I say green you say red. I say red you say green. That is the ways of the two major political parties in the United States.

We have laws requiring payment of taxes except we don’t want to fund the enforcement law if any of our supporters are impacted. Hence Republican Sen. Rob Portman said spending is officially off the table to help fund a nearly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure spending bill. Now of course if the the spending bill was proposed by the GOP that would be a different matter.

Change the filibuster rules only if it is to our benefit. Many Republicans are thanking former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for a 2013 change that enabled the Democratic Party majority to approve the appointment of Supreme Court appointments by a simple majority.

When the Senate voted on President Donald Trump’s replacement for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, just a simple majority was sufficient to get through the confirmation process. Gone is the filibuster rule that required 60 votes to move forward. Many Republicans are thanking former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid change in the rules in 2013. Today the G.O.P. says no to changes in the filibuster because it would enable Democrats to pass their agenda with a simple majority.

On April 1 Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he sees Republican opposition to President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan, and vowed to fight the broader Democratic agenda. “I’m going to fight them every step of the way, because I think this is the wrong prescription for America,” McConnell said at a news conference in Kentucky.

The budget for the next fiscal year (starts October 1) and raising the debt limit are two items that will be in the news in the next few months. You can expect major battles in congress. We will get through the stumbling blocks as we always have. This is no way to run a country.

Since 2009:
– Food and beverage costs have increased by 18%
– Transportation costs have increased by 16%
– Housing costs have increased by 23%
– Medical costs have increased by 32%

Austin, Texas, is arguably the hottest real estate market in the country, with home prices up more than 40 percent since last April. According to Zillow the estimate of my home’s value in the San Fernando has increased by 5.1 percent in the past 30 days.

Car dealer lots have only a fraction of the vehicles — both new and used — that they typically have. That’s helping send prices to record levels and lifting the nation’s overall inflation rate. About two-thirds of car buyers paid within 5% of the sticker price in May, with some even paying above sticker.

Your next Costco run could be more expensive as the company warns of expected price hikes for key goods, including trash bags, cheese, plastic plates, and beef. My favorite Choice tri-tip steak has increased from $8.00 per pound to $11.00 per pound in the past six weeks.

Whether this is a temporary price bubble or a new long term period of inflation, one fact remains unchanged. The Federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. That wage was set on July 24, 2009.

No parades thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of parties we should remember those who gave their lives to protect our freedoms. This display of flags is put up at Pepperdine University in Malibu California. The school says the flags represent the diversity of their student body.

Everyone is doing everything in their power to avoid contracting COVID-19.  That will be a real dilemma for those who refuse to be vaccinated.

The University of California and California State University has announced that they will require COVID-19 vaccinations for all students, faculty and staff on campus properties this fall once the Food and Drug Administration gives formal approval to the vaccines and supplies are sufficiently available.

Some of the smaller airlines are starting to require proof of vaccination. As most of the population becomes vaccinated the larger carriers are likely to require that proof too. That same proof may be required to enter concerts, and sports venues. Los Angeles Dodgers have instituted sections for fully vaccinated fans.

Royal Caribbean cruise line has posted this: “At this time, we are requiring guests 18 years and older to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, along with all crew members onboard. Each guest must submit proof of vaccination no later than boarding day. They are not alone. Norwegian Cruise Lines and Oceania Cruise line are also requiring all guests and crews be fully vaccinated.

Those that are not vaccinated may claim their civil rights have been violated if they are denied entry to theme parks and sports venues.

Given that there are vaccination requirements for diseases like yellow fever by many countries around the world and businesses can require drug testing for employment the vaccination passport seems inevitable.

The Washington Post reports “The Biden administration and private companies are working to develop a standard way of handling credentials — often referred to as “vaccine passports” — that would allow Americans to prove they have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus as businesses try to reopen.”

As the number of vaccinated people grows those opposing the vaccination will have to obtain the shots or be blocked from both social activities as well as places to work.

It’s going to happen.

The most distant object that most folks can see with the unaided eye is also the closest major galaxy to our own Milky Way. Although the Andromeda Galaxy lies a mind-bending 2.5 million light-years from Earth, its trillion stars are enough to emit a strong glow across the vast reaches of space. Despite the wide gap, the Milky Way and Andromeda are on a collision course and predicted to begin merging in roughly 4.5 billion years. (You’ve been warned.) The Andromeda Galaxy was once thought to be a nebula. Early in the development of modern astronomy, any diffuse, undefined celestial body was called a ‘nebula,’ including what we now know to be a neighboring galaxy. Our modern definition of nebula refers to galaxies-in-training that will coalesce over cosmic time into something less…nebulous.

WASP means White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. Hard-right House Republicans on Friday were discussing forming an America First Caucus, which one document described as championing “Anglo-Saxon political traditions” and warning that mass immigration was putting the “unique identity” of the U.S. at risk. Marjorie Taylor Greene scrapped a planned launch of controversial ‘America First’ caucus amid blowback from GOP.

Fear of people who don’t look like us is the real issue for many Americans.  They don’t look like us and they aren’t part of my religion seems to be the two driving forces that are driving the hate that is tearing the United States apart.   

Based on their appearance they must have a difference culture and really aren’t part of American culture seems to be the thought process of many White Americans.  People with those thoughts are a shrinking population and they know it.  Those people are scared that they may soon be a minority

 The United States Census have enumerated Whites and Blacks since 1790.  By that time 19.3% of all Americans were identified as Black/Negro. Asians and Native Americans were not counted until the late 1800s. Mexicans were counted as White from 1790 to 1930. 

Today, based upon the 2010 census, 72.4% of the population is White. That is a dramatic drop from 1960, 50 years ago, when the White population was 88.6% of the population.

Immigration from Latin American countries continues to be the number nations of origin.  The evidence is obvious.  When you telephone most  businesses their answering system offers two primary languages.  English or Spanish.  Those WASPS want to stop the changing demographics by limiting immigration from all countries that are not basically inhabited by White people.  You know. They want to welcome people from Europe.

The answer. WASPS will have to accept a new reality in the 21^st century. Like it or not.

In the weeks leading to Nov. 3, 2020, U.S. presidential election, incumbent Donald Trump had wrongly predicted the stock market would crash if Joe Biden won the election.

Last week, fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits than at any time since March 2020. Last month, retail sales in the U.S. rose by 9.8 percent, the largest increase in nearly a year. Factory activity in the state of New York just hit its highest level since 2017; in Philadelphia, manufacturers are now more confident about business conditions than they have been since 1973.

Oh yes the stock market has boomed.  Both the DOW Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 have gained over 9% since January 20.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had projected a 5.8 percent jump in retail sales in March, but the combined effect of the American Rescue Plan’s $1,400 stimulus checks, strong job growth, and rising vaccination rates provided a more potent boost to commerce than experts had foreseen. The rebound was especially strong at restaurants and apparel retailers, which saw 13.4 percent and 18.3 percent increases in overall sales values, respectively. But the surge wasn’t limited to sectors hampered by the pandemic; furniture outlets, e-commerce shops, and other businesses that thrived throughout the COVID crisis still enjoyed an uptick in revenues last month.

What is next? President Biden this week unveiled a massive infrastructure proposal that he says would deliver a “once-in-a-generation investment” in the United States at a cost of $2 trillion will be another stimulus that will employ tens of thousands of working class and middle class workers in decent jobs.

This article appeared on the Washington Post web site this morning.

It starts by asking “Why are so many Christians in this South American country converting to Orthodox Judaism?”

The answer is “Even though none of them were born Jewish, many had been exposed to Judaism as part of their Christian faith, through the life of Jesus, who was Jewish. They came to see Judaism as the one true religion.

Here is a link to the article that includes photos.

Twins Shmuel and Yehuda Fuentas during morning prayers.