Some years ago, when the whole climate change cacophony began, I was not that worried about it. It seemed to me that they were just environmentalists going a little too far beyond clean air, water and open space into this ethereal area of “greenhouse gases.” Of course, back then, it was called “global warming.” The shift in nomenclature from “global warming” to “climate change” occurred about 15 years ago or so.

As I write this, The government just released their “estimate” of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for the first quarter of 2022. It was down 1.4%. This was a surprise to many, including to me. After all, the GDP growth in the previous quarter was up 6.9%. That’s a big swing in 3 months. What happened? According to reports, GDP was down because of increasing trade deficits as well as supply chain problems.

Certain issues tend to belong to one political party or the other. For example, Republicans have “owned” the issue of national security pretty much since the cold war started. That is still the case. Democrats, on the other hand, have owned the issue of education for as long as I can remember. That, however, may be changing.

I often wake up in the middle of the night. I didn’t used to. It’s a function of being older than dirt, I guess. I used to fight it, but now I embrace it. It’s quiet and a good time to think. Once I’ve jotted my thoughts down, I can often return to sleep and get a few more hours in so that the next day is not a total loss. Last night, I had a bunch of quick thoughts on a number of items that are only related to one another in that they are all political in nature.

Income inequality is a real thing. I’m not fond of the term (I think it should be increasing income disparity), but it exists and it has been increasing steadily in the U.S. and most advanced economies for 40 years. It is greater in blue states than in red ones.

Last week, the stock market was rocked, albeit briefly, when the soon to be confirmed Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Lael Brainard, stated that she supported a 50-basis point rise in interest rates in May and a plan to pull $95 Billion a month out of the economy through the sale of bonds in order to reduce the rate of inflation. The markets saw this as one of the Fed’s main “doves” reversing course and becoming a policy “hawk.”

There have been lots of Democratic presidents and governors with whom I have not agreed. Biden is clearly one of them. But where the Biden regime stands out is in their sheer incompetence. I don’t think the cloud has enough bits for me to list all of the moronic moves of this regime. But the one that was announced on the day I am writing this (April 12th) is right up there in the moronic top 10.

We are almost all going to die of climate change in 12 years if we don’t reduce carbon emissions. President Biden is telling us, and starting to mandate, that we all buy EVs as part of the solution. EVs require a bunch of metals and minerals like graphite, copper, manganese, lithium, nickel and cobalt in much greater quantities than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. Not exactly the town described in the Jason Michael Carroll song above. And, I was born in the city of Los Angeles, not the “Los Angeles area”. I went to 3rd-6th grade in an LA Unified District Public School and graduated from High School in North Hollywood. I received my undergraduate degree at UCLA in Los Angeles and got my master’s degree from USC in Los Angeles. This was all in the 50s, 60s and early 70s. LA was the 3rd largest city in America then.

I am not a fan of Russian oligarchs. But we should not confiscate the assets of anyone in the United States without conviction of a crime. If they can take a Russian’s yacht because the government doesn’t like the political position the owner took, they can take your car for protesting at a school board meeting.

As I write this, there is news that the Russians may be pulling back from Kiev and are more prepared to talk as their military adventures seem to be failing. Maybe so. Maybe not. Amongst the many great utterances of Sir Winston Churchill is his comment that “the future, though imminent, is uncertain”. That has always been true. It is especially true now.

So, Biden’s Supreme Court nominee was chosen expressly because she is a woman and also is black. But the person chosen as a woman can’t tell us what a woman is. How can we know that she is one then?

The new CEO of Disney wanted to stay out of politics. But too many of his woke employees and executives demanded that the company come out against Florida’s new law that dares to suggest that parents should determine what to teach their elementary school kids about gender and sex.

Since at least 2006, there has been little of import in Congress upon which Republicans and Democrats have agreed. These divisions were one of the many reasons I chose to leave Congress. That was 2014. The divisions have only gotten worse.

When the Republican Caucus in the House (actually called the Republican Conference for reasons I never understood) would meet at least weekly, members would speak to the group at various times about various things. Several times when I stood up, I would repeat a phrase which explained my activity in that august body; “My ideology guides my thinking, but it does not replace my thinking.”