Blog

I’m confused – so what’s new?

Ok, I’m confused. The January jobs report showed that US employment slowed with an unemployment rate of 4 percent. CNN reported that the companies were acting as if the economy was in a recession. Forbes said “January Jobs Report Reveals Weaker Growth Than Predicted—Weakest Start to Year Since 2016.” The venerable Jasmine Crockett tweeted that the Trump economy was in the dumpster, “So it turns out when you DON’T go woke, you go broke. Trump’s New DEI? Dying Economy and Inflation. It’s only two weeks in and Trump is Making America Broke Again!” Huh? Doesn’t she realize that the January jobs report reflects the end of the Biden years and has nothing to do with Trump? Oops!

In the past, the White House would just shrug off such a tweet. But not this White House. Alex Pfeiffer, Deputy Advisor to the President, responded in kind, “Mazie Hirono is breathing a sigh of relief. Jasmine is officially the dumbest lawmaker on the Hill. This jobs report consists entirely of data from before President Trump took office. I guess I should thank you for pointing out the failure of Bidenomics.” Take that Jasmine! In one fell swoop the White House has dismissed Crockett as a light weight, even lighter than Hawaii’s Hirono who is generally classified as the dumbest legislator in DC. But all this reminds me of when I was in Washington and a midwest senator was called the dumbest man in the Senate. His response was “Well dumb people need representing too.”

The White House retort was likely in response to the visceral hatred that Crockett has for Trump. Crockett has said “Let me tell you: We have a thug in charge of the United States. And if we don’t wake up, we may not have a United States, because right now he has only been successful in being a divider in chief.” She continues “The problem is that Americans thought that it was OK to take a full-fledged criminal and make him the president of the United States, and then they want to act aghast when he does criminal things,” Come to think of it, in light of these comments, the White House reaction was pretty mild.

Isn’t it interesting that we have hardly heard a peep from AOC? It’s now Crockett leading the charge for the Squad. What happened? Those on the right could substitute “Biden” for “Trump” and completely agree with the statements. Also interesting is Crockett’s use of the word “thug.” Among blacks, them’s fighting words. Thug has become the nominally polite way of white folk using the N-word. As the great John McWhorther states, “When somebody talks about thugs ruining a place, it is almost impossible today that they are referring to somebody with blond hair. It is a sly way of saying there go those black people ruining things again. And so anybody who wonders whether thug is becoming the new N-word doesn’t need to. It most certainly is.” Crockett knows this so what is she really saying when she calls Trump a blond hair blue eyed thug?

Confusion part 2. A state representative in Michigan says that she got sterilized to avoid becoming pregnant while Trump is president. Huh? Laurie Pohutsky said “I refuse to let my body be treated as currency by an administration that only sees value in my ability to procreate.” If you see the logic in this please let me know. How does her not having a baby hurt Trump? Rather as one person commented “The gene pool breathes a sigh of relief!” Mind you, this is an elected state representative. What was that quote about dumb people needing representation too?

Confusion #3. Lastly, as I pointed out before, the California climate zealots are strangely quiet about the impact on the safety concerns of the blazing EVs and the lithium battery factory fire in Lost Angeles (formerly known as Los Angeles). There are over 400,000 EVs in LA metro and the lithium-ion battery factory was one of the world’s largest and burned to the ground. Given all the toxins spewed into the air, especially cobalt, one would think warnings would have been issued to the residents about possible contamination. But no. Soil tests show levels 580 times over the acceptable limit. Yet California’s EPA has issued no warnings about air quality threats. However, effects of lithium fires can cause pneumonia, irregular heartbeat, fluid buildup in the lungs and even death. According to a 2014 National Toxicology Program study, “Cobalt toxicity in humans can cause respiratory problems, including impaired lungs, asthma, interstitial lung disease, wheezing, and difficulty breathing. It can also affect the cardiovascular system. Danger for small animals, plants, and birds varies depending on other environmental factors, although extremely high levels can destroy healthy ecosystems by inhibiting plant growth or causing plant death.” We could be looking at our own Chernobyl. Is the California EPA being silent to protect its climate agenda?

So much to do. So little time.

Trump sure has been busy shaking things up both domestically and abroad. But there is so much to do and so little time. He is cracking eggs. Trump is an outsider. He is not the cautious politician or diplomat afraid to bruise feelings. Rather he is the opposite. He detests the status quo. He sees rot in the complacency and complicity of politics. He thinks out the box.

He has threatened our allies with tariffs shaking up the staid world of polite diplomacy. In fact it is difficult trying to find a country he has not threatened – maybe Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. He referred to Canada as the 51^st state although I for one don’t want them. He threatens to have the military seize the Panama Canal. Want to bet that the Panamanians won’t eventually give Trump whatever he wants in order to keep the canal? 

What career politician or diplomat would have come up with the idea of the US taking over Gaza, evicting the Palestinians to neighboring Arab countries and making Gaza the Riviera of the Middle East? The sheer audacity of the plan is stunning and completely off the wall. There is zero support for the idea in the Arab world. But some Israelis like the idea. Since Trump broached the idea during a meeting with Netanyahu I presume that he favors it too. First it would remove a swath of people who hate Isreal from its doorstep. Second, it would force its Arabs neighbors to have to deal with the Palestinians. Third, it would end the push for a two-state solution. Yes there is opposition but Trump doesn’t care. Forced expulsion of the Palestinians would be decried as ethnic cleansing. But Trump doesn’t care. It will be interesting what he suggests next. I am waiting for him to make some off-the-wall comment about ending the war in Ukraine. Given Ukraine’s wealth, I doubt if he will abandon the country and let NATO handle the problem alone. Don’t be shocked if he comes up with some crazy idea or just tell Putin to get lost.

Domestically, Trump sees the bureaucratic rot in the Federal government. The deep state resists change and is virtually all in the democratic camp. A poll revealed that most of the government would try to resist Trump’s policies. So it is no surprise that he and his appointees are moving quickly to purge the government of as many of the resistance as possible. They have fired vast swaths of officials at the FBI and HHS. They have offered an early out to government employees and more than 40,000 have agreed to leave. The government unions sued Trump successfully to slow down the exit process. But the process will continue albeit a bit slower due to the court order. At issue is whether the buyout order is legal. If it is not legal, then Trump will likely just resort to firing everyone and testing the legality of that action. Speaking of firing, one of the members of the Labor Relations Board is telling Trump to pound sand. Gwynne Wilcox was appointed by Biden and confirmed by the Senate to a term ending in 2028. Trump fired her. She is suing saying that the law states that she can only be fired for neglect or malfeasance. Watch this case carefully because if the courts uphold her firing then Trump might be emboldened to try to go after bigger fish. Did I hear anyone say Jay Powell?

Over at “Justice”, new AG Bondi is firing all those associated with the anti-Trump weaponization of the department under Garland. Thirty attorneys have already been terminated. I don’t know if I support this particular action. Those attorneys were doing their job as prescribed by their bosses. Isn’t that what attorneys do? I hope that Bondi interviewed them before their firing. HHS is rumored to be firing “thousands” of employees. Of course 80,000 people work for the agency. In fact, I think Trump or his peeps read my blog. Recall that I suggested that Trump instruct all the agencies to trim their workforce by a certain percent at each budget cycle. Five percent is not a bad number to start.

Then there is the mess at Education with the trans and DEI mandates. The mess at Energy with the natural gas moratorium. The mess at Interior with all the no drill policies off shore, in the Artic and on Federal lands. The mess at the Pentagon which turned into a social agency rather than a lethal force under Biden. The mess at the FAA of their policy of discouraging applications from whites to favor the placement of minorities. This is an awful scandal and prompts all the haters to question whether any minority hired during the Biden years in any position would be employed otherwise. What a bunch of messes. I wonder if there is any part of the federal government that isn’t a mess?

All the while the democrats are flailing in the wind protesting and voting against every Trump nominee. They have put a temporary hold on Kash Patel for the FBI. Patel scares the blazes out of them. They have resorted to yelling at the nominees at the confirmation hearings and trying to berate them – to no avail. Their latest embarrassing maneuver was to have every democrat senator issue a protest during the vote for Russ Vought’s confirmation as budget director. BTW, one of my Georgia classmates Jim Miller was Reagan’s budget chief. Ed Markey, for example said “For clean air and clean water I vote no.” Blumenthal said “For our veterans I vote no.” When has Blumenthal ever favored veterans? Elizabeth Warren shouted “BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!” After each vote, the presiding officer said to no avail “Pursuant to rule 12, no debate is permitted during a vote.” The dems were upset that during the first Trump administration Vought was the one who suggested using Schedule F to fire 50,000 federal employees. Vought was confirmed 53-47.

Go get ‘em Donald! So much to do. So much rot. So little time.

Why did Putin invade Ukraine?

I was wondering why Putin invaded Ukraine. It was obvious that he was going to do so. You don’t amass 200,000 troops on the Ukraine border just to have a parade. Putin made noises about annexing the two Russian speaking provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk and supporting their insurgents during the buildup. Putin was emboldened by Russia seizing Crimea in 2014 without hardly a peep from the West or resistance from Ukraine. Although some pointed to the seizure as a result of Crimean residents wanting to reunite with Russia, the main reason was to keep the Black Sea port of Sevastopol. This gave the Russian navy access to the Mediterranean. Some say that Russian invaded Ukraine to prevent it from joining NATO. If that were the case, then why didn’t it invade Finland? Some say that Putin was trying to reclaim the borders of the old Soviet Union. So why didn’t he annex Belarus? Others say that Russia considers Ukraine as part of Russia and not a separate country, yet the Ukrainians have a separate language and culture.

I have never believed any of this. I am an economist so I looked for economic reasons for Russian to invade Ukraine. If Russia annexed the Crimea for military reasons, then it likely wanted the rest of Ukraine for reasons other than unifying Russian speakers. First, they probably perceived that Ukraine was weak and they could annex it as easily as the Crimea. Second, they thought that the Russian-speakers would rebel against Ukraine. Third, they were greedy. 

Russia invaded because Ukraine is rich in agricultural and mineral resources. Ukraine is called the breadbasket of Europe – while Russia is simply a basket case. Ukraine has some of the world’s most fertile land and is one of the world’s largest exporters of grain. More than 70 percent of the country is agricultural. It is the world’s largest producer of sunflowers and sunflower oil. It is a major producer of barley, wheat, corn, rye, soybeans and potatoes. Obviously, the war has adversely affected food production with prices increasing for agricultural produce. However, isn’t it interesting that Russia has an agreement with Ukraine to keep the safe transport of produce out of Ukraine? If Russia had blockaded agricultural exports, experts said that there would have been a food crisis in much of Africa and parts of Asia. That would have turned those countries, some of whom are Russian allies, against the invasion.

Although, Ukraine as an agricultural giant is well known, less well known is that the country is rich in other resources. The country is a mineral superpower, home of some of the largest reserves of vital minerals. The US says that of 50 minerals that are vital to its national security, Ukraine has ample supplies of 22 of them. In fact, Ukraine has large reserves of 117 of the 120 most vital minerals in the world. Iron ore, graphite, shale gas, uranium, lithium, manganese and others are in Ukraine valued in excess of $26 trillion. Ukraine also has offshore hydrocarbon deposits, oil and natural gas. It has coal reserves valued over $20 trillion along with deposits of cobalt, copper, beryllium, nickel and tin. Russia wants these riches. 

I may be naïve with regard to foreign affairs but the agriculture, the minerals and the energy reserves are reasons enough for Russia to try to seize control of all of Ukraine. I wonder why this has been ignored in the press? Moreover, we keep hearing that we have no strategic interest in the Ukraine so why should we keep supplying them with weapons? One very strategic reason is not to let the country’s riches fall into the hands of the Russians.

Since we have supported Ukraine with over $200 billion in arms and supplies, I would be disappointed if Trump didn’t continue to support Ukraine and establish a significant trade agreement with it. Rather than continuing to be dependent upon China for rare earth materials, we could trade with Ukraine. In fact, Ukraine could replace China as the major source of minerals for green energy. That fact alone would be reason enough for the Russian invasion. Trump loves tariffs but a free trade agreement with Ukraine makes a lot of sense. It would be foolish if we didn’t seek to end this war with a trade agreement that would benefit America.

You know you are old if:

Your hair is growing in your ears and not on your head

Every artist you listen to is dead

The last movie you saw was “African Queen.”

Old ladies open the door for you.

Your socks don’t always match

You have a record collection

Your first new car cost $1,750 and your new 13” color TV cost $550.

You have to think about how to get up from the couch

You keep saying that the dog farted

Your son just retired

You can recognize the songs being played in department stores

You sign along to the songs in the elevator

You sleeep in your bathrobe

Your other half keeps introducing you as “the older black guy”

You were going on a Walk for Alzheimer’s but forgot where it was

You start calling your dog “dog”

You think Catfish Hunter is someone who lived in the Okefenokee swamp

You start liking brussels sprouts

You keep asking your other half to call you so you can find your phone

You put ranch dressing in your coffee and cream over your salad and couldn’t tell the difference.

You went to buy new corduroy trousers this winter and the clerks had no clue what you were talking about

Your eyebrows have dandruff

You have to tie a belt to the end of the bed to pull you up in the morning

You have started driving faster so you won’t forget where you were going

Your son is a grandfather

All your living heroes are dead

The president is younger than you

Your doctor hadn’t heard of the Supremes

Naps are now called senility snoozes

You thought Taylor Swift was a fast seamstress

Your car keys keep hiding from you

You need to add on to the bathroom sink to hold your prescriptions

You need to set off the alarm to find your car at the mall

The twinkle in her eye is from the reflection of the sun

They start putting one candle on your birthday cake because of the fire hazard

You think “atrophy” is what you won playing tennis

When they say “smoking hot body” you think of cremation

Farting is a walking aid

Your children are middle aged

All of your favorite TV shows are reruns

People come to visit and admire your antique furniture

The smoke alarm goes off when they light the candles on your birthday cake

I stopped my other half from cooking. She must have thought I was a god when she kept placing burnt offerings before me

Your love tattoo looks like a turnip

The smoke alarm battery needs changing and you go around your house spraying for crickets

You have been there and done that but can’t remember what that was

You enjoy Mondays

People say you are aging gracefully and they mean you are slowly looking worse

When Mao said that the longest journey begins with a single step I don’t think he meant going to the bathroom

Milk used to be delivered to your front door

You mother used to buy her chickens at live kill shops

Someone told me “Have a good weekend.” I thought it was Tuesday.

Your grandparents had an outhouse (with Sears Roebuck catalogs and corn cobs)

You remember when Joe Biden had hair plugs

When asked “How are you” you have to think before answering.

One great thing about having a partner your age is that she thinks you still look good

You remember when 17” was a big screen TV

You always take a nap after lunch

You remember when a refrigerator was called an ice box

You think a photographic memory means you can remember every photograph you have ever seen

The commercials on the TV shows you watch are mostly for EDs or hair loss

You remember when girl’s basketball was half court

When you get lost you can be found by a trail of used Kleenex.

You gave up golf because you could never remember where you hit the ball

Holes in the knees of your jeans used to mean you were poor

A night out means sitting on the front porch 

You need to remember things like “76 Trombones” or else you will forget your age

You remember when a gallon of gasoline cost 99 cents

You go looking for something and halfway there forget what you were looking for

You can remember the name of your first grade teacher but not that of your next door neighbor

One of your favorite singers last released a song 20 years ago

You have outlived your life expectancy

You suffer from CRS but can’t remember what that stands for 

Your parents’ grandparents were all slaves

Truly random thoughts #50

It is said that the sign of intelligence is learning from other people’s mistakes. If that is true then there are no intelligent socialists. 

It really is weird to be the same age as old people.

Those people who said that Trump is using tariffs as a bargaining cudgel were right in round one. Mexico and Canada have agreed to strengthen their borders and Trump has agreed to delay the tariff threat by one month. What happens then?

Trump is a bully. Even the Ontario prime minister called him that. Would Trump really plunge us into an international trade war if someone called his bluff? Probably.

Tofu is a food-like substance.

Trump’s press secretary really roiled things up by calling all illegals criminals.

I still say that Biden should have pardoned Trump.

BTW if an illegal commits a crime it seems strange to deport them rather than putting them in jail. Won’t they just sneak back in and commit more crimes?

Speaking of roiling things up, when the Army did not disclose the name of the third person on the Blackhawk helicopter that crashed into the American Airlines jet at Washington Reagan, speculation ran rampant that the person must have been a woman and that Trump would blame DEI. Indeed, the pilot was a woman and true to form Trump blamed DEI. He also blamed DEI for any air controller error. In so doing, he has caused large swaths of whites to assert DEI for any black or any woman in any position of authority. Surely, the women he appointed are not DEI hires. Sometimes I wish he would just shut up.

Speaking of DEI, I was once asked “How did you get to UT?” Of course I could have said “I drove.” But instead I said that I was walking down the street and was stopped by a guy claiming to be the business school dean who said “Can you spell “finance”?” I said yes and he said “Could you come teach it at UT?” And that’s how I got here.

What do you call a vegan gluten-free, no salt, fake meat burger? Compost.

Someone pointed out to me that in Oregon cocaine is legal but straws aren’t. I guess the junkies have now established a black market for straws.

It has always puzzled me that our institutions of higher learning have license plate holders that say “alumni”. I am always tempted to say to the driver, “I see that both you and your spouse went to the university.” The response is usually, “No, I went there. She went to Blah-Blah.” If that were then case then his license plate holder should say “alumnus” not “alumni”. The only schools that get this right are Morehouse alumnus and Spelman alumna. Isn’t it strange that only two HBCUs are the ones that know the correct Latin?

Trump is a bull in a china shop (boy I could get some milage out of that one). He proposed moving the Palestinians out of Gaza and into neighboring Arab countries. The Arabs went berserk. The Arabs have made it clear that they do not want them and all the problems that they bring. Egypt has barred them from entry. Jordan views them as destabilizing. Sad but there is really no place for them to go.

I told my students (yes I am back in the classroom after 13 years) that I don’t give multiple choice/true false exams even though this class is twice the size of any undergraduate class I taught in my 25 years at UT. I told them that because of that their grades were going to be lower but they will learn more and they if that bothered them to drop the course. Seven did. 

I found much to my surprise that I have missed teaching – although it will screw up my turkey hunting. However, I don’t miss it enough to do it again. This is a one off, Done as a favor to the department head. No way I could have done this is the fall and missed deer season. I said years ago that I would not be one of those doddering old coots wandering around college campuses because they had no life outside the university. Yet here I am.

Growing old at the university. When I first started, in response to something I said, students would say “My brother does that.” Later it was “My father does that.” Much later it was “My grandfather does that.” Now its “My grandfather did that when he was alive.”

Trump’s stupid tariffs

I was interviewed on a local radio talk show about Trump’s tariffs. I talked about what the consequences were for the US, Canada and Mexico of a 25 percent tariff. Trump also imposed only a 10% tariff on China. What happened to that 60% Chinese tariff Donald? I thought it a bit strange to put a higher tariff on our allies and a lower one on our biggest adversary. The host asked what economists favored the tariffs. I said that I did not know of any – except those who were on Trump’s payroll. I pointed out that my University of Georgia economics tutor, Phil Gramm along with Larry Summers had written a letter to Trump asking him not to impose the tariffs. Gramm is on the right while Summers is on the left. Of course, Trump has been told all this since he first spouted off about the “beauty” of tariffs. In so do, he is ignoring the advice of leading economists and ignoring history. Right after I signed off the interview a rabid Trump supporter called in defending Trump and calling me a Trump hater and a leftist. When the host asked the caller where he got his data to refute me he said “the Bible”. I’m now searching for the gospel that supports imposing tariffs on your friends.

It is not clear what Trump is trying to accomplish. He says it is about fentanyl and illegals. He’s lying. The Canadians have little to do with either. Trump could have gotten the Mexican government to help in lessening the flow of both to our southern borders and increased border security along the Rio Grande. But no. Its tariffs instead. If fentanyl were the motivating reason then he would have imposed a 100% tariff on China and not a measly 10%. None of this makes any sense. Trump says of Canada that we don’t need their lumber, we don’t need their oil and we can build their cars and trucks in Detroit. But even Trump knows that if we cut Canadian trade to zero, those industries won’t just materialize overnight in the US and when they do, they will be more expensive that what comes from Canada making the American consumer poorer.

I guess we don’t need the Mexican autos, trucks and parts either. In 2023, Mexico supplied 63 percent of U.S. vegetable imports and 47 percent of U.S. fruit and nut imports. So I guess we don’t need those either. Bye bye Modelo, bye bye avocados – I am no guacamole fan so it will be no big loss to me.

But seriously what is Trump trying to accomplish? I think he is trying to isolate America and build a wall around it. I also think that he has this hangup on trade deficits and wants all trading partners to buy dollar for dollar from America what we import from their country. I guess he doesn’t realize that our economy is a lot wealthier than that of any of our trading partners.

The two states that trade most with Canada are Michigan and Illinois. Texas trades more with Mexico than any other state. Surely you would expect republicans from both states to oppose the tariffs. But hardly a peep from them. Of course the senators for Michigan and Illinois are democrats and the squad member Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit said “Working class families are already struggling with the high cost of living and unaffordable groceries. More than half of our fruits and vegetables come from Canada and Mexico.” Wow! If Trump can turn Tlaib into a free trader then maybe there is hope for her after all. What about Texas? Hardly nothing from their senators or their governor. Ted Cruz has been especially meek about criticizing Trump. Texas’ other senator John Cornyn called the tariffs as “potentially problematic.” The only outspoken critic on the republican side has been Kentucky’s Rand Paul who said that tariffs are taxes and Trumps’ tariffs would cause prices to rise.

Trump is no Ronald Reagan who once said “Our trade policy rests firmly on the foundation of free and open markets. I recognize … the inescapable conclusion that all of history has taught: The freer the flow of world trade, the stronger the tides of human progress and peace among nations.” Once conservatives aligned with Reagan. Today they are afraid of Trump. Yet you know that if Trump is for something then the democrats will be against it. Sure enough Trump has turned the democrats into free traders. Ron Wyden, Tammy Baldwin, Jeanne Shaheen and others have come out against Trump’s tariffs. Baldwin says in part “The tariffs the President announced today will force Wisconsin families to pay the price. Industries where people grow things and make things – like Wisconsin’s iconic farming and manufacturing sectors – are going to be crushed by this. Families across the country are going to be paying more out of their wallets from the gas pump and the grocery store – and it will only get worse when retaliation hits.” Shaheen says “Putting far-reaching tariffs on our neighbors and close trading partners is going to spike costs for our families, businesses and workers. It’s a fact that hardworking American consumers and small businesses will be forced to foot the bill of the President’s price hikes, not foreign countries. “Because of this misguided, politically motivated action, the cost of everything from cars and gas to housing and groceries will increase—and Americans struggling to make ends meet will be hit the hardest. While that might not matter to Donald Trump and his entourage of billionaires, it matters deeply to the people in my state.” Wyden said that that blanket, arbitrary 25 percent tariffs would immediately hammer working Americans with higher prices, while accomplishing little.

So Trump has succeeded in turning democrats into free traders. Further evidence that someone in Washington is reading my blog is that the democrats are introducing a bill to require the president to get congressional approval for the imposition of new tariffs. I have said in the past that the presidential power to impose tariffs should be curbed. Now expect the republicans who control both the House and the Senate to be put in the embarrassing position of having to oppose a bill that they favor, because they fear the wrath of Trump.

These tariffs are stupid. Look for the republicans to lose the House in 2026.

Did you see the story that the “Indian River ritual turns deadly?” I thought for a fleeting moment that the story was about kids tossing oranges off of bridges onto oncoming traffic in Florida. Instead it was about a crowd of worshipers in India crushing people that were asleep on river banks as the crowd was trying to get to the river for ritual bathing. Would you believe that 450 million people attended the ritual over a six week period? That’s greater than the population in the US and a bit more than a third of all Indians. Amazing.

Speaking of amazing, Stevie Wonder is going to perform at FireAid, the fundraiser for the victims of the LA fires. Welcome back! He is looking good and I have missed his music. His last studio album was “A Time for Love” released ten years ago. Prince helped out on “What the Fuss?” India Aire and Paul McCartney are on “A Time for Love.” It is a wonderful album but not quite up to Talking Book, Innervisions, Songs in the key of Life, Music of my Mind, or Fullfillingness First Finale. 

But what puzzles me is that Wonder renounced his citizenship and became a citizen of Ghana. Why he would want to be a citizen of the country that put his African ancestors in cages and sold them to white slavers for shipment around the world is beyond me. If he were disenchanted with the United States then why did he write “Positivity”?

Positivity

Stevie Wonder

Some people ask me why always on the bright side 
When there’s so much going on down the other side 
It’s like I live in a bubble with no trouble 
And problems don’t exist

I chuckle and tell them that ain’t the case at all 
It goes way back to the time when I was very small 
Not in mind but size and age my papa use to say

You can always look at the negative 
But you should always live in the positive 
So I try everyday to live that way 
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Some people live in what was and what they could have been 
As opposed to living in a what is and how much they can 
And be the first to complain about nothing in life going their way 
The attitude is “that I can’t do nothing ’bout” 
And very happy with just breathing in and out 
The ones that when you say “lets go make a difference” 
They’ll say “naw that’s OK”

So I don’t waste time on the trip side 
‘Cause I do know the real on the flipside 
And I’m crystal clear everyday that’s why I say, yeah 
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

When I see the morning 
And the sun is smiling down upon me 
I joy in the blessing 
That still the ground is not above me 
And for the people 
That I can truly say do love me, I feel 
Positivity, ’cause that’s what life’s meant to be 
Positivity, ’cause this day did not have to be

Some ask me why I’m such an optimist 
When it’s more fashionable be a pessimist 
From what’s in seventy-five percent of what we read, hear and view 
Well I use to have a friend named Minnie Riperton 
Who use to always say when she was living 
“Like fine wine I like seeing the glass of life as half full than half empty”

I’m saying sometimes life can’t be rough 
But never to the point of me saying I’ve had enough 
Long as my heart beats I ain’t giving up 
That’s why I say everyday 
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

When people ask me as an African American 
What do I see for tomorrow in the human plan? 
Is it possible for all the people of the world to co-exist?

I say unity is only as big as our vision 
And if its narrow, try to expand beyond the horizon 
But true leaders must guide us through the ills of society 
That stands in our way 
So if the road is to harmony, be with the call 
But if its about discord, don’t take the ride at all 
‘Cause the world vision I see is the one-we for everybody 
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

When I see the morning 
And the sun is smiling down upon me 
Just joy in the blessing 
That still the ground is not above me 
And for the people 
That you can truly say do love you, do feel 
Positivity, ’cause that’s what life’s meant to be

Positivity, and that’s the energy the world needs 
Positivity, ’cause that’s what life means to me 
Positivity, ’cause this day did not have to be 
Positivity, ’cause that’s what life’s meant to be 
Positivity, ’cause that’s the energy the world needs 
Positivity, ’cause that’s what life’s meant to be 
Positivity, and this day did not have to be 
Positivity, ’cause that’s what life means to me 
Positivity, and that’s the energy the world needs 
Positivity, ’cause that’s what life’s meant to be 
Positivity, and that’s the energy the world needs

Read the words. Better yet listen to the song. I have used clips of it in various speeches. In fact “You can always look at the negative. But you should always live in the positive” sounds like a quote from my father about surviving in the Jim Crow south.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=positivity+stevie+wonder&t=osx&iar=videos&iax=videos&ia=videos&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DCGhbnllOBTY

Half jokingly I have wondered if Trump reads my blog. It seems that many of the things that I have suggested are being seriously considered by republicans in Congress or the office of the president. Moving the agencies out of DC is one example. Another is when I was upset – some said infuriated – that Trump was not going to commemorate Black History Month. Well lo and behold, Trump issued a statement to the contrary on January 31.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
A PROCLAMATION

 Today, I am very honored to recognize February 2025 as National Black History Month.

     Every year, National Black History Month is an occasion to celebrate the contributions of so many black American patriots who have indelibly shaped our Nation’s history.

     Throughout our history, black Americans have been among our country’s most consequential leaders, shaping the cultural and political destiny of our Nation in profound ways.  American heroes such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Thomas Sowell, Justice Clarence Thomas, and countless others represent what is best in America and her citizens.  Their achievements, which have monumentally advanced the tradition of equality under the law in our great country, continue to serve as an inspiration for all Americans.  We will also never forget the achievements of American greats like Tiger Woods, who have pushed the boundaries of excellence in their respective fields, paving the way for others to follow. 

     This National Black History Month, as America prepares to enter a historic Golden Age, I want to extend my tremendous gratitude to black Americans for all they have done to bring us to this moment, and for the many future contributions they will make as we advance into a future of limitless possibility under my Administration.

     NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim February 2025 as National Black History Month.  I call upon public officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.

Thank you! Please also note that Trump – like yours truly – does not capitalize “b” when referring to us in racial terms. That style was imposed on us after George Floyd and I won’t bend to the libs that want to divide us further. Remember the days when the left wanted integration?

Direct Instruction is Gas, Dog! Fa Sho!

The astonishingly poor academic performance of students in our public schools continues. The Wall Street Journal reports that only 60 percent of American fourth graders can read at grade level. They were shocked. Well this is an average. Imagine how really shocked they would be if they found that according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 84 percent of black students lack proficiency in math and 85 percent lack proficiency in reading. Recall the study that found that in 33 schools in Chicago there were no students that could read or write at grade level. 

This poor performance is met with indifference by school administrators and the education establishment to change how students are “taught”. Also astonishing is the total absence of criticisms from black politicians and Civil Rights organizations. Instead the impetus for change is from parents who want more for their children as evidenced by the over 1,000,000 students on waiting lists for charter and private schools. Of course, the education establishment opposes charter schools and vouchers because they threaten their main source of income. Most black politicians and organizations are beholding to the teachers’ unions and put their financial support above the needs of their constituents’ children.

I have written many times on the failure of our schools to teach reading so our children will be proficient at grade level. I have also written how the local school administration had rebuffed any effort to change the failed method of instruction to one that has demonstrated success, direct instruction. As a result I have concluded that the education establishment simply does not want poor kids, in particular black kids to learn how to read. Instead of teaching, the unions have resorted to using Critical Race Theory to make excuses for their failures in the classroom.

The problem stems from the fact that most poor children are raised in households that do not speak the language of the classroom. When those children go to school they find themselves having to learn English as a foreign language while trying to stay current in the classroom. Things are not as bad as when there was slavery. When Sherman marched through Georgia, thousands of slaves ran away from the plantations and became camp followers. Bennett Parten’s “Somewhere Toward Freedom: Sherman’s March and the Story of America’s Largest Emancipation” tells the story of a Union soldier asking a slave where she is going and she responds “I’s gwine where you’s gwine.” BTW, my maternal great grandfather was one of those camp followers. 

Today, just like yesterday, much of the language of the poor is difficult to understand. Imagine children growing up with this vernacular then arriving at your local elementary school. How do you meet this challenge to make them literate in two languages? The only method that has proven effective is called direct instruction which has been rejected by the education establishment. I have written on this topic and will write more. But for now here are some examples of the urban English spoken by many of our inner city children.

These are adapted from Odyssey https://www.theodysseyonline.com/nyc-urban-slang-dictionary#google_vignette

1. Whack = (adj.) used to describe something that is appalling in nature

“That’s whack!”

2. Grill = (v.) to stare, usually impolitely, to give a dirty look

“Dude stop grilling my girlfriend, I know her braids look dookie whack.”

Grill is also used to refer to the jewelry worn on one’s teeth.

3. To front/Fronting = (v.) to put on a façade, acting like you are something that you are not.

“Stop fronting like you own the place.”

4. Cop = (v.) to buy

“I’m about to cop some chips, want some?”

5. Catch these hands = phrase used to initiate a fight

“If that girl keeps grilling me she gonna catch these hands.”

6. Crusty = (adj.) used to describe someone who is dirty or trashy

“Girl, did you shower today? Your hair is looking musty, dusty, and crusty.”

7. Lit = (adj.) used to describe someone or something that is amazing 

“That party was lit!”

8. Mad = (adv.) a lot

“She has mad problems.”

9. Dumb = (adv.) extremely

“This party is dumb lit.”

10. Brick = (adj.) very cold

“It’s mad brick out.”

11. Tight = (v.) to be upset

“You’re getting me dumb tight.”

12. Thirsty = (adj.) desperate (for sex)

“I ‘m thirsty.”

13. Buggin’ = freaking out, acting up

She’s buggin.”

14. Dog = (n.) a good friend

“That’s my dog!”

15. B = (n.) a good friend

“What’s good, B?”

16. Sus = questionable, dishonest or false

“Its us that he say he don’t know how to shoot craps.”

17. Dead ass = (adj.) seriously

“You dead ass getting me tight, B”

*Could also be used as follows:

“Dead ass?” = Are you serious?

“Dead ass!” = Yes.

18. Guap = (n.) money

“Okay, this to all of my enemies that seeing me gettin’ guap right now.” 

19. Grimey = (adj.) used to describe a back-stabber

“I’m telling you, bro. He’s mad grimey, ain’t no trusting him.”

20. OD = (adj.) excessive, an abbreviation for “over-doing”

“Man, my teacher just put some OD stuff on the black board.“

21. It is dead ass brick out there today.

 “It is seriously cold today.”

22. Aiight – all right

And then there is the ubiquitous “yanowhaimsayn?”

Good luck teaching these kids past participles, conjunctions, misplaced modifiers and compound predicates!

 

I Guess it Must be that Wonderful DC Cuisine!

The Fed’s Open Market Committee Meeting was January 28-29. The Open Market Committee meets at least four times a year and is tasked with deciding the course of monetary policy. All seven Fed governors are on the committee along with the president of the New York reserve bank and four of the remaining 11 reserve bank presidents who serve on a rotating basis. At the meeting all reserve bank presidents have a seat at the table and participate in the discussion whether or not they are a voting member. They are joined at the meeting by members of their economics staff.

One of the members of my dissertation committee left Ohio State to join the Fed as an economist. He rose to the position of chief economist of the Open Market Committee and when I was living in Washington, he would invite me to attend the Committee meetings. I sat in the back of the room watching the sausage being made. The meetings are held in secret. In those days there was no announcement of their deliberations although sometimes there would be a leak to the press. Once a Fed chairman fired a reserve bank director for leaking to the press a change in the discount rate (the rate that the Fed charges banks to borrow money). Fed chair Greenspan was one who did not eschew obfuscation and did his best to keep Fed decisions secret lest the market would offset the Fed’s intended actions.

Now the Fed is more open. At the end of the meeting the chairman, Jay Powell, holds a press conference to announce the decision of the Open Market Committee. The minutes of the meeting are published a few months later but are hardly informative. For example, there could be a subject introduced and a long lively discussion followed by an action decision. However, the minutes will simply read “a discussion ensued.” It used to be that the votes of the Committee were not disclosed. The thinking was that if the votes are split, it would show dissension within the Committee and that the chairman was losing control. In the past the markets have reacted negatively to such news. However, at the meeting prior to this one it was revealed that the vote to lower the Fed funds target rate was not unanimous. The new president of the Cleveland Fed, Beth Hammack voted not to lower the rate. Not a peep from the market. Yet last year when Fed governor Michelle Bowman dissented the Dow fell by 1,100 points, not because of her dissent but because Powell indicated that perhaps there will be two more cuts when the market had expected four more.

This time the Fed announced no change in the rate. The vote was unanimous. There was no decided market reaction in that no rate change was expected. In fact, the market expects that there will be no change when the Fed meets in March. So why spend all the money bringing the 12 reserve bank presidents and their staffs to Washington for a two day meeting to discuss monetary policy changes if there are not going to be any changes? In fact, why come to Washington at all? Hasn’t the Fed heard of Zoom? Of course the Fed’s funding does not come from the taxpayers. It comes from the assessments of the banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System (all nationally chartered banks and the  state chartered banks that opt for membership). The Fed’s budget is subject to congressional review but to my knowledge the Congress has not demanded any change to how the Fed spends its funds.

The Fed seems to be one of Trump’s many targets. Although he appointed Powell, it is doubtful that he will reappoint him when his term expires on May 15, 2026. Trump was critical of the Fed’s actions over the past four years for allowing inflation to increase significantly. He is now demanding that the Fed continue to lower its target Fed funds rate as inflation recedes. Powell demurred saying that the Fed would make its decisions based on an impartial analysis of the relevant data rather than from outside pressures. And remember that Trump said that he should have input into the Fed’s decisions. He said prior to the election “I feel the president should have at least a say in there. I think that in my case, I made a lot of money, I was very successful, and I think I have a better instinct than in many cases, people that would be on the Federal Reserve or the chairman.”

Earth to Trump, unless you get the Congress to change the law (probability equal to zero), all you can do is kibitz from the outside. What would be Trump’s monetary policy – cutting off money flows to Panama if they didn’t give back the Canal?