Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Sunday, November 19, 2023
Friday, November 17, 2023
Gasoline averaged $2.48825/gallon for the four years 2017-2020, which Obama infamously said was impossible
Add in 2015 and 2016 and it averaged $2.42383.
In October 2023 under Obama 2.0 Americans pay 56% more than that.
Titans of American business pay to have dinner with genocidal dictator Xi Jinping
Elon Musk was there, too, but this story never mentions it:
Xi’s 10 years as president are marked by a genocide against China’s Muslim minority, attempts to wipe out Tibetan culture, and persecution of Christians and followers of Falun Gong – not to mention a crackdown on democracy, religious freedom, and civil rights in Hong Kong.
Yet, during official and unofficial meetings this week, there was no mention of the long list of atrocities. Instead, Xi received an unusually warm reception.
On Wednesday night in the confines of San Francisco’s Hyatt Regency ballroom, America’s corporate chieftains gathered to fete Xi as a “guest of honor” at a banquet drawing nearly 400 attendees. The gala took place on the sidelines of the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, a gathering of 21 member countries to support free trade and business ties.
The executives were so excited to share the room with the Chinese president that they gave him two standing ovations before Xi uttered a word. American titans of business, including Apple’s Tim Cook and Blackstone’s Steve Schwarzman, Black Rock’s Larry Fink, Boeing’s Stanley Deal, and Pfizer’s Albert Bourla, joined Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to rub shoulders with Xi and a cohort of Chinese officials.
Tickets for the banquet started at $2,000 each, with several companies shelling out $40,000 to buy eight seats at a table in the ballroom and one at Xi’s table. After Xi’s remarks, attendees provided yet another standing ovation, according to Reuters.
Some executives made no attempt to hide their gushing. On the way into the Hyatt, Bridgewater Associates hedge fund founder Ray Dalio told the Financial Times that he was “excited to have this relationship [with Xi].”
If Dalio entered the hotel from the main lobby, he couldn’t
have avoided the polar opposite scene and messaging. A Tibetan student
activist named Tsela had strapped herself to a flagpole and was waving
the Tibetan flag when Xi and his entourage arrived. Other activists from
Students for a Free Tibet chanted “Murderer” at the Chinese leader,
“Down with the CCP,” and “Human Rights in Tibet.”
Thursday, November 16, 2023
Lyin' commie Xi Jinpingpong is in town saying China seeks no sphere of influence lol
Massive new Chinese military capabilities built up in the South China Sea say otherwise, but the west coast tech traitors just clap, and clap, and clap some more for this guy.
Meanwhile grandpa poopy pants at the pope party had a similar, brief, and extremely unfortunate truth eruption in front of the press, calling Xi a dictator, spoiling the moment for the Chicoms.
The whole thing stinks, even after cleaning the streets in San Francisco for once, and yes, Gavin Newsom was in the middle of this.
US House Democrat minority leader Hakeem Jeffries crows over passage of more of the same old, same old bloated spending by continuing resolution
Looking forward to a Moody's downgrade, if they've got the guts. Congress certainly doesn't.
Senate sends funding bill to Biden’s desk, averting a government shutdown :
WASHINGTON — The Senate passed a stopgap funding bill Wednesday night, punting the GOP’s spending fight and the threat of a government shutdown until after the holidays.
The bipartisan vote was 87-11, with 10 Republicans and one Democrat — Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado — voting against the bill. ...
The short-term bill, known as a continuing resolution, or CR, cleared the House on Tuesday on
a lopsided 336-95 vote, with all but two of the no votes coming from
Republicans. The funding bill next heads to President Joe Biden’s desk
for his expected signature. ...
“No spending cuts, no right-wing extreme policy changes, no government shutdown, no votes tomorrow, Happy Thanksgiving,” he said. “That is a type of report that, when you are able to give it, means morale is very high.”
Tuesday, November 14, 2023
Dim bulb Jonathan Martin says Joe should heave Bidenomics into the dumpster just as broad inflation tanks from 3.7% yoy in September to 3.2% yoy in October
Perhaps the most overwhelming economic messaging advice I picked up from Democrats was for him to heave “Bidenomics” into the dumpster. Attempting to make voters believe something they don’t is folly. Attaching your name to that strategy borders on masochistic.
Here’s How Biden Can Turn It Around
Joe would be well on his way to re-election right now if he weren't shooting himself in the foot with his stupid green energy policies, which are keeping inflation from coming down harder than it already is.
That's what needs to go in the dumpster.
Joe Biden: David Axelrod is a prick
On that we agree.
Here.
But Jonathan Martin must be joking when he recommends Biden bring in Rahm Emanuel to run the 2024 re-election campaign and Bill and Hillary to lead a Mideast peace process.
I mean LOL:
It may sound far-fetched, but this is no time for small thinking. The moment demands all hands on deck.
Monday, November 13, 2023
America is the way it is because half the people are off their rocker
The other half are men.
All the pet psychics and all the customers in this story by a woman are women.
One guy gets in his two cents though:
"Animal communicators and the people who use them tend to have a personality type that’s prone to fantasy. Pet psychics work much the way human psychics work, he says."
Sunday, November 12, 2023
Farts in space
This story was a real eye-opener for me.
The adverse health consequences of long term deep space travel make it a non-starter.
Sad.
LOL Democrat James Clyburn still blames Jill Stein and Gary Johnson for Hillary's loss, not the blacks who stayed home in Milwaukee, Detroit, and Philadelphia
Hillary Superpredators Clinton remains the elephant in the room of the Congressional Black Caucasians. And Hillary The Anointed And I Don't Need To Campaign in Wisconsin Clinton shall not be mentioned either.
From the story here:
Jill Stein and Gary Johnson ran third-party campaigns in 2016 that arguably siphoned off enough votes to cost Hillary Clinton the states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — and with them the presidency. I don’t remember all that they promised, but I know what they helped deliver: the disastrous presidency of Donald Trump.
Clyburn predictably also blames Ralph Nader's 97k votes in Florida for Bush's victory in 2000. He doesn't want to talk about the 180k spoiled ballots in Florida, 54% of which were cast by black folks.
Getting on the ballot everywhere is RFK Jr's big problem as an independent
“I wondered if they had thought it all through before making the switch over,” said Michael Arno, a ballot access expert who’s firm was working with No Labels until April of this year and devised the independent ballot access plans for Howard Schultz in 2020 and Michael Bloomberg before that. ... Kennedy’s decision to run as an independent after competing for four months as a Democrat is a more spontaneous approach to the race than most independent candidates typically take. ... The first deadline is Jan. 6, 2024, in Utah with a named vice president required.
Read the whole thing here.
Saturday, November 11, 2023
Ahead of another government funding deadline November 17th, Moody's lowers its US government ratings outlook
Moody’s Investors Service on Friday lowered its ratings outlook on the United States’ government to negative from stable, pointing to rising risks to the nation’s fiscal strength.
Five bank failures in 2023 to date costing the DIF $35.569 billion
11-3-23 Citizens Bank of Iowa: cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund is $14.8 million
7-28-23 Heartland Tri-State Bank of Kansas: cost to the DIF is $54.2 million
5-1-23 First Republic Bank of California: cost to the DIF is $13.0 billion
3-12-23 Signature Bank of New York: cost to the DIF is $2.5 billion
3-10-23 Silicon Valley Bank of California: cost to the DIF is $20.0 billion
Friday, November 10, 2023
The poor dears: Survey of millionaires says a third feel only middle class
Same as it ever was.
From the story:
Even among millionaires, only 8% would characterize themselves as wealthy these days.
Roughly 60% of investors with $1 million or more of investable assets said they are more likely upper middle class, according to a recent Ameriprise Financial survey of more than 3,000 adults.
To that point, 31% consider themselves decidedly middle class.
Thursday, November 9, 2023
Joe Manchin won't seek re-election to the US Senate from West Virginia in 2024
From the story here:
Manchin’s commitment to staying active in politics, meanwhile, fuels further speculation that he could be considering a presidential run.
“Nothing is off the table,” a source with direct knowledge of Manchin’s plans told NBC News when asked if Manchin is considering a White House bid.
Wednesday, November 8, 2023
It's officially a moderate El Niño
It's officially a moderate El Niño with five consecutive overlapping 3-month measuring periods averaging between +1.0 to +1.4, now averaging +1.04 after the fifth measurement in August-September-October.
It began with the April-May-June measuring period.
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
Democrat Rashida Tlaib (MI-12) censured for anti-semitism in bi-partisan House vote 234-188
From NBC News, here:
WASHINGTON — House lawmakers on Tuesday censured Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the sole Palestinian American in Congress, over her remarks and actions in response to the Israel-Hamas war.
The censure resolution, authored by Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., passed 234 to 188, with 22 Democrats voting for it and four Republicans opposing the measure. A censure vote only requires a simple majority to pass.
The resolution censures Tlaib, D-Mich., for “promoting false narratives regarding the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and for calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.”
"It is a sad fact, but this type of antisemitic hate is being promoted by a small group of members in this body, chiefly Rep. Tlaib," McCormick said on the House floor before the vote. "We must hold her accountable."
WeWork, which once pretended to be worth $47 billion, files for bankruptcy protection
From the story here:
WeWork has struggled in a commercial real estate market that has been rocked by the rising cost of borrowing money, as well as a shifting dynamic for millions of office workers now checking into their offices remotely.
Monday, November 6, 2023
The Roman emperors used bread and circuses to distract the masses
Ours use sports, gambling, and drugs.
Joel Kotkin: The capitalist elite undermines our economic security
He means libertarians.
Here:
Free-market dogmatists have played a part in the deindustrialisation of the West as well. Consultants and investors pushed businesses to look offshore for virtually every critical production input. Between 2004 and 2017, the US share of world manufacturing shrank from 15 per cent to 10 per cent. Our reliance on Chinese inputs doubled. The trade deficit with China, according to the Economic Policy Institute, has cost as many as 3.7million American jobs since 2000. Overall, the US and the EU have seen their share of value-added manufacturing drop from 65 per cent in the 1960s to barely half that today.
Sunday, November 5, 2023
Despite US Treasury department manipulation of the yield curve last week and another Fed pause, yields still average above five in the aggregate
We saw a much bigger surge into bonds in March, but yields persisted.
With inflation, employment, and nominal GDP all still strong, Treasury tricks are unlikely to unravel this.
Cash such as VMFXX at 4.21% ytd and total stock market such as VTSAX at 13.92% ytd continue to trounce bonds ytd. VBTLX is still down 0.39% ytd. AGG is down 3.46% ytd.
Democrat leader of the Hamas Caucus in the US House, Rashida Tlaib, says Democrat President Joe Biden supports genocide in Gaza
Genocide is fast becoming as obsolete as fascism.
Friday, November 3, 2023
There's a lot of clucking out there about multiple job holding
Multiple job holding seems high at nearly 8.4 million, here.
But as a percent of the employed it is not, currently at 5.2%. In the go-go 1990s it was above 6%.
Multiple job holding generally is a sign of opportunity and good times, not economic stress and bad times. Obviously there is always a percentage of the workforce which can't find full-time work and works two part-time jobs. They now number almost 2 million, a very small part of the employment universe, which is near all-time highs in the range of 161 million.
Full-time employment in October was still strong at 50.4% of civilian population
The ten month average holds at 50.3%, which is still higher than full year 2022.
We shall see.
If Ron DeSantis' candidacy is so dead, why do Democrats continue to write hysterical attack columns about him?
Maria Cardona, RealClearPolitics
Florida is such a hellscape under DeSantis that he enjoys "a supermajority in both houses of the state’s legislature. It’s not a pretty picture . . .." lol
Thursday, November 2, 2023
US House votes against censure of leader of Hamas Wing, Democrat Rashida Tlaib, helped by 23 Republicans voting to table and 11 Republicans who didn't vote at all
The measure to table the censure proposal won 222-186.
The roll call vote is here.
The protest organized by Tlaib stormed the Capitol and briefly occupied it on October 18th.
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
More defunct neo-liberalism from Biden & Blinken: Put the losers to Hamas back in charge in Gaza
“At some point, what would make the most sense would be for an effective and revitalized Palestinian Authority to have governance and ultimately security responsibility for Gaza,” Blinken told the Senate hearing.
More.
Might as well put Matt Yglesias in charge and go full-on not-a-serious-country fairy tale.
This is a bid for the Disney vote, that's all.
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Age discrimination is widespread and has been for years, everyone just shrugs
Don't complain when it happens to you. No one cares.
More than half, 56%, of full-time workers in their early 50s get pushed out of their jobs (due to circumstances like a layoff) before they’re ready to retire, according to a 2018 paper published by the Urban Institute.
“Job loss at older ages is really consequential,” said Johnson, a report co-author. He attributes much of that workplace dynamic to ageism.
Just 10% who suffered an involuntary job separation in their early 50s ever earn as much per week after their separation as before it, the Urban Institute paper said. In other words, 90% earn less — “often substantially less,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s research shows that in the aftermath of the Great Recession (from 2008 through 2012), workers 50 to 61 years old who lost a job were 20% less likely to be reemployed than workers in their 20s and early 30s. Those age 62 and older were 50% less likely to have a new job.
More.
Monday, October 30, 2023
My plan was to give the Middle East to Disney, Florida to the Jews, and Washington state to the Palestinians, but I now realize that I was sadly mistaken
This very serious thinker ™ agrees with Glenn Beck that what America needs most to compete in the 21st century is a population of 1 billion.
These asshats simply repeat the false Associated Press headline that crowds stormed the Russian airport to protest Jews when they were Muslims trying to lynch them
The fellow travelers of anti-semitism in the press are all over the place.
Stephen L. Miller rose to the level of his incompetence long ago, but he's even more popular now, which says more about his audience than it does about him
A good writer might have mocked the man incisively:
Nothing has prepared me for the academic campus environment which I apparently helped foster.
But Miller is not a good writer.
Sad.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)