Updates
August 13, 2021: UN "demands" that the Taliban stop military action and return to the negotiating table. LOL.
Later, 8:35 p.m. CT: President Biden has departed the building. On vacation, to Wilmington, DE.
Later, 8:32 p.m. CT: the executions begin. From The WSJ; above-the-fold, front page story.
Later, 8:09 p.m. CT: going through this list again, there are three top stories that have to have the administration terrified:
- videos of executions coming out of Afghanistan as the Taliban takes control;
- $6.00 gasoline before Labor Day; and a reminder the president killed the Keystone XL the first full day of his administration;
- lock down ... again... Covid-19
Original Post
Baghdad Bob is reporting from Kabul -- ABC News special correspondent, ABC Evening News. Wow, when you see see this live on television, one gets the feeling that this is the tipping point for the Biden administration. If we start seeing executions in the US Embassy ...
I think the bad news is hitting the Biden Administration much
faster than they feared; I think it's caught them completely off-guard.
Surfing through the mainstream news today, these are the headlines and/or the top stories:
Kamala
Harris is inching towards running for president in 2024 -- the
mainstream Dems are terrified -- this tells me one thing -- the person
closest to Biden politically, as far as official titles go -- recognizes
that Biden won't be running in 2024
The fall of Cuomo is a bigger story than the mainstream media is willing to admit;
Speaking of falling: Kabul
is going to fall by September -- the Biden administration knew that
there was a 50-50 chance that Kabul would fall but not this fast -- the
optics will get worse over the weekend as the USAF rushes to fly Afghani
allies out of Kabul starting as early as tomorrow -- it's being wide
reported that the US trained 300,000 Afghani troops to fight the Taliban
and it appears that has come to nought
That
"transitory" inflation is looking less transitory every day, and even
if it is transitory it's coming at exactly the wrong time (now) and
impacting most what Americans buy everyday: food and gasoline
US
crop harvests are going to be horrible this year; the numbers are now
starting to come out; will impact that "transitory" food inflation
As Covid-19 cases skyrocket folks are finally reporting the true super-spreader: the southern surge
The
United States is now at the very beginning of the fourth wave of
Covid-19; some states only the third wave, but overall, the US is in its
fourth wave -- just as schools are about to re-open; mainstream America
at some point is going to figure out it was the southern surge that was
the super-spreader
Not
asked yet, but it soon will be: what is worse? During the depression,
ten million folks wanting a job, and no jobs available; or when Wall
Street is setting new records day after day, there are ten million job
openings and no one wants them; unemployment claims holding steady (in a
bad way)
A
reader used to joke with me that when beer prices become unbearable, the
silent majority won't be silent any more; one week ago, $7.99 for a
six-pack was easily found; today, $9.99 was the best I could do, and not
many brand available at that price; in fact, it was quite clear Target
was doing what it could to stem the $10-handle for beer
The trucker shortage may be worse than a truck shortage
Yes, I'm saving the best for last
Credibility? What credibility? When
the CDC falsely reports a more-than doubling of Covid-19 cases in
Florida and then admits, well after the fact, after the damage has been
done, they made a "mistake"; credibility has already been lost; this
just makes it worse
Census
numbers are now starting to turn blue states red in terms of
representation (this one needs to be fact-checked); the states may still
be blue in some respects, but redistricting is favoring the GOP more
often than not --
New York Magazine
In
the past, when gasoline prices got high, it was not unusual for
presidents to jawbone OPEC / Saudi Arabia to produce more oil, but at the same time
offer domestic initiatives to help solve the problem; this time, the
current administration offers no solutions; has no arrows in its quiver
to do so; killed the Keystone XL the very first day in office; has
banned drilling on federal land; had slow-rolled the permitting process
where the courts ruled against the bans; and, is simply unable to come
up with any solutions
[By the way: the fact that the present administration is asking for OPEC
and
admits the US has no solutions of it's own, this
will make the situation
worse; folks will start hoarding, driving prices higher; drillers will
minimize bringing oil to the market in the near term when expectations
of even higher prices going forward].
Link here.
There
is an outside chance that the slowing of the economy due to Covid-19
will slow the rise in the price of gasoline or reverse it altogether,
but slowing the economy is not what any sane administration wants; if
the price of gasoline falls because the economy falters, that's not good
-- can anyone say "recession"? No one is talking about recession, but ...
How
bad is all this? I don't know. All I know is that the Sturgis Rally is
not generating a lot of headlines as we go into the second week of the
rally
Iowa State Fair opens today; a million visitors expected -- not just Harley riders but kids of all ages -- and no masks, no vaccinations required
When things "get bad" in the United States, Americans often turn to "sports." It's not gonna happen this year. No "heroes" came out of the Tokyo Olympics; lowest television ratings ever; will be remembered as the "Woke Show." Is anyone even following baseball this year? I've lost the bubble. It shows up nowhere in my news feed. NFL: the season can't get here fast enough but in 100-degree weather across the nation, most folks aren't thinking about football.
But there is one piece of good news: all previous Covid-19 waves peaked and finally came to an end over the space of four to eight weeks; talking heads are suggesting the worst will be over -- at least for this fourth wave -- in three weeks.
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Portland Rally
Indoor -- no masks -- not yet vaccinated (too young).
