably diminish the number of overall rooftop solar panels necessary to supply the five million EVs.

Q – With the present shortage of affordable housing in California, the resultant focus is now on building multi-family structures. Does that mean that only very few of these future apartment dwellers will be able to have EVs?
A – At present the vast majority of solar panels are on the roofs of single family dwellings. Obviously in multiple family dwellings not everyone will be able to have his own solar panel, and these panels will have to be shared among those who live in these apartments. This may mean that not everyone will be able to drive their own EV every day, but for the sake of the planet this will be an acceptable sacrifice, and do not forget that carpooling is an option for these individuals. We ‘have faith’ that new technology will undoubtedly find ways to have solar panels in places that have only a very limited amount of sun.”

Q – Speaking of having only a limited amount of sun, California has an extremely long coastline with a fair number of people living close to the ocean where there is only a limited amount of sunlight on a lot of days, especially in the winter months. Does this mean that those coastal residents will not be able to own EVs?
A – “Absolutely not! The aim is for almost everyone to own an EV. ‘Have faith’ . . . as many who live on the coast will probably be able to work from home . . . at least a few days per week.”

Q – And finally with many driving more miles per day than is possible on a single full charge will there be charging stations at workplaces or at places where people go on the weekend?
A – “We are glad that you asked this question, as right now there are two pilot projects in San Diego that will address this issue. These projects have been approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and will cost only $18.8 million. One of these pilot projects will put chargers for EVs at 22 state beaches and city parks, and the other will put chargers at 30 schools and educational institutions, as ‘the location of these chargers will put a priority on sites disproportionately affected by air pollution.’ The cost of these two pilot projects ($8.9 million plus $9.9 million) will be funded by San Diego Gas and Electric rate payers. Yes, we ‘have faith’ that these SDGE customers will happily pay extra because it is for the good of the planet. No, none of the members of the CPUC live in San Diego.”

 Q – WTF are you all thinking, or perhaps, better said, “What are you all drinking?” No answer to this question is necessary, as like I said in the first few lines, “We all should have seen this coming!”

Winter is coming. Chicago has had two snowstorms prior to Halloween, and Colorado has already had its first accumulation of the white stuff. Now granted I do not live in either place, but have the photos to document the snowflakes and the results.
Of course as we get further into the winter, the snowflakes will become more frequent, but they will also become more vocal and prominent especially on college campuses, where a lot of these snowflakes will be demanding and then more demanding. Most of their protests have to do with freedom of speech, or perhaps more accurately lack of freedom of speech.” Safe zones” on campus and protests against conservative speakers are the most frequent examples of the trampling of the First Amendment on college campuses, and only seem to get more attention as administrators cave to their protests and demands. Why is our nation in this mess?
Frank Vernuccio who serves as editor-in-chief of the New York Analysis of Policy & Government had some thoughts on this subject on Townhall:
“The simple answer is that an entire generation of Americans, perhaps two, has come of age absent the traditional understanding of and appreciation for freedom of speech.
A recent Campaign for Free Speech (CFS) survey found startling results: 51% of Americans think the First Amendment is outdated and should be rewritten. 48% believe “hate speech” should be illegal. (Of those, about half think the punishment for “hate speech” should include possible jail time, while the rest think it should just be a ticket and a fine.)80% don’t actually know what the First Amendment really protects.
Perhaps these snowflakes got their misguided ideas from some of our politicians. For example: In 2012, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) urged “there ought to be limits” on First Amendment rights. At a Senate Rules Committee hearing, Schumer, the senior senator from New York, issued the stunning statement that ”The First Amendment is sacred, but the First Amendment is not absolute.”
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) maintains that, “A culture of censorship has taken root and permeated universities, in part due to some students’ unfamiliarity or disinterest in their rights. A likely culprit is deficient civic education in secondary schools across the nation. In the absence of engaging civics instruction and classroom debate, some students fail to grasp the content or significance of their First Amendment freedoms, allowing those rights to fall victim to restrictions on campus…”
The recent NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) scores, measuring “at or above proficiency” in Civics are in the mid-twenties for all 4th, 8th, and 12th graders, and this documents this “deficient civic education in secondary schools,” both in private schools and even more so in public schools.
The impact on the nation’s future will be significant, and can possibly be traced back to our educational system. With winter approaching it appears that we will have blizzards for years to come, as the snowflakes are only going to become more invigorated as they continue to be less educated.