39% think that the economy will weaken next year.*
DETROIT – General Motors, Ford Motor and other automakers in the past year cut thousands of jobs and shuttered factories as industry vehicle sales slow and fears of an economic slowdown pick up.*
MIDLAND, Texas—America’s hottest oil-drilling regions—such as this one at the heart of the Permian Basin—are seeing their economies soften as shale producers slash spending, leading to emptier hotels, choosier employers and less overtime for workers.
Early this year, demand for the tubing, bolts and valves used in fracking was so high that Homer Daniels’s oil-field equipment company, RK Supply, in the Midland area was on track to easily beat its annual revenue forecast. But by August, Mr. Daniels had to impose a hiring freeze as customers delayed projects.*
U.S. industrial production plunged in October at the fastest rate in a year-and-a-half, further underscoring the nation’s manufacturing downturn at a precarious time in its ongoing trade negotiations with China.*
Respondents to a poll by The Financial Times-Peterson said they did not feel better off since Donald Trump took office and that the strong economy is only helping the wealthy.**
The Financial Times-Peterson poll released Monday found that almost two-thirds of Americans said their finances haven’t gotten better since Trump has taken office.**
Thirty-one percent of respondents in the new poll said their finances have gotten worse since Trump won the White House, while 33 percent said their finances haven’t gotten better or worse in the same time frame.**
Just over one-third, 35 percent, of respondents did say they have seen a positive change in their finances since Trump took office.**
Of those who said their financial situation has worsened since Trump took office, 36 percent said their wages are to blame, while 19 percent blamed their personal or family debts.**
There are indications that the Global Tariff War has adversely affected industry.
“We find that the 2018 tariffs are associated with relative reductions in manufacturing employment and relative increases in producer prices,” concluded Fed economists Aaron Flaaen and Justin Pierce, in their academic paper.
“[T]he longer-term effects of the tariffs may differ from those that we estimate here,” the economists conceded, but added: “[T]he results indicate that the tariffs, thus far, have not led to increased activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector.”
.....................................................................
According to the report, the top 10 manufacturing industries hit by foreign retaliatory tariffs were producers of: magnetic and optical media, leather goods, aluminum sheet, iron and steel, motor vehicles, household appliances, sawmills, audio and video equipment, pesticide, and computer equipment.****
.....................................................................
Conclusions made by the Pew Research Center are similar to those of the Financial Times Peterson poll.
Majorities of upper-income and middle-income Americans say current economic conditions are excellent or good. But only about four-in-ten lower-income adults share that view, while a majority say the economy is only fair or poor.**
In spite of all the news above, the "experts" say that a recession in 2020 isn't likely.***
Of the 53 professional forecasters that make up the panel of the National Association for Business Economics survey, for example, no one predicts a 2020 recession. A model from Goldman Sachs estimates that there is less than a 25% chance of a recession in the next 12 months, and notable investors including Marks and “Bond King” Jeffrey Gundlach, CEO of DoubleLine Capital, have told CNBC that they don’t expect a recession during 2020.***
* https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/23/where-the-wealthy-expect-market-economy-to-be-at-end-of-2020.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/23/automakers-cut-jobs-close-factories-to-save-billions-in-2019.html
https://www.wsj.com/articles/shale-slowdown-takes-economic-toll-11576405800
https://www.ccn.com/manufacturing-recession-puts-u-s-economy-on-track-for-worst-quarter-under-president-trump/
** https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/468802-majority-says-they-are-not-better-off-under-trump-poll
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/11/americans-say-strong-economy-only-helping-the-rich.html
https
https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2019/12/11/most-americans-say-the-current-economy-is-helping-the-rich-hurting-the-poor-and-middle-class/
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/16/homebuilder-confidence-jumps-to-highest-level-in-20-years.html
*** https://grow.acorns.com/what-experts-say-you-can-expect-from-the-economy-in-2020/
**** https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/tariffs-trump-china/2019/12/27/id/947571/?ns_mail_uid=142cf6cb-b757-4a77-afda-d3310b9288ee&ns_mail_job=DM78602_12292019&s=acs&dkt_nbr=010102p8bb49
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/16/homebuilder-confidence-jumps-to-highest-level-in-20-years.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/02/ism-manufacturing-november-2019.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/21/yellen-good-reason-to-worry-about-us-economy-sliding-into-recession.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/27/economy-growing-better-than-economists-had-expected-a-few-weeks-ago.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/11/bond-king-gundlach-says-a-recession-is-very-unlikely-in-2020.html
https://grow.acorns.com/what-experts-say-you-can-expect-from-the-economy-in-2020/
Friday, December 27, 2019
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
CHRISTMAS EVE - 2019
When saying grace, for over 10 yrs I have been adding "Guide us to Middle East Peace." Several years ago I added to it, "Guide us to Middle East and North Korean Peace." Now I say this to all of you reader's, however many there may be, on this Christmas Eve of 2019.
Thursday, December 19, 2019
IS IT TOO LATE?
President Trump is impeached. For one thing, he encouraged and accepted the involvement of a foreign power in our presidential election. He not only asked Russia to find the 30,000 missing e-mails by Hillary Clinton but also said he would accept "oppo" research if offered by a foreign power (He used Norway as a theoretical example.). For another, he used U.S. military weapon aid to a foreign power to coerce them to start an investigation into one of his political opponents.
What President Trump has done is a textbook example of what the Founding Fathers of our country feared.
When the Founding Fathers met in Philadelphia during the 1787 Constitutional Convention, they represented a loosely held confederacy of Atlantic states recently freed from British rule. If the American experiment was going to work, the founding fathers knew that they had to insulate their new republic from deep-pocketed interests and old alliances from Europe.
......................................................................
If the United States was going to be different, the framers needed a founding document that fully recognized and defended against the corrupting influence of foreign money and power, particularly on the president.*
The use of U.S. aid to coerce favors from foreign governments may yet be a step too far because the aid was finally sent before the promise.
I have written about the Decline Of American Politics before.** What we are seeing is the continued decline, mainly imposed by Republicans. So encouraging foreign powers to become involved in our presidential elections seems to be the next step in this decline. The impeachment is an attempt to stop this but is it too late?
If it is, I wonder what foreign posers might prefer the Democrats over the Republicans? I can imagine that the Chinese might favor the Democrats and most assuredly the Iranians to counter the Russians, Saudi Arabia, and Israelies that favor the Republican Party. Other possibilities of countries favoring the Democrats are the UK, France, and Germany.
I could be wrong about Israel, however, as nine members of the U.S. Senate are Jewish (No Republicans) including the minority party leader, Chuck Schumer. In addition, there are 26 members of the House that are Jewish with only two that are Republican. The Israel Prime Minister clearly would favor the Republicans (and the Republicans brought him to the U.S. to denounce the Iranian nuclear bomb treaty.). President Trump not only has recognized Jerusalem as the Isreal capital and moved our embassy there but also supported Israel's claim to the Golan Heights.
Another thing that Netanyahu and Trump have in common is that both are indicted for bribery and other charges in the same year.**** The American impeach is the same as an indictment.
* https://www.history.com/news/foreign-influence-constitution-founding-fathers
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwGCQZDNlrgGNdQTGWgvZDXcflg
** http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2017/06/decline-of-american-politics.htm
*** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jewish_members_of_the_United_States_Congress
**** https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-18008697
What President Trump has done is a textbook example of what the Founding Fathers of our country feared.
When the Founding Fathers met in Philadelphia during the 1787 Constitutional Convention, they represented a loosely held confederacy of Atlantic states recently freed from British rule. If the American experiment was going to work, the founding fathers knew that they had to insulate their new republic from deep-pocketed interests and old alliances from Europe.
......................................................................
If the United States was going to be different, the framers needed a founding document that fully recognized and defended against the corrupting influence of foreign money and power, particularly on the president.*
The use of U.S. aid to coerce favors from foreign governments may yet be a step too far because the aid was finally sent before the promise.
I have written about the Decline Of American Politics before.** What we are seeing is the continued decline, mainly imposed by Republicans. So encouraging foreign powers to become involved in our presidential elections seems to be the next step in this decline. The impeachment is an attempt to stop this but is it too late?
If it is, I wonder what foreign posers might prefer the Democrats over the Republicans? I can imagine that the Chinese might favor the Democrats and most assuredly the Iranians to counter the Russians, Saudi Arabia, and Israelies that favor the Republican Party. Other possibilities of countries favoring the Democrats are the UK, France, and Germany.
I could be wrong about Israel, however, as nine members of the U.S. Senate are Jewish (No Republicans) including the minority party leader, Chuck Schumer. In addition, there are 26 members of the House that are Jewish with only two that are Republican. The Israel Prime Minister clearly would favor the Republicans (and the Republicans brought him to the U.S. to denounce the Iranian nuclear bomb treaty.). President Trump not only has recognized Jerusalem as the Isreal capital and moved our embassy there but also supported Israel's claim to the Golan Heights.
Another thing that Netanyahu and Trump have in common is that both are indicted for bribery and other charges in the same year.**** The American impeach is the same as an indictment.
* https://www.history.com/news/foreign-influence-constitution-founding-fathers
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwGCQZDNlrgGNdQTGWgvZDXcflg
** http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2017/06/decline-of-american-politics.htm
*** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jewish_members_of_the_United_States_Congress
**** https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-18008697
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
MAYBE IT WAS LAOS
A couple of weeks ago, I heard a joke that was so funny I let out a guffaw which is unusual for me. Maybe you heard it too as the joke has Ukraine framing Russia for interfering in our 2016 Presidential election to favor Donald Trump whereas "they" say it actually was Ukraine that framed Russia and Ukraine was in favor of Hillary Clinton. Ha, ha, ha
Now that is funny. I happen to know something about Ukraine, and I’m not sure they even have computers there. If they have, does anyone know how to operate them? I don’t mean sending e-mails and checking your bank account, I mean professionals who can go into your computer and delete something or add something without you knowing what had happened.
Is there a country in the world less likely to have interfered in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election? Hmm, Laos maybe? The CIA used to say that Laos is the poorest country in the world and maybe it still is.
In addition, the U.S. tried to get the new president of Ukraine, who was elected on an anti-corruption platform, to commit corruption as his first act and investigate the Bidens. Ooh. Ho, ho. A leg slapper for sure.
Meanwhile, back in the United States, the job of rescuing our Democracy, that hangs by a thread, is in the slender hands of a 79 year -old woman and her lieutenants. Seriously.
Now that is funny. I happen to know something about Ukraine, and I’m not sure they even have computers there. If they have, does anyone know how to operate them? I don’t mean sending e-mails and checking your bank account, I mean professionals who can go into your computer and delete something or add something without you knowing what had happened.
Is there a country in the world less likely to have interfered in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election? Hmm, Laos maybe? The CIA used to say that Laos is the poorest country in the world and maybe it still is.
In addition, the U.S. tried to get the new president of Ukraine, who was elected on an anti-corruption platform, to commit corruption as his first act and investigate the Bidens. Ooh. Ho, ho. A leg slapper for sure.
Meanwhile, back in the United States, the job of rescuing our Democracy, that hangs by a thread, is in the slender hands of a 79 year -old woman and her lieutenants. Seriously.
Saturday, December 14, 2019
WHAT IS IT ABOUT DONALD TRUMP? - II
Claims that Donald Trump is the Second Coming of Christ have died down lately, but it doesn't take away from what has been going on. Last October 13th, I published a piece with the same title "What Is It About Donald Trump?" (http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2019/10/what-is-it-about-donald-trump.html). In particular and an interview between Frank Graham and Eric Metaxas has gotten a lot of coverage.
There are several things to say in response to the [Frank] Graham-[Eric] Metaxas conversation, starting with the theologically distorted and confused charges that were leveled by Graham and amplified by Metaxas. They didn’t make the case that Trump critics are sincere but wrong, or even that they are insincere and unpatriotic. Instead, they felt compelled to portray those with whom they disagree politically as under demonic influences, which for a Christian is about as serious an accusation as there is. It means their opponents are the embodiment of evil, the “enemy,” anti-God, a kind of anti-Christ.*
[Frank] Graham and [Eric] Metaxas appear to believe that they, along with Donald Trump, are part of a holy crusade to rid the world of evil, wickedness, and demonic powers. What they are saying in their interview is that you either stand with them, or you stand with the forces of Satan.**
The two went on to agree that it’s a “fact, not our opinion” that “literally three years ago our economy was dead in the water” but is now “just screaming forward.” In actual fact, the economy grew at 1.9 percent in the third quarter of 2019 vs. 2.2 percent three years ago.
But if politics is a spiritual battle between God and demons from hell, who cares what statistics from the Commerce Department say — or what any of the impeachment witnesses say?***
But Graham and Metaxis are not all.
On Fox News on Sunday, Energy Secretary Rick Perry reported that he told Trump he was God’s choice: “I said, 'Mr. President, I know there are people that say you said you were the chosen one and I said, 'You were.’”***
Some facts about the economy.
It’s true that the unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been in half a century, and the stock market is at a record high. That’s all to the good. At the same time, economic growth under Trump has been so-so. GDP growth—which, under Trump will not reach even 3 percent during his first three years in office—is decelerating. The deficit has exploded. The manufacturing industry is in recession. And job growth during the last 33 months of the Obama presidency was higher than job growth during the first 33 months of the Trump presidency. *
* https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/graham-claps-back-biden/story?id=67298788
**https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/to-trumps-evangelicals-everyone-else-is-a-sinner/602569/
*** https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/11/25/who-demon-could-impeach-gods-chosen-one/
There are several things to say in response to the [Frank] Graham-[Eric] Metaxas conversation, starting with the theologically distorted and confused charges that were leveled by Graham and amplified by Metaxas. They didn’t make the case that Trump critics are sincere but wrong, or even that they are insincere and unpatriotic. Instead, they felt compelled to portray those with whom they disagree politically as under demonic influences, which for a Christian is about as serious an accusation as there is. It means their opponents are the embodiment of evil, the “enemy,” anti-God, a kind of anti-Christ.*
[Frank] Graham and [Eric] Metaxas appear to believe that they, along with Donald Trump, are part of a holy crusade to rid the world of evil, wickedness, and demonic powers. What they are saying in their interview is that you either stand with them, or you stand with the forces of Satan.**
The two went on to agree that it’s a “fact, not our opinion” that “literally three years ago our economy was dead in the water” but is now “just screaming forward.” In actual fact, the economy grew at 1.9 percent in the third quarter of 2019 vs. 2.2 percent three years ago.
But if politics is a spiritual battle between God and demons from hell, who cares what statistics from the Commerce Department say — or what any of the impeachment witnesses say?***
But Graham and Metaxis are not all.
On Fox News on Sunday, Energy Secretary Rick Perry reported that he told Trump he was God’s choice: “I said, 'Mr. President, I know there are people that say you said you were the chosen one and I said, 'You were.’”***
Some facts about the economy.
It’s true that the unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been in half a century, and the stock market is at a record high. That’s all to the good. At the same time, economic growth under Trump has been so-so. GDP growth—which, under Trump will not reach even 3 percent during his first three years in office—is decelerating. The deficit has exploded. The manufacturing industry is in recession. And job growth during the last 33 months of the Obama presidency was higher than job growth during the first 33 months of the Trump presidency. *
* https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/graham-claps-back-biden/story?id=67298788
**https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/to-trumps-evangelicals-everyone-else-is-a-sinner/602569/
*** https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/11/25/who-demon-could-impeach-gods-chosen-one/
Thursday, December 12, 2019
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE
She is a frequent commentator on MSNBC.
Born in the U.S. to Haitian immigrant parents: 13 August 1977 (Age 42)
Is LGBT
Height: unknown, Weight: unknown Issaid to have "considerable height and weight" I've seen profile shots of her on TV and she doesn't look overweight at all, but neither is she rail thin.
Graduate of Columbia Univ. with an MS and also lectures there.
She is a social activist and has published a biography titled "Moving Forward" in which she records how driven she was and once tried to commit suicide.
Did I mention that she is Drop Dead Cute?
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karine_Jean-Pierre
** https://www.nbcnews.com/know-your-value/feature/karine-jean-pierre-it-s-time-talk-about-mental-health-ncna1065311
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/graham-claps-back-biden/story?id=67298788
Born in the U.S. to Haitian immigrant parents: 13 August 1977 (Age 42)
Is LGBT
Height: unknown, Weight: unknown Issaid to have "considerable height and weight" I've seen profile shots of her on TV and she doesn't look overweight at all, but neither is she rail thin.
Graduate of Columbia Univ. with an MS and also lectures there.
She is a social activist and has published a biography titled "Moving Forward" in which she records how driven she was and once tried to commit suicide.
Did I mention that she is Drop Dead Cute?
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karine_Jean-Pierre
** https://www.nbcnews.com/know-your-value/feature/karine-jean-pierre-it-s-time-talk-about-mental-health-ncna1065311
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/graham-claps-back-biden/story?id=67298788
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
JUKOLA’S BOARDING HOUSE (Biographical)
(Dedicated to Diana Davis)
In 1952 or 3, I was to take a month-long field geology course in Minnesota. Our center was to be in the town of Virginia, MN. In looking about, I learned of a place called Jukola’s Boarding House, a large frame building originally constructed for immigrant Finnish miners in 1912.* Growing up in St. Paul MN, I knew quite a few people of Norwegian or Swedish extraction, but don't recall ever knowing anyone of Finnish extraction until my stay in Virginia.** At any rate, I checked with Jukol's, and they had a room for $1.50/night and $2.00/day for meals. That sounded good to me so I took it.
I was assigned to a large bedroom with a bathroom. It had a urinal with a sign over it, “Bucks With short Horns Stand Close.” Cute! The next day was a Sunday and I woke up to people singing hymns. I had missed the eating hours for breakfast so I went out in search of a place to get something to eat. It tuned out the next-door church was a Finish Lutheran church and there were a lot of people standing in the small plot of lawn in front of the church so I thought the church was letting out, but when I came back after eating, a church service was going on. I went to sleep at night to the gentle sounds of hymns. They really made a day of it.
Miners were on strike which may be why my room was available, but there were a lot of people of Finnish extraction milling about waiting for lunch which on Sundays was the major meal, of the week it turned out. Lunch consisted of good pot roast, potatoes, and gravy. I don’t recall vegetables, but there were probably some with some pie for dessert. They were known for their pies.
A victim of the strike was rather monotonous meals for the rest of the week. Dinner consisted of leftover pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, and pie. And so it went for the rest of the week that I began to call the pot roast beef chips. Then on Sunday, there would be fresh pot roast to start the week.
I met a young man there who came from Finland a couple years before, and we took up a friendship. His interest really was in practicing his English. I wasn’t to help him talk unless it was hopeless. Sometimes when he couldn’t think of a word, he would try so hard that sweat would appear on his forehead.
Every time I saw him, I had an overpowering urge to ask him how he liked the United States, but I didn’t want to ask him such a banal thing. One day after work, we were in a bar having a beer and I opened my mouth to say something when out came, “How do you like the United States?” Ooh! He replied, “ If you are rich, almost anyplace is good, but, if you are a working man, the United States is the best.” Pretty good, I thought.
Another time we were visiting at Julola’s and a couple of old-timers were talking across the room. I asked my Finish friend what they were saying, and he replied, “You don’t understand them? They are speaking English.” I replied that it didn’t sound like English to me. And he said that they were putting Finnish ending on the words.
Two of my classmates lived in the nearby town of Eveleth, a town of maybe 7,000, and I hitchhiked the seven or nine miles to the home of Jerry Anderson (The Curly-Headed Swede). Also present was Art Columbo (The Red-Headed Italian). After the visit and dinner, I was going to hitchhike back to Virginia, but Jerry said, “We better take you as it is dark, where are you staying?” I told them,” Jukola’s Boarding house.” They hadn’t heard about it, so I tried to explain where Jukola was. Jerry said, “ It sounds like you are living in Fintown,” I said that you might call it that as there certainly are a lot of Finnish people there. “You don’t go out walking at night do you?” “Well I do, but since you mention it I don’t see anyone else walking around at night.” I guess that when the Swedes and Norwegians came into Fintown looking for trouble, they found it. Actually, the people I ran across were just hard-working people and nothing to be afraid of.
One time I had a swimming date with a nice looking Finnish girl. I have no idea how we met. Anyway afterward, I was told by my Swedish and Norwegian friends that I shouldn’t do that. That it was not right. There are parts of the country where you don’t have to be of colored skin to be discriminated against.
* https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMFVXD_Jukola_Boardinghouse_Virginia_MN
** I had heard a story about Finnish troops luring Soviet forces onto a frozen lake where the Finns had planted Christmas trees during the Finno-Soviet Wat of late 1939 and early 1940. When the Soviet force got onto the frozen lake, the Finnish forces blew up the ice on the lake for a great victory. (I have been unable to confirm this story, though Soviet forces did advance over frozen lakes.)
In 1952 or 3, I was to take a month-long field geology course in Minnesota. Our center was to be in the town of Virginia, MN. In looking about, I learned of a place called Jukola’s Boarding House, a large frame building originally constructed for immigrant Finnish miners in 1912.* Growing up in St. Paul MN, I knew quite a few people of Norwegian or Swedish extraction, but don't recall ever knowing anyone of Finnish extraction until my stay in Virginia.** At any rate, I checked with Jukol's, and they had a room for $1.50/night and $2.00/day for meals. That sounded good to me so I took it.
I was assigned to a large bedroom with a bathroom. It had a urinal with a sign over it, “Bucks With short Horns Stand Close.” Cute! The next day was a Sunday and I woke up to people singing hymns. I had missed the eating hours for breakfast so I went out in search of a place to get something to eat. It tuned out the next-door church was a Finish Lutheran church and there were a lot of people standing in the small plot of lawn in front of the church so I thought the church was letting out, but when I came back after eating, a church service was going on. I went to sleep at night to the gentle sounds of hymns. They really made a day of it.
Miners were on strike which may be why my room was available, but there were a lot of people of Finnish extraction milling about waiting for lunch which on Sundays was the major meal, of the week it turned out. Lunch consisted of good pot roast, potatoes, and gravy. I don’t recall vegetables, but there were probably some with some pie for dessert. They were known for their pies.
A victim of the strike was rather monotonous meals for the rest of the week. Dinner consisted of leftover pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, and pie. And so it went for the rest of the week that I began to call the pot roast beef chips. Then on Sunday, there would be fresh pot roast to start the week.
I met a young man there who came from Finland a couple years before, and we took up a friendship. His interest really was in practicing his English. I wasn’t to help him talk unless it was hopeless. Sometimes when he couldn’t think of a word, he would try so hard that sweat would appear on his forehead.
Every time I saw him, I had an overpowering urge to ask him how he liked the United States, but I didn’t want to ask him such a banal thing. One day after work, we were in a bar having a beer and I opened my mouth to say something when out came, “How do you like the United States?” Ooh! He replied, “ If you are rich, almost anyplace is good, but, if you are a working man, the United States is the best.” Pretty good, I thought.
Another time we were visiting at Julola’s and a couple of old-timers were talking across the room. I asked my Finish friend what they were saying, and he replied, “You don’t understand them? They are speaking English.” I replied that it didn’t sound like English to me. And he said that they were putting Finnish ending on the words.
Two of my classmates lived in the nearby town of Eveleth, a town of maybe 7,000, and I hitchhiked the seven or nine miles to the home of Jerry Anderson (The Curly-Headed Swede). Also present was Art Columbo (The Red-Headed Italian). After the visit and dinner, I was going to hitchhike back to Virginia, but Jerry said, “We better take you as it is dark, where are you staying?” I told them,” Jukola’s Boarding house.” They hadn’t heard about it, so I tried to explain where Jukola was. Jerry said, “ It sounds like you are living in Fintown,” I said that you might call it that as there certainly are a lot of Finnish people there. “You don’t go out walking at night do you?” “Well I do, but since you mention it I don’t see anyone else walking around at night.” I guess that when the Swedes and Norwegians came into Fintown looking for trouble, they found it. Actually, the people I ran across were just hard-working people and nothing to be afraid of.
One time I had a swimming date with a nice looking Finnish girl. I have no idea how we met. Anyway afterward, I was told by my Swedish and Norwegian friends that I shouldn’t do that. That it was not right. There are parts of the country where you don’t have to be of colored skin to be discriminated against.
* https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMFVXD_Jukola_Boardinghouse_Virginia_MN
** I had heard a story about Finnish troops luring Soviet forces onto a frozen lake where the Finns had planted Christmas trees during the Finno-Soviet Wat of late 1939 and early 1940. When the Soviet force got onto the frozen lake, the Finnish forces blew up the ice on the lake for a great victory. (I have been unable to confirm this story, though Soviet forces did advance over frozen lakes.)
Thursday, November 21, 2019
A NOTE TO REMAINING READERS OF MY BLOG
November 2019 marks the 10th anniversary of Reunite Gondwanaland.
I have noted that the readership of my blog peaked in 2017. There was a period in 2017 where my posts got between 30 and 40 page views and some even a lot more (five got over 400 plus one got over 600!). In 2019, none of my last seven posts items have received as many as 20 page views including one with fewer than 10.
I consider "Can We Afford To Let Trump Continue" (October 18, 2019) to be a serious post; however, it has only received 17 page views. Since this item was published, Trump, November 18th, has already changed a long-held policy regarding the settlements by Israel in the West Bank. In comparison, a post titled America's 100 Wealthiest Zip Codes" (March 11, 2019) has received110 page views. Though I certainly enjoy it when one of my items receives over 100 page views, I have no idea why some do and some don't.
It isn't all tepid news, however, as seven posts in 2019 have received at least 100 page views. In addition, an old post from 2013, "On How Much Is Spent On Entertainment," seems to have come alive for some reason. Originally it got about 70 page views that is good for me, but, as of today (November 21, 2019), it stands at 711 page views. I have to wonder if someone is padding this piece, but maybe some large class has discovered it.
I do not understand why the interest has dropped, perhaps because most of my quoted material comes from CNBC and the WSJ? Maybe people feel they can just look at those references, though I try to give some of my own analysis too.
I am 88 years old and my main purpose in writing this blog is an attempt to keep my mind as sharp as possible. I am very pleased that some others look at my writings also. And who knows, every once in a while, one may catch fire.
I just want to let you know that I will continue to write this blog as long as I am able to and hope I can give readers a bit of understanding that they may not have otherwise realized.
I have noted that the readership of my blog peaked in 2017. There was a period in 2017 where my posts got between 30 and 40 page views and some even a lot more (five got over 400 plus one got over 600!). In 2019, none of my last seven posts items have received as many as 20 page views including one with fewer than 10.
I consider "Can We Afford To Let Trump Continue" (October 18, 2019) to be a serious post; however, it has only received 17 page views. Since this item was published, Trump, November 18th, has already changed a long-held policy regarding the settlements by Israel in the West Bank. In comparison, a post titled America's 100 Wealthiest Zip Codes" (March 11, 2019) has received110 page views. Though I certainly enjoy it when one of my items receives over 100 page views, I have no idea why some do and some don't.
It isn't all tepid news, however, as seven posts in 2019 have received at least 100 page views. In addition, an old post from 2013, "On How Much Is Spent On Entertainment," seems to have come alive for some reason. Originally it got about 70 page views that is good for me, but, as of today (November 21, 2019), it stands at 711 page views. I have to wonder if someone is padding this piece, but maybe some large class has discovered it.
I do not understand why the interest has dropped, perhaps because most of my quoted material comes from CNBC and the WSJ? Maybe people feel they can just look at those references, though I try to give some of my own analysis too.
I just want to let you know that I will continue to write this blog as long as I am able to and hope I can give readers a bit of understanding that they may not have otherwise realized.
Monday, November 18, 2019
TAKING ONE FOR THE PREZ
Just as he promised, Roger Stone has taken a bullet for the President and is found guilty on seven counts. Sentencing awaits February 6. If you count up the jail time for each count, it is said to total 20 (or is it 50) years, but no one thinks he will get that much. The way past sentencing has gone, my guess is that he will get 3-1/2 yrs, but I hope for seven years (one for each count).
Prosecutors portrayed Stone, 67, as a serial liar who tried to bully witnesses into not cooperating with authorities. They charged Stone, a confidant of President Donald Trump, with making false statements, obstruction and witness tampering in a case that was an offshoot of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.
Stone is the sixth Trump aide or adviser to be convicted of charges brought as part of Mueller's probe.*
It is possible for a white-collar crime to be given no jail time or a matter of weeks. This is a worry because the judge let Stone go on his own recognizance, which is unusual. I don't know why the sentencing takes so long except maybe to let things cool down first.
* https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/roger-stone-found-guilty-all-seven-counts-n1082326
Prosecutors portrayed Stone, 67, as a serial liar who tried to bully witnesses into not cooperating with authorities. They charged Stone, a confidant of President Donald Trump, with making false statements, obstruction and witness tampering in a case that was an offshoot of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.
Stone is the sixth Trump aide or adviser to be convicted of charges brought as part of Mueller's probe.*
It is possible for a white-collar crime to be given no jail time or a matter of weeks. This is a worry because the judge let Stone go on his own recognizance, which is unusual. I don't know why the sentencing takes so long except maybe to let things cool down first.
* https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/roger-stone-found-guilty-all-seven-counts-n1082326
Saturday, November 16, 2019
ON TRACK FOR A RECESSION - NOVEMBER 2019?
There are continuing signs of a coming recession or of a major "slowdown" of the global economy. The latest is American farmers are taking on record debt.* This is on top of consumers taking on record debt.** Needless to say that the American Federal government is also taking on record deficits stimulated by the latest tax increase using borrowed money.***
Over the next 10 years, annual federal deficits — when Congress spends more than it takes in through tax revenues — are expected to average $1.2 trillion, which would be 4.4 percent of gross domestic product. That's far higher than the 2.9 percent of GDP that has been the average for the past 50 years.
"Other than the period immediately after World War II, the only other time the average deficit has been so large over so many years was after the 2007–2009 recession," the CBO said last month.***
There are people worried about this. Over 50percent of large investors expect a major market correction in 2020.****
Increasing numbers of people aged 18-to-34 are taking money out of their 401(k) accounts, which financial advisors warn against.****
Two-thirds of Americans don't feel better off.****
At the same time, business investment in plant and equipment is dropping.
(https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/30/business-investment-drops-3percent-in-third-quarter-amid-trade-war-uncertainty.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/30/us-gdp-q3-2019-first-reading.html)
* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2019/10/recession-coming.html
** https://www.wsj.com/articles/farmers-in-crisis-turn-to-high-interest-loans-as-banks-pull-back-11573381801
**** https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/12/more-than-half-of-the-richest-investors-see-a-big-market-drop-in-2020.html
https://grow.acorns.com/how-to-avoid-dipping-into-your-401k
https://grow.acorns.com/how-to-feel-better-off-according-to-experts
Over the next 10 years, annual federal deficits — when Congress spends more than it takes in through tax revenues — are expected to average $1.2 trillion, which would be 4.4 percent of gross domestic product. That's far higher than the 2.9 percent of GDP that has been the average for the past 50 years.
"Other than the period immediately after World War II, the only other time the average deficit has been so large over so many years was after the 2007–2009 recession," the CBO said last month.***
There are people worried about this. Over 50percent of large investors expect a major market correction in 2020.****
Increasing numbers of people aged 18-to-34 are taking money out of their 401(k) accounts, which financial advisors warn against.****
Two-thirds of Americans don't feel better off.****
At the same time, business investment in plant and equipment is dropping.
(https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/30/business-investment-drops-3percent-in-third-quarter-amid-trade-war-uncertainty.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/30/us-gdp-q3-2019-first-reading.html)
* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2019/10/recession-coming.html
** https://www.wsj.com/articles/farmers-in-crisis-turn-to-high-interest-loans-as-banks-pull-back-11573381801
**** https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/12/more-than-half-of-the-richest-investors-see-a-big-market-drop-in-2020.html
https://grow.acorns.com/how-to-avoid-dipping-into-your-401k
https://grow.acorns.com/how-to-feel-better-off-according-to-experts
Friday, November 15, 2019
REPUBLICAN SENATORS OWE BILL CLINTON AN APOLOGY
The way Republican Senators are defending President Donald Trump, makes Bill Clinton's impeachment look like a fraud. They say a sitting president cannot be indicted for crimes committed while serving as President and that trying to get a foreign government to make up stories about a political rival does not rise to an impeachable level. Republicans say that the Trump impeachment is an attempt to overturn an election. With Bill Clinton, it apparently was all right with Republicans to overturn an election.
But that was then, this is now. During the Obama Administration, Republicans were very much in favor of the secrecy of Whistleblowers over the Fast and Furious scandal. Now, of course, they want to "out" the Trump Whistleblower, even though everything he has said is now verified. You get the feeling that Republicans would like to see the Whistleblower killed.
But that was then, this is now. During the Obama Administration, Republicans were very much in favor of the secrecy of Whistleblowers over the Fast and Furious scandal. Now, of course, they want to "out" the Trump Whistleblower, even though everything he has said is now verified. You get the feeling that Republicans would like to see the Whistleblower killed.
Saturday, November 9, 2019
THE BERLIN WALL AND ME (Biographical)
We are celebrating the Fall of the Berlin Wall, I guess 30 yrs ago today (November 9th). I had my own little experience with the "Berlin Wall" in 1969 though where I was, it wasn't a wall but a tall wire fence guarded by observation towers (perhaps 30 ft tall) occupied by soldiers with some sort of machine guns.
A small group of us were examining an exposure of the thin copper-bearing formation of the Kupferschiefer (Copper Slate) in rural West Germany. It was a bit unnerving knowing that there were armed men in the towers observing us and wondering what we were doing (digging a tunnel?), but perhaps many people came to this location to study the geology.
At any rate after some time, I took some samples and we left without incident except maybe frayed nerves.
* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/search?q=Berlin+Wall
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kupferschiefer
A small group of us were examining an exposure of the thin copper-bearing formation of the Kupferschiefer (Copper Slate) in rural West Germany. It was a bit unnerving knowing that there were armed men in the towers observing us and wondering what we were doing (digging a tunnel?), but perhaps many people came to this location to study the geology.
At any rate after some time, I took some samples and we left without incident except maybe frayed nerves.
* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/search?q=Berlin+Wall
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kupferschiefer
MY FAVORITES FOR PRESIDENT - NOV. UPDATE
Nancy Pelosi 79 in March (b March 26, 1940)
Bernie Sanders 78 in September (b September 8, 1941)
Joe Biden 77 in November (b November 20, 1942)
Mitch Mcconnell 77 last February (b. February 20, 1942)
Michael Bloomberg 77 last February (b. February 14, 1942)
Donald Trump 73 in June (b June 14, 1946)
Eliz. Warren 70 in June (b June 22, 1949)
I had dropped Beto O'Rourke from my list (a first choice) because in his "reboot" of his campaign he said he would have mandatory government purchase of all AR-15 type weapons from the public. Also, he would remove the tax-free status of all churches that refused to comply with the law. While I agree with both these stands, either one would lead to his defeat in an election. He has also recently formally dropped out of the race.
Amy Klobuchar has shone some faint signs of coming alive so I am happy to continue with her, now in first place.
I'll stick with Steve Bullock, now my second choice.
It looks as if Joe Biden is losing some of his steam. I feel he is too old. I'll put Michael Bloomberg in my 3rd place. I do think he is too old, but he seems put together. My worry is that he will detract from Biden and Klobuchar.
So my choices are:
(1) Amy Klobuchar (age 59)
(2) Steve Bullock (age 53)
(3) Michael Bloomberg (77)?
Bernie Sanders 78 in September (b September 8, 1941)
Joe Biden 77 in November (b November 20, 1942)
Mitch Mcconnell 77 last February (b. February 20, 1942)
Michael Bloomberg 77 last February (b. February 14, 1942)
Donald Trump 73 in June (b June 14, 1946)
Eliz. Warren 70 in June (b June 22, 1949)
I had dropped Beto O'Rourke from my list (a first choice) because in his "reboot" of his campaign he said he would have mandatory government purchase of all AR-15 type weapons from the public. Also, he would remove the tax-free status of all churches that refused to comply with the law. While I agree with both these stands, either one would lead to his defeat in an election. He has also recently formally dropped out of the race.
Amy Klobuchar has shone some faint signs of coming alive so I am happy to continue with her, now in first place.
I'll stick with Steve Bullock, now my second choice.
It looks as if Joe Biden is losing some of his steam. I feel he is too old. I'll put Michael Bloomberg in my 3rd place. I do think he is too old, but he seems put together. My worry is that he will detract from Biden and Klobuchar.
So my choices are:
(1) Amy Klobuchar (age 59)
(2) Steve Bullock (age 53)
(3) Michael Bloomberg (77)?
Saturday, November 2, 2019
NOT WHAT YOU KNOW BUT WHO YOU KNOW
When I was growing up, I frequently heard the phrase "It's not what you know but who you know." Of course, this is said by people who feel they were left out of something because they did not have the proper "qualifications."
The above statement particularly applies to graduates of Ivy League schools that in my experience "Ivy League graduates have to prove they cannot do the job whereas the rest of us have to prove we can do the job." This is why certain wealthy parents are willing to make illegal bribes to get their children into certain colleges, i.e. graduating from these colleges will probably" get you through the door" in applications.
Though my Ph.D. was not from any of the Ivy League colleges, I did get a job because an old professor at my undergraduate college remembered me and hired me into a job that I was qualified to do, but not what I expected to do. In hindsight, I have no complaints.
I also feel that graduates of Harvard, Princeton, and Yale are more equal among Ivy League equals.
The point of all this is what people don't realize is that the Ukraine electric company did not want Hunter Biden for his expertise in electricity but in the hopes that he could open some doors for the electric company. If he did that, he was well worth the money, said to be $50,000/mo.**
To review: The eight members are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University. Ivy League has connotations of academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism.* (Underlining added)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_League
**https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/15/trump-lawyer-giuliani-was-paid-500000-to-consult-on-indicted-associates-firm.htmll
The above statement particularly applies to graduates of Ivy League schools that in my experience "Ivy League graduates have to prove they cannot do the job whereas the rest of us have to prove we can do the job." This is why certain wealthy parents are willing to make illegal bribes to get their children into certain colleges, i.e. graduating from these colleges will probably" get you through the door" in applications.
Though my Ph.D. was not from any of the Ivy League colleges, I did get a job because an old professor at my undergraduate college remembered me and hired me into a job that I was qualified to do, but not what I expected to do. In hindsight, I have no complaints.
I also feel that graduates of Harvard, Princeton, and Yale are more equal among Ivy League equals.
The point of all this is what people don't realize is that the Ukraine electric company did not want Hunter Biden for his expertise in electricity but in the hopes that he could open some doors for the electric company. If he did that, he was well worth the money, said to be $50,000/mo.**
To review: The eight members are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University. Ivy League has connotations of academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism.* (Underlining added)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_League
**https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/15/trump-lawyer-giuliani-was-paid-500000-to-consult-on-indicted-associates-firm.htmll
Sunday, October 27, 2019
DIET AND IQ
I assume that poor families have poor diets from birth and wonder if this can account for such babies to develop lower IQs? The main growth stage of the brain occurs in the first three years.
An article in the Telegraph on October 21, 2019, finds that diet in early childhood can influence intelligence to some degree.
The results found after taking account of potentially influential factors, a predominantly processed food diet at the age of three was associated with a lower IQ at the age of eight and a half, irrespective of whether the diet improved after that age.
.................................................................
She noted the brain grows at its fastest rate during the first three years of life – indicating that head growth at this time is linked to intellectual ability.*
There are other articles claiming diet in the earliest years can raise your IQ
*https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/8308726/Food-for-thought-diet-does-boost-your-intelligence.html
** https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3002/The-IQ-diet.html
An article in the Telegraph on October 21, 2019, finds that diet in early childhood can influence intelligence to some degree.
The results found after taking account of potentially influential factors, a predominantly processed food diet at the age of three was associated with a lower IQ at the age of eight and a half, irrespective of whether the diet improved after that age.
.................................................................
She noted the brain grows at its fastest rate during the first three years of life – indicating that head growth at this time is linked to intellectual ability.*
There are other articles claiming diet in the earliest years can raise your IQ
All types of oily fish apart from canned tuna, are an excellent source of
the omega-3 fats which play important structural and biochemical roles in the
brain.
Lack of the fatty acid DHA in the womb can hinder brain development, and
premature babies given non-fortified formula milks develop lower IQs than
those fed breast milk naturally rich in omega-3s.**
*https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/8308726/Food-for-thought-diet-does-boost-your-intelligence.html
** https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3002/The-IQ-diet.html
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
RECESSION COMING?
Items indicating the economy may go into a recession.
(1) Decreasing carloads for train transport and overcapacity of trucking are good signs.
There’s no bottom in sight as the decline in carloads for large U.S. railroads widened to 5.5% in the third quarter, the biggest drop in three years, according to weekly reports from the Association of American Railroads. Shipments are down for autos, coal, grain, chemicals and consumer goods, with crude oil the only bright spot.*
(2) Millennials are increasingly going into financial debt.
The average American has three credit cards and a total balance of $6,506, up slightly from last year, according to Experian’s annual study on the state of credit and debt in America.**
(3) Outstanding consumer debt now exceeds $4 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve.
The average American has three credit cards and a total balance of $6,506, up slightly from last year, according to Experian’s annual study on the state of credit and debt in America.**
(4) A CNBC report says that the ultra-wealthy are expecting a recession.
To mitigate risks, 45% of them are already adjusting their portfolios, including shifting to bonds and real estate, while 42% are increasing their cash reserves.***
(5) Barclays analysis points to a slowdown in capital expenditures by companies.
Barclays used a machine learning tool to analyze company managements’ commentary on capital expenditures during earnings calls. The result revealed a weaker corporate sentiment, where companies are likely to trim investments in new or upgraded plant and equipment in the face of escalated trade tensions.****
(6) While the Treasury Yield Curve had inverted (short term notes higher than longer-term securities) for a part of this year (2019), lately it has become more normal (as of October 22, 2019). An inverted curve is seen as a sign of a coming recession.
Harvey said the curve needs to stay inverted for three months to be reliable, so in this instance the duration means the indicator is “flashing code red” for a recession.
...........................................................
The one bright spot, he said, is that those watching the indicator can, and sometimes do, plan ahead. The inversion is not a coincident indicator but rather one that points to downturns six to 18 months or so in the future. So businesses can react to it, for instance, by delaying spending plans until the storm passes.*****
* https://www.industryweek.com/supply-chain/railroad-loads-continue-decline-casualty-manufacturing-slowdow
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/16/ceo-of-the-largest-us-trucking-company-predicts-difficult-quarter-for-transport-industry.html
** https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/22/your-credit-card-debt-could-be-making-you-sick.html
*** https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/24/a-majority-of-ultra-wealthy-expect-a-recession-and-are-hunkering-down.html
**** https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/24/computer-analysis-of-ceo-transcripts-points-to-an-economic-slowdown.html
***** https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/pages/TextView.aspx?
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/08/inverted-yield-curve-guru-campbell-harvey-prepare-for-recession.html
(1) Decreasing carloads for train transport and overcapacity of trucking are good signs.
There’s no bottom in sight as the decline in carloads for large U.S. railroads widened to 5.5% in the third quarter, the biggest drop in three years, according to weekly reports from the Association of American Railroads. Shipments are down for autos, coal, grain, chemicals and consumer goods, with crude oil the only bright spot.*
(2) Millennials are increasingly going into financial debt.
The average American has three credit cards and a total balance of $6,506, up slightly from last year, according to Experian’s annual study on the state of credit and debt in America.**
(3) Outstanding consumer debt now exceeds $4 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve.
The average American has three credit cards and a total balance of $6,506, up slightly from last year, according to Experian’s annual study on the state of credit and debt in America.**
(4) A CNBC report says that the ultra-wealthy are expecting a recession.
To mitigate risks, 45% of them are already adjusting their portfolios, including shifting to bonds and real estate, while 42% are increasing their cash reserves.***
(5) Barclays analysis points to a slowdown in capital expenditures by companies.
Barclays used a machine learning tool to analyze company managements’ commentary on capital expenditures during earnings calls. The result revealed a weaker corporate sentiment, where companies are likely to trim investments in new or upgraded plant and equipment in the face of escalated trade tensions.****
(6) While the Treasury Yield Curve had inverted (short term notes higher than longer-term securities) for a part of this year (2019), lately it has become more normal (as of October 22, 2019). An inverted curve is seen as a sign of a coming recession.
Harvey said the curve needs to stay inverted for three months to be reliable, so in this instance the duration means the indicator is “flashing code red” for a recession.
...........................................................
The one bright spot, he said, is that those watching the indicator can, and sometimes do, plan ahead. The inversion is not a coincident indicator but rather one that points to downturns six to 18 months or so in the future. So businesses can react to it, for instance, by delaying spending plans until the storm passes.*****
* https://www.industryweek.com/supply-chain/railroad-loads-continue-decline-casualty-manufacturing-slowdow
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/16/ceo-of-the-largest-us-trucking-company-predicts-difficult-quarter-for-transport-industry.html
** https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/22/your-credit-card-debt-could-be-making-you-sick.html
*** https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/24/a-majority-of-ultra-wealthy-expect-a-recession-and-are-hunkering-down.html
**** https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/24/computer-analysis-of-ceo-transcripts-points-to-an-economic-slowdown.html
***** https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/pages/TextView.aspx?
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/08/inverted-yield-curve-guru-campbell-harvey-prepare-for-recession.html
Friday, October 18, 2019
CAN WE AFFORD TO LET TRUMP CONTINUE?
I realize that the next election is only about a year away; however, can we afford to let President Trump continue his rule until the election is over? I'm thinking of the Syrian Kurds that President Trump has abandoned and are now being slaughtered by the Turks. And the whole Ukraine corruption scandal deserves an impeachment all by itself.
As I am writing this, Mick Mulvaney has confessed to quid pro quo on Ukraine for political purposes.*
Trump could do something else like these in the next year, even several scandals. Let's see there is NATO that he seems not to like because many participants haven't paid up. Or maybe withdrawing all our troops from Afghanistan. What about withdrawing our troops from South Korea? Trump at some point has considered all of these actions. And of course, he stopped our Naval military maneuvers to please the dictator of North Korea.
Then there are possibilities of Trump doing something not considered like removing all troops from Iraq. There may be something in our foreign relations I have not even considered. My guess is that Trump will do something more of the nature of the Syrian troop withdrawal during the next year, and, maybe, even more than one thing such as involving Ukraine or some other country he thinks he can bribe.
Note added November 21, 2019: An example of what I mean is a Trump change to a long-held policy stated November 18, 2019: The U.S. no longer will consider Israeli settlements to be illegal under international law, officials said Monday, in a move that formalizes the Trump administration’s treatment of the West Bank and shifts decades of U.S. policy.
(https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-administration-to-say-israeli-settlements-arent-illegal-11574104691)
Note added November 25: Now President Trump has dipped deep into military justice by ordering that a Navy Seal who took a picture where he poses with a corpse killed in Iraq should retain his navy Seal medal.
(https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/25/opinion/letters/trump-navy-seals.html) How did Trump even know this was going on? Trump began to get involved in the Gallagher case in the spring after Bernard Kerik, a former business partner to his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, became an advocate for the family and made appearances in conservative media.
The SEAL also changed his defense team to include Marc Mukasey, a lawyer for the Trump real estate company.
(https://www.stripes.com/news/us/trump-s-actions-in-navy-seal-case-raise-concern-about-role-in-military-justice-1.608691)
What will it take to get Senate Republicans to act?
* http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/white-houses-mulvaney-admits-there-was-quid-pro-quo-ukraine
As I am writing this, Mick Mulvaney has confessed to quid pro quo on Ukraine for political purposes.*
Trump could do something else like these in the next year, even several scandals. Let's see there is NATO that he seems not to like because many participants haven't paid up. Or maybe withdrawing all our troops from Afghanistan. What about withdrawing our troops from South Korea? Trump at some point has considered all of these actions. And of course, he stopped our Naval military maneuvers to please the dictator of North Korea.
Then there are possibilities of Trump doing something not considered like removing all troops from Iraq. There may be something in our foreign relations I have not even considered. My guess is that Trump will do something more of the nature of the Syrian troop withdrawal during the next year, and, maybe, even more than one thing such as involving Ukraine or some other country he thinks he can bribe.
Note added November 21, 2019: An example of what I mean is a Trump change to a long-held policy stated November 18, 2019: The U.S. no longer will consider Israeli settlements to be illegal under international law, officials said Monday, in a move that formalizes the Trump administration’s treatment of the West Bank and shifts decades of U.S. policy.
(https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-administration-to-say-israeli-settlements-arent-illegal-11574104691)
Note added November 25: Now President Trump has dipped deep into military justice by ordering that a Navy Seal who took a picture where he poses with a corpse killed in Iraq should retain his navy Seal medal.
(https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/25/opinion/letters/trump-navy-seals.html) How did Trump even know this was going on? Trump began to get involved in the Gallagher case in the spring after Bernard Kerik, a former business partner to his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, became an advocate for the family and made appearances in conservative media.
The SEAL also changed his defense team to include Marc Mukasey, a lawyer for the Trump real estate company.
(https://www.stripes.com/news/us/trump-s-actions-in-navy-seal-case-raise-concern-about-role-in-military-justice-1.608691)
What will it take to get Senate Republicans to act?
* http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/white-houses-mulvaney-admits-there-was-quid-pro-quo-ukraine
Sunday, October 13, 2019
WHAT IS IT ABOUT DONALD TRUMP?
What is it about Donald Trump that people are willing to trash their reputations to try to save him? Recently I wrote three posts on Save A$$ Time for Bill Barr, Mike Pompeo, and Mike Pence.*
The sadist story is perhaps Rudy Giuliani who was a hero of 9/11 that earned him the title of America's Mayor and for decreasing crime in New York City. I haven't written about him regarding SaveA$$ Time because his story is so well known. He may be the one in a most hazardous situation because of recent developments regarding two of his associated being indicted for campaign finance violations.** Why couldn't Giuliani just be happy with being called America's Mayor, but instead risk going to jail for Donald Trump?
Giuliani, an attorney for President Trump, said he finds it "extremely suspicious" that the arrest [of Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman] was made in connection with an FEC matter that has yet to be resolved, and which Giuliani said is a civil matter. Giuliani acknowledged that both men "logistically helped" in his collection of evidence against Hunter Biden, and that they helped connect him with former Ukrainian top prosecutors Viktor Shokin and Yuriy Lutsenko.
Bill Barr seemed to leave his first tour as Attorney General with a good reputation. Why has he risked going to jail for Donald Trump trying to save Donald Trump from himself and leaving his reputation in shambles?
Though Mike Pompeo is less well known than either of these other two, he makes statements about Donald Trump such as, "He is known to make extravagant statements about Donald Trump suggesting Trump is sent by God." Talk about "over the top" language.
Mike Pence's story is also different from Guiliani, Barr, and Pompeo in that he seemed to be in trouble in Indiana politics and his political career was saved by Trump making him his running mate. Thus Pence has a reason to be grateful to Trump for political career Pence who is known as being a good speaker has repeatedly lied for the President. His ability to do this with a straight face is amazing. Pence's lying about Ukraine is a case in point. It is hard to believe his political career will survive his Vice Presidency. There are even rumors that Trump might ditch him in the 2020 election.
Why do these people do this? What is it about Donald Trump that people are willing to trash their reputations for Donald Trump and follow Donald Trump over a cliff? They should have talked to Republican Rick Wilson first.
In Everything Trump Touches Dies, political campaign strategist and commentator Rick Wilson brings his darkly funny humor and biting analysis to the absurdity of American politics in the age of Trump. Wilson mercilessly exposes the damage Trump has done to the country, to the Republican Party he served for decades, and to the conservative movement that has abandoned its principles for the worst President in American history.***
* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2019/10/its-save-time.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2019/10/its-save-time-mike-pompeo.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2019/10/its-savea-time-mike-pence.html
** https://www.foxnews.com/politics/giuliani-associates-indicted-on-campaign-finance-charges
*** https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Trump-Touches-Dies-Republican/dp/1982103124
The sadist story is perhaps Rudy Giuliani who was a hero of 9/11 that earned him the title of America's Mayor and for decreasing crime in New York City. I haven't written about him regarding SaveA$$ Time because his story is so well known. He may be the one in a most hazardous situation because of recent developments regarding two of his associated being indicted for campaign finance violations.** Why couldn't Giuliani just be happy with being called America's Mayor, but instead risk going to jail for Donald Trump?
Giuliani, an attorney for President Trump, said he finds it "extremely suspicious" that the arrest [of Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman] was made in connection with an FEC matter that has yet to be resolved, and which Giuliani said is a civil matter. Giuliani acknowledged that both men "logistically helped" in his collection of evidence against Hunter Biden, and that they helped connect him with former Ukrainian top prosecutors Viktor Shokin and Yuriy Lutsenko.
Bill Barr seemed to leave his first tour as Attorney General with a good reputation. Why has he risked going to jail for Donald Trump trying to save Donald Trump from himself and leaving his reputation in shambles?
Though Mike Pompeo is less well known than either of these other two, he makes statements about Donald Trump such as, "He is known to make extravagant statements about Donald Trump suggesting Trump is sent by God." Talk about "over the top" language.
Mike Pence's story is also different from Guiliani, Barr, and Pompeo in that he seemed to be in trouble in Indiana politics and his political career was saved by Trump making him his running mate. Thus Pence has a reason to be grateful to Trump for political career Pence who is known as being a good speaker has repeatedly lied for the President. His ability to do this with a straight face is amazing. Pence's lying about Ukraine is a case in point. It is hard to believe his political career will survive his Vice Presidency. There are even rumors that Trump might ditch him in the 2020 election.
Why do these people do this? What is it about Donald Trump that people are willing to trash their reputations for Donald Trump and follow Donald Trump over a cliff? They should have talked to Republican Rick Wilson first.
In Everything Trump Touches Dies, political campaign strategist and commentator Rick Wilson brings his darkly funny humor and biting analysis to the absurdity of American politics in the age of Trump. Wilson mercilessly exposes the damage Trump has done to the country, to the Republican Party he served for decades, and to the conservative movement that has abandoned its principles for the worst President in American history.***
* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2019/10/its-save-time.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2019/10/its-save-time-mike-pompeo.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2019/10/its-savea-time-mike-pence.html
** https://www.foxnews.com/politics/giuliani-associates-indicted-on-campaign-finance-charges
*** https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Trump-Touches-Dies-Republican/dp/1982103124
Thursday, October 10, 2019
IT'S "SAVEA$$" TIME - MIKE PENCE
President Trump says "Why aren't people looking into Vice President Pence's telephone calls?" How does that make you feel VP Pence having the Prez ready to throw you under the bus?*
Vice President Mike Pence (60) was a member of the House of Representatives from 2001-2013 and the 50th governor of Indiana 2013-2017. Among other things, Mike Pence really was an "altar boy."** Early in his career, Pence became known as an excellent speaker.
Pence is among those who call "global warming" a myth.
Before being governor: And, while Pence ran the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, it published an essay arguing that unmarried women should be denied access to birth control. ***
While governor, Pence signed bills intended to restrict abortions, including one that prohibited abortions if the reason for the procedure was the fetus's race, gender, or disability.*
............................................................
Eventually, the [Indiana] legislature went along with what Pence often describes as “the largest income-tax cut in the state’s history,” even though Indiana already had one of the lowest income taxes in the country,
As a congressman: In 2011, he made the evening news by threatening to shut down the federal government unless it defunded Planned Parenthood. ***
...........................................................
He sponsored an unsuccessful amendment to the Affordable Care Act that would have made it legal for government-funded hospitals to turn away a dying woman who needed an abortion.
Pence is on shaky ground as he supported Gen. Flynn as National Security advisor and got messed up in the Comey firing where he said the firing had nothing to do with the Russians only to have Trump contradict him awhile later.
Pence has also gotten messed up in the Ukraine business.
The vice president would very much like to stress that he did not intend to speak in code and knew nothing about Trump’s attempt to extort Ukraine whatsoever. Officials close to Pence told the Post that “he was unaware of Trump’s efforts to press Zelensky for damaging information about Biden and his son,” and that even though such efforts were laid out plain as day in the briefing book he undoubtedly received, “he traveled to Warsaw for a meeting with Zelensky on September 1 probably without having read—or at least fully registered—the transcript of Trump’s July 25 call with the leader of Ukraine.” (Amusingly, at least one Pence aide could not abide the notion that his boss wouldn’t have read or registered the significance of the call, and “disputed the notion that the vice president was poorly prepared for his meeting with Zelensky,” which kind of blows a hole in the whole “he had no idea what was happening!” defense.)***
One thing we do know is that Pence is at least as good a lier as Donald Trump and that says something.
* https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/25/trump-pence-ukraine-phone-calls-1512771
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Pence
*** https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/23/the-danger-of-president-pence
**** https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/10/mike-pence-ukraine-scandal
Vice President Mike Pence (60) was a member of the House of Representatives from 2001-2013 and the 50th governor of Indiana 2013-2017. Among other things, Mike Pence really was an "altar boy."** Early in his career, Pence became known as an excellent speaker.
Pence is among those who call "global warming" a myth.
Before being governor: And, while Pence ran the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, it published an essay arguing that unmarried women should be denied access to birth control. ***
While governor, Pence signed bills intended to restrict abortions, including one that prohibited abortions if the reason for the procedure was the fetus's race, gender, or disability.*
............................................................
Eventually, the [Indiana] legislature went along with what Pence often describes as “the largest income-tax cut in the state’s history,” even though Indiana already had one of the lowest income taxes in the country,
As a congressman: In 2011, he made the evening news by threatening to shut down the federal government unless it defunded Planned Parenthood. ***
...........................................................
He sponsored an unsuccessful amendment to the Affordable Care Act that would have made it legal for government-funded hospitals to turn away a dying woman who needed an abortion.
Pence is on shaky ground as he supported Gen. Flynn as National Security advisor and got messed up in the Comey firing where he said the firing had nothing to do with the Russians only to have Trump contradict him awhile later.
Pence has also gotten messed up in the Ukraine business.
The vice president would very much like to stress that he did not intend to speak in code and knew nothing about Trump’s attempt to extort Ukraine whatsoever. Officials close to Pence told the Post that “he was unaware of Trump’s efforts to press Zelensky for damaging information about Biden and his son,” and that even though such efforts were laid out plain as day in the briefing book he undoubtedly received, “he traveled to Warsaw for a meeting with Zelensky on September 1 probably without having read—or at least fully registered—the transcript of Trump’s July 25 call with the leader of Ukraine.” (Amusingly, at least one Pence aide could not abide the notion that his boss wouldn’t have read or registered the significance of the call, and “disputed the notion that the vice president was poorly prepared for his meeting with Zelensky,” which kind of blows a hole in the whole “he had no idea what was happening!” defense.)***
One thing we do know is that Pence is at least as good a lier as Donald Trump and that says something.
* https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/25/trump-pence-ukraine-phone-calls-1512771
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Pence
*** https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/23/the-danger-of-president-pence
**** https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/10/mike-pence-ukraine-scandal
Friday, October 4, 2019
IT'S "SAVE A$$" TIME - MIKE POMPEO
Like so many of President Trump's appointments, the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (ag 55) has a strong religious connection as an evangelical Presbyterian Christian and is said to keep a bible open on his desk. He is known to make extravagant statements about Donald Trump suggesting Trump is sent by God.* Pompeo was briefly Director of the CIA under Trump where he planned to hire chaplains.**
Pompeo is a graduate of West Point graduating with a degree in engineering management and served about five years of active duty in Germany leaving the service as a Captain. He also obtained a law degree from Harvard and was involved in both the Law Review and Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy.** As Secretary of State Pompeo has said that Isreal is how the Middle East should look.
In rejecting a claimed double standard in recognizing Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights but placing sanctions on Russia for annexing Crimea in 2014, Pompeo said "What the President did with the Golan Heights is recognize the reality on the ground and the security situation necessary for the protection of the Israeli state."**
Pompeo's most recent trouble regards his lying about not being on the telephone during the infamous call by Donald Trump to Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which he urged Ukraine President to investigate the Bidens (father and son). Now Pompeo admits he was in on the call.
Pompeo's obsequious behavior toward President Trump has received some very strong responses.
Meanwhile, Pompeo’s slavishness toward Trump somehow deepened even more, leading to the notorious comments from former officials in a New Yorker profile that Pompeo is “among the most sycophantic and obsequious people around Trump” and “a heat-seeking missile for Trump’s ass.”***
Pompano has turned over a large segment of the State Department in the effort to get Ukraine President to investigate Hunter Trump and his father. Hunter got on the board of directors of a private Ukranian electric power firm said to pay him $50,000/mo. So Trump feels something is crooked (or at least he hopes so). As they say, it probably is "not what you know but who you know." I've had it explained to me why the company probably did this, but I won't go into it. If that is a crime, then Trump's family better lookout. The Chinese have given daughter Ivanka a load of patents or is it copyrights.
Pompeo is trying to keep his subordinates from participating in congressional oversight, which has caused the chairmen of three House committees to issue a warning to Pompareo about bullying his subordinates.****
* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2019/08/mike-pompeo.html
** http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2019/08/mike-pompeo.html
*** https://www.republicreport.org/2019/koch-puppet-to-trump-henchman-mike-pompeos-never-gonna-be-president-now/
**** https://www.newsmax.com/politics/mike-pompeo-impeachment-witness-intimidation/2019/10/01/id/935155/?ns_mail_uid=142cf6cb-b757-4a77-afda-d3310b9288ee&ns_mail_job=DM55752_10012019&s=acs&dkt_nbr=010124awf001
Pompeo is a graduate of West Point graduating with a degree in engineering management and served about five years of active duty in Germany leaving the service as a Captain. He also obtained a law degree from Harvard and was involved in both the Law Review and Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy.** As Secretary of State Pompeo has said that Isreal is how the Middle East should look.
In rejecting a claimed double standard in recognizing Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights but placing sanctions on Russia for annexing Crimea in 2014, Pompeo said "What the President did with the Golan Heights is recognize the reality on the ground and the security situation necessary for the protection of the Israeli state."**
Pompeo's most recent trouble regards his lying about not being on the telephone during the infamous call by Donald Trump to Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which he urged Ukraine President to investigate the Bidens (father and son). Now Pompeo admits he was in on the call.
Pompeo's obsequious behavior toward President Trump has received some very strong responses.
Meanwhile, Pompeo’s slavishness toward Trump somehow deepened even more, leading to the notorious comments from former officials in a New Yorker profile that Pompeo is “among the most sycophantic and obsequious people around Trump” and “a heat-seeking missile for Trump’s ass.”***
Pompano has turned over a large segment of the State Department in the effort to get Ukraine President to investigate Hunter Trump and his father. Hunter got on the board of directors of a private Ukranian electric power firm said to pay him $50,000/mo. So Trump feels something is crooked (or at least he hopes so). As they say, it probably is "not what you know but who you know." I've had it explained to me why the company probably did this, but I won't go into it. If that is a crime, then Trump's family better lookout. The Chinese have given daughter Ivanka a load of patents or is it copyrights.
Pompeo is trying to keep his subordinates from participating in congressional oversight, which has caused the chairmen of three House committees to issue a warning to Pompareo about bullying his subordinates.****
* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2019/08/mike-pompeo.html
** http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2019/08/mike-pompeo.html
*** https://www.republicreport.org/2019/koch-puppet-to-trump-henchman-mike-pompeos-never-gonna-be-president-now/
**** https://www.newsmax.com/politics/mike-pompeo-impeachment-witness-intimidation/2019/10/01/id/935155/?ns_mail_uid=142cf6cb-b757-4a77-afda-d3310b9288ee&ns_mail_job=DM55752_10012019&s=acs&dkt_nbr=010124awf001
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
IT'S "SAVE A$$" TIME - BILL BARR
I think that Bill Barr (age 69), Attorney General,* should start being more careful. Remember George Mitchell, President Nixon's Attorney General who went to jail. I don't know why Barr took it upon himself to protect President Trump from himself.** Barr had seemed to be a rather respected Attorney General the last time he held the position in the George H.W. Bush's Presidency (Bush-41), though that is not my opinion. I'm not sure that saving Trump from himself includes going to jail for him, but if Barr isn't more careful, and that could happen.
Barr was known to promote increased incarceration. Why would he come back to save an, ahem, crook from his crooked ways? His belief in increased incarceration did not apply to Republican politicians. Back in the Bush-41 period, New York Times writer William Safire began to refer to Barr as "Coverup-General Barr.*
Like so many of Donald Trump's appointments, it also may have spiritual roots.
Barr seems to be uncomfortable with things like secular government, church-state separation, religious pluralism and indeed the realities of modern life.**
But William Barr continues his A$$ Kissing by reserving a grand party facility at the Trump Washington Internation Hotel (where Trump is in violation of his lease with the government).***
I would guess that Bill Barr will be remembered, at best, for being President Trump's errand boy as he is running all over the world trying to promote Trump's fallacies.****
Think about that for a moment. The attorney general of the United States is personally chasing shadows and phantoms around the world to try to prove that the CIA secretly tried to sabotage the campaign of the current president of the United States. Yet somehow the spooks kept it all under wraps until after the election, at which point they launched an investigation to cripple him. Why they would have done all this is unclear. It's not as if the intelligence agencies haven't worked for Republicans before.****
I would guess that Bill Barr will be remembered, at best, for being President Trump's errand boy as he is running all over the world trying to promote Trump's fallacies.****
Think about that for a moment. The attorney general of the United States is personally chasing shadows and phantoms around the world to try to prove that the CIA secretly tried to sabotage the campaign of the current president of the United States. Yet somehow the spooks kept it all under wraps until after the election, at which point they launched an investigation to cripple him. Why they would have done all this is unclear. It's not as if the intelligence agencies haven't worked for Republicans before.****
But Barr is not alone. Consider Pompeo.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Barr
** https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/william-barr-wants-to-bring-gods-law-to-america
*** https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/28/opinions/barr-sucking-up-to-trump-begala/index.htm
**** https://www.salon.com/2019/10/02/yes-its-this-bad-conspiracy-hunter-bill-barr-is-roaming-the-globe-under-trumps-orders/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/10/01/government-by-conspiracy-theory-rides-again/
**** https://www.salon.com/2019/10/02/yes-its-this-bad-conspiracy-hunter-bill-barr-is-roaming-the-globe-under-trumps-orders/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/10/01/government-by-conspiracy-theory-rides-again/
Saturday, September 28, 2019
HAPLESS UKRAINE TODAY
I have written a lot about Ukraine.* My comment previously that summarizes up my opinion of Ukraine was published in July of 2018:
"The politics of Ukraine is so corrupt, that I doubt they deserve to remain a nation."*
At one time, Ukraine was a wealthy country:
On the other hand, Ukraine is fairly rich in natural resources (especially much excellent farmland) and they do have industry,*but the management makes them one of the poorest countries in Europe. In fact, people run benefits to help support their army! Former Prime Minister and current Presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko said she will donate her campaign money to the Ukrainian military! That is how sick the country is.
Four of my previous discussions of Ukraine were before the Trump Presidency, but Ukraine seems to be a part of the news ever since Donald Trump was elected President. Paul Manafort came to light when he volunteered to help the Trump campaign for President for free.** It was known that Manafort was involved in Ukrainian politics big time and was in debt to one of the Russian oligarchs. I felt at the time of Manadort's appointment to the Trump campaign that he was a Russian plant (as was his sidekick Rick Gates who I learned of later). Perhaps the Trump campaign was fooled by the fact that Manafort had been involved in presidential elections previously. When Manafort was terminated about 3 mo. later, I thought that the Trump campaign had figured out that Manafort was a Russian plant and let him go. Gates, however, stayed on.
Things quieted down for a while regarding Ukraine in 2014, but recently former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, of all people, was found to have been on the Board of Directors of a Ukrainian natural gas company called Burisma Holdings in April 2014, heading their legal affairs unit.*** His term ended in April 2019.*** He is not accused in Ukraine of doing anything wrong. Still, Hunter has capitalized on his father's political career. While capitalizing on your father's political career is not unusual, these seem to be big-time financial positions one would associate Trump.
Some Republicans have wanted to equate Biden's threat to withhold a billion dollars of aid from Ukraine with Trump's withholding of nearly $400 million of armaments; however, Biden's case did not involve getting Ukraine into Presidential American politics whereas Trump's case did.
So President Trump held up on nearly $400 million in defensive armament to Ukraine until they found some dirt on Joe Biden or his son. Trump did finally relent after some time and let the aid go ahead.
Congressional officials were notified twice this year, on Feb. 28 and again on May 23, that the administration intended to release large tranches of military aid to Ukraine. Congress approved two large pots of military aid for Ukraine during fiscal 2019: $250 million, to be managed by the Pentagon, for equipment such as sniper rifles, counter-artillery radar systems, ammunition and grenade launchers; and $141 million, to be funneled through the State Department, for maritime security, NATO interoperability and various initiatives to help Ukraine’s military fend off Russian aggression.
Despite those notifications, the money was not transmitted until this month (September). (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-ordered-hold-on-military-aid-days-before-calling-ukrainian-president-officials-say/ar-AAHJWJb)
Though the situation is still in flux, House Democrats have issued the beginning of formal impeachment hearings. A whistleblower complaint has also surfaced about telephone calls between Trump and the new Ukrainian President.**** The White House has now released the transcripts of a telephone call with Zalenskyy, the Ukrainian President, and the Whistleblower charge has been declassified.**** As I type this, hearings have been going on in the House. The morning session was on TV. Why is the White House doing this release of damaging documents? They may feel that it is better to get an impeachment out of the way as soon as possible so people have time to forget about it by the time of the 2020 election next November. Cracks are beginning to show amongst Republicans.
Trump has mentioned that Vice President Pence should be investigated too. Wait. I have a vision but it is murky. Now it is getting a bit clearer. Can it be? Can it really be?
"Welcome, President Pelosi!
* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/search?q=failed+state (July 2018)
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2014/03/ukraine-politics.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2014/03/ukraine-failed-state.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-breadbasket-of-europe-is-now-basket.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2014/08/ukraine-and-korea.htm**
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Manafort
*** https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27403003
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Biden
**** https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/26/biggest-bombshells-in-trump-whistleblower-complaint-cover-up.html
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/09/politics/trump-ukraine-transcript-annotated/
http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/editorialfiles/2019/09/26/20190812whistleblowerComplaintUnclass.pdf
"The politics of Ukraine is so corrupt, that I doubt they deserve to remain a nation."*
At one time, Ukraine was a wealthy country:
On the other hand, Ukraine is fairly rich in natural resources (especially much excellent farmland) and they do have industry,*but the management makes them one of the poorest countries in Europe. In fact, people run benefits to help support their army! Former Prime Minister and current Presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko said she will donate her campaign money to the Ukrainian military! That is how sick the country is.
Four of my previous discussions of Ukraine were before the Trump Presidency, but Ukraine seems to be a part of the news ever since Donald Trump was elected President. Paul Manafort came to light when he volunteered to help the Trump campaign for President for free.** It was known that Manafort was involved in Ukrainian politics big time and was in debt to one of the Russian oligarchs. I felt at the time of Manadort's appointment to the Trump campaign that he was a Russian plant (as was his sidekick Rick Gates who I learned of later). Perhaps the Trump campaign was fooled by the fact that Manafort had been involved in presidential elections previously. When Manafort was terminated about 3 mo. later, I thought that the Trump campaign had figured out that Manafort was a Russian plant and let him go. Gates, however, stayed on.
Things quieted down for a while regarding Ukraine in 2014, but recently former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, of all people, was found to have been on the Board of Directors of a Ukrainian natural gas company called Burisma Holdings in April 2014, heading their legal affairs unit.*** His term ended in April 2019.*** He is not accused in Ukraine of doing anything wrong. Still, Hunter has capitalized on his father's political career. While capitalizing on your father's political career is not unusual, these seem to be big-time financial positions one would associate Trump.
Some Republicans have wanted to equate Biden's threat to withhold a billion dollars of aid from Ukraine with Trump's withholding of nearly $400 million of armaments; however, Biden's case did not involve getting Ukraine into Presidential American politics whereas Trump's case did.
So President Trump held up on nearly $400 million in defensive armament to Ukraine until they found some dirt on Joe Biden or his son. Trump did finally relent after some time and let the aid go ahead.
Congressional officials were notified twice this year, on Feb. 28 and again on May 23, that the administration intended to release large tranches of military aid to Ukraine. Congress approved two large pots of military aid for Ukraine during fiscal 2019: $250 million, to be managed by the Pentagon, for equipment such as sniper rifles, counter-artillery radar systems, ammunition and grenade launchers; and $141 million, to be funneled through the State Department, for maritime security, NATO interoperability and various initiatives to help Ukraine’s military fend off Russian aggression.
Despite those notifications, the money was not transmitted until this month (September). (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-ordered-hold-on-military-aid-days-before-calling-ukrainian-president-officials-say/ar-AAHJWJb)
Though the situation is still in flux, House Democrats have issued the beginning of formal impeachment hearings. A whistleblower complaint has also surfaced about telephone calls between Trump and the new Ukrainian President.**** The White House has now released the transcripts of a telephone call with Zalenskyy, the Ukrainian President, and the Whistleblower charge has been declassified.**** As I type this, hearings have been going on in the House. The morning session was on TV. Why is the White House doing this release of damaging documents? They may feel that it is better to get an impeachment out of the way as soon as possible so people have time to forget about it by the time of the 2020 election next November. Cracks are beginning to show amongst Republicans.
Trump has mentioned that Vice President Pence should be investigated too. Wait. I have a vision but it is murky. Now it is getting a bit clearer. Can it be? Can it really be?
"Welcome, President Pelosi!
* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/search?q=failed+state (July 2018)
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2014/03/ukraine-politics.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2014/03/ukraine-failed-state.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-breadbasket-of-europe-is-now-basket.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2014/08/ukraine-and-korea.htm**
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Manafort
*** https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27403003
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Biden
**** https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/26/biggest-bombshells-in-trump-whistleblower-complaint-cover-up.html
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/09/politics/trump-ukraine-transcript-annotated/
http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/editorialfiles/2019/09/26/20190812whistleblowerComplaintUnclass.pdf
Saturday, September 21, 2019
"OUR LONG NATIONAL NIGHTMARE IS OVER" - 45th Anniversary
(I meant to publish this last August but forgot. We shouldn't forget the Vietnam war.)
The "official dates of the Vietnam War are 1954 to 1975, but combat troops were introduced into Vietnam in 1961 and removed in 1973.*
In May 1961: Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson visits South Vietnam and offers military and economic aid to Diem. By the end of the year, the U.S. military presence in Vietnam will reach 3,200 men (although combat units will not be deployed until 1965).**
Estimates of total deaths due to the Vietnam war, range between one million and three million people of which 58,318 were U.S. troops killed in action and 153,303 wounded in action.*** The worst year for killed in action was 1968.
* https://www.britannica.com/event/Vietnam-War
** https://www.shmoop.com/vietnam-war/timeline.html
*** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War_casualties
A brief history of the Vietnam War:
Gulf of Tonkin incident August 2, 1964
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Congressional August 7, 1964
Tet offensive started January 30,1968
Last ground troops leave Vietnam August 11, 1972
but thousands of airmen. advisers and support personnel remain
The draft was stopped on January 27, 1973.
Vietnam cease-fire announced January 27, 1973
End of Vietnam war announced March 29, 1973
Ford "Our long national nightmare is over" August 9, 1974
Evacuation from rooftop helicopter April 29, 1975
The "official dates of the Vietnam War are 1954 to 1975, but combat troops were introduced into Vietnam in 1961 and removed in 1973.*
In May 1961: Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson visits South Vietnam and offers military and economic aid to Diem. By the end of the year, the U.S. military presence in Vietnam will reach 3,200 men (although combat units will not be deployed until 1965).**
Estimates of total deaths due to the Vietnam war, range between one million and three million people of which 58,318 were U.S. troops killed in action and 153,303 wounded in action.*** The worst year for killed in action was 1968.
* https://www.britannica.com/event/Vietnam-War
** https://www.shmoop.com/vietnam-war/timeline.html
*** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War_casualties
A brief history of the Vietnam War:
Gulf of Tonkin incident August 2, 1964
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Congressional August 7, 1964
Tet offensive started January 30,1968
Last ground troops leave Vietnam August 11, 1972
but thousands of airmen. advisers and support personnel remain
The draft was stopped on January 27, 1973.
Vietnam cease-fire announced January 27, 1973
End of Vietnam war announced March 29, 1973
Ford "Our long national nightmare is over" August 9, 1974
Evacuation from rooftop helicopter April 29, 1975
Friday, September 20, 2019
THE GREAT SLOWDOWN - Update
Recently I published a piece on the Great Slowdown where I focussed on the contradiction between comments that the consumer was in good shape versus that personal debt was at an all-time high.*
Further support for the comment that the consumer is in bad shape is a recent article saying that the AVERAGE credit debt of Millenials is $27,900!**
Millennials (defined here as ages 23 to 38) have racked up an average of $27,900 in personal debt, excluding mortgages, according to Northwestern Mutual’s 2019 Planning & Progress Study. The findings are based on a survey conducted by The Harris Poll of over 2,000 U.S. adults.**
This is incredible. Just to service that sort of debt much approximate $5,000/yr assuming that the interest rate they are paying is something over 17%, wasted money. That sounds like this group of consumers must be pretty well tapped out on credit card debt.
The Chairman of FedEx is also gloomy:
FedEx Chairman and CEO Fred Smith expressed extreme pessimism about the global economy on the delivery giant’s post-earnings conference call with analysts.
....................................................
On the call with analysts, Smith said, “I think there is a lot of whistling past the graveyard about the U.S. consumer and the United States economy versus what’s going on globally.”
Experts are divided at just how serious the slowdown is. The fed has lowered the Funds rate by another quarter of a percent to 1.75% - 2.00%. Such a rate is highly inflationary. Ordinarily, this sort of thing would mean the Fed is worried about a recession. One Fed member pointed out that the manufacturing industry is already in a recession. One group of people to be hurt by the recent lowerings of the Fed Funds Rate is the retirees as savings rates decline with the rate cut.
On the flip side, consumers likely will earn less interest on their savings accounts, and in some cases, lose buying power over time.****
* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-great-slowdown.html
** https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/18/student-loans-are-not-the-no-1-source-of-millennial-debt.html
*** https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/18/cramer-says-fedex-call-was-extremely-dispiriting-about-the-economy.html
**** https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/20/feds-james-bullard-says-cutting-rates-by-a-bigger-half-percentage-point-would-have-been-more-appropriate.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/18/heres-what-the-feds-interest-rate-cut-means-for-your-wallet.html
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
DRONES OF WAR - III
This is the third time I am writing on The Drones Of War.* Previously, my posts appeared in May of 2014 and April of 2015 so it has been quite a while. What prompts me to write again is the attack on the Saudi Arabian oil fields, supposedly by drones. Who did it and where from is still in a state of confusion? Original reports said the Houthi's militia of Yemen claimed the attack. "Official" U.S. reports by our President and Secretary of State suggest that the drones came from Iran or, at least that the drones were Iranian made. Saudi government reports are less certain. There is even a report that the attacks came from Iraq and also included cruise missiles:
But Iraqi observers say the attack on Abqaiq involved three drones and three cruise missiles. The cruise missile is believed to be the Quds-1. A version of the Quds-1, using a small jet engine (model PBS TJ100 ) manufactured in the Czech Republic, is produced in Iran for the Houthis. Nothing specific is known of the range of the Quds-1 but experts say it is a version of Iran’s Soumar cruise missile. With its 43 pound Czech turbine engine, the Quds-1 probably carries a smaller payload than the Soumar, which could have a Russian or Chinese engine. (The Soumar is said to resemble the Russian Kh55SM cruise missile.)**
As days go by, Iranian "fingerprints" are being found on drone fragments.
So far I can't find any deaths or injuries from this oil field drone attack
Dones are actually becoming rather widely a tool of war, usually in an attempt to kill someone or group.*** Most drone attacks are sparsely reported by the American press. Israel, for example, had a recent drone attack on Beirut, Lebanon just last month (August 2019).**** While no one was killed by these drones, some were injured.
My previous discussions concern collateral damage by drones versus ground troops. In a discussion on torture I write:
People speculate on how more modern parts of warlike drones - will be viewed in 10 years, largely because of collateral damage. It is naive to think that using group troops instead of drones would result in no collateral damage or even less collateral damage. Plus how many of our troops are you willing to sacrifice to get the target? I support drones, but not indiscriminately. If in 10 years it is decided that they should be illegal, then so be it.
Well, five years later we have alleged drone attacks being used by many countries, including the recent attack, not of people but facilities, specifically oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. It can be difficult to tell just who or where the attacks came from.
* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-drones-of-war.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-drones-of-war.html
** https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/09/article/saudi-oil-facility-attacks-may-have-come-from-iraq/
*** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drone_strike
**** https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/israel-strikes-palestinian-base-lebanon-reports-190826071121071.html
But Iraqi observers say the attack on Abqaiq involved three drones and three cruise missiles. The cruise missile is believed to be the Quds-1. A version of the Quds-1, using a small jet engine (model PBS TJ100 ) manufactured in the Czech Republic, is produced in Iran for the Houthis. Nothing specific is known of the range of the Quds-1 but experts say it is a version of Iran’s Soumar cruise missile. With its 43 pound Czech turbine engine, the Quds-1 probably carries a smaller payload than the Soumar, which could have a Russian or Chinese engine. (The Soumar is said to resemble the Russian Kh55SM cruise missile.)**
As days go by, Iranian "fingerprints" are being found on drone fragments.
So far I can't find any deaths or injuries from this oil field drone attack
Dones are actually becoming rather widely a tool of war, usually in an attempt to kill someone or group.*** Most drone attacks are sparsely reported by the American press. Israel, for example, had a recent drone attack on Beirut, Lebanon just last month (August 2019).**** While no one was killed by these drones, some were injured.
My previous discussions concern collateral damage by drones versus ground troops. In a discussion on torture I write:
People speculate on how more modern parts of warlike drones - will be viewed in 10 years, largely because of collateral damage. It is naive to think that using group troops instead of drones would result in no collateral damage or even less collateral damage. Plus how many of our troops are you willing to sacrifice to get the target? I support drones, but not indiscriminately. If in 10 years it is decided that they should be illegal, then so be it.
Well, five years later we have alleged drone attacks being used by many countries, including the recent attack, not of people but facilities, specifically oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. It can be difficult to tell just who or where the attacks came from.
* http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-drones-of-war.html
http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-drones-of-war.html
** https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/09/article/saudi-oil-facility-attacks-may-have-come-from-iraq/
*** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drone_strike
**** https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/israel-strikes-palestinian-base-lebanon-reports-190826071121071.html
Monday, September 16, 2019
EFFECT OF CORPORATE TAX CODE REVISION ON EMPLOYMENT
The effect of the 2017 tax cut for the wealthy and corporations seems to have been a one month ("sugar high") event, a year after passage of the act
Identifying the impact of a particular policy change is difficult when so many things are happening at once. After years of steady increases, stock prices have been flat since the passage of the tax changes, while volatility has increased. Tariffs have increased costs and raised uncertainty. Wage growth has continued to accelerate, albeit from a low base.
Together, these forces could have persuaded executives to cut back on investment, MandA, and shareholder payouts. It is possible that the corporate tax changes helped offset all this, which would explain why nothing seems to have changed. It is also possible, however, that the tax changes were a pointless transfer that simply gave companies more earnings to retain rather than spend.
https://www.barrons.com/articles/last-years-corporate-tax-overhaul-hasnt-made-much-of-a-difference-1544226832
Also after the tax code revision of 2017, there is little dramatic change to see in the monthly employment figures; however, on average, may be even declining (see figure)
(click on figure to enlarge)
https://www.statista.com/chart/14962/seasonally-adjusted-non-farm-job-creation-in-the-us/
But if we try to separate the forest from the trees, we see that unemployment figures that declined during the Obama administration continue to decline in the Trump Administration (see figure).
(click on figure to enlarge)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2018/10/30/two-charts-show-trumps-job-gains-are-just-a-continuation-from-obamas-presidency/#7583d4ad1af3
The decline in unemployment of blacks is similar but with the most recent figures at 6% whereas it is slightly above 3% for Whites, well under 3% for Asians and about 4% for Hispanics:
https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpsee_e16.htm
Looking back further, average monthly jobs growth during the Obama administration were much better than George W. Bush (Bush-43) and more than double the numbers for George H.W. Bush (Bush-41). The record goes to Bill Clinton with Ronald Reagon in second place. Whether the Donald Trump administration can beat the Obama administration is doubtful. For one thing, we are told that we are at full employment. If this is true, then the expansion of the labor force will be difficult.
(click on figure to enlarge)
https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=monthly+job+growth+chart&fr=yhs-itm-001&hspart=itm&hsimp=yhs-001&imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.msnbc.com%2Fsites%2Fmsnbc%2Ffiles%2Fstyles%2Fembedded_image%2Fpublic%2F12.5.14.2.jpg%3Fitok%3DPdfGD40W#id=3&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fkpbs.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2017%2F01%2F06%2Faverage-monthly-job-growth-by-president_chartbuilder_custom-579c306428b5841980615f54c79286457c6c2377_t614.png%3Fa3ca5463f16dc11451266bb717d38a6025dcea0e&action=click Note: This exceedingly long URL does work and shows many graphs.
The hourly wage increases are misleading because one just feels that when we are told that hourly wages increased by 3.1%, there is a tendency to feel that everyone'e wages increased by 3.1%. Of course this is not true. Consider Silicon Valley:
Only wages at the very highest levels increased, after adjusting for inflation, over the last 20 years. Between 1997 and 2017, hourly wages for the top 10 percent increased by 0.7 percent. The most significant decline was for those at the middle income level. Those in the 50th percentile have seen wages decline by 14.2 percent over the same 20-year period, while those in the 60th percentile have seen a 13.2 percent decline.
........................................................
More than a third of the workforce, or 57.3 million Americans, are now freelancing, according to a 2017 report by Upwork. In San Mateo and Santa Clara counties alone, there are an estimated 39,000 workers who are contracted to tech companies, according to one estimate by University of California Santa Cruz researchers.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/03/in-silicon-valley-wages-are-down-for-everyone-but-the-top-10-percent.html
Large companies are even laying off workers. For example, Verizon has announced a program where 10,400 employees will be let go.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/10/verizon-says-10400-employees-have-been-accepted-as-a-part-of-a-voluntary-program-to-leave-the-business.html
For more companies cutting jobs after passage of the 2017 tax cut, see: https://www.cheatsheet.com/money-career/these-companies-started-firing-employees-right-after-getting-tax-cuts-from-trump.html/
At the same time, small business are having difficulty finding employees.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/10/a-tight-labor-market-is-forcing-small-business-to-juice-job-offers.html
Identifying the impact of a particular policy change is difficult when so many things are happening at once. After years of steady increases, stock prices have been flat since the passage of the tax changes, while volatility has increased. Tariffs have increased costs and raised uncertainty. Wage growth has continued to accelerate, albeit from a low base.
Together, these forces could have persuaded executives to cut back on investment, MandA, and shareholder payouts. It is possible that the corporate tax changes helped offset all this, which would explain why nothing seems to have changed. It is also possible, however, that the tax changes were a pointless transfer that simply gave companies more earnings to retain rather than spend.
https://www.barrons.com/articles/last-years-corporate-tax-overhaul-hasnt-made-much-of-a-difference-1544226832
Also after the tax code revision of 2017, there is little dramatic change to see in the monthly employment figures; however, on average, may be even declining (see figure)
(click on figure to enlarge)
https://www.statista.com/chart/14962/seasonally-adjusted-non-farm-job-creation-in-the-us/
But if we try to separate the forest from the trees, we see that unemployment figures that declined during the Obama administration continue to decline in the Trump Administration (see figure).
https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2018/10/30/two-charts-show-trumps-job-gains-are-just-a-continuation-from-obamas-presidency/#7583d4ad1af3
The decline in unemployment of blacks is similar but with the most recent figures at 6% whereas it is slightly above 3% for Whites, well under 3% for Asians and about 4% for Hispanics:
https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpsee_e16.htm
Looking back further, average monthly jobs growth during the Obama administration were much better than George W. Bush (Bush-43) and more than double the numbers for George H.W. Bush (Bush-41). The record goes to Bill Clinton with Ronald Reagon in second place. Whether the Donald Trump administration can beat the Obama administration is doubtful. For one thing, we are told that we are at full employment. If this is true, then the expansion of the labor force will be difficult.
https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=monthly+job+growth+chart&fr=yhs-itm-001&hspart=itm&hsimp=yhs-001&imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.msnbc.com%2Fsites%2Fmsnbc%2Ffiles%2Fstyles%2Fembedded_image%2Fpublic%2F12.5.14.2.jpg%3Fitok%3DPdfGD40W#id=3&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fkpbs.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2017%2F01%2F06%2Faverage-monthly-job-growth-by-president_chartbuilder_custom-579c306428b5841980615f54c79286457c6c2377_t614.png%3Fa3ca5463f16dc11451266bb717d38a6025dcea0e&action=click Note: This exceedingly long URL does work and shows many graphs.
The hourly wage increases are misleading because one just feels that when we are told that hourly wages increased by 3.1%, there is a tendency to feel that everyone'e wages increased by 3.1%. Of course this is not true. Consider Silicon Valley:
Only wages at the very highest levels increased, after adjusting for inflation, over the last 20 years. Between 1997 and 2017, hourly wages for the top 10 percent increased by 0.7 percent. The most significant decline was for those at the middle income level. Those in the 50th percentile have seen wages decline by 14.2 percent over the same 20-year period, while those in the 60th percentile have seen a 13.2 percent decline.
........................................................
More than a third of the workforce, or 57.3 million Americans, are now freelancing, according to a 2017 report by Upwork. In San Mateo and Santa Clara counties alone, there are an estimated 39,000 workers who are contracted to tech companies, according to one estimate by University of California Santa Cruz researchers.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/03/in-silicon-valley-wages-are-down-for-everyone-but-the-top-10-percent.html
Large companies are even laying off workers. For example, Verizon has announced a program where 10,400 employees will be let go.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/10/verizon-says-10400-employees-have-been-accepted-as-a-part-of-a-voluntary-program-to-leave-the-business.html
For more companies cutting jobs after passage of the 2017 tax cut, see: https://www.cheatsheet.com/money-career/these-companies-started-firing-employees-right-after-getting-tax-cuts-from-trump.html/
At the same time, small business are having difficulty finding employees.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/10/a-tight-labor-market-is-forcing-small-business-to-juice-job-offers.html
Friday, September 13, 2019
SWELL COUNTRY (Excerpt)
It happened while I was in the San Rafael Swell in central Utah during the great uranium boom of the 1950s. The period was one of high romance as it seemed that nearly everyone had a Geiger counter and spent weekends hunting "yellow ore". We did it for a living. The San Raphael Swell was the desert; yet, it was different from what one might imagine a desert to be. There was no endless vista of rolling sand dunes, but cliffs of yellow sandstone rising hundreds of feet that circled and enclosed a central area of red rocky siltstone. This area was dissected by the Muddy River and its tributary gullies. This isolated central area was fittingly called Sinbad, after the sailor and his hideaway.
The first surprise to me was clouds. Actually, there were lots of them. Mornings were clear, but you could see the clouds forming to the south, and, if you were high enough on the cliffs, you could see them to the west over the Wasatch High Plateau. By afternoon, they were over Sinbad. There is an old saying in this country that it never rains in Sinbad. The statement is not strictly true, for, on two occasions, I experienced what was called a Mormon thundershower (12 drops per square foot). Perhaps this was an unusually wet season.
A second surprise was the spectacular number of flowers. I am sure that areas such as Sinbad have the highest flower density that I have ever seen. Following the flowers were hummingbirds. Over that one period of three months, I saw more hummingbirds than I have seen previously or since. As many as a dozen in one day.
The third surprise was sunsets. Every night was christened with a fabulous sunset. I suppose that in a desert this should come as no surprise because there is so much dust about; yet, the extreme of their beauty made it so. The colors would rise through a rose color to vivid red. Then, in the waning stages, overtones of blue would increase until finally there was darkness.
Our camp was above 6000 feet in elevation so that it really did not get too hot. We were living in house trailers. One could hardly say that we were roughing it what with gas stoves and refrigerators, a prefabricated office, a washing machine, an electricity generator, and a hot water heater for washing and showers. Most of the time, however, we would leave water in sealed five-gallon cans out in the sun to warm for use as shower water. It could get hot enough to burn you, so some cool water had to be added. Our water supply was a 300-gallon water trailer, however, that did not allow nine people too much cleanliness.
The most interesting feature of the camp was the pavilion. The pavilion consisted of a huge tarpaulin supported by two by fours which shaded an area for camp chairs and a table. The chairs were of the large canvas bucket type and were very comfortable. It was a nice place to take a can of beer on Sunday after the weekly shower. A nice place to sit and read or just stare into the distance. Reading matter is precious in the desert and none is ever thrown away. Ours was kept in a big box in the pavilion.
It was on such a Sunday that my beer and I were reading one of the lesser-known works by Hemingway called The Green Hills Of Africa. In this story, Hemingway describes various scenes and events on one of his hunting trips. Once I looked up. It may have been something about the pale blue sky and the big puffy white clouds that I saw, or the low rolling hills covered with piñon and juniper and cactus with the cliffs of sandstone looming in the background. It may have been something about the pavilion or the book or the beer drunk in the heat of the day. It may have been the sun. It may have been all of these things which made me give a start. For a split second I trembled because I could not figure out how I had gotten to Africa.
1955
The first surprise to me was clouds. Actually, there were lots of them. Mornings were clear, but you could see the clouds forming to the south, and, if you were high enough on the cliffs, you could see them to the west over the Wasatch High Plateau. By afternoon, they were over Sinbad. There is an old saying in this country that it never rains in Sinbad. The statement is not strictly true, for, on two occasions, I experienced what was called a Mormon thundershower (12 drops per square foot). Perhaps this was an unusually wet season.
A second surprise was the spectacular number of flowers. I am sure that areas such as Sinbad have the highest flower density that I have ever seen. Following the flowers were hummingbirds. Over that one period of three months, I saw more hummingbirds than I have seen previously or since. As many as a dozen in one day.
The third surprise was sunsets. Every night was christened with a fabulous sunset. I suppose that in a desert this should come as no surprise because there is so much dust about; yet, the extreme of their beauty made it so. The colors would rise through a rose color to vivid red. Then, in the waning stages, overtones of blue would increase until finally there was darkness.
Our camp was above 6000 feet in elevation so that it really did not get too hot. We were living in house trailers. One could hardly say that we were roughing it what with gas stoves and refrigerators, a prefabricated office, a washing machine, an electricity generator, and a hot water heater for washing and showers. Most of the time, however, we would leave water in sealed five-gallon cans out in the sun to warm for use as shower water. It could get hot enough to burn you, so some cool water had to be added. Our water supply was a 300-gallon water trailer, however, that did not allow nine people too much cleanliness.
The most interesting feature of the camp was the pavilion. The pavilion consisted of a huge tarpaulin supported by two by fours which shaded an area for camp chairs and a table. The chairs were of the large canvas bucket type and were very comfortable. It was a nice place to take a can of beer on Sunday after the weekly shower. A nice place to sit and read or just stare into the distance. Reading matter is precious in the desert and none is ever thrown away. Ours was kept in a big box in the pavilion.
It was on such a Sunday that my beer and I were reading one of the lesser-known works by Hemingway called The Green Hills Of Africa. In this story, Hemingway describes various scenes and events on one of his hunting trips. Once I looked up. It may have been something about the pale blue sky and the big puffy white clouds that I saw, or the low rolling hills covered with piñon and juniper and cactus with the cliffs of sandstone looming in the background. It may have been something about the pavilion or the book or the beer drunk in the heat of the day. It may have been the sun. It may have been all of these things which made me give a start. For a split second I trembled because I could not figure out how I had gotten to Africa.
1955
Thursday, September 12, 2019
MASS MURDERES BY AR15
Stopping murdering is not the same as daily murders by gun. To stop mass murders, you will have to eliminate automatic weapons. There will still be mass murders, but the average number per incident will drop. Below is a list of mass murders done by the semi-automatic weapon AR15 compiled by Michael Skolnik:
Monday, September 9, 2019
DESTRUCTION OF ART
Political correctness is now coming to destroy art portraying good and bad things about the history of our country.
... seven members of the Board of Education in San Francisco ... just voted unanimously to destroy [13] important 80-year-old wall murals in a public high school because they show George Washington, a dead Indian, and slaves. The murals, some said, glorify racism, genocide, Manifest Destiny, colonization, and white supremacy.*
.......................................................................
Victor Arnautoff (1896–1979) painted the 13 panel murals — covering 1,600 square feet — in 1936 for the just-built George Washington High School. They depict the life of Washington. They’re well done. Arnautoff was one of the best muralists employed by the Works Progress Administration.*
........................................................................
Arnautoff presented to young minds the nuances and contradictions, the good parts and bad parts, of America’s founding history. Some of the board members conceded this but insisted that exposing students to nuances and contradictions might scare them or, worse, hurt their feelings. Overwhelmingly, students don’t want the murals destroyed. The school’s alumni association wants them to remain, too.
There is hope that the murals won't be painted over but covered by some panels.
While several Board members expressed a desire to paint over the murals, discussion made it clear that the quickest path to removing the offensive artwork from public view was to install panels to cover them up. So while the Board did ultimately vote, unanimously, to paint over the murals, they will most likely cover up the murals initially in the interest of an expedient solution to removing them from public view.**
Once the panels are up, there is hope, I think, that the murals will be preserved. I also hope the panels are removable so that they may be displayed on some special occasions, perhaps in the summer while there are no classes.
* https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/07/san-francisco-board-of-education-george-washington-murals/
** https://richmondsfblog.com/2019/06/26/board-of-education-votes-to-cover-up-george-washington-high-school-wpa-murals/
... seven members of the Board of Education in San Francisco ... just voted unanimously to destroy [13] important 80-year-old wall murals in a public high school because they show George Washington, a dead Indian, and slaves. The murals, some said, glorify racism, genocide, Manifest Destiny, colonization, and white supremacy.*
.......................................................................
Victor Arnautoff (1896–1979) painted the 13 panel murals — covering 1,600 square feet — in 1936 for the just-built George Washington High School. They depict the life of Washington. They’re well done. Arnautoff was one of the best muralists employed by the Works Progress Administration.*
........................................................................
Arnautoff presented to young minds the nuances and contradictions, the good parts and bad parts, of America’s founding history. Some of the board members conceded this but insisted that exposing students to nuances and contradictions might scare them or, worse, hurt their feelings. Overwhelmingly, students don’t want the murals destroyed. The school’s alumni association wants them to remain, too.
There is hope that the murals won't be painted over but covered by some panels.
While several Board members expressed a desire to paint over the murals, discussion made it clear that the quickest path to removing the offensive artwork from public view was to install panels to cover them up. So while the Board did ultimately vote, unanimously, to paint over the murals, they will most likely cover up the murals initially in the interest of an expedient solution to removing them from public view.**
Once the panels are up, there is hope, I think, that the murals will be preserved. I also hope the panels are removable so that they may be displayed on some special occasions, perhaps in the summer while there are no classes.
* https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/07/san-francisco-board-of-education-george-washington-murals/
** https://richmondsfblog.com/2019/06/26/board-of-education-votes-to-cover-up-george-washington-high-school-wpa-murals/
Sunday, September 8, 2019
MY CHOICES FOR DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEES
Geriatric Democratic candidates for President:
Bernie Sanders 78 in September (b September 8, 1941)
Joe Biden 77 in November (b November 20, 1942)
John Kerry 76 in December ((b December 11, 1943) - withdrew
Donald Trump 73 in June (b June 14, 1946)
Eliz. Warren 70 in June (b June 22, 1949)
Tom Steyer 62 in June (b. June 27, 1957)
Substitute for Hickenlooper who has withdrawn: Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana, 53 (b April 11, 1966) who was re-elected to the governorship with 50.2% of the vote when Donald Trump took the state with 56.2% of the vote. No other Democratic governor accomplished such a feat.
Impressive was Steve Bullock's defeat of Citizens Untied before the Montana Supreme Court as Montana Attorney General; however, the victory was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court in one of the worst decisions ever made.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bullock_(American_politician)
So my choices are:
(1) Beto O'rourke (age 46)
(2) Amy Klobuchar (age 59)
(3) Steve Bullock (age 53)
I am investigating Rep. Tim Ryan (OH), 46 (b July 16, 1973) as a possible candidate for President because he seems to be in favor of keeping the ACA and expanding it. But he thinks that Medicare for all is a dream goal and he is a co-sponsor.
Yes, I realize that all my candidates are having trouble getting traction and are low in the polls.
....................................................................
I am adding some comments on Amy Klobuchar who has been av very productive Senator in the do-nothing Senate:
According to GovTrack, Klobuchar passed more legislation than any other senator by the end of the 114th Congress in late 2016.[28] According to Congress.gov, as of December 16, 2018, she had sponsored or co-sponsored 111 pieces of legislation that became law.[56] During the 115th Congress she voted in line with Trump's position on legislation 31.1% of the time.[57]
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Klobuchar)
As to Beto O'Rourke, since the El Paso shooting, he has re-focussed his approach to running against Trump and is not following the early primary states. While his new approach may bear some fruit, I'm not sure it will get him the nomination.
(https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/15/us/politics/beto-orourke-2020-trump.html)
I am investigating Rep. Tim Ryan (OH), 46 (b July 16, 1973) as a possible candidate. for President because he seems to be in favor of keeping the ACA and expanding it. But he thinks that Medicare for all is a dream goal and he is a co-sponsor.
Yes, I realize that all my candidates are having trouble getting traction and are low in the polls.
Bernie Sanders 78 in September (b September 8, 1941)
Joe Biden 77 in November (b November 20, 1942)
John Kerry 76 in December ((b December 11, 1943) - withdrew
Donald Trump 73 in June (b June 14, 1946)
Eliz. Warren 70 in June (b June 22, 1949)
Tom Steyer 62 in June (b. June 27, 1957)
Substitute for Hickenlooper who has withdrawn: Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana, 53 (b April 11, 1966) who was re-elected to the governorship with 50.2% of the vote when Donald Trump took the state with 56.2% of the vote. No other Democratic governor accomplished such a feat.
Impressive was Steve Bullock's defeat of Citizens Untied before the Montana Supreme Court as Montana Attorney General; however, the victory was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court in one of the worst decisions ever made.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bullock_(American_politician)
So my choices are:
(1) Beto O'rourke (age 46)
(2) Amy Klobuchar (age 59)
(3) Steve Bullock (age 53)
I am investigating Rep. Tim Ryan (OH), 46 (b July 16, 1973) as a possible candidate for President because he seems to be in favor of keeping the ACA and expanding it. But he thinks that Medicare for all is a dream goal and he is a co-sponsor.
Yes, I realize that all my candidates are having trouble getting traction and are low in the polls.
....................................................................
I am adding some comments on Amy Klobuchar who has been av very productive Senator in the do-nothing Senate:
According to GovTrack, Klobuchar passed more legislation than any other senator by the end of the 114th Congress in late 2016.[28] According to Congress.gov, as of December 16, 2018, she had sponsored or co-sponsored 111 pieces of legislation that became law.[56] During the 115th Congress she voted in line with Trump's position on legislation 31.1% of the time.[57]
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Klobuchar)
As to Beto O'Rourke, since the El Paso shooting, he has re-focussed his approach to running against Trump and is not following the early primary states. While his new approach may bear some fruit, I'm not sure it will get him the nomination.
(https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/15/us/politics/beto-orourke-2020-trump.html)
I am investigating Rep. Tim Ryan (OH), 46 (b July 16, 1973) as a possible candidate. for President because he seems to be in favor of keeping the ACA and expanding it. But he thinks that Medicare for all is a dream goal and he is a co-sponsor.
Yes, I realize that all my candidates are having trouble getting traction and are low in the polls.
Saturday, September 7, 2019
ALABAMIANS: IT IS ALL RIGHT TO COME OUT OR GO HOME NOW
President Trump our resident climate-change expert said that Hurricane Dorian was going to hit Alabama. Of course, the NOAA service in Alabama (deep state) said forget it, Dorian is too far East. But who are we to believe: our fake news government or our President who is always right?
Naturally, many of we Alabamans chose the President so we boarded up our homes and some vacated to northeastern Florida for safety. In spite of the fact that the NOAA political appointees* backed our President rather than its NOAA experts, the Hurricane didn't do any damage in Alabama after all. No doubt just a lucky call by NOAA scientists who don't know anything.
Sorry that those of you that migrated to northeastern Florida, like Jacksonville,** to avoid the hurricane got all wet. So it goes. Must have been a separate storm as Dorian was down in southern Alabama.
Oh, and those of you who canceled vacation trips to southern Alabama can reschedule now, if it is not too late.
* I'm not surprised at the Lilly Livered political appointees at NOAA for not backing up their scientists. I grew to hate political appointees in my 34 yr career with the Federal government - either party. Few if any know anything about the job they are appointed to and much of what they think they know is wrong. Most just want to get the job on their resumes and leave in six months or so, about when they are finding out what their job is to do. That doesn't mean they don't try is mess things up while they are there, however.
There are some appointment mistakes made, for sure, and you do get a few competent people into jobs with the government and some others who at least mean well. *** These people are rarely appreciated by the administration, however. One good example to Jerome Powell of the Federal Reserve who is trying to do a good job and is continuously lambasted by the administration for doing this. A couple more are Gina Haspel of the CIA and Christopher Wray of the FBI. A pleasant surprise to me was Former Republican Sen. Dan Coats who seemed to try very hard to do a good job.
* https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/06/politics/noaa-tweet-nws-trump-alabama/index.html
** https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/videos-jacksonville-area-impacts-of-hurricane-dorian/98241800
*** http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2019/07/a-few-good-men-and-women.html
Naturally, many of we Alabamans chose the President so we boarded up our homes and some vacated to northeastern Florida for safety. In spite of the fact that the NOAA political appointees* backed our President rather than its NOAA experts, the Hurricane didn't do any damage in Alabama after all. No doubt just a lucky call by NOAA scientists who don't know anything.
Sorry that those of you that migrated to northeastern Florida, like Jacksonville,** to avoid the hurricane got all wet. So it goes. Must have been a separate storm as Dorian was down in southern Alabama.
Oh, and those of you who canceled vacation trips to southern Alabama can reschedule now, if it is not too late.
* I'm not surprised at the Lilly Livered political appointees at NOAA for not backing up their scientists. I grew to hate political appointees in my 34 yr career with the Federal government - either party. Few if any know anything about the job they are appointed to and much of what they think they know is wrong. Most just want to get the job on their resumes and leave in six months or so, about when they are finding out what their job is to do. That doesn't mean they don't try is mess things up while they are there, however.
There are some appointment mistakes made, for sure, and you do get a few competent people into jobs with the government and some others who at least mean well. *** These people are rarely appreciated by the administration, however. One good example to Jerome Powell of the Federal Reserve who is trying to do a good job and is continuously lambasted by the administration for doing this. A couple more are Gina Haspel of the CIA and Christopher Wray of the FBI. A pleasant surprise to me was Former Republican Sen. Dan Coats who seemed to try very hard to do a good job.
* https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/06/politics/noaa-tweet-nws-trump-alabama/index.html
** https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/videos-jacksonville-area-impacts-of-hurricane-dorian/98241800
*** http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2019/07/a-few-good-men-and-women.html
Saturday, August 31, 2019
DEATH AND LIFE (Biographical)
This item was stimulated by a reference "Living Intimately With thoughts Of Death."* Also a reference is included in a "Death Attitude Profile - Revised" you can take.**
I was a sickly child. In the 2nd and 3rd grades, I ran through all the common communicable diseases: mumps, measles, whooping cough, chickenpox. In those days you were quarantined for 4 to 6 weeks each time so I missed a lot of schooling. I probably only passed because the grading system we had had a provision of working up to abilities. Slowly I began to recover from all that missed time and in the 4th grade, the teacher was having each student write down four numbers. When she got to me, she said one-quarter, one-quarter, one-quarter, one-quarter. I paid particular attention to the smart kids who were getting numbers like 3 and 5. I couldn't stand it, being far-and-away the worst kid in the class so I timidly asked the teacher what these numbers meant, and she said they were the number of days I missed from school each quarter. Whew!
When I was 21, I suffered my first collapse of the lung. Most people are unaware that the human lung consists of five lobes and not just two sacks. In my case, two of the three lobes on my right side mostly collapsed. Thus I was not in danger of suffocating (as some TV shows would lead you to believe).
Though not in danger of death, the experience is unpleasant. Air and some moisture get into the pleural cavity with the result that you can have considerable pain some of the time, similar to pleurisy. Also, a collapsed lung plays havoc with your conditioning. I walked around all right on the level, but climbing stairs was exhausting and could also be painful.
The "normal" correction for a collapsed lung was to fill the cavity with ping pong balls; however, the specialist I went to had a theory the hole in the lung would heal and the lung inflate. Indeed, eventually, it did reinflate but recapturing my conditioning took much longer.
At times I would have jolts of pain on my right side. I found that if I breathed in slowly, I could work that pain away. My specialist concluded I had lesions on my lungs. When you breathe out, the lobes fold up like a glove and when you breathe in, the "glove" unfolds. In my case, sometimes the lesions would stick the lobe together preventing full inflation with a consequence of a lot of sharp pain when I breathed in..
A year later, I had a second collapse, but this time on my left side where there are two lobes (to make room for the heart). It was described as a 40% collapse that, I guess, means the lobe didn't completely collapse. I was taking a course in fluid mechanics at the time and loved it. I would stay up until two or three in the morning to work on problems so I wasn't getting anywhere near eight hours of sleep at night. My GP told me that, if I didn't go to bed at 9:00 PM every night, I should find a new physician. I did as ordered while fearing that I would flunk out because I was getting only B's and C's as it was; however, I started getting A's and B's. I figured out that I had been exhausted and couldn't really think whereas, with a good night's sleep, I could think more clearly.
But I continued to have lung collapses until I would feel displeasure in my pleural cavity, but they could not detect collapse. They figured the lobes had become adhered to my chest cavity so I was having "blowouts" rather than collapses.
And so the "blowouts " continued irregularly, sometimes when I was working physically, like shoveling snow, but to have a collapse did not require violent activity. Once a leak occurred when I bent over to pick up a shawl for my maternal grandmother.
In my mind, I think I had more than 30 of these incidents by the age of 35, but that would have required somewhat more than two "blowouts" a year. Well, maybe.
I was in the NROTC my first two years in college but, after those first two years, you have to take a physical to continue. What with my collapsed lungs and blowouts in addition to some more minor things, I failed the physical, but I was surprised to find out I could join the Naval Reserve, which I did but never served any active duty.
When I was about to graduate from college, I applied for a job at "Big Oil" (It doesn't matter which corporation.) as they share information on applicants. Once again I had to take a physical. This time the examining physician said that if I lived to 35 I would probably be immobilized in a wheelchair. Thus I became blackballed by big oil as they shared information on applicants.
Then as I was approaching my 35th birthday, I was on a flight to somewhere and I looked down out of the plane window, I thought how nice it would be if the plane just crashed and end it all. Then I felt guilty because of all the other innocent people that would have to die with me.
As it turned out, I felt pretty good at 35 and, in fact, was about to enter around 30 yrs of good health. Once in my 50s, I even had a comprehensive blood test when everything was in the normal range. I sent a copy of this to my physician brother, older than I, and all he said was that the Biliubin was at the high end of normal. He often was telling me that I had 2 or 3 of the symptoms of some dread disease. Fortunately, I never had all.
Males on both sides of my family have been wracked with alcoholism. Looking back on my period in science administration, I can see I was drinking alcoholically. As it turned out, this seemed to be stress related to the administrative jobs. Fortunately, once out of science administration, my drinking entered a slow decline. When I entered our retirement home, I was drinking about two glasses of wine a night (one before dinner and one with dinner). I was gaining about a pound a month at the retirement home so I cut back to one 6-oz glass of dark red wine*** at night with dinner. Much to my surprise, I am happy with that. My ability to cut back may also contribute to my longevity and does not seem to be related to my arthritis.***
When health problems returned they were of a different sort, this time progressive osteoarthritis. I finally use a powered wheelchair anytime I have to walk more than 50 ft. I got the chair in May of 2016 when I was 85 and am still not confined to it.
My major activity is writing and I have published three little books plus my blog "Reunite Gondwanaland" (http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/). I have given thought to come out with one last book on the Best of Reunite Gondwanaland and have assembled a number of pieces. We'll see. But this is the 10th Anniversary year of the blog.
As I wrote this, I am well passed my 88th birthday and counting. I feel like I could go a long time yet. Aside from my arthritis, life is pleasant, and painkillers have taken away the sting of arthritis. In my wildest dreams, however, I never figured I would live to see 80 though I hoped to make it to 70 and the new Millenium. No male on either side of my family has lived to 75, but my brother came close at 74 yrs and 4 mo. Thus I have lived for at least 13 yrs longer than I had any reason to expect. If my life were to end now, I think I would feel that I made a good run at it and have no complaints. But I am in no rush. Like we all, however, I would prefer a painless death in my sleep when it comes.
(Note: I have skipped over most details of my life. Many biographical items can be found in the blog "Reunite Gondwanaland" Table Of Contents.)
* https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/25/well/live/living-intimately-with-thoughts-of-death.html?action=click&module=Discovery&pgtype=Homepage
** http://www.drpaulwong.com/documents/wong-scales/death-attitude-profile-revised-scale.pdf
*** http://theconversation.com/why-a-glass-of-red-wine-is-good-for-your-gut-122072
https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/drug-addiction/alcohol-and-arthritis-does-alcohol-affect-arthritis/#gref
I was a sickly child. In the 2nd and 3rd grades, I ran through all the common communicable diseases: mumps, measles, whooping cough, chickenpox. In those days you were quarantined for 4 to 6 weeks each time so I missed a lot of schooling. I probably only passed because the grading system we had had a provision of working up to abilities. Slowly I began to recover from all that missed time and in the 4th grade, the teacher was having each student write down four numbers. When she got to me, she said one-quarter, one-quarter, one-quarter, one-quarter. I paid particular attention to the smart kids who were getting numbers like 3 and 5. I couldn't stand it, being far-and-away the worst kid in the class so I timidly asked the teacher what these numbers meant, and she said they were the number of days I missed from school each quarter. Whew!
When I was 21, I suffered my first collapse of the lung. Most people are unaware that the human lung consists of five lobes and not just two sacks. In my case, two of the three lobes on my right side mostly collapsed. Thus I was not in danger of suffocating (as some TV shows would lead you to believe).
Though not in danger of death, the experience is unpleasant. Air and some moisture get into the pleural cavity with the result that you can have considerable pain some of the time, similar to pleurisy. Also, a collapsed lung plays havoc with your conditioning. I walked around all right on the level, but climbing stairs was exhausting and could also be painful.
The "normal" correction for a collapsed lung was to fill the cavity with ping pong balls; however, the specialist I went to had a theory the hole in the lung would heal and the lung inflate. Indeed, eventually, it did reinflate but recapturing my conditioning took much longer.
At times I would have jolts of pain on my right side. I found that if I breathed in slowly, I could work that pain away. My specialist concluded I had lesions on my lungs. When you breathe out, the lobes fold up like a glove and when you breathe in, the "glove" unfolds. In my case, sometimes the lesions would stick the lobe together preventing full inflation with a consequence of a lot of sharp pain when I breathed in..
A year later, I had a second collapse, but this time on my left side where there are two lobes (to make room for the heart). It was described as a 40% collapse that, I guess, means the lobe didn't completely collapse. I was taking a course in fluid mechanics at the time and loved it. I would stay up until two or three in the morning to work on problems so I wasn't getting anywhere near eight hours of sleep at night. My GP told me that, if I didn't go to bed at 9:00 PM every night, I should find a new physician. I did as ordered while fearing that I would flunk out because I was getting only B's and C's as it was; however, I started getting A's and B's. I figured out that I had been exhausted and couldn't really think whereas, with a good night's sleep, I could think more clearly.
But I continued to have lung collapses until I would feel displeasure in my pleural cavity, but they could not detect collapse. They figured the lobes had become adhered to my chest cavity so I was having "blowouts" rather than collapses.
And so the "blowouts " continued irregularly, sometimes when I was working physically, like shoveling snow, but to have a collapse did not require violent activity. Once a leak occurred when I bent over to pick up a shawl for my maternal grandmother.
In my mind, I think I had more than 30 of these incidents by the age of 35, but that would have required somewhat more than two "blowouts" a year. Well, maybe.
I was in the NROTC my first two years in college but, after those first two years, you have to take a physical to continue. What with my collapsed lungs and blowouts in addition to some more minor things, I failed the physical, but I was surprised to find out I could join the Naval Reserve, which I did but never served any active duty.
When I was about to graduate from college, I applied for a job at "Big Oil" (It doesn't matter which corporation.) as they share information on applicants. Once again I had to take a physical. This time the examining physician said that if I lived to 35 I would probably be immobilized in a wheelchair. Thus I became blackballed by big oil as they shared information on applicants.
Then as I was approaching my 35th birthday, I was on a flight to somewhere and I looked down out of the plane window, I thought how nice it would be if the plane just crashed and end it all. Then I felt guilty because of all the other innocent people that would have to die with me.
As it turned out, I felt pretty good at 35 and, in fact, was about to enter around 30 yrs of good health. Once in my 50s, I even had a comprehensive blood test when everything was in the normal range. I sent a copy of this to my physician brother, older than I, and all he said was that the Biliubin was at the high end of normal. He often was telling me that I had 2 or 3 of the symptoms of some dread disease. Fortunately, I never had all.
Males on both sides of my family have been wracked with alcoholism. Looking back on my period in science administration, I can see I was drinking alcoholically. As it turned out, this seemed to be stress related to the administrative jobs. Fortunately, once out of science administration, my drinking entered a slow decline. When I entered our retirement home, I was drinking about two glasses of wine a night (one before dinner and one with dinner). I was gaining about a pound a month at the retirement home so I cut back to one 6-oz glass of dark red wine*** at night with dinner. Much to my surprise, I am happy with that. My ability to cut back may also contribute to my longevity and does not seem to be related to my arthritis.***
When health problems returned they were of a different sort, this time progressive osteoarthritis. I finally use a powered wheelchair anytime I have to walk more than 50 ft. I got the chair in May of 2016 when I was 85 and am still not confined to it.
My major activity is writing and I have published three little books plus my blog "Reunite Gondwanaland" (http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/). I have given thought to come out with one last book on the Best of Reunite Gondwanaland and have assembled a number of pieces. We'll see. But this is the 10th Anniversary year of the blog.
As I wrote this, I am well passed my 88th birthday and counting. I feel like I could go a long time yet. Aside from my arthritis, life is pleasant, and painkillers have taken away the sting of arthritis. In my wildest dreams, however, I never figured I would live to see 80 though I hoped to make it to 70 and the new Millenium. No male on either side of my family has lived to 75, but my brother came close at 74 yrs and 4 mo. Thus I have lived for at least 13 yrs longer than I had any reason to expect. If my life were to end now, I think I would feel that I made a good run at it and have no complaints. But I am in no rush. Like we all, however, I would prefer a painless death in my sleep when it comes.
(Note: I have skipped over most details of my life. Many biographical items can be found in the blog "Reunite Gondwanaland" Table Of Contents.)
* https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/25/well/live/living-intimately-with-thoughts-of-death.html?action=click&module=Discovery&pgtype=Homepage
** http://www.drpaulwong.com/documents/wong-scales/death-attitude-profile-revised-scale.pdf
*** http://theconversation.com/why-a-glass-of-red-wine-is-good-for-your-gut-122072
https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/drug-addiction/alcohol-and-arthritis-does-alcohol-affect-arthritis/#gref
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
MIKE POMPEO AND OTHERS ON THE SANCTITY OF DONALD TRUMP
Mike Pompeo, currently Secretary Of State, is a big disappointment to me. He is said to have graduated as valedictorian of his High School class and first in his class at West Point and Harvard Law School; however, that is hard to tell from his actions since he first joined the Trump Administration as Director of the CIA.
Prior to joining the Trump Administration, Pompeo served six undistinguished years in congress. Since joining the Trump administration, Pompeo has become an unbelievable Trump "a@@ kisser" with "over the top" comments about Trump's relation to God.
Pompeo, an evangelical Christian who keeps an open Bible on his desk, now says it’s possible that God raised up Trump as a modern Queen Esther, the Biblical figure who convinced the King of Persia to spare the Jewish people.*
Pompeo is not alone. There is the King of Israel bit:
But perhaps one of Trump’s most disturbing steps came Wednesday, when the president, who claims to be a Christian, tweeted quotes of and therefore validated radio host Wayne Allyn Root’s words that “the Jewish people love [Trump] … like he’s the King of Israel. They love him like he is the second coming of God.”**
And televangelist, Jim Baker, had to get into the act:
During the broadcast, [Jim]Bakker noted that he prayed to God asking Him why the current climate is as hostile as it is.
According to the televangelist, God answered him by pointing to the book of Revelation. Bakker said God told him “you are in Revelation, Chapter 6,” which speaks of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. According to the End Times prepper, God told him that the first horse of the Apocalypse [Donald Trump] is beginning to ride on the earth.**
It even gets into the NYT.
As journalist Katherine Stewart, who covers the religious right, explained in a New York Times article last December, the gist of the white evangelical view of Trump is "that he is a miracle sent straight from heaven to bring the nation back to the Lord" and "that resistance to Mr. Trump is tantamount to resistance to God."***
...........................................................
"God called King David a man after God’s own heart even though he was an adulterer and a murderer," [Evangetlist Jerry] Falwell [Jr.] said in 2016, defending his choice to endorse Trump. "You have to choose the leader that would make the best king or president and not necessarily someone who would be a good pastor."
After hearing such things, no wonder Trump refers to himself as "The chosen one" though now he says it was a joke.** But others feel he wasn't joking.***
He quite clearly believes himself to be a great man of history. "It is much easier to act presidential than what we are doing here tonight, believe me," Trump told an audience in 2017. "With the exception of the late, great Abraham Lincoln, I can be more presidential than any president that's ever held this office." He's also compared himself favorably to George Washington when it comes to appointing judges.
"We'll have more judges put on than any other president other than one," Trump said in an interview with Hill.TV. "Do you know who the one is? George Washington. Percentage wise." ****
* https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/08/26/mike-pompeo-the-secretary-of-trump\
** https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/08/22/im-an-evangelist-trump-voter-trump-second-coming-god-is-blasphemous/
https://wava.com/movies/blogs/religion-today-blog/end-time-prepper-jim-bakker-proclaims-god-sent-donald-trump-to-prepare-the-church-for-the-rapture
*** https://www.salon.com/2019/08/22/evangelicals-told-trump-he-was-chosen-by-god-now-he-says-it-himself/
**** https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/21/politics/donald-trump-chosen-one/index.html
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/30/donald-trump-evangelicals-god-1294578
Prior to joining the Trump Administration, Pompeo served six undistinguished years in congress. Since joining the Trump administration, Pompeo has become an unbelievable Trump "a@@ kisser" with "over the top" comments about Trump's relation to God.
Pompeo, an evangelical Christian who keeps an open Bible on his desk, now says it’s possible that God raised up Trump as a modern Queen Esther, the Biblical figure who convinced the King of Persia to spare the Jewish people.*
Pompeo is not alone. There is the King of Israel bit:
But perhaps one of Trump’s most disturbing steps came Wednesday, when the president, who claims to be a Christian, tweeted quotes of and therefore validated radio host Wayne Allyn Root’s words that “the Jewish people love [Trump] … like he’s the King of Israel. They love him like he is the second coming of God.”**
And televangelist, Jim Baker, had to get into the act:
During the broadcast, [Jim]Bakker noted that he prayed to God asking Him why the current climate is as hostile as it is.
According to the televangelist, God answered him by pointing to the book of Revelation. Bakker said God told him “you are in Revelation, Chapter 6,” which speaks of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. According to the End Times prepper, God told him that the first horse of the Apocalypse [Donald Trump] is beginning to ride on the earth.**
It even gets into the NYT.
As journalist Katherine Stewart, who covers the religious right, explained in a New York Times article last December, the gist of the white evangelical view of Trump is "that he is a miracle sent straight from heaven to bring the nation back to the Lord" and "that resistance to Mr. Trump is tantamount to resistance to God."***
...........................................................
"God called King David a man after God’s own heart even though he was an adulterer and a murderer," [Evangetlist Jerry] Falwell [Jr.] said in 2016, defending his choice to endorse Trump. "You have to choose the leader that would make the best king or president and not necessarily someone who would be a good pastor."
After hearing such things, no wonder Trump refers to himself as "The chosen one" though now he says it was a joke.** But others feel he wasn't joking.***
He quite clearly believes himself to be a great man of history. "It is much easier to act presidential than what we are doing here tonight, believe me," Trump told an audience in 2017. "With the exception of the late, great Abraham Lincoln, I can be more presidential than any president that's ever held this office." He's also compared himself favorably to George Washington when it comes to appointing judges.
"We'll have more judges put on than any other president other than one," Trump said in an interview with Hill.TV. "Do you know who the one is? George Washington. Percentage wise." ****
* https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/08/26/mike-pompeo-the-secretary-of-trump\
** https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/08/22/im-an-evangelist-trump-voter-trump-second-coming-god-is-blasphemous/
https://wava.com/movies/blogs/religion-today-blog/end-time-prepper-jim-bakker-proclaims-god-sent-donald-trump-to-prepare-the-church-for-the-rapture
*** https://www.salon.com/2019/08/22/evangelicals-told-trump-he-was-chosen-by-god-now-he-says-it-himself/
**** https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/21/politics/donald-trump-chosen-one/index.html
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/30/donald-trump-evangelicals-god-1294578
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