Drawing Lines Chatter

 I spent about 90 minutes today reviewing the Supreme Court action from yesterday.  It's centered around building House districts....as much as possible for blacks.  The idea by a number of states....stop pretending this is a big deal, and just plain boundary lines.

Yeah, if they (the court) agrees, then various southern states will flip 20 House seats over....to the 'evil' Republicans.

I paused over this...wondering....instead of drawing lines for blacks....why not draw lines for trans-whatever folks, or gays, or lesbians?

I further paused, and wondered....why not draw lines by beer/booze  consumption....to ensure the boozers are represented?

Then I wondered about the dimwits.....shouldn't have a district or two for just low-IQ people  (85 or less)?

Around my 3rd cup of coffee....I wondered about the demon-possessed people....maybe they should have a district.

I finally started to wonder....these 20 Democrat House folks....what will they do with their lives....if not in DC? 

States in Recession?

I asked AI (Grok) what US states are in recession and the primary reason for each state.

1.  Connecticut: Tariff issues and enforcement of immigration (affects manufacturing and related industries). 

2. Delaware: Same reason as Conn.

3.  District of Columbia: fed-layoffs, funding cuts across the city, ongoing  gov't shutdown, high unemployment (6-plus percent), and business decline in general. 

4. Georgia: Over-reliance on manufacturing, agriculture, transportation (including a major port), and distribution, hit hard by tariffs and immigration enforcement.  I should add...a very weakened Atlanta economy due to reduced population inflows and softening housing market. 

5.  Illinois: Large manufacturing sector affected by increased tariffs and slowed immigration. 

6.  Iowa: Agriculture sector spiraling due to the trade war from tariffs. 

7.  Kansas: High exposure to agriculture, impacted by tariffs and immigration-worker problems. 

8.  Maine: Impacts from increased tariffs and slowed immigration affecting industries like manufacturing and agriculture. 

9.  Maryland: Fed layoffs hurt....funding cuts, and the gov't shutdown is damaging the economy.  

10.  Massachusetts:  Impacts from increased tariffs and slowed immigration affecting manufacturing and related sectors. 

11.  Minnesota: state reliance on manufacturing, agriculture, and related industries hit by tariffs and immigration enforcement.  

12.  Mississippi: Agriculture and manufacturing sectors affected by tariffs and immigration enforcement. 

13.  Montana: Mining and agriculture industries impacted by tariffs and immigration enforcement.  

14.  New Hampshire:  Impacts from increased tariffs and immigration enforcement. 

15.  New Jersey: Impacts from increased tariffs and immigration enforcement affecting manufacturing, transportation, and distribution. 

16.  Oregon: Large manufacturing industry hit by increased tariffs. I might also lay into Portland tourism taking a massive hit, with several dozen Portland businesses saying 'enough'...leaving.

17.  Rhode Island: Impacts from increased tariffs and immigration enforcement affecting manufacturing and related sectors. 

18.  South Dakota: High exposure to agriculture, impacted by tariffs. 

19.  Virginia: Hurt by federal layoffs, funding cuts, and government shutdown in nearby D.C. 

20.  Washington: Manufacturing and trade-related sectors affected by tariffs and immigration enforcement.  

21.  West Virginia: Mining and energy sectors hit by policy impacts including tariffs and enforcement of immigration. 

22. Wyoming: Mining and energy industries affected by tariffs and enforcement of immigration. 

So, let me  state the obvious here over four key things.  First, most of these states were banging away from 1990 to present, with illegal labor....showing remarkable profit, while pretending they were legit.  Second, a lot of these states used illegal labor for farm work (chicken-houses, etc), and paid crap wages with no benefits.  Third, California should have been on the list, but avoided it.  Finally, in remote regions (rural areas)....they need to hustle up manpower that doesn't exist, and I doubt that most realize the mess confronting them currently.

Q-and-A

 1.  Has the Trans-BS and non-binary stuff peaked?

This week, I've read through five or six articles...all indicating that at some point in early-to-mid 2024.....peak was achieved, and the numbers are dropping in a significant fashion.

Trend or fad situation?  Yeah....it appears not to be 'cool' or trendy at this point.

I might go and suggest some clinics/hospitals are worried about their positions/profit....if  they end up in one single court-case over assault/murder as 'helping' to  make the situation occur.

2.  Do white Democratic voters stand up and vote for black Democratic candidates?

This came up at the Supreme Court yesterday, with one Justice saying 'no'.  I just sat there and thought....well....if you were voting for someone who seemed half-witted, then 'no'....you probably wouldn't vote for the black candidate. Harris would be an example of that problem.

3.  This NO-KINGs BS?

It's like a bigfoot club.....as long as you believe in bigfoot...it makes sense.  The minute reality hits you, the club is finished.

4.  Trying to make sense out of the America I grew up in....1970s?

Best description is that it evolved into a episode of the Twilight Zone....without commercial breaks.  Around the clock....24 hours a day....Zone-action.

Two Predictions

1.  The vast majority of residents still alive in the Gaza Strip....probably have a reason to exit and go elsewhere....seeing Hamas as a bigger problem than the Israeli gov't.

So I predict....within 12 to 18 months....most (say 75-percent) of the population is gone, and remaining folks see no future.

What happens in Gaza?  Within four years.....it's a tourist destination....like Beirut,  Dubai or Bahrain.  A major airport....hotels, beaches.

Hamas will eventually dissolve away because Iran can't fund their operation (because of the water problems in Tehran).

2.  Pacific Palisades rebuild and utter destruction?

So....the local gov't will make it near impossible to rebuild.  As this happens.....Chinese investors will sweep in and buy property....thinking they can get 'pay-back'.

What'll happen here....without Mexican labor...the Chinese may hold building permits but Trump's crew will make it impossible to get anything done.

Meanwhile....the state, city and county will be missing tens of billions from property taxation....which the Chinese will wake up and realize they can't afford yearly property tax bills...while waiting on workers to build the property.

I predict a county collapse by 2030.

Numbers

 I was reading through statistical BS this weekend.  

In terms of 'holding' mental ill folks....our  peak year was 1955, with 559,000 in a closed-off facility. 

Today?  The number held in a closed-off  facility?  Around 35,000.

I asked Grok (the AI) from state and federal prisons....how many in prison have some element of mental illness?  Answer: 558,000 roughly.  

Q-and-A

 1.  My humble thought on Bitcoin?

Look, there's no logical reason to explain one Bitcoin is worth $120k, or $110k, or even $1.  You can't base value off the stupid coin.

2.  Is there one single California 'leader' that I'd recommend?

No.  It's like some mental hospital were holding 10,000 folks, and released them....then thirty years later....they were all holding mayor or governor jobs.

3.   Letitia James and what happens to her?

Some settlement with the judge....pays a $100k fine....cleans up the paperwork mess (probably requiring $500k), and avoids any jail. Judge will call it a misdemeanor.  

4. The BS with the NO-KINGS event on 18 Oct?

If you really need it....fine.  But I'm wondering....maybe we should start a NO-IDIOTs or NO-DIMWITs or NO-LOW-IQs event as well.

5.  The fact that 40-percent of Gaza Strip residents are married to their cousins?

Yeah, this fact probably shapes about half of the mess going on there.

Portland

 In 1980, I got assigned to the Air Force base in Tacoma, WA (14 months).   So on one of those weekends, I decided to check out Portland, OR (roughly 2.5 hours away).

The best description of Portland in 1980?  It  was a working-class town....built on logging, shipping, and manufacturing.  Almost 400k in population.  It had a unique 'brand'.....rough characters, artists, blue-collar wage-earners. The city was probably on it's third revitalization of the century.

Walking around for eight hours on a Saturday, and five or six on Sunday....I came away with this odd feeling.  The city had lumberjack characters, hippies, intellectuals, and some abundance of something called 'forward-thinking' (I  must have heard or read the expression ten times over the weekend).

About three years after this trip....I noted that someone in Portland had started the expression....'keep Portland weird', and they'd made bumper-stickers for the slogan.

For a number of years after the trip....I had this idea of returning and just settling down there.   The climate....the characters....and job-potential were plus-ups for me.

Portland today?   Over the past 50 years, the city has faced escalating challenges leading to perceptions of "decay".   

It's evident in downtown store-front vacancies, homelessness camps, open drug use, and business exodus. This isn't a straight-line collapse but a story of early successes breeding unintended consequences.  Policy choices by the mayor and city council....created ripples of economic shocks, and social crises.

Somewhere in the 1990s.....job growth stopped, with exodus-migration starting up. 

The city Wal-Mart?  It closed two years ago....mostly over shop-lifting.

The past five years?  Decriminalized small drug possession was staged by city leaders.....redirecting funds to treatment of junkies. Fentanyl became a major problem.

Drug overdose deaths per year?  Count-wise....the suggestion is that it's up to near 700.

It is a epic saga in some ways....a city that had a five-star 'brand', and managed to bring it down to one-star.