Tom Faranda's Folly

USA dependent on Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturing!?

Oddly enough yesterday I had lunch with my medical Dr. friend Paul and he made virtually the same points! Proving (again) that he's a smart guy ...

 

USA v. European (EU) economic numbers - one picture says it all.

First quarter of 2019. No wonder the deep state/administrative state/powers that be are under pressure in Europe. Stats are from the IMF (International Monetary Fund).

Bizarre - Crossfit (fitness gyms) banned by facebook and then reinstated

A diet discussion group with over 1.65 million people which Crossfit maintained. Reinstated BUT ...  Crossfit is now leaving Facebook and Instagram! See below...

Why did the social media company temporarily silence a diet discussion?

on Thursday, the same day Facebook was reporting on its filtering, the company was criticized for its treatment of speech that is hardly extreme. The popular fitness company CrossFit announced:

Recently, Facebook deleted without warning or explanation the Banting7DayMealPlan user group. The group has 1.65 million users who post testimonials and other information regarding the efficacy of a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet. While the site has subsequently been reinstated (also without warning or explanation), Facebook’s action should give any serious person reason to pause, especially those of us engaged in activities contrary to prevailing opinion.

How did a forum for sharing dinner recipes and exercise advice temporarily trigger the Facebook censors? Somewhere in Silicon Valley, somebody is bound to blame an algorithm. CrossFit sees a larger problem:

 

Facebook’s news feeds are censored and crafted to reflect the political leanings of Facebook’s utopian socialists while remaining vulnerable to misinformation campaigns designed to stir up violence and prejudice.

Nick Gillespie writes in Reason:

For all the talk of arbitrary, capricious, or ideologically motivated deplatforming of people, publications, and groups by Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media platforms, there’s been less discussion about high-profile individuals and companies deleting their accounts in response to what they see as unfair, unethical, or misguided behavior.

That might change now that CrossFit, the immensely popular exercise and nutrition enterprise, has announced that it is permanently pulling its Facebook and Instagram accounts... CrossFit’s public excoriation of Facebook serves an important corrective function. If more high-profile individuals, companies, content creators, and accounts take similar action, it’ll be a more libertarian outcome than the government regulation increasingly supported by both liberals and conservatives.

Mr. Gillespie also publishes a video interview conducted six years ago with CrossFit founder Greg Glassman, whose company is known for especially grueling workouts, which have inspired a close camaraderie among its customers. In the interview Mr. Glassman calls CrossFit an “active, loving, sweating, breeding community.” Can this community—or any other—manage to avoid running afoul of Facebook’s community standards?

Three economic modelers point to Trump win in 2020

"It's the economy stupid." As James Carville said in directing Clinton's successful 1992 campaign. I wouldn't bet against Trump - but who knows what the economy will look like in one year? Then again, Sanders or Biden against Trump? I would think that is a Trump win.

Three modelers are predicting President Trump will win reelection in 2020 based on a combination of economic data and incumbent advantages, according to a column in The New York Times.

Steven Rattner wrote that Ray Fair of Yale favors Trump to win based on a model that combines incumbency and gross domestic product growth rates.

The model predicted Barack Obama’s 2008 popular vote margin within a fraction of a percentage point and got within two-tenths of a point for his 2012 vote share, Rattner, who served as a counselor to the Treasury secretary during the Obama administration, added.

The model correctly predicting an electoral victory for Trump in 2016, but overestimated his popular vote share by about 5.5 points, which Rattner attributed to Trump’s personal unfavorables.

“In other words, a more ‘normal’ Republican would likely have won the popular vote by a substantial margin (instead of losing it by three million votes),” Rattner wrote.

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Mark Zandi, Moody’s Analytics’s chief economist, has also said Trump is poised to win based on an analysis of 12 models, while Donald Luskin of Trend Macrolytics made a similar prediction based on an Electoral College analysis, Rattner noted.

Neat! "How Baseballs are Made"

In 19 months this has been viewed 1,755,753 times. It's off the Science Channel series "How it's Made".

Memorial Day in Croton

Always a good turnout at Five Corners. Close to 400 people - about 5% of the Croton population.

 

 

Memorial Day

Semper Fi!

10 Days to Forever The serious business of preparing for war can be more dangerous than war itself.

The Post’s Petula Dvorak writes about a young Marine and the love of his life:

Before he left on a 10-day training maneuver earlier this month, he called his mom to tell her the engagement ring was almost ready.

It had Grandma’s diamonds. And Marine 1st Lt. Hugh Conor McDowell designed it himself. He’d propose as soon as he returned, he confided. But he never got the chance.

Conor, 24, had asked Kathleen Isabel Rose Bourque to move across the country only four days after they met for the first time, face-to-face.

They had met through a dating app, reports Ms. Dvorak, where the young man made an immediate impression on Ms. Bourque:

She liked that Conor’s profile picture was a sweet mother-son shot of him taken during the ring ceremony at The Citadel.

“Who does that? Include his mother?” she said.

Tragically, days before his planned proposal, 1st Lt. McDowell was killed when his light armored reconnaissance vehicle rolled over during an exercise on a hazy morning at California’s Camp Pendleton. He was able to save a fellow Marine by pushing him to safety. But McDowell could not save himself.

WSJ: "Civil War Battlefields Lose Ground as Tourist Draws"

Too bad really. Perhaps another example of our culture's sense of loss of history? That said, the only one mentioned here that I've been to is Gettysburg (several times - a magnificent memorial).

The National Park Service’s five major Civil War battlefield parks—Gettysburg, Antietam, Shiloh, Chickamauga/Chattanooga and Vicksburg—had a combined 3.1 million visitors in 2018, down from about 10.2 million in 1970, according to park-service data. Gettysburg, in Pennsylvania, the most famous battle site, had about 950,000 visitors last year, just 14% of how many it had in 1970 and the lowest annual number of visitors since 1959. Only one of these parks, Antietam, in Maryland, saw an increase from 1970.

 

"Alien" - the movie - came out 40 years ago today - here's the trailer

I have vivid memories of seeing this movie when I was teaching in the Cayman Islands. The discussions in the teacher's lounge for a couple of days before we went was all about the "thing popping out of his chest".  So we went to see what it was all about. The movie was great -  and scary from minute one til 116. It was 117 minutes long.

the original trailer -

Not covered by the media; Pope laments abortion

Pope Francis frequently speaks on abortion but it never seems to be covered by the media. Wonder why that is? Doesn't fit the narrative. Thanks to Jessica for sending me this.

Pope Francis Laments Aborted Babies, ‘Who Never See the Light of Day’

50th anniversary of Led Zeppelin - music streaming is producing more big $$$'s for them

How music is sold now (when it's not pirated).

The site received more than 200,000 unique visitors in its first 10 days, with users making 230,000 logos and 20,000 custom playlists. The “biggest uplift” was from White’s playlist, branded as “Led Zeppelin x Jack White,” which drew thousands of users each day — which translates to hundreds of thousands of streams, which translates to a steady stream of cash to Warner and Led Zeppelin without the band lifting a finger.

Monetizing a fusty back catalog is no longer a matter of releasing box sets to existing fans so much as it is curating an artist strategy — or in some cases, a track-by-track strategy — to hook in devotees and new listeners alike. Spotify and Apple Music have made that infinitely easier. While many modern artists complain of music-streaming services’ low royalty rates, record companies like to think of streaming as a source of long-tail, and possibly eternal, profit: A slow and steady trickle of money that builds up to a massive pile over time. That philosophy works particularly well for artists relegated to the catalog department, many of whom didn’t have an iconic career in the moment but either have a handful of long-lasting hits under their belt or suddenly are deemed full of new potential to reach young consumers, despite not having released music for years.

In the case of a renowned band like Led Zeppelin, the task was to create a simple but not-too-gimmicky-looking way to expand the audience.

NY Times: Conservative, religious married women are happier

How can this be so - and it must be true - it's the NY Times!

And it turns out that the happiest of all wives in America are religious conservatives, followed by their religious progressive counterparts. Fully 73 percent of wives who hold conservative gender values and attend religious services regularly with their husbands have high-quality marriages.

It took ten paragraphs before the op-ed makes the above point. And evidently loyal NY Times readers were not happy!

No Surprise. Here's Why.

In a shocking turn of events, the New York Times published an article confirming that religious conservative women are happier in their marriages than non-religious women. The shocking thing about these findings is that the Times published them. The findings themselves — which, judging by Twitter comments, seem to have scandalized the publication's readership — are no surprise to many of us.

The second article - from the Daily Wire - it's worth hitting the link as the guy explains why women in secular marriages are not (statistically) as happy as those backwards religiously conservative women.

WSJ: "Many More Students, Especially the Affluent, Get Extra Time to Take the SAT"

The rich - get richer.

... students in affluent areas such as Scarsdale, Weston and Newton are more likely than students elsewhere to get the fastest-growing type of these special allowances, known as “504” designations, a Wall Street Journal analysis of data from 9,000 public schools found.

At Scarsdale High School north of New York City, one in five students is eligible for extra time or another accommodation such as a separate room for taking the SAT or ACT college entrance exam.

At Weston High School in Connecticut, it is one in four. At Newton North High School outside Boston, it’s one in three.

“Do I think that more than 30% of our students have a disability?” said Newton Superintendent David Fleishman. “No. We have a history of over-identification [as learning-challenged] that is certainly an issue in the district.”

Across the country, the number of public high-school students getting special allowances for test-taking, such as extra time, has surged in recent years, federal data show.

And students in affluent areas such as Scarsdale, Weston and Newton are more likely than students elsewhere to get the fastest-growing type of these special allowances, known as “504” designations, a Wall Street Journal analysis of data from 9,000 public schools found.

The special allowances don’t apply specifically to college entrance exams. They apply to all tests the students take while in school.

The effect, however, is to make these students much more likely to receive extra time or another special accommodation when they take an exam to get into college.

The 504 designation is meant to give students who have difficulties such as anxiety or ADHD a chance to handle the stress of schoolwork at their own pace and level the playing field. It often lets them have a separate room for test-taking and more time to do it.

The Journal analysis shows that at public schools in wealthier areas, where no more than 10% of students are eligible for free or reduced-cost school lunches, an average of 4.2% of students have 504 designations giving them special test-taking allowances such as extra time.

Only 1.6% of students have these designations at public schools in poorer areas, defined as those where 75% or more of students are eligible for free and reduced-cost lunches, the Journal found.

WSJ on the mis-named Equality Act

Here's the key point of this idiotic bill:

The authors then explained the implications of allowing people born male to compete against females:

Team USA sprinter Allyson Felix has the most World Championship medals in history, male or female, and is tied with Usain Bolt for the most World Championship golds. Her lifetime best in the 400 meters is 49.26 seconds. In 2018 alone, 275 high school boys ran faster on 783 occasions. The sex differential is even more pronounced in sports and events involving jumping. Team USA’s Vashti Cunningham has the American record for high school girls in the high jump at 6 feet, 4½ inches. Last year just in California, 50 high school boys jumped higher. The sex differential isn’t the result of boys and men having a male gender identity, more resources, better training or superior discipline. It’s because they have androgenized bodies.

Every Democrat in the House chamber on Friday voted for the appealingly titled “Equality Act.” But next year Democrats are likely to find that support for the bill among swing voters is far from unanimous.

The New York Times reports:

The House passed sweeping legislation on Friday that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The legislation, which amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibits discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in both the public and private sectors, offering civil rights protections in businesses, hospitals and welfare services. It explicitly states that individuals cannot be denied access to a locker room or dressing room on the same basis.

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The legislation appears to expand government power in a number of significant ways. Today Brad Polumbo writes in USA Today:

The bill purports to protect LGBT Americans like me by prohibiting discrimination... On the surface, this sounds unobjectionable — after all, no one deserves to face discrimination. Yet the bill defined “public accommodations” so loosely and called for regulations so sweeping that it would crush religious freedom and radically reshape American society.

For example, the Equality Act undermines the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which established a balancing test for religious freedom claims. It established a process for the litigation of discrimination grievances, where religious employers could appeal if found responsible for an offense and their actions could be fairly evaluated.

This helped ensure that reasonable invocations of religious freedom are permitted, such as a private, Catholic school only wanting to hire teachers who live in accordance with biblical values, but blatant discrimination, such as a grocery store randomly firing someone for being gay, is not. Yet in any of these situations, the so-called Equality Act would mandate that an LGBT person’s claim wins by default — therefore not ensuring equality but elevating their rights over those of religious Americans.

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Libertarians and social conservatives aren’t the only ones expressing reservations. Duke law professor and former track athlete Doriane Coleman, tennis legend Martina Navratilova and four-time Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards-Ross wrote about the bill last month in the Washington Post. They urged lawmakers to amend the bill in order to protect women’s sports and specifically to maintain the law known as Title IX, which has been interpreted to require educational institutions that receive federal money to provide separate programs and opportunities for females. “This is necessary because sex segregation is the only way to achieve equality for girls and women in competitive athletics,” wrote Mses. Coleman, Navratilova and Richards-Ross. The three athletic stars added:

In its current form, the Equality Act would do significant damage to Title IX and to the Amateur Sports Act, which governs sports outside of educational settings. The new legislation would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act by redefining “sex” to include “gender identity.”

...a sports team couldn’t treat a transgender woman differently from a woman who is not transgender on the grounds that the former is male-bodied. Yet the reality is that putting male- and female-bodied athletes together is co-ed or open sport. And in open sport, females lose.

The authors then explained the implications of allowing people born male to compete against females:

Team USA sprinter Allyson Felix has the most World Championship medals in history, male or female, and is tied with Usain Bolt for the most World Championship golds. Her lifetime best in the 400 meters is 49.26 seconds. In 2018 alone, 275 high school boys ran faster on 783 occasions. The sex differential is even more pronounced in sports and events involving jumping. Team USA’s Vashti Cunningham has the American record for high school girls in the high jump at 6 feet, 4½ inches. Last year just in California, 50 high school boys jumped higher. The sex differential isn’t the result of boys and men having a male gender identity, more resources, better training or superior discipline. It’s because they have androgenized bodies.

The bill is going nowhere while Republicans control the Senate and the White House. But based on the unanimous support among House Democrats, voters can reasonably expect such legislation to become law in the event of a Democratic sweep in 2020.

Progressive politicians may be surprised to learn that imposing on girls and women a radical change in the rules of sport will not be universally welcomed by competitors or by the parents who love to watch them play.

WSJ: "Fewer New Lawyers than Initially feared"

“Nearly 7 in 10 Flunked California’s February 2019 Bar Exam,” Law.com, May 17

Australia election (surprising?) results - what it may mean for USA 2020 election.

Evidently it is a surprise that the so-called conservative party won. This is from NR online.

"What the Australian Elections May Tell Us about the 2020 Presidential Elections"

The story down under sounds familiar: The party of the Left entered an election that was declared “unlosable.” That party led in 60 consecutive polls and the exit polls suggested they would enjoy a big victory, sweeping the more conservative party out of power.

The party of the Left promised higher taxes and sweeping new policies to address climate change.

The leader on the Right was dismissed as yesterday’s man, afraid of change, comfortable with old energy, governing over chaos. The leader on the Right insisted he spoke for his “quiet” citizens, who are not outspoken political activists but “they have their dreams, they have their aspirations, to get a job, to get an apprenticeship, to start a business, to meet someone amazing, to start a family, to buy a home, to work hard and provide the best you can for your kids, to save for your retirement.”

And as you probably heard, the party of the Right won; they won the working-class vote, much to the shock of the party of the Left.

The editors note that the politics of climate change are a lot more complicated than environmentalists want to acknowledge:

Comments

Labor sought to raise revenue through policies, meant to curb global warming, that would raise the energy bills of hard-pressed blue-collar “battlers” and also shrink their job opportunities in the country’s important energy industries. That probably cost Labor its hoped-for gains in Queensland, where the Left has fought a long campaign to prevent the opening of a new coal mine. As former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott observed: When climate change is solely a moral issue, Labor wins; when it’s an economic one too, the Coalition wins. The scales tip farther rightward when the voters are informed that Australia’s contribution to carbon emissions is nugatory and that the Greens don’t seem interested in asking China or India to cut their much greater carbon emissions. The Left in politics and the media advertised this as “the climate change election.” And they lost.

Observers compared it to the Brexit referendum and Donald Trump’s victory in 2016. They might also notice other right-of-center leaders who were generally opposed by most of their country’s political and cultural elites and who won anyway: Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, Japan’s Shinzo Abe, Austria’s Sebastian Kurz, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, the leaders of Poland’s Law and Justice Party. Now there’s talk that Conservative Boris Johnson may become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

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Whatever term you think best applies to the kinds of leaders warmly welcomed and celebrated at the World Economic Forum in Davos — cosmopolitan, internationalist, corporatist, “globalist,” “Establishment” — that’s the brand and image that is having a tougher time in country after country. It is the image of the Obama-era status quo, perhaps best personified in Europe by Angela Merkel, who first came to power back in 2005 (my coverage from Berlin, way back when, at the link). These are leaders who are comfortable with the free flow of labor and goods across national borders, who believe there is a government duty to redistribute wealth and determine who is most deserving of that wealth, who believe in the power of regulation to improve people’s lives, and who are comfortable partnering with big business but who often forget the small businessman.

There's more if you hit the link above.

Great story: Morehouse College graduation speaker picks up all the student debt of 2019 graduating class

Morehouse College is an all-male, traditionally African-American school. Martin Luther King, Jr. graduated from Morehouse, as did Spike Lee and Herman Cain.

The philanthropist is Robert F. Smith - he operates a private equity & hedge fund specializing in technology companies. Paynig off the debt of the school loans of the Morehouse graduates will set him back an estimated$40 million. He did not attend Morehouse - just a nice guy! Yay! Money well spent.

John Stossel on global warming - "97%"

Pretty good. Stossel, a libertarian, let's the air out of the balloon.

Jimmy Fallon/The Tonight Show on NYC Mayor De Blasio running for President

Here is what the other Jimmy - Kimmel - thought - Kimmel on "De Blasio for President"

Here's Fallon -

 

Last night Yankee drama - walk off win with 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th

Yes! At the Stadium and it puts the Yankees half a game up in first place over the Rays. Go Gio Go!

Kimmel on "De Blasio for President"

To quote another pundit about De Blasio - "Decadent Moron".

Here's Kimmel -

Study: "Half of Americans are just one paycheck away from financial disaster"

Here's the study off the marketwatch website -

A new study from NORC at the University of Chicago, an independent social research institution, found that 51% of working adults in the United States would need to access savings to cover necessities if they missed more than one paycheck.

WSJ: John Durham - "His investigation can help restore public confidence in the FBI and intelligence services."

By the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board. Not mentioned, he prosecuted and sent to jail the Republican Governor of Connecticut, John Rowland.

Attorney General William Barr has assigned U.S. Attorney John Durham to investigate possible abuses by law enforcement and intelligence officials in the 2016 election campaign, and the reaction has been predictably partisan. Trumpians are demanding heads on pikes while liberals are calling it a hunt for conspiracies that didn’t exist. We see it as a necessary step toward accountability and restoring public confidence in America’s enforcement agencies.

Mr. Durham comes with more experience than even special counsel Robert Mueller in navigating U.S. law enforcement, including the FBI and intelligence services. He uncovered rogue FBI behavior in the case of Boston mob boss Whitey Bulger, and former Attorney General Michael Mukasey tasked him to look at the CIA’s destruction of videos of its terrorist interrogation program.

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Mr. Durham doesn’t strike us as the type who will answer to anyone’s political agenda, and he may not bring criminal indictments. He didn’t in the CIA case. But appointing someone of his standing and experience is important to getting to the truth about the FBI counterintelligence probe of Trump campaign officials, the FBI’s apparent misleading of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to get a warrant against Trump adviser Carter Page, and other seeming abuses.

Investigating potential FBI or CIA abuses is arguably more important to American democracy than the Russia collusion probe. Tens of millions of Americans suspect that public officials interfered in the presidential election. Especially because Mr. Mueller did not investigate the FBI he previously led, someone needs to hold abuses to account or clear the air if nothing illegal took place.

Dummy hypnotizes Ventriloquist - very funny

I may have posted a similar video of Nina Conti awhile ago; but if I did, I think it's a hilarious idea so here's a recent one.

 

Why Biden is soft on China

From the NY Post - nice work if you can get it.

Last week, Biden raised eyebrows when he shrugged off concerns over the China threat. “Come on, man,” Biden said. “I mean, you know, they’re not bad folks, folks. But guess what, they’re not competition for us.”

Perhaps Biden’s insouciant attitude toward the Chinese government has to do with the fact that his family does not consider them competitors but business partners.

In 2013, then-Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden flew aboard Air Force Two to China. Less than two weeks later, Hunter Biden’s firm inked a $1 billion private equity deal with a subsidiary of the Chinese government’s Bank of China. The deal was later expanded to $1.5 billion. In short, the Chinese government funded a business that it co-owned along with the son of a sitting vice president.

If it sounds shocking that a vice president would shape US-China policy as his son — who has scant experience in private equity — clinched a coveted billion-dollar deal with an arm of the Chinese government, that’s because it is.

His son Hunter must have made multi-millions on this. Hit the link for the whole story.

Tim Conway - "The Dentist"

He was 85. "Ensign Parker." And this from the Carol Burnett Show is a great classic. Havey Korman can't keep a straight face

"Thoughts from a Hipster Coffee Shop"

Thanks to my friend Alicia for sending me this. Takes less than five minutes to read.  The author, a 26 year old woman, grew up in Wisconsin and lives in the very liberal city of Minneapolis. I highlighted an insight from this young woman in the 5th (of seven) paragraph.

I’m sitting in a small coffee shop near Nokomis trying to think of what to write about. I scroll through my newsfeed on my phone looking at the latest headlines of Democratic candidates calling for policies to “fix” the so-called injustices of capitalism.

I put my phone down and continue to look around. I see people talking freely, working on their MacBook’s, ordering food they get in an instant, seeing cars go by outside, and it dawned on me. We live in the most privileged time in the most prosperous nation and we’ve become completely blind to it. Vehicles, food, technology, freedom to associate with whom we choose. These things are so ingrained in our American way of life we don’t give them a second thought. We are so well off here in the United States that our poverty line begins 31 times above the global average. Thirty. One. Times. Virtually no one in the United States is considered poor by global standards. Yet, in a time where we can order a product off Amazon with one click and have it at our doorstep the next day, we are unappreciative, unsatisfied, and ungrateful.

Our unappreciation is evident as the popularity of socialist policies among my generation continues to grow. Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently said to Newsweek talking about the millennial generation, “An entire generation, which is now becoming one of the largest electorates in America, came of age and never saw American prosperity.”

Never saw American prosperity. Let that sink in. When I first read that statement, I thought to myself, that was quite literally the most entitled and factually illiterate thing I’ve ever heard in my 26 years on this earth. Now, I’m not attributing Miss Ocasio-Cortez’s words to outright dishonesty. I do think she whole-heartedly believes the words she said to be true. Many young people agree with her, which is entirely misguided. My generation is being indoctrinated by a mainstream narrative to actually believe we have never seen prosperity. I know this first hand, I went to college, let’s just say I didn’t have the popular opinion, but I digress.

Let me lay down some universal truths really quick. The United States of America has lifted more people out of abject poverty, spread more freedom and democracy, and has created more innovation in technology and medicine than any other nation in human history. Not only that but our citizenry continually breaks world records with charitable donations, the rags to riches story is not only possible in America but not uncommon, we have the strongest purchasing power on earth, and we encompass 25% of the world’s GDP. The list goes on. However, these universal truths don’t matter. We are told that income inequality is an existential crisis (even though this is not an indicator of prosperity, some of the poorest countries in the world have low-income inequality), we are told that we are oppressed by capitalism (even though it’s brought about more freedom and wealth to the most people than any other system in world history), we are told that the only way we will acquire the benefits of true prosperity is through socialism and centralization of federal power (even though history has proven time and again this only brings tyranny and suffering).

Why then, with all of the overwhelming evidence around us, evidence that I can even see sitting at a coffee shop, do we not view this as prosperity? We have people who are dying to get into our country. People around the world destitute and truly impoverished. Yet, we have a young generation convinced they’ve never seen prosperity, and as a result, elect politicians dead set on taking steps towards abolishing capitalism. Why? The answer is this, my generation has ONLY seen prosperity. We have no contrast. We didn’t live in the great depression, or live through two world wars, or see the rise and fall of socialism and communism. We don’t know what it’s like not to live without the internet, without cars, without smartphones. We don’t have a lack of prosperity problem. We have an entitlement problem, an ungratefulness problem, and it’s spreading like a plague.

With the current political climate giving rise to the misguided idea of a socialist utopia, will we see the light? Or will we have to lose it all to realize that what we have now is true prosperity? Destroying the free market will undo what millions of people have died to achieve.

My generation is becoming the largest voting bloc in the country. We have an opportunity to continue to propel us forward with the gifts capitalism and democracy has given us. The other option is that we can fall into the trap of entitlement and relapse into restrictive socialist destitution. The choice doesn’t seem too hard, does it?

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WSJ: Tax rates down, government revenue up

All true. And the deficit is increasing because of ... more government spending.

... there’s some modest good news about the federal budget. The deficit is rising, but not as much as feared because tax revenues are increasing due to faster economic growth.

The Congressional Budget Office reports in its April budget review that revenues rose 2% to $2.041 trillion in the first seven months of fiscal 2019 from a year ago. Payroll tax revenue rose 4.7% due in part to rising employment and wages.

Individual income taxes were essentially flat in the wake of the tax cut, but corporate income taxes were down only $7 billion for the first seven months to $114 billion despite the cut in the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35% in the 2017 tax reform. April was the deadline for final 2018 tax payments for most corporations, and tax revenue from higher corporate profits partly offset the lower rate.

Overall revenues increased despite a sharp decline in payments to the Treasury from the Federal Reserve of $15 billion, or 34%. The decline is due to higher short-term interest rates that lead the Fed to pay banks more interest on their reserves....

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So why has the federal deficit increased by $145 billion this fiscal year to $531 billion? Because federal spending continued to rise rapidly—7% in the first seven months to $2.571 trillion. That’s $178 billion more than in the same period a year ago. As you’d expect, Social Security benefit payouts rose 6%, Medicare outlays 5% and Medicaid 4%....

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Defense spending rose 10%, or $33 billion, in the first seven months, as intended by Congress and the White House after eight years of neglect under Barack Obama. The higher outlays went for much-needed operations and maintenance and R&D. Outlays for the Pentagon are still only about 3.2% of GDP, which is close to the historic low since World War II.

Interest payments on federal debt held by the public rose 13% to $234 billion, due to higher short-term interest rates and more debt. The Fed’s zero-rate policy disguised the size of the debt’s budget burden during the Obama years, but it is now coming due.

The media blame deficits on tax reform, but the facts show the main culprit is spending. No one in the political class wants to talk about entitlements but that’s where the money is.

I can think of some places to cut. How many nuclear missile armed submarines do we have? How many land based nuclear missiles?

 

White Rabbit - Grace Slick vocals isolated

This is pretty cool (I think anyway). Not sure how it's done - if you click all the way through to youtube it's explained in the notes below the video.

Here's a link to the full song. White Rabbit

Mini-me AOC is back!

Hah. Previously seen here in a 75 second video, which you should watch first if you haven't already. Funny: 8 yr old young lady imitates Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

And now she's back - here's the latest -

Jean Vanier - a truly great man

The founder of L'Arche, communities for people with intellectual disabilities. He was ninety. Jean Vanier gave up much to serve... to learn more about him hit this link - A governing philosophy of the communities is Vanier's belief that people with disabilities are teachers, rather than burdens bestowed upon families.

Here is what Pope Francis had to say about him and below the picture is a link to a wonderful (short) article off the Knights of Columbus website.

Vanier died on May 7, 2019. A week before his death, Pope Francis called Vanier to personally thank him for his years of ministry and service.^[21] Following his death, Pope Francis, who was flying back to Rome from North Macedonia, told a group of journalists, "I want to express my gratitude for his testimony" and stated Vanier could read and interpret not only the Christian gaze on "the mystery of death, of the cross, of suffering", but also "the mystery of those who are discarded by the world."^[22]

^{Statement about Jean Vanier}

^{It was this passion for living the Gospel that led him to create L’Arche, the movement for people with intellectual disabilities that now numbers more than 120 communities in 30 countries. It was in one of these communities that Jean lived until his passing ...}

It was one of my greatest joys as supreme knight to present the Gaudium et Spes Award, the highest honor of the Knights of Columbus, to Jean in 2005. The presentation came hours after the death of St. John Paul II. In accepting the award, Jean recalled being with the pope in Lourdes, France, just eight months earlier.

“Looking at Pope John Paul II in the eyes, I saw him as a sign of the glory of God because the glory of God is the manifestation of his presence in the weak.”

The same can be said of my friend Jean Vanier. He was a philosopher who was also a man of action. He was a true icon of the Beatitudes. We must now continue his mission. We must rededicate our lives to the service and protection of others. We must love as Jean loved.

 

 

Mother's Day, 2019

Happy Mother's Day. "Mary is the proof that everyone needs a Jewish mother" - Fr. Benedict Groeschel

 

"New Sex Abuse Reforms Welcomed" - two articles

A Catholic League press release - extensive excerpt below the link to the complete statement. And then a good article from the Jesuit publication America, also with excerpts.

NEW SEX ABUSE REFORMS WELCOMED

After much delay, the Vatican has finally set forth reforms to combat clergy sexual abuse. Fortunately, they are comprehensive and meaningful. Due to widely different cultural practices, reforms are not easy to craft for global institutions. Those who wrote these strictures did a commendable job.
 
The reforms target a wide range of persons victimized by sexual misconduct: minors, "vulnerable" adults (those who are physically or mentally challenged), seminarians, nuns—all are covered. In addition to coerced sexual acts, possession of child pornography qualifies as an offense.
 
What is perhaps most refreshing about these reforms is the dramatic break with the protracted pace of previous initiatives. The norms go into effect, worldwide, on June 1. The senior bishop in the area, known as the local metropolitan, has 90 days to complete an investigation. Moreover, the Vatican has just 30 days to render a decision on whether to pursue the case.
 
The laity will have a place at the table. Bishops can draw on their expertise in many areas while conducting an investigation. Safeguarding the rights of whistleblowers is also a step in the right direction. As important as anything, the due process rights of the accused will be honored.
 
Bishops will be expected to follow the civil law in their diocese regarding reporting alleged offenses, and there are penalties for those who do not. Bishops are also required not to interfere with civil probes of accused priests.
 
It must be stressed that structural reforms can only do so much. Canon law has long provided guidance for how to handle clergy sexual abuse, but it was ignored by some bishops. At bottom, there must be a sincere commitment to following the norms, and a heady dose of common sense as well.

********

Kudos to Pope Francis for his leadership on this issue. Most practicing Catholics are reasonable. They are likely to applaud these measures. That is what matters most.

And from America -

With his new motu proprio “Vos estis lux mundi,” Pope Francis shows that he is taking the abuse crisis very seriously. The new legislation came only months after the February 2019 abuse summit in Rome. The time and tone of the new law are revolutionary, yet the law is solidly grounded in tradition.

This new law is without a doubt a rare gift to the entire church and sets, along with the companion Vatican law providing for jail time for any public official of the Vatican who fails to report abuse, an unmistakable new course. The painful, sometimes bitter, experience of the church in the United States and the voices of the faithful worldwide have helped bring about a change in attitude and a change in law. There is no turning back now, and the tone has been set for the future.

Before looking at the new legislation, it is important to underscore that this new law is a procedural law, setting up a solid reporting system. The law does not establish new penalties. The penalties are applied after using this new procedure.

Preview: Tim's graduation yesterday

From St. Thomas Aquinas College (STAC) in Sparkill, NY. Will put up more pictures later - this will have to suffice for the moment.

CNN gloats about Trump's taxes!?

These people are like .... Babies. I'm sorry to see that Erin Burnett is on this bandwagon.

 

"Tolkien" the movie - review in the Jesuit America Magazine

I am a Tolkien fan. Totally. Excerpt below; Hit the link for the complete review.

‘Tolkien’: a portrait of the artist as a young scholar

When the banker father of the family dies in South Africa, the remaining, destitute Tolkiens—Mabel (Laura Donnelly) and her young sons, Ronald and Hilary (Harry Gilby as the young J. R. R. Tolkien)—relocate to grimy Birmingham, where Mom, who also is not long for this world, entrusts her boys’ education to the Rev. Francis Xavier Morgan (Colm Meaney). This brings the teenage Ronald to the distinguished King Edward’s School, where he becomes one of a quartet of high-minded youth who vow to “change the world” through “the power of art.”

That the entire story is a flashback—from the battlefields of World War I, where Tolkien saw action and his friends would die—enshrouds the story in bitter irony: The adventurous boys, who dreamt of quests, would find theirs in the trenches of the Somme.

For the director, Karukoski (“Tom of Finland”), and the writers, David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford, it’s all fodder. The Tolkien-to-be is visited by otherworldly visions and otherworldly creatures, from the dragons that invade his waking dreams to a saddled white stallion that Ronald hallucinates, amid the blood and the mud of the Somme, and which might have been dispatched from Middle Earth.

“Tolkien” is also a love story, one with some curious omissions. Lily Collins plays Edith Bratt, the future Mrs. Tolkien, who is not only the writer’s intellectual match but a gifted pianist in her own right and who, like Ronald, was not born to privilege. The two are well suited not just temperamentally, but also economically and even musically. Their trip to hear part of Wagner’s Ring Cycle (another obvious influence on Tolkien) is one of the more tender scenes in this sometime romance. Father Morgan, however, discourages the courtship, seeing Edith as a distraction from Ronald’s studies. In real life, the fact that Edith was Anglican was at least as much of an issue.

Tolkien’s identity as a Catholic is a curious thing to leave out of a film so devoted to identifying influences on the author. His mother had been a Catholic convert from the Baptist Church. Tolkien insisted on Edith’s conversion before they married, and he was a major influence on the decision by C. S. Lewis to convert from atheism to the Church of England, though Tolkien found the Christian allegories of the “Narnia” chronicles too obvious. (Tolkien and Lewis were both members of the Oxford discussion group the Inklings.)

BB: Sean Hannity - "If Global Warming is real, how do you explain ice cream?"

A Hannity op ed/monologue. Even more facts if you hit the link below.

Ice cream exists. It is here, it is real. Oh, and—by the way—it's delicious.

All your “data” and “consensus” melt away when faced with the truth. Oh, it’s really warm lately? Well, scientifically, the heat melts cold things. So if it’s so hot, how am I able to hold a frozen vanilla treat in a styrofoam-flavored cake cone and somehow get brain freeze? I mean, it’s just common sense: Ice cream is cold; therefore, global warming is false.

Now, don’t get me wrong here. I’m not an unreasonable man. In fact, I’m completely open to the incredibly unlikely possibility that what I’m saying is incorrect. That’s why I’ll throw down the gauntlet here and now: If anyone can produce one single shred of evidence that ice cream does not exist, I’ll apologize. I’ll not only admit I’m wrong— I’ll pack it in, quit my day job, and pursue a new career as a hair model.

Ice cream. Does it exist? Yes or no? It’s a simple yes or no question. YES OR NO.  I’ll wait.

 

Top website rankings, May 2018

Google #1, youtube #2

"GALLUP: TRUMP APPROVAL HITS HIGH; TOPS OBAMA AT SAME TIME IN PRESIDENCY.."

"It's the economy stupid." Didn't someone once say that?

Gallup: Trump Approval Rating Ticks Up to New High of 46 Percent

On one hand, polling below 50 percent still isn’t a good place to be for an incumbent, especially given the strong economy, and the president currently trails Joe Biden by 7 points and Bernie Sanders by 3 points in the RealClearPolitics average of polls. On the other hand, Barack Obama’s job-approval rating was 44 percent in Gallup polling at the same point in his presidency (April 2011), and he still managed to find a way to win re-election in 2
012.

NY Times: "How Exercise Affects Our Memory"

Hit the link for the full article.

Even a single workout may make our brain’s memory centers, like our muscles, more fit.

A single, moderate workout may immediately change how our brains function and how well we recognize common names and similar information, according to a promising new study of exercise, memory and aging. The study adds to growing evidence that exercise can have rapid effects on brain function and also that these effects could accumulate and lead to long-term improvements in how our brains operate and we remember.

Until recently, scientists thought that by adulthood, human brains were relatively fixed in their structure and function, especially compared to malleable tissues, like muscle, that continually grow and shrivel in direct response to how we live our lives. But multiple, newer experiments have shown that adult brains, in fact, can be quite plastic, rewiring and reshaping themselves in various ways, depending on our lifestyles.

***********

But substantial questions remain about exercise and the brain, including the time course of any changes and whether they are short-term or, with continued training, become lasting.

That particular issue intrigued scientists at the University of Maryland. They already had published a study in 2013 with older adults looking at the long-term effects of exercise on portions of the brain involved in semantic-memory processing.

Semantic memory is, in essence, our knowledge of the world and culture of which we are a part. It represents the context of our lives — a buildup of common names and concepts, such as “what is the color blue?” or “who is Ringo Starr?”.

It also can be ephemeral. As people age, semantic memory often is one of the first forms of memory to fade.

But the Maryland scientists had found in their earlier study that a 12-week program of treadmill walking changed the working of portions of the brain involved in semantic memory. After four months of exercise, those parts of the brain became less active during semantic-memory tests, which is a desirable outcome. Less activity suggests that the brain had become more efficient at semantic-memory processing as a result of the exercise, requiring fewer resources to access the memories.

Now, for the new study, which was published in April in The Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, the scientists decided to backtrack and parse the steps involved in getting to that state. Specifically, they wanted to see how a single workout might change the way the brain processed semantic memories.

... they recruited 26 healthy men and women aged between 55 and 85, who had no serious memory problems and asked them to visit the exercise lab twice. There, they rested quietly or rode an exercise bike for 30 minutes, a workout the scientists hoped would stimulate but not exhaust them.

***************

The scientists had expected that the areas needed for semantic memory work would be quieter after the exercise, just as they were after weeks of working out, says J. Carson Smith, an associate professor of kinesiology and director of the Exercise for Brain Health Laboratory at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, who oversaw the new study.

But that is not what happened. Instead, those parts of the brains most involved in semantic memory fizzed with far more activity after people had exercised than when they had rested.

At first, the researchers were surprised and puzzled by the results, Dr. Smith says. But then they began to surmise that they were watching the start of a training response.

“There is an analogy to what happens with muscles,” Dr. Smith says.

When people first begin exercising, he points out, their muscles strain and burn through energy. But as they become fitter, those same muscles respond more efficiently, using less energy for the same work.

The scientists suspect that, in the same way, the spike in brain activity after a first session of biking is the prelude to tissue remodeling that, with continued exercise, improves the function of those areas.

Our brain’s memory centers become, in other words, more fit.

"CONFUSION: Biden says ‘Margaret Thatcher’ called him with concerns about Trump"

A small slip. Right.

Biden, who would be 78 on Inauguration Day, told a small group of donors in Columbia, South Carolina on Saturday that “14 heads of state” have contacted him, and “voiced concerns about Trump.” Bloomberg reports: That list included Margaret Thatcher, he said, before correcting what he called a “Freudian slip,” that he was actually referring to current British Prime Minister Theresa May. Biden decried Trump calling his foes names, before the former vice president called him a “clown” and “no good S.O.B.,” according to Bloomberg.

Can states keep Trump off the 2020 ballot?

Presumably this would be unconstitutional. There's no law that says you have to release your tax returns if you want to run for Prez. Standard low rent BS. Why don't they come up with policies to move their states and the country forward?

"Jordan Peterson Calls Out The 'Pseudo-moralistic Stances' Of Activists | Q&A" - 4 minutes long

This is great as Peterson answers a question about how do we change the whole world. See my post about Peterson talking about Trump here, & about his great book here - 12 Rules for Life, an Antidote to Chaos .  The youtube channel is from a major Australian television station.

Jordan Peterson responds to Australian audience member who asks: "What answers do you have to the big issues that are facing humanity such as economic crisis, a precarious job and housing market and climate change beyond banal truisms about cleaning one's room?"

Drudge on the economy, with links -

ENVY OF THE WORLD

UNEMPLOYMENT 49-YEAR LOW

WAGE HITS $27.77/HOUR

STOCK MARKET ENDLESS RALLY

TRUMP APPROVAL 50%

Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) gone to Wookie heaven

So the guy who wore the Wookie suit - by all accounts a wonderful person. Here's a little tribute from Harrison Ford.

WSJ on the Schumer/Pelosi infrastructure plan

From the Wall Street Journal "Best of  the Web" email Wednesday. Here's a link to the full Journal editorial   that is referenced. i pasted in the entire relevant section below the link to "Best of the Web."

A Journal editorial is warning President Donald Trump against cutting a massive infrastructure deal with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.). Have the two members of Congress learned from their mistakes in crafting landmark legislation ten years ago?

Today’s editorial in the Journal notes:

Mr. Trump campaigned on rebuilding America’s infrastructure, but he and Democrats don’t even agree on what to spend it on. Rest assured that Democrats don’t mean merely roads and bridges.

As Mr. Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi put it in a joint statement after Tuesday’s meeting, “infrastructure is about creating jobs immediately” but also about “advancing public health with clean air and clean water” and “addressing climate change” and “expanding broadband to rural, urban and other underserved areas.”

This will sound awfully familiar to taxpayers who recall the Speaker promoting the so-called stimulus plan in 2009. In January of that year Ms. Pelosi said at a meeting of the House Democratic Steering and Policy committee:

While there are many components to this recovery and jobs package, make no mistake, this is not your grandfather’s public works bill. Thanks to the leadership of our chairman both on the Science Committee, Mr. Bart Gordon, but especially on Infrastructure, Mr. Oberstar, this is a smart 21st century plan that will create new jobs by investing in the cleaner energy future. Mr. Waxman’s working on that -- strengthen high-tech infrastructure to bring the power of renewable energy and broadband to communities across America and rebuilding our bridges and modernizing our schools.

A month earlier, Sen.Schumer had issued a press release to sell commuters on the benefits of a federal infrastructure splurge:

With the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) facing an historic budget crunch... U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer and Congressman John Hall announced today that the new federal economic stimulus package could include millions of dollars in emergency funding to help the MTA maintain and upgrade its system and, at the same time, help ease its historic budget gap.

... Schumer and Hall said that the infrastructure piece of the stimulus is critical because this type of federal spending has the two-fold benefit of not only creating good paying jobs across the country, but also upgrading and modernizing dangerously antiquated pieces of infrastructure such as decades old roads, bridges, and sewer systems.

In February of 2009, President Barack Obama signed the stimulus into law as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Anyone who read the fine print realized that very little of the money would be going to needed infrastructure. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in March of 2009:

Vice President Joe Biden had this message last week for city and county officials: Don’t spend the federal stimulus money on stupid things. Biden gave them a list of no-nos: swimming pools, tennis courts, golf courses.

“I can’t stop you from doing some things, but I’ll show up in your city and say, ‘This was a stupid idea.’”

The Republican party of Rhode Island invited Mr. Biden to show up in the Ocean State after the following news appeared in the Providence Journal:

PAWTUCKET -- In this city burdened with one of Rhode Island’s highest home foreclosure rates and a $10-million current-year budget deficit, $550,000 in federal stimulus money is coming to build a skateboarding park and renovate tennis and basketball courts at Jenks Junior High School.

Michael Cassidy, the city planning director, said the money is for shovel-ready projects and the city is ready to go on both the skateboarding park and work on the athletic courts.

Was the skateboarding park a bigger waste of money than, say, a project highlighted in July of 2009 by Pro Publica? The non-profit media outfit’s Michael Grabell reported:

The village of Ouzinkie is one of the remotest outposts in the United States -- home to a mere 165 people on an island off another island off the coast of Alaska. There are no stores, no gas stations and no stoplights.

Yet the village will soon be home to a new $15 million airport paid for by taxpayers under the federal stimulus package.

At least it fit the definition of infrastructure, unlike roughly 90% of the $840 billion that would ultimately be spent under the stimulus plan. Among the environmental projects receiving federal assistance would be the infamous solar-panel failure called Solyndra.

Speaking of green considerations, a big question today is whether even needed infrastructure that manages to receive funding could ever be built. The Journal reports on White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s effort to find bipartisan common ground:

Mr. Mulvaney said one chief area of disagreement is that the White House wants environmental deregulation included in an infrastructure package, which it says would speed up new projects. Democrats oppose the deregulation out of concern for the environment.

There’s also the little matter of a proposed $2 trillion price tag for a government already $22 trillion in debt. Taxpayers should be very afraid.

The Poway Rabbi speaks at the White House

I think this is poignant. The Rabbi of the synagogue that was attacked with one death in California.

 

Senator Maisie Hirono (D-HI) is a dopey whack job

The other Dem Senators at the Barr hearing must have decided Hirono was the biggest dumbbell, and given her the index cards to read off for this attack. Throwing red meat to Trump supporters.

Sports Illustrated selects a Baptist as swimsuit model

From BB; this is a first!

NEW YORK, NY—In a controversial move, Sports Illustrated has unveiled photos of its first ever Baptist swimsuit model, pictured in a floor-length denim skirt, modest collared blouse, and no makeup or jewelry whatsoever, other than her purity ring.

The "hot" photoshoot includes pictures of the woman lying on the beach, rolling around in the water, and reading Passion and Purity on the beach in sexy poses, all while completely covered up.

Christians quickly praised the decision.

"We are glad SI finally sees the value of modesty," one leading evangelical said. "A woman mostly covered from head to toe is a great precedent to set, and we hope more models going forward will be dressed this modestly."

The woman, Becky Grace-Charity-Faith Benson, said she's proud to represent her Baptist religious heritage. "It's important for young Christian girls to see that beauty isn't just being skinny or wearing b*kinis---it's wearing a comfy pair of sneaks, a long, denim skirt you made at home, or a modest one-piece bathing suit under a swim shirt and long, flowy swim skirt."

YIKES! Chased by a grizzly bear.

This evidently happened somewhere in East Europe. It's been viewed 25 million times since posted four years ago.