Author: thependulumswings staff

iPods, Smoking, and Combustion Engines

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Did you or do you own an iPod?  Did you ever smoke cigarettes?  Will you trade in your gas guzzler when the time comes for an electric vehicle(EV)?

Yesterday the mother of all companies in tune with what people want/need, Apple, ended production on the tunes machine that changed how we listened to music-the iPod.

Why did they discontinue the iPod?  It’s pretty simple.  Apple and its competitors innovated.  You can listen to music, podcasts, etc. right from your phone from a variety of sources better known as apps.   The sound quality is amazing.

The life span of the iPod was a short but successful 20 years or so.  Innovation changed the game.

Cigarettes, regardless of brand, went from “smoke them if you got em” during WWII, to sexy in the ’60s, to the surgeon general warning us in the ’80s about how bad they were for your health, to frowned upon in the ’00s, to almost extinguished in the ’20s.

The lifespan of Winston, which “tastes good like a cigarette should,” was multiple generations.  Medical science changed the game.

In 1886, Carl Benz began the first commercial production of motor vehicles with internal combustion engines. By the 1890s, motor cars reached their modern stage of development.

The gasoline-powered car stands as one of the great inventions ever.  It revolutionized how we got around, how far we could go, and who we were.

And, a quick 130 or so years later it’s in the fight of its life.  EVs cometh.  And so does the government.

Sure, EVs are innovations to gas-powered cars and trucks like the phone is to the iPod.  Sure(we presume), EVs are healthier for our planet like not smoking is to smoking.

But this one feels forced.  Shouldn’t we let nature, innovation, education, and consumer preferences take their course?

“Biden admin’s new NEPA permitting rules will basically stop new oil and gas production,” wrote renowned economist Larry Kudlow yesterday.  “The Keystone XL pipeline is gone.  Alaska drilling is gone. Other smaller pipelines are gone. Those decisions have already been made by Biden’s Energy and Interior departments and his EPA.”

And, now new leases in the Gulf of Mexico have been canceled.  Additionally, Russian oil is off-limits and gasoline at the pump is already at an all-time high.

These new NEPA rules are so restrictive that they will slow down the $1 trillion infrastructure bill they passed including the green infrastructure (windmills, solar).  All projects will be subject to direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impact reviews.

So while we are in a rush to go green, far-reaching regulations were passed that will now make us inspect the government-funded (read as you funded) green infrastructure projects to ensure they’re green.  We’re spending a lot of green for all of this.

Are you seeing red yet?  Your eyes are fine.  It’s probably just all of that government red tape that you are seeing.

Like baby formula, we’d like to see the supply of gas catch up with the demand for gas.  It would lower prices.  That would allow us to keep a bit of what we earn so that when taxes are raised to pay for all of this that government can’t afford, we’ll be able to afford to do so.

Eventually, won’t EVs win out? Capitalism drove us this far so to speak.

Until then, we’d like to “fill er up” a time or two more without going into what’s left of our savings accounts.

 

 

 

 

That Pesky Swamp Thing

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Have you ever heard anyone say, “OMG, why would anyone ever have voted for Donald J. Trump?”  We thought so.

Why?  “Why” was on full display yesterday in Washington DC, otherwise known as The Swamp.

Current president in name only Joe Biden addressed a few important issues.  On one, inflation, he was asked what his plan was to combat this runaway train.  His answer was that it’s 1) covid’s fault, and 2) Putin’s fault.

He went on and asked what the GOP plan to fight inflation was. “How about spending less?” Ted Cruz tweeted back later.

Finally, Biden went for the kill shot.  His teleprompter prompted him to exclaim that his spending policies help lower inflation not make prices go higher.

In short, assign blame elsewhere, make it political, ignore the problem, and spend more money.

Meanwhile down the street another pesky Swamp Thing, Mitch McConnell, took the podium in the Capitol Rotunda.  He proudly stated that he contacted the President directly last week and told him that in order to get more aid for Ukraine, they should rush a bill through that had nothing extraneous attached to it.  Let’s get $40 billion directly to Ukraine ASAP.

He went on to say that he thought all of us could agree that the war in Ukraine was the most important issue facing Americans today.  Out of touch, much?

This is the same Senate minority leader who helped usher in Obamacare after the Democrats greased his old sweaty palm with $2 billion inside of that “affordable healthcare act” earmarked for infrastructure spending in his great home state-Kentucky.  If you like your interstate you can expand your interstate.

This is the same Senate minority leader who said last month that if the Republicans regained control of the Senate that he would indeed be the majority leader all over again.

This is the same Senate that has 50 Republicans that didn’t offer one scintilla of objection to his power grab before the Republicans possibly grab the power again.

Meanwhile, down at the virtual ink press, The Washington Post ran a story titled George Washington University Needs to Change Its Name.  Do you notice any similarities in the two bolded words in the previous sentence?

That’s journalism 101?  What’s important now?

Meh.  What’s $40 billion anyway?

  1. A LOT of money.
  2. The same amount that a citizen is paying for Twitter when everyone flipped their non free speech lid.  It’s his money. He can do what he wants.
  3. This $40 billion is your money. Washington thinks they can do what they want.
  4. Except, it’s money that you don’t have.
  5. As a matter of fact, you don’t have the $30 trillion that you (the U.S.) owe to creditors and counting.

Is the $40 billion a part of a NATO aid package?  Doubtful.  How much combined have the other NATO nations provided.  Our guess is that it’s in the very few millions with an “M.”

Can Volodymyr Zelenskyy turn the $40 billion into tanks, bullets, or guns anytime soon?  We’ve heard of Carvana, but not Tankvana.

Have you ever heard anyone, or everyone, at a Trump rally chant harmoniously “Drain the Swamp, Drain the Swamp?”

We thought so. We hope so.  Like a bankruptcy sale, everyone must go.

Maybe The Washington Post should change its name to The Swamp Post.

It should.

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

There is no shortage of turmoil and tumult in this tempestuous nation/world that we live in.  Hence there is no shortage of “you’re kidding me” moments, actions or misdeeds to box up a Ten Piece Nuggets weekly.  Supply chain issues we have none here.

  1. Ever played Wordle?  It’s a progressive use of only five-letter words chasing the word of the day.   Ever since The New York Times bought it 90 or so days ago, BBR’s been waiting for them to either screw it up, charge for it, or put their worldly slant on it.  This morning the NYT announced that it was removing the word “fetus” in a move to keep the game “distinct from the news.”
  2. This move put the game right into the news, which is of course exactly what they wanted.  Maybe if the word fetus is removed from our minds there will be no more fetuses?
  3. Try typing in the word “slave” next time you play.  It’s not there either.  If it helped get rid of slavery that’s a plus.  Of course, it didn’t.  But we can always change, alter, rewrite, or ignore history if need be.  And, most of all the word “slave” is offensive.
  4. Honorable Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has a hunch (like renowned seer Eric Swalwell) that this Roe V Wade overturn is just the start.  “To my friends in the LGBTQ+ community—the Supreme Court is coming for us next. This moment has to be a call to arms,” she tweeted.  And, she had more goodwill in her next.  “We will not surrender our rights without a fight—a fight to victory!”  Just rhetoric you say?  Perhaps.  Chicago has the highest murder rate in this country.  Mostly peaceful protests are sure to follow.
  5. Two quick years ago, Chuck Schumer had it with two justices specifically.   Speaking to the pro-abortion (meaning women’s wellness) activists in front of the Supreme Court building, Schumer called out Gorsuch and Kavanaugh by name, saying: “You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”  Just rhetoric you say?  Perhaps. New York, where Schumer hails from has marginally less gun violence than Chicago.
  6.  Was it rhetoric that got President Trump into trouble that lead to the January 6th insurrection?  Nope, it was a dereliction of duty some say.  Actually, it was stupidity just like the two outbursts above.  Of course, with each passing week, we are learning that the “storming” of the capitol might have had deeper planted roots.  Now that would be more than rhetoric and stupidity combined.
  7. All of the above is a win for the left.  Galvanize the base on the possible decision to return the abortion debate back to the states, but make it sound like SO much more than that.  Forget that gas prices climbed to an all-time high yesterday.  What border?  Do yourself a favor and skip peeking at your 401k.
  8. Bette Midler is encouraging women and girls to take a knee the next time “The Star-Spangled Banner” is played, in apparent protest of the U.S. Supreme Court’s forthcoming decision on Roe v. Wade.  While they’re kneeling could they say a prayer to ease the baby formula shortage?  Or, is that too much to ask?
  9. Meanwhile, did you know that a majority of pro-life advocates are women?  Did you know that the US is only one of seven countries on earth that allow elective abortion through all nine months of pregnancy?
  10.  The DOJ is launching a new office.  It’s the Office of Environmental Justice.  AG Merrick Garland released a statement, “Although violations of environmental laws can happen anywhere, communities of color, indigenous communities, and low-income communities often bear the brunt of the harm caused by environmental crime, pollution, and climate change.”  Shakedowns are in style all over again.  Better Call Saul.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                You’ve been served.

Ten Piece Nuggets-Random

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Please seat yourself.  Labor shortages in the restaurant biz are acute.

BBR is committed to replacing all plastic straws with paper by 2030 assuming any trees are left.

  1.  We have a quick quiz to start us off.  Q- In 2012 who said, “Life begins at conception?”  A- Joe Biden, VP.
  2. The FBI is starting an investigation into the SCOTUS leak source.  It took a dozen agents two weeks to figure out the rope in Rusty Wallace’s garage was a door opener.  BBR’s guess on the conclusion date of their Supreme Court deep dive is 11/9, or 24 hours after the midterm vote.
  3. There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that O.J. Simpson pledged a cool million to help find the leaker.
  4.  We got from “you must socially distance, wear at least one mask, stay home, and get vaxxed four times” to “don’t tell me what to do with my body” quicker than Russia could gain control in Ukraine.
  5.  And just like that everyone 2 weeks ago who was not a biologist is now a biologist.
  6. The honorable Congressman from Cali, Eric Swalwell tweeted last evening, ” The Republicans won’t stop with banning abortion.  They want to ban interracial marriage. Do you want to save that?  Well, then you should probably vote.”  He really did.  Justice Clarence Thomas is holding on line two.
  7. Do any of the fine citizens of the great states of California, Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Hawaii realize that the possible(probable) overturn of Roe V. Wade will have zero effect on the ability to abort in their state?  As fast as Florida, Texas, Alabama, and South Dakota ban it or limit it, the above-mentioned states will pass legislation to protect it. The SC ruling would only return the decision-making to the states.
  8. Bernie Sanders knows what to do.  “Congress must pass legislation that codifies Roe v. Wade as the law of the land in this country NOW. And if there aren’t 60 votes in the Senate to do it, and there are not, we must end the filibuster to pass it with 50 votes,” he tweeted.  So he wants to pass a law changing a centuries-old filibuster law to pass a law that the SC said should be a state’s choice.   Why not?  Bernie “Smooth” Sanders.
  9. While more than six in 10 registered voters continue to believe the U.S. Supreme Court should uphold Roe v. Wade, the latest Fox News poll also finds over half favor banning abortions after 15 weeks.  Conflicted we are.  A state-by-state breakdown, if Roe v. Wade gets tossed, would be interesting.
  10. All 22 Trump-endorsed candidates for office in yesterday’s Ohio and Indiana won their primaries.  RINO’s will be as scarce as lanterns and pitchforks this fall.  Mitch McConnell, are you listening?

You’ve been served.

 

A Leak Like No Other

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

In 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled on the case of Roe v Wade.  The majority opinion of the court made abortion legal nationwide.

Emotions about abortion ran high.  It was and is a nasty word for many.  So abortion was rebranded as pro-choice.  Pro-choice morphed into woman’s health.  Woman’s health was then repackaged as woman’s wellness.  It’s harder to debate woman’s wellness.

Eventually, the government was so concerned about women’s wellness that Planned Parenthood (founded in 1916) became a partially federally funded abortion, and woman’s wellness clinic.

Since we’re changing what we call things, should that part of the organization be renamed Not Planned Not Parenthood?

Fifty years later, there is a public debate as to who actually is a woman at the same time that we put a woman, Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson on the Supreme Court.  Brown Jackson testified before Congress that she couldn’t define what a woman was either.  When pressed, she said, “I am not a biologist.”

So last night’s bombshell, the SCOTUS leak of the first draft opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito for the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization., has vaulted the issue to the front page of American discourse all over again.  Alito writes, “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

That there is a leak is a bombshell unto itself.  And, is a very dangerous threat to a very important pillar of US democracy-the Justice System’s impartial operational sanctity.  Start the investigation today.

So why the leak?  It’s pretty obvious, and serves a dual purpose, doesn’t it?

Can enough pressure be applied to those siding with Alito to swing votes the other way to maintain the status quo?  And can the current political landscape be reshaped with this polarizing issue to the extent that the party in power can maintain that power by inciting and galvanizing its base?

Inevitably, the leak will spur Democrats to push for the passage of a bill to codify Roe.  To do so they would need to bust the filibuster rule or lower the threshold to end a filibuster from 60 yes votes to 51. That means all attention will immediately turn to, you guessed it, Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.

The midterm vote is on 11/8/22, or six months and five days from today.

If you’re the party from the left would you like to run on inflation, food shortages, Ukraine, Afghanistan, the southern border, crime, Biden’s poll numbers, and Kamala’s incompetence? Or, would you like to run away from all of that?

Or, would you prefer to watch “mostly peaceful protests” in this coming summer of love to combat that nasty “war on women?” You could then bank on that being the galvanizer to get the vote out and turned in your favor.

Is it a coincidence that Kamala Harris is the featured speaker tonight at the 30th Annual We Are EMILY National Conference and Gala, a pro-choice event?  Is it a coincidence that President Biden is scheduled to deliver his thoughts from the White House today on Roe V. Wade?

Or, is all of this well planned by the party that plans well?

One thing is for sure, the Supreme Court has reunited the nation on the question of which gender gets pregnant and gives birth.

Or, chooses not to.

For now.

 

Imagine That

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Imagine a country governed by people who feel like a five-year-old understands gender orientation/identification but an 18-year-old doesn’t understand that if you borrow money for college you have to pay it back.

But for that to happen you’d have to imagine a country that has a president who said yesterday to teachers about their students at the White House Teachers of the Year Event, “they’re not somebody else’s children.  They’re yours when you’re in the classroom.”

Imagine studying, for example, art appreciation, and realizing at 25 years of age that your degree can’t afford a tank of gas much less a loan payback.

Some wake-up calls happen later than others, but all are part of life’s lessons.

Imagine that the keepers of the taxpayers’ money think it’s actually a good lesson to teach loan forgiveness.  Do car or house loans in the future come equipped with a ripcord too?  Why would we teach anyone to live within (or preferably below) their means?

Is this a downpayment for a vote in the midterms?

Imagine the understandable outrage of parents who scraped to save for their child’s college while watching another handout.

Imagine the understandable outrage of valuable blue-collar workers who learned a trade at their own expense and now inevitably realize that the student loan debt is transferred to their backs.

Imagine a party currently out of power that could succinctly “sell” against the shell game above, get elected, and actually do right by the everyday working man and woman in this country.

To do that you’d need to imagine that “man” and “woman” are words still recognized by men and women.

To do that you’d need to imagine a party that was conservative, not Republican that spends like the party in power.

To do that you’d need to imagine a party that did not have people named McConnell, McCarthy, Graham, Cheney, and Romney in powerful positions.

To do that you’d need progressive (not that kind) thinking.

Someone better think like that and fast.  Because progressive(that kind) thinking, in less than one week after Elon Musk finalized an agreement to buy Twitter the Department of Homeland Security, created what they are calling a Disinformation Governance Board’ dedicated to “countering misinformation.”

Lose control of Twitter? No problem!  We’ll wield a word ax over any and all spoken and written words.

A Ministry of Truth is what opponents are calling it.  Will the Disinformation Governance Board deem the characterization “Ministry of Truth” as misinformation?

Imagine someone running the Ministry named Nina Jankowicz.  Last week, Jankowicz said she opposes The First Amendment for apparently being bad for ‘marginalized communities.’  We’d imagine marginalized communities is gobbledy gook for “minorities.”

Now that we forgave student loans, let’s get back to the real problems in this country-equity, inclusion, and diversity!

Jeez. Wasn’t it just last week that Disney execs reimagined their imaginary characters to do just that?

Imagine that.

At What Price Free Speech?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s all over but the shouting.  Paperwork pending, Elon Musk has bought Twitter.

And, the shouting is all over the place but far from over.

It’s shaping up as a bad couple of weeks for the left side of ideology.  First, it was masks off.  Now, it’s Musk on.

Elon Musk used the platform he is buying to provide insight into what likely will be his guiding principle.  He tweeted, ” I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter because that is what free speech means.”

But a lot (and we mean a lot) of “open-minded” citizens see it differently and came to Twitter and TV to tell us as much.  Even the ones that announced that they were packing their Tesla and moving to Canada if Donald Trump won had something to say.

Let’s start with the esteemed senator from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren.  “This deal is dangerous for our democracy.  Billionaires like Musk play by a different set of rules than everyone else, accumulating power for their own gain.  We need a wealth tax and strong rules to hold big tech accountable.”

There is so much to unpack in that statement.  Was she speaking about herself?  If Elizabeth Warren identified as a man her pro(per) nouns would be Bernie and Sanders, but we digress.

News flash, free speech isn’t dangerous to our democracy.  See the very First Amendment for confirmation.

What some try to define as hate speech is indeed free speech.  You might hate what they say, but it’s their right to say it.  It’s just like burning an American flag.  You might hate seeing someone do so, but it’s been judicially ruled and subsequently upheld as freedom of expression.

Former Presidential Democratic “want to be” nominee Howard Dean tweeted that he was out.   Thousands commented back that they were as well.   The irony of using the platform to boldly announce that you’re leaving the platform is palpable.

None other than former VP Dan Quayle jumped in and tweeted, “at least seven people will miss you!”  Hateful.  True.  Quayle even spelled seven correctly!

Well, maybe the next stop for Dean is CNN+.  Come to think of it, it’s been a really bad run for those that lean left.

Press Secretary Jen Psaki, “The president has long been concerned about the power of large social media platforms, and has long argued that they must be held accountable for the harms that they cause.”  Likely he’s just been too busy to tackle this cause just yet.  After he fixes the harm caused by Russia and inflation though, lookout.

A study by The Center for Responsive Politics of political donations for the midterms by corporate employees, and published by Vox shows that 98.7% of the money donated went to the Democratic party from Twitter employees.

Want more?  Netflix 99.6%.  Apple 97.5%.  Google 96.0%.  Facebook 94.5%.  You can see why Biden is concerned, can’t you?

People who have preached that men can get pregnant are now concerned with misinformation on Twitter.  How timely?  How noble?

An African American who nearly single-handedly brought electric cars to the market to save the planet is now the bad guy for wanting free speech to truly be free.

Only in America could all of this happen concurrently.

After all, it’s the land of the “free” and the home of the “brave,” depending on whom you ask of course.

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Random

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Easy question.  What’s better than getting your week started with a healthy serving of Ten Piece Nuggets?

Easy Answer.  Nothing, just like the content of Kamala Harris’ responses to questions asked of her.

  1.  Today is the last day to file your 2021 tax return.  It’s 4/18 this year, not 4/15, because Friday was Emancipation Day (a legal holiday in the District of Columbia) and the IRS observed it.  If you haven’t yet be sure you do file today as every country in the world other than the United States is relying on the money.
  2.  Speaking of money, why is everyone more worried about how Elon Musk is spending his money than how the US government spends our money?
  3.  We forgot.   Nandy Pelosi lectured to us that government overspending isn’t inflationary.  So, no worries.  Joe Biden did as well, but may not remember doing so.  Thankfully, Build Back Better is on the very backburner now.  Hopefully, he forgets about that, too!
  4. Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos purchased the Washington Post in 2016 for $250 million. Some of the paper’s columnists have vocally opposed Musk’s efforts. The left-leaning media outlet published a column from former CEO of Reddit Ellen K. Pao headlined, “Elon Musk’s vision of ‘free speech’ will be bad for Twitter.”  You can’t make this stuff up and sound this ignorant.  We now have visions of free speech.
  5. Do you know what Title 42 is?  On March 20, 2020, at the outset of the COVID-19 public health emergency, President Trump previewed a measure to curb “mass uncontrolled cross-border movement.”  That day, then CDC Director Robert Redfield invoked a World War II-era public health law to authorize U.S. border officials to promptly deport migrants. The law, found in Title 42 of the U.S. code, grants the government the “power to prohibit, in whole or in part, the introduction of persons and property” to stop a contagious disease from spreading in the U.S.  Now you do.
  6. To stop the contagious disease in Canada you must have had two Covid 19 vaccine doses at least 14 days prior to entering the country.  The Boston Red Sox have a series there starting next week and Manager Alex Cora said that they will be without multiple unvaccinated players.
  7. On April 1, now CDC Director Rochelle Walensky announced her agency would stop authorizing Title 42 on May 23, saying the expulsions of migrants are no longer necessary to protect public health.  Here comes the next huge illegal wave.  Even a Democratic candidate for the Texas Governorship opposes the move.  “It does not make sense to end this until there is a real plan and the capacity in place to handle those and address those that come over,” Beto O’Rourke said.
  8. Beto is fence-sitting a bit, but still, he at least wants a plan.  This administration has a plan.  The plan is to flood America with immigrants legal or not.  Texas has had it.  Bus no. 4 loaded last week and hit DC yesterday.  Oh, and Beto has no shot(pun intended) in Texas.  His opposition to guns is the deal-breaker.
  9. You can finally rest easy if you’re a pregnant man. Put your feet up like your female counterparts have done for centuries. Apple’s iOS 15.4 update, rolling out to all models of the iPhone since late March, recognizes you with an emoji of a pregnant man.  There is also a gender-neutral “person with crown” to go alongside the king and queen ones.  All are available in five skin colors, too.  So, to recap you can now be a pregnant male or a gender-neutral crowned person regardless of your skin tone. Inclusive indeed.
  10. Special Counsel John Durham is a deal maker.  He’s now giving immunity to up to five key witnesses in the Clinton campaign investigation of false Russian collusion in the 2016 election and prosecution of its lawyer Michael Sussmann.  Sussmann will wind up as roadkill for the Clintons.  There is a trail of it from Arkansas to DC and back and the stench covers decades.  Will the investigation result in more carnage?

You’ve been served.

 

The (Not) Great Reset

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

We believe for a fact that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in 1963 when he shot and killed President John F. Kennedy.  We believe this based on a mountain of evidence piled up over the years vs very little to the contrary.  Follow the forensic and ballistic science.

President Obama said in 2014,  “The shift to a cleaner energy economy won’t happen overnight, and it will require tough choices along the way.  But the debate is settled.  Climate change is a fact.”  Clearly, he believes it. Or, at the least, he’s a great pitchman for solar and electric companies.

We believe it too as the climate has always been changing.  It’s how the sun is constantly cooling for example. It’s how the lower half of Florida broke off from Louisiana and floated to its current Everglades location. Follow the science.

And clearly, the CDC, labeled yesterday on Twitter as the Center for Disinformation and Control, believes that yet another covid variant is amongst us and potentially so disruptive that they extended the airplane mask mandate another 15 days. It was supposed to fly away for good on Monday 4/18.  Science.

Dr. Fauci must feel like a kid in a candy store this morning, but we digress.

That the CDC extended this mandate is beyond laughable.   And, that’s the problem.  It’s beyond laughable because there has to be a method to their madness.  Is it another means to a bigger end?

If you believe in the “Great Reset” theory, it’s all a bit scary.  We’re not sure if we do.  But, clearly, something is afoot.  There are too many zealots, not experts, pulling from the same side of the rope.

Masks don’t work.  Doctors near and far will tell you this.  You can take them off while eating.  What a joke.

But don’t say that out loud.  Twitter might suspend or even ban you.

The FBI might investigate you.  Of course, that’s not something that you need to worry about apparently.

You don’t need a mask anywhere in the US worth talking about.  Philly government buildings and NY preschools aren’t worth it.

Neither is the White House where an “emotional” Kamala forgot hers after the Judge Jackson confirmation.  That’s excusable and understandable, isn’t it?

But, step on a plane and mask up or else.  Control.  Power.

The CEOs of the major airlines should refuse to enforce the mandate starting today.  Today.  It’s not legal.  It’s not a law passed by Congress.

At least racism is getting fixed.  Well, it’s not if you boarded a subway in Brooklyn Tuesday.

And, yesterday Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury spoke out again against climate change and in support of a carbon tax.   “Climate change is a very critical problem that we need to address. The central problem is the damage caused by greenhouse gas emissions.”  Yellen, the bean counter, is now yelling as a climate change expert.

Meanwhile down at the border, no masks are needed.  Neither is a negative covid test.  Fences?  Nah.  Border patrol? But, why?

Do you want cheaper gas and oil?  Tough.  Buy a Tesla.

Ah, Tesla.  That brings us to Elon Musk.  This morning he announced plans to buy Twitter.  And, with the offer comes the promise that free speech on one big left-leaning social media tech platform might actually be freed.

And, with that and the upcoming midterms comes something else that we believe in.  The pendulum.  And, the pendulum is moving even when you think it is not.

Maybe there is light at the end of that tunnel after all.

Let us hope it’s not a NY subway train light.

Was that offensive?  One can hope.

Ten Piece Nuggets-Random

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The fryer wouldn’t kick on right away this AM, so the Ten Piece Nuggets are in short order today.

  1.  By now you know that the CPI annualized for March roared in at 8.5%, the highest since 1981. By now you’ve heard the White House and its occupants refer to the runaway inflation as the “Putin Price Hike.”  We’d love to see the polling that the administration did on the catchy phrase.  In other words, how many Americans believe that this mess is Putin’s doing?  And/or how many thought it to be a good phrase to hide the obvious?
  2. Calling severe inflation the “Putin price hike” is a lie.  It’s also a distraction.  What they’re really saying is they plan to do little to attempt to stop it.
  3. After all, and we borrowed this one from one of our favorite readers, tapping our oil reserves instead of drilling is as stupid as tapping your 401k instead of going to work.
  4.  How can Frank James, “a person of interest,” in the NY subway shootings yesterday escape from the horrific scene and remain on the loose today?  The subway cameras weren’t working much like the jail cameras all around Jeffery Epstein’s cell.  That’s not a surprise.  The surprise is that the thousands of other cameras around the station didn’t pick up his exit path and allow authorities to trail him to some point.  Surely they know way more than what has been released to the public?
  5. Early reports state that James was known to the FBI but cleared in 2019.  Cleared?  What does that mean?  It means investigated, but not pursued beyond that, we presume.  Does anyone ever do any follow-up?  We’ve heard that excuse far too many times including 9/11.  The FBI was once a revered granite block of what was right with our country.  Now it’s Inspector Clouseau in a Pink Panther movie.

  6. You remember former Fox News anchor Chris Wallace.  The liberal that emerged from behind the Fox logo has reportedly been breaking down in front of his crew over the “miserable failure” of the new streaming platform CNN+.  The launch of CNN+ has been anything but stellar with the platform drawing close to 10,000 daily viewers and even fewer subscribers.  No one watches CNN.  Why would you pay to watch CNN+?  And, you already have another left streamer gaining steam named Disney+, but we digress.  Trump once told Chris that his father Mike was much better than him.  Harsh.  Accurate?

  7. CNN is now owned by WarnerMedia just as it is merging with Discovery, and some of the execs of these entities are a bit confused as to why CNN rushed through its launch of the now failing service before the merger was complete.  So far it’s a $300 million investment to attract 10k lost souls.  Does it sound like somebody owed somebody a favor?  Adding Jemele Hill to cover sports surely will help.  Won’t it?
  8. Warner Bros. has bowed to Chinese authorities by removing gay dialogue from its blockbuster sequel Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore, with the studio justifying its act of artistic censorship by describing it as “nuanced cuts” and “minor edits.”  This is taking “Don’t Say Gay” to a whole new level.  LA County will not allow its government employees to travel to Florida because of the bill.  Surely China is next?  Not if you follow the money.
  9. Texas has had it with the illegal immigration at the border.  Governor Abbott has begun to bus the migrants to Washington DC.  The first bus arrived this AM.  This should get interesting, very interesting, as Artie Johnson used to say.  The gamesmanship(read as political polarization of uneducated masses) has just begun as we go under the six-month mark till the midterms.
  10. Rep Darrel Issa tweeted yesterday, “Black Lives Matter sent some angry tweets, but still hasn’t come close to explaining its purchase of a $6 million mansion in LA-using donations to its charity.  We need an investigation more than ever.”

You’ve been served.