This Fitness Story

 I paused over this today....President Trump is signing an executive order to bring the Presidential Fitness Test back to public schools.

This started actually in 1956, and probably carried on 'strong' through the late 1960s.  By the time I got to the 9th grade (mid-70s)....it was ancient history, and almost forgotten.

Someone in my military unit in the early1990s....got me hooked up to the 'test', and I made this a yearly goal (for four years).

I pondered this....will the news media and Democrats come out against the 'test'?  Will schools say 'no'?  Yeah, I'm guessing they would be goofy enough to say that.

A big deal?  Not really, but for ten minutes....it's hyped by CNN. 

Three Things

 1.  A discussion started up in Canada yesterday.....where the northern part of British Columbia  (mostly conservatives residents) wants to break  apart from main British Columbia...as Saskatchewan and Alberta go off on their own.

Does Canadian law allow a state to break apart?  Yes.

So what might happen?  There would be a voting process....where the 'North Coast' (name given to the area)...where they would vote to separate, and then vote to unify to whatever Alberta and Saskatchewan would go toward.

This being a slap in the face of the Vancouver region (mostly a liberal region)? Yeah.

Can Vancouver as a smaller state survive?  Well....now you get into how big a chunk 'North Coast' intends  to be.  Some folks used a map and split the two into equal pieces.

Someone else pointed out....once you get about 50 miles north of Vancouver....it's  around 70-perecent conservatives, and fairly rural. It's possible....district by district, you might get to the point where 80-percen of British Columbia would separate  from British Columbia, and mean a very small chunk....with the population being 75-percent pro-Canada and lean 'left'.

Creating more chaos back in Ottawa?  Yeah....they probably weren't expecting individual provinces to break apart.

2.  All this "alien" interstellar object talk?

This 7-mile long object is set to pass through around November of this year.   

If it were a alien vehicle?

I pondered upon this, coming to three theories:

First, it's just a unique space rock and worthless to discuss.

Second, it's a alien vehicle set to land, and looking for folks to immigrate to their world...to do the crap-work.

Third, they've got millions of folks...who want to immigrate into the EU and US.....meaning the present migrant folks now have competition.

I'm mostly leaning toward a worthless rock.

3.  By the end of 2026....I don't see the Fed (as it exists today)....being around.  This will be one of the 3 big parts of the mid-term election (my belief).  Whatever comes next....has to be connected to the President.....so he can fire as required.

Do We Really Need The Fed?

 Just for history purposes....prior to 1913....the Fed didn't exist.  The trigger?  Well....the 'Panic of 1907'....caused a lot of banks to dissolve (not really giving anyone a blame-vehicle).

What caused this 1907 event?  Mostly....a international liquidity shortage and culminated in a run on trust companies in New York City (the big boys at the time).  Stocks within a one-week period....dropped by 50-percent of value.  I should point out.....in the midst of this developing situation...the downfall of the Knickerbocker Trust Company occurred (3rd biggest bank of the city).

In the eyes of the Senate....the fix here to prevent 'forever' 1907 events....was to create the Federal Reserve.

To stabilize the economy...they have monetary policy tools, interest rate adjustments and open market operations, to help manage inflation and unemployment.

The Fed has crisis management  tools....acting as a lender of 'last resort), providing liquidity to banks during crises.  (Example:  the $700 billion TARP program in 2008....prevented bank runs).

Then, there's the global influence tool....which helps (or hurts) the dollar.

On the negative side?  The Fed doesn't have to be a 'friend' of the White House, the Congress, or the American people.

Does the Fed distort markets?  Absolutely.

Currency devaluation?  The Fed gets into the middle of this and probably is more of a 'monster'.

Finally, firing the Fed when necessary....is near impossible.

Do I see the Fed going away?   You'd  simply replace it with something else.  The bigger tool....a yearly audit by an outside Fed element....might be a better tool.