Here's the thing....if you are the FBI, CIA, some Senator, or big-name journalist who hypes the threat of the 2020 election and the Russians....it means you have to go and do something that threatens democracy (well, it gets special Americans all disturbed).
You have to open up all fifty state poll listings, and look for people listed in dual voting situations.
You'd have to go and look at college students who are deemed 'out-of-state' but apparently listed to vote in the college district they are attending.
You'd have to create a national ID card and force everyone to show it....before registering to vote.
You'd have to disqualify every single non-American who is listed as registered to vote.
For some reason, I just don't believe your enthusiasm or 'gotta-get-serious' charm. You can't make some serious allegation about the Russian threat to the 2020 election, unless you are willing to act. And that just isn't going to happen.
Saturday, 27 April 2019
The Truth About Oligarchs
For a long time, if you uttered 'oligarchy', it was a key phrase or a catch expression for Russian billionaires who interfered in the stock market, world politics, and stability of nations. It only worked with RUSSIANs.
So, in the past month, if you follow the Trump pee dosier business, and the fake news tuff....oligarchy got brought up....with the Ukraine. Yes, Ukrainian oligarchs.
If you asked around about this....most journalists (at least in Europe) will say that this group of Ukrainian oligarchs have run the Ukraine since 1991 (when they exited Russia). In fact, around twelve years ago, there was this number thrown around....that the total wealth of the top fifty Ukrainian oligarchs, was between 80 and 90 percent of the total GDP of the Ukraine.
But this funny thing happened in 2015, as the Ukraine fell apart (with around 20-percent of the country forming up a Russian-relationship, after the EU business fell apart). The GDP dropped by 12-percent in one single year.
In 2016 (the election year for the US), the GDP bumped up and down, from zero-percent growth on GDP, to 2-percent.
All of these Ukrainian oligarchs are looking for the 'angle' on getting business deals and trade situations, and if you have to hire up some Ukrainian Hollywood-script writer to create some fake Trump pee-stories, well, it's all part of the deal.
The odds that some Hillary high player got his sources in the Ukraine to help out, and write some scripts to convince the news people to follow along? That's the problem you have to focus upon. If you had suggested this back twenty years ago.....people would have laughed and said it was physically impossible for something like this to happen. Today, it's bad enough that the CIA could linger on this story for months....thinking it has potential, and then come to realize how badly they'd been fooled, and simply didn't want to admit this in public.
But let's ask another curious question. Are there oligarchs out of Serbia, Albania, Slovakia, Greece, Lebanon, and Turkey? Well....yes. If you approached any of them and asked them to produce a pee dossier on Hillary Clinton and some Canadian cattle rancher from 1978.....they'd eagerly do it for some import license into the US. Or if you need a pee-dossier on Bernie Sanders and some 1988 TV star....they'd eagerly do it for some import license.
If you ask me....we've got a five star mess on our hands, and the CIA folks might need forty different oligarch research divisions.
So, in the past month, if you follow the Trump pee dosier business, and the fake news tuff....oligarchy got brought up....with the Ukraine. Yes, Ukrainian oligarchs.
If you asked around about this....most journalists (at least in Europe) will say that this group of Ukrainian oligarchs have run the Ukraine since 1991 (when they exited Russia). In fact, around twelve years ago, there was this number thrown around....that the total wealth of the top fifty Ukrainian oligarchs, was between 80 and 90 percent of the total GDP of the Ukraine.
But this funny thing happened in 2015, as the Ukraine fell apart (with around 20-percent of the country forming up a Russian-relationship, after the EU business fell apart). The GDP dropped by 12-percent in one single year.
In 2016 (the election year for the US), the GDP bumped up and down, from zero-percent growth on GDP, to 2-percent.
All of these Ukrainian oligarchs are looking for the 'angle' on getting business deals and trade situations, and if you have to hire up some Ukrainian Hollywood-script writer to create some fake Trump pee-stories, well, it's all part of the deal.
The odds that some Hillary high player got his sources in the Ukraine to help out, and write some scripts to convince the news people to follow along? That's the problem you have to focus upon. If you had suggested this back twenty years ago.....people would have laughed and said it was physically impossible for something like this to happen. Today, it's bad enough that the CIA could linger on this story for months....thinking it has potential, and then come to realize how badly they'd been fooled, and simply didn't want to admit this in public.
But let's ask another curious question. Are there oligarchs out of Serbia, Albania, Slovakia, Greece, Lebanon, and Turkey? Well....yes. If you approached any of them and asked them to produce a pee dossier on Hillary Clinton and some Canadian cattle rancher from 1978.....they'd eagerly do it for some import license into the US. Or if you need a pee-dossier on Bernie Sanders and some 1988 TV star....they'd eagerly do it for some import license.
If you ask me....we've got a five star mess on our hands, and the CIA folks might need forty different oligarch research divisions.
Friday, 26 April 2019
The Dementia Mayor
After watching the search warrant business of Baltimore mayor Catherine Pugh, and her disappearance in the past two or three days.....I've come to this odd question. You see, her lawyer says she's out of the public view because she's not lucid enough to handle the situation.
Meaning?
Well....down south, when you say someone isn't lucid enough....it typically means that they are pretty much lost in terms of mental competence.
I sat and watched a speech she gave in 2016, when running (thus winning) the city mayor election that year. My observation from that one speech.....she was not functioning that well. Her age? This year, she turned 69.
My humble guess is that she's suffering (maybe for the past three to four years) from dementia.
Can she be dragged into court for charges, if having dementia? No. My guess is that folks knew this already in 2015, and figured she could win by just showing up and making a few public appearances. Those who benefited? They ought to be up for charges, but I doubt that this will occur.
Just an odd way for things to turn out.
Meaning?
Well....down south, when you say someone isn't lucid enough....it typically means that they are pretty much lost in terms of mental competence.
I sat and watched a speech she gave in 2016, when running (thus winning) the city mayor election that year. My observation from that one speech.....she was not functioning that well. Her age? This year, she turned 69.
My humble guess is that she's suffering (maybe for the past three to four years) from dementia.
Can she be dragged into court for charges, if having dementia? No. My guess is that folks knew this already in 2015, and figured she could win by just showing up and making a few public appearances. Those who benefited? They ought to be up for charges, but I doubt that this will occur.
Just an odd way for things to turn out.
Wednesday, 24 April 2019
Bernie and the Prison Vote?
Whoever gave Bernie the idea of a platform stand, this prison vote idea, where all Americans in prisons (county, state, federal) would have the right to vote....has hit some rough acceptance, even with Democrats.
Logistically, it has problems that you can't really imagine.
An example: Say you live in Texas (own a house, and registered to vote there), and you did some stupid stuff in Oregon on a trip, got arrested....charged-up....convicted....and will be in the Oregon prison for twelve years. Are you still registered via Texas, or is your new residence Oregon? Who will decide your residence, and thus your vote?
Another example: Lets say you did some stupid stuff, and got yourself into a Venezuelan prison (overseas). Just how much effort will the US government have to attend to.....to get the Texas ballot to you, and guarantee your vote?
Another example: You are on death-row, and the election is three months past your execution date. You go to the judge and demand the right to either vote early, or extend your execution date till the day after the election.
I don't see the problem in handing back the right to vote to a guy after he has served his full sentence and exited the prison or jail. But if you insist that this right is something to fight over, why couldn't you allow the same guy to have the right to bear arms (own a gun)?
Bernie opened up a can of worms, and I suspect that fifty percent of Democrats won't buy into the vote idea, and it might well cancel out the half of 2016 states that he won in the primary.
Logistically, it has problems that you can't really imagine.
An example: Say you live in Texas (own a house, and registered to vote there), and you did some stupid stuff in Oregon on a trip, got arrested....charged-up....convicted....and will be in the Oregon prison for twelve years. Are you still registered via Texas, or is your new residence Oregon? Who will decide your residence, and thus your vote?
Another example: Lets say you did some stupid stuff, and got yourself into a Venezuelan prison (overseas). Just how much effort will the US government have to attend to.....to get the Texas ballot to you, and guarantee your vote?
Another example: You are on death-row, and the election is three months past your execution date. You go to the judge and demand the right to either vote early, or extend your execution date till the day after the election.
I don't see the problem in handing back the right to vote to a guy after he has served his full sentence and exited the prison or jail. But if you insist that this right is something to fight over, why couldn't you allow the same guy to have the right to bear arms (own a gun)?
Bernie opened up a can of worms, and I suspect that fifty percent of Democrats won't buy into the vote idea, and it might well cancel out the half of 2016 states that he won in the primary.
Tuesday, 23 April 2019
President-Mayor Pete?
In the past month, I've watched probably a dozen news pieces which 'fawned-over' "Mayor-Pete” Buttigieg. The thing that gets me is the resume.
He's 37 years old. After college ended in 2007, he went to work for a consulting company (McKinsey and Company), and stayed there until 2010. During recent years, he had a couple of deployments as part of the Naval Reserve.
His chief resume block is Mayor of South Bend since 2011, a town of 102,000.
For the record, South Bend hit absolute maximum on population around 1960, and every decade since then....lost a fair number of residents. Some say around 2010 (fifty years into this spiral), they finally hit rock bottom with 101,000, and today are near 103,000.
The fact that Chicago is 50 miles away? In some ways, I think the past two decades have been a plus-up because if you worked in Chicago.....you could live in the shadow of South Bend, and be happy with the limited crime and troubles that Chicago has.
So what 'Mayor-Pete has is an six year period of education, some years in the Naval Reserve, one commercial company, and eight years as a mayor. That's it. It's a basic eight-line resume.
The thing is....people in Iowa like this kind of stuff. So 'Mayor-Pete' could roll into Iowa....shock Bernie and Joe, and suddenly get some 'lift'.
The claim to being the first gay President? Well....no. James Buchanan comes up, and probably qualifies along that line.
If 'Mayor-Pete' had another dozen years, to be a state governor, and a Cabinet Secretary? I think it'd help. If you were looking for someone with a shorter resume than Bernie, then 'Mayor-Pete' is the guy.
He's 37 years old. After college ended in 2007, he went to work for a consulting company (McKinsey and Company), and stayed there until 2010. During recent years, he had a couple of deployments as part of the Naval Reserve.
His chief resume block is Mayor of South Bend since 2011, a town of 102,000.
For the record, South Bend hit absolute maximum on population around 1960, and every decade since then....lost a fair number of residents. Some say around 2010 (fifty years into this spiral), they finally hit rock bottom with 101,000, and today are near 103,000.
The fact that Chicago is 50 miles away? In some ways, I think the past two decades have been a plus-up because if you worked in Chicago.....you could live in the shadow of South Bend, and be happy with the limited crime and troubles that Chicago has.
So what 'Mayor-Pete has is an six year period of education, some years in the Naval Reserve, one commercial company, and eight years as a mayor. That's it. It's a basic eight-line resume.
The thing is....people in Iowa like this kind of stuff. So 'Mayor-Pete' could roll into Iowa....shock Bernie and Joe, and suddenly get some 'lift'.
The claim to being the first gay President? Well....no. James Buchanan comes up, and probably qualifies along that line.
If 'Mayor-Pete' had another dozen years, to be a state governor, and a Cabinet Secretary? I think it'd help. If you were looking for someone with a shorter resume than Bernie, then 'Mayor-Pete' is the guy.
Monday, 22 April 2019
Warren's Save America Fund
This Senator Warren plan on student loan debt?
Well, here's the simplicity of the deal. As long as you make under $100,000 (even if unemployed today)....her deal would cancel out $50,000 of the debt. If you had $120,000 at age 22? Well....it'd only resolve part of your issue....you'd still owe $70k.
Amount that it'd add up to? Well....she says $640 billion. I have my doubts and an audit might suggest it closer to $1-trillion.
Where would the $640 billion come from? Taxes. So you folks who never went to college, or made it debt-free through college? Well....you'd pay for the debt folks.
The more that this gets brought up.....the more frustrated non-debt folks would get over this free deal. If this were me, and I were debt free....even at age 60...I'd do the paperwork for college loan, borrow the money, and blow it on Vegas gambling, a around-the-world cruise, or an RV camper.
Well, here's the simplicity of the deal. As long as you make under $100,000 (even if unemployed today)....her deal would cancel out $50,000 of the debt. If you had $120,000 at age 22? Well....it'd only resolve part of your issue....you'd still owe $70k.
Amount that it'd add up to? Well....she says $640 billion. I have my doubts and an audit might suggest it closer to $1-trillion.
Where would the $640 billion come from? Taxes. So you folks who never went to college, or made it debt-free through college? Well....you'd pay for the debt folks.
The more that this gets brought up.....the more frustrated non-debt folks would get over this free deal. If this were me, and I were debt free....even at age 60...I'd do the paperwork for college loan, borrow the money, and blow it on Vegas gambling, a around-the-world cruise, or an RV camper.
Debt Chatter
I sat and watched a YouTube video documentary over the weekend entitled 'What Killed The American Middle Class'.
It's a 30-minute piece which is kinda curious and interesting.
Basically, they lay out this downfall of the American middle-class, and the economic woes that they've suffered through.
Some folks have had to declare bankruptcy. Some have gone to two jobs. Some have gone to depression stages.
At the end of this....I sat there and did a fair amount of pondering.
What happened, if you didn't really notice the past three decades....people were building mountains of debt...either because of bad decisions on home-purchases, or via credit cards, or buying cars beyond their lifestyle, or via college loans. That meant that they were gradually going paycheck to paycheck, and that only increased in the past decade. The people who avoided the debt-bomb....have survived, and are doing quite well. It's not capitalism that bankrupted these people....it's the failure to recognize the problem of debt and how much you can legitimately carry on your back.
I worked with a guy in DC, whose combined household income (him and his wife) was near $200,000. Both nearing 45 years old....had mountains of debt. They'd bought a half-million-dollar house. They'd bought high-cost cars (one a BMW and the other a Infiniti). One still owed $20k on college debt. I never asked about credit cards, but I'd assume that they had that issue existing as well. Luckily, no kids. But the guy admitted....they were reaching a stage where debt was consuming one-third of their total income (on top of taxes, social security, etc).
I give some credit to the documentary folks for the style and quality of the video, but the truth of the matter is that the middle-class folks who missed the 'debt-bomb', are doing very well, and still enjoying life. The other folks? They screwed up, and just never got that lesson on spending and saving.
It's a 30-minute piece which is kinda curious and interesting.
Basically, they lay out this downfall of the American middle-class, and the economic woes that they've suffered through.
Some folks have had to declare bankruptcy. Some have gone to two jobs. Some have gone to depression stages.
At the end of this....I sat there and did a fair amount of pondering.
What happened, if you didn't really notice the past three decades....people were building mountains of debt...either because of bad decisions on home-purchases, or via credit cards, or buying cars beyond their lifestyle, or via college loans. That meant that they were gradually going paycheck to paycheck, and that only increased in the past decade. The people who avoided the debt-bomb....have survived, and are doing quite well. It's not capitalism that bankrupted these people....it's the failure to recognize the problem of debt and how much you can legitimately carry on your back.
I worked with a guy in DC, whose combined household income (him and his wife) was near $200,000. Both nearing 45 years old....had mountains of debt. They'd bought a half-million-dollar house. They'd bought high-cost cars (one a BMW and the other a Infiniti). One still owed $20k on college debt. I never asked about credit cards, but I'd assume that they had that issue existing as well. Luckily, no kids. But the guy admitted....they were reaching a stage where debt was consuming one-third of their total income (on top of taxes, social security, etc).
I give some credit to the documentary folks for the style and quality of the video, but the truth of the matter is that the middle-class folks who missed the 'debt-bomb', are doing very well, and still enjoying life. The other folks? They screwed up, and just never got that lesson on spending and saving.
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