Mikhail Gorbachev: Last Soviet leader dies aged 91........President Biden in Pennsylvania.........Oberlin College losses against the local bakery.....Frank Robinson (1935-2019)......and other stories.......
click to listen:
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Mikhail Gorbachev, President Biden in PA & Oberlin vs bakers
Mikhail Gorbachev: Last Soviet leader dies aged 91........President Biden in Pennsylvania.........Oberlin College losses against the local bakery.....Frank Robinson (1935-2019)......and other stories.......
Wednesday's video: Mikhail Gorbachev, President Biden in PA & Oberlin vs bakers
Mikhail Gorbachev, President Biden in PA & Oberlin vs bakers...
Mikhail Gorbachev: Last Soviet leader dies aged 91....President Biden in Pennsylvania...Oberlin College losses against the local bakery.....Frank Robinson (1935-2019) and other stories.......
Joe you have some 'splaining to do
(My new American Thinker post)
It's one of TV's greatest lines: Ricky Ricardo looks at Lucy and said: "Lucy, 'Splain" According to "Ricardo experts," he never said "Lucy, you've got some 'splaining to do!" Nevertheless, we got his point. Ricky wants an explanation because he did not understand what Lucy said or did.
So let's apply the Ricardo standard to this White House because they can't "'Splain that" from unvaccinated people crossing the border to the cost of cancelling student debt.
On the border, Peter Doocy of FOX asked a simple question and got an awful answer:
Doocy asked Jean-Pierre why unvaccinated migrants can come into the U.S. and stay, while Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic is banned from playing stateside due to his unvaccinated status.
'It's not that simple,' Jean-Pierre said. 'It's not just that people are walking across the border. We have a plan in place. This is not like switching the lights on. This is going to take a process. We are fixing a broken system that was actually left by the last administration.'
Jean-Pierre said of Djokovic that she couldn't 'discuss individual visa cases due to privacy reasons.'
Well, it's all Trump's fault but you knew that she'd say that. As for Djokovic he is not coming and it's because of vaccinations. Whose privacy is being violated?
Again, she did not "'splain" anything.
The second issue is the matter of the cost of the loan bailout, the latest Democrat effort to pander for votes since President Obama signed DACA a few months before the 2012 election.
Again, the White House can not tell us a thing:
Despite unveiling the policy last week, administration officials have yet to explain how Biden's student loan handout will be paid for in the long term. Economists say that since the proposal calls for the government to forgive the lending outright, taxpayers are likely on the hook as the principle and interest are piled on top of the nearly $31 trillion in existing U.S. debt.
Who will pay? We don't know but all of those people between the coasts who did not go to college know that they will be paying for this. Yes, there is no such thing as a free lunch as a famous economist once said. And many know that it will make inflation worse.
As expected, the White House will be speaking a lot about semi-fascists but avoids border crossings and the cost of bailing out students.
Tuesday, August 30, 2022
The week in review with Bill Katz the editor of Urgent Agenda
Guest: Bill Katz the editor of Urgent Agenda..........
The loan cancellation and who will pay......The raid and affidavit week 3.....FBI and Facebook.......White House border policy and vaccinations........and other stories..
Click to listen:
Tuesday's video: Loan bailout confusion plus Facebook & FBI 2020 and more
Tuesday's video:
Loan bailout confusion plus Facebook & FBI 2020 and more........
The loan cancellation and who will pay......The raid and affidavit week 3.....FBI and Facebook.......White House border policy and vaccinations.......Ted Williams (1918=2002)....Casey Stengel 1965.....
Archie used to call him ‘the meathead’ for a reason
(My new American Thinker post)
Years ago, “All in the Family” was the talk of town. The characters were great, and in particular a fellow named “Michael ‘Meathead’ Stivic” played by Rob Reiner. He was Archie's son-in-law and the liberal in the house. Funny stuff. I guess that was liberalism before it went woke.
Honestly, I lost track of Rob Reiner over time. To be fair, Steiner became a successful Hollywood director, but I'm not the type who follows much of what happens in Hollywood. He also got active in politics and turned into a leftwing activist.
A couple of days ago, Mr. Steiner was on Bill Maher’s show and it was a masterful meathead performance. Bill Maher is clearly not a conservative, so maybe Reiner assumed there would be no accountability? Either way, this is the story:
Director, actor, and longtime Democrat activist Rob Reiner was incredulous at the notion that the media censored coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal in the run-up to the 2020 election–a fact which is no longer in dispute.
Reiner’s comments came during a discussion Friday on HBO’s ‘Real Time’ when host Bill Maher mentioned the recent controversy surround [sic] author Sam Harris’ claims on a podcast that the media and big tech were justified in censoring the story of Hunter Biden’s ‘laptop from hell’ during the 2020 election in order to stop Donald Trump’s re-election.
‘Look, let’s not pussyfoot around this,’ Maher continued. ‘[Hunter Biden] was selling the influence of his father Joe Biden. I mean, most political sons do. Let’s not pretend that that at least was not going on. I mean, some guy from China gave him—after a dinner—an $80,000 diamond after dinner.’
‘So, Hunter Biden’s laptop was buried by the press,’ Maher added. ‘Even the head of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, said that was a mistake. They buried the story because they remembered what happened with James Comey and the letter 11 days before the 2016 election. Comey said we gotta reopen this email investigation with Hillary Clinton. And it probably was—well, she ran a horrible campaign, didn’t go to Wisconsin, we know all of that—but this was probably the last thing that sunk her.’
Of course, Reiner could not handle the unflattering truth: leftwing media colluded with weaponized federal agencies to censor damning evidence. So, he went off on some rant about Trump sending “armed insurrectionists” into the Capitol on January 6th. Maher turned into Archie Bunker and accused “the meathead” of only watching leftist outlet MSNBC.
It was instructive and comical to reconnect with “the meathead” after all this time. Archie Bunker warned us about people like this and he was right: Once a meathead, always a meathead!
Monday, August 29, 2022
Monday's podcast: The college loan backlash and constitutionality plus more
The college loan backlash.....
Not constitutional according to Professor Turley....
CNN looking for more balance.....
Abortion and the GOP....
Professor Dershowitz saying that President Trump will not be indicted.....
Senator John McCain (1936-2018)....
The Beatles last concert 1966.......and other stories....
click to listen:
Monday's video: The college loan backlash and constitutionality plus more
Monday's video:
The college loan backlash and constitutionality plus more....
The college loan backlash.....
Not constitutional according to Professor Turley....
CNN looking for more balance.....
Abortion and the GOP....
Professor Dershowitz saying that President Trump will not be indicted.......
Senator John McCain (1936-2018)....
The Beatles last concert 1966.......and other stories...
Militias down Mexico way
(My new American Thinker post)
Mexico is rather violent these days, from torching vehicles to killing journalists. So is anyone surprised that local groups would arm to protect their farms and families?
Let's check this story from Jessica Guerrero and "Pueblos Unidos" loosely translated to “United Communities.” It is the natural consequence of lawlessness when people cannot count on their government to protect them.
This is the story:
During the last two weeks, the country has faced a serious security crisis, after several violent incidents took place across cities located in the states of Baja California, Chihuahua and Guanajuato, where different organized crime groups directly attacked civilians and set fires to dozens of businesses and private vehicles.
The aforementioned resulted, in the first instance, in million-peso losses for the owners of the affected businesses and vehicle owners, but more importantly, at least 14 fatalities were recorded, including a child.
…on Saturday, Aug. 13, agents of the Mexican Army, the National Guard and the Civil Guard deployed an operation that included armored vehicles to achieve the arrest of 167 armed men on the Siglo XXI highway that connects the state capital, Morelia, with the narco-infested region of Tierra Caliente and the port of Lázaro Cárdenas.
According to the authorities, after an exhaustive intelligence operation of their forces, they were able to arrest these armed men after they were seen traveling in 28 vehicles near the municipality of Uruapan. The people in those vehicles carried badges and stickers that identified them as members of the Pueblos Unidos criminal group.
Pueblos Unidos is a vigilante organization that emerged in 2021, allegedly composed of farmers and community members from the avocado-producing region in central Michoacán.
According to its founders, its main objective was to defend the local farmers against the continuous extortions and threats of the cartels. However, the organization has been accused of collaborating with the Carteles Unidos criminal group, becoming a major concern to the authorities by presumably threatening the state’s security situation.
The group has a Facebook page, with the latest news and videos. It's a sign of the times I guess for everyone to go on social media these days. "Pueblos Unidos" is heavily armed and has run into problems with the authorities. The locals responded to the arrest of some of Pueblos Unidos' members by blocking highways. They believe that their members were wrongly arrested and blamed the government directly. Eventually, the roads were reopened but the locals made their point.
What I see from up here is a perfect storm. I am not defending everything that Pueblos Unidos is doing or allegations that they may be working with criminal elements. The relationship with another cartel may explain why they pose with those high-powered rifles. Nevertheless, I understand why groups like these are created and supported by the local "pueblos." People are scared and do not trust their government to protect them.
What is the solution? The Lopez-Obrador government must admit that violence is out of control and will use all means necessary to eradicate the problem, from taking the fight directly to the cartels to persuading the locals that they will protect them from this wave of violence. It would help if President Lopez-Obrador would use one of his morning press conferences to outline how President Biden's chaos on the border is making all this violence more likely in Mexico.
Sunday, August 28, 2022
My AT posts from last week
My AT posts from last week:
Monday: Finland PM and the party
Tuesday: Mexico needs to get very serious about violence
Wednesday: Russia promoting motherhood and more babies
Thursday: Talk of recession
Friday: 15 dead journalists in Mexico
Saturday: Business owners vs local government
Sunday: Dr. King's speech 1963
...and other stories...
Sunday’s video: My AT posts from last week
Sunday's video:
My AT posts from last week.............
My AT posts from last week:
Monday: Finland PM and the party
Tuesday: Mexico needs to get very serious about violence
Wednesday: Russia promoting motherhood and more babies
Thursday: Talk of recession
Friday: 15 dead journalists in Mexico
Saturday: Business owners vs local government
Sunday: Dr. King's speech 1963
...and other stories...
Saturday, August 27, 2022
Business owners unite
(My new American Thinker post)
Why did it take so long for this movement to happen? I recall hearing about some Baltimore business owners writing a letter to the mayor and demanding law and order. I have good news from the Bay Area:
The Castro Merchants Association sent a letter to San Francisco city officials saying they plan to stop paying taxes if The City doesn't do more to address burglaries, vandalism, people with behavioral health problems and unhoused people camping on the sidewalks in front of businesses and residences.
Terrance Alan is co-president of the association and owner of Flore Dispensary and Cafe Flore.
He says many shops have been targeted by vandals and his businesses' windows have been smashed 11 times. He says there are also several dozen people in the area who have been unhoused for years, some a decade or more.
"Every day we wake up and have to help people on the street. We have to clean up feces on the street. We have to clear our people from doorways, so we can open our businesses. It's not fair," said Alan.
It's about time. At the same time, how did local governments allow this to happen?
Back to my aforementioned comment about Baltimore. In 2021, we went to see my ailing mother in Maryland. It was also an opportunity to catch up with some of my college friends from that time in my life. I was appalled at the state of the city, the garbage, the sense of lawlessness everywhere and the frustration in the eyes of an under-staffed police force.
As for San Francisco, I spoke with a friend who went to San Francisco and he couldn't believe the general decay of a once wonderful city. He did not like Los Angeles either.
So it's great to see that business owners are drawing the line. Put the issue on the lap of the elected officials and use your taxes as a weapon. After all, you are paying for the police and it's political class tying their hands.
Thumbs up for these business owners in Castro.
P.S. Check out my videos and posts.
Looking back at August 22nd
AT post about the PM minister of Finland and a crazy party......Soviet troops go into Prague 1968...Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers on the cover of LIFE 1938....Nolan Ryan 5,000 strike outs 1989.....Happy # 83 Carl Yastrzemski...and other stories...
click to listen:
Friday, August 26, 2022
Friday's video: Inflation and Chairman Powell plus violence in Mexico & more
Friday's video:
Inflation and Chairman Powell plus violence in Mexico & more
Inflation and Chairman Powell promises more interest rake hikes....Fed not impressed with Inflation Reduction Act.....AT post about journalists killed in Mexico......DC Mayor: No school for unvaccinated students......The Democrats and Chicago 1968....Phillies vs Dodgers first baseball game on TV 1939.....
Fifteen in Mexico
(My new American Thinker post)
We wrote a few days ago about homicides in Mexico. Let me bring you another side of the story via my friends at Pulse Mexico:
Reporter and columnist Fredid Román Román was gunned down as he left his home in Chilpancingo, Guerrero, on Monday, Aug. 23, making him the 15th journalist to be killed in Mexico this year.
Román Román was a reporter for various media outlets in the coastal Mexican state of Guerrero, as well as the owner and editor of the newspaper La Realidad, which he stopped publishing several years ago.
At the time of his death, he was publishing his column, “The Written Reality,” in various media and on his social networks.
On the day of his death, he published a column on criticizing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) for his mishandling of the investigation of the unsolved Ayotzinapa case surrounding 43 missing students in Guerrero in 2014.
Román Román is the second reporter assassinated during the administration of Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado Pineda, who took office in October 2021. The first was the photojournalist Alfredo Cardoso Echeverría in Acapulco.
Fifteen journalists dead in Mexico is today's headline. #14 was killed in Sonora not long ago. And the story repeats itself!
My friends south of the border explain it this way:
First, many journalists are doing journalism. They are covering tough stories and drawing the ire of criminal elements; and
Second, most of them are unguarded. They are easy targets for those who follow them home or find them around town.
Yes, these journalists are doing good work and losing their lives in the process.
Thursday, August 25, 2022
Thursday's video: Economy update, Bad decision to write off loans and The red wave.....
Thursday's video:
Economy update, Bad decision to write off loans and The red wave.....
Remember the talk of a recession?
(My new American Thinker post)
A few weeks ago, the White House et al assured us that two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth was the old school way of measuring the economy. No recession, they assured is. Trust us because we know and you don't, or something like that.
Well, let's see how they explain this economic story. This is from CNN Business:
Business activity at private US companies in early August dropped off at some of the sharpest rates seen since the beginning of the pandemic as rising interest rates and high inflation crimped consumer spending, according to data released Tuesday.
The latest S&P Global preliminary flash composite purchasing managers index, or PMI, registered a level of 45 as of August 22, down from 47.7 in July.
The rate at which business activity slowed was the fastest recorded since May 2020 when the pandemic shutdowns first took hold, according to S&P Global. This marks five consecutive months that the activity index has fallen and the second consecutive month that it has been in contraction territory. Levels above 50 indicate expansion, while levels below represent a contraction is occurring, according to S&P Global.
Maybe the White House will call it "the monkey pox recession" and tell everyone to put on a mask when they are driving their electric cars.
Another report appeared today. Frankly, it was not shocking because I see that "For sale" signs are not going down as quickly as they did months ago. This is about home sales today:
Only 511,000 new homes were sold last month, at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, down from a revised 585,000 in June. That's the lowest sales number since January 2016. A year ago, 726,000 newly constructed homes were sold.
Again, I did not need a report to confirm that slowdown. I remember "for sale" signs up on Monday and gone the next day. We've had two signs up around here and they've been up for a couple of weeks.
The recession talk gets louder when we see this in the news:
Best Buy, Ford Motor, HBO Max, Peloton, Shopify, Re/Max, Walmart and Wayfair are among the firms that announced layoffs in recent weeks. Meanwhile, 50% of firms are anticipating a reduction in overall headcount, while 52% foresee instituting a hiring freeze and 44% rescinding job offers, according to a PwC survey of 722 U.S. executives fielded in early August.
So let's get this straight: layoffs, drop in home sales and business activity is down. It looks like a recession to me. I'm sure that the White House Press Secretary will put some spin on this reality later.