The Dems are Still Missing the Point on the Working Class : #It's the Economy, Stupid

I think 2018 will be bad for the Dems unless they figure out what really went wrong.

“I think there’s a sense that some portion of the Democratic Party shares the blame for what happened,” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman told reporters. “The Democrats acquiesced in many ways to policies making people’s lives worse.”

He was referring obliquely to the legacy of former President Bill Clinton ― deregulating high finance, gutting welfare, feeding mass incarceration ― which leaders of a party ostensibly devoted to empowering the powerless have been reluctant to acknowledge

Okay this is exactly why Trump won working-class voters in the Midwest. They don't care about deregulating high finance. Jailing banksters does not help them get a job or bring back the plant or mill that left for Mexico. They don't want to be on welfare unless its absolutely necessary. Welfare amounts to failure in their eyes. And going to jail is incredibly shameful to them so mass incarceration doesn't factor into anything. 

Empowering the powerless (calling them powerless is an insult in itself) is protecting their good jobs and making sure that they don't leave for Mexico or China. This is exactly what Trump did and got their votes for it. Again Carville is 100% right when he says this.

“The Democratic coalition lives in the economy, all right?” former Bill Clinton campaign manager James Carville told reporters. “The idea that somehow it’s only white working-class people that live in an economy …  blacks, Hispanics, unmarried women, gay people ― they’re like everybody else.”

Yes and they all would like good jobs and a booming economy. They don't want minimum wage hikes or someone to call them "powerless." It was Carville who said "It's the economy stupid." Um Dems "It's the economy stupid." 

Wait Didn't Madonna Just Threaten the Presidents Life: Maybe she Should be Investigated

I think the Secret Service needs to check into this.

Madonna made a surprise appearance at the Women's March on Washington and in her remarks said, "Yes, I'm angry. Yes, I am outraged. Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House ... But I know that this won't change anything. We cannot fall into despair."

That is an overt threat against the President which is a crime. I think the Trump people need to crack down on this kind of loose talk before some crazy Madonna-lover actually tries it. You can disagree with Trump or work to vote him out in 2020 but these kind of threats are beyond the pale.

That Didn't Take Long: Chris Matthews Calls Trump Inaugural Address Hitlerian

Um shouldn't it be Hitler-like?

“He said today ‘America first,’” Matthews said as President Obama departed D.C. by helicopter on screen. “It was not just the racial—I shouldn't say racial, I should say Hitlerian—background to it. The message I keep thinking is: What does [U.K. prime minister] Theresa May think of this when she picks up the paper and says, ‘Oh my God, what did he just say? He said America first. What happened to the special relationship?’ What if you’re Putin? You’re probably pounding the table, saying, ‘That’s what I’ve been saying! Russia first!’”

Oh no what does the UK Prime Minister think! I guess that tingle in the leg for Obama just went right to Matthews brain. What is hilarious is that every country in the world thinks this way. It is only the US that has to knee-cap their industries for Global Warming while the Red Chinese say they will reduce emissions in 2030 maybe. Also Obama didn't think about the special arrangement with Britain all through-out his 8 years in office.

Trump Getting Ready to Cut $10.5 Trillion (Yes Trillion with a T!) in Spending over 10 Years

I guess we might need to get used to seeing commercials on Public Television.

The departments of Commerce and Energy would see major reductions in funding, with programs under their jurisdiction either being eliminated or transferred to other agencies. The departments of Transportation, Justice and State would see significant cuts and program eliminations.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting would be privatized, while the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities would be eliminated entirely.

Overall, the blueprint being used by Trump’s team would reduce federal spending by $10.5 trillion over 10 years.

Thankfully this might also mean no more Piss Christ sponsored with Tax Payer money. I guess they might roll Commerce into Treasury and maybe Energy into Interior. I would be willing to bet Energy will probably drop all of its conservation work and maybe roll out its lab work to Universities or what-have-you. I also wonder if State would get rid of its security force as well? In any case this is why the tax cuts will be revenue neutral because they are going to cut spending by a bunch.

I Just Figured out the Trump Presidency: He acts Crazy and his Cabinet walks it Back

I think I understand the Trump Presidency now. He acts like a crazy man and freaks out China or Germany and his people walk it back. Its Good Cop vs Crazy Cop. Trump comes out firing on Twitter and elsewhere so when the actual plan is hatched it looks reasonable. So Trump goes after the One China policy and Tillerson then calls the Red Chinese and assures them that he will talk Trump down. Then they get a currency plan/trade policy/whatever passed because "the alternate would be un-thinkable." Very canny policy and very tricky as well.

It Seems that the Trump Cabinet Might be Quite a Calming Influence on Trump Judging from Mnuchin Testimony

I guess Trump makes big sweeping statements and its his cabinets job to walk things back.

Mnuchin also provided a bit more clarity on the “border taxes” Trump has been tweeting about, saying Trump has no plan to institute across-the-board tax cuts on imports. Instead, those taxes would be levied only on specific companies that move jobs out of the United States and import products back into the country. “He’s referred to a small number of companies moving jobs and putting products back into the United States,” Mnuchin said. “In no way has he contemplated a broad 35% border tax.”

With that statement we have some clarity as to a border tax. It is only going to effect some companies (this might be restraint of trade but might not hit the WTO) and not every import into the country. So Apple brings the iPhone production back into the US and they don't get hit with the tax but if they keep it in China they might get the tax. You have a ton of questions (when is the tax triggered, who levies it, etc.) but at least you have more transparency and it isn't some broad tax tweeted out at 3am. I was also waiting for this tid-bit.

Like Wilbur Ross, Trump’s nominee for Commerce Secretary, Mnuchin outlined plans to revamp trade deals with Mexico and China that sound less draconian than what has come out of Trump’s own mouth. With regard to the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump faults for killing American jobs, Mnuchin said, “I’m optimistic we can renegotiate that deal in a way that is advantageous for us and advantageous for Mexico, and is a win-win for both countries.”

So it goes from "Trade War with China and Mexico" to bilateral trade talks with each country with a win-win scenario in mind. It's what a CEO would do with a negotiation with a difficult supplier. Sit down and figure a way for both of parties to profit and come away with something decent. If all goes well we might have 3-4% US GDP growth and maybe get Mexico's GDP growth up from that dismal 1%. If you improve their economy then the immigration problem might disappear because Mexicans might stay home and make a better wage then risking their lives to cross the border.

Um #Wall Street Journal a Powerful Venture Capitalist named Time Draper Just Accused Your Reporter of Taking a $4 Million Bribe for Exposing Theranos

I think he wants to not believe that he was taken by Theranos and their Steve Jobs worshiping CEO.

Draper said he wasn't troubled by the initial report about problems at Theranos. By the second report, he had already identified what he called a "vendetta."

"I dismissed it because there are always writers who want to take down big successes," Draper told Axios. "Then after the next one I realized there was some strange vendetta. Maybe it had to do with money. The guy is getting $4 million to continue this charade."
Emphasis ours, because it's worth pointing out here that a venture capitalist just accused a reporter of taking a four million dollar check.

I wonder who in Draper-world was supposed to be writing big checks to this reporter? Was it a bonus from the WSJ for "destroying Theranos?" Was it money paid from a competing lab service? Was it Alien astronaut theorists? That's where my bet is. Elizabeth Holmes is actually a Grey and the Lizard People paid this reporter to "expose her." Just standard stuff.

A Very Good Idea: Embed Young Reporters in the "Battleground States" in the Off Season

This would be a very interesting experiment in "getting outside of the bubble."

I’m confident that broadcast news viewers can learn a lot more from dispatches on issues and trends, filed from places like the Rust Belt and the New South―than they can from the predictable talking points doled out by the new administration’s White House spin machine, which has already proven itself adept at exploiting political journalism’s process-obsessed tendencies.

Editors and bureau chiefs: Instead of adding another body to the already overcrowded White House press corps, why not send that eager young journalist off to live in Ohio or Florida for a year, wielding a small video camera and keeping tabs on how the lives the people who elected Trump are being affected by his presidency?

They might have been able to have caught the Trump wave before it started and let the "bubble dwellers" in Washington know about it. You might even get a nice fish-out-of-water story where a young East Coast liberal that went to an Ivy goes down South and "embeds" with the locals for a year. Instead of finding endless redneck racists he finds salt-of-the-earth Americans while finding love or whatever. Kind of a real-life reality show without the fakery. 

It would be cheap because the reporter could Facebook Live the whole thing and simply file dispatches with a selfie stick. It might be pretty compelling TV depending on how charismatic the reporter is as well. But I will be willing to bet that some of them will go native and come back not as liberal as when they left. However, that would really improve the news rooms in Washington and New York though.

Wait? What? Half of All Adults in Detroit are functionally illiterate?

This is a crazy stat if true.

If Detroit’s charters are hardly world-class, they are demonstrably better than the city’s traditional public schools, which is the most relevant metric for Detroit parents. The traditional public schools have failed abysmally for generations (about half of adults in Detroit are functionally illiterate).

Wow I guess its true according to this report. That is a travesty and its sad that no one seems to care about that happening in America.

According to History (which is a Terrible Indicator) the Market Should go Up 18.5% by Year End

As always the past does not predict the future. However if it did we are going to be sitting on a pile of cash by year end.

What happens when the first five days of January finish higher and the month of January finishes higher during the first year of a presidential cycle? Good things!

During nine instances in which both the first five days of January and the month as a whole finished higher during the first year of a presidential cycle, stocks have closed the year in positive territory 8 times.

The average annual return? 18.5%.

I'll take half of that and be very happy for the year.

One more for the Inaugural Event: Sam from Sam and Dave: Why Don't they Have Ordinary Americans do the Event

Well I guess that is something.

Sam Moore of soul/R&B duo Sam & Dave has announced that he will perform at the “Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration” on January 19 in Washington, D.C. “I was a participant in the civil rights movement and have seen many positive changes and advancement in my 81 years of living in this wonderful country, but I know we must all join hands and work together with our new President,” the “Soul Man” singer said in a press release. “I honestly believe that if we can accomplish this, the best is yet to come. We all as Americans need to unite behind our new President and give him a chance. He needs everyone’s support to make America greater, stronger and an even better country.”

Why don't they have a bunch of non-famous Americans play at the gala? They could make it like a pseudo American Idol but audition them first. Then they can play a handful of songs at the actual event. It is probably too late to bring something like that together but it would be interesting. It would show the grass-roots nature of the Trump win.

40 Dems to Not show up for Trump Inauguration: Um So What?

Here is a list of the various Congress-folk that will not show up for a peaceful transfer of power.

More than 40 Democratic lawmakers have announced they intend to skip Donald Trump’s inauguration this week to protest the president-elect’s plans for the country. The boycotters now make up one in five of all House Democrats, and their decision to protest represents a break with tradition that they say is warranted by Trump’s agenda.

Of course every one of them is from a safe liberal district and are actually probably big heroes due to their boycott. In any case let them sit out because they are soon to be very insignificant for the next 2 to 4 years.  

The End of the Clinton Global Influence Peddling err Initiative

I guess the money train has pulled into the station for a part of the Clinton machine.

But after the election, some of the foundation’s donors acted as if the causes CGI supported were no longer worthy. The Australian government said it did not intend to continue its donations to the Clinton Foundation; it had given $88 million over ten years. After dramatically increasing its yearly donation in 2014 and 2015, the government of Norway chose to reduce its donation by 87 percent after the election

I bet Australia and Norway were getting ready for the inside tract to the ear of the new President. Instead they are out in the cold with the rest of the countries trying to curry favor with the Trumps.

Wait! What? Conservatives are better Looking Than Liberals? Have you Seen Donald Trump?

You can say what you want about Donald Trump but good looking is not one of those things.

According to a study published in the Journal of Public Economics, attractive-looking politicians have an advantage when it comes to winning votes — and researchers have also concluded that conservative party members from Europe, Australia, and the United States tend to be “more beautiful” than liberal candidates.

Responding to previous research that found a connection between appearance and electoral success, a team of researchers from Sweden, Prague, and Germany theorized that Republicans are better-looking than Democrats and that voters who lean right value beauty more in a “low-information setting.”

I guess since these researchers are from Europe they had to get that dig about "low-information" in there. However, I don't think this applies when it comes to Donald Trump. He looks like a beady-eyed, wizened man-baby with a freaky blond comb-over. Hillary looked like a typical grandma but not seriously ugly or anything. Maybe they compared Bernie Sanders to Paul Ryan or something.

Kind of Poetic Justice: Soros Loses a Billion Dollars during the Trump Rally

Oh well, I guess you win some and lose some.

Billionaire George Soros lost nearly $1 billion after the stock market surged following Donald Trump 's unexpected Nov. 8 election victory, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The hedge-fund manager's former deputy, Stanley Druckenmiller, however, foresaw the rally and gained a sizable profit, the Journal reported, citing people close to the matter.

I guess Druckenmiller decided to bet his wallet and not his ideology as Soros seemed to have done.

Nicole Kidman Says We Need to Support Trump: Watch Hollywood Take Her Down

I would be willing to bet she will lose roles over this.

"He is now elected and we as a country need to support whoever is president because that's what the country's based on," the dual Australian-American citizen and Oscar-winning star told the BBC this week.

"However that happened … He's there … And let's go," she concluded in response to the interviewer's question on what Kidman thought of the president-elect.

You can support the good stuff and fight the bad stuff. That is what I plan to do. 

#MK-Ultra: Mouse Edition

Now this is some scary stuff.

A team of scientists used brain control to turn about a dozen ordinary mice into killing machines. They employed a technique called optogenetics that manipulates neurons using light to make the fluffy critters go all Hulk on prey.
With the light switched off, the mice were mostly chill, sometimes even scurrying around their cages to avoid prey or toys made to resemble prey. But when the switch was on, things got ugly. Crickets in cages were attacked and beheaded, and plastic toys that looked like prey received powerful bites that would've been lethal.

Now how would you use this optogenetics to make humans do things other than attack their prey? Maybe certain lights are shined on people and they buy more stuff or become mind-less killers. This is entering very scary territory.

Trump Derangement Disorder Hollywood Edition: Rosie O’Donnell wants martial law to Prevent Trump

I guess we have to get used to these celebrities losing it over Trump.

Now, with less than 10 days until Trump takes the oath of office, O’Donnell says that she’d support “martial law” in order to delay his inauguration.

“FULLY SUPPORT IMPOSING MARTIAL LAW – DELAYING THE INAUGURATION – UNTIL TRUMP IS ‘CLEARED’ OF ALL CHARGES,” O’Donnell wrote in response to a Twitter user who suggested the U.S. military take control of the government until the president-elect can prove he  has no financial ties to Russia.

Yes lets let the military run the country until he is "cleared" of whatever imaginary charges the Hollywood elite is accusing him of. I think it will be an interesting 4 years.

Trump Strikes Back at CNN for Spreading Fake News

This is exactly why you need to corroborate sources before you just publish any old thing.

Trump scolded the network during his press conference on Wednesday and refused to take a question from CNN’s Jim Acosta.

“Your organization is terrible, don’t be rude,” the president-elect said. “No, I’m not going to give you a question. You are fake news.”

Trump accused CNN of reporting details from a 35-page intelligence document that the reporters were not able to independently corroborate.

I bet CNN is going to get all huffy about the 1st Amendment but the President-elect doesn't answer their questions if he doesn't want to. Especially if they report something as salacious as these allegations without any kind of independent corroboration. CNN would never have done this to Obama in a million years so I guess I can agree with Trump when he says this treatment is unfair. I hope Trump freezes them out for four years because they will lose it if that happened.

$2.3 trillion Moving From Bonds into Stocks?

That is what Societe Generale's Cross Asset Research team is thinking.

"Most investors have only just started to adapt the structure of their portfolios," the note said. "In most instances, truly bold and brave decisions that potentially concern all portfolio components have still yet to be taken."

Societe Generale estimates that a 10% reweighting to equities would imply a global portfolio reshuffle of $2.3 trillion.

Wait for a post inauguration pull-back and everyone will be buying that dip for sure. Will the uncertainty of Obama turn into a raging bull market for Trump? We need 3%+ GDP growth for that.

What a Bogus Chart: Jay Kaeppel Shows a Steep Decline whenever the GOP Secures Congress and the Presidency

I hate when you see something like this saying the Trump rally will fade just because it happened in the past.

The last three such turnovers came in 2000, with the election of George W. Bush; 1980, Ronald Reagan; and 1968, Richard Nixon. Kaeppel looks at the percentage gain and loss for the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.32%  from Dec. 31 of the election year through the subsequent midterm election year for each, in other words, roughly the first 20 months of each new administration.

Bush got hammered by 9/11 less than a year into his term. That torpedoed any chance of meaningful tax reform or anything else other than the drumbeat of war and trillions that it took to fight it. You also had a recession during this time as well. During this time you have the FED raising rates like crazy to cool off the stock market's "irrational exuberance." Nothing like we have now

During the 1980s with Ronald Reagan you had interest rates at 12%. Imagine if you could buy a bond that would pay better then nearly any stock out there today. However, if you bought the S&P500 on Jan 20, 1980 you were in at 111.07 and Jan 20, 1984 you were at 167.04. A very nice gain that looks nothing like this chart in the link above. If you held for Reagans entire term you would have made a pretty nice sum.

Nixon had high inflation to deal with along with the Vietnam war, riots, etc. in the early part of his term. Then you had the Yom Kippur War and a subsequent Oil Embargo dropping us into a recession. Finally, he had to resign because of Watergate. It's hard to think of economic policy when you are negotiating with the Vietnamese, while fighting a war, and then having the Congress voting on articles of impeachment. You add 10% inflation to this mix and its hard to think about any meaningful growth during this time.

In any case unless we fight a new war (with who I have no idea,) have insane inflation, or sky-high interest rates we won't see that BS cascading waterfall chart in that link above. The other thing that is messed up is this Jay Kaeppel guy also conveniently forgets the raging bull market in 1952-1954 when Eisenhower had a GOP Congress. I do agree that one should be careful at all time highs and missteps by the GOP Congress could give us a pullback but nothing like that 25% drop in the S&P 500 that this guy is predicting.

It Seems that Trump is Pro-Union and it Should have the Dems Running Scared

It does sound like he is a pro-Union protectionist Democrat in some of his auto-company Tweets.

Trump's protectionist threats continue to anger many conservative economic purists. But Democrats are the ones who should be irate, and they will be once they figure out what Trump is doing and doing successfully. He's pulling their most important source of financial and ballot box support right out from under them. 

I think what he is doing is what I like to call "Economic Nationalism." If you want to sell us cars you don't build your plant in Mexico and take advantage of cheap labor and then ship them across the border. You build them in the US and hire American workers (who happen to be Union) and then sell us the cars. 

The funny thing is that nearly every other country practices "economic nationalism." I mean the Mexicans can theoretically raise their minimum wage to match ours but they want American jobs for their people. They are playing the Great Game much better than we have done for the past 8 years. It must be weird for Democratic Unionists to back a flamboyant billionaire like this. But he seems like the only one listening to them.

My Idea for the Megyn Kelly Replacement on Fox: Trish Regan on a Financially Themed Program also Cancel Red Eye and put Tomi Lahren vs a Liberal

Here is the short-list on who will replace Kelly at 9pm on Fox. This is the most interesting person on the list.

Trish Regan

Regan has filled in admirably for Kelly in the past and would bring a finance and business skill set to Fox News’ primetime lineup.

I think the Trump Years will be dominated by economic moves more than anything else. His foreign policy seems to be a retreat from foreign entanglements and multi-lateral things. So being an expert here will not be the most helpful. However, a person that has a grasp of economics would serve the public well. 

Have her explain how the tax cuts will affect the Fox Viewer. Explain a potential bi-lateral trade deal with China would take shape. Expose a potential trade war with Mexico. Talk about what cuts to regulations the Trump White House will push to Congress. This will kind of be like what Neil Cavuto used to do before he went to Fox Business. Some politics with a heavy dose of economics. I would watch this kind of show every night no matter what. Also I think this person needs a show.

Tomi Lahren

The conservative commentator is a rising star on TheBlaze and it’s only a matter of time until she lands on a major cable news network.

Snap her up early and add her to the Fox Family. She can be the conservative bomb thrower that Glenn Beck used to be on Fox. I would cancel Red Eye, which has always been terrible, and put her in that spot. Maybe square her off against a liberal a la Hannity and Colmes and let the debate begin. That would be a very difficult to beat hard news block and would have a little bit of everything for the viewer. 

I Think it is a Mistake for Megyn Kelly to Leave Fox News

Well the election made her a giant star so she is cashing her chips in when it counts.

Kelly's closing remarks came less than 12 hours after the surprise announcement that she will be giving up her prime-time role at Fox for a multi-year deal that includes several roles at NBC. She will launch a daytime program as well as a Sunday evening news magazine show, and be part of the network’s coverage of major political and breaking-news events.

First of all a daytime program is nothing like the second most popular ratings spot on cable news. She gets to go up against Ellen, Hoda and Kathie Lee, and more light-hearted people like that. People watching daytime TV probably don't want too high a dose of hard news. Case-in-point is how the View seems to be flounder when the election is not on. So I have a feeling that her daytime TV show (which I guess will be after Hoda and Kathie Lee in the 11th Hour of the Today show or whatever it is called) seems destined to flop. I don't think you can go from the hard-ish news of the Today show, the drunken frivolity of Hoda and Kathie Lee, and back to the hard news of Kelly.

The Sunday News magazine might be watched somewhat but I just don't see it beating the Fox comedies, NCIS: LA, Amazing Race etc. It will get strait-up buried if its up against Game of Thrones or Walking Dead. Also the show might get pushed back time and again because of Sunday Night Football. I guess NBC will be using this as a lead-in much of the time but will people go from Football to hard-news just like that? NBC is betting big money on people making that jump.

Finally, is she really going to replace Lester Holt doing the breaking-news and political coverage? He seems to be the face of NBC and is doing a good job of that. If there is a disaster or something I'm almost certain NBC will cut to Holt instead of Kelly. I'm certain she will be the debate moderator if NBC gets another debate in 2020 but will her shows actually last that long?

So, other than the money, I think this might actually be a step back for her. I know she wanted to get out of O'reilly's huge shadow but this might not have been the best offer. I think whoever replaces her will become a huge star in their own right while Kelly disappears into irrelevance. I enjoyed watching her on Fox but will probably not follow her anywhere on NBC since I have a daytime job and I like watching Simpsons, Game of Thrones, etc.       

Zuckerberg to Get Amongst the Hoi Polloi: Ask them How Technology and Globalization is Effecting Them: PS "It's Messing them Up Mark"

Maybe more lefties should have done this traveling and talking earlier. They could have staved off the Trump-Revolution.

"After a tumultuous last year, my hope for this challenge is to get out and talk to more people about how they're living, working and thinking about the future," Zuckerberg wrote in the post.
This is the latest personal challenge Zuckerberg has given himself. In previous years, he has built artificial intelligence for his home, learned Mandarin, read 25 books and ran 365 miles.
With this challenge, Zuckerberg is wading into a national debate over the societal impact of technology and Silicon Valley's disconnect with big segments of its users. The technology boom has created massive wealth and high-paying jobs in tech hubs such as Silicon Valley but technological advances and increased automation have destroyed jobs elsewhere.

Technology and Globalization is what took many of the jobs of the people that voted for Obama twice then voted for Trump. Maybe if more Silicon Valley billionaires like Zuckerberg actually meet some everyday Americans they might have a little more compassion for them. It would be interesting what Zuckerberg learns from this trip. 

Sign of the #RobotTakeover: 3000 Autonomous Cars could Replace NYCs 13,000 Car Taxi Fleet with a 2.3 Minute Wait Time

That means robot cars running around picking people up and jetting around the city to busy areas.

CSAIL's Daniela Rus and her team created an algorithm that crunched data from three million New York City taxi rides, calculating routes and schedules for two-person, four-person, and ten-person vehicles. The results showed that 3,000 four-person cabs could help handle 98 percent of the City's demand (with a waiting time of 2.3 minutes), while 3,000 two-person cabs could handle 94 percent and just 2,000 ten-person vehicles could handle 95 percent.

I wonder if this study just had the cars gather people and deposit them in the most efficient manner? So if a person had a long trip would a car be routed to them empty? Or would it wait and gather 3 other people before it came to pick the person up?

In any case the idea of empty cars picking people up sounds pretty creepy. I would refuse to ride in a empty taxi fearing that it could be hacked and rerouted to someplace where you can be robbed. I guess that could happen in a regular taxi but you figure you could catch the guy easier then some faceless hacker.

An Example of EPA Overreach: They Want to Shut Down Wood Stoves in the Depths of the Alaskan Winter

This is exactly why cleaning up regulations will be a big deal in 2017.

Like most people in Alaska, the residents of those frozen cities are burning wood to keep themselves warm this winter. Smoke from wood-burning stoves increases small-particle pollution, which settles in low-lying areas and can be breathed in. The EPA thinks this is a big problem. Eight years ago, the agency ruled that wide swaths of the most densely populated parts of the region were in “non-attainment” of federal air quality standards.
That prompted state and local authorities to look for ways to cut down on pollution from wood-burning stoves, including the possibility of fining residents who burn wood. After all, a declaration of noncompliance from the EPA would have enormous economic implications for the region, like the loss of federal transportation funding.

So they threatened people using wood burning stoves with "economic implications" for simply keeping themselves from dying during winter? This is exactly why people dislike the EPA and cite them for all sorts of nonsense.

The Lost City of Leng found the the Antarctic! #HPLovecraft

NASA do not investigate!

Scientists believe a massive object that could change our understanding of history is hidden beneath the Antarctic ice.
The huge and mysterious “anomaly” is thought to be lurking beneath the frozen wastes of an area called Wilkes Land. The area is 151 miles across and has a minimum depth of about 2,700 feet.
Some researchers believe it is the remains of a truly massive asteroid more than twice the size of the Chicxulub space rock that wiped out the dinosaurs.

151 miles across and 2700 feet deep! That is no asteroid! That is a City man was never meant to see! Its full of eldritch terrors, alien buildings, and ululating pipes that drive men insane. Unwholesome bodied and noisome fleshed creatures prowl its cyclopean streets and raise their thousand maws and ten-thousand eyes to uncaring Gods at the Center of the Universe. It is a place lost to time and should be lost from memory by the good people of this world. NASA beware!   

2017 Predicitons: Its Going to be a Good Year Folks

Politics

1. Donald Trump will have a whirlwind 100 days and will have one of the more successful runs in modern times. He leaves much of the heavily lifting to his talented cabinet and goes after minutiae with his Twitter account and phone. There will be a rise of the Trump Twitter-ologists like the Kremlin-ologists of old who pick over his Tweets looking for hidden meanings and such. All in all at the end of the year America would be well on the way to prosperity that it hasn't seen in more than 16 years.

2. There is a huge fight over the next Supreme Court nominee as the Dems make their stand on this issue. There is much character assassination and back-and-forth but Scalia's seat goes to another person in his same mold but far younger. This person turns out to not be as conservative as many think.

3. Black Lives matter leaves the stage as the racial animus in the country slowly recedes. By the end of the year there are less cop deaths and less deaths by violence by young African Americans. Crime levels slow go back to normal as the cops go back about their business with less fear.

4. The main stream media suffers cracks that they never had before as CNN, Fox, and MSNBC and the various newspapers become less important to the zeitgeist. Viewership is way down as American's enjoys the prosperity that the Trump era brings in. Many Americans are energized as consumer confidence and other measures are way up by the end of the year.

5. Hillary Clinton is not hear from very much but Obama seems to be everywhere as the left holds on to the last popular thing they seem to have left. Young Bernie supporters slowly remake the Democrat party as they stay involved in the process.


World

1. Russia moves back in the Great Power spotlight as they now have a man in the White House that apologizes for their misdeeds. They solidify gains in the Levant and form a partnership with the US to eliminate ISIS. Russia slowly moves their neighbors into their Sphere of Influence by undermining elections to but pro-Putin people in charge. Russia deftly plays the Great Game and looks powerful and influential by the end of the year.

2. North Korea collapses as Kim tries to hold onto power by eliminating everyone he can. It is not enough as the Red Chinese backed junta takes control of the Hermit Kingdom. The Red Chinese dominate North Korea and move their Sphere of Influence outward.

3. The Red Chinese still rattle the sabre in the South China sea and various places in the world but there is a rapprochement with the Trump White House (that is still weird to say) by the end of the year. The USA and China work on a long term trade and security deal that is unprecedented. There is no Trade War and oddly enough Trump turns out to be the best thing Red China ever got in the White House.

4. The Syrian Civil war is totally over by the end of the year as ISIS is destroyed by Russia and the USA working with Turkey. Assad stays in power and rebuilding starts in earnest as Russian petro-dollars pour into a solid place on the Mediterranean. Catherine the Greats dream is finally realized by the richest KGB agent to have ever lived.

5. Israel and the UN continue to spar but the problem seems to recede by the end of the year. Israel and the Palestinians find themselves in peace for much of the year.


Economic Predictions:

S&P 500: 2750
Dow: 22,000
NASDAQ: 5800
Russell 2000: 1510

Crude Oil: $75
Gold: $1200
EUR/Dollar: $0.98
10 Year Bond: 2.75

Sports Predictions:

NFL: Patriots
NBA: Golden State Warriors
MLB: Cleveland Indians
Premier League: Chelsea
Bundesliga: Hertha Berlin
NCAA Football: Clemson
NCAA Basketball: UCLA  

2016 Predictions a Look Back

Well here is my yearly look back at the Crystal Ball of Clairvoyance from last year. What really happened in blue.

Politics:

1. Hillary Clinton beats Donald Trump in a landslide victory. The Donald wins only the southern states but does not carry any of the key battleground states and loses Florida quite handily. He only gets about 9% of the Hispanic vote and it turns into a referendum on immigration. The rise of the Hispanic voter becomes the key issue in politics this year. The GOP barely holds onto the Senate but retains the House with only a few notable losses.  
Wow I strait up missed this one with Trump beating her fairly handily in the electoral but losing the worthless popular vote. The Hispanic vote didn't seem to matter at all with their turnout down. I did get the GOP holding the Senate and House though.

2. The GOP Congress finally gets some things done now that Paul Ryan is in charge. They send a bunch of symbolic bills that are defeated by a lame-duck Obama. The reactionary wing of the GOP calls for Ryan's ouster by the end of the year.
Some symbolic bills were sent in but it seems that they didn't do much of anything. 2017 will be a far different story.

3. Obamacare is dealt a blow from Democrats who try to alter it after hearing it from their constituents who are having trouble with high co-pays. Insurance companies mostly pull out of the exchanges and the price of health insurance does not go down by any appreciable margin.
Got this one as co-pays go sky high and health insurance companies flee the exchanges en mass.

4. Obama becomes very active at first but peters out as he takes many foreign trips. Almost all of the news will be about the Election and he quietly works well with the Ryan Congress. Trump and Hillary suck the air out of the room and Obama's ego is bruised.
Obama did take a few foreign trips but I think he will be very active in the last weeks of office as he grasps for a legacy, any legacy. Trump and Hillary did suck all the air out of the room.

5. Hillary is indited but the FBI does not pursue the case until after the election. She pretty much gets out of any blame for the illegal email server and it becomes a non-issue after the election.
She wasn't indited and it will become a non-issue after the election.

6. The US becomes slightly less partisan by the end of the year with both parties staying away from the extremes after Trump implodes.
Hmm America might become less partisan going forward but I doubt it.

World:

1. ISIS starts to collapse as recruits leave the fold and the bombing starts to get results. The Iraqi army pushes ISIS out of Iraq and regains a firm grip on their country. However, ISIS becomes even stronger outside of the remnants of the "Caliphate" as young radical Islamists fight the West from the comfort of their own homes. Several more terrorist attacks are planned and carried out but nothing as big as the Paris attacks happens in 2016.
Got this one mostly right as ISIS is almost out of Iraq. However, they are new arguably stronger because as the German attack shows it just takes a radical and a truck to cause mayhem. Luckily there was nothing as big as Paris but Nice came close.

2. The Chinese economy slows but does not enter a recession. A mix of stimulus and number fudging carries them throughout the year. The Chinese stock market gyrates wildly but ends the year down only 2% from the start of the year.
Close but the Chinese stock market got clobbered in the early part of the year and basically ended the year near where it started.

3. Oil prices stay low throughout the year but spike briefly as the Saudi/Iranian crisis looms. There is much posturing and sabre rattling but there is no outright warfare between the two. However the Sunni-Shia divide becomes the defining characteristic between the Great Powers going forward. The Sunni side is championed by the Saudis and the gulf states and Iran champions the Shiite powers. Both lead states are backed with petro-dollars and both now have a free hand due to the Iranian nuclear deal. A clandestine nuclear program is found in Saudi Arabia and an arms race begins.
Oil prices stayed low, went lower, and then spiked. Also the Saudi vs Iran thin simmers but hasn't blowen over yet. No clandestine nukes found in Saudi Arabia as of this time.


4. Russian power finally extends into the Mediterranean as Syria falls into their sphere of influence. By the end of the year the Syrian war becomes the "Russian Vietnam" with advisers training and re-arming Assads troops. Russian MIGs fly more sorties then the Western powers combined. Assad's troops push back ISIS and retake much of Syria while a massive Russian presence looms in the Levant.
Hit this one right on the head. The Russians now have a Syrian puppet after turning Aleppo into Berlin circa 1945. They also get to dictate terms in any peace talks going forward. Syrian adventurism is working out for Putin so far.


Economic Predictions:

S&P 500: 2300 2241 (close more or less)
Dow: 18100 19788 (wow way off)
Nasdaq: 5700 5385 (hmm shot too high)

Crude Oil: $65 58.57 (I bet we see $60 next year though)
Gold: $1200 $1151 (again a bit too high)
EUR/Dollar: 1.24 1.05 (big miss)
10 Yr Bond: 2.54 2.45 (close again)

Sports Predictions:
NFL: Arizona Cardinals Denver Broncos
NBA: Golden State Warriors Cleveland Cavs
MLB: San Fransisco Giants Chicago Cubs! (the end times near)
NHL: Montreal Canadiens Pittsburgh Penguins
Premier League: Arsenal Leicester City!?
Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund (probably Bayern Munich though) yeah Bayen
NCAA Football: Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama Crimson Tide
NCAA Basketball: Kansas Villanova!

Can Trump-ism be Called Common Sense or Street-Corner Conservatism?

Hmm this is a very interesting article.

Indeed, Trump was so at variance with the mainstream of the intellectual conservative movement on these issues that he modified his political identity. “I really am a conservative,” he said last February. “But I’m also a commonsense person. I’m a commonsense conservative. We have to be commonsense conservatives. We have to be smart.” Common sense in this understanding is opposed to the theoretical and academic analysis that has led conservatives to nonsensical and unpopular positions because they are beholden to speculative conclusions or to creedal dogma.

I think common sense conservatism would have saved the GOP from shutting the government down in 2013 due to Ted Cruz being a moron. There was no way that they could have de-funded Obamacare, and even if by some miracle they did, Obama would have simply vetoed it. It was pretty much the most non-common sense thing they could have done and that's what they did. In fact every one of those repeal Obamacare votes that failed could be an example of dogmatic conservatism. This is an interesting passage.

When Donald Trump and Mike Pence arranged for Carrier to retain some of the jobs it had previously announced would move to Mexico, adherents to free market ideology roundly criticized the move as cronyism. But, as has so often been the case this year, these thinkers lacked a constituency. They found themselves defending the economic basis of Walmart rather than the livelihoods of the people who shop there. The Carrier deal was popular not only with Carrier employees but also with voters. It was a textbook example of street corner conservatism: deviation from principle in the pursuit of tangible goods. Arguments from theory or economic calculation had no purchase because the street corner conservative thinks not in terms of producers and consumers but in terms of citizens and foreigners.

Yeah it is something I like to call economic nationalism. Other countries practice it all the time and manipulate their currency, labor and capital markets in order to make the most of it. If Mexico really wanted to help their people they would increase their minimum wage by fiat to match ours. They won't because jobs and capital goods would stop flowing their way. An intellectual conservative would say cheap Mexican goods brings prices down everywhere and is good for everyone. But those cheap-assed goods come at the cost of jobs for people living in this country. A street-corner Conservative would want America first and actually do things how Mexico, China, and Japan does. They benefit their citizens first and foremost. It seems Trump might do just that. 

Even Putin is Going After the Democrats on Their Sore Loser Status #GreatGame

This new rapprochement with Putin is going to be interesting in terms of the Great Game.

"The current administration and the leadership of the Democratic Party are trying to blame all their failures on external factors," said Putin.

"(We are talking about) a party which has clearly forgotten the original meaning of its own name. They (the Democrats) are losing on all fronts and looking elsewhere for things to blame. In my view this, how shall I say it, degrades their own dignity. You have to know how to lose with dignity."

A Russia/US axis against China would be an interesting development indeed. It really smacks of the Cold War as well.

Hmm The "Trump Technique" of Increasing Competition Might be What He Does to Lower Drug Prices

Hmm he seems to be doing this for Boeing vs. Lockheed Martin but he could easily use it for drug prices.

One thing I always like to do like if I'm selling something or if I'm trying to rent something, I always like to create competition because it makes you feel better. And sometimes it's even a perceived competition. But the other side should know there's competition.

What could this mean for drug prices? I think he might either cut the patent length of a drug from 20 years to something quicker. He might also cut down the exclusivity of biotechs from the 12 years they have now. This would be a disaster for the entire drug industry because if will be hard for many drugs to recoup their development costs if they didn't have a long period of time in which to sell them. Margins will be squeezed all over the industry and most investigational stage biotechs would need to close their doors because making just one or two drugs will not be very profitable at all.

However, if this move corresponds to a quicker path to market that his new FDA chief might be into it might all might come out in the wash. If a company can bring a drug onto market with like 18 months of investigation that mostly revolved around safety then they don't need a billion dollars and nearly 12 years! to get from lab to market. The drug company will have recurring costs of investigating ongoing efficacy but that can be handled much easier as more drugs come onto market at a quicker pace.

The law of the marketplace would weed out the weak drugs and the companies that sell them. Then the more efficacious drugs will still sell very well and rise to the top. The drug industry will more reflect other industries in which competition keeps prices lower. But the result would be R&D spend would go down and margins would shrink but more drugs would be floating around for each malady. 

Hmm 1950s Style Market? Stephen Suttmeier of Bank of America Merrill Lynch Thinks So

I would love for this to be true.

Suttmeier points out that much like today, rising bond yields also corresponded to a surge in equities in the 1950s. By the time bond yields moved to 5 or 6 percent in the 1960s, the S&P 500 had rallied about 460 percent over the decade or so.

"That bull run into the mid-1960s was actually an S&P secular bull trend that was associated with a low and rising interest rate environment," Suttmeier said. "That is how we're set up right here. "

Money is certainly going to move out of bonds and into stocks as we continue to go higher.

Battle of the Billionaires: Dems Money People Move from Writing Checks to Taking over Establishment #SorryBernie

I guess just writing a big check is no longer enough.

Politico reported on December 8 that billionaire donor Tom Steyer has expressed interest in running for governor of California in 2018, billionaire donor J.B. Pritzker wants to run for governor of Illinois, and multimillionaire John Morgan may run for governor of Florida.
Billionaire Democratic donor Stephen Bittel isn’t waiting until 2018 to claim a top position within the party, but is currently using the influence his donations have provided to give himself the position of Florida Democratic Party chair. Bittel’s Machiavellian ascent to top ranks of the Florida Democratic Party incited outrage among Bernie Sanders supporters, who are pushing to remove the corrupt influence wealthy and corporate donors have on the party.

Sorry Bernie Bros your party is going to be taken over by the big money men to combat the billionaires on the Trump administration. The idea that the small Democratic Socialist rising to power in the Dems might just have been a one time deal. 

Dems Really are the Job Destroyers: Fires Entire Media Center Staff One Week Before Christmas

I guess these are the heads they decided to have roll.

With Christmas days away, nearly every member of the Senate Democratic Media Center has been fired, a senior Democratic aide confirmed to Fox News. Schumer swung the axe on Friday, according to Politico, which first obtained “goodbye” emails from staffers, including some with decades' experience.
The move comes amid plans to revamp the unit, which handles video content, in an effort to help the Senate Democratic caucus get their message out in the New Year. The party not only lost the presidential race, it failed to capture the Senate or House and lost state legislative races throughout the country.

Read, younger and hipper I should think. I'm not sure how that will break them out of the East/West Coast+ Blue City trap they have themselves in though. More celebrity videos that the rest of America seems to tune out is not something special or new.

It looks Like the Celebrities Trying to Turn the GOP Electors was Yet Another Colossal Failure

It seems that celebrities can't do anything right anymore.

But when the electors gathered across the country Monday, this plot backfired embarrassingly — more electors defected from Hillary Clinton than from Trump.

As of Monday afternoon, Clinton had lost four electors from states she won — three of whom instead cast their votes for former Secretary of State Colin Powell, while the other voted for Faith Spotted Eagle, an activist involved in protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. 

Yes, after shooting their video and setting up an SNL skit they ended up costing Hillary 4 electoral college votes.

Oy Vay! 30% of Jews Backed Trump?

That is the highest Jewish vote for a Republican since 1988.

An estimated 30 percent of American Jews voted for Trump, the highest Jewish vote for a Republican since 1988. Among religious Jews, anecdotal evidence suggests, support for Trump was overwhelming. But most Jewish Republican leaders backed Hillary Clinton or minor candidates in the general election while opposing Trump in terms that often climbed the walls of hysteria.

I didn't know that these Jewish neocons mentioned above went after Bannon with such fervor. However, it seems that Bannon isn't an anti-Semite after all.

As it happens, I have spent some time with Steve Bannon, and I—like other Jews of his acquaintance—observe that he is exuberantly pro-Israel and as friendly to Jews as any Gentile I know. After reading Podhoretz’s accusation, I examined every article published on Bannon’s Breitbart website during the past years containing the search terms “Israel” or “Jews” and found that all were pro-Israel and friendly to Jews without a single exception. Facts are facts, and Commentary’s shrillness stems from hysteria more than outrage. 

I figured most of the Alt-Right and others in the right wing of the GOP were wildly pro-Israel and the anti-Israel people were on the far left. Almost all of the anti-Semitic nonsense coming out the US were from academics like Joy Karega and denizens of the far left on both sides of the Atlantic.

Is Big Climate Change Going to be Taken Apart with a Claw-Hammer? This Writer, Francis Menton Thinks so

I'm pretty sure the "insert nice place to visit" Round of the Climate Change Agreements will be a dismal failure but this might be true as well.

So what can we predict about where the climate scare is going?  Among members of the environmental movement, when their heads stop exploding, there are plenty of predictions that this will be terrible for the United States:  international ostracism, loss (to China!) of "leadership" in international climate matters, and, domestically, endless litigation battles stalling attempts to rescind or roll back regulations.  I see it differently.  I predict a high likelihood of substantial collapse of the global warming movement, both domestically and internationally, over the course of the next couple of years.

I think the funding will go from the government to the private sector but that legitimacy thing is going to hurt them big time. Endless funding by a willing Obama White House, that will be replaced by a tight-fisted Trump White House, will put lots of pressure on pro-Climate Change Billionaires like Tom Steyer. So the idea of "these words are backed with the full faith and credit of the United States Government" will be changed to words backed by a billionaires cashola. Just doesn't have the same amount of legitimacy as before.

2500 Year Old City Found on Top of a Greek Mountain

Hmm I wonder what strange things this city holds?

An international team of Swedish and Greek archaeologists discovered the remains of a former metropolis located 190 miles north of Athens. The 2,500-year-old lost city is buried underground, yet it is high in the sky on the Strongilovoúni hill on the great Thessalian plains.

My money is on Iron Golems.

I Know Richard Sherman is a Blowhard but I think He should be Football Commissioner After Reading This

I always knew he was a very smart, sophisticated guy (and seems like a giant asshole) but this is one interesting take on Thursday Night football.

I guess this is what happens when you have people in suits who have never played the game at this level dictating the schedule. I’d like to put Roger Goodell in pads for a late game on a Sunday, in December, in Green Bay, on the frozen tundra — then see what time he gets to the office on Monday morning, knowing that he would have to suit up again on Thursday.
Then maybe he’d understand….

I think Thursday Night games are a bad idea and no-one should be playing a physically demanding game as football on a short week. Sherman says that there should be a mandatory bi-week before a Thursday game and they should get rid of a Pre-season game to make up for it. That sounds like a great idea. Give the players the same amount of time to heal as if it was a Sunday night game. Seems like a simple fix.

Why Obamacare Failed in a Nutshell: Vox does a Great Job of Reporting it

I read Vox as one of my trips out of the echo-chamber into the liberal blogosphere and this article summed up exactly why Obamacare failed.

Oller renewed 59-year-old Ruby Atkins’s Obamacare coverage just after lunchtime on a Tuesday. Atkins and her husband received a monthly tax credit that would cover most of their premium. But they would still need to contribute $244 each month — and face a $6,000 deductible.

Atkins said she had insurance before the Affordable Care Act that was significantly more affordable, with $5 copays and no deductible at all. She said she paid only $200 or $300 each month without a subsidy.

The deductible left Atkins exasperated. “I am totally afraid to be sick,” she says. “I don’t have [that money] to pay upfront if I go to the hospital tomorrow.”

Atkins’s plan offers free preventive care, an Obamacare mandate. But she skips mammograms and colonoscopies because she doesn’t think she’d have the money to pay for any follow-up care if the doctors did detect something. 

So basically Ms. Atkins pays $244 a month for a chance to pay less than $6000 for care. She actually skips the preventive care because it might put her on the hook for $1000s of out-of-pocket costs. Everyone talks about how Obamacare increased coverage, and had subsidies to help you pay premiums, but that $6000 deductible is outrageous. Why have insurance if you are going to have to pay full freight for almost everything anyway? That is why Obamacare has been a disaster and needs to change.

Under Trumps Possible FDA Chief Developing Drugs Might Just get Way Cheaper

If this guy implements this change that $1 billion dollars and 10 year time frame to bring a drug to market just got way cheaper.

The first potential FDA chief appointee leaked by the Trump transition team is Jim O’Neill. Managing director of Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capital, O’Neill has publicly supported proposals to do away with the FDA’s requirement for phase 2 and 3 trials. Instead, he favors “progressive approval” of drugs and other medical technologies.

This will open a whole lot of innovation since the only bar they will have to pass is safety. Make sure the drug doesn't kill or maim the patient and then let it rip. The plan calls for a Phase 4 where the company must study efficacy data once the drug is on the market. This is a kind of "testing in production" model but it will get drugs to market faster than the 10 years it takes normally. When you take something breakthrough to market much faster it will strait-up save/extend lives.

The other thing it would do is break some of the stranglehold big pharma has on prices. If a company doesn't need $1 billion and 10 years to bring a biologic to market then they don't have to do profit sharing deals or whatever with big pharma. That argument that they have to charge so much because it took so much capital to develop would be moot. That big moat for big pharma will get smaller.

It will also allow targeted therapies to come to market. A company doesn't need to have a huge addressable patient population in order to make a drug. They just need to make sure it helps patients and extends there lives. So a drug for instance for Duchenne muscular dystrophy doesn't need to take years to develop and have a bunch of people afflicted with it plead with the FDA for approval. They could have had a few of them on the market and the FDA would have stopped the sales of the ones that didn't help those kids move around better.

Finally, drug prices should be put in check since you won't need $1 billion and 10 years to bring anything to market. Having ongoing efficacy studies sounds expensive though. However it won't be anything like moving something from breakthrough to approval nowadays. So overall we would get more therapies and cheaper prices but the drug companies would have lower margins. Sounds like a win for many parts of the industry and especially for the patient.

Botox for Depression? Allergan Might have Yet Another Use for It

Well it seems that Botox might help with depression for some reason or another.

Overall, though, the results are promising — Reichenberg and Magid found that depression scores dropped 42 percent in patients who received Botox, compared with only 15 percent in participants who had a placebo. As Reichenberg noted, the Botox’s effect was as good as an anti-depressant.

The article points out that some of the other depression treatments have some serious side-effects as well. I'm pretty sure no one will be killing themselves after getting a bunch of Botox treatments. Also I wonder where it will be injected to get this higher response rate?

Strait-up Hagiography by Historians on Obama's Legacy #SaintObama

I'm not sure how I got through this whole thing but it is really a case-in-point on how fervent the echo-chamber encased liberal academic sees the world.

People will see the sheer caliber of this man. The grace and poise with which he conducted himself in unbelievably difficult circumstances; the way he withstood abuse and disrespect with extraordinary calm and goodwill. He will in his post-presidency become a symbol, maybe somebody we need more than when he was president, to remind us of what it is to be dignified in public life. Especially if this hideous monster who’s succeeding him continues to despoil the public culture.
We have to remember, Obama is leaving office having been elected twice by a majority and with approval ratings that are matching Reagan’s. If he had a successor who could continue that, then he would be in the epic position to be the architect of the entire twenty-first century.
It may be, in my view, that the counterreaction is so perverse and so destructive that we will return to this figure as the cornerstone of our future. And he is young. At some point in the future, with the possible bloodshed and civil unrest in this country that we’re about to engage in, he may be a key person as a post-president—a bit like a monarch who might be able to hold us all together.

This part is what Andrew Sullivan wrote. He sounds like someone that has an Obama altar in his house or something. It's almost like he wants to see bloodshed and civil unrest (which I am almost certain will never come to pass) so that he can pine for the halcyon days of the Pax Obama. Maybe he should look into making Obama divine like they did for the former Emperors of Rome.

Jade Helm Part Deux! C-130 Seen Circling Low Above Midtown Manhattan: Coup d'état Against Trump or Routine Exercises? #LookOutDonald

Hmm "routine military exercises" you say?

A military aircraft that was seen circling midtown Manhattan in New York City on Tuesday afternoon was taking part in a routine exercise, an official for the National Guard says.

“That was a standard military training flight from the New York Air National Guard from the 106th Rescue Wing, and they are based at Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton in Long Island,” Col. Rich Goldenberg, public information officer for the New York National Guard, told Yahoo News.

A military exercise involving training flights flying this low over Manhattan is more of a “rare occurrence,” Goldenberg said, “but it does occur from time to time.”

It looks like a regular C-130 Hercules at first glance but if it was an AC-130 Spectre Gunship then we have some room for concern. I'm pretty sure they couldn't get away with it firing that Bofors gun a few times at Trump Tower and saying it was a gas leak explosion or something. But maybe there is a rogue "terrorist" at the helm (or maybe mind-controlled Project Ultra types) or even a remote controlled version. That compromised Gunship would then fire on Trump Tower when Pence is there and wipe them both out before they are sworn in. 

Then what would happen? Would Obama stay President for a few months until there was a re-vote? Would Hillary become President by default? Would Mitch McConnell become President? Or maybe it is just a surveillance flight as part of the security detail for the President-elect. That would make much more sense then a Coup d'état because Jade Helm turned out to be a nothing. I bet this is the same kind of thing but its fodder for Conspiracy nuts like me.

Wait the Electors of the Electoral College Want a Secret Intelligence Briefing?

Yeah I'm sure all of these idiots have a TS Clearance so it would be an easy sell.

Ten members of the Electoral College have signed a letter urging the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to provide them with classified briefings on Russia’s hacking and cyber involvement in the U.S. elections.

Christine Pelosi, Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi’s daughter, who serves as an elector from California, spearheaded drafting the letter and referred to the request as a “day pass” so that electors could be fully read-in before they cast their votes next week.

I think they need day care and not a "day pass." They really think they are so important that the NSA will give them classified information so they can feel better about casting their votes for Hillary? She won California so Ms. Pelosi (nepotism much?) will cast her vote against Trump anyway. Why do they need to get a "day pass?" Is is just so they can leak whatever Top Secret findings on the hacking to the press? 

In any case there will be a Congressional committee on the hacking. They will probably find Russia backed groups hacked Hillary's email (along with like 8 other countries and the NSA,) the DNC had terrible Cyber-security, and Podesta got his email spear-fished. Then the Dems will blame the election on Russia and not do any changes to re-connect with working class voters. Then they will run some easily beatable person like Elizabeth Warren in 2020 and get walloped again. I think 8 years of Trump and a filibuster-proof margin in the Senate looks very do-able for the GOP with these idiots running things.

Climate Scientists Copying Government Data to Non-government Servers? Is that legal?

Hmm this doesn't sound like it is legal.

“Something that seemed a little paranoid to me before all of a sudden seems potentially realistic, or at least something you’d want to hedge against,” said Nick Santos, an environmental researcher at the University of California at Davis, who over the weekend began copying government climate data onto a nongovernment server, where it will remain available to the public. “Doing this can only be a good thing. Hopefully they leave everything in place. But if not, we’re planning for that.”

That data was generated by tax payer money. How are they able to just put it in the open like that? I think it is a good idea to have the data backed up for the sake of posterity but it walking off like that is a cause for concern.

Economic Outlook Skews Directly Toward Party Lines

It seems like the green-shoots are growing into a jungle if you are a GOPer.

Optimism about the six-month economic outlook rocketed to 86.6 among Republicans from 50.9 just before the election, hitting the highest level since the IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index was launched in 2001. Independents' view of the six-month outlook jumped 12.7 points to 58.5, highest since January 2004. But sentiment among Democrats plunged 32.1 points to 28.2, lowest since October 2008, just before Barack Obama was elected.

I guess the Dems think Trump will tank the economy for some reason or another. This rally has been great for my bottom line but I guess there isn't as much stock ownership in those Blue spots on that Red map.

Media Matters is Finally Going to do a Service: Going After Fake News and Conspiracy Theories

I guess they got tired of watching Fox News and are instead going to do something that might do some good instead.

Angelo Carusone, currently the organization's executive vice president, will take over as president. The group, known for taking on what they argue is misinformation in conservative media, particularly on Fox News, will enter a “new era,” focusing on the likes of Breitbart, the “alt-right”, conspiracy theories and fake news. 

So they can get out in front of things and vet them for veracity. It seems that the Alt-right, Facebook, or the MSM has no intention of doing this so someone has to step up.

Wait, What? Amazon is getting into the Grocery Business to the Tune of 2000 stores in a Decade?

This is a strange development indeed.

Amazon shares were up slightly after reports that the e-commerce giant envisions opening more than 2,000 of its Amazon Fresh grocery stores over the next decade. Earlier Monday, the company announced the launch of its new Amazon Go stores, which will have no registers. Instead, shoppers scan into the store with their free Amazon Go app, shop as normal, and leave the store with the items billed to their Amazon.com account.

I always thought this would be the store of the future. You just pick up what you need and walk out of the store and your account is automatically billed. However, going head-to-head against bigger grocery stores might be difficult since those stores provide more choice. Maybe if these Amazon Fresh/Go stores have a smaller footprint there would be more around. More of a bodega than an actual Kroger or Safeway.

I would love to pop into an Amazon Fresh and buy European cheeses, fresh baked bread and deli cold cuts and just walk out of the door with them and it charges my Amazon account. However, I would probably not go there to buy detergent or ingredients for a meal unless things were way cheaper then Safeway or Foodland.

Apple Watch looks Like a Dismal Failure with Shipments Down 70%: I Think the Wrist Watch is Turning into the Pocket Watch

I guess people just don't want to be Dick Tracy anymore.

Eight-five percent of the wearable technology market is comprised of "basic" devices that don't run third-party apps, according to quarterly data from the International Data Corporation (IDC). Simple wearables saw double-digit growth during the third quarter, IDC said, but when smartwatches were added to the mix, the market grew only 3.1 percent from a year ago.

That was bad news for Apple, who saw wearable shipments fall 71 percent year-over-year in the quarter, to 1.1 million units. Apple does not break out its Apple Watch sales. 

I think they might just be falling due to the trend of people are just not wearing watches. Or they are simply wearing them as jewelry and not actually using them for anything other than telling time. I know luxury watch sales seem to be dipping as well.

Further proof that the high-end market is in decline is the fact that sales of watches valued at more than 3,000.- CHF (export price) have dropped by around 20%, in the same way as low-end watches. The medium range, i.e. watches between 500.- and 3,000.- CHF have been the most resilient, with a drop in value of “only” 7.1%.

I think the cell phone time display is turning the wrist watch into the pocket watch. It won't be long before the wrist watch will just be the province of older people and collectors.

Here we go Again: Cop Shoots Unarmed Black Guy in the Back 5 Times in the back and Gets a Mistrial

This should have been a slam-dunk case because the cop is clearly shooting an unarmed man running away from him in the back.

A judge declared a mistrial Monday afternoon in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man at the hands of a South Carolina former patrolman, after the jury said they could not come to a unanimous verdict.
In a statement read by Circuit Judge Clifton Newman, the jury said "We as the jury regret to inform the court" that they were unable to come "to a unanimous decision in the case of the state versus Michael Slager" after a day of questions and deliberation. 

How was one of the jurors deadlocked in this thing? The video clearly shows the cop shooting the guy running away from him 5 times like that scene in Band of Brothers. The video evidence was clear but there was still a mistrial. There should have been at least a verdict of manslaughter. In any case this really does look like there was no justice for poor Walter Scott.

California's War on Cows to Stop Global Warming: I think They Will Achieve Their Goal Because the Dairies will Move

I guess California just doesn't want any business (other than Silicon Valley) to succeed there.

In the nation’s largest milk-producing state, the new law aims to reduce methane emissions from dairies and livestock operations to 40 percent below 2013 levels by 2030, McCarthy said. State officials are developing the regulations, which take effect in 2024.

They will probably hit those targets too because I'm sure most of those Dairy farms will simply pick up shop and move to other states. I'm sure Idaho would welcome these cows with open arms. More NIMBY nonsense by the Global Warmists.

Rosie O’Donnell goes After Barron Trump: I thought First Children were Supposed to Be Off Limits

I guess scum-bags like Rosie just can't help themselves.

It’s no secret that Rosie O’Donnell hates Donald Trump, but she insists that she wasn’t trolling the president-elect when she shared a YouTube video speculating that his 10-year-old son has autism. She has since gone public with her own daughter’s recent diagnosis with the developmental disorder and said that she reposted the clip because she found it “educational and informational.”

It is still speculating on something a minor child might have (or not have) just because Rosie is an awful bully. If the Trumps don't think Barron has autism it is their prerogative. Even if he does is it really any of Rosie's or anyone elses business? The incivility is off the charts nowadays.