TikTok Chatter

 I sat looking over all this DC hype about forcing China to sell the US their US piece to TikTok.

After a while, it hit me....whoever buys (even Elon or some goofy billionaire) will face another problem within six months.

What about CCP-owned Lemon8, CapCut, Temu, and Shein?  Will they have to be bought as well?

And who is pricing any of this?  If the CCP says TikTok (US) is worth 44-billion....will some idiot left-wing American idiot pay that?  What about Temu or CapCut?  44-billion combined?  

It's all a bit crazy if you ask me.

The Thing About Don Lemon

 I'm just not a fan of CNN (or former ex-company CNN) journalist Don Lemon.

On interview skills?  I can think of forty journalists (even Katie Couric) who are better at Q-and-A.

On debate skills?  One-to-ten....he's marginally a '2'.

Why CNN sticks to him?  I think he's moderately priced on salary.  

I get the impression that even among blacks....he's just not ranked up there.

Intellectual?  No.

Starting his own podcast gimmick?  No.....he's not like Tucker Carlson or the normal folks you'd see.

But here's the thing...Don has no plan 'B' or exit strategy.  He has no real back-up job to CNN.  No one else cares that much to hire Don (not even ABC).  

Reality

 If you own a $250,000 home.....you probably discovered here in 2024....your homeowners policy went up 23-percent (Bankrate quote).

If you live in Florida, along the coast....you probably noticed your 2024 rate went up by 50-percent or more.

So, I'm going to make the following prediction.

By 2027, realizing President Biden wins...at least 200,000 people a year will be forced to hand the keys to their house over to the mortgage company because they can't afford homeowner's insurance.

By 2028, a national emergency will be underway as banks and mortgage companies are holding more than 300,000 homes and 800,000 condo apartments.  No one can afford the purchase price (because of the prime-rate) or the insurance cost.  

The government at this point is talking about passing special tax-free status for home-insurance companies....where they pay zero taxes.

2024 and 1929?

 This came up in a discussion I viewed (another podcast)....talking over differences economically today, and 1929.

1929....you drunk water from the tap...either  coming from the city or your pump on the property.  Today?  You buy around $100 of bottled water for the family per month.

Today, you eat out with the family around ten times a month.  Back in 1929....you at mostly at home.

1929, you probably owned a car but had zero insurance.  Today?  You pay around $300 minimum insurance on the car.

1929, you had no cable TV.  Today?  You pay $150 for cable.

Today, you have a couple of I-Phones for you and the kids, for $300 a month.  1929, phone service was just starting to get into the system in rural areas.

1929....a movie ticket was 35-cents.  2024?  Anywhere from $9 to $20.

1929....a cup of coffee ran around 5-cents.  2024?  You'd pay near $4 for the mega-cup at some name-brand coffee shop.

For 1929, it wasn't that big of a fall for the recession.  For 2024?  It's a massive fall if the same type of recession were to occur.

I Had An Idea On ID/Voting

 If it makes perfect sense to have voting without an ID....why can't we have announcements to run for Governor, Senator, and President....without showing an ID?

You know...just show up to the county office without an ID, and get my name onto the county commissioner ballot?  

Now, I admit....I might not use my real name....maybe something like 'Hocus Pocus', and you accept my $200 registration fee....without demanding any legit ID.

Seven Observations

 1.  Maybe just my gut feeling....but it seems like one-third of all customer service people...are literally 7th-grade mentality.  

2.  If your state has deemed kids to have mentality and intellect to make their decisions by age 13....open a suitcase for them, and carry them to the county social office....leaving them there for 'handling'.  The kid will eventually figure out things.

3.  All this cannibal-gangs chatter in Haiti....just where did this come up before?  If the White House agrees to bring Haitians up to the US and dump them into communities?  I just don't see how the public would be agreeable....knowing one or two out of every fifty were cannibals' in nature.

Also, this would trigger Americans to ask....what's worse....ISIS thugs or cannibals?

4.   Maybe it's a crazy thought, but if Trump walks into the White House in 2025...something in my head suggests that US Army or National Guard presence will be a regular thing, with 10,000 permanently based around the city....to protect against insurrection, or fake-insurrection.

Just seems like the Democrats have opened up a wild crazy period.

5.  Of the 25-odd million migrants who arrived before this current 'herd'....did they get free hotel rooms and $10,000 debit cards?  No.  I'm guessing they are peeved to the 9th degree.

6.  Just odd how Covid ended....folks under 70....about a 99-percent survival record.  Almost fits a flu-epidemic.

7.  Before the late 1920s....in the farming area I grew up in (Alabama)....they had no electricity.  If you try talking about this period of time.....no one much wants to hear about it.  

Smuggling Story

 I sat and watched a brief piece from yesterday....FBI 'boss' saying ISIS has a new income gimmick.....helping to smuggle people into Mexico...to cross the US border.

Pay per person?  Unknown.  

Numbers?  Mostly unknown.

How did the FBI figure this out?  Oddly, that part of the story wasn't readily told.  I thought over how the FBI works.  One might imagine FBI duo with nothing much going on, and walking into a refugee center to ask stupid questions. Ten minutes later....'holy smokes' is probably the response, and they file a report.

'Smuggling-R-Us'?  Well....yeah.  They figured out some unused freighters exist, and rig up hauling couple hundred....probably charging $5k a trip.   Couple million in profit....dock for half-a-day, and return for second run.

How they would stop this?  Unknown.  Even if Mexico enforced some control on docking....you could slide into Honduras and dock there to unload the crowd.