1776

It will always be a puzzle to me why 50% of the country hates the other 50% politically and too often personally, but when a third or fourth party is on the ballot you’ll be lucky to see 2% of the electorate defect from the dumpster dive.

Clarify one thing for me if you will. Are you referring to the political environment or the environment literally?

No person ever demonstrated your point better than Monica Lewinsky.

In the past few days I’ve gotten three garbage texts soliciting for funds on her behalf. This is worth celebrating. She can’t be gone soon enough.

Blumenthal calling on Sotomayer to step down. https://theconversation.com/justice-sotomayors-health-isnt-the-real-problem-for-democrats-winning-elections-is-229327

Not all have come from the right wing media. Some time back, during the Biden term, there was some conversation on the left advocating for one of the liberal justices stepping down (I’m now assuming that may have been Sotomayer) while the executive and senate were still in the Democrats hands, for obvious reasons. That has been a while back so I can’t vouch for specifically when that was.

As I pointed out here a while back, both parties have done their fair share to increase the national debt and neither seems at all concerned about the consequences. This is where every discussion about the deficit ends up-finger pointing and increased deficits. Neither party dared use the two words, ‘balanced budget,’ during the campaign. Yes, I am very concerned about Trump’s agenda, particularly regarding the growing deficit.

Don’t know if the attached link will include a paywall but the gist of my point in posting this is below, primarily the second paragraph. https://www.morningstar.com/bonds/post-election-deficit-concerns-add-fuel-jump-bond-yields?utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=linkshare&utm_source=link Fed Chair Jerome Powell was asked about the recent runup in bond yields at his press conference following the rate announcement Thursday afternoon. “We’ve watched the runup in bond rates, and it’s nowhere near where it was, of course, a year ago,” Powell said. “I guess the long run rates are well below that level, so we’re watching that. Things have been moving around, and we’ll see where they settle.” To some degree, the rise in long-term yields could even tie back to the Fed’s rate cuts, says Michael Plage, portfolio manager for several bond funds at Fidelity, including the $38.9 billion Fidelity Advisor Total Bond FEPIX. “It is not unusual for the 10-year Treasury yield to rise as the Fed is cutting rates, as easier monetary policy is generally welcomed by the economy and typically leads to higher growth, possibly higher inflation, and therefore higher future interest rates,” Plage says.

There was a delay on the bond issuance to pay for the stadium recently among the commissioners in St. Pete. The unanswered questions regarding the teams home for the next three years gave the commissioners pause and they are waiting for clarity on this. Additionally, it appears the election is going to alter the commission’s members. I have no idea what this means for the immediate future. If I understand correctly, if the commission doesn’t vote to approve the bond issuance by the end of March the new park deal is off. So who knows where they’ll play, now or in the future.

I would NEVER wish bad on any person. But I would be very open to an alternative to a Trump or Harris. The media spent four years being obsessed with Trump’s every move and every word. It feels like he never went away. So now we’re going into yet another four year grind of non stop partisan rancor, 24/7.

From the secession convention to the end of the war North Carolina had three different governors. History is very interesting. Years ago I stumbled into a history class on the Civil War. It more than piqued my interest in history, particularly in North Carolina. Through years of family research I discovered that numerous ancestors of mine fought for NC in the war and several for the Union. So to answer your question, yes, the three NC Governors through that period were our governors. Just like Trump is your president. 😉

😉 …when the real news breaks.

The answer is, no. I have read extensively on this war and unless there is something outside of my readings or otherwise, I never have seen anything that suggests the south had designs on expanding their boundaries. There was no plan to conquer states in the Union, at the outset. In defense of the southern states the armies did enter Union states. Jefferson Davis made a plea for peace with Lincoln prior to physical hostilities, likely not long after resigning the U.S. Senate. If someone knows of something I am interesting in hearing it.

One of Lee’s motives for going into Maryland was that Maryland wasn’t overly hostile to the south’s position. Lincoln had several of the states political officials jailed for criticizing Lincoln’s orders to invade the south. Lee entered Maryland for a couple of reasons, one being to recruit sympathizers to fight for the south’s cause. Again, the south was outmanned and under equipped from the outset. Lots of stories surrounding this particular battle that make for interesting reading. Circumstances led to The Battle of Sharpsburg on September 17, 1862, to this day the bloodiest one day battle on US ground. It’s also referred to as The Battle of Antietam, named for a creek that ran through the battleground.

Each state that joined the CSA held a secession convention to allow the state’s political bodies to vote to either stay or leave. Only two states were unanimous in their votes to leave the union. The first was South Carolina on December 20, 1860. The last state to leave the union was North Carolina and it was by unanimous vote on May 20, 1861. North Carolina’s entry into the war is an interesting piece of history. SC and VA were already committed to the CSA. Geographically this made things uncomfortable as you can guess for N.C. However, NC was committed to staying in the union until Lincoln demanded 75,000 troops from the southern states to be a part of putting down “the southern insurrection.” Our governor, John Willis Ellis called for the convention and the rest is history.

Grant suspending the prisoner exchanges was a big hit for the south. Outmanned as the south was to begin with, this was a big blow.

Yeah, that kind of jumps out at you doesn’t it.

A bit dated but case in point: https://insidesources.com/when-it-comes-to-charitable-giving-warren-and-sanders-are-millionaires-who-dont-pay-their-fair-share-2/

Boras and Soto are flying out to meet with Steve Cohen next week. The drama heightens….

I’ll admit, these numbers surprise me… From the Wall Street Journal: The former president nearly won a demographic that Republicans haven’t won in at least five decades—racking up 42% of the Latino vote, compared with 35% in the 2020 race and 28% in 2016, according to a survey of voters by the Associated Press and data from the Cornell University Roper Center. Trump very nearly won Latino men overall, garnering 47% support, the AP survey found. The results confirm a trend that pollsters first noticed in the 2020 election: That growing numbers of Latino voters, who for decades have voted roughly 2-1 for Democrats, were becoming far more open to voting for Republican candidates, especially Trump. That has huge implications for both parties. There are now 36.2 million Hispanics eligible to vote, more than double the 14.3 million eligible in 2000. Latinos now are ahead of Black and Asian-American voters and behind only whites.

On a side note, Daniel Lurie has defeated London Breed in the race for SF Mayor. Lurie is heir to the Levi Strauss family. Breed has conceded the race. He’s a native of the city and promises to bring it back to its more appealing past. I wish him well and hope he succeeds.

I commented to my wife twice that her actions are to be commended. Seriously. I thought the political texts were over but no, I’ve received two asking for money on behalf of Kari Lake in her race. I’m going to let you guys take it from here. 🍿

I can just imagine Harris peeping around the door to Illitch’s office asking in almost a whisper, Mr. Illitch, got a minute?

Al Lang Stadium has been mentioned on several occasions.

Using your logic it’s as simple as saying that anybody that casts a vote for anyone other than Harris is a racist. OK