Dec 22
Sacramento. 12/22/23. California–once the most popular destination for Americans on the move–has been under socialist rule for decades. And now residents have been fleeing the high-tax, high-regulation state continuously for three years.
The tyrannical government of California has banned gas-powered lawnmowers, locked down the population, and mandated masks and injections throughout State schools and universities.
Socialism is a curse that should be wished only upon one’s enemies.
Dec 22
Glenn Greenwald. 12/21/2023. Carlson’s podcast–although it doesn’t even exist yet–is about to pass the NYT’s The Daily. “Roughly half of the top 50 news podcasts are independent media.” See here. “Corporate media is still in full denial about this.”
“Mainstream” information sources–meaning those that are government supporting and (secretly) government supported–simply are no longer mainstream. Readers and viewers are becoming aware that platforms such as NYT, Washington Post, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, etc. are just pro-government content. Readers and viewers simply won’t pay or invest the time to hear the same government messaging all day long, day after day.
CNN–with massive corporate support and advertising, and being shown at all times at every airport, hotel lobby and train station–only produces one show (Erin Burnett) with over 100,000 viewers in the coveted ‘under 55’ age range. (Even 5th-rate libertarian podcasts get that many viewers.) Greenwald writes that “It’s an absolutely dying medium: rapidly so.”
Dec 21
WASHINGTON -. U.S. Travel Association. 12/21/2023.
Air travelers take an average of two fewer trips per year at a projected total cost of $71 billion to the U.S. economy—according to a new U.S. Travel survey from Ipsos.
“When nearly 60% of recent air travelers find the experience the equivalent or worse than going to the DMV, it is a concerning signal that demands action,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman. “
The impact of traveler frustrations equates to 27 million avoided trips in total and $71 billion in losses for the U.S. economy, including $4.5 billion in lost tax revenue. (Ipsos, Longwoods International and U.S. Travel)
Half of air travelers said they would travel more in the next six months if the experience were less of a hassle. Similarly, business travelers would take an average of two more trips per year if travel frictions improved, resulting in 18 million additional trips and $52 billion in economic impact.
Freeman noted the numerous ways the federal government is failing travelers, such as outdated security screening technology, inconsistent waits at Customs and airport security checkpoints, and months (or years)-long delays for U.S. visitor visas.
“The security screening experience travelers encounter today is effectively the same as it was 21 years ago when the TSA was established,” said Freeman. “While air travel is safer than ever, the process for most air travelers has not evolved. Screening processes and technologies in the United States are falling behind those in other nations. It’s time to lead the way.”
Dec 21
Governments across the globe are raising taxes, expanding government control.
Wall Street Journal. Dec. 18, 2023.
Tom Fairless of the Wall Street Journal writes that “The Era of Big Taxes Is Upon Us.”
“Tax revenues have risen to record levels as a share of economic output” in France, Japan and South Korea.
“In the U.S., tax receipts at all levels of government climbed to nearly 28% of GDP last year, up from 25% in 2019 and the highest level since at least 1965, aside from a brief period of budget consolidation during the Clinton administration.”
“In France and Germany, tax receipts have increased by around 1 percentage point of GDP since 2019 from already high levels, to about 46% and 39% of GDP respectively. In both countries, tax-to-GDP ratios are at the highest levels since records began in 1965.”
Ratios of taxation in Japan and South Korea are similarly approaching all-time (i.e., “European”) levels.
“Governments across advanced economies are spending about 2 percentage points more as a share of gross domestic product than they did in 2019, or around 41% of GDP compared with 39% before the pandemic, according to International Monetary Fund data.”
“Government revenue is expected to rise to around 32% of GDP in the U.S. in 2027 from 30% in 2019, according to IMF data.
“In the 20-nation eurozone, government spending will reach half of the region’s economic output this year, according to the IMF. In the U.S., state spending stands at 38% of GDP, above its prepandemic level.”
Dec 20
Twitter. 12/20/2023. Journalist Michael Shellenberger writes that “Nearly every major media organization saw its digital audience decline 13% to 35% (!) over the last year.” “It’s because people lost trust in the media, which got every big story of the last few years wrong.”
For example, readership of the Washington Post is down 27%. Readership of the LA Times is down almost 30%. Readership of the New York Times is down over 28%.
The Washington Post is on track to lose $100 million in 2023, despite rapid growth in its coverage population.
Dec 20
New Study finds employers are now LESS LIKELY to hire an employee with a college degree than they are to hire one without.
Newsweek. Dec. 19, 2023.
According to the Freedom Economy Index, an overwhelming 91 percent of the 70,000 small businesses they surveyed said colleges are not “graduating students with relevant skills that today’s business community needs.”
“Indeed, many employers now see a college degree as a negative rather than a positive.”
When the survey asked employers if they were “more or less likely to consider a job-seeker with a 4-year degree from a major university or college,” employers were four times more likely to answer in the negative (41 percent) than in the affirmative (10 percent), while an additional 42 percent said it made no difference. Amazingly, almost 20 times as many employers were said they were “strongly” less likely to hire the applicant with a college degree than “strongly” more likely.
MODERN GOVERNMENT-SUPPORTED COLLEGES ARE GOVERNMENT WORSHIP CENTERS
When asked whether colleges are “fostering free speech and debate, thereby graduating students capable of debating ideas and using critical thinking,” a whopping 97 percent disagreed.
Companies such as Accenture, Bank of America, Google, IBM, and Walmart no longer require college degrees for hundreds of different positions. A report by the Burning Glass Institute last year predicted that “an additional 1.4 million jobs could open to workers without college degrees over the next five years.”
Meanwhile, 12 states no longer require a bachelor’s degree for most government jobs.
The rigid, extreme progovernment ideology pushed by government-supported universities is actually creating graduates with less value in the marketplace. See here.
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Dec 16
Los Angeles. December 16, 2023. Dr. Robert M. Califf recently wrote about the “catastrophic” drop in life expectancy since government took over control of most healthcare.
“We are facing extraordinary headwinds in our public health with a major decline in life expectancy. The major decline in the U.S. is not just a trend. I’d describe it as catastrophic.”
JAMA Internal Medicine published earlier this month that our overall life expectancy has dropped to 76 years, and remarkably, that male life expectancy in the U.S. has dropped to 73 years.
A study last year by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles shows heart attack deaths were up for all age groups in 2020 and 2021. But the largest increase was in the 25-44 age group, a 29% jump during those years.
Dec 16
“national security” “expert” Miles Taylor
Washington. December 16, 2023. Recently a “national security” “expert” named Miles Taylor has been making rounds promoting an intelligence-community narrative that if Donald Trump is reelected president in 2024 there will be disaster, genocide and worldwide pestilence. Taylor is a former official in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security who has written two books attacking Trump (to the rave reviews and applause of “mainstream” “reporters”).
Taylor incessantly promotes deep state tyrants such as Liz Cheney (while insisting he is a “conservative”). Taylor once stated that “the number one national security threat I’ve ever seen in my life to this country’s democracy is the party that I’m in — the Republican Party. “
Recently Taylor was on an MSNBC broadcast where he told interviewer Jen Psaki that “there’s something in the White House called the Doomsday Book,” and that there will be certain disaster if Trump gets his hands on ‘the Book.’ See here.
The “Doomsday Book” reportedly contains plans for a president to “protect” the homeland during emergencies (meaning to take over everything). Of course, every government that ever existed seeks the same things: to control everything; to take all wealth and property; and to kill all who resist.
And, of course, no one should ever have his hands on such authority; including Trump. Anyone who studies history knows that it is inevitable that ‘the book’ will soon be used.
Dec 14
A study by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) finds that older Americans who retired before 2000 would have to earn an extra $516.7 more per month or $6,200 more this year than what they are currently getting to maintain the same level of buying power as in 2000.
Many retirees have accrued debts which cannot be paid by their current incomes.
Consequently, some 12 percent of retirees are literally planning to come out of retirement to pay the bills.
More than a third of retirees admit they did not prepare adequately for retirement.
Dec 12
CVS Health, Kroger and Rite Aid, with a combined 60,000 locations nationwide — said they allow pharmacy staff members to hand over customers’ medical records to law enforcement without warrant.
Pharmacies’ records hold some of the most intimate details of their customers’ personal lives, including years-old medical conditions and the prescriptions they take for mental health and birth control.
