Is the media finally ignoring Mr. Bluster?

Many of you older readers of this blog may remember Mr. Bluster. He was one of the Howdy Doody marionettes. Personally I dislike the show and considered it an insult to the intelligence of most children except perhaps the youngest.

Here is an example of the media managing the news. In an interview with the Washington Post published on Saturday, the billionaire businessman said a combination of high unemployment and an overvalued stock market had set the stage for another economic slump. He put real unemployment above 20 percent.

This prediction was ignored by both CNN and The Los Angeles Times. Not a word was written about this and little was spoken on CNN or ABC World News. The report was on a Reuters web site. Even the Washington Post, while posting their interview with Trump, seemed to downplay his comments about a possible recession.

The likely reason for limited reporting is that the new media does not want to frighten the public. However, Trump’s “tell it like it is” philosophy resulted in his prediction.

There is no indication that we are near or approaching a recession. The stock market has been flat or in decline most of this past twelve months. Perhaps Trump is a fan of Peter Schiff who has been predicting a major economic collapse in 2016. His advertisements are on many web sites. Schiff’s track record has been dismal as pointed out on CNBC. There are warnings on the internet about Schiff who predicted gold would rise to $5,000 an ounce last year.

Reports this past weekend indicated that car sales are at or near an all-time high. 215,000 new jobs were created in March. Unemployment even including those that have given up the search is about 10% according to the BLS. No one knows where Trump obtained his claim that real unemployment is above 20 percent.

Mr. Trump is known as a successful business man but he is not known as an economist.

It is gratifying to learn that everything Mr. Trump says is not repeated by the media.

Crisis at the Canadian Border

This tongue in check article was posted on a web site as if it was copied from the Manitoba Herald. That was newspaper that existed only a few months is 1887.

Crisis at the Canadian Border – A Prescient Look at the Consequences of a Republican Win in November

The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal immigration. The Republican Presidential primary campaign is prompting an exodus among left leaning citizens who fear they’ll soon be required to hunt, pray, and live according to conservative ideas about the Constitution.

Canadian border farmers say it’s not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, global warming activists, and “green” energy proponents crossing their fields at night.

“I went out to milk the cows the other day, and there was a Hollywood producer huddled in the barn,” said Southern Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield, whose acreage borders North Dakota . “The producer was cold, exhausted and hungry. He asked me if I could spare a latte and some free-range chicken. When I said I didn’t have any, he left before I even got a chance to show him my screenplay, eh?”

In an effort to stop the illegal aliens, Greenfield erected higher fences, but the liberals scaled them. He then installed loudspeakers that blared Rush Limbaugh across the fields, but they just keep coming.

Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who meet liberals near the Canadian border, pack them into electric cars and drive them across the border where they are simply left to fend for themselves after the battery dies.

“A lot of these people are not prepared for our rugged conditions,” an Ontario border patrolman said. “I found one carload without a single bottle of Perrier drinking water. They did have a nice little Napa Valley cabernet, though, and some kale chips.”

When liberals are caught, they’re sent back across the border, often wailing loudly that they fear retribution from conservatives. Rumors have been circulating about plans being made to build re-education camps where liberals will be forced to drink domestic beer and study the Constitution.

In recent days, liberals have turned to ingenious ways of crossing the border. Some have been disguised as senior citizens taking a bus trip to buy cheap Canadian prescription drugs. After catching a half- dozen young vegans in blue-hair wig disguises, Canadian immigration authorities began stopping buses and quizzing the supposed senior citizens about Perry Como and Rosemary Clooney to prove that they were alive in the ’50’s. “If they can’t identify the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, we become very suspicious about their age,” an official said.

Canadian citizens have complained that the illegal immigrants are creating an organic-broccoli shortage, buying up all the Barbara Streisand c.d.’s, and renting all the Michael Moore movies. “I really feel sorry for American liberals, but the Canadian economy just can’t support them,” an Ottawa resident said. “How many art-history majors do we need in Canada?

When a Cartoon Character Thinks he is Real

The idea of Donald Trump as president of the United States is the same as imagining a cartoon character being depicted as the president. To the best of my knowledge no one has ever done that. Donald Trump is trying.

First consider that Mr. Trump has never held ANY elected office anywhere. He is obviously a smart man in many ways, having built a multibillion dollar business mostly through his own efforts.

In all of his negotiations and business dealings government actions or inactions have been of no consequence to him as long as they did not impact has intentions. As a consequence he was not an expert or perhaps even an interested party in law or international affairs.

Other than his earlier contention that Barack Obama was not a natural born citizen and thus not entitled to hold the presidency (the birther question) he did not appear to give any attention to any government policies.

I am going to build the biggest wall.
They are rapists and murderers.
We must stop all Muslims entering this country until we understand what the hell is going on.
NATO has no value anymore.
South Korea and Japan should have their own nuclear weapons.
Women who have abortions should pay a penalty.

You could not have made this up.

On the Friday night ABC national news there was a report of two men, with backpacks scale a 20 foot was on the border between Arizona and Mexico. It was accomplished in 12 seconds. For reason no one knows the men become concerned and returned to Mexico. The entire event was captured on a monitoring camera.

President Obama commented on Trump’s lack of international knowledge at a news conference on nuclear proliferation. CNN report: President Barack Obama said Donald Trump’s suggestion that Japan and South Korea should consider obtaining nuclear weapons demonstrates the Republican presidential front-runner’s lack of understanding about foreign policy and the world at large. He concluded, “We don’t want someone in the Oval Office who doesn’t recognize how important that is.”

Like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, cartoons do not reflect the real world. The real world is not The Apprentice.

Robots Are Coming For Our Jobs

This is not an April Fool’s Joke!

Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders may say that they want to help the blue collar, working class, and middle class income Americans but neither has a solution for the oncoming displacement of most laboring and office jobs as wells as many technical jobs.

Japan is number one in the world in operational robots with 310,508 units. There’s even a hotel staffed almost entirely by robots that opened last year in Nagasaki, Japan, according to BAML (Bank of America Merrill Lynch). The United States is in second place (168,623) with Germany in a close third place. This was reported just today on Business Insider.

Coincidentally the Los Angeles Times had an opinion piece in today’s paper that starts with the words “A viral video released in February showed Boston Dynamics’ new bipedal robot, Atlas, performing human-like tasks: opening doors, tromping about in the snow, lifting and stacking boxes.” That article refers to a White House report that says “Most occupations that pay less than $20 an hour are likely to be automated into obsolescence.” Powerhouse consultancies like McKinsey & Co. forecast that 45% of today’s workplace activities could be done by robots, AI or some other already demonstrated technology. Truck drivers and baristas will be replaced too. Some professors argue that we could see 50% unemployment in 30 years.

A rare peak inside Amazon’s massive wish-fulfilling machine

We think we have problems now but a coming so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution will bring changes to society that most of us have yet to imagine.

Americans Are Struggling with Behavior that Contradict with their Beliefs

Ted Cruz and Donald Trump understand Americans real beliefs and hatreds and are playing on those viewpoints.

Strictly religious Christians and Jews have very rigid laws about human behavior. They really do not want any behavior by anyone that conflict with their beliefs

Thus we see laws proposed (and some signed into law) in Arkansas, Georgia, and Indiana that would protect the rights of people who choose to discriminate. Specifically these laws give people the right to discriminate against homosexuals and gay marriage. Similarly many states have created laws that limit the right to an abortion.

All of these laws are a response to evangelical Christians, orthodox Catholics and Jews.

However, Muslim beliefs are not to be tolerated by those religious Christians and Jews.

It now appears that money may impact their willingness to tolerate those that are different. The Walt Disney Co. would stop film production in Georgia if they sign into law their right to discriminate law. It is estimated that $106 million is spent in Georgia by Disney. Other companies are contemplating similar action in the three states I have identified. So far, lawmakers in Georgia haven’t heeded those concerns. Legislators in Indiana and Arkansas passed similar bills last year.

What does this situation tell us about Americans? The answer is sadly obvious.

March 28, 2016

Good news! Under increasing pressure from major corporations that do business in Georgia, Gov. Nathan Deal announced Monday he will veto a bill that critics say would have curtailed the rights of Georgia’s LGBT community.

Bernie Sanders at L.A.’s Wiltern Theater March 23, 2016

Fresh off of wins in the Idaho and Utah caucuses, a rally in front of more than 10,000 people in San Diego and an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Bernie Sanders urged supporters in Los Angeles to stay strong through California’s primary in June.

The Vermont senator arrived at L.A.’s Wiltern Theater on Wednesday night. Sanders, in front of a boisterous crowd at the historic Wiltern, issued a reminder to thunderous cheers.

Secretary Clinton did well in the South,” he said. “We’re not in the South. We’re in the West now.”

Bernie Sanders speaks during a campaign rally at The Wiltern in. Los Angeles, CA. March 23, 2016. (Photo by John McCoy/Los Angeles News Group) — Bernie Sanders speaks during a campaign rally at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, CA. March 23, 2016. (Photo by John McCoy/Los Angeles News Group)

Hillary Clinton is for … Hillary Clinton

At the outset I must write that Hillary Clinton as president will most likely replicate the presidency of her husband, Bill Clinton. The latest polls indicate that she will be president if the GOP nominee is Donald Trump.

Working class Americans should be concerned about how Mrs. Clinton will act towards them. We need only to look at Bill Clinton’s presidency to learn what to expect.

Bill Clinton signed a law that ended the Glass-Steagall Act. That law passed in 1933 prohibited commercial banks from engaging in the investment business. The consequence was the 2008 Great recession that brought about the collapse of many of America’s largest financial institutions. Some of those institutions were saved by The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. On September 19, 2008 President Bush announced his financial bailout plan, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 to confront the financial crisis. This plan was initially rejected by the U.S House of Representatives on September 29. After a great deal of public lobbying, on October 1, the U.S. Senate passed an amended version of the bill, which was subsequently accepted by the House two days later. This legislation created the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP).

NAFTA is the North American Free Trade Agreement. It was envisioned at least 30 years ago to reduce trading costs, increase business investment, and help North America be more competitive in the global marketplace. The impetus for NAFTA actually began with President Ronald Reagan, who campaigned on a North American common market. Prior to NAFTA, Mexican tariffs on U.S. imports were 250% higher than U.S. tariffs on Mexican imports. In 1991, Canada requested a trilateral agreement, which then led to NAFTA. NAFTA was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on December 8, 1993 and entered force January 1, 1994. Although it was signed by President Bush, it was a priority of President Clinton’s, and its passage is considered one of his first successes.

The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, which ensured that over-the-counter, or OTC, financial derivatives would remain almost entirely unregulated and which was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in December 2000, just before he left the White House. Thanks to the 2000 act, according to 2010 Congressional testimony by Michael Greenberger of the University of Maryland law school, the “multi-trillion-dollar OTC derivatives market was removed from almost all pertinent federal and state enforcement to which trading markets had been subject since the New Deal….In effect, almost no law applied to this market.”

As reported in the New York Times on February 9, 2016 Mrs. Clinton’s top donors:

-George Soros, Billionaire philanthropist and investor. $7.0 million

-Cheryl Saban, Philanthropist and wife of Haim Saban, an entertainment mogul.
$2.5 million

-Haim Saban, California media investor, major Democratic donor and husband of Cheryl Saban, philanthropist.
$2.5 million

-Herbert M. Sandler, Founder, with his wife, Marion, of Golden West Financial, the giant California savings and loan bought by the Wachovia Corporation in 2006.
$2.5 million

-S. Donald Sussman, Founder and chairman of Paloma Partners LLC.
$2.5 million

-Laure Woods, Bay Area philanthropist. $2.3 million

-Barbara Lee, Philanthropist in Cambridge, Mass.; founder of the Barbara Lee Family Foundation and the Barbara Lee Political Office. $1.7 million

-Patricia A. Stryker, Heir to a fortune from a medical supplies company. Owner of the Stryker Sonoma winery. $1.3 million

-Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief executive of DreamWorks Animation. $1.0 million

-Stephen M. Silberstein, Co-founder of Innovative Interfaces, a company that develops automated systems for libraries, in 1978 and served as its first president. $1.0 million

-Steven Spielberg, Filmmaker and chairman of Amblin Partners. $1.0 million

-Bernard L. Schwartz, Chairman and chief executive of BLS Investments.
$1.0 million

-S. Daniel Abraham, Billionaire philanthropist and former chairman of the company that created Slim Fast diet products. $1.0 million

As Donald Trump pointed out the big donors are not giving those millions of dollars for nothing. They expect to be remembered. Their interests will come before the American people. You can expect the TPP and the TAP to be signed into law if Hillary Clinton is elected president.

My conclusion is there really is no one running for president to protect the American people.

The Lady Plumber

Irena Sendler
Died: May 12, 2008 (aged 98) Warsaw, Poland

During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an ulterior motive.
Irena smuggled Jewish infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried. She also carried a burlap sack in the back of her truck, for larger kids.

Irena kept a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto.

The soldiers, of course, wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.

During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants.
Ultimately, she was caught, however, and the Nazi’s broke both of her legs and arms and beat her severely.

Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she had smuggled out, In a glass jar that she buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived and tried to reunite the family. Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.

In 2007 Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected. Al Gore won, for a slide show on Global Warming.

Later another politician, Barack Obama, won for his work as a community organizer for ACORN.

In MEMORIAM – 65 YEARS LATER I’m doing my small part by posting this message. I hope you’ll consider doing the same. It is now more than 65 years since the Second World War in Europe ended. In memory of the 6 million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated!

Now, more than ever, with Iran, and others, claiming the HOLOCAUST to be ‘a myth’, It’s imperative to make sure the world never forgets, Because there are others who would like to do it again.

A Historic Event in Cuba

This is a historic day in U.S. Cuban relations. It has been reported that the last president to visit Cuba came there 88 years ago. Clearly the president’s visit will be part of his legacy. The question should be how will the restoration of diplomatic and economic relations between the two countries really make a difference?

Permitting airlines to schedule flights to Cuba and opening hotels in Cuba will result in an economic impact. Can McDonald’s, Starbuck’s and Kroger Foods be far behind? This action initiated by the president contradicts those that say President Obama opposes America’s free enterprise society. You remember, there are those that say Obama wants to change the United States into a socialist/communist country.

It is impossible to predict the future but there is a possibility that free enterprise will come to Cuba soon. American businesses are the likely beneficiary of the opening of Cuba. Can this be a bad thing?

A Supreme Court Nomination Scenario

Donald Trump’s lead to win the Republican Party nomination could easily provide a path to Judge Merrick Garland’s ascent to the Supreme Court.

Here is my logic. Donald Trump has been behind Hillary Clinton in all the polls showing their likelihood to win in a general election. As of now the Clinton lead is relatively small but as the calendar approaches November and Clinton is still leading, the GOP leadership in the Senate may soften. For sure after an election of Clinton the Senate may rush to approve the Garland nomination because they might fear a more liberal nomination.

Garland has an impeccable record and at 63 his time on the Supreme Court is probably limited.