Guard Dog

We threw all of our tea in the harbor!

Coffee shortage is predicted dammit! I’m starting to run out of space to hoard things

The Federal government has its powers, the states have theirs. They should be able to coexist as long as each stays on their side of the street. But governments are made up of people. Grasping, venal, selfish, self righteous, duplicitous, and, as often , honorable, honest, and good intentioned. But most of all ignorant. The biggest failure of government is that it exercises tremendous powers over things it does not understand. The one quality all politicians seem to share is hubris. They genuinely believe because they were the least objectionable candidate on the ballot that one day they are now qualified to make laws about things that are outside their education and experience. At times they are not even qualified to understand who is an expert and who isn’t. Some things obviously are no-brainers. But how does a run of the mill congressman know a good tax policy when one expert tells them one thing and another something different? I guess I can talk about this now since I am no longer a employee of the state. I wrote a couple of papers for a sub committee of the state assembly regarding a proposal for dry fertilizer use. The problem with these people was not that they didn’t have good intentions. They were trying to do a good job but they did not understand the most important concept: water solubility. Government decisions are made without wisdom or understanding as often as not. It’s why I always say it's better when they do nothing.

South Carolina senator proposes bill to make all citizens over the age of 18 and a good legal standing a member of a state militia well I guess that’s one way to go. Not necessarily the what I would’ve done. But every time a state tells the federal government to f—k off It warms my heart.

NHL referee fired after hot mic penalty call

When one side starts with "some can be banned" and the other side starts with "all must be banned" the compromise will not be pretty. Nor equitable.

Moving from the Funny Stuff thread. Replying to Giftd, Skarp, etc. In all seriousness the right to bear arms like any other is not absolute. There can be reasonable restrictions and to tell you the truth I really don’t have a problem with background checks being one of them. If that was as far as it was going to go. But it’s not. My opposition to any form of gun control is at a philosophical level. We cannot agree on reasonable curbs because we are not dealing with reasonable opposition. The aim of gun control proponents is prohibition and confiscation. Every “reasonable“ restriction begets another and another and another until they reach the desired end. That is not reasonable. What I want to hear is gun control advocates plainly and publicly state that they concede that the right to own a firearm is an individual and incorporated right. THEN we can come to some mutual agreements on restrictions and safety. If it’s going to be a continuation of the process we have had we are first they want one thing, then another, then the next, then it is far better to say “NO” right from the start. I am not a hard hearted man. I am as horrified as everybody else every time there is a mass shooting. But not so horrified that I will acquiesce to punishment having not committed a crime. Nor ask anyone else to do so.

never mind

never mind this belongs in the politics thread. It ain't funny!

Personally I think you should have to take the same test before voting. And before buying property. And before not being prosecuted for the same crime twice. And for writing a letter to the newspaper editor. And before calling your congressman. I bet they would really like that one. I mean if we have to start taking a test before enjoying a basic right why settle for just one right?

A complete economic implosion resulting from the collapse of the currency and banking system will certainly shake things up. Don’t know what it will look like after but I’m sure it will be different. Couldn’t even hazard a guess as to how long you will have to wait for that to happen but the fact that it will happen seems a pretty sure thing.

Exchanging e-mails with a former colleague over the past few days. He has a job opportunity in Mexico. I had a pretty good time working there a few years ago. I have to say the Mexican government makes getting a work visa very easy. But the job is in Nuevo Laredo which is.... not so nice. Probably why he's having a hard time filling it. The thought of designing mmWave 5G networks definitely appeals. But it would be such a huge disruption to my life. Besides, aside from my few entrepreneuial ventures I think my working career is done.

Deficit spending and uncontrollable debt will be our undoing. Not today, maybe not for a little while. But the day will come when the dollar is not the world reserve currency and debt will no longer be able to be monetized without consequences. We will not survive the stupidity of our political leaders nor the indolence of our voters.

National holiday eyed to commemorate emancipation Nice idea. But.... I'm going to have to be a bit of a history snob here. The Emancipation Proclamation only freed the slaves in states that were rebelling. I get that Juneteenth is a big deal. But slavery was both legal AND practiced in Delaware, West Virginia (nice going Senator Willey /sarcasm), and (not legal but not stopped yet) Maryland when the sun set on June 19th 1865. They were all Union states and the EP was not binding on them. Slavery ended with the ratification of the 13th Amendment on December 6th. Delaware held on until the very end and West Virginia prosecuted slavery cases for years after. Hey I am 100% for a holiday to commemorate. I just think it's inaccurate to say it ended on Junteenth. It didn't.

Reading DP's links... mostly factual as far as they go. Bond yield rising in an of itself is not the concern. Although it IS curious because US fiscal policy and the actions of the Fed should make everyone nervous when Bonds become volatile. The reason being inflation. When the Fed is promising to hold inflation at 2.2% it's a pretty safe bet you're already there and likely past it despite what you read in the papers. Which is why the Reuters article suggests the rise in yields is from investors shorting debt. Probably true but not for the reason they suggest IMO only. The thing to watch is Repo Market activity. That is where the first indications of trouble start. The Repo Market is a short term borrowing exchange between banks. The lending firm will "buy" securities from a bank or fund with the agreement the borrower will "buy" them back after the term of the loan at a higher price. It's like collateralized loan with the difference in price being the interest. The terms are short, obviously. 24-48 hours usually. Well, right now the hot item being "borrowed" are 10 year treasuries. The borrowers are are buying them from the Fed and using them as collateral in the repo market. The way treasuries work is as their prices drop their rates climb. The rates are climbing because there are suddenly a lot more on them in play. That is the WHY behind the yields. WHY is the 10 year suddenly so popular? Dunno for sure. Purely my own opinion here but I think banks are waiting to see what the Fed is going to do. See if they will intervene. The outcome of this is an increase in real interest rates, something the Fed does not want (but IMO only should be allowed to happen). Another problem is if Bond yields get hot overall stock prices go down. Something else the Fed does not want. Anyone who says they know what's happening and exactly what it means is just wrong though.

You know I can't update this thread without at least one critter story.... so here it is. From the Texas deep freeze a little while back: Texas Family Spends 12 Hours In Car So Dog Can Give Birth In The Warmth

Doorbell video captures moment good Samaritan returns lost wallet in Florida Kudos to him... I think I'd have just mailed it back.

A woman, nicknamed 'book lady,' wants to give away one million books to her community

CFL & XFL are merging The XFL is like a rubber fire. No matter how much water you pour on it it keeps flaring up again. As for the CFL, the last time they tried exporting the 55 yard line south of the border it was a disaster. Curious to see how this progresses.

Up half the night playing Imperator Rome. I’ve been trying for a while to win as one of the lesser Greek states. It always seems to play out the same way. Once Macedon and Phrygia stop fighting each other you’re pretty screwed. Doesn’t really matter which one of them wins that war. Your ass is next

So the tail is wagging the dog?

Aargh! The right thing to say only now it's too late to say it!

The flea market in Covington is open again. I took Sunny with and wen't to go look. Well, they stopped me in the parking lot. Apparently the new people running it are not allowing dogs. So, guess who is not going to the flea market anymore. If she's not welcome, I'm not welcome. Besides, I don't eat that trashy food they sell there, I don't want "confederate" flags and I don't even wear a belt so I don't need designer belt buckles. And I have plenty of broken tools already. After that ignominious ejection we wen't to Mid South BBQ where good company (even furry) is welcomed at the picnic tables outside. I had 1/4 BBQ chicken, baked beans, collard greens and pecan pie and unsweet iced tea. She got grilled chicken breast with no sauce. Cut into chunks of course. After that we took a ride out to visit our property out on east liberty ave then went home.

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