A Verdict Is In, Final Verdict To Come

Donald Trump was found guilty of a felony in his New York trial yesterday.

I wish I could say it was a surprise.

A friend of mine asked me as the jury got the case if I had to wager my house on the outcome what would I predict the result to be.

That could only mean one answer considering the judge that was on the case and the jury was selected from a poll that voted 86% against him in 2020.

There is simply no way that Trump could get a fair trial in that Manhattan court room.

If justice was to be served, the case should have been tried in a New York county in which the 2020 vote was close to 50-50.

I wrote an earlier blog post just as the trial was beginning, "This Is Justice?" on the absurdity of the case to begin with. One fact I was not aware of at that time was that the "business record" that was alleged falsified in this case was actually an expenditure from a personal revocable trust of Trump's. Since when is a personal trust a business anyway?

However, now that the verdict is in what comes next?

The Democrats got what they wanted out of this. 

They wanted to be able to refer to Trump as a convicted felon for the next seven months leading up to the election.

They do not care if the case is reversed on appeal which seems likely if you listen to any number of legal experts. The trial was riddled with errors that were prejudicial to Trump.

The Democrats only want the talking points and hope that the conviction can keep Trump distracted and off the campaign trail.

The statement of the Biden campaign immediately after the verdict tells you all you need to know about the Democrat campaign strategy in all of this.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-campaign-reacts-trump-criminal-trial-verdict?intcmp=tw_fnc

Note the words and themes that I have highlighted in that statement referring to Trump.

Convicted felon.

Threat to our democracy.

Unhinged.

Dictator.

Our Constitution will be terminated.

Chaos.

Political violence.

Of course, the problem with all of this is that Trump was already in office for four years.

The Democrats said the same things in 2016.

Was Trump a threat to democracy in his first term?

Was he a dictator?

Was our Constitution terminated?

Granted, there was a share of chaos and political violence but most of that was caused by the Democrats and the phony Russian collusion narrative, two impeachment efforts and the BLM and Antifa riots.

For those who want to point to January 6, that was in the last two weeks of his term. If Trump had been reelected with the same margins Biden had, the only political violence would have been from the leftists.

You will hear the words above over and over again during the campaign.

Biden does not have any tangible accomplishments to run on.

He still has not articulated any vision or concrete policy positions for a second term that are designed to improve the lives of everyday Americans.

This is the campaign strategy. There isn't anything else for Biden to run on.

A former President of the United States and current leading contender for the 2024 election convicted in a rigged, slanted criminal trial seven months before the election?

This is the United States of America?

What comes next?

Trump will clearly appeal but clearing his name might take years.

Will Trump be jailed even if he appeals?

Will the judge place Trump under house arrest so he cannot campaign?

Will the judge put Trump under probation so that he is subject to the court's rules---travel restrictions, drug testing and other controls?

Is the campaign of the leader in the 2024 Presidential race right now going to be subject to the control of a biased New York judge and an anonymous probation officer?

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

We are truly in uncharted territory.

Of course, the New York lower court verdict might be in but the final verdict will be rendered in November.

Will this verdict have any significant effect on Trump vs. Biden when all is said and done?

An NPR/Marist poll done last week found that most opinions about the Trump trial were already baked in and would not have an effect on the race.

15% of all voters said that if Trump was found guilty they would be more likely to vote for him and 17% said they would be less likely to support him. 67% said it would make no difference.

However, among Independents, it appears the conviction might actually be slightly beneficial to Trump.

Source: https://maristpoll.marist.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/NPR_PBS-NewsHour_Marist-Poll_USA-NOS-and-Tables_202405301406.pdf

My expectation is that the primary benefit to Trump of the verdict will be that this will further motivate his base.

Reports were already coming in shortly after the verdict was announced that Trump's campaign fund and the RNC website had crashed from incoming volume.

Source: https://redstate.com/jeffc/2024/05/30/breaking-trump-donation-page-crashes-after-hush-money-verdict-n2174874#google_vignette

It remains to be seen how the verdict will play into the decision process of the important swing voters.

Do they recoil at the thought of a "convicted felon" as President?

Or do they see what has happened to Trump to be the real threat to democracy and an attempt to undermine the Constitution?

If this can be done to a billionaire businessman, former President and leading contender for another term, who says it cannot be done to anyone?

What is most troubling is what this trial portends for the future as it relates to the rule of law and as a precedent for political rivalries and disputes.

If Trump wins after all that he has been subjected to in this lawfare onslaught, it would be hard to blame him for not seeking a little revenge and retribution.

This by itself has to terrify the Democrats as to what they may have unleashed.

This verdict makes them even more dangerous in what they might be willing to do in this campaign to protect themselves.

It reminds of the plot line of the movie Oppenheimer.

Dr. Oppenheimer spent the entire World War II years working to build an atomic bomb to defeat Germany and Japan. However, once the weapon was unleashed on the world, he spent the rest of his life working for nuclear disarmament.

The Trump verdict has taken us to a place where this is no longer about politics.

This has become much, much bigger than that due to what the Democrats have unleashed.

Have they sown the seeds of Civil War?

I know those are big words but the stakes were just multiplied many times over yesterday.

What will the FINAL VERDICT on all this really be?

This and That---May 29, 2024 Edition

A few random observations, charts and factoids to provide some context on what is going on in the world.

Anti-Israel College Protests

Have you noticed that the college protests and encampments against Israel are no longer in the news?

Why is that?

It probably has a lot to do with the fact that most colleges have completed the school year.

Protests are cool as a diversion from classes. They don't seem to be as cool when there are other things to do in the summer. I guess Hamas will have to wait until Fall for more support from the college contingent in the United States.

Speaking of the college protests, I thought the following infographics were interesting which looked at where the Gaza protests were taking place.

The data (compiled by Washington Monthly magazine) shows that it was much more likely to see college protests take place at elite colleges, schools with high tuition and fees, and with students from wealthy families.

For reference, Pell Grants are only awarded to students from low to moderate income families.

Almost all of the anti-Israel encampments were at private universities with high tuition and less than 20% of the students with Pell Grants.

Source: https://washingtonmonthly.com/2024/05/24/are-gaza-protests-happening-mostly-at-elite-colleges/

The concentration of protests is not as skewed to high cost, rich students at public universities but notice that there were very few protests at schools in which more than 40% of the students were receiving Pell Grants at either public or private universities.

Source: https://washingtonmonthly.com/2024/05/24/are-gaza-protests-happening-mostly-at-elite-colleges/

Why were the protests most prevalent at high cost universities with higher percentages of affluent students?

Is it the teaching these student receive at elite universities?

Is it social contagion?

Is it the fact that students from more modest backgrounds simply do not have the luxury of spending their time protesting when they could be studying or working?

Generational Disconnect

The following survey results are very disconcerting coming in the wake of Memorial Day.

Gen Z does not seem to value much of anything.

That might even include themselves Gen Z  have more mental health struggles than any other generational age cohort.

Doesn't it beg the question as to what exactly those who made the ultimate sacrifice did it for?

Best Places To Live?

Why is it that if only 33% of Gen Z believes that America is the best place to live do so many others want to live in the United States?

The same is true for other Anglosphere countries that we are told are dominated by white supremacy and privilege.

If that is the case, why is it that so many people are fleeing from other countries into these white majority countries and causing large increases in population?

Credit: https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/1792534901050225023

Another disconnect?

Inflation Watch

One of the biggest challenges Joe Biden faces in this year's election is inflation.

He is trying to make the argument that inflation is coming down. 

The rate of inflation might be coming down but price levels are not. It would take actual deflation to do that which would most likely require a deep recession and high employment.

Compare inflation during the Trump years to the Biden years.

Is it any wonder that Trump is looking better and better with each passing day compared to Biden?

It is actually more stunning to see these fast food price increases since 2019.

How about a Big Mac and medium fries?

Credit: https://x.com/Timcast/status/1792901648873930861

Biden Approval

The latest Civiqs poll has Biden with only 35% approval from American voters.

He is significantly underwater in every swing state on his approval rating.

In fact, Biden has a positive approval rating in only four states. In three of those, he is barely positive.

Hawaii                         +9

Maryland                     +1

Massachusetts           +3

Vermont                      +1

 

What is really astounding in the approval numbers is the fact that Biden's net approval with young voters is -34 (27% approve, 61% disapprove).

He is in worse shape with young voters than any other age group by a considerable margin.

Only 27% of age 18-34 voters approve of Biden's performance vs. 43% for those age 65+.

In the past, these young voters would probably be counted on to break at least 60/40 for a Democrat.

Source: https://civiqs.com/results/approve_president_biden?uncertainty=true&annotations=true&zoomIn=true

My view is that Biden has major problems with three policy issues---Inflation, Illegal Immigration and Israel in addition to being borderline incompetent due to his his age.

Are the Democrats really going to pin their 2024 elections hopes on Biden heading the ticket with polling like this?

Gratitude For Their Greatness

I have featured Angela Pan's photography in BeeLine a number of times over the years.  Angela is based in Washington, D.C. and some of her best work features the the monuments and memorials in our capital city.

These images truly honor the men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our freedom through the years.  

It also a reminder that trying and troubling times often reveal the greatness of individual men and women who step up to meet the challenge.

May they never be forgotten.

All photos below by Angela Pan. 

Arlington National Cemetery

Iwo Jima Memorial 

World War II Memorial

Vietnam Memorial 

Manassas Battlefield

Manassas was the site of two major Civil War Battles. The First Battle of Bull Run (July 21, 1861) and a Second Battle of Bull Run (August 28-30, 1862). Over 20,000 Americans were killed or wounded in the two battles.

Memorial Day began as a day of remembrance for those who perished in the Civil War.  Originally it was called "Decoration Day", a term I still remember my grandparents using to refer to the day.  

It started out being celebrated on May 30 of each year which I also remember. The holiday was established as the last Monday in May by an Act of Congress in 1971.

However, when I was in my first year of law school at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia in 1973,  I remember that the school and others in Atlanta did not recognize the holiday. It was a usual day of business in and around the city.

More than 100 years had passed since the Civil War had ended but Atlanta still viewed it as a "northern" holiday. I guess that proves that old grudges are not easily forgotten. It was not until the following year that we had no classes on Memorial Day. 

Lest we ever think about forgetting, these are the numbers of Americans who have laid their lives down for us per Statista.

Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1009819/total-us-military-fatalities-in-american-wars-1775-present/

May we have gratitude for their greatness.

The Death Penalty

It used to be be the case that the death penalty was carried out for convicted criminals with an electric chair.

We may soon be at the point that death to our economy and way of life will be due to lack of electricity.

Late last month the energy ministers of the G7 countries (United States, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan) agreed to shut down all coal-fired electric generating plants within a decade.

Source: https://www.ctvnews.ca/climate-and-environment/g7-agrees-to-shut-down-coal-plants-by-2035-u-k-minister-says-in-climate-breakthrough-1.6865997

Ministers from the Group of Seven nations have agreed to shut down all their coal plants by 2035 at the latest, a U.K. minister said on Monday, in a climate policy breakthrough that could influence other countries to do the same.

16% of electricity in the United States today is generated by coal.

In Germany, it is 27%.

It is 32% in Japan

These are the three largest economic powers in the G7.

Bear in mind that the G7 is saying that they are going to close all coal-fired electric generation capacity at the same time that demands for electricity are increasing dramatically due to electric vehicle mandates, data centers, artificial intelligence, and even crypto mining.

As an example, world electricity demand for just the last three of these is expected to double between 2022-2026.

Source: https://twitter.com/MichaelAArouet/status/1791348038100816049

The latest projections are that electricity demand over the next decade is going to grow at 3 times the rate at which it grew over the last decade. That would be about a 10% increase in demand in 10 years.

This chart provides perspective on the sources of current world electricity production by source.

Coal remains the largest single source and fossil fuels make up over 60% of the mix with nuclear powering another 10% of the total.

 

How do you increase the number of things plugged into the electric gird while decreasing the energy sources that can be used to power the grid?

By contrast to the G7, China uses coal for 61% of its electric generating power and India is at 75%.

They are both adding coal generating capacity while the G7 is taking them offline.

This is a headline from earlier this year about China's current efforts to build more coal-fired power plants.

China has 300 coal-fired plants either under construction, permitted or awaiting permits.

China currently has more than 300 coal-fired plants that are either under construction, permitted, or awaiting permitting. If all 300 plants are constructed, China’s inventory of coal-fired power plants will increase by more than 25%.

If there is one absolute truth in the world today it is that you cannot have economic growth and prosperity for your citizenry without accessible, affordable energy.

There is no such thing as a low-energy, rich country.

Simple math suggests that you cannot close down 16% of your generating capacity in the United States over the next decade while your demand is increasing by 10% without a significant increase in new sources of power.

As I wrote in a previous blog post, "Where Will The Power Come From?", current energy projects under construction will only increase electricity supply by 5%. Those currently being planned might add another 5%.

If it is this bad in the United States you can only imagine what Germany and Japan are facing in getting enough electricity in the future with their higher dependency on coal.

For example, Germany used to get 30% of its electricity from nuclear. It is now 0%. 

Source: https://x.com/MichaelAArouet/status/1789706917222158699

Coal is now at 27% and they have committed to get that to 0% in a decade. 

Germany can also no longer count on a reliable supply of natural gas from Russia. 

Germany is already relying on wind for abut 40% of its needs. They are going to need to hope the wind blows a lot more and they can ramp up other renewables or those Mercedes, BMW, Siemens and ThyssenKrupp factories will be difficult to operate with no power.

In Japan, renewables only generate about 20% of power needs and nuclear is at 6% today. Japan relies almost exclusively on imported coal, oil and liquid natural gas for its energy needs. Japan appears to be in a tougher spot than Germany if it is going to turn its back on fossil fuels.

In effect, the G7 is implementing the death penalty on themselves.

How can China not be laughing all the way to the bank at the idiocy of their economic competitors who are content in committing national suicide?

In addition, while we are talking about economic suicide and the death penalty. consider the following announcement from the Biden administration this week.

Biden's Energy Department is releasing all 1 million barrels (42 million gallons of gasoline) in the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve to help keep gasoline prices in the Northeast low this summer.

Source: https://www.energy.gov/articles/us-department-energy-announces-sale-northeast-gasoline-supply-reserve-americans-hit-road

The supply reserve was established in 2014 after Hurricane Sandy disrupted gasoline supplies in the Northeast after the storm

The Biden administration supported legislation earlier this year that established that the Northeast Supply Reserve should be shut down because it was too expensive to store refined fuels compared to crude oil.

What happens if another hurricane disrupts supplies in the Northeast?

The Biden administration is not bashful about stating why they are releasing the reserves now.

They want to help put a lid on gas prices in the Northeast this summer.

"The Biden-Harris Administration is laser focused on lowering prices at the pump for American families, especially as drivers hit the road for summer driving season,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “By strategically releasing this reserve in between Memorial Day and July 4th, we are ensuring sufficient supply flows to the tri-state and northeast at a time hardworking Americans need it the most.” 

How worried are they about those blue states in the Northeast abandoning Biden this November?

Taking down this reserve of gasoline in the Northeast would not be so bad but for how much Biden drained the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to gain political points two years ago as oil prices surged.

Biden raided the SPR for almost 300 million barrels of oil from what was in the reserve when he took office.

Source: https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=WCSSTUS1&f=W

Biden promised he would quickly restore the reserve two years ago.

Not much progress is being made in filling it back up as this chart shows.

The SPR is now about where it was 40 years ago.

The list of risks to disruption in our oil supplies is long

Hurricanes.

Russia/Ukraine War.

Israel/Hamas War. 

Regime change in Iran. 

Houthis disrupting ship traffic in the Suez canal.

Biden threatening to arrest oil executives for drilling for oil.

However, our SPR and gasoline reserves are being used for political points.

Another example where we are courting economic suicide.

Death by a thousand cuts---most of which are self-inflicted.

Polling Potpourri---May 22, 2024 Edition

Another edition of Polling Potpourri as we are just over five months to the 2024 general election.

Polls are not always completely accurate. However, they are generally good barometers to discern major trends.

I am highlighting a mixture of data points in various polls I have seen lately that might provide some perspective on what is currently on the minds of American voters.

The most recent FiveThirtyEight polling average (which averages all recent polls) has Trump with a 1.4 point advantage over Biden.

However, to put this number in context it is useful to compare this to 2020 numbers.

At this time in 2020 (May, 2020) Biden was +6.0 over Trump.

The final poll average was Biden +8.4 right before Election Day.

Source: https://twitter.com/IAPolls2022/status/1792737127421128775

Biden won the final popular vote total in 2020 by 4.4 points ( Biden 51.3%, Trump 46.9%).

However, just 44,000 votes in Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin separated the two which would have resulted in an electoral college tie between the two despite the popular vote advantage that Biden had.

This is why a national popular vote poll is somewhat misleading in assessing the race.

First, Biden should naturally lead in these polls because he is likely to build a significant vote margin in deep blue states with large populations such as California and New York.

Second, as the polling showed in 2020 (and 2016), the Trump vote seems to be undercounted in many polls.

Biden's final popular vote margin in 2020 was 4 points lower than the final poll average.

In 2016, the final polls also overstated support for the Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton.

Keep this in mind as you view national polls.

For example, the FiveThirtyEight poll average  right now would project to a 312-226 electoral college margin for Trump.

He is projected to win every swing state although the margins are far from comfortable for Trump.

Source: https://twitter.com/IAPolls2022/status/1792737127421128775

If that electoral vote result were to occur I think that most would consider it a landslide.

Harvard/Harris was out with a very extensive poll this week that took a deep dive on a number of issues that could have an affect on voter preferences in the 2024 race.

It has Trump +6 in a two-way race with Biden and +5 with RFK,Jr on the ballot.

You get a better sense of what is driving these results when you are look deeper into the poll results.

Biden's overall net approval is -10.

Source:https://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/HHP_May2024_KeyResults.pdf

What is particularly interesting in this data are some of the demographic breakdowns.

Biden is -7 with age 18-24 voters.

He is -8 with women.

Biden is -26 with Asians.

He is -22 with Independents.

These are all groups he won in 2020 by DOUBLE DIGITS. 

Even more interesting is how voters view Donald Trump's presidency with the benefit of hindsight.

55% of voters approve of the job Trump did as President compared to 43% who disapprove. 

That is a overall net approval of +12 for Trump compared to -10 for Biden.

Is it any wonder that the top line results show Trump leading?

Source: https://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/HHP_May2024_KeyResults.pdf

Harvard/Harris also polled voters on the favorability of a number of major political figures. On this question, they also added Elon Musk and Hunter Biden.

In fact, Musk had the highest favorability score of any of those polled at +13.

Tim Scott and RFK, Jr are at +10.

Donald Trump had a net favorability score of +4.

Biden scored a -10.

However, his son Hunter is -34.

Source: https://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/HHP_May2024_KeyResults.pdf

Interestingly, there was not one Democrat or leftist that had a positive net favorability score of the names polled.

Kamala Harris               -8

Hillary Clinton.             -8

Chuck Schumer.           -12

AOC                                -15

Rashid Tlaib                 -18

Ilhan Omar.                  -22

On the other hand, there were a number of Republicans besides Trump and Scott that had net favorable scores.

Ron DeSantis                +6 

Mike Johnson               +6

Vivek Ramaswamy.     +6

Doug Burgum               +5

Marco Rubio                 +3

Nikki Haley                   +3

One of the more difficult issues Biden is trying to navigate is the Israel/Hamas war where he seems to be attempting to play both sides of the fence.

He has a dismal 36% approval score on the issue. 

By comparison, his approval on the economy is 43%, on inflation it is 41% and 40% on immigration.

A lot of media attention has gone to the college protests against Israel but the Harvard/Harris Poll shows that 79% of all voters favor Israel in the war.

69% also believe that Israel is trying to avoid civilian casualties which counters the "genocide" narrative that college students like to repeat.

Source: https://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/HHP_May2024_KeyResults.pdf

This polling shows what a difficult task Biden has in trying to placate the progressive younger voters that he needs so badly to win in November compared to overwhelming support for Israel with all voters.

In fact, if you look at all 18-24 voters, 57% actually support Israel over Hamas in the war.

However, the poll reveals one of the largest generational divides you will ever see on an issue when you compare support for Israel between the 18-24 demographic and age 65+ voters.

57% of 18-24 voters support Israel but in the age 65+ group it is 93!

Do you need to see any more to know that what students are taught in school has changed a lot in the last several decades?

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released yesterday has Biden's approval of his job performance as President at 36%--the lowest it has been in two years. That was when inflation was running at about 9% and national gas prices were averaging almost $5 per gallon.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bidens-approval-rating-falls-lowest-level-nearly-two-years-reutersipsos-poll-2024-05-21/

There is not a lot of good news in the polling for Joe Biden right now.

Given the poll results that continue to show that Biden is in trouble, I still believe there is a decent chance he will be replaced on the ticket before November.

In fact, former Oho GOP Governor John Kasich said the same thing on MSNBC last week. Kasich is a staunch anti-Trump guy who has already endorsed Biden in 2024.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/media/anti-trump-kasich-stuns-msnbc-host-saying-real-possibility-biden-wont-be-candidate

Former Republican governor of Ohio and MSNBC political analyst John Kasich stunned host José Díaz-Balart on Friday by speculating that President Biden may not end up being the Democratic Party presidential nominee.

Kasich cited polling data, people’s feelings on the economy, the president’s poor public speaking events and his fear over upcoming presidential debates to say there’s a strong chance that the party will choose someone else to run against former President Trump.

I also found the debate proposal that Biden made to Trump in the last week to be very interesting in that regard.

Biden was only willing to debate in June (before the conventions) and in early September (two months before Election Day).

These dates tell me that the Biden team did not want any debate close to the election from which there could be no recovery from a bad debate performance.

The June debate also suggests that a bad performance by Biden could result in calls to have him step aside and be replaced at the Democratic convention in August

What other reason could there be to have a debate beforer the conventions and more than four months before the election?

The September debate also provides an exit ramp in that pulling the plug on Biden at that early date  provides time to replace him before ballots are printed and early voting begins.

Early voting begins as early as September 20 in several states. 

In fact, it would not surprise me that Democrat party insiders were already working to persuade Biden to step aside and he resisted. The early dates of the debates might have been established as a compromise for Biden to prove to the insiders that he could hold his own against Trump. 

Biden might have told them that if he couldn't handle the debates, he would step aside and the party could insert their favored candidate.

However, if he proved he could go toe to toe with Trump, they would shut up and leave him alone.

Stay tuned.

It is still a long way to November with many twist and turns ahead.

The Invasion Continues

Have you noticed you do not see anywhere near the number of stories about chaos at the Southern Border that we did several months ago?

My guess is that this is no coincidence.

The White House and the mainstream media saw that the wave of illegal immigration was causing Biden's poll numbers to plummet so it was necessary to take this issue out of the headlines.

Notice how the illegals encountered nationwide by the CBP dropped at the beginning of the year in the wake of the stories about the 300,00-350,000 illegals crossing the border at the end of last year.

However, we have still been seeing about 250,000 illegals encountered by the CBP every month since January. That works out to be an annual rate of 3,000,000.

The monthly totals we are seeing right now remains at almost the same level we saw in 2022 and 2023 at this time of year.

Source: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/nationwide-encounters

These numbers also do not include "gotaways" and the substantial number of migrants that are being flown directly into U.S. airports from selected countries such as Venezuela and Haiti.  These illegals do not attract the attention that the masses of humanity crossing the border do.

No one knows the exact number of "gotaways" but there were an additional 670,000 gotaways last year according to internal CBP records obtained in a recent FOIA request and reported by Fox News Channel recently.

Source: https://twitter.com/BillMelugin_/status/1790783036713312574

Notice again how the numbers have skyrocketed under Biden.

More gotaways in three years of Biden than ten years under Trump and Obama.

The direct flights are being used by the Biden administration under what is referred to as "parole authority" which allows the President to admit foreigners for "humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit".

They are flown directly into the country at American taxpayer expense without having to reach the border on their own.

Well over 1 million migrants have been flown into the United States and have been given work permits during Biden's term of office.  These are not in the Border Patrol numbers nor do they get much publicity.

Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/immigration-parole-biden-administration-1-million-migrants/

Despite the chaos we have seen at the Southern Border the reality is that a large number of the migrants entering the country recently have actually been coming in at airports.

In fact, the top 10 ports of entry for all paroled migrants in 2023 were at airports rather than at the border.

Notice the massive changes from 2012 to 2017 to 2023.

This shows the significance of the direct flights under the "parole" program being used by Biden to take the focus off the border.

Source: https://trac.syr.edu/reports/735/

Miami International Airport had only 139 paroled migrants in all of 2012. There were 1,671 in 2017.

Last year it had 9,216 migrant parolees!

The fact that there are now signs at U.S. airports that point non-U.S. citizens to a dedicated line at TSA checkpoints tells you all you need to know.

Source: https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/1787134962699043001

You may not be seeing it in the headlines but the invasion continues.

The invasion is not just coming from Spanish speaking countries south of the United States.

One of the more interesting factoids I have seen on illegals recently is the number of Chinese nationals that have illegally entered the country over the last several years.

This is from reporting by Griff Jenkins at Fox News Channel.

Look at the numbers for April.

3,287 Chinese were encountered entering the United States illegally in April, 2024.

The similar number in April, 2021----18!!!

Source: https://twitter.com/GriffJenkins/status/1791077817855115656

Under the social credit score system in China an individual who is not considered "trustworthy" is denied many basic privileges that include train and plane travel.

What are the chances that any of these individuals left China without the consent and approval of the Chinese Communist Party?

It should not surprise anyone that this influx of Chinese illegals have raised significant security concerns among those who have been involved in the vetting process of those seeking refuge in the United States in the past.

Source: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/unprecedented-surge-chinese-illegal-immigration-raises-security-concerns

You may not see it in the headlines but the invasion continues.

When you add it all together there are currently 51.6 million foreign-born people living in the United States according to the Center for Immigration Studies.

Source: https://cis.org/Report/ForeignBorn-Population-Grew-51-Million-Last-Two-Years

That number is also the highest percentage of foreign-born persons living in the U.S. in history---15.6%.

That is a higher percentage than right after the founding of the country a few years removed from being a colony of Great Britain.

It is a higher percentage than we saw in the great immigration through Ellis Island in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

Source: https://cis.org/Report/ForeignBorn-Population-Grew-51-Million-Last-Two-Years

Quite literally, we have never seen anything like it in the history of the United States.

If the policies of Biden and the Democrats continue it will get far, far worse as the chart above shows.

What I find most astounding in all of this is there seems to be no recognition of the enormous sustainability issues regarding the issue of illegal immigration with Democrats. This is especially surprising considering the importance of the issue of sustainability with liberal and younger voters in particular.

Too many immigrants puts too much strain on our resources. It puts unnecessary strain on everything in our society---our water, our sewer systems, our roads, the electric grid, our infrastructure and our environment. It contributes to congestion and urban sprawl.

Add to this what it does to increase the financial strain on our schools and our health system and cost pressure on rents and housing costs, not to mention our law enforcement and justice system.

What happens when AI and technology displaces many of the jobs that low-skilled immigrants are likely to hold? Are we importing a gigantic permanent underclass that will have to be supported by welfare and tax dollars for years and years to come?

Adding too many immigrants, too quickly, also puts added pressure on the social order if those immigrant numbers outpace the ability to integrate and assimilate them into the general population.

How do you add 3-4 million people in one year (or 10-12 million in four years) without creating enormous sustainability and societal problems?

The invasion continues even if it is not in the headlines today.

What can be done about it?

It can only be stopped if the voters demand it.

The 2024 election provides that opportunity.

This and That---May 17, 2024 Edition

A few random observations, charts and factoids to provide some context on what is going on in the world.

The Two-Faces of Joe Biden

In 2019 Joe Biden criticized Donald Trump for imposing tariffs on Chinese goods entering the country.

He said a freshman econ student or a cashier at Target understood economics better than Trump.

Biden maintained that the tariffs would be paid by American consumers.

This is the 2024 version of Joe Biden who this week imposed import tariffs of 100% on electric vehicles and 50% on solar panels coming from China.

He is also implementing a 25% tariff on lithium batteries that are necessary for EV's and solar energy  storage and backup.

What is even more confusing about all of this is Biden wants to mandate that all Americans drive electric vehicles at the same time he is making them even more expensive.

The same goes for solar power---he wants to ban all coal, oil and natural gas energy sources in favor of renewables such as solar, at the same time he is making it all the more expensive for Americans.

Is it dementia, dishonesty or duplicity?

The A's Have It

We have reached the point where 40% of all names of newborn girls end with the letter "A".

100 years ago it was half of that.

Credit: https://twitter.com/protomemetic/status/1790621591107453302

The Social Security Administration recently published its list of the most popular girls and boys name for births in 2023.

8 of the most popular 10 female names end with "A" and 6 of the first 7.

Charlotte and Evelyn are the only names that do not end in "A" in the Top 10.

Source: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/

Male names are more evenly spread over the alphabet.

Is There Something In The Water?

On the subject of males and females, I thought this was an interesting  data comparing self-perception of men and women on their masculinity and femininity by generation.

90% of Boomer men say they are "completely/mostly" masculine, only 57% of Gen Z men do.

Almost all 65+ year old men say they feel masculine but only 57% of 17-27 year old Gen Z's do? 

Similarly, while 87% of Boomer women say they're "completely/mostly" feminine, only 67% of Gen Z women do.

Credit: https://twitter.com/data_depot/status/1788566547876950319

Are we doomed?

Is there something in the water?

Is it the education system?

The huge number of vaccines that have been introduced over the last 30 years?

Social media?

Is it a combination of a number of factors?

You have to wonder if what we are seeing in self-perception scores regarding one's gender are related to increasing levels of depressive symptoms in 8th, 10th and 12th graders in the United States.

Credit: https://twitter.com/SMTuffy/status/1790111370937090416

iPhone introduced in 2007.

Android phone introduced in 2008.

Instagram app for Android phones in 2012.

TikTok app released in 2017 in USA.

It might have more to do with smartphones and social media than the water or anything else.

Gold Medal Speed

There are four young men at a suburban Houston, Texas high school I am confident have no issues with self-perception relating to their masculinity,

The 4x100 meter relay team at Atascocita High School in Humble, Texas recently won the Texas 6A state championship with a time of 39.14 seconds.

That is less than an average of 10 seconds for the 100 meters for all four of the team members.

To put that in context, this team of four teenagers at one Texas high school had a time that would have won the 4x100 meter relay at the Big Ten track championship,

Another Texas high school, Duncanville, would have placed third at the Big Ten finals.

Here are the times of the top nine teams in the 6A Texas high school finals.

Source: https://www.gosanangelo.com/story/sports/high-school/2024/05/02/live-results-2023-uil-state-track-field-championships/73503467007/

 

Six other Texas high schools had faster times than Michigan State.

Source: https://twitter.com/Milosbets/status/1790067305021423933

Atascocita and Duncanville would have placed 1st and 2nd in the mens's ACC track finals.

Atascocita would have placed 2nd to USC at the PAC 12 finals. Duncanville would have captured third.

Keep in mind that these colleges can literally recruit anyone in the world to run for their schools.

Atascocita is confined to the boundaries to that of a high school district as are these other Texas track teams.

For additional context, here are the women's 4x100 meter relay times in the 2020 Olympic Games.

Source: https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/tokyo-2020/results/athletics/women-s-4-x-100m-relay

Atascocita H.S. would have won the gold medal in the women's 4x100 by almost two seconds over the Jamaica national team.

Duncanville H.S. would have taken the silver medal.

North Shore H.S would have taken the bronze medal.

Even the 8th place team in the Texas high school track meet would have won the gold medal competing in the 2020 women's Olympic finals.

In fact, if the top eight Texas high schools were running in the women's 4x100, at the 2020 Olympics, they would have taken all spots from 1-8 in the finals.  The 8th team in the women's Olympic final (the Netherlands) did not finish.

Of course, we are told there are no physical differences between men and women.

The only thing that matters is how someone "identifies" in their own mind.

And men who identify as women should be allowed to compete in women's athletic despite the genetic differences.

Just ignore the fact that teenage boys at just eight high schools in Texas can run faster than the fastest, most elite women athletes in the world.

The woke policies of the liberal progressives are utter and complete insanity if you care anything about women's athletics.