When immigrants came to America from Europe in the early 1900's they did so legally and to become Americans.
Today they come primarily illegally and not necessarily to become Americans but to benefit from what prior immigrants helped America achieve. Far too many come to re-establish themselves and their own culture in America. One of the best examples are the two Muslims in Congress who have brought with them all their hatred, their questionable values and efforts at causing discord. We have Obama to thank for them and so many others.
This is why Obama was brilliant and should have been listened to when he told us he would transform America. Now that he has and greatly added to our debt and increased Iran's ability to spread terror there are those who believe his wife should run for the president and pick up where he left off.
From my perspective, I am of the view that left to our own devices and the radicals,who have taken over the Democrat Party,seems we do not need Michelle.
And:
This from a dear friend, great golfer, good tennis layer and fellow memo reader:
"Dick,
I woke up this morning thinking about the role the Democrat-Media Complex now plays in our psyche, replete with Google, Twitter, and Facebook all firmly in the Democrat’s corner, combined with the entire educational system subsumed by a Marxist swoon, meaning we have few elections in front of us where traditional values can prevail.
The blowback to what Obama wrought was Trump, but he is a transitory figure with little breadth in the cranial department and still less ability to listen to other’s counsel. Enjoy it while we can, as the new leadership in the Democrat Party shows what is coming, and 1/2 the Country is already buying it.
Argentina was at one time the 4th leading economy in the World, but succumbed to Peronism, which destroyed the Country completely. Now, after a brief 4 year break from the Kirchners, they just voted them back in, even knowing the history, but falling for the dream of Socialism.
I hope this is not repeated here, but this is what the Media want, and it will take a lot to hold back the tide. R--"The blowback to what Obama wrought was Trump, but he is a transitory figure with little breadth in the cranial department and still less ability to listen to other’s counsel. Enjoy it while we can, as the new leadership in the Democrat Party shows what is coming, and 1/2 the Country is already buying it.
Argentina was at one time the 4th leading economy in the World, but succumbed to Peronism, which destroyed the Country completely. Now, after a brief 4 year break from the Kirchners, they just voted them back in, even knowing the history, but falling for the dream of Socialism.
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Be careful what you wish for. (See 1 below.)
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Yes, Trump is being lynched. (See 2 below.)
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Another Rant. (See 3 below.)
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Dick
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1)
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2) Of Course President Trump Is Being Lynched
President Donald Trump once again did the unthinkable: he hit back against the media and their political party, also known as the Democrats, over their contrived efforts to impeach him for the unforgivable sin of beating their chosen 2016 presidential candidate.
Impeachment is being pushed without authorization from the full House, as in, "The House of Representatives ... shall have the sole Power of Impeachment." The Constitution gives this power not to the speaker or the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, but to "The House," meaning the entire House.
Sure, the House can change the rules. They could vote to make Joy Behar the speaker of the House, since the speaker does not have to be a member of Congress, but that would be a radical departure from precedent, just as the current impeachment process is.
How is the House pushing impeachment? Through a "secret" process rather than through a "due" process. Hearings are conveniently being held clandestinely, since, if the oxymoronic "House Intelligence" Committee holds hearings, everything can be covered under a blanket of "national security." The accusers call witnesses while the defense can only watch, unable to take notes or call their own witnesses, subpoena documents, receive transcripts of the proceedings, or anything else normally afforded the defense under the due process of American jurisprudence.
How would one describe such a circus? How about using the word "lynch"? Cambridge Dictionary describes lynching: "If a crowd of people lynch someone who they believe is guilty of a crime, they kill them without a legal trial, usually by hanging." By the way, lynching is a diverse process, applicable to anyone, regardless of skin color, sex, or any other characteristic. Supreme Court nominees Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas, while of different skin colors, were both treated to Democrat lynchings.
The hanging bit might be a bit over the top, as Democrats don't really want to hang President Trump. Or do they? Bette Midler, a good stand in for Joy Behar for the speaker job, wants to hang not only Trump, but also his family, "good and high." So does some tolerant California State University professor who believes that "Trump must hang. The sooner and the higher, the better."
The Legal Dictionary defines lynching as "[v]iolent punishment or execution, without due process, for real or alleged crimes." That certainly describes the House approach — no due process and only alleged crimes.
The president understands this better than anyone, as he is the one being led to the gallows. As he is prone to do, he took to Twitter with this response: "All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here — a lynching. But we will WIN!"
As predictable as sunrise and sunset, the media's collective heads exploded in unison over Trump's use of the word "lynching." The Left has hijacked the term to serve its pandering civil rights agenda, and for Trump to use it is an unacceptable affront to Democrats.The Guardian ran this headline: "Fury as Trump compares impeachment inquiry to lynching." In lockstep, the New York Times replied, "The term lynching invokes the decades-long racist history of white mob murders of black people beginning in the late 1800s and through the late 1960s."
Wow — the N.Y. Times is throwing Democrats under the bus by saying black lynching was done mostly at the hands of the KKK, the militant arm of the Democratic Party. Remember that Bull Connor, George Wallace, and KKK grand kleagle and former U.S. senator Robert Byrd were all Democrats.
Where did the term "lynching" come from? The Online Etymology Dictionary provides an answer. Lynching "[w]as likely named after William Lynch (1742–1820) of Pittsylvania, Virginia, who c. 1780 led a vigilance committee to keep order there during the Revolution." Alternatively, "[o]ther sources trace the name to Charles Lynch (1736–1796) a Virginia magistrate who fined and imprisoned Tories in his district."
It seems that original lynchings, long before the KKK existed, were reserved for political opponents, just as President Trump described in his tweet.
Regardless of origin, the goal of lynching is to "[i]nflict severe (but not deliberately fatal) bodily punishment (on someone) without legal sanction." Removing a duly elected president is certainly "severe," and the Schiff/Pelosi secret tribunal falls under "without legal sanction."
There is no mention of race, blacks, slavery, or the KKK in the definition of lynching. This reminds me of another word co-opted by the left, "gay," which in 1934 described a dancing divorcée, with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers singing and dancing in a very heterosexual manner. But now the word has only one meaning, as does "lynching." Don we now our gay apparel as we go a-lynching, fa-la-la-la-la.
The "largest lynching in U.S. history" was in New Orleans in 1891 and was directed at Italians, not blacks. Then there was the Chinese massacre of 1871, "one of the largest lynchings in U.S. history." These were racially motivated, but not in the way Democrats have defined lynching.
Democrats, before they became woke in the Age of Trump, frequently used the term "lynching" to describe unfair judicial proceedings, including the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Twitchy compiled a collection, taking a walk down lynching lane, which inconveniently supports Trump's use of the term today.
Democrat Rep. Jim McDermott in 1998 said, "We're taking a step down the road to becoming a political Lynch Mob[.] ... We are going to find a rope, find a tree, and ask a bunch of questions later."
At the same time, Democrat Rep. Jerry Nadler said, "I wish we could get this over with quickly. ... In pushing the process, in pushing the arguments of fairness and due process the Republicans so far have been running a lynch mob."
Democrat Sen. Harry Reid on the Senate floor told his audience, "The lynch mob, though, Mr. President, now has a new leader."
Don't leave out Democrat Sen. John Kerry, who served in Vietnam, exclaiming, "It's a verbal political lynching on the floor of the Senate."
Even Democrat primary frontrunner Sen. Joe Biden told Wolf Blitzer in 1998, "Even if the president should be impeached, history is going to question whether or not this was just a partisan lynching."
Aside from the blatant hypocrisy pushed by the media, President Trump is exactly right in describing not only the current impeachment push, but also three years of resistance to his entire presidency, as a lynching — severe punishment without due process for alleged misdeeds.
Senator Lindsey Graham, in an accidental moment of pro-Trump conservatism, weighed in on the current impeach-trump charade, saying, "This is a lynching, in every sense."
It's too bad so many other Republicans have lost their voices, leaving the president as the sole defender within his party against the latest witch hunt. But a lynching is exactly what it is. Republicans should be brave enough to say so, and loudly.
Brian C Joondeph, M.D. is a Denver-based physician, freelance writer, and occasional radio talk show host whose pieces have appeared in the American Thinker, the Daily Caller, and other publications. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and QuodVerum
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3) The following are general current parameters for real estate lending. These are averages to provide a general sense of terms these days, and not applicable to any particular project or product which will vary. Multi is generally looser terms and can often get a 9% higher LTV on a loan. DSC 1.48, LTV 65.3%, Rate 4.4%, Loan Constant 6.22%, Debt yield 10.4%. 59.6% of loans are partial IO, and 16% are full IO. Underwriting is still pretty good, but covenants are getting too loose again. There is no shortage of capital for good deals. If the banks will not do a loan, there is often a shadow lender who will if the loan is reasonable, and they will sometimes provide mezz. As an example of what is available these days that we did not see in earlier times, on one of my construction deals, an insurance company offered 90% LTC at 4.5% fixed rate, but with a 35% of the net cash flow kicker. That is a very high leverage risk in return for a very high potential return. Insurance companies never did these sorts of deals in the past. Shows the reach for return that even normally low risk lenders will do today. The world is awash in capital from a wide variety of sources seeking yield. Back to my theory that rates will remain very low for several more years will result in more of this reach for yield. The bigger constraints than funding on new development are land and construction costs, and in CA it is grossly excessive regulation.
A few months ago I predicted Hong Kong would be an inflection point. It is becoming much more of a critical issue for China than most people ever thought. Xi cannot launch an all-out Tiananmen type attack on protestors, or he blows any chance of a deal with the US. It is clear the Hong Kong residents see this as an existential moment, and they are not going to back down. For Xi, there is no good solution unless he relents and allows a true fair and open election. He cannot do that, or the new governor would clearly be someone not under Chinese control, and that would in time lead to new demands for freedom, and Xi would view this as his backing down in the face of violence. It will be interesting to see what is the balance Xi tries for- crush Hong Kong and risk the US deal, or allow Hong Kong to become more violent for now until a trade deal is signed. I believe the things are very linked. Whatever happens, Hong Kong might not remain the full capitalist key center for capital flows, and other transactions into and out of China. Possibly, if this goes on, Singapore could become more active for that sort of transaction, while Hong Kong retains the bulk of that business. However, things will never be the same. The other inflection point is the battle with the NBA. China has set a major bad precedent in this matter, and it is not going to be good for them. Now, everyone has to rethink how they function with China when it comes to public comment, and doing business, if there are these consequences for speaking up. Brands are screwed because if they say the right thing, China punishes them, but if they back down then social media punishes them. Western companies have to consider if China is worth the trouble, especially in the social media world of today where little things like the one coach’s comment can quickly escalate into a full scale crisis. It shows how Xi does not understand free speech, nor and how the west really functions. He must be extremely concerned about Hong Kong impacting mainland China if he is so intent on not having anything seep into the Chinese social media. Keep watching Hong Kong and the NBA as these will have an impact far beyond what they first seemed.
While it is still very unclear, it is likely that in the end Brexit will be implemented because everyone is worn down by it, but politics will remain very messy in the UK. The Scots are still interested to secede, and the N Irish will not be happy. Possibly the two Irelands will merge one day, a long time from now. If Brexit does not get done there will be a major political mess ongoing until there is a new election. The political divide in the UK now is similar to what we have here. Very ugly. If Brexit is implemented, the UK will thrive.
The homeless problems in CA are largely due to the cost to do all the regulatory steps and delays, which make it nearly impossible to develop affordable housing. I have first hand experience with this, and it is insane what you have to do in CA vs most other places, which have their own over regulation. Liberals answer is more rent control, which is stupid, as that is one of the ways to stop new development, and to create deteriorating housing. NYC recently expanded rent control and made it nearly impossible to evict even for non- payment. That will cause real issues with housing in about 3-5 years as buildings do not get repaired. These days the numbers simply do not work for affordable housing in most markets where it is needed the most. Without some type of subsidy program, affordable housing is a myth. However the last thing we need is a government run development program which will waste time and money. The government should provide private developers with interest free loans, tax breaks like opportunity zones, or minimal property taxes for a period, and other financial incentives, as well as expedited and easy permits, and low cost government owned land, and let the private sector develop and manage for a profit. The tech companies seem to be getting it right and are stepping in to provide many of the programs I am suggesting. It is highly unlikely the homeless problem will get any better in CA for several years unless Ben Carson steps in and forces local government to cut regulation and provide land subsidies. Very unlikely to happen.
Interesting issue is that young couples are moving to the suburbs again when they have kids. Young, white college grads move to the cities, but when they have kids they move out. The urban schools are generally terrible, and the cost of private school in urban areas is too much for many. School populations in most large cities are declining. The birth rate is declining, which just adds to the decline in students. The result is, generally, the less able, and less culturally motivated, are who are left in urban schools, and they are often the most tightly controlled by the union. The outcome is predictable. Achievement scores are terrible, but the things required to fix this are not allowed by the unions, nor by the left wing city mayors. But not to worry, universities are going to take in these kids because they need diversity, and the teachers unions and the Dem mayors will keep the young kids out of those nasty charter and voucher schools where they might get a real education. Liberals do not seem to understand that the combination of teachers unions and schools with no discipline, and low quality teachers who can’t be fired, are condemning poor black kids to a lifetime of failure, or barely earning what they need to live a middle class life. To me, the teachers union was the one of the worst things that happened to poor blacks.
I have now traveled at one time or other to 34 countries all around the world. As I travel I tend to walk all over cities I visit to get an on the street sense of what life is like there, and I try to talk to regular people. Over the past several years I have noted that most places have made a real effort to upgrade the quality of life, and in Europe and many parts of Asia, they mostly all have modern and efficient transport, very clean streets, extensive retail, a good night life and good restaurants. While there are some exceptions, for the most part, the world has come a long way to a much better life for its citizens. Poverty and food shortages have been dramatically reduced. In most of Europe, and some of Asia, you do not see any homeless in downtowns. They seem to be able to provide some sort of housing and food, or they keep them in other parts of town. Generally most people I see are looking healthy and reasonably well fed. Most are decently dressed. Retail offers anything you see in America. Then I come back to NYC and the US. NYC was doing great until DeBozo started to take it backwards. The subways are decades out of date, streets are now dirty once again, and there is a new crop of bums on streets and subways after they had been totally eliminated. We never saw that after Giuliani cleaned things up. People here do not dress as well as in much of the rest of the world. Here they often look sloppy, or are wearing clothes that I guess are in fashion, but look like torn jeans or other strange outfits. Here they have things stuck in their nose, or lip, or weird earrings on men, and tattoos. You just do not see much of that in Europe or Asia anymore. Then we get to CA, Portland and Seattle, and the homeless and drug addicts living on the streets downtown. You just never see that in other well developed countries. Ride the subway in many of the foreign cites, and then come back to NYC and ride the subway which I do daily. The difference is startling. Everywhere else it is clean as you can imagine, and people are well behaved. Ride the NY subway these days after several years of DeBozo, and they are once again dirty and some people look dirty, or are panhandlers. In short, the big cities in the US are not as nice, and clean, and safe as they are in much of the rest of the developed world. Did I mention that these US cities are almost all run by progressive Democratic mayors who constantly claim they are so concerned for the poor and minorities.
The left can demand we all drive electric cars, but truth is almost every electric car startup has failed due to lack of a market, and the complexity of building cars and effective batteries. Tesla might survive, but that is not yet clear. It is going through cash at a prodigious rate. The major car companies all have an EV design and program, but the public is not yet ready to buy in large numbers until there is the infrastructure to charge and the battery issues for long distance and ultra-fast charging are solved. We are a long way from electric cars as the norm.
The open office concept that has been all the rage is about to become yesterday’s idea. Research finds that it adversely affects people’s work. Open space reduces productivity, raises stress levels and induces high blood pressure, and more sick days. It also results in less face to face interaction. What seemed to the kids like a cool thing, is not. In addition, TI costs are actually higher for open office space because aesthetics become more important, and that costs more due to higher cost materials and more amenities in open space office environments-the kids need play spaces like fitness spaces. ( I used to think you work out after work, not in the office). Lastly, there is actually more vibration felt in the steel frame due to the lack of partitions and hung ceilings. There are also more issues with heating and cooling in open spaces because people have different desires as to temperature. Now the trend is to move to a mix of types of spaces, with less pure open space and more cubes or offices. I recall many years ago when Goldman opened its new office building, everyone was assigned the same looking cube, and that created issues because people want to have their own sort of space with their family photos or whatever makes them happy. Goldman found their all the same cubes made people uncomfortable. You cannot do that in open space nor in a situation where every cube is the same and you are moved around from time to time from one cube to another. Another fad is now in retreat.
You plan to vote for Dems?- Sen Wyden just released a white paper proposing that capital gains should be treated for tax purposes the same as wages. That taking on debt for a project is a tax realization event and will be taxed as such. Add that to Warren and Bernie wealth taxes, and a return to high rates, and they are just getting started
A professor at NYU has just written a book where he postulates that “free speech is a conservative weapon to undermine equality and the university itself” and that speech is not free if it is used to say things that are not in line with university speech policy and therefore they should not be allowed. He claims free speech is not the same as academic freedom. If you have not been following what is going on at academia these days, you need to pay attention. This NYU professor is not outside what is now mainstream thought on campus. This is very scary. The kids leave school thinking that quashing free speech they do not approve of is OK. Thus we get all these social media attacks on people and companies for any deviation from what the campus declares is the required norm. The bartender from the Bronx in hearings yesterday attacked Zuckerberg for not censoring political speech on Facebook. I wonder if they realize that the Chinese attack on the NBA commissioner and the coach who supports the protestors in Hong Kong, is no different. Clearly they do not. Free speech is under heavy attack now, and we all must do what we can to protect the most important part of the Bill of Rights.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
3) The following are general current parameters for real estate lending. These are averages to provide a general sense of terms these days, and not applicable to any particular project or product which will vary. Multi is generally looser terms and can often get a 9% higher LTV on a loan. DSC 1.48, LTV 65.3%, Rate 4.4%, Loan Constant 6.22%, Debt yield 10.4%. 59.6% of loans are partial IO, and 16% are full IO. Underwriting is still pretty good, but covenants are getting too loose again. There is no shortage of capital for good deals. If the banks will not do a loan, there is often a shadow lender who will if the loan is reasonable, and they will sometimes provide mezz. As an example of what is available these days that we did not see in earlier times, on one of my construction deals, an insurance company offered 90% LTC at 4.5% fixed rate, but with a 35% of the net cash flow kicker. That is a very high leverage risk in return for a very high potential return. Insurance companies never did these sorts of deals in the past. Shows the reach for return that even normally low risk lenders will do today. The world is awash in capital from a wide variety of sources seeking yield. Back to my theory that rates will remain very low for several more years will result in more of this reach for yield. The bigger constraints than funding on new development are land and construction costs, and in CA it is grossly excessive regulation.
A few months ago I predicted Hong Kong would be an inflection point. It is becoming much more of a critical issue for China than most people ever thought. Xi cannot launch an all-out Tiananmen type attack on protestors, or he blows any chance of a deal with the US. It is clear the Hong Kong residents see this as an existential moment, and they are not going to back down. For Xi, there is no good solution unless he relents and allows a true fair and open election. He cannot do that, or the new governor would clearly be someone not under Chinese control, and that would in time lead to new demands for freedom, and Xi would view this as his backing down in the face of violence. It will be interesting to see what is the balance Xi tries for- crush Hong Kong and risk the US deal, or allow Hong Kong to become more violent for now until a trade deal is signed. I believe the things are very linked. Whatever happens, Hong Kong might not remain the full capitalist key center for capital flows, and other transactions into and out of China. Possibly, if this goes on, Singapore could become more active for that sort of transaction, while Hong Kong retains the bulk of that business. However, things will never be the same. The other inflection point is the battle with the NBA. China has set a major bad precedent in this matter, and it is not going to be good for them. Now, everyone has to rethink how they function with China when it comes to public comment, and doing business, if there are these consequences for speaking up. Brands are screwed because if they say the right thing, China punishes them, but if they back down then social media punishes them. Western companies have to consider if China is worth the trouble, especially in the social media world of today where little things like the one coach’s comment can quickly escalate into a full scale crisis. It shows how Xi does not understand free speech, nor and how the west really functions. He must be extremely concerned about Hong Kong impacting mainland China if he is so intent on not having anything seep into the Chinese social media. Keep watching Hong Kong and the NBA as these will have an impact far beyond what they first seemed.
While it is still very unclear, it is likely that in the end Brexit will be implemented because everyone is worn down by it, but politics will remain very messy in the UK. The Scots are still interested to secede, and the N Irish will not be happy. Possibly the two Irelands will merge one day, a long time from now. If Brexit does not get done there will be a major political mess ongoing until there is a new election. The political divide in the UK now is similar to what we have here. Very ugly. If Brexit is implemented, the UK will thrive.
The homeless problems in CA are largely due to the cost to do all the regulatory steps and delays, which make it nearly impossible to develop affordable housing. I have first hand experience with this, and it is insane what you have to do in CA vs most other places, which have their own over regulation. Liberals answer is more rent control, which is stupid, as that is one of the ways to stop new development, and to create deteriorating housing. NYC recently expanded rent control and made it nearly impossible to evict even for non- payment. That will cause real issues with housing in about 3-5 years as buildings do not get repaired. These days the numbers simply do not work for affordable housing in most markets where it is needed the most. Without some type of subsidy program, affordable housing is a myth. However the last thing we need is a government run development program which will waste time and money. The government should provide private developers with interest free loans, tax breaks like opportunity zones, or minimal property taxes for a period, and other financial incentives, as well as expedited and easy permits, and low cost government owned land, and let the private sector develop and manage for a profit. The tech companies seem to be getting it right and are stepping in to provide many of the programs I am suggesting. It is highly unlikely the homeless problem will get any better in CA for several years unless Ben Carson steps in and forces local government to cut regulation and provide land subsidies. Very unlikely to happen.
Interesting issue is that young couples are moving to the suburbs again when they have kids. Young, white college grads move to the cities, but when they have kids they move out. The urban schools are generally terrible, and the cost of private school in urban areas is too much for many. School populations in most large cities are declining. The birth rate is declining, which just adds to the decline in students. The result is, generally, the less able, and less culturally motivated, are who are left in urban schools, and they are often the most tightly controlled by the union. The outcome is predictable. Achievement scores are terrible, but the things required to fix this are not allowed by the unions, nor by the left wing city mayors. But not to worry, universities are going to take in these kids because they need diversity, and the teachers unions and the Dem mayors will keep the young kids out of those nasty charter and voucher schools where they might get a real education. Liberals do not seem to understand that the combination of teachers unions and schools with no discipline, and low quality teachers who can’t be fired, are condemning poor black kids to a lifetime of failure, or barely earning what they need to live a middle class life. To me, the teachers union was the one of the worst things that happened to poor blacks.
I have now traveled at one time or other to 34 countries all around the world. As I travel I tend to walk all over cities I visit to get an on the street sense of what life is like there, and I try to talk to regular people. Over the past several years I have noted that most places have made a real effort to upgrade the quality of life, and in Europe and many parts of Asia, they mostly all have modern and efficient transport, very clean streets, extensive retail, a good night life and good restaurants. While there are some exceptions, for the most part, the world has come a long way to a much better life for its citizens. Poverty and food shortages have been dramatically reduced. In most of Europe, and some of Asia, you do not see any homeless in downtowns. They seem to be able to provide some sort of housing and food, or they keep them in other parts of town. Generally most people I see are looking healthy and reasonably well fed. Most are decently dressed. Retail offers anything you see in America. Then I come back to NYC and the US. NYC was doing great until DeBozo started to take it backwards. The subways are decades out of date, streets are now dirty once again, and there is a new crop of bums on streets and subways after they had been totally eliminated. We never saw that after Giuliani cleaned things up. People here do not dress as well as in much of the rest of the world. Here they often look sloppy, or are wearing clothes that I guess are in fashion, but look like torn jeans or other strange outfits. Here they have things stuck in their nose, or lip, or weird earrings on men, and tattoos. You just do not see much of that in Europe or Asia anymore. Then we get to CA, Portland and Seattle, and the homeless and drug addicts living on the streets downtown. You just never see that in other well developed countries. Ride the subway in many of the foreign cites, and then come back to NYC and ride the subway which I do daily. The difference is startling. Everywhere else it is clean as you can imagine, and people are well behaved. Ride the NY subway these days after several years of DeBozo, and they are once again dirty and some people look dirty, or are panhandlers. In short, the big cities in the US are not as nice, and clean, and safe as they are in much of the rest of the developed world. Did I mention that these US cities are almost all run by progressive Democratic mayors who constantly claim they are so concerned for the poor and minorities.
The left can demand we all drive electric cars, but truth is almost every electric car startup has failed due to lack of a market, and the complexity of building cars and effective batteries. Tesla might survive, but that is not yet clear. It is going through cash at a prodigious rate. The major car companies all have an EV design and program, but the public is not yet ready to buy in large numbers until there is the infrastructure to charge and the battery issues for long distance and ultra-fast charging are solved. We are a long way from electric cars as the norm.
The open office concept that has been all the rage is about to become yesterday’s idea. Research finds that it adversely affects people’s work. Open space reduces productivity, raises stress levels and induces high blood pressure, and more sick days. It also results in less face to face interaction. What seemed to the kids like a cool thing, is not. In addition, TI costs are actually higher for open office space because aesthetics become more important, and that costs more due to higher cost materials and more amenities in open space office environments-the kids need play spaces like fitness spaces. ( I used to think you work out after work, not in the office). Lastly, there is actually more vibration felt in the steel frame due to the lack of partitions and hung ceilings. There are also more issues with heating and cooling in open spaces because people have different desires as to temperature. Now the trend is to move to a mix of types of spaces, with less pure open space and more cubes or offices. I recall many years ago when Goldman opened its new office building, everyone was assigned the same looking cube, and that created issues because people want to have their own sort of space with their family photos or whatever makes them happy. Goldman found their all the same cubes made people uncomfortable. You cannot do that in open space nor in a situation where every cube is the same and you are moved around from time to time from one cube to another. Another fad is now in retreat.
You plan to vote for Dems?- Sen Wyden just released a white paper proposing that capital gains should be treated for tax purposes the same as wages. That taking on debt for a project is a tax realization event and will be taxed as such. Add that to Warren and Bernie wealth taxes, and a return to high rates, and they are just getting started
A professor at NYU has just written a book where he postulates that “free speech is a conservative weapon to undermine equality and the university itself” and that speech is not free if it is used to say things that are not in line with university speech policy and therefore they should not be allowed. He claims free speech is not the same as academic freedom. If you have not been following what is going on at academia these days, you need to pay attention. This NYU professor is not outside what is now mainstream thought on campus. This is very scary. The kids leave school thinking that quashing free speech they do not approve of is OK. Thus we get all these social media attacks on people and companies for any deviation from what the campus declares is the required norm. The bartender from the Bronx in hearings yesterday attacked Zuckerberg for not censoring political speech on Facebook. I wonder if they realize that the Chinese attack on the NBA commissioner and the coach who supports the protestors in Hong Kong, is no different. Clearly they do not. Free speech is under heavy attack now, and we all must do what we can to protect the most important part of the Bill of Rights.
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