New York City's 311 gets 50,000 calls a day, the number one complaint being noise

From the story here in the Janesville WI GazetteXtra:

In a city whose cacophony can reach 95 decibels in midtown Manhattan — way above the federal government’s recommended average of no more than 70 decibels — the commotion over all that racket involves irate residents, anti-noise advocates, bars, helicopter sightseeing companies, landscapers and construction companies, as well as City Hall. The city’s 311 non-emergency call service gets 50,000 calls a day, and the No. 1 complaint is noise.

Pew study says $1.4 trillion in state pension promises currently can't be paid, a new record

From the story here:

The annual report from the Pew Charitable Trusts finds that public worker pension funds with heavy state government involvement owed retirees and current workers $4 trillion as of 2016. They had about $2.6 trillion in assets, creating a gap of about one-third, or a record $1.4 trillion.

White privilege, otherwise known as the 1990s phenomenon of everyone classifying Bill Clinton's misdeeds as peccadillos

Bill Clinton, America's first black president.

Reuters/Yahoo News can't bring itself to say China's Xi Jinping is a dictator who's enemy is freedom of speech

Tut tut, looks like enemy propaganda.

Here in "China's Xi says internet control key to stability":

Chinese regulators have been driving a sweeping crackdown on media content, which has been gaining force since last year, spreading a chill among content makers and distributors.

No shit, Sherlock.

Mark Levin is elated that the DNC has sued the Trump campaign

The DNC idiots have thereby unwittingly opened the door to discovery, "the compulsory disclosure, by a party to an action, of relevant documents referred to by the other party".

Laugh of the Day: A T.O.S. is similar to a P.O.S., only larger, smellier and potentially more dangerous to human health

Our Chinese enemy, lyin' Xi Jinping

Bill Gertz, here:

China has deployed electronic attack systems and other military facilities on disputed islands in the South China Sea and is now capable of controlling the strategic waterway, according to the admiral slated to be the next Pacific Command chief. ...

"In the South China Sea, the PLA has constructed a variety of radar, electronic attack, and defense capabilities on the disputed Spratly Islands, to include: Cuarteron Reef, Fiery Cross Reef, Gaven Reef, Hughes Reef, Johnson Reef, Mischief Reef and Subi Reef," Davidson said. ...

The militarization contradicts a promise from Chinese supreme leader Xi Jinping not to militarize the South China Sea that is used as a waterway transit for an estimated $5.3 trillion in goods annually.

"These actions stand in direct contrast to the assertion that President Xi made in 2015 in the Rose Garden when he commented that Beijing had no intent to militarize the South China Sea," Davidson said.

"Today these forward operating bases appear complete. The only thing lacking are the deployed forces."

The occupied islands will permit China to extend its influence thousands of miles southward and project power deep into the Oceania.

"The PLA will be able to use these bases to challenge U.S. presence in the region, and any forces deployed to the islands would easily overwhelm the military forces of any other South China Sea-claimants," Davidson said. "In short, China is now capable of controlling the South China Sea in all scenarios short of war with the United States."

Don't piss gasoline down my back and tell me it's rainin', Senator

What labor shortage? We have 1 million more people 20 to 24 years old than we did in 1979, but 400,000 fewer counted in the labor force and 20,000 fewer actually working

What labor shortage? We have 800,000 more people 25 to 54 years old than we did 10 years ago, 830,000 fewer counted in the labor force, and 45,000 fewer actually working

What labor shortage? We have MORE teens in 2018 than in 1978, but 3.5 million fewer are counted in the labor force and 2.7 million fewer WORK

Well, at least the Minneapolis Fed President doubts the labor shortage narrative

Too bad he doesn't have a vote right now.

25th anniversary of FBI crimes at WACO

Story here.

Total unemployment looks headed for a new cyclical low in 2018 similar to the year 2000

The year 2000 was also noteworthy for peak S&P 500, in August on a monthly average basis. The same may obtain for 2018. The market's average level in January already may have established the top for this cycle.

Maybe gasoline wouldn't cost as much if we didn't export 8% of our consumption

In 2017 our consumption of gasoline came to 3.40 billion barrels, but that year we exported 0.273 billion barrels, or 8% of that consumption, a new record. Consumption actually fell in 2017 from 2016 when consumption hit 3.41 billion barrels.

The news today says prices are climbing because of increased demand and tighter supplies. But as prices have risen in the last year, miles-traveled are down sharply year over year in January. Growth of miles-traveled had barely caught up with pre-recession levels in 2016 and 2017 and is now on the verge of recession-like conditions to start 2018.

We'll see if any of this continues, but one thing's for sure. Paying $3.00+/gallon this summer isn't what we voted for when we voted for Donald Trump.

Hogg jumps shark, now calls for boycott of Blackrock and Vanguard over guns

Story here (photo here).

Rotza ruck with that, kid.

TrimTabs: 1Q2018 pace of corporate stock buybacks and deals outstrips pace of wage increases by 85%

For the five years previous to the Trump corporate tax cuts, buybacks and deals outstripped wage increases $4.9 trillion to $2.3 trillion. The pace increased in the first quarter to a projected five-year level of $6.1 trillion to $2.6 trillion, meaning the pace of stock buybacks and deals is up 24% but only 13% for wage increases. The difference between those two rates of increase is nearly 85%.

The CNBC story, "Tax cut riches have gone to execs and investors over workers by nearly 3-to-1 margin", is here. The headline exaggerates the 1Q2018 ratio of buybacks of $305 billion to wage increases of $131 billion, which is actually 2.3:1.

Liberal math, but still. The Trump tax cuts are going to top managers and stockholders overwhelmingly compared with the masses of ordinary wage earners.

This explains the resilience of the stock market indices near their record highs. The tax cut cash is flowing into stocks, boosting and supporting prices.

Piers Morgan: James Comey's a snivelling, egotistical worm, an incompetent, inept, self-aggrandising gossip-mongering drama queen, not to mention a treacherous, useless, money-grabbing weasel

Here.

Gee Piers, why don't you tell us how you really feel?

Congress may end up getting rid of Jeff Sessions and Rod Rosenstein if Trump won't

The window for that, however, closes if Republicans lose the House in November. Reps. Jordan and Nunes ought to consider that the Department of Justice will continue to slow-walk this just enough to get them there.

From the story here:

Although the DOJ cooperated with the lawmakers Wednesday, the department has still failed to fully comply with congressional subpoenas for thousands of documents. Thus, Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed U.S. Attorney John Lausch of the Northern District of Illinois to speed up efforts to deliver documents lawmakers have been seeking for months. But if the process drags out too much longer, [Rep.] Jordan said there would be severe consequences for Rosenstein, Wray and Sessions.

"My attitude is just like [Nunes']. If things don't change dramatically — and I'm talking days, not weeks or months — if they don't change dramatically, then impeachment and contempt and resignations should all be on the table," Jordan warned. "Because we're tired of it, and more importantly the American people are tired of it."

Two US guided-missile destroyers never fired a shot, Syria attacked instead from three other directions

Bloomberg reports here in "Warship Ruse and New Stealth Missiles: How the U.S. and Allies Attacked Syria":

While both vessels carry as many as 90 Tomahawk missiles -- the main weapon used in the Friday evening strike on Syria -- neither ship in the end fired a shot. Instead, according to a person familiar with White House war planning, they were part of a plan to distract Russia and its Syrian ally from an assault Assad’s government could do little to defend itself against.