Month: July 2024

On 6/4/2022 I wrote the following in my blog:
“In general, it is always easier to preemptively do something to avoid a problem rather that trying to fix that same problem once it it already on the scene and picking up steam.”
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, depending on which side of the bed you get up on in the morning … right vs. left, the Dems do not read my blogs, and so they now have a “Houston, we’ve got a problem” problem.
Here I am referring to that “Joe Biden problem.” Like with the hurricane, Beryl, the storm surge got worse and worse for Biden’s candidacy, as an increasing number of Democrats are bailing on poor J.B. (Even Adam Schiff on Sunday’s Meet The Press said that Joe Biden and Donald Trump should both take a cognitive test. If I were Trump, I would agree to this, but only after both conventions !)
Now, even Hollywood is turning against Joe! Lifelong Democrat and mega-donor, George Clooney, on 7/10/24 penned an op-ed in the NYT, saying that J.B. cannot win.
However, at this point Biden is not amenable either to dropping out of the race or to resigning from the presidency. Resigning now would give Kamala better odds against Trump as she would then be running as the incumbent in the November election. However, this will not happen, as practically speaking if Joe resigns, effective immediately, then how is he going to pardon his son, Hunter? It would be better for Joe and for Hunter if Joe just decides to step aside and not run for another term. By doing this he can delay Hunter Biden’s pardon until the last minute, just prior to the official end of his present term. Let’s be clear here, Joe’s promise not to pardon his son will hold up about as well as an old helium balloon.
My prediction is that Joe will soon decide not to run “for the good of the country.” If he decides not to run then the sticky problem of how to deal with the thousands of delegates that Biden won in the primaries will be resolved prior to the convention.
Not to pat myself on the back, but in my blog of 6/26/24 I wrote that the reason for the extremely early date, 6/27/24, for the first debate was to give the Dems seven weeks figure what to do if Biden did not do well in that debate. And despite the fact that a decreasing number of Dems are saying that J.B. is still their candidate, the dam is starting to crumble. What they didn’t count on was the stubbornness of both Joe and Jill!

7/11/24
www.californiacontrarian.com

I am going to assume that the vast majority of my readers do not own Electric Vehicles (EVs) for a variety of different reasons. However, then let’s assume that you can afford to buy an EV, but do not have solar panels to charge your own EV, what then will be the main problem for you and your EV?
From BlazeMedia:
Electric vehicles require charging stations. Unless Americans are to be confined to 15-minute cities, there needs to be a juiced network of such stations.
The infrastructure is not in place, however, thanks in part to the Biden administration’s bungling of its promised national rollout of EV charging stations. The Democratic administration has established fewer than a dozen of the promised 500,000 charging stations across the country.
Even if there was a satisfactory number of active stations, there is no guarantee they would be useful on account of power supply issues.

Last month, the California-based software company Xendee released the results of its survey of leaders “involved in the development, operation, and commercial use of EV charging infrastructure.”
75% of respondents said electric grid limitations were a “significant roadblock to the rollout of EV charging infrastructure for commercial EV usage.

Princeton University recently projected that the U.S. will need 3,360% more electricity on hand to satisfy the Biden administration’s EV goals, reported the Daily Mail.
“Right now, our infrastructure is likely ‘OK’ for the slow trickle of EV adoption,” Robby DeGraff, the manager of product and consumer insights at AutoPacific, told the Mail. Increased demand shaped by government mandates will, however, mean that “the grid will certainly need to be revamped.

Many of Xendee’s clients have apparently opted to install fossil-fuel-powered generators to power their charging stations. So in effect, there’s a good chance that EV drivers
who manage to find charging stations, will find those that are powered by the same energy source the EV is supposed to have made redundant — if not by a generator on-site, then by a predominantly gas-powered grid.
Circular reasoning at its worst!
Hmmm!

7/9/24
www.californiacontrarian.com

So just like millions of others I watched the entire recent presidential debate. Prior to watching it I had hoped that Joe Biden would do a belly-flop, but did not expect him to be flailing from the high diving board, and thus make a huge disastrous splash. Most of the diving judges gave him a score of a 1 or a 2, whereas the Main Stream Media judge said that because of a “cold,” he could not accurately comment on Joe’s performance.
Be that as it may, one thing did come out of Joe’s huge belly-flop. Because he lied at least twice during his debate debacle, it allowed us to review the past numerous lies that J.B. has told during his presidency. While I had forgotten some of Biden’s past mendacities, I just read a review of his whoppers in a piece written by Larry Elder and published on Townhall on 7/4/24.
From Townhall:
“As to Biden’s lies, they include, but are not limited to: how, why and where his son Beau contracted brain cancer; that Biden desegregated movie theaters and restaurants; that he finished in the top half of his law school class; that he got arrested trying to visit Nelson Mandela during apartheid; was “raised in the black church”; played football for the University of Delaware; claimed the driver who accidentally struck and killed his first wife and daughter was drunk; intentionally misstating what Trump said about Charlottesville; that Trump said to drink/inject bleach; that Biden didn’t pressure Ukraine to fire the prosecutor investigating Burisma; that Biden never discussed son Hunter’s business dealings; that a small kitchen fire “almost killed” his wife; that he was “shot at” in Iraq; that inflation was “9%” when he became president; the Border Patrol endorses him; the NAACP endorsed him in “all” of his elections; World War II’s Uncle Bosie was eaten by cannibals; that “no one” advised him the Afghan government would quickly collapse and the Taliban would return if he abruptly pulled out of Afghanistan; that Trump referred to World War I American vets who lost their lives as “suckers and losers”; that Trump praised Hitler; among others.”
While Donald Trump is indeed prone to exaggeration, Joe Biden is the primo-prevaricator … the antithesis of George Washington.

7/8/24
www.californiacontrarian.com

On Sundays I give praise to someone who has acted courageously or acted on principle. However, different from a typical Sunday piece, today’s piece is about individuals whose names I do not know.
From Epoch Bright:
Back on May 14, 2024 bystanders at the 3 Avenue-149 Street subway station saw the man disabled and in distress. Prone on his back, the distressed man was “experiencing a seizure” and “had fallen onto the subway tracks.”
At around 5:30 pm, the bystanders flagged down help from NYPD officers of the 47th Precinct assigned to the turnstiles at the northbound platform.
The man had fallen onto the subway tracks, and was only inches away from the third rail, with an oncoming train rapidly approaching the station. Despite the imminent dangers, the officers sprang into action & without hesitation pulled him off the tracks.
Footage from the scene posted to X by the NYPD shows the officers springing into action to assist the male, seen lying across the tracks immobile. One officer gained access to the subway via an emergency exit opened by a bystander; another was seen hopping the turnstile.
Despite the imminent danger of the incoming train, the department tells the newspaper, the “officers quickly jumped to the roadbed and with help from MTA security personnel and good Samaritans, safely rescued the male back to safety.”
Pedestrians at the station aided them in getting the fallen man back onto the platform. One of the officers nimbly made it back up himself, but another is seen in the footage making several attempts to no avail. NYPD told us his “gun belt kept getting stuck on the edge of the platform preventing him from climbing back up.” With the help of his partner and bystanders, he soon successfully climbed out of harm’s way.
The man who had fallen and suffered a medical emergency was taken by emergency medical services to Health + Hospitals/Lincoln and, according to police, is in stable condition.

Meanwhile, over 70,000 viewers witnessed the rescue on X. Many heaped praise on the officers involved.
One comment on X summed it up nicely, “Unbelievable how they put their lives on the line everyday… like it’s nothing… it’s just what they do.”
Congrats to the officers of the 47th precinct.

7/7/24

Yesterday two separate interviews happened., and I have some advice for each interviewee.
First:
While Donald Trump was caught on camera while seated in his golf cart when someone asked him about Biden and Kamala Harris. Donald, being his usual self, did not hold back by describing Biden as an “old, broken-down pile of crap.”
“He just quit, you know. He’s quitting the race,” Trump predicted. “I got him out of the race, and that means we have Kamala. I think she’s gonna be better. She’s so bad. She’s so pathetic. She’s so f***ing bad. Can you imagine that guy dealing with Putin and the president of China, who’s a fierce person? He’s a fierce man. Very tough guy.”
Even though I suspect that this Trump interview was surreptitiously obtained, my advice to DJT, “Be much more circumspect when you say anything. While I agree with you that Kamala would be no match for Putin or Xi Jinping, do not be brash when talking about either Biden or Kamala. Independents may be the key to this upcoming election, and some will not vote for you if you act like a bully. … ‘Nuff said.
The second interview was George Stephanopoulos’s interview of Joe Biden on ABC. No, I do not typically watch ABC unless there happens to be a sporting event that I wish to watch. And no, I did not watch this Biden interview live.
Stephanopoulos appeared to ask reasonable questions concerning Biden’s mental state, and he even tried to force our President into agreeing to a neurological evaluation. To this Biden wisely responded, “I get a full neurological every day.”
On follow-up Stephanopoulos then asked, “Have you had specific cognitive tests, and had a specialist evaluate you?”
To that Biden responded, “No one said I had to.”
My advice to JB, “Do not let anyone bully you into getting any tests. Stand firm! The American people have no right to more information. … ‘Nuff said.

7/6/24
www.californiacontrarian.com

After looking at some of things that Joe Biden has said since his disastrous debate performance, I thought, “And The Beat Goes On.” As some of you may recall “The Beat Goes On” is a song written and composed by Sonny Bono and recorded by Sonny & Cher back in 1966. Subsequently it entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart on January 14, 1967, peaking at number six. (Those not quite as old as myself may remember a remake by the Whisperers in 1979.)
Be that as it may, read some of the chaotic word salad that our President has said just over the past few days, and then tell me that he is the one that should be leading the country.
At a Fourth of July gathering at the White House for military families Biden said the following:
“One last thing, about congestion on the highways. There’s no congestion anymore! No, we go out on the highways, there’s no congestion! And so the way they’ll get me to stop talking, they’ll say ‘we just shut down all the roads, Mr. President, you’re going to lose all the votes if you don’t get in,’ but anyway, I’ll be back out.”
“And the Beat Goes On.”

Then there is this from a recent Philadelphia radio station interview.
From Townhall:
The president’s interview on Philadelphia radio was a mixture of sadness and his usual half-brain-dead self: he described himself as a black woman: “By the way, I’m proud to be, as I said, the first Vice President, the first black woman, to serve with a black president.”
Huh?? … “And the Beat Goes On!”

From Twitter:
In one of his only interviews since the debate (a radio interview), Biden says: “I’m the first president that got elected statewide in the state of Delaware when I was a kid.”
Huh!! Huh?? … “And the Beat Goes On!”

After reading these nonsensical utterings, my feeling that Joe Biden should be the Democrat’s presidential nominee has only been reenforced.

7/5/24
www.californiacontrarian.com

Some, but not neatly all Democrats are all-in Joe Biden.
On 7/3/24, 24 Democratic governors and the Democratic mayor of Washington D.C. met with President Biden and Kamala Harris at the White House. After the meeting three… 3 … III … of these governors came out to speak to the press in support of Biden. Granted not all of the Democratic governors were physically present at the White House, but while nearly a dozen of the state leaders attended the meeting in person … only THREE spoke with reporters afterwards. To me what that implies is that only three of the twelve that were present had the wherewithal to stand up and speak to the press. If there was agreement and real support for Joe B., all of those present at the meeting would have been standing behind the governors of New York, Maryland, and Minnesota and nodding their collective heads in agreement. Bit only THREE spoke in support of Biden.
Now do not get me wrong … I want Joe Biden to be the nominee. The fact that three misguided governors said that they were behind J.B., good for them, and I hope that a lot of Americans were listening to their attempt at gaslighting.
From Reuters:
“California Governor Gavin Newsom, who participated in person, posted his reaction on social platform X: ‘I heard three words from the President tonight — he’s all in. And so am I.’”
Well, bully for you, Gavin! Why weren’t you out there speaking to the press?
This might be the one time that I can agree with California’s termed-out governor, as I also hope that Biden is “all in!”

www.californiacontrarian.com
7/4/24

By this time everyone is aware that Joe Biden did very poorly in the recent Trump-Biden debate. I watched the entire thing. Biden’s initial old man shuffle to the podium was merely a prelude of the disaster that was to come.
The one thing that I noticed and could not figure out was Biden repeatedly going to his right ear with his right hand. Could it be that Biden was having some difficulty with his IFB — interruptible foldback, which is an ear-prompter, a tiny device that sits invisibly in the ear canal. They’re readily available online.
From BlazeMedia:
There’s an IFB called Ovation, and the complete wireless package, which includes a recorder to hold prepared comments, costs around $1,000. Such a unit, properly modified, could provide direct radio access for instant communication.
IFBs transmit on radio frequencies, and those frequencies can be easily intercepted and jammed. A Trump campaign staffer would need a scanner. If Biden was using an IFB, the frequency wouldn’t be difficult to locate, unless he is using a more sophisticated device that hops frequencies.
Once located, it could be jammed — or taken over.”

Could it be that this is what happened during the recent debate?
Of course team Biden could not accuse team Trump of resorting to the chicanery of jamming Biden’s IFB frequency, because doing that would be admitting to having an illegal IFB earpiece in the first place!

From BlazeMedia:
“Of course, this isn’t the first time the idea of Biden using an earpiece has come up. In 2020, the Trump campaign complained that Biden’s camp first agreed to an inspection for illicit devices and then reneged at the last minute. A Biden spokesman denied the charge. Naturally, the unquestioning press accepted the spokesman’s statement and dismissed Trump’s claims as just another “conspiracy theory.”
Hmmm!

7/3/24
www.californiacontrarian.com

While I do say the Our Father prayer, this piece is not about a prayer or the benefits thereof. It is about recent data that confirms what a lot of us have thought all along, namely that having a father is good for a child.
The ‘growing minority’ of ‘floundering’ young men is in large part due to a rising number of fatherless or non-intact families, according to recent findings that the Institute for Family Studies published on June 13, 2024.

Citing data from two nationally representative studies, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997) and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, researchers found that young men raised by their two married biological parents are nearly 20 percentage points more likely to attend college rather than to end up in jail compared with respondents from non-intact families.
“Strikingly,” the researchers note, “this is the only group where graduating college is more likely than prison/jail.” 

The researchers also accounted for factors such as race and age when collecting data. However, they found that “family structure is more strongly associated with incarceration and college graduation than race for young men across both datasets.”
Beyond graduation or incarceration, the researchers note that family structure contributes to a number of other life outcomes, such as personality differences or even income.
“In a world where young men are increasingly failing to thrive,” the researchers emphasized the importance of family structures, concluding that “any effort to revive the failing fortunes of young men should put family at the forefront.”

What I found to be especially interesting is that the above referenced study specifically did not find any correlation to race. For as long as I can remember, I have rejected race as a predictor of success, and rather have preached that the quality of the elementary/high schools attended is a much better predictor of a child’s ultimate success as an adult.

In the studies referenced here two extremes are compared … incarceration vs. graduating college. Certainly one can be successful in life without going to college, and similarly adults can have a basically unfulfilling life without going to jail.

In my opinion, children raised by two married biological parents are more likely to themselves enter into a traditional marriage, and so their children are thus more likely to go to and graduate from college.
For those multitudes of children not raised by two married biological parents, it seems that their only hope is to attend good el/high schools. So why are “those that know best” not working on achieving that goal?

7/2/24
www.californiacontrarian.com

Rumor has it that the White House wants the next debate which is scheduled for September 10, to be held in the early afternoon. The spin coming from the White House is that it important to hold the coming debate at a time when those Americans who go to bed early can view it in its entirety. For instance, if the September debate is held at 1 pm EDT, then those on the west coast can watch it at 10 am. Even in Hawaii it would come on TV at 7am, and according to the White House, this means that everyone across the U.S. will be able to watch it.
Keep in mind that the same people who are trying to move the debate to a midday time, are the same ones who kept telling us that Joe Biden’s mental status was fine!
From the Daily Caller:
“Sources told Axios that the president is “dependably engaged” between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. but is susceptible to “verbal miscues” and fatigue outside that time frame.
“The behavior the Biden aides described can be compared to a symptom of dementia called ‘sundowning.’ The term ‘sundowning’ references ‘a state of confusion’ that affects elders, particularly those with Alzheimer’s disease or types of dementia, during the evening or as the sun is beginning to set, according to the Mayo Clinic. More extreme cases of ‘sundowning’ result in anxiety, aggression, pacing, wandering and even hallucinations and trouble sleeping, the Mayo Clinic states.”

Of course from a contrarian’s viewpoint, perhaps the reason for the White House suggesting a midday debate is so that much less people will watch it!
Hmmm!
7/1/24
www.californiacontrarian.com