Month: May 2024

These days just about everyone is suffering from inflation, and yet the Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, in answers to questioning from Sen. John Kennedy on 5/30/24 insisted that Bidenomics is working. 

How out of touch is Janet Yellen?

Recall that years back she was the same person who tried to convince everyone that inflation was going to be temporary.

(From The Hill, 5/27/21, quoting Janet Yellen: “My judgment right now is that the recent inflation that we have seen will be temporary. It’s not something that’s endemic,” Yellen said at a hearing held by a House Appropriations subcommittee.”) 

After reading what Janet Yellen said three years ago and again now in response to Sen. John Kennedy (R,LA), I concluded that at least she has been consistent … consistently “out of touch.”

Last night was my monthly poker game. It is a very low stakes game with an eclectic group. One of the unwritten rules is that politics are not discussed as the group is composed of both far-left and far-right participants. The game was to begin only few hours after the Trump verdict was announced, and I vowed to myself that I would not say anything about that trial, etc. Almost immediately after walking in the far-left player announced that it was a monumental day in U.S. history, and he had brought a bottle of Prosecco to toast the occasion. FYI: I refused to participate in any toast, and I kept my vow of silence when that same individual proclaimed that the guilty verdict would certainly sway voters never to vote for a “convicted felon!” My initial response to myself was, “how out of touch is he?”

It wasn’t until this morning that I realized that he was monumentally way out of touch. After the verdict a few interesting things happened.

From The Daily Caller:

“Following the verdict, the former president’s campaign donation page displayed a 500 error stating “something went wrong.” After the news of the verdict and the site crashing, the Trump campaign announced that it had raised $34.8 million. This was in large part due to “ small donors.

Not only was the amount historic, but 29.7% of yesterday’s donors were brand new donors to the WinRed platform,” Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, Trump campaign senior advisors, said in a statement.”

In addition to contributions from small donors, there were some big chunks of change donated to the Trump campaign.

“Following the former president’s guilty verdict, the campaign site received major influxes in donations. Among those was Sequoia Capital partner Shaun Maguire, who said on Twitter that he donated $300,000. Former Republican New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin said that he “secured a $800k donation from someone for President Trump’s Joint Fundraising Committee.”

What about polling?

From C&C:

First of all, in the Verdict’s wake last night, the betting markets — the people silently staking real money, not Times-approved witless gasbag ramblings — have increased the odds of Trump’s re-election (currently standing at 54% likely):

Wow a ten point jump in just two weeks! 

Perhaps those who declared 5/30/24 to be a monumental day in U.S history are not so out of touch after all.

Looking forward …  Would it be uncouth for me to bring a bottle of Prosecco to our November game to toast a Trump victory?  … Just askin!

5/31/24

 My answer to the question posed in the title is “Hell Yes!”

“Lawfare” is a term that I was unfamiliar with until just recently. For those not aware, “lawfare” is the use of legal systems and institutions to damage or delegitimize an opponent, or to deter an individual’s usage of their legal rights.

In general, if you answered, “no, Lawfare is not unfair,” then pretty much you have identified yourself as a liberal Democrat, and furthermore you have categorized yourself as being anti-Trump. However at this juncture in our political history, Donald Trump is only one individual who is being attacked by lawfare. The dilemma for progressives is that Donald Trump can afford to fight against the accusations against him because he is uber rich. But what about those individuals who are not uber rich, and  whose reputations are being damaged and whose careers are being 

delegitimized? 

In the case of Trump these various cases against him are basically meant  to attempt to somehow damage his reputation and simultaneously to keep him from campaigning. Everybody knows this and AOC just admitted it to be true, when she said that the legal cases against former President Donald Trump are effectively serving as a “legal version of an ankle bracelet,” affecting his campaigning ahead of the November elections.

As an aside, how many of you are familiar with Lavrently Beria?

He was Stalin’s most ruthless and longest serving head of his secret police. Beria once infamously said, “Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime.” He was confident that he could convict any person he chose to take on, and would make up any charge needed to do so.

If the tactics of Beria sound familiar it is because they are comparable to the lawfare being used by our present day progressives.

While Trump can afford the cost of the Democrat-inspired frivolity directed at him, what about others who are victims of Dem lawfare?

For instance, what about John Eastman?

Mr. Eastman is being indicted by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. even though he had nothing to do with challenging election results in Arizona. He is not on any of the legal filings in that state. He never spoke with any electors in Arizona about Trump’s challenges. He never had any communication whatsoever with any of the contingent electors in Arizona.

And yet, he is accused of various felonies including conspiracy, forgery, tampering with a public record, presentment of a false instrument for filing, and other crimes.

What abhorrent thing did John Eastman do to be accused of these felonies? … He lawfully supported Donald Trump’s effort to bring forth his concerns about election irregularities in the 2020 presidential election.

To any reasonable individual Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is trying to bankrupt John Eastman.

Are these types of indictments fair for the individual? Granted in the end he may be exonerated of all charges, but at what cost? While Mr. Eastman is scrambling to dig up money to pay his legal expenses, Kris Mayes is content to have the people of Arizona pay for her obviously political prosecution. To me, that hardly seems fair. These lawfare cases will continue until these D.A.s and Attorney Generals have some skin in the game.

To my way of thinking, impeachment is not enough … fines or prison time needs to happen for Kris Mayes in Arizona as well as for the 

Soros-DA and the prejudiced  judges in  the Trump pseudo-trials in New York .

Ideas anyone?

5/30/24

Houston, we have a problem!

Texas, we have a problem!!

USA, we have a problem!!!

From Wikipedia:

“Houston, we have a problem” is popularly quoted as a phrase spoken during Apollo 13, a NASAmission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. After an explosion occurred on board the spacecraft en route to the Moon at 55:54:53 (03:07 UTC on April 14, 1970),[1] Jack Swigert, the command module pilot, reported to Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas: “Okay, Houston … we’ve had a problem here.“

The 1995 film Apollo 13 used the slight misquotation “Houston, we have a problem”, which had become the popularly expected phrase, in its dramatization of the mission. The phrase has been informally used to describe the emergence of an unforeseen problem, often with a sense of ironic understatement.”

Well it wasn’t an understatement to describe what recently happened in Houston, Texas, as those who live in Houston had a real problem … a big real problem, that could be disastrous if it recurred in the future.

From the Daily Signal:

“We live in a world with more and more devices that require charging. Nothing shows the downside of that better than the recent storm that hit Houston, where thousands of residents still lack power.

Houstonians with electric stoves can’t cook, those with electric water heaters lack hot water—and those with electric cars can’t charge them.

The range of an electric vehicle without electricity is zero.

 From the Daily Caller:

And again on 5/2824, over 600,000 customers in northern Texas have been affected by power outages created by powerful storms raging through the region Tuesday, according to Oncor’s Storm Center.

Oncor, the largest energy delivery company in Texas, stated that thunderstorms accompanied by hail and 80-mph winds were detected in the area, according to their Storm Center.

The company’s Storm Center said that there were about 14,000 active outages so far. “Following this morning’s destructive storms, Oncor teams & resources are out in force working to assess damages, & clear displaced debris & vegetation, & access areas to perform repair work across impacted areas. Work began as soon as it was safe & will continue around the clock,” Oncor tweeted.

Officials said that they expected the outages to last for multiple days in the Dallas area.

But President Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation are requiring that, by 2032, 70% of new cars and 25% of new trucks sold will be electric.

Imagine the state that Houston and the Dallas area would be in if the number of EVs on the road today met those standards.”

“Biden’s Energy Department has issued final regulations that most stoves sold must be electric by 2028, and most water heaters must be electric by 2029.

If these rules were fully phased in, many Texans would be worse off today. These appliances not only are more expensive, they don’t work without electricity—unlike natural gas stoves and water heaters.”

So in a Joe Biden world not only would a whole bunch of people be stuck in there homes with their nonfunctioning Electric Vehicles, but while stuck at home they would not be able take a hot shower, or cook any meals with the mandated electric hot water heaters and electric stoves.

Meanwhile, the  latest report from the Institute of Energy Research, released earlier this month, shows that the United States has 4 quadrillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough for 130 years; 1.7 trillion barrels of oil, more than five times the reserves of Saudi Arabia, enough for 227 years; and 470 billion short tons of coal, enough for 485 years, and 50% more than Russia.

As we are all aware Houston and Dallas can get quite warm and quite humid in the summer. What would those who live in Houston/Dallas say concerning the lack of air-conditioning or even electric fans!  There would certainly be a lot of cursing of Joe Biden at that time.

All of these major misfortunes could happen and get worse if J.B. gets re-elected this November. 

5/29/24

About forty-five years ago due to an unusual confluence of circumstances, I found myself in a new location with a new boss, Vic V. As time went on I learned this new boss was a wise leader. He was always looking out for those of us in our division, which was only one of many divisions.

Early on of the things I learned from him was … “never give up something without getting something in return.” He did not say this in a vindictive way, but in a practical sense, as one of the duties of a leader is to look out for those under him, and this is exactly what he did.

I was reminded of him and his mantra when I read about the chaos the Democrats have brought on themselves in Ohio. For those not familiar with this example of incompetence, it goes like this:

According to Ohio law the date to include someone  on Ohio’s general election ballot is the statutory filing deadline of August 7th. Joe Biden will miss that deadline because the Democrat National Convention in Chicago starts weeks afterwards, on August 19th,  so Joe won’t yet be the official party nominee when the August 7th deadline comes and goes.

Oops! Did the DNC  make a big boo-boo by scheduling their convention so late this year. As an aside, I must ask if they did this purposely. … Hmmm! … If for some reason Joe Biden turns out not to be the Democrat’s nominee, then he cannot/should not be on the ballot in Ohio. Is this apparent rookie mistake actually a fail safe way to replace Biden on the ticket if he continues to tank in the polls?

Nonetheless, the Republican Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio has called a special legislative session, hauling all Ohio’s lawmakers back to Columbus on May 28, so they can change Ohio’s laws to accommodate the democrats’ tardy convention schedule. I realize that Governor DeWine is not familiar with Vic V., but if he is listening or reading this, he needs to be familiar with Vic V’s  prudent statement … “never give up something without getting something in return.”

5/28/24

On this Memorial Day morning I was thinking how lucky we all are that Irving Berlin was born when he was and thus was able to write “God Bless America” when he did. 

From Wikipedia:

As you may or may not be aware Irving Berlin originally wrote the song while serving in the U.S. Army at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York at the end of World War I, but decided that it did not fit in a revuecalled Yip Yip Yaphank, so he set it aside.

In 1938, with the rise of Adolf Hitler, Berlin, who was Jewish and had arrived in the U.S. from Russia at the age of five, felt it was time to revive it as a “peace song”, and it was introduced on an Armistice Daybroadcast in 1938, sung by Kate Smith on her radio show.

Try to conceptualize what would have happened if Irving Berlin was born in 1988 instead of 1888. Would he then have written “God Bless America” in 2024? More to the point could he have written that same song in today’s political milieu? Which words in that title would have been acceptable to the general public? “God” … no! “Bless” … no!  “America” … not likely, as these words are only acceptable to those on the right!

Today Kate Smith would probably not be able to sing “God Bless America” on a nationwide show as the left would never stand for it. The major networks (ABC,CBS, & NBC) would neither be able to say “God” or “Bless” on live T.V nor would they be able to convince a lot of their viewers that there could be such a thing as a patriotic song.

Personally, I love “God Bless America” and tear-up a bit each time I hear it sung, especially when sung by Kate Smith. I think we all are fortunate that Irving Berlin was born when he was.

5/27/24

Lauderhill Police Officer Jason Reyes arrived at the scene of crash Thursday night, 5/23/24. The video appears to show surveillance footage of one car attempting to turn, only to be crashed into by a second.

The video shows Reyes rush to the burning vehicle. Another individual at the scene can be seen trying to douse the flames using a fire extinguisher as the officer arrived.

“Anybody else in there? Is there anybody else inside?” the officer asked in the video.

“Walking up to it, you’re not knowing if anybody’s there to begin with … there’s a risk you might get burned in the mix, but you have to check to see if there’s somebody inside that car,”  said Reyes “You kind of have to put yourself aside and, you know, act.”

The officer worked to put the flames out until firefighters arrived on the scene and assisted in rescuing the trapped driver by breaking the car’s window with his baton, according to the outlet. He recalled the the rescue.

“She was scrunched up almost underneath the steering wheel, so getting her out-I was very surprised when she was breathing,” said Reyes.“There was a little bit of relief, and shortly after that, the car was engulfed. So it was a tight, tight timeline.”

A tight timeline! … to say the least!

“You kind of have to put yourself aside and, you know, act.”

Jason Reyes is a true hero!

5/26/24

It appears that the Dems, vis-à-vis Joe Biden, have done it again. They (he) have done things that end up hurting those who are the lowest on the economic ladder, the worst off. In fact, as I have pointed out many times before, this happens so often that one wonders if the Dems are doing it on purpose.

The latest … Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has been drastically effected by the sky-high inflation experienced under and caused by President Joe Biden.

His policies continue to degrade what families could afford on federal food assistance in 2023, according a recent report from the Urban Institute. 

From The Daily Caller:

“The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) failed to cover the cost of a modestly priced meal in 98% of counties in 2023, far higher than the 21% gap experienced in 2021 due to rampant food inflation, according to the report. The price of food on average has risen 20.4% since the start of Biden’s term in January 2021, higher than the overall rate of inflation, which measured 19.3% in that same time frame.”

Yes, inflation hurts just about everyone, but it is hurting those who have to rely on SNAP, the most!

From X, formerly known as Twitter:

“An Urban study found that many families turned to credit card debt, payday loans, & other options to put food on their tables.”

In an attempt to bring inflation down, the Federal Reserve has set its federal funds rate to a range of 5.25% and 5.50%, increasing the cost of debt across the economy, particularly for Americans using credit cards to make ends meet.

Can anyone explain to me why JB thinks it’s a good idea for less affluent families to go further and further into debt just to eat? Perhaps someone could explain to President Biden that credit card debt and payday loans, unlike debt from student loans, does not just magically disappear!

To make matters even worse Biden’s inflation is even worse for those needing to rely on SNAP in mostly Democratic cities.

In 2023, SNAP benefits were on average $49.29 lower than what monthly meals cost for an individual, being $73.31 short in urban areas and $44.38 short in rural areas, according to the report. Urban areas had meal costs that were 28% higher than SNAP benefits by the end of 2023, while rural areas had a gap of 17%.

So Biden’s inflation not only hurts the poor the most, but those poor individuals who live in mostly blue cities are hurt even more! 

5/25/24

To say that a true leader must be principled seems like a “no brainer.”  Likewise to say that a politician is principled is for the most part, an oxymoron. When I look at Joe Biden, do I see a leader or a politician? With out a moment of hesitation, I see Joe Biden not merely as a politician, but I see him as the antithesis of a leader. I see him as a confused sheep who just follows along where his undisclosed shepherds tell him to go. 

Look at the Hamas-Israeli conflict. Although Biden proclaims to be supporting the Israelis, he is now withholding military aid to Israel that was voted for by Congress, and which he subsequently signed. What’s up with that?

While some of you may be anti-Trump, DJT does not waffle. He makes decisions. You may or may not like the positions that he takes … but when he takes a position, he stands by it.

That leads me to the Americans being held hostage by Hamas. A real leader would have gotten these Americans out of Gaza a long time ago. 

What the most recent on the five American hostages that were captured by Hamas on Oct. 7?

From a press briefing on May 27, 2024:

REPORTER: “The five American hostages who are still unaccounted for. Is there any new intelligence about their whereabouts or their potential wellbeing?” 

National Security Council spokesman, JOHN KIRBY: “Sadly, no.”

On May 17, when National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was pressed about the status of the American hostages during last Friday’s 

White House press briefing, there was “sadly, no” new intelligence that Kirby had to share. “We don’t have any information that–that leads us to a conclusion that they’re–that they’re no longer alive. But we just don’t have any additional context whatsoever,” he offered.

Now let’s all try to be honest here. … Is this or is this not disgraceful?

Would a real leader tolerate American citizens being held hostage by terrorists? Would a real leader then withhold aid to a country that is fighting these same terrorist?

Case closed!

5/24/24

On May 7 a majority of a U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit said

that a Colorado university’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate violates the U.S. Constitution. 

The mandate, first handed down on Sept. 1, 2021, “clearly violates the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause as interpreted by our precedents,” 

As many of my readers will appreciate from the beginning I have been opposed to these college Covid vaccination mandates for a variety of different reasons. Furthermore,  I hope that this specific ruling by the U.S Court of Appeals will open the flood gates to many more suits with colleges having to defend their authoritative vaccine mandates.

Granted this case was an obviously over-the-top application of subjective policies on this college’s application of religious accommodations on the vaccine.

From the Epoch Times:

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in 2021 required COVID-19 vaccination of all students and employees. It initially offered religious exemptions to anyone who checked a box, but it later stated  that administrators would “only recognize religious exemptions based on religious beliefs whose teachings are opposed to all immunizations.”Officials, for instance, said Christian Scientists would qualify for an exemption but Buddhists would not. They also said exemptions would be granted only to people who never received any vaccinations.

Seventeen students and employees, all of whose applications were denied, sued over the policy, alleging that it was discriminatory.

Under the original policy, Anschutz administrators “rejected applicants’ beliefs based not on their sincerity, but rather on their perceived validity,” according to the new ruling. Even after the administrators received numerous pages of explanations of religious beliefs, they denied each application. They rejected one application because officials claimed that it was “morally acceptable” for Catholics to receive COVID-19 vaccines, judging any position otherwise as a personal objection as opposed to a religious one.

The policy was “explicitly non-neutral” because, according to a ruling in a separate case, the First Amendment does not allow governments to “discriminate in favor of some religions and against others,” according to the majority.

One amazing part of this case was that the defendants claimed to know what the individual was thinking, as opposed to what the individual was saying. Whenever any party claims to really know what one is thinking, one can be pretty sure that this supposition is frivolous. It reminds me of instances where individuals were praying silently and arrested for doing such. … “Even though you haven’t vocalized it as such, I know what you are really thinking.”

In this case, I say “good job” to the plaintiffs, and I hope that this is just the first of many victories over these past college Covid vaccination  mandates.

5/23/

The other day I read a recommendation, the likes of which I have never have read before. Furthermore it was said by someone with some standing … not some political schmo.

Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons made the following recommendation following what happened to Dr. Wei-Hsung Lin in Washington state.

She recommended doctors avoid Washington state if they’re able.

Wow! That is a very strong statement!

What egregious offense did Dr. Lin commit? … Are you ready for this? … I am shocked! … Dr. Lin prescribed Ivermectin for Covid!!

Hmmm, he must have prescribed Ivermectin for thousands … Shock & awe!  … No, he prescribed Ivermectin for five patients … 5! … cinco!  OMG!

From Epoch Health:

According to an order signed by the Washington Medical Commission on May 2, Dr. Lin was fined $5000, and must also take continuing education classes, according to newly filed documents. In addition, the order prohibits Dr. Lin from prescribing ivermectin off-label to patients in Washington state and from prescribing any medication or providing care for patients without first establishing a doctor-patient relationship.

It also requires him to review the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and UpToDate websites for current COVID-19 guidelines, take continuing medical education classes on preventing, treating, and managing COVID-19 and establishing a doctor-patient relationship, and write two papers of at least 1,000 words describing what he learned from the websites and classes. 

Again shock and awe! … write two one-thousand word papers! To me it sounds like the Washington Medical Commission was made up of elementary school teachers. Perhaps just a rumor, but word on the street has it that in his initial punishment, Dr. Lin had to write “I will not prescribe Ivermectin ever again!” one hundred times on a white board.

Of course, there is no mention of any adverse effects in the five patients for whom Dr. Lin prescribed Ivermectin … not at all surprising as Ivermectin has an extremely tiny side-effect profile … probably less than 99% of all drugs.

Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, said that the conditions are “extremely onerous” and require work that would “enormously increase the burden of practice and probably drive most physicians out of practice altogether.”

“Ivermectin is an extremely safe drug—much safer than most drugs physicians prescribe without all the ‘informed consent’ discussions demanded here,” Dr. Orient told The Epoch Times in an email. “As to informing patients of alternatives, the reasons patients were calling this doctor was likely that no alternatives were available. It was ‘isolate and go to ER if you get worse.’”

Did the almighty Medical Commission state if any patients were improved because of the Ivermectin? Not that I am aware of, as that info could possibly destroy their already formed biased omnipotent opinion!

Now I have only been to Washington state a few times, and did not particularly like it there. Notwithstanding, if any one in the medical field were to ask, I would echo Dr. Orient’s advice, and tell them to “avoid Washington state at all costs.”

5/22/24