Month: February 2024

Why Inflation?

We are told weekly if not daily that inflation is down then why does my wallet look and feel lighter?

If inflation is so low and manageable then why are my eggs a dollar more than a year ago?

There are many excuses these days…..price of gas….death of chickens….labor strikes….we could on and on but why bother….you get the picture.

One another side of this story….we give deep tax cuts to corporations which makes them more profitable and do they do the right thing and reward us peasants with lower prices?

What the Hell is going on?

Inflation has eased over the last two years, and with supply chains no longer struggling to keep up with demand and companies’ business costs stabilizing, an analysis out Thursday asks: Why haven’t American households seen the benefits of a more secure economy, with the prices of consumer goods and services falling?

The answer, said economic justice think tank Groundwork Collaborative, is that high prices linked to the coronavirus pandemic were never just the result of higher labor and production costs—but were partially caused by corporations’ deliberate price gouging.

When the pandemic upended the U.S. economy, said the group, “businesses jumped on the opportunity to pass these costs on to consumers—and added a little extra to pad their profits.”

“The worst part?” said the group. “They’re still doing it.”

Groundwork analyzed corporate earnings reports starting in 2021, focusing on numerous industries in which consumers were facing sky-high prices.

“This research revealed CEOs openly bragging to their shareholders about their ability to raise prices beyond their rising costs to increase profits,” said Groundwork. “To justify these moves, CEOs hid behind the cover of supply chain issues and the economic turmoil caused by the pandemic.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/corporate-profits-inflation

After lying for decades to the American people some are starting to wake up…..they are told that corporations need tax cuts to be competitive and in doing so would take the price of stuff down…..if you have been keeping track of your spending you know it is all so much bullsh*t.

Corporate tax cuts do nothing for you and increases their profits as they smoke those god awful smelling cigars.

You want lower prices?

Then do what must be done!

Corporations are the problem then elect people that will fix the problem.  (I know they are hard to find because most candidates owe corporations their political lives)

We will continue to see prices rise until someone finds a way to repair this system.

I am done preaching.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“A Principled Libertarian Stance”

I have been critical of Israel in the past and I will continue to do so until they start acting like a civilized nation…..this Gaza thing has me being labeled all sorts of things like un-American or antisemitic or naive or a whole wealth of other small minds can come up with….but I soldier on.

I read an article from the Libertarian Institute that I wanted to share….I am no Libertarian….I do share some points with them especially on war but that is about as far as it goes for any support from me…..however I do read and I do share with my readers what I find.

Recently online Antiwar.com and some voices in the antiwar movement have come under criticism, accused of being “left” leaning or pushing an anti-Western agenda. It is nothing new for those who are consistent in their criticism of war to receive backlash from supposed philosophical allies or the usual pro-war beings. Collectivists however are seldom consistent when it comes to principles. They tend to lack an ability to discriminate nuance or to absorb criticism of their ‘side’ when it comes to injustices inflicted upon the innocent. Certain social media ‘celebrities’ in the American liberty movement have zeroed in on Dave DeCamp, Scott Horton and those at Antiwar.com.

To condemn those who would murder innocent children should be an obvious position for most people. The fact that such condemnation needs to occur at all and that so many children are often murdered reveals the cold hard fact that it is not that common a position to be held. For collectivists even the innocent must suffer and die. There is a savagery in the ideology of those who view a baby as fair game simply because it has been relegated into a specific demographic. A child from a familiar camp is viewed as sacred, precious and innocent. Those born inside the borders of a pariah or “insignificant” region are forfeit, they must suffer to satisfy the gods of foreign policy or ideology. The consistently antiwar, understand this. Tourists to the cause seldom do.

Israel has taken on a precious position inside the realms of Western, especially American ideology. To criticize specific Israeli government policies risks one becoming tarred with the brush of anti-Semite or even to be accused of inflicting hatred upon Jews. It is a tiresome slur that seems to have stood the test of time with the horrors of the holocaust and terrible spectre of Nazi Germany an ever present reminder to be used as a sword to justify violent foreign policy. Rarely do the defenders of collective punishment policies ever provide dignified nuance, instead the victims are either ignored, minimized or dehumanized. The crimes and injustices committed by the enemy are emphasized and at times exaggerated. Even if no exaggeration is required.  Take the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th , it was a vile act of terror, yet extra claims have meandered into fanciful horror stories that will only devalue the suffering already felt.

(Read On)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/a-principled-libertarian-stance-amidst-israels-mass-slaughter-in-gaza/

Well said!

I do not expect to change any minds but at least this feeling is out there….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Anti-Democracy Playbook

According to Word Press today is my 16 year anniversary…”

16 Year Anniversary Achievement
Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!
You registered on WordPress.com 16 years ago.
Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.
Actually I started blogging on another platform December of 2006….so really I have blogging for damn near 18 years.
 
Now on to more stuff!

This may be a rehash of what we already know but I do not think it is too much to remind people what is i8n store for this country with the election of 2024…..

Two Republican officials in Arizona got charged for delaying approval of 2022 election results – and GOP state lawmakers vowed to retaliate against the Democratic attorney general who filed the charges.

Rudy Giuliani faces millions in damages for defaming two Georgia election workers in 2020 – and continued to defame them outside the courtroom.

Donald Trump himself is on trial in four jurisdictions, in part because of election subversion – and and gives public speeches on how he intends to take down his political enemies if he wins again.

Such is the dichotomy of American democracy at this moment: attempts to hold election deniers accountable for their actions are met with doubling down and more intense election denial.

Ahead of the 2020 elections, Trump foreshadowed his plan to claim the election was stolen if he lost, which his supporters often explained away as campaign trail bluster. But he and his followers took their election lies farther than many feared, culminating in an attack on the US Capitol. Biden only made it to the White House because of a handful of steadfast Republicans in key states who refused to bow to Trump’s attempts to overthrow Biden’s victory in the vote.

These days, rather than subsiding after a series of bruising losses, adherence to election denialism is now a major flank of the mainstream Republican party. Trump’s most ardent supporters, some of whom now hold public office, have even sought to reclaim the term: they agree they are in fact election deniers, and proud of it. Their continued attempts to undermine elections since, combined with vulnerabilities that haven’t been addressed, mean the US could be in for even worse this time around.

That is, if Trump loses. If he wins, he’s vowed to use the Department of Justice to pursue vengeance against those who tried to hold him accountable. He’s called his political opponents “vermin”, using the language of authoritarian dictators.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/22/us-democracy-threats-2024-elections

Now a little something to help preserve our fragile democracy….

The first step to defending our democracy is learning to differentiate genuine political disagreement from authoritarian behaviors designed to consolidate power and undermine majority rule. Healthy democracy has room for disputes — even ugly, angry fights — on policy, rhetoric, values, politics, candidates, and priorities. But it has no room for authoritarianism.

Only by separating democracy vs. authoritarianism from left vs. right, from progressive vs. conservative, can we learn to police the boundaries of healthy democracy in our own politics, communities, and conversations.

https://protectdemocracy.org/about/democracy-playbook/

There you have a complete political menu…I told you what could be coming and I helped you learn how to protect democracy….I can do little else it is now up to you.

Do something intelligent….VOTE!

I read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Project 2025

College of Political Knowledge

2024 Election Series

November is just months away….now would be a good time to pay attention!

If Trump is successful in his bid for a second term these are things we can look forward to in the future.

It is a Heritage and GOP blueprint to destroy the planet…..and the MAGA movement and Donald the Orange are embracing the 920 page blueprint.

I would post the link here but that would drive me into a stroke laughing so hard to think anyone would actually care enough to read the document.

We all have an idea what will happen if a conserv is elected….those ideas are valid but here is what will probably be the game plan.

With that in mind I found an article that will inform you before your attention span wanes.

When former President Donald Trump exited the Oval Office in January 2021, he left behind a record of environmental rollbacks unrivaled in modern U.S. history. Over his 1,461 days as commander-in-chief, Trump replaced, eliminated, or otherwise dismantled more than 100 environmental rules — at least — from repealing the Clean Air Act to allowing coal plants to dump toxic wastewater into lakes and rivers to declaring open season on endangered gray wolves.

President Joe Biden then rolled back most of the rollbacks, largely before their full impacts could be felt, which is why some experts say the most significant climate consequence of Trump’s presidency was actually the loss of four years that could have moved the green transition forward.

Had all Trump’s policies gone into effect, the nonpartisan Rhodium Group estimated at the end of 2020, they would have added an additional 1.8 gigatons of CO2-equivalent to the atmosphere by 2035 — more than the annual energy emissions of Germany, Britain, and Canada combined. But even though we never felt the full brunt of them, the medical journal The Lancet estimated that the policies undertaken during his presidency were responsible for 22,000 deaths in 2019 alone due to sharp increases in things like asthma, heart disease, and lung cancer.

Now Trump is once again the presumed Republican nominee and currently leads Biden in general election polls. Were he to win, he has a ready roadmap for building on his dubious environmental legacy: Project 2025, a 920-page document developed by the right wing think tank The Heritage Foundation.

Project 2025 isn’t just a climate plan, or course — it’s a comprehensive proposal, covering everything from immigration to abortion, education, pornography, and child labor. Though billed as a “presidential transition project,” its wishlist includes numerous actions that would require Republican control of both chambers of Congress (admittedly possible, though currently looking like a longshot) to enact. Undaunted, the document sets its sights on the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden’s landmark climate legislation, which — since the U.S. is the world’s second-largest greenhouse gas emitter — is all but necessary to keep the planet off the path to 1.5 degrees Celcius.

Read On!

https://heatmap.news/politics/trump-climate-change-project-2025

Then there is the 4 prong attack on society…..

Called the 2025 Presidential Transition Project—or “Project 2025,” for short—the plan has “four pillars”:

  1. an 887-page policy agenda,
  2. a presidential personnel database of vetted conservatives,
  3. a Presidential Administration Academy to train these people to achieve the Project 2025 policy agenda, and
  4. a 180-day playbook, which is what they hope to achieve in the first 180 days if Trump takes office in January 2025.

Project 2025: The Right’s Dystopian Plan to Dismantle Civil Rights and What It Means for Women

You might want to read this careful for your vote could be helping to destroy the planet and your way of life.

Just a thought

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A Trump Townhall

I know I am a sucker for punishment but I had to watch the newest townhall by Trump to see what new manure spewed from his big mouth and I was not disappointed….

Donald Trump again made a comparison between his own legal troubles and the imprisonment and death of Alexei Navalny, doubling down on comments he made shortly after the Russian dissident died while jailed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a remote arctic prison. “Navalny is a very sad situation and he’s very brave, he was a very brave guy,” Trump said in response to a question from Laura Ingraham during a Fox News Channel town hall that aired Tuesday night after being recorded earlier in the day in South Carolina. “He went back, he could have stayed away, and frankly probably would have been a lot better off staying away and talking from outside of the country as opposed to having to go back in, because people thought that could happen, and it did happen.” More, plus two other notable topics from the town hall:

Navalny, continued: “And it’s a horrible thing, but it’s happening in our country, too,” Trump said, suggesting that his criminal indictments are evidence America is “turning into a communist country in many ways.” “I got indicted four times … all because of the fact that I’m in politics. They indicted me on things that are so ridiculous,” he said. He also mentioned his recent loss in a civil fraud trial. “It is a form of Navalny,” he said. “It is a form of communism, of fascism.” He did not mention Putin at all.

Nikki Haley: Four days ahead of the GOP presidential primary in South Carolina, where the state’s own former two-term governor is trailing him in the polls, Trump said of Haley, “You’re not supposed to lose your home state. It shouldn’t happen anyway and she’s losing it bigly.” He also said once again that he’s ruled out Haley as a running mate. “I don’t think she knows how to get out” of the race, Trump continued. “She just can’t get herself to get out.”

Joe Biden: Trump said he doesn’t believe the president will debate him. Asked by Ingraham if he’d challenge Biden to a debate, he replied, “I’ll do it right now on your show. I’ll challenge him right now.” He said he’d “take anybody” as debate moderator, adding, “I think you have an obligation in this case, you really have an obligation to debate. As many as necessary. I could do it starting now.” Biden has not said whether he will participate in any debates.

Typical BS as usual.

Comparing his legal problems to those of Navalny was icing on the cake….what a self-absorbed,  shallow evil person.

You may thank me for saving you from this comedy skit.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Things Breaking For Biden?

For over a year the outlook on the economy has been dire for Biden who is looking for re-election in November….the American people have not been happy with the economic landscape but that may be changing…..

President Biden has been dogged for much of the past year by what the Economist calls an “emotional disconnect” on the economy. Growth has been strong, but Americans have remained in a lousy mood about money, thanks largely to high prices across the board. Now, however, a closely watched gauge suggests that might be changing.

  • Key stat: A monthly survey of consumer sentiment by the University of Michigan came in at 79.6 in February, its highest mark since the summer of 2021, reports Quartz. What’s more, the collective increase over the last three months is the biggest in more than three decades, notes the Economist.
  • Vibes: “We do think about vibes, because historically the vibes—consumer sentiment and business sentiment—have been good predictors of consumer spending and business investment,” said Chicago Fed president Austan Goolsbee recently. In the view of Quartz, the Michigan stats suggest the “American vibes recession is over.”
  • Politics: All of which is good news for Biden in theory, reports the New York Times, which talks to economist Neil Dutta. “If sentiment simply hovered at today’s levels, he said the simple historical relationship between consumer confidence readings and incumbent vote share would give Mr. Biden about 49% of the vote,” per the story in January. “But the job market is strong, gas prices are moderate, and the stock market just hit a new record, all of which could drive further improvement.” In fact, sentiment as measured by the Michigan survey ticked up from 79 to 79.6 since he spoke.
  • Then again: It’s an unusual election. “Geopolitics and domestic issues could throw curveballs into this cycle, too,” writes Lora Kelley at the Atlantic. “That consumers seem more upbeat about the economy is certainly not unwelcome news for Biden, but a lot can happen between now and November.”

Great news for all those Biden aficionados (I am not one of them….to me he is teetering old man that needs to be in a rest home)….and those that are afraid that Donald the Orange will get elected for a second term.

But like they say….it is a long way to November and a lot can happen before the day of the vote.

A side note:  Speaking of presidents…..which are the ones with the best rankings?

In honor of Presidents’ Day, the 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey polled 154 historians on the subject of presidential rankings—and Donald Trump came in last, again. President Biden, despite his current approval rating sitting at around 37%, came in 14th, the New York Times reports. “Biden’s most important achievements may be that he rescued the presidency from Trump, resumed a more traditional style of presidential leadership, and is gearing up to keep the office out of his predecessor’s hands this fall,” wrote the college professors who conducted the survey. Coming in at No. 1 was Abraham Lincoln, who also topped the same survey in 2015 and 2018, Fox News reports.

  • Abraham Lincoln, 93.87
  • Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 90.83
  • George Washington, 90.32
  • Teddy Roosevelt, 78.58
  • Thomas Jefferson, 77.53
  • Harry Truman, 75.34
  • Barack Obama, 73.8
  • Dwight Eisenhower, 73.73
  • Lyndon Baines Johnson, 72.86
  • John F. Kennedy, 68.37

Other notable presidents who ranked below Biden include Woodrow Wilson (15th), Ronald Reagan (16th), and Ulysses S. Grant (17th). Bill Clinton finished 12th, George W. Bush 32nd, and Jimmy Carter 22nd. According to the survey, respondents’ political affiliation and ideology did not “make a major difference overall,” with the most notable partisan splits coming for the more recent presidents. Trump is “by far the most polarizing president,” write the historians. His numerical score was 10.92, compared to Biden’s 62.66.

Not my list for I would have put Jefferson and Truman further down the list.

But Washington never had gold sneakers.

Just food for thought.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Are Nukes In Space a Real Threat?

The blogosphere is a light with news and opinions on a new ‘threat’.

Recently a report came out the we had a ‘serious national security threat’….and of course I had to write and give my opinion….

Just a subtle reminder….

“A Serious National Security Threat”

I think it was a GOP ploy to game the system….but a smarter person than me had a different take on the news….

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson said he is “skeptical” of the threat posed by the development of a Russian anti-satellite capability in a recent interview on CNN.

“[I]n terms of destroying another satellite, like I said, there [are] already ways to do that. There are these… what they call kinetic kills, where you can take a missile, no explosives necessary at all, because the satellite’s already moving 18,000 miles an hour,” Tyson said in the interview with CNN’s Abby Phillip.

“All you have to do is get in its way, and the thing explodes,” Tyson continued. “Russia’s done it, China’s done it, we’ve done it, India has done it. So… and then you can target the satellite at will. If you’re stuck in orbit, you might not be near a satellite that you wanna take out. You have to wait until the orbits line up… just seems so inefficient. So, I’m just skeptical of how dangerous this thing can be, relative to everyone’s emotions attached to it.”

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby also said Thursday that the anti-satellite capability wasn’t “active” or deployed yet, but called Russia’s pursuit of it “troubling.”

“We’re not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth,” Kirby said. 

(thehill.com)

While Tyson is correct I still like my opinion better (of course I would) the timing of the announcement was suspect to aid in the passing of the multi-million dollar aid package for Ukraine (and Israel and Taiwan).

These slugs in Congress will try anything to con people into following their lead.

I’m finished now…..but I may return if news warrants more of my opinionated stuff.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is ISIS A Threat?

Think back about 5 years ago when the news and the blogosphere was awash in the dire predictions of ISIS…..from hidden among immigrants on the border to a conspiracy to eliminate everyone that is different…..these predictions were everywhere.

But that was years ago and the country has moved on to other ‘impending doom’ to try and capitalize on moving forward.

Things like nukes in space or HAMAS hidden among immigrants on the border (that one seems to persist no matter the problem) to the upcoming doom of 2024 elections to what Taylor Swift was wearing at the Grammys…..like I said real important stuff.

A new report seems to tell the tale of a dying ‘movement’……

ISIS attacks in Iraq and Syria remain at all-time lows despite fears that Middle East tensions related to the war in Gaza could lead to a resurgence of the group, according to a new report by independent U.S. government watchdogs.

In 2020, ISIS carried out as many as 200 attacks each month in Iraq and Syria. It now claims fewer than 40 monthly strikes. Despite calls by ISIS leaders to target Israeli and Western interests, the watchdogs report that the group now likely lacks the “intent and capability to direct attacks against the U.S. homeland.”

The report paints a dismal picture of the once-powerful militant group’s operations in Iraq and Syria, where it controlled huge swathes of territory in the mid-2010s. “ISIS’s capacity to conduct insurgent activities remained severely degraded in Iraq and Syria,” the watchdogs note, adding that the group now carries out fewer attacks near cities.

The group’s operations now appear more akin to a failing crime syndicate than a powerful terror group. Crackdowns on ISIS finances have left the organization unable to consistently pay its fighters, according to the report. Even ISIS leaders are paid only “sporadically” with funds drawn from buried caches of money hidden in locations across Iraq and Syria.

The inspectors general of the State Department, Defense Department, and USAID authored the report, which is part of a congressionally mandated series of updates on Operation Inherent Resolve, America’s campaign to defeat ISIS.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/isis-syria/

Is that one less thing to worry about?

You decide.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Brand That Just Keeps Giving

That brand would be the Trump brand….we have had Trump steaks, water, vodka, wine, university and on and on and now we have….wait for it….sneakers!

As he closes in on the Republican nomination, former President Trump made a highly unusual stop Saturday, hawking new Trump-branded sneakers at “Sneaker Con,” a gathering that bills itself as the “The Greatest Sneaker Show on Earth.” Trump was met with cheers as well as boos at the Philadelphia Convention Center as he introduced what he called the first official Trump footwear, per the AP. “I’ve wanted to do this for a long time,” he told the crowd, per NBC News. Details:

  • The shoes, gold lamé high-tops with an American flag detail on the back, are being sold as “Never Surrender High-Tops” for $399 on a new website—GetTrumpSneakers.com—that also sells Trump-branded “Victory47” cologne and perfume for $99 a bottle. He’d be the 47th president if elected again.
  • The website says it is run by CIC Ventures LLC, a company that Trump reported owning in his 2023 financial disclosure. A similarly named company, CIC Digital LLC, owns Trump’s digital trading card NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. The website states the new venture “is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign.”
  • Need a sneaker review? “Trump’s shoe is more Hulk Hogan than (Michael) Jordan, with gold paneling all the way around and an American flag hugging the upper heel,” writes Jacob Gallagher at the Wall Street Journal. “It is adorned on the side with a gigundo T,” he notes. “A poised Nike this sneaker is not.”
  • This isn’t the first money-making venture Trump has announced since launching his third campaign for the White House in 2022. Trump last year reported making between $100,000 and $1 million for a series of digital trading cards that portrayed him, through photo editing, in a series of cartoon-like images, including an astronaut, a cowboy, and a superhero.

I guess this is a good time to offer these after all he, Trump, just got nailed with a with a $350 million ruling in a civil fraud case.

“There’s a sucker born every minute”

How many suckers will buy the sneakers?  (Kinda sounds like a country song)

Any griping thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo” or should it be “cognito ergo conturbo”

To Save Democracy

It is election time and both sides seem to think that they are the savior of our beloved Constitution…..both are silly in my world….but I read a blog post the other day that I feel needs to be shared.

The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederation)’s Law of Peace and Seventh Generation Principle Can Save our Democracy and Climate

An interesting read and very well thought out…

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”