President Joe Biden is Riding High

President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech was a success in ways that he could not have predicted. Republicans were laid bare as a noisy group with no plans for making the country a better place.

CHRIS WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: “Oh, absolutely. I mean, they literally played into his hands. You know, I don’t know if the people of the White House as they were drafting it at Camp David this weekend envisioned that happening the way it did, but it played out perfectly. And you know, I’m looking back at the end of that whole sequence where he was engaging back and forth with the Republicans, he said, so tonight, let’s all agree to stand up for seniors.” And everyone did standup. That settled the talk of some Republicans wanting to dismantle Social Security and Medicare.

Republican lawmakers defied House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s call for civility and interrupted Biden’s speech several times. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called Biden a “liar” and other Republicans shouted “border”— a reference to their claim that Biden hasn’t done enough to stop illegal immigration.

A Whopping 72 Percent Approved of Biden Speech — Including 43% of Republicans.

Was this a start of a 2024 presidential campaign or does this mean his next two years as president will enable him to leave office with a smile on his face?

Is NORAD really doing its job?

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is a United States and Canada bi-national organization charged with the missions of aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning for North America. Aerospace warning includes the detection, validation, and warning of attack against North America whether by aircraft, missiles, or space vehicles, through mutual support arrangements with other commands.

So how did a Chinese balloon the size of three buses end up flying from Alaska to Canada and then across the United States? Is NORAD really doing its job? There were many uninhabited places that the balloon could be shot down in Alaska and the North West Territories of Canada. So arguing that they did not want harm coming to populations does not hold water.

The Sunday morning news shows had guests that gave politically motivated commentaries. Of course the Democrats defended the actions of the Administration and GOP guests attacked. No surprise. Sadly no one provided real answers.

Update on February 6, 2023 is horrifying.

“Every day as a NORAD commander, it’s my responsibility to detect threats to North America. I will tell you that we did not detect those threats,” Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command said when asked about the three other balloons.

“And that’s a domain awareness gap that we have to figure out, but I don’t want to go into further detail.”

Who wants to be a Senator from California?

California Senator Dianne Feinstein is 89 years old. Her term in office ends in two years. From all appearances she looks frail. The picture above was taken October 14, 2020 when she questioned Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett. There are multiple reports about her ability to remember who she had just spoken to. The position of Senate president pro tempore is a position almost always given to the senior senator of the majority political party. That person would be Senator Dianne Feinstein. In an opportunity to become Senate president pro tempore, a position laid out by the Constitution to chair the Senate when the vice president is not present Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told Democrats he won’t nominate Sen. Dianne Feinstein due to her mental acuity.

Feinstein has refused to say whether she will run for re-election. As many believe she will not run there is a growing list of well known congressional representatives who have declared their intention to run for the Senate seat. With the overwhelming Democratic registration in California the winner is almost certain to be a Democrat.

As of this date four well known liberal Democrats have announced their intention to run for the Senate seat. All four hold similar positions on most issues. Barbara Lee, Katy Porter, a rising star in the party who has notched close victories in competitive Orange County, Ro Khanna of Fremont, and now Adam Schiff representing Burbank and Glendale. Lee’s reputation is as the lone vote in Congress against the Afghanistan war in 2001.

So the question is how can these people run against each other when they have the same views on most topics? They all hold similar objectives. More gun control, eliminating the use of gas and oil, abortion access wherever you live, immigration reform are some of the topics they most likely will say are important and need new legislation.

They are left with just a few things. Name calling. Sewing petty doubts about their opponent’s loyalty to liberal ideas. The campaign is going to be very nasty.

Time Magazine Person of the Year

Mike Pence, the Fool

Former Vice President agreed to an interview for Meet the Press. The surprise in the interview was that it was a replica of Jake Tapper’s interview on CNN. Pence had the words memorized and spoke them in an almost robotic way. Other than Pence’s strong religious beliefs he showed his lack of ability to convey a thought of his own. In that robotic voice he praised Trump’s daily non-sensical COVID reports. Olivia Troye accurately defined Mike Pence.

What Constitutes a Monopoly?

When is merger of two large competing businesses a restraint of trade? I say that this merger will impact the grocery business in a negative way. Finally I am not alone.

The proposed $25 billion Kroger-Albertsons grocery giant merger is already running into significant opposition from progressive lawmakers and others. It’s no wonder. Most of the grocery stores in Los Angeles are owned by Kroger and Albertsons.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts on Wednesday called on the Federal Trade Commission to block the deal. “More mergers and less competition would mean even higher prices—and layoffs for employees,” Warren said on Twitter.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has also urged the regulators to reject the deal. And the Senate Judiciary’s antitrust subcommittee announced Tuesday that it will hold a hearing next month to scrutinize the merger.

“We have serious concerns about the proposed transaction between Kroger and Albertsons,” Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Mike Lee of Utah said in a joint statement. “We will hold a hearing focused on this proposed merger and the consequences consumers may face if this deal moves forward.”

Senators Klobuchar, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Cory Booker of New Jersey urged FTC chair Lina Khan Tuesday to investigate the merger, saying it “raises considerable antitrust concerns.”

The proposed merger, which the companies expect to complete in 2024, would combine two of the largest grocers in the United States. Kroger currently owns nearly two-dozen chains, including Ralphs, Dillons, Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer, Mariano’s and QFC. Albertsons, meanwhile, owns 24, such as Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s and Acme.

The companies contend a combination would help them compete with Walmart (WMT), Amazon (AMZN), Costco (COST) and other giants. The grocers are also facing increased pressure from Aldi, the fast-growing German discount supermarket chain.

The companies said the merger will benefit shoppers, workers and local communities and make the US food system more equitable.

With grocery prices already a concern for many shoppers, the companies said that they would be able to use $500 million in cost savings from the deal to reduce prices for shoppers and tailor promotions and savings. They also said they will invest $1.3 billion in Albertsons, which would include lowering prices.

But the new grocery empire would worsen the problem of grocery access, particularly in low-income areas in cities and rural towns, say some competition experts, small business advocates and researchers.

They believe the merger would drive out rival smaller grocers and independent stores, squeeze suppliers, and set off a vicious cycle of consolidation among supermarkets and suppliers, further entrenching the problem.

To satisfy regulators, Kroger and Albertsons have said they will divest hundreds of stores in areas where they overlap.

But FTC chair Khan has been critical of such divestitures in the past as a remedy for antitrust concerns, saying they were an ineffective remedy to preserve competition., and she has has pointed to Albertsons itself as a prime example.

In 2015, Albertsons merged with Safeway and sold off 146 stores to Haggen, a smaller chain, to appease regulators.

But Haggen struggled to integrate the Safeway stores and soon spiraled into bankruptcy. Albertsons then bought back dozens of the same stores it had previously sold to Haggen in bankruptcy court.

Khan, in a 2017 law review article, called it a “spectacular” failure and said the remedy was “[hard] to fathom.”

“Armageddon”

Is the world on the verge of an “Armageddon?” It appears that President believes we are or at least fears that it could happen. And it is on his mind. No one in the Whitehouse or in his administration has contradicted his words.

President Joe Biden’s stark warning Thursday night that the world faces the highest prospect of nuclear war in 60 years was not based on any new intelligence about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intentions or changes in Russia’s nuclear posture, multiple US officials told CNN.

One senior administration official said Biden was speaking “frankly” in his remarks at a Democratic fundraiser in New York, reflecting heightened concern based on Putin’s recent nuclear threats.

Biden’s nuclear warning not based on new intelligence but opens a window into real worries inside the White House.

The situation today is reminiscent of the 13-day showdown in 1962 that followed the U.S. discovery of the Soviet Union’s secret deployment of nuclear weapons to Cuba is regarded by experts as the closest the world has ever come to nuclear annihilation.

What is needed is a mediator that both Ukraine and Russia respects. Both countries will have to find a compromise. Is that likely?

In Hiroshima, the black rain started to fall 20 minutes after the bomb exploded. It covered an area about 20 kilometers (12 mi) across around ground zero, covering the countryside with a thick liquid that could douse anyone it touched with up to 100 times more radiation than stepping into the blast center.

The city around the survivors was burning and tearing up the oxygen around them, and they were already dying of thirst. Struggling through the flames, they’d become so desperate for water that many opened up their mouths and tried to drink the strange liquid falling from the sky.

There was enough radiation in that liquid, though, to make changes in a person’s blood. It was strong enough that the aftereffects of the rain can still linger today in the places it landed back then. We have every reason to believe that it’ll happen again if another bomb falls.