by Owen | 0708, 6 Sep 2424 | Politics | 2 Comments
This is a good, succinct, description of the current state of the presidential race.
With days until early voting begins, and two months before a victor is declared, this remains Donald Trump‘s race to lose.
Simply put, Americans prefer strength over weakness and commonsense fairness over wokeness.
It’s also a hard fact that Trump can cite more accomplishments from a successful first term than Harris, who despite her regret and reset, represents four more years of the present chaos and crisis.
by Owen | 2027, 5 Sep 2424 | Crime, Politics | 3 Comments
The fraud was massive and undeniable. The question is what did Walz know and when did he know it?
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was subpoenaed by the House Education Committee on Wednesday as part of the GOP lawmakers’ latest investigation into the Democratic presidential ticket, probing into an issue that has long been Walz’s kryptonite: child nutrition programs.
[…]
A Minnesota-based nonprofit, Feeding Our Future, is accused of misusing $250 million of taxpayer dollars from a COVID-19 relief fund intended to feed children in need.
Walz has not shied away from addressing the largest pandemic relief fraud in the nation, which happened right under his nose.
At a press conference in August, before being picked by Harris, Walz addressed his administration’s lack of fraud prevention and a scathing legislative audit that called the MDE’s oversight “inadequate.”
“I think what you’re seeing is if you commit fraud in Minnesota, you are going to be caught as you are going to go to prison,” Walz said. He pointed to administrative changes and safeguards to prevent future fraud, such as implementing an inspector general for the MDE.
The federal government charged over 70 defendants, five of whom have been convicted of fraud, while the rest await trial.
Feeding our Future benefited from the child nutrition program designed to aid hungry children during the pandemic, as schools and care facilities were shut down. Prosecutors allege Feeding our Future submitted fake names of children to the Department of Education to receive funds.
Walz and the other officials subpoenaed have until Sept. 18 to release the documents requested.
by Owen | 2021, 5 Sep 2424 | Foreign Affairs, Politics | 0 Comments
Frankly, I think he’s telling the truth.
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) – Russia wants Kamala Harris to win the U.S. presidential election, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday in a teasing comment that cited her “infectious” laugh as a reason to prefer her over Donald Trump.
Putin made the ironic remark a day after the U.S. Justice Department charged two Russian media executives over an alleged illegal scheme to influence the November election with pro-Russian propaganda.
Before President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, Putin had said earlier this year – in another comment widely seen as not to be taken at face value – that he preferred Biden over Trump because the former was a more predictable “old school” politician.
U.S. intelligence agencies believe Moscow actually wants Trump to win because he is less committed to supporting Ukraine in the war against Russia.
I would remind the gentle reader that the entire intelligence community united behind the lie of Russian collusion. I don’t believe a word they say. Putin, while also a liar, makes a good case for why Russia would support Harris. She is a fellow Marxist, stupid, and easily manipulated. If I were Putin, I would much prefer Harris as an adversary than the unpredictable, irascible, pro-American Capitalist, Trump.
by Owen | 0809, 4 Sep 2424 | Politics | 3 Comments
Wow… are they reaching, or what? Is there any town in America that couldn’t be said to have a racist past or racist present? Heck, Milwaukee is one of the most racist cities I’ve ever experienced.
During a campaign stop at the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office in Howell, Michigan, Donald Trump suggested that deputies there should be deployed to the majority-Black city of Detroit.
“I’d love to have them working there during the election,” he told the group on August 20, standing in front of law enforcement officials and squad cars.
A week later, Trump held a “town hall” in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The next day, he rallied in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He will speak in the town of Mosinee, Wisconsin, on September 7.
These relatively small cities — spread across midwestern swing states and far from dense metropolitan areas — all have one thing in common: They are former “sundown” towns, where threats of Jim Crow-era violence enforced racial segregation.
Or, hear me out, Trump chooses communities that have a nearby airport and are full of Trump supporters. But that’s what the reporter here is actually saying, isn’t it? You rural rubes who don’t live in big cities and support Trump are all racists, aren’t you? That’s how the media and the Left (but I repeat myself) sees you.
by Owen | 0759, 4 Sep 2424 | Foreign Affairs | 0 Comments
We are losing the world through weak leadership.
With pomp and splendour, China has welcomed more than 50 Africans leaders to Beijing this week for a summit to strengthen ties at a time of increasing political and economic turmoil around the world.
“It appeals to their vanities,” Macharia Munene, a Kenya-based professor of international relations tells the BBC, referring to the red carpet welcome – spiced up with entertainment by dancers in colourful costumes – that the leaders received.
The optics were carefully choreographed to make the leaders feel that it is a meeting of equals.
Many of them – including South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and Kenya’s William Ruto – held one-to-one meetings with their Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and were given tours of Beijing and other cities at the heart of China’s development ahead of the summit.
As Prof Munene puts it, China’s aim is to show African leaders that “we are in the same boat, we are all victims of Western imperialism”.
by Owen | 1903, 3 Sep 2424 | Politics | 2 Comments
Now, with Trump proposing the relocation of up to 100,000 federal jobs from Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia under his Agenda 47 plan, concerns about being abruptly moved are again troubling federal workers. The Republican’s proposals stir anxiety in the midst of an unusually competitive U.S. Senate race in heavily Democratic Maryland that could determine control of the Senate, with even the Republican candidate calling the plans “crazy.” The proposals also could hinder Trump’s chances to win Virginia, a state he lost in 2016 and 2020, where a U.S. Senate seat widely seen as safely Democratic is also on the ballot.
“It’s causing a lot of anxiety, a lot of discomfort within the workforce, as you are faced with these strong, negative, anti-federal worker stances and this uncertainty of what might happen to your job, your home and your livelihood,” said Dodson, who is acting vice president of American Federation of Government Employees local 3403, which represents the USDA’s Economic Research Service.
[…]
Businesses that provide services to the thousands of federal workers fear the ripple-effect threat of the proposed changes. At Census Auto Repair & Sales, for example, across the street from the U.S. Census Bureau’s headquarters in Suitland, Maryland, service manager Tay Gibson says his shop would feel the impact directly.
“I would hate to see the federal workers leave,” Gibson said. “That would be business leaving as well, and that would affect small businesses like myself.”
Every community sends vast sums of cash to Washington D.C. to support the federal government. It would be good for America to see those dollars spread around the country instead of being hoarded around D.C.
by Owen | 0757, 3 Sep 2424 | Politics | 2 Comments
I read somewhere on X a while back that the inability of people to think through the secondary and tertiary impact of decisions is destroying us. I’ve thought a lot about that since.
Let’s take taxing unrealized gains. Setting aside, for a moment, the fact that the government is already too big and a tax like this is utterly unfair, let’s think through a couple of the possible – even likely – secondary and tertiary impacts if we did it.
Let’s say that I own a stock that goes up 20% in a year. Great! When the tax man comes for the tax on the “gains,” I don’t have the cash. What do I do? I sell some of the stock to raise the cash to pay the tax. The result is that the stock in which I’m invested declines (more shares for sale = lower stock price). The aggregate impact is to depress the equity market.
Furthermore, I am no longer a long-term investor. My horizon can no longer be more than a year, because then I need to get my cash out to pay taxes. So businesses make decisions based on that time horizon. The end of the year becomes a dynamic time of layoffs and juicing numbers to pay the first wave of investors and attract next year’s investors. Long term projects and employment become less attractive to investors.
If I’m a sole proprietor and I experience an increase in the theoretical valuation of my company (“theoretical” because valuation estimates are always a guess until there is a willing buyer and a willing seller), then I might need to sell off part of the company, lay off employees, and restrict investing in more growth because I need to pay the tax man. Again, the negative impact of these decisions is felt by employees and consumers.
All of this is assuming that such a tax does not bleed down to the middle-class, which it will. Taxes always expand once they are allowed to take root. In fact, we already have a tax on unrealized gains – the property tax. As some local bureaucrat tells you what he/she thinks your house is worth, you have to pay the tax on that valuation. The result is one of the most regressive taxes we have. Little old ladies on Social Security and disabled war veterans are losing their homes because those houses because they can’t afford the property taxes. They can’t afford those property taxes because the taxes are indexed to something that isn’t actually money that the owner can spend. This is why consumption taxes or income taxes work.
The impact of taxing unrealized gains is not going to be “soak the rich.” The rich will be fine. They have the ability to move money and make rational decisions to increase and preserve their wealth. The impact will be on the middle and lower classes who can’t afford the largesse of politicians.
by Owen | 0811, 2 Sep 2424 | Culture, Politics | 0 Comments
In this story, herein lies the cause of California’s pervasive homelessness problem.
“We can’t simply wave a magic wand and make encampments disappear. We also have to offer people a place to go,” San Jose’s Democratic Mayor Matt Mahan said. “My fear with the [Supreme Court] decision and the governor’s executive order is we could create a race to the bottom in which cities and counties focus their taxpayer dollars on simply shifting people to other jurisdictions.”
There are a few people who are homeless because of dire straits. A few more are homeless because of mental illness. The vast majority are homeless in California because they are drug addicts who choose to be homeless. They enjoy the transient, vagabond lifestyle that allows them to wallow through life in a drug-fueled haze.
Where these politicians fail is that they think that it is their responsibility to “offer people a place to go.” No, it isn’t. If you are an elected official, your responsibility is for the safety and well-being of your citizens, residents, and taxpayers. It is your responsibility to maintain a safe, clean, stable community for the benefit of the people living there. You don’t owe the homeless anything. There are a bevy of services, programs, and shelters available. They choose to eschew them because they prefer the homeless lifestyle.
Furthermore, it is not the duty or responsibility of the government to “offer people a place to go.” It the responsibility of those people to find a place to go. To work. To pay for housing. To pay for food. By easing the burdens of being homeless with free stuff, liberal politicians are not helping these people. They are making their lifestyle just comfortable enough for them to keep doing it. When being homeless becomes intolerable, then they will either get themselves together or they will end up in prison or dead. Hopefully they get themselves together. Either way, it is still ultimately their responsibility – not the responsibility of a community.
Were I a mayor (and this is probably one of the many reasons I am not a mayor), I would make it so uncomfortable to be homeless in my community that they move on to the next community. If enough communities do that and there is nowhere comfortable for them to be, then the homeless will start to fix the homeless problem.
by Owen | 0751, 2 Sep 2424 | Politics | 2 Comments
Wow. I can’t say it better than the families themselves.
Gold Star families did not invite President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to Arlington National Cemetery by last week to commemorate the third anniversary of the attack at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan, a White House official and a Harris aide told NBC News, rebutting separate claims made Sunday by GOP Sen. Tom Cotton and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
The two were speaking about former President Donald Trump’s visit last week to Arlington National Cemetery, where he has drawn criticism for posing for photos with Gold Star families in a section of the cemetery where photos are traditionally prohibited.
Last week, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Trump’s visit was a “personal invitation by families.”
[…]
In one video, Darin Hoover addresses Harris directly, saying Trump treated the family with the “utmost respect” and asking where she and Biden were on “Aug. 26, 2024.” He said they were “nowhere near Arlington Cemetery. You couldn’t be bothered to be with us or say our kids’ names.”
In a statement accompanying the Trump campaign videos Sunday, members of the Gold Star families said they were “appalled” by Harris’ attempts to “politicize” Trump’s visit to the cemetery.
“President Trump was invited by us, the Gold Star families, to attend the solemn ceremonies commemorating the three-year anniversary of our children’s deaths,” the statement said. “He was there to honor their sacrifice, yet Vice President Harris has disgracefully twisted this sacred moment into a political ploy.”
by Owen | 2047, 1 Sep 2424 | Politics | 0 Comments
Including an American. Meanwhile, Biden is on the beach, Harris is campaigning about “joy,” and Walz is ignoring questions about it. Our nation is being run my truly terrible people who don’t give a single crap about anyone unless it is to their political advantage.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said early Sunday that it had recovered the bodies of six hostages captured during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that ignited the Gaza war, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose parents had led a high-profile campaign for the captives’ release.
The military said the six were killed shortly before Israeli forces were to rescue them and that the bodies were found in a tunnel beneath the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The news sparked calls for mass protests by families of the hostages who said they could have been returned alive in a cease-fire deal.
Goldberg-Polin and four other hostages were taken from a music festival where Palestinian militants killed scores of people. The sixth was captured from a nearby farming community.
by Owen | 0756, 31 Aug 2424 | Crime, Foreign Affairs | 2 Comments
A U.S. Bureau of Prisons official said Cárdenas Guillén had been released from prison and was placed in the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That would normally suggest he would be deported back to Mexico.
A Mexican official who was not authorized to be quoted by name said Cárdenas Guillén faces two arrest warrants in Mexico, making it likely he would be detained upon arrival.
The former head of the Gulf cartel was known for his brutality. He created the most bloodthirsty gang of hitmen Mexico has ever known, the Zetas, which routinely slaughtered migrants and innocent people.
Cárdenas Guillén was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2010 and ordered to forfeit tens of millions of dollars. It was not clear why he did not serve his full sentence, but he had been extradited to the U.S. in January 2007.
by Owen | 0746, 31 Aug 2424 | Politics | 0 Comments
You don’t hate the media enough. This is a headline from the New York Times.
With Court Victories, Conservatives Push Back on Biden Policies
Another way to write that could have been: “Courts Stop Biden’s Illegal and Unconstitutional Actions.” Or, “Many of Biden’s Key Policies Found Unconstitutional by Courts.”
But no… they have to frame it as conservatives pushing back.
by Owen | 0831, 30 Aug 2424 | Politics | 4 Comments
The thing that strikes me about Kamala Harris’ CNN interview is not really the content. Sure, there were the usual word salads, incomprehensible answers, and outright lies. We expect that. What strikes me is that the media is making a big deal of it. Why? The are making a big deal of it because it’s the only one.
She is a candidate for the highest office in the land and has been on the ticket for about a month. If she were competent, forceful, and confident that her worldview is what the people want, she should be trying to talk to MORE people, not less. She should be doing two or three interviews a week, holding press conferences, chatting with reporters after events, pressing palms with actual citizens and talking to them, etc. The fact that after over a month on the campaign trail and the media is trying to decipher her positions from a half-ass 18-minute interview like some sort of ancient riddle is insane.
If she wants the job, she should be interviewing for it like every other candidate in the history of our country.
by Owen | 0818, 30 Aug 2424 | Politics - Wisconsin | 0 Comments
Out government has become just a giant grift, hasn’t it?
Baldwin co-owns a $1.3 million DC penthouse condo with her partner, Wall Street private wealth management adviser Maria Brisbane but hasn’t included any of their jointly owned assets on her financial-disclosure reports — despite reporting the assets of her previous partner. In fact, Brisbane has never appeared on the senator’s reports.
The 2015 Tammy Baldwin might have objected to this arrangement.
[…]
Brisbane is the founder of Brisbane Group, whose archived website from when it was at Merrill Lynch (archived at the end of 2023) claimed to “enhance performance” by investing in “small biotechnology” companies.
Brisbane previously managed a “biotechnology mutual fund” at Merrill Lynch, where she was said to have an appreciation for cutting-edge research that informs her current investments in biotech companies. Brisbane is also on the Cancer Research and Treatment Fund board of directors, who “rapidly deploy funding to the frontlines of research.”
[…]
Baldwin said she “met privately” with US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to “make a final pitch” for Wisconsin to win the Phase 2 Implementation Grant as a Biohealth Tech Hub.
The Wisconsin senator’s role in securing funding for biotech companies is no secret.
Baldwin also chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, which manages appropriations for the National Institutes for Health.
In 2018, a biotech CEO thanked Baldwin for her “support” after her firm received an award from one of the relevant NIH programs. That CEO, Ayla Annac, contributed nearly $4,000 to Baldwin, including more than $1,000 in the months before and after she thanked Baldwin. Baldwin also included Annac in the Business Leaders for Tammy coalition one month before the CEO thanked the senator for her help.
This is a really simple story. Baldwin’s partner – with whom she lives and shares a life – makes a very good living advising small biotech firms and their investors. Baldwin uses her position in government to help decide which firms will receive taxpayer-funded grants, protections, favoritism, etc. When the firms Baldwin supports get a pile of money, so do the investors and the person who advised them… Brisbane.
This is an old school Chicago-style grift.
by Owen | 2139, 29 Aug 2424 | Culture, Economy, Politics | 0 Comments
Good.
Starbuck said Lowe’s is committed to ending identity-based employee resource groups and replacing them with a single group for employees of all backgrounds. Lowe’s also plans to limit its sponsorship to issues related to its business, such as affordable housing and disaster relief; end participation in Pride and other socially related community events; and stop submitting data to the Human Rights Campaign, he wrote.
The company joins firms such as Harley-Davidson, Tractor Supply and Deere in reining in their DEI programs in recent months after being targeted by Starbuck amid a broader corporate reassessment of a fast-shifting legal landscape marked by rising risk. Companies are increasingly facing pressure to scale back or do away with DEI initiatives from both external critics and U.S. courts as a wave of legal action challenges policies at scores of companies, including giants such as Starbucks, Meta and Pfizer.
by Owen | 2127, 25 Aug 2424 | Economy, Politics | 2 Comments
I absolutely hate these fees. At the same time, I do not want to invite the federal government even further into our lives to regulate them. Let the market figure it out. And if you really hate surprise fees, have you seen the fees our governments charge?
Lawmakers want to crack down on “junk fees,” but restaurants are trying to stay out of the fight.
Surcharges or fees covering everything from credit card processing to gratuities to “inflation” have become more popular on restaurant checks in recent years.
Last year, 15% of restaurant owners added surcharges or fees to checks because of higher costs, according to the National Restaurant Association. In the second quarter, 3.7% of restaurant transactions processed by Square included a service fee, more than double the beginning of 2022, according to a recent report from the company.
Opponents of the practice say those fees and surcharges may surprise customers, hoodwinking them into paying more for their meals at a time when their wallets are already feeling thin. Fed-up diners compiled spreadsheets via Reddit of restaurants in Los Angeles, Chicago and D.C. charging hidden fees. Even the Onion took a swing at the practice, publishing a satirical story in May with the headline “Restaurant Check Includes 3% Surcharge To Provide Owner’s Sugar Baby With Birkin.”
The Biden administration has broadly targeted so-called junk fees, like an undisclosed service charge for concert tickets or unexpected resort fees when checking out of a hotel. This fall, the Federal Trade Commission is expected to publish a rule banning businesses from “charging hidden and misleading fees.”
by Owen | 2107, 25 Aug 2424 | Culture, Foreign Affairs | 1 Comment
It feels like this was the year that tourism turned nasty – and local communities started pushing back.
Venice has started charging daytrippers an entry fee, while one busy Swiss town has announced it wants to follow suit. Locals have staged protests in Mallorca and Barcelona.
And while it has come to a head in Europe, this is a global phenomenon. A Japanese town overlooking Mount Fuji erected view-blocking barriers in May (then removed them in August). Bali introduced a tourist entry tax for foreign visitors in February. And US national parks are full to bursting – with 13 million more visits in 2023 than in 2022, according to NPS numbers. In peak season, visitors must book ahead to enter.
[…]
“The tourism industry forgot about its most precious asset: the goodwill of locals. The edifice collapses without that. It’s been lost in many places and will be hard to win back.”
Francis puts it down to a combination of factors: the growth of low-cost airlines, vacation rentals, social media (which creates stampedes to “in” destinations) and expanding economies – meaning more people can afford to travel.
I am an incurable tourist with a pounding wanderlust disorder. I love to travel and I travel a lot. I have certainly witnessed some of this phenomenon.
I get where many of these people are coming from. It’s one thing when your town depends on tourism. It’s another thing when you are in a city that has its own thing going on and also happens to be a tourist destination.
But I think the problem with rude, inconsiderate tourists is just another facet of our culture. In almost every arena, our global culture has become less considerate, less polite, ruder, crasser, and generally less… cultured. This story isn’t about tourism. It’s about the decline of society.
by Owen | 0816, 25 Aug 2424 | Foreign Affairs | 0 Comments
Things are getting hot in the Holy Land.
Israel says its warplanes have struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon after detecting moves to launch an aerial attack on Israel.
The Israeli military said around 100 fighter jets had destroyed “thousands” of rocket launchers on Sunday morning, in what it described as an act of “self-defence”. Lebanon’s health ministry reported that three people had been killed.
Hezbollah later said it had fired hundreds of rockets towards northern Israel, calling it “phase one” of a multi-stage attack in retaliation for the killing of a senior commander. No casualties have been reported in Israel.
The exchange marks a major escalation of tensions between Israel and the Iran-backed Shia Muslim armed group.
by Owen | 0925, 24 Aug 2424 | Politics | 0 Comments
For the most part, Ms Harris has shied away from describing in detail what her presidency would look like.
There’s talk of unity and a way beyond America’s divisive partisanship; a focus on strengthening the economy and reducing consumer prices; and a heavy emphasis on reproductive rights and abortion – an area of particular strength for Democrats.
But it is vague. And this vagueness may suit the Harris campaign just fine.
By largely being an empty policy vessel, Ms Harris has allowed various constituencies within the Democratic Party to project their hopes and priorities onto her.
If she can keep all those pieces together for the next few months, she might just win.
The media and Harris campaign, but I repeat myself, seems intent on pretending that Harris doesn’t have clear policy goals. She does. She is the SITIING VICE PRESIDENT. She also has a long and consistent history of policy action and stated positions as AG, Senator, and when she ran for president herself. We know her policy goals. She’s a Marxist.
Even recently, she has come out to support a command economy, increasing welfare, open borders, and a gigantic forced transfer of wealth. That is just the stuff she let slip out in the last few weeks that we’re supposed to ignore because they realized that Americans are still not down with the revolution. That’s on top of the fact that she is the SITTING VICE PRESIDENT of an administration with disastrous policies that she supported, advocated, and helped implement.
We know what a Harris Administration would look like. It would look like Biden’s administration but less competent.
by Owen | 0853, 24 Aug 2424 | Foreign Affairs, Politics | 1 Comment
Recognize that the Ukraine War has become both an offensive proxy war of America against Russia and a vast money laundering enterprise. If this continues, it is only a matter of time before Russia is backed into a corner and strikes out at the U.S. in an asymmetric attempt to reset the board.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s military says it used high-precision U.S. glide bombs to strike Russia’s Kursk region, and that is has recaptured some territory in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv that has been under a Russian offensive since spring.
Ukraine’s Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleschuk issued a video Thursday night purporting to show a Russian platoon base being hit in Kursk, where Ukrainian forces launched a surprise cross-border incursion on Aug. 6. He said the attack with GBU-39 bombs, which were supplied by the United States, resulted in Russian casualties and the destruction of equipment.
The video showed multiple explosions and plumes of smoke rising at the site.
Many of Ukraine’s backers oppose the country using donated weapons for anything but defensive purposes. However, Ukraine has argued that its Kursk incursion is essentially defensive and aimed at minimizing attacks on Ukrainian soil from that Russian region.
