A Undefined Problem

 

I read over this about an hour ago, and it's been on my mind.

The general problem here is the zero-business.  The minute you bring up zero in any math  problem...it's a trick situation.

In this case....zero is undefined.  If you had one cow, and you attempted to divide the cow by zero....there is still just one cow standing there.

You can use apples, peanuts, wasps, chunky whore-like ladies, a bull, a can of beer, and even a dead possum.  You still have one standing there.

What would bother me with the story?  You have a teacher with a problem, and a principal with a problem.  In this scenario....the kid can't remain in the public school....he or she has to leave.  

A What-If Story

 Lets say that you went out and bought a grocery (maybe a Whole Foods....maybe a Piggly Wiggly).  In the first five years.....you had a general profit of around $250,000 a year....after balancing the books and paying your taxes.  Then along came Covid, some changes in law, and you noted that weekly theft numbers went up.  

You had theft insurance but upon discussing the matter with the insurance folks....you came to realize that one single submission for one single month....would trigger a 75-percent increase in the yearly cost of insurance.  So you avoid triggering the insurance rate increase.

What you do?  Well....you go into the system and add 2-percent onto the cost of all products sold.  In the beginning...it's  not a big deal.

About a year into increased theft.....you notice that the weekly rate has doubled.

So you go in and rig up a 7-percent increase in the cost of groceries.

You go and add cameras. You add 7 security guys (adding more expense, so you trigger another 7-percent increase on goods).

More measures are taken.....you add another 1-percent to 3-percent onto the cost.

Then one day, you notice some person claiming intellect and wit....running for president....has said price-controls have to occur.  You add up the woes, weekly pressure, and increasing theft....wondering....how quick could I sell this 'load-of-crap'  grocery before price-controls arrive and destroy my model.

Your nephew 'Micky' comes up....business graduate of some stage university.   He wants to give you advice on how to properly run a grocery.  You eyeball his words....knowing that he has zero insider knowledge on how things work in today's world.  

What happens after November's election?

One of two things....you either keep running a theft-prone business with a ever-increasing pricing scheme, or you fold up because some idiots with no understanding will price-control you out-of-business.  

In the real world.....you opt for a 3rd option....making it a private operation that you can  only enter if you pay for a membership (with a active credit-card).....and agree to a full-up frisk at the end of the shopping experience....promising one-third off from what other groceries are offering.

What's This Election Really About?

 Well....it goes to the 2020 results....where Joe Biden got 81.3 million votes, and Donald Trump got 74.2 million votes. Can such a numbers game be reaccomplished...by Kam and Donald?

In this talk....I'll also point out via third-party activity....they took around 1.8 million votes.

The odd factor?  Combined with the three....there are around 157 million votes.  In the 2016 election...how many voted?  137 million.  Yeah.....there's an odd upswing.  Typically....every four years, you can figure there is a bump-up of five to seven percent.  It's about twice the normal bump-up.

People having left the Trump vote since 2020?  People claim this....but there's  no solid proof.

Switching out from Biden to Harris improving the numbers?  I would suggest that the economic program, current economic woes, migration/immigration problems, and the socialism chatter...are making her campaign less likely to achieve 81 million votes.  

Clean-up of the voting listings?  Well....that adds to lesser votes in general.

All of this chatter affecting the Senate races? That's now an issue as well.  I'd say Ohio, Montana, Nevada, and West Virginia will flip from Democrat to Republican....if the Trump vote stays near or more than 2020.  Arizona in the mix?  Based on polling, I'd say it's 50-50.

I just don't see 157 million votes being achieved in 2024.  A humble guess....at least 10 million votes will disappear, and people will ask....what happened?

Just Seven Observations

 1.  When you go back and look at 'crowds' gathering for Biden campaign stops....there weren't that many people.  

Same trend  holding up for Harris 'crowds' (except that one in Vegas).  But there's various indicators to say that some were 'hired' (meaning.....paid to show).

Selling her extreme version of socialism is tough.

2.  I'll just say it....I think at least three states will have a serious problem in counting and certifying their vote....that they will fail to send Electoral College voters to the mid-December event.  

This will in turn....create a massive lawsuit (into the billions for each state).  

Some discussion in the spring of 2025 will occur over this failure,  and the necessity to punish states in the future if they are unable to carry out their chief function.  

3.  What is this 'Kammunism' stuff?

Some kind of friendly socialism that seems to sell a nifty brand of Venezuela-like that 'might' work in the US.  

4.  If some guy has been talking for three minutes about a topic, and clearly to you....nothing really fits or makes sense...you might want to hit 'mute'.

5.  In case you failed to really watch all the Batman movies....his name comes from the fact that he has a fear of bats.  

6.  Just walking around each day....I have to admit I am now constantly assessing people's IQ levels, and it's now become an obsession. 

7.  Assembling all the war data with the Ukraine and Russia.....I'd say that presently....there will not be a winner in this episode....both lose two decades of economic growth. 

My Observations Over This Price Controls Promise By VP Harris

 1.  Well.....so in the statement, there is no end-point in the Harris plan....it'd just go on and on.

2.  A lot of people have noticed price controls were the way that Venezuela collapsed into crap.

3. Draw a circle within 20  miles....today, you probably have 20 grocery operations (if you are the average American). 

In 2 years, inventory the situation.....at least five to seven grocery units will have closed. Profit is likely to be cited.

4.  Would Costco get some kind of exemption because they aren't a regular grocery?

5. Will this only cover certain products?

6.  Who is the figure running the price controls?

7.  If price controls over groceries are effective....why not price controls over baseball tickets, airline trips, gas, electricity, hardware, whiskey/beer, and even income taxes?

The more I think about price controls....the less I trust the government to effectively run the program.

Capitalism

 I saw this graphic today, and it's been on my mind for a while.

Once about every decade, one will  hear about some guy or gal who escaped off to Cuba or North Korea....or hear some passionate talk how a guy spent six months in Venezuela.

Typically, when you hear some person get all weepy-eyed over the way things are in the US or Europe....they go off the grid....trying to live out in the boonies or in some cabin in Tennessee.  

In their heart, capitalism was the evil-of-evils.

What you tend to notice....these folks dump radio and TV....halt  reading except for Mother Jones material, and isolate themselves from 99-percent of society (talking  briefly to the mail-man).  

The trouble  with this mentality is that you WANT to believe in capitalism being evil and that controls/price-caps can be pushed down.  For example....a regular plain pencil should only be three cents under price-caps....even if it costs five cents to manufacture.  

The $5 shirt price-cap....well....if it costs $5.50 to manufacture....you probably won't make that many.

I bring all of this up because tomorrow....there's supposed to be VP Harris presentation where she insists that inflation will finally come under control when she's President, because there WILL BE price-caps.  Grocery stores will be limited on what they can charge.

How things will work?  In a price-cap world....if it cost $4 to manufacture a box of Cornflakes...with 10-cents to transport it....the typical grocery store sold it (with sales tax) for around $5.00.  Under the cap business....Harris could say the box can't be sold for more than $4.75.  The grocery, the truck-folks, and the maker of the Cornflakes will have a talk and probably cut back production/sales by 50-percent. 

If you weren't happy about this?  Well....you'd escape to Mexico and buy your groceries there....feeling happy about them having your product in full production. 

It is a crazy world we live in, and have to share space with other crazy folks.

The Adventure Game

 I often review the parody 'paper'....the Babylon Bee.  So the newest fake story listed? "Study Finds 100% Of Men Would Immediately Leave Their Desk Job If Asked To Embark Upon A Trans-Antarctic Expedition On A Big Wooden Ship."

The thing about this fake story....it's probably 98-percent true...in that you could engage with 100 guys (over the age of 18), and if you said we could haul up and leave on a wooden ship adventure....most all of us would sign up.

With women?  Fewer than 3-percent (my guess) would sign up for such an adventure.

Element of danger? Oh yeah.

Element of marginal planning?  Yep.

Element of severe consequences?  Yes.

It says a lot about how society has not really advanced in the past hundred years.