(Source Photo: Source Photo: https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/)
Showing posts with label Economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Economy. Show all posts
October 2, 2022
Worried About the Nukes?
July 10, 2022
Sprinkling of Jewish Wit and Wisdom
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "Sprinkling of Jewish Wit and Wisdom."
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
July 2, 2022
Contradictions, Corruption, and Lies
The list of “nonsensicals” in our society could go on and on (and I won’t even get started with all the Covid mandates and chaos), and you have to ask yourself what type of country (and world) we are leaving to future generations: A world that is full contradictions, corruption, and lies!In the end, we can’t live with the double-talk and lies that we are being fed or the political grandstanding and corruption that takes the place of real humanity and progress. This leaves us to find truth and faith in the good and love that is G-d and to act from His word and not the phony media or corrupt politicians that seek to lead us continuously astray.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
June 18, 2022
It’s The Economy Stupid
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It is incredible that our leaders, economic advisors, and near endless pundits didn’t see what was surely coming down the road in terms of an overheating economy, inflation, and a spiraling national debt now over $30 trillion and growing. Despite economic signals even visible to the layman, the Fed continued to promise to hold the interest rates near zero “for years” to come. The cheap money and free-wheeling government spending became an avalanche with almost no adult in the room willing to stand up and say, “Stop the money madness! Government handouts are not free!”Aside from the recklessness with which our economy has been handled, let’s not forget that there is a proxy war going on between the superpowers in Ukraine for the last four months, including a frightening blockade on grain shipments (i.e. food terrorism) to tens of millions of people. Further toward the east, China is upping the ante vowing to “fight until the end” for sovereignty over Taiwan. And in the middle, Iran is dismantling the IAEA nuclear monitoring cameras, adding high-speed centrifuges, increasing uranium enrichment, and threatening Israel and the West. Let’s just say all is not copacetic in the world, while a congressional select committee continue to focus on what happened on January 6, 2021 with the U.S. Capitol riots.
People are not blind, deaf, and dumb to what’s going on with the childish gamesmanship, politics of hate, and plenty of recklessness that is driving much of the national debate and (in)action in the country.
(Credit Photo: Blink O'fanaya; adapted from https://www.flickr.com/photos/blinkofanaye/14913895723/)
May 13, 2022
No News Is Good News
Unfortunately, most of the news these days is bad news.
- War
- Terrorism
- Global tensions
- Threats of WMD
- Political dysfunction
- Inflation
- Trade deficit
- Ballooning debt
- Sinking economy
- Global warming
- Social divisions
- Rampant crime
- Chaos at the border
- Pandemic
- Care giver shortage
Only good news is usually technology and acts of compassion, caring, personal sacrifice and sometimes true heroism! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 5, 2022
GameStop Is Going Nowhere
- Wrestling Buddies dolls
Cute, but not really a shopping imperative and the store was deserted.
Yet, GameStop stock is still stratospheric, while tech and innovation is in the graveyard depths.
The world is upside down and inside out.
I think a day of reckoning is coming to bring us back to earthly reality. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
January 1, 2022
A 2022 New Year of Eggs
Congratulations!
But I wouldn't call it "eggcellent," because there is a lot of world instability and fear looming on the horizon.
Are we looking at competition, conflict, and even possible areas of collapse or a much rosier outcome in the order of things?
- From Russia to China and Iran to North Korea.
- From Al-Qaeda to ISIS and Hamas to Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad
- From WMD to Cyber 9/11 and EMPs to Hypersonic ICBMs
- From Covid to the Economy and Inflation to National Insolvency
Like a bunch of eggs.
Will it be a year of Broken, Scrambled and Mashed or Sunny Side Up and Eggs Over Easy?
Either way, we had better hope and pray that we don't get fried and burned. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
December 11, 2021
Dancing on the Head of a Pin
We’re all different, and we all have something to say and contribute to solve life’s challenges. While some of us may think that they are better than others, the reality is that we are all human, fallible, and subject to life’s circumstance and G-d’s mighty hand. However, too often, we let ego get in the way, and instead of taking on the huge, almost insurmountable challenges that we face, we end up fighting about who’s in charge and who gets the credit.As we face the daunting challenges confronting America, Israel, and the world, we need effective “servant-leaders,” who are guided by a genuine moral compass and faith in G-d to take well-reasoned actions and not to punt the problems down the political road. Real leadership means leaving your ego at the door; it means self-sacrifice, compassion, creative thinking, and bold problem-solving. Big challenges can be dealt with, but we’ve got to have the right measure of ourselves, strength of character, and unity of purpose to finally overcome them.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
August 17, 2021
Disastrous Politics
- 20 years of blood and treasure: $2,000,000,000,000, and 2,500 lost US military personal and G-d knows how many casualties (oh, about another 20,000)!
Now complete and utter chaos, and a turnover to terrorism.
Reminiscent of Iran's overthrow of the Shah and the U.S. hostage crisis for 444 days and when we lost Vietnam and the helicopters frantically evacuating US embassy personnel from the rooftop.
BTW, what happened to our "Red Lines" on chemical weapons in Syria?
Where are our inherent values and the dependability of who we are and what we stand for?
Now we are once again emboldening Iran, North Korea, China, and Russia.
Moreover, US Admiral says China is within 6 years of potentially taking Taiwan (guess where most of the computer chips are made and we already have a shortage)!!!
On top of this we have the Delta variant of Covid (and fears of worse coming) for this 1.5 year long pandemic with the CDC mask on again/off again non-sensical guidance.
Then we have a $1,200,000,000,000 infrastructure bill and a $3,500,000,000,000 social welfare bill in the works to put on top of the US already almost $29,000,000,0000,000 national debt.
Any ideas what that will do to the value of the US currency in the world and inflation rearing its ugly head.
I am starting to see a run on food and home stables in the stores again with items sold out.
Consumer confidence is shaking and the stock market is teetering off at a very high precipice.
Oh, don't forget the border crisis which is getting out of control again.
What the F*** is going on here? ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
April 27, 2021
Motif For The U.S. Economy
February 12, 2021
September 22, 2020
Much To Be Afraid Of
When this clown dude pops out, you'll sh*t your pants.
And who really wants to be more scared in this world anyway?
With Covid, Cancer, Corruption, Cyber Attacks, Identity Theft, Radicalism, Terrorism, War, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Loss and Death, Environmental issues, and the Economy don't we have enough to be afraid of already? ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
July 12, 2020
IMHO Warning: Stock Market MAJOR Correction Imminent
This is a few weeks into reopening phase 2!
I expected people would have pent up demand and be swarming the stores even while keeping their social distance.
They weren't at the mall!
The stores were nearly void of people.
The shelves were virtually empty of goods.
Whatever merchandise there was seemed to marked "sale, sale, sale" even on the already deeply-discounted clearance items.
It was completely frightening--like the economy is dead or on severe life support!
Most stores had 3 or more associates standing around or sitting twiddling their thumbs.
This while the stock market keeps ticking up and the NASDAQ is reaching new highs almost daily.
Coronavirus is surging again across much of the U.S. and there is almost 140,000 dead in the U.S. after just 5 months even though much of the population was in self-quarantine.
The economy looks to me in sh*t shape, despite the U.S. pumping $3 trillion dollars more of debt to artificially prop up the economy and the fed lending out money at super low rates.
It makes NO sense for the market to be hitting all time highs as if everything is all roses when the economy is still a true mess!
The New Yorker magazine wrote back in May of a post coronavirus "decade of depression" with an L shaped recovery, yet we keep seeing a V-shaped one and no one seems to be able to offer any plausible explanation for it.
Two-months ago, even before the recent stock run-up to higher levels, Business Insider reported that "the Stock Market is trading at its highest valuation in 18-years."
Last month, Forbes reported that "the stock market appears to be reaching unsustainable highs."
Yesterday again, Bloomberg reported that the "economic recovery is faltering."
Almost daily, I read that companies are laying off their workers (in Travel, Transportation, Entertainment, Retail, Energy, etc.) or declaring bankruptcy (e.g. Hertz, JC Penny, Neiman Marcus, Chesapeake Energy, and more).
This while we are still, in the best case scenario, maybe half a year away from the possibility of a tested, approved vaccine. And then it will still need to be mass produced and mass distributed to hundreds of millions of people in this country and billions globally.
In the meantime, we certainly could be up for a second wave of Coronavirus on top of the flu in the fall/winter. And then the Coronavirus may mutate and become more virulent requiring annual vaccines like the flu shot--more hit or miss.
All this while U.S.-China trade war is imperiling our economy further, and arch-enemies Iran and North Korea remain national security threats.
To me this all points to that we are nowhere near out of the woods and perhaps that there is a wildfire raging and no one seems to be paying any attention!
The stock market euphoria is a common trap and is the definition of "irrational exuberance" but comes after investors have been robotically indoctrinated to buy the dips!
IMHO, buyer beware, beware, beware. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 11, 2020
Stock Market Pinocchio Style
Look folks, Pinocchio's nose is getting longer by the minute.
The market continues on a tear, even while the economy is heading in the other direction.
I know people have been conditioned to buy on the dips, but I'm not sure that applies while we're in the middle (or maybe still just in the beginning) of a pandemic that has claimed 286,000 lives in just over 2 months (and that's with a global shutdown)!
Somehow, there is a notion that when things start to reopen that all the problems will just magically go away, including the $3 trillion we just added to our national debt, all the bankruptcies being declared, and all the job losses that are becoming permanent.
If you believe this, perhaps you'd like to buy the Brooklyn Bridge.
The greater fool theory is alive and well. ;-)
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
May 6, 2020
Lockdown In Coronavirus
You're stuck inside, but still have to keep everything moving anyway!
As we enter the next phase with people itching to go back out and "restart" life and the economy and the second wave where more people unfortunately get sick, we are really as they say:
Stuck between a rock and a hard place.
And that's where bad things can happen (G-d forbid) and it's never a good place to be. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
April 26, 2020
Count Your Blessings
I just wanted to share a short reflection with everything going on in the world these days with coronavirus and the economic shutdown: I see people are scared and confused, under lockdown and feeling financial strain, and many are getting sick and dying. But I remember the words of my dear father who used to say: "Count Your Blessings!" And he was so right. There are so many things, literally every moment of every day, for us to be grateful for:
Certainly, we all face extreme difficulties or challenges at times in our lives, but things can always be so much worse, and there is still so much for us to be grateful for. Therefore, truly thank you G-d with a hundred blessings—and more—for every moment of every precious day. And we affirm that surely the L-rd who created us will continue to sustain us, and that ultimately all will be for the good.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
April 22, 2020
Free COVID-19 Cure
Advertisement with the little slips at the bottom to tear off.
Free Cure for COVID-19.
Please take an information strip below
And what do the strips say:
Stay the F**K at home
I wonder why no one took any of the strips? LOL
Like every meaningful issue, we have people on both sides of the aisle fighting it out what is the right thing to do.
And when it comes to life and liberty, passions certainly run high. ;-)
(Credit Photo to my son-in-law Itzchak for sharing this with me from his friend in California)
April 14, 2020
Plan To Restart The Economy WILL Look Something Like This
Well Israel has a well-thought-out 4 Phase Plan (pending approval) and I would imagine that the U.S. plan will look something very much like this:
- Phase I: Tech and Finance, some Import/Export industries, 50% of Public Sector, and Preschool
- Phase II: Commerce/Retail Stores, Elementary School (ages 6-10)
- Phase III: Cafes, Restaurants, and Hotels, and most of the rest of the Education system
- Phase IV: Leisure and Entertainment: Culture, Sports, Large Shopping Malls, and Flights
There are 4 additional key provisions to this plan:
- 2 Week Buffer between phases to review and evaluate success before moving forward with the next phase.
- "People over 60 and at-risk populations will not resume normal activity throughout the four phases."
- Resuming these activities occurs with the exercise of continued caution (e.g. social distancing, testing, etc.)
- Expect 2nd outbreak in the Fall and therefore continue to build up healthcare capabilities in preparation for this.
This sounds like an excellent plan as a basis to reopen and one that we can and should build upon. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal and thank you to my sister for sharing this with me)
- 2 Week Buffer between phases to review and evaluate success before moving forward with the next phase.
- "People over 60 and at-risk populations will not resume normal activity throughout the four phases."
- Resuming these activities occurs with the exercise of continued caution (e.g. social distancing, testing, etc.)
- Expect 2nd outbreak in the Fall and therefore continue to build up healthcare capabilities in preparation for this.
This sounds like an excellent plan as a basis to reopen and one that we can and should build upon. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal and thank you to my sister for sharing this with me)
April 12, 2020
Reopening The Country WITHOUT Endangering The Masses
We can't shelter in place forever and watch our economy go into the toilet and our national debt bankrupt us!
Therefore, once we have the mechanisms to control the deadly spread, we must open up offices and stores again gradually to get people working and our economy going again.
At the same time, I am pissed by those corporate executives that actually have the chutzpah and are pushing for us to open up crowded theaters, stadiums, and other such entertainment or other venues that are NOT critical and pose a greater risk for contagion to masses of people.
Instead of these CEOs understanding the need to hold off on this pending a vaccination or adequate disease control measures, these greedy corporate chieftain seem to care little to nothing about the health of their customers, and only about lining their fat pocketbooks with more ticket sales.
I think it's criminal type behavior to push our government to open prematurely and irresponsibly those venues that are of greatest risk to potentially millions of people to get sick or dead in order for them to profit from it! ;-)
Note: It's reported that COVID-19 compared to the flu in 22 fewer days infected 11x as many people and killed 60 times as many.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
April 7, 2020
The Grass Still Needs To Be Mowed
These two are doing the work but also look like they could be playing some bumper cars too!
So it is: Life goes on; the world is not (yet) ending.
Unfortunately, there are people suffering and dying.
And we need to help them and try and save their lives.
Also, not forget their families and those out of work.
But as far as the world is concerned, the grass still keeps growing.
The living will go on living as best they can. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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