September 7, 2023

I have to take exception with a recent contributor, who accused the Biden administration of having a radical and unchecked agenda to abandon fossil fuels. He accuses the government of making alternative energy producers flush with cash while trying to destroy the oil and gas industry.

U.S. crude oil production is expected to rise by 850,000 barrels per day to a record 12.76 million barrels in 2023. Crude oil production is expected to rise by 330,000 barrels per day to 13.09 million barrels in 2024. The last record output was 12.3 million barrels in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic crushed demand and prices. That doesn’t sound like a business that is being destroyed to me.

For generations, the O&G industry has enjoyed the oil depletion allowance. The oil depletion allowance permits an oil producer to deduct from his taxable income a percentage of his gross earnings (15%) from an oil well. The federal government has a long history of providing critical industries with economic benefits.

I find it mind-boggling that the writer would credit state-controlled China, the world’s largest polluter, with more honesty regarding climate issues. He may have a point. China honestly doesn’t care about the climate.

August 31, 2023

Donald Trump has been jilted. No, it wasn’t by Melania, but who would blame her if it were true. No, it wasn’t by Stormy Daniels. Trump will be found guilty of paying hush money, not jilty. Donald Trump was jilted by Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea. We all know about the “love letters” that he received from Kim Jong Un. They may even be involved in the government’s case against Trump regarding stolen classified documents. However, it was reported today that Kim Jong Un has been trading “love” letters with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Dictators love fellow dictators. Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin qualify. Donald Trump does not. Kim Jong Un has moved on from an older, heavier wannabe dictator with fake billions to a younger, slimmer authentic dictator worth billions. It has to be killing Trump to see KJU and Putin flaunting their dalliance for all the world to see. Soon, Kim Jong Un will be saying that he has no idea who Trump is, and he will have difficulty picking him out of a group photo. He will call his alleged relationship with Trump totally fake, and made up by the media. He will disavow the letters.

August 30, 2023

In 2019, I wrote about Trump’s willful blindness regarding his presidential campaign’s hundreds of contacts with Russians. Willful blindness is a term used in law to describe a situation in which a person seeks to avoid civil or criminal liability for a wrongful act by intentionally keeping himself unaware of facts that would render him or her liable.

News outlets today are reporting that Trump will claim as a defense in his January 6th and Georgia cases that he was just listening to his lawyers like John Eastman, Rudy Giuliano, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis and Jeffrey Clark. In order to claim this defense, Trump needs to explain to a jury why he chose to disregard all of the advice he received from all of his White House and Department of Justice officials, who told him his ideas were crazy at best and illegal at worst. Trump exhibited “willful blindness” to the facts, and now we will see if justice is blind as well.

August 27, 2023

Trump is not going to jail. There, I said it. He is not going to jail because he didn’t do anything illegal. He is not going to jail because a jury of his peers refused to convict him. He is not going to jail because the government is afraid of the political and civil unrest that may ensue. He is not going to jail because it would be unbecoming to have a former President of the United States wearing an orange jumpsuit that clashed with his orange complexion and strawberry blonde hair.

Trump is not going to jail because, in the end, he will do what he always does. He will settle. He pushes cases and people to their limits before he just writes a check and walks away. He will make some kind of universal settlement with all of his antagonists that will keep him a free man. In return, in addition to some money and apologies, he will agree to never run for the presidency again. Meanwhile, he will put the country through a political meat grinder as he continues to garner tension and political contributions. He will make a mockery of primary season. However, you can be sure, Donald Trump is not going to jail.

August 26, 2023

I follow track & field. The 2023 World Track & Field Championships are taking place as I type in Budapest, Hungary. The athletes are laboring in sweltering heat, which is causing many of them to leave the track in wheel chairs, but that is another story. The USA won both the men’s and women’s 100 meter sprints, and the team as a whole has a substantial lead in the medal count.

So, I was a little disappointed this morning to read the headline in today’s sports section that “Richardson finishes third in 200 meters at world championships.” I have nothing against Sha’Carri Richardson, who won gold in the 100 meters, but the headline in the Springfield Republican should have read, “Harvard graduate Gabby Thomas of Florence, MA finished second in the 200 meters.”

Thomas’ mom moved the family here in 2007 to accept a teaching position at U.Mass. Before attending Harvard, Gabby spent four years at Williston Northampton. She won a bronze and silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In her spare time, she is studying for her Ph.D in Epidemiology at the U. Of Texas. Gabby Tomas should be the headline.

August 25, 2023

I am confident that the media will do an effective job of slicing and dicing the Republican presidential debate, and there is not much I can add to the discussion. The talking heads and editorial writers will tell us who won and who lost. They will tell us about the effect that a 6’3”, 215 pound, strawberry blond elephant not in the room had on the proceedings.

Moderator Brett Baier asked for a show of hands about who was willing to support Donald Trump if he were to become the Republican candidate. Almost every hand went up. In reality, Baier didn’t have to ask the question because all seven men on stage were wearing a red tie, which is all you needed to know. It was the same tie that Trump wore in his thug shot. They all know that they can’t win so they are all in with Donald Trump. The red tie tells MAGA Trump supporters better than a wink and a leer that they believe the election was stolen, and that Donald Trump is their redemption. Better red than dead, I guess.

For the record, I threw my red ties away in 2016.

August 21, 2023

We have finally fallen into the abyss. According to a CBS (lame stream) poll, Trump voters believe that what he has to say is more truthful than what they hear from family, friends, the media and religious leaders. This despite the thousands of lies that he has told as verified by the Washington Post fact-checkers. These sickophants obviously know what they know, and don’t want to be confused by the facts.

I guess they are hoping that Trump will join them for Thanksgiving and bring an apple pie like Aunt Mabel, or maybe give them a loan when they hit hard times like cousin Ed. Maybe Trump will friend them on Facebook. They are expecting Trump to give them comfort in times of need, and forgive them of their sins. They don’t believe religious leaders because priest and ministers are still flogging the Sermon on the Mount, which is way too woke for the true believers.

As Chico Marx said in “Duck Soup,” “Who you gonna believe, me or your lyin’ eyes?”

August 14, 2023

Donald Trump is allegedly a racketeer, and the head of a corrupt, criminal organization according to Georgia’s RICO Act and Fulton County DA, Fani Willis. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. Donald Trump and his eighteen co-conspirators are not exactly on a par with the Biden crime family, but that will be up to the state of Georgia to decide.

If you are keeping score at home, we have two impeachments, Trump University, the Trump Charitable Foundation, E. Jean Carroll, Stormy Daniels, tax fraud, classified documents, January 6th, and now Georgia. The cherry on top will be the House investigation into the conflicts of interest of the Trump children, Jared Kushner, and Trump’s businesses. On the other side of the ledger, we have Hunter Biden’s laptop.

So who do you believe? According to Trump, every political figure, government official, judge, lawyer, witness, and private citizen, who has taken part in any of his investigations and convictions, is corrupt and part of the deep state. What are the odds?

August 15, 2023

I am an habitué of Smith’s Billiards in downtown Springfield, and a follower of pool on YouTube. In the pool world, Efren Bata Reyes of the Philippines is known as The Magician. His skills are amazing. He recovers from impossible situations. He is famous for his bank shots. He plays shots that seemingly have no chance of succeeding.

Donald Trump is trying to pull off his own magic act. He is running for President in hopes that he can pull a rabbit out of the hat. Some say that his efforts to stay out of jail are a bank shot at best. However, Trump is no Bata. The Magician spent countless hours every day for years honing his craft. What looks like magic to the untrained eye is actually skill at the highest level. Trump, on the other hand, is a ham-fisted, TV personality, who has spent no time learning the science and art of government. He confuses salesmanship with statesmanship.

Trump is behind the eight ball with his multiple indictments and numerous felony counts. The Magician would know what to do. Trump will most likely scratch.