More Ron DeSantis Goofs

28 Wednesday Jun 2023

Posted by in Ron DeSantis

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        Ever wonder how Ron DeSantis got elected Florida’s Governor the first time, much less the second time? Is Florida so lacking in intelligent Republicans that they have to put forward a fop whose only trait is his appearance? He is a very good politician because he can say and do the rudest, crudest, offensive, and illegal things causing people to like him. His behavior is patterned after former President Donald Trump, who in recent polls shows he has about a third as much support as Trump.        

            DeSantis’ latest boondoggle is his immigration policy. He says he would invade Mexico to stop the Cartels from sending drugs across the border. That is a war with Mexico! Florida is the transit point for drugs along the East Coast corridor. If he stopped Florida from being the supply depot then the Coast Guard could increase its work in Texas and California.

            He says he would end birthright citizenship which would require a huge change in legal precedents and maybe even a racist Constitutional Amendment. As usual, he has no idea what is involved in what he proposes but it might make sense to some unintelligent people.

            Another of his proposals is to build a physical wall like Trump did in most places where nobody crossed. Trump’s twenty foot high wall required a twenty-two foot high ladder as stationary cameras showed. The better equipped smugglers used a cutting torch to cut a big hole in the wall.

            The best immigration policy would be more border agents and immigration courts. Of course we could give them work permits so they can do the jobs in fields, orchards, lawn care, and slaughter houses American laborers won’t do so they can go back home each year.

Inflation Caused By

26 Monday Jun 2023

Posted by in Coronavirus, Inflation

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        I am tired of hearing people complain about Biden and the Democrats causing inflation. How are they responsible for the inflation in the rest of the World? Some of other countries have over 100%? A few are over 200%. Biden’s policies had nothing to do with their problems. Our inflation rate was among the lowest before the Federal Reserve started raising rates.

            Many countries have run high inflation rates for years because of their own problems. The inflation rate problems for the top twenty nations minus China and Russia are because of the Pandemic. The World’s entire economic system was upset by the Pandemic and its side effects. Most of the world’s manufacturing, transportation, exploiting mineral reserves, and purchasing by manufacturers and consumers was reduced or stopped. When the Pandemic was ebbing purchasing exploded and the costs of available materials, transportation, and sales prices rose. Much of that has gone down but the rise in interest rates replaced the cost reductions. Most commodities are lower priced than pre-Pandemic prices. 

            A side effect of the Pandemic is millions of Americans didn’t go back to work. We had a shortage before but afterwards employers were left with a choice of raise salaries or try to keep production going with fewer employees. Competition for workers raised prices.

            We were already short of housing and the Pandemic cut into construction. Short supply and increased demand raised rates for new, existing, and rentals. Higher interest rates made prices increase.

            The Federal Reserve will take credit for lowering inflation but they caused much of it and are keeping it from falling as the original reasons return to normal.          

Letter to the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce

13 Tuesday Jun 2023

Posted by in Uncategorized

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        My first time in San Antonio was when the Alamo was enclosed in a case of scaffolding. We stayed in the historic hotel across the street. We had requested and got a room on the Alamo side. We took the river cruise during that Christmas vacation so the banks were completely lit. We bought some items in the Mexican mall. We toured the old missions and dined the local restaurants. It was an enjoyable part of our two week road trip.

            Our second visit was not enjoyable at all. The Alamo had been turned into a botanical park destroying the feel of the site. Several of the people I conversed with while waiting to be herded around thought a bulldozer should be used to put the Alamo back to its historic importance. A neighbor just returned from San Antonio’s visit to see some friends. They went to the Alamo to see the flowers and park; but not the purpose of the object of the memorial.

            When we stayed in the hotel the second time it must have been close to our first room. The Gaudily lit carriages at night enhanced the recreational touristy feel of what should have been a feeling of a heroic but misguided historic event. We have made our views felt to many others who have made their visits to Texas avoiding a San Antonio stay.

            Incidentally, the traffic in the area was the worst I have ever driven in including rush hour in other major cities.  Perhaps turning the surrounding streets vehicle-less would help. I would also suggest turning the Alamo into a historical monument with several re-enactments each year and tearing out the floral garden and the herding system with lines. I missed seeing any respect!      

       

A Luxury Cell

13 Tuesday Jun 2023

Posted by in Prisons

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        One of the most intriguing questions in American Justice is how do we lock up a former President who is being guarded by the Secret Service. Donald Trump is facing several charges in several states, which, if found guilty, could put him behind bars.

            With so many locales which could require his imprisonment, wouldn’t it be sensible to have one special cell built in a location and guarded by the Secret Service? That cell would be larger than the old 8’ by 10’ with a cot and toilet. An attached area on the outside with a proper fence to prevent people from getting in or out might be required. Meals and TV would be inside the cell. Phone and internet would be available for 30 minutes each day and monitored to prevent spurious activity from the followers who have been conned by him.

            Each local’s court would decide if their sentence was concurrent with others or in sequence. Paroles would be decided by each judge. If Trump would be required to go to court he would wear an ankle monitor plus his jailer/body guards. Since Trump may still have a significant amount of money, his jailers should be closely monitored.

            Having a place to send the guilty and sentenced former President may make sentencing easier. Perhaps it is time to start building it.

Questions Not Answered

13 Tuesday Jun 2023

Posted by in Secrets

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        Finally a CBS reporter noted an event which occurred a couple of years ago. A Chinese spy was caught trying to get into the Mar-a-Largo Club where Trump was storing hundreds of documents. Many of them were extremely secret and would be of great interest to any foreign government.

            The question was why would she want to get into the club? Why would she want to enter the property if she didn’t already know what was stored in it? Was she the first to try to get in or was she the first to fail? Was China the only country to try or the only one to get caught?

            The Secret Service protection detail vetted the members and the staff but not the substitute delivery people or those who were guests of the members. Were any of those people spies for Russia, Iran, or other unfriendly countries? Was the FBI’s raid too late to protect our most important secrets?

            How can his supporters continue to blindly follow him? Trump may not be Benedict Arnold giving the plans for the West Point Fort to the British but allowing spies to get access to our nuclear secrets and plans is on a par to Arnold. Americans seem to be as gullible as other people who believe in the wrong people. One of Trump’s “friends” had to invade a much smaller country because they were Nazis about to invade their country or that is what President Vladimir Putin keeps telling Russians.

            Will the lack of security for those documents come back to haunt us?

We Need a Walter Cronkite

30 Tuesday May 2023

Posted by in Journalism, Uncategorized

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        The quality of news dissemination today is a shadow of its heydays of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley and a few others told the news as it happened and did their editorial at the end of the half hour. They often wrote their own scripts and edited the other reports for accuracy and time. The scripted talking heads giving out the corporate agenda didn’t exist then.

            Now the news is designed to be a profit center so it is slanted to target an audience and given by people who have little gravitas. Even a low level news junkie can spot skewed reporting or partial reporting which causes misinformation. The Fourth Amendment was added to the Constitution to investigate and report the news to the public. Watergate was a great example of real reporting. Reporting Trump’s antics was for entertainment factor, not news. Greater number of viewers means higher bottom line.

            Today we have millions of people who are addicted to watching Fox News and News Nation. They are designed to cater to their viewers leading them farther from truth and reality. In addition to those outlets we have podcasters who create conspiracies which are then repeated by other podcasters and cable media. No wonder so many Americans are warped.

            News reporting today has become a profit source and part of the cost-cutting means replacing experienced reporters with millennial novices. Journalism should be an advocate for truth and honesty and not more profit so some billionaires can get richer.

Texas Verses Illinois

30 Tuesday May 2023

Posted by in Healthcare

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        A comparison of Texas and Illinois shows Texas has a little more than four times the area and twice the population. Texas is a red as any state and Illinois is bluer than most. Both states have large cities which are much more liberal than the rural parts of their state. Texans’ revenue comes mostly from the sale of fossil fuel which means they are awash with money now. Back a few decades ago when oil was around ten dollars a barrel Texas was destitute because they don’t have an income tax. Illinois has a moderate income tax which often fails to balance its budget.

            A huge difference between the two states is health care. Illinois is awash with medical facilities. It seems as if every little community has doctors and a clinic or two. Even small towns have a hospital. Few Illinoisans live farther than a half hour from a hospital. Texas on the other hand has hospitals in large cities and some small cities. Many of their larger towns have a hospital with limited capabilities. They are without a full time maternity ward or even an ER staff with maternity knowledge. Several million Texans must drive for hours to get to full service hospital.

            The statistics show that those red states have spent less on health care services and on Medicaid than blue states. The red states policies are why the United States is so “high” on deaths of new mothers. The numbers per hundred thousand births for Germany is 4, Canada is 8, the U.K. is 9 and the U.S. is 24 with over 60,000 estimated near deaths because we don’t track that in the red states.

            Blue states seem to really care more for women’s health.

Gun Addiction

23 Tuesday May 2023

Posted by in Gun Control

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        One follower wondered if I have ever fired a gun from my comments on guns. He figured I must be a liberal who had never been around guns. This is a logical question since I appear to be anti-gun which I now am. It is a complete change from when I was growing up and maturing.

            I have easily fired over 3,000 thousand rounds of .22 caliber through a 50-year-old bolt rifle and a Western style revolver plus a couple of boxes with a semi-rifle. Over open sights with the bolt I could hit a can at 30 yards and a can tossed in the air with the pistol most of the time.

            I shot several boxes of .410, 20, 16 and 12 gauges. I got no thrill out of shot guns because they didn’t require much skill to hit a target. I hit a running rabbit with the .410 at over 40 yards while climbing an open stair, shooting through the steps from the hip. That was a hip shot. I killed another with hip shots from the .22 rifle when it was running at an angle. The last two shots with a hot barrel went off on their own.

            I feel bad for the animals I killed so I quit shooting and ended the addiction of guns when I was 20. The urge is still there when I am around guns but like any other addict I work to overcome the urge. I imagine it is like someone who has smoked, drank, or took drugs.

            Today’s gun addiction is fed by the NRA and gun manufactures through ads and social media. I was a member of the NRA for a few years until I figured out it was all about the money and not gun safety. Oh yes, the actor, Charlton Heston, was paid more to front for the NRA than he ever made in films, according to his agent.

Nothing to Fear

20 Saturday May 2023

Posted by in Gun Control

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        President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said during World War II “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Perhaps Americans have never had so much fear as today. This fear is not from an outside entity but from other Americans and Latino immigrants. Other Americans fears include fear between blacks and whites, and within each race.

            An obvious but mostly wrong conclusion is the regular media who carefully avoid race and gang affiliation which would mean non-gang people shouldn’t be overly concerned about their safety. Right wing cable news can’t get through a news cycle without trying to scare their audience into mistrust and fear of almost everyone and their government. Their underlying ideas are you must buy at least one gun to defend yourself and your family because they are coming after you!

            They are coming after you apparently means going to the wrong car in a parking lot, knocking on the wrong door, or driving up the wrong drive way. Other reasons for someone to shoot another person is taking a shortcut through an unfamiliar neighborhood while carrying groceries, jogging on a street too often, pushing a harasser away from your family, or chasing a basketball into a neighbor’s property. The last was a little girl and the father trying to shield her from more bullets.

            Far Right people and the Far Right media constantly make people think their own government is going to take your gun away from them, so they go buy one! Some states promote having a gun while others which want to restrict access are subverted by the easy access neighboring states.

            Of course the gun lobbyists and manufacturers are at the root of those fears. Remember: “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”

Fourteen Years for Another Billion

20 Saturday May 2023

Posted by in Population

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        Demographers think we reached the first Billion in population around 1802. The second Billion was 1927. The third was 32 years later. The fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth were twelve years apart. Last year the 8,000,000,000th was added to the population.

            The ninth billion will probably be reached about fourteen years from now or 2036. Some believe the following 14 years may see an addition of only 700 million by 2050. The pandemic killed millions but that was just a drop in the overall population. Wars like the Ukraine don’t even rate a blip. Climate change may slow the rate since it is already killing tens of thousands from flooding and starvation in Northern Africa.

            Creating the problem is healthcare for the aged who now are able to live longer so the old axiom of replacing oneself is outdated. Today it is not uncommon for a person to have their great, great grandchildren at their birthday party. That isn’t replacement; it’s an explosion. Even if it was only two kids per family that number at the party could be 30 descendants. I’m 75 with no offspring to suffer the future.

            Social Security was invented by FDR to help the senior citizen survive after retirement because pension plans didn’t exist for many people. Many people contributed to support each retiree but now that number may be around one to one which is impossible budget wise.

            With less people of working age to support the retirees the influx of immigrants is necessary for a good economy. The problem is the necessary influx increases the future number of retirees while increasing our total population. We have a housing shortage today at 340 million. What will it be like at 400 or 500 million? Just think! Only fourteen years to NINE BILLION!