Category: Politics, Religion & Money

President Musk

Russia’s billionaire oligarchs are allowed to exist at Putin’s discretion. They know they’re dead if they attempt to influence government policy. With the return of Trump to the White House, we now have “Oligarchy, American Style.”

Trump let the richest man in the world dictate policy, then he followed his lead, giving Musk the appearance of acting as de facto president-elect. It’s bizarre. This is a marriage of convenience that won’t have a happy ending. Until Musk has been sidelined, J.D. Vance is effectively out of the picture.

In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night

The Hubble Space Telescope, taking pictures of non-existent stars?

Last week I caught a comment on a news item about the drone sightings over New Jersey that made me wonder if it was for real or just a troll’s idea of a joke. Some guy ranted the government is lying to us about everything, including the space program. His proof? All of those fake space photos that don’t have stars.

Apollo 17

Replying to something like that can go one of two ways, depending on the assumption about the comment being genuine or a joke. If the person making the comment isn’t joking, do they simply not know, or do they have a political axe to grind?

As the saying goes, you’re entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts. The quote has been attributed to Patrick Moynihan, but it dates back much further than that.

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2020/03/17/own-facts/

So, what are the facts explaining why some space photos don’t have any stars?

Monetary Money

Today, Fed Chairman Jay Powell is widely expected to announce another interest rate cut. Recently, I predicted that rates won’t change this month. Am I wrong? Stay tuned.

Update: Darn, they did it. Another 0.25% cut. It was an academic question, as the change doesn’t affect me.

This graph spans my entire working life, from 1971 when I started my part-time job in high school, through my retirement in 2017.

So now Wall Street goes into full-blown panic mode. They’ve had an incredibly good year, with all-time highs, but having everything is never enough for these guys.

It’s hilarious that uncertainty is often given as the reason for market instability, because here they’ve been told what to expect in the coming year and it has the same effect. Count on Trump putting pressure on Powell.