Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I don’t know how many young people can buy a house with the cost of lumber and the current rates.
It has ever been thus. I remember reading an advice column in 1987 when I was a newlywed and renting a house in Palo Alto. A reader complained that “young people today only want to buy stereos and BMWs and they’re not interested in buying houses and planning for the long term.” It was signed “Jack in Palo Alto.”
Well, Jack old sock, old man…we probably live less than a mile apart. If you want to sell me your $600k Palo Alto house whilst I am making $26,800 a year, I’m happy to buy it…but I don’t have the down payment or qualify for the monthly payment.
Just as true 35 years ago as it is today.
Audaces fortuna iuvat
I thought Nikki Haley did the best, DeSantis was a close second. Wish Tim Scott did better, he was a bit of a nonentity. Didn’t care for Ramaswamy. Chris Christie was surprisingly bad, bordering on awful, lame attempts at humor. Pence was just boring.
Trump still the likely nominee. DeSantis had a little bounce in post-debate polls, Haley had a bigger bounce (2.5% to 0.9%).
Issues most debated, in this order:
- Inflation / getting costs under control
- Controlling immigration
- Beating Biden
- Fighting against the Woke agenda
- Cutting government spending
- Keeping America safe from foreign conflicts/terrorism
- Lowering taxes
- Combatting political extremism
Others mentioned were gun rights, reducing crime/gun violence, fighting election fraud, improving health care, limiting abortion, strengthening education, fighting opiods, climate change, race & racism, unemployment, COVID.
Audaces fortuna iuvat
Mayor Breed wants drug testing for welfare recipients. Maybe there’s hope after all.
A seismic shift to the right in San Francisco
Audaces fortuna iuvat
San Francisco spends $713.3 million on its 7,754 homeless, or about $91k annually per head.
What the Absolute F are they thinking?
Audaces fortuna iuvat
In May, Trump had a seven point lead in the ABC poll. In a poll released this morning, it became a nine point lead, 51-42.
ABC poll says Trump beats Biden by 7 points
Lots of other good data in this poll:
- Biden is bad on immigration and getting worse (23% approval)
- 45% STRONGLY disapprove of Biden’s work overall
- 74% says he’s too old for a second term (50% say the same about Trump)
- 40% would blame Biden if there’s a government shutdown (vs. 33% blaming Republicans)
- Only 38% approved of Trump’s performance when he left office, that number is now up to 48%.
- 62% of Democrats AND Democrat-leaning independents think the party should pick someone other than Biden, only 1/3rd back Biden…and it’s fractured. 20% say “someone else” and no single candidate polls higher than 8%.
- Trump still has 54% support of Republicans, no one else has more than 15% (DeSantis, whose support was 25% in May).
Audaces fortuna iuvat
Aaaaand this just in…COVID mask mandates back and starting to spread in San Francisco…
Mask Mandates Return in San Francisco Bay Area (msn.com)
Audaces fortuna iuvat
His ratings continue to drop, “Approve” now down to 39% and “Disapprove” now up to 56%. How will this man get elected?
Biden Job Approvals and The National Economy
Audaces fortuna iuvat
Here they come, in record numbers.
Migrant encounters at U.S.-Mexico border on pace to reach record highs in September
Audaces fortuna iuvat
Two thoughts. First, the traditional media does occasionally report on similar topics. Here’s The Atlantic on a potential war with China, from two years ago:
How War With China Begins – The Atlantic
Second, you are largely correct. I think Zeihan reports on this when the traditional media does not (at least not to the same degree) for the following reasons:
- Traditional media looks backward, not forward. All of Zeihan’s commentary looks to the future.
- Traditional media tends toward the immediate. Most of Zeihan’s commentary is mid-term to long-term.
- Zeihan’s commentary is the result of careful and deep analysis. With respect, most of the traditional media doesn’t have that cranial capacity, so to speak. They report the surface news.
- Zeihan is mildly right of center, and the traditional media is left of center, usually strongly so. They don’t want to criticize China.
- Traditional media is largely afraid of China. They don’t report on many of the Muslim world’s issues for similar reason.
- Zeihan points it out himself, we missed most of the signals. There isn’t a lot of news that comes out of China because…China doesn’t want the news reported, and because of that…
- …China doesn’t treat journalists as well. Journalists are into self-preservation.
Audaces fortuna iuvat
Despite the 91 criminal charges, Trump has pulled even with Biden at 44% apiece.
Trump pulls even with Biden in Yahoo News/YouGov poll
Last month, it was Biden over Trump by 47% to 41%.
Biden lead over Trump evaporates in new poll showing dead heat | The Hill
Ex-Trump officials think he’s coming back:
Ex-Trump Officials Are Already Planning Their White House Return (yahoo.com)
Audaces fortuna iuvat
Semafor thinks Nikki Haley has hit her ceiling. I have a young relative who is likely to vote for Trump (again), and while he’s lukewarm on most Republicans, he can’t stand Nikki Haley.
Nikki Haley is riding a charming, focused, and consistent campaign to third place | Semafor
Audaces fortuna iuvat
Turns out, 28% of Americans don’t like either Republicans or Democrats…and that percentage is increasing.
Poll: Americans’ trust in political system at new lows (axios.com)
Audaces fortuna iuvat
Found it…
Debris field found in search for a missing F-35 stealth fighter jet (nbcnews.com)
Audaces fortuna iuvat
As bad as that is, there are six American nuclear weapons that have been lost and never recovered…
The U.S. Military Is Missing Six Nuclear Weapons | The National Interest
Audaces fortuna iuvat
You might recall the study performed five years ago by two Yale professors (Jonathan S. Feinstein and Edward H. Kaplan) and MIT researcher Mohammad M. Fazel-Zarandi. In it, they claimed that the true count of undocumented aliens was likely twice that accepted by the Census Bureau and possibly almost 3x. The typically accepted count is 11.2 million (Migration Policy Institute), their study indicated that it was likely closer to 22 million and as high as 29.5 million.
Yale shocker: 29.5 million illegal immigrants, 3X higher than Census number | Washington Examiner
They received a firestorm of criticism for their results and some aimed at their methodology. I always wondered if they had a followup study. The link below is two years old and based upon the Mexican Migration Project. They backed off a little bit, to 19.6 million, still substantially more than the 11.2 million that is often claimed.
Audaces fortuna iuvat
