The blog has rolled over 

Mr. Joe

Look, you're a friend. No one wants that other person in office again. I'm sorry they put upon you; I believe you've changed your view on a few things.  I have to re-spend all that quality time we spent together with Kamala, and I don't trust her. I get it, but it's bullshit. 

That make all the money you want  thing, you still have that wrong. They waste it and use it to subvert our Democratic legacy. Look at Musk; he's not just inept, he's dangerous. 

Changes to the tax law would help, but the wealthy fund the elections, so it never happens. Isn't that curious?  

You're an intelligent man. 

I must believe you already know. Pelosi et al. are only necessary to bring the money because the red team has people with lots of money to spend on keeping THEIR taxes low. 

You can get two birds here. Make it so?

Campaign finance reform is the one thing that can save America.

Audie

I'm rather fatigued by people spouting every detail of the image of the next 5 minutes that coincidentally mirrors what they'd like to happen.

The ticket focuses on costs because they don't know how to fix the economy.  It is nickel and dime operations designed to distract everyone from the dollars.  Insulin costs, give me a  break. As a fix for the people's miasma, it's like a bandaid on a head wound. As to looking after the middle class, their definition starts at unrealistic levels for most Americans. This is my primary problem with Harris.  Like Nancy Pelosi, she's given up on America, she just want's to carve her initials somewhere, and win something.

I try to make the point that home ownership is problematic in form and function; it is the fuse on the American economy and the American dream. People won't stand for it. If you don't get it, that's the way up, the golden path. The only legal and honest way to get ahead, and most millennials will never own a home. 

Figure it out. Donald has all those people worked up. That's the correction, Trump's candidacy. He doesn't intend to fix anything, and he wouldn't. 

That old American model where white men get rich off immigrants who will work for pennies and not think about tomorrow, just getting something to eat, is over. They don't have a new model, if they did it would never pass Congress. 

And Kamala wants to be our latex salesman...

Ms Abby

This panel needs a reset. Piffle. You have 2 ex Trumpers, they swap out their conscience on command. What were you thinking?

About ticket positions: any position trumps Ol' Yellow Stain, my objective is to elicit a response and commitment.  

My thing, per the About page, is outcome optimization given the current manifold.

I don't buy the bigger-than-epic thread. Its relief. I'm still exhaling that breath.

Tone 

I don't know what else to call this. I get the drift on the news that everyone should be on their best behavior and not say anything that might cause a problem after Trump loses the election. I assume they mean, used to incite the masses.

If there are masses after the election, especially if it goes the other way, that's not my problem.

My problem is the mess we have. 

Great Googley-Moogley

No Tax on Social Security, heck, no Social Security, who's he kidding? Most people don't get enough SSI to ever pay tax on it.

For that matter, people living on waitress tips don't make enough to tax either.

Is everyone just.... 

The Oracle Doth Spake

Knowing you like I do, any numbers reporting your standing we find fascinating. He has interesting poll numbers, he asserts. Honestly, I'd tend not to believe anything anyone paid by Donald Trump said to Donald Trump about anything. 

He aspires to a certain kind of presence. 

He says this is an intellectual exercise; he doesn't mean to be held accountable for anything.

Ok, Bringing Back the American Dream

How, in steps? You couldn't hire people to give you an honest answer on step one. They'd all want the usual piece of the action. You just don't get it. Despots always fail because the people in control are evil; there is no honor among despots. A despot can not win at anything.  It's a slash-and-burn job. 

Immigration

He skipped over it. He's going to rebuild San Francisco.  He'll declare war on sanctuary cities, that's what he'll do, and he'll encourage the continued dumping of immigrants there.

X the Unknown 

I just have one question, maybe it's me. Who still uses this? Ok, all you bots, sit down.

You can create a mess here, and people will come and ogle.  This is valuable to failing politicians and overbearing megalomaniacs.

I've heard Musk remade the platform. I agree. It's trollville, and he's the head troll. 

I don't use X or even the pillow guys' social media, whatever it's called. I throw TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and all the rest of the wannabe instant content terror sites into the same pile. Knock yourselves out. 

These are busy places at times. People have their reasons. Now that you've been made aware of the teeming masses of the unwashed and unworthy drawing their self-worth from the latest selfie; how busy are you?

Let's Define Some Things

Biden is not responsible for high prices. Biden is partially accountable for housing costs, but we all are. Overall, I would give Mr Joe a passing grade on recovering from COVID. It was an Obama plan extended where the former failed adjusted to fit the circumstances as best as they could. The method was to correct a fluttering economy further with more stimulus. No one has done this before; no matter what they tell you, it is trial and error; it is all a real economy that changes quickly with technology and business conditions.

Stimulate This

The unfortunate part of the COVID recovery package was it skewed too sharply to the wealthy, even causing Mr. Wonderful to start an enterprise to skim a percentage off the refund he'd cook up for your business. Not only that, but the stimulus was excessive in many other ways and not for the lower economic classes, who needed help to survive. Let's be clear, people didn't have to take severe advantage of the system; their behavior could have been more moderate, they still could. Blame them first. Excessive stimulus, in general, caused inflation to a large extent. It wasn't trickle-down; none of that went anywhere but up.

Housing

Most of the problem with the housing model is what is referred to as wealth building; simply put, buying a home low and selling it high and moving up. It's still the same house, same location, same plumbing, and predictably worth 10% more each year. People need to be able to buy a starter home; that cost goes up 10% a year, just like above. Incomes, maybe not.

Interest rate hikes slow the rate of inflation in housing, sort of. No one can afford to re-finance and make money on the churn. Isn't that why?

The other problem is that this is the only path to wealth for most of America.

So, politics aside, how do you fix this? 

Economic Tete 

It's great that people are interested in understanding the economy. The underside of the economy is that there is always a segment that will take advantage of every inch anywhere, and the results are usually detrimental in some way to the whole. This is that.

The Larger Issues

There are even larger issues, imagine. The basics: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are first among them on my list.  When you consider wealth concentrating over generations, it becomes apparent we have the same model playing out written large.

Trumpeting Nothing 

The more he opens his mouth, the more votes slip trough his fingers. 

Inside Dana 

No surprise you can buy a nickels worth of Trump for a million dollars, and its worth 2 cents. Elon is getting it on sale, presumably. We'll have to see which one of them turns on the other one first, or rather, get's caught.

Ms P.

It goes out to a million million people, and only an idiot believes it. I'm not saying Twitter isn't full of idiots. It's not the stupid I worry about, without them where would any political party be? It's the smart deviants like Trump and Musk.  

Ruesday Tuesday 

Third day of the week, not a two really. Rued not for being rude but for the PR. Who hung this name on you, anyway? We will perservere, it's just 2 days until Friday, we can make it, right team?

Let's see if we can find a nice warm rabbit hole.

VanCityReynolds

Wow 100 commercials. 

Ms Abby 

Cat's cradle, I never knew how to do that when I was a kid. I've never sat with the bottoms of my feet touching another person's feet, either. 

I'm not sure what you are talking about.  I think I bumped into Vonnegut somewhere around herding cats, which just popped into my head for some reason.

Goddess Kamala

Oh, let her have the moment. 

Ok, that was enough. My goodness, President of the United States, a black woman who's just not that smart,  perhaps adequate, but she's snappy. 

I'm sorry, I have a high bar over here; it's not so much about the intellect; it's about the heart, and I'm not sure she has one. I'd love it if I were incorrect. I think, three slices Bernie, 2 of Kamala. 

Time

Like many of us, reticent to even sneeze until after the election. /nudge

Tips

It has to pass first. less than 50- 50.

Culture 

It's knee deep.

About the Tok

Dana, here's the thing.

Tiktok is the most ineffective social media in the world. Views mean absolutely nothing. The same goes for Twitter and Instagram. I said ineffective. A bot can be as effective as a person, more so, it never sleeps. That's the neighborhood.

Likes too, it's a game. There is no point in winning it. People with brains figure it out. Those people with one hand clapping on those platforms are all about self-pleasure. 

If your thing is pimping Jerry Curl for $3, my apologies. 

The Other Tik

TikTok is for kids, and that's problematic. The mobile apps are easy to hack, and they seem to get hacked often, perhaps sometimes on purpose. It may be valid to ask if any content ever isn't a hack of some kind.

I tend to think it is. 

!#(% the Tok, they don't need you and you don't need them. Grow up.

Morning World 

Much love 🎙️

Morning World 

Much love 🍅

Specifically, how will your administration protect Social Security and Medicare? 

Will you support expanding the FICA contribution cap and extending benefits to include eyewear and dental care?

Good Saturday

I never know what to do with myself Saturdays, there so little news one must purposely pursue a line of thought to generate impetus to write. Usually, topics to write about fall out of the air, like airliners or something.

I just asked Siri and Google when it would rain next.  As it is mid-August, the wise among us, or perhaps the unwise, are beach-bound with a cooler and a partner for fun in the sun. It never rains in California, though it has been known to pour infamously in song and Hollywood daily. 

I'm considering whether that makes habitants inured to the climate, and the weather not presenting any challenges. I'll have to move back to Minnesota and reflect in a weekly thunderstorm or tornado watch. I can project, however. 

There is absolutely no chance of rain here. When I was young, the remark was free, white, and 21. 

I'm no longer young. Have a beach day. It was mentioned 'white' might be racist. Well, here's the thing: I'm white. It doesn't bother me at all. Us white people call each other white all the time, you could call it the W word.

Airline Safety

Look Up In the Tree 

It's a Brazilian airliner. The videos are strange. It's hard to stop an airliner and let it fall out of the air. What is the stall speed of this aircraft? Is it rated to fly with one engine? What is the restart procedure?

I mean no disrespect to the families. May their memory be a blessing.

...Make Housing More Affordable? 

This is an odd circumstance. It's because I would be for it if it were achievable.  Short of rental subsidies, I don't see how you do that, and that does not deal with the base problem. 

A presidential memo cannot change the mortgage rate either.

So, how, specifically?

Take Me To the Church 

The economic scales are out of balance; that's the problem. That means higher compensation. Yes, that throws everything out of whack; if it were easy, we'd have fixed it by now; lagging wages keep the income gap gaping. The trick is to level the graph without causing a depression.

I can only conclude that you don't mind if we find that analysis superficial; please explain. Impractical solutions are not a solution.

I don't want to get apocalyptic. It's only 10:30, but the world model is out of date, too. Usually, war attempts to correct these little imbalances, but that's hardly the easy way; it's just the most likely one.

I don't have a global solution. I'm not the President. I guess I'd start with values and work my way out. From what I know of the State Department and Foreign Policy in general, that's where the problems start.

Joe's got big shoes.

A Late Start

...what did I miss?

Get the Hook 

I've got Donald rambling on about his demons. It was one sentence, at least 10 minutes long. He's taking questions. 

My pants are bigger than yours, paraphrased when asked about worrying about losing the race. Now he's in Afghanistan, two sentences later. Now inflation. Now fuel, EV's yada yada yada. I think I saw this somewhere before. Crowd size again. Oy vey. 

Donald, if you lose, will you accept the result?

Someone let us know if he answers; I'm not holding my breath.

Still Meh 

The winds of change are still swirling, this is not enough. I beg to differ. That which wants for more wants for more still. It's time to fix this.

What may be different is a resolve not to let rhetoric, dogma, party rules, or carpet-bagging campaign gurus stop us this time.

Cue-Ball 

Mr. YouCantCallMeAnAssWithMyFistInYourMouth reinvented politics. Let's reinvent him.

Fall Down Go Boom 

We all have heard it; when you get knocked down, you get back up. And when they knock you down again, you sell like everyone else.

That was Wednesday. What else do you want to talk about?

Both Approaches

As per broadcast, campaigns can about the positive or the negative; progress and school lunches or retribution and anger.

David, both of those approaches work, for an election. Not for a world. As I said, do the right thing; it's the only thing.

Vince Lombardi called it winning, which is just a side effect. 

Shapiro

Every campaign event would need a SWAT team. It's just not practical. It's more about genocide than anti-semitism anyway. Listen, there is always that squeaky wheel.  Woe is us. Some people need to be treated differently or think it's discrimination. That's perspective. 

No matter Mr Shapiro's stand on the issue, the other faction would be in the audience 20 signs deep.

Given the active persecution of people that disagree with Israel, if you don't recall, if anything, there's reverse discrimination, APAC anyone?

Even people you may know.

Finally, I should also mention that it's a choice based on reality. Submit your comments to Kamala. 

The Day Ahead 

First coffee, then I'll punt. No that's the plan.

/Punt

Mr Walz

This post is like those forms with 'required' in fine print over the box. He's from Minnesota; I don't need to check his CarFax. There's no movie, and no bullshit. The important thing is he's not armed, and there isn't a battalion of Marines on call everywhere they go. 

The ticket looks good from many perspectives. As I pointed out, I'm hoping that there are enough honest men and women to accomplish shared objectives to improve the human condition for everyone in America. 

The progressive voices will not be silent. It's the right thing to do. It's the only thing to do.

All progressives have views that are our own and not for cloistering and bickering about. Left to ourselves, we would get it done. 

Learn from our example.

The Missing Semantic 

That something that is missing is something besides Rainbo Brite and an army of obstetrics surgeons as the theme. There has been no real talk of issues, just rhetoric. 

Yes, we're under threat; all that stuff is true. !#(% the fear, deal with how we fix this and remain undistracted by politicians with gloomy narratives. Trump will tear this nation a new one, ok. 

The nation is falling apart from the middle class and down. We have real issues.

Speak up or hand the baton to someone with moxy. Mr Sanders, have another talk with the new ticket, please.

Update 

The list is extracted from sources on the internet, the newspapers, and the streaming media and attempts to describe the view of America as reported.

Demands for America List

Better Angels List for America

• Campaign finance reform 

  • to wrest control of the candidates and the elections from whoever writes the biggest checks.

• One voice, one person,  one vote.

• Racial equality (from JD)

  • Employment equality

  • Election equality

• Expand Medicare and Social Security (Bernie)

  • I want to be empowered to feel good about my retirement

  • Expand benefits to eye care and dentistry

  • Extend the contribution cap for the wealthy

• Immigration

  • A saner path to immigration

Sense of Humor's Wish List

• I don't want to pay taxes.

• I want everything to be cheaper than it is.

And Visions of Pelosi 

The Emeritus herself was on with Dana, begging our indulgences; she did it for the good of America. 

Number one on the shortlist is Nancy. Who said you could rule here?

Ok, I'll be more serious. You are a house member, not even officially a ruling member. Ok, forty years in Guyana, yada yada yada. In my neighborhood, when a four-year-old says out-of-band nonsense about ruling on the floor of the House, we take away the crowns and tiaras; I guess your parents didn't think of that. Maybe they encourage this delusional behavior.

When their district is a shit-hole country all to itself, what does Emeritus mean?

I have a request from myself and many thinking Americans.

Forget this number. One voice, one person, one vote. No more kings and queens, if you don't like the invitation, es tut mir lied. My German isn't what it should be.. I have the Constitution on my side as you know. You bring the money, yes. That is the biggest problem we have. Oh we'll still take the money, but lets put a filter on it, and not you personally.

If you don't trust the people to vote, you are the problem.

If you want to help, invest in campaign finance reform, the good for America kind.

La Música para la Mujer de los Pantalones Grandes

I'm Late

I feel like a rabbit with Alice in tow, tea for two? Mondays are like that. Everything happens on a Monday. I think the blues is about Monday. There is popular music about Monday like mad.

Keep it under your hat, I've been doing retail therapy again. The remainder of the ammunition and dichromium crystals list. A man's work is never done, though often undone. Just ask Mr Joe.

If I've been neglectful, my sincere apologies. It's not all about me. I just needed socks.

AI and The Human Race

Dana mentions the market sell-off and the part AI speculation plays. Her fears surround AI taking over the world or as an economic threat or as a mechanism for further dividing the economy.

The answer? Yes.

AI, at least most of the offerings that they call AI these days just aren't that useful. It's almost on purpose as if it was profitable, they'd have to discern how to charge for it, and the net effect of disjuncture is slowing innovation.

I consider myself one of the few people that I know who, even theoretically, have a reason to have an AI as an integral part of their life or workday. There may be many, but there may not be as many as those claiming so, claim. I find it wanting. 

Honestly, I'm fearful of using it for many of my projects, as Google mentions a savvy user will not share any details about proprietary processes, as it can legally be used as part of Google AI models. Other projects I run into the "Sorry, that's information we decided you don't need to know, and we're telling you to shut up about it." or words to that effect, warnings. Biochem especially. Can I help it if I know this stuff? 

So, it could be more useful, but !#(% that. 

I think these reasons are effective brakes. Toss in Microsoft and Oracle, and get your checkbook ready. Is there a bigger brake than money? That's the problem in the markets. ROI based on speculative momentum is passe. 

And it's also why you can sleep with both eyes closed unless you don't want to use an AI for your work.

 AI will eventually rule the world; we'll all write the stuff, and our lives will be hell or nirvana. It's up to us. Actually, like everything else, it's up to people with money who don't know what the heck they are doing, like the markets. Go ahead and be a little nervous. 

Pardon my street; I was shopping; it rubs off like a sweet potato.

Morning World 

Much love 👾👾👾👾👾👾

Morning World 

Much love 🍧

The TIcket 

The Democratic ticket is getting cast in cement this weekend, if it isn't already. I take it that the announcement stating the campaign run to all of the battleground states begins in Pennsylvania, not Mississippi, not Arizona, not Minnesota is an indicator.

I think the choice of Pennsylvania governor would cost the election. The ticket can't just pretend WWIII isn't brewing in the Middle East, and most progressive Americans aren't comfortable with it, for good reason.  

If the Pennsylvania Governor has strong support, he should be able to sway voters in his state off the ticket.

I've had a change of heart about Astronaut Kelly. Here's what bent my opinion.

The media reports that whats-her-name seeks someone who can help her govern. I don't recall that on the list of qualifying criteria before. It's a big job, big enough for anyone. Given the world we are in, to support a candidate that thinks the presidency is a hammer and the world needs pounding would be unthinkable. What's a mother to do.

I've watched Minnesota Governor Wahls, and I think it's a better pick. It should help in battleground states, and he won't have to fight the first great Arab-Israel war on the campaign trail.

I've seen the reports that the most liberal candidate is on the ticket, but I still see Uncle Joe's 711 and Muffler Repair neon sign. 

My Focus 

I have such full days, and I often don't have time for many things. The thick of thin things.

Other than that, the usual endless triage of the news on the streams. 

I often speak of the magic token, black on one side, white on the other. Take a guess.

Let's Clear Things Up 

The public needs to know where the Democratic ticket stands on issues. The media must help with this. But my blog could be a good resource for a list of grievances to nail to the door.

I'm fatigued to think of accumulating a list, so let's deal with the issues as they come up, ya? I concur; it's a good plan.

Let's start with Israel.

That Hole in Gaza 

Whats the nominee-designate's stand on the war in Israel? More weapons, less weapons, more pressure, less pressure, or whatever your hub tells you? What are the conditions for the involvement of American troops or assets?  What is the end game for the US, and exactly how do we get out of this? 

While talking about gapping hole engineering we're financing, let's consider the excavations in the Ukraine; we posit the same basic questions. 

Birth Control and Women's Health

Birth control too, we can probably infer broad strokes, but in detail, what procedures for what conditions, and what week? This is your bread and butter here.  There should be a national minimum standard structure, advocate one. A working structure.

Voting Rights 

Spell out what you would do differently to make progress on disenfranchisement, get on the bridge and yell it out. 

Equality

I feel like I'm on a roll. All the talk you talk about help for struggling families is a start, but it is not enough. Please also recognize that the cost of a family is daunting even without kids. Further along the same thread, single life is even harder. What will you do about that? 

For too many Americans, there is no path up. Achievable means meant for supermen don't meet the need. 

There are many more interesting problems with labels like: education, training, college, and mortgage. Endless.

That should keep you busy. Chop chop that Yellow Canary is eating children.

Markets Rush 

The markets are off a bunch, it won't auger in, the stock market works like an elevator, if the brakes break, the government slows the damage. 

I note that all tech is selling off, and the big AI spenders are all stopping off at the cleaners. Discretionaries and consumer industries are feeling it, too.  America is apparently running out of quarters for the five cents worth of gum machines. This indicates a lack of faith in the retail market; once thought it would keep everyone floating while they launch yachts. 

The royal everyone has been working the Russell index, it's been the only place to hide from falling tech giants. Yes, them too. 

I've been warning about the irrational exuberance of the markets, especially concerning AI speculation and, in particular, NVDA. The counter argument was that the wave lasted long enough to pay for three Bentleys, STFU. Ok, I'm shutting. Now you own chip stock, and no one can afford to speculate on it anymore. You clearly won. 

The impetus is the jobs report. Hiring is not up, but reportedly, wages are up.  I spent seven dollars and change for a single at Wendy's yesterday. It's still almost too expensive for the employees. I did not see much indication of the high life in their faces. 

Burgers aren't much of an indicator, and I don't eat burgers often. I take the lesson. As I've been saying, it is a bifurcated economy, nearly predatory, with the top eating the other for lunch, not at Wendy's. 

There's more to read in the movements in the markets. 

In a more sinister way, this is the oligarchy telling the Fed that they wanted a rate cut because the impact of price hikes on unit sales is affecting profits, and an interest rate break to augment the dip in the EBITDA moves that money around. 

The winds of the market are more sinister than the most evil fire-breathing dragon. Ask any MBA.