Ghost Reparations Story

Back in the 1970s of Zimbabwe....the nation was falling apart in a civil war.  So some promises were made to various military groups revolving around land reform.  The war ended in 1979, and in the 1980s....Robert Mugabe acted upon his land deal.  

What he basically did....involved a massive agricultural enterprise that had been developed over a hundred years, which not only fed Zimbabwa with no problems.....but profits from the crop sector came from various neighboring countries.  

When the smoke cleared by the 1990s....most all farms in Zimbabewa had flipped from white owned operations (large in nature) to small farms (all black owned in nature).

So a 2,000 acre farm would be broken up into 1k small farms.  The production level of the nation when to a level where they couldn't even farm enough....to feed their own country.....so they were importing from other countries.  

Paying the white owners for the land or the equipment lost?  No....nothing.  

Around a decade ago, Zimbabwe started to admit this issue was screwed up.  They'd screwed up the whole financial apparatus that supported a vast part of the revenue plan for the country.

This past week, they wrote up a plan to create a 3.5-billion dollar effort....to pay the white farmers for the improvements made to the land.   Some of the owners have been gone for 30-plus years.  

Where the money will come from?  Unknown.  

Most speculate that there might be 10 to 20 million dollars a year put toward the plan each year, and some showing of effort, but beyond that....it's really a 'ghost reparation'.  It's simply meant to show something.  

Bringing the white farmers back?  No....zero intention to accomplish that.  It's just a PR thing and supposed to show that a mistake was made.  

Corona Worry Story

I watched (clip-wise) about 15 minutes of the John Lewis funeral.....which was held in his home state of Georgia.

So, what's interesting here, dozens of Congressional folks were there, with at least a hundred-odd journalists who are based out of Washington.

If you follow DC 'bans'....there's a list of states which require you.....upon returning to DC....to sit in a mandatory home quarantine for two weeks.  

Yes, Georgia is on that list. 

The list creator?  Mayor Bowser of DC.

The odds that some 'second-wave' starts up from this funeral?  It wouldn't surprise me.  But the hypocritical attitude here.....rules are for little people....not for us?  It just stands out.  

Just Observations

1.  The CDC says (you can't doubt them): School age kids with the Coronavirus have a one in a million risk of dying.  The same kids, with regular flu, have a 5 to 10 times higher risk of dying.

I know....it begs questions, but you just need to accept that fact.

Oh, and by the way....the same CDC says that for teenagers.....it's a better chance you will die via suicide or drugs, than by Covid-19.

2.  Who actually called the police in Minneapolis on George Floyd, with the counterfeit $20 bill issue?  Originally, people thought the store owner called....but no, this was a teenage employee of the store, who noted that store protocol was to report such incidents.  The owner, after the death and riots....said that he would have NEVER called the police on the counterfeit $20 bill.

Some parts of the story never make sense, and it's better not to get to attached to the truth.

3.  The speed on which the Portland riot folks will cease their operation?  On 19 August, the Oregon public school system will re-open, and the bulk of riot folks who do hold jobs....MUST return to work.  My humble guess is that 30 to 50 percent of the protest folks will disappear at that point.

4. I had to sit and watch some Bill Gates commentary today that waiting 48 hours for Covid-19 test results was ridiculous.

If you walk around Europe, you can get the 6-to-8 hour test result deal done for around $250.  The 12 to 24 hour test?  In the $130 range. 

5.  Number of registered Republican voters in Nevada? Around 530k.  Number of Democratic voters in Nevada?  Around 624k.  All others? 460k roughly.  Totally different kind of race in 2020, without McMuffin.  The odds are heavily in favor of Nevada going from the Hillary column to the Trump column in 2020.

If Harris is the VP Choice?

I'm mostly shaking my head.  There's probably five individuals I would have easily gone to instead of Harris, and probably gotten better 'traction' for the vote.  Since April, I figured that Warren or Bloomberg would be VP.  At a long-shot....I would have even put Mayor Pete into the situation.

But this was limited to the 'golden-rule'.....you had to be female and black.  Once you established that situation....you cut the potential down a great deal.

So the questions left?

Will there be a convention?  At this point, I'd say there might be forty people sent by the DNC, and some Twitter-type convention might occur.  I'd even go as far to suggest that Biden might hold a convention in his basement, with 12 DNC officials, Senator Harris, his wife, and local pizza kid.

For several months, I've suggested that Joe will reach a point after the convention, where he either has a heart-attack (fake) or says yeah....dementia is now a problem.  I still believe that may come, with Harris the one left to be the candidate in November.  If we get past 1 September, with Joe still there?  It'll really shock me.

As for Harris attracting voters?  She doesn't have the charisma, the charm, or the character.  If you wanted someone with less structure, and less potential than Hillary....then Harris is it. 

So I'm shaking my head.....this is an arranged poker hand to marginally run against Trump. 

Barr and the 'Circus'

I put between 90 and 120 minutes into watching the House hearing from yesterday, with AG Barr.  I came away with five observations:

1.  In the old days, prior to the internet, C$PAN would have covered this but you needed cable or satellite connectivity.  At the very most, maybe 300k Americans would have watched the hearing. 

Today?  Via at least ten different internet platforms, C$PAN, Fox Business, etc.....there were probably 10-million who watched elements of the hearing live, and probably another 10-plus million who watched clips later. 

A lot of people....independent-type voters, probably sat there and kept asking themselves where the drama was, and just viewed the whole thing as a 'circus-like' operation with 12-year-old kids trying to act like adults. 

2.  This exchange with Rep Hakeem Jeffries, where Jeffries wanted to play the fantasy game that Trump wouldn't leave office if the election went to Biden....was 5-star comical. 

3.  Once Barr laid down the card of the Republicans being the only ones against violence and destruction in the metropolitan cities....it really scorched the whole Democratic accomplishments of the Hearing.  It begs the question....is this a Democratic Party agenda item?

4.  Ineffective hearing?  In terms of bringing down Barr, or really damaging Trump?  It was barely felt.  The suggestion that Jerry Nadler can't lead a heavy-type critical Hearing?  Here's the thing, you go around the 24 Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee, and there's no one in the group who'd you grant five-status as a lawyer.  Most of them haven't stepped into a courtroom in twenty years. 

5.  It just wasn't much of a drama, with 'point of order' and 'reclaim time' being uttered on a constant basis.  It would help if the entire committee was made up of nine people total, and just end the 'drama' at the 2-hour point. 

Experts of What?

In the past two months, it's painfully obvious that Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube have a medical advice policy.

Most of us could understand an 'insult' policy or a various policies to ensure the calm nature of people.  But a medical advice policy?  Who sits on this board for each?

It'd be like some Alaskan lumberjack having a policy on handling of alligators, or some NY subway management team having a policy on the hauling of cattle on subway cars. 

So the question ought to resonate there.....why have a medical advice policy?

Portland Story

I noticed in the news this morning....Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and City Council Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty chatted up that they want a meeting Department of Homeland Security 'chief' Chad Wolf immediately.  Topic?  How to get federal law enforcement officers from the city of Portland gone. 

First, will Wolf even respond.  My guess is 'no'.  Around about Friday....the Wheeler/Hardesty team will ask the Governor for 'help'.  He'll pick up the phone and attempt to call Wolf....to find that other than a five-minute chat with Wolf, there's zero interest in Wolf's mind to meet with the Portland leadership.

So then you go to the big dynamic of this discussion.....does the mayor or city council chief have any control over their riot-squad?  The answer?  No.

Then you start to speculate....if Wheeler and Hardesty don't control anything, why bother even inviting Wolf to a meeting?  Wolf's likely response would be that every single protester has to settle down and peace has to be seen for ten  days straight before any federal law folks leave town. Wheeler and Hardesty can't deliver that.

The whole discussion here?  I think the town revenue collection folks have added up the numbers and indicate that hotels are empty, bars and restaurants in the downtown area are conducting virtually no business, and there's this fear that chaos will reign on for another 100 days (until the election).  For Wheeler and Hardesty....that's a dismal future to gaze upon.

The city budget for next year?  Around a month ago, the council passed the next budget....5.6-billion dollars.  Getting to that,with Covid-19 and the riots?  Physically impossible.  You would have to revisit property taxes and fees for the city.

My guess is that the budget folks have visited Wheeler and Hardesty....giving them a view of a budget shortfall occurring before the end of 2020.

In simple terms, if Wheeler and Hardesty fail to get the riot/chaos resolved, a massive problem in budget cuts will come by early 2021.  Homeland Security has sat now at the poker table, and concluded the way to play this game....be the magnet to attract BLM/Antifa, and just keep them busy on the streets of Portland.  This will bankrupt the city, unless it dissolves the mess.