Five Things That Have Reached A Failure Mode

1.  Car loans for $75,000.

The idiot who decided that cars would be sold at $60k to $90k on the lot....getting banks to agree to a 8-year loan payment plan.....has a mostly failure state in existence. 

2.  A Vegas weekend (3 days)  costing  in the $4k range for a couple.

After Covid....room prices, beverage/food costs....all escalated to such a degree....that it'd be actually half this $4k cost to go off to some Turkish 5-star resort for 10 days.

3.   Mailing a letter to a business establishment 10 miles away....requiring a 600 mile trip.

Once you pop the letter into the box....it has to be picked up and carried to state distribution point, then rerouted back.

4.  Kennedy Center.

Attitude developing....lot of folks suggesting that 'it' fund it's own renovation/repairs....let the fed-dollars just stop.

Look.....the cost of BS-work in DC is such...you would have to charge $500 for crappy seats, and $1,000 for a great seat....for the place to have a income level to pay for stuff.  

This is probably the literal end of the Center.

5.  High-speed rail in California.

Getting obvious....it'll take 70-plus years to build a 700-mile track.  Even if you hire Mexicans....I doubt that you can improve the outcome.

Five Things I Now Believe

 1.  The ongoing level of economic illiteracy....with regular folks and politicians....simply makes matters worse.  In some cases....it's like they never advanced past the 3rd grade.

2.  Some day....the gov't will attempt to tax imaginary/invisible digital game pieces/ponies/swords.

3.  The most important button on a remote control.....is 'MUTE'.

4. Somewhere in the statistical world.....there is a 'number' for 'idiots', and once you discover it.....you will always approach a building or work-place....with the attitude that 1-percent, or 3-percent, or 5-percent of people there....are idiots.  It will forever change you.

5.  Something designed to be a failure....can never be made into a success....no matter how much money or time  you put into it.

Vote Story

 California this week.....some gal...who had worked as a signature collector for ballot initiatives....got dragged into court.

She'd been in the 'job-field'....for at least a decade.

Deal time?  Well....yeah....she basically pleaded guilty to paying homeless people in Los Angeles’ Skid Row....$2 to $3....to register to vote.

Sentencing?  Yet to occur....based on the charge....max is five years in prison.  My guess....depending on how many were paid....it could go pretty light (three months in jail is my guess).

Where her cash 'purse' came from?  Unknown, and it does not appear that they will be asking about that.

Did any of the new registered voters actually vote?  Another unknown.

So each guy/gal....got enough to pay for a McDonald's sausage biscuit and coffee (if you had a discount coupon)?  Yeah.

Jobs Chatter

 I asked Grok (AI) to list the top ten states for new employment in 2026:

Texas (energy, tech, manufacturing, and population-driven demand).

Nevada (tourism, logistics, and business expansion).  

Florida (population influx, tourism, finance).

North Carolina (banking/finance, tech/biotech, and manufacturing).  

Arizona  (semiconductors, tech, aerospace, and migration from higher-cost states).  

Vermont (High ranking in overall employment strength and steady job gains).  

Oklahoma (Energy sector strength and business-friendly environment).  

Idaho (Tech, manufacturing, and population growth driving gains).  

Michigan  (Auto industry recovery, manufacturing, and diversification supporting job additions).  

Virginia (Government contracting, tech, and professional services in the D.C. metro area).

Grok also listed the three bottom states (W-Virginia,  Maine, and New Hampshire).

I'll make three observations:

First,  it used to take three to five years to see a downward/upward job trend....I'd go and suggest we've reached a stage where it's 12 to 18 months to see a trend.

Second, states with a upward trend....means they are collecting income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes. These are states with tax revenue flowing (not stagnant).  

Third, fifteen years ago....I remember the odd Obama quote.....it went along the lines of 'those-jobs-are-gone....you-just-to-accept-that'.  

Four Opinions

 First, this post office threat by Trump.....that they will refuse to handle absentee ballots if you (as a state) don't hand over the voter-rolls....will have a massive  affect.

I suspect more than 20-million imaginary, dead, or non-Americans are listed as voters.

Once this is laid out....a lot of people will lose respect in democracy.

Second, once the smoke clears on the DoJ subpoena of banks in the political bias inquiry (debanking).....it'll be hefty damage for the banks in terms of lawsuits (into the tens of billions I would  suggest).

Third, this Bill Gates-the-Victim claim......that Epstein used his personal infidelities as blackmail?  Prepare for a hundred other VIPs (even Bill Clinton) to utter the threat.

Fourth and final.....I finally sat down and started watching 'The Middle'.....have to admit....it's  not a bad comedy series. 

How I Think The Iranian Uranium Saga Will Go?

First, if you weren't  aware....uranium has a 'fingerprint'....so you know where it originally came from.

In the early Obama years....a Canadian company sold uranium to a Russian nuke-plant.  There is zero evidence that Hillary Clinton was in the deal (in case you wonder).

There were two Kazakh companies involved in this deal (not really Russian companies, but you might assume some 'ownership').

Around 2013....the two Kazakh companies bought the Canadian operation.  $1.3-billion is involved.  Where did the cash come from?  No one really says much.

Could Iran have funneled money to make the deal possible?  Maybe.  But it'd have to be in cash....which is oddly....what Obama delivered to Iran around 2013.

What is odd....right around 2013....the Clinton Charity Foundation....ends up getting around $145-million....from the Kazakh company ownership. 

If the Iranian uranium comes up identified to the Canada/US 'pile'?  Well....it probably can only come from the Kazakh company operation, or it was simply stolen from the US  (I'm willing to believe this).  

The odds of several Kazakh company folks disappearing shortly?  50-50 odds.

The US-Brazil Women's Soccer Game

 If you have twenty minutes.....look up on YouTube for the highlight film from yesterday. (Video here).

All total on yellow/red flags?  21.

In a normal game....usually, three to five are expected.  In a fairly rough game (with fake injuries)....you might see seven to ten flags.

At some point....the Brazil coach/assistant coaches....are red-flagged....sent off.

US win?  Yeah....1-0.